Aftermath
Dean was feeling pretty good about the way their crews had responded to what turned out to be a fire in an apartment building. They had arrived quickly, the crew had been organised and moved fluidly outside the building as the hoses did their work, while he led his team through the building to clear the space. There was a brief incident of panic when a floor they were standing on creaked ominously, but the building was deemed clear and the crews made their way outside before anything gave way, or anyone fell and injured themselves.
It was as they approached the truck that a woman came running, screaming at them. “My baby! My baby’s in there! Krissy! Krissy!”
Dean lunged forward as the woman through herself towards the building, dropping a grocery bag as she ran. He grabbed her arm and hauled her back, throwing her at Benny. “Apartment number?” he yelled as he ran, several other feet pounding the sidewalk beside his.
“Seven!” was the sobbed answer, but Dean didn’t have the energy to sympathise. If this woman’s daughter was in there alone because she had taken herself to the grocery store down the street without her, then Dean’s sympathy was nowhere to be found. He thrust his helmet back on as they approached the building, and threw himself inside, heading straight for the stairs in front of him. He heard yelling behind him, but two other bodies threw themselves up behind him and they ran straight for apartment 7. The door was already open from their check before, and Dean thought quickly about where a child could be hiding in the apartment that they would have missed her before. His colleagues ran straight to the closets and bathroom, while Dean headed for the single bedroom and threw himself on the floor.
The apartment was hazy with smoke now, though thankfully not full, but a flash of bright green cloth under the bed told Dean he had found her. He reached under and grabbed the closest bit of her he could, and hauled her out.
“Got her!” he yelled and he lifted her unconscious form, cradling her as the others ran to him. “We have to get out, now.” The building was creaking worse than ever, and Dean thanked the heavens they were only on the second floor. Not far to run. He ran for the door to the apartment, his colleagues following on his heels. They pelted down the corridor, Dean holding on carefully to his precious cargo, towards the voices of the rest of their crew, that apparently were waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, yelling for them to run.
Dean had just started his descent when it happened. His eyes widened briefly when a loud bang shook the building, and the floor beneath him heaved. He caught Tommy’s horrified eyes at the bottom of the stairs, before closing his own as the floor disappeared below him. He briefly hoped the basement wasn’t too far away, and cradled Krissy close to him as he waited for the impact.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Krissy was going to be fine. Her leg had been set and her burns treated, and she was on oxygen to make sure her lungs would be ok. She was still unconscious, but was going to make a full recovery. The break had been a bad one, and she had taken in a lot of smoke, but that just meant there was a lot to do, and a lot going on, and Cas had been able to distract himself fully with her treatment. The girl’s mother had caused a bit of a scene, screaming to be allowed in the room, and getting in the way when she was given permission. Castiel was full of sympathy for her plight, but could understand everyone’s frustration as they tried to calm her and work round her. The police appearing and taking her outside had caused another scene, but Cas was focused on his patient, and had no idea what had happened there. They had been left in peace, finally, to tend to Krissy. That’s all he cared about.
Unfortunately, they were just finishing when Luke came back in the room, having been pulled to work on the injured firefighter. Meg looked up from her dressing of Krissy’s burns and asked how his patient was. Castiel’s world stopped for a moment when the only reply was a long sigh.
You don’t know it’s him, you don’t know anything. You don’t know it’s him.
Cas couldn’t even bear to look at Luke; he didn’t want to see the shake of his head, or the look on his face. The sigh was enough, and Meg’s quiet gasp.
His hands were shaking as he checked Krissy’s IVs.
You don’t know it’s him, you don’t know anything. You don’t know it’s him.
“Cas?”
For a moment, he thought Luke had spoken to him, and he looked up at the doctor, with some trepidation but ready to see what needed done. But look wasn’t looking at Cas, he was looking over at the doorway.
“Cas?”
Slowly, the nurse dropped the IV line, and pivoted towards the door into the room. The sight that met him there made his eyes widen as a sob caught in his throat. A hand flew to his mouth as he took in the sight of Dean, standing in the doorway covered in soot, a white bandage standing out on his arm where he had clearly been treated for a burn, and crutches in his hands to go with the cast on his left leg that ran up to his thigh.
“Dean,” he whispered.
Dean gave him a crooked smile back. “Heya, Cas.”
The firefighter opened his mouth to say something else, but suddenly Cas didn’t want to hear it. He could feel Meg’s eyes on him, Luke’s too, as he dropped his hand from his mouth and threw himself across the room. He saw the shock on Dean’s face in the two seconds it took him to get there, but the shock didn’t stop instinct making him brace himself for impact, steadying himself against the door frame a split second before Cas threw his arms around him and sobbed into his neck.
