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"Caught Between Two Worlds"Written By: Honor Disclaimers: Never say die! Never surrender! Pairings: 4x5, 1x3 established Spoilers: Nope! Warnings: AU, paranormal elements, yaoi, romance,
my weird and twisted humor, language, brief violence Rating: I’m thinking…NC-15 Betas: Velvet and Caitilin Archived: Gundam Wing Diaries and http://honordemandoren.livejournal.com/ Author’s Insane and often Incomprehensible
Rambling: Once again, I can blame this plot bunny on someone! I love
being able to do that. It means nothing is my fault. Emily quite nicely
asked for a story for her birthday. (Hi Emily! Sorry it’s late.)
So here it is. Em, I *still* think you bribed Quatre somehow. And
your story about Milo inspired the plot for this, so the whole thing
really can be blamed on you. *grin* ::ghost talking:: *emphasized* <phone conversation>
" Caught Between Two Worlds" Chapter Five
“Who?” Darn, that’s right—Meiran was starting school Monday, she didn’t know anyone beside Wufei and I yet. “He’s one of my worst enemies,” I explained tersely. I wasn’t really focusing on Meiran, because Nichol was looking straight at me, grinning in pure evil delight. That bastard. How had he known I was here? Nichol started walking towards me, still with that eerie grin. He crossed the sealing line without a flinch—and the barrier didn’t react. At all. Several pieces spun about wildly before falling suddenly into place. My mouth went dry as the full implications hit me like a sucker punch to my gut. “Meiran,” I rasped. “We have a problem.” She came up to stand at my side, following the direction of my gaze. “Uh-oh.” Normal people could cross the barrier without a problem. What that boiled down to was Nichol could cross that line whenever he chose—Meiran and I couldn’t. We were stuck within the property boundaries. For Nichol, this would be like shooting fish in a barrel. The one thing going in our favor right now is that it was two against one. Meiran had the same training as Wufei, and I could hold my own in a fight. We might be able to survive this—assuming that Nichol hadn’t already called in for reinforcements before I noticed him. And that was a very big ‘if’. Nichol was very much a pack person. It was rare to see him just walking alone. I was betting dollars to donuts that he had already called at least one person, probably two. Come on Wufei, where are you?! “Hey faggot!” Nichol was cracking his knuckles as he walked forward, apparently unconcerned with the rain pelting him. “I’m not surprised to see you here. You and the old witch have something in common, after all.” I know it’s stupid, but some protective part of me told me to send Meiran back out of sight so that Nichol wouldn’t hurt her. Just thinking that was ridiculous, she was only one level below Wufei in Tai Chi. Heck, she can probably defend herself better than I can. Meiran shifted beside me. I risked a glance at her face. She looked determined, and very angry. “Quatre,” she said quietly. “Is he likely to attack?” “Oh yes. He has before. What I’m worried about is something else, though. Nichol always calls in for backup. I expect to see some of his friends show up any minute now.” Nichol was now standing at the edge of the porch. “Get out here faggot!” From that angle, he couldn’t see Meiran. That urge to protect her surged up again, and this time made its way out of my mouth before I could stop it. “Meiran, stay here—” “The hell I will!” Okay, that’s not going to fly. I quickly altered the rest of the sentence. “—and find a way to sneak up behind him. He’s not an easy person to take down.” She blinked, looking a little sheepish. “Oh. I thought you meant—never mind. Okay, I’ll do that.” Nichol started laughing. “You talking to yourself again Winner?” No, but I’m not about to correct him. I stepped out of the house, ready to defend myself at any point. “Why are you even here, Nichol?” It wasn’t just that I was curious—I was trying to buy some time as well. “To kick your queer little ass,” he sneered back. I decided to clarify for a simple mind. “*How* did you know I was here?” “Providence,” he returned cockily. In other words, sheer dumb luck. Murphy really does hate me. “Since your big bad boyfriend isn’t around,” he put a