CONTROL
BY: KIM FITZSIMMONS

    "Boy, it's really coming down out there!" Scarlett commented as she moved aside the simple curtain covering the window. The wind howled outside the small cabin, blowing the falling snow around with fury. Scarlett dropped the curtain and turned to her companion, who was stoking the fire, "So much for getting back to base tonight!"

    Snake Eyes looked up at her and smiled, he figured he could handle at least one more day alone with the lady he loved.

    She joined him on the rug in front of the fire and leaned back against his chest. "When Stalker called he said it was snowing really heavily at base too. They won't risk sending Wild Bill to pick us up until it clears both there and here. It looks like we've got a reprieve!" Scarlett said as she turned to grin at him.

    Snake Eyes gave her one of his classic 'thumbs up' signals and wrapped his arms around her. Scarlett sighed and basked in his arms for a few moments before she noticed something. "Oops, firewood supply is running low, time to restock." Snake Eyes started to rise, but Scarlett got up first and pushed him back down. "No, you've gone out in that the last two times, my turn." Snake Eyes started to protest but she put her hands on his cheeks and said with a smile, "I'm just going to the woodpile, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl, I can tie my own shoes and everything!"

    He gave her a dirty look, but then his scarred his cracked into a smile and he threw his hands up in a gesture of defeat. She put her forest green coat on and started pulling her gloves on when she felt Snake Eyes come up behind her to tie a scarf around her face. As he secured it she rolled her eyes and he turned her to face him and signed, "I saw that. Don't stay out there too long."

    "Yes, mommy!" she giggled at him as she opened the door to venture out into the bitter cold, Timber followed her outside. Scarlett rounded the side of the cabin and began putting logs into a large canvas bag. She looked up as she heard Timber barking excitedly at something. She made her way towards the noise and she could just make out Timber's shape as he bounced around a fallen tree by the creek. Scarlett put her hand on Timber's back and peered into the tree branches where she saw a little nose twitch. "Oh, you silly beast, it's too cold out here to be harassing bunnies, let's get back inside."

    With that Scarlett turned toward the cabin, walking carefully along the icy ground, but Timber couldn't resist one last rush at the rabbit. This time the rabbit bolted, right towards Scarlett. Timber barreled after it with enthusiasm and bumped the bag holding the logs as he rushed by. The hard bump was all it took with the icy ground to send Scarlett to the ground, hard. She fell backwards and barely got out a startled gasp before her head hit a big rock and her vision went black. Unconscious, her body slid on the sloped ground and she slid down the embankment and fell into the frigid creek with a loud splash.

    Inside the cabin, Snake Eyes' head shot up as he heard something. Anybody else would have probably missed the sound of the splash amongst the noise of the blizzard, but not him. In an instant he was out the door and rounded the cabin to see Scarlett wasn't at the woodpile. Suddenly he heard Timber whining and he followed the noise until he saw the bag full of firewood laying partially spilled on the ground. Beside it was what looked like the outline of where a body had fallen to the ground and started to slide. Into the water.

    He leaped down to the water and found her immediately. Scarlett was on her back, her body submerged in the icy water. The water didn't reach her face, so there was no danger of drowning. As he lifted her sodden head he felt a large goose egg where it had hit the rock. Snake Eyes pulled Scarlett out of the frigid water and quickly carried her back to the cabin, Timber at his heels.

    He laid her down on the rug in front of the fire and began removing her wet clothing. He'd been hoping it was just her coat and jeans that had gotten wet. No such luck. Her sodden white turtleneck and purple fleece cardigan soon joined the wet coat and jeans in a pile on the floor. Snake Eyes sat back for a moment and clenched his fists, his palms sweating. Her underwear was soaked, it would have to come off too.

