Kind of just trying to get a feel for the characters so feedback very welcome. I'm not sure if this is entirely aligned with canon, I couldn't remember what they both knew or suspected or whatever.
His first thought as he comes to is that he should have just sent someone else to look for Elsie. But then it would just be someone else lying on their back, god knows where after being attacked by Ghost Nation. It's probably better that it's him after all.
He groans as he sits up, rubbing his head, his eyes still shut until he hears a familiar voice, mocking but welcome all the same.
"Ah, Sleeping Beauty has awakened," Elsie says and Stubbs opens his eyes head to find her smirking at him from across a box of a room, walls, floors and ceiling of stainless steel. It looks like it could be a kitchen, Elsie is leaning against a counter beside a sink and to her left there's a fridge.
"Am I dead?" Ashley asks, his voice hoarse. He asks mostly because he hadn't been totally sure when he set out that something hadn't already happened to her. For all he knows they're both dead. Plus he'd seen his life flash before his eyes when he was attacked by Ghost Nation. (It hadn't been anything special, to tell the truth).
"Is this what your version of the afterlife looks like?" Elsie snorts. "That's pretty fucking grim." Stubbs has to hold back a smile. Whatever happened to her, however she got here, it's obvious there's been no harm to her personality or sense of humour. It doesn't look like she's been physically harmed either, which he's relieved about.
"Maybe we're in limbo or something, how should I know?" he retorts as he finally gets the strength to stand up. Elsie rolls her eyes, still smirking. It's pretty obvious that he's not dead this though, if Elsie's scorn hadn't convinced him, the pounding of his head should do the trick. "Well, if we aren't dead, where are we?" he finally asks.
"No fucking clue," Elsie shrugs. "Apocalypse bunker?" she suggests. She's probably joking but it doesn't seem that far off. "Somewhere in the park I'm guessing. Underground. That's as much as I've got."
"What about why we're here?" Ashley tries. "Or how to get out?" Elsie gives him an unimpressed look.
"You think I'd still be here if there was a way out?" she points out. He shrugs. Point taken. He considers her for a moment before speaking again.
"Something weird is going on," he says finally.
"No shit," Elsie says. "Did you figure that out all by yourself?" she deadpans, but there's no heat in her words. He likes that about her. The way she always manages to insult him and tease him without actually making him feel bad. She just enjoys being snarky. Sometimes he thinks maybe she's flirting with him, but then he convinces himself that she's just like that with everyone.
"Funny," he says. "How'd you end up in here anyway?" Elsie shrugs.
"I was looking for information. I guess I found something they didn't want me to and someone choked me until I passed out and then they threw me in here," she says, looking unimpressed. Stubbs thinks about commenting on the choking, asking her if she's okay, but he gets the feeling it would just earn him another sarcastic remark.
"Who's they?" he asks. Elsie shakes her head.
"Fucked if I know," she sighs. She looks troubled, like she's trying to figure something out. "I can't make sense of any of it." Ashley lets her mull over it for a while until shakes her head, seemingly unable to come to any logical conclusion. "What about you, anyway?" she asks. "How'd they get you?"
"I was looking for you," he tells her, and he doesn't think anything of it, really, but Elsie seems surprised, though he's not sure why. He's pretty sure she would've done the same for him, and while as the head of security it's not exactly his job, it's not exactly not his job either. And it's not like they aren't friends. Well, at least they're friendly colleagues, which is almost the same thing. Besides, he didn't know who else he could trust.
"You were?" she asks. "Did Bernard send you?"
"No…" he says, hesitant to mention that Bernard hardly seemed to give a shit where she was. He'd been surprised himself when the man was less than concerned about Elsie's whereabouts, or Theresa's death. "Bernard's been acting… strange," he says vaguely.
"What do you mean?"
"They said you'd gone on leave, but then I detected a signal coming from your device in the park. I told Bernard but he kind of just brushed me off. Same when I tried to sympathise about Theresa," Ashley explains.
"What about Theresa?"
"Shit, you don't know," he realises. "She's dead," he says bluntly. It's not like Elsie had been close to Theresa, and it's better than beating around the bush.
"Fuck."
"Yeah," Ashley snorts. "Slipped down a crevasse, or so it seems."
"So it's not her that's behind this then," Elsie sighs. "I thought it might be."
"Afraid not."
"You think someone killed her?" Elsie asks, like she already knows the answer.
