Chapter 13: the Plan
Meika drove the jeep as fast as she dared. Heero sat in the seat beside her, loading the guns in case they were needed. She noticed him shooting glances at her out of the corner of her eye. Keeping her eyes on the trees ahead she sighed inwardly. She had once told Ummi that she wanted some adventure to spice up her boring life at the pilot academy.
Well Ummi, I have the adventure, and the danger to go with it. But it's not what I expected. She glanced at Heero. He looked straight into her eyes. Meika blushed and adverted her eyes into the road, where they belonged. Nope, definitely not what she expected. But she was happy things turned out this way.
She kept driving for the rest of the day. Stealth jeeps had a lot of fuel capacity, and they had great mileage. So they wouldn't need to refuel for a while. Meika stopped the jeep near a river. Heero looked surprised when she did.
"I think we should keep going. They might still follow us." Duo suggested speaking Heero's thoughts. Meika looked confused.
"Well there are no bridges over the river near here."She said matter of factly.
"This jeep has an underwater mode. Press the green switch and then the blue." Quatre informed her. She did and a plasti-glass dome slid over the top of the jeep. As she drove the vehicle into the water, the wheels folded underneath the jeep and a small propeller extended on the rear.
"This is like something out of a sci-fi flick!" Ayame said excitedly.
Meika steered the jeep down the river for another three hours before emerging onto dry land. It was dark, and everyone besides her and Heero seemed to be asleep.
"You should sleep." Heero said to her quietly. She nodded and leaned against the driver's door and closed her eyes.
Katsumi watched the night sky as the others slept. Quatre had fallen asleep beside her and her head was lying in his lap. She saw that Ayame had fallen asleep in Duo's arms. She noted with interest, that even though Meika and Heero were in seats next to each other, neither was leaning on the other in any way. Actually it seemed as though they both took special precautions to not sleep on the other. Katsumi frowned.
It had seemed as though their relationship was progressing over the last few days, but now it seemed as though they had taken a step back. Had something happened? Katsumi wondered.
When Ayame awoke the next morning, Meika already had the jeep underwater and was driving again.
"Any idea where we're headed?" Ayame asked Meika. The blonde girl shook her head and sighed.
"Not really. But we can't keep traveling in this river forever. Eventually we would reach the Pacific Ocean. And then it's only a few thousand miles to America." Meika responded.
"Why don't we go there?" Duo said awakening.
"Didn't you just hear me say it as couple thousand miles? How are we to get there undetected?" By this time the entire group was awake.
"Why don't we go on a plane or a boat?" Katsumi suggested. Heero frowned.
"That's not going to be easy, but if that's the plan, a plane would be best." Heero added.
"Okay, so where do we want to go if we get there?" Meika said. She wasn't too sure about this plan.
"Albuquerque." Katsumi said immediately. Everyone stared at her and she blushed.
"I have connections there." She mumbled.
"We better take a flight that leaves at night so we won't be noticed." Heero pointed out.
"Is there an airport near here?" Duo asked.
Quatre nodded. "Relatively, the closest one was 300 miles north of the base." He responded.
"That means we would have to head across the river and keep going for nearly 200 miles." Meika said, discomfort in her voice.
She has a reason to be uncomfortable, Heero thought. Going across all that land means that we're easier to be spotted by OZ. Our heat signature won't be covered by the cold water. Heero sighed inwardly and leaned against his seat as they set forth.
For a long while everyone was quiet. Trowa and Wufei were clearly nervous; obvious by the way they kept glancing to the sky. Katsumi was writing something in a small book. Duo looked content with Ayame in his arms as she slept. Quatre was petting the kittens to keep them quiet, though it was hardly needed. The tense atmosphere kept them from making any real noise.
Around noon Duo handed out some rations to everyone. Meika chewed a granola bar thoughtfully. They were only moving at running pace. Around 10 miles an hour. That was as fast as the stealth jeep could take in this mode, so she continued driving at that pace for the rest of the day.
It was nearly morning again when she saw it: a small house in the middle of nowhere. Meika had kept driving while the others slept so they would make better time. She parked the jeep just in the tree line by the house and quietly stepped out. It turned out that they hadn't packed enough rations to last them all the way to Albuquerque where Katsumi had connections.
