Towering Inferno (or, We May Never Love Like This Again)

A/N: This is a Brady Bunch crossover with Irwin Allen's 1974 three-Oscar-winning disaster blockbuster movie "Towering Inferno" starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman where Mike Lookinland had a role, straight after The Brady Bunch ended. So, as I watched it again, I had the thought: What if Bobby Brady got caught in the burning tower instead?

Practically, since the movie was released in December 1974, this would be the possible 6th season of Brady Bunch. And as I'm not a fan of Cousin Oliver, he never came to live with the Bradys (or never existed).

And I'm applying my view on the Bradys' ages and grades here again. At the moment the story takes part (Summer 1974), Greg is 18 and in fall (after the events of the story) will begin his freshman year in college. Marcia is 16 (will be 17 in soon) and will begin her junior year (11th grade) at Westdale, Peter is 15 and Jan also just turned 15, and they will both begin their freshman year (9th grade) in Westdale in the fall. Bobby is 13 (nearing his 14th birthday) and will go to 8th grade at Fillmore, while Cindy is 12 and will go to Fillmore 6th grade.

Now this one is a bit rougher for Bobby. In the original movie, Mike Lookinland's character was rescued from the scenic elevator after it exploded by Steve McQueen's character, but in this story, Bobby Brady is going to be in the burning tower to the very end, and is one of the last ones to be rescued.

"We May Never Love Like This Again" is a song from the movie, written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and performed by Maureen McGovern, portraying a lounge singer in the movie. The song eventually won the 1974 Academy Award for Best Original Song, second time for the Kasha-Hirschhorn-McGovern connection after "The Morning After" in the 1972 disaster movie "The Poseidon Adventure".

This summer afternoon, Bobby Brady was really overjoyed as he ran at his family house.

"Hey, Bob, you really seem happy today." Carol commented on Bobby's arrival.

"Well, it depends."

"Depends on what?" Carol asked.

"Dad home?"

"Not yet, he'll be here in about two hours. Why?"

"I think it's better if I tell you both."

"Okay, I'll wait until then."

Two hours later, Carol finally saw Mike's red Chevrolet Caprice Classic convertible pull into the driveway. She ran out to greet him.

"Hi, Mike. Glad to have you home."

"Something wrong?"

"Well, no. But just that Bobby seems extremely happy about something, yet he wouldn't tell me alone, he wanted to talk to us both."

"Oh. Well, come on, let's go see him then, see what he wanted."

Mike and Carol walked into the house and upstairs to the boys' room. Bobby was sitting on his bed, and he seemed to be really worried or impatient. "Bobby, you wanted to talk?" Mike asked.

Bobby got up from his bed. "Yes, I sure did."

"All right, want to go down to my den?"

"Sure."

Mike, Carol and Bobby walked down the stairs into Mike's den. "So, what's it all about, Bob?"

"Well.. You know Nathan Spencer?"

"Natey? Hmmm, is he 14 years old, 5 foot 4, blonde and has green eyes?"

"Yes. Well, Nate's older brother Henry, he's 25 and at graduate school in Berkley, happened to get three passes to the dedication of the Glass Tower in San Francisco. It begins in four days, and well, the Spencer brothers are very close, so Henry invited Nate to come and visit the tower with him. But there were still three passes, and after they couldn't find a third one themselves, Henry offered Nate to invite a friend along. And as Natey and I are very good friends, he already asked me."

"Glass Tower?" Carol asked. "Isn't that the world's tallest building now?"

"Yes, that's it." Mike responded. As an architect, he was quite well-aware of the 138-storey, 1,800 foot skyscraper designed by Doug Roberts, that would now be opened in San Francisco.

"You know, Bobby, we didn't have any family plans for the week, but it sure is a big favor you're asking. After all, none of your brothers and sisters went on so long trips just with friends, at the age of 13. I mean, San Francisco is about 400 miles away."

"I understand, Mom, but it's all part of growing up. You know, Marcia was my age when you let her have the slumber party."

"True. But a slumber party at home and a trip to San Francisco, with just some friends, are two different things."

"Look, slumber party isn't really a boys' thing, so I couldn't really care less about having my own slumber party."

"Oh, we understand that. But still, a trip all by yourself is not really a minor thing."

"Mom please, I'm not going to Europe." Bobby tried to make his point, before adding, "Well, this time."

"Now Bobby, don't misinterpret us." Carol reassured him. "We haven't said a very sharp no, but we need to think about it, okay?"

"Alright, guess I'll just better give you some space for thinking." Bobby said as he rose from the chair and walked towards the door.

"That would be nice." Mike said as Bobby left the den. Then he turned to Carol.

