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blueathens · 1 year

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(Please Don’t) Let Me Drown - Agape

ACT THREE, CHAPTER TWO

SONG: How To Save A Life by The Fray QUOTE: “Some firefighter you are, aren’t you meant to be doing the saving? We could die out here.”

TW: Drowning, Slight Mention of Suicide,

A/N: Not read through or checked!

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Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

Drowning: When victims eventually submerge, they hold their breath for as long as possible, typically 30 to 90 seconds. After that, they inhale some water, splutter, cough, and inhale more. Survivors say there is a feeling of tearing and burning sensation in the chest as water goes down into the airway. Then that sort of slips into a feeling of calmness and tranquillity. That calmness represents the beginnings of the loss of consciousness from oxygen deprivation, which eventually results in the heart stopping and brain’s death.

Kasey was drowning, and it wasn’t at all like the stories.

She remembers one of her old mates – Trey Malik – trying to explain what drowning felt like after he experienced it mere minutes ago, she recalls her army jacket around his shoulders providing him warmth after she dragged him out from the river, she recollects the memory of his shivering body and she remembers watching him instead of holding him, he didn’t want to be held, he insisted on being okay, he just needed a moment to catch his breath then they could continue their mission. He was the one who started the conversation, she knew she didn’t want to hear it, but he didn’t stop, he told her it was important for her to know, important for her to listen to the experience so she knows how to get herself out of it if the time came.

She remembers laughing at that, stating that she will never get herself in that position.

She wasn’t going to drown.

She is even reminded of making a passing joke of how he didn’t get out by himself, she did, she helped him. So if she ever got herself in a position where she was drowning, then the only way to be saved is by someone else.

Trey shrugged his shoulders and mutters a “you never know” before telling her everything he experienced not long ago.

Instead of hearing of a horror story, she was enlightened by a tale that almost came across as a love song towards drowning, Kasey even recognises a sense of comfort washing over his face, one that someone would have when reliving a childhood memory, but instead he was talking about drowning, talked about it as if it was an old friend that gave him such a loving hug, a hug that he has desired for so long, a hug he just needed.

Kasey thinks that was the first time she has ever felt such a bubble of sadness coming from Trey, she recalls feeling closer to him at that moment as she too carried such a heavy heart of sadness that any danger that came her way, she would greet it as if it was a friend, but hearing Trey like that made her hate the world more, because why on earth would our planet be so cruel to such a lovely, good person? He doesn’t deserve to hold such sadness, he didn’t deserve to be out here away from those he cares for, he didn’t deserve to find comfort within drowning.

He didn’t deserve that.

And that made Kasey hate the world more, and it made her want to hug him and take him to a different world, far from this one, a world where he can find peace within the cool air on a spring’s morning, it’s what he deserved at least.

But he didn’t want that, she knew that by the way he talked, by the way he looked, he didn’t want to be saved, perhaps he couldn’t be saved, or maybe he just wasn’t ready yet and when he was then the only one who could help him would be himself.

And that was difficult for Kasey to process, and she thinks she never will truly process it because to her, she can save people, she can help, but Trey was never the person she could, and that’s just a fact that she thinks she’ll never come to terms with.

Perhaps it was a childish thought of Kasey’s to think that she could save everyone, and that saving them would even make her feel better about herself because maybe it’s too late for her to save herself, but it’s not too late to save everyone else.

And it’s stupid, she knows this, she knows it because she’s always the one saving everyone yet there will never be someone to save her…she’s the second choice, maybe not even that, maybe not even the third choice. But Kasey has to save everyone, she just has to, but when she needs saving then no one has to save her, no one chooses to save her, and then she gets to the point where it’s too late to be saved, and she just simply gives up, but to everyone she seems selfish even though she never got anything in return.

She always carried this thought that she was replaceable, that if someone wanted to, they could throw her away like a dead flower, that once stood tall and blossomed under the sunlight, but now only fallen petals remained, and who would even want to keep a wilting flower when there was a sweeter one just outside?

She overthinks it a lot, she overthinks how replaceable she is, and how most of her friends would now walk past her and not give her a second look because to them, she was just a stranger, but to her, she was the stranger that carried all the memories.

She wondered if Trey ever felt the way she did, maybe just once, maybe the currents made him feel wanted, maybe he felt unreplaceable within it, perhaps, just for a moment, he did feel okay, and he was truly telling her how lovely it was. Kasey pondered on this idea, but to her, nothing, absolutely nothing, could make her think drowning could possibly be relaxing.

And if Trey did truly think this, then Kasey began to hate the world even more.

He told her drowning was more peaceful than he could ever imagine, he said maybe he thought that as anything could be more peaceful than fighting in a war, he enjoyed the tranquil silence and the feeling that he was floating on clouds. For a moment he thought he was being gently lifted to the gates of heaven, he thought it was his time to go, and he even thought that drowning wasn’t the worst possible way to go.

Trey found it peaceful, but Kasey was in so much pain.

She was panicking. She barely could see anything in front of her. The water felt like it was suffocating her, filling her lungs and her throat, and causing her to choke. She couldn’t tell if her eyes were open or not, the confusing and disoriented of shattered light through water that shouldn’t be here – that shouldn’t be washing through the city – it shouldn’t be here – if it was where it was supposed to be then Kasey would be able to breathe, to see, to know where she was. But she couldn’t.

Kasey couldn’t breathe. Kasey couldn’t see. And Kasey couldn’t tell which way was up and which way was down.

Her body grew tired of fighting the currents.

Trey told her it was comforting.

But Kasey could recall watching Trey panic before he stilled, and perhaps he didn’t remember that moment, doesn’t remember her fighting against the currents to reach him as she watches him thrash around, yelling, screaming her name. Maybe he didn’t remember that, maybe he didn’t want to remember it, perhaps he just wanted to remember the moment of calmness before you drown. Where you no longer kick or scream, and your lungs don’t have that agonising and burning pain where it feels like it will explode in any second. Where your mind goes blank and there’s just this gentle humming left in your ears – and it’s almost like the lullaby your mother would hum to get you to sleep, it almost becomes…nice.

Comforting.

It feels like a much-needed hug. That too is comforting.

Perhaps this is what death is like, Kasey wondered, perhaps after all of this chaos, death is just around the corner to hand you that certain comfort you have been lacking your entire life. But if this was dying, then why didn’t she see her life flash before her eyes? And why does she feel something other than the cold water that was swallowing her up?

Why could she feel a hand gripping her shirt tightly before pulling her up with them, and the moment her face breaks the surface she takes her first real breath since being under.

She coughed, choked, and spat out filthy, salty water. Her eyes brunt as she repeatedly blinked, once her vision cleared up slightly she noticed the familiar features that belonged to no other but her brother. He was gripping onto the side of a fire truck whilst also holding her as tight as he could – if anything he was holding onto Kasey more than he was gripping the side of the truck, because if he had to lose something it would be the surface of safety and not his sister – he won’t let her go.

Despite the burn within her eyes, she noticed her twin’s struggle, and with numb limbs she pushes herself forwards to also grip onto the side of the truck. TK’s other hand moved to hold the truck too as he pulls himself up, watching as Kasey did so too before collapsing the moment her body made contact with the top of the vehicle. She may not have been drowning under the currents anymore, but it sure did feel like she was drowning on top of this fire truck, she still felt trapped, still unable to do something as simple as breathing. And now instead of hearing a near comforting hum, she hears TK screaming her name before everything went dark.

Once Kasey asked Trey if there was anyone waiting for him at home, waiting on news of his return, or perhaps praying they’ll never get that letter along with a military officer and a Champlin at their doorsteps. He told her that he has a dog waiting on his return, and his father, and he hopes his older brother too, he said they had a complicated relationship, and that was all there was to it, he even said his grandmother would be waiting.

She asked what was the name of his dog, he responded with “Goldfish,” and Kasey remembers chuckling softly at that.

Trey asked if there was anyone waiting for her and Kasey wished she could say yes, but the sad fact was that she couldn’t, she didn’t have anyone.

She fell out with her family before coming here, her own mother never cared much for her, her twin brother, she believed resented her, her father was always doing his own thing, she doesn’t think he would be waiting, she wasn’t a good enough daughter for someone to wait at home for. And along with her twin brother, she knows her best friend hated her, he wouldn’t be waiting for, god he probably be wishing for her not to return. She’s exhausting, she knows this, and she even thinks that she doesn’t want to return home either, she’s too troubled, she can’t be saved, she didn’t have anyone, and she couldn’t hurt them anymore…

After a long silence, she told them him no – then she gave her small explanation after seeing his curious eyes, she didn’t say much, she never did, she never could, but still she tried.

Trey told her none of it was her fault, and she could never believe him, not then and not now.

Sometimes she could still feel the hug Trey gave her after that, Kasey hasn’t felt that vulnerable before, not for a long time at least, nor has she been held so lovingly, so comfortingly, in such a long time. Kasey thought she was going to break down in his arms, but she didn’t, but she knew she could’ve though.

Kasey wondered if that was what drowning felt for Trey, but instead of drowning within water, she was drowning within a hug.

It was peaceful.

It was comforting.

And it was nice.

Kasey began to slowly wake up, her head in TK’s lap as he combs his fingers through her hair. Her first thought was trying to remember where she was, but that all came back in flashes. She shook her head, squeezing her eyes, before opening them once more to see TK’s chin. She then wondered if anyone else she knew got caught up in this, and if they did, were they okay?

Maybe it was a good thing that she didn’t know that Buck and Christopher wasn’t so far away, them too stuck on a fire truck as they helped casualties on board. Cause if she knew then she would have forced her tired body to search for them, to help them, to make sure they were okay.

Kasey would have to make sure they were safe because they were her fam–

Kasey sat up, taking in her surroundings to only notice that there were a few more people on board, all frightened and cold and TK gave her a worrying look, a look that almost begged her to do something, to save them, to just have a plan. But for once, Kasey had nothing as she looked out and around the flooded city, seeing nothing but water and broken homes and objects.

“You helped them?” Kasey muttered as she continued to look out.

“Yeah,” TK whispers. “You were out for a bit so had to improvise.”

“Sorry,” she whispers back.

She feels his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently as if he ushering her to look at him, and she does, she turns her head, looking over her shoulder with glassy, down, eyes.

“You have nothing to be sor–”

“Your brother said you’re around here. And that he’s a firefighter out in Texas. He mentioned that you were highly ranked in the military…suppose you have the best water training round here?” Kasey hums as her arm covers her face, blocking the sun as she looks at the man who spoke up.

“Did he now?” She purses her lips. “Suppose he mentioned I’m a firefighter too?” The man nods. “Cool.”

“So what do we do?” The man looks around at the other casualties.

“Nothing,” Kasey mumbles, “we can’t do anything – we’ll just have to wait for someone to come and rescue us.”

The man scoffed. “Some firefighter you are, aren’t you meant to be doing the saving? We could die out here.”

Kasey turns around, brows raised, studying the man, hand pressed against her hip, “Oh, I’m sorry Gary, I’ll just whip out the boat I’ve been carrying in my pocket all day and drive you all home in time for dinner.”

He scowled at her. “It’s Raphaël–”

“Some will be in much worst conditions than us, at least we’re safe, that’s what is important, no?” Kasey turns to look back out at the city filled with water. “I’ll try and find a way to get rescued quicker but can’t make no promises here.”

“Kas…” TK’s gentle voice came from behind, his hand squeezing her elbow gently, “you’re bleeding.” As if those words triggered some part in her brain, she feels a sudden sharpness coming from under her shirt, lifting it up she glances at the bruises littering her abdominal and an awful, long cut beginning from the top of her ribs down to her waist.

“I’m fine,” she insists, and she thoughts of this to be true, she’s had worst, and she continued as if it was nothing before, so to her this was fine, all of this was fine, she just wanted to go back to her home – well outside of her apartment, in her car, and just fall asleep…

…she just wanted some peace again.

Kasey lays down to peer over the truck, hands coming into contact with the open window, her fingers pressed against the inside framing and the metal framing of the inside to pull her further over so she can have a better look of the inside of the truck they were on. “You think the radio works?” She questions her brother who she knew was standing right by her, silently watching her body tense from the pain of moving around.

“Probably damaged from the water,” TK responds, ushering Kasey to stand as he hears her quietly groan from moving once again. “You’re going to tire yourself out, Kas, just stop for a moment, please.”

Kasey grimaces as she comes to a stand, “I just want to get us all out of here.”

“I know you do – but hurting yourself more in the process isn’t going to help anyone.”

Kasey thought she was seeing things at first when she saw TK’s right hand shake before he reached out to hold the top of her shoulder, she truly did thought her eyes were tricking her, but with the fear and worry twisted in his eyes, Kasey knew she wasn’t.

He wasn’t scared of her, she knew this, but for her? Yes.

He acted as if she was a fragile piece of artwork that’s been locked behind glass for centuries and now he’s the first to touch it, and he doesn’t even know if a simple brush of his fingers would have it crumbling, but Kasey wasn’t going to break, she knew this, she wasn’t damaged, she wasn’t going to crumble.

Kasey could hold herself longer now, she wasn’t nineteen anymore, she wasn’t nineteen who clung onto Trey Malik as if was the embodiment of air, the reason she could finally breathe again, she wasn’t nineteen no more who was desperate to be held.

Touch wasn’t a weakness for her no more, she gets held on many of occasions, Buck and Kit were the main sources of it, they were big huggers, always have been, physical touch has always been their thing and not fearing their touch proved to the young firefighter that she wasn’t desperate for it anymore, she was held enough to not whimper at the feeling of such comforting warmth no more.

But TK’s always been like this with her, of course they used to play wrestle when they were younger, pull one another’s hairs, the reason for some of the scars on their body after one pushed the other too hard off from the sofa causing the other to be in A&E. But still TK’s always had an element of softness with her, admitting once it’s because he doesn’t want to cause any harm to her, he tolerated a form of guilt growing up whenever he found her quietly ruffling through the medical basket (from the top of their fridge) late at night in their teen years, and he always ushered her to sit on the counter as he helped with the injuries she carried home with her that night, always being the one who has to listen to her holding back the cries of pain when his fingers brushes over a wound accidently, or whenever he began to stich her up as she insisted for no hospitals – she hates them – and that they can do it at home.

He was the one who usually saw her injured, and he was the one who stayed up until she came home just to help her, listening to her apologies for thinking she woke him again, when really she never did, he just awaits for her to make sure she returns home safely, even at his worst he still continued to make sure she came home. And then there was the guilt, the guilt that he gained growing up, watching her flinch at loud noises, especially from arguments, the way her body tensed whenever he tried to help with her injuries as that was the only way she could silently express her pain without waking anyone up, and he was the one who listened as she talked down on herself, thinking no one was there to hear, but he always did, he always would.

TK always wanted her to see him as something she could cling onto whenever she felt like the world was against her once again, but as they become older he knew he was barely that for her, in fact no one was that for her, but she was always that person for everyone else, especially for him.

And every day, TK wishes that Kasey one day finds someone who would happily sit in the dark with her, hand holding hers, as they distract her with random facts or how their day was, and only moves to turn on that switch to guide her out from the dark and welcoming her back into the light.

TK thinks she’s secretly back in the dark, actually he knows she was, and it’s sad to think that she still hasn’t find a comfort person yet – someone who will just help her when she’s down, to let her know she was enough, to just hold her.

TK was guilty when it came to Kasey, he wished they had a better life together, they deserved it, well he would like to think that they did, they were – are – good people, and that’s got to count for something, right? TK has questioned time from time if, in another parallel universe, they got the life they deserve, that they got to be the siblings they should have been, not the ones that were too damaged, not those ones, but the ones who were just happy, the ones who lived nearer together just so they could meet up easier.

Perhaps in that other life they be working together, living that dream they had when they were so young. Perhaps everything was okay in their lives, and they got to be the siblings they deserved to be in this life.

TK knew one day though he wouldn’t be so guilty, he knew those injuries he helped to cover up weren’t his fault, but at times whenever he accidently pressed too hard against a bruise or something then his stomach would twist, and he would be overcome with a sudden sickness all because he was reminded with the fact that he could never protect Kasey.

He thinks that’s what he was most guilty for, in the end it was never about the accidental touches of aiding her injuries, it was always the fact that he could never protect her, Kasey was always doing her own thing, she was always in some form of trouble, she was always someplace else, she was out of his reach, and TK couldn’t ever protect her like he wished he could, but she did for him, and she always will.

But they weren’t kids no more, they were now nearing the age of twenty-five and now, TK wonders, now it could be the time he could protect Kasey, bring her out from the darkness, and to just let go of this guilt, and then maybe, just maybe they could be each other’s safety net, they would feel brave enough to come to each other whenever they needed to, maybe, just maybe, he could play the role of an older brother – older by only fifteen minutes – and just simply protect her, even if it just as simple as protecting her from herself, in the sense that she doesn’t hurt herself more, that she doesn’t do her thing where she doesn’t think of herself, that for once she could just take a moment, take a breath, and think on the situation with him.

Her hands once again found home on her hips, face scrunching as a finger graze the wound and she ignores the look TK gave her.

“Let me check it out–”

“God, I’m so glad I didn’t take my car here.” Kasey mutters, looking up to the sky, as she changes the subject. “Or I would–”

“Lose your house?” Kasey head snaps towards his smug appearance, eyes narrowing at him, and her mouth itches to respond; but she doesn’t. “I’m not wrong am I?”

“I will throw you overboard.”

“No you won’t,” TK smirks, “you’re too nice to do that. Besides,” he then raises his shoulders before dropping them just as quick, “you’ll miss me.”

Kasey hums before her eyes glances over at everyone else for a quick moment before she steps closer to her brother to quietly talk with him. “We got to try and find some rescue for them soon though, the first wave of a tsunami is never the worst,” her eyes flickers back over to the group, maybe about seven other people, all adults, “even if that means we’re our own rescue team.”

“Kasey, that’s to risky and in your condition–”

“Forget about my injury, I’ll live, okay? We can use the hose and the things around us to try and find somewhere better, perhaps find a proper rescue team or even a hospital.” She ran a hand through her hair. “We don’t know how long rescue will be, we don’t know how much more damage is out there, and whilst we’re at it we can rescue more people.”

“You said that the only thing we can do is wait.”

She sighs, “I only said that as I didn’t have time to think of anything else.”

Now TK sighs as he looks around desperately, hand holding the back of his head, and he balances out their options within his mind. “TK, it’s better if we move than sit around, we’re only getting colder here.”

“I know, I know.” He turns his head to now look at the group, they’re all sitting around close to one another to try and warm the other arm, but most were still shivering. “How long you think we got?”

“Until the second wave?” Kasey questions, and he nods, “I don’t know, man.” She now faces the group, making small movement to get closer to them. “Is anyone injured at all?” Kasey grimaces slightly that she hasn’t even asked them how they were yet.

“No one’s injured, Kas,” TK answered. “I asked whilst you were out and–” He stops when he notices a sudden rush in the water. No, no, no, no, not now, please not now, TK silently begs.

He thinks he hears Kasey tell people to get down, his mind was no longer here, he just thinks about the second wave, and the second wave only. He thinks he hears screams, and he thinks he hears Kasey trying to calm them down, but he doesn’t know what she says, instead his hand grabs the hose, pulls on it tightly and his eyes focuses on it unwrapping, he turns, gestures it towards Kasey who pulls on it too, ushering everyone to grab ahold of it, that maybe if they were lucky enough they would still be attached to this fire truck at the end of it.

There’s were screams as the second wave hit, it was nothing like the waves that lapped the shore every minute of every day. It was a wall of filthy, cold, and powerful water. The water had no gentle softness to it, instead it had no thought, no motion, and no hesitation as it destroys everything in it’s path just to hit their targets. Within moments, TK was breathing the air, and just as he took a deep breath he feels frigid foamy fingers grabbing a hold of him.

It was their dear old friend, the ocean.

The water was once a great fear of TK’s when he was younger, he thinks it started when he was three where his uncle thought it was a good idea to take him onto a waterslide. They went down a long, twisting concealed one but as they came to the end his uncle didn’t let him go, instead he pulled him right under the chemical water with him. TK doesn’t remember it fully, he just remembers a glimpse of a waterslide and a flash of memory that showed him under the pool’s water, and every now and then, when he was younger, he could feel that sudden tightness within his chest.

TK tried to stay away from the depths of water from then on, always panicking whenever his family tried to bring him into the pool with them, but he wasn’t having any of it.

He remembers a wedding at the age of five, and the same uncle who created his fear of water was teaching his sister how to surf in the far distance whilst he was with his mother taking photos, he recalls that she told him not to wander off, but he does so anyways, he walks down the pier, wanting to see how much panic the ocean can truly offer him, he was fine with just staring at it first, he then decided maybe to sit down in the opening between the two broken fences, but instead his foot somehow slipped and he fell into the water, his mother jumps in to save him within seconds, cause little TK didn’t know how to swim, nor did he know how to breathe under the sea.

At five, he learnt how much fear the ocean has to offer.

Up to the age of ten, TK would stay on the beach building sandcastles with his family, but his eyes were always distracted by his sister and his uncle out on the waves; surfing. His ears always listened to the way his father complained every day and how he wished Gwen’s brother didn’t teach Kasey on how to surf, he didn’t understand the problem, it wasn’t like Kasey was afraid of water so why would it be a problem if she enjoyed the feeling of the water crashing over her every time she fell off her surfboard? She seemed to be laughing each time her face breaks the surface and then off she went back onto her surfboard to catch another wave.

TK longed to surf with his sister, but he never did, not even when he overcame his fear, Owen truly wasn’t having it, he couldn’t have both kids learning to surf, he couldn’t let it happen again.

So at the age of seven TK stopped learning how to surf among the safety of the sands, he never took another board out from the stands and tried to learn, to mimic everything Kasey did out in the sea, his fingers never brushed the sands the same since seeing how furious his father was after TK stated he would surf with Kasey one day, he never thought about learning to surf one day again.

At the age of ten, TK learnt how to swim, Kasey was adamant about it, she said it was time for him to overcome his fears and learn how to swim because what if you fall in again and no one was there to save you? What would you do then? It was a brutal honest truth that TK never wanted to know, but deep down he knew he had to learn, had to overcome. Because what if he did one day fall into a body of water and there was no one around to save him? He wouldn’t know how to get out of that situation, he would be panicking more as he had no experience in even swimming.

One of Kasey’s friends had a pool in their back garden, it was quite odd to ten-year-old TK considering they lived in New York City, but he never questioned it. So, every Tuesday, after school, they would learn how to swim for an hour in Kasey’s friend pool whilst her friend was with Gwen learning the piano.

Once he reached his teenager years TK wasn’t afraid of water no longer, and he thought of himself as a confident swimmer too. But still, whenever they found themselves at the beach, TK stayed on the beach, becoming familiar with the sands once again whilst he watches his sister out on the waves, he did still wish to be out there with her, but his fingers never touched a board, no, because maybe he wasn’t afraid of water anymore but seeing how scared, how angry their father was whenever he hears about Kasey talking about surfing, made him never want to feel what it was like when the waves were beneath you.

“Buck!”

That was the first thing both Strands heard as they tried to come back to their surroundings, both could still feel the re-enforced plastic in their hands and they heard some groans around them, perhaps they were alright, perhaps everyone was able to stay –

“Buck!”

Kasey pulls herself across the top of the fire truck, fingers pressing against the side as she grimaces at the pressure against her injuries, once her head hit the small bump that was on the top of the fire truck, gesturing that she reached the side of it, she hesitantly looked over the top to see who was yelling such a familiar name.

Her heart was heavy, wishing it wasn’t someone she knew, but the name, the voice, it was so–

“Buck?!”

Kasey blinks as she narrows her eyes at the blurry figure in the water, a yellow stripped top she thinks they’re wearing and they’re resting against the side of what she would say, a wooden plank and –

Oh god.

Oh, no, no, no.

“Christopher!” Kasey yells, voice strained from her previous yells for everyone to get down, strained from the amount of water she thinks she accidently inhaled and –

“Christopher!” She calls again and she was on her feet, diving into the water with no hesitation. It was Eddie’s boy – it was Christopher – it was her sweet Christopher, and he was yelling for her best mate and–

The water was still deep in the area they were in, not yet washed out back to sea like she was hoping it would, so she fought against the water that was still rushing through the destruction and she doesn’t stop until she reaches a trunk of a tree that was surprisingly still standing tall, with a heavy breath she awaits for a second as the plank of wood Chris was keeping himself up with passes by, and when it did she quickly grabbed him and pulled him tightly towards her.

Her arms were firmly around him as she takes a step back, her right hand was cupping the back of his head and her eyes were furrowed shut as she just lets him cling onto her, his fingers twisting into the back of her shirt, gripping it tightly, afraid to just disappear again.

“I got you; I got you, love.” She rushes out. “You’re gonna be okay kid, I’ve got you now, I’ve got you.”

Christopher blinks into the shoulder of the women he was so familiar with, and his fingers pressing into her back even more at the realisation it’s her – he’s going to be okay as she’s got him now and oh my word it’s –

“Kasey?”

Oh, and how her stomach fell at the sound of his weak, tired, and quiet voice, no, god, no, why did he of all people had to be caught out in this.

“Oh, baby,” she utters gently, she now stands in the gap behind the tree, the water wasn’t so strong or deep there, so she was able to rest and look at Chris properly as she stood there whilst she thought on how to get them back to the fire truck. “What are you – where’s your glasses?”

“I-I,” he stutters, stumbling over every other word as he speaks with her, “I lost them. I lost Buck. He was helping and-and I fell…I lost Buck and–”

She hushes him gently, brushing his hair back with her hand before her hand falls to lay softly against his cheek where her thumb brushes away the fallen tears. “Oh, honey,” she frowns as she tries to act calm with him, but she wasn’t, she couldn’t be, Buck was out there too, and she has no idea if he was okay, and he would be worried sick because Chris wasn’t with him any longer and he wouldn’t know that Chris was safe – that he was with her now. “We’ll find Buck and your glasses, let’s just get you back to the truck.”

The water was still by the time she calmed Chris down by the tree and it meant she could take them back to the truck much easier than it would have been earlier.

“You remember TK, right Chris?” Kasey questioned as TK waved with a soft smile at the boy, throwing Kasey a worried glance, it didn’t cross TK’s mind that children would have been caught in this mess, not until he saw Eddie’s kid right in front of him, shivering in Kasey’s arms as she holds him, hands rubbing up and down his as she placed light kiss on top of his head every now and then.

Chris nods.

He remembers TK, he was Kasey’s older brother, by fifteen minutes if he remembers correctly from hearing them playfully arguing about it. TK shared a bag of sweets with him when they sat in the waiting room together whilst waiting on news about Kasey, he remembers that TK shared the same taste when it came to pick n’ mix, his father was asleep next to him, arms folded, and Chris never told him about the amount of sweets he ate that day as he listens to Owen’s – TK and Kasey’s father – stories about being a firefighter out in Texas.

So, of course he remembers the nice man that’s Kasey’s brother.

TK kneels down, hand reaching forwards to ruffle the younger boy’s curls. “What you doing out here, bud?”

“I was with Buck,” he tells TK in a quiet voice, “we went to the carnival on the pier and–”

“Buck’s here?” TK mouths to Kasey who just nods as she lays another kiss on top of Chris’ head, but she was quick to move away, tilting her head back as she let out a low hum at Chris shuffling back into her stomach, her eyes scrunches up and Chris was quick to turn around to try and find out what the fuss is about.

“Kasey,” his finger presses against her chin, next to the cut his eyes has just caught sight of. “You’re bleeding.” Kasey wanted to chuckle at his worriedness about her, she was glad he didn’t catch sight on the pain she was in and that he thought it was just a cut that caused her that sudden distress that caught his attention.

“It’s nothing, kiddo,” she didn’t know there was a cut on her chin until he pointed it out, perhaps she got it when she pulled herself across the roof of the truck, perhaps it was just a graze that was only slightly bloody.

“You need a plaster.”

“I tell you what,” she begins as she adjusts him in her lap, moving him slightly away from the ache in her left leg and more onto her right leg, one of his arms where around her shoulder, fingers brushing the back of her neck, and his other hand was in his lap. “When we get to some land you can find me the best plaster for the graze.” Chris nods.

“Spider-Man ones?”

“I think that be well cool!” She grins and TK smiles as she watches the interaction in front of him. “TK?” Her brother hums. “We got to start moving, the water should be shallow enough for us to walk through now.”

“What if there’s another wave?”

“We’ll just have to hope for the best that’s this is it.”

TK nods, standing up from his crouching position to rub his hands against the wet material of his jeans before he leans forwards to pick Chris off from Kasey for a moment whilst she tells everyone that it be best if they move and try and find some help, after some glances shared between them Kasey states that they could stay on the truck if they wanted and when she finds help she’ll try and send them their way, but it be quite risky to stay on a truck that’s practically flooded.

She jumps down from the truck and into the water below, taking Chris out from TK’s arms as she brings him down into the water too, but instead of letting him go, she adjusts him into a more comfortable position for her to carry him.

TK, along with the other’s, jump down from the truck too and collectively follow the Strands and the kid on their mission to find some help.

“Perhaps we can go to the zoo together one day,” TK speaks up after walking in silence for a little too long for his liking.

“The zoo?” Kasey raises a brow at her brother who just responses with a huge grin.

“Yeah!” He’s got a sudden spring in his step. “Both of our families – you know the 126 and the 118, that cop,” TK clicks his finger as he tries to think of her name. “Athena! Athena can come and Chris obviously be coming with us and–”

“And your cop boyfriend?” Kasey smirks, forging a pain of hurt as TK slaps her shoulder, the one that was closest to him, but furthest from Christopher.

“Not my boyfriend,” TK mutters, the spring leaving his step, as he folds his arms across his chest, pouting ever so slightly.

Kasey only hums, corner of her mouth still tugged up.

“I like the zoo,” Chris jumps into the conversation.

“Oh, yeah?” TK holds his hands behind his back, his right hand wrapping round his left wrist whilst his attention is on the boy in Kasey’s arms. If he didn’t know her, he would have thought they were mother and son, that thought alone brought a kind look onto his face as he thought about one day the pair of them will find someone who loves them, and perhaps they’ll have kids with their significant others, however that be, and they would have those family days that they never got growing up, that one day they could actually be a family they deserved, start again now that Kasey was in LA and he’s started a new life in Texas – perhaps this is life giving them another chance, another go at life.

Another warm thought bubbles within TK, and that was the thought of the boy in Kasey’s arms becoming his family too, he hears the way Kasey talks about the Diaz’s, he sees how happy they have made her and how much they helped her too, and of course there was Buck, her LA best friend, but he was just like another brother to her, but Eddie – my god, Kasey deserves to have someone good like Eddie, she really does, and TK could only hope that the universe just gives her the best.

He's seen the way Eddie looks at her too, of course TK seen it, even a blind person could sense the way Eddie feels about Kasey, and usually TK would get slightly concerned whenever guys are interested in his sister due to her never having good past relationships, but Eddie, he would know she be safe with him, that she’ll be okay, that’s she’ll be happy, and god did she deserve that.

So, maybe one day, if the universe isn’t so mean, the Diaz’s will become very familiar to him and his own father, and perhaps they’ll have those BBQ nights whenever they’re down in Texas or LA. And everyone they see as family joins too, and the kids are at the end of the garden playing some imaginary game and the adults are laughing.

And they’re all just happy.

Maybe, just maybe, they get the things they deserve, because they’re all good people, and that gotta mean they deserve something good at least, right?

“What’s your favourite animal?” He questions and Chris thinks for a little while before answering –

“Lions? I like lions.”

“They’re pretty cool, aren’t they kiddo?” Kasey says as she takes in her surroundings once more, making sure she’s a step ahead of everyone just in case anything happens then she be the first to discover it.

Whilst Chris told them a little fact about lions, TK nudged Kasey’s arm before leaning closer to whisper: “why are we heading more towards the pier?”

Kasey felt her eyes widen, quickly turning her head to look at her brother. She didn’t think he’ll notice, in fact she didn’t think he’ll even know the area they were heading towards, but he did.

“We’re not going there directly–” She sighs, “I just need to see if there’s any sighting of Buck…” Kasey looks back at Chris with a fake, relaxed smile, “you said lions starts off spotty?” He nods. “I think that makes them even cooler. You know, Chris, I think you’re just like a lion – you’re really brave. The bravest person I know.”

“Really?”

“Yeah – I’m real glad your dad joined the 118, or I wouldn’t have met the coolest, bravest person out there.”

Christopher smiles brightly before burying his face into Kasey shoulder as he hugs her tightly, “I’m really glad too.”

Kasey was surprised by not stumbling across anyone else, she wonders if rescue has been close by and that everyone else has been rescued within the area, perhaps they just missed a rescue boat, but Kasey hasn’t heard no engine, or any noise expect their movements through the waters and the quiet chatter amongst the group.

She thought all was rescued till she heard a scream for help coming from a building to the right up ahead, someone was trapped under some of the damage from the buildings and trees and Kasey purses her lips as she looked around quickly, checking that the area they were in was fine for everyone to wait within for a few seconds whilst she goes to help the person.

Coming to a quick judgement, she hands Christopher over to TK and Christopher almost calls for her, begging her not to go, to not leave him, he lost Buck the same way too, he can’t lose Kasey too.

Kasey brushes back his hair as she stands in front of the pair. “Hey, kiddo, you’re gonna be okay. I’ll just need to help that person over there,” she jerks her thumb behind her shoulder to the person who was crying for help. “And then I’ll be right back.” And with that she rushed – as quickly as she could with the waist-high water – towards the one in danger.

“Hey! Hey! I’m here to help,” she offers out a hand, “I’m firefighter Strand of the 118, I just need you to tell me if anything hurts whilst I take this weight of you, okay?” She heard a chocked out okay from them before she began to push and pull a mixture of debris off from the stranded person.

The water was raising.

No – no, not again, please not again.

She was pushing it off quicker now, and the second her hand grabbed the person underneath and pulled them up to their feet, the third wave came, and Kasey could hope that this was the last one as she pushes the stranger to the wall and held the pair of them for coverage.

Kasey was no stranger to metaphoric drowning; she was so used to her heart anchoring her down. Weighing her down to the point that she could no longer move. She was so used to the cold feeling, the loneliness, the pain, it all felt normal for her now.

Kasey knew most would be familiar with the sense of metaphoric drowning, but most usually were able to break the surface, catch their breath, learn how to breathe again. Kasey thinks she’s been under for too long now, she doesn’t think she’ll ever meet the light that dances across the surface.

Kasey would like to think that TK was beginning to learn how to breathe again after New York, and Kasey is thankful for it as TK deserved to rest, he deserved his happiness, he was a good person, he didn’t deserve to drown.

On his way to Texas, Kasey recalls a private phone call between the pair, it was short as she was on her shift, but in the call, TK begs her to come to Texas, to fix their family, to mend it, to rebuild it, he tells her he would have never gotten better for himself, he only did for her, dad, and mum, and he tells her, with the quietest of voices that he needed her, he needed his sister, and he begs for her to come live with them in Texas, they can live out their dream on being firefighters together, but Kasey told him no, she couldn’t, she may have an alright relationship with their father and a strong relationship with TK, but she knew if she ever lived with them then it would just destroy her more, her chances of ever seeing the surface would vanish in a blink of an eye and she would just have to befriend the ocean floor.

She could live with TK, she knew she could, and hearing his broken voice over the phone made her want to drop everything and come and live with him, but her and their father didn’t see eye-to-eye all of the time, they were better than her and Gwen, but that wasn’t enough, that wasn’t enough, none of it was enough – despite wanting to be there for TK, she knew living with them wasn’t going to do her no good, so she declined.

She told him she’ll visit when she can and she’ll always be in LA if he needed, and she suppose she just has to continue watching him live his life through the photographs he sends, and the calls he makes, and she’ll just have to watch him from the distance like she always have.

Maybe in another life they could have gotten what they deserved as siblings.

But in this one they grew up together with different memories and experiences from their childhood. The pair were prodigy children but love for Kasey has always been contingent. Unlike TK, who was seen as the child who could do no wrong, Kasey was the burnout child, the troublemaker, and she was just too difficult for them.

In her childhood bedroom there were many sport trophies in which TK, Kit, and Vanessa watched her win (most of them), Owen tried to watch her win as many as he possibly could and Gwen…well, when she came it was clear she never wanted to be there.

Kasey wore the title of ‘disappointment’ with the most honour though. It was a common word that was thrown at her, the phase “you won’t be anything” followed closely behind. And despite her telling everyone she was fine, no one would truly understand the weight of her families words. TK heard the fights, but that didn’t mean he understood the way Kasey felt about their family, he didn’t have to live up to their family expectations, and he didn’t have to listen to the constant reminders from their mum of how much she has sacrificed to get him there, and that everyone is counting on him – no, TK never knew what that side of the family was like, that was what Kasey always saw and heard. He heard the proudness, but she heard the disappointments, the “you’re just not good enough.”

TK was never the one who threw up before every game in his sophomore year, no, that was Kasey. Kasey, the one who had to sit in the car listening to her mum scream at her if she lost, or worst, they just sat in silence. Whenever Gwen came to watch Kasey play, coincidentally Kasey’s team lost, it was as if she was their bad luck charm, or perhaps it was the way she made Kasey so nervous to the point she couldn’t concentrate properly because she wanted to show her mum that she was good, that she wasn’t such a screw up, that she was good at something.

But no, whenever she came to watch they lost and it was always Kasey’s fault, the one who was to be blamed, and the one who gets told she wasn’t worth the trophies in her room.

Kasey never had a childhood, but she made sure TK did, she sacrificed everything just to make sure he didn’t ever see the side of their family she saw, that he was happy, that he’ll never experience the feeling of drowning. And she would do it again. She would. She would go though all the pain all over again as long as it ends with TK being happy.

But he would never remember that it was her who had to make microwave meals in the first few years after the divorce because Gwen was always busy with Enzo. Once she overheard that Gwen couldn’t stand being in the same house as her daughter, so Kasey took it upon herself to stay in her room for as long as possible just for TK to have the chance to have family dinners again with Gwen and now her new boyfriend, Enzo, and then when they were all in bed Kasey would eat the leftovers or find something else to eat.

She couldn’t let TK live the way she did, even as a young child she knew this, TK deserved a childhood and Kasey was fine with eating at the dining table alone every night.

Gwen blames Kasey for her and Owen’s divorce, despite it being the weight of the 9/11 incident mixed with some other personal problems, no, Kasey was apparently a massive factor in their divorce and Kasey remembers her father telling her that she could come live with him if she wanted, she would’ve said yes if it wasn’t for TK, but there was TK and she couldn’t leave him, she couldn’t do that to him, so she decided to stay – for him.

TK will never know that it was his younger sister that raised him for most of his childhood as their dad was grieving and their mum…was well, Gwen. But to TK, Kasey knew he would always remember their mum being there, and she was, in a way, she was there for him at least whenever she wasn’t around.

But TK does remember, he does remember some it, like how she was the one who taught him how to swim, when it really should have been one of their parents, but no it was his twin sister, and my god was he thankful for her.

He always has been thankful for her, even if he could never recall the extent she went for him at times due to the way she protected and shield him for that side of their family. But despite all this, Kasey knew that TK would remember the times she failed him, that she was the one to blame for him to understand the feeling of metaphoric drowning, she was the one who believed to be blamed for him starting drugs, and she was the one who left him…and that’s the main thing he’s going to remember, he wont remember how she accepted the abandonment from her mother just so TK could still have a mum, and he will never remember how Kasey sacrificed her life to make sure TK was happy. No, he’ll never know because Kasey will never tell him, she doesn’t want him to feel guilty as there was no reason to. But Kasey would do it again, she was his sister, she was meant to protect him, she felt lighter when she saw her brother happy – he deserves it, he’s a good person.

But the thing Kasey knew she’ll never be able to handle was the fact that out of everything, TK will remember how she left the most, he’ll memorise every detail of that night, and be able to relive it all the time. He’ll remember how she left, and he’ll remember how, like every disappointed child, she hid in her own shadow and drowned.

But even though she left, even though she carried the belief that TK hated her, Kasey will never know how many times TK fell asleep in her bed after she left. Kasey would never know how much TK talked to himself in her room, pretending she was there, telling her ghost that he missed her and to come back home.

She will never know that despite how she left, despite the fights, despite the disagreements, all TK ever wanted was for his little sister to come back.

Kasey never knew that even though he never responded, he kept every letter she ever sent him in those years they spent not seeing each other, in a shoebox under his bed, and how he would pull that shoebox out and re-read every letter that he was ever given by her, he even put in the letters he got from her throughout the years, even birthday cards, and he would read them all every night that she spent out at war.

All TK ever wanted was his little sister.

Now, she was under the water again, fighting against the current, and her eyes felt heavy, but she continued to fight. So fought like a maniac as she struggled to regain control, thrashing until her limbs gave out and the light above the surface drifted away, leaving her numb in the darkness. But even then, even when her body felt like giving up, she fought even more.

Finally, her face broke the surface, even if it was just for a second, she made sure to look around, the stranger wasn’t there no longer, the group wasn’t there, and nor was TK or Christopher. Kasey knew she was about to lose air again, she knew she was going to go under again, and Kasey knew she should focus on trying to get some air back into her lungs, but she couldn’t.

She couldn’t because how can someone catch another breath when all the air has just left your lungs the moment you realise two of the people you care most about wasn’t there?

TK and Christopher was no longer with her.

But somehow she gasped for her last breath of air before the icy-cold water flooded in; her throat burned as if a thousand needles had been plunged into it. But her gasp wasn’t truly her last breath, it was really her last scream as she called their names, but the heavy blanket around her swallowed that up and dulled her senses before embracing her into another tight, warm, suffocating hug.

Kasey was growing tired, she wanted to become a victim to the hug and just fall further into it.

Perhaps this is the peace Trey told her about, that you’ll truly feel all the pain leave your body and nothingness will fill your body as you just fall into the embrace that Poseidon gives you. You feel warmth from his sandy, bubbly, fingers, and you’ll feel yourself nodding along to him questioning you if you were ready to leave.

But at that question, Kasey found herself shaking her head, eyes still squeezed shut, but she attempted to wake her body up, even if it’s just for a few minutes just so she could swim up to the surface again. Because maybe Trey found comfort within Poseidon hold, but she didn’t, she wasn’t ready to go, not yet, and even if she was, she just couldn’t leave, not when TK and Chris needed her.

So she fought her way back to the surface with two things on her mind. She thought of TK. And she thought of Christopher. And that alone was enough for her to continue to fight.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“Hey – Hey, I’m looking for a TK – Tyler Kennedy Strand, and Evan Buckley and Christopher Diaz.” Kasey’s strained voice begs the woman in scrubs that stood in front of her. The tips of Kasey’s fingers were bloody, and she lightly touches one of the woman’s arms, body flinching at the realisation of what she just done.

The lady looks Kasey over with the bottom of her lip tucked in between her teeth. Kasey didn’t look so good, not with the cuts over her face and the blood-soaked t-shirt she was wearing. She questioned if Kasey even realised how badly injured she was, but perhaps the shirt being dark has hidden the truth from her and she was just now running on pure adrenaline. But Kasey knew, she knew how badly hurt she was, but she wasn’t going to let herself get looked at until she knew those people were safe, that they were alright.

Kasey takes a nervous step back at the look of worry the woman gave her.

“Ma’am you need to see–”

“Are they here?” Kasey stuttered out, hand moving to clutch her side as she felt a sudden rush of pain run through her as she impatiently waited for the woman to skim through the pages of her clipboard.

She shakes her head. “You may wanna check over there at the black tent.”

Kasey’s eyes shifts to look over the woman’s shoulder, gulping nervously.

“But we need to check you–”

“Isn’t that the–”

“The morgue.” Kasey’s unfinished question echoes through her ears, through her mind, through her heart for a little too long. She feels a sudden shakiness in her hand, and her legs began to feel weak, and Kasey thinks her vision is going, but none of that mattered, not with the haunting hum that runs through her body; her soul.

Kasey felt like she was drowning again, felt like she was wrapped in the currents once again. Her breathing halted and her throat twisted and squeezed every word she thought of.

Her stomach turned at the thought.

She gags at the sight of it, at the word of it, and at the thought of it.

Morgue.

Just that word made her feel like she was under again, that the bile in her mouth was the salt water that tried to suffocate her, and death still lingered at the back of her mind as she passed the woman, ignoring her calls for someone to come and help the injured woman.

Kasey paused a few meters away from the black tent.

She failed them.

She’s the reason that they could possibly be–

Kasey couldn’t save them.

With her blood-stained hands, she clasps them together and presses against her stomach where she’s sure her heart has fallen into.

It’s impossible. They couldn’t be dead – not her brother, her best friend, and not her–

She wasn’t there, she should’ve been there, she shouldn’t have left them, she should stayed.

She should’ve stayed.

She takes a step forward. And another. And another. She thinks she’s thirteen and half steps away from the tent before her feet stop moving, She just stands there staring at it.

“Kasey?” A voice pulls her out, and tiredly she turns to the call, “Kasey!” It was no longer a questioning tone, it was more a tone of worry, and her eyes were fluttering shut but the feeling of cold hands on her cheeks awoke her and she was now welcomed by the eyes of someone she’s known from childhood – TK. TK is here, TK’s alive and – oh, she looks over her shoulder to see her team staring at her worriedly as they stand around a tired-looking Buck with cuts across his face and is his hand bleeding? But Buck is alive too and–

“Chris? Where is he? I lost you – I wasn’t good–” Eddie feels Chris push him away slightly from the hold he was in before turning around and stumbling his way towards Kasey who rushes forwards, kneeling on the ground just to hold him.

She ignored all the pain that came with the movements.

“I’m sorry – I’m so sorry – I shouldn’t have left you – I should have been there – I should have been – I’m not going again, I’ll–” She stops when she fells Christopher hold onto her even tighter, it wasn’t like the time before when she was holding him as they walked through the water, he didn’t hold her like was scared she would disappear, he held her in the way one would hold a loved one once they returned home safe. Chris tucks his face more into the crook of Kasey’s neck and mumbles out a tired but relieved, “you’re okay.” And maybe the hug was painful, but it was worth it, it was worth it cause she has her little Diaz in her arms again and her lips pressed against his cheek, giving it a feather light kiss like a way a mother would kiss their child in comfort after they had a nightmare. “I’m so sorry,” she murmurs, voice hitching around the lump in her throat. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you, kiddo.”

Kasey remains kneeling on the concreate as she tucks a cold and damp Christopher closer to her chest. She rests her forehead against his cheek as she just breaths in the smell of the salt water that lingers on the curls of his hair. “I’m sorry – I’m so sorry – I didn’t – I–” Her voice shakes in distraught, but she is interrupted by Christopher little voice.

“You’re okay now kid, we’ve got you.” He mimics a phase he often hears around, and Kasey indeed felt like she will be okay as she holds him in her arms.

She holds him a little longer before she ushers him to go hold Buck for a bit more as she notices Eddie standing near, face unreadable as he stares at the pair. TK was now perched on a rock as he finally caught his breath, asking Bobby if he could borrow his phone to ring his dad.

Christopher moves towards Buck and Kasey moves to stand, grimacing slightly as she did so.

“Eds–” But the look on Eddie’s face cuts her off as he shakes his head before he gently pulls her in closer by her right wrist. His eyes searches her up and down, lingering slightly longer on her stomach. “I’m fine,” she utters, and Eddie doesn’t believe it, but he just wants to feel her, touch her, just do something to rest his racing mind and make himself believe that she is real, that she is alive.

He thought he lost both her and his son tonight, and he just finished holding his son and now he’s got to hold Kasey whilst Buck now holds Christopher to assure his mind that they’re fine – that they will be okay eventually.

But Kasey didn’t return for nearly fifteen minutes after TK and Chris, and as the time ticked the more his mind tried to convince him that Kasey truly was dead.

But she wasn’t, she was standing in front of him and all he wants to do is hold her and never let het go. All he wants to do is take both her and Christopher home and watch some stupid show on the TV as he just holds his son and best friend…

And now Eddie’s hand slides up the back of Kasey’s neck, her damp, knotted hair falling over it as his thumbs strokes the base of her head softly.

Kasey was here, Kasey was fine, and she was real.

His family was okay and now the one who held his heart in her palms was right in front of him, and without a thought crossing his mind his forehead rests against hers and their eyes fall shut as they embraced this, and now she was being pulled into his chest and her arms were wrapping round him, and oh god was Kasey happy that something other than the ocean was gripping her, holding her – protecting her.

Kasey didn’t think much of it either as his lips brushed the top of her head.

Her rocks them side-to-side and he feels a smaller body wrapping round his waist before he ushers the two of them to kneel to the ground, then he pulls Christopher into their hug. And for a small moment, they seemed like a family who just been caught in a natural disaster, that he was the relief husband that his wife and son has returned back to him, and sometimes that’s what it felt like, and right now it did feel like it, despite the natural disaster, Eddie couldn’t help but think about it.

His fingers grip onto them for dear life and he’s now mumbling that their okay, that he’s got them now, and they will be okay.

Buck was back on the phone (Athena’s phone) with Maddie whilst Hen and Chimney ushered him and TK (TK now finally getting ahold of Owen) into a tent to get checked out, Buck questioned about Kasey and Christopher and they insist that they’ll be okay, that Eddie’s got them now, and they will be just fine.

Kasey was sobbing now, she tried to hold it back, but feeling the safety around her she began to sob, and she knew Christopher was crying too as she felt his body shake in her arm and Eddie was certain he had tears quietly running down his own cheeks, but he didn’t bring much notice to it as he took care of the two in his arms.

Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever felt this stress, not till he experienced the last seventeen minutes where he found a badly-looking Buck with his son’s glasses telling him that he lost Christopher, to Christopher returning in the arms of TK Strand, only to face TK’s panic as he begs Eddie to tell him that Kasey was here and that she was okay, to him saying he hasn’t seen her, to thinking she was dead, until now holding her and Christopher in his arms as he thanks the universe for returning them all back alive.

Bobby takes a step forwards with a doctor next to him along with the worried woman in scrubs who Kasey met first. He clears his throat, hating to break it all up, but it only just came to his attention of how hurt Kasey seemed, and she needs to urgently be looked at.

“Eddie,” his voice is quiet to not alarm anyone, “Eddie, we’ve got to check them out, please.”

Eddie nods as he slowly lets them go. He raises to his feet and picks Christopher up with one arm. Christopher’s shattered body wrapped round Eddie’s left side, his head resting against his shoulder whilst Eddie moved to stand on one of Kasey’s side whilst Bobby came to assist the other side, they both caught her as she stumbled to stand, the pain overtaking her once again, and her mind finally was catching up with the wounds across her body.

“Can you stand?” Eddie asked.

Kasey nodded shakily, trying to pull herself up onto her feet. Just as soon as she managed to get upright, her knees buckled.

Eddie and Bobby catches her before she fell back to the ground, helping Kasey to stand back up. “S-sorry,” she stutters “I-I-I–”

“It’s okay, we’ve got you.”

When they entered the medical tent, Eddie insisted to be the one to look after Kasey whilst Buck took Christopher after whining softly that he needs to hold the kid again, and Eddie allowed him too, knowing he’ll be safe as Buck holds him whilst Chimney moves to check Christopher over.

Kasey unconsciously rested her head against the top of his as he kneeled slightly in front of her to gain access to her abdominal area. Her shirt was pushed up whilst Eddie gently disinfected the area, the wounds weren’t as bad as he thought they be, the bleeding had came to a stop a while ago he believes, and it was a good sign to see that she wouldn’t be needing any stitches either.

Eddie’s finger dances across the cleaned, and freshly bandaged wounds, his finger pauses at a scar just above the beginning of the white bandage, and he ponders over it, but he says nothing of it when Bobby taps his shoulder, presenting a clean shirt that he must have found.

“We’ll have fresher clothes at mine for her to get into after she showers.” Bobby smiles softly and Eddie responds with his own small smile as he nods, but as he turns to face Kasey again his smile faltered slightly as reality struck him with the fact that Kasey wouldn’t be coming home with him and Christopher.

For most of time, Christopher stuck with either Buck or TK, only coming over when he see’s Kasey slightly more awake than before, drinking some water as she winces every now and then as Eddie daps a cloth around her face to clean the cuts there. He listens to his father quietly apologise to her, and he watches as Kasey shakes her head at it every time.

Chris brings himself closer to them, he was in different clothes now from the box Bobby searched through, and so was Buck and TK, all their old stuffs were stuffed in one pile by Athena as she spoke quietly with Bobby of how she is becoming a pro at washing due to the amount of blood and dirt she has taken out of clothes that belonged to him or their two older kids that go by the name of Buck and Kasey, and a few more clothes won’t be a hassle either, she’s just glad that they’re all okay.

His head falls onto his dad’s shoulder as he looks up at Kasey with a smile.

“Hey my little lion,” Kasey teased, hand reaching out to run through his curls as she eyes his scrunched up hand, “you doing okay, kiddo?” He nods before holding his hand out to her, presenting her with a collection of plasters with a small frown.

“They didn’t have any Spider-Man ones,” Kasey gently takes the plasters out from his hands as she looks at them. “Only Scooby Doo ones.”

Kasey gasps in small excitement, “well that’s good!” She says with a grin, but Eddie could see the tiredness behind it. “I love Scooby Doo!”

“Me too,” Christopher states with a bubble of laughter.

“Would you like to put the plasters on Kasey?” Eddie questioned as he took in the sight of the two, coming to a quick understanding that they must have talked about plasters when they found one another. Christopher nods and Eddie stands himself up better before bending down to pick his son up and places him down next to Kasey on the hospital bed.

Kasey turns her head to face Christopher, hand palm-up with the plasters laying in them for him to take, and he does so very gently as he rips the white pieces off from them before placing them gently over Kasey’s face to hide the cuts.

“Perhaps you’ll become Doctor Diaz in the future,” Kasey mutters as she studies his movements. “Think I’ll be least afraid of hospitals if I knew I’ve got the best and bravest doctor ever!”

As Bobby had same final words with the doctor, he brings himself towards the trio after confirming that Doctor Diaz has finished with placing Scooby Doo plasters on his patient’s face to tell them it be best if they all go home and clean themselves up and to rest.

(There was even a soft mention that Bear is at home waiting on her return).

The group that become bigger without Eddie and Kasey’s realisation ushered their last goodbyes, making sure everyone will be alright for the night, Karen kisses them all on the cheek, wishing them a better and restful evening, she gave Kasey a teasing squeeze on her cheeks before patting it softly, then when she came to Eddie she gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, but as she leaves she gives his bicep a soft squeeze as she throws him a comforting and knowing look and he watches as her eyes shift to Kasey who has now began to pull herself off the bed.

Eddie quickly comes to her aid, helping her to slide off the medical bed much easier and she thanks him, and then she tells the Diaz’s boys how they’re the best doctors she has ever had, and that she’s feeling much better now. Eddie knew she wasn’t, but he also knew that comment was more aimed at his son than to him. Kasey gives another long-lasting hug to Christopher, telling him that she will try and see him the next day and she lays a kiss to his cheek and says that if he or his dad needs anything then give her a ring and she will come.

Eddie shakes his head as he stands behind the pair, a smile tugging at his lips as he watches them, and Christopher even leans up to kiss the bandage across her nose as he wishes her a goodnight before making his way to Buck and TK who were both whining next to Vanessa and Kit (who Kasey didn’t even notice turning up) as they begged to hold Christopher again.

Kasey moves to stand with Eddie’s help and Kasey says nothing as she wraps her arms round his waist, tucking her face into his chest as she just closes her eyes. “You should go,” her voice was raspy now but Eddie found it kinda cute if he forgot the reasoning behind it. “You should go and get yourself and Chris home.”

Eddie knows he should but he also wishes Kasey was coming with them, wishing she was coming home with them to clean up and rest there, and they would turn on some shitty show as they lay on the couch to watch it, all nibbling on something easy to fill their stomachs and Chris would fall asleep first, his eyes falling shut then Eddie would feel a heavy weight on his left shoulder. He then would promise Kasey that he’ll be back as he takes Christopher to bed, tucking him in and leaving the night-light on in his bedroom before he makes his way back to Kasey, who was watching them before but now her eyes were closed and Eddie would smile softly at the sight of her, watching as she finally gains some sleep before he tucks his arms under her body and lifts her up and–

Kasey was now leaving the embrace and gives him a small smile before she makes her way to Athena who wraps her up tightly whilst whispering words of how good a nice warm shower will be for her and TK and that the heating will be on, and she is sure that hot chocolate will be made tonight too.

