"What?!" both Dominic and Clint said.

Dominic whipped his head to Taylor as Clint fell in next to her. She didn't look at either of them, her gaze still trained on the small figure of her brother making his way towards the hotel. The hotel that could explode at any time, crushing him, killing him, ripping him out of her life.

She sucked in a breath, struggling to keep her mind from racing down a dark path.

"Taylor, what do you mean there's a bomb in that hotel?" Dominic asked like he was trying to understand the concept of what a bomb was.

She tore her eyes away from the mass of police officers and the civilians who were already evacuating, glancing at both guys. As fast as she could she broke down how Weston and she had been doing surveillance on the Fitzpatrick crime family, the blueprints, the bomb schematics, and the travel route. As she talked, Dominic swallowed hard and Clint went still.

"We have to help," Taylor finished.

Dominic looked like he wanted to throw up at the thought of entering a place that held a bomb but gave her a jerky nod.

"We take care of the bomb first," she said, holding her hand out to him, trying not to let him see her hand tremble.

"No," Clint said.

She spun on him. "I'm not going to stand here while I could be the one to get the bomb to somewhere remote and save lives."

Clint held up his hands. "I'm not saying you shouldn't help. I'm saying the bomb shouldn't be what you handle first."

"What?" Taylor and Dominic said.

The picture of calm, Clint pointed to the hotel. "Think about this. The police most likely have men working on the bomb. What you need to do is get everyone out. If for some reason you couldn't get the bomb out, those people would die."

Despite the adrenaline surging through her, telling her to go, to get the bomb as far away from the hotel and Weston as she could, she heard the logic in what he said.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "You understand I have to leave you here."

"Of course, just make sure you come back alive," he said. "And Taylor..." she locked eyes with him. "No matter how big the bomb is, it's exactly like the workout machines, you can do this. You've done this a million times."

"Thanks."

Clint shoved his hands into his pockets, his brow creasing with worry.

"Good luck."

Dominic took Taylor's hand, shifting them into the Time Stop and she jumped them to the top story of the hotel.

The lavish hallway they appeared in was at odds with the eerie quiet. Taylor knew that without the Time Stop the fire alarm would be blaring in their ears but there was nothing. No indication that they were in a place ticking with danger.

"Room by room," Dominic said.

Taylor agreed and they jumped from one suit to the next, finding them empty. It was when they pushed open the door to the stairwell and looked over the railing that they spotted the evacuating guests. They rushed down the stairs to the first couple dressed in bathrobes. Taylor reached for the woman but stopped.

"I don't know if I can send her by herself," she said.

The last time she had teleported someone without her she had been able to see the lockup room. But without knowing where everyone was on the sidewalk she didn't know what would happen.

"Then we'll split up. I'll go to the next floor and check rooms and you deal with the people here."

"Okay."

The sudden shrieking of the alarm nearly knocked Taylor to her knees as it screamed in her ears. Closing her eyes, she gripped the railing trying to adjust to it. When she felt stable, she opened her eyes, the couple was already another floor below her.

She jumped to the landing right beneath them. The woman let out a yelp of surprise and the man almost lost his footing. With no time to explain why a girl in a red formal dress appeared out of nowhere, Taylor raced to them, grabbed hold, and whisked them out onto the sidewalk. They staggered. Taylor knew what came next and was gone before she could see them empty their stomachs onto the concrete.

In pairs and sometimes only singles, Taylor emptied the stairwell of guests. When she jumped back to the stairwell to find Dominic, he popped up beside her, the Time Stop once again around them.

"Everyone out?" he asked.

Taylor nodded, surprised to find that she wasn't as drained of energy as she normally would be with so many jumps. Apparently not being half-dead had its perks.

"Let's double check the rest of the floors," Dominic said.

Floor by floor, room by room they made their way downward teleporting people as they found them. By the time they were certain everything was clear, Taylor was starting to feel the effects of so much teleporting. In the last room, she grabbed four power bars from the basket on the table and handed two to Dominic.

"We're not done yet," Taylor said, tearing the wrapper with her teeth and biting off half of the power, letting the food revive her. "Let's find the bomb."

The lobby was flooded with police officers frozen mid-command or gesture as they directed guests to the street. Distress, panic, and fear were painted on the faces of the guests who clung to each other.

Taylor and Dominic twisted their way through the petrified exodus to the employee only part of the hotel. Once certain they wouldn't accidentally be in contact with anyone, they jumped through the offices, kitchen, laundry room finally ending in an expansive storage section of the hotel.

It was here they found the bomb squad in thick suits positioned around a barrel drum with a device placed on top.

Gripping each other's hand, the pair walked over to the bomb. Taylor felt as if her heart was going to explode out of her chest. It was one thing to see a schematic of a bomb or even see a fake one on tv, but seeing it, in reality, was something else entirely. There was a presence to it that captured one's attention and never let it go, for staring at it was staring at the end, watching at it tick closer and closer. The seconds of a life were written out to be seen.

Taylor let out a shaky breath, as she looked down at the timer, stopped at seven minutes and forty-two seconds.

It was a lot of time.

It was no time at all.

"I don't know where to take it," she said.

"The water?"

"I've never teleported to water, I don't know if I could get us out or if the bomb would cause damage even where I put it."

"What do we do?"

Taylor put her hand over her mouth, trying to keep herself together. All those people in the lobby would they get away fast enough? The men right there, hunched over, trying to stall death. Weston outside. Clint on the rooftop. How much destruction would this thing cause?

