Pilot.

chapter one , Mentally Superior

a/n : STFU I AM SO READY FOR THIS...sorry I yelled. May or may not be shaking with excitement for what I have planned

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All her life, Emerson thought about herself last. From keeping her parents satisfied to missing her photography club so she could take care of a neighbor's dog. Her parents taught her to push herself to be the best all her life. That meant being the best at school, getting into the best schools, joining the best extracurriculars (not creative photography club, by the way), and being the best person. And Emerson listened to them. She did it all. She did it all to the point that as soon as she graduated, she moved out. Now, she didn't just come up with that idea out of thin air. It was a multitude of things. They critiqued every small thing they didn't like about her; the amount of food she ate and how she looked, they dismissed any feeling or thought she had. "No need to be sensitive, sweet pea". Give me a fucking break. There was a lack of discussion which made Emery feel like she only had one choice. Her parents.

And as soon as her sister, Amaya, was born (she was 10), it didn't slow down. Her parents still kept their focus on Emerson, but they also let Amaya just be a kid. Emerson was jealous. Through her eyes, she wasn't the favorite. She was nothing but a machine built to make her parents and everyone else proud. And the girl didn't want that anymore. So, at the age of fourteen, she told her parents how she felt. It ended in screaming and her parents calling her their 'greatest disappointment'. They told her they weren't going to pay for her college and they weren't supporting her wanting to move out at 18. So, she applied for her first job at the local Albertsons. To her luck, her interviewer didn't ask for her age. She worked there for four years and was recognized for being the best worker. For the first time ever Emerson was happy about being the best.

With the help of bonuses and raises, Emerson had enough money to move out and get her own place. Even though Emerson had so many moments of doubt in her mind, she never looked back. For the first time in Emerson's life, she was selfish. And it was like a breath of fresh air.

Emerson's alarm blares through her room, causing her to reach for her phone and turn it off. Her eyes shift across the dozens of text messages and missed calls across her phone and she groans. Her eyes then catch sight of one text message.

Come over for dinner on Sunday, so we can talk.

She lets out a groan and tosses her phone to the side of her bed. She wipes her eyes and sits up. Emerson swings her legs over the bed and stands up. She pads her feet across the hardwood floor and her eyes meet the picture on the shelf. Her chest tightens and she knocks on the shelf four times before leaving the room. Emerson walks into the living room and is greeted with snoring. She looks at the girl sleeping on her couch and she shakes her head. "Yo."

She doesn't wake up. Emerson pinches the bridge of her nose and lightly kicks her arm, causing her to jolt up. "What the hell?!" She snaps her eyes over to Emerson's.

Emery squints her eyes, "Nuh-Uh--we're not doing that. I just woke up and I need to get ready for work while you need to go home."

"But--"

"No, buts, Amaya, leave." Emerson seethes. "Mom and Dad have been blowing up my phone ever since I texted them that you were sitting on my porch steps alone." she then lets out a bitter chuckle. "We only text about once a month and I was fine with that. But now they want to have dinner with me Sunday and I really can't handle—"

"Dad wants to stop taking his meds."

Emerson stops talking and she inhales a deep breath. "Again?" her voice unnoticeably starts to shake.

Amaya wipes her eyes and nods, "Yeah. Again." she sighs. "They were talking about it a couple of days ago and then they started screaming at each other. I just...didn't want to hear it...not now."

Emerson watches as Amaya picks at the skin on her arm. She wanted to be the big sister she was to Amaya all those years ago. But so much time has passed. She couldn't recover those years with her.

"That's a habit you should break." Emerson states.

Amaya looks down at her arm and raises her brows. She didn't even notice she started that. A small scoff escapes her lips. "Thanks, I guess."

"Yeah, right." Emerson inhales. "I'll drive you to school, all right? Did you bring extra clothes?"

Amaya nods her head.

"Okay, good. I'm getting the bathroom first. You wait." She looks at the clock on her wall and curses. "I'm behind on my schedule."

"Sorry..." The teenage girl murmurs, genuinely feeling sorry.

Emerson looks at her sister and sighs. "It's whatever, Amaya. Go find something to eat."

Emerson starts to walk down the hall, but Amaya asks something that made her gut twist.

"Are you still on your meds?"

