Buck hadn't used my actual name in a long time and it felt wrong hearing it come from his mouth.
"Cooper's in the house?"
"What the hell?"
Quickly, I realised that Buck had put me on speaker for the rest of the team to hear. "Now is not the time for you to get angry with me! I've got an eight year old and a nine year old in here with me- top floor. Look, my hand is sticking out the window." I explained, sticking the limb out into the fresh air.
My room was round the side of the house, so it took a second before I saw the group appear. Chim pointed upwards at me and shouted to the others where I was. Buck muttered something into the phone, before I saw him pass the phone to Bobby.
"How close is the fire to the room you're in?" He questioned. I darted over to the door and pressed my hand against the handle, immediately yanking it away with a hiss.
"Well the door handle just tried to give me a third-degree burn, so I'd say pretty close." I replied. I eyed the other two in the corner, crouching down and stroking their hair when I saw their tears.
I whispered reassurances as Bobby started giving out orders to the team. "Here's the plan Cooper. Hen and Chim are trying to find a way into the house right now and Buck and Eddie are going up the ladder. It's not going to quite reach the window, but there might be another way for us to reach you." The Captain explained as I saw the ladder making its way towards us.
"I can pass you the two kids if it reaches and I can figure something out for myself." I stated.
"No way kid. We're getting you out of there, no matter what." He assured.
Bobby assured me of the plan and stated that he was ending the call, but if anything changes I'll be the first to know. The phone slipped back into my pocket and I ushered the pair to the window. There was a small ledge I could sit on to keep my balance, so I could hand them over.
As was predicted, the ladder stopped just short of the window and Buck gave me an attempt at a smile. "We're going to help you guys, okay? Cooper, do you think you can hand them to me? I'll be able to take them both down at the same time." He assured.
I took their backpacks from them and placed them on the floor, assuring them that I'd keep their possessions safe. As carefully as possible, I lifted Oscar into my arms and stretched forward towards Buck.
The height made my stomach flip anxiously and I prayed to whatever god out there that neither of these kids were going to get hurt today.
Just like the fire almost three months ago now, it was Buck and I working together to help people. Except this time, I also needed help.
Lucy was handed off to Buck soon after and I only relaxed when they were safely secured to Buck and the ladder.
"Okay now-" the firefighter was cut off by the window behind him smashing. Fire began seeping out of the hole, threatening to bite at the three people on the ladder.
Suddenly, the ladder began retracting and moving away from me and the fiery window just a metre away from me.
"Eddie stop! Wait, I can get him! Cooper!" He began yelling and cursing at his boyfriend.
I understood what Eddie was doing. It was their job to secure the safety of the two victims they already had, especially two so young.
There was no use Buck staying to try and get me if it meant putting himself, Oscar and Lucy at risk. Besides, I could see the anxiety written all over Eddie's face, even from this distance.
My head snapped to the door as I heard a small rumble, which made my stomach twist. The phone in my pocket began buzzing and I swiftly pulled it out.
"Are you okay?" Bobby questioned and I hummed an affirmative.
"The ladder is going to take too long to get back up to me, isn't it?" I asked, my voice quiet. Bobby didn't reply to my question, but his silence was answer enough. I felt my body tremor and for the first time in a while, I was genuinely afraid.
I grabbed the four backpacks laying on the floor and threw them out the window so they landed in the grass.
"Don't give up on me now, Cooper. All that stubbornness must still be in there. We're going to get you, okay? We'd never let anything happen to you." He promised. I felt warm at both the heat and the man's words. It felt so familial and I couldn't help the small tear that rolled down my cheek.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Cap." I whispered. I didn't give him the chance to answer, instead ending the call and digging the device back into my pocket.
I ignored it buzzing away as I ducked under my bed. My own backpack sat there, innocently staring back at me. I had moved it under here last night, as a promise to myself that I would leave. As you can tell, I never did (I was a coward, really).
The bag was strapped to my person in quick succession. Despite the towels at the door, smoke had begun floating into the room a few minutes ago. I had tried to ignore it before and let myself be naive to the inevitable, but it couldn't be ignored now.
Every inch of the ceiling was layered with grey and I knocked the window back open. The ladder had only just made it back down and Buck had to release the kids safely before he made his way back up to me.
"Cooper!" Someone yelled and I turned my head to see Hen and Chim waving.
They pointed to the front of the house, "The balcony! Do you think you can get to the balcony?" Hen yelled and I paused in shock.
