Promises
By: Frost Leonhart

A/N: Consider this as a replacement to Season Five.... And a personal adjustment to the storyline: I'm making Tommy in his mid-30s.

Chapter One: Out of the Grave

The fire broke out in the dead of the night. Her parents were out of town on business – as always. Tommy had been at her house indecently late and had slipped home not even two hours before the sirens woke him and the rest of the neighborhood. Interested, he got out of bed, slid into a pair of jeans and work boots, grabbed a jacket and ran out into the night. He became anxious when the sirens became louder near her house. He broke into a run and as he rounded the corner, his eyes widened. His heart pounded frantically.

"NO!" he yelled as he sprinted towards the blazing house – her house. People turned in his direction. He barreled past them. Probies and neighbors managed to catch up to him by the time his foot made it on the porch. He was dragged away from the house, yelling and swearing and fighting the firefighters he'd had coffee with not even twenty-four hours earlier. He heard his mother shouting for him to calm down and for his other siblings to remain by her side. With the combined strength of three men, Tommy was hauled back to the front lawn. As soon as he'd tear away from one grip, another held him back.

Finally he broke free. As he turned to sprint back up the porch steps, the house collapsed. The wind was knocked out of him as someone tackled him down. Arms wrapped around his arms and torso to pin him down. He tried to struggle until he heard his younger brother voice. Johnny had been brave enough to tackle him down. His mind broke as his brother tried to speak soothing words to ease his distress. Words that he couldn't process. All he knew was that he had lost his true love. She had just burned to death before his very eyes… and he had been powerless to stop it. A wordless scream tore out of his throat.

The alarm woke him.

"Jesus…" he muttered putting a hand to his chest. His heart fluttered frantically. His breath came out in shallow gasps. He hated remembering that part of his life… He hadn't dreamed of her in some time now. If only he would have spent the full night with her… she'd still be alive.

"Did dispatch rudely interrupt your beauty sleep, Tommy? MOVE!" Nelson shouted as he jogged by. Shaking his head, Tommy got up and ran to the trucks.

"You ok?" Sean asked as he grabbed his hopped into his turnout pants while throwing his coat and helmet into the truck.

"Yeah." He answered rather huffily. He prayed that he hadn't been sleep-talking.

"You were moaning in your sleep. Saying something lik-" Sean pressed. No such luck.

"Look kid, I'm fine." Tommy cut him off and jumped into the truck. Before he could shut the door, the fire truck sped off into the night.

Tommy looked at the structure fire with trepidation; his mind told him something was wrong. He heard Nelson arguing with a guy in army gear that was blocking the path.

"You can't go in there! Not until our UC is out!"

"Damn your UC! Tommy! Franco! Silletti! Garrity! Get over here!" the Battalion Chief barked out. Instantly the younger two came to the chief's side; Franco sauntered over, chopping on his gum; but Tommy remained rooted to his spot. Why couldn't he shake off the feeling that there was something about this call? Was his life going to finally end tonight? Or another member of his crew? Who's ghost would latch onto him and torment his already torture soul. His blue eyes surveyed his entrance. He took a deep breath of clean air, sent a pray up to his dad and then charged into the flames after his crew members.

In an apartment on the seventh floor, Tommy used his foot to open the locked front door.

"NY Fire! Anybody in here?!" he yelled. "Hello?!" He cautiously walked into the apartment, muttering under his breath about the idiocy of checking an empty apartment. As he walked into the bedroom, his eyes found a woman on the ground. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a soft pink racer-back top. Her hair was in a messy ponytail with her bangs falling into her eyes. Her upper arm had been sliced open. The beginning of a bruise was blossoming on her cheekbone. Blood trickled from a corner of her mouth. His male protectiveness screamed at him to rush to her side, but he forced himself to take slow, careful steps, making sure he wouldn't fall through the floor. When he made it, he knelt down and checked her pulse… it was there.

"Hey… Wake up." he softly said, trying to make her regain consciousness. He shook her – a dangerous move because he didn't know if she had sustained more injuries. She groaned from the pain and slowly opened her eyes. Emerald green met bright blue. Panic flooded her eyes and she quickly pushed herself to a sitting position, looking to her right. Tommy's eyes flickered to what she was looking at – a destroyed desk.

"Shit." she sighed. He could read the weariness in her body language. Tears formed her eyes and she pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. She would not cry into front of this man… Who the hell was this man?

"We need to get out of-" his voice trailed off as his blue eyes fell on the pendant that rested between her breasts. Fear chilled his blood… He recognized that pendant. She sighed and shook her head to clear it. The woman looked around her and saw flames shooting above and below her. She trembled from fear. She hated fire. As she turned her attention back to the man beside her, adrenaline shot through her veins. Tommy lunged at her. Her attention snapped back to him when he was in mid-air and she attempted to get up and away from him but he tackled her back down and pinned her.

