Into hiding (a sequel for Time and Again)

Chapter 1: after the explosion

Penny:

I woke up to the singing of my ears. There was something incredibly heavy pressing down on me, and I couldn't get it off. I used all of my strength in trying to push the weight up, but my attempts were useless.

I heard a soft groan next to me. I could only see his dark hair. "Talon. Talon, wake up." I said, shaking his shoulder. His head moved to reveal blood running down the side of his face. He groaned again, suddenly realising the weight he was under.

"Talon, baby, come on. You have to help me." I gritted through my teeth, once again attempting to lift the heavy weight.

He nodded curtly. "Okay. On three." He said and looked at me. "One, two, three." I said and with our combined strength, we managed to lift it up and throw it off of us. I sat up, taking in my surroundings. I coughed the smoke out of my lungs.

Loose debree was scattered all over what used to be the floor. There were some fires burning the remaining papers. There was still a standing desk, in which Talon received two hoodies and guns. There was always a "disappear to be safe" starter pack in each desk in case some agents had to go under the radar.

After I put on a hoodie, I heard someone coughing. I followed the noise and came to the sight of captain Johnson, lying on his back with his hand over his bleeding chest.

I stumbled over to him and fell on my knees, lifting his head onto my lap. "Sir, we're going to get you out of here. You're going to be fine." I said as Talon slid to his knees next to me.

"N-no. You two h-have to leave. Get somewhere s-safe." He forced out, struggling over the blood coming out of his mouth. "Take this. M-my research. Everything on the queen of S-Spades is on it." He said, handing a memory stick to Talon.

He started wheezing for his last breaths, but his grip on my hand tightened. "Don't. Trust. Anyone." He gritted through his bloody teeth, taking his last breath and falling into complete silence.

My eyes were filled to the brim with tears, and I blinked to let them fall. I took the moment to carefully close his eyes. "Penny, it still isn't safe here. We have to go." Talon almost whispered. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and nodded, noticing the people from the surrounding buildings starting to gather.

I stood up, and looked at the ruins of what used to be my safe haven. 'What did we do to deserve this?' I thought and kept on walking. Talon and I put our hoodies over our heads to hide our faces and started running away from the scene.

I led the way, and we kept on running until we reached my uncle's house. I knocked on the door, and uncle Gadget came to answer it. "Hello Penny. Hello Talon. Why do you look like you've just witnessed an explosion?" He asked cluelessly.

"Because we did." I replied, almost bitterly. "Can we come in?" Talon asked, and the retired inspector stepped aside for us to enter.