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Published:
2020-04-01
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2020-11-03
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55/?
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World on Fire

Summary:

When Captain Jaime Lannister and his crew are called to a warehouse fire in an abandoned section of town, the last thing he expects to find is a dead girl, an unwanted leave of absence, and a ticket straight back into the messy world of scandals and politics he had successfully eluded, to follow his dreams of saving the world, one fire at a time.

*Tags to be updates as necessary.

Notes:

I don’t even KNOW! This got stuck in my head weeks ago, and it just kept creeping back in. So I’m absolutely apologising to any of you wonderful people waiting on updates for other works - I promise none are abandoned. I don’t even know where this is going - but it’s going somewhere now I guess!

Be kind! I’m delicate (I’m not? But I don’t like assholes either!) Kudos, comments, encouragements, suggestions and ideas etc are always welcome and very appreciated! As is criticism - so long as it’s constructive and helpful!

❤️ Kat!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: ONE

Chapter Text

 

“Cap! You gotta copy? We got a girl back here.”

 

Jaime cursed colourfully under his breath, at Bronns voice crackling over the radio. And stepped out of the line of men working at clearing the rear storage rooms.

 

“Yes I copy. We aren’t stable enough to get the medics in. I’m on my way.” He clapped the shoulders of his men on the way past, making sure they had heard him, and knew he was moving back towards the other side of the building. And worked his way back down the short corridor.

 

The blaze that they had been called to, had thankfully been in the middle of the old industrial area, right on the edge The Blackwater. It should have been abandoned. The city had shut the whole area down over eighteen months beforehand. Even going so far as to lock the old gates and plastering trespassing signs up all around.

 

Of course, abandoned buildings tended to invite homeless people by the droves, but as a general rule, the cities most unfortunate were wise enough to get out and disappear long before they were ever called to such fires. And this particular building, unlike others around it, had shown no signs of life at all, it had been locked up tight. There were no opened doors, no remnants of bedding or any sort of personal belongings. There were no fire buckets, or pilfered lawn chairs, or anything remotely indicative of occupation at all. Only the abandoned goods that were still in storage there, when the gates were locked, that were now burning. - It hadn’t even had any broken windows, that weren’t a direct result of the fire gutting it, from what he could tell upon arrival. So he had ruled it out as one that had become home to anyone.

 

They had done a sweep anyway, as was standard protocol. But he hadn’t expected to find anyone. None of them had in truth. Yet here they were, with a collapsing building, that had burned beyond their ability to save, one that they would likely have to settle for containing and keeping from spreading to surrounding buildings, rather than trying to extinguish, and they had a ‘girl’ inside of it.

 

Jaime had worked with Bronn ‘The Sellsword’ Blackwater, for long enough to know that he wasn’t simply notifying him that he had found someone, when they hadn’t truly expected to. It was in his tone, he needed him to see for himself. Else he’d have notified him that he had a civilian alive or dead, and he’d have advised he was moving them out.

 

He ducked around the back side of the crew attempting to hose the flames licking at the beams in the main floor, indicating with his hands what he was about, on his way past their captain, and slipped into the secondary hall on the West side of the building, where he had sent the rest of his men.

 

What he found... If it weren’t for the heat kicking up to near on unbearable levels, indicating that the fire was inside of the fucking walls in the tiny cramped room? He’d have likely ripped his rebreather off in sheer disbelief.

 

“Get that fucking fire contained, keep it from destroying this room as best you can. We can’t let this building go completely. Anyone with a chest cam, document as much as you can just in case. I’ll get her out and have the boys in blue send for detectives. Blackwater? You’ve got command until I say otherwise.”

 

He stepped forward and checked the tiny thing over quickly, feeling for a pulse and breathing, and all but collapsing in relief at the barely there - signs of life. He shuffled her carefully - far more carefully than he ordinarily would, a person whose life actually depended on efficiency rather than a delicate touch.

