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Gwen raced down the stairs, the concrete of the car park providing a solid drumbeat as her shoes slapped against it, the rhythm contrary to that of her heartbeat. The fire behind her was growing with every second, and she could hear Jack yelling commands over the comms.
He’d said the flames couldn’t hurt her, but in his next breath ordered her to run away, so it wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.
The chatter got louder, Toshiko giving directions to Suzie, tucked in the SUV, instructing the cryomancer how to reach and control the flames. Gwen tried to not think about how Jack was still there. She tried harder to not think about how Suzie was running into the danger, a danger she’d created. And to not think about Toshiko down on the ground, where a building could collapse.
Taking a sharp breath, she focussed on running. They had everything under control.
The rest of the day was a blur, and before Gwen knew it, she was in one of the beds in the recovery room, arms submerged in warm water, Suzie on the bed beside her, her arms in ice. She shivered, involuntarily, and Suzie just smiled, a shark’s grin that made Gwen’s heart flutter.
Toshiko came to join the two of them, grumbling good-naturedly about how she had to fill out their reports. They pushed the bed together, Toshiko lying neatly between fire and ice.