┊┊┊┊ ➶ MJ 🛩⌇ ｡˚ ✧ ﹐

The inside was dark, nothing but their flashlights guiding the way. MJ stuck to her deal with Ben and stayed by his side, a part of her secretly too terrified to leave him.

Ben and MJ walked until they saw a beam of light, Ben looked at Vance, the officer nodded, aiming his gun towards the light as he and his guys stepped forward. MJ stared at the weapon, freezing as she remembered the girl who almost shot MJ two weeks ago. "MJ?" Ben questioned as he noticed she stopped moving, "What's wrong."

She shook her head but her throat was too dry to say anything, "Okay, let's get you back—"

"Yea— No! No, I need to stay!"

Ben's eyes were full of concern as he looked at MJ's pale face, she clearly wasn't okay but he didn't know how to help her. "Okay but—"

"Gun!" MJ yelled as she saw a guard walk out of the light with a gun by his side. All in one small moment, she managed to push Ben out of the way as the guard shot his gun.

"NSA drop your weapon!" Vance yelled at the guard.

The tunnel became a shooting range, Vance's guys and the guard and his friends shot at each other. MJ, Ben and another citizen that MJ hadn't gotten the chance to get the name of hid behind a wall, shielded from the shots but also without a weapon. MJ's ears rang as the guns went off, she covered her eyes, hunching in a ball trying to make herself less of a target. Ben hugged the girl, in any other situation MJ would have bit off his hands but she was too afraid to say anything.

Shots from each side of the room went off until the last one did, MJ looked up to see where it came from and saw a guy in an NYPD vest, MJ looked to the other side of the room and gasped. On the floor were three bodies, two of them were moving but the other was lifeless. Two of Vance's guys ran up to the bodies and grabbed their guns, throwing them over to the other side of the room. Suddenly the piercing ring that MJ thought was a calling started again, her body felt weak, she tried to stand up as the others walked passed the bodies but she couldn't, the ringing blocked her thoughts, made her legs too weak.

Ben grabbed her hand and helped her up, throwing her arm over his shoulder, "T— Thank you," she groaned.

He nodded, his own face strained as he felt the same ringing, "No problem."

They ran forward, walking into the door where the guards came from. Each step the ringing worsened, MJ pushed herself through the door. "Oh god." They found the missing passenger, they were strapped up to chairs, wires attracted to their head, they were shaking as they were shocked with electricity.

"Turn it off!" Ben demanded as he tumbled, almost dropping MJ and himself until the lady from before caught them.

Someone ran towards the control panel, pressing all the buttons, trying to find one that worked, suddenly the panel blew, throwing the person back, causing a fire.

Ben groaned, "We need to get them out of here now!"

The lady nodded, "Detach the leads!"

MJ let go of Ben, limping towards the passenger closest to her, she looked at the girl, someone no older than Christy, her skin was ghostly pale and her cheeks were sunken. MJ grabbed the cords that were attached to her head, getting a sharp electric shock, MJ took a deep breath and ripped them off. She untied the ropes that held her down and tried to get her up but she wasn't strong enough, "A little help here!" She cried as an officer helped the passenger onto her feet, walking her out of the fire.

MJ went to the next one and the next and next.

One by one they untied the passengers, the ringing stopping as the last passenger was released. MJ let an exhale of relief as the pain stopped but inhaled a mouthful of smoke, she coughed, "We need to get out of here."

"Couldn't agree more," Ben looked around, making sure they weren't leaving anyone behind.

If MJ thought the tunnel was scarier before than she definitely was scared now. MJ followed the officers into the cave but couldn't help but notice how nothing looked the same. There were three different tunnels all filled with smoke, she looked at Ben hoping he would know where to go.

"Which way?" The officer asked as he stopped.

Ben walked forward, looking around. "The lights," she heard him mutter. "Follow the lights! To the right."

MJ looked around, she couldn't see any lights other than the ones in their torches, "What lights?"

"Don't you see path lights?"

"No? Oh my god, Cal said you would be the only one to see them. It's a calling," the lady gasped.

Ben looked right, at where MJ guessed the path lights were, "Okay, let's go."

They followed Ben in the dark, MJ seriously starting to wish she hadn't forced herself into coming. After about a minute of walking a bright light started to shine through, "There! Over there!"

They ran forward, the former missing passengers even trying to run in their dazed state. "The passengers first!" Ben demanded as he helped a passenger get through.

The Passengers went through, then the officers and then finally MJ, Ben and the lady. MJ took a big breath of air as she out of the tunnel, never before had she felt so claustrophobic. MJ looked around realising that Vance was nowhere to be seen, MJ went to say something about it when— "Who's this?" The lady asked Ben while looking at MJ.

"Mary Jones, she was on the plane."

"MJ," she held out her hand, the lady shook it with a grin.

"Professor Fiona Clarke, you were really brave in there."

