Red Hot Cinnamon Flavor Binge
Author: Casey
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy (NIEE) universe, Post NIEE
Challenges: Red Hot Cinnamon Flavor Binge
Toppings & Extras: Sprinkles (Leigh and the kids are all sprinkles), Caramel (superCaramel), Root Beer Float (the interview half), Pocky Chain, Cherry (very different formatting/set up)
Word Count: 2400
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: The kids end up on the wrong side of a pyromaniac. Things burn.
Notes: This gives more information on the pyro who showed up here. Also, anything with this crowd is now officially dubbed “superCaramel” because, honestly, I feel sort of ridiculous with this. But now they have their very own villain! Go them? This explains events leading up to and just after the above piece. Interviews bounce all over the timeline.
Where There’s Smoke
So, what do all of you think about Flame?
WILLIAM: (snorts) You mean Leigh Parker? She’s a crazy person who likes fire. Our parents will catch her soon.
She’s eluded KIN for longer than any other person.
REBECCA: (scowls) Even if that were true, and it’s probably not, Leigh’s bound to screw up sooner or later, then they’ll get her.
You don’t think you’ll end up responsible for her?
REBECCA: No way! That would mean she’d still be around in...what, seven years? She’s not even that special. All she does is burn stuff. Who cares about her and her fire?
--
Will paused and sniffed the air cautiously. “Do you guys smell that?”
“Smell what?” Miles asked.
“It smells like smoke,” Bex said, scowling. “She’s not supposed to be here.”
“Woulda thought you’d learned by now nothing is past Flame,” Will muttered.
“Shut up and don’t call her that. You’re just playing to her psychotic fantasies.”
“Who’d you hear that one from? Sorin? Or Dad?”
“Can we stop bickering and focus on the task at hand? This routine just got a lot more dangerous if Leigh Parker is actually here.” Miles’s hand twitched to the sword at his side. “Let’s go.”
Too Hot to Handle
What about you, Maxie?
MAXIE: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really like fighting much. I mean, I’ll learn what Mom and Dad want me to, but I’ve got Miles, Will and Bex and they all like fighting. I want to be...I don’t know, but I don’t want to work for KIN and Mom and Dad are okay with that.
MILES: I’ll always be there to protect her. What else is a big brother useful for?
MAXIE: (grins) I’m gonna go to school past eighteen and learn how to be really smart and stuff. Be famous in my own way!
--
Maxie stumbled, the coughs racking her body so hard she almost fell. Putting a hand on the wall and pressing the other against her nose and mouth, she tried not to breathe deeply. She had to keep going, she had to keep going.
Leigh seemed to melt out of the smoke. “Maxine. Looking for your wayward brother, are you?”
“Where are they?” Maxie managed hoarsely.
“Dying.”
“You can’t do this.”
“Who’s going to stop me? You? The little princess?”
“Don’t call me that,” Maxie gritted.
“Then hit me. I dare you.” Leigh laughed. “I can do anything I want, princess.”
Embers/Coals
So I heard that Dean will be retiring soon. What will that mean for you?
MILES: Dean’s planning on retiring in a couple years. He figures why stay in charge when he’s got us to take over. All is means is that Will’s gonna be in charge and Bex and I’ll be his back-up. But Dean will still be doing some stuff. I mean, hell, Sorin still does stuff!
What do you think about being in charge?
WILLIAM: (looks uncomfortable)
REBECCA: Things have been quiet. Sort of... smoldering, even if I hate the fire analogies after Leigh. Will’ll do fine.
--
Miles strained his ears to try and hear anything besides the crackling of flames. He had no doubt that Leigh was probably lurking around the next corner and he wanted warning before she attacked.
He stifled a cough and then jumped as a voice spoke from directly behind.
“Need a hankie, Miles?”
“Damn it, Leigh.”
“I love that we’re on a first name basis.”
“Point?” he asked shortly, taking a step away and feeling the heat reach towards his back.
“I feel like we’ve gotten stagnant, Miles. Just the usual cat-and-mouse games all the time.”
“Point?” he asked.
She smiled.
Firebreathing
How did it all start?
MILES: Oh man. That’s a very long story. How did KIN find out about her? Or how did we get involved?
How did KIN find out about her?
MILES: Mom, Russ and Dean stumbled upon her by accident. They were in a village, her fourth, when she burned it down. Being them, they had to investigate and they traced her to her home town and found out her name. Shortly after that, she sent KIN a message, telling them to stay away, but she was burning whole villages. It just went from there, I guess.