And then everyone was leaving, out of the medical tents and Chris was situated on Eddie’s hip once Buck and TK finally let him go, Kit and Chimney were up front, helping Buck walk with Maddie following closely behind, then there was Hen and Karen, and then Bobby (who was carrying the dirty clothes) and Vanessa with Athena and Kasey behind, her arm was wrapped motherly round her waist as she began to question Kasey that all of her weight better be on her (Athena) and she better not be taking any of it, but Kasey wasn’t listening much as her head turns to look over her shoulder at the two Diaz’s and all she does was smile at them.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

Eddie pushes himself off the sofa as he watches some shitty show on the television, Christopher was in bed now after having a quick bath and eating something before being tackled in hugs and comforting words from his father. Eddie wasn’t expecting anything else for the evening, especially not a knock at his door at this time of night or even from what has happened all day.

And he sure wasn’t expecting to see a clean but still tired Kasey (still covered in her bandages, but they were changed to plain brown ones after her shower, at Athena’s recommendation) at his door. He looks out at the road to see headlights on, and they gave him a quick blink and he was quick to recognise it being Bobby. He then watches the car drive off before his eyes move back to the women in front of him, who gives him a small, nervous, smile.

“Can I stay here for tonight, please,” her voice was still slightly scratchy, and she swing her arms at her sides as she gazes at Eddie and all he could do was nod as he holds back his smile from growing anymore at the realisation of why she was here.

No wonder Bobby drove off without Eddie giving an answer as he knew he would say yes to Kasey. Eddie even wondered if Bobby knew how much both Christopher and Eddie wished for her to come home with them.

“Yeah – yeah, of course,” he says and at his words Kasey falls forwards, falling into his open arms that were quick to catch her. Her forehead rests against his shoulder and she rounds her tired arms around his waist whilst he brings her into a tighter embrace.

In his hold, Kasey felt saved.

They stay standing in the doorway, still embracing one another, and Eddie wondered how long they be there for, but he didn’t really mind, not as long as he had her in his arms. It was silent between the pair; well it was until Kasey spoke up again with a question Eddie was truly not expecting tonight.

“Can I get Chris’ name tattooed on me?” Kasey pulls back slightly to look at Eddie’s face, but all she saw was his knitted brows and eyes that burnt with confusion. “I know it’s crazy – we have no relation – like he isn’t even mine or he, well, he isn’t mine anything. But he was so brave Eddie, and I want to carry some of his bravery around – it–it doesn’t make any sense, forget it.” She takes a quick pause. “But he means the world to me Eddie, really, you’ve got the best kid ever, you know? And I just want to honour him more, and just carry something of him around with me everywhere I go so when I do get scared, I’ll know that Chris would want me to be brave and …I just – I care a lot about your son, and you, my god, you two mean absolutely everything to me, I don’t think you understand how important the pair of you are to me and–”

She stops with the feeling of his lips touching the top of her head.

She blinks.

“I think,” he begins as he gazes at her, eyes full of softness, “I think Christopher would really like that,” the corner of his lip tugs up even more now, “I really like the idea too. It’s sweet.”

“Really?” Kasey scrunches her nose slightly, the plaster crumpling up as she does so. “You can say no if you want.”

Eddie shakes his head. “You can get his name tattooed, I don’t mind, but thank you for asking me though.”

Kasey blinks again cause why wouldn’t she ask for his permission? “Yeah – yeah, er, always…”

“When do you want to get it done?” He questions next as they still stood in his doorway.

“Tomorrow,” she instantly says. “I’m going to get TK’s name tattooed on me too, already asked for his permission,” she ranted slightly, “do you want to come with?” Then there was a moment of silence before she shakes her head. “Wait, no, you’ll be busy, it was stupid to ask, you will probably be working or with Chris and–”

His hand finds her, intertwining their fingers together as he offers her a soft squeeze. “I don’t have a shift tomorrow,” he states once he notices that his action has stopped her panicking rant, her eyes moves to look down at their joint up hands. “Chris will be at his Abuela’s, so I’ll come with you.”

And then he leans forwards, lays another kiss on her forehead, but his lips linger by her skin, and she swears she feels him smiling when she squeezes his hand in return.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

A/N: Kit Prescott has been changed to Reiky De Valk A/N.2: Taglist found in reblog!

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blueathens · 2 years

Text

Get On Like A House On Fire - Agape

ACT 2, CHAPTER 5

SONG: The Village by Wrabel QUOTE: ‘...But maybe one day, she won’t ever get back up.’

A/N: Not proofread or edited.

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

“So you didn’t want to teach the kids the wonders of being a firefighter?” Hen questioned Kasey as they sat at the back of the fire truck, headphones securely on their heads whilst the rest of the team looked between Hen and Kasey.

“Bobby purposely made sure I wasn’t on the rota for that time,” shrugs Kasey.

Eddie furrows his brows. “But aren’t you good with children?”

Bobby begins to chuckle. Hard. Almost out of character laugher. And Kasey would feel offended if she thought he was laughing at the idea of Kasey being good with children. But she knew he wasn’t laughing at that as the entire team knew she was good with youngsters.

If she wasn’t, then why would they usually make her be the firefighter to comfort the frightened kids on scene?

But the reasoning for Bobby’s laughter still made Kasey sink in her seat, pouting like a toddler as she huffed slightly.

Hen gave Kasey a teasing smile as she already knew what Bobby was thinking – it was the reason she asked the question in the first place.

Hen let out a small laugh.

“Last time I was allowed to do that,” Kasey begin, sending a small glare at the older firefighters for finding such humour in this mockery, “I may or may not have accidently sprayed all the children with the hose.”

Eddie and Buck’s eyebrows fly up.

“Excuse me?”

Kasey groans and sinks more in her seat, hands covering her face as she tried to hide the pink tint in her cheeks. “Please don’t make me repeat it.”

“I just don’t understand how someone can accidently–”

“Oh! Look!” Kasey interrupted, sitting up in her seat as she pointed at the neighbourhood that Chimney told the team to head towards. “Fire! We should go and put it out.”

“It’s almost like that’s our job,” Buck rolled his eyes at the sight of his best friend shooting a pointed glare his way.

“Dispatch, this is Captain 118.” Bobby states in his radio. “We’re at Doheny Park. Multiple residential structure fires. Send everything you can.”

“Copy that, 118.” Josh replies. “I’m trying to find additional resources for you, but you might be on your own for the next 15-20 minutes.”

“Copy that.”

“Shit, this is bad.” Commented Kasey as she gazes out her window, teeth digging into her bottom lip whilst her fingers clenched round her helmet that sat in her lap.

A man rushes towards the truck the moment they stopped, the 118 began to climb out to see him waving his arms in desperation and slamming a hand against the windscreen “Help! Help! You got to help!”

“Cap!”

“My son! He’s trapped upstairs!” He pointed towards his house that was burning down fast.

“Do you know where? Which room?”

“No, no, I haven’t seen him.”

Kasey moved to stand next to Eddie as the pair squinted in the direction of the house, searching windows to try and find any movements.

Eddie saw him first.

“Cap. I see him!” He points towards the window where a small boy waving his hands was. “Upstairs window!”

There was a much larger explosion, followed closely behind desperate yells from the man and young woman who tried to run towards the burning house, but was stopped by Kasey and Eddie who didn’t allow them to go any closer.

“Sir! Sir! Two!”

“All right. Get the ladder up to the house.” Bobby instructed Buck who dashed off to follow his instructions.

“I’ll check the driver, Cap!” Hen exclaims.

“My son is up there!” The man yelled in Kasey’s face who kept her hands on his arms, guiding him a bit further away from the burning house as she nodded to show her understanding.

“I know, sir. But if you go in there you will just put both you and your son in even more danger,” Kasey reasoned with him. “Let us do our jobs and we can bring him out safely.”

“You gotta save him!”

“We will. We will.” Eddie says as he looks over at the man who was still fearfully yelling into Kasey’s face whilst she just continued to professionally comfort and guide him away from being in more danger.

He then walks up towards Bobby whilst Kasey tried to handle the two panicked family members who continued to yell at her as if she had all the answers, but Kasey didn’t, all she could tell them was that they will get the son out, that’s all she could say as that was all she knew.

Kasey then scrunched her face up when she heard Eddie alerting Bobby that they didn’t have enough water to put out the fire, and this only made the family panic more as they asked her questions on how can she save the son if they don’t even have enough water?

Kasey wished she was elsewhere, she wished she didn’t have to try to think of barely-there-answers for the family who has just overheard some terrible news, and she knew that repeating herself wasn’t going to convince them that everything was going to be okay.

Buck, noticing his best friend’s silent panicked state, made his way over, gently guiding the family members much further away so they were no longer in the teams way or screaming in Kasey’s face. Strand let out a sigh, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds as she tried to calm her fast but yet tired heart rate down.

She believed it was going much faster than it should usually go, and she knew that could be due to the lack of sleep. Her body wasn’t functioning properly. She wasn’t functioning properly. And all she wanted was to go to rest for a bit, let the ground swallow her up and just let her body rest.

But she couldn’t.

She had a panicked family pacing a few meters away from her and a son trapped in the burning house in front of her. She had Eddie and Bobby talking about the water issue a few steps away from her and then she had her anxious self who couldn’t fully assimilate what was going around herself at times.

The only thing she could do was force herself to stay awake and to calm down as she continued her job.

“Strand!” Bobby’s voice yell and Kasey turns to look at her Captain. “Keep everyone back, okay? And help anyone who has any injuries.”

“Copy that,” she nods as she went began to gather a few other firefighters to aid her in her task, completely not noticing the quick look of worry that Bobby sent her way as he noticed the shake in her right hand.

The only time she looked back at the house was when she heard metal grinding, and she saw the ladder collapse and Buck falling, catching himself on the collapsed half of the ladder but it didn’t stop the blood-crawling scream that emitted from his best friend.

“Buck!”

Every ounce of Kasey wanted to run towards Buck and help him, but she couldn’t as she was holding a cloth against the side of a woman’s head to try and ease the bleeding whilst the firefighter next to her prepared a bandage.

Eddie then begins to climb the drainpipe.

“Eddie!”

He ignores his teams calls.

“He’s fucking insane.” Kasey mutters as she raises from the kneeling position she once was in to go and find another person who may need her help, whilst her eyes stayed glued onto Eddie’s climbing figure. “Fucking insane. Who does he think he is? Firefighter Romeo?”

Kasey knew though that Eddie was doing the right thing, well the Kasey thing. If Kasey was able to initiate an idea, it probably would become a similar idea of what Eddie was doing right now.

'I’ve been a bad influence on him,' Kasey thought with a shake of her head before she crouched down to look at a casualties hand.

“I feel like if either Kasey or me did something like that, you would yell at us,” Buck says and Bobby turns his head to look at him, giving him a look that told Buck that his statement was correct.

“Thought your boy was going to become Santa Clause for a moment there,” the man said as he watched the scene in front of him whilst Kasey cleaned up his hand. “But instead he become James Bond and crashed through the window like he does it every Tuesday evening.”

Kasey hums. “He prefers films of romance than action films,” Kasey looks up with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes and with her left index she pressed it against her lips to usher him to be quiet as she threw him a playful wink. “But don’t tell him I told you that.”

“Yeah,” she looks over her shoulder. “Let me know when he comes out the house so I can yell at him for his stupidity,” her eyes shifts down to the ground. “Then I’ll give him his stupid hug.”

“How kind of you.” The man leans his head back against the tree, squeezing his eyes shut when he hears a curse leaving Kasey’s lips as she notices the wound in his leg. He opens them when he hears the comforting sound of her reassuring that it’s nothing bad and that she be able to quickly sort it out.

“I think,” the man smiles, shaking his head to himself before smiling bigger when he notices Kasey looking at him again, “I think the man would much rather a kiss.”

Kasey shook her head, sputtering out words as she quickly tried to deny the everything the man just suggested. “Oh no, no, I got – I’m seeing someone, and he’s got this sleeping arrangement with his wife, who isn’t his wife anymore, but she kinda is and – it’s complicated.”

The man didn’t look too convinced.

“Besides we’re just friends.”

“I always said the same thing about my wife,” the man chuckles, a sincere smile tugging at his lips at the thought of his wife. “It wall bullshit though, but we never said anything till much later on because we were scared. But everyone knew, even us eventually, but you can’t be friends with someone who looks at you as if you’re the reason the world has eight wonders.

Kasey laughs, “there’s only seven wonders of the world.”

“Not when the person you look at is the eighth.” He utters. “For me, my wife is the eighth wonder of the world. For you, it’s that James Bond wannabe, and for him, it’s you. You’re his eighth world wonder.”

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Kasey pokes her tongue against the inside of her cheek whilst she finally wraps a bandage around his knee. “One of those people who describes love to a metaphor.”

“You’ve never been in love, have you?”

“It’s not something I understand.”

“You will eventually.” The guy looks towards the house. “But if I was you, I wouldn’t wait for too long. You don’t want your something good to be taken from you. That another reason why it took a while for me to get with my wife.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Okay,” he hums, “but don’t do anything stupid because you’ll regret it.”

Kasey just nods, before standing up as another firefighter took over to guide the man towards the back of their ambulance along with a few other people who awaited for more to show up.

“The smoke of the fire must be getting to his head,” Kasey mutters to herself as she begins to make her way back towards Buck and Bobby to question them on Eddie’s status, but she stumbled back as she watched in horror as another explosion within the house went off.

The guy next to her screamed for his son, whilst Kasey called for her friend.

“Cap!” Kasey rushed over towards Bobby. “Let me go in there – let me help Eddie – I need to help–”

“No, no, no,” Buck gently pushes Kasey to the side, as he makes his way round the fire truck. “You’re body isn’t healthy enough for a situation like that, Kas. I’ll do i–”

Bobby raises a hand in the air. “No. Wait.”

Kasey spins on her heels at the sound of an aeroplane’s engine roaring, and it sounded close too, she glances round to see people looking in the sky with confused expressions, but with a quick shake to her head to wake her mind up, she quickly ushered them elsewhere, telling them that they need to get cover.

Bobby overheard Kasey and yelled, “incoming! Everybody, take cover!”

Kasey sent a worried look towards the house before being dragged down to the ground by Buck who jumped down from the fire truck to get the pair of them to crawl under it.

His hand instantly grabs her, squeezing it to try and let her tired body know that everyone would be okay, but Buck watched Kasey’s tired eyes flutter and he wondered if Kasey was truly going to be okay after all of this, because looking at her now, it looks like she could past out from extreme exhaustion in any minute, and it made Buck wonder how she has been hiding this for so long.

“Holy shit,” Buck heard his friend mutter next to him, “that’s a shit ton of water.”

Buck didn’t reply as he continued to stare at the side of her face with worry, ignoring as the water fell above them. It was easy to ignore when he allowed his mind to finally settle on his friend who special talent was hiding all this pain.

She needed sleep.

And after this Buck knew he was going to wrap her up and make her into a blanket burrito and stay with her until she fell asleep.

Buck snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Kasey pull herself out from under the truck, standing onto her feet as she did a little shake – Buck didn’t know if this was her way of keeping her body to stay awake, or if it was just a random Kasey action.

She walked towards the house, anxiously waiting for any movements or a response back over the radio after Bobby asked if he could hear them. Her hands were shaking, but she hide that by patting the front of her thighs.

The front door was kicked to be opened further, and Eddie walks out with the boy in his arms, Kasey calls for his name as if it was a pray. She rushed towards him and watched as he gently laid the child down onto the ground.

The moment she heard the boy gasp, Kasey span and punched Eddie gently in the chest, before she brought him into a tight hug.

Her arms were round his neck, and his easily found comfort round her waist as he too held her closely. He gently swayed as he just breathed in the moment of Kasey hugging him.

“You’re okay,” she whispers. “Your James Bond arse is okay.”

“My what?” Eddie chuckles, frowning slightly when he feels Kasey pulling away from the hug before replacing his frown with a small smile as he took in the stupidly adorable smile she had on her face.

“Nothing,” she says, and Eddie shakes his head before wrapping his arm around her shoulder, bringing her close into his side.

“I really want some pizza after all of this.”

Kasey hums, “you deserve it.”

“You want to come back to mine for some?”

“Won’t Shannon be there?” She asks, she didn’t want to intervene with anything, and she had this feeling that the woman didn’t like her very much, despite the pair having any actual conversation between one another.

“No,” Eddie shakes his head, “just me and Christopher.”

“Ah,” Kasey wraps her own arm around her waist as she rested against the man a little more comfortably, “my favourite Diaz.”

“I’m ignoring you said that.”

“You always do.”

Buck pats Eddie on the back as he stands on the other side of him. “What was the Spider-Man routine.”

Eddie closes his eyes for a second. “I don’t know. I just did it. And prayed a lot.”

Bobby then copies Buck’s actions, “yeah, it looks like someone was listening.”

Buck looked at Kasey, eyebrow raising as he nodded his head off to the side, gesturing for her to come with him as he obviously wanted to say something. She slipped out from Eddie’s hold and made her way towards Buck who sat himself down on a patch of grass under a tree.

“You alright?” Kasey questioned as she sat herself down next to him.

“You know,” he turns to look at Kasey, his eyes no longer on the conscious kid. He needed Kasey to hear his words, to let her know that she can trust him, that he was there for her. “You’re kind of my comfort person.”

Her face scrunches up as she lets out a breathless laugh.

“You’re that one person who just makes me feel better no matter what.” He bumps her shoulder. “Like I could be having the worst day ever, but I could just look at you and I would feel okay. And I would be able to tell you anything because I know you wouldn’t judge me.” Buck pauses. “You’re my best friend and I–”

“You’re kind of my comfort person too, Buck.” Was all Kasey responded with and she knew that was something Buck needed to hear, she knew it was a way to keep him at bay before he would combust with worry over her – she knew this was his way to tell her he was there.

And she knew, but she didn’t know if she actually wanted people to help her – she didn’t feel broken, she didn’t feel like she needed to be fixed…she was just tied.

And what else should she say? That she has a fear of going back to her apartment? That would be ridiculous because who would be afraid of their own house?

Kasey felt ridiculous, but she hid it behind a smile and told her friends – her family – that she was okay, and Kasey was sure that the more she says it, the more she would be able to pretend she was.

And to her, she was okay.

She’s always been okay because she’s Kasey Strand.

She always gets back up.

...But maybe one day, she won’t ever get back up.

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blueathens · 2 years

Text

Dear Princess - Agape Series

ACT TWO, SCENE TWO

Song: Can You Hold Me by NF Quote: Bobby wished he knew what was going on in her head, but just like everyone else, he knew he wasn't as strong as Kasey.

A/N: Not read through, or edited. A/N 2: This piece has been in my drafts for a while, so I think it was a little rushed, but it's more of a filler chapter in a way

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

Dear Princess,

I miss you, but you scared me the last time we saw one another. You scared me. Your eyes scared me because I saw the pain I caused you. You became a ghost, you become something of my own imagination. Kasey, princess, you already were dead before I did anything to you that night, I was just helping to remove all that pain you carried.

But I also helped to just simply get rid of you because you may be too good for me, but that doesn't mean someone else can have you. You're still mine. Always will be mine.

I own you now princess.

You won't know it yet, but I'm apart of you now princess – every thought, every word, everything you do will be because of me – I've broken your little mind and I now control it.

And trust me, whatever I do, won't be pretty.

You'll never going to be able to get rid of me Kasey, I'm always going to be here, always going to be lurking in the shadows, always knowing everything you're doing. But I need you to know that everything I do, everything I've done, is out of love. Kasey I love you and I will never not love you

Love from the guy who will love you the most,

Jordan

Kasey didn't know how long she was sat in her car for, she didn't know even know how long she was staring at that letter for. But she realised she missed Christmas when a message came through her phone, making it ring and vibrate on the seat next to her.

She reaches over, seeing the time was 10am, and below the time was many notifications, but the one on the top was the one that pulled her out from her thoughts.

Owen: Just wanted to tell you that I've finished my last round of immunotherapy and that my blood work and pulmonary function tests looks good. My tumour has been reduced by 73% too. Hope you had an amazing Christmas and hope I see you again soon x

Kasey sniffles, throwing her phone back to the seat and threw her head back onto the pillow, eyes squeezing shut as her hands crumbled up the letter and threw that somewhere in her car. And with a little tired sob, her hands moved to press against her eyes as she tried to mentally prepare herself for work in half an hour.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"Sh-shark! Shark! A man's been attacked by a shark!"

"What beach are you on ma'am?"

"We're not on the beach! We're on the freeway!"

"LAFD. Make room!" Bobby yelled as him and his team walked through the makeshift path that the crowd of people have created.

"What the hell," both Buck and Kasey said, jaw's dropping at the sight of a shark gripping onto a man's arm. A few people were around the shark, trying to tug it off the man, but none of their efforts were doing anything for the man with the shark eating his arm.

"Tiger shark." A woman claimed with struggle. "We were transporting her for release into the wild. Truck jackknifed."

"Jaws!" Bobby yelled.

"Wrong type of shark, Cap." Kasey turned to look at him. "Jaws was a Great-White–" she trails off once she noticed the look of disbelief on her Captain's face. "Oh...right...right...get those Jaws...not –Jaws! Someone get this man some Jaws!" Kasey span on her heel to look at some of the 118 that stood behind her.

"I'm on it!" Eddie calls, running back to the fire truck to grab the piece of equipment the crew needed.

Kasey span around to look at the man who was in agony.

"Hey, at least you'll get a cool scar from this."

"Or no arm." Buck muttered as he made his way round to stand by Kasey's side, who gave him a quick glare.

"Or an arm with a cool scar."

"Are you sure you two are professionals?" The woman asked them through gritted teeth and the two younger firefighter looked down at the ground, lips pursed as they awaited their next instructions.

"How'd his arm get in there?" Chimney questioned, chewing on his gum as he hovered over the shark.

The man grunts and yells in pain. Kasey looks up from the ground and back at the incident at hand. "A really, really cool scar," she mumbles to herself.

"Diego was trying to get what water was left in our pump system. She can't breathe without it!" The man with the 'California Marine Life Centre' jacket told him, directing his eyesight to Diego – the man who had a shark attached to his arm – and Chimney who was just simply watching the sight.

"How much time does she have left?" Hen asked in concern.

"Minutes." The woman told her.

"Uh, do we wait that long or, just, you know..." Buck asked, raising the mechanic jaws up before being pushed back slightly by Bobby.

"No, no, don't kill her! She's come so far!" Diego grunted.

"All right, guys, we're gonna do this really carefully." Bobby told the crew. "All right, come on. Let's get in there."

"Can't we just put her to sleep for a little bit, then gently guide her grip off from Diego?" Kasey questioned Hen who began to shake her head.

"It's too risky." Was all Hen said, and Kasey took a step back to give the rest of her team room to use the Jaws. She felt helpless right now, but there wasn't much else she could do. If she even tried to stand nearer the group that kneeled by the shark, then she would just be in the way and could risk the whole plan.

So, she just stood a few steps back, her thumb and finger were pinching the bottom of her lip as she listened to Diego cries of agony gets mixed in with the sound of the Jaws. And ever so slowly, she watched the bloody arm that belonged to Diego get pulled out. It was covered in numerous bite marks, but Kasey knew that Diego would be happy that the shark and his arm would all be okay eventually.

And within a second of Bobby's next instruction, Kasey watched Chimney and a few others helped to lie Diego down on the stretcher. Kasey stared at the arm with wide eyes, and her fingers began to pinch her bottom lip more, and she wouldn't have cared or even noticed if it began to bleed, because the sight in front of her made her sick to the stomach – she heard incidents of stories of sharks, but she never knew she would see one of those stories right in front of her due to how rare they were – but here she was, watching a man who would rather live with one arm than let a shark die.

"Don't let her die," Diego begs. "Please."

Kasey turns around to face the fire truck, eyes narrowing at the sight where the hose was, and with a shake of her head she rushed off to grab the hose and dragged it all the way to where Bobby stood by the shark.

She wasn't going to let this shark die – Diego didn't want that – he didn't risk his entire arm for nothing.

And on a much softer setting that was similar to the pouring of a bucket, she sprayed the shark, keeping it hydrated with water whilst Bobby watched her. He watched her keep the shark alive, and he knew he had to help the shark in some other way too.

So with another order, a firefighter climbed in front of the steering wheel of the truck, whilst the other members of the team very gently bust speedily placed a harshness round the shark, and at the all clear, Kasey stopped her spraying and was replaced with the blue jacket man with his bucket. She hurriedly put the rope back before jumping into the truck, followed by Buck.

They drove off with the shark harnessed in front of them, and the crowd of people cheering them on the side.

And they drove towards the body of water they needed to be at, lowering the shark down quick into it, and everyone watched as the shark swam out of it harness and out to sea.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"Kasey?" Bobby calls as he notices the youngest firefighter sitting on the bed she would sleep in if she ever did a full day shift. Her knees were pulled towards her chest, chin resting on top of it as she just sat in the dark. "Kasey? You're not on a full shift tonight."

"It's better than sleeping in my car again," Kasey mutters, not making one look at Bobby.

"You've been living in your car?" Bobby questioned, slowly making his way towards the girl. "Were you kicked out of your old place? Because if it's a place you needed, you know you're always welcomed–"

"No." Kasey utters, clearing her throat as she shakes her head. Her fingers moved to play with the end of her trousers. "I just can't go back there. I tried to, but every time I do, I end up in the shower, trying to wash off the blood that's not even there. Trying to wash off the feeling of him. I can't remember when I last slept either, cause that night still haunts me, no matter how many times I try to push it out of my mind; the thoughts, the sound, him, Bear...the pain....the smell...the blood... it all so haunts me."

Kasey brings her knees in closer for Bobby to sit down.

"Where is Bear now?"

"With Buck...He thinks I just wants a deeper clean of my house...which I do, but no matter how much I clean it, it still feels like it did on that night."

"Kasey," Bobby reaches forward to rub her knee.

"I'm just so terrified, Bobby. I'm always terrified. I act like I'm fine, but...but I'm scared. He knows everything, a-and that is so fucking scary." She rubs her palm over her eye as she begins to sob, and Bobby reached forwards to bring her into his arms, as if it he was creating a shield to protect her from everything. "Could you just take this pain away? It hurts, so much...help me." Her voice was so weak, so vulnerable.

Bobby was terrified too as he doesn't recall a time he has ever seen Kasey like this – she has always seemed as tough as a wall of bricks, that nothing could hurt her, but here she was, remembering that she was human and began to broke down in a man who she saw as a father.

Kasey was clutching Bobby's shoulder so hard, nails gripping in, palms steadily pushing against the clavicle, and Bobby began to wonder if it was possible for a human to break bones with their bare hands, if it was humanly possible that if they pushed hard enough his bones would snap.

Bobby didn't care though, he didn't care how many bones she may break of his, he didn't mind at all as she was the girl that he thought of as a daughter and she was crying, more like sobbing. She wouldn't stop.

Bobby believed that if she was sat in a hole in the ground then she be overflowing it by now. Her crying was deadly to hear, one of those cries that rips a heart out of one's chest, she cried as if she was in pain, and she was. She's always been in pain, suffering in the silence and this is one of the times where the bottle of emotions spilled within her, unleashing all these emotions she's been hiding from everyone.

It scared Bobby, it scared him as he has never seen Kasey like this, and he had no clue how to help her. But it was the silence that followed that scared him the most, just them two sitting in that room for three hours straight in pure silence. Bobby wished he knew what was going on in her head, but just like everyone else, he knew he wasn't as strong as Kasey.

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blueathens · 2 years

Text

Saving Maddie - Agape Series

ACT TWO, CHAPTER 3

Song: The Wisp Sings by Winter Aid Quote: ‘Maddie Buckley is a survivor.’

A/N: Not edited or read through.

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"I'm at 1832 Bryson Avenue. I have an adult male with multiple stab wounds to his torso! Need medical and police response!"

"Okay, sir, can I get your name?"

"Evan Buckley. I'm a firefighter with the 118."

"Buck?"

"Yeah, uh, victim is Howard Han. He's got profuse bleeding to his abdomen. Breathing is laboured. Might have hit a lung." "Come on, Chim. Hang in there."

"Buck, RA unit's two minutes out. Do you know how this happened? How long has he been down?"

"I don't know. I just got home and found him. Given the amount of blood, I would say minutes, not hours."

"How's his pulse?"

"Weak, but it's there."

"Jason."

"H-Hold on, he's, uh, he's talking." "Chim, it's me. It's Buck. I'm here, okay? I just need you to stay with me, Chimney."

"Jason took her..."

"Chimney, who's Jason?"

"Maddie..."

"Where is Maddie? Chimney, where is Maddie? Chimney, where is Maddie? Wh-Where is Maddie?"

"We got it, sir."

"Maddie! Maddie!"

Buck runs towards the house, "Maddie." His hands were shaking, and he screamed his sister's name out of desperation, hoping that when he entered the house he would hear the voice of his confused older sister.

But no voice welcomed him back when he entered the house.

"Maddie!" He runs up the stairs with such little hope that maybe she was fast asleep, and his voice wasn't loud enough to wake her from her deep slumber. "Where are you?! Maddie! Maddie, are you in here?"

Still nothing.

Nothing but the sound of barks.

The same barks that haunted the apartment of the night where he thought he was going to lose Kasey. It was all the same sounds, the sound of barks, the sound of paws scratching – it was all too similar.

Buck rushes towards the door where the scratching was coming from, and out came running Bear who had a fierce look upon his face, softening slightly when it notices the panic that was coming off from Buck. The dog ran towards Buck, jumping up on his hind legs and leaned himself against Buck, who patted the top of Bear's head whilst his eyes furiously glanced round the room for a glimpse of Maddie.

"Where's Maddie, Bear?" Buck asked and from the question Bear ran down the stairs, Buck following behind as he calls for his sister's name. But when he reached the area he has already been in before, he stops behind the dog that stopped too who whined softly as he lays down.

Buck brings his phone to his ear.

"She's, uh...she's not here. She's gone." Buck turns around as he spots something. "Oh no."

"Buck? What is it, Buck?"

Buck picks up the phone from the ground.

"Did you find something?"

"All of her stuff is still here."

"All units responding to 1832 Bryson, be advised we also have a critical missing adult female: Maddie Buckley Kendall."

"He found her."

"Buck?" A voice uttered, and the man in questions spins and his heart falls into his stomach whilst his eyes welled up before he took off running towards the one who called his name.

Towards Kasey.

Buck felt weak when he felt his best friend's arm wrap round him. He felt even more weak when he buried his face into her neck and cried out his sister's disappearance. Kasey said nothing though as she just runs her hand up and down his back.

"I know, I know," she finally says. Her eyes made contact with one of the detectives. "And I promise I'll help you in any way possible," her voice trails off as she gently pulls away from him, and she offers him a look of sympathy whilst she wipes away a tear that fell. "But the detective needs some words with you."

"I don't want to speak to them," Buck shakes his head in defence. "I just want Maddie back."

"We'll find her, I promise, but you need to talk to them before we can do anything."

Buck purses his lip whilst his span on his heel, and before the detective could even speak, Buck already was.

"It was Doug. Doug Kendall."

Kasey's eyes widened behind Buck as she stood next to Buck with Athena and Bobby – the two people who she came here with due to her having spent the night – well spending – the night round there's. Of course Kasey knew who Doug was, Buck told her about his childhood and how evil the guy is and how it kept the two siblings apart.

"He told Maddie he would kill her if she left him. He did this."

The detective opens his notebook.

"You said he lives in Pennsylvania. He knows she was here?"

"No, she-she..."

"She was filing for a divorce," Athena interrupted. "That could have put her back on his radar."

"Well, we'll take a look at him, but before your friend lost consciousness, he said he was attacked by a Jason Bailey. Either of you know who that is?"

Buck looks at Bobby.

Bobby shakes his head, "I don't think so."

Kasey folded her arms as she shifted on her feet whilst looking at down whilst she thought. "Maybe it was Doug."

"Pardon," the detective blinked.

Kasey looks up and half shrugs. "Perhaps it was Doug with a different name. Perhaps he used the name Jason to get close to someone who's close with Maddie and easy to find alone, and Chimney just happens to be the perfect victim for Doug to use to get close to Maddie."

"That's quite a reach."

"But it's a possibility and it's a possibility that makes sense."

The detective shakes his head before entering the house. Buck looks to his right, raising his brows at his best friend as he looked at with eyes that asked her if she was sure on her theory.

Kasey gives a small nod and Buck looks away before he began to follow behind the detective with the other three on his tail

"Wait, uh...Wait. Hold on, Detective." Buck tried to grab his attention again as he thought of something that could back his best friend's theory. "I know he had a new friend, some guy he was, he was playing pool with. I never met him, but now I know why, you know, 'cause it was Doug. Like Kas said, he got close to Chimney so that he could get close to Maddie." They walked out of the house and Buck lets out a frustrated sigh. "You don't believe me? You don't believe Kasey? You don't believe us?" Buck tired as he threw his hand out in desperation. "I mean, I mean, Chimney's phone is right there. You know, ch-check for yourself."

Buck moves in front as he tried to reach towards the phone.

"Phone's locked." The detective grumbled. "Can't open it without the victim's consent."

"So," Kasey whistled behind the detective before she took a step forwards to stand next to him. "You're telling me that you wouldn't hack into the phone or some shit for the possibility that we're right? You wouldn't unlock a phone that could hold all the proof of who the kidnapper and attempted killer was?"

"You were a detective once, Kasey. You know the protocols."

"Which I call bullshit on," Kasey snapped. Athena grabbed her arm to pull Kasey back slightly from the detective. "No wonder there's so many cases unsolved. It's because the government isn't allowing you – allowing us – to have more power to save people. Maybe if they did, then more people would be alive." Kasey's jaw stiffened as she looked away.

"They'll subpoena his phone records, but it'll take time."

"Well, Maddie doesn't have time, okay?!" Buck cried. "Kas, do you still have your detective badge? If so, then lets go get it and get Maddie back our–"

"I had to hand it in when I took my leave from the military, Buck." Kasey watched as Buck's face fell more, and Kasey wished she could just magically make Maddie appear again – but she couldn't. "But I thought we were going to find her ourselves anyways – even if we do it the illegal way."

Athena gave Kasey a look whilst the Detective cleared his throat.

"I mean," Kasey blows out some air as she gave a light laugh, "of course we were planning to find Maddie legally."

"You mean you'll let us find her ourselves." The Detective corrected and Kasey looked around at all the eyes on her.

"Sure," she dragged the word out before giving Buck a swift wink.

Whilst Buck screamed some more words at the group, Kasey took a quick look at the crime scene once again, not noticing that Bobby moved towards Buck to calm him down. And her eyes continued to move around the area until she was snapped out of her thought by the sound of Buck's weak and quiet voice.

"How did you know I was going to go out and find Maddie."

She snapped her head to look at him and she gave him a kind-of-there smile.

"Because you're my boy Buck. I know what you're thinking." She tilts her head as she brought her lips into a fine line. "I don't have to come with if you don't–"

"Please," Buck sighs a breath of slight relief, "I need you there."

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

Buck and Kasey leaned against the archway of a blue painted door as they awaited for all the doctors and nurses to leave Chimney's area.

"This could be one of the stupidest ideas we've ever had." Kasey mutters to Buck.

"It's the only way we can find Maddie."

"I know," Kasey breaths, "but it's still one of our most stupidest plans."

"I don't think that's a word, or even grammatically right."

"Do you want to give me an English lesson right now or do you want to find–"

"Come on," Buck grabbed her elbow and ushered her to walk in front of him. When they reached Chimney's bed, Kasey stayed standing at the end of it, awkwardly swaying side to side as she awaited for Buck to open up Chimney's phone so they could get out this place.

Buck held the phone out in one of his hands as he looked at Chimney with a sympathetic look. "Sorry about this, buddy." Buck sighs as he gets closer to Chimney's hand.

"You two aren't supposed to be in here," a nurse scolded, coming out from no where and nearly scaring Kasey who instantly began to fake sob.

"Please don't let him die!" Kasey begged.

"Oh, oh, God, please don't let him die." Buck continued, following Kasey's lead as he laid his cheek down onto Chimney's chest.

"Please, sir."

"I can't lose my dad!" Kasey cried as she raised her hands to her face to cover it.

"You have to go back to the lobby."

"You can't, you can't die on me." Buck said to Chimney whilst he secretly placed Chimney's thumb onto the fingerprint scanner of the phone.

"Sir, you need to leave. No."

"He's so young! He can't die!"

"You can't, please..."

"What am I supposed to tell your other 27 adopted kids, dad?"

"Sir, you and your friend have to go."

Buck held his hands in surrender, and Kasey mimicked his actions as she side stepped away.

"Okay, we're going, we're going," Buck assured the nurse before proudly showing off the unlocked phone to Kasey the second he stood net to him.

"You know," a familiar voice that the two firefighters thought they left back at the crime scene said, "Detective Marks didn't believe me." Kasey and Buck turned their heads to look at Athena with slightly open mouths. And behind Athena stood two other officers. "He said 'no one could be that stupid.'" She placed a hand on her hips, looking at the two like a mother has just caught her kids eating sweets before dinner. "I said, 'you don't know Buck and Kas.'"

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

Kasey and Buck was separated after that. One officer took Kasey to a different room, whilst the other officer took Buck to a different room too. In Kasey's room was just her and the officer, whilst with Buck he had an officer, Bobby, Athena, and Eddie.

"If I win a game of rock, paper, scissors, will you let me go?" She batted her lashes at the officer. Her head was leaning back onto the white wall behind her, and her eyes were focused on the officer who shook his head at her. "You're no fun."

"Strand's dog is outside with an officer." A voice said over the officer's radio and Kasey instantly looked up with a cheeky smile.

"Can I please see my dog?" Kasey begged. "I need fresh air anyways. Hospitals make me queasy." The officer opened the door, nodding his head back to gesture she can go, and Kasey jumped up and threw her arms in the air.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" And she didn't wait a second longer before she rushed out of the corridor and made her to the area that she heard Buck was in. But instead of seeing Buck, she saw Eddie instead.

"Eddie?" Kasey questioned as she walked through the door.

"Aren't you meant to be...not here?" Eddie asked, standing up as he watched her still figure stand in front of the closed door she just walked through.

"I got away, thanks to Bear." Kasey's eyes wondered round the hallway. "Now, I just got to find Buck so we can go out and get Maddie back. Oh, I also have to break Doug's nose because he's hurting one of the nicest people to ever walk this–"

Eddie's eyes softened sadly as he watched Kasey begin to panic. She was hiding it away good, but not good enough for Eddie not to see it. Kasey knew how dangerous this all was for Maddie as she was the one that got away from her abuser and getting away is when it's the most dangerous.

Eddie came up to her and placed his hands on her cheeks to bring her in close and lay a kiss upon her forehead, something he has never done before, but it felt so normal between the pair. And his lips lingered there for a while, even when he pulled away slightly, Kasey could still feel the slight touch of his lips upon her forehead.

And her eyes were closed to breath in the moment – to remember it – and in her head she silently begs for him to kiss her there again – but he never does.

He pulls away and she opens her eyes to listen to his soft words of, "it will all be okay," and she watches him take a step back, and that was when that little voice in her head began to scream at him to come back.

To touch her again.

To come back and place his hands on the sides of her cheeks. To come back and pull her in close. To come back and kiss her forehead...

Kasey has never had this feeling before. The feeling of want – the need of somebody's touch. But here she was, craving the feeling of Eddie's touch. Her body began to crave it like it craves air, and it confuses Kasey because why would she crave one of her best friend's touch?

She never craves Buck's touch.

So why was she craving Eddie's?

Kasey nods slightly as she takes a quick look at Eddie before turning around to walk down the corridor, walking round the corner and spotted Buck who was waiting for her.

If it was anyone else, Buck wouldn't have waited, but he needed Kasey there whilst looking for Maddie, because if Kasey wasn't going be there, Buck knew he would just simply break down.

And breaking down wasn't going to save Maddie.

So, he awaited for the one person who could keep him stable whilst looking for his sister and her crazy ex-husband.

"You ready?" He asks, which was answered by a nod from Kasey, who stood by his side as they walked further down the corridor towards the exit.

"Let's take Bear," Kasey sys to Buck. "He's trained in this sort of thing, and I'm sure you've–"

Buck pulls out a beanie – Maddie's beanie – from the back pockets of his trousers as he gives her a small smile and raised brows, telling her that he was already one step ahead of her.

"Oh," Buck bumps Kasey's shoulder, "Athena is waiting for us out front, and Bobby gave us some 'ground rules.'"

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"I don't know how we can help, Sergeant, but whatever you need" Sue says as the four of them exited from the elevator. Bear was in the car, a window down, as he awaited for everyone to come back in a few minutes.

"Athena, please," she corrected. "I'm off duty."

Sue chuckles. "This is Josh." She gestures her hand towards a man in a blue tucked in 9-1-1 shirt. He raised from his seat in a hurry as he stood in front of the group. "Athena." Josh shakes her hand. "You already know Kasey," Sue places her hand on the young firefighter's shoulder, tapping it lightly in comfort. "And Buck, Maddie's brother."

Buck shook the 9-1-1 operator's hand, "Maddie's told me a lot about you."

"Same here," Josh breathes. "Any word on her?"

"Well," Athena begins, "the police don't have much to go on yet. So, neither one of us are good at sitting around and waiting, so I thought I'd come by and ask you some questions, unofficially."

"Well," Kasey drags out. "Usually these type of people would take the other to a place that had meaning between them," Kasey looked at Buck who shook his head, telling her he wouldn't know what that place would be. "But we have no clear where that be," Kasey's hands brushed against the side of her legs as she gave Josh an awkward smile. "So, yeah, we're still on square one."

"So the questions," Athena turned away from looking at Kasey and back at Josh. "When people dial 911, you can see where they're calling from, right?"

"If they're calling from a landline, absolutely. Cell phones are trickier. We don't get an automatic address."

"Our systems have to digitally request the phones location from the cellular network," Sue comments from behind Kasey.

"Okay, well, this is Chimney's phone." Athena holds up the unlocked phone. "We think he was in contact with his attacker."

"Maddie's husband."

"uh, Chimney didn't know it was him; he-he thought his name was Jason." Buck said protectively.

"Now, I'm wondering, hypothetically, if this number called 911 and hung up, is your system able to request location data after the call was disconnected." Athena asks.

"Hypothetically," Sue removes her hand from Kasey's shoulder and moves to stand next to Josh, arms folding as she says, "sure. But we'd–"

"Of course, we could." Josh interrupts, taking the phone out from Athena's hand with a smile. "You know, it's funny, this number seems familiar, and in fact, I think I might have taken a call from it earlier." Josh looks at Sue. "An emergency call." He confirms before sitting down at his desk.

"Sure," Sue says. "Josh, are you sure?" Sue's arms were no longer folded, but now was at her sides as she looked at her employee with a look of certainty.

"I'm sure."

Sue nods. "Okay. Let's make a manual request."

Josh spins his chair forward and places his fingers onto the keyboard in front of him.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"Detective Marks," a male voice said over the phone.

"Andy, it's Athena," Athena greeted when he picked up. Her phone was connected to her car radio system as she was sitting in the drivers seat. Buck was in the passenger trying to keep his cool. And Kasey and Bear were sitting at the back, him on her lap whilst she petted and gave him loads of attention. "Listen, you're gonna get a call from Sue Blevins at 911 dispatch. She might have a lead on Doug's location."

"Do I wanna know how she obtained this very important information?"

"Let's just call it an anonymous tip and not look any gift horses in the mouth." Kasey's face scrunched up at the saying. "We'll meet you there."

"Copy that."

The phone beeps.

"You're awfully quiet over there, Buckaroo." Noted Athena.

Buck scratches the side of his head. "Uh, when we get there...what-what do you think we're gonna find?" Buck couldn't lie that he was scared for his sister. But he was also scared to think that this be another Kasey situation. That he would turn up to find someone he loves nearly dying, surrounded by blood, and he would stand to the side helplessly watching them continue to fight to survive.

He couldn't go through that again.

He just couldn't.

He needs Maddie to be alright and unharmed.

"I mean," Buck half shrugs, "he-he threated to kill her, you know, a-almost did kill Chimney. What if, what if he..."

"No," Athena raises her index finger to get Buck to stop thinking of such a thing. Athena then took a quick look in her rear-view mirror to get a glance at Kasey who just kept her eyes on Bear. Athena sighs before taking another look at Buck. "My gut is telling me not to count your sister out just yet. Maddie didn't just rebuild her life. She rebuilt herself. Doug may have her, but I don't think he has any idea who he's dealing with now."

They soon came to a stop behind a truck and all of them climbed out the car as they made their way towards the truck driver.

"It's not my phone," the driver stresses with a shake of his head. "I don't know where it came from."

Detective Marks turns around at the sound of footsteps to see Athena, Buck, Kasey, and Bear. "Found the phone," he alerts them, waving the object in the air to show them before taking some steps forwards to stand closer to them. "No sign of our suspect or your sister."

"Yeah," Buck gestures towards the driver with his hand, "but he had Doug's phone. How?"

"Well," the Detective turns his head over his shoulder to give a quick glance at the driver. "Driver left Salt Lake City yesterday. Been on the road ever since. Says he's got no clue how the phone ended up his truck."

"Sir," Athena walks towards the driver. "Made any stops?"

"Gas station, just before sunrise."

"Doug was there, threw his phone into the truck, so we can track him." Kasey mutters to Buck.

"See anybody else there?" Questioned Athena.

"When I was leaving, saw a couple going into a store." Buck and Kasey gave each other a knowing look before Athena turned to face them with her lips pressed together in a thin line.

"He knew we could use the phone to track him," she says, and Kasey and Buck shared another look between one another due to it being the same thing Kasey just told him. "Probably dropped it in the truck just to throw us off."

Kasey raised her brows at the side of Buck's face as he now turned to face Athena.

"So they could be anywhere by now," Buck runs a hand down his face.

"Yeah. And Doug's way ahead of us."

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"I don't think I brought enough." Shannon tells Eddie after she eyed a pizza crust being dropped into the empty pizza box. Eddie's eyes didn't falter away from watching Christopher play.

"No, you brought everything I needed." Eddie responds as he continues to watch his son. His hand rubs his tired face as he sighs. "Missed the whole day with him."

"I know. That's why we came." She smiles. "Well, that and I remember what it was like to live at the hospital. Uncomfortable chairs, terrible food."

"You don't have to say," Eddie suddenly says, discretely shuffling away to create some form of distance between him and Shannon. "I-I mean," he quickly says when he notices the confusion on Shannon's face. "If you have stuff to do..."

"No," she says, reaching over to hold his hand. "I'm good here."

Eddie looks at her hand touching his, before looking at her. And a feeling of sadness washed over Eddie because the hand that was touching him wasn't the hand he wanted to hold.

Nevertheless, he gives Shannon a fake thankful smile, before looking to his other side where he purses his lips in thought and let out a quiet sigh.

And Eddie now knew that he no longer loved Shannon like he once did years before.

This moment right here confirmed that for sure.

He has fallen.

He has fallen hard.

And he knew he would never be able to get back up from this fall, and Eddie knew that even if he could get back up from the fall, he wouldn't.

He wouldn't get up as he has fallen for Kasey Strand.

Eddie is indescribably, ridiculously, stupidly, fallen for his best friend.

And he doesn't know where to go from here.

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“We only have eyes on the pumps and register.” Detective Marks states. “Now, best we can guess, she goes out the back window, husband catches her.”

Everyone’s words didn’t function in Kasey’s head after that as she was too busy watching Bear sniff around the place. Maddie’s beanie was in her hands, she was knelt down to the ground as she waited to see if Bear needed to sniff the hat again.

But after a few moments Bear bucked, signally Kasey to come over to inspect his findings. Bear’s tail wagged happily at the founding of a loose fabric of an item of clothing Maddie was wearing. Bear looked between the hat and the fabric as if telling Kasey that they both had the same smell.

And it confirms that Maddie was once here, and that she was close to the bathroom where the back window was.

Kasey stands up and gives a quiet nod at Buck who was watching Kasey’s actions the moment Bear barked. And Buck nodded back whilst he listens to Athena and Mark begin to discuss something he already knew due to Kasey.

And a second later, an officer steps out of the bathroom with a book in his hand. He hands it over to Detective Marks.

“It’s a rental car agreement.” He looks up before looking back down at the paper. “For a dark grey, four-door sedan. Looks like she started to write ‘help’ on the back. Rented near Burbank Airport. I’ll put out an APB.”

Detective Micks hands the book over to Athena who gets a closer look at it.

“Well, we know where he rented the car. Maybe we can use that to track him.”

“Uh, like LoJack.” Commented Buck.

“Well, rental car companies don’t use GPS tracking. It’s too expensive.” Detective Marks informs them. “It’s too expensive.”

“Yeah. Major companies don’t. But if you’re Bob and you only have 12 cars in your fleet you might want to know where they are at all times.” Athena handed the book back to Detective Marks, and he takes it with one hand whilst the other held his phone to his ear.

“Hey. It’s Marks. I think we got a lead on our suspect.”

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“We found the rental car. No sign of the suspect or the victim.” A voice over the radio says.

“We found the kidnapper’s abandoned vehicle nearby, so we’re looking for a couple–”

The detective’s voice fades out and becomes background noise for Buck and Kasey who stood offside, arms touching as they awaited for more information on where Maddie is.

Kasey notices Buck’s hand begin to shake.

She holds his hand, squeezes it as if she was silently telling him that this was all going to be okay.

Bear began to get impatient as he heeled at Kasey’s side, and Kasey eyed her dog as he got onto all fours, looked around, before he went off running in some direction through the woods. Kasey followed immediately, yelling out his name, whilst Buck and Athena tried to catch up with them.

“Do you think he smelt something? Heard something?” Buck yelled as they ran.

“That’s impossible, they could be – Bear where the hell are you going buddy?!” Kasey tried to catch up with her dog, but the dog was a lot faster than the three humans that were chasing him.

As Maddie stumbled to walk through the snowy woods, a hand against the wound from the knife that had been recently impelled into her, she began to wonder if she was hallucinating at the strange noises she wearing – the sound of barking. It was faint and familiar, and followed by the barks were two familiar screams of her name that belonged to a man and woman.

She couldn’t see much expect a blurry figure of someone in a white shirt, someone in a black shirt and a smaller figure that she presumed was a dog.

In fact, Maddie was certain that the people she was seeing was Buck, Bear and Kasey.

They had found her – she was going to survive – she was going to get out of here.

Kasey and Bear stopped as they watched Buck rush in front of them, and the two Buckley’s stumbled their way towards one another.

“Maddie!”

“Buck?”

“Maddie!”

“Buck?”

“Maddie!”

“Buck!” The older Buckley lets out a broken sob, fallen to her knees but her brother was there to catch her. He held her and put more of her weight onto him. Buck had Maddie and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let his sister go.

His eyes took a look at the blood – there was quite a bit of blood. But Buck knew she would survive – Maddie would survive as she got herself out.

Maddie had saved herself, and Buck had just simply found her.

“I didn’t give up.” She tells him, and Buck knew that already, he knew she would have never given up.

She was, in his eyes, a superhero.

They held each other on the snow and cried to the heavens that they had found each other.

Cried to the heavens that she had survived.

Maddie Buckley is a survivor.

140 notes · View notes

blueathens · 2 years

Text

Ocean’s 9-1-1 - AGAPE SERIES

ACT TWO, CHAPTER 6

SONG: Stranger Things by Chase Atlantic QUOTE: “Man, this is why I could never rob a bank, I’m clearly not smart enough for it.”

A/N: Not proofread or edited.

A/N 2: This chapter is quite bad in my opinion due to me not having many ideas for what to do for it.

A/N 3: Also for the investigation scenes, the 118 dialogues are written on the right side in italics and labelled with who's speaking as they obviously all came in one by one, but in the show it combined them all together - i don't really know how to describe it...but I just thought maybe this be a better way to write this scene.

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

"Hello?" Kasey groggy voice answers the phone, not taking a single look at who was ringing her in the early morning. She slowly sits herself up in her car where she once was sleeping, and very tiredly rubs her right eye with the bottom of her palm.

"Did you know there was so many types of flour? There's self-raising, plain, wholemeal and– " Kasey yawned as Eddie's voice welcomes her on the other side. "Have you only just woken up?"

"Good morning Eds, how are you today? I was doing amazingly until this crazy man rang me to inform me on all the different types of flour instead of confessing his undying love for me."

"My undying love?" Eddie laughs as he picks up another bag of flour, spinning it around in his hand as he tried to read the uses of this type of flour. "It's seven in the morning, Kas, how have you just woken up?"

"Quite easily actually," Kasey sarcastically responded. "I opened my eyes and–"

"Do you think I can use cake flour to make pancakes?" Eddie questions, interrupting Kasey before she fell into an entire sarcastic rant, brows furrowing as he looked at the flour in his hand before shifting his gaze to the multiple bags of flour in front of him. "I was going to make pancakes but realised I had no flour."

"And you thought to call me to ask questions on cooking?" Kasey would have let out a loud laugh if her body wasn't still trying to wake up. "I'm flattered but I do think you should have called Bobby instead."

"Would he be up?"

"I wasn't," Kasey said flatly.

"I thought you would have been," Eddie responded. "You usually are."

"So is Bobby," Kasey mutters, "I think he's also at work already."

"Huh," Eddie nods. "Anyways, what flour?"

"I don't know," Kasey rubs her eyes again whilst Eddie purses his lips to stop the stupid smile that was playing at his lips from hearing Kasey's voice. "Wait until you get to the sugars," Kasey laughs slightly. "But we don't need to talk about that until baking a cake or something."

Eddie lets out a small sigh of relief as he allows his body to relax after hearing he doesn't have to worry about the different varieties of sugars.

"Anyways," Kasey yarns again, sitting herself up more against the window, "I'm pretty certain Bobby uses plain flour for pancakes."

"You sure?"

Kasey hums in confirmation and that was enough for Eddie to pick up the plain flour and toss it into his basket.

"Pancakes are easy to make, right?" Eddie questioned over the phone, and Kasey shot an eyebrow up at the next sudden question about cooking.

"I like this Kasey Strand you have pictured in your mind," she teases, "sounds like she's a pretty amazing cook."

"Shut up," mumbles Eddie.

"I think you'll make some pretty good pancakes," Kasey reassures him before she pulls the phone away from her ear to check the time. "I've got to get ready for work, Eds. You're coming in at 9 aren't you?"

Eddie nods before realising Kasey can't see him, "Er, yeah, yeah I am."

"Alright cool," Kasey smiles. "I'll see you in a bit! Good luck on those pancakes"

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"Hey! Hey!" A muffled voice said over the sound of slams against a window grabbed both Buck's and Kasey attention, both stopping and turning on their heel to stand by the drivers window, ready to aid the man slamming his window in desperation. "Can you tell me what's happening?"

Buck and Kasey gave a quick glance at one another before turning back to face the man. Buck licks his lip in thought, "Ugh, don't know, sir. We just got here."

"I can see that," the man lowers his face to the small gap that was in the off centre of his van door, but he stayed looking at the two young firefighters. "Do you know what the call was?"

"Two people down in the bank."

"Down? Like dead down? Injured down? Depressed down?"

"No," Kasey rolled her eyes and Buck snapped his neck to look at her, eyes squeezing shut as he listens to the next words that fell from his best friend's lips. "Their getting it down."

"You was called in for a dance party?"

Kasey stares at the man blankly. "Yes, we're the strippers that they hired."

"Oh," the man gives a form of a smile that was a mixture of gladness and slight excitement. "In that case–"

"She's not being serious," Buck sighs.

The drivers eyes widen, and the smile fell of his face. "M-my partner's in there."

Buck gives Kasey a look that she seriously shouldn't have made that joke, but Kasey's eyes moved to look down at her boots.

"Was your partner exhibiting any kind of symptoms of anything before entering the bank?" Buck called out loudly so he could be heard through the window.

"What?" The drivers face scrunches up. "No."

"Does he have any allergies or medical conditions?"

"No!" He states loudly. "He eats better than I do. He's-he's a pescatarian."

Buck holds his hand up in front of him. "Okay, well, uh, you just," he looks at Kasey, but she was still awkwardly staring down at her boots. "Sit tight!"

Buck pulls Kasey away with him in a rush, not listening to the last words of the driver as he was already onto scolding Kasey for the jokes she has been making recently, stating that there was a time and place for that.

"You're better than that," Buck states, hands waving all over the place. "It's bad when I'm the one telling you off."

"You're always telling me off." She rolls her eyes.

"Clearly I'm the only one who's been using our shared braincell recently," Buck shakes his head with a slight smirk. "At the moment it's like you're my child, call me daddy...I–" the two pauses at what Buck just said. "Never mind, that sounds wrong."

Kasey turns to look at him, horror was across her face as she stares at him. "Never," she emphasises strongly. "And I mean, never, say that again. That was horrible."

