Doors Wide Open

Rory raced through the doors, and back into the hall. The air was clouded with dust and Rory could hardly see what had caused the damage. She stepped blindly forward, hand out in front, trusting her instinct to warn her if something dangerous was up ahead.

The rest of her senses heightened with the lack of sight so she could not only hear the screams of people trapped in the room, but their heartbeats and how far away they were.

Basing her movements on hearing alone, she stumbled toward the nearest heartbeat. It was frantic, much like her own. Her instinct wasn’t flaring up so that calmed her just enough to stay concentrated.

She had to stay focused for the sake of everyone in the room. She had to save them. Not to mention save the two vigilantes that this city very much needed. If she let them die, how could she ever call herself a hero?

Rory reached the woman and got close enough to see that she was lying on her side. She had no visible injuries, but her eyes were wide. A shot of panic ran through her when she saw the woman. The hair on the back of her neck lay flat again when she realized she could still hear the woman’s heart.

Rory delicately touched the woman on the arm. She jerked and blinked, her situation coming back into focus for her. Her limbs flailed aimlessly, catching Rory on the side of her head. Rory instantly took the woman’s wrists in her hands, shushing her.

“Hey, hey! Stop, I’m trying to help you,” Rory said. The woman reluctantly stopped wiggling. She blinked up at Rory.

“Are you hurt?” Rory asked. No response.

“Can you walk?” Still nothing. Getting impatient with how long it took to save this one lady, Rory gave up trying to consult her. If she was injured, then all that moving around would have done it, Rory reasoned.

She slid her hands under the woman’s armpits and hoisted her up to standing. Rory carefully shifted the woman’s weight onto her feet, but they gave out under her. Giving up on this woman making it out on her own, she slung the woman up and carried her bridal style.

The dust had settled on the outer edge of the room and the doors were in full view. Rory ran as fast as she could with the woman in her arms. On the other side of the doors, she could hear first responders coming up the street.

The wailing of sirens got closer as Rory shouldered her way through the doors, and out into the fresh air. Although the suit had an air filter, it was still a big relief to breathe the cool air outside.

The first police car came to a skidding stop out the front of what was left of the building. A young police officer rushed out of the car. She took up the other side of the woman, now suspended between Rory and the officer.

Itching to go back in, Rory made sure the officer could handle the woman before twisting around to run back inside.

The dust had almost completely settled and Rory could see the full extent of the damage. She took a sharp breath in, the air catching in her lungs.

A large beam from the center of the roof had come crashing down, the tables underneath completely smashed. Other parts of the roof had come down with it, mostly around the middle, the edges almost untouched. There were still a few more beams supporting the rest of the roof but Rory didn’t trust them one bit.

Her feet felt rooted to the spot but she knew she needed to move. The people nearest to the center would need her help the most. They wouldn’t be able to survive much longer with that much weight on them.

If they had survived at all.

Once she got to the biggest piece of debris, she took a second to think about the best way to do this.

If she lifted the beam herself, she wouldn’t be able to help those underneath. She could lift the beam and then attach a web to the ceiling. That way she could help the people out, but it won’t last long with the current state of the roof.

It’s not the greatest idea but it’s the best one she’s got, so she wedged her shoulder underneath the beam and pushed up. It was heavier than she thought it was going to be and it nearly slipped off her shoulder. She bent her knees further to compensate for extra weight. Flicking her wrist in the direction of the beam gave her a small ball of webbing. It stuck to the metal just fine, so she flicked her wrist again, this time up to the ceiling.

The rubble shifted again and Rory got forced down to one knee to take the weight without dropping it. Reaching up to grasp the web crushed her shoulder underneath the beam, pain shooting up and down her arm. Her hand twitched away from the edge of the beam, desperately wanting to put it down.

Once she had managed to grab the web, she pulled down to connect it with the ball on the beam. The roof creaked overhead, threatening to come crashing down. Rory tried to ignore it, instead focusing on helping the people stuck under the beam and surrounding rubble.

A man called out, coming out of a shocked daze. His voice made the survivors snap out of it, a flurry of screams and yells drowning out any of the buildings complaints.

Rory gingerly crept out from the beam, slowly letting the web take the strain. It held up. Barely.

Satisfied that it wouldn’t drop, Rory got on the with the job. The first man who called out was close to the edge, practically getting himself out. The next man had a crushed leg from a piece of concrete. He was wailing and would definitely not be able to walk out on his own.

Rory didn’t bother trying to calm him before wrenching the concrete of him. If she took the time to counsel everyone here, they’d never make it out alive.

The man took his cries to higher volume which Rory didn’t think was possible.

Getting a good look at his leg, Rory thought she might need to take more care than what she had been.

