First Responders

11

Friends. Last chapter of First Responders. Another labor of love completed, and I hope you enjoyed it. Much love!


Alex's grip on the steering wheel was borderline painful and it felt like the drive downtown took hours instead of just minutes. The lieutenants could see the smoke before they turned onto the right street and within seconds, Alex was screeching the truck to a stop a few yards behind the one-two-eight's engine.

"Kara," she said then, locking eyes with her lover. "The whole team is in there. I need a paramedic out here."

For a moment, the blonde looked like she was going to disagree but then she sighed and nodded. "Ok, I'll be out here." She quickly took off her sling and, though it was painful, she was able to use her injured arm.

Alex hopped out of the truck and ran to where Jonn was trying to pull out more hoses alone. "Captain!"

"Alex!" Jonn exclaimed. "Are you ok?"

"Long story. Kara and I came to help when we saw your message. Get me a hose hooked up while I get changed."

"Make sure your mask is tight," the big man warned. "Noxious gas."

"On it," the brunette nodded. "I think we…" But she paused then as she saw a figure in turnouts running from the warehouse. They had an unusual gait, as if they were injured. "Who's that and what the hell are they doing running in THAT direction?" But Jonn clamped a hand on her shoulder.

"Gotta get in there, Alex."

"Right." Ninety seconds later, Alex was suited up and dragging the hose toward the warehouse entrance. In the distance, she could hear sirens wailing and hoped it was the backup they'd been waiting for. But she put that out of her mind and ran into the building, feeling the weight of the hose increase in her arms as it filled with water.

Inside, she could see her team huddled together near one side of the room, surrounded by the blue flames that no firefighter EVER wanted to see. She keyed her radio mic. "One-two-eight. This is Danvers. I have another hose and I'm going to try to clear a path out for you."

Then she turned the lever, letting the water loose in a powerful stream that almost sent her off-balance. Above, the roof was creaking and beginning to sag, and she shook her head, chancing a quick glance up. "Fuck," she murmured, shuffling forward faster in boots that weren't her size.

"Alex!" Lucy yelled, pointing at the blue flames licking ever closer, so the lieutenant changed the direction of the water stream, joining with Brainy and Winn's hoses, which were burning a little but still spouting water fitfully.

"Get out, Guys!" Alex yelled in reply. "Go, go go!"

The team suddenly saw their opening and one-by-one, ran through the gap in the flames, through the water stream and out the exit. Vas helped Dox and Schott drag their hoses with them and, a moment later, they were all outside, yanking their masks off and sucking in breath after breath of fresh air.

Kara and Jonn ran to them as the backup units pulled up and firefighters prepared to swarm forward into the building with multiple hoses and chemical suppressants to extinguish the copper chloride flames. On the ladder engine parked near access to the unstable roof, a team, all safely harnessed, were climbing up to vent the fire, as thick dark smoke sailed into the air, making visibility above them non-existent.

"Is everyone ok?" Jonn asked, counting his crew and making sure they had everyone. Kara had a medical bag hanging from her good shoulder and she checked pulses, blood pressure, breathing and pupil reaction for each one of the team.

Alex looked around the exhausted crew. "I think everyone is ok," she said, setting the hose on the ground and then suddenly sitting down to put her head between her upraised knees.

"Hey," Jonn said, crouching next to her and squeezing her shoulder. "Need medical attention?"

"No, thanks," the brunette replied with a little smile. "Stress vomiting is something I can manage on my own," she added ruefully.

The captain chuckled and then straightened again. "Can someone tell me what happened in there?"

Mores dropped her helmet on the ground between her feet and ran her hand over her sweaty brow. "We went in. Half went left, half went right. Two hoses. Poor visibility in the smoke but suddenly…" She frowned and wiped her brow again. "We saw the copper chloride flames. They were moving in a set pattern, and we thought we were screwed. We were trying to find a way out when Supergirl here appeared with another hose and made us one."

"Arson… again," Alex growled.

