trans_9 | The Battle That Ended The Century

Looked like Kaylee, too. And it was possible that it was still a trick, but she was clearly hurt, judging by the way she was moving her arm. Which didn't make sense to Jamie. Either there would be a Kaylee with the tank - and where did she get a tank, anyway? - or there would be a hurt Kaylee off by herself somewhere to lure him in. He didn't think that the Nightmare King would bother to do both. And then she spoke that Chinese stuff he didn't understand.

He lowered the gun slightly, although he didn't completely relax. "I could ask ye the same thing, lass. But to answer your question, I may have had a bit of a problem with one of those waking dreams and then a wee fight afterward."

Jamie glances back to the tank, and can't help the question that follows. "Where did ye find the tank, anyway?"

A visible wave of relief rushed through Kaylee as he lowered the gun, and she slid off of the top of the tank without worry that he was about to shoot. The last thing she really wanted right now was to get shot again before the first had even had a chance to heal.

She moved a bit closer, not that she was any more sure if it really was Jamie or not. "Wee fight? With what, a truck?"

Ah, the tank. "There was a group of 'em, don't even remember now exactly where. This one was workin' fairly decently, 'n Billy helped me move her to someplace sheltered before we worked on her. Figured it's better to be movin' about in this than tryin' to do everythin' on foot and just waitin' to turn the wrong corner--"

What was she babbling for, anyhow? "You look like you're 'bout to shiver right outta your skin, you know it?"

"Well, no. There was the avalanche, ye see, and then..." Jamie broke off abruptly as Kaylee continued to babble, grimacing for a moment at the mention of Billy's name. Hopefully she would take that for pain in his leg. From what she was saying, he didn't think she had seen Billy as the Evil Ranger, and maybe now would not be the best time to bring that subject up.

"Aye, well, anyway. It's not broken, but I think I twisted something." Bruised something, too, but that's neither here nor there at the moment. "I can move." With some help. There's a tree branch that's leaning against the car. "But not fast, and I've not been able to find much shelter. What happened to ye?"

Avalanche? Kaylee wasn't sure what kind of waking dreams Jamie had been going through, but the smallest bit of her was glad she experienced an avalanche. She probably wouldn't have known what to do...

The wince was taken for pain, and Kaylee's frown only deepened as she got closer. "You had anybody look at it?"

Ah, her shoulder. Kaylee glanced down at the bloodied rag for a moment, and managed to shrug using only her right side. "Got myself into a bit of a scrape, got shot." By her best friend, but she wasn't about to add that in. Luckily she was covered in enough mud and grease at this point that he wouldn't be able to see the bruising on her neck, either. One step at a time.

There's a quick shake of Jamie's head. "No. It wasna so bad before the fight, and I thought it would be okay." And then he got flung into a wall. "There's others that are worse off, aye?"

He peers at the rag binding the wound and frowns. "Did ye have someone look at yours? Ye don't want the wound to fester." He's genuinely concerned by the thought. He tends to worry more about his friends than he does himself, and that rag looks none too clean. "We should get ye to someone who can fix ye up," he states, sounding determined. He reaches for the tree branch, fully intending on doing just that. Well, once he manages to get himself on his feet, that is.

An eyebrow raises, and Kaylee looks evenly at Jamie for a moment. If it was alright before the fight, and like this now, it meant he hadn't had anyone to take a look at his injury, either, and...

What a grouping this was turning out to be. "Still, you shouldn't be hobblin' about on it. Might just get worse..."

When it comes to her shoulder, though...well, the rag was clean, when Billy first tied it on, but there's been plenty going on since. "Billy cleaned it out some, and wrapped it. Should be fine." For how long, she didn't know. It was times like this that she really wished Simon was around.

As Jamie starts shifting to get up, Kaylee offers her uninjured arm and moves to help him if it's needed.

"Oh," Jamie replies, his voice sounding a little bit odd even to himself. "It's...good he helped ye with it, then."

For all that the injury looks bad, a lot of it - like the cut on his cheek - is superficial, and he's able to pull himself up with the help of the stick. He doesn't stop Kaylee if she does assist, although there's some faint protesting along the lines of telling her not to move her bad arm while she does so. After all, he is tired - very tired - and sometimes it's easier to have someone help. It also means he's a little less inclined to try and argue that Kaylee needs to see a real medic right now.

