NAOMI REID
Sitting in her car, in front of the firehouse, Naomi lets out a long sigh. "I'm not ready for the day," She says out loud, leaning her head against the headrest. She sits there for a couple more minutes before reluctantly exiting her car.
Inside, Naomi greets everyone as she heads to her locker. She talks to Avery and Steff, a female firefighter, before she goes off to find her brother. Walking into his little space, she spots him at his desk. Wrapping her hands around him, she rests her head on top of his, peering over him.
"This the restaurant fire?" She asks as she looks at the pictures he had spread out before him.
"Yeah. Helping out with the investigation. Was able to find the point of origin with Frazer, we also identified the accelerant they used. The manager said she knows for sure who was behind it. Problem is, that guy isn't even in the city at the moment," Kai answers.
"Got someone to do his dirty work for him, won't be the first," Naomi comments.
"Seems that way," Kai responds. "The fire completely destroyed the place, just look at these," He says as he spreads out more pictures.
"Did they consider the fact that it might not be him? Or anyone working for him," Naomi comments.
"She seems pretty sure it's this person," Kai answers.
"What's their trouble with the guy? Why he'd burn the place?" Naomi asks curiously.
"Oh, it's a story!" Kai exclaims. "So, the manager's fiancé's cousin got mixed up with the guy, dragged her and the fiancé into some sketchy shit. And then, they get mad at her, the manager, when she and the fiancé pulled out of whatever. Apparently, this guy...he's not good at taking no for an answer. So, there's some drama between all of them. It's got so bad the cousin had to leave the city. So the manager, now, thinks that the guy is doubling down on her since the cousin left and they all pissed him off," Kai answers, leaning back in his chair.
The blaring of the overhead speaker catches their attention. "Battalion 25, Engine 21, Truck 61, Squad 6, Ambulance 31. Vehicle accident. The intersection of Jarl and Shamert Street."
Kai and Naomi run out of the office and into their respective vehicles. They drive out, the ambulance following behind Truck as they speed to the scene.
Pulling up, Naomi sees that a bus had run straight into a bus shelter, a large crowd gathering around the scene. As they hop out of the truck, a blonde woman who seems to be in her late fifties comes running up to them. "I saw everything! That car over there ran the light! The bus swerved and lost control, driving straight into the shed. That lady over there! She caused all this!" The woman says to them.
Kai orders the lady to step aside as their chief begins delegating tasks.
Looking at the scene, Naomi's hand goes to her radio. "31 to Main. Let's get an EMS Plan One. Set up the staging area at the intersection of Jarl and Shamert."
Turning to Avery, she points to the lady the blonde woman had pointed out earlier. "I'm going to check on her real quick, you get started with the bus victims," She says to her partner. Naomi takes off, jogging to the woman.
"Ma'am," She calls out as she reaches the lady. She was visibly distraught, watching the scene with a look of horror on her face.
"I didn't mean for all this! I got distracted! I hadn't realized the light wasn't green anymore. There was a group, all on motorcycles. They were doing crazy tricks and stunts on the bikes, and I found myself watching them - Then there's a horn and the bus swerving. I stepped on the breaks but I was already too far into the wrong lane. The bus swerved and flew into the shed," She begins confessing through panicked cries.
~
Naomi, Avery, and the firefighters work the scene, rescuing and treating everyone. In the end, only five of sixteen people were seriously hurt. Everyone else with only minor injuries.
Back at the firehouse, Naomi and Avery find themselves in the chief's office once more - An investigating officer from internal affairs there as well. Their chief gestures for them to sit as he begins speaking. "It seems that Mrs. Evans-Joseph has dropped the case. A big misunderstanding," He informs them.
"What?!" Avery says out loud.
"Yeah. The ring is no longer missing," The guy from internal affairs speaks. "They've apologized for the misunderstanding of course."
"You have got to be kidding me. I can not understand these people," Naomi mumbles out.
"Consider this a good thing ladies. Things could have gone worse for you two." The internal affairs representative says to them.
"So, what now?" Naomi grumbles out.
~
YARA ROSEWOOD
"I still can't believe this!" Yara growls as she steps through the rubble of the restaurant. "That he would stoop so low and burn down an entire restaurant to get back at us! You know what, I think I could believe it. I could, he's that kind of person!" She rants angrily looking at the charred remains around her. Her shoes crunch against debris as she walks up to Clayton.
"He didn't just mess with me. He ruined other people's lives too. This job was their only source of income! Now they're jobless. Thank goodness none of them were seriously injured!" She continues. "And the nerve of him to not even be in the damn city! That coward! Why run!"
Stopping her pacing, she sighs sadly, eyes glowing brightly. "This place was beautiful. I loved working here."
"I know," Clayton says softly as he comes to wrap his arms around her.
"The owner says that the insurance company is covering everything, so there's that I guess," She says sadly. "But she's not looking to rebuild the place... so, what now..."
"What?" Clayton says softly in shock.
"She doesn't want to rebuild," Yara repeats with a defeated shrug. "She's even looking to sell the land and all that."
The two stand in silence a moment before Clayton speaks again. "Let's buy it," He says simply.
"What?" Yara asks, scrunching her eyebrows.
Grabbing her by the shoulder, Clayton spins her to face him. "Let's buy the land and build you a restaurant," He says confidently with a smile on his face. "You already have a construction crew at your disposal. My men and I could finish this in a matter of days. And you could hire everyone you worked with!"
