Haven: Collapse 1: In the Building

[amichan]

 I pull Audrey free, and she breathes deeply and I let go/push her away quickly and back up, looking around. There's nothing else that can safely be done is there? is there? Quick. Quick--it's fading.

"Duke?" I hear, warily from her, "How--how are you doing?"

I can feel the pain coming in from my left leg though. I slide to the floor.

"I'll...be okay. Two--two more, right?" I wave in the direction of the other two women that were in the building when the one brought it down. One of them whose blood I took to get Audrey out. Pulsing...what? Julia...is she close enough the noise worried her? Press my wrist, alive and kicking, hopefully, kicking. I need to actually check my foot. I need to check my foot.

I can hear Audrey murmuring to people, noises of reassurance, comfort. Glad I was wearing boots today that's for sure. Maybe I won't check my foot--my hands are too shaky to mess with the boots. I carefully lean back against what passes for a wall now and close my eyes trying to will the spots away the warmth is futzy, and there are spots and fireworks.

Audrey comes and sits back by me on my left side, "Is your phone any use?"

"It's a nice work of modern art." I fumble for my pocket and flop it onto my leg. I'd checked it before: screen busted, picture all sand art, "I'm sure they're looking for us. Julia knows I'm alive." I wave my wrist.

"Hmmm..." she agrees, "Mine's trying to work..."

I sort of look at it but the light it's putting off is way too bright. I close my eyes again, and just focus on my breath.

"Duke," she says, "About the...thing I asked you to do."

"That is the last thing I want to talk to you about, again. I said my piece after what happened with swim coach Daphne. I thought we had an understanding now."

"I just..." she sighs, "The way you looked at me that night...and we're here, and I just remember and I...and then..."

"How did you expect me to look at you, Audrey?" I shake my head and man, was that the wrong thing to do. Do not throw up. Do not throw up. Do not throw up. I lean back again, resting one hand on the bent knee that doesn't belong to a messed up foot "I didn't talk to you then because if I did I would have said some God awful things I could never take back. It's probably best we don't talk about it now either."

"You're not well..." she realizes, "What--what's going on?"

I look to the side away from her. Other things I didn't want to get in to.

"You didn't come out on a Trouble hunt with the stomach flu or something...we would have noticed earlier," she shakes her head, "Julia would have probably tanned my hide."

"Your hide?" I manage a smirk, "She would have hit me over the head and chained me in the hold."

Audrey laughs. It ricochets through my head.

"No," I tell her, "No. It...it just took a lot of Troubled blood to pull all those beams up off you and--and now I'm crashing. The boost doesn't last that long..."

There's a slight gasp from her then. I wonder what connections her special agent brain just made.

"It'll pass...it's not like we have a marathon to run," I point out.

"Hmmm," she says, cautiously. I hear her shifting position, and feel more than anything her reaching towards me, but I bat her hand away.

"Stop it. Check on trapped people. They're the ones who might be dying. Keep them talking do your magic Trouble whisperer thing."

She mutters something at me but gets up and leaves me alone. I can hear her shifting things around, small things, the scraping of stone, clapping hands, probably cleaning dust off for all the good that'll do in here. There's sound and vibrating coming through from outside now which is somewhat comforting. I can hear her talking again, and a slight raspy voice.

My throat is getting very dry, and I'm starting to feel cold and shivery. Always such fun. If you hadn't taken the extra that thing would have fallen on her I remind myself. It was precarious, and sharp, and would have stabbed right through her.

Audrey comes back again and sits down, "I found a bottle of water," she says, "I gave them both a little bit. Do you want some?"

"Bless you," I tell her.

"I'll take that as a yes."

She hands it to me, but I drop it—hands shaking and sweaty now as the chills give way to overheating. There's a look that passes between us now where I realize we're going to wind up talking about the things but I also realize that she has a bit more understanding of the additional depth of shit she dropped me into. She cautiously picks up the water and carefully pours some in my mouth.

"You're really warm," she says.

"I had no idea," I mutter, after I swallow the water.

"Does--does this happen every time?"

