okay I couldn't leave y'all on that cliff for too long here is the conclusion and then we will be back to regular progrmming next chapter ~S.K.

Seven

Jade became groggily aware of a dull, throbbing pain in her leg, and a warm tingling on her lips. She spent a moment deciding the two were probably not related, and let her eyelids drift open to see very concerned, very vibrant brown eyes inches from her own. "Uh." She blinked, and swallowed, running her tongue over her lips tentatively. "Did you just kiss me?"

Tori let out a shaky sigh of relief. "Yes…. I was trying to wake you up."

"Mm… you know, shaking me would have done it too, but I'm not complaining. " Jade advised her wryly. "Damn.. sorry about that."

"Wow.. the pain must have been incredible.. Jade, I… "

Her lover sighed. "No…it wasn't that.. I mean, yes.. it hurt, but not enough to knock me out." She cleared her throat a little and struggled to sit up. "It was the feeling of my bones grinding together… I used to pass out whenever they had to set something" She gave Tori an apologetic look "Should have warned you." Her lips quirked. 'That, and long needles… watch out."

Tori regarded her in mild surprise. "Oh." She sat back, rubbing Jade's arm gently. "I never would have guessed.. I mean.. you're so.. um… " She lifted a hand. "You know."

"Tough." Jade smiled self deprecatingly, as she eased her arms around her knees. "I know. .it's a good act." She acknowledged, straightening her leg carefully. "That's better." She sighed. "All right.. where were we? Going to check for the others, right?"

Tori sat back. "Jade.. why don't you stay here? I'll go check on everyone." She got up, ducking under the branch they were sheltering beneath. "Maybe I can find something for you to wrap around that… "

Jade reached over her head and grabbed the branch, pulling herself to her feet. "No.. I'd better find out now how.. ouch." She sucked in a breath, then exhaled it, as she slowly put weight on her leg. It hurt, but it held, and she eased it up, flexing it a few times then putting her foot back down again. "Okay… I think that's going to be all right." She glanced out over the rubble. "Jesus."

The ground they'd been crossing had turned into a bowl like pit, with walls over fifty feet high all around them. The bottom was littered with rocks and shattered trees, and a muddy seeping of water that Jade could feel chilling her soles.

A yell drifted over. Her name, and they turned to see Sinjin climbing up on a half submerged tree trunk, waving at them. "Come on." Jade looked around, then picked up a broken limb to use as a support. "We could be in trouble here."

They slowly made their way across the rubble, with Tori managing to resist the urge to take Jade's arm an entire five minutes before she gave in, gently tucking a hand inside the other woman's elbow as they went over uncertain footing. "I know." She started talking nervously, as she felt Jade take a breath. "I know.. and I don't care, Jade. I'll quit… I just…I don't care if they know."

Long pause. "Um.. actually, I was just going remind you to watch out for those soft, white areas." Jade replied gently. "They're limestone, and probably slippery." She paused, thinking. "As for whether or not they know.. I'm not going to worry about that right now. The important thing is for us to all get out of here."

"Oh." Tori glanced down, and nodded a little. "Okay. Sorry." She felt a little silly. Of course Jade was right.. no one would even be thinking about that now, and she shouldn't either. Rob comment had shaken her up a little, that was all.

Then she felt Jade's arm shift, and warm fingers curl around her own as she looked up, startled. Blue eyes gazed steadily back at her, a faint hint of challenge in the lilt of Jade's eyebrows. Tori smiled, and gave the fingers a squeeze, then turned her attention back to finding a way across the slippery ground.

"Hey… give me a hand here." Sinjin called over to where Rob was standing. "Hold still, Mary Lou.. let me get this branch off you." He gave Rob a nod as the Finance VP joined him, and put a hand on the heavy limb. "Thanks."

"Take it easy Mary Lou…" Rob told the young woman, as he and Sinjin pushed against the limb, trying to force it away from her body. "Argh… " They shoved harder and managed to move the tree off Mary Lou's trapped leg. "There you go.."

"Augh." The young woman crawled free and pulled herself to her feet. "Thank you… thank you.. " She gave Sinjin a grateful look as he took her arm, leading her over to where the rest of the group was gathering.

