Sweden Exposure - A Total Drama Fanfic part 2
"DUNCAN!" Courtney cried out as she hastened towards the edge of the shattered ice. Falling on hands and knees, she crawled carefully but quickly to the black abyss of water. Desperately she searched with bated breath for any sign of the teen that had just plummeted into the inky darkness. The mere seconds that passed seemed like an eternity, her mind in turmoil over her next move.
Bracing herself, Courtney plunged her right hand into the freezing water, desperately feeling for his form. The cold shock set her nerves afire, but she refused to withdraw until she'd found him. Hot tears rained down her face as she whispered "come on," like a mantra of encouragement for herself as well as him. In the next moment, her efforts were finally rewarded as Duncan bypassed her hand and surfaced on his own. He coughed and gasped violently as Courtney immediately latched onto his shirt with one hand and reached under his armpit with her other. Shimming backwards, she managed to drag herself and her soaked cast mate back onto the solid snow covered bank.
Apologies and his namesake poured from the girl's mouth, but Duncan could barely acknowledged her words. His senses were overwhelmed with the feeling of thousands of tiny daggers of ice stabbing his flesh and insides. His chest ached with every breath, causing violent coughing and sputtering with every attempt to fill his lungs. Instinct was the only thing that allowed him to help Courtney to pull them back to shore.
Satisfied that they were on solid terra, Courtney held tight to Duncan's broad form, watching him shiver uncontrollably. She rubbed his backside, feeling the cotton material already stiffening from the frozen ice crystals forming. The C.I.T. (in training) wanted to instruct him that they needed to get back to the plane quickly, but it was clear that was his plane as he crawled away towards the higher ground they'd started on.
Needing all the support he could get, Courtney did her best to guide him up the path, placing the dull blanket she'd toted along over his shoulders. Rationality was not with the teen though as he irritably shrugged the cloth away and continued to claw his way up the bank. He heard her audibly scoff at his reaction, but he didn't want to hear it. Blaming Courtney for his current condition, for his suffering, for this whole fiasco felt the most reasonable to him. Despite his best efforts to shake her the entire night, she once again closed in on him, her slender arm rounding his back to steady his shaking stance.
"Let me help you," she softly pleaded with a hint of annoyance.
"Fine," he chattered, his resolve to break away fading, "'m fine."
"No, you're not idiot. You're getting hypothermia."
"Just c-c-cold."
"Who's the C.I.T. here?"
Snow began to falling steadily overhead, moonlight only faintly illuminating the immediate area. The safety of Chris jumbo jet was a good ways away, but it could have been 100 kilometers with how beaten and tired they felt. Courtney did her best to suppress it, but she was shivering too, wet from laying on the snow and from fishing out Duncan. Her legs and arms grew numb and they progress they made seemed closer to a snail's crawl. The delinquent ex was steadily becoming dead weight, his entire body numb from head to toe. Somehow he again reasoned Courtney was to blame for their slowness and once again pushed away to trudge forward alone. Any verbal protest from the C.I.T. were promptly ignored or just simply unheard.
Duncan wheezed like an asthmatic, heavily from his mouth and choked every time he attempted to stifle a cough. The path ahead was so annoyingly dark, speckled with white, making it even harder to focus his vision. His confused feet kept guiding him to the left, towards the forest along the river. The trees were a welcome sight, something for him to grip onto that was solid and didn't move around so much. For a brief moment he'd wondered where Courtney had gotten off too, but didn't have the state of mind to care. He needed to rest a moment.
Courtney somberly trailed after her shivering companion, needing to guide him the right way, but hesitant to touch him. They were veering off the wrong way, deeper into the forest and deeper into trouble. Courtney kicked herself for not being more observant the entire evening, instead of watching Duncan's backside. Her inner bossiness was screaming out commands, but chattering teeth were having trouble finding their voice. It wasn't until Duncan slide down against a tree he was supporting that she found said voice.
"Duncan," he flinched at the sound of her voice. He just needed a moment to catch his breath, coughing lightly as he did so. Her slender hands entwined around his arms as she strained to hoist him back up, "Gotta keep movin'. Stay with me buddy."
He snorted lowly at her remark as she slung his arm over her shoulder. Buddy? That was a new one amid the myriad of insults he was accustom to. It finally occurred to him that she was genuinely worried about him, but than again it made sense. He wanted to reply with a snarky comment, but nothing came. Instead he opted to stare at the ground as he shuffled his sneakers.
