South America

Sara refrained from screaming as they went flying through the air. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself, releasing a cry of pain as the bike slammed into the ground and she was thrown against Lee's back from the momentum. If someone had told her that she'd be dirt biking on a barely beaten path through trees and brush with armed men chasing on dirt bikes and four wheelers behind them, she would have put her foot down and stayed home.

But...here she was.

She hugged Lee's waist tighter, feeling like she was about to fall off. She looked back to see their pursuers still after them.

"We can't outrun them!" she shouted at Lee, who turned his head slightly to hear her. At least they were wearing helmets. She felt slightly better that she might avoid a head injury if she fell off. Lee twisted to look himself, dodging a stump at the same time miraculously.

"You're right!" he yelled back, and suddenly, he hit the brakes and put the bike up on its front tire before yanking it around to face the other riders, making her hang onto him tighter. Sara pulled out her gun the same time he did, and they aimed and fired in quick succession, taking out three of the five riders. They ducked the bullets coming at them until Lee put the bike back in gear and shot towards the last two riders, streaking between them. Sara turned and shot one, watching the four wheeler crash into a tree and explode. The last rider turned to come after them, and she shouted out in pain as a bullet hit her upper left leg and a sharp cramp hit her right side up high near her back. She dug her fingers into Lee's stomach harder, trying not to pass out from the pain. Lee yanked the bike around again and took out the last rider, and they didn't move for a few moments, waiting to see if any others were coming. Lee had shut off the engine to hear better.

It was silent.

"Lee," Sara said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Yea?"

"I'm hit."

"Bloody hell," he said roughly. "Where?"

"My leg." She could feel herself starting to shake a little. This was her first time getting shot. She didn't want to die. She couldn't die. Lee dismounted and got her to as well. She couldn't stand and instantly went down to the ground onto her right side, her hand holding her up. She pulled off her helmet with her other hand so she could breathe.

Lee swore quietly as he examined it, his helmet off now as well.

"Is it bad?" she asked.

"I've seen worse," he answered. "But I don't have first aid on me."

"So what do we do?"

He didn't respond. Instead, she watched him pull out a knife and cut his gloves in half into rags, tie two of the ends together, and then wrap it around her leg to tie the wound off and stop the bleeding.

"We'll get you fixed up on the plane," he advised.

"Okay." She trusted him. Her leg hurt like hell, but she knew there wasn't anything they could do about it right now.

"Christmas? Sara? Status?" Barney's voice came in then.

"On our way," Lee answered. "Sara's hit. Have first aid ready."

"Copy that."

Lee helped her back up to her feet, and she could feel herself shaking still.

"You good?" he asked her.

"I think so." She put her helmet back on, as did he.

"Get on the front," he said.

"What?"

"The front."

She obeyed, feeling too tired and heavy to argue with him suddenly. She gripped the handles of the bike just before the rubber, feeling the cool metal against her hands. Lee drove them to a dirt road, which was a lot less bumpy. Sara was grateful for that. They sped along back to the plane, and she started to feel even weirder as time went on. She could feel her grip loosening and her body start to tilt too far to the left. Lee's hand let go of the handlebar and pressed against her stomach as he held her against him to keep her from falling off. When they finally got to the plane, the others were there waiting, guns aimed.

"It's us!" Lee called after cutting the engine. He whipped the helmet off and chucked it along with hers, getting off the bike and maneuvering Sara into his arms to he could carry her to the plane.

"What happened?!" Toll shouted.

"Shot in the leg. I tied it off, but I think bullet's still in there," Lee answered, hurrying. Sara loved how strong he was. Her cheek was pressed against his chest, bouncing slightly as he hurried.

"We gotta go," Barney said. "And we gotta go now."

"Where's the Kid?" Gunner asked.

"Here!" Billy called, coming into view suddenly. He was barely out of breath after running, which Sara knew Lee envied to no end and made her smile a little. She could feel herself falling into darkness.

"Shit," Lee said. "She's been hit twice."

Twice? How had she not felt the second hit? She felt confused. She vaguely remembered a sharp cramp the same time she'd gotten shot. Had that been the second bullet? It had to have been. Everything was getting blurry now. Toll was swearing. Caesar was barking at Gunner for bandages. What had happened to her?

