Author's Note: Last time, reminder – I'm not a rock climber, so I apologize for anything inaccurate here. I did my best with my imagination + Google.
Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but relatively unnecessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.
Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine (except Gracie, of course), just borrowing.
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.- Murphy's Second Corollary
The Next Morning, Terra Nova
As Maddy and Zoe play with Gracie just out of earshot, Nathaniel stands at the gate, leaning on his crutches. "Doc, are you sure you want to be the one to go?"
Elisabeth nods. "Yes, Taylor. Zoe will be fine with Maddy, and I want to be there for them. We don't know how serious the injuries could become." She fights back tears, clearly still upset by what's happening.
He gives her a sympathetic look and his voice drops so only she can hear him. "Shannon will be fine, Elisabeth. Alicia will look after him."
She takes a deep breath and places a hand on his arm and squeezes. "I know that, but who's looking after Alicia? With Jim so very out of his element and Carter injured, she's having to take care of both of them. She's my best friend, almost like a younger sister, not to mention the fact that my son-in-law will be devastated if something happens to her. And I've come to care for Carter because of Skye. I'm not just going for Jim, Nathaniel. I'm going for all of them, and I'm going for you and Gracie too. You're my family, as far as I'm concerned."
He blinks at her words, then puts one of his crutches to the side, leaning it against the waiting rover, and gives her a hug. "Thank you, Elisabeth."
"You're welcome." She steps back and grabs his crutch, handing it back to him. "Now you stay on these, do you hear me? I have spies, and they will gleefully rat you out if you fail to behave." She smiles at him as he rolls his eyes, and her eyes soften. "Is Gracie OK?"
He frowns slightly, looking over at her. "No. She doesn't do well when either of us is OTG, but, and this doesn't bother me at all, it's worse when it's Alicia. Gracie is so connected to her. They're just on the same wavelength. She clings to me a lot when Alicia is OTG, which, don't get me wrong, I don't mind. But I worry about her, especially if something happens to…" He swallows hard.
Elisabeth reaches up and squeezes his arm again. "She'll be fine. I've decided it. All of them will be fine, and woe to them who disobey me on this."
Giving her a game smile, he says, "Thank you, Elisabeth, for going and for adopting us. We both appreciate the latter more than you know."
"Nathaniel, you let us, and by 'us' I mean Jim and Zoe, stay here with minimal fuss, you made Jim an integral part of your team, and then Alicia sacrificed herself to save us. It's nothing to us, particularly because we all actually like the two of you. On top of that, you seem to have produced the world's most likeable child, one who is cute even when she's fussy." She smiles.
He snorts at that. "Try to tell her no some time. See how well that goes."
Elisabeth laughs lightly. "I'll leave the 'no' to you and Alicia. It's far more fun to be indulgent Auntie Wisabeth."
"Fair enough." He smiles at her as Reilly approaches with two younger soldiers and Guz and Mira following. The two young soldiers nervously salute Nathaniel and then go to load their things into the back of the rover.
Guz takes Elisabeth's pack and stows it in the back. He turns back to them, Mira coming up next to him and taking his hand, her free hand resting on her swollen stomach. Guz looks down at her, and she nods. He looks back to Nathaniel. "Sir, I'll go with Elisabeth if you need me to."
Nathaniel shakes his head. "No, Guz. First of all, with both Alicia and Shannon out there, I want to keep at least one other member of my command team here. But you also need to stay here with Mira. She and the baby are what's important right now."
"But sir," Guz begins, only to be cut off again by Nathaniel.
"No buts, Guz. Mira and your son are what matter right now. Reilly will look after Elisabeth."
Elisabeth nods in agreement. "Thank you for offering, Guz, but Taylor's right. I'll be fine with Reilly and these young men. They'll take care of me and get me there."
Guz relents, clearly with reservations. "OK, Doc, Commander. I'll stay, but if anything comes up…"
Mira speaks up for the first time, "If anything comes up, Isaac will be leading the charge."
Her voice is definite, brooking no arguments. Nathaniel has to laugh at the determination on her face. "No wonder you and Alicia get along so well. The two of you and this one," he indicates Elisabeth by inclining his head, "Are all stubborn as hell."
Elisabeth and Mira both grin at that. Mira offers, "And don't you forget it."
Reilly, done loading and checking the rover, steps up to them. "Sirs, Ma'am, Doc, we're loaded up and ready to go."
