A/N: Here we are! I know... it's been two months since I updated, but I have a bunch of chapters written ahead that WILL be posted. So sorry, guys.
Warning: The language is slightly stronger than the other chapters. F-bombs every now and then.
Chapter 29- The H Word
Josée and Jacques' eyes were twitching the next morning. They unfortunately had gotten stuck next to the Haters hotel room. The Haters had apparently slipped back into being lovers - or at least, that's what it sounded like due to the very thin walls. Josée and Jacques had never been so disgusted in their lives. They don't want to have to deal with that for the next competition, so they were hoping that they would be the next to go.
Or the Cadets. Or the Best Friends. Or the Sisters.
Hell, Josée and Jacques just wanted to win the million already and go home. Josée wanted to move back in with her maman, and Jacques wanted to see his family as well. He wanted the guilt to go away. He wanted these feelings to go away; the feelings that had been growing stronger because of this stupid race - he had yet to understand it. Josée just wanted to get away from TV. She wanted to see Rachel's grave, she wanted to see Rachel's aunt because she could only imagine what the poor woman was going through.
Josée and Jacques were the first to get to the Don box. "We're going to Darjeeling, India." Though they had taken the taxi to the airport faster than the other teams, it didn't matter, since they all ended up on the same flight. And because they ended up on the same flight, they had to deal with MacArthur's sobs - still filled with guilt over yesterday.
"Josée, I would sleep..." Jacques suggested gently. "It's going to be a long flight."
Josée grumbled. "The flights are always long. Besides, I'm not tired."
Seconds later, she let out a yawn.
Jacques lifted an amused eyebrow. "You were saying?" Josée met him with such a glare that Jacques couldn't help but find adorable in this context. "I will make sure no one draws a mustache on you."
Josée's face scrunched up in thought. "Hmm, okay." Her eyes closed, and sleep took over - Jacques knew she was fast asleep when he heard her light snores.
They arrived in India shortly. Josée and Jacques ran off the plane to find a taxi. Jacques called out to a taxi, and Josée barked out the order to take them to Darjeeling to find the next Don box. "We haven't gotten any sleep back in Siberia," Josée hissed angrily in the taxi. "All because of those stupid Haters."
"Do you want to try and get rid of them?" Jacques asked.
Josée hummed a bit, then nodded. "Oui. But I actually wanted to get back at the Sisters first," she snorted in disgust. "How dare they bring up the olympics..."
Yes. Jacques agreed with that one hundred percent with that. It was interesting how people would call him and Josée the assholes - though he couldn't deny that he had stepped over a line, but he didn't care - yet Emma was the one that started it. Besides, Jacques thought, it wasn't that bad - all he did was bring up Emma's ex-boyfriend as retaliation to the comment regarding the olympics. Something that she had brought up not once, but twice. Why did she act so surprised?
They were the first to arrive at Darjeeling and sprung out of the taxi. "Haha! Still first!" He proceeded to gloat more, that was until the heat was so extreme that it slowed not only him, but Josée down as well. "Heat... too... hot..." They had struggled, like they struggled back in Finland, to get back on their feet. Once they did, they went to read the travel tip for the first challenge. "Tea time..." Jacques read. "Each team must strap on a basket and fill it to the brim with tea leaves. Once full, bring the baskets to the local... and if she approves, you get your next travel tip."
"In this heat?" Josée snapped. She rubbed her forehead. "Gross."
Jacques happened to agree, then he spotted the Sisters. "We could try to stop them," he suggested to Josée. "Like how you did with the cadets last time."
Josée squinted at where he was looking from behind the bushes. "And how do you think we could do that?"
"There must be a handle or something," Jacques said. "To release the leaves and empty the basket. So when they think they're filling up their baskets, it's not."
Josée smirked at Jacques. "Brilliant thinking, Jacques." Then she paused thoughtfully, her smirk vanishing. "But we need a diversion." Josée's eyes scanned over to the cadets, who were picking tea leaves. She smirked again and gestured Jacques to follow her. Once they got closer, Josée spoke: "The time to end the Sisters is now." MacArthur and Sanders turned to face the ice dancers. Josée backtracked a little. "Well, it was actually last round, but somebody had an accident!"
"Tough break," Jacques chimed in, with a giggle. Neither cadet was amused. "What... too soon?" He looked over to see that MacArthur was this close to bawling again, but she kept her composure.
"Very soon," Sanders replied curtly.
"Wait, wait, wait..." MacArthur cut in. "What do you have in mind?"
"All we have to do is open the bottom of their baskets without them noticing. But we need a diversion," Josée explained. She and Jacques grinned devilishly when she saw that MacArthur was totally on board with the idea.