Jade was off a little ways, poking in the debris with her stick, while Tori crouched next to Cat, who had gotten a nasty cut on her arm. Other than that, and some bangs and bruises, they'd all survived intact, and now were standing or sitting in a rough circle, dazedly looking around them.

"Now what, Sherlock?" Steve came up behind Jade, and glared at the fifty foot walls blocking them in. "You going to wave your damn broom and fly us all out of here." He spat disgustedly. "I can't believe you got us into this… I think I'm going to URP." The end of Jade's stick was pinning him to a tree trunk, and he struggled to breath.

"You." Jade pressed harder. "Are." She leaned closer. "GETTING" Her voice dropped, but somehow became more penetrating. "On my nerves!" She paused, glaring. "So SHUT UP.. or I'm gonna shove this stick right UP YOUR ASS." A deathly silence. "GOT ME?"

Steve nodded once, then slumped as the stick was removed, and he could breath again. "Bitch." He rubbed his throat.

The pale face creased into a feral smile. "Jackass." She responded, then turned and resumed her study of the wall.

"Oh… boy." Cat whispered, as Tori finished tying a bit of shirt sleeve over her cut. "JW's on the ragged edge, I see."

Tori glanced up at her boss, then exhaled. "Yeah… but it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't pushed her… he's been doing that all weekend… I was sort of surprised she hadn't said anything before." Truculent brown eyes regarded Cat. "It's not her fault."

The Personnel VP allowed a weary smile to cross her face. "Whose fault it is doesn't impact the amount of paperwork I'm going to have to do for this little trip." She nudged Tori with her knee. "Go see if you can settle her down a little.. we don't need police reports on top of everything else."

Tori blinked. "Oh… no, Jade wouldn't…." She paused, remembering Gary. "Okay.. I see your point." She stood, buckling her belt pack back around her waist and picked her way over to where Jade was standing. Steve gave her a cold stare as she passed, and she returned it with a charming smile, which seemed to annoy him a lot.

Jade was scanning the wall, her pale blue eyes flicking here and there as she rested her weight on the stick to keep it off her knee. "That's a possibility." She pointed, as Tori came up next to her. "It'd be tough, but I think we might make it… or at least, a few of us would, and then we could go get help."

Tori gazed up. "You mean where those trees are hanging down?"

"Mmhmm." Jade's attention was tightly focused. "Yeah, we could get a boost up there.. and use those roots as handholds."

It was a possibility, Tori reasoned. "That might work, yeah." She put her hand on the stick, covering Jade's fingers, which brought the ice blue eyes down to fasten on her. "Are you doing all right?"

A faint crease showed in Jade's forehead. "Hmm? Oh… yeah, my knee aches a little.. and I've got a killer headache.. but I'm okay… how about you?"

Tori let her eyes slide to where Steve was sitting dourly on a log, then move back to Jade's face. One eyebrow rose in question.

The other woman looked puzzled for a moment, then she rolled her eyes. "Oh… yeah, I'm fine.. I just let him get to me for a minute." She dismissed the incident. "We'd better get started."

The brunette woman tightened her fingers on Jade's hand. "Maybe we should have our lunches first.. give everyone a chance to calm down.. hmm?"

Jade considered that. "Maybe." She acknowledged. "Half an hour won't make much of a difference, I guess." She allowed Tori to lead her back to the group. "Okay." She got their attention effortlessly. "We obviously need to get out of here."

"Yes." Rob agreed. "Quickly.. this is becoming quite slimy, and I suspect water will be making us float shortly." He tapped his foot in a growing puddle of clear, cold water.

"Jesu." Jose dabbed at a raw looking scratch on his head. "We could have been killed."

"But we weren't" Jade told him. "There's a spot over there." She pointed. "I think we could all make it up there, and if not, those of us who can, will go get help."

"From who? That idiotic woman?" Elle snapped, obviously upset and frightened. "Don't be stupid, Jade…we can't climb up there.. and I'm not sitting down here in this freezing muck."

