[SEASON ONE, EPISODE ONE]

GRACIE HAD NEVER BEEN A LARGE FAN OF SNAKES. A subject that had never truly piqued her interest. They didn't scare her, not like spiders did. The reptiles never enticed Gracie, not as much as worms or bees.

Unfortunately, as she walked through their victim's house, Gracelynn wished she had taken the chance to research more about the creatures. God, this place was crawling with them.

"Wow," Bobby had commented once they entered the room vacating all the slithering animals. Pictures of snakes were hung behind them whilst ones identical to the images sat atop branches.

"Oh my God," Gracie looked at the man beside her, instantly spotting the look of terror showing on Chimney's face as he looked at the hissing snakes. "Bobby, I can't do snakes. They scare the crap out of me. That scene from Conan the Bavarian with the giant snake, it traumatised me for life. I-I can't."

"Who's Conan?" Buck questioned.

Gracie bit the tip of her tongue, she did not need to answer every question ever asked. Her friends had told her that multiple times. When she started, it would take a long time for her to stop unless someone interrupted her—which happened a lot.

"Conan the Barbarian. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 1982. Geez," Chimney spoke rapidly.

"Dude, as far as I'm concerned the world began the day I was born," Buck said as he examined one of the snakes in the glass containers. Gracie rolled her eyes.

"Guys, in here. Back here, guys, now," Bobby beckoned, having spotted the caller. The group immediately rushed inside, a bedroom with similar walls to the room they had exited from revealed itself to them, a redhead sitting on the other side of the room, leaning against her bed. A snake wrapped around her neck.

"Oh, my God."

"Woah."

"We got to help her get some air guys," Bobby spoke, trying his best to pry the snake furthest away from the woman's neck as he knelt beside her.

"Oh, my god, I- this is not good," Chimney stammered from the door, clearly trying to keep a distance between himself and the snake. Bobby sighed, standing to put on gloves. Gracie stood beside Hen, quickly evaluating the scene as she thought of what their best solution could be.

"Bobby, it's no use. That thing is like ten feet long. Its construction strength is, like, fifty pounds square inch." Hen ranted, Buck and Gracie both stood as still as a statue.

"Oh, my God, I'm gonna start calling you 'Snake-ipedia.' Stop it." Chimney quaked.

"All I'm saying is that you'd stand a better chance of tearing down a cement wall with your bare hands," Hen explained as the need to free the redheaded lady grew higher.

"Why don't I just punch it in its face?" Buck questioned, stupidity ringing through his tone.

"What do you thinks gonna happen, Buckley? It's a snake." Gracie spoke with a strict tone, crossing her arms in front of her chest as her eyes never left Captain Nash, the woman and the snake.

"Look, I have Dilaudid, we can inject the snake. I'll pass right out." Hen said, anxiety chasing through all the firefighters as the victim started to breathe less and less.

"How much time is that gonna take?" Bobby asked rhetorically. "Minutes. And minutes we don't have. I think we're gonna have to put it down."

"Kill it!" Exclaimed Chimney, holding a small axe in his hands whilst Hen protested the opposite. Buck picked up a hammer as Chimney continued to chant, "Just kill it."

"It's a snake. It's doing what nature intended for it to do," Hen alarmed. Bobby continued to struggle with removing the snake from the choking woman's neck. "Nobody told this fool to bring a snake into her house!"

"I don't think name calling's the way to go," Gracie mumbled, only a half of sarcasm dripping from her voice as she gripped a book in her hand. Admist all the chaos, she grabbed the object. She wasn't sure how she'd use it but tools were beside Chimney and it was better to be prepared with something.

"Yeah, well, I'll make a donation to PETA for you," Bobby sassed, still in a fight to get the snake as far away from the neck as possible. Jessie continued to cough as the snake's grip seemed to tighten by the second. "Crap. It's getting really tight."

Buck gripped the thin axe in his hand, ideas rushing through his head quickly as he scanned the people around him—their heads seemingly empty with good solutions. Hen was thinking of a way to not hurt the treacherous animal. Chimney was very clearly frightened of it, Bobby fighting it off the best he could. Gracie was lightly bouncing upon and down on her toes, moving to keep her mind flowing.

"We don't have time for this!" The man exclaimed, raising the tool in the direction of the scene.

"Buck!"

"No!"

It slammed down onto the neck, separating its head from its body as blood splattered around it.

Chimney gagged, the sight of his fear mixed with gore not working well for his stomach. Gracie's face scrunched up, watching Bobby carefully begin to remove the dead snake from the redhead's neck as Hen stared at Buck incredulously.

"Wow. Why is that always the first option for you white boy, macho tough guys?" Buck looked at the woman smugly as he told her off, proud of his first impulse working.

"Guys, I am totally gonna take credit for this with Tatiana," Chimney spoke with a smile, his behaviour very different from a few seconds before. "It's gonna get me laid for a week. Thank you."

"Oh, Spartacus," the woman sighed, staring solemnly at the lifeless body of the snake.

