Friends with Fire // Bucky x Oc (Discontinued For Now)

• 11 •

After leading the daughter and father out of the building I go back through, looking for more people. I stop in my tracks when my eyes land on the blackened corpse of someone, their features unrecognizable. My chest tightens and a strange feeling pricks the back of my eyes, making them feel as if they’re about to water.

I keep searching and continue coming up with only the burnt corpses of people I was too slow to save. I take the time to bring all of the bodies near the exit and keep the fire from damaging them further.

Going back, further into the building, I also come across what had started the fire. “This smoke,” I mutter in irritation. I swipe my hand quickly and the fire launches to one of the walls, bringing most of the smoke with it. I kneel in front of the small, cracked, metal sphere, confirming it’s a case of some sort. I pick it up carefully and rotate it, slowly studying the surface.

I study the hole in it and notice that the shape isn’t as if it had been smashed, it looks as if it had either been cut or specifically designed so that it would burst. It was holding something then. A gas most likely. I scan the room but can’t gather much since the majority of it has become a mass of burnt bits and pieces.

I blink and the sphere is snatched from my grip and my hands are bound together by a strange rope-like material. I stand quickly, my eyes scanning the entirety of the room, noticing it’s a lot bigger than I had previously thought.

“So you’re who started the fire,” a voice says.

I turn in a slow circle, my eyes glued to the ceiling, which is where the voice had come from. “I was not the person who started the fire,” I reply calmly, still searching for who had spoken.

“That’s a bit hard to believe since you were holding this case thingy and don’t seem very affected by the fire.”

Finally, my eyes land on a shadowy form in the far corner. “I’m the reason so many people were able to get out of the building before the firemen had even managed to get inside. I happened to stumble across this room and was trying to figure out what that “case thingy” does,” I say evenly. I glance down at my hands and the rope-like substance, bringing it to eye level, unsure what it is.

“You’re not making my decision easier,” the person says after a moment.

I glance up, raising my eyebrows skeptically. “I don’t remember there being a decision to make,” I reply, trying to tug my hands apart, but to little avail. “What is this stuff?” I ask, showing my hands.

“Webs,” they respond shortly.

I stare blankly at them, trying to process that. “Webs? What, like spider webs?” I ask, unable to contain an unimpressed snort.

“Yes. Like spider webs. They’re stronger though!” the person exclaims.

I notice something about their voice that had bothered me when they first spoke and realize they must be a teenager. Their tone, level of conversation, and lack of professionalism make that more apparent. “How old are you?” I ask, slowly beginning to build heat in my palms, ignoring the unsettling feeling in my gut from doing so.

“I’m-... that’s not important,” they say, dropping to the ground and stepping a bit closer to me. They let out a small cough and fan their face with their unoccupied hand.

“You won’t be able to last much longer in here. We’re in the area with the most smoke build-up,” I say, trying to keep them talking.

“You obviously don’t know what I’m capable of,” they say, trying to sound confident.

I raise a quizzical eyebrow. “And you’re obviously an idiot,” I mutter to myself.

“What do you know about this?” they ask, holding out the case.

I slowly bring my gaze back up to where I assume their face is. “You sound like a kid,” I say instead, still trying to keep them talking.

“I’m fifteen!” they exclaim and I hear them suck in a quick breath afterward, realizing they slipped.

“Fifteen? So… a freshman?” I ask. I subtly glance down at the webbing holding my hands together and frown slightly when I realize nothing has happened to them yet. They must be fireproof. Unconcerned, I look back up and slowly begin to increase the heat in my palms even more.

“Uh… That’s not important,” they say.

“Does your guardian know that you… fight crime?” I ask, starting to get some idea of who this may be.

I can see them do a small head shake to themself as they take a few steps closer to me, revealing the red spandex suit they’re wearing. “Stop changing the topic,” he exclaims.

“So. You’re the crime-fighting spider?” I ask, having seen the YouTube videos.

The strange bug-like eyes of the suit narrow at me and I resist the urge to lean away from it. “Spiderman,” he says tightly.

“Oh, Spiderman. My apologies,” I respond, smirking slightly.

“What do you know about this?” he asks tensely, holding up the case.

I stare at the case. “Very little since you decided to interrupt my inspection of it,” I reply, looking back at him.

“But that means you can figure out what it is?” he asks, sounding hopeful.

“Given a little bit of time I might be able to,” I say slowly, suspicious of his sudden excitement.

“I’ve been finding them a lot over the past few weeks. Some of them haven’t been opened yet and some have but none of them have resulted in an explosion like this.”

“Are you done?” I ask bluntly.

He coughs quietly and fans his face again. “We need a secure location where you can help me figure out what this is.”

“Why do you want to know what it is?” I ask.

“Reasons…” he says slowly.

“And why would you assume I’ll help you?”

“I mean… your hands are kind of immobile because of me so…”

“Says who?” I ask lightly, holding my hands up separately. The queasy feeling that had been building in my stomach from using my powers to such an extent quickly fades away and I can inhale a full breath again.

“What! How did you get them off!” he exclaims. He quickly brings one of his hands up and something flies toward me. I dive to the side, roll, and stand again, still facing him.

“If you want my help how about you try trusting me for a few seconds,” I say, adjusting my gloves. “I know a secure location but I still want to know why you’re so curious about the function of the metal sphere,” I say, crossing my arms.

~~~~~~~

I continue to have mixed feelings about my writing. I feel like I'm dragging things out too much... sorry