Ally's Note: I hope this one will make for a good start to your weekend! TGIF, everyone!
The Daily Theme
Chapter 4: Dark
Inspired by my own Emergence Response Officer training. I did great on my firefighting courses, except for putting a simple lid on a flaming pan... I always resulted to dropping it, instead of gently placing it down.
"Alright, we're going to do some practical exercises in which you'll show me what to do in case of a fire. I have taught you all about smoke and categories of fire in our theoretical classes, so if you have been paying attention, you should know exactly what to do and this won't be much of a puzzle." Firefighter Ed explained to the group of trainees, taking an emergency response course. Amongst them were Booth and Brennan, who were standing next to each other and looking into the practice room. Behind Ed was a seemingly normal living room. The sofa looked rather cheap, but it had a television and several lamps and children's toys on the floor.
Booth yawned. He had been sleeping through most of the lectures. Brennan had woken him up several times by giving him a not-so-gentle nudge against his shoulder. She glared at him in annoyance, but he tried to soften her by sending her his infamous charm smile. "Come on, Bones. Sweets made us do this. I don't have to like it."
She placed her hands on her hips and leaned in towards him, speaking in a softer voice so she did not disturb the firefighter. "Sweets wants to re-evaluate our ability to work together now that we're involved intimately. This man is going to refer his observations and conclusions to Sweets, after we have finished this course. We should do well, to prove that we're still capable of maintaining a professional partnership," Brennan explained to Booth in great detail, but he was only half listening. She sighed. "You should like it; it's very interesting and helpful. Not many people know what to do in hazardous situations."
"Yeah, well, if I wanted to be helpful in hazardous situations, I would have studied to become a doctor and then specialized myself as an EMT. I don't work in health care; I'm a cop!" The group was dividing itself into pairs again and Booth quickly claimed Brennan as his, by placing his hands on her small shoulders.
"EMT's are mostly nurses and volunteers," Brennan countered. "You should see the benefit of this training. It allows you to save me with something other than your gun."
Booth narrowed his eyes at the top of her head. "Thanks, Bones." He could not help himself as he gently raked his fingers through her hair once, so it fell over her shoulder like a brilliant curtain.
The firefighter appointed two people whom Booth recognized from the FBI's Hoover Building. They worked on the floor underneath his. They were asked to enter the staged living room. "Okay, so imagine your partner is sitting here, on the couch reading a newspaper," the firefighter directed the woman to sit down. The man was led to the tiny kitchen behind it. "You're trying to woo her by making one of your best recipes, but then" Firefighter Ed took the lid off a pan and then used a lighter to start a small fire. "…it literally goes up in flames. What do you do?" The man grabbed a smothering blanket, which was conveniently hanging from a hook next to the improvised kitchen. Wrapping his hands around the edges of it until they were covered by the material, he approached the pan and carefully wrapped it around the circumference of the pan. He took a step back and Ed smiled. "Good!"
Brennan watched in fascination, while Booth checked his phone behind her back. He glanced around from time to time to make sure that nobody noticed that he was not paying attention. This training reminded him of high school. Texts, lectures and exercises… that pottery class they took some time ago had been more challenging!
"We're going to kick it up a notch," Ed announced. "Please, kill the lights!" Within a matter of seconds, the entire room was covered in darkness. Brennan looked behind her, and noticed the very bright light coming from Booth's cellphone. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. Booth put his phone back in his pocket and smiled sheepishly.
The firefighter turned on a few lights in the living room and picked two other candidates. This time, both the man and the woman sat down on the couch. "Another romantic setting. You're both watching television, drinking a glass of wine together and then the curtain catches fire." Ed walked over to the other side of the room and started a fire in a deep round fire container. "Let's just assume that there's curtains here and that there was a lamp burning against it. What now?"
The woman jumped up from the sofa and turned towards the man. "Get out of the room, now!" She demanded. The man had to chuckle, but did as he was told. The woman hurried to grab the extinguisher from the kitchen and dragged it over to the fire. Aiming it at the base of the fire, she pushed the handle. A white cloud emerged that instantly put the fire out. It made a deafening sound and Booth saw Brennan cringe in shock. He steadied her by placing his hands on her waist. She smiled and he let go of her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly how you should treat a small to medium fire. Thank you." The couple received a small applause from the other trainees as they stepped out of the living room and went back to their spot. "Now, we're going to try something different." Booth yawned and tried to cover it with his hand, but Ed had already spotted them. "You two, in the back. Come on up! Maybe it will help to keep you awake."
"Woah! Us?" Booth questioned, pointing from him to Brennan. Ed nodded. Booth swallowed nervously, but before he could think of an excuse, Brennan had already grabbed his arm and dragged him forward.
Ed smiled at them in a friendly manner, but Booth continued to feel uncomfortable with everybody staring at him. "Okay, so you have had a long dag and you have fallen asleep on the couch," he directed Brennan. Brennan laid down on the sofa and covered herself with the blanket that laid there. "You were upstairs, tucking your children into bed. You heard the fire alarm go off downstairs." Booth was moved to stand next to a wooden door that would lead into the living room. "All lights are off." The firefighter flicked all the lamps into room off. He pressed a different button, which suddenly projected flames on the back wall of the room, as well as a little on the side walls.
"The fire has already spread around here." Ed said, shoving several fire containers in different places around the room and lit them. "Your imaginary fake Christmas tree that caught fire has already melted. What kind of a fire is this?"
