A/n: Well, I was going to make this a little longer and actually not end on a cliffhanger( although I am not actually counting where I broke off here as one) but then I decided Ed and the boyz needed top billing for their next appearance. so the next chapter starts off as they take off Bar Huntin' with Davy Crocket and will probably end with the Gunfight at the Cabin in the Woods as there are no corrals on State Forest land typically..
Chapter Nine
The next couple of hours passed quietly. Sam was soon set loose with instructions to go lay down himself. Halloran had rolled over and was now sprawled , limbs akimbo, on one side of the bed. Bruce took Sam's place in the rocking chair and observed the dozing patient. And it wasn't long before Joe was stroking Halloran's hair softly as she lay next to him. He shifted, trying to get more comfortable when Bruce interrupted. "Want a hand?" He slipped muscular arms behind Joe and eased him into a less reclined position. Joe nodded his thanks and asked for some water. "Better yet.. coffee?!" he asked hopefully.
"Don't push your luck."
"Meh. Worth a shot."
"Hmmpf. Will you be all right for a few minutes? Sounds like the storm has finally passed. Want to make sure we can Evac you outta here before darkness falls." Joe nodded, eager to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
Bruce walked quietly out into the living room, noting the slumbering forms of both Sam and Frank on the couch. As he stepped out onto the wide porch, he saw Melody sitting on the porch swing, lost in thought. He sat down next to her and leaned back with a sigh. "You're wrong, you know." he said quietly.
"About what?" she crisply asked.
"Joe." Was the simple reply. A snort was her only response. "I'm serious, Mel. He may be a flirt but you aren't looking at him when he looks at Hallie. Trust me on this, Cous; that man worships the ground she walks on."
"Then he should not have put her into danger by sending her out in the middle of the night alone."
"In the mans's defense he did have a collapsed lung and a bullet wound. He would never have been able to affect any kind of escape on his own, and if he tried to go with her they would have been easily stopped.. and possibly killed. Despite your past luck with our gender, we aren't all horny bastards who will use you and abuse you."
"Harrumpf. All the good ones are taken. Or play for the other side."
"Exactly..and Joe is very much taken.. by Hall. And she is just as committed as he is. Haven't you been paying attention? The way she acts around him? The way he's more worried about her than his own situation?" Bruce shook his head at his stubborn cousin. Privately he thought she needed to get laid.. or at least find someone she couldn't bully. "I'm gonna take a walk, see how bad the trail is. I am hoping it won't be too muddy, and we'll be able to carry him outta here without any trouble. Coming?" she shook her head no, preferring to sit and stew over the nerve of the arrogant elder brother. "Suit yerself," he shrugged and made made his way down the short set of stairs.
The post storm air was still full of moisture but it was no longer heavy with that distinctive tang of electricity. Luckily the dense forest had protected the trail fairly well and there was little need to worry over mud and muck making the trek out difficult. Bruce walked about 100 feet before deciding it was worth the risk. He turned around, not bothering to say anything to Melody who was still swinging back and forth a little too roughly to be actually relaxing. He stopped by the couch and placed a light hand on Frank's shoulder who was immediately alert. "Joe?!" he cried, worried that perhaps something was wrong.
"Probably chomping at the bit to get outta here. What say we indulge the man, hmm?" Bruce returned Frank's grin as he reached over and shook Sam awake as well. "Feeling up to playing pack mule for a bit?" Sam readily agreed with his own smile. The three of them walked into the bedroom, where Joe was resting quietly, still propped up on pillows but with his eyes closed as he absently played with a few stray wisps of Halloran's hair. He opened them at the sound of footsteps.
"Tell me you are here to spring me!" he begged. "I am going crazy just lying here!" He turned his bright, expressive blue eyes on them, accompanied by a piteous whine. Bruce just turned at looked at Frank.
"He always like this?!" he asked sardonically.
"Yeap. Nothing but complaints. You'd think he'd have learned by now to quit getting hurt if he hates it so much." Frank spoke with a teasing grin aimed at his brother, who stuck his tongue out in silent response.
Bruce laughed along with Sam, and the noise woke Halloran up. She, too was ecstatic to learn they were about to leave and immediately got up to make up the last of the coffee in the pantry for the trek. But before she left the room she stopped long enough to give Joe a rather intense kiss that left the other men in the room squirming a little, mostly from jealousy. Joe just smiled serenely and tucked his arms behind his head as he lay back, oozing smugness.
