Chapter Thirteen

Demetri came to in a silent world, one that had his heart pumping and panic begin to flare in his chest as he struggled to move. What happened? Why was it now that his body ached with movement? He could feel hands on him trying to halt his efforts to get to his feet but still he couldn't hear and his vision was laced with grey.

A ragged gasp left his lips as he yanked his mask free, eyes locking onto Jade as she struggled to hold him still. Her lips moved with urgency as she looked over to someone next to him and then back again.

"…still… could be… hurt…"

"What… happened?" He struggled to gasp out as he sat up. He took in the chaos around him, his team lying in various states as other paramedics tended to them feet away from where he remembered being last and then to the burning building that looked more buckled than it did before. No…

Jasper felt his world tilt and collapse all around him as the ball of fire flickered to the air, the building groaning and crashing down with the woman he loved to the very depths of his heart still inside. It was like the shooting all over again, except he was not mortally wounded and yet still just as helpless. He rushed forward before he knew it and found himself being held back by his brother.

"Bella! NO!" He screamed as he struggled against his brother's arms. He could hear the words echo from others of her men. He knew he should stop but he needed to get to her, he couldn't lose another person he loved.

"Let me go, LET ME GO!" He screamed at his brother as he felt another pair of arms wrap around him, stronger and yet more lean. "PLEASE LET ME GO! Bella! Bella!"

"Jasper stop, you can't help, stop!" Peter yelled, spinning his brother around and forcing him to look at him and not the destruction behind them. Looking into his brothers eyes Jasper dropped to his knees and cried, his face buried into Peter's stomach much like Peter had done when Charlotte was killed.

Everything within Peter ached as he listened to his brother cry, tears pooling in his own eyes. "I know Jas, I know…"

"I never got to tell her I loved her." Jasper choked, the words muffled by fabric of Peter's surcoat, his nose filled with the scent of ash and the cologne Peter stole from him.

"You will Jas, Bella is a fighter, she won't go down so easily." Peter reassured his voice strong and his eyes on those that were left of Firehouse 10 and then to Emmett who had rushed to their side the moment his car came to a screeching halt.

No one knew what to say beyond pointing to the burning building when Emmett asked where Bella was.

Emmett felt torn, torn between rushing to the fire for his sister and then comforting his partner. Yet, he also wanted explanations as to when Jasper had spent enough time with his sister to confess his love, he had thought that Bells and Jasper hated one another but the more he thought about those instances of barbed words he could see clearly what they were…

"Swan, report! REPORT SWAN DO YOU HEAR ME?" Marcus barked over the radio as he eyed the building, his stomach churning in a way that he hadn't felt since he was Captain. Not since the death of the Romani younger brothers in a warehouse fire, he watched his two friends die and the other two turn their lives into hate against his own for failing them.

Darkness was all that Bella could see, a flicker of light every now and then that reminded her of fireflies. She couldn't remember what pulled her from the grasp of unconsciousness and into the waking world, couldn't even remember when she had fallen asleep or know where she even was. Bella knew from the heat around her that it wasn't safe, nor the sound of ringing in her ear or was that her PASS device going off?

"…ella!... Swan! Do… copy!?" A voice echoed in her ear that sounded very much like the Chief's.

Everything began to rush back at her, the fire, the collapse… it explained why she couldn't move, her lower half was pinned by a filing cabinet and thankfully debris that wasn't – you know – on fire.

"Chief…" Bella's voice rung clear over the radio stilling everyone who could hear it.

Marcus closed his eyes in relief for a moment. "Swan, evacuate that building any way you can. Squad is down, you hear me? Evacuate in any way you can."

Silence seemed to drag on over the radio before a wry chuckle filled the air and gripped the hearts of Fire House 10. "No can do Chief… I'm pinned… from when floor collapsed… can you tell Emmett something for me?

Emmett surged forward and grasped the radio, tears pooling in his eyes. "Bells, please… you can't… you can't."

"Em, you tell dad I'm sorry okay… you tell him that this was my choice. You hear me; this is a risk we all have to… take…" Bella coughed out as she removed her mask, it was a dangerous thing to do but she needed to speak clearly… if she… if this was the last chance to tell those she loved that she loved them before it was too late.

The fire licked at her from every angle and the timber groaned around her, debris still fell from the floor she had fallen from. Water dropped and scorched what it fell on from the intense head and Bella knew she had little time left before the full force of the boiling water or fire got to her, at least she'd accepted her fate a long time ago.

"Bells please…" Emmett choked out, the agony in his voice bringing tears to her own. "How am I going to tell Rosie… tell dad?"

"I'm sorry Emmett… I'm so sorry… I love you…" Bella coughed out once more, her hand falling from her radio as she struggled to pull on her mask once more, hopefully it'll protect as much of her as possible. "Peter… tell Jas…

Peter grasped Jasper tighter to his frame as Jasper surged forward once more. "He's here Suga'."

"Darlin'," Jasper choked out.

"Be happy Jas… Jus want you to be… happy… even... if it's not with me…" the line wracked with coughs and her voice grew weaker by the end and it seemed to break Jasper even more as he cried out for Bella to keep talking.

Demetri surged to his feet from the back of the ambulance that Alec had dragged him to. He ached fiercely from the explosion but thankfully he had no concussion to speak of and maybe a few bruised ribs, he got away lucky and he wasn't going to allow his aches and pains to stop him from his task. "You stay alive do you hear me, Swan? I'm not going to let you die today, you got shit to deal with and I'm not willing to make the payment for a ride to Hades and drag your ass back."

Those willing and able surged toward the building behind Demetri determination in each and every step. Marcus nodded as he grabbed his mask and joined his men while House 3 and 14 did their best to combat the fire, warning Bella once more about the water.

"I'm sorry." Bella whispered over the radio once more as the edges of her vision tinted black, pain tearing through her as she coughed several more times. "I love you…"

She knew nothing but darkness after that.

Author Note: *evil cackles behind barricade*