She crept up to the house silently, she wasn't going to risk these people seeing her for fear they supported OZ. Unfortunately, a man, slightly older then her, she guessed, stepped out of the house at that exact moment and saw her instantly.
He was tall, but muscular. His hair was black and short. Meika cursed herself for not bringing a weapon. The man however, just stared at her before speaking.
"Hey, can I help you?" Meika took a deep breath. She wasn't sure she could trust this guy yet.
"Actually, my friends and I are out of food, and we're on a rather long journey." Meika answered blushing a little, hoping that if she stuck close to the truth he wouldn't suspect anything.
"Oh." He laughed. "Well I didn't expect such a pretty girl to only be here looking for food. But that's fine. We have plenty to spare. Let me just go get it." The guy said walking off. But he got to the door and turned back.
"How many people are there?" He asked. Meika bit her lip not knowing if she should tell the truth.
"Eight, including me." She stated. The man blinked at her.
"Where are the others?" He questioned, his face looked confused by the fact that Meika was the only one there, if she had seven other people with her.
"In a jeep in the trees." She answered. The guy chuckled.
"Is that so? Well you all can come to breakfast if you would only tell me your name." He smirked and put out his hand. "I'm Benjirou Hankin. But people call me Ben."
"Meika Hou."She smiled and put her hand in his, but instead of shaking it as she thought he was going to do, he bent over and kissed the top of her hand. A bright blush spread across her cheeks.
"Meika Hou eh? I think I've heard of you on TV." Meika cringed, removed her hand from his and backed up a few feet. Ben surprised her when he laughed at her reaction. "Don't worry! We moved out here to get away from OZ!" He continued.
"We?" She questioned looking around.
"Yeah, me and my brother, he is in town now but he should be back soon. Why don't you go get your friends and I'll start breakfast." He grinned and walked back inside.
Heero was walking around the jeep when she got back.
"Where were you?" he asked. It looked as though he had a panicked look on his face.
"There is a house just over there." Meika pointed. "The owner invited us to breakfast."
Duo stirred, "I heard the word breakfast." Meika laughed and woke everyone else up before explaining the situation.
"Well maybe we can accept the offer; after all, if he really is against OZ, it is unlikely he'll turn us in." Quatre pointed out.
Heero mused over this. "He might just turn us in for the money offered for our capture." He said after a moment.
"Hey come on. We've eluded every bounty hunter so far, what makes you think a guy and his brother living in the middle of nowhere would be able to catch us." Trowa reasoned. There was murmured agreement. Heero frowned.
"So we go?" Meika asked. There were affirmatives. The group followed her back to the house. Ben was outside when they arrived.
"Hey beautiful!" He called. Meika blushed and looked down. Heero noticeably stiffened beside her.
"Wow you weren't kidding when you said eight people. I thought you were lying because you didn't trust me." Ben laughed and showed the group in. "Breakfast is still going, could be a few more minutes. Make yourself at home." Ayame and Duo sat back on a couch, happy to be sitting somewhere comfortable. Trowa and Wufei made themselves comfortable at a table, while Quatre and Katsumi looked at some pictures over the fireplace. Heero stayed close to Meika.
"Can I help you?" She offered to Ben. He smiled.
"Your presence here is enough flower." He said and looked at Heero when he glared at him; he then noticed Heero was injured. "Whoa, what happened to you?"
Trowa and Quatre tensed and looked at Heero. "Run in with OZ" He stated simply. Ben nodded.
"I'm Ben, my brother is Eiichi. He will be around shortly."
"Heero Yuy, This is Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, Wufei Chang, Katsumi Otakawan, and Ayame Tenjou." Heero said pointing around the room. "You have obviously met Meika already" He added, his voice laced with annoyance.
"He- Heero." Meika whispered before suddenly collapsing. Heero reached out and caught her in his arms.
"Meika!" Heero called trying to rouse her. Katsumi ran over.
"She is probably exhausted, she has been driving for two days straight with no sleep." Katsumi reasoned.
"We can let her rest in my room." Ben suggested. Heero nodded and tried to pick her up but nearly dropped her since his wounds weren't completely healed.
"Let me." Ben took her from Heero's arms and carried her up the stairs to a small bedroom, and placed her on the bed. Heero was quick on his heels.
