Ocean's 9-1-1.

chapter twenty nine , The Girl Who Cried

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"This is...this is weird, right?"

Tom walks up the stairs and sits at the table with station 118. "I mean, she's never late."

"Well, she was late one time." Chimney speaks up. "But that's only because she had to stop by the bank."

Tom keeps his eyes on the plate in front of him. "Do you think she's at the bank right now?"

"I think that Emerson is an grown woman and can handle herself." Hen speaks, she stabs her fork into her food. Tom tenses from the annoyed tone in Hen's voice.

"I was just saying—"

"You were siding with her."

Tom holds up hands, "I'm not picking sides!"

Bobby chuckles, he pats Tom's shoulder. "Hen, he's just worried about her."

"Emerson can take care of herself." Hen huffs. "And her being late is on her."

"All right, look, we get that she's not your favorite person in the world right now..." Eddie starts. "...but you have to admit, it's weird she's not here on time, right?"

Hen bunches her shoulders. "Not my problem." She goes back to eating. Of course it's weird that Emery wasn't here. She always got here before anyone, even before Captain. It was to the point, Bobby wasn't the first person to show up on shift anymore. So, when Emery wasn't there sweeping the floors this morning; Bobby was caught off guard.

"Come on, Hen. At the end of the day, she's your friend—"

"No. We're not friends. She made that very clear." Hen lets out a bitter chuckle.

Chimney pulls his brows together, seeing the pain across Hen's face. He knew from the look across his best friend's face that this wasn't just about applying for Lieutenant.

"Did something else happen?"

Hen raises her brows, "You could say that..."

No one but Buck knew what Emery said to Hen. It's been a week since he ended things with Emery. He could still vividly remember the conversation between Emery and Hen. Never in his entire years of knowing the two women, would he think that they would've argued liked that. And Emery using Hen's biggest regret against her. The decision that almost ruined her marriage and family. Emery knew that would hurt Hen and she said it anyway, without hesitation. That wasn't the same Emerson Sharpe Buck grew feelings for. That's not the Emerson Sharpe that wanted to make Buck a better person.

"She said that?"

Buck sinks into his chair as everyone relishes in the new knowledge of the hurtful things Emery said to Hen.

"I...I know Emery can be a lot at times, but..." Eddie shakes his head. "I never thought she would say something like that."

"A lot is kind of mean, don't you think?" Buck finally speaks up.

Everyone turns to the boy and his face grows hot. "You're kidding, right?" Hen chuckles.

"I-I'm just saying," he starts. "you don't know what's going on with her. Maybe—"

"It doesn't excuse how she's acting, Buck." Hen cuts him off. Buck's chest tightens and he slams his mouth shut. He wanted to fight for Emery until his last breath. He would. God, he wanted to shout from the rooftops and tell everyone how important she was to him and how much he would give up for her. But no one was supposed to know about what they are...were.

And fighting for someone whose supposed to be your 'enemy' would be suspicious. Buck looks at his plate, "No, you're right. It doesn't excuse anything. It's just...we're at work. So, maybe keep it professional and not talk about our coworker like this?"

Everyone falls silent. Bobby pulls his brows together at Buck's words. Buck feels Bobby's suspicious gaze on him and he starts to sweat. And he had just taken a shower too. Then Bobby's expression softens, "Buck's right. Whether you and Em are friends or not. You are coworkers. And we face our issues head on. We don't talk about our own behind their backs."

Hen doesn't reply, she just goes back to eating. Rushed footsteps are heard coming up the stairs. Everyone at the table turns their heads to see Emery coming up the stairs. Buck let's out a small breath and a smile finds his lips. Emery's shirt was steamed to perfection (as usual), and her hair was brushed into a low ponytail with a side braid on the right. Everything about Emery's appearance looked right. But there was a small hint of something in her face that Buck couldn't explain. Something was different about her.

The girl looks at each person at the table and her eyes stay on Hen's for a moment, but Hen doesn't bother looking at her. Emery didn't blame her.

"Uh, s-sorry I'm late." Emery lets out a small breath. "I lost track of time."

