Anything is Possible
Chapter Two
by Alexia Goddess
For Arion, on her birthday.
Last Time...
"This just isn't
possible!" She said again numbly. "Is it?"
With an almost thoughtful look on his face, the Prussian eyed boy looked down
at Dria's up-tilted face, the corners of his lips lifting slightly as Dria's
eyes widened. Then, before she could react, his mouth was on hers, his hand on
her cheek.
A jolt unlike anything she had ever felt before passed through her entire body,
and from the slight twitching jerk of Heero's hand on her face, she realized he
must have felt it to.
They pulled away. It had been short, smooth, and clean, but effective
nonetheless....
Suddenly, both Heero and Dria smiled. They may not know what was going on, but
they did know...
"Anything is possible," Heero said, and Dria laughed.
And now the continuation…
Dria kept laughing, long after Heero had stopped. When she finally regained control of herself, they just stood there for a while, both of them looking at the book in Heero's hand. The bookmark was only halfway through it. He seemed to notice this, and he frowned as he raised the book.
"What is it?" Dria asked.
"I was two chapters away from the end of this book when I put it down earlier today." He said. He opened it at the mark. "And the bookmark is still in the same place in the story, yet there is at least another ten chapters after the mark, not two." His frown deepened slightly, though had anyone else been watching, they would have said his expression stayed the same. But Dria knew what to look for; it was in his eyes, those Prussian eyes that were the heart-melters of all female Gundam Wing fans.
"I'm somehow not surprised." Dria said flatly. "I mean, with all this other weird stuff going on..." She plopped down in an armchair in front of the fire in the fireplace. She realized she was still in her pajamas. Normally she would have been appalled, but not with Heero. He wouldn't touch her. Even if he tried, she could handle herself. Before moving to the country, there had been a need for self-defense courses, as they had lived in a not too friendly city. Then Dria had found she liked the sense of power she got from being so in control of her own body, turning herself into a weapon.
Dria gasped as she barely caught, out of the corner of her eye, a flash of metallic silver. She jerked he head back, and thrust her hand out. She caught the knife, barely, but she did catch it. She leaped to her feet and glared at Heero.
"What the hell was that for?" She snarled. Why...?
Heero smirked ever so slightly, most of the expression in his eyes only.
"I wanted to see if you were as good as the book portrayed you to be," he said simply, raising the aforementioned book for emphasis. Dria glared. An idea...
"Likewise." She said. That being her only warning, she leaped for him, coming up short without any giveaway, whirled, lashing her foot out. He caught it, twisted it, she used that to her advantage, and spun herself away, twisting her leg to get her foot out of his grip. She stood, grinning.
"Guess the screenplay writers and animators got your reflexes ok, too," she said. She grinned wolfishly. "Though they didn't do your eyes justice."
If it had been possible, Dria could have sworn the Perfect Soldier came precariously close to blushing.
This semi-touching moment, however, was interrupted when the front door was heard opening, footsteps, voices, then the door closing.
"Hee-man! We're back from patrol!" Dria blanched as she heard Duo Maxwell's unmistakable crow. "And unless you found something, it looks like our sensors were set off by a squirrel or something!"
"It has the same hair color as a squirrel, at least," Heero said in flat tone, ignoring Dria's glare.
"Ohmigod did Heero just make a joke????" Duo's head popped into view from around the corner, and his eyes bulged when he spotted Dria. She glared at him, mentally daring him to comment...
Too late she remembered just who she was dealing with...
"Ha HA! Heero's got a girlfriend!" Duo changed, dancing into the room. "Hey, Wufei, come look at this! Hee-chan brought home a oooonnnaaaaaaa!!!!"
"Call me that again and die, baka," Dria growled. Duo smirked impishly.
"Ok, now I know you're his girlfriend; you're too much like him!" He said gleefully, falling back into an armchair, crossing his ankles up on the coffee table. Presently, another male figure made himself known.
"Yuy, what do you think you're doing, having a stranger in our stronghold?" Wufei Chang surveyed Dria with a critical eye. Dria surveyed back, drawing herself. Wufei glowered and glared at Heero. Heero ignored him as none other than Quatre Winner entered. He started when he saw Dria.
"I thought Duo was pulling our legs just to get Wufei's goat," he said. He glanced to Heero. "I didn't think he was serious." Quatre looked to Dria as he approached to take her hand. "Ma'am," he said, bowing over her hand slightly. "Welcome to our humble abode. May I ask your name?"
