A/N: This idea came to me after the Zoo finale. Just in case it is a spoiler alert, the name of the guy who rescued Jamie is in this story. All mistakes are mine and reviews are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

One Thousand Eighty Minutes

Mitch had been seasick before. The barrage of waves, coupled with the relentless rocking of the boat - which, like hospitals, he was not overly fond of - and the mere fact that they were stuck out here for at least eighteen hours meant that his stomach was probably going to be quite angry. So when his friends mentioned they had to travel via boat in order to reach Jamie, that very organ seemed to tremble with fear. The first time he experienced such an ailment, when he was a youngster, he attempted to halt the oncoming nausea by closing his eyes. That ended up being a terrible mistake as it only made things worse, and before long he was hunched over the starboard side retching into the lake.

In the end, he preferred remaining on dry land. No matter their size, bumps in a road were easier to swallow than waves.

Oddly enough, he did not feel queasy. It was most likely due to him withdrawing to the lower level of the large boat he was currently on, as he had heard being in the centre of the craft was the best option if you wanted to avoid getting sick. The up-and-down motion was not as strong here, and it gave him a chance to retreat the far corners of his brilliant mind.

Abe was the one who pointed it out to him, who told him why he wasn't feeling nauseous. He was right of course, though Mitch wouldn't admit it to his comrades just yet. Anyways, he had a hunch something was going on between Jackson and Chloe. They stole secret glances when they thought no one was looking, and while on the top deck earlier Mitch silently noted that they were sitting close together on the seats at the bow, despite there being sufficient room. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. They reminded him of he and Jamie.

Jamie. Since the plane crash she had consumed his every thought. For quite some time he believed her dead, lost in the accident along with the cure and all hope. Days became weeks, weeks turned into months, and still he did not forget her. How could he?

He took off his glasses, rested them on the table, put his elbows on the polished wood, and pinched the bridge of his nose. She was the reason why his stomach remained calm. For although he did not know their exact destination, one thing was certain: against all odds, Jamie and the cub had survived the crash. It seemed almost selfish, but at the moment all he cared about was reuniting with her. He almost didn't believe it when she phoned him that day, and for a brief moment his brain didn't quite register what was happening. His heart jumped to his throat upon realizing it really was her, and at that moment in time he desperately wished there was a way he could leap through the phone and kiss her until they were both fighting for oxygen.

His entire body practically shuddered with excitement; in the innumerable hours since being separated, he longed to see her again. His muscles almost appeared to twitch at the sheer anticipation of holding her in his arms, of getting lost in the depths of her magnificent blue irises. He craved her touch and her taste, to feel his skin ignite when she brushed her soft fingers against his. It had happened when she grabbed his hand that fateful day in the Harere Hospital as the two magnificent but deadly leopards closed in on them, their left eyes stained with the so-called "defiant pupil". Regardless of their predicament, he had noted that the second he felt her hand encase his it felt as if his very spirit was ablaze with a fire he had not experienced for a long time. Simply put, Abe was correct: he had fallen in love with her.

Mitch allowed himself another smile. If eighteen hours - or, as the scientist in him viewed it, one thousand eighty minutes - meant he got to see Jamie again, then it didn't seem so bad after all.

Thoughts of her friends raced through her mind. Broken pieces of the plane were strewn all across the water but she was unable to spot any of her companions. Were they okay? Had they survived, or where they lost? And Mitch, was he alright? She was even uncertain if she herself were alive. She was holding onto a broken part of the aircraft that, only minutes ago, was in the sky. Someone - or something - had purposely destroyed it in hopes of killing them. She bobbed up and down in the ocean, helpless as a leaf caught in a vicious wind, and struggled to stay afloat.

