STUCK by PENNYSPY RATED FRT

This story was written in response to the Tracy Island Writers Forum's 2006 Fic Swap challenge.

Request: In which they have far too much fun on an underground rescue, all things considered.

Heather looked up at the clouds gathering above the rainforest. It was going to make the area into hell in about thirty minutes, "You ready, Mon?" she asked.

"Two minutes, Heather," Monica Gibson, her dark hair tied back in a ponytail that reached halfway down her back, glanced over to the other woman frantically untangling wires from the black camera bag. "Anika's sorting out some spaghetti."

"I thought you untied all that junk before we got here?" Heather tapped the end of her lucky pickaxe impatiently, "We wanna get under there before it gets really bad up here."

"Yeah, just...give me a minute," Anika finally lifted a long wire up and slapped the end of it into the socket on Monica's camera, "Got it!"

"Okay. Checking feed..." Monica flicked on the camera. The rainforest and their host appeared on screen, "You're good to go, Heather."

"About time, okay..." Heather straightened up and started talking into the microphone.

"Hi! This is Heather Morgan. Today I'm in Tena, Ecuador, and me and my crew are going to be exploring a recently discovered network of caves just underneath the Sumaco Volcano. We aren't far from Tena, which is a popular tourist resort, but we're going way off the beaten track," she turned and pointed to a large hole in the ground, "Down there, to a place that the locals have named as the legendary �Muerta de les dioses', the resting place of the gods. We're going to be the first people to explore this network, and we'll be exploring it for you on Challenge Network 38, right after these messages."

Heather grinned, "Okay?"

"Got it," Monica nodded, "Okay, we're set. Let's get underground."

"This looks really bad," Anika commented, "Are you sure we should be going..."

"Tena doesn't get extreme weather. It's just a small storm. Come on, get the rest of your kit on," Heather grinned. "I can't wait to take a look at this."

Monica scrambled out of the slick mud and managed to pull herself clear of the swamp that had sprung up around her. She wiped the thick globs of muck from her eyes and half ran, half slid, toward the jeep. She panted, desperate to find the radio. She shook it, hearing only static, "Come in! Please! International Rescue! International Rescue please come in! We need your help - fast!"

Thunderbird One purred like a cat under his control, pushing gently forwards to the spot where Wrestling Presenter and all-round extreme-sports woman Heather Morgan was trapped. "John, any more news on the weather condition so far?"

"Well, Scotty, the storm's easing off in twenty minutes but the local conditions are gonna remain uncomfortable." John whistled, "I still can't believe that you guys are rescuing Heather Morgan?" John whistled. "I hate this rotation thing...!"

"Why, Johnny, you want me to get you her autograph?" Scott grinned, "And I thought you were the sensitive one."

"What's wrong with that?" John said.

Scott shook his head, "Because she's buried ninety feet below the earth's surface, after a nasty mudslide in some of the deepest cave systems east of the Appalachian Mountains. You'll be lucky if we get her out in one piece."

"She sounded okay to me," John said.

"Right," Scott shook his head, "I didn't know you were such a fan. It's not healthy to get this obsessed, Johnny..."

"Yeah, right. And Virgil was lying when he said you almost killed him for taping over her �workout videos'...."

"Those were TinTin's...."

"Why were they in your room?"

"On a rescue here, John. I've gotta contact ground control. Father's on the other channel, okay? Get back in character. Landing in three minutes."

John snorted, "Okay, just, uh, have fun."

"On a rescue mission. Right, that's what we're here for." Scott flicked the other channel back open, "Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two. What is your ETA?"

"Twenty-five minutes. How's the storm?" Virgil said.

"Apparently it's easing off," Scott said. "Hold on, I can see it now."

"Great. How does it look?"

"Pretty hazardous," Scott whistled, "That mud is gonna be a bitch..."

"Told you," John added.

"Thanks, John. Any luck with her location yet?"

"Her camerawoman Monica says she and the other woman are trapped about a hundred feet down. It's a big cave, luckily. You might be able to use an alternative exit. Apparently, that's what Monica did," John told him, "Unfortunately, hers closed up behind her."

"Don't go in without me." Virgil added.

"You're stuck?" Virgil said over the radio.

"Yes!" Scott yelled.

