Spoilers for 3x16: Storm Chaser
Okay, it has been even longer since the last update(nearly two years to the day!), but I have a good reason for it (well, I think it's a good reason!) and that is: I wrote a book. Actually, I've just finished the second too, although that won't be out until later in the year. Anyway, I won't bore you with the details here, but for those of you who are interested, have a gander at my profile.
This chapter is dedicated to the anonymous reviewer who found this story and reminded me that I still had some way to go before it was finished.
Chapter 24: Black Clouds (pt 1)
Felicity hurried into the station with her shoulders hunched up against the wind and rain, a frown on her face. She was late for work, but neither the weather, nor her tardiness was the reason for her frown. Today was the day her sister and her family were due in for the wedding. She had checked the flight status before leaving for work, and had discovered that due to the high winds, the flight was being rerouted to Canberra for safety.
She'd asked Cole if he would be free to make the six hour round trip, but he was busy with some magazine interview – his week had been non-stop and she had barely seen him other than for a couple of hours in the morning. Felicity bounded into the station, ready to take the stairs two at a time. Her intention was to head straight for Michelle's office and see if there was any remote possibility that she could have half the day off and go pick them up.
It was Vince and Lachie hurrying down the stairs with matching expressions of something's come up, that made her realise her sister was going to have to occupy herself for a few hours.
"About turn, Flickety-Split," Vince told her. Felicity gestured to jeans and jacket. "You have two minutes," he said.
Felicity darted straight into the changing rooms, pulled on her uniform, and was in Rescue Two as quickly as she could manage. She slid into the back, and before she could pull her seatbelt on, she was pressed back in her seatback as the vehicle pulled out of the station with a squeal. "What the hell?" Felicity asked, about to demand Vince tell her what exactly this emergency was, when she made one very important observation. "Why is Lachie driving?"
"Because you were late and I allowed him to convince me he had a licence," Vince snorted, glaring at the man in question.
Lachie looked back at him. "Lachie is in this car, you know?"
"Oh, we're well aware," Vince shot back at him. "Now stop driving like a hoon, and get your eyes on the road."
"Sorry I'm late, Vince," Felicity said, taking the opportunity to break up the bickering. "I got distracted on the internet."
Lachie snickered. "I bet you did."
"Oh, really?" Felicity asked with a roll of her eyes, leaning forward to smack him upside the head. "Actually, I was looking at the Weather Channel. This storm has my sister landing in Canberra in four hours. I was looking to see what the deal was with trains and the likes, to get her here if I couldn't get to her. Looks like she's going to have to enjoy the sights of Canberra," she added, more to herself as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent her sister a text. It was a shame that she was airborne and unable to know what was happening until she landed, but at least she would have a message waiting for her.
"That will take her all of five minutes," Vince grumbled to himself.
"It's a good job she flew in mid week, rather than the day of wedding," Felicity continued, although Vince's comments did earn him a small smile.
"Or on the hens night Heidi and Lara have been planning," Vince added, swinging around in his chair to look at her.
Felicity couldn't help but groan. "I wish she had. At least then I could escape it. Why did I say yes to that?"
Vince barked a laugh. "You should hear what they have in mind."
"You know?" Felicity asked. "Then spill."
Vince laughed again. "Not a chance, Flickety-Split."
Felicity gave him a dirty look, before resting her head against the window. It wasn't until she actually focused on what was going on outside the window that she realised just how bad the weather was. "Holy shit," she muttered under her breath. "This is not the weather I associate with spring in Australia," she announced, suddenly forgetting about the impending family reunion as a leafy branch went sailing past the window.
"We've got a guy in the bush that didn't seem to expect it either," Vince muttered, shaking his head in disgust at yet another idiot.
Felicity nodded, understanding his frustration. The amount of times she'd gotten called out in Yorkshire to some city kid who thought it was alright to go wandering across the hills in flip flops and a t-shirt, and no protection whatsoever, only to have to go pick them up when they'd given themselves sunstroke.
They drove in silence for a while, until all of a sudden, Vince's dry tones once again filled the car. "That would be our exit you just drove straight by."
"Relax, Vinnie," Lachie told him. "I know a shortcut."
"It's Vince," Vince pointed out.
