March, 2029

"Hello?! Hey, is anyone down there?" A male voice cut through Daniel's mental fog and the settling dust. "Hello?"

Daniel shifted but stilled when he felt a pressure around the back of his head. When he realized what it was he smiled before sitting up from his prone position to his hands and knees. A thick layer of dust and ash rolled off of his back like water. Under him was Ella who looked shell-shocked, dropping her arms away from his head- having tried to protect him even as he shielded her body with his own. Her relieved reaction to seeing him was a relief to him in of itself- just as powerful as the relief he'd felt when she'd pulled him from the wreckage. She smiled and touched the side of his face with her hand.

"Are you okay?" She coughed.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, you?"

"Yeah, I had a shield." She replied with a smile as she dropped her hand from his face to his chest and patted gently in appreciation.

"Hey, hello??" The voice called again.

Daniel stood first and held out his hand for Ella to take in order to stand. They looked up at the new gap in the ceiling, bright sun shining blearily through the thick curtain soot in the air. Through the dust a silhouette was formed, a dark figure leaning over the gaping hole.

"Hello?" Daniel managed, raising his voice.

"Jesus, how long does it take to answer, I thought you were all dead!" The voice shouted impatiently, a drastic change from it's initial desperation.

"Carver!" Daniel barked, his expression dropping from hopeful to disdain.

"Yeah, dumbass, who did you think it was. You guys okay down there?"

Ella squeezed Daniel's arm gently to get his attention. "What's he saying?"

"Nothing," he dismissed barely looking at her as he looked back up to the silhouette. "No, we're not okay! We have a mansion dropping on our heads! What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anythi- I'm trying to get you out you ungrateful oaf! This is the worlds biggest game of Jenga, part of the game is the tower falling- you know, if you move the wrong piece... which is what happened." He admitted, his confession barely audible to even Daniel's ears.

"Yeah, when the 'tower falls' that means game over, idiot. You could have killed us!"

Carver's silhouette shifted awkwardly in what Daniel could only assume was realization. "Yeah, well - if you want - I can just go."

The silhouette started to disappear from sight and Ella called up, "Hey, wait- you have to help us!"

Carver returned, though they couldn't see his face. "So, the artist made it too." He commented idly. "You got Friend Zone with you?"

"No, we're still looking for him. Now listen," Daniel ordered, "Do you have some rope up there?"

"Yeah,"

"Great, lower it down. I'm sending her up."

The rope suddenly appeared through the dust and it's quick descent prevented Daniel the time to dodge it. The bulk of the rope landed on his head and around his shoulders like a twisted blanket. He didn't move for a moment, simply accepting his fate. The braided rope slowly started to slip off his head and shoulders like spaghetti off of a overturned spoon.

Ella laughed with a quick exhale through her nose.

He glared at her as he fumbled with it to get out from under the braiding.

"We need light!" Daniel shouted up once he'd sorted out the rope and had it resting at his feet.

"For what? This gaping hole isn't good enough for you?" Carver replied bitterly, his arms gesturing widely in an attempt to show the grand exit he had created, however inadvertantly.

Daniel and Ella both looked around, letting their eyes adjust. The immediate area was lighter but most of it was still shadowed by the rest of the house. They shared a look before Daniel responded; "No, it's not good enough. Get a lantern and some matches-"

Ella tugged on his arm like a small child, "and water." her voice seemed to become more hoarse at the mention of the coveted resource.

"And water!" Daniel added.

"You want fries with that?" Carver responded dryly.

"Will you get the damn stuff already!"

"You know, I didn't have to come back."

"Yeah, you did." Daniel barked, impatience rolling off every word and every movement he made.

"You think, really?"

"If you want to find your wife, you need us."

They were met with silence and Daniel looked away from the gap to look at Ella. He winked but she seemed oblivious to the conversation- she couldn't hear Carver's side.

Carver disappeared from sight and Ella crossed her arms. "Wha'd you say to him?"

"Nothing, he's getting the stuff." He defended. "Ella, did you find out where Rebecca was being held?" He asked, needing to know if they really had the leverage he claimed they had.

Her expression changed so quickly he missed the transition with a single blink. "I found out more than that." She replied, her voice going deeper and slower.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Ari."

"What about him?" He asked gruffly, uninterested in the man who'd almost caused a permanent hang up on his mission.

"He- he's in on it."

Daniel blinked. "In on what?"

He knew that Rachel was replaced. They've been corresponding."

"Is that what those papers were?"

She nodded, "Ari- is gone. The man back at Sanctuary is a surrogate." She whimpered and fell heavily back onto the brick slab, her head in her hands. When she began to dry heave, Daniel sat beside her and rubbed circles in her back.

"We'll figure this out. It won't get any further than this."

From the fresh collapse of rubble, the ash continued to float down. A brick fell out of place above them and landed with a heavy thud directly in front of them.

