Author: Patrick

Title: She Didn't Get Off the Plane

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

AN: This chapter is the first to consist largely of dialogue. Hopefully it works.

Chapter 13

Joey held Rachel for several moments, allowing her to sob into his chest. In truth, he needed to embrace her almost as badly as she needed his embrace. It made him feel complete in a way he had not been since she had moved out. Perhaps it was just the big brother in him, but for some reason, being a girl's protector seemed to fit him so perfectly. Rachel was hardly the little sister he never had, but maybe more like the sister he'd always wanted. And while Joey's other friends had made him painfully aware of his intellectual shortcomings at times, Rachel did not, choosing instead to accept him in spite of himself, which made him love and value her even more. Joey thought about how people had sometimes made the mistake of comparing Rachel's simplicity to his own, but he knew that there were usually much more strategic intentions behind Rachel's ingenuousness than there was behind the comedic ignorance of his own. Her innocence really became her; it was that certain kind of sincere naiveté that could make a girl strangely irresistible. For Rachel, it worked in spades.

"I'm so happy to see you," she admitted, finally breaking free from Joey's bear hug. He nodded intensely in agreement.

"Yeah, same here Rach! We were afraid we lost ya, but here you are!"

"Yeah…here I am" she said, her mind wandering into thought. She had a million questions to ask him, but his last statement decided which one she'd ask first.

"So where is here anyway?" she inquired. She had no idea if she was in France or back in New York, or somewhere else altogether. She was excited to hear the answer, but was surprised to find that she wasn't hoping it would be one location more than any other.

"Well," he started, a tinge of apprehension in his voice, "this may not be what you're hoping to hear right now, but we're actually on this big military plane." Rachel instantly looked confused, but nodded her assent, signaling him to proceed.

"Okay, well I'll tell you the whole story," he began, prefacing his narration. "Your plane disappeared 10 days ago. They did the whole search and rescue routine but didn't find anything." Rachel immediately thought of Tim, but decided to hold off on asking about him until Joey was finished.

Maybe he'll answer that one without me having to ask, she thought, returning her full attention to his commentary.

"Your parents decided to have a funeral and everything. Something about it being the proper way to handle things," he said, placing mock emphasis on the word proper. This revelation struck a chord deep in Rachel's heart and she almost began to cry again, but after a few deep breaths she urged Joey to carry on.

"Well, Chandler called our contact at the Coast Guard a few days ago and, as it turns out, they were getting ready to call off the search. Well, luckily for us, some wives of the men who worked down there are big DOOL fans," Joey revealed with a proud grin. "So I had to rally a few cast members and sign a lot of autographs, but they agreed to go on one more run and let Phoebe and I come along for it. I figured she'd be great to have along because of her psychic feelings, ya know? I had to say she was my wife to get them to go along with it, but it was worth it," Joey snickered, remembering his suggestion to Phoebe that they should consummate their 'marriage' to make the role more convincing. Rachel disdainfully rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"So anyway," he continued, "we were in this chopper, which was totally awesome, by the way, and the pilot says something about Ponta Del-something-or-other, and Phoebe gets one of her 'feelings' and tells the pilot we should head that way. It took a bit of persuasion, but the pilot did it." Joey carefully omitted his suggestion to the pilot that they should stop at Taco Bell while they were there.

"So we flew there, and kept going for what seemed like forever, and just as we were about to give up, the pilot sees some smoke, so we followed the trail and we saw that it was coming from a little fire on an island."

Rachel chuckled at this, reflecting on the many frustrating hours she and Tim had spent rubbing branches together, trying to get a fire going. She'd wanted to give up many times but was now unbelievably grateful for Tim's persistence on the matter.

"Did you see my little message on the beach?" Rachel queried, showing a smile that glowed with a sense of accomplishment. Joey nodded like a giddy child, as if he'd been eagerly awaiting this part of the story.

"Yeah, it's like you knew I was coming!" he exclaimed. Rachel arched an eyebrow, perplexed by his reply. "I mean writing 'sauce'? That's genius!" he clarified.

