Author's Note: Hey everyone, this is an idea that has been kicking around
in my head for a while now. I know I should be working on my other story
but I have not been able to write anything that sounds right. So I opened
up this file, which contained the first two paragraphs and reread them and
the ideas just started flowing so I went with it and this is the result. I
do plan on finishing my other story. I plan on making this fic into a 2x5;
Wufei will be showing up in the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters and I am making no profit by writing this story.
Malaise By Wavewalker
Chapter 1: Illness
"Damn it! Where is the stupid safe house?" Duo snarled as he peered at the display screen in his Gundam, trying to make out landmarks through the beginning of what looked to be a blizzard. Or perhaps croaked should be the word. He had been fighting a 'bug' for the past few days. He had been hiding the severity of his symptoms in fear the others would think of him as being more of a baka than usual by getting sick. He had had no idea how much this 'flu' had been affecting him until this mission.
It was supposed to have been simple, sneak in, get the information, get out and blow the base. A piece of cake for Shinigami ne? He had entered with his usual skill and grace and had downloaded the data to his disks easily but by the time he had done this, the slight nausea he had been feeling had become a constant rolling in his gut and he was shivering violently with the effects of a fever. As he was leaving he had somehow missed seeing an alarm trigger at the floor level. The OZ soldiers had nearly caught him but somehow he had managed to get to Deathscythe with little more than a new bruise on his shoulder from where he had careened off a doorjamb as he ran through. He had been so lucky that the base had had only a few mobile suits and no dolls; it had taken only minutes to destroy them. By then he was feeling so ill he could hardly see strait.
Now all he had to do was find the safe house here in the Rocky Mountains and hide out until his trail went cold. His main problem was his blurred vision which was compounded by the snow which had started just minuets before. It had cut visibility to almost nothing and radar was useless in this terrain. He was worried about his health, he knew he had a fever and his head was pounding like a drum. His chest felt tight and he was holding back wracking coughs so as not to miss the landmarks he was looking for.
Just then a small clearing in the trees he was skimming over suddenly appeared ahead and to the right, "That had to be it. The cave used as a hanger should be just a couple hundred meters behind the house if I remember correctly. Ah there it is right on target. Finally something is going right tonight," He muttered to himself.
He swore softly as area in front of the hanger became visible, it was barely big enough to land on, and it would be nearly imposable in this weather. He cautiously began to lower his Gundam towards the ground and doing surprisingly well until less than 30 feet from ground the wind shifted directions and velocity. The sudden change caused his Gundam to be pushed towards the trees to the left of the clearing. He made it to the ground but he took three trees with him. He sighed and hoped that the snow would cover the newly downed trees in case OZ scouted in this direction when the snow stopped. He considered himself very lucky, if he had been blown to the right he would have hit part of the cliff that the cave was situated in.
"Now all I have to do is get 'Scythe into the cave" Duo sighed again, very glad none of the others had been there to witness the sloppy landing. He found himself running through the other pilots probable reactions to such a sight: Heero would have glared, Trowa might have raised an eyebrow, Quatre would have immediately started asking if he was alright, and Wufei, well Wufei would have started yelling about how irresponsible and weak he was. It hurt to know that Wufei had so little respect for him, when he had nothing but the highest respect for the Chinese pilot.
Respect and a bit of a crush, Duo thought Wufei was one of the strongest and most honourable people he knew. Not many had the strength to carry on in the face of such personal tragedy as Wufei had. And he had to be the hottest guy Duo had ever seen.
Duo shook his head to try and clear it but all that did was start it pounding even harder. He walked his Gundam forward into the cave, this was one of the best makeshift hangers they had the roof of the cave was just tall enough for a standing Gundam and there was room for three standing or two kneeling Gundams inside. Duo manoeuvred Death Scythe Hell over to the left of the cave proper, kneeling down facing the entrance.
Duo let go of the controls, unclipped the safety harness and relaxed back into the chair, taking a deep breath, which turned out to be a really bad idea. The coughs he had been suppressing burst forth causing him to curl forward as the violent spasms shook him. After what seemed like an eternity the spasms tapered off.
