Title: Burning in the Skies

Author: indehed

Fandom: Eastenders

Pairing: Christian/Syed

Warnings/Spoilers: spoilers up through the Queen Vic Fire and although I go off on a tangent at that point, I may still use references for characters through to the present day (Nov 2010 and beyond).

This story portrays a canon homosexual relationship between two men,

Notes: Thanks to Madworld_NES for the beta!

Summary: What if Christian had climbed the ladder to save Stacey on the Queen Vic Fire?

He'd hung up the phone just five minutes ago. Before then he'd been in the shower, getting ready to go meet Sy in the Vic after a long day of training. And then all he'd done was finish dressing, grab a couple of biscuits to keep him going and check himself in the mirror one last time. All of which paled into insignificance when he walked down Turpin Road.

The closer he got the louder the shouting was, the brighter the night sky seemed and the smell of smoke intruded in his nostrils. Eyes widening, Christian rushed closer trying to find out what had happened. It had only been five minutes; it couldn't have been more than that, surely. Five minutes ago he'd joked with Syed that he'd be there soon and they'd be able to enjoy their evening, he may have even thrown in a few innuendos. Now he was frantically scanning the crowd of people littered around the outside of a now burning pub, desperately trying to see where Syed was.

He called out his name, more than once, trying to locate him until he could see Tam and a first aid kit back by the railings of Albert Square. Noticing the mop of dark hair beside the younger Masood, he rushed over and didn't even say anything before leaning down and gathering his partner into a tight hug.

"Thank God you're okay." He spoke breathlessly against Syed's temple. "What happened?"

"I don't know, the fire came out of nowhere. The place just seemed to explode."

"No, to you," Christian pulled back slightly, his fingers going to Syed's head where he seemed to be injured, though it didn't look bad and right now he was just happy that the injury was minor. It could have been much worse. "I meant what happened to you."

"I'm fine, really," Syed started, but Christian's stare was easy to translate, and clearly demanded that Syed just tell him exactly what happened. "I got knocked over in the rush to get out. Got a little bit trampled on, but I'm fine."

Christian just sighed and pulled Syed back into a hug - this one more out of relief than anything else. He looked over Sy's shoulder and saw Tam giving them a pretty blank look, obviously not wanting to show any feeling either way for his brother and his boyfriend - not when Masood was standing mere feet from them.

The sound of smashing glass tore through the atmosphere and both men turned to face the pub once more. Never had Christian expected a fire to sound so loud but even now, his heart sank as he saw that someone was still upstairs and his mind immediately panicked that it might be Roxy up there.

He pulled to his feet reluctantly. But he had to tell himself that since Syed was alright, maybe others weren't and he should do something to help. There had to be something that he and others standing around could do.

He could still feel Syed's hand in his and he turned to look down at his lover. "I'm going to see if I can help."

"Christian, no."

"You'll be fine, I'll be right back." He leaned down and kissed the top of Syed's head.

"Christian, the fire brigade will be here soon, it's their job."

"Like I said, I'll be right back. I promise." He squeezed Syed's hand and then let go before giving a tight smile to Tam, asking him to look after Syed for him while he was away. Tam could only nod back, while giving a glancing look behind at his father, Masood, who was still standing in silence, ignoring Christian to the best of his ability.

Christian ran over to where a small crowd had gathered under the window. Pat, Ryan, Janine and more were all looking up to where, as Christian could now make out, Stacey was trapped in one of the bedrooms. Jean was frantic, not able to stand still, watching her child at the window upstairs. And, oh God, baby Lily was up there too. A ladder had already been grabbed from somewhere and Ryan was ready to go up after them. Christian held the ladder and watched as Stacey passed the baby out the window to him, telling him to make sure Lily was okay - take her down to safety. As Ryan approached the bottom of the ladder, he handed the baby over to Jean but before he could go back up after Stacey, something caused another explosion through the building, the pressure sending a shockwave through the ladder and knocking him off balance and down to the ground, landing badly, and Ryan grimaced in pain.

