Mariana nodded along to the elevator music as they waited patiently to reach their floor. She hummed along to the tune and nudged her foot against Eddie's. He rolled his eyes at her antics and she scoffed at his refusal to participate.
"Woah, hey." Buck cut through the quiet. "Hollywood Reservoir is like two and a half billion gallons. Where's all that water gonna go?"
"My mom survived the dam break in the 60s," Hen said. "Baldwin Hills. Water only ever wants to go in one direction - out to sea."
Mariana shuddered at the thought of her last interaction with the ocean. The elevator dinged and she pulled her mask up, settling it firmly across her nose just as the doors slid open to reveal the front half of the bus hanging precariously out of the window.
"This is definitely our stop," Chimney muttered as he, Bobby, and Hen exited the elevator.
"Hey, at least it's not a tsunami, right?"
Mariana and Buck turned their heads to stare at the brunet, sharing similar looks of exasperation. He smiled sheepishly and Mariana shook her head in disbelief.
"You're lucky you're pretty, Diaz."
The 118's Terrible Trio worked quickly to gear up and get the ropes ready. Eddie secured the lines to the lever and sent a thumbs up to his teammates. Buck and Mariana headed towards the ledge and looked down at the bus balancing like a see saw.
"Ready?" Buck asked.
"Of course. It'll be fun," she commented before turning her back to the street and starting her descent down. They slowly but surely repelled down towards the bus and Mariana was struck with the realization that it had been a long time since she'd last done a repel rescue.
"This is Diaz," Eddie said over the radio. "Be advised. Buck and Mari's about to touch down. Once they're there, I'll send down the webbing to secure the bus."
The two best friends slowly stepped onto the bus, feeling it rock under their feet. Mariana shot a warning look at Buck as she settled her feet flat against the metal and waited for it to stop rocking. Buck grinned once it stopped moving and flashed her a thumbs up.
"We've landed. Not too bad. Should be able to get this thing stable," Buck reported. He stepped forward but Mariana shot her arm out, stopping him from moving as she sniffed the air.
"Good news, Cap," she announced. "Automatic exfil's working on the natural gas tanks up here. At least we know this thing's not gonna explode."
The two worked like a well-oiled machine, securing the hooks and cribbing as soon as Eddie tossed them down. Mariana worked on the right side as Buck worked on the left, calling out weak points to each other.
"Guys, where are we at?" Bobby said over the radio.
"Second tie-down point is secure," Buck replied. "We're heading for the middle."
Mariana made her way around the bus just in time to see Buck securing the middle. "Second hook's in, Cap."
"We're secure up here," Eddie chimed in.
"Cap!" Buck shouted. "There's someone else down here."
Mariana swore under her breath and maneuvered herself next to Buck, crouching down so she could see the guy. He was pinned under the bus and appeared unresponsive. She stripped off her glove and reached under to check for a pulse, partly surprised to even find one.
"Chimney, he's got a pulse," she called out as he yanked some debris out and wiggled under the bus.
"We've got a live one, Cap!" Chimney exclaimed.
"How do we get these people off this bus with him underneath it?" Buck asked quietly. Mariana looked up at them and shook her head with a grimace.
"I don't know," Bobby admitted.
As far as plans go, they came up with a decent one. Mariana moved to the back of the bus so she could work on the three folks injured back there. That is, until Hen quietly yet panickedly called her over. She was kneeling beside a woman in a pink apron and Mari quickly joined her on the woman's other side.
"Look," Hen muttered as she shined a pen light at the woman's eyes. Mariana grimaced at the sight of the blown pupil and looked up at Bobby.
"Cerebral hematoma. We need to get her out of here. Now."
"If she's not in surgery in the next twenty minutes, the swelling's gonna start pushing her brains out of her eye socket," Hen supplied. "We need to extract her but not on a bodyboard."
"A gurney," Mariana added. "So we can have the padding behind her head. We gotta keep her at thirty degrees."
"Hey Buck!" Bobby shouted.
