Disclaimer: Characters herewithin do not belong to me. Period, end of sentence.
Author's Notes: This is a canon fic, something I haven't done in awhile. But I got some really great responses from the GW_Heero_and_Relena ML (thanks yall, once again), so I'm putting it up here at last. I hope everyone out there enjoys it, too! Thanks;)
****
Your Wildest Dreams
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
It was supposed to have been a simple trip to Africa, planned by her publicist as part of her campaign for the Presidency of the Earth-Space United Nations. She was only supposed to stop on the newly reconstructed Lake Victoria Base for a day, cut the red ribbon, make a speech about how she planned to keep allotting enough funds to the Preventers to allow them to carry on their good work upon her election, and then fly back to the Sanq Kingdom for more rallies and meetings.
It turned out to be an adventure that forever changed Relena Peacecraft's life.
She had no idea that it would be as she packed a simple bag of her things on the crisp, fall morning of her departure. At twenty-three years old, Relena was practically unrecognizable as the impossibly young and naïve child who had been crowned Queen of the World. Not only had her body filled out, but her ideals and goals had matured in the seven years since the wars had ended. While she still believed in peace, Relena no longer protested the idea that it could come about without any bloodshed.
Politics, however, were not on her mind as she folded a lightweight business suit into her suitcase. The night before, she had been out on her third date with the son of the Trade Ambassador, and she was still recovering from his overzealous attempts to steal a kiss at the end of the evening. Dating anyone, especially someone who defined the word 'icky,' was entirely her publicist's idea. Relena simply went along, to keep up the public appearance that she was a normal young woman, and not an isolated workaholic. If she'd had her way, she would have spent the evening with a good book and a glass of wine.
She paused for a second. Reading and drinking alone. It was sad how that could constitute her idea of a fun evening. Maybe that was why she kept accepting the dates on which she was asked out. To convince herself that her life wasn't the most boring story ever told.
Someone knocked on her door, jolting Relena out of her thoughts. "Come in."
"Are you ready?"
His voice had the power to seize her throat and prevent her from breathing for several seconds. It was a good thing, then, that Heero Yuy rarely spoke to her except when it was unavoidable. He had been her Preventer-assigned bodyguard ever since she had been elected Foreign Minister four years earlier, and since then, they'd probably had a grand total of three hour's worth of conversation.
Relena snapped her suitcase shut and set it onto the floor. "Just a few more things, and I will be."
She disappeared into the bathroom that was attached to her spacious bedroom. When she emerged a moment later with a smaller bag full of her toiletries, Heero was still standing in the same, awkward position. Close enough to the door to make for a hasty escape, and just far enough away from her bed to remind her that he was never going to be in it.
Making a great pretense of adding her makeup to the bag, Relena snuck a glance at her bodyguard. She wasn't the only one between them who had grown up since the wars. Heero had always been unavoidably pleasing to the eye, but now he was dangerously good-looking. The combination of his piercing eyes, the scowl that was forever etched on his brow, and the thick, chocolate-colored bangs that halfway covered both was immensely appealing. And when you factored in the chiseled body that was so wonderfully accentuated by his Preventer uniform…well, Relena lived in hell every day, wanting but being unable to touch.
"Will you be accompanying me to Africa?"
His arms were folded, and his reply was an affirmative grunt.
"I've never been before, but I always wanted to go on a safari when I was a child."
"Hn."
Relena zipped up the bag and set it next to her suitcase. "I'd still like to someday, but at best I'll only have the time when I'm old, grey and retired."
"Hn."
"I can't express to you how much our conversations mean to me." She pulled on a cream-colored coat over her linen pants and trim blouse. "But you'd better watch out, Commander Yuy, or I'll have to start calling you 'Mr. Chatterbox'."
He moved forward and picked up both of her bags in one hand. Without another word, or even so much as another grunt, Heero left the room.
Relena rubbed her temple with one finger. It was promising to be a very long weekend.
****
Her campaign speech was delivered without flaw, but then he was only half listening to it. For the majority of the time she stood at the podium speaking, Heero was wondering how she managed to keep looking so perfect in the balmy heat of South Africa. Without a hair astray or a bead of perspiration on her brow, Relena captivated her audience with promises and pledges. From anyone else's mouth, they might have seemed false. But he had known her for a very long time. Relena was a woman of her word.
