"You ever feel like you missed your calling, Cap?" Chimney asked Bobby as he slid a beautifully stuffed omelet in front of him. Jane sat next to him, two chairs down, already halfway through hers, enjoying the gooey cheese, sausage, mushroom, and onion concoction. In the center of their breakfast table were strawberry cream cheese and banana chocolate chip muffins that Jane had brought in. Their shift had just started, but they were already halfway gone.
Hen was standing next to Bobby, with her own plate out as he cooked her omelet.
"What do you think? Michelin-rated restaurant or short order cook?" Bobby asked Chimney dryly. Jane looked up from her food, and smiled widely at him.
"Either. Both," was her answer, but Chimney was on a whole other level.
"I was thinking TV Chef. I mean, what you do, it's like performance art."
"Mm-hmm, and much like watching cooking on TV we never get to taste anything," Hen inserted, eyeing the pan with her breakfast anxiously. "Usually by the time it hits the table the bell goes off."
"Shhh," Jane whispered harshly at her friend, her arms going protectively around what remained of her food. "Don't jinx it. This is the first full breakfast I've had in months."
"Alright, speed round. If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?" Bobby asked the table.
Without thinking Jane responded, before even Chimney could come back with a sassy retort.
"Fire Marshall Investigator or Homicide Detective." They all turned to her with wide eyes, and she just shrugged lightly, not wanting to get into it. "I like solving mysteries."
Chimney didn't need long for his response either. "Fighter pilot. Topgun. Call sign: Shogun." Jane smiled at the movie reference and she and Chimney shared an amused look from across the table.
"What about you Hen?" Bobby asked lightly, as he dished her omelet, and she went cheerfully to sit at the table.
"Editorial cartoonist, The New Yorker," she responded, with a wave of her fork. When Bobby, Jane, and Chimney gave each other shocked looks, she felt the need to follow up with, "I have a lot to say."
"You draw?" the captain inquired, basically saying what they were all thinking. They'd never even seen the woman doodle.
"No," her retort was quick, causing Jane to let out a snort, "it's a dream. It's not supposed to be attainable." Then she turned to Jane, "Although some people here could be moving that way, and Topgun? You can barely drive, you rebar head."
"Hey," Chimney whined. Then Buck came up from behind them and grabbed one of the strawberry muffins. "Buckaroo, if you were not a member of the LAFD, what would you be doing?"
The poor boy looked confused. "I, uhh, I don't know. I'm not getting fired, am I?"
"That's inevitable." Jane let out another choked laugh at Chimney's retort.
"He'd be a golden retriever," was Hen's assertion.
"No, a bartender," Chim corrected. "No, no, no. A bouncer at a bar."
"No, a bouncer at a strip club," the female EMT laughed.
Buck just ignored them and went to sit down on Jane's other side.
"What's going on with you kid?" Bobby looked at him. That's what she loved about Bobby, he always wanted to make sure that his team was alright. Always.
"Traffic sucks in this town unless you're driving ten tons of engine with sirens."
"He speaks the truth," Jane nodded, taking a drink of her tea.
"It took me almost two hours to get from Abby's place to the call center downtown, then back over here. Just told Maddie she needs to start Ubering." Maddie was Buck's older sister who'd showed up unexpectedly and was now staying with Buck at Abby's place while Abby was out of the country. Buck had just gotten Maddie a job at the 911 call center.
"How's your sister settling in down there?" Bobby followed up.
"Well, she's a Buckley," the younger man said with a smirk. "Practically running the place." Hen and Chimney shot each other looks and walked away, but Jane just smiled. Arrogance was almost a part of Buck's charm, and she obviously had thicker skin when it came to dealing with him.
"Did she like the cookies I sent home with you?" Jane asked her friend. "I wanted to visit, offer to hang out sometime, but it was the only night Xavier had off that I had off. He flies to NOLA tomorrow."
"She loved them Jane and told me to tell you thank you."
