Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. You guys are awesome.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Practically every surface in the room lit on fire at the same time, leaving them sitting in the middle of an inferno. Henry could feel his eyes watering from the thick smoke that filled the room, and he choked when he tried to breathe. And every breath he managed to take was filled with agonizing pain, the intense heat searing his lungs.
"We have to get out of here!" Paige shouted, suddenly, in his ear, yelling to make herself heard over the noise of the fire. "We have to get to Tyler-"
She broke off on the last word, bent double as she coughed, painfully. Henry grabbed the back of her sleep shirt, managing to drag them both off the bed and onto the floor. The air was marginally cooler down there, and it was slightly less painful to breathe.
"Can't you summon rain, or something?" he asked, coughing as they crawled toward the door, keeping as low to the floor as possible.
"I tried," came Paige's raspy answer. "The fire is so hot that it burns up the clouds before I can get any water in them."
When they reached the door, Henry used the wall to pull himself up, helping Paige to her feet, as well. Then, he unthinkingly reached for the door knob, hissing in pain when he burned the palm of his hand.
"Careful," Paige snapped at him, yanking his hand away from the door knob. "Limbo was an anomaly; I can't heal you up here."
Then, she sent a burst of wind straight at the door. The wood around the hinges splintered instantly when she hit them, and Henry kicked the broken door away from the frame. They burst out of the bedroom and into the living room, stopping in horror at what they saw.
The couch where Tyler had been sleeping was engulfed in flames.
"NO!" Henry yelled, his mind absolutely refusing to accept what his eyes were telling him.
Beside him, Paige screamed with grief, a wordless sound filled with agony and rage. They bolted forward, heedless of the fire that surrounded them, and Henry reached for the body he could see lying motionless in the flames.
The heat seared at his skin, the pain almost unbearable, but he grabbed Tyler by the shoulders, intending to pull his son off the couch and into his arms. Then, he jerked back in surprise as Tyler opened his eyes at the contact, sitting up on the couch with a confused look on his face.
The boy shouted when he realized that he was on fire, but the sound was more surprised than anything else. He bolted upright, dancing around as he slapped at the flames on his arms. Henry pulled his shirt off, using the fabric to smother the flames, and Tyler collapsed into their arms when he was done.
"There are no burns," Paige said, stunned, as she quickly checked Tyler over. "Not a single mark."
"Maybe my power makes me immune," Tyler suggested, his voice muffled. "It didn't hurt; I didn't even know I was on fire until I woke up."
"Thank god," Paige breathed, holding tightly onto Tyler.
"We still have to get out of here," Henry said, urgently, steering them toward the front door.
Out in the hallway, people were pouring out of their apartments and headed for the stairs. Amazingly, most of their neighbors were managing to keep their heads in the chaos, with several people keeping everyone else moving toward safety.
The hallway was relatively smoke free, with the fires mostly confined to the individual apartments. Henry was about to comment on how strange it was, when he saw the look of intense concentration on Paige's face as she worked to contain as much of the fire as she could.
They'd almost made it to the stairs when they heard a shout from further down the hallway. Henry looked up to see Erin Malloy standing in front of her apartment, sobbing wildly. The three of them ran to her side, to see her apartment completely consumed with flames.
"Erin, you need to get out of here," Henry told the woman, grabbing her by her shoulder. "Where are your kids?"
"Danny and Mark are downstairs," Carol said, still sobbing. "But-"
She broke off, her voice catching as she lost control and buried her face in her hands.
"Erin, what happened?" Paige demanded, insistently. "Where's your daughter?"
"Lindsey ran in after the puppy!" Erin cried, her voice tinged with hysteria. "Everything's burning – my baby-"
"I can go in after her," Tyler said, quietly, getting Henry's attention as Paige held the traumatized woman. "You saw it; I can't get hurt."
Henry met Paige's eyes, silently asking her what she thought. After a moment, Paige gave the tiniest of nods.
Seeing the exchange, Tyler didn't wait. He darted through the flames, to be quickly swallowed up by the thick smoke that filled the apartment. Henry reached out for Paige's hand, squeezing her fingers in an almost painful grip as they waited anxiously for their son to return.
An agonizing two minutes passed, and then Tyler ran out into the hallway, a little girl and a soot-tinged puppy clutched in his arms.
"I found them hiding under her bed," Tyler gasped out, as they sprinted toward the stairs, Paige practically dragging Erin with her as the other woman clutched her daughter to her chest.
"You did good, kiddo," Henry told him. "Real good."
They pounded their way down the stairs to the lobby, Paige and Tyler using their powers to push the fire out of their way. Then, after what seemed like forever, they burst out of the front doors and out into the cool night air.