"Y'know, you're really not helping me here," she frowned as she attempted to adjust his lump of a body over her shoulder. It came out more scolding than she'd intended, but now wasn't the time to try to apologize. "Gwen would never forgive me if I let your butt freeze to death."
"Gwen," Duncan softly murmured, hugging her shoulder a little tighter. Jealously and confusion conflicted in both their minds. Courtney couldn't understand why she'd brought Gwen up at a time like this, in such a way. Duncan was more confused because Courtney was there instead of Gwen, and in his mind, it should have been different. Still, his whole being felt warm and content being near her, despite the cold. That was the moment his knees decided to give out and he slumped to the ground, practically dragging Courtney down with him.
"Duncan," she tugged and pulled at him to stand again, but the big oaf just wouldn't budge, "Get up. Stand up now!"
His body lay nearly motionless except for the shivering and incoherent murmurs of fading consciousness. A new wave of tears threatened to fall as Courtney heaved breaths in an effort to remain in control. Her eyes searched wildly for any sign of help, any sign that maybe the others had come looking for them or maybe they were closer to the plane than she thought. Courtney began to pace like a caged cat, panicked and unsure of what to do with herself.
"Stay calm," Courtney bit her chattering lip, throwing the blanket over him where he lay. She knew it wouldn't do much with his sopping wet clothes, but it was better than nothing. Courtney knew she needed help, so she scanned for the quickest path back to Chris's plane. It wouldn't take her long to find her way back on her own, she wouldn't leave Duncan alone for long. However, in the shadowed darkness of the forest though, she started to dread that way back was unclear. Just when sheer panic overtook her though, she spotted it, standing unassumingly between the trees. An old tool shed, Courtney rejoiced that was undoubtedly Duncan's saving grace. Predictably it was dry, protected and safe to leave him there until she could return with the others.
"I found shelter," she told him as she shook his form to attempt to rouse him. Duncan grumbled a response, but had trouble finding the strength to stir. All he wanted was a moment to rest, but she apparently couldn't understand that. A sudden sting reached his already numb face as she slapped him for the second time that night. He glared angrily at her, but she just smiled as she yanked and tugged at him to stand up again.
It was a struggle, but eventually Courtney managed to drag herself, Duncan and the blanket to the dilapidated shed. Thankfully entering the shed was worlds easier since it help shut by a latch with no lock. Apparently it had been out of use for quite sometime with the missing shingles, cracked side window and peeling red paint. It also smelt funky, for lack of a better description, the kind of dead fish funky and maybe some mold.
The inside was gradually deteriorating too, filled with dirt, spider webs and rot. Stored within was old glass lantern, a wooden box full of tools, a shovel, a greasy old towel, gloves, a ceramic pot, a single shoe and a faded small curtain over the window. The space was cramped, just barely big enough to lay Duncan down on the blanket she'd stretched out first.
Standing to reach the lantern, Courtney gently rubbed the glass to determine if it was usable or not. Not that she had anyway to light it, until she remembered Duncan had a lighter on him. Without hesitation, she began frisking his pockets for the little silver rectangle, finding it relatively quickly. She flicked it open and began to strike it, but no flame would ignite.
Discarding the lighter on the blanket, Courtney instead focused on the still shivering Duncan. Her brain began to work in overtime, for every bit of knowledge on hypothermia she had. This had to be at least the second stage she surmised, and wondered herself if she wasn't in the first. They both needed to be dry and warm, but Courtney decided herself could wait.
Inching a little closer, she found herself rubbing her hands against his cheek, unable to receive or really give any warm from either. With a deep sigh, she went about yanking his shirts off with some effort as they clung stubbornly to his form. She flopped clumsily to the floor when she'd finally tugged his torso free of the garment.
"You really are dead weight," Courtney grunted as she moved to peel his shoes off without untying them. Next were his socks, which squished when they hit the wall as she flung them, "Ugh, your feet really stink. Why am I doing this? I should have a let you freeze."
Despite her claims, she moved on to his jean shorts, her hands lingering over the waistband. This time she did hesitate, some sense of embarrassment crawling up her skin, which at least warmed her. With another steadying breath, she tugged the jeans off, "I didn't really mean it. I would never… well, y'know."
