A Little Twist

The Revelation

Jack Gibson had been working next to Andy Herrera when, from the corner of his eye, he saw her get to her feet. He glanced quickly at the kid she was checking on, making sure she was ok, then moved to stand beside his friend.

"You ok?" he asked, putting a hand on her back.

"Yeah," she answered distractedly, taking a small sidestep. It was barely visible, but Jack noticed since the hand he had on her back fell back to his side. He eyed her carefully, trying to read her face. He could not exactly name what he was seeing there, but it was an expression he had never seen before, even when it was just the two of them. She seemed to be focusing on something in the distance, so he turned his head to watch in the same direction. He frowned in confusion at the sight of the captain who was making his way towards them, missing child held tightly in his arms. Brows sill furrowed, he turned back to look at Andy. Her eyes seemed to follow the captain's every movement, and Gibson was sure there was something else shining in those eyes, but he still could not figure what it was. He opened his mouth, ready to speak.

It had taken Sullivan and Montgomery some time to walk through the heavy smoke, but they finally made it out of the building. Once outside and at a safe distance from the fire, both stopped a minute to breathe in some much-needed fresh air. They took a few deep breaths before looking up at the scene in front of them. Of course, the trucks had not been moved, they were still blocking the road, along with a few police cars. It looked like the rest of the team had created two separate zones. In the first one, which they assumed were the safe people one, adults were talking to the children, gathering into small groups. The second one was triage, meaning teachers and children were still being checked out by the other firefighters and medics. Once they were satisfied to see that everything was under control on this side, they quickly glanced at the burning school behind them. Both men unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed that it was slowly getting better.

"So, captain...Dad..." Montgomery said, pointing at the little girl who still had her arms wrapped tightly around her father's neck.

"Not a word, Montgomery. Let me handle it." He asked, looking down at the child who was holding onto him, koala style. She had not said a word since he had picked her up, which worried him a little since he knew she was usually never that quiet. "You ok baby?" he said softly in her ear. He felt her nod her little head from where she was hiding, in the crook of his neck. "We've got to keep quiet, ok?" She nodded once again. Satisfied with her answer, Sullivan pressed a kiss on top of her head then looked back at Travis. "Let's go, and please don't say a word to the others."

"Yes, captain." Travis said with a smirk, as he walked behind his captain.

They headed directly to the triage zone. As they approached, Sullivan frowned at what he was seeing. He saw Gibson's hand fall from her back. He saw him watch her with a look he certainly did not like. He saw him open his mouth and say something that got her attention since she suddenly stopped looking at him and turned her head to face Jack. Thankfully, he arrived just in time to catch the beginning of the sentence.

"So...What..." Gibson started.

"Herrera, could you check on this one, please?" he cut in, voice firm, eyes sending daggers at Jack.

Andy turned her head to look at him. She was about to answer but decided against it when she saw the look on his face. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at him, sending him a deadly glare. Then, Herrera glanced down at the girl in the captain's arms, smiling softly at the sight. The child looked even smaller than she really was in those strong arms, little head still hidden in the crook of his neck. Andy took a step towards them and, putting a hand on the girl's back, motioned for him to follow her. He started to walk to the aid car, Andy following closely behind.