 

He couldn’t fucking help it. His heart was breaking in his chest at the idea that he might hurt her, if he was too rough. She looked so damned small, wrapped up in her duvet, in the middle of the large bed. If it weren’t for her height? He might have thought her a child, not a grown, albeit young woman.

 

His wrist jerked as he lifted her, and he cursed loudly, the telltale snapping, sending pain lancing through him, forcing him to lower her again and rip the thick feathered duvet off of her to see what the fuck he had just broken his wrist on, only to stare dumbfounded at the thick chain and manacle tangled around his arm, and encasing the tiny bones of her ankle.

 

“Pod! Get the saw, quickly. She’s fucking chained up here.” Jaime grunted as he whipped his arm free, and pulled the chain tight and well away from the girl, ignoring his pain, as he shielded her from the spray of sparks created by the saws teeth ripping through the thick metal caging her, quickly.

 

His wrist, at the very least, was broken. How? He had absolutely no idea, he hadn’t exactly used much force to move the girl. He had barely wrapped her tighter in her blanket and lifted her against his chest?

 

It didn’t matter. She was the priority. And he had to get her out of there, before he was forced to put his own rebreather on her. Such an action would get his ass kicked. Though it would almost be worth it? He was going to be benched until his hand healed now anyway? At least dealing with disciplinary actions and paperwork coming out his ears, would keep him entertained for a while.

 

He didn’t, of course. He followed procedures, and carried the girl quickly through the building, shielding her as best he could and kicking his way past the few small obstacles so he didn’t trip, as he barked orders out while he moved along.

 

 

—————-

 

 

Brienne was waiting with the gurney, as close as she could get, once he cleared the entrance. Likely his friend had heard the unusual circumstances over the radio, and made the effort to be prepared. For which he was grateful, the girl needed her, and he needed to put her down, before he dropped her.

 

“Seven Hells, lets get her to the bus, she needs oxygen at the very least, right now. CHIEF? Captain Lannister needs clearance to ride with me and Martell!” He scowled darkly at the blasted woman for her clipped orders, and she grabbed his arm pointedly in reply to his silent complaints.

 

He had given himself away the moment his arm came into contact with the bed, and he knew it. He wasn’t getting out of it. He wouldn’t be any fucking good in there now anyway. But he could do without the childish ‘dobbing’ and ‘do as your told’ look too, thank you very much!

 

Much as that pissed him off? He kind of wanted to stay with the girl anyway. Even more so when her tiny hand dragged at his jacket unconsciously. Almost as if she was reaching for safety, and he was it.

 

He swallowed hard and nodded to the medic, as his Station Chief made his way to their sides. He let his aching right hand rest over the dainty white one reaching for him, after biting his glove off quickly. His left awkwardly shoving his helmet away, and flicking switches and releasing his rebreather and face shield. He was done for the shift, whether he liked it or not.

 

“Lannister?” Selmy took his equipment without needing to be asked, waving for one of the juniors to join him, and passing it off to the poor wide eyed kid without a word.

 

Jaime winced as his jacket was tugged off his shoulders roughly, and nodded to his rapidly swelling and bruised arm. “Think I’m done for tonight boss. Apparently bones don’t hold up to being tangled up in unexpected chains.” He nodded pointedly at the heavy metal work still dangling from the girls foot, and nodded in agreement as both medics and the chief stared at the offending piece incredulously. “I’ve put Blackwater in charged of my crew. We need to push the blaze back away from the West side of the building as best we can, and at least try to salvage as much as we can there. The rest is a lost cause, but The Special Crimes squad, or whatever they want to call themselves this week, are going to want to get a look at the Western side.” He breathed deeply of the night air and soaked up the relief of it cooling his sweat slicked face too, as his chief registered his hoarse words.

 

“Hells! Right! You’re with Tarth and Martell, get yourself sorted and stay with her if you can. At least until the cops get there. I’ll swing by at the end of shift and check in - IF we are done here by then. I’ll send someone up to the hospital with your gear so you can clean up too.”

 

Jaime nodded in thanks to his mentor turned direct superior, and swung himself up into the back of the ambulance, once Brienne had their girl settled in with an oxygen mask slipped over her face.

