No Chance For Error
Noin stood in position, her muscles straining to move forward even as she repeated over and over in her head that this would come down to perfect timing. Everything had to go perfectly or someone could get killed. They weren't lucky enough for the bad guys to let it be themselves. Her mind narrowing down to her single goal Noin could hear Wufei's breathing through her ear piece, the sound comforting to her. Calling the catcher first Noin confirmed he was ready to move then radioed in to Wufei. "In position?" Noin asked, too many people around for her to even try to spot him.
"Ya and I'm ready here." Wufei responded, now wearing a police officer's uniform. They'd figured that the man would view Wufei as even more of a threat if he thought he was actually someone trained to do this. "You?"
"I'm ready to go and so is our catcher. Don't get shot on me, Chang or I'm returning all those first additions you bought and donating all your books at home to local libraries." Noin said with a smirk, pleased to hear a faint chuckle on the other end.
"And don't you get shot or I'll tell everyone you confessed to paying a guy to pose as your motorcycle god to get back at Peacecraft." Wufei shot back, still too nervous to even smirk but appreciating what she was trying to do.
"So long as we've got that straight. And, Wufei....if we do die...there's no one I'd rather go down with." Noin said softly, absently wiping her palms on her slacks before rolling her shoulders to get the tension out. "And I'm off."
"Same goes, Lucrezia." Wufei replied softly as he watched her break through the crowd, screaming for her child and generally leaving herself wide open to be shot full of holes. Breaking away Wufei headed straight for the armed problem, shouting at him to lower his weapon and let the girl go.
)
Obviously confused the man didn't bother to take careful aim as he shot out a bullet in Noin's direction then wheeled around to try and shoot Wufei. The bullet just grazing her shoulder Noin pulled out the gun she'd borrowed and shot the other man's wrist, making him drop the gun as she reached him, throwing all her weight into a knee in the gut. While the man was doubled over Noin grabbed Amanda as he let her go then taking three steps threw the screaming girl into the air to be caught by one of the officers who happened to be a former track star and had volunteered. As soon as the girl was in his arms he turned and ran into the crowd, Noin spinning around meanwhile to take care of disabling her guy permanently as she stuck her gun back into her jacket pocket. At the same time Noin's knee was connecting with the other guy's gut Wufei was able to grab the other's arm and twist it, forcing the man to point the gun's muzzle into the air so that the shots fired shot up, harming none. Delivering half a dozen back to back kicks to the man's upper body Wufei had him doubled over and in serious pain. Kicking the man's feet out from under him Wufei kept the man's arm twisted behind his back as the perp flopped onto his stomach on the cool grass, disabled. Pulling out his gun Wufei ordered the man to stay still and was about to call out to Lucrezia when he heard her yell damn it. Unable to let the man get away Wufei turned to see Noin holding a hand over her right eye as the other man came charging at her with a blade held high and blood dripping from his other hand. "LUCREZIA!"
Feeling as though her eye were on fire from the pepper spray the bastard had shot at her when she'd gone over to cuff him Noin was only vaguely aware of what was going on but she heard Wufei and understood. Her other senses filling in for her eyes she felt the hand coming down and knew what it contained without having to see it. Grabbing the man's wrist she brought the hand and the knife down in one smooth motion..right into the man's gut where she'd kicked him early. Hearing the man scream she could barely see him backing away when a blur raced by her watering eyes, tackling her opponent. She was pretty sure it was Wufei.
"Are you alright, Commander?" Someone said, Lucrezia wasn't entirely sure who since everything was blurry but thought she knew it.
"Yeah, the bastard got me with pepper spray. I turned my head to avoid some of it but my right is going to be hell to live with for a while." Noin said as she held a hand over that eye, the other one stinging like hell but not half as bad as the other. "Everything go as planned?"
"Well other then you getting sprayed then ya." The officer said with a grin before he was elbowed away as Wufei came over.
Cradling her face in his hands gently Wufei scanned her body for any other injuries. His heart had literally stopped beating from the time he'd heard her swear till now. Now it was beating so fast he was surprised the whole country couldn't hear it. Gulping in wave after wave of relief it was all he could do not to pick her up and carry her out of there to somewhere where she would be safe forever. "Are you okay, baby?"
)
"Did you know you just called me baby?" Noin said, laughing despite the pain, not sure what to think of being called baby but sorta liking it. "And ya, I'm good except for my eyes stinging like hell. You?"
