Thanks to everyone reviewing! :)
This chapter is looonng... It was originally two chapters but I think it sounds better merged. There are some light adult themes and I think there might be a bit of language in here too.
Enjoy! ;)
x
Linka felt both relief and fear when Plunder's helicopter peeled away from the geo-cruiser and began to descend over the field she and Wheeler had landed in.
"Is your knee okay?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," Wheeler muttered, taking her hand. "Just don't let him whack it again and I'll be okay."
They waited nervously. Gi's blood was sticky on Wheeler's hands, and he hoped the geo-cruiser would fly fast enough to get her to a hospital in time.
"Don't let go of my hand," Wheeler said, crushing her fingers in a vice-like grip.
"Hold my left hand," she whispered. "I want to be able to use my ring."
He stepped in front of her as Plunder's helicopter landed and grabbed her left hand in his, sheltering her behind him.
She felt sick, suddenly. She wondered if she had done the right thing. She wondered if they would have made it to hospital anyway, and they could all have been safe. Now Wheeler was in front of her, and Plunder and Bleak were heading for them, guns in their hands.
"Yankee..." Her throat was dry. She leaned her forehead against his back, turning her head and listening to his heartbeat drum loudly.
"Don't let go of me," he said, not able to say anything else.
Plunder stepped delicately over a clump of dirt and hefted his gun slightly. "Take the rings off," he said. "And don't try and use them."
Bleak pointed his gun at Wheeler.
Gripping Wheeler's hand tightly, Linka used her teeth to tug her ring off, and she threw it at Plunder miserably. Up close, it didn't seem worth the risk. Wheeler's Planeteer ring soon followed her own.
"Look, Bleak," Plunder said, sounding a little admiring. "He stole his ring back from that Russian bitch."
Wheeler bit back a snort. "Make sure you hang onto it, this time," he said sarcastically. "Picked it out of your pocket, didn't she?"
"Shut up, Pyro," Plunder said icily, slipping the rings into his pocket. "Bring them both, Bleak."
"We only need one," Bleak argued, waving his gun towards Linka, who was hastily hidden behind Wheeler's back again.
"Don't think you're taking her anywhere without me," Wheeler snarled.
"Don't think you have a choice, Planeteer," Plunder snapped. "You're only coming because I have questions for you. Hurry up."
Not willing to push their luck with further attempts to stall Plunder, Wheeler and Linka trudged across the field to his helicopter, still holding hands tightly.
"Looks like you've got a fair amount of blood on your hands, Planeteers," Plunder chuckled.
Wheeler felt the blood rush to his face as his anger sparked up. "If Gi dies, I swear to God, Plunder, I'm gonna –"
"Shut up," Bleak snarled, gesturing with his gun.
Linka clenched Wheeler's hand desperately. I wish you were with the others, and safe.
x
Kwame's arms felt hideously empty without Gi in them. He stood in the hospital corridor, aware he was covered in mud and a worrying amount of blood.
Ma-Ti finally found him and tugged his arm gently, bringing him back to conscious thought.
"Where did you park the geo-cruiser?" Kwame asked in a low voice.
"Behind the hospital," Ma-Ti answered breathlessly. "But I do not think I can leave it there long."
Kwame shook his head. "I am going to find Wheeler and Linka."
"But what if Gi –"
"Stay with her," Kwame said urgently. "Get in touch the instant you know anything. The police will be here, Ma-Ti, and you will have to deal with them. I am sorry for leaving it all with you, but Wheeler and Linka are in trouble."
Ma-Ti nodded and patted Kwame's arm comfortingly. "I will call as soon as I know anything. I hope you will do the same."
Kwame nodded anxiously. His mouth felt dry, like cotton, and if he stopped to think about anything in any detail he thought he'd fall apart.
"Tell me where they are," he whispered.
Ma-Ti did a quick search, biting his lip as he came across the familiar, cloudy shadows of Bleak and Plunder.
"Flying west," he said. "Hurry."