"Honey, I must say that I can relate to Bobby on this one. I remember when I was 14, and the World War II had just ended 2 years ago. My friend Martin Reston was just my age, and he was very close to Ronald, his older brother by 8 years. After Pearl Harbor, Ronnie was drafted to the Army, but he promised Martin that if he came back alive, he would take him on an outing. And well, in '47 Ronnie came back and kept his promise and so, Martin, I and two more of our friends took a weekend trip to San Diego in Ronnie's new Buick."

"San Diego? To there, it's only half the distance it's to San Francisco."

"Well, yes, but as I said, we only went for the weekend. It was still school time when we went. Left for San Diego on Friday evening and returned on Sunday evening."

"Now, I can understand that. And it seems that right now, Bobby is even in better situation. I mean, it is still the summer break. Not to mention that Bobby would probably be gone for the whole week, so it's really a good time, with no school restrictions."

"Yes. And he's going to San Francisco anyway. It's twice as far as Las Vegas, but at least we wouldn't have to worry about him getting interested in gambling at so young age, even though he wouldn't still be allowed in the casino."

Carol laughed at it. "Oh, Mike. Well, now that brings along a question. If Bobby gets his way and can go to San Francisco this time, what should we expect when he's 15? Maybe then, he'd want to fly to Miami or Chicago with friends, and at 16 to London, Hamburg or Paris. And what should we expect when he turns 18?"

"I don't know, maybe Tokyo? But I think that if we could ask Bobby about the details, maybe this would help us make the decision."

"Alright, Mike, I'll call him in." Carol walked to the door and asked Bobby to come in.

As soon as Bobby was in Mike's den, they proceeded to ask him the details. "So Bobby, do you have a schedule about the trip so far?"

"Well, Nate told Henry that I haven't been to San Francisco or to Northern California before, so they decided that we may take the scenic route instead, especially since the tower opening is still four days away, from now. So, tomorrow evening, Henry will come to LA and pick us up with his very neat-o car, and well, we decided not to take the Interstate, but instead we'd take the old Route 101 and Highway 1 through the Big Sur and Monterey, and the first night camp out somewhere by Big Sur, before we'd proceed to Monterey and then to San Francisco. Then we could have one day in San Fran, and on the third day the tower visit. And then we'd be coming back home, but we're not sure yet if then we'd take the Interstate or Highway 1."

"Well, where would you be staying?"

"Now, Henry lives on the university campus, but for our time there, we'd be staying at a very nice hotel on Haight-Ashbury. And it shouldn't really cost much."

"Oh. Well, do you have any idea how much money would you need?"

"Well, first, my share of the gas - that would be about 15 cents a gallon from me, and hotel room would be about 5 bucks a day - again, from me, and some money for food too. The tower entrance will be free, as we already got the passes."

"Alright, that seems reasonable." Mike nodded.

"Well Bobby, you can go." Carol said. "But promise me to be very careful and stay with Henry and Nathan. We almost lost you and Cindy at the Grand Canyon three years ago, and we wouldn't really want to experience it again. After all, San Francisco is quite a big place, too easy to get lost there. So don't wander off on your own, but if you happen to get lost and can't find Nathan or Henry, don't move anywhere, you may get even more lost. Oh, and if you are near a phone, it would be very nice if you could call us and check in, maybe daily?"

"Oh, thank you!" Bobby hugged his mom and shook hands with his dad. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. After all, I don't think we will see any Indian boys in San Fran."

"You wiseguy." Carol chuckled as she rubbed his head. "Now you go call Nathan and tell them you can go, and then you better get to packing, or it would be really awkward tomorrow evening if you haven't prepared for the trip."

"Okay, I will." That said, Bobby left the den for the preparations.

"Boy, he really seems happy to get to go to San Francisco. Maybe when we go there as a family, we can already have him guide us." Carol laughed.

"Oh yeah. Now, remember the joke I made about Tokyo? Boy, if we ever get that far, it may have to come out of his own allowance. I mean, I've seen the prices. A Japan Airlines roundtrip from Los Angeles to Tokyo really costs about a thousand dollars."

"Oh, Mike." Carol chuckled. "Well, at least we can be happy that now he's getting a chance to go to San Francisco and visit the world's tallest building."

"Yes, though as an architect I really would love to visit the Glass Tower myself." Mike laughed.

So it was settled, Bobby could go to San Francisco and visit the tower. This night, being really excited, he could hardly sleep.