In an unthinking moment, Christian grabbed at the ladder and turned to Ryan, seeing him slightly shell-shocked from being knocked over. "I'll get Stacey."

The words were out of his mouth before he'd had time to think but it was the right thing to do regardless. Someone had to go up there, the sirens were in the distance but still too far away and they could no longer see Stacey at the window. Something could have happened, she might be hurt, need to be carried down. And somehow, it just made sense that Christian should be the one to go up.

"I can manage." Ryan said, but Janine had grabbed onto him, not wanting her new husband to risk himself, not again. Christian had no one holding him back, not physically, and he also knew he had to try something.

"No offence Ryan, but I'm probably stronger than you. I'll have a better chance of getting Stacey down."

"Christian, please," Seeing the look in Jean's eyes was enough for him to try, "Please bring her down to me."

With a quick nod, Christian climbed the ladder and called out to Stacey as he neared the top, hoping she'd hear him and come back to the window. He heard a call of his name in response. But not from Stacey. This call came from below. Syed had now appeared at the bottom of the ladder, with Tam and Masood in tow, though they had likely just followed him out of concern for his injury. Christian looked back down at Syed and smiled at him, trying to let him know that he was and would be okay, but Syed's answering glare showed how little he believed that. Not when his lover was currently climbing the side of a burning building.

He climbed a little higher to be level with the window and called Stacey's name once more. He spotted her, just below the window - she was there, awake, but panic stricken and keeping low to stay below the smoke as much as possible.

Christian took a deep breath and then reached over to the window. Despite yet another call from below, he couldn't turn back around. If he did, he would give up and climb down to be in the safety of Syed's arms. He'd leave Stacey where she was.

He couldn't do that.

He kept his focus and climbed over and into the room. His eyes widened as he saw the flames licking at the door and up towards the ceiling. The room had filled with a thick grey and black and orange smoke that made it difficult to see and breathe. Stacey wouldn't last much longer without getting some decent air into her. He grabbed her shoulders to get her attention, calling her name once more.

"Stacey, you need to get out onto the ladder."

Stacey shook her head, the fear evident in her eyes.

"Come on, it's okay, I'll help you."

"It's too high." She coughed out.

"I'll help you." He repeated. "You need to get out of here. And Lily needs you."

The emotional blackmail of mentioning Lily seemed to work as Stacey nodded and let Christian pull her to her feet. They both hovered at the edge of the window, but once more Stacey looked out and froze up.

"It's too far."

"No it's not, not with my help," he kept as calm as he could, even though he really didn't feel it. "I'll hold onto you and won't let go until I know you're safe on the ladder, okay?"

She nodded again and he helped her climb out, both of them trying to avoid the sharp shards of glass around the edges of the window pane. She reached out one leg to get to the rungs of the ladder, but it wobbled slightly and her hand dug back into Christian's. He tried to reach his other hand out and over to steady it as she climbed on but it meant him straining at the distance and hanging out of the window himself. Stacey's hand gripped tightly onto his, even as she was almost safely onto the ladder, but she was having difficulty letting go of him.

"You're okay, just let go and climb down." The others below were shouting encouragement up at her and as she glanced down the sight of baby Lily once more spurred her on. She smiled at him, mouthed thank you, and was able to finally let go and climb.

Christian kept an eye on her the whole way down, leaning out of the window as much as he could, trying to get to fresher air. He coughed as the smoke wound around his nose and mouth and forced its way into his throat. As Stacey neared the ground he readied himself to climb back out, aware now that fire fighters were on their way as he could hear the sirens get ever closer.

He was getting light headed; he could feel it and he knew he needed to get out as quickly as possible.

Then he felt a rumble underneath him. Having witnessed the last mini explosion as it ripped through the building he immediately recognised this as another. There was no way he'd make it out on time and he'd rather not fall from the first floor to the ground. But he had no time to decide whether to stay inside or not as the pressure ripped into the room, blowing the door open, letting the flames lick further and higher around him, and the gust of air pushed him onto the windowsill. He gasped as his body made contact with the wood and glass and he struggled to keep his feet on the ground as he was practically pushed out with the force.

