B. I. A.

[Hyunie]

..the fire was climbing?

The news hit her pretty hard. She thought the sprinklers would have stopped the fire from going past the seventh floor. She waited patiently, knowing that Dark was well on his way up; she thought, maybe she should meet him halfway. That way they could go down together, without much trouble; but he told her to wait, and a part of her was dying every second as she stood there. By the time she decided to go meet him halfway, he was already up - damn, he was fast. She stared at him, watching him drop. Immediately she ran to his side, pulling him away from the rooftop door and off to the side. There was a lot of wind up here, and he would get a better supply of oxygen.

"Thanks for waiting."

"Thanks for coming."

She replied, because in all honesty, now that Brian was down and safe, and although she was no longer scared, she was glad to know that Dark would climb up 10 flights of stairs for her. Brian was probably with Joanna - or with a policeman. She knew Dark wasn't stupid enough to let some stranger hold onto her child. But now, she started thinking. What if Dark and Hyunie died? Who would take care of her beloved son? Of their beloved son?

"Dark... Chrynos... Carlos, you should have just told me over the phone to go back down..."

Because going down was a lot easier than going up. A lot easier. She knew that Chrynos was tired - but if they stayed any longer, they'd be trapped. She kissed his forehead, before taking his hand and pulled.

"Down we go, Superman."

She saw his injuries, but she couldn't treat them. She had nothing to use; his jacket was too thick, her clothes were dark with ash, and frankly, so were his. Maybe she could've used her sock, or something, but that thought didn't cross her mind.

"Hold your breath on the 8th floor."

She wondered how far down they'd be able to go without having to breathe, but considering that the rest of their body was moving and needed oxygen to pump the blood, she figured it wouldn't be a whole lot. Once they reached the 8th floor, she held her breath and continued to go down, realizing that it was extremely hot due to the cement trapping the heat inside the stairway. She kept a firm grip on his hands as she made her way down, pulling her shirt above her nose once more.

Dizzy. Coughing.

She wasn't able to hold her breath for long; it appeared that the fire was not only spreading up, but down as well.

[Chrynos]

"Dark... Chrynos... Carlos, you should have just told me over the phone to go back down..."
"Didn't cross my mind."

Chrynos grinned like an idiot as he dragged himself away from the door, relieved as the heat no longer reached him. As he sat there for a moment to regain his energy, a thought hit him. Where were the rest of the people trapped in the top floors? Had the firemen succeeded in bringing them down? Perhaps, with their excessively elongated ladders, they could be able to. Then, she kissed his forehead, the man looking up at her with another smile. As she tugged at his hand, however, he would only move at the second tug, the man still exhausted from bearing the heat and the exhaustion of having climbed ten stories of staircases.

Once more, they entered hell, Chrynos' eyes squinted as the smoke travelled up to them. That was what sucked about going back down. Smoke went upwards, meeting them in the face. Chrynos messily wrapped the jacket over his mouth, his hand gripping Hyunie's tight, not wanting to take the risk and let her fall into the flame just in case the staircase collapsed. It had been a while since the fire had been alive, after all. Some of these staircase may no longer sustain their weight. As they reached the 8th floor, it only got worse. Chrynos found himself unable to see anything due to the smoke and also the flames. Who ever thought one could be blind from both darkness and light?

Then, a soft clanging sound reached his ears as they took a step down. His eyes widened. Letting out a grunt, he pulled Hyunie to him, his arm wrapping around her waist as he leapt backwards, his back hitting hard against the wall. Then, the flight of staircase they had been standing up gave way, part of it engulfed in flames already. Chrynos let out a soft grunt, holding Hyunie in his arms as smoke enveloped them.

"You ok?"

As soon as she would answer, the two would proceed to stand up. This time, Chrynos would take lead, and a crazy idea just popped into his head. Opening the door into the 8th floor hallway, he glanced at the silver doors opposite where they stood now. He had found it. Letting go of Hyunie for a moment, he glanced a both sides, watching as the flames started to eat up the alleyways at each end. They had not much time left. Wedging his fingers in between the gaps in between the silver doors, he pulled it open. There was a soft hissing sound as the trapped pressurised air blew into Chrynos' face. And soon enough, the gap was large enough for the two of them to enter. He looked down, noticing that the flames had yet to enter the elevator shaft. That was good. He looked up, then saw the wires. At that, he turned back to Hyunie, wrapping his arms around her waist as he gently pulled her towards the door, his back still facing the elevator shaft.

