Across the Universe 11
Title: Across the Universe
Chapter: 11 Taxman
Author: Me
Disclaimer: Iron Man and the movie-verse including all of its characters do NOT belong to me, but to Marvel and all its glory. Though, Scarlett Damien does belong to me.
Universe: Pre-Avengers Post Iron Man 2
Pairing/Characters: Tony Stark/Scarlett Damien, Pepper, Rhodey, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers
Rating: M
Summary: Throughout the tri-state area pieces of buildings, parks, monuments have been disappearing in a haze of glowing light, creating chaos. Follow the continued adventures of Tony and Scarlett, along with the rest of the Avengers as they unravel this riddle! And yes, my chapters are still long! This story is a sequel to my stories Glass Heart and Hollow Scars but is stand alone.
“Jarvis, have you ever done anything that’s so interesting but also so incredibly boring at the same time?” Tony gritted his teeth while holding up the foundation of the building overhead. He’d been holding it for what felt like forever. How much longer would it take for SHIELD to evacuate the building? Or at least to get something to replace him as a building brace.
“It’s only been ten minutes, sir.”
“What? Seriously?” Tony stared at the game of solitaire on his screen before wiping it away from his vision. “There’s no way it’s only been ten minutes! It has to have been much longer than that.”
“No, sir, I’m afraid that it’s only been ten minutes. However with your attention span I imagine it’s felt like an hour at the very least.”
“Very funny, Jarvis. I’m going to have to dial down your sarcasm half a notch.” All humor was lost when the building slipped from Tony’s metallic hands and tilted severely in the opposite direction. He’d had a handle on it for awhile but someone was doing far more damage upstairs than they were supposed to be. Silently he thought of Scarlett and worried what could be going on up there. What had caused the disaster in the first place? It still rattled his mind. Maybe whatever it was that had caused the damage had returned and was making things worse.
There was nothing Tony could do about it from there. He had to stay and brace the building for as long as he could though he wasn’t sure how much longer that would be. He searched around him for the best place to try and brace the building again since his spot had been compromised. Alarms went off suddenly in his helmet and Tony turned just in time to watch a structural beam crash down in front of him.
Instinct took over and he charged the uni-beam in his chest plate before releasing the stored energy toward the collapsing structure. It smashed into pieces and went flying in the opposite direction but caused the building to sway more severely. The fact that it hadn’t crashed to the ground yet was a damn miracle.
Concrete dust rained on his suit followed by a loud creaking of metal as pieces of the floor above fell apart and crashed toward him. Tony fired his repulsors one by one at the debris before flying away from the impending crash. Jarvis brought red dots on the screen where severe structural failures were illuminated and how long they had, approximately, before collapse. The numbers weren’t promising.
“Sir, do you recall a few weeks ago when you and Miss Damien were experimenting with stability for underwater technology?” Jarvis chimed in while Tony rose in the air and flew along the lower levels of the building searching for a new point in which to brace what remained of the foundation. He grabbed at a beam overhead and triggered his thrusters in hopes that doing so would give him the leverage he needed. The building groaned and for a moment he thought he had it.
But then his hands slipped and he flew along the beam and nearly crashed into the nearby wall thanks to the momentum caused by his thrusters. He flipped out of the way just in time and began the search all over again.
“I remember what happened after we proposed that idea, Jarvis.” Tony joked though his mind was going a mile a minute through calculations of how much longer they had. He redid the math in his head over and over but it wasn’t getting any better each time. His math was never wrong. He had to send out the alert to evacuate.
“You told me to incorporate the stability braces into the suit when we did repairs on the Mark VIII before you wandered off into the next room with Miss Damien. I recall you may have been distracted.”
“I didn’t wander, I chased her Jarvis. Get your facts right.” Tony knew he was arguing over the least important part of what his computer was trying to tell him but it was in his nature to avoid serious conversation as often as he could manage. Things were serious enough in his head that they didn’t need to be around him. However, a building crumbling to pieces while people were still inside seemed pretty serious no matter how he spun it. He had to give Scarlett more than three minutes to get out of the building. His stubborn girlfriend was likely not going to leave until she’d gotten everyone she could to safety. It was a quality he both loved and loathed about her. They were going to have to talk about emergency situations when they got home and a way to get her out of them. He was covered in titanium alloy, even if the building came down on top of him he could blast his way out and fly to safety.
She was a softy squishy human and would be crushed by even a misplaced falling beam.
“Ever since that phone call during your meeting a few weeks ago you told me never to speak of your sexual proclivities again, if you recall.” Jarvis responded but then lit an area of the floor above green for him on his screen.
“So are you telling me that this technology is all reared up and ready to go in here?”
“You are wearing the Mark VIII, are you not, sir?”
“Sometimes your attitude is not cute, Jarvis.” Tony flew to the spot signaled on his screen, near the far end of the building. The floor he was on had shrunk considerably thanks to the amount of weight had been put on the lower levels. The only reason it had remained upright for so long was because of the work Tony had done to keep the building stable.
“Miss Damien would disagree.”
“Shut up and trigger the stability braces, alright?” Tony landed on the ground below. As his metallic boots met the floor, mechanical parts shifted on the sides as the boots changed shape. Metallic claws slid from four sides of the boot and bit into the ground below. A green light illuminated in front of Tony on his right to signal that they had successfully hooked into the ground without further damaging the structure and had been secured. The other boot did the same but the comforting green light didn’t flash for him, instead a warning rang through his helmet.
“I’m afraid even this spot isn’t going to last for very long, sir.”
“Isn’t there anywhere better than here, Jarvis?” Even as Tony asked the question he could scan the area and tell that this was as lucky as he was going to get. Hell, he was lucky that there was anywhere in the building where he could use this technology without bringing the place down. His hands met the ceiling as it slowly lowered over him and with a proper flick of his wrist the suit changed around his arms.
The same sort of metallic hooks that had come from his boots came from his forearms, spread apart and braced a square foot area overhead. When the full weight of the building rested on the mark, Tony was forced to slump his shoulders and grit his teeth again. Finally the building stopped swaying and kept still for the time being but as it groaned dangerously around him, he knew it was a very, very temporary situation.
“Jarvis, connect me to the others.” Tony clenched his jaw and stared up at the ceiling, trying to use the advanced technology in his suit to see what was happening overhead. Unfortunately his vision was obstructed by debris and smoke and he couldn’t see anything clearly. “I’ve braced the building as much as I can.”
“Stark?” Coulson responded over the radio, sounding out of breath and as worried as ever. “What’s going on down there? We thought we lost you!”
“Nope, I had to keep you quiet for a few minutes there while I found a new place to brace the building. Unfortunately this is only going to buy us a minute or two at most. You’ve got to get everyone out of there!”
