But Who's Going To Save You?
Chapter 2: The Boy in the Well (pt 2)
With absolutely no room to manoeuvre Felicity had no choice but to wait for Dean and Chase to completely lower her into the water. The water was deeper than she thought and she couldn't feel the kid anywhere. It was also icy cold – she was surprised the kid had held on as long as he had. "You're going to have to give me much more rope," she instructed the guys. "He's gone under."
"Be careful," Dean yelled down to her as the rope went completely slack.
Felicity took a deep breath and, unable to turn in the water, used her arms to force herself down. The water was clearer than she expected, and the torchlight picked up the sandy hair of the child just below her. With an extra push, she lunged down and hooked her feet under the child's arms and yanked him up to her arms, finally breaking the surface.
"I've got him. He's not breathing," she yelled up, starting CPR the best she could with the child in her arms. The rope instantly began pulling them both upwards. They were half way up when Matty coughed out a mouthful of water. Felicity was ready to let Dean know, when she suddenly went flying into the wall, dirt and rubble showering down around them.
"Flick, are you alright?" Dean's voice came urgently through the radio.
Felicity ignored it, coughing out the dust. The bang had knocked out the torch on the top of her helmet and she could barely see anything in the darkness. "Matty?" she gently patted the child's face, grateful to discover he was still breathing.
"Flick!"
Felicity reached for her radio. "If this is some kind of newbie initiation, you guys have got crap timing," she said.
"Ground gave away," Dean explained. "You're going to have to hang tight while we secure the rigging."
"I'm not going anywhere, but I'm blind down here. Matty's breathing but unconscious, but there's no way I can tell how injured he is."
Topside, Dean was examining the situation. The ground was far too dry and was crumbling away around them. "Vince, you got any ideas?"
"If you drag them up, you're just going to have the ground crumble in around them. Ideally, you need to set up some form of pulley directly over the wall."
"Vince, that's not going to happen. We have nothing that's going to be strong enough to support them, and the ground won't support the rig," Dean responded, glancing at his brother. Holding onto Felicity and Matty wasn't going to be a problem, but whether or not the ground would hold them was. The ground around Chase was already sinking and he was trying very hard not to move. "Any other ideas."
"Just hang on," Vince instructed him.
"Can I just point out, while my facebook profile states I like hanging out with my friends, this isn't quite what I had in mind," Felicity's voice came through the radio, causing Dean to smile despite himself.
"Okay, I have an idea," Vince cut in. "You need to get your hands on a back board. Slide it under the rope and then push it so the rope isn't dragging on the dirt. The others have just handed their patient over to the ambo's, so get one of them to brace the board on the ground to stop it tipping. Copy?"
"Yeah, Vince. Copy," Dean agreed.
"Dean, I heard that. I'm on my way up now," Lara informed him.
Moments later, Lara was on sight, sliding the back brace under the rope. She managed to push it out a couple of inches, but stopped when the plastic began to bend. "It's not going to hold," Lara told Dean.
Dean shook his head. "I'd rather be filling in the paperwork for a lost backboard than a casualty." He reached for his radio. "Flick, we've got something rigged up, but it's not going to hold long. We're going to pull you up, and we're going to do it fast. Brace yourself."
Felicity huddled the child into her chest, wrapping her arms around his head the best she could, thankful things were moving. He was a big seven year old to start with and soaked through, she may have been clinging onto a teenager – who wasn't clinging back. "The sooner the better," she grunted into the radio, preparing herself.
Suddenly, she was being propelled upwards, dirt and stones showering down around her. They had just made it to the top when something above her snapped, sending her back into the wall. The next thing she knew, Lara was leaning over, pulling the unconscious child from her arms.
As soon as he was clear, Dean and Chase continued pulling Felicity out. Slowly, she clawed at the ground, then sensing it wasn't going to hold, scrambled as far away from the well as possible.
"You alright?" Chase asked her, ducking down beside her while Dean went to help Lara.
It took Felicity a moment to catch her breath, but she nodded. "Nothing a hot shower won't cure," she added, her teeth chattering as he checked her over. "And maybe some mouthwash. I'll be tasting dirt for weeks."
