He didn't really expect how long the fall would take. How long he would have in the air to rethink and second guess the advisability of what he had just committed them too. He thought it was a great idea, right up until he didn't anymore. And damn the fall seemed to take extra long just to give him extra time to regret it.
Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. Jaz's panicked repetition focused him and he tightened his hold on her, wrapping around her as best he could determined to take the brunt of the inevitable impact if he could manage it. He tried to orient himself, to find the water so they could go in at the best possible angle but it was hard to track while free falling in the dark night.
He twisted slightly hoping at least to not break their fall head first. He finally saw the dark water a split second before they broke it catching him mid-rotation. His ribs took the brunt of impact stealing his breath as the entire left side of his body felt like it had landed on concrete instead of something fluid.
He hung in limbo for a second trying to orient himself in the murky water, made more difficult by his spinning head which was protesting the rough landing. An elbow to his ribs made him start and grimace as Jaz begins to struggle beneath his hold. He unwrapped his arms but kept a firm grasp on one of her arms. She pulled away trying to follow their bubbles upwards to the surface where there would be air but also cops. He didn't know what do yet... but that wasn't it.
He paused for a second ignoring her insistent tugging and trying to feel the flow of the river. Giving her arm a sharp yank he began to swim against the current. She followed along for a moment but then began to try to rise again undoubtedly starting to run out of air. He doesn't know how long they have been under but his own lungs are starting to burn as well. Forcing his brain to override his body's automatic desire to surface he pulls her hand insistently deeper and keeps swimming trying to estimate their location in relation to the bridge they just jumped off. The current would have made them drift downstream a bit. Maybe just a little further. At last he starts to rise satisfied to see a dark shadow ahead in the water to aim for.
They come up directly underneath the bridge, gasping for air.
Continuing to pull Jaz he kicks over towards one of the large pillars and presses against the upstream side of it bracing against the current and allowing himself to rest for a second. He leans his aching head against the cold stone, taking a moment to try to settle his pounding heart and oxygen depleted lungs.
Jaz copies him leaning against the wall still sputtering and taking great heaving gulps of air.
As she begins to catch her breath he sees the explosion coming as sure as watching a digital timer count down...3…..2…...1…..
zero..."Are you crazy?!" - there it was.
"Shhhhhhhhhh"
She lowers her voice but isn't deterred or placated in any way.
"What the hell is wrong with you!"
"It was the only way" he bit out firmly, hoping she would let it go.
He wasn't going to bother explaining. She wouldn't listen. Especially not now. It was a shame, the last couple missions she had almost been civil. He'd almost let himself believe that they were making progress and that one day she might accept him as a team member she actually valued rather than just the replacement guy she wished wasn't there.
That ship had probably sailed now after blowing up at her in the streets of Paris. He wasn't proud that he had let the mission get under his skin and that both of their emotions had gotten the better of them. The mission changed. The torrential downpour hadn't put a damper on their fiery exchange, but Top's disapproval sure had. Now with this, he might as well have aimed a cannon at the ship and sent it to the depths of the ocean for all the hope he had of making things work with her.
And of course she didn't let it go. He was hardly surprised, if there was one thing he knew about the sniper is that she was stubborn.
"No it wasn't... We could have surrendered. We aren't actual bad guys. Patricia would have explained it all, whoops our bad, a few "Désolés" and we all go home. THE END…..We could be on a plane back to base and a hot shower right now but noooooo we are in scummy diseased Paris water, with no plan, no exfil route, and no coms cuz you decided we should go for a dip!"
Her voice rose again taking a slightly hysteric edge that was foreign to him. He didn't think he had ever seen her this rattled on any of their missions. It was very different from cool and sarcastic tone he was accustomed to hearing from her. He also didn't think he had ever heard her put together a sentence of more than 5 words when talking to him. She normally didn't waste extra words on him, preferring to keep her jabs short and concise and to the point.
He ignored her rant, offering only a cool "Are you done?"
She glared at him too angry to form a sentence.
Yup, just call their friendship the Titanic. There would be no going back from this iceberg. But he might as well make use of the ceasefire.
"Good, give me a second to think"
"Oh now you want to think things through. Perfect." She muttered not really under her breath.
He ignored her barb. But it was almost reassuring, more like the Jaz he knew.
He was also acutely aware this probably wasn't the end of it. He would hear about it from her later and probably from Top too. But right now they needed to get a plan together and get moving and his pounding head was having a hard enough time thinking as it was without going round for round with her. They couldn't stay against this column forever, eventually the police would get boats in the water. The police presence was continuing to multiply above them on the bridge and along the river banks. He could hear helicopters circling above and see their spotlights searching the water for signs of the fugitives.
He watched her bat away a banana peel that the current dragged in towards her. Looking around he could see other garbage floating down the river. People were disgusting,
Peeking around the pillar lights were combing the approximate area they had jumped and sweeping downriver from there. The spotlights illuminated more junk drifting in the water and sparked an idea in his brain. Maybe there was a way to get out of this. Now he just needed to figure out the where. He turned his attention upriver and smiled. Yes, it might be doable but they would need to ensure the police were firmly convinced they had gone the other way.
He broke his contemplative and her fuming silence.
"Okay. Give me your shoes."
"You have got to be kidding me… Use yours"
"No, I have other plans for those"
He held out his hand calmly until she huffed and worked in the water to produce her two boots. He tied the two sets of laces together in preparation before bracing himself on the wall and hucking them as far as he could down stream causing a splash. Several alert police officer called out the disturbance and dozens of flashlights and several large spotlights instantly began sweeping the area where the water was still rippling. He could hear more and more police activity moving downstream and the helicopter noise above them diminished slightly as they focused their attention further down from the channel.
Okay, now for the hard part. He let go of the wall for a second and reached down to pull off his own shoes. He hands one to Jaz who looks at him incredulously until he demonstrates the next part of his plan. Then her face rapidly morphs from confusion to straight dissension and she hisses at him "A... No way that works. We are going to drown. And B...No freaking way am I doing that with your shoe."
"That distraction will only keep them busy so long. This is an untenable position. We need to move so we can establish contact with our team. This plan is the best chance of achieving those objectives, its also the only plan we have"
He purposefully keeps his response as calm and tactical as possible, appealing to the soldier in her. As if they are just sitting around the table back at the Quonset hut briefing for a mission rather than treading water in a Paris channel as the most wanted fugitives in the EU right now.
Holding her gaze, he waits until he sees a flicker of resignation before he pushes off the wall hoping that just once she will actually follow his lead.