"I can't believe I have to have another week off," Mallie groaned as she looked at her laptop. She was on a video chat to Arizona and April, who both had a day off from their jobs in New York and wherever April had moved to. Mallie could never remember the name of the place.
"You had brain and abdominal surgery. One week off is not enough recovery time," April said.
"But I'm fine," Mallie sighed. "Let me see my nieces," she added.
"Sofia, come and see Mallie!" Arizona called.
"Harriet, baby," April cooed.
Sofia and Callie's heads popped onto the screen, as did baby Harriet's.
"All my girls!" Mallie grinned. "How is everyone? Sof, mija, how's school?" she asked.
"Muy bien, tía Mallie," Sofia grinned.
"That's brilliant! Harriet, how is learning to share your toys going?" Mallie smirked at April, knowing Harriet was a little toy thief from the stories she and Jackson told her.
"Better," Harriet smiled.
"Perfecto, princesa," Mallie smiled.
"How's Mallie's life going?" Callie teased.
"Mallie's life is okay," Mallie said. "Uh, we have a new fire captain, Michael Dixon, who used to be a cop. Also looks a bit too child-friendly, but you didn't hear that from me," Mallie smirked.
"Lovely," Arizona giggled.
"How are things with Calzona?" Mallie said.
"Calzona, really?" Callie said.
"Spill," April grinned.
"We're, uh, back together," Arizona said, holding up hers and Callie's intertwined hands.
"Yes! Called it!" Mallie whistled. "Wait until I tell everyone. I am so excited," Mallie grinned.
"At least she's happy," Callie laughed.
"We're here to celebrate the life of Ryan Michael Tanner, to honor his sacrifice. A police officer's job can give us so much..."
Mallie zoned out, staring at the coffin holding Ryan's body. He had been shot by a three year old and, if Mallie was honest, that incident itself felt like the world had flipped around on its axis.
Amelia tightened her grip on Mallie's hand, making her look at her.
"You okay?" Amelia whispered.
"It's just insane that a kid killed a police officer. What the fuck is wrong with the world?" Mallie whispered back.
"I know," Amelia sighed.
The gunmen started firing the traditional twenty shots for the fallen officer and Mallie sighed.
"Third funeral this year. How many more people can die before Christmas?" Mallie whispered.
"We've got a month. Don't jinx it," Amelia whispered.
"It's, uh, been a month since Saffie disappeared. The babies would be five months," Mallie whispered.
"Yeah. She could find out the sexes," Amelia whispered.
"Fifty bucks it's identical twin boys," Jack whispered from beside them.
"Fuck off, Gibson," Mallie whispered. "We're the worst people. Who talks about babies at a funeral?" she whispered.
"Us," Amelia and Jack whispered.
"Andy's back at work," Travis said as he and Mallie made coffee in the kitchen.
"She needs a distraction. Honestly, I can't blame her," Mallie said.
"Have you, uh, spoken to Saffie?" Travis said.
"She won't answer my calls or texts. I even said she didn't have to come back, just let me know she was okay. And she won't. Even Amelia reached out. She didn't respond. I have no idea where she is," Mallie said.
"How do you feel about that?" Travis said.
"What, are we playing therapist?" Mallie smiled slightly.
"Just checking in," Travis said.
"I feel happy because I don't have my sister bringing up all of the bad childhood memories. I feel sad because she's still my sister and I thought we were getting somewhere. And I'm angry, because I know it's her addiction that makes her relapse and run away and do all of the shit she does and I can't blame her because addiction is a disease," Mallie said.
"That's a lot of big feelings," Travis said. They stood there for a while. "Work out?" he said.
"Oh, please," Mallie sighed in relief.
"So, Sullivan is Battalion chief. Who's captain of 19?" Amelia asked, running her fingers through Mallie's hair as they watched a telenovela on the living room television in Meredith's house.
