Fire lands on top of a warehouse overlooking the docks and watches
quietly with the flames that surround him normally, becoming
non-existent.

Lex and his bodyguards have gone to Pier 22, where a large ship has come
in. About 50 dock workers begin using the cranes to hoist the flats up
and out.

While the not-so-stealthy Fire makes his way across a warehouse roof,
the large man known as Lex Wilson frowns, his eyes falling upon the
hero's position. A long sigh escapes his lips, but he continues on with
his work.
One of the crates is opened, and Lex moves over to check its contents.
Tony and Vinny follow along, chatting quietly with each other.

Fire moves, half crouched, across the rooftop, thinking. o O (Hah, I
knew all that hide and seek as a kid would pay off.)

Inside the crate that Lex looks into are some kind of plants. The entire
box is filled with green leaves. Lex nods with approval, "Excellent.
This is prime. I shall have to give Eduardo a bonus, this holiday."

As Fire reaches a good vantage point, he notices that Lex's gaze is
drawn by something on the ground. Behind a stack of barrels, is a young
woman. She has red hair, is about 5'2" and 120 pounds, and is crouching,
watching Lex and his men. Dressed in black and grey, with a light
jacket, in one hand is a minicam.

Lex frowns, "Anthony. Vincent. Would you please show our "guest" in?"

Tony and Vinny go over to the barrels, surprising the woman, and
reaching out to grab her.

Fire stays hidden and watches on, staying ready to help out if needed.

Tony and Vinny easily grab the woman, dragging her over to Lex. The
woman protests, "Let me go!! You  creeps!!" She stares at Lex
defiantly.

Lex smiles, yet not in a friendly way, "Well. If it isn't Ms. Baer, my
favorite investigative reporter." His eyes fall on the camera, "Oh, for
shame. Infringing upon my civil liberties." He turns to Tony and Vinny,
"Give her a tour of the bottom of the bay, boys."

Fire flies out above the thugs, flames erupting around him. "I think
that you should listen to the woman and let her go." Flames pour from
his eyes, as he throws a ball of flames at Tony.

Tony yelps as the ball of flame erupts around him, "AIEEEEEE!!! GET IT
OFFA ME!! OFFA ME!!" His clothing is singed, and he looks pissed off,
but manages to release his grip on Ms, Baer.

Lex furrows his brow, "Well, it seems our rooftop super is a hero. And
such a fiery temper, too." He widens his stance, raises his cane, aiming
it at Fire, "Do not seek to cross me. You do not realize the power I
wield." And with that, he presses the knob of the cane, and a straight,
red laser beam comes out, heading towards Fire..

Fire takes the blast and is knocked back through the air, he flips
around and stops facing the group on the docks. His eyes burn brighter.

Tony finishes hopping about and pulls out his gun, "Okay, Dat does it.
Yas are gonna eat lead, Firehead!"

Fire looks up as the bullet whizzes toward him. The bullet fortunately
melts in the field of heat around him. "Heh."

Vinny places his gun to Ms. Baer's head, "Yo! Fireball! If yas wanna see
her live, yas'll hightail it outta here!"

Fire looks at Vinny, flames burning in his eyes, "How about this, you
let the woman go with me, and I won't light you on fire."

Vinny smirks, "I know you supertypes. If yas so much as come toward me,
I'll kill her. It's very simple, ain't it?" He keeps the gun trained on
Ms. Baer, and clutches her by arm.

Lex frowns, "Perhaps this thing is losing power. I shall have to ask
Raul about that. Still, I cannot let you interfere in my business."
Still wide-stanced, he shoots again, the red laser beam heading towards
Fire...

Fire is blasted backward again, he rolls mid-air and rights himself to
face Lex and his thugs. "Well, that didn't work as planned."

Lex looks at his cane, "Must be the power module. I shall have to get it
looked at." He looks at Tony and Vinny, "Take her away. I will deal with
the meta."