She stops in her tracks and taps each of her fingers against her thumb. "Are you seriously asking me that, right now?"

"Emery, I'm serious." Amaya stands up. "You--"

"I don't need a lecture. Save it for your father." Emerson holds a hand up, a small smile on her lips.

Amaya rolls her eyes and Emery places her hands on her hips. "I'm taking them, all right?" she shrugs her shoulders. "I am."

You can see Amaya's body language instantly change from tense and worried to slumped and relieved. "Good."

Emery presses her lips together. "You do know that not every with Bipolar are the same, right?" she raises her brows. "Just because dad wants to be off his meds, doesn't mean I want to be."

"I-I know that." Amaya scoffs. "It never hurts to ask."

Emery smirks, "Sure." she goes into the bathroom and takes a shower while brushing her teeth. Emery and Amaya hurried their morning routines and got ready for their long days.

"I swear if he gets there before me. You're never invited over again."

Amaya sighs, "Who are we talking about? Your boyfriend?"

Emery grabs her brother by his backpack and spins him around. She points at Amaya face and the younger sister slightly pulls her face back from Emery's serious expression. "Never say that again." she seethes. "This man we are talking about is not my friend. He is my enemy."

Emery motions her head to the vehicle. "Now, get in the car." she rounds the car and gets into the driver's seat. Amaya scoffs, "You're so dramatic."

☆

"I'm not late?"

"You're never late, Em."

Emerson looks at her co-workers, then looks around the top level. She runs over to the rail and looks over it. Bobby, Chimney, and Hen look at each other, it clicking for them.

"Oh, you mean are you here before Buck?"

Emery turns back to them with a triumphant. "And it looks like I am, so..."

"Well..."

Bobby and Hen quickly shush Chimney. Emery looks at the man a smile still on her face, but her brows were knitted together. "Well? Well, what? What were you going to say, Chim?"

Chimney slightly opens his mouth, "Uh, I...don't remember...?"

Then, Emerson squints her eyes, and Chimney's stomach turns. "Buck came by to drop his stuff off."

Emery inhales her anger and just chuckles. "That does not count."

Bobby pulls his brows together, "It doesn't?"

She slowly nods her head, but her face becomes more doubtful with each second that passes. "Okay, fine. It counts." she walks over to the sink and washes her hands. "Dammit..."

"Where were you anyway?" Chimney asks.

Emery sputters her lips. "Oh, you know, my sister ran away from home...to my home and I had to drop her off at school."

Henrietta pulls her face back and looks at the girl. "I'm sorry. What?"

Emery grabs a large bowl from the cupboards and looks at her co-workers. "Yeah, Amaya stayed at my house last night."

"And your parents were...okay with that?"

Emerson sputters her lips. "Well, no...but, it's not like I was gonna force her to go back home. And I definitely was not going to give them my address. Like, who do they think they are?" she lets out a soft laugh and sets the bowl on the counter.

Bobby opens his mouth to answer, but Emerson points at him. "That was rhetorical, Cap."

Bobby instantly closes his mouth and Emery chuckles. But, her smile quickly drops when she hears the beeping coming closer. She looks over at the firetruck backing into the firehouse and a small breath leaves her lips. Emery looks at Bobby, trying to read some reaction on his face. She got nothing.

"Hey, Cap, have you ever thought of like...firing him maybe?"

Bobby looks at Emery with a deadpan expression. She frowns and bunches her shoulders. "It's just a thought."

"Take the bowl to the table please." He holds it toward her.

Emery presses her lips together and sends him a two-fingered salute. She rounds the table, just in time to see Buck walking up the steps. Buck sends her a cheeky smile before reaching into the bowl in her hands. Emery's mouth hangs open, "Oh, hell no!" she spins around and bumps him with her elbow. "Back off, Probie!"

"That name isn't gonna stick." Buck eats the spaghetti.

"Just like everything else in that cranium of yours?" Emery sets the bowl on the table and turns to him with a smirk.

Buck chuckles, but it comes off as annoyed. "No, no, no. Ya see, everything I've got up here is why everyone likes me." he looks the girl up and down and winces. "You on the other hand..."