A large object approached her, and she just made out the male figure reaching down to her. She instinctively grabbed his arms and he pulled her up into what resembled a boat. Through blurred vision and hooded lids, she watched as the stranger lifted the box containing the cub from the water and onto his craft. She could feel the sticky blood on her skin and lips, and a metallic-like taste stung her mouth. The relentless rain tormented her battered limbs to the point where she felt as if it were a raging torrential downpour. Her body screamed in agony, particularly her leg, and with her last vestige of strength she carefully lifted her head. A good-sized chunk of the plane - she could not make out exactly where on the craft it came from - stuck out from her upper right thigh, as if a knife had punctured her flesh. Rivulets of red were easily recognizable against the grey metal. While she was faintly aware of her laboured breathing, the immense pain mercilessly pounding her body was a completely different story. It swiftly overpowered her, and as the man carried her away to an unknown place she lost consciousness once more.

She awoke for a brief moment some time later - how long it had been she didn't know - and she immediately realized they were on the move. She struggled to make out her surroundings, though this was a difficult task as her weary eyes refused to cooperate. All she saw were trees and a glimpse of the unknown man's face when he glanced down at her. He spoke in a language she did not understand.

He had laid her down on something, and now he stared at her. She could barely make out his features as the pain threatened to swallow her up again, and she drifted in and out of consciousness. The man - who appeared to be concerned - turned his attention to the shrapnel protruding from her thigh. He grabbed it with his left hand and pulled the piece out, a bit of blood spilling from the wound as he did. An agonizing scream elicited from her throat, and she almost immediately fell back into the dark abyss.

Jamie shook her head and mentally returned to the present. She had just finished a hot supper with the man - whom she had learned months before was named Anik - before retreating to her quarters, wishing for some solitary time. She was currently laying on the bed with her back to the door, her normal position. In the past she had always liked gazing at the window before falling asleep, and although the animal kingdom had conquered the night for some months there was still something about the veil of darkness that intrigued her. She was aware of the gnawing sensation on her spirit, making her almost restless even though she was quite tired, as if an inner voice was telling her to remain awake. It was clearly not disappearing anytime soon, so for the umpteenth time she studied her living space. It was a quaint room, not overly furnished but not bare either. Wood panelling and a few pictures adorned the walls, an old but cozy chair - upon which rested spare clothes Anik had provided her - sat comfortably in the corner underneath a tall lamp.

After examining the room she rolled back over onto her side, the persistent feeling still gripping her heart. She suspected it had something to do with Mitch, for every night she had been here his face appeared in her dreams. They were so real it was as if she could simply reach out and touch him, but whenever she attempted to his image vanished and she was once again alone. While she tried to keep herself busy by tending to the rescued leopard, who was now fully-grown and had been given the name Posivak, Mitch and the team consumed her every thought. For whatever reason she had not been in contact with them for quite some time, and her stomach lurched at the very idea of them being injured...or worse.

She closed her eyes tightly and mentally pushed the notion away. In her experiences she had learned that even if the entire world was against you, hope was the most important thing one could possess. For her own sanity she had to believe her friends were safe. Then there was Mitch. Over the course of their various adventures she had found herself falling for the rugged veterinarian pathologist. Although initially she barely made a dent in the walls he had constructed around himself, as the weeks flew by she noticed that he was beginning to somewhat open up to her. She had always felt comfortable around him, and despite being exasperated more than once at his stubbornness it was a trait of his she secretly admired.

A heavy sigh released itself from her lungs. She desperately wished she could see her friends again, tell them how much they were missed, and in her heart she knew she missed Mitch most of all. She yearned to feel his skin against hers, have his taste linger on her lips, gaze into his dark brown eyes that were behind those lovable glasses he always wore, his chocolate irises that possessed something she hadn't quite figured out. She missed just being around him, hearing his voice and witnessing a rare smile. It was love, of that she had no doubt.

Unaware that he too desired these things, Jamie started to nod off as sleep began its silent invasion. Just as her eyelids drooped, she heard the door creak open. She didn't bother to move as she thought it was Anik bringing her some tea. The previous time he had come in while she was resting he simply left the mug on the bedside table and left, not to mention she could smell the strong tea even when he entered the room. As the person closed the door with a soft click and shuffle towards the bed, a different yet familiar scent assaulted her nostrils and she instantly became alert.

"Jamie" he breathed.