Short work was made of the preparations to transport the injured brother to the truck at the end of the trail and beyond to the airfield, where hopefully Jack Wayne was waiting. Melody stayed out of the way, knowing that not only was she going to be of little use, she still wasn't sure she could trust herself to be civil to either Hardy. She had a fierce need to protect Halloran, despite knowing that Hal was perfectly capable of making her own decisions.. and mistakes. She was certain the brash blond was nothing but trouble; as for his brother, he was just an arrogant snob who liked to push people around as far as she was concerned. She refused to acknowledge that she herself was guilty of arrogance and pushiness herself, of course. She preffered to call it assertiveness and opinionated. It was all a matter of semantics.
Bruce had sent Sam to fetch the collapsable stretcher that he had left on the porch when he first arrived. Frank helped get Joe into a button down shirt while Bruce futzed about checking vitals and bandages. Joe resignedly suffered through all of it. "I don't suppsoe I could talk you into letting me walk out of here under my own power?" he asked beseechingly, looking at brother and EMT in turn.
Bruce just looked at him like he had three heads. "Let me check you for concussion or other head trauma beucase obviously you are delusional." he laughed. Frank was less subtle about it and cuffed Joe across the back of the head and threatened to tattle on him to Halloran. "If that don't keep him in line, nothing will!" Bruce laughed. He'd known these two all of 4 hours and already he liked them, and not just as a stubborn obstinance to automatically like anything Melody hated just to get a rise out of her.
Sam brought in the stretcher and he helped Bruce slide it under Joe, while Frank helped slide Joe on to it from his side. The movement caused Joe to hiss in pain and it was a few seconds before he could answer Bruce's inquiry as to how he was doing. "Fine," he gritted, refusing to admit anything else.
"Liar." Bruce chuckled as he handed Joe a few pain killers. "It's a mystery why Hall puts up with you."
"No mystery. I am adorable. Just ask my mother." Joe grinned through his pain. As long as he could breathe he was fine, even if he did grab on to his brother's hand for all he was worth...
Bruce looked at Frank. "Any chance your mother is predjudiced or anything?"
"You have no idea. I got blamed for all the stuff I did plus at least 2/3 of the stuff he did. It was very unfair." Frank crouched down to eye level with Joe and the grin faded as he looked intently into those sparkling blue orbs. "You gonna be okay. Bro?" he asked quietly, all traces of levity gone. Frank though the looked a little bit paler than he had been, which was not an encouraging sign at all.
Joe nodded, just as serious as his brother. "I just wanna get out of here if it's all the same to you. I can stand a few minutes of discomfort." Joe refused to admit that it was pain. "Do me a favor?" he asked as Frank made to straighten up. Frank nodded. "Take care of her for me?"
"Joe you're going to be fine!" Frank protested, worried that his brother may be worse off than he had been letting on.
"I know that, dumbass. I wasn't trying to be all grand and noble. I just meant, can you make sure Halloran is okay while I am in surgery or whatever. She doesn't have anyone left but me...Make sure she gets rest, and some food in her and stuff. You know. Be Mom." Joe gave Frank a patented Joe Sarcasm Look.
"Oh, sure," Frank let out a relieved sigh. Joe just laughed at his obvious relase of tension.
"What's so funny?" Halloran asked as she came around, passing out thermoses full of fresh coffee.
"Nothing, dear. Just a little brotherly love is all." Joe smiled tenderly at her. "Now can we just get going alrready?! Mush!" He mimed cracking an imaginary whip. Frank just gave a long sffering sigh and lifted his end of the stretcher, while Sam grabbed the other.
"Oof, Halloran, stop feeding him. He weighs a ton!" Sam joked. He feigned staggering under the weight. He got a dirty look for his trouble. Very quickly, the motley group traipsed out of the cabin. Melody was already far ahead on the trail, barely in sight. Halloran stopped long enough to lock the door before hurrying to catch up with Joe's stretcher where she fell in beside him holding his hand.