    Damn. His fingers felt thick and clumsy as he fumbled with the catches on her lacy bra and then her matching panties. God, why couldn't he stop shaking?! He was stripping off her wet clothes for practical reasons. He couldn't warm her up if she was wearing anything wet. This was purely practical. Yeah, right. So why was he sweating despite the fact his own clothes were now wet and cold? It might have something to do with the fact that this was the first time he'd seen Scarlett without clothes on.

    Although they were very close they had not taken their relationship to the next, physical, level. In his wildest dreams he'd never expected she was so perfect, so beautiful... He shook off his thoughts and wrapped Scarlett up in a thick blanket and started towel drying her waist length red hair. He couldn't get the picture of her naked body out of his mind.

    Her skin was creamy and flawless, her legs were long and slender and...Stop, think of something else. Check her breathing. Her chest rose and fell steadily, and on that chest was a pair of perfect...Stop, think of something else. He noticed her lips had a bluish tinge and her skin was still ice cold. Damn. She wasn't warming up quickly enough. He didn't need to look around the cabin to realize that the only thing in the cabin that would warm her up quickly enough to prevent hypothermia was his own body heat.

    Double Damn. Come on man, get a hold of yourself, this is Scarlett's life we're talking about. He was going to be damned uncomfortable, but he would just have to deal with it. He stripped off his own damp clothing and lay down on the floor beside Scarlett, wrapping the blanket around them both. He pulled Scarlett's ice cold body into his arms and began rubbing his hands over her skin. Her back was to his chest, and he held her as close to his own body as possible, pressing as much of his warm flesh as he could to her cold flesh.

    Snake Eyes placed one of his thighs between hers, warming her there. Despite how cold she was, everywhere Scarlett's skin touched Snake Eyes he burned. He tried to control his ragged breathing and gritted his teeth as he slowly continued running his warm hands over her entire body, holding her close. The trembling of her body began to ease and her skin regained a healthier shade. But Snake Eyes knew it was still too dangerous to leave her yet, despite his brain screaming at him to get his hands off her. So he stayed where he was, wondering at his lack of control.

    " How long have I trained and worked at controlling my mind and body to prepare for anything any battle can throw at me? I can control my breathing and heartbeat. I can concentrate and focus my thoughts and block out the world around me, no matter the distractions. But one look at Scarlett with no clothes on and I turn into a blithering idiot with raging hormones!"

    Although, in retrospect, even the Hard Master had never thought to test him this way. The Soft Master and Blind Master would have understood, they had both met Scarlett and were enchanted with her. The Soft Master had told him he would personally beat him senseless if he ever let Scarlett slip through his fingers. The Blind Master had asked him how long he'd been in love with Scarlett, and when Snake Eyes had been startled at the question the Blind Master had just laughed and said that even though he was blind there were some things he could see quite clearly.

    Snake Eyes looked at Scarlett's lovely face and thought to himself, "Seems like I was the last one to know." she was looking much better and the bump on the back of her head wasn't as large as it was before. "I should get some sleep as well," Snake Eyes thought, "I just hope I wake up before she does or I'll have a lot of explaining to do."

    Unfortunately, Snake Eyes didn't wake up first. Scarlett's eyes slowly cracked open the next morning and she felt a dull ache in the back of her head. She became aware that something was strange. First she noticed that it wasn't a pillow her cheek and hand were resting against, but a masculine chest. Her eyes widened as she realized that was not the only skin to skin contact. She carefully lifted the blanket and looked underneath to see they were both as bare as the day they were born.

    Scarlett wracked her sleep drugged mind to recall the events that could have led to her and Snake Eyes being stark naked under a blanket. They hadn't!....No, Scarlett was DAMN sure she would have remembered THAT!

    The last thing she remembered was Timber bumping her by the creek. The creek. She spotted the pile of her soaked clothing laying nearby. "I must have fallen in the creek," Scarlett thought to herself," He was warming me up with his own body heat!"

    As she made her realization she felt Snake Eyes' breathing change slightly, indicating he was waking up. Scarlett closed her eyes again and pretended to be asleep. Snake Eyes opened his eyes to see Scarlett had shifted position during the night. One leg had been thrown between his and she lay half on top of him, her cheek pillowed against his chest.

