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recklessrex · 4 years

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45 - Herman and Munks (again it doesn't need to be canonically, but I need to see them having a conversation)

Okay. So. The other prompts I've done so far could all technically work in the continuity of my Cats headcanon, but they mostly serve as one-shots.

But this one ended up tying directly into the "Isle of Storms" arc in my overall timeline of Cats narrative headcanon fic thingy, and actually serves as a nice introduction to that setting. You don't need to know anything about the Isle of Storms before reading.

Beware: Long Fic

45 - “I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming.”

Munkustrap had never been to this part of the island before. The northeastern shore was so different from the coves and pretty little beaches to the west, and the marina and urban ruins with their expansive beach to the south. Even the east and southeast shores, dominated by short cliff faces and grassy hills, had the occasional short sandy beaches separating rock and ocean. Here, in this corner of the island, there was hardly any sand to speak of at all.

There was a beach of sorts, but it was made almost entirely of rocks. A field of smooth, fist-sized stones led all the way down the shore to disappear into the waves. Large, jagged boulders jutted out of the ground sporadically, sometimes in groups, sometimes alone. Clusters of even larger boulders bordered the rocky beach in several places, separating it from the green foothills forming the base of Wild Mountain. The ruins of a fishing village, and the shallow slopes it was built on, lay between two groups of these boulders, giving the Cats who sheltered there direct access to the waterline.

Munkustrap stood about a mile or so west of the village, at the top of one of those huge moss-covered boulders at the edge of the field of stones, gazing down on a site he never would have guessed was a part of the island he'd been forced to call home for the past several months. The rocky beach wasn't so surprising. The climate and geology was right for it, and it wasn't like they didn't have anything like it back home in England.

The penguins were rather a shock though.

There must have been at least fifty of them. A mass of knee-high, black and white, dapper little birds waddling around on the smooth rocks. He'd never seen anything like it in his life. He searched his memory, trying to come up with the species (ignoring the voice in his head, that sounded very much like Tugger, calling him a nerd).

Small, no crest, can survive outside of Antarctica…

That last one narrowed the field a bit. Munk was hardly a penguin expert, but he felt like few penguins were built for any climate other than frigid. The first thing that came to his mind was Galapagos, but he rejected it almost immediately. They were endemic Galapagos and while he wasn't sure exactly where in the world his island was, Galapagos it surely wasn't.

Related to Galapagos then, he thought, maybe…

He watched them, transfixed, trying to memorize their markings. There was a tribe that operated a meager library in the valley between the Ridgeback and the Watchtower. Maybe they might have a book on penguins…

Suddenly something else caught Munk's eye. A person, sitting on a low flat boulder on the beach, about twenty meters or so from the penguin gang.

Gang? thought Munk. That's not right. What's a group of penguins called? A flock? No I don't think so…

Shoving that thought aside for now, Munk focused his attention on the person sitting on the beach. They were definitely a Cat, he couldn't see their ears because of the hood protecting them from the slight drizzle, but he could see the tail, occasionally waving and thumping the rock in idle contentment. They were close enough for Munk to see the solid grey fur on their tail, and the very familiar faded pink rucksack laying next to them.

Herman, thought Munk.

He made his way down off his own tall mossy boulder, and approached his… friend? Ally? Business partner? He still wasn't sure where he stood with the clever young tom. But he was fairly sure Herman was on their side.

"Heyo, Herman!" he called as he approached, using the local term used to greet others from a distance. Herman turned, surprise etched on his face, relaxing when he saw who was calling him. He smiled and waved but didn't get up. He kept his eyes on the older tom as he approached, unconcerned with the giant group of wild animals just a short distance away.

"Looks like I managed to sneak up on you for once," joked Munk when he was close enough to speak at a normal volume. Herman smirked and turned back to the penguins.

"I dunno whatcher talkin' about," he said casually. Munk chuckled. The kit could play innocent if he wanted, but they were both well aware of the way he'd suddenly appear in Jellicle territory without anyone knowing how he'd gotten through the walls without damaging them, or past the guards without them noticing. Magic was a possibility, but Misto and the Twins insisted they sensed nothing in him.

"What are you doing this side of the island?" Munk inquired as he came to stand next to the solid grey young tom, who shrugged and looked up at him.

"Could ask the same of you," he replied. A non-answer, but a reasonable one.

"Just exploring. Getting my bearings," answered Munk. "Not been to this area yet, thought I'd give it a look." Herman hummed in agreement.

"That's cool."

"So what about you?"

"Oh ya know…" Herman shrugged casually, "...business. Had some stuff to drop off, pickin' up some stuff, you know how it is."

Munk did in fact know how it was. Herman was a major player in the island's barter system economy. Hundreds of tribes and individuals all over the island depended on him to get them access to resources they would have difficulty obtaining on their own. The Jellicles themselves had a standing deal: he finds them as many good usable nails, ropes, and other building fasteners as he can, and in return for each delivery he gets to pick out quality pieces of metal from the scrap laying around their territory.

"So how do ya like Stony Shore?" Herman asked.

"Is that what you call this region?"

"Hnm."

"Well it's certainly full of surprises." Munk gestured at the (...pack? …gaggle?) group of penguins. Closer now, he could see one or two fuzzy pint-sized chicks toddling between the adults.

"Oh yeah, they're neat, ain't they?" said Herman, looking up at the older tom with a big excited grin. Munk smiled back. He liked finding things the young tom couldn't (or didn't bother to) hide his interest in.

"I like to sit and watch 'em when I have a chance," Herman continued. "Finish up business up here, got nothing else going on for a bit, I come out here…" he gestured at the penguins "…chill with the tuxedo chickens."

Munk glanced down at Herman with a raised eyebrow. He knew education on the island was limited, especially for kits with no tribe or family, as Munk suspected Herman had grown up. But surely, surely he knew what a penguin was?

"Is, uh… is that what you call these?" Munk asked, trying to sound casual. Just act dumb, he thought to himself. He didn't want to embarrass his young companion.

Herman glanced up at him, looking somewhere between amused and concerned.

"Dude, you do know what a penguin is, don't you?" he asked.

Munk laughed.

"Of course!" he said, taking a seat next to Herman on his flat, damp boulder. "But is that what you call them?"

"Eh, sometimes" Herman shrugged. "It's my little nickname for 'em."

"Well it's certainly apt," chuckled Munk. Herman grinned at the comment, then they both fell silent. Together they watched the penguins milling about on the rocks, going about general penguin business, socializing, grooming, some sleeping, one adult chasing a wily chick that was outmaneuvering it by ducking between adults.

They didn't seem to mind the Cats' presence. A few wondered over to investigate the seated pair, but none got closer than a few meters. They would scope them out, then go right back to the (...swarm? …clan? …tribe, maybe?) group and move on with whatever penguiny business they had. It almost seemed to Munk like passers-by stopping to listen to a busker, then continuing on their way.

"They don't know you," Herman's voice rose over the various the squawks and honks of the penguins to break the silence between the two of them. "That's why they ain't coming over."

"Oh?" Munk replied. "They don't look bothered to me."

"They ain't, but they ain't gonna come right up either. Some of 'em, they come right up to me, check me out. Hang out, you know?"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah these guys, like, know me."

"Cool."

"Ain't it?" Again Herman offered Munk that big excited grin, and Munk couldn't help but smile back. Herman acted casual and nonchalant, but Munk could tell he was always hiding, always so guarded all the time. It was nice to see him getting to be himself and share his excitement for once.

"Sure is," Munk affirmed, and turned his attention back to the penguins.

"None of them are eating," he mentioned, meaning it as a question.

"Yeah, naw, they got eggs," explained Herman. "Half the parents are out hunting or like fishing or whatever you'd call it. When they get back the other half will go out."