Kwame gave him a final nod and hurried away. He didn't want to be held up by the police – and carrying a gunshot victim into a hospital was one of the best ways to meet them.
x
The geo-cruiser shuddered violently as Kwame steered it around and jetted it west. Warning lights were dotted across the dashboard, but he couldn't afford the time to repair the faults they indicated. The left solar panels held enough energy to keep him in the air for several hours yet – provided the damage and the shattered window didn't add too much drag to his flight.
He felt as though he could collapse into a nervous heap at any moment. He could smell smoke, and the metallic, cold smell of congealing blood. He wondered if Gi would make it, and felt guilty for assuming the worst. He tightened his grip on the controls.
Someone was going to pay for this.
x
"So where are we going?" Wheeler asked, leaning his head against the back wall of Plunder's helicopter. He and Linka were huddled together at the back. Wheeler had been ordered to handcuff Linka to a handle set into the wall and then step back, but Wheeler had simply looped the handcuffs through – one attached to Linka's wrist, the other to his. Plunder hadn't been too pleased with this, but they'd suffered no ill effects so far – other than his company.
Plunder sat opposite them, leaning against his cane, his palms crossed over the ivory elephant's head and his chin resting upon them so he could stare down at the Planeteers. "I have a few questions for you, first," he said after a moment. "How did you get away from Baryshnikov?"
"I seduced her," Wheeler said darkly. "Where are we going?"
"Stop giving me bullshit," Plunder snapped.
Wheeler shrank back a little as Plunder waved his cane at him. He felt no desire to have it connect with another of his bones.
"See, it's interesting," Plunder said slowly. "Not only did you escape her, but her payment escaped my bank accounts. And your ring escaped my pocket. So I'm beginning to think Baryshnikov was a saviour of some kind, and she was only there to rescue you."
"You have to be kidding," Wheeler said, refusing to look in Linka's direction. "She just outsmarted you, Plunder." He settled himself carefully, arranging himself so Linka was still partially hidden between him and the wall. "And I outsmarted her."
Plunder scoffed. "No matter," he said quietly. "Things are still going my way."
"I'd applaud you, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment," Wheeler shot back, jingling the handcuffs that held his hand against the wall.
Plunder ignored him, and got to his feet. "Yes," he sighed loudly. "One Planeteer about to be traded away – one already dead." He glanced down at Wheeler. "Soon to be two."
Wheeler fumed, and it was only because Linka looped her free arm around his waist he calmed down.
Plunder sauntered away to join Bleak at the controls, and Linka turned to Wheeler, her face tear-streaked.
"Do you really think Gi is dead?" she asked. Her voice sounded strained and far away.
"No," Wheeler whispered fiercely. "They got her to a hospital, babe. She'll be fine. Don't let Plunder get to you."
"You should not have come with me," she whispered. "He does not want to hurt me because he needs to hand me over to Blight – but you... He will not hesitate..." Her voice cracked and another tear ran down her cheek.
"Hey, babe," he whispered. "It's okay, don't cry. We'll be all right. The others will work something out. It's gonna be okay."
Wanting distraction, he looked up to their linked hands and ran his thumb along her index finger.
"Hey," he whispered, nuzzling her ear gently. "Remember my last day at Planet Traffic? We went out to dinner to celebrate."
She nodded, her tears drying. She could remember the freezing rain pouring down in torrents, and the traffic in New York was chaos. She and Wheeler were looking forward to their return to Hope Island after five long years away, and had spent the evening with wine and rich food, flirting and conversing across a table in low candlelight.
"Remember the walk home?" Wheeler asked softly, twining his fingers into hers.
"We bought the evening papers to use as umbrellas against the rain," she said dreamily, her head on his shoulder. "We were soaked through by the time we got home."
He grinned, and used his free hand to circle her free wrist gently, bringing it to his mouth and kissing the thin, delicate skin there. "Remember what happened when we got home?" He tugged on the handcuffs slightly, jolting her wrist just enough to make her feel it, and she smiled and buried her face in his jacket.
