March, 2029

He couldn't move. All he could see was black. There was a slight ringing in his ears but he thought he could hear someone calling out. How long had it been since he woke up? He couldn't be sure, there was no light or means of keeping time. If he thought about it, he couldn't even decide if it was the same day or not.

The noise beyond the ringing happened again and he strained to hear. But it was gone again.

His chest hurt and he knew it was whatever was resting on him. It made it hard to breathe but it wasn't crushing him. Maybe a bruised rib or two. If he strained and moved against what his body wanted, he could shift his legs but not enough to lift anything. He shimmied his shoulders- plenty of manueverability.

With new found mobility, he wrenched his arm free of its place and pushed on the slab above him. It was risky but he was beginning to get lightheaded- his air limited. The slab of wood shifted and dust fell in his face. He turned his head away and kept pushing.

Cold, fresh air wafted over him and he took a long, grateful deep breath. Wanting more he went to free his other arm, only to find it that he couldn't. It was pinned and the sudden attempt at movement forced a burning sensation up his limb and through the rest of his body. He grunted and moaned at the pain and stopped trying to lift his trapped, left arm.

The sound returned, this time more clear with his opened coffin.

Ella.

She sounded awful, her voice raspy and desperate. A wince contorted his face as he lifted his free arm through the hole. "Bishop..." he called, coughing slightly at the use of his voice. It felt like he hadn't spoken in weeks.

She called both names again.

"Bishop, Ella, over here!" he shouted, holding his arm up higher- it burned.

Suddenly her hand was gripping his, hard. "I've got you... I've got you..." she assured, loudly.

"Ella, are you okay?"

She didn't respond, instead she released his hand and he became panicked. He blindly searched for her.

"Ella?!"

"Hold on, I'm going to get you out of there."

The slab disappeared and he was met with a fresh layer of dust. He breathed forcfully from his mouth, pursing his lips to avoid sucking the dust in directly. Her face came into view and the relief that flooded her face was overwhelming.

"Daniel," she muttered.

She was covered in dust which showed evidence of how ragged she really looked. Tear tracks ran down her face and dusty smudges around the corners of her eyes where she had rubbed. She appeared aged, the dust accenting the worry lines in her face and the scar on her cheek. The first thing he noticed about her, however, was the bright red that stuck to her forehead and matted the hair at her brow.

When she started to pull the other debris away he noticed her trembling hands. He was about to say something when she lifted a large lintel away from his chest- allowing him to take a large, much needed, breath.

As she pulled at what remained of the debris at his chest and legs, he questioned her; "Bishop, are you okay?"

Ella began working on the large beam that pinned his arm down- no response.

"Bishop!" He grabbed at her with his free arm, feeling the tightness in his chest, but grasped her left wrist.

She finally looked at him, her brown eyes wide. "What? What's wrong?" Though her tone was passive her voice was louder than usual.

Daniel narrowed his eyes and winced, "Can you hear me?" He shouted, emphasizing his words and exaggerating his lip movements.

Ella shook her head, her lips pouted and brow knitted together.

He nodded his head in understanding. He had a hard time hearing because of the concussion of sound from the explosion. From the gash on her head, shaking hands, the smell of puke and her louzy response time, she suffered from much more. "Ella, I think you have a concussion... you need to take it easy."

"Daniel, I need to get your arm out."

Daniel squeezed her arm again to get her attention. "I hate being called Daniel, I really do. Call me Danny."

Her brow furrowed and fell heavier over her narrowed eyes, "That's what you told me to call you- you correct Mike on it all the time." she continued to shout unintentionally.

"I was giving myself another reason not to like you... it didn't really work out that way, so... 'Danny'."

He watched her emotions shift through her face like pictures of expressions on a slides. Her brows lifted then fell, her eyes widened then crinkled at the edges. Her lips twitched up then down then up again. Her eyebrows arched and lifted high on her brow. Then, suddenly, she burst out laughing. Her face tight with a broad smile that revealed her white teeth.

