Daisy - Mercer/McRae

[do]

Azati Prime
The Expanse
Stardate: 18.01.2169


The island was little more than a scab of rock, with a collection of rough looking a trees, a pissant little gouge of a pond that fortunately had some freshwater and a sparse covering of vegetation. It all equated to barely a jungle and definitely not a tropical paradise.

How was it that whenever anyone imagined being marooned on an island, it was on some island oasis with edible fruit everywhere, crisp white sand and occupied by some gorgeous piece of tail that didn't speak English but wanted to be taught the ways of love?

Glaring through the rising heat of the sand into the empty sea beyond, Captain Jake Mercer felt seriously ripped off. Where the fuck was their rescue.

It was almost seven hours since they abandoned ship and crawled onto the shore. Seven hours since their attempt to infiltrate the underwater facility of Azati Prime to disable the shield protecting the city had gone to complete and utter fuck when the Xindi Aquatics attacked the ship on approach. They had assumed that there would be energy fields; they had not taken into account the natural wildlife in the water. Something very big and very pissed had taken to their ship like it was paper.

The shuttle had been torn apart and at the time, he had remembered grabbing their commanding officer in this mission and making sure the woman got into an EV suit. He had remembered barking orders at the others but there hadn't been time to make sure if they got out. Not when the ship was cracking apart around them like an egg. So they had made it to the surface and spied this little piece of paradise and made for it, hoping that the others would follow.

Except they hadn't.

And now he was stuck on this piece of dirt, hoping that the fleet didn't get obliterated by the Xindi enemy and that someone remembered to come get them because he didn't relish being stuck on an island with the Battle Bitch of the North for the rest of eternity.

Sitting down in her underwear and standard-issue tank top, Lieutenant Colonel Sloane McRae wasn't living her finest hour. Not by a longshot. Putting her comm unit back together for the umpteenth time, she blew at a strand of hair that kept falling forward on her face.

"Shit." She let go of the delicate instruments and electronics and pulled her hair back in annoyance, twisting it into a messy knot. While at it, she scanned to beach to see where Mr. Happy had disappeared to.

The grumbling sod hadn't said a word since they had made it to this island and come to accept that no one else on their shuttle would. She sighed. She couldn't blame him for blaming her. It was her gig and she'd lost all her men bar one. And they hadn't even made a dent in the Xindi bastards. She certainly shared Mercer's frustration.

Sloane looked back down at the comms. Unclenching her fists, she finished closing the thing up and tried once more to make contact with Enterprise.

Hearing her curse as he rounded the bend of beach, he saw her still trying to fix the comm unit that was most likely water logged, being jammed or worse yet, had nowhere to transmit to. Jake didn't much like the last possibility. He had discarded the EV suit and was now wearing fatigues and a t-shirt, trying to think of what they could or rather should do next. Of course, on this island, she was queen, being the ranking officer.

"I'm guessing it's still not working?"

Sloane tried a couple more times and looked up to meet the Captain's eyes. "Still not." Putting the stuff down on the log she'd improvised as a workbench, Sloane found her feet. "Found anything?"

Stupid question, given they'd both been around the island at least a dozen times already and she knew there was nothing to be found. Still, she clung to hope that some others from the crew would pull through. She didn't expect Enterprise yet. It was too soon. They would still be busy up there and if they had ever picked up the shuttle's distress signal, they wouldn't be in a position to act on it for a while. If Enterprise was still around at all...

She went to her EV suit and uniform she'd drapped across bushes to dry out. Feeling the fabric, she was pleased to see the sun had done at least that, besides roasting their hides. She started to pull her uniform back on.

Jake spent approximately two seconds watching the Lieutenant Colonel traipse over to her uniform and thought fleetingly, nice ass, before he shifted his mind back on business. This was so not the fucking time to get into that territory.

"Not much," he said shifting his gaze away towards the ocean while she dressed. "There's a water supply, some plants and fruit that may be edible but I'm hoping we're not stuck here that long. I figure once the fighting stops, they'll have enough time to scratch their asses and come find us."

That image made Sloane smirk and she turned around as she finished zipping up. "We can hope."

She really hoped the battle up in space was turning in their favour, even if her mission had failed. Without the shields down over the city, their attack power would be limited unless they figured out some other way.

