Q the omnipotent night fury: Thanks :D Hope it wasn't too distracting for you ;)

halfcent: Heh...well, so far Nadia hasn't actually done anything except be a little ambiguous. Of course, it's not over yet ;)

Part of me was expecting the sprinklers to kick back into life as Nadia and I hurried under them, but they remained lifeless. I guess the button Decker bopped with the baseball turned them off for good, or at least long enough for us to get safely through, which came to the same thing as far as I was concerned.

Decker was waiting for us on the other side. I noticed he'd kept the baseball, but there was still a bristly hands-off aura hanging about him. I opened my mouth.

"Don't say it, Peck."

"I was just gonna ask—"

"I know what you were just gonna ask. Don't."

I shut my mouth. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn Decker was embarrassed, although I've no idea why. Man, if I could pitch like that, I'd shout it from the rooftops! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, not after the way he'd thrown that makeshift rope and brick back in the water room and hooked it through the fence on the first try, but hey, anyone can get a lucky shot once in a while.

"Well, anyway, you figured out if this room is going to kill us yet?" I tried to inject some levity into my voice. I failed.

Decker shrugged. "I think it's fairly safe, Peck. Just don't step too far forward."

"Huh? What?" I turned to look and realized Decker hadn't been waiting for us; he was stuck. A pit spread out in front of us, and the only source of light – two flickering bulbs dangling from the ceiling, one at each end of the room – wasn't powerful enough to reach all the way to the bottom.

"What d'you suppose is down there?" I tried to inject a small amount of levity into my voice. I failed.

Nadia shook her head. "I dunno, but if this psycho's made it so easy to fall in, you can bet we don't want to."

That summed it up perfectly as far as I was concerned.

"You got a flashlight, Peck?"

I don't know why the Army thinks Decker's so smart.

"Sure, Decker. I always carry a flashlight with me when I go out shopping in LA in the middle of the afternoon. Anyway, I'd rather not know what's down there, if it's all the same to you."

I turned and paced the edge of the pit. There had to be a way over this. The walls were too far apart for me to cross it like I had that first corridor, and it was too far to even think about jumping.

It was on my second tour of the Pit Edge that I noticed something gleaming dully under the light and moved closer.

"Hey Decker! What do you make of this?"

Decker joined me at the edge a few seconds later. "What?"

"Look." I pointed down to what I'd seen; a wooden beam, about as wide as my hand, securely fastened some two feet below the edge. It was painted a dark brown, and the poor light made it impossible to see further than three or four feet ahead.

"Ah." Decker's voice was tight. "Guess that solves the problem of how to get across."

I stared at it, then at Decker.

"You...no way. We're supposed to walk on this?"

"Looks that way, Peck. Only question is, which of us goes first?"

Nadia stepped forward. "I can."

Decker barely looked at her. "No."

"But—" I began.

"I said no. It's too dangerous."

I moved to stand nose to nose with Decker. "Why? Nadia told me herself that she's a gymnast. If she can't manage it, we won't. I don't know about you, but I never trained in that kinda thing."

Don't ask me why I said that. Even now, I've no idea...except perhaps that Nadia would have to walk across that beam at some point, and I wasn't keen on leaving her alone with Decker. At first, I hadn't thought he'd do anything to hurt her, but that was before he came out and more or less accused her of being a part of this nightmare. We were both stressed and I was sure he just wasn't thinking straight, but that wouldn't be much consolation for poor Nadia if Decker snapped and threw her into the pit in a fit of paranoia.

"She told you that, did she? And you believe her?"

I stared at him. "Why not? What would be the point of lying about something like that? Anyway, you didn't see her climb all those fences, Decker. There's no way she could fake climbing like that."

He subsided, although he didn't look convinced. "No. I guess not."

"Great!" Nadia all but skipped over to the edge, sat down on it and lowered herself carefully onto the beam. As I'd expected, she walked across it steadily without turning a hair. I guess it wasn't too different to a balance beam in gym class, but I wouldn't know. I never trained in gym. Can you imagine a nun demonstrating a cartwheel?

Actually...I think I just did. Mental note: must remember to stick fork in mind's eye.

Even though she didn't slip and the beam didn't snap or suddenly fold in on itself due to a sneakily placed hinge, it was still a relief when Nadia reached the other side. I turned to Decker.

"Alright. Which of us goes next?"

