CHAPTER 5


When Dorothy woke up, she couldn't remember going to sleep. She tried to raise her head to see what the time was on her bedside clock, but cried out as pain spread through her body and overwhelmed her.

Once her senses unfogged, she realised she could hear a whirring noise, and feel a draft coming from somewhere. She sat up, a lot more carefully than before, and guessed from looking around that she was in the freight carriage of a train. She was lying on and surrounded by wooden crates, and could feel many splinters in her legs, no doubt laddering her tights. She rubbed her head and thought bitterly that Wufei must have just thrown her in there.

Her eyes widened. Wufei! She jumped to her feet only to collapse down again, hands clamped over her throbbing skull. When she clambered to her feet once more, it was slowly, with the help of the boxes and taking into account the motion of the train.

It was dark, but a blind person would have noticed him.

Preventer Chang Wufei lay huddled in a corner of the carriage, slumped over a box in a crumpled white shirt and black trousers. He appeared to be asleep, so she whispered, "Wufei! Wufei, wake up!"

Normally, that would have been enough to have him on his feet with katana in hand, but today, nothing. Frowning, she crawled over to him. "Wufei!" She touched his shoulder to shake him awake and gasped at how cold it was. That's strange, she thought, puzzled. I feel quite warm...

For the first time, she realised that she was wearing Wufei's dinner jacket. Crying out, she unbuttoned it and tried with shaking fingers to lay it over him.

Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and she found herself flat on her back with Wufei astride her, pressing his hand to her throat. "Wu...fei..." she croaked, but had to fall back to strangled noises as he pressed down even harder, his eyes wild and unfocused.

She blinked as something touched her face. Even in the confusion, she could see that it was blood, Wufei's blood, and could make out a dark stain on his formerly white shirt.

By now, her eyes were beginning to roll into her head, and she resigned herself to unconsciousness once more...

Her breath came back in gasps, and her eyes fluttered wide open again. Wufei's grip had relaxed, but his eyes were glazed over. They gently shut as he collapsed over her.

Dorothy could feel his heartbeat against her chest, calming down in time with her own. She realised she was trembling, and focused on slowing her breathing.

Wufei was still covering her. Part of her had wanted to push him off immediately, but the practical side of her appreciated the protection from the bitter cold. She felt guilty, knowing he was wounded and needed help, but decided with a biased rationality that she couldn't do anything anyway until she was calmer and warmer.

She felt her eyelids begin to droop and snapped them wide open, sitting up and throwing Wufei from her. He fell with a thud onto the wooden boxes. Dorothy felt her eyes becoming heavier, and slapped her face hard, first on one cheek, then the other. She couldn't fall asleep! Her stinging cheeks served to remind her that if she fell asleep without helping Wufei, he'd probably die.

Her eyes strayed to the black blazer he'd cast off, and she felt her conscience twinge. He'd been injured, freezing and exhausted, but he'd still given her his jacket. It seemed that Chang Wufei took his work very seriously.

Examining his wound, she was shocked to see that it was from a gunshot, just below his collarbone and by his left shoulder. His arm must have been dead, she thought in amazement. How in the world did he get me here?

She went to rip off a strip of her skirt, but discovered that that was a lot harder to do than they'd made it sound in books. She racked her brains to think of another solution that didn't involve tearing.

I've got it! She cringed slightly, but pulled off her tights, long enough to be used as a bandage. However, she appraised them and decided that they'd be too thin for the task, that the blood would seep right through.

Suddenly, she had it. Blushing slightly, she pulled off Wufei's already bloodstained shirt, which was, again, surprisingly difficult. She felt extremely awkward and clumsy as his arms flopped heavily and she tore the shirt several times. Typical, she thought sourly. This one tears just fine...

However, after a fair amount of time and effort, it was finally off, and she could see for herself how much blood there was. She paled, and cursed herself for waiting for her selfish warmth to come back.

She wadded up his shirt and laid it over his shoulder, pressing it down on both sides. After a few moments, she used her tights to bind it into place as hard as possible, then put his black jacket on over the bandage to keep him warm.