"Did you find a shelter for the night? In case we're still here," she added.

Jake plonked himself down on the sand a short ways from her and replied, "I found a cave and it looks like whatever used to live in there is gone or dead. No fresh spores of any kind which is a plus. It smells like crap but it's deep enough for the both of us, although it's going to be a tight squeeze."

Jake did not like this, did not like being pressed up against a female officer he didn't know too well, who was reputed to have an iron set to match that of the Colonel she used to serve and worse yet, from whom he had to take orders.

Sloane noted the look on Mercer's face. It had to be close to disdain. "Don't worry, Captain. It's only in case we're still here and the elements don't play ball. I have no qualms about sleeping under the stars if need be."

She was so used to the same crew that this past week had been a bit of a challenge, what with the MACOs from the Farragut transferring over. She didn't know these men. They were Teagarden's. Acheron folk. She had met some but not many. And not this one. He was hard to gauge.

"Nothing personal, ma'am," he replied, guessing that she caught the look on his face. "Just being pressed up against a senior officer that could give me a boner is on my list of top 1 thing I never want to happen on a desert island." He gave the barest hint of a smirk. He didn't do smile. Scowl yes, but no smiling.

He didn't add that she was also an attractive senior officer and that usually he paid extra for legs like that whenever he was after some 'recreation'.

Taken aback for a second by his frankness, Sloane couldn't help but echo the smirk she spied on his face - however fleeting it had been. "It's on mine too."

It would have been funnier if Mercer was familiar with 'MacHayes' but she guessed he wasn't so she didn't get into the whole 'stuck-in-a-freezing-hole-with-superior thing she had gone through and survived. There had been plenty of 'pressed up' then.

He shifted his rather intense gaze at her. "Well, I am pretty irresistible," he said, with a perfectly straight scowl as if he was commenting on the weather.

And she guessed he could be, she had noted. In a less mangled and frustrated state, no doubt. His tousled hair was appealing but it was his eyes that drew her in. Not that she was going there. Ever. Hell, he wasn't even as tall as Rickman.

"On a deserted island, maybe..."

He uttered a short rueful laugh, dispelling the tension of sexual innuendo as he gave her a look of approval. Okay, maybe Battle Bitch wasn't so bad. Being stuck here with her wasn't quite as awful as he imagined, considering the others…

The others.

"I should have made sure the others got out."

She'd been nearly basking in a fuzzy feeling after finally managing to get the man to crack a smile when he pulled her back down and anchored her to the harsh reality of their situation. Not that she'd needed any reminders. Her gaze lifted from the ground and zeroed back on him.

"No, that was my responsibility." Her gut twisted at her failure. She had been pretty banged up during the underwater attack but she should have put her foot down. Mercer had had other ideas, pulling her out when he did. Had he not, she might have made sure everyone else got out but she would have surely gone down with the ship. As any CO should.

"You were flying the bird," Jake said automatically, refusing to entertain any culpability on her part. "You managed to not get us eaten by whatever it was that took the shuttle apart. It should have been my responsibility to do everything else. I fucked up."

He didn't look at her as he spoke. "I should have been watching them."

Sloane didn't know what to say to that. She'd been in his shoes, playing Hayes' right hand man often enough, just like Mercer had been hers on this mission. She knew exactly how he felt and knew there was nothing to be said to make it any easier to swallow.

"You got busy with pulling me out. No one will fault you for that, Captain."

"I could give a fuck about what anyone thinks," he replied with a shrug. "It's what I know I should have done. I should have got you out and made sure the others were behind me. When you assume the others are behind you, that's when fuck ups happen," he retorted, rising to his feet.

All you had to do was make one assumption and the whole world could end. Chance was for fuckwits who didn't know how to get the job done with the proper due diligence.

The Lieutenant Colonel listened, eyes downcast. Nonchalant on the outside, she was burning inside. Everything he said, she felt times a thousand. She could let him carry on with this self-flagellating or shake him from it. For one of her own men, she'd know which would work but for him, she had no idea.

"Captain Mercer!" she suddenly snapped in her usual no-nonsense tone. "I should have been the last one out. Not they, not you. I. There's going to be plenty more fuck-ups around later on. One of those might be yours, but this one is mine and mine alone."