It was slow going; the trail was slick in spots and while the mud was not that deep it still hindered their progress. Little was said, Joe was trying very hard to not gasp in pain with every jolt and Frank and Sam were struggling to keep him level and not lose their footing. Bruce and Halloran were up ahead a few feet, talking quietly amongst themselves, and Melody was still far in front. Frank was in a zone, not really paying attention to anything other than putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to slip and fall. So he was more than a little taken by surprise when a gunshot rang out, followed immediately by splinters of wood erupting from the tree just inches from his head. He yelped and dropped his end of the stretcher, causing sam to lose his grip as well. Joe hit the ground with a thud and he screamed in agony as his wound was reopened and it started bleeding again. Before they knew what had happened , a second shot rang out. Sam dove on top of Joe's body, shielding him, while Bruce shoved Halloran down and did the same to her. Frank and Melody each whirled towards the location the shots had come from, then took off running, Frank whipping his pistol out on the run and Meloy bringing her shotgun around from it's earlier place on her back.
Despite Melody having been a good 20 feet behind Frank, she caught up to him almost immediately. He barely gave her a glance as they raced toward the area of the forest where the shots had originated from. They came upon a fairly decent sized downed tree that they slid to a stop behind to catch their breaths. "See anything?" Frank whispered tersely to her. She shook her head, all business now, any previous feelings shoved into a corner.
Back at the place where Joe had been unceremoniously dumped, Sam and Bruce both raised their heads at the same time to check on things. Bruce harshly whispered "Anybody hit?" He turned and helped Halloran up to a half crouch, and then looked over at Sam, who by then had dropped into his own crouch, gun drawn. Bruce dragged Halloran over to a large rock and told her to stay behind it. "I'll be right back." he squeezed her arm gently, taking note of her wide eyes. He was amazed to see that there was no fear, only a little wariness. She did not speak, only nodded. Bruce pattedher arm as he let go and quickly ran over to where Sam and Joe were. "Sam?" he asked in a low voice.
"Joe's unconcious and he's beleeding again. Think it was the fall." Sam continued to sweep the area with his head on a swivel, looking for any sign of the shooter.
"Joe?! Can you hear me?" Bruce lightly slapped Joe's cheek before checking his pulse and the bandage around his midsection. He responded with a low groan and slowly opened his eyes. "That's it, buddy. Can you take a deep breath for me?" Joe closed his eyes but did as he had been requested. His skin was clammy and the bandage was now stained red. "Joe, are you in pain?" Bruce asked intently. There was a faint nod in reply. "We have to get him under cover" he said quietly to Sam, who silently agreed. "Joe, we have to move you to someplace less exposed. D'ya think you can give us a hand?"
Joe wasted no effort on speaking, he just nodded, eyes still closed. Bruce and Sam looked at each other, each slipping an arm around Joe's waist, with Bruce on the injured side. On the count of three they hoisted him up. Joe valiantly tried to get his feet under him, but managed only slightly to put some weight on them. Bruce looked over the bowed blond curls and said tersely, "We'll have to carry him." Sam concurred and they half dragged, half carried him over to the rock where Halloran was hidden behind. By the time they gently eased him down onto the ground he was unconcious again. Halloran arranged herself and had them place Joe's head in her lap. "Some guys get all the luck" Bruce teased her.
"Too bad he's not awake to appreciate it, though, huh?!" Sam grinned back. The grin faded as he pulled out Joe's gun, which he had been carrying around ever since they found Halloran with it, and handed it to the EMT. "Pretty sure you know what this is for, yeah?"
"Two tours in the sandbox with Jarheads. This," Bruce waved the gun vaguely around "is a freaking cakewalk." Sam grinned at him before turning to Halloran and placing a hand on her shoulder then taking off after Frank and Melody.
"Is he hurt again?!" Hall asked tremulously.
"Nahh, I don't think so kiddo, just when he was dropped it tore the stitches I put in. I can fix that right now, just keep him still, okay?" Bruce smiled at her and hoped he wasn't lieing. He busily set about prepping the wound and had the two sides stitched together neatly in just a few minutes. "Weird, doing this without background distractions" he muttered to himself.
"Like what?" she asked. Bruce hesitated before answering, then shrugged. She had handled everything up til now pretty well. She could handle more.
"Like mortar fire. Or my personal favorite, RPGs. Those are a barrel of laughs." He saw her shudder but chose to ignore it. Might just be the cold for all he knew; it was getting a mite nippy out. In fact, he suddenly noticed Joe was shivering a little. He tore off his jacket and placed it over Joe's body. Hopefully his own body heat would radiate a little and give Joe an extra layer of protection. "How're you? Chilly?"
