Work Text:
(5)
"Yeah, hi, Donna. You said you got us a room."
"I did get you a room."
"'A room' implies certain...I mean, solid walls. That didn't grow out of the ground. Certain luxuries, Donna, which are not present in this ...lean-to...thing..."
"I'd actually call it a hovel," Sam supplied helpfully.
Josh gripped the cell phone so hard the plastic creaked. "Sam says it's a hovel. I think he's, he's just being generous."
"The proprietress called it a charmingly rustic cabin with views of mountains and lakes, with five-minute access to the thriving heart of Inuvik."
"Yeah, well, turns out that's five minutes by dogsled, and the thriving heart of Inuvik consists of a post office, an RCMP station, and a bait shop. But I do appreciate you taking a whole ten seconds for research before sticking us out here with the, the wolves, and the abominable snow thing, and--"
"Hey, is Toby there? I need to ask him about the--"
"Sam wants to know --"
"Is this about the speech for the Daughters of the American Revolution? Toby says he can't deal with--"
"She wants to know is it about --"
Sam leaned in. "Tell him it's about Keith Richardson, the DMCA, and a threat to our most basic freedoms."
"He can't deal with that either."
"Did you say 'a threat to our most basic'--"
"I said the whole thing, Sam!"
"Donna, I want you to call me when you've arranged transportation out of here powered by something doesn't bark. Then I want you to clean out your desk."
"That's your hyperbole voice, Joshua, you don't--"
"Just the first part, okay?" He snapped the phone closed and slumped against the door. "How do I not fire her?"
"You really should try looking on the bright side."
"It's January. There's not gonna be a bright side in this part of the world until...I dunno, July? We're going to miss our meeting with Trenton, which will probably mean war with Canada. We have no electricity, we have only a wood stove neither of us knows how to use to provide warmth and prepare sustenance..."
"Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"We have four days of absolute safety from electronic surveillance of any kind," Sam said, and waited.
Josh blinked. He blinked again, then tilted his head. "Oh."
"Yeah," Sam said softly.
Something business-like shut itself off in Josh's brain. Something else shifted, and changed color. "I should've known something was up when they broke out the snowsuits and asked for our medical histories."
"I really think you should stand over here now, Josh."
It got him a pair of warm hands on his hips and a look from Sam that made the wood stove redundant. Josh ran a finger down one side of Sam's face; it burned. "Think this place has room service?"
Sam smiled. "Possibly an air-drop, later in the week."
"Do you think it's okay? That we do this? Now?"
"I believe that if we do this now, and something bad happens, a reasonable case could be made that it was Donna's fault."
"Oh." Josh grinned and moved his finger to Sam's mouth. "'Kay."
"Josh? I know how to use a wood stove."
"Shhh."
"And I'll protect you from the abominable snowman, also known in some regions as the Yeti, or--"
"Now you're just posturing."
"--Sasquatch, I think, but that's possibly only in--"
"Sam?"
"Yes? I--oh." Sam shuddered pleasantly under Josh's hands. "Oh."
Hours later, in the warm, quiet dark, Josh's cell phone rang.
No one answered.