Title: Jericho - I'm No Hero
Author: Laheara
Summary: Following the events of Federal Response. Jake talks to April, Eric and Heather about whether he's really changed.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in here but love the show.
Jake finally had the fire at Eric's house under control thanks to help from Hawkins. That guy still bothered him for some reason. There was just something off about him. He knew something and he wasn't talking. Jake just hoped that what ever Hawkins was hiding wasn't going to be bad news for Jericho. The way Hawkins reacted after he saw Jake spying on his was classic of someone with a secret to hide. Jake had a feeling he could expect trouble from that guy.
Jake looked the house over and called to April, "That's it. It's out. We can relax now."
April looked at him and back at the house and the area surrounding them. Then she sank to her knees and just stared at her ruined home. Jake turned off the hose and nodded to Hawkins to turn off the pool pump. He walked over and knelt next to April.
April looked at him with tears in her eyes, "It's all gone."
Jake looked at the house, it was pretty much gutted at one end but they might be able to save some at the other end and the living room. "That's not true. We got it under control before it reached this end, there's only minor damage to it. You'll still be able to save some things."
"But the bedrooms are on the destroyed end. All our clothes, our pictures, our things. They're all gone and now we have no place to live, Jake."
Jake leaned down and wrapped his arms around his sister-in-law as she started to cry. "It'll be ok, April. You can stay at the house with mom and dad. Mom has wanted the whole family together ever since I came back to town."
The fire trucks had finally arrived from the Main Street fire and he saw Eric jump out. His brother made his way straight to them. The look on his face was complete terror seeing his wife and his brother on the ground.
"Jake! April! Are either of you hurt?" He asked as he quickly knelt next to them.
Jake shook his head, "No, we're fine."
Eric released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. April looked at him with tears still in her eyes. "It's gone."
Eric finally looked at his former home. They had saved the block but his place was pretty much a write-off. "It's ok. We'll get through this."
"I said it would be fine for you both to stay with us at mom and dads." Jake said looking at his brother and Eric nodded. As Jake tried to stand up he hissed in pain and April immediately went into doctor mode.
"Jake, what's wrong?" She demanded as she moved closer to him. Eric looked at him concerned also.
"Nothing, I'm fine, really." Jake tried to brush them off as he gritted his teeth and stood but his hand subconsciously went to his sore side.
"That's not entirely truth. I saw Jake take a pretty bad fall during and explosion from the house before we got the water to it." They all looked up to see Hawkins walking over to them.
April looked her patient. "Jake you're coming back to the clinic with me."
Jake shook his head, "April, really, I'm ok. It's nothing. I just landed a little hard on my sore leg."
Eric shook his head, "Jake, please. Just do what she says. Let her check you out, just to be safe. Mom would disown me if I let anything happen to you now that she has you back."
Eric was smiling at his own joke but Jake could see the concern in his eyes. Eric was always the angel of the family but he still loved his little brother the screw-up.
April glared at Jake and finally he raised his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok, fine, I'll go. You don't need to gang up on me."
Eric's smile finally reached his eyes and he put a hand out to help his brother to the ambulance that just pulled up. "Funny, I seem to remember the only time you listened to your family was when we ganged up on you."
Jake allowed himself to be guided to the emergency vehicle and climbed inside. April and Eric both climbed in and set on the bench next to the gurney. April pointed for him to lie down. He looked to his brother for help but got none and finally did as ordered.
When they arrived at the clinic the attendants opened the door and Eric and April got out. Eric turned back around to help Jake down, as he'd helped him in.
One of the nurses brought April some reports as soon as she entered the clinic. "Jake, wait for me here in the waiting room. I need to check on Ashley and Heather and you need to be checked out too Eric. You must have taken in as much smoke as they did when you were trapped in the library."
Jake now stared at his brother. "You were trapped in a burning building and you're worried about me?" Jake changed positioned and guided Eric to a chair and they both sat down.
"I'm fine. Heather wet some cloth for us to breathe through and then we got out. We were only in there for a few minutes." Eric couldn't help but cough as he recalled the incident.
Jake shook his head, "And you all call me the reckless one in the family." Jake hobbled over to a water cooler and got his brother a drink. As he sat back down he gave Eric the small cone cup. "Easy, don't drink this to fast or you'll really start coughing.
