Author: Karen, The Huntress
Pairings: 1x2
Warnings: AU, angst, language.
Archive: DHML Archive
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Always appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters.
Somewhere Beyond Midnight Part 1
Heero didn't remember much. He could recall the familiar hollow thuds as energy beams and other varieties of hurled missiles struck Wing Zero. He remembered feeling the Mecha shudder around him and smelling the stench of burned circuits as the cockpit began to fill with blue-gray smoke and choking fumes.
What was not as clear in his fog-enveloped senses was Zero's controls becoming sluggish, some not cooperating at all. As the smoke and fumes clouded his vision and clogged his lungs, it was not clear Heero Yuy was losing control.
A faint recalling of a sound strike rocking his Gundam had registered somewhere in Heero's failing consciousness. A shimmering memory of fighting to stay awake momentarily blazed in his mind, then nothing after that. He did not recall Wing Zero tottering, lurching heavily to one side. He didn't feel the trembling vibrations as his mock human warrior skipped across the treetops, snagging dangling "legs" on a large evergreen, twisting and spinning downwards.
The final impact as Zero plowed, shoulder first, into a rocky hillside, was not recollected in his hazy floating between some degree of awareness and total oblivion. He did not hear the awful scraping as his Wing Gundam pushed up a hefty mound of dirt and rocks before ending its jarring trip with a sudden jerk and an abrupt stop.
He didn't feel the tightening around his body as the restraint harness wound about him like a giant constricting spider web. Heero hung limply in the harness. The right strap pressed into his throat threatening to further compromise his already shallow breathing irritated and lessened by the fumes quickly replacing what small amount of breathable air remained.
Now a silent mist swirled about Heero's battered body. Shadowy images shrouded his mind. Icy fingers crept and clawed all over leaving behind a debilitating numbness he no longer had the strength to ward off.
Heero didn't know that the only warmth touching his body was blood oozing from minor scratches and many more major cuts, one in particular, above his left eye. The worse injury emitted a steady, free-flowing stream from a deep, nasty gash on his inner forearm. The redden rush had already slid down Heero's arm's length as it hung over the cockpit seat's edge. Its crimson flow had gathered for a moment on his grimy, sweat streaked palm before dripping in continuous droplets from his fingertips forming a small bloody pool on the floor.
Sounds of a different pitch and tone from the battle noises echoed in his hearing. The crackling and sizzling of burned-out circuits and relays. The whine of labored gears still operating but their driving force going nowhere.
The sound of a voice diminished greatly by the thick, armored plated hatch covering could not be comprehended by Heero's failing senses. The shape snap of the hatch seal breaking loose, the groaning of its stubborn resistance to being opened fully, none of the sounds were heard or understood.
A second sensation of heat joined the tacky, bloody flow. This time the warmth was of a human nature as a hand closed over Heero's shoulder. Its partner gently pushed aside damp, stringy bangs from Heero's chilly forehead. Something inside Wing Master's muggy mind told him he was being touched, but his sluggish senses couldn't respond to the tactical stimulation. Nether did his cloudy hearing perceive Duo urgently calling his name.
"Heero!" Duo's voice sounded again, "Shit, what a mess." he commented at the sight of Heero's scarlet soaked Preventers Uniform jacket.
Duo wiped his own watery, stinging eyes as they reacted to the noxious fumes. "I've got to get you out of here." he said more to himself than his lethargic fellow Gundam Pilot.
Duo knew, if the smoke was affecting him that strongly no longer than he had been exposed, Heero's lungs had to be filled to overflowing. The raspy wheezing rattling in his chest told Duo, without a doubt, the Pilot's lung's willingness to cope with the strangulating vapors had about reached their limits. The harness's pressure across Heero's windpipe further contributed to his extreme difficulty in breathing.
Duo reached into his pocket and retrieved a, thankfully clean, handkerchief. Folding the square into a triangle, he started at the point folding it upwards until a wide band was formed. Ripping wider the already rent jacket material Duo exposed the short, but deep cut. He wrapped end over end covering the hemorrhaging, then tied the ends tight enough to hopefully arrest the constant discharge without entirely cutting off the blood flow to the wounded extremity.
The acute angle at which the Gundam reclined into the hillside had predisposed it to a twisting of the frame. Duo knew, before he ever entered Zero, there was going to be problems.
Problem number one: Heero's tangled enclosure in the harness. His dead weight kept the emergency release from coming undone. So before Duo could free his comrade-in-arms, the tension on the bothersome straps had to be eased.
Slowly, carefully, Duo slipped his arms about Heero's slumping posture. Slower still he firmed up the hold and, as gradually as he could, shifted Heero's torso sitting it upright against the seat's back. A low, painful moan escaped over Heero's lips at the rearranging.
"Hold on, Heero." Duo pleaded trying his best not to make the pain worse.
The sound of Duo's voice, half-whispered in fear for his friend, forced its way through Heero's mind's muddled perceptions. Something, however slight, recorded its presence.
Heero forced one word to the surface of his mind's threshold, "Duo."
The name echoed in Heero's head but he wasn't at all certain it had enough power to be heard by the Deathscythe pilot he instinctive knew was with him.
"I'm here." Duo answered Heero's weak calling. "I'm sorry this is hurting, but I have to straighten you up to get you free. Just hold on a little longer."
With the tension relieved, the release gave up its sticking, but the sudden "letting go" only allowed Heero's limp body to sink further sideways. Duo shored up his hold supporting his friend's dead weight. Likewise, the sudden lose of pressure on Heero's throat restored the airflow but at an agonizing cost. The catching intake racked through Heero's chest sending waves of pounding pain coursing over his tormented system.
