Better Him Than You

There hadn't been time to weigh her options. It had all happened so fast that instinct was all that she had to rely on. They wouldn't get their man. Not this time, but she'd be damned if she lost Tom too.

The water was ice cold on impact, like a thousand tiny needles ripping at her skin. Had she left her jacket on the shore? She must have, because she saw the thin sleeve of her sweater rather than the puffy sleeve of her jacket meant to protect her from the elements as she propelled herself deeper into the water to where she could see him struggling to get to the top, the panic that always set in when he went under taking over and only making things worse.

Liz caught up with him, her grip desperate as she mentally begged him not to fight her on it, no matter how hard that would be. She finally locked eyes with him, the fear there so out of place and she started up with him.

They broke the surface, both gasping for air and Tom almost bobbed back down. She dragged him to the side, coughing and sputtering, and by the time they got close enough to the river bank that their feet could touch solid ground, her fingers and toes were hurting-numb.

Tom collapsed against the mud, trembling and choking, not looking any better than she felt. Possibly worse. "Hey," she coaxed, her teeth chattering as she did. She touched his shoulder and her hand ached at the contact. He didn't look up at her, but instead leaned forward and choked some water out of his lungs. "C'mon. You have to get up. We'll freeze to death out here. The car's just up the road."

The panic hadn't quite worn off yet and Liz pulled in a shaky breath, finally reaching down and helping to haul him up to his feet if he was ready or not. He swayed hard and she just barely caught him, one arm wrapped around his back and she looked up to see his gaze distant. The fear was subsiding, but the near-drowning hadn't done him any good. She couldn't tell if he'd been hurt in the fall either. Even if he had, they couldn't stay there. "Come on. One foot in front of the other," she managed, inching him forward. They had a hill to climb and the SUV they'd come in would be just over the top. That was going to be their only hope at this point. Her cell phone had been in her pocket when she'd followed him in, and she bet his had been in his jeans as well. She just had to keep him on his feet long enough to get there.

His breathing was unsteady in her ear as they climbed and he was shaking as bad as she was. They finally reached the top of the slope and Liz took a look down the road towards the bridge they'd both gone off of. Nothing. Their perp was gone. Considering they had no immediate back up and she'd lost her gun in the impromptu swim, it could have been worse.

Liz couldn't feel her finger by the time they reached the SUV and she didn't like how quiet Tom had been. She leaned him up against the vehicle, and while he slid just a little he managed to stay on his feet, his teeth chattering as bad as hers and his gaze distant. Liz tugged on the door handle once before it registered that it was locked. She turned towards Tom who was slowly reaching into his pockets only to come out empty. "Tires are cut too."

"What?" Liz managed, startled by the sound of his worn voice and he swallowed hard, motioning instead of speaking. Her gaze followed the movement and she saw the evidence that they weren't leaving out in that vehicle. "It's okay. Ressler and Samar went up towards the north and Nez was going south. They'll be back soon when they realize they can't reach us. We can at least get warm... warmer inside."

She tried to ignore the look that said he wasn't sure if he believed her optimism in that and circled around, managing to pry the antenna from its place and bent it over, every movement sending waves of pain through her fingers and hands as she moved around to pick the lock on their SUV.

She got it after more tries than she would ever be comfortable to admitting to and wrenched the door open, setting to hot-wiring it and getting the heat on. "Tom?"

He didn't answer and Liz slipped out of the driver's seat to see him in the process of sliding down the side of the car. She caught him before he sat all the way down and opened the back door. "In," she told him firmly and helped get him inside. She circled around to the other side of the vehicle and climbed in, scooting across the bench seat and reached towards him when she realized he'd stopped shivering. Liz tugged his sopping wet jacket from his shoulders, tossing it into the back, and grabbed a blanket from under the seat that had been left for emergencies. She was pretty sure this qualified as one.

Tom leaned into her as she wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, the air still blowing cool if not entirely cold from the vents even though it was turned all the way to the heater. It would warm up, and at least they were out of the wind and the elements inside the SUV.

He made a small sound as she started to rub her frozen fingers up and down his arm, doing whatever she could to warm him up. "I've got you. We're okay."

"You're cold too," he managed, voice slurring just a little.

"I've got some of the blanket. Don't worry about me."

"'kay."

"How about you? You okay? Here, it's getting warmer. Put your hands here." She took hold of his wrist to guide him towards the vent and he jerked back and away from her. "Tom?"

He shook his head, eyes squeezed closed and she swallowed hard. She shifted and spoke quietly to him, her voice as soothing as she could manage through chattering teeth, trying to bring him around to the present and out of whatever horrible memory the even had dragged up from his past. Finally, he started to shiver again, and she took it as a good sign.

"Lizzie?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"We lost him."

Relief flooded through her and she tightened her grip on him, feeling him curl into her. She never would have thought she could be so happy to hear him grumble about losing someone they were after, but it meant that he was breaking through and coming around a little more. It meant he'd be okay. "Better him than you," she whispered as she held on tight. She wasn't losing him today.

Notes: Another Tumblr prompt. This time it was "cuddles for warmth". People have been sending in various 'cuddles' prompts over there lol.

I DO take prompts, but for the Truth in the Lies series, I just ask that they're Keen2 prompts. I do not currently have a set of one-shots for Hargrave family stuff. You never know. I might start one someday, but not right now.