everything's on fire

[krasnaya_vdova]

who: Everyone!
what: The residential building is on fire
when: ~2am, August 23rd
where: The Residential building
warnings: Fire, destruction of property, injury, general warnings for crisis situations



It's a reasonably quiet night, pleasantly dry with a slight breeze. Almost nice, for those that enjoy the hours after midnight long before dawn starts to creep on the horizon. Right until it isn't, when the air changes, and there's the scent of heat that promises smoke. In most places it starts with a flash of blue light that arcs from floor to floor as energy pulses through the building, and there's a crack of sound that follows. The power dies for a moment, and if you're one of the unlucky ones, the light that follows is a literal spark in the dark, burning to life in bright orange-red, yielding heat and smoke and trouble. The energy surge doesn't just hit the lights, but sparked flames that burst to life, and they catch quickly, spreading.

The worst of it starts on the ninth floor, where the smoke and the beginning of heat starts moments before the surge. The fire spreads faster there, people starting to startle awake and realize what's happening as the flames crackle. Eventually there's an announcement on the Network, both alerting people to what's happening and trying to organize both those that are willing to help and those that need it.

Some areas are untouched, while others are ravaged badly, reduced to ashes and crumbling ceilings, so watch your step. There's chaos, but through it there's people doing what they can to help each other, and the official fire services show up to help control the blaze. After that, it's just a matter of repairing the damage that's been done, rebuilding and putting things back together, seeing what's been lost and what was saved.

Even later, people start putting the pieces together, and there's the official investigation into what might have caused a fire like that in the first place.


[ooc: As promised, the residential building is on fire! OOC plotting post is here if anyone wants to work out some last minute plans before diving in. Plotting post also includes the relevant details. Elsewise, just top level and mingle. Try not to get burned too badly. :) Good luck!]

Comments

[buildsomething]

"I can," Tony agrees slowly as he comes up behind her, his eyes flicking over the fixtures. It shouldn't be too hard to break free, hopefully without jarring the whole thing hard enough to make the entire setup pointless. It'll take some work, but it's doable.

As Natasha stands, though, Tony turns his attention to her instead. There's a silent pause, probably no longer than a heartbeat for all that it feels longer, before he suddenly says. "I'll meet you back here once she's settled." It's not a question. Now that he knows she's here, Tony's not leaving her on her own.

[unmakeme]

"Good." Natasha braces her hand on the lip of the tub, then slams her heel down on the pipe that brings water to the taps. It comes free without much fuss, and she moves to do the same for the drain, though this one requires a more awkward angle.

She just needs to get the woman out of the building and Tony out of her immediate line of sight so she can go back to what she needs to do. She doesn't plan on being here when he gets back. Which doesn't mean he won't be able to find her, but she doesn't have to make it easy, and she's pretty sure she doesn't want to hear whatever it is he wants to say with regards to the friendship they've had.

[buildsomething]

His eyebrows lift behind the helmet as she starts smashing things, but Tony has at least enough self preservation to stay out of the way. There's something going on here that's more than just focus on the problem at hand, and Tony's not sure how to even start parsing it. When the Black Widow doesn't want to talk about something, good luck getting it out of her.

Once the tub is free from its fixings, he steps up to clam both hands to the sides to gauge what the best way to carry it is going to be. It probably doesn't help that his attention is still more on Natasha than the injured woman, but he figures he can be excused so long as no one gets dropped.

"Try not to get into too much trouble," he says finally, and then lifts the entire thing with a quiet creak of metal.

[unmakeme]

Hitting things only provides a certain amount of satisfaction, and she's pretty sure she'd currently break her foot on Tony's shin. So the tub is a better recipient of her panic and frustration.

"I think we've both hit total saturation on trouble, don't you?" Some things don't just get better with time. Some things don't heal. Sometimes, things break, and they just stay broken. Still, all that aside, there is a building on fire, and they know how to work well together. She'd have to be a monster to weigh her own discomfort as more important than human life.

[buildsomething]

"It's funny that you think it's ever going to stop," Tony shoots back with a snort just barely loud enough to be heard through the helmet's speakers. It hasn't yet as far as he's concerned, and he's not exactly optimistic about the future either. Still, neither the time nor the place to worry about it.

Instead he shifts his grip on the tub to find better handholds and just nods his head towards to the wall. "Mind getting one of the windows for me?"

[unmakeme]

Crying shame to waste the one he blasted open earlier. Still, at least it's letting in some slightly cooler night air. As well as oxygen. Maybe not great, considering the fire. She's not going to complain about being able to breathe easier, though. The ones in the bathroom aren't quite as large, but still big enough to carry a tub through, and she puts two bullets in one, then grabs hold of an overhead pipe to keep herself from going flying out when she kicks the pane free. "All yours."

[buildsomething]

Tony lets out a breath, quickly judging distances and widths. The larger window might have been the easier option, but even with the armor, the entire tub isn't exactly light. The quicker he can get it and it's occupant down on the ground, the better for everyone.

He still takes a split second to glance at Natasha, wordless, before he nods. "See you on the other side," he says, more than a little dryly and takes one step before a flare of repulsors takes him off the ground and shooting through the window.

[unmakeme]

Tony takes off out the window, and Natasha takes off down the hall. The moment he's out of sight, she's moving. She doesn't want to be waiting when he gets back. There's no conversation she wants to have with him. Of course, she can't get far. She's checking all the rooms on this floor, and she's not finished, and she's not going to let her own personal discomfort make her leave when there might still be someone needing help. She will never be that person again.

[buildsomething]

He's not particularly surprised when he darts back up and Natasha isn't there, but honestly they both have bigger things to be focusing on. Tony makes a mental note to watch out for her, but it's behind his focus on making sure the building gets cleared and nothing is about to fall on the people outside.

