𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐐𝐮𝐨

fortynine.

"Can any of you see anything weird going on? I can't see anything out of the ordinary in my zones," I sighed, sitting cross legged on the top of the Flatiron Building on 5th Avenue, a perfect vantage point to look over Gramercy Park and Union Square.

"I'm in the financial district, there's literally nothing going on at this time of night, everyone has finished work," Peter said through his suit, his face showing up in my suit vision as a video call.

"You guys are up high, so at least you can actually see things. I'm walking around like a tourist lost in my own fucking city," Bucky groaned, his voice muffled as I heard the tearing of paper and heavy chewing sounds.

"Bucky are you seriously eating right now?" I asked.

"Yeah there was a food truck selling jy-ro's," Bucky said with a full mouth.

I couldn't help but laugh at the way he had pronounced Gyro. I mean, he was an old man born in 1917, I doubt that he would have experienced many opportunities to eat multicultural food. And during World War 1 I doubt they would've had the luxury to pick and choose their meals very often.

"Do you mean a yeer-o?" Peter said trying to hold back his laughter.

"You know those Greek wraps?" He said clearing his throat and coughing.

"Ugh! Dude! Don't cough directly into your microphone," I whined, watching Peter's face screw up when the loud noise echoed inside his Iron Man suit.

I swung my legs off the edge of the building, kicking them back and forth out of boredom since we were on one of the most boring patrols of all time. I mean, the first building with noxious gas was stopped by Clint and Nat before anything fatal had happened. How are we supposed to see gas? We don't, we just wait for SHIELD to alert us about any spikes in their data or we see if any suspicious activity is going on. This honestly just feels a little pointless.

"I mean I followed a truck with extra dark windows before but it was just a refrigeration truck delivering vegetables... I don't even know what we're supposed to be looking for exactly," Peter sighed.

"It feels like we just have to wait for something bad to happen you know? Its so counter intuitive... If only SHIELD could have figured out which buildings they're targeting so w- Fuck! Okay yeah there's definitely something happening in my zone, I just heard a huge bang," Bucky exclaimed.

I stood up on the building roof to see if I could see anything down to where Bucky's zone was, but through a myriad of skyscrapers I couldn't see anything. With each thwip of my web, I swung closer and closer down towards Lower Manhattan, hearing Peter say that he had located a building with smoke rising into the air.

"Location?" I heard Bucky ask, the rumbling of the Iron Man suit in the background as Peter was flying through the air.

"Corner of Lafayette and Franklin, in Chinatown," he responded.

My heart sunk as I tried to swing faster and faster, dodging cars and buildings by mere inches as I rushed through the city. I knew those two streets like the back of my hand, I knew every crack in the sidewalk and I knew exactly which bodegas had the best priced sandwiches. I'd been going there for years.

"Do you mean the university?" I asked nervously.

"No, the other side of Franklin. The FEAST volunteer centre," Peter answered as he landed on the ground and told us he would scope the place out.

"Peter... That's where May works, and Ben was supposed to be picking her up before we went to dinner tonight," I said with a shaky voice.

I was already fearing for the worst. What if May and Ben had been inside the building when this mysterious bang went off? What if the building was on fire and that's why Peter saw the smoke?

As I dropped to the ground I saw multiple volunteers trying to usher dozens of homeless people out of the building, attempting to keep everyone calm in the process. I recognised all of them as I scanned the area for any signs of May and Ben.

I saw Mandy on the side walk holding her t shirt above her nose and mouth as a mask to filter out the smoke. I saw Trevor walking out with an elderly woman's arm wrapped around his shoulders as he escorted her to safety. I saw Bao-Jian in the middle of the road blocking cars from driving down as she waved for people to cross safely to congregate in the park across from FEAST. And finally I saw May, holding a clipboard and checking off each and every shelter resident as they exited the building.

"Look! It's Spider-Woman!" One of the homeless men yelled out, garnering several cheers and joyful outbursts at my arrival.

"What happened here?" I asked May, trying to distort my voice a little so she wouldn't recognise me in the suit.

"I think it was a gas leak in the kitchens... We smelt it first and heard this loud boom before the fire alarms went off and smoke started appearing. We called the fire department but the phones were down. Same with the police... We're just trying to make sure everyone is outside and accounted for," she said seeming way too calm for the situation.

That's what May has always been good at, keeping her cool in stressful situations. She could be shitting herself on the inside, but she seems so stoic.

"Iron Man is currently scoping out the building, I will be too. Just make sure that you get these people to safety... As well as yourself okay?" I said to her, smiling under my suit despite the fact she wouldn't be able to tell.

As she smiled softly and nodded back to me, we heard a loud cracking sound as the building foundations had started to fall and deteriorate; the fire was growing, and it was growing fast. The windows were shattering from the heat and peoples screams were heard from every angle.

"Wait! My husband is inside checking all of the rooms. Please find him and make sure he's safe," May begged, grabbing onto my forearm with her facial expression now looking worried once the fire had grown.

Fuck.
Uncle Ben is inside.

Running into the building past groups of people all rushing out, I activated the purifying breathing apparatus in my suit so I wouldn't pass out from smoke inhalation. I heard Peter say that the gas leak wasn't from the kitchen and that he had found some sort of canister feeding through the vents on the roof.

"I'm inside, Bucky when you get here I need you to make sure everyone gets out of the building and to the park across the street. This shelter caters for homeless and the elderly, they're not going to be able to survive something like this easily. The building is way too old to withstand a fire this big, it'll collapse in no time," I said swinging myself up each set of stairs.

"Why are you inside then?!" Peter exclaimed.

"My uncle is in here making sure that nobody is left behind, I can't let him sacrifice himself in this fire! I can't lose him," I shouted back.

"Then I'll help you. I'll start from the top floor and work my way down, you start from the bottom," Peter said as I heard him blast a hole through the roof to get inside the building.