"I'm your gal. I can do fake injuries, real injuries, real injuries that were supposed to be fake, bird calls, goat calls, ox mating calls, check this out." She proceeded to growl, which made Josée and Jacques' grins vanish at the strangeness of the cadet.
"Ahem, I'm calling the shots, remember?" Sanders reminded her partner.
"Fine. You do the ox mating call."
"We're not getting involved," Sanders declined to the ice dancers, then started to walk away. MacArthur followed her. "I don't want to get hit with a penalty."
"But it's perfect!" Jacques insisted, almost desperately. "The Sisters don't suspect a thing!"
"The answer is still no," said Sanders.
"Well fine!" Josée exclaimed. "Then this round, it's every team for itself. Which means, in case you didn't figure it out, that you two are in our... cross target thingies!" She struggled to find the words. If Jacques wasn't so mad at the cadets, he would've smiled. She was so cute. "A bullseye on the... we're coming for you two now! Get ready!"
Instead, Jacques blew a raspberry at the Cadets and walked away. Now it looked like that Josée and Jacques would have to sabotage the Sisters on their own. Slowly, they inched closer and closer to them and soon enough, they were picking tea leaves beside them.
Emma was quick to notice. "Can you guys pick somewhere else?"
"And where do you have in mind?" Jacques challenged. She better watch what she said, because he wouldn't hesitate making Emma freeze up on camera by mentioning her ex-boyfriend again.
"How about... anywhere but here? We know you're up to something. How naive do you think we are?" Emma snapped.
Jacques glared at the older sister. "Excuse my pardon?"
But before he could let out a ray of insults, Josée covered his mouth. "Wait. Fine, you're right. But we're not here to cheat against you. We're here to cheat with you. It's time for a new alliance. We want your help to eliminate the Haters."
"And why should we believe you?" Emma asked, frowning.
"Because... when we see weakness, we attack it! And right now, you are not the weakest team here," Josée answered. They all looked over to the team in question, which was the Haters that were struggling with their challenge.
"Okay, I believe you," Emma said, almost surprised. Josée and Jacques smirked when the Sisters took their gaze off of them and onto the Haters. As they stared, Josée let out the leaves that both Sisters had collected.
"Whoa. Steph's brain is snapped like a pencil," Kitty remarked in shock. Then, she and her sister turned around to face the ice dancers. "Thanks, but no thanks. We have no interest in cheating."
"And I'm pretty sure the Haters will take themselves out," added Emma.
"But more importantly, because we're better than that," said Kitty.
"Yeah, that too."
"Fine, play it safe, it's your funeral," Josée stated, and walked away along with Jacques. In the confessional, they were asked about two things. The first happened to be about Sanders' condition, oddly enough, and the second was her brilliant plan to sabotage the Sisters. "A broken arm is no excuse for failure! I once broke an arm, dislocated a jaw, and knocked out four teeth in the middle of a performance, and I still won." This was during the time in which Jacques wasn't her partner. If that was Jacques, her mother would've gotten rid of him fast, which was what happened to that partner, despite them winning.
When it came to Josée's tricks, Jacques was the one to speak up on it. "Oh! You're good."
"I know. Sometimes, I even impress myself," Josée replied, smiling.
Both Josée and Jacques broke into laughter upon seeing Emma and Kitty realize that their tea leaves were gone. As they raced to where the local was, both could hear Kitty shouting that she and Emma hated them.
Good.
So be it.
"Ahead of everyone else here..." Don stopped narrating when he saw that Josée and Jacques were the ones to arrive first where the local was, with their baskets full of tea leaves. "...you guys again? Why can't you just get eliminated already?"
Josée scoffed. "In your dreams."
"Yes. I do dream about it," Don shot back, then smiled as he walked away. "And what sweet, sweet dreams they are."
"It's all there!" Josée said to the local, who gave them their travel tip. "Get sent reeling on the Darjeeling." They read on to see that each team would be assigned to a car on the train based on the order that they arrived. Since they were the first to arrive, they were sitting in the front car. Despite that they were in first, Josée and Jacques weren't satisfied. And it especially didn't help when Don's voice rang over the PA system that the other teams in cars two through five could make their way to the front.
"So we just have to sit here and let the other teams catch up?" Jacques asked, almost nervously.
Josée looked a bit apprehensive as well. "I guess so... Or!" Then Josée stood up and made her way to the back of her car, slamming the door open with a thud. "...We could bury the Cadets and everyone else too." Jacques watched closely, not quite understanding, until Josée explained further. "They can't get to our car if their cars are detached to it." What she was pointing to the link that was connecting this car with the others. Then she turned to Jacques with a glare, then shoved him lightly: "Well what are you waiting for? Unattach us!"
