Seeking a fresh start, Hestia Ashford leaves her life in Chicago for Los Angeles. Yet, the past always finds a way to catch you, no matter how far you run away. As she navigates the blurred lines between duty and deception, she may just find a new f...
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Firehouse 118 Day Seventeen. 6th Shift.
The fierceness that was described to him, Bobby, and the rest of the team discovered it on a random call. The alarm had resonated in the middle of the night, getting them out of bed in a matter of seconds, and en route under three minutes. They were dispatched to an apartment building for a kitchen fire. Nothing major: a pot was left on the stove for far too long. While Diaz and Buck were checking that the fire hadn't spread or damaged anything, Ashford remained next to Bobby, who was speaking to the woman living there.
"I shouldn't have called you," the woman said, panic carved on her features. "He's already so mad."
"It's our job, ma'am," Bobby tried to reassure her.
"We can talk to him and explain that it's standard procedure," Hestia jumped in.
"No, please don't!"
"Ma'am, is everything ok?" Hestia asked quietly, keeping her voice low so that Bobby and the victim were the only ones who could hear.
The panicked woman threw a swift glance over her shoulder, to the man standing without a care in the world in the next room. She shook her head no, and raised her hand, bending her thumb in the palm of her hand before making a fist.
Hestia recognized the sign immediately, and in the blink of an eye, found herself in the other room, in front of that woman's abuser.
"Can I..."
Before he could say anything, she pushed him violently, making him stumble. This man stared at Hestia for a second, seemingly surprised. His eyes flicked between the firefighter and his girlfriend standing behind her. The look of surprise turned into a smirk.
"Do you really think I'm scared of you?" he chuckled, stepping closer to Hestia, who met him halfway.
"Do you like hitting women?" she said, her voice level, a shocking contrast to her body language. "Does it make you feel manly?"
"Oh, poor her!" he laughed.
The contempt lacing his voice had Hestia seeing red. She shoved him back with enough force to reel him on the couch.
"Come on," Hestia growled, antagonizing him. If he could only take a swing at her. "Do you think you're tough? Let's see if you're strong enough when they fight back. Come on!"
He looked at her, anger clear on his face and fists clenched at his side. Oh, she had him.
"Come on!" she shouted in his face. They were toe to toe.
"Firefighter Ashford, that's enough!" a voice broke through the tension like thunder. "That's a direct order!"
Despite the controlled anger in her Captain's voice and the direct order he had just given, she didn't move. Her stance was unwavering. Nothing even suggested that she had heard him, as her eyes bored into the man's.