"No I wasn't," MJ muttered, the entire time she was in there she felt terrified.

Clarke grinned, she looked at the passengers who were being put on a bus, "Those people are here because of us, because of Cal, and because of you too."

"What are you going to do with them?" Ben asked.

"I have a remote property, I'm going to take them there," Clarke walked up to the bus, hopping in with the passengers, "They'll be safe with me."

"Be careful."

"Yeah, you too."

The bus with the passengers left, leaving behind Michaela, Ben, Cal and MJ, "How are you getting home?" Ben asked MJ.

"I'll probably get a train back home."

"Are you sure because I don't mind—"

MJ was thrown across the floor, a loud boom making everything go silent. Her body ached as she stood up, a sharp pain in her head. MJ reached up to her head, holding it in her hands, her heart stopped as she felt a wet liquid on her head, she pulled her hands away and they were covered in red liquid. Ben ran up to her, his mouth as moving but she couldn't quite make out his words, "Mm— Mm— MJ!" He was calling out her name as he looked at her head.

MJ groaned, "How bad is it?"

"Jared!" Michaela cried as she ran towards the explosion.

"Michaela! Don't! There are tunnels under the whole area. It's unstable. We need to get out of here!"

"Jared is still down there, Ben! He's still in there! I'm not leaving him! Just take the kids and go!"

The rest of their conversation became a match of muffles, a cipher that MJ couldn't crack, her ears rang, and somehow she could still hear the explosion. This isn't the first time MJ has been around an explosion, only a few weeks ago she saw the plane explode but she had never been so close, never has she felt the heat on the fire brush against her face. Her face stung, she looked at her reflection in Ben's car window, on her cheek was a big gash and there was blood on the back of her neck, probably from the cut on her head.

MJ was pulled away from her thoughts as she saw Michaela run past her. Without even thinking, MJ followed, her brain still in too much of a mental fog to realise where she was going or that she had ran back into the tunnel. "MJ! Mick!" She heard Ben call out but she didn't pay him any attention.

MJ followed Michaela, stumbling in the dark as she avoided touching anything, "Michaela, slow down," she called out.

"MJ?" Michaela questioned as she turned around, "What are you doing here?"

MJ shook her head, stumbling as she struggled to kept herself up, "I- I don't know, I followed you and then—"

Michaela looked at MJ, her eyes crossed as she looked into MJ's, "You have a concussion," she signed, "I need to find Jared, stay close and when I find him, I'll take you to the hospital."

"Okay..."

Michaela grabbed MJ's hand, guiding her through the rubble, "JARED!" Michaela cried as she ran towards a group of people cover in rubble. "No, no, Jared, come on, please be okay!" Michaela pulled Jared out of the rubble, lifting brick after brick, "Please!"

MJ looked at the other people, her vision blurred but she was still able to make out some familiar faces, she sat down next to Vance, picking up the rocks that had collected on him. "Did we get them out?" Vance asked, his eyes closed.

MJ nodded, "Y-yeah..." her eyes went heavy, she tried to keep them open but she couldn't."

"Mary?!" Vance cried as everything went dark.

┊┊┊┊ ➶ CASSIE 🛩⌇ ｡˚ ✧ ﹐

Ben's party was a total disaster, aside from Ben completely missing it, lawyers showed up and revealed that Ben had been fired and lying about going to work. Grace was furious but more distracted by the fact that Cal had run away, leaving nothing but a letter saying that 'dad needs me.'

"Mum!" Olive cried from the living room, "Dad's out the front!"

Grace and Cassie raced down the stairs, while Cassie knew that Cal was most likely helping Ben with finding the missing passengers, she was still worried sick. "Oh my god," Grace gasped as she saw the state of Ben's car.

The car's windows were shattered, Cassie's heart stopped, what the hell did those two get into? "What? Are you okay?"

Ben nodded, "We're fine. He's fine."

"He is not fine!" Grace hissed, hugging Cal. "You can't do that! You can't leave like that," she told Cal, her voice trembling.

"I'm sorry mum."

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Ben grabbed Grace's hand, "Grace—"

"Stop," she whispered, her sounding as if she might bite Ben's head off if he touched her again, "Just stay away."

Grace brought Cal inside, closing the door behind her, leaving Ben and Cassie standing outside. Cassie stood there, speechless as she looked at the state of his car, "What happened?!"

"We found the missing passengers, they're safe but there was an explosion, Jared was inside, Michaela and MJ stayed behind—"

"MJ was there?!"

"Her and Cal, they got a calling, I think they're connected somehow, I don't know how to explain it."

"She—" Cassie looked down as her phone rang, "It's Saanvi," she told Ben.

Cassie answered the phone, "Hey, Saanvi. What's going on? Okay, I'll be right there, I'll text you their numbers. Okay, bye."

"What happened?" Ben asked.

