WHO: Michael, Irina WHAT: Rescue WHEN: September 3rd (?? sure, why not) WHERE: A basement and then the hospital NOTES: Lara and I decided to move this plot forward since we slacked out on it so we're gonna finish this scene and pretend it just happened not quite so long ago.
Once Saint Anthony had provided a general area where Irina could be found, Michael made short work of narrowing the search down to one property considering paint chips and fibers found on the serial killer's previous victims. Given the time frame of said victims, it was a race against the clock to rescue the missing Irina, if she was in fact being held by the same sadistic brute who was burying women alive all over New York City.
Being the senior officer, Michael led the team. It was handy, since he alone knew he was actually invincible, and he could make sure he was in the most dangerous position. His fellow officers set up a perimeter, and Michael took point, bursting into what looked like a normal, everyday house.
The man they found inside looked normal as well, and he didn't even try to fight with the police as they restrained and cuffed him. He repeated over and over that he didn't understand what was happening and that he was the only one in the home, but Michael could tell he was lying immediately. He could sense someone else nearby.
Someone terrified.
It took some looking, but Michael was able to locate the trapdoor underneath the fridge. As he pushed it bodily aside and pulled the door open, the cellar was revealed with a creak and a burst of dust. It was dark, and Michael switched his flashlight on. "Get him out of here!" he ordered his fellow officers, and then he descended into the basement. "Hello? My name is Detective Angel. Is there someone in the basement who needs help?"
[info]thisfloodedsky Irina hadn't even seen the man.
She'd been staying late in her classroom, getting things together for an activity the children would be doing the next day, and everything had seemed so normal. (She only remembered later - alone in the dark - that moment when she'd paused at her desk and looked around, feeling as though someone was almost there. But the moment had passed and Irina had brushed it off.)
She was unlocking her car when he'd grabbed her from the back. There had been a quick needle scratch at her neck and then the next thing Irina knew, she was waking up in the darkness. Above somewhere she could hear the sound of people talking - eventually she realised it was a TV - and footsteps just over her head.
Tape was retaining her - over her mouth so she couldn't yell, around her wrists behind her back, connecting her somehow to a... pole? the end of a piece of furniture? It was hard to feel out and the room was pitch black.
Sometimes there would be a sound of loud shuffling and then a creak and a square of light would open in the roof, blinding Irina. She squinted against it and against the flashlight that would suddenly be in her face.
Then off when the light and closed went the door.
The man never came down further than that into the basement.
Irina didn't know how much time was passing, and she didn't know what was going to happen to her. She mostly slept, her body responding the lack of food and water.
When she heard the voice it was loud and surprising and Irina lifted her head.
-needs help? Irina head and she tried to make a noise through her taped mouth, but her throat was dry and it was barely anything. But she didn't want to die down here, didn't want the stranger to go away and so she slammed her head back against the pole behind her with a reverberating thud and then she did it again and again, praying they would realise that it was a person, that it was the only way she could call for help.
[info]who_is_like_god Maybe another person would have missed the sound, but Michael heard it. It was faint and far away, but he heard it.
He dashed into the dark, flashlight swinging around wildly. He finally saw her in a corner, tied to a pole, tape over her mouth. "I'm here," he yelled, rushing forward to drop to his knees. "She's down here!" he called back to his colleagues, before pulling the tape from her mouth and going to work on the ropes. "I'm here. My name is Detective Michael Angel and you're safe now, alright? You're safe."
[info]thisfloodedsky The tape tore from Irina's lips, sharp and painful, and she gasped for breath as though it was the first time. "Thank god," she whispered, her voice rough and quiet, her throat too parched and torn to be louder. "Oh thank you, thank god." Her head dropped forward onto the officer.
[info]who_is_like_god "Just hold on, we'll get help for you," Michael said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. She didn't appear hurt and for that, Michael was glad. He knew she would still be in bad shape though, and terrified.
He stayed with her, murmuring reassurances until his coworkers entered the basement, illuminating the space with their flashlights and, eventually, temporary lighting. EMTs rushed forward to help Irina and only then did Michael loosen his hold on her. "These people are here to help you," he said gently. "They're going to take you to hospital."
[info]thisfloodedsky Irina didn't really catch what he was saying, but she knew that for the first time in however long it had been, she didn't believe she was going to die. Her untaped hands searched for something to hold onto and found the officer's jacket, fingers burying themselves in the fabric.
The EMTs tried to check her, tried to get her onto a stretcher, but Irina didn't want to let go of the first soul she'd seen enter the darkness. She shook her head, letting them look over her but not loosening her grip on the policeman.
[info]who_is_like_god When Irina didn't release her grip on him, Michael just nodded wordlessly at the EMTs and allowed himself to be pulled along with her. He sat by her side for the entire ride to the hospital as well as going with her as far as the doctors would allow him to, only letting go when a nurse gently attempted to uncurl her fingers from Michael's shirt.
"I'll wait," he assured her as he was pushed away. "I'll wait just outside, okay?"
[info]thisfloodedsky By the time they'd reached the hospital, the adrenaline that was driving Irina had worn off and now it was hard to even stay away. So here, safe among doctors and nurses and armed guards, Irina let herself drift off.
She woke a few times to voices, to nurses putting needles into her, to people checking charts. But there was something that kept her from surfacing for too long and her eyes always closed again.
When she woke properly she was in a hospital room with pale green walls and she rubbed at her face, feeling heavy and slow, a needled in the back of her hand and some sort of tube leading up to a clear bag beside the bed.
Upon trying to sit up a little she groaned and that was when she noticed the man sitting nearby. A second passed and she didn't know him, but then she remembered. He was the policeman. Irina swallowed against her thick throat.
"You're the cop," she said.
[info]who_is_like_god Michael gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, but was probably more like a grimace. "I am," he said with a nod. "It's good to see you, Irina. We've been looking for quite a while."
[info]thisfloodedsky "How long?" Irina asked, because time in that basement had meant nothing. "And how did you know what had happened to me?"
Irina tried to reach for the glass of water beside her but it was too far, so she just pointed at it. If he was here he could at least be helpful. Or at least further helpful, she supposed, since he'd certainly done more for her lately than anyone else in her life.
[info]who_is_like_god 2016-05-20 06:53 pm UTC (link) Track This "Nearly a week," Michael said sadly. "Your students and co-workers alerted us." Michael reached out for the water glass and he handed it to her carefully. "Do you need help with this?"
[info]thisfloodedsky "I'm okay," she said, but as soon as the glass was in her hand she found it was shaking so badly she couldn't even hold it. She made a small frightened sound in the back of her throat and let him take hold of the glass again.
No, she wasn't really okay, not at all.
She started crying so hard that it hurt her chest, because everything had been dark and awful but also because she was alive and safe. How was she supposed to put those two together in her mind right now? How was she supposed to stop crying?