Family | Tfp AU

Trapped In the Flames

“Bumblebee, wait! You're not a fireman!” Bee heard Jazz shout after him as he ran to the door. He ignored his friend's pleas and pulled his jacket sleeve over his hand to avoid getting burned by the door handle, and pulled the front of the jacket and hood up to protect his head and face, as well as try to mask the smoke. With that sorted out, he took a deep breath, yanked the door open and ran in.

Immediately the heat seemed to completely envelope him, sucking away his air and replacing it with an intense burning feeling in his throat and lungs, and drying out his eyes, making them water and burn. He gasped and put a jacket sleeve over his mouth and nose to try and block out the air sucking heat, and looked around, feeling slightly disoriented by the tears and heat and smoke. He turned back to the door, and after a moment determined that the bathroom was somewhere to the right, and quickly yet carefully made his way along the hall, keeping close to the wall to avoid getting lost.

He reached the corner and looked around it, unable to hold back his gasp as he saw the flames in the hall where the bathroom was located. He carefully turned the corner, doing his best to keep away from the rapidly spreading flames, and noticed something else right in front of the bathroom door.

Steam.

What? He thought, confused. How is steam coming from the bathroom… His thought trailed off as he realized it must mean there was water flowing out of the bathroom. For a moment he was proud of the kid, until he realized that he would have to go through that steam to get to them- and it was gonna be hot. He mentally took a deep breath, pulled his jacket over his face, and ran over to the bathroom door, throwing it open and running in, quickly shutting the door behind him.

Steam mixed with smoke filled the room and made it near impossible to see anything, as well as very difficult to breathe. It was like someone had been smoking in a sauna. Bumblebee carefully made his way forward, arm out in front of him so he wouldn't crash into something, and eventually found the wall of the nearest bathroom stall, and leaned against it for a moment, collecting himself.

He heard weak coughing from the other side of the line of stalls, and made his way over to them, the hot, near boiling water sloshing around his ankles as he waded through it. He came to the stall where the coughing was coming from and pushed on the door, only to find it was locked. He groaned internally and pounded on the door.

“Open the door!”

“No--*cough*--I'm scared!” the kid burst into another coughing fit.

“I know you are-- I am too! But if you don't open the door then I can't get you out of here!” Bumblebee explained quickly, his voice strained as he struggled not to cough; he didn't want to scare them even more, but his throat and lungs were beginning to seriously burn. After a few stressful seconds, he heard the water slosh a little and the lock on the door screech open. Bee carefully pushed back the door to find a terrified little girl standing there, probably not much younger than Smokescreen. Her light red hair and clothes were soaked, and she had some minor burns on her legs, which were probably from the hot water she was standing in.

Bumblebee knew he needed to act fast to get her out of the water, and out of the burning building. He quickly took off his jacket and dropped it into the water, instantly soaking it, and then picked it up and put it on the little girl, the big hood falling over her face and the sleeves going way past her hands, offering about the best protection from the smoke and flames as as they could get at the moment. After zipping up the jacket, which fell near her knees, Bee picked her up bridal style and made his way back over to the door, pausing warily before the steam.

“Make sure the hood stays over your face,” he told her, his voice now extremely strained as his lungs screamed for fresh air. She nodded silently and pulled it down so it covered her chin. He took a mental deep breath, threw open the door and ran out, the hot steam scalding his bare arms and face.

Bee cried out and the little girl screamed as the ceiling suddenly caved in barely three feet ahead of them as they ran out of the bathroom, effectively blocking off their escape route down the hall. Bumblebee crouched down and bent over the child, shielding her as debris continued to rain down around them. After several frightening seconds, the ceiling was now all over the floor, and when he looked up Bumblebee could see the smoke pouring out through a gaping hole in the roof.

He coughed, his breath sending out bursts of white dust that he had inhaled when the ceiling fell around him. His hair and clothes were white with the same dust, as was the little girl, though not as much thanks to him shielding her with his body. She coughed as well, the white dust puffing out into Bumblebee's face when he looked down to see if she was alright, which made him only cough worse. His throat and lungs felt coated in the stuff, and burned as though the fire was inside him instead of all around him.

Speaking of which…

Bumblebee looked back the way they'd come and saw through the dust and smoke that the fire was steadily devouring the hall behind them, climbing up the walls and causing more of the ceiling to fall, further blocking the way and leaving him and the little girl trapped between the rubble and fire on all sides. The child whimpered and clung to him as she watched the fire come closer. Bee looked around frantically for any possible way out, and found a small window a short ways back up the hall--surrounded by flames, but the only option he could see at this point.

He grunted slightly and stood back up, still holding the young girl close as he quickly made his way through the debris over to the window. It was just big enough that the child should be able to climb out through... He went to open it, but then realized to his dismay it had no latch.

He couldn't open it…

“Are we...gonna die?” the child coughed, terror in her eyes. Bumblebee looked down at her and shook his head.

“No,” he rasped, holding her close. “I'm gonna get you out of here.”

He tried kicking the window, and the hot glass cracked a little. He kicked it harder, but it wasn't breaking fast enough, so he gritted his teeth and set the girl down for a second, before shattering the glass with his elbow, and kicking out the rest of the shards with his shoe. The child cried out when she saw his arm was bleeding from multiple cuts, and clung to him in fear. Bumblebee picked her up and told her what she had to do.

“I can't fit through, but you're small enough-” he paused to cough, and the little girl looked at him worriedly.

“You'll be...stuck still?” Tears shone in her eyes. Bee nodded.

“You need to tell the firemen, okay?” The child nodded and he helped her clamber through the window.

“I’ll...save you now,” she coughed, a look of determination on her face, before hurrying to find a fireman.

Bumblebee watched her disappear around the corner, and quickly moved away from the window. The fresh air helped clear his head a little, but it was too dangerous with the fire spreading rapidly. He went to the center of the blocked hallway, as far as he could get from the flames on either side, and sat down in an attempt to stay under the smoke which aggravated his burning throat and lungs, further worsening his cough. He hoped they came for him soon…