vulgar twist on the word boyfriend that made my skin crawl and my temper rise, “I can finally get rid of you.” I didn’t bother responding to that. Waste of breath. I just focused on him, trying to read what move he would make next. I absently ran a hand over my hair, slicking it back. It was about that time I heard some cars pull up. Nichol was still a bit far away to do anything, so I risked a quick glance. *Fuck*. I recognized that black Camaro—I especially recognized who was getting out of it. Alex Dunhurst and Dan Wilkinson. Dan I wasn’t particularly worried about—he was strong, but not very agile. I could probably deal with him. Alex Dunhurst, however, had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and unfortunately used it whenever he felt the urge. I’m screwed. Seriously. Nichol also noticed the new arrivals, and his ever present smirk became outright vicious. “Looks like your number has been called, fag.” I ducked the first fist that flew in my direction, then closed in the distance quickly and rammed a knee into his stomach. He grunted at the impact, but Nichol is one tough bastard. It would take more than that to bring him down. He staggered only slightly before throwing another punch at me. From somewhere to the side there was a feminine warcry, like a Valkyrie descending for the kill. Ah. Meiran apparently is charging. I dodged another fist, blocked the next then rammed my free hand right into his sternum. Nichol sank to one knee, struggling to breathe. Just to keep him down I kicked him hard in the ribs, throwing him over and into the mud. I didn’t pause to gloat over this, just turned and ran to help Meiran…which turned out to be unnecessary. Wufei! Don’t ask me when he had shown up, as I have no idea. All I know is that Dan and Alex were lying comatose at his feet, and Meiran was actually smiling at her cousin for once. (Mental note, beating up idiots puts her in a good mood.) I took two running steps, leapt over prone bodies, and threw myself at my boyfriend. Wufei grunted slightly at the impact, but caught me around the waist. He hugged me hard as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. I could feel his breath against my skin, a little shaky and fast. I kissed his temple before whispering warmly against his ear, “I’m very glad to see you.” Slowly he put me down on my feet, only pulling back enough to give me a quick scan, then I was pulled possessively back against him. “You’re alright?” “Fine,” I assured him gently. “You’ve got pretty good timing, although I could wish that you had arrived earlier.” “I could wish you two idiots wouldn’t go ghost hunting without me,” he growled. Whoops. Somebody’s upset. “And why on earth would you cross a Sealing line?” Meiran and I exchanged blank looks. “A what?” His eyes closed, a pained expression on his face. “I’ll explain later, just don’t do this without taking me next time? Please? I’d rather not develop an ulcer at the ripe old age of eighteen.” Softly kissing his chin I whispered, “I promise.” Meiran rolled her eyes, but nodded. “I promise. Can you get us out of here now? Please?” Rather reluctantly he let go of me and stepped toward the ‘Sealing line’ whatever that was. How does he know this stuff? He brushed off one of the seals, eyeing it carefully. It was a small disk that looked like it was made of some kind of ceramic, different runes and symbols baked in. I just stepped back and let him do whatever it was he needed to do to get us out of this mess. After judicious thought and contemplation, he stepped back a little, raised up one foot and crunched it solidly under his heel. I could actually see the whole thing fizzle once, like an electric spark, then it was gone. Poof! Hell, *I* could have done that! As soon as it was gone, it was like someone had turned off the generator to the Ghostbusters’s storage tank. I think at least one hundred ghosts flew out from the property and just scattered to the four winds. My head was swiveling back and forth like mad trying to keep up with them as they streamed past us. “Wow,” Meiran noted a little breathlessly. “That was… unexpected.” “You’re telling me.” Wufei was looking at me with a blank look on his face so I tried to explain. “This place was like a ghost trap or something. A hundred or