--
The flames crackled behind her, seeming to silhouette Leigh as she smiled at Bex. The fire appeared to dance across her teeth and into her eyes. “The three of you think yourselves such hot shots.”
The sarcasm in her comment did not escape Bex.
“But look how easily I tear you apart. You’re still just children.”
“This won’t last, Parker,” she spat. “KIN never fails.”
“Seems like you’ve done a pretty fucked up job catching me so far.”
“We are just starting to step up. You won’t last.”
“Neither with you if you don’t quit with the hollow threats, kid.”
Tinder/Kindling
WANTED:
The Woman known as Flame.
Born: Leigh Parker
Age: 22, although she might look older or younger
Defining Features: Two moles on her right cheek, all other features are most likely changed often
Crimes: Arson, Murder, Attempted Murder, Larceny, Theft and many other serious crimes.
WILLIAM: I guess… I guess Flame is really well known. That happens when you start out by burning down a dozen small towns. The moral of the story is that she’s crazy.
Do you think she’ll ever be caught?
WILLIAM: If I have to drag her in myself, she will someday. That’s a promise.
--
She had a way of moving through the smoke that constantly blew Will’s mind. It was like she breathed murky air as easily as the rest of the world inhaled clean air. When she appeared behind him, he somehow could not be surprised.
“How do you like this fire, dear William?”
“Not as hot as you usually prefer,” Will said dryly, resisting the urge to tug at his soaked shirt.
“I thought you might like that.”
“I think it depends on your purpose.”
“You know my purpose by now, Willie.”
“What’s today’s impossible situation then?” he asked, feeling incredibly weary.
Torches/Matches
How did she do it?
REBECCA: Burn down entire villages without breaking a sweat?
Yes.
REBECCA: That was only her thing at the beginning. Before our parents managed to piss her off. Then she went a bit less on the generic large scale fire. But I believe Dad told me that she scouted the villages once she picked them and slowly rigged the place to go. She used balsic stone in an almost explosive sense, planted ahead of time around each building. I will, very grudgingly, admit that she did know what she was doing. Unfortunately for all of us.
--
“If you’re gonna call me anything, just stick with William.”
“Aw, I can’t call you Will like your precious family?”
“Where are they, Leigh?”
“William Darcy.”
He eyed her warily, not sure where this was going and anxious to find Miles, Bex and Maxie before the entire building came down around them.
“That has a way of flowing off the tongue.” She tilted her head to regard him somberly. “How about we make a deal, dear William?”
“For what?”
“The safety of your family.”
“I’m listening...”
She smiled that toothy smile of hers and his eyes narrowed. “I want... you.”
Charred/Scorched
It was a big deal, the Flame case.
MILES: (laughs) If you say so. For us, we were just glad it was resolved before the kids got old enough to deal with her.
Kids?
MILES: You know, the younger six kids. Danny, Kaylee and so on. It was bad enough that Maxie had to be involved.
MAXINE: I was fine, Miles. (shakes her head) I got the three of you out when she had you locked in that burning basement. She never touched me.
MILES: (scowls) That time.
WILLAIM: (quietly) I think we all got burned, one way or another.
--
“Me?” he repeated, aghast, having expected about anything but that. “What do you mean?”
“You’re a cute kid, but you’re a little slow sometimes, dear William. There aren’t even ten years separating us.”
He stared. “No way!”
“I’m offering you an out.”
“That’s disgusting, Leigh.”
“It’s Flame,” she said easily. “Oh, I suppose your family would come after you all worried, hm? Although it would be fun to see faces when you told them to go away. I’m very good at what I do, William.”
“I mean it when I say fuck off, Leigh.”
She smiled widely. “Very well, child.”
Spark
When you look ahead to the rest of your life, where do you see yourself in ten years? What about fifteen?
REBECCA: (wickedly) Let’s let Will answer that one first. What do you think, Will?
WILLIAM: Thanks a lot, Bex. I’ve decided I want to work for KIN, like Dad. Mom suggested Greyspire, but that would involve being away from home too much. In ten years, I’d like to be an agent. Don’t need to be special. Then, in fifteen, I’ll be like mid-twenties. So I’d like to maybe be married. Kids in the future. Something calm and predictable, maybe?
--
As he stood sweating out his life, Will found himself remembering the first time he’d met Leigh Parker on business. At that point, his parents and the rest of KIN had been after her for around four years. He was barely fifteen at the time and heady with the idea of doing something official for KIN.
