Tag and Maura sat, agape, staring at the man who was warming his toes on the open fire, his head hung forlornly.

”Did she go looking for me or something?” he asked eventually. It was the final straw for Maura, her fury bubbling as she threw handfuls of moss and firewood at the bereaved man.

”Of course she went to look for you!” Maura exploded, causing both men to recoil to the back of the cave. ”She’s a good person but you just don’t care, you’ve been perfectly vile to both of us for the entire cruise but she still went out there, risking her own life to find you.”

John held up his hands, trying to find words that bubbled as incoherent sounds.

”What happened to your wife is a tragedy, it really is.” Maura continued. ”She was a wonderful woman. Jane has gone off in the middle of nowhere, risking her life to save you and you just don’t give a shit!” She threw a large log into the fire, sending orange embers dancing into the air. ”You should go out there and find her!”

John growled, Maura’s words, while true to some extent, cut at him deeply.

”Why should I put my ass on the line for you, or for her?” he snapped. Both Tag and Maura stared at him, neither one would have been more surprised had he sprouted a second head.

”Oh, your ass is already on the line.” Maura replied eventually. ”And let me tell you, I am the chief medical examiner for Massachusetts, if anything and I do mean anything happens to Jane, I will kill you and no one will ever find you.”

A stunned silence filled the cave once more as Tag and John looked back and forth between themselves and the doctor.

”Damn Maur!” The unmistakeable rasp rang through the cave and John breathed a huge sign of relief as Jane swaggered into the cave only to be ambushed by Maura.

Jane laughed as the doctor wrapped herself around her, kissing her face carelessly.
Jane set Maura back on her feet. ”Who knew you were so badass?” she asked, hugging the honey blonde fiercely.

Surveying the cave quickly, Jane grinned over the top of Maura’s head at the two men huddle in the back, both wide eyed and in shock.

As Maura pulled away, Jane offered a beaming grin.

”I got presents!” she cheered, revealing the weapons she had found.

-/-

Bear kicked at the fire and growled. He was bored. The prey he’d anticipated all year had been a disappointment at best, each one dropping and giving up with the first shot. They hadn’t even tried to escape but had begged him to make it end.

He heard a soft crunch behind him and turned to see Chip relieving himself against a tree.

”Man, put that shit away!” he snarled.

Chip turned, laughing as he tried to urinate on Bear’s back, causing the larger man to reach for his handgun.

”You filthy fuck! I should blow that pointless excuse for a cock off!”

Chip continued to laugh as he put himself away and wiped his hands on his trousers.

”Chill man, you’re too fucking tense.” Chip took a swig from his hip flask and offered it to Bear, who took it and drank deeply.

”We got what, one left?” he asked as he took the flask back from Bear and took another swig.

Bear nodded. ”That kid you saw from the wreck.”

”It’ll be fun.” Chip yawned as he settled down next to the fire. The clearing had been ’their place’ since the first trip. Nestled away on the Northwest side of the island, the clearing was covered by a large overhang. It afforded them both shelter and air flow; both of which were exceptionally important when two men shared any time together whilst camping.

”He’s going to be up this end.” Chip told him, ”This is where the shelter is.”

”So we head out early, try and catch him at first light?” Bear asked.

Chip nodded. ”Man, I’m gonna hang here, you got til noon to bag him, then go and do the job proper!”

Bear laughed at his arrogance. ”I got 2k that says he’s dead in an hour.”

Chip brayed laughter as he rolled to face Bear. ”Make it 5 and I’ll bring you back his head!”

Over the smouldering remnants of their fire, the men shook hands before settling down to sleep.