**This story was called 'Cold Fire' at one point, but I've decided the title had to be changed.**

Temerarious

Chapter 1

Sweat. Smoke. Heat.

Those were three things he noticed first. A little boy, couldn't have been older than 6, watched the flames spread like wildfire. He hadn't meant to do it. His father had left the matches in the kitchen though. He'd watched his father light countless matches, mostly to start the fire in the pit out in the backyard. Wanting to be a grownup like his father, the little boy had snatched the pack of matches from the kitchen, while his mother busied cooking supper, and figured the garage was the safest place to experiment. The first match had struck easy enough, a small flame igniting on the tip as it reflected in his pale blue eyes. He waited for it to go out, waving it like father had and proceeded to ignite another one.

Then another.

Becoming bored after the 10th lit match, a dishwater blonde curly haired little boy looked around the garage and spotted some old rags. Father used them to change the oil on cars they owned, so he wouldn't need them. He normally threw them away once used. Smiling, he trekked across the garage and grabbed a few of them, having the booklet of matches in his pocket. The little boy looked over his shoulder, making sure the coast was clear and grabbed one of the oil drenched rags. The fumes alone made him plug his nose, not wanting to breathe it in and decided to breathe out of his mouth until he finished what he wanted to do. Taking the match booklet out of his pocket, the little boy bit his bottom lip contemplatively and struck it to life, holding it under the rag.

Instantaneously, the rag engulfed in flames and scorched the little boy's hand, making him drop it on top of the pile of rags. The match booklet went into the fire, spreading it more and the little boy could only watch as father's workbench was swallowed by raging flames. Luckily the car wasn't in the garage. The little boy could only watch in fascinated horror as the fire proceeded to engulf everything in seconds.

"Mom! Dad!" He finally found his voice, trying to run for the garage door since it was attached to the house, but the flames beat him to it. "Help! Someone help!" He cried out, backing out of the garage coughing, his hands burnt from holding the rag after setting it on fire.

Rushing toward the front door, the little boy flew back when an explosion erupted inside the house, his back hitting the lawn with a sickening thump. Dazed for a few minutes, the little boy managed to get to his feet and felt tears course down his face as the entire house became immersed in a huge inferno. All he could do was stand there completely helpless, hearing his parents screaming for help inside as they echoed in his ears.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" He shrieked, coughing as the smoke from the fire began surrounding him, forcing him to back up from his home.

The sirens could be heard in the distance as the little boy dropped to his knees on the sidewalk, burying his head in his hands rocking back and forth. The fire truck, ambulance and squad cars arrived before long, an officer guiding the little boy away from the house. All he could do was struggle, shaking his head back and forth frantically, screaming how much he wanted his mother…

The blaring fire alarm jolted Jon awake as his pale blue eyes flew open, sitting upright in the small cot. He was on duty that night and cursed, not believing he'd fallen asleep. Jumping out of the cot, Jon had his personal protective equipment –Most of the guys called it bunker gear- or turnouts because the clothes were turned inside out when they weren't in use. Firemen could pull them on quickly without issues. The gear itself included a hood, cotton t-shirt, suspenders, insulated pants with Velcro, spring hooks and leather reinforcements, rubber insulated boots, a helmet with goggles and neck protection flap, an insulated jacket with Velcro and spring hooks, a radio, flashlight, insulated leather gloves, harness, pressure mask, PASS device, airline and pressure gauge, shoulder straps, air tank bottle and backpack frame.

The primary function of the gear, which was extremely heavy, was to protect a firefighter from the heat of a fire and allowed him to breathe safely while putting fires out and rescuing victims. It also had retroflective striping to make the firefighter more visible in the dark or through smoke. A pressure mask did not allow contaminants in by keeping continuous airflow, even when a firefighter wasn't inhaling through it. The name of the firefighter was displayed on their helmet and air tank to try stemming difficulty of identifying individuals wearing so much gear. Finally, the PASS –personal alert safety system- was used to send out an alert whenever a firefighter was running out of air or not moving so the others could offer assistance.