Buck nods, "we'll never bring this back up again."

"My therapist is going to hear about this." Kasey walks off into the bank.

"Therapist?" Buck calls.

"Yes," Kasey pauses as she keeps the door open whilst she looks over her shoulder. "Someone you talk to, not someone you sleep with."

"That was one time!"

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"All right. Get him started on O2. Ten litres." Bobby instructs, hands placed firmly on his hips whilst both Buck and Kasey came to stand on either side of him, pulling up their blue gloves. Bobby then turns his head to look at the woman that worked within the bank. "You said there's a second patient?"

Bobby, Hen, and Bobby wondered into the vault of the bank, a man was on the ground, twitching and gurgling.

"Same as the courier out front." States Hen as she takes a look at the man that had the same white foam bubbling in his mouth like the last guy.

She kneels down next to him, medical bag by her as she places a hand on the ground right by his head and a hand on his cheek. "Exhibiting extreme muscle spasms. Cap, pupils are dilated."

Eddie walks in and stands next to Kasey to also take a look at the man.

"I don't know what we're looking at here."

Eddie leans forwards slightly before shaking his head.

"Could be a nerve agent." Kasey looks up from the man to stare at the back of Eddie's head. She crosses her hands, body falling slightly stiff as she chews on her bottom lip.

"You've seen that before."

"Been trained for it," Eddie looks over his shoulder at Kasey, brows scrunching as he takes in her body language, he then turns his head back forwards to gesture a handout to the man. "Symptoms all line up. The fact that we have multiple people down. I can't say for sure until we run some tests."

"Hen you need to move," Kasey said, voice slightly strained and quiet. Eddie takes a step back, shoulder brushing Kasey's as they watch Hen move away from the man.

"You okay?" Eddie whispers.

"We had something like this in the field." Kasey mutters before giving a half shrug. "I don't really know, our medic apparently gave one of our guys some form of poison, but we didn't know until much later on though. She refused to help him...she then died a minute later cause another guy shot her dead." Kasey purses her lips with slight raised brows as she recalls an event from her path. "She ended up being a spy who needed to kill my team."

Eddie looked at Kasey with a screwed-up face and Kasey shrugs.

"Luckily we caught on quickly as we only had her that day, and, er, I honestly had no idea what was going on as I wasn't in the best of conditions."

Eddie understood that Kasey wouldn't want to talk about it any longer as he turns and leaves the vault, Kasey shortly followed, she knew she wasn't the one who needed to be in a rush. She only did a bit of medic training, nothing compared to what Eddie had to do, she was more in the combat not the medic side.

But something in Kasey felt off, like this was going to end up being what happened to her team, that they believed it was something else, but it ended up being something worst. She gives Hen a wary look, seeing if she was going to follow behind, and Kasey presumed she was as she was now standing up and moving away from the man.

"Step away. Step away." Kasey heard Bobby say as she walked out the vault, catching up to the two patching men who was being followed out by the blonde woman. "I need everybody's attention. We are now preparing for a possible chemical exposure incident. That means nobody in, nobody out."

There's a click.

"We can't risk spreading whatever may be present here."

Hen hears the beeping and turns around.

She runs in.

"Cap," Eddie says, the team turning around to see her rushing in. Eddie moved first. "Hen! Hen!"

"Hen! Hen!"

She falls to her knees behind the man's head, but his hands grabs her face.

"Wait...No. Stay calm, sir. Stay calm!" She attempts to pull his hands off from her face. "I'm with the LAFD. We got to get you out of here!"

The vault door was a second away from closing.

"No!" She screams as she pushes herself up, rushing towards the heavy metallic door, whilst both Bobby and Eddie tries to pull the bars of the front of it, trying to keep it open; but failed to.

The vault door was closed shut.

Bobby presses the side button of his radio, "Hen, do you copy?"

Hen pants, "I'm here, Cap. Making myself comfortable."

"Not too comfortable."

"How do we open this?" Bobby points his thumb behind him at the closed vault as he questions the woman.

"Uh, we don't. The vault operates on a time lock. It wont reopen until the start of business tomorrow."

"What if it's an emergency." Bobby asks.

"There is a number for the vault company on Mr Prentiss' desk."

"Show me."

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"I feel like a minion." Kasey mutters to her friends that were with her as they tried to open the vault in a various of different ways. Kasey turns to look at Eddie. "Look at Eds, Buck! He looks like a depressed minion, and you look like what's-his-name? Kevin!"

"Kas, what did I say about the jokes?"

"Just trying to defuse the tension," Kasey sighs as she slams her hand against the small screen of numbers. "I'm just nervous."

"We know," both Eddie and Buck voiced.

Bobby walks towards the trio, slight regret in his stomach that he told the three of them to work together on the vault.

This trio is a trio that should never work together, or it would be disastrous, but Bobby felt that them working together to attempt to open the vault – it couldn't go as bad as it already has.

"Not even a scratch," Buck alerts as he turns around to look at Bobby who was also in the same suit as the three of them.

Bobby walks towards the computer screen on the desk behind Eddie and Kasey.

"Okay, two people, 72 breaths a minute, we need to drill into that vault and get some air flowing."

"Doors are wired, Cap." Eddie waves his hand at the vault. "Running hot."

"We need to cut the power."

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All the lights were switched off, only the torches attached to everyone's suits were on.

"You know the man in the van," Buck begins as he talks to Kasey who was standing next to him. "I think he was commenting on our minion suits."

Kasey turns to where Buck was standing, not seeing each other clearly due to the dark, but both had two different smiles on their faces.

"Really?!" Kasey bounced in excitement. "What he say?"

"I couldn't really hear him, but I think he liked them!" Buck switches on his torch when he noticed he was one of the ones who didn't have their torch on. "I said okay to him and knew I had to come and find you."

"Wicked!" Kasey whispers to herself.

Eddie begins to drill into the vault and the duo turned to watch.

"How are you and Jamie?" Buck questioned his friend as the two of them haven't been giving any instructions for this part except hold torches to help Eddie to see.

"We're alright."

"You happy with him?" Buck tried, side eyeing his friend as her eyes stay on Eddie.

"I suppose," she shrugs. "We've only been going out for a few weeks."

"But you would know if you were happy with him, I knew I was happy with Abbie immediately."

Kasey furrows her brows. "What are you trying to say."

Buck stumbles on his words as his looks around the dark room as if it would give him some form of answer, "just, er, I'm just making sure you're happy."

"Sure," Kasey drags out.

"We're through!" Eddie yells as he pulls out the end of the drill to look at the hole he made before someone pushes a tube through it.

"Okay, Chim, power us back up." Bobby says in his radio. "Buck, crank the O2."

He turns to the oxygen tanks, twisting the dial, before letting go and turning round to face Bobby.

"We're wide open, Cap." The four of them look at the computer screen to see the two bodies on the ground of the vault. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we get in there."

"How are we gonna do that?"

"We're gonna crack this safe."

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"Chim and I are clearly the cool ones here," Kasey mutters as her and her team stand behind Bobby as he bends down. Her mask was in her right hand whilst her left hand pressed against her hip. "We're the only ones in our wicked minion suits."

She eyes the others in their usual uniforms.

"No idea why but–"

"Okay, we start drilling here," Bobby points to the blank wall that was surrounding the outside of the vault.

"Creating a crumple zone."

"Exactly."

"Then what?" A confused Buck asks.

"Then, I have an idea. But we got to soften it up first."

"Soften up a foot of concrete?" Chimney questions.

"Yeah, it beats three layers of tempered steel." Buck looks at Kasey with a grin. "Told you I'm the one using the braincell between us." He places both hands on the hammer that was once resting against his shoulder in one hand. "Let's do it."

The drill goes in first to make a few small holes in various of places of the area Bobby pointed out. Afterwards it was the hammer that was then used to smash against the holes that were created, using them as a marker to where to break down the wall.

"Okay, Chim, I need you back inside," Bobby demands, "eyes on the vault cam. If we're compromising their safety in any way, you got to let me know."

"Copy that, Cap."

"All right."

"How does Chim look adorable in this minion suit?" Kasey asks, ignoring the concerned looks Bobby and Eddie was giving her.

"Kasey," Bobby says, and she turns to look at him with a small frown. "Get into the fire truck."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

Kasey climbs into the driver seat of the fire truck, driving it forth until Bobby halted her with a signal of his hand. The three guys connect the line in front of the truck into the small hole made into the wall.

Eddie rushes forwards after a listening to the sound of rattling for a few seconds. "The wrench isn't going to do it, Cap!"

Bobby held his finger up, gesturing to Eddie to give him a second whilst he went on his phone. Meanwhile, Kasey was drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, humming a song that was stuck in her head whilst she awaited for her next instructions.

Buck jumped into the passenger seat of the fire truck. "Reverse the truck, someone just died."

"What?" Kasey snaps her head to look at him whilst she begins to reverse the truck.

"Keep on reversing."

"What do you think I'm doing, Buck?" At those words the area of wall they wanted to break, came out onto the wrench. Bobby and Eddie runs towards the hole, followed closely behind by Kasey and Buck who looked over Eddie and Bobby's shoulder only to see Chimney standing on the other side.

The vault door was now open.

"Hey, guys."

"Seriously?"

"Fucking hell!"

The four of them looked between each other before watching Chimney walk into the vault, mask now on his face.

"Hen! Can you hear me?"

There's a groan.

"Chim?" Hen dryly asks.

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"300,000 dollars."

"Tucked away on the 118 ladder truck. Any idea how it got there?"

HEN: "No, why would I?"

"You're with the 118. And you were at the bank when it was stolen."

KASEY: "Great observation, Captain Obvious."

HEN: "If by 'at the bank' you mean that I was unconscious and I was locked away in a vault, yeah. And I wasn't alone. "

MR PRENTISS: "Um...I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing. The doctors say I'm fine."

"Still feeling the aftereffects?"

"Do you have any idea what happened?"

MADDIE: "The call came in a little after 5:00."

KASEY: "I was in this minion suit for most of the time and for some reason Chimney looked freaking adorable in the suit! Yellow is his colour, just saying."

"I don't see how that's relevant."

KASEY: "Not to your question, no, but it's needs to be said. Anyways, we thought it was a nerve agent at first."

"On this report it says you've seen it before? When you was-"

KASEY: "I don't know much. A spy supposedly poisoned someone on my team and it looked a lot like what happened today."

"So you could've poisoned those people to help the 118 rob a bank?"

EDDIE: "That's a bold accusation."

"Looks like our money trouble is over. That's the text your sister sent you right after she took the 911 call. You care to explain."

BUCK: "Her landlord finally agreed to let her out of her lease and refund her security deposit. He'd been giving her some grief about it."

"You expect us to believe you just happened to take this call? And you just happened to dispatch your brother's squad to the scene?"

MADDIE: "It happens more than you think."

CHIMNEY: "We're like a family."

KASEY: "The 118 is my family. So why would we purposely put Hen in danger?"

"That's what we're asking you."

KASEY: "Would you purposely put your own family in danger? No. I don't think so, so that question is-"

CHIMNEY: "I mean, a big, messy, extended family, but we take care of each other, we support each other. You know, we have each other's backs."

"Conspire."

BOBBY: "Conspire?"

"Conspire. You conspired with your fiancee's ex-husband to steal the blueprints to that bank."

MICHAEL: "Not stolen."

ATHENA: "You think they did what now?"

MICHAEL: "People request building plans all the time. Architects, contractors..."

"Terrorists."

KASEY: "You really think we have time to plan and attempt a robbery? Dude we save lives nearly every-day, and do you think we do this job for the money, because if we did, then we wouldn't still be working here, would we? Cause let's be honest, we don't get paid enough to risk our lives every day, but we do our job because we care about people, we care and want this world to be more safe."

"We-"

KASEY: "No wonder why people don't like you guys if you're throwing the word 'terrorists' around as if it's the same as 'I love you.'"

EDDIE: "Don't think I ever said the word 'terrorists."

"But you were the first to suggest it might be a nerve agent."

"And everyone figured you knew what you were talking about. Coming from the military and all."

EDDIE: "It was part of my training. How to spot it. How to respond."

BOBBY: "We had to improvise."

"You do that a lot - improvise?"

BOBBY: "It's part of the job. See the problem, solve the problem."

KASEY: "Er, yeah, I suppose you're right. I do improve a lot, but what do you want us to do, have a cup of tea and a biscuit, so we can discuss a plan whilst someone dies right next to us. Yes, we be with you in a moment Jimmy, just got to decide what water pressure is needed to put out that fire."

MICHAEL: "I was trying to help a friend."

"Your ex's new squeeze is your friend?"

MICHAEL: "Hen is my friend. I mean, yes, Bobby's a friend, too. Hell, they're all my friends."

EDDIE: "I don't really know him."

HEN: "Someone said I seemed stressed? Who?"

BUCK: "Cranky. I said she was a little cranky that morning."

KASEY: "Buck and Eddie was hanging up a banner and I was blowing up balloons, Bobby was with Marty - he was someone checking our fire trucks - and Chimney was on his way to work for the first time since the incident."

"Did she seem stressed?"

KASEY: "Hen? I wouldn't blame her if she was stressed from talking to Buck. But we love Buck and-"

"That's not very professional."

EDDIE: "Who said we was in a relationship?"

KASEY: "What do you have against the 118 poly relationship?"

"It must be hard. Your wife losing her job at JPL."

EDDIE: "Yeah. Kids in general are expensive. But they're worth it, right?"

KASEY: "What you asking me about kids for? I haven't got any...right?"

EDDIE: "Y-yeah, okay, maybe I picked up a few extra shifts here and there, but it's not a big deal. Kasey and I are the ones who usually pick up the extra shifts."

KASEY: "I literally have no life so yeah I pick up extra shifts."

"300 grand does solve a lot of problems."

EDDIE: "I've got two full-time jobs: firefighter and dad. I don't have time to plan a robbery."

KASEY: "Why are you so curious on my sex life? Who said I slept with Eddie? We're both in relationships with other people. But how is that relevant?"

CHIMNEY: "I never said they slept together. But I'm not denying that the 118 has a bet going on to see when they'll get together. I've bet they would be together by next year."

BUCK: "My answer has changed about five times now due to their blindness...how long does a divorce take?"

BOBBY: "There is not a bet going on, that's unprofessional, and for those two members of my team? They are not together and will not be together as they are very happy with who they are already with."

"Six weeks at home, guy like you, what you do for living, you must've been climbing the walls."

CHIMNEY: "Well, more like redecorating them."

"Sounds like you had a lot of time on your hands. To think. To plan?"

CHIMNEY: "You mean to plot? Who did I plot with?"

EDDIE: "Yes, Kasey and I are together a lot, but that doesn't mean we're plotting to rob a bank."

"You rang her this morning to-"

EDDIE: "-To ask her about flour as I was making pancakes."

KASEY: "I was joking when I said I had no life. I'm not that sad of a human being. Jeez."

BOBBY: "No one on my team would do this. I am sure of it."

KASEY: "I was like ten when I stole that lollipop and I'm beginning to be creeped out on how you know that."

"We rang your family as we believe they could have been involved too."

KASEY: "How much longer of these pointless questions? I've got a dog waiting for his dinner."

"You moved here two, three years go. Minnesota, right?"

BOBBY: "Mm-hmm."

"Left there under a bit of a cloud, didn't you, Captain?"

"Truth is, you don't know the people you work with, and they don't know you. Do they, Captain Nash?"

"We have hardly any reports on you Strand, don't you think that's suspicious?"

KASEY: "No, cause they did that before and after the military for my own safety."

BUCK: "But i trust them. Kasey is my best friend, my sister, I - and Bobby? I trust him and I trust his gut. So when he said we needed to get into that vault, yeah, I believed him."

KASEY: "So, Bobby and I are now your top suspects or something? Might as well throw my dog into that list too."

"Captain Nash said you're aware of his past."

KASEY: "And? What has- hey! Cross 'Kasey's dog' off of that notebook of yours."

"You chose to run into that vault, Firefighter Wilson, believing that there was a nerve agent present. Why would you do that?"

HEN: "Because it's my job."

"Or maybe you were providing a distraction so one of your friends can do a different kind of job."

SAM: "I don't know what happened. I just did what the firefighter said."

BUCK: "The armored car driver."

KASEY: "He said he liked our minion suits."

SAM: "Those yellow suits that they were wearing was horrendous."

BUCK: "I thought he couldn't leave the truck."

SAM: "Then he said I was in danger. I had to get decontaminated. Look, I was scared, I did not know they were gonna rob the truck."

CHIMNEY: "Wait, so the money came from the armored car?"

MICHAEL: "Not the vault?"

HEN: "But I was in the vault the whole time. There's no way that's me."

"No you were the distraction. Getting everyone to look over there, so no one is noticing the man emptying the armoured car."

"So who's your partner?"

BUCK: "I'm so confused. Can you start over?"

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

Kasey sat anxiously in her apartment.

It was the second time she's been here since the incident. Bear was sat next to her on her coach whilst she leaned her head back to stare at the ceiling, not wanting to take a look at the rest of her apartment.

The ceiling was something she was okay with, it wasn't in her eyesight much since her incident, so it didn't bring her back any memories. But being in her apartment was odd, it didn't make her feel safe, so she was sat there taking deep breaths as she tried not to break down or have a panic attack.

She fiddled with her fingers as she anxiously waited for her lovely surprise to arrive, having already been warned by Athena that she should go in her apartment as the detective and officers will be round with a warrant.

Jamie, her boyfriend, was in her apartment too. He was in the kitchen making coffee for both of them, completely obvious to his anxious girlfriend or what was about to happen.

The second Kasey heard a fist pounding against her door, she jumped up and rushed to open it, Bear following closely behind.

And there they were, the detective and officers with a warrant before they all shoved their way into the house. Jamie leaned back to look at what the commotion was, only for his eyes to widen to see the herd of officers barging their way into his girlfriend's apartment.

Kasey closed the door after the last one entered, she looked down at Bear and shook her head before commanding him to heal at her feet whilst she leaned against the wall, trying to breath as she stared up at the ceiling once again.

She was in the hallway...she was in the hallway...she was in the hallway...

Jamie walked up to her, two mugs in his hands and handed one over to Kasey who quickly took it to keep her mind occupied.

"Did you know about this?" He whispers to her as he watches them from the hallway.

"I'm not allowed to say." She blows the top of her mug to cool down her drink.

"Do you think I should offer them a drink."

"No, they won't be here for long as there is nothing for them to find." Kasey takes a small sip of coffee, her other hand that wasn't holding her drunk was behind her, clutching the radiator. "No one else but me and Athena knows about this. They'll take stuff like my laptop, but I'll get that back in a few days when they discover this is all a false accusation."

"Where are they looking?"

"All of our houses. They even got warrants in Texas for my family down there. The firehouse and their firehouse. It's all bullshit really."

"We're going to your place afterwards, Doctor," one of the officers states. "You can get in our car with us."

"Can't wait." Jamie rolls his eyes.

"I can't wait to get out of this hell of an apartment. Probably should start looking for a new place." Kasey sighs as she looks at her dog before looking blankly at the wall in front of her. She was struggling a lot by being in this apartment and she needed these officers to hurry up so she can just leave.

Kasey even made sure to take out all her stuff from her car and move it back into this apartment so it didn't look like she was sleeping in her car, or they would use that against her and say she was struggling with money. Which she wasn't, not really, she was just struggling in being in this apartment.

And the real reason she hasn't tried to look for a new apartment was because then she would have to go back into this one anyways and get all of her stuff and clean it up for people to look to rent it out.

"Should've put vodka in this coffee, think we're gonna need it."

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“Hey, Marty, thanks for coming.” Chimney says as he opens the fire trucks door as he sat in the inside of it.

“Hey. Yeah, I heard you guys were having trouble with the ladder. Was starting to think you guys, uh, don’t know how to use it.”

Another truck door opens, and Eddie leans out of the open window with a cloth in his hand.

“Well, you know how we operate. All our procedures and protocols.”

Buck and Kasey walk towards Marty.

“But maybe you could show us some tricks.”

“Yeah, you seem to know more about these trucks than we do,” states Bobby.

“Like where to hide 300,000 dollars of cash,” Kasey says as she crosses her arms and leans against the truck that Eddie was in.

Marty awkwardly laughs, “what are you guys talking about?”

Hen walks around the front of the trucks and appeared behind Marty.

“How are your hands, Marty? That alternative medicine still working?”

Marty looks round and all the fed-up firefighters before he dropped his toolbox, tools scattering everywhere, and making a dash for it, but he was stopped by the detectives that investigated every single one of them.

“Marty Collins,” the male detective spins Marty around by a hand on his shoulder. “You’re under arrest for bank robbery and murder.”

“Murder?” Marty questions as the handcuffs are put on him. “Who’d I kill?”

Kasey looks down at her phone as a message comes through.

Dad: No more of those unfriendly people are going to come to our homes, right?

Kasey: Suspect has just been arrested; we should all be good now.

“So,” Buck says as he sits himself down as they all moved upstairs to have their dinner. “Let me get this right. The fake nerve agent attack was a distraction for the armoured car robbery. Which was a distraction for the diamond heist. Crime is hard.”

Kasey laughs before she leans against Eddie to quietly talk to him, “do you think that soldier died from a nerve agent? Or was he poisoned by the spy or–”

“What happened to you on that day? As it sounds like it was your team giving you loads of different stories.”

“I was shot,” Kasey licked her lips, “and er, I was trying to sort myself out whilst my team went through those few minutes of hell. It was all quick and sudden…it’s just…if it was a nerve agent then someone else could have helped…couldn’t they?”

“I’m not sure, Kasey, is there a way for you to ask someone on your team about that day?”

Kasey shakes her head, “they all died within that week, we had another spy in the team, but I survived because I got called out to go into this other team where a medic could look at my wound. I came back and they were all dead, except the other spy who got away.”

Eddie gave her a sympathetic look; he knew how hard it was being out there.

“But they all died the same way, they all died like they were having a nerve agent attack…but that can’t be a coincidence…right?”

Eddie shakes his head, “maybe it was poison, and you were the only lucky one to get away.”

“Yeah, guess I should be glad I was shot.” Kasey purses her lips in thought. “It was a crazy week and I never really thought about it until now…think I kind of just blanked it out of my memory until now…until seeing something so similar to it.”

“I don’t think this will be something that will ever be answered, Kas.”

“I know…it’s just crazy.”

“It is…how old were you.”

“I was eighteen and it was my first week out in the field. They gave me a medal for that week too, for spotting the spies. I did nothing though, it – I don’t deserve those medals.”

Kasey shuffled back into her seat, not wanting to think about it any longer as she listens to Hen as she digs into her food.

“Franklin knew the bank and Marty knew us.”

“But how did they knew each other?” Eddie questioned with a mouthful of food.

“Brothers-in-law. Well, ex-brothers-in-law. Franklin had been married to Marty’s crazy sister. And when they ran into each other again, a plan formed. Franklin was the inside man. His job was to create a medical emergency in the bank. The kind that would trigger a hazmat response because Marty knew that we’d have to seal the perimeter to execute the Big Bird protocol. He gets the driver to leave the truck and empty all of his pockets. And while the driver gets clean, Marty gets rich. Except, how’s he gonna get all that money out of there? Can’t just walk it off the scene. He needed a mule. Or a team of mules. Us.”

“Not a bad plan,” Bobby says, “I mean, it’s crazy, but it could’ve worked. We bring the money back here and all he has to do is wait for the right moment to sneak in, access the ladder truck and retrieve the money. Except there want any because the police had already beaten him to the punch.”

“But how’d the police know exactly where to find the money?” Buck questions.

“Cause there was one variable that Marty didn’t count on,” Chimney tells them, “the double cross. See, Marty may have known everything there is to know about the LAFD protocol, but Franklin knew about the bank. He knew what was in that vault. He could steal those diamonds with his eyes closed. See, Marty’s plan was simple, but Franklin’s was more time-sensitive, so he told Marty the best day to rob the armoured car would be his last day. He knew there’d be a party at the end of day at the close of business. He’d start with Marty’s plan, then he’d improvise. Franklin made sure he collapsed inside the vault. He knew what our result would be. Then all he had to do was wait for the vault to automatically close and time-seal for the night. Then he’d have hours alone inside that vault while we ran our rescue protocols. It was a meticulous plan. But there was an unexpected complication.”

“Me,” Hen continues. “He was supposed to be in there alone. So me running in to save his sorry arse? A complication. He had to take me out, too. But now he’s playing ‘beat the clock.’ Soon as the cameras couldn’t see, Franklin swiped six million in stones and waited to be saved. All he needed was a clean gate away. He sends the police after us. So, while the police are investigating us…he could flee the country. New name, new passport, new life.”

“He just wasn’t fast enough,” informed Bobby.

“Marty knew he’d been double-crossed.” Said Eddie.

“He goes to confront Franklin.”

“So Marty killed Franklin,” Buck says proudly in the way that he was finally understanding the story.

“Man, this is why I could never rob a bank, I’m clearly not smart enough for it.” Laughs Kasey.

94 notes · View notes

blueathens · 2 years

Text

Tried Leaving The Past In The Past - Agape Series

ACT TWO, CHAPTER 4

Song: Enchanted by Taylor Swift Quote: ‘And Kasey felt pathetic once more...’

A/N: Not edited or read through.

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

Kasey burnt the letter.

She took a lighter and lit the bottom right corner of the letter on fire. She watched as the fire started to spread up the letter, words disappearing into black ashes as it fell to the road under her feet. The last words to go was the ‘Dear Princess,’ and when it finally all disappeared and she let go off the last flaming piece onto the puddle below her, she began to pretend it never happened.

That Jordan never sent her a letter.

That Jordan wasn’t haunting her.

That Jordan never existed…

But he did. He remained within Kasey as she couldn’t forgot the man who tried to kill her.

Kasey and Bobby never discussed about that night she broke down in his arms, but Kasey knew he thought about it, she could see it in every look he gave her. He knew he had things to say, words biting at the end of his tongue, but he never spoke a single syllable about it as he knew Kasey wouldn’t talk about it if she wasn’t ready to.

Kasey was still sleeping in her car, or at the fire station when she was on a 24-hour-shift, or even sometimes at Bobby’s, but she didn’t stay there much as she always felt like a burden. And Bobby always informed Kasey that she wasn’t a burden, that she could never be a burden.

And then there was a new guy in her life, a guy that she began to like. He was a doctor she met after rescuing a lovely woman called Ms Rosa at one of her evening shifts. Kasey would come in often to keep her company after learning that she didn’t have anyone to come visit her. So, Kasey took it upon herself to visit Ms Rosa whenever she could, and the doctor – Dr Jamie Scott – would often come in on his free time and play cards or other simple board games that Ms Rosa enjoyed playing.

Lingering touches were a very common thing between the two young adults whenever they left the hospital room that belonged to the older woman, and unspoken words that drifted through the air was a common sight too.

“Good morning Doctor,” Kasey grinned as she walked through the automatic doors, seeing the familiar brown-haired doctor that has been capturing her attention for the last few weeks. He was leaning against the reception desk as he read the clipboard that was in his hands.

At the sound of Kasey’s voice, Jamie looked up, his face brightening at the sight of the young firefighter, he greeted her with a smile, and he also greeted her fellow firefighters behind her.

“How’s Ms Rosa today?”

Jamie tucks the clipboard under his arm, moving to walk beside her, close enough that their shoulders were brushing against one enough.

“She’s healing well and wants to thank you all once –”

Eddie, who was walking behind Kasey, began to tune Jamie’s voice out as he talked mostly to Kasey, making a few comments towards the team behind Kasey of what Ms Rosa has said, but mostly he was sending love-heart eyes towards Kasey, and in all honesty the only reason they were here was because Kasey left her bag at the hospital – one of the places that Kasey hates to be, but has been pushing past that for when she visited Chimney, Maddie and now Ms Rosa.

However, the team knew that she also was pushing that hatred for the Doctor who was now brushing his fingers against hers.

Eddie rolls his eyes at the innocent touches between them.

Hen, who has been watching Eddie from the corner of her eyes, smirks. She nudges them and Eddie catches sight of the knowing smirk that played at her lips, but he just shook his head at it before looking down at the ground and kicked his left foot out in slight embarrassment and shyness.

Eddie didn’t know why he felt annoyed at the sight of them considering he was with Shannon again…but that was because of Kasey. She was the one who suggested the idea of him and Shannon getting back together, and Eddie believed she only suggested that mainly because she held no feelings for him.

‘Maybe he should just let Kasey go and try and be happy with Shannon,’ Eddie thought to himself as he watches Jamie flirt with Kasey.

Buck notices Eddie’s quietness and he eyes the flirting pair in front of him before looking back at Eddie, he nudged him with his elbow, making the slightly older firefighter look at Buck with furrowed brows, questioning why Buck has just pulled Eddie from his thoughts.

And as if reading Eddie’s mind, Buck asks: “Why are you even back with Shannon if it was something you never wanted?”

The taller firefighter looks over at his best friend who laughed at what Jamie has just said, before looking at his other best friend who looked at Kasey miserably.

Eddie shrugs as he moved closer to the wall by him to lean against it. His eyes stayed on Kasey for a few more moments, before letting out a sigh.

“Christopher deserves to have both parents.”

Buck wanted to laugh – of course Christopher deserves his parents, but that doesn’t mean Eddie had to put himself in a relationship he didn’t want to be in, him and Shannon could have just co-parented whilst he built a relationship with the woman he has been fancying the very moment he joined.

But Buck didn’t laugh, instead his face moved into a confused state as his voice went a bit lower, so Hen or Bobby didn’t hear them as they were standing nearby.

“But that isn’t what you want…” Buck trails off just for Eddie to pick up from it with a shake of his head.

“Nope, the person I want is the one flirting with some doctor.” He sighs once more, arms folding at his chest as he took a look at his shoes. “But it’s alright, I always knew that I be the one to fall for someone who could never return the same feelings…don’t even know why I’m doing this in all honesty, I’ve got a wife. A wife who I should love.”

“You two aren’t technically together-together though. You’re more like two unspoken divorced people who are sleeping together just to make it work for your son.” Buck pointed out. “So, there’s not really any wrong on you falling for another, she was gone for years. There was no communication between you guys until now. You didn’t know she was ever going to come back, and she never stated anything.” Buck pursed his lips as he noticed Eddie’s hesitance to believe him.

“Eddie,” Buck says firmly, and it grabs Eddie’s attention as he looks back up at Buck.

“You haven’t done anything wrong.” Buck emphasised. “Waiting for Shannon would have been like waiting for a ghost,” Buck says with a small laugh, which soon drowns out as he notices Eddie’s small glances at Kasey. “And for Kasey,” Buck paused, “I think she’s just trying to distract herself from reality.”

Buck sighs before muttering, “but you really can’t see it, huh? The way she looks at you isn’t the same way she looks at other guys.”

And with that Buck dropped the conversation when he noticed Kasey heading their way, her bag now in her hands and a massive grin on her face.

“We’re finally going out on a date!”

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“You don’t look so good Kasey,” Hen utters to Kasey as they climbed out of the fire truck. Kasey climbed out last, closing the door behind her before leaning against the truck as she listens to Hen. She brings her arm up to her forehead to wipe away a small bit of sweat.

She sighs as she watches her chest rise and fall. She drops her arm and looks back at Hen with a tired expression – an expression she was beginning to struggle in hiding.

“You haven’t slept for days, have you?”

Kasey looks down as she shakes her head slightly.

“I just keep on seeing him everywhere I look and every time I close my eyes I see him.” She blinks away a few tears. “I try and pretend that none of that happened, but it just makes me feel even more tired.”

“Have you talked to anyone?”

“Tried to,” Kasey admitted, “but whenever I try to, no words ever come out.”

She squeezes her eyes shut and lets out a small sigh. “I just want to get some sleep.”

Hen squeezed the younger firefighter’s shoulder, tilting her head to the side slightly as she gave her a sympathetic look, wishing that she could do more for Kasey.

“Kasey I–”

“Kasey?” A different voice calls.

Kasey snaps her eyes open at the sound of the familiar voice, her fingers pinched her suspenders in minor annoyance.

Hen spun around, squinting her eyes as she looked through the lenses of her glasses to try and figure out who the mysterious person standing slightly further away from them was.

“Mum?”

Hen’s mouth fell slightly open before she quickly turned her head back to look at Kasey, who jaw was clenching at the sight of one of her parents.

Gwen gave her a sweet smile and Kasey nodded her head to gesture for them to go upstairs, which her mum hummed lightly in agreement too before making her way towards the stairs, followed by Kasey was now digging her hands deeply into her pocket.

The moment they reached the stairs, her mum made her way towards a sofa where luckily no one else was. She made herself comfortable on the sofa whilst her daughter sat on the floor in front of her, top of her back was against the coffee table that sat behind her as she looked up at her mum with a look that screamed irritation.

Her knees were brought up closely to her chest as her back rested against the coffee table in the station. Sitting from the floor, she sat and stared at her mum who watched from her seat from the sofa in front of her with a smile painted on her face.

“Sweetie this place is–”

“Why are you here? You’ve never bothered before to come down and see me.” Kasey interrupted, instantly cutting Gwen off just to get to the chase on why this woman has decided to show her face in LA.

“Just thought it was time to come down to the area you lived in.”

“Did dad call you when I was in hospital?” Kasey questioned, ignoring all the excuses Gwen was throwing at her.

“Oh, yes.” Gwen nods. “He did.”

The smile on Gwen’s face falls to a frown before it shifts into a sympathetic smile. “But honey, I was just too busy with work. I hope you understand.”

Kasey nods to herself.

She nodded and she nodded, and she nodded whilst her eyes stung with tears that threatened to fall. Kasey sniffled. She felt pathetic that she was feeling this upset with a woman who has never tried before in her life – she felt pathetic in caring once again what Gwen thought.

But she was her mum, and Kasey knew that fact was the thing that was always going to make Kasey care more than she should. That despite all the hatefulness Gwen has thrown at Kasey throughout her life, Kasey still holds care for every feeling and thought that belonged to Gwen.

She brought her sleeve up to her nose to wipe it. She looks down and presses her lips into a thin line before realising a deep and heavy breath. “Yeah, she nods again, eyes shutting for a moment as she offers her mum a fake smile, “of course. It’s just…” she hesitates for a second before continuing, “but when TK got shot you dropped everything to be there for him, and you should, TK deserves his mum to be there. But when an ex of mine nearly brutally kills me…work becomes too important to even see your own daughter?” She looks up once more, showing off her teary eyes. “I-I didn’t even know if I was going to make it, mum. And you just sit there and tell me work was too important?”

Kasey let out a breathy laugh.

“Do you know how pathetic I feel right now? I should have known better, but I still had hope that you would visit me in hospital. That you would hold my hand and tell me everything was going to be okay. But you never did – you never do.”

Gwen leaned forwards in attempt to place her hands onto Kasey’s knees to show Kasey her face of sympathy, but Kasey wasn’t haven’t any of it as she stumbled up on to her feet. Her hands were held firmly behind her back as she made enough space between her and Gwen.

“Kasey, sweetie, I–”

“I think you should go,” Kasey says quietly, as if she was a frightened child, and Kasey swore she wasn’t, but in that moment she did feel like a child once again, asking her mum to leave her alone after hours and hours of screaming at one another.

But this time there was no screaming.

Just a pained young girl desperately asking her mother to leave after the discovery that she didn’t bother to care for her once again.

And Kasey felt pathetic once more…

115 notes · View notes

blueathens · 1 year

Text

Normality - Agape

ACT THREE, CHAPTER 1

SONG: Look After You by The Fray QUOTE: “You and Eddie have each other numbers?”

A/N: Not read through or edited - also been written in a rush

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

“So why have you never introduce me to Buck before?” Kit curiously asked as they awaited for him to arrive at his surprise party.

Kasey shrugs.

“He’s cute,” he shyly mutters before lifting his cup towards his lips. “Do you know if he be into…me?”

Kasey turns her head to face Kit, brows furrowed before they shoot right up, and her eyes widen when she realised what he meant. “You like Buck!” She whispered loudly, face scrunching when Kit slapped the back of her head with his free hand whilst throwing her an angry glare.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Kasey supresses her smile before turning her head to look elsewhere, “I don’t think we ever talked about it,” when really they did, a few months after Buck joined, he admitted that he likes both woman and guys, but he wasn’t ready to tell anyone that yet, and Kasey promised to keep it a secret.

“Oh.”

Kasey places a comforting hand on his back and rubs it gently.

“Hey, come on, he’s here,” Hen utters to the group outside and the two friends looked at one another before heading inside Athena and Bobby’s house.

“Hey,” Kit bumps his shoulder against Kasey as he bends down slightly to whisper in her ear, “have you told Eddie about – oh, I’ll take that as a no by the look you’re giving me.” Kit shuffled away as his eyes went to look at the stairs by the front door, Kasey too turned to face that way after throwing one more glare to the side of Kit’s face.

“Oh, I’m so glad you guys were able to come,” Athena greeted at the front door.

“Thank you for having us over.” Buck laughs as he and Maddie both walk through the front door, and with a curious look from the corner of her eye she noticed a faint blush on Kit’s cheeks.

She rolls her eyes, “man, you’re down bad for this loser.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kit hisses back.

“Surprise!” Everyone screamed as the trio got halfway down the stairs. Buck jumps back in shock, hand over his heart, before his usual smile returned back to his face.

Buck hugged Eddie first, then Kit, then finally Kasey.

His hand rubs the top of her head and her face scrunches up as he messes up her perfectly done hair, before he brings her close to his chest, arms wrapping around her as he sways them both. “How were you able to keep this a secret from me?”

“Well unlike you, I can keep secrets.” Kasey teased back as she pulls herself away from the hug she was sharing with Buck.

Now standing against a wall, Eddie and Kasey stands shoulder-to-shoulder, their hands brushing together between the small gap between them, whilst their other hands held their drinks.

“TK still coming down?”

“Think he said his plane lands at 8am tomorrow, but he said he’s gonna stay at a hotel tomorrow because I’ll be working, then after tomorrow I’ve got a few days off.”

“And where are you guys staying?” Eddie suspiciously question.

“I, er,” Kasey hesitates, “my place obviously.”

Eddie hums, “you sure about that? Because I went over to your place the other day to drop something off for you, but Ms Matthews said you are hardly ever there.”

Kasey freezes.

“Well, I – Buck?!” Eddie turned to look over at Buck as he begins to cough more furiously, Kasey was already placing her drink down and heading towards Bobby and Buck, Eddie following closely behind.

But before either of them could reach him, he fell to the ground with blood coming out from his mouth.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“Buck?” Kasey called out loudly through the dark and quiet apartment after she opened his door with the spare key Buck handed to her when he got this place.

Kasey was finally on a few daybreak and on the way to pick TK up, she decided to come and see Buck since it’s been a few days after being released from the hospital and Bobby already warned Kasey on how Buck isn’t happy that he wasn’t allowed to come back yet.

It felt odd not hearing any music in his apartment as there was always some form of sound happening around Buck, he hated the silence, found it boring, so he always needed sound around him. But there was no sounds anywhere within the apartment.

Kasey frowned as she walked up the stairs to the loft, only to see the tall man that she could proudly call her best friend was in bed with many covers on top of him.

“Evan,” Kasey tried as she sat down onto the edge of the mattress and gave Buck’s thigh a soft tap to which he groaned out.

He sounded exhausted and Kasey frown deepened at that.

“Buck, Bobby told me about the hospital and you wanting to come back to work,” Kasey mutters as her hand stayed on Buck’s thigh in an act of comfort whilst he stayed under the covers. “But you must know that these things we got to be patient for and build ourselves up for.”

“I already did though.” Buck stated, his voice rough with sleep. He peered out from the covers to look at his best friend. “I did, I was doing well – I was getting better.” His face was ghostly pale and Kasey took that chance to lean forwards and touch the bottom of the lamp on the beside table, only touching it once so the light wasn’t so harsh. The bags under his eyes looked darker than when she saw him in the hospital after the fall in Athena’s garden. They were even swollen, and Kasey presumed he had been crying not that long ago. “I am better, you know I am Kas, I’m better, right?”

Kasey’s body froze at the sound of his voice and the words he spoke, and for some reason it took her back to when TK had his first relapse. It was the same words, him saying he was better and asking her if she believes it’s true too.

But those times were two very different experiences, but it still made Kasey’s heart drop.

“I thought you were.”

Those were the same words she said to TK those years ago and now she’s repeating them to her best friend who didn’t seem himself anymore.

“But you still need some more time to heal – to let your body heal – and that’s okay, Buck, it’s okay to take some time away just to heal…a fire truck fell on you, and you aren’t going to get better just like that, it takes time and that’s okay. And the second you’re fully cleared you can come back, you know you can come bac–”

“Even you don’t believe I’m not better.” He scoffs with his dry voice. “But I am and I’m ready to work again, Kas.”

“You don’t look it, Buck,” Kasey softly says. “You seem tired.”

“You work when you’re tired,” he said pointedly as he raised an eyebrow.

“That’s,” she hesitates, “not sleeping well and being tired from an injury is very different.” Buck’s eyes flicked down to the blankets covering his entire body, hiding any evidence that he was injured, that he wasn’t okay really – except his face showed it all to Kasey. “If you went back to work now you will get worst. You have to take these things day by day.”

Kasey sighs.

“Have you spoken to anyone since Bobby?” Buck shakes his head. “So you’ve been alone in this dark apartment for these last couple of days?” Kasey looks around the slightly lit room to see his phone on the other side of the room. “Guess that’s why you weren’t answering anyone’s messages or calls.”

Kasey looks around the room more not noticing any dirty plates or cups and it perked a question within Kasey as she knew that people who feel down wouldn’t be in the mood to do chores such as cleaning up and sometimes not even taking care of themselves. “Have you eaten much?”

“I’m not that hungry.” He admits as he avoids Kasey’s eyes. “The meds make me feel sick.”

“I’ll make something easy for you,” Kasey smiles. “You might need something in your stomach.”

“Don’t you have to pick up TK?”

“He can wait, you need me right now.”

Buck smiles to himself as he watches Kasey go down the stairs and turn on some lights before beginning to make some noise within the house by pulling out pots and pans from his cupboards. He pulls himself up, so he was propped against his headboard.

He wanted to ask Kasey how easy it can be addicted to pills, not that he wants to be, he just…he fears that he’s taking to many medications, and it will soon make him addicted. He knew Kasey would have idea due to her past, but he was afraid that it would trigger something, make her remember things she shouldn’t.

He didn’t want to hurt her; she was getting better.

But he was scared that these medications will make him an addict, he’s heard of stories where people fall dependent of the medications doctors prescribe after an injury, how they fall into that addiction accidently as they just wanted to numb the pain a little more.

Even when he was younger he noticed how people around him fell into addictions, whether that was with drugs, alcohol, sex, foods, or cigarettes. He always noticed how diluted or bloodshot their eyes were, and Buck saw his very own red and tired eyes in the glass of his phone and the camera, he threw his phone across the room from fear that this was the beginning of an addiction.

He never once thought he was just tired or sad or not actually okay, he immediately thought it was the drugs that made him look not okay even though they were helping with the pain in his body. He didn’t even realise he was hungry until he heard Kasey begin to cook.

He wondered, for some reason he wondered that if Kasey didn’t come today he would have become dependent on his medications.

Without Kasey coming, Buck wasn’t going to get up and start to look after himself, he was just going to have a pill whenever he felt slightly in pain from something, even if it wasn’t his leg that was hurting.

Buck didn’t want to fall apart, he knew how horrible it felt from the small stories Kasey has mentioned from her and TK’s past, he knew how horrible it was from some stories Bobby told and the stories Hen told about her ex and how it made her as a witness to that felt.

Buck didn’t want to be addicted, but he wondered if he already was because he was so dependent on his best friend, not in an unhealthy way, but in the way that she’s just there holding his hand, taking these things step by step, she doesn’t pull him out of the dark, instead she guides him out from his darkness with comforting words of honesty.

Buck was addicted to Kasey as he needed her.

If she ever walked away from this friendship, this family, he knew he wouldn’t be able to survive.

He thinks maybe no one would be able to since Kasey was the team’s safety net, the glue, the person you can just count on.

Maybe the entire team was just addicted to Kasey Strand, and Buck thinks this is the only addiction he will allow himself to have.

There was no pain with this drug, no suffering, no side effects, no nothing. Instead it felt hopeful.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“How’s Buck doing?” TK questioned as he sat in front of his sister at a café by the beach, next to some wooden pier that had games running across it.

“Not liking the fact he can’t come back to work yet,” Kasey shrugged as she cut into her steak. “We all want him to come back, but we don’t want him working if it’s just going to make him worst. I just wish he knew that he has to allow his body to fully heal before doing anything extreme like saving lives again.” Kasey sighs as she shakes his head. “Bobby failed to mention though that Buck has already said he was quitting.”

“Oh?” TK raised his brows. “And do what?”

“I don’t know, I just want him to rest and get better.”

“Buck’s not going to do that,” TK points out. “Neither would you.”

Kasey stayed quiet as she dug into her late lunch.

“Why haven’t you been living in your apartment Kas?”

“Huh?”

How does he know this?

“Eddie called me when he found out, asking me if I knew,” he tilts his head slightly to try and read his sister’s face, “I obviously didn’t.”

“You and Eddie have each other numbers?”

“To look out for you.”

“Wow,” Kasey sarcastically draws out, “didn’t know I had secret babysitting agents.”

TK decided to ignore her comment. “Are you living in your car again?”

The last time she was sleeping in a car was whenever her and Gwen got into bad fights or she was too fucked up with drugs to want to go home to face either Owen, Gwen, Enzo, or TK.

“I’m trying to look for a new place,” Kasey simply says, “just been to busy to do anything with the looking.”

“Or are you holding it off because you think one day you be ready to live there again despite what happened?”

“Other people do it.”

“You shouldn’t compare your trauma with others, your trauma is your own, and it’s okay if you can’t live there, Kasey.”

“But I know I will be–” Kasey stops when she hears mutters around her. She turns her head to look around before stopping at the sight of the sea. Her face drops.

The water has fallen suddenly.

“Kasey? What is it?” He questions, the inner of his brows drawing closer together at the look of sudden shock and fear on her face. Hesitantly, he turns his head to look out to sea to see a abnormally large way heading this way.

“TK,” Kasey breaths. “Run.”

110 notes · View notes

blueathens · 2 years

Text

Avenging My Father - AGAPE SERIES

ACT TWO, SCENE SEVEN

SONG: Headspace by Lewis Capaldi QUOTE: “I just couldn’t like him the same way he liked me.”

A/N: Not proofread or edited - I changed this so many times - delay in posting this chapter

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

For Bobby, both Buck and Kasey reminded him of Sal Deluca, a firefighter he reassigned to Station 122 not long after becoming Captain. The three of them regularly disobeyed his orders, Kasey, however, does it more often than Buck and more extreme than Deluca ever could. Bobby thinks it's her heavy survivor's guilt that constantly weighs her down.

If Kasey loses someone, she will forever feel like its her fault, even if there was no way in saving them, Kasey will still believe she wasn't good enough – that she was the reason they died.

Kasey never expresses this feeling though, not really, it's just something you figure out when you get to know her.

On her inner arm were the angel numbers '444,' she got this tattoo as it was exactly how she sees herself as – protection.

That she was a human shield that could take everyone's pain as long as it meant someone else could live.

Bobby thinks that Kasey sometimes forgets that she's human, just like everyone else, that she can't save everyone and be a protector for them all.

Bobby even thinks that Kasey will die at his hands one day as she won't follow the orders that are meant to keep both the team and civilians as safe as possible. Or it will just lead her to a lot of trouble in the near future, but today it was him that was getting in trouble, not Kasey, but as the tension rises, Bobby could feel that something was going to break within her, and someone will discover a truth that they do not like and use it to ruin her.

However, the truth was not going to be true, if Kasey's story didn't come from her mouth then it isn't true, but Bobby knows that someone will eventually one day mix up her words and use it against her thinking it's the truth, when it's not.

Kasey Strand was one of the best damn firefighters anyone could ever meet, and it was a damn shame that she held so much darkness that if it falls into the wrongs hand, it could ruin her, but today wasn't going to be day where someone ruins Kasey Strand.

But it is the day where Kasey begins to worry about her role as a firefighter as she walks up the stairs, not knowing that one of the best fire station captains has to be suspended from the station.

Today was the day Robert Nash was in danger.

"Hey, Cap." Greeted Chim, being the first one to make it up the stairs, seeing Bobby in his usual seat at the dining table. "Why are you sitting up here in your civvies? And how come I am not smelling my breakfast?"

Hen laughs, and Bobby puts on a fake smile, Kasey could tell, she could tell he was faking his happiness, she knew this as she too was a master of faking happiness, but she also knew Bobby and she knew he was faking that smile on his face.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets as she stood a little away from her team.

"Maybe you should all sit down."

Kasey's teeth sinks into her bottom lip as she mentally prepared herself for the worst.

"Oh," Hen frowns slightly. "This doesn't feel good."

Kasey rounds the table standing at the last chair of the table as she looked straight forth instead of at Bobby who now raised from his seat like one would to make an announcement.

"All right. I know the shift's about to start, but I wanted to be here to tell you this in person. As of this morning, pending further investigation, I am officially suspended from my duties here at the 118."

Kasey's face went blank as she pulled her best poker face at those words, when really she felt like something from within her was dying – Captain Robert Nash was being suspended. Bobby, someone Kasey has looked up to the moment she came here in 2016. The guy who has helped Kasey through so much in her life and tries his best to keep her on her feet.

Kasey didn't know how the 118 without Bobby, and Kasey didn't want to find out what 118 without Bobby was like.

"What? Why? That-That's insane. Suspended for what?" Buck stuttered out.

"For not disclosing what happened in Minnesota before I took the job."

Bobby watched as Kasey bowed her head, eyes closing as she gives a soft shake of her head to the table. Her jaw was firmly set, and her lips were pressed in the thinnest line one could ever see.

In the 118, Kasey Strand was the only one who knew about Bobby's past, and just like him he was aware of some of her past, something Buck has overheard through the passing years. And in their conversations between the two best friends, Kasey never dared to tell Buck that much about her life due to mainly fear.

"Minnesota? That's old news."

"Well, not to them and if they knew all the details," – like Kasey does – "there's a very good chance they never would've hired me."

Bobby related to Kasey in the fact that the pair shouldn't have ever been hired due to their past, but due to them both being able to hide it well they were able to join and become firefighters.

Kasey also knows it's her military background that was able to hide her old life for her to be able to have her new life here in LA with her previous firefighter training.

However, Bobby and Kasey are not bad people, they are very kind souls who just been hurt too much in the past, and due to that hurt it led them to places that suggested they shouldn't be having these new lives.

"Cap, you don't owe them that part of you," Hen speaks up. "You owe them your record."

Kasey wonders if that was why her old record was wiped clean and was replaced with a new one before and after the military due to her good work.

Furthermore, Kasey knew that out of everyone Bobby deserves his place in the 118, he was one of the nicest and most hardworking person she knew who would never put anyone in harm's way.

And her heart fell to the pit of her stomach knowing that his past was catching up to him and it was beginning to ruin his life.

"All the people you've helped." Buck continues.

"The lives you've saved." Eddie says.

"Well, I knew the truth would catch up to me one day," Bobby gives Kasey another glance, but she was still in the same position as she was the first time he looked her way. "I just figured by the time it did, it wouldn't matter. I'd have nothing left to lose. I was wrong."

By the time everyone slowly leaves and heads to do their duties around the firehouse, Bobby makes his way towards Kasey who has looked like she hasn't moved a muscle, but as he gets closer he notices her taking small, quiet, breaths, almost like she was trying to calm herself down from something.

Bobby places his hand on Kasey's shoulder and she jumps slightly as she takes a step back to look and Bobby. Her hands were behind her back as she blinked at him and shows him a small, sad smile.

"You're going to come back," Kasey says lowly.

"Kasey–"

"You're going to come back," she repeats, trying to convince the both of them. "They can't fire you. They just can't."

Kasey felt like she was six again after she sees her dad again after the 9/11 incident, how she felt so lost and just needed a parent's comfort, and the only parent that willingly gave her that was her dad, the guy she cried for as she watched the news, knowing he was there trying to save as many people as he could whilst also losing himself in the process.

Kasey felt like she was six again when Bobby took her smaller body and wrapped his arms around to comfort her like a father would for his daughter, rubbing her back as he promised her he'll be back working in the 118 soon.

But Bobby thinks he has just lied to Kasey.

"You're going to have to be careful, Kas," Bobby whispers. "They're going to discover the whole truth about me, and they soon could find yours, and if it's not you telling them, then they're going to believe in the wrong thing – the thing that's going to get you into a lot of trouble."

Bobby feels Kasey nod against his chest before she pulls herself away and pushes her the side of her hand against her nose before moving further back. "I should head down and–"

Bobby smiles, "Have a good shift, Kasey."

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"Barry Johnson, 57." Athena announces loudly as the 118 jump out of their vehicles, grabbing their equipment that were needed to attend the man that fell. "Seems to have had some kind of existential crisis after lunch. Threw all his money off the roof and then decided to jump it."

Buck whistled as he, Eddie and Kasey looked up to the said roof the man jumped from. "Wish I had that type of money."

Kasey hums, pursing her lips to the side as she turned her head to look at Barry on top of the broken car. "It probably make you very unhappy just like this man." She walks ahead, leaving her two friends behind as she brings herself closer to the injured man. Kasey wasn't carrying any bags of equipment, in fact she didn't simply feel like she was useful for something like this, she felt pretty useless as she just stands back and watch, at those times it doesn't even feel like Kasey is a firefighter, she just feels like a helpless civilian.

"Falls 20 stories and lives."

"20 stories? How is that even possible?" Questioned Buck as he walked slightly ahead of Hen and Athena, and Eddie joins them a second later.

"We also got a few greedy bystanders with minor injuries," Athena raised her finger to point at the small crowd right by them. "Not sure how you want to handle those." Athena takes a glance at Kasey who stood right by the, inspecting his body in hopes she be able to tell her team the injuries for them – at least then she wouldn't feel so hopeless.

"That's up to the Cap," Hen states just as Chimney leaves his vehicle and Kasey takes a glance over her shoulder and gives a quick roll of her eyes – she's been bossed around by Chimney too much and he has only been Captain for only two shifts.

Kasey was getting sick and tired of making coffees.

"Uh, interim Cap," corrects Buck, "this is just temporary until Bobby comes back."

"You keep telling yourself that, Buck." Chimney tilts his head back to stare at the roof the man jumped and survived from as he chewed on his gum. His attention then turned to Barry who groaned, and Kasey takes a step back, lips pressed together as her hands go behind her back whilst she stares down at her shoes.

To Kasey, the man just looks badly injured – meaning she has nothing important to tell her team as they would easily be able to see he's injured.

"Whoa. All right, I'll take spinal precaution." Chimney heads towards Barry, pulling Eddie's shoulder bag off from his shoulder. Chimney walks past the youngest firefighter and completely ignores her due to still being sour about her constantly backchatting him the moment he's become Captain.

He puts the bag down and begins to unzip it before pausing to look at his team who hasn't moved a muscle, but all held a confused look, "right, I'm the Captain. Uh, Hen, Eddie, you're with him." Chimney gestures towards Barry. "Buck, go with John. Triage the minor injuries. And I'll get the Jaws."

Kasey let out a low breath as she waited in the same position for her order, but it never came. And it felt like something else died within Kasey, it made her feel pathetic. This wasn't unusual, she hardly helped with the injuries as she never was able to get more training for it, not like the others in her team,

But when she sits in her car, before she attempts to try and sleep, she reads many medical books, reads the documents the chief sent her via emails, and watch those professional medical videos just so she can understand these things better – just so she can help her team in more areas.

But Kasey just stays there, still waiting for her orders, and she feels pathetic. Chimney was able to say at least a major injury that could have happened to him – which was injuries to the spine – but Kasey couldn't even state that, she didn't even think of the most obvious injury.

Of course there was going to be a problem with his spine.

The water in her eyes begins to build up until she couldn't see anything, her vision becomes blurry, and a huge rush of tiredness and numbness took over her. It was pathetic, she thought, why was she getting so agitated over this?

Over Bobby, over Chimney, over herself and over not being able to help?

Eddie and Hen look over their shoulders to see Kasey just standing there.

"Did Chim not instruct you to a task?" Confusion dripped from Hen's voice.

Kasey tried to speak but she knew if she did then the two of them would quickly realise that she was trying not to cry, and she didn't want them to know or she would feel more pathetic. It was minor things, she told herself, keep it together.

She just shakes her head before looking up at the roof once again and let out a shallow breath, not realising she was being watched by Eddie before he had to turn back to his work with a heavy heart.