Everyone stares at her for a moment, not knowing how to even look at her the same. Was she even the same Emery that would laugh at the corniest jokes? Was she the same girl that would pretend to be reluctant to give someone advice, even though she secretly loved helping?

Who even was the person standing in front of them right now?

"Well, this is your first offense, with me." Bobby says. "So, you're fine. There's a plate for you in the microwave."

Emery noticed that there's only one spot left at the table and it's next to Hen. Her chest tightens and she inhales a breath. "Uh, I already ate, actually." She lies. Emery doesn't even remember the last time she ate. 2 days maybe? The days have been blending together after going back and forth from L.A. to San Diego to visit her family. That's the reason she was late, she was in traffic all day from her parents place. It was getting to be a lot for the girl, but she could handle it...

For now.

"Okay, you don't have to eat, but we still have the rule of catching up—"

"With all due respect, sir, I'm sure you guys have been doing plenty of catching up without me." Emery cuts him off.

Tom's mouth slightly opens, his mouth still filled with food. "Oh crap." He turns to Eddie. "She knows—"

"Shhh she doesn't know." Eddie whispers. He stops and looks at Emery suspiciously. Or does she?

"I know Hen told you guys what I said to her." Emery scoffs. "I would expect her to say something—"

"And what's that supposed to me?" Hen snaps.

Emery shakes her head, "Nothing. I just meant that I wouldn't hold it against you to tell anyone."

"Speaking of holding something against someone..." Chimney speaks, absentmindedly taking a shot at Emery.

Bobby clears his throat obnoxiously loud, telling Chimney to be quiet. Chimney raises his brows and looks around to see everyone staring at him. He looks at Emery and she swallows before looking at the ground, ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought I said that in my head." Chimney chuckles softly. He then lightly hits his head. "Stupid mouth..."

Hen raises her brows, "Oh, wow, you hear that, Emery? Chimney apologized, you should try it sometime—"

"Okay, I get it—"

"Do you get it?" Hen stands up.

Emery drops her duffel with a thud and everyone slightly jumps.

"They're not gonna fight, are they?" Tom's breathing quickens.

"No, they're not." Eddie says. He then squints his eyes. Or are they?

"No, you guys—stop." Buck speaks.

Emery holds her arms out. "If I apologize, would you even forgive me?"

"Hell no." Hen snorts. Emery scoffs, "Then why are you making such a big deal out of an apology?"

"Because you didn't even try." Hen retorts. Emery's back straightens. Hen's voice shakes and she scoffs. "You...you just said what you said and you didn't even seem sorry about it."

Emery's breathing heavies and her brain starts to go static. She can't think. She can't speak. She couldn't even move. She wanted to hold herself accountable. But she heard her mother's voice in her head. The same voice that always told her to 'be quiet and be the best'. Hen quirks a brow and scoffs. "Just like now...no regret." She brushes past Emery and walks down the stairs.

Then the alarm blares through the station.

☆

"Jaws not clenched. Tongue is neutral."

"All right. Get him started on O2. Ten liters." Bobby turns to the bank assistant. "You died there's a second patient?"

The bank assistant leads Bobby, Hen, and Eddie towards the man in the safe. Emery crouches down beside Chimney. He glances at her for a second, a bit weary. Emery's chest tightens but she pushes down her guilt and pain. This is what you deserve.

Soon, the three firefighters leave the safe and come back out.

"Everybody, stop what you're doing right now. Chimney, Em, Buck. Step away."

Emery pulls her brows together, but she stands up and steps away from the unconscious patient.

"Captain?"

"I need everybody's attention. We are now preparing for a possible chemical exposure incident. That means nobody in, nobody out." Bobby pronounces.

A clinking sound is heard, Emery squints her eyes at the safe and sees the door closing. Her eyes shift to the unconscious bank teller still in the vault. "Oh, shit."

Buck turns to the girl, "Em, you all right—"

Emery breaks off into a sprint and runs towards the vault. The girl then sees her former friend (still hurts to think about) beside her also running into the vault. Hen and Emery get into the vault, ignoring everyone's yells for them. Emery crouches beside the man and Hen checks on him.