"Let's get this kid down to the ambos and we can go home," Chase said, standing and offering his hand.
"Please tell me an ambo isn't what I think it is?" Felicity asked, accepting Chase's hand and got to her feet with a groan.
"No, it's exactly that," Chase agreed, pointing down at Heidi, Jordan, and the awaiting ambulance.
By the time they had made it back to base, Felicity was grateful it was nearly the end of shift. She was by no means unfit, but she was certainly feeling the effects of doing nothing over the past two weeks. Showered and wrapped in a towel, she sat down on a bench and lent back against the wall.
She opened her eyes when the door opened and Chase walked in, clad only in his towel. "Oh, sorry," he apologised.
"Don't worry about it," she shrugged.
He frowned, watching her. "You alright?"
Felicity nodded. "Yeah, just tired and ready for my bed."
"You don't want to come to the pub for a few first?" he asked.
"I probably…" Felicity shook her head. "Actually, I won't say no to a drink right now."
Chase nodded, and made for the shower, before pausing and looking back at Felicity. "For the record, I may be skinny, but I'm stronger than I look."
Felicity laughed, shaking her head as she waited for Chase to close the door behind him. Quickly, she dressed back into her street clothes and pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail. She emerged from the changing rooms and joined the others where they were waiting, already drinking a beer. "No thanks," she said, pulling a face at the bottle Heidi was offering her.
"Really?" Heidi asked in surprise.
"Don't like the stuff. Never have," Felicity explained.
"Ah, come on Flick," Dean said, grinning. "You've got to mark surviving your first day."
Felicity gave him an unimpressed look, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Alright, what's with all this 'Flick' crap?"
Dean shrugged. "Felicity is far too long over the radio."
Felicity's eyebrow arched up in amusement. "I note a distinct lack of radio right now," she pointed out.
"You don't like it, Flickety-split?" Vince asked her.
"Flickety-split?" Felicity repeated. "Oh, you can Flick off with that one."
"Sorry, babe," Lara said amidst the laughter as she patted Felicity's arm, somehow looking anything but apologetic as she tried not to laugh herself. "I think you're stuck with it."
"Ten minutes in, and I became Heidi-Ho," Heidi agreed.
Felicity sighed and took the beer off Heidi. "I guess I've had worse," she muttered before taking a swig of beer and pulling a face at the taste. "Oh God, this is awful."
"You will never guess who's just pulled up outside," Jordan exclaimed, appearing at the top of the stairs. "Cole Turner!"
"The rugby player?" Lara asked, her interest piqued.
"I wonder why he's here," Heidi asked, looking at Vince. "What are you trading this time?"
Vince shrugged. "Nothing to do with me."
Cole appeared behind Jordan and cleared his throat, causing him to leap out the way. "Actually, I'm here for Felicity."
"You know him?" Jordan asked in surprise.
"Um, everyone, this is my fiancé. Cole, this is everyone," Felicity muttered, awkwardly, hurrying over to greet the man in question. "What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.
"I thought we could celebrate your first day on a new job," Cole explained. "I have something for you." Without waiting for a response, he took Felicity's hand and led her downstairs.
Heidi looked at Jordan, who shrugged. Seconds later, they were charging down the stairs, the others behind them.
"What's going on?" Chase asked as Jordan hurried past him.
"Flick's only dating Cole Turner," Jordan called over his shoulder.
Chase narrowed his eyes and followed the group outside to where Felicity was staring in confusion at a car. A brand new Audi R8 Spyder.
"It's all yours," Cole whispered in her ear.
Felicity just stared in amazement at the car in front of her. She had no idea how much the little black car retailed at, but she was fairly certain it was expensive. Too expensive. "I thought we were just going to get a replacement Focus," she told him.
"That is a sweet ride," Jordan exclaimed, voicing his approval.
"You deserve much better than a Focus," Cole told her.
"But that is way more expensive than a Focus," Felicity pointed out.
