Disclaimers and other Warnings: Well, I'm sure everyone has heard this whole thing before, but some people just don't listen, ya know? Anyhoo…Story mine. Characters not. Got it? Oh, and be warned, this is my first attempt at a GW fic…*nervous laughter* Erm, anyways, there is yaoi and shonen ai or whatever you wanna call it. ^_^ Enjoy. Oh, and C&C would be very much appreciated.

With Deathscythe checked over and hidden, Duo had nothing to occupy his mind except with thoughts of Heero…or, more exactly, his odd behavior.

Duo could have sworn that, right before they'd left for the base, Heero had said something along the lines of "We are expendable." Then why had Heero saved him from being "expended" no less than three times?

Spotting Heero just out of the entrance to the cave where they were hiding, Duo started toward the Japanese pilot only to be stopped by a searing pain in his leg.

"Itai!" he exclaimed as he hopped to a rock and sat down, his back to Heero. His pant leg had been ripped from his knee down and the ragged edges of the material were soaked in blood. His blood. "Nani? When did I do this?" he mumbled, suddenly feeling light-headed. He reached down and tried to pull the saturated cloth away from the wound but the pain was so great he passed out, toppling off the rock.

Heero saw Duo fall; he was running toward the braided boy before it registered within his mind.

"Kuso, Duo, what happened?" he said to himself after he had turned the unconscious boy over and spotted the bloody gash on his leg. Carefully Heero positioned the injured leg on the rock Duo had been sitting on.

Without hesitation Heero pulled his tank top off and started to tear it into strips, leaving a larger square to clean the wound with water from a nearby stream.

He went to the small stream and came back as quickly as possible, but Duo was still out could. Heero gingerly placed the cold, wet piece of cloth against the violet-eyed boy's leg after he had rolled the pant leg out of the way. The American moaned. I hope this doesn't hurt too much, he thought. He had all but given up suppressing his more normal (for people who hadn't been trained to be the Perfect Soldier, that is) emotions around Duo. Nearly losing him three times might have brought him around, he supposed.

What do you care? He's ex—

No. He's not. Heero acknowledged to himself, asserting the statement to the dutiful voice.

Good boy, inserted the quite one.

Heero finished cleaning and bandaging Duo's leg just as the boy came around.

"Oi that hurts like hell," he mumbled groggily.

"Be glad it wasn't worse."

Duo jumped, then winced as he jarred his leg. "Heero," he said plaintively, "stop doing that." He shifted to find where the dark haired boy was and located him sitting against the wall of the cave, not far from himself. Then he noticed—"Where's your shirt??"

Heero grunted. "Hn. On your leg, baka." Duo spared a glance at his propped up leg and saw the green material slowly turning a darker color…Wait a second, Heero gave up his shirt for me? Maybe he isn't totally heartless…

"Arigato."

Heero blinked, then flushed slightly, but Duo couldn't see that…he hoped. "For what?"

Duo snorted. "Gee, I don't know, where should I start? Thank you for not letting that goon shoot me, thank you for not leaving me to die on that roof, thank you for not letting the Leos obliterate me, thank you for literally giving me the shirt off your back, and thank you for fixing that up," he gestured to his leg. "Oh, and thank you for not letting me bleed to death in the process."

"Oh," Heero said, even more embarrassed than before. "Y-you're welcome." He turned a darker red. They both fell silent.

A few minutes later Duo asked, "Any idea how long I was out?"

"Half an hour, forty-five minutes." He shivered. A cave wasn't the warmest place to be with only a pair of shorts on.

Duo noticed. That idiot will get hypothermia if he doesn’t warm up, and all he'd say is it's a little chilly. If that.

"Heero." The addressed looked up, barely able to make out Duo's outline against the darkening night sky. "There might be a blanket in Shinigami's cockpit. Go look."

He nodded and got up, his arms crossed, trying to retain heat. Duo watched him go, watched the muscles move in the blue-eyed pilot's back. His pulse accelerated. Then he sighed, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. Why couldn't it have been Quatre or Trowa, even both of them—no, wait, not both of them. I'd never get any sleep. I'm probably not going to get any sleep now anyway, but for a slightly different reason…he chuckled at his own joke. At least I know he doesn't hate me. He couldn't after all he's done…

Heero came back with not one blanket, but three. "Can you sit up?"

"Uh, good question." Duo tried and found that he could. To his astonishment, Heero helped maneuver him until he was leaning against the cave wall. Heero tossed one of the blankets to him as he went to move the rock so Duo could keep propping up his leg. After that was done, Heero grabbed another blanket and settled himself a few feet away from the injured boy.

Duo squirmed around, trying to make it appear as if he was just trying to get comfortable when he was really edging close to Heero. "Why did you bring three blankets?" Duo asked after a minute of edging.

"I grabbed what I saw." I also saw that picture you had in there…what could he be doing with a picture of-of me??

"Oh. Well, if I'm not wrong, then that should be a pretty big blanket." He glanced at Heero, then avoided those blue orbs. "W-we could share it," he rushed on, "it'll probably get even colder as the night goes on." Please, please, let him say okay, pleeease, oh please…

Involuntarily Heero reached for the last blanket. He realized that he'd have to scoot closer to Duo in order for it to do either of them any good. He did so, and as it turned out, he had to sit shoulder to shoulder wit the long-haired pilot.

What do you think you're doing? This is not the way a soldier should behave! the rough voice scolded him. He ignored it as he positioned the blanket around the two of them.

Duo had never been more thrilled. After a few moments he feigned sleep, letting his head drop to Heero's shoulder. He felt him tense, but the dark haired boy relaxed after a while. Now, if only I could freeze time for a bit…I would have sliced my leg open long ago if this is what it takes to get him near me.

Wearily, Heero let his cheek rest against the top of Duo's head, feeling the silky hair. If the American hadn't been asleep he never would have dared. One of his hands reached up and lightly caressed the sleeping boy's cheek, then dropped as he drifted off to sleep, his head still resting on Duo's.