Eddie Diaz was beginning to realise that Kasey Strand was not okay, and he began to question how long has she not been okay and how long has she been putting up a façade?

Eddie hated himself for not noticing sooner. The team obviously noticed that Kasey looked a little bit more tired than usual lately, but they all thought it was the extra shifts she kept on asking for that made her seem that way.

But to Eddie now, he thinks there's much more to that as seeing Kasey now, where she isn't putting up a façade as she doesn't know she's being watched, seeing her now expresses to Eddie the raw sadness and pain that emerges from her, and it was a type of pain that made you want to hold that person under a blanket, fire going in a corner, as words of 'you're enough' and 'let me help you,' would be whispered.

So he turns to Barry with a heavy heart as he realises he has only just noticed the true sadness that came off from his best friend.

"All right, Barry. I'm gonna give you something for the pain, okay? It'll take the edge off but you'll probably still gonna feel it."

"Can't you just knock me out'?"

"Sorry, I need you to stay with me." Barry groans once more at Hen's words. Eddie was now in the car, sat in the backseats as his feet where out of the door and planted on the pavement outside as he checks Barry's legs.

"Compound fracture, both legs." Barry grunts and shouts as Eddie continues to check him over. There was glass everywhere, even on Barry's clothes from where he crashed and feel slightly into the back windscreen of the car. His head was against the boot, ever so slightly elevated up so he wasn't laying on shards of glass, and around his neck was a brace.

"Hasn't lost bowel control."

"At least I got that going for me."

"These are all positives, Barry," Hen calmly says as Eddie climbs out the car to look up at the roof once more, trying to figure out how someone could survive a fall like that. "Means your spine's probably okay."

"Ma'am, you said you saw him fall?" Eddie asks the closest civilian to him.

"Yeah," she nods.

"How did he land?"

"Feetfirst," she whimpers.

"Couldn't even do this right," moans Barry. "This morphine's nice, though."

Kasey has moved herself to stand by the ambulance, leaning against the fire truck next to it as she watches Hen pushes Barry on the stretcher.

"You have anyone you need us to call?"

"My wife left me. My kids hate me. My only friend is suing me. next time, I go headfirst."

"You had all that money, though," Eddie states as he pulls the stretcher by the front, right by Barry's head as he walks towards the ambulance backwards. "Why'd you throw it out the window?"

"That money ruined my life. A year ago, I'd have thought it solved all my problems. Just multiplied them."

"Wait," the woman who made the call says, "wait, what-what happened last year?"

"I won the lottery."

Chimney closes the back doors of the ambulance, turns around and shrugs at the woman. "Careful what you wish for." The engine starts as Chimney walks away, the woman pulls out her lottery ticket from her purse and rips it apart.

Eddie clears his throat as he stands next to Kasey, shoulders brushing for as they stood next to one another. Kasey was only slightly smaller than Eddie, it wasn't a grand height difference, but it was a pleasant height difference.

Kasey's strained voice beat Eddie's in talking first as she asked him, "are you happy?"

Eddie opens his mouth, closing it, then opens it once more, but then he closes it and doesn't open it again until he found the right words. He ponders on that question as the both of them look ahead of them, watching as the crowd of people slowly move away and go back to their lives.

"Yes," he finally says, "but I know I can be happier – that I deserve to be happier."

"You deserve more than the world, Eddie." She whispers and Eddie could feel his face begin to heat up at her words, looking down at his shoes whilst he hides away his smile.

No one has ever said that to him before.

No one has thought of Eddie as that much before, but here Kasey was telling him he deserved more than the world, and it felt nice, really nice.

More than nice, in fact.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"So we're doing line ups now?" Buck questions as he stands tall in front of Chimney who parade around with his dark sunglasses as gum in his mouth.

"Stow it, Buckley." He then moves down and back up the line, "so, listen up. Because the word of the day is ' hose maintenance.'" He stops at Buck once again.

"Okay, I'm out," Hen says, and Kasey snorts and Chimney made his way towards the youngest firefighter – the only one who wasn't standing up straight, instead she was leaning her right shoulder against the wall, arms folded at her chest as she too wore sunglasses and chewed her gum mockingly.

"This is so stupid," she mutters just before Captain Chimney stops in front of her with his arms behind his back.

"Are you questioning my methods?" The other firefighters eyed the pair out from the corner of their eyes.

"Not questioning them," she simpered, "I'm saying it's stupid."

Kasey sits in front of Bobby at his place where the table was littered with things for a wedding, Kasey smiles faintly at it, before it falls as she looks back at Bobby.

"What if we put a blonde wig on you? They'll never notice that's it you. Then we can have both you and normal Chimney back," Kasey proclaims as she sits proudly at the fact that she just thought of the best idea ever.

Bobby gives a short shake of his head, dying her excitement down.

Kasey leans back in her chair, hands holding the back of her head, groaning. "This is just like Buck with a clipboard," she shakes her head. "Dark times. Dark times."

"I think Chimney is just trying–" Bobby stops himself from talking as Kasey throws him a warning look whilst she sits back normally on her chair. "Forgot what I just said," he raised a hand in surrender. "He shouldn't be annoying my favourite firefighter."

Kasey smiles, "I knew I was your favourite," she whispers in excitement, wiggling in her seat as she taps her fingers against the small available spaces of the table.

Kasey pauses her tapping as her phone vibrates in her pocket, she pulls it out and keeps it hidden under the table as she looks down at the messages popping up:

Eddie: Shannon thinks she's pregnant

Eddie: I'm not ready for that – I don't think I want that.

Eddie: I don't think I want this life with Shannon anymore, it's not the same as it was years ago. I did once love her, but I don't think it was to the point I was ready to be married?

Eddie: I think I lied to you on that shift where I told you I was happy. I'm not happy and I don't think I've ever been truly happy. Only times I know I'm happy is with my family, the 118 and you

Eddie: I don't know what to do Kas...

Kasey frowns as she types a message telling Eddie that she will be at his shortly and quickly turns her phone off at the sound of Bobby's voice. She looks up to see Bobby looking down at his notebook as he writes something down.

"You're coming to our wedding," Bobby tells her. It was in a way an invitation, by an invitation that said there was no way she was getting out of it.

"I thought it was established that the entire team was going?" Kasey questioned as she put her phone in her pocket.

"Yes but they can say no if they're busy, but you – me and Athena won't be truly happy if you're not there Kasey," Bobby puts his pen down as he holds his hands together in front of him, "Athena says she's happy as long as I don't pick the dress and that me, the kids and you are there." He smiles before giving a half shrug, "you're practically our daughter, Kasey."

Instead of something dying within her, something came to life, and Kasey didn't know how to handle that. But she knew, and so did Bobby, that the smile that stretched across her lips was one of true happiness and it was far from being fake.

"I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world, Cap."

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"Christopher deserves you, he deserves his mum," Eddie states at the dining table, Shannon sitting opposite him, and Christopher was at his abuela's. Eddie's phone was turned face up on the table next to his intertwined hands that were placed firmly in front of him as he looked at Shannon, ready to tell her that she wasn't the one who has his heart. "But I," he pauses to think of the right words, but for a break-up – for a divorce – is there actually any correct words to end a relationship? "But I don't think we deserve each–"

"Eddie," Shannon breaths, "I'm not pregnant."

Eddie stops and sits himself up more on the chair, clearing his voice before looking down at his lap and back up at Shannon.

"What?"

"I'm not...I'm not pregnant. I was just late."

"Oh." Eddie utters. "That doesn't matter, Christopher still deserves his mum, but I just don't think we could ever be tog–"

"I wrote this letter," Shannon interrupts once again, "a few years ago, right after I left. Or actually, after I...didn't come back. To Christopher. Trying to explain why I couldn't be there. And I figured that if, for some reason, I never found my way back, that he'd want answers. And he needed to know that...it wasn't his fault. That his mother didn't leave because she didn't love him. She left because she did. I never sent it, obviously. And then when I found out today that I wasn't actually pregnant, I took that letter out, I read it." She shakes her head. "Eddie, I never want to have to send that letter."

"Why would you ever?"

"Because if I try to do this again before I'm ready, there wont be a second chance." She takes a harsh swallow to keep back her cries. "Eddie, I'm not ready to be Christopher's mother, I'm just not. And I know...I know you asked me to come round to end us officially...for a divorce."

All Eddie could do was nod.

"And that's okay," Shannon whispers with a sad smile. "It's okay." She tucks her bottom lip as she gives a painful nod to Eddie. "Just promise me that your heart doesn't belong to anyone but Kasey. That it's her you want to be with."

"It's Kasey," Eddie confirms with a small smile which Shannon returns.

"Good," she sniffles. "That's good. You deserve each other, you know? I see the way you both look at each other, and I, I've never seen you that happy before Eddie. I've never seen anyone that happy before. And Christopher is so happy with her too. You two are good for one another, and I just need you and Christopher to stay happy." Shannon pauses. "Kasey is everything you and Christopher needs and–"

"Kasey doesn't feel the same way."

"How do you know?" Shannon raises her eyebrows. "You don't know if you don't ask her." She leans forwards to tap her hand against Eddie's. "Promise me you'll try with her because I'm certain she feels the same."

Eddie shakes his head in disagreement. "How do I tell Christopher?"

Shannon had no answer except her raising from her seat, saying a small goodbye to Eddie before leaving him alone on the dining table.

He picks up his phone and messages the first person his mind went to, completely ignoring the fact that she's coming later, he needed to speak to someone, and she was the only one on his mind.

Eddie: Shannon and I have agreed on getting a divorce

Eddie: She's not pregnant

Eddie: And I think she just walked out of Christopher's life

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"All right, make way! LAFD!" Chimney leads. "All right, John and Buck, triage the minor injuries. Hen you're with me. Eddie and Kasey, check the driver."

The pair goes to either side of the front doors of the car, Eddie crouching down in front of the red car's open door on the driver's side whilst he unzips his medical bag. "Ma'am, can you hear me?"

"I, um..." Kasey climbs into the passenger seat. "I tried to stop, but I didn't see any of them. Are they okay?" The woman stuttered out.

"Yeah," Kasey says in a gentle tone which carries a slight firmness to it, "we're taking care of the others, ma'am. Right now, we need to see if you're okay."

"Um, m-my neck hurts. Oh, God."

Eddie leans into the car slightly to wrap a neck brace around the woman's neck. "Okay, ma'am, we're gonna put this on you as a precaution until the doctors at the hospital can check you out."

Kasey pulls herself out of the car but stops and turns to look back into the car when she hears the woman stutter again.

"Th-There was a lady. Is-is she all right?"

Kasey head turns to look out at the road where the collusion happened, face falling as she notices and Eddie caught on as he watches her face drop.

'No, no, no, no, no,' Kasey repeated in her head, eyes down casting to the ground as she tries to figure something out, something that would hurt Eddie less. But that was humanly impossible because no one can make someone feel better after seeing some you care for get hurt.

"Kasey?" Eddie's voice reaches Kasey's ears. "What's going on?" She turns to look at him, face falling even further when she notices Eddie turning his head to look out onto the road too.

"Eddie," Kasey breaths before stumbling up to catch Eddie. "Eddie."

Kasey's voice became white noise to Eddie's ears as he rushed towards the woman on the ground. Buck touches him to hold him back but Eddie pushes past him, completely ignoring his and Kasey's calls for him. Chimney stops him next but just like Buck he pushes past and ignores every call he sends his way.

He couldn't hear anything except ringing in his ears.

"How bad is it?" He pants out as Chimney places his hands on Eddie's chest again.

Chimney thought about lying, but he couldn't lie to Eddie, Eddie doesn't deserve to be lied to.

"It's bad."

"Spinal injury?"

"Maybe worst."

Eddie didn't once look at Chimney, not even as he gently pushes past Chimney, pushing his hand away as he tries to reach him once again as he makes his way to his ex-wife, who laid in the middle of a crosswalk.

He kneels down, checking her over as he whispers her name and she greets him like it's a normal day with a simple, "hey." She then asks, "Are you here?"

"I'm here," he offers a small smile.

"Oh, God. This is so embarrassing."

Hen rushes to take the stethoscope out from her ears, "Vitals trending downward."

"All right, let's get her on the backboard! Get her transported, now!" Chimney yells whilst Eddie watches other paramedics take Shannon onto a backboard and places her into the back of an ambulance, but before she gets in her eyes finds Kasey's.

"Look after them," she whispers, but due to Kasey slowly making her way closer to Eddie she was able to hear, and she nods, smiling slightly to silently promise Shannon that Eddie and Christopher will be okay – Kasey will make sure of it.

"I'm riding with her," Eddie says in a voice that told everyone to not try and stop him.

"She's decompensating. We got to intubate her." Hen says just before Chimney dared to stop Eddie.

"Eddie," he places his hand firmly against Eddie's chest, "we put that tube in, there's a good chance it never comes back out." He looks over his shoulder as he notices Eddie's face. "Hen, stop. Do not intubate. Not yet."

"Cap..."

"I know." He looks back at Eddie. "He knows." He then gestures he's head to the back of the ambulance, "get in there and say goodbye."

As the ambulance goes, Kasey sniffles before climbing back into the fire truck, taking the drivers seat as she follows behind the ambulance that trailed behind another fire truck.

Kasey wasn't sure if God existed, but seeing such hurt written across Eddie's fast made her want to climb up to the clouds and murder every God up there for giving Eddie so much pain, pain that he does not deserve.

Kasey cursed them all for being this cruel to a man who didn't deserve any of this.

To a woman who didn't deserve this.

To a child who didn't deserve to lost a parent...

And the moment Kasey reached the hospital, she was the first one to hold Eddie after he showed himself again. The first one to catch him as he fell. And the first one to let him cry in her arms as he clings to her in desperation.

Eddie felt like a child again after he went to his first funeral, he felt like he was a young boy crying and wailing questions to his mum who had no answers about death.

Eddie didn't think he would be feeling this way again for a while, epically after the war, he thought he was going to be okay and that no one he cares about will leave again.

But Shannon did.

She was leaving him all over again, just this time she wasn't going to come back and be a mother to Christopher.

And after Kasey, it was Bobby Eddie hugged next, but he went back to Kasey the second he left Bobby's embrace and all Kasey could do was bring her hand up to his hair, running her fingers through the long locks as she hushes him gently and tells him that they're all here for him.

She doesn't once tell him that everything's going to be okay or that she's sorry, and Eddie appreciates this, he secretly didn't want anyone to say this, and somewhere within him he knew Kasey would be the last one to ever say those words...not until she knew for sure he was going to be alright.

Kasey didn't dare to say it to him though as she knew all he needed was to be held and be told that he has people – that he still got them.

And that was all she did.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

Vanessa Prescott has known Kasey Strand since her birth. Growing up, Kasey befriended Vanessa son, Kit Prescott, who was her childhood best friend before going separate ways just before Kasey went off to fight in the war.

Kit has lived here since 2015 with his boyfriend, but Vanessa moved down to live with Kit in 2017 after the couple broke up.

Then when Kasey came to LA in 2016, Kit and Kasey began to meet up with each other every so often which was later joined with Vanessa after she moved down.

Today, Eddie joins them after Kasey begged him to leave his house for at least an hour and not plan a funeral, she could see being trapped and stressed on planning a funeral was ruining him, and Eddie obeyed and asked if she was busy.

Which, today she kinda was for the morning, but she allowed Eddie to join her in the café that she, Kit and Vanessa was meeting in.

"You've got a kid, right?" Vanessa asked with a smile as she brought her coffee to her lips.

Eddie nods as a real smile dances at his lips for once, it's been a few days since the last time he really smiled, the only times he did was a few very small ones whenever Kasey was round to help look after Christopher whilst he plans Shannon's funeral.

Kasey would try and make jokes whenever Christopher was around to try and keep his spirits up, whilst also Eddie's, and it was nice to see how happy Kasey got whenever either Diaz let out a laugh or a smile.

It even convinced Eddie that soon him and Christopher will be okay, they aren't drained of happiness, and they will be okay again.

"Yes," he smiles. "Christopher, he's one of the best things that has happened to me." Pulling out his phone, he shows both Vanessa and Kit a photo of Christopher whilst Kasey literally beams at the interaction between the three of them.

"He's probably the cutest kid I've ever seen," Kit speaks up, "reminds me of a Koala," both Kasey and Vanessa rolled their eyes as they prepared themselves for Kit's rambles, whilst Eddie throws a questioning look whilst stuffing his phone back into his pocket. "Did you know Koala and human's have very similar fingerprints?"

Eddie shakes his head, "no, I did not know that."

Kasey leans towards Eddie to whisper in his ear, "he's crazy with these animal facts and–"

"Do you ever wish to be a penguin, Eddie?"

Kasey pulls away from Eddie as she stares at her red-headed friend with wide eyes, and she secretly tells Kit to cut it out with her hand moving across her neck.

"Penguins, in my opinion, are one of the most romantic couples in the animal kingdom. When a male finds attraction to a female he will bring her the best pebble and if she likes the offering then they will find pebbles together to build their nest. They even mate for life," Kit sighs as he rests his chin in the palm of his hand, "I wish I was a penguin, and someone would bring me a cool rock."

Vanessa gives Eddie a sympathetic look which leads Eddie to slight confusion because why are they apologising for Kit? He hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, he thinks it's cool that someone has this much interest in animals and happily expresses all tons of information to people like Eddie who aren't so educated in that world.

"You know," Vanessa says as she tilts her head to look at Eddie with a smile that a mother would give their child, "you're the first friend of Kasey's that we have ever had the pleasure in meeting."

Kasey slaps her hand into her face, shaking it in embarrassment whilst a smile makes it way onto her face as she listens to Eddie chuckle next to her.

She hasn't heard him properly since Shannon's death, sometimes there was a very small breathless chuckle here and there, but this time he was looking down with a smile on his face whilst laughter left his mouth.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Kit chimes in.

"I didn't know you wanted to meet them," Kasey said sheepishly as she looked through the gaps of her fingers. She sinks slightly down in her seat as Vanessa sends her a mothering look of 'are-you-for-real?'.

Kasey slowly sits herself up whilst Kit continues to talk, "you must be Kasey's favourite then if she happily allows you to meet two of her most favourite people ever. That must make you a dolphin then, they are Kasey's favourite animals. Did you know that dolphins–"

Kit's voice drowns out to Eddie's ears after he feels Kasey's hand intertwine with his under the table and she feels her gently squeeze his hand.

Out from the corner of his eye, he noticed that Kasey was still looking forwards and nods along to what Kit is saying.

It was only a few weeks ago when the two of them made up this method for each other, around the same time Eddie began to realise that Kasey wasn't okay. Whenever they wanted to secretly ask if the other one is okay, they would hold the others hand and squeeze it. If they squeeze back then they're okay, if they don't then they aren't.

They weren't allowed to lie to one another though.

Eddie likes this method as it doesn't bring attention towards them from other people, and if one of them weren't okay then they didn't need to voice it just yet. They never did it around eyes either, always doing it when or where people couldn't see them because if people saw them holding hands they would think it was something else, when it wasn't, it was just two friends secretly asking if the other is okay.

Yesterday, Eddie only faintly squeezed Kasey's hand at the funeral.

But today, Eddie squeezes Kasey's hand twice, and she smiles.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"Help, over here, my arm!" The woman moans in pain from the ground as the 118 (still without Bobby) enters the bedroom.

"Guys."

"Yeah."

Hen presses lightly on the woman's hand, listening to her grunt slightly. "I can feel it, but I can't move it. Like, really hurts on my shoulder."

"Looks like a fractured clavicle." Kasey mutters and Hen and Chimney look up at Kasey with shocked looks whilst the firefighter simply shrugs.

"What?"

They shake their heads whilst they continued to look over the woman, "it does actually," Hen confirms Kasey's words and a small, proud smile makes it's way onto Kasey's face.

Curiously, Eddie glances over his shoulder away from the phone on the livestream to smile at the sight of Kasey looking proud of herself for something.

"All I'm saying," Buck voice brings Eddie's attention back as he continues his complaints from earlier, "is that Kasey never has taken me to meet Vanessa or Kit."

"They're nice," Eddie replies simply, smiling playfully as he listens to Buck sigh in annoyance – and his smile clearly brought a lot of attention to the people on the live stream as they commented the cuteness of it.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean you have to rub it in."

"Uh, dispatch said something about an animal?" Chimney asked whilst Kasey looked around the room for the animal.

"Yeah, it, um, came out of my face."

Kasey pauses her hunting and turns around.

Eddie stands next to Kasey with his hands on his hips. "What are we looking for, exactly?"

"it was like a little, little worm."

"Like a maggot?" Kasey questioned as she tried to hid her disgust.

"Oh, don't say 'maggot.'"

"You know maggots only consumes rotten things like meat or waste or even overripe fruits and – Ow!" Kasey frowns as she rubs her side from Eddie elbowing her, shooting her a look before looking at the woman's disgusted face then looking back at Kasey with raised brows. "Oh...sorry."

"Think you've been talking to Kit too much," joked Eddie quietly.

"I can still here you," Buck muttered furiously but his voice changes to enjoyment when he spots the maggot on the desk. "Maggot!"

"You been out of the country lately?" Hen asks as she puts a cotton arm brace on the woman.

"Uh, yeah, I actually do a lot of traveling for work."

"What do you do?" Chimney wondered.

"Uh, I'm a beauty and fashion influencer."

"Has your circle of influence included Central and South America?"

Kasey watches in disgust as Buck picks the maggot up with a pair of tweezers and brought it closely up to his face to examine it before dropping it in the small plastic tub that Eddie was holding open for him.

Still, the three firefighters didn't know that they were on camera for a livestream.

"No, no. I mean, I did just get back from Belize."

"Belize is in Central America," grumbled Eddie.

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Botfly," states Hen as she signs a torch onto the woman – Becca's – face. "Parasite indigenous to Central and South America, including Belize."

Now Becca joined Kasey in watching Buck examine the parasite in the cylinder tub in pure disgust.

"They reproduce by trapping mosquitoes and laying their eggs on them. And then when the mosquito lands on you the egg hatches and crawls right into the feeding site."

"Ew."

"Lovely," Kasey voiced, face squeezed up whilst her eyes stays on her best friend who was still looking at the parasite with pureness – like this was one of the best things he has ever seen.

"Luckily, it looks like you got it out all in one piece." Buck says, eyes remaining on the parasite as he tries to bring good news to Becca.

"They'll be able to extract the rest at the hospital."

"The rest?"

"Think of them as new followers."

Buck chuckles and Chimney's comment.

"Gross!"

The team went round Becca to bring her up onto the stretcher. "Wait," she says as she eyes her phone. "Oh, my God, wait." She stretches her arm out. "No, no, no, no, can somebody grab my phone? No, go back. Hand me my phone."

Eddie and Buck notices the stream and both offer two very different waves to the camera before Eddie awkwardly makes his way to the camera to turn it off.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"118, 118, this is Dispatch," Kasey heard through her headphones. "We got Bobby Nash on the line. He says it's important."

"Bobby..." Kasey mutters as she shots Eddie, Chimney and Hen a worrying look.

"Wait, what? Dispatch?" Chimney says. "Dispatch, please repeat."

The fire truck in front of them blows up in flames and Kasey screams, hand on the handle of the door as she tries to open it, but it was still locked.

"Buck! Buck!" She screams. "Buck is in there!"

The driver finally unlocks the door and Kasey pushes it open and jumps out in a hurry, but before she can make a dash towards the truck in flames, Eddie grabs her waist and brings her into his chest.

"Kasey! Kasey! No!"

"Buck! Buck!" She struggled in Eddie's grip. "Buck is in there! I need to see Buck! I need – Eddie let me go!"

"Eddie get her behind the truck!" Chimney demands and Eddie begins to drag a fighting Kasey to hide behind the fire truck.

"No! No! No! Let me get to Buck!"

Hen rounds Eddie and Kasey to stand in front of the pair, she brings her hands up to cup the young's firefighter's face. With her fingers, she wipes away the tears falling from her eyes. "You will get both you and Buck killed if we let you go."

Kasey shakes her head as her bottom lip trembles.

"Please," a broken sob left her lips and Hen sighed before letting her face go.

Eddie's grip become tighter the more she tried to wiggle her way out, he brought his lip down to her ear, breath hitting against her neck as he tried to comfort her. With one hand securely round her waist, he runs the other down her arm to overlap his hand with hers, fingers sliding in between hers as he gently squeezes it.

But to none of his surprise, she didn't squeeze back.

He then wraps both arms around Kasey to keep her securely against him.

Chimney went onto his radio and the people on the other side could hear Kasey's shouts a lot more clearly.

"Give me the Captain!" Freddie states as he paces in front of Buck.

"I swear," Kasey said through gritted teeth as tears rolled down her cheeks, "I swear if he hurt either of them more than he already has," Kasey grunts again, "I'll fucking kill him."

Eddie squeezes Kasey hips to try and comfort her but it just made her want to leave his hold and run to Buck even more.

Her best friend was in danger, and she couldn't protect him.

"Where's the Captain?!"

A firefighter pulls them across the ground in pain.

"Hey," Freddie makes his way towards him. "I told you not to move."

"Hey! Hey!" Kasey yelled as she noticed Chimney stomping his way forwards, "why is he going forwards?! Let me go Eddie! Eddie I swear let me fucking go or I–"

Chimney raises his hands up in surrender, "I'm the Captain, okay? I'm the Captain, so please just let me help them, okay? Please."

"He doesn't want him," Kasey grunts as she continues to fight Eddie grip.

"What?" Hen asks. "But he asked for–"

"He wants Bobby." Kasey responded.

"Kasey, please stop fighting." Eddie mumbles softly in her ear.

"Not until I know Buck is okay."

"No." Freddie says as he slowly walk forwards. "No, I don't want you. I want Captain Nash."

Kasey fought once again against Eddie to reach Buck. But Eddie kept a strong grip on her. Kasey begged him to let her go, but he didn't.

He couldn't risk her getting hurt, but Kasey didn't care.

She didn't care if the guy brought out a gun and shot her. She didn't care as long as it meant she can reach Buck and help him. She has been ready to die for him since the start, and if that meant risking her life just so she could reach Buck, then so be it.

So, she continues to fight against Eddie's grip, but she couldn't escape. But she continued to try for Buck.

Then she stopped at the sight of Bobby emerging from the crowd and heading towards Freddie with his hands up, and Kasey cries out, hoping the two guys she saw as family would hear her – hoping that by some miracle that if Freddie heard he would let them go.

But neither three of them heard her angry cries.

Hen now stood in front of, hand resting on Kasey's cheek as she tried to calm the youngest firefighter down – she promised Kasey that they will be alright, but Hen didn't even know if that was a promise she could keep, but she made it anyways as she had hope that they will.

"Wanted you dead." Kasey heard Freddie say and Kasey had to fight her best to not let herself collapse in Eddie's arms from the sight of two very important people in her life in danger, and that she was over here not being able to help.

It felt like someone stabbing a knife through her heart and twisting it.

"I get that." Bobby slowly takes a step forwards, arms still raised. "But what about them? What about him?" He quickly pointed at Buck with his finger in the air. "He's got parents, a sister, a girlfriend, a best friend, and he never did anything to you. He wasn't even a firefighter when your father burned down the restaurant."

"Collateral damage."

"Is that how you see yourself? An unintended victim in all this?" Bobby was much closer to Freddie now, practically face to face with one another.

"Stop," he raises the trigger, "one more step, we all go boom."

Kasey whimpered and all Eddie could do was hold her.

"Freddie, you got dealt a bad hand and I'm sorry about that. But what you did with it – that's a choice. You stopped being a victim the moment you left that first bomb."

"That lawyer – she..."

"Did her job." Bobby raised his voice. "We were all doing our jobs."

"Destroying my family. My mum and I lost everything. She was in so much pain."

"Want to make it worse? You want to make her watch you die?"

With his head, Bobby nodded his head forwards, and Freddie glanced round to see Athena and a detective with his mum.

She quietly mutters out his name, almost calling for the real him to come back home – to come back to her, for the Freddie she was seeing now was most definitely not her Freddie.

"Mum," he tilts his head almost like an apology.

Bobby sneaks up behind Freddie, grabbing him round the chest and held his hand away from the bomb's trigger. The S.W.A.T team came round Bobby and Freddie as they removed the trigger from Freddie's grip.

Out of shock, Eddie's grip loosens, and Kasey takes that chance to break free and run forwards, dodging Chimney who tried to grab her when she ran past, the moment she was close to Buck she skidded on her knees, not caring for the rips in her uniform or the burns that will be on her knees afterwards.

"Kasey," Buck whispers.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kasey smiles, voice strained from the yelling and crying as she taps her hand against the top of Buck's hand to let him know that she was there, and she was here. "It...hurts."

"I know, I know," she mutters, nodding her head furiously as she laid down to try and take a look of the damage of his leg on the fire truck. "We're going to have to lift it."

Buck groans.

The rest of team moves towards Buck the second Freddie is taking away from the scene.

"Still with us, Buck?" Chimney questions, a small lightness tone in his voice to try and distress the emotions around them.

Buck groans and pants again.

"Buck, how we doing?"

"Kind of numb." Buck responds to Hen. He carefully turns to look at Kasey who kneels right next to him. "Kas...can you hold my hand, please."

Kasey nods and very gently places her hand over his in a way to comfort him.

"This girl wouldn't stop fighting her way to you," Chimney shortly laughs.

"I'm gonna run two lines."

"Skin is cold and pale," Eddie states.

"Kasey...don't go." Buck stutters.

"I've got you. I've always got you," she whispers.

"Push sodium bicarbonate. Just hang in there, Buckaroo."

"Hang on, Buck."

"We got to get the truck off his leg," Kasey stressed. "It's the only way to get him free and–"

"Chimney stands up with his radio, "This is Captain 118. We've got a probably crush injury. I need all –"

Chimney pauses as he watches Kasey move her hand off from Buck's and ignoring his quiet calls for her. She shuffled closer to the truck and places her hands underneath the small gap between the truck and the road, attempting to lift the truck up herself as everyone was taking too long.

Kasey prayed to just suddenly gain super strength for a few seconds just to take this weight off from Buck, and the power to heal Buck too. She just wanted today to be over with, for it all to be a bad dream.

And if people were taking to long to lift the fire truck off from her best friend, her brother, then she will attempt to do it herself.

"–hand on deck to move this truck and clear a path to the nearest trauma centre."

Bobby now reaches them as he places a hand on Chimney shoulder. "How's he doing, Chimney?"

"We're out of time, Cap." Chimney turns. "Well, help Kasey and lift this truck off of him, yeah?"

They all prepared themselves as more hands went onto the fire truck.

"Hang on, Buck."

"Everyone hands on."

"Hurry the fuck up."

"You ready?"

"Hang in there, Buck."

"Ready! Lift!"

They all pushed the fire truck up with all their strength, all grunting whilst Eddie and Hen remained by Buck to check his vitals.

Buck screamed in horrific pain.

"Come on!"

They all placed the truck back down.

"You got to lift higher!"

"One more time, guys. Ready?"

"Hang in there. Hang in there."

"One, two, three, lift!"

The grunts of the lifters were repeated along with Buck agonising screaming and Kasey had to squeeze her eyes shut as she tried not to listen to Buck's screams.

"Higher!"

"Hang on, Buck."

"She's too heavy." Bobby says with a shake of his head.

"We got anything on the truck we can use for leverage?" Eddie suggested.

"No." Kasey shakes her head, eyes now looking down at the ground. "We need more people."

Chimney brings out his radio, "Dispatch, this is the Capt..." he stops when he saw all the civilians watching them rush forwards the second the barriers were pulled away, all running to help them – to help Buck.

They all rushed to the ladders side of the truck to find space to push it up.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

"Everybody, put a hand on where you can!"

"All together. One, two, three."

More grunts were heard as they lifted the heavy vehicle up for the screaming man under it, and finally they lifted it just high enough for Eddie and Hen to pull Buck out from the truck.

"We got him! We got him!"

"He's almost clear! Hold it!"

"Keep pulling! All right, we got him out!"

The truck lowered and hit the ground, but it didn't hit Buck for he was finally out.

Kasey rushed forwards, tapping Buck's hand gently once more just so he knows she's there.

"Kasey," he sighs at the knowing touch of his best friend, his sister.

And when they got him into the ambulance, Kasey was the one to ride with him to the hospital as a friend whilst Eddie, Hen and Chimney worked on him.

And when they got there, she went through the glass doors.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"And a furious Kasey," joked Chimney as he sees the youngest make her way to the group.

"That better be Bobby in a Captain's uniform," she squinted her eyes as examines Bobby, only to break into a smile and give the man a hug when she knew he was back.

"Admit it, Kas," she turns around to look at Chimney, "you do miss Captain Han just a little."

"I wont lie to you Chim," his face lights up in hope, "I was planning 50 ways to murder Captain Han." His face drops and the group chuckles whilst Kasey leans forwards to gently push Chimney right shoulder.

"Things are finally getting back to the way they should be." Hen says.

"We just need Buck." Kasey mutters as she looks around the firehouse that feels slightly empty without him.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

“People assume we choose this life,” Bobby proudly says as he stands in a higher standard uniform at the front with Eddie next to him, hands behind his back, dressed in a proper and professional firefighter’s uniform. “I’m not so sure. Sometimes I think this life chooses us. For those that answer the call, there can be no doubt, no equivocation. It’s not just the lives of those we serve that depend on us, but our own. The lives of our fellow firefighters and first responders. Today we welcome into those ranks a new brother. After a year of hard work and dedication,” he and Eddie turns to look at each other with a fond proudness. “I am proud to officially declare that your probationary period is at an end. Welcome to the Los Angeles Fire Department, Firefighter Diaz.”

Bobby brings his hand to shake Eddie’s, his other hand went to be placed behind the younger firefighter’s back as their hands stayed together for a little bit longer for a photo to be taken.

“Thank you, sir.”

Everyone in the fire station clapped and Eddie looked round the place he has found belonging within, happily. His eyes found Kasey’s first who clapped and sent a playful wink his way, and Eddie smiled brighter before he looked at Christopher making his way towards him with a helmet in his hands.

Eddie meets him halfway as the claps died down to watch the father and son moment, he then crouches down to pick Christopher up. “What do you got for me, son?”

“I got you a helmet,” he whispers.

“Yeah, my helmet?” Eddie responds back quietly.

Eddie raises his son up into a hug, embracing him tightly as he smiles into his shoulder.

“Congratulations, Dad.”

“Oh,” Eddie awed with a breathless laugh, “thank you so much, Christopher.”

After everyone met or said hello to everyone, Kasey found her way to sit next to Eddie as he sits in the chair next to Christopher who was happily eating a slice of cake.

“Well, hello, Mr Firefighter.” Kasey beamed more when she heard the sweet sounds of Eddie’s laughter reaching her ears.

“Hi,” he looks over his shoulder before looking back at Kasey, “I see Buck is finally meeting Vanessa and Kit.”

Kasey rolled her eyes, “they’ve been talking for ages. Think it’s just Kit and Buck now though, last I heard they were talking about penguins.”

“Oh, God,” Eddie laughs, “and you escaped my mother too?”

Kasey playfully hits Eddie shoulder, “oi, she’s a lovely lady, okay?”

“She is, but she didn’t let you come over to congratulate me.”

“Oh,” she arches a brow his way. “You jealous that another Diaz was stealing my attention.”

He shrugs, “well,” he squints his eyes at her, “a congratulations would have been nice.”

Kasey smirks, “well, name your price and I’ll make it up to you.”

“Got to come back to me for that one then,” Eddie lifts his head to look round the room again, “is Jamie not with you?”

Kasey smirk fell to a small smile, “oh, er, no, we er,” she hesitates as she looks at Eddie before looking forward to facing the trucks that were by their table. “We broke up actually.”

“Oh?” He breaths out, brows raising as a familiar warmth heated his cheeks. “You doing okay?”

“It was mutual and for the best.” She pauses for a moment before quietly saying: “I guess I couldn’t like him as much…”

“As much as what?” Eddie whispers back.

They were staring into each other’s eyes, he’s looking right into her, and she was looking right into his, neither of them daring to look away. Kasey then leans back in her seat, head falling back perfectly, resting on the fire truck behind her, she tried to devise the perfect response. She crosses her legs, and his foot was now near hers, and they were still looking at each other.

Kasey then looks away.

After a few seconds she looks back at him only to see that he was still looking at her.

Kasey wonders if she’s ever seen eyes of such a drunken golden haze before, eyes that made Kasey wonder if he could move mountains and shake the ground with a single blink. Kasey has never noticed how his eyes has so much control over her, never realised that maybe, just maybe, those eyes that held more history than the night sky that her very own eyes would sparkle at the sight of, just like they do when staring up at the moon or the stars, were the first reason she fell for him.

Kasey Strand has realised she has fallen for Eddie Diaz.

The realisation was a hard slap to the face, she thought Jamie was going crazy when he was telling her that she liked Eddie and that it was okay. Jamie was the one to give Kasey the wake-up call, the call of that she liked Eddie.

He had no hard feelings for her, just asked for her to be happy, and all Kasey could say was that she will try, and for him that was enough.

Kasey wondered though how long she has been falling for Eddie and how she never noticed this before.

Was this something everyone knew? Did even Eddie know about her feelings? Is that why he was staring at her in a way that no one has ever dared to before?

Kasey knew after the breakup that she liked Eddie, and she sat in her car for ages thinking of everything she liked about him, and she reached the conclusion that she liked Eddie more than she has ever liked anyone, and if she’s being honest, that scared her. She doesn’t want to screw up like she done her enter life, and she believed maybe liking him in silence may be a good choice, but that would kill her from within, so instead, she chose to wait for so many reason.

For herself. And to see if Eddie felt the same. Also due to Shannon’s death and there was few other minor things that told her to wait too.

But Kasey has fallen pretty damn hard for Eddie Diaz, without even realising that she was falling for him, and she hopes if they ever get a chance together, if by some miracle he likes the “broken” girl next to him, then she hopes that she doesn’t fuck it up.

For a slight second, Kasey’s curious eyes flickered down to his lips, she gulps before shaking her head.

“Nothing,” she coughs, looking away from Eddie. “I just couldn’t like him the same way he liked me.”

A/N: Just to note that Kasey did in fact go to Athena and Bobby's wedding. She was Bobby's best man :)

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blueathens · 3 years

Text

The Girl Who Wears A Mask

ACT 1, SCENE 7

𝖲𝗈𝗇𝗀: 𝖠𝖿𝗋𝖺𝗂𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖭𝖾𝗂𝗀𝗁𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗁𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖰𝗎𝗈𝗍𝖾: "𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗇𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗌?"

𝖳𝖶: 𝖬𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗅 𝖧𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗍𝗁, 𝖬𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝖠𝖻𝗎𝗌𝖾 & 𝖲𝗎𝗂𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾 & 𝖶𝖺𝗋 & 𝖣𝗋𝗎𝗀𝗌

Masterlist//Dusk Till Dawn Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

THIRD POV

"How much sleep have you been having?"

Sleep: A condition of body and mind that typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended.

Sleep, one of the most important things that the human body needs as it shuts down everything for your body to rest, to recharge from everything, to give you more energy to do things.

Not getting much sleep could lower your moods but it can also cause more life-threatening causes such as diabetes, obesity, and coronary heart disease. And one third of us suffers from poor sleep due from stress, computers and taking work home which can cause a lot of damage to the human body.

It is said that humans need about 8 hours of sleep to function properly, however some need more or less and a way to figure out if you're getting a lack of sleep is if you wake up and still be tired and longing for a nap.

There are cases where stress and other factors are not the only cause, health conditions such as sleep apnoea could be the cause, but usually its bad sleeping patterns.

If your body doesn't get enough sleep you will experience short tempers and lack of focus. An occasional night without sleep makes you feel tired and irritable the next day, it will also not cause any harm to your health. However, after several sleepless nights, the mental effects become serious. Your brain will fog up, making it difficult to concentrate and make decisions. Your mood will decrease, and you may fall asleep during the day. Injuries could become more frequent causing not just you but others harm too.

She's been sleeping many sleepless nights.

"Enough."

"Insomnia...we're afraid."

Insomnia: Habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep. No matter how much you desire dreamland, it refuses your entry.

It's nights where you toss and turn, hoping for the sleep train to pick you up to take you to dreamland, but it never does, it drives straight pass you because you don't have a ticket to go. You left with a wild mind, forcing you to stay awake with countless of thoughts. You think about everything in your life, your friends, your family, your work, your dreams, your hopes, your achievements, the past, the present, the future, your pets, your problems, your feelings, your worries. You think and remember everything, even the things you don't want to remember. Your mind keeps you up with anything it can, and it will even bring in the memories you stashed away to gather up dust.

It's scary what your mind is capable of.

She can't sleep, her mind is constantly keeping her up, she tosses, and she turns, but she never sleeps, if she does it's not much.

"I can suggest herbal remedies such as lavender or pills-"

"No pills."

"I've read some things from previous records of yours and-"

"No pills."

"Try lavender."

"How long have these nightmares been happening."

Nightmares: A frightening or unpleasant dream.

She wakes up covered in sweat, screaming for help, and after it all she can't go back to sleep as she always sees the memories, her life, every time she closes her eyes. It keeps her up most nights, and she wished it didn't. It wasn't the monsters hiding in the dark that scared her anymore, it was the monsters that hid in her mind, playing every nerve like chord string, tickling her heart and heating her body up with nothing but fire.

"What nightmares?"

John Lennon once said: 'I believe in everything until it's disapproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?'

Who's to say nightmares aren't as real as our dreams? She knew her nightmares were real, very real indeed, she knew they were real as she lived them.

"Night terrors...we're afraid."

Nightmares is something that usually seen in children if adults have them not many of them talk about it, embarrassed that they can't stop the threatening scenes replaying like a broken record in your mind. You wake up screaming, drenched in sweat, heart pounding, mind racing, your flailing your arms about trying to fight the monsters that causing you this fear, the fear that makes you stay awake.

"I don't get nightmares...that's for children."

"Your Captain says otherwise...both of them."

"I don't work with one of them anymore."

"Your name is still on the list for emergencies."

"Yeah, key word, 'emergencies.'"

"Night terrors...we're afraid...What do you see?"

She sees memories of her life, memories she wanted to forget. She hears the rapid gunfire. She smells the dead corpses, and she remembers the war-cry faces on them. She sees and smells smoke, she feels the hits, the pain, the cries, the death, the feeling of nothing. Her mind shows it all and it feels so really, it's like she's living her life all over again...it's all so real. The muddy shoes, the baseball bat, the blood, she knows it all too. The sound of engines roaring, sirens blasting, crowds cheering, parents shouting, the tears, the agony, the doctors faces of sympathy. It was all there...it was all there like she was experiencing it all again.

"I don't get nightmares."

"PTSD."

PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

She was prepared to serve, to be injured, to die...but if someone told her what she was going to live with she would have chosen death than live with all the memories that haunts her.

It wasn't just from the serving though, it was the struggles of her life, constantly hunting her, playing itself on report like a broken record, screeching as it goes round and round...it was never going to end.

"It's never going to leave you."

It's all comes back in flashes.

"You know that, yes?"

Your living it every single moment of your life.

"Hmm-mmm."

"Your life has never been easy and it's okay to ask for help."

Everyone calls for help, but they all go silent and deaf when they scream for them, begging them to save them...but they rarely get to them in time before the chains pull them under the waves, causing every droplet of water into their lungs.

"I'm fine."

How much longer can you wear a mask before it shatters and everyone sees the truth?

"But-"

"I'm fine."

PTSD is not a chosen situation, or an illness, or a temporary condition nor is it 100% curable. PTSD does not mean you're crazy, dangerous, weak, failures, bad people.

"I'm afraid you're PTSD is complex."

C-PTSD: Occurs from traumas that build layers upon layers.

"You don't show it though...you hide it within yourself and-"

Mask are worn to hide the sadness that lurks inside you.

"Just stop."

They beg and beg, but no one listens.

"Isn't help what you wanted?"

No one understand how hard it is for them to tell them everything that goes inside their head.

"Not really, got forced into this like always."

"You need to talk to someone."

Why don't they understand?

"I'm fine."

"We're here to help, why won't you talk to us?"

"I'm fine."

Another crack decorated the mask.

"Depression."

Images of a small 10-year-old visiting different therapist and doctors, telling the parents that their child has depression, they questioned it, wondering why such a happy girl had such a terrible thing, but the girl just sat in silence allowing the voices to be background noises as she made images with the marks in the ceilings.

"Since you was 10, correct?"

Life is a beautiful tragedy.

"Suicide attempts-"

Don't bring up the history...it still haunts her.

"Stop."

Flashes of different times death nearly fell upon the girl, even if it wasn't suicide, she was always close to dying and every time she wished it would just take her away. Then maybe, just maybe she'll find peace.

"Diagnosed with a form of PTSD by the age of 22, correct?"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"And here you are diagnosing me with a whole other list."

"There could be more, but you won't talk to us."

"I thought it was obvious why."

"We're here to help! Let us help you."

"I'm fine."

"Kasey what you suffered the other night was not nothing, it was a panic attack, a serious panic attack." Hen told her softly. "Have you spoken to your therapists?"

"They just make me sound sick."

"You're not sick." Hen quickly defended. "You're a girl who's been hit by life so many times."

"I just want my mind to rest."

"I know, honey." She looked at the slightly darken marks under her eyes. "I can't tell if those are the bruises or sleeping bags."

"I don't even know anymore."

"Have you been sleeping?"

"Coffee."

Hen sighed, shaking her head as she tapped Kasey budged with hers as she sat in front of her in the café.

"I told you no more coffee at the moment, it's not good for your health, especially if you're not sleeping."

"I never said I'm not sleeping."

"You choosing to have coffee states otherwise."

"It's called growing up."

"Growing up and Kasey Strand do not work well together." Hen chuckled lightly but Kasey could only respond with a fake smile, nodding slightly to what she said.

Life is complicated sometimes you can have a good night rest, other's you may not. Sometimes you feel completely fine like you can climb a mountain or run a marathon. Whilst on other days all you want to do is fall into a mountain of pillows and blankets to hide from the rest if the world.

And for some people they have more bad days than good.

And Kasey is and always has been one of those people. The people who can put on a mask to tell everyone their fine when in reality their not, they're really drowning, gasping for air, but the water just fills their lungs every time they scream for help. It's like a weight of chains dragging them down, causing them to go further and further into the great unknown. And they don't even fear the creatures that lurks in it, what they fear is how quickly they're losing air, how viciously their body is tingling, how numb their getting, how there is no way to escape.

"Are you sure you're okay Kas?"

Images of the memories that haunts her flickered through her mind.

Muddy shoes, princess, baseball bat, guns, death, bodies, drugs, alcohol, vehicles, hospital, shouting, dancing, punching, vases breaking...everything just came back once again.

"I'm fine."

Hen examined her, eyes racking up and down Kasey, a slight frown on her face as she took a sip of her drink. She noticed Kasey's eyes focused on something else behind her and Hen knew there was a blank wall behind her, meaning Kasey daydreamed out.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Hen eyed her Pain au Chocolat in front of Kasey with a raised brow, usually food would be desmolase with Kasey, Kasey snapped out of her thought with a shake of her head before looking back at Hen.

"Hmmm?"

"Your food." Hen nodded to her the food that hasn't be touched yet. "Are you not eating it?" She watched how Kasey eyes looked down at the plate, completely forgetting that it was there.

"Oh." She broke a piece of, it wasn't warm anymore but Kasey didn't mind. "I forget I ordered this." She placed a piece in her mouth before her eyes went back to the wall behind Hen.

"You're moving back into your place tonight?"

"Yeah." Kasey placed another bit into her mouth. "I feel bad for just crashing at Eddie's."

Hen hummed.

"You know he never cares, he loves having you there and so does Christopher."

"They might, but I'm Eddie's friend not family, those two deserve to have moments together as father and son."

"Always thinking about others before yourself."

Kasey examined the café once again, there was a couple by the window, a few students scattered here and there, two cops just walked in causing the bell to ring, Kasey blinked at hearing that sound as he eyes zoomed on it before moving to look at something else. A few elders were around, laughing at something their friends who sat with them said...the train just went past, the sound of rumbling and chugging was heard as it passed the café. And then there was three waiting staff and one cashier...but the waiting stuff took turns. And finally there was her and Hen having breakfast together, something they tried as much as possible, but today Kasey wasn't with it as her mask was slowly breaking.

"Why did my therapist talk to you all?" Kasey asked.

"I don't think they should have...but you're record was practically empty even though you've been to many before."

"Because I don't talk...it doesn't help me...it makes...it makes it worse." Kasey admitted quietly, eyes looking at her the table as her finger ran up and down it, her leg bounced up and down because this was the first time she sort of admitted that there was something go on. Hen leaned in to hear her more closely. "It's diagnose after diagnose...it hurting my head to much...it makes me sound sick."

"You're not sick." Hen reminded her.

"They want me to go on pills...I can't do that though."

Hen who nodded softly, thinking it was because of what happened to TK, reached her hand forward to hold Kasey's moving one, holding it still and making Kasey's eyes snapped to Hens.

"You might not want to talk right now...but we, the team and Athena are always here to listen to you, okay? You recently went through something traumatising and we just want you to heal."

But that's the thing it wasn't just because of Jordon and the many statements she had to fill for the cops causing her to remember everything more clearer, it wasn't because she has to go back to the apartment that now hold bad memories...it was just everything that happened in her life is finally catching up to her and Kasey can't process it all, she isn't strong enough to swim up to the surface to breathe...to get the fresh air her lungs desired.

"And if you need a break or-"

"Hen, I'm fine."

"So how's Maddie settling into her new place?" Kasey questioned Buck as she sponged down one of the vehicles outside

"Good...I think." Buck furrowed his eyebrows before looking up from the hose to his best friend. "Hey, thanks for coming to help yesterday."

"Course." A few moments later Kasey watched Buck walk off towards Taylor Kelly who just turned up with her camera men, watching Bobby walk off. Kasey sighed as she stared at camera from over the top of the car, wishing it wasn't there. Kasey dropped the sponge with another sigh before making her way towards Buck and she noticed how the grins on Taylor and cameraman became bigger at the sight of her...one of the firefighters who was also at the scene of the helicopter crash.

"Hey." Kasey waved and the cameraman responded with his own wave and a smirk as the camera moved up and down her. Eddie now made his way towards them from the gym and Kasey wanted to go now, she only came to tell Buck that he needed to finish his task with her, but of course he got distracted.

"Any side effects of the crash?" Eddie asked as he made his way to them, standing next to Kasey with his arms crossed, giving a slight glare at the cameraman before looking back at Taylor.

"I'm great." Taylor beamed and it screamed news reporter to Kasey so much, the constant smiles made her feel sick sort of, and Kasey knew she wanted out as quickly as possible, she faked a smile and slight nod when the camera pointed at her again. "Thanks to you all which is why I'm here. You guys were so amazing. I want to do a story on the firehouse and the heroes that work here."

Chimney and Hen now was listening to what Taylor was saying, slowing stopping their tasks at hand.

Eddie noticed Kasey's slight discomfort as the camera stayed on her, he stepped forwards slightly to cover a bit of view of her causing the camera to move back to Buck.

"Oh," Kasey shifted her weight to her other foot as her. "You really don't have to that...we're not that interesting."

"No you're not."

"Yeah, but you do traffic." Chimney pointed out.

"I'm not quite ready to go back in the sky, so I thought I'd try my hand at telling a story from the ground."

Hen jumped out of the ambulance, one hand still holding the window of the door as she gave a fake grin. "And use your newfound fame to put your face in front of the camera."

"That, too." Nodded Taylor.

"Smart girl."

"I can't wait to interview all of you. I want to know why you chose this job, the crazy things you've seen, what it's like to face death. I mean Howie, you almost died, right?" She turned to Chimney.

"Actually, nobody calls me that." He pointed his finger up as the camera faced him. "It's Chimney."

"I bet there's a story there."

"Hmm."

"Not one you can tell on TV." Hen said causing Taylor to chuckle softly.

"And Miss fan-favourite nearly died multiple times as well, epically recently right?" Taylor turned to face Kasey and Kasey rolled her shoulders back to realise some tension in them.

"It's part of the job." Kasey told her.

"Not with the one that happened about a month ago, what happened? What did the doctors say and-"

Eddie placed his hands on Kasey's shoulder guiding her away from the red head who was firing questions at her with the camera pointed at her. He took her all the way upstairs, far away from the camera and Taylor as possible.

"New couple alert?" Taylor smirked, raising her brows at the new-found gossip.

"Kasey and Eddie?" Chimney asked with a laugh. "They're just friends."

Buck and Hen gave each other a look.

Eddie was now in his uniform as he sat next to Kasey, both eating brownies and they both mentally groaned when they say Taylor and the cameraman making they were up the stairs.

"Remember, you don't have to answer anything you don't want." Eddie whispered in Kasey's ear as they both watched them from the sofa they were sitting on.

"Tell us about all this." Taylor asked looking at the food that was dotted round the kitchen and dining table.

"Oh. This table is all about the love." Chimney stated.

"Amen." Kasey cheered quickly, stuffing another brownie in her mouth.

"And the carbs." Chimney repeated, nodding slightly to what Buck just said as he stuffed a cupcake into his mouth.

Kasey didn't know how long it took Taylor to get to her, she knows she's talked to the other firefighters and tried to talk to Bobby, and now Kasey was training to find her escape route when she noticed Taylor heading towards her like a women on a mission.

"Everyone absolutely adores you Kasey."

Kasey knew this already due to the news that goes round and always wanting to question her. She also knows this by the awkward encounters she have when people notice her out and about, thanking her for all her service and everything, whilst Kasey just stood there, hands swinging in front of her as she gave them an awkward smile. She wasn't usually awkward but if people come up to you when you're not on shift it's kind of weird...she's not a celebrity or anything so why do they want to remember who she is? All she is doing is her job.

"I guess." Kasey shrugged, eyes cautiously looking at the camera, the camera man, Taylor then the room she was in...she was near the kitchen, and she noticed Bobby standing in the kitchen watching her carefully.

"You guess?" Taylor laughed.

"All I'm doing is my job." Kasey felt uncomfortable at the sight of Taylor's smiling face.

"On one of your calls you saved a-"

"KASEY!" A voice that belonged to Eddie Diaz yelled from downstairs. "I THOUGHT YOU WAS ROLLING THE FIREHORSE BACK UP! I NEARLY TRIPPED OVER IT!"

Kasey was puzzled for a moment, she knew she already put that away, so she wasn't sure what Eddie was talking about, until it hit her, he was helping her to get away from the camera.

"Oh..." Kasey gave an apologetic smile. "A firefighters job is never over." She swung her arm in front of her, it heading towards her other arm but not touching it, like in the of gesture of 'Oh-dear-wish-I-could-stay.'

"Captain Nash." Taylor travelled towards the kitchen whilst Kasey jogged down the stairs.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She threw her arms over Eddie, embracing him in a tight hug, he leaned back slightly causing the girl to step of her tiptoes to follow his movement, arms wrapped round her waist as he chuckled lightly.

"Constantly saving lives." Eddie squeezed slightly, Kasey not caring one bit if any of her bruises hurt her, they were going down more by the day and soon she be completely back to normal...physically.

She stepped back slightly, and Eddie's hands moved from her back to her hips, but they stayed there when he realised how close their faces were. His eyes flickered for a second down to her lips but before either one could even think what was happening the bell rang, causing them to step away from each other and clear their throats.

"Uh, thanks." Kasey nodded before walking towards the fire engine.

"Anytime." Eddie blushed, hand scratching the back of his neck as he watched her go for a second, before feeling Bobby pat him on the shoulder to tell him it's time to go.

"He's refusing help?" Kasey muttered standing next to Chimney. "This dude must be crazy or something if they don't want help to stop choking."

"Tell me about it." Chimney muttered back as they both walked together, following the rest of the team. Kasey rubbed her eyes causing her to flinch and hiss slightly in pain. "You alright?" He looked at her out the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, yeah...just kind of forgot about the bruises on my face."

Chimney looked more at her face, examining her injuries. "Should be gone soon, they look like their clearing up well."

"Joey Chestnut scarfed down 74 hot dogs in ten minutes at last year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest." Buck yelled over the crowds as he spoke to Eddie.

"Bet you could do that with those brownies earlier." Chimney chuckled lightly which Kasey shoved him in response with laughter of her own.

"They were good brownies...you should have tried some."

"Maybe later."

"Excuse me, sir, are you refusing care?" Bobby yelled to the man sitting at a table, crowd cheering him on in front of him.

He waved his hand, dismissing them, whilst a hissing noise came from somewhere under the cloth near Chimney and Kasey, they jumped back when the animal came out.