"Come now, El. " Cat forestalled Jade's rising ire. "Either you climb, or you stay here.. you can't say you're not going to climb, AND you don't want to stay here. Pick one." She sighed. "I'm going to be all of next week filling out workman's comps on you people, aren't I?"

"We can call for real help when we get up there… " Jade explained. "But everyone should try to make it.. we don't know how long it's going to take, and you don't want to be stuck out here when it gets dark."

No one looked like they liked the idea, but reluctant nods went around the group.

"It will be lighter if we eat those lunches they gave us first." Tori reminded her boss. "I could use the break."

"Oh yeah.. " Sinjin pawed at his pouch. "That's a good idea." Everyone stirred, pulling out their packages with varying levels of enthusiasm. "What is this?"

Jade had seated herself on a rock, easing her leg out in front of her and turning her pack over in her finger. "They're called MRE's nowadays." She remarked. "Military food." She looked up as Tori sat down next to her cross legged on a flat piece of limestone. "They won't kill you, but I won't guarantee anything else."

"Oh.. lovely." Tori pulled at the package, tugging out small foil wrapped containers. "How does it work?" She glanced up, then put her hand on Jade's knee. "Hey.."

The tired woman had been leaning her head against the rock she was seated against, her eyes closed. Now she forced them open, and regarded her friend. "Yeah?" She felt suddenly exhausted, and the throbbing in her head was getting worse.

"Here.." Tori tucked something into her hand. "I think you need that more than I do."

Jade peered at the packet. "Oh. " She smiled in reflex at the army issue generic Tylenol. "Yeah… " With a sigh, she put her package on her lap and unwrapped its parts. "Okay.. this is a self heating pouch." She picked it up and pulled two lurid tabs on either end. "Do that, and whatever's inside gets heated up by chemical action." She glanced up, startled to see the whole group of them, less Steve, gathering around her. "It's not that hard, people. we are a technology company, please remember that."

"Well well… " Rob pulled his tabs, then set the large packet aside. "And what's this? Do not tell me.. this is what you give us Jews on Christmas, no?" He picked up a smaller packet. "Crackers, graham, 2."

"Oh my god.. is this that stuff they feed the soldiers?" Elle's eyes widened.

"Mm.. yeah, I saw a special on that the other day." Sinjin investigated his package. "Silverware too… pretty neat."

Tori opened her heated package, and sniffed it. "Oh.. " She pulled her head back in surprise. "I think this is lasagna." She poked a spork in, and dug a bit out, tasting it warily. "Hey.. that's not bad."

They sat around mostly in silence, on top of the soft, limestone rocks which were slowly becoming flooded by water, and ate their meals. Jade found herself pushing her food around with her spork, and she glanced to one side, then offered the remainder to Tori. "Here.. you want to finish this?"

Tori eyed her. "You don't like it?"

A shrug. "It's not bad.. I'm just not that hungry." Jade admitted. "Go on.. I saw you thinking about licking out that pouch."

The brunette woman blushed, but took the offering and finished it off, then passed Jade her container of apple juice. "Here.. I don't like it.. why don't' you take your aspirin?"

Jade took her advice, and swallowed both Tori's tablets and her own, washing them down with the juice. Then she regarded the group. "Well?"

"Right." Rob slapped his knee. "Let's get going… I can't wait to get back to our charming camp, and the peanut butter sandwiches I'm sure will be there for us." He stood up, balancing carefully on his rock.

Jose joined him. "Son of a bitches… I'm going to have a thing to say when I get back, I'll tell you that." He glanced. "Come on, Elle… let's get this over with, eh?"

They moved to the far wall, slipping and sliding over the slick rocks, and started a slow path up. Jade went to the front, discarding her stick as she slowly moved from rock to rock. "Okay.. everyone get up here first."

"I'm not going that way. "Steve stated. "I'll meet you all up at the top." He turned aside and started his own path up, grabbing on to thick vines which trailed down from half dislodged trees.

"He's right.. it's easier there." Elle abandoned them, and followed Steve's determined form. "Come on, Jose, Charles.. .no sense in taking the hard way up."