"Thirty degrees, I got it!" he yelled back, dashing out of the bus.
"Dispatch, this is Captain Nash, 118. Please advise Hollywood General. We have an ambulance en route, severe brain bleed. We need a neurosurgeon standing by. CJ, it's time to go."
The woman started coughing before anyone could move, spinal fluid and blood splattering out onto her apron. Mariana cursed and shook her head as she supported her back.
"Tracy, we've got you," Hen assured her. "We've got you. Easy. Easy."
"It's Pink Apron Day," CJ said.
"You're right, CJ. And we're gonna make sure Tracy gets to the next Pink Apron day too. How does that sound?" Mariana said as she held up Tracy's head as Hen wiped away the spinal fluid.
"BP's too high!" Hen exclaimed. "Buck!"
Thankfully he arrived just in time and he and Chimney carried Tracy off the bus. Mariana stood, gesturing for the three in the back to follow suit.
"Time to go, guys," she called. As one of the women passed her, she froze and looked back.
"My purse!"
"I got it. Go," Mariana ordered as she headed to the back of the bus. Mariana crouched down and looked under the seats, successfully finding the purse just in time to see Bobby trying to get CJ out of the bus. Mariana grabbed the purse and moved to stand behind CJ, her eyes sending an unspoken message to Bobby. He nodded at his daughter and she planted her feet firmly, ready to help move the kid off the bus just in case this went south.
"Hey, listen to me," Bobby said gently. "I know how you feel. These people that you love, Tracy and Vanessa, they're hurting. And when someone you love is hurting, it's scary. I know because I'm scared too. But I know I'm gonna get through this because I'm not alone."
Bobby reached a hand out. "We can ride this out, CJ. All you gotta do is hang on."
The second CJ grabbed Bobby's hand, Mariana moved back to grip onto one of the poles that divided the bus from the elevated section. Bobby raised his mic. "Okay, Eddie, now."
The bus shifted back and the three of them stumbled until it steadied once more. She could hear the sound of debris shifting and the guys shouting outside of the bus until Chimney radioed in a confirmation that they were good to go. Bobby nodded at Mariana and she leaned back against the divider.
"Alright, bring it back Eddie."
"Copy."
The bus creaked dangerously as the wench pulled it back upright until they levelled out again and Mariana could finally take a deep breath.
"You did it, CJ," Bobby said.
"I'm working on my eye contact," he replied. A crack ripped through the air and the three people on the bus looked up at the rip in the ceiling. Mariana inhaled sharply at the scent of gas.
"I don't like that smell." CJ looked back at the latina and she nodded.
"I don't like that either," Bobby affirmed. "Let's go."
"Bobby, we don't have time," Mariana bit out. "That thing will blow before we can get three feet of the door."
Bobby opened his mouth to respond when an ominous click echoed through the bus and he pushed CJ back towards Mariana who yanked him to the ground. Bobby grabbed Mariana's coat and pulled her down with them. Her back hit the ground and she rolled over so her turnout coat got the brunt of the heat.
"Cap! Mari!" Buck shouted frantically. "Cap!"
"You okay, CJ?" Bobby asked.
"I would like to get off the bus now."
Mariana laughed in agreement and wiggled out from under her dad's arm. Buck offered her a helping hand and she took it gratefully, standing up and shaking the dust off of her.
"No one tell Eddie that just happened," Mariana declared.
"No one tell me what." Mari winced at the sound of his voice over the radio and Buck laughed.
"Nothing dear, just some bonding times with pops," she sang, reaching over to turn off her radio before he read her the riot act. Bobby grinned, patting her on the shoulder as they made their way out of the bus.
///
If you told Mariana Ramirez two years ago that after a shift full of exploding buses and mudslides that the thing she wanted to do most in the world was go home and kiss her boys goodnight before going to bed, she would have called you crazy. Two years ago, she was an adrenaline junkie and a workaholic. But now?