Emery chuckles, "Whatever, truck snatcher." she points at the spaghetti bowl. "Eat from the bowl with your fingers again, see what happens." she sits next to Henrietta with a huff. Henrietta and Chimney look at each other, knowing that the back and forth was going to be an all-day thing.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning..." Buck murmurs. "But then again, you're always this way so...maybe you wake up on the wrong side of the bed every morning." he winks at her and sits on the arm of the couch.

"I woke up just fine this morning, thank you very much." Emery looks at him with a pointed expression.

Bobby lets out a deep sigh, which was loud enough to catch everyone's attention. Emery closes her mouth and starts to put food on her plate.

"What if we had a call?" Bobby looks at Buck.

"I was in the neighborhood." Buck grabs one of the plates from Bobby's hand and eats off of it. Emery wrinkles her nose in disgust. "I was just, uh, getting it washed."

"They charge you extra for the full detail?" Chimney questions, no amusement on his face whatsoever.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah." Buck laughs.

Hen and Emery look at each other before letting out sighs with zero ounces of amusement.

"Listen, I like you." Bobby starts. "And you're a good firefighter. I know we got this thing--you call me, 'pops' and I give you a hard time for being a dumbass kid--"

"--emphasis on dumbass..." Emery softly voices before eating her food.

"--we went to a Springsteen concert together. But this is not a family. It's not a clubhouse." Bobby states. "So, I'm writing you up."

"Oh, come on, Bobby."

"Yeah, come on, Bobby." Emery voices. "Fire him."

Henriette nudges Emery's arm and she grunts before going back to eat. Buck looks at Emery with a peeved expression before looking at Bobby. "All there is to this job is see the fire, put out the fire. The rest is blah-blah."

"No. The system and the rules are not arbitrary." Bobby pronounces. "First infraction. Two more, you're out."

Emery smirks. Bobby takes the plate from Buck's hands, "Wash your hands." Buck stands up and makes his way over to the kitchen. Emery's eyes follow him and she scoffs while twirling her spaghetti with her fork. "Kids, am I right?" she looks at Bobby, Chimney, and Henrietta. They all look at her with deadpanned expressions.

"Aren't you younger than Buck?" Henrietta inquires.

Emery raises her brows, "I mean, yeah, but mentally?" she points at her temple. "I am wise beyond my 25 years, Hen."

Henriette laughs softly and shakes her head.

"You know you're not helping him by going easy on him," Chimney tells Bobby.

"I still say you should fire him..." Emery says while eating her asparagus.

Bobby looks at Henrietta and she nods her head, telling him that Chimney and Emery have a point. "He just needs a little direction."

"Well, you could direct him to the door that he'll go through once you fire him." Emery quietly states.

"Em, it's not gonna happen," Bobby says. "Not unless he gets three strikes."

Emery purses her lips, "Is that right?"

"Don't try and sabotage him." Bobby shuts down the idea and she slumps her shoulders.

Before Emery could take a bite out of her garlic bread, the alarm rings. The whole table groans. Emery whines and looks at her plate of food. Bobby and Henrietta stand up, while Chimney and Emery look at each other with the same thought crossing their minds. They both stuff a meatball into their mouth before standing up. Emery takes her uneaten garlic bread with her and rushes down the steps. Once she finished chewing her food she went to eat her garlic bread, but Buck walks past her and swipes the bread out of her hand. Emery opens and closes her mouth as Buck walks backward with his blue eyes on her dark brown ones.

"Probie, don't you--"

Buck takes a large bite out of the bread and Emery's eyes widen. The boy shrugs his shoulders, "Too late." he says through the food.

☆

"Where we headed?"

"The fourth floor." Bobby states.

"Whoo! I'll race you." Buck exclaims.

"Ah, race yourself, Rambo." Bobby brushes the boy off. "I'm fifty years old. I'm taking the elevator."

Buck blinks, "Who's Rambo?"

Emery looks at him, "You're kidding, right?"

"If I were kidding, you would be dying of laughter right now, Em," Buck says.

"Oh, I highly doubt that."

Emery enters the building with Buck.

"Do you wanna race?" Buck asks.

Emery looks at Buck, then at the axe in his hand. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'don't run with scissors'?"

Buck nods, "Yeah?"

"And do you run with scissors, Probie?" Emery walks over to the elevator with everyone else.