"Ah, yes, I see," Munk said. He did remember that about penguins now that Herman had said something, but he wanted to let the kit show off what he knew, so he pretended he was just now learning it.

"You can't really see the nests right now, 'less you're looking for 'em, cuz there's too many chickens in the way," Herman went on "But they got bunches of these little nests in the rocks with like a couple of eggs, like two or three, in each nest."

Munk narrowed his eyes and stared at the ground around the feet of the penguins. He did occasionally see an impression in the ground with some small lumps in it. He guessed those were the nests.

"Where did they come from?" he asked.

"The penguins?"

"No the rocks," Munk answered flatly, still scanning said rocks to see if he could spot more nests. Herman chuckled his appreciation for Munk's sarcasm.

"From the Zoo, just like a buncha other shit that lives in this island." Herman was referring to the ruins of a zoo tucked into the southwestern foothills of Wild Mountain. Munk was aware of the Zoo, and that many of its inhabitants had escaped following whatever catastrophe had happened to the island that caused it to become abandoned. In fact, that was how Wild Mountain got it's name. Munk had yet to find anyone who knew what the second tallest peak in the island used to be named, but everyone now knew it as Wild Mountain because so many of the escaped animals set up shop there. Lions, wolves, bears, all kinds of things that Munk didn't think was native lived on that Mountain. It was part of why this corner of the island was less popular than the rest.

"How did it happen?" Munk mused aloud, thinking about the ruins of the island's previous population.

"How did what happen?" asked Herman.

"The island," answered Munk. "The people. The ruins. What happened?"

He hadn't really intended it as a question to be answered, as he didn't really expect his companion to know. But he often wondered. Just exactly what had happened here?

"You really wanna know?" asked Herman.

Munk looked at him. Herman wasn't watching the penguins anymore. He was watching Munk. He still wore his casual expression, but the look in his eyes had changed. Munk knew that look. It was Herman's "serious business" look.

Herman knew.

"Yes," Munk answered seriously.

Herman looked back out at the penguins.

"Watcha offering?"

Munk raised both eyebrows in surprise. Out of everything he expected to become a transaction…

"For information?!" he exclaimed.

Herman raise one eyebrow back at him and said nothing.

"About the history of the island?" Munk said, though he knew the answer by now.

Herman's only answer was to raise his eyebrow higher and smirk.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming," Munk sighed as he sat back to think. What did he have to offer? He had nothing on him he was willing to part with, and these sorts of transactions are usually done on the spot. Though Herman knew the Jellicles were good customers and might except a "trade promise" of something back at the tribe's territory. Did they have anything Herman might want that would be worth giving up for the information he was offering?

"What'll you take for it?" he asked finally. He might as well get an idea of what Herman was looking for before trying to do a mental inventory of the tribe's resources.

"Oh ya know," Herman shrugged non-committally, "I wouldn't mind some company with my evening meal."

Oh.

"Oh," said Munk. "Um…"

This wasn't good. Trade aside, he just wasn't into Herman that way. But he didn't want to hurt the kit's feelings.

"Listen, Herman, uh… I'm not really uh... not really interested in you like that-"

"What? Ew, no!" Herman said quickly, then added, "No offense, but no. That's the last thing on my mind." Munk eyed him, unsure if he meant it or was just denying it because of rejection. Herman noticed Munk's expression.

"Trust me bro. It ain't you. I just ain't into it," he explained. "Like, at all. With anyone." He shrugged. "Not my thing."

Satisfied he was telling the truth (and more than a bit relieved) Munk asked, "So what did you mean?"

"Ah, ya know, I always eat all by myself. I see other folks, tribes and shit, they eat all together sometimes. Like your tribe. If I come by around mealtimes, I see like, you guys are hanging out together while you eat. It looks nice," Herman explained, putting on his best casual, carefree tone and body language. It didn't fool Munk. The kit was dying to have this. "Besides" he shrugged, "The was a pretty damn good pie the other day."

Munk couldn't help but laugh. The week before, the Jellicles had offered him a slice of a pie made from their newly harvested blueberries, just as a gesture of hospitality and gratitude. Herman had accepted it (as part of the day's trade), and the look on his face when he bit into it was priceless. He had absolutely loved that pie, and had come back with extra goods just to get another slice.

Herman looked at the older tom, a touch of worry and surprise crossing his studiously casual face when Munk started laughing.

"Come by the theater around six or seven tonight," Munk chuckled, waving away his laughter. "I can't promise there'll be pie, but if you stick around after you might get to watch a bit of rehearsal."

"Dinner and a show?" shouted Herman, slapping his knee and startling a few nearby penguins. "You got deal, bruh!"

They shook on it. Information for an invitation.

"Alright buckle up," began Herman "Like about 15 or so years ago, this place was all bald-bodies. Like some Dogs as like house Dogs or whatever, definitely some fourleggers, but like mostly bald-bodies. I've heard varying stuff on it, but only like five to twenty Cats on the whole island to like over 100,000 bald-bodies"

"Standard" commented Munk, who was used to "human society" being just that, dominantly human and largely absent of Cats. Though he was old enough to remember a time when "house Cats" were as common a thing as house Dogs. His own brother had been a house Cat, and he himself had worked in a university, not a house but a similar principle. But that's a different story.

"Right," said Herman, "so these bald-bodies they're doing their bald-body thing, living their bald-body lives. The Massacre happens, and whatever Cats were on the island all get killed off."

Munk shuddered slightly. Herman was probably too young to properly remember the Massacre, which was probably why he was able to speak so casually about it. But Munk had been eleven when it happened, and he remembered it agonizing detail…

"So now it's just bald-bodies and some house Dogs, right? And they go back to their bald-body lives. But then," Herman lowered his voice for dramatic effect, "about two or three years after the Massacre, someone, no one knows who, but someone, bombed the shit outta this place."

Munk had already guessed warfare had played a role from the state of some of the ruins, but he had expected to hear about the island's involvement in some war. Herman made it sound like it just came out of the blue.

"But why?" he asked.

"No one knows," said Herman with a shrug. "But there are theories."

"Such as..?"

"I'm not done yet, hang on. So they get the shit bombed out of 'em right? Big political hullabaloo. Buncha people pointing the finger at each other, no one really getting the blame."

Munk vaguely remembered hearing something like this in the news, but if Herman's timing was right this would have happened during his year of away-training, and news was neither easy to come by nor the peak of his interest, so it was no small wonder he couldn't remember much about it now.

"Disaster relief comes in, calls the place unfit for life, and evacuates all the survivors." He lowered his voice again "They never come back."

He certainly knows how to tell an interesting story, thought Munk.

"Story goes they all get like, rehomed or whatever, and more importantly," Herman raised a hand towards Munk and leaned in, making sure he had the older tom's attention. He needn't have bothered. "...they all got paid off. Right? So like, they get these huge checks to keep 'em quiet and so like, they wouldn't come back, right?"

Munk nodded.

"So like, the place is officially abandoned. The whole island sits empty for years. Well, 'cept the surviving Zoo animals and I guess the native animals and shit. But the point is, no people. For years. Then," Herman leaned in again. "about 7 years ago, the two existing 'isolation zones,' ya know, where the bald-bodies started sending Cats after the Massacre, they start getting full. Overcrowded. I know. I lived in one."

Munk narrowed his eyes but stored that bit of information away for later. Herman rarely offered information about his past, and never followed up any questions about it. If this tale could unravel even a little bit of the mystery that was Herman, well that would be a bonus.

"So like at first they start shipping a bunch of us from the older, more crowded place to the other place," Herman continued, oblivious to Munk's curiosity, "but that doesn't last long. Then they ship a whole bunch of us to this prison looking thing. I dunno if it was like an actual prison but it sure looked like one.