"It's alright," Lee was saying as he set her down. "It'll be alright." Was that blood on his shirt? How had that gotten there? It hadn't been there earlier.

"Possible nicked lung," she heard. Her vest was being pulled off her now.

"Lot of blood loss."

"Too far out from a hospital."

"Can't...die..." she tried to say. She attempted to catch a hold of Lee's hand. He needed to know how important it was that she lived. "Lee, don't...let me...die."

"I know. I won't. Just hang on, luv," his voice said back. She felt a needle go into her hand for an IV. Pain was occurring in her leg still. She heard the clink of metal hitting a metal dish moments later. More searing pain as something was poured onto it again.

There was a pain in her back now, too, just under her shoulder on the right side. It was where she'd felt the cramp. The bullet must have snuck in through the armhole of her vest.

"We're taking fire!" someone called.

"Christmas! I need you up front!" Barney's voice yelled. Sara felt his hand leave hers, and she felt so cold and empty without it.

"No...pain...killers," she said, remembering. "Please..."

"Don't," Gunner's voice said sharply, and Sara could see through her fog that he'd caught Toll's wrist before putting something into her IV. At least she wouldn't get her addiction triggered. If only she could live to enjoy that fact, though.

The plane shook from the bullets Lee was firing from the gun at the front of the plane. Sara wanted to sleep. She was tired and in pain. A cool, rough hand touched her forehead.

"Hang in there," Toll said. "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

Sara closed her eyes. She trusted these men. She had to.

They were all she had.

...

Lee's leg was bouncing as he sat in the chair in the hallway of the hospital. His mind was going over everything again, and he was trying to figure out how Sara had gotten shot in the back and the leg. The doctors were saying it was a miracle she'd survived.

"It wasn't your fault," Barney said from beside him. They were still in their cargo pants from the mission, but they'd put on clean t-shirts and shed their armor and weapons to come in here. The others were waiting in the plane. They'd stopped in Mexico because they couldn't get back to New Orleans quick enough to save Sara. Lee knew they'd used her fake I.D., just like the rest of them did when they had to do hospital visits.

"I thought she was ready."

"She was. She did a damn good job today," Barney pointed out.

"And almost died."

"That's the risk all of us take every time we go out," Barney reasoned. "It doesn't mean we're bad at what we do or aren't ready. It just means that we're mortal and not invincible."

"She has a kid, Barns," Lee said, looking at him. "That kid needs her. We can't let her die."

"And she didn't."

Lee gave up arguing with his friend. He wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand briefly before folding his fingers and resting his arms on his legs, one still bouncing rapidly. He could hear her voice in his head over and over again, begging him to not let her die. He'd promised himself to not let her get hurt, and he'd failed. He was mentally berating himself when:

"You can go see her now," a doctor said, approaching them. "She's one lucky lady."

"Thank you," Barney said as they both stood up. Lee went in first while Barney finished talking to the doctor. Sara was lying in the hospital bed with her eyes closed, but she opened them when he approached her slowly.

"Already trying to get rid of me, huh?" she asked slowly, a small smile on her lips.

"Did I make a mistake?" he countered, stopping by her bed. His hands were loose at his sides.

"No," she said. "Just bad luck. It happens."

"I don't think you're ready..."

"Lee, stop," she ordered, her voice tired. "I told you: bad luck. I am the unluckiest person on this Earth. Trust me."

"How's our patient?" Barney asked, joining them before Lee could respond to her.

"Sore," she replied. "But I'll be up and running again soon."

"Glad to hear. You had a close call, Sara."

"It won't happen again."

"You're off the team," Barney stated. Sara panicked instantly.

"No," she said, trying to sit up. "You can't do that!"

"For a month," Barney finished. "Let a guy finish before you get all dramatic. Geez." Sara's face relaxed instantly, and she sank back down into the pillows.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"They're going to discharge you in a couple of days. We'll take you home then."

"Okay."

Barney left, and Lee stood there looking at her, resting a hand on the bedrail. His heart was twisted. He didn't like seeing her hurt. He hated it even more that it happened on his watch. She gave him a slow smile upon seeing him watching her still.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about me," she advised. "I'm not tough for nothing."

"Maybe, but it still..." He stopped suddenly. Had he really been about to reveal feelings? He put himself in check. He couldn't do that.