She pressed a kiss to Diego's forehead and silently slipped out of his room, quietly closing the door behind him. Tiptoeing down the hall, she saw light coming from Christopher's room and peeked her head in. A tired grin spread across her lips at the sight of the Diaz boys fast asleep with a laptop in Eddie's lap.
"They fall asleep on you?" Mari asked Carla on the screen. The older woman grinned at the sight of the latina and nodded.
"Barely made it through five pages," she teased. "I'd love to talk to you, but it looks like your boys need sleep."
"We'll FaceTime another time when they're more awake. Night, Carla." She waved goodbye and then ended the call. Mariana shut the laptop and carried it into the living room to plug it in so Eddie didn't grouch about a dead battery tomorrow. She headed back to Christopher's room and shook Eddie awake, her hand coming up to gently brush against his cheek. He blinked up at her and then frowned, looking down and realizing where he was.
"Hi," she laughed softly. "Why don't you come to bed before you mess up your neck sleeping like that?"
"Hmm? Yeah," he sighed. "Didn't realize I was so tired."
"C'mon, you big baby," she hummed. He slid out of the small bed and Mariana tucked the covers around Christopher in his absence. She smoothed back her son's curls and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"Sweet dreams, buddy," she whispered.
Mariana followed Eddie out, turning off the light and pulling the door partly closed as she left. She found Eddie laying face down on their bed as she entered and she rolled her eyes, patting his back as she passed him on the way to the closet.
"That's not what I meant," she called as she pulled off her jeans and top, yanking on one of his shirts and some sleep shorts. He was at least laying on his back when she reappeared in their bedroom, but at the end of the bed rather than actually on his side. She made sure to nudge his foot with hers as she walked by and he let out a pathetic groan.
"I will go to bed without you," Mari threatened. "Get in your pajamas and brush your teeth, Diaz. You're worse than the boys and they're nine."
As she ran through her night routine, she could hear him shuffling around their room and then make his way over to the bathroom to join her. Mariana looked up from brushing her teeth to lock eyes with Eddie. She raised an eyebrow, curious as to why he was just watching her brush her teeth. His eyes weren't focused on her face, however, but rather on the loose t-shirt that hung off of her body. She spat out her toothpaste and rinsed out her mouth before turning to lean against the sink so she could look at him with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
"What?" she finally said.
"Dunno," he answered, stepping closer to her. "I've just been...thinking."
"Good thoughts?" Her voice softened as she raised her hand to brush a stray strand of his hair back into place. "Or bad?"
"Good. I think. Just with the call we had today at the house and then Maddie...have you ever thought about having a kid?"
She blinked rapidly in surprise and chewed on her bottom lip in thought before shrugging. "Can't say I've thought about it, but can't say I haven't thought about it before either. With Christopher and Diego, I just never considered having a kid. I always thought I would never be a mom in the first place."
"I never thought about it before either but now it feels like with the pandemic, everyone has baby fever," he admitted. He gently spun her around so they were facing the mirror and wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her into his chest. "I think you'd be a cute pregnant woman."
She laughed and leaned back against him, running her hands down her shirt and over her flat stomach and his arms. "I don't think we're ready for it, to be honest. We just got Diego settled when the pandemic hit. Our jobs are stressful and we don't have space for a baby. Buying a bigger house in LA during a pandemic? Not my idea of a fun time."
"Always the practical one," he mused before dropping a kiss to her shoulder. He could feel the chain of his dog tags pressed against her skin and again, he could never admit it to her but it truly did settle some predatory feel in him. He was always with her, even when he physically couldn't be. "But you're right."
"Hmm, I usually am," she teased. "One thing at a time, Diaz."
"Good thing we can still practice."
"You dirty old man."
"I'm thirty!"
A/N: got my ass handed to me this week with assignments but two days of snow days means I got a bunch of work done and had time to write
I mentioned on my profile that a big secret would be revealed in the crossover when Mariana met Eddie's mom and dad. I think a lot of you suspected pregnancy but now we know that won't be happening for a bit...
Any thoughts?