Adrift by Homeric

Disclaimer: nothing you recognise belongs to me.

"This is the worst Thanksgiving that I've ever had," Joss says wearily. "And I'm including the time when I was ten and my grandma threw the turkey at my Grandpa because she thought he was having an affair with the woman at the grocery store."

"Did she hit him?" John's voice, usually low is raspier than usual. Whether due to blood loss or concussion she's not sure. It doesn't really matter anyway, but keeping him conscious seems a good idea. Whatever plan she comes up with to get them out of this isn't going to work if he can't move even if it's with her help. Besides without him to focus on she really might start to panic.

"Nah." She twists a little. Her right hand trapped in the handcuffs is going numb but there's not much she can do about that; the metal pole she and Reese are cuffed to is immovable and the keys are so far out of reach that they might as well be on Mars. She can feel the warmth of John's hand on the other side of the pole and resists the urge to check his pulse. "Grams had glaucoma and it went through the window instead. The dog in next door's yard ran off with it. Turned out she'd mistaken the woman's fiancé for Grandpa anyway. She let mom take her to the optician after that." With her left hand she keeps the pressure on his thigh. The bullet that had hit him is still in there, which is in one way a blessing since with only one hand there was no way to try and stem the bleeding from both an entrance and exit wound, but she doesn't want to think about what kind of damage it might be doing.

"So turkeys really can fly?" His mouth twitches in a smile. Usually such a terrible pun would get a tart retort in response, but his face is pale and the bleeding isn't stopping. As though he'd read her thoughts Reese's gray eyes focus on her.

"Seriously?" Carter plays the game and attempts a laugh. "That's so lame."

"You smiled." John rests his head against the pole they're chained to. The silver at his temples has turned dark with sweat and he's so close that Joss can hear his breath hitch.

"That wasn't a smile it was a grimace, and don't pass out on me y'hear!"

"Bossy." His voice is so low that she almost doesn't hear it. Desperately she looks around. The boat that they are in is small but luxurious, perhaps if she and a bleeding out John Reese weren't chained up in one of the cabins, the only crew member's body was a few feet away and they were drifting out into the Atlantic Ocean she might have appreciated the trip. Add in the fact that the boat was slowly tilting sideways which suggested that one of the bullets fired earlier had penetrated the hull, and she kinda wished that she was back at her grandma's house all those years ago.