"Heh. At least one of you guys has manners," Dria smirked at Wufei, who glared. She glared back, holding his stare for a moment before he was forced to look away, grumbling as he stormed out of the room. Quatre released her hand and stepped to where a big blanket was flung over the back of a chair. He draped it around Dria's shoulders, and she pulled it around herself as she shivered, despite the fire.
"My name's Alexandria Northright. Call me Dria." She said, answering Quatre's earlier question.
"I assume it was you, miss, that accidentally set off our alarms and dragged us all out of bed to go looking for spies or assassins?" Quatre's tone was light and teasing and at the same time politely reserved. Dria grinned.
"Yup, did it just to annoy Wufei," she smirked. "Always wanted to..." she glanced at Duo and winked. "Duo always seemed to have so much fun doing it."
"Ha, finally, an ally!" Duo cheered, popping up to his feet. He stuck his hand out to Dria. "Welcome to the team!" He said. He grabbed her hand, not waiting for her to accept his. "Now, as a freebie tip, one of the best ways to get Wufie's git is to call him just that 'Wufie.' He hates it, and another is to-"
"Maxwell."
That was it, one word, but it was enough to make Duo scowl and retreat with a somehow manly pout. Dria laughed. Even Heero, the one whom had spoken that one word, had eyes that twinkled slightly.
"Can I be so bold as to ask how you seem so familiar with Wufei?"
"Heh, I'm not just familiar with Wufie, 'Q-man.'" Dria grinned, using Duo's nickname for the blonde. Quatre started in surprise, and threw a glance to Heero. Heero grinned and tossed the pilot the book. Quatre caught it. It took him only a moment of skimming the summery of the back, comparing the image of the girl on the cover to Dria, and a few moments of reading enough of the first page to get a feel for the main character's personality, compare that personality to Dria, and at last looking at Heero's self-satisfied expression to put the pieces together.
"Not possible." Was all Duo muttered after doing the same when Quatre handed him the book.
"Obviously it is possible." Heero Yuy himself, the perfect soldier, 01 Pilot, said, perfectly serious.
"The concept has been toyed with," Quatre confirmed. He looked at Dria with a new light in his eyes. "But to actually have it confirmed..." He looked to Heero. "You're sure about this, Yuy?"
"As sure as a man can be without adequate scientific tools," the pilot nodded. "Which, may I remind you all, don't exist."
"Wow, hold up a minute…" Dria held up a hand. "If you guys don't have the tools to confirm I am from a different dimension –which is what I'm assuming you guys are thinking- then I'm guessing the chances of me even getting back are rather slim?"
"I'm afraid so…" Quatre said. "I am sorry, but-"
"Hell yeah!" Dria cried, pumping her fist into the air. "Yes!"
"Wha…?" Quatre blinked.
"Read the book," Heero tossed it to him, but Dria caught it.
"What do you think you're doing?" She glared at him. "This, like, might as well be my diary!"
No response was given, due to the wracking of the ground beneath their feet in a spectacular explosion. The windows blew in, the doors shattered, and the floorboards cracked. Not to mention lamps exploding, furniture overturning…
Dria opened one groggy eye, something stinging on her forehead. Her hair felt wet…she touched her scalp, and it came away damp and sticky.
Blood, she registered numbly as what was left of the door was burst open. She tried to pull herself to her feet, but a heavy boot of one of the intruders pouring in landed on her back and shoved her down.
Suddenly, that boot was gone, and the man was on his behind, still. Dria found herself being pulled up by none other than Heero, a gun in hand. He made her look at him, tapping her cheek lightly.
"Stay with me, Dria," he told her firmly.
"Where would I go?" She mumbled in reply, wincing and pressing a hand to the cut on her scalp. Heero's lips quirked, and he pressed a gun into her hand before helping his fellow pilots with the remaining invaders.
One of the fighters broke away from fighting Quatre and charged at her. With a slightly jerk of her body in surprise, she raised the gun, and, hardly knowing how or why or that she was even doing it, she shot him.
With a hole between his eyes, he fell.
Another intruder charged at her, but Duo intercepted him with a kick and a downward chop of his arm that audibly broke the man's neck.
When at last, not too long after, the intruders all lay dead or unconscious, Wufei swore.
