Title: Chaos Theory, Chapter 5
Author: Stepf
AN: Sorry this is taking so long here kids, the muse took a vacation and RL has been a real pain lately. But on the upside, I finished my other WIP for another fandom, so its all this fic, all the time. Thank you for sticking with me, I really, really appreciate it, you have NO idea.
AN2: Anyone noticing my chapter titles yet?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 5: Conduit
"Tell me you've got food in that bag." Jack stops suddenly and asks her.
"What? Oh, yeah. Hang on." Rummaging around in the bag, which Jack had only recently given back to her to carry, she pulls out two small packages and tosses them at him.
He looks down, investigating the packaging before looking at her with one eyebrow raised. "Airplane pretzels?"
She shrugs at him. "Would you prefer the airplane peanuts?"
"I hate peanuts."
"I know. They didn't exactly have a four course meal on the plane Jack."
Nodding amicably, he stops and sits on a tree that had fallen over. She quickly follows suit, sitting as close as she can get. When they aren't moving, the biting cold is significantly more noticeable. Jack nibbles on the pretzels in the bag in silence, not wanting to eat too much; who knows how much longer they would be out here. Blinking, he looks out into the vastness of.nothing. If it weren't for the sun and Sam's compass, he'd have no idea which direction he is even facing.
Finished with his pretzels, Jack scoops up a handful of snow, and after inspecting it carefully, eats it. If anything was in their favor in this situation, it was that snow is an excellent substitute for water, even frozen.
If Jack didn't have his sunglasses with him, he would've most certainly had a horrific case of snow blindness by now. But he can't deny the beauty of the land: a blanket of white, with leafless trees and bushes. It's actually very serene, unlike anything he's ever seen. He can hear birds chirping in the distance, but for the most part, it's very quiet. He's surprised they haven't seen any animals yet. Then again, it's the middle of the day; maybe they didn't come out until night. They had seen tracks in the snow from something beside themselves at random intervals, so they knew animals were out there.
Jack is pulled out of his quiet observations by his companion shifting to get a little closer to him. Instinctively, he reaches out and wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her smaller body into his; she snuggles into him, resting her head on his chest. Silently, he thanks fate, destiny, whoever, that she survived. Jack hadn't really entertained the thought that she could have died along with everyone else. It's a chilling thought, and he pushes it out of his head; she's right here, curled up tightly against his side. Now he just needs to get them both out of here alive.
"Hey, we should get moving. Any idea where we are?"
She pulls away, but gives him a look like she didn't appreciate being disturbed. "Yeah, I think I do, actually."
He stares at her while she pulls out the map, not at all embarrassed when she looks up and catches him. Reaching out, he pulls off a glove and touches her forehead. "How's that doing?"
"It stings, but I think it'll be ok. How 'bout your arm? You know, lemme look at it."
"Sam, it's fine."
"Jack, just take off your coat for a minute. It was pretty deep -- I want to make sure its not infected."
Sighing, he complies with her request and removes his coat, shocked at the bitterness of the air without that Gortex lining protecting him. Quickly, she unbuttons his shirt and slides it down just far enough to get a peak at the wound.
"Doesn't look too bad. But I think you need stitches," she says, and redresses him, unconsciously ignoring the fact that Jack is perfectly capable of dressing himself.
"Well, I don't think that's an option. You said you know where we are?"
"Yeah, well, as best as I can tell, considering." At his nod, she shows him the map. "Remember when you tripped over the black box?" Again, he nods. "Well, I happened to notice a mountain of sorts to our right. See here, here, and here." She points to three spots on the map. "Those are the only mountains that are named. I figure that at least the big ones would be, and that's a really big mountain. I've been tracking it for 3 hours now, and it just gets bigger as we get closer. I also noticed something on our left, right before you asked for food. It's definitely father away, but I think it's another mountain. If it is, then we are here." Again, she points. "In between Mount Ojibway and Franklin."
"Very impressive detective work, Agent Spade. Let's get to walking again, shall we?"
"OK." She stands, and hugs her coat more tightly against her. "It's getting colder, Jack. You notice that?"
"Yeah, and there are a lot more clouds. Shit, I hope it doesn't snow." Mimicking her, he wraps his arms around himself, shivering.
