I will put the disclaimer on the first chapter only, I do not own the O'Malley series, and Dee Henderson does. I only love to write about Jack and Cassie. Plz read and review, suggestions are helpful and criticism only if it is constructive. I will write another chapter if I get some reviews.

She was suffocating, intense heat surrounded her from all over and she could hear the screaming of a small child in the room ahead of her. She was on all fours in her firefighter gear but she seemed to not be getting enough air. Debris was falling all around her but she continued towards the screaming. She reached a closed door, smoke coming from under the door and stinging her already sore eyes. She reached up and pulled open the door, smoke billowed out and fire reached out at her like a hungry burning beast. She crawled into the room towards the screaming child; she pushed burnt toys away from her. She didn't see the overhead chandelier until it crashed right beside her, she panicked for a moment until she realized it had missed her. She sees the little four-year-old girl leaning against a wall to the far left of her crying in pink pajamas. She continues towards the girl, she hears other firefighters close by retrieving other family members from the burning home. She reached the girl and gathered her up in her arms, gentle so not to scare her. She sees the roof of the room was about to collapse and races for the door, dodging fiery debris, she reaches the door and in front of her is her partner Ash, she smiles and hands the girl to Ash. Ash turns and she went to follow, hearing a rumble behind her she mistakenly turns and a sees a blast of fire coming right at her face. She instantly put her hand to her face and heard Jack yelling for her. She fell and began to black out from a lack of air, she could hear Jack calling out her name repeatedly, she felt herself being shaken.

Jack O'Malley had heard Cassie as he walked in from speaking with Cole about a recent fire. Cassie Ellis had just returned from Rescue Squad 65, she had been helping at an out of control blaze at a large estate house. She had come back exhausted and had curled up on a couch back at the station for a well-deserved nap. Jack had just returned from helping with a car crash only to hear Cassie crying out in her sleep. She was thrashing around and tangling herself up in the light blanket she had on her. She wore a long sleeved dark blue sweater with faded jeans. Jack ran over to her and called out her name, she had tears falling down her cheeks and she flinched when he touched her. He gently grabbed her shoulders and shook her trying to wake her up. She gasped and her eyes flung open, Jack stopped shaking her and she sat up. "Cassie, are you ok?"

Cassie looked up at him, the nightmare still having its hold on her, she said nothing. Jack looked down at her, concern filling his eyes. Cassie shook her head once and wiped the sweat that had begun to form on her brow. Tears continued to fall down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around Jack's neck crying softly. Jack held her close, wishing he could take away all her pain. Ever since the nursing home fire that had injured her, Cassie never thought she would go back on duty, but when Jack's shift had become the target of an arsonist, she had to help. It had turned out to be a fellow firefighter who had died in the fire.

After that Cassie had become what she had been before the nursing home fire, a reliable firefighter who did well at her job. She also was falling in love with Jack O'Malley; he was the one who had gotten her to laugh again. He had stuck by her through everything she had gone through and showed her how to live again. She had just begun dating him and couldn't be happier. Cassie's mind began to clear and she calmed down.

Not too long ago she had had a disastrous fire rescue. She had gone into a house trying to rescue a little girl and had nearly been killed because of an oil lamp in the girl's room. That was what caused her to have the reoccurring nightmare of being hit by the blaze. The family had been rescued and no one was killed but Cassie had to take a hated ride to the hospital to check her out and help take the pain away from the burns. She smiled at the memory of Jack appearing in her hospital room. She was admitted for the night and was about to go out of her mind with boredom until she heard the familiar voice. Jack had rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard what had happened. Ash and Cole had been there to visit her, but they had to return to the station. Jack came into the hospital with a smile on his face; he pulled a chair up beside her bed and said with laughter in his voice. "You just like the attention when you come here don't you?" Cassie laughed and nodded her head. "Especially your attention." Jack brushed her long brown hair out of her face and kissed her gently. "I like giving you my attention." Cassie sighed; she knew why she loved this guy.