“I’m ok, it’s alright,” Dean was murmuring, a hand stroking Cas’ back as he tried to control his breathing. The adrenaline that ran through him as he understood that Dean was alive and finally let him feel his fear, made his entire body tremble and he could feel himself shaking violently in Dean’s safe embrace. “I’m alright, Cas.”
Abruptly, Cas pulled his face out from its hiding place against Dean’s dirty t-shirt collar, and grasped Dean’s face with both hands. Again, Dean looked as if he was going to say something to Cas, and Cas didn’t want to hear it. Instead, he pulled Dean firmly in and pressed their lips tightly together, Dean immediately responding. He ignored the chuckling and “about time” that came from behind him, and just kissed Dean, and kissed him, and kissed him. Eventually he pulled away when they both needed to breathe, and he gazed in awe at the adoring, and shocked, look on Dean’s face. He was horrified to find tears on the taller man’s cheeks, and used his thumbs to brush them away before kissing him softly and resting their foreheads together. He closed his eyes and whispered the only thing that needed to be said.
“I love you, too, Dean.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The whole time he was in the hospital, all Dean could think about was getting to Cas. When they’d pulled him out of the house he’d known he broken something in his leg, but that was the worst of his injuries. Krissy hadn’t woken up, thank God, but neither had the others. There were only two ambulances at the scene, and Dean waved them off, willing to wait for the next one when others clearly had greater need.
He tried to ignore the pain shooting through his leg, and the throbbing burn on his arm, as he lay on a stretcher. His ambulance was on its way, but he was looking forward to some pain killers. Benny would’ve given him some while he waited, but he’d made him go with the kid.
Tommy was with him, chatting constantly to try and take Dean’s mind off of things. Dean let it wash over him, listening for the most part, and grateful for the effort his friend was making, but he couldn’t stop himself. His mind kept wandering to Cas, and whether or not he’d got the text. Whether or not he had replied, or was even going to. He wondered whether the nurse was on duty, and whether he would worry about Dean when he saw that it was his shift colleagues who were coming in. He had to keep pulling himself away from his thoughts, to focus back on the distraction Tommy was providing.
It was only ten minutes before the ambulance arrived, and quickly he was diagnosed with a minor burn and a fracture to his leg, that would need to be put in a cast for a few weeks to make sure it healed properly. Dean breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his injuries would heal reasonably quickly, and hadn’t affected his career prospects. He was surprised to realise that he hadn’t really thought about it until he was told he would be fine. Normally, that shit would be running through his head negatively the whole time. This time, he was thinking about whether he should ask if Cas was working, or whether Cas wouldn’t appreciate it. Nobody had told him about his colleagues that had been brought in, and he didn’t ask. He’d know what had happened when everyone else did.
Cast set and crutches finally handed over, Dean hobbled out to the waiting room, and as expected his entire shift were sitting there, in various states of smoky dirtiness, and he was relieved to see Jake sitting with the others. Everyone looked up at him, a few giving him a quick smile or a relieved thumbs up. He traded solemn nods with Jake, and hoped the new recruit would be ok after his first real trauma. There was still someone missing though, which explained the solemn faces and the lack of chatter. Someone made as if to stand, clearly looking to give Dean a seat in the packed room, but he shook his head and hobbled away, heading for the front desk in the hopes of a cheerful face.
“Dean!”
Charlie was there. God bless Charlie. She ran across the room from where she had just entered, pulling him in for a quick hug.
“Are you ok?”
“I’ve been better,” he smiled. “But I’ll be fine.”
“Your throat sounds awful,” she frowned. “Come into the break room, I’ll get you some more water.”
The look on her face was not to be argued with, so he followed her obediently, taking the seat she pointed to when they entered.
“What the hell happened?” the redhead asked as she began rooting through cupboards, looking for a clean glass. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
Dean gave her a smile, grateful for her concern, which was clearly the real reason she’d pulled him in here. He gave her the quick version, skimming over the scarier details.
“Jake’s ok,” she told him. “He has a concussion and a couple of small burns, but he’s fine. He didn’t get the worst of it.”
“Have you heard?”
“Nothing. I can find out for you, if you like?”
“Please.” He needed to know. They all needed to know. Waiting for the prognosis for one of their team was nothing short of torture. Charlie nodded and made to leave the room, but Dean stopped her.
“Hang on, the little girl? Krissy? Was she ok?”
“I don’t know, I can find that out too if you like. Cas and Meg were in with-“ her eyes widened in horror. “Shit! Cas!”
Dean’s heart plummeted. “What, what is it?”
“He doesn’t know that you’re ok, Dean. He doesn’t know that it wasn’t you in the first bus – he probably thinks-”
Dean heaved himself to his feet. “Where is he?”
