Flac - Hello Stranger

Here We Are Again...

Heyyy now I know it's been a while, I admit, but I'm here aren't I? Haha anyway the drama starts here...

Fletch had, of course, taken Jac's offer to go for a drink. Even if he couldn't make her stay, any extra time he got to spend with her before she went was not to be taken for granted.

"Just give me a minute" Fletch climbed the stairs and knocked on Evie's door.
"Come in" a voice came from inside.
Fletch popped his head round the door "Hey love, could you keep an eye on the little ones? I'm just going round the corner to the pub with Jac... I know I ask you to babysit too much and you've got work to do and...
"Dad" she interrupted "It's fine. Talk to Jac" she confirmed. "Just... sort things out"
Fletch smiled. She was so grown up and he had clearly underestimated how much she could piece things together.
"Thanks" he nodded "I will"
He closed the door and plodded back down the stairs to the front door where Jac was waiting. They shouted a quick bye to the kids who were oblivious to what was happening before heading out into the dark evening.
They walked in silence at first but the silence wasn't awkward, it was peaceful. The air was crisp, that sort of cold that feels like its clean and fresh. Jac looked up. It was overcast, hardly a picturesque night but it didn't need to be, not when she was walking next to him. When Fletch was by her side, nothing else in the world mattered. As if a bubble surrounded them, cutting them off from all the pain in the world. Not that it would last, Jac told herself.
They reached the pub door and Jac lead the way inside and to a far off table at the back. Fletch paid for two drinks at the bar and brought them over to sit facing her.

"So" Fletch began
"So" Jac agreed
"Here we are again" He laughed, gesturing to the similar situation they had found themselves in only a few days ago.
"Yessss, only I won't run off this time"
"Promise?"
"Promise." She agreed
An argument began to commence behind Fletch but they blocked it out.
"You know this" she gestured between them "doesn't mean I'm not going."
"I know" He admitted
"But I owe you an explanation"
They were aware of a glass falling off the table and smashing by the door.
"Holby has always been the only family I've ever had. Elliot, Mo, Fran... they all really care about me... God knows why" she laughed "but things have changed, they've all moved on and I have Emma now..."
"Jac I care about you." He reached across the table to take her hands
She looked at him
"I know" she whispered, squeezing his hands reassuringly
The shouting got louder.
"But..."
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Jac began to take in the argument at the door. It was between two men who had obviously had too much to drink. Then it happened. The guy nearest the door took the cigarette from his mouth and absent mindlessly, discarded it onto the floor. Jac saw what was to happen before it happened. The stub landed on the broken glass which was swimming in whatever alcohol it contained and, immediately the floor around the two men caught fire.
Jac's eyes grew wide and stood up abruptly, making Fletch aware of the situation.
Everyone in the pub began screaming and running out of the door but Jac and Fletch, with no word between them, made a beeline for the men who were on fire. All of a sudden one of them stumbled backwards and fell against the wall, the curtain dropping and consuming him in the flames. Fletch was the first to move and grabbed a nearby table cloth in an attempt to save him.
"Stay back!" Fletch shouted as he did so
"Fat chance" Jac replied before grabbing another and doing the same.
The guy was free from the flames and lay groaning in pain on the floor, his skin wrinkled and blistered, almost unrecognizable. Jac looked towards the door which was blocked by flames and searched the room with her eyes for a window as another possible exit. Nothing.
The room was almost opaque with black smoke which burned Jac's throat like nothing she had ever experienced. As she looked around on her hands and knees, she realised it was only her, Fletch and the man. Fletch looked up and caught eyes with her.
"Go" he croaked "find another door" he nodded his head to the back of the pub.
Jac searched his eyes, willing for another answer, a way they could both get out but she knew they couldn't leave the man behind.
Jac nodded slowly and began to scramble to her feet "I'll find one and... and come back"
"No" he interjected "I need you safe"
"Fletch." She looked him directly in the eye "I'm not just gonna walk out of here"
He knew that look. There was no changing her mind. He nodded grudgingly.
"You get his feet"
Jac obliged, coughing uncontrollably
"Alright mate, we're gonna get you out of here" Fletch's speech was not more than a whisper
He mumbled something in response but Fletch took it as permission to move.
"Now"
Fletch and Jac both lifted slightly and dragged towards the back of the pub and away from the door. The guy's jacket got caught on a stool which tipped and smashed into the drinks cabinet behind the bar. There was a crackling sound and Jac looked around to witness a flame lick at the surface of the wood as it climbed quickly towards the pool of flammable liquid. She knew what was coming,
"Watch out!" Her croaky voice was lost in the flames and smoke before,

*BOOM*

Well well well, here we are again at another cliffhanger, some may say I even like leaving you guys on tender hooks;) Pfffff as if!!