I woke up on a small bed, back to my normal form, with several faces looking down at me. I blink a few times and bolt upright, the blanket that was covering me pooled around my lap. All the men's faces in the room glowed bright red and turned their heads in a different direction. I glance down to see what the problem is and screech. I was completely naked.
One of the older men shrugged off the sweater he was wearing and handed it to me.
"What in the world is going on?" I yelled, throwing the jacket around my body.
A very good-looking male stepped forward saying, "Well, after you passed out into my arms, we hauled you into the truck before anyone in the crowd could see you. Once we were back at the firehouse, I carried you up here and placed you on the bed. As soon as you were on the bed you, umm, changed back to your human self."
Upon hearing that, I wrapped the blanket tighter around my body.
"Here you are sweetie," the old man before handed me a set of clothes. "They may be a little big for you." The man motioned for all the others to step out of the room. "I am Captain Thomas Gates, Tom for short. If you need anything we will be downstairs when you are ready."
Once all the men had left, I groaned. Great, now I was a science experiment. I quickly dressed in the borrowed clothes. There was some rope in the dresser that I used to tie around my waist to hold up the sweatpants that were way too big. The shirt that I had on was big enough to be a sleeping shirt.
Walking down the stairs, all the men in the firehouse were gathered in the dining hall. Once I stepped into the room, all the noise died down. One of the men in the back of the room coughed to get everyone's attention. "Umm, ma'am, we had to make you an honorary member of the fire squad. We didn't think you would want to be carted off to the hospital, so this was the only way that we could get you here."
I replied, "Well, thank you, but I can't be here all day, because I have school and such. I would really like to be here; truly, I do, but I can't."
"That's fine!" he replied. "Just be here when you can, and we'll make due without you. We somehow made it this far." Just then, the alarm went off. "See, another fire. You rest here, and we'll take care of it without you." He paused, then turned to face the young man. "You'll miss this one too. Stay here with the lady and keep her safe." Then that guy left too. That left me alone with the cute one.
Bringing my attention to him, he said, "Oh, I never told you my name. I'm Garrett. Is Firelight your real name, or is it a cover up? Oh, sorry, I babble a lot. I'll just shut up now and let you be." He smiled and ran his hand through his hair. The way that he did all this made me laugh.
I smiled and replied, "No, Sara's my real name, and how did you know I was calling myself Firelight, anyway? I don't remember saying it at the site of the fire."
"I was at the bank as a police officer. I'm just an apprentice for both jobs, so I alternate between the two, sometimes several times a day."
"Now it all makes sense. At the bank, I remember feeling a lingering pair of eyes on me. I guess that was you?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that was me… by the way, you were pretty amazing. But what really confuses me is… What are you?"
The smile left my face. He obviously knew I was a fairy, but what I think the meaning behind his question was a mix between how I got my powers and why I had them. To answer my question, I would probably have to ask my parents, or do some serious studying. Maybe both.
"I really don't know." I replied. "I am a fairy, but I don't know where I came from, nor why I would have these powers."
Garrett studied me seriously. "Well, if you want, we could maybe go out for a bite to eat one night and hit the library afterwards," Garrett smiled at me nervously.
Was he serious? This guy was seriously asking me on a date? I took a measuring glance at him. He was about 5.8, 5.9, maybe taller, and was solidly built. Not grossly over muscled, but hard enough to send a tickle to my stomach. Garrett had broad shoulders, clear skin, and deep, blue eyes. I looked down at my feet. All in all, I had decided Garrett was definitely hot. Even at my extremely high ranking in school, Garrett would probably get a higher score. I gulped and nodded. "Yeah, sounds like a great idea." Just then, another alarm sounded through the building.
Garrett cussed and continued with, "Great, now there's another fire, and no one to get to it." He glanced my way. "You up for this?" I nodded "Great, so, umm… let's go."
"Firelight LIVE!"
This was the third time for me, so it wasn't as interesting as the first. But, still… anyway, it was the first time anyone had watched it, especially Garrett, so he gaped open mouthed at me while I tapped my foot in irritation.
"Come on, Garrett! We have to move." He just shook his head and stuck his hat on his head. Garrett hadn't even taken off the fire suit yet, so we didn't need to waste time on that. Besides, it's not like he had to use it or anything. We ran outside, and as we were running, he was filling me in on where we were going as it was coming out of his walkie-talkie.
Garrett gestured for me to hop into the fire truck, but I just shook my head, wrapped my arms around his chest, and took off flying. He seemed shocked at first, but quickly got over it enough to direct me to the fire. We landed, I said 'fire extinguisher' and 'repair', the building, which was just a small house, extinguished its flames and repaired it. The family started at us like we were aliens. Eventually, Garrett and I managed to confirm no one was injured, and I hugged him again and flew back towards the fire station.
Along the way, Garrett commented on the view, while I struggled to keep a loft. I still wasn't completely recovered from my earlier ordeal, and Garrett just now seemed to notice this. When we landed, I let go of Garrett, swayed, and fell right into his arms, again. Without hesitation, he gently tucked his arms under my wings, scooped me up, and carried me right to the Garrett bed I had left just a little while ago. Somewhere on the stairs I mumbled, 'firelight sleep' and the fairy part went away. I passed out happily with a last look of adoration from Garrett.