A/N: Hi! remember this story? Bet you do now. Sorry it took so long (see excuse at the bottom).
Oh, I don't know (or if anyone knows) if the Rusoes have plumbing in that house of theirs, but for the sake of my story, they do...at least running water. Okay? Great.
/x\x/x\x/x\
Once Colleen finished her list, she set it next to the computer and went out to the porch again. Sitting on the top step, she stared out into the rain forest. Within a few minutes, she heard footsteps behind her. From the stride, she knew it was Jack. When he sat down beside her, he handed her a pair of old, worn sneakers. Jack took a seat next to her on the steps.
She took the shoes from him with a grin and set them on the next step as she pulled her feet up to the same step. One at a time, she lifted her feet to put the sneakers on. As she tied the first one, she noticed the duct tape holding the toe of the shoe on. She snorted in laughter.
"Nice tape job." She grinned pointing to the shoe and looking at Jack.
Jack smirked as well. "I told you they were old. I just neglected to tell you there was a hole or two in them."
Colleen chuckled before grabbing the other shoe and lifting her other foot to put it on. Placing her feet back onto the lower step she looked down at them as she wiggled her toes. There seemed to be about in inch of space between her toes and the toe of the shoes.
"How do they fit?" Jack asked.
"Not too bad, actually. Just a little big, maybe an inch or so of room at the toe." She replied.
Nodding, Jack stood up again. He turned to walk back into the house. "I just have to grab some stuff, then we can head out."
"Need any help?" Colleen asked, standing and stepping up onto the porch, next to Jack, looking into his eyes.
Jack paused for a moment, getting caught in her gaze, before mentally shaking his head. "Sure." He smiled, then turned to walk into the house.
Colleen followed him to a back room. More like a mud room. The room held all sorts of gear: a wetsuit, backpacks, rope, carabiners, specimen jars, cages, boots, and anything else a scientist might need to gather information.
As she looked around the room, Jack went to the far, left corner to grab a backpack. He then walked to the back wall where their climbing gear was stashed. He had to bend over to reach into a bin to grab some climbing rope and carabiners. As he bent, Colleen couldn't help but let her eyes wander to his backside. She rose an eyebrow and slowly smirked in appreciation. Once he straightened up, she lowered the eyebrow and dropped the smirk.
Jack turned to face her and handed her the backpack. She took it from him with a nod.
"Glad I could help." She said sarcastically, with a smirk.
Jack tried to hold back grin as he turned to grab another pack. He walked to his left to the rack of specimen jars and grabbed three of them, placing them in the pack, then back to the climbing gear to grab more rope and carabiners.
Once again, Colleen got a good view of his backside. Unfortunately, she was in the process of putting the backpack on her back and paused for a moment with one arm through the strap, lifted up on an angle. If anyone actually saw her, they would have found the scene comical. She quickly brought her arm down and got the pack on the rest of the way. Adjusting the straps, she watched as Jack flipped the pack over his head, gracefully slipping his arms through the straps at the same time. He then looked over to her.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yeah." She muttered.
Jack led the way out the back door and around to the front, where Nim was sitting on the porch, leaning against Selkie.
"We'll be back in a bit, Nim. Don't forget your chores." Jack said, as they walked past her.
"I know." Nim grumbled, then waved. "Have fun."
Colleen gave her a polite smile as they kept on walking straight into the surrounding jungle. A moment or two later, Colleen spoke.
"So, how far is Fire Mountain?" She asked.
"More or less than a mile. It'll be a quick mile, though." He replied as he pushed a branch out of his way and held it for Colleen.
"Why's that?" She questioned, fearing that he might want to run the whole way.
"There's enough landscape to keep you on your toes. If anything you'll be more worried about where your feet go then the actual walk."
"Oh." She mumbled.
They were silent as they continued to walk further into the jungle and closer to the volcano.
Once the trees started to thin out more and the terrain became rockier, Colleen knew that they were getting closer...she didn't have to ask Jack. The base of the volcano then came into view as Jack stepped down from a rock and pushed two saplings apart. Colleen paused a second on the rock Jack stepped down from to look up at the monolith before them.
"Wow." She breathed, still staring upwards.
When she heard Jack chuckle, she looked back down to him. "The views even better from the top." He then held his hand out to her to help her off of the rock.
She glanced at his hand before looking up into his face and taking said hand. He gently pulled her off the rock, towards him, and she jumped down. She stumbled into him slightly.
