Author's Note: This chapter is completely and irrevocably dedicated to Amalta who politely reminded me that I needed to update. So, thank you for getting me to finally write this chapter! It's been forever and I'm sorry. Truly sorry! Just remember to leave me some love (or hate) lol. Review! Review! (It's late, or is it early? I don't know, but please forgive me for any spelling/grammatical errors. My eyes have been trained on this screen for hours and I'm starting to see double)

In other news, this story is winding down and then all I have left is Dreamwalker. So, once I finish this one up, head over to Dreamwalker because you all deserve another good (or mostly good) story.

LAST TIME-

Feeling the rush of musky filled air fly at him from the collapsed science room, the fire and flame forgotten, the image of Gabriella's body in the doorway only seconds before the explosion, the sound of the gunshot, he knew. Feeling the fear crawl up his spine, the desperation setting into his lungs and breaking heart, he knew. Hearing the creaking drywall above his head, the force from the explosion in the science room making the roofing above him weak, he knew. Hearing Taylor and Sharpay calling his name, Chad screaming at him to move, he knew. The shocked and fearful expressions, oh God, he knew.

Troy took one step forward before something heavy slammed onto his shoulders, sending him to his knees, his vision blurred, his mind and body going numb. Falling pieces of the ceiling came closer. Suddenly, it all became silent. Troy couldn't hear his friend's panicked voices anymore. He was pushed harder into the linoleum as more drywall and concrete fell on him, and he gave up trying to move because he knew it was futile. Everything was futile. He hated it. Tears gathered at the corners of his closed eyes, not from pain, but at the realization; he knew. Somewhere deep inside, he'd known all along.

That once he fought fate, he was destined to lose everything.

-XxX-

Muffled voices brought him to reality. He opened his eyes, blinking. It was dark, pitch black and he blinked again. The voice sounded once more, closer this time, and the broken drywall above his head shifted. Dust rained down over his head and he sneezed. He tried to move, but a support beam was lying across his shoulders. It was a difficult task in itself to breathe.

"…troy!.."

He heard his name this time and the debris a few feet from his face shifted. Trying to move again, he came to the surprising conclusion that nothing was broken. Heavily bruised, but not broken. That was good. He grunted and forced his palms underneath his chest. In one strong motion he tried to push up. The wreckage above him groaned a complaint, but it was too heavy for just him to move. With a roar of aggravation he collapsed back towards the floor.

"Troy!?" Dust rained down on him again, this time a small beam of light cutting through the darkness. "Thank God! Troy!" dark curly hair caught his eye and then was gone. "Over here! Reid, I found him!"

"Chad!" Troy called, finding his voice. "Chad, get this shit off of me!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" There was a grunt and then more light filtered in. Soon Troy could see Chad's whole face and Reid peeking his head overtop the curly hair.

"You alright?" The blond called as he hauled a rather large chunk of ceiling off of the pile.

Troy placed his hands beneath him again and pushed up. The pile shifted more this time and he was able to get to his feet, the metal and drywall crashing to the floor. "Now I am." He took a deep breath and looked around.

Devastation surrounded him.

The blast from the chemistry room had blow a decent chunk out of the school roof and outer walls. The floor under him was still stable, but the floor in front of the room was gone. Small fires burned around him, the crackling and snapping making him edgy. They had to get out. The floor was groaning every couple of seconds. It wouldn't hold for long.

He turned to Reid and Chad. "Where is she?"

The look on Reid's face wasn't in the least bit comforting. Troy cursed and spun around, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Gabriella! Gabriella?"

"She's not answering!" Rhyan yelled from behind a pile of drywall and concrete. Her right arm was tied across her chest with some kind of fabric, a small circle of blood soaking through at her shoulder. "We can't find her."

Troy clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. Trying to block everything that was going on around him was difficult, but he finally managed to withdrawal himself into his mind. Gabriella! Baby, can you hear me?

He didn't hear anything at first, but then, like a voice muffled by a closed door, he heard her. The groan was distant, echoing in his head, but it was her.

God. He smiled at the sound of her voice. My head.

Are you alright? He questioned, looking around.

