Walk Through the Fire
Title: Walk Through The Fire
Notes: Follows this. This is for Red. I don't expect anyone else to know what's going on.
Warnings: HAHA WHAT AM I DOING.
----
Detective Jacob Randall checked his cell phone for what felt like the millionth time that day. It seemed strange that he hadn't heard from a certain redhead- he swore Kara had said something about maybe bringing some of her things over to his place, but that had been hours ago.
Too many hours ago.
He'd tried calling her, and got nothing, so he figured it was time to do what it seemed he was best at, and that was drop by her apartment unannounced.
When he walked into the little Indian restaurant beneath Kara's apartment, the owner gave him a strange look. Stranger than normal. The man didn't much like Jacob anyway- something about unmarried ladies having men over- but Jacob swore he looked almost... worried. That only spurred the Detective to move faster. He took the stairs two at a time, and practically sprinted down the hall to Kara's door.
"Kara!" he called, pounding on the door as only a cop could. Any second now she would open that door, looking annoyed, a smartass remark on her lips.
But she didn't.
She wasn't there.
He was rapidly becoming convinced that something wasn't right, a deep feeling of dread settling into his stomach. "Kara!"
Not here, no sir.
Jacob whipped around, one hand reaching for his gun, the other for his hat. He froze in mid-motion when he recognized the other figure in the hall. There, in all his semitransparent glory, was the ghost from downstairs. The one that practically lived at the corner table by the window. As much as a ghost could live anyway.
Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Where is she?"
Gone, sir. Long gone. The ghost's tone was bordering on jovial, which annoyed Jacob to no end. Didn't he realize how important this was? How important Kara was? Left some time ago, yessir. With a man. Mean fellow, waving his gun around.
"Gun?" That was all he could manage to get out of his mouth. There were too many questions rattling around in his head for anything else remotely coherent to come out. Did that mean Kara had been kidnapped? In broad daylight? Why hadn't anyone called the police? "What man? Where did they go?"
Gone, gone. Down the street. Nobody paid them no mind, but it didn't work on me, no sir. I saw the whole thing. You wizardfolk always forget about us folk. Yessir.
Jacob let out an annoyed sound, somewhere between a sigh and a snarl. This was getting him nowhere. "Which way did they go?"
The ghost raised his eyebrows, looking mildly put-off by Jacob's shining personality, then he drifted down the stairs. Jacob followed, close on his dead guide's heels. The ghost halted at the front door, either unwilling or unable to go any further. That way, he said simply and pointed down the street.
To his credit, Jacob managed a hurried thanks and dashed out the door.
He got halfway down the block before he realized he didn't know where to go from there. They could be anywhere. Hell, they could have skipped town hours ago. What was going on? Kara should have barbecued this guy by now. She would have, if she could have.
So that meant that, for some reason, she couldn't.
Something cold settled into Jacob's chest. "You had better not be dead, Kara Makenna," he muttered to himself, turning on his heel to head back to his car. He had scarcely taken two steps when something caught his eye. It was rune- a letter in whatever language he used for his magic- and it was there for only a second, just hanging in the air near a storefront. He almost thought he imagined it.
His gaze shifted from the place the rune had been to the nearby store- one of those electronics stores with like ten TVs in the front window. The news was on, and it had already attracted a small crowd. A house in an upscale area of town had caught fire and it was still blazing away. Behind the newswoman, firefighters were everywhere, trying to keep the fire from the neighboring homes.
He should get moving, he knew that, but for some reason, he couldn't stop watching. Something was keeping his vision tied to that television.
The newswoman turned, and began to interview the apparent owner of the house. He was saying how grateful he was that he hadn't been home at the time- the usual. And then the most peculiar thing happened.
Everything slowed, and then time seemingly stopped. Passersby froze completely, cars halted on the streets. The only things in motion were Jacob himself, who felt rather like he was stuck in molasses, and the man on the TV. The man that was looking right at Jacob, a wicked smirk contorting what could have been pleasant features into something far more sinister.
"Hello, Jacob Randall," he said, his smirk breaking into an all-out grin. "Lose something?"