They drove on the road they were on, until suddenly, the car veered to the left. For half a moment, Felicity thought Lachie had lost control – the tarmac beneath them turned into dirt, and it half looked like they were going to go careering into a hedge. But apparently it was actually a dirt road, and judging from the bouncing about, combined with the branches clawing at the paintwork, it wasn't a very well known one. Felicity half wanted to ask how the hell he knew about the route, but given the fact she was clinging desperately onto the handle in an attempt to keep herself upright, she thought better of it.
"Rescue Base to all units: what are your locations?" Michelle's voice suddenly burst through the radio.
"This is Rescue One. We are... five k's in from the highway, over."
Vince was already reaching for the radio. "Recue Two: We're two behind them."
"Okay, copy that. Quick as you can guys. Heidi and Jordan need backup," Michelle responded.
"As soon as we get off Lachie's shortcut, we'll be there in no time. Rescue Two out," Vince assured Michelle, although his tone was dry. He returned the radio to its holder and clutched at the roof handle, just as the road led them over a large bump. "Who taught you to drive?" he asked Lachie.
"Vincent, you insisted on coming. I told you, I don't need a babysitter," Lachie shrugged.
"Babysitting? Thanks to Flick's tardiness, it was you and her. And seeing how you and her can't seem to go longer than five minutes without getting into trouble, then yes, I am babysitting," Vince informed him. "And it's Vince," he added.
"Trouble?" Felicity jumped in. "Just a minute!"
Vince turned back to look at her, an eyebrow arched in amusement. "Do I need to point out that the reason one of our trucks is in the garage is because it was driven through a stadium wall?"
"We weren't driving it!" Felicity objected. "If I remember correctly, it was being driven at us."
"Goldfish makes a fair point," Lachie agreed. "And I don't know what trouble you're referring to, Vinny. Me and Flick are a dream team."
"It's Felicity," Felicity growled.
Simultaneously Vince gave Lachie a dirty look. "It's Vince." Glaring at Lachie and the grin that was plastered on his face as the car flew over another rut in the uneven ground, he reached for the radio. "Rescue Two to Rescue One: Deano, your brother's a hoon."
"That would be from all the women he's had to run away from. Rescue One out."
Felicity snorted. "Quite the heartbreaker?"
Vince gave Lachie a sideways look. "More like trying to chase after all the women who are trying to run away from him."
"Hey!" Lachie objected. "I'll have you know that not a single woman has run away from me. No one can resist the Gallagher charm."
Vince snorted. "That why you're still single?"
"Maybe I'm still waiting for that perfect woman?" Lachie shot back.
"Unless she's deaf, blind and mute, I don't think your perfect woman exists," Vince informed him. "Because that's the only way someone would stick around long enough," he added, laughing.
"At least I don't already have three divorces under my very large belt," Lachie sniped back.
Felicity had been watching the exchange, unnoticed for the most part, with her eyes wide. It was fair to say that Lachie and Vince had something more of a love/hate relationship, but this was crazy, even by their standards. In fact, it was almost bordering on mean. Which had her wondering if she had missed something when she'd arrived late. Either way, unless she said something, this was going to blow up and she was going to get caught right in the middle of it.
However, when the branch fell on the road, right in front of them, she almost wished it had been an argument rather than that as a distraction. "Lachie!" she cried. Lachie flicked his attention back to the road at the last minute and swung the vehicle out of the way. "I'm getting married this weekend," she added, her heart racing. "I think I want to make it there alive."
Lachie looked at her sharply in the rear-view mirror but didn't say whatever flashed through his mind. "This wind is getting worse," he muttered instead.
"See what the weather is doing," Vince muttered to himself, reaching for the radio. He tried several times to get through to Michelle, but with no luck. Pursing his lips, he tried again. "Rescue Two to Rescue Base: do you copy?" At the silence, he switched tactics. "Rescue Two to Rescue One: how's your radio?"
Lara's voice was crackling, but the occupants of Rescue Two could understand what she was telling them. "Yeah Vince, reading you loud and clear, but we haven't heard from Michelle, or Heidi and Jordan since that wind came through."
"No phone reception either, Vince," Chase chimed in. "Looks like we're being hit by one hell of a storm, over."
Vince let out a low grumble in the back of his throat as Felicity nodded her agreement at the lack of mobile phone reception. "Must have taken out the towers."
"Do we know Heidi and Jordan's last position?" Lara asked.
Vince reached for the map. "They're on the Stafford Point Road. Two k's from the caravan park. Next turn left," he added for Lachie's benefit.
Lachie shrugged. "Our GPS says straight ahead."