so ghosts just streamed past us.” “More than that,” Meiran disagreed. Her eyes were still a little wide, probably mirroring my expression of shock. “Ah.” Wufei glanced around, shrugged in resignation—he probably hadn’t even felt anything—and caught my hand in his. “Let’s go home, get dry, and then maybe you can explain why you two were out here in the pouring rain ghost hunting?” I at least owed him that much. Well, that and an excellent blow job for coming to the rescue. “Sure.” As we walked toward Wufei’s car I saw Emily waving at me from across the street. Next to her was a tall young man—er, ghost that looked roughly her age. Apparently she had found her friend. I waved back at her. “Is that him?” I called. ::Yes. Thanks, Quatre.:: “No problem,” I assured her. “Come to my house tomorrow and we’ll talk, okay?” I had definite plans for tonight, and they didn’t involve interruptions. ::Okay. Go get dry. And Quatre?:: “Yeah?” Wufei was giving me a weird look. Of course, he wasn’t used to me holding these ‘one-sided’ conversations yet. Give it a year or so, and he won’t even blink. ::Your boyfriend is *really* cute.:: Guys are not cute, curse it! …except maybe in Wufei’s case. My grin was completely satisfied, rather like the cat that ate the canary and had covered up all the evidence. “Yes, he is, isn’t he?” ::Tell him thanks for me?:: “Sure thing.” With a last wave she and her friend disappeared down the street. “Hey Wufei, how did Emily tell you where we were?” “Your friend is rather ingenious.” He smiled slightly as he said it. “She froze the dojo mirror, then wrote ‘SOS Quatre, Robinson.’ I didn’t really understand what she meant, but I figured that it meant trouble and got here as soon as I could.” “Oh.” I made a mental note to thank Emily for that later. Her quick thinking had saved Meiran and I a lot of pain. “Then why did it take you so long to get here?” Wufei paused in opening the car door, looking between Meiran and I thoughtfully. “Who gave her directions to the dojo?” I gave him a puzzled look. “Meiran did.” “Ah,” he drawled. “That explains it. Emily probably got lost. Meiran can’t tell you where the sun is without confusing you.” “Shut up, bookworm.” Meiran took a swing at him—which missed. I think Wufei expected this reaction because he ducked very quickly out of range, grinning like a possum the entire time. I negotiated a cease-fire so we could get home and dry and they reluctantly declared a truce. It might even last most of the way home, who knows? Wufei’s Miata was a little convertible, i.e. only two seats. Meiran had to sit in my lap in order to ride with us. She took ruthless advantage of her position, running her hands through my hair, snuggling in comfortably, and generally driving Wufei up the wall. Since my boyfriend looks hot while being insanely jealous, I didn’t really do much to discourage her. I *know*. I’m a brat. So? Meiran poked me not-so-tenderly in the cheek. “You’re smirking, Quatre. You’re thinking something naughty aren’t you?” I just grinned at her, wiggling my eyebrows saucily. Meiran is quick. She looked archly at me then hazarded, “Wufei’s probably not going to make it home tonight is he?” “Probably not,” I agreed brightly. Wufei looked torn between blushing and grinning like the Cheshire cat when I said that. “…uh-huh. I’ll tell his parents. Just try to get some sleep tonight?” “I’ll take that under consideration.” Meiran suddenly stiffened upright. “Oh crap!” Alarmed, I looked up at her sharply. “What?” She was staring at her wrist in dismay. “My watch is gone! Dammit, it must have fallen off in the fight. Turn around Wufei.” Wufei blew out a resigned breath, but obediently turned around. When we got back to the Robinson place, the Camaro was gone, as were the three losers. Ah. They must have regained consciousness. I hope they catch pneumonia. Meiran went straight to the place where she had been fighting. In the essence of time, Wufei and I followed along, keeping our eyes peeled for her watch. “Aha!” she crowed in victory, diving for a patch of weeds. “Here it is.” “Thank the ancestors,” Wufei grumbled. “Can we *please* go home now?” “Stop being a grouch, Chang.” Ever have the feeling that someone is watching you? I spun about quickly, ready to react in defense. One of