Tapestry, Book 2

Chapter 1

"Come on, Sally, you cando it. Take a deep breath, drop your shoulders, and pull."

.....aaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHH..... damn, it hurts, it hurts, my hand's going to come off -

The silence stretched longer and longer as I pulled against Wufei's hand. Unyielding steel bit into my wrist. A thin line of blood welled around my thumb, sticky and wet. I closed my eyes, clenched my jaw and kept pulling.

- it's going to rip my knuckles off I know it is damn Treize damn him GAAHHHH-

"Okay. Enough. That's enough, Sally. Stop. If you keep this up, you're going to shatter your thumb."

Cool hands smoothed the bracelet down my arm toward my elbow. I slit my eyes open a fraction and tried to focus on Wufei; it was hard to see him, though, for all the stars that were shooting in front of my eyes.

He regarded me with a steady gaze that softened after a moment. "Here. Put your hand back in. We'll try again in a little while."

I nodded, not trusting myself to utter a sound. I couldn't help it. The pain burned; it gnawed through my self-control, filling every nerve of my left hand with liquid fire. The moment I stopped pulling, the pain subsided. But it was only a short respite; I knew what else was coming. Grimacing, I thrust my arm into a sleeve filled with some concoction of Duo's - a gelatinous, icy substance, rather like dry ice but even colder, trapped between several fine layers of impervious webbing. I forced my hand inside, pushing it in so fast that the shock of the cold left me gasping. I didn't look, but I was sure my skin was bubbling and bleeding, huge blisters splitting the cracked skin between my fingers apart, even though I knew it wasn't true. It certainly felt like it was true. Panting, I grit my teeth and stared straight ahead, feeling slightly sick to my stomach.

Breathe, Sally, breathe. You can do this. You have to.

This trick was one of Heero's ideas. We needed to 'shrink' my hand in order to get that bracelet off - the one Treize banded me with after I tried to kill him. Normally I wouldn't have bothered to remove it until we were out of harm's way, deep in the colonies. It would just have been a constant reminder of how I failed to kill him; basically, of what happens when soldiers don't train every day, when they get sloppy and slow.

But Treize put a nasty surprise inside the steel, something we didn't expect. Not only did he put the standard weapons deterrent into the locking mechanism, he also installed a tracking device. And it was a fairly sophisticated one, too, from the looks of it. When Heero found it after his scan, I was horrified - the implications were immediately clear. Even though he let Wufei and me go, he still knew where we were. He was ... stalking us. Taking his time. Playing with us, as large cats play with their prey.

It meant he could pick us up anytime he wanted. More importantly, it meant that he wasn't finished.

There's more? MORE? my mind screamed at me. I could still see Treize's last gaze, lingering over Wufei before we escaped. What else? You mean he really does want -

I stopped thinking at that point. I was terrified.

"Pull it off," I hissed. "I don't care how. Just get it off me. Do it."

But it couldn't just be cut off. That devilish man had keyed it to my nervous system, which was why I was feeling such horrid pain. If anyone cut the bracelet, they would abruptly break the neural circuit between the mechanism and me. At the very best, I would be a screaming mess for days; at the worst, I would be a living vegetable. Either Treize had to deactivate it, which he obviously wasn't going to do, or we had to find another way to remove it.

This will work, Sally. I could hear Wufei's voice again in my memory, feel his earnest gaze burning into mine. I'm sure it will. Heero said it would. We'll get this thing off you, I promise.

My hand was still swollen; I thought my thumb had been dislocated from tugging at it so many times. I didn't care, though. I'd cut off my arm before I'd let Treize track me, and through me, Wufei. But something just didn't feel right. Wufei didn't seem to be as frantic as I thought he should be. I couldn't put my finger on why, but something was definitely odd.

Grimly, I took my hand out of the sleeve and gave it to Wufei. "Try it again, please. Again. Pull."