Duo leaned Heero forward letting his arms slid under Heero's arms, turning him until his body cleared the seat. Then, trying to keep Heero's back as straight as possible, he backed out of Zero dragging Yuy's battered body behind. The trip down the Gundam's warped frame was the most tenuous, time consuming part of the extraction operation.
Duo had to be sure of his footing. The last thing he wanted was to slip and send both himself and his injured comrade tumbling to the ground. The falling and hard contact, he knew, would be disastrous for both of them. Each step of the way, Heero moaned softly. Each shift of his body or change in direction caused more debilitating waves to engulf his feeble frailty.
Finally, the trip completed, Duo sat on the sandy soil holding his injury-racked comrade's shoulders against his chest. Heero's head rested on Duo's shoulder just below his collarbone. Duo could have easily laid his chin on the top of Heero's head.
Now Heero had begun to shiver. The late afternoon falling temperatures, cooling the dampness on his body and the previously unchecked bleeding from his arm had begun to take its toll. Duo removed his own Preventers jacket enfolding it snuggly around Heero's trembling form.
Problem number two: Where to find shelter as the quickly gathering darkness fell about the pair of Pilots. The easiest solution would have been to put Heero in Deathscythe and hurry back to the base. The biggest drawback to transporting Heero in the Gundam was, firstly, if Heero's condition went "sour" on the way back Duo could do nothing for him as he would be otherwise engaged in piloting the massive Mecha.
Secondly, with Heero stowed loosely in the limited space of the cockpit, Duo would not be able to fight. Should they run into any OZ patrols or other unfriendly Mobile Suits owned by other factions viewing the Preventers, the Gundams, and all they represented as enemies, Heero's bouncing around during the ensuing battle would make controlling Deathscythe next to impossible. Under those circumstances, Duo could not defend himself or Heero without risking further injury or death.
So the only course of action left opened to Duo was finding shelter on the ground as quickly as he could. The excitement, stress and worry over his fellow pilot were working just as hard on Duo. Now he, too, had begun to succumb to the chilling evening air. He, too, had started to shake; his breaths coming in tight gasps as the foul irritants from Zero's cockpit was affecting his lungs as well.
Pushing tousled hair from Heero's face, Duo leaned close to his ear, "Lay still for a minute while I make sure Zero is secure and the homing signal on Deathscythe is working properly." he instructed. "If the guys are going to have any hope of finding us in the hills that signal will have to be as strong as it can be." he added easing Heero to the ground.
Duo had no doubts Heero would comply with his wishes, in his weakened condition he had no other choice. But Duo also knew how crazy thoughts, prompted by injury and shock, could cause someone to act irrationally, endangering themselves and the others around them. He had seen it too many times to dismiss Heero doing or not doing anything. But he had to take the chance of leaving Heero for a few minutes, the homing signal was their only means of rescue. Once Deathscythe was located, Duo's fellow pilots could narrow their search pattern by following the secondary band signal emitted by Duo's personal communicator. But first they had to find the Gundam.
Duo shut Zero up and secured the hatch cover locking mechanism, then turn at attention to his Dark Angel Gundam. He checked the backup battery, twelve hours of reserve power. Probably only ten if the signal was set a maximum range. Ten hours, then it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
And to make matters worse, if they could get any worse, the battle damage to Zero had caused it to go off course sending it down at least thirty miles from its assigned extraction point. Combine the site remoteness, the hilly terrain and the dampening affect the night hours could have on the signal's strength and their chances of being located in a reasonable time span was just on the far side of impossible.
All the pilots, at one time or another, had been in more dire straights and survived. In fact this mission had been Trowa's first since he had been pulled from a heavily damaged Heavyarms not two months prior. And Duo didn't even want to think of Heero's suicidal lapse of judgment the time he self-destructed Wing.
"No, this wasn't so bad." Duo commented to himself as he closed up and secured his own messenger of destruction. Tucking his pistol into his belt, Duo started back.
Heero had rolled over on his side with his back to Duo. But long before Duo was close enough to see him clearly, he knew Heero's breathing had become more labored and the chills racking his slender frame had taken a stronger, more fearsome, hold.
"Come on we have to go." Duo said easing up the fallen Zero Master.
Heero tried to focus blurry eyes on his partner but was failing miserably in the effort, "Go where?" he whispered another stout shiver hitting him hard.
Bracing on knee on the ground, Duo pulled Heero into a sitting position, gave his rag doll like limpness a moment to adjust, then pulled up once more bringing Heero's up on wobbly legs.
"I'm not sure," Duo answered truthfully, "but we will find something before night falls." he promised struggling under Heero's almost dead weight.
"What time is it? came the strange question from Heero.
Duo paused trying to figure why the time would be important now, but glanced at his watch in compliance with his friend's request.
"Almost six. Why, do you have somewhere you need to be right now?" Duo teased trying to lighten the mood if only for a moment.
Heero forced a slight smile but offer no reply.
Duo leaned over placing his shoulder under Heero's chest sliding under and lifting his body over his own shoulder. "I sorry but this is going to hurt." he warned letting Heero's chest slid the rest of the way over.
He felt Heero draw in a quick breath, but his friend said nothing. Heero knew Duo was doing the best he could, besides protesting would not have changed anything except to use up what small measure of strength he had left.
As the skyline streaked over with stripes of pink and purple and gray, Duo took a deep breath, mustered all the fortitude he could and headed off across the clearing with Heero in tow. There would be somewhere for them, some shelter to protect him and his fallen comrade. Duo would not give up, not now.
TBC...
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