Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Preventers: The Griffin Mission ❯ Chapter 2

"Hei, woman. . . ."

Amy felt a hand drop to her cheek. She kept her eyes closed as a fingertip softly traced her jaw-line. Then, suddenly, it was gone. Her eyes flew open, searching the room quickly. But the bedroom was empty, with no sign that anyone had been there at all. Well, almost no sign. . . . An enormous grey backpack now lay on the bed next to her. Curious, she pushed herself up and flipped open the top. A quick glance told her that the bag contained camping supplies. She spread the contents on the bed, making a mental checklist of the items. Besides, the normal gadgets and dried foods, Sally had packed a thick blanket and several changes of clothes. Apparently she had had someone raid Amy's closet during their conversation. On her other side, someone had laid out a thick fleece-lined coat, matching grey pants, mittens, and boots. Obviously, they were for her mission. . . . Just how cold was Altaos Beta?

"So far away. . . ." A slightly off-key tenor voice brought Amy from her thoughts. Someone was obviously in a good mood. If she was lucky, that person would also be normal in a house full of crazies. Men who blew themselves up in basements; men who babbled on like a child at Christmas; hairspray-addicts; sexists. . . .

As the singer began humming a few more lines, Amy jumped up, determined to locate someone who was doing something normal. She tracked the voice down to a room at the end of the north wing. Through the open door, she saw a bedroom decorated in an interesting combination of dark red and black. Further intrigued, Amy poked her head inside . . . and was immediately assaulted by a soggy loofah. It squished against her forehead and slid down her face to the floor.

"Oops! Sorry," a man's disembodied voice chuckled good-naturedly. "I thought you were Stacie. She just left to get. . . . Wait a sec." The voice reminded Amy of that bizarre braided man. . . . A brown head popped up from behind the bed and amazingly long wet hair swung to land on top of the comforter, soaking it in seconds. The rest (literally) of the young bishounen soon became visible as he stood, smiling amiably. At first he couldn't understand why the young woman was staring at him so strangely . . . until he felt a breeze flutter in through the open window. "Oh. Oops again."

He quickly squatted down behind the bed and rose again, securing a large, damp towel about his waist. Amy quickly blinked and tried-without much success-to appear indifferent. The man laughed and rounded the bed, extending a pruney hand. "Hi, I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie. . . ." His voice trailed off and his startling violet eyes grew pensive. "Damn, that sounds familiar."

Amy grinned and introduced herself, shaking Duo's wrinkled hand heartily. Upon hearing a brief recount of her story, he nodded sagely. "So-you're Wufei's woman. I don't think you're a real good match-you smile too much. Maybe you can teach ol' Wu a thing or two. Sometimes I wonder if he would even know what to do if someone put him in a room full of naked chicks." He shook his head sympathetically. "Oh, and I was serious about that stuffed dragon."

Just then, a blond woman of medium height waltzed into the room, whistling happily. Like Duo, she had a damp towel wrapped around her, neatly tucked in at her left armpit. Short blond hair bounced around her jaw-line with every step. She was twirling a pair of handcuffs around an index finger. "Hey, Duo, I found `em!"

Seeing Amy, she stopped short, her face darkening in confusion. "Duo . . . who's this?"

Duo's grin widened and he bounded around Amy to stand beside the woman. "Stace, this is Amy. Amy, my wife Stacie." He folded his hands behind his back, looking very pleased with himself.

Stacie squinted an eye at Amy. "Why's she here?" She looked at Duo meaningfully.

Duo clapped a hand to his chest, gasping in feigned shock. "What are you suggesting, my dear wife? This is Wuffie's woman. You are mine." He grabbed her waist and swung her down until she was lying back in his arms. Then he leaned over her so that their noses almost touched. "Mine mine mine mine. . . ." he laughed, speaking in a sing-song voice. Finally she laughed and he swooped in for a long and passionate kiss. Their hands quickly flew into motion, fingering the towels-

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable and very unwanted, Amy sidled away, quietly slipping out the door. As she stepped into the hall, Stacie kicked the door closed behind her. The couple immediately began making . . . noises. Amy decided to high-tail it out of there, heading back to her own room. There, she put the richly furnished bathroom to good use, getting her shower so that she could be all nice and springy-clean for dinner. Fortunately, she gauged her time well and had just slipped into clean clothes when a bell sounded from somewhere downstairs. She leaned out the door just as Wufei zipped out of his room, dressed in the casual Mao pants and navy wife beater he had made so popular during the war against OZ.