It was beautiful to see. Breathtaking, really.

Daniel had never seen her so much as smirk and now to see her face so bright with laughter and amusement- it was contagious. He smiled and chuckled a little but it hurt to laugh. That didn't stop her. The plaster on her face gave the appearance that her face was porcelain and it made Daniel pause- thinking that her smile might actually break her. It had been so long that she hid her smile away that it still might.

Then, just as it began, suddenly her laughter turned to sobs and tears sprang to her eyes. Her breath hitched and her shoulders slumped.

The concussion was responsible for the sudden outbursts of emotions but Daniel thought it could be something more. Ella carried the world and more on her shoulders- bearing a burden he'd yet to learn to understand. It made him angry that nobody helped her with it. Not one person shared the responsibility for whatever drove her to be so stoic- not Michael, or Ari, or anyone else in her life cared enough to bear some of the weight with her.

Her body was shaking with sobs at this point and he wanted to hold her more than anything in the world. This woman, who'd allegedly brought upon the end of the world. Who had literally dragged him across a portion of the country on a quest for Justice. Was falling apart in front of him. She was stronger than most and he figured she wouldn't accept the comfort.

Then it dawned on him. That was the problem. It took a hit to the head for her to release all the resentment, depression, remorse, even hidden joy. She needed comfort more than anything in this moment of vulnerability. If she didn't get it- she might start the whole process over again.

Her open-ness to these emotions needed to be protected.

Before he could rationalize some other way, Daniel lifted his hand to rest at the base of her neck and pulled down gently.

She resisted at first but before he could ease up on the pressure, she collapsed on his chest in a blubbering heap.

More than ten years, Ella had refused to cry or smile. The weight of the world so heavy on her shoulders that if she did it- she'd lose grip on it and it would crush her.

Tucked up under his chin, she wept, her hands balling his shirt into her clenched fists. She needed this, and he needed her to be okay with needing it.

Though he had no explanation to why it was so important that he protect her, he did. He was reminded of his argument about why he tolerated her. It wasn't 'the mystery'- she hid herself away to protect herself, imposed her agenda on others in order to relieve the burden of her past. It was her past that was a mystery. Not her. When he saw her guard down, however, he was just as vulnerable as she was.

She hiccuped and her continued to soothe her, stroking the back of her head gently with his freed hand.

"It's all my fault." she murmured.

Daniel had barely heard her, only aware she'd been talking because of the vibrations between their chests. "No it's not," he assured. It didn't matter what he said, not only because of her tinnitus but because she needed to confess whatever it was on her mind.

"All of it... I'm sorry."

"Don't- don't apologize..." He pleaded, his hand moved from her head to her back- rubbing small circles between her shoulder blades.

Ella made a soft sound in her chest, something between a laugh and a sob. "I can't hear you." She sat up and looked at him, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand- further smudging her cheeks in ash and dust.

He smiled at her and wiped away a chunk of wadded dust and tears from under her eye. "We're going to be okay." he said loudly.

She nodded and tried at the beam again, straining and moaning harshly in physical frustration. "I need something to leverage this, I'll be right back." She turned away but stumbled from what Daniel could only assume was vertigo.

"Wait- wait- wait!" He called and reached for her but missed. She scrambled away from him, inadvertantly ignoring him as she searched for something to help save his arm.

Daniel couldn't be sure how long she'd been gone but he could hear her grunting and the crashing as a result of her throwing away what she thought was worthless. All he could do was lay helplessly, staring at the dark ceiling of rubble above them.

He couldn't feel his arm but he could feel the burning in his bicep into his shoulder- he didn't dare try to move it. To fight the pain that gripped him, he closed his eyes and focused on a spot in his body that didn't hurt. When he found it, his right pinkie finger, he focused all his energy on it. Before he could feel his mind drift away from pain, his eyes shot open when Ella fell back into him – accidentally- presenting her return.

