To Live and Learn
Part Three: D.O.A: Dead On Arrival

20-08-15 -> 20-08-21
Author’s Note: Here is story five, part three, of the five mini-stories that I'm writing. The characters are derived from the Gundam Wing Anime (meaning they aren't mine) except for Rebecca and the gangs. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as the other stories!

Rebecca groggily placed her hand on her forehead… ‘What happened…?’ She felt the softness of the bed behind her and quickly sat up… ‘Where am I?”

Then she remembered what happened… She looked around her… There’re no windows and she’s sitting on a bed… She looked down and sighed in relief as she saw that she still had her clothes on…

She heard some keys then a lock clicking and a silver haired man with an important air entered, wearing a suite.

“Good afternoon Ms. Neill. I trust that you slept well. My men injected you with some medicine to let you have a restful sleep.”

Rebecca started… How did they know her- … she stopped her musing. Well, they were observing her store before… Wait… afternoon… sleeping medicine… considering the effects of such… this means that she’s lost one day! Wufei…

She looked up at the man talking.

“You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don’t know yours.” Rebecca replied, trying to stop her voice from trembling, and tilting her chin up. She shouldn’t let them see that she’s afraid…

The man nodded. “Of course, rather impolite of me… My name is Francis Stone.”

Rebecca couldn’t help the way her hand turned into fists at the name. But she smiled coldly at him instead. “Mr. Stone… I can’t say that it’s a pleasure.”

“Of course not, my dear…” He walked closer to her, brought his hand out and held her chin.

Rebecca forced herself not to struggle… Struggling will only make them think that she’s afraid…

“Gregor really knows how to pick his girls…” he said as his other hand lightly traced her cheek then brush her hair.

‘Wrong mister…I was the one that did the picking up,’ she thought as her skin crawled at his touch. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Stone smiled with malice. “Tell me… how close are you and Gregor? Are you secretly married? Or just lovers?”

Rebecca’s eyes slanted in anger.

“A feisty little thing you are…” Stone said as he saw the raging fire in those emerald green eyes. “Wufei will come to me and give me the disk with you in my hands…”

Rebecca started to laugh, “That’s where you’re wrong…” She saw the quick look of surprise on Stone’s face.

“What do you mean?”

Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest, “What I mean is Gregor and I already worked out an agreement that if anything happens to me, he should leave me…” her voice trailed as she felt a catch in her throat. A part of her wants Wufei to save her… yet another part of her doesn’t want him to get hurt!

Rebecca’s eyes widened at Stones’ maniacal laughter.

“You expect me to believe that, Ms. Neill? That Gregor would just leave you-“ his hand gripped her hair, “- a beautiful woman in my hands?”

“You know… Gregor used to work for us… He was one of my best men,” his face twisted in fury, “Until he double crossed me and gave all my programs viruses. And now we had to relocate because he knew where we were situated before!” he hissed out loud.

Rebecca stopped a smile. ‘Yes! Way to go Wufei!’ Then she stopped as she remembered something…

“How did you know where to find Gregor?” she asked curiously…

Stone grinned, “I placed a bug in his coat…”

Rebecca stifled a gasp as she remembered the lump she felt last night in his coat lining… But she remained calm.

“How come you didn’t come after us earlier? Why let us run free for so long?”

Stone’s grin disappeared. “His virus made it nearly impossible for us to regain our control over it! Not to mention that the explosion some of my stupid men did to your house jarred it a little bit!”

Rebecca nodded then forced herself not to move as Stone leaned forward and brought his hand to her knee, slowly trailing it up her leg…

Rebecca grounded her teeth. “I wish I can kill you…” she whispered with as much hate and malice as she could muster.

Stone took his hand away and smiled. He reached inside his coat, pulled out an old fashioned gun and dropped it on the bed in front of Rebecca.

“There’s the gun. Use it.”

Rebecca stared at the gun and with hands trembling she reached for it. Gripping the holder tightly in both hands, she aimed for Stone’s heart.

‘One shot, and this will be all over…’ she thought… But, she couldn’t… she dropped her hands with the gun on her knees and sighed in frustration… She couldn’t…

“I knew you couldn’t harm me.” Stone said with amusement. “But, I’ll leave you the gun and you can practice so sometime soon you can have your wish. Lunch will be served soon…” Stone laughed one more time before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Rebecca brought her knees to her chest… She could still hear his echoing laughter… That damnable man!

She looked at the gun and slowly she fingered it.

“Maybe I can’t use the gun on other people… but I can use it on myself…” she whispered. She pried open the barrel and saw 5 bullets…

~*~

Wufei checked his watch… 11:55am… I’m here right on time… He glanced back behind him at the jeep he had just concealed then looked in front of him… He could see Stone’s men patrolling the grounds…

Considering Stone’s quirk of the number 50… Wufei is quite sure that there’s only 48 right now… unless if Stone already found a replacement for him and the man who got burned in Rebecca’s apartment…

He checked his watch once again… It’s time… He pressed the red button in front of him and a loud explosion erupted from the kitchen. Wufei smiled as he heard shouts of confusion.

‘They’ll think that it was a gas leak that caused it…’ he thought with a smile. “Becky, I’m coming…” he whispered under his breath as he eyed the windows.

He moved quickly along the shadow of the house… He stopped as he saw a man appear in front of him, turn the other way around and start walking.

Wufei’s feet are quick as he went silently behind the man and his hand clamped down on its neck. The man crumpled in front of him and Wufei took his gun, adding to the numerous other guns around his waist.

47.

Wufei walked towards the direction the man appeared from and found a side door. He tried the knob, but it was locked… Walking a couple of feet backwards, he brought his knee to his chest and then kicked towards the door as hard as he could.

The wood splintered and hole appeared in the middle. Wufei pushed his arm inside and grabbed for the knob to open it.