"Still what?" Sara asked, not letting him off the hook. He hesitated, but in the end, his desire to be vulnerable with her for whatever reason wouldn't go away.

"Still scared me," he confessed. "Hauling you out of there like that...seeing you hurt...it really, really scared me, Sara."

Her eyes looked a little bit wet, and her expression showed as if she couldn't fathom someone caring about her like this. She reached to put her hand over his, and he felt a twinge inside. A good twinge.

"It scared me too," she said back. "And not just that I might never see Cid again or get out of this situation I'm in, but that I'd never see you again."

Lee felt warm inside upon hearing this. This felt like emotional intimacy to him, and he was pretty sure he'd never experienced it before.

"Well," he said softly. "I promise to work harder at never letting it happen again."

"I'll hold you to it," she replied.

"Alright," he said, smiling back finally. She took her hand back, and he tapped the bed rail with his fingers, turning to leave her. He turned to look at her once more when he reached the doorway, and he saw she was already asleep again.

"Just so you know," he said softly, quietly. "You are not the unluckiest person in the world. You are so much more." He left, pushing down the feelings that were trying to grow inside of him with each step.

Two Weeks Later

Sara walked stiffly to the fridge and pulled out a pop. She groaned as she shut the fridge door and turned to shuffle back to the common room. The boys were out on a job, leaving her alone with Tool in the interim. He was out keeping a woman company tonight, though, so she was by herself.

She was almost to her chair when she caught sight of a figure and gasped, jerking her hand up and almost losing hold of the can in her hand.

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed, clutching her chest over her heart.

"Are you trying to f*** this up?" Joe asked, standing with his arms crossed as he stared at her.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. He took a few steps towards her, stopping in front of her face.

"You do realize that you are also controlling the fate of my wife by doing these missions," Joe went on. Sara held his stare, not backing down out of fear for a second.

"Your wife? What about my son?" she challenged. "You think I'd screw things up on purpose?!"

"Why are you putting yourself at extra risk by doing missions you're not tasked to do?" Joe asked angrily.

"Because! I can't just be on this team and only show up to help with three jobs every so many years," she shot back. "They are already suspicious of me!"

"If you get yourself killed," Joe said, putting his finger in her face, "I will bring you back to rip you apart limb by limb."

Sara didn't respond, but he wasn't looking for one. He turned and walked out, leaving her to stand there and feel angry and a little scared. Had he not realized how anxious she already was for almost dying? All she could think about was Cid.

She bent her knees slowly as she sank down onto the couch. She left her pop unopened as she tried to catch her breath and stared blankly at the wall across from her.

A Week Later

Lee returned with the team feeling exhausted. He only agreed to stop in at Tool's on his way home because he wanted a drink and because he wanted to check in on Sara.

The latter caught him off guard.

"Hot date with Lacy this weekend?" Caesar asked as they walked towards their bikes together.

"Dunno," Lee answered. Lacy was on again-off again with texting him and hanging out with him it seemed. He didn't know what to make of it. He didn't know why he put up with it.

"I was thinking of asking Sara out," Gunner commented as he followed behind them. Lee was very careful to not react to this, but for whatever reason, it made him burn inside at the thought of Sara with Gunner.

"I don't think she'll say yes," Caesar stated, looking over his shoulder at Gunner.

"We'll see," Gunner replied. Lee's fingers gripped his backpack handle tighter as he neared his bike. He slung it over his shoulders a moment later, squinting as he looked against the sun to see Gunner putting his bike helmet on and Caesar mount his. Toll, Barney, Billy, and Yang were walking across the tarmac in a row towards them.

"Why're you interested in her anyway?" Caesar asked Gunner, curious.

"She's a former addict," Gunner replied. "She lets me talk to her when I'm struggling and has taught me some grounding and breathing stuff to help. She's nice, sweet. She gets me."

"I see."

"She's also smokin' hot."

"That too," Caesar agreed. "Don't tell the missus I said that, though."

Lee didn't want to hear anymore. He started his bike and tore out of there, not caring if they thought he was rude. He got to Tool's first and felt his heart pound a little as he removed his helmet and dismounted carefully. He shook off his backpack and slung it over his left shoulder, holding the strap with his left hand as he walked inside. His heart gave a flutter at the sight of Sara having a knife toss with Tool.

"So close," Tool was saying as he shook his head and smiled. Sara was groaning in disappointment.

