A/N - I love The Greatest Showman!!! I have listened to the soundtrack so much! This is written in pure love for that musical.
"Fire!"
Lettie Lutz, aka the Bearded Lady, had been helping her family of performers who were part of P.T. Barnum's circus, fight off antagonizers and protesters of the show who stayed after the last performance and refused to leave. From what she'd been told, Philip Carlyle had been polite but firm in asking them to leave the building. One spat on W.D. and all hell broke lose.
At the cry of, "Fire!" though, everyone stopped and looked around, orange flames already beginning to lick up the walls of the circus building. The men who started the fight were suddenly gone, vanished from the scene of their crime.
Screams began ringing out as everyone tried to make sure all the performers were leaving the building as fast as they could. Lettie watched as W.D. grabbed Charles, or Tom Thumb as he was known, and sprint out the front of the building. Lettie was followed by many others, all hand in hand, as they headed outside into the fresh air.
She watched with the crowd as the inferno began taking on a life of its own. She'd never see a fire of this magnitude in her life. It wasn't just on the bottom floor, the whole building was engulfed in flames. Philip was standing before them, helping the last of the performers into the crowd and safely away from the danger.
"Philip! Philip! Is everyone out?"
Lettie couldn't believe her ears; the voice of Phineas T Barnum rang out over the roar of the fire. She knew he had been on tour, but didn't know he was back in New York already.
Phineas pushed through to the front of the crowd, finding Philip and the two of them searched the growing crowd of spectators, trying to make sure all who belonged to the circus had made it out.
"I think that's everyone!"
"Except the pretty one, the trapeze girl," O'Mally said, helping to push the crowd back.
"Ann?!" Phineas asked in alarm, his lanky figure tall enough for him to start rapidly scan the crowd again.
"W.D.! Where's Ann?"
W.D. looked like he had frozen in place, his eyes locked onto the building engulfed in flames. "I don't know!" he yelled to Philip, heart-wrenching fear in the young man's eyes and voice.
Lettie gasped when Philip turned on his heel and sprinted back to the burning building, her heart skipping a beat as he vanished into the heart of the orange monster devouring their home.
"Philip!" Phineas yelled, helping a police officer and a firefighter hold W.D. back from also running.
"W.D!"
Ann came running from the side of the building, her shawl wrapped around her and billowing behind her as she ran to them, her eyes searching for her brother.
"There she is!" Phineas yelled as W.D. ran to her, hugging his sister tightly before he turned his attention back to the flaming building.
"Philip!"
Phineas took a step towards the building, yelling again, "Philip!"
"Daddy!"
Lettie saw Caroline and Helen push their way through the crowd before standing at the front. She felt Charity's presence right before she saw her hands reach out to the girls.
Phineas turned and locked eyes for the briefest of moments with Charity, his square jaw clenched so tightly and his lips drawn into a thin, firm line. The next moment, he darted toward the building, pulling his jacket off and letting it flutter into the flames. An audible gasp broke through the crowd as the girls began yelling for their daddy.
Lettie grabbed Caroline and pulled her close as Charity slid her arm around Helen, the four of them huddled together. A giant roar caught everyones attention and all had tears in their eyes as the top two floors of the circus collapsed, knowing there couldn't be any way for Philip or Phineas to have survived that.
Lettie's heart was breaking, not only for Charity and the girls but for herself and the others as well. Phineas was the first person to see who she was on the inside, her true self, not the person on the outside. He pulled her from obscurity, a laundress, working in a dark corner, hidden and alone. "They're gonna love you." She remembered him saying that to her right before her first performance.
Phineas had made all of them feel special, celebrating the very things society wanted them to hide. It didn't matter to him that he was circumventing the cultured norms of their time. He truly wanted them all to shine, no matter what. That's what attracted her to his show in the first place.
To be honest, Lettie had been furious with Phineas since the night of Jenny Lind's first performance, when he shut all the circus crowd out from mingling with him and his family and all who were there to congratulate Jenny. His embarrassment to be seen with them was palpable as he closed the door in Lettie's face. That kind of rejection didn't fade very easily from the heart of someone like Lettie.
But, after watching Phineas dart into the blaze, total disregard for his own life to find his friend and business partner in the flaming ruins of their home, that's what hit Lettie the hardest. Despite Phineas leaving them when they needed him the most and showing how embarrassed he was to be seen with them, that selfless act proved that he cared for them, she was sure of it.
She bowed her head, hot tears stinging from her eyes before falling to the ground. Her heart was hurting so much at the loss. She hugged Caroline and Charity closer to her, listening to the little girl sobbing for the father who had lost his way but had just come home to her.
"Daddy!"
Lettie's head shot up, hearing Helen scream elatedly as a darkened shape emerged out of the orange blaze and down the steps. The dark shape morphed into Phineas, his clothes and skin blackened from smoke and char, carrying an unconscious Philip in his arms. Her eyes closed for a brief second, a prayer said for the man who, despite his lavish background, joined them and endured a disgraced standing with his fleshly family. She also let out a shuddered breath that both men seemed to be ok.
She watched as Phineas gently laid Philip on the ground, then bent over him to see if he was breathing. She heard him cough before saying, "He's taken in a lot of smoke, but he's breathing." He stood and looked up at the carnage the fire was causing.
That's when utter relief flooded over her as she hugged Caroline tight before she pulled away to fling herself at her father. She watched the firefighters put Philip on a stretcher and carry him away to the hospital.
The roar of the fire had them all turn their attention back to the raging orange beast destroying all the good in their lives. Another floor of the circus collapsed, causing all to gasp and then pray in thanks that they were all were outside and no soul was lost.
Phineas stood erect, hugging Helen and Caroline before a coughing fit doubled him over. Charity grabbed him around the shoulders, trying to keep her husband upright. He let go of the girls as he began coughing even more violently.
Lettie grabbed both girls into her embrace, glancing up to see Phineas making eye contact with her, regret mixed with pain flashing in his brown eyes. A split second later, his eyes rolled back and closed as his exhausted frame crumpled before them, landing in a heap on the ground.