He’s finally inside… His eyes darted to and fro for any sign of movement in the hallway… He heard two men talking…

“Heh! I think that Stone’s thinking of taking that girl for himself.”

“Really? Why does he have to have all the fun?”

Wufei’s anger boiled over. He reached the two and before either one of them knew what was happening, their heads collided with each other and they fell unconscious to the floor…

Wufei looked down at the two, ready to punch the living daylights out of them, but seeing that they’re already out cold, he forced himself to start looking for Rebecca.

45.

“Is that fire contained already?!” a hoarse voiced man shouted.

“Yeah! One of the gas tanks blew up!”

“Really? Be sure about it! The boss is getting edgy!”

“Right!”

The one giving orders turned around and did a double take as he saw Wufei. He grabbed for his gun but Wufei did a crescent kick and sent it straight across the room…

Quick as lightning, Wufei’s hand grabbed the man’s neck and pushed him upwards.

The man started to gag.

“Tell me where you’re hiding your prisoner.” Wufei said in a dangerous tone.

The man opened his mouth gasping for air. Wufei’s grip tightened and he pushed the man higher, this time, only the tip of the shoes of the man is touching the floor.

Wufei felt the man slightly nod and he let go. The man fell down, his knees buckling under him as he tried to gasp for air.

“East room… Second floor… third door on the right…” he gasped out loud.

Wufei nodded, ‘Coward!’ he thought as he brought his hand up and gave the man a hand-knife strike across the back of the man’s neck. The man slumped forward, unconscious.

44…

Wufei went to the eastern direction, seeing a flight of stairs, he mounted it, running all the way. He reached the second floor and started counting.

‘Three…!’

He saw the heavy lock on the door and brought out a silencer from his belt. He shot only once and the lock broke. Then, with all his might, he tackled the door backwards.

The door swung open and Wufei didn’t feel the pain encompassing his arm as he saw Rebecca staring at him wide eyes- thankfully safe and sound- holding a gun in front of her chest.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WOMAN!!!” he shouted in rage as he bounded across the room and slapped the gun she was holding onto.

That seemed to snap some consciousness in her as she blinked and stared at his face, “Wufei! I-”

But she wasn’t able to finish as he gathered her in his arms in a hug. Rebecca hugged him back.

“Don’t you dare think of doing that!” rasped Wufei’s hoarse voice… He came so close to loosing her… so close…

Wufei could feel his shirt going damp and heard Rebecca sniffling. He grabbed her shoulders and made her face him.

“What made you want to do that?” he asked harshly, already he could picture what could have happened.

“I told you not to come after me… didn’t I?” she whispered as she looked at her hands.

“Bullshit! The hell I won’t!” Wufei shouted in rage.

Rebecca looked up… He’s really here, with her… Saving her… Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw a man stop in front of the door and hold a gun in front of him, ready to shoot.

Wufei saw her wide fearful eyes, but that was the only thing he saw as Rebecca pushed him down.

“Wufei! Down!” she cried out as she pushed him down in front of her. In shock, she didn’t hear the gunshot, but she did feel the bullet swish atop of her… Her hand reached for the gun that Wufei slapped away from her hand… no time to think… only to act… She brought the gun in front of her and pulled at the trigger.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion and every sound so loud as she heard the deafening sound of her gun, and the sickening sound of a body hitting the ground…

Rebecca’s hand trembled and she looked at her hand… Her whole body started shaking…

‘I… I just killed a man…’ she started thinking numbly.

Wufei looked at her… He knows how she feels… Just like the first time he killed a man himself… Sick and the lowest…

“Becky.” He whispered as he stood up from the bed and held out his hand for her. They need to go… Everyone should have heard that gunshot already!

Rebecca looked up at Wufei… ‘If I didn’t pull that trigger… he would have died in my arms…’ she couldn’t bear the thought… ‘He’s alive… that’s what counts…’ she thought as her nerves started to calm down. She looked at his offered hand and placed her own in it, just like the day when her house burned down…

Wufei pulled her up.

“Where are we going?” she asked him as they reached the door. Wufei looked left and right.

“To Outer Space…” he answered quickly then pulled Rebecca to a run down the hall.

A man appeared out of nowhere and Rebecca saw Wufei pull out a gun and shoot him… She looked down on her path as blood sprouted from the man’s chest…

Wufei reached the door he came in through and pushed Rebecca outside. “Run as fast as you can into those trees and don’t look back! Keep your head down!” he ordered.

Rebecca stared at the seemingly hundred feet away trees. She started to feel the same numbing fear, but then she shook her head…

‘Wufei knows what he’s doing…’ she thought as she started to run as fast as she could. She could hear and feel bullets wheezing around them… She could hear Wufei firing back…

Wufei looked behind him… ‘Those bastards wouldn’t know what hit them…’ he thought in fury. He saw Stone’s silvery hair by the balcony and his eyes hardened… Each and every shot he fired went true to its aim…

Suddenly, he felt a burning pain above his right arm, but he didn’t stop… He shouldn’t think about it… He looked ahead and saw the trees… They’re nearly there…

The trees became closer and closer… Finally they reached it…

They were both panting but Wufei grabbed Rebecca’s arm and led her to the jeep. They worked in silence as they pushed away the leaves.

“Get in!” Wufei ordered as he jumped inside.

Rebecca slipped inside the jeep as it roared to life and they started moving at full speed.

Wufei looked back at the rearview mirror as his right hand reached for another button on the dashboard. When he calculated that they were a safe distance away, he pushed the red button.

A loud explosion rocketed through the air and Rebecca could feel the impact of the explosion as she brought her head down on her knees…

She brought her head back up then twisted behind her and saw the burning mansion in disbelief. Then, she looked at Wufei who looked grim.

