Hi Everyone! Apologies for the delay, but I have good new- I got a beta! So a huge thanks to RaySkywalker for all her help with this one! Hopefully the typos will be down to a minimum now. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you thought.
Rose xx

January 17th, 8;45am. Wharton State Forest, Byrnside Campground 1E

By the time Grace woke, Steve was pouring the last dregs of pancake batter onto the hotplate he'd set over the fire. A small stack lay beside him, covered by an upturned plate.
The young girl emerged from the tent, gloved hands rubbing sleep-crusted eyes.
She crouched beside Steve, holding her hands out beside the fire. He flipped the last pancake, golden brown coming up on top.
"Morning Gracie. How did you sleep?"
"Good." The word was half formed around a yawn.
"You awake yet?"
She laughed as he handed her a plate, flipping pancakes to her as she tried to catch them. He continued to pass out food to Danny before settling with his own breakfast.

By 12 o'clock they had their small camp packed up and they'd made it to the lookout Danny had been jabbering on about since they'd touched down in Jersey. And for once, Steve had to agree with his constant chatter. The place was beautiful. Tall boulders stacked together that overlooked the park on one side and showed a four-metre plunge into a snowy clearing on the other- a river running through it despite the freezing temperature.

They'd sat for half an hour before Grace had stood to go play among the towering rocks, and Steve and Danny had shuffled closer on the small rug they'd laid out. Danny lay across Steve, their arms wrapped around each other and for a while, the only sounds were Grace's occasional laughs. They stood at half past one, starting to strap on backpacks when they heard it. A scream. Piercing and terrified. Danny had shot off towards his daughter before Steve could blink. He followed quickly, freezing when he realised what was in front of him. Grace was cowering on the ground in front of a stock-still Danny and before her towered a bear. Black bears weren't that dangerous, Steve tried to remind himself. They rarely killed people. You just had to back away slowly. Danny knew that too. He looked towards his partner and that was when he knew things were about to go horribly wrong. He could see the look in Danny's eye, all rationality gone and protective father in its' place. He saw Danny prepare to move.
"Danny no!" With a rush, Danny was forward, running towards Grace and throwing himself in front of her. The movement startled the towering beast and it swiped. Grace screamed as her father was tossed through the air, going head over heels towards the ledge they'd admired on first arrival- Steve heard the thud a second later. Moving slowly was no longer an option, not when there was a scared animal standing over Grace. He leapt forward, taking a hold of Grace and throwing her to the side, putting himself between her and the bear. The bear took a swipe at him as it had Danny, a growl that could be of nothing but fear echoing through the once silent glade as he flew back, the backpack only half strapped on flying further than he had and following Danny over the drop off. The claws were blunt but the rocks he landed on were not and he could feel as his stomach was torn open. There was pain, but nothing could dull the sound of Grace's terror and he stood quickly, shaking off the injury, fumbling for the sidearm he'd precautionarily strapped on. He fired a warning shot next to the creature, the loud sound having the desired effect as the beast scampered. Steve collapsed, breathing heavily for a second before the image of his partner flying over the edge came leaping into mind. He stumbled to his feet and rushed over to Grace, scooped the sobbing girl into his arms.
"Grace are you hurt?" Even as the words came out he was checking her over, satisfied with her answer in the negative when he completed his check.
"I need to get Danno, come with me okay?" He held her hand and they rushed towards the old wooden stairway down to the river Steve had seen during lunch, the rickety beams safer than the straight drop Danny had taken to get down.

As soon as they got down Steve could see his backpack bobbing away down the river, but Danny had been luckier with his landing, falling to the bank. He turned to Grace.
"Sweetheart, I need you to be brave and stay here okay? I'm going to check on Danno and I want you to stay here."
"But-" He cut her off, hand on her pink cheeks.
"Be my brave girl now Gracie." She nodded, tear-filled eyes looking up at him.
"Good girl."