"Ah, geez!"

Chimney stumbled back into Bobby whilst Kasey stumbled into Eddie who caught her by her waist, keeping her stable so she didn't fall in front all these people.

"Whoa."

"Cute." Chimney muttered bitterly. "Is that thing yours?"

"I thought that was a dinosaur." Kasey sighed with slight relief, Eddie's hands still on her as they both stared at the Komodo Dragon. "Chim's right, it is cute."

"I think he was being sarcast-"

"That's Claude. He's the grand prize." The lady who was hosting this event said.

"All this for a lizard?" Kasey questioned just before the guy at the table threw up.

"Get 'em in, Get 'em in!" Bobby ordered as he and the team ran over to the man, pushing one another to go faster as they stepped on each other's heels. "Give us some room."

"Get this table and chairs out of here." Chimney waved his hand and Kasey was off doing what Chimney wanted.

"That means you guys, too." Bobby told Taylor and her cameraman. "Give us some room. Back up." He waved his hand (along with Eddie) motioning them to get as far as possible from them. "Prep the defib." The team, except Kasey, kneeled down to the choking man.

"Airways are sealing up." Hen informed the group.

"What's happening right now, Kasey?" Taylor interviewed Kasey as she was doing her task.

"Er, right now, I'm moving the table and chairs to give them room...something I think the two of you was ordered to do as well." She grinned cheekily at them before jogging away and back to her team, hurrying down on her knees to help in anyway.

"I need the BBM."

"What was this, like a pepper eating contest?" Taylor asked the host.

"No. Protein."

"His pulse thready." Hen removed the mask of his face as bugs jumped out of the guys mouth, chirping loudly to grab everyone's attention."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa."

"Locusts!" Hen waved the mask up and down removing any bugs that were in there.

Kasey stepped back, standing up as she waved her hands around to protect herself from any of the bugs like her other teammates were doing.

"No, they're actually crickets." The lady informed them.

"Is that meant to make this better?" Kasey cringed when she thought she felt one on her arm, hitting the area repetitively until she was convinced nothing was there, shivering slightly at the sight of them, making her think they were crawling all over her.

"We allowed anything that Claude would eat. We thought it might be fun."

"His pulse is weakening. He's I V-fib." Hen quietly muttered to Bobby. "He's coding."

Chimney hopped to the other side of the man, sitting back on his knees. "Starting compressions."

"Damn it, the blockage is too big. He's not getting any air. Let me try something."

"Come on buddy."

"Buck, give me the Magill."

"Come on."

Buck handed her the scissors crossed twisters combination to the medic, she opened his mouth with her covered hand as the other hand held the tool guiding it into the man's mouth to pick up the blockage at the back of his throat. She placed it in the napkin Bobby held out for her with disgust before she went back to placing the mask back onto the man's face, him gasping to get air back into his airways.

"He's back."

"I've got the sinus rhythm, pulse action rising. Let's get him up."

The second he sat up he started to reach; bugs continued to fly out of his mouth.

"Even Bear wouldn't eat this." Kasey voiced quietly with so much disgust in her tone as she stared at the scene in shock.

Eddie leaned forwards to the man with a serious face. "All this for a lizard, huh?"

"Hey! That's my line!"

"A monitor lizard and 500 bucks."

"Let me get in there!" Kasey yelled happily at the amount of money.

"NO!" The team yelled at her causing her to stop jumping up and down with clapping hands.

"And I just lost."

"Yes, you did! Yeah!" A women at the table said with a mouthful of insects before she spat out roaches.

"Oh fuck no." Kasey shook her head repeatedly at the new sight.

"Claude I guess you're staying with me." The host said to the lizard who just hissed in response which made the cameraman and Taylor jump back with a gasp. "I guess he likes you. He likes redheads."

"How about you start from the beginning?"

"The beginning of what?"

"The first thing you remember."

It was a sunny day in New York, she was playing with her brother happily, both of the age of 4, it wasn't the first memory she remembers, but it was the first memory to signify the start of her downfall. Kids around the age of 7, marched up to them, like they owned the park they were in. They're parents were sat on a bench in a conversation of their own, not knowing that these older kids were yelling at their very own children, telling them how they weren't allowed to play in the sandpit because it belonged to them. The 4-year-old girl stood up in defence for her brother when she saw the bottom of his lip wobble in fear due to the loud screams. She yelled at them just as loud, and the bigger kid of the group pushed her down into the sand, causing it to fly everywhere whilst the girl just glared up to him, kicking him just below his kneecap causing him to tumble down into his friends, the girl pulled her feet closer to her body, pulling her brother with her to make sure he didn't get hit by the kids who tumbled down. Her older brother sat behind him, hands firmly on her shoulders as he watched the scene. The kids burst into tears, and she yelled at them for being bullies, but everything ended when her parents came with furious faces and arms crossed.

They shouted at her all through the journey home, not listening to her side of the story. Not listening to how they yelled first, ordering them to get lost, how they gripped her brother's arm once, how they nearly made him cry, how they said only they could play in it as they 'owned it,' not listening to how they pushed her first and she didn't even know all the kids were going to fall over by a soft push. No, they never listened, her brother was crying through all the yelling, she was angry at her parents who were full of rage and disgust of her behaviour for making the other kids cry for apparently not letting them play on the sand pit and for making her brother cry because she caused them to yell at her.

She was grounded for two weeks after that, she couldn't remember what her punishment was, but she remembered she hated it because she didn't deserve it.

"You was in the right, you know?"

"Nah, I wasn't, I just made it into a bigger thing."

"You really think that?"

"I know...I know because it's all I've ever done."

"Maybe we could do a time skip to your teen years...that's where the biggest gap has-"

Silence.

"Can you hear me?"

Silence.

"Maybe you just want to continue from the beginning if it's easier, build up to those years, and let me-"

Door slammed.

Long strides, 20 long strides it took to get to the ladies toilets, locking the first empty cubicle she found and sliding down the closed door. Harsh breathing as she gripped tightly onto the sleeves of her hoodie. Hands shaking once again as raked them through her sweating hair.

Breath in...hold....breath out...

But her laboured breath continued and she hit her head against the cubicle door, wanting to be somewhere else that wasn't in her mind. Maybe some therapist were right, she needed a happy place...but how could you find one when your entire life was full of darkness?

So the girl just sat there until the storm in her head passed, then she would walk out with a mask upon her face like nothing happened.

But the storm was no where near finished when the phone rang, and she knew she was going to have to wear a much stronger mask.

But the question was, how much longer can she wear this broken mask before it shatters completely and everyone finds out the truth?

And she feared that it was going to be very soon as she doesn't think she can keep herself together for much longer.

"LAFD. Clear path." Bobby told the people in front of them as he and the fire-crew travelled down to the scene, sunglasses on their faces, and followed closely behind was Taylor and her cameraman.

"Looks like extreme hyponatremia." Buck stated as he looked at the bodybuilder who was clenching his muscles tightly, and unable to move.

"How do you know that?" Kasey questioned, placing her gloves on.

"He's got a charley horse." Hen said.

"He is the charley horse." Chimney added.

"What does that even mean." Kasey mumbled in confusion.

"What's your name?" Bobby asked the man.

"Charlie."

"Okay, Charlie, when was the last time you had any fluids?"

"Yesterday afternoon."

"Flushed yourself out for the competition today?" Chimney asked which Charlie nodded at.

"And for the weigh-ins, to make the veins pop."

"Well, you're defiantly popping."

"All right, Charlie your potassium and your sodium have bottomed out and that's why you're seizing up." Bobby bent down slightly to examine the position he's in and Hen wrapped a blood pressure wrap round his arm. "Now, before we start replenishing your electrolytes, you got to answer me honestly: are you dosing?" He asked looking into Charlie's eyes.

"N-no steroids, if that's what you mean. I'm total clean."

"You sure buddy?" Kasey asked as she looked at the way his body was, especially his muscles. And it wasn't just Kasey who had this thought as the rest of the team including Taylor and the cameraman looked at one another in disbelief. When Kasey turned to look to her side, she immediately noticed the camera and the man holding it awfully close to her, the man smirking as his eyes looked at her and the camera pointing at her and back to the bodybuilder.

"Okay, you two need to back off." Bobby said to the camera. "Get the camera out of here, please."

Eddie sighs.

"Cap needs room to work." Eddie told them, ushering them away.

"I'm working too." Taylor said defensively.

"You can work further back, especially you Mr Cameraman."

"Charlie, I just need you to know that of you're not being straight with me, and we start giving you saline and you have been dosing your kidney could start to fail, okay? And that be on you." Bobby told him.

"I'm on steroids."

"Who would've guessed." Kasey exclaimed in fake surprise.

"Okay, that's better. Are you taking anything else?"

"I took a diuretic last night to shed some water weight."

"That explains his low blood pressure. 70/40." Hen pointed out.

"All right, let's get him transported." The team went to different sides of the man. "On three, everybody. Ready? One, two, three." His head was in red brackets as they lowered him onto stretcher that was wrapped around him with a yellow strap.

"Am I-am I gonna be okay?"

"We're gonna get you through the day."

"You'd think he'd earn a trophy for holding the pose so long." Chimney smiled elbowing Kasey.

"Right?" Hen agreed, smiling in Kasey direction but she never responded, instead her eyes stayed on the ground. "Kasey?"

She suddenly look up and looked at them through her sunglasses. "Right." She smiled slightly before heading towards the fire engine.

They sat in the red truck without Bobby, Kasey was giggling like a small schoolgirl, Eddie was scrunching his face and Buck was looking out the window.

"Man. Allergies are going crazy today." Eddie sniffled.

"I didn't know you had argies." Kasey giggled.

"It's allergies." Chimney corrected, looking at Kasey weird of mispronouncing a word he knew she could say.

"That's what I said, silly." She giggled. "I feel so good today."

"The index wasn't elevated this morning." Buck told Eddie and Kasey.

Kasey sneezed. "Huh? Maybe I got argies too."

"Allergies."

"Do you think it's a new kind?" Buck asked.

"New kind of what?" Eddie shook his head.

"Of pollen."

"Is it poisonous." Kasey hurried to cover her mouth and nose with her hand and the two boys copied her.

"A new kind of pollen?" Chimney asked in disbelief and the three of them nodded their heads, still covering the bottom half of their face. "Poisonous pollen?" They nodded again.

"You're not feeling this, Chim?" Eddie asked removing his hand which the other two copied.

"No, I do not."

"I can see the pollen." Buck said looking up. "I can hear it."

"This is ridiculous. She's the one who cheated." A lady yelled at Athena handcuffed her. "She and her demon seed. That little girl is 11 if she's a day...I want to see the birth certificate."

The 118 entered through the glass doors one by one and when Kasey went to go through it, her face was meet with something hard causing her to stumble back with slight confusion.

"Huh? I thought a door was there." She scratched the top of her head, looking round the area. "Where did the door go?" Eddie walked back out, grabbing her hand to guide her through the door he just walked though. "There's the door!" She looked around, tugging at Eddie's arm excitedly. "Oh my god, it's a party!"

Chimney turned around to face her with pure confusion before heading towards Athena.

Kasey, Eddie, and Buck stayed by the door, looking around with their mouth apart, smiles tugging at them as they opened.

"Hey! Strand! Diaz! Buckley! Let's go!" Chimney called as he kneeled in front of the victim with a high heel going through her cheek.

"Did these beauty queens shrink, or are we suddenly giants?" Buck asked slowly.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum." Kasey said in a deep voice, stomping her feet as she stayed in the same spot. The boys leaned into her as they laughed at her imitation, but they suddenly stopped when the children turned to face them causing them to gasp and step back.

"Can I get my shoe back?" The women yelled as she passed the trio.

"Can someone please bring me the rest of my gear?" Chimney yelled in desperation. Athena turned to look at him before facing to look at Kasey, Eddie, and Buck who was just in pure shock at the children dressed as princesses.

"I think he means you, guys." They slowly looked up at Athena.

"She's a giant too?" Kasey muttered out through the corner of her lip.

"Hey, Athena." Buck greeted. "They're, like, the tiniest ladies I've ever seen." He looked down at them before back at Athena, pinching his fingers together and spoke in a high pitch voice to say: "Teeny-tiny. Just..."

"Excuse me?"

"So tiny." He whispered.

"Henrietta." Athena called at the firefighting-medic who was staring at herself in the mirror, looking round widely at who called her name.

"Thena." She waves her hand and as she gets closer she sniffs the air. "Oh, 'Thena, you smell like love."

"Chimney? Need you over here." Athena called as she looked at Hen in alertness. "727-l-30, requesting immediate R.A. backup." Athena spoke into her radio, watching how Hen sucked in the air through her nose. "At Beverly Wilton Hotel, Pacific Ballroom."

"Where the hell is my lido..." Chimney paused as he saw the state his team was in.

"We got a problem here." Athena told him. "You guys be tripping."

"What? Guys, look at me. Do you know where you are?"

"We're everywhere, man." Eddie told him as he appeared through the balloons. Kasey turned around and Eddie blinked in surprise. "Wow...you're pretty."

Kasey giggled.

"They're on drugs." Athena barked at Chimney.

"You're very pretty too." Kasey batted her eyelashes at Eddie.

Hen laughed in gasp as she hugged Chimney, him patting her back with a groan. "Oh. Oh, my God, it's the brownies."

"Brownies?"

"We got a new batch today."

"Did you know you're eyes were green?" Eddie said to Kasey as he attempted to lean against the wall to look cool.

"They are?" She asked with such excitement, hands covering her eyes as if she be able to see it.

Eddie let out a soft whine. "I can't see your eyes now."

"We've been getting a lot of stuff lately, especially since the earthquake." Chimney continued to pat Hen's back.

"You guys eat that stuff?" Athena asked in disbelief. "We just throw that stuff right in the trash."

"We're firefighter. Everybody loves us."

"Oh..." Athena couldn't believe his comment.

"So...you come here often stuff-hot?" Kasey titled her head.

"I think I live here?" Eddie questioned, eyes looking around.

"Hey, look at me." Kasey whined and when he looked back at her she cheered happily.

"What's going on?" Eddie cried as the handcuffs tightened round his wrist. "I don't like this."

"Ooh, you made him cry." Buck pointed out.

"Believe it or not, this isn't the first time I've been in handcuffs." Kasey said innocently looking down at her feet as she pointed them in and out repeatedly. Athena looked at her along with the other first responders who stood behind her with questioning looks. "Don't know why you're judging I heard about-"

"All right!" Athena said loudly interrupting the blabbering girl. "Just breathe, okay? You're gonna be okay."

"Did you make my man cry?" Kasey furrowed her brows as she looked at Eddie before looking angrily at the man behind him.

Eddie breathed out deeply.

"Somebody dosed you with a hallucinogen." Athena told them, ignoring what Kasey said as she knows she just drugged up. "We don't want you to hurt yourself or anyone else."

"You've already hurt my man." Kasey huffed.

"Yeah, my girl better not be hurt." Eddie glared out at Athena.

"Kasey? Are you hurt?"

Silence.

"Kasey?"

Silence.

"Eddie's girl?" She tried and Kasey looked up with a big smile and Athena rolled her eyes. "Are you hurt?"

"Nah." She giggled, and Eddie sighed with happiness.

"You're adorable." He grinned at her through some tears that were prickling his eyes.

"No, you're adorable."

"You're more adorable."

"No-"

"You both are adorable!" Athena interrupted the pair who frowned that she interrupted them.

"Thena you're head is beating like your heart." Hen told her, looking at her as if she was an angel.

"Is it?"

"Did everything kind of sparkle?" Eddie asked, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Uh, I'd say it was more glistening, like the whole world was covered in dew." Hen told him.

"I can't really remember anything I said." Giggled Kasey.

"Neither." Buck shook his head.

"You think this is why people go to Burning Man?" Eddie asked before sitting next to Kasey who was next to Buck.

"We seem them every day," Taylor began on the TV, "on the streets of Los Angeles, running into burning buildings, pulling people from wrecked cars and collapsing high-rises and even saving this reported from a helicopter that spun out of control."

"Where's Cap?" Eddie asked as he took a mouthful of popcorn.

Buck looked around.

"He's not watching with us?"

"No, said he had other things to do." Chimney told him, handing Kasey the popcorn bowl so everyone could reach for it.

"I think his words were he'd rather do anything other than this." Hen laughed a breathy laugh.

"They are the brave men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department, and it was my own brush with death that inspired me to share their story so you can all see what it takes and what it means to be one of them."

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 ◁ II ▷𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡

(AGAPE SERIES)

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blueathens · 3 years

Text

Buck Finds Out

Act 1, Scene 4

𝖲𝗈𝗇𝗀: 𝖳𝗎𝗍𝗍𝗂 𝖥𝗋𝗎𝗍𝗍𝗂 𝖻𝗒 𝖫𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝖱𝗂𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝖰𝗎𝗈𝗍𝖾: "𝖨 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎...𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇'𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾."

𝖳𝖶: 𝖠𝗇𝗀𝗌𝗍, 𝖠𝖻𝗎𝗌𝖾 (𝖦𝗋𝖺𝗉𝗁𝗂𝖼/𝖣𝖾𝗌𝖼𝗋𝗂𝗉𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾), 𝖡𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽, 𝖬𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝖲𝗎𝗂𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖶𝖺𝗋.

Masterlist//Dusk Till Dawn Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

THIRD POV

“So this is the famous Kasey Strand we’ve heard so much about.” Paul smiled as he saw her sitting next to TK as he lifted some weights.

“That is I.” She grinned. “You two must be Paul and Mateo.” She stood up to shake their hands. “TK and my dad has spoken quite a lot about the 126.”

“Same goes for you.” Mateo smiled as he shook her hand before his attention went to Paul’s phone that laid on the bench. “Hey, Paul, your phone’s blowing up.” He looked at the messages on his phone. “It’s that Josie girl.”

“Glitter girl?” Y/n muttered to TK who nodded.

“Glitter girl.”

“She got it bad.” Mateo smirked.

“Never peep another’s man phone, probie.” Paul pointed his finger at Mateo angrily as he turned his phone upside down so no one could see.

“So, you’re just gonna ghost her?” He followed Paul. “Wait, I’m confused. She’s hot, single, and she’s into you. It’s like she’s just waiting for you to ask.” He took the weight of the bar as TK moved to sit on the bench of it. Kasey following as she was his spotter. “Why don’t you?”

“That’s a fair question.” TK pointed out with Kasey nodding along.

“Look, we’re texting.” Paul told them, doing bicep curls.

“She obviously wants more.” Kasey pipped in.

“She’s cool. Like extremely cool. Like almost-too-good-to-be-true cool.”

“So, why wouldn’t you ask her out?” Mateo asked, confused about the whole situation.

“Well, maybe I wanna enjoy the fantasy of what could be before reality finds a way to disappoint.”

“That’s grim.” TK grunted out as he lifted the bar of weight.

“Yeah, that’s easy for you to say, Mr. Charmed Existence.”

Kasey snorted. “Charming? No way.”

“Kas is more of the charmer of the family.” TK smirked.

“I bet she is.” Paul said.

“I’m so not.” She shook her head with a smile.

“I have a lot of proof to say otherwise.” TK argued back.

“When was the last time either of you tasted stone-cold rejection?” Paul questioned the twins.

Kasey stayed quiet whilst TK placed the weight back onto the hooks, sitting up and granting as he did so.

“116 days ago…” TK said without hesitation as he looked at Paul and fiddled with his necklace. “When I asked my soulmate to marry me, and he moved in with his trainer instead.”

“That’s rough.” Paul raised his eyebrows slightly. He then looked at Kasey who didn’t reply to his question. Her eyes moved from TK to Paul as she stared at him, wondering what he was looking at her for.

“Oh…” She said with realisation. “I, er, I normally do the rejecting.”

Paul watched TK stand up and he walked towards him. “I’m sorry.” He patted his back.

“Damn, bro.” Mateo sighed.

“Yeah, that was not my best day.” TK said. “Look, everybody gets kicked in the head. You gotta get up and try again.”

“And also, the lady hand-delivered you a brisket.”

“That’s gotta say something.” Kasey added to what Mateo said.

“I’m pretty sure that’s a guaranteed yes.”

“Yeah maybe for the first date.” Paul said. “The scary part is landing that second one.”

“I mean you’re cool, ripped and a firefighter.” Mateo sat up from doing his weightlifting. “I mean, in my experience, everybody wants seconds of that.”

“Well, I appreciate that, probie,” Paul said as he moved to a different equipment. “But things are a little bit more complicated for me.”

“Cause you don’t know how she’ll react when she finds out your trans.” TK stated.

“I know none of us would understand,” Kasey began, “but I think it be best if you just tell her it straight, man. She’ll either want to continue this thing with you or she’ll just ask to be friends. It’s better to be more truthful of who you are than live with lies.”

“I usually meet women on dating apps. You know everything’s in the profile, no surprises.”

“But now it’s outside the dating app world, it’s harder to say.”

“Exactly.”

“Just get it out there.” Mateo said. “Just tell her.”

“That’s the risky part. When it comes to sharing something that personal, kind of gotta go by the rules of threes.”

“Oh, like famous people, how they always die in threes.”

“Huh?” Kasey asked, confused as ever.

“Kas, don’t. Don’t stress you little mind about it.” TK told her, placing a hand on her knee to grab her attention.

“But-”

“Don’t.”

“No, man. No.” Paul shook his head. “I gotta assume that for every one person that I’ve told, I’ve actually told three, because people can’t help but to tell somebody else.”

“Straight, gay, bi, trans,” TK walked up to Paul, “dating sucks, all right? There’s no way around it. So, take her out, analyse the risk, and if it feels safe, take the leap.”

Kasey sat on the countertops of the firehouse kitchen, eating an apple, whilst TK used the coffee machine next to her.

“Hey.” The twins said as they noticed Paul approaching them.

“What’s up?” He nodded to them.

“Want me to make you a coffee?” TK asked with a small smile.

“Thanks.”

“Expresso?”

“Sure.” TK handed him the coffee before leaning his back against the counter Kasey was sat upon. They both shared a look before looking back at Paul.

“How is it?” Smiled TK.

“You mean how was it?” Paul gave the twins a look as they just smiled at him.

“Yeah, well, I mean, I-I didn’t wanna ask but-”

“How was it?” Kasey softly asked over TK’s stuttering.

“We bowled.”

“You bowled.” The twins said together. “Bowling is a great first date!” Kasey added.

“We bowled, and I got a 54.”

“Nice, man.” TK threw his arms up, hitting his sister in the process. She glared at him as he smiled sheepishly at her before turning back to Paul.

“No, that is actually terrible.”

“Sorry,” TK shrugged slightly, “I-I don’t know anything about bowling. Kasey’s always been the more sporty one.”

“Player with the highest score wins.” Kasey explained to her older brother before looking back at Paul, whilst holding her nose. “The only thing that matters is if you had a good time.”

“Whatever.” Scoffed TK as he looked at his sister. “You would never say that you’re too competitive.”

“I’m not the one playing though.” She looked at her hand that was now staining red. “TK, tissue please.”

He handed her a tissue, muttering a small apology for the previous hit.

“Apparently, little kids bowl in the 60s. So…” Paul told the twins.

“Oh, well,” TK leaned forwards, waggling his finger at Paul as he pretended to be strict. “Then you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Thank god you were never an actor.” Kasey muttered into her bloody tissue as she watched TK.

“Maybe.” Smirked Paul.

“I’m guessing it went well.” Kasey said.

And with that Paul stood up as he saw the girl who previously went on a date with.

It was just Kasey and Owen at his house as TK went out. Kasey would’ve came but she was catching the next flight out as she had work again tomorrow morning. She helped out around the 126 and went on some calls with them, but it didn’t feel right. It felt wrong helping a team that wasn’t hers. There was no Bobby with his amazing cooking skills or letting Kasey off the hook when she went against his orders. Kasey didn’t feel comfortable doing anything like that with the 126. There was no Chimney and his jokes or his expertise. There was no Hen who looked after her and went into fires looking like a badass. There was no Buck. She didn’t have her best friend with her who she would bicker and joke around with.

And finally there was no Eddie. There was none of his kindness or comforting nature. He wasn’t there with his gorgeous smile that made her feel like everything was going to be okay. He wasn’t there to laugh at her mischievous behaviour. There was no new guy who she has grown close to.

They weren’t her team.

“Heading back to LA?” Owen questioned as he saw Kasey tying up her converses.

“Yeah, thanks for letting me stay for a few nights.”

“Your my daughter, you can come down whenever.” He leaned against the wall by the front door as he looked at his daughter who sat on the stairs. “I’m just surprised it took you this long to come down.”

“What?” She smiled faintly as she looked up at her dad as she put her other foot in her shoe.

“Just it would’ve been nice for you to come down when you found out about TK’s relapse. You know to support TK; he would’ve wanted his sister here when he needed her.”

“To support TK?” She questioned as she stood up. “He told me not to come.”

“And it’s your fault for listening to him.”

“I would’ve came in a heartbeat.” Kasey snapped as she pointed a finger to the ground angrily before pointing it towards her dad at her next line. “I would’ve came in a heartbeat like I did with you when I found about you having cancer. But TK called me and told me not to come.”

“He wasn’t thinking straight.”

The front door opened.

“Dad? Kas? I can hear you from outside.”

Kasey’s finger dropped and moved to her side where her hand rolled into a clenching fist as she glared daggers at her dad. Her blood was boiling, ready to erupt like a volcano. She pursed her lips together to hold back any nasty comments, but her throat was desperately telling her to scream at him whilst her mind raced through different comments she could make. Her heart was beating fast the longer she held her tongue.

“You weren’t out for long.” Owen stated as he glared at his daughter who stared straight back at him.

“The club we went to wasn’t the best.” TK answered, looking back and fourth at the pair. “I feel like I came home at the wrong time.”

“Nah, TK, your fine. It’s just dad telling me how wrong I am once again.” Kasey answered emotionlessly.

“I’m just saying that your never here when this family needs you.”

“Your one to talk.” Kasey laughed bitterly. “You were never there when we needed you. You decided that you didn’t have time for us!” Kasey raised her voice as she pointed her finger at her dad. “You left us with mum and Enzo because you decided not to be a dad. You didn’t have time for us, and I didn’t have time for Mum or Enzo, because I wanted you. I wanted my dad…” Her voice went softer as much more needy at her next words. Desperate for Owen to hear them. “I needed you…and you weren’t there.”

“I went through something traumatic.”

“So did I! But I kept on going and didn’t let that effect my life.”

“It will one day, Kasey, trust me. One day it will all become too heavy for you because you’re not strong enough!”

“Dad-” TK tried to interrupt the argument, but they didn’t listen to him.

“You don’t go to therapy because your too scared. If you just let me-”

“Let you what? Control my life like your doing to TK? Yeah, no thanks. You tried to once and that didn’t lead me to anything good, did it?”

“I’m not controlling TK’s life.” Owen scoffed, shaking his head at his daughter’s accusation.

“Dad, you’re forcing TK to do everything. This isn’t how you help someone heal and you know that! You know that because you tried to help me, but that took me straight to a hospital bed, didn’t it?! You can’t tell someone how to get better. Everyone works differently, we can support them, but we can’t force them how they get better!”

“Leave.” Owen said through gritted teeth.

“Gladly.” Kasey snarled back, grabbing her duffle bag. “See you around, TK.” And with that she left the front door, heading back home to a family that cares and loves her.

She was going back to where she belonged.

“I feel like I’ve died now that she’s gone.” Buck muttered sadly, head leaning on his arms as he rolled his apple back and fourth on the table.

“She only went to Texas, Buck.” Hen laughed, hitting the apple back towards him when it stops in front of her.

“I can still hear her voice sometimes.” He sighed.

“I said a whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom.”

“See…I just heard her again.” Buck’s ear perked up at the goofy sound as he looked around in search for his best friend before looking back down at the table in dejection. “But she’s gone.”

“No, I heard that too.” Hen raised her finger slightly, as if she was going to tell Buck to be quiet so she can listen out for the voice again.

“Same.” Chimney piped in.

“I said a whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom. Tutti Frutti, oh rooty.”

“There it is again.”

“Is it possible for Kasey to sing really loudly for us to hear in LA?”

“No, Chim, we probably all just missing her too much.”

“Eddie, don’t add into everyone else’s nonsense.”

“But, Bobby, did you not hear her?”

“Got a girl named Daisy. She almost drives me crazy.”

“Okay, fine, we’re all going crazy.”

“At least I’m not the only one anymore.”

“She’s still in Texas right?”

“She left me, all alone.”

“A whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom.”

They heard other firefighter greeting someone.

“Right?”

Steps were climbing up the stairs.

“I miss her. You miss her. Hen misses her. The whole 118 misses her. Eddie misses her. Christopher misses her. Bear misses her. Hell, I think her crazy next-door neighbour misses her.”

“Ms Matthews defiantly does not miss me.”

“KASEY!”

Buck chair flew behind him as he ran towards the brunette, crushing her into a tight hug.

“Buck, can’t breathe.”

“You returned to me.”

“Buck.” She gasped out.

“You came back.”

“Buckaroo-”

“You-”

“Buck, let Kas breathe.” Eddie chucked, pulling the blond off from the girl who was trying to reframe her breathing.

“How’s your family?” Bobby asked, hands on his hips, smiling at the 24-year-old.

“I don’t know…how are you guys?” She grinned.

“I meant your dad and TK.”

“Oh, they’re alright.” She shrugged; the argument still fresh in her mind. “How’s my best friend?” She asked Buck.

“I’m great now!” Buck beamed. “Can you like never leave me again because-”

“I was talking about Bear.” Kasey told him blankly.

“Oh…Well he isn’t dead.”

“So, he’s good then.” Buck didn’t answer. “Right?” Buck whistled and started to walk away. “Buckaroo get your ass back over here! Is Bear okay? Buck!”

“Grab a creeper and some blocks.” Booby instructed Buck and Eddie.

“Chris alright?” Kasey asked Eddie.

“Holy crap, you are hot.” A women said as Buck passed her.

“He always is. He never stops talking about you. But he’s alright.”

The bar reminded Kasey a bit of Texas when she entered. Loud cheering was heard everywhere inside the building as they applauded for the lady riding an electronic bull.

“Okay, guys, the strippers are here.” Said a different girl that was guiding the firefighters.

“I missed those.” Kasey whined.

“What?” Eddie looked over his shoulder briefly at the girl.

“When I was in Texas, TK got a call to where loads of hot strippers were, but I didn’t go.” Kasey frowned slightly. “But apparently it was a mess, girls fighting everywhere…But I wanted to see some hot strippers.”

Eddie chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “We did miss you, Kas. You and your randomness.”

“I missed you guys too.” She bit her lip slightly, hesitating to ask Eddie the thing that has been on her mind since the night she stayed round. “Hey, after this call can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“It’s nothing major…I don’t think…just an idea.”

“So, I should be scared.”

“No.” She grinned.

Eddie nibbled onto his bottom lip nervously, this idea could literally be anything.

“Oh shit.” Kasey muttered as she saw the lady’s head in the tailpipe. “They weren’t joking.”

“Hi, what’s her name?” Chimney asked a man.

“Betty.” They confidently told him.

“Jennifer.” The muffled voice of the lady corrected.

“You don’t even know the lady’s name?” Kasey questioned the man.

“Not worth remembering.” He looked Kasey up and down. “But if you tell me yours beautiful, I defiantly remember it.” He bit his lip as he swayed closer to Kasey who was just appalled at his attempt at flirting.

Kasey rolled her eyes and so did Eddie as he grunted in annoyance at the man’s behaviour.

“I guess I just call you beautiful from now on.” He then noticed that Chimney was looking at him. “I thought you meant my truck when you asked for her name.”

“This is your truck?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I backed into her. She did this out of her own free will.” Buck and Kasey crouched down to see the situation in a different angle.

“You dared her to.” The girl in the pink top butted in.

“We were flirting.”

“This is flirting?” Kasey asked, she had even more disgust for the man.

“If you’re not into this baby, I can flirt with you in a different way.”

“Ew, gross.”

Eddie glared at the man.

“Your idea of flirting with a girl is daring her to stick her head into your tailpipe?” Eddie questioned, getting more annoyed of the man, but one reason of that annoyance outweighed everything else.

Kasey went under the car.

“Hi, Jennifer. LAFD. How you feeling?” Chimney asked her in concern.

“Uh, pretty good, actually. Except for this whole, you know,” Eddie handed a tape measure to Kasey as he kneeled down, “ginormous tailpipe on my head.”

“Hey, Jennifer, you’re gonna feel me poking around.”

“That’s what she said.” Snickered Kasey.

“Kasey!” Bobby called.

“Sorry.” She bit her lip to contain her giggles.

Buck snickered behind his hand whilst Eddie smirked.

“We’re just checking you out, okay?” Hen continued.

“All right.” Jennifer replied casually.

“Why is this tailpipe so large?” Chimney asked, hands on his knees as he watched everything happening.

“It’s custom.” Brent said, the man who was flirting with Kasey earlier.

“Where’d she get these bruises on her arm?” Bobby asked.

“That wasn’t me.”

“It’s from the bull.” The other girl who guided them through the bar said. “She rode it, like, five times.”

“There’s no way we’re gonna get a collar on her.” Chimney muttered to the team.

“I got it.”

“Get me out of this thing.”

Kasey slid out from under the car. “These things are meant to increase the power to the engine.”

“Yup.” Brent grinned. “Glad to know your stuff, babygirl.”

Eddie huffed another angry breath.

The team looked at Kasey, but she just shook her head.

“How you know that Kas?” Hen asked.

“I, er, just know it.” She winced when she saw her team looking at her with raised eyebrows. “Fast and Furious?”

“TSA 230 saw should do the job.” Bobby evaluated.

“Oh, yeah, like a knife through butter.” Buck said.

“Chim?”

“Excuse me. Way ahead of you, Cap.”

“What?!” Exclaimed Brent. “No, I spent 1,200 bucks on that tailpipe.”

“You might want to close your eyes during this part.” Bobby told him.

“You know, I don’t feel bad at all.” Kasey whispered to Eddie.

“Oh, yeah.” Eddie smirked, arms across his chest as he looked at the guy.

“Just type your number in my phone.” The girl in the pink top told him. “And I’ll text you, so you have mine.”

“Yeah, no.” Kasey laughed out. “He’s not Buck 1.0 anymore.”

“Are you his girlfriend?”

“Ew, no, worse, I’m his best friend. Now move.” Kasey moved away from the pair and towards more towards the truck as she squatted down to take another look.

“Yeah, thanks, but I actually have a girlfriend.” Buck told her. “And I need to focus right now so my captain doesn’t cut your friend’s head off.”

“Hi. Do you have Snapchat?” The friend of the girl in the pink top asked Eddie. Kasey looked behind her quickly but regretted it straight away when she saw the girl’s hand on Eddie’s bicep.

Kasey didn’t know why her lips fell into a pout. Or why her eyes narrowed at the sight of the girl touching Eddie. She doesn’t know why her tongue ran across her top teeth as she pursed her lips. And she doesn’t know why her stomach stiffened at the sight of them.

“No. And uh, I don’t think I’m what you’re looking for. I have…I have a son.”

And just like that Kasey’s snaps out of what she was feeling and shakes her head as she looks back at the job at hand. But her ears perks up once again when the girl continues to talk.

“That’s great. So do I.”

‘Yeah, whatever.’ Kasey scoffed to herself, biting her lip as she breathed in deeply. Buck throws her a small glance, raising his brow at her with uncertainty. But she just ignores him and continues following Bobby’s orders. ‘There’s no way she be going near Chris.’

“I think I’m gonna puke.” Jennifer called out.

‘And thank god for Jennifer,’ Kasey thought to herself as Jennifer got the girl to stop talking and for Eddie to move away…she shook her head again, why did she care if he was with her?

“Can I have your number, gorgeous?” A man walked up to Kasey.

“Nope, sorry, don’t have a phone.” She lied as she went back to her work.

Eddie glances at Kasey, smiling slightly at how quickly she got the man away.

But that smile was what Buck caught sight of.

He saw the small smile of Eddie’s and he followed his eyeline and noticed he was looking at her. His best friend. His eyes travelled back to Eddie then back at Kasey, before realisation hits and he stares at Eddie with his mouth open like a fish.

“What?” Eddie asked him.

“These fire guys are totally hot.”

“Especially the babe over there.”

Buck shook his head quickly and when Eddie stopped looking at him Buck smirks slightly.

“All right, what say we move the peanut gallery a few steps over this way. Thank you.” Chimney said as he guided the men and women away from the firefighters. “Everybody back a little bit, thank you.”

“Hey Kas.” Buck calls.

“Sup.”

“You think you could get loaded fries on the house here?” He smirks and Kasey breathlessly chuckles.

“None of this stuff you two, we’re working.” Bobby told the troubling two.

“Maybe.” She smirks at Buck, throwing him a wink before turning back to face the truck with her arms crossed over her chest.

“All right, Jennifer,” Hen started to say, “keep your head completely still. You’re gonna hear a lot of noise, but everything is fine.”

Bobby took the saw and went under the truck to cut a part of the tailpipe off. The sounds of the saw whirring and grinding silenced the chatter behind the three younger firefighters as they watched Bobby.

“What are you doing?!” Jennifer squeals.

“All right, almost there.” Bobby pushes himself out from underneath the car as Hen smiles at him.

“Okay.” Her and Eddie helped to sit Jennifer up. “Easy.”

“We need lube.”

“I have some.” The girl who flirted with Buck said, but instead Chimney threw him some. He squirted it at the top of the tube, allowing the pipe to slide off.

“Slowly. Slowly.” Eddie guided. And just like that the tailpipe was off, and the crowd applauded. Jennifer’s eyes gazes at Eddie and Buck.

“Wow, you really are hot.”

“Would you like us to transport you to the hospital, get checked out?” Hen asked her as she held the tailpipe.

“She just needs another drink.” The girl in pink stated, waving her hand carelessly.

“No, what she needs to do is go home.” Bobby told her. “All three of you do, in a cab.” His then looked at Jennifer. “Listen to me. When you sober up, if you feel like you have a headache or blurry vision, or you feel confused, you got to get yourself to a hospital, you understand?”

She just giggles in response.

“Condolences on Betty.” Hen told Brent.

“Loaded fries, right?” Kasey grinned at Buck.

“I bet you can’t.”

“I bet I can.” And with that the youngest firefighter was off towards the bar.

“I can’t believe you two still do that.” Chimney smirked.

“Occasionally, not a lot, but sometimes.” Buck shrugged. He then caught up with Eddie who started to slowly walk away. “Hey, so is your son really the reason you don’t date?”

“That, and…they weren’t my type.”

“What is your type then?”

Eddie stops his movement, and his eyes unconsciously went towards Kasey who was leaning on the bar, elbows resting in front of her as she spoke to the barman. Buck watches how he looks at her, how his eyes go all soft and just stares at her in awe, even if she wasn’t doing anything.

Well, to Buck it looked like she was just at the bar, he didn’t know what Eddie saw when he looked at her.

“I knew it!” He shouted in excitement. Clapping his hands before pointing towards Eddie and Kasey with a big smile.

“Knew what?”

“You like Ka-mmmh.” Eddie hand shots up to covers Buck’s big mouth before he could tell the world his secret. It felt like they were children whispering about their crushes, not wanting anyone else to hear.

“Shut up.” He told him through gritted teeth, warning him with his eyes.

“It’s true.” He whispered happily. “I-oh-this is great! You’ll be great for her! Oh my god you should tell-”

“No.” He muttered, shaking his head as he took a glance at Kasey. “She’s never going to like me the way I like her…but I’m still going to wait for her because I have this strange feeling that we’re meant to be together.”

“You think Kasey doesn’t like you?” Buck asks but neither one continues talking about it as they catch sight of Kasey skipping happily towards them with loaded fries in her hands.

“What’s that, 10 million to me and none to you? What a sad life you’re living Buckaroo.” She teased Buck as she plopped one fry into her mouth.

“They just never give me anything on the house.” Buck shrugged as he tried to take one of Kasey’s fries, but she slaps his hand away.

“It’s not like they don’t see you…They just don’t like what they see.” Kasey smirked.

Eddie barks out a loud laugh whilst Buck just stares at her in shock.

“Kasey River Strand.”

“Oof full name. Buckaroo mad.” Kasey laughed. “Eds, you want some.” She handed the small basket of fries to Eddie, who takes some with a polite “thank you.”

“Excuse you.” Buck said with offense.

“You’re excused.”

“So, having a kid and not them being you type is the reason you don’t date.” Buck asks Eddie whilst Kasey just eats happily next to them.

“It’s complicated when you have a kid.” Eddie sighs.

“Come on, that’s a weak excuse.”

“You live in your invisible girlfriend’s house.” He pointed to Buck before pointing to himself. “And you’re telling me about weak excuses.”

Buck stutters out more excuses whilst Kasey chuckles next to him.

“That’s what I’ve been saying.” She said through a mouthful of food.

“Oh shush.”

Eddie phone vibrates and he walks away slightly from Buck and Kasey as he tries to fight her to get some fries.

“Hello?” He stops his movement as the person on the other line tells him something. “What?” He ask with slight confusion, brows raising, and lips staying apart. “Which one?”

Eddie, Buck, and Kasey marches through the hospital. Well, more like Eddie does as Kasey and Buck didn’t really know what was happening, they were just following him.

“My aunt.” He tells the two before jogging up towards her.

“Tia ¿Qué pasó? Is Christopher okay?” His walked towards her, arms opening wide to embrace his aunt into a hug.

Kasey looks around the hospital slightly before looking back at the pair as she fiddled her fingers nervously.

“Yes.” She sighs. “You mean Prince Charming, hmm?” She points a finger towards Christopher who was laughing with a nurse. “He’s peachy.” Eddie turns to face his aunt again. “It’s your abuela. She broke her hip.”

“What? How?”

“She was out back on the steps and calling him to come inside. She lost her balance. Christopher called 911. The rescue got there really quick.”

“I want to see her.”

“No, she’s sleeping now.” She turns to look at Buck and Kasey. “And, uh, who are they?”

“This is Buck and Kasey. We all work together.” Eddie informed her.

“Mm. I thought you just dressed alike.”

“This is my Aunt Josefina. Pepa.”

“Hi.”

“Hey, it’s really nice meet you.” Kasey gave her a small smile that she returns before she turns back to look at Eddie with sad eyes.

“You can’t keep doing this, Eddie. You cannot keep leaving him with her. She’s not up to it.”

“I know. I know, and I’m sorry.” Eddie sighs. “I...I’m trying to find some permanent help, it’s just…too many forms to fill out. It’s worse than the V.A.”

Buck and Kasey shares a look, as if they were sharing the same look, and nodded at one another before looking back at Eddie and Josefina.

“I can’t believe your gringa ex stuck you with all of this.”

Eddie glances at his friends than back at his aunt. “I’m not stuck, Tia.” He mutters.

“Do you have to go back to work?” Eddie doesn’t respond and Josefina does a side shrug. “Ah. And you’re not stuck.” She sighs and shakes her head gently. “I’ll keep him tonight, but you need to get this figured out.”

“Daddy.” Chris calls to him, giggling and Eddie smiles at the sight of him and walks up to him.

“Hey, buddy. Hey.” He laughs and picks his son up.

“Must be rough.” Buck begins as the three of them watch the father and son duo.

“Raising any child alone is rough.” Josefina stares at the sight of them in blue. “My nephew is a saint. But I pray for him anyway.”

“Eddie’s a good dad though…Of what I’ve seen anyway.” Kasey stated.

“Hmm-mmm. I just wish he could just find someone who could help him.” She then turns to look at Kasey, looking her up and down and smiling at her. “Kasey, you said?”

“Hmm?” She turns to look at Eddie’s aunt. “Oh, yeah, my name’s Kasey.”

“I’ve heard good things about you.” She nodded in approval. “Beautiful as well.”

Kasey just furrows her eyebrows and frowns in confusion, whilst Buck holds back a smirk.

“Look after them, Kasey.” She told her softly.

“Course.”

“I do this too much?” Chimney laughed as he did a chattering gesture with his hands to Christopher who sat between Kasey and Eddie.

“We all agree.”

“Believe me.”

The firehouse was full of laughter as they all talked to Christopher. Eddie’s arm was stretched over the back of the sofa, gently touching Kasey’s back.

“Christopher, I thought we were buddies-What happened.” Chimney exclaimed with laughter.

“What’s this.” Bobby walked towards the group and the laughing died down at the sight of him. “I don’t remember asking the chief for reinforcements.” Eddie licked his lips nervously as he looks at Bobby and his kid. “You any good with the hose, kid?”

“I can try.”

“All right.”

“So sorry. Cap.” Eddie stood to talk to Bobby. “My aunt’s trying to get off work early, but until then, I…I didn’t know where to take him.”

“Yeah, you did. Right here.” He nodded towards Kasey. “Kasey gave me the heads-up. I already cleared it with the chief.” Eddie throws a grateful look at Kasey who just winks at him.

An alarm rings.

“Attention, station…” A male voice speaks over the P.A.

“All right. Let’s go. Let’s go.”

“These are great,” Chimney tapped his headphones as he speaks to Christopher as they sat in the fire engine. “See, cause we can talk to each other.”

“They’re not that great if we have to hear you voice, Chim.” Teased Kasey causing Christopher to giggle.

He, Hen, Chim, Eddie and Kasey sat at the back of the truck whilst Buck and Bobby sat in the front.

“Actually, I see where your coming from.” Chim pointed his finger at Kasey who just grins in return. “Sometimes I wish I had a mute button for Buck and Kas.” He told Christopher.

“Ouch.”

The truck horns honks.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were you saying something?” Buck innocently asked.

“You have a scar on your head.” Christopher pointed out.

Eddie clenches his teeth and closes his eyes, sighing, worried that Chimney would be offended at his observation.

“That’s very observant, kid. I had an accident.” He pointed at his forehead. “Got a big metal rod stuck in my head, but the doctor took care of it. You ever have surgery?”

“Two times.”

“Actually, three times.” Eddie corrected as he smiled down at his kid.

Chimney frowned and nodded in proudness. “Well, you got me beat. Now I feel kind of lame. But not as lame as Kasey looks in a hospital. Did you know that she freaks out by even being close to a hospital?”

Kasey gave him a ‘are-you-serious look.’

“No.” Christopher giggled. “Is that true Kas?”

“No,” she pursed her lips to hide a smile as she heard her nickname coming from the little guy’s mouth. She felt like jumping up and down in joy as this was the first time he called her Kas. This much mean he was getting more comfortable around her, right? She and Eddie won’t immediately stop being friends because his kid doesn’t like her, and maybe the thing Kasey wants to ask Eddie won’t be so bad after all. “He’s over-exaggerating.”

“But he isn’t though.” Hen grinned at Christopher. “Your dad ever tell you why we call him Chimney?” She leaned forwards to move closer to Christopher. Chimney shook his head ferociously at Hen, whilst Kasey watches in amusement, happy that they weren’t teasing her for her fear of hospitals.

“No. No. No, no, no, no.”

“I’ll tell you the story later.”

When they arrived at the car collision Bobby started to inform Christopher on what’s going on whilst instructing his team on what to do.

“Get the jaws of life.” He said to Eddie before he went to talk to Christopher who was standing on a small platform on the fire engine. Bobby’s arm was around him, so he didn’t fall. “Now, you see, her air bags went off, so that protected her. She’s gonna be fine. You know what happens sometimes?”

“People get stuck.”

“That’s right, people get stuck.” They eyes were fixed on Kasey and Buck who had to keep on swapping to have go’s at trying to break through the car door with a Halligan bar. “But we have a tool called the Jaws of Life.” Eddie passes them with the tool at hand. “And that’s what your dad’s gonna use right now. Thanks to him, she’s gonna make it home for dinner.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.” Chimney granted as he waddled towards Christopher with a rolled-up hoses for him to step onto to play with the pinball machine. “Christopher, come over here. Ready?” He picks him up. “Nice.” And he stands next to the machine, watching the youngest Diaz play. “Christopher, here we go. Here we go. Good job. Look at that. You’re doing it.” He praised him. “Did you get a bonus already? Look at how good you are. You’re a natural.”

Christopher tried some of Bobby’s cooking and ended the day with Buck, Hen and Chimney at the top of the pole helping Christopher to slide down to Eddie and Kasey.

“You’re a born firefighter.” Chimney grunted.

“Come down, bud.”

“Yeah, you’re doing great, little man.”

“One more firefighter. Look at that! Yay!” Chimney cheered along with the rest of the team.

“Whoa. You nailed it, kid.”

“Good job.”

“Well done, little man.” She messed up Christopher’s hair. “You did something Buck is too terrible to do.”

“Hey!”

“All right, fun’s over.” Eddie said with slight disappointment as he saw his aunt. He loved how his team all welcomed Christopher with open arms and made him apart of the founded family.

“Bye Christopher.”

“Later Christopher.”

“Bye, Christopher.”

“See you, little man.”

“Bye.”

“See you next time.”

“Bye.”

Josefina opened her arms up to Christopher as Eddie picked up his crutches and held his hand.

“Good job, today kiddo.”

“You, too, Cap.”

“Hola, mi amor. Okay, vamanos.”

When they walked away Eddie immediately pulled Bobby into a hug, patting his back severely times as a thank you.

Hen walked up to the 118 team as they walked through the halls of the shopping centre with various amount of equipment, not knowing what they would be handling with.

“Hey, I guess they’d been working on the escalator overnight. The floor panel on the landing – it must not have been put back securely.”

“Daniel, help is here. The fire department is here.” She called to the man in the escalator. “Please tell me he’s gonna be okay. Please help him.” She begged Hen as she helped her to stand.

“We’re gonna do everything we can, okay? We’re…They’re gonna take it over from here. What’s his name?”

“It’s Daniel.” She held the small red box closely to her chest.

“Hey, Daniel, can you hear me?” Bobby called down.

“We got to get this step out of here.”

They pulled it out.

“All right, Chim, you’re in.” And with that Chimney climbed through the gap, examining the severely injured man that was trapped in the chain of the escalator.

“I got a pulse guys.”

“Oh, thank god.” The women breathed a sigh of relief as she bent down. Kasey and Hen was holding her for comfort whilst Chim did his job. Kasey’s stomach twisted and she nibbled at her lip, worried that her instinct is telling her something is going to go wrong.

“Talk to me, Chim. What you got?” Bobby crouched down as Chimney stood up through the gap.

“It’s not good.”

“What’s happening? Why are you stopping?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, easy,” Kasey gently said as she carefully pulled her away so she couldn’t see the damage. She didn’t want, if it was the case, her to see her partner like this if it was the last time she would ever see him.

“The chain is sitting on top of his femoral artery. It’s possible it’s even nicked it.”

“Loosening it might make it worse. It could be keeping him from bleeding out.” Eddie informed Bobby.

“All right, let’s get him out of there. Chim, tie him off. Hen, get an I.V, run it wide open.”

“Copy that.”

“And Kas.”

“Yeah.”

But all Bobby did was give her a look. A look that told her to stay with the distressed women. Buck came over and helped Kasey comfort the women.

“Daniel.” The lady runs towards the gap of the escalator. Buck and Kasey looked at each other in sadness, knowing that what she was going to see wasn’t going to be anything good. Kasey stepped forwards to guide her back slowly, whilst she covered her mouth and cried silent tears as she listened to Daniel cries of pain.

They placed him onto the stretcher and to no one surprise, the crowd watching them clapped.

“What did she say?” he breathed out and Chimney looked up to see the lady wearing the blue ring pop on her finger.

“I think she said yes, buddy.”

And just like Kasey’s gut told her…

…Something bad happened.

He started to cough, choaking on the red liquid that was spilling out from his mouth and nose. His blood pressured dropped, the sound of the machine next to them wasn’t helping them to calm their nerves. His breathing was shallow and quick. They couldn’t find a pulse. They started to do CPR and Kasey could only watch them. She held her breath and hoped for a miracle. She rubbed her hands up and down the women’s arms in a way to comfort her. But she didn’t really know what she was comforting her from. She knew the lady wasn’t stupid, she could see as clear as day that Daniel wasn’t do so good. But Kasey believed that if she tried to help the lady, then she’s doing her order. But she left her arms and knelt down to Daniel.

“Daniel? Oh, please, God.”

“Ma’am, you have to stand back. Let them do their job, okay.” Bobby told the crying girl, pulling her away from the heart-shattering scene.

The monitor was slowly beeping until-

-The flatline.

His heart stopped but Chimney didn’t.

He didn’t until Hen told him to do so with a hand on his shoulder. She told him those two heart-shattering words and the lady broke down. She rushed towards Daniel. Crying out his name. Begging him to come back to her. She prayed for a miracle. But it wasn’t coming. She cried over him. She called his name, begging him to hear her. But he didn’t.

He didn’t come back to her…

Kasey opened her apartment door, one hand was turning the key’s as her foot pushed the door wider, whilst her other hand carried a Chinese takeaway. Her keychains of small images of the ones she cares about clanged together along with the other stupid decorations that was attached to her keys.

“Bear, honey, I’m home.” She called out into the darkness. But she didn’t hear the patters of his feet.

Bear usually was waiting by the door, jumping onto Kasey the minute she opened the door. No matter the time of day.

But nothing.

Bear wasn’t there to greet her, like he usually does.

She frowned at the lost of contact of Bear, but shook her head, nevertheless.

‘He’s probably sleeping’ She told herself.

She flickered on the hallway light as she used her feet to take off her shoes.

“Bear! You won’t believe the day that I’ve had.” Kasey called out again.

Truth be told, Bear may have been a police dog, he was trained in all facility’s before his accident. But police dog or not, Kasey found comfort in him as he looked after her, he kept her safe from anything bad that may happen to her. He was like a therapy dog to her. No one could understand Kasey the way Bear does. They were connected the first moment they met each other.

“Bear?” She tried again but he still didn’t come.

She heard the scratches of the door, a dog whimpering and barking at it.

Kasey put down her Chinese box and took of her jacket as she approached the closed guest bedroom door.

He never went in there unless Buck was in there.

And Kasey wouldn’t have closed the door on him, shutting him out from the rest of the apartment.

Kasey’s hand hovered over the metal handle, but before she could pull it down, something hard hit her in the head, knocking her down as she laid on her side, arms outstretched, and eyes fluttering.

The last thing she saw was muddy black boots before it all went black.

Darkness.

Most were scared of the dark. The fear starting from when they were at a young age. A time where they believed monsters lived under their bed and they would only come out if it was dark. The light was a form of protection to keep all the evil things away from them. That could be why many adults still run up the stairs and straight under the covers the second they switched the lights off. The dark leaves us vulnerable and exposed as we’re unable to see anything lurking through the shadows.

Nyctophobia was the term for fearing the dark. And it’s one of most common fears across different ages. Yet, it was also one of the most common fears for people not to admit on having. Fearing the dark has been around for thousands of years, making humans evolve to having a natural fear of the dark. However, most believe that it’s not the dark that scares them, but it’s the unknown. The not knowing what’s out there builds up this anxiety inside us, making us believe in things that aren’t actually there, us humans have this incredibly ability to form faces or shapes in the dark, causing this fear to rise inside of us.

However, being afraid of the dark means we’re very aware of things. But that doesn’t overpower the negatives of this fear. It doesn’t take away the lack of sleep, the anxiety, or even mental disorders such as depression. It doesn’t take away the constant jumpiness or the frightful images we can create with our minds. It doesn’t take away the things that might have caused these fears like paranormal activity or abuse. The darkness was something kids hated before they could grow out of it. But that fear never leaves us, because if it did why do we still run when we turn off the lights?

Kasey feared the dark once.

She didn’t really have parents to save her from this fear as her dad was always M.I.A and her mum was always busy with Enzo or TK – TK was afraid of the dark too.

Kasey had to fight this fear alone as her parents were always to busy for her, she was always the second choice to them.

So, when night came, she would turn off her nightlight for a few seconds before turning it back on as her breathing increased. Her blanket was always to her chin and her little green eyes would search for anything that may come and get her. She did the light test again, but one night it never turned back on when she touched it due to a power shortage.

She remembers hearing TK crying to their mum about the monsters that may get him in the dark. She remembers hearing their feet walk past her door and towards her mum and Enzo’s bedroom. She thinks TK stayed in their for the night.

Kasey remembers how tight her chest felt that night, as her little fingers kept on tapping her nightlight, hoping that it come back on.

But it never did.

She remembers thinking something was in her room, and she silently screeched in fear, hoping it didn’t get her.

But nothing ever came.

Her bottom lip would wobble, and her eyes would fill with tears threatening to escape. But she tried not to make a sound. She didn’t want anyone worrying about her or tell her to grow up, even if her brother was crying about it. She didn’t want to alert the darkness that she was there, in the bed that once was pink. But now it was painted grey because Kasey started to hate the colour, so she painted over it.

