Screaming pierced her ears and Claire winced, slowly raising herself off the floor. The chair she'd been sitting on was now on top of her, it's legs and hers tangled together. Impatiently, she jerked herself free, ignoring the ripping protest her nylons made. A hand touched her shoulder in the dark and she yelped in surprise.
"Dr. Keeply- it's me," came Jamie's voice. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Somewhere out in the hallway an emergency light came on, diffuse light filtering through the airborne dust. She looked up into Jamie's face, his hair grey with dust, a smudge across one cheek, and a slightly bleeding gash above one eye. "You're hurt," she accused him.
Brushing at his brow with the back of one filthy had, he grinned bemusedly. "I'll live." Eyes adjusting to the dark, he cast around the room, gaze seeming to unfocus for a moment. "I think everyone is okay," he said softly, rising slowly to one knee and extending a hand to Claire. "Let's get out of here."
"Here here," she agreed, taking his hand and allowing him to help her to her feet. They threaded through the crowd, Jamie's hand on her back. Just as they stepped through the doorway something behind them groaned, and Claire half-turned in reflex, thinking it was a human sound.
It wasn't. More dust and debris started to fall from the ceiling, and she felt herself pushed forward into the corridor as the groan became a shriek of tortured metal and crumbling concrete. Something heavy landed on her, covered her as more concrete and glass came crashing down, and concrete dust choked the air.
Coughing violently, Claire struggled to get up, found herself unable to move. Bitter fear rose in her throat, and she began to struggle… trapped, oh dear god I'm trapped…
"Dr. Keeply! Don't move!" Jamie's voice cut through the terror, calming her panic, easing her fear. She stilled, and suddenly something shifted and she was free. Hands came down, grabbed, lifted, carried her out into the bright sun. She was in shock, unable to feel anything but the arms that encircled her body, and detachedly she thought of her lab at the Agency, nothing secured, and groaned. The Official was NOT going to like how much replacing all that equipment was going to cost.
After what seemed like an eternity, the arms around her set her gently on her feet, and Claire blinked in surprise. Jamie was beside her, his hand still on her elbow, and normally Claire would have had none of this chivalry business but, well- this wasn't exactly normal now, was it?
"Are you okay?" he asked her, and she nodded. The convention center looked all right, it was still standing, and people were still streaming out. Sirens pierced the air all around, and general hysteria was well represented. She took a deep calming breath and thought thank GOD that Darien and Bobby had just dropped her off, they'd be sure to arrive in a panic at any moment.
Expectantly she turned- and saw the van sitting at the curb not 50 feet away, a bright orange parking ticket flagging the windshield. "Oh my God," she choked, her hand coming up to her mouth. "Oh NO." Claire reached out and to steady herself and blindly grabbed the first thing she found- Jamie's arm.
"Dr. Keeply? What…" He followed her gaze to the van and sucked in a breath. "Darien and Bobby, right?" he said softly. Claire nodded.
"They were going to drop me off and go get something to eat, I have no idea why they'd stay here. Mr. Morgan, I have to find them…" Her voice cracked, dried out from the dust, and she dissolved into a coughing fit. Someone handed her a bottle of water and an oxygen mask; gratefully she took both. Jamie watched her anxiously until he was sure she wasn't going to pass out in front of him.
"Dr. Keeply." His voice was quiet and calm amid the chaos surrounding them. "I can help. Let me help you find your friends." He paused for a moment, obviously searching for words. "I picked up some of their personalities during the reading. Granted, it wasn't much, but- I might be able to find them with your help."
"Me? You must be kidding! I haven't got a psychic bone in my body!" Jamie's head shook slightly.
"No, that's what I'm here for. I just need you to provide me with… information. Impressions. Personalities." He touched her arm. "But it's up to you."
Indecision raged in Claire. Darien and Bobby were big boys, they could take care of themselves, but she doubted Darien had ever been in an earthquake, and Bobby was… well, Bobby was Bobby. And she was a scientist, this kind of thing simply did not just happen. Biting her lip, she relented. What harm could it do? she thought flippantly.
"Okay. What do I do?"
"Just think about them. I'll handle the rest." Jamie took her hand in his, the right supporting her left hand, palm up, the left covering it slightly so that their palms brushed. His eyes remained open but seemed to be looking at nothing, and she felt an odd sensation of heat moving through her palm. Remembering what she was supposed to do, she focused on thoughts of Darien and Bobby.
She blinked- and Jamie's eyes refocused on her face. "Claire," he said softly, and she jerked her hand away in alarm. She'd never told him her name and it wasn't on her nametag. He frowned slightly. "I can't find them," he said softly, "but something else is coming. An aftershock." He took her by the elbow and pulled her roughly across the drive as the ground heaved, tossing them both through the air effortlessly; they landed on knees and hands, clothes tearing, breath knocked free.
Claire felt her chin connect with the pavement and she bit her tongue. Swearing vividly, she tried to get up but the ground still bucked below her, preventing her from regaining her balance. Sirens wailed, people screamed, pipes burst and car horns honked frantically.
As soon as it was over Claire picked her head up, peeling her cheek away from the hot asphalt. Hair straggled in front of her eyes and she brushed it away irritably. Beside her, crawling to a sitting position, Jamie touched her shoulder. She looked up at him, read the question in his eyes, nodded silently. She raised herself to her knees and took a few deep breaths, trying to re-establish her bearings.
The road beneath them was shattered into thousands of crumbling bits of asphalt and concrete, and Claire carefully got to her feet, as wary of the traitorous ground as she was of her own wobbly knees. Jamie followed, his hand on her elbow, eyes glued to the convention center. "Come on," he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing, seeing through the shaken structure to something else. "Come ON." Claire watched him, his gaze raking back and forth, his hand tightening on her arm, and slowly became aware that his fingers against her skin were incredibly hot, almost burning.