Malfunction.
chapter forty-four , Ultimatums Never Work
a/n : *CONTENT WARNING* this chapter depicts depressive episodes
Skip chapter if needed!
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"Popcorn and Tajín."
Tom frowns, "Never heard of it."
"That's because you don't have the culinary experiences that make me awesome!" Emery steps back, her skates coming into contact with the ice, and she skates with ease.
"You're showing off." Tom slowly nods his head.
Emery frowns with a hum. "Showing off? I don't know what that is..." She puts her hands behind her back and continues skating. Tom couldn't help but laugh as Emery skated around. Emery begins to skate around Buck as he struggles to stand up. Buck looks up at the girl, "Could you, uh..." he holds his hand out, needing help into his feet.
Emery raises her brows, "Who are you kidding?" she skates away from him.
Buck falls back against the ice. Emery lets out a triumphant laugh, "I found a finger!"
Chimney pulls his brows together at Emery's attitude. "For someone who was just forced to go to therapy, she seems kind of...chipper."
"Kind of?" Hen raises her brows.
The range of emotions Emery has been showing lately has made it clear to everyone on the team that she was erratic.
"I found another!" Tom holds one up.
"I got a pinky!" Eddie grabs a finger.
Buck nods, "So, that's three down, one to go."
A civilian dressed as a witch walks over to Bobby. "You should be able to see those back on, right?"
"Well, they've been on ice the whole time so that'll help." Bobby shrugs.
Emery laughs, "Nice one, Cap."
"He shouldn't have to lose his fingers to Sid and Nancy's psychodrama."
Emery skates over to the guy. "Oh? Work drama. Fill me in."
"Nancy got a new job offer. Disney on Ice. The jig leagues."
Emery coughs into her fist, "Boycott Disney."
"What?" The man turns to her.
"What?" Emery hums.
The man stares at her for a moment and she raises her brows, a small smile across her lips.
"So, they were fighting over her leaving."
"Figured they'd shake it off once they hit the ice." The man explains. "But then one of the snowy owls went full toe pick. And everyone hit the ice."
Bobby pulls his brows together. "Did you say 'toe pick'?"
Emery frowns, "That's kind of wild. I mean, all this because a snowy owl slipped..." she trails off her words when she notices Bobby inspecting the ice.
"You okay, Cap?"
"Yes! I got the middle one." Buck holds up the finger. He notices Emery and Bobby turned away from him. "Hey, Hey, Cap! We found all the fingers."
"Cap, victims are being transported." Tom says.
"Our work here's done."
"Great." Bobby says.
"Uh, so...what's he—"
"Shhhhh!" Emery holds up a pointer. "He's working his magic."
"Ah." Bobby grabs a singular sequin from the ice and holds it up. "What's that?"
Emery raises her brows, "A sequin..."
Bobby nods his head, "When your blade runs across one of these it stops your skates dead in their tracks."
"Wait, one sequin did all of this?" Buck questions.
Bobby holds up a finger, "A wardrobe malfunction can be the most dangerous part of figure skating."
Tom holds up a hand, "Uh, Captain? Why do you know so much about figure skating?"
Bobby lets out a small breath, debating on revealing the next information. "My partner Heidi Shatsky and I were Twin Cities junior pairs champ rooms three years running."
"I always thought you were a hockey player, Cap." Eddie teases.
Bobby shrugs, "Who says you can't do both?" He walks away from the group.
Emery raises her brows, "Just when I think this man can't get any cooler..." she shakes her head and follows him off the ice.
☆
Her father saw that it was 8:30 in the morning. Emery was normally on her way out the house for work by now. But she hadn't even come out of her room for coffee. Ever since the morning Emery locked herself in the bathroom, her dad has been noticing her behavior shift. It was all too familiar as too when he went off his meds or even before Emery was diagnosed.
The rearranging of furniture, constant need to move around, being up all night, and her excessive amount of happiness.
Then there was the other side of the coin.
Elijah lightly knocks on the door, "Hey, Emery, can I come in?"
There's a silence that makes Elijah worry. He opens the door and lets out a small breath when Emery is laying in her bed with her back towards him.
"Hey, kid. I thought you had work today."
Emery keeps her eyes on the wall, "I'm not feeling it today."
"Did you call your captain and tell him you wouldn't be in?" Elijah asks.
Emery rolls her lips into her mouth, her eyes blurring with tears. "No."