Da Vinci International in Rome was one of the oldest airports on the globe, a mixture of old architecture, new , and everything else. Because of the proximity of Treize's island to the mainland, the refusal of local authorities to acknowledge OZ's control raised more than a few eyebrows in military circles. Roman officials did operate the airport in accordance with OZ's rules and regulations with a rigor that bordered on fanaticism. Their quirk, a last gasp at 'autonomous' control, was that they simply never permitted any OZ personnel into their own chain of command. Treize tolerated it, but added a twist of his own. His Specials casually wandered the airport, occasionally glancing around, their very presence speaking volumes. Most civilians looked back at them, blinked, then went about their business, feeling either unsettled or at ease, depending upon their view of OZ.

The Roman officials knew, though, that if their employees made even one misstep, OZ would force them to cede complete and total control of every transport and loading dock on the property to them, calmly backing up its demands with as much military force as necessary. Considering that Da Vinci International had no regular army, those who worked at the airport decided it was in their best interest not to antagonize OZ.

But there was a thriving underground network in that region; most did not dislike the people in power per se, but hated the idea that they, the people who had lived there for generations, now had no control over their own destiny. The usual anarchists, imported from other areas of the world, simply hated OZ and OZ's iron fist rule in principle. When Duo and Heero quietly spread the word that we needed help getting from the mini sub to the airport, the locals were willing to create small diversions while we drove through the roadblocks. They gave us security codes to move smoothly through different checkpoints, and when we were close enough, passkeys to get into the different vehicle lots, including the airport maintenance parking lot.

Now we were sitting on the tarmac, near the largest intergalactic transports at the airport. Wufei and I were crouched in the back of the minivan, waiting for Duo to drive up to the vessel and get us on board. Duo had been able to fast talk his way here, flashing his bright smile, discreetly tucking the bribe money into the palm of the airport polizia with a perfectly straight face. I was sure he was going to do the same thing to get us on board the transport.

Impatiently, I stared at the back of Duo's head. I wanted to bore a hole into it and thrust my thoughts into his brain. So get going, Duo. Get us moving. Why are we still sitting here?

I could see both pilots clearly in the rearview mirror. Duo looked glum, slumped in the driver's seat, scowling, his gaze restless. Hero was expressionless and still, staring out the window. Then Heero surprised me, looking into the mirror, catching my gaze and not allowing me to look away. His eyes narrowed to steel blue slits.

"Wufei. Sally. Get down. If I can see you, so can anyone outside the van."

We did as he asked, sliding down as far as we could. "Why? What's wrong?" My teeth were chattering.

Duo turned around, looking grim. "That's the ship we want," he said, stabbing his finger at a large craft on the left, glaring, "but getting over here was easy, way too easy. These boys at da Vinci are awfully fucking clever when it comes to security. Every time I've come here, it's usually a lot more trouble than this. Things aren't right. I can feel it."

I groaned inwardly, staring at the band on my wrist.

"Maxwell. Security should have stopped us at least three times and looked inside the van twice." Heero's tone was flinty. "They were expecting us. You know it. I know it." He was silent for a long moment before turning to look at Duo. "We have to split up. Now."

Duo snorted, switched on the van and put it in gear, not looking at Heero. "Split up? You're crazy, Yuy. Not now. No way. We're getting outta here before we split up." He nodded toward the transports in front of the van as he eased away from the other vehicles. "But you can just forget getting off-world today. We ain 't gonna make our flight. That one's leavin' without us, and we ain 't waitin' for any others. They'd nail us for sure if we did."

"If they haven't already, you mean," Heero snapped back.

"If they had, we wouldn't be here, would we? They'd have us already. " Duo's laugh was more like a bark.

Wufei and I locked gazes. He shrugged his shoulders, feigning indifference, but I saw his eyes. I knew.

My fist hit Duo's shoulder with a solid thwap. "What are you saying? Not getting off-world now? Are you insane? We can't wait - we have to leave! We just escaped from -"

"Sally." Wufei's tone was sharp. I shut up and stared at him in surprise; that was something else I didn't expect."They know. Don't fight this. When we can leave, we will."