Courtney slung his jeans into the pile of soaked clothing, before turning back to the last article. It took some debate within herself, before she finally resolved to just close her eyes and get it over with. Just as quickly thru the edge of the blanket to allow him some privacy.
A sad smile crept across Courtney's lips as she watched him still shivering as she folded more of the blanket over him. She rubbed it against his skin even though it was dirty, and not perfectly dry either, but it would do in a pinch. "I'm sorry Duncan. I'm sorry about all of this… and I don't hate you, even though you're a real jerk sometimes…"
Shaking her head, she reached for the greasy rag in the tool box to use that to whip the ice crystals from his hair. Clearing her throat of dryness and unwanted tightness, she continued, "No that's not what I want to say either. You… you just really hurt me, and of course I'm mad… and I know you hate me. I don't know what happened… but I still…"
Turning her back, Courtney swiftly used the rag to whip down her own hair. She breathed heavily, coughing and sniffling while attempting to regain some composure. Through the window, the snow was still falling, perhaps even getting heavier by the second. The C.I.T. decided it was now or never to go back out there for help.
"Stay put," she instructed staring at the door, "I'll close the latch so you can't get out, but I'll be right back with help." Moving away, Courtney felt herself caught by a strong hand, unbalancing her attempt to stand.
She gasped, believing that he was unconscious with how unresponsive he'd been. For a while Duncan had been out of it, but her constant yammering, while grating on his nerves had kept him mildly aware. While mostly annoyed, somehow he was also grateful and her words and previous actions became a little clearer. It was probably delirium, but he was pretty sure he'd seen her crying while she softly poured her heart out. The more he thought about it though, he was pretty sure she'd been crying for a while now, even back to when he fell through the ice. He remembered the ice, and that they needed to get back to the plane, but instead Courtney brought them here. No, she dragged him here, because it was all she could do. She'd done everything she knew to do and more, ready to go back out there into the dark.
"Duncan?" Courtney attempted to gently twist her arm free of his icy cold hand. His eyes bore into her soul, speaking to her when his voice was lost to him. She shivered uncontrollably, unsure if it was the cold, his eyes or both.
"I'm not ditching you, I promise." Her eyes didn't waver from his and his look became graver, "You'll get s-sick, babe."
Mechanically, Courtney's hand flew up to her mouth at the use of a pet name, nearly breaking her heart. He must be in bad shape to show such concern and to regress to an affectionate term after everything that happened. Her head was spinning with confusion, wasn't this exactly what she'd longed for, that he'd come around. It had to be the cold talking, he was confused and not himself.
"O-Okay," she conceded, "I'll stay until I know you're okay, and that I'm a little dryer too."
She pulled her legs out from under her to sit across from him one what little blanket there was to spar. She rubbed her arms with her hands, knowing the damp material of her blouse and sweater were doing no good. With a frown she started to work her own layers of clothing off, with a half hearted warning, "Better not try anything funny."
Courtney made quick to undress herself except for her bra and panties which she absolutely forbid herself to take off. She lay everything a neatly as she could to hopefully speed up the drying process. Finally, she resumed her sentry like position to watch over Duncan, tucking her legs up against her chest. Duncan still chattered lightly under his protective cover, but not as much as she was chattering and shivering. She was absolutely radiating cold, but stubborn resolve was keeping her from instinctively crawling under that blanket too. Bronze hands began to furiously run up and down her legs to coax some heat friction back into them. Her voice shuttered a whine of discomfort when she brought her numb fingers up to her cheeks next. Squinting her eyes shut, she didn't notice Duncan stirring from the blanket, until his ice cold hand touched the small of her back.
Naturally Courtney shrieked as she rocketed up from her seat to glare daggers down at the man now supported on his elbows. Those steel colored eyes burned into her being again, and he sternly critiqued her, "You're never going to get warm that way."
"Shh, no talking. You'll waste body heat." Courtney pushed against his shoulder for him to lay back down. A squeak escaped her as he caught her wrist and jerked her down too. Red flared over her face as she fell over his chest, which was a lot warmer than the ice cold ground beneath her.
"What'd I s-say about funny business?" she protested, bracing her arms around him.
"Not being funny," he shrugged, "not while you're freezing to death."
"I can handle myself." she proclaimed through burning eyes.
