SINNERS AND SAINTS.
chapter three, thank you.
[ season one, episode two ]
GROWING UP IN FLORIA MEANT LOTS OF TRIPS TO DISNEY WORLD, WHICH ALSO MEANT ZERO FEAR OF ROLLER COASTERS OR HEIGHTS. The heights part comes in handy now but Ivy never anticipated having to bring in the no fear for roller coasters into her job. But she has now.
She stands on top of the ladder truck, eyes squinting as she looks up at the poor guy that literally hangs on for dear life.
"Hey, Cap, I think we came in at the wrong angle." Ivy starts.
"We did." He tells her. He swiftly calls Buck down. Buck is fast to rejoin them. "We came in at the wrong angle. I'm gonna have you climb up there, harness him in, and hang tight while we move the truck. You think you can handle that?"
Buck grins. "Hell, yeah! This daredevil hero stuff is what I signed up for, Bobby."
"Good." Bobby nods.
Buck starts to climb back up the ladder. "Buck!" He freezes at the sound of his voice falling from Ivy's lips. He looks back at her. "Be careful."
This time he nods, completely serious.
Bobby and Ivy both watch from the ladder truck as Buck finishes the ladder climb. He then maneuvers himself onto the coaster.
"Come on, Buck." She whispers to herself. Bobby glances over at her, eyebrows furrowing at her concern for the rookie.
They can faintly hear Buck telling them to hang on and to stay still. But then his voice comes in over their radios. "Ives, Bobby, he's asking about his friend."
The two share a knowing look. They both know that there is no way the boys friend survived the fall he took. Still, though, Bobby grabs hold of his radio. "Chimney, it's Bobby, you copy?"
"Copy, Captain. What do you need?"
"How's the kid on the ground?" Bobby questions.
"We lost him." Chim responds. Despite knowing of his imminent death, Ivy closes her eyes, heaving a deep breath.
"Alright, I don't need the people up there seeing that. So, do me a favor. . . he survived, right? Get him on a gurney. You know the drill." Bobby instructs.
"Copy that." Chim replies.
Ivy brings her hand to her mouth, she begins to bite the skin around her finger nails and her nails themselves. Her heart pounds wildly in her chest as she watches Buck hold his arm out for the boy to take. Anxiety twists her stomach.
And when the boy lets go, Ivy lets out an uncontrollable gasp. Bobby is there within seconds, shielding Ivy from the horror despite the fact she's seen so much worse.
Ivy is definitely scared of roller coasters now.
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The morning after the tragedy, Ivy sits at the table. Her brown eyes look over her phone at Buck. He sits across from her, a stonic expression on his face. He stares at his empty cup that was full of coffee earlier. He's only snapped from his thoughts when Chim places his plate of food in front of him.
"I'm not hungry." He says.
"This is America, Buck-a-Roo. Eating's got nothing to do with being hungry." Chim says as he walks back to the kitchen to rejoin Bobby.
"Man, I was right there." Buck starts. "You know, all he had to do was reach up and grab my hand."
Ivy frowns as Chim speaks, "people do funny things at times like that. Sometimes they just freeze up." He sits beside Ivy.
"I've never lost anyone before. Does it get any easier?" He asks.
"No," Bobby replies immediately.
"Look, people die, and that's part of the gig, right? See, your problem is, you're lookin' at every job like it's a long term relationship. They're one night stands, man. In that moment, they mean everything to you but once the next morning comes. . . it's onto the next one."
"Gross," Ivy makes a face.
"Hey!" Hen greets as she joins the team. Ivy looks to her and suddenly a huge smile spreads across her face. Buck notices and instantly looks behind him. At the sight of Athena, he rolls his eyes. "You guys don't mind I brought some company to family dinner. Athena's going through some, uh, some stuff at home so she could use some TLC."
"Thena!"
Ivy stands from her seat quickly. She makes her way to Athena. Athena smiles. "There's my girl." They embrace tightly.
"How's May and Harry?" Ivy asks when they pull apart.
"They're doin' best they can with everything," Athena informs her. "How's Cami?"
"She's doing good." Ivy nods, to herself mostly. "Carla is a literal lifesaver, I'm not even joking. But now she's balancing between Cami and another job. She's helping this woman with her mom, she has Alzheimer's."
"Oh," Athena frowns.
"Well," Bobby starts, "we don't usually accepts cops into secret firehouse meetings, but, uh, I'll make an exception."