"Si." The Sales VP agreed, as he edged away from them, and followed her. "I'm coming… " Elle's thin assistant followed obediently, pushing his glasses up nervously.

Jade gazed after them, as though about to speak, then shrugged and turned back to her task, leaning her head against the cool branches for a moment before she straightened, and looked for the next step up. The throbbing was starting to subside, but she felt an odd kind of distance to her thoughts that made her wonder if she hadn't done more than get her bell rung.

A hand suddenly warmed her back, and she turned to see Tori next to her, ostensibly looking for a good hold. "Is that a good way up?" The brunette woman asked, stepping up next to her and gazing, then turning to watch Steve's progress up the wall. "Or do they have the right idea, much as I hate to admit it?"

Jade smiled wearily. "Well.. that's an easier climb, but I'm not sure it's worth it." She remarked.

"Why?" Tori asked curiously.

"Those vines are covered with poison ivy." The dark haired woman replied, glancing over as Rob and Sinjin, who were right behind her, starting chuckling

"Oh..no.. don't say that." Cat pushed the frazzled hair back out of her eyes. "I'll never hear the end of that, Jade.. you'll have done it on purpose to them.."

Jade merely shook her head, and continued her way up, finding easy holds for the rest of her group. "Easy there.. " She warned. "Grab that root, yeah.. there." They moved slowly up the slope, using the handholds to keep their balance. Fortunately, the walls weren't directly vertical, and they made fair time, stopping halfway to catch their breaths and take a rest.

Steve, Jose, Charles and Elle had already reached the top and disappeared, and Jade found herself glad of their absence, realizing the constant strain of their irritating presence had really been wearing her down. Rob and Cat seemed to be glad too, as they leaned against each other and wiped muddy sweat off their brows. Sinjin engaged Mary Lou into a conversation about the Marlins, which left Jade and Tori standing next to each other against the slope.

"How's the knee?" Tori asked.

Jade shrugged, and flexed the leg in question. "It's all right…" She leaned back against the dirt, feeling the coolness through the fabric of her shirt. The joint had stiffened up, but was more a nagging ache than a sharp pain, for which she was grateful. The climb wasn't helping, though she'd been able to use her arms and shoulders to pull herself up most of the way. "Come on… " She exhaled. "I vote we commandeer the damn bus, and get the hell out of here the minute we get back."

They all looked at Cat, who stuck her tongue out at Jade. "Only if you stop at the first blessed Dairy Queen we find, JW… I have to get the taste of that mint jelly out of my mouth."

Jade brightened a little. "Dairy Queen… hey, yeah.. they do have those up here, don't they." Ice cream… that would just hit the spot. She mused, as she resumed her hunt for roots to grab onto. Her stomach still felt queasy, but she knew she'd never, ever been too nauseous to eat ice cream.

"You had to mention that." Tori sighed, as she climbed up next to her lover. "Now we'll be hearing about chocolate bonnets until we get there."

"What's that?" Rob inquired, offering Mary Lou a hand up next to him.

"It's a hardened chocolate shell." Jade answered, with a half grin. "They dip the cones in it, and let it harden. " She pulled herself up one more level. "It's messy as hell, but it tastes great."

"I take it you've been subjected to that, Tori?" Mary Lou asked, as she edged up the rocks.

"Oh yeah.. " Tori answered, then realized how that sounded. "Um… one of the last Dairy Queens in San Francisco is just down the road from our Castro office.. we have to pass by there to and from meetings."

"Ah..huh.. I see." Mary Lou nodded.

They continued to climb, until Jade, in the lead, was almost at the top. She slid over one final bit, and grabbed a tree hanging off the edge, pulling herself up and over, onto the rough path they'd come in on.

No one else was there. "Bastards." Jade muttered, as she turned to put a hand under Tori's elbow to haul her up. "Went on without us."

"Those pigs." Tori's brow creased. "I can't believe they did that.. we would have waited."

The rest of the group came up, and sat down on the path. "Well." Cat exhaled. "That's more exercise than I've gotten since I was in the Girl Scouts."

"You have that correct," Rob agreed, sprawling with his legs outstretched, and leaning back on his hands. "But we have made it.. and as such, I proclaim this part of our little seminar a success."