"Hey! Hey, smiley! What's the bell for?"

He slowed, throwing his reply over his shoulder. "Onna, that is the dinner bell. Quatre thinks it's the only proper way to announce meals."

Amy strode after him, catching up by the time he reached the grand stairs. "Oh, hey. Thanks for bringing the pack and clothes to my room." She paused uncertainly when he didn't reply. "Ah, that was you, wasn't it?"

If anything, his oriental features darkened and he continued to walk in silence. Amy made a ridiculously confused face at him, but kept pace until they reached the dining room.

† † † † † † † † † † † † † †

"Ah! Here they come!"

The others were already sitting at a large banquet table in the middle of Quatre's large and elaborate dining room. Every face was turned to watch the late arrivals. Amy's face flushed hotly at the attention, but Wufei just stood there, taking in the scene before him.

"It's about time, Wu," Duo griped. "I was about to start without ya!"

"Shove it, Maxwell," Wufei suggested pleasantly.

Quatre ignored Wufei and instead shot Duo a disapproving look. "That's rude, Duo. You know we wait for everyone to show up before we begin."

"Yeah, yeah. . . ." He continued to grumble until Stacie took it upon herself to silence Duo by pouncing on him and scoring a big kiss on his lips. He shut up, but Quatre blushed in discomfiture and turned to Amy and Wufei. "You can sit here," he offered, gesturing to two unoccupied chairs at the far end of the table, across from the Maxwells.

As they were seated, Quatre held out his hands. "Will someone say a blessing over this food for our visitor?"

Everyone stared at the boy in silence. Finally, Duo flung his arm up into the air and called out, "Rub a dub dub, thanks for this grub! Let's eat!" With that, he grabbed up a handful of rolls and started chowing down. Stacie followed suit, energetically buttering hers before eating them.

"Hey, Stacie! I just realized I recognize you," Amy began, surprised. "You're, like, Stacie, like, Selket, right?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yup. This is amazing! I mean, we all ended up together again. You're with the Preventers right?"

Amy nodded and started in on her own roll. The blond woman continued, "Well, it seems that we're all . . . gifted here. Sally formed a division of the Preventers just for us `special' people. I'm surprised she didn't catch you sooner."

"Well . . . ah . . . she did, but I wasn't sure who was in this division." Amy laughed. "I thought it was gonna be some freaky mutant thing made up of `Incredible Hulks' and `Captain Planets.' I didn't know you two had joined the Preventers. Did anyone else. . . ?"

Stacie shook her head. "Nope. Conan's out there . . . somewhere-trying to keep Mikael in check." She paused, watching for Amy's reaction. When the brunette continued eating nonchalantly, she poked her plate to the side and leaned forward. "Ya know . . . Conan. Hot vampire dude?" Amy nodded. Disgruntled, Stacie continued. "Whatever happened to you two anyways? I'm sure he misses you. It must be awful lonely out there . . . in the cold, cruel world. Or sometimes, when people abandon their best friends, they commit suicide. I wonder how Conan is. . . ."

Amy quirked an eyebrow, grinning crookedly as she realized what Stacie was up to. "Yeah. Poor guy. . . . Say, I wonder what Mikael is doing now. I'll bet his bed's pretty chilly nowadays." She tapped her lower lip pensively. "Actually, come to think of it, he's probably got lots of new sex toys."

Duo's bright violet eyes widened. "Stacie? What? Huh? Who? Eh?"

"Nuh-uh," Stacie snapped in irritation, ignoring her husband's confused sputtering. "Last time I saw him, he told me I was the best and no one could take my place." She tossed her head saucily and crossed her arms.

Now Duo's lower jaw came unhinged and his mouth fell wide open. "Wha'?! Who's this guy? When did you. . . ?" He waved his hand around, at a loss for words for once in his life.

"Oh, shut up, Duo!" Stacie snarled, still facing Amy. "I haven't seen him recently."