She was pulling at his clothes, addicted to the naked skin beneath and wanting to feel it against her own. They were near the bed now, and he had successfully peeled the zip of her dress down, slipping his hands in against the warm skin of her back.
"We should get you out of this wet dress," he whispered. "You'll catch your death." He tugged it down and it pooled at her feet, damp and heavy thanks to the rain that still streamed against the windows, distorting the city lights that twinkled outside. She could feel the cool air of the bedroom on her skin.
"If you were a gentleman, you would pick that up and hang it over the tub so it could dry," she whispered jokingly, her arms around his neck and her lips on his jaw.
"You telling me I'm not a gentleman?" he growled, falling forwards and landing on the bed with her sprawled beneath him.
She laughed, and he covered her face and her neck with rough kisses, pulling her wrists above her head to pin them against the mattress and stretch her body out under his. "Prove me wrong, Yankee," she breathed, curling her legs tightly around his waist.
"Maybe I don't feel like it," he said, nipping her earlobe gently. "A gentleman certainly wouldn't be considering half of the things going through my head right now."
It took her a moment to notice his hands had left hers and were busy unclipping her bra – but her hands were still trapped up above her head. Craning her head, she could see the dark material of his tie, roped securely around her wrists and the headboard, holding her hands trapped.
"Bozhe moy, Wheeler," she gasped.
"Tell me to stop, I will," he breathed, dragging his nose lightly down the side of her neck, pressing kisses at the base of her throat and down to the swells of her breasts. "Tell me to let you go and I'll undo it..." His voice got lost in her skin as he moved his way further down her body, down the pale skin of her stomach.
She blinked her eyes open again, the memory hitting her with full force and making her pleasurably dizzy. Reality, however, dampened everything back into harsh clarity.
"Remember?" Wheeler whispered, his lips against her forehead.
She smiled. "Do you honestly think I would forget that?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Too bad Plunder and Bleak are here, really."
She rolled her eyes and curled into him. "This has all been a disaster," she said, feeling frightened again now that the glow of the memory had worn away. "We should never have come here."
"We're gonna be okay," he said. His voice lacked the conviction he wished he could feel.
Truth be told, he was scared as hell.
x
Ma-Ti sighed heavily as he saw the police officers striding up the corridor towards him. Here we go, he thought wearily.
"Are you Ma-Ti?"
He nodded. "Yes. I brought in the gunshot victim a little while ago."
"We need to talk to you about why your friend was shot. You need to come with us."
He nodded and rubbed his hands wearily over his face. "I know. But look – I cannot leave her, yet. I need to stay until she wakes up."
"This is not exactly negotiable," the second officer said in a hard voice.
Ma-Ti fished around in his pocket and brought out a small, glossy plastic card. "Run this through your systems, okay? It will answer a lot of your questions and save us all a lot of time."
The first officer – the one Ma-Ti, for some reason, felt a little more trusting towards – took the card in his hands and nodded. He muttered something in Russian to his colleague and walked away to radio in the card details.
Ma-Ti wasn't exactly sure if the card could save him, right now. Gaia had handed one to each Planeteer with a warning that it was important and not to lose it.
Linka had run a check on her own card through one of the systems in the geo-cruiser, and they had been awed and privately delighted to find that the information labelled them as secret, international government operatives. High-ranking and top-secret, bound by very little law or jurisdiction. The United Nations were supposed to have founded the Planeteers, but Ma-Ti wasn't sure if this was true or if Gaia had simply stated this for ease.
Not ever having been in the situation he was in now, Ma-Ti wasn't sure what he was going to do if the Russian police didn't believe the card.
It turned out he didn't need to worry. The police officer handed his card back to him and muttered something to his companion.
"We will need to run further checks on that information," he said, nodding to the card as Ma-Ti tucked it back into his pocket.
Ma-Ti nodded. "I understand."