In her hand was a long 2x4. "Do you have a belt on?" she shouted.

"A... belt?" He glanced at her sideways. "Yeah, why?"

She dropped the 2x4 and lifted up his black shirt, now a few shades lighter with the dust that blanketed him. Before he could ask again, why she needed to know about his attire, she started tugging at his belt buckle.

"Whoa, hey-hey-hey- aye!" He wiggled under her touch as she pulled it through the belt loops. "I know we had a moment just now but normally a girl has to buy me a drink before she gets into my pants!"

Ella laughed breathily but coughed immediately after. Despite the frown from the discomfort, her lips lifted back into a smile after she stopped coughing. Her bright smile was contagious still, it seemed strange to see such a small action mean so much to him.

The belt came free and he arched his back in order to help it along. "What are you doing?" he finally asked, shouting despite knowing she couldn't hear him.

He was about to grab her arm when she replied, "I'm tying the belt around your arm to prevent the unoxygenated blood from rushing to your heart and causing cardiac arrest."

"For a woman with a concussion, that was pretty impressive." he paused as he watched her wrap the belt around his arm, cinching it just below his shoulder. "Can you hear me now?" he waited until her back was turned before he shouted his question- to truly test her hearing.

"Huh?" she turned back to him, standing with the 2x4 pushed under the beam.

"So, you can hear me."

"Kinda, you sound far away and like you're talking into a pillow." she confessed, "but yeah, I can hear you."

"That's good."

"What?"

Daniel smiled briefly before repeating himself, louder than before.

"Yeah, I guess. You ready? As soon as I lift this you need to pull your arm out as fast as you can."

"That's some positive thinking- I'm not a hundred percent certain that I can even move it."

She frowned deeply and he instantly regretted his negative outlook. It was a grim situation but assuming the worst wasn't going to help. Even if he wasn't wrong.

"Alright, alright. I'm ready."

With a soft grunt followed by a heartbreaking cry of determination, Ella pushed down on her lever to lift the beam up. As soon as he felt the release of pressure, Daniel rolled to his right side- his left arm pulling with the rest of his body. The moment his arm was free, Ella dropped the plank and collapsed beside him.

Together they caught their breath, both shuddering and panting in pain and exhaustion.

It burned. Despite the tourniquet, he felt like his arm was going to fall off. The sensation that his arm was on fire and being stabbed by a million hypodermic needles was unbearable. He groaned and clenched his teeth to the point he thought they might shatter in his mouth. The overwhelming urge to curl into a ball and cry over the pain was something he wanted to embrace fully but the feeling of Ella at his side anchored him to reality.

Daniel recovered first and turned into her. Her upper-half was leaning at his side and with his pivot she fell to his stomach, resting her head over his chest. "You okay?" he asked, resting his right hand on the side of her head.

"Lightheaded." she murmured.

"It'll pass."

She nodded slightly, "How's your arm?"

"It burns like you wouldn't believe." Daniel admitted.

They fell into peaceful silence for a moment before she spoke up again, "We have to find Michael."

He nodded, "Yeah, alright."

Getting to their feet, they helped one another. They used one another as support and ladders, climbing up one anothers bodies the way children hang on fathers when they're young. Once both were on their feet Daniel looked down at Ella and rubbed his eye with his fist. She seemed so childish with the dust turned mud all over her but she also appeared fragile like a porcelain doll. Yet despite her physical appearance he knew exactly the kind of strength that she channeled within, her determination and sheer willpower to do right by the people she cared for.

"What?" She asked, fluttering her eyes.

He blinked. "What, what?"

"You're staring at me with that look."

"What look?"

"That look, your constipated face." She pointed directly at his face.

He crinkled his nose and looked away from her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ella laughed lightly in order to avoid a coughing fit but it happened anyway. When she recovered she cleared her throat and pointed away from both of them. "We gotta get out of here... it's getting harder to catch my breath."

"We're running out of air." he concurred.