Will’s first mission and he ran smack into the woman known as Flame. He was alone when they came face to face.
“Well, well, what is this? Just the little shrimp child,” Leigh said, laughing, holding her hands out to warm over her fire.
Furnace/Oven
REBECCA: I’d love to throw her in a fire after everything she pulled.
MILES: (snickers) She’d probably just regenerate or something.
REBECCA: You are not funny, Miles.
MAXINE: He has a point. She thrived from fire. The more flames and smoke, the more powerful she was.
MILES: That was just your perception, Max. No one can really live off fire and burning things.
MAXINE: You can’t say it didn’t seem that way with her.
MILES: Will, back me up here.
(Silence.)
REBECCA: Hey, Will, you’re being awfully quiet. Are you okay?
WILLIAM: Hmm? Oh. Yes. Um, yeah, Miles is right.
--
Will stood in the center of the basement, staring up to where Leigh had just disappeared. She had given him one last chance to get them out, but he refused. Now he needed to hope for a miracle.
He tugged at his shirt, the room uncomfortably hot as the blaze started to spread across the timber walls towards them.
He was running out of time.
Panicked now, he searched the walls with his eyes, begging for a way out, but Leigh had pulled up the ladder behind him and the trio was good and stuck.
How do we get out?
Flare/Smoke Signal
WILLIAM: Looking back is hard. Would I have done things differently if I had known how it would go? Yeah, maybe. But we all made it out to where we are now, despite all the trials.
And Flame?
WILLIAM: (lets out a breath) You had to bring her up, didn’t you?
She was a sensation.
WILLIAM: There was so much there, so much going on. I guess that I’m sorry it ended the way it did. That... that was messy. It was unnecessary. It was... I’m sorry, can we talk about something else, please?
Of course, we can. Moving on...
--
Will knelt down, shaking Miles. “Get up,” he said, a touch of desperation in his voice.
“Go ‘way,” Miles mumbled and then started coughing, curling up on his side.
“Will!”
The new voice startled him and his head jerked up. “Maxie! How...?”
“Just get them up,” she said, a strange note to her voice as she crouched down and pushed the ladder over the edge, tying it off. “I’d better stay up here. She could come back. I only just missed her, but you never know what Leigh,”
“Okay, Maxie,” Will said, in a calm voice, unnerved by her babbles.
Over an Open Flame
How did you change?
WILLIAM: (quick laugh) We grew up. We were kids when we first tangled with KIN’s ‘villains’. By the time Miles, Bex and I got to twenty, we were old for our age.
Anything specific?
MAXINE: (pulls up the sleeve of her shirt) Burns and scars. We all have them.
Burns from Flame.
MAXINE: (shrugs) Yes, but the scars come from a bunch of different people.
So you ended up in KIN anyway?
MAXINE: ... More than I used to want, but... it’s been okay. I’m not any more. I’m working in Greensward, doing what I love.
--
Maxie reached down, grabbing Miles as best she could under the arms and hauled him up, setting him down on the floor before reaching back down to help Will drag Bex up the ladder. “What happened to them?”
“Not sure, they were like this when I got here,” Will said, weariness dragging at his voice. “Can you get Bex? She’s lighter.”
Maxie shouldered the older teen, wincing as she connected with Maxie’s still hidden burns. “Got her.”
“Let’s see if Leigh will let us get out of here,” Will said. “Thanks for the save, Max.”
“What else’s family good for?”
Blaze/Inferno
MILES: We don’t really have time for an interview right now.
Oh?
MILES: We’re finally on Leigh Parker’s trail. This is the first time KIN’s ever managed it so we can’t afford to blow the chance.
How did you get the lead?
MILES: It was Will. He was on a small mission by himself and when he came back, he said he had stumbled upon Leigh Parker’s hideout. So we’re about to leave to hopefully catch her.
Do you think it’ll be that easy?
MILES: (laughs) Of course not, this is Leigh, Flame. Nothing with her has ever been easy.
--
“Will...”
“Yes, I hear it too, Maxie, just keep going,” Will said, listening to the boards of the warehouse crack around them. “We can make it.”
“If Flame doesn’t cut us off.”
Will could suddenly feel a gaze on him and looked up, meeting Leigh’s eyes. In the instant before she faded back into the flames, he saw a depth in her gaze that shocked him so much he froze, despite the dire situation.
She smiled and very deliberately mouthed, “Until we meet again.”
He found himself returning the gesture along with a brief salute before following Maxie, mind racing.
