Help Is Not Coming.

chapter thirteen , No Paradise

a/n : Don't forget to comment, I love hearing what you guys have to say!

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After finally getting out of that room with Ali, the four make their way down the tilted staircase. They tried to keep Ali's mind off of what they had just witnessed, by making conversation.

"You've, uh, you've done this before, haven't you?" Buck asks.

"Yeah. It was, uh, my major at the Rhode Island School of Design." Ali quips. She shifts her eyes to Buck. "Sorry. Sarcasm is my fallback for pretty much everything."

"Oh, believe me, if anyone understands..." Eddie points between Buck and Emery. "...it's these two."

At the same time, Emery and Buck look at each other. Emery wrinkles her nose. "I have nothing in common with this man. Except our love for firefighting."

"Agreed." Buck nods.

Ali lets out a soft chuckle, but her smile then saddens. "You think he'll still be on the sidewalk when we get down there?"

The three firefighters exchange a look. Buck then shifts his attention back to Ali. "No." He answers. "And we're not going out that side, anyway."

Emery looks back at Ali and Buck. She then knits her brows together. Emery was an observer and let's just say. Those two were sharing an awful amount of eye contact. She looks at Eddie and he looks at her, noticing what she noticed.

"All right, let's hustle up, you two." Eddie speaks.

Emery huffs, "Yeah. We don't want to be here for the next aftershock."

Ali's eyes widen, "Wait, what do you mean, the next aftershock?"

Emery presses her lips together in a sympathetic manner.

"Come on."

Ali grabs Eddie's hand as she balances on the railing. He guides her across, making sure she doesn't fall.

Emery guides the three through the building. She walks down the staircase, but stops when she sees the pile of cement and rocks blocking their way. Emery slumps her shoulders. "Guys...we're not getting through this."

They all follow the girl and see what she's talking about. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

"Now what?"

The three firefighters flash their lights up the staircase they just came down from.

"We go back up."

"Back up?"

"Ladder 118, respond. This is Captain Nash. I need a head count."

Eddie answers the radio, "Ladder 118 responding. Diaz, Sharpe, and Buckley. We're good, Cap."

"Castillo and Jackson reponding."

"Paulson, Marcus, and Riley responding."

"Chimney responding."

One person doesn't answer.

Emery's back straightens, when she doesn't hear Hen respond.

"Hen, do you copy? Hen?"

"This is Captain Nash for Henrietta Wilson. Do you copy?"

"Is that a friend of yours?" Ali asks, seeing the look of worry across each of the firefighter's faces. Emery glances at Ali. The girl inhales a small breath, they needed to keep going. If they didn't, then they weren't going to be getting out of this building alive. And they wouldn't be able to help find Hen. And they needed to find her.

"We need to keep going." Emery speaks. "I'll lead."

Emery starts up the stairs with everyone following after her. The determined girl leads everyone up the tilted flight of stairs. Emery grips the doorframe of the door that was above their heads. "Can someone—"

"I got it."

Emery looks down. Eddie was crouched down with his hands interlocked. Emery nods her head, she plants her foot in his hands and Eddie pushes her up. She pulls herself through door way and lets out a huff when she gets through the door. Emery crouches down and holds her hand out. Eddie grabs her hand and she pulls him through. Emery helps Buck through the door and Eddie helps Ali.

"Miss, there's this egress on the floor north stairwell of this floor." Eddie states.

"What if it's blocked, too?" Ali asks. "Can't you guys get a ladder into one of these windows?"

Emery shakes her head, "Too risky. As you can see from the door that was above our head previously, the buildings shifted too much."

Ali raises her brows and softly exhales, understanding Emerson's point.

"Yeah, we got this, Abby." Buck assures. "We'll get you out of here."

Emery pulls her face down and frowns. She then glances at Eddie and Eddie glances at her.

"Ali." She corrects.

They all continue walking down the hall.

"What?" Buck questions.

"Her name is Ali." Emery speaks. "But, you called her Abby." She then laughs softly. Emery shakes her head, "Abby—Ali. Ali—Abby." She moves her head from side to side. "Close. But, not close enough."

Eddie lightly nudges the girl, "Quit teasing."

Emery winces and bunches her shoulders.

"Sorry, um, Abby is my..." Buck tries to find the right word. But he thinks about what Emery was saying earlier. Could he even consider Abby his girlfriend anymore?

"...it's complicated."

"Now that is an understatement." Emery snorts.

