Jack pinched the bridge of his nose, half groaning and sighing as he nearly collapsed into his seat.  The deal was on paper, he had an international distributor that was willing to work with his manufacturer.  Years of work with little payout was finally going to hit big.  All that was left was getting back to California and getting the paperwork finalized.  So close to victory he could taste it.  Victory tasted like jet lag and bad coffee.  He had just started to get used to the time in Sydney, it was going to take a month to get anywhere close to a normal schedule again.<br/><br/>But it'll be worth it.  That's what he'd kept telling his wife, every time he was working late at the office.  Every time he had to cancel a date to meet with a client.  Every time they were short on money and he had to borrow from her parents.  It was all finally going to be worth it.  The vacation plans were already starting to come together in his head.<br/><br/>Another man in a suit sat down next to him, looking just as ragged.  Glancing at the safety read out tucked into the seat in front, Jack decided to try a little fun.  Pulling it out, he looked at it with an amused disgust.<br/><br/>"Man, just look at this.  Why do they put all this stuff? You know, the oxygen helps you relax. that's what they--" Jack turned to look at the man and was cutoff.<br/><br/>"Yeah asshole, I saw<em>Fight Club</em>too." the man growled. "Just shut the fuck up and let me sleep."<br/><br/>Jack glared back. "Sure thing.  Just strap my mask on if we do crash." Irritated by his own lack of sleep as much as his seat mate, Jack closed his eyes and faded out just before takeoff.<br/><br/>A sudden jerk brought him blinking back.  Screams and a deafening rush of noise surrounded him.  Jack barely had time to realize that the plane was crashing before he blacked out again. When he came back, water was rushing in, and everything seemed to become slow motion. Watching more than acting, Jack popped out of the seat belt, grabbing the life jacket from under his seat.  The slow motion gave way to a strobe, just flashing still images instead of movement.  Jack's slideshow took him out of the wreckage, and half swam, mostly float, onto the nearby shore.  As he washed up on the beach, Jack rolled over, for the first time feeling the elastic band wrapped around his head.  With a weak hand he pulled the mask off, tossing it aside.<br/><br/>His body shook, first with coughs of seawater, and then with uncontrollable laughter. "The bastard actually did it!" he gasped between haggard breaths.  With the immediate danger gone, Jack drifted back to sleep, uncaring of the waves or sand.