"This bitch really has it out for you," Lucy said indignantly.

"Oh no," Kara interjected. "We have a better idea of what's going on now. Alex and I were held captive by a woman, Monica Rodriguez, last night who blamed Alex for letting her son die. What happened was a terrible accident but totally not Alex's fault. Eventually, we subdued her, and the police took her away this morning. That was right before we heard about this call. Guys, Monica didn't know anything about the bomb or the original warehouse fire that killed Alex's team, so we think there's a second unsub… a pyromaniac maybe… who saw an opportunity to lead us into thinking that it was all Monica's doing."

"Fuck me," Winn muttered.

"I know, right?" Alex sighed. "We have no idea how the second unsub knew about what Monica was trying to do. We have no idea if there's a connection between them at all. All we know is that there's someone else out there lighting fires for us to put out and to try to hurt us."

Lucy shook her head. "Maybe there's no connection. The pyro wouldn't have set this fire for all of us to be trapped in if they'd known she wouldn't be here, right? I mean, they obviously didn't know that Monica had made her move last night."

"True," Kara agreed.

"Hey Guys, I saw someone earlier," the brunette lieutenant said. "Running from the scene. They were of medium build and wearing turnouts. At first, I thought it was one of you but obviously it wasn't."

"Our pyro could be a fire fighter then." Jonn blinked and shook his head. "And we're back to square one." His phone rang then, and he picked up. "Williams, what you got?"

"Jonn," the investigator said urgently. "We just picked up the arsonist from the fire that killed Danvers' crew. They found a camera in a building down the street and we were able to get footage of him. They picked him up a couple hours ago."

The captain's mouth dropped open and he looked Alex and Kara. "But… my team was just almost cooked to death in a copper chloride fire that was obviously arson. If the original arsonist was picked up…"

"Shit, Jonn."

"Yeah… I'll call you back."

Kara sighed as she slipped her arm back into her sling and the dull ache subsided a little. "I'm so confused about all this," she said quietly, looking at her lover with worried eyes. "But now that Monica is under arrest, maybe you're safe, Alex. Maybe the unsub isn't after you specifically."

Mores frowned. "Which means they've been after all of us all along?"

Jonn's eyes narrowed. "Or maybe it's a combination of both. Williams just told me that they caught the arsonist who set the fire that killed Alex's crew. OUR unsub is not the same person. They MUST be linked to us in some way… or to Alex."

Alex looked up from where she was still sitting. "I don't know who it could be," she said. "Why would anyone connected to me want to do this? I…" She suddenly stopped talking and closed her eyes. "Wait…" She got to her feet and started walking around the side of the building to the door from which she'd seen the figure emerge earlier. The rest of her crew followed her, frowning at each other in confusion. "This side of the building was… there were no cc flames, right?"

Brainy nodded immediately. "Correct. The flames inside came from this direction toward us."

"Which means the person I saw running from here is most likely our unsub," the brunette continued. "Right?"

"Likely," Dox nodded. Then he frowned worriedly as he watched his boss's face drain white. "Did you recognize the individual, Lieutenant?"

Alex nodded. "I think maybe I did… Kara, do you have my phone?"

The blonde lieutenant nodded and fished it out of her pocket. "Yeah, why?"

"I need to call Jackson, my old captain." The older woman took the device and scrolled through her contacts to find one. Then she dialed and cleared her throat as she waited for it to be picked up. "Shit," she muttered as it went to voicemail. "Captain Jackson, it's Alex Danvers. Could you give me a call back as soon as you get this please? I need to talk to you about Hector Ruiz. Thanks."

"Ruiz?" Kara said, frowning. "What about Ruiz?"

The brunette sat back down on the ground, legs crossed underneath her. "The person I saw… I said medium build, dressed in turnouts but with a limp?"

"Yeah," Mores agreed.

"That description matches my old teammate, Hector Ruiz. He was a great firefighter, but he sustained some injuries the night of the warehouse fire. Broke his leg pretty badly trying to get into the building to go after the crew."

