Title/theme: STUCK
Genre: fluff/humour
Approx time line: Around phase 25-28 of GS
Summary: "The door won't open," he answered quietly, as if afraid to let her hear. "It's like it's stuck, or…"

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"Hey Commander, what are you doing?" asked the young Archangel captain as she peered suspiciously at the man sneaking around like a thief.

He looked around a couple of times before turning to her. Putting a finger to his lips, he gently shushed before answer with a grin. "I'm going to pull a prank on the Lieutenant."

She blinked, not sure whether to laugh or scold him. It also baffled her that he'd come out and tell her what he was going to do, knowing that he'd get in big trouble with any other captain.

Was that it? Did he think she was soft, that she'd let him get away with it?

That made up her mind. She'd give him a lecture all right.

"Commander, do you realise—"

But she didn't get to finish, because he cut her off with a finger to her lips.

"Shh. I'm going in," he told her as he started towards the room.

He wasn't even paying attention to her!

"Fine!" she hissed, "Do as you want. But I want no part of it. Got it?"

But he was already out of earshot.

She sighed and left him to his antics. She'll just have him pay for it later.

She didn't walk far when an angry scream split the air and reached her ears. She turned towards the sound, wondering faintly if the Commander had something to do with it.

That notion was confirmed when he came running from the direction of the sound, laughing with amusement.

"Wha—" she wanted to ask him what he had done, but didn't get a chance to, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

She glanced at him suspiciously. "Where are we going?" she huffed, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

"Hiding." He continued running without looking at her. She raised an eyebrow and wondered what he was dragging her into this time.

"Here!" He stopped abruptly at a doorway, making her run into him. He flattened his back against the door, so that he was hidden from the hallway by the hollow of the doorway. Before she could open her mouth to protest, he pulled her against him and held her close, so that she was hidden by the niche as well. She felt her face growing hot as she became very aware of his close proximity and felt the drumming of his racing heart.

"C-Commander!" she lifted her head to protest, and felt her face growing hotter at the mischievous grin that stared back at her. He said nothing, just placed a finger on her lips again.

"But—"

Her protest died as they both heard angry footsteps coming down the hall toward them.

"Crap!" she heard him mutter under his breath. Suddenly, he shifted and swiftly tapped on the device to open the door. When it opened with a swoosh, she found herself being dragged into the darkness with him. She was too surprised to protest as the door closed, a moment before the footsteps ran past.

They were both silent for a while, listening for any sound of movement outside. When the footsteps finally retreated, he let out an audible sigh of relief. Hearing his relief, she too let out a breath that she didn't realise she was holding.

It was then that she looked around and realised what room they were in. She shivered slightly as the cool air brushed her face. They were in the storage room, where the temperature was kept cold—though thankfully not freezing—to keep the supplies fresh. The room was dim, lit only by a small fluorescent lamp. But it was light enough for her to see the sheepish grin on his face.

"So, you wanna tell me what's going on?" she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Heh, sorry about that," he told her instead of answering, turning away from her irritated gaze.

"What's going on Commander?" she asked again, her curiosity growing slightly.

He avoided her gaze still, pressing his ear to the door. "Hmm, I think it's safe now."

She sighed. Was he even able to hear her today? She shivered again, her body reminding her of the surroundings. Maybe it would be better to take it outside, where it wasn't so damn cold.

She thought she heard a slight whoosh, as if something was being shut off. She didn't think too much of it, until the light flickered off, replaced by the green glow of a backup light.

"Hey, what's…" she asked, trailing off when she noticed his attention was fully absorbed in his current battle with the door. She thought she heard him swear under his breath, and wondered if he was losing.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she came to his side to examine his predicament.

"The door won't open," he answered quietly, as if afraid to let her hear. "It's like it's stuck, or…" he straightened up and smacked himself on the forehead. "I forgot. Murdoch told me they'd be running some test today and shutting off parts of the electrical system."

"Great," she answered sarcastically. "Isn't there an emergency manual way to open it?"

He looked nervous as he answered, "I've tried. But I think it's broken." Then at her exasperated look, he added quietly, "I'll remember to tell Murdoch to fix that later."

She groaned in frustration and leaned her back against the wall next to the door, banging her head against it.

"Thanks a lot."

"Sorry. I'll get us out," he assured her, eyeing her somewhat warily, "Somehow."

"Good. You better. You got us into this stupid mess, and you're going to get us out of it."