The smile on Cole's face grew tight, as did the grip around her hand. "Are you implying I can't afford this?" he hissed at her.
Felicity quickly shook her head. "Not at all," she told him, trying to pull her hand free. "Cole, you're hurting me," she added.
Cole looked up, caught Chase watching them, and released Felicity's hand. "Sorry, baby. I just wanted to spoil you."
Felicity gave him a bright smile, masking the confusion in his behaviour. "Thank you, Cole. It's beautiful."
Cole returned the smile and glanced at his watch. "We should get going," he said announced, handing over the key.
"Oh, we're going to the pub," Heidi responded, hearing him. "You're more than welcome to join us."
"Thanks, but I have a table booked at Pearl," Cole told her, flashing her a smile.
The name meant nothing to Felicity, but it caused Heidi and Lara's mouths to drop open, and even Vince gave a low whistle of appreciation. "You got a table there?" he asked.
Cole nodded. "If I'd have known, I'd have made the reservation for a little later." He hurried over to the car, and leant over into the backseat, pulling out a clothing bag. "I picked out a dress for you," he said, handing it over to Felicity. He reached back and grabbed another bag. "Shoes, makeup and straighteners."
Felicity took the bag and made her way back into the station.
"What was that about?" Chase muttered at his brother as everyone else gathered around Cole and the car.
Dean shot him a sideways glance. "Oh, don't go there, Chase."
"Go where?" Chase demanded.
"She's engaged," Dean told him firmly.
"I was only asking," Chase objected. "It's not like that!"
Dean turned to face him, arms crossed. "You don't think she's pretty?"
"Yes, but-"
Dean gave him a pointed look.
"I'm not even bothering arguing this with you," Chase told him, turning his back and storming into back into the station. He headed over to his locker, ready to grab his things and get out of there, but stopped when he spotted Felicity staring at her hand, in front of the mirror.
She was dressed in a little black dress which showed off her legs. Her damp hair was hanging down her back in soft curls. But it was the distant expression in her eyes that caught his attention. Gently, he cleared his throat. She jumped, her brown eyes meeting his in the mirror. "Are you alight?"
Felicity gave him a bright smile. "Of course," she told him. "Have you seen that car out there?"
Chase nodded. "Yeah, it's a sweet ride," he agreed, slowly.
Felicity stared back and then suddenly pulled a hairdryer from her bag. "I should dry my hair. I don't want to keep Cole waiting."
"No, I guess not," Chase muttered.
Wow! You guys have blown me away! Thank you. I have things planned for this - I'm writing out bits here and there - and I have a feeling this could be relatively long. Hopefully not a never ending story, because I already have one of those. (I swear my brain doesn't switch off!) To cut a very long story short, I don't have much free time - most of my writing takes place at work (so please don't tell my boss). As such, the best I can attempt is a chapter a week. You might get two out of me, but I'm not promising anything!
xxletgoxx - I don't know about fast, but I'm hoping for steady. And I intend on finishing it! Will that do :)
kit147 - I may have also acquired them, though quite possibly in a not-too-legal way. That being said, I may be after some answers soon :P I'm in two minds about Dean and Lara - I love the will they/won't they aspect of things but I'm not sure how I'd feel about them getting together. Either way - you're right. It will need to be somethign big!
jj87 - Thank you. I can say, at this point, I think I know where it's going... but knowing me, that might change!
retardedgazelle - Where abouts are you (if you don't mind me asking?) Yeah, it is annoying - and I never realised how much until I caught an episode on tv the other day. It really is loads!
humey - Thank you - and there will be more. I'm just trying to find their 'voice' - get a grip on the characters. In fact, there will be more in the next chapter!
AsandCastle103 - I will happily write more - I just hope you keep liking it!
- That was definitely my favourite part to write. It entertains me far too much on the show when they do!
Dominus Umbra - Most of what I write has an OC and I do try really hard not to fall in that dreaded Mary Sue category (though it happens to the best of us at times), but I think it's largely due to a lack of confidence in getting the cannon characters right. At least with an OC I have the ability to fall back on them when it all goes wrong!