"That could account for a limp, alright," Winn commented. "Where is he assigned now?"

Alex looked down, shaking her head. "He's not. I don't know," she admitted. "I heard he was discharged from the Fire Department, and I lost track of him after that."

"Why was he discharged?" Jonn asked. "Legs heal."

"He was… messed up," the brunette lieutenant replied. "That night really messed him up."

Kara shook her head. "Fuck that. If that's true and he IS the one setting the fires, he's more than a little messed up. I mean, having seen what happened to his own crew… why would he want something like that to happen to us?" she demanded.

"I don't know, Kara," Alex replied snippily. "I don't have all the fucking answers. Why don't you tell me?"

Blue eyes blinked and the lieutenant nodded a little. "Sorry, I know you're in the dark too."

Alex blew out a long breath and shook her head. "No, I'M sorry," she said gently. "I'm just a little freaked out right now."

And, ignoring the crew around them, Kara simply sat next to her girlfriend and wrapped her up in a one-armed hug. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Alex responded without hesitation.

None of the crew teased them.

It seemed everyone was a little shell shocked from the occurrences of the day, so on Captain Jones' orders, they climbed back into the engine to return to the station, Alex and Kara following behind them in Alex's truck.

Everyone was tired and, after long, hot showers, they all sat together in the kitchen to share a meal. Jonn had made a stop in his office and, just as everyone was finishing eating, he cleared his throat. "I know," he began. "Today was hard and scary, but I really feel like we should end it on a high note."

All eyes at the table shot to him and he smiled as he got up, held up his glass of water in a toast and opened his palm to display a new captain's badge. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you all to Captain Kara Zorel, new A-shift commander of the one-two-eight."

The whoops and hollering around the table drowned out Kara's gasp of surprise as her eyes widened. "Holy shit, it came through?"

"It came through," Jonn grinned. "Congratulations, Captain."

Kara grinned at him. "So does that mean…?"

Jonn grinned back and she hugged him hard. "Congratulations to you too, Battalion Chief Jones!"

The team was ecstatic and the chatter around the table turned to lighter matters than the arson and pyromaniac.

"Obviously, I'll be staying on until Kara has been cleared by her surgeon to come back…" Jonn advised. "But start getting measured for your new uniforms, Kid."

"Yes, Sir," the new captain replied. Then the chatter around the table changed to teasing cat calls as Alex leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

"Mushy stuff just this once," the lieutenant said as she eased back. "Congratulations, Babe."

Mores tilted her head. "Girl, did we not have this conversation…"

"Meg, shut up," Lucy said then, pulling her girlfriend in for a kiss of their own. Silence descended around the table and as Lucy straightened in her own chair she blinked innocently. "What?"

Megan snorted a laugh. "The cat is fully out of the closet now."

"It escaped months ago," Brainy murmured. "We've just been ignoring it." Everyone laughed again and the conversation continued with renewed fervor around the table.

Xx

It was a few days before Captain Jackson got back to Alex, despite the four messages she'd left him. It turned out he'd retired and had been on a remote fishing trip somewhere. She listened politely as he told her the details but didn't retain a single word of it.

"That sounds amazing, Sir," she finally said to draw his attention back to her. "But I need to talk to you about something important."

"Oh… sure, Alex. What is it?"

"Ruiz, Sir. Do you know where he is? I need to talk to him."

"No, I haven't seen him since he was discharged a few months ago. He said he'd keep in touch, but I haven't heard a word from him."

"Jack," Alex said seriously. "You've heard about the arsonist being caught, right?"

"Sure did," the older man replied. "I was fucking delighted."

"Yeah… so… the problem is… a cc fire that my team responded to a few days ago almost killed them and I saw someone running from the scene. Someone in turnouts, of medium build and with a limp."

"And you think it was Ruiz?" the former captain asked. "I don't see how that's possible, Alex."

"I know," the lieutenant replied. "I don't want to believe it either… but it's my gut talking, Jack. My gut is telling me it was him. I recognized his waddling gait. It's kinda distinctive."

