Everything was upside down. The force of the impact into the water had jarred Mad loose from the Jabberwock's grip and he was trying to figure out which way was up.

Suddenly, something grabbed his foot, pulling him farther into the water. Mad reacted instinctively, kicking hard at whatever had a hold of him. His lungs were starting to burn.

The grip loosened and Mad looked down. His eyes widened, burned by the salt, when he saw the Viso being pulled down. The Jabberwock's talons were still wrapped tightly around him.

Mad could see sunlight glittering just above his head and kicked up. Breaking the surface, he gasped in a great breath, just to dive back into the water. He swam down to where the Jabberwock's corpse was resting on the sandy bed of the ocean, trying to avoid the ribbons of bright pink blood curling up through the water.

He swam around to the Viso, who looked at him with astonishment. His dark eyes were wide, and he was jolted back to action when Mad started tugging at the Jabberwock's talons, trying to unpin the Viso.

Together, they managed to relax its grip just enough for him to slip free. Mad looked up at him through the water, grinning. The grin slipped as he watched the Viso inhale, no longer able to hold his breath.

His body spasmed and Mad hooked an arm around the Viso's chest, pulling him to the surface. His hat dripped water into his eyes and he swam, blessing the current that helped him toward the beach instead of trying to pull him farther out to sea.

He dragged the Viso out of the shallow water. He wasn't breathing and Mad—thinking of something he had seen a medic do on a beach landing during the war—slammed his fist into the Viso's chest, just above his sternum.

That didn't work immediately and Mad, panicking slightly, started pressing the Viso's chest hard, trying to get him to breathe. His eyes flew open and Mad scrambled backwards, startled when the Viso rolled to his side, water spewing from his mouth.

Mad sighed with relief and moved forward, patting the Viso on the back as he choked and retched, his body ridding itself of the salt water he'd inhaled.

Still coughing, he looked over at Mad and gasped, "I thought you'd left me to drown."

Mad shook his head, trying to get water out of his ears. "Now what would make you think that?"

"Well, you have threatened to shoot me more than once." The Viso lay on his back and laughed weakly.

"Only when you've pissed me off. Besides," Mad said with a grin, "what's a few bullets between friends?"

The Viso sat up and Mad realized that in the struggle, or maybe in the water, the Viso had lost the cloth that had covered his head and face. The collar of his shirt still hid his rank mark though.

"So we're friends now?" he asked wryly. He was much younger than Mad had expected. Maybe eighteen or nineteen at the most.

Mad shrugged in response and the Viso raised a black eyebrow before standing gingerly. His midnight eyes scanned the cliffs that surrounded the small, white-sand beach they were on.

"Damn. That thing brought us farther east than I'd thought." The Viso scowled, pushing shaggy black hair back from his eyes.

"How far are we from the others?" Mad tried to stand but wobbled. The Viso caught him, and he muttered, "Told you we were friends."

"Don't make me drop you," the Viso threatened, but Mad was already sliding toward the ground anyway. 

When the Viso pulled his hand away from Mad's back, it came away red, and he remembered the Jabberwock's talons slicing into him when he'd been getting Alice and the others to the tunnel. Apparently, the talons had cut more than his coat.

The damage must have been worse than Mad thought. "Can't we just catch one, single break?" he groaned. 

The Viso helped him take off his ruined coat and shirt to get a better look and said, "That's asking a little much in Wonderland, isn't it?"

"How bad is it?" Mad asked, laughing a little at the truth in the kid's words. 

The Viso was silent for a moment. "Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?" he asked.

Mad sighed, then winced when it hurt. "Bad."

"The bad news is that you'll probably need stitches."

"Lovely," Mad grumbled. "What's the good news?"

"Well, first is that Jabberwock talons aren't poisonous," the Viso started.

Mad waited, then asked, "Anything else?"

The Viso stood up and helping him to his feet. 

"I know how to sew you up. But everything we need is up there." He pointed toward the top of the cliffs, dark eyes grim. "In the desert."

Mad looked up at the cliffs before shaking his head. "Fantastic. Just what I wanted to do today."

"I know," the Viso said, taking Mad's arm across his shoulders. "I set it up special, just for you."

"Well, ain't you a peach," Mad said as sarcastically as he could, and the Viso laughed.

"Come on. I can see a path over there." The Viso helped him toward the cliff. They had used the shredded remains of Mad's coat to wrap him up as best they could.

Mad's shirt helped keep it in place as they started climbing.

"Obviously you meant goat path," Mad wheezed, halfway up the cliff.

"Don't be such a baby," the Viso huffed, breathing just as hard. "Come on, we're almost there."

He shivered when Gene's voice said, 'Ya know? This kid's all right. You should probably stick with him, Mad. You know you need someone to pull your ass out of the fire.'

'Shut up,' Mad ordered sternly and continued climbing.

They were both drenched in sweat, Mad pale and shaking when they finally reached the top. The Viso helped him over to a flat rock and they both sat for a minute, just breathing.

The Viso tugged at the wrappings and muttered, "Damn."

Mad craned his neck around, trying to look at his back. "What?"

