Chapter Three: Free Fall?
At the docks, Bear watched as another of his drug ships blew sky high.
"Damn you Wolf." Bear looked at his second in command.
"Wolf's friend, the leader of the Eagles is coming in three days." He said looking at his boss. Bear turned back to watch the fire burn on the water.
"Make sure he doesn't reach them alive." Bear said.
"Yes sir." With that he slunk away.
'Li you are going to die by my hand, and if you don't, I'm going to take something very precious from you.' Bear thought as another ship blew.
Sakura and Caitlin have been sitting in the back of a truck for over an hour. They don't know where they are heading, but Eriol said it was for their tests.
"Dang, I'm bored." Caitlin said. Sakura just looked at her and nodded. She was thinking about Li. Before they had left she saw him looking at her, and was almost smiling.
'I wonder if anyone sees him smile?' she thought to herself. The truck stopped, and then Eriol opened up the two back doors.
"Ok it just the two of you, you shouldn't have trouble. If you do, yell and I'll come. You have to work together it's a partner thing." He handed them a gun each.
"They're blanks." He said when Sakura looked at the clip.
"Good luck." He said. Sakura and Caitlin look at each other and she nodded.
Mean while at the mansion Shayla, Meilin and Tomoyo pace back and forth wondering how Sakura and Caitlin are going. They see Li leave in his car and they look at each other and decide to follow him. They rush out and jump into Meilin's car. Along the way they talk about people that have made an impact on their lives. Shayla says that's her sister, Tomoyo says that it is a guy she's recently met and Meilin says it's her fiancée. Tomoyo and Shayla's jaws hit the ground.
"We didn't know that you had a fiancée!!" They yell.
"Yeah his name is Mi, Chan. He's really sweet and he's the best around!"
"Where's my camera when I need it?" Tomoyo sobs. "It's the perfect moment! I'd call it 'Meilin's Love'." Shayla and Meilin sweat drop.
"Yeah, we meet ages ago. I was just starting out as a Wolf and I got in trouble big time. Where the hell is Li going? Ouch!" Rubbing the spot where Tomoyo pinched her.
"Get on with the story!" Tomoyo demanded.
"Anyway." Meilin rubbed her arm. "He and Li came after me and Mi; Chan was the one to save me. Since then we've - Is she all right?" Meilin asked Shayla looking at Tomoyo in the review mirror. Tomoyo was all starry eyed and off in space.
"Don't worry about her, I agree with what you said. Where the hell is Li going?" Shayla asked. For some reason she had a bad feeling about the whole test business. She felt restless and was itching to do something. That only meant something bad was about to happen.
Li stopped at the top of a hill and looked down but didn't notice the other car following him. He pulled out his phone and dialed Eriol's number.
"They ready?" He asked.
"Just getting them set up." Came Eriol's reply.
"Good. I'll be there in a minute." Then he hung up.
Caitlin shot another cardboard figure. They came to a rope going over a gap.
"You want me to go over first?" Caitlin asked.
"Only if you want to, I could go first." Sakura replied. Caitlin shook her head and gave her the rope, trying not to look down, because she was scarred of heights, but it did give her an adrenaline rush. When Caitlin got over, she sighed with relief threw the rope back to Sakura.
"We make a good team." Sakura said when she got to the other side.
"What are friends for?" Caitlin replied, smiling as she tied off the rope.
Somewhere else near the gap. . .
"Why'd you call us Kat? I thought you didn't like your brother?"
"I don't. I just need your help to get rid of those two. I know they are going to take my place and more." Kat looked at the men around her.
'Being Bear's little sister does have some advantages.' she thought. She didn't like that she was second to her brother, so she hid from him and joined the Wolves gang.
"Ok, let's go." She said and they walked out of the bushes and in front of Sakura and Caitlin.
Caitlin and Sakura were walking along a trail, when a girl and eight men walked out in front of them.
"Who are you?" Asked Sakura.
"I'm the reason you're not going to be alive tomorrow." The girl said.
Caitlin looked at her. Noticed the broken nose and smirked having some clue who it was.
"You're Kat aren't you? Shayla told me about you." Caitlin said.
"So you're the big sister who beat Eriol in the bike race and who will hurt me if I hurt her. Oh I'm so scared." Kat mocked.
"You should be, and by the way, how's the nose? My sister can pack a wallop, like her big sister." Taunted Caitlin.
"What do you want?" Interrupted Sakura.
"I want you dead. You see, before Li met you two, I was his number one assassin, but now you have come along and you are going to be the assassins. Trust me I'm a very high person even though I'm a low ranking Wolf." Caitlin looked at her in disbelief.
"Ok, men. They're all yours." Kat said and left.
