So. I'm not sure why, but I kind of hate this chapter. x.x

The rest of the evening was quiet, both Skye and Lucas found they had no words for each other, each focused on their new wounds. Lucas was beginning to think that he was suffering from internal bleeding, or that Skye's surprisingly forceful whack to his ribs had torn some major organ. It was all in his head of course, if he was really bleeding internally it would have been from the gunshot wounds, and he would be dead. Even so, each heartbeat brought a brand new pulse of searing pain to his chest. It took all of his concentration just to eat properly, and that was after Skye's pain pills had taken affect.

Skye on the other hand, was racking her brain for an excuse to leave the warmth of the fire. Her shoulder was throbbing and she wanted to at least see the damage the rock had inflicted. It didn't seem serious, she couldn't feel any blood running down her back, but it sure did hurt She stretched her arms above her head, brushing them against the roof of the overhang to sneak a peek over her shoulder.

The rock had torn a slit right through her jacket and her tank top, but only a tiny red dot of blood was actually visible on her skin. She sighed, leaning her back onto the rock wall, careful to not put any pressure on her shoulder. If that was the only blood, she figured that the pain was coming from the bruising underneath. That could last days. Her shoulder was going to go through hell while she was crawling through the jungle with a backpack.

The wind picked up outside, sending a splash of rain on her face. She shivered, wiping it away. The incident in the stream had chilled her to the bone, but she refused to put her back to the fire in case Lucas decided to try something. She doubted he would in his condition, but if the past two days had taught her anything, it was that Lucas was about as unpredictable as a Nyko. The fire hissed as bits of rain hit the flames, and Skye felt herself nodding off somehow. She was shivering uncontrollably, but the warmth on her face from the fire was easing her into sleep. The last thing she needed was to fall asleep sitting up, she could only imagine how sore her back would be when she woke up.

She grabbed the ESD, still crumpled in the corner from that morning, and found it was only slightly damp form the rain. It would be much better than the chilly wet rock underneath her now. She glanced at Lucas as she pulled the sleeping bag toward her, packing it against the rock wall to prevent it from getting to close to the fire. He was watching out of the corner of his eye, his gaze too still for him to just be looking around. She smirked as she watched the rain dripping from the side of the cliff onto his face, but she also felt a little tug of disgust at herself. Here she was being selfish and taking the sleeping bag all to herself while Lucas got to sit out in the rain trying to overcome the wounds she'd given him. The more she addressed the feeling the worse it got, and as she snuggled up inside the warmth of the ESD she felt a lump in her throat.

She really needed to stop feeling guilty. Not giving him a warm place to sleep was hardly a fit punishment for threatening to kill her mother. Lucas shifted after she made herself comfortable, slowly moving himself towards the cover of the overhang. Skye swallowed, fearing that he might think she'd already got to sleep and was trying to crawl in with her. If that was the case, she'd be forced to hit him again, and that would do nothing to ease her guilty conscience. But he didn't do anything of the sort, in fact, he didn't even move under the overhang. He just sat outside, washed in moonlight, and slowly brought his knees to his chest. He balanced his chin on his knees and his eyes went distant, lost in thought. Skye opened her mouth to relent, to at least get him out of the rain, but her pride couldn't bring her to breath the word into life. She just watched the puffs of smoky breath leave his lungs, finding herself amazed at his control. He had to be going numb, the wind and cold had to be eating away at him ten times worse than it had with her, yet she couldn't even see so much as a tremble from him. In fact, he seemed to be almost drawing power from the icy droplets on his skin. His breathing was calm, and his eyes closed with a sigh.

For probably the last time, he fell asleep before she did. She couldn't believe that anyone, even a man who lived in the wild for years, could fall asleep out in those conditions. But as the fire died away she saw the slow rise and fall of his shoulders, and the limpness that only comes from sleep. And she thought she would be sore. Lucas was curled up in a ball and just looking at his position made her back ache. A low rumble of thunder bounced around the little canyon and Skye sat up, and untangled herself from the warmth of the sleeping bag.