Jade got to her feet. "I'll vote for that." She agreed. "But then, we never had a cooperation issue between us anyway."

Cat sighed, and got up as well. "All right.. all right.. so it was a bad idea…" She brushed herself off. "Although, if this hadn't happened, it might have been more valuable… "

"Yeah." Tori agreed softly, as they trudged off down the path, as the late afternoon sun slanted through the trees. "Well… maybe we can work out something on a smaller scale back there…like… in a hotel, or something."

" A comfortable hotel." Mary Lou agreed.

"A comfortable hotel with beds, air conditioning, and televisions." Sinjin added.

"Don't forget modem jacks." Jade gave them a half grin. "And room service."

"Room service.. oh yes.." Rob agreed.

They all laughed a little, as they came to a bend in the path, walking around it almost abreast, stopping as they reached the overlook to the rope bridge.

They stopped, staring at the strands in puzzlement.

Clothing hung off the railing, and loud, angry, frustrated voices were heard below.

"Uh oh." Cat peeked over, then hid her eyes. "I don't' think I have a personnel report to cover this, Jade."

"What?" The executive peered over. "Oh boy."

Tori balanced on her shoulder. "Oh my god, they're naked."

"Throw the goddamn clothes down, you idiots!" Steve screamed, his head just poking out of the water.

Jade leaned against the railing. "Say please." She called out, tauntingly.

"Jade… " Tori gave her a slap. "C'mon now." She picked up the shirts and pants and balled them up, then hesitated. "If I throw them, they'll fall in the water." She yelled down.

"What in the heck are you people doing, anyway?" Sinjin leaned next to Jade. "Lousy time to go swimming, you know?"

Jose stood up, the water draining off his belly. "Some bastards came with guns, and made us!"

Jade sighed. "It was funny, right up till now." She backed up and glanced around, then her eyes fell on the snake. "Hold on.. " She made her way along the bridge until she got to it, then she carefully untangled it's length from the ropes and slung it around her neck. "Here.. " She edged back to where Tori was waiting. "Tie it on to it's tail." She turned to Sinjin. "Keep an eye out for anyone coming… musta been some hunters or something who decided to play a joke on them."

Sinjin backed up and looked around. "What am I supposed to be looking for? Morons with rifles? My job description doesn't cover this, Jade." He muttered.

Tori finished tying the clothes to the snake's tail, then watched as Jade lowered it down to where Jose was standing, having to crouch all the way down and extend her arm to get it low enough. She kept one hand on the end platform, and the other hovering, in case her boss lost her balance, though if Jade did, and she grabbed her, for sure they were both going creek ward.

"Okay… you got it?" Jade yelled, wincing as the strain pulled against her leg. She watched Jose reach up, then closed her eyes in reflex. "Oh... God.. I didn't need to see that." She muttered, hearing Elle scream.

"Shut up.. I'm getting the god damn clothes." Jose snapped, finally working them free. "Here… " He released the snake's tail. "Done… aiiieee!" He yelped as the snake, freed from Jade's hand, dropped in rubbery coils around him. "Jesu, Jade.. I'm gonna kick your ass when I get up there."

Jade straightened slowly, conscious of Tori's hand on her elbow. "You couldn't kick my ass if I were a desk chair and you had brass boots. " She yelled back down.

"Would you two just shut up!" Elle screamed. "Oh my god.. I'm itching all over…"

"So am I." Steve chattered, tugging his long sleeve shirt on. "Oh shit…. Augh!"

"On second thought, clothes were probably a bad idea." Jade commented with mild interest to Tori. "That fabric rubbed up all over the poison ivy."

"Ouch." Tori winced, looking at her hands. "Thanks for telling me."

Jade smiled. "I'm sure you'll be fine. " She chuckled, then exhaled, as the four complaining, blotchy, muddy, wet, angry people closed in on them. "All right… enough!" She raised her voice. "Let's just get the hell out of here, and scream at each other later, all right?"