"Wouldn't surprise me."
"Fuck," she says again and Ashley almost laughs. Fuck is right. There's nothing else really to say on the matter, so he just nods. He glances around at his surroundings then, properly for the first time. Aside from the fridge, counter and sink, there are a few cupboards, a stove, a microwave, a small table and four chairs. Besides that the room is completely bare, although there is a door on each side of the room, leading him to believe the bunker isn't as small as he originally thought.
"Want the grand tour?" Elsie asks him and he turns back to her with an amused expression on his face.
"Sure," he agrees.
The Apocalypse Bunker really isn't much. There are three rooms, the kitchen, the bathroom and a bedroom, all equally as sparsely furnished. The bathroom contains the bare minimum and the bedroom houses two sets of bunk beds and a dresser.
"Think we should expect more people?" Ashley asks Elsie, as he pulls out one of the four chairs in the main room and sits down.
"I was thinking the same thing," Elsie muses, following his lead. "But it could just be a precaution. In case the apocalypse really does come and more people need shelter."
"You'd think whoever built it would try to make it a bit homier."
"You know, the apocalypse could be happening right now and we'd never know," she says ominously, as if she's about to launch into a ghost story.
"And we're the chosen ones who get to live?" Ashley asks, unable to hide his amusement.
"Well, I don't know why they picked you," Elsie snorts.
"Must be my rugged good looks," he grins.
"Keep telling yourself that."
The passage of time isn't exactly easy to measure when you're trapped in an underground apocalypse bunker with no clocks, but Ashley does know that it's passing very, very slowly. He spends the first hour or so trying to find a way out, not because he doesn't trust Elsie and her abilities but because he just needs to see for himself to feel satisfied, and besides, it gives him something to do. It also apparently gives Elsie something to do, as she proceeds to mock him the entire time.
He gives up eventually, and comes to the same conclusion as Elsie: there is no way out. Which makes him think, as Elsie had probably already guessed, that it's not an apocalypse bunker at all, but a prison.
"Somebody wants us out of the way, don't they?" he finally says, though he thinks he probably knew it the whole time.
"Yep," Elsie agrees. "Don't know why they didn't just kill us."
"You saying you'd rather be dead than locked in here with me?" Ashley jokes.
"If that's what I was saying, I'd just say it," she says, and it almost feels weirdly like a compliment.
After that, time seems to cease to exist. They eat when they get hungry, choosing from the various canned goods in the cupboards, and sleep when they get tired. The food isn't great and the beds aren't the most comfortable, but at least they're alive. And if he has to be stuck in a bunker with someone, he's glad it's Elsie over anyone else he works with.
There isn't exactly much to do in the bunker, there isn't so much as a piece of paper and a pen to entertain themselves with, so they mostly just talk, although Elsie seems to be quite content with silence a lot of the time, which is just fine with him. But when she gets bored she just starts firing off questions about his life.
"Any siblings?"
"One younger brother." They're in the bedroom, lying on their respective beds, staring up at the beds above them.
"Pets?"
"No time for pets."
"If you had a pet what would you get?"
"Probably a goldfish."
"You don't have time for a goldfish?"
"I'm not saying I actually want a goldfish, I'm just saying if I had to get a pet a goldfish seems like the least amount of effort," Ashley explains, looking over at her. "What would you get?"
"A big fucking dog," she grins. He likes the way her eyes light up a little. "But like you said, no time for pets."
"Do we spend too much time at work?"
"Normally I'd say no, but considering it's our jobs that got us locked in here maybe we do."
"I think I'm gonna need some time off after this," Ashley says wryly.
"Fuck yeah," Elsie agrees. "Okay, next question. If you had to be stuck in here with anyone in the world, who would it be?" He thinks for a minute, turning his head back to look at the bottom of the top bunk.
"Can't think of anyone better than you," he finally says, though she'll probably laugh at him.
"You don't have to say that," Elsie assures him. "I don't get offended easily."
"I'm serious," he replies. "I'd rather you than anyone else." He's expecting her to scoff or tell him she'd much rather be stuck with literally anyone else but him, but instead she just falls silent, and for once he's left wondering what she's thinking.
It's probably only a few days that they're trapped in the bunker, but it feels like forever and Ashley thinks he's starting to go stir crazy. Elsie has remained relatively calm throughout the whole ordeal, but he can tell she's itching to get out, that she hates not knowing what's going on out there, and he thinks being shut in the bunker is finally starting to get to her.