Amy smirked. "Soooo . . . you are still a seductress? And you didn't tell your husband?"

Scowling again, Stacie growled at Amy. "Well, I can't believe you left Conan!"

"You're forgetting Mikael again, Stacie."

Stacie slammed her fists onto the table, causing all of the silverware to jump. "Conan!"

"Mikael!" Amy jumped up, clenching her hands at her sides.

"ASH!!!" Kim shrieked gleefully, caught up in the moment. This earned her a startled look from Trowa. His one visible eye blinked in surprise at his wife's outburst.

"AAAAAAAA!!!!!!" They launched at each other over the table, striking out at one another. "MIKAEL!" "CONAN!" "NER!" "DORK!" "SLUT!" "BITCH!" "DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!"

As the women hissed, spat, and generally tried to gouge one another's eyes out, the others at the table looked on in shocked silence for a few seconds. Then Quatre's heart began to glow faintly. "No! Don't fight! You can talk it out. Oh dear. . . ." No one except Dorothy noticed when Quatre collapsed, clutching at his heart. She knelt beside him and frantically fanned his face with a napkin. Kim poked Trowa until he jumped up and attempted to catch Amy's arms. Wufei, who continued eating his meal as if nothing had happened, ignored the entire situation. Duo whooped loudly, cheering them on. "Cat fight! Cat fight!"

Heero just shot Duo a stony glare. "Baka. Your wife happens to be in that fight."

"Oh! Right!" He lunged forward, tackling the blonde before she could scratch his eyes out. They tumbled to the floor, where her violent actions soon took a new direction.

Trowa finally succeeded in pulling Amy away and, with Kim's help, pushed her down in her chair again until she calmed down. Then Trowa approached Quatre, anxiously hovering over his best friend until Dorothy managed to revive him. Quatre moaned weakly as Dorothy cradled his head in her lap. The hairspray-addict whirled around to face the table. "Okay, guys, finish eating. Everything's fine here."

Stacie and Duo clamored into their chairs and sat up, giggling again. The meal commenced in silence until Amy ventured a question. "Ah, Kim, what about the other guys?"

The shorter woman cheerfully picked up where Stacie had left off. "Oh, Chelsea's still with Archer in his world. Kadere became a stage magician-the only one who really knows magic instead of crappy slight-of-hand `illusions.' I hear he's rivaling the late great David Copperfield."

Stacie eyed Amy maliciously before speaking up. "Avyth"-the name sounded like a dirty word coming from her lips-"has disappeared. No one's seen him for over three years. He's presumed to be dead." She smirked in satisfaction.

"Hmmmm." Amy helped herself to a cut of prime steak before studying the rest of the people at the table. "And what about these guys? How are they . . . special?"

"Well, Duo, here, is the god of Death." She flung her arms around him, causing him to choke on a large chunk of steak. "Oops, sorry." As she continued, she noisily thumped her husband on the back. "He has some pretty weird otherworldly powers like this green . . . energy ball . . . thing. I dunno what it is." She shrugged and whacked Duo on the back one last time. "You should see him use it with his scythe."

The braided man grinned under the praise, his eyes watering. "Yeah. I'm just funky like that," he croaked.

Stacie laughed and pointed at the hairspray-addict who was seated beside Wufei. "Trowa is an Air Elemental. He does all these impossible flips and stuff `cause he can do something weird with the Air around him. . . ." She trailed off, unsure of herself.

Kim peered around her husband, who continued eating in silence. "What Stacie's trying to say is that Trowa can weave cords of Air to lift him up, spin him around, catch him, or whatever he wants. That's how come he was such a quick learner at the circus he used to work with. He, like, defies every law of gravity ever written. And that's not all he can do. You've heard that every Elemental can work with two Elements, right? His secondary-weaker-Element is Spirit. Since he doesn't have as much control over that, it's sort of specialized. He can only use it to read animals' minds and talk back to them. He's so sweet-he just loves animals and they adore him!"

Amy whistled softly, impressed. Of course Kim knew that she understood about Elemental powers. She herself was a Fire Elemental-she had been ever since receiving that creepy phoenix-shaped ruby from Master Ling. Still, she had a secondary control over Air. It sounded kind of wimpy, but Air was really nothing to mess with. Master Ling had taught her that all too well.

