The Shield One-Shots Book 3

Hero Pt2/Ambreigns

 The heat from the fire burned like a thousand degrees, and the smoke covered them like a blanket, as the flames chased them up the stairs in a twisted game of tag. The building groaned in protest all around them as they tried to get to the roof, to fresh air and freedom. Dean had never been in a situation like this before in his career as a Firefighter, yeah, he had done many rescues over the years, but they were nothing like this.

 Dean looked down at the young girl with him and knew she was terrified but was staying calm and brave only because Dean was and she trusted him. He didn't give a damn what happened to him, but he was going to get Bella out of there and back to her mom. They still had a long way to go and he knew that Bella was trying her best, but he could tell that she was struggling due to exhaustion.

 They made it up two more floors and Dean noticed that the heat and smoke weren't as bad up there, so he decided to take a quick break and let her rest. So, he took her under the stairwell and knelt down in front of her.

 "How you doing, kid?" Dean asked smiling, keeping his voice neutral to keep her calm.

 "I'm scared and tired." Bella answered quietly.

 "I know, Baby Girl, but we're almost to the roof, there's just a few more floors left now."

 "Okay." She answered before she coughed.

 "I'm going to give you some oxygen through my special mask, okay? I want you to put it on and just breathe normally." He instructed as he took his mask off and was about to put it on her when Jake began whining in his pocket. "Let's give Jake some too, huh?" He said smiling, she nodded.

 Dean opened his jacket and took Jake out of his pocket, he gave him to Bella to hold while he gave them both oxygen. He then put Jake back into his pocket and was about to take Bella's hand again, when an explosion rocked the building. Dean covered Bella's body with his, shielding her from the blast and debris.

**Meanwhile**:

 Roman, scared shitless about Dean, tried to concentrate on his job, there was nothing he could do to help Dean anyway, so he had to do something to keep himself distracted. As he was controlling the crowd with his fellow Officers, he noticed a man standing off to the side with the other residents of the building. He didn't remember seeing him with them earlier and the way he stared at the fire wearing a sick smile set off alarm bells with him.

 He didn't want to jump to conclusions, accusing some innocent man of being their serial arsonist without proof. So, he decided to ask Seth if he had treated the man, knowing that Seth and the other EMTs had examined the residents already. He quickly took a picture of the man and rushed to Seth's ambulance, reaching it, he had to wait as Seth was busy treating a Firefighter for a burn he had gotten.

 "Hey, Ro, any word on Dean yet?" Seth asked as he finished and the Fireman got back to work.

 "No, um, you handled the examinations of all the building's residents, right?"

 "I did them, yeah." Seth answered. "Why?"

 "Well, when I was doing crowd control I saw a man standing with the other residents and something felt off about him. I don't remember seeing him before and the way he's smiling at the fire is just strange." Roman explained.

 "That doesn't sound normal." Seth agreed. "You got a picture of our mystery man?"

 "Yeah, I do." Roman answered as he showed him the picture. "Do you recognize him?"

 "No, I didn't treat him and I didn't send him to any of the other EMTs to be treated either." Seth answered.

 "That doesn't mean he's our mystery arsonist, there were a few residents who didn't require EMTs."