The minute Grace turned away, Steve was racing towards Danny. He tore his gloves off and rested a hand on Danny's neck. A sob welled up and he refused to let it loose as he felt a strong beat beneath his hands. Next was to check for a head injury; he felt over Danny's scalp, finding only a small bruise near his temple. Concussion then, but a quick look at Danny's pupils showed it likely wasn't too severe. He moved further down, there was no noticeable neck or back damage he could feel, nor broken ribs like he'd expected- clearly Danny had been protected by the layers of clothing he was wearing. When he got to his legs, that was where he saw the true damage. The bottom half had a strange bulge. He pulled his knife from his pocket, slicing through the first few layers of clothing. He could see what was clearly a break, but luckily not a compound fracture. He'd need to splint it, then somehow get Danny back to the car. It was then he realised the only way back to the top and carpark wasn't an option, the stairs he would never get Danny up and even then, it was a few hours hike at a brisk pace, with hills and small, rocky paths. They'd never make it. Danny was breathing alright, not bleeding anywhere as far as Steve could tell; he seemed stable.
"Danny can you hear me? There was no response, so he took his partner's hand. "Squeeze my hands if you can hear me Danny." Again, there was nothing. He took his knife and pressed it to the nail of Dany's thumb, consoled when the hand jerked back reflexively. Unconscious, but not so deeply as to not react to pain.

"Grace, you can come here." The small girl was quick to scamper over, coming to her knees beside her father.
"He's going to be just fine Grace. I want you to stay here while I grab some things okay?" She nodded, trusting him without question.

The first thing he did was take Danny's pack which had landed next to him, took out the first aid kit, a tarp and map the blonde had been carrying. It was the wilderness kit Steve had put together and Steve was relieved it had been in Danny's pack and not his which was somewhere downstream. He shuffled back to Danny. He set to work inflating the air slit he had in the kit, cut away Danny's thermal pants for a better look at the leg. The break looked clean.
"Grace, I need to fix Danno's leg, okay? I want you to close your eyes and block your ears for a second?" She did as she was told without question and Steve made quick work of setting the leg. A sharp crack echoes like gunfire and there was a small moan from the blonde. He took Grace's hand and she opened her eyes.
"He might be waking up sweety. He's going to be pretty sore, so I want you to hold his hand." Danny moaned again, his head starting to move.
"Uncle Steve I'm scared." He ran a hand across her head.
"He's okay. And we are all going to be okay. Trust me." She took Danny's hand and Steve moved back to splinting his leg, getting it secured.
"I need to get him off the snow alright? I'm going to roll him over and I want you to slide this sheet under him." He indicated the tarp and she nodded. He braced Danny's head and hip, hoping the support would be enough.
"Slide on three, okay?"
"One, two, three!" He rolled Danny gently, watching proudly as Grace did as asked, sliding the tarp almost all the way under. He hoped he hadn't been wrong about the neck and back. His stomach was burning but he had no time to worry about it. Danny moaned again, starting to shuffle. Steve looked around. They couldn't get back to the car. He was hurt, so was Danny. He was 5,000 miles from the place he knew. And he was scared.

January 18th, 5:30pm. Wharton State Forest, Storm Hut
Steve could hear someone calling his name from far off. He tried to ignore it, sleep feeling warm as it wrapped around him.
"Uncle Steve please wake up." There was only one person in the world who called him that; it was the same person for whom he'd do anything. He forced his eyelids up past the lead-weights that weighed them down, met with dim light and the face of a scared nine-year-old.
"Grace?" There were tears gathered in her eyes.
"You wouldn't wake up Uncle Steve."
In a rush, the last few days came back to him, camping, the accident, Danny- Danny. He sat up; he was resting against one of the cabin walls, having slumped over in his sleep. Relief flooded through him, Danny was in the same place he'd left him, dozing apparently peacefully by the fire which was only just starting to go out.
"I'm sorry Gracie. I was a little tired. But I'm alright now, I promise." He was glad she trusted him, because the statement couldn't be further from the truth. He stood slowly, a shiver running through him and nearly taking him off his feet. He noticed the still dripping clothes he was wearing and headed for the surviving pack, pulling out a dry tee-shirt and jeans; they weren't warm enough, but until his things dried they would do.
"Give me a sec to change, alright sweetheart?" She nodded, heading back over to the fire and sitting beside her father. With her back turned, Steve slid off the soaked snow jacket, sodden pullover coming next followed by snow pants. He slid the new clothes over thermals, grateful they, at least, had stayed dry along with his socks. Warmer, Steve took stock of himself. Evaluation: he felt like crap. His stomach throbbed, heat radiating up through his stomach and turning to heavy ice that settled in his chest. His head was foggy, everything a half second ahead of his brain's processing speed. He looked back towards his family, huddled by a dying fire. Crap or not, he would be okay; if nothing else, for them.

