The explosion came out of nowhere.

One moment, Vi was pushing you through the crumbling corridor, her instincts screaming at her to keep moving, to stay ahead. The next moment:

BOOM

The world seemed to tilt. The sound of metal screeching, of debris crashing, followed by the deafening roar of fire consuming the space around you.

She didn’t think. She just acted.

Vi’s arm was around you instantly, pulling you down into the nearest doorway, shielding you with her body as the force of the blast rocked the building around you. Everything shook, the ground beneath them, the air above, and her heart, pounding so hard she thought it might tear free from her chest.

When the smoke cleared she finally pulled back, her breath coming in heavy, ragged bursts.

You were there. in her arms. Alive.

She could barely register the rest of the world, the fire still crackling, the screams of distant chaos. It didn’t matter. Because you were still there. You were okay.

Vi’s hand reached out to touch your face, her fingers trembling slightly from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She needed the confirmation, needed to make sure you were real. That this wasn’t some nightmare.

Your eyes met hers, wide and frantic but alive.

Her chest tightened, her breath still uneven, but there was something else there too, relief. Sweet, bone-deep relief.

Vi: “Shit…” Vi muttered under her breath, unable to stop her voice from cracking with emotion. She hated that it took something so close to death for her to realize just how much she couldn’t live without you. “You good?”