Decker raised cold eyebrows. "That depends, Peck. Bearing in mind we don't know the weight limit of this thing, which one of us would you say is heavier?"

I studied him in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure it out. Truth was, I couldn't call that one; Decker was probably taller, but he was also lankier than I was. I think we came out more or less even in the weight stakes.

Well, one of us had to go next, and it might as well be me as anyone. Bending down, I pulled off my boots, on the basis that bare feet would grip better. It had worked back in that corridor, after all.

"If you get a splinter, Peck, I'm not carrying you."

Fine by me. I still wasn't prepared to trust Decker completely; for all I knew, he'd take it into his head to 'accidentally' drop me into the pit when we were halfway across.

Tying my boots together by the laces, I hung them around my neck, then lowered myself gingerly onto the beam, which barely moved beneath my weight. I wasn't exactly a stranger to balancing games; Hannibal likes making us walk along narrow walls on those obstacle courses of his. Of course, if I slipped off one of those, I'd just get muddy (he also likes soaking the ground and making small mud pits either side for those of us who do fall. He says it's so we can have a soft landing. I told him one time that a mattress would do just as well and he sent me around the course again). If I slipped off this beam...well, I'd either fall down and probably break my neck or straddle the damn beam and go through the rest of this gauntlet sounding like Mickey Mouse.

Of course, it didn't help that I couldn't see much. Once I moved out of the light, I'd be walking this balance beam in the dark. Hannibal does occasionally make us do his courses at night, but he always makes sure the obstacles themselves are well lit. I wondered if he and the others were looking for me yet.

Carefully, I stretched both arms out on either side of me. I've never understood why gymnasts do this, unless it's to increase their chances of grabbing something if they fall, but it must help.

I took one nervous step, then another. Two more. The next would bring me into that patch of darkness between the two lights. A small, selfish part of me was glad Nadia had gone first; at least seeing her on the other side meant that the beam was intact and there were no nasty booby traps in the middle.

Another step. Another. Several more. I was feeling my way now, testing every part ahead of me with my feet to make sure I didn't wander off the edge.

I took the next step and that was when things went wrong.

"Peck!" Decker's voice rapped out through the darkness, loud, commanding and about two inches behind my left ear.

I jumped. One of my feet hit the edge of the beam and skidded off, the other landed badly and sharp pain flashed up my ankle as I tumbled sideways. I twisted in midair, flailing for something, anything that would stop me falling, and by some miracle I ended up dangling one-handed from the beam.

Somehow, I managed to latch on with my other hand and haul myself up and over until I was sitting on the beam, shaking all over.

"Decker!" I yelled it, past caring who might hear, the anger in my voice so strong it unnerved even me. I'm not usually a shouting, screaming kinda guy. "Don't you ever, ever do anything like that to me again!"

There was a short pause, then Decker's voice drifted out from behind me again, sounding a little more subdued than normal.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just peachy! Goddammit, Decker, isn't it bad enough the whole building and whoever built it is trying to kill me without you getting in on the act!"

Beat.

"Peck, what the hell are you talking about? Is someone out there with you?"

"Whaddaya mean, is someone out here with me? You just followed me onto this damn beam and yelled in my ear!"

There was a much longer silence. Then Decker said, "Lieutenant, turn around."

I didn't want to. I wanted to leap up and race along the beam until I reached the relative safety of the other side, but that was out of the question. There was no way I was able to stand. Even if I'd been an Olympic gymnast and able to see where I was going, I still don't think my quivering legs would have supported me.

Carefully, I turned around, or at least craned my head as far round as it would go, and saw Decker still standing on the platform I'd just left, directly under the flickering light there.

I stared at him, thunderstruck. There was no way Decker was that fast. I hadn't gone as far as I'd thought (or hoped) but I'd gone far enough. Besides, even if he had somehow crept up on me, yelled in my ear and raced back, he was still wearing his Army boots, and they would have made a noise.

I squinted, trying to see them clearly. It looked like they'd been properly laced through and fastened, and believe me, that takes a lot longer than most people think. No, it couldn't have been Decker. Now that I thought about it seriously, practical jokes like that really weren't his style.

Pushing this mystery to the back of my mind – although it wouldn't stay there very long – I focused on getting across, on leaning forward and gripping the next part of the beam and then scooting my butt along to catch up. Above all, on that blessed patch of light ahead that marked the end of my journey and the assured, almost hypnotic rhythm of my own footsteps.

