It was the sound of pure, unadulterated terror. The bloodcurdling screams sent chills down Dan's spine and before he knew what was happening, he was sprinting as fast as he could in their direction. As he rounded the corner of the city block, he located the source of the disruption. An old apartment building was engulfed in flames, and in front of it, a terrified woman was struggling with the small crowd that had gathered.

"Get off me! Let me go!" the woman screamed, fighting off those attempting to keep her from running back into the building. "My niece's still in there! I have to get her out! Let me go!"

"Listen, lady. The building's ready to collapse—you can't go back in," a bystander argued.

Dan took this all in, not even slowing down in his mad dash towards the building. His legs felt as though they were moving independently of his brain, charging forward against his will towards the orange flames.

"Oi! What are you doing, kid?" someone called after him as he neared the entrance.

"I don't know!" Dan yelled back, trying desperately to stop his out of control body.

One of the bystanders jumped up to try to stop him, but wasn't quite fast enough. Before he knew what was happening, Dan found himself charging straight into the burning building.

Immediately, it was as though he had entered a different world. As he threw himself further into the rickety structure, the screaming voices outside became indistinguishable over the roar of the flames. The heat was incredible, and the smoke made it both difficult to breathe and impossible to see. Every cell in Dan's being wanted to turn around and flee from the building as quickly as possible, but something inside of him stubbornly refused, thrusting him further and further into the unknown.

"What are you doing?! Work, you stupid fucking legs! Away, not towards! I want to go away!" Dan commanded himself.

His legs were persistent however, never slowing despite the fact that their owner was essentially blind in the hazy building. A few seconds later, Dan found himself charging up what had to be a flight of stairs, three at a time.

The heroic part of Dan continued to ignore the internal protests, guiding him down a smoke-filled hallway and crashing him straight into a closed door. Against his will, Dan backed him up a few feet and charged forward again, knocking the wooden door rather impossibly off its hinges.

Squinting, Dan could barely make out a human figure lying unconscious on the floor. He dropped down and grabbed her, draping her limp body over his shoulder, and hurried out of the room back to the hallway.

When he reached the stairwell, his fear intensified exponentially. Through the billowing smoke, Dan could see that the flames were licking up the base of the stairs. To his horror, his body pressed him onwards, leaping down the stairs as he carried the limp girl directly into the heart of the fire.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. The heat was unlike anything Dan had ever experienced before and his only thought was of getting to the door. All around him, support beams groaned and bits of the ceiling rained down on him.

"This is it. I'm going to die. I am literally going to die. Oh god, this is it!" his brain screamed.

Then all at once, it was over. The moment that Dan emerged from the building, two things happened. First, his legs stopped their unconscious sprint so abruptly that he was pitched forward onto the pavement. Second, the entire building collapsed—conveniently tumbling backwards rather than directly on top of him and the crowd of onlookers.

Dan lay face down on the ground, trying to understand what had just taken place as he coughed and sputtered. His vision was still hazy from the smoke, but he could hear the firefighters shouting at one another as they attempted to extinguish the flames, as well as the excited voices of at least four different bystanders as they assessed the situation.

"Did you see that? It was incredible!"

"Are they both alive?"

"He's coughing, you dunce! 'Course he's alive!"

"It could be a reflex."

"No, it couldn't."

"Oi! What about the girl?"

"But did you see him come out of the building?!"

"That was a fucking wall of fire, and this bloke just charges on through!"

"I thought he was a goner!"

"Why aren't they burnt to a crisp?"

"Hell-o! Girl here! Dead or alive?!"

"Oceana! Oceana! Oh sweetie!"

"It was incredible! I can't even believe it!"

"Does anyone know how to check a pulse?!"

"Move over, I'll do it."

"You know how?"

"Have you never seen a crime drama? It's easy!"

"Sweetie! Oceana! Wake up! Oh dear god! Wake up!"

"This one's dead. Where's the other kid?"

"No! That can't be! Sweetie! Wake up!"

"Are you sure you did it right?"

"Close enough. Where's the other one?"

"No! Oceana Carter! You have to wake up! Your mother will kill me! I promised her you would be safe during your week here in London! Please wake up!"

"So, how do you check a pulse?"

"It's simple. Just put a couple of fingers on the side of their neck like this..."

Dan shot up off of the ground the instant he felt the stranger touch his neck.

"Whoa, okay, this one seems to be alive," the pulse-checking stranger muttered.

With the sudden jolt, Dan's unintentional altruism kicked in again. He quickly crawled over to the unconscious girl whom he had just dragged out of the building, knelt down next to her, locked his fingers into a position he had only ever seen on TV, and began performing chest compressions while counting aloud.

"Do you know what you're doing?!" the terrified woman, whose screams had first attracted his attention, asked.

"No idea!" he yelled back, equally terrified, "...and eleven, and twelve, and thirteen..."

When he reached thirty, he ceased pumping, placed one hand on the girl's chin, tilted her head back slightly, pinched her nose closed with his other hand, and locked his mouth around hers, puffing in two breaths of air. Then, he began again with the compressions.

"...and four, and five, and where are the bloody paramedics?!" he begged, "…and seven, and eight..."

"They'll be here any minute," the woman anxiously replied.

Sure enough, a few moments later, an ambulance pulled up and a team of responders rushed onto the scene.

One medic tapped Dan on the shoulder. "Okay, you're good! Let me take over," he ordered.

"...and twenty-one, and twenty-two, and THANK GOD! …and twenty-four..." Dan exclaimed breathlessly. He tried to move away from the girl, but his arms continued to pump relentlessly on her chest.

"Okay, seriously kid! Move over!" the EMT commanded more forcefully.

"…And thirty! I'd love to!" Dan said, before dropping down to give the girl another two breaths. "But I can't! …and two, and three, and four…"

Two medics attempted to remove Dan from the girl, but they found it impossible. It was as though he had turned into solid stone. After approximately six minutes—which felt like six hours—he dropped down and locked mouths with the girl to give yet another rescue breath.

Just as his lips touched, her eyes snapped open and she gasped for air. Immediately, Dan's body ceased its heroic resuscitation attempts, allowing its exhausted owner to collapse onto the gasping girl.

A/N: Hello lovely reader!

I'm received some plot speculation, via both reviews and PM. Please feel free to express said speculations

My wonderful beta-reader should be receiving her virtual fruit basket within 5-7 business days.

The rest of you can have a virtual hug now *hugs*, unless of course you find being virtually hugged by an essential stranger invasive, in which case: *grateful smile, which implies strong desire to hug but does not encroach on personal space* :)

Complimentary Shakespearean insult of the day: "Methink'st thou art a general offence, and every man should beat thee" (Shakespeare, William. All's Well That Ends Well. Act II, scene 3. 1623).

Best wishes!

~Bethany