Jacques groaned and struggled to lift the link. "I'm gonna give myself a hemorrhoid!"
"Hello, maybe you should try the lever?" Josée said, motioning to it.
Jacques stopped struggling and looked over to where his partner was suggesting at. He got up and pulled the lever down, breaking the link. "Okay! Bon voyage!" He called out to the other teams on top of the other train, and slammed the door shut. Soon, they pulled into the station where the chill zone would be.
"Yes! Ice dancers rule!" Josée gloated.
"In your face!" Jacques added, referring to the other teams. He and Josée ran to the chill zone and cheered happily with the thought of them securing first place.
"Ice Dancers... you're in first," Don stated, making both ice dancers smile. Then, Don added: "If no one makes it in the next hour. You have a penalty."
Their smiles disappeared after that.
"Us?! What did we do?!" Jacques cried out.
Don frowned. "Seriously? You thought I wouldn't notice the rest of the train is missing?"
Josée didn't seem to bothered. "Oh, whatever. The other teams are miles away, there's no chance of-" she was cut off when the Sisters had arrived, cheering upon making it in time.
"First place goes to the Sisters!" Don announced, making Kitty and Emma cheer more and hug each other. Josée and Jacques' eyes twitched profusely; what did Don have against them? Were they too talented? Too attractive? Too all of the above? He turned to the ice dancers. "Wait for your penalty to expire and hope you aren't last."
"Penalty?" Kitty chimed in, then she smirked when she realized it was the ice dancers who had an hour penalty. "Oh, that's rich!"
After a while, the Cadets showed up, therefore, Don announced: "And the cadets take second!" MacArthur blew a raspberry at the ice dancers, making Josée growl at her menacingly. Fine, there was no reason to worry, Josée thought. But then the Best Friends arrived, and Josée and Jacques winced. "And the Best Friends take third! That leaves the Haters and the Ice Dancers. How are you feeling about your chances now?"
"Never better," Josée answered, almost sounding confident - almost.
"I suggest you sit over there and think about what you've done," Don said, pointing to the ground.
"But there's a bench right there-"
"FLOOR!" Don snapped. Josée and Jacques' eyebrows shot up in surprise. Right when Jacques was going to yell back at him for yelling at Josée, he was surprised to see his partner doing what Don said, bringing her knees to her chest as she waited out their penalty.
Jacques joined her. "Josée?"
The female ice dancer shook her head. "I think this is it."
Jacques' heart sank. "Don't lose faith, chouchou," he said, softly enough so the cameras couldn't pick up on it. "We could make it."
Much time passed, with Jacques and Josée remaining on the floor. There was only a minute left of their penalty; and there was no sight of the Haters at first. But then, Don managed to spot them. "A minute away from the end of your penalty and here come the Haters. Pump those legs to victory!" Josée and Jacques gasped and stood up. "Tick-tock, tick-tock... Each second passing slower than the last." Josée winced while Jacques bit his fingernails apprehensively. "The Haters are going to make it."
"You mean the Daters, Don," Ryan corrected, stopping in front of the chill zone, taking Stephanie's hands in his.
"That's right, we're dating again!" Stephanie cheered.
"And we're going to win," Ryan added, "With love." Stephanie awed.
Don broke the moment. "That was heartwarming, but you missed one important step." When Stephanie asked what step, Josée and Jacques grinned when Don stated that their penalty was expired and that they were in fourth, sliding over to the chill zone. Both ice dancers giggled victoriously. Once the filming was over for the day, the remaining three teams stared at Josée and Jacques in utter disbelief. It was silent for a few seconds.
"You have to be fucking kidding me," MacArthur remarked.
That remark alone made Josée smirk. She was so overcome with excitement, that she suddenly jumped up in Jacques' arms. Jacques, startled for a moment, but he managed to catch her in time - he wouldn't make that mistake again - and laughed along with her. "Didn't I'd say we could make it?" Josée didn't directly answer, instead, she replied with laughter - which was music to Jacques' ears, it was like chiming bells. Jacques looked into her eyes and found solace, knowing that if they could manage to dodge this huge bullet, then they were almost invincible. Hell, they could do anything.
They were safe.
And one step closer to the million.
Jacques stared in awe as Josée let down her damp hair and brushed through it. It reminded him back in Zimbabwe after they had done that challenge with the waterfall. It seemed like ages ago, when in reality it was only a few weeks. Josée had wrung her hair, letting the water out, and Jacques had stared more than usual. She had been so happy with him then, he had promised not to let go of her and kept to it. When they were inches away from elimination, and Jacques was lightly leaning against each other - he didn't want to let go. He hoped he never had to let go; she was too precious to lose - and he knew that if they hadn't escaped elimination, he would lose her.
