Gillian turned to Brock and pressed his shoulder, to remind him she was there, in case he made a mistake and accepted any kind of assistance. Then she let him be and looked around. Stupid bold caring man! He'd jumped on her at the explosion, and now he was injured for covering her! Again! And just like back at the Heights, he played tough and rejected any help! Jeez! She would've so slapped him. I'm fine, I'm fine! Yeah, sure!
She spotted his flashlight and stretched over his legs to reach it. She turned it on and it flickered, so she shook it like she would've liked to do to Brock. It stayed on. Yeah, that worked every damn time. Next time it was going to be his shoulders she'd shake.
She pointed the light at Fred to get his attention and he leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. Gillian directed the flashlight to Brock first, then to her own face to point at her ear.
Fred moved his beam up and down—got it. He took a couple of steps down the ladder and bent forward to say to Aldana, "Looks like Brockner got a wounded ear with the blasts, and Reg's got a splinted leg, but I think that's pretty much it."
"What're they doing?"
Fred looked up and into the building. "Reg is giving Brockner a minute to put himself together. And I think she's looking for a way down by themselves."
Taylor let out a shaky chuckle. "Why am I not surprised," he murmured.
Gillian studied the shaky landing and the pile of debris under it, an idea taking shape in her head.
Brock sat up slowly, still breathing deep. The pain was almost bearable, and he'd gotten some of his balance back. Keeping the cloth to his ear, he slid to Gillian's side carefully.
Without even glancing at him, she used the flashlight to show him a possible way down from the landing. It'd take them only one leap to reach the pile of debris they'd have to climb down to reach the ground floor. Brock scowled, wondering once again if she was kidding.
"You want us to try to get out without waiting for the Rescue Team?"
Gillian moved the light, showing him the dead bodies of the two responders crushed under the debris.
"But you..."
She looked up straight into his eyes and said in her plain, firm way, "I can do it if you can help me."
For a change, she really meant it. And she was right about not risking more lives to get them out of there. So he studied the debris, assessing their odds. True, if he was able to keep his balance, they could do it. Anyway, they couldn't stay on that shaky landing any longer. So he nodded, his eyes still tracing what would be their way down.
Gillian waited for him to face her again. "Now you sit to the wall and cover that ear of yours, sir, 'cause I gotta have a little chat with Fred."
He slid back against the wall and nodded. Gillian moved the flashlight toward the huge hole in the north wall.
"Fred!"
Fred waved his arm for everybody around the ladder to shut up, then turned to the hole. "I hear you, Reg!"
"Don't send anybody else in! We're coming out!"
"What!?"
"We can make it to the ground floor from here!"
"Got it! We'll clear you a way through!"
"What about the other bombs?"
"Russ and Banks are on it!"
At the same time, at the team's office, Hank couldn't believe his ears when Perkins called to report about the search for the bombs. Despite what had happened only a few hours earlier, when they missed no one but three bombs in the building, Cook had sent Perkins and his team to search the locations they had given the Bomb Squad.