Both Felicity and Vince watched as the exit in question drew nearer – Lachie showed no signs of slowing down. "Lachie, here. Here!" Vince cried. "Left!"
Felicity bit her lip. She wasn't local – she would have gone with the GPS, but both Vince and Lachie were... Vince looked like he was two seconds away from strangling Lachie.
"Coming up to the caravan park now," Lara announced.
There was a crackle of static, and then Dean's voice could be heard. "Rescue One to Rescue Two: Vince we have a major incident here. Get to Heidi and Jordan and get back to us as soon as possible, over."
"Copy that, Deano. Rescue Two out." Vince swung in his seat to glare at Lachie. "Step on it – come on slow coach!"
"Righty-o," Lachie agreed, cheerfully, putting his foot down.
In the back, the momentum was swinging Felicity about all over the place, as she desperately tried to find some signal on her phone. The display was telling her that her sister's plane was due for landing within the next couple of hours, and she desperately wanted a bar of 3G so she could get on the internet and check it's status – whether or not it was still being rerouted to Canberra.
The road became bumpier and thankfully Lachie slowed right down. Felicity wasn't one for getting motion sickness, but all the ups and downs, combined with focusing on the small display of her iPhone, and the worrying about her sister's arrival had her feeling quite queasy. She was just wishing the bumping would stop, when the car did. She looked up, expecting to find the caravan park, or Heidi and Jordan somewhere in front of them, but instead, she found bushes. "Um, where are we?" she asked.
"Good question," Vince agreed, glaring at Lachie.
Lachie shrugged. "What? GPS said it was straight ahead."
"Mate, it's what I say that matters," Vince told him. "Not that thing," he added, smacking the small GPS unit. "Turn around."
"Look Vinny, it's another fifteen minutes of bush bashing then we're on clear, straight road," Lachie informed him, easing the vehicle into first and revving the engine, pushing the car up the steep incline and further into the bush.
"Turn around!" Vince yelled. "What are you doing?"
"Combat zone approach, mate," Lachie replied with a cheeky grin.
"It's not a tank!" Felicity objected.
Lachie glanced in the mirror. "Just trust me."
Felicity opened her mouth, ready to reluctantly agree, when the vehicle ground to a halt. Lachie frowned, flooring the gas again, but Rescue Two refused to budge. "So what now?" Vince demanded, glaring at Lachie. If looks could kill, Lachie would have been a gonner. "We wait for air support?"
That was it. Felicity had had enough. With a roll of her eyes, she jumped out of the SUV and slammed the door shut and took a look at the situation. Rescue Two was stuck, and her guess was the only way to get it out would be with the winch.
Behind her, another door slammed shut and she didn't need to turn to know the tall presence behind her was Lachie. "It just needs some stone or branches under the wheels to give it a bit of traction," Lachie assured her.
"I think it's going to take more than that," she muttered. She turned back to Lachie and folded her arms. "What is with you today?" she asked him.
He gave her a puzzled look. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You and Vince?" she offered. "I know you two don't exactly see eye to eye, but this is going to get you fired."
"Concerned to see me go?" he asked, smirking.
Felicity threw her hand in the air in exasperation. "You know what, carry on." Leaving him watching her in confusion, she stomped back to the car, slamming the door behind her.
Lachie scratched behind his ear. Normally, Felicity seemed quite entertained with his and Vince's banter. She'd walked into work looking extremely pissed off about something – and he was willing to bet all of his life savings that that something was Cole – and he'd wanted to help take her mind of it. He ran his hand over his face, as that realisation had sunk in. Why the hell was he so set on making her smile? With a shake of his head, he turned his back on Rescue Two (and its occupants), and began hunting out the branches he'd been referring to.
. . .
"So where were you the other night?" Heidi asked Jordan.
Jordan spared a glance from the road in front of him to look over at his girlfriend. "What do you mean?"
"The other night," Heidi pressed. "I was all set for coming over and then you said something had come up."
"Oh," Jordan frowned. "That." He knew exactly what she had been referring to and hoping that he could avoid the conversation. It wasn't that he wanted to lie to his girlfriend, but he wasn't exactly sure of how well she would take the news that Freya had turned up on his doorstep and spent the night. Something told him it would be a reaction closer to a nuclear meltdown rather than a kind and understanding one. "An old mate got in touch," he said, vaguely.
Heidi watched him, chewing the inside of her cheek. She was fairly confident that he was lying, but seeing as though that wasn't a certainty, she wasn't going to call him on it outright. "An old mate?"