"Of course not."

She gets into the elevator and bunches her shoulders. "Then why would an axe be any better?"

Buck looks at the axe and it clicks, "Ohhhh." he looks back at the girl.

Emery raises her brows, "Have fun playing with yourself."

"Okay, well--" The elevator doors close on his face and Emery smiles.

"Now, that was fun." Emery looks at her co-workers, who all had either smirks or smiles on their faces.

As soon as everyone got to the fourth floor, they inspected the apartment and waited for any slight sound that could indicate a baby being in the walls.

"I don't hear anything." Bobby walks back into the living room.

"Look, I'm telling you, I heard a baby crying." The man says. "Someone flushed a baby down the toilet."

Emery looks to her side and spots the red bong. She arches a brow and holds it up.

"Oh, I'm not high." He says.

Emery tilts her head and softly hums. She waits for his answer to change.

"O-OKay, I'm pretty high." He nods his head. "But I swear it's just--"

"Sativa." Emery finishes. "Makes you happy."

Emery looks up and notices everyone looking at her. She slightly opens her mouth, "S-So I've heard..." she sets the bong down and folds her arms. "The point is, it doesn't make you hallucinate. Maybe he's telling the truth."

"It could've been a cat," Chimney suggests. "Sometimes rats get stuck in the walls."

"Then shouldn't we still save the cat?" Emery bunches her shoulders.

Bobby quietly shushes everyone and they fall silent. He looks at each person, "Did you hear that?"

Bobby walks into the bathroom with everyone following behind. He softly knocks on the wall and then turns. "Hey, do you know what, can you give me a stethoscope?"

Henrietta hands Bobby a stethoscope. He puts it in his ears and places the diaphragm of the stethoscope against the wall. Bobby lightly taps on the wall. He clearly hears the whimper of a child and pulls one of the earpieces of the stethoscope out of his ear. "Give me a pen. A Sharpie."

Emery quickly grabs her sharpie from her shirt pocket and tosses it to Bobby.

"You just carry pen's around?" Buck looks at the girl.

Emery doesn't look at him but she chuckles. "Don't hate because I'm well prepared. It's very unbecoming of you, Probie." she then looks him up and down. "You've always been unbecoming. But this time it's more so than usual."

"We need to open up this wall." Bobby states.

"No, no. We're being punked." Chimney speaks. "It's a tape recorder or something. Right, Spicoli?"

"Mm-Mm. Maybe he's right." Henrietta pronounces. "Maybe a mother gives birth on the toilet and flushes it."

"Okay, first of all, that's awful." Chimney states. "Second, do you not know how a toilet pipe works? There's this piece of serpentine pipe that takes the waste from the toilet to--"

"If this is a premature baby, its bones could bend and compress like sponges," Bobby informs them. "Okay? We need to go in there."

"Stand back." Buck flips the axe. Emery looks at him and blinks. "Wait, what?"

"I got this." Buck raises the axe and goes to slam it into the wall.

"What the fuck?!" Emery shouts.

Bobby grabs the handle of the axe, "Hey, hey, hey!" he stops Buck. "Did you even stop to consider that you might hit a baby?"

Buck's mouth slowly opens out of realization.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," Bobby says. "Go get the saw."

Emery grabs the axe from Buck and scoffs. Buck starts to nervously stammer before sprinting out of the apartment.

"Try to find some common sense while you're down there." Chimney calls out.

As soon as Buck came back with the saw, Bobby put on some goggles and started to cut into the wall. The second a hole was in the wall, everyone made their way over to the wall and started to pull it apart. Henrietta watches as they break the wall down. "Guys, that pipe services a quarter of the toilets above us; that's gonna be messy."

"Messy like Shit?" Emery stops pulling the wall off and turns to Henrietta with wide eyes. Hen nods her head and Emery quietly whines. She turns back to the wall and continues to break it down.

"Oh, shit."

"Pun intended?" Emery asks with a small giggle.

"Do you really think you're that funny?" Buck huffs.

"Uh, no. I think I'm hilarious, Probie."

"Even with the water off, if somebody flushes a toilet above us, it could drown the baby," Henrietta informs them. She drops her bag. "Em!"

