Fireproof - Warren Peace

five ¥ you want me to burn her?

In the locker room, Rhia got changed into her gym pants and a light blue sleeveless shirt. She was tying her shoes when a hand slammed her locker shut. Penny grinned, suddenly multiplying to surround the freshman girl.
"So, you and Peace, huh?"
Rhia's eyes shot up in surprise. "What? No, we're just friends." In her heart, she could tell it was a lie. She was too comfortable with him and too soft around him for them to be just friends - at least to her. The Penny's all smirked at once, crossing their arms. It freaked Rhia out just a bit.
"Good, because he doesn't do relationships. We just don't want you to get your heart broken or anything," Rhia felt her heart drop just a little, but kept her face neutral.
"Thanks for the warning, Pen, but I think I'm good." The multiple devil incarnate left with evil smiles on their faces. Rhia tied up half her hair, not all of it fitting into a ponytail. Trying her best not to think about the information Penny had just delivered to her, the freshman walked into the gym, her eyes unconsciously looking for Warren in the crowd. She found him, sitting up at the top, the usual barrier surrounding him. He had been watching the door to the girls' locker room - not in a creepy way, just waiting for Rhia to come out. Grinning, she bounced up the stairs, but her face faltered when she remembered what the senior had told her just a moment ago.
Warren noticed the change in her expression and frowned even more than usual. "What's wrong?"
Rhia returned to smile to her face, covering up her emotions once again. She was stupid to have let herself get this close to him, to a point where she needed his presence to keep calm. "Oh, nothing, I just know Boomer is going to make me go first is all."
Warren just hummed in response, not really believing her lie. But he said nothing to counter the small girl.
"You all know the drill!" Boomer started. "Save the citizen, or prevent the salvation of the citizen! First up, Lash and Speed, Ramirez and Bloodstorm!"
Rhia shot Warren an 'I told you so' look before floating into the air and into the arena. Ramirez happened to be the girl who helped her with her books earlier in the hallway. They grinned at each other while putting on the pads. Rhia felt heavier with the gear on her skin, and she didn't like it.
The Bloodstorm girl leaned over to her partner, eyeballing the two idiots across the arena. "I can fly, refract light, and make water weapons, what about you?"
Ramirez seemed bashful. "I'm strong?" she seemed to question her own ability. Rhia clapped her on the shoulder.
"This will be good, we'll be fine," she reassured the girl.
"Ramirez, Bloodstorm, you're the heroes. You have three minutes to immobilize your opponents and save the citizen. Your time starts... now!" Boomer yelled, and all four students sprung into action. A thick baseball bat of water formed in Rhia's hands and she twirled it in her hands, waiting as Speed ran around them. Smirking, she swung right as the speedster ran past her, smashing it right in his gut and across the arena. Ramirez had gone to fight Lash, and was holding her own pretty well.
Rhia used Speed's downtime and Lash's distraction as a way to get to the citizen. Springing into the air, she flew towards the citizen with incredible speed. What she wasn't anticipating though, was Lash's arm coming out of nowhere and smacking her out of the air and into one of the arena walls. There were gasps in the audience all the time, cheers and boos as well. Rhia let out a cry of pain when she crashed to the ground, sure she had broken a rib. But her cry was unheard as the crowd cheered for Lash, who had both arms twined around Ramirez, who struggled in her bindings.
Stumbling to her feet, Rhia rushed as quickly as she could to a point where she could see Lash's eyes. She concentrated on the light in the room, turning her hands to point at his face. The light bounced off her hands as if they were mirrors, blinding the human taffy stick. Rhia was so focused on blinding him and freeing Ramirez that she didn't even notice that time had reached about twenty seconds and that Speed was running at her.
The boy smacked into her and sent her sprawling into the air, dangerously close to the spinning spikes, too close. This was proven when her piercing scream, along with others, filled the room. Rhia's pain-filled body was on one side of the spike machine, and her hand was on the other.
Boomer launched himself into the arena towards his niece. He picked her torso from the ground and held her close. "Somebody get the nurse!" he used his power on the crowding students, snapping his head back when Rhia grabbed his shirt.
"Let Warren through," she gasped out. "I can - I can regenerate it faster if the bleeding stops." Coach ordered the students to let the boy through, although he had already been pushing his way in. Warren dropped to their level.
"What can I do?" he asked frantically. He had seen her pain when she broke her ribs, and had already been making his way down the stairs when she lost her hand. It was excruciating to watch her be in so much pain, and he wondered how he had become so attached to her in so little time.
"You have to cauterize it so she can regenerate," Boomer said, gesturing to her severed limb. The sight of it alone made Rhia want to throw up, but the pain was so much worse.
Warren's eyes widened at the request. "You want me to burn her?" The thought of hurting her was so repulsive to him that it almost triggered his hurling reflex.
"Just stop the bleeding, War, come on!" Rhia cried out. He hesitated but lit his hand in flame, grabbing her wrist. She, along with several others, let out a scream that could've shattered windows if she had inherited her grandmother's gift like her uncle had. The sound and smell of burning flesh was repulsing, and Warren ripped his hand away as soon as he knew the bleeding had been stopped. In the corner of her tearful eyes, Rhia saw Zach faint into Magenta, who almost fell under the sudden dead weight.
Rhia's screams died off, turning into regular tears. Boomer called for a break where they would clean up the mess and recover from what happened.
"Peace, take her to the nurse while I oversee these fools," Boomer ordered, helping Rhia to her feet. She swayed heavily to the left, but Warren caught her with an arm around her waist. "And by the way, regeneration makes her very loopy, kind of an anesthetic affect, so be careful."
Rhia couldn't seem to walk on her own, so Warren swept an arm under her knees, keeping his other one firm on her waist. She drowsily looked up at him after they left the gym.
"You're really pretty, like your skin is flawless," she mumbled, poking his cheek with her good hand. "You should share your skincare routine."
"Thank you," his mouth quirked up again and she giggled. Suddenly turning solemn, she looked at her injured hand, which was about the size of a baby's already. "What?"
"It's too small," muttering the words under her breath, she wiggled her baby fingers.
Warren chuckled. "Too small for what?"
Her blue eyes narrowed. "You can't hold my hand if it's this small." The words shocked Warren to a point where he stopped walking. His eyes pierced her face with his mouth hanging open slightly.
"And why would I hold your hand, Rhiannon?"
Her eyes flashed up to meet his and she frowned. "I think," she started. "The better question is why wouldn't you hold my hand?" He was speechless at the blunt tone of her voice, the determination, but her remembered what Boomer told him.
"You're loopy. Sleep deprivation and regeneration are obviously not a good mix for you," he said, entering the nurse's office. The old woman at the desk took a look at Rhia and led Warren back to the cot, where he placed the girl gently.
"No, never mind what I said. Penny told me you don't do relationships," he words continued to shock him after every blow. Penny had said what? He tried to play it off as her condition, her tiredness speaking. Warren moved to leave as the nurse fretted over Rhia, but her voice stopped him cold. "And also, whoever said all is fair in love and war had obviously never met you."

Oof my babies. Let me know what you think!!