City of Smoke // Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek ✔️

05 || FORGIVE

"Is that true?" Herrmann asked carefully, not wanting to unleash the beast more that they already had.

"Yes, it is." Boden replied, noticing the looks the others where sharing. "And it is because every single partner Rory had in the last year excelled so much with her as their PIC that they in return were promoted to one, meaning they had to be transferred to a new company. One where they could put the skills they learned from her to better use, to save more lives and teach other paramedics how to be a great ones, just like Rory did for them."

Oh. Well. That was not the answer anyone was expecting and if truth be told, it made them feel utterly terrible.

"Now, before Chief Hatcher told me the truth about what was going on, I myself told him that I'd try and change Rory's mind about transferring, that I think she could be a great fit here... But I can't, in good faith, do that if I know that she isn't happy here...

"So, I'm giving all of you until the end of shift to apologise to that girl. To welcome her into this family, not just because I told you to, but because it's who you are. Show her the real firehouse fifty-one and make her feel like she's a part of it... And you better hope that she forgives all of you for how you treated her because if not... Then the whole lot of you will be seeing a side of me you never wish to see... And you'll be spending the rest of the month cleaning this firehouse from top to bottom.

"You are firehouse fifty-one. We are a family... This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and should it ever happen again... Well... then you'll all quickly be seeing pink slips attached to your lockers." Boden grabbed the transfer slip, his hand slamming against the table as he did. He then took a second to compose himself before turning to look at Sylvie. "Brett... Can I see you in my office please?"

"Oh, of course, Chief." Sylvie replied, her voice filled with dread over what he might want from her. She nervously got to her feet, shuffling behind Boden as she followed him towards him office.

The door clicked shut behind her, a rather tense atmosphere in the room as Boden was still rather angry as he took a seat behind his desk, but after a second that anger subsided and was replaced with what seemed to be pride.

"Firstly, I apologise that you had to hear all that." He said softly, in reference to what had just happened. "Chief Hatcher made it clear to me that Rory had nothing but good things to say about you. And that one of the reasons why she'd waited as long as she did to request a transfer was because she loved having you as a partner."

"Oh, that's nice to hear." Sylvie said softly, a warmth in her chest over hearing that news. However it didn't make her feel any better about hearing that Rory almost quit because of how she felt at fifty-one. "I just had no idea how unhappy she was here... If I had, I would have helped... So that it didn't get to this point."

"I do too." Boden replied, hating that he hadn't seen how unhappy Rory was in his firehouse. He'd noticed her absence in the common room a few times but he thought nothing of it. He just assumed each time happened to be a coincidence but now that he knew, he wished he'd done something about.

Now all he could do was hope that his men wised the hell up and got over whatever was causing them to treat Rory so badly. And he really hoped that she could find it in her heart to forgive them, as he really did think she could do well here at fifty-one.

The guys sat in complete silence in the common room, somewhat of a guilty feeling hanging above their heads, a few of them more than the others. Nobody wanted to say anything, nor did they want to look at each other, and it wasn't until Casey stood from his seat did heads move to look towards him.