Mike had been on his way back to the waiting Galaxy, when he heard the unmistakable cry of pain that tore his heart to pieces. Turning his head slightly, he attempted to triangulate his partner's location, coming as close as the other side of the campground.
"Steve!", he called in return and sped up his pace down the steep mountainside, careful not to trip on any exposed roots.
He didn't get a response and didn't expect one either. But at least he wanted his partner to know that help was on its way.
Feeling the loose dirt get into his dress shoes as he half skidded the last few yards downhill toward the campground, Mike scratched his hands, when he tried to hold on to a tree trunk for support.
The heavy rainfall obscured his sight, as he rushed across the open area, hoping to see which path his partner had taken. The matted down brush along the creek bed was his first clue and Mike ran up the uneven terrain, hearing the rain drops pound against his fedora as the sky caved in.
"Steve!", he called out once again, slowing down his pace to wait for an answer.
Between the rushing of the nearby waterway and the deteriorating weather, he could barely hear a faint moaning coming from farther up the creek.
Speeding up again, Mike tripped and fell on the slippery rocks that lined the questionable path his partner had chosen. Cursing under his breath, he got back on his feet and continued to fight his way through the uneven terrain and walls of bushes in his way, before stopping again in an effort to orient himself.
Another hundred feet up the creek, he saw movement on the ground.
Using his hands to part the stubborn vegetation in his way, Mike sped up his pace, feeling his thighs burn at the unusual workout. With sweat running down the side of his face and his breaths coming in short gasps, he managed to bridge the last of the distance to his fallen partner in near record time.
Much of the ferns around Steve were matted down from him rolling back and forth. Whimpering in pain, the young Inspector was curled up on his side, his hands disappearing in a mess of blood, clothing and chains, where his right leg was sprawled out on the ground.
His fingers were shaking violently, as he repeatedly tried to open the large foot-trap wrapped around his calf, his eyes wide in sheer panic.
"Mike…", he cried out, his hands losing their grip around the wet metal, causing him to fall backwards against the hard ground.
"It's alright…it's alright. I am here, I am here, Steve. Stay still, okay…?", the Lieutenant said soothingly, hoping to calm down his frantic partner to no avail.
Moaning in pain with each breath he took, Steve yielded the order and stayed on his back, his chest heaving from the strain of fighting the trap.
"I…didn't…see…it", the young Inspector gasped and wiped his hands on his dress shirt, covering it with fresh blood from several cuts on his fingers, caused by his attempts to pry the trap open himself.
"That's the idea, Buddyboy…"
Kneeling down, Mike rested a hand on his partner's knee, trying to keep him still to get a better look at the injury. The set of large jaws had embedded themselves deeply into his partner's calf, just above the rim of his leather boots.
Judging by the unusually large size of the trap, somebody out here was hunting for big game. Except for the springs and chain, the metal looked to be new, with no indication of wear and tear. An oily residue was covering the sharp teeth along the jaws, likely to keep them from rusting.
"Okay, try to hold still. I am going to open it. It's going to hurt…bad…"
Mike glanced over to ensure his partner had heard him. Clenching his jaws as he met Steve's pain-stricken green eyes, he nodded slowly, and then reached down to either side of the trap, hearing the young Inspector wince at the slightest movement.
"Just…keep breathing. Focus on that.", Mike said in a quiet tone of voice, cursing inwardly when the heavy rain made his hands slippery.
He was glad to see that Steve had stepped into the trap sideways, causing most of the teeth to dig into his flesh, rather than shearing apart the bones in his leg. Wiping his wet and bloodied hands on his dress pants, Mike reached for the side release once again, fighting the unyielding metal from both sides.
When a rusty chain wrapped around the mechanism blocked his efforts, he resorted to grabbing both jaws of the trap, hoping to pry it open enough for Steve to get his leg out. Feeling the sharp teeth cut his fingers relentlessly, Mike bit his lip in pain, frustrated when the trap barely moved; enough to cause his partner another wave of agony, but not nearly enough to get his leg out.
"Damnit…", he cursed and glanced over at Steve who'd fallen strangely quiet, his eyes staring at some imaginary object in the sky.
Sitting back on his heels for a moment, Mike considered the possibility of untying the chain that held the trap in place to get his partner to the safety of the car. In his current level of pain, there was a good chance that Steve would lose consciousness along the way, forcing Mike to drag his 150lb limp frame all the way back to the campsite.
But anything would be better than the current predicament.
Running his bleeding hands along the chains, Mike was too distracted to ward off the unexpected attack coming from behind.