"My very own restaurant," Yara says out loud in thought, wonder in her voice.
"This spot is perfect and already well known. You already know the industry. You know how to work the books, you have suppliers and other contacts at your fingertips. There's nothing stopping us from doing this," Clayton says to her.
"What about Marshall? What's to say he won't come and burn this one down as well?" Yara asks.
"If this continues, and we have to, I'll deal with Marshall myself," Clay answers, a slight growl in his tone.
~
DEAN STRAKEN
Dean lets out a soft groan as he repositions himself on the uncomfortable chair. Using his arm that wasn't broken, he shifts the chair slightly, moving slowly so as to not rip his stitches again. Leaning closer to the hospital bed, he rests his hand gently on top of Calvin's. Alive but in a coma, his friend looked frail with all the wires and tubes connected to him. The steady beep of the heart monitor and the noises the ventilator made reminded Dean that his friend was still alive - Even though he looked otherwise.
A knock at the door pries his gaze away from Calvin, seeing his Captain standing there.
"Nurse told me I'd find you here. Said you are hands down the most stubborn patient she's ever dealt with," He says as he walks into the room, his eye traveling over Dean and then onto Calvin.
"The doctors said if the swelling in his brain doesn't go down in the next few hours they'll have to perform another surgery. He's in a coma now. Can't even breathe on his own," Dean says his eyes landing on Calvin as well.
"And you. Broken ankle, bruised ribs. I heard you tore your stitches trying to get here against doctor's orders," His captain replies.
"I have to be here," Dean replies simply. "Did you get the guys behind this?" He asks, getting angry as he recalled the accident.
"We have the driver of the van that hit you guys. He's the only one who was at the scene when we got to you. He hasn't said a word yet," His captain says to him.
"So, what now?" Dean asks.
"I'm on this case now. I need you to take it easy. I'm taking care of things. You, need to take care of yourself."
"Captain-"
"That's an order Straken!" The captain says cutting him off. "Rest! Heal! Let me handle things from here."
"Yes sir," Dean says with a sigh.
"I'll be by in the morning to check in on you two. Call, if anything changes or if anything seems suspicious. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
As his captain leaves, the nurse walks in holding a chair with cushions on it. "That foot needs to be elevated," She says as she places the chair down in front of him. Dean gingerly puts his injured foot atop the chair as the nurse moves on to check Calvin.
"Thanks," He says to her.
"Might as well, since there's no way to get you out the room," She replies as she marks down information on a chart.
"Do you know if there's anyone we can call for him? Parents, family, any relationships?" The nurse asks.
"Uh, his folks died a couple of years ago. He doesn't have any siblings or close family. No, there's not really anyone I can think of," Dean responds. "Who's his emergency contact?"
"You are, Mr. Straken," She replies. "And what about you, hmm? Don't you want to call anyone?"
"No, not right now anyway," Dean responds.
The nurse finishes up, leaving the room after letting Dean know she'd bring him some food soon.
Leaning over the bed, Dean begins to speak softly. "Listen to me buddy, you're going to be fine. I'm telling you! You don't have a choice in this, you are going to get better! You're not going to die on me!" He whispers to Calvin.
"I know things have been weird between us lately, but when you wake up, we could fix all that. Go back to the way things were... Dammit, Calvin! You're not going to leave me like this. I'm telling you right now I'm not going to go through the headache of getting a new partner so you better wake up."
Dean stays there silently, staring at Calvin for a moment. "Just wake up man."
~
ARROW BERLIN
Sitting on Arrow's couch, Ezra lazily fiddles with his shades as Arrow sits in the opposite chair flipping through the journal he brought.
Ever so often, Arrow would glance up at him, not fully trusting him.
The book he'd brought was a relatively thin one, filled with notes, diagrams, and recipes for various concoctions she'd never heard of.
'Purebred Blood' Was scrawled messily to the top of a page. Below it, recipes for concoctions, dosages, and passages.
'Forced changes' Another page was titled, adorned with detailed drawings of horrific images. The diagrams ranged from skeletal drawings to drawings of specific organs that were affected the most.
Arrow skims through the book, reading all the information in shock. Never had she thought these kinds of things were possible, let alone being carried out? "Holy crap!" She exclaims, looking up to Ezra. "So you're telling me my father, worked with your dad to find out all this?"
"Yup," Ezra replies.
"Did they carry out any of these experiments?" She asks, dreading the answer.
"My dad carried out some of the experiments. I know that for sure. The lesser inhumane ones at least. The reversing ones mainly. He has a team of people who're all for the science, they'd volunteer. I don't know about your dad though. I don't think he ever did," He explains to her.
"Damn," Arrow mumbles her fingers gliding over the spine of the book.
"So..." Ezra says sitting forward, his elbows on his knees.
"Can I keep this? I need time, to read and understand the things in here. I've only just glanced through everything." Arrow says to him, getting up from her seat.
"Okay. Two days, I'll give you two days with it," Ezra says walking up to her. Leaning in close to her ear, he begins to speak again. "I don't think I need to tell you how important it is for you to keep this information safe," He says softly. "No one can know about this. You understand that right? Not even your little hunter friends."
"Yeah, I know," Arrow replies, unintentionally speaking in a whisper as well.
"Good. Then we can discuss you letting me have those keys your dad hid."