Chapter 4: Domesticity

Scott groaned as bleary eyes opened. His skin felt dry, covered in dust from the crumbling concrete above him. The emergency lighting stayed on despite the movement of the building, humming and flickering like a summer bug catcher. Gathering his wits, the second Tracy

son sat up slowly. Running a hand across the back of his head, it was only a bit sore. He hadn't been out for more then a minute, thirty seconds or so maybe from the shock of the short fall.

Tipping his head upward, he could see the door to the penthouse above still hanging open. The iron stairs to the roof were left dangling in a mangled, semi-ornamental mess. That wasn't a viable option of escape anymore. Blinking and twisting around as there was a soft groan nearby, Scott scrambled to his feet as he hurried to kneel at Lady Penelope's side. Like him, she was covered in white, chalky dust. A rather startling gash had appeared right above her brow, and was leaking a crimson trail which curled delicately around glittering lashes, stark against her paleness.

"Lady Penelope? Are you ok?"

"...S...Scott?"

"Yeah."

Seeing her eyes flick open fully, her steely gaze pinned him. She looked a bit dazed, staring up someplace past his head. But it was only a moment before she focused and began to push herself up into her elbows, "hey, easy. You're bleeding a bit."

Removing a handkerchief from his pants pocket, Scott dabbed at the cut, "it's not deep; one or two stitches at the most. How's your head?"

"A bit scrambled." Assisting the woman into a seated position, Penny held her neck as she looked up from where they had come, "what happened?"

"If the fire is hot enough, this whole place is probably destabilizing. The concrete couldn't stand the pressure of the shift and took us right down with it. I think it's best we get out of this stairway."

"Toot sweet, then, Mr. Tracy." Penny quipped, holding out her hands expectantly. Pulling her back to her feet with a small huff, Scott watched as his companion wobbled for a moment.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

If Scott was remembering correctly, Penny had fallen a good few seconds before he had. His training allowed him to brace for the fall and mentally prepare for the impact. Penny though had fallen like a deadweight, caught off guard.

"I'm alright. As I said before, just a bit scrambled. Nothing a long bath and a good cup of tea won't fix once we're out of this mess."

"Couldn't agree with you more, Penny." Scott admitted easily, ruffling the dust from his hair as it fell to his shoulders like snow, "we only fell a floor or so. There should be a door just below us."

"You keep calling me Penny."

Turning to stare at the woman, her expression was caught between a mix of confusion and humor. Flushing at his mistake (one he'd been making multiple times since the explosion), Scott pursed his lips.

"Erm, sorry, Lady Penelope. Your name is beautiful, but I have to admit it's a bit of a mouthful in an emergency."

"No need to apologize, darling. I'm just not used to it, is all." Penny admitted with her own light flush, which her paleness then quickly chased away, "my father calls me Penny; not often, but sometimes."

"Really? Why not more often?"

Moving around towards the next staircase, Scott tested it using his weight, "feels steady. Come on."

Extending a hand, Penelope took it without much question as he assisted her down. As they descended carefully, their inappropriately casual conversation continued.

"I have my standards, as does he. Penelope is far more elegant then Penny. I suppose it's easier for him to just keep to his formalities rather then worry about inflection."

"I guess I get that." Scott admitted with a nod, "though, if I'm honest I'm grateful dad doesn't use my nickname anymore."

"Oh? How so?"

Hopping down to the next landing, it was Penny herself who tested the platform before giving him the go ahead go follow, "certainly Scott is a fine name to have."

"Well sure, but when I was a kid my dad and grandma both used to call me...well, erm...nevermind," suddenly embarrassed, Scott felt his blush again as he instead turned to the next door instead of answering. This one, unlike the penthouse, had a handle.

"Called you what? Come now darling, I promise I won't laugh."

"It's stupid."

"Scott honestly, if we're going to be caught in the middle of this chaos, we might as well get to know each other better."

Placing his hands on his hips, Scott sighed and groaned. He never could say no to a beautiful woman, and especially not when Penelope was staring straight through him, waiting for an answer.

"Alright fine. But no spreading it around to your friends. I really don't need it getting out, have an image to, ya' know."

"Of course, Scott. I'm above spreading gossip."

"When I was little, my dad and grandma called me...Scooter."

"Scooter?" Penny asked with a fine arch of her brow, pale lips flicking upwards into a subdued smile as Scott focused once more on the door, his ears blazing.

"Yeah. I...hem, grew out of that one."

"So you did."

