Title: Chaos Theory, Chapter 6

Author: Stepf

AN: I LIVE! But now…do Jack and Sam? That is the question. I must apologize for my….extreme tardiness with this. I had a serious case of the "I couldn't decide what do to", then once I knew, it took a (long) while to write it out and do MORE research.

As my penance, one chapter tonight, and then the final chapter tomorrow for you. So this folks, is the penultimate chapter, please enjoy and I hope it was worth the wait.

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Chapter 6: Ice

Location Unknown

Time Unknown

She awakens to the feeling of wetness on her face. And bitter cold. Opening her eyes, Samantha finds herself lying on her right side, with Jack pressed tightly against her back, not a millimeter of room separating them. His head is nestled in between her shoulder blades, protecting him from the cold.

Blinking a few times, she finds snowflakes resting on her lashes, the intricate formations melting as she moves. Finally focusing on the area outside their shelter, Sam swears under her breath. Snow. It's snowing heavily, and it feels to her like the temperature has dropped even more since they had fallen asleep. She can feel the cold all the way to her core; every part of her body, from the muscles to the bone, is frigid.

She shutters slightly against it and turns over to face Jack, her left leg aching in protest at being moved. This is exactly what she doesn't need -- her leg causing trouble, slowing them down. Sighing, Sam practically digs herself into Jack's larger body, placing her head on his chest, her arms trapped between them.

She doesn't think her movements have awakened him until a strong hand starts sliding up and down her back slowly and his sleep addled voice whispers in her ear.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, go back to sleep. It's just snowing."

"Mmmm, k," he mutters into her hair and drifts back asleep.

Tilting her head to look up at him, she wonders if what they have can be repaired. Their personal relationship had imploded on itself, leaving behind shards of something neither one of them could recognize anymore. Hearing the howling wind behind her, Sam puts the thoughts out of her head; this is not the time to be debating the current state of her relationship with her boss.

Shifting slightly, she places her ear against his chest, the soothing sound of his heart beating lulling her into a relatively peaceful, if uncomfortable, sleep.

Location Unknown

8 am

Once again Samantha is awakened by something outside her control. This time, an odd noise rouses her. She had finally gotten warm not so long ago and is displeased to have her comfort intruded upon. Sighing, she opens her eyes fully, only to get a full view of the front of Jack's coat; she hadn't appeared to move an inch since the night before.

Focusing on pulling away from Jack, she hadn't realized Jack was awake -- until his arms around her tighten, pulling her almost painfully into him. That's when she hears it.

A snort, much like a horse makes. But…louder. Much louder.

She tries to roll over to see the source of the noise, but is stopped by Jack's voice hissing in her ear.

"Don't. Move."

Closing her eyes, she freezes, allowing herself to be pressed into Jack. She can feel her heart beating hard in her chest; Jack's voice had held an ounce of fear, and that scared her more than the noise.

In the ensuing silence she can also hear Jack's heart, beating as furiously as hers. Still he doesn't speak, just holds onto her what feels like for dear life. She can hear rustling going on behind her, but she isn't sure how close, and she wishes she could see the threat. After an interminable amount of time, he finally releases her slightly and leans his head against hers, his breath tickling the skin at her neck, sending an involuntary shudder through her.

"We've officially had our first run-in with wildlife."

She licks her lips. "Oh God, what was it? Sounded like a horse."

"You're not so far off. I'm pretty sure it was a moose." His voice is still low and, despite loosening his grip, he still holds her close.

"Still close?"

"Yeah, don't move yet."

She nods into his chest and relaxes a little. Unfortunately, when she unclenches her muscles, her leg sends a bolt of pain up her spine, and she can't help but let out a low groan.

"Sam?"

"It's ok. Just muscle cramps." Not exactly a lie, but not exactly the truth either. Sam is sure once they start moving, the stiffness will relieve itself and Jack won't have to worry about her the whole time.

He nods his acceptance at her answer.

After a while, most of it spent flexing and releasing her calf muscle to release the pain, Jack pulls his arms from her and moves, stretching as he does.

"This ground isn't exactly comfy for sleeping."

She raises one eyebrow at him. "You seemed to be doing just fine last night."

"Yeah, but man, is it hard on the back."

Standing, he stretches once more, and she watches the satisfied expression cross his face as his muscles start to warm up. Mimicking him, she stands and stretches, cat-like, cautious of her leg.

Turning, she looks out into the wilderness again and gasps audibly.

"Jack, oh my god."

"I know."

The entire landscape has been covered in a fresh coat of snow -- at least 8 inches of it, if not more. Their tracks from the day before are gone, the fire snuffed out from the weight of the heavy snow. The mountains that had been visible only 10 hours before were now figments of her imagination; she couldn't see them through the blizzard still raining down from the heavens.

"We're stuck here," he finally says. "Until the snow stops."

"DAMMIT!" she practically screams, frustration finally rearing its ugly head. "Can't we get a break here? I'm not asking for neon signs or a guardian fucking moose to guide us out, but how about not making it more difficult!"

Jack watches in amusement as she screams out into the snow, apparently venting at Mother Nature.

"Sam, I don't think that is actually accomplishing anything."

"It makes me feel better." She sighs loudly and leans against him lightly.

"Well you may want to conserve your strength. It's still a long walk and the extra snow isn't going to help."

Nodding, she turns to the bag resting against the back of their space and throws him another bag of pretzels. Pulling one out for herself, she gives him a defeated look. "Almost out of food."

"Ok."

Quietly they eat and wait for the snow to ease up. Sam figures it's about another 6 or 7 hour walk to the nearest trail, and another day, if not two, to get to Rock Harbor -- barring another storm front or unforeseen circumstance.

Houghton County Memorial Airport

10 am

"You KNOW where they are, so why aren't you doing anything to find them?" Danny is livid and isn't trying to hide it in the least.

"Danny, we can't very well send a rescue plane in the middle of what is practically a blizzard. Then we'd have two groups of people to search for." John watches the anger in the man's face subside slightly. He can understand their frustration; it's been two days since their friends' plane went down, and it probably appeared to them that very little was being done to help them. He's seen it a thousand times before: it's not always the act of the rescue, it's the planning before hand, and people waiting for word on their loved ones don't always see the difference.

The younger man runs his fingers through his hair. "I know, I know. It's just…."

"Frustrating? Infuriating? Anxiety-inducing? I know how hard it is not to be able to do anything besides sit and wait for more information. We can't just search a 16 by 45 mile island randomly, but you have to trust me that we are doing everything we can to find them."

And they were. Before Danny's outburst, John had been planning the search grid with the coast guard for once the weather lifted. A search plan is critical; each plane needs to know where to look to save time and maximize their time in the air. First is finding the crash site if possible, a daunting task considering the terrain.

"Yeah, I know. Thank you," Danny says, and leaves command in search of Vivian. The pair were assigned the task of asking around if anyone had seen something or knew someone who did.

Even though every one of John's instincts tells him they are on that island, he can't ignore the possibility that they landed in an uninhabited area where the only people who may have noticed are hunters.

A voice in the room draws his attention away from the map currently spread out on the table. "Captain? The snow is letting up, should be done in the next hour. Coast guard says they can be up as soon as it is. They just need that search grid."

"Excellent, Mitch. Let me know when they are ready and I'll get it to them."

"Aye."

tbc…………………………………