"How did they find us? Or get in without us detecting them?" He growled. He threw a glare at Dria. "I have a new name for you. Distraction."
Dria blanched, then fumed.
"Hey!" She growled. "If I were one of them, would I have shot him?" She kicked the corpse of the dead man she had shot.
"Convincing sacrifice," he snorted.
"Wufei, you have no proof. Shut up." Heero's words were, as always, clipped and monotone, but the purpose was clear.
"Did you all notice something?" Quatre said after a brief moment of silence. He surveyed the dead bodies, how and where they had died, where they had been trying to direct the fight to.
"They were trying to get to Dria," Trowa finished for his partner. He looked to Wufei. "She's no distraction."
"She was the target," Duo frowned and threw Dria a glance. "Looks like we've got something, boys."
Quatre took in Dria, the book on the floor by her feet, the dead men laying around…
"Something serious," Quatre nodded. "We should go to the Preventers HQ. Get more help in figuring out what's going on."
"Will do," Heero decided. "Get the what mobile equipment is undamaged together. We leave now."'
They all dissipated, each heading their own way. Dria decided to follow Heero.
"So…am I going into some sort of witness protection program, or something once we get to HQ?" She asked as they went outside and walked towards a shed that looked like it was for storage.
"Something like that," he replied, and refused to say anymore until we reached the shed. Then he pointed to a metal chest in the far back corner. "There's unisex clothes in there. Find something that fits and put it on." He grabbed a silver briefcase with a long black strap, slung it over his shoulder, another regular briefcase, a large square black mini-trunk, and a backpack, and left.
Dria, lips quirking at his no nonsense demeanor, shook her head and turned to the chest.
She emerged a little while later feeling very pleased- she wore fitted black pants that clung comfortably like second skin to her buttocks and legs. Her top was similar- black, short sleeved, hugging. From the belt at her waist there hung a few nifty things she'd found in a smaller trunk to the right- a hefty knife, a pistol, and a few ammo cases. She even had a leg halter strapped around her right thigh. A second knife she had stuck into her boot.
"What, you decided against bringing the entire armory in case it clashed with your hair?" Wufei sniffed when he saw her. She glared and something tickled the back of her throat; a low growl. Then she spotted his many hidden firearms, and smirked.
"What, you decided against bringing the whole armored tank just in case one of the extra gadgets snagged your ponytail?" She mocked.
Wufei was the one growling now, as he moved to-
"That's enough," Heero told them sharply, throwing ominous glares to the both of them. Dria only returned the gaze steadily. Behind her, she never saw Duo grin wolfishly.
They trekked outside carrying cases and packs and such of various sizes and weight. They went to a second, larger shed on the other side of the house. It had been snowing- the ground was now covered in a soft, thin downy layer of frosty whiteness.
As they neared, Duo raised his hand and pointed, and pushed something. A clicking, a beeping, and the shed door was pulled upwards, and out rolled a black hummer.
"Conspicuous much?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrow as they reached the vehicle and Duo opened the back.
"There are enough civilians owning these things, now, that it' s a worthwhile risk, attracting a few extra eyes. Dria shrugged.
"If you say so," she told him, and moved to the other side of the car to get in. She was quite pleased with herself at how easily she was slipping into this…how easily she was accepting that, until a few hours ago, Gundam Wing had been nothing more than a TV show, a story drawn out on blank pages… She shook her head. Think about that later, she told herself.
Quatre opened the door for her, and she flashed a smile in thanks as she gave a spring and jumped in without the assistance of the lowered step. Climbing inside, she scowled when she found herself sitting by Wufei. Duo and Heero were in front –Duo in the driver's seat she realized with a twitch- and Quatre and Trowa behind her.
Buckled up and packed down, they moved out. When she thought about it, it made sense Duo would be in the driver's seat- with his naturally carefree expression and boyish demeanor, anyone who looked would think, 'oh, rich daddy's little boy out for a spin with his new toy after he probably crashed the last one.' Whereas if they saw Heero in the drivers seat…
As it was, the rest of them were decently well hidden from a casual outside glance by the tinted windows.
Somewhere along the way, not too long after they pulled onto an interstate highway, Dria drifted off to sleep, leaning against the cold glass to her right. She wouldn't have woken up for another couple of hours- would have, that is, if the occurrences transpiring just outside the car hadn't caused the vehicle to take sudden sharp turns and speed up.
Dria yanked herself awake.