There was quiet for a long moment and then Jackson sighed. "I don't have a current address for him but let me make some calls, Alex. I'll get back to you asap."

"Thanks, Jack, I appreciate it."

Xx

Kara sucked in a breath as Alex's mouth closed around her nipple, suckling softly as the hot water of their shared shower cascaded onto them. Her skin was tingling, on fire from both the sensual contact and the heat of the water. A firm thigh pressed between hers and she sucked in another breath as her lover rocked slowly against her.

"Is this ok?" Alex asked softly into her ear.

A small smile. "Yeah… but… um…"

The lieutenant drew back slowly. "Not in the mood?"

"Just… worried," the blonde replied, wrapping her good arm around Alex and holding her close. "About you… about the team… about Ruiz."

"Hey…" Alex looked up into her taller girlfriend's blue eyes. "We gave the details to Williams. He and Jackson are both on it and they'll bring the police in when they have the info they need."

"What if it's not him?" Kara asked. "Are we spinning resources on…" A finger pressed against her lips.

"Baby, if it's not him, he'll have an alibi or something to clear him. We have to let the powers that be do their jobs, just like we do ours."

The captain leaned her head back against the tiled wall, thinking about that. "What if it IS him, Alex?"

The brunette rested her forehead against Kara's chest. "Then either he's changed … or I never knew him at all."

"Can we just go to bed?" Kara asked. "Sorry… I'm just not…" She trailed off, not able to put her feelings into words.

"Of course, Baby. I think we could both do with some sleep."

Xx

It was just shy of four when something woke Kara from a fitful dream. She was too hot with Alex wrapped around her, but the sensation of the love of her life pressed against her was so comforting, she didn't want to move. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself. Having Alex staying with her made her so happy and she wondered what would happen after all this was said and done. Would her lover move back to her own apartment? They were together months now, but the captain wondered if it was too soon to be domestic together relative to the amount of time they'd actually been dating.

She was floating in that space between awake and asleep when her experienced nose jolted her into full consciousness. "What the hell…" she murmured as she extricated herself from her girlfriend's grasp and sat up.

"Hey, Siri, turn on the bedroom light." Brightness flooded the room, making her squint painfully but as her vision adjusted, the smell got stronger, and she looked at the door to see small swirls of smoke drifting into the room from under it. "Oh shit!" She shook Alex awake. "Alex, fire!"

"Wh…" The lieutenant blinked and then sprang forward. "Kara…" The captain was already up and pulling a t-shirt and sweats on with her good hand. Alex joined her in dressing and then moved to the door to tentatively press her hand to it. "It's cool."

Kara opened her bedroom closet and pulled out a fire extinguisher. "I'll put out what I can."

Alex nodded and waited for her girlfriend to arm the extinguisher. "Three, two, one." She yanked the door open but both women were relieved to find that there were no active flames near it.

"The smoke alarms aren't going off," the captain said as she grabbed her phone off the nightstand. "We need to get out of here. He may have used an accelerant."

Alex was already out in the hallway, but she swallowed hard as she looked around. There were flames everywhere. The kitchen, living room, even the bathroom was on fire. "It's bad," she said. "We need to get the building cleared."

Kara pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1. "This is NCFD Captain Kara Zorel reporting an apartment fire at the eleven hundred block of Binder Street. Apartment four zero eight. We need multiple fire units and aid cars on scene and NCPD units to help clear the building. Also, please inform NCFD Battalion Chief Jones and Arson Investigator Captain Paul Williams."

"Acknowledged, Zorel. Units have been dispatched."

"Kara, the exit is on fire."

"I know." The blonde lifted the extinguisher and walked on, spraying a path forward as best she could. "There's another extinguisher in the hall closet. This one is going to be dead soon."

Alex was coughing now, and her eyes were tearing up. "I'll get it." She pulled it out and armed it, then followed right behind her lover, spraying as the first extinguisher ran out of suppressant. They made it to the door and Kara noted that the jamb was split.