Eric nodded and took a small sip, which did make him cough. But with the next couple sips the cool water soothed the tickle in this throat. "Thanks."
Jake heard a door open and Heather and April walked out. "Ok I can take one of you in now."
Jake and Eric said "Him" at the same time as they pointed at each other. Heather had to smile and April just sighed.
Jake continued. "No, take Eric first. He was in a fire, I just fell onto some grass." His brother glared at him but did stand up and followed April into the exam room.
Heather was still standing there and Jake motioned for her to sit when she started coughing. She walked over and sat in the same seat Eric had just vacated. As with his brother, Jake got Heather some water and gave her the same instructions.
Heather smiled as she accepted the water and drank it slowly. When her coughing finally stopped she was flushed as she looked up and said, "Thanks."
"No problem. So, I hear you and my brother were playing hero today."
Heather couldn't help the flush in her face. She could blame it on the coughing but she knew it was as much because of Jake. She couldn't put her finger on it but she felt like she could trust him and she really liked him. It also struck her as interesting that she'd only known the man for a few days and she'd already seen him half naked and do several very heroic acts.
Heather cleared her throat and hooked her hair around her ear. "Well, Ashley went back in to get her favorite book, Alice in Wonderland. I went in after her and then when we didn't come back out Eric came in after us. A rafter fell and Eric was thrown into the play room with us. The other exit was blocked so we were stuck for a few minutes. We wet a blanket for Ashley and I ripped a cloth sign off the wall for us."
"That was a very brave thing you did." Jake said smiling at how nervous Heather seemed around him. He liked her smile so he didn't have reason to complain.
"I guess your heroism has rubbed off on me." Heather laughed.
"Oh, I'm no hero. I've spent most of my life the screw-up. I've hurt a lot of people that mean a lot to me." Jake shook his head.
"Maybe you did, but that's not the person I met a few days ago. I saw a man who did a tracheotomy on a little girl to save her life. It wasn't a screw-up that drove a school bus full of kids back into town to their worried parents, even though he was injured himself. You've done a lot of good since you came back." Heather made sure Jake was listening to her put keeping a hand on his arm.
Now it was Jakes turned to feel embarrassed. He knew he was no hero, but he smiled anyway to make Heather happy. Then the door opened again and April walked out alone this time.
"Jake, I can look at you know now. I'm keeping Eric here for a while, looks like he got a glancing blow to the head." When Jake stood up with a worried look on his face she continued. "I'm sure it's nothing, but I want to be sure."
Jake looked down at Heather who stood also. "Well I better go before I get dragged."
Heather smiled and blushed again, "Yeah, yeah and I'm gonna go look in on Ashley. I hope your brother is going to be ok."
Jake nodded and smiled, "Thanks." Then Jake went with April and Heather headed down the hall.
As April pointed for Jake to sit he asked, "Is Emily going to be ok?"
"We won't know for a while but she's conscious and that's a good sign. You know I can't really talk about it."
"Right, of course. Conscious is good. And Eric's going to fine too?" He asked.
"Like I said, he seems fine but with a head injury it's always best to play it safe, like we did when you came in. I'm sure he'll be out in no time." April found a cut on Jake's side and was cleaning it as they talked and then she put a small bandage over it. "I'm going to get an ex-ray on her hip also."
Jake knew better then to argue and just sat there. "It'll take a while to get that ready right? Can I go see Emily?"
April shook her head. "No, stay off your feet until we get the ex-ray. I'll send a wheelchair to take you there. And I'm not allowing Emily any visitors so she can rest. Now lie down again and wait."
Jake did as instructed and while he was waiting he flashed back over everything that had happened since he'd returned home. This was supposed to be a quick trip: Come home, get the money, visit his grandfather's grave, and fly back to San Diego. Then the bombs had happened and he wasn't even sure of San Diego was still there. He did seem to have made a good impression on people though. All the things Heather listed off and his father even seemed less inclined to argue with him lately. He seemed to be getting along with Eric better. Emily was at least talking to him. Stanley, Bonnie and Mom were supportive as even.
Maybe he had changed a lot since he left.
The End.
SO? What did you think? I may do more tags for the current and next episodes also. Would love to hear from you.
I will say that this has not been betaed so any glaring errors all mine. Sorry. I may repost another copy if I even find a beta who does Jericho.