Emery looks at Henrietta and pulls her brows together. Henrietta motions for Emery to follow her and the girl obliges. The two run around the apartment complex yelling 'No one flush your toilets!'

Henrietta stops and looks at Emery. "You take the top floors."

Emery's eyes go wide, "There's only top floors, Hen!"

Henrietta slowly nods, "Okay, then I'll take the first top two floors, then you get the others."

The girl slumps her shoulders, "Wh--"

"You're younger!" Henrietta points at her and starts up the stairs.

"Hey, Hen and Em. How are your days going?"

Emery tilts her head up to see the officer. "Shitty, Athena. Absolutely Shitty. Pun intended." she starts to run up the stairs.

"LAFD, Do Not flush your toilets!" Emery shouts while banging her hands against each door she comes across. "Flush your toilets and I will rain hellfire on your ass!" she stops in the stairwell and winces. The girl continues up the stairs, "In the most non-threatening way possible!"

After Emery finished shouting at her floors, she ran back downstairs and met up with Henrietta midway. They made their way back to the apartment and saw Bobby pouring lube in the pipe. "Oh, God..." she looks at the baby in the pipe.

"Wow, wow, wow..." Henrietta stammers out.

"Okay, this is going to be a scoop and run." Bobby states. "Hen, get the ambulance ready."

"I'm ready here," Chimney says, holding his hands out to the end of the pipe.

Bobby starts to push the baby through the pipe from its legs.

"It's moving." Chimney states.

Emery looks at the baby's pale face and her mouth slightly opens.

"Okay, pull her out. Pull her out."

Chimney gently pulls the baby out of the pipe. Emery walks over to the group and looks at the baby that was unconscious.

"All right, she's not breathing. Em?"

Emery nods her head, "Starting CPR." she places a few of her fingers against the baby's chest and rhythmically starts to tap them. "Come on, sweetheart."

"Maybe her airway's blocked." Chimney states.

"Yeah." Buck stands up. "I-I'll get the, uh suction." he quickly hurries out of the room.

"Buck, come on!" Chimney calls out.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Buck runs back into the room. Emery pulls her hands away from the baby as Buck places the suction into the baby's mouth and tries to suck whatever was blocking her airway into the cup. Panic rises in each of the firefighters. "Bobby, it's not working."

"Wait, wait..." Emery quickly says. She leans forward and sticks her pinky into the baby's mouth. She feels something in the baby's mouth. "I've got something." she curls her pinky and pulls the excess phlegm from the infant's mouth. Buck wipes the baby's face. The baby softly coos and Emery softly laughs.

"All right. Okay, wrap her up." Bobby directs.

Buck wraps the baby in the towel and hands her to Bobby. "You got her?"

"Yeah. Down to the lobby. Here we go."

They all hurry behind Bobby out of the apartment. They get to the elevators, but none of them were open. "Nobody held the elevator?"

"Guess not. Sorry, cap." Chimney starts to jam the button.

Emery leans over the railing of the stairwell. "You're gonna have to take the stairs." she turns back to them.

"Yo, give her to me." Buck turns to Bobby. The Captain hesitates.

"Yo, come on, I'm twice as fast." Buck insists.

Bobby hands the baby to Buck. "All right, you go."

Buck immediately runs down the stairs. "I got you. I got you. You're gonna be okay."

Emery looks pulls her face from over the railing and sputters her lips. "I'm fast too, y'know?"

Bobby chuckles softly and touches her back. "Let's go."

The three firefighters get to the lower level of the apartment and leave the building. As soon as they get to the ambulance, they're greeted with arguing.

"No, screw her, look what she did!" Buck snaps.

"She's bleeding out!" Athena shouts. "She's a child!"

Emery's mouth hangs open. Buck, has Athena yelling? He's screwed.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bobby shouts. "What are you waiting for? You gotta go!"

"He's refusing to take her?!" Athena looks at Bobby.

Emery lets out a soft scoff, "I've got her." she picks up the teenager in her arms. She hurries into the back of the ambulance and puts her on the stretcher.

"Yo, if this baby dies, it's on you." Buck keeps his pointed expression on Athena.

Emery's eyes blow wide, "Holy shit..." she scratches above her brow. The ambulance doors close and the vehicle immediately speeds out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"Hospital ETA, five minutes!" Henrietta calls through the window to the back of the ambulance.