A wave of cold struck her like a fist as she pried herself away from his warmth. She hugged her body tighter, feeling the darkness of the shed closing in on her. The cracked, dirty window was completely caked in snow, only allowing the softest glow of moonlight to penetrate. Because of it, Courtney didn't see the bitter grimace on Duncan's lips as he spat, "Fine. See if I care."
"But you don't care, do you?" She shot back with pure venom on her tongue. She waited eagerly for his rebuttal, but instead he just found a patch of wall to stare at. There was no use talking to her, she'd find something to lash out at. All they were able to do was argue, it seemed to be their decided fate. Duncan would have been just fine staring at the inside wall, if Courtney hadn't begun crying a new waterfall of tears. He wanted to ignore her, he wanted to comfort her, he wanted to be anywhere but there when she sniveled out, "Why?"
"Why what?" he echoed, unable to face her.
"Why do you hate me?" her lips trembled as she tried to not cry even harder. Duncan hands covered his face, surprising a frustrated sigh that threatened to erupt into anger any moment. Still he was just too damned exhausted to fight with her, and she looked no more up to the challenge herself. Courtney looked so sincere, so lost, but he'd learned in the past that it could change at any moment.
"I don't… I just… it's… never mind," his words grumbled into a low growl, unable to find the right words. Worming himself further under the cover, he opted to shut her out again, but he should have known better. Eyes still brimming with tears, Courtney crawled closer to him, to force him to acknowledge her, "No, you don't get 'never mind'."
"You wouldn't listen…" he started, frowning as deeply as he could, but still she pleaded with her big brown eyes despite it. Her tenacity in this frozen prison was unbreakable. It must have been the fog in his mind but he couldn't seem to find anything to put her off today. Every moment they remained in this confined space, a piece of his own hardened resolve was dissolving. He was going have to talk to her.
"I'll listen," she squeaked quivering horribly, "I can't go anywhere. Even if I don't like what you have to say… I'll try."
A heavy grunt left his throat as he pushed up to be eye level with the girl. Still wary and frustrated, Duncan scooped up one of her wrist, almost to keep her from escaping. Courtney watched his hand, it was hot against her own dark skin, but she couldn't draw away. He chuckled slightly at her, "What's with you being all nice today?"
"Nice? I'm always…" she finished internally that she was always nice to him. So nice that she'd even saved his life and not once had he thanked her, or even apologized for being a great oaf. She found herself needing to resort to shouting how wrong he was, that he'd even dare question her like that. It didn't matter if she said she'd listen, she would answer his challenge of insults any day.
"Thank you." Courtney was shocked back to reality with his abrupt words of gratitude. Again all of that building anger fizzled away again when she caught his endless blue eyes staring deeply into her soul. He'd actually manned up enough to thank her, and it was sincere too. Maybe her own sincerity was catching on, because she really did mean it, she wanted to know why everything had gone so wrong.
"You really pulled through for me, Courtney," her gaze returned to him, softening significantly. Instantly she knew she was starting to blush from the warmth rising in her face. Feebly she tried to look away in hopes to stop the girlish reaction, "Well, yeah. I wasn't about to let you seriously freeze to death. I mean, I would have done it…"
Her sentence was cut short with Duncan placing his index finger against her lips, reminding her that he had the floor, "And I don't hate you."
"Than…" she inquired, her expression full of sadness and hope.
"Don't get me wrong. You still piss me off, and I hate that bossy shit you pull, but I don't hate you. I've seen you be really sweet and amazing, and not to mention damn sexy. But I think that stick is just shoved too far up your ass even for me." Duncan finished with a wry smirk, eyeing the indignant fury in her form, the kind he used to rile up in her when they first met. He was curious to see what kind of outburst she'd have or if she'd keep her trap shut for once. He doubted the later. Any triumphant smile on his face was quickly wiped away when she resorted to the last thing he'd hoped for, and started crying again.
"Geez, what am I supposed to do with you?" he rolled his eyes.
"Sorry," Courtney sniveled and hiccupped, whipping her nose with the back of her hand, "I'm sorry you think I'm too bossy. It's just you're such a big oaf and a mess, I just don't know what else to do."
"I don't need a keeper, I can handle myself Princess."
Duncan caught himself a moment too late on that last phrase and mentally kicked himself. It was quite clear she hadn't missed it either at the soft smile creeping on her up the corner of her. He looked like a child caught stealing a cookie from the jar, more than a delinquent at that point. Courtney nodded to acknowledge before dropping her head down, "I know. I'm sorry."