Instinct took over for both of them: Jack let go of her hand and wrapped the same arm around her back to steady her. Colleen placed her hands on his chest to steady herself. Both froze for a split second before he looked down and she looked up. They stared at one another for several seconds before Colleen shook her head and pushed off the muscles in Jack's chest to pull both of them out of their daze.
Colleen looked down at her feet and dropped her arms as Jack released her and took a half step back, clearing his throat.
"Uh, you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She mumbled.
"Okay, well. Here it is." He said unnecessarily, but said something to lessen the awkward moment.
Colleen nodded, then followed as Jack walked to the base.
"Okay, have you ever climbed before?" He asked, looking up, finding every foot and hand hold that had been used in the past.
"Once." Colleen answered, also looking up. "On a rock climbing wall." She paused. "In a gym...it was nothing like this."
Jack chuckled. "Yeah, that would be a little different."
"A little?" Colleen said, gulping as she continued to look up.
"It's not that bad." He heard Colleen snort as he took his backpack off to get rope and carabiners. "No, really. Nim and I have been coming here for a long time. All off our foot and hand holds are still there. We use the same path every time." He paused this time, lowering his voice. "Besides, I won't let you fall. If you did, I'd catch you."
Colleen's head snapped over to him, her eyes slightly enlarged as she looked into his green ones.
Oh, the weight of those words, Jack... She thought.
Absentmindedly, she nodded, then lowered her eyes to take her own backpack off.
The two silently took all of the climbing gear out of their packs. Colleen handed all of hers to Jack and he rigged up a safety line.
"You're still healing from your...injuries, so if you feel pain or need to slow down or stop, just let me know immediately." Jack said softly as he kneeled down to work on the rigging.
Colleen nodded. "Will do." She said just as softly.
Within the span of half an hour, they were ready to climb. Jack climbed first to show Colleen where the foot and hand holds were. When he was near the top, he motioned for Colleen to start climbing. She used the same holds as Jack did and made her way up the face of the volcano faster than she imagined. As she reached the top, she, once again, saw Jack held his hands down to her to help her up. She accepted and her actually pulled her to the top. She was startled momentarily, but then she caught the view over his shoulder. She could see the whole island from where she stood.
"This whole island is yours?" She questioned as she dropped his hands and stepped to his side to gawk.
"Yup. Every last inch." He replied, also looking towards the island.
"Good grief..." she mumbled. "It's beautiful." She turned her head to look at Jack with a smile. Jack turned his head towards her, but his look was not one she was expecting. It was almost as if he wanted to comment or say something, but decided to hold himself back. He nodded instead.
Jack took off his backpack and unzipped the larger compartment to take out another length of rope and the specimen jars. Kneeling, he set everything next to him, trying to re-focus on why he was there and keep his mind off of his growing feeling for the woman next to him.
After gawking for a few more minutes, Colleen looked down next to her to see Jack getting things out of the backpack (they left the other backpack at the base of the volcano, seeing as it didn't carry anything). She crossed her legs and lowered herself to the ground where she stood.
"What can I do?" She asked, not wanting to feel helpless.
Jack handed the backpack over to her while he took a jar and tied a thin rope securely around the top.
"There should be some masking tape in one of the front pockets, along with a Sharpie. Take the lids and write the date, time, and location on the tape, then put it on the lid." He instructed. "I got this for the moment."
A little dejectedly, Colleen nodded and did what he asked. When it came to writing the date and time, she had to ask Jack, since she didn't wear a watch nor did she really know the exact date it was.
"Need the location, too?" Jack asked with a smirk as he lowered the specimen jar into the volcano and let it rest on the top for a few minutes.
"No, thank you. I got that much." She replied, also smirking and shaking her head as she wrote down the information, then watched Jack as he tied and sent another jar down.
The two carried on a light conversation that changed topics constantly, until Jack pulled the jars back up. He handed one to Colleen, who copied his movements to make sure she did everything right. She felt that the jar was only slightly warm, not hot, as she was expecting it to be.
"Is the volcano active?" She asked as she carefully screwed on the lid.
"No, not anymore. It produces an ash cloud every few years, but that's it." Jack replied.
Colleen nodded, then handed the jar to Jack, who placed both back in the backpack. He went to put the backpack on, but Colleen stopped him.
"I'll carry it down. It's the least I can do...besides label your jars." She grinned.
Jack lowered the pack as he grinned. "You sure?"
"Yeah, no big deal." She smiled.
"Okay." He then handed her the pack, which she strapped to her back. "One last look before we head down."
Sighing, Colleen stood up and turned in a slow circle. Once she got her full of the view, she looked back down to Jack and nodded.