"Love... Do you trust me?"

[Hyunie]

He also had good senses. He's saved her life on more than one account, treated her like a queen when he was around - what woman wouldn't like him as a significant other? She hated it when he went away without saying anything. What does she tell Brian when he looks for daddy? That he's away on a business trip and that she doesn't know when he'll be back, if ever? But he always comes back. Be it a year or two later, but through some odd and unknown fate - the two were always pulled together. They could be a hundred miles apart, and somehow they would find each other - it was why she had stopped pushing away, even if he pissed her off at times when he went poof.

"Y-Yeah.."

She uttered, watching and following him. He opened the doors to the elevator shaft, and she frowned.

"Love... Do you trust me?"

There was a time in high school when he had asked the same question. She stared at him, and nodded her head.

"With my life."

[Chrynos]

"With my life."

Chrynos smiled as he hugged her then, burying his face on her hair. He missed the smell of her hair greatly. And at that moment, Chrynos almost lost himself in a trance as he enjoyed her body in his arms once more, as if they were no longer in a building that was in the risk of collapsing once the fire was able to reach the foundation. Of course, that was a long way off, but considering where they were, they'd be dead by then if they stayed still.

And then, without warning, Chrynos would leap backwards, his left hand gripping around Hyunie's waist tight as his right hand reached backwards. He lifted his face from Hyunie's hair, raising it upwards as he watched his right hand grip tight on one of the wires. Gritting his teeth, he braced his right hand for pain as they started to slide downwards, a muffled yell of pain emerging from the male as his hand burned under the friction with the wire. Two floors down and they were still going, Chrynos hugging Hyunie tight as he felt his right hand giving way. Not good.

Four floors down. They were halfway there, but Chrynos' hand was going to let go soon. At that, he coiled his legs backwards, putting the rope in between his ankles, before pulling them forward, pressing the rope against his back as finally, they started to slow down. Chrynos then proceeded to coil the wire around his right ankle, keeping his back pressed against the wire to provide himself with a leverage as he then diverted his attention to Hyunie, the couple stopping at the third floor, suspended in mid-air by Chrynos' grip on the rope.

"Still ok?"

A soft weak chuckle escaped his lips once more.

[Hyunie]

It was sudden. Her eyes had been on his hand the whole time, frowning - how painful it must have been for him, to carry her and slide down the whole time. She held onto him, arms around his neck as she only nodded her head, at a loss for words. She was okay, but he wasn't; they were three floors up, he stopped, and Hyunie decided it was low enough for her to jump.

"I can jump from here."

It would be quite the fall; she looked down, knowing that if she jumped, she'd land on top of the elevator, but first, he'd have to let her go.

[Chrynos]

"I can jump from here."

Chrynos looked at her for a moment, slightly in disbelief. He knew she did not like seeing him in pain, but risking breaking her legs? That was too much. Chrynos smiled, before shaking his head. Looking down for a moment, he judged the distance left they had to scale. Well, didn't seem fatal, but no risk could be taken. Who knew what kind of shrapnel or other sharp stuff hid in the shadows at the bottom of the lift? Besides, the elevator may not even be below them. Then again, why would the wire be there in the first place?

"We'll go down together."

He smiled, kissing her forehead, before slowly and surely, loosening his grip on both the ankles and his right hand as he casually brought them down, the sound of fires echoing down the elevator shaft. They had to move fast. Once the fire in the 8th floor entered the shaft, the rope would snap and they'd fall to their death. Well, not really to their death, but it would hurt like shit.

Moving slowly, he brought them down to the second floor and soon enough, he felt his foot touch solid. He beamed.

"It's the elevator!"