His lips started to move, “That was for your house.” He said in a hard tone.

Rebecca stared at him… ‘He came inside a well guarded place to save me, and avenge my house…’ a small smile appeared on her lips as she shook her head...

‘I love this man!’ Then her smile widened and she could only say two words.

“Oh Wufei…” with as much love and admiration. ‘Stones’ men were a menace to the society… It’s either innocent and true people die, or the corrupted ones… And my Wufei saw to it that it is the latter…’

Wufei looked at her quickly and saw her uplifting smile and smiled himself. ‘He got her out safely… They got out safely, that’s what counts…

Wufei tapped on the dashboard. “Look in there.” He ordered once again.

Rebecca opened it and saw her sketchbook inside. Slowly she took it out and her hand went lovingly over it.

“I thought that you might want to have it… You always tinker around with it anyway…” he murmured.

Rebecca felt a stinging tear on her eyes and she brushed it away quickly before Wufei could see it… ‘You don’t know how important this is… These are my memories and you had time enough to take it with you…’ she thought as she looked at this man that she thought was unfeeling before.

Her hand reached out and touched his shoulder and she saw him smile.

Wufei took his right hand away from the stirring wheel and brought it to his shoulder to hold onto Rebecca’s hand and bring it down on his leg as he held it tightly. He looked down at it quickly then looked at Rebecca who is smiling softly…

‘Everything will be alright now…’ Wufei thought happily.

A telltale dark patch on Wufei’s arm caught Rebecca’s attention. Not wanting to let go of Wufei, she brought her other hand up to touch it…

Wufei winced, and Rebecca noted the action as she drew back her hand and saw blood on her fingers.

“Wufei! Why didn’t you tell me?!” she cried out in panic. “Are you alright? Oh you must be in pain!”

Wufei smiled at her panic and he rubbed the back of her hand. “I will be lying if I said that it doesn’t hurt… But we’ll tend to it later… First we’ve got a plane to catch…”

Rebecca bit her lip as she stared at the blood seeping through his black coat and tried to think. “When we get to the airport, we’re going to patch that up… Did you bring any medicines with you?”

Wufei nodded, “I thought you were going to need it…” he said with a smile.

Rebecca smiled, “And look who’s going to need it now…” Then her eyes went behind her and saw one of the blazers that Wufei brought in that store. “Good. You have an extra blazer in here… Use that after we take care of the wound.”

Wufei nodded. “Alright woman! Stop bossing me around!” he cried out.

Rebecca started to laugh. ‘Oh it’s good to hear him say that!’

~*~

Stone staggered towards the room where he placed Rebecca and saw the man lying on the floor.

He turned him around and saw the blood on his chest… but he’s still breathing, although faintly. Stone slapped him hard across the face and the wounded man’s eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Stone… unngh! They… went… out-er… space…” then the man breathed his last…

Stone looked around his mansion… their head quarters, burning…

“I’LL GET YOU YET GREGOR!!!” he shouted out loud as he quickly ran out of the mansion…

He saw a few of his men gasping for air, a little burnt, bloody… He started counting… 15… Out of 48 men… 15 is left to him!

He smiled in pleasure as his right hand man came up to him with no bruises.

“Sir. What do you plan to do next?”

“Keller, we are going to outer space and blast Gregor into bits!” he cried out in fury.

Keller nodded. “Are we going to use the one hidden in Satlnin?”

Stone slapped Keller. “We don’t have another shuttle now do we?! Don’t you use your brains?!”

Keller started bowing. “Sorry sir… That shuttle is equipped with enough armament that you might want and is constantly being seen to. You have two men guarding it.”

“Good… Now we have 17…” he murmured to himself. He turned around and faced his men. “Let’s go everyone!!! We are going to kill that bastard who did this to us!”

The men cheered and they walked to the last car that didn’t blow up, parked in the field…

~*~

Wufei pulled on the blue coat over his body as Rebecca helped him.

“Everything okay? Your wound?” Rebecca asked once again.

Wufei sighed, “Becky! I said that I’m fine… Quit worrying!”

Rebecca smiled, “Sorry.” Then she went to his other side and slipped her right hand around the crook of his left arm. “So, which passage?”

Wufei looked around.

“Passengers for Flight 475, please go to Wing 3 Passage 9.” The speaker announced.

Wufei nodded, “That’s where we’re going.”

“Let me get this straight… We’re going to the Sanc Kingdom to get your friend’s shuttle so we can go to Outer Space…”

Wufei nodded.

“Can you drive a shuttle?”

“It’s fly.” Wufei corrected and saw that Rebecca pouted her lips. “And yes… Of course…” Wufei suddenly felt a sinking feeling… ‘She still doesn’t know that I’m a Gundam Pilot…’

They walked together through the crowd of people and finally reached their destination.

Wufei showed their passports.

The girl looked at it and smiled up to them.

“Good afternoon Mr. Chang, Mrs. Chang (Wufei blushed)… You will reach the Sanc Kingdom in 15 hours. Enjoy your flight.”

They passed through security while Rebecca felt as if she’s in seventh heaven… ‘Mrs. Chang… that sounds so wonderful…’ she thought with a content smile…

A stewardess greeted them as they came inside and took them to their seat while Rebecca glanced around her in awe.

Rebecca sat beside Wufei then whispered in his ear, “Let me guess… first class?”

Wufei smiled, “Of course.”

Rebecca shook her head then laid it on top of Wufei’s left shoulder while she snuggled to him. “I’m starting to get used to this…”

Wufei smiled as he leaned his head over hers, “Fine with me.”

Wufei looked around the milling crowd while Rebecca yawned.

“Who are we looking for?” she asked curiously.

Wufei tilted his head up higher and finally saw the familiar face in the usual blue and gold uniform behind a counter..

