I'm sorry! I honestly tried to post this on Saturday, but FF wouldn't let me!
But Who's Going To Save You?
Chapter 20: Newlyweds in the National Park, pt 2
Back in the bush, it was still raining. Up on the ridge, Felicity suspected they were getting the worse of it with their lack of shelter. It was also getting closer to sunset, as Vince kept reminding them. "If you two morons are still up here when the sun sets, you'll be sleeping here. We've got to make it to the clearing soon so we're not setting up camp in the dark. So make tracks!" he ordered, picking up speed.
"For an old man, he sure can move," Lachie muttered under his breath. He glanced back at Felicity. "Actually, I got a question for you."
"Oh god," Felicity groaned. "If you ask me about my dad one-"
"It's not about your dad," Lachie cut her off. "But it is related. Where's my wedding invitation? Chase and Dean have theirs."
"I bet your parents had fun with you three when you were little," Felicity told him, rolling her eyes. He was right. Everyone had their invitation except Lachie. It wasn't personal or intentional - he'd just had his day off when she'd brought them in and she hadn't seen him until earlier.
"What makes you think you're invited?" Vince scoffed. "Flick's doing the right think not inviting you."
"Vincent!" Lachie exclaimed, clutching at his heart. "That hurts me right here."
"Call me Vincent again and it will hurt you," Vince agreed under his breath.
Lachie turned his attention back to Flick. "I figure you owe me."
"And how on earth do you figure that?" Felicity asked.
Lachie shrugged. "Well I have saved your life. Twice," he explained, nonchalantly.
"Was I unconscious at the time?" Felicity asked, baffled. "Because I'm pretty certain you haven't saved my life."
"The cat up a tree?" Lachie hinted.
Felicity snorted. "Don't you mean Anabella Sierra Sloane III? She was a pedigree, don't you remember? And FYI, you saved me from maybe a bruise at best. Next?"
Lachie, who was smirking at the cat reference, nodded. "I think it counts. And the other time was when you fell off the Izuzu."
Vince whirled around and glared at Felicity with an eyebrow arched questioningly. "Fell from the Izuzu?" he repeated.
"I don't know what he's talking about," Felicity protested, trying to give her boss the most innocent looking smile she could.
"I'm sure you don't," Vince grunted. "But if I ever catch you being too lazy to get a ladder, I will make it your duty to wash that thing for its remaining lifespan. Understood?"
Felicity gave him a sheepish smile, nodding. As soon as Vince turned and continued walking, she swung her arm out, hitting Lachie in his gut. "Not the way to get me to hand over your invitation," she hissed.
Lachie just smirked. "Your shoelace is undone," he pointed out.
Felicity shot him a scathing look. "Like I'm falling for that one."
"I'm being serious," he said, laughing when she inspected her boots sceptically, then discovered to her surprise, he wasn't joking. "Catch up," he told her as she crouched down to pick at the knot.
"Oh, that's just charming!" she yelled after him.
Then the ground started shaking and there was a loud rumbling noise. Felicity looked up just in time to let out a blood curdling scream as an avalanche of mud and dirt cascaded down over. The force of it sent her flying, pushing her through a bush and over the edge of the ridge.
Lachie watched in horror, unable to get close because of the size of the mudslide. His hands flew frantically to his radio. "Vince! Get back here now!" he cried. He dropped to his knees, the river of mud and stones subsiding, and peered over the edge, looking for Felicity.
"Lachie, there's a protocol for radio..." Vince trailed off, surveying the scene in front of him. "Where's Flick?" he asked carefully.
Lachie leant further out. "Felicity!" he bellowed.
In an instant, Vince yanked him back by his backpack - just as another river of dirt came crashing down. "Stop shouting, you moron," he hissed at him. "All the rain has made the ground unstable."
"Rescue Base Portable to Rescue Seven Portable: Lachie, what's going on?" Michelle radioed through, sounding concerned.
"We've lost Felicity," Vince explained, then realizing Michelle would need further explanation added, "Mudslide. It's taken her over the edge of the ridge."
"Is she alright?" Michelle asked in alarm.