"Motherfucker crowbarred in." She yanked on the door and only succeeded in bouncing back into it. "What the hell?" She yanked on it again, but the door wouldn't open and then she registered a new lock with a keyhole on the inside of the portal.

"Don't bother," a male voice said suddenly. "I put an automatic deadbolt on the outside. It locked tight as soon as I closed the door. None of us can get out."

Alex backed Kara up to press against the door, holding her hands up in surrender. "Hector, what are you doing, Man?"

"Cleansing," the man replied, closing his eyes and inhaling a lungful of smoke that made him begin coughing.

"Cleansing what?" the brunette asked.

"Us…" Hector took a step closer to her, wiping tears from his eyes. "Don't you see we weren't supposed to survive that other fire, Alex. We were supposed to die with the rest of our team. It's time for us to join them in heaven and the only way we can get there is through the ritual of cleansing fire."

"Survivor's guilt," Kara murmured. "With severe PTSD."

Alex took a step closer to him. "Hey, Ruiz," she said. "Listen, I get it. Losing the guys was the worst thing that's happened to either of us. But it's no reason for us to have to lose our lives too. We can still help people."

"YOU can," the man yelled suddenly. "I have NOTHING left! NCFD FIRED ME! FIRED ME BECAUSE THEY SAID I COULDN'T WORK ANYMORE!" He swallowed then, coughing again as his tone turned defeated. "They didn't even offer me a desk job. Just sent me home with a psych eval recommending I get on medication."

Alex looked back over her shoulder to find her lover frowning heavily. "Hey, Hector," Kara said. "You have the key to the door lock, right? Don't do this, Man. Don't let anyone else die. That's not who you are."

"YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW ME, BLONDIE!"

"No, I don't know you," the captain said. She was starting to feel a bit woozy from the smoke inhalation, but she pressed on. "But I know you'll always be a firefighter and firefighters are the one who should be saving people from fires. What about all the other civilians in this building, Firefighter Ruiz. Men, women and children who have done NOTHING wrong."

Ruiz joined his palms together and his eyes lifted toward the ceiling. Flames were skating across it. "Maybe they need to be cleansed too."

It was getting unbearably hot, but Alex periodically sprayed the extinguisher around them to keep the flames at bay. "After all I've been through, Ruiz, I am NOT fucking dying here tonight," Alex said. "SACK the FUCK UP, DUDE! Your life is NOT over. Give me the goddamn key and let's get the hell out of here!"

A small smile lifted the man's lips as he got to his knees, hands still joined. "No. God has willed that we shall be cleansed."

Alex took another couple of steps toward him and was just about to lunge for him to try to get the key when the ceiling overhead collapsed on him, setting him instantly on fire. "He's covered in fuel!" Kara exclaimed, horrified as Ruiz' screams almost completely drowned her out. She grabbed Alex and dragged them back against the door again but then the extinguisher was running out and the flames were creeping closer to them.

Alex turned into Kara's chest and looked into her eyes. "I love you," she said shakily. "You're the best thing that's EVER happened to me." She coughed and wiped tears from her sooty face. "I'll always love you."

The flames and heat licked closer. Kara could feel it on her skin as she wrapped her arms around her lover and held her close. "I love you too," she said, sounding way too calm to herself. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you."

They clung to each other until Alex felt like she was going to black out…

"NCFD! WE'RE COMING THROUGH THE DOOR!"

"Oh my God," Alex murmured, dragging Kara to the side as two axes busted through and then the door was kicked open.

B-shift one-two-eight burst in. Kara and Alex didn't even have a moment to think before they were hustled out into the hallway and down the stairs into the fresh air. Through some miracle, the fire had only spread one direction, into Mrs. Kirby's empty apartment next door, but the whole block had been evacuated for safety's sake and half-naked people were milling around, complaining about how they couldn't get a proper damned night's sleep these days.