"What if something happened to Bernard?" she worries, pacing around the kitchen. "What if the company's been taken over? What if everyone thinks we're dead?"
"Bernard was fine last I saw him, he probably still is," Ashley assures her from where he's sitting on one of the kitchen chairs. "I can't say I care if the company gets taken over, as long as I keep my job. And everyone probably does think we're dead." Or maybe they think he's gone on leave as well. Maybe no one has even noticed he's gone. It's not like he told anyone where he was going. He'd kind of assumed someone would be looking for them, but Bernard hadn't really cared about Elsie and he can't think of a single person who would come looking for him. It hits him that they really are on their own. Maybe they'll never get out of here.
"Did you think I was dead? When you came looking for me?" Elsie asks, ceasing her pacing. He shrugs.
"I thought it was a possibility," he admits.
"I never thanked you," Elsie says. "For coming after me. And look where it got you," she snorts.
"It's not your fault," he assures her.
"I know. Still. I would've done the same for you," she tells him.
"I know," he says, but it's nice to hear it. Elsie starts pacing again as Ashley frowns, getting lost in his own thoughts. "Elsie?" he says eventually and she stops pacing again to turn to him.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think someone knew I'd try to find you?" he says slowly.
"What do you mean?" she frowns.
"I was tracking the signal from your device," he reminds her. "I thought they got me because I was looking for you."
"They lured you into Ghost Nation territory on purpose," Elsie realises what he means.
"Is it crazy to think that?" Ashley asks.
"I'm not sure I'm the best judge of what's crazy or not at the moment. But how do you know they meant for you to be the one? Maybe they were after Bernard," Elsie points out. Which would make more sense, he thinks. Bernard and Elsie have been working together and if Elsie found information she shouldn't have she would have shared it with him, so getting them both out of the way would be the logical move. But somehow Ashley can't help but feel like someone knew even before he knew himself that he'd take it upon himself to find Elsie. Like they knew something he's not even sure he's admitted to himself yet. That he thinks of her as more than a work colleague, yes, that they're friends. But that there's something else there as well, something that makes him feel like there's something lodged in his throat, makes his heart beat a little faster.
"You're probably right," he shrugs, pretending the feelings he's having don't exist. It's probably just because they've been locked in this bunker for so long together.
"You hungry?" Elsie asks.
"I could eat."
"Good, cause I'm fucking starving," she says striding over to the cupboards and rifling through for something slightly appetising. He swallows, but the lump stays lodged in his throat and the feelings stay with it.
They eat in relative silence, and then Ashley grabs the empty plates and takes them to the sink to wash up. To his surprise Elsie follows him, grabbing a dishcloth to dry the dishes with.
"What meal do you think we just ate?" Ashley asks as he fills the sink, mostly to distract himself from how close she's standing. "Breakfast? Dinner?"
"Midnight snack," she says. Ashley rolls his eyes, unable to suppress a smirk as he turns the tap off and begins washing the few dishes they have. He kind of zones out then, getting lost in the methodically dullness of washing dishes, almost forgetting he's not alone until he feels a few droplets of water splash the side of his face. He flinches as the water hits his face then turns to Elsie, raising an eyebrow at the smirk on her face.
"What was that for?"
"I'm bored," she shrugs, still smirking. He thinks he could probably wipe that shit-eating grin from her face, all he's have to do is lean down slightly and kiss her. Which is obviously a fucking stupid idea and he hates that he's even thinking about it. But the way she's looking up at him, that mischievous glint in her eye, he could almost believe that she might want him to. He almost tries it. Almost asks her if she wants to kiss him. But he's saved by a mechanical sound coming from behind them, and when he whips his head around to see what's going on, he sees an opening in the ceiling, natural light pouring into the room. He and Elsie glance at each other. Have they been saved?
Bernard's head appears in the hole.
"Good to see you," Bernard says. "Come on, there are things to do." A ladder descends into the room, and Elsie only hesitates a moment before ceasing the opportunity. Ashley is right behind her.
"What the fuck is going on?" Elsie asks Bernard, once they're above ground again.
"I'll explain later," he says. "I trust you're both alright?" Elsie and Ashley both nod, though he's pretty sure she's just as confused as him. "Let's go then."
They follow Bernard back through the park to the elevator, and Ashley gets the distinct feeling that however weird the past few days have been, that isn't the weirdest things are going to get.