and then Lex realized he had really old crap lying around gathering dust. ficdumpin'.
this one's a plotbunny that went nowhere, but resolved the would-be cliffhanger of Carol being buffeted by the shockwave.
warnings: Earth-339. sci-fi. world-go-boom. language: pg-13 (for s***).
pairing: none/gen.
timeline: shortly after Missing in Action.
disclaimer: i doesn't owns the movies, comics, or characters. or the assorted objects of pop culture reference.
notes: 1) seawater, especially on the east coast, is really gross. 2) EMP = electro-magnetic pulse. can deactivate and damage ANY unshielded equipment that uses electricity, from helicopters to computers to cell phones. most kinds of detonation release a mild EMP, but the very nature of a nuclear reaction makes nuclear munitions release a big and powerful EMP.
Surfacing
It takes Carol several precious, breathless seconds to find which way is up.
When she does, she shoots skyward with giddy haste. The air is hot, compared to the ocean.
Carol spits out the foul-tasting water that made its way into her mouth during her ungraceful landing, and looks around desperately for Johnny.
He must be all right. He's faster than she is, and he wouldn't have felt the heat that had made her light-headed just after the shockwave.
She puts her faith in StarkTech and tries her earbud. "Johnny? Are you all right?"
Not even static answers her. She tries the button again, pulls the thing out of her ear and looks at it. It's intact (not even a little bit melted, since they're designed to withstand Johnny's normal temperatures), but the light on it isn't blinking. They must've been close enough to the blast for the EMP to knock it out.
"Shit," she mutters, and turns to get her bearings.
She can still see the smoldering cloud over the city, but it looks like she skidded quite a way when she crashed. High above in the opposite direction, she can see a dark shape that must be the carrier. New York is the primary rendezvous—they'll all gather around that carrier first, though it'll take at least an hour for most of them to arrive (even at their new top speed).
Carol wrings seawater from her hair and sighs. She's got plenty of time to find Johnny.
They were flying side-by-side when the shockwave hit, so she starts by going forward, fanning out slightly to cover drift from the current, just in case he wiped out like she did. It feels like it takes forever, but she doesn't want to just give up.
By now, the nearest three carriers have arrived at the rendezvous, and she thinks she can see more approaching far in the south.
She passes under the gathering ships, searching farther out just in case, just to be sure.
Two more arrive before she sighs again and turns back to start over.
It must have been an hour now. Maybe an hour and a half. She should stop. She should report in. She should let Tony search with his sophisticated lifesign scanners.
"There you are!"
She looks up in surprise, and there's Johnny, slowing down to hover.
"Jeez, Carol, I've been looking everywhere for you! Stupid communicator must've shorted out in the explosion."
She can't help laughing. "And I've been looking for you, hothead."
He points up. "Let's hop aboard. You look like you could use a shower and a change of clothes. And Steve promised us tea and cake—but it might be cold by now."
.End.