the best of whats to come
3:00am, Peter's senses are dialed to eleven when he arrives a block away from their apartment. He turned in early form patrol when he had a bad feeling. He looks up after landing nearby to see flames soaring upwards into the sky dancing beautifully, the direction of the flames sends shivers up his spine. He rushes towards their apartment in a panic, his surroundings all becoming a blur as he rushes, forgetting everything around him until he stops in front of the building that is in flames. His building is burning in front of him as he stands and watches as the flames circle in and out of windows, engulfing the sky in a thick smokey blanket. The world is a buzzing blur around him, sirens muffled in the distance as the rest of the world is quiet.
“May” Peter whispers, his voice barely a wet croak.
A hand rests on Peter's shoulder making him flinch, Peter looks back to see a tall man in a fireman's uniform, he's speaking but Peter can't hear but he nods absentmindedly and lets the man escort him to behind a barrier that they had set up. After about an hour Peter realizes that the fire had been put out and the fire fighter had entered the building, some coming out quicker than others, one carrying the body of someone. Peter's heart goes to his throat, until the man gets close enough to see that it's a man's body, he feels guilty at the relief that he feels but the relief is short lived as another fire fighter walks out carrying a half burnt body of a woman who is barely breathing. Peter recognizes the nursing scrubs that have been torched, the hair that flows from her head and the glasses that are cracked and falling off of her head. He feels sick as he stumbles trying to get around the barrier until he jumps over and runs towards where they put down his may. He collapses near the body, her breathing is shallow and barely there.
“Hey kid get back” a voice heavy and sharp like a butcher's knife.
Peter looks up to meet the gaze of a firefighter with red curly hair and messy ginger beard, “may…” he sobs out her name looking up at the man, Peter's hands shaking.
The man's face softens and he kneels down next to Peter, “c’mon kid get back”. The man puts his arm underneath peters and pulls him up onto his feet and pulls him away from may.
“No, may, please may I be sorry, may please, please may I love you don't go may, please” Peter pleads as he sheds his first tears of the night, he chokes on his tears as the fireman continues to pull him away.
The man pushes Peter gently so he can sit on the curb behind one of the trucks so he couldn't see me anymore, the world around him is quiet as he pulls his knees up to his chest, he stares off his eyes unfocused as he religiously mumble may name. Time flys and a lady comes up and sits down next to Peter, her attire is fancy and well kept, she has a folder in her arms and she says something to Peter that he doesn't quite catch. He looks at her and she repeats what she says.
“You must be Peter, I'm Sophie, one of my friends” she smiles warmly at Peter and rests a hand on his shoulder. “Peter, you may ask that you stay with me okay, is that okay” her voice is quiet and sweet. Peter nods in agreement, his mind still somewhere else.
Peter only realizes that someone else is talking to him when they shake him, bringing him out of his mind. He looks around to see that they’re in an apartment, lightly decorated and cozy, he looks to the person that was shaking him and sees that it's a tall man with blue eyes and blonde hair.
“Hey sport, im steven but you can call me skip” he grins at peter not only with his mouth but with his eyes, peter shivers feeling a bit uncomfortable under his gaze.
“Hello”, Peter's voice is strained and rough from crying. Peter doesn't remember when he started crying but he realizes that he has stopped, he thinks to himself that he had probably cried himself dry. He looks around for Sophie, realizing that she is gone.
Skip sees Peter's face as the color drains and puts his hand on Peter's shoulder, crouching down so that they're on eye level. “Pete, look at me, Sophie has gone back to work she’ll be back tomorrow morning”.
“C’mon a bet you're tired” skip places his hand on Peter's lower back and escorts him down a dark hall to a small room, nothing special just a single bed and a desk, the bare minimum window with no curtain or blind.
Peter sits on the bed and skips leaving the room after smiling gingerly with a strained brow, annoyed at Peter's silence probably. Peter sits on the bed looking down on his hands, stray tears appearing every once in a while, but Peter doesn't move to wipe them away; he just lets them flow while he remains unmoving till sunrise.