"Get off of me!" she screamed. With one hand, Tommy pinned her hands and with the other, he grabbed the pendant and turned it over. His blue eyes widened in horror as he read the engraving:

I promise forever…

"Where did you get this?!" he roared as his gloved hand wrapped around her throat. The woman's emerald eyes flashed dangerously and she took a gasping breath, getting ready to fight him. He admired her spunk. She brought her leg up and kneed him. While her aim had been inaccurate, it still hurt like a son of a bitch. Pain exploded through his body but he managed to keep a hold of her wrist as she pushed him off of her. Instead of trying to free her wrist, she used that hand to grab his collar while the other disappeared behind her back and returned into view with a 9mm. She sighted down the gun.

"Who the fuck are you?!" she demanded as she shook him; her breathing came out ragged. He forced himself to remain still even though the pain was unbearable. His eyes took in the progression of the fire and he realized that they could be engulfed in flames instantly.

"Tommy Gavin, a firefighter with Ladder 62, of the FDNY." he answered. She took in the uniform but she clearly disbelieved him… and who could blame her? He had practically choked her to death. His radio squawked.

"Tommy! Franco! Garrity! Silletti! Report!"

"We're on the ninth floor, Chief. Last time we saw Tommy was on the seventh floor." Franco's voice came out.

"Tommy! Report!" Nelson's voice commanded.

"Tommy?" the woman asked. It was as if she couldn't believe the person before her. She lowered the gun. Her emerald eyes blinked in surprise. "Tomas Michael Gavin?" His blue eyes narrowed but he nodded. She clicked the safety on the gun and tucked it behind her back. How did this woman know his name? As she began to speak, above them, the ceiling fell open and a piece of debris hit the woman's brow, rendering her unconscious.

"Damn." He muttered as he scooped her into his arms… She felt good. 'None of that now. None of that now. Get out of here! There isn't much time!' He told himself as he balanced her in one arm so he could answer the frantic roaring of his chief on the radio.

"I'm ok… just had a ceiling fall down." he said, calming everyone down.

"Get the fuck outta there!" Nelson roared.

"I'm coming out now." Tommy turned to leave but his exit was blocked. "Oh fuck." His blue eyes darted around the room. They landed on her balcony window.

"Oh shit." He hissed out as he gauged the drop. Fifty feet? Sixty? His knees quivered. He looked at the face of the unconscious woman. She looked so familiar…perhaps a former one-night stand? …No she seemed to come from before his time of womanizing. An explosion overhead snapped him out of the past.

It was going to be a long fall. He quickly took off his air tank and threw it down. Feinberg would kill him if he left it behind.

"Tommy what the hell are ya doin?!" Nelson shouted as he carefully climbed over the balcony railing.

"I have no other route and by the time you guys fight back the flames it will be too late!" And before anyone else could argue, Tommy jumped off the balcony, the mystery woman tight in his arms.

He heard the cries of his crew and onlookers as he whistled through the air. With all his gear, the impact of the water was not as bad as it could have been. The woman woke from the shock of the cold water and fought for air. He loosened his hold on her and followed her up to air.

They broke the surface, choking and coughing air and water. He pulled her to the edge of the pool. His wet turnout gear weighed a ton. It was amazing that he had managed not to sink straight to the bottom. His air tank was at the bottom. Nelson and Black Shawn stared in disbelief but the rest of the crew rushed over to help pull the two out.

"Are you fuckin' mad?!" Lt. Shea barked as he helped Tommy up. EMTs came over to them. Tommy waved them off but the woman was pulled away from him. His crew pounced.

"What the hell were ya thinking?!"

"You're crazy!"

"What the hell!"

Tommy's blue eyes sought out the woman; she was being led to an ambulance by two EMTs, protesting the whole way until the man in a black suit that had been arguing with Nelson earlier came over to them. He leaned over the woman and whispered into her ear. Instantly she quieted and sat on the bumper of the ambulance. The EMTs quickly took the opportunity of her complacency. He watched as her arm was bandaged and her bruises checked. She winced when they found a slash along her ribs. Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Had she been in a knife fight? She leaned against the ambulance door and closed her eyes to rest. Why had the destroyed desk brought her to the point of tears? Why had –

"Dude, that's one hot chick you saved." Franco assessed, pulling Tommy from his thoughts.

"She's all right."

"Dude, the drowned-rat-look looks good on her – she's hot!" Garrity nodded.

"I'd bet you'd get awesome hero sex from that one." Franco pondered.

'Why are you so familiar?' Tommy mused. He studied her again. Raking his eyes over her athletic figure. Taking in her perfect lips and ivory skin. …He felt something he hadn't felt in years. She opened her emerald eyes and locked with his blue ones. Instantly he knew who she was. His heart pounded wildly. Abandoning his crew, he went over to the ambulance. His long legs pushed him through the crowd that separated them. He didn't know why or even how it was possible. But it didn't matter… she was here.

"Give us a minute, boys." she ordered. The two EMTs plus the black suited one left. She slowly stood up, her body stiff from the beating she had taken, and came to stand a few inches away from him. She watched Tommy. Waited for him to say something. And the only thing he could say was a name… a name he hadn't spoken in seventeen years.

"Kahlan." He whispered. She smiled sweetly… just has she had once upon a time.

"Tommy." He gently wrapped his arms around her small waist as she locked her arms around his neck and their lips met.