Without warning, a loud BANG and a sudden lurch threw me over on the other side of the van, right into Wufei's shoulder. "Okay, folks," Duo yelled. "Looks like word's out. It's gonna get rough."

"What?"

At that moment a huge roar drowned out any other conversation. Pulling myself up between the seats, I squinted out the front windshield and saw that, sure enough, the transport Duo marked as heading for the colonies was taking off. As it raced down the runway, its bulk no longer hid what was on its other side.

Soldiers. Lots and lots of soldiers. An entire company had been called out, just for us.

Duo leaned forward, mouth open in disbelief. "Heero - look over there. Isn't that -"

An amplified voice echoed across the grounds. "Sally Po. Chang Wufei. You cannot win. You cannot hope to escape. Give up, and no one will get hurt."

"What the hell -?"

"Damn! Damn!"

Horror washed through me. "No - we're not going back - NO!"

Heero turned back and looked at both Wufei and me. "There's no way Treize is going to capture you - or us. Floor it, Duo!" A maniacal grin split his face and his eyes sparkled.

"Whatever you say, Hee-chan," Duo chuckled back as he obligingly pushed the accelerator down to the floorboards. With a lurch, the van leaped toward the OZ soldiers like a lazy tiger uncoiling from a nap. It tossed both Wufei and I back so that we sat down hard, both rather undignified.

While the van leaped forward, Heero had pulled himself through the passenger window faster than I thought humanly possible, braced his legs against the door and jerked something off the roof with considerable force. A dull thud, followed by a huge crack and roar rocked the van from side to side; Duo's knuckles were white as he tried to steer. His braid flew back and forth several times, smacking the side of the seat and flicking Heero's booted calves. I watched a missile trailing orange flame fly from somewhere above us, then land hundreds of meters in front of us, smack in the middle of the OZ soldiers.

"Look at that!" shouted Wufei, pointing to the center of the explosion. The OZ soldiers broke ranks and ran as dirt and rocks fountained over the rest of the OZ troops.

"Wufei - rip open that box! Feed Heero more grenades!" Duo shouted, swinging the van around for another pass, slamming close to more OZ soldiers.

"Sally!" Wufei roared, slicing into the box with his bare hands. He tossed a grenade to me, and I threw it out the window into Heero's waiting hands. I couldn't see Heero's head; I trusted he knew the grenade was coming.

Apparently he did. There was another dull thud, another whoosh! and another section of OZ troops dove for safety to let the grenade explode. Wufei and I continued tossing grenades to Heero as Duo, ever the improvisor, kept weaving the van around, about and through the soldiers.

"Dammit, Duo, get us the hell OUT of here!"

"I would, Sal, if I could find a damn way off this strip that wasn't clogged with those fucking OZ people...!"

But the OZ soldiers kept coming. They wouldn't give up; they were trying to overwhelm us, run us over with their superior numbers.

Wufei reached into the box and cursed fluently in Mandarin. "No more grenades!" he snapped, looking guilty, as if he was personally responsible.

It's not your fault, Wufei ... "We're out!" I shouted to Heero. "Now what ?"

"Semi under my seat - get it!"

Heero flung the launcher at a group of troopers with one hand while groping for his pistol with the other, his legs still braced against the seat. At the same time, Wufei dove under the passenger seat, scrabbling for what was there, ripping the upholstery. Triumphant, he popped up a moment later and brandished a large semi-automatic which he immediately slapped it into Heero's outstretched hand. No sooner did Heero clear the window ledge than he started firing.

Troops fell back in front of his onslaught, but still pressed near our vehicle. Now Duo was weaving around the craters, trying to get to the other side of the tarmac, to the relative safety of the other hangers, but it wasn't easy. The OZ troops were trying to herd us into one section where they wanted us, and resistance fighters - or at least civilians wanting to get a glimpse of famous criminals - weren't helping our cause at all.

"You have to get out of here!" Heero shouted to us as he slithered back inside, still partially hanging out the window, motioning Wufei to shove me toward the door. "Go, Sally. Take Wufei, and get the hell OUT of here! Jump when you can!"

