Tell Me You Love Me

Burning Building(Eighty-Seven)

The metal beneath my feet suddenly wasn't there. Someone screamed(maybe it was me) and I was in open air. I dropped, and my instincts kicked in. I grabbed the nearest thing to me, a metal scaffolding rod hanging from the fire escape. It had a good grip and I held on with one hand.

My feet dangled below me and I allowed myself to look. It made me nauseous so I focused on Riley's face above mine. I knew from my glance that Jason was flying up toward me, so I took as deep a breath as I could manage.

"Riley, you need to jump to me," I said. Luke's eyes went wide. "Dad, he'll fall! You can't catch him from there!"

"Riley," I tried again, "your dad's coming to get you, but I need you to jump to me."

Riley but his lip and dropped the three feet to me. I caught him and held him to me, the impact causing my hand to slide down a little more.

"Okay, I'm gonna drop you now, okay? Your dad's gonna catch you." Jason was almost here and Riley nodded, eyeing his father fast approaching.

Letting him go was probably one of the worst feelings I've ever had. I knew Jason was going to be there to catch him in five seconds at the most, and I knew he'd be okay, but it still felt horrible, dropping a child from that high up.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my grin on the rod, pulling myself a little higher. Jason hesitated. "Go! You need to hurry so I can get them to you! Assembly line!" Jason nodded his understanding and shot toward the ground where Piper wrapped Riley in a hug, both of them crying.

"We need to go two at a time. It'll go faster. I need Emily and Rosalie."

Thank the gods for Ariana. She seemed to be the only one with a level head in that moment. She gently shooed the two girls forward and talked them into jumping. Holding them both was a challenge, but I managed it. Jason came a little closer this time to retrieve them. Again he hesitated, seeing if I was okay. Breathing hard, I waved him away and again he shot to the ground.

"Maria! Sammy! Now please!" Maria jumped right away, but Sammy edged away from the ledge, right into Milo(who was holding Bianca's hand). Instead of the two bickering and fighting like usual(I was half worried Milo would just push him right off), Milo wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulder and whispered encouragements.

I heard, "Mommy's waiting at the bottom. It'll be okay. I'll be right behind you." Sammy crept to the edge and I told Maria to scoot over to my other side so I could catch him. My arm ached nobody's business, but I wasn't gonna let any harm befall these kids. No matter what.

Sammy worked up the courage and jumped. Jason was there in no time to take them back to the ground. Heat was pouring from the building and the absence of water was really wearing on me. I was getting really dehydrated, in the worst way a demigod son of Poseidon can be.

"Okay, Ari, you gotta trust me." She hardly even thought about it and jumped to me. She held on tight, careful not to look at the drop. "You too Milo. Give Bianca to Luke and jump."

He did so reluctantly and jumped to me. Him and Ari combined were heavy and my arms shook. Jason was on his way up when I room below us exploded and building shrapnel flew everywhere. I watched helplessly as a brick sailed through the air, somehow managing to nail Jason in the head. He fell back unconscious, free falling.

It might've been funny except it wasn't. At all. Piper screamed something from below and a giant eagle shot out of another window, catching Jason and lowering him to the ground. "Frank!" I groaned, seeing stars as I tried to hold on.

Frank the eagle flew up just as they slipped out of my arms. He caught them with a flourish and flew back to the ground. My hand was raw and wet with blood when I turned back to Luke. He had Ethan on one him and Bianca's hand in his.

"Luke," I gasped. "Put the down. I need you to jump."

He was crying as he let go of them, sitting them down. "Dad, I'm scared."

"I know, son. I am too." For one horrifying moment, he slipped past me. I didn't catch him when I wanted to, being so fatigued and dehydrated and hurting. He slipped past me and I just managed to grab his hand. He jerked to a sudden stop, screaming.

"I've got you, I've got you," I said. Frank couldn't fly fast enough. His hand was slipping. "Frank's gonna catch you! I promise!" Then he was falling, screaming and crying, until he was met by Frank's wings. 

"Ugh," I groaned, reaching for the twins. Hey didn't get the message. "Bianca! Ethan! Come here please. Come to Daddy." Bianca crawled forward and teetered off the edge, right into my arms. I shifted her around, acutely aware of the fact that she could fall any second and Frank hadn't even touched down with Luke yet.

"Ethan!" Ethan got up and walked over, falling over the edge. I caught him just barely, my fingers catching his onesie. I hoisted him up to me and held them both close.

The building was giving, I could feel it. It started at what I'd guess to be the second floor. It kind of bowed outward, billowing smile, bricks tumbling down, as the whole structure collapsed on top of it.

I held the twins close to me and shut my eyes as we began our free fall.