✓ Lost at Home ≪Pietro Maximoff≫

Firewall

Immediately Roman got up to put on his jacket and grabbed his car keys. "I'm coming too," Pietro told him.

"I don't think that's the best idea, but I know I can't stop you," Roman said, tossing Pietro a hoodie, "Keep the hood up, alright?" Pietro nodded, eager to get out of the small apartment.

As soon as they stepped a foot outside the apartment building, it was apparent what had happened. The sounds of sirens were carried throughout the area and the air smelt heavily of smoke."Who the hell would bomb a university?" Roman asked angrily, while getting into the car.

"It could be someone holding an extreme grudge against another student," Pietro shrugged.

"Yeah, extreme is putting it lightly," Roman snorted. The rest of the drive continued in silence until they arrived at the bombed area. There was fire everywhere, the firefighter's efforts didn't seem to be changing anything.

"Oh come on. Most of the roads are blocked," Roman complained.

"Then it's time we get on our feet and find her," Pietro retorted.

-

It was an ordinary night, her professor continued to drone on about Thyroid glands all class, and she was starting to lose attention. Towards the end of his lecture an ear shattering boom interrupted the class, then another happened. This time much louder, it wasn't soon after that when the back half of the classroom floor collapsed into the fire on the floor below. By this point everyone was panicking. Wasn't this exactly what they were taught not do in this type of situation?

Yet Nadia didn't care, the building was clearly on fire and she needed a way out. Other class members tried the door, only to have their hands burned by the door knob. She decided if she was going to die, she certainly didn't want to be burned alive. From what she saw in her time at the hospital, a burn was the worst type of injury. Roman and Pietro would probably be the only people who even cared she was gone, she couldn't let it end like this. She took out her phone to quickly tell Roman what had happened, desperately hoping she'd live to tell the story.

While everyone in the classroom was panicking, Nadia shut off the part of her brain that told her to run, instead she desperately searched for a way out. The window was an option, but they were on the third floor, jumping would end in broken bones and maybe even death. Then she considered going up, nobody ever seemed to think of that in a fire. Depending on the condition of the building she knew she could get to the fire escape from the roof. That was the problem though. Getting to the roof, which was located two stories above, was a big problem.

Nadia continued to hopelessly search for a way out of the room, with no luck. People around her were crying and panicking, the room was slowly filling with thick black smoke from the fire below. If the fire didn't kill them, then the smoke would. It was then she realized the complete gravity of their situation. She was most likely sitting in the room she would die in. Absolute panic set in, her eyes blurring with unshed tears.

-

Pietro and Roman carefully avoided officials, hoping to get to Nadia even if the firemen wouldn't help. They could feel the heat coming from the burning building in the cold winter air, telling them they were close. When they turned the corner they were face to face with a building half collapsed, while the other part was quickly catching fire. "Nadia's class is in the part still standing," Roman said with a sigh of relief.

"We have to hurry."Roman ran towards the firemen while Pietro remained behind him, trying to keep his features hidden.

"Mr. Avdonin!" A police officer greeted Roman, "do you have any information on the bombings?"

Roman shook his head, "No, me and my friend were in the middle of supper, then I received a call from Nadia, she's caught in the fire."

Pietro carefully eyed the situation around him. There were so many police that he was second guessing leaving the apartment. The officer Roman was talking to was staring at him, but Pietro refused to look his way. Finally, the man continued after Roman cleared his throat. "Ah, right, we have fire men going through the building as of now. So far they haven't found any survivors," the officer told Roman.

Roman's stomach dropped in worry and he looked over at Pietro. "You wouldn't know how to control those powers of yours, would you?" He asked anxiously.

Pietro regretfully shook his head, wishing he had stayed back at the apartment. So far the only times he had used them, were on accident.

"Oh god," Roman breathed, sitting down on the curb, with his head in his hands.

"From what I can tell, she's a smart woman, she'll make it out," Pietro told him, trying to help.

"Yes she's smart, but brains can't beat a fire," Roman muttered.

Only minutes had gone by in what felt like hours when firefighter's came running, some carrying students on stretchers. Their yelling for medics got both the men's attention. "She's there, with them!" Roman exclaimed, running to the medics with Pietro right behind. They finally got a better look at her, she was covered in black soot like the other students and unconscious. Pietro noticed there were no burn marks on her.

"She needs more oxygen," one of the medics called out. A mask was brought over and placed on her pale face. "We need more help over here!" Another medic yelled."You know her, right?" The medic asked Roman. Roman nodded.

"Good, she doesn't need any more medical attention unless something else happens, watch her for now."

"Thank god she's alive," Roman breathed with relief.

The two sat beside her silently, keeping watch over both her and for police. "It wasn't a good idea to come out here," Pietro finally said. "What if someone saw me, and I'm blamed for the bombs?" Roman shrugged. "They'll never find you anyways. Hopefully, you'll be with your sister in a little while. This city doesn't have the resources to conduct a manhunt through the entire city."

"Hopefully," Pietro mused. "I doubt we will be able to find her right away if she is with The Avengers right now."

Roman nodded,but didn't say anything more.

The two of them had a lot on their minds after seeing the destruction and what could of happened to Nadia. If she had died, Roman wouldn't know what to do, she was his best friend. The two of them supported each other and even worked together on occasion. Roman knew if she had died, then he wouldn't be in the right state of mind to help Pietro.

Roman opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when someone called him.

"Avdonin!" The man called again. "That would be my boss, I'll probably be gone all night. Take my car and get her home," Roman told Pietro, handing his keys to him. After Roman had walked away Pietro sighed. "Let's get you home then," he said, picking up Nadia. She was breathing normally, so Pietro took the mask off her face. Lucky for him there was nobody around on his walk back to the car - not to mention Nadia was small, so it wasn't very tough to carry her a few blocks away.

-

Back at the apartment Pietro placed her on the couch while he turned on the news, hoping there would be something about either his sister or the bombing. While there was news about the bombing, it was repetitive and contained information he already knew. Eventually he gave up on the news and sat at the table he and Roman had hastily abandoned earlier.

He realized that he must have drifted asleep, because he woke up to a scream.

-

A/N: I don't really like the way this chapter turned out and may fix it up a bit later, but the next one will be much better (◍•ᴗ-◍)♡