"Em, you gotta call him—"
"I don't want to, okay?" Emery snaps. "I'm just..." she wipes her eyes and lets out a shaky breath. "I'm just so tired." Emery pulls her blanket up to her neck and falls silent again.
Elijah felt his chest painfully tighten and he knew that his worst fear had been proven. But he didn't want to bother Emery anymore than he already had.
"All right, Em. I'll let you rest." Elijah softly closes the door shut and he lets out a shaky breath.
...
"Morning folks. First up, water heater went out last night, but they are sending someone to fix it,"
Everyone stands around with smiles, hardly able to contain themselves over the new discovery Buck had shown them a few minutes earlier.
"until then you might want to brace yourselves when you hit the showers."
"We're also changing the lunch schedule—"
"Dun Dun Dun Dun!"
Eddie reveals the cutout of a young Bobby Nash in a sequins blue shirt.
Chimney holds his phone up to Bobby's face and snaps a picture. "Captain Robert Nash...this is your life!" He points at the cutout.
Bobby laughs, "Oh my god. Where did you get that?"
"Heidi says "Hi". She's gonna email you later." Buck says. "She didn't wanna ruin the surprise."
"I think we all had a little surprise this morning. Not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't that hair!"
Tom laughs with his hand clutching his stomach.
"Yeah, Cap, what is this look?" Eddie asks. "Is it some kind of Travolta thing...?"
"Not Travolta. Bowie."
Buck blinks and tilts his head, he exchanges a look with Eddie.
"Ziggy Stardust?"
Tom snaps his fingers, "The Goblin King, Labyrinth!"
Bobby points at Tom, "Exactly."
Everyone looks at the boy. Tom shrugs, "Dylan loves it."
"This feels a little more Siegfried and Roy." Chimney wiggles his fingers.
Hen walks towards the group, "Sorry, I'm late. I had to take Denny to school..." she slows her walks and pulls her brows together at the sight of the cutout. "What did I miss?"
Bobby waves a hand. "Okay, for everyone who isn't fired. I will not be cooking today. We're having a a special guest chef at lunch."
Buck's face drops, "Uh, no pasta Thursday?"
Bobby shakes his head. "Not today."
"Holy shit!"
Everyone turns to the man sitting at the tv, watching the news . He tilts his head, "Did you guys see this?!"
Everyone walks over to the tv. Buck pulls his brows together when he sees Taylor Kelly on the screen. Then his face drops when he sees the news headline.
Eddie's face drops and he turns to Buck.
'Former Co-Captain of Firestation 118 in hot waters over secret relationship with subordinate.'
"Why is the title so long?" Tom tilts his head.
"That's your question?" Eddie looks at the brunette.
"Oh, man..." Chimney's shoulders slump. He digs in his pocket and pulls out a 20. He hands it to Hen and she chuckles. "How do you do it?"
Hen shrugs, "God's gift, I guess..."
"Marcus." Bobby snaps. "Turn that off."
"Come on, Cap."
"Now."
Marcus sighs and clicks the tv off. Silence fills the upstairs area. Some people kept their eyes right on Buck, waiting for him to say something. While everyone didn't know whether to look at the floor or the ceiling.
"So, who's the mystery chef, Cap?" Chimney turns to Bobby.
"So, who put the moves on who first?" Marcus asks, getting laughs from some of the others firefighters.
"It was obviously Buck." Another firefighter speaks.
Marcus clicks his tongue, "I don't know, I think Em might be the kind of girl to watch out for—"
"Shut the hell up, Marcus." Buck barks.
"She's not even here to defend herself." Hen snaps.
"Where is Former Co-Captain Sharpe, anyway?" Marcus laughs. "Did she leak the story and just didn't want to show her face here or what?" He then looks at Buck.
"Buck you know right?"
Buck's hand curls into a fist and he takes a step forward. Eddie grabs his arm, "Easy, there."
"If it makes you feel any better..." Chimney looks at Buck. "I never liked Taylor Kelly."
"Marcus, enough." Bobby orders. "Has anyone seen Emery today?"
Everyone looks around.
"I figured she called in sick." Eddie says. He then pulls his brows together. "Even though she never calls off."
"Wait, I was late and yet Emery isn't—"
"I'm here."
Everyone turns their eyes to the stairs and sees Emery walking over to him. Her hair was in a slick back ponytail (as normal), but her uniform was untucked and her eyes had bags under them. "Sorry..." she looks at everyone's face.
"What'd I miss?"
☆
Emery sits at the table in silence with her brown dull eyes on the food in front of her. She had been caught up on the new headlines this morning and Emery tried to care. But she couldn't really find the energy to even be pissed. If anything, she thought it was humorous.