"Okay, we have to get him out of—"

The man grabs onto Hen's face in a panic. Emery quickly grabs his wrists. "Sir, stay calm!" She raises her voice. The man latches his arm around Emery's arm. Emery grits her teeth. She pries his hands off of her and Hen.

"No!" Hen stands up and sprints towards the door, but it closes in her face. Emery slumps her shoulders and looks down at the man.

"Hen, Em, do you copy?"

Hen grabs her walkie, "We're here, Cap." She speaks. "Making ourselves comfortable."

Emery quirks a brow, "Yeah, making ourselves comfortable for our deathbeds..."

Hen snaps her eyes over to Emery, not in the mood for her pessimistic thinking. Emery rolls her eyes and sits away from the man. "This isn't gonna be awkward at all..."

...

"How do we open this?" Buck asks, his breathing quick.

"Uh, we don't. The fault operates on a time lock." The bank assistant answers. "It won't reopen until the start of business tomorrow."

"What if it's an emergency?" Bobby asks.

"There is a number for the vault company on Mr. Pertness' desk."

"Show me."

Bobby follows the bank assistant to Prentiss' desk. His eyes shift to the security footage from inside the vault. He tilts his head when he sees Hen looking away from the camera. Emery was still sitting down, looking at her hands.

"Hen, Sharpe. How's the air in there?"

Emery quirks a brow. "Fine. For now." She lets out a breath and looks at Hen. The curly-haired girl goes to look away from the woman, but she quickly looks back at her; noticing Hen begin to sway.

"H-Hen?" Emery slowly stands up as the woman doesn't respond. Hen turns to Emery with foam coming out of her mouth. Emery's eyes widen as soon as Hen collapses to the floor.

"Shit!" Emery crawls over to Hen. The curly-haired girl hesitates for a moment. She knew her orders were to stay away, but she couldn't let her coworker down. Even if Hen didn't consider Emery a friend anymore, the same didn't go for Emery. Emery places two fingers against Hen's neck and checks her pulse. She lets out a breath of relief.

"Sharpe, what's going on?"

"She's still breathing, Cap." Emery voices. She looks at Hen. "Yeah, this is definitely testing our friendship huh?" she then frowns. "Or I guess our coworker-ship."

Hen grabs onto Emery's sleeved arm. The curly-haired girl sees the fear in Hen's eyes and she slumps her shoulders. "Hen, you're going to be fine." She grabs the woman's hand. "And if you're not fine then I'm not too far behind to being not fine as well."

Emery knits her brows together. "I just heard what I said and I think I may be having a stroke." She looks down at Hen. "You're going to get back to your family."

Before Hen's eyes fell shut, she realized something. Emery was awfully good at comforting people for someone who also knows how to tear someone down in seconds.

Outside the vault, the firefighters fail to cut through the metal of the vault.

"Not even a scratch."

Bobby looks back at the camera, Hen and the bank teller were still laying on the floor, unconscious. Emery was sitting besides Hen with her knees pulled towards her chest.

"Okay, three people, 72 breaths a minute. We need to drill into that vault and get some air flowing."

"Doors are wired, Cap. Running hot." Eddie states.

"We need to cut the power."

☆

Emery felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Her eyelids fall shut, but she quickly shakes the exhaustion from her body and presses her knuckle against her cheek. Emery clicks her walkie and speaks into it.

"Hey, Captain?"

"Sharpe, everything okay?"

Emery quirks a brow, "I think...I'm gonna be out in a few minutes." She leans her head against the wall.

Buck tenses, he turns to Bobby with a panicked expression. "Wh-what are you talking about? Emi?"

Bobby glances at Buck. The boy's worry not going unnoticed.

"I'm getting kind of tired, but...I'm sure you guys'll get us out." Emery's exhaustion begins to take over and her eyes begin to close.

Emery's line falls silent. Buck's chest begins to hurt and he could've sworn that his heart stopped. "Emerson?"

Buck received no answer, which caused his throat to tighten.

"Lieutenant Sharpe, respond." Bobby speaks.

Buck and Bobby exchange a look of worry. "Bobby..."

The same thought runs through their head. They had to get this vault open now.

Bobby called Michael, asking for the blueprints of the bank. As soon as Michael heard that Hen and Emery were trapped inside, he didn't hesitate to help. Michael relayed the information about the south wall being the weakest part of the building.