"Relax your hand," Lee said out loud, and she turned her head to see him. The way her face and eyes brightened upon seeing him told him all he needed to know, but he knew they couldn't...no matter how much he wanted to.

"Don't give her any tips!" Tool exclaimed. "I wanna win this bet!"

Lee just smirked as he walked to the armory to unload his bag. He'd traveled light for this one, just his knives and some handguns. Barney had a few machine guns on the plane he'd borrowed. He put them on the table and started to clean his guns when he felt a presence behind him.

"Hey," Sara said, coming to stand next to him and leaning her hands on the table. "How did it go?"

"Fine," he answered.

"That's good."

He turned his head to look at her, seeing her eyes watching his hands work. She lifted them to meet his a moment later. Something in that gaze conveyed a message that Lee wanted so badly to confirm he'd received.

"I'm doing better, thanks for asking," she commented sarcastically then.

"Glad to hear," he replied. He'd been about to ask her; he wished he hadn't taken so long to. He didn't want her to think he was a complete arse. He did care about her. Granted, their relationship had a rocky start, but that didn't mean he still felt the same aggravation toward her today.

"You got hit," she said, moving in to rest her fingers against his skin. He could barely breathe as she slid her thumb down along the cut on his neck.

"Just a scratch," he managed to say.

"It's because I wasn't there to save your ass," she noted. "Right?"

"Right," he agreed. She was still looking at him, and he opened his mouth to say something when clomping of boots alerted them to the presence of the rest of the team arriving, and Lee felt almost cold when she took her hand back.

"Hey, boys," she said as they filed in one by one. Lee tuned out their chatter as he returned to cleaning his handguns. His thoughts were racing. Then, his phone indicated he'd gotten a text, and he pulled it out to see that it was Lacy. She wanted to meet up.

He ground his jaw a little as he looked over at Sara. She was laughing and talking with Gunner, and when he heard Gunner ask her out to dinner and she said yes, he looked back at his phone.

Be there in fifteen, he wrote back. He snapped his phone shut and pocketed it again. He wasn't going to pine over someone who could easily accept a date from someone else, even if he knew they shouldn't cross that line.

His heart couldn't take any more pain anyway.

...

Sara liked Gunner but not in the way she knew he wanted her to. They were connected by addiction, and she had no desire to go further than that. She enjoyed his company, so when he'd asked her to dinner, she'd accepted. Her plan was to make it very clear they would always just be friends and colleagues.

"Where you going?" Barney asked when Lee finished putting away his weapons and headed for the armory door.

"Out," he answered.

"Aw, not with Lacy..."

"Sod off," Lee retorted, walking out. Billy was snorting and smirking with Toll and Gunner in the corner. Caesar was oblivious as he sharpened his pet knife fondly. Sara watched Barney shake his head and cram his cigar back into his mouth before going back to work, and once no one was paying attention to her, she followed Lee.

She caught him as he was about to put his helmet on, already sitting on his bike.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked. He paused, surveying her carefully.

"What kind of favor?" he inquired.

"Can you and Lacy meet up with me at the bar later?"

"Why?"

"I don't want Gunner to think it's a real date," she answered. She noticed something in his eyes at this; it almost looked like relief.

"Why didn't you just tell him that inside?" he asked.

"I didn't want to make him look bad in front of his friends," she replied with a shrug. "And I said yes to eating dinner, which can be done with friends you know."

"So you want me to crash your date," Lee commented. She didn't fail to notice a small, glee-like shine in his eyes at this idea. She knew he butted heads with Gunner the most.

"Yea," she confirmed. "You up for the challenge?"

"Don't patronize me," he scoffed, putting his helmet on.

"So you'll do it?"

"What time?"

"Seven."

"Fine."

"Thank you," she said sweetly, and he just shook his head and started up his bike. She controlled her breathing as she watched him ride off. She knew she shouldn't be falling for him, that she didn't believe she deserved someone as good as him. The ache of missing Cid overwhelmed her most of the time, but she knew she had to balance it with living or else she wouldn't last the remaining time she was here.

And again, that was another good reason to not fall for Lee. She wasn't going to be here long, and there was no sense in breaking his heart in the process. She stuffed her hands in her pockets as she went back inside.

If only the flutter inside would go away.