[Hyunie]

He heard her - that much she knew, but she could not see the expression on his face, for it was too dark to see anything, really. She frowned when she heard his words, about going down together, and then the kiss on the forehead. His hand - she thought of how messed up it probably was by now. If she had only gone down after Joanne - if she hadn't been dumb enough to climb up to the roof, he wouldn't be in this position, and neither would she. Hyunie had a bad habit of blaming a lot of things on herself, unless it was blatantly obvious that it wasn't her fault. He was taller than her, so naturally, he'd be the first to feel the top of the elevator. She pulled away slowly, slowly moving her feet around... Almost there.

"Okay, so how do we get out of here?"

Because currently, the elevator was blocking the entrance to the second floor. They could climb up to the third, break open the doors and go out, or, they could somehow push down the elevator and push open the second floor doors and get out. Both equally difficult because the third floor, you have to open them while being elevated into the air, whereas the second floor, you'd have to either stomp really hard, or find an entrance into the elevator or...

"Officially the most hectic day of my life, so far."

[Chrynos]

"Okay, so how do we get out of here?"
"We force our way out of here."

Chrynos replied as he knelt down for a moment, leaving Hyunie in the dark momentarily as he searched for the latch that allowed anyone in the elevator to escape, or anyone outside to get inside. Every elevator had one, and this had to have one too. If it did not, then this apartment complex seriously needed renovating. Then, he found it. The faint border of the latch. Of course, it would not be easily opened, cause if it was, then the elevator could become a trouble-maker's new playground.

"Officially the most hectic day of my life, so far."

Chrynos stopped for a moment, turning back to where he thought she would be. Although they were unable to see each other, Chrynos smiled nonetheless, before letting his eyes look up as the flickering lights of the flames finally entered the shaft. Too bad they were still too far down for the light to let them see each other, but at least Chrynos knew that they still had time to get out. Not much, but enough. Turning back to Hyunie, he finally replied to her comment.

"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly put 'Save my fiancee from a burning building' into my to-do list."

Chrynos was joking, of course. Then, without another word, he raised his right fist and clenched it, before smashing it downwards on the latch. That was a loud clanging sound as it was smashed out from its hinges and thrown into the elevator, bouncing off the floor and the wall, before coming to a stop by the entrance. Perhaps Chrynos had hit too hard? A soft chuckle escape his lips, before he reached outwards at Hyunie. There was an emergency light in the elevator, crimson in colour. And with Chrynos standing near the latch, she would easily see him.

"Let's go."

[Hyunie]

"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly put 'Save my fiancee from a burning building' into my to-do list."

She winced, taking it a little more heavier than a joke. She was tempted to say that she never asked to be saved, considering Hyunie was almost fully adapted into being an independent single mom, but she had to consider that he did save her life regardless - fiance or not. With a loud crash, she looked over in that direction, seeing Dark's face in the longest - or what seemed to have been - time. She sighed, hesitantly taking his hand, trying to figure out if he punched with that hand, or a different one, and which hand was the one that got injured from the cable wires. She jumped into the elevator, pressing the |< >| button to make the doors slide open. She looked over at Dark, a relieving look on her eyes as she took his arm, taking note that they should probably stop by the paramedics and get his hand checked.

Stepping forward, she looked for the stairway, which she easily found and yanked it open, holding it long enough for Dark to pass through. She went down two at a time and jumped the last five, landing with a quiet thud - she was eager to see Brian to apologize for dropping him purposely out the seventh floor window. My, wouldn't that be a story to tell him when he gets older?

The light hit her hard, eyes slowly but surely adjusting from the dark of the elevator shaft to the light of the sun. It was probably half past noon, maybe more or less depending on how much time she spent in the apartment. Paramedics came to their aid, almost immediately, pressing oxygen masks against her and Chrynos' face, but she pushed hers away and showed them his hand, which... Well, to be honest, she didn't want to see them.

Eyes landed on Brian and Joanne, and immediately she sprinted after the two, a sigh of relief and a brightened look appearing on her face.

"Thank you so much, Joanne," Hyunie said in an earnest voice, scooping Brian out of Joanne's arms and into her own, cooing him with her voice. She kissed his forehead and sighed once more, hardly noticing that she was seriously dirty and in need of a shower, not to mention new clothes. She had minor burns - nothing Aloe gel wouldn't be able to take care of.

She smiled.

She didn't mind chaotic days, so long as they had happy endings.