"I said to wait for me!"

"I know, I fell! The ground gave way as I was setting up! I guess there is another entrance to the cave system..."

"How can you be stuck?" Virgil demanded.

"Um..." Scott tried unsuccessfully to shift his head again, "Well...."

"You're stuck?" He heard Heather Morgan yell from below.

"It's my head," Scott said, "I don't know how, it must've been the mud..."

"Your head?" Virgil was grinning. Scott could hear it in his voice, "Scott, you're kidding...."

"No. I'm really not..." Scott winced. His jaw rasped uncomfortably against the narrow sections of rock. He was mostly caught by his head, the rock narrowing as he had twisted on the way down, and the top of the harness he had started to put on seemed to have caught on something else, digging into his right shoulder, "Can you see anything?"

"Nice boots!" he heard Heather yell.

"I'll pass it on to our...designer..." Scott muttered.

"Scott, uh, hang tight. I'll come down after..."

"No way! Wait..." Scott tried to crane his head to look up, his eyes hurt, "Virgil! Send Alan down here. Your shoulders are too big..."

"Oh." Virgil paused. "Oh. Okay. Al, did you hear that?"

"Sure did." Alan sounded like he was grinning too. Then, "Hey!"

"Suck it up, Sparky."

Scott remained hanging in the air.

"Is there anything I can do?" Heather yelled.

"Yeah, don't tell anyone about this!"

"No promises, Scott!" she said, "But I want an interview once this is over!" there was a pause, "Shut up, Anika."

"No promises, okay?" Scott swallowed.

Alan eventually appeared beside him, "Okay, Scott. I'm going to try and turn you...phew, that looks painful..."

"No, not really..."

"Look, get Heather and her team out first," Scott said. He felt the water run down onto his head, and shivered, "Then come and get me."

"Sorry, Scott. We'll need to get you clear before we can get anyone else out. This is pretty narrow, you know."

"Really?" Scott grimaced.

"The rain's getting heavier," Virgil said, "Can you two try and speed this up? We can't keep the mud off you forever."

"I'll get started." Alan said.

Scott heard the chip, chip, chip uncomfortably near his head as Alan began to clear some of the rock that was trapping him. He closed his eyes. His head was going to be sore inside and out before this was over.

It took almost three quarters of an hour before Scott began to get free. The rain was pouring with increasing strength over him and Alan despite Virgil's efforts to keep the area directly above them relatively dry.

"Heather? Anika? Are you two still all right?" Alan shouted.

"The mud down here is rising!" Heather yelled, "What the hell are you two doing up there?"

Scott let out a deep gasp as his head suddenly slid free. He tumbled for four feet before the harness line cut in, catching him before he disappeared into the mud bath below. He swung from side to side, "Hey there!"

He made out Heather Morgan below him. Her blonde hair and most of the rest of her was covered in brown sludge. He could make out the whites of her blue eyes against the smooth black of the wall. She stood on a ledge, muscles tense.

"So you're the bozo they sent to rescue me!" she shouted.

"Just one of them," Scott grinned. His head beat painfully, reminding him of its lengthy time squished between two solid pieces of rock, "Bozos two and three are still up there."

"Well can you get us out or what?" she demanded, "My friend isn't doing so well."

Anika was tensed up against another wall. She looked sleepy, which worried him.

Scott heard Virgil, "Scott? What's the situation?"

"They're both okay. Send another harness and a line down here. Anika needs to go first."

"FAB," Virgil said.

"Alan, get ready to help Anika," Scott let the ropes take him down to the bottom. The mud was almost at hip height in the cave where Heather and Anika were trapped. "Love the show," he said.

"Cute," Heather wiped her arm across her face, managing to move all the mud to a slightly different place. She said, "How's your head?"

"Sore. What's the matter with her?"

"I think Anika banged hers. We were trying to climb out and she fell back in," Heather glanced up at the pouring mud, "Isn't he supposed to be keeping this shit away from the hole?"

"I am trying," Virgil said, sounding agitated, "Every time I put down a barricade it starts getting washed away."

The second line came down, with Alan dangling just above, "Hey! You see it?"

"Thanks, Alan," Scott squelched towards Anika. He shook her gently, "Hey, Anika?"

