Gold to Airy Thinness Beat

Chapter Thirteen

Stephanie wasn't sure who was more surprised at her survival, herself or Bucky.

Her feet barely hit the edge of the platform Bucky stood on but she just managed to snap her upper body forward enough to grab the railing. Bucky jumped toward her at the same moment, grabbing fistfuls of her clothing and dragging her, none too gently, over the rail.

They hit the floor together, a jumble of bodies and limbs. Stephanie found herself half sprawled on top of Bucky, her legs tangled with his and one hand braced against his chest. And by on his chest, she meant on his chest, her hand right on his bare skin through the tear in the shirt he wore. Stephanie flushed in embarrassment and extricated herself quickly. She got to her feet shakily and held her hand out to him. Bucky gave her a look that was half horrified and half anger but took the offered hand, pulling himself up. His eyes were wide, his breathing coming in harsh pants and his body appeared to be actually shaking.

"What were you thinking?" he started to demand, his voice sharp. He cut off as, beneath them, more explosions rocked the floor, waves of nearly unbearable heat radiating up. Under their feet the gangway they were standing on seemed to be vibrating, or was it the walls?

"Time to go," Stephanie said and Bucky agreed with an expression that told her the conversation was far from done. Jumping over a sea of flame probably wasn't the best way to convince him she knew what she was doing and wasn't reckless, but it wasn't as if she'd had much choice. She imagined, however, his comment was most likely referring to the choices that had led to her being in a position to need to jump over a sea of flame to begin with. A sense of dread settled in her gut, similar to what she would feel as a child when she'd done something wrong and was waiting for her inevitable punishment. There was a part of her that really, really wanted it to simply be over and done with but the midst of a crumbling building was most definitely neither the time nor place for it.

Bucky was hunched over again, his face twisted with pain but when she gave him a worried look she got an annoyed one in return. He might be injured and in pain but his fight or flight response had kicked into full gear. That primal instinct should give him more than enough strength to hightail it the hell out of there before the entire building came down on their heads.

Should. Stephanie grabbed the doors to the elevator and pried them open, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the car. She'd been afraid the car would be keyed and Schmidt would have it locked on whatever floor he got out on. The floor vibrated again and she frowned. "This won't be safe."

"Says the woman who just jumped across a floor full of exploding bombs," Bucky said from behind her.

"Fair enough," Stephanie muttered. She stepped inside the car and Bucky followed her, leaning against the back wall gingerly. The doors slid shut and Stephanie hit the button for the bottom floor. The car started to move, shakily, but moving. Of course it was moving down, into the area that was currently on fire and exploding...

Stephanie planted herself in front of the door, between the exploding floor on the other side of the wall and where Bucky was barely standing behind her. She doubted it would make much difference if the whole thing blew up but it made her feel marginally better.

She closed her eyes and didn't take a breath until the car slid to a stop and the doors opened onto a ground level that looked suspiciously calm given what was happening inside and what she assumed was happening outside. She caught sight of several slumped forms but everyone still alive appeared to have either evacuated or gone to the yard after the escaped prisoners.

As they exited, Bucky staggered, his knees buckling slightly before he regained control. His adrenaline was starting to fade and his body was remembering the shape it was in. Stephanie made a move toward him but the look he sent her had her backing off again with a huff of exasperation. He called her stubborn.