Emery places one of the wires on the baby's foot. The oxygen machine beeps and Bobby looks at it. "O2 sat 59."

"I can't get a pulse," Emery states.

"I'm so sorry." The teenager softly speaks. "Is she gonna die?"

"Come here," Bobby says. "Give me your hand."

The girl holds her hand out to Bobby, he directs it over to the infant. "It's all right. It's okay." he wraps the baby's hand around the girl's finger.

The EKG monitor starts to beat rhythmically and Emery softly smiles. Once they got to the hospital, everyone rushes out of the ambulance. "See? Told you we'd make it, didn't I?" Buck speaks to the baby. "Come on. Oh, here we go." He places the baby on the stretcher. "They're gonna take care of you now, okay?"

Emery keeps her arms crossed over her chest as Buck softly talks to the baby. She's not gonna deny that Buck was good with the child. It kind of irked her to be honest. The baby and teen are rushed into the hospital and Buck goes to follow. "I'm gonna see you in there."

"Whoa, hey, where are you going?" Bobby stops Buck.

"That baby is alive because of us." Buck states. "Don't--don't we have some kind of obligation?"

"I'll give them a call; we'll be lucky if they tell us if she's okay," Bobby informs the boy. "There's nothing more we can do."

"You'll understand when you're older, Probie." Emery presses her lips together and nods her head.

"I'm older than you."

She pats his back, "I'll always have mental superiority."

Bobby chuckles. Emery hears tires screech and she turns to the cop car. "Ah, shit." Bobby and Buck follow Emery's eyes they watch as Athena gets out of the car and stalks toward them. "Look what you did, bozo." she hits his arm with her elbow.

"What? What did I do?" Buck nudges his elbow into hers.

"Hey!" Athena points at Buck. "You do not get to choose who lives and who dies."

"Really? Cause I was under the impression that kind of was my job." Buck smiles smugly and Emery rolls her eyes.

"That mother was no less of a child than her baby." Athena reprimands him. "You're gonna get someone killed."

"Well, maybe, but not today." Buck shrugs.

Emery places her hands over her face, wanting this to be over.

"Yeah, you keep making jokes." Athena takes a step toward Buck.

"Oh." Emery takes a large step back with her hands folded in front of her.

"I promise you, the next time you screw up, it'll be your last," Athena growls.

Emery raises her brows and softly smiles. "So, no three strikes? Just immediately sent packing?" she laughs.

Everyone looks at her and her laughter quiets down. She clears her throat and looks at her boots. Athena points at Emery, "You better get your little boyfriend."

Emery snaps her eyes to Athena. She looks at Buck and Buck looks at her. Simultaneously, they both look at the officer walking away.

"Okay, hold on--"

"We are not dating! Who told you that?!"

"Never in a million years!"

Buck and Emerson look back at each other. Emerson shudders, "Gag me with a spoon." she stalks over to the firetruck.

Henrietta laughs at the absolute distaste Buck and Emerson had for each other.

☆

"L.A. Fire!"

Bobby walks through the house, "All right, guys, check all these rooms."

Each firefighter goes to a room and they don't find anyone. They all meet up in a room and stop in their tracks. "Oh, hell no..." Emery looks at the snakes.

"Oh, My God..." Chimney murmurs. "Bobby, I can't do snakes. They scare the crap out of me."

"That scene from Conan the Barbarian with the giant snake, it traumatized me for life." Chimney states.

"And that's a completely valid reason." Emery swallows.

"Who's Conan?"

Chimney and Emery look at Buck.

"Conan The Barbarian. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 1982. Geez." Chimney says.

"You need to brush up on your film intake," Emery pronounces.

Buck sighs, "As far as I'm concerned. The world began the day I was born."

Emerson's left eye twitches. If you haven't guessed why Emerson doesn't like Buck. That sentence alone should give you an idea.

"Guys, in here!" Bobby calls out. "Back here, guys, now."

They all follow after Bobby and are greeted with a large snake wrapped around a girl's neck.

"Fuuuuck..." Emerson wheezes. "An Albino Burmese Python."

"We got to help her get some air, guys." Bobby states.

"Oh, my God. Oh, I...this is not good." Chimney starts to sweat.