Duo stayed curled around up breathing shallowly while he waited for the world to stop spinning. After a few minutes passed he slowly straitened and opened his eyes. He then reached for his laptop to send the mission data to Professor G, along with his current location. Usually he would wait until he was inside the safe house but tonight all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep as soon a he got inside.
Duo finished shutting down DS Hell, gathered his personal gear and opened the cockpit. The temperature change caused another coughing fit, which sent his to his knees. When it had passed he used the lift wire to lower himself to the cave floor. He used the control panel on his Gundam's leg to close the front hatch and turn on the security system. He pulled his black down coat more tightly around him, hoisted his pack and started down to the safe house.
If he remembered correctly the safe house was a rather comfortable four, room log cabin, with a generator in the lean-to for electricity. He knew there was plenty of fuel for the generator and lots of wood for the fireplace, Trowa had used the place last and had restocked the larder and fuel supply before leaving, only a month ago.
The walk to the safe house took longer than he expected, he had to stop many times as either coughing spasms or dizzy spells over took him, and his nausea was back with a vengeance. He as shivering violently and staggering by the time he got to the lean-to at the back of the cabin. It took far to much time to start the generator, as he had very little strength left and pulling the ripcord caused him to start coughing again. He was extremely glad that the cabin had a door inside the lean-to, as he was not sure if he had the strength to make it around to the far side of the cabin through the waist deep drifts.
He staggered into the kitchen hitting the light switch to the right of the door and pulled the door shut behind him. He struggled out of his boots and staggered into the main room where the fireplace was. He was thankful that Trowa had left a large stack of wood beside the fireplace. Duo paused in his trek towards the fireplace as his nausea reared its head and moved a quickly as he could to the small bathroom, to be violently ill.
When he was sure his guts were going to behave for the moment he pushed himself off the floor and to the sink to rinse out his mouth. He looked at himself in the mirror, noting the overall pallor of his face, except for the red flush over his cheeks and his eyes were glassy.
He headed for the bedroom and dragged one of the spare futons kept in the closet as well as all the blankets he could find out to in front of the fireplace. He thought that once he was down he likely would not be able to get back up and into the bedroom again. Besides it would be warmer in front of the fire.
It took his three tries to light a match, since his hands were trembling so badly. Once the fire was established he wrapped himself in blankets and curled up. Within minutes he was asleep.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters and I am making no profit by writing this story.
Malaise By Wavewalker
Chapter 1: Illness
"Damn it! Where is the stupid safe house?" Duo snarled as he peered at the display screen in his Gundam, trying to make out landmarks through the beginning of what looked to be a blizzard. Or perhaps croaked should be the word. He had been fighting a 'bug' for the past few days. He had been hiding the severity of his symptoms in fear the others would think of him as being more of a baka than usual by getting sick. He had had no idea how much this 'flu' had been affecting him until this mission.
It was supposed to have been simple, sneak in, get the information, get out and blow the base. A piece of cake for Shinigami ne? He had entered with his usual skill and grace and had downloaded the data to his disks easily but by the time he had done this, the slight nausea he had been feeling had become a constant rolling in his gut and he was shivering violently with the effects of a fever. As he was leaving he had somehow missed seeing an alarm trigger at the floor level. The OZ soldiers had nearly caught him but somehow he had managed to get to Deathscythe with little more than a new bruise on his shoulder from where he had careened off a doorjamb as he ran through. He had been so lucky that the base had had only a few mobile suits and no dolls; it had taken only minutes to destroy them. By then he was feeling so ill he could hardly see strait.
Now all he had to do was find the safe house here in the Rocky Mountains and hide out until his trail went cold. His main problem was his blurred vision which was compounded by the snow which had started just minuets before. It had cut visibility to almost nothing and radar was useless in this terrain. He was worried about his health, he knew he had a fever and his head was pounding like a drum. His chest felt tight and he was holding back wracking coughs so as not to miss the landmarks he was looking for.
Just then a small clearing in the trees he was skimming over suddenly appeared ahead and to the right, "That had to be it. The cave used as a hanger should be just a couple hundred meters behind the house if I remember correctly. Ah there it is right on target. Finally something is going right tonight," He muttered to himself.