"Jacques? You're doing that thing again."
Jacques blinked out of his daze.
No.
He had to put a stop to this.
Rising from his bed, he stated: "I'm going to get some air..."
Josée stopped brushing her hair, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Is it something I did?"
Yes. "Non! Non... you did nothing wrong, it... it..." Jacques trailed off for a second, biting his lower lip under Josée's inquisitive stare. "Today was just very close."
"...Oui. It was." Josée resumed to brushing her hair. "Don't take too long. It's pretty dark out, and we have to be up early for the next round."
Jacques nodded and left the hotel room. Part of him was tempted for a cigarette - but he had fought that back hard, it was a lot easier too - and another part of him wanted a drink. The latter was what he ended up doing in the end - but it was not a bar that he went to. Instead, he went up to the roof of the hotel. He originally wasn't on the search for alcohol, he legitimately wanted fresh air and to sort out his thoughts. That was, until, he spotted another party.
Devin was leaning against the wall over a ledge, one of his legs dangling over it, while he held a flask in his hand while the other was frustratedly wiping his tears away. Jacques stood there, without a clue of what to do. He silently stood there, waiting for Devin to notice his presence. Once Devin's drunken eyes landed on Jacques', he took another swig from the flask. "So the... so the egotist'cal prick decided to show up. Great."
Jacques ignored the tears, and his eyes wandered to the flask. "How did you get that?" Devin proceeded to mumble about how he managed to know a guy, which was all talk of course. He probably bought it somewhere and no one bothered to ID him.
But then, to Jacques' surprise, Devin held it out for him. "D'you want some?" Jacques eyed the flask suspiciously, but took it out of his hands. He sat across from him, and took a sip from the flask. Almost instantly, Jacques spit out its contents in disgust. Devin snorted and rolled his eyes. "Newbie."
"What the fuck is this?" Jacques nearly shrieked.
Devin shrugged and took the flask back. "I dunno." He casually took some sips from it. "But it's really good." Then, he passed it back and let out a weary sigh. "I think I... I taste some... cough syrup, and some kool-aid... and some chips ahoy. Maybe vodka."
Jacques blinked in utter disbelief. "You can drink this but you can't handle spice? Disgusting," he remarked, making a face. However, he took more sips from the bitter flask. "I'm only having a little."
Approximately seven minutes later told a different story.
"Y'know, this is really bad..." Jacques slurred, "I should... not. Shouldn't be encouraging the youth to drink!" He passed the flask to Devin, which was roughly seventy five percent empty, "Drunkness is bad when you're young... I would know. 'specially when your brain is like... underdeveloped or something."
Devin hiccuped, a bit more intoxicated compared to his companion on the roof. "I'm going to be.." Hiccup. "...nineteen soon. I told you."
"Happy birthday!" Jacques cheered, with a dopey grin. "You should... you should get a cake or something. Go talk to Donathan."
"Donathan?"
"Donathan."
"No thanks," Devin said, then his expression grew solemn. "I have... bigger problems to worry about." Then he drank some more, wincing at the taste, then: "I'm... I never realized how beautiful she was... oh holy fuck, did I even like Shelley that much? No. She was hot, but Carrie... why did it... why did it take so long?"
Jacques, though he was drunk, knew where this was going. "For what?"
"To realize that I'm... in love with her!" Devin suddenly exclaimed, then burst into tears again. Jacques sighed and leaned against the wall and resisted the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes as Devin went on. "I know that Emma said that Carrie's been in love with me this whole time, but... how did I... I not see that? Now... she probably doesn't... love me back!" Devin let out a sob into his hand. Jacques blinked slowly and took the flask away from Devin, finishing the rest of it. "How didn't I see?"
"I don't know, you're blind to not see that," Jacques said honestly. Devin wailed miserably in response. Jacques let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, I just want to get drunk. No talking. No more talking about Carrie."
"Why the hell didn't I kiss Carrie then?"
"Fuck, we're talking about Carrie aren't we?"
"I am so freaking in love with Carrie."
"…We're talking about Carrie."
"God... it... makes you think, y'know?" Devin slurred, scratching his head. "This whole time. This whole race. I couldn't see the signs at all." Jacques was about to interject again that he was too blind, but decided against it; he wasn't in the mood to see him cry again. "Jacques, could you push me off the roof?"
"Non. I'm too tired..." Jacques said, then: "And drunk. Instead of crying why don't you do..." Hiccup. "...something about it?"
"About jumping off the roof?"