The bone was obviously broken in multiple places and blood trickled out from a gash on his shin. Not immediately seeing anything she could use as a splint, Rory made a sheet of webbing, wrapping it around the bleeding areas. There was nothing she could do for the breaks now, so she didn’t dwell on the fact that with time she could’ve come up with an idea.

It had been drilled into her that taking too much time in time pressed situation was one of the worst things you could do. ‘Do what you can, then move on. Fast’. That was the lesson that had been taught to her in the first few months she spent at SHIELD.

Rory opted to slip her arm under the man’s shoulder so she didn’t aggravate the leg too much.

The instant Rory emerged from the front doors, the man was taken by a paramedic.

By the time she got back the middle, one look at her webbing told her she only had time to rescue one more person before it gave out.

She moved as fast as she could in a crouch and spotted a woman who looked more reluctant to move than injured.

“What are you doing? Get out,” Rory told her incredulously. What was this lady thinking? A tinge of annoyance crept in. Whoever this is, she was wasting Rory’s time. Just past her, another man was lying on his stomach. His lower half was covered in smaller pieces of debris. He lay unnervingly still, the only confirming he hadn’t died was his heartbeat.

The initial adrenaline shot had died down and Rory could think more rationally. Plans started forming, and the gravity of the situation hit her full force.

There was no way she would be able to get these people out on her own.

Then it hit her.

Somewhere, under all of this, Batman and Red Robin were probably stuck as well.

But then again, the last Rory had seen of Tim had been at the edge of the room, near the buffet, so hopefully, he had gotten out fairly easily and was on his way with reinforcements. She hadn’t seen Bruce after he went off stage so he could be anywhere.

The lives of these people could very well rely on the fact that Tim had been getting something to eat.

The woman had still not moved so Rory pushed past her. The man hadn't regained consciousness, a dead weight that Rory would have to carry out.

“If you’re not going to leave, you may as well help me,” Rory shot back at the woman. Her eyes widened, shining with unshed tears. The fear of staying was apparently more terrifying than leaving, so she fled, leaving Rory to drag the man out by herself.

The rubble on top of him was just enough to knock him out but not too heavy for Rory to brush off easily.

Forced to actually drag the man out by his arms due to how low the beam was, was admittedly a bad idea. Rory prayed that she didn’t do more damage to the man.

As the space opened up, Rory caught a strong heartbeat nearby. She strained her neck to see behind her and was met with a well-toned man in a super suit.

She recognized him from her research to be Nightwing, or now that she knew better, Dick Grayson.

The blue on his suit shone unnaturally with the angle of the light. His dark hair was slightly ruffled, suggesting to Rory that he was rushed getting ready or had been in a haste to get to the collapse.

Rory amended her grip on the man, pulling him up to a standing position. The sight of someone pulling an unconscious man seemed to surprise Dick.

“Thought you were the first one here?” Rory’s question spurred him out of his thoughts. She smiled under the mask, pleased with herself for beating him to his job.

A sharp snap rang out behind her.

“Here, hold this.” Rory thrust the man onto Nightwing. She swung around and caught sight of the ball of webbing losing its grip. She thwipped out a web to an open part of the roof, pulling herself up. Midair, she turned to send another web down to the beam. Popping up on the roof, she took the web in both hands, ‘tug-o-war’ing her way to the edge of the roof. She struggled to keep the web in her hands, doing its best to pull her back down into the building. She reached the very edge of the roof, her legs and arms burning with the effort. She stuck the web down to furthest point, securing it with more than enough webbing.

Rory threw herself back over the edge of the hole, returning to help Nightwing with the survivors.

“Good thing you got here so fast. I’m not sure they would have made it if you hadn’t.”

Nightwing stood beside Rory watching the ambulances pulling away with the last of the casualties. From their vantage point on the roof, they could finally stop to see the damage.

Only a few more people were trapped under the rubble and with the help of the Bats, it had been a cakewalk.

Robin and Spoiler had showed up a minute after Nightwing. They were both standing on the other side of the building, speaking with their heads close together and in hushed voices. Of course, they weren’t hushed to Rory, but she thought better than to eavesdrop on vigilantes she was still getting to trust her.

“I don’t think they would’ve made it if you hadn’t showed up when you did,” Rory countered.

They hadn’t found Bruce or Tim anywhere around the building, so Rory had assumed that they got away but were trying to keep a low profile. After all, they were big public figures not trying to expose their identities.

“How did you get here so fast?” Robin’s accusatory tone came up behind her. Both him and Spoiler had made their way over, still keeping their distance.

“I was in the area.”

“How can we be sure that you didn’t do this yourself?”

Woah, straight to the point.