"Okay, we start drilling here and here." Bobby points at certain spots of the wall.

"Creating a crumble zone." Eddie nods.

"Exactly."

"Then what?" Buck asks.

"Then I have an idea. But we've got to soften it up first."

Chimney pulls his brows together. "Soften up a foot of concrete?"

"Yeah, it beats three layers of tempered steel. Let's do it." Buck grabs one of the sledgehammers. He was going to rescue Emery with or without anyone's help.

Bobby grabs a drill from the truck and begins to force holes into the wall, preparing to weaken it.

"Okay, let's knock this wall down!" Bobby pulls the drill away from the wall. Each firefighter takes a crack the wall, slamming the hammers into it. Buck's hammer hits through the wall, it was a small hole, but it was big enough to get the job done.

"Okay, Chim, I need you back inside eyes on the vault cam." Bobby says. "If we're compromising their safety in any way, you got to let me know."

"Copy that, Cap." Chimney runs back into the bank.

"All right, I got eyes on the vault, Cap."

"Okay, here we go!"

They latch the wench to the fire truck and slowly begins to drive the engine, pulling at the wall. The wall remains intact. Tom walks closer to the wall and inspects it. "The wench isn't gonna do it, Captain!"

Bobby's phone begins to ring and he answers it. You could tell from the panic in his eyes and the sudden tension in his body, that it wasn't great news. He hangs up the phone and turns to his team that was outside.

"Patient zero, the armored car courier just died at the hospital."

Buck could've sworn he felt his heart stop. His hearing starts to go in and out, and all he could think of was Emery lying on that floor. Dying.

"They know what it was yet?" Eddie asks, his eyes wide.

"No. They did say that no one else is exhibiting symptoms." Bobby states.

Buck pulls his brows together and snaps his eyes over to Bobby: "Yeah. No one else except them." He points toward the bank. "No..." he shakes his head, his impulsiveness getting the better of him. "No, screw this." He stalks over to the fire engine.

"All right, Buck—"

"No stand back!" Buck snaps, his voice firm. He gets into the fire truck, causing everybody to tense.

"W-Wait—what is he doing?" Tom point toward the engine. His eyes widen when the engine starts. "Wait, is it—"

"Okay, how about you ask that question as soon as you're out of its way?" Eddie grabs Tom's arm and pulls him to the side.

Buck puts his foot on the gas, driving the truck forward. The wench connects to the wall begins to yank forcefully at the cement wall. The wall begins to crack while the fire engine creaks. Buck applies more pressure to the gas pedal and a chunk of the cement wall flies off, revealing the inside of the bank. Everyone surrounds the hole in the wall, just in time to see the hatch to the vault open. Chimney waves a hand through the hole, "Hey, you guys."

"Come on, seriously?"

Buck's eyes widen, seeing Emery on the ground. He runs into the bank and into the vault. He drops to his knees and cups her face, "Emi, hey..." he looks across her graying face. Her breathing was shallow and sweat was across her body. A lump forms in his throat and his hands begin to shake.

Emery stirs and a small groan comes from her mouth. Her lips slightly part and she inhales a deep breath. Buck's entire body goes slack with relief when he watches Emery begin to flutter her eyes open. Emery's vision was blurred, but she could tell from the warm and gentle hand on her face; that it was Buck.

Her stomach flutters and a small smile ghosts her lips. She hasn't smiled since she found out her dad's cancer was back. "E-Evan..."

"No, hey. Don't talk." His voice was soft. "I'm right here."

Out of delirium (or was it?), she reaches a hand upand weakly grabs Buck's wrist.

"Can you sit up?" Buck asks, a small blush across his face. Emery inhales a breath and her body tenses, she attempts to get up, but her body felt so heavy. "Yeah, I don't think that's happening anytime soon."

"That's okay." Buck shakes his head. "Uh, we'll get you a stretcher—can we get a stretcher?!"

"I'm fine too, thanks."

Buck turns to Hen and Chimney. He slightly opens his mouth. "Hen, I was just about to ask about you."

"Right, of course, you were." Chimney voices, sarcasm seeping in his voice.