"Good," Jane beamed. It wasn't that she craved the compliments that came with her baking. She just enjoyed the fact that she could make someone's day better with a simple baked good.
Before she could ask more, Eddie came in with a smile at them all. "Good morning."
"Morning," Bobby replied. "Omelet?"
"Yes please," he responded, and he took the spot next to her that Hen had just vacated. He surveyed the table and his eyes widened when he saw the muffins. Jane grinned and pointed at them in turn.
"Strawberry cream cheese and Banana chocolate chip. Made last night."
He grabbed a banana one and let out a low moan after he'd taken his first bite. Jane did everything in her power to ignore the familiarity of that sound. "These," he pointed to the muffin, "are amazing."
"There isn't anything Jane can't bake," Buck stated. "You should try the strawberry."
Jane rolled her eyes even as her cheeks warmed. "This is what I've become Bobby. Nothing more than a source for muffins."
"And brownies. And cookies. And cake," Buck chirped helpfully, which resulted in her laughing despite wanting to feign a wound.
"And she's the source of a good deal of our sanity," Bobby asserted. "She's the only one who can handle you lot without wanting to pull her hair out."
"Besides," Jane chimed lightly, "who else is going to beat Buck up a tree."
"Hey," he yelped. "You cheated."
Jane turned to Eddie and made a mock innocent face, causing him to smile widely at their antics. "Me? Cheat?" she shook her head dramatically. "Never. Someone just got overconfident."
That was when a new voice spoke up, distracting them all. "I'm looking for Jane Thomas. Oh, hey Chimney!"
Turning in her seat, Jane got a surprise in the form of a bouquet of flowers hand delivered by a certain MMA fighter. Xavier was at the top of the stairs, in front of Chimney who sported a large smile, while pointing back at Jane. Jane could feel the stares of everyone looking between them now, and she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Xavier took her in, this, she realized, was the first time he'd seen her in uniform.
In true Xavier form, he waggled his eyebrows at her, instantly making her smile. He approached swiftly, causing two of her coworkers to scramble out of his way. It was funny, but Jane always forgot how huge Xavier Peters was compared to other people. He was wearing his gym clothes, black sweats with a gray, Edward John's MMA training t-shirt. Behind him, Hen and Chimney followed with big, knowing smiles. Shooting expressions to each other that reflected their joy at being able to tease Jane about this in the hours to come, and also the happiness that she had someone who drove out of his way to give her flowers.
Bobby watched it all from the stove in amusement, only looking away when it was time to remove the omelet from the stove and put it in front of Eddie, who was staring at the scene with an indiscernible expression. Buck was still staring in awe at Xavier. He was a big MMA fan, and he'd been really disappointed to have missed Chimney's game night after finding out he had been there.
Before it even occurred to her to stand up, Xavier was right in front of her, with his white teeth shining brightly. An assortment of pink, purple, and white tulips were presented with a flourish and a bow, and Jane laughed in startled joy at the pleasant surprise. "M'lady Badass."
"What are you doing here?" Her voice was light, pleased immensely at the gesture.
"I figured that I would stop by on my way to the Gym," Xavier smiled down at her. "I was passing a flower shop when I realized that I'd never given you any," he shook his head in mock horror. "I couldn't allow that to stand."
She got up and pulled him into a big hug, squeezing him gently. "Thank you. You really didn't have to."
"It was no problem; besides, I've never actually seen the inside of a firehouse before. I think I expected more dalmatians."
At that, the woman gave him a wry smile. "Disappointing, isn't it?"
"Quite."
"Well, since you're here, would you like an introduction?"
"Of course," he responded quickly. Jane let go and gestured behind him.
"You know Chimney, and that is Hen."
"Good to see you again man," Xavier smiled at Chim. Chim returned the greeting with a handshake, back slap that men always did. Henrietta Wilson just stood there looking like the cat who at the canary.
Xavier held out his hand to shake and Hen took it. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
The man couldn't help himself, and Xavier put a hand to his heart. "I can only imagine what tragedies Jane has assigned me, but let me assure you Hen, it's likely all true."