Jon finished dressing in record time, hating the color yellow and wished he could wear black, but naturally he had no choice. It was the station's decision to wear a school bus color, which made Jon wonder if the fire chief rode the special bus during his school years. The 70+ pounds he required to carry around with the gear didn't bother Jon because of his massive size. He stood at 6'4 and weighed 225 pounds, most of it solid muscle. His unruly dishwater blonde curls were dry and hung to the side over his forehead, eyes a pale blue that looked pure ice most of the time. His left ear was pierced, a single silver hoop earring dangling from it and a silver chain hung around his neck. Currently, his mouth was surrounded by scruff, normally smooth due to his line of work.

"Jon, where the hell you at, man?" His friend and fellow firefighter, Joseph Anoa'i, called through the huge hole that had an escape pole in the middle of it, knowing his friend was up there. "We gotta go!"

"On my way, don't get your panties in a fucking twist!" Jon grouched, grabbing the pole and snorted, simply jumping from the hole down to the floor landing on his feet like a cat. "Nice to see you too, Joe."

Joe snorted, rolling his eyes heavenward. "Oh yeah sure, being woken up at the crack of fucking dawn is definitely enjoyable." His tone dripped with sarcasm as they headed toward the fire truck, boarding it with the others.

Joe stood around 6'3 and weighed 265 pounds of muscle as well, a smidge more built than Jon. One of his main loves in life, besides being a firefighter, was lifting weights after a hard day's work of saving people. He had grey eyes and long ravenous black hair. It was currently pulled back in a tight low tail at the nape of his neck, tucked under his helmet. He too had a perfectly trimmed black goatee around his mouth, always keeping it neatly trimmed. Both Joe and Jon grew up together in Tampa, Florida in the foster care system. Jon had lost his parents in a horrific tragedy that he refused to talk about and Joe's parents perished in a car accident. Both boys were the age of 6 when they met, managing somehow to stick together and were practically brothers. Jon never had any siblings and neither did Joe, so they had promised to be each other's.

In a nutshell, Joe was the only one who could push Jon's buttons and get away with it.

"I was wondering if I'd have to come knock his ass out of bed again." Colby Lopez crowed from the back, smirking when Jon told him he was #1 and did it right back. "You boys ready to go?"

"Born ready." Jon grunted, eyes focused and ready for some action, rubbing his gloved hands with anticipation.

"Good, we're heading out in a minute. Captain Layfield wants to give us the rundown on what we're dealin' with." Colby explained, looking up when John Layfield walked from the front of the fire truck, nodding to all of his warriors.

"Alright listen up, only gonna say this once! Bell Elementary School caught fire in the cafeteria with some kids. Not sure if they all got out, so we're gonna have to work quickly. The fire is contained so far, but it could get worse. So be on your game!" Layfield shouted over the sirens, feeling the truck drive out of the garage heading for Bell Elementary School.

"Christ…" Joe muttered, scrubbing a gloved hand down his face and glanced over at Jon, seeing he was in deep thought. "Hey man, you alright?"

Jon nodded, his lips pressed in a firm grim line. "Kids." He rasped, cracking his knuckles through the gloves and hoped they made it in time.

There was no way a kid would die, not on his watch.

One thing about Jon was he had a hero complex and often put himself in dangerous situations that could potentially kill him. Joe knew it was his way of dealing with all the guilt and pain over his parent's death he carried around with him. No matter how many psychiatrists and therapists told Jon it wasn't his fault, the man simply didn't believe it. So that forced Joe to watch over him whenever they did jobs, having saved Jon on more than a few occasions from potential death.

"Not just kids." Colby put his two cents in, chocolate brown eyes filled with worry. "Trista works at the school too and I haven't heard from her."

Trista Lopez was Colby's sister and only sibling, so naturally he was a little overprotective of her. She was a teacher at Bell Elementary School they were headed toward and Colby could only hope she was safe. Granted, the fire was contained in the cafeteria, at least according to Layfield. Still, Colby wasn't taking any chances since he couldn't check his cell phone to see if she called or texted.

