Title: Be Patient

Author: Karina

Rating: PG

Pairing: Milliardo + Duo

Notes:  Challenge 236.  Baby Series 4  #159.  Takes place approximately eight hours following Right and Wrong

Spoilers: None

Warnings:

Many thanks to ShenLong Deb for her work betaing this set of fics.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the Characters from the series but the baby is mine.

Title:  Be Patient

Milliardo sat slumped forward... a rare sight given the man normally seemed to have a rod straightening his spine... and absently rubbed his left hand over his upper right arm.  The blonde head was bent forward, his focus on the data flashing across the computer screen.  The man did not seem to notice his entrance but he never reacted when Duo stopped beside him and lightly rested his hand on the King’s shoulder.

“What does it look like?”

He wanted the storm over and done with.  He was feeling claustrophobic, despite the size of the building they sheltered in.  It was big, yes, but there were only so many heated rooms to move about in.  That shrank the building in Duo’s view to little more than a modest single story house.  Then, too, there was the fact they were so many hundreds of metres underground and there was a lot of rock and dirt above them.  He had never particularly enjoyed being in caverns or mines.

The compact cockpit of Deathscythe was very different to having tons of rock overhead.

Milliardo flicked through one more screen of data before he sat back and sighed.  Duo thought he detected satisfaction in the sound, and no small amount of weariness.

“It’s definitely easing.  We have lost a hell of a lot of sensors, and telemetry is sketchy, but there is no mistaking it.  The wind is down in comparison to three hours ago; almost a quarter reduced from what it was ten hours ago.  I won’t say the temperature has improved, because it hasn’t.  In another twenty four hours, perhaps we might be able to safely send out a scouting party. The wind chill factor alone would kill you at present.”

“What is the exterior temperature?”

“It fluctuates, but the average registers in at around –60 degrees Celsius, with the wind chill factor averaging at –20 degrees.  It’s too wild to send anyone out there, but the improvement suggests another day should make the difference.  Sooner, if conditions improved faster than the current projections suggest.”

“So it’s still the wind that is the killer?” Duo murmured.

He was far from thrilled with a combined temperature averaging –80 degrees.

“At present, yes.  Wind driven debris and ice shards, predominately, and let’s not forget the temperature itself.  I will not send anyone out there without a reasonable certainty I will not lose anyone.”

“So what’s the plan?  Continue to sit it out and wait?”

“What other choice is there?  We fine tune our plans.  We need to think of every possible scenario and devise a method of dealing with the problems projected to arise.”

Duo scowled at the screen. “I’ll be glad to get out of here.”

“I personally don’t mind freezing as much as I mind the confinement.  I want to feel the wind on my face, though I would prefer not to have it scour my face bloody.  We just have to grit our teeth and be patient, my friend.” 

End

Karina Robertson  2014