"No. I just...like I said, several "doses" to get you out. Not had to do something like that before. "Normally" it's just a little bit of shakiness afterwards, like--like you've a run a long race and really need to eat..." that sounds safe.

"Why do you say "normally" like that?"

I roll my eyes. There goes that dizziness again. Well done, Crocker. Do not throw up. Do not throw--shit. I wipe my mouth with my hand. Audrey gives me more water. Swill and spit. Then more so I have some in my stomach again. I pull myself up carefully and Audrey helps me move to a different part of the "cave" that the building has become. We're closer to the other people now. I can hear the one girl, Madeline's, whistling breathing, but there was no way I could risk getting her out. I couldn't see where everything was like with Audrey, and with the way her breathing sounded I figure something is punctured and given I couldn't see anything from above going down into her if I tried to pull her out all silver high I'd likely tear her in half with whatever was sticking into her from underneath. She could whisper to me a little that it was okay, she understood, and to try for the others. It's her fault anyway, she pointed out, which, I mean, it is. She is the one who brought the damn building down. At least half-conscious she hopefully won't bring it down the rest of the way.

The other, Carrie, I dug out her face because that was easy enough, but most of the rest of her...is thoroughly stuck. She said one arm was pinned underneath her, and she couldn't move her legs at all, and she could feel something stuck in her side, best not to play around with things. Audrey and I were lucky to not be so close to Madeline, as her, I guess.

I slide down again. There's a mumble from Carrie as I do so.

"It's all okay," Audrey says and then louder, "You still with us Madeline?" No response, "Madeline?" She gets up and walks over there, "Madeline?" she says, softer.

"You okay?" I hear from Carrie, "Sounded like puking."

"Too much partying."

She snorts and then says ouch, "Rude. Keeping all the booze to yourself."

"Well, you have holes in you. It'd be a waste of booze. Come by The Gull once you're patched up and I'll make it up to you."

"I will hold you to that," she says, waving her one free hand around for a moment before I make out a thumbs up sign in the low light and blurriness my vision is on and off.

"I expect so." I massage my temples and lean my head forward. I must groan.

"If you're going to puke again, party boy. Go back to the other corner," she says, weakly as Audrey comes back.

"How is she?" I ask.

"Still with us," Audrey answers, "Wanting to know how long it's going to be, but not wanting me to stay over there with her until we're out. You were going to tell me something..." Audrey points out, "before..."

"Which before?" I counter with a smirk.

"The "normally" before."

"That is probably the safer one," I agree, shifting my position, "This is not a very comfortable room, you know? I'm going to complain to management."

"Good luck," Carrie mutters, "I've been ringing for room service for ages, and no one's arrived."

"Duke," Audrey says, with that tone.

"Oh, forgive me," I retort, anger coming in with the shakes and headache, but also meaning I no longer give a shit that Carrie is right there, "I didn't know we were on a schedule. I said "normally"" I drag out the "normally" for a bit, "because I've hit the Troubled blood all of a dozen times? maybe? I'm not counting." Bull shit, "but when it's just for that that's pretty much all that happens, strength shift for all of half a minute and then jitters or whatever. I'm sure there's other ways things could go but I'm not going to experiment, would you?"

She shakes her head, "No, I suppose not."

"Damn right. That's how we wind up..." not going there, "bad places." I settle, shifting position again. Stupid leg. I want to be up. I need to be out of here. If I could just. It wouldn't take much. It wouldn't. I could just...fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I beat my hands against the wall.

"Duke?"

"I'm alright. Just...maybe we should, maybe we should keep talking. Distraction...distraction is good." Fuck.

"Okaay," Audrey says. I can feel her eyes on me even though mine are closed. She sits down and slides across the floor, scraping her way through my temples, "Sorry," she says, quietly, "Do you want some more water? Either of you?"

"No," I mutter. Water is the last thing I want.

Carrie declines more politely.

"You're the one who wanted to talk," Audrey points out, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Wow," I turn my eyes on her, "Way to be supportive." I know that it's wrong if I go over there and take some of that blood it will not get us out of here at all, it will not last long enough. It won't. It's not worth it. I press my fingers into my wrist tightly over the top of the tattoo that links me to Julia.