"We will need to find you again, so you are not to leave the city limits without notifying us."
Ma-Ti shook his head. "I won't. I'll be here with my friend until she is well enough to leave."
"And we wish to speak to the other gentleman you had with you."
"I can get in touch with him for you – but he has a card like mine, if you are wondering. It may be some time before I can get hold of him. He has gone after the man who shot our friend."
The officer nodded. "That is why we are here. Do you have time to talk now?"
Ma-Ti nodded wearily, and the officers sat down opposite him as he ran over every item of information he could. He explained Plunder to them, and what they thought he was up to. He told them about the cellar Wheeler had been kept in, and his doubts as to whether or not others had passed through there previously.
"And now he has two other Planeteers with him," Ma-Ti said, his voice low and tired. "Kwame has gone after him. All we know is they are headed west."
"He will not get far," the first officer said. "We will send somebody to check the cellars your friend was held in."
The second officer was having trouble believing Ma-Ti, and he was too tired to probe into any trust or warmth with the powers of his ring. He was very tired, suddenly, and his grief and worry had caught up to him. He wanted to find a doctor and enquire about Gi.
"Can we leave it here, now?" he asked desperately. "I wish to go and find my friend Gi."
"We will be back in the morning," the officer nodded, flipping through his notes. "We will have an alert out for this man Plunder."
They walked away, and Ma-Ti could hear the second officer arguing vehemently in Russian, gesturing wildly. He was too exhausted to try and convince him any further. He hoped the first officer – the one who had done all the talking – was enough to ensure the authorities would be after Plunder now.
"Hello?"
He looked up at the voice. The doctor.
"Your friend," the doctor said. "You can see her."
"Is she all right?" Ma-Ti asked anxiously, hurrying after her.
"She lost a lot of blood," she answered, her voice severe. "Of course we are doing what we can. Your friend is young and strong. There is a very good chance she will recover." She waved him into the room. "You cannot stay long. She will not wake for some time. You can come back and see her tomorrow when she is awake."
Ma-Ti hurried past and leaned anxiously over Gi. Her face was pale – blue shadows under her eyes. The pillows and the blankets and the bandages were all crisp and white and clean, and Ma-Ti breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of blood seeping out everywhere.
He sank into a chair beside the bed, exhausted.
x
Kwame glanced nervously towards his makeshift auto-pilot arrangements. The auto-pilot system appeared to be down, so he had settled for simply roping the controls into the right position, using a length of rope from one of the camping kits and looping it around his seat. He'd had to creep to the back to try and repair the shattered window. It was creating too much drag and burning up precious energy he couldn't afford the geo-cruiser to lose.
He'd managed to secure a sheet of plastic across the window. It wasn't perfect, but it improved the situation enough to satisfy him for now. The other repairs would have to wait until he was forced to land – and he was sure that moment wasn't far away.
Kwame?
He jumped, and realised it was Ma-Ti trying to contact him.
How is Gi? he asked immediately, sitting back in the pilot's seat and taking the controls into his hands again.
Out of surgery. She is not awake yet. The doctors say she has lost a lot of blood, but she is young and strong. They expect her to recover.
Kwame breathed a sigh of relief, a huge weight suddenly lifting itself from his shoulders. That is wonderful news.
I am going to stay with her. How are you going? Have you caught sight of Plunder yet?
He is not far ahead. I managed to catch up thanks to the emergency fuel reserve, but I am down to fumes now, and relying on the little solar energy I have left. Are Wheeler and Linka all right?
I think so. I can hear Wheeler and Linka quite well. I think because they are together. I have not tried to contact them properly, yet. I have been waiting for Gi – and dealing with the police.
Any problems?
Surprisingly few. There are searches being put out for Plunder. I am going to try and contact Wheeler and Linka, soon. The more information we have, the sooner we can find them.
Good. Hurry, Ma-Ti. I am not sure I can keep up with them in the geo-cruiser. There is too much damage.
x
"You know what?" Wheeler whispered, nudging Linka gently.