He swore softly as area in front of the hanger became visible, it was barely big enough to land on, and it would be nearly imposable in this weather. He cautiously began to lower his Gundam towards the ground and doing surprisingly well until less than 30 feet from ground the wind shifted directions and velocity. The sudden change caused his Gundam to be pushed towards the trees to the left of the clearing. He made it to the ground but he took three trees with him. He sighed and hoped that the snow would cover the newly downed trees in case OZ scouted in this direction when the snow stopped. He considered himself very lucky, if he had been blown to the right he would have hit part of the cliff that the cave was situated in.
"Now all I have to do is get 'Scythe into the cave" Duo sighed again, very glad none of the others had been there to witness the sloppy landing. He found himself running through the other pilots probable reactions to such a sight: Heero would have glared, Trowa might have raised an eyebrow, Quatre would have immediately started asking if he was alright, and Wufei, well Wufei would have started yelling about how irresponsible and weak he was. It hurt to know that Wufei had so little respect for him, when he had nothing but the highest respect for the Chinese pilot.
Respect and a bit of a crush, Duo thought Wufei was one of the strongest and most honourable people he knew. Not many had the strength to carry on in the face of such personal tragedy as Wufei had. And he had to be the hottest guy Duo had ever seen.
Duo shook his head to try and clear it but all that did was start it pounding even harder. He walked his Gundam forward into the cave, this was one of the best makeshift hangers they had the roof of the cave was just tall enough for a standing Gundam and there was room for three standing or two kneeling Gundams inside. Duo manoeuvred Death Scythe Hell over to the left of the cave proper, kneeling down facing the entrance.
Duo let go of the controls, unclipped the safety harness and relaxed back into the chair, taking a deep breath, which turned out to be a really bad idea. The coughs he had been suppressing burst forth causing him to curl forward as the violent spasms shook him. After what seemed like an eternity the spasms tapered off.
Duo stayed curled around up breathing shallowly while he waited for the world to stop spinning. After a few minutes passed he slowly straitened and opened his eyes. He then reached for his laptop to send the mission data to Professor G, along with his current location. Usually he would wait until he was inside the safe house but tonight all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep as soon a he got inside.
Duo finished shutting down DS Hell, gathered his personal gear and opened the cockpit. The temperature change caused another coughing fit, which sent his to his knees. When it had passed he used the lift wire to lower himself to the cave floor. He used the control panel on his Gundam's leg to close the front hatch and turn on the security system. He pulled his black down coat more tightly around him, hoisted his pack and started down to the safe house.
If he remembered correctly the safe house was a rather comfortable four, room log cabin, with a generator in the lean-to for electricity. He knew there was plenty of fuel for the generator and lots of wood for the fireplace, Trowa had used the place last and had restocked the larder and fuel supply before leaving, only a month ago.
The walk to the safe house took longer than he expected, he had to stop many times as either coughing spasms or dizzy spells over took him, and his nausea was back with a vengeance. He as shivering violently and staggering by the time he got to the lean-to at the back of the cabin. It took far to much time to start the generator, as he had very little strength left and pulling the ripcord caused him to start coughing again. He was extremely glad that the cabin had a door inside the lean-to, as he was not sure if he had the strength to make it around to the far side of the cabin through the waist deep drifts.
He staggered into the kitchen hitting the light switch to the right of the door and pulled the door shut behind him. He struggled out of his boots and staggered into the main room where the fireplace was. He was thankful that Trowa had left a large stack of wood beside the fireplace. Duo paused in his trek towards the fireplace as his nausea reared its head and moved a quickly as he could to the small bathroom, to be violently ill.
When he was sure his guts were going to behave for the moment he pushed himself off the floor and to the sink to rinse out his mouth. He looked at himself in the mirror, noting the overall pallor of his face, except for the red flush over his cheeks and his eyes were glassy.
He headed for the bedroom and dragged one of the spare futons kept in the closet as well as all the blankets he could find out to in front of the fireplace. He thought that once he was down he likely would not be able to get back up and into the bedroom again. Besides it would be warmer in front of the fire.
It took his three tries to light a match, since his hands were trembling so badly. Once the fire was established he wrapped himself in blankets and curled up. Within minutes he was asleep.