Tony and Vinny begin dragging Ms. Baer towards the edge of the dock. She
still struggles.

Fire flies toward the thugs, "I said let her go." Flames burst foward
from his hands toward both men.
The fireballs both sail high and way off their intended mark, into the
bay beyond.

Ms. Baer screams as flames come shooting past her and the two thugs. She
turns to Fire, shouting "What are you trying to do, you moron? Kill me,
so they don't have a hostage?" She attempts to struggle free of her
captors.
She manages to break out of Tony's grasp, but Vinny still has her. Sweat
breaks out on her face, as she works as hard as possible.

Fire soars toward the captive woman and attempts to grab her and pull
her free from the thug's grasp. The flames that surround him dropping to
nothing.

Sarah yells, as Fire takes her free arm and pulls and Vinny pulls on her
other arm, "You're HURTING me!!!

Lex shakes his head at the goings on, and then walks closer, "Amateur
heroes..." then smacks his cane on the ground, "Let's try percussive
maintenance." He lifts it back up and fires at the now defenseless Fire.
Wide-stanced, he holds it steady, the red beam lancing out..
The blast goes wide of the hero, prompting Lex to sigh, "I really must
get this fixed."

Sarah screams again, "OH MY GOD!!!" But the laser doesn't strike anyone
else.

Tony aims his gun at Fire, "Okay, yas are close now. Let's see if
bullets hurt yas at close range."
But, he misses..

Vinny aims his gun at Fire, as well, "Let go o'her. yas'll rip her ta
shreds!"
Vinny's bullet hits Fire, lodging itself into the heroes shoulder.

Fire looks at Vinny, "You are going to pay for that." Flames leap from
his free hand and toward Vinny.

Vinny erupts in a ball of flame, letting go of Ms. Baer, who falls to
her knees. He screams and falls to the ground, still burning.

Fire looks at Sarah, "Hold on tight, and don't worry I am one of the
good guys." He then shoots straight up into the air as fast as he can
go.

Lex watches the interplay, then sighs. He reaches into his jacket
pocket, pulling out a PDA and speaking into it, "Charles, send the
doctor to the pier. Oh, and call Cheatham, please. Thank you."

Tony grabs his brother, and jumps into the bay with him, putting Vinny's
fire out.

Sarah Baer dazedly looks into Fire's eyes and tells him, "You have to be
the clumsiest superhero I ever saw. Thank you."

Fire continues to fly up into the sky, "You're welcome, and I am sorry
about the clumsiness."

Sarah Baer wraps her arms around Fire's shoulders, leaning tiredly
against him, "It beats drwoning in the bay. I just wish I could have
gotten something on them."


AT THE HOSPITAL....

 Sarah Baer seems quiet through the whole trip, and when she and Fire
get to the hospital, she finally speaks, "You're hurt, aren't you?"

 Fire looks at his shoulder and winces, "Oh its nothing."

 Sarah Baer frowns, "It's a bullet. It's not nothing." She lets the
attendants move her onto a gurney. They also try to put Fire onto one,
as well.

 Fire lets the attendants assist him, "Well if you say so."

 The ultimate in modern health care. An intern comes to look at them,
then pulls out some medical tools. "I can do this right here." he tells
Fire. He swabs the area with the bullet, waits 25 seconds, then presses
a hypospray into Fire's shoulder. "Is that numb, yet?" he asks.

 Fire says, "Sure, have at er."

 Seeming pleased, the intern uses a long tweezer-like tool, digging into
Fire's skin and removing the small bullet. "There we go!" he exclaims,
then places the bullet in a plastic bag. A nurse comes over and starts
to bandage the wound on Fire. Meanwhile, the intern checks over Sarah,
"Bruising, light concussion. You'll be fine with a little rest." Then,
he walks off to the next patient. McHealthCare, at its finest.

 Sarah Baer sighs, leaning back on the gurney, "I'm a moron."