Features drawn, she glanced to the sea and sighed. "Gather some food." Keep busy, she thought. "We might be here a while." With that, she turned to leave him to it.

Jake turned on her, caring less where they were and for that matter who she was. "Alright, alright, I won't get into a pissing contest about which of us is the bigger fuck up," he retorted. "Chances are we're both equally responsible." She wanted in on this mess, fine by him. "I don't gather," he reminded. "I hunt." He almost said gather was women's work but that could get him shot.

Sloane smiled to herself, her back to him. "Then go hunt, Captain. Any chance for some ribs?" She waited a beat and glanced over her shoulder.

"Depends on what kind of critter we find," Jake retorted. "So you're like going to build us a campfire and make us home while I bring in the meat, Wilma?" Fuck it, you only lived once.

"Playing house isn't my forte," she replied, thinking of Rickman again. "And I'm not sure the fire won't attract unwanted attention but a phaser should be able to broil just about anything."

"Good to hear," Jake replied. "The only house I like is a full house before I take someone's money," he replied, heading off into the woods.

Sloane rolled her eyes. "Great. Another poker player," she muttered to herself as she started walking the length of the closest beach. It made her think on Merrick, wondering how he was fairing on Bajor.

There was no sign of anyone out to sea and the beach remained utterly, depressingly empty. How come no one else had gotten out? The odds should have given them one or two more, no? She was giving herself a headache reliving the attack, the evac... where they'd lost track of the others. The horizon soon blurred as she crossed her arms across her chest. She thought on Pete Kilchberg, Jane Dawson and Marv Michaels. Guys she'd fought alongside for the last six years at least. The other two, she didn't know them. Good MACOs by all accounts, but they were Mercer's.

Something nudged her boot and she looked down. A mash of dark grey floated on the water, the wave pulling it in and out. Sloane grabbed it and the sun hit on the glittery finish of the material. A torn piece of EV suit. Part of a breast and shoulder. Her thumb smoothed over the badge. 'Doyle'.

Sloane swallowed and headed back to where she'd left her comm unit. She didn't want to stray too far if she didn't have it on her.

Well, Jake found critters, not edible critters but still critters.

He was pretty sure that if he came back with what he found, the Lieutenant Colonel might shoot him on principle, simply because no female ever created would eat something that looked like a really fat slug and truth be told Jake wasn't drunk or hungry enough to do that either. Fortunately on this occasion, God wasn't taking a dump on him and the critters (the fat slug ones) did appear to be dining on some berry type fruit that didn't look unappetising. It would do in a pinch but he hoped they weren't here that long.

And if worse came to worse, there was fish. Judging by the sea life they had seen before the creature from 1000th depths had decided to emerge, Jake was confident that fish would be on the menu if nothing else. Collecting the berries, he returned to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"I hope you like seafood," he started to say when he saw her carrying something. "What's that?"

He knew of course but sometimes you asked the question just on the slim chance that it wasn't the answer that seemed so blatantly obvious.

Sloane looked up and then back down at what she held. "Part of Doyle's suit," she replied, offering it to Mercer. "I'm sorry." She didn't know why she said that. Finding bits of the suit didn't mean much given the way they all had had to escape. Doyle could have still survived if the EV suit integrity had only been breached close to the surface. A big if.

He looked at the ruin suit for a moment and an instant of grief crept into his consciousness before he crushed it away ruthlessly. People died. Those were the rules. If you didn't get used to that fact quick, you'd join them soon enough. He didn't respond to her sorry. Instead, he turned away from her.

"I found some fresh water," he said abruptly. "We should move position there. Not much in the way of food but when it's a little later, I'll get out there on the water and try for some fish."

Doyle, big dumb Doyle. With his big feet, his Asian girl back on Gaia and his hopes of farming ostriches. Fuck.

"Okay." Sloane let him deal as he wished. She folded the fabric and slid it in a pocket of her BDUs. She gathered her stuff, which wasn't much, and turned to him. "Lead the way, Captain."

They were trudging through the foliage when, suddenly, the leaves started to rustle as if a strong breeze was moving through them and the sound of humming filled the air. Jake paused and looked skyward. Whatever it was, it was coming from above. The hum became a drone and as he caught the Lieutenant Colonel's gaze, wondered if she probably figured out what it was before him.

