Chapter 12: Fire

The next two weeks blew by and I kept having more and more dreams. The most recent and most often one being of two twin girls dancing on the beach, and a man stood in the shadows watching them.

I told Oliver of the dreams, but he didn't take me seriously and told me I was being overly paranoid. The only dream he seemed interested in was the one of me having a pup. It worried me so much I had visited Paco and he too saw what I did and he had a strange feeling about the Volkswagen bus, but was unsure of its purpose at this time.

I told Jacob and Valor and they seemed to take me seriously saying that each werewolf seems to have a special ability. Valors was her strength, and her ability to take away small amounts of pain, Mike could hear the best and furthest of the group. Mark's sight was that of a Falcon seeing farther and wider then we thought was possible. Jacob's was analytical, and of course being the alpha He had control over our will. Although he never seemed to use it.  Zane was the quickest, he reflexes far quicker then any of ours. He was our fighter and had been training us all.

Oliver's gift was his charm and it had only gotten better after being turned. He could talk his way out of anything and I seemed to have some kind of prophetic dreams. I wasn't sure how I felt about my gifts, or if they where even real. I laid my hand on my stomach and realized I had to wait another week to know for sure, and what if it wasn't this week or next... How far did my dreams go into the future if they even where true.

I went back to work after two great weeks besides all the the new information I had acquired. It all seemed very mundane. I completed all my tasks and with my new skills even quicker then before. I was eating lunch when I started to feel queasy. I laid the sandwich down and picked st the bread before the alarm went off. I grabbed the pole and slid till my feet touched the bottom and running to grab my gear. We raced to our assigned trucks and headed down the street. I smelt the smoke and heard the crackle of a fire before I saw it.

As the truck pulled up three men ran out of the flames. I heard a small cough coming from inside and instructed a fellow firefighter to come with me as the others started the hoses. We ran inside and he radioed me there was no way in, but I was not leaving the child behind. I slammed into the door careful not to burn myself. "Hello fire department if you are in here yell for me so I can find you!" I heard a whimper from behind a bed that was engulfed with flames. I radioed for them to call an ambulance as I pushed the bed seeing two small ash covered kids. I tossed them over my shoulder and walked back the way I came, but the fireman I came in with was gone and the door was now blocked.

I went around back into the bedroom and radioed for them to come around the right side of the house. I tucked the kids by my legs as I smashed the window. The flames grew behind us and I saw the cowardly fireman grimace as I passed the kids to the Chief. They had made it half way before the roof above me started to collapse and I had to move now. I turned around climbing down the ladder and just as I started to desend down the ladder it caved.

I stayed with the kids until their parents rushed over thanking me and the ambulance arrived hooking them both up to different oxygen tanks. After two hours the fire was out and we where lucky it hadn't spread to other houses. We where about to leave when the Chief pulled me aside. "Where in the hell was your backup Carter?" His face was mad, but his voice calm and steady. The few men behind winced as I was scolded.

"Chief I did bring someone in with me sir, but he didn't wish to go further. I heard the kids and broke through a wall, but he didn't follow me and he wasn't there when I came back. The opening I had created was already blocked by flames, and he was no longer standing on the otherside. So it was the window, or wait until someone else found us. I will take responsibility for going ahead alone." The Captain's face went back to a normal state. His face no longer showed signs of aggravation or anger. "Who was it?" He asked as he pulled me to the side of the truck. "I am unsure of his name, but I would recognize him if I saw him."

The Chief nodded and we all rode back leaving the police and arsen investigation to do their jobs. When we got back the Chief called all firemen to the garage. He had them all line up, including me. Most of us still in their gear. "Which one of you left our Captain Carter to go ahead alone?" No one stepped foward. "No one's going to talk huh?" He nodded as he walked the line, he steppes up to me. "Walk and get me his name while I punish them all." He whispered and I fell in behind him reading their names and looking at their faces. I saw the man and he glared as I read the name Bronco on his jacket.

"You have all disappointed me again. This is not the first time we have left a team member behind, but I assure you it will be the last. Do I make myself clear!" He boomed as the men shook their heads. "I get that some of you don't think a woman can handle our line of work and it has been made clear not only by your requests to have her removed, but also by your actions today." He walked further his revealing statements shocking me. "Captain Carter has worked and served with her unit for four years and worked up the ladder on her own. She is to be our new lieutenant in six months time, and you will obey her because she is going to take over as Chief one day. Is that understood?" Most men nodded and a few made faces.

"If you have a problem with her, you have a problem with me, and with the next woman that steps foot inside these walls." He stood at the front with me to the left of him. "This is your last chance to step up if you where the one that left her in there alone and then didn't at least stay to make sure her exit was clear. Two men tossed their helmets and hung their jackets up and walked out. Chief Landon wrote their names down and looked over the rest of the men. "Chore duty is now increasing for everyone until someone steps foward." He dismissed them and beckoned me to his office.

"Name Captain Carter?" He said with a no nonsense stern voice. "Sir before I give you the name if I could just talk with him. Maybe he was pressured into it." Chief Landon looked at me with a stone cold face. "And of he was? Does that excuse his actions?" I shook my head. "What if his actions would have killed you? Or another?" Chief Landon sat back in his chair. "I don't mean to be hard on you Captain, just looking at the big picture. Which you will have to do soon." I nodded and he rubbed his head. "Talk with him, I'll give you a day to find him then I will meet with you and then him." I stepped foward amd extended a hand. "Thank you sir." He shook it and I quickly exited the office.