Toronto, Sunday Morning

[myownface]

"We used to sit up on that roof, you know?"

Sparkle stood in the street, a thoughtful look on his face. The whole neighbourhood had gone right to hell over the past fifteen years, but that was no surprise. The house had been a step away from being condemned even when they had lived in it. Other buildings around it had been torn down or boarded up, nobody thinking that anything here was particularly worth renovating. There were still some homes farther down the street, city housing that hadn't yet been condemned with people living in them. But nothing within a stone's throw of here. And this house had been empty for ages.

It had felt empty even when Sparkle had lived in it.

Sparkle	"When things got ugly, Carla would take us up there, and we'd just kind of pretend it wasn't so bad. Sitting on the roof and trying not to hear what was going on, and it was kind of fun up there, I would pretend I could see forever, and I bet if I could get onto the roof without falling through it now I could, now that so much else is gone." He pulled a sparkler out of his pocket and lit it, holding it up so that the sparks flickered in his vision, right in front of that house. "Gone, gone, going, going..." He laughed a little, in spite of it all. "It's all fucking bullshit, anyway."
Parker	Parker lit hers off his, and listened to his memories, trying to imagine a tiny Sparkle and a tiny Carla up on that roof with two or three other kids. She watched the sparkler throw off light and said, "She was a good big sister. And it looked like she's a good mom. Maybe someday you'll get to be around again. Be Uncle Sparkle." This had been so rough on him, that when they went to get the sparklers, she'd made a few calls, and arranged for a small delivery that was also in her backpack. "But. Until then...." She pulled out the package and said, "How do you feel about C-4?"
Sparkle	Sparkle blinked at the package, and then at Parker, lowering his sparkler and kind of standing there, awestruck. "I mean," he said, aiming for casual, and mostly just coming off as utterly agog, "it's way more convenient than making a run for gasoline." As if that old shithole needed gasoline in order to burn.
Parker	"See, and gasoline gets everywhere," Parker said chattily, keeping the sparkler away from the C-4. "Plastic explosives are way safer for everything around. And have way more applications." See? Teaching moment! He was learning things, and he was distracted from sadness, sorta. "But we need to do this right. When these sparklers are done, we need to clear the place, then set the charges, make sure nothing and no one's in there. Okay?"
Sparkle	"First thing I do before I burn anything to the ground is check for squatters," Sparkle replied, shrugging his shoulders a bit. "I spent enough time as one, I know better." So basically, absolutely this was a great idea, yes. It technically wasn't arson, right?
Parker	Pffft, nobody owned the place any more, no one would benefit (except emotionally), so. Maybe setting a fire without a permit? That was a misdemeanor, right? "Cool! You do that while I set up the detonators." She grinned at him. "Then we can put the C-4 in all the places you pick out."
Sparkle	Sparkle let his little sparkler stick burn itself out as he nodded and made his way to the house, then dropped it on the ground. To hell with it. It was practically a calling card. And it wasn't like the cops wouldn't figure out who had done this even without him leaving it behind. He was done with this place. He was done with this city, he was done with this reality, he was just done. Fuck it. He wasn't coming back. He did a walk-around of the house first, looking for signs that anybody had been into or out of it recently. Tried a few of the boards on the windows to make sure they were on tight. And then shrugged and picked the lock on the back door. A good fifteen minutes later, he was making his way back around to the front, a grim look on his face. "Somehow, there's actually more rat shit than I remember," he announced, "but nobody's been home in there in ages. Let's take it down."
Parker	Parker studied his face in the dim sodium streetlight from down the block, then nodded. "Okay. I fixed the detonators, they're going to go off these cellphones." She pointed to them, smiling. "All we have to do is call their numbers." She put the backpack down, and said, "C-4 is incredibly stable, you know that? We put it in place, and you only need a little bit. It won't go off while we're doing this. Or even until we call the phones. Come on." She handed him a palm-sized block, and started for the house, throwing over her shoulder, "I blew up my first house when I was nine."