It was a ship.

"Not one of ours!" Sloane growled loud enough to be heard over the sound. "Take cover!"

Not thinking, Jake grabbed her arm and started heading deeper into the jungle such as it was. Their only chance was to get into the cave he had found and lay low at least for awhile, until they could figure out what the odds were against them. Scenarios were already running through his mind but right now, all was in infancy.

Following Mercer right on his heels - not that he was giving her a choice, Sloane palmed her sidearm. They swayed right and left, ducked low and jumped high as the trees dictated, trying to leave hardly any trace behind them. That ship had to be Xindi and if by all miracles they didn't have sensor equipment onboard able to track human lifesigns, a trail of crushed underbrush would be easy enough to follow.

The cave wasn't small and was fortunately shrouded by enough plant life to ensure that unless someone was searching for it or, for that matter, knew what to search for, they'd miss it entirely. Stepping back to let her go in first, Jake peered past the mouth of the passage before retreating into the cave after the Lieutenant Colonel.

"They're probably here to see if anyone of us made it this far," he said to her, "probably won't leave for a while." Jake considered their options. "If they're still here when the sun goes down, I say we go for their ship. Do you think you could fly one of their ships?"

"And we didn't clean up the beach before we left." In fact, they had carelessly left plenty of footprints everywhere. As she found her way to the back of the cave, Sloane felt along the cold rock with her hand, thinking on his suggested plan.

"If we can get in, I'm sure I could fly it." She sounded a lot more certain of that than she felt.

"Well, don't sweat it," Jake brushed it off, preferring not to worry about what they couldn't change. "At least we know they won't be leaving anytime soon."

Right now, the only advantage they had was their anonymity. "Try and move further inside. It doesn't smell great but the advantage to that is our scent will be masked. Those Xindi are like fucking bloodhounds."

"There's a 'further'?" Sloane thought she'd reached the end but maybe she'd mistaken. The air was already plenty foul but she wasn't even thinking on that. She'd been in worst. "Let me check."

She felt her way along the wall, trying not to dwell on what she came into contact with, and yes, suddenly it dipped further in. She didn't want to use anything electronic or electric in case the Xindi sensors could pick on those signatures. Better safe than sorry but that meant going in blind.

"Careful, there's a drop next," she warned Mercer as she felt like she was entering another room. It went downward a little, felt cooler. The echo was different and she found out she'd been wrong about the smell. "And yes, this is a totally new perfume."

"Well, if we get out of this alive, I'll make it up to you by scrubbing you down myself," he replied, not even thinking about what he was saying or even whom he was saying it to. When it did occur to him, he gave her a little look. "Nevermind." He shook his head. Life was so much simpler when he didn't have to deal with women, especially combat ones. He liked the kind you paid for, the one who didn't want to talk about their feelings or some other dipshit stuff like that. Of course he'd had to command some of them and that was fine, you pointed; they went... all very simple.

But this one was invading his comfort zone and that just made Jake plain ornery.

Once they were far back enough, he pulled out the weapon he hadn't drawn, watching the faint trace of light coming from the entrance, watching for any comers.

"We wait."

"You sure, Captain?" Her way of reminding him she wasn't a piece of tail but, in this case, his commanding officer. She pulled out her cantine and took a small sip of the lukewarm water as they hunkered down for what would hopefully be a long wait and a win rather than a short one with death as an ending. "Want some water?"

He hadn't missed the subtle reminder of her rank. Well they were all kind of rank right now but he acknowledged it without grudge. Besides, the idea of wanting to spread her out in the middle of a dark cave and do the deed might seem fine for some ground pounder who thought it was his god given right to nail everything in sight but not for him. Women made you soft and gooey and then they got you killed. He honestly never saw the need for complication. Jake's idea of dating was ten minutes, a quiet place and a bottle of something and he was good to go.

"Yeah, thanks." First order of business, stay alive. Water was water. He'd prefer some of the rotgut Fabien brewed but any port in a storm, right?

"Here." She reached out where she placed him in her mind's eye given where his voice came from and touched what she hoped was his arm. Reaching his hand, she pushed the cantine into it carefully. The last thing they needed was to drop it and lose the little water they had.