The two adults shared the room opposite mine and, as well as an en-suite, it included a balcony too. How did I not think of that before? I gave them a thumbs up and ducked back into the room.
I moved the towels from the ground and I balled them around my hand to protect it from the hot door handle. I pulled at the handle and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the flames that snapped at me.
As the saying goes, if you can't go under it, around it or over it; go through it. I snatched one of the other towels from the ground and tied it around the lower half of my face in an attempt to block out some of the smoke.
I squinted at the fire and spotted the open door opposite mine. Unfortunately, the fire had already began tearing up the room. But, I could spot the door to the balcony opposite me and I could see the ladder hooked to the top of it.
Hen and Chim were making their way up, I just had to meet them halfway. So, I did the (arguably) dumbest thing I have ever done in my life.
I ran through the fire.
My head tucked itself into my chest and I darted forward, feeling the heat picking at my skin and curling angrily around my body. The firefighter twins appeared in the room on the other side, immediately grabbing me when I was in reach.
I collapsed into their arms, as they harshly batted my body. They were patting out the flames, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. I was quickly dragged out to the balcony and carried down the ladder, where paramedics rushed to guide me to their ambulance.
In all the chaos, I hadn't realised there was now another ambulance and two police cars. I was even more surprised to find one of the police officers was Athena, who wasted no time running over.
They tried to push me on to the stretcher, but struggled with my continuous fighting. I saw one of the adults shouting at Zara and something in me snapped when he grabbed her arm.
I barged past the paramedics and anyone else who tried to stop me, instead stumbling over to the scene. My arms, with all the strength I had left, pushed full-force into the man and I watched as he tumbled to the side.
Zara grabbed on to the back of my t-shirt, sobbing into as she took cover behind me. "Don't touch her!" I yelled, unwavering as the man went nose-to-nose with me.
Athena and some of the others rushed over, trying to make sense of the scene. "I want her in prison! She burned down my house!" He howled and I glared.
"It was an accident, she's a kid! Maybe if you weren't yelling at her she wouldn't have bumped into the candles!" I yelled, only to be pulled away by Eddie and Buck. The rest of the team gathered around me and Zara as the police officers tried to calm the man down.
Athena held up her hand, "Can someone explain what's going on? Are these your kids, sir?" She questioned angrily, disliking how he spoke to us.
"These are no children of mine! My wife and I are their foster parents, but not now! I want to file a police report on that devil and the boy!" He was enraged, jabbing his finger in our direction.
My heart sunk into my stomach as I turned to look at the team. They all stared down at me in shock, processing the words that were just released into the air.
"You're a foster kid?" Eddie whispered, barely audible from his shock. I couldn't help the tears welling in my eyes as the news was finally revealed.
The reason behind all of the misfortune and bad behaviour in my past. All of the objection to care and love, it now made sense to them all.
I'm a foster kid.
I turned away from the team, instead choosing to focus on one problem at a time. My body darted beside Athena, leering towards my foster parent. "If you even think about filing a report, I'll tell everyone about you and your wife. You know I've got the evidence to prove it." I hissed.
His face turned pale abruptly as he stuttered to think of a rebuttal. Athena's attention snapped back to me as she gestured for her colleagues to escort the man away.
"Check my bag." I stated, instead of allowing her to question what I was talking about.
She paused, before shaking her head. "That doesn't matter for now. What matters is getting you the medical attention you need, then we can talk about all of this. Together." Athena assured, always knowing what to do in these situations.
Hen softly guided me back to the ambulance and I allowed myself to be forced on to the stretcher this time. I was in the firehouse's ambulance and I could only assume that the team wanted to deal with my injuries themselves.
"I'm taking him to the hospital, you guys can finish up and meet us there." Hen ordered, leaving no room for arguments.
My eyes stared ahead at the team who were all gathered at the back of the ambulance. A lump grew in my throat as the doors closed and they were ripped from my sight.
Hen didn't speak as Chim drove the vehicle, instead choosing to begin treating my injuries. I laid my head back on the seat and closed my eyes to stop the tears from rolling down my face. I hated people seeing me cry, after all.
The truth was out now. The people I had wanted to protect from my train wreck of a life, now knew one of the worst parts of me. Well, that's how I viewed it anyway.
I'm a foster kid. Nobody wants a foster kid.
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Two updates in one day? That's almost unheard of (I'm trying to make up for my lack of frequent updates in the last month).
Finally! This is part one of the big secret/twist I wanted in the story and I hope you like how it's turned out.
Please let me know thoughts/feelings/tips!
Thank you for all the support, I really do appreciate it! :)