"I don't know. I can't-"
"She's there!" Lachie said, pointing.
"Vince?"
Vince ignored Michelle and looked anxiously at where Lachie was pointing, praying he wasn't pointing at a body. Thankfully he wasn't. About halfway down the fifty foot drop was a young tree, its branches extending over the bush below. Clutching desperately to one of the branches, her grip obtained more by her armpits than her hands, was the Brit. "Rescue Portable Eight to all units: how close are you to my location? We're going to need some help here."
"Rescue Team Leader to Rescue Eight Portable: Vince, we're about 12 clicks west of your location." Dean quickly responded.
"Lara?" Vince tried, hopefully.
"We're forty minutes out," Lara radioed back.
"Shit," Vince muttered, before turning his attention back to Lachie. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, watching Lachie pull the backpack and kit from his shoulders.
"Getting down there, Vincent," he replied, matter-of-factly.
Lachie took two steps towards the edge, before he was pulled roughly back by Vince. "Lachie, she isn't a cat up a tree. If you are going to do this, you will do it properly, or not at all. That is a fifty foot drop. It won't hurt either of you if you fall. It will kill you both."
"Vince, that tree is already bowing under her weight. She doesn't have long," Lachie pointed out.
"Get a harness on," Vince ground out. "I'll get a rope secured."
Minutes later, Lachie was rappelling down the cliff face, complete with a harness, heading straight for Felicity. "Felicity, can you hear me?" he called gently as he grew near, not wanting to set off another landslide.
Felicity was clutching onto the thin trunk for all it was worth. The landing had winded her, but instinct had kicked in to hang on, and now her breathing was just about returning to normal. Her biggest problem was that she could barely open her eyes. The dirt had gotten into her eyes and she didn't dare move to wipe them clear. "Lachie? Is that you?"
Lachie let out a sigh of relief. "You didn't call for help," he told her, growing closer. "How are you doing?"
"No, because you tried that and it rained rocks again," she told him. "I can't see," she added. "I have dirt in my eyes, and catching my breath isn't the-"
"Goldfish, don't move!" Lachie commanded suddenly.
"I wasn't planning on doing a jig-"
"Felicity, just stay still," he hissed at her.
"Why?" Felicity asked carefully, trying to stop her body from moving.
"Just..." Lachie sighed. "What's your take on snakes?"
"Snakes?" Felicity repeated, her heart beat suddenly feeling like it had doubled in speed. "Oh god, what is it?" she asked. She opened her eyes, blinking madly as she tried to clear the grit from under her lashes.
"Felicity, stop" Lachie commanded, manoeuvring carefully to look at the snake. "I think it's just a python."
"Just?" Felicity hissed at him. "You need to do better than just!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," he retorted, bringing himself level with the snake's head – it was slowly wrapping itself around Felicity's backpack and stomach. "Just bear with me while I get my phone out and Google it." Regardless of his words, he was certain it was a python. "Just relax."
"Relax?" Felicity scoffed. "I have no idea how big the fall is, and there is a snake eyeing me up for my lunch. I don't think relaxing is physically possible."
"Look, I'm certain it's a python. You need to stay still and it will release you," he instructed her.
"Lachie, sitrep," Vince barked, startling both Felicity and Lachie.
"I'm going to turn that off," Lachie muttered, reaching for the switch. "I don't think we need any sudden movements." Next to him, Felicity took a deep breath, puffing out her lungs as much as her aching ribs would allow her. "What are you doing?"
"I read that you need to inflate your lungs," she replied, her voice strained as she tried to keep her chest inflated. "Not moving and waiting for the snake to get bored could take a couple of hours."
"Felicity, I don't want to panic you, but I'm fairly certain that the tree isn't going to last another couple of hours," Lachie pointed out.
"Well how about you grab me and the snake and get me off the tree," Felicity suggested. She let out a little squeal as the snake moved around by the back of her neck. "Before it strangles me," she whispered.
"It's wrapped itself around you and the tree," Lachie admitted, quietly.