"It was actually kinda nice though, it felt more like an indoor city then what I would have thought a prison would feel like- but that's not the point." Herman shook himself out of his tangent and got back to his story.

"I spent two years there before it started getting kinda crowded too. And there were apparently human cities nearby that didn't like us being there. Then," Herman's tone went flat to show his annoyance "someone in Control or whatever was all of a sudden like 'oh we have this nice empty island far away from human society' and everyone conveniently forgets the 'unfit for life' part and a bunch of us get picked out to get shipped off and now here I am!" Herman opened his arms wide, gesturing to the ocean, the rocky beach, and the penguins. "Chilling with tuxedo chickens on an bombed-to-shit uninhabitable island I've inhabited for the past five years." His voice was colored with distaste that he didn't bother trying to hide. Telling the story had awoken an old bitterness in his young heart, one that had awoken in Munk as well, and was also leaving a bad taste in his mouth. They were silent a moment, then Munk asked,

"What are the theories?"

Herman shook his head. It wasn't a refusal, rather a judgement on the world.

"The main one is Control did it."

"Why?" asked Munk, though he suspected he already knew the answer.

"To make room," Herman answered with a bitter smirk. "How do ya like that? Murdered the shit out of over 100,000 people, like 95% of 'em their own kind, cause they knew there's more Cats in the world than would fit in their little 'zones.'" He laughed. There was no mirth in it. "They were planning ahead."

They sat in silence again for another moment, the only sounds coming from the waves, the light drizzle, and the gregarious penguins. A few penguins were starting to return from their fishing trip. They watched as the parents reunited, greeting each other before swapping places, caretakers waddling down to the waterline and returned-hunters taking over care of the nest. One returning parent had at least one already hatched chick, which was promptly fed as the Cats watched and stewed over the state of their existence. Eventually Herman sighed, leaned forward, and ran both hands through the fur on his head.

"It's all speculation you know," he said. "All shit I've heard, you know, around. No way to confirm anything."

"Around," repeated Munk. It was intended as an open question. He wasn't sure how all this information would be available to anyone on the island.

"I got my sources," the younger tom said, pulling a joint from a pocket of his pink rucksack and lighting it. "I ain't at liberty, you know how it is."

"Hnm," said Munk.

"You want a hit?" Herman offered. "First one's free."

"No thanks," said Munk, shaking his head and staring past the penguins to the ocean, "not really my thing."

"Suit yourself," Herman drawled, taking a hit.

"Hnm," said Munk.

They sat like that for some time, no one speaking, just thinking, and watching, until the rain stoped, the sun came out, and Herman's joint was half finished.

"Colony!" Munk shouted suddenly, snapping his fingers. Every penguin on the beach started, looked his way, and honked in annoyance.

"What?" asked Herman, as startled as the penguins.

"A group of penguins is called a colony!"

"...Okay…?"

---

Omg so there it is, the first official fic in my official Cats headcanon narrative fic thingy! I'm so excited! It's finally happening! Now I just have about 40 more years to write in order to actually lay out the timeline leading up to this point! yaaaaayyyy!!!?!

Btw the penguins are Humboldt penguins if you're curious.

#isle of storms #worldbuilding #herman #Munkustrap #and yes #munk is a nerd #you know I'm right #don't worry about what the massacre is or who control are for now #that'll be elaborated on in the future #eventually...

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kmomof4 · 5 years

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Well, I did it again...

I wrote another fic...

Well, here we are again. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever write another fic, and I still can’t believe I did it, but when I finally bought and downloaded one of my youngest’s favorite movies, the ending gave me massive CS feels. So after plenty of hand-holding, encouragement, cheerleading, and brilliantly executed beta duties from none other than @hollyethecurious, @winterbaby89, and @shireness-says, I present to you my second CS fic. I hope you all like it. There are two instances of strong language and the fic is rated T because of that. Many thanks to @winterbaby89 for the use of her original character from The Red Dress Affair. This is an unapologetically stupid disaster movie fic, based on the 1997 Tommy Lee Jones movie Volcano. I have taken a massive amount of liberties with LA geography, field trip protocol, and established scientific fact to fit the purposes of the fic. Apologies to anyone who lives in the area and/or cares.

Tagging some folks who might be interested in reading something else from me. @artistic-writer @ilovemesomekillianjones @doodlelolly0910 @let-it-raines @profdanglaisstuff @resident-of-storybrooke @seriouslyhooked @branlovestowrite @flslp87 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @searchingwardrobes @pocket-anon @donteattheappleshook @kymbersmith-90 @snowbellewells @sherlockianwhovian @teamhook

Read more line after the first scene unless Tumblr ate it. Part 2 will be up on Tuesday.

State of Emergency ao3 link

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Emma Swan stood at the stove listening to the morning news in the background while scrambling eggs for herself and her son, Henry, before she sent him off to school. He had a big day ahead of him with his Kindergarten Buddy Field Trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. As a “senior” at his school, the entire sixth grade class had been assigned an upcoming kindergartener as a “buddy” to help them adjust to full day elementary school. There had been many functions and events over the course of the school year to foster the relationships between the seniors and their buddies, but this was the first field trip away from the school. Henry and his buddy, Roland Loxley, were very excited because of their shared love of fossils and anything prehistoric. And the fact that Roland was going to be spending the weekend with them while his parents were out of town didn’t hurt either. Emma turned toward her son as he sat himself down at the table. “Nothing better than a good breakfast, kid.”

“Yeah, yeah Mom. I know.” The signature eye roll complete with shrugged shoulders made its way across the face of the twelve year old.

“Most of you probably didn’t even notice, but we had a small earthquake this morning. The US Geological Survey reported a 2.8 magnitude earthquake centered under Beverly Hills at 4:37am.”

“Why are they even talking about this? It didn’t even wake me up! Think fast Henry! What do you do in an earthquake?” Emma asked him, placing his plate in front of him.

“Get under a door frame, put my head between my legs, and kiss my ass goodbye.” Henry then dug in to his eggs and toast with all the gusto of a teen boy who hadn’t been fed in 8 hours or more. Emma rolled her eyes as she sat down to her own plate, deciding the argument over his language wasn’t worth having this morning. The eggs and the rest of his breakfast were soon gone and she wondered if the clothes she’d bought him for this spring would still fit him come the end of March.

“Gotta go Mom. I’ll call you when Roland and I get home from the field trip.” Henry grabbed his bookbag from where it was hung on his chair and made his way toward the door, opening it to find his friends waiting to walk to the bus with him.

“Bye, kid. Have fun and make sure to keep track of Roland!” she shouted as she heard him greet them before they headed down the hallway.

Gulping down the rest of her coffee, Emma got up from the table and thought about the day she had ahead of her at the Office of Emergency Management; the next-to-last day before a two week long vacation that she and Henry had been looking forward to for months. Putting the dirty dishes in the sink - They can wait to go in the dishwasher - Emma grabbed her purse and phone just as it started ringing. Emma’s best friend and assistant Ruby’s name flashed on the screen before she swiped across it.

“What’s up Rubes? Isn’t it a little early for you to be calling me?” Emma shut and locked the door behind her as she walked down the hall toward the elevator. “I’m getting in the elevator, so I’m gonna lose you here in a second. I’ll call you when I get in the car.” Emma hung up as Ruby sputtered. Once in her car and headed toward downtown, she dialed Ruby back.

“Emma,” Ruby didn’t even say hello, and the urgency in her voice was very apparent as Emma sped down the I-10. “There’s some kind of leak near the intersection of Wilshire and Fairfax. Where they’re working on the red line. Paramedics are on their way, but the supervisor of the work crew is saying that 2 men have very serious burns. He’s pretty shaken up Ems.”