Jane rolled her eyes as Hen laughed at his antics. She turned him around the other way. "This is Bobby, our captain. Over there is Buck and this is Eddie."
Xavier greeted them all in turn, laughing good naturedly as Buck mildly fangirled over his fighting career. Bobby gave the young man a kind smile and a warm handshake. Jane swore she was imagining things as she noticed tension in Eddie's smile as he greeted Xavier. Once he'd been introduced, he turned to Jane.
"I gotta go now. Edward John says if I don't get a good two hours in before the others come in, then I'm mopping the floors tonight, tournament or no tournament tomorrow."
"I do like that man," she chuckled. "I'll walk you out."
"And I'll take the flowers and put them in a vase for you," Bobby asserted. Jane shot him a grateful look and he gave her one in return.
"I like your coworkers," Xavier said softly, knowing they had an audience. "I get why you are so comfortable here."
"I really am." Jane said. "Comfortable here that is. Despite the hazards, it feels safe here."
He nodded thoughtfully as they descended the stairs. "Eddie seems nice too. I get it."
Jane instantly turned a bright purple. "Xavier-"
He gave her another smile. "I didn't come here to scope him out. I legitimately came here for the flowers. You mentioned that no one had ever given you any and frankly it was about time you got some. Past time."
She shook her head. "You are way too good for me."
"Right back at ya," he replied. They'd reached the doors of the firehouse now. Jane could see his car parked on the side street.
"Text me tonight and we'll video call after your tournament tomorrow."
"You know it." He bent down them and instead of kissing her lips, which he knew would have made her panic in front of her coworkers, he settled for a kiss on her forehead, like he had last night. "Bye M'lady Badass."
"Too good for me, Lord Chivalry," she called back, smiling as she watched him get into his car with one final flourishing bow, and drive away.
She did everything in her power to ignore the stares as she came back up to the kitchen. Her favorite co-workers were all staring at her. The tulips were above the kitchen sink, in a vase in the window where they would receive sun. Bobby was sitting down next to Buck, finally eating his own omelet.
Only once Jane had sat down at her seat and taken a drink of her tea, did she look up at her coworkers. "What?" she asked dumbly.
"M'lady Badass?" Chimney questioned his grin wicked.
Jane shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. "It's better than Mom. Besides, I tried to tell the guy I was boring, I bake in my free time for crying out loud. Then he saw me on the news and the name stuck."
"When?" Bobby asked.
"When the kid fell off the pier." Jane had been off of work at the time, walking the boardwalk with Farrah when they'd heard calls for help. A toddler had climbed up the railing when her mom wasn't looking and had sunk straight into the ocean. Without thinking, Jane shrugged off her purse and launched herself into the water, pulling the baby out. By the time she'd administered CPR and got the child breathing again, EMTs had come and with them news vans. They'd made a spectacle about an off-duty firefighter saving the day.
Bobby just gave her a wider smile. "I told you when it happened Jane, it was a good days work that."
"I wasn't even at work," was her instantaneous retort.
"I know," he leveled her a meaningful look. "that's the point."
............
After breakfast, they still hadn't been called out, which was shocking in and of itself. This put Jane on edge. She just had that feeling that when a call did come in, it would be a bad one. Since it had been slow, Bobby told them to work on tuning up and restocking the firetrucks and ambulance. The members of the 118 had complied with an assortment of grumbles and good-natured shoving.
"Can you hand me that wrench?" Eddie called to Jane from under the truck.
He'd rolled under there, doing general maintenance while Jane was topside, checking that there were no loose screws on the ladder and that everything was properly latched down. She'd just come down for a different screwdriver, she'd distractedly grabbed the wrong one, when Eddie made his request.
Jane complied, "Here you go."
"Thanks," Eddie paused for a second. "Xavier seemed nice."
"He is nice," Jane responded lightly, ignoring the elephant in the room, as she climbed back to the top of the truck. "I'd mentioned that I'd never been given flowers before the other day and he went out of his way to deliver them to me. He's very nice."