“Can you buy us any longer than that?” Coulson hoped beyond hope that maybe if Tony could think of something they could get the time that they needed. Somehow the feeling in his gut assured him that this was the end of the line. One way or another, this building was coming down. “Bennett, Pierce, time to get inside! Find cover! Relay to the police that the building is coming down. I repeat, the building is coming down!”
“Got it, boss.” Mickey responded over the radio and ran across the way to retrieve Jinx who was in her own little world, hacking away at the keyboard in the back of the van she’d taken refuge in. Sometimes Jinx’s focus on something was a force to be reckoned with.
“Any longer? You’re lucky I kept this thing up at all. I am only one man after all. As impressive a man as I may be with how amazing my suit is? I can only hold up an entire building before the weight crushes me.” Tony grunted as the building pushed harder against him and he was forced to bend at the knee. “Coulson, we’re running out of time! Do what you have to do to get everyone out!”
“Got it, good work Stark.” Coulson directed the helicopter higher.
“Scarlett, do you hear this? You’ve got to get out of there now.” Tony tried to search for her amongst the collapsing building but couldn’t find any sign of her. Jarvis had sight of the GPS in her phone but that wasn’t good enough. He couldn’t see her and he needed to make sure that she got to safety before the building came down.
“I’m just a little bit busy right now, Tony.” Scarlett responded, sounding as distracted as ever. They hadn’t made it to the roof. During the violent shift beneath their feet they’d gone toppling to the far end of the building. Scarlett held onto the little boy in her arms who was beyond crying now. There were no more tears and he held onto Scarlett for dear life instead. Steve had managed to grab the doorway and hung there in the air above, watching below him as Scarlett and the little boy worked their way off of what remained of the window in case it cracked.
“Rogers!” Coulson called through the radio. “Top floor, balcony window of the apartment across the way. Come on! It’s your way out.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Scarlett whispered reassuringly to the little boy latched to her side. While she was nowhere near certain that things were going to be okay, she could fake that she thought they would be well enough. Her new friend who was hanging from above seemed to be more than human from what she could tell. He’d done some death defying things on their way up the burning staircases. She’d never seen anything like it before, but then again nothing really surprised her these days.
“Can you climb up to me?” Steve called down to her and Scarlett nodded. The tilt in the floor was nowhere near as severe but she could feel the building trembling beneath her feet and didn’t trust it. One wrong move and she’d be falling to the floor below. Every footstep she made echoed with a creak beneath her.
“Clear a path to Coulson.” Scarlett nodded her head resolutely toward the blond, blue eyed, and overly muscular stranger. By now he’d realized that she was no ordinary civilian, not by any standards. Obviously she was familiar with the people of SHIELD, that much he’d gathered but still he didn’t recognize her and as a gentleman he’d done his best to make himself familiar with his coworkers.
“Are you sure?” Steve called down to her.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t!” Scarlett gritted her teeth and carried the boy as high as she could then turned her head to whisper to him. “I need you to hold onto me, pretend you’re a little monkey okay? We’re going to play a game. At the top of the tree is the window. And outside of that window are all the bananas you can eat, okay?” She whispered to the little boy who offered her a small smile at her story.
“I like monkeys.” He nodded.
“I need both my hands to climb, so you’ve got to hold on. If you start to slip you just say this word and I’ll let go to hold you, okay?” Scarlett reassured him and he nodded his head and then latched onto her the best that he could.
“Is this right?”
“It’s perfect, kiddo.” Scarlett made sure he had his grip before she started across the tilted floor. Slowly she made her way to the doorway. Steve had gone his separate way and pushed furniture out of their path, leaving heavier pieces strategically placed for Scarlett to grab onto the higher they crawled through the rubble.
“Watch out!” Steve shouted below as a kitchen appliance he didn’t recognize slid off of the table that he’d pushed out of the way and through the doorway below. Scarlett had just reached the doorway of the apartment she was trapped in and grabbed the edge of it before swinging behind the wall to avoid the crash of the appliance. It skinned her fingers and then slid the remainder of the way across the apartment and straight through the glass of the window where it disappeared into the smoke outside.
“Careful up there Schwarzenegger!” Scarlett exhaled deeply. The little boy had screamed loudly in her ear and now it was ringing annoyingly. She couldn’t blame him, she’d nearly screamed when the blender had come flying at them too. Her fingers were skinned and one was particularly bloody but she was doing well enough, considering.
“What?” Steve didn’t seem to understand what she was calling him but it sounded German so he felt like he should probably be a little insulted. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Scarlett responded. “Get that window open!”
“You’re bleeding.” The little boy sobbed in her ear, obviously scared that she wouldn’t be able to carry him to safety.
“No, no it’s not blood honey.” Scarlett reassured him though she couldn’t rightly tell him that ketchup was coming from her fingers. The kid wasn’t stupid, but she didn’t want him to panic about what he couldn’t control either. “Don’t worry, it’s just a little scrape. When we’re all done I’ll get a Band-Aid and it’ll be all better.” Scarlett pulled herself around the open doorway and into the hallway. “See? I’m just fine.”
“Okay.” The little boy sniffled, and reaffirmed his grip on Scarlett. As she jumped to grab the doorway across the hall to walk into the apartment where Steve had cleared a path for them the building shifted again beneath them and violently at that. Bloodied hands gripping onto the doorway, Scarlett braced her feet against the floor of the hall and pulled her and the child into the next apartment. Steve was there waiting with the window wide open. He’d pulled it completely away from the frame, Scarlett could only imagine how he’d gone about that.
“I want to ask how, but we don’t have time.” Scarlett shook her head and then started up through the apartment. She used the entertainment center to balance herself and then climbed across to the refrigerator. From there she was able to reach Steve well enough. He was holding out his hand to her.
“I’ll explain later, I promise.” Steve smiled though he was focused on the task at hand. “Come on, give me your hand.”
“Kid first.” Scarlett pulled at the little monkey wrapped around her middle with his head buried against her chest but he wouldn’t budge. “Come on monkey we’re almost to the top of the tree.” Scarlett whispered and he looked up at her with misty eyes and nodded his head. “I’m going to hand you over to my very strong friend here. And he’s going to send you to the funny looking monkey in the helicopter, okay? Try not to make fun of his thinning hair.”
“No, not without you.” He whimpered and Scarlett pouted and looked up at Steve who returned the sentiment. It was too sweet to ignore.
“A little help?” Scarlett tried to urge the little boy away from her so she could get him to safety but he was very stubbornly latched onto her side.
“Hey kiddo… monkey, right?” Steve spoke soothingly. They didn’t have time to coddle this kid, but Steve knew that they had to convince him to go. If they didn’t get onto the helicopter he could handle getting the mysterious woman out but a child was too dangerous. She could obviously handle herself, a little boy couldn’t. Scarlett hoped he didn’t actually think that the boy’s name was monkey. The little boy nodded in recognition. “I promise that I’ll get her to safety, but for now you’ve got to help us. Little monkeys first, okay?”