Seeing her so forlorn, so unlike herself, Duncan finally reached out to her with both hands and yanked her down on top of him. She immediately struggled against his embrace against his bared chest. She stuttered his name but the young man stayed perfectly composed with his familiar sneaky smile, "Now, are you going to share this blanket with me or freeze to death?"
Courtney choked, the prospects of his proposal immediately going head, her blush darkening even more than before. She protested futilely against his iron grip, "I.. I can't. You're still naked under there!"
Lifting the cover up for a moment to examine what he was already well aware of, Duncan returned his gaze to hers and shrugged. She'd been the one to strip him down and now she was pretending to act all shy. Duncan didn't buy it, but he played along anyway, "Naked as the day I was born. So?"
"You can't… be all 'so'… besides, I'm fine." Courtney lied.
"Whatever. Listen, if you've got a problem with me being naked," abruptly he snapped her bra strap against her back, causing her to squeal out.
"Okay!" she finally conceded. Duncan released her only to pull the blanket back in a welcoming gesture. Of course, she screwed her eyes shut as she wiggled her way next to him with just the slightest gap between them. Courtney couldn't suppress her contented sigh as warmth started to blanket every inch of her. She jumped a little when Duncan put his arm over her stomach, but didn't try to pull her any closer. They lay is comfortable silence for several minutes before she finally stated, "You still like me."
"Hey, I just said I don't hate you." he defended, half heartedly. Courtney was thoughtful about that for a while before she smiled to herself, "I'm okay with that… for now."
All was right with the world. She was safe, warm and with the one she loved. Courtney felt she could stay like this forever, in his arms with him softly speaking her name. She stirred slightly when her name was called a second time. There was no need for him to call her name, because she was right there with him, but still he persisted in that high voice. High voice? The fog in her tired mind became a little clearer when she realized that the voice calling her name sounded very little like Duncan. It was alarmingly clear that it wasn't Duncan when a grating deep female's shattered her dream state and sent her bolt upright.
Gasping at the sudden shock of cold and awareness, Courtney quickly realized she was still in the little tool shed, half naked, alone with Duncan… and now the Calvary decided to show up. In concert she heard each of her team members and Duncan's team calling to them in the darkness. She leaned back to stir Duncan with her welcomed, yet unwelcome news to realize he was no longer laying next to her. She looked to her other side just in time to see her blouse flop over her face.
Duncan was nearly dressed again, when he saw that Courtney had heard the others approach in search of them. He wasted no time and offered little explanation as he chucked her garments towards her. Equally in haste, she worked to pull her own things back on, seething as cold fabric touched her skin. He was down to his last sneaker as he growled lowly to her, "Hurry up!"
"I'm trying," she gritted her teeth in anger at his barking orders. Seeing that her olive capris were nearly on her hips, Duncan quickly stood to grab her shoulders, "Everything is the same between us, got it? Nothing happened here!"
"R-right," she searched his eyes, confusing and sorrow welling up again. She heard Alejandro's call of her name instead of Duncan's and a slight twinge of annoyance, form on his lips, she nodded firmly, "Right."
"This damned show is a big enough headache already." he grimaced looking at the door, his brain readying for the torrent of questions and assumptions that would come regardless of the truth or not. Duncan returned to Courtney to be sure she was ready for the worst too only to turn straight into a kiss. She help his face with her hands and the kiss lingered for only a brief while. He was shocked and a little offended, but she didn't give him the time before she lightly slapped him on the cheek, and frowned, "Nothing happened."
A moment later she had burst out the door, screaming hysterically towards her fellow Amazons, "What took you so long to notice I was missing?"
Her tirade went on about Duncan falling through the ice and how she had to rescue him. The story was edited and exaggerated in the places it best suit Courtney while Cody and Sierra did their best to console her. Owen and Alejandro went to the shed to retrieve Duncan, who in turn gripped, albeit less loudly, about being stuck with the nurse from hell. He was silent as they all returned to the plane, especially since Owen took it upon himself to carry his "wounded" teammate back. The round Canadian quickly speed past the girls team with his indignant patient. Duncan dared a glance at Courtney who didn't seem to notice, or she was just pretending rather well. He sighed inwardly, wondering what he would ever do about that girl.