I know lots of you have been calling for Ian to get to Wanda but I totally googled it and it takes 21 hours and 15-30 minutes to get from Phoenix, Arizona to Seattle, Washington. So it would take at least the day for them to get to where she is and then they have to get set up right?

But don't worry my friends. Ian is speeding his way on the shortest route to get to her. Of course we need to feed our Ian addiction so…. Here's this chapter.

DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me they belong to Stephanie Meyer's author of the wonderful book 'The Host'

Chapter 13: Traveled

Mel's POV

"So we're not checking in the hospital?" Burns asked moving in the back next to Jared.

"Nope." I said for what felt like the millionth time, "We're going to Seattle and we'll need you to get us an apartment or something so that we can form a plan to extract her from her house."

"So…." Burns said about to clarify, again.

"Burns." Ian said passing an elderly woman turning off an exit, "It's not that hard to understand. We just need you to be the face. You just need to get us an apartment, a car and phones. Then drop some hints about your step brother and sister and her husband staying there while you go on a weeklong business trip. Then you can leave and leave the rest to us."

I looked at him kind of impressed. Ever since my contact with Wanda this morning he'd only been focused on what had to come when we got to Washington. He'd insisted on driving because that gave him something to focus on. I had backed him up since I knew that the alternative was him falling apart in the back seat. Jared and Burns had then insisted that I sit in the front seat and that they'd sit in the back.

I had to admit that it was going so much better than I thought it would. I'd hardly even saw a seeker while we'd been out. Jared had said that it didn't feel right so even though there didn't seem to be anything to worry about; we still acted like the souls were on high alert.

The lights of cars going the opposite direction still concerned me a bit but Burns had rented a van from a place in Phoenix so that we would blend in more. And it had tinted windows. I sat sitting sideways, my back to the door so I could keep Jared's hand in mine and I could still see out the front window and not get car sick.

"Maybe you wanna call Jamie?" Jared said breaking the silence.

I nodded, "Sure." I took the phone Burns offered me and dialed the number saved under Burn's code for our phone number.

It rang three times before someone picked up. "Better have a good explanation."

I rolled my eyes. "Jeb this phone is supposed to be for Jamie. Put him on."

After a few seconds Jamie's voice started talking, "Mel? Where are you? Are you safe? Are there seekers after you? Did you find Wanda yet? Are you coming home yet? Please say your coming home."

"Jamie. Calm down." I said in the calmest stern voice I could muster, "We're in the car. We're fine. There's no seekers after us. We know where Wanda is but we haven't got her yet. We're on our way to get her. And of course I'm coming home. My promise still stands, I'll always come back."

I heard him sigh, "Uncle Jeb isn't happy about your plan."

I laughed, "I never expected him to be happy about it Jamie."

I thought I heard a smile in his voice, "But if it counts I think everyone…. Well maybe not Aunt Maggie but almost everyone is kind of happy you're going to get her. I just wish I could have gone with you."

I wished I could wrap him in my arms. I missed him. "I know baby. But I'll have her call you when we get a hold of her. I promise."

"Ok. Is Jared there?"

I nodded, "You want to talk to him?"

"No. I just want to make sure that he's there to protect you. Like I was with Wanda."

I chuckled, "Yep. And Burns is here to protect Jared. And I'm here to protect Ian."

I heard Jared and Burns laugh as I looked at Ian who was smiling. "Ok. And Ian's there to protect Wanda from the seekers."

I nodded, "Yep. Ian's here to protect Wanda from the seekers." I watched Ian nod his head, "He'll always be there to protect her."

"Just come home soon ok Mel?"

I looked away from Ian as his eyes teared up. "Sure thing Jamie. We'll be back before you know it."

IAN'S POV

I tried to make the tears go away by blinking. I was driving; I couldn't afford to cry now. I could cry when I had her in my arms. Safe.

I wiped the tears away with the sleeve of my jacket. Jamie and Mel were right. I was here to protect her. And I would ALWAYS protect Wanda.

I kept my eyes on the road as I thought of her. I had fallen apart completely when I thought that she'd been shipped off to another planet. I was planning on living until I knew for sure that she was gone. I would have been able to do it too.

