Protector

Elizabeth Connell had no idea how she had gotten here. The situation in itself was something she often actively avoided. Which was why she was confused as to why everything was blurry and in absolute chaos. Fires and explosions riddled the walls of whatever structure she had found herself in. If she so much as felt a gust of wind that didn't feel right she turned around and headed in the other direction. So why the hell did she end up here in the middle of some terrorist attack?

"Hey!" She faintly heard someone cry out to her from somewhere in the shadows. Everything was shaking around her that she couldn't exactly think straight as she slowly gathered herself off the floor. "HEY!" they were closer this time. She could hardly make out the silhouette of a person; most likely a man based on the way they seemed to stand.

The building was crumbling around them both. Yet he still ran to her and helped her get out of there. Liz could tell just by glancing at him in her discombobulated state that there was something off. It was like he whizzed between the toppled pillars of stone at an impressive speed to reach her. She outstretched her arm to him not knowing exactly what to do in a situation like this.

As his hand grasped her's another explosion went off knocking them both to the ground. Liz instinctively shielded her head from the debris. The thundering crack of stone sent echoes through her head temporarily impairing her hearing. When she finally could open her eyes again, he was above her struggling to keep a giant slab of ceiling from crushing them both.

"Hey!" He yelled to her. Everything was muffled still. She could only barely make out what he was trying to say. "You didn't hit your head too hard, did you?" It was too dark to see his expression. She wanted to know if he was joking or not. Liz hastily shook her head standing up and carefully maneuvering past him to help support some of the weight he was holding. But when she placed her hands on the slab of rock and pushed, it didn't even budge. So she used her shoulder. Same result. "Hey! It's too heavy for you. I've got this. Just get out of here." He motioned toward a small opening on the far side of the small compact space they were currently occupying.

Elizabeth scurried our of there only glancing back once to see if he was still there. To see if he was even real. And sure enough, there he was waiting patiently for her to be in the clear so that he could relieve his shoulders of such an uncomfortably heavy weight. Liz made an effort to get out of the way so that he too could escape the crumbling death trap of the burning building.

He followed behind her after quickly letting the ceiling slab crash to the ground so that he could leave. It was rather difficult to find a clear path through the massive amounts of debris. Liz desperately followed her instincts and what seemed to be the sound of police sirens to an opening. It wasn't an escape route. But at least the fires hadn't touched the area they found themselves in.

There was too much blockage from what she could tell. Getting to the outside would require using muscles she just didn't have. And that was a problem since the only plausible way to get out of the building would be to climb the mountain of what looked like part of the ceiling. She could see red and blue lights flashing from the other side.

"Hey! What do you suppose we do?" He inquired out of breath. Liz thought for a moment before taking to the rubble. "You think we can just dig ourselves out of here? It's just going to come crashing down on us if we move too many important pieces. It's like a jenga tower." She huffed out a sigh and turned to face him. "Do you even talk?"

"Yeah, of cour-" a sudden cough exploded through her chest and she wheezed excessively as her lungs went into a fit. Inhaling so much smoke and dust couldn't have been good for her.

"Shit." He rushed to her side as she collapsed to her knees on the floor gripping her heaving chest. He patted her back and held her hair out of her face in case something unpleasant came up. "I'm sorry. Just breathe. I didn't mean to make you-" She cut him off.

"I've 'ad worse... believe me." They sat there on the ground for the next few minutes just staring at each other and their surroundings. Liz was still shocked she was there in the first place. Though the guy didn't seem as troubled as she was. "Aye, you got some balls y'know. Runnin' ov'r to save me before the explosion ought to've knocked you out. I know I wouldn't've been able to get up had yeh not shielded me." She spoke softly.

"Right. You're welcome." The way he said it sounded like he didn't think he was... worthy of her thanks. But before she could really thank him properly, he changed the subject. "Now about getting out of here, you don't suppose we could climb this stupid wall of rubble do you?" If she was being honest with herself, it would probably be best if they just waited for the people on the other side to safely dig their way through to them. Even if it took hours or days to reach them. He glance with a raised eyebrow over at her. "Yeah, me neither."

"What? I din' even say nothin'." Liz blew the stray hairs from her face in frustration. It was like he wasn't giving her a choice. "You're the one that assumed I wouldn' at least try." She stood up in a defensive manner. She wished that she had never ended up here. Wherever here was anyway. They could be in a Tesco for all she knew.

"Do you want to try getting over it? Cause I don't think there's an opening at the top." How could he possibly know that. He only smiled revealing a row of slightly crooked teeth. In a smug 'I-know-what-I'm-talking-about' kind of way.

"Well then I guess we're stuck 'ere 'til the buildin' crashes down on top of us." Liz wandered back to where they had both just come from. The little pocket they had been trapped in was now engulfed in flames. As far as she was concerned, this really was just a race between the fire and the overall integrity of the building. "Do yeh know what 'appened? I jus' remember wakin' up wit' everythin' on fire and crumblin' around me." The adrenaline that had previously fueled her body was now fading and her eyelids were starting to become increasingly heavy.

"Hey. Why don't you rest for a bit while I see if I can find a way out of here?" It was like he could see just how tired she was. But she couldn't just sit back and watch him struggle for them both. And he definitely avoided her question. It more or less made her suspicious.

"No. If you're goin' to try an' find a way outta 'ere, I'd like to help." It wasn't fair in her mind to allow him to do all the hard work. He could be just as tired as she was and she wouldn't feel right not contributing to their escape.

"Fine. But if you pass out, don't blame me." This guy's attitude was almost as if he expected her to submit to the damsel in distress stereotype. Which she refused to do. Liz was fairly confident in her ability to support herself. "Here. I think I found a small opening." She rapidly turned on the heel of her foot to see him kneeling on the ground sticking his arm through an opening between two pieces of ceiling tile.

