Chapter 6: Persuasion

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Something itched in her hair - no doubt a bug -, and Daley felt a pressing urge to scratch her scalp. Both her hands were occupied though; the left hand resting in Nathan's palm, the right maintaining a reassuring grip on Lex's hand. However annoying the itch was, she had no intention of letting go either of the hands. They gave her the courage that she desperately needed.

Nathan, sitting beside her, reminding Daley that she was not alone in this.

Lex, her little brother, her responsibility, his mere presence effectively forcing her to pull herself together.

There was no time for fear or panic; Daley needed to stay sharp, ready to adapt to new threats. For she couldn't believe that this was it, that the bad guys would just sit with them in the plane, and after the storm, hello goodbye. No, there would be no such easy way out of this, and she intended to be ready for whatever came, ready to protect Lex.

The rain was a steady beat against the plane, but the thunder had moved further away, its rumble loud enough, but not deafening anymore. The storm would be over soon, and then this odd stalemate would come to an end.

The fear was a hard stone at the bottom of her stomach, making her queasy. She tried to furiously crush it down.

Get a grip!

It wasn't like the men were even that scary. The Asian wasn't as tall as she was, and was not looking particularly dangerous. And the leader, he wouldn't be half that intimidating without his gun; just an ordinary man with a really bad Hawaii shirt. The third man, the brute…well, the ruthless presence was just probably a front.

And as dire as their situation was, Daley could -alright, tried - to see the humour in it. Their luck really was unbelievable. This was like something straight from a bad movie; first the crash, then these smugglers.

All we need now is a romance. Wait - we kind of have that too.

She reminded herself that not all their luck had been bad, for not all of them were here stuck as hostages. Melissa and Jackson were somewhere out there, in all likelihood soaked to the skin, but free. Maybe they would do something…

No, she couldn't wait for Jackson and Melissa to act, if they even were going to act at all. Lex's life rested on her shoulders; she had to do something and soon. Perhaps she could reason with the men, make them believe that no one here was a threat to them, persuade them to leave without violence.

A brilliant lightning flashed, and several seconds went by before the clap of thunder followed it. Time was running out.

When Daley actually opened her mouth, she surprised even herself.

"You know…we will not stand in your way."

The leader raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. The Asian and the brute were staring at her, but they were also keeping their quiet. The brute looked amused.

Daley forced herself to plunge on. "We have done everything you told us to do."

"Really?" The leader's voice was controlled, but underneath it was a hint of something unpleasant, pulling the leash, trying to get free.

Nathan nudged her side, clearly preferring the prior silence to the strained attempt at conversation.

"We are no threat to you. You could let us just be." Daley could hear the pleading in her own voice, but didn't care; if she had to beg on her knees, she would do it.

"So, I should let you all go?" The tone was almost light; he was clearly humouring her.

"We are stuck on this island, there's nowhere we can go, there's no one here we could tell about this." As she was saying the words, the hopelessness of their situation finally hit her in all its dreadfulness. Tears were starting to sting in her eyes.

"The way you are speaking, one would almost get the impression that you think I am going to do something terrible to you…" The leader had a twitch round the corners of his mouth.

"Hell, isn't that the plan?" The brute's voice was horribly matter-of-fact.

Daley swallowed painfully, panic starting to climb upwards in her throat.

"Why leave any witnesses, right?" There was a frightening glee in the brute's eyes, and she suddenly realized, he is enjoying this.

The leader gave the man a sharp glare, and then shrugged his shoulders to Daley, mockingly apologetic.

"We'll have to see just how well you continue to do as I say."

And that was it; the conversation was clearly over. Silence settled once again over them, the storm's howl outside making the lack of voice inside the plane seem even more profound.

The desperation, the deep sense of failure, joined the fear in her stomach; the weight pressing hard her insides, raising waves of nausea and pain.

Daley felt something wet roll down her cheeks, and soon tasted salt on her lips. She didn't make any move to wipe the tears away. She couldn't loosen her grip from Nathan or Lex.

She had to hold on; it was all she had left.

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Jackson had a plan.

A plan that tilted more towards the crazy-desperate-nuts section than he was comfortable with, but a plan nonetheless. Something he could put into action, something he could do to help the others. For at this point, pretty much everything beat hiding here in their "shelter", soaked to the skin and worrying if they would survive to see another day.

He had thought it carefully through. As the storm had leashed its fury upon the island, his mind had came up with different scenarios, until finally there had been one that was a little less suicidal than the rest.

What a great recommendation.

Despite all the misgivings he had, all the numerous things he knew could go wrong, he felt himself getting exited. If he could do this…God, this could finally be the chance they had been looking for; how could he let it pass by?

The storm had moved along a little while ago, but had left the dark clouds on its wake, covering the sky completely. The wind had subsided, but was still strong, ripping leaves and swirling them around in dizzying whirlpool. The pouring rain had lessened to a drizzle, enfolding the jungle into a soft grey haze. It was clear there would be no after-storm-sun breaking through the clouds and warming their chilled bones. It seemed they would stay wet, at least until they could get back to the camp…whenever that would be.

No matter; I will soon get wet again anyway.

Jackson felt the weight of Melissa's form against his; could hear her even breathing close to his ear. They had talked long, about everything and nothing, and he had been surprised at how much he had enjoyed it. There had been a lot he hadn't known about her, small things that formed an endearing and complex picture of the girl next to him. And for the first time, he hadn't minded sharing pits and pieces from his own life in return.

