p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""Why not?" she all but whined, jutting out her bottom lip in a pout that might've been laughable if he didn't just want to bite it./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"He turned his eyes back to the view screen, "You had a joint before we shipped off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"She rolled her eyes, flopping back in the chair, "You drink beer and drive emall /emspan style="font-style: normal;"the time."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "That would be because I am a professional and you-"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Don't you say it!"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Are still just a rookie," she growled low in her throat, meant to be a noise of anger and frustration./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" It had a habit having a much different reaction on Gordon, but he'd gotten good at faking it. Well, enough for her to believe him even if everyone around clearly didn't agree. Even Bortus, which had just been absolutely embarrassing when he thought back on it. He was starting to wonder if maybe she did notice and was politely pretending not to so she wouldn't have to let him down./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Yo! Malloy!" he vaguely heard her but it was the kick to his chair that brought him back to reality, "Doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence when you just zone out like that."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "You ever gonna learn to trust me?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" Which is where she would've answered if the the whole ship hadn't jumped. Not a lurch or a little skip forward they'd experienced at the beginning of their journey. This was a full jump. Both jumped into action, he's got to keep them in control and she'll try to figure out what's wrong, after all it was the only real option they had. Another jump and what felt like a push, he managed to pull back at the end and bring them somewhere close to steady./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Some answers would really be appreciated here!" keeping calm best he could as he tried to move with each seemingly random movement, "-?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "There's nothing out there," her fingers danced along the screens, "We're not even in the atmosphere. Not yet at least," the was a grimness to her tone at the mention./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "What was that?" managing to flick his eyes over to her where she was failing at keeping her face calm, "What happens when we hit atmo?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "If we enter to fast or suddenly?" looking over at him, "Nothing good I can tell you that," shaking her head and taking a long deep breath, "Alright, it can't be completely random, right?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" She's not talking to him at this point, mostly for his benefit as she thought aloud. It always amazed him how fast she managed to shift between herself and her work self. She had joined Alara with the others being skeptical due to their young age, both had proven themselves a thousand times over. He's glad if he's going to be trapped in a situation like this it's with her, she's smart enough to get them out, and she's a great liar if she couldn't. She's really trying, eyes moving rapidly over the scans, trying to give him some warning but it's enough./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Gordon," she reached out, gripping his bicep, "Hold on. It's all gonna be alright, okay?" he knows what's happening the second it does./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" They've hit the atmosphere and it's yanking them down, it makes his muscles ache and the air hard to breath. But she doesn't let go, holding tight. It takes his entire attention and strength, to move his hand onto hers. He tries to no avail to pull back and slow their decent. By the time he manages to yank it backwards, there's no stopping them. There's scraping and then everything starts coming apart. He can hear her scream, it breaks his heart. She's terrified and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. Everything went black right around when he vowed to make it up to her if they made it. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Hypotheticallyifyouwerepointa/span/span/em/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"She's never been this sore in her entire life, it's like she'd manage to pull every single muscle individually. Her ears rang, it felt like her brain had been bashed around inside her skull. Which it had but it still wasn't a great feeling. But there worst was her leg, there was no way it wasn't broken, she just hadn't been able to bring herself to look at it. Or even open her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she decided it was now or never. Doing nothing wasn't gong to help. There were a couple metal scraps, part of her seat, but other than that she couldn't see any sign of the crash in her immediate vicinity. Which was a wooded area that wasn't exactly open but wasn't to thick, at least not where she was. With another deep breath she looked down. It was bent at an odd angle, one it definitely should not be. But the bone wasn't sticking out. Between that, no doubt a concussion, and assorted bruises and scrapes she wasn't too worse for wear. She could only hope the same could be said of Gordon. Even if she managed to get up and around, she wasn't going to make it very far, very fast. That didn't even take into account if there were any hostile lifeforms around. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Oh, I'm gonna die here," she sighed, pushing herself up slowly, "I'm gonna die here and it's going to be all Ed's fault," moving her neck side to side, trying to work out what kinks she could. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" Everything that came after was instinct. She wouldn't be going anywhere if she didn't do something about her leg, which was not going to be a fun adventure. Every slide and scoots across the ground made her entire body ache and sent a shooting pain through her leg, but it was just the start. She'd managed to find two sticks that would do to keep it straight and another that would fit comfortably between her teeth. The weather was holding warm but there were no promises about the night. She kept her issued jacket in tact, pulling it off and ripping off the long sleeves of her uniform shirt. There wasn't anything else to do but get on it./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Gordon, you better be conscious," she mumbled to herself./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" When she yanks the limb she's sure the entire planet must hear it. She barely sounds human, even to herself. But it's hope. Or at least something close./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"andtheoreticallyifiwaspointb /span/span/span/span/em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" His neck hurt and he had a bit of whiplash but other than that he was alright. He groaned, slapping, releasing the belt so he could slouch comfortably in the seat. Rubbing his neck and trying to shake the grogginess from his head./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Hell of a landing," he laughed only receiving silence, he had the vain hope that maybe she was just still out./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" But that wasn't true, Gordon knew it. Opening his eyes only proved that fact. The right side of the ship seemed to be missing entirely, except for a few bits of siding that had clung on for dear life. /span/span/span/span/spanemspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Don't panic, /span/span/span/span/emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"it's her voice, /span/span/span/span/spanemspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"You'll just tire yourself out/span/span/span/span/emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;". This wasn't exactly a survival game on the ship but it was the closest he had to keep him sane. As long as he could imagine her voice it was easier to keep himself from thinking of the worst. /span/span/span/span/spanemspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Right side, we go right/span/span/span/span/emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;". He groans climbing to his feet and raiding what was left of the ship. A few rations, a bottle of water, one plasma rifle, the rest had been lost in the landing. It would have to do. It's time to follow the breadcrumbs, stepping out of the ship's wreckage and into the forested land they had landed on. It might've been beautiful if it wasn't currently one of the worst days of his life./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" He worked backwards and outwards, trying his best to remember what bits were what. There's her voice but it's getting less and less helpful, it had never been this involved. What would he do once he found her? How were they going to contact The Orville? He's made it a few miles, the 1/span/span/span/span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"supspan style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"st/span/span/span/span/sup/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" sun has already fallen and the 2/span/span/span/span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"supspan style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"nd/span/span/span/span/sup/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" one seems to be following suit when he hears a scream. It's far off. It makes him jump, he blames the crash for how long it takes for his brain to catch up. It's her, it has to be. It's the same scream. Right? Really it was just better than nothing. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "-!" he shouted, moving in the direction of where the noise had come from./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" It wasn't the best idea, they didn't know much about the planet, he didn't even know if there was anything or anyone around. And if they in fact wanted to eat him. Which really should have mattered and if he were with Ed or Bortus, it would've. But this wasn't either of them, this was -. Whether it was his crush making him have some macho need to prove himself or because he actually was that brave he wasn't sure. Either way he was prepared to take on whatever came his way. As long as he found her. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "-!" he shouted again, stopping in his tracks and waiting./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" For what? He didn't know. Just for something. For anything./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"wewouldbefranticallymeltingintoonemassivepoint /span/em/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" At least the worst was over. She'd just started tying off the hardest part, around her ankle, when she was absolutely sure she heard her name. Stopping her movements she listened closely. The wind, the natural crinkle of leaves, quiet animals. /span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "How hard did I hit my head?" shaking her head as she used the other sleeve to tie the sticks she had found to just above her knee. /span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" It wasn't great but it would keep it straight, hopefully take some weight off./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "-..."/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" This time she was sure she heard it. Which could only mean-/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Gordon!" she shouted back, as loud as she could muster with a bruised torso. Which managed to be louder than she had expected, "My legs broken!"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" A few minutes passed and she could hear the crunch of the forest floor. She was ready, in case it wasn't Gordon, but the panting breaths that preceded his appearance made it perfectly clear who it was. He burst through the trees seemingly running on pure adrenaline on this point. He skidded to a halt, falling to his knees to take her face in his hands./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "You're alive! I knew it!"