"Good," Eddie's voice was a bit gruff, and Jane assumed he was just breathing in the dust from under the engine. "That's very good."
It was an hour into maintenance, and Jane was climbing down from the top of the truck when the earthquake hit. The impact startled her so much, that she fell right to the floor on her back, the wind completely knocked out of her. Eddie went rolling out from under the truck, barely missing getting hit by their industrial falling down on his head. Once Hen got him upright, they saw Jane.
They both ran to the woman, who was just now able to breath and they pulled her out of the middle of the floor and over to safety. Once they were safe against the walls, they both began to look her over. Jane let out a cough as her breathing came back and she inhaled the dust that was coming up.
Through the raucous, they could here Bobby and Buck calling out trying to clear the area. The place was clouded as their oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers fell around them and exploded. "Anybody else back there?"
"No," the younger man called out.
As it slowly settled, Jane finally had enough wherewithal to push Eddie and Hen away from their check up of her.
"I'm fine," Jane said breathlessly. "Barely hit my head, I just got the wind knocked out of me and I'm probably bruised, but I'm fine."
"You should get checked out," Eddie told her, moving his hand to the back of her head feeling for a bump. "You might not think you hit your head, but your body slammed into the concrete floor."
"No, I shouldn't get checked out," Jane responded, ignoring the shivers that her body wanted to erupt in at his closeness. "I'm fine, and there are plenty of people in LA who need medical professionals more than me right now. I'm in one piece and after an earthquake like that we need to be prepared, because our day just got busy."
Her nerves were all to aware of the exact points on her head that Eddie Diaz had his hands on. His brown eyes met her blue ones, searching for something, before he nodded. "Fine."
Jane let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Somehow, she felt that it wasn't fine, and it wouldn't be fine for a long time. She hated being right.
............
Not even five full minutes later, the 118 was dispatched. Eddie and Hen had lost the argument with Jane as she pushed herself onto the truck, ignoring the aches in her body that she knew was probably covered in severe bruising. Despite her fall, and the fact that an earthquake had just hit Los Angeles, these would not be the worst things that Jane had to deal with today.
"We're responding to a building collapse with other units," Bobby called back to them. Then, he swiveled around in his seat and he faced Jane directly. "They called members the 129. If you have any problems report to me and I'll take it up with their new Captain. He's instituted a zero-tolerance policy. I'm fairly certain that the incident Commander won't tolerate it either. We go in and do our job, and if they cause issues, we get their asses out of there because in a situation like this we can't afford the risk."
Jane nodded to Bobby to let him know she'd heard him and then looked out the window of the truck, trying to ignore the stares of Buck and Eddie, who had no idea why she'd have issues with the 129 and those of Hen and Chimney who did know.
"You know the guys at the 129?" Buck asked Jane obliviously. Eddie tried to send him a look, more aware of the tension in the truck than his friend was.
"Yes. I transferred out of there to the 118," Jane kept her voice purposefully calm, and she didn't turn away from the window, taking in the partially collapsed buildings and the general destruction that had been left in its wake.
"Why'd you transfer to the 118?" the young man continued on.
"No," the woman responded shortly.
"No?"
"It is not any of your business Evan Buckley," Jane's voice did not waiver from its calmness, but her tone indicated that she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. So, Buck turned his attention to Eddie who was frowning down at his phone.
"Is everything okay?" he asked him.
"Yeah," Eddies voice was tight. The sound of his anxiety made Jane get out of her own head. "There's no service. Texts won't even get through."
Oh, Jane thought. He must be worried about Christopher.
"Who you trying to get ahold of?" Buck called over the engine.
Eddie hesitated before answering, leading Jane to wonder why he was reluctant to mention the charming boy that she'd met at the grocery store. Then, she remembered how closed off he was at the wedding and how unnatural it was for the both of them to reveal things that actually meant something to them.
