Basic Instinct

Chapter 1

"What now," sighed Relena as she shuffled some papers on her desk.
So far today she had settled down four angry people, signed two agreements,
sat through three meetings, and had delivered one speech. It wasn't
even noon yet.

She had been pulled out of her work by a loud knocking on her
door. She rubbed her throbbing temples and stood up. The person didn't
stop knocking and the repeated banging went right in time with the pounding
of her headache.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said hoarsly. The knocking didn't
stop and she was growing very annoyed. "I said I'm coming."

She opened the door rather abruptly and there stood a sheepish
looking Duo Maxwell. He had joined the Preventers shortly after the
Eve Wars.

"Uh, hi Relena," he smile cheerfully. "Lady Une needs to talk
to you."

"Alright, thanks Duo, I'll get over there as soon as I finish
the paper I'm doing."

"Ok, I'll let her know, oh, and Relena, try to relax, you're
working to much." She smiled thankfully to him and nodded. Whistling
he made his way back to his office. They had intercoms, but they liked
to talk face to face which was one of the reasons Relena liked working
in the preventer base. Everyone was like family.

An hour later she set the completed paper down. Rubbing her
forehead, she stood up and streached. One more colonies problems taken
care of.

She made her way down to Lady Une's office. Stopping occasionaly
to say hi to one person or another.

Knocking on the door, she went into Une's office. Une was busy
on the phone, but she motioned with one hand for Relena to take a seat.

As she waited for Lady Une to finish talking, Relena looked around
the room. It had a quiet atmosphere, like the lady who used it. The
walls were a deep navy and white curtains fluttered at the windows. The
chairs were the lightest blue and made a nice contrast to the mahogany
floor and desk. A couple of fern plants made the room very attractive.

Finally the phone call was complete.

Lady Une turned and looked at her weary companion. "Hello, Relena,
how have you been?" Relena smiled, the older woman had become her friend
since the day Libra had exploded.

"Not too bad, its been a very busy day."

"You mean morning," Lady Une laughed, "it just now turned noon.

"True, although it seems longer," Relena replied. She sank back
further into the chair.

"I called you in here to talk about a trip to Washington D.C to
arrange an agreement with the President."

"Sounds ok, when am I to leave?" asked Relena.

"Two days from today."

"Ok, well I have a million papers to do before I get home, and
I have to squeeze lunch in there somehow."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later then."

Relena stood up and walked out the door. Deciding she didn't
have time for lunch she went straight to her office, ignoring the rumbling
of her stomach.


Chapter 2

Relena checked in her baggage and headed for her gate. She was
surprised to see Quatre waiting there.

"Hi Relena, Lady Une asked me if I would like to take a flight
with you to D.C. since I have some business there. If thats ok with you
that is."

"Its fine Quatre, in fact its great. I haven't seen you in the
longest time and since its a private jet there usually isn't anyone to
talk to." She gave him one of her bright smiles and they boarded the
plane.

As the small jet took off Relena felt her breath catch. She had
never like take offs. Quatre noticed and squeezed her hand. She smiled
greatfully.

Finally they were in the sky and flying and Relena was able to
relax.

"So what have you been doing lately," asked Quatre. They were
about three hours into the flight and passing over Northern Montana.

"Work," replied Relena simply and then she laughed. Quatre joined
her, his own rich laugh echoing off the walls.

Suddenly the plane lurched, cutting their laughter short.

"What was that," asked Relena.

"Probably just some turbulance." Sure enough, when they looked
outside they saw that they were surrounded by dark, angry looking clouds.
Lightning flashed every now and then, some too close for comfort.

The plane lurched again and sent Quatre straining against his
seatbelt. The plane was slightly tilted down, like they were landing.
He pressed his intercom.

"Hey, is everything alright up there? It feels like we're landing."
Quatre waited for the reply to come. It didn't.

"What the.." he said, then got up and burst through the cockpit
door. The pilot was sitting in the chair. A foul burning odor was picked
up by Quatre's sensitive nose. It smelled like burning flesh. The pilot
had been electrocuted.

He grabbed the controls, but quickly let go after he was shocked.
They wouldn't work.