"What?" she asked tiredly. With his arm around her, she was beginning to feel secure and sleepy – something she probably couldn't afford. She made the effort to rouse herself.
"We're so stupid," Wheeler said, chuckling slightly. "We haven't even tried to find Ma-Ti. And two voices are louder than one."
They bent their heads together and closed their eyes, focusing their thoughts on the Heart Planeteer.
They got a reply almost immediately. I was wondering when the two of you would remember me.
Wheeler grinned, and spoke for both himself and Linka. Sorry, Ma-Ti. We're glad to hear from you now, though. How's Gi?
Still sleeping. The doctors say she is going to recover, but it will take time.
Linka couldn't help it. She buried her face in Wheeler's sleeve, sobbing quietly with relief.
It is hard to focus on you, Ma-Ti said. Does Plunder have your rings?
Yeah. No idea where we're headed, either. Linka thinks he's going to find Blight. We think maybe Doctor Demented wants to get revenge for Linka destroying MAL.
Maybe, Ma-Ti answered slowly. You are headed west. That is about as much as I can tell you. Kwame is following you in the geo-cruiser, but it is slow going. She is heavily damaged thanks to Bleak shooting out the solar panels.
Is Kwame okay? Linka asked anxiously.
I think so. Just worried. Listen, I will get in touch with you later. The doctor is coming and I want to ask a few more questions about Gi. Be careful, and call if you need anything.
They both felt very alone when Ma-Ti's presence faded away from them.
"You okay?" Wheeler asked Linka, not liking the nervousness and anxiety that had returned to his stomach once Ma-Ti had left them.
"Nyet, not really," she admitted quietly. "I am glad Gi is okay, but you and I are not exactly free to celebrate everything just yet."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." He kissed her temple. "Let's distract ourselves."
"Bozhe moy," she muttered. "Are you thinking of more games?" she asked, rattling the handcuff chain that linked them.
He chuckled. "Well I'm up for it if you are."
"Are you ever going to grow up, Yankee?" she asked quietly, raising her eyebrow at him.
"Hope not," he answered, grinning boyishly at her. "And I thought you'd know that by now."
"Da, I suppose I do," she sighed. "I think I can love you in spite of it."
He curled his free arm around her, pulling her closer. "Remember my 18th birthday?" he asked suddenly.
She blinked, surprised, and then thought back. "I think so," she said. "Why?"
"No reason, really. I just think of it when I'm trying to remember things to cheer myself up. It was my first birthday away from home, and it was the best birthday I'd ever had. I spent most of the day trying to get you to kiss me."
"I remember," she said, smiling. "Did I give in?"
"You gave me a kiss on the cheek," he said, sounding smug. "I considered it a win."
"Gi and I baked you a cake," she said slowly, smiling at the memory. "Chocolate."
He grinned. "Yeah, I remember. Bit burnt around the edges, wasn't it?"
She buried her face in his jacket, resisting the sudden urge to giggle. "Da. We got distracted talking about you."
"Oh yeah?"
She nodded. "It was the first time I admitted to her that you were so handsome," she breathed, fluttering her eyelashes.
He snorted and suddenly she giggled, and they both started to laugh.
"Glad they find the situation so amusing," Bleak muttered, glaring out into the darkness in front of the helicopter.
"Why don't you go back there and give them something to cry about, if it's bothering you?" Plunder asked, striking a match to light his cigar. He was in a fantastic mood, despite still feeling sore about the matter with Baryshnikov. As far as he was concerned, he was still up on the world. He was sure Bleak's bullet had killed the Water Planeteer, and he was planning on dropping the Fire Planeteer out of the helicopter and into the middle of the ocean at the first chance he got. After that, he could hand the blonde over to Robert Welling and dust his hands of the whole matter.
Human trading, he had decided, had cost him more than it was worth. Having to do business with people like Baryshnikov had suddenly put him off the idea. Being outsmarted stung badly, and he wanted to forget the situation altogether. He decided he needed to get back to basics – bulldozing a rainforest or destroying a nature reserve seemed like a good idea – and a way to blow off his pent-up rage and energy.
