by Palladian
Casey grinned in return while Lex looked back up at the building again, considering. “Joan,” Lex asked after a while, “do you have a function in your suit to measure distances by flying them?”
Joan appeared to consider the question for a moment, and then nodded. “I can do that. What did you have in mind?”
“Could you fly the height of the building we need to evacuate and then fly the length of the horizontal piece of the tower crane? We need to figure out if we can use one of those long struts as the pole.”
“But—” Joan began.
Lex held up a hand to stop her question. “Could you just do it? Meanwhile, I'll check with Clara to see if we can get permission.”
After looking at Lex for a few moments, Joan finally nodded. “OK, but I'm not going to do anything to the property here unless we have express permission.”
“All right, all right,” Lex said, putting both hands up. “I'll go talk with her while you're measuring.”
As Joan strode off towards the burning building, Lex turned to Roger. “Could you come with me? I need to talk to our team coordinator and explain why you're here.”
The two of them walked to the M Agency van and Lex ducked inside, motioning the man with her to follow. She found Clara inside, talking on her cell phone. Lex gestured to Roger as he came to stand behind her, resting her other hand on the overly padded plastic bench seat, and watched Clara's eyes widen.
“I apologize, I've got to go. I'll call you back later,” Clara said, quickly hanging up her phone.
“Clara,” Lex began, “Roger's arrived. Serena went and picked him up.”
“I see,” Clara replied, her expression tight-lipped. “I'm still working on getting permission for him to be here.”
“I'm sorry about that. Hopefully it won't be an issue and we can finish what we need to borrow him for and get him back before anyone can decide against it.”
“Maybe,” Clara said warily, “but I'm guessing this isn't the only reason you're here or you would have simply told me by communicator. What else?”
Lex nodded in reply. “We came up with an idea about how to quickly evacuate the building. The bad news is that we'll need permission to take one of the struts off the tower crane next door.”
Lex quickly detailed the plan for Clara, and felt surprised to see the other woman nod in agreement at the beginning, but her face had darkened again by the time Lex finished explaining.
“It's probably going to take me a while to get permission to do that, if I can at all,” Clara said, clearly annoyed. “I'll need to call the crane company, get permission from our organization—”
“Clara, we need to move fast on this. When I talked to the firefighters and the engineer here, all of them were worried that the building could start crumbling at any time. Is there any way you could just get permission to pay damages so that we can move forward with this right away?”
Clara glared at Lex momentarily, then her expression softened. “All right, I'll check on that. Is there anything else?”
She studied Lex with a sour look as Lex shook her head in the negative and headed out of the van, Roger following.
“Well, that went well,” he said. Lex could almost hear the smirk in his voice. She sighed.
“Just get ready. If the next bit goes according to plan, you'll be up soon.”
As the two of them came back to where the group had previously been standing, Lex looked for Casey and Serena. Serena stood under a streetlight looking bored, with Casey nearby, still staring up at the crane next door. Lex moved to join them and the two other women turned to look at her.
“So,” Lex asked, “how do you think we'll be able to get it down?”
Casey looked back up at the building. “I don't know exactly.”
Lex turned to Serena. “Do you think you could get us up there to take a look?”
Serena grinned, and then took something out of one of her jumpsuit pockets. “Sure. Let me see if I can find a safe place for us to land.”
She studied the building with a pair of binoculars, stepping out into the empty street to get a better viewing angle at one point, then finally nodded and put them away. “OK, ladies,” she said, stepping between Casey and Lex and grabbing each of their arms, “here's a higher view of the world.”
They now all stood over the building in construction, on the ballast for the tower crane. At least fifteen stories up from what Lex could guess as she bit back a sudden feeling of vertigo, instead looking at the crane.
“Well,” Casey said, raising her voice against the sound of wind at that height. “I guess we could just toss the pole to the road below.” Even with the competing noise, her tone sounded doubtful.
Lex cringed, imagining the response that idea would get from Clara as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear from where it had blown into her eyes. “Do you think there's any other way?”
Looking over at Casey, she saw the blonde shrug her shoulder, gazing down into the street, then back at the tower crane. “Maybe, if Joan could fly it down,” Casey replied, shaking her head.
“Joan,” Lex said into her communicator, “what do you think?”
“I could definitely maneuver it so that it falls in the middle of the street and guide it to some degree on the way down, but I would guess the full weight of the pole would be more than my suit is rated for.” After a pause, Joan added, “Did you get permission?”
“Still working on it,” Lex answered wryly. “Stay tuned.”
“Serena,” Lex asked next, turning to the other woman, “do you think Roger can do his thing to separate one strut on the tower crane?”
The redhead cocked her head to one side, considering. “Mostly I've seen him shoot things before, not do fine work like this, so I don't know. I also don't know how he is with heights. Let's see.”
Lex watched as Serena disappeared with a grin, then reappeared a minute or two later with Roger. His eyes widened as he stepped back from the edge, Lex noted, and she internally cringed. Maybe he does have a problem with heights, she thought.