Jack smiled as he drove Cassie home to her apartment; she had fallen asleep in the passenger's seat. Her brown hair fell delicately across her face and her light breathing was soft. Jack drove slowly since it was the beginning of February and the roads were slippery from recent snow and ice storms. He had wrapped his leather jacket around her when she shivered. As he pulled into her parking spot, he woke her up. She sat up and stretched before opening her door. It was 1:30 am and they both needed some good sleep. She walked up the stairs to her apartment, unlocking the door and letting herself and Jack in. Bj leaped out from her hiding place and playfully attacked Jack's feet. Cassie laughed; Jack looked down at the kitten smiling. "Why me, I'm not the one who forgot to feed you this morning." He untangled the kitten from his shoelaces and put her on the couch. Jack yawned and sat on the couch, Cassie plopped on the couch beside him. He reached over and took her hand pulling her towards him. God, thank you for not letting her get hurt badly. Cassie laid her head on his shoulder and rested. Bj came up and curled up in a ball in a tiny space between Jack and Cassie. Jack ran his fingers through Cassie's hair. When Cassie began to fall asleep, again Jack stirred her and pointed at her bedroom. She nodded and went to go to bed, but before she did, she brought Jack out some blankets and a pillow. When he started to protest, she simply put her finger to his lips. "It is slippery out and you are too tired to drive home. You can sleep on the couch." She laughed as he moved her finger from his lips and nodded. "I wouldn't want you to kill me if anything happened to me." Cassie nodded. "I would." Jack laughed and kissed her before lying on the couch. Cassie walked back to her bedroom and lay down on the comfortable bed. She sighed and fell asleep thinking about Jack.

He had watched as Cassie and her friend went into her apartment, and waited for the man she was with to leave, he waited a few hours before realizing he wasn't leaving. He decided to enter the apartment hoping Cassie and her friend had fallen asleep. He kept his gun in his pocket and began his walk towards the building with one person in mind, Cassie.

He grabbed hold of the fire escape ladder and pulled himself up, he made as little noise as he could so not to wake anyone up. He climbed to where the window to Cassie's bedroom was. She had foolishly forgotten to lock it. He carefully opened it and stepped in; the room was dark and warm. He left the window open in case he needed a quick escape. He walked over to the bed where Cassie lay asleep. Cassie shivered a bit and pulled the covers closer to her. He looked out and on her couch was the man he had seen enter the house with. He was a big man, muscled with dark hair. He knew he didn't want to wake him up. He walked over to the door and closed it softly so he wouldn't wake up.

What he didn't know was that Jack had acute hearing and heard the door creak softly as it closed. He lifted his head up and perked a brow wondering why it was closed. Jack had a bad feeling and got up quietly. He leaned over Cassie and reached for the gun he carried, just as he pulled out the gun the door opened. Jack ran in and tackled the guy away from Cassie, both of them landing on the floor. Cassie jumped up and got out of bed. She opened her bedside drawer and retrieved the gun she had been given since she lived alone. She cocked it and that seemed to get the man's attention. He pushed Jack off him and ran over to the window, with a little blow kiss towards Cassie he was out the window and down the fire escape. Cassie turned on the light and ran over to Jack who groaned as he sat up. She had set the gun on the drawer and helped Jack up. The man had hit Jack in the mouth and Jack's lip was cracked. Jack wrapped his arms around her thanking God that he had heard the door. "Jack, are you ok?" Jack nodded. "Yeah I am fine, are you alright, he didn't hurt you did he?" Cassie shook her head. "I didn't even know he was here, and if you hadn't been here…" She didn't finish, she knew God had told her to have him stay for a reason. Jack rubbed her arms gently. "Don't worry Cassie." Cassie leaned her head against his chest. Jack let her go for a moment and locked her window, he took her hand and they both went and lay on the couch, falling asleep in each other's arms. Jack had to wonder, who was he? What did he want with Cassie, it wasn't a simple robbery, if it had been he was sure that the man would have killed Jack before going after Cassie? That would have been the smart thing to do. Jack would have to call Marcus in the morning and ask a favor. As Jack began falling asleep, he prayed. God, please help me to keep Cassie from any harm. He swore to himself that no one would ever hurt Cassie.