Felicity swallowed, trying hard not to cringe as she felt the tongue flicker by her ear. "Have you got any whiskey?"
"I don't think now is the time to be drinking," he responded, trying to keep the conversation light. "But I will buy you one later when we get out of here."
"It's not for me, it's for the snake," Felicity explained.
Lachie was baffled. "You don't have to buy the snake a drink to get some attention from it."
"No, I read somewhere that it will immobilise the snake, provided you can get the alcohol in its mouth."
"There's alcohol in the first aid kits. Do you think that would work?" he suggested, reaching for the small kit in his trouser pocket.
"Let's just hope it's a cheap date," Felicity told him.
Her response got half a smile out of Lachie as he located the alcohol. It was a small bottle – he was certainly hoping that the snake was a cheap date. He moved closer to the Felicity – and the snake – and started to reach for the snake's head
"Wait," Felicity told him, sensing his hand near her.
"What?" he hissed, having nearly dropped the bottle.
"They bite," Felicity told him.
Lachie shook his head. "They're not poisonous."
"It doesn't mean they don't bite," Felicity told him.
Lachie ignored her, reaching carefully over and grabbing the snake behind the head. It hissed angrily, but Lachie was already sticking the bottle into its mouth and squeezing the liquid in. For a moment, Lachie didn't think it had worked. Then, the snake went limp. His hand momentarily loosened and the snake took the opportunity to whirl its head around and clamp its teeth into his hand. "Mother-" he started to hiss.
"What?" Felicity asked, straining to see her would-be rescuer. "Has it worked?"
Lachie dropped the alcohol bottle and grabbed the snake with his other hand, pushing the head away. "Bastard bit me," he grunted, struggling to uncoil the snake.
"Lachie," Felicity muttered nervously.
"I've got the head. I'm fine," he told her.
"No. The tree. I can feel it moving."
And that's when everything seemed to happen. Lachie took his attention away from the snake to assess the moving branch. The snake, its head seeming to be the only thing that was still conscious, snapped itself free from Lachie's grip and latched onto the closest thing available - Felicity's forearm - and Felicity screamed, her grip on the branch loosening.
Lachie dropped the snake and swung at Felicity, his hands getting a firm grim around her waist, just as the ground above them came raining down on them like a waterfall.
12.4km west of the ridge, Chase and Dean were staring at each other in horror through the drizzle. "Rescue Eight Portable, repeat that?" Dean requested, sure he had heard wrong.
"I said, it looks like a snake," Vince responded.
"What kind?" asked Dean.
"A big one," Vince retorted. "I don't know. Your moronic brother turned his damn radio off. Could be a python."
"Do you want us to come back?" Dean asked, quickly doing the maths.
Evidently, so was Vince. "No. You keep looking for the hikers. You'll not make it here before nightfall.You can help me carry out your brother's body tomorrow once I've killed him."
"No problem, Rescue One Portable out."
"Are you serious?" Chase asked his brother, staring at him in amazement.
"About what?" Dean asked, barely paying him any attention as he assessed his map.
"About just leaving them there?" Chase cried.
Dean looked at him with a frown. "Chase, you heard Vince. We wouldn't make it halfway back before it got dark. We don't need to be stumbling around in the dark."
"What about Lachie and Felicity?" Chase demanded, looking torn. "We can't just leave them."
"What about this missing couple?" Dean countered. "We can't just leave them."
Chase reluctantly nodded. "I guess."
Dean sighed. "At least Lachie and Felicity have Vince. Lara and Jordan are close enough to help if needed, as well as the SES. For all you know, we could be all this couple have."
"What's a python doing on a cliff face?" Chase muttered, more to himself as the pair resumes their trek.
"Probably came down in the rock slide," Dean shrugged.
"Vince? Vince!" Michelle bellowed out of the radio's small speaker. "Sit-rep!"
Vince couldn't answer. He was watching another couple of tonnes of dirt and stone cascade down the cliff side, obscuring his view of the two newest Rescue members. Finally the waterfall subsided and Vince could see two bodies clinging to each other, thankfully with no snake in sight.
"Vincent, I'd appreciate a hand up," Lachie announced.
