So this was fun. I wrote this a while ago, and just now remembered it. I started this new thing where I'd be given any word, like "Fire", and then write a one-shot that starts and ends with the word. So my friend started me off by giving me the word Fire.

You can send me words for the One Word One-Shot challenge! But please check my profile first and make sure I'm open for submissions.

Fire flooded his vision when he first opened his eyes that morning. The aroma of thick smoke filled his lungs and he let out a racking cough, leaping from his bed with a quick toss of the sheets. He landed hard on his hands and knees, blinking the heated tears from his eyes as he tried to get the room into focus. It took him only a few moments to register what was actually going on. His sleep forgotten, adrenaline began to course through him. Flames took hold of his belongings lining the room, it's large and mighty yellow glow heating his cold-blooded skin.

He stumbled towards his curtain door, tumbling through it and finding himself wrapped in the burning blue cloth. It tore off the hooks, following with him as he fell to the ground. He fought and wriggled, untangling himself from it and getting to his feet.

Beating against his chest as he coughed, he tripped towards the end of the hallway. He leaned against the corner, ducking his head from the thick smoke blinding his vision. Where were the others?

He heard Leo calling his name. It felt far away in the thick air, but realistically he could have only been a few feet away. "Where are you?" Raph called between coughs, and then there were a few moments of the crackling of fire filling his ears.

Leo burst from the smoke right in front of him, startling him to where he took a half step backwards and staggered. Leo reached out and grabbed his arm before he could fall, using his other hand to cover his own coughs.

With his older brother still gripping his arm, both turtles barreled their way through the smoke. Their heads were ducked against the fog, and their shoulders trembled with each cough. Leo lead him to the lair entrance, even though Raph could have done so himself. There, they pushed their way through the turnstiles and stepped away from the heat. Michelangelo was already there, sitting against the tunnel wall and coughing into his hands. Their Sensei appeared a second later, looking over his sons with a look of horror, before turning his gaze back to the fire. His eyes flashed with uncertainty, and he seemed frozen in place. Then Raphael remembered his father's unspeakable past.

But he couldn't stop to comfort the mutant rat yet. "Where's Donnie?!" Raph yelled over the noise.

Leo made a motion to run back, but Raphael immediately reached out and siezed his arm, pulling him back and throwing him roughly to the ground. He hadn't meant to be harsh, but there was no time for gentleness. Retreating back into the lair past his father, he heard Leonardo frantically calling his name. But after two times, it stopped. Raphael wasn't sure if it was the fire drowning his voice out, or he let Raph go.

He found himself standing in the pit, the smoke clouding his vision. "Donnie!" He called desperately, cupping his hands. His lungs felt ready to burst as another string of coughs attacked him. The lab. He's rarely anywhere else.

What if the fire had started in the lab? What if he... no. Couldn't think about that, Raphael reached the lab, finding the door already open. He pushed it all the way to the side, leaping into the heart of the fire.

A piece of the roof collapsed in front of him, causing him to yell and stumble backwards. Coughing into his fist, he moved around it and squinted his eyes against the smoke. "Don-!" He broke off with another cough.

There. A small hint of purple caught his eye in the corner. Charging through the smoke, he found a large piece of debris sitting in his unconscious brother's lap. Thankfully, it hadn't been ignited by the deadly flame. He grasped the edges with his hands, lifting his chin and growling aloud with the strain of picking up the weight. Once it was up, he tossed it aside and kneeled in front of his brother, looking him over.

He was breathing. Burns coated his body, and his goggles were still tight around his eyes. Raphael went to the side, picking up Donnie's arm and slinging it over his shoulder. He wrapped his own arm around his little brother's shell and began to haul him across the lab. Donatello was coughing into his shoulder, but he didn't mind. He was too busy hacking up his own air.

He felt the heat of the fire as if he were in flames himself. Tighten his grip, drag his feet, cough a few times, it was a pattern. His strength lessened with each step, and Donnie was slipping from his grip. Another piece of the cieling fell to his right, catching him off guard as he blindly stumbled the opposite direction.

The turnstiles were only a few feet away. The fire had worsened around them as Raphael dragged his brother across the lair. His limbs ached and trembled, and his whole body shook as he choked on the smoke. All it would take is another part of the ceiling to drop and they were goners. Just as he felt ready to collapse, Leonardo appeared through the haze at his other side, assisting him with Donatello's weight. A few more steps forward, and they abandoned the consuming fire.