Okay people, the final warning: This story is depressing in places. There will be an "it's okay" ending, but that's at the end. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

6. Losing it.

Blossom slid to a halt on the grass outside the house. It was engulfed in flames, and she could smell the smoke everywhere. Still, it didn't seem quite right. There was no time to waste though, so she darted towards the house.

As she got near the fire, the heat from it hit her like a brick wall. She smacked to the ground, and staggered backwards in surprise, coughing violently.

On the way to the house, she'd texted Butch and Boomer. The two ruffs arrived together and Boomer caught Blossom.

"Holy shit…" Butch gapped. "Are they in there?" he was shaking. Blossom nodded, but before she could say anything else the green ruff was off towards the fire, and came staggering back, having suffered the same problem.

"How?" said Boomer, confused. Butch joined Blossom on the floor, still chocking. With no answer coming from either, Boomer – desperately trying to keep calm – decided to investigate himself. He grabbed a tree branch that was lying on the lawn, and approached the fire slowly. Then he stuck it into the flames.

Nothing happened. He stuck it in again, and withdrew it. The branch was not at all damaged by the experience. Excited (or terrified), he sprinted back to the others.

"It only harms puff's!" he shouted. Blossom and Butch looked up.

"Really?" Blossom didn't have time to consider the fact that Boomer had had an idea, "it must have been started with antidote X or something, which means…"

"HELLO!" shouted Butch hysterically, "HOW DOES KNOWING THAT HELP US GET THEM OUT!"

Blossom and Boomer returned from their thoughts to reality.

"I don't know," she said slightly strained, but Boomer was thinking again.

"We'll have to do it like normal people," he said.

"Wait for the fire brigade?" Butch felt completely helpless.

"No," Blossom suddenly said with perhaps unnecessary authority – but as long as she felt that she was in control of the situation, she could suppress her worries. "If I give a huge ice blast from a good distance away, you two can go in keeping your heads to the ground, and get them out!"

"Right!" said the two ruffs, and they got into position, as Blossom breathed in.

(Fire safety note: I am in no way qualified to advise on fire safety, so although keeping low is generally recognised as the best way to avoid smoke inhalation, I am not a recognised source for this fact. Sorry if this is obvious to you, but I want to cover my self.)

Brick stood paralysed among the flames. At his feet, Bubbles had flopped on top of Buttercup, as the fire licked around them. He looked at the hour glass again. It's tiny amount of sand was about to expire.

He lent on his scythe for support, and glanced at the two puffs again. He dealt with death everyday now, multiple times, so much so that he should have got used to it. But standing here now reminded him of the pain that he'd felt the first time he'd collected the soul of a young mother, the first time he'd severed the soul from a lifeless young suicide victim, the first time he'd been at a bomb site. He felt like death. Which he was, technically. He wished that Death had got one of the others to deal with this.

He watched as his brothers crawled in, heads to the ground. How come he do this, take a family member? It wasn't possible. But he had to. If he didn't do it, the universe would collapse which would be very inconvenient. So as his brothers grabbed the two puffs, he raised the scythe. Sure the job allowed him to check on Blossom everyday, but he'd forgotten how much it sucked.

He swung the scythe.

Eddy sprinted round the corner of the hospital, skating past ventilators, respirators and porters. Eventually, he staggered into A&E (sorry, it's ER in America.)

Blossom, Boomer and Butch were sitting in the empty waiting area silently, the latter two with very minor burns. Eddy quietly went up to them

"Hi," he mouthed. Blossom nodded in response. Eddy sat down quietly. He looked at the three of them. Boomer was sweating, fidgeting and looking at his watch every six seconds. Butch just stared straight ahead at the clock on the wall. Blossom wasn't really looking at anything. Eddy put a gentle arm on her, and she didn't resist.

"Any news" he whispered. Blossom shock her head. "The professor's picking the kids up," he added.

"Good, thanks," she said. Eddy read the mood, and they sat in silence for a while. But he kept squeezing her hand.

Eventually, a doctor came out of a room and walked over to them. They all stood up as one to great him.

"How are they?" asked Boomer, his voice was cracking.

"Well," said the doctor, "they are both conscious and talking. Bubbles inhaled a lot of smoke, so we need to keep her on a ventilator for a while, so you can't see her yet, but she should make a full recovery. Buttercup will also be fine…"

"Oh thank goodness," said Blossom. Boomer and Butch visibly relaxed, too, but the doctor still seemed very tense.

"I think you better sit down," He said nervously. They looked at him.

"Why…" started Butch but his face suddenly went pale, and he started to shake again, "no… what about our b…b…baby?"

He stared at the doctor's face for reassurance, but found none.

"I'm sorry," he said "she lost it."

I did warn you. I know, I'm a complete ass, but I assure you, this wasn't painless to write. Please feel free to comment on this if you review, but don't blame me for ruining your day, I did give warnings. Oh yes, please don't hate me.

There will be a happy ending. I promise.

More people die in fires from smoke inhalation then anything else and getting out quickly is the difference between life and death. Please check your smoke alarms.