Last revised: 01/19/00 ====================================================================== "LEARNING TO FLY" A Gundam Wing "Blanket Fic" story by Madamhydra ====================================================================== Part 1 (of 2) ====================================================================== Short Disclaimer: (Full Disclaimers at the end) Gundam Wing is copyright of its respective creators and all distributors of their work and used without permission. ====================================================================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A soul in tension that's learning to fly Condition grounded but determined to try Can't keep my eyes from the-circling-skies Tongue-tied & twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I -- "LEARNING TO FLY" -- Pink Floyd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Consciousness returned slowly. He could sense heat seeping out of his sore body, relentlessly leeched away by the icy water that lapped at his left side. Blinking, he sat up and attempted to orient himself. The truck lay on its side in the shallow ravine, half buried by the snow. The same avalanche that had saved them by sweeping away most of their pursuers had also nearly killed them. A low moan abruptly made him realize why he was only partially chilled -- he had been lying on top of Duo Maxwell, who had been driving the truck during their getaway and now lay almost completely submerged in the freezing cold creek water in the cabin. After a quick check for broken bones, he quickly hauled the shivering Deathscythe pilot out of the water. He then quickly peeked in the back of the nearly crushed truck and managed to salvage a half-filled backpack, all without dropping his companion back into the water. A glance through the shattered side window indicated that there was only a few hours of daylight left, but the smell of smoke and the reek of spilt fuel told him that it was too dangerous to linger in the truck any longer, to say nothing of the possibility of discovery. He kicked out the windshield, shouldered the backpack, and staggered out of the truck cabin, dragging Duo beside him. Fortunately, the Deathscythe pilot was semi-conscious and managed to stumble along with his help, otherwise, the climb out of the rocky stream bed would have been nearly impossible. A long look at the cloudy sky brought a frown to his face. More snow was coming. They had to find shelter and soon. Even now, he could feel the wind pick up and bite through their stolen uniforms. "Y-Y-You g-g-g-go on a-ahead...," the braided pilot choked out between chattering teeth. He didn't bother to reply, but wrapped an arm around Duo's waist and continued to make his way into the woods. If he remembered correctly, shelter was only a mile or so. The only question is whether the two of them would make it before darkness fell and the incoming blizzard obliterated all landmarks. ------------------------------------------------- Over an hour later, with the fall of the first massive snowflakes, he kicked open the door to a snug little cabin. Unfortunately, the cabin was also totally barren of any supplies. With a slight frown, he let the unconscious and nearly blue Duo slide to the floor as he turned to secure the door. Checking out the backpack, he found a single blanket, a few food bars, and a lamp with a decent supply of fuel pellets. The solid fuel pellets were designed to burn brightly, but unfortunately produced little heat. He lit the lamp and carried it over to Duo's side. With cool efficiency, he stripped off Duo's soaked and nearly frozen stiff clothes, leaving nothing except his underwear. He paused a moment, then moving much more slowly, he removed his own snow dampened uniform. Laying the wet clothes out to dry the best they could, he then picked up the blanket. But as he stood over the now naked Duo, he hesitated. He knew what he had to do -- Duo was in serious danger from hypothermia and if he didn't get the other pilot warm quickly, Duo could die. Finally, his lips thinned, then with a stoic expression, he knelt over Duo and began to briskly massage the braided teenager's limbs with the blanket. Unfortunately, he could tell that rubdown wasn't going to be enough. Duo's core temperature had dropped too low for simple massage to be sufficient. There was only one thing left to do and that was to use his own body heat to warm up Duo. He rolled the braided pilot onto one side of the blanket, then with a very deep breath, he lay down beside Duo. Pulling the blanket over both of them, he edged as closely as he could manage without actually touching the other teenager. His heart fluttered in his chest like a panic-stricken bird at the thought of being nearly naked and lying so close to an equally unclothed Duo. Without warning, Duo abruptly rolled over onto his side to face him. With their noses nearly bumping, the braided teenager scowled and in a slurred voice mumbled, "If you're... trying... to warm me up... you're... doing... an absolutely... lousy job... of heat transfer... Trowa." (to be continued) ------------------------------------------------- Keeper of Duo's Dark Side ~~~ Duo no Seishi Co-Keeper of Duo's Scythe & Bat Wings Co-Keeper of Little Grim Reaper Duo Keeper of Saitoh's Sex Life ~~~ Saitoh no Koibito ------------------------------------------------- madamhydra@aol.com /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E http://www.geocities.com/madamhydra/ ------------------------------------------------- ===================================================================== The Full Disclaimer All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author. =====================================================================