Where Do We Go From Here||Jack the Firefighter
Chapter Summary: Jack Frost is a firefighter. Ironic, right? Especially when he dies saving a few little girls from a house fire.
Because this fandom doesn't have any Firefighter!Guardians and it needs some, and because firefighters are awesome!
Chapter Rating: K or K+ for character death
Disclaimer: I do not own RotG.
A bell rang out in the night, loud and obnoxious but welcomed by the listener. He was up and out of bed like he was tasered, shaking off the last claws of sleep and sprinting for the front door, grabbing his keys from a side table. He barely remembered to lock his apartment door behind him, he was in such a hurry, but not without good reason. He tore through the halls like a demon, skidding around corners like a cat on a wet floor; a comical sight if the reason behind his behavior hadn't had been so serious. Well, that, and it was two in the morning.
Jack burst through the front doors of the building- thank god his landlords didn't enforce curfew, then he'd really be screwed- and bolted through the parking lot, not bothering to unlock his blue topless jeep and instead opting for the more direct route; vaulting right into the driver's seat, he jammed the key into the ignition and floored it the second it started up, not even remotely bothered by the frigid air hitting his bare torso (he'd been in a rush, there was no time to get a shirt!) as he practically left tire marks on the asphalt in his wake. One upside to buying the hunk of junk was that while it looked like crap (until his totally sweet custom snowflake-design paint job) it also had an engine that could hit over 150mi/h at top speed, nearest he could figure. The speedometer refused to show his speed when he went faster than 20mi/h, which was lame. Although the air rushing by made him feel like he was flying, he focused on getting to the firehouse ASAP. The guys only called him when it was severe, they knew he had college in the morning, so this had to be bad.
The jeep, Wind, as Jack affectionately called it for its speed, screeched to a halt in the lot, the rapid acceleration and deceleration enough to make a normal person sick (but not Jack), and he leapt out, bare feet slapping the pavement until he got to the doors. He ran to his locker and yanked the suit from its hook, stuffing himself into it as quickly as he could manage. Someone grabbed the neck of his top and hoisted it up for him. "Thanks Sandy," Jack answered without looking, knowing only the mute young man, just a little older than Jack, would bother to help him.
The teen grimaced for a second as he pulled on the trousers and made a mental note to wear pants to bed too instead of just boxers. He had just ran/driven halfway across town in his blue and white snowflake underwear, and only his underwear. He finished fastening his top and stuffed a pair of gloves on his ghostly hands, his heated ears fading back to their eerily pale tone. Once his boots were on, he grabbed his helmet and mask and ran to the "Sleigh", as Chief Nicholas North called the fire truck, and he hopped onto the back, holding on tightly as he ensured his gear was on correctly. Sandy was right beside him and the two youngest firefighters exchanged grim smiles. Yes, it was nice to see each other again, but the circumstances were less than ideal. If Jack was there, the fire was in a family home that most likely had children, which was worrisome to the both.
There was already a fire truck at the house when they got there; the call was at a large two-story-plus-attic gig that made Jack's two-room apartment look like a closet. If it wasn't on fire, it would've been awesome. Water was being sprayed at the bottom floor, but the fire was already getting out of control. Jack hopped off the red fire engine before it fully stopped (something he'd been told not to do but did anyway) and ran to the edge of the property, surveying the damage. A young woman with burnt hair was straining against a few of his coworkers, screaming hysterically as they physically held her back from the fire. Jack carefully approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Who's in there?" His tone was urgent, deep and calming but hiding a deep sea of worry. The lady wouldn't be screaming and fighting if she'd been home alone, and Jack would still be sleeping.
She looked up at him with relief, tear tracks running down her coffee-colored cheeks."My- my little sisters, Tati, Tunhi, and Tali. They would be in the attic. It's a playroom." She stumbled over her words in her rush to get them out but Jack understood perfectly.
He nodded. "Stay here ma'am, we can't have you getting hurt. I'll go get them, I promise." He drew a hasty 'x' over his heart, smoke mask covering his lower face and his hat pulled over his eyes. He ran at the burning building and scaled a drainpipe, clambering up as skillfully as a monkey. "I'm going in!" he barked at anyone who could hear him through the radio in his helmet. No one in the two squadrons noticed the nineteen-year-old enter the attic window, not even the ever-silent Sandy, who had heard but hadn't fully absorbed the meaning of the teen's words yet.
"Girls!" Jack yelled once he got the window open and was inside. "Lay flat on the floor, okay? And yell if it gets hot! I'll come to you!" He thumped over to a blanket in the far corner with three quivering lumps under it and yelps emerging. "Tati, Tunhi, Tali, I'm almost there!" He was terrifyingly aware of the flames creeping up the wall nearest the kids and beginning to reach the ceiling. Jack picked one up, the largest, and put her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, then did the same with the second-largest. He scooped the third into his arms bridal-style and fixed his mask over her tiny face, feeling the others hide their faces in his uniform. Flames licked at his heels as he raced back to the window. "Sandy, now!" he screamed.
The smaller man was ready, having expected Jack to need him for this part, and maneuvered himself closer to the window from his position on the ladder. Jack handed over the first two girls as he felt something heavy come down on his right leg and bit his lip. His suit was starting to heat up dangerously. "Now you," he told the third girl softly, deciding she was Tati. "Go to Sandy, Tati, he's got you."
The little girl refused to budge, wrapping her thin arms around his neck tighter until he had to pry her off. The tallest of the three, whom he'd deduced to be Tali, was already halfway down the ladder, Tunhi ready to follow. Jack shifted Tati to Sandy and the mute began his descent, sure Jack was capable of getting himself out.
Unfortunately for Jack, the fire was literally on his back and the teen leaned out the window desperately as another heavy piece of burning wreckage hit his leg in the same spot as the first. With a gasp, he hurled himself out of the house entirely, his gloved fingertips just brushing the metal of the ladder before the frame shut on his legs and sent a searing, throbbing, agonizing sensation through his body. Jack gritted his teeth to stifle a scream that came out as more of a yell as he fell out of the third-floor window.
I have an exam tomorrow, he realized with a jolt. The triple T's are safe, he thought woozily. Then, I never got to drink legally. His final thought, however, was much more definite than the others.
Being a firefighter was the best decision I ever made.
The last thing he could remember before everything was swallowed by the black and red spots was the sensation of falling from a great height.
And the pain.
A/N:
Ohmigod sorry! I didn't mean to make him die! I just got the idea for a firefighter!AU yesterday before I went to bed and it took me maybe an hour to write because FF was glitching and I had to rewrite this three times until I was sick of it and needed to take a break.
I might make this into an actual fic by itself (not just an arc; I have ideas for this fic). I was inspired to- WAIT SPOILERS I HAVENT WRITTEN THAT PART YET! but there is this awesome story Ice Prince by TheAliway and it kinda gave me the tiniest bit of an idea (its really good and I have no idea how to do this Rainbow Snowcone thing since I only recently started shipping the Human!version.) Go read it if you haven't already, it's really good.
Also, I don't steal, so if I say I "took inspiration" from a story I literally mean I read the story and it got the gears turning in the story section of my brain and it made me think and my thoughts turned out to be waaay different than the story and they were their own thing so I decided to write my own ideas/theories down in an AU I'd been thinking of but hadn't had a storyline to use in it yet and BAM there's my fic.
Cat Lunanoff, signing off for now. R&R, 'specially if you want a different ending! I know I do! *mock salute*