Kara almost collapsed into hysterical laughter when she saw a naked ass flash by her, but she shook her head and managed to hold it together as Alex's arms tightened around her. "Are you ok?" the brunette asked, ignoring the hustle and bustle of firefighters around them.

"Scared to death," the captain replied. "You're ok though, right?"

"Ruiz," Alex choked out.

"I know. I'm sorry, Baby," Kara replied softly into her ear. "I'm just so sorry."

"He tried to kill you," the lieutenant pointed out.

"He did… but, Alex, it didn't need to end this way… and I'm going to do something about it."

The brunette pulled back a little to search Kara's face. "Something like what?"

"I don't know yet… but I promise someone will be held accountable for just cutting a mentally ill man loose like that."

Just then Jonn and their crew arrived in two SUVs and ran to them. Without a word, Jonn wrapped his arms around them tightly, his breathing hitching as he tried to hold it together. Then he pulled back a tad. "We got here as fast as we could. Are you ok?"

"We're ok," Alex replied, still pressed against her girlfriend. Kara had no intention of letting her go… maybe ever. "Thanks for coming, Guys."

"What happened?" Winn asked tentatively.

"Alex was right about Ruiz," Kara said wearily. "He broke into our place, installed a dead bolt on the outside, disabled the fire alarms and set a fire. He said we had to be cleansed by fire… that God had wanted him to do it."

"Nut job," Johnson muttered.

"Mentally ill and failed by the system," Alex corrected gently. "He was eaten up with guilt over surviving the original fire. Tonight, we were supposed to join the rest of our team."

"Fuck," Lane said quietly. "Where is he now?"

The lieutenant just looked down and shook her head, eyes closed. "Hopefully somewhere he doesn't feel any more pain," she whispered emotionally.

The team all nodded in silence, each one feeling the loss of another one of their own, even though he'd been a damaged and misguided soul, he was still one of them.

"Kara, let's go home," Alex finally said. "To my place, I mean. I have a spare key at the station."

"I'd feel better if you got checked out at the E.R.," Jonn said.

"We're ok," Kara said. "But if anything happens, I promise we'll come to the E.R."

Reluctantly, the battalion chief let them go. "Ok. But check in with me tomorrow morning, ok?"

The brunette lieutenant laughed softly. "It IS tomorrow morning," she replied as the first strains of the sun peeked over the horizon. "But I promise we'll check in later."

"Ok," Jonn agreed. "Ok."

Xx

A year later.

Lieutenant Winn Schott took a seat next to his friend and sipped absently at a cup of coffee as she played with the new ring on her finger. "I almost can't believe it," he teased. "She actually said yes."

"Did you expect her to say no?" Alex asked. "Come on, Winn, you know it was just a formality."

The man chuckled softly. "I know, I'm just fuckin' with ya." He grinned a little then. "I can't believe she actually got you pregnant. That's a skill I had no idea she had."

The brunette laughed. "Despite Kara's prowess in bed… that is NOT a skill she has. And so says our bank balance too. Artificial insemination is expensive."

Winn nodded to himself. "Hey," Alex said softly as she rubbed her barely-there baby bump. "If you want to be part of the kid's life as their dad, you know Kara and I would be thrilled."

The lieutenant smiled but shook his head. "I'm more than ok with being Fun Uncle Winn but maybe someday, when they're old enough to understand, we could tell them."

"Yeah," Alex smiled.

"Tell who what?" Kara asked as she ambled into the room to grab some orange juice out of the refrigerator.

"Tell the baby who their dad is," the brunette lieutenant replied.

"Oh… right…" Kara smiled. "Absolutely. And you know that, if the kid is being annoying, we're calling you to come take care of them."

"I never doubted it for a second," Winn laughed.

'ENGINE ONE-TWO-EIGHT, LADDER ONE-TWO-EIGHT, AID CAR ONE-TWO-EIGHT… REPORT OF A FIRE DOWNTOWN…"

Kara got up, a big smile spreading across her face as she offered her hand to Alex to help her up too.

"Here we go again!"

The end.