“Let’s go.” Wufei said as he took Rebecca’s hand and started to move through the crowd. He saw the person in uniform smile at him as he reached her.

“Wufei! Finally! I’ve been waiting for you since yesterday! Long time no see.”

“Noin. I see that you’re still with the Sanc Guards…”

Lucrezia Noin smiled sadly. “With Relena gone…” she sighed. “We’re still trying to straighten things up… We never really knew how much work Relena did… and now we do.”

Wufei nodded sadly. “Yes… Her death was a surprise to me also.”

Rebecca frowned in confusion… ‘Relena? They’re in Sanc Kingdom… so do they mean… Relena Peacecraft?’ she glanced at Wufei quickly then at the woman who looked sad… ‘Wufei knows Relena Peacecraft?’

Suddenly, Rebecca felt ‘Noin’s’ gaze on her and she shyly met her gaze.

“Who’s your friend Wufei?” she asked curiously. Although Rebecca could plainly see the look of surprise on her face as Noin’s glanced down at their entwined fingers.

“Rebecca Neill, meet the Head of the Royal Guard of the Sanc Kingdom, Ms. Lucrezia Noin.”

Rebecca let go of Wufei’s hand to shake Noin’s, “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Noin.”

Lucrezia smiled. “You must be one tough cookie to be able to stand Wufei here.” Noin cheerfully said and noted Wufei’s grimace. Lucrezia also observed that when she let go of Rebecca’s hand, Wufei held it once again… She smiled… ‘Hmmm… Well… he is a man after all…’ she thought happily.

Wufei coughed. “Well… Is everything ready?”

Noin nodded as she started walking and the couple followed. “I must admit that I was completely baffled when Heero called me… I mean, I haven’t heard from him for such a long time…” Noin said as she remembered the phone call she got three days ago.

~*~

[Flashback:]

“Lucrezia Noin here.”

“Noin… this is Heero.” Noin nearly dropped the phone at Heero’s low baritone. “Heero? Where are you?”

“I’m…” he stopped and Noin waited, “I’m at Duo’s right now.”

Noin nodded… ‘So, the Gundam pilots are still keeping in touch…?’

“Well…” Noin started… Heero wouldn’t just call her without any reason, now would he? “You heard about Relena’s death…”

Heero’s voice became harsher. “How can I not? It was in every damn newspaper and TV station!”

Noin winced at the tone of voice Heero is using… She knows for a fact that Relena loves Heero… and there were times when she could just swear that Heero feels the same way… But… now, Relena is dead… Died while on vacation in her home town…

Noin forced herself not to think about it as Heero started speaking, “I need to ask you a favor.”

“Yeah?”

“I have a battle shuttle in the Sanc Kingdom Airport.”

“What?! How come I didn’t know about that?!” Noin cried out in surprise.

“If I didn’t want anyone to know, then you can be sure that it wouldn’t be found.”

Noin sighed. ‘Of course… Stupid Noin!’

“What do you want me to do?”

“The shuttle is in hanger 3 Lot 78. It’s disguised as a private shuttle. The code to get in is RHYP209835. Got that?”

Noin finished writing it down. “Yeah.”

“I want you to make sure that it’s in proper working condition.”

“Got it.”

“Wufei will be using it.”

Noin nearly dropped the phone once again, “Wufei?!” the last she’d heard about him was that he was working as a solo agent… If that’s even true…

“Yeah… Listen Noin… Wufei is going to arrive there … He doesn’t dally around, so please check the airport everyday… I took a chance in mentioning your name to him… Please. This mission is crucial… He needs to get to Quatre’s Colony and give us a disk that could mean another war if it fell into the wrong hands…”

Noin gripped the phone hard. Not war… Not again…!

“I’ll do my best, Heero.”

“I know Noin…” Heero replied and Noin smiled at the seemingly silent compliment that this perfect soldier gave her.

“Thanks Heero… Good bye…”

“Bye.”

Noin placed the phone back down and looked at the paper with the code in her hand…

‘Oh Heero… I wonder how you’re doing…’ she sighed and stood up, putting on her coat…

‘It’s time I checked this shuttle.’ Lucrezia frowned… ‘Wait a minute… RHYP…?’

[End Flashback:]

~*~

Noin opened the hanger and walked towards the shuttle, punching in the code. The three entered.

“Holy!” Wufei cried out in surprise as he whistled and moved around. “Heero knows how to pick his shuttles!” he said in awe. He went straight to the control panels and turned it on, typing on it furiously.

Finally, he looked up. “Everything seems to be in perfect order.”

“Of course… I saw to it myself. Besides, Heero Yuy wouldn’t just take any old shuttle.” Noin joked. Rebecca smiled.

“How soon can we get this off?” Wufei asked.

“Any time you want… All I need to do is to contact the airport and you’re off.”

Wufei nodded. “How about now?”

Noin shrugged. “Fine with me… Do you want some mobile suits to accompany you?”

Wufei shook his head. “No… I think that our troubles are over.” He said with a smile as he looked at Rebecca.

Rebecca smiled back. “Lets just say that Wufei toasted them…” she chided.

Noin shook her head. “In other words, he blasted them to smithereens, eh?” Noin turned around and went to the right wall. She typed in a few numbers then a man appeared on the screen.

Noin saluted. “I want men down to hanger 3 Lot 78 to take out a shuttle… We are to get permission for it to be launched.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Rebecca saw the man turn away and speak to another piece of monitor, type in some numbers and speak once again. Then he nodded and turned back to Noin.

“Permission is granted and the men will be there in 15 minutes.”

Noin nodded. “Fine. Over and out.” She closed the monitor and turned to Wufei. “Are you sure you don’t want to rest?”

“I can rest when I get up there.” Wufei answered, still looking at the control panel.

