Snap-crackle-pop

Opening his eyes was probably the worst mistake of his life. He was thrust back into the realm of heat, black smoke and flames. Clenching his eyes shut, Alan covered his ears as he tried to ignore the world around him.

Snap-crackle pop

'This is just a dream; I'm only dreaming…I'll just wake myself up!'

Balling his fist by the sides of his head, Alan rapped his knuckles hard against the side of his head before opening his eyes. He was met with the same scene. His dorm room back at Wharton's, the eerie and blinding orange glow enveloping the room. The heat, the fire dancing across the walls and ceiling, gobbling up anything of value and meaningful in its path. Alan curled up on his side, hugging his knees to his chest as he tried to force his memories to form into a new landscape…one void of the heat, the pain, and the flame.

'It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's not real, and it's not real.' Alan thought to himself as he watched a picture of he and his family curl sickeningly in on itself with the heat of the flames bearing down on it.

Alan rocked himself, muttering to himself meaningless reassurances before he finally seemed to get ahold of himself. Lifting his head, Alan looked around, ignoring the sting of the smoke as it filtered passed his eyes and his nose. Covering his mouth and nose with his tank top, Alan tried to get a decent breath. When that failed miserably, he resorted to the only other response that was what saved his and Fermat's skin that day that changed everyone's lives as they knew it.

Run.

Alan pushed up from where he'd been curled on the floor. Using his arm as a shield, Alan ran through the flames, the memories of his escape replaying once more in his mind. He looked frantically around for his best friend but failed to see him. He knew from the therapy that his therapist mentioned that Fermat wouldn't necessarily be in his dreams, not always anyway. His therapist had mentioned how Alan could only be cognitively aware of himself and his own safety in the dream world and that Alan shouldn't linger on the lack of his friend in the dream world.

'That's right, from what the therapist said; I would have imagined Fermat being somewhere safe from the flames. Somewhere else, not here with me.'

Alan wished his best friend was with him right now, but if he could redo the night the both of them were so severely injured, he'd have gotten Fermat and himself out of the fire faster, maybe he'd have thought to make the both of them put on shoes, or at the very least slippers before running through the fire. If he could redo anything, it'd have been refusing to give the money to Robert. Maybe if he'd just given the money to the boy he could have prevented a lot of hurt and heartache. Robert obviously needed the money more than Alan…he hadn't even been in the competition for the financial gain, he'd been in it for fun and partly because his teacher wouldn't allow him to refuse.

The only thing was, even if Alan hadn't been in the competition for the financial gain, the winnings he'd been awarded had worked in his favor. He and his friend's favor. Alan and his little group of friends had been able to surprise Jem with an impromptu trip to the local cemetery in order to show him the headstones the money that had been won was put towards.

Alan stopped his urgent running from the flames, a soft smile on his face as he recalled the memory and how it'd played out. Closing his eyes, Alan was able to picture it all. Opening his eyes, Alan saw the memory unfolding before his eyes and he stood by as a spectator to a memory that meant everything bad and good to him. He remembered that day at the track meet.

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Alan stood on the track, the air cool as he stretched before the first race. It was the 400m for him. His coach had appointed Alan as one of the main sprinters with Jem being a close second. Both boys were quite fast and would often race each other to the track field for practice each afternoon. None of those on the track team could understand why Alan and Jem raced each other, they were both quite agile and kept practically neck and neck until the last bit. Alan ran like a cheetah, he often sprinted just for the fun of it.

"Hey Mayhem, you're going to win this for the team right?" Alan looked across at Josh as he was dragging the pole for his pole vaulting event behind him.

"I'm going to give it my best shot." Alan said as he squatted down in order to stretch his hamstrings. Looking around the field, he saw many other boys he'd be competing against stretching also. Spotting Jem, Alan waved at him and the two boys did their secret handshake though not being anywhere near to the other. Smiling at Jem, Alan gave his young friend a thumbs up. Both boys smiled when they heard a car horn honk and they both looked over to see Grandma Elsie and Grandpa Hubert sitting on the other side of the road, on the other side of the train tracks.