She was nine when the power cut happened. She was nine when the storm rolled in, causing the branches of the tree outside her window to crash into it. She was nine, when she wished the night to be over with. She was nine when she cried silently in fear that something was going to happen to her in the night. She was nine when she only had herself to protect from the dark.

She was nine when she overcame her fear.

She stayed up all night and that’s when she realised it was just a pile of clothes on a chair and not a person. She realised that there was nothing lurking in the dark, and nothing was going to come out and hurt her.

She was eighteen when she realised it’s the vulnerability the dark made you that caused you to fear it.

The war ground wasn’t a place to be no matter the time or day. But for Kasey fighting during storms, harsh rains or at night was the worst. You could never see when a gun was being pointed at you or when a grenade landed next to you until it was too late. She realised that it wasn’t just monsters that you should fear at night, it was the frightening sounds of it. It was the sounds of screaming, crying, bones cracking, guns shooting. It was the sound of your ears ringing, and it was the muffled sounds of your team-mates voices. It was the sound of nothing that Kasey feared the most. When everything just fell quiet and as you couldn’t see anything you didn’t know if everyone was just dead. If she was dead. Or if the enemies of the US had left the fields and went somewhere else. Silence of the night was what Kasey feared.

She was twenty-two when she came back from the war and realised that she couldn’t sleep in silence.

She had to search different sounds that didn’t remind her of Afghanistan to get her to sleep. She liked the sound of water, especially waterfalls, she could sleep to that easily. But she couldn’t fall asleep to rain or storms as it reminded her to much of the battlefields. She could fall asleep to whales. She was no where near whales so she could never hear them calling for one another to come home. Something that made her scared as she thought she would never have it. But she couldn’t fall asleep to birds or crickets. She heard a lot of them when she travelled around, there might not have been fighting going on, but it was the trip to hell.

She was twenty-three when she realised that silence wasn’t so bad.

She was able to sleep in silence once again when she got Bear. He slept at the end of her bed, and he would cuddle into her when he felt fear radiating of her – he still does it now as she never truly healed from anything – Bear hardly ever barked, he barked when there was danger, it was what he was taught to do. But he never barked when he felt Kasey’s fear, he whined and licked her face as he moved closer to her. He would follow her around if she got up, making sure nothing happened to her. Kasey could sleep in silence again, but she couldn’t live in her apartment with no sounds, she always had to have some music playing the background, and if she didn’t fear would rise through her once again. She could sleep in the dark without any noises again because her bed become a safe place to her. She tricked her mind into thinking that nothing will happen to her if she was in bed. But Kasey thought that maybe she actually never could sleep in silence because she only thought she could once she got Bear. But whilst she tries to sleep she could hear his soft snores, and Kasey found comfort in them as they lured her to sleep.

It was 6 months after getting Bear, she realised she still feared the silence.

She was twenty-four when she realised how wrong she was.

She realised how the dark was a helping hand to the evil spirts of the world, allowing them to blend into the shadows. Kasey realised why so many still feared the dark, not knowing what was out there. She realised that even after all she’s been through she still fears the ordinary things. People told her not to live on her own, especially not in this apartment block. Maybe she should have gotten better security, maybe she wouldn’t feel dizzy in the head. She couldn’t see the light that was meant to protect her from everything. It was like she was that scared nine-year-old girl again, begging for the light to turn back on as she silently cried. She thought she could still hear the banging of the trees. And she almost believed it…until she heard the banging coming from right next to her ear. Her right cheek felt cold, but she couldn’t move. The ringing in her ears came back. It was like she was on the battlefields all over again. Her breathing increased and she felt cold sweat dripping down her face, well she thought it was sweat. Her mouth was dry, it was like she couldn’t make a sound…it was like she was 19 again…one of the days she feared the most. Her hands were trembling again as they laid flat down against her cold floor. The trembling wouldn’t stop…it was like she was there again. She thought she never go back to these days…oh how wrong she was.

She was twenty-four when she realised that it wasn’t just the dark people feared. It was the light too.

She came to terms that the light was just as fearful as the dark. Her nine-year-old self would agree with her too, as the light never turned back on to protect her then. Kasey realised it wasn’t just silence that people feared. It was the loudness too. The ringing in her ears continued and she begged for it to stop. To make it all stop. She didn’t want to feel like this again. The banging next to her ear got louder and louder, it was like gunshots and bombs all over again. Where was the light when she needed it the most? It always left her when she needed it the most. It always left her to defend herself. Where was the light to protect her from the dark? The ringing stopped and so did the bangs. It was silent. And Kasey was scared of the quiet. She wanted the ringing to come back to take her away from the quiet…anything would be better than this. Why couldn’t she hear Bear barking or crying out for her anymore? It was all so quiet. Until it wasn’t…It was like someone pressed the unmute button and all the sounds came back. It was like someone pressed the play button and she could feel herself again.

Her hand moved to the side of her head where she could feel the cold sweet dripping, but it wasn’t sweat; it was blood. She could tell by the stickiness of it. She didn’t know how much there was, but she still felt dazed from the blow to her head. Her eyes fluttered open, before instantly closing as they caught sight of light. There it was the light that was meant to protect her. But as she wakes up from this nightmare, she realised that the light should be feared too, as it helped the darkness with all it’s chaos. Her eyes fluttered open once again, she groaned at the light. Her vision was blurry, but she could see those dark muddy boots again. She was still on the floor of her hallway. She moved to get closer to the wall, eyes closing once more as she sat up against it. But there she heard it, a laugh, a sickening laugh that will haunt her in her dreams.

“You going somewhere princess?” It asked.

Her head shook slightly as she leant against the wall, Bear was still barking, and her hand went to hold her head. She breathed in deeply as she felt the cool liquid run from her hands to her arms. Her eyes flickered as she saw a blood patch on the floor she once laid upon. Her eyes travelled up from the muddy boots to the dark jeans, to the dark jacket and leather gloves, to the baseball bat and then to the face.

The face she knew oh so well.

Jordan Thompson.

Her ex-boyfriend.

“You miss me princess?”

“No,” she croaked out, her throat begging for water due to the roughness of it.

He tucked the baseball bat underneath her chin, making her to look up at him.

“I loved you, you know?” He whispered dangerously before swinging his bat to her head again. She screamed as she landed on the cold floor. She whimpered against it, breathing deeply as more blood rushed out of her head. Her skull didn’t feel broken, she knew what its like, she had much worst before…maybe her bones was getting stronger from the pain it’s been through. She almost wanted to laugh at that ridiculous thought. She clenched her eyes tightly as the pain rushed through her body. Her hands were still shaking, and he was laughing at her pain.

She felt the wooden bat on her back as she laid still on the ground, fingers slightly moving in front of her, in search for something to help her. She turned her face to look at Jordan as he smirked wickedly at her.

His face was so close to hers.

“Don’t worry, your pretty skull isn’t broken yet, but one more hit…” His breath was hot against her cold bloody face. She snarled at him tiredly. “Oh, I knew you were a fighter, princess.” He dug the baseball bat harder into her back. Kasey whined as her face scrunched up. “It’s one of the many things that I love about you.”

Kasey fingers touched something, and she held onto it tightly. And before Jordan even knew it, Kasey’s keys scratched him in the eye, making him fall backwards in pain as he clutched onto his eye.

“You bitch.” He hissed.

Kasey tried to get up, but she couldn’t. She crawled and slowly slide towards the house phone as it was the first glimpse of hope she could see. Her hands clawed into her floor, pulling her across it. She grunted at every movement, her vision getting blurrier and blurrier with each move.

But she couldn’t give up until she knew someone was on there way to save her.

She couldn’t let Jordan win.

She was in a living room, and her bloody hand grabbed onto her white rug. She pulled with all her might, but a foot digging into the back of her leg stopped her. Jordan kicked her in her side, causing her to moan in pain. He used his muddy boot to push her, so she was on her front looking at him.

She noticed the bloody cut running down his left eye.

She noticed his baseball on his shoulder as he grinned down at her.

“Please,” she coughed out.

“Please, what princess?”

“Stop.”

“I really did love you.” And with that he hit her in the ribs.

Her body clenched together as she howled in pain. Her body rolled to the side, and she heard bones cracking slightly at that movement, but she couldn’t think much of it as he kicked her in the stomach. Her bloody hands flew to hold her stomach, but it didn’t do much as Jordan slammed his bat into her ribs again.

Another crack was heard.

“Why couldn’t you have learnt to love me? You have a heart full of love for the world and everything in it…but you couldn’t learn to love me?” He said through gritted teeth, watching Kasey slight roll around in pain. “I would love you better than anyone else.”

“I-If y-you l-loved me…w-why y-you che-chea-t on m-me?” She stuttered; the pain was becoming too much.

She felt tingling in her face. She didn’t know if he punched her.

But she did feel blood rushing down her nose.

She coughed.

And the bright red liquid ran down her lips, onto her chin.

She held her hands up so she could see the disaster. Her shaky hands shook in front of her, and she couldn’t she a glimpse of skin.

Her eyes was fluttering shut but she had to fight to stay awake.

She wasn’t dying…not today.

She felt the bat dig into her stomach causing her to whelp in pain.

She heard a handle shaking along with Bear’s barks.

She never heard him bark so much before.

“I love you.” He bent down so he could stoke Kasey’s face, pushing her lips together slightly as he waited to hear her say it back…but she never did. He bit his lip hard, and his fingers moved down to her throat, grabbing a firm hold of it. Kasey started to wheeze, and a hand went to his wrist, squeezing it, hoping he would let go. She was choking as she looked into his eyes that had a whirl of darkness in them. She knew she was crying; she knew tears was rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t feel it. Her body was becoming too numb. Her nails sunk deeper into his skin.

“P-p-please.” She croaked out, her lungs was screaming at her, begging her for some air.

His hands let go of her neck and Kasey gasped for the air desperately. He slapped her in the face once before leaning down so his lips brushed against hers as he muttered his next words. “I would never hurt you again as long as you love me.”

Kasey panted as her lungs were still searching for air, but the only thing she could breathe in was his hot breath.

“I love you.” He repeated.

“N-no.” She whimpered breathlessly.

Jordan clicked his tongue, his let go of her face and stood up, grabbing his bat as he did so.

Kasey thought this was it. He was finally leaving and if she tried she would be able to get to the phone that sat by the TV, which was really close to where she was laying.

“I really do love you.”

And with that Kasey watched how he held the bat up again, over his head, as he grinned madly down at her, his body and face was covered in blood, she didn’t know if it was hers or his.

The bat was lowering, and she was preparing for impact.

But a door opened, and loud angry barking filled the living room.

She watched how Bear jumped onto Jordan, bearing his teeth at him before they sunk into his arm.

She heard how he cried out in pain, baseball dropping next to her.

The handle bounced on the floor before the base of it hit the ground. It bounced slightly more before it rolled closely to her chest.

It was red.

And she knew this was in fact her blood.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she heard a something heavy slam into the wall with a soft whine. Bear… she tried to call, but no words fell from her bloody lips.

Bear was the last thing she saw before her eyes rolled back, and she was welcomed back into the darkness.

A soft kiss being pressed against her lip was the last thing she felt.

The last thing she tasted was the blood in her mouth that was spilling out from the corner of her lips.

She remembers him saying “I really do love you, princess.” Before she heard his heavy fit walk round the apartment. She didn’t know what he was doing until she heard a window opening, and the breeze from outside blowed onto her face.

She heard sirens, but she didn’t think it was for her.

But the last thing she heard was her hope.

“KASEY!”

And along with the darkness.

The silence welcomed her.

A/N: The next one be more of the aftermath, dreamland, everyone else, Kasey and Buck begins and a little bit of Kasey Begins.

Also I'm British so that's why some things aren't spelt in the American way, in case you was wondering for when I say things such as mum instead of mom. Writing mom is just strange to me as I'm not used to it.

I suggest getting ice cream and a therapist after this chapter :)

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 ◁ II ▷𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 (AGAPE SERIES)

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blueathens · 3 years

Text

The Saviours

ACT 1, SCENE 6

𝖲𝗈𝗇𝗀: 𝖸𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝖻𝗒 𝖢𝗈𝗅𝖽𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗒 𝖰𝗎𝗈𝗍𝖾: '𝖠𝗇𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝖺 𝗋𝗎𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗂𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍.'

𝖳𝖶: 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝖲2 𝖤5, 𝖠𝖻𝗎𝗌𝖾 (𝖿𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗁𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗌), 𝖡𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖾𝖽, 𝖯𝖺𝗇𝗂𝖼 𝖠𝗍𝗍𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗌

Masterlist//Dusk Till Dawn Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

THIRD POV

Remember when they told you as a child that light protects you from all the badness. Well, it's not true. Kasey knows this by feeling the brightness from a white light shine through her closed and heavy eyelids. She groaned when she smelt a disgusting pungent of something unpleasant. Next she heard faint beeping, some small chatter, and some dripping noise. Her body felt heavy, why did she fell so heavy? She slowly opened her eyes, regretting it straight away as her eyes met with the bright lights of the room, she squinted to try and make shapes of the blurry objects around her.

'Where am I?' She questioned to herself. 'What happened?' Another question filled her aching mind. 'How long have I been here?' She closed her eyes to try and think of any answers to these simple questions. And then it hit her, and she screamed. She panicked and jumped around her hospital bed, someone pressed down onto her shoulder to try and comfort her. But she didn't calm down. She could see their lips moving, she didn't know who they were, her eyes were still trying to adapt to the lights, but she knew their lips were moving but she couldn't hear them.

"Kasey! Kasey!" TK called out frantically as he tried to get her to listen to him. "Hey! Hey! Hey! You're in the hospital." He held her arms as they hit the air around her. She calmed down slightly, heart monitor beating rapidly, slowly calming back down when she felt her brother's comfort. "You're okay." He whispered to her, repeating it a few times as he stroked the back of her head softly.

One of Kasey's shaky hands moved up to touch the side of her head, she felt stiches and staples under her hair, hair they should have cut off. Why didn't they cut her hair?

"They didn't have time to cut your hair. You was bleeding to much." TK told her, still holding her gently, being wary of all her other injuries. She breathed in and out as she listened to TK heartbeat, trying to copy his breathing.

At least she knew why her head was banging.

She saw water in front of her and she noticed her dad holding it out to her with a warm smile. She took it and drank from it slowly, the liquid burned against her dry throat.

"H-how long have I been out for?" She croaked out; voice raw as anything. Her hand reached up to her nose pulling out the nasal tubes, she noticed her families concerned looks, ready to tell her off but she interrupted them. "Relax, I can breathe."

"You weren't earlier, you heart kept on stopping." Owen sighed, leaning forwards in his chair to hold one of Kasey's hand, fingers stroking up and down to reassure him that she was alright. "The doctors was about to tell us you didn't make it until another doctor ran out and said you heart started again." His hand reached up to pull a messy and greasy strand of her hair out of face and behind her ear, one of her cheeks was still leaning against TK's chest, trying to copy his breaths. "You are truly a fighter, kid."

"You've been asleep for 4 days after the doctor said you were responding again." TK added. "Everyone has been in and out, no one can concentrate on their jobs properly because of being worried about you. Which reminds me I need to get a doctor and call everyone."

"I'll do it, you stay here with your sister." Owen told TK, standing up from the brown, worn out armchair. "Kas." He looked at her. "I'm sorry. The last thing I said to you wasn't nice and I was so scared that those would have been the last things I ever said to you and-"

"I forgive you." She whispered; voice still husky as she continued to take small sips of water.

He nodded and walked out the room, sparing one last glance at his injured daughter.

"I hate hospitals."

"I know." Chuckled TK.

"Is everyone else okay? Is Bear okay? Oh god is-" Her mind went mad after it caught up with the fact that TK mentioned everyone.

"Everyone is fine, their just worried about you. Bear is asleep in the corner, he always jumped at every movement thinking it was you." TK pointed to the far corner. "Think he tired himself out that's why he hasn't woken up yet. Doctors told him off multiple times for jumping onto your bed."

"Stupid doctors." She muttered. TK gently leaned Kasey back down when he felt her breathing get back to normal. He climbed of the hospital bed and pulled the armchair closer to the bed to keep a hold of her hand, fingers brushing over the clamp over her fingers occasionally. "How bad was it?"

"You really want to know?" TK gulped, scratching the top of his brow with his free hand.

"I need to know TK."

"There was so much blood." He started, it was the first thing he remembered hearing Athena and Eddie say about the incident, it was the first thing everyone noticed. It was the first thing he noticed when he got to her apartment, looking at all the damage done when it was Buck's turn to take care of her. "Multiple broken ribs, severe bruising round your body, many cuts. No major organ damage, that's a good thing. No blood clots, another good thing. They was surprised that there wasn't much damage done but they think it was because of your saviours. They said give it a month time before you can go back out on the field again, but you won't be allowed to do anything extreme immediately, it's more to get your body back into being a firefighter."

"And my head?"

"Only a linear skull fracture, surprisingly again. It's like you're made out of iron. The blow to you head wasn't quite hard enough to cause an open fracture luckily. You have a concussion too from that and the small coma."

"No brain damage?"

"There can't be damage done to something that's not there, Kas." TK joked, earning a sore small from the girl. But his face went all serious when he cleared his throat. "But you going to need therapy after all this, I know you don't want to, but you have to. And erm...you had intracranial hematoma. You're alright now, it's just the process of it all...you might never heal from it...but the doctors have hope that you will as you suffered from it before."

"Yeah." She quietly said, licking her chapped lip in thought, her eyes staying on the white tiles of the hospital ceiling.

"Ribs should heal within 6 weeks. The skull demands all onto your body, but the pain will stop in a few days. Bruising and cuts will heal on their own, and your blood state is fine, nothing needed for that. You've got enough blood in you and you don't need to take anything to help it."

"Uh-huh."

"Your obviously suffered from internal bleeding and er..." He looked down at her shaky hands. "Nerve damage...your shaky hands should stop before you go back onto the field...and erm...fourth degree injury to the stomach, it's already starting to heal, should be a lot better in a months' time but it wont fully heal for another few months. It's just healing now with therapy. And then in a month time you be able to help the 118 again."

"It's going to be boring though."

"I know. I know." He sighed. "I know you like doing things to keep yourself occupied, but quicker you allow yourself to heal, the quicker you get back out there."

"I know."

"Apartment is getting cleaned and-"

"I'm going to chuck a lot of it out. Start fresh and all." Kasey muttered her eyes now watching as doctors filled the room, her father not seen yet, probably still calling everyone.

"Hello Miss Strand-"

"Kasey, please, and my brother already told me everything."

"One less job for us then." Beamed the doctor. "I'm Doctor Mills, and might I say you're quite the fighter."

"Only thing that keeps me alive."

"We're just going to check you over then we'll leave you to rest." Kasey nodded and allowed them to do what they needed to do, her hand holding tightly onto TK's. "I hear you not a massive fan of hospitals." He glanced at the heart monitor as it started to beep a little bit faster.

"Never really had good experiences with it."

"Well, here's a good thing. You'll be able to leave tomorrow night after some more check-ups and you can go back onto the field in a months' time as long as your careful."

"Okay."

And with that the doctors left after Dr Mills said a few more words.

"Buck's changing your locks and keys by the way." TK mentioned after a few moments of silence between the pair. "But I suppose he probably dropped all of that when he hears that you're awake again and-"

"Who found me?" Kasey asked quietly, interrupting TK's voice as he tried to fill the silence. "No one was there...how did they know?"

"Eddie found you." He uttered quietly, pain filling his eyes.

"Eddie found me?" Echoed Kasey. Her eyes flickered with sadness as she looked at TK, forehead furrowed as she tried to think how that was possible. But Eddie found her, and she was thankful for that.

"He did more than find you Kasey, he saved you too, along with Athena."

Kasey couldn't imagine what Athena and Eddie must be going through after seeing her. They saved her and they weren't here for her to thanks.

"Ms Matthews tried calling Buck, but he didn't pick up, so she called Eddie and he came and found you, Athena was close behind."

"Oh, honey." A familiar voice cooed as they entered the room and Kasey's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Carla.

"So, Buck did get you after all. We talked about you helping Eddie and Christopher."

"And I said yes, so you'll be seeing more of me, honey."

"Can't wait."

"Hmmm." She looked Kasey over. "Maybe it will mean you be spending your time less in a hospital bed and more on your two feet."

"Doubt it." She croaked out, voice slowly recovering from the dryness that it once was before.

"KASEY!" Kasey knew this voice oh so well. The familiar body of her best friend grabbed the side of the door, pulling him into the room as he panted tiredly, same goes with the woman next to him. "I sped all the way here."

"I can't believe this is how I'm going to meet you, Kas. In a hospital bed, and you still look really pretty."

"It's a talent." Kasey winked, wincing when it hurt the bruising round her eyes.

"Do you know who did this to you?" Buck asked, sitting on the end of her bed. Kasey's breath quickened, meaning the heart monitor beeped more, her head shook side to side.

"I, uh, I can't remember."

"Okay, okay, calm down Kas. Calm down...you're safe now." Buck reassured her, grabbing hold of her other hand.

Everyone shortly appeared, apart from Eddie and Christopher, asking her how she was, how brave she is and some other words of comfort before breaking out into light conversations. And the moment she saw Bobby standing how he always did the correct words fell straight from her lips, "You're standing how a Bobby Nash normally stands." And when Bobby heard this he knew she was going to be okay.

"You know the team didn't feel right without you." Buck repeated for what felt like the 50th time to Kasey. "Your locks are changed; new keys are coming in tomorrow." Buck said. "You're not living in you apartment and-"

"Where's Eddie and Chris?" Kasey questioned, she already thanked Athena, but she told her that is was Eddie who did everything, she was just a helping hand.

"Stuck in traffic, Eddie went to pick Christopher up from school early when he heard you was awake." Bobby told her.

"Don't worry, he's coming kid." Owen reassured her which she just nodded at.

"When are you guys going back to Texas?"

"Trying to get rid of us so quickly?" TK teased.

"No, but I know you guys have missed a lot of work from being here with me."

"We're leaving tomorrow night after helping you get discharge from hospital." Owen nodded.

"Good, you have people to save."

"KASEY!" a young voice yelled with excitement and her eyes lit up with joy when she saw the two Diaz's.

"Hey little man. School alright?" Kasey asked, smiling at Christopher as he walked towards her bed with pieces of paper in his hands. Her room was already filled with balloons, food, flowers, gifts and everything from family, friends and from people who loved the firefighters. But nothing will beat whatever Christopher made.

"I made some pictures for you." He said with a proud smile, waving the papers around whilst she giggled.

"Did you." She took the papers out of his hands and into her bandaged-wrapped hands as she looked at each of them with careful eyes, she didn't want to miss one single detail of the pictures. "Wow. These are amazing kid. I'm really lucky to be honoured with pictures from the great Christopher." She ruffled his hair, ignoring the pain in her still shaky hands – it's been going on and off for a while now.

Everyone noticed how Eddie was looking at Kasey. Eyes teary, a hand shaking as it held the bouquet of flowers. In the other was a card and a gift bag. He nibbled onto his bottom lip nervously, looking at the state she's in. She was looking better now than when she was when it was his turn to stay in the room whilst she slept. She looked more like herself again and seeing her like this made his heart relax.

Owen tapped Bobby on the shoulder and pointed between the two firefighters, Bobby nodded. "Guys maybe we should leave Eddie here on his own for a second." Bobby smiled at the crew as they nodded. Hen and Chimney leaving a reassuring squeeze of Kasey's hand as she looked up and gazed at the older Diaz. The others followed after telling Kasey they'll go and get some good food for everyone to eat.

Christopher stayed, now sitting on Kasey's bed after Buck picked him up, Eddie moved to sit in the brown armchair after nodding to everyone who passed him with a pat on his back. Christopher was now playing some game on Eddie's phone but turned to look at the new weight that came onto the bed. Bear finally was awake, uninjured, and he laid down on Christopher's legs as he looked at his beloved owner. So, now, whenever there was a break in the game, Chris stroked Bear's head for some loving attention.

Eddie placed down the floors, gift and card by hit feet.

"How are my favourite Diaz's?" Kasey asked, one hand lifting to stroke Bear behind the ears to greet him.

"You're sitting in a hospital bed and you're asking how we are?" Eddie voiced his concerns, not knowing how she could ask that after what she just been through, knowing full well that she was the only one who was hurt in that incident.

"Yeah?"

"We're better now knowing that you're awake." Eddie said, shuffling closer to her, her eyes squeezed shut at the scraping noise. "Sorry." He sympathised. "How are you?"

"I've been better." She nodded slightly.

"You're really scared me out there." A singular tear rolled down his cheek. "The doctors was going to tell us you didn't make it until the other doctor came out. I-I thought I lost you. We thought that we lost you. We need you and we thought you was l-leaving us."

"I'm never going to leave you." Kasey eyes started to water as she watched Eddie cry over her. "Please don't cry." She ushered out quietly, bringing her still shaking hand up to wipe the stray tears away. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that. If I could I would wipe it away from your memories, so you never have to see what you saw that night again. I didn't want you to go through that."

"I didn't want you to go through that either." He held the hand that was lingering over his cheek, he pulled it down and rested it against the hospital bed, but his hand never left hers, his fingers ran over her knuckles softly, his eyes now fixed to it. "I-I er was, I mean we...we was wondering if you wanted to stay at our house whilst you heal, and whilst your apartment gets sorted."

"I can't ask you to do that." She spoke low and soft. "You saved me, you went into something that wasn't pleasant and I'm so grateful for that. Really, thank you for saving me and everything."

"You don't need to thank me." He uttered out softly. "You can take my bed and I'll buy an air mattress to sleep on, or I'll sleep on the coach."

"Eddie-"

"I know you wouldn't want to stay at Buck's girlfriend's place. I know you wouldn't want to intrude on Athena or Hen's family. No one lives with Chimney so no one will be able to help you. Owen and TK is going back to Texas. I know all of them would welcome you with open arms, but I know that you wouldn't ask them, like you wouldn't ask me to stay. But in all fairness I'm the better option."

"Why is that?"

"You got Christopher. You got Carla."

"And I got you." She said to him breathlessly.

His eyes snapped up to hers. "And you got me. Bear can come too."

"So you want me and Bear to come and stay at your place for like a month."

"Yes."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Yeah, why not Kas?" Christopher looked at her.

"I'll be a burden."

"You'll never be a burden to us." Eddie said.

Kasey puffed out her cheeks, wincing once more as she forgot about the severe bruising in her face area. "I can't take your bed and I can't let you take your coach or an air mattress."

"It be fine, I just want you to get better. Plus I've slept in worst places."

"Let me take the coach."

"That won't let you rest comfortably."

"Please stay Kas." Christopher gave her puppy dog eyes and her eyes soften at them.

"I promise you I don't mind. All I care about is you."

You. All Eddie cared about was Kasey and her wellbeing. Kasey never had people like that when she was younger, she would just go out there and the world would hurt her and in response her parents would yell at her. She only had TK at the time, but he usually was out doing his own things, so he wasn't really there for Kasey either. And Kasey doesn't blame him for not being there, Kasey preferred that she sorted herself out alone, meant that no one had voice their opinions on it (e.g. her parents). She didn't want TK to worry about her and her friends...well it was complicated.

It wasn't until LA when people started caring for her.

Kasey looked at Eddie's pleading eyes and she knew she would be safe with him.

A corner of her mouth lifted.

"I suppose I could stay." She dramatically sighed and Christopher cheered whilst Eddie grinned. "But we're coming back to this sleeping arrangement."

"No, we're not."

And deep inside Kasey knew that Eddie won this fight. She knew she would be in his bed whilst he slept on an air mattress either in Chris' room or the living room. Or he might sleep on the coach. Kasey knew she lost this battle, but she was going to make up for this when she was able to.

"I guess we're gonna have to fill Kas in with our morning routine again in case she forgot." Eddie told Christopher, but his eyes stayed on Kasey.

"I do need reminding." She looked between the two males. "You know how I wanted to ask you something a few days ago?"

"Hmm-mmm."

"Maybe you can keep me in your morning routine?" She asked shyly.

"Meaning?" He raised a brow at her, a small smirk playing at his lips. He didn't care what she would say, having her in their morning routine would make him happy in anyway. He and Christopher would happily fit her into it.

"When I get better maybe, not everyday because you probably have plans for different mornings, and we might not work some morning shifts, but maybe I could come down in the morning with coffee and pastries to take Chris to school and you to work as it's all on my way anyways."

"Yes!" Chris cheered again, already telling his dad that he was fine with that.

"Obviously no coffee for little man." Kasey wrinkled her nose, smile teasingly at Christopher.

"We'll love that." Eddie added to Christopher's cheers.

"Good...me too..." She looked at Chris again. "The doctors told me that I'm gonna need to have crutches for a few week because of a nasty bruise on my leg." Kasey whispered to Chris.

"We can match?!"

"Defiantly."

(About) One Month Later...

It's been about a month since the frightful night and Eddie was healing from the sight he saw and so was Athena, it helped to see that Kasey was doing better as well, but as they got better Kasey's mind got worst as she started to remember it all.

"I can't wait to get back to work." Kasey mentioned as she ate her cereal with the two Diaz boys. She no longer needed crutches as he wounds were healing along with any broken ribs and her skull. Her stitches were coming out within a week along with a check-up, but her body was still covered in cuts and bruises which made it look like sees been in a fight. And truth be told Kasey did miss work, but she thinks she wants to go back as she will have something to distract her mind.

"But that means you'll be going back home." Whined Christopher as he threw his head back slightly.

"I'm sorry little man." Kasey ruffled up his hair slightly. "But you still have me for at least a week."

"A weeks too short." He mumbled into his cereal and Kasey frowned slightly.

Kasey leaned forwards to quietly whisper something to Christopher, but she knew her voice was still loud enough for Eddie to hear. "You know, you and your dad are the best roommates Bear and I have ever had. Even better than Buck, but don't tell him that."

Eddie lips pulled up more at that. "You know you and Bear are the best roommates we've ever had too." Eddie told Kasey as his eyes moved to the dog who was watching some bird documentary happily with his tail waggling. He never understand why, but Kasey said that he just loves animal documentaries and then it moved to Kasey doing a really good impersonation of David Attenborough.

"You've never had any other roommates before, Eddie."

"Oh, yeah." He chuckled slightly. "But if we did, we know for definite that they wouldn't beat either of you."

"How sweet of you." Beamed Kasey, stretching slightly with a small wince from the feeling of her still healing ribs. "But you're a liar."

"I guess it's a bad time to tell you that the chief wants to see you before you go back to the firehouse." Eddie quickly said as he stood up with his empty bowl and Christopher giggled out how quickly Kasey's face dropped.

"W-what?" She stuttered out. "She doesn't want to see me."

"Well she told us yesterday to send you her way in the morning."

"But I have work." Kasey quickly followed Eddie through the house with her bowl. "I'm busy."

Eddie turned around to look at her with a look Kasey knows he uses a lot on Christopher. He folds up his arms, so they were against his chest and just gave her that specific look. "Do you want to go back to work?"

And that's all it took for Kasey to roll her eyes and mutter out a small "fine" before she moved to wash up her dishes. "You really need to get yourself a dishwasher."

"I hear you're planning to come back to the 118 later today." The chief said as she leaned forwards in her movable desk sit. Kasey sat in front of her with a straight posture along with a poker face.

"Yes ma'am." She nodded.

"Are you fit to go back?" Chief rose a neat eyebrow at the young firefighter, looking her up and down, clearly seeing the bruises that still littered her face, the rest were invisible from her eyes as they were under Kasey's clothes.

"Oh, yes. Yes I am. I've gone to see my orthopaedist and physical therapist and a normal therapist around along side of all that. They all gave me the green light to go, and I've got a check-up next week to remove any stitches."

The chief hummed, leaning back in her chair, linking her fingers together to hold against her chest. She pursed her lips in thought whilst Kasey just watched her with confused eyes, not really knowing why she was called in today.

"What you going to say when people see your face."

"I know I'm beautiful and all, but you don't need to stare." Kasey said as if it was the most obvious and right thing to say but the chief looked unimpressed. "I mean, er, I was trying to save someone and got injured doing so." Kasey corrected watching how the chief's frown turned up into a slight satisfied smile. "I really don't understand how it's any of their business and I don't think they would ask if I'm busy saving their lives."

"You be doing everything out of precaution at the moment Strand."

"I know, but I can still save lives." Kasey said slowly.

"With precaution."

"With whatever the hell that is."

The chief slammed her hand on the desk. "Is this all a funny game to you, Strand?"

"You know it's not a game to me!" Kasey said defensively. "You know I take my job seriously, and you said it yourself I'm one of the best firefighters you've ever seen."

"And I stand by that but you joking around when I ask you these important questions are proving to me that after you accident you're not taking things seriously."

"It wasn't an accident! I was beaten to death on purpose!"

"And I'm very sorry that happened to you but I need to ask you these questions and I need you to be act seriously."

"I didn't ask for me to get beaten did I? I didn't ask for these bruises, these injuries, any of this! So, I tell anyone who ask that I was involved in an accident like you said, right? Someone just accidental beat me to death. But, chief, with all due with respect, I really don't think anyone is going to ask and if they did I don't need a lesson on how to talk." Kasey glared at her as she leaned into the back of her chair.

"I could get you fired for the way you just spoke to me." The chief threatened her.

"You could, but you won't."

The chief raised her brows and smiled faintly as she leaned forwards placing her linked hands onto her desk. "You can go now; your team is waiting for you."

Kasey raised to stand, nodding a thank you at the chief but as her hand touching the door handle to leave the chief speaks again.

"I see that you're getting close to the new recruit." Kasey turned around to see the chief watching Kasey carefully.

"I'm close with Buck."

"I know your relationship with Firefighter Buckley is only platonic." The chief said in a-matter-of-fact tone.

"So is mine with Eddie."

The chief hummed like she didn't believe the words Kasey just said.

"Might I remind you that it is against the rules to date a member of your team."

Kasey furrowed her eyebrows at the chief.

"You don't need to worry about me breaking that rule." Kasey told her. "What you do need to worry is me breaking every other rule."

"Don't need to worry if that's already done."

"Sergeant Grant." Bobby greeted Athena and as Kasey climbed out the truck she held back at her giggles by how formal they speak together; it was even worse knowing that they weren't formal outside of work. Eddie looks at her when he hears her giggling and shakes his head as he watches her cover her mouth.

"Hello Mr Diaz." Kasey imitated Bobby's voice as she walked up to Eddie.

"Hello Miss Strand." Eddie joked back, rolling his eyes to keep the childish girl entertained.

"See we never had this much fun when you were gone." Buck mentioned as he made his way to the duo, closely followed by Hen and Chimney.

"It really didn't feel right without you." Chimney commented.

"It's good to be back." Smiled Kasey as Eddie gave her rubber gloves which she looks odd at. I'm not a medic."

"Just put them on." He told her and Kasey did so reluctantly.

"Captain. Mr. Personality over here starting coughing, grabbed his side and fell over. Could be appendicitis. I'm not sure." The firefighters and cop made their way through the crowd of protestors. "All right, back up."

"Step aside, please." Bobby bent down to the man in pain. "Sir, I'm gonna examine you for a second here." He pulled his red shirt up to see the bag attached to him. "Oh. Okay, we got a colostomy bag, probably backing up."

"What's that?" Kasey whispered to Hen.

"Collects your poo." Hen said straightforwardly and Kasey lips turned into an 'o' shape.

"How lovely." Her lips twitched as she looked at it.

"What happened to your face?" A little questioned as they saw the bruises on Kasey's face. Kasey looked at Hen who shrugged with a sorry look on her face. Kasey turned around to look at the boy. "Did you get in a fight?"

"Uh, sure." Kasey gulped, some thoughts coming back now but she shook them away.

"Did you win."

Kasey paused as Eddie looked at her and the boy with slightly raised brows of concern.

"Yeah, yeah...I won the fight kid." She told him with a small smile.

And it was true she did win the fight. The fight of staying alive.

"You're gonna have to intubate him." Bobby instructed. "Sir, just try and relax. These paramedics here are gonna attend to you."

"Oh, hell no." The man groaned as he looked at Hen and Kasey knitted her eyebrows as she looked at the man. The 118 looked at each other and Hen stopped in shock by him disagreeing with her doing it. "You do it." He nodded at Bobby.

"Sir, I am not a trained paramedic." He told him hesitantly, not liking where this was going. "I can't intubate you. They can."

"I'm fine." He said weakly.

"Sir, you're not fine." Chimney told him as he stood over the top of him, looking down at the man. "Your bowel is probably obstructed. The contents of your colostomy bag are backing up into your system. You're about to choke on your own waste. You will suffocate and die."

"Get...away."

"Hey, idiot." Whistled Kasey as she grew frustrated with the man. She crouched down near him and spoke to him with narrowed eyes, daring him to say anything else. "You either let them check you out or we'll just leave you to die."

"Why can't you do it?"

"So you choose death." Kasey tilted her head, standing back up and moving away.

"Okay, sir, if you refuse care, we cannot administer it by force." Bobby told him, also getting fed up but he's more professional than Kasey.

"What about him." The man asked looking at Eddie and Buck.

"Diaz."

"Diaz." The man repeated as Eddie moved to sit near the man. "What kind of name is that?"

"My father's from Mexico." Eddie said, looking at the 118, knowing exactly what he was going to say, Kasey bit her tongue to resist the urge to just hit the man whilst Bobby closed his eyes with a sigh. "My mother's Swedish. I can help you out with the Swedish half. But no one told me which half that is." The man shook his head and Eddie stood with his hands raised.

"Okay, would you like me to call you another paramedic team so you can have an all-white one?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah."

"Or he could just grow the fuck up before I-"

"Strand." Bobby gave her a look of warning as he knew the people around them could report to the chief about her apparently 'rude' behaviour and get her fired. Even if he agreed with Kasey, he couldn't let her get fired. Kasey huffed out an angry breath.

"He's gonna aspirate." Hen told the crew.

"Let him." Kasey muttered and Eddie nudged her when he saw a woman shot daggers at Kasey but Kasey only responded with her own, resulting in Eddie stepping forward slightly to block their view, but Kasey leaned back slightly raised two fingers to her eyes and pointed them threateningly at the woman.

The man started retching and the team including Athena sprang into action but they immediately stepped back when he threw up on his own waste.

"And he's aspirating." Hen said.

"That's disgusting." Kasey said as she hid behind Eddie, hands holding his shoulders. "This was not on the job description."

"Actual diarrhoea of the mouth." Chimney waved his hand over his face whilst Athena looked at the scene in disgust and shock.

"Okay, guys, let's get to work." Hen sighed.

"Let me roll him over." Eddie moved to one side whilst Buck moved to the other. "Ready, Buck?"

"Yeah. Three, two, one."

"I need mechanical suction." Eddie called as the man started to gag. "This isn't cutting it."

"Damn it."

"We've got suction on the truck."

"Let's get him on the gurney." Chimney conversed with Hen who nodded. "All right, let's go."

"Keep him on his side."

"Let's go."

"We'll bring the gurney on the other side."

"One, two, three, go." And with that the team rolled the man onto the carrier, placing him in to the ambulance.

"What a dick." Kasey muttered as she watched the truck go.

"What did the chief have to say." Eddie asked, taking off his rubber gloves along with Kasey, as they bumped shoulders.

"Asking if I was fit to come back and what I would tell people about my bruises."

"You got in a fight apparently." Smirked Eddie. "No surprise that you won."

Kasey shrugged with a lopsided grin. "And she said-" Kasey lifted her head but when she caught sight of Eddie eyes watching her, waiting for her to continue, she just froze. A lump made its way into her throat as she licked her lips nervously. Her jaw slacks slightly as her eyes stayed on his, mouth slightly opened as she just looked at him, examining his face.

"And what?" Eddie asked, obvious to everything.

Kasey blinked and shook her head as she let out a breathless chuckle. "And that was all, told me that my team was waiting for me and here we are." She smiled at Eddie, and he returned it before he moved onto a different conversation, something about if they should bring food from the firehouse to have for dinner.

But Kasey wasn't listening as she just watched Eddie talk about anything that came to his mind, feeling comfortable around her, it almost felt like they were together with this dinner talk, but they weren't.

It was just pure friendship and Kasey didn't like Eddie like that.

Well, that's what she told herself but as she watched him all she could hear was the chiefs voice, "I see that you're getting close to the new recruit. Might I remind you that it is against the rules to date a member of your team."

And maybe it should be a rule to be worried about.

Kasey stood outside her apartment door with Eddie standing next to her. He watched how she breathed in deeply as she examined the door, and he was about to speak but she beat him to it.

"You don't need to be here." Kasey blurted out and she quickly regretted it when she sure a flash of hurt in Eddie's eyes, thinking that she might not want him around or something. "Not like that, I mean, er, I know the last time you came here it wasn't...nice." Kasey's eyes moved to the new handle and lock that Buck installed himself, new key in hand (Buck and Eddie both had a spare as well), as she just stared at it if it was the most interesting thing ever. The stains on her worn-out door was still there, like it's always been there as she never found time to repaint it.

All in all, Buck was right to judge as the apartment block and apartments are that great.

"I'm fine Kasey." He told her honestly. "I don't picture it anymore as I watched you get better. It reassured me that you were alright." He examined Kasey again, noticing her hands shaking slightly and her left foot was tapping on the damaged carpet. "And I know that you haven't healed."

"I'm fine."

Eddie didn't believe her though as he watched how she struggled to unlock the door, but he said nothing, not wanting to provoke Kasey and unleash any emotions she was feeling right now.

The door opened and Kasey took one wobbly step forward and she knew that the place was as clean as possible, but they did tell her that things couldn't get cleaned as it wasn't coming out, no matter how hard they tried.

And she knew it the second she stepped in.

There were a few stains decorating her floorboards, her walls needed repainting as you can see thin outlines of what was once there.

They told her that there was too much blood, it dried to quickly, they couldn't clean it all.

They couldn't clean the apartment that will make her remember it all.

She walked past the spare room, and she remembered hearing the cries of Bear, how he barked for ages, she opened the room and flicked the light on to see the doors damage.

Bear's claw marks were all across it and Kasey could only imagine the chips of wood that littered the floor. It was like half of the door was gone, damaged, not even a door anymore.

Repainting, refurnishing, new door, new everything apparently.

Her landlord told her it was alright, he told everyone that their apartments were their apartments you just have to ask you next door neighbours if your allowed to drill holes into the walls and such.

He knew the apartments were pigsties so that why he told everyone to make it how they wish as long as they don't knock down walls and such, that was against the apartment contract.

So, really it wasn't do what they wish, but at least she can paint everything, get a new door, do something to the floorboards.

At least she has a small chance of getting rid of every memory of the room.

Kasey walked back into the hallway, Eddie watching her closely.

Kasey started to remember the feeling of something hitting the back of her head and how she fell...how she fell onto the cold floor that she was standing on, looking down on as she tried to remember everything.

'It was a metal pole', she thought. 'No, a spanner...No a pipe?' Her hand reached to the side of the head that now had the stitches removed, three days earlier as Kasey moved the appointment. Buck came with her that day and held her hand as the stitches got removed as she didn't want to go to the hospital.

She hates them after all.

Her hand gazes for small scar that she knew was there and she bit her lip in thought.

'It was a bat.' Something whispered to her. 'It was a baseball bat.'

And Kasey eyes stayed on the floor as she spoke quietly.

"Why did no one tell me it was a baseball bat?"

Eddie gulped slightly as he straightened himself out. "We got told not to tell you, the cops wanted you to figure things out, so they know who did this to you. The doctors agreed."

Kasey nodded.

"It was a man...taller than me." Kasey mumbled and Eddie nodded, remembering it in case Kasey doesn't tell Athena.

"You know you have to tell this to the cops, right?"

"I know." She bit her lip, removing her hand and looked over her shoulder at Eddie. "I'll tell Athena." She turned back around and crouched down to trace the scratch marks. "I think he has a scar on his eye now...I scratched him with my keys."

"That was good thinking." Eddie said in the same quiet tone as Kasey.

"It wasn't enough."

Kasey slowly walked to the living-room, the place that she crawled to.

"Buck told them to throw the rug away." Eddie told her, not knowing how to respond to the last thing she said.

"Good." She didn't want to think how much blood there was. "I-I don't know where he hid." Kasey turned around in her spot as she tried to frantically look for where the mystery man could have been.

"Kasey, Kasey, Kas..." Eddie lightly grabbed her waist, watching her flinch slightly at his touch, he span her around and placed his hands on her shoulders to look deeply into her eyes. "You're safe with me."

Kasey felt her throat getting tighter, but she just breathed out deeply to try and get rid of the horrible feeling in her throat.

"I'm not going to let anything hurt you, okay. As long as we're together you're fine."

"I don't have a baseball bat." Kasey muttered as she looked into Eddie's eyes.

"So he brought it with him."

Kasey moved away from Eddie touch, stepping back and rubbed her hands together as she shifted her weight onto one foot to the other. "I don't have a baseball bat." She mentioned again as she looked away.

Eyes flickering to the ground she once laid upon as she bleed out, thinking this was the end, until Eddie came.

She remembers the sound of his voice.

She remembered how it was the last thing she heard but hope couldn't fill her quick enough as it went dark too quickly.

She remembers the sound of cracking bones and her painful yells as the bat met her flesh. She remembers seeing the stickly blood covering her hands as she looked at it. She remembers not feeling the ability to move. She remembers the feeling of her heart slowly stopping and she remembers how cold death felt like. She remembers hearing the banging of the baseball bat dropping next to her.

She remembers Bear and the painful cries and the loud barks...she never heard him bark before until that moment.

Athena told her how Eddie stopped the cops from calling someone to put him down.

She remembers how thankful she was for that.

"I don't have a baseball bat." Kasey echoed once more and Eddie just watched her with sad eyes, not catching on of what was happening. "I don't have a baseball bat."

She remembers his muddy boots and the dark jeans, the dark coat and leather gloves, she remembers his voice. 'Princess' he called her...Princess...she remembers that he spoke in a British accent. She remembers his bluey-green eyes and his dark blond hair.

She started to remember it all.

And she only knew one person who called her princess and liked baseball.

Her breathing got harder as she looked at the window he escaped from. Her hands shook violently at her side as she just narrowed her eyes more at the sight, but her vision quickly become blurry. She didn't know if Eddie was calling out for her...she couldn't hear him if he was. Her mind was just picturing the British voice that will haunt her along with what he looked like. And then ringing started as the blood pounded in her ears. Her hands clung to the top of her shirt, pulling it slightly away from her neck to try and breath, but nothing was working. Sweat rolled down her face as she panted.

She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.

She wanted to forget it all, but she couldn't.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the now closed window and the sounds of that night haunted her minds.

Every word, every cry, every scream, every hit, every bark, it all came back to her in flashes.

Eddie caught her when her knees gave in, and he called out for her, but she couldn't hear him. She dug her nails into Eddie's hands, but he didn't care, maybe if she felt him being there she would calm down.

Kasey cried harder as memories rushed over her like harsh waves, her chest grew tighter and tighter by the second and bile rose in her throat.

"Kasey! Kasey! Kasey!" Eddie yelled at her but all she could hear was, "Princess! Princess! Princess!"

And with a croaky, stuttering whimper, Kasey unleashed the truth.

"Jordan."

A/N: This is unedited.

When Eddie's ex comes back they won't really have a realtionship-realtionship...you'll understand when it get there. But it be because Eddie wants to be with Kasey and he only allows his ex to be back for Christopher (obviously, like in the show) but Eddie didn't love her at that point in my opinion, he saw her as more as Christopher's mum and only tried for the sake of his son. But I won't get into that.

But something happens and so on so on...you'll understand hopefully when we get to that bridge.

Second of all, I picture Jordan as the actor Finn Cole and he will return.

Third of all, you can always comment things that be cool to see, as it's obvious I don't follow the show all the time, I make this whole thing my own. So, like any emergencies, situations, or life events that doesn't happen in the show and you want to see let me know and who it should be with. I've got one in mind and it will happen either the next one or a few chapter later with Kasey and Eddie.

I really don't think I made sense at all but...

~BlueAthens~

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 ◁ II ▷ 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 (AGAPE SERIES)

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blueathens · 3 years

Text

So Save Me, Before I Fall

ACT 1, SCENE 5

𝖲𝗈𝗇𝗀: 𝖮𝗇 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖭𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝖮𝖿 𝖣𝖺𝗒𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝖻𝗒 𝖬𝖺𝗑 𝖱𝗂𝖼𝗁𝗍𝖾𝗋. 𝖰𝗎𝗈𝗍𝖾: "𝖪𝖠𝖲𝖤𝖸!"

𝖳𝖶: 𝖡𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽, 𝖬𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝖠𝖻𝗎𝗌𝖾 (𝖯𝗁𝗒𝗌𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖵𝖾𝗋𝖻𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒), 𝖲𝗎𝗂𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾 (𝖭𝗈𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝖼𝗋𝗂𝗉𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖺 𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗄 𝗈𝖿 𝖺 𝗉𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇𝗍), 𝖮𝗏𝖾𝗋𝖽𝗈𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝖶𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝗇 𝖺𝗇𝗀𝗌𝗍𝗒 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝖿𝖿.

A/N: There is a lot of back and forth with this one but it does make sense as it's showing different things such as the aftermath, Buck and Kasey begins and some dreamland thing/small memories of Kasey Begins (not the full thing though) (they also the ones without any heading to them)...You'll understand when you read it.

Masterlist//Dusk Till Dawn Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

THIRD POV 20 Minutes Earlier

It was ten at night when Eddie finally got Christopher to sleep after visiting his grandmother in the hospital, and he was glad to see that she was doing better. He was enjoying Carla's presence and he was quick to find out how nice she was and how well she got on with Christopher. He also found out that it wasn't just Buck's idea for her to help him, but it was Kasey's too, and she would have told him if she didn't need to go back home to look after Bear, but she highly recommends her as she met her quite a few times. So, if two of his closest friends recommended her she must be good. Or he should at least give her chance. And even if it's just been a day, she has really proved herself within that day.

It was five minutes passed ten when Eddie cleaned the few dishes that was in the sink, so he didn't have to worry about them in the morning. As he scrubbed the dishes clean he could feel the small water wrinkles appear onto his fingertips, which reminded him to buy some rubber gloves so he could use that when he cleans. He turned off the hot tap and flicked his fingers up and down five times to get the water off from his hands. He then grabbed the tea towel that was hanging off the cupboard next to him to dry the dishes and put them away.

It was ten minutes passed ten when Eddie's phone began to ring. He just put the towel back and glanced at his phone. It showed up the number of the phone that was ringing him, meaning he didn't know this number. He didn't know many people, and the people he did know he had saved to his phone, like: he had his family members number's saved, the schools, the Diaz's doctors and dentist, some local takeaways, the members of the 118 and now Carla's. He picked up the phone and placed it by his ear, thinking it was the hospital about his abuela.

But it wasn't.

It was some strange woman's voice that he's never heard before. He bit his lip in thought when he heard a gruffy British voice say "Hello." He didn't realise he hasn't answered when it barked at him again. "Hello?" He leaned back on the countertops and cleared his voice before he started to speak.

"Hello?"

"Is this Mr Diaz?" The woman asked.

"It is. Is this the hospital?"

"It certainly isn't."

He was confused to say the least. Who else would be ringing him if it wasn't the hospital? Who had his number that he didn't save into his phone? Why did they know his name, but he couldn't recall ever hearing their voice before?

"I'm Ms Matthews. Kasey's neighbour. Evan gave me your number in case something happened to Kasey as he never trusted the place she lived in."

Buck gave Kasey's neighbour his phone number without him even knowing? He doesn't mind as long as it for something important, and if Buck thinks the area Kasey lives in is untrustworthy then it was for an important reason. But he kind of wished Buck told him just so he would be aware if she ever did call him.

Eddie has also heard stories where Ms Matthews has called Buck to see if Kasey has eaten or looked after herself good enough, after saying she doesn't care, she never believed Kasey when she reassured her that she was fine. Ms Matthews always asked Buck on these phone calls if he and the other first responders was looking after themselves too, after saying she doesn't care, which Buck also told her they were good. He also knew Ms Matthews was one of the reasons why the apartment block allowed Kasey to keep Bear in her apartment, after saying she doesn't care, she argued that it be good for the girl after the things she will see being after of the fire crew, she said that she needs to come home to some comfort, after saying she doesn't care.

"Is Kasey okay?" Eddie asked with a voice of concern, he nibbled on his bottom lip waiting for Ms Matthews to speak. He wasn't too worried though as he thought this be one of her check-up calls, and she called him because Buck probably was asleep and not picking up his phone so alas she called him.

He heard a deep thump and a cry of pain.

"Ms Matthews?"

"Oh, Mr Diaz-"

"Please call me Eddie." He pleaded her, hearing her call him that made him feel kind of old, and if this was going to be a regular thing he defiantly didn't want her to keep on calling him that if she doesn't do the same for Kasey or Buck, but mind you she defiantly doesn't use their nicknames, so she must be a quite formal lady.

Eddie flinched again when he heard another cry of pain, it sounded so close to him. He then heard a loud bark.

"Is that you yelling Ms Mathews?"

"A neighbour knocked on my door for a noise complaint for number 12, Kasey's apartment, but I thought I should call Evan or you as I think something is wrong."

"Is that Kasey crying? You said Bear was barking? Have you knocked? Have you-"

"I'm too afraid too Eddie, the cops are coming but I thought it be best if you came too."

"Is Kasey okay?" He asked slowly.

"I-I..."

"Is Kasey okay?" He asked louder and more firmly. He noticed Christopher looking through the gap of his bedroom door, but he didn't care, he just needed to know if Kasey was okay. "You know what? I'm coming down to her place, I know where it is after I dropped her off once. Number 12, you said?"

"Yes, second floor. Eddie, hurry." Ms Matthews couldn't even tell him that she didn't care, she was too shaken with fear to even mutter it to him - even if she would tell you that mumbling is rude - she couldn't do anything, she just wanted to make sure Kasey was okay, she couldn't even knock on the door of the neighbour she didn't care about because she was too frightened too.

And Eddie hanged up and quickly placed his phone in the pockets of his tracksuit bottoms. He hurriedly around the apartment, putting his shoes on as he moved. "Christopher grabbed your crutches we need to go."

"Is Kasey okay?"

"Christopher, quickly please." Eddie asked desperately.

And Christopher grabbed them from where they stood leaning against his chest of drawers. Eddie picked up some shoes for him before picking Christopher up and moved to open his door.

It was fifteen minutes passed ten when Eddie drove quickly through the streets. Kasey only lived five minutes away from him. He didn't even notice if he drove through any red lights. His mind was on one thing and one thing only: Kasey.

If it was Bear barking it must've been Kasey crying. But what was that thump he heard? Did Kasey fall? But why would Bear have been barking for so long if Kasey would've been back no longer than half an hour?

The streetlights glowed down on the roads of LA. It almost seemed peaceful if it wasn't for the rain that was now falling from the skies. It wasn't predicted to rain; it wasn't predicated for at least a week. But here he was with his windows wipers on, pushing all the fallen rain off from his windshield. Christopher looked at his dad in bewilderment ever few seconds before looking out from his window, watching everything go pass quickly. He didn't want to speak, in case it made his dad break down, he saw how worried and scared he was on the phone about Kasey, and poor Christopher didn't know what was going on.

Everything was going pass so quickly until it all stopped.

Red light.

Eddie's fingers drummed against his steering wheel nervously, he bit his lip once again, the car engine was roaring, ready to go once the light turns green.

"No school tomorrow." Eddie said to Christopher.

"Why?"

"I'll say you're sick."

"Why?"

"Because we'll probably be out late, and you'll be tired."

Before Christopher could ask why again, the lights turned green, and Eddie drove off again. He turned left and parked into the carpark opposite the block of flats.

"Christopher stay in the car." He instructed as he climbed out the car.

"But dad-"

"Christopher, stay." And with that he closed the door before he remembered what Ms Matthews said about Buck not trusting this area, "Christopher, you're coming with." He told him when he opened the passenger door. He picked Christopher up along with his crutches and shoes before closing and locking the door behind him.

It was twenty minutes passed ten when Eddie heard no noise coming from the apartment block. No reason for Kasey to get noise complaint. There was no barking...

...Until five seconds after that thought he heard barking again. Crazy, loud barking.

Christopher had to cover his ears because it grew louder when they opened the apartment block. Eddie pressed the elevator button multiple times before he rushed away from it because it was taking too long. But he turned back around when he heard the ding. He rushed through the doors that was still opening and repeatedly pressed floor two. It felt like it was all going so slow. He moved passed apartment 12 and to number 14 hoping that this was Ms Matthews door, it was either this one or number 10 as the side Kasey lived on went up in even numbers.