“Is Rebecca going to stay here?” Noin asked as she looked at Rebecca. That got Wufei’s attention as his head snapped up and looked at Noin, then slowly his questioning gaze went to Rebecca.

Rebecca felt the question in his eyes and moved to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’d rather go to outer space with him, Lucrezia.”

Noin saw Wufei sigh in relief and smiled… She remembered the first time she fought with Wufei… He fought so passionately, and talked of justice the same way… and now… I guess he loves passionately also… a very passionate person…

“Okay… That’s settled. I’m going out for a while and get some food for you guys.” She cried as she walked out of the shuttle.

Wufei looked at Rebecca with a smile… He felt so good that she wanted to stay with him… “Thanks.”

Rebecca leaned over and gave Wufei a peck on the cheek. “You’re welcome. So, am I going to sit here?” she asked, pointing to the only seat left with a teasing smile.

Wufei shrugged. “That’s okay.”

~*~

Thirty minutes later:

“Shuttle 10, ready for lift off?” a speaker asked over the monitor.

Wufei nodded as he typed in something on the monitor then place his hand on a lever between his seat and Rebecca’s. “Ready.”

“Clear for take off, 10.”

Wufei pulled at the lever he was holding on to and they started to move.

Rebecca placed her hands together on top of the grayish suit she’s wearing on top of own clothes and bit her lip in nervousness… She has never been on a shuttle, or in outer space… She could feel the shuttle gain speed, then her stomach felt as if it flipped and they were off in the air.

She felt Wufei’s gloved hand on hers and looked at him, seeing his calming eyes under the glass of his helmet.

“It’s okay…” he said inside his helmet.

Rebecca nodded as she heard what he said in her own helmet. Noin gave them a communication device within the helmet.

“Swallow when you feel your ears popping.” He ordered and Rebecca nodded once again.

She felt as if her whole body is being flattened, and pushed back against the cushion of the seat… She closed her eyes and gripped Wufei’s hand.

Then, she started to feel the pressure lifting up and she opened her eyes. The windows of the shuttle showed thousand of twinkling stars all around…

Rebecca let go of Wufei’s hand as she reached out to the glass while Wufei started typing on the panel once again.

‘It’s so beautiful…’ Rebecca thought as she looked at the stars… From the corner of her eyes, she saw Wufei take off his helmet and she did the same.

“How do you like it?” Wufei asked as he looked forward.

“It’s wonderful…”

“Yeah… I know…”

Rebecca looked towards him and suddenly knew that he was from the colonies.

“Well be reaching our destination in 10 hours.” Wufei announced.

Rebecca smiled. “Good… That means you can catch some sleep. I already slept in the plane, and I knew you kept awake… so now, it’s your turn.”

Wufei smiled. “Alright… But wake me up if something goes wrong.”

Rebecca nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry.”

~*~

Rebecca checked the time on the monitor then looked at a peacefully sleeping Wufei…

He’s been asleep for over 6 hours… But then… her hand combed back his hair. ‘You need it anyway…’

A flashing red light caught Rebecca’s eyes. She frowned… Should she wake him up…? She looked at Wufei then back at the control panel and decided.

Her hand gently shook Wufei’s good arm and Wufei quickly woke up.

“What’s wrong?” Wufei asked as he blinked quickly and stretched.

Rebecca pointed to the flashing red light. “That started flashing a few minutes ago.”

Wufei frowned, “Who would be sending us a transmission from here?” he asked as he pushed some of the buttons.

Rebecca gasped while Wufei’s eyes slanted as Stone’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hello Gregor… Didn’t think I survived that explosion, did you…?” Stone said with a snarl. His gaze went over Rebecca. “I see that you chose the loosing side, Ms. Neill.”

Wufei’s hands turned into fist as he willed himself to stay quiet for the moment… He’s inside a top of the line battle ship… with enough weaponry to blast this guy to bits and pieces…

“Well… Just wanted to be sure that this is the right shuttle.” Gregor said before turning the monitor off.

A chill ran up Rebecca’s spine as she looked at Wufei, trying to be calm. “What does he mean by that?”

Before Wufei could answer, a loud blast echoed through the ship Rebecca and Wufei jerked forward and would have hit the glass if they didn’t have their seatbelts on…

“Shit! They hit our tail.” Wufei cried out as he started typing on the monitor.

Rebecca felt the shuttle take a turn and on then the monitor showed Stone’s ship.

“Hold on Rebecca. We’re going to fight.”

Rebecca swallowed, ‘Oh God!’

Another explosion rocketed through them and Wufei cursed one more time as he checked the panels.

“That last blow messed up our control for the missiles… I’m going down there and re-align it back.” Wufei said as he started to take off his seat belt.

Rebecca placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. “I’ll do it. I don’t know how to fly this shuttle… Just tell me what to do.”

Wufei was about to protest but he could see that iron will and determination in her green eyes and knew that it was for the best.

“On Section 12 there will be a box on the left side. Open it and push the star key then the blue button.”

Rebecca nodded and stood up. But before she could take a step forward, Wufei stopped her.

“Be careful.”

Rebecca nodded.

~*~

Her pulse is racing as she ran down the shuttle, counting off the sections… She stumbled backwards as another blast was fired on their shuttle…

“Dammit!” She stood up and forced her legs to run faster… Finally, she reached Section 12. Quickly going to the box panel on the left side, she pried it open. Her hands were trembling as she pushed the star key, then slowly, her finger went down the different colored buttons until she reached blue and pushed it.

Another blast jerked the shuttle and before she could stop herself, Rebecca fell forward, hitting her head on the steel wall then she fell backwards, unconscious.

~*~

Wufei saw the controls blink once again and smiled. “She got it! That’s my girl!” he cried out in happiness as he started typing in some codes to the panel.