"Yeah," Jordan nodded. "Someone I lost touch with a couple of years ago. They needed my help."
"You should have said. I would have helped," Heidi informed him.
Jordan shook his head. "Nah, nothing you could have done. Not sure there's much I could do, really. Turned out they wanted money."
Heidi went back to chewing her cheek. No, it wasn't that he was lying, but he was certainly holding something back. "Was it a late one?" she asked, figuring that the catch up had moved to a pub.
Jordan sighed, running a hand over his hair. "You could say that..." he trailed off, squinting through the windscreen. "Is that Flick?"
. . .
After grumbling to Vince that the only way that car was going anywhere was with a winch, Felicity had curled up in the back. It took her about two minutes to realise that not only was she sulking, that it wasn't fair to take out her worries on her colleagues, and it certainly wasn't going to help her get back to Sydney any quicker. She jumped out, ignoring the radio conversation that was going on between Vince and Dean, and instead began locating branches to help Lachie. When her arms were full, she dropped down beside him. "Sorry," she told him, her brown eyes meeting his grey ones.
Carefully, Lachie took the branches out of her arms, wedging them under the wheels. "Are you alright?"
She took a deep breath and shrugged. "I think I'm just getting nervous. There's so much to do still and I'm stuck in the bush. Literally."
"Right," Vince announced, making the pair jump. "Are we completely stuffed? Yes we are. Get the winch."
"Oh, come on!" Lachie objected, getting to his feet.
"And I'm driving," Vince added. "You don't have puddles in Afghanistan."
"That's just nasty, mate," Lachie muttered under his breath, shooting Felicity a look.
Felicity shrugged. She stuck the last of the branches under the wheel, before moving to the front of the vehicle. While Lachie attempted to knock Vince out with the winch hook, she began scouting out a tree which would be sturdy enough to take the weight of Rescue Two. She had spotted on across the road they were aiming for, and was making her way towards it, when she heard the rumble of an engine. She couldn't keep the grin from her face as the Rescue Isuzu pulled up alongside her.
Vince joined Felicity's side, just as Heidi and Jordan exited the van. "Nice of you two to join us. How are you two? Alright?"
Heidi nodded. "Jordan got blown off a cliff."
Felicity's mouth dropped open. "What?" she exclaimed, quickly scanning Jordan. He didn't look injured.
Jordan gave her a sheepish grin. "You know, the usual tricks."
"You okay?" Vince asked him, his tone serious.
"I'm good," Jordan assured them both.
"Good," Vince nodded, before grinning. "We thought you'd both nipped off for a quickie."
"Vince!" Heidi squeaked, her face turning a similar colour to her hair. Felicity had to turn away – if Heidi and Jordan were still set on keeping their relationship a secret, well that was fine, but Heidi needed to learn how to stop her face from giving it away. There had been something in Vince's face that told Felicity that he knew exactly what the pair were up to.
It was Lachie who had her turning back around as he joined them. "Who's your passenger?"
"Oh, that's Ed," Heidi told them.
"Ed's a storm chaser," Jordan elaborated as the group watched the man examine the sky. "Flipped his car – reckons it's a twister."
Vince nodded. "I'd believe it too. It made a mess of the caravan park. Apparently it just annihilated it."
Felicity, who had been watching Ed, was surprised when he looked over at Vince, his face going grey. Without a word, he started running, pelting down the road. "Must have been important," she muttered under her breath.
"Is he alright?" Vince asked Heidi and Jordan.
Jordan nodded. "Just a couple of scratches."
"Righto," Vince nodded. "Let's get Rescue Two unstuck, and then get to that caravan park. Heidi, Jordan, you get straight there. Dean said he needed help."
Felicity waited for Jordan to move the Isuzu out of the way of the winch, before hurrying over and wrapping the wire around the trunk and locking it on itself. She stood back (just in case), while Lachie controlled the winch at the front of the vehicle, and Vince steered it out. Once it was all put away, and with Vince remaining in the driver's seat, she and Lachie hurried back into the truck and they headed for the caravan site.
It was a mess. There were perhaps thirty or so caravans there, and not one of them was undamaged – most had been blown over, or away from their holdings, and several looked like they were about to collapse in on themselves.
Vince took one look at the situation before him and turned to Felicity. "I want you on triage. Lachie-"
Lachie never found out what Vince wanted for him. He had already spotted something and had hurtled himself out of the truck.