"Can yeh see the other side?"

"Barely. I can see some lights. I can't tell if it's daylight or not." That reminded her that she had no idea what time it was.

She quickly patted herself down searching for her phone. In her pant's front pocket, she found a shattered screen. Liz prayed that it would turn on. With a hitched breath and shaking hands, she pressed the power button. The screen lit up with her familiar lock screen background. A sigh of relief filled her lungs. "Don't you think this is a horrible time to be tweeting about your day?"

"Shuddup. I'm callin' for help, dumbass." The time read 13:47. Still daytime. "It's probably daylight." She quickly punched her passcode in and scrolled her ridiculous amount of apps to find the digit pad. But calling for help wasn't that effective if you didn't know where you were. "Where are we?"

"The Philadelphia airport. Shouldn't you know this? You're the one who took a plane to get here." Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. She was overseas? All by herself? What if she wasn't? Liz couldn't remember getting on the plane so it was possible that she wasn't alone when she got on. "What's wrong?" His voice was soft as he walked over to her. "You don't remember." All the worst case scenarios kept creeping into her head. What if her mother had come with her?

"I don' even remember gettin' on the plane." Her fingers clenched the smartphone in a desperate matter. She had to focus. What would she say to the operator on the other end of the line? "I don' think I have enough information to help them find us. Do you?" She said defeated.

"I think so. Hand me your phone. I'll talk to them." She reluctantly passed it to him. He carefully typed in three numbers and placed the phone to his ear.

Liz held her breath with anxiety trampling around her head. He paced around breathing more heavily with every dial tone. After a few moments he pulled the phone away from his ear and gritted his teeth. He flicked his eyes up to meet her's. Her brows furrowed when they suddenly flickered in a brilliant display of light. Her breath hitched again. Weird stuff always happens.

"Damnit! They're probably getting hammered by calls from people stuck in there." In a fit of frustration he dialed again rubbing the dust and soot from his eyes on the back of his just as dirt covered hand. "I swear they need more people to take calls." He gritted his teeth and huffed a breath. "Mother OF F-!" He paused for a moment to gather himself. "I'm sorry. I think they're busy."

They both were well aware of the destruction before them. The fire was closing in and it was just a matter of time before they were swallowed up by it if they didn't find a way out. Liz wasn't as concerned with herself as she was with whomever might've gone with her on the plane. Or whoever was still stuck inside the burning building.

"Do yeh think we could... I don't know, scream fer 'elp?" He snorted. They shared a light chuckle before a bloodcurdling cry erupted from inside the fires. Liz glanced over at him with wide eyes. He just clenched his jaw harder. She saw that he wasn't going to do anything. "Fuck." She whispered under her breath before running back into the flames.

"Wait! LIZ?!" She would've stopped if she wasn't so determined to find this screaming person. How he knew her name without her telling, she had no idea. But in that moment, the only thing that would stop her from finding that person, was a force from God or her passing out from a lack of adrenaline. "Elizabeth!" He called after her as she hurdled a smoldering beam.

"Hello?!" She yelled out when she had gotten to a spot that wasn't engulfed in flames. "Hello! Can you hear me?!" Another scream sounded from somewhere in front of her. "I'm coming!" She was about to cross over into burning territory when something brushed against her hand. She turned back to see an astonished "guy". He grabbed her hand and pulled her back with him to the opening they had come from. "No! Wait! I can save 'em!"

"They're too far in there. There's no way we could reach them from here." Liz's cheeks scrunched as another wave of hot tears trailed down her face. "I'm sorry to drag you away." She punched his arm to let her go but he persisted.

"Why would yeh do that!? That could've been my mum!" She screamed at him. By the time they got back to the opening, another explosion sounded off and the support beams she had seen earlier crumbled to the ground.

"See? You would've died had I not gotten you out of there!" She had to admit. He'd saved her yet again. "I can get us out of here. But only if you don't get yourself killed."

She didn't care about dying. "How'd you know my name? I never told ya. A bit strange, innit." But he didn't answer. Instead, his eyes flickered once again. Her mouth fell open as what appeared to be symbols seemed to burn underneath his shirt.

"Close your eyes." He warned her. She'd seen many strange things in her life. Who hasn't? But this wasn't just strange anymore. Her mouth remained open as she stared intently at his fluid blinding movements. "Suit yourself." He replied before reeling back once more.

The entire opening exploded with brightness like lightning had struck nearby. When she could clearly see again, the entirety of his left sleeve was smoldering against his glistening skin. And the mountain of rubble that had once stood in front of their path, was crumbling to the ground in a cloud of ash and dust. The flashing police lights weren't obscured by the demolished building anymore.

Liz gaped at the sheer destruction this guy had caused. Clearly having never seen that amount of raw power before. "Holy shit. How'd yeh do that?"

He chuckled lightly at her amazement. However, his throat couldn't handle it and he started choking on air. In a fit of coughing, his knees buckled. She dashed under him and cradled his head in her arms. He raised his hand to her face. Her phone still clutched against his palm. "Here." She graciously took her phone back. "I might have murdered your phone. I'm sorry." He whispered.

Now that she could get a clear look at him, her breath hitched in her throat. "What the 'ell are you?" She didn't mean to sound so terrified. But if she didn't ask, she would've gone crazy. The guy seemed to understand anyway. "I'm sorry. That was rude."

"No, it really wasn't. I'm sorry you had to see that. Can you see any of the people outside?"

"Y-yeah. Why?"

"Fucking call for an ambulance. I think I broke a rib."