Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“How long do you reckon this captain will last?” Chim asks Hen and Eddie as he makes his way onto the loft landing.

“I’ll give him two months,” Eddie says. Hen nods as she adds it to her bet book.

Chim pauses, considering. “I’ll give him 6 months seeing as his wife is also starting here as a paramedic. I feel like that will increase his chances of staying a while.”

Hen looks thoughtful as she adds Chim’s bet to her bet book before adding her own bet.

“Regardless of how long he stays, I just hope he’s better than Gerrard," Ravi says. Everyone quickly nods in agreement.

At the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs all of them turn their heads.

Their new captain has a stern expression on his face. He is holding onto his wife’s arm. She is shorter than him and has a nervous expression on her face.

“Greeting’s everyone. As I’m sure you are all aware I am your new captain Doug Kendall. And this here is my wife Maddie, she is also joining the 118 as a paramedic. Now can all of you please tell me your full names and what name you go by.”

There is a pause for a second before all of them leap into action.

“I’m Henrietta Wilson but I go by Hen.”

Doug nods. “You’re one of the paramedics right?”

Hen nods.

“Well you will now be partnered with Maddie, both of you working together in the ambulance. Why don’t you go and get acquainted with her whilst I meet everyone else.”

Doug walks away from Hen and towards everyone else. Hen hears Doug tell everyone else who they will be paired up with - Chimney and Eddie will be partners and Ravi and Lucy will be partners. Hen feels sadness and annoyance work its way through her. She and Chimney work well as partners and no other captains, not even Gerrad, have tried to split them up. She looks at Maddie and sees nerves on Maddie’s face. She takes a deep breath before walking over. Even if she would rather work with Chimney she has to accept Doug’s commands.

“Hi Maddie,” Hen says, extending her hand out in greeting. Maddie reaches out and shyly shakes Hen’s hand in greeting. “I’m Hen, it’s nice to meet you.”

Maddie smiles slightly. “It’s nice to meet you as well.”

“Maddie! Hen!” Doug barks. Maddie jumps. “Go to the ambulance and start making sure it is stocked properly.”

Maddie nods rapidly before following Hen downstairs. Once they are out of sight of the loft Maddie seems to relax a little bit although she is still very clearly nervous.

“So, are you and Doug from LA?” Hen asks as she starts checking inventory.

“No, we just moved here from Hershey Pennsylvania,” Maddie says as she passes Hen items that Hen calls off a list.

“Hershey, have you been to Hersheypark then?”

Maddie gives a small nod. “Yeah many times. Doug loves it and our daughter likes it as well.”

“You have a kid?”

“Yeah, a daughter Genevieve. She’s 4. Do you have any kids?”

Hen smiles. “Yeah. My wife and I have a son Denny. He’s 6.”

Maddie tenses slightly and Hen is filled with caution and irritation. “Yes I have a wife. Is that going to be a problem?”

Maddie is quick to shake her head although she looks around frantically. “That doesn’t bother me,” she says although the look in her eyes beg to differ and she trembles slightly. “Though maybe just don’t mention it in Doug’s earshot.”

Annoyance fills Hen. They just got rid of Gerrad. She had really hoped that would be the end of it. That she wouldn’t have to deal with a homophobic captain again. Their conversation stops and the only words spoken are saying how many of each item they have.

Once they finish stocking the ambulance Hen heads back upstairs to go and talk to Chim. She sees Doug head downstairs and him and Maddie go to the gym section of the firehouse.

“So, first impressions?” Ravi asks.

Chim gives a shrug. Eddie looks serious. Lucy smiles. “He seems nice enough for now. What about you Hen, what’s Maddie like?”

“She seems quiet. She tensed when I mentioned I had a wife.”

Hen sees everyone’s hackles quickly rising. “She said she is fine with it but to not mention it around Doug.”

Chim groans. “Another homophobic captain, just what we need.”

Eddie sighs. “Guess I can’t mention Buck at all then as if he would hate you having a wife then he would also hate me having a husband.”

The sirens go off interrupting their conversation. Doug’s voice comes from downstairs yelling at all of them to hurry up even though they are already almost there. Doug, Eddie, Ravi, Chimney and Lucy jump into the fire engine and Hen and Maddie get into the ambulance.

The ride there feels tense, all of them not joking as much as normal, not yet aware enough of Doug’s personality to know what his sense of humor is like. Instead Doug just tells them what information dispatch gave them.

They pull up to a house and Doug is quick to start walking and everyone follows him. They reach the pool and see their patient lying by the side of the pool unconscious. “Maddie start compressions, Hen start bagging him,” Doug orders.

Maddie and Hen hurry to the guy’s side and start administering medical care. When the guy comes to and starts coughing up water the relief is felt by everyone.

Once he is alright it is determined that no further medical care is needed so they go back to their vehicles. Hen notices that Maddie is even quieter this time and is shaking slightly.

“Are you alright Maddie?” she asks softly.

Maddie jumps slightly before rapidly blinking. “I’m fine.”

“You’re shaking.”

Maddie takes a wobbly breath. “I’m sorry. I just get too emotional at calls but I’ll be fine. I know I’m being stupid. It was a minor medical call anyway.” Her voice cracks a little bit. “I guess it just made me think how scary it would be to be drowning and fighting for air but to be trapped underwater and not able to get air no matter how desperately you need it.” Maddie’s eyes glaze over a bit and Hen is alarmed when she notices tears falling down Maddie’s face.

Almost just as quickly Maddie shakes her head and her eyes unglaze. Maddie plasters a massive smile on her face. “What’s Denny like?”

Hen allows Maddie to change the subject and soon they are talking about their children, however Hen makes a mental note of Maddie’s behaviour and tucks that information away in the back of her mind.