Alan prepared to start the race as he heard the last call for the runners to gather. Walking up to his starting block, Alan mimicked the other runners and got into starting position. He looked around at his fellow competitors and wished his neighbors luck. Just before the gun went off however, Alan's ears picked up a train's whistle. Looking up Alan felt his breath catch as he looked toward Grandma Elsie and Grandpa Hubert. Their vehicle had moved since a few minutes ago, appearing to try to get closer to the field. Alan saw why the train sounded it's whistle though and with a cry Alan took off to try to get to them when he saw grandpa Hubert's car stall out completely on the track.

"NO!" Alan screamed as he began to sprint to Jem's grandparents. He heard Jem scream for his grandparents before Alan was grabbed around the waist by somebody and held back. Alan watched the train speed toward the car and he couldn't have closed his eyes if he'd tried. He watched the moment of impact and felt the scream for his adopted grandparents die on his lips. There was a spectacularly bright orange explosion as the car blew up with the impact of the train.

Alan watched his past self, go limp in Todd's arms as the flames billowed up and around the train's exterior. It was dead silent on the field as it occurred to spectators what had just happened. What jarred him from his thoughts was a scream similar to that of a banshee. He looked across the field to see Eddie; he'd turned Jem around so the younger boy wouldn't have to see the vehicle that his beloved grandparents had just been in as it belched with flames.

The dream scape instantly began to change, the features started stretching and morphing. Alan felt like he was watching Virgil throw buckets of paint at a canvas and calling it art before suddenly it had changed to the cemetery.

"I don't know why you guys brought me here. I don't have anything to visit." Jamie said quietly as he watched the grass stick up in places, leaves falling mystically around as autumn demanded the landscape to change.

"Because you do now Jamie." Josh said as he brought up the rear in their little mismatched group.

"How?" Jamie asked as he looked to Alan.

"You'll see." Alan replied solemnly before leading the guys one by one up a small footpath through the hedges and up to a couple of headstones. Jamie's breath caught and he audibly gasped. Looking through his shaggy blonde hair at his young friend, Alan saw Jamie had covered his mouth; tears highlighting his eyes at the sight of the inlaid photographs of his grandparents in the shiny new headstones marking their graves.

"Alan!" Jamie whispered as he looked at his grandparent's headstones. "How? When?"

"We used the money we won from the competition. After talking to the guys, we all decided this would be better spent on properly marking Grandma Elsie and Grandpa Hubert's graves than spent on something material." Alan remarked as he grabbed Jamie's hand and pulled him closer to the headstones. "I called in and ordered the headstones be commissioned. I hope you don't mind the epitaphs I put on the bottoms of their headstones."

Jamie remained silent before kneeling before his grandparent's headstones and gently touching the words engraved in the smooth stone. Smiling tearfully Jamie read the epitaph on his grandmother's headstone aloud.

"Goodbye to a wonderful mother and grandmother. She lived a long and wonderful life, and was loved by all who knew her. She will be dearly missed, but will live on in our hearts for generations."

Jamie's voice broke and he turned and hugged Alan tightly when the older boy knelt behind him. "Thank you Dodger…you have no idea how much this means to me."

"No problem Jem. I was happy to do it, they may not have been related to me or the other guys but they were like grandparents to us too." Alan whispered as he hugged Jamie back. "Take a look at Grandpa Hubert's now…please."

Jamie listened to Alan and he turned to look at his grandfather's headstone. As he read the epitaph on his grandfather's headstone, he couldn't help but to laugh tearfully. "That's grandpa for you isn't it Dodger?"

"I hope it's okay. I know it can be kind of lame, but that was Grandpa Hubert to me." Alan replied nervously before he got another hug from Jamie.

"No, I love it. That is totally grandpa." Jamie said before he read his grandfather's epitaph aloud. "Gone fishing. That was grandpa. He could tell so many fishing stories for hours."

"Do you like them Jem?" Alan asked as he hugged Jamie back when the younger boy hugged gently.

"I love them Alan. Thank you." Jamie replied before he turned to gently run his fingers over the words engraved in the headstone. "Now I have something to come and visit when I get the chance."

