"This doesn't seem, I don't know, inappropriate?" Jamie held her coffee cup in both hands. Her gaze shifted between the 911 Operator Supervisor Sue and Josh, the Senior Operator, at the centre.

"We're not asking you to take them to a gun range," Sue gave Jamie one of her soft smiles as Josh spoke to her, "We just want you to show them the ropes".

Jamie glanced at the newcomers. They looked lost. Jamie imagined she didn't look any different on her first day.

"Don't I need some sort of qualifications?" Jamie asked. Josh found that amusing. He laughed and Sue shook her head. Jamie sat her cup on the counter beside her, "What if I mess up? Or what if-".

Sue placed her hand on Jamie's shoulder. "There is no one more qualified than you, Jamie. You have experience that neither Josh or I have". Josh nodded in agreement, "And if you mess up, no one's perfect".

Jamie's shoulders relaxed slightly. Josh knew she couldn't say no. "Okay," Jamie scratched her temple. "Alright, I'll help".

Josh smiled, he turned toward the dispatch room and pointed, "I knew you would," Josh started walking and Jamie followed, Sue smiled and held her clipboard to her chest, "A or B?" Josh asked.

"Um," Jamie's brows furrowed, "B?" Jamie answered.

Two women in red shirts, identical to the one Jamie wore, stood in the middle of the dispatch centre waiting to be led to a desk. The others were already paired off with dispatch operators who'd been there much longer than Jamie. The woman on the left — she held a notebook in her hand — looked a lot less frightened than the woman on the right.

Josh stopped in front of the women. Jamie stopped next to him, "Hi, I'm Josh Russo, Senior Operator and this is Jamie Chen, our resident police officer turned dispatcher," Jamie smiled at them, "Linda, you're going to be with me and Maddie, you'll be with Jamie. There'll be a rotation after lunch if all goes smoothly".

Jamie's eyes widened, "Why would you say that?" Jamie asked, "The last time someone said that a plane crashed into the ocean," Jamie reminded Josh.

Josh didn't reply. He walked off and Linda followed him to a desk.

"Police officer turned dispatcher? That sounds like a story," Jamie led Maddie to a desk.

The story behind her temporary job change was not one that she shared with new people. Josh and Sue knew the full ins and outs but the other dispatchers only knew what they heard over Jamie's 911 call and that was enough for them to not ask questions.

There were two seats at the desk. Jamie sat in one and gestured for Maddie to sit in the other. Maddie opened her notebook to a clean page, "What did you do before?" Jamie handed Maddie an earpiece.

Maddie hesitated for a split second, "I was an ER Nurse," Maddie answered.

Jamie logged into the computer and put in her earpiece. Her eyes scanned over the screens. So far, they had no call. "I wanted to be a nurse when I was younger. What made you change?" Jamie asked.

She hesitated again. Jamie glanced at her and Maddie fixed her gaze on the screens as if she feared Jamie could read her mind. "My brother suggested this job. He's a firefighter for the 118".

"The 118? What's his name? I have some friends over at the 118," Jamie said.

"Evan Buckley," Jamie rubbed her hand over her chin. That name had been brought up in conversation more times than Jamie could remember. "He said they call him Buck," Maddie added.

"I've never met him. Heard a lot about him, though," Maddie raised a brow, intrigued. "My patrol partner is dating his boss".

"Your patrol partner is-"

A call came through and Jamie instantly answered. Maddie's question died in her throat. "911, what's your emergency?" Jamie asked.

"I was playing pinfinger and I really messed up," A man's voice, no older than twenty, came through the earpieces. "There's a knife impaled in my hand. It's bleeding a lot".

"Okay," Jamie started logging the call, "Leave the knife in your hand. Can you tell me where you are?" The caller relayed his address to Jamie and she dispatched EMTs to his location, "Alright-".

"I-I gotta get it out".

"No. Don't do that," Jamie shook her head as if he could see her, "EMTs are on the way. Please wait until they arrive".

The call disconnected and Jamie wheeled her chair across making room for Maddie to sit in front of the screens. "Your turn," Jamie gestured to the computer.

Maddie's eyes widened slightly, "My turn?" Jamie nodded, "But I-".

"See one, do one, teach one" Jamie interrupted. "You've seen one, now it's your turn to do one". Maddie moved across, taking her notebook with her, she exhaled and wiped the palms of her hands on her thighs. "I'm not going anywhere," Jamie told her.

A second call came through. Maddie answered it on the second ring. "911, what is your emergency?" Maddie asked.

"Help, please," The man's voice was strained, "Can't breathe".

"What is your location, sir?" Maddie asked.

"Ocean Park and Lincoln by the sushi place," He responded.

Maddie typed and mumbled, "Sushi restaurant at Ocean Park Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard," under her breath. Maddie flicked through her notebook to a page she'd scribbled notes on prior to arriving at the centre. "Um, are you having tightness in your chest, pain in your arms?" Maddie asked.

Jamie looked at Maddie's notes. They reminded Jamie of the ones she'd made during her first week as a rookie cop. Her TO had thrown the book out of the car window and ran it over before making Jamie throw it away.

"N-No. Throat swollen," The man said. His voice was growing weaker as it got harder to talk.

Maddie looked at her book again, "Do you have any allergies?" Maddie asked.

"Shellfish. I told them".

"Okay, it sounds like you're having an allergic reaction. Help is on the way now," Maddie informed him. "Can you elevate your legs?".

The familiar sound of an engine buzzed in Jamie's ear. Maddie had sent EMTs to the Sushi restaurant but Jamie feared he was as he said 'by the sushi place' not in it.

"Sir, are you in your car?" Jamie asked. Maddie shifted her seat across, allowing room for Jamie in front of the screens.