Heero glanced at his watch. Eloquent or not, her speech had better find its way to a conclusion soon. He was supposed to have her on the private jet, and on her way to Cairo to catch a connecting flight to Sanq within the next half hour, and he wasn't above cutting her off in order to keep on schedule.
She'd hate him for it for maybe a few minutes. As much as she was honest, she was all too forgiving. That was probably the only reason he still had the job as her bodyguard. She could forgive him for being unable to give her what she needed. What she deserved. Although she saw it as forgiving his inability to return her feelings.
But that wasn't true. He knew how she felt about him. He knew how he felt about her. But she would never know it. Because for all the bravery he was supposed to have, Heero just didn't have it in him to follow his own advice and be true to his emotions.
The best he could do was to protect her and watch from the shadows as she was courted by every eligible bachelor with a pedigree. One day, she would probably marry one of them, and have a succession of very perfect babies. But before that happened, he had sworn to retire. He could stand a lot of things, but seeing her married and pregnant with another man's child was too much.
Her speech was wrapping up and he was glad he wouldn't have to incur her temporary wrath, although it was fun to see her get angry. Her eyes sparked, her cheeks flushed, her voice went from polite and restrained, to passionate and riled; he saw the real Relena when she was mad, not the watered-down politician she showed everyone else.
"It is my intent…" she announced over the speaker system. "…to ensure that the Preventers have the means to continue their peace-keeping efforts indefinitely, at fine facilities such as this base. This is my promise, the promise of a secure tomorrow for you as well as for future generations. Peace is not a state of being, but a state of believing. And I believe that together, we can all maintain it. Thank you."
Amidst much applause and cries from reporters for pictures and answers to their questions, Relena stepped down from the podium. Heero immediately moved into a flanking position at her side, a human shield against the throngs of people. His hand remained on the handle of his gun in the holster around his hips; his eyes scanned the crowd for any signs of aggressive behavior.
They made their way to the jet that waited for her; Relena did her best to smile and wave as she was hastily ushered up the portable staircase and into the plane. He didn't seem to notice her frustration; she could campaign around him. Her safety was his only priority.
At the top of the steps, Heero took a final look around at the base before following her. The single flight attendant closed the rounded door behind them, sealing the plane up for take-off. Relena was already seated in one of the wide, leather seats, hands propped up on her hips. "You know, politics is mostly about public opinion, Commander Yuy. And I'm never going to keep my favorable opinion if I'm not allowed to have any contact with said public!"
He took his place across from her; his laptop was already waiting for him on the next seat over. "I'm doing my job."
"Look, just because you don't want to talk to me, doesn't mean all those people out there wouldn't like to. I have obligations." The plane began to taxi down the runway. "Perhaps if you did your job better, security at functions like this wouldn't even be an issue."
She struck a nerve there, and he turned a cold glare onto her. "If I weren't doing my job just fine, you'll probably be dead."
Relena's chin lifted a notch. "Would you care if I were?"
"Hn."
She sat back against the leather seat with sharp movements. After a few seconds of staring out the window as they lifted off the ground, Relena looked back at him. He was already staring at a security grid on his computer, but he could feel her blue eyes boring into him. "You're really a very hard person to love, Heero."
He flinched; it was the first time in years that she'd called him by his name. But more than that, she'd used the word. She'd only used it one time before, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, when she'd expressed her feelings for him, and waited for his answer. And she'd never mentioned it since, in the wake of his silence.
Heero looked up at her. "Get some sleep. It's a long way to Cairo."
****
The jerk of the plane underneath her woke Relena up from her much-needed nap. A blanket was draped over her body; it hadn't been present when she'd slipped into sleep. She attributed its placement to the flight attendant; Heero surely wouldn't have even thought about whether or not she was cold.
The next thing she noticed was that Heero was no longer seated across from her. She lifted her head and looked around. The cabin was empty. Even the flight attendant had disappeared somewhere. Relena pushed off the blanket and unbuckled her safety belt. As she stood up, the plane lurched again, and she fell back into a sitting position.
Licking her lips and willing back a sudden sense of fear, she tried standing again, and this time managed to begin the short trek to the cockpit. But before she reached it, Heero emerged, looking more affected than she'd ever seen him. Which wasn't to say he seemed particularly stressed or nervous; he simply seemed bothered.
