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dean matthews had been at the one eighteen for two years now when the firehouse had gotten a female firefighter recruited to them, he knew his fire captain wouldn't be happy about it since his captain, vincent gerrard was a sexist male who thought that women should stick to jobs that were made for them.
"wilson,"
henreitta wilson looked up to where two males stand looking down, "captain gerrard," she said looking at dean who shook his head at that, "is that your real name henreitta?"
the female firefighter nods her head, "yes, sir," vincent looked down to his newest recruit, "what'd you do to your parents to deserve a name like that?" dean rolled his eyes at his captain's comment, "you're prettier than most, i'll give you that,"
vincent looked at her once again, "that's the women's locker room," he pointed to the open space room, "don't mind the ping-pong table, we'll move it out in a week if you're still here," henreitta smiled, "yes, sir,"
"guys," captain called his firefighters out, "there's somebody i want you to meet," tommy comes and stands beside his friend, "who's this?" he questioned looking down at the female, "this is our new diversity hire,"
dean rubbed at his face, "for real?" sal questions making dean look at henreitta once again, "you know, cap, there's another way to say that," howie said to his captain, "yea, we're screwed,"
their captain walked away from the balcony as howie and dean stayed in place, "i'm howie," he introduced himself when dean did the same, "dean," he said to henreitta who nods her head, "hen,"
"welcome to the one-eighteen,"
she nods her head at what the two firefighters said with dean running a hand through his brunette hair, dean had been known as the playboy of one eighteen ever since he got there, where he just showed his charming smile and the women would all swoon over him.
dean was vincent gerrard's favourite firefighter from the first day he came into the firehouse all confident not showing any fear.
so being his captain's favourite, dean got to do a lot of things that weren't good for the department however no one spoke out about it, until howie han came around to the one-eighteen asking where the one eighteen engine firetruck was to dean reversing the fire truck after his latest hookup.
since dean knew how to cook unlike most of the firefighters he had some spaghetti bolognese, "what'd you end up doing last night, sal?" sal looked at them, "tina dragged me to that vampire movie,"
dean makes a face, "twilight," he chuckled, "seriously, that's what you did with your day off?" sal looked at his friend, "wasn't half bad, honestly, couldn't remember tell you what happened in it, but that kristen stewart, oh, sweet mama,"
sal put down his plate onto the table, hen who had just finished rolling up the hose line comes to them, "i really like kristem stewart, too," sal then looked to his friends, "that's something i can get behind, know what i mean?"
hen's smile dropped as dean saw that hitting the back of his friend's head with his hand, "you're gross, sal," he told him as tommy looked at them, "see, i don't get that, she's too..brooding for me, too.."
"what, hot?"
sal looked at his friend from across the table, "maybe you're more of a team jacob kind of guy," hen looked at them from where she stood, "i don't even know what that means," tommy said as dean shakes his head, "he's insinuating that you're gay,"
sal chuckled as tommy puckered his lips up, "easy, boys," dean cleared his throat at that, "so, hen, where you from?" howie asked, "right here, in l.a,"
"seriously?" dean and howie asked, "i would have bet money that you were from the east coast, you just kind of have that vibe," hen chuckled, "hm, thank you for the compliment,"
tommy picked up his cup, "new york butch is a compliment?" howie looked at tommy, "whoa, nobody said anything like that, come on," tommy scoffed, "where, exactly in l.a, henreitta?"
"inglewood,"
"inglewood,"
their captain repeated as dean cleared his throat, "you know what, cap? uh, i've been meaning to ask you for next—" captain gerrard interrupts howie, "eight women were recruited, and three of them make it through the academy, one hundred and six stations in la," dean sipped his drink, "and we end up with one of the three, what did i do to deserve this?"
henreitta looked down, "i can make an educated guess," captain gerrard looked to the only female firefighter, "watch yourself, you know how much it costs to send a women through the academy?"
she turned to their captain, "same amount as it costs to put a man through, i imagine," she said, "eighty two thousand dollars, that's how much money taxpayers flush down the toilet with every failed female recruit,"
howie then piped up, "i don't know, i say if you can make it through the training, you've earned your place," he said to them, "is that what you're worried about? the taxpayers?"