He rushed back to Relena and threw her on the ground, sheilding
her with his body.

"What's going on?" she asked, the fear showing in her voice.

"We're going to crash, close your eyes." The plane tilted furthur
down and Quatre saw all of his past memories, the flashed before his eyes
and soon stinging tears were dropping down his face. Relena didn't cry
all her tears had dried up.

Then, they heard a splash. Water started gushing in through the
weakened seams. They hit the bottom of the lake with a lurch. Quatre
jumped right up and started for the exit.

"Come on Relena, we only have a few seconds before the plane
fills with water." She got up, shaking from the sudden dizziness. She
made her way over to Quatre. He grabbed her and then kicked open the
window exit. Water flooded in and Relena had no time to scream. She
gulped a huge breath and Quatre pulled her out.

Kicking furiously Quatre drove for the surface. The brighter
sheen on the waters top called to him menacingly and he was losing oxygen
and strength fast. Relena tried to kick, but the fear and panic that
was coursing through her body had paralyzed her. She could only hope
Quatre would reach the top before she ran out of air.

Finally, with a mighty splash, Quatre burst through the surface.

Chapter 3

He drew in a deep breath and felt the air joyously come into his
lungs. He paddled for the shore with the little energy he had left.

What seemed like hours later, he finally reached the sandy banks
of the lake. He drew Relena up onto the shore after him and looked to
check how she had fared.

Relena had passed out through everything, but she was still breathing.
He sighed, relieved. Then exhaustion took over and sank into a deep sleep.

Chapter 4

When he awoke, the clouds had cleared away and it was night. He
looked up at the sky and saw billions of stars. More than you could normally
see from Earth.

He then remembered where he was and quickly turned to check on
Relena, she was still out.

But as he looked, she stirred and opened her eyes.

Looking up, all Relena could see was a blur. Then her vision
cleared and she could see Quatre.

"Quatre, where are we?" she asked, clearly confused.

"We crashed Relena, we're somewhere in Montana I'm guessing."
Relena gasped. She sat up and it felt like every bone in her body was
broken.

Quatre himself was pretty sore. Suddenly Relena pointed to his
leg.

"Quatre, what happened?" she asked. His leg was bloody, and from
where she was sitting, it looked as if it had been badly broken. He looked
down and noticed. As soon as he noticed it, it felt as if there were
a thousand bees stinging him at once.

"I can't believe I didn't notice this, it must of happened while
we crashed. Well, if Heero can do it, I guess I can." He sat and grabbed
a hold of it. Then with a resounding crack it snapped into place. Relena
winced, she could almost feel the pain herself.

Quatre on the other hand passed out. Relena rushed over to him,
"Quatre, wake up." But he didn't. She pressed her hand against his forehead
and drew it back sharply, it was burning!

She rushed to the side of the lake and tore off a piece of her
skirt. She soaked it in the water, then she preceded to use it, rubbing
down Quatre's burning skin.

Finally he cooled. Relena sat there, not knowing what to do.
She did know one thing though. She was parched. From common sense she
knew she couldn't drink the lakes water though. Deciding Quatre would
be ok if she left him, she decided to go look for something to drink.

The lake was surrounded by a pine forest and she could see pretty
well through the tall trees. Slowly she made her way across the pine
needled ground. About half a mile out, she thought she heard something.

A tiny trickle of flowing water was coming from her right. In
her joy she ran towards it. A small brook flowed through the forest.

Somehow she remembered that flowing water was ok to drink. Silently
thanking her science teacher, she scooped up a mouthfull and drank up
the crystal clear liquid.

After she had her full she remembered about Quatre. Which brought
up another problem, how was she going to get the water back to him.

She sat there for awhile, trying to think of a way to carry the
water.

"Come on Relena, you're supposed to be able to solve all problems,
surely you can solve this one," she told herself. Then she had an idea,
ripping the bottom half of her skirt off, she soaked it in the water,
praying the idea would work. Finally when it was soaking, she made her
way back to camp. As she broke through to the beach, a very angry Quatre
was struggling to stand.

"Quatre what are you doing," she asked, surprising him. He turned
around and crumpled to the ground.

"Where have you been? You had me worried to death," he shouted
at her. Growing angry Relena shouted right back at him.

