AN: Here's chapter 2 just like I promised. I hope you enjoy it... and uh... I'll be hiding where you can't find me at the end... yeah... enjoy! :)
The excitement in the school was contagious and Dean couldn't help but smile. Ellie and her friends had worked hard for over a month to get ready for the play tonight, and he could tell that they were looking forward to showing off their efforts. Walking through the halls, he paused in front of his niece's classroom and watched as she twirled around on a colorful daisy floor mat, giving him a glimpse into her mood, happy that she was having a good day.
"Dean, you're a whole two minutes late… we were beginning to think you'd been abducted by rabid damsels in distress," a voice laughed down the hall.
Turning around Dean came face to face with Arianna, the head coordinator for the school and day center. "Yeah, well you know… when you have a body like this… it's only right to share," he joked, knowing the woman wouldn't take him seriously and would most likely laugh at him. "So, I've become that predictable, huh?"
Arianna smiled and nodded. "Oh, most definitely. Don't worry though; it'll be our little secret. To be honest however, I wish some of our other parents took their responsibility to their children as seriously. You and Sam are like a well oiled machine and if either of you are ever more than ten minutes behind schedule, we all know there had to have been a calamity somewhere."
Dean wasn't sure what to think about the woman's frankness and in a way it made him feel more than a little uncomfortable. "I take it the Wilson's are no shows again?"
"You know more than you let on young man, but yes… once again, tardiness seems to be the norm," the older woman stated sadly, "I also have the distinct feeling that today I will be watching over Matthew until after the play tonight."
"Anything we can do?" Dean asked, sure that Sammy wouldn't mind an extra person for dinner. It took a moment for him to realize that Arianna was looking at him strangely.
"Dean, I know that you work odd hours, but surely you haven't been totally oblivious at how much time that brother of yours has been volunteering here," she said while looking at Dean with concern. Seeing the confusion, she knew that she should have addressed the issue sooner. "We had several staff members leave within the last several months, citing a variety of reasons, leaving us dangerously shorthanded. Combine that with the increase in operating costs, we came very close to having to reduce our services. It was your brother who recruited several of the parents to increase their volunteer hours, and he also has covered more than his fair share when there are gaps in the scheduling. In fact, I felt awful when I told him about the increase in the re-enrollment fee as well as tuition but…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa… wait… what increase? Arianna?" he asked, wondering why his brother never mentioned it. "Just how much are we talking about here?"
Sam knew that he would have seen his mom if she'd been outside watching for the fire trucks, so she had to be in the house somewhere. Calling out for her, he checked the ground floor quickly before racing upstairs through the flames and smoke, ignoring the voice inside telling him he needed to get out and get help, he checked his parents room first before checking the bathroom and Dean's room, suddenly realizing where he should have looked first.
Yelling for his mom as he burst through the nursery door, he was both amazed and horrified that she was sleeping, oblivious to the smoke and charring occurring under their feet.
"MOM!" he yelled again, while pulling the earphones off her head and shaking her shoulder. He knew he didn't have time to explain and by the sound of things crashing and thumping down the stairs, he also knew that they were trapped unless he could find another way out.
"Sammy? What's going on?" Mary asked; sleep clouding her normally sharp mind. It took a moment for her to understand that her son was literally dragging her to the window while sounding like he was hacking up a lung. "Sammy!"
"I can get you more than halfway down, but you'll have to jump away from the house… downstairs is already gone," he coughed out while opening the window closest to the driveway in hopes that it was furthest from the flames.
Mary stood horrified at her son and refused to move. "No, not without you, Sam. Please, we'll go together."
"We won't fit. I can lower you and follow, but only if we do this now!"
Nodding, Mary suddenly understood the seriousness of the situation and began crawling through the window, grasping her son's hands and allowing him to lower her down before she pushed away from the house and dropped to the snow covered pavement below. Looking up, she was about to yell for him to follow when the unthinkable happened – he dropped out of sight as the sound of part of her house collapsed inside, echoed through her brain.
John knew he was running late, but it couldn't be helped. In order for them to get a fleet of vehicles finished and delivered on time, he and Mike stayed to close out the work order, even though they knew that both Sammy and Derrick would have been more than willing to come in later to complete it. Right now though, he just wanted to take a quick shower, grab some dinner and enjoy the evening watching his little princess show off what she'd been practicing all month.
Turning onto his street, he was unprepared for the fire trucks in front of his house, the sight of his home a smoldering mess, his son's Camero skidding to a stop, or his wife screaming at the Captain. "What the hell?" he thought as he pulled over and rushed towards Mary.
"John! Sammy's inside… oh my God… SAMMY!" Mary screamed and once again rushed towards the house, stopping only when one of the firefighters grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to her family.
"Mom?" Dean asked as he rushed up with Ellie in his arms. "What happened? Captain?"
Captain Smythe hated when this happened, but at the moment he couldn't do anything about it. "A fire broke out somewhere on the first floor. Your brother was able to get your mom out, but the flooring collapsed. Right now, he's still in there, but we're pretty sure we know his location. We have the fire itself under control and Shaun and Vic are in there right now digging him out. Before you ask, no… you can't go in there, so don't even ask."
Dean was about to argue when the sound of a call coming through the walkie talkie grabbed his attention.
"Found him… we need a stretcher and medic – stat!"
At that statement, paramedics rushed into the house, guided by firefighters who had already cleared a path.
Mary took Ellie and watched in horror as each passing moment dragged by, not giving them any clues as to if she'd once again lost a son. The thought was heartbreaking and she didn't know if she'd be able to survive going through it again.
While Mary held onto Ellie tightly, John was holding Dean back, knowing his son wanted to be in there with his brother, but worried that he'd inadvertently become a distraction. He didn't know how any of them would live if Sammy didn't make it – their family barely survived his kidnapping years ago.
"Want Johnny!" Ellie cried out, heartbroken that she couldn't see him. This wasn't what happened when she came home. She always got hugs and kisses and smiles and Johnny and Dean and Grandma and Papa. She wanted her happies… she wanted her Johnny! "Johnny… I want Johnny!"
Dean knew exactly how his little princess felt, he wanted Johnny too. Right now though, they could only watch the door even as water continued to spray upon the charred remains of what used to be his childhood home. Moments turned into minutes and continued to tick away until he thought he'd explode before finally the shouting changed and he saw his colleagues, his friends, surrounding a stretcher with his brother lying limp and obviously unconscious upon it. He could barely see Sammy with the oxygen mask covering half his face and the bandages covering the other half, but he'd know his little brother anywhere.
"We got to go – now!" one of the paramedics shouted as the other quickly jumped onto the gurney and began chest compressions as the others continued to run them to the ambulance, not even pausing as they slid the stretcher inside and closed the doors with barely enough time for a first responder to jump in to help the medic before they were racing down the street, leaving the horrified family behind to work out what had just happened.