"I'm sorry," she says, "but I know what I want to ask you about, and it's probably not what you want to talk about and my brain is circling on it..."

"Don't mind me," Carrie says, "You've got me intrigued now. I'm only half aware of who you guys are...is this some love triangle drama? Let me live through you I may die soon."

"No, you won't." I tell her, "You want to drink The Gull out of booze."

"Oh, right," she says, "Can't do that if I'm dead."

"You never know with this town," Audrey points out.

"That's the last thing I need is ghosts raiding the bar," I mutter, "One dead ghost shows up then they all do," not that the grave digger is still with us. No thinking about that right now either, because death blood...that, "What the fuck did you want to ask me?" I snap at Audrey.

"It--it's not asking," Audrey says, as Carrie whistles cautious and warning, "It's talking. I know what your family's Trouble has been used for in the past, and I know...what Jordan has been after, why you want your brother to leave town..."

I snort, "Do you? Do you really?"

"Explain it to me then..." she says, "See, this is why I wanted to talk about it, though you're..."

"Ugh," my neck crackles as I roll my head, and I feel the pulsing behind my eyes and in my ears, at least my hands have stopped shaking, but I know I'm sweaty still, and she's right over there. I can smell the blood. I will not have it.

"...not in the best frame of mind right now."

"No shit," Carrie says, "You were fine two minutes ago. Coming off a high or something?"

I feel those chills again, and her question is just so innocent and innocuous that I can't help but laugh like a crazy person.

"This is why Audrey," I snap, "This is why Troubled people have such an issue with Crockers. It's not just that they hunt Troubled it's because of Crockers like my father who got so, so crazed for the blood that they..." I can't find the words, "...when his ghost was talking to me I swear he thought he had some Divine Mandate to kill them, but he was just a fiend--a-fiending for another hit of Troubled blood and using it as an excuse, because," I realize I've reached over and grabbed her. Our faces very close together, "if you think it's good before then when you kill someone and “cure” them...well, then...then," she pushes me carefully back away from her, "Sorry," I tell her, "Sorry, but then, then it's like floating with angels and kissing the stars."

She looks like I just kicked a whole field of puppies in front of her while telling her the tooth fairy wasn't real and Santa was the creepy pedophile next door. We're both going to feel like shit in the morning.

"I'm sorry, Duke," she says, miserably, "I had no idea."

"How could you?" I mutter.

"When Julia said before..."

I move only my eyelids slightly open and look at her, "When Julia said what before?"

I can feel Julia's pulse on my wrist, urging me to hold on. They must be close. Please let them be close.

"After," she says, cautiously, "after the organ harvester Julia came to talk to me. She was angry."

I can't help but smile at that. I remember somewhere through the dark clouds a comment about how she would have punched Audrey if it were her Audrey had come to see in the bar, "Oh? Was she?"

"She wanted to make sure we'd exhaust every option before we asked you to kill someone again..."

"Make sense to you now does it?"

"Why didn't you say?" she asks, reaching for my hand. I pull it away.

"I didn't see the point. It'd just come across as me making excuses and whining about my poor destiny. Then there's Nathan who seemed to think I was ready to turning into a crazed killer at a moment's notice no matter what I said

"Well, Nathan was being an idiot,” she cuts in.

“...you were the one who..."

“...asked you."

"No, Audrey you didn't. You didn't ask. You wheedled and pulled at the heart strings and showed me pictures and all of that. I could have said about this reaction but I didn't know that then. You could have said about that though because you knew when you called me to come help you look for those people that you were going to ask me to kill him. You knew."

"I thought I might."

"Fine. Fine. You knew there was a chance then. We'd had that talk just before about you and the barn and me and the family legacy." I shake my head. Need to stop doing that, "Jinxed myself to hell there."

"You're not going to hell."

"You know what I meant. You could have just told me what the Trouble was doing, straight up. I was putting things together. Realizing that it..." I look down, "Realizing it was probably necessary, but the way you did that. That was manipulative bullshit, Audrey. Pure and simple. There are people I've known for longer and cut out of my life for that."

She gets a look.

"What?" I ask her.

