This was a little weird, even for her life. She had seen some really odd things over the years, mostly as Sailor Moon but a few as Usagi as well. Trying to guide the Ginzuishou into doing what they want it to, while at the same time trying to stay awake when she was exhausted as she could ever remember being, meant that she was getting little glimpses into what it was Heero was dreaming.
Duo was alive. That was the big thing, the one that mattered most in all of this, as far as she was concerned. He was alive. He looked horrid, pale and grey and in pain, but at least he was alive. Everything else could be dealt with later.
The Ginzuishou could be helpful again there, in dealing with the 'later'. Whether it was the jewel or somehow her that managed to heal Heero's hand, it could come in a lot of handy. If it was somehow her--and she couldn't really quite yet imagine how that could be--then it could at least bolster her until she had Duo back in top shape.
The second she had Duo in her arms again, there was no way she was going to let him out of her sight. She was never going to lose someone she loved, not ever again. And she was stubbornly refusing to follow that thought back to its source. She knew she had lost all her friends to Sailor Galaxia and her helpers, and she knew it had come down to her and Galaxia with the Starlights nearby. But she didn't remember after that. That was where everything went blank.
No, she wasn't going to think about that now. She was not going to think about this faint impression of bat-like wings and an echoing evil voice and a sword made of a little girl she had been coming to care for. She was not going to think about her own stupidity with insisting that she would not fight Galaxia. What she was going to think about was Duo and how they were about to get him back. Holding on to that thought would be what kept her sane, at least for now.
'So much depends on us getting Duo back safe and sound,' she thought to herself in quiet despair. She shook her head to clear such thoughts, though, not willing to entertain anything else like it. It felt too close to the idea of losing people she loved. The two were tied up in one another somehow, and she also didn't want to think about that.
Besides, Heero was starting to stir. That was as good a distraction as any, she dourly considered, rubbing at exhausted eyes and sitting up straight once again, just as his eyes opened.
"He's alive," she declared, impromptu to nothing.
"You could see?"
She shrugged. "Little bits here and there. I don't like how he looks, Heero. We have to get him out of there."
"We will." He sighed, glancing down at his lap then back up to her again. "I promised him we were coming for him."
"Good," she agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "Because we are. Do you know where they have him?"
"More or less. I have a general area."
He leaned over, snagging his bookbag from beside the bed and fishing out his laptop. Within seconds, he was pulling up some kind of software to view the surrounding area. So maybe they were going to go on and get Duo back soon. It certainly didn't look like Heero was planning on wasting any time.
"I'm going to grab a shower," she commented, "see if I can't get myself woken up. Heero?" She waited patiently until he met her eyes. "Don't you dare leave here without me? I'm coming with you, and we're getting Duo back together."
"Agreed. We may need your ability to heal for him."
If that was the only reason he was going to let her go, well, it wasn't ideal but at least she would be there. She wasn't going to mention it, but she did remember a few things from fighting, not just as Sailor Moon with her powers but also the limited training she had had on martial arts. She had never been terribly good, which was why she had always left such things to Mako-chan or Haruka-san, but before she had had either of them, she had been getting pretty proficient at her self-named Sailor V Kick.
It sounded so childish now, her infatuation with Sailor V and all, but it had led to her becoming Sailor Moon, which had led to whatever had happened in Tokyo when she left her time, which had led to her being here now. If it hadn't been for her childish interest in Sailor V, in the long run, she might not have ever come here and met Heero and Duo. It was funny how things turned out.
It was a little surprising to him. He had been hopeful that Usagi's jewel thing would be able to bring the dreams back, but he had not been expecting such clarity or... interactiveness, for lack of a better word for it. He had never before been able to touch anything in the dreams or interact with them in any sort of way, not like he had been able to in this one. In some ways, it was a relief: he had gotten to see Duo, touch him, tell him they would be coming for him. In other ways, it was distinctly terrifying: his ability was not supposed to work the way Usagi's jewel had made it do. He actually felt more wiped out now that he was wake than he had before he went under, when he was running on next to no sleep, thanks to how many times he had tried to bring the dreams back.
All he wanted to do was lay back down and go to sleep, this time for real, hopefully with no dreams at all. There wasn't time for that yet, though, not until Duo was back. The minute Duo was back, he was going to enforce at least a ten-hour nap. They all needed it. He had seen Usagi drifting in and out while he was dreaming. Duo looked like hell and probably felt like it too--and would rest a lot better once they got him patched up and wrapped up between the two of them.
Well, he and Usagi were just going to have to push through this. They had the advantage right now. The darkness would be a benefit to them, especially since he had seen the outside layout of the house where Duo was being held. And if luck was on their side, the people who took Duo might not expect to have someone show up to retrieve him so quickly.
