The Nevers - fanfic

Scorched

It was but a day later when Mrs True had finally managed to convince a slightly guarded penance to heal the minor injuries on her hands, by a special friend, penance remembered his name was Horatio, she was glad that she no longer had the urge to itch tirelessly at her palms. "how are you feeling?" she asked penance whom was sat next to her. "fine, thanks to you. Definitely better" she smiled sweetly with a nod. Mrs True nodded and stood up, looking around the messy workshop, she wanted Miss Adair to have it, it wasn't being used by any others in the orphanage, and by others, she meant only a small handful of the touched she'd been able to gather.

"where are you going?" Miss Adair wondered, she always had such an inquisitive kind, that even made Mrs True pause, usually she wouldn't give a straight answer, she'd maybe mumble a word and get on with the task, but she couldn't, she didn't, she pulled on some gloves and replied. "to your house, or what i assume was your house, i want to know why it set on fire, but more importantly, why the fire spread so quickly" it was unusual, as she had noticed that night. "could i come with you?" miss adair asked, brushing off the ends of her skirts, chewing her lip anxiously. "yes" she was granted an answer from the strong woman after a moment of hesitance and looking Miss Adair up and down. "we'll take a carriage" she informed the other woman, turning back around, Penance following behind with a grin.

The road was bumpy as they traveled further into town, the carriage wasn't the best, certainly not against the cobblestones in London, uneven and rough. Miss Adair sat quietly, almost too scared to break the silence, but this gave her time to observe the woman who saved her life, and observe she did. She watched the tension in Mrs True's body, it never left, very rarely, and she saw her gazing out the window, intensely, eyes darting back and forth, taking everything in, almost as if waiting for something to happen. Penance frowned and tilted her head, concerned, she reached out and touched Amalia's knee gently, drawing her attention back. "are you ok?" she repeated her question back to her. Mrs True nodded and leaned back into the seat. "you said the fire was your fault?" she stated, penance sat back and nodded, she knew it was a question. "my turn, it's electricity, well, more of the use of being able to see it." she said looking down at her hands. "potential energy, i see that a lot, that's why I'm so inventive, creative, i was before, but seeing it does help." she appreciated how patient amalia was, it helped her to open up, either way, she chose to see the best in people. "that night of the fire, i was trying to control my turn more, take it to the next step, natural curiosity i guess" she mumbled the last part. "no, miss adair. Natural curiosity is good, it's what keeps us alive." amalia informed her. The rest of the short journey was quiet, so when the carriage stopped, and amalia didn't get out, penance leaned forward a bit. "Mrs True?" she asked sweetly, eyes scanning her face, she seemed absent, like she was focused on something else, besides the pretty much charred house that was outside their carriage. She leaned back quickly seeing amalia focus, breathing hard, like she'd just run away from someone. Mrs True caught how penance was looking at her. "that's my turn...I'll fill you in later" she whispered.

They stepped out, looking at the house in front of them, amalia wasted no time in walking in, and penance was quick to follow. "so you caused this to happen... But what accelerated it?" she asked looking around, her voice was soft, she didn't want  the other woman to be nervous or afraid of what she could or couldn't control. Penance gulped and walked upstairs, heeding a quick warning from Mrs True to be careful, making her smile slightly. And with that, both women stood in the room where the fire had begun, only some of the curtains remaining on the hook, the ones that had set on fire. "so...?" amalia asked, standing by the doorway watching as miss adair crouched. "my guess would be these..." she pointed to a mass of burnt materials, mostly plastic based, such as combs, toothbrush handles, brooches, buttons, shoes and dolls could be seen melted from the fire, almost everything damaged by the fire, if not, charred by billows of smoke that followed. Miss adair spoke up once again. "it's a Victorian house, there's many hazards in that alone. Usually, the cause of a house fire, for someone who isn't like me, touched, would be the plumbing, candles, any naked flame really" she mumbled.

Amalia crossed her arms slightly, leaning against the surviving doorframe. "plumbing?" she knew a bit, but Cleary not as much as this adorable woman before her, who clearly didn't mind getting her hands dirty, that would be useful. "yes" she stated like it was obvious, she stood up and looked at Mrs True with a grin. "believe it or not, mrs true, bathrooms in this day and age are very dangerous. They're risky. Lavatories are prone to exploding" she pointed to the walls. "human waste gives off highly flammable gases, some of them being hydrogen sulphide and methane, they gather in sewers and leak back into homes..." she rambled, happy to show her knowledge, even when amalia cut her off. "hence, the candles and open flames, they'd easily ignite these flammable gases, causing a fire" Mrs True finished, miss adair stood there with a broad grin, speechless. Amalia chuckled and walked into the room. "believe it or not, i do know some things" she teased penance with a wink. "y... Yes. So. In this case. I'd say it was down to the plastic" she knelt down, taking off her glove and picking up a shoe sole, showing it to amalia. "more specifically the type, celluloid, it's found in clothing, for men, cuffs and collars, bow ties too... And us women, our corset frames of course" she said, frowning, looking around the room she gasped and walked over to what once was a dress. "this one was my favorite" she mumbled. Amalia almost chuckled behind her, a restrained grin on her face. "we can fetch another" she said looking around the room, from her view, it seemed like a beautiful room, or once was. "celluloid is highly flammable too due to the nitrate film, it easily catches fire and difficult to put out." she said, amalia following some of what she said. "so, fires involving cellulose nitrate burn extremely quick with a hot, intense flame and the smoke produced is toxic." amalia guessed, much to miss adairs surprise. "poisonous gas, thankfully, we weren't exposed long enough for that." she stood up and dusted off her hands, looking around the room sadly, it might not have been a lot, but it was definitely something. "right. I think we have everything we need" she interrupted, noticing miss adairs absent gaze. "i should have done it in a different room" penance mumbled softly with a sigh, as she left, amalia placed her hand on the small of her back as they walked outside, only removing it once they got to the carriage.

They got in and sat down, frowning, it didn't move. "something isn't right" that was very clear to penance, she'd never seen Amalia so tense. Suddenly the carriage door opened and an overweight man with a beard climbed inside, making penance shift back in her seat in fear. Mrs True looked behind her to penance and grabbed her hand, squeezing it softly and nodded at her, mouthing 'we'll be fine "to her, receiving a nod from the other woman who stayed in place, a bit of bravery filling her with Amalia's confidence." what a rare occasion. What did i do to draw you out of hiding?" she sarcastically remarked to the man. He flipped a pen knife open and held it quickly near Amalia's cheek. "watch how you speak to me. It's a chat with her i want" he nodded his head to the blonde woman. Amalia stared at the man, she pressed her cheek to the sharp edge of the blade.

"not happening" she replied coldly, not even hesitant with her words, not a flicker of fear in her eyes. Penance could only watch the scene before her with dread.