Ivy moves back to her seat and starts to eat her breakfast. Athena makes her way around the table, her gaze settled in Buck. "You know, I ain't sold on you yet but I think keeping me from getting shot deserves a second chance."
She holds her hand out for him to take. Ivy watches Buck and for a moment, she thinks he won't take Athena's hand. But then he smiles and so does Ivy. She watches with happy eyes as the two of them shake hands.
"Hey, there won't be a third though." She informs the young man.
"I've already given him three." Ivy notes.
"You're too forgivin', babygirl." Athena tells her.
Ivy shrugs.
The attention moves back to Buck. "Buck here is havin' a little trouble moving on from a call that didn't go his way." Bobby says.
"Oh," Athena sighs as she sits down beside Ivy. "You know why they make us wear these uniforms, right? Cops, firefights, paramedics?"
"Uh. . . sex appeal?" Chim replies. Ivy rolls her eyes, biting back her smirk.
"So people can easily identify us." Buck responds.
"Both true, but it's also for our own good. Because when we take the uniform off at the end of the day, it symbolizes lettin' go of all the sad, crazy, inhumane things we've seen that day." Athena says.
"I see his face every time I close my eyes. That happen to you guys?" Buck asks.
No one out right says anything but the group's silence is answer enough for Buck.
Athena speaks up first. "It'll pass."
The bell suddenly starts to blare. Groans erupt from all around the table. Ivy shoves more food into her mouth. She shoots up from her seat, ready to follow everyone else down the steps. She stops when she sees that Buck hasn't moved. She moves back towards him, she drops her hand on his shoulder, fingers skimming the skin of his neck. "You comin', Buck?"
He nods, then he stands.
He doesn't dare mention the goosebumps that spread up his neck at her barest touch.
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After hosing down a bushfire that could caused a lot more damage than it did, and witnessing Buck get a call from someone that made him smile, she lays in her bunk. Her cover is pulled over her head, her eyes skimming an article about Buck and the roller coaster.
"Rhodes." Comes the voice of Bobby.
Ivy sighs to herself. She throws the cover off of her head and looks up at her captain. He immediately takes notices of her red rimmed eyes. "You okay?"
"Fine." She responds as she sits up.
Bobby huffs.
"Okay," Ivy rolls her eyes. "It's just, ugh, Bobby, I don't know how to talk about these things."
His brows furrow. He sits down beside her. "What's going on, Ivy?"
Ivy looks up at the top of the bunk, her eyes threatening to well with frustrated tears again. "I'm so mad, Bobby."
"At what?" He asks her, voice full of concern.
"Buck." She whispers. "I think. . . I think he has a crush on that 9-1-1 dispatcher, Abby."
"Okay. . ." Bobby trails off.
"She's in her forties, Bobby. Buck is twenty-six. It isn't normal. It's gross and it's wrong. Buck is still a child compared to her. When she was twenty, Buck was still a kid." She rambles. "I just want to tell him to not call her."
Bobby nods as he listens to her. "Well," he starts. "Buck is a grown-up, just like me and you. If he wants to get himself into that situation. . . there really isn't much we can do about it."
"I just can't stand to see him hurt." She informs Bobby. Her words surprise him. His eyebrows furrow even deeper as he considers them.
"Devon's memorial is after our shift." Bobby says. "Why don't you ask Buck to go?"
"Like a date? That's wrong."
"No," Bobby sighs. "Suggest that he goes. See if he'll ask you to go."
"Oh," she draws the word out. "Okay."
"Go on, kid." Bobby says. She smiles weakly at him. She then pats his arm. It's her silent way of saying thank you.
As she leaves the bunk room, Bobby's eyes trail after her. And all he can think about is that he shared the same nerves as Ivy when he first fell for his wife.
Ivy treks down the steps.
"Hey." Ivy says to Buck as she approaches their own little gym. He glances up at her from where he deadlifts. "So, Devon's memorial is just an hour after our shift ends. Do you wanna go?"
Buck's brows furrow. He sits up. "That's in two hours, Rhodes."
"Yeah." She says. "I just figured it would help you out some. It helped me when I lost my first. But we— you—"
"I'll go." Buck cuts her off. "And I'll need a friend by my side, too."
Ivy frowns slightly. Then she forces fake a smile onto her mouth. "Yeah. Okay."