"That's the smartest thing you've said since we've been here. " Elle snapped. "Get out of my way. "She shoved Jade aside, and stomped across the rope bridge, seemingly oblivious of it's height, and unsteadiness, scratching frantically at her arm as she did so.

"Okay.. " Jade leaned back against the ropes. "Guess we're going back to camp." They all filed past her one at a time, and she watched them cross, waiting for Tori to get part of the way over before she brought up the rear, placing her feet carefully on the rope.

"God damn it all to hell.. I'm going to sue until I've gotten every single cent out of this god damned company.. " Jose was stomping along. "Irresponsible, danger to it's customers… putas!"

Jade sighed, and tried to filter his voice out, concentrating on the pain in her leg instead. That worked, but it got her preoccupied, so much so that she didn't realize everyone stopped, and she thumped into Tori's back with a jolt, knocking the breath out of both of them. "Wh.. oh.. sorry." She steadied herself on Tori's shoulder and exhaled. "What's up?"

Silently, Sinjin pointed into the camp. Jade stepped up next to him and peered through the leaves, to where she could see the main hall. Their bus was parked off to one side, and in front of the structure were two pickup trucks, with various camping style items in the back, and prominent shotgun racks. Two men were sprawled in the back of one truck, chugging beer, and two others were on the porch, one pinning a hapless Skippy against the wall as he tried to kiss her. The guide was squirming frantically, trying to escape.

"It's those bastards that made us strip." Steve snarled. "Let me at their ugly butts…" He scratched his arms frantically. "Auggghghh.."

Jade felt a cold wave wash over her, leaching the color from the vibrant foliage, and draining the exhaustion that had been plaguing her since the accident. She felt her attention focus on the men, and a faint, grim smile played about her lips. "All right, that's it. I've had enough. Those boys don't know what kind of trouble they just ran into." She purred, as she pushed her way past Jose and Steve, and stalked into the open clearing.

"Where in the hell do you think you're going?" Steve hissed, grabbing at her arm.

She shook him off like his touch was nothing. "I'm going to go work out some repressed frustration." She growled, then started moving again.

"Jade!" Tori's voice was low, but anxious. "Wait… "

For a long moment, she was alone, then she heard steps behind her, and a hand grabbed the back of her shirt. She pulled free. "Stay here. "She told Tori, as she headed towards the two men on the porch. "Hey!"

She was up on the platform before they could react, then one belched. "Hey… you're pretty!" He lurched towards her, reaching out a hand. "C'mere, pretty lady… "

Jade felt the motion before it happened, a reaction buried deep in her body, that twisted her shoulders and sent an elbow into his jaw, slamming him back against the wall with a startled yelp. She turned as the other one came for her, and nailed him with an overhand right, almost exulting in the sharp sting of impact, that traveled up her arm and through her shoulders. He staggered back, and she followed, grabbing him by the dirty fabric of his flannel shirt and lifting him up as she shoved him against the door of the main hall.

He opened his mouth, then looked into her eyes, and fell silent, his lip quivering.

"You." Jade sent her voice as low as it would go. "Are between me… " She kneed him in the groin, and watched his eyes roll up into his head. "And Dairy Queen."

She let him drop, and he collapsed, grabbing his parts and making a low, whining sound. Jade turned and glared at the two beer guzzlers, who had picked up their rifles, and started to hop over the side of the truck. She leveled her gaze on them and stalked towards them, her hands flexing and unflexing into fists.

They stopped in mid motion, one falling over and landing on his head, and the other falling back on his ass in the truck bed. The one who had fallen out of the truck scrambled to the driver's side, got the door open, and got inside, then hastily started the truck and threw it into gear. He stepped on the gas and it took off, it's tires bumping in the dirt and tossing the man in back up and down like a frog on a hot car roof, his desperate yells following the trucks' engine sound out of the camp.

Jade turned, and looked at the man she'd hit first. He crawled out of her sight and off the porch, rolling under it and startling the camp dog, who scooted out barking in outrage. Then her eyes slowly swept up and pinned themselves on Skippy. "Where's the bus driver?"

The girl opened her mouth and closed it several times before any sound came out. "Oh.. uh… I.. he's … um… I …"

"Find him." Jade growled.