"Non. About..." Jacques faltered, knowing he was going to regret this. "About Carrie. You'll never know if you... try." Then, he added out of the blue: "I'm sorry I was an egotistical prick to you. It's'kay if you hate me." Devin met his eyes, and Jacques shrugged carelessly. "Everybody hates us, anyway." He didn't know where this was coming from. "And that's fine, because... 'cause I think I hate me too, at least... I think everyone hates themselves to an extent, y'know? 'Specially if there's this part of you... this part of you that you don't understand. Because you... you've been friends with her for so many years, and then you start to... to feel things, y'know? And you're not supposed to feel these things, because she's your best friend, but... but... shit just happens, and you're afraid... that everything is going to turn to shit because of something you can't control. But you should be able to take control of that... 'cause... 'cause you don't want to destroy what you two have, and you don't want to make things worse. But you wonder what could be... and it all starts up in your head again and your brain won't shut up." Jacques stopped speaking and turned to Devin, "Do you get it?"
Devin blankly stared at him. "You sound like you... you speak from exp'rience," he mumbled.
Jacques hummed a little to himself. "What makes you think that?"
"You don't pull a long speech out of your ass like that..." Devin began, "...unless you speak from experience."
"...Maybe I do," Jacques admitted, shrugging. "Or maybe I'm just drunk."
"What is it that they say?" Devin asked rhetorically. "That... that drunk words are just... sober thoughts?"
"Nonsense," Jacques spat. Devin shot him a look, and then Jacques sighed with reluctance. "But you're sort of right. It is about someone from experience. But... it's.. it's more complicated than that. It's not that easy, because... you think you know yourself, but it turns out, you start to qu-question who you are. And that's just frustrating, 'cause... 'cause friends 'n family will hit you with the 'we'll love you no matter what' but then shove nonsense down your throat... and you... you grew up with that, with things friends say to you 'cause you don't know any better... but then you question them, and you wonder if you'll lose friends 'cause of it. You learn things, you meet new people - and you... you realize that you're living in this bubble, but what if... what if you don't want to live in that bubble anymore? Then what? Am I going to be free? Or will it suffocate me?"
It became silent between them.
"Jacques, I'm going to be honest," Devin began carefully, "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."
Fair enough. Jacques hadn't a clue, either. It was all so confusing for himself to understand. Then, he staggered to his feet. "I'm feeling a little better. I'm going... going to head inside, okay? Try not to fall off the roof." With that being said, Jacques left the roof - even more confused than ever before.
Josée woke up in the worst possible mood. She had been worried for Jacques last night since he had gone out - to god knows where - and ended up getting plastered. He showed up at their hotel room, a little bit after midnight - and had scolded him over the fact. It wasn't like her usual screaming, it was more like a stern talking to. She stopped after two minutes, Jacques had a major headache and figured that she could scold him in the morning.
"Where did you even get alcohol?" asked Josée, then shook her head. It didn't matter right now; she and Jacques were last place when they got the next travel tip to take the next flight to Buenos Aires in Argentina. She and Jacques barked at their taxi driver to drive, to quite literally step on it. They were already behind.
"Maybe those flights will crash or something!" Josée snapped. "If that means we could get ahead, so be it." She let out a groan, and snapped at the driver. "Faster! If the other teams catch an earlier flight, I'm going to do something bad! Very bad!"
"You know you can't crash airplanes with your mind, right?" Jacques asked.
"No, Jacques! I don't know that! Do you?!" The taxi zoomed ahead thankfully.
"I do know that," Jacques replied smoothly. "It's okay, Josée. We'll get that early flight." Soon, they ended up getting out of their taxis at the same time that the Cadets were. They rushed inside the airport to see that there was a line, and up ahead, were the Sisters. MacArthur had growled, understandably furious.
But Josée wasn't going to stand there resigned. She moved ahead, and snapped up ahead: "Hurry up! Get us in the sky!"
Kitty had met the ice dancers eyes, and smirked over to the receptionist's desk. "Oh, don't mind them. They're our friends and they're just worried they won't get their usual seats at the very back of the plane. Do you think you could save those seats for them?"
The ice dancers and cadets glared at the Sisters.
That bitch.
While they were boarding the same flight, they were stuck in the back of the plane per Kitty's request, which happened to be right by the washroom. Josée, Jacques, MacArthur, and Sanders gagged in disgust as the smell was abominable and induced nausea. "Sitting beside the bathrooms is the worst!" Sanders exclaimed, then held her vomit in.
"It was the Sisters!" MacArthur exclaimed, plugging her nose. "They sweet-talked the ticket guy into sticking us with the worst seats on the entire plane!"
"Oh come on!" Jacques complained, waving his hand to get rid of the smell. "How long is this flight to Buenos Aires?"