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After their shift ends, the two of them get ready quicker than they have in a long time. They arrive at the chapel twenty minutes before the service starts. Ivy allows Buck to take the lead. He decides to sit in the back of the chapel. So, Ivy sets down her purse and takes her seat beside Evan Buckley.
Ivy is dressed in a pair of black pants and a navy blue blouse. Her shoes are heeled boots. She doesn't bother to put on any makeup, she knows she might cry.
Sometime during the service, Buck reaches down. He grabs hold of Ivy's hand. He intertwines their fingers. Her brown eyes dart down to their hands. She immediately notices that Buck's hands shake violently. She looks back up at him. "Breathe, Evan." She whispers.
He breathes.
When the service comes to an end, Devon's older sister steps up to the podium. Silently, Ivy applauds her for having the bravery to step up in front of so many people in the wake of her brother's death. Ivy will never know how it feels to lose such a piece of herself. She's an only child. And the two people that share her blood mean absolutely nothing to her.
"My brother was a man of great potential. That's the hardest part for me. Thank you all for coming." She says through her sniffles. The crowd takes this as their cue to stand.
Ivy and Buck remain seated. Their hands remain intertwined. They don't say anything. Buck fights his tears. Ivy lets a lone tear roll down her face.
"Whenever you're ready." Ivy says to him, her voice shaky. "Whenever you're ready."
He looks over at her, blue eyes full of tears. "Thank you," he whispers. "Thank you for coming with me, Ivy."
She doesn't look at him. She stares at the ground in front of them. "Yeah." She says back. "I'll do it a million times, Buck."
Buck sucks in a breath. "I'm ready."
And so, the two stand up and exit the pews. Devon's sister immediately catches sight of them and approaches them.
"Um, hi. I'm Buck, uh, Evan. And this is Ivy." Buck introduces themselves to her. "Look, I— I just wanted to say how sorry I am. It's only my fourth month on the job. I've never lost anyone like this."
"What really happened up there?" She asks.
"It was like he just. . . he gave up." Buck tells her.
"Are you saying it's my brother's fault he's dead?" She asks, her voice accusing.
Ivy's hackles raise. Her eyes narrow. What the hell is this woman saying? It isn't the 118's fault, and it sure as shit isn't Buck's fault.
"No, th— that's not what I mean." Buck says.
"My brother was very happy to be alive. He was loved, and he knew it. He wanted to live and you failed him." She says.
The air is sucked from the room.
Ivy is so angry at this woman suddenly. She's seen people get angry at them before. She's been cursed out, she's been punched, she's been screamed at it, and she's been blamed like this before. But seeing the look of hurt that flashes across Buck's face sets something off inside of her. It's like how she would react if someone were to bully her daughter.
Ivy steps in front of Buck, a snarl crossing her lips. Devon's sister eyeballs her, stepping back slightly. "We didn't fail your brother." Ivy says. "Buck didn't. He risked his life to go up. He begged Devon to take his hand. And you won't ever know shit about the things we see and have to deal with on this job. So say something like that again, to any firefighter in any house in L.A., because I'll hear about it. I promise."
She gasps slightly. She turns and storms off.
Ivy and Buck are left alone. For a moment, they just stand in silence. Then, without a word, Buck pulls Ivy into a hug. She's taken aback but his arms looping around her.
"Thank you, Ivy." He whispers into her hair. "Thank you."
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word count: 2,331
and here's chapter three for you guys. i figured i would update this book today because it's my birthday and i am officially nineteen years old, which is actually insane because i've been on wattpad since i was TEN, just with different accounts. and now we're here which is crazy too. i never thought i would have come so far on this app or with any of my books.
but it's okay because i know people love my books and my characters and my writing and i love it as well and i love my supporters.
but now, let's talk about this chapter.
first and foremost, ivy and bobby. I LOVE THEM. they are so special to me. the plans i have are crazy. and the promo for season seven?? that's making me a lil nervy for what's going to happen because athena is very clearly also a huge figure in ivy's life and she CANNOT lose either of them or she might go crazy.
but bobby shielding her from the kid falling?? love. bobby worrying about her when she was in the bunk room and crying? LOVE.
and also, ivy and buck. omg. i actually adore them but you guys know me, i love angst more. and if you follow my tiktok (lanstovslver.wp) you know what's going to happen in the next book. but i won't talk about that here!!!
anyway, ivy defending buck is so mother of her. the way her hackles went up and she went into defensive mode immediately is so very hot of her but also it shows how much her people mean to her. and yes, buck is already her people.