Pulling back, she placed her hand on the ground and regretted it immediately. It was slimy and covered in crap. "Shit," she muttered, pulling it up as if burnt. She wasn't easily grossed out by any means (having had three brothers to grow up with) but this took it to a new level. It was probably best they couldn't see exactly where they were holed up.

Their fingers met briefly and in this darkness and rank smell, it felt oddly comforting. Amazingly enough, he could almost smell her perfume if she was wearing something beneath the fetid smell around them. He clung to it, focused his mind on it so that he wouldn't notice the other. It was delicate, like a daisy growing in shit. Hey, no one ever said he was a poet.

Taking a sip, he felt her shuddered and immediately dug into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief. Yeah, before daddy Mercer became a fucking drunk, he had some ideas about manners. "Here," he handed it to her in the dark, finding her hand to put it there.

"Thanks," she said, annoyed and a little embarrassed by her oh-so-girly reaction. "Avoid the ground. Whatever's on there feels awful." Reholstering her weapon, she fought with his handkerchief to wipe her hand.

"Didn't take you for the type to carry these," she suddenly blurted out, surprising herself even, as she wasn't one for small talk and she'd gathered that he sure as hell wasn't either. "If not for this I would have had to call on that scrubbing you offered earlier..." Fuck. She hadn't said that out loud, had she? The silence of the cave told her that, yes - that and the fact she was stupidly holding her breath. "Nevermind."

Jake allowed himself a smirk and realised that maybe Battle Bitch didn't have a steel pair after all, more like fuzzy dice pair but as long as she kept smelling the way she did and he did not puke, that was fine by him.

"My dad was into the whole handkerchief thing. Real men don't carry tissues unless you planned on bending over."

Sloane chuckled. "You have a way with words, Mercer. That's your dad's too?"

She could easily imagine an older, cankerous man talking that way. Not a guy like Mercer. He was too... well, pretty wasn't it. Because he wasn't and if he was, Sloane would not fucking notice. But he reminded her of Tom. Tom used to speak like that but with a British accent. And Tom sure as hell wasn't 'pretty'. Sheesh, he'd kill her for entertaining the thought!

"Yeah that's dad's too," Jake replied with a fond smile and then a sad one he was glad she coudln't see in the dark. "He's what women call prehistoric. He calls it charm. Whatever it is, he was never lonely for company."

"Was?" Sloane knew that was a delicate question given more than 90% of the human race had lost their folks when Earth and the Sol System were obliterated but Mercer's switch from present to past was confusing. "Your old man's still alive?"

"In a manner of speaking," Jake replied, realising that he had spoken about the old man in the past tense. In a way the guy was dead, the father he knew had died with Joey and Ely. What Jake had ran into on Gaia was a drunked ghost. "He hasn't been the same since Earth." He didn't elaborate, didn't wish to. She couldn't not know why.

There wasn't much she could say to that except platitudes she didn't care for herself. "Sorry."

She went up another notch in his eyes when she didn't trip over herself like most people do about such things. Her sorry was just enough to express her understanding without lapsing into overkill. "Thanks," he said, leaning forward a bit, needing to take a breath of her because the rank was getting a bit much. He could still smell her. "Not trying to hit on you or nothing but you smell nice."

Surprised, Sloane's jaw more or less dropped. Another damn thanks for the pitch black of the cave. She hesitated. "I don't have much competition here," she joked. She leaned in too, trying to catch his scent but nearly gagged when she got her nose full of rancid. Her eyes watered and she swallowed down the bile. Shit, what was the damn Xindi reducing them to? Damn dogs sniffing each other's parts? She felt his heat in the dank space but she couldn't compliment him on smelling like roses. She readjusted her aim. Oh... there. Sweat and... well, something much nicer than the rank in this place. "Whatever helps..."

He felt the slight shift in movement, like she was leaning in and in the darkness, he felt a slight tug on one corner of his lip (not a smile) before commenting. "So you doing anything tonight?"

Sloane chuckled. "I gotta tell you, you give a girl the best first date." Her voice was muted as she was still leaning in, totally understanding what he was doing now that she'd caught his smell. Yeah, his was much better.

"Date?" He almost laughed. "I don't date. If I got ten minutes, there's a quiet spot and some rotgut going, that's about as good as it gets unless I pay for it."