[Chrynos]

As he lowered Hyunie into the elevator, he would follow soon after, using but his left hand. His right hand was violently shaking, most of the skin of his fingers having being torn off and were now bleeding. And stupid him just had to use it to punch the latch off. As soon as he touched the ground, Hyunie opened the door for them, the elevator surprisingly working. He had expected the electricity to be cut off by now, considering there was a fire. This building honestly needed renovation. As she took his uninjured arm, Chrynos would follow after her into the stairway, where their arms would part for a moment as Hyunie rushed down the staircase, Chrynos slowly following after her. Truly, he was exhausted. And he was bleeding. And his body was aching.

Chrynos left the staircase shaft, still moving slowly as he followed Hyunie out of the building, the woman obviously excited to see her child once more. Chrynos was just as excited, but his exhaustion was taking the toll out of him. Then, just as he passed the elevator shaft, he heard a soft snapping sound. His eyes widened. Jerking his body forward, he dived towards the entrance. Just as he landed on the ground, there was a loud thud behind him as the elevator door was blasted open. The rope had snapped, the elevator crashing to the first floor. Wow, had Chrynos been a second late, he'd be sandwiched by the wall and the elevator door. Standing up with his left hand, he finally relaxed to a walk, before he was assaulted by an army of paramedics.

Like Hyunie, he pushed the oxygen mask away, but as Hyunie showed them his hand, he found himself getting dragged away to the ambulance, away from his ex-fiancee. Chrynos' eyes widened, trying to resist against the paramedics, but there were too many of them. Even the police came in to help, though one of them got a cheap shot at his stomach, perhaps for what he did earlier. Soon enough, he relaxed upon seeing Brian in Hyunie's arms, a smile coming up to his face.

As he sat down at the ambulance, his left hand holding his right glove as the man tended to stop the bleeding and wrap his fingers with bandages to use as make-shift skin. He coughed twice, before closing his eyes as he finally calmed himself down. It was all over. For some reason, however, Chrynos found himself unable to look up at Hyunie and Brian. He was guilty, after all. Guilty for leaving her twice already, and his son once. Would they give him another chance, and if they did, would Chrynos be forced to fail them once more?

The very thought of it dragged the smile away from Chrynos' face.

[Hyunie]

Holding Brian in her arms and realizing all that they had been through in the past half hour or so made her realize how tired she really was. Wearily, she looked around for Dark, almost as frantic as she had been when looking for Brian - until she saw a group of paramedics surrounding him, wrapping his hand up and tending to his wounds. She noticed his shoulder, the one which had been grazed by the bullet, and she was going to point it out until one of the paramedics began to treat it properly. She bit back her tongue before letting out a small smile - best to let the professionals handle this. For Hyunie to help out would only result in her getting in their way. And as much as she loved - sarcasm - to treat his wounds, it seemed as if she was not needed at the time being.

She did, however, still approach him with Brian in her arms, gently rocking Brian back and forth. She stood near by, waiting patiently until the medics were done treating him, letting him know that he should probably stop by the hospital to get even better treatment, and to buy certain products from the drug store to replace the bandages. If he ever looked her way, she would smile, and once the paramedics moved out of the way, she would take a seat next to him, letting out a short laugh.

"Everytime we're together, you're the only one that gets hurt," Hyunie started, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Think of how you would feel if I were the only one to get hurt," she uttered quietly, because to be completely honest, she was feeling guilty. She wished that she could just take all his pain and put it on herself. Too bad the world doesn't work that way. Heh.

[Chrynos]

He opened his eyes finally, though involuntarily as someone started to nab his gunshot wound with a piece of moist cotton wool, trying to clean the wound of the ash that had entered it. A soft hissing sound emerged from his closed mouth as he bore the pain, a soft sigh following after as soon as he was able to adapt to it. At that, he caught sight of a woman's socks and looked up, seeing Hyunie with Brian in her hands. He smiled, welcoming the two warmly to his little ambulance. Soon enough, the paramedics were done, their advice reaching deaf ears as Chrynos' attention was fixed upon his family. Then, Hyunie would sit beside him, with Brian in her arms.

"Everytime we're together, you're the only one that gets hurt, think of how you would feel if I were the only one to get hurt."