Duo slowed down, and Wufei yanked the sliding door open just a crack.

I looked at the band on my wrist for a moment and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I had decided. "Duo!" I snapped, tossing my head back and stuffing my hair under a cap. "Take care of Wufei, do you hear me? Keep him close! I'll be watching. I'm going to draw them off - "

"SALLY -" Wufei's face was stricken, horrified -

With that, I hugged Wufei fiercely, pushed open the door of the van all the way, and leaped. Crouched into a ball, I tumbled outside, then rolled off the tarmac into a pile of wounded soldiers and civilians crowded about the wounded.

Things moved pretty quickly after that. I elbowed and dodged my way through the crowd, somehow making my way to the edge undetected. The van skidded into an OZ armored truck, smashing itself into an accordion and finally exploding into an orange fireball. I knew the others had escaped by the trails of broken OZ soldiers I saw on the outskirts of several groups. The last time I saw Wufei, Duo had him by the arm and was dragging him into a small car, right outside the airport.

I sighed. So far, so good. Wufei was safe with Duo, and that's what mattered. Next - the bracelet had to come off my wrist. Gads, where was I, Rome? Now I would have to improvise. I'd be all right, though. I'd find an underground cell, and through them a neurosurgeon, and eventually I'd be free. After that, I'd meet up with Heero, Duo and Wufei again, and we'd all go off-world.

Damn Khushrenada. We'll see who gets Wufei.

It took about ten days, but I was finally able to find someone who could get the bracelet taken off. In the meantime, I could also follow Duo, Heero and Wufei's movements through operatives within the resistance. The pilots never did make it off Earth, but they did manage to evade Treize's Specials for a remarkable length of time, and even managed to stay together for a series of different types of jobs. In a lot of ways, it was like the old days. Every time I heard of their exploits, I felt proud. Wufei gained strength from being around Duo, and even from being with Heero. I knew they would take care of him until I was able to be there.

An odd thought, considering that Wufei was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Wasn't he?

"Quatre. I have to leave. I can't stay here with you. I'm putting you and everyone around me in danger."

"No, you don't, Sally. We'll protect you."

I had been with Quatre and the Manguanacs for about three weeks, trying to help them with their campaign in the desert. At this point, though, it was a miracle that the Manguanacs - or what was left of them - were able to move anywhere in the region, considering I was with them, but they managed. Barely.

They were obviously less than thrilled that I had decided to seek sanctuary with Quatre, but weren't going to gainsay their leader and his choice of friends. The Manguanacs, if nothing else, were terribly sensitive and polite people, and loyal to a man with regard to Quatre and the Winner family. Their occupation was dangerous and they accepted it; they simply did not want to add to the danger surrounding Quatre. They saw me as an extra liability that they could do just as soon do without, but they certainly weren't going to tell Quatre what advisors he should and should not surround himself with.

"No. Quatre - look what happened yesterday. People died trying to get me out of that town. I don't want that to continue."

It was close; too close, in fact. The intensity of the fights of late had been turned up several notches. Everything and everyone had been aimed at one target. Me.

At me.

I could hardly believe it. Panting, swinging, kicking my way through the crowd, I looked into the faces of the OZ troops and recognized something familiar in the set of their shoulders, the glint in their eyes. I fought down panic and forced myself to think. It was the only thing that saved me, and in the end, was the only reason I reached the other Manguanacs and safety.

Specials. They were all Specials - all Treize's Specials

Treize sent them.

I fought like a demon to get out. And that, given my circumstances, was terribly ironic.

Then came the awful news that Wufei's colony - A0205 - had been destroyed, along with the whispers that the inhabitants had destroyed it themselves. Add to that gruesome fact that suddenly, Wufei was nowhere to be found, and my worries multiplied exponentially. Wufei was alive - I felt his presence all the time within me - but it was weak. It didn't feel the same as it had before, either. It wasn't as strong and vibrant; now I felt anxiety, and fear, and anger, and something that didn't seem to belong to him - or rather, something I couldn't identify. I knew I had to hurry.