“Trauma 2”
“I’ll find him.”
Charlie grinned at him. “Thatta boy, Dean. I’ll go find out what I can.”
She disappeared through the door and Dean followed her at a slower pace. He could see trauma 2 slightly further down the corridor, and recognised the back of Luke as he headed into the room as Dean took a step into the corridor. Slowly, he hobbled down the corridor, every step taking him closer to Castiel, and every step making him dread what would happen when he got there. What if Cas didn’t want to see him?
Almost before he wanted to be, he found himself in the doorway. He allowed himself a few seconds to gaze at the back of the man he loved, noticing the tension that pulled across his shoulders as he checked the IVs of the sleeping girl in the bed. Meg was looking at Luke with a sad expression on her face, and neither of them noticed his presence until he finally spoke.
“Cas?”
He watched as the nurse turned and looked at the doctor in the room, clearly not expecting to hear another male voice in the space. But Luke had turned and was looking at Dean, a vague look of confusion on his face.
“Cas?”
The IV line dropped from Castiel’s hands and Dean waited with baited breath while the man turned to face him. He smiled nervously as Cas caught his eyes, then watched in horror as Cas tried to catch a sob in his hands. He barely heard his name being heard, but replied with his usual greeting anyway. He went to continue speaking, but suddenly Cas was moving. He had a split second to brace his back against the door frame then his hands were full of blue scrubs and gorgeous nurse. A wet face was pressed against his throat and hands were clutching tightly in his hair. He rubbed his hands soothingly up and down Cas’ back, ignoring the grins that Meg and Luke were both sending their way. He mumbled soothing words, assuring Cas that he was ok, and kept doing so until Cas suddenly pulled away and grabbed Dean’s face in both hands. He opened his mouth to speak, with no real idea of what he was about to say, when suddenly his capacity for speech was gone and Cas’ lips were pressed firmly against his.
They kissed for what seemed like years, and he could feel the relief surging through Cas as he proved to himself that Dean was alive. Just when he thought he was about to combust, Cas pulled away and stared at him. His blue eyes looked right into Dean’s soul, and he was barely aware of the tears on his cheeks or Cas’ hands wiping them away. Another kiss brushed his mouth, and then Cas finally whispered the words that Dean had been waiting to hear for so long.
“I love you too, Dean.”
Dean’s eyes filled anew as he crushed Castiel to him, uncaring of the discomfort of the wall at his back, or the painkillers that were definitely wearing off.
“Don’t mind us, guys. Or the patient, or anything,” drawled from across the room, and Dean and Cas pulled away from each other sheepishly. They just stood and stared at each other as Meg and Luke finally left the room, a “she’s your patient, Cas” thrown over Meg’s shoulder as they went.
Cas couldn’t seem to stop touching Dean, and Dean quickly realised that the hands fluttering all over his face and torso were still trying to be convinced that Dean was still alive, and was actually here.
“Hey, hey,” Dean said, gently catching Cas’ hands and holding them in his. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Cas’ forehead. “I’m alright, I’m ok.”
“I just, I thought it was you. I was convinced it was you,” Cas admitted, his eyes wide and pained. “I shut it all down to work on the kid, but I was so sure, and then Luke came in and told Meg what happened, and I thought I was going to faint, Dean. I’m so glad you’re ok, I’m so sorry about your friend, I love you. I love you.”
Castiel’s arms had wound around Dean as he rambled, and Dean went back to soothing the muscles in Cas’ back. They stood in silence for a few moments until Castiel’s words registered.
“Cas, why are you sorry? What happened?”
Cas pulled back to look at him. “Dean, you don’t know?”
“Know what, Cas?”
“The other firefighter. Luke was working on him, and when he came back in Meg asked if he was ok, and Luke… oh, Dean. I’m so sorry.”
Cas arms tightened round him, but Dean was numb. He hadn’t ever lost a colleague, not like this. Never like this. He was waiting for news, sure, but he was waiting to be told that his friend had to quit the service, or that he’d need to do months of physio. That’s what usually happened, not this. Never this.
And Cas, oh my God. Dean tightened his own arms around Cas, burying his face in his boyfriend’s hair and making sure they were both braced properly.
“Cas, I’m so sorry. I never though… Charlie went to find out, otherwise I would have said. Nobody knows, Cas. Nobody would think to say. I’m so sorry.”
Cas fought against Dean’s hold to pull back and look him in the eye, the fear on his face easy to see.
“Dean? What are you trying to say?”
“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry,” the tears were spilling down both their faces now, and Cas was shaking his head, refusing to believe what he hadn’t been told. “It’s Gabe, sweetheart. It’s Gabe.”