“You promise?” The little boy held out his pinky to Steve. “Do you pinky swear?” Steve instantly leaned down and swung his pinky around the little boy’s.
“I promise.” Steve smiled reassuringly. The little boy at last loosened his grip on Scarlett and then made his way into Steve’s arms.
“You’ve got less than a minute Rogers.” Coulson called through the window, watching the display proudly through the smoke. There was a reason he had always looked up to Captain America. Steve climbed through the window and got as close as he could to Coulson in the helicopter before handing the little boy off to him. Scarlett felt a sense of relief flood through her to see the little boy was safely tucked away with Coulson. Now she could evacuate without feeling guilty that she’d left someone behind. “You next! Hurry, we’re out of time here.”
“Ladies first!” Steve called down to Scarlett and offered her his hand. As she reached to grab it the building swayed and swung around. The refrigerator slipped as the building shifted and while Scarlett now stood on top of it, it was too late to jump off. Part of the roof came crashing down and they heard alarms coming from the helicopter. The pilot swung out of the way just in time but was forced to pull back from the building.
“Go back! We’re not done!” Coulson shouted to the pilot.
“Sorry sir! There’s too much debris. We’re not getting that close to the building again.” The pilot had to fly the helicopter away as the building began crumbling to pieces from the top to the bottom.
“Rogers! Damien! You’re on your own.” Coulson sounded grim through the radio. Scarlett and the refrigerator fell through the wall, crashing straight through it and into the apartment below. The refrigerator went flying out through the already broken window, taking out the wall around it and onto the street below.
Scarlett managed to scramble and hang onto what remained of the wall in the hallway just before the tilted apartment that now had a gaping hole through the wall. She watched below her as the refrigerator flew out of sight.
“Holy shit.” She exhaled as she watched it disappear from sight.
“I’m coming!” Steve shouted down to her and jumped from his perch at the window to the wall below that cracked under his weight but didn’t break. “Hold on!”
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m not drinking samosas on the beach here.” Scarlett shouted in return, pulling herself up the best she could. Steve was on his way down to her but the wall seemed to be giving way and quickly at that. She pulled her upper half onto the remainder of the wall but as she did it cracked and fell to pieces. But she could see that Steve was close so she pushed away from the wall and reached out to grab his hand that he’d held out for her and just in time. “Son of a bitch.” She cursed under her breath, looking up at Steve with wide eyes. “Nice catch.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Steve nodded his head but seemed mildly embarrassed by the curse words coming from her mouth. Apparently he hadn’t expected that kind of language from a lady. Steve pulled her to safety and together they ran down the hall.
“How the hell are we going to get out of here if Coulson can’t pull us out with the helicopter?” Scarlett grimaced, racking her brain to think. The way that the building was tilting wasn’t offering them any advantages either. If it had been close enough to the other buildings they could’ve leapt from one to the other. But it was leaning away from the buildings and toward the street. The only other option was to ride the building down and there was no way they would survive that.
“I’ve got an idea.” Steve nodded. “But you’ve got to trust me.”
“If it were any other situation I’d say that was a problem.” Scarlett agreed. What else could she do? She didn’t have any ideas, so she might as well try what this stranger was suggesting. “Rogers, right?”
“Yes, and you must be Damien?” Steve hoped it was her last name. Then again, in this modern age he’d met women with masculine names before. Who was he to judge? Still, it seemed odd to him.
“Yep. Lead the way.” As the words left Scarlett’s lips the hallway around them creaked and from the far end began to collapse under the weight of the building. “Not that way.”
“Let’s go.” Steve ran past her in the opposite direction and leapt across the large gap in front of him.
“You’ve got to be joking.” Scarlett shook her head. There was no way she was going to make that jump unassisted. But she could swing across if she could jump high enough to grab what remained of the doorway overhead. There was no time left to think about what she had to do, she just had to do it. With a running start she leapt and barely caught onto the half demolished doorway overhead with one hand. She swung across and landed next to Steve who seemed impressed that he hadn’t had to help her.
He started again toward the stairwell as piece by piece the building fell apart and scattered to the ground below them. They had to get outside, but it was becoming increasingly difficult a feat the worse the building became. The door to the stairwell had jammed closed with the weight of the building resting on it. Steve went to ram his way through but Scarlett ran in front of him.
She pulled the hinges apart on the door with ease and then kicked it in and out of the way. The frame of the doorway creaked but held up. She waved toward the doorway and Steve bowed his head graciously, constantly impressed that this woman was keeping her cool as the building literally fell apart around them. Every second they spent inside was another second they were more likely to be buried alive. Steve was sure that he’d survive the blow but he had a feeling that his new friend wouldn’t. He’d been told that there was no one else quite like him in the world. Then again, he’d seen some other SHIELD agents do some amazing things, so he couldn’t be sure.
“Downstairs.” Steve grabbed her arm to prevent her from climbing up the broken staircase. “The roof is done for, you know that.”
“Right. But the building is collapsing, down doesn’t seem very smart.” Scarlett nodded her head. She’d thought going through the rubble up above would’ve been easier in order to ride the remainder of the building down but if this stranger had a plan she was going to let him play it out. If it didn’t work the results would be catastrophic. But Scarlett had faith that her time to die wasn’t then and there. She’d managed to survive too many crazy situations in the past for her end to be inside a crumbling building.
They hurried along the wall across the broken staircase and several floors below where the damage didn’t seem as bad and the collapse had stopped. Steve helped Scarlett across a few larger gaps. The fire here still raged on and the smoke was nearly intolerable. Steve could barely see and even for him breathing was a struggle. Scarlett covered her nose with the top of her shirt but even then she began to cough only seconds after they’d reached the only floor that was still partially intact.
The sound of concrete and metal collapsing around them was as ominous as the crackle of flames. Nonetheless they continued through the hallway as quickly as they could and to the far end of it. The floor creaked in front of them and just as Steve took a step forward it collapsed beneath him. Scarlett grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back just in time to prevent him from falling forward. He nodded his thanks and then grabbed the handle of the doorway that was increasingly moving above them rather than to the side as it should’ve been. The whole thing was giving him vertigo.
The door creaked and then ripped from its hinges. Scarlett again pulled him out of the way when debris rained through the now open doorway and where he once stood. She gave him a look as if to ask if he had thought this through at all. He went to offer her a boost up, folding his hands together so that she could place her foot in them and jump up but Scarlett hadn’t even noticed. She stepped back along the wall below and with a running jump leapt until she grabbed the end of the doorway. Flames inside the apartment threatened her, but being burned was better than being crushed to death in her opinion.
“Are you crazy?” He watched in surprise as she twisted herself onto the floor above. She turned around and offered him her hand.
“Does it matter? You don’t have to carry me, Rogers. I’m pretty good at this.”
“I’m learning that.” Steve grabbed onto the hand she offered him and used the wall for leverage to climb into the same doorway. Once inside he nodded to the window. “We’ve got to get outside, onto the wall.”