"That's my cue," Elisabeth says, "Guz, Mira, keep an eye on him. He's to be on those crutches for at least another week, and I want reports if he's not."
Nathaniel rolls his eyes again. "Yeah, yeah, off with you, Doc. Reilly, be careful."
"Yes, sir." The young woman slips behind the wheel of the rover as the two privates climb in the back and Elisabeth takes the front passenger seat.
Once they're set, Nathaniel calls up, "Open the gate." When it opens, Reilly gives him a nod, and she takes off, headed for the outpost in the mountains.
Nathaniel watches them quietly until he feels a hand on his uninjured leg. He looks down to see Gracie standing there, stuffed dinosaur in one hand, arms extended to him for him to pick her up. He leans a crutch against the fence, and he bends to lift Gracie. Her free hand grips his t-shirt while the other clutches her dinosaur close to her chest. "Auntie Wisabeth and Auntie Laurwa go get Mama?"
He hugs her to him. "Yeah, Bug. Aunt Elisabeth and Aunt Laura will bring your mama, Uncle Carter and Uncle Shannon home."
She leans her head on his shoulder. "'K, Daddy. I stay with you today? No school."
He knows Alicia will give him one of her stern looks when she finds out he kept Gracie out of school, but he just can't say no to the pleading note to her soft voice. "OK, little Bug. No school. You can spend the day with Daddy at work." He sees Maddy approach with Gracie's backpack in hand, and he inclines his head towards the command center. Using one crutch and keeping Gracie in his other arm, he makes his way slowly to his office, Maddy following behind with Gracie's bag and his other crutch.
**WT**WT**WT**
OTG Team
Alicia wakes up still curled against Carter's back. His breathing is even, so she knows he's still asleep, and she's happy to note that he's no longer shivering and his body doesn't feel feverish to her. She carefully rolls away from him and slips out of their makeshift tent. She feels stiff and sore, and when she tries to stretch her back, it catches painfully, letting her know that she probably will be aching for a while after bouncing against the harness yesterday.
She looks to the east in time to see the sun creep slowly into the sky. It looks as if it will be a clear day, but the wind is still high, something that worries her slightly. Jim still sits by the dying fire. He's dozing, but she can't blame him for that. They haven't seen any sign of dinosaurs, and many of the dinos are afraid of fire. She gathers a bit more wood and piles it on the fire, making Jim start.
He blinks at her and then blushes lightly, clearly embarrassed to have been caught sleeping on the job. "Sorry, Wash."
She shakes her head as she sits down next to him. "Don't worry about it, Shannon. It was a long day yesterday, and it'll be a long day today."
They turn when they hear the sound of rustling, and a moment later, a rumpled-looking Carter emerges from the tent. He shuffles over to them and gives Jim a look probably intended to tell him that he needs a moment, and Jim excuses himself.
Carter turns to her, a serious expression on his face. She lifts a questioning eyebrow at him as she passes him a bottle of water and a protein bar . "Carter?"
He drops into the spot Jim just vacated. "Thank you."
She furrows her brow in confusion. "For what?"
"Come on, Wash."
"Seriously, Carter, what are you talking about?" He gives her a funny look, and she suddenly realizes what he's thanking her for. "Carter, I didn't do anything extraordinary. It was cold, you're injured, I did the only thing I could to help, particularly as a medic. Are you telling me that if our positions were reversed, you wouldn't have done the same? And for the record, I was cold too, so I actually reaped a little benefit there myself."
She shoots him a smirk. "But one observation, man, you really need a shower."
He laughs and rolls his eyes, elbowing her in the side. "You're not exactly fresh as a daisy yourself, little sister."
"I'd retaliate for that, but I don't want to hurt your ribs." She delivers a firm kick to his ankle, making him grunt. "That works, though."
"Do I need to separate you two?"
They look up to see an amused-looking Jim standing there. Alicia grins. "He started it."
"Hey! You're the one who said I smell bad!" He manages to sound completely outraged at that.
"You do smell bad."
Jim laughs. "You two are worse than my kids. This is like listening to Josh and Maddy, times about a thousand."
"Thanks, Shannon." Carter does his best to sound put upon.
Alicia sighs a little. She's enjoying this, but she knows they need to get going now that the sun is up. "Well, boys, let's pack up. Carter, do you need any pain meds?"
They both sober. Carter shakes his head. "Not until we're to the plateau, Wash."
"OK, but I'm injecting you the minute we're down, understood?" She gives him a stern look.
