"Maybe we pop the hinges off the door..."
"Or we use the jaws of life."
"What are you two idiots doing?" Marina called, hefting the box in her hands up higher so it wouldn't slip.
"Nonono! It has to fit, I measured it twice. Can't you guys just, y'know, turn it around the other way?" Maddie exclaimed. Mariana slid past them and into the apartment, making her way to the kitchen so she could set down the box Maddie asked her to grab from the mailroom. She reappeared in the living room just in time to see Buck and Eddie lowering the sofa down onto the floor.
"Thank you guys for helping me on your day off," Maddie said.
"Don't worry 'bout it. Plates?" Eddie grabbed the pizza from her hands.
"Countertop. Kitchen."
"Beer?" Chimney asked.
"Also the kitchen. Fridge!"
"Clever."
Maddie turned to Buck and Mariana, pointing towards the kitchen. "He is so cute."
"Yeah, he gets that a lot. You should meet his kid though," Buck replied.
"Wait, Chimney has a kid?"
Mariana repressed her urge to laugh and headed into the kitchen with Maddie as Buck stammered out an answer. The two women shared a knowing look as they broke off in the kitchen, Mari heading for the pizza. Eddie wordlessly passed her a bottle of water and she handed him a plate with a few slices of pizza on it. He slid past her at the counter and headed for Maddie's table where she and Chimney were already sitting while Mariana grabbed her own pizza.
"Mari, what are you even doing here? We're doing all the heavy lifting," Chimney teased as she sat down.
"I'm supervising. Gotta make sure you guys don't ruin Maddie's new place."
The boys booed while Maddie laughed. Buck slid in between his two sisters and grinned. "I kinda like having them both around."
"Because they both tease you mercilessly?" Chimney pointed out.
"No! Because they can make fun of you two better than I can."
///
"Shit!" Mariana yelped as debris slammed into the truck door right above her head. She threw her helmet on and gestured for Athena to come to her. Mari placed herself between the wind and Athena, willing to take the hit thanks to her heavy turnout coat. Bobby helped them get to the safety of the other side of the truck where Mari fell in between her boys, fumbling with the clasps of her coat.
"When the pilot radioed, they were having mechanical troubles. Looks like he tried to put it down in the field over there," Athena yelled over the din of the helicopter whirring.
"Yeah, he got close!" Bobby shouted.
"Not close enough! Get down people, move!"
"Alright guys we're gonna fan out behind those bleachers. Eddie, once we get the people out do you think you can kill that engine?"
"Think so, I'm just worried about the dynamic rollover."
"Dynamic rollover?" Buck asked.
"We change the weight ratio while we pull people out, the whole thing could tip over and rotors would snap off."
"And then flying rocks will be the least of our problems."
"Alright, visors down!" Bobby ordered. "Let's go!"
They dashed towards the helicopter and quickly climbed onto the bleachers. Mariana glanced at the newscaster in the back of the helicopter and did a quick appraisal.
"Buck, you get her out while I go in! We can balance the weight!" she shouted. Three heads turned towards her and every man shouted "no!"
"Okay, we'll discuss THAT later. But I'm doing it. Let's go!"
Buck slid the door open and started to lift the newscaster out while Mariana braced herself against the shuddering frame of the helicopter. The second he had her out, Mari carefully placed herself in the same seat. She shut her eyes and grabbed the edge of the seat as the helicopter rocked dangerously on the bleachers. Her heart was hammering in her chest as the metal creaked and groaned under them. Slowly but surely the rotors stopped and Mari exhaled a heavy sigh and leaned against the seats, letting her head fall back against the cushions.
"Are you okay?" Eddie called back to her.
"I'm fine. Minor heart attack but fine. You?"
"All good."
"Alright you two. Try not to move until we stabilize this thing," Bobby ordered. Mari flashed him a thumbs up and then settled in for a relaxing few minutes of her catching her breath. Unfortunately, Buck and Bobby had them secured in no time.
"So are we going to talk about the total alpha male display earlier where you guys tried to stop me from doing my job?" Mariana asked as the four of them walked back towards the truck.
"I'm your cap-" "Not just gonna let my sis-" "Way to danger-"
"Ah ah ah!" She raised her hand to indicate that they should stop talking. "I don't care what the reasoning is. What we're not gonna do is keep me out of rescues. I'm not going to do anything risky enough to get myself killed."
"That's debatable," Athena commented as she walked towards them. Mariana narrowed her eyes at the older woman but the smile that played on her lips betrayed the angry look she was trying to pull off. Athena merely tugged on her braid and then walked off with Bobby to go check up on the victims.
///
"I want to do a story on this firehouse and all the heroes who work here," Taylor Kelly announced. Mariana appeared from the back of the ambulance with Hen, her butterfly clipboard clutched tightly in her hands.
"Yeah, but you do traffic?" Chimney retorted.
"I'm not quite ready to go back in the sky so I thought I'd try my hand at telling a story from the ground."
Hen let out a bitter laugh and hopped down from the ambulance. "And use your newfound fame to put your face in front of the camera."
"That too."
