sinners and saints → 9-1-1 ¹

[ 004 ] home, a place where i can go.

She pulls it from her pocket, seeing that the number is one she doesn't recognize. Her brows furrow but nonetheless, she answers.

"Hello?" She asks into her phone.

"Ivy?" Comes the undeniable of Harry Grant.

"Harry?" Buck looks to her. Hen turns, eyes finding Ivy as panic starts to fill the young woman's eyes. "Harry, is everything okay?"

"Mom told me to call you." He informs her, his voice shaking. "It's May."

Ivy's heart drops.

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Within fifteen minutes, Ivy is pulling Harry into her arms. His are going around her middle as he buries his head into her. She holds him close, just as close as she would hold her own child. "Hey, kid." She breaths out as she kisses the top of his head. "I'm here now."

He doesn't say a word. He just holds her tight. Ivy lets him. And when his shoulders start to shake and his knees start to wobble, she gently settles them both on the front steps of the Grant's neighbors' porch.

She lets him cry into her shoulder for as long as he needs. She cries with him, trying her best to hide that she is scared for May, too.

Ivy has been in Los Angeles for four years, working with LAFD for two of them now. But she's known the Grant family ever since she and her then three year old daughter stepped foot into this city.

Michael helped her move her stuff into an apartment, Athena helped her install a ring doorbell, Harry taught her how to play video games, and May has spent the night with her perhaps two hundred times.

The Grant family is the closest thing Ivy has ever had to a true family.

Eventually, Harry gets the energy to stand and walk back to his house. Ivy thanks the neighbors for watching him before walking him home.

She stays. She stays with him for as long as he needs. And when two hours have passed, Harry is asleep in his room. Ivy is cleaning up the dinner she made for them. Michael returns home.

"Hey," he says as he walks into the kitchen. Ivy's eyes find him.

"Hey." She greets. "How is May?"

"She's awake." Michael replies as he sets his jacket on the kitchen table. "CPS has to take her to a facility, monitor her."

Ivy nods. "Yeah, that's how procedure is when a minor. . . attempts."

Michael scoffs. "It's bullshit."

"It's just to guarantee the safety of May. I promise, nothing bad is going to happen to her while she is in their care." Ivy reassures him. "Where is Athena?"

"She was behind me. She had to run by the station for something." He informs her.

"I made dinner, there's two plates in the fridge for y'all." She tells him.

"Thank you." He says.

"Of course. Anytime, Michael." Ivy speaks.

Before she can react, Michael is hugging her. She doesn't hesitate to hug him back. "Thank you." He says again and this time, Ivy knows he isn't thanking her for dinner.