Sakura threw punches, but her opponent blocked them. She jumped kicked him and sent him flying to the ground, where he grunted in pain. Another tackled her and she maneuvered from under him and sent him over her shoulder and kicked another, sending him sprawling against a tree. She hit another with the butt of the gun and threw him in Caitlin's direction. Caitlin gave a grunt, when two men threw her into a tree. She kneed one and he buckled over in pain, and then slammed the heel of her shoe into his head. The one that Sakura had thrown grabbed Caitlin and picked her up, and heaved her over the gap. Sakura screamed.
Li pulled up behind Eriol. Eriol came over and sat in the front passenger seat.
"So how are they going?" Li asked.
"Don't worry they've only been ten minutes. If they are as good as you think they'll be at the gap." Eriol said and looked at Li.
"I've realized something. I think I have feelings for Sakura." Li said and looked at Eriol. Eriol was about to reply when they heard Sakura scream.
Sakura was lying by the gap when Li and Eriol came running up.
"Sakura are you ok?" Li asked pulling her into sitting position. Sakura hugged him and started to cry.
"Sakura what happened and where's Caitlin?" asked Eriol noticing a couple guys that were unconscious around them.
"Kat and some men turned up and told the men to attack us. She left and they attacked. We were fighting them and two of them threw her over the gap." she sobbed and started to cry even harder.
"Where'd they rest go?" Li asked stroking her hair.
"I don't know." Her response was muffled.
Eriol climbed down the gap. He didn't like doing it in the dark, but Li hated heights and had taken Sakura back to the car and to call for help. When he reached the bottom, he turned on his torch. He swept the beam around until he found Caitlin.
"God, Caitlin can you hear me?" Eriol asked kneeling beside her.
"Is . . . Sakura . . . ok?" She moaned trying to catch her breath. She was badly hurt and bleeding.
"She's fine. Can you feel everything?" Eriol asked warily, wanting to know if anything was broken.
"Everything's fine, except my ankles hurt like all hell along with my head and I just want to go to sleep." She stated.
"Don't go to sleep. And how did you survive that?" Eriol asked and then saw torch beams coming.
"It's good to know gymnastics and martial arts." She muttered and then passed out.
"Eriol we're sending a stretcher down with Meilin. Wei is going to meet us at the house." Li called from the top of the gap.
"Ok. She's unconscious at the moment." He called back.
Then the stretcher and Meilin came down. They put Caitlin in it and went back up.
It's been four days since Caitlin and Sakura were attacked and Caitlin is still unconscious. Li's friend Sam had arrived with no trouble. Bear and Kat are hiding because of what Kat did. Caitlin opened her eyes. The light was bright so she closed them again. She heard two people talking. .
"Call me if anything bad happens. I have to go pick Meilin up from school. Sakura and the sister are in the room next to Meilin's. I should be back in an hour or so. Meilin wants to buy things for Shayla and Caitlin." Li said to the other person in the room.
"Ok. I'll stay here with the spit fire." The other guy said. Caitlin heard someone, Li, leave the room.
"I always did like women with a wild side." The voice said, as he sat down in the chair next to the bed.
"I don't really have a wild side, I just enjoy the pain." Caitlin opened her eyes to see the guy beside her with a shocked face. "Hi, I'm Caitlin. And you are?" She asked.
"Hi, I'm Sam Cowan. I'm Li's friend. It's nice to finally meet you Caitlin." The guy beside her answered.
"Hi Sam. Can you please go and get my sister?" Caitlin demanded.
Sam got out of his chair and opened the door. "Go and tell the sister that she's awake and wants to see her." He said to someone outside. Then he returned to his chair. He was handsome with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He looked about six foot something.
Sakura and Shayla suddenly bolted into the room making Caitlin and Sam jump, they had been talking.
"You're finally awake!" Shayla cried and jumped up onto the bed to hug her sister.
"Yeah and if you don't let go, I'm going to die from lack of air!" Caitlin croaked.
"Sorry!" Shayla said and got off the bed.
Sakura walked over and gave her a hug. "Don't you dare do that to me again!" Sakura looked at Caitlin right in the eyes.
"I'll try not to." Caitlin looked down. "It wasn't my fault I was thrown."
"It serves you right for taking two at one time." Sam said from behind them. Caitlin turned around and glared at him.
"You would too if it was two to eight." She smirked.
"I'm going to leave before its gang up on Sam time and the other two join in." He said and left the room.
After Li picked up Meilin from school and finished helping her shop, they returned home and were greeted by a happy Sakura jumping up and down into his arms.
"Hello to you too. I take it Caitlin's awake by the look on your face and Sam's." Li said, catching her and looking at Sam. Li gave Sakura a quick kiss on the lips and followed Sam into the recovery room. They have two rooms in the house equipped with things they need. The ER/operation room and the recovery room.
"It's nice to see that you're finally awake." Li said to Caitlin, entering the room.
Caitlin looked up from plaiting her sister's hair. Wei the doctor had just left and told her to go see a friend of his Dr Avalon in two days for a checkup.
"It's good to see you Li." Li looked up at Shayla and she got up and left the room.