Used to groundpounders' humour, a quick chuckle escaped again but somehow she knew he wasn't joking and the sound soon died in her throat. "Shame."

But this wasn't her business and she didn't know the guy. She had spent the last three years without ever seeing him on Gaia and she guessed that if it wasn't for the Furragut's demise, this would have carried on. She would even bet that if they ever got out of this, he would move onto another ship soon enough and Mercer would be nothing but a distant memory. But first they had to get out of this.

"I don't intend to charge you but I'd like more than ten minutes of this, if you don't mind." And she didn't mean anything else than their proximity. "You had a good idea and the thought of pulling back right now and getting my nose and lungs full of that shit again isn't appealing. You think you can deal with that?"

"I can deal," he replied, appreciating her honesty. A woman who wouldn't swoon at the merest sign of intimacy. "But I don't like fast women." She couldn't see him smirk in the dark.

Another chuckle escaped. "Well, a good thing I don't care." Smiling again, she had to give it to him to manage that out of her while they were sitting in shit, hunted down by the Xindi.

Seeing as to how she was open to the notion of contact - at least to combat their current predicament - Jake moved a little closer and put an arm around her, pulling the Lieutenant Colonel a little closer. Right now, they were all they had to keep each other from puking their guts out in this shithole. He suspected that she wouldn't mind.

Her first instinct was to freeze and then push him away but in that same moment she realised what he was doing... a continuation of what he'd started moments ago, something she'd praised him for. Getting closer to him would mean getting further from their surroundings and that was fine with her.

"Here." She shifted too, sliding an arm around his back as her head found his shoulder. She resisted the thought of burrowing her face in his t-shirt, in his neck, for about two seconds but gave in.

Lieutenant Colonel McRae, Battle Bitch of the North, Jake thought and yet she felt so soft, so feminine. It was different. There was a woman under there... who knew? He held her close and closed his eyes a little, enjoying the sensation of soft skin, a little piece of humanity on this very alien world.

"Try and get some rest," he said quietly. "I'll keep watch."

Sloane let out a ragged breath against the skin of his neck and it was like his smell engulfed her, pushing all that other crap away. Okay, this really wasn't a bad idea. Or maybe it was. She blinked her eyes closed. She hadn't really felt tired until now but she guessed she was and Mercer's warmth had a lulling effect. And tactically, it made sense for her to rest. And why the fuck was she trying to rationalise this to herself?

"You have the entrance?" Of course he had the entrance. "I'll expect a nudge in ten minutes then or else it's gonna cost me, right?" A tease she couldn't help dishing out.

"Yeah you'll have a running tab," he answered, thinking it had been a long time since he had held a woman like this. It was nice. "I'll wake you," he lied.

In true soldier fashion, Sloane gave in to sleep quickly, catching some Zs while she could. What was uncharacteristic of her was the company she'd come to trust enough to do this with. Jacob Mercer, a man she'd really only met a mere twelve hours ago. Until then, he'd pretty much only been a name on her roster for the past week.

He let her sleep for a little bit more than ten minutes because once she was out, Jake didn't see any reason to wake her when it would be some hours before they could move from this position. In pitch black darkness, he listened to the sounds inside and outside the cave. Within, he listened to her breathing, soft and delicate, belying the tough woman she was. Funny, he never thought of her as a woman, just the title that was known to all MACO since arriving on Gaia. But she was woman though, very much so.

The rest of the evening, he listened to what was going on outside and when the sun went down and they had remained thankfully undiscovered, he finally shook her awake.

"Colonel, your ten minutes are up."

Sloane blinked and was suddenly awake, fully aware. With a start her hands bunched Mercer's tee as she got her bearings, fighting the reflex to pull away. That would mean a face full of foul and she didn't want that first thing after a snooze - and a comfy one at that.

"That was more than ten minutes," she grumbled, her voice gravelly. "Sitrep." Bastard.

"You snore and it's nightfall," Jake replied shortly. "We can get moving now. I haven't heard them leave so I figure they're still looking for us. If we're going to steal this bird of theirs, it's now or never."

She nodded. "You should have rested as well. You won't be good to me kicking Xindi butt dog tired." Why men always pulled this crap? "Alright, want some ratpack first or you're going on an empty stomach too?" Her hands felt her thigh pockets as she spoke, looking for a bar or two.