Chimney and Hen eye each other, both having the same suspicious expression about Emery and Buck. Two stretchers came for Hen and Emery. Buck was glued to Emery's side as she was being rolled into the ambulance.

"Hey, can you—"

"I'll call Amaya. I promise." Buck speaks her thoughts.

Emery keeps her shaky brown eyes on Buck's storm blue ones. Her heart jumps into her throat and it took everything out of her not to giggle. She inhales a breath and glances away from him. "Thanks." Her face grows hot.

Buck slightly opens his mouth. "Hey, Em?"

Emery softly hums and looks back at him.

"Can I...can I go with you? To the hospital?"

Emery tilts her head. "You realize that you're still on the clock, right? You can't just—"

"I don't care." Buck cuts her off, his voice soft. "I want...I want to be there with you."

Emery bites the inside of her cheek. She shifts her eyes to Bobby and he gives her a small nod with a smile on his lips. Emery pulls her brows together from the sly smirk on Bobby's lips. Like he knew something. Emery pries her eyes off Bobby and looks back at Buck. She slightly opens her mouth, "Yeah, you can come."

A breath of relief escapes his lips and he smiles. Which causes Emery's heart to jump.

☆

"How about pie?—Do you want pie?"

"Uh, no," Emery replies with a small laugh.

Amaya keeps her teary eyes on Emery's face which was now getting its color back. "Okay, well, how about some Jell-O? You love their Jell-O."

Emery purses her lips and nods her head. "I do love this hospital's Jell-O. But...I'm not hungry."

Amaya squints her eyes, "Dad—Amaya won't eat!"

Emery's mouth drops open, "What are you—"

"Emerson, sweetheart, you've gotta eat something." Elijah was sitting in a seat beside his wife.

"Of course, I will." Emery gives him a small smile. Then she snaps her eyes over to her sister, her smile dropping. "I can't believe you tattled!" She hisses.

"I can't believe you weren't going to eat and you almost died."

Suddenly a laugh is heard at the door. The entire Sharpe family turns to the boy leaning against the doorframe with a smile on his lips. He focuses on the family and his smile drops. "Oh, I-I'm sorry." He clears his throat. "It's just...your family seems great."

Emery smiles softly, "Believe me...they're not."

"What the hell?!" Amaya growls.

"Language, missy." Amara snaps.

Emery rolls her eyes and manages a weak laugh. Her eyes focus on Buck's once again and his eyes were already on hers. Emery's heart begins to accelerate and she bites the inside of her cheek. Amaya looks between Emery and Buck, her eyes squinted.

"So, how's Hen?" Emery asks.

Buck raises his brows, "Good, I mean, she's still kind of weak. But just like you, she's gonna be okay." He then tilts his head. "You know you could visit her. Ask her how's she doing?"

Emery presses her lips together and looks down at her hands. Amaya then raises her brows, "What happened with you and Hen?"

Emery shakes her head, "Nothing, all right?"

"Emi..."

Emery's heart jumps into her throat from his husk voice. She looks back at Buck and her chest tightens.

You deserve the best, Emi.

The words Buck spoke had been repeating in her head ever since that night. It made her heart jump and it made her smile. But there was almost a deep feeling within her that she felt for Buck that scared the shit out of her. As sweet as his words were, Emery didn't believe them. She inhales a breath and slightly parts her lips.

"Oh. My. God."

Emery snaps her eyes over to Amaya. The younger sister could easily read the look across Emery's face. Amaya points at Emery and gasps.

Emery's eyes widen. Before Amaya could speak, Emery grabs Amaya's finger. "Not...one. Word." She growls, so only Amaya could hear.

Amaya's smile drops and she pulls her brows together, when she sees the look of fear in her eyes. She expected a look of admiration or excitement. But there was no hint of a positive reaction in Emery's face at all.

"I-I'll get you some Jell-O." Buck speaks, sensing a tense feeling between the family. "Uh, red, right?"

Emery inhales a breath. She felt like her heart was ready to burst. She couldn't handle it. "Yeah, yeah—thank you." Her eyes pull away from his.