She was forced to step down as Captain, so the story could stay under wraps but the information ended up getting leaked anyway. Unions going to have a field day with this one.
The entire table was talking, enjoying the food. Trying to talk about anything but the news. And Buck was a few chairs away from Emery; noticing her hesitance to eat. There was no way Emery was going to talk to him. Even if they were on good terms, Emery wasn't exactly known for sharing her feelings.
What was he going to do?
"I still think it's ridiculous you got suspended for solving a murder," Chimney says. "But I might get over that if you keep bringing us food."
"Well, the brisket is my special recipe." Athena shrugs. "You just smoke it low and slow for 14 hours,"
Buck reaches for the salt.
"And then you turn it--" Athena squints her eyes and clenches her jaw, her sharp eyes on Buck's hand that was holding the salt. Everyone at the table freezes and looks between Buck and Athena.
Buck looks at the Captain and Bobby shakes his head. The boy looks back at Athena and nervously chuckles, he sets the salt back on the table.
"She's been cooking at home too," Bobby says. "Every meal's been a feast."
"Have you ever considered being suspended forever?" Eddie asks.
Athena laughs and so does the rest of the table. Bobby cocks his head to the side. Eddie slightly opens his mouth, "Not that your cooking isn't good, Cap."
Buck holds a hand up, "Well, I like both your food equally."
Hen chuckles, "Oh, I'm not liking it. I'm loving it. So, when I go back for seconds, y'all better watch your fingers."
Hen's phone rings and she pulls her brows together. Hen answers the phone, "Cheryl?" she stands up from the table. "No, I'm at work."
She walks down the stairs away from the worried firefighters at the table. Chimney and Athena exchange a look of worry.
Wren clears her throat, "Hey, Em."
Emery blinks and looks at the brunette. "Yeah?"
"Are you liking Athena's food?"
Emery shifts her eyes to her uneaten food. "Yeah, it's really good, Athena." she presses her lips into a weak smile.
Athena smiles, "Thank you, Emerson."
Athena knew that Emery hadn't eaten any of her food, but she was just grateful that Emery was talking
Emery looks down at her food and a lump forms in her throat. "I'm sorry, but I forgot to shower this morning, so..." she stands up and walks away from the table. Wren snaps her eyes over to Buck and his jaw goes slack from her stern look. It's almost as if she was asking, what he did wrong. Buck nervously looks back at his plate of food.
Emery was sitting down in the shower fully clothed, her chest painfully tightened. She pulls her knees close to her chest and her teeth chatter from the ice-cold water hitting her skin.
Suddenly her chest untightens and she lets out a sob. Emery hangs her head low and lets out emotions completely overtake her. She inhales a deep breath and continues to sob, feeling like she would never stop.
...
"I really wish I could help her, but she's not talking to me about it. Not sure she's talking to anybody."
"There's definitely something going on with her," Buck voices. He pulls his brows together. "Eddie too. And Emi."
"Well, we all know why Emery has been pissed, right?" Chimney questions. "Taylor Kelly leaked the story."
"I can't believe that she would do something like that." Maddie shakes her head. "Work is going to be hell for Em."
A lump for guilt forms in Buck's chest.
"I can't believe you never told me." Chimney points at Maddie. "You knew and you never told me."
"Hey, you guys think it's Santa Anas?" Buck looks at Maddie and Chimney.
Chimney and Maddie exchange a look of worry for the boy. He was obviously trying ti avoid that conversation all together.
"I mean, they--they make people act weird, right?" Buck asks.
Maddie then pulls her brows together with a small smile. "I definitely don't think it's the wind." she then holds up a pointer finger. "Wait, you know what? Maybe it's something personal she doesn't feel like sharing." she shrugs.
Chimney slightly opens his mouth. "Well, historically speaking, Hen and I tell each other everything."
Maddie's face drops, "Wait, everything?" she looks at Chimney. "Did you tell her about me?"
Even though Maddie spoke softer, Buck could still catch what she said.
"No." Chimney shakes his head. "I mean, I would have if I felt like she was listening."
Maddie pulls her face back, "Oh."
Chimney notices her shock and he pulls his brows together. "Maddie, you know she's my best friend."
"Well, Emery's my best friend and I don't tell her everything." Maddie chuckles. Her face then drops. "Okay, I might tell her everything, but not recently." she shakes her head, trying to refocus her attention. "I know you need to talk to someone. It's just, you tell her, she tells Buck. I mean, maybe everything doesn't need to be shared with the 118."