"That's the point in the story where most people say I've killed for less."

"Yeah, well. Contrary to popular belief. I'm not a killer. Just like I haven't slept with every woman in town. I'm not unfaithful to a partner when I've made a commitment. I can't say I'm not a liar or a cheat or a thief because..." I shrug, "You know the score there."

She sits and toys with thread left on part of her jacket that's torn, "Yeah..." she says, after a while, "...you know it was for the best, though."

"I don't need to hear that from you." It's another snapping retort and she recoils, "But I know it. Those children who would have died from the Trouble or...started killing other people."

"It's out of the blood line now," she says, "and won't be back."

"Right...but also unnecessary," She wasn't back yet when Julia railed on the others about what could happen after that evil blood, not going to get into that in front of these two this is bad enough, "Is there still water?" I ask her.

She nods.

My hands aren't so shaky so I drink some myself. Audrey gets up and offers some to Carrie, and goes to check on Madeline.

"I was hoping for a love triangle," Carrie remarks, "This is just terri—depressing."

"I'm sorry," I tell her, "If you'd met us on any other day there'd be any amount of people trying to convince you that I was after jumping her bones..."

"Why would they think that?" Carrie mutters.

"Normally I'm a lot more funny and charming."

"That's true," Audrey says, walking back over, "Normally he is," she gives me a hesitant smile, "but that's not your fault. Are you okay to move? Madeline wants to talk to you."

"To me?" I have a sinking feeling, "Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe she does remember you being funny and charming?"

"Hmmm," I brace myself against the wall and pull myself up. Somehow I don't think anything like that is it. I have that same sinking feeling I had the longer the day of the Organ Harvester went along. We were just talking about all that mess, and there's a Troubled woman, trapped in a collapsed building--that she caused. If she wants me to be her easy way out--

My legs are shaky, but as long as I don't put too much weight on my left side I can get over there. I give Carrie a hand shake as I go by. She catches me with a fist bump on the release of the hands.

"Knock, knock," I muster, coming to the edge of the place that Madeline's stuck in. I have to duck my head inside the tunnel type area made by the rubble. Good thing I'm not claustrophobic. I can hear Carrie and Audrey talking pretty clearly from where I'm positioned now, about Audrey and Nathan. Carrie is asking pointed questions trying to wheedle information out of her. Audrey is spinning details to her that are horribly rendered but are at least keeping her happy.

Madeline's breathing is still whistly and shallow, but her eyes flicker open when I talk, "Hey," she says, softly, "I'm an ass."

"Okay?" I shift carefully down so that I'm resting on my arms more and can take more weight off my left leg.

"I'm about to ask you something really, really horrible."

"You want me to kill you?"

"How did you guess?" she asks, quietly.

"That's pretty much the thing that I get asked lately. I miss when people asked me to help them move, or loan them my truck.”

"I'm sorry," she says, closing her eyes. I think she's trying to turn away but she really can't move her head, "I just...I heard--I heard what you and Officer Parker were talking about, about how it kills the Trouble for--for everyone in--in your family."

I reach to brush her forehead the matted hair and some of the dust away from her face so that she's not struggling so much with blinking her eyes, "It does. Are you worried about your children?"

She gives a slightly sarcastic snort, "I don't have children. Everyone was always on at me about when was I going to settle down and have children. Have you never just not found the right man, Madeline?" She coughs a few times, and I can feel that pain in my own chest as she winces, and the whistling is a little louder for a moment.

"Not everyone wants children."

"Or men," she chuckles, "but my sisters and my brother they all have kids and I...I don't want any of them to wind up doing things like this. My one niece--she already has a temper...and I wasn't--I wasn't..." she starts crying and there's a slight rumbling.

"It's okay, shush," I brush her head, "It's okay."

"Duke?" Audrey's by my side, "What's going on?"

"It's okay," I tell Madeline, tasting her blood on the air, I could just... "Just--just let me wait a little bit, alright." I start to pull out of the "tunnel".

"Promise," Madeline whispers, as the shaking slows.