Buck nods his head and walks out of the room. As soon as Buck left the room, Amaya grabs onto Emery's arms. "How. Long?!"

Emery shakes her head, "I-I don't know what you're talking about?"

"I don't understand either." Amara holds a hand up. "Elijah?"

"Yeah, I'm lost..."

"Can we discuss this later, all right?" Emery asks. "When we're not in a hospital?"

Amaya purses her lips and squints her eyes. She slowly raises her finger up and points at the girl. "You will tell me later."

Emery nods her head, "Okay, fine."

Amaya drops her finger and smiles. "Okay! Now, let's talk college!" She wiggles her fingers. "And let me tell you. Princeton is pretty far. So, visiting will have to be like all the time."

Emery smiles softly and nods her head. As Amaya continues to talk, Emery shifts her eyes over to the door; just waiting on Buck to come back.

☆

"Oh, hell no!"

Emery dismissively waves a hand. "There's no way that this is my first day back and you're framing me for a heist!" She then points a finger at the detectives. "This...this is racism."

The black detective holds his hands up. Emery then squints her eyes, "Okay, well...you've got the wrong girl and the 118 had nothing to do with this!"

"And how are you so sure about that?"

Emery purses her lips, "Look, these guys are...my team and I look up to them so much." She nods her head. "But, together we are...chaotic idiots!" She laughs. "There's no way we could've come up with a heist." She leans back in her seat and crosses her arms.

Emery squints at the two detectives. "You guys are reaching." she then laughs. "I can't do this..." she then wipes the tears from her eyes.

"Can I go home?"

"Not yet." The woman asks.

Emery rolls her eyes, "Hen and I have been having issues. Like major issues. Why would we choose to lock ourselves in a vault--together?" she raises her brows, trying to make her point.

"Maybe it was a part of the plan." The man shrugs. "Get everyone to believe you guys are against each other, so they won't suspect anything when you two are in the vault."

Emery sinks in her seat and exhales an exhausted breath.

"Listen, I know this might be stressful for you, Emerson. With everything going on with your father."

Emery straightens her back and runs her tongue across her teeth. "Excuse me?" she arches a brow.

"His cancer? That's got to be some expensive medical bills."

Emery curls her hand into a fist, anger slowly creeps into her body. She hides her hands under the table and inhales a breath. "You looked through my family's medical records?"

"Oh, yeah. We looked through yours too, Miss Sharpe."

Emery's chest tightens, "Yeah? See something you like?" she tilts her head.

"Look...if you let us in on how you guys pulled this off. We won't mention your records to the Fire Chief." The woman slightly leans forward. Emery snorts, "Are you bribing me? Isn't that illegal?"

She holds her hands up, "I'm so annoyed with you guys. I need to take a piss."

"You chose to run into that vault way before anyone else did. Why?"

Emery scoffs, "There was a man that collapsed, then the vault started to close. We wouldn't have been able to treat him if he were by himse--"

"But you don't have any Paramedic knowledge whatsoever, Miss Sharpe."

"I-I'm so confused..." Tom pulls his brows and keeps his eyes on the table. He looks at the detectives and annoyance was written all across their faces.

Tom lets out a bashful chuckle that could get anyone's heart to melt. "Would you mind explaining it again? Just a bit more slower? And...maybe smaller words?"

...

"You sure about this?"

"And...are you sure you want me here?" Emery walks beside Athena.

Hen inhales a breath, "Look...we both want the same thing. To clear our names, right?"

Emery nods her head, "Right."

"Okay, then that's that."

Athena exhales sharply. Ever since Hen and Emery have been on the outs, she's been in the middle. Both of them asked for her opinion, asking who was in the right, asking who she wasn't going to invite to their girl's nights. Athena had to start taking a lot more aspirin than normal because of these two.

"You two were inside the vault the whole time, out like a couple of lights," Athena states. "Your name is gonna clear itself."

"Do you think that if we work our own investigation, it's gonna backfire on us?" Emery voices.

"What?" Hen scoffs.

Emery shrugs, "I'm just saying that they might try and pin more of this heist thing onto us if we--"

"Look, if you don't want to help, you can go." Hen sighs, brushing off Emery's words. Emery purses her lips, "No, I'm good. Just hoping you know what's to possibly come."