The short brunette continued excitedly. "Remember how you guys didn't think I had a real super-power? Well, after I met Trowa two years ago, I discovered that I'm an Earth Elemental with a secondary of Water! I can create earthquakes and open up ravines and call up water from underground rivers and a bunch of other stuff. I've been told I have a lot of potential, but I'm still pretty new at it so I can't do too much at one time. I get, like, drained." She sighed regretfully. Then, catching sight of the look on Stacie's face, she quickly turned back to her meal.

Stacie glowered sullenly before picking up the introductions again. "As I was saying . . . !" She jabbed a thumb in Heero's direction. The man was staring at his food stonily, as if attempting to petrify it, and mechanically feeding himself. "He's this weird genetically-altered guy. They call him the `Perfect Soldier.'" Her fingers hooked rigidly to create a pair of air-quotes. "He can stifle any emotion and ignore any distractions . . . just as long as he completes his mission. It's kinda freaky, really." Seeing her shudder, Duo draped his arm over her shoulder. "But he can also live through injuries that would instantly kill a normal man. It's really awesome to watch him heal. It's like, um, Wolverine on X-Men."

Laughing softly, she moved on to Quatre, who was in the middle of an animated conversation with Dorothy. "He has a space heart. You saw-" She rolled her eyes and swooned dramatically. Duo, who was in the middle of guzzling his milk, caught this from the corner of his eye. He snorted and doubled over as the milk spurted out through his nose and into his lap. Stacie clapped her hands to her mouth, trying-in vain-to quell her own laughter. Soon the lovers had collapsed in one another's arms, laughing, giggling, shrieking, hyperventilating, and snorting boisterously. The rest of the group, apparently used to such outbursts, managed to ignore them.

Finally, Stacie sat up again, gasping for breath. "Well . . . um . . . anyways. Heh. He's what they call an empath. I guess it's sorta like a step-down from telepath. He can sense people's general motives-like, good or evil-and he has a calming effect on people. I think that's why he's so corny." She shrugged and pointed at the blond boy's wife. "She's just here because he is. She doesn't show it much, but she really loves him. Actually, I think he'd be embarrassed to get all kissy in public."

Amy looked around the table again. "Wow. Quite a variety here." She turned to Wufei. "What about you? Are you part of this division?"

Wufei just ignored her and ruthlessly attacked his steak with a knife.

"Eh . . . k."

Duo finished sopping up the milk in his lap and was piling the sodden napkins on the table. "Hey, how about you, Amy? Stacie said you're `gifted,' too. You got some all-fired mystical powers too?"

Amy pursed her lips thoughtfully. She and Sally Po had spoken of this earlier. "No. Nope; I just right wrongs and triumph over evil." She shot a silencing look at Stacie. The other woman took the hint and immediately turned Duo's attention to other matters-her.

In a few minutes, Quatre stood, tapping his glass lightly. "If everyone's done with their dinner, we will proceed with dessert." The others pushed their plates aside while Duo quickly shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth. Amy stood, capturing the preppy boy's attention. "Um, could I be excused? I'm sorry, but I'm not that hungry."

Quatre nodded understandingly. "Of course you may. In case you want to come back down later, we'll be in the living room for the rest of the evening." His gaze shifted to Duo and Stacie. "Most of us will, I mean."

"All right. Thanks." Amy nodded politely and left the dining room. As soon as she was out of hearing range, she heaved a giant sigh of relief. "Wow."

"It wasn't that bad, now, was it?"

"Eep!" she squeaked in surprise, almost falling over. Clutching at her pounding heart, she saw Wufei apparently materialize at her elbow, smirking self-satisfactorily. Mad at herself for letting him sneak up on her, she wheeled on him. "Look, Wufei; if you feel responsible for me or something, you can just forget about it." His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Yes, I am a woman. No, I am not weak. And I think I can at least make it to my room without a man's help."

They reached the stairs and she began to take the carpeted steps by twos. Wufei's hand shot out and encircled her wrist, pulling her up short. She tried to shake him off, but his grip was firm, if gentle.

"Why should I feel responsible for you? In the Jeep, you asked to see my sword." He paused, watching her slowly calm down. "Would you like to see it now?"