"What now?" she growled. She turned in her seat and looked out the back.
"Oh, sh-" She didn't get a chance to finish her curse as Duo yanked the hummer to the left, going off-road, speeding down the side of a very, very narrow incline. They veered right just as they neared the bottom, avoiding a clump of jutting rocks. Wheels smoked, the engine roared, guns screamed outside, the pit-pang of pullets ricocheting off the metal armor of the hummer all but deafening the riders.
Over a hill they raced! The car was airborne for a few brief seconds before slamming down on it's back tires, them crunching down to it's front, sideways on the road. Down the road a ways, Dria could see five cars and two smaller hummers racing their way. Wufei had his seatbelt off in a flash. Out from under the seat he pulled a large, large gun that was obviously intended to be rested on someone's shoulder when being aimed and fired.
Briefly, Dria wondered if it was a rocket launcher. A rocket launcher might not have been a bad idea, actually, when she groaned at the sound of choppers overhead.
This was getting seriously out of control… Were these guys after her? It was just too bizarre to be complicated right the and there, so she slapped it aside for later as she spotted Duo slumped over the steeringwheel.
She and Heero both cursed. Heero pulled out a long, large machine gun of some sorts out from under a panel beneath his feet, rolling down his window as he did so. With one hand he gripped the back of Duo's shirt and hauled him, hefted him, and half tossed him into the back seat between her and Wufei. Taking shots out the window, he then reached back and grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up.
"Drive!" He told her sharply.
Forcing herself not to panic with alarm, she sat down, buckling herself in as she examined the controls. Same as any car.
For the thousandth time her life, she cursed her parents colorfully. This time for not getting her drivers classes so she could know what the hell all these things did!
But she knew the basics, that much she knew. Thankful she had enough knowledge to get the thing started –it had stalled, she guessed, yank the wheel away from the oncoming army on wheels, and slam her foot down on the pedal.
The engine roared, and died.
"You flooded it!" Wufei growled from behind. Dria frowned as she turned the key again. Were hummers that temperamental? The only car she'd ever known to flood was her grandfather's old station wagon…
Shaking her head and telling herself firmly that she thought to much, she started the engine, shifted the gears into drive, yanked the wheel again all the way to the right, then steadily, but at a moderate pace, shoved the gas petal down.
With a screeching yank the car pivoted to the right, and away they shot
The machine hummed in her hands, and she seemed to know instinctively when to let up on the gas, when to push it down again, when to start turning at what speed to get to this off-road or that hill… It was exhilarating.
Dria laughed as she got an idea. She drove ever so slightly slower until, a few miles later, the army on wheels behind them had caught up a bit. Then she let off on the gas pedal, yanked the wheel all the way to the left, keeping it all the way to the left until they'd done a complete turn around, then she pressed the pedal down again…they roared forward, like a lion leaping for the kill, and she slammed her foot down on the pedal all the way. A small incline in the road, and what would have been a small bump in their drive became an airborne leap for a few seconds, enough to get their front tires past two cars pinched together at the last minute to try and thwart her maneuver.
The hummer slammed down on the hoods of the two cars. Heero and Wufei were shooting mercilessly, and the two cars were shoved aside, their driver's dead, by the sheer weight of the hummer. The moment the wheels touched blacktop, they were off again.
Glancing in the review mirror at the carnage, she doubted they would keep following. Then she heard the angry humming of helicopters. How many where there? It sounded like more than one, and they sounded big…and close.
Without her consent, her throat let loose a small cry of surprise and shock as two men slammed down on the hood of the hummer. The hummer jerked, slowing, sending one of the men tumbling. She stepped on the gas again and ran him over before she knew she'd considered doing just that. The other man, as 'thunk's on the room signaled the arrival of more persons, moved to punch the butt of his gun through the windshield. That was before Heero stuck the upper half of his body out the window, sitting on the top of the door, where the window came up, and shot him right through the heart. Holding on with one hand, he then commenced –as far as Dria could tell- shooting those on the roof.
Occasionally he would jerk his body left or right her twitch his shoulders, and somehow Dria knew the man was dodging bullets.
In a flash, she spotted a small side road, and down it a ways was a cherry orchard. She veered to the right sharply, and at the same time lashed out a hand and grabbed Heero's wrist to steady him so he could keep shooting rather than have to steady himself.
