Woke Up One Morning... Part 48
It took me over an hour to find the nearest remains of the suit I had been using thanks to my bad right leg and the snow that had made the ground a little treacherous to walk on. At least it's slowed down a bit now that there is about three inches all around, effectively smothering whatever little fires there were throughout the thick forest.
The bad news of that is that it's quickly becoming too cold for it to keep snowing as nightfall is quickly approaching.
Huddled by the crushed remains of what used to be the cockpit of the shambled Taurus, I work my frozen hands to pull wires that are still live to Frankenstein what is left of the small transmitter that was in the emergency pack. Cut and bruised just about everywhere with a leg that I had to set myself, I can't get myself to move much further if this doesn't work.
If it does, it will be easy for anyone on Peacemillion to trace me since I am using my suit to make the transmitter work.
Pulling the blanket that is wrapped around me tighter, I hiss in the effort of hooking some of the exposed cords together. Overhead, the sounds of the fight still haven't stopped. That actually works to my favor. If the others are still close when I get this thing working, I may get out of here before darkness settles.
Simply out of necessity to keep the bottled water from freezing, I've made a small fire to sit them by. The flames are large enough to help me see what I'm doing and small enough to not catch the sight of anyone around that I don't want to know I'm here.
My walk here made me pretty confident that there is no one lingering about, but I'm not about to take any chances. The pistol that was also in the bag is armed and laying by my side for an added measure of comfort.
Right now, I am most worried about getting a message out to the others that I'm still alive and need to be evacuated. Spending the night here really would not be a very good thing for me.
Though the blanket and fire are helping me, they won't be able to keep the cold completely away when it gets well below zero as I am sure that it will. My injuries certainly aren't helping the situation either, since I've lost blood... not enough for me to bleed out, but enough to make staying warm difficult.
"You're one who is able to adapt quickly to any situation," Zechs' words on our way to battle run through my mind. And I am doing my best to see that I can adapt to this one now. The biggest thing is for me to stay calm and focused...
...no matter how worried I may be in the back of my mind.
* * * * * *
I breathe out a deep sigh of relief that comes out in a large vapor puff when I hear a crackle through the speaker of the transmitter. Oh, thank God. I actually managed to get the thing working.
And not a moment too soon as the fight above sounds like it's winding down.
Hands shaking, I hold in the 'send' button and hold the radio to my mouth. "Agent Scythe to Peacemillion," I speak up, keeping my voice clear and loud in case the signal may be weak. "I repeat, this is Agent Scythe to Peacemillion. I am alive and in need of medical evacuation immediately. Does anyone out there copy?"
Releasing the 'send' pad, I hold my breath in anticipation. But only that crackling is my answer. And it's very broken and weak, breaking in and out constantly.
Goddamn it!
Just going to have to keep trying and hope that the signal gets through at some point. Taking a deep breath, I try again, "This is Agent Scythe to the Peacemillion. If anyone out there can hear me, I need you to trace this signal to my location."
I raise my head to stare at the thick cover of trees above me. Swallowing roughly, I shake my head and relay through the radio, "I have no idea what my coordinates are. My suit is to damaged to be flown and I am injured."
My fingers slip from the button and I wait anxiously once again with no response. Frowning deeply, I fight the lump in my throat and hold the transmitter to my mouth again. "Heero," I call. "Heero, if you can hear me, I need help. Please copy."
Every inch of my body begins to shiver violently as a cold snap of a breeze blows in while I sit and listen to the broken crackling of the signal.
God, if they can't hear me in time... what if they're not even aware that there is a signal to expect from me after my last call into the ship?
There is no way I would make it through to the next day if I'm still stuck out here.
Shaking my head again, I make another attempt to get through. Have to stay calm and focused at all costs. Someone will eventually hear me and Heero will be out here to find me himself if he has to.
Heero will find me. I know he will.
* * * * * *
So goddamned tired... so cold.
Darkness has fallen and the temperatures are sinking with every passing minute. The shaking of my body has become more constant as I've had to sit here helplessly for hours now. Out of desperation, I've had to throw caution to the wind and put more branches onto the fire for more heat and light to keep me awake.
Tempting as it is, sleeping would be... very bad for me. Whatever it takes, I can't allow myself to drift off because I'm not so sure I would wake up.
All is perfectly still and quiet over the trees. No doubt the fight has been won and the other Preventers have all returned to the Peacemillion. Back in their warm quarters, warm clothes and warm beds... maybe next to a warm body if they're lucky.
Exactly how the fuck I wish I was right now.
