Still Burning

11- Missing

ONE MONTH LATER
* * *

Nathan groaned, feeling his lungs burn, but he only had a few steps left till he was there.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

He banged on the door, breathing heavily. Andy opened it quickly, letting him in. She rushed to his side, helping him. He was bent over, trying to stop the ache in his side.

"Hey, little bro," a soft voice said from beside the sofa. Nathan panted, breathing in as slow as he could to satisfy his lungs. "Got here in quite a hurry, huh?"

His eyes scanned over his brother. He hadn't aged much- almost looking the same as he did two years ago. His hair was still blonde, but now with a few streaks of grey. His wrinkles beside his eyes had deepened but that somehow made him look innocent as he smiled. His eyes dropped to his arms. A new tattoo stood bright against the old ones. His brother had barely changed but their was one major difference. He was missing a leg.

"When did you get back? Why didn't you tell me, Mason? You never-"

"Come here." Nathan saw his brother open his arms and without a second thought, he rushed to them. As his brother closed his arms around him, he remembered his childhood. They would usually hide from their parents, neither of them wanting to eat their vegetables. It was Mason who had sacrificed his TV time to allow Nathan to watch another episode of Tom and Jerry.

Nathan pulled his brother in closer, breathing in his scent. He always smelt the same. "I missed you!"

"It's okay, lil bro, I'm here now. I can't exactly go anywhere can I?"

"So many things happened," Nathan cried into his neck. "I needed my big brother with me, to tell me everything was going to be okay, call me a wuss for being such a girl."

Andy sighed heavily, putting a hand against her beating chest. She watched as they both pulled away. The moment Mason had knocked on the door, his wife and children beside him, she had immediately called Nathan. She was about to go work but called in saying there was a family emergency.

Nathan chuckled as he stood up. He glanced down at his brother. Mason always stood up taller than Nathan. "I really did miss you, Mase."

"Stop," Mason said with a chuckle as he wiped a stray tear. "A man returning from the army and cries remembering his douche brother."

"That's the Mason I know and love," Andy said from behind him. She walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, my lovely Andy Pandy. Always did tell you you got the wrong brother." Andy giggled as she looked over at Nathan. For the first time in a month, she had seen him smile properly.

The orphanage fire had taken a toll on firehouse 87. The owners were being charged with arson  and murder for 37 children and attempted murder for the only four that survived. However, arson is very hard to prove.

Nathan never glanced up at her and she knew why. He had left angry to work. It had started off as a small argument, how he was always worked up about the court case to him needing to get over it. She had never meant it in a bad way; all she wanted was him to take it easy, get some rest and relax. But he had taken it in the wrong way.

"Hey, why don't I go and make you all some breakfast?" Nathan glanced at her, keeping his face neutral.

"I ate."