"You should stay here with her, she might feel disoriented when she wakes up, since she's never been in this room before." Ben said before walking out
Heero pulled a chair up next to the bed and leaned back in it. Why the hell is she pushing herself so hard, he thought. He looked at the girl sleeping before him and sighed, pushing a strand of hair from her face.
About an hour later Duo walked in carrying two plates of food.
"How is she?" He asked.
"Still sleeping." Heero looked down and put his head in his hands.
"She'll be fine, it's like Katsumi says, she just needs some rest." Duo handed Heero the plates. "Here, make her eat when she gets up, I think she has only had a granola bar in 2 days." Heero nodded and sat the plate down. "Ben said that she could rest here as long as she needs." Duo's statement was met with an auditable growl from Heero.
"As soon as she wakes up were leaving, I don't want her around him anymore than necessary. I don't trust him." Heero said through gritted teeth.
"Whoa, do I detect a bit of jealously?" Duo laughed. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you and her, but if you have feelings for her you better tell her, before you lose her to a guy like Ben. I don't know what I would do if I lost Ayame." He admitted begrudgingly. Heero nodded as Duo walked out of the room. Meika turned in her sleep.
"Heero." She muttered, still sleeping. His breath caught in his throat as she said his name. She was dreaming about him?
A few hours later Meika awoke to Heero asleep in the chair next to her.
"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly, as he woke up.
"I feel all right. What happened?" She looked around the room sitting up.
"You passed out from exhaustion. Here, eat this." Heero explained handing her the plate. Meika nodded and slowly ate her food.
"You're pushing yourself to far Meika; it won't help anyone if you pass out again." Heero's voice was calm.
"I'm sorry." She looked down sadly. After she was done eating Heero took the plate from her.
"Meika…" Heero started, looking in her eyes. "About what happened with Relena..." He was cut short by Meika's finger on his lips.
"Shhh. It's forgotten. I'm really sorry about that. I had no idea you were in a relationship." She smiled and started to walk from the room when Heero grabbed her shoulder, turning her around.
"We're not. We never were. I actually find her rather annoying." Meika blinked at this statement.
"Oh." Meika leaned against the wall. "But, why does it matter to you whether I think you are with her or not? You don't strike me as the type of guy that would try to prove anything to anyone." Heero sighed and slammed his fist against the wall by her head and put his other hand on the wall on her other side.
"It just important okay!" Heero seemed very frustrated. Meika cocked her head to the side and stared into his eyes. "I was angry enough that she decided to go and kiss me, and then you saw." He shook his head and growled. "And then there's that stupid guy down stairs."
"Ben?" Meika questioned trying to make sense of what he was saying.
"Yes! He doesn't know how to keep his eyes where they belong." Heero's voice was visceral.
"I'm not sure I understand." Meika confessed. Heero stared at her momentarily before roughly pushing her against the wall; one of his hands was on the side of her face as the other slinked around her lower back pulling her to him.
"Hee.." Meika started but was cut off when he pressed his lips aggressively against hers. The kiss was brief but left her head spinning. She looked up at him shyly. He kissed her again, but this kiss was much more gentle and filled with passion. She returned his kiss moving her mouth against his, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
Their kiss was intruped by a shout from downstairs.
"OZ is coming!" It was Ayame's voice
"We have to go."Heero said grabbing Meika's hand and pulling her down stairs. Ayame and Duo were gathering up some supplies, while the others were on lookout. Meika ran to Ben.
"Thank you so much for helping us." She bowed slightly
"Anytime flower." He moved to put his hand on her face, but Heero grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
"I see how it is." He laughed and ushered them out. They made it to the jeep and Duo jumped in the driver's seat, Meika was slightly confused but climbed in the back beside Heero. Ayame sat beside Duo as they drove off.
"How did they find us?" Meika asked a short while later.
"Not sure." Quatre said. "Ben's brother came in saying he saw OZ trucks, that's all we know."
"Are you feeling better Meika?" Katsumi asked. Meika noticed that Quatre had his arm draped around Katsumi's shoulder, and that she had her head snuggled to his chest. She smiled.
"Yeah, I'm wonderful." She grinned blushing a bit, thinking back to when Heero kissed her. At least if they had to drive for 200 miles, she had something good to think about.