"What's going on?" she asked him. "Turbulence?"
"Go back and strap yourself in," he ordered. "The situation is under control."
"Oh, so there is a situation, then." Relena swallowed. "Commander Yuy, if something is seriously the matter, I have every right to know about it."
Heero took her arm and began not-so-gently guiding her back to her seat. "When you need to know, you'll know."
Another, much more severe jolt shook the jet. Relena reached up for the overhead storage bin to anchor herself. She never quite made it; his hands circled her waist for support, and she found herself all too up-close and personal with her bodyguard. "Are you going to tell me that I don't need to know what that was?"
The flight attendant ran from the cockpit just then; the petite woman accosted them both. "The captain needs you, Commander Yuy!"
Heero released Relena just as quickly as he had touched her. "Get her into her seat."
As he strode back down the aisle, the woman looked at Relena. "Please, Minister Peacecraft."
"I want to know what's going on right this minute."
The attendant wrung her pale hands. "There's a slight…problem with one of the engines."
Relena's stomach dropped a couple of inches. "What are they going to do?"
"They're trying to locate the nearest airport or landing strip, but…"
"But what?"
"We're flying over what you might call the middle of nowhere, ma'am. At last check, the captain said central Botswana. There's not exactly many places to safely land." The woman backed away. "Please do as the Commander asks. He's only thinking of your safety." With that, she moved towards the back of the plane, presumably to her own little seat.
Relena sank down, her hand clutching her throat. She remained still, even as the plane continued to jerk and shake, until finally, Heero came out from the cockpit.
She met his gaze, and instantly feared for their lives. Heero's eyes were wide and worried; his hair was tousled as though he'd been pulling at it. He ran to her, kneeling down to her level.
"Relena," he began. "It's time you know…that this plane is going down. One of the engines is gone, and we're losing fuel. The pilot is going to try to land us, but because it's dark, he doesn't have a clear idea of where that might be. Do you remember what to do for an emergency landing?"
She nodded a moment, before his careful tone began to bother her. "I'm not a child. I can handle this," she scowled.
Heero rose to his feet. "Good." He started to move away, but then turned back. "I want you to live through this, Relena. And not just because it's my job."
He was already gone when she whispered back, "Really, Heero?"
****
It all happened so fast. One moment they were flying through the night sky, and the next they were on a crash course for the hard surface below. It was almost unnatural how quickly the fuel drained away, how suddenly the engine died. But Heero didn't have time to contemplate this. His main concern was helping the captain land the jet in relative safety.
Perhaps that mission would have been clearer if he hadn't been plagued with a thousand worries about the woman in the passenger's cabin. She'd looked so small and helpless when he left her, but he knew that underneath that fragility was a survivor. If any of them were going to make it through this ordeal, it would be Relena.
Within minutes from the time the engine began to fail, the private jet landed on African soil, skidding over hills and through forests with frightening speed. The entire world seemed to shake, and all Heero could do was hold onto the controls and duck his head to avoid the deadly spray of glass as the cockpit windows shattered upon impact.
And then, it all stopped. Heero lifted his chin from his chest. Shrubbery that had been forced into the plane littered the area around him. He glanced over at the captain. The old man was slumped over in his seat, held in place only by his safety harness. A tremendous blow to his skull had been his end.
Ignoring his own wounds, Heero undid his belt and crawled out of the co-pilot's seat. When his feet hit the floor, the plane moved, and he heard the distinct sound of water bubbling up. His eyes narrowed and he peered out the glass-less window. All he could see was darkness, but it didn't take much for him to guess that they had landed in water.
"Shit."
Carefully, Heero left the cockpit. He could feel the plane sinking; time was running out. "Relena?"
Her blonde head appeared over a battered row of seats, and he almost sighed out loud in sheer relief. "Heero?" As he came closer, he could see blood on her face, seeping from a head wound. Still, all she cared about was the others. "The captain?"
"Dead." After assuring that she was at least able to move, Heero continued past her and ducked his head into the back area. The flight attendant was in a similar position as the captain. A drink cart had broken free and slammed directly into her stomach.
Relena stood up. "Is she…?"
He blocked her view by grasping her shoulders. "I'll grab some supplies; you get the emergency exit open and inflate the slide thing."
