17-Apr-2002
Title: When The Bough Breaks
Author: Ebonydove
Warnings: none
Pairings: 1+2/2+1
Author's notes: Wufei finds himself in a sticky situation after he is stranded
in the woods along with two of his fellow pilots. Happens some time during the
time the pilots were battling on earth, but doesn't follow the series.
Disclaimers: No money being made, just playin' wit' 'em.
Heero glanced at the gages and saw they were losing both speed and altitude quickly. The last round of gunfire had hit the side of the helicopter he had acquired, and they were losing oil at an unhealthy rate as well. They were going to have to ditch it and hope to hell that Oz was far enough off their tails to buy them some time to meet up with Quatre and Trowa. He turned and took a quick look over his shoulder at how Wufei and Duo were faring.
Wufei looked pale and a bit singed, but was feeling solid enough to berate Duo for his impromptu grenade assault, even though it probably did save his hide. Duo was dabbing the worst of the burns on Wufei's back with a damp cloth and trying to keep his braid far enough out of Wufei's reach, thus keeping it from being the victim of the Shenlong's ire at the whole situation. All and all they were doing all right for the moment.
"Duo! Get yourselves ready, we're going to have to bail." Heero hollered back, and seeing the thumbs up sign from Duo, continued to try to find a soft place to land the limping machine.
"Are you sure you know what your doing, Yuy?" Wufei yelled back over Duo's head.
The chopper plunged down and then rose back up a bit in the shaky decent toward the ground. Duo laughed at the snort of contempt that was their only reply from the cockpit, and felt the chopper pitch hard to the left. He chuckled as he secured what little gear they had been able to grab from their hasty exit of the compound they'd breached.
Heero searched the horizon line to pinpoint just how far off course they had strayed when the engine finally gave out and sputtered to a dramatic halt. The blades spun for a few more turns making a loud whoosing sound as the sliced through the air, before the chopper roughly descended nose first towards a thick patch of trees. "Hold on."
"Hold on he says, like we have a choice." Duo shook his head and laughed, amazed at how Heero could remain so calm when they were crashing nose first into the side of a mountain, and still keep his voice at the same level of pitch and tone. The guy was truly astounding.
The deafening sound of metal bouncing off of dirt and rock was all Duo could hear as they were tossed from side to side in the small space inside of the craft. He saw stars for a moment as his head connected with a piece of flying debris and tumbled backward on top of Wufei. Then he felt a moment of weightlessness as the whole chopper turned upside down and he crashed to the ceiling that had now become their floor. Wufei landed on top of his back causing all the air in his lungs to rush out in a jolt and then everything got still.
Wufei could hear Duo gulping and gasping as he was trying to get air back into his lungs from underneath him. He scrambled off the Deathscythe pilot and rolled onto his side holding his arm and curing softly in Mandarin. Wufei had smashed his elbow into the side of the metal hull when the chopper had rolled and found that he couldn't bend it all. The burns on his back were screaming and had started to bleed again being that they had been rubbed raw by him being tossed around inside. "Maxwell are you alright?"
Duo looked up to Wufei were he lay sprawled on the creaking and rocking floor of the chopper. Not yet able to speak he just nodded his head a few times and rolled onto his back. He had a good-sized gash on his head that was bleeding down the side of his face and into his left ear but looked alright.
"I'm going to check on Heero." Wufei crawled cautiously over Duo's sprawled legs and inched his way to the forward part of the chopper. As he got close enough to see around the bend of the doorway to the front compartment he saw a huge gaping hole where the windshield used to be. Heero was slumped forward in the pilot's seat, strapped securely, but hanging upside down with his arms dangling limply. A slow trickle of blood wormed its way from his right shoulder down a path on his arm and was steadily dripping to the floor from his fingertips.
Duo rose up on his hands and knees and crawled his way to where Wufei was. Glancing out the side door, he saw just what they had landed in. A very big, very old, oak tree, that was groaning and cracking from the strain and weight of the chopper. The blades had been folded down and were practically wrapped around the massive trunk, but each movement Duo made he could feel the vibrations shimmy the metal wreck underneath him. "Wufei... we gotta get... down outta here. A damn bird could... shit on us and let this thing loose." Duo hissed between huffs of breath.
"Heero's out. We have to remove him from the harness without letting him fall and sustain further injury." Wufei grunted.
Duo saw how stiffly Wufei was moving and how gingerly he was holding his arm to his chest as he crept closer to Heero's chair. "Wu-man is it broken?" He panted as he pointed to the arm.
"No. I just hit my elbow and it's gone numb." Wufei shot back over his shoulder as he slid underneath Heero's head. He snapped his eyes back to Duo when he heard the small chuckle from the Deathscythe pilot. "What?"
"Just thinking how ironic it is... that you of all people numbed your funnybone." Finally catching his breath, Duo crept closer and pulled himself up so he could reach the strap to Heero's belt. Grabbing onto the copilot's seat he hoisted himself up and situated himself so he could reach Heero from his perch.