"Heh, Don't worry, I always make the impossible—"

"Oh shut it," she cut him off. She was more than a little bit irritated that she was locked in this damn place when she had much better things to do.

"I said I was sorry," he answered in self-defence. "We'll get out eventually. Murdoch said the test isn't going to take long. We'll just have to wait for the power to come back on."

"And what am I suppose to do until then?" she questioned him.

He gave her a roguish grin. "Well, you can start by telling me your deepest, darkest secrets."

She snorted, biting down the urge to wipe that smug grin off his face. "Just be glad I'm not throttling you right now."

"Alright, point taken. I'll be quiet." He backed away from her, leaning against the wall on the other side of the door.

She sighed. How did she get into this again?

The silence was starting to get to her, making the room seem even colder. So she sat down on a crate and drew up her knees, trying to keep herself warm. She stared at the floor, her ears ringing with the silence. She shivered again. Oh, how she hated the cold.

Suddenly, she felt something foreign covering her shoulders. She looked up, and saw that he had taken off his coat and draped it around her shoulders.

"It's not much, but at least it'll keep you somewhat warmer," he replied at her quizzical glance.

"What about you?" she asked. Wasn't he cold in his T-shirt?

He folded his arms and shrugged. "I'll live."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's the least I can do, for…dragging you into this." The sincerity of the guilt in his eyes made her feel slightly guilty. She smiled a bit, feeling her anger melt away by his kind gesture. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. She was starting to think that, until…

"Unless of course, you want me to keep you warm," he waggled his eyebrows at her, his eyes containing that familiar twinkle.

She sighed. He'll never change.

"No, I'm fine like this. Thanks for the offer," she answered dryly.

She tugged on his coat to stop it from sliding down her shoulders, and to bring it closer to her, inhaling his scent from the fabric. She blushed slightly as she felt his lingering warmth on the cloth. She was no longer cold, that was for sure.

They lapsed into silence again. Who would've thought just waiting could be so hard.

"Hmm, good thing we're in Orb," he mused out loud. "Imagine if a battle was to break out, and we lost because the ship's captain and commander are locked in a freezer!" he laughed. "I wonder what the history books would say about that."

"That's not funny!" she exclaimed. But let out a laugh despite herself. Great. Maybe it was the stress, or the cold, but she was laughing at his sardonic jokes now. She decided to change the subject before he could take advantage of it like he always did.

"So what exactly did you do?" she asked nonchalantly, pretending not to care.

He grinned smugly, as if proud of his accomplishment. "I switched her shampoo with hair dye."

Her mouth dropped open as she stared at him incredulously. "You what!"

He shrugged, as if it was nothing. "I wanted to see what she'd look like with yellow hair."

She didn't know how to respond to that. Except…

"You do realise that she's going to kill you, right?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"And she's probably going to add this incident to her report as well," she sighed in defeat.

His eyes widened as if that notion had just occurred to him. "Oops," he mumbled, "I forgot about her list." Then turning to her with genuine concern, "I'm so sorry Captain. I'll take full blame for it."

She wanted to retort by telling him it was his fault to begin with, that even if he did try to take full blame, she would still be held responsible, because she was the captain after all. She wasn't sure whether she was more amazed or baffled by his actions. How could he even think about things like pranks? Didn't he realise that they were in the middle of a war? Didn't he realise how serious their situation was?

She wanted to scold him, but looking at him, her words died. She didn't want him to feel worse than he was already feeling. Besides, it didn't really matter anymore at this point. The incident had already happened. And she had already stopped worrying about Natarle's report by now; she had more important things to think about. She sighed again. How did she get herself into this again?

"Oh whatever," she chose to dismiss it. "It's not like this is the only thing against me."

He eyed her silently, not totally convinced that she was okay with it.

"But you just had to drag me into it. Even though I said I wanted no part of it," she told him instead and glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry," he smiled ruefully.

"Hmph!" she turned her gaze to the door. "Just don't expect any sympathy from me when she strangles you."

She heard him laugh, then sigh. "Fine." Then, "Can you be a witness at least?"

"No." She tried, but found it difficult to keep the amusement out of her voice.

"Alright then," he chuckled at her response, "I guess I'll just have to die a lonely and gruesome death then."

"I guess you will," she confirmed matter-of-factly.

Silence passed again as the two sank back to their own thoughts. How long were they planning to shut off the power?

"Commander," her soft voice broke the silence finally, "How do you do it?" She turned to him with a troubled look in her eyes. "How can you be so…carefree, at a time like this?"