Rory huffed a sigh. Were these guys ever going to trust her? The last thing she needed was someone trying to keep her in this universe.

“Why would I do this and then save the people inside? Seems a bit counterintuitive, don’t you think?” Robin made a dismissive noise.

“You could have just done that to gain our trust,” Robin argued. And, to be fair, he was half right. In the heat of the moment, it had all been about saving everyone. But now it did seem like a good way to get the Bats to trust her.

Rory shrugged. “I don’t really care what you think I saved those people for.” Further discussion about her motivation would not end well on Rory’s part, so she pivoted the subject of conversation.

“Where’s your ringmaster? Couldn’t be bothered to show up?” She let a teasing tone creep into her voice. It was unlikely that they were going to give anything away, but it was worth a shot.

“He’s otherwise occupied,” Robin answered. Too quickly.

“He’s busy,” Nightwing amended, coming to Robin’s aid. “He would be here if he weren’t doing something just as important.”

Rory nodded. Probably getting a check up from a doctor of some sort. Spoiler tapped her foot impatiently, fingers drumming along her thigh.

After a moment or two of awkward silence, Spoiler finally spoke.

“Well, we best be off. Nice to meet you…” Spoiler trailed off. It took Rory a second to realize Spoiler wanted Rory to finish that sentence for her.

“Redback,” Rory clarified. “We should do this again sometime. I mean, not the collapse, just have a chat, or get a drin-“

Rory’s spidey sense screamed at her to turn around. She did, and less than a second later, that all too familiar portal opened up. It blended in with the black sky, clouds covering the stars.

“Excuse me while I deal with this,” Rory mumbled to the others who had now turned around to see what Rory was looking at. He walked out, his pristine white scattered with black spots.

Rory marched up to meet him halfway. Anger bubbled up inside her, certain that this explosion had been his doing. It was bad enough that he dumped her in this universe, now he was set on killing her?

“Was this you? Hmm?” Rory accused him. She didn’t give him time to answer. “Was taking me here not enough? Now you’ve got to rid of me?”

Rory stabbed him in the chest with her finger and he instantly took a step back.

“No, you stay here. You’re going to tell me exactly what your problem is,” she told him, the anger threatening to boil over.

“I have no problem. And this wasn’t me. It was a hit on a few important people inside by the locals.” His voice was clipped like he struggled with every word. Rory’s muscles relaxed, her shoulders going slack.

“Then what are you doing here?” She asked. “This doesn’t feel like a friendly check-up.”

“I wish I could take you home,” he burst out. His voice was now brimming with desperation. Rory took a step back. That was not what she expected him to say. But she took her chance.

“Then take me home.”

“No,” he said. His body went rigid, his brief flush of emotion gone. He turned around stiffly, a portal opening up in front of him.

He can’t just leave me here!

This could be her only chance to leave. Her only chance to go home and see her world again. She scrambled forward, catching his wrist. He twisted out of her grip and then swiped his leg out. She lost her balance. Her legs were pushed out from under and she fell.

And she kept falling. For just a bit too long.

The world rushed past her eyes until she hit the roof. She rolled over to her back, Robin leaning over her, a smug smirk plastered on his face. She heaved a sigh. Without looking, she heard the spot guy walk away then completely disappear.

The window stuck as Rory tried to pull it up. A second later Jemma slid into view. Upon seeing Rory, her shoulders sagged. She slowly walked up to the window and flicked the lock. Rory lifted it and got herself through the window. The instant she was standing on solid ground, Jemma engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug. Rory gently squeezed back, letting her head rest on Jemma’s shoulder.

Jemma’s body heat warmed her, even through the suit. The hug was cozy and Rory never wanted to let go.

“You alright?” Rory whispered. She felt Jemma nod.

“You?” Jemma whispered back. Rory nodded. Jemma pulled away to get a good look at Rory’s face. Rory tapped the pod once, the dress flowing back out. Jemma gingerly placed her hands on the side of Rory’s head. She tilted her head one way, then the other.

“I’m fine,” Rory reassured her, taking her wrists in her hands, and prying them off her face.

“You look exhausted.”

“Well, I am. In case you didn’t notice, I saved a whole bunch of people tonight,” Rory said. Jemma’s eyes softened and her lips curved up.

“Have a shower before you go to bed. You don’t look dirty but you could still use it,” Jemma said. Rory clutched her pearls, faking offense, but she nodded in agreement.

Rory let Jemma take the lead and watched as she went to her bedroom. She stopped at the door, turning so Rory could see her face.

“Thanks for getting me out of there.” Jemma shuffled into her room.

Rory’s hand drifted up to the pendant around her neck. She played with it for a second, staring at Jemma's door, before heading off to have a shower.

Maybe it won’t be so bad here.