If he could ever find the correct back roads between the remains of the motel and their destination that would lead them where they needed to go, that was. He hadn't been expecting there to be so many. And he hadn't managed to see the entire route, with how quickly it all flashed by. What he had seen clearly, however, was the route back to the motel, so he was trying to work in reverse, using the details he had managed to pick up to plug in the holes in his memory. It wasn't going to be perfect, but as long as he was able to find the house, he would count it as a win.
From the adjoining bathroom, he could hear Usagi cut the shower on. She probably wasn't going to be in there for very long; all she had said was that she was going to see if she could wake herself up, after all. Besides, she seemed to have guessed that he was intending for them to leave tonight. The sooner they had Duo back, the better, after all, was his thinking, and he could imagine that it was hers too. The sooner they acted on the information he had managed to pick up, the better off they were, in this case.
Finally, he zoomed out a bit further, impatiently scanning the map until he found what it was he was looking for: a ridiculously huge house in the middle of nowhere, large enough to be considered a mansion. It was set on enough of a hill that there could definitely be underground levels to it. And, as he zoomed back in, it even looked like the house that he had seen in his dream only a few moments ago. The paint on the outside was different, perhaps more cheerfully colored instead of fading into tones of grey, but the basic layout of the place was the same.
He had found it. Now he just needed to work quickly and figure out their route, so they could hit the road as soon as possible.
Less than a moment later, he heard the shower cut off once again. Even by his standards, that was an unusually quick shower, but he wasn't going to complain. It meant that Usagi would be ready all the sooner and that they could be on their way to finding Duo and getting him back. These were both good things as far as he was concerned.
Five minutes after that, Usagi opened the bathroom door. He spared half a second to glance up at her and couldn't resist a frown. There was nothing he could do about the fact she only had one item of her own clothes to wear. Personally, he wasn't going to let her go fight these people in nothing but one of his shirts that strained for modesty, so of course she would have to wear her own dress, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
She shot him a small grin when she saw the look on his face, and it only looked a little strained. "I'm not much caring for this thing either, Heero, but I'm not going to fight bad guys in my underwear. Let's leave that for the hentai, okay?"
It felt a little odd to be saying this, but... well... he needed to. "Don't take this the wrong way, Usagi, but I fully intend to burn that dress the first chance we get."
She raised an eyebrow, the expression on her face somewhere between mischievous and disbelieving. "Is there a right way to take that, Heero?" Before he could say anything, though, she continued, "I'm ready to get rid of it myself, so I'll hand you the lighter fluid... Once I have other clothes to wear." She sighed, fiddling with the skirt of it in clear annoyance. "Of course all the rest of my clothes had to go up in smoke, literally."
"Once we have Duo back, I'm ordering a nap of at least ten hours." He shifted uncomfortably. "After that, I fully intend to take both you and Duo clothes shopping. His bag was burned up too." It felt a little weird to be admitting his frivoulous little plans for once this was all over, but at the same time, it was completely worth it for the smile that was building on Usagi's face.
"Maybe we can even make Relena-san pay for it."
Now there was an idea, but not one that would be helpful in the next few hours. "Maybe so." He glanced around the room briefly, making a mental list of where everything was, what he would need to bring with them on this little quest, and what he would need to leave here in the hopes they were able to return safely. Honestly, he wasn't too keen on leaving anything. Most everything in the room belonged to him, and if someone was good enough, they could probably track them using it.
Granted, their tracker would have to be very, very good, but there was probably someone out there like that. Likely even someone who didn't care about anything but the money being offered--and there had to be money offered; the guys Usagi had described sounded very much like professionals, and pros worked for money, not ideals.
So rather than leave anything here, everything was just going to go in the truck of the car. That way it would be with them if worse came to worse. The backseat was going to be for Duo. That way, he would be able to stretch out more fully while he recuperated. He would be accepting no other possible alternative scenarios.
When he glanced back, Usagi was staring at him as well. If nothing else, he got the feeling he was being thoroughly inspected and judged, hopefully fit to go get their lover back, because that was what he was going to do either way.
"Let's go get Duo" was all Usagi said in final judgment.
Yes, it was definitely past time for that.
12 August 2012
Okay, wow, you guys... That was pretty amazing. 3 days to 50 hits is doing really good for a Sailor Moon crossover these days. And I got the last reviews needed for my special treat, though it will have to wait until tomorrow or this coming weekend for me go get it. It's late here.
Anyway, here's Chapter Sixteen as promised. And I'm going to start uploading the new story when I reach Chapter 25, I think, which shouldn't be too much longer.
See you in the next chapter!
Apollymi