She expected him give a half-serious answer like he always did, but what he said instead was way beyond her expectations and comprehension.

"I have to be," he replied quietly after a pause, in a serious tone that she had rarely, if ever, heard from him. "Because it keeps me sane."

But before she had time to decipher his answer, the seriousness went as quickly and suddenly as it had come. He chuckled in his usual way. "Besides, it's fun to pull pranks."

"What, so they can get angry at you?"

"Well, no," he admitted. "It's fun to see their reaction and expressions, but I suppose the aftermath isn't too rewarding."

She rolled her eyes. Typical. He'd rather live for the moment than deal with the consequences, but she supposed that she wasn't all that different.

"But why Natarle? Aren't you afraid of her wrath?"

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah…I guess I didn't think about that. But that woman needs to loosen up a bit," he turned his gaze to her, "And so do you."

She returned his playful gaze with a death glare. "Don't you dare! If you ever try to pull something like that on me, I swear, I'm going to—"

"Alright, alright!" he backed up, holding up his hands in defeat and chuckling nervously. "I get the picture."

Even though he often teased her, he had never tried to pull a prank on her. She silently laughed to herself. So, he was more afraid of her than Natarle. Was she that scary?

"Why do you always pick on me to tease then?" she asked quietly, as if wondering to herself out loud.

"Because you let me." She narrowed her eyes at that answer. He leaned closer, eyes twinkling and mouth turned upwards in an amused and teasing smile, "Besides, you look cute when you're annoyed." There, he did it again!

She didn't know whether to feel flattered or offended by that. She let out a breath and answered casually while examining her nails, "And I bet you'll look really adorable with a broken jaw Commander."

Her words hung in the air for a moment before it sank in. And when it did, he let out a hearty laugh, loud enough that she swore it could be heard throughout the ship.

Great. Maybe someone will hear him and let us out.

Then again…she wasn't sure whether she wanted to be found in her…predicament.

"Easy with the threats there Cap'n!" he managed to choke out between bursts of laughter.

She raised an eyebrow at his never-ending chuckles. Was her comment that funny? But pretty soon, she found his laughter contagious, and started laughing with him. She wondered vaguely what her crew would think if they found the two of them this moment, laughing hysterically at nothing in particular.

Must be the cold. Yeah, that must be it.

It was affecting her common sense. First she laughed at his stupid jokes, now she started teasing him back with lame jokes of her own. It seemed that his demeanour was rubbing off on her. Maybe spending so much time alone with him wasn't such a bright idea…She made a mental note not to ask when he'd start something, lest it would bring her to a similar mess again. Why couldn't the mechanics hurry up and end the damn test? Preferably before she could lose her sanity?

As if on cue, the light came back on with a whirl. Mwu quickly made his way to the door and opened it with ease.

He stood in the doorframe and turned to her, gesturing as if to invite her. "Ladies first."

Murrue slowly stood up, shaking her legs to get the numbness out of them. She felt stiff from sitting too long, and numb from the cold. But nonetheless, she walked to the door with dignity and exited the room, with Mwu following.

"See, told ya we'd get out."

"Yeah," she answered dryly, "No thanks to you."

He frowned with feigned offence. And she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she headed to the bridge, with him following

Slowly, the warmth returned to her body. It was then that she realised she was still wearing his coat. A bit embarrassed, she quickly took it off and stuffed it in his hands. On closer inspection, she saw that his arms were covered with goose bumps. She suddenly felt guilty for being angry with him. She supposed that if she had to be stuck somewhere, she'd rather be stuck there with him.

"Thanks Commander. For keeping me company I guess. It was rather…entertaining."

Before he could open his mouth to comment, she quickly added, "But don't let it happen again. Got it!"

"Aye aye, Ma'am," he mock-saluted, before leaving her, staring after his laughing retreating figure, bewildered but amused.

"Because it keeps me sane"

Maybe the fact that he acted the way he did was what kept her sane as well.

AN: hehe, I've got this idea in my head for a while, just was too lazy to write it down...

Anyway, them stuck somewhere together alone, so cliché... but couldn't help myself, because I love them flirtin' with each other :) hehe, I imagine Mwu to be someone who loves practical jokes. but he's so gonna get it from Natarle XD.

I dunno if the AA has a storage room, or if the doors could open without electricity, but lets just say I'm taking creative license so they'd be in a convenient situation. Because the idea of him giving her his coat was too cute to pass up.

This turned out longer than I thought, in fact, it's my longest chapter so far.

Boy, Murrue made a lot of threats...

Review?