Hungry and thirsty as I am, I can't stomach anything either. And my hands are not working as well as they should even with the gloves of my space suit still on, or at least what's left of them that hadn't been sliced away. The cut skin that I can see is a real pretty mix of purples, blues and reds.
My right hand is a little too preoccupied gripping onto the transmitter, both because that's my only lifeline and the fact that my fingers are pretty much locked in place around it. Sniffling, I wince at just how cold the air I'm breathing is and the shaking grows again.
Slowly raising the radio back up, I stutter with chattering teeth, "I-it's D-Duo... can... a-anyone hear m-me? Anyone?" Minutes tick by and as always, there is no answer. Can't really say that I'm shocked, but it seemed worth a shot.
Leaning the upper-half of my body back against the torso of my Taurus, I sigh deeply, watching the vapor I make and make of game of picking out the shapes it makes.
...Just like I would do for clouds... white clouds on a nearly clear, sunny day...
That never ending crackle is the only sound around me besides the occasional pop and hiss from the fire beside me. A distant wolf's howl echoes through the wood and I smile at it. Maybe with any luck, I'll be able to see one up close before the end.
Or, if I'm lucky, they'll be here in time to end this misery.
Wait. What the hell am I thinking?
I snap shake myself, trying to collect myself. My thoughts are drifting and confusing me. And I am only noticing now how low my eyelids have drifted.
Have to stay alert. Have to stay calm and focused. Calm and focused.
Calm and focused.
* * * * * *
"Wake up," a familiar voice calls through the darkness.
I gasp sharply and wake with a start. When the hell had I fallen asleep? My God, if I had been out for long...
Sitting upright, I whimper at the sharp pain that it causes my frozen, beat up body. That sensation is quickly replaced by shock as I blink my wide eyes at the image across from the fire that is trying to stay alive against the thick blackness surrounding the area.
His legs crossed as he sits in the snow wearing his green tank top, black spandex shorts and yellow sneakers from the days of the wars is none other than Heero. To go along with his attire, his frame is smaller and his face younger as they had been when I first met him.
The intensity in those cobalt eyes of his, the only thing about him that never changed over the years, is focused on me as he watches with that unreadable expression that drove me crazy to no end before I helped crack that shell of his.
"You can't fall asleep before help comes," 'Ro warns, his tone cold... much like everything else around here. "You may not wake up if you do."
Lost in the fog of this vision, I know I have officially lost my mind.
But, I remember this scene. This had been a moment from long, long ago when I had been badly injured on a mission we had worked together towards the end of the war. Heero had dragged me out of a burning building after I'd lost a ton of blood and had gotten me to a secure location where we sat until our friends found us.
And just like that night as we sat by that fire, I lay back down and frown deeply, "Too tired... I can't-"
Cutting me off, Heero snaps, "You can. You have to. I won't let you give up like this. It's not like you to quit."
I snicker bitterly, "This advice coming from the guy who nearly blew himself to kingdom come." That flash of pain that ripped through me that night hits just as hard this time when it returns, the first sign of the person behind the 'Perfect Soldier' that I ever saw.
With a deep frown on his own face, Heero looks away and I reach out crying, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean that to hurt you." Slowly, his head turns back to meet my gaze, the coolness back in his eyes and expression.
Snorting, I shake my head and tell him, "I'm completely spent, man. You should just go on without me." And I mean that for my real Heero, just as I meant it to this one back then when I said the same words.
"That's not going to happen," he replies matter-of-factly. Biting his lip, he almost hesitates nervously before commenting so quietly I have to strain to head, "You... you wouldn't do that to me. So, I am not going anywhere without you."
Heero shifts a bit closer to the fire, closer to me. Leaning forward, he states, "You're a fighter, Duo. Fight now, with that same will to live you've always had... that drive to survive that I've never seen before."
Blinking, I mutter, "I had no idea you cared about me enough to push me on like this."
And he actually chuckles. The sound warms me, just as it did then when it was one of the few times I heard it. Shaking his head, he smirks, "Baka."
Then, 'Ro lowers his head as a sudden thought seems to cross his mind. "Neither did I," he admits in little more than a whisper. Peeing up with his eyes to lock them with mine, he shrugs, "Maybe I'm realizing there are more important things than missions."
Once again, I blink in surprise at being taken completely back by that sentiment just as I had been when he first said that to me.
Leaning forward, Heero commands, "Fight, Duo." And he begins to fade away.
I gasp and reach out for him again, shouting desperately, "Wait!" But he is gone along with the flames until they are nothing more than smoldering embers.
No, no! Need heat! Need light! Have to stay awake!