dean knew this wasn't going well, "i'm worried about my life and putting the lives of my men in the hands of somebody who isn't up to the job," dean makes a face, "and i'm worried about that poor son of a bitch who does in a fire because you can't drag his ass out,"
dean sipped on his drink, "and this is all because the mayor wants to say that female recruitment is up," their captain proclaimed, "that is what i'm worried about,"
he pushed his back and stood up from the table walking away, as sal makes eye contact with tommy and dean motioning for them to stand up, where tommy did standing up as dean stayed sitting down.
ignoring his friend's state to him, "ok, so that was kind of ugly," howie chuckled, "listen, the captain's just old-school, it's—" henreitta looked at howie, "old isn't the word that comes to mind, look, i get what you're trying to do, but i don't need anybody carrying my load,"
dean's phone went off seeing a message from one of his recent hookups saying that they wanted to see him again, "i got to get going," he told them standing up and putting his empty cup and plate into the dishwasher.
"help!"
a women comes out of her house coming towards the siren lights that she sees, "my mom is buried, and i can't get her out, she's trapped!" dean comes towards her, "show me where your mom is,"
the girl led dean and the one eighteen firefighters towards where her mom was, "guys," their captain said, "this structure's unstable, watch yourself," kiley looked at dean, "she was buried, and i found her, but i-i couldn't get her out,"
he nods his head, "okay, we're gonna help your mom," she shakes her head, "no, i want to be with her," dean nods his head, "i know you do, but we just need you to stand back, it's not safe in there, okay? we need room to do our work, please,"
"ma'am, is there anybody else in the building?"
the women, kiley shakes her head, "no," captain gerrard nods his head, "shovels, gentlemen, go, now!" dean nods his head at his captain's command.
their captain looked at his firefighters, "move it! faster!" dianne looked around, "where's kiley?" the said girl was near hen, "mom, i'm here," hen looked at them, "the weight is constricting her chest, captain, we got to relive the pressure on her lungs,"
hen pressed her fingers to dianne's neck, "she's unconscious, shallowing!" dean worked faster, "what's your mothers name?"
"dianne,"
howie looked at the women, "dianne, can you hear me?" captain gerrard comes to where hen was, "grab her hand, pull!" the firefighters grunted, "it's not the mud, something's pinning her down,"
tommy looked at his captain, "might be a piece of furniture," howie looked at them, "it's like quicksand, there's too much water," hen looked at them, "or not enough,"
"not enough?" dean questioned, "you guys, do you ever build sandcastles? what happens when the tide comes in?" dean panted, not knowing the answer, "where are you going?" captain asked hen, "to catch a tide,"
hen comes in with the water hose, "see, the water is loosening up the mud," dean smiled, "well hot damn, wilson," he said to henrietta, "there's a log pinning her down,"
tommy got his hand around the log, "i've got it, it's coming loose," tommy moved the log as the firefighters began to help dianne out, "give me a hand,"
"mom?" kiley cried as dean looked down to the women than over to the crying girl, "she wasn't supposed to be there in that room," kiley told dean and hen, "it's my fault,"
dean turned around, "hey," he looked at the girl's face, "it's not your fault, it's not your fault, okay? it's nobody's fault," he told the crying girl, where captain gerrard calls for wilson who moved away from them going to speak with their captain.
dean was playing cards with tommy and sal when he sees henreitta going past the group of firefighters who were playing cards going towards the one eighteen's firetruck honking the horn repeatedly, "what the hell is she doing?"
dean stands up after he puts down his cards coming around the firetruck looking at hen, "what the hell is this?" their captain asked standing beside dean, "i have something to say to all of you," tommy turned to look at his friends, "i see you," she said nodding her head, "i saw you all the second i walked in that door, all of you staring down at me,"
hen said looking at them, "i see you when you're hazing me, not like all the other rookies, whether we're here in the house or-or-or we're out on a call," she directed this to captain gerrard, "i'm watching you, i'm looking, i see you,"
"when you look at me, what do you see?"
