Secret Sister (Station 19)

For What It's Worth

Vic and Elle were in the gym when they saw Andy follow Diane into the captain's office.

"Holy shit dude she is talking to Andy!" Vic exclaimed as she dropped her dumbbells and moved over to the window to get a better look.

"Stop!" Elle whispered as she quickly pulled Vic back out of view. "This isn't funny," she complained.

"It's a little funny," Vic laughed. Elle gave her a look pleading with her to stop. "Ugh fine. But why are you so freaked out about this anyway?" she asked.

Elle sat down on the bench and sighed. "Because," she explained. "Andy was finally starting to tolerate me. She even stopped petitioning for me to be transferred. Now she's just going to hate me more again."

"She doesn't hate you," Vic said softly as she sat down next to Elle who did not look convinced. "Okay fine she hates you a little. But she'll come around." Vic gave her a smile, "It's impossible not to like you."

Elle laughed a little. "Yeah you and Maya and Trav all keep saying she'll come around, but like when? It's been months and she can still barely look at me. Every shift we exchange 5 words and then she pretends I don't exist," she vented.

"I don't know dude," Vic said honestly. "But it'll be okay."

Just as they were about to resume their workout the siren went off. "Engine 19, Ladder 19, Aid Car 19, requested at 174 Brookdale court."

"Finally!!" Elle shouted excitedly as they ran to the barn.

...................

They arrived on the scene and Elle immediately jumped out and waited for instruction. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. They had pulled up to a quiet house in a quiet neighborhood; it didn't look like there was any fire at all.

"Alright 19," Bishop called out. "There's a report of a fire in the basement. The family is trapped in a bathroom down there with their only exit blocked. Hughes, Montgomery, secure hose lines and then be ready at the aid car. Gibson, Herrera, start venting the basement, buy us some time. Miller, Warren, see if you can get the family out." She paused then turned to Elle, "Walsh, you think you're up to helping them with the rescue?"

"Yes captain!" Elle responded as she put on her mask and ran after Miller and Warren.

Once they got into the home they figured out that an excess of lint in the dryer had caught fire and moved through the vents. The heat from the vents ignited posters that were hanging far too close on the wall and the fire quickly got out of hand. The family had been downstairs watching a movie in their home theatre and ran for shelter in the bathroom where they were trapped. Miller took the hose line down with them and started to clear a path to the bathroom. Meanwhile Herrera and Gibson cut a vent in the ceiling and put another hose line down to help control the flames from above. Once they had a path, Warren knocked down the door which had swelled shut in the heat. Miller and Warren led the parents upstairs and out of the house while Elle picked up their young son and ran out with him in her arms. They all needed oxygen but were otherwise unharmed. It took the team another 30 minutes to get the fire completely under control. The basement was destroyed but the rest of the house was structurally intact.

On their way back to station Maya took advantage of her time alone with Andy to continue their conversation.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking over at Andy in the driver seat. She only nodded, so Maya kept going. "So what actually happened with Diane?" she asked carefully.

"Well I told her about the whole situation with Walsh. About how mad I was at my mom, how mad I still am. About how it's so hard to see Elle all the time and how angry I am at her. And finally she asked me what Elle had done, what choices she had made," Andy explained.

"And," Maya nodded, encouragingly.

"And she helped me realize that I was blaming Elle for something she had no control over. I just got so lost in the anger and hurt that I kind of forgot that they weren't the same person and realized that maybe I was too hard on her."

Maya wasn't sure what to say so they sat quietly for a few moments.

"I don't know that we're ever going to be best friends," Andy laughed, "but I'll try to actually give her a chance."

..............

Back at the station, Elle headed right to the shower to wash off all the soot and enjoy a few minutes of quiet. She was wrapped in a towel pulling her hair back into a Dutch braid when she saw Andy through the mirror. Elle gave her a cautious smile, as she passed by.

Andy paced outside the bathroom for a while before finally walking in. She leaned in the doorway and took a breath to center herself.

"Hey Walsh?" she finally said.

Elle turned, hands still holding back sections of her hair. "Yeah?" she responded, surprised that Andy had come to talk to her.

"Listen," Andy started. "I just wanted to apologize for being such a jerk to you when you got here."

With the shock of Andy's apology Elle dropped her hands from her head. "It's fine," she responded as her hair fell slowly out of its braid. "I get it."

Andy shook her head. "No, I was mad at my mom and took it out on you. But that wasn't fair. So can we... start over?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Elle smiled. "Definitely."

Andy nodded and headed out. It wasn't easy but she knew it was right. She knew she had every right to be pissed at her mom, but it wasn't fair of her to take it out on Elle. Sure the kid could be annoying, but she hadn't actually done anything wrong.

Elle stood in shock staring at herself in the mirror for a full minute before she finished braiding her hair, got changed, and ran off to find Vic and Travis.

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Author's Note

Hope you're enjoying this so far! I have some ideas for where this is going to go but let me know if there's anything you want to see :)