Ali chuckles, "Isn't it always?"

"She's in Europe. She's traveling for the first time, I'm glad she's not around." Buck says. "I don't need to worry."

They get to a wall and move the shelf from out of its way, revealing the large hole.

"Having someone to worry about sounds...nice actually."

Emery frowns, "I mean, it can be...when that person is worth worrying over."

Ali raises her brows and chuckles. Buck slightly opens his mouth, "She's having a little trouble in paradise."

Emery stops moving the hanging wires from the hole. She hasn't told anyone else but Hen about her relationship with William imploding. Everyone else thought that she was good. Perfect.

Emery shakes off the thoughts and continues to yank the wires away. "William just hates that I focus on work."

"I can relate." Ali says, she grabs one of the mini shot bottles from the cart against the wall. "All I do is work." She takes a sip out of the shot bottle. Ali looks at the firefighters and they were all looking at her. "What? It's after 5:00."

"It's not like it slowed us down."

Emery frowns, "Whatever helps you through this."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey..." Buck catches everyone's attention.

Emery looks at him with a pinched expression. Then she hears it. A faint whimper.

"Is anyone there?"

"You guys hear that?" Buck asks.

"Help!"

"Holy shit..."

They follow after the voice. Once they got into the room, they came across a man that was underneath a wooden nightstand. Emery and Buck pull the nightstand off the man.

"I knew help would come."

"That's right. We're here. We got you, buddy."

"You've gotta help Stasia first."

The three firefighters look at each other. Emery shines a light in his eyes, "Sir, whose, Stasia?"

"My daughter."

Emery raises her brows, "Okay, you guys help him. I'll look around here for Stasia."

Emery stands up and walks away from the man. She places a hand against the wall and slowly moves through the room. "Stasia?" She calls out. "Stasia, it's LAFD. I'm here to help."

Emery hears a small whimper and stops in her tracks. "Stasia?"

She hears a small cry. Emery whips her head back over to the corner of the room and she sees a table flipped over. And under that table she saw a small hand. "Oh, God. Okay." Emerson runs over to the table. "Hey, Stasia, I'm here. I've got you."

Emery curls her fingers under the table and lifts it up. She then shoves the table to the side and crouches down beside the little girl. "Stasia?" Emery flashes the light in her eyes.

Stasia slowly nods her head, "My daddy—"

"He's okay, my partners are helping him as we speak." Emery smiles softly. "Let's just take care of you, okay?" She pulls her medical bag off her shoulder and sets it down.

Emery grabs some gauze and rips it open with her mouth. "So, Stasia is a pretty name. Were you named after someone or something?"

The little girl stares at the ceiling with tears brimming her eyes. She inhales a soft breath and cries from the pain she's in. Emery's eyes soften, "I know it hurts, sweetie, and I'm going to do everything I can to lessen your pain." She tilts her head. "But I also need you to keep talking, all right?"

Stasia looks back at the woman and a warm feeling starts in her stomach when she sees Emery smile. Emerson was so comforting and she's only known her for a few minutes.

"A-Anastasia."

Emery raises her brows, "After the princess?"

Anastasia nods her head. "Me and my dad. We watch the movie all the time."

Emery cleans off the cut on Stasia's arm. "My name is Emery. Short for Emerson."

"Were you named after something?"

Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "Nah. I mean, there's no one special I was named after. But my name does mean Brave and Powerful."

Stasia cries as Emery places the gauzes on her cut. "It's a pretty name."

Emery smiles, "So, is Anastasia." She places the wrappers in her bag. "Okay, we're good to go."

Emerson helps Stasia up, "Can you walk?"

"I-I think so."

Emery nods her head, "Stay by my side, okay?"

Stasia nods her head and holds Emerson's hand.

"Let's go check on your dad." Emery and Stasia walks over to the man. She notices Buck and Eddie off ti the side, talking to themselves.

"Daddy!" Stasia runs over to her father.

Emery watches as the father and daughter hug. A small smile forms in her lips.

"Sharpe!"

Emery turns to her two Co-Workers and walks over to them. "What's going on?"

"The father. He's got numbness in his legs and loss of bladder control." Buck informs.

Emery inhales a small breath, "Spinal injury."

"We got to move him out now." Eddie states.

Buck slightly shakes his head, "On what? We don't have a backboard. And every millimeter counts."

"We're just going to have to make due." Emery speaks. "Find someone sturdy we can lay him on."

They all look around the hotel room. "You see anything?"