"I was getting water so we wouldn't dehydrate. How was I supposed
to know you would wake up before I got back?" She threw the sopping
material at him and sat down fuming.

Quatre picked it up and stared at her. Not quite knowing what
to say after her temper tantrum. He had never seen her angry before.

He lifted the material to his lips and sucked the moisture out
of it, glad for every drop that slid down his dry throat.

"Look Relena," he said after he had finished "drinking", "I was
worried about you, I didn't mean to make you mad."

"I know Quatre, I'm sorry for blowing up at you, but I'm kinda
under some stress right now," she answered.

"I completely understand," he replied and then started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing," he replied. But secretly inside he was wondering
at the absurdity of it all, he had always had a crush on Relena, now he
was stuck in the middle of nowhere, alone with her.

They sat in silence, then gradually, both fell asleep.

Chapter 5

It was morning when they woke up, and the sun was shining brightly
in the sky. It was almost like a normal day.

"But its not a normal day," thought Relena wryly. She was stranded
in the middle of nowhere with only an injured Gundam pilot.

Quatre was thinking along the same lines. He had only a Vice-Foreign
Minister with him, and he was injured.

"Well, before we do anything, I need to dive down and get any
supplied off the plane that I can," he announced out loud. Relena looked
at him shocked.

"And how are you going to do that," she asked, "you have a broken
leg."

"I'll manage," he replied evenly. Standing up he shakely made
his way to the lakes edge. Dropping in he swam out to about where he
thought the plane had sunk to.

"But its almost 25 feet down," called Relena, but to no avail,
he was already underneath water.

Quatre opened his eyes in the murky depths and looked for the
plane, finally he spotted the tail potruding in front of him about 5 feet
away.

He rose to the surface. Catching his breath he contemplated on
what he was going to do now. Taking in a lung full of air, he dived.

Scrambling into the plane he could feel his head pounding with
lack of air. He broke open one of the compartments that held the air
pieces for when cabin pressure changed.

He slipped it over his head and gulped for air. None came, growing
scared he tried again. This time he got a faint breathful of air.

"Thank Allah," he thought. He started searching around the small
cabin for something they could use. Grabbing a couple of cushions, he
pushed them out the plane door to where they would float to the top of
the lake.

He looked in the cupboards and found some of the ridiculously
small mixed snacks they gave out during flights, deciding these were
better than nothing, he put them in a plastic bag and attached it to one
of his beltloops.

An emergency medical kit was always kept on the plane so he grabbed
it too. Finally one other thing caught his eye, a sharp knife that was
used in case something needed to be cut.

Finding no more he made his way to the open door with the findings
in hand. As soon as he was out, he pulled off his oxygen mask and started
to frantically kick for the surface.

Relena meanwhile was about to dive in the water after him. She
had seen some plane cushions come up, but that was five minutes ago, and
Quatre still hadn't appeared. Just as she was about to dive down, she
saw bubbles and then Quatre surfaced.

She swam to him, pushing one of the cushions for him to hold on
to and rest.

They swam in silence pushing the meager findings of Quatre with
them.

When they reached the surface it was all Quatre could do not to
collapse from exhaustion and pain in his leg.

A couple minutes later, Relena could feel her stomach growl. She
was starving.

"Hey Quatre, you didn't happen to find any food did you," she
asked hopefully.

"Just a bag of those mixed snack packets."

"Anything is better than nothing, can I have one?" she asked.
He nodded and tossed one to her. Then he grabbed one for himself, ignoring
his brain telling him that they shouldn't waste the food when they had
no idea of when they would be found. But he was hungry, so he ignored
logic for once.

They eat what little they had in silence. Finally Relena spoke.

"When do you think we will be found?"

"I really wish I knew," he replied. "I have a tracker on me,
but the water ruined it. I have no idea if it will ever work."

Relena frowned, but didn't show her dissapointment. Instead she
sighed and leaned back against the sand.

"We need to find somewhere to build shelter," said Quatre suddenly.
He had a feeling that they were in for some hard days, and he didn't want
to be out in the open, unprotected.

She nodded, "there were some branches scattered about near the
brook where I had gotten the water, that might be good for a shelter."