"I liked you better when you were asleep," he grumbled. "Do you always talk so much or am I just lucky?" he said, somewhat amused by her indignation.

'Hey, what do you know? Mr. Happy is back,' she thought to herself. She refrained from pointing out that if they did a word count he'd realised he had a looser tongue than she had.

"I'll have one of those things... any that come in Scotch flavour?" he asked, looking to the bars she was probably going for.

"Nah, but I have Tequila..." She finally found one and pulled it out. She split it in half and grudgingly pulled away from him, taking in a deep breath before she did so. "Here." She waved his half under his nose.

"You have it, I really don't have much of an appetite," he replied on second thought. The place stank too much now that she had pulled away from him. "Meaner when I don't eat."

Pigheaded. Moving in again, her arm snaked around his neck and she pulled him close. "I said 'here'. That wasn't an option. I need you mean, yeah, but I need you more with your head screwed on. You starving won't give me that." With that she pushed the piece of bar against his lips. She couldn't see him but she was close and in his face enough to know exactly where that hot breath of his came from.

Jake turned his head away and grabbed her hand, not at all giving a fuck if she was his superior officer or not. "Ask."

"Damn it, Mercer. Ask what?" Sloane gagged at the smell their push and pull stirred up. "Fuck." Burying her face in the sleeve of her free arm, she tried to calm her stupid ass digestive track while she focused on the fingers that held her hand fast. Why she did that, she didn't know but it helped her keep her guts in.

"Ask me if you want me to eat that. Shoving it in my face, just pisses me off," he said in a low tone, a little on the menacing side. And with that, pulled her close again and took the piece from her hand and chewed.

"I was a bit pressed for a written invitation, what with that Xindi ship we need to sneak on and steal." Moron. Moving her head back on his shoulder, she carried on working on calming her stomach. Well, at least now he could have the whole bar for himself.

"Point taken," Jake conceded the point but not the match. He chewed on half the bar and thought it tasted like the crap on the floor but she was right. He needed to have something in his stomach. Whether or not he wanted. Quelling the gnawing a little, he turned his face towards her again. "Your turn."

"Christ." Shamelessly, she took another deep breath against him before she tried a nibble. She dry-heaved as a result, eyes watering again. Shit, she needed some fresh air. There was this crazy part in her head that felt about to snap. She tried to reason with it but all it wanted was get up and get out there and breathe that sweet-smelling ocean air.

"Come on," he said, hearing the heaving in her throat. Jake started to shift out of their hiding place. "You can eat that while we're trying to find the Xindi ship." They'd have to emerge anyway. Now or five minutes later would make no difference.

"Go on. I'm right behind you." She took a second or two to stand up, letting the blood flow back into her legs. She felt for her cantine and picked it up, brushing the muck on her pants before putting it away. Finally she pulled her sidearm out and followed his sounds ahead of her.

Jake emerged first, phaser drawn. He peered out of the green foliage covering the opening and saw nothing out there that could be considered dangerous. Thanks to their hours in the cave, his eyes were adjusted for the dark. He straightened up once he was past the opening, keeping watch while the Lieutenant Colonel emerged. The Xindi needed to land somewhere with a clearing, he suspected the beach would be the safest bet.

"All clear?" Sloane asked in a whisper. Shit, she was glad to be out of that hole. She took a careful breath, spat then took another. The night sky shone bright above them and the fact the night critters went about their business noisily enough told her there weren't any Reptilians in the vicinity.

"I'd say the beach," she said, not knowing Mercer had come to the same conclusion as she.

"Me too," he said simply and gestured her to follow him as they made their way through the brush.

If the Xindi had not left yet, then there was a good chance that they were scouring the island for them. There could be no other reason why they were still here. With the debris found on the beach, Jake figured they might think there was a number of humans hiding here, instead of just two.

Mercer took them around so they would approach the beach from the other end. A logic Sloane could appreciate given they'd left their 'preliminary camp' and plenty of tracks on the other side. It was safe to assume the Xindi would have found those and would concentrate on that area. Even if Mercer was against assumptions, he still acted on them. About to emerge from the tree line, they could already see the ship. The ship and one Xindi. There had to be more.

Sloane pulled on Mercer's sleeve to stop him and crouched, studying the beach ahead. There had to be more.

