Few things are as insidious as smoke. It coils and it twists, it slips through the slightest crack, it fills every space it can. It reaches down into your lungs and chokes you slowly from the inside out. And, as they say, there is no smoke without fire.
Liv stirred in the darkness of her bedroom, feeling a dull tickle in the back of her throat. Rolling onto her side, she rubbed her nose, pressing her face into her pillow, and sighed lazily. Or at least, she tried to sigh lazily - the heavy intake of breath caught in her throat with an acrid taste, setting her to coughing violently as she choked on that lungful of air. Her eyes blinked open slowly, peering into the darkness with short-sighted confusion, wondering what it was that she could smell. Was that ....burning"
"Oh Lucy ....cooking at this time of night?"
The younger Broderick sat up in bed, scrabbling for her glasses on the bedside table to sit upon her nose, blinking as the world came back into focus, gloomy though it was. Her hand caught up the alarm clock, pressing the backlight to read the time. 2:31 AM. Half past two in the morning" Lucy shouldn't be back yet, she wasn't due to finish work for another couple of hours. Liv ran a hand back through her sleep-tousled brunette hair, setting the clock down on the bedside table, and sniffed the gloomy air once again. No, that was definitely a burning smell. Was someone downstairs or upstairs burning a very late night snack" Or was something on fire in the apartment"
She sat there for a long moment, rubbing her eyes beneath her glasses absently. They were stinging for some reason, although she put that down to being awake when she would rather be asleep. If something was burning, she really should get up and put it out. And open a window ....it seemed ridiculously warm in here for Spring. Now she was awake, she could hear people shouting outside - nothing too clear, but evidently something big was going on that was drawing something of a crowd.
Swinging her legs out from under the covers, she rolled back the sleeves of her nightshirt - or rather, the shirt Johnny had left behind when he and Lucy had split up two weeks ago - and stood up, feeling the acrid taste in the air catch in her throat once again. Coughing, Liv waved a hand in front of her face, realising as she did so that she could see the air currents moving. That meant smoke. Smoke meant a problem of a rather more serious nature.
There was a glass of water next to her bed; Liv grabbed up the nearest piece of cloth, which embarrassingly enough was a clean pair of panties from her fresh laundry pile, and soaked it through with the water, laying the sodden cotton jersey over her mouth and nose as she crouched, lowering her head beneath the level of the smoke she could now see clearly in the darkness.
Moving to the door, she checked the wood with the back of her hand. It was cool, thank God. She pulled open the door, making her way along the hallway toward the main room, listening to the creak and crackle of the old wooden structure of the building. The smoke was thicker out here, a sure sign that the crowd outside was gathering because of the fire in here. But where" Was it upstairs, or downstairs" The wooden floorboards beneath her bare feet didn't feel warm, as she would assume they would were the fire below her. So did that mean the fire was upstairs"
That question was answered in a manner Liv could certainly have lived without. Without warning, the ceiling above her began to buckle and creak, the plaster falling in heavy drifts just moments before an entire beam gave way. Suddenly, the living room - her access to the main hall and safety - was filled with the blazing debris of the apartment above as it fell through, scattering flame and ash over everything. Liv fell back with a loud scream, her back thumping hard against the wall behind her as another deafening crash and gout of billowing flame announced that her bedroom had just been engulfed by the flames from above as well. The bedroom she'd been sleeping in only minutes before.
Everything around her was hazy with heat and smoke, too hot to breathe easily, to see clearly. Shielding her eyes, Liv peered into the crackling wall of flame on either side of her, trying to see some way of getting to the main hall and out safely. But that would involve running with bare legs and a very loose shirt through the fire, and though she didn't want to burn to death, she wasn't desperate enough yet to risk third-degree burns or worse in an escape attempt.
Paralysed with shock and fright, she sank down onto her knees, hyperventilating through the wet cloth that was quickly drying out as the flames roared and leapt around her, making short work of her belongings and those of her sister, unaware that the spout of fire that now licked up through the destruction of the roof was clearly visible from all around. Surely someone would come to help them. Even the Rhy'Din Fire Brigade would do.
Night after night, Johnny Storm flew his usual nightly patrol. Night after night of mostly boring flights around the city and the surrounding area. Every now and then, he'd spy someone who needed help with this or that, and he'd assist where he could, but mostly things had been quiet, at least as far as his patrols were concerned. So quiet, he'd started to wonder if he was needed in Rhy'Din at all - a place where metahumans of all kinds were a dime a dozen. Just as he was starting to have his doubts, starting to wonder if he shouldn't just go home, Fate intervened.
The fire was hard to miss against the backdrop of the city, flames reaching into the sky, licking at the walls and roof, like a fiery monster bent on devouring the building in its entirety. Even from a distance, Johnny couldn't help but spy the flames and without hesitation headed that way, arriving on the scene even before the fire brigade.
He knew the building; he'd been there several times - it was where Liv and Lucy made their home, or at least, where they'd been living when last he'd seen them. It had been weeks now without contact. Liv had left several messages that Johnny had deleted without listening to, judging it better that way. Hearing her voice would only break down his resolve, and he had decided both she and her sister were better off without him.
Johnny set himself down on the ground, dowsing the flames that engulfed him, trying to make heads or tails of the chaos outside the three-story apartment building. Despite his avoiding the twins, he still cared for both of them, and he felt panic coiling in the pit of his stomach as he frantically searched the faces in the crowd for one or the other, pushing his way through the frightened observers. "Liv!" he called. "Luce!"