Her name hadn't even escaped his lips and she whirled around, staring at him with widened eyes. There at the bedside stood a somewhat bruised but very much alive Mitch with a smile on his rugged features. Without the slightest hesitation she practically leapt from the mattress and wrapped her arms around his neck as she threw herself at him, grasping tightly at his shirt with clenched fists. His own arms snaked across her back as he pulled her even closer to him, ensuring their bodies were firmly pressed together before inhaling her scent, something he had not forgotten since the crash. For what seemed like an eternity they stood there embracing until she released her hold on him - but only slightly - to look at him. She cupped his right cheek with her hand, rubbing over his stubby beard with the pad of her thumb as if touching his skin affirmed his presence.

"It's you," she managed to sputter out, stating the obvious. She had a habit of doing that from time to time, but it was one of the many things he loved about her. "You're really here."

Normally he would have replied with a smartass comment that most likely would have landed him a whack to the arm, but there would be time for that later. Instead he reached down, took her free hand in his, lifted it to his mouth, and planted a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Not once did their gaze stray from each other. "You don't want to know how many sleepless nights I've had, lying awake and hoping I'd get to see you again."

A mischievous twinkle suddenly appeared in her eyes. "Odd. I recall you once saying you preferred pizza, beer, and pretty much everything else over humans."

He flashed a toothy grin, something she not seen a lot of from him, and his dark irises appeared to shimmer in the moonlight that filtered in through the window. "Generally, yes. But you...well you, Jamie, are the exception."

Her cheeks instantly flushed red at this sweet comment, especially since it was coming from him. Other than thanking her for, as he put it, "dragging me into this insanity", he was not one to show much emotion. She could not remember a time where he had exposed it to their companions, as he usually kept them bottled up underneath his rough exterior. That, and words such as the ones he had just said had a difficult time passing through his sarcasm filter.

Mitch leaned in so their foreheads touched, and for a moment neither said a word until he broke the silence. "I'm so sorry," he whispered softly. "I would have called earlier but-"

He was cut off when she shook her head, her slightly wavy brown hair bouncing slightly as she did. He recalled spotting tinges of red in her locks the first time they met. "It's okay. You're all here now and that's what matters."

There it was again, that smile that mysteriously turned her legs to jelly. She silently wondered if he knew he had that affect on her. Probably.

"You know that day when I thanked you? I've been meaning to tell you one more thing." He suddenly fell silent, as if purposely leaving her in suspense for a moment, and weaved his fingers through her hair before pouring all his love into a kiss, a kiss that also released all his feelings that had remained concealed for so long. The move caught her off guard, yet she visualized the walls crumbling around him as she immediately became lost in his taste. Her hand moved up to cup his cheek again briefly before she too ran her slim fingers through his black hair that, if she looked hard enough, was slightly streaked with a tiny amount of grey.

This continued for another minute or so, as neither were particularly keen on stopping, and as a result the moment started to become more intense. A fiery tingle crawled up Jamie's spine, inadvertently making her shiver, and an undeniable fervour settled in the pit of her stomach. Her knees felt as if they were going to buckle without any warning.

Eventually they were forced to break apart only because they had to breathe, though they were both fully aware of what would transpire had they continued. In the stillness that followed, his heart was beating so loudly in his own ears he thought she could hear it. "I've gotta tell you this just in case everything goes south again...I love you, Jamie Campbell."

The final piece of his wall she had barely been able to penetrate until recently disintegrated into invisible dust, and joyful tears much like the ones that fell on the day she spoke with him over the phone threatened to spill from her eyes. She had countless things she wanted to tell him, but with the exception of one she kept them hidden for now. "I love you too, Mitch Morgan."

They shared another kiss and Mitch motioned towards the door, a teasing smile hovering on his lips. "Much as I'd love to keep you to myself, there are other people here who want to see you."

She retorted with a sultry tone. "Don't worry, you'll have your chance with me later."

As he opened the bedroom door for Jamie and watched her hug their friends and kiss their cheeks, Mitch caught Abe's knowing smile. In response he simply touched the side of his nose and winked.

One thousand eighty minutes was worth it.