"Oh, I know." A low laugh comes from Hen.

"Well, I'm glad that you know." Emery snaps back.

"Well, I'm glad that you're glad that I'm glad that I k--"

"Cool it, you two." Athena snaps. "I've already taken my maximum aspirin today."

Emery closes her mouth and so does Hen. The curly-haired girl turns, "The mystery man was right there." she points behind them. "Yellow splash suit. He I.D'd himself as a firefighter."

Emery opens the door to the building, holding it for Athena and Hen. A small huff leaves Hen's lips. "Were you expecting a thank you?"

"I don't know—are you still expecting an 'I'm sorry'? Because you're not gonna get it." Emery sings the last few words. Hen opens her mouth to say something, but Emery turns away from Hen and looks back at Athena.

"The man in the splash suit led the driver away from the armored truck." Emery continues, which causes Hen to let out a scoff of disbelief. "Filled some disposal bags with the moolah."

"Don't you mean greens?" Hen corrects. She then looks at Athena. "That's what us bank robbers call the money. The dough-re-mi."

Emery had to admit, she snorted. She knocks on the glass door and a woman makes her way over to the door. She unlocks it and pushes it open. "I'm sorry, we're closed." As soon as she opens the door, she looks at Hen and Emery. "Oh! You're the firefighters who went back into the vault."

"And you could tell that was us with the door closed too." Emery points out. "You didn't have to...open the glass doors in order to—"

"Emery?"

"Yeah?" She turns to Athena.

"Hush, child."

"Yes, ma'am." Emery looks at the ground.

☆

"I know you don't want to hear me say this, but I to—"

"Then don't say it." Hen hisses.

Emery rolls her eyes and runs a hand down her face. "If we hadn't had continued investigating, we wouldn't have had search warrants whipped out in front of us!" She slumps in her chair. "Everything that I have is basically ruined."

"You're not special, Em. We all went through it." Hen voices.

Emery raises her brows, "Hey, maybe, oh I don't know, I'm not talking to you."

"Oh, here we go..." Tom forces out a nervous laughter. "I'm uncomfortable."

Emery slumps in her chair and huffs. She didn't want her falling out with Hen to make other people feel uncomfortable. So, she decided to drop it.

"I can't believe they messed up my clothes." Chimney shakes his head. "It took me so long to color code them!"

Emery exhales sharply, "I know, I alphabetized mine."

Chimney looks at her, "How do you alphabetize clothing?"

"I'm glad you asked Chim." Emery turns to him with her hands folded. "At first we start with 'A' for American Eagle. I hang my jeans on the bottom rack. Then we have 'A' for Ambercromie and Fitch for my tops, which I hang on the top rack—"

"Em, I think you're losing him." Eddie chuckles.

Emery looks at Chim, "Am I losing you?"

"Surprisingly, no. I'm getting all of this." Chinney says.

Emery the laughs, "Good. You know what we should do?"

"Plan a day for us to go over to each others houses and help organize our clothes!" They both speak.

Buck smiles at the excitement on Emey's face. She hasn't smiled at work for almost a month. It made him happy to see her smiling.

"Yeah, they kind of freaked Dylan out, showing up at our doorstep." Tom voices. "He thought they were taking me away for eating his cereal last night."

Emery frowns and softly chuckles. "How is Dylan doing?" She tilts her head, her eyes glued to Tom.

Tom meet Emery's soft brown eyes and his mouth slightly opens while his face grows hot. No one ever asked about his kid. They usually just worried about him and if he was single. It was a nice change of pace being able to talk about his world.

"Uh, good." Tom lightly coughs. "He's finished first grade."

Emery's eyes light up, "Amazing! I feel like I should get him a gift or something."

"No, he has plenty of toys—"

"None bought by me." Emery raises her brows.

A smile forms on his lips and his stomach flutters. "That's true. I think he would like that...Dylan likes you a lot so..."

Buck looks between the two, his chest tightening with envy. He and Emery weren't even hooking up anymore, so there was nothing he could do. He and her weren't together and that made his stomach hurt.