    He started to carefully extricate himself but froze when he felt her speak against his chest, "Was it good for you too?" Scarlett opened her eyes to see Snake Eyes looking horrified, like a kid caught with their hands in a cookie jar. Seeing this expression, she laughed, "It's okay, I realize I fell in the creek and you had to warm me up this way."

    Snake Eyes let out a huge breath of relief and basically scrambled to his feet, grabbing a nearby blanket and wrapping it around his waist. Seeing him so frantic to get away Scarlett quipped, "Was it something I said?"

    Snake Eyes signed to her, " No, I just had a hard enough time controlling myself when you were unconscious, never mind awake and aware."

    Snake Eyes having difficulty with self control?! "You did?!", Scarlett asked, her eyes wide with genuine shock.

    Snake Eyes signed back, "Yes, very HARD indeed." He put emphasis on the sign for hard, implying a very obvious double meaning.

    Scarlett blushed fiercely before she finally found her voice again, "Um, I think I'd better get dressed." She held the blanket closed in front of her chest and stood up, only to be seized by a dizzy spell. She nearly fell down but Snake Eyes was there and steadied her by putting his arms around her. They stood like that for a few moments, Snake Eyes with his hands on Scarlett's back and she had her hands against his chest. They were so caught up in each other that they hadn't registered the noise going on outside, a landing helicopter. They were still standing there when Stalker threw open the door and walked in.

    Stalker's eyes looked like they would pop out as he took in the sight in front of him. Snake Eyes and Scarlett bare except for the blankets they were wrapped in, Scarlett's hair in disarray and two piles of clothing on the floor. Stalker was so flabbergasted that he just stood there babbling incoherently, "Oh, I...Um,..Oh"

    Scarlett put out a hand in a calming gesture, "Stalker, this isn't what it looks like."

    Stalker looked at her and said, "You sure, girl? Cause it looks like you guys used your extra night away to full advantage." He finished his sentence with a pointed glance at the discarded clothing.

    Scarlett explained what she remembered and Snake Eyes filled in the gaps of Scarlett's accident and how he'd had to warm her up. Scarlett then went into another room to put on some clothes and Stalker talked to his silent friend as he did the same. "Oh man, you guys sure had me going! I thought for sure you had ... So you weren't tempted at all?" He asked with curiosity.

    Snake Eyes nodded his head in a way that made it look like he was embarrassed before he signed to Stalker, "I've never been so tempted in my life, she was unconscious and freezing to death and my hormones kept running away with me. All I could think of was how beautiful she was, how soft her skin was, and..." his signals trailed off as he saw Stalker grinning at him like an idiot, and he signed, "What?!"

    " So, one look at Scarlett without her clothes on and your legendary self control flies out the window. Hehehehehe." Stalker laughed, thoroughly enjoying this.

    Snake Eyes looked like he was going to wring Stalker's neck, he didn't find this funny at all. He threw the rest of his stuff into his duffle bag while occasionally shooting dirty looks at Stalker who was still chuckling.

    Scarlett came out dressed in a dry pair of blue jeans, a cream colored turtleneck and purple knit sweater, her own duffle bag on her shoulder. "Let's get back before Hawk gets steamed." She said and they started towards the helicopter where Wild Bill was waiting.

    Snake Eyes was finally feeling like he'd gotten himself and his thoughts under control and he walked beside Scarlett, feeling confident again.

    Scarlett looked at the man she loved and couldn't resist one little teasing comment, "We'll have to do that again some time." Although it was said in a conversational tone, Scarlett's words sent Snake Eyes' head spinning.

    He quickly motioned to Wild Bill that he'd just be one minute, and with Scarlett and Stalker watching in shock, Snake Eyes walked towards the shallow, frigid creek that started all this. And jumped in.

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