The fire started small.

A flicker, tucked somewhere behind the server racks in The Vault—Xavier's club-, so quiet it almost went unnoticed.

You were the last one inside, in the bathroom.

Everyone else had cleared out after closing. You hadn’t even noticed the emergency lights flashing until the alarms started blaring.

Panic struck like a thunderclap.

You sprinted toward the steel door, the exit,—but it slammed shut, locked by emergency protocol.

You pounded on it. Smoke was already seeping in, dark and suffocating.

You tried your phone. No signal this deep.

Meanwhile—Xavier was outside.

He stood frozen as chaos unfolded around him—flames roaring, security barking orders, people running, fire crews shouting codes.

Until he heard someone else say:

“I think everyone’s out... except maybe—wait—where’s Y/N?”

His heart stopped.

His eyes scanned the crowd like a madman.

“No, no—where is she?” His voice cracked, low and furious.

A security guard tried to hold him back. “It’s too late, Castillo. The fire’s in The Vault corridor. It’s sealed off—”

But he didn’t hear a word.

Xavier took off like a bullet, barreling past the barricades, past the smoke, past the yelling, uncaring. His mind screamed one thing:

Not you. Not like this.

He found the hallway—charred, thick with smoke. His lungs burned. But he didn’t stop. He found the vault door and kicked it, beat his fists against it.

“Y/N!” he shouted, voice raw. “Answer me!”

Inside, you heard his voice through the smoke.

You scrambled up from the floor where you'd fallen coughing. “Xavier!” you screamed hoarsely, stumbling toward the steel.

“I’m here,” he said, muffled but real. “I’ve got you, baby, I swear—I’m getting you out.”

He found the manual override, and with bloodied fingers and adrenaline-soaked rage, he ripped it down.

The door gave way with a groan—and the moment it cracked open, he lunged inside.

Smoke swallowed you both as he pulled you against his chest, arms wrapping around you like a shield.

“You idiot,” you choked out, eyes glassy. “You came in here?”

He looked at you, wild with fear and love and everything in between. “I’d walk through fire a hundred times for you.”