Ruby’s words trailed off and Emma heard a disturbing sound coming from the other end of the line. “What’s that sound?”

“The supervisor,” Ruby replied with a tone of disgust. “Expelling what was left of his breakfast.”

Emma frowned. “I’ll be to the Fairfax exit in about 10 minutes. Load up WOLF and meet me there.”

“You got it boss,” Ruby replied before hanging up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What’s going on?” Emma shouted as she got out, slamming the door of her vintage yellow bug behind her.

Ruby pulled up right behind her in their equipment truck, affectionately nicknamed WOLF. Jumping out and taking long strides to catch up, Ruby commented, “Just before the call came in, the Geological Survey measured a 2.2 earthquake centered under the tar pits.”

Emma stopped, startled at what she had just said. “What? The tar pits?”

“Yeah,” Ruby replied. “Not enough to be felt, but close enough to here that maybe they’re connected?” Emma could feel the blood drain from her face, and based on the way Ruby was looking at her the she noticed it, too. Grabbing her arm, Ruby asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“What?” Emma shook her head. “Oh, Henry is going on his Kindergarten Buddy field trip to the pits today. An earthquake underneath them isn’t exactly what a mother wants to hear.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” her friend said. “I mean, after all, if we discover that there is any real danger to the public, we’ll shut down both the pits and museum. Come on. Let’s see if we can figure out what happened here.”

Emma and Ruby made their way to the crest of the hill where they saw orange work crew tape around the open maw of the entrance to the sewer and subway workstations down below. Off to the side they also saw emergency vehicles and paramedics working feverishly over a body that, from this distance, was unrecognizable as human. As they ran down the hill, they could already see a black body bag being zipped up. Just catching a glimpse of the charred body within was enough for Emma’s breakfast to roll in her stomach and for Ruby to lose hers completely. Swallowing down the bile, Emma asked, “What happened here?”

The white-as-a-sheet man wearing a supervisor’s vest turned toward her and seeing her department issued jacket, swallowed heavily before answering. “We’re doing routine maintenance on the red line. Munk, Ham, and Foster over there were down there with Ramirez and Franks.” If possible, the man before her went even more pale as he gestured toward the paramedics. “Kitchens and I were up here.” The man gulped again. “W-w-we could hear the screams from here.”

“I’m so sorry.” Emma laid her hand on the shaken man’s shoulder. “I truly am, but I have to figure out what happened here so I can direct city resources if need be.”

“You’d best talk to one of them then,” he replied, lifting his chin in the direction of the men he’d just mentioned. His wide, frightened eyes made their way back to where one of the paramedics was sitting back on her haunches.

“Time of death,” she said, glancing at her watch, “8:22 am.”

Emma made her way over to the men the supervisor had pointed out. “I’m Emma Swan from the Office of Emergency Management. Can you tell me what happened?”

The tall, sandy haired man pointed to himself then his companions, “Mark Munk, Hollis Ham, Sam Foster.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” She grimaced, looking away. “Wish it was under better circumstances. What happened down there?”

“We were heading toward to maintenance platform. Franks and Ramirez were in front, then Ham and Foster, then me. It was hot. So hot.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he was relishing the cool morning air. “We couldn’t see much. All we had were our flashlights and helmets,” he trailed away, turning toward his companions.

Foster picked up the story then. “It was hot, but once we felt the earthquake stop, the heat was much worse.”

“You felt the earthquake? It was only 2.2!” Emma exclaimed.

“Yeah, we could feel it. Nothing major, but enough. Once it stopped, the heat really intensified. Franks and Ramirez were really having a hard time with it. It sounded like they were having trouble breathing, gasping and stuff, then they were hollering and fell down. It looked like they were trying to rip their clothes off. Ham and I grabbed them under their arms and dragged them back toward the ladder. It was so hot by then, none of us could hardly breathe.”

“We got back up topside,” Ham continued, “Hernandez had already called the paramedics.” His eyes widened as he saw the second body bag being zipped up over his coworker. “I’ve… I’ve never seen…” He turned away, hunched over as a barking sob escaped him.

Ruby had returned from cleaning herself up by this time, just as Ham finished his part of the tale. Emma turned toward her. “Ok, we need PPE and the thermal radiation temperature gun. We’ve got to go down there and see what’s what.”

“On it,” Ruby replied turning back toward the truck.

“Thank you very much gentlemen. You’ve been a great help.” She looked at each of them in turn. “I’m very sorry for the loss of your coworkers.”

Turning away from them, Emma headed back toward Ruby and WOLF. Arriving at the truck, Emma climbed in after Ruby as she was getting down the Personal Protection Equipment they’d need before they went underground. “It sounds like the earthquake may have had something to do with it, but whether it did or not, what those men felt down there, and was enough to kill two of them, certainly needs to be looked at.”

“Oh, you’re not gonna get any argument out of me, Emma.” The fear that Emma was also feeling was well banked behind the determination in the brunette’s eyes. Determination that Emma felt as well. “We can’t let this happen to anybody else.” Ruby took down the thermal radiation gun as she spoke, turning toward her friend.

“Agreed,” she said, “let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn! They weren’t kidding! What’s the temperature down here?” Emma shouted at Ruby as she made it to the bottom of the ladder.

“117° according to the gun,” Ruby hollered back.

“Ok, let’s go. I don’t know how far we can go before we have to turn back. This is something else!”

“No kidding! 132° and climbing fast!” Ruby shouted. She took a few steps forward. “I’ve got a reading here!” Shaking her head while studying the screen intently, Ruby said, “There’s some sort of fissure here. Gas and… something… I can’t tell what exactly… 748°!” Ruby’s eyes went as round as saucers. Her mouth falling open in an ‘o’. “EMMA! Back! Get back!” Ruby screamed, “Your suit is melting!”

Upon hearing Ruby’s scream, she noticed the smoke rising from both suits. “So is yours! We’ve gotta get out of here!” They both took off running toward the ladder; neither of them had realized they had moved about 15 feet away from its rungs. Reaching it, they both clamored to the top, collapsing onto the grass around the workstation.

Gulping in huge gasps of air as they tore off their helmets and suits, both women stared at each other wide eyed as Hernandez ran up toward them. “What?! What did you find? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah we’re fine,” Emma answered, still breathing heavily. “There’s a fissure down there. Hot gas and something else coming up out of it.” Raising herself onto her elbows, she started pointing all around the park they were in. “This Park needs to be evacuated. The red line needs to be shut down from South La Brea Avenue to South Crescent Heights. And get me the Geological Survey on the line. A geologist. Someone who can tell me what the hell is going on down there!”

Ruby scrambled away down the hill as soon as she was recovered enough to move. “Yes ma'am!”

Emma collapsed back on to the grass, before making her way to her feet and down the hill herself. Emma shook her head. Well, my day just got about a hundred times more crazy. Henry and the group should be at the tar pits by now. Should we shut them down? No. We’re far enough away from them, there’s not a concern for their safety. Yet. I’ll wait until I talk to the Geological Survey. Then decide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Good morning! My name is Killian Jones, and I’ll be the docent leading your tour of the La Brea tar pits today.” Killian looked out over the sea of about thirty faces, some bored, some looking anywhere except at him, and maybe five or six looking at him at least halfway interested.

He enjoyed volunteering at the tar pits on his day off from the US Geological Survey. Especially when the kids were already in love with the things he was going to be talking about. I mean, how can you not love a kid who can correctly pronounce Paramylodon Harlani? The two brown haired boys at the front of the group however, stared at him with rapt attention. Brothers maybe?

“We’ll be starting our tour in just a few minutes. As soon as the group ahead of us moves through. In the meantime, feel free to look over the masks from the PaleoIndian village in the display case on your right.”