She nodded numbly and they shuffled down from their mountain of debris and into a valley of more dangerous rubble and broken glass. "Careful." she warned.

"Yes, Mother." he muttered under his breath.

It was only ten minutes into their search when she began to pant and stumble about the rubble. Vertigo overtaking her. He jogged slightly to catch up with her and supported her- his hand on her waist but his other remained useless at his side. "Hey, sit down a second, will you?" He shouted in order to make sure she could still hear him- for all he knew she was going into shock.

"No, I have to find Mike." She resisted but heavily relied on his physical support.

"I'll find him but if you don't sit down you're going to fall down!"

"Daniel, Danny, I gotta find him."

He shook his head, "C'mere, will you c'mere please?" Daniel tugged on her arm slightly, guiding her into one of the few streams of light in their dark cavern of destruction. When she relented and followed willingly he felt a sense of relief he didn't know he would feel at her listening. Once in the light he held her head up to the light by tilting up her chin with the side of his index finger. Her pupils didn't match. "El, you have a really bad concussion. I'm begging you, please, sit down. Just take a breath. I'll keep looking for Mike."

Ella shied away from his touch but not out of spite or anger- out of embarrassment?

"Ella. I promise, we won't leave without him."

She diverted the conversation. "You're arm, I need to look at it." She touched it gingerly with her fingertips and he felt a strange sensation- unlike how it normally felt to be touched. It was like his skin was not his own. It panicked him slightly, his chest heaving and heart pounding. When he realized it was nothing more than the lack of bloodflow he relaxed slightly.

"You're projecting." He finally replied, his voice deeper than he intended.

"What?" She asked, still hard of hearing.

"I said, you're projecting!"

"That's a big word for you." She smirked, her eyes twinkling despite their heaviness.

He tapped her forehead playfully, just below the swollen part of her head. "This knock has really showed a whole new side of you."

"Let me see." she demanded.

Despite his exaggerated sigh, Daniel bent his arm at the elbow and raised it into her hands. He flexed his fingers as she asked despite the burn it sent through his body- he hated that feeling and not moving kept it from happening.

Ella was massaging his arm as she turned his arm in her hands- looking at the bruising that already discolored his usually tanned skin. It was a gross purple, red, and black that covered his entire forearm, stopping just below the elbow where the beam had rested. Her touch was gentle but each pass she made caused a feeling like he was being pelted with softballs.

"We good, doc?" Daniel asked impatiently, trying to keep his tone even despite his shouting. He didn't want to come across angry but he was getting anxious- the pain was making him see spots.

"I'm really not a doctor."

"Well that's twice now that you've played one."

"I'm just trying to help." She slowly lowered his arm back down until he moved on his own and she dropped her hands to her sides.

"I know you are. Now sit." He pushed gently on her shoulder to lower her to a slab of what used to be chimney brick.

"Danny-"

"Just relax," he held her head between both his hands in a subtle attempt to show her that he was compentant enough to find her friend while also offering her some semblance of calm. "I'll be back before you can even manage to stand back up." He winked, a tight smile on his lips.

When she nodded numbly in his hands, leaning slightly into his right palm, seeking the warmth. He didn't realize just how cold it was down in the basement. He stripped his jacket, tenderly - in order to favor his pained arm – and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Ella smiled up at him, sniffling slightly. "Thank you." She repressed a shudder.

"I'll be right back, Michael in tow." He promised and took a step back away from her only to stop when a mess of rubble fell around his shoulders.

The dust was the first sign of trouble. Then a single brick fell right beside him, making a loud smacking sound on the wooden step beside him. When the house shifted and the canopy creaked, Ella cried out and reached for him just as he dove back in her direction.

A barrage of fresh debris and rubble fell away in a massive drop of dust and remaining mansion demolition.

Ella's voice was cut short, drowned out by the sound of the aftershock.  

O.o.O.o

So, what do you think of this rubble setting? Is it gone on too long? Please don't forget to comment, I appreciate ALL feedback! :)