He heard her growl slightly, then a grunt. Finally she answered him, her voice annoyed. That depends. She paused and then groaned again. I can't move, I can't see, it's dark as hell and my back is killing me. Whether I'm alright is up for interpretation.

Do you know where you are? Troy asked again.

No. She answered flatly. I dove behind the wall when that dumbass of a werewolf fired the gun. I felt the floor collapse and then nothing until now.

You fell? Troy walked towards the classroom that Bruce Fury had occupied. It now was a smoldering space of nothing, the floor blown out from the explosion. The blue eyed teen inched his way closer to the edge and peered down to the first floor of East High.

Yes.

"She's down there." Troy called back to his friends. Reid was first, followed by Rhyan and then Chad, Taylor, and Sharpay.

"How did she get down there?" Sharpay asked, glancing over the edge and deciding she was too close, backpedaling slightly.

"She dove behind the wall when Bruce fired, but the floor collapsed because of the explosion." Troy explained.

"And how do you know that?" Chad asked, surprised.

Troy tapped the side of his head. "I can hear her thoughts."

Chad let his mouth drop open slightly before he shook his head. "I don't know why I'm surprised." He mumbled to himself.

"I'm going down." Troy said quickly before dropping down to the first floor from the hole in the second. His feet hit the floor with a muffled thud and his legs bent at the knees to absorb the shock. The joints cracked slightly with the effort.

"We'll find another way down!" Taylor yelled over the growing inferno.

Troy nodded and held up his thumb.

It was considerably hotter on the first floor, small fires blazing in the distance. He coughed, waving his hand in front of his face to clear the smoke. The first floor of East High was like an insulator, the smoke and heat having no way to escape except for the small holes in the ceiling.

"Gabriella!" Nothing. Gabriella!

Yes?

Can you try to move again? He asked, still glancing around the smoke covered area.

I'll try. She said hesitantly. But I don't think it'll do much good.

Her voice radiated throughout his head, groaning and grunting as she tried to move the debris covering her. Troy scanned the surrounding area, looking for the slightest shift. There was movement to his right and he started removing drywall and steel support beams.

Gabriella? He called frantically. Are you under all of this?

"Finally," her scratchy voice met his ears and he smiled, moving faster. He pulled a rather large piece of drywall and met her face. "What took you so long?"

"I could just leave you under there." He smiled back.

"You wouldn't," she challenged, eyes narrowing. There was a small cut on the side of her cheek, dribbling blood.

He stared at her for a moment, taking in her face and deep chocolate eyes. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. "You're right, I wouldn't." he pushed off more drywall and she tried to get to her feet.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath, collapsing back to the floor.

He knelt down next to her. "What?" His eyes scanned her face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"My back," she gasped, "it hurts so much."

Confusion clouded his face as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up and out. She whimpered slightly and he rested her on the floor. "Where on your ba—?" He pulled his hands away and his mouth crashed open.

Red liquid covered his hands. "He shot you." Troy growled darkly, rolling her over. There was a small hole in her lower back. The wound was still dripping blood slightly, but it looked to be healing at an incredible rate. He clenched his jaw and glanced around quickly. "I have to get you out of here."

"That's a really good idea, Wildcat." She grabbed his shoulders. "Stand up."

"I can carry you." He protested.

She smiled at him. "I can manage, don't worry."

He sighed. There was no use in arguing with her, he knew that. Standing up, he pulled Gabriella up with him. A grimace crossed her face but she didn't say anything. He draped one of her arms over his shoulder and looked around.

"Which way?"

"I don't know," Gabriella admitted. "You'd think we'd know how to navigate our own school."

"You'd think," Troy agreed. "But I have no idea where we are."

"We dropped from the science hallway upstairs right?" Gabriella thought out loud. "So that would put us in the Art department. We could go right—" She looked to the right, but the hallway was covered in flames. "Or not."

"I don't care which way we go, we just need to get out. This place is burning fast."

Gabriella nodded and Troy turned to the left, taking a step.

A warning shot up his spine and he snapped his head up. The ceiling above him creaked and moaned and he could see cracks forming. "Shit!" His hold tightened around Gabriella and he started to run, well, he tried to run. Carrying Gabriella, with all the smoke and heat, was a difficult task.