"Heero, where are we?"
"We'll figure that out later. Right now I'd like for this plane not to sink to the bottom of whatever river or lake this is, with us in it. All right?" She nodded, suddenly even more ashen. He reached for her lovely face, and swiped at the blood that colored it. "Go. Hurry."
Careful to avoid the dead woman, Heero gathered as much non-perishable food as he could find, along with cans of juice and bottles of water. He stuffed it all into a trash bag, along with a first-aid kit, two flashlights and a blanket. He slung the bag onto his shoulder, and felt to make sure his holster was still in place.
When he came back into the cabin, he could see that while Relena had gotten the exit hatch open, she was having trouble with the inflatable slide. Her carry-on bag sat close by her feet; he couldn't believe that she had bothered to retrieve it from overhead storage.
"Here." He handed her the supplies and took her place at the hatch. The water was nearly level with the bottom of the opening. The slide was going to end up being more of a raft than anything else. It inflated with a strong tug on its cord and hit the water with a terrific splash.
"Get on it," he told her. When she reached for the bag, he shook his head. "We're only taking what's necessary."
"And this is necessary," Relena informed him. "My passport is in here, international credits. Toothpaste. I'm not leaving without it."
The water was rising too fast for him to argue with her. "Fine. But you're carrying it." Without even replying, Relena took a deep breath and crawled onto the bright yellow rubber slide. Heero joined her a moment later, and reached back to undo the pins that fixed their raft to the plane. They broke away just as water flooded into the still-lit cabin. And as they drifted off, they watched the jet slip further and further below the surface until it was just an eerie glow under the water.
Relena trembled; the night air was cold. "Did you reach anyone…to send our last coordinates?"
"No. There wasn't anyone to reach."
"So no one knows where we went down, then. Not even us."
Heero rummaged through his bag, trying not to tip the raft too much. There was no telling what lurked in the water around them. He pulled out a flashlight and switched it on. "That pretty much sums it up."
She nodded tightly. Looking away from him, she let go of the tears she'd managed to hold in for the entire crash. Stranded in the middle of Africa with no help in the foreseeable future…with Heero Yuy.
Her simple trip had turned into a nightmare.
****
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: This is a canon fic, something I haven't done in awhile. But I got some really great responses from the GW_Heero_and_Relena ML (thanks yall, once again), so I'm putting it up here at last. I hope everyone out there enjoys it, too! Thanks;)
****
Your Wildest Dreams
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
It was supposed to have been a simple trip to Africa, planned by her publicist as part of her campaign for the Presidency of the Earth-Space United Nations. She was only supposed to stop on the newly reconstructed Lake Victoria Base for a day, cut the red ribbon, make a speech about how she planned to keep allotting enough funds to the Preventers to allow them to carry on their good work upon her election, and then fly back to the Sanq Kingdom for more rallies and meetings.
It turned out to be an adventure that forever changed Relena Peacecraft's life.
She had no idea that it would be as she packed a simple bag of her things on the crisp, fall morning of her departure. At twenty-three years old, Relena was practically unrecognizable as the impossibly young and naïve child who had been crowned Queen of the World. Not only had her body filled out, but her ideals and goals had matured in the seven years since the wars had ended. While she still believed in peace, Relena no longer protested the idea that it could come about without any bloodshed.
Politics, however, were not on her mind as she folded a lightweight business suit into her suitcase. The night before, she had been out on her third date with the son of the Trade Ambassador, and she was still recovering from his overzealous attempts to steal a kiss at the end of the evening. Dating anyone, especially someone who defined the word 'icky,' was entirely her publicist's idea. Relena simply went along, to keep up the public appearance that she was a normal young woman, and not an isolated workaholic. If she'd had her way, she would have spent the evening with a good book and a glass of wine.
She paused for a second. Reading and drinking alone. It was sad how that could constitute her idea of a fun evening. Maybe that was why she kept accepting the dates on which she was asked out. To convince herself that her life wasn't the most boring story ever told.
Someone knocked on her door, jolting Relena out of her thoughts. "Come in."
"Are you ready?"
His voice had the power to seize her throat and prevent her from breathing for several seconds. It was a good thing, then, that Heero Yuy rarely spoke to her except when it was unavoidable. He had been her Preventer-assigned bodyguard ever since she had been elected Foreign Minister four years earlier, and since then, they'd probably had a grand total of three hour's worth of conversation.