Houghton County Memorial Airport 5 pm
With everyone in the building doing something, and the federal agents gone to their hotel to check in and settle in, John turns back to the map on his wall. He's missing something and he knows it. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he stares intently at Lake Superior, then Houghton, then the flight path indicated by push pins with red string. Standing, he approaches the map, tapping his foot against the vinyl flooring, the ticking sound the only noise in the room.
Suddenly, his eyes widen. "Oh god." He rushes out of the room to the control tower central area. "Walker!"
"Yes, sir!" The younger man replies, startled by the Captain's sudden, loud appearance.
"Could they have made it to Isle Royale? How much fuel did the plane have?"
"I'm not sure, sir."
"Find out. Call Detroit Metro and get the fueling crews' records. Also, check the tapes and see if the Captain mentioned his fuel range during any communications with tower. Its only a 30 minute ride by seaplane; an eight- seater could have made it in half the time. Especially if they were already halfway there."
Isle Royale National Park Location Unknown 5 pm
"Jack, we need to stop. Pretty soon the sun will be gone. Plus, I'm really tired."
Jack turns and looks at her. She must be pretty exhausted to even ask to stop, since Samantha Spade never admits that she's vulnerable or tired.
"Yeah, ok." He looks around. Since they had gained ground on the mountain, he had noticed more outcroppings and small areas where they could find some amount of shelter. Noticing one not far away, he points and she follows.
It is maybe 6 by 6 foot area under an outcropping from a large boulder. Because of the angle, there is almost no snow under the protruding slate. Without speaking, Jack scoops away snow from a small space and Sam begins collecting wood.
In short order, they have made a small fire and have curled up against each other, wrapped in blankets again. Sam sits in Jack's lap, his legs splayed open to accommodate her small frame. Jack's hands are slowly moving up and down her arms and she presses her back closer to his chest.
"You think we will make it?" she finally asks, voicing both of their fears. During the day, neither had much chance to think to hard about it. They were too busy keeping an eye on each other and what was going on around them. One mistake, one misstep could mean death.
He can't lie to her. "I'm not sure, Sam. I'm really not."
"Me either."
"Marie is probably going insane," he says mindlessly, and regrets the words as he feels her flinch slightly.
"Poor Hannah and Kate. God, I can't even imagine not knowing. Sitting at home, waiting for word about whether you're alive or not." She shutters slightly as she speaks.
He hugs her tighter. "You warm enough?"
"Its just so cold." She shivers slightly. "I can't seem to get warm at all."
"I know, baby, I know. I wish I could do something."
"You are."
"Sam..I'm sorry." He doesn't know why he said it, but he needs to clear the air with her. Their relationship has been tense at best lately.
"I don't think you had control of the plane, Jack."
"No, not about that. I'm sorry it's been so tense between us. That's my fault; I was overcompensating and that wasn't fair to you."
She's silent for a minute. "Jack, we both kinda put up walls after the Mashburn incident. I think to protect ourselves. Maybe we went a bit overboard in avoiding each other, though."
"Yeah, I think we did. It's just so hard to try and go back to.before."
"I know, especially since everyone seems to be staring at us when we are in the same room."
"Look, Sam. I know it's weird, but the more normal we act, the better off we are. If we are tense in a room together, then people will pick up on that and assume the worst."
"Agreed."
"Let's.try not to be so distant. Ok?"
"Yeah. Provided we make it out of here."
"Yeah." He kisses the top of her head, the only real comforting gesture he can provide her.
Houghton County Memorial 11 pm
"Sir, I got a hold of Metro."
John looks up at the young man, along with the other two people in the room. "Go on."
"They were full on takeoff from Metro -- they should have had at least half a tank left when they got to Houghton. They could have made it to Isle Royale easily."
Vivian looks at the Captain. "But why all the way up there?" She and Danny had already been apprised of Spade's idea when they had returned to the command center.
"Because Agent.sorry..Viv.when given a choice to land in 30 degree water or at least attempt the island, you go for the island."
Danny stands and looks intently at the map. "But if they could have made all the way up there, why not turn back here?"
"Maybe they couldn't."
Danny nods at the man's answer.
Suddenly, another younger man comes through the door. "Captain, we have a problem."
"What?"
"You'd better come see," he says, and leads the way to the weather station. "Snow, and a lot of it." The younger man points to a large area of white on the radar screen.
"Damn it. When should that be here?"
"By morning, if not earlier. Wisconsin is reporting 12 inches of snow and below freezing temperatures from the system. If they are on the island, it's heading right for them."