The next evening at 5.10 PM, Henry Spencer pulled up in front of the Brady house on Clinton Avenue in his blue 1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer convertible. Bobby happily walked out of the house, carrying his suitcase, as Mike, Carol, Alice, Greg, Peter, Marcia, Jan and Cindy all waved to him. He stuffed his suitcase into the trunk and got in the backseat, then Henry fired up the Chrysler 325 Hemi engine and off they were, westbound to Route 101 towards Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

Bobby was really excited as he and Nathan were sitting in the back seat, singing, reading magazines and playing to pass the time. And even though at the beginning of the year, when Marcia got her driver's license, the 55 mph limit had already been implemented, Henry didn't seem to care much about it and at times, even drove at 60-65 mph at some places. After all, if he didn't exceed the limit that had been in effect before Nixon signed the bill, he could get away with as little as some dumb $20 "energy wasting fine".

It was nearly five hours and about 270 miles later, when they were now driving on Highway One through Los Padres National Forest. Eventually, they stopped to spend the night at some local motel. Remembering what Carol had told him, Bobby called home. After all, there was a phone in their room, so he took advantage of it.

This time, Mike answered the call. "Hi."

"Hey, Dad. It's me, Bob, we just arrived at our motel at Big Sur."

"Oh, good to hear from you. Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, really neat-o. We're staying here for the night, and we'll go hiking in the State Park in the morning, before we'd continue for Monterey."

"Hiking? Well, sounds fun to me."

"I bet it would be."

"Good. Hey, if you're going hiking in the morning, how about getting some sleep now?"

"Oh yes, Dad. I just wanted to check in. Now honestly, I was planning to get some sleep now, since it's not Tuesday, and even then, Five-O won't be on air again before I go back to school." Yes, Bobby loved the famous cop show. Since 1968, it ran from September to March every season, first on Wednesdays at 10, before switching to Tuesdays at 8 in 1971. But now that the last season had ended in March again, he would again have to wait for the next season until September.

"Alright." Mike chuckled. "Good night, son."

"Night, dad." Bobby ended the call. As said, right now there was no Five-O, so Bobby didn't bother staying up and went to sleep. After all, tomorrow they'd have a big day ahead of them.

Bobby woke at 8.45 in the morning, while Nathan and Henry were still asleep. Normally, he would have tried to get back to sleep again, but not this time. After all, he didn't know when Henry had planned to go hiking, so better prepare for the day.

Henry and Nathan woke about 20 minutes later, and it was breakfast time. After washing down their eggs and bacon with orange juice, the trio went on the hiking trip at about 9.45 alongside McWay Creek. They spent about five hours in the wilderness, having lunch at the Waterfall Trail beach. It reminded Bobby of the first camping trip the Bradys went after the boys got a new mother and three sisters. Though the girls needed to get used to the tradition Mike and his sons had had for years, and the kids failed at catching fish, Carol had brought along the emergency supplies, which even the boys liked. And now, since the trio wouldn't go on a camping trip, just a day hike, they had brought lunch along with them, again.

At 3 PM, after making sure that they had left nothing behind, the trio continued on the Highway 1 scenic trail. And Monterey was only about 40 miles away, which allowed them to make it there by 4 PM. They visited the famous Cannery Row, only to find out that it was nothing like in John Steinbeck's famous novels, having had its time in the sun about 20 years ago, the last cannery having closed just last year.

They spent about two hours in Monterey, before setting off for San Francisco. And it took them about 2 hours 20 minutes to reach their hotel, where Bobby made the next call home.

The next day was San Francisco time before visiting the tower. During that time, the trio visited Golden Gate (both park and bridge), Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, Chinatown and Alamo Square and Bobby got the ride of his life down the famous Lombard Street, when Henry managed to do 15 mph there, three times the suggested speed limit. Later, they settled in their hotel again, preparing for the big night tomorrow. Little did they know that it would become a disaster night.

Doug Roberts was a middle-aged San Francisco architect, working for Duncan Enterprises construction company headed by James Duncan. Their working relationship really was "you design them, I build them". Doug's latest designed building, the Glass Tower, which at 1,800 feet was now the world's tallest building, had just been completed, tonight would be the opening.

On this very important morning, Doug's chopper just landed on the Glass Tower's roof, where he was met by Duncan himself, a dark-haired man in his 50s. They took the elevator down to Duncan Enterprises office on 65th floor, having a conversation about the party. Though Doug continued to assert that he really wasn't interested in the party, James knew that he actually didn't mean it and would be there. They were expecting some very important guests tonight - Senator Gary Parker, who was also the chairman of Federal Urban Renewal Commission. He was close to getting them the urban renewal contract, which would mean that Duncan Enterprises might soon have skyscrapers all over the States, and also, Major Robert Ramsay, who would have the honors to dedicate the building.