"Twenty four hours," Josée hissed, then clenched her fist up. "Those Sisters... are toast."
They all collectively gagged.
After a painful twenty four hours on the flight, the ice dancers eagerly rushed off the plane and to the Don box. Suddenly, that plane ride was worth it after they read the travel tip. Josée and Jacques resisted the urge to squeal then and there; it was an All-in, but it wasn't an ordinary All in - it was a dance challenge! Not only that, it was the tango! Isaac had helped them study the tango before the 2010 olympics, since it was one of the themes for the Compulsory Dances. They figured it would be the same thing, except it was off the ice. Though it wasn't exactly the thrill that Josée needed, it was the closet thing that she and her partner could get.
When they got into a taxi, they gushed about their luck. "A tango challenge?" Josée remarked happily.
Jacques laughed. "See, we are ice dancers."
"If you take the word 'ice' away from that, what are you left with?"
"Dancers."
"Ha! Why not just hand us the million dollars?"
They arrived where the challenge would take place. Josée and Jacques took note, watching the tango instructor and his partner carefully as they demonstrated the moves. Josée and Jacques exchanged a knowing look, they got this in the bag, and then smiled. While the other teams were breaking out into confessionals, Josée and Jacques didn't even bother trying to practice the moves; they already knew it. Instead, Josée and Jacques spent their time practicing ballet. It wasn't ice dancing, but they couldn't pass up an opportunity to practice some form of dancing that was more complex than this tango they had down pat.
To the other teams, this looked like a bunch of turns - but it was more complex than that, however the ice dancers made it look easy as usual. They were performing a variety of turns, such as fouetté turns, a pirouette en dedans, and a series of piqué turns. Of course, they couldn't forget about the arabesque. They knew that the other teams were watching them, despite not practicing the assigned moves - that's how unbothered Josée and Jacques were; they had watched it, observed it closely, and knew it.
It was like Madam Lizette stated, if they couldn't pick up a dance from a single glance, they would've been cut from an audition. Josée and Jacques insisted that they would get the callback - this was just like an audition. When the Sisters were up first and failed miserably, it was Josée and Jacques' turn. Like it has been said, Josée and Jacques easily performed the assigned moves that were given to them. It was a cakewalk. And, though neither would admit it, they thought of Leo & Liv - who were experts on the tango, far better than Josée and Jacques were. Their first thought was to channel their inner Leo & Liv, but then, they realized - hadn't they been doing that a lot recently?
Josée rushed to Jacques' side, and their feet slid across the floor in sync. They winked at each other simultaneously, and split apart to clap. Josée stuck her hand out for Jacques to take, which he did, and threw her to the side making her spin multiple times, and perfectly stopped her - holding her for the final dip. He had caught her because, once more, he was prepared to never let her go again. Hell, he really didn't want to let go of her right now - part of him hoped that they would be denied just so they could dance again.
Nonetheless, the tango instructor clapped approvingly at their final pose.
"Good luck catching up!" Josée taunted to the other teams, who had grumbled angrily. She couldn't help but let out a cackle as she ran off. They grabbed the next taxi to the Don box - like the travel tip from the tango instructor told them to - and couldn't stop smiling. It was a similar feeling back when they did that amateur dance in New Zealand - but exceptional better because it was more challenging. This dance gave them the adrenaline that they needed.
Jacques hit the button on the Don box and snatched the travel tip. " It's a Botch or Watch. 'Ride Em... Gaucho?'"
Josée peered over the travel tip, "It says that you have to ride a horse and use a traditional boleadora to tie up our team's designated emu. Once our emu is wrapped up, we have to bring it by taxi to the chill zone located at the top of Mt. Aconcagua in the Andes."
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one of the producers leaving a green bottle of some kind several feet away and was clearing his throat very loudly, almost to get their attention. "Jacques," she called out to him, tapping him on the shoulder. Jacques turned around to see that the producer was there waiting, with the bottle that was left. He pointed to the bottle, and then, suggestively pointed to one of the designated emus that weren't their own; it was the Sisters.
Josée understood what the producer was trying to say.
But did Jacques?
She watched as Jacques went over to the bottle, read the label presumably, and approached the Sisters emu very carefully. He shook the bottle roughly at first, then he squirted it out onto the Sisters emu, causing it to let out a screech and some of its contents to end up on Jacques' costume. Jacques mockingly gasped. "Oops! I accidentally got vegetable oil all over the Sisters' emu! I hope that doesn't make the challenge harder for them." Then he broke into laughter, but then slipped on his own vegetable oil. Josée winced a little at this; though this would make it harder for the Sisters, the vegetable oil was also all over himself. When he tried to get on the horse, he struggled for a bit.