He wanted to scream. To yell and threaten and demand to know where Kara was, but his body wasn't quite listening to him. A growl sounded from his feet- Fedora had freed himself from the hat, and was apparently unaffected by whatever magic was at work here.
The TV-man's eyebrows went up, and he fixed Fedora with the oddest gaze. Like hatred and longing all smashed together, fighting for dominance of his facial features.
Fedora nosed the back of Jacob's leg, and he snapped into motion, suddenly free. "Where is she?" He barked.
The man scoffed, and motioned behind him towards the blaze, frozen in time like everything else. "She's right here. You're welcome to her, provided she's not dead already."
"I swear, if you've hurt her--"
"What? Are you going to hunt me down? That's awfully sentimental, especially for a Randall wizard."
"Just hope I never do find you," came the reply, and Jacob ran, heading back to his car.
The man laughed, a sound the set the hair on the back of Jacob's neck on end, as the spell dissolved around them.
----
A quick flash of his badge got him past the uniformed officers trying to keep the neighbors and curious onlookers away from the blaze. The rest wasn't quite as easy- he had to sneak around the neighboring house to get to an area unmanned by firemen. He made quick work of a window with a rock from the garden, and climbed inside.
It was a miracle the house was still standing at this point. Every inch of it was on fire- the heat alone would have probably killed a normal person. Not for the first time he made a mental note to thank the fairies for making him fireproof.
"Fedora," he called, taking off his hat and giving it a little shake. Black smoke streamed out of it and pooled on the floor, taking the shape of the large, black wolf. "Find Kara," Jacob instructed, though he doubted he needed to. Fedora cared about Kara too, and seemed just as anxious to find her. The wolf took a quick glance around, then bounded off. The house was beginning to come down around their heads, and they both narrowly dodged a falling beam or bit of debris more than once.
Fedora came to a halt in front of a door just off of the kitchen- it lead to the basement, most likely. Jacob put his shoulder to it and almost ended up falling down the stairs when the fire-ravaged door gave way. Amazingly, the stairs were still mostly in tact, though whether by magic or by sheer luck, Jacob didn't know. He didn't really care to know either.
"Kara?" No answer. He bounded down the stairs. What he saw when he got there made him stop dead in his tracks, feeling suddenly cold despite all of the flame. At one end of the room was a cell- perfectly in-tact and untouched by the fire save for a small hole on one wall where something had burned through. A familiar redheaded figure lay on the floor, unmoving.
Rage flared in him, bubbling up from his toes and escaping in a yell- a distorted, hurt sound. The rune came to his mind unbidden, and he drew it in the air with quick, angry motions. The door to the cell was torn from its hinges by the spell, and flung into the opposite wall.
He ran to her.
It was deathly cold in the little cell. It was such a stark contrast to the heat of the rest of the house, it sent his mind reeling for a moment. He could see his breath- but, he noticed, he could also see Kara's. She was alive, but it was clear she wasn't doing well. With all the care he possessed, he lifted Kara's unconscious form, and made his way back upstairs.
----
Bethany had been and gone. The girl had valiantly healed whatever physical damage that man had done to Kara, though the redhead remained unconscious. She even helped with the glass stuck in Jacob's palm from climbing in the window- to be honest, he hadn't noticed it was there.
Now they were alone in Jacob's apartment. Kara lay unmoving on the bed, Fedora curled up at her feet. For his own part, Jacob was restless. He couldn't concentrate on anything else with her lying there like that. He paced. He moved from the edge of the bed, to a chair, and back several times. He made a sandwich, and decided he didn't feel like eating.
On what must have been his millionth lap around the room, Fedora fixed him with a level gaze, letting out an annoyed little "whuff". Jacob frowned, pausing in mid-step. "I know, I know. I just... I don't want to lose her." He moved to the edge of the bed, taking Kara's hand in his. It was cold. "She means so much to me. More than I think I realized."
He placed his free hand on the side of her face, the edges of his vision blurring with tears. She would wake up- she had to. They had made a promise to each other- and when she did, he would be there waiting.