"My son," Eddie said then, looking Buck straight into the eye. "I'm trying to reach my son."
"Whoa, you got a kid?!" Buck hollered. Jane smirked slightly at his surprise.
"Christopher," Eddie replied, pulling a picture up on his phone and turning it over for Buck to see. "He's seven."
"And super adorable," Buck said smiling down at the image. The interaction made Jane smile despite herself. "I, uh, I love kids,"
"I love this one," Eddie responded seriously. "I'm all he's got. His mother's uh, not in the picture."
"May I?" Jane gestured, and Eddie handed her the phone.
She smiled down at the picture of Christopher. He looked smaller than he had when she saw him at the store, but his big gray eyes and infectious smile were there, prominently displayed. It was a great picture and it calmed some of the edge that had existed in her head from the moment Bobby mentioned the 129.
"He is beautiful and unlike some people, he knows good snack food when he tries it," Jane said with forced lightness. "But I'm sure he's safe. He's at school, right?"
Eddie nodded his lips pinched. Jane wanted to reach out, to tell him it would be alright, that Christopher was safe, but she couldn't. It wasn't her place to give more than the general reassurance.
"Hey, I'm sure he's fine," Buck reassured him, then he turned back to Jane. "You've met him?" Jane shrugged.
"I helped the boy get some Ruffles. He has good taste, unlike people who eat those no carb, no fat, no taste, no joy rice cakes."
Buck chuckled at her and for one second, the tension was lifted. But of course, that wouldn't last. They pulled up to the call and were stunned at what was there, a high rise had literally collapsed and was leaning like the Tower of Pisa. Jane saw Bobby cross himself at the sight as they all got out to survey the damage. Chimney and Hen, who'd ridden in the ambulance, joined them.
"You guys ever deal with anything like this before?" Eddie asked, as the team stared up at the building.
"No," Bobby responded immediately.
"I have to get back in there! No you have to let me back in there! My baby's in there!" A woman was hysterically fighting the officer trying to remove her from the impact zone. A man, presumably her husband, followed behind, just as loud and hysterical.
"Please, our daughter is still inside! She's eight years old!" At that, Hen and Jane exchanged a meaningful glance. They'd get that girl out of there.
"KAT!" the mother screamed, still fighting and then she looked at the firefighters. "HER NAME IS KAT!"
Buck was staring at some of the men already at work. "They seriously think that's going to hold it up," he gestured at the men placing rods under the building as if to brace it.
"Let's go find the incident commander," Bobby instructed them, starting to walk away. They turned to follow when one gratingly familiar, baritone sounded above the din.
"Well, look who it is!" a man spoke up just behind her. Jane felt her back stiffen at the familiar voice and turned to look at the unwelcome male who'd invaded her sanity.
Four guys from the 129 were standing behind her and the rest of her team. Three of them she recognized as Torres, Slinger, and Bennet. They were all vaguely the same, tall, bronzed, and arrogant in their swagger. They looked like any other responder on the scene except for that damned 129 they sported on their helmets. They'd all been on the team when she had, but they'd added a new member to their crew who looked wet behind the ears and uncomfortable at the tone his coworkers had used. She saw one point at her. Torres. Of course it was Torres.
"Little Janie is still trying to play with the big boys," he mocked.
"Better watch out," warned Bennet in a sing-song voice to Buck and Eddie. "She's a homewrecker."
Hen and Chimney immediately got their hackles up and sent them glares while Jane resolved to ignore them and tried to focus on her boots. Buck and Eddie were confused, but they'd stepped closer to her and joined the glare brigade. But, of course, it was Bobby who was on them first.
"If I were you," her Captain said in a low warning tone, "I'd keep my mouth shut. Especially when you depend on everyone in there to keep you alive. Now watch it or I'll report you to your new Captain and the incident commander. Go. As you can see, we've got work to do."