"No way." Buck sighs. "If we didn't tell each other everything, what else would we do on a 24-hour shift?" his voice was heavy with sarcasm.
Maddie exhales a breath, "Yeah..." she turns to Buck.
"Hey, you don't have to," Chimney assures her.
Maddie shakes her head, "No, it's fine." she inhales. "Uh, I am back in therapy. Uh, mandated by my boss this time."
Buck's jaw goes slack, "Uh, did--did something happen at work?"
"A woman filed a complaint against me." Maddie answers. "She said I was stalking her. I think stalking is an overstatement."
"But...it's true?"
"This woman called 911, and Maddie thought she was in trouble, so she just tried to help her." Chimney supports Maddie.
"Yeah, but she didn't want my help because she thinks I'm a crazy person who invaded her privacy." Maddie squints her eyes at Chimney and Buck. "Maybe there's a lesson in there for the two of you."
Maddie turns from the two men and drinks the rest of her glass.
Chimney slightly opens his mouth and turns to Eddie. "So, what do you think's going on with Eddie?"
Maddie playfully rolls her eyes.
Buck shrugs, "I don't know, it's weird because he talks to me about everything..." he pulls his brows together. "Do you think he's still mad about the lawsuit?"
"I don't see why he would be." Chimney shrugs. "I mean, if he wasn't afraid to be pissed at you before, why would he pretend he's cool with you now?"
Buck frowns fair point. Chimney leans forward, "So, what happened at Emery's arbitration? I mean, more had to have happened besides you telling your lawyer about your guy's' relationship, right?"
Maddie's ears perk at that and she turns around. "Now, that I want to hear about."
Buck looks between Maddie and Chimney. He then pulls his brows together, "Wait, how do you not know?" he points at Emery.
Maddie's face fell, "Emery hasn't talked to me in a few weeks."
Buck and Chimney look at each other. "Okay, how is that possible--"
"Both of your guys' best friends aren't opening up to you guys and yet when Emery doesn't talk to me that's surprising?" Maddie's brows shoot up.
Chimney snaps his fingers, "A few weeks ago. So, she's been ignoring you since the lawsuit."
Buck's face drops and Maddie's mouth opens, she points at Buck. "You did this!"
Buck holds his hands up. "I didn't mean to!"
☆
"Did you pee on this before it crashed?"
Eddie blinks, "Why would you do that?"
"Our supervisor won't let us go to the bathroom. It ruins our pick-time." The injured man groans.
"Yeah, according to our supervisor, Shane--"
"Where is Shane?" Emery cuts the man off.
The employees all point at the man hiding behind the shelf. Emery arches a brow, "Shane, can I talk to you for a second?" she makes her way over to him.
"Uh-oh." Tom exhales.
Buck pulls his brows together, "Uh-oh? Why Uh-oh?"
Emery latches her hand around Shane's wrist. "You like abusing your power, Shane?"
"Uh--"
"Do you like treating a workplace like a sweatshop?"
"Uh, Cap, what are we gonna do?" Tom asks.
"We're gonna keep helping Jerome," Bobby says. "I'm much more worried about him than I am of Shane over there."
Buck glances at Emery and watches as she continues to rip into the man.
"Would you like it if I ripped off your penis, so you could never pee again?! Cause that is basically what's happening to Jerome now!"
"What?!" Jerome cries.
"Sh-she's kidding, Jerome." Hen softly assures.
Emery then laughs, "OSHA is going to have a field day with you!"
Buck raises his brows and slowly nods his head. "So, this is what you guys meant by 'Uh-oh'..."
After tending to Jerome, Bobby waved Hen and Chimney off. Once the ambulance drove off, he made his way over to the girl leaning against the fire engine. Emery bites the nail of her thumb with her eyes glued to the ground.
"So..."
Emery looks to the side and sees Buck walking over to her. Her chest tightens and she shakes her head. "No, Buck. Leave me alone."
"Em, what's going on with you?" Buck asks.
Emery frowns, "Nothing. I'm fine."
Buck moves his head to the side and Emery's jaw clenches.
"Okay, fine. Maybe there is something going on with me," she scoffs. "but you are the last person I would want to talk to."
Buck raises his arms, "I get that." he says. "You don't have to talk to me, but you should talk to someone. I thought you were going to therapy--"
"I did." Emery nods. "I did go to therapy."
