Author's Note:
This is the idea that just wouldn't let go until I got it in writing. It's not only my first fanfiction, it's also the only creative writing I've done for myself, and not for a school assignment. I have no idea what I'm doing, so any feedback at all is greatly appreciated.
This story is duplicated on AO3 under the same fic title and username (Unexpected Fire by LadyRimouski). The version on AO3 contains explicit scenes, which have been omitted here to comply with FFN's terms of use.
It started as a relatively routine day.
I had headed out to do an evaluation of an incident site. Having run my department at Damage Control for almost five years now, it was almost becoming habitual: do a site assessment, take samples and readings, and come up with an environmental remediation plan. I hadn't been expecting my life to turn out like this. During your studies, I had chosen eco-toxicology and exo-biology to specialise in, never expecting to find any practical work in my field. And then The Incident had made my research urgently relevant. I'd found I possessed a previously undiscovered aptitude for triageing potential ecological crises, and that had made me indispensable at Damage Control. Now, I found yourself working regularly with the Avengers Organization, keeping an eye on invasive species (aliens in both senses of the word) and healing some ecological and human-health after-effects of whatever the universe had thrown at the Earth lately.
As I arrived on site with my team, I was joined by Anna Kabalevsky, an elderly Russian woman who served as the Avengers' personal physician, and was also an expert in enhanced physiology. We often worked together teasing out potential threats from the often unpredictable chemical soup left in the aftermath of a battle with some reckless villain.
Yesterday's havoc had unearthed an underground lab... some amateur's idea of a secret lair. They never got far before their own hubris caught them out. As the engineers finished stabilizing the wrecked facility, Anna and I made our way to the main lab, and began cataloguing the unknown chemicals arrayed in colourful jars on the shelves lining the walls around the lab benches. Some of them would be easy enough to deal with: containment and removal to a safe site for identification and disposal. Others made me a little more nervous. The lead-encased cryo-chamber, nested in two layers of biosecurity doors was going to be a problem. But it could wait. The inbuilt lab safeguards were holding, and the drones would not have cleared the facility if the damage to the facility put them at risk of failing spontaneously.
As I worked my way around the room, tagging various items with removal instructions for my team, I heard the tell-tale sound of repulsors that meant that Tony Stark was making a site visit, in his Iron Man suit. Besides bankrolling Damage Control, and contributing his mental genius towards particularly tricky engineering problems as they turned up, he also liked to put in an appearance on-site every now and then. He was happy enough to delegate most of the time, but the almost manic engineer liked to keep tabs on certain cleanups. I suspected to reassure himself that the Department was actually making a difference, and that he wasn't just throwing money at the problem to assuage his conscience. No matter his motivation, I was always glad to see him on site. He often saw ingenious ways of resolving convoluted problems, and always followed through with action on the subject soon after.
"Morning, ladies" he quipped, nodding in mine and Anna's direction. "Got any jars of pickles that need opening?"
"I sure hope there's nothing pickling in these jars" I replied back. Anna just nodded bemusedly back at him.
We briefed Tony on the state of things, and he settled in to the task at hand, smoothly retracting his suit into a portable case, and rolling up his sleeves.
"Glad to see you're settling in. It seems today you'll actually be helping" I jabbed at him.
"I'm a very helpful person. Just ask all my friends."
Together we pored over a holographic schematic of the site. There were more tunnelling warrens and chemical storage than we initially thought, interlinked with several underground streams. I was glad Tony joined in on this one. We'd have to be extra careful to keep things contained during the removal.
I jumped a little as a loud authoritative voice squawked out of Stark's wristwatch.
"Tony! You've got incoming."
I had just enough time to see his outstretched hand reaching for his suit before an explosion rocked the lab we were in, blowing out the side wall. The percussive force knocked us all across the room.
For a moment, it's all dust and chaos. I had a moment of panic where I couldn't decide which way was up, and then the room came back into focus. There was a high pitched ringing, and I wasn't sure if it was alarms or hearing damage. Probably both. I rolled onto my knees, and started coughing to clear my lungs. I spat out dust and dirt and phlegm, and probably an unhealthy amount of mystery chemical. When I could manage breathing a bit better, I sat up and took in my surroundings. The lab had been split in two by a heavy beam that crushed the lab bench in the centre of the room. I couldn't see my respirator or other safety equipment under all the rubble. I could, however, see one of the biosecurity doors, lying askew under a boulder, lights gone dark. That's not good. I worked my way over to where the exit used to be, feeling gingerly for any broken bones. I seemed to be in one piece, although my ribs creaked when I inhaled too deeply, and my right ankle wouldn't bear my full weight. I searched the spot where I knew a door used to be. My escape route was blocked by a metal brace, collapsed down from the ceiling, sparks flying from dangling wires. I was trapped.
I found a clear space to sit and take a breather. I took a moment to clear my head and push down panic (and a bit of claustrophobia that I was not about to humour right now) before I need to consider my next steps.
"Does anyone need help in there?" I heard a voice call from the other side of the rubble: the same voice as the warning from Stark's wrist.
I breathed a sigh of relief at this sign of imminent rescue.
"Yes. I'm trapped." I called out.
"Hold tight, ma'am. I'll come to you."
Through the gloom and dust, I saw the debris start to move. And then a powerful forearm reached through and gripped the largest beam, the barrier to my escape. With a bellow of effort, the beam rose, underneath it is Captain America, clad in his tactical red-white-and-blue. I scrambled back to make room as he shifted the beam out of the way.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. We've got to get everyone out of here."
"Working on it. After you." He replied, outstretching his arm towards me. I took his hand to help me up, and he guided me towards the path he'd cleared, supporting me with a hand to the small of my back as I began to climb through.
Once through to the other side, I saw the damage had not been as great as I had feared, being mostly focused on the lab where Anna, Tony and I had been working.
"Anna! Is Anna alright? Dr. Kabalevsky?"
"She's fine. Stark got her out first."
I resumed my hurried scramble to exit the facility. As we cleared the main exit, I saw a small space in the centre of a flurry of activity: a seated and very dirty Anna, and a fully armoured Iron Man, surrounded by a flock of hazmat-suited people. We joined them in the middle.
"We need to start decon right away." I said by way of greeting.
"They're setting up now." Stark replied.
I glanced at Captain America to my right. He'd also come to a stop; I seemed to have been the last one out.
"You don't have a gas filter in your suit?" I asked.
"Hm." he commented, setting his mouth in a stern line. "I haven't needed one before. Is that going to be a problem?"
"We'll see soon enough." Anna told him, looking him up and down with a practiced eye.
"What happened?" I asked, bewildered at how things could have gone so wrong, so fast.
"Some hot-shot with a grudge followed Stark in this morning."
"It must be my magnetic personality" Tony interjected, attempting to lighten some of the tense atmosphere with the typical slightly-inappropriate remarks. We ignored him.
"He's taken care of now, but he managed to stir up quite a bit of trouble."
Anna reached out her hand, and Tony helped her to her feet. "Let's see how much."