"Wes-" She choked on her words and cleared her throat. "Weston might know where I can take the bomb."

Dominic squeezed her hand. "If I drop the Time Stop that timer will start up again."

"I know."

Taylor guided him over to a corner where they were out of earshot of the men and hidden by a wall of crates. Steeling herself, she pulled out her phone, met Dominic's gaze and nodded. The alarm crashed over them, beneath it was the faint tick tick tick of the timer counting down. Taylor called Weston, closing her eyes, praying he wouldn't ignore her.

"Hi, you've reached Detective Weston, please leave a message."

Taylor swore and called again. "Please Wes. Please pick up. Please."

Rings chased after each other in her ear, echoing the tick tick tick of the timer.

"Hi, you've reached De-"

Taylor hung up and tried again Dominic clenching and unclenching his hands beside her. She was shaking, fear and adrenaline colliding inside her. The bomb squad spoke in murmurs as if raised voices might activate the bomb. The ticking continued as one ring followed another. Just as Taylor was about to hang up and try again, a voice cut into the rings.

"Taylor this is not-"

"I'm in the hotel with the bomb," she rushed to say.

"What?"

"I'm in the hotel with the bomb and I need to know where to take it."

Weston swore with a rage that made Taylor wince. "What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Wes, you can yell and hate me later, right now we are running out of time and I need to know where to take this bomb."

Weston swore again but said something to someone out of the range of the phone. There was a muffled response and then Weston's voice.

"There's a training lot used for the police academy, you can take it there."

"Do you have a picture?" A vague location was not going to do Taylor any good. "And Wes, if I detach the timer from the bomb, what would happen?"

Weston's voice went distant and Dominic began to pace in front of Taylor, his laced hands on top of his head, his face rigid. Taylor clutched the phone, her stomach coiling tighter and tighter until she felt she was going to be sick.

"If you take the timer off it could either stop the bomb or activate it." Taylor nodded, but almost as if she didn't know what she was doing. "I'm sending you a picture." Taylor's phone dinged as Weston swore again. "You get it away and then get the hell out of there. If you don't come back I swear I will never forgive you."

The fear and desperation in his voice cut into Taylor's chest. "I'll come back. I love you, Wes."

"Dammit, Tay! Don't do this. Get out of he-"

Taylor didn't let him finish, clamping one hand on Dominic, who threw them back into the Time Stop. She looked at the photo Weston had sent. It was of a deserted street with rusty cars and cardboard cutouts of fake gunmen. She pocketed her phone and the pair walked back to the bomb. The timer now showed thirty-three seconds. The bomb squad was working on a set of exposed wires, a pair of wire cutters hovering, waiting to cut.

"I'm going to have to move them away from the bomb," Dominic said. "Or they might come with us. That means I have to let you go."

Taylor's heart seized up, the thought of falling out of the Time Stop with less than a minute left was terrifying to the point where her throat closed up.

"It will be okay," Dominic said.

She didn't know how much she believed him on that point but knew it had to be done. "Okay."

One breath Dominic was grasping her hand, the next he was holding her arm and the men had all been shifted out of the way. The timer remained at thirty-three seconds. Taylor released a breath. They were one step closer.

Blood roaring in her ears, Taylor placed her hand on the bomb.

The second she did, the timer started ticking.

Panicked, she jerked her hand back.

The timer went silent.

Taylor stumbled into Dominic, her back pressed his chest, feeling that thudding of his heartbeat that echoed her own pounding heart. They stood there, motionless, staring at the bomb. Taylor trembled and Dominic held onto her arm tighter, reminding her she wasn't alone.

"It comes into the Time Stop," she whispered.

"Yeah," he said, his voice strained.

They fell silent. Though the timer had stopped Taylor felt as if she could still hear the ticking, detect a pulse emanating from the bomb.

"There's no way around it," she said.

"No."

Balling her fist, Taylor took a step forward, Dominic moving with her. Inches away from the bomb, Taylor raised her head, locking eyes with him. She stopped shaking. A calm fell over her, clearing away her fear.

"I'm sorry I ruined your Winter Formal," she said.

Dominic kissed her. There was no fire to it, a simple statement that if they didn't get out in time this was where he chose to be. Right here. By her side.

When he broke away, he nodded.

Taylor turned to the bomb, apologized to her parents, touched the barrel, reactivated the timer, and teleported them away.

**********************************************************************

AHHHHH!!! OH MY GOSH EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART!!!

Tell me I'm not alone in this panic!!! 🦹🏼🦸🏾‍♂️🦸🏻‍♀️

*runs around screaming in panic and terror*

Where is Captain America! Where is HawkEye!? Where is the Hulk! We need someone to save them!

(Yes, I'm freaking out even though I know what's going to happen. I got tired of knowing everything and not being part of the crowd, so...)

*falls to the floor*

Oh horror! What is going to happen!? *Sobs* I can't bear it if anyone dies! Dominic can't die! This can't happen!

*Sits up and sniffles*

Okay, now that I'm more calm why don't you tell me what you're thinking. Also let's create a super team and help them out!

What should out Super Team name be?

I'm not being team leader either, that's definitely too much pressure for Sunshine Girl, she's more of a sidekick material. And when I say her, I mean me.

Predictions on what will happen?

*starts biting nails* Gosh I really really hope this ends well!

Vote, comment, follow but only of you stand for teaming up and saying Dominic and Taylor!