Rachel placed her hand over her mouth as she struggled not to laugh at this unbelievable misunderstanding, deciding instead to roll with it. It probably wasn't worth trying to explain the whole 'S.O.S.' thing at that moment anyway. She was so thankful for being anywhere but on that dreadful island and for being with a good friend that nothing could bother her. Well, almost nothing. Just then Joey's face became very somber.

"Well, there was no place to land the chopper, so he just flew around the island slowly and we all looked out until…we…saw it," Joey said, emotions clearly assaulting him as his voice trailed off.

"Oh, honey," sighed Rachel, very aware of what he was referring to. The room was deathly silent for the next few moments, save the electric drone of the fluorescent light fixture and the soft hum of the plane's engine, which Rachel now noticed for the first time.

"You saw the crash site? The…the bodies?" she asked, empathetically fixing her cobalt eyes on his.

Joey drew back hesitantly, and then nodded, his face aimed downward at his lap, hiding the tears that were threatening to spring from his eyes at any moment. Rachel took his hand in hers and massaged the back of it with the flat of her thumb and wondered to herself, perhaps inappropriately, if she had ever seen Joey cry before. Satisfied that he'd regained composure, Joey lifted his head and allowed his now-glistening brown eyes to meet Rachel's once again. Their hands, however, remained locked in each other's.

"So they let out a rope ladder," he said, proceeding with the story, "and a couple guys went down, everyone expecting the worst. And then they walkie-talkied that two people were alive! Well I just knew you had to be one of 'em. And, well obviously I was right!" Rachel put a hand to her chest as she let out a huge sigh, grateful to know that Tim had also made it out alive.

"Tim made it out?" she asked, hope lining her words. "Is he here?" she asked, wondering if he was in any better shape than she was. Joey shook his head.

"He lives in France so they put him on a different plane. But he asked me this to give to you," he revealed, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a folded piece of paper.

"Oh," she sighed, saddened by the fact that she hadn't gotten the chance to say goodbye to Tim. She hoped the contents of his note would include some sort of contact information. If so, she would visit him once she got back on her feet.

"I'll give you a minute to read that," Joey said, excusing himself. "And I better go tell Pheebs you're awake. She'd kill me if she knew how long we've been talking without her already!" Rachel nodded her understanding, as Joey disappeared through the doorway and the wooden door closed behind her. She returned her attention to the piece of paper in her hands, studying the crease with her fingertips for a moment before finally opening it.

Rachel-

I sincerely hope that you wake up and read this shortly after I finish writing it. Being on that island was hell, and I'm not sure I would've been able to get through it alone. Thanks for keeping me sane and giving me something to look forward every day when I woke up on that sand.

They say you should take one good thing out of every bad situation aside from what you learn from it. All I know is I'm taking a parachute with me next time I fly! If you can think of something better, let me know.

-Tim Cogbill

555, Bd Saint-Germain
F – 75007 PARIS

As she read the final words of Tim's note, Rachel exhaled and smiled. Just then, the door burst open and a tall, slender blonde woman ran in elatedly.

"Hi, Phoebe!" Rachel beamed, as her friend's arms quickly found their way around her.

"You are awake!" Phoebe cried in cheerful disbelief, still holding Rachel tightly. Over Phoebe's shoulder, Rachel saw Joey appear in the doorway. She gave him a huge grin, to which he reacted with a coy smile of his own and a wink. After a few moments, Joey became satisfied that he'd given Phoebe a respectful moment to reunite with her friend and approached, taking a seat in a chair next to the bed.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Rachel.

"Joey?" she asked, a tinge of anxiety appearing in her voice, "You said that Tim was on a plane to France." Joey nodded, his eyes in their corners, his mind searching for the point of her question. She didn't wait for him to figure it out. "If I'm not going to France, then where are you taking me?"

"Home," he stated plainly, without specifying further.

Rachel smiled. That was all she needed to hear.

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AN: The beginning of next chapter will kind of be a part two of this chapter. I'd wait until that part was finished and upload it all at once, but I have my reasons for not doing so. Thanks for reading and keep them reviews coming!