"You're bleeding too much." The Viso sprang up and looked at the desert plants surrounding them.

Mad knew the Viso was right when he started hearing a faint buzzing in his ears, black dots swarming at the edges of his vision. 

The Viso looked at him and said, "Stay here."

He disappeared into the Prickly Bush and Mad lay back, trying to apply some kind of pressure to the bleeding, grimacing when the wound shrieked at him. "Where the hell else would I go?"

'Looks like he could be your kid brother,' Gene said. 'Except for the eyes.'

Mad closed his eyes and muttered, "Go away."

"Fine, but can I sew you up first?" 

Mad's eyes flew open to see the Viso standing there in front of him.

"What are you gonna use?" he asked, sitting up with a grimace and a curse.

"Needles from the Needle Tree, pretty self-explanatory." He plucked at the bloody wrappings, tossing them to the side. "Loose thread from you shirt until we can get something better and this." He held up a leaf, his arm extending from where he was behind Mad.

A clear, gel-like substance seeped from it and he said, "It'll help with the pain a little. Numbs the skin. Also helps clot the blood."

Mad leaned his shoulder against a nearby boulder and, half joking, said, "I don't suppose you have anything else to numb the pain?"

There was a brief rustling, and Mad jumped when a flask tapped against his shoulder. He took it, then unscrewed the cap and took a drink. The liquor burned down his throat and he grimaced at the taste. "Are you trying to embalm me?"

Mad handed the flask back and heard the liquid slosh as the Viso took a sip.

He held his hand up, and the kid laughed, handing him back the flask. 

"Sorry. It's homemade. We make do with what we have. Might help slow the bleeding though." The last part was said brightly, and Mad shook his head, smiling and handed back the flask again.

"Only because it's pickled me." Then Mad hissed as the Viso poured some of the liquor over the wound.

"It's also a pretty great antiseptic." The Viso said this, then gave the flask back to Mad who took yet another drink. Whatever it was, it was strong. He could already feel a slight buzz.

Maybe that was just the blood loss.

Mad took a final sip before handing it back. "Are you sure I need stitches?"

"Um... yeah," the Viso said dryly.

"Huh. Could have fooled me. I was sure you'd just cauterized it with that stuff." Mad jumped and swore as the stitching started.

"And yet, you still drank it." The Viso chuckled. "You really must be crazy."

Mad concentrated on his breathing. It didn't hurt too much, and he knew that the plant the Viso had shown him must be working. He could still feel the needle tugging at his skin though. That wasn't an entirely pleasant sensation.

They didn't speak again until the Viso was done, and Mad sighed as the final stitch went into place. The numbing qualities of the plant had started to fade, but the Viso applied another coat before using the strips from Mad's coat to wrap it all back up.

Mad lay back with a sigh before rolling to his side as his back screamed at him. He watched, feeling unbearably lazy as the Viso put together a small fire.

"I don't think we should move just yet. Let the stitches take, because I'm not doing that again." The Viso held his hands to the fire, after having wiped them off as best he could. They didn't have water to wash with, and Mad could still see his blood crusted around the kid's fingernails in the flickering light.

It didn't seem to bother him any.

Mad shook his head, smiling ruefully. He looked across the fire and asked, "What's your name?"

The Viso looked up, his defenses suddenly and inexplicably raised. "Why do you want to know?"

"Unbelievable." Mad scoffed, looking up at the night sky. "You go out of your way to save a guy's neck, twice, and he..."

"It's Killian."

"Killian..?" he prompted, knowing it could only be one of two things. He was becoming increasingly interested in this kid. Mad wondered why he had gone to such lengths to help him and the rest of his group.

"Let's just leave it at Killian for now." 

Mad watched as Killian, rather wisely, kept from staring into the flames. Not many people seemed to know it, but when you stared into the campfire, if you found yourself having to look out into the night, you were temporarily blinded since your eyes weren't used to the dark. With a frown, he wondered just how many campfires Killian had sat guard around in his short life.

Mad finally shrugged. "Well, thanks, Killian."

The kid looked at him, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"What? I'm not always an ungrateful bastard," Mad said defensively, and Killian laughed.

Mad lay back down and was silent then. Worry and exhaustion gnawed at him as his thoughts went to Alice and the others.

Like he was reading Mad's mind, Killian said, "You gave her the coin right?"

Mad looked over. "Who?"

"Alice!" Killian looked genuinely worried, which interested Mad, but he just waved a hand.

"Yeah. I gave it to Chesh before I came to save your ass." He went back to staring at the stars, which were bright as crystals since the moons had yet to rise.

"Thank you."

Mad again had to look over at Killian, surprise on his face.

His mouth twitched and, mimicking Mad, he said, "What? I'm not always an ungrateful bastard."

This inspired a laugh, then a groan when the movement pulled at his back.

Killian's mouth twisted up into a half-smile. "Well, look at that. I guess maybe we are friends."

"Don't bet on it, buddy," Mad shot back.

"Shut up and go to sleep," Killian said as he lay down next to the fire.

Mad laughed softly to himself before shutting his eyes. His hands went to his guns, and he swore silently when he realized he'd lost one of his revolvers to the ocean.