For a minute, Vince didn't know if he was relieved or pissed to hear his voice. He decided to settle for relieved. "'Chelle, they're both alive. I'm going to bring them up now. Over." Then he turned his attention to hauling the pair up.
It took a while, but between the combined efforts of Vince and Lachie, the three of them were finally safely on the top of the ridge. Around them, the final light of day was fading quickly.
Felicity flopped back onto the soaking ground, and allowed Vince to pour saline into her eyes. "How's that?" he asked her.
She blinked, peering up at him. "Like I'm swimming underwater with my eyes open," she told him. "But at least I can see."
Vince turned to Lachie. "And how are you?"
"Fine," Lachie responded, slightly thrown by Vince's concern.
"Good," Vince told him, before clipping him around the ear. "Don't you dare pull that stunt again!"
Four hours later and Vince's mood hadn't improved. Firstly, there had been no reports of the newlyweds being found – not even from SES. Secondly, because the three of them not only had to collect up their equipment, but both Lachie and Felicity's snakebites needed treating, the light had finally gone when they had left the ridge and they had to set up camp in the dark. Thirdly, having expecting to spend the night, all of them had brought tents to use. Felicity's had gone over the edge. Which meant Vince had to share his with Lachie... On top of all that, all the wood was soaked and they couldn't get the fire to do more than smoke. So Vince had declared it an early night.
Initially, Felicity had been grateful. Her body ached all over, her bite itched, and all she wanted to do was sleep. But now, alone in the tent, listening to the rain pour down over waterproof material, she couldn't sleep.
She was freezing. Her teeth were chattering as she shivered in her sleeping bag, and even though she was in some dry clothes, she still felt damp. She was also feeling guilty about snapping at Cole but even if she did have signal, her phone was ruined. On top of that, every time she closed her eyes, she had the distinct feeling of a snake slithering over her. In the end, she had resigned herself to the feeling that she was going to leave the Park tired and with a cold.
She was huddled up in the foetal position when movement at the zip up entrance to the tent had her bolting upright, reaching for her boot. With it poised above her shoulder, the door opened and Lachie quickly bustled in. "What the fu-?"
Lachie quickly clamped his hand over her mouth. "You'll wake Vince!" he whispered.
Felicity yanked her hand away and glared at him. "What are you doing?" she hissed at him.
"Shove over," he whispered, pulling his own boots off and leaving them by the entrance. When she didn't move, he glanced back at her. "I've been in tanks that are quieter than Vince's snoring," he sighed. "And he won't stop farting. I swear, one spark and that tent's going up."
"So?" Felicity asked.
"So, you lost your tent, and I did save your life," he pointed out.
Felicity shook her head. "I'm not sharing a tent with Vince either, especially not when-"
"I don't want you to share his tent, I want to share yours," Lachie quickly corrected her. "Please?"
"I don't know," Felicity muttered.
"Come on," he pleaded. "I'm not trying to make a move on you, but Christ, the other tent stinks." Felicity shrugged and shuffled over. "Thank you," he exclaimed in relief, rolling his scrunched up sleeping bag across the narrow floor and got in.
They lay there in silence for a while, until Felicity couldn't take it anymore. "How's your bite?"
In the darkness, her eyes made out Lachie lifting his hand – the bandage standing out. "It itches," he admitted.
"Mine too," Felicity agreed, subconsciously rubbing her bandaged forearm. "I just keep telling myself pythons aren't poisonous."
Lachie rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his arm. "How do you know so much about snakes? Don't tell me you've got one as a pet?"
"It's a long flight from England to Australia. I brought myself some books to keep myself occupied."
"Don't girls normally read about that glittery vampire from Twilight?" Lachie asked her.
"Glittery vampires?" she repeated, slowly. "How do you know they're glittery?"
Lachie shrugged. "Ex-girlfriend was obsessed with Robert Pattison. Lord knows why – he was a bit of a wimp."