"It's gonna be one of the lieutenants. It won't be Jack. It'll be Andy or Maya. I would've had all of my money on Andy, but with Ryan, I think Sullivan might recommend Maya to protect Andy. If she's captain now, she'll blow it. Her best friend died. Her world is spinning and adding captain to the mix will fuck things for her. As angry as it'll make Andy, I think he'll pick Maya," Mallie explained.
"And that's gonna piss everyone off, right? 'Cause Andy's been lieutenant longer and she's been raised to be captain. Her dad was the best captain that 19 ever had," Amelia said.
"Exactly!" Mallie gasped, looking up at her girlfriend. "I am so glad you understand exactly what I'm feeling," she said.
"How do you think your shift will go tomorrow?" Amelia said.
"Luckily for me, I've got tomorrow off. It's career day at the kid's school and they want me in instead of you guys or Mer because surgeons are that easy to come by in their family. There's only tía Mallie that fights fires," Mallie grinned.
"Oh, I bet Bishop is going to love you not being there," Amelia laughed.
"I don't even care," Mallie shrugged. "She's gonna turn into a nazi. Just like Bailey when I was an intern. I love the girl but she is power hungry," she said.
"Maybe she needs to have sex," Amelia said.
"Are you fishing for sex or is that a genuine recommendation?" Mallie smirked.
"Both," Amelia smirked back.
"C'mon, loser. Let's not traumatise the cats," Mallie laughed, dragging Amelia to the bedroom.
"This'll recharge everybody's batteries," Ben said, getting the coffee ready for breakfast.
"Is there anything sadder than an empty jar of peanut butter? B-shift is always doing this. They empty the jar, and then they put it back in the shelf," Dean groaned.
"Don't look at me," Rigo Vascuez said. He had come onto the team to be Andy's replacement, but had stuck around. Mallie didn't mind him that much. He was a dick, but he was a man, so she expected that.
"Maybe you should just hide it behind the oatmeal," Ben said.
"A grown man should not have to hide his peanut butter, Ben," Dean cried.
"Do you want the chunky or not?" Ben laughed.
"You know what I'm gonna do?" Dean said, grabbing a notebook with a laugh "I'm gonna write a note," he said.
"Oh. How civilized," Vic said.
"Good for you," Mallie snorted.
"Don't bother. Everybody's trying to transfer to 81 anyways," Rigo said.
"Shut the hell up, Rigo," Dean said.
"If I could get your attention for a moment," Maya walked into the beanery with a wide grin.
"And in walks the reason," Mallie muttered to Andy, sipping her energy drink as she walked to the fridge.
"I know this transition has been hard on you all. So I wanted to extend an invitation. A team camping trip-" Maya was interrupted by them all groaning. "This weekend. A chance for us to relax and get reacquainted with each other," she said.
"It's winter," Jack said.
"It's unseasonably warm," Maya said.
"By day," Dean chimed.
"That's what a campfire's for," Maya said.
"I prefer my bed," Vic said.
"Your presence is strongly encouraged. We depart Station 19 at 700 hours. Bring your families, significant others, whoever. I expect you to be punctual and prepared for fun!" Maya said, leaving the beanery.
"Oh, good. Mandatory fun," Andy muttered.
"Awesome," Jack said flatly.
"Guys, I don't do camping," Mallie said. "I grew up in a mansion. When said mansion burnt down, I moved into my family's castle. In Spain. And then there was the time I got in that plane crash and was stranded in the woods for four days," Mallie said.
"Castles and mansions are very different to plane crashes and camping," Dean said.
"Agreed," Andy nodded. "You could say you're not going because of the plane crash. What's she going to say?" she said.
"She's going to say it's mandatory fun and if she can win an olympic gold medal on a twisted ankle, I can spend a night sleeping in a tent," Mallie said.
"Are you gonna invite Amelia?" Vic smirked. Mallie laughed out loud.
"Do you think for one minute my girlfriend is gonna sleep in a tent? It's more unlikely than me sleeping in a tent," Mallie said.