"MJ's in the hospital, she passed out, Michaela said she had a concussion. They didn't have a number for MJ's guardians, so I'm texting her Amber and Christy's numbers. I'm going down, someone should be there in case she wakes up."

Ben nodded, "I'm staying here, I have to explain to Grace why our son was anywhere near an explosion."

Cassie laughed, "Good luck with that."

"Thanks."

┊┊┊┊ ➶ ❁ 🛩⌇ ｡˚ ✧ ﹐

"You got here quickly," Saanvi said as she walked Cassie to MJ's room.

Cassie smiled, "I may or may not have run a few lights on my way here."

Saanvi laughed, Cassie couldn't help but notice how beautiful Saanvi's laugh was. Saanvi sighed, her eyes adverting to her clipboard, "MJ is going to be okay, she just needs rest, she's already woken up, but she passed out pretty much straight away."

Cassie smiled, "Thank god," she sighed, "That little girl has been through so much if something happened to her—"

"How do you know MJ? I mean Ben, Michaela and I know her because of the plane but when she woke up, she asked for me to call you, said that you would know how to contact her guardians."

"I teach middle schoolers, I'm lucky enough that MJ is one of my kids."

"She's pretty lucky too," Saanvi said as she turned around, her eyes locked on Cassie.

"I—"

"Dr Bahl, Mary is awake," a man with light brown hair said as he saved Cassie from trying to find something to say.

Saanvi ripped her eyes away from Cassie and looked at the doctor, "Thank you for letting me know."

"Miss Stone?" MJ asked as she looked at her teacher, her amber eyes threatening to close at any moment.

"I'm here, Amber and Christy are on their way, they should be here any minute."

"Michaela... Where is she?"

"She's with Jared, he's still unconscious."

"And Vance?"

Cassie looked at Saanvi, Saanvi shook her head, "Um... MJ," Saanvi sat next to her, "Vance didn't make it."

MJ shook her head, "No, no! He— He was awake, in the tunnel."

"He died in the ambulance."

MJ closed her eyes, her breath shaky. Cassie never met Vance, she knew that her siblings were working with him but she never got the chance to meet the NSA director. "I want to be alone."

"Of course, you should get some rest."

┊┊┊┊ ➶ ❁ 🛩⌇ ｡˚ ✧ ﹐

"You kicked Ben out?!" Cassie exclaimed as she sat on Grace and Ben's bed.

"Shhhh!" Grace shushed her as she closed the door behind them. "I had to, he brought my son to a fucking raid, Cal could have got hurt!"

Cassie ran a hand through her honey blonde hair, how did this happen? Well she knew how it happened, Ben and Grace's relationship has always been a rocky one, they were high school sweethearts, Grace got pregnant young and then Cal got sick, they always had something going on and from what Grace had told her, they were on the verge of getting a divorce before the plane disappeared. "Where is he meant to go?"

"Michaela has been looking at apartments, I- I just need time."

Cassie bit her lip, she understood where Grace was coming from but still she couldn't wrap her head around it, "Grace, Ben is just trying to protect Cal—"

"From what?! From the government? From the conspiracy theorist? Please, Cass! Tell me what I'm meant to be protecting my son from, because right now, it looks like I'm meant to be protecting him from his father."

"That's not fair, he's only trying to help."

"No! Don't do that, don't try to justify his behaviour," Grace cried, she shook her head, "You know what? It doesn't matter, you don't get a say in my and Ben's relationship, please leave."

"Grace—"

"Get out of my room!"

Cassie sighed, "Okay! Okay..." Cassie walked out of Grace's rooming, turning around to face the door, "At least hear him ou—" Grace slammed the door in her face.

Cassie groaned, she wanted to open that door, yell back in Grace's face but she didn't, she just needs time, hopefully. "This is all my fault, isn't it?" Cal asked as he stood in his doorway.

"Hey, hey, hey, buddy, no. It's not your fault, your parents are just having a spat, adults do that sometimes, okay?" Cassie hugged Cal, his wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly, she felt him sniffle into her chest.

"I should have stayed home," he whispered, "I just wanted to help..."

"You did help Cal, you saved them, your dad told me all about it."

Cal hugged her tighter, "But now mum hates dad."

"She doesn't hate him, she's just scared, she was worried you ran away or got taken."

Cassie stood there as Cal hugged her, she didn't know what to do, when Kayla's upset, Cassie sings to her but Cal was too old for that, "Let's get you in bed, it's late."

Cal nodded, letting go of Cassie as he walked over to his bed, "We have to be quiet, Kayla's still sleeping," he whispered as he pointed at the toddler, peacefully asleep in her bed.

Cassie nodded, tucking Cal in tightly, "Can you sleep with me tonight?" He asked.

She grinned, "Sure, scooch over," she laid next to him, "Good night, Cal."

"Good night, Aunt Cass."