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy (NIEE) universe, Post NIEE
Challenges: Red Hot Cinnamon Flavor Binge
Toppings & Extras: Sprinkles (Leigh and the kids are all sprinkles), Caramel (superCaramel), Root Beer Float (the interview half), Pocky Chain, Cherry (very different formatting/set up)
Word Count: 2400
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: The kids end up on the wrong side of a pyromaniac. Things burn.
Notes: This gives more information on the pyro who showed up here. Also, anything with this crowd is now officially dubbed “superCaramel” because, honestly, I feel sort of ridiculous with this. But now they have their very own villain! Go them? This explains events leading up to and just after the above piece. Interviews bounce all over the timeline.
Where There’s Smoke
So, what do all of you think about Flame?
WILLIAM: (snorts) You mean Leigh Parker? She’s a crazy person who likes fire. Our parents will catch her soon.
She’s eluded KIN for longer than any other person.
REBECCA: (scowls) Even if that were true, and it’s probably not, Leigh’s bound to screw up sooner or later, then they’ll get her.
You don’t think you’ll end up responsible for her?
REBECCA: No way! That would mean she’d still be around in...what, seven years? She’s not even that special. All she does is burn stuff. Who cares about her and her fire?
--
Will paused and sniffed the air cautiously. “Do you guys smell that?”
“Smell what?” Miles asked.
“It smells like smoke,” Bex said, scowling. “She’s not supposed to be here.”
“Woulda thought you’d learned by now nothing is past Flame,” Will muttered.
“Shut up and don’t call her that. You’re just playing to her psychotic fantasies.”
“Who’d you hear that one from? Sorin? Or Dad?”
“Can we stop bickering and focus on the task at hand? This routine just got a lot more dangerous if Leigh Parker is actually here.” Miles’s hand twitched to the sword at his side. “Let’s go.”
Too Hot to Handle
What about you, Maxie?
MAXIE: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really like fighting much. I mean, I’ll learn what Mom and Dad want me to, but I’ve got Miles, Will and Bex and they all like fighting. I want to be...I don’t know, but I don’t want to work for KIN and Mom and Dad are okay with that.
MILES: I’ll always be there to protect her. What else is a big brother useful for?
MAXIE: (grins) I’m gonna go to school past eighteen and learn how to be really smart and stuff. Be famous in my own way!
--
Maxie stumbled, the coughs racking her body so hard she almost fell. Putting a hand on the wall and pressing the other against her nose and mouth, she tried not to breathe deeply. She had to keep going, she had to keep going.
Leigh seemed to melt out of the smoke. “Maxine. Looking for your wayward brother, are you?”
“Where are they?” Maxie managed hoarsely.
“Dying.”
“You can’t do this.”
“Who’s going to stop me? You? The little princess?”
“Don’t call me that,” Maxie gritted.
“Then hit me. I dare you.” Leigh laughed. “I can do anything I want, princess.”
Embers/Coals
So I heard that Dean will be retiring soon. What will that mean for you?
MILES: Dean’s planning on retiring in a couple years. He figures why stay in charge when he’s got us to take over. All is means is that Will’s gonna be in charge and Bex and I’ll be his back-up. But Dean will still be doing some stuff. I mean, hell, Sorin still does stuff!
What do you think about being in charge?
WILLIAM: (looks uncomfortable)
REBECCA: Things have been quiet. Sort of... smoldering, even if I hate the fire analogies after Leigh. Will’ll do fine.
--
Miles strained his ears to try and hear anything besides the crackling of flames. He had no doubt that Leigh was probably lurking around the next corner and he wanted warning before she attacked.
He stifled a cough and then jumped as a voice spoke from directly behind.
“Need a hankie, Miles?”
“Damn it, Leigh.”
“I love that we’re on a first name basis.”
“Point?” he asked shortly, taking a step away and feeling the heat reach towards his back.
“I feel like we’ve gotten stagnant, Miles. Just the usual cat-and-mouse games all the time.”
“Point?” he asked.
She smiled.
Firebreathing
How did it all start?
MILES: Oh man. That’s a very long story. How did KIN find out about her? Or how did we get involved?
How did KIN find out about her?
MILES: Mom, Russ and Dean stumbled upon her by accident. They were in a village, her fourth, when she burned it down. Being them, they had to investigate and they traced her to her home town and found out her name. Shortly after that, she sent KIN a message, telling them to stay away, but she was burning whole villages. It just went from there, I guess.
