HOURGLASS

Chapter Four

Charlie didn't waste a second before she sprinted out of the crumbling room, smashing through the glass wall and dodging falling debris. The little boy's heat signature grew closer until Charlie could see him. 

"Hey, kid!" She called out over the commotion, seeing the little boy facing her. "I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"

He nodded and watched as the superhero's power surrounded her. Within a second, she had crossed the twenty foot gap between them and had scooped him up in her arms. He wrapped his arms around her neck and held on as she began to run back to the conference room. Almost as soon as she had left, the place she had found him caved in. He buried his face in her neck as he heard the structure above them start to give way, then felt her start to jump up, only for her to not jump. She jerked to a stop and dropped to a knee rather harshly, spooking the boy. 

"It's okay, kid. I've got you!" Charlie assured, trying to sound like she had it under control. 

She tried to move, making a frustrated growl at something keeping her down. The thing suddenly tightened, forcing a harsh gasp out of the vigilante when all of a sudden, the pair jerked back with the sound of the suit tearing. Charlie instinctively stuck her free hand and foot to the floor, keeping them rooted while the thing, which was a shredded chunk of steel support that had been warped and bent until it was practically barbed, was yanked back by the brown fog Charlie had grown to very strongly dislike. 

Biting her lip to keep her sounds of pain down to a minimum, Charlie frantically pulled forward, the metal around her leg tightening further when she did so.  The little boy's eyes cracked open, trying to see what was wrong.

"Don't look, kid!" Hourglass gasped out, then began to try to pull herself free. He felt the hero strain desperately for a couple moments, possibly as hard as she could, then suddenly they were yanked  free with a strained and pained yell, running down the hall sporting a new limp. One of her hands came to rest on the back of the little boy's head, blocking a small piece of debris from hitting him as she jumped again, this time actually becoming airborne.

The boy's eyes flew open as he watched the world flip upside down. He gripped onto her tighter as she let go of him with one arm to fire a web shooter at the conference table, using her momentum to yank it onto its side to serve as a barrier between the group and the debris. She landed on the wall and instantly dropped down to the floor to dodge a hail of debris.

"You good, kid?" Charlie asked, carefully untangling the boy from her arms while giving him a quick once over to double check he was not hurt. He nodded and was quickly engulfed by his mother's arms.

"Thank you! Thank you!" The mother practically cried, holding her son close, her eyes shining. She gently pulled her son away briefly to look at him, then frowned. 

"Conrad, is your leg hurting you?" The mother asked, touching his pant leg which was damp. She started to panic when her hand came back red with blood and began to press against his leg.

A sudden crashing noise from the roof caused all members of the group to look up. Charlie groaned. "I can't catch a break today, huh?"

One of the older men glanced at the figure, whose hands were being surrounded by clear time warps, then without warning the warp seemingly exploded around them, causing the debris to start slowing their descent. He lowered his gaze at the youngest of the heroes, who was still out cold, a tiny bit of blood on her forehead visible.

"Karen, scan the girls." Peter muttered, not wanting to concern the already-panicking group.

"Charlotte has a laceration on her hip which is bleeding profusely, and-" Karen was suddenly interrupted by Peter.