Relena snapped her suitcase shut and set it onto the floor. "Just a few more things, and I will be."
She disappeared into the bathroom that was attached to her spacious bedroom. When she emerged a moment later with a smaller bag full of her toiletries, Heero was still standing in the same, awkward position. Close enough to the door to make for a hasty escape, and just far enough away from her bed to remind her that he was never going to be in it.
Making a great pretense of adding her makeup to the bag, Relena snuck a glance at her bodyguard. She wasn't the only one between them who had grown up since the wars. Heero had always been unavoidably pleasing to the eye, but now he was dangerously good-looking. The combination of his piercing eyes, the scowl that was forever etched on his brow, and the thick, chocolate-colored bangs that halfway covered both was immensely appealing. And when you factored in the chiseled body that was so wonderfully accentuated by his Preventer uniform…well, Relena lived in hell every day, wanting but being unable to touch.
"Will you be accompanying me to Africa?"
His arms were folded, and his reply was an affirmative grunt.
"I've never been before, but I always wanted to go on a safari when I was a child."
"Hn."
Relena zipped up the bag and set it next to her suitcase. "I'd still like to someday, but at best I'll only have the time when I'm old, grey and retired."
"Hn."
"I can't express to you how much our conversations mean to me." She pulled on a cream-colored coat over her linen pants and trim blouse. "But you'd better watch out, Commander Yuy, or I'll have to start calling you 'Mr. Chatterbox'."
He moved forward and picked up both of her bags in one hand. Without another word, or even so much as another grunt, Heero left the room.
Relena rubbed her temple with one finger. It was promising to be a very long weekend.
****
Her campaign speech was delivered without flaw, but then he was only half listening to it. For the majority of the time she stood at the podium speaking, Heero was wondering how she managed to keep looking so perfect in the balmy heat of South Africa. Without a hair astray or a bead of perspiration on her brow, Relena captivated her audience with promises and pledges. From anyone else's mouth, they might have seemed false. But he had known her for a very long time. Relena was a woman of her word.
Heero glanced at his watch. Eloquent or not, her speech had better find its way to a conclusion soon. He was supposed to have her on the private jet, and on her way to Cairo to catch a connecting flight to Sanq within the next half hour, and he wasn't above cutting her off in order to keep on schedule.
She'd hate him for it for maybe a few minutes. As much as she was honest, she was all too forgiving. That was probably the only reason he still had the job as her bodyguard. She could forgive him for being unable to give her what she needed. What she deserved. Although she saw it as forgiving his inability to return her feelings.
But that wasn't true. He knew how she felt about him. He knew how he felt about her. But she would never know it. Because for all the bravery he was supposed to have, Heero just didn't have it in him to follow his own advice and be true to his emotions.
The best he could do was to protect her and watch from the shadows as she was courted by every eligible bachelor with a pedigree. One day, she would probably marry one of them, and have a succession of very perfect babies. But before that happened, he had sworn to retire. He could stand a lot of things, but seeing her married and pregnant with another man's child was too much.
Her speech was wrapping up and he was glad he wouldn't have to incur her temporary wrath, although it was fun to see her get angry. Her eyes sparked, her cheeks flushed, her voice went from polite and restrained, to passionate and riled; he saw the real Relena when she was mad, not the watered-down politician she showed everyone else.
"It is my intent…" she announced over the speaker system. "…to ensure that the Preventers have the means to continue their peace-keeping efforts indefinitely, at fine facilities such as this base. This is my promise, the promise of a secure tomorrow for you as well as for future generations. Peace is not a state of being, but a state of believing. And I believe that together, we can all maintain it. Thank you."
Amidst much applause and cries from reporters for pictures and answers to their questions, Relena stepped down from the podium. Heero immediately moved into a flanking position at her side, a human shield against the throngs of people. His hand remained on the handle of his gun in the holster around his hips; his eyes scanned the crowd for any signs of aggressive behavior.
They made their way to the jet that waited for her; Relena did her best to smile and wave as she was hastily ushered up the portable staircase and into the plane. He didn't seem to notice her frustration; she could campaign around him. Her safety was his only priority.