"Yes. Parking lot," The man answered.

"Alright. Sir, what is the description of your car?" Jamie asked. The man responded telling Jamie that it was a grey challenger. Jamie updated the call log and sent the EMTs the correct information so they could promptly find the man. "Help is on the way, sir".

The call disconnected and Jamie turned to Maddie. "How-how did you know he was in his car?" Maddie asked.

"The car engine," Jamie said. "That man would have been unconscious by the time EMTs arrived because they would have had no idea where to find him," Maddie shook her head, understanding where she'd gone wrong. "Notes are good to refresh your brain with certain protocols at home or even to glance at on your break but when you answer a call, you don't have time to run a step by step. As a nurse and a police officer, you and I are used to responding first with our eyes but as a dispatcher all we have is what we hear".

"I understand," Maddie closed her notebook and pushed it aside.

A third call came through. Jamie rolled her chair aside and Maddie answered as she moved her chair back in front of the screens. "911, what's your emergency?" Maddie nodded at Jamie. She could see that Maddie was nervous and worried about making another mistake.

"Oh my God. My crazy ass neighbour just-".

Jamie covered her hand over her microphone, "You've got it," Jamie smiled at Maddie. In their earpieces they could hear a woman recounting the events that led to her husband having a fork stabbed into his neck by their neighbour.

"Okay, Ma'am-" The building suddenly began shaking, the computers rattled, drinks toppled over and the woman on the call screamed out her husband's name as her house shook violently.

The screens turned black and the call was cut abruptly, silencing the woman's screams in Jamie and Maddie's ears as the dispatch centre was plunged into darkness.

The shaking continued. Maddie grabbed Jamie's hand and stared up at the ceiling she could not see, hoping it would withstand the quake. Jamie closed her eyes, counting each second that passed after the lights went out. She got to twenty two before the lights flickered back on with an electric buzz.

One by one the screens in the dispatch centre lit up. Jamie squeezed Maddie's hand. The worst was yet to come. "Brace for impact," Jamie warned.

Maddie stared at her with wide eyes full of shock. Jamie had never experienced an earthquake while working on the dispatcher side of 911 but she knew that whatever she expected, the calls would be much worse.

All the lines rang at once. It seemed like every person who'd felt the earthquake had instantly dialled the emergency number. Jamie slid her chair across to the desk beside Maddie's and answered one of the many calls that were coming through.

"911. What's your emergency?".

It was all hands on deck. Maddie, Linda and the other new arrivals had been thrown into the deep end. Their job was to keep the line clear of any nuisance calls so the real emergencies were dealt with as swiftly as possible.

Maddie was at the desk beside Jamie. She'd answered call after call, many reporting that they'd felt an earthquake and others more serious, some to do with looters and people taking advantage of the chaos and another call related to the highway collapse that Josh had sent first responders to already.

"Jamie," Maddie covered her hand over her microphone. "I've got a seven year old boy on the line".

Jamie shifted her gaze from her screen and covered her own mic, "Keep him on the line," Jamie said before returning to her call, "Okay, Sir. This is the third time you have called since the earthquake hit. If you call again with a nonemergency, I will have to report it," Jamie disconnected the call and rolled her chair across to Maddie's desk.

"His name is Olly. His car fell off the highway when it collapsed. His dad is injured and unconscious," Maddie's eyes were teary as she gave Jamie a quick run through of everything seven year old had told her.

"This is the same highway we sent units to?" Jamie asked before connecting to the call. Maddie nodded. "Olly?" Jamie glanced at the map on the screen. "Are you still there?".

"Yes. Where's Maddie?" The boy asked.

"I'm still here," Maddie spoke, reassuring the boy she'd promised to help. "But my friend, she's going to help me help you and your dad. Okay?".

"Okay".

"Hi Olly. I'm Jamie-" Jamie heard him say 'Hi Jamie' on the other end of the call. "Can you tell me what happened? Maddie said you fell off the highway, is your car upside down?" Jamie asked.

"No, we're floating".

"Floating?" Jamie's brows furrowed. Maddie shrugged, unsure of what he meant. "Olly, are all four wheels touching the floor?" Jamie asked.

There was movement on Olly's end. Jamie and Maddie glanced at one another, waiting for the young boy to reply but before he could the line went silent.

"What-" Maddie lifted her hands up away from the desk, "What just happened?" Maddie asked.

Jamie stared at the screen. The call had disconnected. "Call him back".

Maddie dialled the number and it went straight to voicemail, "Hi, you've reached Declan Parker-". Maddie hung up and tried the number again but just as it did the first time it went to voicemail.

Jamie rubbed her temple and scanned the screen. First responders were still at the highway collapse.. Maddie wiped a tear from under her eye before it had a chance to run down her cheek, "Radio through to the 136, tell them that we have a seven year old boy trapped in a car with his father. Once you've done that keep trying the kid, if he doesn't answer hopefully someone will hear the ringing".

"There's nothing else we can do?" Maddie asked.

"We're spread thin. We have no additional units," Jamie told her. "All we can do is notify the closest first responders".

"And hope for the best," Maddie added.

Jamie nodded. Hoping for the best outcome was all Jamie had done since the earthquake hit earlier that day. Even when she rang her patrol partner and was greeted by Athena's voicemail, Jamie had to believe that Sergeant Grant was safe and helping out wherever she could, if she didn't Jamie would worry just as Maddie was worrying about her brother who was at the collapsing Hollywood Palm Hotel, rescuing survivors from the 14 story building with the 118.

Jamie nodded, "Always".

Authors note.
Chapter one is here (again). I'm going to miss season one Buck but I'm already in love with Jamie and Maddie's friendship (Best friends brother trope??) and I can't wait for her to finally meet Buck after hearing so much about him...