"Yyyyes ma'am." Skippy fled.

It was quiet, then, only the sound of Tori's hiking boots scuffing across the sandy ground broke the silence, as the brunette woman crossed the area, and hopped up on the porch. "Well." She murmured, putting her hands on her hips.

Jade regarded her wryly. "Sorry I took off like that… you okay?"

Tori pursed her lips, and regarded the moaning man on the floor. "Um.. yeah.. I guess." She waved the rest of their group forward. "You all right?"

The other woman leaned back against the wall as their group arrived, giving her wary, respectful looks. "Yeah, I'm fine, actually." She remarked. "I just want some ice cream." She walked to the bench outside the door and sat down on it, stretching her legs out before her and exhaling.

Skippy came back, eyeing Jade nervously. "He's on his way."

"Good." The dark haired woman said, her eyes closed. "Do you have first aid stuff here?" She turned her head. "A landslide opened up a sinkhole underneath us, and we've had one bitch of a day. Those four got tangled in poison ivy." She nodded towards Steve, Elle, Charles and Jose, who glared at her.

"Uh." Skippy glanced between them, "Maybe I'd better call the paramedics."

Elle gave her an evil look. "Will they keep us here?"

"I… I don't know.. um.. probably.. " The guide responded weakly.

"Just put us on the damn bus." The marketing VP snarled. "My lawyer will do the rest of the talking."

"Mine too." Jose chimed in.

"I am a lawyer." Steve added. "And boy, I hope you guys have insurance." He snapped at her. "This was disgraceful, not to mention dangerous.. "

"Yeah!" Jose grunted.

"Hold it." Tori stood up, and walked between them, seeing that Skippy was about to burst into tears. "Stop yelling at her. It's not her fault." She gave the guide a quietly sympathetic look. "She's just doing her job."

Skippy gave her a tremulous smile. "Thanks."

Tori grinned warmly back.

"Shut up, you whore." Steve spat disgustedly.

The Latina turned to look at him, aware of the sudden motion on the peripherals of her vision. "Excuse me?"

"You're Jade's whore.. we all know it.. so just shut up, and go lick her or some.. " He never even saw the fist that hit his face, sending a sharp crack across the porch. Steve's body slid down onto the ground bonelessly.

Tori shook her hand out. "Ouch." She winced. "That hurt like heck." Everyone was looking at her, including Jade, who had stood and started to walk over. "And for the record. I'm not anyone's whore."

An awkward silence fell. Finally, Skippy cleared her throat. "Um… would.. anyone like some cookies?" She offered with desperate cheerfulness. "We've got three kinds, and some juice.. while we wait for the bus, I mean.. I've.. asked the camp manager to get your things from the tents, and I.. you know, we've never had anything like this happen before, and we're really sorry.. really, really sorry.. can I get you all some juice?"

Long pause. "Cookies?" Her voice cracked a little.

Cat, mercifully, came to her rescue. "That would be great… and if you have Calamine lotion… I'm sure it wasn't your fault.. let's see if we can find some band aides, too." She ushered Skippy inside the hall, as Tori walked back over and sat down next to Jade, somewhat self consciously. Her hand hurt like hell, and she cradled it in her other one, staring down at the swelling knuckles as though they belonged to someone else.

Jesus. She'd hit someone. Worse, she'd hit the assistant vice president of marketing for the company she worked for. All over a couple of words. Ashamed, she glanced up at Jade.

Warm, proud blue eyes gazed back at her, over lips that held a definite, gentle smile.

"I shouldn't have done that." Tori whispered.

"No.. but it's all right." Jade told her, reaching deliberately over and taking her hand, examining the bruises carefully. "That's going to hurt for a few days."

"Mm." Tori absorbed the warmth of her lover's fingers around hers. "Looks like yours did that night." She murmured, glancing around at the rest of the group, who were studiously looking elsewhere. "This is really messed up."

"Don't worry about it." The dark haired woman told her. "We'll get through this… trust me."

Liquid chocolate eyes gazed up at her. "I do."

Jade nodded a little reassuringly, then sat back, and exhaled, willing that driver to hurry.