A/N: Hi all.

"Aftershock." He mouthed.

Then the roof started to collapse.

As the top of their tiny pocket began falling in on top of them, Jade almost automatically moved over to Jack's side. She knew she wouldn't be able to protect him from the debris, and something on his face told her he'd prefer that she not even try. So she put one arm over her head, and with the other, held the old man's hand.

Nothing heavy had come down yet, but Jade knew that high above their heads was a pile of beams and bricks that could easily crush them both. It was a miracle they'd survived the first quake, and she figured an aftershock would be pushing their luck.

A cough came from her side, and she looked down, but realized she could no longer see. Plaster dust reigned down around them, choking the little air they had available to them. Jade began to cough, too, the spasms wracking her entire body.

Something very heavy struck the arm protecting her head, and she couldn't hold back a scream. It was bleeding onto her head and face, and she was in agony. Distantly, she heard someone faintly yelling her name, someone outside.

Suddenly the rubble ceased shifting, and when the blood roaring through her ears stopped, she realized she could no longer hear the ground rumbling, either. The aftershock was over.

The dust was settling from the air, and Jade drew a deep breath. Slowly, she brought her arm down off her head and lit her miraculously unharmed lighter to take a look at it. It was definitely broken, and was bleeding from where whatever had fallen on her –probably a brick- had cut the skin, but she'd live.

"Jade!" Beck's frantic voice cut through her thoughts. She realized he had already called to her a few times. She'd been distracted, but Jack didn't notice either.

Jack. He should have said something by now, told her to listen up, that young people were making themselves deaf with "those newfangled music devices" and she was most certainly a victim. Gently, she prodded his side. "Jack?" she whispered, hesitant to break the silence. "Jack?"

No reply. She forced herself to flick the lighter back on and scan the pool of light over his body. It was covered in a fine layer of dust. He seemed unharmed, besides the preliminary injury to his legs. She'd just reached his head when she saw it.

A flowering purple bruise on his forehead, off to one side. His skull was partially crushed in at the point of impact.

Jade knew before she knew. Her hand shaking, she reached for the pulse point on his neck and pressed her fingers against it, waiting.

Nothing.

Nothing.

All the physical and emotional pain of the past hour rose up inside her, and she gave a wail of anguish. She wasn't only mourning Beck's grandfather, practically her grandfather-in-law, but a friend. Someone who had accepted her. And now he was dead.

"Jade!" Again, it was Beck's voice that snapped her out of her inner turmoil. He must have heard her scream when she confirmed Jack was dead.

"Beck… he's dead." And that's when she broke down, sobbing loudly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Beck….. he's dead." Jade said, her voice cracking. Then she started to cry.

Beck's grandmother gasped, and almost immediately the two wives were at her side, crying, to support her. His dad and uncle stood silently, and Jackie was crying. The other two kids looked uneasy and vaguely bewildered, but they didn't fully understand.

Beck himself sank to the ground, steadying his body on a chunk of concrete. He knew he should be sad, but now all he felt was terror. If Grandpa Jack had died, who's to say it couldn't happen to his Jade? And now she was all alone in there, trapped, and probably hurt given her earlier scream during the shock.

He felt a large had rest on his shoulder. His dad. "We need to get back to work, son. We have to get her out of there before the next shock comes. And we have to get Grandpa Jack's body out, too." He said this almost resignedly, as if the reason for their work had gone. But his face showed he meant it.

Beck nodded. He wanted Jade out. More than before. If that was possible.

Stretching out his arms, he got back to work, his dad and uncle joining him. So did everyone else, even Grandma Rose. She wasn't crying, but looked almost accepting of her husband's death. When she came up to gather a piece of plaster near Beck, she murmured to him "Don't worry, hon. We'll get her out. I promise. We have to."

"Thanks." He answered. She just nodded.

"Jade?" he called, rather softly.

"Yes?" Her voice was weary, and, for the first time, a little bit scared.

"Don't worry, baby. We'll get you out."

His only reply was disbelieving silence.

A/N: I wasn't going to update yet, so, you're welcome.

But then again, perhaps you're not feeling to thankful right now…

Sorry.