Buck's eyes soften. Emery looks away from him, "But...it just wasn't working. It felt like I wasn't getting better." she wipes her eyes, a lump forming in her throat.
"Can I ask you something?"
Emery bunches her shoulders, waiting for Buck to talk.
"At the arbitration when...my lawyer asked if you were on your meds. You didn't answer." Buck says.
Emery raises her brows, "That wasn't a question."
"Are you taking your meds?"
Emery's face drops, "Like I said before...you would be the last person I would want to talk to."
Buck's heart shatters as Emery looks away from him and she begins to bite her nail again. She was back in her own dark world, not being able to let anyone in.
Buck walks away from her and Bobby makes his way over to her. "Sharpe—"
"I can't do this right now." Emery wipes her mouth. "I really can't. Can we do this back at the station?"
Bobby looks into her eyes, seeing the glassiness and exhaustion. "Okay, we'll do this later."
Emery exhales a breath, "Thank you..." she pulls open the door and gets into the rig.
...
It all happened so fast. But for Hen, pretty sure it happened faster.
The fire engine slowed to a stop and everyone rushed out. "Eddie, bring the jaws of life." Bobby orders. "Em, you're with me."
Emery stayed glued to Bobby's side already knowing what assignment he was going to give her.
"Hen, I am taking this over. You can't work on her."
Hen lets out shouts of dispute. "No, cap—cap! I need to work on her!"
"Emerson."
Emery quickly nods her head and grabs one of Hen's arms. "Hen, they've got this, okay? Let's just move to the side."
"No, Emery!" Hen cries as Emery pulls her to the side. "I need to work on her!" Tears were streaming down her face.
"I know you want to, okay? But this is procedure, you know that." Emery and Hen finally get to the street and watch as Eddie and Buck force open the vehicles door. Emery keeps an arm around Hen.
The firefighters put Evelyn on a backboard then set her on the ground. Chimney kneels beside her and then Eddie. Out of the corner of her eye, Emery sees Athena walking over to them. "Athena."
Hen looks over at the woman, "Wh-What are you doing here?"
"Bobby called me, okay?" Athena keeps her eyes on Hen. "How you doing? You gonna be okay?"
Hen shakes her head, "I-I-I don't know. The light...is Evelyn okay?"
"They're working on her, right now." Emery's voice was soft.
"I-I slowed down. I thought I had the g-green, but then I saw her..."
"Emerson."
Emery looks over at Athena and notices her eyes behind them. She turns to see people recording and she raises her brows. "On it. Get her over to the rig, less cameras."
Athena helps Hen over to the fire engine, while encouraging her to stop talking. Emery looks at the people recording. "How about you guys show some respect and step away from the scene?"
The civilians look at the woman and she points to the side. "Over there, please. Thank you." As soon as she made sure they moved and stayed there, she made her way over to Athena and Hen.
"Now, listen to me. You need to think carefully about what you're going to say." Athena advises.
"But I want—I want to tell them the truth." Hen forces out through her choked sobs.
"Yes. But you only tell them what you know. Not what you think, not what you feel. Right? Answer their questions. But stick to the facts." Athena explains. "You think you can do that?"
Hen looks behind Athena and Emery, noticing Eddie stopping compressions. He shakes his head and each of the firefighter's faces fell. Hen's breathing quickens and she shakes her head. She then lets out a wail and her knees buckle. Emery grabs onto one of Hen's arms while Athena grabs the other. They gently help Hen onto the ground so she can lean against the fire engine.
☆
Emery tried her best to grab her things and leave the station as soon as possible. Today felt longer than others, which makes sense. She didn't even want to come to work today. And she saw the way everyone looked at her, like there was something wrong with her.
Hen had been going through nonstop investigations. And there was nothing else for anyone to do except, go home.
Emery had her bag on her shoulders and was headed out the door when she heard the voice she had been avoiding.
"Emerson!"
Emery stops in her tracks and turns on her heel. She looks up at the top level and sees Bobby looking down at her. "Yeah, Cap?"
"Could you come up here? Need to talk to you."
Emery inhales, "My dad actually needs me to help him get some stuff."
"Em..."
Emery closes her mouth, "Yeah?"
"Could you come up here, please?"
Emery clenches her jaw, "Yes, sir." She walks up the stairs and bites her tongue. As soon as she walks up the stairs, she pulls her brows together when she sees everyone sitting at the table.
"Hi...?" Emery looks at each of their worried faces. She sees her father sitting there and she tilts her head. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Emery, sweetheart, could you take a seat?" Elijah motions to the seat at the end of the table.