"First grade, you know, it seems like just yesterday that Christopher going into first grade." Eddie sighs. "You better soak it in now, Probie. Because kids...they sure do grow up fast."

...

"These past few days have given me a migraine." Emery slumps in her chair and massages her temples.

"I think that might be because you didn't eat for the past...two days." Amaya sits the plate in front of Emery

Emery blows air out of and raises her brows, like a child being reprimanded. "Thanks..."

After coming back from the hospital, Emery tried her best to shoo her family back to San Diego. She managed to get her parents to go back, but Amaya was here to stay with Emery until she knew she was 100 % telling the truth about being okay.

"You haven't been eating much, have you?" Amaya sits across from Emery at the table. Emery folds her arms and looks to the side. Amaya searches Emery's cold face and exhales through her nose. "Is it because of dad?"

"No." Emery answers, her eyes averting Amaya's.

Amaya slowly nods her head, "Buck normally makes you food, right? Does it have to do with him?"

Emery's chest tightens, "No."

"Okay, then—"

"It's everything, Amaya, all right?" Emery quickly speaks, her eyes back on her sister. "I feel like shit because our dad is literally dying. Mom is still blaming me for him not doing chemo...you left and so did Buck."

A lump forms in Emery's throat and Amaya's chest tightens, seeing her sister in pain. "I'm sorry..." she looks at her hands. "I didn't know that you felt this way."

Emery taps her fingers against the table. "That's because I don't talk about how I feel..."

"Well, you should start." Amaya says. "It makes conversations much easier." She inhales a breath. "Like this next one..."

Emery huffs and grabs her fork. She stuffs a forkful if spaghetti in her mouth. "What?" Her voice is muffled.

"You and Buck—"

"No. Nope—"

"But you said, you would tell me." Amaya says.

Emery bunches her shoulders. "We decided to call off our...situationship." She shrugs. "No biggie."

"Really? No biggie?" Amaya cranes her neck forward. "Because it seems like you were looking at him with some kind of...admiration back at the hospital."

"Well, I wasn't, Maya." Emery's voice was stern.

Amaya holds her hands up and starts to each. The two sisters eat in silence. One person didn't want to mention the elephant in the room and the other did. Either way, this was going to be a long night.

Amaya slowly shakes her head. "Why are you so determined to not let yourself love again—"

"I don't love him." Emery snaps. The hold on her fork tightens.

"Okay, then why are you so determined to not want to show affection for someone?"

Emery's breathing heavies. She pulls the necklace from under her shirt. "I still wear our wedding bands around my neck." Her voice begins to shake. Amaya's eyes soften as she watches tears form in Emery's eyes.

"This...thing that I have with Buck wasn't supposed to be anything." Emery whispers. "I can't get over Helena. I love her—I will always love her."

Amaya let's out a small breath. A tear slips from Emery's eye and she quickly wipes it away. She looks to the side, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Emery felt like she was betraying Helena by feeling something for Buck. She dated William. Yes. But with Buck it was different. Her feelings felt so much...stronger. She didn't know how or when they started, but they hit her like a truck and now she couldn't bear them.

"Emery..." Amaya's voice gets caught in her throat. "You'll always have love for Helena. That will never change."

"But that doesn't mean you can cut yourself off from feeling love again." Amaya pulls her brows together. "Because you deserve to love."

Emery lets out a scoff and shakes her head. She looks at her plate and pushes her food around. Amaya's gaze hardens. The way Emery brushed Amaya off sent her a very strong message that Emery didn't believe what Amaya was saying.

Amaya reaches over and grabs her sisters hand. "Emerson."

Emery looks at her sister's firm eyesight. She also saw the softness in them. "I need you to hear me. Out of everything I have ever told you in all our years of being sisters. I need you to hear me."

Emery's eyes begin to shake; waiting for her sister's words.

"You deserve to be loved."

There were many ways Emery could've reacted. There were many ways she wanted to react. She wanted to make a smart remark and laugh off Amaya's words. She wanted to yell at her sister to never say such a ridiculous thing again. She even wanted to thank her sister.

But Emery did none of those things. Instead...

She cried.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Poor Emi :(

Even though she likes Buck, it's gonna take her a minute to accept those feelings 🥲

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