I ran down the hallway, dodging falling ceiling pieces. I turned the corner, instantly bumping into someone and causing both of us to fall to the floor. I looked up, out of breath, when I saw Caleb on the ground in front of me.
"Y/N?" He gasped as he stood up, helping me to my feet. "Are you alright?"
I looked around, trying to catch my breath. When I looked back over at Caleb, I saw him looking me over for injuries.
"What. . . What's going on?" I stuttered, running my hands through my hair.
"The rig is sinking," Caleb said quickly. "Mike's looking for you. He needs you to activate the fail-safe."
"The. . . The fail-safe? But, Luke is the one who usually. . ." My breath got stuck in my throat when I saw the look in Caleb's eyes.
"He's been training you, Y/N," Caleb said softly. "You're the only one who knows how to activate it."
I looked around, nervously biting my lip. "Okay," I stuttered. "I just have to get all the way across the rig, which is currently sinking, to the maintenance room, which is probably blocked, to try and activate the fail-safe, which I've never done, to save everyone, which they are all depending on me to do."
Suddenly, the rig started sinking again. Caleb instantly grabbed me, pulled me to the ground, and covered me until the shaking stopped. Once it did, Caleb slowly let go of me. I looked up at him as he glanced around the room. When he looked back at me, my breath got stuck in my throat.
"How. . . How the hell am I supposed to get all the way across the rig while it's sinking?" I stuttered as Caleb helped me to my feet.
"I'll get you there," Caleb said with determination in his voice. "I promise."
* * * * *
Caleb kept his promise and safely got me across the rig. Once we got to the maintenance room, I ran over the computer. All the error messages and warning alerts made my anxiety spike.
I bit my lip when I felt Caleb walk up behind me. "So?" He asked. "Can you fix it?"
"I umm. . . I think so. . . I just. . ."
My eyes scanned the messages, my hands starting to shake. I hovered my fingers over the keys, struggling to remember everything that Luke taught me. I started breathing hard when my mind went blank.
"I can't do this," I stuttered as I stared at the computer. "Everything. . . Everything is falling apart and everyone is depending on me to get this fail-safe to kick in. But what if I can't? What if I can't get it to kick in? If I don't. . ."
"Y/N," Caleb said sternly as he gently grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "It's going to be okay. I promise. Take a deep breath, clear your head, and try again. You can do this."
"But Caleb. . ."
He reached up and cupped my face in his hands, gently rubbing his thumbs on my cheeks. "Breathe, Y/N," he soothed. "It's going to be okay. You can do this."
I chewed on my bottom lip as I scanned his face. He sent me a soft smile as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
"Do you really think so?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I know so."
For a brief second, it looked like Caleb's eyes drifted down to my lips. Just as fast, he looked back up at my eyes. I took a deep breath before stepping away from him and turning towards the computer.
I scanned through the emergency alerts, nervously playing with my fingers. I glanced over my shoulder to see Caleb smiling reassuringly at me. I took a shaky breath before beginning to type in the fail-safe code.
"First round of security is down," I mumbled as I got through the first level of the firewall.
"C'mon baby, c'mon."
I ignored the redness rising to my cheeks as Caleb called me baby. I internally scolded myself and I forced myself to refocus.
After trying a few more things, the red light turned green. We could instantly hear motors turning on, the hum of stabilization music to our ears.
"Did you. . ." Caleb stuttered.
"Yep," I said under my breath. "The fail-safe kicked in."
"You did it!" He cheered as he wrapped his arms around my waist, spinning us around. I blushed as he put me back down.
Before I could say anything, Caleb leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Our lips moved in sync and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.
Finally, Caleb was the one to break the kiss. We caught our breaths as we stared at each other.
"Nice work, Y/L/N. I knew you could do it."