"I'm fine. Lets get you to a doctor to look at." Wufei said then decided what the hell and picked her up into his arms, Lucrezia giving a surprised squeak at the unexpected gesture. "This is easier then having to manually move you out of the way of things." Wufei said gruffly as he headed towards one of the ambulances that had been sent for in case things got ugly. Holding her a little tighter then was exactly needed he felt his heart start to beat normally when she laid her head against his shoulder, snuggling against him. Delivering her to the nearest ambulance Wufei simple sat down with Noin in his lap and ordered them to clean her eyes out. Apologizing for him Noin soon had her eyes rinsed out thoroughly and was now holding a wet cloth over them to help with the burning sensation. Hearing the sound of her name being called Noin looked in the direction and was all set to remove the cloth to see who it was when Wufei slapped her hand gently away before ordering the officers to let Noin's family through.
"LUCY!" Joseph yelled as he got down on his knees in front of his sister, grabbing her free hand in a hold that pretty much prevented any blood flow to demand to know if she was alright.
"I'm fine, really guys." Noin said as all her relatives crowded around her, all talking at once as they went on and on about how scared they'd been, how stupid she'd been and wanting to know how hurt she was. "Really, I'm fine. I just hurt my eyes some but nothing to worry about."
"Your father needs a hug." Wufei said as he leaned over to whisper in her ear, helping her to her feet and leading her over to where her father stood, his hands in fists at his sides looking like he'd just been through hell and back again. Gently pushing her in the right direction the cloth fell off as Noin was pulled into a bone crushing hug as her father held her close, muttering words Wufei couldn't decipher but understood. They were words of relief and thanks. Everyone crowding around him now Wufei was bombarded with question and are you okays until his head was reeling with them. Finally excusing himself to go return the uniform he'd borrowed Wufei found the officer in question and soon returned in his regular clothes to find Lucrezia being passed from family member to family member, everyone needing to hug her to confirm she was alright.
"There you are, boy." Max said as he came over, tears in his eyes as he pulled Wufei into a big hug. "That was quite a risk you two took for that little girl there."
"It was nothing." Wufei said as he awkwardly patted Max on the back, not quite sure what to do.
"Ha. That was not just nothing or even just the job. That was heroism and nothing you or that girl can say is gonna make me think otherwise." Max said as he gave Wufei a hearty slap to the back before pulling away. "So we going back to buying books or you heading home with Lucy?"
"I think I'll head back with Lucrezia thanks. Good luck finding some good ones." Wufei said with a nod then suddenly blinked as he realized what he was missing. "My books..where THE HELL is the officer with my BOOKS!"
)
It was late that evening when Noin was finally allowed by her mother and other older, female relatives to come downstairs. Her mother hadn't seen the event but she'd taken one look at her daughter and ordered her to bed as soon as they got home. Noin had been pampered and fretted over for a good five hours now and she couldn't take anymore. She hadn't seen Wufei since she'd taken her nap at her mother's orders and she wanted to make sure he was okay for herself. Everyone told her he was and he'd said he was but she knew that Wufei's definition of okay and hers were vastly different. Waylaided by her concerned brothers she was treated to a twenty minute lecture on how stupid she was to have done what she did and then another ten on how brave she'd been. Then they wanted to know about all her other missions she'd done recently that were as dangerous. She tried telling them that those types of missions were classified but they kept at it until her Grandma Marta intervened, scooting the boys away as she herded Noin into the kitchen. "I'm really not hungry, Grandma Marta." Noin said weakly, envisioning plates full of food everyone thought she should eat after her trying experience. Telling them that was a stroll in the park for her wouldn't go over well though.
"Your young man is on the porch and he needs you." Her grandmother replied in that wise tone her grandmother used when she was serious about something and wanted to be heard. "He hides it well but he is greatly troubled over what could have happened today. He needs you to soothe him."
"Soothe him?" Noin said as she tried to think how one went about soothing someone like Wufei when her grandmother practically pushed her out onto the porch, closing the door sharply behind her. Turning to face the door with a puzzled look Noin looked around and spotted Wufei at the far end of the porch, sitting there alone as though nothing were wrong. Her grandmother was likely just exaggerating, Noin thought as she walked over to him. Wufei had been fine earlier and he wasn't someone who panicked easily or got unnecessarily worked up over something like this. He would know that there was no reason to worry about her. Even the doctor had said the man had watered down the pepper spray, she could see pretty good now..sorta. "Hey, you." Noin said as she took a seat beside him, smiling as he turned his head to look at her.
"Hey. Feeling better? You aren't clutching your eye anymore anyway." Wufei said as he studied her though in the growing darkness it was impossible to get a sense of how her eyes were. "Your mother said you were better."