He stayed still, unsure of what had just happened to him. He heard his name. Yes, it was his name, over and over... it sounded like different people calling, people he recognised and knew but couldn't place at the moment. One voiced ripped through them all, the first his senses could recognise again and that was Syed.

Syed. The person he had to get back to because he'd been injured in the fire and Christian wanted to take care of him. Get him home. Get the stench of smoke from his clothes. Lie in bed with him and never let go.

He smiled through the fog in his mind and opened his eyes, letting his vision swim back into focus. He looked over himself, and pushed back despite a pain in his side. He used his hand to push up from the window but immediately knew that was a bad idea as glass bit into his skin and he hissed as he realised what he'd done to himself. But it didn't matter, not now anyway.

Turning his head he saw the flames much closer. He dared not look fully behind him because he really didn't want to know how close they were to him, or how high to the ceiling they were.

Looking back down, he saw Syed try to grab hold of the ladder and climb up to him. He tried to shout 'no' down to him but somehow he couldn't say it, all he managed was a weak cough and he frowned at the realisation that somewhere between his head and his mouth he'd been unable to speak.

Masood pulled at Syed's waist, not letting him climb up, and as Ryan once more tried, Janine and Pat pulled at him to stop. There was no point in risking anyone else. It was like a stupid game... one up and one down. Christian found some strength and pushed fully away from the window, but that only meant he was back into the thick smoke again and he doubled over as he realised that the dull throb in his side was more than that.

He looked down but he couldn't make things out in the smoke and the tears forming at the corner of his eyes. He looked down, his black shirt didn't look different, but he couldn't see right anyway. He touched where the pain was and winced again. Pulling his hand away he could see something on his fingertips and was convinced it was blood.

He heard another call of his name, this time clearer, closer. Male. He turned back from the wall and to the window again and his eyes widened in shock as he saw Masood there. On the ladder.

"Christian! You have to get out. Now. Quickly."

"Masood? What...?"

"Now, Christian!"

Christian put his hands on the windowsill, gingerly, avoiding the glass he knew was there, and he kept his movements slow so as not so bring that biting pain back into his side.

"Christian!" Masood's voice seemed angry, hurried and Christian's foggy brain couldn't put two and two together, let alone work out why Masood of all people would be standing on the ladder making sure he was okay. Or at least, checking he wasn't dead yet from oxygen deprivation.

"Where's Syed?" Christian asked as he bent down over the window.

Masood could only give an exasperated sigh. "He's at the bottom of the ladder. I wouldn't let him come up here so you've got me. Now give me your hand and climb out. Now!"

Christian reached out and Masood grabbed him around the wrist, holding onto him. The look on Masood's face was a knowing one - he could tell Christian didn't trust that he wouldn't let go, it wasn't something that Christian could hide from him.

"I'm not going to drop you. I give you my word."

"You left me for dead once before, why not now?" Christian now had one leg over the window and was trying to keep his balance.

"I regret that, believe me. Now I'm going to move down so you can get a hold on the ladder. I'll make sure you can't fall."

Masood didn't let go of Christian until he had a foot and his hand on the ladder, then he moved down and out of the way and let Christian finish pulling himself over. As Christian looked down, making sure he didn't stand on Masood's hands, he saw Syed, clearer than he'd been able to from inside the Vic's bedroom, and saw him covering his face with his hands, barely able to look or stand still. Much life how he'd seen Jean look before he'd climbed up in the first place.

He took his time going down, each time he lowered his left leg it seemed to stretch the skin of his stomach and the pain once more erupted in his side but he'd worry about that when he was down.

As firefighters began running around below, Christian had almost reached the bottom and could already feel hands on him, trying to help him, even though none of them realised they were making the pain he was feeling worse. He stumbled on the last rung and lost his footing. He fell into the person beside him, who he belatedly realised was Masood, and then slumped onto him before falling forward. Hands kept him from hitting the ground, too many hands, and he just wanted them to let him go so he could lie down. He just wanted to lie down somewhere.