Wufei positioned himself underneath so he could catch Heero as he rolled out of the seat once Duo cut him free. "And why is that humorous?"
"Because someone has to have a funnybone in order for it to go numb. And you most certainly do not have a funny bone in your body." Duo winked and chuckled more as he reached around to grab a fistful of Heero's shirt with each hand. Wufei just gave a snort of contempt. "When I cut the belt, his legs are going to fall down. Be careful he doesn't kick you in the head with those big clodhoppers of his." Duo pulled his knife out of his pant pocket and with the razor sharp edge, sliced through the strap with one hand while the other wrapped around the front of Heero's chest to keep him from falling ass over end on top of Wufei. "Okay here he comes."
Heero's legs somersaulted forward causing the chopper to rock back and forth with the sudden shift in movement. Duo grabbed hold of Heero's tanktops' shoulders and slowly lowered him down into Wufei's awaiting arms. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath as the chopper groaned and shook.
Heero had a huge gash that ran across his forehead that was bleeding badly where he had obviously hit it on the control panel. His breathing was slow and steady though, causing Wufei to sign in relief. "I think he's going to be all right. Just a nasty gash and probably a concussion from the impact."
"That makes the two of us, man." Duo grumbled as he rubbed the side of his head and wiped the blood that covered his fingers onto his pants. "Let's get the hell outta this death trap while luck is on our side." Duo slowly maneuvered himself down from his perch and crawled over to help Wufei. He slid his arms under Heero's armpits and pulled him forward while Wufei gathered his legs and followed.
Each movement was an excercise in patience as they tried not to jolt the chopper from it's precarious spot. They finally managed to get to the side door and with a groan, opened it. Duo popped his head out and looked down and around. They were a good forty feet up in the tree and he noticed with a bit of anxiety that the only thing keeping them from hurtling to the ground was one very long, and very cracked limb. Swearing to never take trees for granted again, he turned back to Wufei. "How the hell are we gunna get down?"
Wufei looked around the metal hull. Most of their gear had been ejected from the chopper when they hit the tree. They didn't have any parachutes and it was too far for them to climb down, especially with being injured, and with Heero unconscious. Looking up to the floor, he spotted the neatly folded camoflouge net that was stowed under the seats. "We can use that." He crept over and tugged at it until it fell in a heap at his knees.
"This isn't gonna be easy." Duo shook his head, immediately regretting it as his head pounded with the movement.
"Would you rather we stay here?" Wufei growled.
The chopper, as if hearing the argument, lurched to the right as the limb began to creak and moan. "Okay, point." Duo grabbed one end of the netting and sliced a few strips of it. Then he tied it securely to the closest sturdy branch. With Wufei's help, he pushed the rest of it out of the chopper and watched as it tumbled open. "You're a good guy to have around, Wu." Heero groaned slightly making both boys turn to him. Duo scrambled over and helped him to sit up slightly. "Heero-man. You okay?"
Heero's dark hair was plastered to the side of his face and forehead where it had stuck to the rapidly drying blood and when he tried to open his eyes, he had to quickly flutter them shut again. "Hnn... head hurts."
"I know man. You saved our asses, but you got knocked out in the process." Duo glanced to Wufei and gave him a worried frown. "You ready?"
"Maxwell, of all of us, you are the most fit. You go first and I will help Heero out."
"No way man. I have two working arms and elbows, you climb out onto that other limb then I will pass him to you." Wufei shook his head and was about to protest when the helicopter began to shiver and groan again. "No time to argue, man. Do it!" He growled as he pulled Heero closer to the doorway.
Wufei huffed his protest and swung carefully out to the tree with his good arm. Once he settled himself he reached out for Heero. Duo turned Heero so that his back was facing Wufei, that way Wufei could get a good grip on the wing pilot's arm. Then he carefully lifted Heero with one arm under his shoulders and the other under his knees and pushed out towards Wufei. Wufei grabbed Heero's arm and pulled him closer keeping his legs wrapped tightly around the branch. Once Duo saw Wufei gather Heero up onto the limb, he swung Heero's legs over the side of the chopper.
Wufei held on and with a grunt hauled Heero onto the branch with him. He had his arm wrapped around Heero's chest and was desperately trying to keep his balance while still trying to stretch his wounded elbow and arm out to Duo.
Duo saw Wufei secure Heero and breathed a sigh of relief. The hard part was over. Now all he had to do was swing across himself...
He felt that moment of weightlessness again as the ceiling he had been standing on suddenly dropped out from underneath him. The limb that had been holding them for the past eight minutes finally snapped and the helicopter plunged down with furious noise. Pieces of splintering wood and flying scraps of metal flew past his vision as he tumbled headfirst out of the open door as the chopper fell away from him. Something in his shoulder snapped as he connected with a large branch and felt all the air rush from his lungs again as his side smashed into the wood of the tree. The last thing he remembered before darkness swam in his vision was the look on Wufei's face when the branch broke and he began to fall.
End Part 1
(:./ebony/bough1)