Another giggle from the back of the helicopter prompted Bleak into action. "That's it," he muttered, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I know you want him in the ocean, boss, but I figure a fall from this height will kill him either way."
Plunder shrugged and dragged on his cigar. Really, it made very little difference to him.
Bleak made his way back to Wheeler and Linka. "Time for you and the merchandise to separate," he sneered, holding his gun out.
"I'm quite comfortable here, thanks," Wheeler answered.
Bleak tossed the handcuff keys at him. "Take the cuffs off your wrist and link them to the handle, Pyro. Keep her locked there."
"Nah, I'm okay with things the way they are," Wheeler said, lifting his chin defiantly.
Bleak cocked his pistol. "I'm not gonna shoot you, punk," he whispered. "So go ahead and be a smartass. The first bullet will go through your girlfriend's ankle."
Linka flinched and Wheeler glared up at Plunder's henchman. "That'll lower your profit margin a bit, won't it?" he asked. His voice shook slightly.
"Not makin' any profit from 'er," Bleak muttered. "Just handin' her over, and I don't give a fuck whether it's in one piece or not."
Wheeler clenched his jaw, his mind running wild and trying to find a way out of this.
"I'm not gonna ask again," Bleak said softly, tilting the gun. His eyes glinted and Linka's blood turned to ice water. She wanted to faint at the sight of the sick happiness Bleak was unsuccessfully trying to hide.
Wheeler lifted the key to the lock in the cuffs, and Linka sobbed, despite her best efforts not to.
"Nyet, Wheeler, please," she said. "Stay with me here..."
"It'll be okay, baby," he whispered calmly. "Everything will be okay."
She shook her head and gripped his shirt in her free hand, wrapping the fabric around her fist. "Stop," she pleaded. "Stop..."
The cuff around Wheeler's wrist opened, and he squeezed it shut around the bar set into the wall, ensuring Linka was held firm.
"You would not let me come alone," she said hysterically, tears streaming down her face. "Do not leave me now, please..."
"Hey, it'll be okay," he soothed gently, taking her face in his hands. "We're in a helicopter, babe." He grinned at her. "I can't go far."
She hiccupped and clutched him tightly, staring at him with panicked eyes. "Ya tebya lyublyu," she whispered. "Ne pukeedat mne..."
"I love you too," he whispered back, understanding the first half of her sentence perfectly.
"Enough of this shit," Bleak snapped, hauling Wheeler up by his collar and jamming the gun between his shoulder blades. "Move it."
"Nyet, ne pukeedat mne," Linka sobbed, clutching Wheeler's leg.
He glanced down at her worriedly, not sure what she was saying, but Bleak shoved him forward.
"Want me to ride shotgun with you?" Wheeler asked, wincing as Bleak's haste forced him to put his full weight on his sore knee.
"Shut up, smartass," Bleak muttered. "Time for you to leave."
Wheeler felt a sudden flare of fear rise up in his stomach and along his spine. "Oh yeah?" he asked. His voice sounded weak and shaky.
Linka shrieked as Bleak threw the side door open. The roar of wind and the rotors drowned out further noise.
"Shit," Wheeler gasped. His panicked eyes ran over Plunder, looking back over his shoulder with a cigar in his teeth and a look of smug satisfaction on his face. He saw the empty seats, Plunder's jacket draped across one and fluttering madly against the trauma of the atmosphere roaring into the helicopter. He saw Bleak raise his hand and he felt it slam against his chest, knocking him backwards, but his eyes were locked on Linka. She stared back at him helplessly, terror written across her pretty face, and even as he fell, and the throb of the rotors and the roar of the wind around him were in his ears, he heard her scream.
x
Miles away, Ma-Ti clutched his heart and went white, his breath leaving his lungs in a long, drawn out scream of pain and terror.
XX