20-Feb-2002
Title: Running With the Devil/part five
Author: Ebonydove
Warnings: yaoi, violence, language, and mention of abuse.
Author's note: Quatre POV. Takes place during the series but no spoilers. For
you Quatre fans out there, this may leave a bad taste in your mouth, but I don't
regret it. Feedback appreciated, but apologies not guaranteed.
Pairings: 2+4
It was as dark as pitch as we trudged our way through the woods and snow. I couldn't feel my hand at all, and I had curled my fingers on the hand that wasn't broken into the sleeve of the shirt, but I had lost feeling in them as well. My feet were soaked and tingling and my hair was plastered to my head from the snow that had been falling ever since we had left the town.
Duo wasn't faring any better. He was deathly pale and still bleeding a little. He had stumbled twice, the second time falling to his knees in the snow. Even with the jacket, he was as wet as I was and having a hard time breathing. I wrapped my good arm around his waist and we huddled together as we walked trying to keep as much body warmth between us as we could. Our situation however, was getting desperate. I was starting to think I had gotten the directions wrong from Heero because we should have already found the cabin, when I heard Duo start to sing next to me.
Once upon a time, and long ago,
I heard someone singing soft and low,
Now when day is done and night is near,
I recall the song I used to hear.My child, my very own,
Don't be afraid, you're not alone,
Sleep until the dawn,
For all is well.Long ago this song was sung to me,
Now it's just a distant melody,
Somewhere from the past,
I used to know,
Once upon a time and long ago.[1]
"Duo?" He didn't answer me as we kept walking and I felt that creeping fear start again from my gut.
"It's okay Solo, we're almost home."
Fuck. He was going into shock and was definitely in danger of succumbing to exposure. We needed to find that cabin soon. I stopped us from our shuffling and turned him to look at me. It was getting hard to see anything between the falling snow and the blackness all around us. If there hadn't been a full moon we wouldn't have had any light at all. His eyes were glassed over and his lips were cracked and purple. "Duo I want you to sit here and wait for me, okay? I'm going to look for our cabin. Duo?"
He looked up at me and gave me a confused stare. In a voice that was no louder than a whisper he started to speak as if he was telling a secret. "Devil's coming Solo. I can hear him coming. He's gaining on us."
Shit. I sat him down and tucked his hands under his armpits and brought the collar up around his ears as much as I could. I ran my hand up and down his arm one at a time to get some friction to heat him. Duo was rambling and hallucinating. He was dying here in the snow.
I had started to cry again and found myself whispering prayers to Allah for his mercy. Then I took off running east. I had to find the damn cabin. I ran as fast as I could through the tangles of underbrush and snow and my tears were beginning to sting as they rolled down my windburned face. I tripped and fell landing on my hand and screamed out in pain and frustration. Then I sobbed a bit before getting angry enough to get back up. I looked to my left and saw it. It wasn't even fifteen feet from me, standing in a glen, covered in snowy white. It blended almost completely into its surroundings. I nearly shouted for joy as I raced back to where I had left Duo sitting in the snow.
He was kneeling perfectly still in the snow under some trees, looking a lot like a white dusted woodfairie. His teeth were chattering, but other than that I could detect no movement, not even breathing as I ran as hard as my legs would go. They burned with the effort and my feet felt more like stumps than how they should normally be. When I finally got to him he didn't even blink as I dropped to the ground and wrapped my arms around him. His skin was as cold as ice. He still had that glazed look about him. His hair was frozen and his lashes had snow on them. His face was as white as milk, only his cheeks were blazing pink from where the wind had chapped them and the dried crimson on his face and lips from the blood he had lost. "Come on Duo, get up! I found it!"
Duo pulled away from my tight embrace and glared hard up at me. "C-c-can't r-r-run. D-d-devil's coming!" He snapped at me his face frowning and his teeth chattering.
My mind was racing. I didn't have the strength to carry him and with my broken hand I couldn't even pull him up out of the snow. He was beginning to rock back and forth slightly and it was then that I realized he had completely stopped shivering. "Duo get up! Get up now!" He didn't respond to my yelling and started to hum the song again. "Duo if you don't get up and come with me right now, I won't be your friend anymore!" I screamed. He stopped suddenly and looked at me with absolute terror in his eyes. Then he started to cry.
I had never, ever seen or heard Duo Maxwell cry. Ever.
It was a soft keening sound like a small child would make and it tore through my whole frozen body. The knot in my stomach uncoiled and I dropped to my hands and knees, ignoring the agonizing pain and puked next to him. I threw up mostly bile and dry heaved until my throat was raw. Then I wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt and looked up to him again.
He had stopped that sound but tears were tracking down his cheeks leaving red burning lines down his face as he watched me from where he sat. "Don't be m-mad S-s-solo. I'll c-c-come w-with you. P-p-please don't b-be mad." He whispered.