The crowd moved over to the case, all except the two boys who did not seem eager to lose their places at the front of the group. “I’m Roland Loxley,” the little one said holding his hand out for Killian to shake.

“Well, hello there Roland,” Killian answered, a grin breaking out over his face as he reached out to grasp his hand. The kid had a surprisingly strong grip for one so small. “It’s nice to meet you. Is this your big brother?” he asked turning his attention to the older one.

Roland giggled and cut his eyes toward him as the older boy looked embarrassed. “No, he’s my buddy, Henry.”

“Oh, I see! It’s nice to meet you too, Henry,” Killian said, holding his hand out for him to shake as well. Henry looked a bit surprised as he took Killian’s hand in his own and shook.

“You too,” he replied. The glint he had noticed in the boy’s eye a few minutes earlier was back as he asked, “Do we get to go inside the fossil lab today?”

“Ah ha! Do we have a future paleontologist in our midst? Or a geologist maybe?” Killian’s delight at his speculation was hard to disguise as Roland looked to be prepping for takeoff, bouncing on the balls of his feet with his hand in the air like Horseshack from Welcome Back Kotter, Killian’s favorite late night binge show on Hulu.

“Ooo! Ooo! Me! Me! Me! I’m gonna be a paleontologist when I grow up! I have my very own Smilodon fatalis tooth at home! And a fossilized Venerupis philippinarum! And a Carcharocles megalodon tooth too!” Roland exclaimed. Poor Henry looked absolutely mortified at Roland’s excitement.

“Roland, can’t you please shut up?” the boy hissed, glancing back at Killian apologetically.

“Ahh! A saber tooth cat, clam, and giant shark tooth, huh? Well, it looks like you’re well on your way to a brilliant future in paleontology my boy,” he said, placing his hand on Roland’s shoulder. Turning back to Henry, Killian returned to his original question as most of the group started making their way back towards them. “Unfortunately, we will not be going inside the fossil lab today, but we will observe some of our scientists working in it. We will be on the observation deck outside. We will also be visiting the Lake Pit, Observation Pit, Project 23, and the Pleistocene Gardens. After lunch, we’ll enjoy the Ice Age Encounters and Titans of the Ice Age in the 3D theater. Is everybody ready?” he asked, getting everyone’s attention again, “Let’s go!” Killian swung his arm expansively as though to draw them all along and turned on his heel leading the way toward the first stop of their tour.

“Sorry about Roland’s enthusiasm earlier,” Henry halfway mumbled after he caught up with Killian. “He’s a cute kid, and he loves anything prehistoric, but he just doesn’t know when to turn it off.” Henry shrugged, while glancing over at his buddy chattering a mile a minute about how much he was looking forward to seeing the Columbian mammoth skeleton named Zed. “I mean, I love fossils and the Ice Age too and even have my own collection at home, much bigger than his,” he rolled his eyes, then glanced over at Killian obviously trying to gauge how his revelation was being received, “but I can at least control myself so I don’t look like an idiot.”

Killian chuckled, realizing that Henry was just as excited and enthusiastic about this field trip as Roland was, and was maybe a teeny bit jealous at being overshadowed by someone he saw as not as well versed in Ice Age history.

Killian looked down at the boy as they kept walking toward the Observation Pit. “Well, Henry, he’s young. And over-the-top enthusiasm is par for the course at that age. But I get it. I have an older brother that wanted to put a muzzle on me on a daily basis whenever I’d get wound up over something when we were kids. But keep in mind, that you have the same interest in what he is so enthusiastic about. You are in a very unique position to encourage that love or to quash it. He obviously idolizes you.”

“Really?” Henry asked, wide eyed. “How do you know?”

“Haven’t you noticed how almost every time he opens his mouth, he’s looking at you?” Killian replied.

“Oh… no, I guess I hadn’t. Well, all right. I’ll try not to let his enthusiasm get to me so much then.” The pensive look on Henry’s face evaporated as he looked up at him and smiled.

“That’s the spirit, lad!” Killian returned the smile and placed his hand on Henry’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze in support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you mean ‘he’s not there’?” Ruby shouted into the phone at the unfortunate underling who was bearing the full weight of her wrath at Dr. Killian Jones’ absence. “Where is he? Isn’t this his full time job? We have something major happening underneath the tar pits today, and he needs to be here! Not galavanting around on his ‘day off’!” Ruby put air quotes around ‘day off’ as if the person on the other end of the line could see them. “There are two city workers who are dead this morning and my boss and I were nearly killed as well because of whatever is going on down there! Does he have an assistant? Anyone who might know where he is?” The other end of the phone went silent for a moment while Ruby huffed out her frustration.

The phone was picked back up again and a masculine Irish accented voice spoke. “This is Graham Humbert, Killian’s assistant. What can I do for you, ma’am?”

Ruby tried to roll back her irritation by taking a deep breath and beginning again. “This is Ruby Lucas, assistant to Emma Swan, director of the Office of Emergency Management. There is something going on under the tar pits. Something major. I’m sure you know about the earthquake a couple of hours ago. After it stopped, two city maintenance workers were killed because of leaking gas and something else, something burning that nearly melted Emma’s and my PPE suits off of our bodies. We need Dr. Jones down here to figure out what is coming up out of the fissure we found. Where can we find him?”

“He’s actually at the tar pits today,” Graham replied. “There was a huge school group coming today, and all docents were called up to work today. He normally volunteers on the weekend, but with the size of the group…” he trailed off.

“All right. Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Humbert.” Ruby was texting the information to Emma before she even hung up with the man.

“No problem, Ms. Lucas. Once you find him, I’m sure we’ll all be in touch.” The phone line went dead while Ruby continued to compose her message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma had stayed at the park overseeing the evacuation and rerouting the red line to avoid as much disruption to the transit schedule as possible when Ruby’s text came in.

Dr. Killian Jones is at the tar pits today volunteering because of the field trip.

Glancing at her phone to see what Ruby had found out, Emma continued her litany. “This way. Thank you for your cooperation. Everything is perfectly safe, this is only a precaution. Thank you, this way please.” When she got to the end of the line, she jogged over to one of her coworkers. “The geologist we need is at the tar pits today. I’m going to head over there to find him.”

Taking off at a slight jog down the hill, Emma pondered what she would find at the tar pits when she got there. Will there be any sign of what’s going on over here? Or under there? Just how big was the tour group for the head geologist with the US Geological Survey to be called up to work when there’s this kind of activity going on?

When she arrived at the picnic area outside the museum it was filled to capacity with kids and adults enjoying lunch in the late winter sunshine. Scanning over the teeming area, she spotted Henry and Roland sitting with a very attractive dark haired man she didn’t recognize as another parent or their teacher. Henry spotted her and waved shouting, “Mom! Hey Mom! Over here!”

The man looked up at her and seemed to choke on his sandwich, turning bright red as he tried to bring the coughing fit under control. Henry turned surprised eyes on him as the man tried to wave aside his concern all while Roland stood up on the bench and was beating him, very enthusiastically, on the back.

“You okay, Killian?” Henry asked.

“Fine lad, just went down the wrong pipe,” he replied, still trying to get his breath back. The huskiness of the accented voice did something crazy to Emma’s insides, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the gorgeous man’s voice sounded similar in the throes of passion. Down girl, she thought as she approached the table. He had black hair that looked artfully mussed, or he may have just had a habit of running his hands through it. Dark scruff lined his jaw with just a hint of ginger that she could see from where she was. He looked tall and lean in dark jeans, brown boots, and a blue henley underneath a black leather jacket.

“Hi Henry. Who’s this?” And why are you having lunch with my son went unspoken as she turned her gaze upon him, sending him into another coughing fit, all while scratching behind his ear.

“This is Killian, our d-, do-...”

“Docent,” Killian rasped out. He had finally gotten his coughing and breathing under control enough to speak.