"You're not coming if she doesn't come, are you?" Dean said.
"Nope," Mallie grinned, walking out of the beanery to call Amelia.
"Camping," Amelia said flatly.
"Yes," Mallie said.
"You know, I can handle you getting surgery. I can handle you running into burning buildings and saving cats from trees. I cannot handle mandatory fun in the form of camping with your team," Amelia said.
"But you love me, so you're gonna come, right?" Mallie said. Amelia sighed into the phone.
"I am not getting my hands dirty, Mallie Cruz," Amelia warned her.
"I could literally kiss you right now," Mallie sighed in relief.
"Yeah, well, you should," Amelia chuckled.
"I will when I get home," Mallie said.
"I'll come and pick you up. I'll get a list from Maya for-"
"No, no lists from Maya. She'll have us bringing all sorts of shit. No way. We improvise, we bring enough marshmallows to make smores galore and then we pull on smiles and pretending camping is a totally fun thing to do on my one day off," Mallie sighed.
"Fine," Amelia laughed.
"Thank god," Mallie sighed.
"Where's the campground?" Mallie asked, the team climbing out of the vans they'd drove in.
"It's about 3 miles in," Maya said.
"3 miles with all this equipment?" Vic eyed the piles of bags and tents in the back of the vans.
"Yeah, and no stragglers. Travis and Dean, grab the duffel," Maya said.
"Oh!" Travis gasped, dropping the duffel on the floor.
"There better not be a dead body in here," Dean said.
"It's firewood. This is a state park. We carry our own wood in for burning. I went over all the regulations," Maya beamed, heading down the trail with her clipboard and gear.
"I'm telling you, we can make it look like an accident. People disappear in these woods all the time," Vic whispered to Travis and Mallie.
"Please do," Mallie whispered back.
"Where's your better half?" Travis asked.
"In surgery. She and Jackson are meeting us here later," Vic said.
"Yeah," Mallie smiled.
"Home sweet home! Gather around, people. We have to set up tents. We are burning daylight here," Maya grinned as they reached the campsite an hour later.
"I don't camp," Mallie groaned to Vic.
"Okay. Vasquezes," Maya checked her clipboard.
"Yeah?" Rigo asked, holding his wife, Eva's, hand.
"You are over there," Maya pointed over at a spot.
"Okay," Rigo muttered, leading Eva over there. Jack and Andy started walking to one side.
"And, Gibson, you're actually-" Maya said.
"Capable of choosing my own spot," Jack shook his head, walking into the trees.
"Oh, Hughes-" Maya turned to Vic. Mallie took her chance to grab her tent and hurry away from everybody so she and Amelia could have some privacy.
"Oh, my guy's coming, so I'm gonna be over there. Far away from... everyone," Vic said.
"Cruz?" Maya said.
"Amelia is very talented in bed. It's my day off and I was getting lucky. Now I'm camping. If I'm camping, I'm still getting lucky," Mallie pointed at Maya. "I am moving away out of the goodness of my heart," she said.
"You mean you don't want us all knowing how you sound having sex," Dean laughed.
"Yeah," Mallie smirked, heading to get the tent set up.
"Graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows... how hard would it have been?" Pruitt muttered to Amelia as Mallie pouted between them. She'd just found out that Maya hadn't asked anyone to get marshmallows, so they couldn't have smores. And, to make matters worse, it was night and they were around the campfire. Smores were a ritual and Maya had ruined it.
"Who's ready for some s'mores?" Travis jumped over to the campfire.
"No marshmallows," Mallie muttered miserably.
"What?! I will go home. I will go," Travis groaned, putting his hands on his hips.
"Oh, let me check on that for you," Jack said, turning to shout over his shoulder. "Hey, Captain, are we still having mandatory fun, or can we get the hell out of here?" he said.
"Give her a break, son," Pruitt said calmly.
"No way. She forgot my marshmallows," Mallie muttered. Amelia leaned closer so she could whisper into Mallie's ear.
