A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, this is only their first day at camp, its a week long so I'm not sure how long this story will be. Hope I'm doing alright. I'm working on the whole flirting/romance thing.


Chapter 7: Going up, across, down, up and in

He followed her to the next station, he didn't even mind the fact that she knocked his hat off. He didn't mind much of what she did at all. By the time he caught up with her it was clear that she was out of breath while he, with his long steady strides didn't look winded at all.

"Shouldn't have ran Eames." He turned his hat back around so the bill faced forward.

Another counselor stood up to greet them and the other 3 teams.

"So how are we doing so far on our first day?" everyone gave him a reassuring nod.

"Hope none of you are afraid of heights, this one is quick and easy." He pointed up towards the tree branches above them.

"Ok, decide who goes first and please go over to Mark there. He will help harness you up and then start climbing. The goal here is to make it from tree top to the other, not unlike a squirrel."

That got a few polite giggles from the group. Goren and Eames went last, Goren insisted on it. He didn't want anyone to see him up there.

"Go ahead already." Eames gave him a guiding push onto the small metal platform that would bring them up into the trees.

He swallowed hard and stepped onto it. She was right behind him and noticed how much he tensed. She remembered when they had to up on a high building once, he had said he didn't like heights; she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Goren turned to look at her. "What? What's wrong, you ok?" he didn't sound as confident as he had wanted to.

"Me? I'm fine, you're the one who looks like he's about to faint. I'm the 'mountain goat' remember?"

The platform started to move upward with a jolt and a loud squeaking of grinding gears.

He jumped, and steadied himself on the one of the thing guard rails surrounding him and Eames.

"You'll be fine Bobby, relax." The platform came to a stop some 40 feet up in the tree. There was a small rope bridge stretched between two trees.

"What's the matter there buddy? Not scared of heights are you?" the young counselor gave Goren a smirk.

"He just doesn't do this a lot. Do you want me to go first Bobby?"

He just nodded and she started ahead of him.

"See it's no big deal." She turned around to face him, she was ¼ the way across. She outstretched her hand to him, he took a few steps forward and grabbed her hand.

Even if he wasn't terrified he still probably would have faked it just to get to hold her hand.

She led him across the bridge and together they went back down safely to the ground.

As soon as his feet touched the ground he let out a big sigh.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" she grabbed his wrist to check his pulse, he was sweating profusely.

"Well, it wasn't so bad, after you helped me." He smiled at her and tried to grab her wrist to check her pulse.

She jerked away; he just kept smiling at her. "I want to check your pulse. Do I make your heart beat faster Eames?" he was just playing around but she seemed almost embarrassed.

"Hey, you're turning pink. All I know is that I'm going to need a cigarette after that Tarzan bull..."

"Look at the time! You took so long up there its lunch time." And with that she turned around and followed the marked trails back to the mess hall. She could hear his footsteps behind her, always behind me she thought to herself.

Oops wrong move he told himself, then he muttered under his breath "shit".

Lunch was pretty uneventful but Goren wanted to try and show her his more playful side. Everyone always thought he was some pity case that was always down. He thought he was quite funny and he actually had a good sense of humor about his misfortunes. He was smart enough to realize that he wasn't the only one in the world with problems.

They had gotten sandwiches and together they sat under a large tree. The shade kept the noon sun out of their eyes while the breeze dried the cool sweat on their necks and backs.

It was starting to get cooler and clouds were blowing in from the east.

Eames enjoyed watching him eat, he kept dropping pieces of his sandwich on his shirt. He had already used up all the napkins so he just tried to rub the mustard stain in and hoped it blended in with all the other stains now present on his shirt.

"You might just have to take it off." She had finished her food long ago, she learned to eat fast in a house with many siblings, and now she just watched him. She did that more then he knew, or at least more then she let him know.

"Hmm?" he was vigorously wiping his palm on his jeans now, trying to get the mustard off of himself.

"The shirt Bobby, you're gonna have to take it off probably, or not." She stood up and brushed the grass off of her pants.

He popped the last bite of his food into his mouth, "You're gonna have to try harder than that to get me to do that." He put his hand in the air as a plea for help. She reached down and took his hand and helped pull him up.

They sighed at the same time and shared an awkward laugh.

"Eames….Alex, I want to tell you a joke."

"Ok, go ahead."

"Now this is my mother's favorite joke, and it may seem a little odd but I don't know, it always makes her laugh so here it goes….

Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a schizophrenic... and so am I!"

He waited, a big smile came across her face. Not a laugh, not a giggle, but it was enough, he couldn't help himself so he smiled too.

"What do you think?"

"Coming from anyone else I would say it was inappropriate but considering your situation I think it's pretty damn funny. I'm glad you have a sense of humor about these kinds of things and its nice to see she does to."

He was relieved, and it showed, his shoulders weren't tense and his arms fell to his sides in a casual manner.

He spoke softly, "I appreciate that, that you understand."

"No problem, anytime you want to practice your stand up, I'm here." She started to reach for his hand but then she heard thunder then a voice coming over a megaphone.

"DUE TO BAD WEATHER APPROACHING WE ASK THAT YOU GO TO YOUR CABINS UNTIL THE RAIN PASSES. IF THE WEATHER PERMITS WE WILL FINISH TODAYS ACTIVITES. IF NOT, ENJOY YOUR EVENINGS IN YOUR CABINS."

Instead of grabbing his hand she put her hands on her head over her hat.

"We better get inside then…"

They walked together towards their cabin as the raindrops started to fall.

The joke is a direct quote from the movie "What About Bob?" with Kathryn Erbe in it. I'm writing another chapter tomorrow...i'm on a roll, sort of.

Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot to me.