He nodded, and after getting up, Relena helped him through the
forest. It took longer than if she had been alone, and she was growing
tired with Quatre leaning against her, but eventually they made it.

Quatre looked around and said, "this is perfect, can you go get
the rest of our supplies Relena?"

"Sure," she answered, and made her way back to camp.

Chapter 6

By the time she had gotten back, Quatre had the frame of their
shelter up against a tree. A cool wind was blowing and Relena shivered
in spite of herself.

"Its growing colder, hopefully we will be able to make a fire."
Relena nodded her agreement and went to work helping him fill the spaces
between the branches with whatever she could find.

When they had gotten the modest shelter halfways usable, Relena
picked up handfulls of pineneedles and scattered them inside to make a
fairly comfortable sitting area.

It was growing darker and the sun was setting behind the tree tops.
Relena was starting to really wish she hadn't tore half her skirt off.
Quatre noticed and looked concerned.

"Relena, would you like my pants, you look like your freezing."
Without waiting for her to answer, he carefully stripped them off and
threw them at her. He had deep green boxers on and the bottom half of
him seemed to blend in with the pine needles.

"No Quatre, you keep them. I'll be fine." He shook his head
and reluctantly she pulled them on. The one leg was covered with his
dried blood, but at least it was warm.

"Thanks Quatre," she said. Then she decided to look at what
was in the first aid kit. Inside was some antiseptic, a roll of guaze,
bandaids, some assorted pills, and to her relief, some matches.

Gathering some dried tinder, and some bigger branches, Relena
struck one of the matches, she placed it in the tinder and tried to
coax a flame to life. She couldn't waste the matches, there weren't that
many.

Luckily a small flame sprung to life and slowly she added the
branches until she had a decent sized fire going. Quatre went over and
sat by it, trying to warm himself.

Quatre decided he would stay up and watch the fire, while Relena
went to sleep. She went inside the shelter and grabbed a cushion. She
layed it down by the fire and went to sleep with the warmth of the fire
lapping at her body.

Chapter 7

Sometime during the night Quatre had fallen asleep. He awoke
with a start and noticed the fire was just barely staying alive.

"Urgh," he cried and tried frantically to keep it going. But
it ended up sputtering out anyway. "Great," he said annoyed. Luck
just wasn't with him lately. Course his whole life it had never been.

Sure some would say he was lucky for living through the war, but
he had to fight during it. He sure didn't think that was luck.

Relena woke up to hear Quatre go, "great."

"What happened," she asked.

"I fell asleep and the fire went out," he sighed.

"Oh, I'm hungry, do you think there is any food around here? I
don't want to use what little we have."

"You could look around. Bring back anything you find, I can tell
you if its edible. But don't eat anything before hand. Who knows what
it could do to you."

"Alright." Rising, Relena streached and looked at Quatre. He
looked horrible. Black rings circled his eyes showing his exhaustion.
His leg had turned a horrible shade of black and blue, and he was as
white as a ghost. "Hey Quatre, try to get some sleep while I'm gone, you
look like you need it."

"Ok, be careful," he replied. He watched her make her way through
the trees and when she was out of sight, he leaned back and closed his
eyes.

Relena made her way through the trees silently muttering to herself.
Suddenly she tripped over a root and went sprawling onto the forest floor.
This was the last thing to tip the scale and she started bawling.

The things just kept piling up, crashing, hunger, thirst, trying
to survive, and it had only been about 3 days. She didn't know if she
could handle anymore if she couldn't even handle three days.

She picked herself up and willed herself to stop crying. Finally
when she had gotten the tears to stop she continued on her way. Pretty
soon she reached a clearing.

There was a deer and her fawn in the middle, they were eating
the grass and watching them, Relena forgot about everything. They were
so beautiful.

Suddenly out of the bushes launched a bobcat. It ran after the
fawn and with a swift tackle, pinned it to the ground. Relena could only
watch in horror as the fawn screamed its pain. She could feel herself
lurch when the scream suddenly stopped.

The bobcat ripped into the soft belly of the fawn and started
eating the intestines, its favorite part. If it hadn't of been sick, it
would have been funny. Seeing this overly large cat slurping up the
intestines like a spaghetti noodle.