"By the time we're down, I'm pretty sure I'll be begging you to inject me."
She nods, and they all silently begin to pack up as they munch on protein bars from the large backpack. Once her pack and the small duffel are packed and Carter and Jim are finishing packing everything else, she walks about thirty feet towards the ledge of the place they'll need to rappel to continue their descent down to the plateau.
When she gets to the ledge, she peers over and cringes. This one is going to be a lot harder for Jim. She steps back from the edge and thinks about it, knowing that he needs to do more than just walk down this. It's easily twice the distance of the first rappel, maybe a little more. The upside is that after this one, they've only got about seven hundred feet left. The hour walk after the first rappel yesterday afternoon was fairly steep, and they'd covered a significant amount of the descent then.
From what she can see, they'll have to hike down for a few more hours this morning, but if they move pretty efficiently, they'll be to the plateau by noon or a little earlier. The last rappel, though, which will take them to the plateau, is worrying her. From what she saw from up at the cave, it's going to be even longer than this one by fifty feet or so, and it's on the windward edge of the mountain. The breeze here is pretty stiff, but at least it's not gusty like it will be at the last cliff face.
"I can tell by the look on your face that I'm not going to like this, Wash." Jim's voice makes her turn around. He and Carter stand behind her, and she catches Carter's eye. He frowns in understanding, but he gives her an encouraging nod. They have to do this. If they had a chopper, this would be easy, as there's plenty of space for one here – but they don't have one, so this is what they can do.
"You're right, you're not going to, Shannon. This one is longer than I thought, and it's steeper. Walking down like you did before probably won't work."
Jim swallows hard. "So, I'm going to have to push off like you and Carter do?"
"Not exactly," Carter interjects, "You can still go slow, and your pushes can be a lot less forceful. Wash and I are experienced, and we know how to work the line and the gear. That's why we can do what we do. I'd also venture to guess that Wash had to learn in boot camp."
"I did," she confirms, "We all did, even those of us training to be medics. It's what made me take up climbing as a hobby. Now, let's gear up, and Shannon, I'll talk you through the motions for this. Then, I'm going to have you watch Carter go."
In silence, they all gear up, and Alicia gets the lines tied together, needing two of their four good lines for this distance. As she drives the anchors in with a rock hammer, she can almost feel the tension radiating off of Carter and Jim. She knows they're nervous, but there's little to be done about it.
She spends the next ten minutes talking Jim through the motions of the rappel, and then he watches as Carter goes down with Alicia belaying. They run the packs down second, and then it's time for Jim to go. "You can do this, Jim. You're going to be fine."
He peers back over the edge and cringes. "I suppose now would be a bad time to mention that I really have never been crazy about heights."
She snorts. "Good call." Her face softens. "Nice and easy, Jim, whenever you're ready."
He nods and closes his eyes. He stands there, clearly trying to calm his breathing, before opening his eyes and calling on belay. She sets her body, and he steps back off the edge. As she feels the pressure on the rope, she can faintly hear Carter encouraging Jim.
It takes several minutes, but she eventually feels slack in the line, and she breathes out a sigh of relief. She steps up to the edge, and she leans forward to see them below, both waving at her. She waves back, and then she sets up for her own descent. She hates that they once again have to leave anchors behind, but they still have plenty left for the last rappel.
When she's down, Jim is actually wearing a small grin. She unknots the rope and looks at Carter as she pulls the lines free of the anchors up top. "So, I take it he did OK?"
Carter nods, and he and Jim help her coil up the rope and stow it in the large pack. "He actually did pretty great, all things considered."
"Good." She looks at Jim. "Just don't get cocky. And I mean that. The last one will make this one look like a cakewalk, mainly because of the wind."
His smile fades a little. She feels bad about it, but she doesn't want him overconfident. "I'm sorry, Shannon. It won't be horrible, but it's going to be tricky. We have wind here, but no real gusts. From what I could see from above, the last face we have to go down is a lot more exposed, and its orientation is such that the wind might be whipping and gusting a lot more than it is here."
She puts a hand on his arm. "Please don't freak out about it. You know we'll make sure you make it down in one piece. Just don't think that this was as hard as it gets."
Carter nods. "Wash is right. The last drop is the reason we couldn't climb up. It's too damned sheer. Even a professional climber would struggle with it, and without some serious equipment, it'd be as close to impossible as a climb can get."