Now clothed, he moved back towards Grace and Danny, kneeling on the side of Danny not taken by Grace. The pulse was good, but he could feel the beginnings of a fever as he rested a palm on Danny's head. The movement, or perhaps it was Steve's cold hands, seemed to rouse the blonde, who blinked his eyes open blearily.
"Danno!" Grace's voice was first, and it dawned on Steve she had not seen him conscious since the save that morning. Danny blinked several times, likely clearing the fuzziness out. Steve saw the exact moment clarity came and the blonde's pale face lit up.
"Monkey." He lifted a weak arm, encircling his daughter and hanging on as tight as he could.
Steve heard the second Grace's tears started, he backed away slowly. It was not a moment for him.

While the Williams' sat, Steve set about bring life back to the fire; he knew immediately they would need more wood to get them through the night. They'd need something for dinner, too, or at least Grace and Danny would; he knew he couldn't face food in his stomach. He knelt back with Grace and Danny, who had moved apart and were basking in the warmth of the fire, content, if only for a moment, to simply breath.
"I need some wood guys, I'll be back soon." Danny looked up, eyes clearer than they'd been for most of the day.
"You okay? Sure you're up for that?" Steve snorted, leaning down to hug Grace before bringing a hand to the side of Danny's face.
"You worry too much babe. I'll be right back." He took a second, drew Danny into a kiss, pretending for a moment they were back at Danny's parent's place, resting near the fire. But as he felt a cough rise in his chest, the moment was lost, and he stood, knees creaking with age he hadn't yet reached. He shrugged his jacket back on, shivering as still-damp material came in contact with his body. He stood by the door, took a second to look back before stepping into the darkness.

Steve began to think that they could make the night with the three sticks he had managed to find. He'd taken the old splitter and handsaw resting by the doorframe on his way out, paired it with the torch still in his pocket, but he'd yet to find any trees sheltered enough spared from soaking snows. Stomach aching and ready, perhaps for the first time in his life, to give up, he finally found what he'd been looking for. A felled tree, hidden under protective layers of foliage from the surrounding trees. He looked around, found a place to rest the torch upon and prop the splitter, brought the saw to the trunk and began sawing it into manageable pieces. It took an hour, the blunt saw slipped, and snow began to fall. But finally, he had enough to get them through the night, split it down so it would fit into the fireplace and had the whole lot hauled back to the cabin. He grabbed a load, kicking the door open and began to stack the wood inside where Danny had once more fallen asleep and Grace sat by him, looking up only when the last few logs were stacked by the door. Steve quickly bolted it, removed his jacket once more and hung it up, shivering at the loss of weight as he had been in its' damp confines. A heavy sigh escaped him. The firer needed tending once more, Grace would need something to eat. His head and stomach throbbed in unison as he re-stacked the fire. He searched the cupboards, finding a can of baked beans well within their use-by date. He poured them into a pan and moved to the fire, crouching on his haunches as he stirred the pot. While he wasn't paying attention, Grace snuck up behind him, alerting him only when a small hand rested on his knee. He swivelled quickly, restraining the reflex to punch at only the last second.
"Ready for some dinner Gracie?"
She smiled, and Steve was once more in awe of her composure over the last days. "Are we having beans? Danno and I used to have them on Sunday nights."
"Yep. They'll be done in a second, go grab some gloves so you can hold onto this." She leapt up with the agility only a young girl could pull off, returning seconds later, gloved hands outstretched.

It was only an hour later Danny and Grace lay asleep, side by side. The pot from Grace's dinner had been cleaned and the final leg of their journey had been planned. In the morning, they would make the trek to the nearest road, it would only take an hour, so Grace would come with him and Danny. Steve lay down by the fire, hacked out as much gunk as he could from his lungs before curling himself up by the fire- far enough from Grace that we wouldn't disturb her with coughing in the night. He would rather snuggle into the heat combination
from her, the fire and Danny, but couldn't justify sacrificing their rest. It was one night, he told himself as the sandman entered, one more night.