dean went to speak, when hen cut him off, "a woman? a black woman? a lesbian? good, cause i'm all of those things," dean looked at the angry firefighter, "and i don't expect you to love me, i don't even ask you to like me, all i ask is that when you look at me, see me, see me the way i see you—as a proud member of this department,"
howie looked at dean who had his arms crossed listening to everything hen was saying, "one of the rare few that chooses to spend their lives in service of those who are hurt and those who need to be saved," she nods her head, "yes, and one other thing, if any of you have a problem with me being here, i suggest you ask for a transfer, cause i'm not going anywhere,"
dean smiled at that when he saw his captain clapping his hands slowly, "give it a rest, cap," dean told his father's friend, when the alarm bell rings, "attention, station one eighteen, respond to a motor vehicle accident, unknown injuries,"
chimney and dean go towards hen, "saved by the bell, let's go to work," he smiled charmingly at hen patting her arm, "you did good," he tells her knowing that she had gotten through to the rest of the firefighters expect for their captain.
"party limo captain!"
captain gerrard wasn't too happy about what dean did back at the firehouse but for now decided to leave it alone, "dean, make sure everyone in that party limo is awake,"
the matthews male nods his head, "on it, cap," he bent down going onto his knees flashing his flashlight inside the party limo, "fire department, we're gonna get you out," he told the kid who was responsive, "hen, come here,"
dean helped and worked with his fellow firefighters when he comes to the front of the car seeing yellow paint, "hey," chimney and hen comes and stands beside him, "yellow paint—"
"we got one!"
as the boy was telling hen and chimney what happened, he heard the boy saying mark, "did you just say mark? as in mark collins?" the boys nods his head, "dean, dean—"
the matthews male went back to the flipped car flashing his flashlight trying to find his godson, "dean, you need to move, dean!" captain gerrard said as dean moved his captain, "cap, my godson is in there!"
vincent placed his hand on dean's shoulders, "he'll be okay, we're working on getting them all out," dean nods his head, helping out when he sees hen and chimney going down the hill.
"hen! han! where the hell are you going?!"
dean called out not seeing his friends anymore as the two of them went down the hill seeing a car under the water, "howie, do you copy?" dean said into his radio, "dean, we have a male drowning victim, approximately eight to ten years old, location is approximately 80 to 100 yards southeast of primary accident site, require immediate assistance for evacuation, over,"
dean looked at his captain who nods his head for him to go and help.
commander roose has dean matthews in his office after the matthews male admitted about what the one eighteen captain had been doing to henreitta with the sexist comments and more things that lead to captain gerrard being taken from the one eighteen, "this is captain cooks,"
hen shook the man's hand, "and i'm sure you know dean matthews," hen turned around to see dean standing on the opposite side of the desk, "since you've started working here, we've received numerous complaints—"
hen interrupted commander roose, "if i could just have a chance to just-" she lets out a breath, "to defend myself," dean furrowed his eyebrows, "not about you, it's about captain gerrard,"
"w-what?"
hen shook her head, "i—no, i never filed any complaints," dean nods his head at that, "not from you, firefighter wilson," captain cooks said, "from your co workers,"
"what? who?"
commander roose looked at henrietta, "that information is privileged, but let's just say, more than a few of your firefighters more than others have your back," he told hen looking at dean who nods his head at that, "some of the complaints got pretty colourful, one of your co workers compared captain gerrard and his behaviour to a particular condition best cured by preparation h,"
dean had his hands behind his back, "it's not just complaints we're receiving, your colleagues all have some pretty complimentary things to say about you," hen looked down, "you've made quite an impression," she chuckled, "i-i had no idea, i-i seriously thought you guys were being me in here to—to fire me,"
the matthews male shook his head, "the fire department would never fire you, hen, because you're an amazing firefighter and paramedic," he told the women, "you're the future of the lafd, until we find captain gerrard's permanent replacement, captain cooks here is going to assume leadership of the one eighteen,"
dean smiled at his dad's best friend, where hen stepped forwards holding out her hand, "welcome aboard, sir," she shook the man's hand, "you too, firefighter wilson,"
"hen,"
"hen,"
dean came out of the room following behind hen who he didn't realise had turned around and embraced him, "thank you," dean chuckled in the women's sudden embrace, "it wasn't just me, hen, it was everyone, we all saw how you were yesterday and how you saved that little boy, you're a hero, you should be proud,"