"Bloody moron," Vince growled. "Flick: triage."
There was no point arguing. Grabbing her rucksack from the back, Felicity made her way over to the area which had obviously been assigned as safe for triage, but despite several people looking like they still needed treatment, there was no member of Rescue in sight.
. . .
She had been there a while, working largely by herself. Thankfully it was mainly a collection of cuts, bruises and the odd concussion. She stood, ready to radio Vince that she was down to the last casualty – an old woman with lacerations to her arms – when she realised her radio was missing. Frowning, she looked around, trying to remember where she'd had it last.
Biting her lip, she made her way over to Vince, who was talking in a low voice with Lachie. "Take the patrol, hot foot it to the freeway, see if you can get a phone or radio signal. Use smoke signals if you have to. We need an ambulance."
"Is it Annie?" Felicity had no idea where Ed had come from, but suddenly he was there.
"No, she's fine," Vince assured him. "She's having contractions"
"The baby's coming?"
"No, no. It's too early. It's only just started. Dean's monitoring her, but it's no time to hand the cigars around yet," Vince explained, before moving closer to Lachie and Felicty.
"What baby?" Felicity asked with a frown.
"What baby?" Vince repeated, incredulously. "Have you not been paying any attention?"
Felicity looked up at her boss, willing the ground to open up. "I can't find my radio," she admitted.
Vince blinked. "What?" he asked, calmly.
"My radio's missing," Felicity winced. She caught Lachie's eye behind Vince, and even he looked worried.
"Flick, do you know how much equipment had been lost or destroyed in the last six months?" Vince asked her calmly. "Do you know how much paper work I have had to fill in to get vehicles repaired? What it actually costs me to replace GPS units with those damn fierys?"
Felicity shifted uncomfortably on the spot: calm and angry Vince was certainly more frightening than shouty angry Vince. "It was getting in the way so I put it to one side. When I turned around, it was gone?" she offered, sending a silent plea to Lachie for help.
"Mate, I could be hours, especially if the roads are blocked," Lachie quickly piped up. "You know, trying to get an ambo out here."
Vince barely acknowledged him. "We don't have radio contact. Unless you've got a better idea, get moving."
Seeing Felicity growing increasingly nervous, Lachie looked around for a welcome distraction, spotting Ed. "Ed!" he called, finally catching Vince's attention. "Mate, you've got a sat-dish in your caravan, yeah?"
Ed looked over nervously, evidently aware of the tension. "I use it to connect to the internet."
"Okay, well if we can get that working and find the cables we can Skype Michelle," he suggested, giving Vince the option. He gave Felicity a brief nod, acknowledging the grateful look she was throwing him.
"Of course, that's brilliant," Ed agreed, nodding enthusiastically.
Vince, on the other hand, looked sceptical. "That's a lot of if's, MacGuiver."
"Just trust me," Lachie assured him. "I know what I'm doing, okay?"
"Righto," he muttered, although he sounded somewhat dubious. "And as for you," he added, addressing Felicity, who'd been trying to back away, out of the conversation. "Find that radio, or I will be taking it out of you wages."
The campsite was a dump. The wind was easing off, but with all the debris strewn across the ground, trying to locate the missing radio was not an easy task. Much as Felicity didn't want to admit it, there was a very strong possibility that she wasn't going to find it.
She stood upright, stretching her back out. With the exception of the pregnant lady, there was no one left on the campsite who hadn't been treated or still needed help. Felicity's eyes scanned the area, trying to pick out anything that resembled technology, but she spotted something else. Wandering off into the trees was an older woman in a blue cardigan and a dress, clutching at a television. "M'am?" she called, hurrying after her.
The woman was surprisingly nimble. Felicity picked up her speed, weaving in and out of the trees until they opened up to reveal a small playground. "M'am?" she called again.
The lady turned around. "Elsie?"
Felicity stopped. "Are you okay?"
"Elsie, I can't find Susie. Have you seen her?" she asked.
Felicity frowned, scanning the trees, looking for a child. The sound of items falling to the ground brought her attention back to the elderly woman. She had dropped a bunch of items as she tried to climb up one of the climbing frames. "M'am?" Felicity called in alarm, running over.
"I think Susie will come for tea," the woman told her as she climbed.
Felicity glanced around. She was certain that she should report back to Vince, but the storm had made the area unsafe and the last thing she wanted to do was leave the lady alone. Especially not up a climbing frame. With a puff of breath, she followed the woman up.