Try Until You Can't…

Note: Okay, so I thought that there was something between Declan and Lindsay when I watched the movie and I was so bitter when they killed her off so I decided to write an AU story about it all… Lindsay was a sweet character and they could have done so much with her. And the nickname comes from shortening Declan to Deck then Decks then Dex… makes sense? Maybe only in my little head? Oh, and I can't really remember the getaway scene perfectly, so it's been changed a bit… oh, and the whole story's obviously going to go a bit AU… okay, that's it… enjoy… :)

They made it to the chopper and Lindsay hit the floor with a scream of pain. "Get it out, Ethan! Make it stop!"

Declan looked back and froze. What was wrong with her? He wanted to scream at Ethan to fix her, do something, anything!

"Get us in the air!" Ethan yelled, snapping him from his reverie. He turned back to concentrate on the task at hand. He had to get away from this chopper otherwise it wouldn't matter what Ethan did for Lindsay. He started them towards the windmill field.

"Grab the defibrillator!" Ethan yelled.

Zhen grabbed it and placed it on the floor beside Lindsay's wriggling form.

The missile lock blinked on and he glanced back, yelling, "Hang on." He froze again for a minute, seeing Lindsay. Jesus Christ. If Ethan didn't save her… oh god. He turned back, dodging in and out of the windmills. He was going to save them so that Ethan could save her. He had to make a quick turn to dodge the missile, which flew harmlessly into a windmill, exploded and knocked it to the ground. He heard Ethan yell, "Zhen!" and looked back, clenching his jaw. Zhen was hanging out of the chopper by the defibrillator. He wanted to yell, selfishly, for them to let her go if they couldn't pull her in quick enough. He was that focused on Lindsay. He would do anything, sacrifice anything right now, even the lives of the three people in the back, for her. "Shit." He tried to stay as steady as he could to make it as easy as possible.

The missile lock beeped again and he swore again. "We've got another one!" He was glad they'd managed to pull her in in time. "Hang on!" He dodged it again and started to get angry. "Jesus Christ. That's it." He aimed the chopper straight at a windmill, praying that he'd timed it right. It took all the concentration he had but he made it through the blades.

The chopper following them wasn't so lucky. The windmill's heavy blade crashed straight down on the cockpit, destroying it completely. He turned back with a triumphant "Yes!" just in time to see Ethan yell, "clear!" and bring the paddles down on Lindsay's chest.

She slumped, her body limp. His heart jumped into his throat. Please let her be okay, please…

"Charge it again!" Ethan was sweating, checking her pulse and looking like he'd had his heart torn out.

The machine beeped Ready and he brought the paddles down onto Lindsay's limp body. "Clear!"

She surged upright with a gasp of pain and he clutched her to his chest, murmuring, "You're alright, you're fine Lindsay."

Declan let out the breath he didn't know he was holding the whole time, feeling light headed and dizzy.

Ethan pushed Lindsay gently back to the floor of the chopper. "We have to scan your head to make sure we got the charge…"

"Yeah, sure," she said faintly. "Thanks Ethan. Thanks for everything." Then she blacked out.

"Lindsay!" Ethan checked her pulse. She was okay, just unconscious. He turned to Declan who hadn't taken his eyes off of Lindsay and had to hold himself back from jumping from the controls to take her in his arms. "Get us to the drop point as fast as you can!"

Declan nodded grimly, glancing at Linsday then turned back to the controls determinedly.

Ω Ω Ω

They landed at a secure base in Switzerland and everyone jumped out, racing to get Lindsay inside and secure. First, Luther, then Ethan with Lindsay in his arms, and Declan and Zhen guarding the rear.

Inside, Declan watched Ethan go to work on Lindsey. She was stripped down to her tanktop and pants, both ripped to the point of indecency to reveal multiple wounds: bruised ribs (probably broken, he thought miserably), a swollen ankle, cuts and bruises. He flinched as Ethan reset her fingers. The only small mercy was that she had passed out when they'd landed and hadn't come to since.

She was stable, her breathing even and her eyelids twitched as if she was dreaming. He prayed they were good dreams.

Ethan moved to the other hand, shocked that Lindsey had been able to move as well as she had in their escape. He made it through three fingers before the pain brought her back.

She shot up with a gasp and Declan resisted the urge to rush to her.

She was breathing hard and fast, her body screaming at her in pain. "God!"

"Lins." Ethan was beside her, arms wrapped around her slight frame. "It's okay, you're okay… you're safe."

She blinked back tears, said, "Good," faintly then passed out again.

"Can't you give her morphine or something!" Declan exploded finally.

Ethan looked over at him. "Zhen's gone to get some."

Declan clenched and unclenched his jaw as Ethan cleaned some of her worse wounds. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, you can get a car. Take Luther and get some transportation for us. As soon as she's stable, we're gone. We've got to get her back to the U.S. as soon as possible."

Declan dropped his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Ω Ω Ω

He watched her across the plane's cabin. She was sitting close to Ethan and they were talking in low, serious voices. He needed to talk to her badly.

Alone.

Ethan was nodded, putting a comforting hand on hers then got up and moved towards the cockpit.

Now.

Declan all but launched himself out of his chair and tried to calmly walk towards her. He sat down beside her, suddenly nervous. He had nothing to say.

"Hey Dex," she said softly, without turning her head from the window. She'd always been able to do that.

He closed his eyes. Just hearing his nickname from her lips made him want to throw himself on her and smother her with hugs and kisses and other silly mushy stuff but he didn't. Instead, he replied with a subdued, "Hey."

Her hand moved on the armrest, her pinky – her only unbroken finger – hooked onto his. "Hey."

He relaxed. That was all it took. He wanted to kiss her but that was probably impossible, given the look of her face.

She read his mind. "I'm a mess."

"You're gorgeous. I want to kiss you."

"You'll have to wait, Casanova."

She was tired, he could feel it – tired and tense.

"I still remember how you looked on our first date. You were so suspicious…"

She half-laughed. "Tell me…"

Ω Ω Ω

Okay, that's the beginning, let me know what you think!