I'd gotten a few feet on when something – I don't know if it was my Hannibal-Voice or my own thoughts – spoke up in my mind.

Hang on. Since when did scooting on one's butt sound like footsteps?

I froze, and listened. There it was again; a soft, stealthy noise that squeaked very slightly, the unmistakable sound of someone coming up behind me.

I didn't turn around. To tell you the truth, I was too nervous of what I might see. Instead, I leaned forward and wrapped both arms and legs around the beam – anyone wanting to throw me off would have to drag me off it first – and raised my voice.

"Uh...Decker? That's you I can hear, right? Walking along the beam? Please tell me that's you."

Wonderful. So much for playing the big, tough Special Forces operative. They sure as hell hadn't covered this situation in any part of Army training.

"Peck, I haven't moved."

I still couldn't bring myself to check this; instead I got going. Fast. If there was an Olympic gold medal for Butt-Scooting Along A Beam In Pitch Darkness, I would have won it easily. Before I knew it, I was at the other end and Nadia was hurrying forward to help me. I shook my head – whatever was coming after me, I didn't want it getting her – and hauled myself up, rolling into the light and waiting.

The footsteps stopped. Instantly. I don't think whatever was causing them liked the light all that much...either that or it couldn't get me here.

I groaned inwardly. I really was losing my grip; first that strange person in the bathroom mirror and now hearing things. There was no way it could have been Decker who yelled; the voice had come from just behind my ear. The footsteps hadn't been heavy enough for him (probably just the beam squeaking a little, yeah, that's it, squeaky beam, nothing to worry about here, folks) and Nadia...no. Even Decker couldn't suspect her of going from the opposite platform to behind me without having to pass me, not unless she a) could be in two places at once or b) was a really spectacular long jumper.

"Decker?" I was breathing rapidly, whether from exhaustion or nerves I didn't know. "Do me a favor. Uh. Don't...don't walk along the beam, okay? Sit down and scoot. I know it's kinda dumb, but, uh, it's a lot more stable and secure."

Part of me couldn't believe what was happening, that I was actually trying to help Decker, but the rest of me knew one thing: whatever he'd done or was likely to do to me and the rest of the Team in the future (assuming we both made it out of here alive) he did not deserve to be caught by whatever was waiting in that patch of darkness for him.

Not that I thought there was anything waiting, of course. Not me. But...just in case.

If Decker heard the non-existent footsteps, he didn't mention it. A few minutes went by, then his hands came into view, shortly followed by the rest of him.

I was never sure what happened next. All I knew was that Decker suddenly glanced to the left and recoiled so fast I spun around, thinking something had turned up behind us, and in those few seconds Decker lost his balance and slipped off the beam.

I didn't even think; I lunged instinctively and caught him by the wrist. This heroic act on my part not only saved him from falling into the pit, it also answered the question I'd had earlier: Decker definitely weighed more than I did. No way was I this heavy.

"Get your goddamn hands off me, Peck!"

"Sure, Decker." I shifted my hold, dangling him further over the pit. "If that's really what you want."

Our eyes locked. I could see he wasn't going to humiliate himself by begging for my help, especially since we both knew I had no good reason to give it to him.

Seconds dragged by like hours as we both tried to figure out what I was going to do, then I took a firmer hold of his wrist and hauled him up to safety with such determination I went over on my back.

For a moment I just lay there, breathing in deep, ragged gasps. Decker had already pushed himself to his feet, although something – maybe his close call, maybe his own experiences in that patch of darkness – seemed to have left him badly shaken.

A few more minutes went by, then I struggled upright, wincing as I tried to put weight on my injured ankle. Decker noticed.

"What is it?"

"I twisted my ankle. I'll be okay, just got to take it slow." I sat down and pulled my boots on but didn't bother to lace them up. Instead I tucked the laces inside, then accepted Decker's offered hand and hauled myself to my feet, limping slightly. I'd meant what I said about the ankle; I'd had enough twisted and sprained ankles to be able to judge when an injury was serious and when it wasn't.

Crossing over to the door, I opened it, trying and failing to put the image of Decker's expression on the beam out of my mind. If I hadn't known better, I'd have said he was terrified of something.

Well, so that's...hmm. Actually, I've lost count of how many rooms and how many there are to go, but I've got it written down somewhere. Anyway, hope you liked it and if you read, please review!