I still have my hand slightly on her forehead and I hesitate. My chest tying itself in knots, "I...promise." I tap twice on her forehead and back out and find myself face to face with Audrey as I lean against the wall the shaking starting again from the closeness, the need...

"What's going on?" she asks, searching my face carefully.

"I...just...promised to...kill her," I whisper.

Audrey tugs on my arm and I limp a few steps to the other side of our prison. I can hear a rumbling but this is different. This isn't the shaking that was going on when Madeline was freaking out. This is the vehicles outside again, like when I was first Army crawling myself out from my brief prison and wondering if Dwight would be laughing his ass off at me for my poor form and posture.

"After what you were just saying to me..." she says, "And the shape you're in--is--is it going to be okay?"

That's something. I'm never quite sure what to expect with her and Nathan any more, and everything's getting jumbled in my head again right now as those parts of my brain are threatening to dive right in to the tunnel like a crazed vampire. I look down at my wrist, and press for Julia, hopefully close. Things do sound like they're moving outside and not from all around us, dangerously, not from Madeline's Trouble.

"Everything okay, guys?" Carrie asks, "Did everyone leave and forget about me?"

"No, no, we're still here. No worries," Audrey answers. She rubs a hand on my arm.

I feel Julia's answering pulse, and hold my hand to my wrist gratefully and exhale. Audrey looks so very nervous, "Explain," she says.

"They're close. They're digging us out. Julia...and probably some of the Guard must be there with paramedics...I hope. Julia has--has things, anyway. I...if I wait..."

"Until they're close. She can knock you out?" Audrey finishes.

I nod.

"Good," she says, "because that was getting scary before, and what you were saying about when your...anyway...I have to imagine with everything...you're not going to be feeling good for very long."

I pull a rueful smile, "Who knows? Maybe I'll be off with the fairies."

"You really want Julia to kill me?" Audrey asks, "I have a feeling she would make me suffer for putting you through this."

"She keeps that stuff for play time." I give Audrey a wink, "but she might dust it off for you if you ask nicely."

"You're trying to act like you're feeling better," Audrey counters. She's about to say something else, when a rattling from my left--her right startles us, a bright shaft of daylight, almost makes me hiss and several pieces of concrete tumble across the floor towards us. Now or never.

I limp back over to Madeline's tunnel.

"Was that a good clatter?" Carrie asks.

"I think so!" Audrey says, jubilantly, but she's following me.

"Audrey?" Sasquatch's voice.

"Why doesn't he just pull the wall down?" I joke, "Surely he's strong enough."

"I'll be sure and tell him you said that." Audrey answers, looking at me as I duck into Madeline.

"I was beginning to think--think you changed your mind," she whispers.

"I promised," I tell her, "Did you change yours?"

There's the slightest of head shakes, "No."

Well, there goes that, "Alright."

"Audrey?" I hear Dwight again.

"I'm here!" she shouts, "So is Duke! We're free and moving--he's hurt though..."

I can hear Dwight's voice and others relaying things around outside, and feel my tattoo pulsing with Julia's touch but I can't do anything about answering it right now.

"It's okay," I tell Madeline, "I'm sorry," as I push my hand, much as I did with Nix over her mouth and hold her nose, hopefully it'll be enough given she's whistling from somewhere...please.

I'm worried as I feel her jerk for a moment that in her panic she'll bring the building down on all of us, but then I feel the rush and heat coming through my hand and I know I can let go, "I'm sorry." The warmth is taking over my whole body--so much better than before.

"We've got another woman, Carrie! She's trapped under the rubble! But Madeline she--" she looks over at me as I'm sliding down the wall by the tunnel, "she's trapped too and she's not answering us any more."

There's a loud thumping from the left and the sound of things sprinkling on the floor, but I can feel myself both sinking and floating, and Audrey nearby in a halo of light. This is so wonder...no, this is not good despite that floating warmth that makes me not care about anything. I need to be up, not down, am I up? There is glitter, glimmering through the air all around us...

"Duke..." the glitter ripples with the words, shifting, changing colors, "Duke."

I need to get up. I can't reach. Someone has hold of me...Audrey coming out of the light again, "There we go," she says, "They're almost through. How are you feeling?"

