Title:Kindness of Enemies. Fandom:Smallville Pairing: Whitney/Clark, implied Rating: G Archive: Yes to Clark/Whitney and the 'Winter Holiday Story' Archive. Anyone else please ask. Notes: This was written for a Winter Holiday challenge. This year the Eid-ul-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, happened in early December. This is strongly inspired by a fic called "It's All About the Happy #2" by Kel. I've asked permission to include references back to that story.
The accent just came out when I tried writing a cold and pissed-off Whitney.
Whitney shivered in the cool air, again. He wasn't in Kansas anymore, no Sir! We sure didn't look up for the new Moon that ends Ramadan there.
With all due respect, what had the idiots in charge of the recruits been thinkin' when they had sent a squad of Marines to do part of their basic training in Afghanistan? OK, you can throw someone into the deep end of the pool hopin' that they were learn how to swim afore drownin' but you don't throw them into the friggin' Ocean durin' a Hurricane.
Pardon my French.
The squad had been out on a reconnoiter-practice mission in the mountains. This was an area controlled by the 'Northern Alliance' who were the allies of the States. It was supposed to be a cake-walk, not even potential trouble.
Until the first snowstorm of the season hit.
So, Kansas occasionally saw snowfalls. Fluffy white clumps driftin' down from the sky that you could watch from inside yer house. Maybe build a snowman and make snow angels with yer girl an' all.
Not a screamin' and howlin' batterin' ram of burnin' sand that scoured yer skin like Steel wool. NOT something that would reduce visibility to the guy standin' next ta ya!
And Kansas was flat 'nough that you could watch yer dog run away from home for two days. You didn't have to worry 'bout a step in the wrong direction could be a very looooooong step.
Sitting down until it cleared would have helped, 'cept the guys didn't want to share any body heat. The Idiots in Charge decided not to wait out the storm or call for help. Nuh-huh! They would get back to the base all by themselves. First thing that they did was get everyone to tie themselves to the same line so they would stay together.
Half the crew fell off'n the friggin' cliffs, includin' the Idiots in Charge. Then the survivors sat themselves down an' waited till they could see where they were goin'.
I dreamt that night about Clark an' that time by the frozen lake.
<<"Yeah." Whitney laid his head back on Clark's shoulder, closing his eyes. "I'm tired of being cold all the time."
Clark's hands rubbed over his stomach lightly as a cheek pressed against his own. "Don't worry, Whitney? I'll always be here to warm you up.">>
Damn! I kick myself for not figurin' things out early 'nough. Course, when I did, I freaked out and joined up with the Marines. Course, just thinkin' about him does warm me up a bit. My fiancee broke up with me on videotape. Course, we didn't have any private video tape players so the rest of my squad got to see her do it.
The next mornin' when we woke up we found out that no one had a compass nor knew the area well enough to find their way back after the storm had cleared. And the mountains were friggin' cold!
It us what was left a few days before we were rescued. Well, taken hostage by a bunch of guys who didn't seem to have been told that America was their friend. Do you know what was ironic? The bit o' Russian I learned from my Grandpa let me speak to the village headman. Once Ramadan is over, they promise to take me up to the border patrol so I can make my way home. It'll take me a while though.
So, tonight we're all just staring at the sky. Hopin' that the clouds will break. When it does, I can see the littlest sliver of the new moon 'gainst the black.
Well, all the folks that I was told were my enemies cheer and slap us on the back and offer us hot tea and all. A couple of the other marines happen to be Moslem as well, and they're OK to wait until I can bring back help.
So, Clark, I've been doin' a lot of thinkin' about how people tell me who my friends are and who my enemies are an'.... An' I think that I had better start figurin' out for myself since I can rely more on the kindness of my enemies than the help of my friends.
Title: Kindness of Enemies.