They struggled long enough for the Sisters to show up. "Is it just me, or does our emu look suspiciously oily?" remarked Emma. Both Josée and Jacques proceeded to giggle at their unfortunate circumstances, making Emma groan. "We should've known."
"What makes you think we did it?" Josée asked rhetorically, still smiling, venomously sweet.
"Yes, come back when you have some proof!" Jacques exclaimed, then he let out a shriek as he began to slip off the horse, and landed on the ground with a thud. "Ow..."
"Mhm..." said Emma.
"That evidence is circumstantial, lawyer girl," Josée retorted, then she glared at Kitty. "Oh, and thank you for selecting our seats on that flight. So kind."
Kitty jumped on her horse. "It's called karma, and there's plenty more of it coming your way!" Then she commanded the horse to charge forward. Josée and Jacques rolled their eyes at the situation; maybe if they didn't insult their profession, none of this would've happened in the first place. It served them right.
Josée watched as Jacques rode the horse, he began to slip off slowly but surely. "So. Slippery!" He cried out, then fell off and grabbed its tail. "Must. Hold. On!" Unfortunately for him, he had fallen back on the ground as the horse's tail slipped from his grasp. Josée winced again; though she was annoyed, she had to give him some credit - he was trying. He had willingly sabotaged another team in the process. She had to appreciate that at least a little bit, right?
Jacques managed the catch the horse and jumped on it, this time, not slipping. He held up the boleadora and fixated on the emu in front of them: "Oh, I have you now!" This time, the boleadora slipped in his own hands and wrapped his head with it accidentally - causing him to groan and fall off the horse. "This stupid oil!"
Josée smacked her forehead. She wanted to help him so badly, her heart surprisingly ached for him... but she couldn't help. It was a botch-or-watch. Jacques slowly got up, removed the boleadora, and stood in front of the horse, desperately trying to wipe down his shirt. "My shirt refuses to absorb the oil! It's polyester's only downfall." Josée giggled a bit, it was like he thought the horse could understand him. "Come on!" Then, he groaned frustratedly. "I need something to absorb all this oil off my hands or I'll never be able to..." he paused, as his eyes went up in realization, and let out a miserable sigh. Josée hid a gasp, as Jacques put his hands all over his hair, removing the oil. She held her breath, as Jacques said in disgust: "My hands are dry..."
In the confessional, Josée was still staring at him in shock. "I can't believe you sacrificed your hair so that we could-"
"I don't want to talk about it," Jacques cut off sadly, putting his fingers to her lips.
Back at the challenge, Jacques held the boleadora, focused his eyes on the emu, and threw it on the emu, which squawked as it was tied down. Josée stood there for a moment, her hands covering her mouth in surprise with her eyes popped out at his sacrifice, and ran toward him - not thinking about the cameras that were with her. She had found the word that she wanted to use with Jacques back in Siberia, and she was going to use it now.
"You're my hero!" Josée exclaimed happily, clinging to his side, wrapping her arms around him. "You're everyone's hero!" Even when she slipped due to the excess oil on Jacques' shirt and landed on the ground, she couldn't stop beaming. Her partner would do that for her. It wasn't just the sacrifice of his hair; it was the realization of him helping her throughout everything - and this only confirmed that he was always there, and he would always be there, even when she was insufferable at times, she knew.
She never felt this close to enough human being in her life.
Jacques chuckled a bit and helped her up; smiling. "Let's go get the gold!" At the mention of gold, this only made Josée even more eager. At once, they spotted the Cadets taking the opposite taxi from theirs. Jacques slipped from the other side, making Josée gasp and held him up to the side as she shoved the emu between them. Once they got out, they briefly locked eyes with the Cadets and raced to the chill zone. The Cadets looked like they were going to cross them, but all Jacques could think about was that Josée called him her hero, and all Josée could think about was that Jacques sacrified so much for her - and they charged up ahead and reached the chill zone.
"Ice Dancers take first! Ice Dancers, I can't believe it! What a glorious- oh, and the Cadets come in second," Don announced.
Josée turned to the cops and thought of a phrase that Tom used, and gloated: "Ha! In your face, mall cops!" She turned back to her partner and high-fived him, and hugged him tightly. Suddenly she understood that part in that Titanic movie Jacques fawned over; the feeling of holding onto someone and not wanting to let go.
It's exactly how she felt right now.
But, for his sake, she would let go. Later would be another story.
Currently the Sisters and the Best Friends were racing to the chill zone. It looked like Josée's prediction rang true; that there would come a time in which Kitty would have to put her friendship with Carrie to the side for the sake of competition. The Best Friends had come in third, which meant the Sisters were to be eliminated. But then, something else occurred - Emma had tripped over something, causing Kitty on top of the emu to keep running. The emu, because it was so slippery, pushed Devin out of the way roughly - leading him to fall off the cliff, which was very, very high. Carrie screamed out his name and fell to her knees, crying over the dilemma.