Finally it finished its meal and stalked off. Relena waited for
a couple minutes and then cautiously made her way to the mutilated fawn.

A thought formed in her head that just couldn't be ignored. A
fawn was food. People eat deer all the time. Ignoring the queasiness
in her stomach, Relena grabbed the small neck of the deer and attempted
to pull it.

It was heavy, but she managed to get it to drag it. All the while
she thought, "why am I not sickened by this? Its almost like another
side has taken over me. A more primitive side."

Chapter 8

Relena reached the shelter by noon. She had to frequently stop
to rest. That little deer was a large load for her. Quatre was up from
his nap and was attempting to start a fire.

His soldier instincts told him something large was coming up behind
him and he turned suddenly. There was Relena, her hands covered with
blood and a small deer dragged behind her.

"Did you kill that," he asked, shock registering into his voice.

"No," Relena replied stonily. "A bobcat attacked it while I watched.
When it finished, I grabbed it and dragged it back here."

Quatre couldn't say anything. He was amazed that Relena, pampered
as she had been was able to drag a hundred pound deer let alone touch it
back to camp. He didn't mention it to her that the bobcat had probably
watched her the whole time.

"Well," he said finally. "I'm hungry, hand me that knife and I'll
cook some up." Nodding mutely Relena handed it to him. A cold numbness
had come over her and she was in shock over what she had done. She had
touched a mutilated deer, and it hadn't bothered her a bit. Something
had to be wrong with her.

When Quatre finally had the deer cooked, she ate it silently, all
the while envisioning the poor fawn get killed, over and over again.

Quatre watched her, never offering a comment or consolation. He
thought it would be best not to talk to her right now.

They decided Relena would stay up that night and as it grew dark,
Relena could hear something snuffling as it approached. She grabbed a
stick, ready to protect herself. Then she could hear the sounds of sloppy
eating and she remembered. The deer!

She cautiously approached where the deer was laying and saw a
pair of bright eyes. Her midnight visitor was a raccoon. She threw the
stick at it and it scampered off into the bushes. She sighed, relieved
that she had only had a raccoon to contend with.

She leaned over and picked up the stick when she heard a low
growl behind her. Slowly she turned around and saw a very angry looking
black bear. Fear swallowed her in its grasp and she stood paralyzed.

All reason left her and she screamed. The bear swiped and hit
her in the arm with a resounding thud. She could feel the bite of its
claws sink into her skin and she screamed again.

Chapter 9

She dropped to the ground and passed out from the pain. Which
saved her life. The bear, thinking she was dead, sniffed her and went
over to the deer which was a more familiar food. It grabbed it and
dragged it back to whereever it had come from.

Quatre had awaken from her screams and was frantically looking
for her in the pitch black night. He saw a big bear rumble away and felt
his breath catch. He made no noise though and watched the bear drag
away their deer.

When it was gone he went over to where Relena lay immobile. Her
arm was broken and marked with multiple lacerations.

"Oh Relena," he said. Tears threatened to come to his eyes. He
picked her up and ignored the throbbing of his leg. Slowly he stumbled
back to the fire and grabbed the first aid kit. He poured the antiseptic
over the cut and heard her moan.

Regretting that he was hurting her he grabbed the guaze and
wrapped it around the large scratches. Then he clipped it and sat silently
waiting for her to regain consciousness.

He was long in waiting. Relena had a fever by a half an hour
lately. And she still hadn't woke up. He spent the rest of the night
cooling her with water from the brook.

Around dawn she started to stir. She opened one eye and then
another. And in another instant, she was screaming. Her arm felt like
it was on fire. The searing pain crawled up and down her damaged limb
and just about made her wish that she had just died instead.

Quatre tried to get her to settle down. If she kept flopping
about she would hurt her arm. Finally when he gave up trying to talk to
her, he pinned her beneath him. Her sobs rose to a shattering point and
it was all his ears and heart could take.

"Relena, you have to stop moving, you'll hurt your arm even more,"
he told her. Now from the struggle his own wound was beginning to hurt
him.

"This is just great," he sighed. "Both of us hurt and we still
haven't been rescued." If he had been all alone, he might have cried
right then.