"Stop pouting or I will take you into our tent right now and ruin the night for everybody," Amelia whispered. Mallie turned to whisper back to Amelia.
"Mi vida, you'd be the one making the most noise," she whispered.
"Oh, is that a bet?" Amelia smirked.
"It's a promise, amor," Mallie smiled, kissing Amelia softly.
They turned back to the group, seeing Dean and Vic were singing. Mallie smiled, wrapping an arm around Amelia's waist.
"Let me be by myself in the evening breeze. Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees. Send me off forever, but I ask you please, don't, don't fence me in," Mallie joined in with Vic and Dean. The three of them shared a cheeky grin. They loved singing whenever it was just the three of them.
"You kids need to take that on the road," Pruitt said.
"So good!" Eva grinned.
"That was awesome," Jack said. Rigo sighed as Maya walked over.
"Captain of the fun police is here," he whispered. Maya held up a pinecone.
"Is that the sacred pinecone?" Vic whispered to Mallie. She snorted, putting her hand over her mouth so she didn't laugh.
"This is an exercise," Maya said.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Travis said, making the team laugh.
"You hold the pinecone, you say something you appreciate about the person to your left, and then you toss it to someone else," Maya said.
"This is hilarious," Jackson chuckled. They all shook their heads at him. "It's... No, she's serious. Yeah. That's what I was saying," Jackson nodded.
"Miller, I appreciate that you always have your eye on safety," Maya said, handing the pinecone to Dean.
"Wo... Wow. That was deeply personal, and I might... I might actually cry," Dean smirked at the team, throwing the pinecone at Andy. It dropped on her feet but she didn't move to pick it up.
"Pick it up, Herrera," Maya said. Pruitt reached for it. "Not you, sir," she said. Pruitt picked it up anyway.
"Andrea. I appreciate how you've always looked after my health," he said. He handed it to Andy, who stared blankly at it.
"Pinecone, I appreciate what good kindling you make," Andy said, throwing the pinecone into the fire.
"Maybe it's not so sacred after all," Mallie whispered to Vic. Vic, Amelia and Jackson snorted, making Mallie turn her face into Amelia's neck to stop from laughing at Maya and making her feel worse.
"Who the hell is screaming?" Amelia muttered, burying her face in Mallie's neck as they slept.
"I don't know," Mallie muttered back.
She frowned when she heard the screaming continue.
She sat up and opened the tent, seeing the team was gearing up.
"Amelia, stay there," Mallie said quickly.
"No, we need doctors!" Jackson shouted from somewhere.
"I'm up!" Amelia called back.
They got out of the tent, running towards the scene.
"What've we got?" Mallie asked.
"Bear attack. Look for a nose!" Maya called.
"Fucking hell," Mallie muttered, kissing Amelia before disappearing into the trees to find a nose.
"Baby bear," Mallie hissed, grabbing Maya and Andy's arms as they saw a baby bear crawl out of the trees towards them.
"Oh, no," Andy whispered. "That's bad. Baby bear means," Andy trailed off.
"Momma bear," Mallie finished, feeling her heart race as a momma bear come out of the woods.
"Okay, everyone stay calm. Don't run, or it'll chase you," Andy whispered.
"What do we do? Like... play dead?" Jack muttered from behind them, him Pruitt and Eva with them, too.
"Brown bear, yes. Black bear... no," Andy said. The bear roared loudly and Mallie winced.
"Then what do we do?" Mallie muttered.
"I'm here, bear. I'm here. Hi, mama. It's okay. I'm a human. I'm not here to hurt you," Andy said calmly.
"Andrea, get away from it!" Pruitt hissed.
"Stay calm, identify yourself, get big. Dad, you taught me that. Get big. No sudden movements," Andy said.
"We're human. And we don't taste good," Jack said nervously.
The bear growled before dropping down and walking away.
"I am never coming camping again," Mallie snapped.