"I don't know..."

Emery snaps her fingers, "What if we use an ironi—"

"Guys, what about this?" Ali asks, holding up an ironing board. Emery smirks, "Great minds think alike."

"Could work, but how are we gonna get him down the stairwell?"

"Maybe we don't use the stairwell." Buck voices.

Eddie and Emery look at him. Emery's jaw goes slack, "Elevator shaft?"

Buck shifts his eyes to Emery and nods his head. She lets out a soft breath, "Ballsy. Especially since we have his kid too."

Buck then pulls his face back and a smirk ghosts his lips. "Are you saying you're not up for the challenge, Emerson Sharpe?"

Emery lets out a chuckle of disbelief, she then wags her finger and shakes her head. "Now, now. I did not say that."

Eddie laughs at the girl's reaction. "Then what are we waiting for?"

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Once they got to the elevator shaft, Emery had Stasia on her back with a rope securing her. The injured father, Batari, was tied down to the ironing board. Buck was holding the rope that was slowly lowering Batari down the elevator shaft. And Emery was holding the rope that was tied to Eddie. She was slowly lowering Eddie down the elevator shaft, so he could keep a close eye on Batari on the way down.

"How you feeling?" Buck looks at Ali.

Ali takes a deep breath, "Not dead yet."

"There isn't going to be a 'yet'." Emery says. "We're all going to get out of here." She slightly turns her head and looks at Anastasia, who was on her back.

"How you doing, Stasia?"

The little girl nods her head, "Okay. How's my daddy?"

Emery smiles softly, "He's doing great."

Buck looks at Emery and pulls his brows together. "Didn't know you had a soft spot for kids."

Emery turns to Buck and frowns. "I mean, yeah, who wouldn't?" She snorts.

Ali smiles, "You got a kid?"

Emery raises her brows, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no." She laughs. "I mean, don't get me wrong kids are cute, but I don't see them in my future until...yeeears from now."

"Yeah, she's obsessed with her career." Buck voices. "Those kids aren't coming anytime soon."

Emery's mouth hangs open, "Can you please mind your own business?" She shakes her head. "What the hell's his problem?"

"He's just airing out your business?" Ali scoffs.

"Right!" Emery exclaims.

Buck's mouth hangs open, "I didn't...how am I the bad guy here?"

"You aired her dirty laundry, firefighter man." Stasia voices.

Ali points at the little girl on Emery's back. "Exactly."

"Yeah, it's not your laundry to air." Emery says. "And it's not dirty laundry. I would say it's Ocean Breeze scented."

Anastasia giggles from Emerson's reply. Emery looks down the elevator shaft. "How we doing, Eddie?!"

"Eight more feet!"

After eight feet, Emery stops lowering Eddie down and Buck stops lowering Batari down.

"Get down here, guys!"

Emery looks at Anastasia, "You ready?"

Stasia tightens her grip around Emery's neck and she nods her head. "Ready."

Buck holds Ali and he looks at Emerson. "You two go first."

Emery frowns, "Oh, what a gentleman." She quips, which causes Buck to roll his eyes. "Don't make me change my mind."

Emery arches a brow, "Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Emerson hangs her legs over the ledge of the elevator shaft. Buck wraps his arms around Emerson and ties a rope around her waist. He slightly lifts his head and his eyes meet Emerson's. "That tight enough?"

Emery swallows and gives him a curt nod, "Yeah, thanks."

Buck smirks and nods his head. He steps away from the girl and Emery lets out a sharp breath. Emery drops the rest of the rope down the elevator shaft while she secures the top end. Buck does the same thing with his rope. As soon as Emery and Stasia slowly started lowering themselves down the shaft, Buck and Ali were right behind them.

The four got closer to Eddie and Batari. Before they could make it to Eddie, the building started to shake again.

"Is the elevator vibrating?" Batari questions.

The shaking grows more intense and Emery titghtens her grip around the rope. Stasia let's out a cry and tucks her head into the crook of Emery's neck. "It's okay, it's okay..."

"Oh, shit."

Emery snaps her eyes up to Buck and sees why he sounded so worried. The elevator above them started to drop down. "Eddie..." Emery calls out.

"Kick that door open!"

Eddie kicks the door open and forces Batari through it. As the building began to shake more, the elevator dropped faster towards them. Eddie and Batari get through the door. Emery quickly moves down towards the door. She grips the rope and swings herself back and forth, gaining momentum. Emery then jumps through the door and Eddie grabs her arm, balancing her.