Booth's mouth went dry. Kind of fire? A domestic one? A Christmas tree one? "A big one?" Booth tried.
"Indeed. So how do you respond?"
Booth was glad that he remembered something after all. "Don't attempt to extinguish it. Focus on getting everyone away from the fire." Booth looked past the door. Damn, it really was dark. The small container fires and the projected flames on the wall barely allowed him to see his Bones, pretending to be asleep.
"Show me," Ed said, stepping to the side so everyone could see Booth. He crouched down and raised his hand to open the door very slightly. He waited.
"To make sure I don't get a jet flame in my face and kill myself in the process," Booth explained to the audience. After a couple of seconds, he got up and entered the room through the door. He squinted his eyes and ran towards Brennan. "Bones, wake up. The room is on fire." Brennan opened her eyes.
"Your girl is unconscious. The smoke and lack of oxygen have gotten to her. You can't wake her up. You'll have to think of something else," Ed said. With a tiny smile, Brennan closed her eyes again. Booth looked around and thought for a while. "Hurry up! Every second counts!" Looking back at Brennan, Booth yanked the blanket off her body and threw it to the ground. He gently dragged her off of the couch and laid her down on the blanket. Booth grabbed the edges of the blanket and dragged her away. He narrowed his eyes against the flames in the dark and maneuvered her past the containers and towards the front of the living room. "Alright," Ed said. "You may both get back in the class."
Booth held out his hand to Brennan, so she could get up from the ground and rise to her feet again. She accepted it gratefully and then walked away from the staged room together, to their previous place in the back.
"So, who thinks that this was the right way to respond in a fire like this?" Ed asked the group. Only one person raised her hand, but she quickly withdrew it again as soon as she noticed that nobody agreed with her. "What went wrong in this scenario?"
"He should have just dragged or carried her out using his own strength. That blanket could just catch on fire as well," someone responded.
Ed shook his head. "No. That blanket was very good, actually. If he had to lean over to drag her, he would only limit his ability to overlook the room. Also, the soles of her shoes would drag across the ground and slow him down greatly. If he carried her, it would be much heavier for him and he could easily fall down. Do realize that there is a lot of smoke in the room, in reality. Neither of them are able to function to their best abilities. Dragging someone on a blanket is a quick, not too heavy way to transfer an unconscious person across the room. Anything else?"
"He didn't call 911!"
"He doesn't need to. There's a fire alarm in the house, alerting the emergency services immediately. Naturally, if there is no alarm in the building or if it's not working, you should call them. Thank you, but that's not what I mean." Ed scanned the room with questioning eyes.
Much to Booth's surprise, it was Brennan who spoke up. "He shouldn't have saved me." Booth's jaw dropped.
"What?"
"The fire had already spread so far. In reality, the roof could have collapsed in the time he was trying to roll me onto that blanket. He would have died or suffocated with me. He'd have saved his own life if he had opened the door, looked inside and then closed it again. I was a lost case," Brennan said. Booth's bottom lip started to quiver.
"She's right," the firefighter said. "You can get someone out of a medium fire, but not one as big as this one. Also, the temperature in the room would have been so high, that any dust or smoke they would have inhaled, would be fatal in half an hour. Their lungs will burn from the inside and shut down."
The firefighter continued to give some further explanation, but Booth turned himself to look at Brennan. She looked back at him questioningly. "Bones… I'm sorry, but I-I… I could never…. Not even in my right mind! I wouldn't be able to—"
"Sh," Brennan cut him off. Placing two hands against his chest, she gently pushed him backwards, away from the group. She found a small place between two cupboards where she led him to.
Booth turned back to her as soon as he nearly walked into the wall. The lights were still down and darkness surrounded him in the form of that damned wall, the cupboards and Brennan's warm body. "I'm sorry, but I will never be able to do that. I can't leave you behind. I promised you, I'd die for you. There is no use for me saving myself if there's no more you. If I can't get you out of a fire, I will stay with you. Until the end. Really, Bones, I—"
For once, they were grateful to be in a dark public place, because it allowed Brennan to lean into him and cut him off by pressing her lips against his. She kissed him soundlessly as her hands came up to cup both sides of his face. They couldn't see each other clearly, but they could feel each other. Booth's arm wrapped itself around Brennan's waist and pulled her closer against him. The kiss deepened and the darkness only seemed to heighten their sensations and awareness of each other's movements.
Brennan broke the kiss and dropped her hand back to his chest, until it rested over his heart. "I know exactly about the white knight that you are," he placed one of his own hands over hers. "That's why you shouldn't be a firefighter either." This time, it was Booth who lowered his head to kiss her. Brennan smiled against his lips and she soon felt him mirror that expression.
"Oh, baby, but I'll definitely fight yours." Their kissing got more heated as Booth's hands made their way around her back and slipped underneath her shirt to touch her soft, naked skin.
And then suddenly, without warning, there was light again.
Ally's Note: I really enjoyed writing this one, I don't know why. My trainings were never that sexy…
Tomorrow: There is the very annoying theme of 'Seeking solace'. And it's annoying because I have a date, so I'll probably will be all floaty and romantic afterwards. Right now, I'm leaning towards a baby with a medical condition (I can't switch nursing mode off, sorry), but what would YOU like to read for this theme? I'm not going to write a post-Vincent chapter, though. There have been hundreds of these already.