There were already fire trucks and ambulances lined up on the side of the street, Henry could hear more sirens in the distance, getting closer and closer. They found themselves being grabbed by a pair of paramedics, and they were all quickly bustled into the back of one of the ambulances for emergency treatment.
Paige and Tyler huddled together on one of the benches, both holding oxygen masks over their faces as they were checked over by one of the paramedics. Henry was being examined by the other paramedic, holding his burned arms gingerly out in front of him. The screaming of the sirens as they sped down the streets filled the air.
"You okay, honey?" Paige asked, her voice muffled by the mask.
"I'll be better once we get to the hospital," Henry said, wincing in pain at the paramedic's ministrations.
"We're almost there," the driver called back, reassuringly. "Just another couple of minutes."
The hospital was crowded when they arrived, and Paige and Tyler were shuffled off to one of the larger waiting rooms, which had been hastily converted into a treatment area. Henry was taken back to the emergency department to have his burns looked at.
"Henry's going to be okay, right?" Tyler asked, where he was plastered against Paige's side.
"He's going to be fine," Paige reassured him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. "When we get out of here, we'll have Leo heal him."
"When we get out of here," Tyler echoed, quietly. "Where are we going to go? We don't have a home, anymore."
"We'll be okay," Paige declared. When a passing nurse looked pointedly at the oxygen mask dangling from her hand, she put it back over her face. "We'll stay with my sisters, or at a hotel, or something."
About half an hour later, Tyler had fallen asleep leaning against Paige, his breathing slow and even. Paige could feel herself starting to fall asleep as well, but she kept jerking herself back to wakefulness every time she started to drift off. Henry hadn't come back from being treated, and she wanted to be awake when he returned.
Her nerves were the other thing that kept her from falling asleep. She kept replaying everything that had happened, earlier, kept seeing every moment in her mind with crystal clarity. The one image she kept coming back to, over and over, was Tyler wreathed in flames.
She looked up when she sensed someone standing over her, but to her disappointment, it wasn't Henry. Instead, Andy was standing in front of her, a frown on his face.
"We need to talk," he said, softly, and Paige nodded.
She eased away from Tyler and got him settled across the seats they'd been sitting in. When the boy mumbled in protest, Paige ran her fingers gently through his hair.
"Go back to sleep, kiddo," she murmured, softly. "I'll be right back, okay?"
She followed Andy down the hall, far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard. Leaning against the wall, she rubbed at the headache she could feel forming in her temples, her eyes drifting involuntarily closed. When she opened her eyes, again, she found Andy watching her with a sympathetic look on his face.
"You okay?" the Whitelighter asked, and Paige let out a short bark of laughter.
"This has been a really shitty night," she said, aware that her voice was tinged with hysteria. "I could have lost them both, tonight, Andy. That crazy bitch lit my son on fire!"
Her voice broke on a sob on the last word, and when Andy wrapped his arms around her shoulders, she leaned against his chest without protest. Her shoulders shook as she cried, the stress of the last hour finally catching up with her. And she couldn't seem to get herself under control; painful sobs wracked her body and she knew that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
She could hear Andy talking, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She just listened to the cadence of his voice and she breathed, trying to slow down her racing heartbeat. Finally, she could feel her tears starting to dry up and she wasn't shaking as badly as before.
"Sorry," she muttered, sheepishly, as she pulled away from Andy to lean against the wall, again. "I wasn't intending to fall apart on you, like that."
"It's okay," Andy said, soothingly. "After everything that's happened, I think you've earned the right to have a breakdown."
Paige gave him a small smile, nodding shortly. "You said that we had to talk," she reminded him.
"Officially," Andy told her, "I'm here as one of the cops investigating the fire at your apartment building."
"Investigating?" Paige echoed. "Aren't you kind of dead?"
"Our good friends, the Cleaners, erased any memory of my death," Andy replied, wryly. "Apparently, the Elders figured out that working with your sisters was going to involve a certain amount of interaction with the mortal world, and I can't do that if people think I'm dead."
"Points to the Elders for actually doing something useful, for once," Paige muttered, wryly. "Okay, so you're looking into the cause of the fire. Please don't tell me they suspect demons."
"From the looks of things," Andy told her, "the fire seems to be the result of a massive electrical short that occurred simultaneously in several apartments throughout the building."
"Well, that's actually really convenient," Paige said, relieved. "So, we're actually covered on the magical front?"
"For once," Andy replied.
"So, if that's the official business," Paige asked, "what's the unofficial?"