The ceiling and walls were caving in, the flames finally taking its toll on the buildings support. The school was collapsing around him. Bricks and melted metal slammed to the ground just behind him.

"Faster Troy, faster!" Gabriella encouraged from beside him and he could feel trying to run.

"You know back when I said 'once a wildcat, always a wildcat'," he yelled beside her, trying to find humor in the fact that their beloved school was closing in around them, "I didn't mean it quite like this!"

"Not funny Troy!" Gabriella snapped.

As he staggered down the hallway, Gabriella in tow, building falling apart behind them, he realized that nothing worked right. His legs felt like jello, his lungs burned for oxygen that he couldn't finding in the smoke saturated air. His body ached and his head was starting to swim.

The ceiling collapsed in front of them and Gabriella screamed. He tried to stop but his legs gave out and they crashed to the floor together. Gabriella's hand tightened around his and he looked to her face quickly. Her chocolate eyes were wide and she was staring past his shoulder.

He turned slowly and found that the wall was falling slowly towards them. He tried to move, but his body didn't respond. He tried to push Gabriella farther away from him, but she wouldn't budge.

He closed his eyes and waited for the darkness.

It didn't come.

He opened one of his blue eyes hesitantly, only to find Blaine O'Connell standing over him. The older Walker grunted and his body sagged with the weight of the concrete wall.

"Blaine?" Troy stuttered in surprise.

"Get out of here, Troy." The raven haired man whispered in a strained voice, his knees sagging lower.

Gabriella came crawling over, getting to her knees and put her hands on either side of her cousin's head. She pushed up slightly, but pain flared in her back and she dropped back down to her knees.

"Please, Gabriella, just get out of here." Blaine begged softly.

"Shut up." She growled, trying to push on the wall again.

"Dammit, Gabriella!" He snapped. "Get the hell out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you!" She yelled in his face. Then, her eyes softened and she locked with his eyes. "Please, Blaine, let me help you. I can help you."

Her cousin gave a sad smile. "After everything I've done to you, cuz, you still want to help me?" He shook his head in disbelief. "You are something."

"Plea—" Gabriella began but one side of the ceiling collapsed and added more weight to the already tremendous load on Blaine's back. He sank further to the ground, his teeth grinding together with the effort, veins in his neck popping out.

"Get out." He said more sternly, but Gabriella's eyes hardened and she locked her jaw, her hands returning to the bricks on her cousins back.

Blaine, knowing that it was useless to try and sway Gabriella's mind, turned to Troy. "Please, Troy, get her out of here."

"We can help you." Troy echoed his girlfriend's words.

Blaine shook his head, coughing on the smoke that had grown thicker in the confined hallway. "You can't. Please, brother, get the woman you love out of here."

The word 'brother' came from so far out of left field that Troy stopped breathing for a second. He froze and just stared at the emerald eyed man in front of him. A silent understanding passed between the two and Troy finally nodded slightly, the tears slipping from his eyes drying halfway down his cheek.

"Gabriella…" Troy reached for her arm but she pulled it away.

"No!" She snapped. "I can help him. I can lift this. I just need more time."

"Baby cousin, you don't have time." His voice was low, strained, but he sounded content. "Please let me find peace in life by doing this one last thing for you."

Gabriella shook her head, tears falling from her eyes.

Blaine turned to Troy and gave him pleading look.

Troy locked his jaw and wrapped his arms around Gabriella, pulling her away. She didn't protest, only started to cry harder. "Come on, baby." He whispered softly in her ear. "We need to get out of here."

"Wait," Troy turned and Blaine, despite his situation, despite what was going to happen to him, he smiled. "Troy, I want you to have something. It's in my right pocket."

Confusion clouded troy's face but he stepped forward and dug into Blaine's jacket pocket.

He withdrew car keys.

"No way," he whispered, eyes going to the Walker. "I can't take this, Blaine. I can't."

Blaine laughed a kind of sad, humorous, laugh. "Why not? It's not like I can use it where I'm going."

"But Blaine," Troy made a face. "This is your car."

"It's not mine anymore." Blaine said and Troy could swear that he was smiling. "Now get the hell out of here." He nodded his head towards a hallway. "Oh, and Gabriella, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

She shook her head helplessly. "You don't have to be."