 

 

———————

 

 

Jaime groaned pathetically, cursing himself a fool in his head, for having fallen asleep in the least comfortable chair available around the room. It had been a long and hellish night without that discomfort! Between the doctors poking at him and at his charge, and both them and the police officers ridiculous attempts to get statements from him and then trying to hunt him out of her room. But by far? The chair was the absolute worst of it! after the fire and that damned room, that was.

 

He cursed loudly the second time, as his face was on the receiving end of a solid clout from the blasted cast he had forgotten all about, when he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

 

The small snorting breath of laughter from beside him, startled him enough blink his eyes open.

 

“Sleeping beauty awakes.” That had come out sounding much worse than he meant it to!

 

He smiled uncomfortably, cocking his head in concern as the stunningly beautiful girl before him swallowed hard and looked down and away from him. It told him for more than he imagined she might like. And it hurt him far more than he expected she could handle knowing in that moment too.

 

As if finding her chained to a bed in a burning building, that had disturbingly, been set up as some sort of luxurious prison chamber, hadn’t told him enough.

 

It certainly didn’t surprise him that she might be terrified. Especially waking to find a strange man beside her - even if his misfortune in hitting himself in the face was amusing enough to score him a small laugh.

 

And perhaps commenting on her beauty wasn’t a wise thing to do either. The truth was, that she was simply gorgeous, even laid up in the hospital bed as she was. She had the most exquisite blue eyes he had ever seen, and a face that simply screamed classic beauty. He could only expect that such a thing, - a thing that she clearly had no control over, had potentially been a defining factor in her winding up in the circumstances in which he found her. Not that he knew anything about it really.

 

But she had likely been kidnapped or something, and her looks could very well have played a big part in that. Even if they hadn’t? He knew better than to say something like that to a girl he didn’t know! Seven Hells! If his sister were to find out he had said that to a woman he had just met, who showed no interest in... Anything! She’d cut his damned balls off for it!

 

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and stretched himself a little, rearranging himself as best he could, so he might seem at least a little bit less intimidating.

 

“Are you feeling alright? Do you need me to call for a nurse or a doctor? There would be police waiting without, to talk to you too probably? Do you remember me or know who I am at all?” He bit his lip to keep from sputtering further. She didn’t need him badgering her! She’d get enough of that from the cops later!

 

“Well? I assume you are the firefighter who pulled me out of the burning building that I was chained to a bed inside of.” He huffed a small disbelieving laugh at her sarcasm. Her voice was trembling from her obvious fear, of him, or of the situation? He wasn’t sure... But it was at war with the underlying snark that was fighting to come out and tease him.

 

She nodded to the logo on his shirt, and the suspenders still holding his fire proof pants up, with a small smile and quite the heavy blush. “What happened there? Did I hurt you?” She looked to his hand and blinked back to his face quickly, - nervously.

 

Jaime shook his head and held it out, in a bit of a bid for at least a little trust. Odd as that was! He didn’t even know the girls name, let alone a single thing about her really? But he felt like he needed her to know she was safe with him too. “I broke my arm on your chain. Turned out to be rather fortuitous really! I got the rest of the shift off. I got in a decent nap - that I’m only regretting because this chair is not the most comfortable thing to sleep on... HEY! I even got to snarl at the few cops who thought they might come in and question you, or kick me out at least, until you woke up! They’re always fun to stir up!”

 

“You’ve been here since I was admitted? How long ago was that exactly?” She sounded so genuinely confused, and curiously intent. She was testing him. But she reached out and traced his cast with delicate fingers all the same, taking the weight of it and his hand into her lap tentatively, and holding onto him.