--
The flames crackled behind her, seeming to silhouette Leigh as she smiled at Bex. The fire appeared to dance across her teeth and into her eyes. “The three of you think yourselves such hot shots.”
The sarcasm in her comment did not escape Bex.
“But look how easily I tear you apart. You’re still just children.”
“This won’t last, Parker,” she spat. “KIN never fails.”
“Seems like you’ve done a pretty fucked up job catching me so far.”
“We are just starting to step up. You won’t last.”
“Neither with you if you don’t quit with the hollow threats, kid.”
Tinder/Kindling
WANTED:
The Woman known as Flame.
Born: Leigh Parker
Age: 22, although she might look older or younger
Defining Features: Two moles on her right cheek, all other features are most likely changed often
Crimes: Arson, Murder, Attempted Murder, Larceny, Theft and many other serious crimes.
WILLIAM: I guess… I guess Flame is really well known. That happens when you start out by burning down a dozen small towns. The moral of the story is that she’s crazy.
Do you think she’ll ever be caught?
WILLIAM: If I have to drag her in myself, she will someday. That’s a promise.
--
She had a way of moving through the smoke that constantly blew Will’s mind. It was like she breathed murky air as easily as the rest of the world inhaled clean air. When she appeared behind him, he somehow could not be surprised.
“How do you like this fire, dear William?”
“Not as hot as you usually prefer,” Will said dryly, resisting the urge to tug at his soaked shirt.
“I thought you might like that.”
“I think it depends on your purpose.”
“You know my purpose by now, Willie.”
“What’s today’s impossible situation then?” he asked, feeling incredibly weary.
Torches/Matches
How did she do it?
REBECCA: Burn down entire villages without breaking a sweat?
Yes.
REBECCA: That was only her thing at the beginning. Before our parents managed to piss her off. Then she went a bit less on the generic large scale fire. But I believe Dad told me that she scouted the villages once she picked them and slowly rigged the place to go. She used balsic stone in an almost explosive sense, planted ahead of time around each building. I will, very grudgingly, admit that she did know what she was doing. Unfortunately for all of us.
--
“If you’re gonna call me anything, just stick with William.”
“Aw, I can’t call you Will like your precious family?”
“Where are they, Leigh?”
“William Darcy.”
He eyed her warily, not sure where this was going and anxious to find Miles, Bex and Maxie before the entire building came down around them.
“That has a way of flowing off the tongue.” She tilted her head to regard him somberly. “How about we make a deal, dear William?”
“For what?”
“The safety of your family.”
“I’m listening...”
She smiled that toothy smile of hers and his eyes narrowed. “I want... you.”
Charred/Scorched
It was a big deal, the Flame case.
MILES: (laughs) If you say so. For us, we were just glad it was resolved before the kids got old enough to deal with her.
Kids?
MILES: You know, the younger six kids. Danny, Kaylee and so on. It was bad enough that Maxie had to be involved.
MAXINE: I was fine, Miles. (shakes her head) I got the three of you out when she had you locked in that burning basement. She never touched me.
MILES: (scowls) That time.
WILLAIM: (quietly) I think we all got burned, one way or another.
--
“Me?” he repeated, aghast, having expected about anything but that. “What do you mean?”
“You’re a cute kid, but you’re a little slow sometimes, dear William. There aren’t even ten years separating us.”
He stared. “No way!”
“I’m offering you an out.”
“That’s disgusting, Leigh.”
“It’s Flame,” she said easily. “Oh, I suppose your family would come after you all worried, hm? Although it would be fun to see faces when you told them to go away. I’m very good at what I do, William.”
“I mean it when I say fuck off, Leigh.”
She smiled widely. “Very well, child.”
Spark
When you look ahead to the rest of your life, where do you see yourself in ten years? What about fifteen?
REBECCA: (wickedly) Let’s let Will answer that one first. What do you think, Will?
WILLIAM: Thanks a lot, Bex. I’ve decided I want to work for KIN, like Dad. Mom suggested Greyspire, but that would involve being away from home too much. In ten years, I’d like to be an agent. Don’t need to be special. Then, in fifteen, I’ll be like mid-twenties. So I’d like to maybe be married. Kids in the future. Something calm and predictable, maybe?
--
As he stood sweating out his life, Will found himself remembering the first time he’d met Leigh Parker on business. At that point, his parents and the rest of KIN had been after her for around four years. He was barely fifteen at the time and heady with the idea of doing something official for KIN.