"Shit."
tbc...man it just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?
Author: Stepf
AN: Sorry this is taking so long here kids, the muse took a vacation and RL has been a real pain lately. But on the upside, I finished my other WIP for another fandom, so its all this fic, all the time. Thank you for sticking with me, I really, really appreciate it, you have NO idea.
AN2: Anyone noticing my chapter titles yet?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 5: Conduit
"Tell me you've got food in that bag." Jack stops suddenly and asks her.
"What? Oh, yeah. Hang on." Rummaging around in the bag, which Jack had only recently given back to her to carry, she pulls out two small packages and tosses them at him.
He looks down, investigating the packaging before looking at her with one eyebrow raised. "Airplane pretzels?"
She shrugs at him. "Would you prefer the airplane peanuts?"
"I hate peanuts."
"I know. They didn't exactly have a four course meal on the plane Jack."
Nodding amicably, he stops and sits on a tree that had fallen over. She quickly follows suit, sitting as close as she can get. When they aren't moving, the biting cold is significantly more noticeable. Jack nibbles on the pretzels in the bag in silence, not wanting to eat too much; who knows how much longer they would be out here. Blinking, he looks out into the vastness of.nothing. If it weren't for the sun and Sam's compass, he'd have no idea which direction he is even facing.
Finished with his pretzels, Jack scoops up a handful of snow, and after inspecting it carefully, eats it. If anything was in their favor in this situation, it was that snow is an excellent substitute for water, even frozen.
If Jack didn't have his sunglasses with him, he would've most certainly had a horrific case of snow blindness by now. But he can't deny the beauty of the land: a blanket of white, with leafless trees and bushes. It's actually very serene, unlike anything he's ever seen. He can hear birds chirping in the distance, but for the most part, it's very quiet. He's surprised they haven't seen any animals yet. Then again, it's the middle of the day; maybe they didn't come out until night. They had seen tracks in the snow from something beside themselves at random intervals, so they knew animals were out there.
Jack is pulled out of his quiet observations by his companion shifting to get a little closer to him. Instinctively, he reaches out and wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her smaller body into his; she snuggles into him, resting her head on his chest. Silently, he thanks fate, destiny, whoever, that she survived. Jack hadn't really entertained the thought that she could have died along with everyone else. It's a chilling thought, and he pushes it out of his head; she's right here, curled up tightly against his side. Now he just needs to get them both out of here alive.
"Hey, we should get moving. Any idea where we are?"
She pulls away, but gives him a look like she didn't appreciate being disturbed. "Yeah, I think I do, actually."
He stares at her while she pulls out the map, not at all embarrassed when she looks up and catches him. Reaching out, he pulls off a glove and touches her forehead. "How's that doing?"
"It stings, but I think it'll be ok. How 'bout your arm? You know, lemme look at it."
"Sam, it's fine."
"Jack, just take off your coat for a minute. It was pretty deep -- I want to make sure its not infected."
Sighing, he complies with her request and removes his coat, shocked at the bitterness of the air without that Gortex lining protecting him. Quickly, she unbuttons his shirt and slides it down just far enough to get a peak at the wound.
"Doesn't look too bad. But I think you need stitches," she says, and redresses him, unconsciously ignoring the fact that Jack is perfectly capable of dressing himself.
"Well, I don't think that's an option. You said you know where we are?"
"Yeah, well, as best as I can tell, considering." At his nod, she shows him the map. "Remember when you tripped over the black box?" Again, he nods. "Well, I happened to notice a mountain of sorts to our right. See here, here, and here." She points to three spots on the map. "Those are the only mountains that are named. I figure that at least the big ones would be, and that's a really big mountain. I've been tracking it for 3 hours now, and it just gets bigger as we get closer. I also noticed something on our left, right before you asked for food. It's definitely father away, but I think it's another mountain. If it is, then we are here." Again, she points. "In between Mount Ojibway and Franklin."
"Very impressive detective work, Agent Spade. Let's get to walking again, shall we?"
"OK." She stands, and hugs her coat more tightly against her. "It's getting colder, Jack. You notice that?"
"Yeah, and there are a lot more clouds. Shit, I hope it doesn't snow." Mimicking her, he wraps his arms around himself, shivering.