He shivered as he lay there, and she positioned his body, curling him up as small as possible. The more body heat he conserved, the better. She sat upright next to him, refusing to fall asleep until she was certain he'd be okay.

After all, he'd saved her life. Dorothy had no doubt that the bullet was meant for her, and that had he not been there, it would have met its target. Also, she didn't know where they were headed; she might actually need his help.

With these thoughts ringing through her mind, she steeled herself against the cold and concentrated on staying awake.




When Wufei opened his eyes, pain seared through his body, enough to make him wince. He could see Dorothy with her knees pulled up to her chest, shivering in the cold, staring straight ahead with vacant eyes. He wondered how long he'd been asleep.

Suddenly his brain clicked on, and he understood properly that Dorothy was shivering. As the draft whipped his face sharply, he could imagine how cold she must be. Feeling the warmth of his blazer over him, he realised what she had done, and what it would cost her if she didn't get her body temperature up soon.

If he didn't get her body temperature up soon.

"Dorothy," he said hoarsely. She started at the sound of his voice, but breathed a sigh of relief, teeth chattering.

"A-Ab-b-bout t-t-time y-you w-w-were a-a-a-awa-wake," she managed.

It felt like his bones splintered as he sat up. She didn't help him, just stared at him as if her reflexes were numbed.

She jumped as he laid his hand on her arm and pulled her closer. Slowly and painfully, he forced his arm to stretch around her and pulled her close, rubbing her arms to warm her up.

"H-H-H-Hey, d-d-don't g-get t-t-t-too f-f-friendly..."

He pulled his arms back sharply, ignoring the complaints his bones creaked at him. "Fine then, freeze!" he snapped, regretting it instantly when he saw the mortified _expression on her face.

"P-P-Please Wu-Wu-Wufei, I'm f-f-f-freezing..."

He relented and pulled her back to him, rubbing his hands over her arms, back, chest and legs, ignoring how embarrassing this would be if it were a normal situation and concentrating on forcing her blood to flow.

Her bare skin was like porcelain in winter; as white as she was, she obviously didn't have outstanding circulation to begin with. When he was sure she was warm enough to survive, he opened his jacket and shuddered involuntarily at the rush of cold it let in. Ignoring it, he pulled her towards him and held her close.

She stiffened. "Hey, w-what are you doing?" she cried out. "This is...I-It's..."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm your bodyguard, Dorothy," he said with what he felt was a suitable amount of bite. "I'm keeping your heart beating."

She relaxed slightly, and he wrapped the front of his jacket around her, continuing to rub her back with his hands as they lay down facing each other.

He fought the urge to start shivering himself as she folded her arms in front of her, trapping them between her chest and his. In a way, he was grateful; her icy fingers chilled any awkwardness out of him.

Gradually, Dorothy regained her own body warmth and began to share some of it with Wufei. Now feeling much more alert than before, he allowed himself to slip into a light sleep, to wake up the moment the train slowed.




Dorothy didn't know how many hours had passed by the time she woke up. She tried to open her eyes, but discovered that her face was pressed into her arms. She attempted moving her arms out of the way, but found that there was resistance for some reason.

As her mind sharpened, she realised that she was gagged, tied up, and trapped in a confined space that could well be a box.

She tried to scream, but her throat refused to make any noise. She tried to move, but found her limbs heavily weighed down. If it could have, her breathing would have increased sharply as she imagined the drugs through her system.

Where was Wufei? Why had he let her get trapped? The only answer could be that he was dead.

She felt stunned and terrified. Anyone who was able to kill Wufei was capable of terrible, terrible things. She shut her eyes and began to run through worst case scenarios in her head.

More hours passed until she heard the sweet sound of nails being pried from the wood around her. At least, it seemed sweet when she thought of freedom, but filled her stomach with dread when she realised she was about to come face to face with Wufei's killer.

Eventually, the lid was pulled off, and she was dragged out. As she levelled out, she discovered she was being carried in someone's arms, and looked up to see...

Wufei?

