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“Do you think we'll finally get our boy?” Jim asked, leaning over the back of Lewis's seat.
The inspector had his mouth twisted into a grimace. “We have to. He's been on the run for two weeks. His luck has to run out sometime.”
“He can't be too clever.”
“Mm.”
“We’ll get him, Lew.”
“We better.”
“There!” a third agent in the car exclaimed.
The car swerved up to the curb, and the agents were out of the vehicle just as it came to a stop. Lewis and Jim started off together, then Jim caught a glimpse of their boy and took off with Agent Sinclair deep into the old condemned building. Lewis and Detective Callum followed then separated to cover more ground.
The adrenaline had pumped through Lewis’s veins as they all chased the suspect. He heard the cacophony of agents’ shouts and heavy hurried footfalls. They all had tunnel-vision with their boy being in reach after being on the offensive for weeks. They were almost there!
Lewis slowed to a stop in the deserted hallway. He listened. He caught sight of Jim ahead, turning a corner with Agent Sinclair on his heels. He thought about blocking the side entrance but something told him to stay where he was. He couldn’t put his finger on it…
Then he heard it - creaking and cracking. He looked up and saw dust falling from the ceiling. Shit. The whole place was going to fall. “Jim!” He winced. He shouldn’t yell. That would only bring the walls down sooner. He jogged toward the way his partner had gone. “Jim!”
He heard echoing footsteps then a distant, “Yeah?”
The structure gave a groan.
“Inspector, get out of there! The building’s coming down!” an agent on the steps outside yelled.
He waved to him that he’d heard. He was still looking down the hall. “Jim! Get out of there!”
“Inspector!”
He looked up and squinted against the crumbling rubble. “Jim! Dammit, Jim!” He heard more distant footsteps then coughing. He started to stress at how much dust was already falling where Jim was. He wanted to go forward.
“Lew!”
Thank god. “Get out! Get out!”
He heard a scuffle. “Got it!”
He could exhale, but he’d only be able to breathe again when Jim was safely out of there.
“Inspector!” Someone gripped his shoulder and yanked him. He stumbled out, just making it to the curb before he watched in horror as the building collapsed.
The middle went first - caving in and turning to bricks and dust. The entrance was blocked immediately. Then the sides went, and clouds of dust were sent out, making everyone take cover. The whole thing was a pile of rubble in seconds.
Lewis hadn’t even stopped coughing and clearing his eyes of dust when he surged forward. “Jim! Jim! Jim!”
“Wait wait!” Someone stopped him. “It's not done falling!”
“I've got an agent in there! Let me go!”
“Wait!”
“We’ve got rescuers coming!” someone else shouted.
The hard grip on his arm didn’t move. Its owner was panting and boring a hole in Lewis’s face, but he didn’t care. “There’s people coming. I’m sure your agents took cover. Just- wait, Inspector. Wait.”
That wasn't good enough. He yanked his arm away and started to pace. Jim was trapped, no doubt. Again. He was trapped again. If he was alive- of course he was alive- he had to be. Lewis felt his collar was suffocating him suddenly. He tugged at his tie and continued to pace. He cursed under his breath and managed to refrain from demanding where those rescuers were. He paced like a caged lion. If others were concerned, they didn't say anything.
The rescuers were in his view. They were clearing a path and calling out for answers. But then it all seemed like they were taking too long, and Lewis dared to put matters into his own hands. He rushed forward and climbed onto the rubble and got halfway with shoving debris out of the way before he was held back again.
“They're doing their job, Inspector. Wait,” someone scolded.
They’re not fast enough! he wanted to spit. He continued to pace. He continued to worry. He continued it all with a deeply disturbed look on his face.
“We'll find them, Inspector. We'll get them out.”
Them? Lewis wanted to ask. But somewhere in his mind told him that was an inappropriate thing to ask and he couldn't remember why. Then he winced. They had at least two more agents trapped.
“Yes, all of them…” he covered.
It felt like years but the rescuers gave a shout and Lewis wasted no time in climbing his way over. He wasn't held back this time and other agents followed him.
He called out in question, Jim’s name on his lips, just aching to know that it was Jim they’d found and that he was alive. He called out for him so much that his voice broke.
Then he was there at the source of the shouting just as Jim was pulled from the wreckage. Lewis stopped short and fell to his knees. Jim was covered in dust and his eyes were closed. He watched with baited breath as rescuers eased him over the rubble and onto a nearby flat surface - a perfectly downed slab of concrete. His hands flexed as he endured the sight of rescuers holding his neck and head firm, easing his spine, and straightening his legs.
“He’s not breathing.”
“No,” Lewis barely heard himself whisper. He felt a firm hand on his shoulder but he couldn’t be bothered to see who it was. “Jim… oh god, Jim…”
All he could do was have faith in the rescuers and that it was not Jim’s time. He watched the rescuers check for a pulse, putting their fingers to his neck then putting their ears to his chest. He saw their heads shake then he watched them strike Jim’s chest again and again. He held his breath. He prayed to any god that could hear him. He stared for so long, feeling sicker and sicker as they kept hitting him.
