They had known that their descent was going to be a difficult one, but Dick hadn't fathomed just how stressful it would prove. Had he been uninjured, the almost two decades of free-running experience he possessed would have let him jog and slide down the long, steep slope with ease. As things were, though, every mincing step that didn't end with him cartwheeling towards the bottom of the mountain was a victory. Cartwheeling would probably be easier, he lamented as the tumble of stones beneath his feet shifted dangerously. This is deadly stuff, right here.

"Dick," Tim spoke. "You okay?"

He glanced over his shoulder. They'd combined their emergency parachute string with all of the excess cordage they could strip from their tent, sleeping bags, and packs and tied the various lengths together in a makeshift safety rope, which now dangled between them. It wasn't long enough to be tied around their waists and still leave them sufficient slack, so they'd compromised and secured it to their loads. With their waist straps fastened there was a decent chance that they wouldn't lose the bags in a fall, and so long as their rope held they might be able to save one another.

Tim's question had been brought on by the fact that he'd caught up, and was now standing less than a foot away with the excess line in his hand. "I'm okay," Dick nodded. "Sorry. It's really loose right here."

"...Can you make it?"

"Not much choice, really." He needed to hurry, he knew, but every ounce of training he had was screaming for him to use extreme caution. If he had been able to afford the time to listen to it he would have, but the only place that would be worse than the top of the hill in an aftershock was the side of it. They were barely clinging on already, and even a small quake would likely send them hurtling downwards at the behest of gravity. "...Here goes nothing," he sighed, and committed himself.

There was a gasp from above as he started to slide. Before any action could be taken to stop him, though, the movement ceased on its own. "...Whew." He'd gotten lucky, he knew, and he turned to his brother. "Stay there. I'm going to get as far as the rope will let me, then step off and wait for you." If Tim started to go he would have a better chance of stopping him from one side than from directly below, where he might be slammed into and dragged down with him.

"Right," a pinched reply was given. "Be careful, Dick."

"You know it."

They worked their way down the rest of the mountain like that, leapfrogging one another so that there was always an anchor in place. "Okay," he smiled weakly once they'd reached flat ground. "That was easy, huh?"

Tim looked at him as if he were insane. "If I didn't know you were joking, I'd think you needed to sit down and rest your scrambled brain."

"Scrambled brain? Don't say that too loud; the ghosts of the Donner Party might hear you."

"We're a bit far north for that," a snort of laughter rebutted. "...But a pack of cannibals is about the only thing that could put us in any worse of a situation."

"Yeah, let's not tempt fate. Especially," they turned away from the mountain they'd just come down, "since we still have like three miles of hills to deal with before we're back on flat land."

"Ugh...you don't think we could get away with just staying in the valley here, do you?"

"Maybe we could. But I don't really want to find out I'm wrong by waking up in the middle of two opposing rock slides."

"Point taken. Can your leg handle all the stuff we came over this morning, though? It's got to be getting stiff."

"It is," he acknowledged. "And the ibuprofen is...well, it won't be my drug of choice the next time I have a chunk of rock stuck in me, that's for sure." He would just have to deal with it for now in anticipation of Tim fixing it for him later. "But at least these other hills shouldn't be as bad. The slopes were gentler, that's for sure."

"Yeah. They were. But 'were' is the operative word here. Who knows what they're like now?"

Dick sighed. "I guess we're about to find out."

"I guess so. You want to lead?"

"Mm...You'd better, at least for the climb up. I'm more likely to go down than you are, and I don't want to be above you if that happens."

"...Right."

Their world narrowed until it was no larger than the distance they were from each other at any given moment. Each rise was a little smaller and flatter than the last, but the trail stayed broken and loose. Dick found that going up was much easier on his leg than going down was, but at least their descent system allowed him regular breaks while he acted as a lifeline for Tim. Despite the progressively easier terrain and his frequent opportunities to pause, though, by four o'clock he felt like he had a peg below his left knee instead of flesh and bone.

His brother, too, seemed to be in need of a more prolonged rest than could be taken on the hillsides. "God, I'm so sore," he moaned as he came down the last stretch of a low ridge. "Me, too. And hungry." Glancing up at the slopes flanking them, he pursed his lips. "We could stop and eat something, if you want."

"That sounds good, but...I don't think we have much further to go."

"You want to push it?"

"...Yeah. I do. Can you make it?"

He set his jaw. "I can make it, if it's not too far. Let's go."

Tim's prediction had been right. From the top of the next ridge the beginning of the grassland could be seen, waving alluringly from a mile and a half away. So close, Dick groaned to himself, but so far. I can make it, he added, trying to infuse fresh determination into the well he'd about tapped dry today. From what he could see it appeared that they were atop the last of the big hills; if he made it past here, the rest should be a piece of cake. I've already done three and a half miles on this leg; another one is nothing, especially on flatter ground. We're golden so long as we just keep going...

They started down using their tried-and-true method. As they approached the bottom, a little glow of joy began to come through the dirt on both of their faces. They had made it, almost; they were just about out of the worst area, and they were both alive and relatively sound. Passing Tim, Dick gave him a thumbs-up and got a grin in return. Home free, little brother, he smirked. Just about home free.

The earth disagreed. It shuddered beneath him suddenly, making him stumble. Not again, his mood turned from elation to dismay as he caught himself. Let us off this slope, and then rumble. Please...