Bobby lets out a deep sigh as he tries to pry off the snake.

"Bobby, it's no use. That thing is, like, ten feet long." Hen states.

"It's constriction strength has to be around, 50 pounds per square inch." Emerson looks at the snake in awe.

"Oh, my God, you two, I'm gonna start calling you the Snake-ipedia twins." Chimney exhales. "Stop it."

"All I'm saying is that you'd stand a better chance of tearing down a cement wall with your bare hands." Henrietta states.

"Why don't I just punch it in it's face?" Buck shrugs.

"For once can you stop thinking with your muscles?" Emerson scoffs. "It's causing all of us to lose our brain cells. And some of us actually need them."

"So...does that mean no?"

"It's a snake, Buck," Bobby says. "You can't punch it in the face. It's not some guy at an El Torito happy hour."

"Look, I have Dilaudid," Henrietta pronounces. "We can inject the snake. It'll pass right out."

"How much time is that gonna take?" Bobby questions. "Minutes. And minutes we don't have."

"I think we're gonna have to put it down."

"Kill it!" Chimney urges.

"What?" Emerson's eyes widen.

"Kill it? No! No, um, no!" Henrietta quickly says. "It's a snake. It's doing what nature intended for it to do."

"Nobody told her to bring the snake into her house," Emerson adds. "Especially one that turns out to be this large."

"Yeah, well, I'll make a donation to PETA for you." Bobby grunts as he still tries to pry the snake off.

"That's so sweet, cap." Emerson smiles.

"Crap. It's getting really tight." Bobby states.

Buck lets out an impatient breath. "Stand back. We don't have time for this!"

"Buck--"

He chops the head off of the snake. Emerson cranes her neck forward and quietly dry heaves, and so does Chimney. "I think I'm gonna be sick." she exhales a sharp breath.

"Wow. Why is that always the first option for you white boy, macho tough guys?" Henrietta snaps. Emerson chuckles, "Because they're compensating for..." she clears her throat. "...you know."

"Oh, I know." Henrietta nods.

Buck's mouth hangs open, offended.

"Guys, I am totally gonna take credit for this with Tatiana," Chimney announces. "It's gonna get me laid for a week. Thank you."

"Oh, come on, it was not that hot." Emerson scoffs.

Buck raises his brows, "Not that hot, huh?" he tilts his head. "So, it was hot to an extent?"

Emerson slightly opens her mouth, "No, no! I meant. It wasn't hot. At all."

The girl on the ground looks at her dead snake. "Sparticus."

Buck looks at her, "Yeah, well, it was him or you, and, uh, when faced with a situation like that, I always choose to save the more attractive one."

A sputter leaves Emerson's lips. "Yeah, right. That's not gonna--"

"Is that right?" The girl giggles.

Emerson's jaw goes slack.

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

"Okay. Hard pass. I'm gonna skip the part where the two idiots flirt." Henrietta grabs her med kit.

"How?" Emerson shrugs a shoulder. "I've been a firefighter for 3 years and I don't have men, women, or people just lined up at my doorstep." she follows after Hen. "I want people at my doorstep, Hen."

Hen raises her brows, "Wait, so, are you saying that...you're ready to start seeing people again?"

Emery purses her lips and exhales through her nose. "I...don't know. I think so." She looks at Henrietta.

Hen softly smiles at the curly-haired girl. She felt proud that the girl was finally ready to move on.

"You know what app you should use?" Chimney asks. "RomancingTheUniform.com. That's how I met Tatiana."

Emerson forces a small smile, She goes to say that Tatiana wasn't really good for him anyway. But Hen quickly caught on to the girl and she shakes her head, telling her to not say a word about it. Emery rolls her lips into her mouth and nods. "And how lucky you are..." she pats Chimney's shoulder before walking away with a wince.

☆

Emerson thought that it was a dream. I mean, Evan Buckley got fired. She wanted to dance up and down the street. But Bobby told her to be respectful. Emerson could be respectful. But only to people who deserve her respect. And Buck was not anywhere near getting on that list. She walks past the locker room and sees Buck packing his things up. A small snort escapes her lips, causing Buck to turn toward her. Emerson quickly looks away from him and starts to whistle.

"Emery?"