He felt cold then. Just an iciness wash over him as he was faced with the possibility of never speaking to his partner again. The thought singed the edges of his consciousness with darkness. He gasped for breath. He gasped for their last shared everythings.
Their last banter was that morning over a bagel and coffee. Their last conversation had been Lewis's brisk words about the suspect and how they couldn't fail again. They hadn't even shared a smile. God, he'd never see that smile or those deep blue eyes again. He'd never pick him up for late night cases or early morning flights. He'd never hear that laugh.
But then he saw a puff of dust fly from Jim’s mouth. Then another and another. The rescuers sat him up as he continued coughing. They looked him over again, nodded, then quickly moved on to the next agent that was being pulled from the rubble. Lewis wasted no time, scrambled over the jagged debris, and hugged him.
He fell to his knees, almost falling on top of Jim who was still coughing and looking bleary-eyed but who was very, very much alive.
Jim coughed again. “I’m alright, Lew,” he rasped, his throat feeling like sandpaper. “I'm alright.”
“Yes, yes, you’re alright,” Lewis breathed so sadly yet so relieved.
Jim leaned his head on his shoulder as that was all he could do for a hug. “Lew?” God, his throat hurt.
“Yeah?”
“You’re squashing me.”
“Oh I’m so sorry-” Lewis let him go so suddenly, he had to catch him before he hit the debris. “Sorry,” he said again. “Sorry.” He gently set him down, taking care with his head.
Jim coughed some more and took a ragged breath.
Lewis studied him. He was still so pale and dusty, but there was color to his lips. He feebly dusted him off some more. He just- he kept seeing him… dead. Just seeing rescuers trying to bring him back…
“Lew?”
He blinked and met Jim’s gaze. “Yeah?”
“Callum and- Sinclair okay?”
“Huh?”
“Detective Callum- and Agent Sinclair. They- okay? Did they- make it out?” he asked between breaths.
“Oh... oh I, uh-” He felt foolish for forgetting the other two agents that had gone in the building with Jim. Again. He looked around for any sign of the two. He saw a few more rescuers down the way, huddled by another person. He looked on and saw more agents searching the rubble. “I... I don't know.”
Jim closed his eyes against Lewis's unconscious caresses against his temple.
Lewis looked down when he didn’t hear a reply and saw that his eyes were closed. “Jim?” He couldn’t help the hitch in his voice. He’d been so close to seeing Jim’s eyes never open again.
But those blue eyes opened. “I'm awake.”
Lewis let out a soft breath and a soft laugh. He felt his throat start to tighten and it made it hard to speak. “...good.”
“Lew?”
“Yeah?”
“I'm okay.”
Another soft breath, but this time, it was sad for the lump in his throat choked him. “I know.”
Jim coughed again. “Lew?”
“Yeah?” he whispered. He couldn’t speak much louder for that gravelly sound hurt him too much.
“Think we can- save the- report for- tomorrow?”
It took a moment for those words to sink in and then he chuckled. Almost with delirium. “Yeah. Yeah, we can.” He chuckled again, and Jim let out a weak breathy laugh.
Jim could hear Lewis’s hurt. He wanted to hold his partner close and insist over and over that he was okay. Just repeat it so many times until Lewis got it through his thick worrisome skull. But his head felt like it was full of rocks and his mouth was full of sawdust. He closed his eyes again. He heard some shifting beside him, Lewis’s soft grunt, then the return of those soft caresses to his temple.
He watched Jim’s breathing even out and felt his forehead touch his leg as he gave into his rightful exhaustion. But Lewis couldn’t be at rest yet. He couldn’t be content until Jim was safely in a hospital bed under the care of a doctor. He brushed a bit more dust from his hair. “If you have any more of these cave-ins, I'm reassigning you to desk duty down in records.”
Jim cracked a smile and opened his eyes and looked up at Lew. He feigned an offended scoff and tiredly scolded him. “Oh Lew… Lew, Lew, Lew, Lew…”
“I mean it, Jim.”
His easy tired grin grew. “Oh I know you do.”
They shared gazes for a moment. Lewis brushed the back of his knuckle against his cheek. “I mean it, Jim,” he repeated, softer.
Jim heard something else in his voice. Fear was the closest thing he could name. He cleared his throat. “Lew?”
“Hm?”
He shifted and tiredly lifted his hand toward Lew's that soon stilled on his cheek. Jim's fingers weakly pressed into his wrist. “I’m glad- you’re here.” He saw that deep emotion in his face and the tears threatening to bloom in his eyes.
Lewis let out the smallest shaky breath and thumbed his cheekbone. “Me too.”