As numb and sore as my fingers are, I force them to open and close around my supply of flint and some fresh sticks waiting to be used. In moments, I have another fire going and I sigh to myself. Pulling the blanket close again, it sinks in that I am no longer shaking despite the freezing cold around.
Hypothermia is officially taking hold. I can't risk falling asleep again, no matter how hard it is to stay alert.
It takes a couple of tries to get my fingers back around the transmitter, but I finally pull it off and bring it back to my mouth. "Duo Maxwell-Yuy to Peacemillion," I announce, noting how slowly the words are coming from me. "Help... need... Track signal. Mayday. Mayday"
Nothing else matters- not the numbness or the pain, not the fear or the doubt. It all has to be pushed away so that I can keep trying to have someone... anyone hear me.
Heero has to know that I'm still fighting. With every damned ounce of my being.
* * * * * *
"Oh, God. Duo!" I hear that sweet voice cry out through the pitch again. But, that shout from 'Ro was not part of that memory. What's going on now?
I fell asleep again. And my eyelids feel like they're being held down by weights when I struggle to open them.
Something presses against the sides of my face as he breathes, "Baby? Can you hear me?" It almost sounds like he's been crying, fighting his emotions even at this moment.
I-is this real now? Did he find me like I knew he would?
"Please don't leave me, Duo," Heero whimpers as I feel myself being shaken. "I... I love you. Please wake up!"
He... he never said those words before. And it's enough to make me force my eyes open into thin slits that take in the beautiful vision of my husband's face amidst a heavy snowfall that has begun in the background. A sharp gasp escapes him when his shimmering eyes find mine peering up at him.
From behind him, I can hear Quatre, Trowa and Wufei sigh and mutter amongst themselves at seeing that I'm still amongst the living, but I can't exactly make out what they're saying. I'm too centered on Heero to be bothered by anything else.
A couple of tears rolling down his face, he moans in relief, "Oh, thank God." Closing the distance between us, he presses his warm lips against mine, making them sting enough that I whimper at the agony of it.
Quickly pulling back, my partner flashes a worried, apologetic look. Good lord, I could cry at being able to see those open feelings in his expression again after being reminded of how he once had been.
"Hang on, Duo," he urges. "We're getting you out of here." Carefully, after he wraps the blanket tighter around me, he lifts me into his arms without effort and leads me away from the Taurus suit along with the others that are now hovering before me at a bit of a distance in their own space suits.
Trowa smirks and shakes his head, "So, The God of Death lives."
"Everything's going to be okay now, Duo," Quatre reassures with small tears in his eyes.
With a tiny smile, 'Fei nods, "Not that we had any doubt that it would be."
I can do little more than give them all a hard-fought grin and nod in appreciation. After some effort, I manage to open my mouth and look up to my husband to whisper to him when he peers down to catch my gaze, "L-love you."
Sadly, that is as far as I can get myself to manage.
Biting his lip, I can see that Heero is not about to trust his voice at this moment. Instead, he answers by bending his head down to press a kiss against my forehead.
It's not long before we reach a clearing that had been made by a brief fire from another suit that had crashed into the wood. I can make out the early brightening of morning behind the thick clouds blanketing the skies.
Somehow, I'd survived the night. And I know I have that vision to thank for it as it gave me the motivation I needed to fight.
Danielle stands by the shuttle resting in the clearing and gasps when she spots us nearing. Running up through the thick flakes, she smiles widely, "Well, you are a sight for sore eyes, Yuy-Maxwell." She looks up at my partner and friends to point with a thumb over her shoulder, "He's the only one we have that made it. Let's get the hell out of here."
Nodding firmly, Heero secures his arms around me and picks up the pace to catch up with the little pilot.
I'm taken to the back of the shuttle where a medical bed is waiting behind the passenger seats when Sally appears with both a relieved and concerned look when she takes me in. Getting out her medical pack to pull out a stethoscope, she gives my partner orders that I can't understand right now.
He slowly eases me onto the mattress and setting the back of my head on the pillows, I'm strapped in and a pile of blankets is draped over me. All I can do is stare up at Heero the whole time, afraid that he'll disappear the way he did earlier.
Satisfied that I'm secured, 'Ro buckles himself into the only chair facing me near my head. Reaching for my hand, I know he's squeezing it, but I don't feel the pressure. It becomes all to clear then that I'm really not out of the woods just yet.
"Keep fighting, Duo," he asks me quietly as he run his free hand through my bangs. "We'll be back on Peacemillion soon."
At the sound of the engines boosting, I just smile up at him, too tired and weak to talk as Sally presses her scope against my chest to listen to my pulse.
Then my eyes drift closed again.
TBC...
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