The curly-haired girl turns to him with her mouth open. "Oh, hey, Probie." she chuckles. "Didn't see you there." she waves her hands around the room. "Whatcha doing?"

Buck lets out a breath, "So, I guess you've heard?"

Emery scratches the side of her neck. "I mean...yeah."

"How bad do you want to dance right now?" Buck goes back to packing his stuff away.

"Pretty bad." Emery rocks back and forth on her heels. It came off as a joke, but Buck wasn't exactly in the mood to laugh. Emery presses her lips together and exhales through her nose. She hesitantly walks toward Buck and sits beside him with both of her legs on either side of the bench. "Look..." she tilts her head to the ceiling and groans. "...do I like you? No."

Buck presses his lips together.

"But, you are a good firefighter." Emery holds her hands out. "You just still have...a lot to learn." she reluctantly admits. "Once you learn common sense, which may take your entire goddamn life, you might actually be someone worth...respecting."

Buck keeps his eyes on Emery, he was slack-jawed. The last part of what Emery said definitely wasn't a compliment, but Buck was still stuck on her first sentence. "So, you think I'm a good firefighter?"

Emery rolls her eyes with a small smile on her lips. "Sure, man. I think you're a good firefighter."

"Better than you?"

Her smile drops and she looks at him. "Don't push it."

Buck laughs since Bobby fired him. The alarm blares through the firehouse and Emery sighs. Buck's smile lessens.

"Yeah, so, I'll see you...never, hopefully." Emery points at him.

Buck smirks, "Right back at you, Emerson."

"Let's get a move on Probie," Henrietta calls out.

Emery and Buck look at Hen. The woman looks between the two, "Em?"

Emery chuckles, "Hen, I'm not the new..." she trails off her sentence and her eyes widen. "Wait...so, am I back to being the Probie?!"

"Sorry, kiddo." Henrietta presses her lips into a sympathetic smile and rushes to the firetruck. Emery opens her mouth and turns to Buck. "Oh, this is some bullshit." she stands up and runs out of the locker room.

Buck couldn't help but smile at the angry girl.

...

"I know what this looks like."

"It looks like you took the engine out in your street clothes." Bobby states.

Buck's shoulders slump, "I didn't really have time to change."

"Athena Grant called me, wanted to tell me what an asset you are," Bobby informs the boy. "Told her she was half right."

Emery lets out a soft snort and Hen shushes her. Buck pulls his brows together, "You giving me another chance?"

Emery's smile drops at the question.

"You've used all your chanced; so have I," Bobby says. "Because somehow I have failed to communicate to you how lucky we are to do what we do."

Bobby starts to walk away and Emery turns to Hen. "What's happening right now?"

"I think Buck's not fired." Henrietta winces.

"You're wrong, Bobby. I absolutely do get what a privilege it is to serve here." Buck calls out, following after the Captain. Bobby stops walking. "And you know what? You were right to fire me. I was a punk. Uh, I still am one. But I'm a punk who understands what he lost."

Emery frowns. She hated that she loved that speech.

"Just needed you to know that."

"I hope you mean that," Bobby says. "Go get dressed."

Emery almost fell to her knees in defeat. Buck turns to Henrietta and Emerson. "I think I'm not fired."

"I think I'm getting light-headed." Emerson exasperates.

"Oh, come on, Em. Now you won't be called Probie anymore." Buck assures the girl. She glares at him, "I would've endured that if it meant not having to see you again."

Buck chuckles, "What happened to you saying I was a good firefighter and I had the potential to be respected?"

Emery's face gets hot and her back straightens. Henrietta's mouth hangs open and she looks at the girl. "You said that?"

"N-No." Emery chuckles. "He's lying. Buck is a tall liar." she defensively folds her arms and looks away.

Buck and Henrietta keep their eyes on the girl and she grows embarrassed with each second. "I-I'm gonna go this way..." she points up the stairs. "You guys are making this weird."

She then points at Buck. "G-Go get dressed!" she rushes up the stairs.

Henrietta looks at Buck. "I think you might be growing on her."

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Just so you guys know this may be a frenemies with benefits type of situation, but the benefits part isn't gonna happen this season. Kinda of a slow burn thing if you will 😏

Also, be honest with me. Do y'all enjoy one episode happening in one long chapter?

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