Hooks poked her head out from around the tree, watching the deer make its way slowly away from her. She couldn't see where Cole was hiding, only knew that he was in a clump of brush directly in front of the deer. It sniffed the air, then put its head to the ground to start eating. At that moment Cole jumped up, somehow grabbing the deer. With one quick motion, he swiped the blade across its throat. It struggled for a moment, and then collapsed to the ground.

"And that's how you kill a deer like a badass." Cole said, wiping his hands on the snow.

Hooks tromped over to him, buried knee deep in the snow, "Congratulations Rambo, now let's get this deer on a fire."

Three hours later found them cooking and eating parts of their deer. It was a welcome treat after going two days on nothing but a single rabbit. They had been in the wild for four days now, and were counting down the last three. Cole had carved the days into a tree, 'just in case they ever came back'.

"That was pretty cool." Hooks said.

"I know, it was just…bam. Done." Cole said, tearing off a hunk of meet. He, of course, had to be the caveman and eat the deer leg like a chicken one and have blood smeared in a line under his eyes.

Hooks smiled and looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were forming in the west, and it looked as if they were moving in on them, and fast. She frowned, "Hey Cole, those clouds don't look too good."

He twisted in his spot to have a look at them, and when he turned back around he was frowning, "No, they don't. We better pack up the stuff just in case."

She stood, picking up her meat, and dusted the snow off her legs. A sudden gust of wind caught them by surprise, chilling Hooks even through her jacket. It was raw and icy, biting at her exposed skin. Cole's eyebrows were knit together as he grabbed her arm and said, "I think we're in for a bad storm."

"Me too!" she said, shouting over the now roaring wind. The clouds had come faster than they had anticipated, and slowly snowflakes began to fall. Before long, it was a complete whiteout.

Cole and Hooks blindly searched for their new shelter. They had decided to look around for more decent cover and had stumbled upon a monstrous tree with a hole big enough for one person to fit through, and space inside for three. They didn't know what had made the hole, but they didn't really care. The only thing they hoped for, was that whatever made the hole wasn't coming back.

They finally found the tree and flung themselves inside, covering it with a makeshift door made of bark and half a parachute. Inside, the tree creaked as it swayed in the wind, sending dirt raining down on Cole and Hooks.

Within ten minutes they were shivering so bad it hurt. Hooks' limbs became stiff from trying to keep warm, so she stretched, sending shards of pain throughout her body. Neither of them talked the rest of the afternoon, only listening to the roar of the storm outside. Sometime during then, Hooks drifted off into sleep.

The sound of screaming jarred her awake. She looked around in sleepy shock, finding that Cole was gone, the door removed, and the storm over. Another scream tore her out of the tree, and she stood there trying to see Cole. A snarl came from her left, followed by a whimper. She ran towards it, not really knowing what she was doing. All she knew was that there was a wolf or other animal of some sort, and it was attacking Cole. Attacking her friend.

Hooks burst through a clump of brush and stopped in her tracks. On the ground was Cole, his face and the snow around him full of blood. Four wolves were gathered around him, fighting with each other as they tore open his flesh. He saw her and held his hand out to her, "No Hooks!" he rasped, "Run!" a gush of blood came from his mouth, and his eyes snapped shut with pain, another agonized cry escaping his lips.

She didn't know what to do. She couldn't just leave him there to die like that, but she didn't know how to get the wolves away. She picked up a rock, and threw it, fully intending to make them chase her. Their heads snapped up and slowly they all faced her, but instead of attacking her, they ran in the other direction.

Hooks stumbled over to Cole's body lying on the ground, his face turned away from her. With tears streaming down her face, she turned his head toward her and jerked back with surprise. It was Bane's face staring at her now, without the mask. His face was like it was when she found him in the pit, and his eyes stared at her lifelessly. Her shaking hands covered her mouth, as Bane slowly rose to his feet. He stared at her and said, "Is this what you wanted?"

Hooks jumped and opened her eyes, finding herself still in the tree. Cole was still awake, staring at her. She released a relieved breath and rested her head against the tree. She moved her hands, and found she couldn't feel her fingers. She took off her gloves and saw that her fingers were turning purple.

Cole's hand snaked out and grabbed hers, holding it up so he could see it, "Jesus, Hooks you're losing circulation."

"Like I can help that?"

"You're freezing." He said, pushing his hand up the sleeve of her coat.

"Yeah, well it's kind of blizzarding outside." She said, pulling her arm away from him so she could cross them to keep warm.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he looked away and kept his mouth closed.

"What?" She asked.

"What?" he also said, confused.

"You want to say something, so say it."

"It was just a suggestion, but you would take it the wrong way." Cole said, "So I'm not going to bring it up."

"Well, I'm telling you to bring it up."

He sighed, looking her in the eye, "Since I am a doctor, I was going to suggest getting a little close for comfort to get warm. See!" he said, pointing at her face as she frowned, "That's why I didn't want to tell you."

After a moment of silence she asked, "Would it work?"

He looked at her surprised, "Well, yes our body heat would warm each other."

"Then let's do it." She said, "Not literally, just what you had in mind."

Cole rolled his eyes, "Are you sure?"

"Is it going to keep me warm?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm sure."

Cole unzipped his jacket and snowmobile pants, as did Hooks, although it was difficult in the cramped space. Hooks took off her jacket and snowmobile pants, wincing from the cold. She frowned at him as he removed his shirt and said, "Why are we taking off clothes?"

"It will get you warmer faster, and believe me you need it." Cole said, "You're way too pale, your lips are starting to turn purple."

Hooks sighed, taking off her own shirt. She hesitated a moment, before sliding into Cole's snowmobile pants and resting herself next to him. He reached over and zipped his jacket, "At least Ra's gave us oversized clothes."

She stayed silent, feeling awkward at the feel of his skin on hers. He pulled her jacket over the top of them and then stayed still. After a few minutes, she started feeling warmth seep back into her body.

"You know I didn't do this to be nasty." Cole said quietly.

She looked up at him, staying silent.

His eyes were fixed on the wall opposite them as he said, "I know you love him. Bane. I would never try to come between you." He paused for a moment before continuing, "But I just wanted you to know that I care for you. I'll always be there if you need me."

She saw the brief hurt in his eyes, hurt that someone had gotten her heart first, "Thank you, Cole." Was all she said. But it was all she needed to say to bring a small smile back onto his face. She stretched an arm across him, laying her head on his chest.

She loved Bane in no way that she could ever love someone else. He was the one she could always give her heart to, and no one would ever change that. But she couldn't deny her love for Cole, not the romantic love she had for Bane, but the type of love two best friends shared. A love that would last for eternity.

Just so everyone knows, NO there will be no cheating in my story! Nope, noada, goodbye, the end! Bane and Hooks love each other, and ONLY each other! :D

I really just want to say I'm sorry for the huge delay in between updates! But I was watching the whole first season of Grimm because I bought it, and I couldn't stop watching it! I love that show soooooo much! :DDD

I really don't have much of an interesting A/N today…other than to tell you my dog attack the UPS guy. :( I really love my UPS guy because he's really hot (how many UPS guys do you know that are hot these days?) and usually when he drops something off he stays and we talk for…like…ten minutes about football! So I'm really hoping he doesn't stop coming because my dog bit his shoe. :o

So read, review, do what you want! :D