Lex put out a hand to steady Roger. “I don't know if Serena filled you in, but one of the things we want your help with is separating the outer strut of the tower crane. Also, before we put it in place, it needs to be smooth, but you can do that part on the ground. Do you think you can do all of that?”
She watched him closely, noting how his eyes widened again and how he straightened upon looking at the women surrounding him. He looked back at Lex, not quite meeting her eyes, and replied, “Sure, I can do that. No problem.”
Serena snorted. “Don't bullshit the lady, Roger. Can you really do it, or are you just bragging?”
He looked back at her, annoyed with a touch of nervousness, as if used to Serena seeing through him. “Yes I can do it,” he asserted, his voice insistent. “I'm just bad with heights.”
“How about if we have someone with you every step of the way, someone who could get you out of danger if anything happened?” Lex asked, continuing to study his reactions.
Roger nodded, the movement more steady. “Yeah, that should work.”
Lex returned his nod, and then looked over at Casey. “I figure you and George could split up, each holding on to one side of the pole as Roger separates it. Joan can back Roger up until he's done. When it's free, the two of you give it a good push out, and then Joan can guide it down to the street. Serena can stand by to get you three down once that's done. What do you think?”
“Sure, as long as we can get George to cooperate,” Casey responded with a grimace.
“I'll think of something,” Lex agreed, shaking her head. Then, turning to Serena, she asked, “Can you take me back down? I'm going to have to talk George into working on this.”
The redhead nodded with a raised eyebrow, stepping forward. After Lex blinked, the two of them stood on the small lawn in front of the building, and then Serena vanished. Lex coughed as she breathed in, realizing that the smoke hung much more heavil
y by the ground than up above.
After a few minutes’ conversation with the Alpha team civilian coordinator, and some talk with George in which Lex was somehow able to couch the upcoming events as a competition with Casey, Lex stood on the grass in front of the burning apartment building again, along with George, waiting for Serena.
Suddenly, her communicator crackled, and then she heard Clara speak up. “Lex,” the woman said in a clipped, somewhat tired voice, “I've gotten permission to go ahead with everything you've requested so far. Please be aware, however, that your plan will be assessed after this mission, and if it's determined that a better course of action existed, one that wouldn't have been as expensive, your pay will be docked for the next two months.”
“OK,” Lex agreed without pause. “That sounds fair. By the way, we'll probably need to drop the crane section in the street. If we do that, Joan should be able to guide it so that it doesn't hit any cars.”
She waited a moment, hearing nothing but silence on her communicator, then spoke again. “Clara? Are you there?”
“Yes, I'm here Lex,” Clara replied, her tone even more annoyed. “Just go ahead and do it.”
Serena grabbed Lex's hand as soon as she appeared, and Lex watched as her friend put a few reluctant fingers on George's back, then suddenly the three of them stood on the crane ballast with a nervous Roger, and Casey and Joan.
Lex turned to Joan. “I take it you heard that.”
She nodded in return, and Lex briefly re-explained the plan before they started, then fished another communicator out of one of her pockets to hand to George. As the other four began their tasks, Lex turned to Serena.
“Could you take me over to where the fire fighters are?” she asked. “I need to talk to them about what we're planning.”
Serena nodded as she grabbed Lex's hand, and then the two of them appeared on the side of the plaza with the firefighting equipment. Lex took her communicator off for a moment as she touched Serena's wrist before her friend left again.
“Can you get back up there and keep an eye on Roger?” Lex said, giving Serena a serious look. “He looks pretty nervous, so please keep an extra eye on him in case he makes a mistake. We absolutely need him and you for the next step, so can you keep the both of you safe?”
Smiling and saluting, Serena answered before disappearing. “Don't worry Lex, we'll be fine.”
It took Lex some time to explain to the fire fighters what role she wanted them to take, but they seemed eager once she'd explained everything. The engineer didn't seem as happy at hearing Lex's plan, but after a bit of convincing, he agreed to provide her with measurements for the planned hole. At that moment, however, Lex heard some cheers in her headset followed by a terse comment from Joan a few seconds later. “I can't hold it; I'm letting go.”
“All right,” Lex replied, and then braced herself.
The hollow boom that followed caused a moment of silence all around, and Lex surveyed the stunned faces in flickering flames from the fire and flashing emergency lights on the fire trucks. Feeling her face burning with embarrassment, she raised her voice.
“I'm sorry,” she shouted, “I should have let everyone know that was expected.”
At her pronouncement, activity started up again, some people looking at her with annoyance or confusion but generally accepting what she'd said and getting on with their work. Lex turned to find the engineer staring at her now, but he grumblingly complied when she requested a large tape measure and some chalk. As she walked back towards the front of the building, Lex called out on her communicator again.
“Serena, are you and Roger back on the ground?”
“Yes,” the redhead answered. “He's working on smoothing out the burrs on the pole.”
“Good,” Lex replied. “Could you meet me on the front lawn? I need your help getting to the roof.”
A moment later, Serena appeared, grabbed hold of Lex's arm, and she watched the scenery abruptly change from the entrance of the burning apartments to a high view of the buildings surrounding them, somewhat obscured by smoke and flames. Lex got her balance as she looked around a moment, nodded, then headed towards the edge of the flat roof.