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" It's happening before either of them really register. It isn't being just so happy the other is alive, though it's definitely a factor, and it's not just the uncontrollable rush that comes with being in a situation like this. It's because both of them really want to. He kissed her, hard. The scruff of his facial hair tickled her cheeks and was a very new sensation she quite enjoyed. It was just a minute, just a quick burst of affection before he wrenched himself away./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "I'm sorry. You're hurt and that was-" helping her to her feet, hoping to cause as little pain as possible./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "No, no," shaking her head, wincing a bit, "I'm glad you did. Ed will be super glad you did," Gordon screwed up his face, wrapping an arm around her waist as she placed hers on his shoulders, "The only reason he sent me is because he's trying to set us up. I mean, it was Kelly's idea but-"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "You don't think," he interrupted her before trailing off./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" Her eyes went wide, "/span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"No/span/em/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;". That would be literally, /span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"literally/span/em/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;", insane."/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "We don't exactly have the sanest coworkers," which suddenly made it seem like the most logical thing she'd ever heard. Especially from him, "I don't think they thought it'd go like this."/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "You mean with my leg getting broken?" shaking her head, "Alright, well if that's the case, there's probably a beacon on the ship, right?"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;"thatcouldovercomeanything /span/span/em/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;" span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Captain Ed Mercer stepped out of the medbay to find Gordon on his way in. He's grinning at the guilty look on his friends face./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "She handed you your ass didn't she?" adjusting the bouquet in his hands as they stepped off to the side to allow the regular corridor traffic. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "It was Kelly's idea too. And Lamar sabotaged the ship."/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Oh, so you all suck and took it upon yourselves to be nosey," the way Ed groaned he was sure it wasn't the first time he'd heard a variation on that today, "Well, I'd love to stand here and just make it worse but I've got these," holding the flowers up and shaking them, "And a date with the angry little lady."/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "So it worked?" Gordon opened his eyes wide, mouth open slightly, "Right, right, doesn't matter."/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "What is wrong with you man?"/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"He turned his eyes back to the view screen, "You had a joint before we shipped off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"She rolled her eyes, flopping back in the chair, "You drink beer and drive emall /emspan style="font-style: normal;"the time."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "That would be because I am a professional and you-"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Don't you say it!"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Are still just a rookie," she growled low in her throat, meant to be a noise of anger and frustration./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" It had a habit having a much different reaction on Gordon, but he'd gotten good at faking it. Well, enough for her to believe him even if everyone around clearly didn't agree. Even Bortus, which had just been absolutely embarrassing when he thought back on it. He was starting to wonder if maybe she did notice and was politely pretending not to so she wouldn't have to let him down./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Yo! Malloy!" he vaguely heard her but it was the kick to his chair that brought him back to reality, "Doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence when you just zone out like that."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "You ever gonna learn to trust me?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" Which is where she would've answered if the the whole ship hadn't jumped. Not a lurch or a little skip forward they'd experienced at the beginning of their journey. This was a full jump. Both jumped into action, he's got to keep them in control and she'll try to figure out what's wrong, after all it was the only real option they had. Another jump and what felt like a push, he managed to pull back at the end and bring them somewhere close to steady./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Some answers would really be appreciated here!" keeping calm best he could as he tried to move with each seemingly random movement, "-?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "There's nothing out there," her fingers danced along the screens, "We're not even in the atmosphere. Not yet at least," the was a grimness to her tone at the mention./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "What was that?" managing to flick his eyes over to her where she was failing at keeping her face calm, "What happens when we hit atmo?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "If we enter to fast or suddenly?" looking over at him, "Nothing good I can tell you that," shaking her head and taking a long deep breath, "Alright, it can't be completely random, right?"