"Urgh," she opened her eyes a little. She blinked against the flare's light, looked up at him, "You're cute. Why am I...down here?"

"You've got a concussion," Scott said. He slipped her left arm into a strap of the harness, "Lift up your other arm for me. Okay," he fit it around her and strapped her in. Anika started mumbling something about �not again...'

"Glad this isn't your first time," he smiled.

Anika gave him a lazy grin, and he shouted up to Virgil and Alan, "Anika's ready. Get her up! Send me the other harness when you're through."

"FAB!" he heard Alan answer, and Alan started to gather up the line. Anika lifted up, looking a little surprised, she started to shout out, the mudslide starting to spatter off her back. Alan slid down a bit further to help her. Scott was forced to get out of the way as the mud continued to pour in.

He started to remove his harness.

"What the hell are you doing?" Heather demanded.

"I want you to put this on," He said. The mud was getting up to his chest. He climbed out of it onto the higher part of the ledge. Heather was perched on the very end.

"Your buddy's sending down the next line in a second," she said.

"Yeah, but this mud's getting worse. You need to be connected to the ground above. I'll get strapped into the next one."

"That's bullshit," she said, shaking her head, "I'm not having anyone else hurt because of this."

"Sorry, it's my job," he unclipped the first part. Heather shook her head, moving down towards him.

"No way. Put that damn thing back on!"

"Listen, I wouldn't offer unless I wanted to now put it on...."

"No."

"Now!"

"No!" Heather shouted above the rising thunder of....of....

"Oh, shit..." Scott took a deep breath.

"We'll be out of here in two..." Heather looked up. "Oh, shit..."

Heather scrambled against the side of the cave, "Come on!"

Scott scrambled up after her, "We can't..."

"We have to!"

"Hold on to the...!"

The mud that flooded the cave filled it up in a matter of seconds, pushing everything with a force impossible to resist. Scott thought he heard Virgil yell something mere seconds before he blacked out. Then everything was mud and dirt; clay caking the insides of his mind and pounding him into blissful oblivion.

Scott was tumbling through a dark void until the waves parted and he looked straight across into...

"Wow," he couldn't help it. A pair of vaguely familiar breasts stood out of a very, very soggy mud drenched t-shirt directly in front of his face. He was momentarily distracted from the intense pain that signalled he'd bashed his head at least twice on the way to...here.

Well, there were worse things to wake up to.

A hand slapped across his face, "Hey!" he coughed up mud. The breasts and the other hand holding him out of the mud moved away. Scott scrabbled to sit up. Everything was slippery and smelt of clay in one of Virgil's old art rooms.

"Hey!" Heather, her blonde hair now nothing more than a memory, sat back against the dark cave wall and folded her arms across her chest. "I saved your life. You were drowning in that puddle over there," she squinted in the half-dark, "You hurt?"

"Yes." Scott tried to get a handhold. He only felt soft mud beneath his fingers, "I'll survive,"

"Really?" she tilted her head, "You want to bet your life on that?"

He finally got himself to a kneeling position, "Sure. What do you think our odds are? What happened?"

"Remember when you were undoing your harness? The rain picked that point to send a big mudslide our way."

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know. But there's light up ahead. You couldn't have stared at my chest for so long without it."

"Sorry about that," Scott said.

"Oh, it's sweet," Heather grinned, "Guess you're not brain damaged, anyway."

Scott couldn't quite tell if she was teasing him or not. He could feel the mud on his face covering up a growing flush beneath it. He said, "Light. That's a good sign."

"Or it's phosphorus. That isn't good."

"No, it means we're deeper than before." Scott pulled himself forwards. He could see the source of the faint light as well.

She retied her shoelaces, flicking a lighter on and off; "The air flow says to go this way." She peered ahead, "There's a tunnel over there. We're lucky it's big enough for us so far."

"Sure are. The mudslide must've pushed us here. The way back is totally sealed up. This should be fun," he said.

"You look like you're good for it." Heather clambered ahead of him, her shapely form silhouetted in the half-light. "Just don't get stuck again. And, try to keep up."

"I really will," Scott grinned, dazedly enjoying the view as she started to crawl. Despite the fact that every part of him stung, and his head wanted to pop off its shoulders and bury itself somewhere in the deep cool mud until it stopped ringing. Suddenly, he felt he could stand a few hours of this.