"I have to leave, Quatre. I have to find Wufei. I can feel him, and he's not well. He needs me." I realized that Wufei would only blame himself. I also began to think that some of the dreams I had been having lately might have been - well - prophetic. And those dreams were the kind I didn't want to have in the first place, terrible, uncomfortable things that they were.

Quatre's penetrating gaze seemed to see right through me and down to my toes, hearing my private ruminations."Get some rest, Sally. You need it. We all do. You'll find Wufei, but you must take care of yourself first."

I couldn't say no to Quatre. Who could? Especially when he seemed to know the subtext of everything I said. I nodded and sighed, turned around and trudged back to my room, dejected.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, I walked over to my cot and tumbled onto it, fully dressed, only stopping to kick off my shoes. At least the room was dark and quiet, for which I was grateful. The cot was shoved into the corner of the room, against two walls. Several uncomfortable minutes passed until I realized I wasn't going to be able to rest laying down; sighing, I dragged myself up into a sitting position, shoved a pillow behind my back and leaned against the wall.

Now with my back to the wall, I closed my eyes and let my chin droop toward my chest, every ounce of energy wrung out of me. Resting, just a little, would help enormously. Sleep would help even more - even five minutes of sleep would help. I couldn't, though - no, I wouldn't - allow myself to fall asleep. If I fell asleep, I'd dream. And if I dreamed ...

Gads, that was the last thing I wanted to do. Quatre knew, somehow, that I didn't want to sleep - that's why he told me to rest. I didn't tell him why I refused to sleep, and he didn't ask. He was just too damned nice to say anything.

I lifted my head and thumped it gently back against the wall, thinking. Hair tickled the end of my nose. It couldn't be bad to just close my eyelids for a few minutes. They were so heavy, so terribly heavy. I needed to rest for just a few minutes. Just a few more minutes ...

Dreams, people told me, were the subconscious mind's way of reaching out to the conscious mind. Dreams were where people synthesized everything that happened to them during the day; their real feelings came out, and after that, they would awaken refreshed, realizing what they needed to do in their lives.

That was nice, but my dreams weren't like that. They weren't nice, safe, fuzzy places. They were odd, frightening, things, showing me things I didn't understand. They usually made NO sense, left me feeling unsettled and inadequate, and brutalized me every time I closed my eyes. If they were prophecy, I never knew if they were going to come true today, or tomorrow - or hey, maybe never, who knew? perhaps it was just a regular dream, something that I wished would come true ... how could I tell anymore? Wufei, I miss you terribly ... I was so confused, and so alone ....

Finally, I started to doze.

I blinked and looked around. Where was I? A town square somewhere, probably in a small town in Europe. It was dusk - not quite night - and it was snowing. The street lamps were lit, sending oddly shaped patches of light scurrying everywhere. Snow crunched on the ground underneath my feet, but I was not cold. Odd, that ... I felt no cold, but I could hear the crunch of the snow, see a snowflake on my outstretched palm, watch my breath in front of me ...

...but wait ...

... there, sitting under a statue, huddled against the cold, was the lone figure of a man. As I drew closer I saw he was more hunched than huddled, and more boy than man. Dark, lank hair hung across his face, shielding eyes that had no spark or enthusiasm, no creativity, no joy. He was simply waiting for something - life? death? who knew? His chest quivered, shallow breaths moving it in and out, breath automatically rasping its way through a tortured passageway. Snow lay in his lap and on his shoulders. Snow also covered his head; he was as heedless of the weather as were the birds in the square. Something else lay across his shoulders - something that was difficult to see, but every now and then it shimmered and flexed, sending rainbow cascades of light rippling across different parts of his body.

"Wufei? Wufei, it's you ..." I whispered, incredulous. "And that's ... that's the dragon ..."

