"I can´t believe to say this, but that was real fun", Danielle stated crawling out of a mountain of unwashed bed linen that had apparently found its intermediate storage in front of the shaft's exit. Ot of a reflex she had rolled to her right through the momentum of the slide, so her rescuer wouldn't bury her beneath him.
Giving her a confused look, John straightened out his Jackett.
"Honestly, I have a different idea of fun than ending up in dirty sheets of foreigners", he stated.
"If you look at it that way..."
Letting her gaze wander through the storage-like basement environment that housed ten industrial machines for laundry and the same number of dryers, she nodded back at the shaft.
"Do you think they saw us?"
"I don't believe so, but nonetheless we shouldn´t wait the answer out."
Putting his words into action, John strode to the door, which reminded her of the entrance to an underground parking lot. In an automatism, he pulled his pistol to arm himself against possible attackers. His attempt to leave, however, was to be abruptly stopped by the handle, which apparently could only be operated from outside.
"Finch, we have another problem here", he grabbed his ear in an unconscious habit.
"Finch, can you hear me?"
The lack of a response from his partner on John's face made Danielle throw her head back in exhaustion.
"Steel insulation", she summed up the reason in two words before pointing across the room. It is why you don´t seem to have connection in here. The fire door is made of steel and the walls are probably full of it, too", she let him know, a sudden weariness in her voice.
"Today is definitely not like my lucky day", John concluded.
"On a positive note, someone will be coming in here in about 40 minutes at most", she pointed to a washing machine´s timer. Perching on an inverted laundry basket, she looked back at the door.
"Let's hope that we don't get any unwelcome visitors in the meantime."
"And if so, we'll at least get out of here faster."
Danielle smirked. "I´d like to have your optimism."
Closing her eyes for a moment, she noticed the sound of another laundry basket placed next to her, on which John sat down.
"Actually, you don't seem like you're going to be too quick to take the bait", he remarked after a moment of silence.
Slipping a sideway glance at her rescuer, she couldn't help but smile. "Look, who´s talking, Mr. I get a full dig in the ribs and still send my opponent to dreamland."
From the corner of her eye, she saw that it was now John, on whose face a smirk had appeared.
"However, I'm not always as tough as it might seem."
Shaking her head at the admission, she added: "And the fact that I confide this to an almost stranger should make me think."
"As I figured, most people hide things from their families and closest friends more than they do to foreigners. Sometimes it's easier to open up to someone who doesn't belong to this circle", John stated, turning his gaze to her.
"An unbiased point of view and no pity that makes one feel guilty. Apparently, we read the same psychology book", she replied with a raised eyebrow before her expression took on a sudden seriousness.
"Why did you come to the auto repair?"
The question left her lips faster than she was able to realize.
"Because I don't like it when those that I'm trying to protect deliberately put themselves at risk because of misinformation about my safety." Dropping the phrase for a moment, he added with a grin: „also I still need someone to take care of my wound."
Danielle couldn't help but laugh.
"I think a man with your skills can do that quite well on his own."
Taking a deep breath, she leaned her head against one of the running machines.
"Maybe it was stupid of me to go there, but I just couldn't take the thought of something happening to you because you wanted to save me. I´m sorry that I got you in trouble even more because of my headless behavior."
"No need to be sorry. I was already worried that you would take over the situation yourself and I end up being workless."
Not being able to suppress another smirk, Danielle shook her head.
For a moment they both remained silent before her glance lay on his profile.
"How do you deal with shooting people?", she suddenly asked. I mean not only back in your army days but also now. I know you're saving other people's lives, and yet..."
"I accept it as a necessary part of what I do. It doesn't haunt me in my dreams, if that's what you mean", he interrupted, now also looking directly at her. "Killing someone changes you. It becomes a part of you that you can never put down. That's the sacrifice I'm willing to take. When I´m offered a choice between protecting an innocent person and saving the life of a murderer, my choice will always be of the victim."
Surprised by his openness, but equally impressed by the integrity with which he carried out his task -with which he was willing to make this decision consciously every time- she took a moment to grasp the importance of his words.
"Nevertheless, I prefer if a well-aimed shot in a kneecap is enough, as some people say I have a soft spot for", he added with a brief grin.