Alan opened his eyes and rubbed at them with the knuckle of his right hand. Heaving a great yawn Alan looked around the room, trying to figure out what woke him up. Hearing a 'beep, beep' Alan reached over a grabbed the over bed table and pulled it over his lap. Flipping the screen on his laptop up Alan logged in before answering the call.

"Hey there Sprout."

Alan grinned sleepily at Scott's image on the computer before waving lazily.

"Morning Scott."

"Morning huh? According to my clock it's two in the afternoon." Scott spoke with a grin as he lifted his wrist to look at his watch. "Did I just wake you up? I'm sorry."

"No, I needed to wake up. I've been asleep pretty much all day." Alan replied as he stretched tentatively. "What's going on Scott?"

"Nothing much. Just calling to chat for a little bit and see how you're doing. I'm sorry I missed your birthday the other day. You have a free shot to punch me when I get to see you again." Scott said. "Dad says you get to have a baby bunny, what'd you do to make dad cave?"

"Nothing that I know of. I wasn't even going to bother asking dad, I knew he'd say no." Alan said softly.

"Do you know whether you're gonna get a boy or girl? Or does it matter to you?" Scott asked as he appeared to fold his arms and lean forward in front of his laptop.

"Don't know. I'll just decide after I get to see them. I may not like any of them enough to want one." Alan replied before making a bewildered face when Scott went wide eyed. "What?"

"You saying you may not like any of the baby bunnies. As long as I've known you, you've always loved anything cute and fuzzy. I can't imagine you not liking any of the baby bunnies that Sadie birthed." Scott replied. "The boys and I have a pool going to see if you decide on one or the whole litter."

"Very funny Scott, I'm just dying of laughter." Alan replied with sarcasm. "Has dad mentioned anything about the case at all?"

Scott went silent as if contemplating telling Alan anything involving the case; or the legal side of it anyway. In Scott's opinion, Alan should worry himself with thoughts of the case or anything and should focus on healing…but Alan would need to know a little bit so he could be brought up to speed gradually rather than having the news dropped on him clear out of the blue.

"Other than Robert firing his lawyer, not much." Scott said. "Kid's about as spoiled as they come. Now he's got a different public defender."

"That's wise. What'd his lawyer do to cross Robert? Wear the wrong colored shoelaces?" Alan asked.

"Couldn't prevent Robert from being placed in a juvenile detention center." Scott said. "But that's seriously all I know."

Alan nodded his understanding before shifting on his bed. He grimaced at the sting of pain but managed to mask it before Scott saw it.

"Hey Scott, can I call you back? I need to ring the nurse." Alan said as a blush lit up his face.

"Sure, what's the matter kiddo? Are you feeling okay?" Scott asked with concern.

"Yeah, I just need a pill and…my stomach is kind of upset." Alan replied without meeting Scott's eyes.

"Oh! Okay, yeah you can call me back when you're finished okay? If you want." Scott said as he gave his brother an understanding smile.

"Thanks Scotty." Alan said before he disconnected the call and promptly hit the nurse call button. He really did need a pill, but for the reason that his stomach was upset, well…it made his stomach feel unsettled when it came to talking about Robert. He chalked it up to the lingering fear he held of the slightly older boy that picked on him relentlessly and the threats he issued to Alan. He didn't know if he would ever not feel nervous or scared when talking about the boy that made living at Wharton a complete and total hell for him.

A knock at the door made Alan look up and he smiled gratefully at Karen.

"Hello, how are you feeling Alan?" Karen asked as she came up to Alan and taking his hand when he reached out to her.

"I'm okay." Alan replied before he looked up at Karen with a puppy pout. "I miss my family though."

"It'll all be alright Alan. You'll only have to be in here until the remainder of your surgeries are done then you can go back up to the ward you started out originally." Karen said she patted Alan's shoulder lightly as he hugged her.

"Do you know when I'll have my next surgery?" Alan asked as he looked up at Karen.

"I do believe the doctor wants to do it soon, but he's waiting to get the list of when the operating room is available. He doesn't want to schedule it as early as he did last time because he wants it to be convenient for the families to be at the hospital in support of their loved ones going through the surgery." Karen replied. "Is there any specific time that you would like your surgery done so that I may suggest it to the doctor?"