Getting out of the open area, though, is probably a good idea. "Do ye think the tank will fit two?" He's seen them, but never been in one. "We should probably get moving before someone decides that we would make for good targets." There's the whine of mortar fire in the distance, not close enough to be a danger - yet.

A part of Kaylee wonders at the strange sound of Jamie's voice, but she isn't going to ask. Wait until he's rested some, and then questioning can commence.

Knowledge of Manly Pride allows Kaylee to let Jamie mostly take care of himself, though her (good) hand does go out to keep him steady. No use in working him up into a fuss about her, after all. She's glad for the rain, for once. It helps to cover up how clammy her hands have gotten.

"She'll fit two, 'n a couple more, with no problem," comes the assurance. The tank is wet, the top is slippery, and she's doubly careful to make sure Jamie can make it up to the hatch alright. It's still running, too, which doesn't exactly help for stability, but better still running than not running at all. She leads him up to the hatch, opens it up, and nods for him to start in.

Jamie takes a moment to adjust his rifle, making sure it's not going to accidentally discharge while he climbs into the hatch. He's about to start up when he spots a stray helmet he had overlooked earlier, and he uses the straps to attach it to his belt. It won't prevent him from getting in and may very well come in handy later.

He offers the stick up to Kaylee. "Could ye put this in first?" he asks, balancing on his good leg. "I'd appreciate it verra much."

Once that's done, he looks up at the tank. "Och, here goes nothing," he mutters, before beginning the tricky climb up and in.

The climb is going fairly well, all things considered, and he's almost at the top when his feet slip and he nearly loses his balance altogether. It's only by luck that he manages to grab on to the lip of the hatch and hang on for dear life.

"Kaylee!" he calls, his voice filled with alarm.

Edited 2010-03-10 21:32 (UTC)

Taking the offered stick, Kaylee carefully lowers it down the hatch, and lets it fall to the side and out of the way. She waits patiently for Jamie to climb up--Men, honestly, always gotta do things on their own--though she does occasionally point out decent footholds. There's one good thing to say for dented plating.

Once he nears the top, she relaxes again. The hatch is right there, and there isn't quite so much slippery metal to worry about now.

Jamie manages to prove her wrong on that one.

Without really thinking about it, she's moved to grab him and keep him steady. If the shock of pain is physically visible, at least he can't see it while she's helping him back up. "Easy does it," she gasps out, hoping it sounds more like the shock of his almost-fall than her arm wanting to fall off. "S'alright, just take your time."

If he had a shilling for every time he found himself dangling off the edge of something, Jamie thinks, he wouldn't necessarily be rich, but he'd probably have a nice tidy sum.

He's grateful that Kaylee's there to steady him, and he's able to improve his grip on the hatch - and with a little scrambling, find a foothold. It hurts - whatever he twisted is protesting vigorously at the strain.

So (perhaps luckily for Kaylee) he's actually very quick to pull himself up, grunting with the effort.

He gets himself through the hatch and inside the tank, and just lies there for a moment to take a few deep breaths - then belatedly realizes that Kaylee's gasp was probably not just from worry. He looks up to the hatch to see if he can spot her.

"Kaylee? Lass, are ye alright?"

Edited 2010-03-10 23:01 (UTC)

For once glad that things are moving somewhat quickly, Kaylee waits for Jamie to settle himself into the tank before allowing herself a look at her arm. The rag's been torn off, and the rain falling straight on the wound doesn't help make it feel any better.

Wonderful. The last thing she really needs right now is Jamie worrying over her swollen arm.

"Just shiny," she calls back down to Jamie. There's not much else to do but climb inside, though, and she takes one last look around--the sound of battle seems to be growing closer, and they really can't afford to stick around here anyways--before she lowers herself down.

Once inside, she keeps moving until she's settled in her seat with her arm out of Jamie's view. "Climb down didn't bother you none, did it?" A motion at one of the chairs. "Might wanna buckle yourself in."

"Och, no," Jamie lied, "I'm fine." His leg is throbbing, though, and if Kaylee could see his face right now, she'd know he's not telling the truth. He's keeping it rather firmly averted from her at the moment, however - which also has the effect of him not being able to see her arm. Her careful maneuvering to keep the wound out of sight works like a charm.

He settles into the seat, and starts to reach for the buckle, but hesitates with his hand on the strap. "Why?" he asks curiously. The tank seems pretty beat up, but surely the drive wouldn't be so bad. It's not like Kaylee's planning on driving them over some of the mounds of rubble. Is she?

