Steve stayed on top of the rubble and waited. "Steve?" Kelsey called to him. "What's going on?"

"I'm waiting for Bobby, but he's not coming. Don't let them start drilling again. I'm going back down to see what's wrong."

"Ok. I'll tell them."

She made her way back to the hole. "Alex?"

"Yes, Kelsey?"

"Don't let them start drilling again. Something's wrong."

Eames felt her heart leap into her throat and she looked at Logan. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but Bobby never came back up from the cars."

Panic grabbed at Eames' heart. "No..." she whispered.

Logan turned to the engineers. "You guys stand down with that vibrator. Everyone's not clear yet."

Greenfield frowned at him while Fellows moved away, chuckling. He liked that cop and the way he was busting Greenfield's chops. Someone needed to do it and he had to work with the little bastard.

Logan's attention turned immediately to Eames, and he saw the fear in her eyes. "He's gonna be ok," he said quietly. "He's too damn stubborn to die, and you know it." His eyes shifted as he glanced at his partner, then looked around for Deakins to be sure he was out of earshot. "Besides," he added, leaning toward her, his voice low. "He's not gonna leave you, Alex."

Barek nodded, also leaning in. "He's right, Alex. He won't let this take him out. Have faith in him."

She nodded. "I've always had faith in him," she said, choking down the lump in her throat. "I won't give up on him."

She looked back at the hole, but she couldn't help worrying. He hadn't wanted to tell her what was wrong with him. That was never a good sign.

--------------------------------------------

Steve dropped to his knees beside Goren. "Come on, man, wake up."

No answer.

"Dammit, Bobby..." He didn't know what to do. "Come on, please..." He threw his hands up. "Listen to me. Now I'm whining. Come on, dude, get up. Don't make me go back there and tell your partner this is it. You gotta get up."

Goren coughed, groaning and moving against the pain. Steve grabbed his arm. "Come on, so they can get us the hell out of here and you can get to a hospital." He looked up at the pile of rubble. The word 'insurmountable' popped into his head but he chased it away. "I can help you, Bobby, but I can't do it all myself. Wake up, dammit."

Goren forced himself to open his eyes. He licked his lips, but his mouth was dry, too. He was cold, and that wasn't right. He recognized the signs of hypovolemic shock, mildly surprised to find them in himself. Pain didn't cause shock symptoms, but blood loss did. Where was he bleeding? Slowly, realization crept through the muddy waters of his mind as he remembered, and the severity of his condition again came back with shocking clarity. This kid was risking his life to no avail. Shaking his head, he muttered, "I'm done, Steve."

"No way. I won't let you give up. Come on. I'll help you. They won't drill until we get back there, so if you want us rescued, any of us, you're getting up and letting me help you over this pile of rock."

"Don't put that on me."

"I'll put anything I have to on you to get your ass up. Come on."

"You sure your name's not Logan?"

Steve frowned in confusion, but figured he was delirious. Delirious or not, though, he was going to get this cop over to the other side, where everyone else was waiting.

"Come on. I know it hurts, but you're just gonna have to bite the bullet."

He grabbed Goren's arm and helped him stagger to his feet and stay upright. It took almost more effort than Goren had left.Steve looked upward. "You gotta help me here, man. I can't carry you."

"I'll try." There is no try...he thought of Logan, and he laughed softly. Steve frowned. He really was losing it. He remembered a patient who'd come into his mother's clinic with a gunshot wound. The guy was bleeding faster than his mother could get fluids into him.He didn't make it; they'd lost him not long after he'd started laughing at nothing. He looked back in his mind and heard his mother's voice: Hypoxia can cause giddiness due to lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain. Time was almost gone for Bobby.

A stone from above came tumbling down toward them. Steve turned, gently pushing Bobby to the side as it bounced past them. "Hey, kid?" came a voice from above them.

"Who's that?"

One of the men who had helped him get the others over the debris climbed down and looked at them. "Need a hand? I figured as much help as this cop has been, the least I can do is see if I can help."

Steve nodded. "Thanks. What's your name?"

"Roger." He looked at Goren. "You got a friend named Logan?"

Goren nodded, but he was using all his remaining strength not to collapse again.

"He's...persuasive."

Goren raised an eyebrow curiously. What'd Logan do now?

Carefully, so they wouldn't cause him further harm, the two men helped Goren get over the debris and back to the hole. "Thank God," Kelsey muttered. She turned her face toward the opening. "Alex?"

"I'm still here, Kelsey."

"They're back."

"Bobby?"

"Yeah," he answered softly.

"Don't do that again."

"Sorry."

"How do you feel?"

"Don't ask."

She looked at Logan who was pointing at Fellows and hollaring, "Get them out of there, man. Get 'em out now."

"Tell them to get as close to the wall as they can, in case the rest of that tunnel comes down. The overhang should protect them enough, I hope."

"You are not filling me with confidence here."

"I'm giving you what I have, detective."

Logan leaned down. "Have everyone brace themselves against the wall, Bobby."

The drill started up again. "Here goes nothing."