 

“We got the call just before midnight last night. It was our final night on shift. I don’t know exactly what time you were found, but we were sweeping the building, which is the first thing my crew do after we have clearance to enter a building? So at absolute most, it was maybe an hour later that I had you out of there and into the ambulance? We were almost done on our sweep when I got a call over the radio to say you’d been found. And it took maybe a handful of minutes at most to get you out fully? We didn’t exactly have time to screw around in there. You didn’t much seem like you wanted to let me go, so?” He shrugged lightly and relaxed himself a little more, noting the way she tensed slightly at his words. “When the medic advised my chief that I needed to ride along to get my wrist checked? I didn’t argue. I made them check me over and set my arm and cast it, all where I could see you at all times. I...”

 

Jaime paused and winced awkwardly, meeting her shocked eyes with a slight blush of his own. He was embarrassed. But not because she was such a lovely girl to look upon! He hadn’t even noticed that until he woke up! And he was at least a decade and a half her senior - likely more than that! - He was embarrassed by the white knight complex he was struggling with, in regards to her.

 

It made no sense. He had saved countless lives. Hells! He’d saved people - women and children too, who’s situations had been close to being as dire as her own! He’d seen the worst of many, many people. And yet for some reason that he just couldn’t fathom? This girl spoke to that desire inside of him, the one that pushed him into joining the department all those years ago, initially. He wanted to save her, and in doing so? He wanted to see what his saving her, would lead to. He wanted to see her living the full life she deserved, now that it wasn’t in danger anymore. And he had no idea why.

 

“I don’t know you or your situation. I don’t know why you were in that building or chained to that bed. All I know, is that the moment I saw what my best man, had called me in for? I wasn’t letting you out of my sight until I could trust that you were not just alive? But safe.” He swallowed hard again and smiled sadly at the tears pooling in her pretty eyes. “Something just told me that I couldn’t trust anyone with your safety. Not even the uniformed officers outside your door, or the doctors who attended you.” He whispered the last, cursing himself an idiot of the highest order in his head, for not being able to even speak properly around her!

 

“You’re a firefighter... How is it you can protect me from uniformed policemen? Surely they could have had you escorted out?”

 

Jaime snorted rudely and even laughed a little, despite her terrified and oddly suspicious eyes, and the way they were darting between him and the door. Apparently he had been correct to follow his instincts. And perhaps he was about to ruin it all and frighten her even more. But he had to hope that he wouldn’t, because now that he would be benched for a time at work? He might actually be able to follow through on the overwhelming desire to see her to safety and reap the reward of seeing her live too.

 

“They won’t risk their badges or possibly worse even, to touch me. For all the painful things that come with it, being the son of a Senator certainly has its perks also.” He smiled sheepishly and held his good hand out to her awkwardly, as she whipped around to stare at him incredulously. “Captain Jaime Lannister, of The Kings Landing Fire Department - Firehouse thirsty six.... And Eldest son and heir apparent, of business mogul, And State Senator for The Westerlands, Tywin Lannister.”

 

She swallowed hard and studied his eyes intently, she took his hand as if it might just bite her if she wasn’t careful. And that hurt just a little bit too. But he couldn’t blame her - she didn’t know him, and she apparently had a very good reason for having trust issues! He doubted she chained herself to that damned bed!

 

“Sansa Stark... Daughter of retired Senator for The North, Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully-Stark. I imagine you have heard my name before? I have been missing for quite some time?”

 

Jaime’s heart damned near stopped at her barely audible words. She had spoken so quietly that he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. Actually he was damned sure he hadn’t!

 

He knew he was gaping at her, and probably squeezing her hand far too tightly too, but now that she had spoken? He vaguely registered that she did seem a little familiar. Though he’d never met her himself? At had been all over the news quite some time back? And she did look a little like the Tully’s he had met before? Tully’s who were also as prominent as both his Father and her own, in the political sphere.

 

Jaime licked his lips and shook his head at her, trying desperately to clear it. He was at a complete loss. His shock was palpable. “Sansa Stark?” He barely breathed it back at her, but she nodded all the same, having heard him. And he sucked in a surprised breath. Registering just what he had gotten himself into, and not at all registering it either!

 

“Then you haven’t been missing for some time sweet girl. Sansa Stark has been dead for nearly two years.”