I'd thought that I'd been in love before. Before the invasion I'd thought I knew what love was. Of course when I'd met Wanda I'd discovered a new kind of love that I'd never imagined existed. I didn't just love the long blonde hair and the lean body that was so lovable to the eyes. I didn't just love the way that the gray eyes filled with tears of happiness every time she came home to Jamie from a raid. I didn't just love the way her skin felt under my touch when we made love. I love the way that the soul inside the empty body moved the limbs and made words come out of the extremely kissable lips. I couldn't help but love everything about the woman behind the human face.

I smiled as I remembered when she'd told me that it wasn't her I loved it had been the body. She couldn't have been more wrong. I didn't want to pull over and start kissing my way down Mel's neck and gently caress every part of her. I wanted to gently caress the body that held my soul. The one living being that I would sacrifice my life for. Hell I'd choose her over my brother. I mean I'd already done that once. I'd even spoken for his death. I would do anything to keep Wanda here on the same planet as me, and I'd go any distance to be with her again.

"Hey." Burns said tapping my shoulder lightly.

"What?" I snapped a little harsher than I intended.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"For what?" I asked calmer. "And I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm a little on edge."

"Yea. I know." He said looking at me through the rear-view mirror. "I'm sorry that this happened to Wanda. I care about her and I know how much she loves you and your group of humans. She told me once."

I tried to calm by breathing, "What'd she say?"

He took a moment, I guess deciding on wither or not to say it but I guess he decided. "She said something like "Ian is the reason that I'm still here on earth" I think she called you her anchor or something. Then she said that she would rather die after becoming a mother, in our way, 10 times over," He shivered and I thought I saw Mel shiver as well, "than to leave you and her family behind."

"He is her anchor." Mel said smiling at me, "And I'm the most qualified to give that assessment."

I smiled at her. Well I smiled, not taking my eyes off the road, but it was meant for her.

"And I'll speak for Ian when I say that she is his." Jared said putting a hand on my shoulder, "Cause I know how it feels to feel like you've lost the only thing that really matters to you." I could hear the pain in his voice when he spoke, "If I hadn't had Jamie to look after when Mel was taken. I probably would have killed myself."

I knew Mel shuddered as I nodded, "I thought about it. When I thought she was gone. When I thought that she'd been shipped off to another planet." I fought back the tears from both my voice and my eyes, because I needed to say this out loud. "I'd rather die than live without her."

It was true. I know that Kyle, if he hadn't felt like he had to protect me, would have killed himself after he found out that Jodi had been taken.

I had nearly died just thinking about her being gone. My arms had ached with the lack of her incredibly light weight. My lips felt separate from me as I wasted away from thirst because she wasn't there to keep my lips company. My eyes felt covered in blackness and I would have accepted it if it weren't for the occasional light from the flashlight. My heart was broken because she wasn't there to hold it together and my soul was barely existent with the thought that its counterpart was gone.

"But hey, she'd still here." Mel said happily. "We're on our way to get her and maybe we'll even sneak you in the night we get there. You can scale the walls of her house and the two of you can spend the night making up for lost time before we crack down on getting a plan together." I shot a glance at her to see if she was serious. She had a faraway look in her eyes. "It'd be so romantic. Even the souls would make a movie of your world-win romance. You can even say something incredibly corny like 'Wanda Wanda let down a ladder' you know cause her hair isn't nearly long enough for you to climb. Or you could recite some Romeo and Juliet. Just with a different ending."

"Mel. Maybe you should take a nap huh?" Jared said. I could almost feel his concern for her sanity, "You seem a bit…. Off."

"Shut your mouth Jared Howe." She snapped, "Even you can't deny that their reunion will be totally romantic with him scaling walls to get to her."

I smirked, "I was pretty good at rock climbing before the invasion." I chuckled remembering the really lame rock walls on the playgrounds in Elementary and the terribly impossible rock wall in Junior High School.

"See." She said, "At least he's thinking about a cute way to impress her on his return."

"I seriously doubt wither she'll care if he's cute or if he's stupidly blunt." Jared said.

"I'm sure that the only thing that she'll be worried about is if he gets hurt going up or down the walls and wither he's there or not." I heard Burns say behind me.

