"God, over time is a killer."
James Barnes has spent the last three days staying at the fire station on call, having dealt with more than six fires in those last 72 hours. And as much as he loves his brothers and being a fire fighter, it will be so good to finally shower without five other guys in the room with him. He will finally be able to sleep in his own bed, and not have a hand full of people in beds surrounding him. Maybe he will actually get more than a few hours sleep without getting woken up by someone snoring or the blaring fire alarms.
Once home, James by-passes the kitchen and heads straight to the bathroom. He is just ready for a hot shower and then bed.
Stepping under the hot water, James lets out a long groan as the hot water hits his skin. Instantly, the tension leaves his body and his muscles relax for the first time in days. All the strain and stress from the last few days has really done a number on his body, and his mind.
Six fires in 3 days and only a handful of minor injuries. They have all been written off as just accidents, but James is sure that they are more than that. Six near identical fires do not randomly start so close to the fire department. Something, or someone, has to be starting them, wanting the attention or possible something else. But with everything, James hasn't had the chance to really think and analyze the scenes to make his case for a proper, further investigation.
But now, James has a few days off, and once he gets a decent amount of sleep, he is going to use this time to review what information they have, find the connection and force the Chief to listen to him. They need to have a proper investigation going and catch whoever is starting the fires before someone gets really hurt, or worse, killed.
First though, he needs sleep, or else he is bound to miss something.
James steps out of the shower, dries himself before slipping on a pair of boxers and falls face first onto the bed. The moment his head hits the pillow James is out like a light.
It feels like no time has passed before there are alarms blaring and jerking James awake. He wakes up so fast that for a moment he is disoriented and confused about where he is, and believes himself back at the station. Then he realizes that he is in fact at home, and those alarms going off are the in fact the fire alarms in his apartment building.
The fire fighter in him is quick to come out and he jumps into action. He doesn't think twice about rushing out of his apartment and trying to get as many people out as possible.
"Get out! Get out now! Use fire the escape or stair, do try to save anything, just get out now!"
He bangs on any door he can get to, moving down each floor. It's times like this that James is happy he choose to live in a small apartment complex. Fewer floors with three to four apartments on each floor means less people to get out alive.
Smoke is getting thicker, making his eyes burn, he can feel the smoke filling his lungs, hindering his breathing. He really wishes he thought to grab a rag or something to cover his nose and mouth. But too late now, he has already made it to the ground floor, not going to back track three levels just for a face mask. He just needs to get out, and his men should be arriving soon. They will be able to give him oxygen.
James runs towards the exit when he hears a muffled call for help. And despite feeling the beginning effects of smoke inhalation, the firefighter in him just will not let him leave without helping.
Tatiana groans, turning over onto her stomach and burying her head into her pillow. An annoying beeping sound tries to draw her from her sleep, but the desire to remain in the dream world is much stronger. Unfortunately for her though, the sound just keeps getting louder and she is unable to stay asleep. A nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach warns her to take heed of the sound and forces her to wake up.
Slowly, she sits up in her bed and a coughing fit hits her as she struggles to breathe. Blinking rapidly, she is able to clear her eyes enough to see the smoke filling her room. She can feel the temperature of the room rise.
"Fuck." She hisses, using her shirt to cover her mouth and block out as much smoke as she can.
Jumping out of the bed, she rushes to her bedroom window to open, only to remember that the window was stuck.
"God damn it! Why didn't I get this fixed when it first broke?!"
Giving up on the window, Tatiana rushes to the front door, hoping to get out that way. The second her fingers graze the door knob, she jerks back with a curse. With a touch to the door, tells Tatiana that the fire is basically right outside her door.
"Well shit. Why do I have to sleep through everything?"
She looks around, trying to figure out what her next move is. Although it's unlikely, all she can do it call for help.
"Help! Someone help me please!"
She bangs on the door, making as much noise as she can over the fire alarms. It is probably the second dumbest thing she has done, yelling at the top of her lungs, since she is just inhaling more smoke. But she has to do something, or else, well that is not really a thought she wants to have.
"Somebody, anybody, please… please help."
Her cries grow weaker, her body beginning to succumb to the smoke. She does not know how long the fire has been going, or how long she has been calling for help, but she can't keep it up. Sliding down the, she pulls her knees to her chest,
"Please… I need help." She whispers, with her eyes growing heavy.
"Hey! Where are you?!" a rough male voice calls out to her, "Come on, don't stop on me now. Let me hear that voice again!"
Tatiana's eyes pop open, surprised there is anyone left, "Yes! I'm here! I'm here! The door is too hot for me, and the windows are stuck!"
"Alright," it sounds like he is right in front of her door, "I'm going to have to bust the door down. I need to stand back."
Scrambling, Tatiana stands and moves out of the way. Waiting with baited breath as the man on the other side attempts to get in. She hears the thumps, and the door creeks under the pressure, but doesn't give. It's no use; there is no way she is going to get out of here. There is a limited amount of time before the fire engulfs the building and sends it crashing down around them. And if that doesn't get them first, their lungs collapsing from the smoke will. He is already out, so close to leaving, he should not be here wasting what time he has to try and save her just because she was dumb enough to sleep through a fire alarm.
"Just go and get out of here!" she yells, "You need to get out before it's too late!"
On the other side, the man growls, frustrated that the door hasn't crumbled yet, also for the fact that the woman has already given up. Well there is no way that he is giving up on her.
"No, I'm not walking out until I know you are safe!"
She stares at the door, just waiting to see what he is going to do next. What she does not expect to happen is for a large, half naked man to come busting through her door, splintering it completely.
She gives a scream in alarm covering her eyes, "You're in your underwear!"
He rolls his eyes at her reaction, "Yeah and you have skimpy pajamas on, but you don't see me getting fluster! Now come on, we need to get out now!"
He doesn't wait for her to move, he grabs her around the waist and carries her out of the room and rushes for the exit.
"Lieutenant Barnes! What the fuck are you doing in here?!"
"Barton! Here, you need to get her out, I gotta check and,"
The man she now knows as "Barnes" hands her over to the man call "Barton" and tries to move past him.
"Woah, no, sorry Barnes, but that ain't happenin', you're getting out now! Maximoff come get the girl, I'm getting Barnes!"
Once more Tatiana is tossed to someone else, just like she is a sack of sugar. But at this point she has put up as much fight as she can. Her eyes droop shut and her world fades to black.
James stands there watching the woman he just saves pass out in Pietro's arms, "Hurry! Get her to medics!"
Pietro, known for his speed, runs as fast as he can and James sags in relief. What adrenaline he has been running off of has stated to fade and now he is truly feeling the beating his body has been through. Everything hurts both inside and out, it hurts. It is probably going to take more than just oxygen to help him recover.
"Look, Barnes, we gotta get you out of here the building isn't going to stand much longer!"
Bucky's eyes widen, no, he can't lose them.
"Barton, you need to get to my apartment, 4th floor apartment C. I need you to get my bag, please, you have to get it!"
"Alright, I will, just leave please!"
Two other men come over and grab James, carrying him outside and to the ambulance where the woman he saved was already getting strapped in.
His feet stumble, legs giving out, and James finally succumbs to exhaustion.