"What did Wei say?" Li asked and sat down in the chair beside her bed.
"He said I'm not allowed to walk around until I see Dr Avalon on Friday." Li turned and looked at Sam.
"Sam since you're the only person not really doing anything. It looks like you're going to be Caitlin's personal slave." Li said smirking. Caitlin looked down sullen. Sam just smiled.
"Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together hey Phoenix?" Sam said.
"Why did you call me that?" Caitlin demanded.
"Because the guys are saying that you rose from the ashes." Sam stated. "Plus you have the Phoenix tattoo."
"Don't call me that, my father use to call me that." She looked down trying not to cry.
"Something always happens and you arise again. You should be called that." Shayla said from the door and saw her sister was about to cry and walked over to her and hugged her. Li glared at Shayla for a moment as she was supposed to be outside the room. But then Li and Sam got up and left the room.
"Tomoyo will be here soon with your things, then Sam can take you to your new room." Li said as they left.
Sam carried Caitlin through the door and placed her on her new bed.
"Looks like I'll have to decorate." Caitlin stated.
"You should Phoenix." Sam said and smirked.
"Don't call me that." Caitlin hissed, through clenched teeth.
"I love a woman with a fiery temper." Sam said then leant over and kissed her.
They were still lip locked when Shayla walked in. Her jaw hit the ground before she composed herself. She walked over to them and taps Sam on the shoulder.
"Did you know that my big sister's very protective of her little sister, and vice versa?" She stated firmly, trying not to look pissed.
Sam looked at her shocked as they broke apart and before he or Caitlin could do anything, Shayla's fist connected quite firmly with his face, and she gave the death glare to both of them.
"Now if I catch you manhandling my big sister ever again, you're not going to see the light of another day." She ground out, before turning on her heel and storming out of the room.
"It's true ya know? I am very protective of her and she with me." Caitlin looked up at him and smiled. "Looks like I taught her good too. She did a good job on your eye."
Sam walked over to the mirror and saw it starting to turn black. Then walked back over to the bed and sat beside her.
"What?" she asked.
He just smiled and pulled her into a kiss hoping to God that Shayla wouldn't walk back in.
Sakura and Shayla went back to school on Thursday, the next day, and the first person they saw was Su, Kevin. He's also on the soccer team with Caitlin.
"Hey! How are the most beautiful girls in the school?" He asked slyly.
Sakura, Tomoyo, Shayla and Caitlin are considered a few of the most beautiful and popular girl's in the school, but no guy touches them because of Caitlin. One guy had grabbed her arse and he'd felt pain for about two months!
"Hey where's the protector?" Kevin asked. The girls were walking away from him but Shayla turned around to face him.
"Don't worry, Caitlin's just indisposed at the moment. She'll be back soon to kick your ass." Shayla said then flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned on her heel and headed towards her first class. Sakura watched the younger girl with amusement in her eyes.
'Caitlin will be proud.' She thought.
"Li's these meetings are boring." Sam said and slumped in his chair. He couldn't wait to get back to Caitlin. They had gotten really close over the last few hours. Li just looked at him and then Eriol, who was daydreaming about Tomoyo. Li brought them into his study so he wouldn't think about Sakura.
"We guys are so pathetic. We can't stop daydreaming about girls." Eriol said coming out of his trance.
"I should have stayed in China. I can't breathe when I see the temptress. God why did you make a woman like Caitlin?" Sam groaned and looked up at the ceiling.
"And Tomoyo?" Eriol added.
"And Sakura?" Li added to both.
"Where here!" Meilin called out when they entered the house. Li and Eriol ran out of Li's office and grabbed their women into hugs.
"They've been like that all day." Caitlin said from the couch with Sam nuzzle ling her neck, not seeing the death glare Shayla gave him.
"Isn't that right Syaoran, Eriol?" The guys didn't pay any attention, and Meilin, Shayla, Sakura and Tomoyo looked at her because she called Li, Syaoran.
"What?" Caitlin asked.
Meilin and Shayla went up stairs and Tomoyo and Eriol, plus Sakura and Li were having a huge make out session in the front hall. Caitlin and Sam were having one on the couch.
Up Stairs. . .
"Don't you like Sam?" Meilin asked.
"Sure, but I think he's moving too fast with Caitlin." Shayla replied.
"Yeah, he's moving a little fast with her, but that means he really likes her."
Meilin was going through her closet and Shayla was lying on her bed.
"So how's the fiancée' back in China?" asked Shayla.
Meilin blushed.
"He's cool. Got a letter from him yesterday."
Meilin turned and looked at Shayla. "How's Aiden?"
Shayla went bright red and ran out of the room. Meilin cracked up laughing. Shayla runs back in and gives "the glare".
"Just 'cos you're missing Mi Chan doesn't mean you can annoy the crap out of me!" Meilin's mouth drops open and Shayla walks out of the room laughing.