Alan was quiet for a few minutes before he just looked at Karen and shrugged. "Any time before noon."

"Alright, I'll let the doctor know you'd prefer it be in the morning." Karen said as she gazed down a the boy in her care. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Can I have a pill? My feet kind of hurt."

"Sure Alan, but first can I ask what type of pain it is? Does it feel like it's burning or pins and needles?" Karen asked trying to get an idea of Alan's pain level.

"It feels like pins and needles." Alan gestured at his foot. "All across the bottom on both feet."

Karen went down by the foot of Alan's bed and peeled back his blankets to look at his feet. They'd begun leaving them open to air so that the skin wouldn't be so sensitive and they were finding that it worked well, as long as Alan could also have lotion put on his feet to keep the regenerating skin from stretching painfully. As she gazed at Alan's feet she noticed his feet were gradually regaining their natural pinkish coloring. They were no longer ash grey nor black like they were before his reconstructive surgery took place.

"Do you mind if I touch your foot Alan or is the pain too much right now?" Karen asked as she pulled on gloves.

"It's okay right now, just please don't squeeze." Alan requested before heaving a sigh as he actually felt the feather light touch from Karen gently rubbing his foot. "That feels good."

Karen smiled as she paid careful attention to her ministrations to Alan's foot. She wasn't doing much of anything, just gently running the palm of her hand along the bottom of his feet like one would pet a dog on the head. She rubbed Alan's foot for a few more minutes before she removed her gloves and grabbed Alan's clip board.

"This is good Alan, you seem to be regaining feeling gradually in both of your feet." Karen said as she jotted down some notes on Alan's chart. "I'm going to go get your afternoon pill and be right back."

As Karen started to leave she paused momentarily before turning to Alan once more. "You know the doctor recommended you eat when taking your pill, is there anything I can get for you to eat?"

Alan paused himself before adorning his face with a puzzled look until he grinned. "Can I have apple cobbler please? Candy said that'd be on the dessert menu last night when she was getting me ready for bed."

Karen chuckled at Alan's enthusiasm for sweets and nodded. She'd go down to get him some cobbler since she knew the kitchen staff usually kept some leftovers from patients that didn't have a desire for dessert at the time.

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Reggie Lyle opened her mail box after getting back from her afternoon jog, after grabbing her mail, she entered her condo and promptly threw the stack of mail on her counter top. She grabbed the phone which was ringing and answered it breathlessly.

"Hello?"

Reggie was quiet as her boyfriend started talking to her and she smiled as she grabbed the various vegetables from her refrigerator's crisper drawer to make her lunch time smoothie. Her boyfriend was asking her if she had wanted to go to Florida for their anniversary. It wasn't until she started leafing through her mail that she found an envelope from the Massachusetts court department and she'd opened it – curiosity getting the better of her.

"Oh no!" Reggie pouted as she read what the letter contained.

Her boyfriend expressed concern for his girlfriend until she went on to explain why she'd said what she did.

"I got selected to stand in for a jury thing that takes place the week of our anniversary." Reggie mourned. "No the letter doesn't say what the jury hearing is for only that it is a high profile case."

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Scott sat on his bed in his hotel room, staring at his laptop as he eagerly waited for Alan to call him back. He didn't want to bother Alan if he wasn't feeling well. But he hoped he'd call back soon, he wanted to tell Alan about the news he'd gotten from his best friend and fellow air force colleague. He'd finished his mission early and was being brought back stateside and like Scott had decided to retire from the Air Force. Scott was excited because his friend had actually even hinted to meeting a girl who was also in the Air Force and they'd hit it off. Scott was happy for his friend and hoping this turned into something more, that and he just wanted to see Alan even if he couldn't spend time with him in person.

Scott smiled as he saw Alan's image pop up on the screen and he'd answered the call before it could even ring aloud.

"Wow, waiting by the laptop for me?" Alan asked as he shoveled apple cobbler into his mouth.

