Burning Desire

Through the Floor

"The boy in blue."

Pixie let out an exasperated sigh at my side, sweeping her hair out of her face. She glared at us with the familiar disapproval she often wore when we discussed Johnny.

"Come on, do we really have to do this every time?" She whined.

"Aww, but you know we tease him out of love." Dodger added, sweeping in from nearby.

"Really?" She asked.

The three of us exchanged looks, grinning as we turned back towards her.

"Nahhhh." We replied in unison.

The responding laughter was drowned out by the sound of the bell, and with a loud groan, we all dragged ourselves up, running down to the appliances, climbing on boars, and heading out into the night.

Arriving at the nightclub we'd been called to, the first thing that could be heard was the screams. The dull thudding of music was still pouring from the open doors to the club. The street had been cordoned off by the police officers that were already on scene. A bunch of them were guiding injured parties to the nearby paramedics, or helping them across the street, away from danger.

"Will, grab the tools," Alex said as he studied the scene. "Let's get in there."

We started forward, sidestepping the casualties. We'd almost reached the doors, when a copper walked out in front of us, his brown hair and familiar face were flecked in a light coat of dust, and blood tinged the front of his uniform.

"Johnny?" Pixie shouted, rushing forwards and into her boyfriend's arms.

"Cassie, I'm okay." He soothed her reassuringly as we looked on.

He peeled her off him with a gentle chuckle, sighing as she cupped his face and looked him over, searching for any signs of injury.

"You're covered in blood? You're hurt?" She gasped.

"It's not mine," He assured her, looking past her towards the rest of us. "I'm glad you're all here, it's a mess in there."

That much was obvious, judging from the people still exiting the building. The majority of the walking wounded appeared to have minor injuries to limbs, occasionally someone being assisted with a head wound.

"What happened?" Dodger asked.

"Balcony collapse." Johnny answered, "The club was reopening tonight, they refurbished a few months back, tonight was set to be a big hit. Looks like they didn't pay attention to how many people they allowed in."

"Or looked the other way and let them in anyway." I mumbled.

Johnny nodded, shrugging slightly.

"I wouldn't be surprised, this place has a record with incidents. It's packed in there. Too many were on the balcony, it gave out underneath them. We've evacuated most of them," He stepped aside to let a fellow officer past with a staggering woman. "Evacuation is ongoing, but we've got two people known to be trapped, and one fatality so far."

"Alright, thanks." Alex replied. "Will, get that music off, and then I want you, Sam and Pixie to search for any other casualties. Rebel, you and Dodger, and Rosie and Hustler, get to work on freeing those that are trapped. Jax, you're with me."

With our orders clear, we entered the building. I'd barely made it into the room, before a complication arose.

"Er, Sub?"

"What is it?"

I squinted in the glare from the neon lights, and pointed up ahead.

"That."