Disclaimer: Not mine

~ SJ ~

"Got another one!" Jack jumped up as his line became taut in the stream. Sam was already enjoying their first catch of the day by the fire, but lifted her head to watch Jack attempt to pull in another fish-like animal. They looked like fish and certainly tasted like them, but instead of one or two pairs of fins, these had four. Sam felt justified in naming them 'spider-fish'.

Jack nearly lost his pole, and whatever was on the other end of the line, it was big and not inclined to let go of its worm.

"Damn, this one's got a bit of muscle!" Jack's back arched as he tried to pull his catch in. Suddenly, he fell backwards and the line went slack. "Crap! It's snapped the line! That was a forty pound line too!" Jack sat up and began reeling. Sure enough, the hook and sinker was missing.

"Bastard!" Jack looked out over the water, as if he expected whatever snapped his line to jump onto the bank. "Carter?"

"Sir?"

"Is it just me, or is there more water flowing through then before?" Jack observed. Sam looked at the bank and then up at the waterfall. Yes, he was right, the waters were moving faster and the bank had crept up about two feet. She looked to the sky and discovered it was completely overcast. How did she miss that? As if nature read her mind, the distinct rumble of thunder sounded from beyond the waterfall. It was impossible to see any incoming storm fronts from down here.

"I think we need to consider heading back, Sir," She said absently, still staring at the sky. The clouds were moving quickly and the thunder was steadily becoming louder.

"Good idea," Jack was at her side before she registered his movement from the bank. As they packed away their equipment, it began to rain. It was light at first, but grew into a downpour by the time they were able to leave. The angry, thunderous clouds loomed overhead and showed no sign of slowing. The river was rising and flowing faster, indicating there was a lot of rain coming their way.

"Do we risk trying to climb back up?" Jack wondered. Perhaps they could go up the face of the mountain and walk along the side.

"No Sir, it's too dangerous," She shook her head, water flying in all directions. Lightning cracked in the skies above them and the rain fell harder and harder. "But we do need to get off the bank. That water is only going to continue to rise. We might be able to find some shelter and wait it out." She had to raise her voice as the rain, thunder and waterfall drowned her voice out. No pun intended, of course.

"Fine with me!" Jack had to yell back. "We'll head that way and try and make some ground. See if there's any shelter that way and stop..." Jack pointed downstream along the side of the mountain. "...then we turn and start climbing back that way. It's easier than trying to go straight up." Jack pointed and open hand to above the waterfall. He was correct: it was more energy efficient to zig zag up a hill than go directly up the face.

She nodded in agreement, since it was pointless to try and yell over the growing noise around them. They moved quickly and began to climb along the side of the mountain, gaining three feet every ten steps. The going was difficult; the trees left pine-like needles that proved slippery, not to mention the amount of water washing around their feet. They had risen almost eighty feet, and the trees were thinning. Looking down at the river below, the water had covered the bank and was rushing with ferocity unmatched by anything Jack had seen before.

Distracted by the furious waters, Jack completely lost his footing. Sam heard his grunt of pain before she saw him disappear down the slope. His tackle box and rod slid down the slope before stopping on the rocks.

"Sir!" Sam grasped the trunk of the nearest tree to maintain her balance.

Jack rolled faster and faster, colliding with every rock and tree in his path. Half way down, his forehead cracked loudly into one of the trees and his mud covered body went limb, but continued to tumble. Without hesitation, Sam followed him down. She lost traction and her descent was a challenge to control, hitting trees and bruising her entire body as she barrelled down over small rocks and roots. Ahead of her, she saw Jack's body roll down into the water and disappear.

"NO!" She breathed as she stumbled onto the bank. Without thinking, she hauled her aching – and likely injured – body into the river after him. She knew better than to jump straight in. But it all happened so quickly.

As soon as she hit the water, the force of the current ripped her body down the river at incredible speeds. Water was thrown into her face from above and below; as it penetrated her backpack, the weight threatened to pull her head under. She should have dropped the pack before jumping in half-assed. Her knee hit a rock and she cried out as the pain shot up her leg. Before she could draw a new breath, she was pulled under.

Sam instinctively closed her mouth and struggled to free her arms from the back pack. It took time she didn't have and eventually, she liberated herself from the weight. It was impossible to see in the churning water and she didn't see the large rock her body had been hurled into.

