Orion charged again when he saw the Knight readying some kind of attack, but the blast hit before he could reach her. His feet skidded in the ash, and he was forced back nearly a meter by the concussive force. 

Mitch heard the explosion only half a second before she felt it. 

She was pitched forward from her hunched squat, her shoulders and neck crashing into the row of metal cabinets in front of her. The counter that had been at her back slammed forward and then collapsed, first pinning and then dragging her feet before crashing down on top of her legs and back. The fire from the blast mostly passed her over, but she had already blacked out from pain by the time it would have hit. 

Orion had closed his eyes on instinct as the explosion washed over him, and his vision registered in slow-motion for an instant as he turned to look behind him at the devastated building. And then snapped back to speed all at once. 

[color=8C6868]"Leila!"[/color] The Knight may as well have disappeared. Orion raced back to the remains of the restaurant, ground shaking. [color=8C6868]"Mitch, Mitch? Where are you?"[/color] He looked frantically toward where he had left her: Rows of heavy metal counters all bent and thrown into one another; a pileup car accident with her underneath. [color=8C6868]"Leila? Leila, for God's sake-"[/color]

He ran to where he had left her, shoving one of the fixtures back upright. There was blood on the ground. Another piece came up, and there was Mitch: Crumpled and torn like a used wrapper. Her shoes were ripped, part of the leather still stuck to the edge of the cabinet Orion had lifted from her. The fabric of her pants was tattered and soaked through with blood. Where some fabric had been torn away, he could see bone. 

[color=8C6868]"No. God- Leila-"[/color] He fumbled with how to lift her for a moment, afraid she may fall apart in his hands. He shifted back to his own body, and paying no heed to the broken shrapnel or sharp edges, took a knee at her side. With shaking hands, he scooped up her body with a tenderness that seemed impossible for someone of his size. [color=8C6868]"Mitch, baby. Mitch-"[/color] His breath came in uneven, shaking gasps. He stood, cradling her to his chest. 

She whimpered, but did not move.

[color=8C6868]"Shh, now. You're alright. I'm- We can fix this. You're gonna be--"[/color] Her blood, warm and sticky, soaked through his shirt and laid against his skin. He swallowed hard, and glanced toward the Knight. [color=8C6868]"You're going to be fine. We just- We gotta go, now. It's okay."[/color] Shifting back into steel, he began walking away from the wreckage as quickly as he could afford without jostling her further.