"Kneecaps are not a bad choice after all, as I was just able to see myself. Effective for the moment and maybe even for the rest of one´s life."
"Speaking of injuries", John continued in a suddenly hesitant tone. "What you said about Finch's spine, how sure are you about that?"
Danielle frowned. "Has he never told you?"
Taking his silence as an answer, she shrugged. "I'm not a doctor and I don't know the x-rays either. Therefore, I can only tell what I recognize in terms of posture and gait. During my internship at the hospital, a patient was admitted to the emergency room. He was a window cleaner and fell from the second floor. His cervical spine had snapped at such an angle that only a stiffening was able to help if he didn't want to run the risk of further pinching his spinal cord. Like Mr. Finch, he too was no longer able to look over his shoulder. As for the limping gear, it was more of a guess to be honest. At least there is a high probability that it is related to accidental trauma. I mean, who is going to be unlucky enough to experience two different causes with such severity?"
Watching John processing her words, she raised her eyebrows.
"As I said, all of this is just my speculation", she stated.
Glancing back at the exit, she added: "It's just like with that door. If we could start a fire, the immediate alarm would take us out of here on supposed firefighting."
Pausing for a moment, Danielle repeated the word firefighting with a sudden tinge of realization in her voice. Fueled by an apparent idea, she started scanning the room.
"What are you up to?"
"If I'm right, getting us out of here. As much as I enjoy talking to you, I don't like being locked up too much. So, after you've saved me twice, I guess it's time to return the favour."
With a gesture of her hand, she pointed into the room.
"Look around. We are surrounded by technical devices. Should they catch fire, the alarm would notify the staff", she explained.
"The problem is that I don't see a lighter or anything else to set off the alarm."
"That's not the point." Slipping away into the machine-shielded part of the room, Danielle found what she was hoping for.
"Bingo!"
"A fire extinguisher?", John asked, following her.
"Right - and absolutely negligent to store in a place that wouldn´t be even in reach in case of a fire. Nonetheless, it will serve us well."
Amused by the confused look of her counterpart, she signalised him to follow her back to the door.
"How well did you pay attention in chemistry?", she asked, removing the safety bolt.
"Apparently not good enough."
Danielle smiled. "Welcome to the club. Luckily, compulsory firefighter training at work isn´t the worst for refreshing the memory. "
With a nod, she pointed back to the washing machines. "If technology is on fire, what are you absolutely not allowed to use when extinguishing it?", she asked, releasing the activation pin with a strong tap.
"Water, if I'm not into electrocution."
"Correct. Unfortunately, most fire extinguishers are water or foam based. While foam works amazingly on grease fires due to oxygen capping, it is just as dangerous on engineering fires. That's why there are special CO2 extinguishers that have to be installed in all rooms with technical devices."
"CO2 is based on a nitrogen base", John started to arrange puzzle pieces in his head.
"Correct. Nitrogen cools down to minus 78 degrees Celsius. That´s why fingers and other objects shouldn´t get into contact with it for too long. 10 seconds would be enough already to..."
"... make something die or break off", he now understood.
"MacGyver would be proud of us."
Observing her counterpart's frown, she did likewise.
"Don´t tell me that you've never watched the series."
"I had other things to do."
"And somehow I even believe you, but hey, supposedly it's never too late to discover new things", she winked before reaching for one of the sheets in the laundry pile.
Wrapping the cloth around her hand, she took the required safety distance between herself and the door to activate the fire extinguisher.
The white fog of CO2, which enveloped the area of the lock within seconds, lasted about half a minute until the contents of the bottle faltered.
"Something in there seems to be blocking, let's hope it's enough. Would you like to take over the second part?", she held out the container to John.
"I'd love to."
It took no more than one hit onto the doors handle to clatter to the floor; two more smacks for the lock to shatter like an ice cube beneath a hammer. Reaching inside, it was easy to pull out the bolt that had blocked the escape.
"That's what I call teamwork", Danielle stated with a satisfied smile.
"That´s what I call actual fun compared to dirty sheets", John smirked back at her. "However, I think it´s time to leave before someone´s coming to charge us." Grabbing for his gun, he looked down the deserted hallway before signalizing Danielle to follow him.