He glanced behind him… ‘Where is she…?’ he thought, panicked as she still didn’t show up…

He quickly took off his seat belt and ran to the back of the ship.

~*~

Stone smiled as he saw Gregor’s shuttle black with soot, the tail diminished…

“Fire again! And this time, aim for the body!”

“Er… sir, we only have one missile left.”

Stone turned around, enraged, “WHAT?!”

“Sir. We had to drop three missiles down on earth because we were too heavy…”

Fire blazed in Stone’s eyes and he quickly turned to his left. “Use the machine guns! Fire it all over the body of that shuttle! I want it full of holes!!! And then… we fire the last missile… That passenger shuttle won’t stand a chance… It doesn’t even have any weapons!”

“Yes sir!”

Stone went back to the monitor… “Gregor, you’re going to die today…”

~*~

Wufei reached Section 12 and saw Rebecca’s unconscious body lying on the floor.

“Dear Lord!”

But before he could take a few steps forward, Wufei heard the pinging of bullets against the shuttle… He grimaced in pain as he felt additional pain on his arms and abdomen…

He looked at Rebecca and saw the blood trickling down the right side of her forehead…

“Rebecca!” Wufei cried out as he ignored the pain he was feeling and went to Rebecca. He placed his arms under her body and brought her to his chest, then started to walk as fast as he could to the main control room.

“Hold on Becky…” he whispered as he placed her helmet on her head. He glanced at the panel and saw the oxygen at 40% of its normal level…

He needs to close those sections off before the whole shuttle crumples up! Wufei quickly ran back to the sections and heard the pinging sounds once again… He stumbled as he felt a bullet go through his leg and he grimaced in pain…

He looked at the right wall and saw a green button. Limping towards it he pressed it and a steel wall appeared.

Wufei sighed, “Section 10… stable…” Suddenly, another explosion rocketed through the shuttled and Wufei stumbled backwards, hitting his back against the wall… Excruciating pain encompassed Wufei as he tried to fight against passing out…

Slowly, he stood up and walked groggily back to the main room, pushing the green buttons he came across, and not feeling the blood oozing down his face. He sighed in relief as he reached the main room and sat down on his seat.

Wufei glared at the monitor with all the hate he felt. He saw the shuttle in position.

“Stone… Justice shall be served…” he whispered. Then, he pushed the row of red buttons feeling the jerk of his shuttle from the pressure of the missiles.

He watched the monitor as all of the 15 missiles he had go straight at Stones’ shuttle…

~*~

Stone’s eyes went wide as he stared at the monitor…

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

~*~

Wufei saw the huge blast and debris flying past by his own shuttle and smiled…

“Finally…” he whispered, shifting in his seat for a better position.

His hands started flying over the panels and he could feel the ship turning to their original direction once again…

Wufei felt his eyes dropping and forced it to open… He shouldn’t… He should stay awake… his hand gripped the disk in his chest pocket and tried to feel for the same comfort that he’d had when he acquired it… but he felt none… He turned his head to Rebecca and slowly, he brought his hand to hers… Comfort…

He felt Rebecca stir and saw her eyes groggily open… Wufei smiled faintly…

‘She’s okay…’

Then, her eyes met his and turned wide with shock. She quickly took off her helmet.

~*~

Rebecca opened her eyes and felt a throbbing pain on her forehead. She forced her eyes to open and saw Wufei-

‘Oh my God!!!’

She quickly took off her helmet and turned to him. “Wufei! You’re hurt!”

Wufei smiled. “Look who’s talking, onna…” he replied weakly.

“Where are the medical supplies?” Rebecca quickly asked as she squirmed in her seat then stopped. “Where’s Stone?”

Wufei grimaced. “Dead…”

Rebecca tried to feel for that guilty feeling to pass through her body but she didn’t feel anything, what she felt was relief that finally a man so evil is dead…

“Wufei, where is the medical supplies?”

Wufei slowly shook his head and Rebecca almost cried at the painful expression his face is showing. “You can’t… get to them… They’re in behind that panel…” he replied.

“Why couldn’t I get to them?!” Rebecca asked, her panic growing as she saw red all over Wufei’s suit. “Please Wufei! Why can’t I get them?!” she asked once again, tears clouding her eyes when she saw that Wufei was having a hard time trying to keep his eyes open.

“Dangerous…” Wufei closed his eyes and Rebecca jumped away from her seat and went to Wufei’s. She started shaking him her heart throbbing so fast in her chest, her hands cold with fear.

“Wufei! Stay with me please!”

Wufei opened his eyes and Rebecca could see that it was unfocused…

‘No!’ her mind cried out.

“Becky…?” he said, his voice hoarse and broken.

“Yeah… I’m here…”

Wufei grimaced. “The disk is… in my chest pocket… Take it… to… my friends…” then he couldn’t fight it any longer… His eyes closed and he was swept away in darkness… dreaming and yet… not dreaming…

Rebecca’s tears fell down her cheeks as she held on to Wufei’s hand. “You’re going to be fine Wufei… Just fine…” she said out loud, trying to calm herself and trying to make Wufei hear her.

She didn’t know how long she stayed kneeling beside Wufei, but finally, reason entered her mind and she stood up.

Rebecca saw the flashing red warning sign.

‘Oxygen down to 35%…’

Her eyes went to Wufei’s helmet… Noin told them that it has oxygen that could last for three and a half hours- if used sparingly… they’ve used 30 minutes of that air as they went through the atmosphere…

She glanced at the monitor once again… 3 hours and 10 minutes until they reach their destination…

Making a decision, she carefully placed Wufei’s helmet on his head and checked to see that the tubes are still aligned. Then, she opened his chest pocket and took out the disk, placing it in her own pocket.