Emery snorts, "Okay." She sits at the table. She was sitting there, once again looking at each of their faces. Emery presses her lips together, the silence was heavy. "Okay, what's up?"
"Emerson."
Emery looks at the unfamiliar face standing in the kitchen.
"Who the hell are you?"
Emery then looks next to the man and sees Bobby standing there. "What is this?"
"This is me coming to you as a friend." Bobby holds his arm out. "You need help."
Emery raises her brows and looks at everyone. Her chest tightens and any sign of content on her face was gone and she was left pissed.
"Oh. So, this is an intervention." Emery lightly scoffs and looks to the side. She snaps her eyes back over to the unfamiliar man and notices the name 'Dr. Martin' on his badge.
"So, you must be the therapist that he'll be forcing me to see."
"Emerson..."
"This is unbelievable." Emery scratches her brow. "Hen is going through Hell right now. And you want to worry about me?"
Emery inhales a breath and looks at Chimney. "I'm disappointed in you, Chim, seriously."
Chim's face drops and he's left stunned by Emery's words. "Em, come on."
Emery shakes her head, "This is bullshit." She softly laughs, but there was a bitterness to it that caused everyone to tense.
"We all feel like you've been different." Tom speaks while picking at his finger nails.
"Oh, really? That's what you all feel like?" Emery presses her hands together. "Well, thanks for the feedback but I am good."
"Emery, I don't know you very well," Dr. Martin starts. "But from what I've heard, you have been through a lot."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Emery snaps. She then looks at her father. "Did you tell them about my Bipolar?"
Elijah looks away for a second. "You stopped taking your meds, didn't you?"
Emery clenches her jaw and shakes her head. "God, you're all getting on my fucking nerves..." she shoots up from the chair and paces the area.
Buck stands up and follows her.
"Emi—"
"Oh, please!" Emery laughs and turns to him. "Do you really think I'm gonna listen to you out of everyone here?"
Emery shakes her head, "We may have slept together, Buck. But that doesn't mean there's an ounce of positive feelings between us." She scoffs. "Not anymore."
"She's just lashing out." Dr. Martin reassured everyone.
"That's not lashing out. That's the truth." Emery turns to the counselor. "But hey, you want to see me lash out?" A malicious smile forms on her lips.
"You all...are nothing to me, all right?" Emery motions to everyone in the room. "You're coworkers. Not my family. So, do you really think I'm going to listen to you—"
"Then listen to me." Elijah slowly stands up from his seat.
Emery snaps her eyes over to her dad. "Why should I? The only reason we're so close now is because you're dying and mom didn't want to stick around to watch."
The way her father's face dropped made Emery want to take it all back.
"Emery,"
The girl scoffs and turns her attention to Eddie.
"we just want to help you."
"You think you can help me?" Emery scoffs. "Sorry, Eddie but didn't you join a fighting ring because you were pissed at your wife for dying?"
"I don't need your help." Emery hisses. She throws her arms in the air. "Anybody else want me to listen to them?!"
Everyone stays silent and Emery turns to Bobby.
"You can't make me go to therapy." She points at him, her breathing heavy.
"You can and you will."
Emery shakes her head and runs a hand over her ponytail.
"If you want to keep working here, you will."
Emery stops in her tracks and turns to Bobby. She keeps her hard eyes on Bobby's, then she laughs. "An ultimatum? That's your last big power move?"
Buck's back straightens, "Cap, maybe we should—"
"Emery, you love this job." H Bobby says. "And if you want to keep working at this job, you will see Dr. Martin."
Emery wipes at her right eye and nods her head. "Okay, fine..." she sniffles. And puts her hands on her hips.
"Let's all just calm down and make a rational decision..." Buck hesitantly speaks.
Emery lets out a soft scoff and wipes her nose. The small voice in the back of her head starts to grow louder and she repeats the words that were echoing through her skull.
"I quit." Emery raises her brows. "How's that for rational?"
"I quit." She then hisses the words.
It's almost like everyone froze. All of them thought they heard wrong. Emery couldn't have quit. She loves this job.
But, nobody knew what Buck knew. No one knew that Emery didn't care about this job. Not anymore.
Emery takes her badge off and sets it on the table. "It's been an honor, sir." She scoffs and walks away. Elijah walks over to his daughter.
"Emerson—"
"Find your own ride home." Emery spits before marching down the stairs.
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author's note.
Even I thought this was a lot...
P.S. we will be seeing more of Dr. Martin soon 👀
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