They squelched their way along the damp tunnel until they reached the source of the light.

"Oh, boy..." Heather panted.

"Great," Scott nodded.

The lava field spread out for a distance the size of a football pitch. It bubbled and swirled about thirty feet beneath them.

"Now I can smell it," she said.

"Yeah. I think my nostrils were full of mud," Scott rubbed his nose, "Nice."

"Yeah it's nice. Look up there!" Heather pointed above.

Scott glanced up. The sky was visible where the cavern opened into a wide funnel about a hundred feet above their tunnel.

"That's not gonna be easy," he said.

"I thought you International Rescue guys were tough," she said. She pulled out her pickaxe, and handed one to him. "Sorry it's the smaller one. You're lucky to have me, that's for sure."

He looked at her, "I came here to rescue you, remember?"

She raised an eyebrow and laughed, "If I beat you to the top of this, you're giving me an interview."

"And if I beat you?"

"You won't." She started to scramble out onto the first section of the wall.

Scott glanced down at the lava, bubbling like too-hot porridge, and grit his teeth. "If we get killed I'm blaming you!"

They were halfway up, climbing neck and neck, when Heather said, "Shit. Look up there."

The rock above them was completely smooth. They only had a few more feet of climbable wall left.

"It's too hot," she said.

"Not getting soft on me now, are we?" he teased her. He was pleased when her grip tightened.

"Laugh it up, Scott. Who was drowning an hour ago?"

"I'll laugh when we aren't hanging spread up here like a couple of kebabs," Scott said, "Hey," he spotted a dark spot opposite them, above the entrance they'd used to get in, "That could be our way out." It was so hot his sweat was evaporating as it poured out of him.

Heather said excitedly, "I see it! Think we can make it?"

Scott felt his grip slipping and dug his fingers tighter into the rock. The heat from the lava was dizzying, his muscles starting to burn. Fit as he, and Heather, were, they had to make it round to the other entrance, and soon. No matter where it led.

"We don't have any choice," Scott said, "Let's get moving."

Heather was still keeping up with him when they made it around the long wall to the other entrance. Both had managed to sweat off the mud, and were panting hard. Scott's hand was bleeding. He gripped the ledge and wrenched his aching body onto the flatter surface above.

"Heather, are you okay?" he called.

She had started to slow. Her eyes contained a weariness he could sympathise with.

"Heather, it's just a few more feet. You can do it," he wiped the slippery blood off his hands and onto the dry mud on his uniform pants, and stretched it down to her, "Come on. You can make it!"

"Shut...up..." she gasped. Her lips were cracked and bleeding. This high and direct above the lava, the heat mercilessly sucked up all their energy.

Scott's eyes blurred in the boiling haze, hurting and stinging. Any moisture from them evaporated painfully. Heather pulled herself almost up to him, and he leaned out further to catch her arm. She looked up at him, "Scott, I'm g, gonna..." her fingers lost their grip.

Scott lunged and his fingers clamped around her upper arm. She twirled left, then right, crying out in pain. It seemed to have shocked her enough to wake her up, and she grabbed his other arm and dug into the rock wall with her toes. Her boots found purchase, and she walked gingerly up the wall while grabbing tight onto Scott's trembling arms.

They both landed with a thump on the hard ledge. The heat seemed to be increasing.

"Let's get out of this," Scott muttered.

Exhausted, they pushed each other back into the dark.

Scott had no idea how long they lay there, bodies scorched but feeling relatively safe, before they heard the voices echoing off smooth cave walls.

"Hey," he nudged her, "Heather, wake up."

Heather groaned, and flicked on her lighter, "What is it?"

"Switch that off," he heard the voices get more excited, "We aren't alone."

"What?" she flipped it closed and grabbed his arm, "Isn't it people coming to...?"

"Sssh." He put a hand over her mouth. She made an angry noise, "Listen."

The voices weren't...anything he recognised. Scott strained his ears to hear it. The dialect was probably local, but there were guttural noises amongst it that made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. At least, they would if they weren't firmly stuck there by sweat and tight lumps of dried mud.

Scott whispered, "Follow me," and pulled her gently against the wall. They started to edge along it, and the voices started getting noisier.