He knocked. He knocked. He knocked again until the door opened.

"Yes?" The lady asked. "If you're here for noise complaint the cops are on their way and-"

"Are you Ms Matthews?"

"Yes, who's asking?" She asked in a thin voice.

"Eddie Diaz."

"Oh, Eddie, I told you Kasey lives-"

"Next door, I know." He spoke quickly and louder so he could be heard over Bear's barks. "I wouldn't usually do this, but can you look after my son please?"

"Certainly." She nodded, opening the door wider for Eddie to walk through and place Christopher on the coach.

"Okay, daddy be back soon okay, cover your ears if it gets too loud."

Christopher nodded.

"Evan's on his way."

"Who's Evan?" Christopher asked.

"Buck." Eddie answered before rushing out of the door.

"She has a spare key under that loose piece of carpet." Ms Matthews informed him as she stood by the door.

Eddie pulled the cream-stained carpet by her front door back and saw nothing.

"Oh." Ms Matthews said before closing the door to head back to Christopher.

Eddie was left with no other choice.

He heard sirens coming.

And he thought that it was the cops heading here for the noise complaint.

He kicked the door down.

"KASEY!" He called out desperately and Bear came running to him, barking madly before he stopped when he caught sight of Eddie.

The tanned colour round Bear's mouth was stained red.

Did Bear attack Kasey?

That wouldn't explain why he has been barking for ages.

Something else must've happened especially by how sad Bear looked. Bear ran behind Eddie, nudging him with his nose at the back of Eddie's leg, guiding him quickly to where Kasey was.

On the way Eddie saw blood splutters across the floor and wall, nail marks on the floorboards and...

...And the unconscious body laying across the stained white carpet and the floorboards.

"KASEY!" He slid across the floor on his knees, not caring that his grey bottoms was getting bloody. He pushed her onto her back and saw the massive bruises, cuts, blood...

...there was so much damage...

...there was so much blood...

He looked next to him and saw a baseball bat covered in blood, not a speck of wood to be seen.

It was twenty-three minutes passed ten when someone else came.

"Hello?" A voice called as they pushed open the already open front door.

Bear rushed to the sound and guided them the same way they did with Eddie, but Eddie didn't look for he was to worried with the sight in front of him. Her clothes was stained red so was her skin. And if there wasn't any blood covering a part of her skin all he could see was dark bruises.

There was so much blood.

"Bear...Bear...what are you – Eddie?" Eddie head snapped to face the person who gasped at the sight in front of them.

It was Athena.

Kasey laying there covered in blood and bruises. Not an ounce of skin to be seen.

Eddie tear filled eyes before he moved to face Kasey, ripping her top off to see more of the horrible sight. His hands touched her unresponsive hands, they were so cold. Her eyes was closed, but he could see bruises round them through the dripping blood coming from somewhere. She was just laying in her own pool of blood weakly. She wasn't moving...why won't she move? Eddie shook his head, getting rid of questions that won't be answered for a while. He just needs Kasey to be okay.

"This is Athena Grant." She spoke into her radio. "I need a 10-52 to the 12th room of the second floor. I repeat I need a 10-52 to the 12th room of the second floor urgently. Firefighter Kasey Strand is down, contact her team now."

"10-4." A voice spoke over her radio. "Captain Bobby Nash and Firefighter's Henrietta Wilson, Howard Han, Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz is being contacted now."

"No need to contact Eddie Diaz."

"Or Buck." Eddie's weak voice told her as he stared at Kasey in shock. His fingers pressed to her neck and wrist as he desperately tried to find a pulse.

"Or Firefighter Evan Buckley." She took a look at Kasey again. "Firefighter Kasey Strand is down." She repeated desperately as she kneeled down to sit next to Eddie who was still trying to find a pulse.

"Dispatch is on-"

"KASEY STRAND IS DOWN!" She yelled into her radio. "Suspect is missing, and Kasey Strand is dying." And with that she let go of her radio, not caring that she's handling this unprofessional. Kasey was like a daughter to her, and she wasn't going to let her die.

Now that her shirt was ripped open they could still only see blood.

There was so much blood.

"No pulse." Eddie muttered. He placed his hands over one another and pressed them firmly on her chest as he gave her CPR. "You do mouth to mouth after 30." He instructed Athena.

It was twenty-five minutes passed ten when two other people came pass.

"Evan! Over here! And you Ms!" The voice of Ms Matthews called and when Buck and Maddie ran past Kasey's apartment, they caught a quick glimpse of the blood in the hallways before they was pulled into Ms Matthews apartment where Christopher was.

Buck tried to get back to the apartment. He needed to know if Kasey was okay.

Maddie nearly screamed at the sight, but her scream got trapped in her throat when an arm tugged her away.

Buck was going to yell at Ms Matthews for dragging him away until he caught sight of Christopher.

"Eddie is in there Evan." Ms Matthews told him. "So is a cop."

But Buck still wanted to go in there, even if the sight he will see will haunt him forever.

There was so much blood.

"C'mon Kasey." Eddie muttered. Athena did two mouth-to-mouth restrictions before Eddie continued.

"Eddie we need to try to slow down the bleeding."

Eddie didn't even think of that he just wanted her to breath again, for him to feel her pulse again. Eddie pulled of his top and placed it on her stomach, his knee coming up to add pressure onto her stomach.

"Her head is bleeding too." Athena pointed out before taking of her jacket and assisting to the head injury.

"There's so much blood." His hands shook as he looked at the blood covering them. "There's so much blood." He cried louder, pressing his hands back onto her chest, knee firmly on her stomach. Bear was whining next to them, nudging Kasey's foot every few seconds in hopes she would wake up. Tears was streaming down both of the first responders faces. "Youhave to come back to us. We all need you...I need you to come back to me." Eddiecroaked out, his voice getting dryer and dryer due to the burning tears

Kasey Strand was down, and she wasn't getting back up.

Sirens was heard.

And the two could only pray that it was coming here.

"Wake up!" Eddie yelled, tears burning his hazel eyes. "Kasey, wake up!" He tapped the side of her pale cheek. Her skin was so white, and her lips was becoming bluey-grey. "P-please wake up..." His voice was quieter this time, just weakly begging her to wake up. "God damn it Kasey! Wake up!" He yelled again.

Athena and Eddie's clothing was covered in blood.

There was so much blood.

Tires screeching from outside was heard, doors slamming shot and loads of lights was flashing for the whole world to see.

Loud footsteps ran up the stairs.

"Hello?" A voice called.

"We're in here!" Yelled Athena. "Kasey, honey, you are not dying on us today, that is an order." She told Kasey, placing her lips back onto her cold ones. "You hear me, that is an order Kasey."

Kasey still didn't make any movement.

"That is an order Firefighter Strand!"

Nothing.

"Kasey! Open your eyes!" Eddie begged, his hands pressing against her chest. All he wanted was one sign that she was going to be okay. He just needed Kasey to be okay.

"Help is here honey, help is coming." Athena whispered to her, keeping firm hold of her bloody jacket against Kasey's head. "You're going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine." Athena stroked Kasey's cheek.

It was twenty-six minutes passed ten when a huge amount of people filled the room but the two didn't move until they felt hands grab them and pull them off from Kasey.

"No! No! No! No!" Eddie begged frantically trying to reach for Kasey as she wasn't breathing and there was no pressure on her wounds.

But through his blurred vision he saw paramedics sorting her out with things like the c-collar, bandages, injections to slow down the bleeding, breathing masks...just everything.

Eddie went limp in the paramedics arms as he cried hard in the arms of a stranger.

She couldn't die.

"We've got it from her, sir."

But Eddie didn't believe them. He fought one again against the paramedic that was holding him by the arms, dragging him further away from Kasey. Bear was barking when he saw them starting to take her away.

"You did everything you could, sir. We've got her now."

Everything fell silent to Eddie as he tried to fight to get back to Kasey.

He needed to make sure she was going to be okay.

But all hearing came back when he heard the officers near him.

"A violent dog is at the scene, may need to be put down."

"No! No!" Eddie screamed. "He's a police dog! He didn't do anything!"

The officer nodded at the one holding Bear, and he let go of the dog that ran into Eddie's now opened arms after the paramedic let go of him.

Ms Matthews, Buck, Maddie, and Christopher was by the front door, but Christopher's face was turned away so he couldn't see anything.

He was too young to see something like this.

"We're too late." Hen gasped as she and the rest of the 118 saw Kasey on the stretcher being carried to the ambulance outside. She was becoming paler and paler by the second, her lips become more bluey-grey, her skin was drying up, no longer sweating from the time she was breathing, the blood wouldn't stop rushing out...

...There was so much blood...

Eddie throat was dry from all the yelling. He was still crying...everyone who knows her was crying at the sight of her. Athena was holding the weapon with a gloved hand as she just stared into nothing. Eddie's eyes never left Kasey's unconscious body and when she went out of view he followed. He followed until the ambulance doors was closing and the last thing he heard was:

"Still no pulse."

They say when you die your life flashes before your eyes. Which is true as your mind still has 7 minutes of brain activity after you take you last breath. And its within those 7 minutes that your mind plays back memories of your life like a dream sequence. It shows you all the good and bad. It shows you the first time you rode a bike to the first time you got your heartbroken. It shows you everything within those 7 minutes.

Kasey never wanted her life to flash before her eyes as most of it was things she never wanted to see again.

But alas it did.

She saw every happiness, every rage, every joy, every heartbreak, every pain...there was a lot of pain...she saw it all. She saw the ones she cared about the most and she saw the ones she hated the most. She saw everything.

Yet, the dream sequence was done in a blink of an eye, it was like it never happened.

It was like she was here all along.

Gentle waves rolled onto the shore, leaving little bubbly foam chasing your feet. It was clear. You would have never seen the sea so clear as it was now. Various of different fishes swam round, and the seaweed and coral waved with the waves. Everything seemed so happy. The never-ending golden sands stretches out as far as the eye could see, waiting for people to walk across it. But no one was around expect the girl in a white sundress sitting on the sand, watching the sun disappear behind the waves. She always preferred sunsets to sunrises. The clouds always seem fluffier and more gorgeous than ever at this time of day. The sky has never looked as pretty as it does right now. Warm colours of yellow, pink, orange, blue and purples filled the sky, and the girl could only stare at it in awe.

There was no sound except the sound of the waves, the seagulls swooping round the sky, and the gentle breeze of the sea pushing through the brown strands of hair that belonged to the only one that sat on the clean grains of sand.

There was a cliff in the near distance to the right. A lighthouse stood proudly on it, red and white strips wrapping round it like ribbon. The light was starting to flicker on to guide the incoming ships home. To guide them away from the death-traps that the sea held. To guide them to safety. The light from the tall building was the symbol of hope and safety. That if you keep an eye on the light and where it was pointing it will take you to safety. But the woman didn't look there, her eyes stayed on the fading sun.

Waiting for the darkness to steal the sun like it did to her.

2018

"Where's the rookie?" Kasey questioned as she strolled into the firehouse. Bobby glanced up at her as she wore a gentle smile as she fiddled with her keys in her hand, throwing it back and forth.

"I fired him."

"Oh."

"Caught him with another women, again."

"Oh."

Bobby dropped the clipboard onto the front seat of the fire engine, he slammed the door closed and leaned against the truck with his hands on his hips.

"You're standing how a Bobby Nash normally stands...but angrily." Kasey pointed out as she looked at her Captain. He sighed, shaking his head.

"He just so frustrating." Bobby huffed. "He's taking advantage of this job to impress women. He hasn't proved to me once that he is willing to do this job and – what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kasey had an eyebrow raised and looked unimpressed at Bobby. Her keys was now in both hands where her fingers just fiddled with the singular keyring that is attached to her car key and house key. She breathed in deeply before she started to speak her mind.

"I just think you made the wrong call." Kasey shrugged, pursing her lips to the side as she continued to think.

"He's acting like a teenage boy; he doesn't know what he wants." Bobby exclaimed. "He doesn't fight for this job like all of us...he doesn't fight for it like you do."

"I'm different."

"I know..."

Silence.

"You want me to go grocery shopping for the team?"

Kasey didn't know why she asked but she did. She didn't know why she drove to the one that wasn't the closest one to the firehouse. She drove to a different one, in uniform, with information paper to prove that she was a firefighter to get a discount. She didn't even know he was going to be there, but she was glad that he was there.

She never really spoke to him much, always just busy with her job. She also knew Bobby wasn't the biggest fan of the man, so Kasey never bothered in trying to get to know him if she thought he wouldn't be there for long. And she was right. But boy did she hate being right for this.

"Hey! Fire-truck stealer!" He turned around to see the familiar smiling girl who works at the 118 with a trolley full of food.

"Oh, hi, Kasey." Her face scrunched up at the sad tone of his voice as he walked towards her. He didn't know why she was speaking to him, it's not like they were close or anything.

"Bobby just told me, I'm sorry." Kasey sympathised. "But for what it's worth I think he made the wrong call."

"He's right though."

"I know he is, Mr Self-Diagnosed-Sex-Addict." She smirked, arms folding across her chest. "But you could've been a good firefighter if you tried."

Buck frowned at the use of name.

"You're not a sex addict." She admitted softly.

"I'm pretty sure I am."

"You're not. Not yet at least. Your not addicted to it just yet."

"What are you a sex-addiction expect?" He scoffed.

"Nah, but I know a lot about addictions. I can tell that your not one yet from your behaviour. Yes, you enjoy sex and everything, but you've been able to control yourself when you work with the 118, because you're getting the attention you want, you're distracted from everything. It's after it that you go towards sex because you don't have anything else to do. Sex is your only way to get the attention your lack."

"You don't know shit about me, you never spoke to me before only if you needed to, so why now?" He threw his arms up frantically.

"I'm observant. I've picked up on things. And I'm here to put you," she jabbed a finger into his chest, "back in your place." Her voice was harsher matching the man in front of her. Shoppers around them stared at them but Kasey didn't care, but Buck did.

"Can we do this somewhere else please?" He asked quietly, looking at the many eyes on the two.

"Don't look at them, look at me." She ordered him. His eyes moves to the girl in front of him, gulping slightly at her angry expression. "First of all, you are not a sex addict, not yet at least, you just enjoy the attention these girls give you because you never had enough attention in your life before. That's why you use this uniform for your own pleasure."

"I was fired for being a sex addict."

"God! How many times do I have to tell you? You are not a sex addict!" She clapped after each word of that sentence to get her point across. "You was fired because you didn't take this job seriously, you never proved yourself to the team."

"What?"

"I go against orders every day, but I always prove to the team that it's worth it...you just steal fire trucks to get attention. You have not once proved to us that your willing to fight for this team. For this family. Do you really want to be a firefighter and save lives? Is risking your own life worth it to save countless of overs? Is it worth it to you?"

"Yes." He stared at her wide eyed.

"Then prove it. You go out there and you prove to us, to the team, to the family, that you worth being a member on the team. Prove to me that I wasn't wrong in telling Bobby that he made the wrong call. Prove to Bobby and everyone else that they were wrong about you. Because I know for defiant that they were. I know you can do it, but it all up to you if you're willing to fight for this life."

He nodded.

"Is being a firefighter what you want to do?!" She raised her voice when she heard nothing coming from him.

"Yes!" He said loudly.

"Then fight for it."

2019 - Hospital

"I just got off the phone with Kasey's dad and brother, their getting the next plane out." Bobby told everyone who was waiting in the waiting room. Hen and her family was there, Athena, who was still in her bloody uniform, and her family was there, The Buckley's, Chimney, and the Diaz's. Eddie was still wearing his bloody clothes whilst Christopher slept on Carla's lap, who was also there. Bear was there too, sleeping at Eddie's feet.

"Athena, Eddie, maybe you should go to the bathroom to scrub some of the blood off if you're not going home." Bobby instructed kindly. They both nodded before heading to the female and male toilets.

Eddie looked himself in the glass mirror, his hair was messy, strands pointing in every direction, but so was the other's who was sitting outside. His eyes were red and watery, but so was everyone else who was outside. But it was only him and Athena covered in Kasey's blood.

There was so much blood.

It was eleven at night when Eddie started to scrub frantically at his hands, watching the blood slowly fall from his hands and into the sink that the water was spiralling in.

"Eddie." A voice called as they knocked on the closed door.

It was Carla.

"I grabbed some clothes for you on the way down here, it's outside the door if you want them. Michael did the same for Athena."

Eddie didn't respond.

"We'll be right outside."

It was silent again expect from the noise of the running tap. His hands was holding the side of the sink as he looked down at the bloody water.

Eddie never minded silence; he just was never familiar with it with the life he has. But silence was something that came when he fell asleep, and it was a sound he was so used to falling asleep to. It was a time he could just lie down and think.

But he didn't want to think now, not when his mind just replays the scene of finding Kasey and trying to save her. The door opened and he felt a small tug at his tracksuit bottoms. He looked down and saw Bear looking sadly up at him, rubbing his head against Eddie's leg for comfort. He bent down and started to pat Bear.

"She's going to be okay." He reassured himself and Bear. "She's going to be okay." But this time the words got caught in his throat, and a sob took over his words. He buried his face into Bear's fur and cried. Bear tucked his head into Eddie's shoulder, trying to comfort him in anyway he could, his head moving up and down slowly as if it was a human hand stroking him. A great tremor overtook Eddie as tears raced one another down his cheeks. His breathing quickened at every gut-wrenching sob that fell out from him. It was like he could still feel Kasey's cold body on his warm one, he could still remember how she looked, how death-like she looked. He still remembers all the blood.

There was so much blood.

And just by those thoughts he shook and cried harder, soft whines left Bear as well, knowing that Eddie wasn't going to calm down anytime soon. The tears burned against his red, swollen eyes; rashes started to climb across his face from the hot tears.

The only sound that filled the empty bathroom was the sound of suffering.

Kasey did ballet once for 7 months and 10 days. She never wanted to do it, but her mum dragged her into doing so. She was 10 at the time, and her mum forced her into doing ballet a week after the psychologist diagnosed her with depression.

She remembers her dance teacher screaming in her face on the 195th day of ballet because she chose to go to her Young Cadets instead of dance recital. She remembers the teacher spitting in her face at the disgusting behaviour of the young girl, saying the army was for the men and the arts was for the ladies. Kasey remembers saying "Fuck you," to the dance teacher before storming out of the hall, and she never came back. The only time she heard from the dance teacher was an hour later when she came home, she was yelling over the phone to her mum, saying what a spiteful little child she has, and the child deserves more than a slap on the wrist. Kasey didn't cry at those words, she instead grinned at the fact that she got out of ballet. But her mum and Enzo both yelled at her for her never learning how to behave. She remembers her dad yelling at her too when he finally came to see them, she remembers him telling her, "Why can't you listen to your mother for once? Why can't you do this one thing for her? Why do you have to make it so hard for us to be your parents!"

She remembers her mum asking TK what clubs he wanted to join. She was sat on the staircase with her head against the wall, listening intensively to the conversation, "TK can do whatever he wants to do", she said to Enzo. Kasey remembers that she had to fight to be able to join clubs that revolved around the army, it was only by the help of her dad and TK that her mum finally agreed to it after her dad said it might set the kid straight, she may stop behaving if she leant it the hard way. She remembers TK starting to argue with their mum, saying how unfair that was for Kasey if he could choose what he wanted to do. And Kasey remembers her response as clear as day; "Kasey is too sick in the head to know what she wants."

She silently cried at those words.

Kasey knows that she was always the misbehaviour, the rebel, the child who never got on with her parents because they saw her as nothing less but as a troublemaker. Kasey knows that TK was the golden boy of the family, the glue that was keeping things from fallen apart. TK was loved by both parents; her dad normally came back for TK and TK would never come with unless Kasey was coming too. She remembers just walking round the firehouse aimlessly, whilst her dad showed TK everything, she remembers learning more about being a firefighter than anyone else did when she walked around on her own. She remembers sneaking into the fire-engine when the bell rang, hiding from all the eyes. TK walked round the firehouse with the person Owen left him with, and he couldn't find her at all. Kasey remembers seeing the orange lights of the roaring fire for the first time. She remembers just staring at it with all the wonders of the world. And she remembers how happy everyone was when they was saved, and the fire was safely put out. That's when Kasey knew that this was what she wanted to do. She wanted to save lives and do something meaningfulness. And she wasn't going to do it for her family, she didn't need to make them proud, she didn't care for that. She was going to do this for herself and everyone else. Kasey remembers 22nd of September of the year of 2005 at the 18th hour was the time she knew she wanted to save lives and be a firefighter.

And then she remembers the next day she was screamed at. Her mum didn't want her to be a firefighter like Owen. She remembers TK piping into the screaming session and said that he wanted to be a firefighter too. Kasey thought that this was TK's way of getting their mum to stop yelling at her. But her mum turned to TK and said the words Kasey will always remember, "TK has what it takes to be a firefighter."

Her dad said the same thing the next time she and TK saw him, they were sitting in his car, and Kasey told him proudly that she was going to be a firefighter and save lives. Owen glanced at her through the mirror and shook his head before telling her, "no." She frowned, and TK noticed. He then told their dad that he wanted to be a firefighter too just like him. Owen smiled and said the words Kasey will always remember, "TK has what it takes to be a firefighter. You don't Kasey."

Kasey remembers it all.

Kasey remembers getting her first job, sort of. The leader of the Young Cadets she went to allowed her to help him clean up and he gave her money for it. But she got her real first job at the age of 13. And all the money she was given or found she saved. She saved them until she reached the age of 22. She saved it so she could escape New York and start a life of her own. She didn't know where she was going to go but young Kasey knew that anywhere that was far away from her family was good enough. TK knew Kasey wanted to leave when their 11th birthday rolled in, he remembers her crying in his arms, he remembers how she spoke to him, so weak and desperate to leave, it was like her heart was already shattered into millions of pieces and there was no chance of them being repaired. TK remembers her asking him why she wasn't good enough. Why their parents barley looked at her as if she wasn't their daughter. He remembers her asking him to take all the pain away. And TK remembers how confused he was because he didn't know how to do that.

But Kasey found a way when she was 13. It was May and the sun was shining through the bathroom window. She remembers the lines on her arms and thighs as she bled into the cold water of the bathtub. She remembers TK finding her just in time and she remembers waking up in the hospital room. She remembers her mum saying she had no reason to kill herself. And she remembers the doctors telling her that she has to go onto medications and get therapy. She remembers begging them no, but no one listened, she remembers telling them she'll be good that it was just a mistake, but they didn't listen. She was in different therapies for about three years, and she barely spoke to them. She remembers cops, doctors, psychologist, social services and all the others always dropping by to see how she was doing as all the therapists always told them that she barley spoke. But whenever they came by she was never in. She remembers when she was in one of the places she hated the most (the hospital) TK begged her to never leave him.

But Kasey remembers that a week after their 15th birthday TK overdosed. She remembers kicking down the bathroom door, the same bathroom that she was once in but forgot to lock. Maybe TK leant from her mistake. She remembers searching for a pulse, she remembers putting her head against his chest to her a heartbeat. And she heard it all. She called 9-1-1 and begged them to hurry. She remembers sitting against the cold bathroom wall, him between her legs as he limply laid against her back, she remembers putting her fingers into his mouth to get him to breath again. She cried into his neck whilst TK told her how sorry he was. She knows he overdosed on her prescriptive pills. The paramedics came along with their parents four minutes after she called 9-1-1. TK begged her not to leave him, so she was the one who climbed into the back of the ambulance and held his hand. She told him it was all going to be alright. TK told the doctors that he's an addict to drugs after a party he and Kasey went to 2 months before their 15th birthday. Kasey remembers blaming herself as she recalls her dragging him to that party. But she recalled incorrectly as it was the other way round, but yet she still blamed herself. Her parents blamed her too, but she didn't care, she just needed TK to be better.

He did, he got better after doing drugs for 2 more months. Kasey was the one who took him to rehab, she forged her parents signature to get him into the rehab centre 2 months after his overdose, she noticed no one was else was going to help TK legally so she took it up to do it herself. Kasey was the one who went to all of TK's appointments and whenever anyone asked she would show them a letter that she forged saying that their parents was too busy, and his sister will go with him. They rang once and that was when their parents found out TK was going through rehab. They was over the moon with that fact, but they weren't happy that Kasey helped illegally forging an agreement form to get TK into rehab. She yelled at them that she couldn't sit around, and watch TK destroy himself whilst his parents was too busy with their careers. She left that night for a whole week on her motorbike, she raced and raced until she got into an accident.

She remembers how her life just fell more from there, she didn't think that was possible, but clearly she was wrong.

Kasey remembers it all.

2018 - 1 Month After Buck Comes Back To The 118

House fires were usual.

It was probably one of the most common things they get called in for.

But Kasey watched the sight in front of her, the fire was soon going to become uncontrollable, there was fire everywhere, and yet there was people inside who still needed saving.

"I'll go in there Cap." Buck nodded towards the burning house, Bobby nodded, and Buck ran to get proper gear on.

"I'll go with." Kasey said and Buck froze slightly. Kasey hasn't spoken to him since she confronted him at the shops. He wanted to thank her for making him see more clearly of what he was losing, thanking her for actually helping him found who's he meant to be. He wanted to be her friend, but she just never gave him the time of the day. Did he not prove himself to her that this was what he wanted? He knew Kasey was the type to do reckless shit like him, but she was more reckless than him, constantly going against orders or just simply telling Bobby what she was going to do. It took a lot to tell Kasey don't do something reckless. Her mind was always on one thing and that was saving lives. He never seen anyone willing to risk everything for people they didn't know. He never seen a fighter like Kasey. She was different to the rest.

It was like the fire roared right in front of them when it heard firefighters was coming in. It was like a dragon, puffing out smoke from its nostrils. And when Buck and Kasey entered the house the dragon roared louder.

Outside the firefighters fought against the beast like knights.

Kasey and Buck was able to save the family of four that was trapped inside, but before Buck and Kasey could leave the house, the wooden beam from the ceiling came fallen down, causing more of the house to collapse.

Ashes fell around the firefighters as everyone stared in shock of what happened before an erupt of yells filled the streets. The dragon laughed as it watched the chaos around it. It blow out another puff of flames, hoping to find something else to catch on fire for it to eat, but disappointment filled it's guts when it found nothing but cold air.

"Two members of my team is still inside."

"They'll probably good as dead by now Captain Nash."

"We're not leaving until they come out alive."

A beam was on Buck's arm whilst Kasey's foot was trapped in the weak floorboards. She struggled against the boards that was trying to swallow her up whilst her ears was filling with sounds of Buck's cries of pain as the fire tickled his arm and the spraying noise of the water that was trying to kill the dragon.

"Buck! Buck! Buckaroo are you okay!" She yelled desperately.

"My a-arm!"

Her hands grabbed onto her leg as she pulled with all her might. She tumbled backwards when she was free, rolling to the side due to her back not being level due to the oxygen tank. She hurriedly crawled towards Buck as more wood fell around them. She heaved the beam, but it wouldn't move.

"Kasey, just go!"" Buck desperately yelled at her.

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"I saved those people and I need you to be safe then I know it was all worth it."

"I need to save you, or nothing is worth it. I need you on this team Buck and you are not leaving me."

"Why do you care? Why you talking to me again after a month of silence?"

"Because I didn't want you to follow my footsteps of being reckless."

"Too late for that." Buck laughed. She tried to move the beam again, but it still didn't move. "Kasey you don't need to save me, I'm not worth it." His voice was tired from the pressure of the beam.

"I would save you in a heartbeat."

And with that she pulled the beam up with all her strength and Buck quickly moved his arm with a scream, Kasey dropped the heavy wood and it banged onto the floor. She patted down his jacket sleeve to put out the small flickers of fire on it.

"You shouldn't be burnt to badly." She told him.

"Thank you." He coughed.

"Hey, I've got your back."

"And I've got yours, Kasey."

"Just Kas...you're family now so you can call me Kas."

"Kas." He spoke as Kasey pulled him up. It didn't feel foreign on his tongue, and he grinned. "You know, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"You don't need to quote Casablanca." She giggled; Buck arm was thrown over her shoulder as they both helped each other to escape.

"I don't even know what that is."

"Well it's a good thing me and you are friends now."

They escaped a second before the whole house fell and paramedics rushed towards the two selfless firefighters and checked them out. It took another hour before the fire went out and the dragon was no more. It took two more minutes for the rest of the 118 to come and find Buck and Kasey who was sitting next to each other, covered up with bandages to heal any minor burns, they were laughing together, and Bobby knew he was going to regret saying yes to Buck asking for him to be partnered up with Kasey in the future. He shook his head at everything the duo did in the future, as two best friends. He couldn't believe that two people who was so similar found each other and they were both on his team. But he knew that the two was happy as they found each other, and they made the 118 a happier place.

"Why do you have 10 of the same grey shirts?" Kasey asked as she watched Buck, upside down on his bed, as he hanged up his laundry. The two was always at one another's apartment, Buck preferring Kasey to be at his more as it meant she was out of her own in the area he didn't trust. They both had spare keys to one another places and Bear become familiar with Buck along with their neighbours knowing who the other one was.

"They are not the same colour." Buck said in a-matter-of-fact tone. "This one is light grey, this is grey, this is dark grey, this one is a slate grey this one is a darker version of this one. And oh, this one is-" He turned around sheepishly to look at Kasey's amused expression.

"So, you're telling me you know different shades of grey, but you didn't know who Steven Spielberg was?"

"I know him now!"

"And now I know different shades of grey!"

The two always was there for one another and when Buck's landlord kicked him out, Kasey's door was wide open for him; literally. He moaned at the fact that anyone could walk in, and Kasey told him she was just opening the door to take the rubbish out. He told her about his shitty landlord and Kasey offered him her spare room until he found another place to live, and that place being Abby's.

And they always stayed with one another and saved each other in a heartbeat.

2019 - Hospital

It was fifteen minutes passed three in the morning when a doctor dressed in surgical clothing walked out, hands held slightly up as he spoke to Bobby, the room went silent, not like many was even talking to begin with, no one knew what to say. But Bobby and the surgeon muttered quietly amongst each other, and no one could even hear them in the silent room.

Eddie and Athena was in clean clothing, blood was off as best as they could from the soap and tap water, but they weren't going to leave anytime soon to shower and properly get rid of it.

They watched how the doctor shook his head at Bobby before walking back.

Bobby watched the door he left through, swinging back and forth, Buck rushed up and ran towards the door, but Bobby stopped him.

"Kasey!"

"Buck...Buck...stopped." Bobby ushered to him, but Buck kept on fighting against Bobby's arms that was wrapped around him, Michael stood up to help Bobby hold Buck back. Bear also jumped from his seat by Eddie's feet and ran towards Buck, trying to give him as much comfort as he could.

"We shouldn't be in a hospital; Kasey doesn't like hospitals...Kasey hates the hospitals." Buck cried.

"They're trying to save her life."

"S-She h-hates t-them, t-they a-always bring h-her bad news." His knee gave in, and he fell down, his shaky hands covering up his red face. "I-I didn't s-save h-her...I-I prom-promised her I-I would s-save h-her in a h-heart...in a heartbeat." He chocked out, crying in Bobby's arm like a young child, clinging onto him for dear life. "S-She-" He started to mumble incoherent things through his hands.

Bear tucked himself in the small gap between Buck's slightly opened thighs as he sat on the floor.

"She's a fighter Buck. It's going to be okay." Bobby reassured the young firefighter whilst everyone just watched Buck release all the emotions everyone was feeling.

"I can't stop seeing the blood." Athena voice was quiet as May and Harry hugged into her; her eyes was looking behind the two hugging men as Michael wondered back towards Athena. Eddie nodded weakly, his hand unconsciously stoked Christopher's hair as he now laid on his lap.

"She's going to be okay." Eddie muttered to reassure everyone's nerves, but he didn't know if he even believed his own words. It didn't help that he Michael muttered to Chimney what the doctor told Bobby.

The surgery isn't going well.

Her heart keeps on stopping.

There's too much blood.

They're struggling to find another pulse.

She'll be lucky to survive with the amount of blood she lost.

Eddie gulped as another singular tear rolled down his cheek. He has only just stopped crying and now here he was, crying again.

Karen was rubbing circles onto Hen's hand whilst Denny slept on Hen, hugging her tightly so she didn't feel any numbness. "I remember when Kasey first came to the 118." Hen laughed slightly at the memory. "Bobby literally dragged her in when we found her on one of our calls, saving people, she told us she was a firefighter but was new to the area. She warned us that if she wants her we have to know that she isn't easy to deal with. Bobby didn't care. He never saw anyone run into fire without any gear on without a second thought. And then Bobby told her that she has an offer to work with the 118 after getting off of the phone with the chief. And Kasey's only response was 'Which would you prefer to have as your room-mate? A cow or a pig?'"

The group chuckled lightly at the anecdote.

"That sounds like our Kasey." Buck sniffled.

"I remember that I arrested Kasey once for not leaving a pet shop." Athena added with a small smile.

"I remember Kasey scooping out all my peanut butter and put pop up snakes in them. So when I came to unscrewed the lid a green snake hit my in the face." Chimney smirked.

"Oh, yeah, you screamed like a little baby." Hen teased.

"I did not."

"You defiantly did." Bobby chuckled.

"I remember trying to teach her to cook once, she nearly burnt door the firehouse and she turned to me and said, 'It's a good thing we're firefighter or we would have been screwed.'"

It was all silent as everyone just thought about Kasey and all the good memories spent with her.

"Kasey was the first one to make me realise that Christopher and I have finally found the place we've been looking for." Eddie muttered. "I know I had the team, but she was the first one who made me feel like I could open up to you all."

"Kasey was the only one who believed in me when no one else did." Buck croaked out through small sniffles. "She's the only one who trusted me the most and helped me to get better. She changed me for the better, she made me realise that this, this was what I wanted to do, and I was gonna fight for it." Buck nodded to himself, still in Bobby's arms, not looking at anything but Bear. "Even when I had nothing I still had Kas." He hiccupped before he continued. "I-I don't know how to live without her, man." And with that Maddie rushed to Buck and took Bobby's space and comforted her little brother.

"I don't really know Kasey well, only spoke to her a few times as Buck has never got around to introducing me to her." She smiled shortly as she stroked Buck's hair, she could feel everyone's eyes on her, but she didn't care, her mind was to busy viewing the memory. "But I know that she's brave and selfless and will do anything to get back to the ones she loves. I know that she's a fighter from the second I saw her swinging on the rope that was keeping her and the lady she saved attached to the building. I remember watching how she never gave up trying to get back up into that building. She didn't think for a second that falling out that window could kill her, she just knew she had to save that lady. She's the least selfish person I've ever heard to speak, she wanted to make sure I was okay and asked me to contact Eddie's son school to see if he's fine too. She worried about everyone else before she took care of herself. And if that isn't a fighter then I don't know what is."

"Kasey's going to come back home to us." Chimney told everyone. "She's going to come home."

It was forty-four minutes passed three when Owen and TK came rushing into the hospital, TK pointing the group out as he met them before. Bobby told them the run-down whilst everyone just stared into an abyss of nothingness in their seats.

"I was so angry with her the last time I saw her." Owen muttered. "I told her she was never there for this family, and she called me out on my bullshit like always."

"She'll forgive you." Hen told him. "She's always talking about you two saying how proud she is of you two starting up the 126 again."

"When I came out to everyone at the age of 16 some guys was giving me shit for it at school." TK began after a few moments of silence. "So, that day, bear in mind she's straight, she yelled at all these guys saying love is love then she kissed one of my friends who she knew was a lesbian to prove to the jerks that it was okay to kiss the same gender. They punched her in the face for that, but she fought against these big football players. The teachers took them away and the group got suspended including Kasey. But she came back the next day, standing on the table of the rainbow-coloured cafeteria saying that you can't help who you love and it's okay. You can be whoever you want to be and don't let anyone tell you differently. She said this whole speech before the teachers took her home. In that week about twenty more people came out because of Kasey's speech."

"I remember that the school wouldn't stop calling me about her."

"That's Kasey being Kasey once again." Buck chuckled.

"I never couldn't have asked for a better sister." TK admitted sadly as he looked down at his fingers. "She promised me that she wouldn't leave me...s-she's not going to break that promise."

Flowers started to bloom through the sand, but the girl's eyes never left the setting sun, waiting in anticipation for the darkness to steal it away. Red poppies took over the golden sands in memory of the fallen.

"Wounds covered up, but she's still not responding."

The petals of the poppies started to fall slowly, disappearing into the sand, they was dying alone with everything on this beach. The sea become choppier it was no longer a sea of peace and clearness. The sky or clouds were no longer pretty to look at as it became darker. The lighthouse was frantically turning round and round in search for the one's who are lost, guiding them home.

But what was a home to someone who never had one before? What is a home for someone who only lived in a building made of bricks? What is a home if the place they've lived at was full of nothing but torturous yells? What was a home for someone who never had one before?

"The family isn't going to take the news well."

But a home isn't just a place.

"No family does."

It's also a person, or in this case a large amount of people. By definition a home is a place where your surrounded with those who love you, it's a place or feeling of belonging. Home is a place where you feel safe and where you can be yourself without feeling embarrassed. Home is found within people and not within a building. It's like when you feel homesick, you don't feel homesick for the building, you feel homesick for those you're away from.

And the girl on the beach was feeling quite homesick for those she misses.

"Try once more."

Thunder shook the ground, but the girl didn't move a muscle.

Home is full of laughter, love, and security. Home is where a family is found. And family doesn't just have to be the people you share DNA with...

"Again."

Thunder roared once more.

...Family are the people we choose to love, and they love back. It's the people who choose you over and over again, who wants you in their life; the ones who accept us for who we are. The ones who would do anything to make us happy and respects us. Family is the one who loves us no matter what we do. Family is the ones we fight to get back home too.

"Nothing."

It all went silent. And the girl didn't like the silence.

"We lost her."

All the petals fell, and the sun was showing it last beam of light. There was a long beeping noise somewhere in the distance, but the girl didn't turn to look. Her eyes stayed on the last life of the sun. The silence welcomed it first and now the darkness needs to. But it fought with all its strength to stay up for the girl, so she didn't forget this moment.

The lighthouse turned and the light shone into her face, begging her to look at it so it could guide her home...

The petals started to rise from the ground, spinning round in the small gentle breeze as the it reattached themselves to the steams. The red faded into a white.

The colour of safety...

The colour of surrendering...

The colour of peace...

The colour of hope...

And after all the begging, the girl finally looked at the lighthouse and the sound of a gentle beep after beep was heard.

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 ◁ II ▷𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 (AGAPE SERIES)

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blueathens · 3 years

Text

Flying To Texas

Act 1, Scene 3

𝖲𝗈𝗇𝗀: 𝖢𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝗒 𝖬𝗒 𝖢𝗁𝖾𝗆𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝖱𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝖰𝗎𝗈𝗍𝖾: "𝖨'𝗆 𝖻𝖾𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺 𝖻𝗎𝗋𝖽𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖤𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖾."

𝖳𝖶: 𝖠𝖻𝗎𝗌𝖾, 𝖵𝗂𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾, 𝖨𝗇𝗃𝗎𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌, 𝖡𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽, 𝖲𝖾𝗑𝗎𝖺𝗅 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗌

Masterlist//Dusk Till Dawn Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

It’s been a while since the Earthquake happened, but a various of important calls still happened, making the 118 very busy – per usual.

And Eddie has been struggling.

It’s hard to be a single parent looking after a kid and being a firefighter. He loves Christopher and he loves his job, but it’s so hard to do those two things at once. But Eddie being Eddie he wouldn’t ask for help. It’s not like he didn’t want it or need it, he just hasn’t found anyone he could trust enough to leave Christopher alone with them.

Buck and Kasey were rising up the scale of trust, but they would be too busy working with him, meaning they wouldn’t be suitable babysitters.

Eddie needed the help, but he just didn’t know where to go for it.

“When can we see Kasey again?” Christopher asked his dad as they walked to school.

“Well, I’ll be seeing her at work later.” Eddie smirks a little, knowing that wasn’t what Christopher meant.

“Dad!” He whined, dragging out the name. “When can I see Kasey again?”

“Soon, buddy, soon.” He messes his hair up slightly.

“As in now?”

“What?” Eddie looked down at him, in confusion, only to see Christopher attention on something else as he smiled brightly at it.

“Kasey!” Christopher yelled, pointing her out to her dad. And indeed it was Kasey, even if they could only see her back, Eddie knew it was her. She was in the park, throwing a ball whilst a German Shepherd runs back and forth, catching the ball and bringing it back to the brunette. She was wearing her LAFD t-shirt along with black trousers and boots. Her hair was in a side plait and blue headphones were over her ears.

“Buddy, she’s got headphones on she won’t-”

“Kasey!” Christopher yelled louder, and Eddie didn’t know how Kasey heard but she did, she turned around in confusion, pushing her headphones down (so they wrapped round her neck), trying to figure out who called her name. Christopher started to walk into the park, Eddie closely behind, the boy waved and called her once more, smiling widely when Kasey sees them.

“Aren’t you meant to be in school, little man?” She asked him, crouching down slightly, and rubbing her dog’s side as he sat and panted next to her.

“We’re heading there now, but he still got time.” Eddie answered with a soft smile, that Kasey returns, squinting slightly as she looked up at him due to the sun behind him.

“Who’s that?” Christopher asked, pointing to the dog who was now smelling his hand.

“This is my best friend in the entire world.”

“Don’t let Buck hear that.” Teased Eddie.

“Oh, he knows, he always has a stare down with this guy, and tells him that he’s my best friend, which isn’t true.” She looked at her dog, who started to lick at Christopher’s hand as he giggled slightly at the texture of it. “You can pet him if you like, he’s the nicest and well-trained dog in this world. He’s name’s Bear. He’s technically an ex-police dog, but he only did he’s training and went out on the field once before getting hurt really badly, leading to this cool scar on his eye.” Kasey traced the scar with her finger.

Eddie squatted down to pet the German Shepherd with his son. “How do you have time for a dog?” He questioned, cooing at Bear who was loving the extra attention.

“I sometimes bring him down to the station or I go home at my breaks to look after him. I’m surprised you didn’t see him the other day, he was at the firehouse, but he does have certain spots that he likes to hide and sleep in.”

“Well, I’m just going to have to look better to find him then.” He looks up to Kasey. “Is he going to the station today?”

Kasey shook her head.

“No need for him to come, sadly, I don’t have a long shift today, unless Bobby changes it, then yeah I’ll drag him to the firehouse.” Kasey pulls her phone out of her pocket, with the home-screen of her, Buck and Bear on it. She clicks to turn it on once before turning it back off again, sliding it back into her pocket. “Come on, school time, gotta get that brain smarter.” Kasey pulled Eddie up by the hands, who proceeds to pull Christopher up.

“She’s right, Christopher.”

“But Bear.” He frowned, and Eddie nearly allowed him to just stay there with the dog.

“I tell you what, you can come over to mine the next time me and your dad have a short shift together, yeah? And you and Eddie can have dinner at mine too. How does that sound?”

“Good.” He nodded looking at Kasey with a wide smile. “Can we dad?” He begged, looking up at his dad.

“Course we can.”

Christopher and Kasey high-fived, grinning like fools, which Eddie chuckled at.

“I’ll come with you guys.”

There hasn’t been many emergency today’s, strangely enough. The whole crew, except Bobby, was sitting upstairs doing their own things, waiting for the bell to ring.

Kasey as usual was eating, and the choice of foot today was the cookies that Bobby had just recently made.

“Kasey!” A familiar voice yelled. But Kasey thought nothing of it cause that person couldn’t be here. “Kas!” It yelled again. “Hi, sorry, this is the 118, right?” The male voice asked somebody from downstairs.

“A man yelling for Kasey?” smirked Chimney.

Kasey stood up, her friends eyes following her as she leaned over the metal bar to look at the man who was calling for her.

And there he was, in all of his glory, talking to her captain.

“Yes, this is the 118. Did Kasey do something?” Bobby questioned, hands on his waist eyebrow raised as he looked at the man.

“When hasn’t she done something.” The man answered, rolling his eyes whilst smiling, happy that he got the right place.

“Are you an ex of hers?”

“Ew.” He said in disgust. “I’m her bro-”

“TK!” She yelled down, beaming at the sight of her older twin brother.

“Kasey!”

When Buck heard Kasey say her brother’s name, his ears perked up, as he stumbled off the sofa he was sitting on. But he wasn’t the only one to grab interest at Kasey’s brother being here, as the whole team were now at the metal bars, watching Kasey run down to her brother and jumping into his arms to hug him.

“My god, he’s hot too?” Hen sighed, as she got a brief look at the man. “I don’t want to think how beautiful her parents are.”

“This is my chance!” Whispered Buck. “I can find out every embarrassing story of Kasey.”

“Have you guys never met him before?” Eddie questioned, eyes not leaving the siblings, who were now holding each other’s arms, laughing along with Bobby.

“Nope.” All of them answered back, them too not one of them looking away from the duo.

“You know, now that I know you’re her brother, I can see the resemblance.” Bobby pointed out as the twins stood side by side, TK’s arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“I’m the better looking one, right?” Kasey asked.

“He must be blind if he thinks you’re good looking.” TK teased.

The bell rings, interrupting the conversation.

“TK, you want to come along with us?” Bobby asked him.

“Can I?”

“Firefighter right?”

He nodded. “Kasey, go grab the spare kit from the cupboard, quickly.” And with that Kasey runs to grab the spare kit and hers.

“Buck, Eddie, Hen and Chimney.” Kasey pointed at each one as she said their names whilst TK put a spare LAFD jacket on. “Guys, this is my ugly brother, TK.”

“You do not know how long I have waited to meet you.” Grinned Buck.

“You’re the best friend, right?” TK questioned, looking at Kasey before looking back at the blond.

“She talked about me?” He asked hopeful.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Buckeroo. I told him nothing good.” Y/n joked.

“Whatever.”

“Hen, the badass paramedic-firefighter.” TK smiled at Hen.

“Oh, you say that about Hen.” Buck said. “What she say about me?”

“An annoying-jackass-who-is-always-claiming-that-he’s-her-best-friend-when-he’s-not-he’s a-crazy-guy-who-just-follows-and-talks-to-her-all-the-time-who-steals-firetrucks-and-she-doesn’t-even-know-he’s-name.” TK answered blankly.

“So, what I’m hearing is that Kasey talks about me,” he pointed to himself, “her best friend, a lot.”

“Sure.” He turned his head slightly to look at the captain. “Kasey really looks up at you Bobby.”

“Yeah, I just wish she followed my footsteps and not be so reckless all the time.”

“She’s always been like that.”

“Always?” Chimney asked.

“Yeah, surprised she never got arrested or anything…Chimney…Mr. April, the funny one who likes celery and peanut butter. The other badass firefighter-medic.”

“Kas really talks us up, doesn’t she?” Chimney smirked as he chewed his gum. “Wish we could say the same for her.”

“Hey!”

“And Eddie.” TK smiled brightly as he looked at the man. “The new guy…the hot, funny, adorable one with the cute kid.”

Eddie smiled softly as his neck and cheeks flushed a shade of pink. Kasey pursed her lips at TK’s comments, knowing that he’s quoting what she told him a few days ago. Eddie and Kasey’s eyes meet, but they quickly looked away.

“So, she talks about Eddie? But doesn’t say anything about me?” Buck crossed his arms with a frown.

“So, you said Kasey’s always been a wild card? What’s the craziest thing she’s done yet?” Hen wondered, wanting to know more about the 25-year-old.

But Kasey wasn’t listening, she maybe should have so she could stop her brother from saying anything too crazy about her. If she was listening she would have been able to stop TK from telling her friends about the time she blew up the toaster by making pop tarts. But she wasn’t listening. Instead, her attention was on Eddie. He wasn’t looking at her, but she was sure as hell looking at him. She didn’t know what is was about him, but there was something that pulled her in. His cheeks were still faintly pink, but Kasey didn’t know what from. He laughed at something TK said, and Kasey wished she knew what he was laughing at, but she didn’t.

“Kasey?” Hen called. Eddie eyes went to Kasey, and she looked away, looking at Hen.

“Yeah.” She spoke into the microphone of the headphones they had to wear when they were in the fire truck.

“Yeah?”

“You really blow up a toaster by making pop-tarts?”

“I-uh-I got better at cooking?”

Screams.

That was the first thing Kasey heard, even with her headphones on.

Screams.

It was like that was the only sound that was around.

Screams.

It was like the sirens weren’t even playing.

“My daughter! My daughter is still in there!” A mother yelled.

“Ma’am I need you to tell me what floor.” Bobby instructed her.

“Top floor.”

Bobby was about to respond before stopping at the sound of the ladder moving up

“Kasey!” He called but it was like background noise to her. “Kasey!”

“The building is gonna come down in seconds Cap! We don’t have time to chat.” She yelled down at him as she started to climb the ladder whilst it was still moving.

TK, Buck and Eddie all looked at each.

“You three start to slowing down the fire so we can control it.” But TK ignored him and went to catch up with Kasey.

“Sorry, Bobby, but someone needs to keep an eye on my sister.”

Bobby sighed. “It’s like I’m not even here.”

Kasey climbed through the window of the 8th floor due to the smoke being to big in the window above her. Her gas mask was securely onto her face, allowing her to breath through the thick, grey smoke.

A hand touched her shoulder and she turned around, looking at the form of touch, only to see that it was TK. He might have been glaring at her through his gas mask, but she couldn’t tell.

“Shout at me later. Everyone else will.” She shouted through the gas mask so she could be heard over the heavy breathing and the roaring flames.

“You don’t even know what cause-”

“It’s just a Class A fire.” She told him as she worked her way through the fire, climbing the stairs she could, whilst also calling out that Fire and Rescue were here, so she didn’t miss anyone. “We have to be quick though, fires spreading fast, if anyone was downstairs they be dead by now…it’s impossible for them to be saved.” She closed any windows that she walked past. “I thought you were a firefighter.”

He blinked a few times as he followed closely behind his sister.

“I am…it’s just I-I just never seen someone work with fire as easily as you.” He never seen someone just quickly spring into action, knowing actually what was meant to done before being ordered to…even though he knows she’ll get in trouble for it afterwards. He’s just never seen someone be able to class a fire that quickly without hearing any information or seeing the source. But now he could smell the wood and plastic burning, expressing the factors of a Class A fire. “I guess you truly found your calling!”

“So have you.”

“Yeah…but I remember how lost you used to be.”

“LA changes people.” She flapped down some flames so they could pass by. “Fire and Rescue!”

“In here!” A young voice cried.

The door was already open, and as she looked in she saw a group of people there, coughing from the smoke.

“You all live here?” TK asked them which they shook they heads at.

“The fire was getting higher.” One coughed. Kasey walked towards the open window and looked down, seeing sight of the Air Cushion.

“Slowly, start jumping out the window, one at a time.” Kasey told them.

“The young child can’t, she’s hurt.”

Kasey walked towards the girl whilst TK helped everyone else out through the window.

“I’m Kasey.” She handed her a cloth to cover her mouth with. “I’m just going to check out your leg, okay?”

The child whimpered as she nodded.

“What’s your name?”

“Lily.”

What Kasey saw wasn’t a sight she wanted to see in a situation like this. A lodge of wood was digging into her calf, blood tickling down the wound.

“It hurts.”

“I know, sweetheart… I’m going to have to carry you as I don’t have time to sort it out up here, okay?” The girl nodded, raising her arms to wrap around the youngest Strand’s neck as she got picked up bridal style, this way her calves can rest against her arms as it dangles down. But as she took one step forwards, the floor collapsed under her, causing her foot to get stuck.

“Strands.” Bobby voice called over the radio. “Evacuate now.”

“Coming!” TK told him.

“TK take Lily and use this line and harness,” she handed him the equipment, “to climb down. I’ll pull myself out of here.”

TK did so, not seeing a point in arguing about it as a civilian was in danger.

He tied the harness round himself, holding the girl closely to him as he pulled themselves down and when he reached the ground he was about to be invaded by the 118 about where Kasey was. But before they could, a body fell onto the inflatable.

“Oh thank god.” Eddie sighed as he rushed towards Kasey.

More fire engines were around and was able to control the fire. Everyone who was in the building was encountered for and being treated with what they needed.

Eddie pulled Kasey up who instantly hanged onto him as he helped her get off.

“Is Lily okay?” She groaned, feeling her ankle ache slightly/

“The girl’s okay.” He informed her, guiding her off the Air Cushion and towards an ambulance to check out her ankle, and luckily it was just a bruised.

“There’s this cop.” TK said with a small smile as her looked at his sister who sat opposite him in a café.

“Hot?”

“Very.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No.” TK answered. “I slept with him like a day or something after we got to Texas.”

“So, your using him as a rebound.” It wasn’t a question; it was more of an annoyed statement.

Kasey has never liked when others used people, causing feelings to get mixed up but then finding out it was all a lie? That was one of the worst heartbreaks. TK knew this especially as Kasey has been used before in the past, quite a few times to be exact. Either claiming she’ll be a good fuck or just to boost that they got her, or just to get something from her. And Kasey thinks this is why she hasn’t been in love before because she hasn’t been in one single relationship that made her feel like what the poets say about love. There has not be one person who made her feel the way Bobby and Athena feel for one another.

“I-I don’t know anymore. There was this moment at the station between us and-”

“Hang on, hang on, hang on.” Kasey waved her hand slightly to get her brother to stop talking. “Why were you in the station?”

“I punched someone.” He winced.

“You?”

He nodded and Kasey fell into the fits of laughter. “Good joke, TK, now honestly why were you in the station?”

“Why is it so funny that I punched someone?”

“You’re too soft.” Kasey slurped up her coffee, watching TK look at her in offence.

“Well, I punched someone.”

“Sure you did.”

“I did!”

“Uh-Huh.”

“How’s your boyfriend?” TK changed the subject. He watched his sister stretch as she spoke.

“I broke up with him.” She yawned.

“Thank god.” He sighed. “After the things he’s done, I’m surprised that you didn’t break up ages ago.” He paused before continuing. “What did he do that made you finally break up with him?”

FLASHBACK TO DAY AFTER EARTHQUAKE

Kasey opened Jordan’s front door, ready to finally break up with him.

If Kasey was being honest, she was an expect in breaking up with people as she’s the one who does it the most in the relationship, due to her never feeling anything for them. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard loud banging and faint moaning. Her eyes drifted towards the shoes and clothes that lead her to his bedroom.

She bit the inside of her cheek before huffing a breath out. This wasn’t the first time she’s been cheated on either. And after today, she’s probably never going to date again after remembering all her bad relationships in the past. And there was a lot.

Kasey has always believed that it’s her fault that men she’s dated treated her this way. Maybe she wasn’t worthy enough to wait for her to start having deep feelings for someone instead of just attraction. Maybe she wasn’t worthy enough to wait until she was ready to move the relationship further. Maybe she just wasn’t worth the wait.

Kasey has always tried in relationships, but she could never have extreme feelings for a guy, and that’s where she thinks its not all her fault. It’s not her fault that she doesn’t have feelings for a guy and when she finally realises that there is no hope, she breaks it off immediately, not wanting the other one to think that the relationship could go any further. Whenever she dated, she always made time for them. She always tried with them. She always cared for them and comforted them if something was wrong. She always respected them. But for most of them, they never treated her the same way. It was always what they wanted and not what Kasey wanted. And for Kasey’s whole life, in relationships or not, it has always been like that. People wanting things from her rather than asking what she wanted.

She just wanted someone who would treat her the way she treats them. Someone who will actually ask what she wants for a change. She just wanted a person who balances her out. Calls her out on her bullshit and reckless behaviour. Someone who will make her safe and love her unconditionally. And then, she might just be able to fall for them. She just wanted that somebody.

Kasey opened the door, and Jordan’s head snapped back to look at her.

“Well hello lovebirds.” She whistled. “You two can stay there if you’d like, I’ll just make this quick.” Kasey leaned against the door frame. The girl in the bed covered herself up, whilst Jordan stumbled towards Kasey with the white blanket round his waist. “This relationship of ours, is nothing.”

“W-what…baby-”

“I’m breaking up with you. And it seems to me.” She eyed the girl in the bed before moving back to Jordan. “You won’t have a problem with me breaking up with you.”

He tied the silky sheet round him.

“Have fun with him, love. He’s pretty rubbish.” She turned to leave. “I won’t be back as I know for a fact that I have nothing of yours and you have nothing of mine.” She called as she walked down the stairs.

“Kasey! Babe!” He pulled her arm causing her to turn and face him.

“What?” She snapped. “You have a lovely lady waiting for you in that creaky bed of yours.”

“I don’t want her. I want you.”

“Your dick says otherwise.” She rolled her tongue against the bottom of her front teeth.

His grip on her arm got tighter as he pulled her flushed against him.