"Smart girl."
"I can't wait to interview all of you. I want to know why you chose this job, the crazy things you've seen, what it's like to face death. I mean Howie you almost died, right?"
"Actually, nobody calls me that. It's Chimney."
"I bet there's a story there."
"Pfft, not one you could tell on TV."
"And Mariana! You were all over the news a few months ago with your shooting."
The brunette scoffed and clenched her jaw, her grip tightening on her clipboard. Everyone traded uneasy glances while Taylor flippantly brushed off the cold expression coating Mariana's face.
"Well you must have really impressed the chief. He said to give you whatever access you need," Bobby announced as he strode back into the apparatus bay.
"Don't worry, Captain Nash. Your story is in good hands," Taylor assured him. "I'm gonna make you all famous!"
"Bobby, can we talk?" Mariana spoke up. He instantly understood her meaning and gestured for her to follow him to one of the trucks. The second they were out of earshot of the camera, Mariana whirled around and jabbed her finger in Taylor's direction.
"I don't want her anywhere near me. I don't want to be interviewed or questioned. I don't want to talk about my history or the shooting. Hell, I don't want her to ask me about my favorite fucking color!"
"I get it, I don't want her here either but the chief overrode my wishes. I can't tell her to leave you alone but I will be sure to run interference if I can. You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to, Mari. I can let the team know that you don't want to be talked to."
"No, ugh. I don't...I can't be seen as this weaker link amongst the team."
"I can put you as man behind for the calls that they come with."
Mariana let her shoulders fall and the strong facade she normally held crumbled. She nodded limply and let her hands fall by her sides. "Yeah, that can work."
Bobby tugged on the end of her braid, a habit he picked up from Athena, and tapped her clipboard. "You still have to check the trucks. Maybe I can find a few things for you to tinker with."
"Thanks Cap."
Bobby pulled her into a side hug and then went to rejoin the others. Their plan worked for the first shift but Mari knew it would have to end at some point. The team was called out for some guy frozen at a bodybuilding contest which left Mariana to wander the firehouse alone. She helped out those on the cleaning crew for the shift and wiped down the bathroom. Then she read a few chapters in a book. When Eddie texted her that they were headed back, she finally got up and started to cook some lunch for everyone.
And that's where Taylor Kelly trapped her.
"Mariana, we haven't seen you go out on many calls!" the redhead chirped as she and her cameraman appeared at the top of the stairs. The latina raised her eyes to the ceiling and let out a quiet "ay dios mios" before she returned to her cooking.
"I've been busy with repairs," she explained. "Truck inspections are coming up so I need to make sure they're in perfect condition."
"Well while you're cooking is it alright if I ask you a few questions?"
"You're going to even if I say no, right?"
A condescending smirk spread across Taylor's lips and that answered Mariana's question. She braced herself for the inevitable. She hated the very idea of the camera being pointed at her.
"So, Mariana, why did you become a firefighter?"
"Job security," she replied dryly.
"You weren't a firefighter originally. You actually started off as a nurse. Why the change?"
"The ER doesn't have a ten ton truck going weewoo."
"Are you going to answer any of my questions properly?"
"Are you going to ask interesting questions?" Mari mocked.
"How about we talk about the shooting?"
"How about we don't?"
"C'mon! Being shot in the line of duty had to have made you reconsider as to why you're a firefighter!"
Mariana slammed the mixing bowl down on the counter, causing the whole loft to fall silent as it's clang echoed through the firehouse.
"What do you want me to say? Yeah, I was shot. Yeah, I almost bled out in that alley. I coded on the way to the hospital and was in a coma for three weeks. What do you want me to say? That it made me realize that I should quit? I'm here, aren't I?!"
Hen stepped up to intercept but Mariana held her hand up and leveled Taylor with a glare. "You want a story so here it is. I became a nurse because I was good at patching people up. Having to bandage yourself up after getting hit by the metal end of a belt after getting home late by three minutes makes you a damn good nurse. Watching your parents die helps you become unfazed by death. But man...doing CPR for a half hour on your little brother as he bleeds out in your arms...that one takes the cake. I became a firefighter because after I lost my brother I just kept thinking "what if I had been out in the field? Would he have lived?" but of course that's not going to give you your answer."
Everyone stared at the young woman who was practically shaking from anger, grief, and pain. "I got shot and I lived. Because I had some of the best men and women working on me. My brother...hell, death just takes people sometimes. Why did I become a firefighter? Because the people in this firehouse are the greatest people I have ever met. I trust them with my life and your life too. First responders were always there on the worst days of my life. So now it's time I repay the favor. And it really pisses me the fuck off that you are only doing this little stunt just to give yourself a damn promotion. You don't give two shits about us and our lives."
Taylor blinked away her surprise and then nodded, backing away from the island. "That's all we needed. Thanks."
A/N: gif above is Renata Notni, a Mexican actress who is AMAZING in El Dragon (telenovela en Netflix que recomiendo) she's the faceclaim of Mari, but there's barely any gifs of her or they're too big for wattpad :( so I use Ana gifs to express the emotion