Doug took the elevator up to 79th floor to his architectural office. He was currently designing three buildings for Duncan Enterprises in some of the major cities in the East: Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago. But right now, he only wanted to have some time alone with his fiance Susan Franklin, so he also told his receptionist that he would not be taking any calls today, before going into his office. Susan was already there, so they engaged in a kiss.

"We're gonna talk at all?" Doug asked her as she still kept her lips busy.

"No, it's my lunch hour." With that, Susan continued to kiss him.

"Well, I'm not a cheeseburger, you know." He said between the kisses.

"You're better, all protein." Susan chuckled. "No bread, all I need to go with you is about eight glasses of water." Saying that, she started to drag him towards their personal suite.

"All I need to go with you is in that suitcase over there," Doug pointed to the suitcase he had taken with him, but laid down by the door.

"What's in that suitcase over there?"

"Oh, I got about 140 dollars' worth of vulgar underwear for you."

"First things first." Susan directed him into their suite, and they were inside.

Some time later, when they were lying on the bed with Susan in a red robe and Doug having a towel wrapped around his abdomen, their peace was interrupted by a phone call.

"Yeah." Doug answered it.

"Doug, we're having smoke coming out of an auxiliary."

"Where?"

"The main utility room, down at the basement."

Doug got serious. "Be right there." Then he turned to Susan. "Let's hold this off till tonight, okay?" He got dressed and took the elevator below the ground level, meeting the engineer who had called for him. "What happened?"

"Well, we kicked on the auxiliary, and this shorted out."

"Is the power off?"

"Yeah."

Doug opened the bottom fuse terminal, and looked in shock at some faulty unconduit wiring. "What about that?"

"It should have been conduit."

"Okay, give me a pair of dikes." An engineer handed him the dikes, and Doug used it to pull out the faulty wire. Then he and engineer Will Giddings went on 65th floor to visit James Duncan in his office.

Seemed that James was aware of the problem, Callahan having already called him about the mishap. Despite the unconduit wire that Doug showed him, James didn't seem to take it seriously - after all, they had only checked one fuse terminal, and one piece of scorched wire for a burned-out circuit breaker was not in James' words very conclusive, him suggesting that Doug was just guessing. However, Doug requested to talk to James' son-in-law, the arrogant chief electric engineer Roger Simmons. Will was very annoyed at the near-fire - the safety equipment had not been installed yet, so the opening party shouldn't have been held before the next month.

Just then, they found out that Roger wasn't in the building. James suggested talking to him tomorrow, but Doug didn't agree with it and went to visit Roger right away, taking a taxi to Roger's mansion at the Pacific Heights. However, he was unaware that there was already a bigger problem on the 81st floor, where another electric short now had caused a real fire.

In about 15 minutes, Doug arrived at the Simmons' oversized house and was greeted by James Duncan's daughter, Patty. After enquiring about Roger, Patty told him that Roger was at parts unknown. And her father had already called her, being very upset (which he hadn't been like for years), so it must have been something very important, but Doug wouldn't tell her either.

And speaking of the devil, just about two minutes after Doug had arrived, Roger came in, and was informed about the power surge and systems failure. Roger believed it could not be possible, and then Doug accused him of changing the electrical specs, and reminding him of the flare-up. Roger insisted that every piece of installed wire met the security code, being inspected and approved. Doug wouldn't believe him and demanded to see the wiring diagrams and copies of Roger's work orders. Roger reminded him that it would take weeks to get them together, and Doug wouldn't have the authorization to see them. Doug demanded to see them tomorrow at 9 in his office, before leaving Roger to deal with his failing marriage - over the years, Roger had become slightly more irresponsible and started drinking, and Patty had been considering divorcing him.

Doug returned to the tower dejectedly. He was taking Roger's words that he hadn't tampered with the electric specs with a grain of salt. Most likely Roger had changed the specs. But tomorrow at 9, the truth would be unfolded.

Meanwhile, back at the Haights-Ashbury hotel, unconcerned and knowing nothing about the technical problems, Bobby and Nathan were taking an afternoon nap. After all, it wasn't knows how long would they stay up tonight at the grand opening, so better prepare for it. The opening would be at 9 o'clock, and now, preparing for the night, they were very impatient and excited.

A/N: Alright, so this is the premise of the crossover story. No tragedy here yet, it's just the introduction. Oh, and the picture is a still of Mike Lookinland from "Towering Inferno" movie.

All the characters from "Towering Inferno" belong to Irwin Allen and the characters from "The Brady Bunch" to Sherwood Schwartz. I own nothing.