Robert Callaghan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
augmentedboundaries) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
alltheheroes2014-12-24 07:11 am
augmentedboundaries) wrote in alltheheroes2014-12-24 07:11 am
the last thing i need is just to play
He couldn't breathe.
He'd pushed the woman towards the exit, then had to stumble back as a flare of heat burst before him; coughing, Callaghan sank towards the ground, using his sleeve to cover his mouth as he coughed out some of the smoke that had gotten in his lungs.
Too hot.
But by the time he was able to look back up- he couldn't even see the exit any more. He could barely see anything, through the flames and smoke, and even shielding his face with his arms it seemed as though there was no end to this inferno. Robert desperately thought of the building's layout, his immediate memory of the project displays-
He couldn't even orient himself. Coughing, he tried to crawl, blearily trying to find his way through the blaze- the inane thought of too hot repeated itself, but it was better that than the numbing fear that threatened to overwhelm him, he couldn't let it, he couldn't let himself think that he wouldn't get out, he was going to get out he was going to get through he couldn't find his way
A shatter of glass above him made him flinch and fall against a blisteringly-hot wall. Even so, he couldn't help but think, there goes the insurance deposit, but at least the wall was something he could use to follow and find his way out and if he just kept going in this half-crawl, half-stumble, he could get out with maybe just a trip to the hospital for smoke and burns-
Desperately, Callaghan pulled himself away from both thoughts and the walls, sleeve over his mouth once again as he tried to get what little fresh air was left. The fire had seemed to consume most of the oxygen, here, and thought of suffocating to death was at least tempered by the fact that he wouldn't be aware of burning alive-
A great crack above, but he couldn't see anything through the smoke, and yet; or I could be crushed to death. That works. too.
Inane, stupid, and yet-
"PROFESSOR!"
A weight hit him, but not the one he expected. Callaghan shouted in echo of the scream as he was tackled to the ground, and then another weight slammed on them both- and then he screamed, too, burning air balanced only by the fact that these lowest reaches had the last bit of breathable air-
-even so, his throat burned. His side seared. And for a long few moments that stretched out in to a hellish eternity, he could only lay there, crippling agony and pressure keeping him down as much as the threat of returning to the blaze and heat.
But finally, he looked down at what was holding him in place.
The crossbeam was impossible to miss, as was the flames licking eagerly in to its mass. Weakened by the fire, it could no longer support its own weight, and was poised to fall on him- it had fallen on him, but more, cushioning between him and it was a body.
One he recognized.
Another crack above. Callaghan still couldn't see, could barely think, but even with one arm absolutely numb he laid his weight upon it hurts and used the one that still responded to claw-hold at the ground and
pull
Somehow, somehow, he felt himself move- he forced himself to move, and once he could, to grab back hold of the body and move that, too. It was utterly dead weight - he must have fallen unconscious from the trauma - but it was still a person.
No. More than that.
"You're not getting extra credit for this," Robert rasped, voice unrecognizable to his own ears. Tadashi should have known better, he didn't ask him in here, now the both of them were going to burn in if they didn't-
if -he- didn't-
Tadashi couldn't. It was up to him, and him alone, and as much as something inside of him was screaming in pain and terror and the understanding of incoming death, it was made all the more terrible by the thought that there was someone else involved.
And that there was the slightest chance of stopping it, if only he could find a way.
Numb-burning cheek against the floor, Callaghan stared through what little he could see. The flames and smoke and debris, the entire building was coming down, now, and the shards of glass only so far away...
Glass.
Window!
Coughing, he pulled himself in to a kneel- and then pulled the body on to his shoulders. In a twisted sort of way, he could appreciate the sort of barrier it made between him and the heat- in every other way he could appreciate the weight, and how, with one leg barely responsive it was going to be a new hell getting through-
One knee in front of the other. Rather; one knee, stumble in to position to allow the other to at least steady him, one knee, force in to position- every motion brought with it pain, but through it all a warped sort of focus, now that he had identified a solution to the problem. The pain didn't matter.
Nothing mattered.
Even so, despair threatened, once again, to consume. But with it followed another emotion, as it all mixed together in to a futile black cry that screamed of how this wasn't fair, none of this was fair, that he was in here that anyone was in here that the fire'd started in the first place that Tadashi had come back for him none of this was fair
Glass shattered, again, but this time as he hurled himself and his burden through the window. There was a brief sensation of falling, and then impact, and then?
Coldness.
Every part of him hurt, and being able to finally breathe seemed to only make it worse. His body was no longer in his control; Callaghan felt as though he was floating, somehow, staring back at the fire through rapidly blurring vision and only barely comprehending that he'd made it out, that there were voices, shouts, screams, was he screaming? He didn't know.
Was he dying?
Maybe he'd dreamed this whole thing, maybe there wasn't a fire at all- but he'd done all he could, and there was nothing left. As everything began to mesh together and leave him behind, he wondered how he was possibly going to explain any of this to the board, and yet-
-and yet-
-did he have to? because the board was just there, coming from the smoke, a figure that seemed to turn in his (their?) direction and he wanted to bring up how he'd already considered some better plans for the fire safety of the school, but then it was turning away and running and he wasn't done so he tried to raise a hand to ask them to wait-
-blackened and charred and broken, that's not me, that's not even a hand, I don't know what that is but that isn't human-
-and he finally passed out.
