"Dammit!"

The Senator had disappeared under the water, and it didn't look like it was on purpose.

Jack sprang forward out of his lounge chair, dropping the magazine and drawing his gun out of his leg holster. He kept it ready as he carefully opened the door to the patio and stepped out, checking for snipers on the roof. Moving quickly but carefully on the ice and snow on the pool deck in his bare feet, he turned and backed towards the hot pool, raising his weapon as he scanned the upper patio above the door. It looked clear. He turned back to the pool. There was no blood, just the dark shadow of the Senator under the water. He had to move fast.

He didn't want his gun getting wet or freezing to the pool deck, so he thumbed the safety back on and gripped the barrel sideways between his teeth as he splashed into the pool. Her body was surprisingly light in his arms. He lifted her and carried her back to the door, skidding on the ice. His wet clothes were already starting to stiffen by the time he got the door open and laid Eilish down beside the chair he'd just vacated.

Jack took the gun out of his mouth and tucked it into the back of his sweatpants.

"Help! I need help!" he called to the couple across the room. They had looked up when they felt the draft to see a man with a gun in his mouth carrying the limp body of a woman. Now the man was using his own rather substantial body to shield his wife as they moved out of their small pool.

Jack moved rapidly over Eilish and checked her for injuries. She had a pulse, a faint one, but she wasn't breathing. He tilted her head and gave her a short breath before he looked over at the couple again. "Please. I need you to call an ambulance." There wasn't a life guard on duty.

His request for an ambulance was sufficiently official to reassure the couple. "I'll go," said the woman, reaching for her robe. Her husband nodded as he started towards Jack. He stopped. "Nancy! Get Marc too," he hissed. "Yes, yes." The woman waved him away impatiently as she scurried down corridor to the change rooms. The man reached Jack. "What can I do?"

Jack finished his cycle of breaths and paused to check her pulse again. "Get me some of those towels over there." He tilted his head to the shelf holding stacks of neatly folded towels.

"Will do." The man hurried off, returning with an armful of white terry-towel. He put one over Eilish's legs and folded another, ready to place it under her head to protect her from the hard floor. Jack finished another cycle of breaths and nodded at the other man, carefully raising Eilish's head onto the towel before tilting it back and pinching her nose. He covered her mouth with his own once more and puffed.

"Come on, dammit." He listened for breath and checked her pulse again.

He was rewarded with a cough. Quickly, he rolled her over onto her side. Eilish sputtered as she coughed up the water in her lungs. Jack held her hair and rubbed her back.

"It's okay. You're gonna be okay." Thank god. He didn't want to have to make that phone call to Palmer.

Eilish struggled to sit up, holding a hand to her mouth as she coughed. The man held out a towel and Jack wrapped it around her shoulders. She leaned into him and he supported her with his arms.

"Jack. You saved my life."

"It's okay." He smoothed her hair away from her face. "Don't try to talk just yet. An ambulance is on its way." Jack raised his eyes to the man hovering beside him. The man nodded, looking towards the change rooms.

"I'll go see what's keeping her."

Eilish shook her head slowly. "I don't know what happened. I just started to feel funny, and the next thing I knew…" she smiled weakly as she leaned her head against his chest. His t-shirt was clinging against him, wet from the pool.

"I wish this had happened differently," she commented dryly. She felt Jack stiffen and knew she had gone too far. She turned to look at him. "I mean, thank you."

He grunted. He could hear voices and the sound of a stretcher being wheeled down the tiled hallway. A man appeared, gun drawn.

"RCMP. Put your hands up."

Jack complied. Now that the Senator was out of danger, it was easier to just go along and explain once things had calmed down.

"Slowly, put your weapon on the floor and kick it towards me."

Jack took one hand and lowered it carefully to his back. He raised it again, holding his gun sideways and placing it on the floor. He stuck out his foot and kicked the gun across the concrete. The plainclothes officer approached, pistol still pointed at Jack. He stopped to pick up Jack's gun, tucking it into his belt.

"Stand up."

Jack slid out from under the Senator and helped her settle back on the floor, keeping one hand raised.

"Face the wall."

Jack did so, placing his hands above his head and out to the side.

"We're clear." The paramedics wheeled the stretcher across to Eilish and started to tend to her.

The man holstered his weapon and patted Jack down. He leaned into him, speaking low behind his ear.

"I didn't think I'd see you up here again."

Jack spun around as the other man yanked his shoulder.

"Hello, Marc."