Synopsis: Aged nineteen, the
Preventer five have become like brothers, but when one falls for his female
co-worker, how will this affect their unity? But trouble befalls Wufei, it’s
Sally who’s arrested, and it’s up to the remaining four to prove her innocence,
though not all is as it seems....
*~Prologue~*
“Get out!
You heard me! I said get out!”
The Chinese youth could see his colleague
was furious. Along with being subjected to sweltering heat, her cheeks were a
flaming crimson and her usually gentle eyes were smouldering.
“Sally, I
just -"
The elder of the pair - the woman - folded her arms, her
shoulders hunched, turning her face away from the onyx eyes which studied it
intensively.
“You remember what we agreed, last time, don’t you? Was it
that long ago?” her voice was low and severe.
“A month,” he replied
coldly.
He watched her sullenly, noting how she set her jaw stubbornly
and refused to meet his gaze. After a moment or so, his face softened a little
and he reached towards where her arm rested on the steering wheel, in some sort
of gesture of reconciliation.
“Wufei,” she answered, pushing away his
hand, almost pleading with him now. “You promised you wouldn’t, you promised.
And I promised too. But look, this always happens whenever -"
“Why do you
think that is?” he said, cutting her off.
The woman shook her head. “I
don’t want to think about it. I don’t even have to think about it. Now please
leave me alone, just leave me alone okay?”
“You’re making out it’s all my
fault!” he snarled. “I...I hate you Sally Po.”
“Hate me then,” she
replied bitterly, defiantly. “But I know this cannot continue. And you know it
too. You know it. Now get out! NOW!”
Wufei scowled, yet obediently
descended from the jeep. He lingered a while before shutting the door. He glared
up at his partner aiming to appear unaffected, though behind his expression, he
half-hoped she would relent.
“You just gonna leave me here then, Woman?
In the middle of nowhere? What am I supposed to do now? Huh?”
Sally
whipped her head around to face him, and he saw her debate with herself for a
split second. “ If you’re as wise as you think you are, then you’ll be fine. I
never wanted to be cruel to you, but I’m...I’m just... at the end of my tether
with this..”
“You can’t do that!” he shouted at her, his voice high
pitched and angry, emphasised by the stillness of the terrain. “ You can’t just
abandon me here alone!”
“‘Alone’ never bothered you before...” Sally
answered. “And if you’re so grown up as you say you are, then you’ll take care
of yourself no problem.”
Without another word, she reached over and
slammed the door shut. Wufei was stunned at her ruthlessness. He saw her bent
over, biting her bottom lip, her eyes tightly shut.
With one last painful
glance, he turned and stalked up the desolate dust track back the way they’d
come. They had been together in the jeep. Now he was alone, a solitary figure in
a desolate place. Maybe a couple of years ago - a year ago - this would have
suited him well. Now he hated it. Hated it so much it made his eyes sting and
his throat ache.
Inside the jeep, Sally frantically tried to get it to
work so she could drive away before she allowed herself to deliberate over
whether she should call him back.
“Oh, come on!” she cursed at the
immobile vehicle. She knew in her heart she wanted to reverse. She knew she
could not just desert him, she’d have to handle him and that meant handling
herself.
“What is wrong, you useless piece of junk?” she shouted, whilst
straightening her clothing. “When I’ve piloted mobile suits, I don’t expect
grief from a mere jeep!”
The vehicle jolted backwards suddenly. Sally
tried to gain control, to steady it, but something was wrong. She was sure of
it. She found the jeep lurched backwards alarmingly, despite her efforts to slow
it as it gained speed.
Wufei turned on hearing the motor . She was coming
back for him? Weakling. It was to be expected from a woman. It took a few more
moments for him to really register what was going on, that the thing was
actually careering out of control. He tried to move but he hadn’t a split-second
to dodge the fast moving object.
The bulk of the jeep hit its obstruction
with a clear thump and only by the grace of God, happened to stall again. The
woman inside flung open the door, her face white and stricken. Sally Po dashed
round the back of the vehicle and gasped at the sight of her Preventer partner
lying still, face- down like a broken doll. Part of his jacket was caught under
one of the back wheels, though it was impossible to see what else was
amiss.
Alarm bells screeched inside her head, forcing her into doctor
mode but somehow it just wasn’t enough. He was breathing at least, she found as
she knelt down beside him. “Wufei...can you hear me at all?” she gasped whilst
assessing him.
There was no response, he was unconscious. Must have
banged his head on falling. Blood. He’d cut his head, she could see it on her
fingers as she reached to touch his hair. She knew she shouldn’t try to move
him, he may have neck injuries. Sally was so churned inside that she just found
it impossible to function properly. She was responsible for this.
“Oh
God, oh God forgive me!” she cried. “What have I done to him?”
With
trembling fingers, she reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a small cell
phone. She tried to punch in the emergency number but the phone slipped from her
grip and fell by her knees with a thud. The heat prickled her back and her face,
making her head ache intensely.
“Wufei...” she sobbed, and her stomach
knotted sickeningly. “I...I’m so...so sorry.”
Having uttered these words,
the woman turned and vomited into the dust. She was overcome with shock, mingled
in with slight sun-stroke. Her body felt so flimsy. This was her fault. All her
fault. If she hadn’t asked him to get out...if...she’d been more in control,
over the jeep, over everything.... No, she could never forget this. Never.
Never.
