Flowers in the Window || W2S

15

The sound was deafening. It pierced your ears, sending sharp spikes into your brain. Tears began to prick your eyes as your heart dropped through the floor, unable to stop racing aggressively.

Harry reacted first. With one web coming out of either hand, he picked up the woman's body and threw her through the entrance to the decontamination chamber, webbing the door tightly shut once she was through.

This movement allowed first you and then Wes to exit from behind the crates to survey the damage. All nine girls were hysterically sobbing from their positions on the floor-but that wasn't what worried you. Each of their ankles-the chained ones-were bent at awkward angles, left and right and up and down. And a couple of them had bone protruding through the skin. Wes turned away to noisily vomit off to the side, and you definitely couldn't blame him for it.

"What do we do?" You barely managed to choke the words out.

Harry turned his masked face up to the manager's office, separated from the loading bay floor by a set of stairs. "If I can break a window up there, I should be able to get them all down and out. How strong is Wes?"

"Very."

"Right. He'll have to bring some of them up, then. You focus on getting rid of the chains and untying them."

He swung himself up to the manager's office and kicked the door away, entering the room and exiting your vision. Wes finished hauling his guts out and turned around, pulling out a small but sharp pocket knife. "It's all I got."

You took it gratefully. "How did you expect to beat her with just this?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I thought I could do it."

Sighing, you turned to the other end of the loading bay and found a large, industrial pair of pliers, propped against the wall. "You're brave, Wesley. Stupid, but brave."

After retrieving the pliers, you finally got to Margot and began to cut away the ropes binding her wrists behind her back.

"What..what are you doing here?" Her voice was cracked, broken-and the red mark looked even worse close up.

"We're your friends, Margot," you said softly. "We'll always come get you out of trouble. Even if the method is fucking dumb."

The pliers took a bit more effort to work, but with Wes's help, you successfully managed to free Margot's newly broken ankle from its restraint. He picked her up, holding her against his chest, and you felt another flicker of pain for him-seeing him hold this girl he was so desperately in love with. He turned on his heel and practically ran up the stairs, getting her to safety as fast as possible.

"Please, help us!" Your thoughts were only broken by the unstable cries of the women behind you.

One by one, you set the eight girls free-first by cutting away the rope around their wrists, then by using the pliers to snap the chains around their shattered ankles. Wes then came down and helped each one up to the manager's office, where Harry took them out of the window and got them down to the ground below. They would all be safe now.

"This is the last one," Wes called as he hauled the young blonde up the stairs. "They're all safe now."

"Good." Harry's voice was muffled by the mask-as it usually was-but it still carried that feeling of authority that only a hero such as himself could have in a situation such as this one. He took the girl in his arms, and your heart swelled with both pity for her and affection for him. Seeing him out here, on the field, in his element, actually saving people..well, you'd been that person once, but it was equally thrilling to witness on the outside. And you were glad to find yourself harbouring no jealously towards the tiny blonde-this was a life or death game, being jealous of her just because Harry was holding her and not you was just uncalled for right now.