those jerks hadn’t come back to finish the fight, had they? Oh. Uh… Not five feet away from me was a very beautiful woman in a flowing skirt and blouse. Her hair was cascading to her hips and there was a warm smile on her face. She was beautiful enough to turn a gay guy straight—even if she were a ghost. Effortlessly she moved in closer, head tilting slightly as her smile grew. ::What is your name?:: I had to swallow twice before I could respond. “Quatre Winner.” She turned her head, including Meiran in the question. “Long Meiran.” Meiran looked a little awed by the ghost. I couldn’t blame her. I felt a little awed myself. When she turned to look at Wufei, I shook my head and held up a hand to stop her. “He can’t Sense anything, lady. He won’t hear you if you ask anything of him. His name is Chang Wufei.” ::Ah.:: Wufei was watching both of us with a look of resignation on his face. “Ghost talking to you?” I nodded. He just shrugged and settled into an ‘I’m just going to wait patiently’ stance. I couldn’t really spare a lot of attention to him just now, I was rather preoccupied with our visitor. ::I am Celeste Robinson. I wanted to thank him especially for removing the Sealing line and letting us all free. I have been waiting many generations now for someone to do so.:: Somewhat hesitantly she drifted closer, not a foot away from Wufei. He looked right through her, unaware of course that she was even there. ::He truly can’t sense me at all, can he?:: Meiran and I both shook our heads. Celeste gestured me closer. ::Will you serve as my medium?:: I’ve rarely done that in my life, but felt honored that she would ask it. “Of course.” ::Ask him how he knew to break the line.:: “She wants to know how you knew the way to break the line,” I explained to my boyfriend. After a beat, he responded slowly “I’ve made a study of such things. This was a basic Sealing line, so by breaking one of the components the entire line is dissolved.” ::Why does he study that which he cannot sense?:: I liked the way she said it, and repeated it verbatim. I had to admit, I was curious to the answer to this as well. Wufei looked away, and for a long moment thought his answer through. When he finally did answer his voice was so soft it almost masked the bitterness. “I am surrounded by people that are sensitive in some way. The only way that I can make up for my lack of talent is through knowledge.” She smiled at him gently. ::I can see that it bothers him greatly.:: I almost repeated that before I realized I was a person again instead of a translating device. “Yes, I think it does.” Her expression shifted, and she became more determined and focused. ::Very well. I shall return favor for favor, and so exonerate my last tie to the mortal realm.:: Without pause she reached forward and touched her lips to Wufei’s forehead in a gentle kiss. Wufei jerked like he’d touched a live wire. His eyes flew wide as he stuttered “What the hell—“ All of his breath left him in a rush and I think he simply stopped breathing. “Wufei?” I came up and touched his shoulder, but he didn’t look at me. He was staring dazedly straight ahead. Straight at Celeste. ::Can you hear me, Chang Wufei?:: Hoarsely Wufei breathed, “Yes, I can hear you.” He WHAT?! My eyes darted back and forth between them. What the hell had she done? ::I wished to thank you, for what you have done today. In gratitude, I transferred all of my power to you. Use it well.:: Wufei was almost moved to tears. He bowed to her, eyes shining with pure joy. “I will. Thank you.” She didn’t respond, just smiled at him brilliantly. Her form intensified for a blinding moment, and when I could see again she was gone completely. Wufei was still standing there, looking a little shell shocked. I slid an arm around his waist, half afraid he might just fall flat on his face unless I gave him a little support. “Congratulations,” I murmured against his temple. “This feels…truly strange,” he managed. “You get used to it,” I assured him. “Well, mostly,” Meiran sighed. She studied her cousin for a moment, came to the conclusion he wasn’t really over the shock, and rolled her eyes. “I’ll drive. You deal with him.” All things considered…that was probably a good idea. ~*~*~*~
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