"I wanted to work out what was going to kill me," Felicity said, rolling to face him. "I mean, the most venomous thing we have in the UK is the adder. I've never seen one, although we did have to get a guy off the moors after he had accidentally stood on one. As for spiders, apparently there's a False Widow, but again I've never seen it, and it's not actually poisonous. So, being as I was moving to a country which has about half of the top ten deadliest snakes, as well as the funnel web spider, I was damn well going to do some research."
"I thought you weren't scared of snakes?" Lachie asked.
"I'm not." Felicity frowned. "Although I'll admit they don't exactly rate as my favourite animal," she admitted, unable to stop the shiver going down her spine. "As for spiders, I'd scoop them up and throw them at my sister. I certainly won't be doing that here."
Lachie chuckled. "Nice."
"Yeah," Felicity sighed. "Me and Rose are polar opposites. She was the girly one. She enjoyed singing and painting and ballet. My parents tried with me. I mean, I enjoyed the singing lessons, though I never admitted it to them, but I was too busy, well, being a tomboy. She was always wearing makeup and pretty clothes, and I usually had grass stains and dirt covering me. She went to university and got a degree, moved to London, found herself a husband, got a job that pays her an obscene amount of money, then had the kids."
"You didn't get on?"
"Not really," Felicity told him. "It's kinda complicated."
Lachie shrugged. "You don't have to tell me. Though I did save your life."
Felicity couldn't help but roll her eyes. "How long are you going to keep using that one?"
"I don't know," Lachie smirked. "What do you value your life at?"
"Has anyone ever pointed out how annoying you are?" Felicity muttered, shifting to make herself a little more comfortable. "I'll tell you, but not because you saved my life. We're half sisters. Her mum and my dad were together first, then they separated and he got with my mum and had me. Then, when I was four, my mum died and it was just us three. She always blamed my mum for dad leaving her mum, and then when she was gone, it focused on me. I don't think it helped that I cut all the hair of her Barbie dolls. When she went to university, she never came back." She stared up at the tent ceiling, listening to the rain. It was getting heavier. "My dad started drinking. That's why he's in prison. Drink driving. He killed someone." There was a long pause and she let out an awkward laugh. "Well, that was a conversation killer," she muttered, rolling onto her other side.
"I'm sorry," Lachie quickly apologised behind her. "I just didn't know what to say."
"It's fine. Most people don't," Felicity sighed. "It's why I don't really tell anyone."
"So does this mean I've earned my invitation to the wedding, goldfish?" he asked suddenly.
Felicity blinked and turned back to him. "Yeah, alright," she muttered. "S'long as you quit calling me goldfish," she added, punching his shoulder.
"Not going to happen," he told her, barking out a laugh.
"Why is it so important to you to get to my wedding?" Felicity asked curiously.
Lachie shrugged. "The bridesmaids."
Felicity couldn't help but laugh. "My bridesmaids are my very married and highly irritating sister, and Heidi and Lara. Sadly, I don't think you're going to get anywhere with any of them," she pointed out. She smiled, sliding her hand under her cheek. "You know, when you're not being annoying, you're alright. And thank you. For saving my life."
I have gotten carried away, I know, but I had fun writing it!
Also, I know I don't say it enough, but thank you for all your reviews, pms, alert and fav adds! You do make me happy!
Miss Deeds - Order accepted and should be with you in the next chapter! That chapter was completely out of my comfort zone, but I'm relieved it worked. I tend to get carried away when writing, so it will probably be a long fic with long chapters!
retardedgazelle - LOL, yes you are - you need to update! Although I understand if you have your hands otherwise occupied. I'm with you on the next addiction - you'll have to let me know if Nine or Ten manage to produce something worthy of as a replacement!
meddrama - was that enough Lachie for you? The more I watch the show, the more I love him. It was a shame it took until the last episodes for him to appear :(
Spbabe9 - I'll admit, I'm a little gutted. Not as impressed with their ending, either though. And that government funding thing is pants. Okay, yes, it helps to get the shows on TV, but when they're enjoyed, there should be an option to keep them going!
Elizajo -Whilst the though if someone from 9 reading this actually terrifies me, if it gave them the hint to rescue Rescue, they could read it all they want! :)