“Where are you thinking about making the hole?” Serena asked.
Lex laid out the measurements the engineer had given her, trying not to get too close to the gout of flames that sprung up along the edge, and then began drawing some marks. “Well,” she replied, pointing to the middle before she started the measurements for the next side, “About here. I was hoping you and Roger could do it together. Something about the size of a couple of people and the pole on each floor, all the way down to the ground floor. He cuts and you transport the rubble and the two of you out of the way before everything falls to the next floor. Do you think you can do it?” She patted her now overly-warm hair as she finished drawing, hoping no sparks had flown into it.
Serena smirked. “I think I could. Or we could make a big mess. I'm willing to try it, either way.”
Lex shrugged, her shoulders tight. “It'd be better if you could, especially for the structure. My backup plan is to borrow George or Casey when they get over here and have them push the debris out of the way. We'll have to wait to start, though, because I'll have to ask the fire fighters to make an announcement to get people to move from the center of the building.”
Nodding in reply, Serena added, “Yeah, and we'll have to figure out how to get the pole up here.”
With the ghost of a smile, Lex nodded back. “I have some ideas about that.”
She finished marking out a rough circle and turned back to Serena. “Can we go back down? I need to touch base with Riss before the others get back.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Serena said, reaching out with a wink, and then the two stood on the front lawn once more. Lex smiled in return as she made her way over to Riss' temporary headquarters under a tree across the way. Her friend sat on a little blanket with a number of laptops spread out before her, dusting ash from a computer screen with her sleeve, and looked up as Lex approached.
“Hey,” Lex said as she sat down beside the other woman. “How's it going? Did you and Lily manage to set up the same sort of tracking system as before?”
Riss nodded and showed Lex a spreadsheet. “It was a little easier since I have access to the building occupant list now. We're checking everyone off as they arrive, as best we can figure if they're injured and non-responsive. We're just keeping counts for anyone whose identity isn't clear.”
“Good. Did you hear from Clara about hooking into the security cameras for the building?”
Riss' eyes darted around the area before she nodded, showing Lex a number of video feeds from her laptop screen from all over the building. “Yes. I just heard from her a little while ago.”
The next thing she did, however, was to change to the laptop Lex had given her and show Lex a different feed. It seemed to show the basement of the building, and Riss pointed to something in the corner of the room. Lex took a closer look and a quick breath in as she nodded. It appeared to be a big grate, large enough for a human to get through. She nodded as she sat up straight, trying to stop from breaking out a huge smile and now scanning the area for Clara herself.
“Well, thanks for keeping an eye on all of that,” she said, meeting Riss' gaze. “If you could keep a special watch on the basement, I'd appreciate it. We're all paying attention to the upper floors, so I don't want to miss it if someone gets lost down there.”
“Will do,” Riss replied with a tiny smirk.
Lex approached the firefighters afterwards, asking that they make a loudspeaker announcement telling people to back away from the center of the building and choose one of the wings to stand in. Then she went to request that one of the support people they'd arrived with bring food, and came back to the front of the building in time to see George, Casey, and Joan arrive, each spaced out along the pole and carrying it slowly.
“Thanks, everyone,” Lex said, approaching the g
roup as they reached the front lawn. “Could you just leave it here for the moment while I work with Serena and Roger to get the building ready? The snacks and drinks should come soon, so dig in if you want to once they do.”
Joan and Casey nodded as they slowly lowered the pole to the ground, but both of them ended up glaring at George when he went faster than they did, almost pulling Casey off balance and nearly dropping his end of the pole on Lex's foot. He shot an angry look at Casey before stomping off towards the Alpha team van. Casey and Lex both glanced at each other and shook their heads. A moment later, Lex took a little time to run a hand over the now smooth surface of the pole, verifying the job that Roger had completed.
“All right,” Serena said, clapping a hand on Lex's back, “are we ready?”
Lex nodded, looking over to see Roger at the redhead's other side. As she blinked once, they suddenly stood on the roof of the burning building, the sounds of the city farther away and more smoke billowing by than before. Briefly explaining to Roger what she and Serena had discussed earlier, Lex watched as he listened, looked at the spot she'd marked, and considered for a moment.
“Shouldn't be a problem,” he finally said with a nod. Looking at Serena, he raised an eyebrow. “Ready to try the first one?”
Serena stepped forward with a smirk, standing behind him and laying a hand on his shoulder. “Fire when ready,” she replied.
Lex watched as two focused beams of yellow light emerged from Roger's fingertips as he pointed his hands down at the circle she'd drawn on the roof. It took a few moments, but she could see smoke and dust as the light began to penetrate the roof's surface, and then he turned slowly, following the circle, Serena mirroring his moves. After a couple of minutes, Lex saw the two of them jolt as Roger finished the cuts, and then they vanished.
“Serena, Roger,” Lex called on her communicator, her voice shaky and her heart pounding in her throat as she stared through the hole into the floor below. “How did it go?”
Then the two of them reappeared in front of her, Roger smiling and Serena laughing. “It went OK, but the best thing was the look on George's face! I decided to land the first one right by the Alpha van.”
