Burnt Skies

Chapter 4: Crash

"We have it under control," The officer tells them.

Maria scoffs, "Under control? Passenger duct taped to his seat is under control?" She moves to stand in the empty seat next to the man while Athena moves to stand in front of the officer on the opposite side.

The officer tries, "We appreciate your concern, Officer, but this man was causing a disturbance; he repeatedly tried to exit the plane when he was told to remain seated. He assaulted an officer?"

"What?" Maria asks.

A woman steps forward with her phone out, "I have the whole thing on video," She hands it to Athena, who holds it so Maria can watch as well.

"No, I will not sit down. I've been sitting for, like, eight hours," The man paces up and down the aisle.

"Sir, I've told you several times. I need you to take a seat."

He argues, "And I've told you several times that my father is laying in a casket beneath this plane. Do you want to talk to my grieving mother? Huh? Do you? Here," He holds his ringing phone out as the ringing stops, "Hang on, Ma. Go ahead. Explain to my mother why her husband is rotting in cargo."

The officer looks between the video and Maria and Athena as he tries to gauge is they are on his side, "Okay, I'm not gonna tell you again. I need you to take a seat."

"Yeah, or what?" He starts getting close to the officers face, "What? Are you gonna kick my ass? Sir, yes sir."

Next thing they knew, the man was thrown to the ground in the video and people were screaming. Athena stops the video and hands the phone back.

"Damn. That escalated awfully fast," Athena comments as Maria shakes her head.

"First of all, you are gonna take this duct tape off of this man's mouth," Maria demands, "I mean, are you insane?'

The officer just stares at her until Maria scoffs and does it herself, "Are you okay, sir?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Athena turns back to the officer, "Now, tell me why these people can't exit this plane."

The man butts in, "Yeah, we've been here for eight hours..."

Maria stops him, patting his shoulder, "We're here, now. We've got this."

"We got word that no one should exit an inbound aircraft."

"I see," Athena nods, "You got word. From who?"

The officer quickly answers, "From the CEO of the airline."

Maria snorts, loudly, "Is that a joke? CEO's just call you up?"

He turns a little red, "Right now, we have no idea what caused that plane to crash. So until we find out it wasn't terrorism, nobody's getting off this plane."

Turning to her partner, Maria almost laughs, "He says it with such confidence. But I still can't believe it. His badge says Los Angeles Airport Police and he's taking orders directly from CEO's."

"An industry whose motto is the customer is always the moron? They make a billion dollars a year on baggage fees, and you're on their side? Your knees pressing against the seat in front of you because they want to add three extra rows, and you're on their side? Five damn peanuts in that bag, and you're on their side? Oh, no, no, no, no. Not today. Because we both know that it is perfectly safe for these people to get off the plane. I don't give a damn what the CEO says."

That is met with cheering as Maria goes to untape the man from the seat when the officer tries to grab Maria's shoulder. Athena is quick to react and push the man back, "You did not just try and grab her shoulder."

"Don't make me..." He fights to say as Maria untapes the man.

"Don't make you do what?" Athena advances on him, causing him to take several steps backwards, "You place a hand on her again and you are going to have a big problem on your hands."

Maria smiles, almost mockingly, "Now, you said that this customer was causing a disturbance. Well, then I'm putting him under arrest for disorderly conduct. In fact, why not arrest everyone on this plane. They are in our custody now."

Athena smirks, proudly at Maria, "You all hear that? You are all under arrest. And that means that you are all leaving this plane."

The passengers clap and cheer as Maria and Athena glare at the officer once more.

✆✆✆✆

After not hearing from her dad for a couple of days, Maria heads to his apartment, "Dad? You okay? I haven't heard from you in-" She walks in to see Hen and Buck sitting next to a drenched Bobby Nash, "You drank?"

"Maria-"

"No, dad, not this time. I wish you well, but I have some paperwork to do," Maria rolls her eyes and turn around.

Buck scoffs as he follows her out, "Really? Your dad needs your help."

Maria turns to him, "No, you don't get to judge."

"Why not? He's your father. He needs help. When was the last time you were here to check on him?" Buck advances.

"He's a grown man. A Fire Captain. I didn't think I needed to check on him 24/7 to make sure he wasn't drinking himself to death. Especially after he promised me he'd never drink again!" She shouts into the apartment.

Buck pushes her back and against the wall, "Hey! Back off! We had a rough call. You should be a better daughter so he feels comfortable coming to you instead of drinking."

Maria slaps him across the face, "You don't get to tell me how to have a relationship with my father. You only know him as he allows you too. I know the truth."

"I'm just saying, you could be less of a bitch," Buck warns her.

She fake laughs, "Great. The walking STD is telling me how to live my life. Go to hell, Buckley," And with that, she turns to walk away.

✆✆✆✆

AN: A little more enemies vibes. I just keep imaging Season 2 when Eddie is introduced and the dynamic that grows. Ah, I'm so excited!

What makes me so excited about writing stories is when I watch the show and am able to mentally place my character in certain moments and scenes. I just finished a watch of 9-1-1 all the way through, and boy are we in for a ride with Maria.

QoC: What is your favorite 9-1-1 relationship? (Real or should-be-real)

Thank you for all of the votes and reads and comments!!!