"I'll go down first. Just use the same holds you did on the way up." Jack instructed.
"You know, if you ever came back to the States, I think you'd be a good climbing instructor." Colleen commented with a smirk. "As a hobby, of course. Science comes first."
Jack laughed softly, then nodded. "Maybe."
Walking over to the edge, Jack fastened a carabiner to the rope, then proceeded down the volcano. Colleen followed soon after, taking her time.
When she was half way down, she heard from below her some rocks fall, then Jack curse.
"Are you alright?" She yelled down.
"Yeah, fine. Just slipped on the last foot hold." He yelled back.
"That's comforting." She mumbled to herself as she continued her climb down.
When she reached the bottom (not slipping off the last hold like Jack did), she let out a puff of air, then looked back up the volcano before glancing over at Jack. She noticed that he winced as he bent over to pick up some rope.
"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, stepping closer to him after disconnecting from the rope and carabiner.
"I may have scratched my side as I slipped." He said, standing upright again, and starting to coil the rope.
"Do…do you want me to look at it?" Colleen asked hesitantly.
Jack looked over at her. "I didn't know you were that kind of doctor." He attempted to grin.
Colleen gave him a blank stare until she realized what he meant, then chuckled softly. "I may not be an M.D., but I do have a Ph.D. and a basic knowledge of first aid." She replied. "Now, where's it hurt?"
Jack smirked, then turned his injured side to her. He saw Colleen's grin drop as she looked at his side.
"Worse than I thought?" He asked.
Colleen stepped towards him and placed a hand near his ripped shirt, on his lower ribs, where blood was slowly spreading around the area, and pressed lightly.
"Oh, Jack..." She mumbled. "This is definitely worse than just a scratch. It's more like a gash. We have to get back to the house quickly, so I can stop the bleeding and it doesn't get infected."
Jack nodded. "Just shove all the gear into the other backpack. I can untangle it later."
Colleen nodded and did as he said. Jack attempted to look at his wound, but it was too far towards his back, that he could only see where his shirt was being stained. He looked up when Colleen had everything packed. She had on backpack on her back and was trying to figure out how to carry the other one.
"I can take the backpack." He said.
"No, I can take it. The way that's bleeding, you don't need more weight to slow you down. Besides, I can use the exercise." She tried to give him an honest smile. "You just lead the way."
"You sure?"
"Yes, now get moving before I have to kick you in the shins to get you going." She threatened with a smirk.
Jack rose an eyebrow and smirked, then turned and headed back into the jungle; back towards home.
"If you're feeling faint or weak, stop and let me know." He heard Colleen say from behind him.
"Alright, Doc." He said, but kept moving.
The made it back to the house in record time. Colleen was huffing and puffing a little more than she would have liked because of the two packs, but now that they were back (and walking through the back of the house), she dropped the packs in the mud room, then followed Jack to the bathroom. Jack opened the medicine cabinet above the sink and pulled out some bandages and the antiseptic he used on Colleen.
Colleen watched him for a moment, then quickly walked to the kitchen to grab a large bowl (after hunting for one in the cabinets) and took it back to the bathroom. She set it on the edge of the sink and turned on the water, letting it warm up before filling the bowl. She noticed Jack was no longer in the bathroom, but the supplies were still there. She stuck her head out into the hall.
"Jack?" She called.
"Be right there. Just grabbing another shirt." He called back from…somewhere.
She brought her head back into the bathroom, then walked over and sat on the toilet seat lid to wait. A minute or so later, Jack walked back in, carrying an extra shirt. Colleen stood.
"Think this will be easier if I took off my shirt?" He asked, setting the extra shirt where Colleen was previously sitting. He then put a strip of cloth into the water.
She nodded and swallowed thickly. As Jack went to lift up the edge hem of his shirt, she occupied herself with soaking the rag in the bowl, all the while watching him out of the corner of her eye. She saw him toss the old shirt into the trash can, then turn his injured side towards the mirror to look at it.
"Eek. Well, that's just lovely." He said sarcastically.
Colleen snorted. "Yeah, now let me see it so I can clean it."
Jack smirked at her reaction, then turned his side towards her, subconsciously sucking in his stomach just a little bit.
Colleen took her time in examining the wound…along with the rest of his naked chest and back. Shaking her head slightly and willing herself to take deep breaths, she raised a hand to the side of the wound.
"It's still oozing a little bit." She mumbled more to herself than Jack as she reached over and rung out the soaked cloth. "I-If it doesn't hurt you to do so, y-you can put your arm on my shoulder...give me better access." She muttered.
