[Takes place after S2E1 Unquiet Mind]

FBI Special Agent in Charge Towson was a stand-up guy after all. When Vic and Ferg arrived at the airport Towson and ASAC Hall were about to board the first chopper heading up the mountain. Vic didn't beg; she just stood there looking at him.

Towson returned the look for a moment before saying, "Hall, the second chopper will be ready in half an hour. Wait for it."

Hall looked disgusted that he was being bumped by the deputy who decked his boss but Towson was the boss so he said, "Yes, sir," like a good subordinate.

Vic jumped on after Towson. She simply said, "Thank you," and apparently the sincerity came through because he nodded acknowledgement.

The helicopter set down in the center of the clearing. Vic jumped out before the rotors stopped, ducked low and ran to where Branch and Henry were bending over a figure propped against a tree stump. They turned and called out, "He's alive," but she didn't stop until she was close enough to fall on her knees by Walt's side. He looked at her, his mouth in that familiar upturn.

She smiled and took a deep shaky breath of relief. And coughed, her face grimacing. "What is that smell!"

"Henry put some stuff on Walt's ears and face," Branch said. "I don't know what's in it but I'm staying upwind."

"OIR," Henry said solemnly.

"Old Indian Remedy," Walt translated before Vic or Branch could ask.

"Where is Agent Brooks?" Towson asked urgently.

"Mine shaft," Branch said. "Follow me. She's wounded but not badly. She was wrapped up and protected in there so she's okay. Is there another chopper on the way?"

"Thirty minutes out. The sheriff gets the first ride. I'll wait and go with Brooks."

The two EMTs arrived with a gurney. "Let's get him on the way to the hospital. We can treat him in the air." They looked around at the group. "With the gurney, there's only room for one more."

"That's me," Vic said.

In the helicopter, the EMTs stripped Walt efficiently by cutting all his clothes and peeling them away. They were especially careful with his gloves and socks. Fingers and toes were separated with gauze. He was wrapped in wet warming blankets.

Vic quietly asked, "Will he lose any fingers or toes?"

"Fingers, I don't think so, they're already pinking up," Cindy said. "He's got good gloves and probably kept his hands in his armpits. A few toes look iffy but we'll know soon. Face and ears seem okay. He's lucky."

"Vic, did you come along just to see me naked?" Walt asked.

"Don't flatter yourself. If I wanted to see a cold body, I'd visit the morgue. And if I wanted to see you naked I would have made it happen somewhere warm and comfortable. I came because I hoped the helicopter pilot would be Harrison Ford. No offense," she called out to the pilot.

"Very little taken," the pilot replied. "I disappoint myself sometimes, not being him."

"Have you met him?"

"I have. He's better at search and rescue than acting."

"You're not serious."

"He does rescue work in one take without a production crew or a stunt double."

"Vic, his ranch is way south near Jackson," Walt said. "He doesn't work this far north."

"A girl can dream."

Cindy said, "Sheriff Longmire, you must have hot blood and great circulation because everything is looking pretty good."

"Would it be indelicate of me to ask if private body parts are affected?" Vic asked.

Jason laughed. "Unlikely. They're close to the body and they tend to draw up for warmth."

"Could you check, just to be sure?"

"Vic, that's enough." Walt sounded stern.

"You must be wondering. I'm asking so you don't have to."

"I'll take a look," Jason offered.

"No," Walt said in a forbidding voice.

It was too late. Jason had lifted the warming blanket. After a couple of seconds he tucked the blanket back in place and said, "He's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Vic, drop it!"

Vic shut up. When Walt took a certain tone she knew it was time to pull back instead of pushing. She changed the subject. "Where's my cell phone?"

"Probably under Wayne's body. I stabbed him in the face with it."

"See how handy they are? Multiple uses, like a Swiss Army knife. Are you going to give in and get one?"

"I'll think about it."

"So that's a solid no."

The chopper landed on the pad on the roof of the hospital and Walt was wheeled away. Vic followed slowly. She'd have coffee, which would warm her up and give the staff time to get Walt settled in a room and do whatever else was necessary. She also had to find a phone so she could let Cady and Ferg know that Walt was okay. She did that first.

Vic took a table in the almost empty cafeteria, sipped hot coffee and thought about losing Walt. The idea was unimaginable yet she was imagining it and it was unbearable. She was aware of the undercurrent between them and she was sure he was aware too but neither acknowledged it openly.

It wasn't romantic, although an occasional sexual frisson made her quiver at odd moments. Walt might not feel that, and if he did he would probably dismiss it immediately. He was too decent a man to come between a husband and wife. No, their relationship was mostly friendship, an enjoyment of each other's company and a realization that for all their differences they worked well together and their personalities meshed. Vic wished her marriage was as good. It was a constant seesaw. One week they were fighting and she hated Wyoming and didn't want Walt to let Sean know she'd been shot with a bear tranquilizer. The next week she and Sean were having make-up sex and she loved him and Wyoming. Walt listened stoically to her oversharing of both situations and didn't judge.

Vic recognized voices around the corner at the vending machines. It was the EMTs from the chopper.

"When you looked under the blanket," Cindy said, "Was it what I think was happening?"

"If you think he had a boner, yeah, that's what happened," Jason replied.

"Is the sheriff hot for his deputy or was it some weird reaction to extreme cold?"

"Speaking as a guy twenty years younger than the sheriff, who can't get hard in cold water, I'm going with hot for deputy."

Vic thought about that. Maybe Walt felt an occasional frisson after all.

Walt was warm and almost comfortable again. Cady was sitting by his bed. Ferg had called to tell him that the second chopper had landed at the hospital twenty minutes ago and Agent Brooks was stable. Henry and Branch were on the way back down on horseback. Omar and the waitress were safe and waiting to be brought down the mountain.

He was trying to forget the embarrassing incident in the helicopter. It had been a weird reaction, that was all. Skin tingles as it warms up after extreme cold when blood circulation is restored. He was just grateful that Vic didn't know what happened.