Chapter Text
48 hours. It had been 48 hours since she last saw him. Since she had got any semblance of sleep. She wishes she had gone with him. She knew he was lying about where he was going, and she trusted he’d tell her when he was ready.
She trusted him.
She should have made him open up to her. They would talk later, she thought foolishly. She didn’t have many friends, and she felt like she had just lost one.
She cared for him more than she could reason. She saw him, all of him. She knew he saw her too. At least what she let him see, and then some. She can still see the pain in his eyes from their last conversation. Even when she closes her eyes, the depth of his pain seeps through the darkness in excruciating bursts. She isn’t mad that he lied to her. He was protecting her. A relentless fear pulsates through her, carrying just enough adrenaline to keep her standing.
Her fingers tremble. She struggles to latch her swat vest, and sighs as JT places a steadying hand on her shoulder. He frowns down at her, and she nods weakly. He secures her vest carefully, and straightens the front as he had done for so many of his shell-shocked fellow Marines. Dani wasn’t a Marine. She was as tough as anyone he had ever fought with, but today she looked as if she was made of china. Fragile. Ready to break. He doesn’t ask if she is alright. She isn’t. None of them are.
Gil approaches them, his clothes look slept in. Although he showered, he didn’t shave. JT feels his own cheek realizing he didn’t either. He only slept by using techniques taught to him in Afghanistan. If you could call it sleep. It was clinical, dreamless, and a necessary evil to be useful to his team. He had taught Dani these sleep techniques after her overdose. He saw the PTSD overtaking her, and he wasn’t going to let his partner face those demons alone. He wondered if she slept at all. Her half-shut eyes telling him she didn’t. JT’s phone buzzes, he sees another text from Edrisa, and puts the phone away without responding. Still nothing to report.
JT looks away from Gil’s face, unable to rectify what exactly he was feeling. He is relieved when Gil passes him going over to Dani.
JT thinks he hears a sob escape Dani’s throat. His gut aches. He looks back at them. Gil gently cups her face as he says something that JT can’t make out. JT had never seen her this upset before, and it makes his blood run cold. They had to find Bright. They all knew that even when they did find him, he would be in rough shape. Lazar was torturing Bright, and he didn’t know if he’d be the same Bright. He was barely functioning before, and now? He looked at his shoes, unable to watch Dani’s pain anymore.
Gil is quick to hold Dani as just a few more tired sobs rack her small frame. She holds onto him, almost taking him down as her knees began to give. He lifts her up firmly, and quietly asks JT for some help.
Swanson gives them a few minutes to get it together. Bright had done this to himself. He doesn’t follow the rules now, and he didn’t follow them back then. She didn’t like how it affected Powell. She has so much potential, and Bright would be her ruin.
Gil and Dani break away from each other. Dani grabs his hand as the circle around a stoic Swanson tightens.
The team is her only family. They were each other’s family. Ever since Jackie passed. They were each other’s touchstones. Malcolm was now too. She squeezes Gil’s hand with a silent thank you before giving her full attention to Swanson.
When Swanson taps Dani to go with her, she is too tired to protest. She didn’t trust her either, and she feels the need to keep an eye on her. Protect him. Both Gil, and JT went off with the other team. Dani notices Gil studying her silently as they part. Their shared concern tethering them together even as the distance grew. They would find him. They had to.
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She wasn’t sure how long they had been walking. Swanson was using thermographic equipment as most of Lazar’s hiding spots had been underground.
Hours pass. Nothing.
Dani felt dizzy, but hid it well.
Most of their team had fallen behind. They stopped to eat, and Dani chose to continue, not hungry since he went missing.
Dani stumbles.
Swanson wouldn’t let her continue on without eating a protein bar, and Dani numbly agrees. Swanson also ensures Dani continues drinking water as they go. She wasn’t heartless, and she could tell Dani wasn’t thinking about her own health at all. She didn’t know how she was moving as fast as she was. She clearly hadn’t slept.
“You are no use to my team if we have to carry you out of here.”
Dani did not acknowledge Swanson for most of that day, and she wasn’t going to begin now. She had figured out a way to tune in for the important bits, and hummed out the rest.
Basically, anytime she said ‘Bright,’ it wasn’t to voice her concern, or a read-she was just warning Dani against him. This was so disrespectful. Dani had eyes, ears, and a brain. All of which knew Malcolm. Knew his flaws, knew when he broke the rules he did it to help. He was a good person. A troubled person. He was like her. Screwed up.
If she closes her eyes, she can still feel his arms grasping desperately at her as he violently came to from his night terror. Her body grows cold without him. The sun begins to lower on the horizon.
It was another hour in these endless woods before Swanson’s sensor begins picking up a weak heat signature just beneath them.
Dani falls to her knees roughly brushing away the fallen pine needles. She ignored Swanson asking her to wait for the excavation team. Her finger tips became bloody as she dug away at the decaying forest floor. She wasn’t sure when Swanson had joined her. The two of them making quick work of reaching a hidden hatch door.
Dani finds a swiss army knife JT had given her as a joke gift. He had told her to stab her Ex with it.
“Less messy than a bullet,” the attached note read.
She begins to pry at the edge of the clear plastic bolted window, and hears the echo of Swanson’s voice. She doesn’t hear what she says as she loosens one of the bolts. Swanson grabs her hand to stop her.
“Powell, are you going to continue disregarding my orders? You are not going in there without the team. It’s not only dangerous, it’s stupid,” Swanson wasn’t surprised when Dani shook her hand off her continuing to pry open the hatch herself. She deserved whatever Bright would ultimately do to her. Defeated, Swanson sat back for a few more minutes before mumbling something under her breath. She rummaged through her pack finding a crow bar.
“Seriously?!” Dani demanded as Swanson easily pried open the cover. “If he’s dead, I’ll kill you myself.”
“Threatening a superior officer? Careful Powell.”
Dani ignored her taking a deep breath, and squeezing her eyes shut. She had another gulp of fresh air before finding the courage to lower herself down into the darkness.
“I’m coming Malcolm, please wait for me.” She thought she said quietly enough for Swanson not to hear.
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This place was a nightmare. Complete darkness. There were random noises, including drips that seemed to rain down from no discernable source. Please be alive. She took some calming breaths, but they did nothing to slow her heart rate. The fear causing her hand to tremble like she had seen his.
She had gotten into the habit of stopping it for him. He jumped the first time she threaded her slender fingers gently through his. After that, he came to expect it. Even the team began ignoring it. Eventually they didn’t even acknowledge it. The last few times she could have sworn he held on a little longer than necessary. She felt his grip tighten as she began to pull away. He ran his thumb in gentle circles into her palm. Her breath caught, and he stares into her eyes searching for something in return. She blinks. He smiles. His mask slips back into place. He let’s go of her hand. His moment of vulnerability is gone. She feels cold without his touch. Her anxiety swells as she hits the ground hard, bringing her back to the present.
Dani moves quickly, gun drawn. Her phone’s flashlight barely lighting the darkened tunnel. She thinks she hears Swanson following closely behind, and doesn’t wait to find out. Two more turns, and she squints seeing a dim light leaking through the edges of a padlocked door.