“If you’re thinking about riding the building down I’ve already considered that.” Scarlett spoke between gags of smoke in her lungs. If they stayed inside much longer she was going to pass out. She’d been amongst the smoke for too long now and it was making her dizzy. For some reason, Steve didn’t seem nearly as bothered by it as she did. “I’ve done the math. We’re still going to die that way. I hope you have a better plan than that.”
“I haven’t done any math on the matter, but that’s not my plan. Don’t you worry.” Steve shouted over the roar of the fire and the creaks of the building. Every second seemed to take minutes to pass but it still didn’t seem long enough to get them out of the building. “Can you make it up there and get that window open enough for us to climb through?” Steve nodded through the smoke to the other end of the apartment.
“How can you even see that?” Scarlett waved the smoke out of her face and coughed. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Yeah, I can do it.” Scarlett jumped across the open doorway and then to the far wall. Furniture had piled up and it made it easy enough to get to the wall of the kitchen. Getting from there to the far window wasn’t going to be as simple, but Scarlett knew she could do it. She grabbed a half burnt afghan from the toppled over sofa and threw it around her shoulders. It was as close to a rope as she was going to get.
She could hear Steve behind her, making a path of his own to get to the far end of the apartment. He was far heavier than she was, he couldn’t make the same sorts of maneuvers that she did. The pipes for the sink in the kitchen were still attached to the wall though the sink itself sat across the way. Scarlett twisted the afghan and made a lasso the best she could out of it. It looked ridiculous but she pulled on it until she was sure it would hold her weight.
She swung it until she managed to grab hold of the pipe jutting from the wall and then climbed to the other end of the kitchen. She twisted the blanket so that it wrapped around her wrist and held herself there. The pipes groaned under her weight and she bounced on them to make sure they’d hold her despite their objections.
“How are you doing down there, Rogers?” Scarlett shouted, having lost sight of him in the smoke. She spent a good few seconds gagging on the smoke caught in her throat and then returned to the task at hand. SHIELD had to have oxygen inside their building to help her clear her lungs later, right now she only had to breathe enough to continue the task at hand. Whatever Steve had planned better work, they were running out of options. By the time Tony got to her, even in his Iron Man armor, she and her new friend would be goners.
“Oh, you know, trying not to catch on fire.” He chuckled through the smoke somewhere down below.
“Well, there are worse things.” Scarlett swung on the pipe and toward the window. She grabbed the frame on the second try and unlocked the window with ease. The glass was broken but still jagged and too dangerous for them to climb through. She was already bloodied up enough that Tony was going to freak out when she finally reached solid ground. The last thing she needed was to cause something that would require stitches.
“Yeah, like being crushed by a building for one?”
“You read my mind, Rogers.” Scarlett smirked and then coughed, her thoughts beginning to swim with the ingestion of the smoke in her system. Finally she got the window open but then swung back and covered her nose with her arm, attempting to breathe in some air that wasn’t toxic. The pipe squealed and screeched under her weight, but she made no attempts to move away from it. The smoke was going out the window but nowhere near fast enough to relieve the cling in Scarlett’s chest and the dizziness she felt.
Steve was at the other end of the kitchen, near the entrance to it. He was having a hard time finding something strong enough to support his weight. The ground below him wasn’t even guaranteed to do so as he had discovered when his leg has gone straight through part of the wall. When Scarlett opened the window he saw his opportunity. He jumped unnaturally high and grabbed onto the ledge of the sill. He expected to see Scarlett looking at him in awe as she had done on several occasions now when he’d done something supernatural or beyond human ability but she instead swung back and forth trying to breathe on the pipe.
“Are you alright?” Steve yelled over the sound of the building collapsing. She nodded lethargically and then swung on the afghan again. She heard it tearing but thankfully it held just long enough for her to swing over to Steve who caught her easily. Her feet dangled over the floor below as the building cracked and the top half of it threatened to fall to the ground. Scarlett’s face was pale but she still looked determined though her blue eyes somehow seemed to have turned a dull gray.
“Let’s go.” Scarlett pulled out of his arms and climbed through the window. The building was at too severe an angle for her to find her balance. That was solved quickly as the top portion of the building began to collapse. Steve climbed out through the window and joined her on the wall. Scarlett precariously balanced on the side of it, holding onto the window nervously. “Are you kidding me?” Steve slowly began to scale the wall downward and Scarlett shook her head no.
“We’re running out of time!” He waved at her to join him.
“No shit!” Scarlett scoffed and then let go of the window but she slid, unable to keep her balance the way Steve did. He instantly grabbed her arm. The building was falling too fast, they were going to go down with it. “So what’s your big plan, hero? I thought you said it wasn’t riding the building down?”
“We jump.” He nodded to the building across the way and wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s waist.
“I can’t jump that far! I’m not Spiderman and I don’t see him showing up anytime soon. It sure would be handy though.” Scarlett joked though she did not feel anywhere near ready to laugh about this situation. Her head was still swimming from the smoke in her lungs, but it was definitely much better than it had been inside the apartment. Steve kept his grip on her and climbed down the side of the building. The top half of the apartment gave way at last, just as they crossed the threshold of where the floors had cracked. It collapsed to the ground so hard that it felt like an earthquake below them. Windows in nearby buildings cracked and exploded while streetlamps toppled over beneath it. Smoke spread across the Manhattan streets like a tidal wave.
A flash of blue and yellow light came from the bottom of the building, signaling that Tony had given up on holding up what remained and flew as far from the rubble as he could before the rest of the building gave way. They were closer to the building next to the collapsing one but nowhere near close enough for them to make the jump. Scarlett helped Steve the best she could but he was far faster than she was.
“This is the worst idea.” Scarlett shouted as Steve leapt away from the building. They had run out of time. The little that had remained of the torn up apartment complex had collapsed. Piece by piece it fell apart until all that was left was a massive pile of rubble spreading across the Manhattan streets.
Much to her surprise, Steve managed to grab onto the railing of the fire escape of the building across the alleyway. How he’d managed to do it she had no idea, the jump was too far to make, she was sure of it. She ran the numbers over and over again in her head and the jump had been impossible. But considering only months ago she’d fought off creatures she’d considered to be zombies this wasn’t the weirdest thing she had ever experienced before.
She pulled out of Steve’s grasp and turned to watch the remainder of the building fall to the ground. The dust that it kicked up was astounding and she covered her mouth to watch the apartment’s final moments. Steve turned to do the same, just as out of breath as she was. Somehow, against the odds, they’d managed to get out of the crumbling building alive. With any luck, so had everyone else.
“Bennett, give me a status report.” Coulson sounded apprehensive to hear the end result of the disaster. The amount of money this would cost the city was crippling. But two of his agents had been inside at the last second and he was more concerned for their safety.
“Happy to report that evacuation was successful.” Jinx finally spoke, sounding relieved. The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach subsided though the apprehension still lingered. She had the distinct feeling that this was only the beginning.