Notes: Follows this. This is for Red. I don't expect anyone else to know what's going on.
Warnings: HAHA WHAT AM I DOING.
----
Detective Jacob Randall checked his cell phone for what felt like the millionth time that day. It seemed strange that he hadn't heard from a certain redhead- he swore Kara had said something about maybe bringing some of her things over to his place, but that had been hours ago.
Too many hours ago.
He'd tried calling her, and got nothing, so he figured it was time to do what it seemed he was best at, and that was drop by her apartment unannounced.
When he walked into the little Indian restaurant beneath Kara's apartment, the owner gave him a strange look. Stranger than normal. The man didn't much like Jacob anyway- something about unmarried ladies having men over- but Jacob swore he looked almost... worried. That only spurred the Detective to move faster. He took the stairs two at a time, and practically sprinted down the hall to Kara's door.
"Kara!" he called, pounding on the door as only a cop could. Any second now she would open that door, looking annoyed, a smartass remark on her lips.
But she didn't.
She wasn't there.
He was rapidly becoming convinced that something wasn't right, a deep feeling of dread settling into his stomach. "Kara!"
Not here, no sir.
Jacob whipped around, one hand reaching for his gun, the other for his hat. He froze in mid-motion when he recognized the other figure in the hall. There, in all his semitransparent glory, was the ghost from downstairs. The one that practically lived at the corner table by the window. As much as a ghost could live anyway.
Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Where is she?"
Gone, sir. Long gone. The ghost's tone was bordering on jovial, which annoyed Jacob to no end. Didn't he realize how important this was? How important Kara was? Left some time ago, yessir. With a man. Mean fellow, waving his gun around.
"Gun?" That was all he could manage to get out of his mouth. There were too many questions rattling around in his head for anything else remotely coherent to come out. Did that mean Kara had been kidnapped? In broad daylight? Why hadn't anyone called the police? "What man? Where did they go?"
Gone, gone. Down the street. Nobody paid them no mind, but it didn't work on me, no sir. I saw the whole thing. You wizardfolk always forget about us folk. Yessir.
Jacob let out an annoyed sound, somewhere between a sigh and a snarl. This was getting him nowhere. "Which way did they go?"
The ghost raised his eyebrows, looking mildly put-off by Jacob's shining personality, then he drifted down the stairs. Jacob followed, close on his dead guide's heels. The ghost halted at the front door, either unwilling or unable to go any further. That way, he said simply and pointed down the street.
To his credit, Jacob managed a hurried thanks and dashed out the door.
He got halfway down the block before he realized he didn't know where to go from there. They could be anywhere. Hell, they could have skipped town hours ago. What was going on? Kara should have barbecued this guy by now. She would have, if she could have.
So that meant that, for some reason, she couldn't.
Something cold settled into Jacob's chest. "You had better not be dead, Kara Makenna," he muttered to himself, turning on his heel to head back to his car. He had scarcely taken two steps when something caught his eye. It was rune- a letter in whatever language he used for his magic- and it was there for only a second, just hanging in the air near a storefront. He almost thought he imagined it.
His gaze shifted from the place the rune had been to the nearby store- one of those electronics stores with like ten TVs in the front window. The news was on, and it had already attracted a small crowd. A house in an upscale area of town had caught fire and it was still blazing away. Behind the newswoman, firefighters were everywhere, trying to keep the fire from the neighboring homes.
He should get moving, he knew that, but for some reason, he couldn't stop watching. Something was keeping his vision tied to that television.
The newswoman turned, and began to interview the apparent owner of the house. He was saying how grateful he was that he hadn't been home at the time- the usual. And then the most peculiar thing happened.
Everything slowed, and then time seemingly stopped. Passersby froze completely, cars halted on the streets. The only things in motion were Jacob himself, who felt rather like he was stuck in molasses, and the man on the TV. The man that was looking right at Jacob, a wicked smirk contorting what could have been pleasant features into something far more sinister.
"Hello, Jacob Randall," he said, his smirk breaking into an all-out grin. "Lose something?"
