Sunday Snippet: Explosive Situation

It's SDCC weekend! I love how much my Twitter and Facebook feeds explode with fun and exciting information about my favorite shows and movies. So many great pictures, quotes, and rapid-fire reports to sink into and devour—a new trailer for what to expect on the rest of Defiance, a teaser for Arrow season three, reports about The Avengers: Age of Utron, and tons of cosplay pictures, which I love to see.

And SDCC kind of launches the countdown for Dragon Con in September. I've never had the opportunity to attend, but I have so many online friends who go, I'm lucky enough to pretty much experience the whole thing vicariously through them.

Tonight's post is from, Explosive Situation, a short story where the main characters are co-workers who become more.

Here's the tagline:

Hadley and Tab are the go to people for explosive situations. They work in tandem and haven't lost anyone, or each other, yet. When Tab gets caught in the crossfire on their latest mission, Hadley digs deep to save him and finally faces her feelings.

And a sneaky peek…

Hadley crept along the darkened corridor, following behind Tab, listening to the sound of muted conversation and an occasional barrage of bullets. They inched closer and closer to the area where Magnus held his hostages. He shot off another round and Hadley flinched. Such a dangerous location for gunfire. Too many flammable chemicals and metal surfaces for ricochet.

Hadley got up close to the door and pressed her ear to the smooth surface. Another volley sounded, five rounds—the same number of hostages Magnus had—followed by the pop and hiss of a pipe bursting. She shot Tab a worried glance, but kept her ear to the hatch.

Tab slid closer and she held up a hand.

Magnus swore. "Well, god dammit. That sure is a lot of blood." His muffled voice rose.  "Guess I won't be coming out with a hostage after all."

Hadley signaled the news to Tab. He nodded and jerked his head toward the door. Hadley moved her hand to the release and pushed it inward. The heavy steel scraped along the metal decking and sparks flew. A sharp hiss and a burst of ignition and Hadley's reflexes kicked in. She yanked hard on the door, pulling it shut, and took off at a rapid pace.

She shouted. "Fire! Run!"

Tab fell into step and sprinted beside her. The deck rumbled underneath their feet.

Tab glanced over his shoulder. "Get down!"

The door burst and he shoved Hadley out of the way, taking the brunt of the explosive impact. Hadley slammed to a halt, doubled over against the bulkhead. Her eyes stung and watered, noxious fumes filling her lungs. She blinked through the flow of tears and couldn’t find Tab.

She shouted his name. "Tab!" Flaming debris rained down around her and she scrabbled to her feet.

Another explosion rocked the corridor and she dropped to her knees, crawling forward, searching frantically for her partner. Her throat burned, but she wouldn't leave him behind. Reaching out, she swept her hands back and forth, careful to avoid the visible hot spots. Smoke filled the corridor and she coughed, struggling to find Tab. Her fingers brushed over a tuft of hair and relief filled her. Scrambling forward, she shoved what remained of the hatch off Tab and felt for a pulse. Weak and thready, but there. She grabbed hold of his tactical vest and dragged him out from under the rubble. Hauling him forward, she made slow progress, tugging him along behind her. Another few meters and she'd have him to safety. The emergency response team could put the fire out and get Tab to sickbay.

Reaching the all clear zone, she collapsed, but pulled Tab close. He didn't regain consciousness and her heart kicked against her ribs. He couldn't die on her. Not now. They had too much to do together.

Together.

Her hands fisted in his vest. "Dammit, Tab. We've got a lot of shit to do. You'd better stick around for it." She breathed out a watery sigh and let the tears flow unchecked.

Hadley just got an inkling of how much Tab means to her. Thankfully, she'll have a little time to figure out what to do next.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flip.

ML Skye