There's nothing quite like a little crisis to bring people closer to each other.

For the past half hour though, they had been quiet, trying to rest despite their less than ideal circumstances. He had even tried to close his eyes for awhile, knowing he would need his mind clear and his body strong, if he was going to be of any use, but his eyes hadn't stayed closed for long. Even if he hardly saw anything besides green leaves and grey haze, he still needed to keep watch - just in case.

Mel had been quiet and still, but he could tell she hadn't slept either. She was probably as exhausted as he was; definitely as stiff. They had crouched on the ground for what felt like hours - had to be hours - , moving only to huddle up more closely around each other. He could feel all the tension, how it squeezed his muscles into tight painful knots.

Ok, time for action.

Carefully he shifted his weight; slowly drawing his arm away from her shoulders.

"I'm going to stand up."

As Jackson untangled himself from Melissa, who was slowly coming out from her daze, he could feel how her warmth was replaced by cold air, making him shiver violently. Funny how much heat even two wet freezing bodies could give to each other.

He stood up, and every part of him protested at once. There was a sharp agony in his stiff shoulders, whereas his knees felt completely numb.

"Ouch!" The sudden exclamation that accompanied his efforts to make his body work again was not how he had planned to make Melissa smile, but he was not about to complain; still crouching on the ground, she was looking at him with a near smirk on her face.

"That painful? Maybe I better stay here then." But even as she was saying it, her arm rose towards him, ready to be grabbed.

He grinned and pulled her to stand beside him. "Stiff much?"

"Yeah." She winced as she stretched her arms. "I think I heard something just pop."

"Ok, I think as fun as I just had, I am not going to do this again anytime soon." His voice was only partly sarcastic, for Jackson realised that even if he hadn't had fun in the traditional meaning of the word, snuggling with Melissa and just talking with her definitely wasn't a bad way to spend some time.

She gave him a brilliant smile that told that she had got his meaning, leaving him to marvel at the way she sometimes could see right through him. However, her smile vanished all too soon, and was replaced by a sombre expression.

"So, no more sitting."

Jackson knew the moment had come and felt suddenly nervous. It had been one thing to think in his mind his plan could succeed, but it was a whole another matter to actually explain it all out aloud.

"I have a plan."

Melissa's attention was completely on him now; he could practically feel all her hope and fear, shimmering just beneath her skin, reaching towards him.

"The thugs - they had to come here by boat. We would have heard a plane, and anyway, there isn't anyplace near the bunker where you can land a plane, so they have to have some kind of boat." He traced his earlier thoughts, trying to convince as much himself as Melissa that it could really work.

"And I think I know where the boat is - there is this little bay, not far from the bunker - an ideal place really - I mean it has to be there." He was speaking faster, trying to get his thoughts across to her.

"And there has to be a radio in the boat. A radio Mel - I can call us help - God, I can get us off this damned island!" Saying it aloud made their chance for rescue to become so much more real; the heavy bleakness, hopelessness that had gotten hold of him even before the men had showed up seemed to be lifted from him.

Maybe the criminals really are a blessing in disguise.

"But what if some of them are in the boat?" Melissa didn't sound too happy. Jackson concentrated on her grave face.

"I don't think any of them would have stayed in there during the storm, but if - well, it remains to be seen."

"How are you going to get into the boat if it is in the middle of the bay?"

"I'll swim."

"In this weather!"

"I'll manage." Jackson's answers were fast turning from persuasive into defensive. He had thought of all the difficulties in his plan that Melissa was now raising, but hearing them from her irritated him. Couldn't she see that there was no other way?

"Jackson… I - I don't think this is such a good plan."

"Well it's the best I can think of! Or do you have something in your mind?" His words were sharper than he had intended, but he couldn't hide his disappointment for her less than enthusiastic response to his plan.

"No, I don't." She bit her lower lip. "I just think there are many things that could go wrong." Her voice was apologetic.

"I know, but I have to try. Mel - don't you see this is our chance to call for help, to tell someone that we are here? To finally get rescued?"

"You want to save the others, or do you want to get of this island?"

The question was cutting; the doubt in it bit deeply into Jackson's ego. A scathing response was already in his lips, but he willed it down. Melissa was right to ask the question; the way he had almost reacted had been a prove of that. For it hadn't cut so deep, if there wasn't some truth in it.

"Both. I want to help the others, and I want us all to be rescued." He looked into her eyes, and spoke as honestly as he could. "Luckily, the two aren't mutually exclusive."

"If you manage to radio help, it could still take awhile for someone to come." She left the too long unsaid, but he could hear it nonetheless.

"I know." He had said all he could; there weren't any words left he could have used to persuade her to support the plan.

"Alright, let's do this then. Lead the way."

Melissa's voice was firm, and Jackson almost laughed in surprise. Really, he should have seen this coming, for when had she ever let him down?

"Actually…I thought it would be better if you stayed here."

Melissa's glare was quite impressive, matching perfectly her words. "I don't think so." She started to walk, only to turn after a view paces to look at him, her expression clearly saying, So are you coming?

He joined her quickly, finding it impossible to smother the grin that was spreading over his whole face. He wanted her to be safe, but he was more than glad that she had decided to accompany him on this little, possibly crazy/desperate, endeavour.

For when she was with him, failure really wasn't an option.

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Thank you all for your reviews, but as I am always hungry for them, I have to ask you to send some more…

What do you think of the plan? Can it succeed? Does it seem rational?

Next week, the plan is put into action, and our hostages have to face the changing situation in the camp….