Outside, there is a low whine and a mortar crashes to the ground, rather closer to their position than is perhaps healthy.

Men will be men. Kaylee knows to leave well enough alone, because otherwise the questioning will just turn back on her. She really doesn't need another person worrying over her, even if she is worrying over him.

"She gets a bit bumpy, is all." She's already got her own lap belt on, and glances back at him, mouth open to continue, but the nearby explosion rocks the tank enough that she doesn't bother. Instead, she turns back to the controls, eager to leave before another hits even closer, before it hits them.

The tank certainly isn't the smoothest thing in the world, but it's sturdy, and decently quick thanks to a few wiring and tubing tricks.

Don't get Jamie wrong - he is still worrying over her. He's just not saying anything about it at the moment, making it a temporary understanding in the 'checking on each others wounds' department. He's about to prompt Kaylee to continue with whatever it was she was going to say when the shell hits and the tank begins to move.

Another shell follows close behind the first, this one with much better targeting. It's the tank's quickness (coupled with the slight head-start) that gets them out of range before they can actually be hit.

It only takes about a minute or so of being jostled around before Jamie decides that buckling himself in is indeed a good plan - and does so with alacrity. "I don't suppose ye got the weapons system up and running on this, did ye?"

He'd feel a lot better about being a passenger if he was able to do something.

It really is the blessing of a head start that gets them out of the way. The ground is muddy, slippery, and Kaylee is beyond thankful for the tank's treads. Bumpy ride, yes, but at least they aren't sliding out of control.

Kaylee barely makes out that Jamie is asking her something, and only lets a part of her attention drift to answer him.

"There're weapons of some sort," she says, motioning at one of the panels. "Don't know how good of shape they're in, though. Ain't...really one for fightin'." Or shooting. Violence of any kind, really. "You can try it out, though. Billy did some work on resettin' stuff, so we might get somethin' out of it."

The tank rocks again, and Kaylee's off and swearing in Chinese. Leave it to the time she actually has a passenger that the tank is noticed.

"Aye, well, it's my job to fight, anyway. They'll not get us." Not if Jamie has anything to say about it, at any rate. Kaylee can call him out for being sexist later. If they make it through this.

His initial thought, when he looks at the panel, is not a happy one. What made him think he could figure this out, anyway? If he could watch someone first...but he didn't really have that luxury. He could hear the explosions outside, and had no way of knowing if Kaylee would be able to get the tank out of range in time before one of the shells hit them.

"C'mon, McCrimmon. Ye can do this," he mutters to himself as he studies the panel. If he did that, and then that...it might work. He'll have to load the gun himself, but he thinks that's easy enough. He's also going to have to unbuckle himself for the moment to do so, but there's not much choice there.

He slips free of the restraints, and is carefully able to maneuver and get the necessary ordnance to load the gun. Settling back in, he sends up a quick silent prayer and then...

The turret swivels, pointing back in the direction the shells were coming from. The tank's gun fires, and there's an explosion back in the distance as the round hits. Whether or not it's taken out the anti-tank gun he was aiming for is debatable. But the shells that were streaking towards them stop, at least for the moment.

Maybe it'll be enough so they can put some distance between them and the enemy.

Who really wants to argue at a time like this? Besides, if they were going to do that, Kaylee could mention that normally Wash would be doing the driving, and she would be under the control panels trying to rework the system. Now, if he starts challenging her on mechanics, that's a different story entirely.

They're moving at a decent pace, and Kaylee spares a glance out one of the side catches to see if she can spot anything. Nothing. Whoever's firing is behind them, which means they just have to worry about getting far, far ahead.

The first shot Jamie fires off startles her enough that she jumps back in her chair, and it takes her another precious moment to regain her control over the moving tank.

"Little warnin', next shot," she reminds Jamie, though not without a hint of mild entertainment in her voice. Gotta laugh in situations like this, or they'll eat you alive. What does worry her, however, is the sudden calm outside...

"Sorry," Jamie replies, sounding distinctly sheepish. He had been too concerned about making the shot and hadn't even thought through the fact that unexpected gunfire can throw a person off.

It's still quiet outside, which is unnerving to him. "D'ye think I actually got them?" For a moment, he's hopeful they did. But then the sounds of fire pick up again - it seems all Jamie managed to do is cause them to take cover momentarily. The explosions, though, are not nearly as close as they were before.

Jamie goes to load the gun again, hoping he won't have to do this much longer - and hoping the reason for that is that they manage to get away as opposed to, say, being blown to bits. Before he presses the trigger this time, he remembers Kaylee's warning.