He knew how she thought. Sure that'd be what she'd be worried about. That I'd get hurt in any way getting to her or leaving her side. But the thing that'll matter the most to the both of us will be the fact that it's us being together.

I continued driving and eventually everyone but Jared and I fell asleep. I couldn't have slept even if I wanted too.

"So how are you doing?" Jared asked.

I looked back at him for a second, looking away from the long stretch of empty road. He was stroking Mel's hair away from her face running the finger of his free hand through her hair. She was lying on the seats next to him with her head in his lap holding his other hand.

"I know what it's like to think you've lost someone you love with all your heart." He muttered.

I gripped the wheel with both my hands, "But we haven't lost them. Not yet."

"What do you mean?" he asked. I could tell by his soft tone he was still looking at Mel's face as she slept.

"You haven't lost Mel. But I don't know if I've lost Wanda."

I knew that he wouldn't get what I meant by what I said. It was true that I hadn't lost her to another planet. But I didn't know wither I was losing her to her new family or wither I was losing her to the world she's supposed to be living in. Our lives in the caves aren't easy and she's suppose to be out here with the other souls, getting showers and sleeping in four poster beds eating three square meals a day with all sorts of fresh ingredients from all the different food groups. She deserves to go to the mall with a group of friends and window shop without being constantly afraid that the people around her will be taken away from her.

"What do you mean?" he asked again

"She doesn't deserve the life I've given her in the caves. She belongs out here where she can walk down the street holding the hand of someone she loves without worrying about them being taken from her." I concentrated on the sign that I saw fly past that said we'd be passing Wendell, Idaho in 1 mile.

"She wouldn't be able to do that." He said calmly, "Everyone she loves, besides Burns, wouldn't be able to walk with her without her feeling that way."

"In all reality she shouldn't have met any of us." I hated to say it but it was true. If she'd been implanted into anyone but Mel she'd probably have been able to meet normal souls and live a normal life with them. She wouldn't have known that any of us existed.

"But then she wouldn't be Wanda. She would be Wanderer, the soul that has lived so many different lives." He continued, "She wouldn't know what real love is without her experiences in Mel's body and mind. She wouldn't have met you and the two of you wouldn't have fallen in love. She wouldn't have the family that she loves. She wouldn't know what real sacrifice is."

I nodded, "She wouldn't know the pain of watching someone die." Walter. "She wouldn't know the pain and suffering of feeling responsible for the death of a friend." Wes "And she wouldn't know the pain and ugliness of the human race." I looked at my hands on the wheel.

I'd wrapped those fingers around her neck in fear and anger. I'd tried to kill her. And then later I'd dared to let those same fingers love her. I'd dared to let myself believe that I was worthy of everything she is and I'd let myself convince her to love me in return.

"Ian." I'd thought she was asleep. "Ian she needed to feel those things to be the person she is now."

I gripped the wheel tighter, "It's not fair for her."

"Oh Ian." She scoffed, "I bet if you asked her what's the worst thing she'd felt on this planet, Walt and Wes wouldn't be one of them. I bet her top worse hurt in this world would be when she had to look through my eyes and into your blue ones and know she was causing you pain by leaving."

I shuddered remembering burring my face in Mel's stomach pleading for Wanda not to leave me. I know that's the second worst thing I'd felt. The first was seeing Mel, no soul shimmering behind her brown eyes, and knowing that Wanda was gone forever.

"Ian. Wanda wants nothing more than to feel your arms around her and feel your lips against hers. The only real fear I think that she'd have; and mind you I've shared a head with her, is that she'll lose you."

I sighed, "I guess I'll have to take your word for it until I can ask her."

I heard her yawn, "Just don't have that be the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you see her."

HE'S ON HIS WAY! Now I put these thoughts of Ian's in because I'm pretty sure that Wanda isn't the only one who would be thinking that way ya know? Anyway. I know everyone is very excited for Ian to get to Wanda and trust me I have something very special in mind for their reunion. It's so ;) special ;) that I'm thinking about putting an M at the beginning. :)

Keep reading for more fun and happiness. Review and let me know you love it. :)