Page 11 of Courageous Demands

The two cleared the roof of the brick building and began using their pikes to test the surface. They weren’t up there for two minutes when everything fell apart in front of him. There was a weird feeling of awareness slamming into his head the second that he shoved the pike down… and it plunged through the roof.

Uh oh, he thought instantly and screamed.

He wasn’t paying attention and had just made a stupid rookie mistake that was going to cost him his life. Every muscle in him seized, bracing himself as the roof gave underneath him.

This was it.

It took less than a second.

Alec barely moved his arms upward fast enough to make contact with the ring of rotted wood that was forming around him, just as he slipped into oblivion like a ton of bricks. Every four-letter word went through his mind within a second as a silent scream. He expected the pain to rocket through him as he plunged into the flames, mentally prepping himself to be burned alive.

If he were lucky, the impact would kill him or break his spine, so he couldn’t feel anything as he died a horrible and fiery death.

Oh my gosh - I should have talked to…

And he… bounced?

His body slammed into something and bounced so hard it was jarring. Several vertebrae popped loudly in his head like he was at the chiropractor and he immediately wiggled his toes to make sure he could. He could taste blood from where he bit his tongue and didn’t care.

He was alive – and not frying in his suit.

“ALEC! ALEC! CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

Poor Lance was freaking out, and he could hear it in his voice, but the breath got knocked from him. Priorities, bro, hold tight, he thought wildly, trying to drag oxygen into his lungs and looked around. He was in the dark and had landed on something soft. A bed?

“Alec! ALEC!”

“Ohhh man…” he whimpered, staring up at the blinding hole that was almost glaring from his perspective. He could see the sunshine, smoke wafting upward through it, and the occasional shadow of someone’s big ol’ noggin. Goodness, Lance had a big ol’ pumpkinhead nearly blocking out the sun like an eclipse… and let out a nervous giggle, relieved to be alive.

“Alec?! Oh my gosh, man – are you okay?”

Poor dude was panicking, and honestly, that made him feel good to know that someone besides his mother would care if he died. He wasn’t sure if Willow would or if something else would be more ‘important’ to her. That thought stung painfully, and he heard the fear in Lance’s voice again.

“This is not what I imagined the first layer of hell to look like… and frankly? I’m severely disappointed. Where’s the hookers?” Alec teased breathlessly, trying to let the poor guy know he was okay in the only way he could – by cutting up.

Alec grinned at Lance’s nearly hysterical giggle that he didn’t even bother to try to hide – followed by Colton’s voice. That was really sweet. The big lummox left the truck for him? These boys were gonna make me all stupidly emotional at this rate, Alec thought.

“You big nitwit,” Colton muttered loudly. “Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride… There’s either a bed under me, or I landed on a trampoline in the middle of this room.”

“Thank God for it too… that was probably a ten-foot drop.”

“Felt every inch of it, too. Sir, can I get a new pair of trousers? I think I messed myself,” Alec admitted, wriggling around in his pants to check because the uncertainty was there. It would be hard to explain to the chief. He could imagine ol’ stuffy Reese’s pained expression as he made this face… but hey?

He’d at least be alive to ask for new britches!

“I think Lance needs a set too.”

“Not gonna lie, Fischer,” Lance guffawed nervously, his adrenaline still running high. “That is a distinct possibility.”

“So, three pairs of pants, some baby wipes, a good stiff drink, and I bet you’d like a ladder at some point, Beckett?”

“Ya’ know… we could have a little fun with this. Why don’t I run out the front door screaming so a few of the onlookers mess themselves too?” Alec grinned and slowly rolled over off his back.

“You are one sick puppy…”

“Arf, arf…” Alec barked openly, not bothering to hide the relief he felt. All three men began chuckling in relief and awareness that this was the weirdest conversation to be having on the scene of a fire. Only to have three PASS alarms start sounding.

---