~~~~Chapter Four~~~~
Roaring down the dirt road, Sally headed for HQ. Out of the corner of her
eye, Sally saw Wufei looking down at her boots and socks, which were lying on
the floorboard next to his feet.
"I didn't have time to put them back on after I heard my pager go off."
Ignoring the odd feelings of the pedals underneath her bare feet and her
damp pants legs rolled up to her knees, she kept her attention on the street
as they entered traffic.
"So what's the emergency?" Wufei inquired, putting his seat belt on.
"What? Didn't you hear it over the radio?" Sally asked.
She saw the movement of Wufei shaking his head "I wasn't standing close
enough to the car."
"I didn't catch everything being said. Just enough to know that Lady Une was
calling for all Preventers still on Earth to go to HQ." Narrowing her eyes
Sally pondered what could have made Lady Une take such actions.
'I'll know soon enough.'
Looking once more at her partner, she noted that he had the same look as any
other time when being called to duty and action. 'He doesn't seem to suspect
a thing,' she thought with more than a small amount of relief. 'With Wufei,
there's no telling what he'd do if he found out.'
Reaching their destination, Sally pulled into her usual parking space. "This
place is so full! It's a wonder this slot is still empty" She stated calmly,
turning the engine off.
"Go in ahead of me," Sally said, leaning over to grab her shoes "I'll be in
A.S.A.P."
"Sure" Wufei said, tossing her socks in her direction. "Find any shells?" he
asked, getting out.
Sally blinked at her partner not knowing what he was talking about. "What
shells?"
"At the beach, did you get any shells?" A small smile pulled at the edges of
his lips as he glanced down at her pant legs.
"Uh..." Sally yanked on a sock once again wondering if he knew. "No, but...
hey you better get in there."
Turning with one last smile Wufei headed into the building, where he'd most
likely find the source of the emergency.
After getting her last sock on and shoes on, Sally began to role her pants
legs down. The sound of an old car backfiring brought her head up with her
right hand ready to pull out her gun, which was holstered on her left hip.
An old model 179 AC car pulled in. It was missing a back bumper, but Sally
recognized it as an old classic. She also knew she had seen Wufei standing
by it before they had left the beach. 'Who does it belong to?' she questioned
silently in her mind.
Making sure her uniform was in fairly good condition, she got out of her car.
The black car parked a few parking spaces behind her. Not waiting to see who
got out, Sally headed straight for the building.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Practically jumping out of Hilde's car, Duo wondered if he should shout for
Sally to wait up. 'Nah, I'll see her inside' he thought.
"Thanks for the lift! I'll call you at home if I can." Duo said to Hilde.
Hilde's grip on the steering wheel tightened. He knew she wanted to go in
with him, to go plunging head first into whatever danger awaited him, and
anything that would endanger the peace of Earth and the colonies.
"Go home. I'll keep you as updated as I can with out breaking the rules."
Duo hoped his voice was firm with out being too pushy.
"This is exactly why I should join the Preventers!" Hilde said, looking him
straight in his eyes. "You know I'd be just as good as the next guy, and
then I wouldn't have to be sitting at home while my friend is risking his
life!"
Duo sighed. They had been through this before. "You're not a Preventer right
now, so let me go and do my job without having to worry about you."
Hilde nodded, but it was clear that the conversation was not over, just on
hold.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What? A joke?" Wufei said dumbly, looking at Quatre.
Quatre nodded. "You weren't the only one to come here for nothing. Trowa
was baby-sitting some kid from the circus for Catherine. When Trowa turned
his back for one minute the kid had snuck into the dispatch room and began
calling for everyone. Using Lady Une's name helped convince some people
that it was real."
Eyes dancing with some amusement, Quatre took a sip of his coffee.
Wufei could not see any humor in the situation at all. Turning to see what
Quatre was looking at over his shoulder, he spotted Sally. She was running
in, her boots making strange squishing sounds, her hair slightly messed up
from the ocean's spray, and her face flushed.
Sally stopped in front of them trying to catch her breath. "Wha...." she
gasped a little, holding her side. "What happened?"
Before Wufei could say anything Quatre had a chair pulled out "Have a seat
Ma'am."
Her face speaking volumes of gratitude, Sally sat down.
"Well, what happened?" She asked when she had her breath back.
Duo came up behind her, he too look liked he had ran the whole way,
'and through water too' Wufei noted as water dripped from Duos pants.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Duo asked, echoing Sally's question.
As Quatre went into the story one more time, Wufei walked over to his desk,
his mind on his two wet friends.
Wufei took a peek out of his office window. The sun was shining just as
brightly as it had when he was walking on the beach, talking to Hilde, and
then having his nose cleaned.
"Hilde Schbeiker," he said quietly. It was a nice sound.
A loud "Cerblung!" caused him to look down into the parking lot. A black car
that looked ready to break down was pulling out. "It looks like Hannah, even
missing a bumper!" He said, speaking to himself.
"Hmm?" Sally asked, sitting in her desk across from him.
"Nothing," looking to where the car was driving off. 'Did she follow me? Why
would she do that?'
Pushing the thought away for the time being, Wufei sat down to finish the
paper work from that morning, before he had gone on that bizarre coffee
break with Sally.