It was slow going as the drill made its way through the concrete. In the tunnel, the ceiling was crumbling, and pieces were falling, but there was no further collapse as they proceeded. Two men stood by the woman who was protecting the children, shielding her with their bodies as she shielded the kids. Steve knelt by Goren and Kelsey had once again rested his head in her lap, so it wouldn't be resting on the concrete floor. Goren was drifting in and out of consciousness and no longer responding to either of them. Roger stood near them, quietly studying the big cop who had risked his life for them and wondering what made a man do it...particularly if he wasn't operating under threat of bodily harm from another.

The floodlights from the abandoned tunnel broke through the wall as the drill broke through from the other side. Steve looked up, still nervous, as chunks continued to drop from the ceiling. He heard more of the ceiling collapse on the far side of the tunnel. All that was left was to widen the hole enough so they could get out. They were running out of time. He continued trying to talk to Goren, but he wasn't even groaning any more. He'd retreated from the pain for good. He felt for a pulse. It was weak and thready, but still there. His breathing was still labored. Steve looked at Kelsey and shrugged. He didn't know what to say.

The drill fell silent. "What the hell's going on?" Logan snapped.

"We gottta change the bit. Give us a minute."

"You know, I don't know how many minutes my friend in there has. So unless you want to be spitting out teeth for a week, get back to that drilling."

"Easy, Logan," Deakins warned. "We've got a team of paramedics standing by. Did he tell you how he was hurt?"

Eames shook her head. "Bobby?"

Steve hesitated a moment, but he decided not to lie to the voice on the other side. "He...he's not responding any more, Alex."

Logan's voice came back. "Can you tell us what's wrong with him? What do we tell the paramedics so they can be ready?"

"Best we can figure, it's internal bleeding. Nothing else fits. He cracked a couple of ribs, too, and got a head injury, but that didn't seem bad. At least no worse than what I got. His biggest complaint was his gut."

"Thanks, Steve."

Deakins disappeared down the tunnel to talk to the waiting team. Logan looked at Eames. "We'll get him out."

"I know. But will it be in time, Mike?"

"Sure it will." He turned back toward the construction teams. "I'm not hearing your drill!"

A few seconds later, the drill roared back to life.

----------------------------------

As soon as the hole was big enough, the drill was tossed to the side and people were guided through the opening. Once they were through, Kelsey came out, followed by Steve and Roger, who carried Goren between them and gently set him on the floor just outside the opening. Eames dropped to her knees beside her partner, shaking her head and touching his cheek. "You're a mess," she whispered. But you're all mine, she thought.

Deakins ushered the paramedics through, and Logan gently took Eames by the arm and led her off to the side. They watched as the paramedics struggled to get an IV started, then finally hung a bag of saline, wide open, and got him onto their stretcher. "Let's get him out of here," one of them said. He looked at Eames and Logan. "St. Vincent's is closest."

Logan nodded. "Go, man. We'll be there shortly."

Eames leaned against the wall as Logan turned to the survivors who were milling about. "Steve?"

"That's me."

He was surprised to see that Steve was just a kid; he'd done more than a man's job. He held his hand out. "Thanks, for everything you did."

"He's a good guy. I did what I could to help." He looked toward Eames. "You're Alex?"

She nodded. "Thank you," was about all she could manage.

Kelsey came forward. "I'm Kelsey..." she said. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more for him."

Eames responded simply by giving the girl a hug. Logan pulled his card from his pocket and handed one to Steve and one to Kelsey. "Give me a call tomorrow and I'll let you know how he is."

"Thank you," Steve answered.

"Now go get yourselves checked out."

Logan looked around again. "Hey, which one of you is Roger?"

"That's me. Are you Detective Logan?"

"I am. Thanks for your help."

"Like I had a choice."

"Hey, we all respond differently under pressure. I just gave you a little more pressure to respond under."

Roger gave him a dirty look, then looked at Eames. "I do hope he's going to be ok. He kept a lot of people calm in there. And he shut that damn preacher up."

He headed off toward the waiting triage team as another voice came to them from behind. "Detectives?"

They turned to face an older lady, who had her arms protectively draped over the shoulders of two children. Eames recognized Goren's jacket over the shoulders of the girl, and his badge was still in a death grip in the little boy's hands. "This jacket and badge belong to your friend."

She waved a hand. "It's ok. I don't think he'll be in a hurry to get them back." She handed her card to the woman. "Just give me a call whenever."

"You're kind, too. Thank you. Come on, kids."

"Let's get over to the hospital, Mike."

Barek said, "I'm going to stay here and help out. I'll call you as soon as I get clear from here."

"Just be careful, ok?" Logan answered as he followed Eames back toward the trucks. There were half a dozen of them sitting there now, and Fellows was by the last truck on the track. "Hey, guys. Want a lift?"

"Yeah. We've got to get to the hospital."

"Hop in."

"What about Greenfield?"

"I guess I'll come back and get him," he said with a laugh. "But let me get you guys out so you can check on your friend."

"Thanks, man."

They got in the truck with the engineer and sat in silence during the drive back up to the station near the command post.