Sparkle	"Oh yeah?" Sparkle smiled a little at the back of her head, then followed her around. "So I'm learning from a master, here?" That was... actually kind of reassuring. Hey, at least he was in good company, right? He picked up the pace a little, led her around to the back door, and in. Then he started looking around for every hole in the wall, every crack in the floor that held a memory. If he was going to do this, he was going to make it as symbolic as he was absolutely able. More there, on the top of the long-dead stove. And then a trip down the hall, specifically to do a really thorough job on what once was his parents' room. If he was shaking a little while he'd stepped inside... ... Hey. Ancient history.
Parker	"Yup," Parker said happily. "My foster dad took Bunny away. The jerk. Said I wouldn't get Bunny back until I learned to be a better thief." Her teeth flashed in a feral grin. "So, you know. Propane tank, long fuse. Boom." She nodded in satisfaction, keeping her eyes out for the support pillars, and the places that would de-stabilize the house the most. She'd seen worse; squatted in worse, when she was on the streets. It still hurt her heart, though, to watch Sparkle walking through it with that look in his eyes.
Sparkle	Hell, even Sparkle had lived in worse, at least so far as the structure itself went. There was more to this place than that, though. There were traumas and old scars and burns in the walls and cracks in the windows and each one had an unpleasant story. Sparkle would take worse over this any day of the week. "You get your bunny back?" He opened the door to the room that had belonged to the kids. It was empty now, weird to look at. He stared for a moment, and then stepped inside, feeling six years old and dazed all over again. Deep breath. Okay. Breathing was hard in here. Maybe it was just dust. Maybe it was him. It wouldn't matter for long. He left the last of his share of the explosives on the floor, right where his own bed would have been. And then he stood, turned, and made his way back out to join Parker.
Parker	"Yuuuup." Parker smiled happily. "Then there was juvie, and then I was gone to the streets, so. But I still have Bunny, safe and sound." She waited for him, watching his face as he rejoined her, and tentatively touched his arm. "You ready for this?" To burn it all down, blow it away?
Sparkle	Ugh, juvie. There was another memory that Sparkle wasn't in any hurry to revisit. He turned a little, tired, weirdly vulnerable smile toward Parker and then nodded, just a little. "Yeah. Let's get out of here and put this place out of my misery," he replied.
Parker	She patted his arm, and nodded, then lead the way out of the little house, to a spot across the street. She presented him with another cheapo cellphone, with a flourish. "Speed dials number 1, 2, 3 and 4. You should do the honors."
Sparkle	Sparkle accepted the phone. Gave her a little grin. "The last time I took down a house that pissed me off, I sang the birthday song," he shared. "It was Raine's birthday and Lew's house was one big candle." He looked back at the phone and then dialed. "Bonne fucking fête."
Parker	Parker put her fingers in her ears, and braced herself. The back of the house went up first, then the side, and then the whole thing just went fooooooooooooosh, kicking up dust and sparks.
Sparkle	And Sparkle laughed as he stumbled backward, laughed as he fell on his ass right there on the sidewalk across the street and laughed and laughed and cried and laughed. It'd be another minute or two before the sirens. He needed this moment before even thinking about running.
Parker	Parker took a picture of the blaze on her own cell phone, sent it to Hardison, then deleted it. Evidence, what evidence? She squatted down by Sparkle, and grinned at him. "Feel better?"
Sparkle	Sparkle turned a manic smile toward Parker, either oblivious or simply not caring about the tear streaks that were working their way down his face, through the dust. "Better, no," he said, his grin not wavering for even a moment. "But I feel like I can walk away, now. That's something I haven't had in years." And then he bowed his head and laugh-cried some more as he pulled himself back up to his feet. Running. Now would be a good time to start doing that.

[OOC: Preplayed with the fantabulous whoisalicewhite, coded by the splendiferous vdistinctive, and follows this. NFI/NFB, but OOC is welcome!]