"If you guys need me to not freak out, you really should stop talking now." Jim has paled slightly.
Alicia cringes. "Sorry. Shutting up." She hands him his pack before going over and helping Carter immobilize his arm. In no time, they're making their way down again, following the path. It's tight, and they stay pretty close together. Carter is back in the lead, Alicia back on the six, and they walk in nervous silence.
After about an hour and a half, Alicia realizes that they're actually making better time than she expected. They get to a sheer place in the path, and while it's bad enough for Carter to take off his sling so that he can balance as needed, it also gives them a clear line of sight to the last rappel. It's no more than a fifteen minute walk away. Once they've gotten through the narrow, sheer drop off part of the path, it widens a bit again, and they pause for a short water break.
As they all have some water and more protein bars, Alicia digs out the comm that they have. She slips it on her ear and gives it a tap, thinking that it's worth a shot. "Washington to Reynolds, come in, Reynolds." She's met with static, but she decides to go ahead and keep it on, just in case the others get within range soon.
"Are we that close?" Jim's voice is apprehensive, and she can tell he'd be OK with it if the answer to his question was no.
"Almost. I figure we're less than fifteen to the last rappel." She gives him a look that she hopes is reassuring.
He gives her a wry smile in return. "Could we not call it 'the last rappel?'" That earns him a snort from Carter, who hands his water bottle back to Jim and starts walking again.
Jim shoots Alicia a worried look, clearly concerned about Carter, who has been uncharacteristically quiet. Alicia shrugs. "He's hurting. I imagine he's ready to be done with our little adventure du jour."
"You're probably right. Silent Carter is just a little disconcerting, though."
"Agreed, but I can't force him to take another shot, and I know why he doesn't want one."
Sighing, Jim says, "Fair enough." They start after Carter. "Hell of a couple of days, eh, Wash?"
She huffs out a laugh. "You can say that again."
As they walk, Alicia hears some static in her ear. She can't make out an actual voice yet, but it tells her that Reynolds is probably trying to call. A few minutes later, it scratches again, but this time, she can hear words. "Reynolds to Washington. Come in, Wash. Wash?"
She hits the comm again, replying to Reynolds just as they get to the cliff for their final rappel down. Carter is sitting there waiting for them, and he looks up as Alicia says, "Mark, this is Wash, do you copy?"
She hears him breathe out, "Oh thank God." After a moment, he says, "Wash, good to hear your voice. Is everyone OK?"
"We're a little worse for wear, but we're all right, Mark. Where are you? I don't see you on the plateau?" She peers down the cliff.
"Maybe a click away. We should be there pretty soon. It's just slow going. Are you down?"
"Negative," she shakes her head, "We have to rappel down a cliff face to the plateau. We're about to start. Carter should be down by the time you get to the plateau. Then Shannon, then me." As she talks, she kneels down and begins pounding in the anchors, and Carter and Jim get the rope ready.
"Copy that, Wash. It's just me, Dunham and Dr. Wallace here, by the way, in one of the rhinos. We left the others at the outpost to wait for the doc and Reilly."
She rocks back on her heels. "What do you mean 'wait for the doc and Reilly?'"
Jim and Carter look up at her, and instead of Reynolds, Malcolm replies, "It was my idea, Wash. Just in case both you and Carter were hurt, I made him ask Taylor to send us a doctor or another medic."
"Who is it, Malcolm? Who did Nathaniel send?"
Malcolm sighs, "I'm pretty sure you already know, Wash. She insisted."
"Understood. Hopefully we won't need her." Jim huffs out a breath and looks concerned at Alicia's use of the word "her." "We're about to start rappelling down, so we'll talk to you both soon."
"Be careful, OK, Wash?" Reynolds comes back on the line.
"Always am, kid. Washington out." She ends the call and looks up at Shannon and Carter. "Malcolm was worried that Carter and I might both be injured, so he asked Nathaniel to send out another medic or a doctor. Elisabeth insisted on being the one to come. She and Reilly will be at the outpost."
"I'm not going to pretend to be surprised, Wash." Jim rolls his eyes. "Let's just get done with this. At least I get to see my wife soon."
Alicia drives the last anchor, and they run three of the ropes knotted together through them. She also knots the remaining two ropes, one good one and one her rope from yesterday, together. They'll be almost long enough to reach the ground, ending maybe twenty feet short, give or take. She wants them as a backup line, just in case.