She recovered from her nausea and finished with a slight cough before replying, "It was right under my nose. A man I've known for over a decade was replaced and I didn't even notice. It's probably all of Sanctuary." She sobbed but no tears came. She was too dehydrated. "I've already lost and I didn't realize anything had started."

Daniel knew she was being slightly melodramatic but also knew that he shouldn't point it out. At the moment her world really was crumbling around her - both under the mansion and outside in what reality she thought she knew - and there was nothing either of them could do.

"Listen, we'll figure it out-"

"It all makes sense now. The way Syndicate has been operating, Ari's weird behavior, even why he hurt you the way he did- why he shot at us... all of it!"

"Incoming!" Carvers voice interrupted Daniel's response.

"Whoa- what- wait!" Daniel shot to his feet and looked for an incoming drop of supplies.

The first was a lantern. It dropped through the cloud of dust like a heavy weight through cotton. Daniel got below it and caught it with both hands, wincing at the use of his arm. He produced it to Ella's waiting hands and prepared for the water which came to soon and landed with a sharp metallic sound at Daniel's feet.

"Dammit, Jack!" Daniel shouted up at the gap.

"I said, incoming." Carver replied snarkily.

When Daniel looked back down and saw Ella already gulping the canteens contents, water dripping down the sides of her mouths.

"You're going to pull Ella to the surface!" Daniel ordered.

Both Ella and Carver shouted at him, "What?"

Ella began to back away from him and he grabbed her with his left hand to take her right bicep. "Ella," he pulled her close to him so that they stood in front of one another. Gently he raised both hands to either side of her face, forcing her to look up at him. "I will not leave here until I get Michael out. But you need to get out of here."

"I-"

"If it helps, think of it as babysitting that asshole up there."

"I can hear you, you know." Carver commented from above but Ella didn't hear so Daniel pretended that he didn't either.

Daniel brushed his thumb over her cheek. "Think of it any way you want, but I need you to do this."

"Why?" She murmured. Begging him to admit what they both already knew but refused to confess.

He shook his head and brushed some splinters out of her hair, "because I like you. I don't know why but I don't hate you."

She smirked. Her smile was weary and timid but it was there. It made his chest tighten, breathless. "I don't hate you either." Ella muttered and covered the hand on the side of her face with her own.

"Well, I hate both of you. Can we pick up the pace?" Carver interrupted and Daniel couldn't suppress the growl deep within his chest. Ella sensed, rather than heard, his discomfort and they stepped away from one another to look up at the sun glaring hole above them.

"I'll see you soon." He assured and helped to fasten the rope around her waist and under her like a harness.

Ella held onto the rope above her and braced herself for the ascent into the sunlight. She pinched her eyes closed and leaned close to the line. Before Daniel could change his mind about sending her up with the man who'd caused him so much pain- trusting him not to hurt her- she was gone. Brought up to the surface with little effort and it occurred to Daniel that Carver had used a horse to do the heavy lifting.

"Ella?!" He called, wanting proof of her well being.

Two silhouettes appeared, the shorter one waving timidly and though he couldn't see her face he could imagine the grimace. The light was likely torture for her. The rope came back down and the two figures disappeared from sight.

Daniel knelt down to gather the canteen and the lantern, finding matches inside. He lifted the glass door and removed the matches. He turned the knob on the side of the lamp, the doused wick lifting from the burner like a sprout from the ground. He set it down on the even slab of what remained of the fireplace hearth and struck the match against the brick. It lit in a magnificent spark and crackle. He lowered it, gently, into the glass box and lit the flat wick.

In the sunlight the lantern barely cast its glow around the rubble.

He glanced back up to the gap but no one was watching. The gut feeling that he'd made a mistake leaving them alone together tore at his insides and he felt the urge to climb the rope to check on her. Yet, the idea of returning without Michael in tow- suffering her wrath or worse her disappointment- was enough to keep his feet on the ground and step away from the sunlight.

Out of the light of the sun, the lantern improved visibility as he searched the immediate area. He'd been disoriented when he first emerged from the rubble but with a clear head he remembered being closest to Michael when the bomb went off. Meaning, they should have fallen close to one another. Quickly, with renewed faith in the survival of all four of them, he ran back the way he came.

"Mike! Hey, Mike. If you can hear me- give me a sign." he called loudly. Hoping beyond hope that if Mike could hear him that he could hear him back. Daniel stood on top of a mountain of debris, holding the lantern up like a beacon. "Mike!"

"Here."

The voice was raspy and quiet but he could hear it. The attempt at raising his voice loud enough was a strain. But it was Michael.

"Hey, Mike! Michael..." Daniel called again then held perfectly still- waiting for a response that he could follow the sound of. 

O.o.O.o

What do you think of Carver? I know he's still new and hasn't had a lot of scenes but I'm curious how you perceive him (Mostly because I had a hard time integrating him into the group). Next scene should have a lot of him and I want to see what you think of him now.