| Ahhh, baka computer is having a spaz fit! It *ATE* at least three of my fics!!! I worked so hard on them only to have a piece of upstart machinery wipe it out for no damn good reason?! I managed to save most of this one, though. My apologies to SDDI; the RR section is gone. Give me some time to re-type it and Part 7 of this as well. Once again, no one wishes to speak to me. No C&C for this little writer, ohhh no! That�s fine. I don�t care. And no, I�m not pouting. I�m just having a sucky month. Just cause almost nobody cares enough to grace me with a single comment or two�.. Title: A Gesture of Kindness 6/10? Author: Lady DarkAngel [email protected] Archive: Lady DarkAngel's Gundam Wing Fanfiction Library http://ladydarkangel_1.homestead.com/Main.html, Darkflame�s (if she�ll take it�.) and anywhere else is fine, just ask me first Category: Yaoi, angst Pairing(s): 1+2 eventually (I�ma getting� there, don�t rush me!) Disclaimers: Gundam Wing or Shinkidousenki Gundam Wing is copyrighted and trademarked by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency and associated parties with all rights and privileges. The characters were used without permission for the purposes of entertainment only. This is not meant for sale of profit. Any characters not created by those listed above are mine and hereby considered the sole property and copyright of the author. Anyway, I�m just a poor college student. So can I play with them? I promise I won�t break them�..much. Rating: PG Warnings: Angst, severe illness, minor gross factor, sap? Feedback: Kami-sama, YES!!! [email protected]; any and all comments are welcome like the sweet ego-sustainers they are. Heero's head spun. The back of his skull was aching something fierce and he had to suppress the urge to lose his lunch. The blow he suffered would have been enough to render a normal person unconscious and damn near took out the Perfect Solider as well. As he tried to gather his scattered wits, he looked over to the tub again, hoping it had been a trick of his hazy vision and that everything was alright. It wasn't; Duo was nowhere in sight. <Iie, Duo!> The American had sunk beneath the waves and was most likely drowning at this very minute. He was too ill to try and swim; hell, he was delirious and mostly likely didn�t have a clue as to what was happening. And the person who was supposed to be taking care of him was sprawled all over the floor unable to help because of a stupid miscalculation. Heero desperately struggled to his knees and began crawling to the tub as fast as the spinning room would allow, which wasn�t nearly fast enough. This was all his fault. His mistake. He mentally ranted at himself as he scooted across a floor that had somehow expanded to the size of the Sahara in a few seconds. Perfect Soldiers don't make mistakes. There weren't supposed to be on their hands and knees racing unsteadily to rescue someone they were supposed to guard and care for with their life. They were always in charge and had everything under control. Nothing like this was never to even be considered as a possible occurrence. This error was unacceptable and completely unforgivable. His fault, his mistake. And Duo might die for that. *TOTALLY* unacceptable. He reached the side and dove in, head first. His headache increased at the sudden movement and water pressure. Vertigo and nausea assaulted him and almost drove him back. <Iie, yamero! I have to get him out! No time, no time, pull it together solider! If you don�t he�ll die! Ninmu shippai! MOVE IT!!> He kept his eyes closed in an effort to maintain an edge of control. His hands roamed the icy liquid, searching for�.. where was�.. There! Grabbing blindly at the soft body he felt, he swiftly hauled Duo out and laid him down on the soaking towels covering the floor. He was heavy, much heavier then before. Was it because Heero was tired or they were soaked or because��� He searched for a pulse, almost dreading the result. To his enormous relief, he found one. Weak and thready, but a pulse none the less. Tilting his head slightly to continue his evaluation of the pale and slightly bluish body, water began pouring from the Deathscythe pilot�s mouth. This indicated that he had either swallowed or inhaled a large amount of the water while he was under. It was most likely the latter. Quickly taking steps to remove the offending liquid from his partner�s lungs, Heero made a terrifying discovery. Duo wasn�t breathing. <Oh, Kami-sama, this is *not* good!> He worked for a minute or so before he was convinced that the braided boy�s lungs were as liquid-free as could be achieved at this point. Shifting him on the towels and rubbing his arms to restore some circulation and heat, he bent over to check for the expected wheezing of the near-drowning victim. Duo was as silent as a corpse. And for a good reason; he still wasn�t breathing. Not at all. He was panicking. Perfect Soldiers do not panic. They get the job done and do not allow such trivial things as fear to bother them. But Heero Yuy was scared�. scratch that. He was terrified. The Solider was failing the mission and there was no backup, no safety to fall back to. It was do or die time. Only he wouldn�t be the one to die for a change�� �Iie! Damnit, Duo, don�t do this! Not now!!� He quickly brushed aside the long chestnut strands that had come loose in the struggle and were currently impeding his progress of determining his partner�s status. The water dripped off the too-still face and Heero could detect no movement. <Demo, he was only under for a few minutes; 5 at most! There�s no more water in his lungs, so why isn�t he breathing?!> A drop of water found its way down his cheek and into his mouth. It was bitter and burned his tongue. <Nani? Why is��.. K�so! It�s not just water! There�s Isopropyl in there too! How could you forget?; you were the one who added it in!