Jane could picture the scowls on their faces, familiar to the ones they'd worn the last time she'd seen them, but she refused to look up once she'd seen Torres point at her. It wasn't worth it to let them see how upset they'd made her. It wouldn't do to reveal to her crew that her hands were now shaking, and her body was on the verge of a panic attack. Once she saw four sets of feet walk away on the ground, she turned to her team still looking down.
"I'm fine," it was a bad lie. She didn't even sound fine. While on the job, Jane usually had a calm, controlled tone, often it was used to sooth patients or it was to mediate instructions between the team members. She brought the team a center, but right now she was shaken.
"I'm fine," she reiterated again, finally raising her eyes to give an angry glare at Chimney, Hen, and Bobby in turn until they turned away and began to trek to the IC's tent.
"Hey," Buck asked lowly, never knowing when to not push. "What was up with that? Those guys back there... the guys from the 129? I mean...you know...given my past I won't judge."
For the first time since Buck had known her, Jane's voice was...icy. Hard. Angry.
"None of your business." She was edgy and her hackles were on the rise. She felt Eddie's knowing stare into her face and so she cut him a piece of the glare she gave Buck. "Either of yours. We have a job to do now, so are you going to move it or are you just going to wait for the building to fall down?"
"Now, I haven't known her long but that didn't seem normal." Eddie pointed towards the blonde as they fell behind the crew.
"It isn't," Buck replied, looking concerned as she caught up with the rest of their crew. "At all."
Jane had blocked everything out, not paying attention to the initial exchange between Bobby and the brunette woman who she assumed was the incident commander. Distantly, Jane was happy that the 129 was currently reporting to a woman. It served them right. These thoughts were interrupted as she slowly came back to her right mind, and the gravity of what the woman was saying penetrated Jane's anxiety ridden brain.
"One good aftershock," the Incident Commander began.
"And the whole thing could come down," Bobby finished.
"I though high rises were the safest place to be when an earthquake hits," Buck said.
"Not when their built right on top of a fault line," the woman responded. "This quake was a 7.1."
Jane's eyes widened at that one, and Hen was flabbergasted.
"Northridge was just a 6.7," she said, referring to the worst quake in L.A.'s memory, up to now.
"7.1- that makes the largest in SoCal in 20 years and the last one was in Joshua Tree," Chimney interjected.
"How many crews do you have in there?" Bobby asked, pulling them back to their task.
"Not enough," the other Captain responded. "We've put in a request for heavy rescue three, but they're on their way to a freeway collapse. We can use every hand we can get." With a thanks from Bobby, the Incident Commander left with the Captain from the 122 and Bobby turned to the crew with a serious face.
"Okay, listen up," he said gravely. "Here's how you make it to the end of the day. You don't worry about the things that you can't do anything about. Focus on one task at a time. I can't order you guys to go inside that building, and I'm not gonna' judge you if you decide not to."
"Hen, you got a kid so..." Chimney began.
"Yeah," she responded irritably. "And I'd hope if someone whose job it was to save him had a chance, they'd do it. No matter what."
"Where do you want us?" Eddie asked Bobby with a nod.
"Hey," a tall police officer interrupted. "You guys will want to see this."
They were led to the other side of the building where a line of rescue people were staring up at one of the windows in the high rise. There, they could see a man pinned to the glass windows of the building, trapped on one of the upper floors. Jane blinked just to be sure, but yes, he was still there.
"We could set up a bag street-side in case that window gives," Chimney offered.
"Nobody works under that side of the building," was Bobby's response, and for a good reason. If that building came down, it was going down that way and he didn't want any of his people under it. "Somebody's gonna' have to get him from the inside."
"Buck," Eddie nodded his chin up. "Would you say that's the eleventh floor?"
"I would," he responded. "I bet we could take the ladder to that fourth floor. Cut the distance in half."
"While you two get Mr. Bathrobe, I'll just keep climbing," Jane said from beside them, looking up at the tilting structure. "Who knows how many people are in the higher floors."
Bobby looked worried, but he gave them his approval. "Head on up Jane, but see if you can pick up a paramedic to go with you. If carrying someone is necessary, you'll need help."