"With my hands," I tell her. I reach for her, “You're very shiny.”

"Let's get you up."

"I'm not up? Okay. That part was right then."

Audrey has one hand in my arm pit. I push against the wall with the other. It takes a couple of tries. The wall feels spongy and I keep thinking my hand is going to sink into it, and then there's the fact that my one foot doesn't want to support me which is weird it doesn't feel like anything is wrong, but eventually I'm up and holding on to the wall and not--not falling on Audrey.

"Are you guys having all the fun without me, again?" Carrie asks as Audrey lets out a slight whoop, and then we're all coughing as more dust and rocks come through from the wall that's being cracked. I feel my chest aching as the dust and coughing continues and the want to not be so standing up any more. I keep leaning against the wall though. We'll be out soon, into the glittery air with the swirly people.

The large shoulder of Dwight busts through and I see Julia springing around him but then moving in a strange dance maneuver a few moments later, as I look towards them. Dwight standing stock still. The echoing of the concrete and brick still falling around. A pantomime act between Audrey and him, agitation.

Agitation. Innovation. Escalation. Rhyming words are awesome.

This is better outside. They have their colors, but the sky...I can feel the sun trying to reach through at us flickering through the glitter, licking with the tongue and catching in my throat.

Coughing, draws me out again and with it brings back the noise, rattling, cranking, banging, so much. It's going away. They're beating at the side of my head and my leg...the floor.

"I don't care. I'm going up there with you," Sasquatch sounds so loud, “It might not be safe.”

My wrist thrums with warmth gently as I hear gentle tread and heavier tread too.

Buzz of radio, "Medics can come in now, two sets. We need assessment on the best way to retrieve a trapped woman, and we have an injured man. Move quickly and cautiously people."

I feel Julia's hands on mine and then on my face, and then kissing me, my mouth, my cheeks, my forehead and my mouth again. Relief pouring from her, I can feel it. But my whole body is aching now, and I can feel twitches in my arms and legs. My left foot burning. Julia's hand feels so cold as keeps hold of mine as they put me on a stretcher and wheel me and then lift it and wheel some more towards the ambulance. I still partly feel like I'm floating. Julia has to let go of my hand for a moment as I'm loaded in. Then she climbs in after. The stomach churning portion of things has started again which is always fun.

A paramedic starts to step in to the ambulance and then hesitates, "Crocker."

"Is there going to be a problem?" Julia demands, putting her purse down by my side, "Other than extra blood related precautions?"

The paramedic takes a step back from the ambulance. I think he might be shaking his head but my own is starting to spin. I reach a hand up towards it and it's shaking.

"Hey, dickhead!" Julia snaps, "Did you swear to "serve unselfishly and continuously in order to help make a better world for all mankind" or only to serve unselfishly as long as it's not "that Crocker boy"?"

I hear the paramedic say something.

"Do you know what happens if the Crocker Trouble dies out?" she continues loudly, a speech I've heard before, with the bad blood, the memory makes me shudder. I don't want to throw up. I don't want to throw up, "All the Troubles sealed within the bloodline--every single trouble any Crocker has wiped out comes back and will go hunting for it's next of kin!" her voice lowers to a less head-splitting volume, "besides, I've got drugs in here that are approved to help," she moves the purse against my leg, "all you have to do is make sure he doesn't die on the way to the hospital." I lean back, closing my eyes against the spinning and the nausea. It's not doing much good though.

She must have shamed him because I feel the shift in weight as he clambers aboard and someone else does too.

"Everything alright?" a voice asks.

"Should be." Julia says, brightly, "Right?" she adds with different tone. I feel her hand in my hair.

"Yes," a different voice, prejudiced one maybe, "You said something about drugs? What are you intending to do? We need to examine him..."

I feel my foot being moved around and can't help but moan, and the twitch that happens doesn't help.

I hear Julia explains to them something we've done about the crashes which happen after the silver highs. They must agree that it's okay because I feel the jab as she gives me the medication. There's still some dry heaving and pain from my chest. I'm starting to fade as they're pulling my jacket and shirt off. I hear some mention of bruising as things start to completely go dark.