Her surprise became anger. How dare he lock her up in a box?! She had thought he was looking out for her, getting over his own prudery to warm her beyond danger levels, sacrificing his own body heat to save her...

And now here she was, Dorothy the jack-in-the-box, waiting for an explanation.

To give him credit, he still seemed to be considering her welfare. He lay her down on a bed that might even be comfortable - she was still too drugged to feel much. She heard the scraping of a stool, but couldn't see a thing until he placed his hands on her head and tilted it to the side.

Wufei had to smile at the sight of her. Dorothy Catalonia, helpless and vulnerable? The very concept would be amusing to anyone who knew her, and the reality was enough to make him break into a grin.

Dorothy was furious. The man who trapped her in a box was laughing at her! It infuriated her even more to know that she couldn't do a thing about it. Her emotion was overwhelming, too much to contain, and a single tear of pure frustration rolled down her cheek.

Wufei made an effort to hide his smile, and he brushed the tear away with his thumb. "Don't be afraid," he said calmly, in what he evidently thought was a soothing voice.

I'm not afraid, I'm going to kill you! she wanted to scream, but settled instead for what she fervently hoped was a glare.

Wufei felt a stir of compassion in his heart; she looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, as the old earthling saying went. She didn't know of a single decision he'd made since the assassination attempt, and was probably terrified.

Maybe Dorothy Catalonia was more fragile than he'd thought? He decided to try and ease her mind a little.

"A few days ago, someone tried to shoot you at that ball," he began. "I managed to get you out of the way, but you hit the ground hard and were knocked out. Now you need to lie low until they've located the Prisoners."

Don't I get a say in this? Dorothy screamed inside her head. She wondered why her inner voice only seemed to scream, but decided it was because she wasn't used to so much forced introspection.

"I managed to smuggle us aboard a freight train. I figured it would be cold, but worth it." He cleared his throat. "But I'm sure you want to know why you were in a box."

Do you think so, Wufei? Her inner voice was quieter now, but made up for the decrease in volume with an increase of sarcasm.

He continued obliviously, as she had known he would.

"Look, I know it probably scared you or something, but I needed to find some way to get you out of there without looking conspicuous, there were people everywhere."

If there were people everywhere, then why would I look conspicuous, Wufei? she thought with a rising amount of trepidation. Where are we?

He opened a drawer and pulled out a box and a brush. "The other thing we're going to have to do is dye your hair. Right now, anyone could find you in a crowd..."

Where are we, Wufei?

"Because we're in Hong Kong."

She shut her eyes. Perfect, one of the few places in the world where blonde hair really stands out...

"In a way, it's quite fortunate, we should fit in fairly easily here, if you dye your hair."

Don't you touch my hair Wufei.

"I think you might have some objections to this, so I'll do it now, before the sedative wears off."

I hate you Wufei, I just want you to know that. I hate you.

"Here's what we're going to do," he said firmly as he scrubbed the dye into her hair. "I've hired this house telling people I'm a teacher in Europe, but I've moved here for a break after my wife had a miscarriage."

Oh no...

"That's you, Dorothy. Your name's Heidi Wong. You're Swedish."

She hoped he was feeling bad about this, and wished she could let him know how much worse he'd be feeling before she was through with him.

He sighed. "Look, it was the safest thing I could think of. This way, we've got a reason to seem sort of awkward with each other, after the emotional trauma and everything, and it's too sensitive a subject for anyone to bring up lightly. It's as good a reason as any to hire a place suddenly and only stay for a short while."

He said "emotional trauma" with such disdain that Dorothy would have been amused, but at that moment he rinsed his hands and the water ran purple. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to imagine the shining blonde hair she'd spent her life cultivating being distorted to black.

"It's not so bad."

He was trying to comfort her! She felt angry all over again.

"We're right by the river, the vegetable patch is full, and there's a clean water pump on the property. We'll be able to support ourselves with little intervention from others. We've really been very fortunate."

I'll give you fortunate...

It was well into the dead of night when Dorothy was able to move again. Her nose itched, and she scratched it out of reflex, laying her arm back down afterwards. It took her another few minutes before realising what she'd just done.

