Hi all! This is my first chapter story, I know the first chapter isn't very long but this is like the prologue. Reviews definitely welcomed, as are flames!

Disclaimer: Are they mine? Hah. I wish.

"Honestly Sam, why don't you just go to paramedic school?" Ricky stole a French fry from my carton and looked at me thoughtfully while he chewed.

"I dunno, Rick, it's just not a salary I could live off of." I pushed my fries away from him to prevent any further thefts. "Especially when I have the option of becoming something bigger."

"But this is what you want," he argued. "Being a first-responder is as big as being a lawyer for some people. It's a crazy job."

"Could I handle it?"

There was a slight pause, as Ricky considered.

"I know you could."

This is the part where I freeze my fantasy, every time.

"I know you could." That last line, I'm ashamed to say, is made up. I never got further into the conversation, I never heard those words of affirmation. I never found out if my brother thought I'd be able to handle the pressures of being a first responder.

I wonder sometimes, especially times like this, what he would have said.

The building had collapsed, there were at least ten more unaccounted for. All of the victims found so far had been packed up already and were being carted to the hospitals. A woman lying in front of me, delirious and trembling, was all that remained. They had decided that she would just be taking up an ambulance and had given it to one with a better chance than her. I was watching her die in front of me, unable to do anything for her as she gurgled and drowned in her own blood as it filled her lungs.

Sirens were wailing and smoke filled the air, making it hard to see and breathe through it all. Dozens of firefighters, paramedics and police officers swarmed the area, shouting, radioing, and motioning one another in a frenzy that, to my morbid mind, slightly resembled a dance.

"Drake! Get over here, now!"

I heard my commanding officer shouting for me in what resembled his extremely annoyed tone of voice. I had the distinct feeling he had called me several times before.

"Yes sir," I mumbled, standing up. I finally tore my eyes off of the now-still woman and stumbled over to his side. "They found a man buried under the rubble. We've stabilized the building, but the hole is to small for us to get our shoulders through. You're our best bet." He grabbed my arm and pointed the way towards a small gathering of firefighters before diverting his attention elsewhere and jogging off, leaving me to crawl into a pitch black hole buried under a ton of concrete.

Yep, sometimes I wonder what Ricky would have said.

"Get outta my face, Leo!"

"Not till you tell me where you've been and what's wrong!"

"There ain't nothing wrong, so lay off!"

Hamato Donatello sighed and tore his gaze from his computer monitor to the door where the shouting was coming from. He supposed he should be glad that Raphael, who had been gone for nearly eighteen hours, had returned safe and sound. However, the two were shouting louder than usual, which wasn't helping his headache. He took a sip of coffee and tried to tune them out.

"Raphael! Do you realize that you jeopardize the safety of this family every time you-"

"Shut UP, Fearless! You don't know NOTHIN'!"

Perhaps it would be more difficult than he thought.

SIX HOURS EARLIER

"Raphael? Are you there? Don't leave me! Don't leave!" I began to hyperventilate at the thought of being alone.

"Chill, Sam, I'm right here."

The voice floated up from below and instantly calmed me. I took a deep breath of relief. "Promise you won't leave," I begged him. "Promise you'll be right here."

"I…I promise," Raphael's voice sounded a little uncertain. "I promise I won't leave until help comes."

I nodded, accepting my small victory. I stuck my hand down through the sewer grate and felt it lightly gripped by a strange, leathery hand. If I were more than half-conscious I probably would have questioned the odd touch of this skin, and probably what a man was doing in the sewers anyway. However, I was content with this sign of life, and I slowly drifted into a fitful sleep. I wasn't going to be left alone, I knew, because this stranger had promised.