Under The Rubble
Part 3 - disconnected
"Do you have any news" Jen asked Pacey, following him as he walked along the barrier.
"None yet," he said
"You would tell me wouldn't you? If you knew something?" it had been hours since they started fighting the blaze. It was almost midnight.
"As soon as I know you'll know," he promised, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks. Look just ignore Joey she's just…"
"Joey isn't my concern right now, Dawson is," he said a little too harshly. He didn't mean for it to sound harsh but it was hard not to be about her. She hated him, for reasons unbeknown to him and it drove him insane. One day they were together, and the next they weren't. No explanation.
"Are you just going to continue to pretend that you don't care?" she asked him. She knew it wasn't the time or the place but who knows if she would ever see him to ask him again.
"Look. I have things to do I don't have time to stand here and talk about Josephine Potter and her strange vendetta against the man that is trying to save your husbands life," he said, walking away from the line.
"Are you always so detached from your feelings? Is that what life did to you Pacey?" she asked him and he turned back.
"When I'm working? Yes, It comes with the territory because if I stood still and thought about the person in there and who he was I couldn't even function and if I stood and thought about her all day it would drive me crazy," he answered. She nodded her head in understanding and looked down.
"What's happening?" she asked him, watching the fire-fighters move from their positions.
"It's spreading to woodland, it's compromising the operation. We have to get men around that side to make sure we don't get a woodland fire on our hands,"
"That sounds bad,"
"It's not good if that's what you mean,"
"The press are everywhere, I can't move for them," she said, looking around her. The place was swamped with news vans and reporters, snapping pictures as though it were another one of Dawsons movie sets. He hadn't become quite the success he dreamed of but he did well. He had hit movies, maybe not blockbusting life changing movies, but they were movies. Good movies. Not Oscar winning, but good. Tears returned to her wet eyes as she watched the vulture-like press take photographs.
"I'll get rid of them," he promised, walking towards the large crowd of photographers. "Okay folks, this is not a movie set okay? This is a dangerous rescue operation and you're crowding, so can we please just shut this little paparazzi operation for the night?" He asked, and watched them lower their lenses. "Jesus, would it kill them to have a little respect," he mumbled to himself.
"Chief!" Derek shouted, waving him over.
"I'll be back when I know anything," he promised, securing his helmet back to his head and running across the site. As he ran a large blast came from the windows, seemly knocking him over onto the ground violently.
The heat hit the crowds behind the barriers, people shading their faces from the heat of the blast. Fire-fighters jumped to the scene quickly putting out small fires that appeared everywhere.
Lenses from the press cameras rose to attention again, snapping pictures from the blast, each and every one desperate for the exclusive scoop,
"Oh my god, Pacey" Joey whispered to herself, coring her mouth with her hands as he lay there. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as he watched him lie there, seemingly motionless. She didn't see Jen duck underneath the tape, towards the blazing shack.