4.2 Abritration

Brusquely making your way past James, you stop just before the older man. He's leaned over his bedding, in the process of folding it to move out of the way. Crossing your arms over your chest, you tap your foot impatiently waiting for him to acknowledge you. His movements pause and he slowly raises his sharp gaze to meet your own. Frowning in disdain, he takes his time standing up and folds his own arms over his broad torso. Raising an eyebrow irately, he stares down at you in silence.

"I'm not leaving without my gun." You state bluntly, unwilling to wait any longer.

Boyd's expression hardens at your words and he scoffs lightly.

Moving to step around you he sharply retorts, "I don't have time for this."

Clenching your jaw, you turn around to see him heading towards the exit. Without thinking you quickly hurry after, following him outside.

"Wait!" You call out, jogging slightly in an attempt to catch up with his long strides.

Ignoring you, he keeps making his way towards the edge of the forest with you trailing after. Angrily pushing through the thick bramble, you continue your pursuit deeper into the growth. Sharp branches scrape at your bare skin and grab onto the fabric of your clothes. Struggling to move forward, you suddenly find yourself too far behind to see the man any longer. Breathing in nervously, you hesitantly make your way in the direction you believe he was moving towards. Stumbling ahead, you're just at the verge of panicking when you hear the familiar sound of water rushing up ahead.

Your brow creases lightly as you slowly make your way forward and find a large clearing. Exhaling softly, you glance around taking in the unexpected surroundings. A deep bed of water cuts through the land, splashing softly as the currents pass by. Momentarily forgetting your original objective, you rush forward and fall to your knees. Splashing the cool water over your face, you feel your body relax slightly. Unable to resist, you quickly strip off your clothes before slipping into the translucent depths. The soft waves lap over your sore muscles gently, relaxing them further. A deep sigh emits from your lips as your body sinks deeper into the calm abyss.

Closing your eyes, you rub your hands along your bare arms, feeling the layers of sweat and dirt slowly dissipate. Lost in the rare moment of tranquility, you don't pick up on the noise of footsteps approaching. The sound of a throat being cleared quickly pulls your attention away. Looking back in surprise, a blush comes over your face when you see Boyd's looming figure.

"Are you finished having your fun?" He questions sardonically, thankfully keeping his eyes on your face.

Flushing deeper, your own gaze slowly drifts down to see a bucket he is now carrying, full of water. Shrinking back into the water, your eyes return to his unamused face.

"I'm not sure what I've done that offends you so much." You mumble softly, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

Boyd's eyes narrow somewhat suspiciously as he looks over your apprehensive expression. Shivering visibly, you briefly glance over at your clothes several feet away on the shore. His eyes follow your line of sight and he steps over to the discarded pile. Leaning over, he picks up the flannel shirt and tosses it over to you. Jumping slightly in surprise, you barely manage to catch it in time. Looking at him expectantly, you wait until he turns around giving you some privacy. Cautiously, you slip out of the water and quickly wrap the garment around your wet body. Shifting anxiously, you pull the shirt tighter around your body when he moves back to face you again.

"Though it is impressive you've somehow survived this long." He comments unemotionally while indicating to follow him. "I doubt you would be of any substantial use, and I cannot afford to be weighted down."

Frowning lightly, your mind quickly runs through a series of scenarios. After a moment you're suddenly reminded of something you had noticed earlier in the hangar.

Almost reflexively you hurriedly blurt out, "Where is the rest of the M350?"

Boyd stops walking and looks over at you, his hard expression briefly faltering as his arms slowly uncross. His brow creases in confusion as he brusquely steps forward, the sound of displaced water seeming muffled in your ears. Looking down at you with an almost apprehensive expression, he seems to spend a moment choosing his words.

"_You're _knowledgeable about planes?" He demands somewhat skeptically, narrowing his eyes again.

Swallowing dryly, you hesitantly nod your head in affirmation. It's not an entire lie, seeing as you still pertain some second hand knowledge from an old flame. It's only by some cosmic luck he happened to own the same model of aircraft matching that of a discarded propeller you had spotted.

"The M350 is shot." He explains in a slightly less irritated tone. "However, there's a G36 outback that we can't seem to get running."

Nodding absentmindedly, you find yourself struggling to retrieve any memories or knowledge of said aircraft. Sensing his suspicion returning, you hurriedly wrack your brain for any trivial information regarding it.

"It's a piston engine, right?" You eventually ask after a moment, feeling your heart rate increase slightly.

You let out a silent breath of air when his eyebrow lifts in surprise. Leaning down, he looks over you with a studious expression. Chewing the inside of your lip, you **** yourself to keep your gaze fixed on his. The only sound you hear is the continued sloshing of water flowing around you. After a moment you take a cautious step back, and anxiously run a hand down your softly trembling arm.

"That's right." He finally replies and straightens back up. "_If _you can assist us with it, I may be willing to reconsider allowing you to stay."

Exhaling sharply, you have no option but to gesture your head in agreement.