"Let's go, Buck! Move your ass!" Eddie calls out.

"All right, here we come, here we come!"

Buck jumps through the door with Ali. They both fall to the ground. The elevator crashes down to the lower level with a loud thud. Emery looks at the girl still on her back. "You okay?"

Stasia slowly nods her head. The girl was shaken, but she wasn't hurt. Emery lets out a sigh of relief, "Everybody else okay?"

Everyone manages to let out small voices. Telling Emery that they were all good.

"I told you I liked our chances."

Emery looks at Buck and let's out a sharp breath while shaking her head. "You bring so much stress to my life." She touches the top of his helmet and shakes it aggressively. Buck groans and grips his helmet to get his head to stop shaking. "I hate that."

"I know." Emery hums. She points down the hall. "Ladies and Gentlemen and other identifying people. There's our exit."

Ali lets out a soft chuckle then it increases into a laugh. "Oh, thank god!"

Emery gets Anastasia off her back and sets her down. "Let's get you and your daddy out of here, okay?"

Stasia smiles and wraps her arms around Emerson's neck. "Thank you so much."

Emery touches the back of Stasia's head. "I'm just doing my job..."

Once they all got out of the building, the three firefighters went back into the building, despite orders telling them to stand down. There was a part of Emerson that hesitated. And that was an awful feeling. She knew that her friend and co-worker was in trouble and when she heard orders telling her not to go save her, Emerson hesitated.

She was disgusted with herself.

After the three firefighters went to join Chimney and Bobby in the search for Hen, more firefighters from different stations came to their aid. They ended up finding Hen in no time. They found Hen with a little girl and a dog.

As soon as Hen came out that pocket of space with that little girl on her back, Emery didn't waste another second before hugging her. As soon as she got service again, Emery quickly called her parents and sister. Amaya managed to get out of the building before it collapsed within itself. She was safe and so were her parents.

Buck, Eddie, and Emery decided to all ride together and drop each other off.

A smile formed on Emery's lips as she saw Eddie hug his son, relieved he was okay.

"He's a cute kid." Buck voices.

Emery raises her brows, "Yeah. I'm glad he's okay."

Buck looks at Emery, "You did good today."

Emery softly laughs. "I know that." She looks at him. "You didn't have to tell me."

Buck rolls his eyes and chuckles. Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "You did good too, Probie."

Emery pulls her brows together and did I sense a little something something going on with you and Ali?"

Buck's eyes widen, "What? No, no. Nope..." he shakes his head. He then stops and looks back at the girl. "Why do you think she felt something?"

Emery tilts her head back and laughs. "Oh, wow!" She looks out the window. "What are you and Abby done or something?"

Buck frowns, "No, we're not...I don't think we are." He sighs. "Kind of complicated. Like I said earlier."

Emery nods her head and thinks about earlier. Her chest tightens and she sighs.

"There is no paradise."

Buck looks at the girl, her eyes weren't on him but he could tell that she was embarrassed. "What?"

"Earlier in that hotel building. You said 'trouble in paradise'." Emery bunches her shoulders. "There can't be trouble in paradise if there's no...paradise."

Buck blinks, he then slightly opens his mouth. "I...I'm kind of lost—"

"William and I broke up." Emery turns to him, her timid brown eyes on Buck's soft blue ones.

"Em..."

"And I'm sorry for all the shit-talking I've been doing about yours and Abby's relationship." Emery wipes her nose. "I guess I was jealous that you guys could make it work long distance." She scoffs. "Will and I couldn't make it work and we lived in the same city."

Buck had no idea what to say. How do you comfort someone that you insult everyday?

"There's plenty of fish in the sea."

Emery stops and turns to Buck. His jaw goes slack. Neither of them say anything. It was completely still in the car. Buck feels himself start to freak out. Did I really just say that? How dumb can I be?

Emery then starts to laugh. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" She shakes her head. "I have never heard anyone say that in real life."

A small smile spreads across Buck's lips. "Yeah, I don't really know how to comfort...you. I'm sorry."

Emery shakes her head, "No, no. Don't apologize." She clears her throat from the giggles. "It...it helped. Surprisingly."

She connects her brown eyes with Buck's. Emery takes a small moment to notice the way Buck's eyes squint as he smiles and she tilts her head.

"Thanks, Probie."

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author's note.

This chapter was kind of short, but we did get Emery and Buck through it so...🫶

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