It was the dragon, too. The wee little thing lay on top of Wufei's clothes, right across his collarbone, and was a translucent, washed out reddish gold, a far cry from its former beauty. Not quite of this world, it looked at me with sad, tired eyes.

I looked around, my head swiveling in all directions. "Where are where, Wufei?" I wondered, my breath barely passing my lips. "We have to get out of here quickly, but -"

A long shadow fell across the square as another figure walked up next to one of the streetlights. This person was tall - tall and broad, clad in dark colors that blended into the surroundings and had a long, swinging coat. He stood at the side of the square, the collar of his overcoat turned up against the cold, snow scattered on his shoulders.

His voice, low and comforting, came out of the shadows. "Wufei."

Wufei looked up when he heard his name. He stiffened when he saw the man, but didn't move. He barely shook his head and dropped his gaze, looking steadfastly at the the ground.

The man walked from the darkness and then across the square, unhurried, his scarf fluttering in a sudden gust of snow. To my everlasting horror, I knew immediately who it was.

It was Treize.

He stopped several paces in front of Wufei and regarded him for several moments in silence. When he spoke again, his voice was kind, unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world.

"Wufei. Come home with me. It's time."

Poor Wufei's face twisted. He refused to meet Treize's gaze; instead, he hitched once and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand.

Treize knelt in front of Wufei and gently cupped Wufei's face in his hands, drawing Wufei's palms away from his face, not allowing him to hide or turn away. "Come home with me, dragon," he murmured, very tender, not judging, stroking Wufei's cheek. "You are tired, and it is time. Come with me."

Wufei blinked, looked at him a long moment, then buried his head in Treize's chest, still hitching, his hands tangled in Treize's coat. The dragon dove right into Treize and stayed there, desperate for comfort and healing; apparently, it had been keening for days on end. Treize folded his arms around Wufei and drew him into his embrace. He kissed the top of his head, then gently enveloped him with his wings, protecting him from the rest of the world.

"Wufei? WUFEI, NO!"

I gasped and sat straight up, my head thumping the wall, a horrid pain along my shoulder, and found myself reaching out for him. I sat still for a few moments, catching my breath, forcing myself to calm down, lower my arms and stretch. After my heart fell back into a more even rhythm, I slid my legs over the side of the cot. I had to go to him, find him, guard him, help him, get him away from Treize, away from -

Soft shuffling and pattering sounds were in the hallway. I heard tapping on my door along with a muffled voice. "Sally? Sally? Are you all right?"

My feet dangled just above my shoes as I reached for my sweater. The door open a crack, and a tousled blonde head poked inside the door.

"Quatre?"

"Yes, Sally. You were dreaming again. Are you all right?" He walked over to me quickly, his face radiating concern, his blue eyes wide.

"I - I'm fine, Quatre. I'm fine. I was - gads, Quatre, it was so real." Taking a deep breath, I looked at him and felt a pang of conscience. The poor boy looked so concerned, standing next to me in his pajamas and robe, his hair all askew, that I felt terribly guilty and wanted to explain. "Please understand, Quatre - I don't have a choice anymore. I have to go. I can't wait. It's - it feels - it's time for me to go. He needs me, Quatre. I must protect him." I was already stuffing clothes into a duffel bag, not looking at him.

"Sally. Don't feel badly about it, please." I didn't know how he did it, but he knew exactly how I felt. His expression was sad and resigned. " .... if you must go, you must."

"I have to." I shoved a light coat and my toothbrush into the duffel and quickly zipped the bag. Slipping my feet into my shoes, I grabbed a dark jacket from the end of the cot and shrugged it on, then turned and looked down at the small pilot.

"Goodbye, Quatre," I said, smiling a little, feeling wistful. "Thanks for having me. I'll return the favor when I can. Hopefully, without so much - erm - attention."

"Sally," he replied, giving me an answering smile that was like liquid gold. "There's no need. Now get going, while you still have time."

I didn't waste any time. I gave him a hug, slung the duffel across my shoulders, and trotted out of the safe house.

Toward Wufei. To save him.