So, I really shouldn't be posting another story, especially when I always keep on saying I'll churn out chapters on my other (The Rising Darkness, if you want to check it out (: ) but I couldn't get what'd happened in the latest episode out of my head... and so came this. At the moment, it's only a one-shot focusing on Hunter and Bobbi, but depending on how things go I might add some more chapters with the other characters in it. We'll see I guess.

This is set immediately after where the episode left off (very annoyingly, I might add).

Hope you enjoy!

...

Hunter returns to consciousness first, with a groan and several curses.

There's a sharp ringing in his ears and every time his eyes shift it sends his vision tumbling and exploding in bright flashes of light. Trying to make sense of things, he vaguely remembers the ground shifting beneath his feet and the feeling of his body being flung down the staircase he'd been descending, his head rebounding off each step as he went- which would explain the killer migraine and dizziness he's experiencing right now, and the fact that every movement sends a wave of pain through his battered body.

Still, he's alive. That has to count for something.

Gingerly, wincing with every protesting muscle, he reaches up to his head and flinches as his fingers come into contact with the edge of a deep cut on his forehead. His fingers are covered in red when he pulls his hand away.

"Coulson?" he asks shakily into the comm in his ear, swallowing heavily when his vision swims again. "Anyone copy?"

The only answer is the buzz of static, and he swears, realizing that the sudden earthquake must've knocked out all their communication lines. Which means that he has no way of knowing where any of the team is, if they're even still there.

Then he freezes, because just that thought sends another streaking into his brain. He hadn't been alone when the quake had struck. Someone had been with him.

Bobbi.

He pushes himself upright, gasping breathlessly as he feels the sharp twinge of pain that comes from broken ribs, and stares with wide eyes at the destruction around him. Most of the ceiling lay in pieces around him, leaving piles of debris and in piles on the floor and thick clouds of dust in the air that had him choking every few seconds. "Bobbi?" he calls out.

He sees her motionless body a few feet to his left and drags himself closer. "Bob, Bob, Bobbi," he says, each time more agitated when there's no apparent response from her. He reaches out to her neck, and releases a sigh of relief when he feels a steady heartbeat thrumming beneath his fingertips. She'd just been knocked unconscious like him, then.

Hunter does a quick assessment of her external injuries, taking in her horrifically bruised and swollen right wrist (which he just knows she'll be complaining about for the next few weeks with her inability to train, even though she's just as deadly with her other hand) and deep cut on her hairline which is streaming blood into her blonde hair.

She's going to be in a hell of a lot of pain when she wakes, but people don't die just from broken bones

He then- with no small amount of hesitation, knowing full well that if Bobbi was conscious he'd probably be short of a few limbs by now- runs his hands over her chest and stomach, feeling for cracks or breaks in her ribs. The fall down the steps hadn't been particularly long, but it would've been enough to cause some serious internal injuries. Fortunately for them both, they've seemed to have gotten away with nothing more than a few broken ribs between them.

He's pulled from his thoughts when he hears Bobbi moan, then freeze under his hands before groaning out "what the hell are you doing, Hunter?"

He gives a shaky grin, sitting back on his heels. "There you are, darling," he says, "beginning to think you'd bailed out on us." He'd said it casually enough, but there's an undercurrent of genuine worry in his voice that betrays only a fraction of the panic he'd felt upon seeing her still body.

She blinks up at him, dregs of pain and the last bits of unconsciousness evident in her blue eyes. "Can't get rid of me that easily, Hunter," she said, wincing as she tried to hoist her body into a sitting position. She hissed slightly when she caught sight of her broken wrist. "Though you always do look for reasons to feel me up in the field."

He gave a small smile. "Seriously though, Bob, you okay? You remember what happened at all?"

She looked up at him, for the first time seeing that state he was in too. She lifted a hand and brushed the cut on his head. "Do you?"

He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, surprising himself at the show of affection. Their relationship wasn't generally built on big shows of romance. It wasn't filled with tender kisses and caresses. It was made of extreme emotions, of fights and make-up sex. It was dysfunctional and idiotic, and it suited them entirely. But there were some cases- and Hunter reasoned that earthquakes fell into this category- where all he wanted was to just hold her close.

Hunter looks around them, sliding an arm around Bobbi to help her stand, because if there's one thing he knows about his ex-wife it's that she's a constant battle of will; always full of energy, always fighting like hell to stay on her feet. A concussion on top of a few broken ribs and a possibly shattered wrist wouldn't keep her down in a million years. It's one of the reasons he fell in love with her… or still loves her… or whatever he feels towards her.

"Trip and the science bunnies were setting the charges to blow up the city, maybe things got a little out of hand," Hunter says.

Bobbi pushed a strand of red-tinted hair off her face and takes a hitching breath. "Don't think so, that kind of force couldn't have been created just by collapsing those caves." She turned to him. "Your comm working?"

"Nothing but static. Shake must've busted the lines."

She nodded and released a slightly shaky breath. "We'll do this the old fashioned way then," she pushed herself forwards. "We need to find everyone."

He stared at her retreating back. "Whoah, whoah, slow down," he leapt forward, catching her shoulder and forcing her to face him. "I'm not expert, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to get yourself out of the firing line in this sort of situation."

She glared at him, looking as threatening as someone possible could with blood dripping its way down her face. "They could be hurt," she said through gritted teeth.

"And you'll be able to do nothing in the state you're in to help them!"

Her eyes hardened. "I'm-"

"Fine," he finished, "you always are, Bob, I know that better than anyone. So for once will you acknowledge the fact that I'm not trying to stop you! We just need to stop for a second, get ourselves patched up and come up with a better plan than just racing deeper into a building that's already collapsed on top of us once today."

She stared at him for a long time, so long that he began to worry that she'd zoned out on him again. But he'd known her long enough to know when she was fighting an internal battle. It went against her nature to leave someone behind and at this moment, despite that fact that Hunter's plan was the only logical way forward, that was exactly what he was asking her to do. Coulson, May, Skye, Trip, Fitzsimmons… they all could've been affected by the quake. And Mack… Mack- who Hunter knew Bobbi was especially close to, for reasons he hadn't completely figured out yet- he could've been down there too- if the alien-zombie possessive thing hadn't taken him over completely.

Finally Bobbi nodded, allowing him to tug her gently but steadily towards where they knew the exit should be. In any other situation, Hunter would've used this opportunity to tease her mercilessly about actually listening to him for once in their lives. But now, surrounded by devastation and the unknown status of their friends, he'd never found anything more serious in the entire time he'd known her.

And as he guided them out, Hunter didn't say anything when he felt Bobbi reach into her back pocket, where he knew for a fact she'd kept the flashdrive from this morning (God, was it only this morning?). He knew she was keeping something from him, something important. But that could wait for another day.

Today, he did was he always does with regards to Bobbi.

He pretended he didn't know about the problems that always existed between them.

Soo... you'd be awesome if you left a review with what you think! But thank you regardless for giving this a skim... :)

Thanks guys!

-F