"Unofficially," Andy told her, "I'm here as your Whitelighter, to make sure that you're all right."
"We're not hurt," Paige answered. "I'm still not sure about all right. But, how did you know that we were in trouble?"
"Your sisters were attacked, too," Andy told her. "They're fine," he hastened to reassure her, when she looked at him in a panic. "No one was hurt."
"Thank god," Paige muttered, breathing quietly in relief.
"The Elders don't think that it's a coincidence that you were all attacked, tonight," Andy said, gravely. "They think that you and your sisters are being targeted."
"With my son and my husband getting caught in the middle," Paige said, bitterly. "When I see that bitch, again, she's dead."
"I think your sisters will be more than happy to help you," Andy told her, " When you three are released from the hospital, I'm supposed to bring you back to the Manor. Prue and Piper aren't taking no for an answer."
"That's fine," Paige sighed, closing her eyes as she let her head fall back against the wall. "I'm sorry, it's just-"
"Been a really long day?" Andy said, sympathetically, and Paige nodded.
She felt his hand on her shoulder a second later, and a warmth spread through her as he healed the injuries she'd sustained during the last day. Her back, not to mention her shoulder where she'd gotten hit by Phoebe's energy ball, had been screaming in agony, but the dull roar of pain finally, gratefully subsided, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Thanks," she said, quietly, and she leaned on the Whitelighter as they made their way back to the impromptu treatment area.
Henry had finally been treated and released, and he was sitting beside Tyler, who was awake. Henry smiled tiredly when he saw her, standing and hugging her awkwardly with two heavily bandaged forearms. He was wearing scrubs to replace his burned clothing, and his skin was pale against the dark blue fabric.
"I'm so glad you're okay," he murmured, softly. "I don't ever want to lose you, again."
"I love you," Paige replied, feeling tears spring to her eyes, again. "Both of you," she added, as she pulled Tyler into their embrace.
"I have to finish talking to your neighbors," Andy said, as he reached out and healed Henry with a casual hand on the other man's shoulders. "And then I'll take you all back to the Manor, okay?" To Henry, he added, "You might want to take those bandages off after you're out of the hospital."
"Got it," Paige told him. "We're not going anywhere."
So saying, she and Henry took seats on either side of Tyler, holding their son and each other. Another hour passed before Andy came back to get them, and after finding a secluded hallway, the four of them orbed back to the Manor.
Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were waiting for them when they arrived. Phoebe had been nearly motionless on the couch, while Prue paced with restless energy. From the clattering coming from the kitchen, Paige guessed that Piper was in the other room, using cooking as a way to distract herself. But, when she heard them, the other woman came out into the living room, drying her hands on a towel.
"We're fine, and no one's hurt," Paige said, quickly, when she saw the worried looks on her sisters' faces.
"Thank god," Piper said, hugging Paige, hard. "I can't believe the demons attacked your entire apartment building."
"Probably trying to make sure that they really got us," Henry said, wryly, his arm slung across Tyler's shoulders. "Thank you for letting us stay here."
"You're family," Prue said, firmly. "We're not going to hear of you staying anywhere else."
"We cleaned out Grams' old sewing room," Piper told them, as they went upstairs. "It's not much, but-"
"No, it's fine, really," Paige reassured her. "Right now, I could fall asleep on a concrete slab."
After bidding good-night to her sisters, they went inside the small room and closed the door behind them. The walls were lined with dusty cardboard boxes that had clearly been hastily pushed there from the middle of the room. A pair of dingy curtains covered the window on the far wall, and a trio of sleeping bags had been arranged in the middle of the floor.
"Home sweet home," Henry said, with a quiet sigh, as they climbed into their sleeping bags.
According to her watch, it was about two-thirty in the morning, but Paige had no problem falling asleep once she'd closed her eyes. But, she didn't stay asleep for long, an uneasy sensation jerking her out of a fitful sleep.
Opening her eyes, she saw that the bedroom door was open a crack, and Henry's sleeping bag was empty. After checking to make sure that Tyler was still asleep, she quietly got to her feet and padded out into the hallway.
She found her husband sitting at the top of the stairs, staring off into the distance with a lost expression on his face. Sitting down next to Henry, Paige leaned against him, threading her fingers with his. She didn't say anything, just held onto him, and when his head dropped onto her shoulder, shuddering sobs wracking his frame, she was ready to catch him when he fell.
"We're okay," she crooned, softly, as Henry fell apart in her arms. "We're safe, I promise."
She continued murmuring quiet nonsense as he clung to her. And they sat together on the stairs as the sun slowly rose in the sky, thin streaks of light creeping in through the windows.