The building nearby belched flames suddenly and some of those in the crowd cried out, fearfully backing away from the flames. "Does anyone know if there's anyone left in the building?" he shouted over the chaos.
Liv stirred in the darkness of her bedroom, feeling a dull tickle in the back of her throat. Rolling onto her side, she rubbed her nose, pressing her face into her pillow, and sighed lazily. Or at least, she tried to sigh lazily - the heavy intake of breath caught in her throat with an acrid taste, setting her to coughing violently as she choked on that lungful of air. Her eyes blinked open slowly, peering into the darkness with short-sighted confusion, wondering what it was that she could smell. Was that ....burning"
"Oh Lucy ....cooking at this time of night?"
The younger Broderick sat up in bed, scrabbling for her glasses on the bedside table to sit upon her nose, blinking as the world came back into focus, gloomy though it was. Her hand caught up the alarm clock, pressing the backlight to read the time. 2:31 AM. Half past two in the morning" Lucy shouldn't be back yet, she wasn't due to finish work for another couple of hours. Liv ran a hand back through her sleep-tousled brunette hair, setting the clock down on the bedside table, and sniffed the gloomy air once again. No, that was definitely a burning smell. Was someone downstairs or upstairs burning a very late night snack" Or was something on fire in the apartment"
She sat there for a long moment, rubbing her eyes beneath her glasses absently. They were stinging for some reason, although she put that down to being awake when she would rather be asleep. If something was burning, she really should get up and put it out. And open a window ....it seemed ridiculously warm in here for Spring. Now she was awake, she could hear people shouting outside - nothing too clear, but evidently something big was going on that was drawing something of a crowd.
Swinging her legs out from under the covers, she rolled back the sleeves of her nightshirt - or rather, the shirt Johnny had left behind when he and Lucy had split up two weeks ago - and stood up, feeling the acrid taste in the air catch in her throat once again. Coughing, Liv waved a hand in front of her face, realising as she did so that she could see the air currents moving. That meant smoke. Smoke meant a problem of a rather more serious nature.
There was a glass of water next to her bed; Liv grabbed up the nearest piece of cloth, which embarrassingly enough was a clean pair of panties from her fresh laundry pile, and soaked it through with the water, laying the sodden cotton jersey over her mouth and nose as she crouched, lowering her head beneath the level of the smoke she could now see clearly in the darkness.
Moving to the door, she checked the wood with the back of her hand. It was cool, thank God. She pulled open the door, making her way along the hallway toward the main room, listening to the creak and crackle of the old wooden structure of the building. The smoke was thicker out here, a sure sign that the crowd outside was gathering because of the fire in here. But where" Was it upstairs, or downstairs" The wooden floorboards beneath her bare feet didn't feel warm, as she would assume they would were the fire below her. So did that mean the fire was upstairs"
That question was answered in a manner Liv could certainly have lived without. Without warning, the ceiling above her began to buckle and creak, the plaster falling in heavy drifts just moments before an entire beam gave way. Suddenly, the living room - her access to the main hall and safety - was filled with the blazing debris of the apartment above as it fell through, scattering flame and ash over everything. Liv fell back with a loud scream, her back thumping hard against the wall behind her as another deafening crash and gout of billowing flame announced that her bedroom had just been engulfed by the flames from above as well. The bedroom she'd been sleeping in only minutes before.
Everything around her was hazy with heat and smoke, too hot to breathe easily, to see clearly. Shielding her eyes, Liv peered into the crackling wall of flame on either side of her, trying to see some way of getting to the main hall and out safely. But that would involve running with bare legs and a very loose shirt through the fire, and though she didn't want to burn to death, she wasn't desperate enough yet to risk third-degree burns or worse in an escape attempt.
Paralysed with shock and fright, she sank down onto her knees, hyperventilating through the wet cloth that was quickly drying out as the flames roared and leapt around her, making short work of her belongings and those of her sister, unaware that the spout of fire that now licked up through the destruction of the roof was clearly visible from all around. Surely someone would come to help them. Even the Rhy'Din Fire Brigade would do.
Night after night, Johnny Storm flew his usual nightly patrol. Night after night of mostly boring flights around the city and the surrounding area. Every now and then, he'd spy someone who needed help with this or that, and he'd assist where he could, but mostly things had been quiet, at least as far as his patrols were concerned. So quiet, he'd started to wonder if he was needed in Rhy'Din at all - a place where metahumans of all kinds were a dime a dozen. Just as he was starting to have his doubts, starting to wonder if he shouldn't just go home, Fate intervened.
The fire was hard to miss against the backdrop of the city, flames reaching into the sky, licking at the walls and roof, like a fiery monster bent on devouring the building in its entirety. Even from a distance, Johnny couldn't help but spy the flames and without hesitation headed that way, arriving on the scene even before the fire brigade.
He knew the building; he'd been there several times - it was where Liv and Lucy made their home, or at least, where they'd been living when last he'd seen them. It had been weeks now without contact. Liv had left several messages that Johnny had deleted without listening to, judging it better that way. Hearing her voice would only break down his resolve, and he had decided both she and her sister were better off without him.
Johnny set himself down on the ground, dowsing the flames that engulfed him, trying to make heads or tails of the chaos outside the three-story apartment building. Despite his avoiding the twins, he still cared for both of them, and he felt panic coiling in the pit of his stomach as he frantically searched the faces in the crowd for one or the other, pushing his way through the frightened observers. "Liv!" he called. "Luce!"
The building nearby belched flames suddenly and some of those in the crowd cried out, fearfully backing away from the flames. "Does anyone know if there's anyone left in the building?" he shouted over the chaos.