He wanted to scream. To yell and threaten and demand to know where Kara was, but his body wasn't quite listening to him. A growl sounded from his feet- Fedora had freed himself from the hat, and was apparently unaffected by whatever magic was at work here.
The TV-man's eyebrows went up, and he fixed Fedora with the oddest gaze. Like hatred and longing all smashed together, fighting for dominance of his facial features.
Fedora nosed the back of Jacob's leg, and he snapped into motion, suddenly free. "Where is she?" He barked.
The man scoffed, and motioned behind him towards the blaze, frozen in time like everything else. "She's right here. You're welcome to her, provided she's not dead already."
"I swear, if you've hurt her--"
"What? Are you going to hunt me down? That's awfully sentimental, especially for a Randall wizard."
"Just hope I never do find you," came the reply, and Jacob ran, heading back to his car.
The man laughed, a sound the set the hair on the back of Jacob's neck on end, as the spell dissolved around them.
----
A quick flash of his badge got him past the uniformed officers trying to keep the neighbors and curious onlookers away from the blaze. The rest wasn't quite as easy- he had to sneak around the neighboring house to get to an area unmanned by firemen. He made quick work of a window with a rock from the garden, and climbed inside.
It was a miracle the house was still standing at this point. Every inch of it was on fire- the heat alone would have probably killed a normal person. Not for the first time he made a mental note to thank the fairies for making him fireproof.
"Fedora," he called, taking off his hat and giving it a little shake. Black smoke streamed out of it and pooled on the floor, taking the shape of the large, black wolf. "Find Kara," Jacob instructed, though he doubted he needed to. Fedora cared about Kara too, and seemed just as anxious to find her. The wolf took a quick glance around, then bounded off. The house was beginning to come down around their heads, and they both narrowly dodged a falling beam or bit of debris more than once.
Fedora came to a halt in front of a door just off of the kitchen- it lead to the basement, most likely. Jacob put his shoulder to it and almost ended up falling down the stairs when the fire-ravaged door gave way. Amazingly, the stairs were still mostly in tact, though whether by magic or by sheer luck, Jacob didn't know. He didn't really care to know either.
"Kara?" No answer. He bounded down the stairs. What he saw when he got there made him stop dead in his tracks, feeling suddenly cold despite all of the flame. At one end of the room was a cell- perfectly in-tact and untouched by the fire save for a small hole on one wall where something had burned through. A familiar redheaded figure lay on the floor, unmoving.
Rage flared in him, bubbling up from his toes and escaping in a yell- a distorted, hurt sound. The rune came to his mind unbidden, and he drew it in the air with quick, angry motions. The door to the cell was torn from its hinges by the spell, and flung into the opposite wall.
He ran to her.
It was deathly cold in the little cell. It was such a stark contrast to the heat of the rest of the house, it sent his mind reeling for a moment. He could see his breath- but, he noticed, he could also see Kara's. She was alive, but it was clear she wasn't doing well. With all the care he possessed, he lifted Kara's unconscious form, and made his way back upstairs.
----
Bethany had been and gone. The girl had valiantly healed whatever physical damage that man had done to Kara, though the redhead remained unconscious. She even helped with the glass stuck in Jacob's palm from climbing in the window- to be honest, he hadn't noticed it was there.
Now they were alone in Jacob's apartment. Kara lay unmoving on the bed, Fedora curled up at her feet. For his own part, Jacob was restless. He couldn't concentrate on anything else with her lying there like that. He paced. He moved from the edge of the bed, to a chair, and back several times. He made a sandwich, and decided he didn't feel like eating.
On what must have been his millionth lap around the room, Fedora fixed him with a level gaze, letting out an annoyed little "whuff". Jacob frowned, pausing in mid-step. "I know, I know. I just... I don't want to lose her." He moved to the edge of the bed, taking Kara's hand in his. It was cold. "She means so much to me. More than I think I realized."
He placed his free hand on the side of her face, the edges of his vision blurring with tears. She would wake up- she had to. They had made a promise to each other- and when she did, he would be there waiting.