Chapter: 11 Taxman
Author: Me
Disclaimer: Iron Man and the movie-verse including all of its characters do NOT belong to me, but to Marvel and all its glory. Though, Scarlett Damien does belong to me.
Universe: Pre-Avengers Post Iron Man 2
Pairing/Characters: Tony Stark/Scarlett Damien, Pepper, Rhodey, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers
Rating: M
Summary: Throughout the tri-state area pieces of buildings, parks, monuments have been disappearing in a haze of glowing light, creating chaos. Follow the continued adventures of Tony and Scarlett, along with the rest of the Avengers as they unravel this riddle! And yes, my chapters are still long! This story is a sequel to my stories Glass Heart and Hollow Scars but is stand alone.
“Jarvis, have you ever done anything that’s so interesting but also so incredibly boring at the same time?” Tony gritted his teeth while holding up the foundation of the building overhead. He’d been holding it for what felt like forever. How much longer would it take for SHIELD to evacuate the building? Or at least to get something to replace him as a building brace.
“It’s only been ten minutes, sir.”
“What? Seriously?” Tony stared at the game of solitaire on his screen before wiping it away from his vision. “There’s no way it’s only been ten minutes! It has to have been much longer than that.”
“No, sir, I’m afraid that it’s only been ten minutes. However with your attention span I imagine it’s felt like an hour at the very least.”
“Very funny, Jarvis. I’m going to have to dial down your sarcasm half a notch.” All humor was lost when the building slipped from Tony’s metallic hands and tilted severely in the opposite direction. He’d had a handle on it for awhile but someone was doing far more damage upstairs than they were supposed to be. Silently he thought of Scarlett and worried what could be going on up there. What had caused the disaster in the first place? It still rattled his mind. Maybe whatever it was that had caused the damage had returned and was making things worse.
There was nothing Tony could do about it from there. He had to stay and brace the building for as long as he could though he wasn’t sure how much longer that would be. He searched around him for the best place to try and brace the building again since his spot had been compromised. Alarms went off suddenly in his helmet and Tony turned just in time to watch a structural beam crash down in front of him.
Instinct took over and he charged the uni-beam in his chest plate before releasing the stored energy toward the collapsing structure. It smashed into pieces and went flying in the opposite direction but caused the building to sway more severely. The fact that it hadn’t crashed to the ground yet was a damn miracle.
Concrete dust rained on his suit followed by a loud creaking of metal as pieces of the floor above fell apart and crashed toward him. Tony fired his repulsors one by one at the debris before flying away from the impending crash. Jarvis brought red dots on the screen where severe structural failures were illuminated and how long they had, approximately, before collapse. The numbers weren’t promising.
“Sir, do you recall a few weeks ago when you and Miss Damien were experimenting with stability for underwater technology?” Jarvis chimed in while Tony rose in the air and flew along the lower levels of the building searching for a new point in which to brace what remained of the foundation. He grabbed at a beam overhead and triggered his thrusters in hopes that doing so would give him the leverage he needed. The building groaned and for a moment he thought he had it.
But then his hands slipped and he flew along the beam and nearly crashed into the nearby wall thanks to the momentum caused by his thrusters. He flipped out of the way just in time and began the search all over again.
“I remember what happened after we proposed that idea, Jarvis.” Tony joked though his mind was going a mile a minute through calculations of how much longer they had. He redid the math in his head over and over but it wasn’t getting any better each time. His math was never wrong. He had to send out the alert to evacuate.
“You told me to incorporate the stability braces into the suit when we did repairs on the Mark VIII before you wandered off into the next room with Miss Damien. I recall you may have been distracted.”
“I didn’t wander, I chased her Jarvis. Get your facts right.” Tony knew he was arguing over the least important part of what his computer was trying to tell him but it was in his nature to avoid serious conversation as often as he could manage. Things were serious enough in his head that they didn’t need to be around him. However, a building crumbling to pieces while people were still inside seemed pretty serious no matter how he spun it. He had to give Scarlett more than three minutes to get out of the building. His stubborn girlfriend was likely not going to leave until she’d gotten everyone she could to safety. It was a quality he both loved and loathed about her. They were going to have to talk about emergency situations when they got home and a way to get her out of them. He was covered in titanium alloy, even if the building came down on top of him he could blast his way out and fly to safety.
She was a softy squishy human and would be crushed by even a misplaced falling beam.
“Ever since that phone call during your meeting a few weeks ago you told me never to speak of your sexual proclivities again, if you recall.” Jarvis responded but then lit an area of the floor above green for him on his screen.
“So are you telling me that this technology is all reared up and ready to go in here?”
“You are wearing the Mark VIII, are you not, sir?”
“Sometimes your attitude is not cute, Jarvis.” Tony flew to the spot signaled on his screen, near the far end of the building. The floor he was on had shrunk considerably thanks to the amount of weight had been put on the lower levels. The only reason it had remained upright for so long was because of the work Tony had done to keep the building stable.
“Miss Damien would disagree.”
“Shut up and trigger the stability braces, alright?” Tony landed on the ground below. As his metallic boots met the floor, mechanical parts shifted on the sides as the boots changed shape. Metallic claws slid from four sides of the boot and bit into the ground below. A green light illuminated in front of Tony on his right to signal that they had successfully hooked into the ground without further damaging the structure and had been secured. The other boot did the same but the comforting green light didn’t flash for him, instead a warning rang through his helmet.
“I’m afraid even this spot isn’t going to last for very long, sir.”
“Isn’t there anywhere better than here, Jarvis?” Even as Tony asked the question he could scan the area and tell that this was as lucky as he was going to get. Hell, he was lucky that there was anywhere in the building where he could use this technology without bringing the place down. His hands met the ceiling as it slowly lowered over him and with a proper flick of his wrist the suit changed around his arms.
The same sort of metallic hooks that had come from his boots came from his forearms, spread apart and braced a square foot area overhead. When the full weight of the building rested on the mark, Tony was forced to slump his shoulders and grit his teeth again. Finally the building stopped swaying and kept still for the time being but as it groaned dangerously around him, he knew it was a very, very temporary situation.
“Jarvis, connect me to the others.” Tony clenched his jaw and stared up at the ceiling, trying to use the advanced technology in his suit to see what was happening overhead. Unfortunately his vision was obstructed by debris and smoke and he couldn’t see anything clearly. “I’ve braced the building as much as I can.”
“Stark?” Coulson responded over the radio, sounding out of breath and as worried as ever. “What’s going on down there? We thought we lost you!”
“Nope, I had to keep you quiet for a few minutes there while I found a new place to brace the building. Unfortunately this is only going to buy us a minute or two at most. You’ve got to get everyone out of there!”
“Can you buy us any longer than that?” Coulson hoped beyond hope that maybe if Tony could think of something they could get the time that they needed. Somehow the feeling in his gut assured him that this was the end of the line. One way or another, this building was coming down. “Bennett, Pierce, time to get inside! Find cover! Relay to the police that the building is coming down. I repeat, the building is coming down!”