"Yeah, well, it was him or you and, uh, when faced in a situation like that—I always choose the more attractive one," Buck flirted, his arms ending up on either side of the woman's head, smirk held on his lips.

"Actually, that would land you in violation of—"

Buck's head faced Gracie, a glare evident in his deep blue eyes. His jaw clenched, wanting the woman to stop talking.

Gracie's mouth shut when her eyes met Buck's.

Pleased with the silence surrounding the Jaeger woman, he was quick to place his flirtatious grin across his face again and face the redhead. "Is that right?" The woman seemed unfazed by Gracie's previous comment, her smile encompassing her face as she looked up at Buck.

"Yeah, that's right," Buck's tone was low and sensual, causing a loud discomfort to fill the room.

"Okay. Hard pass. I'm gonna skip the part where the two idiots flirt." Hen spoke, walking out of the room alongside Chimney. Gracie's eyes lingered on the pair seated on the ground before following the firefighters.

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"YOU REALLY DON'T LIKE HARRY POTTER?" Hen asked, flabbergasted by the brunette's statement. Gracie and she sat on the couch at the station, the former seated with her knees tucked close, chin rested upon her crossed arms, hair held in a tight ponytail. Hen laid down, arm resting behind her head, both at either edge of the couch.

"It's inconsistent," Gracie shrugged. "I mean, those kids went through all of that horrible stuff, multiple villains residing in their school just to what—keep everything the same? Bullshit. And, most of what I read was boring. Put the books down at twelve and never picked it up again."

"I can't believe you don't like Harry Potter," Hen chuckled, shaking her head lightly.

"I guess growing up, fantasy and magic was never my thing," Gracie spoke.

"Okay then, Jaeger, what was your thing?" Hen enunciated the word, laughing lightly as Gracie's lips pursed together in thought.

"I don't know. I mean, I went through multiple different phases where I'd pick something I liked, obsessed over it and made sure I knew more about it than anyone else before I randomly dropped it," Gracie explained, grabbing a grape from the fruit bowl that sat on the table.

"When I was eleven I read a bunch about World War Two. At thirteen, I discovered 'Little Women' and it consumed me. Fifteen, I read a bunch on domestic violence and things like that. When I got a little bit older I had a big thing for horror books, but then I got out of that. Honestly, I'll read anything on the shelf—as long as it's not Harry Potter. Or Twilight, do not get me started on Twilight."

Gracie and Hen lightly giggled at her final comment, the latter grabbing the fruit bowl from the table and placing it in her lap, both of the women having become frustrated with leaning over.

Suddenly, a ringing vibrated from Gracie's side, signifying a call sounding from her phone. Picking up the device, she frowned when she realised who it was.

Izzie's school.

What has she done now?

Hesitantly, Gracie stood, sending Hen a small smile before walking down the stairs, out of earshot from the others. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Gracie began mindlessly walking, pressing her phone to her ear nervously.

"Hi, am I speaking with Gracelynn Jaeger?" The feminine voice sounded.

"Uh, yeah, yep, this is she." Gracie stumbled over her words, shaking her left hand impulsively to ward off the worry rushing through her body.

She felt like this every time she got a call from Izzie's school. It wasn't that she didn't trust the young girl, she didn't trust the school. The majority of the time they were ringing to talk about Izzie skipping lessons or talking back to teachers, but the fear that they were going to tell her something horrible had happened never wavered.

Izabella was her main priority, always. After what had happened to the poor girl's mother a few years before, after how Gracie had tried so hard to place the blame, she wasn't going to go through it again.

"I'm calling in regards to Izabella García. We have concerns about the amount of trouble she's been getting in. Only this afternoon she received her ninth detention from over the past two weeks. One more and that means a suspension. If she continues this, there's no doubt she's close to expulsion," The woman's voice drove Gracie mad.

Her tone was nothing short of polite, but all Gracie heard was 'It's your fault, it's your fault.'

"Look, she's struggling. Can't you give her the benefit of the doubt?" The brunette's voice was strained, having stopped moving and now bouncing her right foot up and down continuously. Izzie being suspended was something neither of them needed at that moment.

"These are our policies. I'm sorry Miss Jaeger." She truly did sound apologetic. The office had heard about the young girl's struggles plenty of times. Unfortunately, whenever she was offered a counsellor, she would refuse to show up to any meetings.

Gracie hated this feeling. The failing one. Her best friend had died and her daughter was passed onto her with the promise of protecting her. All she's done is damage the tween girl.

"Okay, can someone tell her that I'll pick her up after her detention?" Gracie asked, preparing to head back up the stairs.

"Will do, Ma'am. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Gracie exhaled before she hung up the phone, placing it in her pocket. She walked up the stairs, oblivious to Evan Buckley, who sat not too far from her, recent news causing a frown to envelop his face.

Reaching the top of the stairs, a new wave of air filled the atmosphere Gracie had walked upon, the girl's brows furrowing as she looked upon everyone.

Chimney sat at the table, his feet resting upon another chair as he messaged someone—most likely Tatiana—though he seemed more contained than usual. Bobby, who was eating a bowl of grapes held an annoyed look. Hen was sitting on the sofa, instead of the lying position she had been in a few minutes earlier. At the sound of Gracie's footsteps, the Wilson woman looked up.