Not failing to catch the playful lilt in her tone, Scott cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Right, lets keep moving. I don't think it'll be long till this building moves again." Flashing a smile over his shoulder, Scott unfurled the slightly red dotted handkerchief from his pocket. Using it to grab the handle, he gave it a twist. Thankfully, a solid kick wasn't necessary to get it open, as the hinges gave easily and allowed them access out of the stairwell, "nice."

"It's getting harder to breathe by the minute." Penny complained lightly, holding an arm over her mouth as she coughed from the lingering grey cloud.

"Yeah. Hopefully there isn't anyone stuck up here."

"There shouldn't be. Most of the building is still vacant except for the lower floors."

"Well that's good. Come on, maybe there's another stairwell on the other side of the building. We can try and get to the roof that way."

Taking Penelope by the hand, Scott began to lead her down the hall. It was becoming hard to see, his eye's watering despite being slightly hunched towards the floor. Somewhere far in the distance, no doubt below on the street, Scott picked up on sirens. So rescue was eminent for the people already on the roof, but unless they could get up there and out, him and Penny were in some serious trouble. It was like missing the bus, but deadly.

Feeling a tug on his hand from behind him, Scott turned slightly to make sure he was being followed. Penny had stopped, leaning down to peel the heels off her feet. The back of her ankles were worn red, the left one beginning to bleed.

"You ok?"

"Of course. Though I must admit, Louis Vuitton's aren't the best for adventuring in."

"Louis...what?"

"The shoes darling." Penny laughed, slinging the straps across her fingers, "pain is beauty, you know."

"So I've heard. Will you be able to run without shoes?"

Before she could answer him properly, Scott felt the floor growl and rattle under him. Hearing something spring apart from the direction they had come, the Tracy felt his heart leap as the floor under the carpet began to buckle upwards. Straight towards them. "thats not good."

Taking Penelope's wrist, he half carried her by the arm as they sprinted towards the other end of the apartment block. Gasping wildly from adrenaline, Scott felt a bit like he was running from an ever expanding mountain crevasse ready to swallow them both whole.

"I don't think we'll make it, Scott!" Penny coughed, yelling out in surprise as Scott hoisted her up into his arms. They could move faster as a single unit — his Air Force training was enough for both of them. Unfortunately, his aristocratic friend appeared to be right. The floor was right at their heels, the metal and wood cracking and sending shards of who knows what up the legs of his pants. Seeing no other option, Scott turn a sharp right into the nearest door. It shattered under their combined weight, allowing access to one of the many upper rooms as the tower continued to split itself at the seams.

Breathing hard as the sound echoed the rest of the way down the hall before going eerily silent, Scott laid on his back. Penelope was beside him, staring back towards the open door and ruined hall with the same calculating look she had all night long.

"Well. That was exciting, wasn't it." She mused, wincing slightly as she stood the rest of the way and tip-toed around splinters, "are you alright, Scott?"

"Yeah. Just...a little winded."

"You didn't have to carry me." Penny complained lightly, moving towards the bed as she shed the neatly stuffed pillows of their cases, "I can handle myself."

"I doubt doubt it, Pen — Penny." Rolling over onto his stomach, Scott felt hot. The fire was no doubt under their feet now, and crawling up to kiss their toes, "what are you doing?"

"We can't keep inhaling this smoke without protection. Here," tossing the pillow case at him, Scott grunted as he returned to his feet. Curiously, he watched his new friend flutter around the room as if preparing to go out. It was weirdly domestic, watching the woman so pristine not an hour ago pulling out her diamond hairpins one after the other, tossing them aside as mere trifles in order to return to a simple ponytail and beaded elastic.

Holding her own pillowcase between her teeth, Penny began to pull at the hem of her dress, using long nails to fray the seams as she turned her cocktail gown into a knee high in a matter of moments. For some reason Scott felt the need to look away, heading towards the room's balcony to better assess the situation. In the now dark evening he almost missed it; the flash of a blue light. Hurriedly throwing the door open, Scott whooped out in boyish excitement.

It was his communicator! Picking up the item, Scott explored it with his eyes. It looked a bit worse for wear with the holoscreen badly cracked and one of the buttons popping out, but the light was on and flashing. To bad the sight of fire right under their feet, rain beginning to fall and at least a dozen or more fire trucks and emergency vehicles surrounding the building dampened his spirits.

"Scott? Darling, I heard you yell. What's the matter?"

Swiveling around to look at his companion, he lifted his communicator as if it were a bible

"Pen, it's time to call International Rescue."