> The Wing Zero pilot knew that there was no more time to waste. Pinching Duo�s nose shut, he lowered himself down and sealed his lips against the unmoving ones. He gave the strongest puffs of air he dared and felt the chest under his rise in response. Quickly falling into the rhythm that CPR consisted of, his mind focused on any and all signs of recovered respiration that should be appearing any second now�.. Duo showed none. Mentally cursing in every language he knew, Heero refused to give up. It�s not ninmu shippai yet. Not by a long shot. Part of being the Perfect Soldier was never surrendering in the face of failure and pressing on despite the inherent uselessness/danger/stupidity of it. He could feel the lethal water/alcohol mix burning his throat as he breathed for his friend. His own lungs were protesting the contamination as well as the stress of maintaining oxygen for two people. The headache pounded worse and his vision did the grey-out trick that usually signaled unconsciousness was coming fast. He shoved them all brutally down where they belonged. They were interfering with his mission. Unacceptable. They will be dealt with later. A strange sound was echoing in his ears, a dull multiple roaring noise. Irrelevant. His attention was completely and utterly centered on the boy beneath that he was desperately trying to save. According to his internal stopwatch that automatically started when he was under stress, Duo had stopped breathing only 3 minutes 21 seconds ago. <Still in the golden five (1). He still has a chance. Come on, Duo, come back. Breathe, damnit, breathe! What do you think you�re doing?! Don�t you dare go! Death is not an option here! I promised to take care of you and I going to! I�m not letting you go, you hear me Maxwell?! Come back!! I don�t want to you to go!!> �Don�t leave me��� The tiny broken whisper that slipped from his mental rant into speech was almost lost in the overpowering noise that sounded like vaguely like fists pounding on a door. But it reached his own ears clear enough. He found himself praying to anyone who would listen that Duo would hear him too and respond. <Come back to me. You have to. We need you here to pilot Deathscythe and act like a baka and make use feel better. Everyone will miss you. The mission will suffer, the colonies and Earth will suffer, everyone will!! Please, Duo, I�..I don�t understand it but I need you somehow. I�m not sure why or how or when it started or even if this is a good thing or not but if you die now, I�ll never know!! I need you to help me understand this�.. this feeling that hurts when you hurt! I can�t do it by myself! I don�t get it! I need your help; I need you! Don�t do this to me! Onegai!!> And there was a wetness on his face that wasn�t the poisonous mixture they were still drenched in. It was light and flowed in trails down his cheeks. The few that made it to his lips were salty and strange. They were something he only had theoretical knowledge of. He never felt them before. <Namida? Duo�. Duo, please come back. Look what you�ve done. I�m�.crying.> Said tears were dripping down onto the Deathscythe pilot�s face. Heero�s eyes were growing dim between the tearing and the possible concussion he had. <I�ve never asked for much. Shimatta, I�ve never asked period. I don�t believe. I�m not worthy. But he does; he is! One miracle, that�s all I want. I don�t care what it will cost. I will pay. No price is too high, no demand too difficult. I losing this battle, one I can�t afford to lose! Onegai, Kami-sama, minna-san, tasukete!!> Speaking of miracles, ask and ye shall receive. With shocking suddenness, the American inhaled violently and began coughing and sputtering (2). The previously pale face began to flush with color. Painfully taking in air, but he was doing it all on his own. Despite being harsh hacking and rough on the ears, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. <Arigato��.> (TBC��..) Must write faster�. MLs waiting�.. Must write faster�. MLs waiting�.. (1) You have 5 minutes to get air to a person who isn�t breathing or they suffer brain damage. This is how my CPR instructor referred to it. (2) Not really a miracle, folks. Something called the diving reflex. When you are submersed in ice water, your heart beats slower and the need for oxygen consumption is decreased. It slows the body's metabolism and routes blood toward important organs, like the brain, to help keep them functioning. When removed from the water and the patient is warmed and CPR administered, the patient will often being spontaneously breathing again with little to no brain damage. Lady DarkAngel ---------- Chibi Duo's Babysitter Moderator of Duo's Sugar Intake Keeper of Duo's Nice Rear-end Co-Keeper of Shinigami's Wings (with Meela) Keeper of Heero's Homicidal Intentions Keeper of Quatre's Teacup Keeper of Trowa's Mask Keeper of Wufei's Sense of Honor Co-Keeper of Duo's Chatter (with Tomanaiya) Co-Keeper of Heero's "Hn" (with Tomanaiya) Co-Writer of Wufei's Rants (with Tomanaiya) Leader of the Inspirationally-challenged Muses: Alisande, Rynvi, and Kiagara Co-Keeper of a real-life hamster named Heero Yuy (Hee-chan)(with Tomanaiya) Keeper of the Hit List Acting GOD in Charge of The Anime Muse Adopiton Center and WSCT of the AMAC Proud member of SDDI, the Society of Defending Duo's Intelligence Member of the Society Against the Complete Bastardization of Heero Yuy Occupant of the Happy Hentai House Master Hacker of the Shinigami Organization Assistant Mob Psychologist for the Shinigami Organization Founding Member of Saa-EEP!!! Happy to be a member of the DuoML Member of 1x2, 2x1 Fan Club and ML Many more MLs but you don't want to know... Lady DarkAngel's Gundam Wing Fanfiction Library http://ladydarkangel_1.homestead.com/Main.html |