'I'll just have to find out later.'
Roaring down the dirt road, Sally headed for HQ. Out of the corner of her
eye, Sally saw Wufei looking down at her boots and socks, which were lying on
the floorboard next to his feet.
"I didn't have time to put them back on after I heard my pager go off."
Ignoring the odd feelings of the pedals underneath her bare feet and her
damp pants legs rolled up to her knees, she kept her attention on the street
as they entered traffic.
"So what's the emergency?" Wufei inquired, putting his seat belt on.
"What? Didn't you hear it over the radio?" Sally asked.
She saw the movement of Wufei shaking his head "I wasn't standing close
enough to the car."
"I didn't catch everything being said. Just enough to know that Lady Une was
calling for all Preventers still on Earth to go to HQ." Narrowing her eyes
Sally pondered what could have made Lady Une take such actions.
'I'll know soon enough.'
Looking once more at her partner, she noted that he had the same look as any
other time when being called to duty and action. 'He doesn't seem to suspect
a thing,' she thought with more than a small amount of relief. 'With Wufei,
there's no telling what he'd do if he found out.'
Reaching their destination, Sally pulled into her usual parking space. "This
place is so full! It's a wonder this slot is still empty" She stated calmly,
turning the engine off.
"Go in ahead of me," Sally said, leaning over to grab her shoes "I'll be in
A.S.A.P."
"Sure" Wufei said, tossing her socks in her direction. "Find any shells?" he
asked, getting out.
Sally blinked at her partner not knowing what he was talking about. "What
shells?"
"At the beach, did you get any shells?" A small smile pulled at the edges of
his lips as he glanced down at her pant legs.
"Uh..." Sally yanked on a sock once again wondering if he knew. "No, but...
hey you better get in there."
Turning with one last smile Wufei headed into the building, where he'd most
likely find the source of the emergency.
After getting her last sock on and shoes on, Sally began to role her pants
legs down. The sound of an old car backfiring brought her head up with her
right hand ready to pull out her gun, which was holstered on her left hip.
An old model 179 AC car pulled in. It was missing a back bumper, but Sally
recognized it as an old classic. She also knew she had seen Wufei standing
by it before they had left the beach. 'Who does it belong to?' she questioned
silently in her mind.
Making sure her uniform was in fairly good condition, she got out of her car.
The black car parked a few parking spaces behind her. Not waiting to see who
got out, Sally headed straight for the building.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Practically jumping out of Hilde's car, Duo wondered if he should shout for
Sally to wait up. 'Nah, I'll see her inside' he thought.
"Thanks for the lift! I'll call you at home if I can." Duo said to Hilde.
Hilde's grip on the steering wheel tightened. He knew she wanted to go in
with him, to go plunging head first into whatever danger awaited him, and
anything that would endanger the peace of Earth and the colonies.
"Go home. I'll keep you as updated as I can with out breaking the rules."
Duo hoped his voice was firm with out being too pushy.
"This is exactly why I should join the Preventers!" Hilde said, looking him
straight in his eyes. "You know I'd be just as good as the next guy, and
then I wouldn't have to be sitting at home while my friend is risking his
life!"
Duo sighed. They had been through this before. "You're not a Preventer right
now, so let me go and do my job without having to worry about you."
Hilde nodded, but it was clear that the conversation was not over, just on
hold.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What? A joke?" Wufei said dumbly, looking at Quatre.
Quatre nodded. "You weren't the only one to come here for nothing. Trowa
was baby-sitting some kid from the circus for Catherine. When Trowa turned
his back for one minute the kid had snuck into the dispatch room and began
calling for everyone. Using Lady Une's name helped convince some people
that it was real."
Eyes dancing with some amusement, Quatre took a sip of his coffee.
Wufei could not see any humor in the situation at all. Turning to see what
Quatre was looking at over his shoulder, he spotted Sally. She was running
in, her boots making strange squishing sounds, her hair slightly messed up
from the ocean's spray, and her face flushed.
Sally stopped in front of them trying to catch her breath. "Wha...." she
gasped a little, holding her side. "What happened?"
Before Wufei could say anything Quatre had a chair pulled out "Have a seat
Ma'am."
Her face speaking volumes of gratitude, Sally sat down.
"Well, what happened?" She asked when she had her breath back.
Duo came up behind her, he too look liked he had ran the whole way,
'and through water too' Wufei noted as water dripped from Duos pants.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Duo asked, echoing Sally's question.
As Quatre went into the story one more time, Wufei walked over to his desk,
his mind on his two wet friends.
Wufei took a peek out of his office window. The sun was shining just as
brightly as it had when he was walking on the beach, talking to Hilde, and
then having his nose cleaned.
"Hilde Schbeiker," he said quietly. It was a nice sound.
A loud "Cerblung!" caused him to look down into the parking lot. A black car
that looked ready to break down was pulling out. "It looks like Hannah, even
missing a bumper!" He said, speaking to himself.
"Hmm?" Sally asked, sitting in her desk across from him.
"Nothing," looking to where the car was driving off. 'Did she follow me? Why
would she do that?'
Pushing the thought away for the time being, Wufei sat down to finish the
paper work from that morning, before he had gone on that bizarre coffee
break with Sally.
'I'll just have to find out later.'