Rescue Me Forum: Fan Fiction Death of a Hero Chapter 1: "You're Dead Tommy" Tommy didn't remember much. The events he did remember flashed before him. He had been talking with Jimmy and then he had this unpleasant conversation with Sheila about how he changed his mind about retiring. He couldn't believe he had even considered it or that Jimmy was happy about it. Now that Lou, Franco and even Probie were going to stay he would be staying too. His brothers needed him and that was all that mattered now. Another issue was that Janet wanted to move back in with him with the girls. He tried to tell himself she was all of the reason he wasn't going to move in with Sheila but he didn't know if he should bother lying to himself anymore. He still loved Janet and he always had but he didn't want to get hurt by her anymore, just as he knew he had hurt her so much. After talking to Sheila things began to get fuzzy. He was having a drink, non-alcoholic. Or so he thought. Had he relapsed again? Perhaps he had because when he woke up the room was filled with smoke and engulfed with flames. He blacked out again and then he didn't remember anything after that at all. Was it all a dream? He didn't know that either. All of a sudden Tommy appeared to be in a familar place, his kitchen. He figured no one was there as the room was silent but he called for Lou anyway, knowing he was probably not there. "He's not here asshole." Tommy was startled to find out he wasn't alone. He turned around to see Johnny sitting across from him and smoking a cigerette. "Jesus Johnny! You scared the hell out of me." He muttered an "asshole" under his breath but Johnny didn't seem to care, he just shrugged and continued to smoke his cigerette. Tommy had seen many ghosts although he had seen his brother only once. The first time he appeared to him since his death was when he popped up out of the casket. While he was used to it, Tommy didn't expect to see his brother this way. Although he saw many of them he never knew what they would look like. The people Tommy couldn't save had the horrible burns they had suffered from and Jimmy was missing his finger. Connor looked as if he was alive and well even though he wasn't. And Tommy had to keep reminding himself of that every time he wanted to reach out to his son. So Tommy took a good look at his younger brother. He looked just as he had in the casket except for one exception. This time Johnny looked real, not just an empty body, which was what Tommy thought of his brother lying there. He couldn't help wondering why Johnny was suddenly here now. He felt full of remorse and regret of what had happened to his younger brother and he was sorry for the things he did to him, just like he had told him. But now that Johnny was right there in front of his eyes he didn't know how much he was capable of truly letting things go. "Johnny, what the hell are you doing here?" Johnny was about to answer when there came another response. "That's an interesting question T." Jimmy had suddenly appeared right beside Johnny who lit him up a cigerette, not being phased by his appearance at all. Suddenly Stack appeared at the table too. Unfortunately he looked just the same as Tommy had last seen him. This was the first time he had seen Stack since he saw him in the hospital and yet Tommy never prepared himself to see his friend like this, not again. His entire body was still singed and his legs never reappeared like Tommy wished they would. He was sitting in a wheel chair staring right back at Tommy. Embarassed, Tommy dropped his gaze. "It's okay Tommy, I know I'm not too pretty to look at." Things were becoming more serious now that Stack was here. No one said much of anything. The room filled with more ghosts as Vito and Bobby suddenly appeared, Tommy acknowledging their prescence. He thought he had nothing in common with the rest of the men in the room. He was alive and they were all dead. The only one missing was Connor and Tommy hadn't seen him since Johnny's funeral for the briefest of moments. Tommy figured something was up. "What the hell is going on guys?" Jimmy and Johnny sat with their cigerettes and Vito and Bobby appeared as they always had. They all just looked around at each other though, no one saying anything. Stack had disappeared as quickly as he had come. Tommy began to get a very strong feeling that something wasn't good. It was finally Jimmy who spoke. "Look at yourself Tommy." Tommy would have normally thought he was joking but his voice had changed to that calm yet serious tone, confirming he wasn't playing around. Tommy tried to look at his brother but Johnny refused to look back at him. Tommy hesitantly held out his hand to look at it but looked at Jimmy first, who just nodded. What Tommy saw shocked him. He looked at the rest of his body, if he could even call it that. He tried to look around the room for an explanation but no one offered any. Jimmy was convinced he needed to figure some things out for himself. Tommy abruptly got up to run to the bathroom and look at his face in the mirror. His face and the rest of his body was singed and chared, even worse than Stack's. Tommy came back to the kitchen with a look of anger on his face but he wasn't fooling anyone, especially not Jimmy who could see how terrified he really was. "All right Jimmy, cut the shit." Tommy's voice started calm but then he began to raise his voice as he grew more desperate for answers. "I want to know what the hell is going on and I want to know now!" No one said anything but Tommy still persisted, determined to get to the bottom of what was going on. Johnny refused to look him in the face so Tommy immediately decided he had something to do with it. Marching up to his younger brother and grabbing him by his collar he demanded some form of explanation from him. "Did you have something to do with this Johnny? Is this some crap you're pulling, huh?" Vito and Bobby took the opportunity to disappear. It pained Johnny to see his brother like this, who didn't know his own fate. He wanted to tell him but Jimmy warned him about what he could do if he found out, how he would react. "I had nothing to do with what happened to you Tommy. It's just that I never wanted you to have to go through this, at least not right after I did. And you know I love Janet and the girls, how much I care about them." Tommy had to muster what little self control he had to beat his brother up again just for mentioning his wife's name. "Yeah Johnny, what about them?" Johnny held his steady tone. "I didn't want them to have to go through this again." Tommy released his grip somewhat and he was more surprised than angry now. Although he still demanded what Johnny was talking about, it was more of a plead. Johnny paused and then told him. "What they had to go through when I died." Tommy could see his brother was sincerely sorry but he didn't care, he was too angry to show anything but his temper. "The hell with you and your apologies Johnny." Tommy roughly let go of Johnny and shoved him onto the table. "Take it easy Tom." Tommy was angry at his cousin but he didn't dare approach Jimmy like he would Johnny. "I am not going to take it easy until I get some answers. Why am I not at a hospital?" Jimmy was about to calmly go about telling Tommy what had happened but Johnny stepped in, although he was quickly caught by Jimmy. "Johnny, this isn't such a good idea. I should be the one to tell him." "Tell me what? What do you two assholes know that I don't?" Jimmy and Johnny were talking about him like he wasn't there and Tommy wouldn't stand for it, especially when it involved him and his frightening appearance. Johnny thought of letting Jimmy tell him but he wasn't going to give in. Tommy was his brother after all, an asshole, but still his brother. "No goddammit. He is my goddamn brother and I am going to tell him, is that all right with you?" Jimmy, realizing how important it was to Johnny, nodded. "You were at the hospital T, for a few weeks actually. And Janet stood by your side every moment you were there. You were a fighter through all of it Tommy but there was only so much you could fight through, you know T?" Tommy was beginning to piece together what Johnny was saying but he refused to believe it. He looked to Jimmy for clarification and then he looked to his brother again. "You're dead Tommy." Tommy slumped to the couch, shocked. "You can tell him the rest Jimmy." And then Johnny disappeared. Write your own stories and submit them now!