At the top of the steps, Heero took a final look around at the base before following her. The single flight attendant closed the rounded door behind them, sealing the plane up for take-off. Relena was already seated in one of the wide, leather seats, hands propped up on her hips. "You know, politics is mostly about public opinion, Commander Yuy. And I'm never going to keep my favorable opinion if I'm not allowed to have any contact with said public!"
He took his place across from her; his laptop was already waiting for him on the next seat over. "I'm doing my job."
"Look, just because you don't want to talk to me, doesn't mean all those people out there wouldn't like to. I have obligations." The plane began to taxi down the runway. "Perhaps if you did your job better, security at functions like this wouldn't even be an issue."
She struck a nerve there, and he turned a cold glare onto her. "If I weren't doing my job just fine, you'll probably be dead."
Relena's chin lifted a notch. "Would you care if I were?"
"Hn."
She sat back against the leather seat with sharp movements. After a few seconds of staring out the window as they lifted off the ground, Relena looked back at him. He was already staring at a security grid on his computer, but he could feel her blue eyes boring into him. "You're really a very hard person to love, Heero."
He flinched; it was the first time in years that she'd called him by his name. But more than that, she'd used the word. She'd only used it one time before, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, when she'd expressed her feelings for him, and waited for his answer. And she'd never mentioned it since, in the wake of his silence.
Heero looked up at her. "Get some sleep. It's a long way to Cairo."
****
The jerk of the plane underneath her woke Relena up from her much-needed nap. A blanket was draped over her body; it hadn't been present when she'd slipped into sleep. She attributed its placement to the flight attendant; Heero surely wouldn't have even thought about whether or not she was cold.
The next thing she noticed was that Heero was no longer seated across from her. She lifted her head and looked around. The cabin was empty. Even the flight attendant had disappeared somewhere. Relena pushed off the blanket and unbuckled her safety belt. As she stood up, the plane lurched again, and she fell back into a sitting position.
Licking her lips and willing back a sudden sense of fear, she tried standing again, and this time managed to begin the short trek to the cockpit. But before she reached it, Heero emerged, looking more affected than she'd ever seen him. Which wasn't to say he seemed particularly stressed or nervous; he simply seemed bothered.
"What's going on?" she asked him. "Turbulence?"
"Go back and strap yourself in," he ordered. "The situation is under control."
"Oh, so there is a situation, then." Relena swallowed. "Commander Yuy, if something is seriously the matter, I have every right to know about it."
Heero took her arm and began not-so-gently guiding her back to her seat. "When you need to know, you'll know."
Another, much more severe jolt shook the jet. Relena reached up for the overhead storage bin to anchor herself. She never quite made it; his hands circled her waist for support, and she found herself all too up-close and personal with her bodyguard. "Are you going to tell me that I don't need to know what that was?"
The flight attendant ran from the cockpit just then; the petite woman accosted them both. "The captain needs you, Commander Yuy!"
Heero released Relena just as quickly as he had touched her. "Get her into her seat."
As he strode back down the aisle, the woman looked at Relena. "Please, Minister Peacecraft."
"I want to know what's going on right this minute."
The attendant wrung her pale hands. "There's a slight…problem with one of the engines."
Relena's stomach dropped a couple of inches. "What are they going to do?"
"They're trying to locate the nearest airport or landing strip, but…"
"But what?"
"We're flying over what you might call the middle of nowhere, ma'am. At last check, the captain said central Botswana. There's not exactly many places to safely land." The woman backed away. "Please do as the Commander asks. He's only thinking of your safety." With that, she moved towards the back of the plane, presumably to her own little seat.
Relena sank down, her hand clutching her throat. She remained still, even as the plane continued to jerk and shake, until finally, Heero came out from the cockpit.
She met his gaze, and instantly feared for their lives. Heero's eyes were wide and worried; his hair was tousled as though he'd been pulling at it. He ran to her, kneeling down to her level.
"Relena," he began. "It's time you know…that this plane is going down. One of the engines is gone, and we're losing fuel. The pilot is going to try to land us, but because it's dark, he doesn't have a clear idea of where that might be. Do you remember what to do for an emergency landing?"
She nodded a moment, before his careful tone began to bother her. "I'm not a child. I can handle this," she scowled.
Heero rose to his feet. "Good." He started to move away, but then turned back. "I want you to live through this, Relena. And not just because it's my job."