Will’s first mission and he ran smack into the woman known as Flame. He was alone when they came face to face.
“Well, well, what is this? Just the little shrimp child,” Leigh said, laughing, holding her hands out to warm over her fire.
Furnace/Oven
REBECCA: I’d love to throw her in a fire after everything she pulled.
MILES: (snickers) She’d probably just regenerate or something.
REBECCA: You are not funny, Miles.
MAXINE: He has a point. She thrived from fire. The more flames and smoke, the more powerful she was.
MILES: That was just your perception, Max. No one can really live off fire and burning things.
MAXINE: You can’t say it didn’t seem that way with her.
MILES: Will, back me up here.
(Silence.)
REBECCA: Hey, Will, you’re being awfully quiet. Are you okay?
WILLIAM: Hmm? Oh. Yes. Um, yeah, Miles is right.
--
Will stood in the center of the basement, staring up to where Leigh had just disappeared. She had given him one last chance to get them out, but he refused. Now he needed to hope for a miracle.
He tugged at his shirt, the room uncomfortably hot as the blaze started to spread across the timber walls towards them.
He was running out of time.
Panicked now, he searched the walls with his eyes, begging for a way out, but Leigh had pulled up the ladder behind him and the trio was good and stuck.
How do we get out?
Flare/Smoke Signal
WILLIAM: Looking back is hard. Would I have done things differently if I had known how it would go? Yeah, maybe. But we all made it out to where we are now, despite all the trials.
And Flame?
WILLIAM: (lets out a breath) You had to bring her up, didn’t you?
She was a sensation.
WILLIAM: There was so much there, so much going on. I guess that I’m sorry it ended the way it did. That... that was messy. It was unnecessary. It was... I’m sorry, can we talk about something else, please?
Of course, we can. Moving on...
--
Will knelt down, shaking Miles. “Get up,” he said, a touch of desperation in his voice.
“Go ‘way,” Miles mumbled and then started coughing, curling up on his side.
“Will!”
The new voice startled him and his head jerked up. “Maxie! How...?”
“Just get them up,” she said, a strange note to her voice as she crouched down and pushed the ladder over the edge, tying it off. “I’d better stay up here. She could come back. I only just missed her, but you never know what Leigh,”
“Okay, Maxie,” Will said, in a calm voice, unnerved by her babbles.
Over an Open Flame
How did you change?
WILLIAM: (quick laugh) We grew up. We were kids when we first tangled with KIN’s ‘villains’. By the time Miles, Bex and I got to twenty, we were old for our age.
Anything specific?
MAXINE: (pulls up the sleeve of her shirt) Burns and scars. We all have them.
Burns from Flame.
MAXINE: (shrugs) Yes, but the scars come from a bunch of different people.
So you ended up in KIN anyway?
MAXINE: ... More than I used to want, but... it’s been okay. I’m not any more. I’m working in Greensward, doing what I love.
--
Maxie reached down, grabbing Miles as best she could under the arms and hauled him up, setting him down on the floor before reaching back down to help Will drag Bex up the ladder. “What happened to them?”
“Not sure, they were like this when I got here,” Will said, weariness dragging at his voice. “Can you get Bex? She’s lighter.”
Maxie shouldered the older teen, wincing as she connected with Maxie’s still hidden burns. “Got her.”
“Let’s see if Leigh will let us get out of here,” Will said. “Thanks for the save, Max.”
“What else’s family good for?”
Blaze/Inferno
MILES: We don’t really have time for an interview right now.
Oh?
MILES: We’re finally on Leigh Parker’s trail. This is the first time KIN’s ever managed it so we can’t afford to blow the chance.
How did you get the lead?
MILES: It was Will. He was on a small mission by himself and when he came back, he said he had stumbled upon Leigh Parker’s hideout. So we’re about to leave to hopefully catch her.
Do you think it’ll be that easy?
MILES: (laughs) Of course not, this is Leigh, Flame. Nothing with her has ever been easy.
--
“Will...”
“Yes, I hear it too, Maxie, just keep going,” Will said, listening to the boards of the warehouse crack around them. “We can make it.”
“If Flame doesn’t cut us off.”
Will could suddenly feel a gaze on him and looked up, meeting Leigh’s eyes. In the instant before she faded back into the flames, he saw a depth in her gaze that shocked him so much he froze, despite the dire situation.
She smiled and very deliberately mouthed, “Until we meet again.”
He found himself returning the gesture along with a brief salute before following Maxie, mind racing.