“Got it, boss.” Mickey responded over the radio and ran across the way to retrieve Jinx who was in her own little world, hacking away at the keyboard in the back of the van she’d taken refuge in. Sometimes Jinx’s focus on something was a force to be reckoned with.
“Any longer? You’re lucky I kept this thing up at all. I am only one man after all. As impressive a man as I may be with how amazing my suit is? I can only hold up an entire building before the weight crushes me.” Tony grunted as the building pushed harder against him and he was forced to bend at the knee. “Coulson, we’re running out of time! Do what you have to do to get everyone out!”
“Got it, good work Stark.” Coulson directed the helicopter higher.
“Scarlett, do you hear this? You’ve got to get out of there now.” Tony tried to search for her amongst the collapsing building but couldn’t find any sign of her. Jarvis had sight of the GPS in her phone but that wasn’t good enough. He couldn’t see her and he needed to make sure that she got to safety before the building came down.
“I’m just a little bit busy right now, Tony.” Scarlett responded, sounding as distracted as ever. They hadn’t made it to the roof. During the violent shift beneath their feet they’d gone toppling to the far end of the building. Scarlett held onto the little boy in her arms who was beyond crying now. There were no more tears and he held onto Scarlett for dear life instead. Steve had managed to grab the doorway and hung there in the air above, watching below him as Scarlett and the little boy worked their way off of what remained of the window in case it cracked.
“Rogers!” Coulson called through the radio. “Top floor, balcony window of the apartment across the way. Come on! It’s your way out.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Scarlett whispered reassuringly to the little boy latched to her side. While she was nowhere near certain that things were going to be okay, she could fake that she thought they would be well enough. Her new friend who was hanging from above seemed to be more than human from what she could tell. He’d done some death defying things on their way up the burning staircases. She’d never seen anything like it before, but then again nothing really surprised her these days.
“Can you climb up to me?” Steve called down to her and Scarlett nodded. The tilt in the floor was nowhere near as severe but she could feel the building trembling beneath her feet and didn’t trust it. One wrong move and she’d be falling to the floor below. Every footstep she made echoed with a creak beneath her.
“Clear a path to Coulson.” Scarlett nodded her head resolutely toward the blond, blue eyed, and overly muscular stranger. By now he’d realized that she was no ordinary civilian, not by any standards. Obviously she was familiar with the people of SHIELD, that much he’d gathered but still he didn’t recognize her and as a gentleman he’d done his best to make himself familiar with his coworkers.
“Are you sure?” Steve called down to her.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t!” Scarlett gritted her teeth and carried the boy as high as she could then turned her head to whisper to him. “I need you to hold onto me, pretend you’re a little monkey okay? We’re going to play a game. At the top of the tree is the window. And outside of that window are all the bananas you can eat, okay?” She whispered to the little boy who offered her a small smile at her story.
“I like monkeys.” He nodded.
“I need both my hands to climb, so you’ve got to hold on. If you start to slip you just say this word and I’ll let go to hold you, okay?” Scarlett reassured him and he nodded his head and then latched onto her the best that he could.
“Is this right?”
“It’s perfect, kiddo.” Scarlett made sure he had his grip before she started across the tilted floor. Slowly she made her way to the doorway. Steve had gone his separate way and pushed furniture out of their path, leaving heavier pieces strategically placed for Scarlett to grab onto the higher they crawled through the rubble.
“Watch out!” Steve shouted below as a kitchen appliance he didn’t recognize slid off of the table that he’d pushed out of the way and through the doorway below. Scarlett had just reached the doorway of the apartment she was trapped in and grabbed the edge of it before swinging behind the wall to avoid the crash of the appliance. It skinned her fingers and then slid the remainder of the way across the apartment and straight through the glass of the window where it disappeared into the smoke outside.
“Careful up there Schwarzenegger!” Scarlett exhaled deeply. The little boy had screamed loudly in her ear and now it was ringing annoyingly. She couldn’t blame him, she’d nearly screamed when the blender had come flying at them too. Her fingers were skinned and one was particularly bloody but she was doing well enough, considering.
“What?” Steve didn’t seem to understand what she was calling him but it sounded German so he felt like he should probably be a little insulted. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Scarlett responded. “Get that window open!”
“You’re bleeding.” The little boy sobbed in her ear, obviously scared that she wouldn’t be able to carry him to safety.
“No, no it’s not blood honey.” Scarlett reassured him though she couldn’t rightly tell him that ketchup was coming from her fingers. The kid wasn’t stupid, but she didn’t want him to panic about what he couldn’t control either. “Don’t worry, it’s just a little scrape. When we’re all done I’ll get a Band-Aid and it’ll be all better.” Scarlett pulled herself around the open doorway and into the hallway. “See? I’m just fine.”
“Okay.” The little boy sniffled, and reaffirmed his grip on Scarlett. As she jumped to grab the doorway across the hall to walk into the apartment where Steve had cleared a path for them the building shifted again beneath them and violently at that. Bloodied hands gripping onto the doorway, Scarlett braced her feet against the floor of the hall and pulled her and the child into the next apartment. Steve was there waiting with the window wide open. He’d pulled it completely away from the frame, Scarlett could only imagine how he’d gone about that.
“I want to ask how, but we don’t have time.” Scarlett shook her head and then started up through the apartment. She used the entertainment center to balance herself and then climbed across to the refrigerator. From there she was able to reach Steve well enough. He was holding out his hand to her.
“I’ll explain later, I promise.” Steve smiled though he was focused on the task at hand. “Come on, give me your hand.”
“Kid first.” Scarlett pulled at the little monkey wrapped around her middle with his head buried against her chest but he wouldn’t budge. “Come on monkey we’re almost to the top of the tree.” Scarlett whispered and he looked up at her with misty eyes and nodded his head. “I’m going to hand you over to my very strong friend here. And he’s going to send you to the funny looking monkey in the helicopter, okay? Try not to make fun of his thinning hair.”
“No, not without you.” He whimpered and Scarlett pouted and looked up at Steve who returned the sentiment. It was too sweet to ignore.
“A little help?” Scarlett tried to urge the little boy away from her so she could get him to safety but he was very stubbornly latched onto her side.
“Hey kiddo… monkey, right?” Steve spoke soothingly. They didn’t have time to coddle this kid, but Steve knew that they had to convince him to go. If they didn’t get onto the helicopter he could handle getting the mysterious woman out but a child was too dangerous. She could obviously handle herself, a little boy couldn’t. Scarlett hoped he didn’t actually think that the boy’s name was monkey. The little boy nodded in recognition. “I promise that I’ll get her to safety, but for now you’ve got to help us. Little monkeys first, okay?”
“You promise?” The little boy held out his pinky to Steve. “Do you pinky swear?” Steve instantly leaned down and swung his pinky around the little boy’s.