"What did I miss?" Gracie whispered, rushing over to sit on the armchair beside Hen.

"Buck was fired," Hen whispered back, eyebrows raised as the information still settled within her.

Gracie's eyes widened, shock overtaking her. "Oh," was all she could mutter, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she struggled to think of how she felt about the situation. Did she care? Yes, Buck—whilst not the greatest person in the world—was a good firefighter. To most of them, he was a good friend.

Was he Gracie's friend?

They didn't hate each other. Usually, they got along well on the job. Buck would tease her the best he could, taking time out of his day to make sure she heard him call her 'Lynn.' Other times he flirted with her, simply to watch her either be clueless or get annoyed. Would she be okay with that never happening again?

"What-What happened?" Gracie asked, wanting to know what caused Buck to lose his final strike.

"Bobby caught him with the snake girl from earlier, and said it was his last strike." Hen informs.

Expected, Gracie thought to herself, nodding in understanding as Hen stood, walking over to the kitchen area. The brunette thought back to the previous phone call she had been on, still unnerved about the fact that Izzie could be suspended. It wasn't the end of the world, she would go back to school and forget about it.

Gracie shook her head of the thoughts, knowing she shouldn't linger on them too long. Gracie stood, deciding she needed a walk. No emergencies were coming through, so she knew she'd have time to clear her mind before getting back to work. Reaching the bottom of the steps, she found herself passing the lockers. The sight of Evan Buckley, sitting with his back to her as his head was dropped down, uniform off and his usual clothing, caused her to stop her movements.

"Hi," Gracie breathed before even realising she had opened her mouth. Buck didn't flinch at the sound of her voice, only turned his head quickly before looking back down to the floor.

"Go away," He grumbled, keeping his eyes to the floor.

Gracie frowned at his tone, eyebrows furrowing. "All I said was 'hi'," She crossed her arms over her blue outfit, watching the man as she walked closer—ignoring his request.

Buck sighed, annoyed at the sound of her footsteps, "Bobby fired me, okay, I can be upset."

"Maybe, I don't know, learn to keep it in your pants for a little while?"

The words left her mouth impulsively, though his response allowed her no time to regret how harshly they had left her mouth, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Buck teased, his staggered attitude falling for a second.

"Yeah, then we could actually get our jobs done," Gracie spat, she didn't mean to say it in such a tone but for the past few months of working with him, she had grown fed up with Evan Buckley.

When Buck's shoulders seemed to tense, his jaw clenching away from her view, Gracie immediately felt guilty. She knew she hadn't said anything wrong, but Gracie was rarely harsh when talking with others.

(Except Izzie, of course).

"Sorry," she sighs, her apology centred around his unemployment. The woman sent Buck her best smile, unaware of how he rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth so he didn't tell her to go away. "You're a good firefighter, I know that. I'm sure something better's gonna happen."

The alarm went off, signalling Gracie needed to head to the truck. Noticing Buck not moving, she didn't bother with a goodbye, jogging away from the locker room.

Later that day, after having returned from their call about Mrs Grimes' cat getting stuck in a tree—which prompted her dog to somehow climb up with it—Captain Nash had spotted the missing vehicle. After a call from Athena Grant, he and Hen awaited Buck's arrival at the front of the station.

Gracie and Chimney sat on the couch, a book in the former's hand whilst the latter played one of the few games they had connected with the television. The sound of Buck arriving back in one of the fire engines reached their ears, both of their heads turning up to where they saw him enter.

Chimney sighed, shaking his head as a smile formed on his face. "Of course," the man turned to Gracie, "how much do you want to bet Cap's hiring him back?"

"He was obviously not going to let him go just like that. Come on it's Bobby and Buck," Gracie shrugged, holding the book in her hands carefully, cautious not to break its spine.

"Father and Son," Chimney joked, the woman beside him letting out a light-hearted giggle.

Suddenly, the sound of Buck's excited footsteps reached their ears, both firefighters looking direction of the stairs as Chimney paused his game. Buck stood at the top, a wide smile on his face as his arms opened by his side.

"Look who's back!" Buck cheered himself on, walking towards Chimney's spot.

"Nice to have you back, Buckley," Chimney nodded, a small smile on his face as he focused back on the television.

Buck jogged closer to the kitchen area, slowing down as he passed the table to be greeted by another officer. As he rounded the corner, the man's eyes drifted to Gracie's.

She grinned, glad to see Buck so happy. In return, the man smiled wider and sent her a nod. He thought about her words from earlier. Evan Buckley wouldn't mind warming up to the idea of being true friends with Gracelynn Jaeger.

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author notes —
chat i love desperate housewives so much.

this chapter took WAY too long to write, and i apologise to whoever's reading. hopefully, chapter three will be quicker, and we'll finally be moving on to the second episode.

In the next few chapters, we'll see more of Buck + Gracie as well as Gracie's backstory.

Votes and comments are always appreciated and help with motivation for getting the next chapter written !!

Anyways,
Byee </3