She could tell he was getting angry, as his eyes narrowed with rage as he glared at her, warning her to not test him. He smouldered with resentment at the sight of her, he knuckles turned white the harder his grip round her red wrist got.

“Get off!” She growled. She pulled her arm out of his grip but just as quickly as she got out his fingers wrapped round her neck, slamming her into the glass picture on the wall behind her. She hissed in pain as the glass shattered around her. She was glad her hood was still on her head, given her a slight bit of protection of the broken glass.

“Why are you having a hissy fit? You’re the one who’s cheating on me.” Her voice was quieter as his fingers tightened round her neck. The cold metal of his rings made a shiver run down her spine. “You think this is gonna force me to love you?” She chuckled lowly.

“Shut up.” He brought his face closer to her, voice full of venom but Kasey just threw him a caustic look.

“You pathetic hits don’t scare me Jordan. I’ve gone through way worst than a few slaps on the wrists.” She kicked him in the knee, forcing him to let her go as he doubled over in pain.

She rushed out, climbing into her car, but before she could drive off she saw the girl that was once in his bed storming out. Kasey, deciding to be the better person, drove up to her.

“Want a lift home?” She asked her, voice as smooth as it could be due to her just being strangled. She nodded and climbed into the passenger seat with a small “sorry” and “thank you.”

She spluttered out her excuses, which Kasey dismissed and told her it was easier to deal with knowing the girl was there. Kasey noticed hand marks across her upper body, her eyes were still watery, causing more of her mascara to run down her cheeks. Her dress was wrinkled up and Kasey thinks she saw her shoes on the wrong feet.

“Did he hurt you?” Kasey asked, sparing a glance at the girl who was trying to untangle her knotted hair with her fingers.

“I asked him too…I’m kind of into that shit.” Kasey gave a weak nod as she continued to look at the road, headlights of cars passing by occasionally signed into her eyes. “Just take a left here, please.”

And Kasey did so, dropping her off as she apologised before leaving to go into her house. Kasey drove to the closest shop, making sure the marks round her neck and arm was hidden. She brought a small bottle of foundation and concealer. She wasn’t one to wear make-up, causing her to struggle on what to buy to cover the bruises. But after finding one that matched her slightly tanned skin-tone, she jogged back to her car and covered up the marks on her neck and wrist.

She was driving again. She didn’t exactly know where, but she was just driving. Her mind was blank, and her voice was dry. It was like the his fingers were still wrapped tightly round her throat.

She pulled up into a driveway. A driveway she has only pulled up to once. She didn’t know why she was here, but she was. She climbed out of her Land Rover, locking the door behind her. Her sweaty hands were tucked into her mint green hoodie, and she nervously bit her lip in fear that the other person would notice what she was trying to hide. She started to breath more heavily at the thought of them finding out. Maybe she should just turn back and go…they were probably sleeping.

But instead she unconsciously knocked five rapids knocks…her signature knock.

“Kasey?” The voice questioned, as they looked at the girl who was biting her lip. They still had the same smile they always had and something in Kasey warmed up at the feeling of their positivity.

But this person didn’t know that was her signature knock because if they did, they wouldn’t have said her name as a question.

“I-I didn’t know where else to go. He…he-” She fumbled over her words, but the person in front of her just shook their head softly and brought her into a hug.

“Shhh. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” His hand brushed her hair as he muttered comforting words to her. She didn’t even know she was crying until she felt his shirt soaking up under her.

“Dad?” Another familiar voice called. “Is that Kasey? Is she okay?”

“Go to room and just play a video game for a bit.” The male told his child, who hesitantly went.

Kasey pushed away slightly, realising that other people have lives and families of their own to be busy with. They didn’t have time for someone like her who was incapable to live the way everyone else did – with a family of their own.

“I-Isn’t he meant to be in bed? Isn’t it school tomorrow? Oh, I shouldn’t have came here. I don’t know why I did but I shouldn’t have. You guys were probably getting ready for bed or something and I just interrupted and-” Kasey sputtered out excuses and apologises but the man was having none of it

“Hey, hey, hey, you’re not interrupting anything. It’s a Friday, remember? I’m also letting him stay up a bit longer as yesterday was hectic.”

“I’m being a burden to you Eddie.” She whispered, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

Eddie. She went to Eddie’s. Not Buck’s. Not her best friend’s house, but the new guy’s house.

“You will never be a burden to me.” He told her softly, pushing a strand of hair out of her red, puffy face, tucking it behind her ear. She sniffled as she nodded slightly, and Eddie knew that she didn’t believe his words. “Would you like a drink?”

“Umm…just a water please.” He nodded.

“Have you eaten?”

“No.” She answered, swinging her hands around slightly. She’s never been inside his house before, only just outside of it when she and Buck dropped him and Christopher off yesterday, after the earthquake. She didn’t even think she remembered the street name or house number. But here she was. Standing inside his warm, comforting house. She moved around slightly, looking at the pictures dotted around the house. All of them were either of him and Christopher, Christopher alone, and pictures of who she guessing was his family. Many art works of Christopher’s were also round the house.

“Chris is quite the artist. I know that he told me yesterday he likes the subject. But I didn’t think he’d be this good.” She said out loud, examining the artworks in awe. Her and Christopher got along like a house on fire. She really enjoyed talking to the kid as they sat in the backseats together, him laughing and talking wildly about the things he leant and how crazy the earthquake was.

And when Eddie and Christopher got home, Christopher was just non-stop talking about how cool, funny and nice she was. Asking him when they’ll be able to see her again and everything. And Eddie was pleased that they got on really well as she was becoming a close friend to him in such a short time.

And seeing her come here when she was upset, warmed his heart slightly at the thought that she trusted him enough to seek comfort. She didn’t go to anyone else in the 118 who she would have known for years. She went to him; someone she’s hasn’t known for a very long time.

“Yeah, I honestly don’t know where he gets it from.”

“You know, having a talent in art has nothing to do with genetics, it’s actually built up in interest. It’s a skill that is learnt. Like playing a music instrument you have to have an interest in it to build up the skill for it. Art is exactly the same.” She rambled along, eyes not leaving the different art works. “Is that a dog?”

Eddie was still looking at the back of Kasey’s head. He was caught by surprise by that random fact, he knew that the young firefighter knew her stuff, but he didn’t know that she knew stuff like that. But then again they haven’t really talked about their childhoods, meaning he didn’t know what her school life was like.

He blinked a few times then shook his head to get out of his thoughts.

“Yeah…yeah he drew it because he saw a cute dog and got inspiration to draw it.”

Kasey nodded and continued to look around, realising that Eddie didn’t mind. But her looking soon stopped when Eddie placed to firm hands on her shoulder, causing her to flinch slightly, as he guided her to the kitchen table.

Eddie knocked the small flinch, but he thought that as she was lost in looking at Christopher’s work she didn’t hear him coming up. So, with that thought he didn’t think to much about the small flinch.

“What’s this?” Kasey questioned as she saw food along with her water on the table.

“You said you didn’t eat so I warmed up the leftovers we had from dinner.” He pulled out a chair for her to sit on. “You really should have come by earlier.” He joked, not really knowing why she was here. He was going to ask her why she came by in tears, but he choose not to ask just yet, as he wanted her to just rest in a safe environment and look after herself before she tells him (if she wants to) what happened.

Kasey looked over at the pasta bake, humming slightly at the taste of food.

“Chris can come out if he wants, I don’t mind.” Kasey smirked at Eddie as he scratched the back of his head. And by hearing his name, Christopher leaves his room with a smile.

“Are you okay, Kasey?” He sympathised. “You were crying earlier. What happened?”

“Christopher.” Eddie looked at his son with wide eyes.

“Oh, so that’s you dad voice.” Kasey nodded with a smug look before it disappeared when he gave her a dad look. “And that’s your dad look, gotcha.”

Christopher giggled as he sat in the seat in front of her, and Eddie decided to take a seat next to the girl.

“I’m just going through a rough patch, little man.” Kasey told him, not wanting him to know the full picture.

Eddie looked at the side of her face with raised eyebrows, thinking that there was more to it as she seemed alright these past few days. But he couldn’t judge much as he hasn’t known her for that long.

“I was looking at your artwork earlier and they are really good.” Kasey praised Christopher after she shallowed the mouthful of pasta. “And you,” she pointed her fork at Eddie, “did not cook this.”

“It’s one of the only things he can cook.” Grinned Christopher.

“Well, it’s more than what I can do. Never really had time to learn how to cook as I was in the army for nearly 5 years.”

“5 years!” Chris said in slight shock. “That’s so long.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How old were you when you got sent out?” Eddie asked, leaning on his hand as he paid attention to his friend.

“I was eighteen…I actually got the call on my eighteenth birthday and then two weeks later I’m in Afghanistan.” She took another bite of her food. “Then on the 17th of December 2016 I came back and moved to LA and became a firefighter.”

“You were so young.” Eddie muttered quietly.

“We all are.” She responded just as quietly. “But I don’t regret in going. I was doing the right thing.”

“Yeah, me too.” Eddied nodded. “That’s why I’m now learning how to cook as it’s just me and Christopher now.”

“I just usually steal the food Bobby cooks and take it home with me. Or Buck cooks sometimes and we just have dinner together. Another reason why I still haven’t learnt how to cook.”

“Maybe I should start doing that.” Eddie thought, it would put less worry on him of what he was going to feed Christopher.

“That’s plenty there for everyone.” She turned her head back to the young boy. “Are you going to watch the new Avengers film?”

“I want to.” He takes a look at his dad. “But I don’t know if dad could take me.”

“Why not.” She frowned at Eddie, who holds his hands up in surrender at her puppy dog eyes. “Why can’t Chris watch Endgame?”

“I don’t know my work schedule for when it comes out.”

“Just ask for a few hours off and then take little man out to see the film.”

“But I don’t want to be seen as unreliable to the team.” He looked down at the table, drumming his fingers into the oak table.

“You really think we’re going to see you like that?” Questioned Kasey. “It be a few hours; we’ll be alright and won’t see you as anything less. Instead we’ll see how much of a good dad you are.” She gives a brief look at Christopher before looking back at Eddie who slowly looked up at her. “You work might be important, but Chris should always come first.”

“I know.”

Kasey gave a slight nod before looking back at Chris, not wanting him to think she wasn’t paying attention to him. “You know, Thor might be my favourite superhero.”

And for the rest of the night until Chris went to Bed they laughed, joked and played video games.

And within that time Kasey forgot about her bruised neck and wrist. She forgot all about Jordan. She forgot it all. And all she could remember was how happy she felt when she was with Chris and Eddie.

It was now just her and Eddie watching a film. She would’ve left already but he convinced her to stay the night, saying it was too late to drive back now. And Kasey hesitated before taking up on his offer.

She was glad she gave Bear to Buck before heading to Jordan’s.

“I broke up with him.” Kasey muttered.

“Pardon?” Eddie paused the TV, looking at the girl who sat on the other side of the sofa.

“Jordan, I broke up with him before I came here. Found him sleeping with another girl, then we had a bad fight and by the end of it I took the girl home before coming here.”

“He’s a dick.” Eddie sighed; he fisted the cousins of his sofa tightly as angry thoughts rushed through his head. How could he cheat on a girl as perfect as she? He would treat her like the queen she is. “You deserve someone better.”

“He wasn’t the worst person I’ve dated.” Kasey chuckled. “My relationships have always been a mess, so if you know someone who will be that someone better for me, please point me in his direction.”

Eddie paused, he couldn’t say himself, she probably just saw him as a friend, her colleague.

“You took the girl he cheated on you with home?” He asked after some moment thoughts.

“Yeah.”

And when morning came, the two firefighters found themselves sprawled across the coach. Eddie laying on his back, arm wrapped round Kasey who laid on his chest. They spoke nothing of it when they waked up and Eddie and Christopher got Kasey involved with their morning routine before dropping Christopher off at his Abuela’s, who was a very kind women in Kasey’s opinion, and then went to work together, and no one thought anything of it when they saw them two enter the firehouse, thinking that they must’ve just met each other outside.

But the two Diaz’s and the Strand will remember that night as nothing but a good memory. A night full of nothing but laughter and happiness.

And no one but those three will know how much they laughed that night.

TODAY

“I guess I just came to my senses."

“Hey, I want to thank you for not coming straight to Texas like you said you would. I know you wanted to be there for me after I overdosed, but I really appreciate you listening to me and staying here. I just wanted to forget about it.” TK rambled.

“You know, no one else will understand better than me.” Kasey said comfortingly.

“I know…but I kind of need you to come to Texas with me.”

“When?” She grinned, eager to see TK’s firehouse.

“The flight I’m going to be catching later today.” He winced as he looked at Kasey’s face drop. “I’ve already brought a for you.”

“TK! I-I can’t I have work and Bear to look after. It’s too late notice for me to just come down. I mean what could be so important for me to drop everything just to come to Texas to see where you work and-”

“Dad has cancer.”

Have you ever heard such bad new before where you could physically feel your stomach drop. Where it feels like everything around you just suddenly disappeared and it just you in nothing but darkness. Where the only sound you could hear was the harsh beats of your heart. Where you throat feel dryer and your chest becomes tighter?

That was exactly how Kasey was feeling right now.

“W-what type?” She cleared her throat, not wanting to show any fear.

“1B for lung cancer.”

“How long?”

“He’s known since we left New York. I found out before I came here, thinking it be best if I told you face-to-face as I didn’t want you to do anything stupid.”

Kasey nodded and with a slightly shaky hand she picked up her phone to call someone.

“Bobby?”

“Kas? What are you calling for? Aren’t you meant to be spending time with your brother?” He asked and Kasey knew he was in the middle of cooking as she heard the sound of knife chopping something.

Kasey took a shaky breath out.

“Are you okay?” Bobby asked in concern as he heard the way she breathed.

“I need a few days off. I-I know this is late notice and all but…” she paused as she tried to find the right words to say. “I just found out that my dad has lung cancer.” Her voice was quiet, but Bobby heard it.

“Kasey I’m so sor-”

“Please don’t…I don’t want any sympathy.” She begged.

“Kasey you can go to Texas right now as long as you take some deep breathes for me.”

“Alright…can you ask…can you ask Buck to look after Bear please. He has spare keys and its his choice whether he stays at my place or not. Y-you can tell him that he can stay in my room whilst his sister stays in the spare…I-I don’t mind.”

“Kasey, breath please.”

“Right, right.” She took one deep breath in and held it before slowly releasing it. She repeated this a few times whilst she waited for Bobby to reply, knowing he won’t talk until he’s convinced her breathing is back in check.

“Yeah, I’ll tell him.”

“Thank you.”

AUSTIN, TEXAS

“Next time Kas, you can come with us to do some calls.” Owen told his daughter as he laid back in his chair.

Kasey’s leg was bouncing up and down as she looked around the hospital room.

She never liked hospitals whether it’s for her or someone else.

Hospitals were never one for good moments. So, why should she enjoy being in one?

“Yeah, I kind of bummed out that I missed the hot strippers.” Kasey joked.

“Course you were,” TK laughed as he jabbed Kasey’s side.

And then silence overtook them and the young Strands were left to deal with their nerves. Hands rubbing down their overthinking faces. Legs bouncing up and down. TK fiddling the small bottle of oil in his hand. Whilst Kasey blew the strand of hair in her face, fingers tapping the side of her chair.

“Kids.” Owen muttered making them snap their heads to him. Owen was leaning back in a chair, Pulse-Oximeters were attached to his fingertips that then leaded to the monitor next to him that recorded everything.

“Are you okay?” Kasey quickly asked, worried that something with the chemo just went suddenly went wrong.

“You need something?” TK asked, voice full of worries. “I got peppermint oil,” he held out the bottle he was fiddling with towards Owen, “or, uh, saltines.” He went to look through the rucksack next to him. “Ginger chews?”

“Headphones?” Kasey asked as she saw a pair in the bag. “Wouldn’t blame you, it help block out the horrible sounds of a hospital.”

“You two are freaking out.”

“Am not.” They both said at the same time.

“I don’t freak out, dad.” Lied Kasey.

“We’re not freaking out.” TK added as he hold the headphones out to his dad. Owen looked at him weirdly. “I’m kind of freaking out.” He admitted, “but so is Kasey.”

“Only because we’re in a hospital.” She muttered quietly, in fear that if any doctors heard her they would go evil and cut her open.

“Kasey you didn’t have to be here…I know hospitals aren’t your thing.”

“I want to be here.” She told him, but her eyes were looking elsewhere.

“I was scared the first time too.”

“Don’t blame you.” Kasey mumbled. “Chemo’s pretty scary.”

“I really am thankful for you both being here.”

“Of course.” The twins responded at the same time. Kasey eyes were now looking at her dad. “You need us, so here we are.” Kasey’s said as her fingers continued to tap on the armrest of her chair.

“I can’t believe you’ve been dealing with everything on your own.” TK sympathised as he leaned forwards to rest his elbows onto his knees. “To juggle it with the job, that’s insane.”

“It’s been a lot, but…” Owen began before stopping when he saw an older man enter the room. “Oof.” He closed his eyes as he breathed out a sigh.

“You nauseous?” The twins questioned, sitting up taller.

Owen nodded as he took a quick glance at the man approaching. “I will be when the advice starts.”

“Captain Strand, good to see ya.” The older man approached, waving his hand high with a wide smile.

“He seems a little to happy to be in a hospital.” Kasey mumbled to her brother, who elbowed her once again.”

“How you doing?” Owen asked as he shook the man’s hand.

“All right. Good to see ya.”

“This is TK, my boy,” he pointed to him before moving to Kasey, who shrunk into her seat. “And that is Kasey, the troublemaker of the two.”

“She seems shy to me.” The man chuckled.

“Trust me, she’s not, she just doesn’t like hospitals very much.” Owen laughed along with the man who was a stranger to the young firefighters.

Kasey turned to look at her brother, who was standing.

‘Was she meant to stand to?’ she questioned to herself as she looked from her brother to the man.

“Oh, so you finally came clean. Good for you.” He turned to face TK and when Kasey realised he was introducing himself, she rose to her feet. “Howdy. Wayne Gettinger.”

He shook TK’s hand’s first. “Hi.”

“You got your pop’s QB-1 looks.” He said as he squinted his eyes at TK to get a better look at him. “Lucky boy.” He gave a look to Owen.

He then moved to the younger Strand. “Hey.” She shook his hand.

“My, that is a mightier grip you have there.” He then examined her. “So, the whole families good looking, huh?”

“We get that a lot.” Kasey admitted, but then realised that probably sounded too cocky.

The twins sat back down as Wayne moved to his seat for his chemotherapy session. “Oh, hey, let’s do the left side today, Jan. I wanna visit with my friends, okay?” He spoke to the nurse before bringing his attention back to the twins. “So, TK, Kasey, you local? Uh, or are you just coming to visit the old man?”

“TK and I work together.” Owen told him. “Kasey works for the LAFD.”

“LA, huh? That’s far.”

“Er, only about a three-hour flight journey, sir.” Kasey said.

“Both firefighter’s then?”

“Yes, sir.” TK nodded, smiling proudly at the family job.

“Boy, the trouble you must get up to, huh?” He chuckles. “LA, lock up your sons. Austin, lock up your daughters.” He laughs once more, and Kasey looks at him weirdly.

She definitely wants to get out the hospital now.

Owen, who peeked at Kasey’s discomfort with one eye, laughed quietly to himself, before resting both eyes again to listen to the conversation around him.

“Actually, I play for the other team.” TK corrected.

“Oh.” He was taken back. “‘Lock up your sons’ don’t sound quite right, does it?”

“It does, considering you just said it for me.” Kasey scoffed.

“Ah, hell, I don’t judge.” Wayne told the three Strands.

‘Good, or we were going to have a problem.’ Kasey said to herself.

“Important thing is, we play when we can.” He said more to TK than Kasey. “Isn’t that right, Captain?”

“Huh?” Owen opened his eyes to turn to look at Wayne.

“Cause Lord knows we don’t get out on the playing field much.”

“Uh, speak for yourself, Couch. I get on the field plenty.”

“Ew.” Kasey uttered in disgust.

“Oh, now, you don’t have to puff up for me. I mean there’s no shame in it.” Wayne reassured Owen with a smile.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about right now.”

“Wait.” TK sighs, pointing his finger at the two older men. “What are you talking about.”

“Oh, poor TK, innocent as ever.” Kasey dramatically said, head resting in one of her hands that is propped up by her elbow on the armrest.

“Well, the treatment that we get here can…” Wayne sighs. “Well, it can, uh…make the ‘little soldier,’ let’s say, um…Take an extended furlough.”

“Please don’t refer it to ‘little soldier.’” Kasey cringed at the term whilst TK just laughed at what Wayne was trying to get to.

Owen head snaps forwards to look at his kids.

“There’s nothing wrong with my little solider.”

“Dad, please, don’t call it that.”

“Perfectly…healthy and active.”

“Ew, please stop, I’m begging you.” Kasey’s eyes were closed as she pictured herself somewhere else.

“He’s a patriot…always ready to stand at attention.”

“Oh god.” Kasey clenched her closed eyes.

She definitely wanted to be somewhere else than here.

She wouldn’t even care if an evil doctor came to take her to surgery.

Anywhere be better than here.

“Yeah, may seem like that now, but…” Wayne sighs again. “Don’t be too shocked if a day comes real soon that it turns out to be deserter.”

TK was having a great time, laughing at his dad’s and younger sister’s struggle.

“Okay, I’ll take those headphones.” Owen said to his kids and Kasey practically threw them at him, before shrinking more into her chair, just begging to disappear and go far away from here.

A/N: This was originally going to be longer, but I chose to cut it in half, but I'll probably put up the next bit tomorrow, hopefully.

-Unedited-

~BlueAthens~

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 ◁ II ▷𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡

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blueathens · 3 years

Text

Coup De Foudre

Act 1, Scene 1

Song: Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa Quote: 'They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops.'

TW: Mention of Attempted Suicide, Drugs, Injections, Blood

Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

Ring.

"Hello?" The girl said as she pressed the green button on her phone, not looking at the ID of the caller, as she was too busy getting her bag out from the backseat of her car.

"Kasey! Are you working yet?"

"Dad? Not yet, I'm just outside of it, but I've got some minutes to spare before my shift starts."

"TK will probably tell you everything soon, like he normally does, but he wanted me to warn you beforehand of what happened and how sorry he is."

Kasey closed the car door at the sound of her dad's stressed voiced. She could imagine his hand rubbing down his face as if he was tired, but she was surprised he hasn't started sighing yet.

"Dad? You're scaring me." She told him as she leant against her black Land Rover, her blue bag that contained her uniform was on one of her shoulders and her right hand tapped her thigh as she waited in anticipation of what her dad, more like TK, wanted to tell her.

"TK overdosed last night."

Those four words made the air from her lungs disappear. He promised he wouldn't do it again. He promised her and the their parents that he wouldn’t go near them again. But somewhere in Kasey didn’t care that he broke his promise, that wasn’t important to her right now, all she wanted to know was that he was okay, that he wasn’t alone, that he was with someone right now who is telling him everything is going to be okay, holding him, and making him know it isn’t his fault.

Kasey wished that she was there, making sure TK was alright as she wasn’t there for him last time, she didn’t want him to think that she didn’t care, when really she cares a lot and just wants him to be okay.

Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened once more before closing again. She didn’t know what to say, what to ask…maybe that was due to fear as she would have to find out why he did it, why he overdosed again, and Kasey worried that it had something to do with them…she worried that maybe she didn’t protect her older brother enough…Kasey was worried for him, and Owen knew that the moment silence overtook Kasey.

"Is he okay?"

"TK is in the car right now and we're heading to-"

"Is TK okay?" She repeated herself, stressing each word to make it clear how important it was for her to know if he was fine.

"I'm fine Kas." When Kasey heard TK's voice it was like she could breathe again.

She blew out a deep breath, nodding as she kicked the ground before clicking her car keys to make sure the doors were locked before heading inside the firehouse. But she paused, hesitating slightly to think of what to ask next. She didn’t want TK to think she was disappointed or angry at him, that was the last thing she wanted him to think when it was untrue. She wasn’t feeling any negative emotion towards him, to her maybe, but to him she could only feel worry.

“TK,” she utters, pausing again to think of the right words to say to him, and she bit her lips when she heard of him say ‘yeah’ on the other line. She repeated his name once more, speaking it softly like a mother would to a child who scrapped their knees.

She paused once more before asking him something else.

"Why you do it TK?" Her voice still wasn't demanding, instead it was calm and gentle like turtledove, and behind that softness was curiosity, she needed to know what she didn’t protect her brother from well enough...and despite it not being her fault, Kasey felt like it was.

"You was doing so well. You are doing so well. But - I just thought you stopped." And her voice stayed gentle, not an ounce of disappointment was heard within it, and this soothed TK a lot. Out of everybody, his younger sister was the most important thing to him as they went through every happiness and every pain together. And he also knew that she would understand the whole situation better than anyone else, not just because she understood him, but because of her past.

"I proposed to him."

"Alex?" Kasey waved at Buck when she saw him talking to the team, which lead to the entire team turning around to see who he was beaming at, only realising it was their missing piece who they also smiled and waved at. Kasey leant against the wall as she waited for TK to continue. She heard him take a deep, shaky breath out and it was like she could feel his pain.

"And he was in love with someone else."

Kasey head hit the wall behind her, making her wince slightly and the team to look at her with confused looks which she just replied with a thumbs up. She took a deep breath out and ran her hand through her brown locks, she closed her eyes, cursing herself for not taking the time to meet Alex properly, to make sure he was a good guy and wouldn’t hurt her brother.

Yet here they are – and Kasey did feel like all of this was her fault, it was her job to protect her brother, something she vowed to herself when they were seven, and here she was years later facing all the times she let him down.

"I always hated the guy." She told him with a small smile at her lips. She heard the two male Strands laugh. They knew that she never liked the guy – TK knew this by the way of Kasey hardly coming down to visit them and the few times she did she only put up with him for TK. "I get to punch him right? I find him next time I'm visiting you up in New York and - did you say you were in the car?"

"Don't worry the speakers on." Owen reassured his daughter.

"Where you going?"

"Texas."

And Kasey was about to reply before she looked up and caught eyes with someone new.

And when his eyes caught hers he could feel his breath hitch. She looked away but his eyes stayed on her figure that stood by the wall, near the entry of the firehouse, whilst she talked on the phone. He felt his heart skip several beats when they eyes locked onto each other, even if it was just for a second. That second felt longer than it was. And he knew that they were too far away from each other, but he knew that she was beautiful. She was indescribably beautiful. And he felt ridiculous for feeling like this. He hasn't even spoken to the girl, nor seen her longer than a few seconds. But his hands felt sweaty, and his heart was thumping harder and faster than it has ever done before. His mind went blank, and he felt dizzy. And the butterflies in his stomach has never fluttered as powerful as it is right now.

Coup de foudre: Love at first sight.

They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops. You'll never forget the moment you met the person you love. The smallest details will still be vivid in your mind, and they'll likely stay there forever. It's like time stopped, and you were able to take this photograph in your brain to remember years later. And never has any two quotes ever fitted so well with the way someone felt.

Because when Eddie saw her, time stopped.

And this has never happened to him before. Not even with his ex-wife. To be exact the feelings he was experiencing was never this wild for her. And this was scaring Eddie because why is a girl he doesn't even know making him feel like he's on top of the world?

Eddie didn't believe it was love at first sight as he was one of those people who didn't believe in it, he find it ridiculous really . But when he looks at her from across the room, his belief feels stupid. But he knew it wasn't love, not yet at least, because the reason he didn't believe in love at first sight was because he needed to know the person. He saw her smile a perfect smile and his stomach fluttered once more. And his heart whispered to him...her...and maybe it wasn't exactly love...not just yet...but it was a sudden attraction to her...to know everything about her. To be the reason to make her happy. And maybe it was ridiculous, but Eddie Diaz was infatuated with Kasey Strand without even knowing her.

Maybe it was love at first sight to some people...but for Eddie this was attraction at first sight. The attraction before the fall.

It was like she was a magnet pulling him in and he prayed that it would never repel.

They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops. But eventually time catches up and you come back to reality. And in reality Eddie only looked at her for a few seconds or else it would have been weird. But it felt as if he looked at her forever, and yet it still wasn’t long enough.

He looked back down, adjusting his shirt to perfection for his first day with a shake of his head and a small smile.

Kasey coughed slightly when she looked away from the man she caught eyes with for a second before looking elsewhere, hand to the back of her neck as she rubbed it slightly whilst her brows furrowed in thought of what they just said.

"Texas? As in Cowboy Land?"

"Yep."

"I can picture you two wearing cowboy hats."

"Does it suit us?"

"Of course it does, Strands suit everything." TK laughed out.

"Why you going there?" Kasey question, putting her hand down, before turning to her side so her shoulder leant against the wall.

"You left New York for a fresh start and so are we." Owen said to her.

"It's closer to you as well, only under 3 hours roughly." TK piped in.

"I think a fresh start be good for you." Kasey said sincerely,.

"TK's getting therapy twice a week." Owen started and Kasey immediately closed her eyes knowing where this was going. "Are you still going to-"

"No I'm not dad."

"Why not? You've been through-"

"I just can't, okay!" She sighed before continued. "Look, I need to go. I'll call you later. I love you both."

"We love you too Kas." TK said with a smile.

"Kas-"

"Bye...bye...going now...bye." She quickly hang up and stuffed her phone into her jean pocket, rubbed her face, sighing, and then moved towards where the Buck was waiting for her.

"Who were you speaking to?" Buck asked as his arm immediately went round her shoulder.

"My dad and brother."

"Are they doing okay?" His small fell from his usual smile to a frown when he noticed doleful look upon her face, no sight of the smile she gave him when she entered.

"Yeah," Kasey nodded. "They're going to better after the big move from New York to Texas."

"Moving?" He questioned. "Why?"

"Fresh start."

"Hey," Buck quickly changed the conversation when he felt her go stiff under his arm. "I dropped another half percent."

"Good for you." Kasey asked as her mind was already distracted by the memory of the new guy. The new guy her whole team, except her and Buck were talking too. "Who's the pretty guy?"

"That's Eddie Diaz, he's new to the team." Buck answered her, slightly annoyed that they were talking about him.

"And?"

"Top of his class. Station Six were dying to have him, but Bobby convinced him to join us."

"He must be good if he got Mr Bobby Nash and Station Six fighting for him."

"Apparently he was an Army Medic." Buck said gruffly. "And I told those three idiots that we already have a solider."

"Yeah, but I wasn't an Army Medic, Buck."

"He only got a Silver Star. Whilst you got that and the Distinguished Service Cross."

"Buck, this isn't a competition. A Silver Star is a big deal. Hell, a medal or no medal if you serve your country that is a big deal." Kasey told him as she slapped his chest as his audacity to moan about that before moving forward so his arm was no longer wrapped round her.

"But-"

"Kasey! Buck! Come meet Eddie. Eddie, these two idiots are Kasey," Bobby pointed at the girl who walked into the locker room, one hand tightly gripping the label of her duffel bag whilst her other moved to wave at him with a sweet smile. "And that's Buck." He didn't bother to smile or wave; all he did was nod his head to greet Eddie, but he only did that due to Kasey elbowing him.

"Together they are the equivalent to Dumb and Dumber." Chimney added with a smirk.

"That might be the nicest thing you ever said about us." Kasey sarcastically said as she placed a hand on her heart, tipped her head to the side and smiled at Chimney.

"Kasey here was also in the army too-"

And before Bobby could further introduce Kasey the bell rang, and the group looked at each other before making their way to the fire trucks.

"Good luck New Guy." Kasey smiled slightly at him before climbing into the red vehicle and putting on her headphones.

"So, Silver Star, huh?" Chimney asked Eddie with a smirk as he leaned forwards, arms resting on his knees as he spoke to the newbie.

"Yeah." Kasey noticed that he seemed slightly disinterested in the question, like he wanted to be asked anything but that. And she could understood why. She was like that too when people brought up Afghanistan and the medals she achieved.

"You save a platoon or anything?"

"No, no, nothing like that. Uh, just a convey" He turned to look at the girl next to him. "I heard that you were a solider too."

"Yeah," Kasey smiled at him, "fought on the Frontlines in Afghanistan. I was definitely no Army Medic."

"No, but you are a solider who got a Silver Star and the Distinguished Service Cross." Buck boasted about his best friend. Kasey exhaled as she kicked him in the shin - which caused him to hiss in pain at.

"Evan." She warned him through gritted teeth.

"Distinguished Service Cross?" Eddie raised an eyebrow at her. "That's very impressive."

"And a Silver Cross." Coughed Buck, leading into another kick in the shin.

"I was just doing my job like everyone else. The medals mean nothing to me, their just something just sits at the bottom of my drawer under all my clothes." Kasey laughed slightly, as she fidgeted in her seat.

"Yeah, I feel the same way. Never worn the medal in my life and keep it hidden in my drawers."

"Eddie, uh, you heard about the hot firefighter calendar?"

Chimney smirked at Buck, Hen grinned at Buck, Kasey winked at Buck and all Buck did was bit his tongue to hold back any crass comments.

"Sorry, for what?"

"It's for charity."

"Yeah, you should totally do it, considering your hot and everything." Kasey said bluntly.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Buck pointed a glare at Kasey. He wasn't liking that his best friend and the rest of the team were so interested in the new guy. Before him, it was Buck and Kasey. Best friends till the end. Always having one another's backs till the end. Them always joking around. Them always talking. Them being the troubling duo. Them being Kasey and Buck. Buck and Kasey. But seeing his best friend talking to the new guy made him slightly jealous and scared that he would lose this friendship. Their friendship was one of the best things that has ever happened to him, along with becoming a firefighter. And he couldn't lose her.

When Eddie heard that Kasey had a boyfriend, he ducked his head down slightly, first because of the cheeks blushing at what the beautiful girl said to him, but now to bit his lip and he silently sighs to himself. 'Course a perfect girl like her has a boyfriend.'

Coup de foudre: Love at first sight.

At first it's never easy. But when is love ever easy.

But this wasn't love, not just yet... this was attraction at first sight.

Eddie looked back up at Kasey and she shook her head at Buck.

"It's complicated...but hey, I was just pointing out the obvious, everyone here was thinking the same thing."

"True." The whole team (except Buck) agreed with Kasey who smirked in triumph.

"So, is your full name 'Eduardo?'" Buck finally spoke to the new guy.

"No." Eddie shook his head.

"People ever call you 'Diaz'?"

"Not if they want me to respond."

"Something's got to give...We got...we got Cap, Hen, Chimney, Buck and the idiot over there." He pointed at Kas.

"Hey!" She gasped as she looked at him with offence.

"Were you or were you not the one who walked into a glass door!"

"How was I supposed to know it was made out of glass!"

"Are they always like this?" Eddie asked Hen, Chimney and Bobby.

"Always." They answered.

"Maybe if your eyes were open you would be able to tell!" Teased Buck.

"They were open! It's not my fault that glass is transparent!" Kasey bickered back.

"There was a handle!"

"I didn't see that!"

"Because your eyes were closed!" Laughed Buck.

"They weren't closed!" She paused. "I don't think they were..." she muttered to herself. "...Anyways, they call me Kas...usually." Kasey told Eddie.

"We can't just call you 'Eddie'" Buck told him.

"Can't tell if he's being serious or not." Said Eddie with slight confusion.

"I like to always operate under the assumption that nothing he says is serious." Chimney joked which made the team chuckle slightly. "Same goes for you Kas, especially after you asked me if I think humans will ever be able to walk on the sun."

Kasey stopped laughing, tilting her head to look at Chimney with the look of ‘are-you-serious?’

"You seriously asked that?" Bobby asked her from the front seat with a teasing smile.

"It's a serious question!" Buck said in defence for Kasey.

"See at least someone gets it." Kasey pointed at Buck who grinned at her, happy that his best friend was back and not talking to the new guy.

"Because you both share the same idiotic brain." Laughed Chimney.

"The air nozzle is embedded in his ass cheek." The older employee told Bobby as they walked into the motor shop.

"How unfortunate." Muttered Kasey as she and Buck walked side to side. The reason for this was because Eddie was at first standing next to the girl until Buck came over, put his arm round Kasey's shoulder and directed her far away from Eddie as possible.

She was his best friend, not the new guy's.

"I shut it off, but I was afraid to move him."

"Okay, Hector, can you hear me?" Bobby asked the inflating man.

Buck and Kasey shared a look of widen eyes when they saw the state the man was in.

The inflated man raised his thumb indicating that he can hear them.

"All right, hang in there, buddy. All right, let's get him on his side." Instructed Bobby. Eddie, Kasey, Buck and Bobby all helped to put the man onto his side. "Maintain pressure on the wound." Hector screams in pain. "Okay. Easy, easy."

"It's a hundred pounds per square inch of air pumped through his entire body." Buck told the team as he read of the machine.

"Breathing's shallow, heart's racing." Hen listed as she listens to his lungs and heart through the stethoscope. "Air's filled his stomach," she lightly touched the blotted stomach before making it way to his chest, "his chest, even behind his eyelids. I'm more concerned about the space around his heart and lungs."

"Okay, Eddie you start a nasal cannula. Chimney get him some morphine." Instructed Bobby.

"I'm on it." Chimney placed the injection into the blotted arm of Hector's. "It's like trying to inject a needle into a stone."

"The pressure's pushing everything out." Eddie said as he struggled to put the nasal cannula into Hector's nose. "I can't even get air through the nostril."

"Jugular venous distention, tachycardia, hypotension, diminished breath, we're looking at tension pneumothorax."

"Could we pop him like a balloon?" Kasey asked which only received looks of confusion from her teammates. "Like when you pop a balloon you use a pen sometimes, so why can't we do something similar?"

Bobby waved his finger up and down at Kasey as he thought about it. "There is something like that. Buck, I need you to get a 14-gauage angiocath. We need to start decompressing the pleural cavity."

"All right, all right." Buck started to undo the man's shirt.

"Want me to help?" Eddie kindly offered.

"I got it." Buck replied stubbornly. First this new guy tries to steal his best friend and now his job? The audacity of the new guy is through the roof.

"Hang in there, Hector." Kasey said to comfort the swollen man.

"I'd go lower." Eddie told Buck as he hovered the needle by the man's heart.

"What? Um, no. Second intercostal space. Midclavicular line" Buck said in an obvious tone.

"The chest wall is thinner at the fifth intercostal at the anterior axillary line. There's a decreased chance of injuring any vital organs. I've – I've treated guys with collapsed lungs in combat.

"Do it." Urged Bobby.

Buck looked up to the girl who stood next to him. He knew he should take orders from Bobby as he's the captain. But it was more of an unconscious look as they both always do this, to see what the other person opinion on something was.

"Buck, please, just give the needle to Eddie." And with that Buck did what she said.

"Thank you." Eddie said as he went to do what he told everyone.

Buck looked up at Kasey like she betrayed him. "You know anything about this."

"I wasn't an Army Medic, Buck."

Inside Buck kind of wished that Kasey said something like "Duh," so he could rub it in Eddie's face, show him that they didn't need him. But she didn't know and that was something he couldn’t boast about.

"Can you help me out with the shirt?" And Buck did so after staring angrily at Eddie.

And Kasey watched Eddie with awe, she was still impressed that he knew that. But then she looked at Buck and saw his angry expression and her smile turned into a frown, and she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and he leaned his head against it.

And with that the air escaped and the man started to deflate as he gasped air in and out.

"That's it Hector. Breath nice and slow."

The crew looked at one another and then back at Eddie whilst he stared at the man on the ground. Even Buck had to agree it was a good call to make.

"I mean, he swelled up." One of the employers described as they pushed Hector out on a gurney.

"How you doing, Hector?" Chimney asked and in response he got Hector passing out gas. "Pressure's got to go somewhere."

"It always does." Agreed Hen.

"Hey, new guy," Kasey called as she jogged up to Eddie, "that was a good shout to make."

"Thanks," Eddie blushed slightly at the compliment. "Your idea was good as well, need better explanation, but you're the reason we knew what to do."

"Yeah, that explanation sucked." Giggled Kasey as she and Eddie walked side to side. "But if all honesty I think you'll be a great member of the team."

But Eddie couldn't reply as Kasey was already being pushed away by Buck.

"So, Texas huh?" Buck asked with one arm thrown over Kasey, pulling her into his side, and he sped up so they were away from Eddie.

"Yep."

"And when am I going to meet the family of my favourite person?"

"When am I going to meet yours?"

"First of all you don't want to meet my parents. Second of all I have no clue about my sister."

"Hey, can I tell you something?" Kasey asked as she pulled Buck away from entering the fire engine, stopping the pair of them in their tracks, placing both of her hands on his arms to turn him around, feeling the weight across her shoulders disappear.

"Anything."

"Buck, your my best friend...but can you cut the new guy some slack?"

"What? Are you saying that you actually like this guy?"

"I've barely spoken to him because you keep on pushing me away from him when I try to introduce myself!"

"You should be thanking me!" He yelled as he climbed into the red vehicle.

"Thanking you? We could be the three musketeers!"

"So sister alert." Buck said over the phone.

"Hmm." Kasey hummed as she ate her Pot Noodle, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder as she ate her dinner whilst watching cartoons quietly on the TV.

"Who are you talking to?" Kasey heard a female voice as the hand that was holding the chopsticks froze.

"Is that-"

"That was my sister, Maddie." Buck breaths out, a small making it’s way onto his face at hearing Kasey’s reaction.

Kasey gasped, a smile making it’s way onto her face as she raised herself to tuck one of her legs under her.

"We were fricking talking about her earlier today."

"Freaky right."

"Is that Kasey Strand?" Maddie asked Buck as he held his phone to his ear.

"She knows my name." Kasey said happily. If this was a cartoon Buck could imagine her eyes to be shimmering with those animated sparkles in them, showing off the happiness the character embraced.

"The best friend?"

"Buck, you've been talking about me?" She teased before it drops when she came to some realisation. "Oh no, you've been talking about me?"

"Hey, hey, Maddie give me the phone back." She heard Buck say along with sounds of movement of fast footsteps and giggling.

"Is this really Kasey?" Maddie joyfully asked.

"Is this really Maddie?"

"You have no idea how much I want to meet you. Buck always talked about you in the letters he sent me, and he was talking a lot about you earlier."

"What did he say." Kasey muttered as she rubbed her face, dreading what he could have possible of said.

"So many amazing things. You mean a lot to him, you know?" Maddie bit her lip slightly. "But he did tell me something...the blueberry incident?"

"No." Groaned Kasey.

"It's cute." Maddie giggled over the phone.

"Shut up." Laughed Kasey.

"Umm...hello can I have my best friend back please? She's already been stolen enough from me already today." She heard Buck whine in the background.

"Ugh, not this again."

Kasey hopped down the stairs but came to a sudden halt at hearing a frustrated Buck yell out, "we're not broken up."

She slowly walked down the last few steps before making her way to the locker room, after giving a smile and a nod to Bobby when she noticed him standing by the stairs. She sat on the bench, looking through messages from TK about how he thinks he and dad will be okay in Texas, and without even knowing her lips tugged up into a smile, thankful to hear that TK is well, that her dad is well, that they are going to be alright.

"I don't think Buck likes me very much." A voice said from behind her that made her jump.

"Oh, it's just you, the new guy." She smiled at him, turning off her phone, patting the space on the bench next to her to motion him to sit down. "He just jealous."

"I didn't mean to make him feel like that. I just want everyone not to feel awkward with a new member."

"Buck will come around soon and as I said you are a great member for this team, newbie."

Eddie looked at her and smile before shaking his head with a chuckle as his eyes moved to the floor in front of him before moving back to her.

"You know, you don't have to call me new guy or newbie, right? I do have a name."

"You never told us what you wanted us to call you." Kasey reminded him with a smile.

Eddie looked into her green eyes, and he thought that they were the most beautiful colour ever. When she smiled his heartbeat against his chest harshly. He had to clear his throat before answering the girl.

"Just Eddie be alright. Unless you find another name to call me by."

"Eddie." She tested the name and Eddie has never heard his name be said so perfectly. His name came out as smooth as butter when she said it and he thought then and there that he never wanted anyone but her to say his name. "It is definitely better than new guy." She said his name a few more times and Eddie prayed to the stars that she wouldn't stop. "Edmundo."

Eddie froze slightly before a small smile appeared onto his face when he heard his full name fall from her pink lips. She said is perfectly too. He never liked his full name, not until Kasey said it.

"How you know that was my real name?"

"Lucky guess." Shrugged Kasey. "But I'll rather call you Eddie than Edmundo...to long of a name." Kasey brought her foot onto the bench as she untied her shoelace before tying it up again then doing the same to the other boot.

"You know, I think me, you and Buck could be really good friends. The troubling trio. The three musketeers." Kasey told Eddie.

Eddie shook his head slightly. "That defiantly won't be happening any time soon, not when all Buck gives me is angry glares."

"Once again he's jealous... that's why you can feel him angrily glaring at you right now as you talk to me whilst lifting weights." Kasey said, not once turning around, her eyes only trained on her boots in front of her. Eddie turned around and saw that Buck was indeed looking at him with murder in his eyes. "He's acting like a 5-year-old, not liking that his best friend is talking to someone else."

"Do you not think that he might like you?" Eddie asked as he turned around to look at the side of Kasey's face.

"Ew, gross." Kasey said in disgust. "That be practically incest. We see each other as siblings nothing more and nothing less. And beside I have a boyfriend."

Eddie nodded slightly as he felt his throat tighten slightly at the mention of her having a boyfriend.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Not long. Relationships with me honestly never last long. It always ends due to my faults, my mistakes, because I struggle with my emotions too much and they get offended because I never said I love you too them. I always warn them about how I don't think love is for me, and each time another guy leaves they just prove my point."

"Maybe you just haven't found the right person yet."

Kasey shrugged as she breathed deeply out as she stared out in front of her.

"What about you,” Kasey asks, swinging her legs around so they were on each side of the bench, her body now facing him. “Have you ever been in love?"

"Yeah, once, in a failed marriage. But recently I've been thinking that maybe what we had wasn't really it."

"Why you think that?"

"Well it was love, we loved each other, but it wasn’t the highest form of love…I think somewhere in us we knew what we had would never last forever…we always wanted different things and we just wasn’t right for one another."

He did love Shannon, of course he did, but everything that happened to them was quick. They were young when they got married and had his child. He's been questioning his old feelings for his ex since he met Kasey, because even if they've only spent small moments together, no one has ever made him feel so much in such a small amount of time.

And he never believed that quote from Big Fish was ever true until her. Until Kasey. Because every time he sees her it's like time has either slowed down or stopped. The whole world is moving a full speed whilst he's just stuck in the moment of admiring her.

“So she wasn’t the great love of your life? The person you fell for instantly and knew was the one?”

"At first I thought she was, but the longer we were together, the less I thought it.”

"So, you believe in love at first sight?"

And this question was what made Eddie stop to think. He knew he has a very strong attraction to Kasey the moment he saw her. But it wasn’t love, it couldn’t be love until you know the person, for him, Kasey was someone he gained the quickest of attractions for, something he never experienced before in his life.

"Not exactly." Eddie uttered to Kasey as if what he was about to say was a secret between the two. "I think you have to actually know someone to be able to love them. But I believe in attraction at first sight. A-And I believe when you meet the right person there's a click. I don't exactly believe in love at first sight, but I sure do believe in that click."

Kasey nodded.

"I guess it's true then, I've never been in love with someone before." Kasey said also in a quiet voice, keeping up with the quieter tone between her and Eddie.

"You will someday."

Coup De Foudre: Love at first sight.

But the crazy thing about love at first sight is that you don't ever really realise it, you say it's something else, when it's still love at first sight. Another crazy thing about love at first sight is that it also means you can see yourself loving this person. Love at first sight makes you catch a glimpse of your future, it your body's way of saying this is the person you will love the most. And that was the craziest thing about love at first sight.

The denial of it.

"Fire and Rescue. Hello." Bobby called out as he opened the door.

"Jeez, who leaves a door unlocked like this? Aren't they scared that an intruder would walk in?" Kasey said, looking behind with knitted brows at the stupidity of leaving a door unlocked.

"I'm back here. Help me." Charlie's muffled voice came from another room.

"Some kind of militia nut?" Buck voiced as he looked around the room.

"Back here." Charlie said again.

"Can't tell where that voice is coming from." Bobby said.

"Bobby asked him to say Marco and we'll yell out polo." Suggested Kasey, something Bobby shut down quickly with one simple pointed look.

"Back here." Charlie's muffled voice came behind the door they came up to.

"What's your name, sir?" Bobby asked as he rushed to the man whilst Buck and Kasey entered the room.

"Charlie." The man responded.

"All right, tell us what happened, Charlie." His leg was covered in blood, a piece of material was wrapped round the upper part of his leg, just above the wound.

"Damn grenade went off while I was taking it apart."

"Why are you taking apart a grenade?" Buck asked him whilst Kasey and Bobby checked out the wound.

"I was cleaning it. I'm a collector."

"No kidding." Kasey looked up at Charlie.

"You pulled the pin?"

"Oh, it ain't that kind of grenade. It's a 40-mike-mike.It's a-"

"-a practice round for an M203 grenade launcher." Kasey finished for him as her eyes stayed on the wound she was shining a touch at.

"You like this type of thing?" Charlie asked the girl, baffled that someone like her knew what she was talking about.

"I was in the military, so I know my stuff."

"I picked it up at a flea market in Brea, part of my 'Nam collection. My screwdriver must have touched the propelling charge. I..."

"All right, I see metal. A lot of shrapnel." Kasey interrupted.

"Femoral artery has been nicked." Bobby continued. "We got to get him transported now!" He told Buck and Kasey, whilst Charlie looked shocked at the news.

"I've got an adult male, age 65, with a large piece of shrapnel in his right thigh." Bobby spoke in his radio whilst Buck and Kasey pushed Charlie out towards the ambulance. "Femoral artery damage with profuse bleeding, ten minute out." He ended the radio call. "Buck, I want you to travel with him to the hospital, keep him stable."

"Copy that, Cap." Buck said in annoyance as he knew Eddie was in the ambulance. He shot Bobby and Kasey a look before climbing into the vehicle.

"Hey. You got to learn how to play nice. It's one team, Buck."

"Can't Kasey come with."

"Can't, no room." Kasey smiled teasingly at him.

"Hey, Nash, Strand, am I gonna be alright?" Charlie asked as he lifted his head up to see them.

"You're in good hands, Charlie." Kasey replied back reassuringly.

"But you might want to consider switching to collecting baseball cards after this."

"You know, I'm very glad that you two didn't kill each other in the ambulance last night." Kasey said to Eddie and Buck as she leaned against the wall, eating, whilst watching Eddie play with the pinball machine.

The group had just came back from one of their calls where a kid got his head trapped in a microwave and cement. His friends didn't care as they videoed the whole thing leading to Bobby stamping on it and throwing it into the water.

"Maybe you were right Kas." Buck smiled and rolled his eyes already knowing how his best friend would act.

"Of course I was right! When am I ever wrong."

"Remember that time where we had a call to save someone from a toli-"

"Can't I have my moment of victory?"

"What about G.I.?" Buck asked Eddie. "Like G.I. Joe. 'Hey G.I.' You know that's a great nickname."

"That's a terrible nickname." Kasey said bluntly before raising her crisp packet above her mouth to pour the crumbs into her mouth.

"Sounds like gastrointestinal." Hen said from the table she was sat at, doing the crossword.

"I don't know what that word means but I agree." Kasey said.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Laughed Eddie.

"I think calling Eddie, Eddie is just fine." Kasey told Buck who looked at her once again like she just betrayed him. "Plus Eddie is technically a nickname already."

"Kas, it isn't a cool nickname." Buck whined.

"Nor is Buck. But hey-ho."

"All right, everybody, listen up." Bobby called as he walked into the area the crew was at. "I've got announcement to make. I just got off the phone with the people from the calendar, and they have made their choice."

Eddie and Buck looked at each other before looking at Kasey who rolled her eyes at them before looking at Bobby.

"Well, no hard feelings, no matter who won." Buck told Eddie.

"I pray that neither of you win, it be too much for you egos to handle." Kasey said.

Bobby winked at the boys, with his hands on his hips, "That's good, Buck, cause they didn't pick you."

"Please." Kasey smiled widely at Buck.

"Well, it's obviously a fix." Buck stated. "No, congratulations anyway, G.I.!" He enthusiastically said, clapping in the process whilst Eddie and Kasey chuckled at him.

"They didn't pick him, either."

"Shut the front door!" Kasey said, her smile getting bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked by.

"No? You?" Buck asked as he pointed at Bobby.

"No." He turned to many on the countertops, eating celery. Chimney turned around to see if someone behind before realising Bobby meant him. "No way. You got to be kidding me."

"No. Congratulations, Chim."

"Yes Chim!" Cheered Kasey as she ran up to Chimney to give him a big hug.

"Or should I say Mr. April."

"Dammit!" Cursed Kasey. "That's not my birthday month."

"No way. Are you serious?" Chimney asked in disbelief Kasey unwrapped her arms from him.

"Chimney!" Buck cheered.

"You're a calendar boy, now." Bobby told him with a smile as he walked up to him.

"You serious?" Chimney asked again.

"Mr. April, buddy." Bobby high-fived him.

Then Eddie did, "30 days of Chimney."

Then Buck did, "Congratulations."

"You did it." Grinned Hen.

"Thank you."

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Athena said as she walked towards the group and Bobby instantly walked up to her.

"Umm...what's happening?" Kasey quietly asked Eddie and Buck.

"Hey. I'm sorry." Athena placed a comforting hand on Bobby's upper arm. And then just like that she pulled him down into a kiss.

Kasey's mouth fell open. "Oh...My...God..." She slowly said. "I've been trying to get them together since I joined the 118…well I stopped when I found out she was married…and then continued when...a-and look at them...their...their..." She waved her hand as she motioned towards Athena and Bobby.

"Kissing?" Eddie asked with a shit-eating grin as he looked at Kasey.

"What are you all looking at?" Bobby asked his team who all had different expressions.

"What the fuck do you think we're looking at!" Kasey asked, still in shock by what she just saw.

"There's no more announcements." He smiled at them, especially at Kasey, as he knew that she's been trying to get them together for years.

"Is that what he honestly just said to us after all of that." Kasey asked as she waved her hand at Bobby and Athena again.

"After all that kissing?" Eddie teasingly asked again as he looked at the girl who was sat on the countertop he was leaning against.

"Pay up." Hen said as she turned to the group.

But Eddie and Kasey wasn't listening as she was too busy gaping at Bobby and Athena whilst Eddie was too busy looking at her. When Athena, Bobby and the group started to walk away, Kasey finally turned to face Eddie who was smirking at her.

"Can you believe them?"

"Still don't believe in love?" He asked innocently.

"I-I guess I have to find the right person to click with." She stuttered as she looked at him.

Coup de foudre: Love at first sight.

It's something that has different opinions on. But as the two firefighters looked at each other and ignored the rest of the world. Eddie knew that she was the first person he ever felt that click with. And Kasey was rethinking all her decisions.

Coup de foudre: Love at first sight.

And for Eddie, that's exactly how it was with Kasey.

Austin, Texas

"So you're telling me there's two of you?" Judd asked as he looked at TK's phone, the team surrounding him, at the Strand's proudly showed off the youngest Strand.

"Yep." TK nodded proudly. "But in all fairness she's the more trouble one."

"TK." Owen chuckled at his son's statement.

TK laughed, gesturing with his hand towards the family picture on his phone, looking down at it before looking back at his dad in pure humorous shock.

"Dad, c'mon, you know it's true."

"Don't insult your sister when she isn't here to back herself up."

"She would agree with me."

"She's like really pretty." Marjan pointed out, reaching over TK to zoom into the picture slightly.

"Yeah, it must be a Strand thing to be so good-looking." Paul nodded in agreement, holding onto to Marjan shoulder to also take a closer look, sparing a glance up at the Strands before looking back down at the missing Strand.

Where does she live?" Marjan asked as she stared at the goofy picture of TK, Kasey, and Owen.

"LA, she's a firefighter for the LAFD."

"Yep, she become one started working there after serving in Afghanistan." Owen added to what TK told them.

"Wow...So it isn't just a Strand thing to be a good-looker but to be a firefighter too." Judd thought out loud.

"When can we meet her?" Mateo asked as he looked up at Owen and TK.

"Soon. You'll meet the trouble one soon."

"I knew it!" TK acclaimed. "You agree with me that she is trouble!"

"Just don't tell your sister." Owen utters with a grin.

A/N: Just to let you know Buck and Kasey are purely friends, they have and never will be attracted to one another, they see each other like brother and sister. They are both the definition of platonic soulmates.

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