Finally, Relena's tears subsided and she calmed down. Quatre
unpinned her and got her some water. Gratefully she sipped it from his
hands. Occasionaly some fell all over her because she was still shaking.

"Quatre, are we ever going to get out of her. I always thought
nature was nice and fluffy, but really, nature is red in tooth and claw."

"I don't know Relena, I really don't know." And he didn't know.
Unless his transmitter miraculously started working, he doubted they would
ever be found.

Thoughts had been forming in Quatre's mind. What if the plane
crash hadn't been an accident at all. They could be in grave danger. In
fact, they could be being watched right now!

At that thought, his soldiers instincts started picking up. He
fine tuned his hearing and listened for a snap of a twig or a stiffled
cough. But he didn't hear any. Sighing he relaxed, he didn't have to
worry for now. But he would keep a sharper look out. And he wouldn't
tell Relena, she didn't need any more added stress.

"Actually," he mused to himself, "for a spoiled princess, she has
been taking this awful well."

Relena was meanwhile thinking the same thing. "So many people
want to kill me. Was all this planned?" She wouldn't tell Quatre, it
would just worry him. Plus, he had probably already figured it out.

"Quatre, are you truly happy now that the war is over?" asked
Relena, trying to make small talk. She just wanted to forget she was
stranded in the middle of Montana with a broken arm and a hurt companion.

"No," he said simply. "I wish I could be happy. But I still have
memories. Of killing, of hurting, and of losing my father. And I'm lonely."

"I'm sorry Quatre. I too know how awful it is. Especially the
loneliness."

Quatre looked at her in surprise. "But what about Heero?"

Giving a sharp laugh, Relena replied, "you know that would never
happen. Heero isn't meant to be around people. He doesn't want to feel
or be human. He thinks himself to be a machine, and as long as he thinks
that, he will be."

"We all have tried with him Relena," Quatre replied, sensing her
pain. "He is the only one who can change himself. But because of his
training, he believes there is no use for it. Why feel and be hurt when
you can just not feel at all is his perspective. He will never change
because of it."

"I know, I just don't want to be lonely any more." A small tear
slid down her face and without thinking, Quatre reached over and brushed
it off. Relena looked at him in surprise.

"Oops, sorry," he said sincerely. He mentally kicked himself.
She liked Heero, not him. And why was he interested in her all of a sudden.
Because he heard Heero was out of the picture, or because he admired her
for being strong?

He decided that now would probably be a good time to try to find
some food. He needed to go clear his head.

"I'm going to go find some food, unfortunately the bear got all
of our deer." Relena just nodded. Inside her head was a whirl of thoughts.

"Does Quatre like me?"

Chapter 10

Quatre trompped through the undergrowth. Relena had said there
was a field this way. And a field meant food. His leg pained him every
time he took a step.

By the time he reached the field his leg felt like it was on fire.
He knew he shouldn't use it but desperate times call for desperate measures.

He found a log and sat down for awhile. Looking around he saw
places where he could set traps. Making a mental note to grab his shoelaces
from camp later he stood up and went to gather.

There really wasn't that much a human could eat in the field.
At last he found some dandelions, picking all he could he put them into
one of his pockets. At least they would have some vegetation. There
was also some wild chicory.

"Well, people use it in tea," he laughed. Those went with the
dandelions. "I really wish I could find some sassafrass." But he didn't.

Picking some other assorted plants he pocketed them. He really
didn't know that much about edible plants so he decided to play it safe
and only pick the ones he knew were edible.

Resting once more on the log, Quatre found a sense of pride. He
was surviving. Putting his throbbing leg into movement, he slowly made
his way back to camp.

Relena was idly poking at the fire with a stick she had found
near where she was sitting. Then she would take it and run it across
the ground in a series of patterns that just didn't make sense to Quatre.

"What are you doing?" Relena jumped at the sound of his voice.
Turning around she noticed that he was right behind her.

"Amazing," she thought to herself. "He has a broken leg and I
still didn't hear him coming up behind me."

Then out loud she answered him, "I was just drawing some plans
I have."

"Oh really, of what?" He came over and sat down beside her.


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.