He was already gone when she whispered back, "Really, Heero?"
****
It all happened so fast. One moment they were flying through the night sky, and the next they were on a crash course for the hard surface below. It was almost unnatural how quickly the fuel drained away, how suddenly the engine died. But Heero didn't have time to contemplate this. His main concern was helping the captain land the jet in relative safety.
Perhaps that mission would have been clearer if he hadn't been plagued with a thousand worries about the woman in the passenger's cabin. She'd looked so small and helpless when he left her, but he knew that underneath that fragility was a survivor. If any of them were going to make it through this ordeal, it would be Relena.
Within minutes from the time the engine began to fail, the private jet landed on African soil, skidding over hills and through forests with frightening speed. The entire world seemed to shake, and all Heero could do was hold onto the controls and duck his head to avoid the deadly spray of glass as the cockpit windows shattered upon impact.
And then, it all stopped. Heero lifted his chin from his chest. Shrubbery that had been forced into the plane littered the area around him. He glanced over at the captain. The old man was slumped over in his seat, held in place only by his safety harness. A tremendous blow to his skull had been his end.
Ignoring his own wounds, Heero undid his belt and crawled out of the co-pilot's seat. When his feet hit the floor, the plane moved, and he heard the distinct sound of water bubbling up. His eyes narrowed and he peered out the glass-less window. All he could see was darkness, but it didn't take much for him to guess that they had landed in water.
"Shit."
Carefully, Heero left the cockpit. He could feel the plane sinking; time was running out. "Relena?"
Her blonde head appeared over a battered row of seats, and he almost sighed out loud in sheer relief. "Heero?" As he came closer, he could see blood on her face, seeping from a head wound. Still, all she cared about was the others. "The captain?"
"Dead." After assuring that she was at least able to move, Heero continued past her and ducked his head into the back area. The flight attendant was in a similar position as the captain. A drink cart had broken free and slammed directly into her stomach.
Relena stood up. "Is she…?"
He blocked her view by grasping her shoulders. "I'll grab some supplies; you get the emergency exit open and inflate the slide thing."
"Heero, where are we?"
"We'll figure that out later. Right now I'd like for this plane not to sink to the bottom of whatever river or lake this is, with us in it. All right?" She nodded, suddenly even more ashen. He reached for her lovely face, and swiped at the blood that colored it. "Go. Hurry."
Careful to avoid the dead woman, Heero gathered as much non-perishable food as he could find, along with cans of juice and bottles of water. He stuffed it all into a trash bag, along with a first-aid kit, two flashlights and a blanket. He slung the bag onto his shoulder, and felt to make sure his holster was still in place.
When he came back into the cabin, he could see that while Relena had gotten the exit hatch open, she was having trouble with the inflatable slide. Her carry-on bag sat close by her feet; he couldn't believe that she had bothered to retrieve it from overhead storage.
"Here." He handed her the supplies and took her place at the hatch. The water was nearly level with the bottom of the opening. The slide was going to end up being more of a raft than anything else. It inflated with a strong tug on its cord and hit the water with a terrific splash.
"Get on it," he told her. When she reached for the bag, he shook his head. "We're only taking what's necessary."
"And this is necessary," Relena informed him. "My passport is in here, international credits. Toothpaste. I'm not leaving without it."
The water was rising too fast for him to argue with her. "Fine. But you're carrying it." Without even replying, Relena took a deep breath and crawled onto the bright yellow rubber slide. Heero joined her a moment later, and reached back to undo the pins that fixed their raft to the plane. They broke away just as water flooded into the still-lit cabin. And as they drifted off, they watched the jet slip further and further below the surface until it was just an eerie glow under the water.
Relena trembled; the night air was cold. "Did you reach anyone…to send our last coordinates?"
"No. There wasn't anyone to reach."
"So no one knows where we went down, then. Not even us."
Heero rummaged through his bag, trying not to tip the raft too much. There was no telling what lurked in the water around them. He pulled out a flashlight and switched it on. "That pretty much sums it up."
She nodded tightly. Looking away from him, she let go of the tears she'd managed to hold in for the entire crash. Stranded in the middle of Africa with no help in the foreseeable future…with Heero Yuy.
Her simple trip had turned into a nightmare.
****
To Be Continued