“Docent,” Henry echoed. “He’s leading our tour today. We saw the mammoth skeleton and the fossil lab, and Project 23, the actual working dig Mom! It was so cool! I’m gonna work there when I grow up!” he gushed.

“Aye,” Killian replied still clearing his throat, “it’s kids like them that make the volunteering so worthwhile. Bright, inquisitive, with enough knowledge already to really make it fun. And there’s been a lot of that today hasn’t there lads?” he asked. The grin that split Henry’s face told Emma all she needed to know about how his morning went.

Emma smiled at her son’s enthusiasm. “Well, it sounds like you’ve had a great time today, kid.” Emma turned toward Killian, who was also smiling widely at the boys before he turned his blue eyes upon her. Emma was stopped in her tracks as she recognized the joy and affection in their depths. Affection, she realized, that was directed toward the two boys next to him. She shook her head briefly to get her thoughts back on track. “Did he say your name was Killian? You wouldn’t by any chance be Dr. Killian Jones would you?” she asked.

“That’s me,” he replied. “Can I help you with something?” he asked, standing from the table and extending his hand toward her. His azure gaze ran up and down her form, leaving a pleasant tingle in its wake, but when his eyes met hers, she saw nothing but openness and appreciation in his gaze. Not the greedy lust that she was normally subject to when checked out like that. She appreciated the distinction.

Emma grasped his hand firmly in her own as she answered him. “Just the man I’m looking for.” Killian flushed bright red again at her statement as he glanced away from her. “Emma Swan with the Office of Emergency Management. I need you.” That last statement seemed to send him into yet another coughing fit before he was able to bring it back under control.

“You need me?” he squeaked, about an octave too high, his face still flushed red, eyes wide.

“Well, I need your expertise.” Emma was secretly delighted at his apparent attraction, but schooled her features as she prepared to drop a very serious problem in the handsome man’s lap. “There have been two small earthquakes today. The second of them was centered here at the tar pits and is most likely responsible for the deaths of two city workers this morning. My assistant and I found a fissure underground near MacArthur Park, and the heat coming out of it nearly melted the suits we had on. We need you to figure out what is coming out of that fissure and help us manage this.”

Killian blanched and sat back down at the table. “I can’t leave right now…” he trailed away, obviously trying to figure a way out of the dilemma. “The school group is too big. I can’t…” He shook his head. “I can’t hand my group off to another docent, and there’s no one to take my place. Let me get my assistant on the phone and see what he can do. I’ll be done here in about an hour and a half,” he said, glancing at his watch, “and I can join you… where, exactly?”

“At the Office of Emergency Management, across the street from City Hall,” Emma stated.

“Barring any mishaps along the way, I should be there about three,” Killian replied. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started dialing. “Graham, we have a situation down here at the tar pits. I need you to get to the Office of Emergency Management, across from City Hall and find-” he turned his eyes back toward Emma.

“Ruby Lucas, my assistant,” she whispered to him.

“Ruby Lucas… Right,” he said, after a pause to listen. “What’s her number,” he whispered back to her.

She wrote Ruby’s number on a napkin that he repeated back into the phone. “I’ll meet you all there as soon as I’m done here. Probably about three.” Killian paused again. “Okay, I’ll see you then.” Killian put the phone back in his pocket. “Graham will get down there and find your assistant. They can get preliminary data pulled up, and they’ll have a better idea of what we’re looking at by the time I get there.” Killian’s cerulean gaze met her own. The seriousness of the situation was not lost on either of them as Henry interrupted the unspoken moment.

“What’s happening, Mom? Did you say two workers died, and you nearly did because of what’s happening here?” Henry’s brown eyes were way too bright, Emma realized, for him to not have been affected by what he heard her say.

Damn… he always was too smart for his own good. I should have taken Killian aside before I talked to him. Well, there’s nothing for it... Emma placed her hands on his shoulders. Crouching before him and making sure he was looking in her eyes she answered, “Yes, but I’m fine, and Ruby is fine. We’re gonna do all we can to find out what’s going on here to make sure that no one else is hurt or killed. Okay?”

Henry nodded hesitantly. “O- okay, Mom. Be careful, alright?”

“Always, kid. I love you,” she said, pulling him into her arms and hugging him tight.

“I love you, too,” he murmured into her shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight?” he asked, looking at her again.

“I don’t know, kid. It depends on what we find here. When you get home, call me first then Uncle David. He can come stay with you until I get home.” Emma got back on her feet and turned toward Killian as Henry whined.

“Mooooom! I’m twelve years old! I can-” the petulant face of the pre-teen nearly made her laugh, but she smothered it under a light cough. The smirk and raised eyebrows from Killian, indicating that her cough didn’t fool him for a minute, was almost her undoing.

“Exactly, you’re twelve years old and you’re not staying home by yourself for who knows how long.” Emma turned back toward Killian and said, “I’ll head over to the office too, and see you there about three. Let me give you my number, in case something happens and we need to get in touch.” Emma held out her hand expectantly.

A glimmer of glee flashed in Killian’s eyes as he got his phone back out and handed it over to her to type in her number. “Sure, and I’ll only use it in case of an emergency. Although,” he lowered his voice and moved more into her personal space as she typed, "I do hope that when this is all concluded, you might let me keep your number to use in a more... personal fashion."

Emma looked up and handed his phone back to him with a smirk of her own. “We’ll see, Casanova. Take care of my kid. I’ll see you later. Bye Henry. Have fun.” Emma turned away from them and walked away. And if she injected just a slight swing to her hips for Killian’s benefit, then no one needed to know that but her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian watched as Emma walked away from him with a swing in her hips that made him grin from ear to ear as he enjoyed the view. Turning back to his group, he called, “Okay everyone. Time to clean up. Make sure all your trash is collected and thrown away. Let’s leave the picnic area better than when we found it.” After cleaning up, the group marched back in to the museum to continue their prehistoric adventure with Ice Age Encounters and Titans of the Ice Age, the 3D movie.

After the movie, Henry and Roland were chattering excitedly with Killian smiling down at them when the ground beneath them started to shake. Killian turned quickly toward the group and shouted to be heard above the din of the shaking building.

“Everyone come over here, follow me, cover your heads with your arms. Adults, cover your own heads and get kids underneath you as best you can.”

Killian led them all to the wall next to the glass case they had examined that morning containing the masks from the PaleoIndian village. As they reached the wall, a particularly violent tremble sent Roland careening forward into the display case. His forehead connected with the corner of the case as the trembling in the earth started to taper off. Roland’s cries were more than enough to compensate for the sudden lack of rumbling underneath them. Killian grabbed Roland up, cradling him in his arms as he looked for where all the blood was coming from.

“Is he okay Killian? Will Roland be okay?” Henry’s scared voice piped up from beside him.

“If his cries are any indication, he’ll be just fine, Henry. We need to get him cleaned up and get some ice on the cut. If he needs stitches, we’ll make sure he gets to the hospital.” Killian turned his back to the door of the bathroom and pushed his way through it, as Roland’s cries only increased in volume, maybe at the prospect of stitches. “Go to the main desk, Henry, and ask for Belle, tell her what happened and that she needs to enact emergency contact protocols for Roland, then ask for an ice pack.” Given his marching orders, Henry disappeared through the door as one of the parents in his group pushed his way in.

“The tour is over right, Killian?” the frightened man asked. “We’re done? Free to go?”

Killian was wetting a paper towel to clean off Roland’s face, as he turned to the man. “Yes, that’s correct. Thank you for your time and attention today. If you would spread the word to the rest of the group, I’d appreciate it,” he said, turning his attention back to the boy. As he got the blood wiped away from his charge’s face, he saw a long, jagged cut just above Roland’s left eyebrow. Henry made his way back into the bathroom with a bag full of ice just then and handed it to the boy. Killian noticed Belle hovering just outside the bathroom.