She went to her seat and sat on it while putting on her own helmet. Then, she faced the control panels…

Her mind tried to remember the technical books she read from her bookstore to keep herself intoned with today’s sciences and her hands falteringly went over the control panels… A few minutes later, she sighed, relieved, as she was able to open communications in a few frequencies…

In a matter of a few more minutes, she figured out how to link it to her helmet’s communication device and she started to talk, trying to keep her voice strong.

“To anyone who is checking these frequencies, we need help… Our ship was attacked and we are injured…” Rebecca checked the monitor to see if her message was being transmitted and smiled as she saw that it was. She repeated herself once again, she knows that she’s taking a risk, talking too much, she’ll be using her oxygen too fast… but she needs to take a chance…

~*~

Hours later, she could feel the thinning of her oxygen… If she could feel this… how is Wufei feeling…? She asked herself.

Her voice has become hoarse from talking, but she tried once again. “Please… anybody…help us… Please, help… we need to land… help us, please…” then, she couldn’t talk any longer… She could feel her eyelids close, and with her last strength, her hand went towards Wufei and held his…

~*~

She felt someone nudge her and slowly, she opened her eyes… A man in a white suite was looking at her, his eyes showing relief as she opened her eyes.

He pointed behind him and Rebecca knew that they were rescued…

She looked towards Wufei and saw another man taking him out of the seat. Rebecca panicked…

‘He’s wounded! Can’t you see! Be careful! Don’t jerk him like that!’ she thought but she is too weak to speak. Instead, putting her strength in movement, she followed the man holding Wufei, accompanied by the man who woke her up.

She came outside of the shuttle to a brightly lit room and they reached the floor. She could feel the pressure oh her shoulder as the man held her, knowing that he was trying to keep her near the ground.

Then, she felt the heaviness and she stumbled on to her hands and knees. She looked up and saw Wufei being laid down on the ground by the man and she moved as fast as she could to reach him.

Then, she stopped… She couldn’t breath! Numbly, it registered in her mind that her suit’s oxygen is gone and she quickly pulled off the helmet. She gasped in the air and walked faster as she saw one of the men about to move Wufei.

“Gently!!!” she rasped out as she reached Wufei and slapped the man’s hand away. With all the care that her tired body could give, she took the helmet off Wufei’s body…

She couldn’t stop herself as hot tears fell down her cheeks, looking down at Wufei’s so pale face…

“Wufei…!” she whispered as she leaned forward and hugged his body softly, not wanting to let go… “Wufei, you’re not going to leave me… Please…” she cried out in between sobs.

She felt someone beside her and looked up. Soft brown eyes looked at her as Rebecca stared in fear…

‘I don’t know who you are..!’ her mind cried out. But then she saw the girl hold out a white cloth and noticed the ripped part of her shirt.

“There now… Don’t worry… Everything will be fine…” The Asian looking woman said in a soothing voice as she brushed Rebecca’s hair away from her forehead. “Let me look at that… It’s a nasty wound…” the woman said as she lightly dabbed on it.

“Hold on to this.” She said softly, but Rebecca could hear the order underneath it…

Rebecca tremblingly held on to the cloth by her forehead and watched as the woman look at Wufei with concern.

“Aria, what are you doing?” a man’s voice asked and Rebecca looked up. She saw a blonde haired man looking down at… Aria? In surprise and disbelief… Rebecca frowned as she felt that she knew this man…

She heard Aria reply, “I forgot to tell you that I’m a doctor.” Rebecca frowned… ‘How can anyone forget to tell anyone a profession as important as being a doctor?’ Then, she nearly jumped as she heard Aria shouting beside her.

“You call yourselves medics?! My grandmother could have run faster!”

Rebecca knew that she would have laughed if she was in a different situation… but looking down at Wufei…

“Cut his suit open, we need to see if there are any damages… Get that stretcher ready…” The flow of orders came out of Aria’s mouth.

Rebecca wanted to say ‘Thank you’ but she couldn’t speak… She looked up and saw two more people join the blonde haired guy… A shoulder length blonde haired girl who seemed familiar to Rebecca once again, and a tall brown haired guy…

Before she could look away, the forest green eyes of the brown haired man caught her gaze and Rebecca saw understanding behind those sad eyes. Then, he smiled reassuringly.

Rebecca glanced down at Wufei, now, gently being placed on a stretcher and she stood up. She wanted to go with the ambulance, but the blonde man stopped her with a gentle touch on her shoulder and shook his head.

“Wufei will be alright. It will be better if you come with us.” He said.

Rebecca looked back at the group of medics pushing the cart and sighed… Visions of what she saw when she held the disk came back to her… and the feeling of death… She closed her eyes… ‘I won’t let you die on me, Wufei… I won’t let you go…’

Then she frowned as what the blonde man came back to her… ‘He said…Wufei… they know his true name…? Are these his friends…?’ She turned towards the four people, still doubting them… but knowing that she should take the offer to go with them… She followed them to a limousine.

Inside, Aria started to talk, “We need to get those bullets out of his body… He’s lost a lot of blood. Very critical condition…”

Rebecca bit her lip as a fresh batch of tears clouded her vision… She knows that… Oh God she knew that! But she couldn’t get to the medical supplies…

Rebecca felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. The brown haired man looked at her seriously, “Don’t worry, Wufei is a fighter, and we’ll do everything we can to save him…”

Rebecca looked around her… These people are helping her and Wufei… She tried her best to feel hope and she nodded. She saw a slight smile appear on the man’s face…

They reached the hospital and Rebecca saw Aria quickly run towards the emergency doors, joining the group who were pushing Wufei through those steel doors…

Rebecca bit her lip as her gaze fell on the people in front of her, looking as anxious as she is. She didn’t know that she had tears left, but she felt a tears trail down her cheek once again…

“There isn’t anything we can do out here… Let’s go inside.” The blonde girl said to the others… It was the first time Rebecca heard her talk… but even her voice is familiar…

The woman looked at Rebecca and she saw the same understanding that she saw in the brown haired man’s eyes and she followed her inside the hospital.