Blaine inclined his head, like her forgiveness had washed everything from him. "Goodbye."

-XxX-

Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez emerged from the smoldering East High minutes later. Waiting paramedics swarmed them with oxygen masks and fire blankets. Taylor came next, and Gabriella almost preferred the fire to her best friends vice like hugs.

"Ohmygod, Gabriella! I thought we were going to lose you!" The African-American pulled away and her eyes sharpened. "Don't you dare do that again! Do you hear me Gabriella? You damn near gave me a heart attack!"

"Taylor, your elbow is digging into one of my broken ribs," Gabriella gasped.

Sheepishly, Taylor pulled away and returned to a safe breathing distance as Gabriella was dragged onto a gurney, protesting all the while.

"I'm fine," she growled in annoyance. "All this is unnecessary."

"Gabriella!!"

"Oh, no," Gabriella smacked a hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes. "Just when I think it can't get any worse…"

Troy cracked a crooked smile and Chad shrank back slightly, hiding behind Taylor's back. "I was wondering when he was going to show up."

Alexander Montez came sprinting over, his hands automatically going to his daughters ash covered face. "Baby, are you okay? Wait," he held up a hand, "don't answer that." The father turned swiftly to the paramedic rolling the gurney. "How is she?"

The paramedic froze for a moment, taking in the sight of Alexander Montez and how he radiated authority and figured it wasn't smart to keep the man waiting. "Well, sir. She has a couple of broken ribs and she's complaining of a slight headache and memory loss, which are the signs of a concussion. Not to mention she has major smoke inhalation." He paused to take a breath. "She also has a minor gunshot wound to the lower back, but it—"

"Gunshot wound!" Alex looked murderous. "Minor!" he locked his jaw and his eyes glared daggers. "I'm sorry young man, but I don't usually affiliate the word 'minor' with a 'gunshot wound'!"

Gabriella covered her face in her hands as the paramedic rolled the gurney into the back of the ambulance. With Alexander Montez still asking questions, the paramedic handed Troy and oxygen mask and instructed him to stay with Gabriella while he went and talked with the local police department about other students needing treatment. Alex followed him.

Chad poked his head out from behind Taylor. "Is this a bad time to tell you that your father scares the shit out of me, Gabriella?"

Sharpay nodded her head. "I normally don't admit this very often, but that man is terrifying." She paused and glanced to Gabriella. "There is no way that he's your father."

Gabriella sighed and found Rhyan and Reid on the other side of the parking lot, talking with the Walker's that were a part of the local police department and firefighters. Finally, her eyes fell on the still blazing East High. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, I guess it's safe to say schools out for the summer." The group turned to him and he ducked his head back behind Taylor's shoulder. "You're right, bad time to joke. Sorry."

Sharpay crossed her arms. "She's right. What are we going to do?" She paused and her eyes light up like she's just remembered something very important. She suddenly whirled to Troy and Gabriella. "We could talk." She said flatly.

"Talk?" Troy cocked his head to the side.

"Yes, talk." Sharpay confirmed.

"About"

"About what you've gotten yourself into lately."

"Oh," Troy's mouth dropped open slightly. "Yeah, umm, maybe another time, Shar. It's too hot right now."

"Hot?" Sharpay asked pointedly. "Is that another attempt at a bad joke, Bolton?"

"No, no," Troy stuttered. "To hot. Like, there are too many people around to talk about such a sensitive subject. It's too hot."

Sharpay nodded her head slowly. "Right." She eyed the blue eyed teen like he'd grown another head. "Well, I'm going to go find Ryan before my IQ hits bottom. See you later Wildcats."

When Sharpay was a good distance away, Taylor gave a tasteless grunt and crossed her arms. "What IQ?"

Troy smiled and turned to look at Gabriella, whose eyes were still locked on the burning East High.

"I could have saved him," she mumbled so that only he could hear. "I could have."

He turned his blue eyes to her and found that silent tears were slipping from the corners of her eyes. He sighed and leaned forward, his thumbs wiping the wetness away. She looked to him and he gave her a sad smile. "Baby, even you're not good enough to save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

.-.-.- Insert Sad Music -.-.-.