"I JUST TOLD HIM THAT I LOVED HIM!" She wailed, "AND HE SAID HE LOVED ME TOO! AND NOW..." She couldn't even finish, breaking into more sobs.
The other teams gasped.
"Holy fuck," MacArthur exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Holy fuck..."
"...Um... would this would be a bad time to mention that this is a non-elimination round?" Don asked awkwardly. This, in turn, made Kitty burst into hysterical sobs. Emma desperately tried to comfort her younger sister, Sanders held her hand over her mouth, while MacArthur gaped like a fish out of water. Time passed, with Devin returning back to the top of the mountain - surprisingly alive but bandaged up. Josée and Jacques could only stare in disbelief. They knew one thing, there was no way that the Best Friends would be able to compete.
Carrie continued to cry. "Oh, I love you! I love you so much!"
"I love you too," Devin replied, muffled from the bandages. "I'm gonna be okay." Josée and Jacques snorted. It was about time.
Don stepped in. "Hi, this is more of a rhetorical question, but will you be continuing with the race?"
"No can do. I'm so sorry, Carrie."
"Oh! I'm just happy you're alive!"
Touching.
Both ice dancers rolled their eyes.
Don was given a book by one of the producers, and read it aloud: "Any team in the final four forced to leave due to a medical emergency must choose a previously eliminated team to bring back into the race." The other teams resisted the urge to groan then and there; so they weren't a step closer, after all. Don told them that they would give them time to think about it. While they did so, the other teams were asked by the camera crew who they thought it would be.
"I don't care who it is," Josée remarked in the confessional. "We're just going to send them back home again."
Back at the mountain, Carrie took a breath. "Okay, well, they sacrificed themselves for us in Vietnam, so... we choose the Surfers."
Josée and Jacques' eyebrows shot up. The other teams watched as the Best Friends - well, now they were more than that - departed into the helicopter, while absorbing the sudden news that the Surfers would be joining them. Josée felt a brief ache in her chest; but pushed that to the side when Jacques squeezed her hand. She looked over and met his soft eyes; and she broke out into a smile. The cameras were now off; and Josée jumped up into her partner's arms, allowing him to catch her. Jacques was caught off-guard wrapped her body around his and squeezed him tightly. "My hero!" Jacques smiled weakly at her as his heart skipped a beat.
When they got to the hotel, Josée had let go and had gotten changed. Once the two of them were finished changing, Josée sat beside him on the bed. "Jacques... you're... you're my hero. I'm sorry, I just... I can't stop saying that." She leaned against him, holding him close, as she smiled; snuggling up close to him. "Jacques. My hero." Then, she leaned her head on his chest. Once she did, she jerked it back up again in alarm. "Jacjac, your heart is beating so fast!"
Jacques blinked in surprise. Here was his partner; being very, very affectionate - not too often was she this close to him so casually, only when she was very upset would she seek solace by cuddling. It was something she didn't really do as often. "O-Oui," he stammered nervously. "Josée, it's that..." He stopped when he was met with Josée leaning her head back down, listening to his heartbeat. "Ah, that's okay..."
"My hero," Josée proceeded to mumble, over and over again. She smiled as his heartbeat lulled her to sleep; her final thoughts being those three words - Jacques, her hero.
...Fuck.
Jacques laid stone cold awake at midnight in his bed, staring at the ceiling as a horribly wonderful realization hit him. The thought made him stomach churn; because it just couldn't be true - after all he's been through, he was just going to throw his identity away, over someone who probably doesn't even have feelings for him? His eyes shifted to the other person who occupied his bed; which was his ice dancing partner. He watched Josée sleep comfortably; he could feel her content smile on her face.
Not one of the fake ones that she had.
Josée looked beautiful when she wasn't tormented, this was probably the happiest he had seen her.
But... But god, Jacques' heart hasn't stopped racing for hours since she fell asleep beside him. They were sharing the same bed together, something that never happened, and Jacques remained in the same position - because again, they were sharing the same bed. He tried not to let his mind wander beyond that, but it did, and Jacques felt shame.
No, it just couldn't be possible. Even from the conversations he's had with others; with Tom, with Jen, and even with Devin. His feelings aside, Josée was only acting this way because she was in a vulnerable situation, not because she actually liked him, he supposed. And he couldn't take advantage of that.
Jacques squeezed his eyes painfully shut as another realization hit him.
He needed to push her away.
...Damn this race.