"I'm fine, you should know you don't have to worry about me. You and I, we get shot at all the time, right?" Noin said as she playfully punched his arm then found herself being pulled into his lap for the second time that day, his arms coming around her waist like vises as he held her there, lowering his head to bury his face in her neck, his breathing ragged and broken. As though he were trying not to cry or something, Noin thought, her arms coming around automatically to hold him back, not knowing what to say or even how to say it. "Wufei?"
"I could have lost you..I was so close..all over again." Wufei choked out against her neck, having thought he'd handled all the emotions that had been churning around inside him. He'd been wrong. "I thought I'd be too late..again."
)
"Like with Nataku?" Noin asked, the pieces falling into place. She didn't know much about Wufei's former wife, he didn't talk about her but she did know the girl had been killed fighting against Oz...and that she'd been killed after taking a blast meant for Wufei. "No. No, Wufei you weren't too late. You were there when I needed you. Every step of the way you were there." Noin said softly, hugging him back fiercely. "And I won't be leaving you any time soon. You know how stubborn I can be about getting my own way."
"Stubborn is an understatement." Wufei said as his grip loosened though he continued to hold her, his face pressed against the warmth of her neck where her pulse beat strong and steady. Staying that way for a good five minutes it took several loud coughs before they realized that they weren't alone. Both lifting their heads they turned to see Lucas looking more then a little embarrassed to have had to interrupt.
"Uhmm..they're about to show what happened on the news..I figured you two would want to see. Dad's already hugging mom in anticipation of her reactions when she sees the stunt you two idiots pulled." Lucas said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Dad said I should get you so that she doesn't go crazy trying to find you two after to convince herself you're still alive."
"On our way. This isn't going to be pretty. Mom's going to freak." Noin said with a groan as Wufei let her go so that she could get up, Noin in turn offering him a hand up as well. "You can bet she's going to mother us both for the rest of this reunion."
"I called Lady Une and explained the situation, at least we won't get a call from her demanding to know what the hell happened and why we didn't call in." Wufei said as he continued to hold onto her hand as they walked back into the house with Lucas, finding everyone in the family den crowded around the television to listen as the reporter began her report.
)
"Tragedy was averted today in the peaceful town of Silica when two brave soldiers stepped forward to lend their expertise and assistance when a two year old girl was taken hostage. Today, at approximately two in the afternoon two bank robbers, fleeing from police arrived at Silica's fair grounds during a book festival. There they grabbed two year old Amanda Cross from her father, using her as a shield as they attempted to use her as a bargaining chip to escape. While one held a gun to the girl's head the other issued commands for a yet undisclosed amount as well as a helicopter to flee the scene in. This act of terror led to the arrival of two Preventers on scene, Commander Lucrezia Noin, a Silica native there visiting relatives and Lieutenant Wufei Chang who was there for the festival. (pictures shown on screen in full dress uniform) The two soldiers bravely stepped forward and risked their lives to save young Amanda, succeeding in an amazing show of bravery. We have for you live footage of the heroic rescue." Soon the footage was playing and as Noin and Wufei watched they could literally feel everyone alternating between gasping in horror and staring at them. When it was finally over the reporter continued. "Quite amazing. We've learned through sources that Commander Noin is fine and is expected to return to duty as soon as her vacation is over, Lieutenant Chang was unhurt. Both of the robbers are currently in hospital and are awaiting charges. Amanda Cross's parents would also like to send out their thanks to their daughter's heroes and to commend them on their daring acts of bravery. For more information on these events please turn in at eleven for updates."
"They could have at least mentioned the guy that caught her, he did just as much as we did." Wufei said in the silence of the room.
"LUCREZIA ANGELINA NOIN!"
"Yes...mommy?"
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!"
"Uhmmm we were just doing our job?"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU DO AT PREVENTERS? TRY TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!"
"Uhm....not all the time...there really is a lot of paperwork."
)
Meanwhile Duo ran up the stairs, Patch in his arms as he came bursting into the kitchen where the rest of the pilots were having their hot chocolate. "Guys! Guys! Guess who was on TV!"
"One of your favorite cartoons and it was the best episode ever?" Heero asked sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at Duo.
"No." Duo said with a pout on his face as he sent Heero a you're mean look. "Wufei and Noin were on TV. It turns out that they both went to the same fair and while they were there a hostage situation broke out. They nearly got themselves turned into Swiss cheese but they saved the girl and everything."
"They weren't hurt, were they?" Quatre said with a concerned look on his face.
"Nope though Noin got some pepper spray in the face." Duo said as he plopped down in his chair with Patches settled in his lap. "Can you believe that they were both there at the same time though? Talk about your lucky coincidences."
"Yes, lucky." Trowa said as he and Heero shared a knowing look.