It's not until he's been through most of the other floors above the fire that a flash of red hair catches his attention again. He knows her well enough to be sure that she won't leave until everyone else does, but between everyone sweeping the floors, Tony's pretty damn sure there's no one left. Except them.

So, hovering in a stairway, he holds a hand out to her. "Want a lift?"

[unmakeme]

"I--" She coughs a little and wraps her scarf tighter around the bottom half of her face. Her eyes are bloodshot and sore, and she's covered in soot and more than a few mild burns. "I'm not done." She's checked a hell of a lot of the building, but not all of it. The fire has burned out most of this floor, and she needs a way up. She's pretty sure that way is going to have to be along the outside of the building, and that's not exactly something she's looking forward to.

[buildsomething]

"There's no one left in here," he says patiently, hand still outstretched. "The floors have been cleared. It's just us, and it's time to get out." Tony's reasonably sure the fire hasn't damaged enough of the structure for the thing to actually collapse, but he's also not really looking to test that theory.

[unmakeme]

There's panic in her chest, yes, but she has to be more than her fear. If she's not, then she's nothing. "How certain are you?" she demands, her voice full of concrete even as her veins run ice cold in the heat. Thinking they're alone is not enough, and the heat of the fire has got to be messing with the heat sensors in his suit. Right?

[buildsomething]

"I've been through." Still calm, though there's a thread of puzzlement running under his tone. He's never seen Natasha like this, and he can't quite work out what's causing it. Not that they have time to stand there and work it out. In a minute, he's going to just grab her and go, even if it will likely get him stabbed. It'll be worth it. Probably.

"Others have been through. Everyone's out. Come on, Widow, time to evac."

[unmakeme]

He's probably right, but there's still a very big part of her that doesn't want him to be. Easy to be calm in a flying suit of armour. Easy to be calm when you honestly believe that you're the moral authority in the world, right? Everything about her wants to tighten up and close off. She needs him to not be right, not because she needs a disaster to thrive, but because the end of this one means she'll have to focus on herself, instead of others. She doesn't want to hit the low that comes after this, not this time, not with this issue. SHe's not currently equipped to face it. Compromised.

Of course, she also doesn't want to burn to death. She's spent enough time studying Iron Man, years fighting as his teammate. She knows where to grab his suit, where she won't have her fingers taken off by an adjusting metal plate. He's probably going to hold her, anyway, but she doesn't have to like it or invite it.

[buildsomething]

His eyebrows draw together as she wordlessly steps up against him, but Tony's not going to argue with the results. He wraps his arm lightly around her just to keep her steady as he takes off, getting them out as quickly as possible. Steering isn't as easy with one hand, but he's not doing too much fancy flying just to get them out of the building. And from there it's just straight down.

His arm unwraps again the moment he touches down, but he just stands there for a moment. "Natasha..." he trails off, not sure where he was even going with it.

[unmakeme]

The look she gives him is world weary and burdened. "What? Stark, what could we possibly have to say to one another right now?" On her best day, feeling strong and on solid ground, she's not sure she would be able to handle a conversation with Tony, not sure she wouldn't be able to find the balance between what they were and what they've become.

This is far from her best day. This might be one of her worst. A conversation with anyone right now holds huge potential for ending badly, this one is damn near guaranteed to do so.

[buildsomething]

Okay, that's...as much as he might want to push, Tony knows her well enough to be able to tell when she's at the end of her rope. He might not know why, exactly, but there's clearly something about the whole situation grinding her down. And considering Stark, he kind of doubts that asking about it is going to get him very far.

So fine. He can, occasionally, handle letting things go. Tony puts his hands up defensively, palms pointed towards the ground to make it extra clear that it's not a threat. "Fine. But clearly we need to talk some other time."

[unmakeme]

"And that's going to make things better?" She doesn't want to do this right now, because she's pretty sure she can't handle it right now. Especially since, being on her own in that building, the gaping Clint shaped hole she now has in her life is all the more obvious in this moment. Clint, Laura, the kids, all so vital, and all exposed, and she has no idea how to help from here. She feels like she could rip Tony apart for it. Right now, she doesn't fully trust herself to not try. Everything is too close to the surface.

[buildsomething]

"Considering I have no idea what your issue is?" He shoots back, the beginnings of something like exasperation threading into his tone. Sure, they hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms last time he'd seen her, but nothing that would prompt this level of animosity. Unless she knows something he doesn't. Jesus, how much worse could things get?

"It couldn't hurt," he finishes a little more quietly at the thought.

[unmakeme]

Natasha chuckles, which trails off into a cough, because yeah, she inhaled a lot of smoke. "Everything hurts, Tony. That's life. Haven't you figured that out yet? Everything we do just means pain for someone else. It's who we are."

Something flickers through her mind, and she doesn't want to ask, she doesn't, but she finds herself incapable of leaving it alone. "What's the last thing you remember back home?" It's possible, isn't it, that all this pain she has to drag around with her, he never lived through.

[buildsomething]

"That's dramatic even for you," Tony says with a snort, though it makes him study her a little more closely. There's something very wrong here, and he's pretty sure it's not just the whole burning building thing.

"We don't have to talk about this now," he says finally. Not least because he doesn't particularly want to dredge up memories of Siberia right now, and Natasha's looking a little like she might suddenly come apart at the seams or go for his throat. He's honestly not sure which option worries him more. "We've got time."

[unmakeme]

Natasha just presses her lips together into a thin line in response to his refusal to tell her. That bad, huh? Then he must remember what she does. "We don't have to. I want to." She shakes her head once. "Wanted to. Clearly you don't."

Being on the ground does have one advantage. It means she can turn her back on him. It means she can put physical distance in place of the emotional distance she's so desperate for.