"Yeah…what're you eating?" Scott asked as he watched Alan eat. He noticed his brother was holding the spoon awkwardly but put it down to Alan's lessened ability to grip from the burns he'd obtained during the fire. Physical therapy had him working on his grip but with him being in isolation, people were limited to entry unless they were Alan's nurses or doctor.

"Apple cobbler, I have to eat when I take my pill and Karen asked me what I wanted to eat so I said the first thing that I thought tasted good." Alan smiled as he took another healthy bite of cobbler.

"What is the pill you are taking?" Scott asked, trying to remember if Alan had something in pill form.

"The doctor had to give me another pill to help keep my skin donation from rejecting when Johnny goes to donate to me. Something else to add to the ever increasing list of medicines I have forced down my throat." Alan replied as he drank a sip of milk.

"So you have immunosuppressant medications in both IV and pill form?" Scott asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.

"Yep, Dr. Warner said he'd give it to me in IV form if he could but he can't because it's not available in solution form. So I have to take it with lunch and dinner every night until a week after my surgery with Johnny." Alan replied.

"So when is you surgery to be done? You've been in isolation for what, two weeks waiting for Johnny to go to the OR?" Scott asked.

"No, I've been in isolation for about a month and a half now and I should be having my surgery with Johnny in about a week or two. The doc is trying to schedule a day for our surgery." Alan said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Personally I'd like to be finished with all of these surgeries but hey, what's one more knife cut right?"

"That's not funny Alan." Scott frowned at his brother.

"I didn't say that to be funny, I said it to be honest." Alan said as he tilted his he with a raised eyebrow. "You want to know some good news?"

"What?" Scott asked not wanting to attempt a guess because honestly he wanted to hear anything good or bad about Alan's day. Preferably good but he'd take what he could get.

"The nurses have been checking my feet for my ability to feel sensations and are impressed that I am able to distinguish touch. Karen's preferred method is a Q-tip on the soles of my feet while Candy's is the petals on her flower pen. Dr. Warner's is a feather from one of my pillows that has a hole in it." Alan said as he watched Scott smile widely.

"That awesome Alan! I'm so happy for you." Scott said as he smiled, honestly and truthfully happy for his little brother. He hoped that with his brother regaining the ability to detect sensations in his feet that he'd be up and walking with no problem. "Now all that's left is for you to finish these last few surgeries and get into physical therapy. Way to go Alan!"

Alan blushed at the compliment and he smiled his thanks at his brother.

"Hey so I've got some news for you too." Scott replied, smile still on his face.

"What's that?" Alan asked as he looked to his brother before eating the last bite of his apple cobbler.

"Do you remember my friend, the one in the air force that came to visit just after the fire?" Scott asked "Isaac Jones, remember him?"

Alan looked off camera for a moment before he smiled at Scott.

"Yeah, I remember him. He's the one that gave me the teddy bear with blonde hair right?" Alan inquired. "What's up with him?"

"Well for one, he's finished his stint in Bahrain and is back stateside." Scott replied with a smile before he smiled softly. "It'd appear that he's got himself a girlfriend and it's looking pretty serious."

"Nice." Alan said before he and Scott continued talking about various topics for the remainder of the afternoon. They only quit talking when it appeared that Alan had run out of things to talk about, including Scott prompting Alan to end their call with an imagery therapy session before Alan fell asleep.

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Fermat lay in his bed, biting back various curses that he'd picked up from being around Alan too much. The physical therapist was pushing against Fermat's foot, trying to stretch his calf muscle to its limit in order to ensure that Fermat's leg wouldn't stiffen to the point of needing a cane or brace for the remainder of his natural life. When the therapist began to rub Fermat's calf after it'd stiffened into a Charlie horse, Fermat couldn't hold back any longer.

"Would y-you please stop j-jerking on my damn l-leg? That h-hurts!" Fermat asked as he grabbed the pillow from behind his head before covering his face with it. "J-Just kill m-me now."

"Fermat, you know you need to complete these sessions. You can be discharged from the hospital sooner if you get them done in a timely manner."

Fermat lifted the pillow to glare at the physical therapist. What came out of Fermat's mouth surprised both the physical therapist and Fermat.