She shook her head. "I'll be fine," even as she rubbed her hands briskly up and down her arms. Bruce stood up and came around behind her, crouched down and wrapped his muscular arms around her.
"Better?" he asked.
"Mmm hmmm" she murmured. "Just don't let Joe see."
"See what?" came from the vicinity of Halloran's lap. Joe's voice was hazy but his eyes were much clearer. "Umm, are you hugging my girlfriend?!" he asked Bruce incredulously. He tried to brace himself up on his elbows but he was too weak. Halloran leaned down and kissed him fiercely to forestall any further protestations. When he came up for air, Joe half glared at Bruce.
"Hey man, I am happily maried." Bruce laughed. "I would never put the moves on Hallie. My husband would kill me!"
"hmpf. See that you don't." He kept up the glare but the twinkle of mischief in his bright blue eyes betrayed his real thoughts on the subject. He shifted a little, trying to get more comfortable. "Soo... did I hear gunshots before?!"
Halloran tightened her embrace. "Yeah. The rest went off after them. I bet it's Ed and the others" her voice broke a little.
"Hey, relax, honey. Frank's very good at this sort of thing.. and Sam taught him everything he knows."
Bruce chimed in as well. "And Mel won't let them get away either. And I am here to protect you!" he flexed an extremely impressive bicep, causing Halloran to burst out laughing and Joe to just roll his eyes.
Joe asked "Do we know anything?"
Bruce shook his head. "Sam helped me get you under cover then took off after the other two. Haven't heard any more shots since those first 2."
"Well I guess we can be grateful for that. Now we don't have to sit around worrying about them." He winced as Halloran cuffed the back of his head lightly. He turned hurt blue eyes on her "What was that for?!"
"Because you know damn well that was a rotten thing to say. Frank would worry about youif the situation was reversed."
"Frank doesn't worry. He obssesses. It's not healthy. I, on the other hand, become mildly concerned if we are out of communciation for 24 hours. With him, more like 24 minutes." Although their relationship had improved over the last couple of years, the brothers still had a tendency to backslide a little once in a while. And Joe still exaggerated Frank's over protective impulses. A lot, if truth be told. Halloran indulged Joe most of the time as she knew it wasn't really that serious. But once in a while she reminded him to be grateful that he had someone who cared so much about his well being.
"Some of us have to worry about you. You never do." she reprimanded him sternly. "Believe it or not, we'd prefer having you around even if you are a pain in the ass sometimes." Despite feeling a lot more confident that he was going to be okay, she now had an inkling about how easy it would be to lose him, just as she had lost everyone else important to her.
"Honey, I was only trying to protect you." he started only to be cut off with a fingertip pressed against his lips. Bruce discretely moved further away and turned his back letting them have a private moment while he kept an eye out for the return of the others.
"Will you do me a favor, then?" she asked, intently. Joe nodded as she had not removed her finger. "When we get back I want you to teach me how to shoot. That way you won't have to protect me quite so hard any more." she took her finger away, and waited for him to speak.
"Are you sure, Rapunzel?" he asked her, all traces of sarcasm and humor gone. He could tell she was deadly serious and that levity was not an appropriate response. When she nodded , he reached up a hand and gently caressed her cheek. "You know I'll do anything for you. But you would probably do better with Dad as a teacher. I don't have a whole lotta patience. Or maybe Mom."
"Laura?!" she gasped, a little shocked.
Joe chuckled. "Of course. She learned when we were little. Said it was just in case something happened while Dad was away on a case or something. No idea if she's kept up with it though, we'll have to ask her. After she's done yelling at me for getting shot that is..." He was about to continue when the sharp crack of a branch being stepped on rang through the air a little beyond the boulder they were hiding behind. Bruce raised the gun Sam had given him, wrapping his free hand around his other wrist to steady it as he aimed. All three held their breaths as they waited.
A/n: Welp, at least he's outta the cabin if not quite outta the woods( Literally and figuratively) . I apologize in advance if there are more screw ups than usual wrt to grammar, punctuation and spelling. my word processor has decided to kill off the spell check and nothing i seem to do is bringing it back. I think the cat stepped on an F button or something. and yes, I will be revealing more about what Halloran's past has been like for her and why Melody is so hell bent on keeping her out of Joe's clutches. oh and for those who surmised that I was playing matchmaker.. you get a cookie. but if you thought i was going to go easy on Frank.. think again. Think Taming of the Shrew...*grinz*