"Yeah, I don't blame you," Jack sighed, smacking her shoulder. "C'mon. Nose time," he said.
"Did I ever mention that I hate snow storms?" Mallie said, sipping her coffee as she and Jack surveyed the beanery, filled with people.
They'd opened the station to anybody who needed somewhere to go. That meant that the entire station was booming with people, not to mention the bad cell service that meant Mallie and Amelia couldn't text as often as they'd like.
"No, but the feeling is mutual. Bishop is making us scrub the station, that is already spotless," Jack said.
"Honestly, Amelia is never coming on a trip with us ever again. Camping and a bear attack, it ruined it," Mallie sighed.
"I don't blame her. I'm never going on a trip again," Jack said.
"Me, either," Mallie said.
"Hey, Cruz, Gibson, the toilets are clogged again," Bishop waved over to them.
"Yay," Mallie and Jack groaned, heading to the bathroom.
"You're a surgeon?" JJ, Dean's baby momma, stared judgingly at Mallie as she settled in the bathroom with Andy, Maya and JJ.
"I am," Mallie nodded.
"And you know her friend?" JJ pointed at Maya.
"Carina," Maya said, a small blush on her cheeks.
"Yes. Carina and I have known each other for like, almost two years now," Mallie said.
"And you can deliver my baby?" JJ said.
"When the time comes, yes," Mallie said.
"And I want an epidural," JJ said.
"I don't have an epidural here," Mallie said honestly.
"But I want one," she said.
"Well, I will get on that but I can't guarantee it," Mallie smiled. "Captain, as the resident surgeon of Station 19, I'm assuming I'm taking charge of this scene?" she said.
"Yeah," Maya nodded.
"Perfect. Then I want you two in the shower," Mallie pointed at JJ and Maya. "Strip down to vests and shorts, get under the hot water and hold her hips while she goes through contractions. Andy, find a yoga ball. If you, uh, massage the cervix, it helps labour progress because it opens you up better," Mallie said.
"And what are you gonna do?" Maya said, glaring while she stripped down to her shorts and t-shirt.
"I get the lovely job of examining JJ to see how dilated she is," Mallie said, taking the gloves out of the med box.
"You have to examine me?" JJ raised her eyebrows.
"Yes. So, uh, underwear off and lie down, please," Mallie said.
"I just met you," JJ said.
"Believe me, JJ, I have a girlfriend with a perfectly lovely lady area of her own. I'm not looking at yours because I want to. I'm looking because I'm a surgeon and I need to know how far dilated you are to give your baby the best chance," Mallie smiled.
JJ sighed.
"Fine," she said.
"And you know all of the steps?" Carina asked over facetime. Mallie had facetimed Amelia to get Carina and check she was definite about how to deliver a baby. It had been a very long time since she'd done that, after all.
"Yeah. You saved my ass, DeLuca," Mallie said.
"I helped," Amelia grinned in the camera. Mallie smiled back.
"Yeah, mi vida, you did," she said. "Hey, Carina, I hear that you're friends with Maya," Mallie said. Carina blushed.
"More like we met at Joe's and had sex," Carina said.
"Ah, hookup Maya is back," Mallie sighed with a smirk.
"Hookup Maya?" Carina said.
"Yeah. She hooks up with people, doesn't call 'em back. But, I dunno. She was smiling when she mentioned you. She never smiles when she talks about her hookups. You might have a real chance this time," Mallie said.
Carina's cheeks blushed even brighter.
"That's the look!" Mallie said.
"I want an epidural!" JJ shouted from inside the bathroom.
"Oh, I gotta go and do damage control," Mallie sighed. "Thank you, Carina. I'll see you later, mi vida," Mallie said.
"I'll see you later, baby," Amelia smiled.
Mallie ended the facetime and hurried inside the bathroom.
"We don't have an epidural," Mallie said.
"I hate you," JJ said seriously.
"Believe me," Mallie winced. "The feeling is mutual," she muttered.