"M-Maybe I am n-not ready to c-complete all m-my exercises! M-maybe I'd r-rather stay in t-the hospital a-alongside my best f-friend than leave h-him all alone!" Fermat froze as the words left his mouth before he turned away from the physical therapist and looked about ready to throw something, preferably something heavy at the therapist for causing him pain, regardless of it being necessary to do so. "P-Please go."

The physical therapist ran a gloved hand through his hair before he gathered his equipment. "Go ahead and rest, we can go over this again another day."

Fermat nodded mutely as he laid down, ignoring the physical therapist who left the room.

After the physical therapist left, Fermat grabbed his own laptop and was quick to call his best friend's web link. When Alan answered, Fermat spilled everything to his best friend. How ashamed he was of himself for yelling at someone who was trying to help him and how he felt like a stubborn and spoiled brat for refusing to do his assigned exercises. After spilling everything, Fermat sat and listened as his best friend who was occasionally his voice of reason gave him a stern talking to.

"Fermat, don't neglect your exercises if it means extending your hospital stay. You need these exercises in order to walk and get around again." Alan said as he looked through his bangs at his best friend. Fermat had taken off his glasses under the pretenses that his eyes were sore but Alan knew his friend better than that. Fermat was as blind as a bat without his glasses and he rarely suffered from eyestrain. Fermat had taken off his glasses in order to avoid Alan's disapproving look he'd shot at his friend after hearing how Fermat had yelled and cursed at the psychical therapist who was only trying to help him. "The sooner you get out of the hospital, the sooner you don't have to lay around in bed all day. If I was able to you can bet I'd be doing the exercises."

Fermat snorted at that. "Yeah r-right Alan…if I w-was in your p-place don't you t-think you'd be h-hell bent on election t-to avoid doing your e-exercises just so you c-could keep me c-company in the h-hospital?"

Alan was silent for a moment before shrugging then nodding.

"You're right. I'd be doing the exact same thing that you're doing." Alan went silent for a moment before speaking again. "You know the two of us, there's a reason our dads are going prematurely grey."

Fermat couldn't help but chuckle. It was an inside joke between Alan and Fermat that their dads were going prematurely grey because of Alan and Fermat's antics growing up. They were as thick as thieves, the peanut butter to jelly, best of friends, and two peas in a pod.

"I greatly appreciate you wanting to sacrifice your exercises, but for the sake of my talking sense into you, whether you listen or not is entirely up to you but I'll say it anyway. Don't forgo your exercises to keep me company in the hospital, if it gets you out faster, then you can return to a normal life which doesn't consist of cardboard like food and people coming in to wake you at all hours of the night." Alan said, highly doubting his young friend would listen to his friendly advice. Fermat could be just as stubborn as Alan could be and not for the first time Alan wondered if he'd been a bad influence to Fermat.

Alan coughed to mark the changing of the subject and his young friend smiled at him once they'd finished that enlightening talk.

"So, played any good computer games lately?" Alan asked, curious about whether his friend had decided to do something besides read engineering magazines or periodicals on his laptop.

"No, y-you know I d-don't play computer g-games Alan." Fermat said as he replaced his glasses on his face so he could properly see his friend.

"I know that, but that's just my way of changing the subject." Alan replied as he blew a deep breath out, ruffling his bangs as he did so. "I think I need another haircut."

AN: So here's the next chapter, a second one is waiting trying to draw you in further. Hopefully. Apologies are in store for how long it has taken me to update. I know I've been told not to worry about how long it takes, but it's still the writer in me that frets over leaving my story unfinished. I want to see this story finish as successfully as it's predecessor and it won't happen if I lose the muse I found when it came to writing in the first place.

I can make as many excuses as I can, but it all comes down to disinterest. Every idea I came up with just didn't fit in so I waited until a better idea came along. Thus the long wait. I'll admit that my attention has been more focused on a story I'm writing basing it around a military homecoming - I'm a sucker for tearjerkers including those videos when military men and women return home to surprise their spouses, children or siblings. I myself got to witness one of those magical moments that two of my friends (twin sisters) were surprised our sophomore year of high school by their big brother who'd snuck home after returning from Iraq to surprise them on their birthday.

Anyway, on to the next chapter!