Meeting in the Flames of tragedy

"My children and husband are stuck on the third floor!" screamed out a hysterical woman, which two police men were struggling to hold her back from running back inside of the building to try and save her family. The fireman were on the scene, but the fire had already began to spread to the other buildings and they were struggling to keep it from taking the entire block. One fireman attempted to enter the building but a sudden flare had launched out at him forcing him down the concrete steps and onto his back.

"Please somebody do something!" she dropped to her knee's in prayer, praying for a miracle or some one to come save her family. The police officer watched helplessly as fireman attempted to extiquish the flames as parts of the buildings began to collapse. Then suddenly, from the roof top across the burning building dived a dark figure. Leaping an increadible distance, as if diving into a pool of fire, through the window of a third floor apartment. "Vital signs normal, suit and its componants seem to be adequately protected from the heat as well as your body. Sir, proceed with extreme caution for the buildings structural integrity has been heavily compromised."

"I'll keep that in mind Aivas, did you run that womans face and figure out which apartment is theirs?" Connor took a step forward and soon felt himself falling through the floor. As he fell, Connor caught himself by grabbing hold of a wooden beam. Red pulled himself up and walked across the wood as if it were a balance beam to the other side of the room. "The Waber family, apartment 314 and you are currently in apartment 320. They are a little further back in the complex which is still mostly together. Calculating by the fires rate of growth and the buildings' current instability the fire started in one of the front apartments."

Red opened the door to the room he had dived into and entered the hallway of apartment 320, he quickly made his way out into the main corridor where the rest of the apartments were. "HMD is adequately keeping the air you breath clean sir but the carbon monoxide is at dangerous levels." Red made his way down several apartment before arriving at apartment 314, the door wa shut and locked which meant little to Connor who kicked it down. There was a body underneath rubble which was set a flame, the father was dead, and by the looks of it was on his way out when they realized the building was on fire.

"The chances of the childrens survival is..." Suddenly there was a scream of two children coming from the back of the apartment. "never something that should be calculated AIVAS." Red moved around the rubble and made his way into the back of the apartment where he found two children huddled in a corner. "Children, you need to come with me. Your mother is outside worried sick." Red offered them his hand, and they excepted it. One clung to his back while the other was held in his one arm. "The buildings around you have structural damage, and it wouldn't be safe to grapple out that way for the chances of you falling are great." Red made his way over to the elevator and forced the door open, the elevator was several floors above them and there was no fire in the metal shaft.

With his free hand, the one which he wore his gaunlet, he shot his grapple into the bottom of the elevator and retracted down to the first floor. He than tried to pull the doors open but they were slightly damaged. From above Red heard steel cables snap as the elevator fell, its breaks only slowing it fall to by them time. Using all his might, more than he ever knew he had, Connor pulled the damaged doors opened and with the children jumped into the burning lobby. "The buildings is falling apart from the roof down, you need to escape now." AIVAS alerted Connor, who bolted with the children to the entrance of the building. Using smoke pellets to blow the flames out at the door way just long enough for himself and the children to pass through.

Medics rushed to the childrens aids, and avoided paying much attention to Red as everyone got their first climpse of the new hero in Chicago. At first, rumors of Reds' exploits were all that existed of him but now it was confirmed that he existed and was serving the people of Chicago. "The joint efforts of the firemen and police men have managed to evacuate the block and get the fire under control. These were the only victims." Red looked up, the mother was inspecting her children and confessing her undieing love for them. She than looked up towards their savior, and at that moment Red was glad he had his helmet on. He saved her children but he wasn't able to save her husband and that was a failure Connor wouldn't take easily.

Before anyone could say a word to him, Connor grappled the nearest structurally sound building and lifted to its roof tops where he found a place to sit and rest above all the chaos. The suit began to cool off as it exorbed his sweat and cooled it to circulate through out the veins which were used to keep his body cool for situations like these. "There was nothing you could have done to save that man, it was a miracle the children were still alive." Connor nodded his head, "I know AIVAS, even with all the new equipment and gadgets I still fall short of what super powered heros can do."

"Yet, none were here to save the day, but you were. Two lives were saved that wouldn't have been otherwise. You have fullfilled your role adequately." Again, Connor nodded but he still wished he could have saved the father of those two children. He knew what it was like to lose family and they had rough times ahead of them.