Anger boiled up from somewhere deep within me and I screamed. Shinigami can't have him. I would fight the devil and whatever else that tried to take him from me. He was my friend, my comrade. I loved him. With strength that came from far inside, I grabbed his hand in mine and pulled him to his feet as I rose. Then I scrambled to get my footing in the snow and took off running as fast as I could dragging him behind me.
When we got to the cabin and I practically tore the door off its hinges to get us inside. It was as cold inside as out in the woods and I frantically searched for something to put into the wood stove in the corner. There was a stack of wood and a small container of oil next to the wood stove, and with some matches I could start a fire. I still had Duo's frozen hand clutched in mine as I opened the cabinets and drawers looking for them. After what seemed like forever, I found them.
I sat Duo down on the mat in front of the woodstove and grabbed a wool blanket from the dusty couch and wrapped it around him tightly. He was humming again as he rocked himself with his eyes shut. I could barely get my numb fingers to move as I shoved the wood into the mouth of the woodstove and almost dumped the oil in my lap when I tried to tip the container to soak the wood inside. I managed to get enough of the foul smelling stuff into the stove as well as get the match lit, and watched with a sense of awe as the flames began to slowly lick up the wood from the bottom of the stove.
I ran over to the door and closed it tightly, locking it securely and began to tear the place apart for the transmitter I knew Heero would have stashed somewhere in the cabin. I was slamming and banging things and I found myself swearing as I tore things out of the cub boards and drawers.
"Q-Quatre?"
I heard Duo's voice and froze. Thank Allah. "Duo? Are you okay?" I rushed over to him and took his chin in my hand lifting his face so I could see his eyes. They were still dull but nowhere near to what I had seen in the woods.
"Mmm c-cold."
"I know Duo, you'll be warm soon, okay? I have to find the transmitter. Do you know where Heero would put it?"
"H-heero's h-here?" He looked up at me hopefully.
"No, Heero's not here." I could feel the panic washing over me in waves. Warmth I could now provide, but once Oz found the wreck of the car they'd find this place. It was like time was ticking loud enough that I could hear it in my skull. Duo was in no condition to do anything. And if I could admit it to myself neither was I. What scared me even worse was that if found, I was our last defense against Oz, and I knew I'd be no match for them, broken hand aside. "Duo, where's the bug?"
"F-f-floor."
I looked at the floorboards and guessed what he was saying. I searched them until I came across one near the couch that had a nail through the center of it. I stuck my finger in the knot and pulled up hard popping the board out and revealing a hidden stash of stuff underneath. Laughing with joy I pulled out the hotplate, five cans of soup, five spoons wrapped in plastic, some bottled water, frozen, and the transmitter, thank Allah!
I connected the battery and fiddled with the dial to get Heero's frequency and hit the transmit button. Then I collapsed to the floor and panted for air. With all the adrenaline I hadn't been cold to the core, but now I was feeling it creep into my bones from the floor. I gathered my wits and crawled over to Duo and pulled the blanket off him. He was shivering again and that alone made me smile. I pulled him to his feet and leaned him against the wall.
I threw four more logs in the woodstove and dragged the couch to sit right in front of it. Then I led Duo to the couch and sat him down. It was hard to peel the wet clothes off him with only one hand, but I eventually got them off. I was laughing with each weapon I found. He was an army in himself. I wrapped a dishtowel around his head to soak up some of the wetness from his hair and set the bottled water in front of us to melt. When I finally had him stripped down to his briefs I let him lay on the couch and covered him again with the blanket. He was asleep before I turned back around. I had wanted to tend to his head wound but he was already out cold.
I hoped it wasn't a concussion because suddenly I felt everything hit me. I was too exhausted to keep myself awake for much longer, let alone him. The wind, the snow, the run and the adrenaline had knocked me on my ass. I peeled off the pink shirt and tugged off my pants, socks and shoes. I winced at my feet that were blue and my toes were tipped with white. Sweet Allah, I hoped I didn't have to lose any of them. Duo's feet were bright pink when I had removed his shoes and socks, and I envied the boots he had worn.
My hand was a mess. I tore the shirt into strips and delicately wrapped my hand and fingers with the wet material using my free hand and teeth. Then I laid out all our other clothing close to the stove to dry. There was nothing more I could do about my hand and I said another prayer hoping that I would someday be able to play the violin again. I yawned and crept under the blanket with Duo on the couch, listening to his wheezing breaths. I wrapped my arms around him ignoring the obvious position we were in and shut my eyes. The last thing I thought before letting the darkness take me was that I wished for Duo to be okay and for Heero to get here soon.
End Part 5
Note:
[1] - the song is Distant Melody from the play version of Peter
Pan.
(:./ebony/running5)