Rebecca frowned in confusion as each and every person they encountered said, “Good Afternoon, sir.” To the blonde man with them…

The woman finally stopped and motioned for Rebecca to sit down. Rebecca complied and the woman sat down beside her, while the brown haired man sat on her other side.

“I need to make a phone call.” The blonde man said as he left.

Rebecca felt the girl’s hand on her shoulder. “They’re going to do everything in their power to save them… They know Quatre and they don’t like disappointing him…” the girl said with confidence, although Rebecca could hear a slight note of fear.

Rebecca wiped away her tears then frowned… ‘Quatre…? They’re in the colonies now… and…’ Rebecca looked back to the direction where the blonde man disappeared. ‘Quatre Winner?’

Relena saw the woman’s confused frown and bit her lip as she realized something. “Oh I’m sorry… we haven’t introduced ourselves yet…” Relena tried to be a little cheerful for the sake of the woman in front of her… She knows exactly how she feels… When Heero self-detonated… Relena stopped herself from shivering as she remembered how she thought her whole world has stopped… She could see that this woman loves Wufei… as much as she loves her Heero.

Rebecca turned to the blonde woman.

“My name is Rena Yuy. And the person on your other side is Trowa Barton.”

Rebecca turned to Trowa who nodded.

“The blonde guy who had to make a phone call is Quatre Winner and the doctor who is with Wufei right now is Aria Walker, soon to be Aria Winner.”

Rebecca slipped her tongue across her dry lips and she felt a new batch of tears in her eyes.

“I’m Rebecca Neill…” she faltered as she started to cry.

Rebecca saw Rena take out a handkerchief from her bag and give it to her. She nodded her thanks and she felt Rena’s hand behind her, rubbing her back.

“Shh… I know how it feels… It really hurts…But, you’ll be surprised at Wufei… He’s strong… He’ll make it through…”

Rebecca nodded as she leaned over her knees and cried.

“Trowa, get something to drink for Rebecca, please.” Rena asked and Rebecca felt Trowa leave.

“I… I don’t know what to do…” Rebecca whispered as she tried to breath in a calming breath then look at Rena.

Rena smiled softly. “I’m scared too… For your sake and Wufei’s…” then she took her bag and brought out a teddy bear, fingering it lightly. “You know, my husband… a long time ago…”

Rebecca looked at Rena’s face as she saw emotions flow through it.

“A long time ago… to save the colonies he loved, he sacrificed himself… I thought that that was my end too… I couldn’t feel anything… But… I never lost hope when he disappeared after that, thinking that he was still alive… And he is…” Relena looked at Rebecca and held her hand.

“Wufei is like that too… He will survive…”

Rebecca nodded. Rena’s voice is so comforting… She looked at the teddy bear in Relena’s hands and smiled for the first time. “Thank you for sharing that with me…”

“Here’s the water.” Trowa announced as he reached the two girls. He gave the water to Rebecca and noticed that she had stopped crying, then looked at the thing that Relena is cuddling.

“Ah! So that’s what you were hiding in your bag…” he said with a smile… “Rel- Rena… Don’t you think you’re too old for teddy bears?”

Rebecca smiled, she knows that they are trying to be cheerful for her sake, and before Relena could answer, Quatre came into view. “Hey you guys...”

Rebecca saw Quatre stop in his tracks and stare at the teddy bear Relena is holding.

“Rena… a teddy bear?” he asked in a teasing tone… trying to lighten the mood.

Rebecca saw Rena pout and felt a smile tugging her lips.

“Well! For your information! This teddy bear is special! It was the first present I got from Heero when I turned 16. So there!”

Rebecca gasped along with Quatre and Trowa.

“Heero-” (Quatre)

“Gave you a present-” (Trowa)

“When you turned 16?!” (Quatre)

The two men faced each other… “But that was only the year after the Oz…” Trowa started to say…

“Yes…” Quatre started to grin… “My my… I think Heero acquired his humanity way before I interfered… I knew he loved you.”

Relena blushed then looked at Rebecca’s expression. She frowned as she saw Rebecca paler than before.

“Rena… you did say Heero Yuy, didn’t you?” She asked, remembering Wufei saying the name ‘Heero’ and Lucrezia saying ‘Heero Yuy’

Relena nodded.

“Then… you are Wufei’s friends…” she said in a whisper as she looked around her…

Slowly, she unzipped her chest pocket and held out a disk. “Wufei told me to give this to his friends… He wasn’t able to tell me their names… but, I was surprised when you said his real name… then you said Heero’s name…” She touched the disk one last time and held it out to the three in front of her. “Here… Please take care of it…”

Quatre was the one who held out his hand and took the disk. “Thank you for protecting it also… I’m sorry to say that it was also because of us that the data in this disk is here…”

Rebecca shook her head. “No… don’t… You probably did your best to secure it… but Stone…” her eyes hardened and so did her tone. “Stone was a man who would stop at nothing…”

Relena frowned at the unfamiliar name, and decided to ask Rebecca a question.

Rebecca felt a hand on her knee and looked at Rena. “Rebecca, where is ‘Stone’ now?”

Rebecca swallowed. “He’s dead…” she whispered as her whole body began to shake… “He’s finally dead…” Her vision started to become distorted… She could hear Rena speaking…

“Quatre, check if there’s any room available… We need to get Rebecca on a bed… Trowa, contact Henry and see if he can bring some of my clothes here… We’re nearly the same body size…”

‘Thank you…’ Rebecca thought before blacking out…

(Author’s Note: It’s time for the conclusion of all 5 stories… Keep in touch… email me ^_^ KIT)