"Got it, Cap," Jane gave a nod of her own and the trio ran off to get harnessed.
"Who you gonna pick up?" Eddie asked the woman as they grabbed their gear.
Jane peeled her eyes around, looking for the only person from the 129 that she could stand. She thought that she'd spotted him when the policeman brought them around the building. Once she spotted his bright red hair and beard, blissfully away from any of his teammates, Jane called over to him.
"HEY! TREVORS! YOU WANNA SCALE A BUILDING?!"
The older man startled, almost tripping over, which caused Buck and Eddie to let out small chuckles as the tall, gangly man made their way over to Jane with a smile on his face.
"Janie! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" the ginger called in an excited tenor. "Now, what's this about scaling a building?"
Jane gestured to the tilting high rise. "I'm going up to the top floors for retrieval and I'm bringing you with me."
The man rolled his eyes but nodded. "How nice of you to ask."
"I asked the first time," was her only response. He nodded.
"True. Who are these guys?"
"Benny, this is Buck and Eddie. Guys, this is Benny, paramedic with the 129. He's coming up with me. Benny, gear up, we're taking the ladder to four and then going to the top. These guys are going to try for the guy in the window on 11 and will head down from there." Benny nodded and ran off to gear up from his own truck.
"He good?" Eddie nodded at him.
"One of the best," Jane replied. "If anyone's up there, besides you guys, there's no one else I'd trust to have my back getting them down."
Soon enough, they were all geared up and the ladder had been extended up to four. Still, it was a long climb.
"Why did I let you volunteer me for this?" Benny asked Jane woefully when they'd made it three-fourths of the way up the ladder.
"Because I saved your life."
"It would have been easier to die in the house fire."
"No it wouldn't have," she retorted continuing to climb.
When they got to their destination, Eddie broke the window open and they all scrambled in, first Eddie, then Buck, Jane, and Benny bringing up the rear.
"After Northridge," Buck said, "FEMA spent $200 million retrofitting every school in the LAUSD. Ceiling tiles, lighting fixtures, Eddie your kid is in the safest place he can be."
"I thought that was a high-rise," was the other man's short response.
Jane was going to agree, saying how she had experienced plenty of earthquakes at school and not been hurt, but surprisingly, the next round of reassurances came from Benny.
"My husband works as an engineer for the school district. It's his job to make sure that all of the schools are up to code, and he told me the other day that he didn't have to report any of them during his last round of inspections," Benny panted as he pulled himself through the window. "Now, you don't know my husband, but the man doesn't cut corners. Your kid is safe, and definitely safer than us right now."
"No doubt about that," Jane said looking up at the stairs now that they had all made it into the building. "Better start climbing. We got far to go, and I don't want to be up here any longer than necessary in case of aftershock." They agreed and continued on their journey.
The stairwell of the hotel was warped and littered with debris. Their flashlights and the bits of sun through blocked windows illuminated the space just enough so that when you looked up, the climb only seemed more infinite. Eddie led the way, clearing the path for all of them for the first part of their journey. Inwardly, Jane didn't want to leave Eddie and Buck, but she wasn't about to risk the lives of the people above the eleventh floor, just because she wanted the safety of numbers. She had volunteered herself and Benny for a job and they were going to do it.
"It's only six flights," Eddie gasped out, as they made it up the first flight. "Not exactly Mount Everest."
"Speak for yourself Diaz," Jane snapped. "Some of us keep going." Benny just grunted his response, not wanting to waste air.
"Yeah," Buck said. "And Everest might not tip over and crush you like a bug." At that, the entire stairwell creaked, and the building shifted a bit under them. All of them grasped for the railing, hoping that it wouldn't give in and would keep them up.
"Evan Buckley," Jane groaned. "You jinxed us."
"You all right back there?" Eddie asked his three companions.
"Yeah," Jane responded, and Benny and Buck agreed. "Let's keep going."