“I promise.” Steve smiled reassuringly. The little boy at last loosened his grip on Scarlett and then made his way into Steve’s arms.
“You’ve got less than a minute Rogers.” Coulson called through the window, watching the display proudly through the smoke. There was a reason he had always looked up to Captain America. Steve climbed through the window and got as close as he could to Coulson in the helicopter before handing the little boy off to him. Scarlett felt a sense of relief flood through her to see the little boy was safely tucked away with Coulson. Now she could evacuate without feeling guilty that she’d left someone behind. “You next! Hurry, we’re out of time here.”
“Ladies first!” Steve called down to Scarlett and offered her his hand. As she reached to grab it the building swayed and swung around. The refrigerator slipped as the building shifted and while Scarlett now stood on top of it, it was too late to jump off. Part of the roof came crashing down and they heard alarms coming from the helicopter. The pilot swung out of the way just in time but was forced to pull back from the building.
“Go back! We’re not done!” Coulson shouted to the pilot.
“Sorry sir! There’s too much debris. We’re not getting that close to the building again.” The pilot had to fly the helicopter away as the building began crumbling to pieces from the top to the bottom.
“Rogers! Damien! You’re on your own.” Coulson sounded grim through the radio. Scarlett and the refrigerator fell through the wall, crashing straight through it and into the apartment below. The refrigerator went flying out through the already broken window, taking out the wall around it and onto the street below.
Scarlett managed to scramble and hang onto what remained of the wall in the hallway just before the tilted apartment that now had a gaping hole through the wall. She watched below her as the refrigerator flew out of sight.
“Holy shit.” She exhaled as she watched it disappear from sight.
“I’m coming!” Steve shouted down to her and jumped from his perch at the window to the wall below that cracked under his weight but didn’t break. “Hold on!”
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m not drinking samosas on the beach here.” Scarlett shouted in return, pulling herself up the best she could. Steve was on his way down to her but the wall seemed to be giving way and quickly at that. She pulled her upper half onto the remainder of the wall but as she did it cracked and fell to pieces. But she could see that Steve was close so she pushed away from the wall and reached out to grab his hand that he’d held out for her and just in time. “Son of a bitch.” She cursed under her breath, looking up at Steve with wide eyes. “Nice catch.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Steve nodded his head but seemed mildly embarrassed by the curse words coming from her mouth. Apparently he hadn’t expected that kind of language from a lady. Steve pulled her to safety and together they ran down the hall.
“How the hell are we going to get out of here if Coulson can’t pull us out with the helicopter?” Scarlett grimaced, racking her brain to think. The way that the building was tilting wasn’t offering them any advantages either. If it had been close enough to the other buildings they could’ve leapt from one to the other. But it was leaning away from the buildings and toward the street. The only other option was to ride the building down and there was no way they would survive that.
“I’ve got an idea.” Steve nodded. “But you’ve got to trust me.”
“If it were any other situation I’d say that was a problem.” Scarlett agreed. What else could she do? She didn’t have any ideas, so she might as well try what this stranger was suggesting. “Rogers, right?”
“Yes, and you must be Damien?” Steve hoped it was her last name. Then again, in this modern age he’d met women with masculine names before. Who was he to judge? Still, it seemed odd to him.
“Yep. Lead the way.” As the words left Scarlett’s lips the hallway around them creaked and from the far end began to collapse under the weight of the building. “Not that way.”
“Let’s go.” Steve ran past her in the opposite direction and leapt across the large gap in front of him.
“You’ve got to be joking.” Scarlett shook her head. There was no way she was going to make that jump unassisted. But she could swing across if she could jump high enough to grab what remained of the doorway overhead. There was no time left to think about what she had to do, she just had to do it. With a running start she leapt and barely caught onto the half demolished doorway overhead with one hand. She swung across and landed next to Steve who seemed impressed that he hadn’t had to help her.
He started again toward the stairwell as piece by piece the building fell apart and scattered to the ground below them. They had to get outside, but it was becoming increasingly difficult a feat the worse the building became. The door to the stairwell had jammed closed with the weight of the building resting on it. Steve went to ram his way through but Scarlett ran in front of him.
She pulled the hinges apart on the door with ease and then kicked it in and out of the way. The frame of the doorway creaked but held up. She waved toward the doorway and Steve bowed his head graciously, constantly impressed that this woman was keeping her cool as the building literally fell apart around them. Every second they spent inside was another second they were more likely to be buried alive. Steve was sure that he’d survive the blow but he had a feeling that his new friend wouldn’t. He’d been told that there was no one else quite like him in the world. Then again, he’d seen some other SHIELD agents do some amazing things, so he couldn’t be sure.
“Downstairs.” Steve grabbed her arm to prevent her from climbing up the broken staircase. “The roof is done for, you know that.”
“Right. But the building is collapsing, down doesn’t seem very smart.” Scarlett nodded her head. She’d thought going through the rubble up above would’ve been easier in order to ride the remainder of the building down but if this stranger had a plan she was going to let him play it out. If it didn’t work the results would be catastrophic. But Scarlett had faith that her time to die wasn’t then and there. She’d managed to survive too many crazy situations in the past for her end to be inside a crumbling building.
They hurried along the wall across the broken staircase and several floors below where the damage didn’t seem as bad and the collapse had stopped. Steve helped Scarlett across a few larger gaps. The fire here still raged on and the smoke was nearly intolerable. Steve could barely see and even for him breathing was a struggle. Scarlett covered her nose with the top of her shirt but even then she began to cough only seconds after they’d reached the only floor that was still partially intact.
The sound of concrete and metal collapsing around them was as ominous as the crackle of flames. Nonetheless they continued through the hallway as quickly as they could and to the far end of it. The floor creaked in front of them and just as Steve took a step forward it collapsed beneath him. Scarlett grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back just in time to prevent him from falling forward. He nodded his thanks and then grabbed the handle of the doorway that was increasingly moving above them rather than to the side as it should’ve been. The whole thing was giving him vertigo.
The door creaked and then ripped from its hinges. Scarlett again pulled him out of the way when debris rained through the now open doorway and where he once stood. She gave him a look as if to ask if he had thought this through at all. He went to offer her a boost up, folding his hands together so that she could place her foot in them and jump up but Scarlett hadn’t even noticed. She stepped back along the wall below and with a running jump leapt until she grabbed the end of the doorway. Flames inside the apartment threatened her, but being burned was better than being crushed to death in her opinion.
“Are you crazy?” He watched in surprise as she twisted herself onto the floor above. She turned around and offered him her hand.
“Does it matter? You don’t have to carry me, Rogers. I’m pretty good at this.”
“I’m learning that.” Steve grabbed onto the hand she offered him and used the wall for leverage to climb into the same doorway. Once inside he nodded to the window. “We’ve got to get outside, onto the wall.”
