A cloud of chalky fecal matter swirled around Willard's body. It rose toward the surface, revealing the colorful ocean floor only ten feet below. Yes! Willard looked at the tracking unit strapped to his wrist. It was still functional and the signal from the TES sphere showed brightly on the small screen. He glanced at his watch and felt a twisting pain in his gut. He'd survived the worst hell he could conceive of, but for all his efforts, he might not make it to Connelly and Robert in time to save them.

Click, click, click.

Willard sucked in a deep breath that sent a jolt of pain through his recovering lungs. "I'm not going through that shit again!" Willard shouted and dove down to the ocean floor. Emergency equipment in tow, he entered the nearest cave, hoping…somehow knowing that it would somehow lead to the cave Robert and Connelly were trapped inside.

*   *   *   *   *

Since the day Robert met Connelly, he had loved her. But in his mind, it was a platonic love. He now realized that he'd been wrong. Something in his forgiveness of Connelly's actions allowed her to see it first, but when their lips met, all of the barriers that kept his honest feelings for Connelly locked away were torn down. But now that they were down, he felt angry.

"Why did you want to kiss him?" he asked, his voice quietly conserving the last view breaths of air inside the sphere.

Connelly looked up at him. He was sitting on the floor of the sphere with his back against the wall. She was leaning against him, sitting between his legs. She was held tight in his warm embrace, but as he asked the question, his arms loosened slightly. "What?"

"Peterson…in the bio-lab."

Connelly lowered her head. "Oh."

A moment of silence passed between the two of them.

"It was a stupid thing to do," Connelly said. "Very stupid. And if we both knew about…this…about us, I would have never done it."

"I know…" Robert fussed with his hair, twisting it into a bird's nest. "I just don't understand why you actually would pick me over him. For all his obvious flaws, he's the babe magnet, not me."

"You're calling me a babe?"

"A smart babe. I've seen you in your skivvies, you know."

"You said you weren't looking when I changed."

Robert smiled weakly. "There was a mirror."

Connelly elbowed Robert in the ribs, gaining a grunt and a laugh. He squeezed her tight. "You forget the peeking, I'll forget the attempted lip lock."

"I'm sorry."

"I've already forgotten it," Robert said.

"Not about that…I'm sorry it took a near death experience to bring us together."