"Alright men, we're here!" Layfield crowed over the sirens, the fire truck lurching to a stop just outside of Bell Elementary School where the fire was. "Who-"

Jon didn't wait for the Captain to bark orders on where to go, simply hopping out of the fire truck heading for the school. Joe grumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'pompous ass' and followed suit along with Colby. The rest of the firemen stayed put in case they were needed for backup, getting the long hose out to put the fire out. Several groups of kids with their teachers stood outside of the school, having escaped as soon as the fire alarm sounded throughout the building. Some kids looked terrified and others just stared in horrific awe, their little faces all blending together. Jon quickly scanned the crowds and frowned, not spotting Trista anywhere in sight. He'd only met her a few times, but Jon never forgot a face and hoped she wasn't still in the school, hearing the ambulance sirens in the distance. Spotting flames licking at the windows, Jon headed in that direction, hearing people inside crying out. Pale blues narrowed as Jon went to one of the windows that weren't blocked by flames and kicked it in, slipping through it. Even though he was a big man, Jon was very agile and could move quickly, kicking a desk out of his way. It was an empty classroom with no victims, thankfully.

"Jon, what the hell are you doing?" Joe growled, slipping through the window himself as they both headed out into the hallway.

"What the hell does it look like, Anoa'i?" Jon retorted evenly, seeing smoke filtering from the end of the hallway and knew that was the cafeteria. "There are people in there; we have to get them out."

Joe nodded, having also heard the cries from outside of the building and stopped just outside the double doors. Fire licked up the sides and it completely blocked the entrance, making Joe curse. Jon wouldn't let it stop him though, determined to get in there and suddenly kicked the doors open without hesitation, jumping straight through the flames.

"Aww fuck me!" Joe groaned, hating when Jon did this and took a deep breath before diving through the flames as well.

"Someone help us, please!" A female voice resonated throughout the cafeteria.

A few of the tables swarmed with flames, though they weren't coming up easily since they were metal. Jon went in the direction of the voice, already feeling beads of sweat caking his forehead and neck, refusing to let anything stop him. He could feel Joe behind him as Jon arrived at another pair of double doors, kicking them open as flames spit everywhere. He snorted, icy eyes scanning the room quickly and spotted a woman in the far corner holding onto someone.

"In here!" Jon called over his shoulder, once again diving through the huge flames like they were nothing and slowly made his way over to the victims.

"P-Please…" The woman stammered, her face smeared with black from sweat and smoke, tears streaming from her hazel eyes.

Jon nodded, his eyes moving to the older man she held noticing a deep laceration across his forehead, blood streaming down his face. "Trista." He didn't make it a question, already knowing this was Colby's sister and reached out to lift her from the older man.

"No! What about him?" Trista struggled, not wanting to leave Cornelius alone, who was one of the cafeteria workers.

"We will." Jon grunted, looking over his shoulder at a hesitant Joe. "There's another here. Grab him and follow me out!" Water began spraying through the windows at that moment, knowing the other firemen were just outside waiting to assist.

Joe grunted, managing to make his way over to the older man and lifted him over his shoulder with ease, turning to face Jon with the woman. "Let's get outta here!" He shouted, the flames slowly diminishing with the water as they headed toward one of the open windows.

Jon looked at Trista and then the window, hoping she could climb because that was the only safe way out for her right now. "I'm gonna lift you up and you gotta climb out." He instructed in her ear, knowing it was the only way for Trista to hear him and felt her nod, glad she wasn't fighting him on the matter. "Need someone at the far side window of the cafeteria!" He ordered through the radio clipped to his jacket, knowing that was the only way to contact the others.

"I'm on my way!" Colby's high-pitched voice replied over the radio, the woman's head snapping up as soon as she heard it.

Joe noticed what Jon did and looked at the double doors, wondering if their luck would ever change with this job. "Fuck." He muttered, carting his victim over to the window and watched as Jon lifted the woman to climb out it.

"Trista!" Colby shouted, relief coursing through him as soon as he spotted his sister climbing out, pulling her the rest of the way carefully.

"Colby!" Trista cried out, clinging to her brother for dear life as soon as she was safely out of the cafeteria, relief flooding her own body. "Colby, Cornelius…"

"I got him. Get her back to the bus." Another firefighter, Windham Rotunda, ordered and was thankful they saved Colby's sister, squatting down to help the next victim. The old man barely slid through the window when an explosion erupted from the school, making all the kids scream out in terror. "Jon, Joe, get out of there!" Windham shouted, carting the second victim to the ambulance for immediate medical treatment.