In the review mirror she saw two commando-type guys, like the two that had been on the hood, tumble off behind them.
Down the road and into the orchard she shot, and was rewarded with the yells of those being swatted off their backs by the low branches. Now if only this orchard was big enough that those choppers would go away… No, they'd just wait, she knew. They couldn't drop any more on them…
"Leave the orchard," Heero told her as he slipped back inside. He and Wufei, as well as Quatre and Trowa in the back, reloaded while Duo groaned.
Not quite sure what he had in mind, but she wasn't going to question his words under such circumstances, and so she nodded and turned the wheel and drove out of the orchard and away from it, as if they thought they had won. Just as they –or at least Heero- had expected, five more 'thump's echoed in their ears. Dria whirled the car, and dove back into the orchard.
They were smarter this time, and they clung to the roof- only two of them got swept off.
Dria headed for the smaller trees, with lower branches, a grim smile on her face, her eyes intense.
In the back, Duo cursed as a gun came slamming down and shattered the window next to him, yanking back before it or the hand holding it could be grabbed. Chance had Dria yank the wheel to the left then, causing the owner of that gun and arm to slip, allowing Duo to reach up, grab, twist, and yank. The soldier went falling, his gun now in Duo's hands.
Using the distraction to his advantage, Heero slipped out the window and swung himself onto the hood- safe from the low branches and in a good position to shoot anyone on the roof. He did so, two muffled cries were heard, and their roof was no longer a roost.
Through the windshield, Heero made eye contact with Duo and made a motion with his hand. Duo, apparently understanding, said something to Quatre in the back. Dria wasn't listening, concentrating on driving fast enough that the overhead vultures wouldn't get an opening to drop anyone on them through the trees, but not so fast that Heero found some difficulty holding on.
She wiped a small droplet of sweat from her eyes as Duo, a long silver case in hand, climbed up into the passenger's seat beside her. Had she looked at him, she would have seen a long, black and blue bump decorated with a gaping gash on his forehead and temple.
"Doing good," he told her. "I'm impressed."
"Damn straight," she muttered. Duo only grinned tightly and unlocked the case and pulled out- Dria's eyes widened. She looked at it sharply, long enough to confirm that there were few other things it could be, before looking back to the ground in front of the vehicle.
"That's some sort of a rocket launcher, isn't it?" She demanded.
"Essentially, yes." He told her with a wolfish grin. She raised an eyebrow. Duo hoisted his upper half up out of the window and tossed the launcher to Heero.
Now understanding what was going to take place, Dria did her best to drive even steadier, avoiding rough spots in the pitted ground. Heero looked at her through the windshield, noticing the difference in her driving, and nodded ever so slightly.
Then he went down on one knee, bracing himself, hoisted the launcher onto his shoulder after passing his other firearm back to Duo. He turned it on, charged it, made sure it was loaded properly, then looked through the target. Looked up, looked through the target again. Frowned, adjusted the target, then, still frowning, ignored it and just aimed with his eyesight alone. A grim smile touched the corners of his mouth, and he shot the launcher.
The force of the mini bomb being exploded out of the end of the launcher shoved him back slightly. Dria turned the hummer just enough to keep him from falling off.
Above them, an explosion roared through the sky. A large chunk of something- a smoking propeller, sliced into the ground in front of the hummer. She drove around it sharply as Heero held out his hand and Duo put a second mini-bomb in his grip. Heero loaded it, charged it, aimed, and fired again.
Twice more he did this, although the last two times it took increasingly longer to hear the 'boom;' they were running away, but Heero shot them down anyway.
Back into the car the 01 Pilot climbed as Duo retook his seat in the middle next to Wufei. Heero pointed out a town up ahead that they were about to pass through, and he and the other three pilots set to putting the firearms away.
Dria realized that so powerful an adrenaline rush, one of after the other, so suddenly and in such rapid succession was taking its toll on her body- her hands shook ever so slightly, and her forehead was perspiring.
She found a cloth pressed to her brow.
"Don't get sweat in your eyes," Heero told her. Nodding her thanks, not trusting her voice, she took the cloth with one hand and dabbed her face, suddenly grinning widely after taking a few deep breaths.
"Okay," she said as she turned back onto the main road after passing through the town. "Now that was fun."
The laughter that answered her statement did a lot to make the remainder of the trip to Philadelphia international airport a whole lot smoother.
To Be Continued. Eventually.