“Here, put this where it hurts Roland. You’ll be fine,” Henry said, reassuringly.

“Aye, lad. Just a cut. But it looks like it’ll need stitches. I’ll be right back after I talk to Belle.” Killian’s calm gaze was doing a lot to settle both boys down after the fright they’d had.

Killian stood in the bathroom doorway as Belle began, “I’ve contacted Roland’s parents, but after dropping him off at school this morning, they left town for the weekend. He’s staying with Henry and his mother until they get back on Sunday. They gave their consent to go to the hospital if he needs stitches, but I can’t find anyone from the school to take him in all the chaos.”

“Don’t worry about that, Belle. I’ll take him to Cedars Sinai. My mate’s wife works in the Emergency Room. She’s a doctor.”

“Really?” Henry, overhearing, turned wide eyes upon Killian. “My aunt works at the Cedars Sinai Emergency Room too. Maybe they know each other.”

Killian chuckled, “Aye lad. Maybe. Okay. Let’s go.”

Roland’s tears had been reduced to occasional hiccups as Killian hoisted him off the counter. Holding out his hand for the little boy to take, Killian led them out of the building toward the parking lot. He unlocked his classic SS Chevelle and ushered the boys inside, admonishing them to buckle their seat belts before heading toward the hospital.

About ten minutes later they were pulling up outside the Emergency Room bay. Henry and Roland, still with the ice pack pressed to his forehead, climbed out while Killian left to park the car. When he joined them a few minutes later, they made their way inside to the admit desk.

“We’re looking for Dr. Mary Margaret Nolan,” Killian informed the nurse at the desk. He didn’t notice Henry’s wide eyed stare as he spoke.

“She’s with a patient right now, sir. May I ask what this is in regards to?” the red haired nurse questioned him.

“She’s my friend’s wife and-”

“And she’s my aunt,” Henry exclaimed. Killian turned stunned eyes on the boy. The nurse turned her attention to him as well.

“Really?” he questioned.

“Yeah! I told you my aunt worked here in the ER,” he laughed as he realized how low the chances of this happening really were. Killian and the nurse joined in as well.

“Hi, Henry! Who’s this? And what do you need M’s for?” the nurse asked.

“Hi, Ariel!” Henry waved from where he stood. “This is Killian. He led our tour of the La Brea tar pits today. Roland, my buddy here, fell into a display case during the earthquake and Killian thinks the cut needs stitches. Did I say all that right, Killian?” His brown eyes turned upward, brimming with hope that he hadn’t left out anything important.

“Aye, lad. You sure did.” He turned back to the nurse. “Can we see Mary Margaret about those stitches? Or at least let her have a look at him?” he asked.

“Oh sure,” she replied. “Come on through here, and I’ll send her in as soon as she’s done with her patient.”

Just at that moment, a petite black haired woman came out of a door further down, making notations on her iPad.

“Oh, there she is now,” Ariel said to the man and boys behind her.

“Aunt M’s!” Henry shouted, startling the poor woman into nearly dropping the iPad. Henry took off down the corridor toward his aunt as she looked up and saw him running towards her.

“Henry! What are you doing here? And Killian, too,” she exclaimed as she saw them all making their way down the hall.

“A little accident during the earthquake, Mary Margaret,” Killian said amusedly as Henry tackled her, forcing an “oof” out of his target.

“Yeah, we had our buddy field trip to the tar pits today, Aunt M’s,” Henry enthused. “It was so cool, and Killian was our...” he trailed off, looking back at the man he was with.

“Docent, lad,” Killian filled in for him with an indulgent smile.

“Docent. Right. I won’t forget again, Killian.” Henry looked a little sheepish.

“I’m sure you won’t.” Killian chuckled along with Mary Margaret as she showed them into an empty room. “Roland here fell into a display case during the earthquake and sustained quite a nasty cut on his forehead that looked like it might need stitches,” he continued.

“Well, let’s have a looksee, shall we?” she asked, smiling down at the little boy, as she lifted him to the table. Directing her next words to Henry, she inquired, “Did you call your mom? Does she know you’re here?”

“Oh!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “No, I haven’t.”

“Don’t worry about it, Henry. I’ll take care of it,” Killian assured him, “I was supposed to be heading to your mum’s office right now anyway. I’ll let her know what happened, and we’ll go from there.” Killian sent a reassuring smile his way.

“Okay, Killian. Thanks,” Henry replied. Killian slipped out and pulled out his phone dialing Emma’s number.

“Hello?” Emma’s beautiful voice came over the line, causing Killian’s breath to catch just the tiniest bit before he answered her back.

“Emma, it’s Killian Jones. We’ve had a bit of an accident during the earthquake,” he reported, trying to keep his voice as level as possible to keep her alarm to a minimum.

“What?!” she exclaimed. “Is Henry okay?”

“Henry is fine,” he assured the frightened woman. “It was Roland. He fell into a display case, causing a nasty cut to his forehead. We’re all at Cedars Sinai with Roland being seen by none other than your sister-in-law, Mary Margaret Nolan. Who is also my friend’s wife. And, who I gather, must be your brother.” Killian had remembered Emma telling Henry at lunch to call his Uncle David when he got home. When Henry’s relations had come to light, Killian had put two and two together to figure out exactly who belonged to who. Emma laughed delightedly.

“Oh my word! Who would have guessed? That’s hysterical!” Emma declared, trying to bring her laughter under control. Her laugh was infectious and Killian found himself joining in.

“It is. What are the odds, eh?” Killian said, sending her off into more laughter, as he chuckled. “Anyway, what do you want me to do with the boys? I still need to get down there to see what Graham and Ruby have discovered.” Just the mention of the reason behind their meeting and this phone call was enough to bring an end to their mutual mirth.

“Have David pick them up at the hospital and take them home. You or Henry can call him. I know he had meetings about the apartments today, but he should be done with them by now. Then you head down here,” Emma replied. “Ruby and Graham have a very interesting theory that I’m not sure what to think about, but would love your input on.” Killian could almost see the blonde shrug her shoulders through the phone line.

“Okay, love. Mary Margaret is probably about done. I’ll leave here as soon as she is and David gets here. I’ll text when I’m on my way.” Killian hung up and walked back into the room where Henry, Roland, and Mary Margaret were. Henry and Roland sounded like a tag team as they peppered the woman with stories about their day as she finished stitching Roland up. “Henry, I’m going to call your Uncle David to come pick you boys up and take you home. Then I’m going to go meet your mum and we’re going to figure out what’s going on and take care of it, aye?” Killian asked nodding at the boy.

“Sure, Killian. Thanks a lot, for everything,” the boy replied.

“Yeah, thanks Killian,” echoed Roland.

Turning to the boys, Mary Margaret told them, “Stay here. I’m going to go talk to Killian. Uncle David will be here in just a few minutes. He was just across the street at the apartments he’s been working on.” She followed him out into the hallway, forehead furrowed in concern. “What’s this about meeting Emma? What’s going on, Killian? Thank you, by the way though, for taking care of the boys through all this.”

“Oh, of course, M’s,” he answered, putting special emphasis on the syllable while raising his eyebrows at her and grinning.

“Oh, pfft,” she said waving him off, and looking away with a light blush coloring her cheeks. “Mary Margaret was too much for Henry to say when he was a toddler. So we shortened it to M’s and it stuck. Only for family and close friends though,” she said, side-eyeing him closely. “Ehh… I guess you count.” She smirked at him before reiterating her question.

“I’ll have to fill you in on the details later M’s.” Killian’s face fell. “Suffice it to say two men are dead, and Emma was nearly killed today too because of some seismic activity underneath the tar pits.”