They didn't talk much as they after that, trying to preserve air and make as much headway as fast as possible. With a 7.1 earthquake, aftershocks were going to happen, and they just hoped they wouldn't be enough to send them all down with it. It took twenty minutes to reach the eleventh floor, and Eddie and Buck paused at the door. From their body language, Jane could see that they didn't want to move either.
"It's alright boys. See you on the ground," Jane kept her voice light.
"Be safe alright? Radio us if you two need help," Eddie looked at her seriously, and Buck nodded in agreement.
Jane gave Buck a rueful smile, "I promise to not do anything that Buck wouldn't do."
Eddie rolled his eyes and Buck shook his head. "Hey, you gotta be as smart as Jane right now, not as dumb as me."
"Don't I know it," she agreed. "You ready?" she asked Benny.
"You know it, chickadee."
"Then let's climb."
This time Jane worked to push the debris out of the way, and as she'd assumed, the stairwell got steeper and slightly more compressed the higher they got. When they made it up to the twelfth floor, Jane paused.
"Easier to go all the way up and bring people back down don't you think?" Jane asked him. Benny nodded his assent. "To the top then."
"So, you and Ricky got married?" Jane said, making conversation to avoid the fact that around the 18th floor of 22, they'd almost fallen when the stairs gave out on them.
"Last spring."
"Nice," Jane nodded, grunting as she pulled herself up. "How's your new Captain?"
"Not a homophobe, so that's a relief. They got rid of a lot of the old crew, re-disbursed them."
"But they kept Torres," Jane said grimly. "He and his remaining cronies tried to harass me. Unfortunately for them, my new Captain didn't let them get away with it."
"Our new Captain wouldn't either," Benny grunted, his foot slipping for an instant, before he got a hold and pulled himself up. "I'll tell him if you want."
"No," Jane gasped. "Don't bother. This is it. Floor 22."
"Ready," Benny said. She handed him the rope that was strung through both of their belts.
"Tie us off and we'll go down the hall."
Jane opened the door and braced herself as she was walking sideways down the empty hotel hallway. "Hello! LAFD!"
"LAFD!" Benny shouted. "Anyone here?"
They didn't hear anything, they made it to the end of the other hall, silent as death.
"Alright," Jane looked over at her bearded friend.
"We go down then." Of course, at that moment, the first aftershock hit, sending them crashing into the wall. Jane let out a scream as her back, which was still excruciating from when she'd fallen off the firetruck, banged violently against the side of the building.
"You alright?" Benny asked worriedly.
"Fine. I didn't mention it earlier but I might have been on top of the firetruck when the first quake it. I'm going to be completely blue after this."
"You fell off of a firetruck and now you are on top of a high rise?" Benny shook his head at her. "And people say men are the one's with a death wish. If you are alright, we should make our way down. Given how strong that one was, I can't imagine that'll be the only aftershock."
It wasn't, but fortunately, they were better prepared for the next ones. They were back down to floor seventeen, and they hadn't heard a single person. At each door, they would stop and listen, occasionally busting the doors down if they thought they heard movement, but their search had been fruitless in the face of seven aftershocks.
"LAFD!" Jane called out again. "LAFD! If you are there call out! Bang something! Let us know you are here!"
Finally, in the distance so that they knew it was at the other end of the hall they could hear a bunch of voices, "Help! Help us! Help!"
Jane and Benny exchanged looks. "We're coming!" Jane shouted. "Help is coming!"
I thought that I could combine the two earthquake episodes into one, but that was false as my imagination went to town. Although I think the next chapter will be one of my shorter ones. Happy Reading!
Spoilery/ Non-Spoilers: Two and a Half more Chapters until we get our long awaited original episode! As much as I like the episode, Awful People will only be addressed briefly in an extraordinarily dramatic short chapter that will be followed by what I believe to be my best work as its been written and rewritten, revised, and rewritten again since I first started the book.
Please vote! Comment! Like! Let me know if you like Benny and tell me what you think happened to Jane at the 129! I want theories!