"Christian."

Hearing his name on Syed's lips though, that was enough to jar his attention and he looked to where the voice was coming from and knew that one of the people holding him was his Syed. And although Syed was also hurt, Christian felt better knowing Sy was there again and a strange smile formed on his lips. Only for the pain and a grimace to return when someone's hand skirted over his wound.

"Sy, it hurts."

"Hold on, put him down." Syed's orders were barked at everyone trying to help, and they let go as they let him come to rest on the pavement.

Mosood stayed hovering beside them and Tamwar was nearby. Ryan and Janine weren't far away, the newlyweds comforting each other as Ryan sat nursing a sore leg. Jean held Lily while Stacey was attended to by a paramedic giving her oxygen. And most others were in a shrieking group by the Vic's front doors as it seemed more people were being dragged out. Just then another blast shook the vicinity and made Christian lean forward too fast. He felt Syed's arms go over him and cover both their heads, sheltering them from the blast.

"Christian, where are you hurt?" Syed's worried voice cut through every other sound around him as his hearing came back after the explosion.

"My side." He hissed out, no point in hiding anything like an idiot. He was in pain, it hurt, and it was plain to see. He put a hand to his side and then felt Syed's join his, both of them able to feel the stickiness of blood on the material of his shirt.

"You're bleeding. Sit back." Syed moved around him so he could get a better look. "Tam, get a paramedic, tell them Christian's badly hurt and bleeding. Go!"

Tamwar, hurried off towards an ambulance, grabbing the first paramedic he could find while Syed lifted Christian's shirt carefully.

"I told you not to..." he trailed off, running a tired hand over his face, "You stupid..."

"I didn't think..."

"No, you didn't," Syed interrupted.

The paramedic knelt at Christian's side and took over from Syed, being careful of Christian's wound, asking him how it happened, where it hurt. Christian answered the questions as best he could, well aware of Syed, and Masood, eagerly listening in to what he was saying, though likely both for very different reasons. The concern flowing from Syed was obvious, Christian could see it in his eyes as his attention wavered between answering the paramedic and making sure Syed was both okay and staying right there with him. Masood's eyes though, his had once more turned blank and showed his distaste for the relationship between his son and former co-worker.

While Christian couldn't take his eyes from Syed, an oxygen mask was lowered over his head and into place, giving him a small fright at first. Syed knelt down behind him and took his hand as the paramedic worked, beckoning for a stretcher to be brought over so they could take Christian to the hospital.

Amidst the din of everything around them and with the majority of his concentration on Syed, on his hand holding his own, on the other keeping a light hold on the back of his head, comfortingly, Christian was mostly unaware of what he was being told was happening. He took in some information about glass in the wound, loss of blood, smoke, oxygen deprivation, shock, all of which meant next to nothing and was pretty much no different to whathe'd see or learn on the likes of Casualty or Holby City...

He tried to speak but the mask over his face prevented much. He reached a hand to move it, "Syed..."

Syed's hand joined his but tried to push the mask back into place.

Christian shook his head and pulled again at the mask, "Syed, you need to be seen to as well, your head..."

The paramedic glanced up at Syed, who merely shook his head, "I'm fine, just take care of Christian."

Christian couldn't say anything more as Syed once more made sure the mask was on his face, before he leaned his head down and pressed his forehead to Christian's.

He whispered Syed's name behind the mask and it came out more as a croak. He lifted his hand to the back of Syed's neck and once more the movement stretched the skin by his wounds and he hissed in pain. He wasn't sure if he felt brave to have withstood the fire and the pain or whether he was over-reacting as the tears formed at the corner of his eyes. He was still lightheaded, he assumed from the smoke, but perhaps from an amount of blood loss as well and for some unknown and stupid reason he tried to sit up properly.

Falling back immediately his vision swam and he felt as if the world was swimming. A few moments later, while hearing his name being said, and the faint sound of sirens and burning wood, he slipped into unconsciousness.