She just couldn't take it anymore. If it hadn't been raining, fine, he could sleep in the middle of the stream for all she cared. But it was raining. She walked over to his sleeping form and scowled. He probably planned this all along. Nonetheless, she felt herself smiling when she draped the blanket around his shoulders and saw him relax.

"Just so you know," She grumbled lightheartedly, "I still hate your guts."

She woke with a start. Everything around her was pitch black, except for the glint of moonlight off of a pair of eyes. She sucked in air, but something caught in the back of her throat, cutting off her scream. She felt her lungs burning, like someone had lit her on fire from the inside. As she doubled over in a fit of coughing, she realized the culprit. Water tickled the end of her nose, and she jumped back. The stream was flooded and water was now about six inches deep across their entire campsite.

"Bucket," She jumped at the sound of Lucas's voice so close to her. Then she remembered that it was his eyes that had made her try to scream in the first place.

"You're the only one who knows the way out of here." He gripped her arms, sending a jolt of pain to her shoulder. "We need to get out of here, now." His voice was controlled but she swore she heard a trickle of fear in his words.

"Its not even a foot deep." She found herself saying, though she could barely understand though the sound of her teeth chattering.

"I'm aware." He growled, leading her out from under the overhang. The open air sent a new wave of chills through her body and she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into her little space, flooded or not. Lucas seemed to sense this, and gripped her a little tighter, nearly tossing her forward.

"It's not the depth I'm worried about," He continued as he lifted the soggy ESD from the water with a free hand. "Terra Nova has no dams, that means the only thing holding back all the water is that." He flicked his gaze to the dead end of the canyon that was now gushing like a water slide. "And I don't think that this little stream is always so little. I should have thought of it earlier." He cursed under his breath as they waded through the water, his eyes blazing. "It hasn't rained like this in weeks, and that's plenty of time for a river to get down to a stream. I'm thinking the water is probably at least chest height normally, and I have no idea how fast it goes."

Skye was barely listening, though she found it interesting to hear the way Lucas was talking her through the situation. The deep tones of his voice kept her mind grounded as she searched madly for the slope. Something brushed against her leg, causing her to look down to find her backpack, soaked, but still full of her supplies. She felt a rush of relief as she pulled it from the water, but her mind went back to the gun and knife she'd stowed away. There was no time to turn back now, she realized with a cringe.

"There!" She cried as the slope came into view. She ran forward, but her foot caught in the water and she fell harshly, landing on her hands and knees. The rocky bank embedded several sharp rocks into her palms, but she ignored the pain, clambering up the mucky rise. Her shoulder screamed in protest, but she forced her way to the top.

As she turned to help Lucas, something moved in the corner of her eye. A wall of water burst over the edge of the waterfall, careening downriver in a frothy white foam.

"Lucas!" She screamed, grabbing his arm as he tried to make his way up. His face indicated that he was in immense pain from his chest and he was fading quickly. She reached with her other hand, dropping to her belly to better hold him up. She felt his tricep strain in a last ditch effort to haul himself up, but the water was too fast. It ripped his feet from the bank and Skye slid forward, feeling tiny daggers dig into her exposed stomach. Tears rushed to her eyes at the sudden sharp pain, but she didn't dare loosen her grip on Lucas.

He struggled to find a foothold as the rushing water tore away the shale, but Skye could see his strength was quickly evaporating. She would't lose him now, she had not come this far for him to be sucked away by a freaking stream. She gritted her teeth and pulled.

"Come on!" She hissed, her shoulder searing from the pull of Lucas's weight. Finally, in one last effort, Lucas heaved himself over the edge. Not taking any chances, Skye pushed herself up off of her stomach and dragged him a little further from the edge, just in case.

She was suddenly exhausted, every part of her body freezing, bleeding or in pain. But they were both safe. She curled up right there on the ground, too tired to even move under any sort of cover. They were goners if they were discovered anyway.

She could hear Lucas trying to catch his breath, but couldn't even find the energy to ask if he was okay. Exhaustion gave way to sleep, and as she felt herself slipping into her dreams, she was subconsciously aware that Lucas had just saved her life. Now, they were even.