In Flames // 9-1-1 Fox (seasons 1-4)

seventy-two

"You're a shit liar," Buck scoffed.

"Ok, huh, well, what are YOU doing here?"

"TK and I just wanted to see what's different between our trucks."

"Oh and you have the audacity to call me the bad liar!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Buck and then directed it towards TK. "Remind me to kick your ass later."

"For what?!" he cried.

"For defiling my sweet, innocent little cousin."

"You're the Mariana? Well, I can assure you, your cousin is anything but little or innocent."

"Oh fuck, I don't need to hear that!"

"Are you hotwiring the Albuquerque fire truck?!" Buck exclaimed finally when he realized that she was clutching pliers. Mariana tossed them to Shelby who quickly tucked them in her back pocket.

"Absolutely not," the blonde said.

The two men stared at them with similarly unamused expressions and Shelby broke first. "Yeah, okay! We were!"

"Traitor," Mariana hissed.

"TK has these little puppy dog eyes. It's like kicking a baby, okay?"

"Listen, there's no way I could take my baby out there and I couldn't find the key to the 126 truck so here I am-" the brunette gestured lamely to the truck "-doing what I do best."

"I was coerced under duress," Shelby attempted. Mariana nudged her shoe and the blonde huffed. "I picked the truck."

Buck wordlessly held up the key to the 126 and a slow grin spread across Mariana's lips. She snatched it out of his hand and spun on her heel, letting Shelby lead the way to the Austin department's truck.

"Hey dumbass! Dumbasser! And the two idiots with them," Judd interrupted the four. They froze like deer in headlights which was fitting since flashlights streamed on their faces. "Did you stop and consider the consequences of what you're about to do at all?"

"You obviously don't know Buck and Mari," Eddie announced as he and Marjan came around the other side of the trucks.

"You four didn't seriously think that you could sneak off and drive into wildfires, did you?" Marjan scoffed.

TK looked at his other troublemakers and they shared an equal look of annoyance mixed with shame. "Yes?"

"Well, that ain't gonna happen," Paul drawled out.

"You think you're going to stop us?" Buck asked.

"If we're going to fight, I claim Eddie," Mariana blurted out. Buck shot her a disgusted look and she shrugged in feigned innocence.

"Stop you? We're going with you," the only member of the 126 she hadn't met declared. The four original rule breakers shared a look as their teammates headed for the truck. The guy stopped in front of Mariana and grinned.

"Mateo Chavez, 126. Nice to meet you."

"Mariana!" Eddie called. "Let's go."

She smirked at Mateo and held up the key in her hand. "Duty calls."

///

Even with Mariana driving, it took longer than any of them wanted to get up to the crash site. By the time she was out of the truck, TK and Buck were already climbing into the overturned helicopter.

"They're not in here!" TK shouted.

"They made it out," Buck yelled.

Judd motioned for them to follow as he began shouting orders. The haze of the fires made it harder to see, aiding in the panic that was fueling the two teams.