Pain. Body numbing, brain-shattering pain. She felt her mind go blank in shock, and her vision clouded dangerously. But with a roar of absolute fury, she forced her consciousness to stay with her. She quickly used the rock and pushed off with both feet, thrusting her head to the surface.

Ahead of her, Jack's body floated amongst the angry waters. Sam was dazed and in agony, but she took in a big breath to keep her body buoyant and began to swim with the current towards Jack. She was almost within reach when he went under again. Sam took another breath and dived.

She searched under the surface, arms blindly seeking him. For only a split second, her hand caught the familiar feel of fabric. She instantly clenched and was relieved – though not for long – to have finally gotten a hand on him. She did her best to swim back to the surface, her lungs burning for air. She made it just as her mind began to numb.

It took all of her strength and will to drag his body to the surface with her. He was dead weight and hard to hold onto. She held his back to her chest and they were dragged backwards down the stream. Sam looked over her shoulder and caught the briefest of glimpses of a fallen tree down the river. The bucketing rain and splashing waters impaired her vision, but revealed enough. She clamped her legs around Jack's waist and used any rock she could get her hands on to turn them around. The log was upon her and at the last second, she threw her hands in the air; ducking her head under the surface again, and she had to lock her ankles together to keep her hold on Jack's body.

She felt her hands smack into the wood and she gripped the branches; jolting both of them to a stop. Her arms nearly ripped out of their sockets and she was afraid she was going to let go, but she used the last of her strength to hold on. With a cry that she could almost hear underwater, she pulled her head to the surface again. She concentrated on her grip on the tree, and her legs hold on Jack.

One hand at a time, Sam pulled herself and Jack along the fallen tree to the edge. As she got closer and closer, it became easier. It felt like forever and a day, but they made it. She was able to release a hand from the tree and grab Jack's collar. With the new leverage, Sam was able to plant her feet on the ground. She pulled Jack's body by his vest into the calmer, shallower waters. Blood covered his face from a deep gash on his head and his arm lay at an odd angle.

"No, no, NO!" She panted. Jack's face was pale and she found he wasn't breathing. "Come on Sir!" She shook his body. Think Sam, think. CPR.

Sam put one hand on top of the other in the centre of his chest, straightened her arms and using all her weight, began compressing his chest.

"One, two, three, four, five..." She counted. She couldn't remember the number of compressions to breaths and stopped at ten. She pulled his chin up and gave him two big breaths. As she repeated the process, she began to panic.

"No Jack, don't do this! This isn't fair! I need you, don't do this!" She yelled at him as she did another ten compressions.

Sam leant down and gave him another big breath. Jack's body convulsed beneath her and water filled his mouth. She pulled back and gathered him into his arms. He coughed up an incredible amount of water and grabbed her soaked shirt tightly, pulling on it desperately. The rain continued to fall mercilessly, but she could hear his breaths over the roaring weather.

"Oh god Sir! I thought I lost you..." Sam began to cry.

"You... You came, came in after me..." Jack continued to cough violently. Sam held him tightly in the pouring rain. She cried hard, but smiled because he was alive.

"Sure did..." She chuckled. She was crushed by the emotions weighing down on her. Jack's body went limp and he fell unconscious again.

Sam held him in her arms and closed her eyes, tears falling into his wet hair. She realised her rifle was missing; only the metal clip that connected it to her vest hung off her chest. She also had lost her radio in the water, which didn't surprise her. If the water could break the P-90 off her vest, then the plastic clip had no chance.

The next thing she noticed was how icy cold Jack's body had become. They needed to get out of the rain.

Sam looked round and her eyes fell on a structure on the side of the rocky mountain. She rolled Jack off her lap and stood. Her own body ached immensely, but she knew she had to ignore the pain. Sam dug her feet into the stony bank and took Jack's better looking arm in her left hand and put her right on the underside of his knee. She pulled him into a sitting position. She moved his arm over her shoulder and lifted him in a fireman's carry.

The General was heavy, but she was able to hold his wrist with her right hand, his leg still looped through her arm. With her left hand now free, she began to climb straight up the mountain.

She went down no less than eight times. There were more instances than she would ever admit, when she stopped and gave up. It was only the fact that Jack was still breathing that urged her to continue. There were times when her legs buckled under his weight, but there was no other way.

She had to keep climbing.

~ SJ ~

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