Hours upon hours passed as Fiona and Samantha trudged through the jungle. They continued to check in with Sam every two hours, exchanging news about themselves and Michael's condition. Sam told them it seemed Michael was getting better and once he even woke up for a couple minutes. Samantha and Fiona ran across another cage, but both avoided getting caught. Other than that, the two women made conversation, neither of them really realizing the friendship they were starting to form.

"...and his boxers came down with them!"

"And how old were you?" Fiona asked through her laughter.

"Fourteen," Samantha replied, grinning. "Back when I was sheltered and innocent. You have no idea how traumatized I was! It was-"

"Shh," Fiona interrupted suddenly, waving a hand. She was a little farther ahead and had stopped laughing a second again. Samantha's grin dropped and she crept forward, squinting through the brush to try to see what Fiona was looking at.

"What is it?" she hissed. "The attacker? Jaguars?"

Fiona shook her head silently, crawling forward. Samantha followed, confused, trying to peer past Fiona. Finally the cause of Fiona's actions came into view: a little boy curled up in a ball up against the base of a tree. Something twisted in Samantha's chest.

"Is he dead?" she whispered reverently. Fiona crawled to Johnny's side and checked his pulse. She looked up with a small smile.

"He's alive. And he doesn't seem hurt," she added, taking in the boy's little body. "He's just sleeping."

Samantha smiled, relieved. At last they were starting to have success.

XxXxX

"Hey," Sam greeted quietly, hurrying over to the bedside as Michael began to stir. "How you feeling?"

Michael's face twisted painfully before he answered. "Terrible."

Sam grinned. Last time Michael had woken up, he hadn't said anything. Responding was a step forward. "You're alive, though. That's gotta feel good."

"Not exactly," Michael grunted. "What happened?"

"The ninja guy attacked you again, apparently," Sam answered. "Samantha radioed us and I brought you back to the loft. George fixed you up. Again."

Michael's eyes opened to frown at Sam. "What about Samantha and Fi?"

Sam winced. "They're still out there. Looking for the kid. I'm having them check in every two hours." Sam glanced at his watch. "If you can stay lucid for another couple minutes, they should be checking in soon."

But Michael had already slipped back into unconsciousness. Sam pursed his lips. At least he'd had somewhat of a conversation with him. Progress. That's what mattered.

"Sam, we've found Johnny!"

Sam jumped off the mattress, snatching the radio up and glancing at his watch again. "Alive?" Sam asked.

"Exhausted, but, yes, alive," Samantha replied, sounding ecstatic. Sam rushed over to the laptop still sitting on the kitchen counter, pulling up the women's location.

"All right, I'll get you directions out."

"Any news about Michael?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah, actually, he was just awake a moment ago. Asked what happened and where you two were," Sam told them as he looked up their coordinates. "Fell back asleep right before you radioed."

He gave them basic directions for getting out the jungle, glad he'd packed a GPS in one of the bags the women had with them.

"You should be out in about an hour," he finished. "Is the kid going to need George to look at him?"

"That might be a good idea," Samantha said. "He should probably take a look at Fiona too-"

"What? I'm fine!"

"No, you're not. You've got those burns from the mine and the jaguar wasn't exactly gentle-"

"I've gotten along fine for this long, haven't I?"

"Walking around in a jungle full of various bacteria. You need to be looked at."

"Girls!" Sam interrupted, surprised at the tone of their bickering. It didn't sound quite as vicious as he would've expected... "I'll ask George to pick you all up, okay? He can look over Johnny and when you get back to the loft, Fi, I can take a look at you. Doesn't sound like something George needs to take care of."

"It's not," Fi bit stubbornly. Sam rolled his eyes.

"All right, I'll call George. See you both soon. And stay safe. Just because you're on your way out doesn't mean it's not dangerous anymore."

A/N: I love reviewers and live for constructive criticism!