They all get into their harnesses, and Jim sets up to belay Carter. Alicia decided that she wants to be able to watch Carter descend, so she can get an idea of the best route down for Jim to take. He gets in position, and Alicia says, "Take it easy, Carter. And when we send the packs down, take a pain killer."
"Once you're down, I will, Alicia. I'm anchoring from the bottom, and I'm staying sharp until we're done." He levels a look at her. "No arguments."
She holds up her hands. "Understood. Be careful, big brother."
He nods, calls on belay, and he disappears over the edge. Alicia leans down, and she watches as he goes down. He hits one slick spot, and he struggles a little, sliding to the right. The wind also hits him and changes his course a few times, worrying Alicia. When his feet connect with the ground below, she lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
The rope goes slack, and Jim crouches down next to her. She gives him the path to follow, and then she says, "Shannon, the wind looks bad. Just head down as quickly and carefully as you can, and don't freak if it pushes you off track a bit. It won't send you far."
He nods nervously. "Got it. Let's just do this."
"OK, Shannon. Be careful." She gets in position, and with a nod, he calls on belay and steps off.
She hates that she can't watch him go down, but she once again hears Carter calling encouragement to Jim. All seems to be going all right for a moment, her feeling constant tension and movement on the rope, when a strong gust whips in. It nearly knocks her over, and a second later, a hard jerk on the rope.
The pull on the rope is so hard that it knocks her to her knees, and suddenly, she hears yelling from Carter below. She keeps her grip on the rope, but she leans forward. What she sees makes her gasp. The strong gust must have knocked Jim hard into the cliff face, as he's upended and shaking his head as if dazed. He's easily still eighty or ninety feet up. She feels the rope give slightly, and she knows she has to go down and help. "Carter, can you hold it?" She yells as loud as she can.
She feels more tension on the line, and a faint, "I've got him, Wash!"
She slips her hands off of Shannon's line, and she quickly and efficiently guides the extra rope through the anchors. Getting it well secured, she once again checks Shannon's position, and she takes a deep breath and steps off, hoping that her rope from yesterday will take her weight.
In a few pushes, she's almost to Jim. She pauses in her descent to line up with him, and she looks down to see him become aware of his position. He starts to twist around. "Shannon, stay still. I'm coming. If you move too much, Carter can't hold you steady."
He immediately freezes, and she pushes off one more time, coming to rest right above him. She slowly lets out some rope, wishing she had her gloves. In a moment, she's level with him. She sees that he has the rope tangled around one leg, so she carefully reaches out to fix it, and then she uses her hands and rights him.
He's clearly shaken, but he grits out a, "Thanks."
"No problem, Shannon. Now finish going down. You're more than half way there."
He gives her a shaky nod, and he pushes off while releasing his rappelling device. In under a minute, his boots hit the ground. Now, she gets to figure out what to do next. She looks down to Carter, and he yells up, "Twenty-five." She signs, knowing that means that she'll run out of rope about twenty-five feet short.
She eyes the rocks below, and she notes that it looks like there are a few more footholds and possible places to grip over to her right, so she takes a deep breath and pushes off in that direction. After a few pushes, she gets to within five feet of the end of her line and stops, not wanting to hit the end, knotted or not. She hears Reynolds' voice in her ear, but she just mutters, "A little busy right now, kid," under her breath and ignores him.
She finds a solid foothold for each foot, and she sets them and then finds a place to grip with one hand. With her free hand, she releases herself from her rope. Once it's clear, she carefully begins a slow climb down the last thirty feet.
Carter is below her telling her the locations of footholds and grips he can see, and she covers the first ten feet pretty efficiently. She's reaching for the next foothold when another gust comes up from nowhere. It's so strong that it knocks her feet from their holds and flips her from front to back. She manages to keep a hold with one hand, and she dangles about eighteen feet up.
"Wash!" She looks down to see a frightened look on the now-present Reynolds' face.
She sets her face in grim determination. She swings around and gets her other hand back into a hold, and she seeks a foothold. For a moment, she thinks she has it, but then another gust comes up, and she feels her hands lose their grip. All of the voices below her call out in concern as she drops towards them, but she just thinks, "Try to roll, Alicia."
As she hits the ground hard, she tries to curl and distribute the impact, but she feels her right knee give completely and she crumples, her momentum rolling her violently. As her knee screams at her, her body rolls, and the last thing she sees is the rock she's about to collide with. She hits it hard, and darkness closes in on her.