“If you’re thinking about riding the building down I’ve already considered that.” Scarlett spoke between gags of smoke in her lungs. If they stayed inside much longer she was going to pass out. She’d been amongst the smoke for too long now and it was making her dizzy. For some reason, Steve didn’t seem nearly as bothered by it as she did. “I’ve done the math. We’re still going to die that way. I hope you have a better plan than that.”
“I haven’t done any math on the matter, but that’s not my plan. Don’t you worry.” Steve shouted over the roar of the fire and the creaks of the building. Every second seemed to take minutes to pass but it still didn’t seem long enough to get them out of the building. “Can you make it up there and get that window open enough for us to climb through?” Steve nodded through the smoke to the other end of the apartment.
“How can you even see that?” Scarlett waved the smoke out of her face and coughed. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Yeah, I can do it.” Scarlett jumped across the open doorway and then to the far wall. Furniture had piled up and it made it easy enough to get to the wall of the kitchen. Getting from there to the far window wasn’t going to be as simple, but Scarlett knew she could do it. She grabbed a half burnt afghan from the toppled over sofa and threw it around her shoulders. It was as close to a rope as she was going to get.
She could hear Steve behind her, making a path of his own to get to the far end of the apartment. He was far heavier than she was, he couldn’t make the same sorts of maneuvers that she did. The pipes for the sink in the kitchen were still attached to the wall though the sink itself sat across the way. Scarlett twisted the afghan and made a lasso the best she could out of it. It looked ridiculous but she pulled on it until she was sure it would hold her weight.
She swung it until she managed to grab hold of the pipe jutting from the wall and then climbed to the other end of the kitchen. She twisted the blanket so that it wrapped around her wrist and held herself there. The pipes groaned under her weight and she bounced on them to make sure they’d hold her despite their objections.
“How are you doing down there, Rogers?” Scarlett shouted, having lost sight of him in the smoke. She spent a good few seconds gagging on the smoke caught in her throat and then returned to the task at hand. SHIELD had to have oxygen inside their building to help her clear her lungs later, right now she only had to breathe enough to continue the task at hand. Whatever Steve had planned better work, they were running out of options. By the time Tony got to her, even in his Iron Man armor, she and her new friend would be goners.
“Oh, you know, trying not to catch on fire.” He chuckled through the smoke somewhere down below.
“Well, there are worse things.” Scarlett swung on the pipe and toward the window. She grabbed the frame on the second try and unlocked the window with ease. The glass was broken but still jagged and too dangerous for them to climb through. She was already bloodied up enough that Tony was going to freak out when she finally reached solid ground. The last thing she needed was to cause something that would require stitches.
“Yeah, like being crushed by a building for one?”
“You read my mind, Rogers.” Scarlett smirked and then coughed, her thoughts beginning to swim with the ingestion of the smoke in her system. Finally she got the window open but then swung back and covered her nose with her arm, attempting to breathe in some air that wasn’t toxic. The pipe squealed and screeched under her weight, but she made no attempts to move away from it. The smoke was going out the window but nowhere near fast enough to relieve the cling in Scarlett’s chest and the dizziness she felt.
Steve was at the other end of the kitchen, near the entrance to it. He was having a hard time finding something strong enough to support his weight. The ground below him wasn’t even guaranteed to do so as he had discovered when his leg has gone straight through part of the wall. When Scarlett opened the window he saw his opportunity. He jumped unnaturally high and grabbed onto the ledge of the sill. He expected to see Scarlett looking at him in awe as she had done on several occasions now when he’d done something supernatural or beyond human ability but she instead swung back and forth trying to breathe on the pipe.
“Are you alright?” Steve yelled over the sound of the building collapsing. She nodded lethargically and then swung on the afghan again. She heard it tearing but thankfully it held just long enough for her to swing over to Steve who caught her easily. Her feet dangled over the floor below as the building cracked and the top half of it threatened to fall to the ground. Scarlett’s face was pale but she still looked determined though her blue eyes somehow seemed to have turned a dull gray.
“Let’s go.” Scarlett pulled out of his arms and climbed through the window. The building was at too severe an angle for her to find her balance. That was solved quickly as the top portion of the building began to collapse. Steve climbed out through the window and joined her on the wall. Scarlett precariously balanced on the side of it, holding onto the window nervously. “Are you kidding me?” Steve slowly began to scale the wall downward and Scarlett shook her head no.
“We’re running out of time!” He waved at her to join him.
“No shit!” Scarlett scoffed and then let go of the window but she slid, unable to keep her balance the way Steve did. He instantly grabbed her arm. The building was falling too fast, they were going to go down with it. “So what’s your big plan, hero? I thought you said it wasn’t riding the building down?”
“We jump.” He nodded to the building across the way and wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s waist.
“I can’t jump that far! I’m not Spiderman and I don’t see him showing up anytime soon. It sure would be handy though.” Scarlett joked though she did not feel anywhere near ready to laugh about this situation. Her head was still swimming from the smoke in her lungs, but it was definitely much better than it had been inside the apartment. Steve kept his grip on her and climbed down the side of the building. The top half of the apartment gave way at last, just as they crossed the threshold of where the floors had cracked. It collapsed to the ground so hard that it felt like an earthquake below them. Windows in nearby buildings cracked and exploded while streetlamps toppled over beneath it. Smoke spread across the Manhattan streets like a tidal wave.
A flash of blue and yellow light came from the bottom of the building, signaling that Tony had given up on holding up what remained and flew as far from the rubble as he could before the rest of the building gave way. They were closer to the building next to the collapsing one but nowhere near close enough for them to make the jump. Scarlett helped Steve the best she could but he was far faster than she was.
“This is the worst idea.” Scarlett shouted as Steve leapt away from the building. They had run out of time. The little that had remained of the torn up apartment complex had collapsed. Piece by piece it fell apart until all that was left was a massive pile of rubble spreading across the Manhattan streets.
Much to her surprise, Steve managed to grab onto the railing of the fire escape of the building across the alleyway. How he’d managed to do it she had no idea, the jump was too far to make, she was sure of it. She ran the numbers over and over again in her head and the jump had been impossible. But considering only months ago she’d fought off creatures she’d considered to be zombies this wasn’t the weirdest thing she had ever experienced before.
She pulled out of Steve’s grasp and turned to watch the remainder of the building fall to the ground. The dust that it kicked up was astounding and she covered her mouth to watch the apartment’s final moments. Steve turned to do the same, just as out of breath as she was. Somehow, against the odds, they’d managed to get out of the crumbling building alive. With any luck, so had everyone else.
“Bennett, give me a status report.” Coulson sounded apprehensive to hear the end result of the disaster. The amount of money this would cost the city was crippling. But two of his agents had been inside at the last second and he was more concerned for their safety.
“Happy to report that evacuation was successful.” Jinx finally spoke, sounding relieved. The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach subsided though the apprehension still lingered. She had the distinct feeling that this was only the beginning.