 Fire looks at Sarah, "What were you doing there?"

 Sarah Baer rolls over to look at Fire, "I'd heard that some kind of
drug shipment was coming into that pier. I went to take pictures, so I
could get the scoop."

 Fire says, "Well there was some green leaves in the crate that I saw.
Do you know who those guys were?"

 Sarah Baer gets up off of her gurney and walks over to Fire's, "Yeah.
That was Lex Wilson, and his bodyguards, Tony and Vinny Matagrano. I'm
Sarah Baer, by the way. I work for the Questioner."

 Fire nods, "I am Fire. Nice to meet you Sarah."

 Sarah Baer puts her hands up to Fire's mask, "How does this thing come
off?"

 Fire moves his hand up to his mask, "It doesn't, that is until I get to
know you better. That whole secret identity thing and all, hope you
understand."

 Sarah Baer smirks, "Yeah, but how can I kiss my hero through that?" She
leans over, her lips about a millimeter away from his, "I'm hoping I
even have the right spot."

 Fire pulls the mask up from his neck to reveal his lips. "How's that?"

 Sarah Baer smiles, "That works. Answers the 'how do we go for drinks'
question, too." She presses her lips gently against his, then says,
"Thanks for saving me. I know I yelled a lot during the thing, but I was
really scared."

 Fire lets the flames in his eyes drop to show his blue eyes. "Always a
pleasure to help out someone in need, especially someone as beautiful as
you, and don't worry about the yelling, I would yell too if someone I
didn't know was flinging fireballs around."

 Sarah Baer blushes, "I'm not beautiful. Just average, really. But
thanks." She looks at him, "Your eyes are normal, now."

 Fire says, "Yeah, the whole fire pouring out is really just an
intimidation thing, althoughI noticed that it really did nothing for me
with those guys."

 Sarah Baer explains, "Those men are hardened criminals. A super doesn't
usually frighten them, unless it's StarGuard or Bolt. No offense, but
it's true. I haven't really heard of you, so I'm just asuming you're on
the lower level of supers. Which doesn't scare Wilson one bit. You're
lucky, too. According to what I've heard, that cane of his can kill
people where they stand.:

 Fire says, "Well I have been out and about a few times, I just arrived
in town a little while back, anyway, I am usually not worried about the
guns and flashy canes, you see the flames that usually surround my body
stops most things from hurting me."

 Sarah Baer frowns, "But you dropped your protection to try to save me.
Now, I feel guilty for getting you hurt."

 Fire says, "Don't feel guilty, I did what had to be done, I couldn't
just stand there and let them hurt and kill you. It is all part of the
hero gig."

 Sarah Baer protests, "Yeah, but if I hadn't been there in the first
place, you wouldn't have had to come and save me." She places her hand
on Fire's chest, and her eyes fall on his bandaged shoulder.

 Fire smiles, "Hey, chin up. It will heal and I feel fine."

 Sarah Baer smiles softly, "Yeah, I guess it will. So," she pauses a
bit, "When do you want that drink or dinner? Or both?"

 Fire says, "Are you free tomorrow?"

 Sarah Baer nods, "I can be. I'm a freelancer, so technically that means
I'm unemployed."

 Fire smiles, "So why don't we meet at the Coffee Shop tomorrow at
around 12 to 1

 Sarah Baer removes her hand. "That'll be good. I'm going to go home and
rest. See you tomorrow." She leans over and gives him a longer kiss.

 Fire blushes, "Cool, then its a date. Do you need a lift home? I would
be happy to fly you there. I can rest after that."

 Sarah Baer grins, "I live in the Courtland Apartments, just across the
block. You should rest."

 Fire thinks . o O (Thats where I live.)

 Fire thinks . o O (This could be tricky.)

 Fire says, "Ok, well I am going to rest here for a bit. See you later
and be careful."

 Sarah Baer nods and makes her way out.

 Fire waves to Sarah.
 
 
 
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