section7mfu | The Yellowstone Affair Chapter 15 (Reply)

“All right, thank you, John. Over, out.” Illya turned off the walkie talkie and slipped it into the sleeping bag to keep the batteries warm and conserve their power. He turned towards Napoleon and embraced him tightly. Napoleon immediately moved even closer seeking the warmth radiating from Illya’s body and mumbled, “Cold! So damn cold,” before falling asleep again.

“Hang in there, my friend. I am afraid you are in for a long night.” He shifted his position putting Napoleon’s head under his arm trying to provide as much warmth as possible. “I will get you out of here, Napoleon. We will take you to the hospital and you can snuggle up to the nurses.” Illya closed his eyes. A great weariness settled over him. He planned to rest for a little while, but not long as he needed to keep a constant watch over Napoleon and tend to his needs.

A couple of hours later, Illya woke to feel deep tremors. In his twilight state, he mistook it for an earthquake. The park, a geologically active region, was known to have earthquakes. As he became fully aware, he realized that the the sources of the tremors came from Napoleon. The American’s body had warmed just enough that it was trying to compensate for the cold and regulate the core temperature by shivering.

Illya gently shook his friend trying to bring him to some level of awareness. “Napoleon. Napoleon, can you hear me?”

Brown eyes slowly opened. Napoleon became aware that someone was lying very close to him. He pulled back from the warm body next to him so he could get a better look. He took in the blond hair and blue eyes. A silly, lascivious grin threatened to commandeer his face. His hand reached up to the hair wondering why it was covered with an ugly knit cap. He opened his mouth to speak, his voice no more than a hoarse whisper. “Angeli…”

Illya interrupted him. “So help me, Napoleon, hallucinations or not, if you call me, Angelique, again, I will not hesitate to leave you here by yourself. You can make your own way back to civilization! It is I, Illya. Come on, Napoleon wake up. It is Illya!”

The look on Napoleon’s face was priceless. As awareness increased, the brunet recognized Illya. Startled at their closeness, and state of undress he tried to back away from his partner. “What the hell is going on?” he slurred.

“Easy, my friend. You have been ‘out of it’ as you call it for quite some time. Napoleon, you must hold still. You have a rather bad case of hypothermia. You cannot afford to move around too much. It could damage your heart.”

“Bullshit, I’m fine, just cold that’s all.” Napoleon moved to leave the sleeping bag in spite of the violent shivering and teeth chattering.

“No. You must stay still and stay in the warm bag.” Illya tried to talk sense into his friend. He knew that it was the hypothermia that was causing Napoleon to be agitated. He gently pushed his friend back down into the bag. The next thing he knew, the American agent took a swing at him and connected with his jaw. While there was not much strength in the blow, it hurt like hell anyway.

“Napoleon. Stop! It is Illya. Look at me.”

Napoleon stopped, confused. He looked more closely. “Illya? Illya? Oh shit, I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“No, I am fine. But please lie back and hold still.”

“Illya…I’m so cold.”

“I have just the thing for you. I have to warm it up. Will you stay in the sleeping bag?”

Napoleon nodded.

“Good, I will be right back.” Illya wrapped a blanket around himself, stepped into his boots and quickly exited the tent making sure the tent flap was closed securely. He rummaged around in the emergency kit and retrieved a small box that he had packed for cold weather emergencies. He brought it over to the campfire which still had a small pot of water heating. Carefully, he poured the contents into the water and stirred until everything had dissolved. Making sure the water was warm he poured the liquid into two camp mugs and carried them into the tent.

“Napoleon, are you still with me? I have something that will help warm you.”

Napoleon started to sit up, but Illya stopped him. “No, remember you must not move around. Here, let me help you.” Illya lifted his partner’s head and held a mug to his lips. Napoleon tasted the liquid tentatively. It was warm and very sweet. He tried to grab the mug and drink more quickly, but Illya forced him to slow down.

“Easy, my friend, the trick is to warm you up, not make you vomit by consuming this too rapidly.” Illya swallowed a bit of the liquid from his own mug. He grimaced as the liquid was way too sweet even for his palette and the flavor brought back too many memories of his days in medical.

“This is delicious, Illya! Is there more?”

“There is plenty.” Illya poured another mugful.

“What is it?”

“I am not so sure that I want to tell you, my friend. I am afraid you will never speak to me again.”

“No, Illya! This taste like the nectar of the gods! Really, what is it?”

Illya smiled, “ Hot Green Jello. When mixed with hot water and ingested it helps to warm you up and the glucose gives the body much needed energy.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Illya shook his head. “Best damned green Jello, I’ve ever tasted!”

Illya laughed, “I will be sure to tell the medical staff that you want it for every meal.” Illya hesitated. He was loath to bring up the subject, however if something happened to Napoleon during the night, Illya still needed to know the location of the microdot. “Napoleon, I am sorry to have to ask this, but do you still have the microdot? Mr. Waverly indicated it was not one of the fakes.”

His partner was beginning to drift off to sleep. Illya shook him and asked again.

“Under scar…back of left leg…near back of knee…” the mumbled words were barely audible.

Illya checked and the microdot was indeed there. Satisfied, he laid down next to his friend, pulled him in close for warmth and slept.