Jack hesitated for a split second before nodding and lifting his arm up (with a minor wince) to rest on her shoulder.
Colleen felt a chill run through her at the contact, but ignored it and focused on cleaning and bandaging his wound. She thoroughly cleaned it with the warm water, watching as every time she dipped it back into the water, the water became a little more red. As she cleaned, she could feel Jack's eyes on her, but again, she ignored it.
Once the wound was cleaned, she picked up the antiseptic, placing a dab on her finger then touched it to his wound, making him jump. She looked up at him.
"Sorry, startled me." He mumbled, looking straight ahead to the glance in the mirror.
Nodding, she continued to smear the antiseptic across the wound. After it was covered with the goop, she picked up one of the bigger bandages to make sure it would fit over the gash. She then set it back down and picked up the medical tape and ripped off four strips to hold the bandage in place. Picking the bandage back up, she placed and held it over the cut, then picked up a strip of tape and taped the top edge to his skin. She picked up the next one and taped the bottom, then the remaining two strips went on the side.
"There. All better." She said, still looking at the bandage-covered wound.
She heard a non-committal grunt from Jack, making her look up. He was looking back at her, straight into her eyes.
Their gazes held, even as Jack turned his body towards her (his back to the door) and he lowered his arm from her shoulder. He took a step closer to her and was encouraged when she didn't step back. Slowly, still keeping eye contact, he lowered his head towards hers as hers raised towards his. Their eyes slowly closed.
Nim, who had been out doing some chores, walked back into the house to see if Jack and Colleen were back yet...and to wash her hands. She headed towards the bathroom to wash up, but paused for a moment at the door. She clearly saw Jack standing in front of Colleen, ready to kiss her. She grinned and almost walked away to leave them alone, but then she noticed the bandage on Jack's back.
"Dad!" She yelled in shock.
Their noses were so close to touching when they both jumped at Nim's shout. They pulled back and snapped their eyes open; Colleen took a step back and lowered her head to cover her blushing cheeks. Jack turned to Nim.
"What happened?" Nim asked, her eyes wide, as she took a step closer.
"I...don't really know. I slipped on the last foot hold on Fire Mountain. Must have scrapped my back on a rock." He answered, looking over his shoulder to Colleen, who was trying to busy herself by cleaning up.
"Are you okay?" Nim asked, still a little shaken up at seeing her dad in bandages. It was a sight she hadn't really seen before.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Nim." He answered, looking back to her.
He heard Colleen shuffle around behind him before squeezing by next to him with the now empty bowl in hand. She didn't even touch him; it looked like she wanted to avoid touching or looking at him. She stayed as close to the wall as she could.
When she was in front of him, she lifted his shirt to him, not looking at him. "Here's your shirt." She mumbled, then turned and left the bathroom, not even looking at Nim as she went. Her face was still red from embarrassment and was contorted into a look of confusion and a little regret.
Practically running to the kitchen, she placed the bowl on the side of the sink, then ran out of the house. On the porch, she stopped long enough to take off his shoes, then continued on into the jungle, hopefully heading towards the ocean. She could hear someone, or something, follow behind her, but she kept on jogging. She needed to put some space between her and Jack for a while, so she could sort out her thoughts.
As she reached the edge of the jungle, she was glad to see the ocean and that she didn't get lost. She split the difference between the jungle and the water and planted butt on the sand. Just as she sat down, she heard something move in the jungle and turned towards it, very afraid that if it was Jack, she didn't know what to do.
Bursting though the foliage was Selkie. Colleen sighed and relaxed a little as the sea lion came up to her side and nudged her.
"Hey, Selk." She said softly. "I just need to think. I'll go back soon. You can go back if you want."
Selkie shook her head from side to side and watched as Colleen smiled slightly before she put her head in her hands with a groan.
A/N: Okay, so here's my excuse in the delay of posting: I'm not as in love with Gerry as I once was. My reason: quite frankly, he's getting too popular. If you haven't looked at my favorite actors listed on my profile, most of them are guys you've never heard of, only a few people have heard of, or people don't really care about them (David Wenham, Sean Bean, Mark Strong, etc).
I WILL NOT give up this story, though...just don't expect updates quickly. It took most of my will power just to type this up today...and forced writing kinda sucks...most of the time (I mean, we're still on day one here and I have them almost kissing already! Good god!). I still know where I want to go with this, just getting there might be an issue. Just stick with me.
Well...review?