"Fire!"

Edited 2010-03-11 08:49 (UTC)

Some things never change, even in the middle of a battle. It gives Kaylee more relief than she really cares to admit, hearing that bit of sheepishness back in Jamie's voice. He's still Jamie, even if stress levels are high.

Strange, how suddenly significant little things like that seem once you've been trapped inside a nightmare for days.

"We can always hope you did." The likelihood that it hit in one shot isn't very high. Who knew if the gun was even aligned properly at this point? Plus the rain, wind, shelter of whoever was firing on them isn't likely, maybe, but hope never hurt a person. They need more of it, right now.

Silence is broken all too soon by returned fire. Not as close, maybe, but still far too close to be comfortable. Kaylee urges the tank on, shelter spotted ahead. She prepares herself for the next blast, and once Jamie has fired she points out the shelter to him. "Just gotta hold 'em back til we get there, alright?"

"Aye!" The idea of shelter sounds wonderful to Jamie, and he cranes his head to see if he can spot it from his position. The fact that he can see where they are headed gives him just as much relief as Kaylee had gotten a moment ago.

It really does help, those little things.

Adrenaline takes the edge off the pain as he moves to load the gun one last time. Once it wears off he's likely going to want to collapse, but for now it's enough to push him through. He gives Kaylee fair warning before firing again, and the shell streaks through the air behind them. At this range, it's really just a deterrent - something to buy them that precious time they need to reach the shelter.

The sounds of enemy fire continue to grow fainter as they leave the emplacement behind them. "C'mon," he urges, almost under his breath. Please let them get there.

Somehow, they manage it. Kaylee's not really sure how they do, but they do nonetheless. One moment, there are far-off sounds of weapons going off, and the next the tank has stalled into the shelter, definitely worse for the wear of the beating it's taken, but still in one piece.

Even more of a plus, the two humans inside are in one piece.

With the smallest bit of urging, the mechanic manages to get the tank far enough into the rubble-littered shelter that it should be unseen from the outside. She holds her breath for a minute, intent on listening for any signs they might have been followed. When she doesn't hear anything, she moves to open the hatch and peek out.

If they have been followed, the other side's got a gorram quiet tank.

"Think we'll be alright here for a bit," she breathes out, sliding back inside. The hatch stays open, so they can listen, and there's a look of mild triumph on the mechanic's face. "See 'bout your leg now, hm?"

They haven't been followed. They are snug in the shelter and safe for the moment.

Jamie slumps in his seat in sheer relief. "Aye. That was closer than I'd like, though," he says fervently. "Not because of ye," he adds hurriedly. "Ye were amazing. I wouldna have been able to get us here in one piece." He wouldn't have even been able to start the tank, he thinks.

Speaking of his leg, it's currently stretched out in front of him, and when Kaylee brings up the subject, his eyebrows disappear into his bangs a moment. Oh, so we're back to this, are we?

"Not until ye see about your arm," he says stubbornly, eying the limb in question. That rag she had on it is gone, and it's not like he has an open wound he has to worry about.

The calm is almost strange, especially given that they've been on go almost since they ran into each other. "Hopefully we won't be tryin' it again anytime soon," Kaylee agrees, finally smiling. "If it means anythin', I can't hardly bring myself to shoot a handgun, let alone one of these things. Think that extra moment or two you bought us 's what did it." She means that as honestly as she means everything else.

She's already looking over his leg, not even noting his change in expression. "Shouldn't be hobblin' about on it like this," she comments, "not unless you're tryin' to make it worse."

Somewhat consciously, she shifts so her injured arm is on the other side of her from Jamie, and she keeps on examining the leg.
Ox, meet mule.

He smiles tiredly at Kaylee for a moment. "Aye, well, it may have helped," he admits. That's as much as he's willing to concede on that point - after all, he wasn't kidding when he said it was his job to fight, earlier. Besides, it appears Kaylee is going to give him a run for his money in the stubborn department, and he turns his full attention to that.

"I'm sitting," he points out in what he feels is a perfectly reasonable sort of tone. "And I'm no the one running around getting germs in a gunshot wound." One of the first things he learned about when he met the Doctor was germs, so now, of course, he feels like he's an expert in them.

"Look, at least ye should try and cover it again with something." He looks around, trying to see what they can use, then feels at his neck. Ah, it's still there. "Ye can use my neckerchief."

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