"They aren't human," she murmured. Her breathing was harsh against his body.

Scott saw torchlight flickering ahead. Shadows followed it. Shapes that looked unnaturally stooped and particularly hairy, "Shit, come on..."

He saw a gap ahead and they both dived into it together. Unfortunately, it turned out to only be about a two meters deep. Scott pressed tight into the inside wall, holding Heather tightly against him. He struggled to keep his breath quiet enough so that they wouldn't hear it. Scott tensed as the flame got nearer and nearer.

The voices went quiet. The torchlight burned just outside their pitiful hiding place.

Heather screamed as a beady pair of eyes in a very hairy face poked around the cave wall and grinned up at them, exposing great lengths of very sharp teeth. Scott kicked it on the head. The creature retreated with a whimper.

Moments later there were more noises. The next few seconds were a blur.

Scott lunged out, determined to attack before they were trapped and killed. The creatures scattered down the tunnel - Scott waved the stub of the pickaxe ahead of him, bellowing incoherently. Heather was right beside him, screaming blue murder. The creatures - he made out tails and rounded ears - rushed down the tunnel. But he knew it was a dead end.

"Let's go!" he started running down the tunnel.

Heather kept up, "Where the hell are we going?"

"Anywhere but ..." they rounded a corner, and out onto a wide platform that overlooked...

"...Here," he finished.

Below them, several hundred similar creatures looked up at them. Their eyes gleamed green in the dim cavern light.

"Rats," he gasped.

"No shit," she said, simply. "Good work," she added.

"Not taking the blame for this one..." Scott replied.

"Now what?" She looked at him, and then they both turned and ran back the way they'd come.

They made it down a widening corridor and then took a turn into a very deep chasm. Scott was frantically skidding to a halt, misjudged, went careering forwards as she crashed into him. Heather grabbed his arm, yanking him off his dive.

"They're right behind us!" she yelled.

"So what did you save me for?" He panted.

The big rats, rats on two legs, beady eyes glowing in the torchlight. Heather ripped the torch from the wall, "Scott?"

"Yes," he grabbed the other one, "This is great!"

"Yeah. This is some rescue!"

He grinned despite their position, "This doesn't normally happen!"

Heather swiped the torch at the hissing beasts. They weren't afraid, just angry, snarling at them, "Me either!" her torch hissed as it caught on a creature's nose. It backed up, spitting fury. "Personally, I prefer the mud!" she kicked it backwards. The thing lunged and tried to hook her hair with its claw. Scott kicked it.

"We need a plan!" he yelled.

"Sure, Scott. How about..." she screamed as another determined rat bore down on her, two of them tackling her either side. She tumbled backwards, screaming.

Scott yelled, also about to be overwhelmed, he stabbed with the pickaxe, but they had him. "No!" he kicked and punched, swearing viciously as their claws scratched in return. "Heather!"

He punched the rat and took one step back too many. Then he was falling, too.

Scott woke looking into a pair of sharp yellow teeth. He kicked backwards, soaking wet. A flicker from a lighter revealed Heather, also soaked through, teeth chattering, "S, so you're okay?"

"A river," Scott drew a deep breath, his teeth also chattering, "Thank god."

"God or whoever's kept us alive this far. We must've given our luck to the other guy to have lasted this long." She smiled at him, "Cos there's even better news."

"I'm glad to hear it," Scott shoved the dead rat away and splashed towards her. She was looking along the watery tunnel, "Hey..."

"I know. Daylight."

"You sure?"

"Sniff the air," she made her way rapidly forwards.

Scott followed her, complaining, "All I can smell is dead rat..."

"Awwwww...."

They were directly under the light. Scott said, "This gets better." They both stared up at the flight of worn stone steps.

Heather panted, "That had better lead to a spa."

"You're not getting soft on me, are you, Morgan?" he grinned. She splashed him, grinning back.

"No," she started to hike, leading the way again. Scott didn't argue, "Are you?" she shouted.

"Not if you keep leading me on," he answered.

They made it to the top of the stairs, shivering, cold and steaming from the hike.

"We...must be in one of those old villages. C, cut out of the rock..." Scott shuffled towards the door. It was still pouring with rain outside, "At least we aren't underground anymore."