She sat up slowly, and the bed was so hard that she didn't make a sound. On closer reflection, she realised that the "bed" was in fact a sofa. Wufei had apparently taken the bed for himself. Nice, she thought dryly, Very chivalrous...

The first thing she did was to find a mirror. She could remember where the bathroom was from the hair dye incident, and was thankful to see a fairly large, plain sheet mirror on the wall.

It was murky and cracked, with a couple of the corners chipped off, but it was there. She had been beginning to wonder, this hovel seemed to be the depths of squalor. And Wufei had mentioned something about having a water pump, as if that was a luxury!

She viewed her reflection apprehensively.

If Dorothy were the sort of girl that cried, her tears would have been flowing. For over fourteen years, she'd looked into the mirror and seen a long sheet of platinum hair cascading down her back. Now it was so dark she could barely see anything of it.

Instead of crying, she became angrier and angrier, touching her hair gently, then gripping it in her fists, wishing she could tear each strand from her head and make it blonde again. The only thing that could have possibly been worse was if it had been cut. She was reluctantly grateful that they had moved to a place where long hair was expected and common.

That wasn't the point. Wufei had crossed the line, and Dorothy had had enough. She turned around quickly, unable to bear her reflection any longer, and stalked to the kitchen.

When Wufei opened his eyes, it was with Dorothy astride him, pressing a smooth-edged meat knife to his throat.

She slapped him, hard. "That's for drugging me!" Another slap. "That's for locking me in a box!" Another slap. "And that," she said furiously, "Is for dyeing my hair!"

He just looked at her, unworried. She felt her anger swell.

"Don't you ever touch me again, Wufei!" she hissed. "Do you hear me? Because if you do, I swear I'll cut you down where you stand!"

His eyes were too calm. It heated her anger and raised it to new heights.

Dorothy began to press down on the knife. If he could be calm, then so could she.

She smiled at him, the demure, amused smile she reserved for intimidation. "I can do it, you know," she said softly. "I've killed people before, you know I have. And unlike you, I had a choice. I chose to make myself a good killer, and it worked."

She pressed down a little harder.

"Would you like to see how well?"

Blood began to well up along the line of blade.

He hadn't even flinched.

Dorothy leaned closer to his face. "I'll be reporting you for gross misconduct the first chance I get, be sure of that."

She released the pressure on the knife and leapt off the bed.

"Call yourself a warrior," she said with derision. "I was able to creep up on you while you slept, you pathetic excuse for a fighter!" She turned away. "It looks like I'm the one who'll be keeping you safe."

"I knew it was you."

She turned back and viewed him sceptically. "Oh really? And how did you know that, precisely?"

"From your scent."

Dorothy narrowed her eyes. "Idiot!" she spat. "Perfume is hardly a reliable test of identity, I'm sure a hundred women have fragrances like mine, possibly some female assassins!"

"It's been a few days now; trust me, the perfume's worn off."

She stared at him in disbelief. For the first time that night, she did something Wufei wasn't expecting.

She laughed. It began as a stifled chuckle, but developed into a full, rich laugh. Wufei sat up warily, wondering what she was planning.

She waved a hand at him. "Please, stay there!" she giggled. "I'm sorry, I'll stop in a..." She trailed off, lost once more to laughter.

He stood up, hands hovering near fist status. She tried to suppress her amusement, and failed miserably.

"What, a knife to the throat doesn't faze you, but a girl laughing puts you on guard?" The laugh broke loose again. "I suppose you haven't had much experience with women, have you Preventer Chang?"

He began to get annoyed, and thought it was for her own good that she left when she did.

Shortly afterwards, he heard the shower going, no doubt to remove the body odour that had given her away. Moments after that, he heard a shriek, probably when she discovered that this was just plain water from the pump, as cold as its source.

Wufei almost snickered quietly to himself. He knew that the next day would be the most difficult of all, that Dorothy would be just as uncomfortable in his world as he had been in hers.

He was looking forward to it.