Disclaimer: I'm only doing this here on the first chapter, so listen up. I don't own em, I didn't creat the universe, I just like playing around in it.

Rating: I left it at PG-13 because there's nothing explicit. There is however reference to gore, an occasional detail or two, that's it. This is mostly a drama, broody from time to time, a bit of action from time to time, etc

Author's Note: This, my friends, is one of my emotion stories. They happen mostly as a vent for some intense emotional outburst, which lately, has been more often than I'd like. -.- I've got a fair bit done already, but it'll be a few days between each post and hopefully-
Katchi: she won't catch up with herself. -.-
CairisRin: Katchi! ^.^ Stupid muse!
Katchi: Don't worry folks, I'm full of broody ideas!
CairisRin: ~.~

Second Author's Note: (Skip down to the story if you don't want to read about me whining)
Can I just say AHHHHH! AmethystStone, where did you go? O.O I only made it through one of your stories when suddenly the rest went *poof* and no more cool torture fics! Arg! *pout* Flamers be damned! They were funny and cool, and torturous and nifty and addicting, do you hear me addicting!! and *sniff* if there's any chance at all that I can read them...*sniff sniff* please...can I? Can anyone help me? *begs*
Katchi looks at CairisRin in shock, then horror: Ewww! Stop that! You're getting my fur all wet!!
CairisRin sniffs loudly: Sorry, I'm okay now. All you nice people can read the story now...I'm okay...really...

----

There was a steady rhythm pounding in his ears, drawing him slowly from the black of unconsciousness. Overhead, the call of a birds echoed, and he could vaguely make out the rustle of the leaves, but it all came sluggishly to his awareness.

Joe Hardy slowly opened his eyes but most of what he saw didn't make any sense. Feeling dizzy he twisted about trying to figure out where he was. The slight movement sent jolts of pain through an aching stiff body, bringing tears to his eyes and turning the world upside down once again.

It was a while before he'd managed to get his breathing under control and dared to once more open his eyes. Things were still fuzzy, shadows intermixing with the broken streams of light, but slowly the confusion eased away.

Turning, this time with substantially less pain and more numbness, Joe found himself in the belly of a helicopter, or what was left of it. The wall that had separated the pilots from the back was savagely ripped asunder, half of the nose and body of the helicopter smashed into the ground. Both pilots were dead, one, as crumpled as the side of the helicopter, and the other, speared through the gut by a broken tree that had not only had enough force to scour the pilot but the dividing wall and the man on the other side as well.

Had the tree missed the third occupant, it wouldn't have much mattered, for he wasn't fully there anyway, and Joe realized with a jolt just how much gore was displaced about the copter's remains. Stumbling out through the torn door into the fresh air, he sank to the ground and quickly gave up anything his stomach had to offer.

Sight leaving him again, Joe half stumbled, half crawled, from the smell of his own vomit till his back hit something hard and he sat still. The truth was he didn't think he had the energy to even see what it was. Strange pains were plaguing his body and it felt like his movements where being restricted, but he just couldn't reason why. Nothing was making any sense. What happened? His mind fuzzily questioned, though he couldn't hold any thought long enough to answer.

He wasn't sure how much time passed as the blackness hovered at the edge of his consciousness, or if he'd really even been awake, but when the chill wind seemed to brake through to his senses like a breath of life Joe cautiously opened his eyes again and looked about. Gratefully, things didn't turn as they had before, and for the first time that day, the world didn't seem so muddled.

Blinking against a dimming light, Joe looked up through the mass of jungle trees that surrounded him to the pink sky above. The sun was going down. The temperature although still fairly warm would be cooling soon with the lack of clouds to keep the heat in. Almost idly, Joe looked to the crumpled hull. It stood out like an abnormal rock, broken trees and shrubs leaving a scar in the jungle to mark the direction the helicopter had crashed from. But the jungle was thick, and Joe didn't think it'd suffer for long from its injury.

Then Joe looked down at himself, almost retching again from the sight of what covered his clothes. It was then that he realized he was handcuffed. But why...?

Memories flooded back with alarming speed. Memories of the diamond smugglers Joe and his brother Frank had stumbled across while on vacation in the Bahamas. Smugglers, three of which were now dead, the fourth must have either survived or fallen out-

With a sudden choking breath, Joe remembered further back, how the helicopter had gone down to begin with.

They'd been caught. The smugglers were going to kill them. There'd been a struggle. Joe remembered the gun had gone off. Remembered that Frank had been pushed out of the helicopter door... had fallen. And in the next moment the helicopter was going crazy, plummeting to the ground.

But there's no way Frank- Joe hesitantly breathed in, closing his eyes against the thought, although his heart knew the truth. There was no way Frank could have survived the fall.

Hot tears silently rolled down his cheeks, his throat burning with suppressed grief. It wasn't long before it overwhelmed him, and with a shuddering sob, Joe curled tightly on his side against the tree at his back. Pains shot along his arms unnoticed as the emotional turmoil of all that had happened in such a shockingly short amount of time consumed his mind. Broken sobs and ragged breaths joined the normal jungle harmony as the night fully descended, wrapping Joe and his grief in a blanket of darkness.