There was a bright flash from the barrel of the gun. Phoenix froze.
She wasn't sleepy. Mommy came in and kissed her head. Was she crying? "Goodnight Tess. Be good."
She was crying now and Daddy was rocking her. She didn't understand why Mommy had gone. "We'll be alright, sweetie. Just you and me. We'll be fine."
Father and Judy were helping Sam with his homework. They never even noticed her leave the house. Bag on back, she went to the train station leaving the suburbs behind. "Union station, please. One way."
Serving coffee to soot covered men. They were joking around with her good naturedly. Good tips and a phone number - Chicago Fire Department Training College.
Graduation day and assignment. 23rd unit. Her first fire fought and they celebrate by making the rookie pay. A little too much to drink and the unit are in a tattoo parlour. "You first, Tessa." "Wusses."
Their first kiss at the back of the rig.
Andy's nervousness as he took the book from the shelf and opened it in front of her, waiting for her reaction, for her smile.
Walking along the river through the snow and he falls on his knees. "Will you marry me? Please marry me, Tess." She was pulling him to his feet. "Yes. Absolutely yes." Her feet left the ground only moments before they both slipped in the snow in tears of laughter.
It looked like an easy fire. They went in and she split for the control room. The sound filled everything, all her senses, and all she could think was "ANDY!!" as the blast blew her out and into darkness.
A stranger was cleaning the cut on her head. "You're awake. Had me worried. You've been hurt bad but you'll be alright. I'm Frank. And I'm afraid you're going to need a new name."
Speeding away together on his Harley, he stopped on the road out of Chicago to turn around and kiss her.
Constant Seattle rain banging against the window and a badly played guitar. Two pills in her hand. She never even noticed the guitar stop until her wrist was grabbed before reaching her mouth. "I knew there was something up with you. Dammit Lois, I can't let you do this to yourself."
It was just a small glass jar. "It's called Compound Twelve. There's enough there to blow this entire block into orbit. Don't ever under estimate how dangerous it is."
Crawling through the air vents into what looked like a boiler room. He handed her the gun. "Watch my back. And keep your head down".
He should have been back from the Run. He often got delayed. She rolled back over in an empty bed and fell asleep.
Driscoll was shaking her awake. "You have to leave here. We ran into a problem. Frank didn't make it."
She walked into the bar. There was a nod. He scribbled down an address and handed it to her with a fresh card. "Alright Zara, you're ready. Now get out of here." "It's Phoenix."
She turned the machine heads nonchalantly. She knew they were impressed. Dumuzi waved the others away. "Good sound. But the gig requires something more." She chewed her gum a second before answering. "I know. That's why you need me."
The bang reverberated through the air, snapping her out of it. She ducked down just as the bullet grazed over her left shoulder. Damn, that was another shirt wasted. Ignoring the searing pain for now, she rolled across to the adjoining corridor, drew her own pistol, and squeezed off a shot at the approaching figure. The gun clattered from his exploding hand. She stood up, back in the corridor and squeezed off another, dropping him before he could reach with his other hand. He was still coming. A series of shots rang out from very close behind her and blossoms of blood appeared on the shooter's head, shoulders, and chest, before finally he collapsed not to move again. She turned around to see Balroc grinning at her, as much as a Troll could.
"That was cuttin' it close."
He shrugged in response.
"This place is gonna blow in under a minute - I suggest gettin' the hell outta here."
He waved his hand down the corridor. "After you." They both started running. Seconds later the rumbling started. The walls, floors, and ceilings shook around them as they met with the others, also running frantically to get out. By the time they reached the doors, chunks of plaster and metal were raining down around them. They burst out into the night, running to a safe distance before looking back at the warehouse crumbling in on itself as smaller explosions ripped around the edges.
Dumuzi nodded. "Smooth."
Kerrigan took her shoulder, causing Phoenix to yelp. "Watch it, dumb ass!" She pulled back the shorn fragments of her shirt to look at the wound. The blood was already congealing. Kerrigan looked on with nonchalant concern. "We have a gig in a couple of hours. You alright?"
She applied a field bandage. She could deal with it better when they got back to the church. She nodded to him, then the others. "Just a scratch. I can play. And we're waitin' for what now?"
The group started to run. Seconds later they were lost in the shadows.
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