Houghton County Memorial Airport 5 pm
With everyone in the building doing something, and the federal agents gone to their hotel to check in and settle in, John turns back to the map on his wall. He's missing something and he knows it. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he stares intently at Lake Superior, then Houghton, then the flight path indicated by push pins with red string. Standing, he approaches the map, tapping his foot against the vinyl flooring, the ticking sound the only noise in the room.
Suddenly, his eyes widen. "Oh god." He rushes out of the room to the control tower central area. "Walker!"
"Yes, sir!" The younger man replies, startled by the Captain's sudden, loud appearance.
"Could they have made it to Isle Royale? How much fuel did the plane have?"
"I'm not sure, sir."
"Find out. Call Detroit Metro and get the fueling crews' records. Also, check the tapes and see if the Captain mentioned his fuel range during any communications with tower. Its only a 30 minute ride by seaplane; an eight- seater could have made it in half the time. Especially if they were already halfway there."
Isle Royale National Park Location Unknown 5 pm
"Jack, we need to stop. Pretty soon the sun will be gone. Plus, I'm really tired."
Jack turns and looks at her. She must be pretty exhausted to even ask to stop, since Samantha Spade never admits that she's vulnerable or tired.
"Yeah, ok." He looks around. Since they had gained ground on the mountain, he had noticed more outcroppings and small areas where they could find some amount of shelter. Noticing one not far away, he points and she follows.
It is maybe 6 by 6 foot area under an outcropping from a large boulder. Because of the angle, there is almost no snow under the protruding slate. Without speaking, Jack scoops away snow from a small space and Sam begins collecting wood.
In short order, they have made a small fire and have curled up against each other, wrapped in blankets again. Sam sits in Jack's lap, his legs splayed open to accommodate her small frame. Jack's hands are slowly moving up and down her arms and she presses her back closer to his chest.
"You think we will make it?" she finally asks, voicing both of their fears. During the day, neither had much chance to think to hard about it. They were too busy keeping an eye on each other and what was going on around them. One mistake, one misstep could mean death.
He can't lie to her. "I'm not sure, Sam. I'm really not."
"Me either."
"Marie is probably going insane," he says mindlessly, and regrets the words as he feels her flinch slightly.
"Poor Hannah and Kate. God, I can't even imagine not knowing. Sitting at home, waiting for word about whether you're alive or not." She shutters slightly as she speaks.
He hugs her tighter. "You warm enough?"
"Its just so cold." She shivers slightly. "I can't seem to get warm at all."
"I know, baby, I know. I wish I could do something."
"You are."
"Sam..I'm sorry." He doesn't know why he said it, but he needs to clear the air with her. Their relationship has been tense at best lately.
"I don't think you had control of the plane, Jack."
"No, not about that. I'm sorry it's been so tense between us. That's my fault; I was overcompensating and that wasn't fair to you."
She's silent for a minute. "Jack, we both kinda put up walls after the Mashburn incident. I think to protect ourselves. Maybe we went a bit overboard in avoiding each other, though."
"Yeah, I think we did. It's just so hard to try and go back to.before."
"I know, especially since everyone seems to be staring at us when we are in the same room."
"Look, Sam. I know it's weird, but the more normal we act, the better off we are. If we are tense in a room together, then people will pick up on that and assume the worst."
"Agreed."
"Let's.try not to be so distant. Ok?"
"Yeah. Provided we make it out of here."
"Yeah." He kisses the top of her head, the only real comforting gesture he can provide her.
Houghton County Memorial 11 pm
"Sir, I got a hold of Metro."
John looks up at the young man, along with the other two people in the room. "Go on."
"They were full on takeoff from Metro -- they should have had at least half a tank left when they got to Houghton. They could have made it to Isle Royale easily."
Vivian looks at the Captain. "But why all the way up there?" She and Danny had already been apprised of Spade's idea when they had returned to the command center.
"Because Agent.sorry..Viv.when given a choice to land in 30 degree water or at least attempt the island, you go for the island."
Danny stands and looks intently at the map. "But if they could have made all the way up there, why not turn back here?"
"Maybe they couldn't."
Danny nods at the man's answer.
Suddenly, another younger man comes through the door. "Captain, we have a problem."
"What?"
"You'd better come see," he says, and leads the way to the weather station. "Snow, and a lot of it." The younger man points to a large area of white on the radar screen.
"Damn it. When should that be here?"
"By morning, if not earlier. Wisconsin is reporting 12 inches of snow and below freezing temperatures from the system. If they are on the island, it's heading right for them."
"Shit."
tbc...man it just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?