The tender-hearted woman gasped, her hand covering her mouth and eyes filling with tears. “Oh, no!”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Killian replied. “So, I need to get down to her office to see what’s going on, and what we can do about it.”

“Of course,” Mary Margaret agreed. “You go ahead and go. I’ll take charge of the boys until David gets here. Tell Emma to keep us updated. I’m off in another hour, so I’ll probably go home with them.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he answered winking at her. “Do you want to call David or do you want me to?”

“I’ll call him. I need to let him know what’s going on anyway.” She pulled out her phone and started dialing. “Thank you, though. Really. It means a lot.” She made sure he was looking at her face so he could see how much she meant the words she was saying.

Killian looked at her, but had to look away from the tenderness and conviction behind her words. “Of course. They really are remarkable lads. They remind me very much of myself and Liam when we were young. I couldn’t do anything different. I’ll see you later.” Before he turned and walked away toward the entrance, he heard David pick up over Mary Margaret’s phone.

“Hey babe! What’s up?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian made his way into the Control Center of the Office of Emergency Management amid all the chaos that the day’s events engendered. Spying the long blonde hair that he desperately wanted to run his fingers through, he made his way over to where she, Graham, and the woman he assumed was Ruby Lucas were huddled over a computer monitor and a paper city map of the area around the tar pits. “What have we got?” he asked.

Emma turned startled eyes upon him, “Uh… oh! You’re here. Ruby,” she said, motioning to the tall brunette, “Dr. Killian Jones. Killian, Ruby Lucas, my assistant and right hand.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Jones.” Ruby grinned at him with a wolfish smile as she held out her hand toward him.

“Please, call me Killian. No one calls me Dr. Jones except members of the media,” Killian chuckled as he shook her hand.

“And me, if he’s being especially obnoxious,” Graham interjected, grinning at him, before it melted into more of a shy, sincere smile as he turned his eyes upon Ruby.

“And Graham, if I’m being especially obnoxious,” Killian repeated with humor dancing in his eyes. “So, what have you found out?”

“Okay,” Ruby began, “the last earthquake was a 4.9. That’s up significantly from the earthquakes this morning. Including the one that killed those workers. We may be building up to a catastrophic tremor.”

“Or,” Graham prompted, with a grim expression.

Emma looked at Killian with an expression that had him bracing himself. It was pensive and incredulous all at once. As if she had trouble believing what was about to be said herself, much less saying it out loud as a viable possibility. “What?” Killian asked, “Just tell me.”

Emma started rather haltingly, “The second earthquake this morning opened a fissure in the subway tunnel. Incredibly hot gas and something else, something… liquid… kinda, was coming up out of it by the time Ruby and I got there. After the workers were killed.” She cast dubious eyes toward Graham before continuing. “The temperature reading of the lake in MacArthur Park and underneath the tar pits has increased significantly in the last twelve hours. The lake 6°, the tar pits 10°. Graham says the only thing capable of producing the kind of heat that we saw under MacArthur Park and that could heat that much liquid by that amount in that short a time is…” she trailed off.

Killian and Graham’s eyes met over the ladies. “Magma,” they said together. “Magma would explain the extreme heat you both felt this morning,” Killian continued, “capable of killing two men with no protective gear, and raising the temperatures of the lake and tar pits to that extent that quickly.” He shook his head. “Damn. Have we got our work cut out for us,” he murmured, looking around the room.

“Can’t it be something else?” Emma asked, placing her hand on his arm. Killian tried to ignore the shiver her touch generated across his skin. “Anything else? Do we really need to declare a state of emergency and evacuate that entire sector? That’s a massive undertaking,” she exclaimed.

“The first thing we need to do is confirm. Get a first hand look at what is going on down there. From there, we make the call to evacuate or not and mobilize city resources,” Killian stated.

“You can’t go down there Killian.” The fear in her eyes was palpable. “Ruby and I have already been down there. We nearly died down there. We saw and felt it. I know magma makes the most sense given the facts, but…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “It’s… it’s MAGMA! As in, a VOLCANO! UNDER Los Angeles! It CAN’T be!”

“When the facts all point to a certain thing, even if that certain thing should be impossible, we have to go with the impossible,” Killian asserted. He shook his head. “We have to follow the facts. We can’t try to make the facts fit our preconceived notions.”

“But-”

“No, Emma. There is no ‘but’. This is the conclusion that the facts are leading us to. This is what we have to go with. There is no other possibility. Graham and I will go down to confirm what we’re seeing here. We’ll be in constant contact by radio. Our equipment is more suited to handle the kind of temperatures we may find down there. We’ll be fine,” he said, grasping her arms and looking into her eyes. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s surviving, love. We won’t do anything stupid.”

Emma snorted before looking up into his piercing blue gaze. “You know, the argument could be made that what you’re suggesting is stupid,” she said with a frown and a determined set to her shoulders. “But I’m not letting you go down there by yourself.”

“I won’t be by myself. Graham will be with me,” Killian replied.

“No, Graham needs to stay here to analyze the data in real time,” Emma argued, “Ruby can mobilize the city resources under my authority. But Graham is gonna be the one to pull the trigger on whether we need to or not.” Her flashing eyes and stubborn stance told Killian that he was likely to lose this battle, but he put up a fight anyway. He didn’t want her anywhere near what might be happening.

“It’s too dangerous, love. If Graham is right, I don’t want to put you in harm’s way.” He poured the concern he felt for her into his eyes, hoping that she would read it. He saw a flash of hesitation in hers before the stubbornness he had already witnessed settled back in place. “You said yourself that you saw and felt what was down there already-”

“And you said that your equipment is better suited for the temperatures you might find down there,” Emma retorted, “The thermal gun said 748° when we turned back.”

“Our equipment is rated up to 1000°.” Killian tried again.

“Well then, there you go.” Emma crossed her arms, her smug attitude telling him he had lost. “Graham has to stay here and you’re not going by yourself. I have training. I am the best choice.”

“Fine,” Killian acquiesced, after a long moment, his lips pressed in a thin line, “but you listen up and listen good,” he said, getting in her personal space and pointing his finger at her, “I am the boss down there. Not you. You do exactly as I say, when I say it.” While he felt successful in keeping the fear from tingeing his words, he was afraid that he was unable to keep it out of his eyes. She must have noticed because she tried to inject some levity into the situation.

“Aye aye, sir,” she said, with a smart salute and smirk. Killian rolled his eyes as he tried not to smile and turned back toward Graham and Ruby.

Just at that moment, the ground started to shake again. Killian and Graham grabbed the ladies as they all tried to cover their heads and dive under the desks. Emma clutched at Killian as he drew her into his embrace and tried to cover her with his body. Once the shaking stopped, they all came out from their cover and made their way quickly to where the readings for the earthquake were already coming up. “4.6,” Killian said, turning toward the others. “Not as bad as the one a little while ago, but significant all the same.” Emma and Ruby exchanged worried glances before looking back at Killian. “This changes nothing,” Killian asserted, “We still have to go underground and confirm what is happening. We’ll drop off more sensors at the tar pits on our way to MacArthur Park, then head underground where you found the fissure this morning. Graham’s computer will be connected remotely with my suit and equipment.”

“Right,” Ruby replied, looking at the man next to her with a tentative, but genuine smile. “And we’ll still be able to communicate?” she asked, turning back toward Killian.

“Yes,” he answered. “We have radios in the suit that will allow us to talk back and forth through the computer. Everything from the suit will show up right here in real time. Ready, Swan?” he asked.

“Ready,” she answered, nodding.

“Alright, let’s suit up.”

End of part 1

#krystal wrote a thing #krystal wrote another thing #i still can't believe i wrote one thing #much less another #state of emergency #part 2 will be up Tuesday

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