Heather leaned against him, looking up into the light. "Wonder where we are."

"I think this'd be on the tourist trail," he murmured. He stepped out of the hut, then turned and grinned at her, "You aren't gonna believe this."

There were huts all around them. Some of the doors were flapping open, "Yeah, they must be tourist cabanas," she said, grinning back, "Think they're empty?"

"Yeah," Scott grinned, "I think it's time we refuelled. Don't you?"

"Definitely," she ran forwards, "You're not getting soft on me, are you?"

The generator throbbed gently, making a background to the varying intensity of the rain. Having eaten what remained of the food in the two cabanas they searched, Scott and Heather were curled up next to each other on the double bed. Heather picked at her teeth while Scott fiddled impatiently with the watch.

She wrapped the blanket around her more tightly, "So are we getting rescued?"

"Once my watch dries out," he assured her, putting it down. "It should be telling my people where we are right now. I was getting a response, but it's taken a few knocks."

He slumped back on the bed next to her.

"So, do I get that interview?" Heather asked. "You know it'd be kinda fun, having a guy from International Rescue guesting on my survival skills show. I know you've seen it. Maybe a feature on...escaping from Mud slides, or climbing across boiling lava...or spelunking."

Scott turned his head and grinned at her, "Haven't you seen enough of underground?"

"We've only just started to explore down there," she said, "Are you going to let a few mean mice scare you off? C'mon, Scott, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Mice...they were fucking...huge..." Scott went to look out of the window, "And I'm mostly sure that they aren't still after us..."

"We fell a real long way," she shrugged, "I think we're 'shafe."

"Yeah," Scott climbed back onto the bed, "How many beers is that now?"

She burped good-naturedly, "Gotta drink 'em before they get warm, Scott." She sat up, and put her hand on his arm, "We kinda had fun there, didn't we?"

Scott looked up at the ceiling, "I had fun," he said, "We won't get out of here until the rain stops, though. How're we gonna kill time until then?"

Heather grinned back, "I guess we're stuck with each other."

"You're drunk," He said.

She punched his arm and sat up. "So are you."

He leaned in, and she pulled him close. He kissed her and they rolled back onto the sheets. He looked down, eager to see her face, pulling away the blanket. Suddenly her blue eyes were very clear.

"Forget the interview." She grinned. Scott laughed. The outside world melted into the sound of rain and the river's fierce flow.

Epilogue

"You're the best, Virg," Scott said.

Virgil kicked away the last furry body and shivered, "You're just saying that because I just saved you from a horde of pissed-off, hyper-intelligent rodents."

"Yeah, I think that's it," Heather panted, "Scott, would you pass me my boots?"

The cabana floor was a mess and Scott tossed her the boots and pulled on his own. Virgil glanced from his brother to Heather, "So, did you two have fun?" he paused, "Before this."

"Actually, we did," Heather said. She winked at Scott, "I want you guys on my show. But if you want to do it again, just let me know."

Scott started laughing.

Virgil said, "I guess it's time get you back to civilization. Unless you'd wait for more of whatever these things are?"

"Let's go," Heather said.

"Right behind you," Scott said.

She laughed, heading down the wooden steps, stepping around the dead rats and running towards the Rescue Jeep that alone was capable of making it through the roads-cum-quagmire.

Scott watched her, and Virgil looked at Scott, "Johnny is going to kill you."

"I certainly hope so," Scott breathed out, "Thanks, Virg."

"Anytime."

"Next time, though..."

"What?"

"Try not to get stuck down a cave before the even rescue starts," Virgil shoved his arm playfully.

"Oh, I don't know, Virg..." Scott started to walk, a half smile spreading across his face as the rain continued to pour down, "It was worth it..."

"Hey, maybe you can be a consultant on the movie..." Virgil said.

"Very funny..."

"I saw your eyes light up when Goldheimer offered the two of us..."

"That was the smoke...that explosion was huge..." Scott coughed.

"I've heard things about the casting couch, I seriously think you were taken advantage of...."

"Shut up, Virg."

"Seriously, you should sue..."

The two brothers walked down to the powerful jeep, still arguing.

Scott felt like hell, but it was going to be good to get home. Whatever happened after that, he really didn't mind at all.