Chrynos looked at her, utterly surprised. He had abandoned her once more, even after knowing that he had a son, and yet she welcomed him so warmly, even feeling guilty for getting him hurt. It took a while for Chrynos to recover as he smiled warmly, before placing his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his body. His right arm was covered in stained-red bandages, which was something he hid from Brian's sight. With a smile, he kissed the side of Hyunie's head, before whispering.

"We both know I would never let that happen..."

Then, he pulled away, looking up as the fire then reached to the roof of the building. At that, Chrynos let out a soft sigh. Although he was unsure, Chrynos felt as if he had abandoned someone inside the building to be burnt alive. True, he had to save his family, but he also had the chance to save the others. That was what the Thunder Wrath Pendant had been entitled to him for. To save others. And he had failed. Then, his eyes came upon what was Hyunie's apartment.

"Well, looks like you're going to have to move."

[Hyunie]

"But if it did happen, you would feel guilty."

Hyunie sighed. And it wasn't as if she was welcoming him with open arms either. He had saved Brian, and because of that reason alone is why she was sitting next to him. If there had been no fire, back on those streets when she saw him, she would have crossed it and walked straight into the grocery store and leave through the back, wait for half an hour then come back out and leave. Maybe she'd even pack up and run, if she had to, because although she should have been used to his disappearances by now, she wasn't. Every time he came back, he brought up her hopes that he would stay for good - every time her hope is shot down, dragging her into a rather depressed state because she didn't know where he was, or how to get into contact with him. It wasn't like with your husband or boyfriend went off to war - though the two feelings in comparison may have been similar...

"Apparently so," Hyunie replied, a faint displeasing look on her face as she eyed the seventh floor from where they were sitting. It wasn't hard looking for a place in California, it's just that they were long processes; you had to read a bunch of papers, sign a bunch of papers, buy sh!t to put in your home - or sell them if you had too much. But she had to buy things regardless, considering how everything in the apartment probably burned down. She wasn't super excited to re-buy things, but at least this time she knew which games to buy for Brian...

And suddenly she was glad she put her valuables in a safe deposit box at the bank. Well. Most of them, at least.

"Haha, you're dirty."

She poked a finger at his cheek, making an imprint because of the ash on his face. Well, she probably looked similar, but eh.

[Chrynos]

Chrynos chuckled as Hyunie poked his cheek, leaving an imprint on his face. At that, he closed his eyes, thinking back on when the two were still together, when Hyunie was Destiny. He missed those days. And he had to leave her. He regretted much more now. Then, he thought about what she said earlier. He would guilty. No shit, he already was guilty. Stacking it up would only give Chrynos major emotional damage. Something he did not need at the moment.

Then, as he looked up at Hyunie's apartment, and then at her, he smiled as an idea popped into his head. Before he openly said it, though, he looked towards the south, where the beach was located. And if one looked closely, they would see a sort of condominium building sticking out among the other buildings, unnoticeable unless pointed out. And that was what he did. Removing his left arm from around her shoulders, he pointed at the building.

"Hey, Hyunie, see that building? The top floor? I own a penthouse apartment there. What say you move in with me? You know, until you find yourself another apartment. What do you say?"

Chrynos knew that Hyunie had yet to accept him back into her life just yet, so he would give her time. He would give her space until she was finally able to. Until then, he would wait, no matter how long it took. For after all these years, he finally understood that there was only one person in his heart, no matter how hard he tried to forget her. And he was back home once more.

[Hyunie]

He pointed at a building, which Hyunie took the the courtesy to look at. She stared at it, wondering what exactly Dark was trying to get at until he spoke. She didn't say anything for a while as she thought things through - it was only fair for Dark to get his fair share with Brian now that he was back, because it takes two to make a child. Slowly she nodded her head, though in a way, she was afraid to accept Dark once more. She knew that if she moved in with him, the time she would spend with him and Brian as a family would have an immediate effect. Maybe that's why she accepted, because a part of her still desperately wanted to have a whole family - so desperately did not want Brian to become fatherless.

"Okay."

She smiled and looked over at Dark.

"Thanks. For catching Brian."

He was her world. If anything happened to him...

Well. Let's not go there.