He'd pushed the woman towards the exit, then had to stumble back as a flare of heat burst before him; coughing, Callaghan sank towards the ground, using his sleeve to cover his mouth as he coughed out some of the smoke that had gotten in his lungs.
Too hot.
But by the time he was able to look back up- he couldn't even see the exit any more. He could barely see anything, through the flames and smoke, and even shielding his face with his arms it seemed as though there was no end to this inferno. Robert desperately thought of the building's layout, his immediate memory of the project displays-
He couldn't even orient himself. Coughing, he tried to crawl, blearily trying to find his way through the blaze- the inane thought of too hot repeated itself, but it was better that than the numbing fear that threatened to overwhelm him, he couldn't let it, he couldn't let himself think that he wouldn't get out, he was going to get out he was going to get through he couldn't find his way
A shatter of glass above him made him flinch and fall against a blisteringly-hot wall. Even so, he couldn't help but think, there goes the insurance deposit, but at least the wall was something he could use to follow and find his way out and if he just kept going in this half-crawl, half-stumble, he could get out with maybe just a trip to the hospital for smoke and burns-
cantbreathecantseecantthinkcantcantcant
abby, I-
abby, I-
Desperately, Callaghan pulled himself away from both thoughts and the walls, sleeve over his mouth once again as he tried to get what little fresh air was left. The fire had seemed to consume most of the oxygen, here, and thought of suffocating to death was at least tempered by the fact that he wouldn't be aware of burning alive-
A great crack above, but he couldn't see anything through the smoke, and yet; or I could be crushed to death. That works. too.
Inane, stupid, and yet-
"PROFESSOR!"
A weight hit him, but not the one he expected. Callaghan shouted in echo of the scream as he was tackled to the ground, and then another weight slammed on them both- and then he screamed, too, burning air balanced only by the fact that these lowest reaches had the last bit of breathable air-
-even so, his throat burned. His side seared. And for a long few moments that stretched out in to a hellish eternity, he could only lay there, crippling agony and pressure keeping him down as much as the threat of returning to the blaze and heat.
But finally, he looked down at what was holding him in place.
The crossbeam was impossible to miss, as was the flames licking eagerly in to its mass. Weakened by the fire, it could no longer support its own weight, and was poised to fall on him- it had fallen on him, but more, cushioning between him and it was a body.
One he recognized.
tadashi
Another crack above. Callaghan still couldn't see, could barely think, but even with one arm absolutely numb he laid his weight upon it hurts and used the one that still responded to claw-hold at the ground and
pull
Somehow, somehow, he felt himself move- he forced himself to move, and once he could, to grab back hold of the body and move that, too. It was utterly dead weight - he must have fallen unconscious from the trauma - but it was still a person.
No. More than that.
"You're not getting extra credit for this," Robert rasped, voice unrecognizable to his own ears. Tadashi should have known better, he didn't ask him in here, now the both of them were going to burn in if they didn't-
if -he- didn't-
Tadashi couldn't. It was up to him, and him alone, and as much as something inside of him was screaming in pain and terror and the understanding of incoming death, it was made all the more terrible by the thought that there was someone else involved.
And that there was the slightest chance of stopping it, if only he could find a way.
Numb-burning cheek against the floor, Callaghan stared through what little he could see. The flames and smoke and debris, the entire building was coming down, now, and the shards of glass only so far away...
Glass.
Window!
Coughing, he pulled himself in to a kneel- and then pulled the body on to his shoulders. In a twisted sort of way, he could appreciate the sort of barrier it made between him and the heat- in every other way he could appreciate the weight, and how, with one leg barely responsive it was going to be a new hell getting through-
One knee in front of the other. Rather; one knee, stumble in to position to allow the other to at least steady him, one knee, force in to position- every motion brought with it pain, but through it all a warped sort of focus, now that he had identified a solution to the problem. The pain didn't matter.
Nothing mattered.
Even so, despair threatened, once again, to consume. But with it followed another emotion, as it all mixed together in to a futile black cry that screamed of how this wasn't fair, none of this was fair, that he was in here that anyone was in here that the fire'd started in the first place that Tadashi had come back for him none of this was fair
Life isn't fair. It's not fair, it's not just, Robbie, it just...is.
don't talk like that, please, I can't do this alone
I'll be waiting for you, but not until you're done.
And trust me, you're not nearly as done as you think.
Take care of our daughter for me.
It's all up to you, now.
And trust me, you're not nearly as done as you think.
Take care of our daughter for me.
It's all up to you, now.
Glass shattered, again, but this time as he hurled himself and his burden through the window. There was a brief sensation of falling, and then impact, and then?
Coldness.
Every part of him hurt, and being able to finally breathe seemed to only make it worse. His body was no longer in his control; Callaghan felt as though he was floating, somehow, staring back at the fire through rapidly blurring vision and only barely comprehending that he'd made it out, that there were voices, shouts, screams, was he screaming? He didn't know.
Was he dying?
Maybe he'd dreamed this whole thing, maybe there wasn't a fire at all- but he'd done all he could, and there was nothing left. As everything began to mesh together and leave him behind, he wondered how he was possibly going to explain any of this to the board, and yet-
-and yet-
-did he have to? because the board was just there, coming from the smoke, a figure that seemed to turn in his (their?) direction and he wanted to bring up how he'd already considered some better plans for the fire safety of the school, but then it was turning away and running and he wasn't done so he tried to raise a hand to ask them to wait-
-blackened and charred and broken, that's not me, that's not even a hand, I don't know what that is but that isn't human-
-and he finally passed out.