But there was no reprieve. A second after the first shake another followed, and while it was nothing in comparison to the original temblor it was enough to knock him off of his unsteady feet. Crying out, he began to slide. He stuck his hands out to slow himself, but all he succeeded in doing was bloodying them against the jittering rocks beside him. The rope, he held out one last hope. If Tim's still standing, then maybe the rope...

He jerked to a stop. Oh thank god... An instant later the still-falling stones began to come over the top of his pack, and he had to throw his arms up to protect his head. Heavy blows landed between his elbows and wrists, but he didn't dare lower them while the quake went on. How long, he wondered, would his brother be able to hold him without being pulled down himself? Just a little longer, Timmy, he begged. Just another minute. It's got to end sometime.

Before it could, a high-pitched strum sounded above him. Immediately his fall resumed, and he knew the rope had given out. Acting on instinct, he curled up as best he could and tried to roll. All he could see were lumps of murderous stone and the occasional flash of now partly-cloudy sky, so he closed his eyes. Ride it out, Grayson. Just cover your head and ride it out.

The worst of the shaking died away, but he kept sliding, unable to stop himself in his hedgehog position and unwilling to untuck and risk greater injury. He finally halted when his pack connected with a stationary boulder, which jolted him hard enough to draw a scream. Every scrape, cut, and bruise sang, setting his nerves afire in protest of their abuse. Ow, ow, jesus that hurts...

"Diiick!"

He looked up to find his brother pelting towards him wearing an expression of terror. "Slow down!" he choked out. You'll fall. Don't fall, one of us being half-grated is bad enough. "Tim, slow-"

As he watched, the rocks beneath the younger man began to slip. He had to pick up pace in order to keep from falling, and Dick realized that he was going to run right past him. There was no telling how much distance was left between him and the bottom of the hill, but he had no intention of letting Tim go catapulting down it only to end up with more injuries than he already had. Leaning against the boulder for support, he shoved himself upright and reached out. He pulled as soon as his fingers found fabric, and they both fell to earth. Gotcha! Owww...

A series of gasping little moans were all that escaped either of them for several long seconds. "...Timmy," he murmured eventually, not opening his eyes.

"Dick...fuck, man. This day..."

"Yeah."

"Are you okay? The rope snapped, I was trying to hold on, I swear, and the stupid thing-"

"I'll live, little brother. Relax."

There was a rustle, and then hands turned one of his arms over for an examination. "Jesus, you're a mess. I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. It's just...earthquakes."

"You hit this rock hard. Are you sure you're okay?"

"My bag took most of the impact. I'm okay, just scraped up." He popped an eye open finally and gave his brother a once-over. "What about you?"

"Mostly just ready to be home, in bed, with a tray of anything made by Alfred across my legs."

"Heh. Yeah..." It sounded marvelous, but it didn't answer his question. "You're not hurt, though?"

"No. I would have been if I'd kept going, but you grabbed me." A guilty shadow passed behind Tim's gaze. "...On the plus side, we're at the bottom."

That was news worth smiling about. "Yay...only a few more hills to go..."

"They're barely hills, even. I think...I think we can make it from here, Dick, so long as you can still walk."

"I can walk," he said despite not being certain that it was true. "...Here, help me up."

With no rope and much shallower slopes in play, they abandoned their old routine and traveled side-by-side. Twice more the ground trembled under their feet, and in both instances they stopped and grabbed hold of each other. The shaking was little more than distant thunder in comparison to the tornadoes they'd faced earlier, though, and they pressed on each time.

By dusk they had reached the fringe of trees separating the hills from the plains, and now they encountered a whole new set of barriers to their progress. Much of the forest had fallen, leaving the trail obstructed or littered with small debris. Drained of all emotions that weren't exhaustion, Dick stared at the first downed trunk of serious size that they came to. I can't climb over that, he thought, numb. No way.

Fortunately he didn't have to. "Come on," Tim tugged on his shoulder strap to turn him in the right direction. "Trees are easier to walk around than mountains are. This way looks pretty good."

They wove through the maze on that logic and stepped out into clear space just as the first stars were coming out overhead. "...Are we here?" Dick inquired, swaying.

"Yeah. We're here. Just a little further, okay? We need to be away from the trees so they can't fall on us."

"'Kay." He walked on, his eyes more frequently closed than open as they advanced into the grassland. Tim's hand had been riveted to his elbow for some time now, guiding him along their path, and it tightened suddenly. "...Huh?" Peering around, he realized he'd fallen to his knees. "Oh...sorry."

"It's okay." The fingers that had been leading him on began to remove his pack. "We'll stop here."

"But...the trees?" He had no idea how far they'd come, but he didn't want his weakness to put them at risk.

"We're far enough away. Here, lay down."

He dragged his eyelids upward and tried to rally, aware that if he lay down he wouldn't be getting back up again for many hours. "I'll help with the...uh...the tent. And stuff."

"No. I can get it. Just lay down, okay? You're way more beat up than I am; leave camp to me."

"...You're sure? I can-"

"Lay down, Dick." Gentle but insistent pressure materialized on his shoulders. "Relax. I'll get everything set up, we'll have some dinner, and then I'm taking that rock out of your leg. It's not going to be pleasant, so just rest until then. It won't take me long."

He slumped backwards. "...You're the best, Timmy."

"It takes one to know one. Now close your eyes."

He obeyed, and let the world fade away.