/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" She's not talking to him at this point, mostly for his benefit as she thought aloud. It always amazed him how fast she managed to shift between herself and her work self. She had joined Alara with the others being skeptical due to their young age, both had proven themselves a thousand times over. He's glad if he's going to be trapped in a situation like this it's with her, she's smart enough to get them out, and she's a great liar if she couldn't. She's really trying, eyes moving rapidly over the scans, trying to give him some warning but it's enough./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" "Gordon," she reached out, gripping his bicep, "Hold on. It's all gonna be alright, okay?" he knows what's happening the second it does./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" They've hit the atmosphere and it's yanking them down, it makes his muscles ache and the air hard to breath. But she doesn't let go, holding tight. It takes his entire attention and strength, to move his hand onto hers. He tries to no avail to pull back and slow their decent. By the time he manages to yank it backwards, there's no stopping them. There's scraping and then everything starts coming apart. He can hear her scream, it breaks his heart. She's terrified and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. Everything went black right around when he vowed to make it up to her if they made it. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Hypotheticallyifyouwerepointa/span/span/em/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"She's never been this sore in her entire life, it's like she'd manage to pull every single muscle individually. Her ears rang, it felt like her brain had been bashed around inside her skull. Which it had but it still wasn't a great feeling. But there worst was her leg, there was no way it wasn't broken, she just hadn't been able to bring herself to look at it. Or even open her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she decided it was now or never. Doing nothing wasn't gong to help. There were a couple metal scraps, part of her seat, but other than that she couldn't see any sign of the crash in her immediate vicinity. Which was a wooded area that wasn't exactly open but wasn't to thick, at least not where she was. With another deep breath she looked down. It was bent at an odd angle, one it definitely should not be. But the bone wasn't sticking out. Between that, no doubt a concussion, and assorted bruises and scrapes she wasn't too worse for wear. She could only hope the same could be said of Gordon. Even if she managed to get up and around, she wasn't going to make it very far, very fast. That didn't even take into account if there were any hostile lifeforms around. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Oh, I'm gonna die here," she sighed, pushing herself up slowly, "I'm gonna die here and it's going to be all Ed's fault," moving her neck side to side, trying to work out what kinks she could. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" Everything that came after was instinct. She wouldn't be going anywhere if she didn't do something about her leg, which was not going to be a fun adventure. Every slide and scoots across the ground made her entire body ache and sent a shooting pain through her leg, but it was just the start. She'd managed to find two sticks that would do to keep it straight and another that would fit comfortably between her teeth. The weather was holding warm but there were no promises about the night. She kept her issued jacket in tact, pulling it off and ripping off the long sleeves of her uniform shirt. There wasn't anything else to do but get on it./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Gordon, you better be conscious," she mumbled to herself./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" When she yanks the limb she's sure the entire planet must hear it. She barely sounds human, even to herself. But it's hope. Or at least something close./span/span/span/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"andtheoreticallyifiwaspointb /span/span/span/span/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" His neck hurt and he had a bit of whiplash but other than that he was alright. He groaned, slapping, releasing the belt so he could slouch comfortably in the seat. Rubbing his neck and trying to shake the grogginess from his head./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Hell of a landing," he laughed only receiving silence, he had the vain hope that maybe she was just still out./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" But that wasn't true, Gordon knew it. Opening his eyes only proved that fact. The right side of the ship seemed to be missing entirely, except for a few bits of siding that had clung on for dear life. /span/span/span/span/spanemspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Don't panic, /span/span/span/span/emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"it's her voice, /span/span/span/span/spanemspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"You'll just tire yourself out/span/span/span/span/emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;". This wasn't exactly a survival game on the ship but it was the closest he had to keep him sane. As long as he could imagine her voice it was easier to keep himself from thinking of the worst. /span/span/span/span/spanemspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Right side, we go right/span/span/span/span/emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;". He groans climbing to his feet and raiding what was left of the ship. A few rations, a bottle of water, one plasma rifle, the rest had been lost in the landing. It would have to do. It's time to follow the breadcrumbs, stepping out of the ship's wreckage and into the forested land they had landed on. It might've been beautiful if it wasn't currently one of the worst days of his life./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" He worked backwards and outwards, trying his best to remember what bits were what. There's her voice but it's getting less and less helpful, it had never been this involved. What would he do once he found her? How were they going to contact The Orville? He's made it a few miles, the 1/span/span/span/span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"supspan style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"st/span/span/span/span/sup/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" sun has already fallen and the 2/span/span/span/span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"supspan style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"nd/span/span/span/span/sup/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" one seems to be following suit when he hears a scream. It's far off. It makes him jump, he blames the crash for how long it takes for his brain to catch up. It's her, it has to be. It's the same scream. Right? Really it was just better than nothing. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "-!" he shouted, moving in the direction of where the noise had come from./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" It wasn't the best idea, they didn't know much about the planet, he didn't even know if there was anything or anyone around. And if they in fact wanted to eat him. Which really should have mattered and if he were with Ed or Bortus, it would've. But this wasn't either of them, this was -. Whether it was his crush making him have some macho need to prove himself or because he actually was that brave he wasn't sure. Either way he was prepared to take on whatever came his way. As long as he found her. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "-!" he shouted again, stopping in his tracks and waiting./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" For what? He didn't know. Just for something. For anything./span/span/span/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"wewouldbefranticallymeltingintoonemassivepoint /span/em/span/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" At least the worst was over. She'd just started tying off the hardest part, around her ankle, when she was absolutely sure she heard her name. Stopping her movements she listened closely. The wind, the natural crinkle of leaves, quiet animals. /span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "How hard did I hit my head?" shaking her head as she used the other sleeve to tie the sticks she had found to just above her knee. /span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" It wasn't great but it would keep it straight, hopefully take some weight off./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "-..."/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" This time she was sure she heard it. Which could only mean-/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Gordon!" she shouted back, as loud as she could muster with a bruised torso. Which managed to be louder than she had expected, "My legs broken!"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" A few minutes passed and she could hear the crunch of the forest floor. She was ready, in case it wasn't Gordon, but the panting breaths that preceded his appearance made it perfectly clear who it was. He burst through the trees seemingly running on pure adrenaline on this point. He skidded to a halt, falling to his knees to take her face in his hands./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "You're alive! I knew it!"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" It's happening before either of them really register. It isn't being just so happy the other is alive, though it's definitely a factor, and it's not just the uncontrollable rush that comes with being in a situation like this. It's because both of them really want to. He kissed her, hard. The scruff of his facial hair tickled her cheeks and was a very new sensation she quite enjoyed. It was just a minute, just a quick burst of affection before he wrenched himself away./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "I'm sorry. You're hurt and that was-" helping her to her feet, hoping to cause as little pain as possible./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "No, no," shaking her head, wincing a bit, "I'm glad you did. Ed will be super glad you did," Gordon screwed up his face, wrapping an arm around her waist as she placed hers on his shoulders, "The only reason he sent me is because he's trying to set us up. I mean, it was Kelly's idea but-"/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "You don't think," he interrupted her before trailing off./span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" Her eyes went wide, "/span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"No/span/em/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;". That would be literally, /span/spanspan style="color: #222222;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"literally/span/em/spanspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;", insane."/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "We don't exactly have the sanest coworkers," which suddenly made it seem like the most logical thing she'd ever heard. Especially from him, "I don't think they thought it'd go like this."/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "You mean with my leg getting broken?" shaking her head, "Alright, well if that's the case, there's probably a beacon on the ship, right?"/span/span/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="CENTER"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="color: #222222;"span style="font-weight: normal;"thatcouldovercomeanything /span/span/em/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;" span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Captain Ed Mercer stepped out of the medbay to find Gordon on his way in. He's grinning at the guilty look on his friends face./span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "She handed you your ass didn't she?" adjusting the bouquet in his hands as they stepped off to the side to allow the regular corridor traffic. /span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "It was Kelly's idea too. And Lamar sabotaged the ship."/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "Oh, so you all suck and took it upon yourselves to be nosey," the way Ed groaned he was sure it wasn't the first time he'd heard a variation on that today, "Well, I'd love to stand here and just make it worse but I've got these," holding the flowers up and shaking them, "And a date with the angry little lady."/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "So it worked?" Gordon opened his eyes wide, mouth open slightly, "Right, right, doesn't matter."/span/span/span/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="color: #222222;"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="font-weight: normal;" "What is wrong with you man?"/span/span/span/span/span/p