The Xindi waiting outside the ship was Reptilian.

Their hearing was okay but not great, their visuals another matter. Gesturing at Sloane to hold steady, he picked up a rock and tossed it through the foliage and onto the beach. It didn't make a loud sound but it was enough to be heard.

Immediately, another Xindi appeared from inside the ship. Two... they could deal with two. Nodding at her in a seemingly wordless exchange, Jake held his weapon ready and assumed the Lieutenant Colonel did the same as the first Xindi came to investigate, with the other watching over his shoulder.

Sloane gave the signal, motioning him to take this one while she'd get the other. Moving back into the treeline to round on their flank, Sloane moved as stealthily as one could through a jungle and waited for Mercer to take the first shot.

Jake waited until the Xindi was only a few feet away and then emerged through the bushes firing. The phaser fire caught the enemy square in the chest and dropped him backwards from the force of the blast. The Xindi behind him raised his weapon to fire and Jake dropped, expecting that the Lieutenant Colonel had his back.

Appearing to the Xindi's side, Sloane dropped him with a shot to the head. She didn't waste any time and beelined for the ship, moving quickly but carefully. There could be another one in there just waiting to crash the party.

Jake got to his feet as she bolted past him, glad that she was running to the ship before they had company. In a few strides, he caught up with her and they both stomped up the ramp of the shuttle-sized ship. As Sloane made her way to the cockpit, Jake stood at the hatch and saw more Xindi running past the tree line.

"Shut the hatch!"

Me? Wasn't there some controls right next to it? "Shit..." Sloane let out as she sensed the urgency in his voice but was still faced with unfamiliar panels in a language she barely knew. Where was Sato when you needed her? "This got to be it," she prayed and hit the button. But it wasn't it. Instead, the ship lurched sideways a little and slipped into hovering mode, giving Sloane a few extra seconds to work it out.

"No, no. Here." Moving the lever, she heard the whine of a little motor bringing the ramp up as the hatch began to close.

Jake didn't stand on ceremony, firing at the Xindi as they approached in a rapid succession of shots, driving them backwards for cover. He lost his footing a bit as the ship lifted off and somehow managed to fire again as the hatch started to close. He unleashed one more shot before the hatch sealed completely and they were off the ground.

"Wilma, get us home."

"Yeah." She looked back over her shoulder. "Working on that..."

The screen in front of her scrolled way too fast for her to make any sense of it and suddenly something started beeping even though she hadn't touched anything in that area of the controls. Then she realised it was their comms.

"Hey, fancy that. We're being hailed." She grinned as the adrenaline flowed free. "Okay, I think I got it sussed." Her Welsh accent a lot thicker than before. "Punching it." At least she hoped.

The engines fired up fully and the ship soon lurched forward. "There's something I'm missing..." she spoke to herself. "Inertial dampeners maybe... come on, Sweet Cheeks. You must have some of those."

Jake barely managed to keep himself falling ass over heels as she hit the thrusters. Struggling forward as she continued to climb out of the atmosphere, he placed himself in the seat next to her and never thought seeing the stars overhead could look so damn good.

"So," he said, letting out a breath. "As first dates go, this wasn't that bad." He said it without a trace of humour on his face.

"Thought you didn't date..." She didn't miss his deadpan delivery but then she was used to Hayes too. Chuckling, Sloane glanced his way. Fuck, if she looked half as bad as he did, covered in that cave muck, she'd forever understand why he didn't date.

"You know, you smelled a lot better in that cave," she cracked.

A sardonic expression crossed his face. "So did you," he reminded, facing ahead. "Anyway, for the Battle Bitch of the North, I thought I'd make an exception for once."

Battle Bitch of the North. She'd never escape that 'lovely' nickname if that had even reached the people from Acheron. It reminded her of good and bad times but in recent years mostly bad. And it was a heavy, tiresome mantle to wear. But she refused to let that bring her down. They'd amazingly escaped that island after all. And she'd scored a date with Mr. Happy. Could it get better than this? With a hot shower, maybe.
Sloane forced a smile. "You're too kind."

"That's me," Jake said, leaning back into the chair. "Fucking humanitarian. Your turn to keep watch, I'm going to sleep." And with that closed his eyes and tried to get that goddamn scent out of his mind before she got him killed.