When they get back to the station Doug is quick to reach Maddie’s side and to wrap an arm around her. Maddie smiles as she looks up at Doug. He smiles down at her before his face changes. “Go upstairs and make all of us lunch. It better be good.” Maddie nods as she hurries upstairs.

Doug orders everyone else downstairs. “As we are going to be working together and trusting each other with our lives I think it would be good if we all get to know each other a bit more.”

Everyone exchanges glances but soon they are talking about themselves although Hen doesn’t mention Karen and Eddie doesn’t mention Buck. Eddie wonders what he will do the first time they get called to work a scene with the 132 where Buck and Bobby work but he decides he will deal with that later.

Although all of them are a bit wary after being aware that Doug is homophobic (at least according to Maddie) Doug is nice and friendly and soon all of them are getting along with him, Chimney in particular who has discovered that he and Doug have the same taste in movies.

When Maddie timidly comes down the stairs saying that lunch is ready their conversation carries on as they eat lunch together. Maddie is the only one who stays silent, sitting next to Doug and keeping her head down as she concentrates on her food.

The rest of the shift goes well. They have a few minor calls but nothing too complicated. Doug turns out to have a good sense of humor and he has lots of funny stories from being a firefighter back in Hershey. Everyone else has lots of good stories about previous calls they have been on so they have a great exchange of stories of the funniest calls they have been on.

By the end of the shift Chim, Ravi and Lucy are completely relaxed and relieved that their new captain seems nice. Hen and Eddie are a bit more cautious, especially Hen who is puzzled by the fact that she is concerned by Maddie’s behaviour.
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Eddie smiles as he walks through the door and is instantly greeted by Chris and Buck. Both of them give him massive hugs.

“How was the new captain?” Chris asks.

Eddie shrugs. “He seems nice enough but Hen said his wife made a comment to not let him know I have a husband. I don’t know. I just have a weird feeling about him even though he was nice.”

“I could ask Mom to give him a background check,” Buck offers.

Eddie rolls his eyes playfully. “I’ll give him a chance. I don’t need Athena interrogating him straight away.”

Buck sighs. “Fine. Do you want to come and help me and Chris finish decorating the cake we made to take to dinner at Mom and Dad’s tonight.”

Eddie smiles and soon him and his favorite two people are deeply concentrating on making the best cake possible.

The drive to Bobby and Athena’s is filled with Buck and Chris scheming, plotting all the possible ways to get rid of another homophobic captain.

As soon as they arrive Buck passes the cake to Athena and starts helping Bobby in the kitchen. Chris runs off to play with May, Harry, Robert and Brooke. Eddie settles down on the couch with Athena.

Eddie looks around the house, smiling as he sees all the photos of Buck with his family. He is so thankful that Buck has them. He knows Buck’s biological family let him down. His parents were terrible and ignored him his whole life for some reason. He doesn’t understand why they had a second kid if they were planning on just ignoring him for his whole life. Instead Buck’s sister raised him before she then left him. Buck was drowning being alone with his parents but when he went to his sister for help she gave him a car and money and told him to find his people and never look back. Eddie knows his sister doing that caused Buck a lot of pain. But eventually Buck did find his people and Eddie is so thankful for that.

After his sister gave him the jeep Buck drove around the country where he met Bobby, Marcy, Brooke and Robert. He quickly found a family in them. Eddie knows Bobby and Buck have had a rocky road at points. Things became tough when Bobby started struggling with his alcohol addiction and things between Bobby and Marcy became tense to the point that Robert and Brooke started spending time at Buck’s place in order for Marcy to try and work on things with Bobby. He knows Buck was devastated when Marcy died in the apartment fire Bobby accidentally caused and Brooke and Robert were only saved because they were at Buck’s the night it happened. Eddie is thankful that Buck managed to get Bobby to go to rehab after that and eventually Bobby started getting better and his relationship with Buck improved and soon Buck was calling Bobby Dad. They then moved to LA where Bobby met Athena and now Bobby and Athena are married and Buck now calls Athena Mom. So Buck went from having no family to having a full and thriving family. His family with Eddie and Chris. And his family with Bobby, Athena, May, Harry, Robert and Brooke. Eddie is so grateful that Buck has them.

Eddie takes another look at all the family photos in the house. He hears the squeals and joyful sounds of Chris playing with Buck’s siblings. He turns to Athena, a smile on his face, as all of them start talking.

The rest of the night is relaxed as all of them talk and laugh and enjoy their family. Life is good, his family is good. So what if his new captain leaves him unsettled for a reason he can’t place. He has Buck and he has Chris. So his life is pretty good.
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A few shifts later the first call is for a jumper. Everyone is on alert, none of them like these calls. When they get to the scene Doug orders Chimney and Eddie to prep an air bag, Hen and Maddie to get the ambulance set up and Ravi and Lucy to get harnesses and follow him up to approach the jumper.

When Ravi, Lucy and Doug reach the high platform that the woman is balanced on the railing of, Doug tells Ravi and Lucy to hang back in order to not spook the woman as he approaches to try and talk her down.

“You don’t need to do this,” Doug says trying to stop his frustration coming through. These calls always annoy him. Why do people always create problems that don't need to happen?

The woman looks at him with tears in her eyes. “You don’t understand.”

Doug clenches his hand into a fist trying to keep his cool. She is right. He doesn’t understand. He looks at the tears on her face and how pathetic she is and he feels his anger increase.

“If you go through with this you’re just going to cause problems for heaps of people. I’m sure you don’t want that. Why don’t you just come back down and get to the safety of the ground,” Doug snaps, unable to keep the annoyance out of his tone.

A look of pure pain flashes across the woman’s face before she lets go and she is falling.

Down below Hen, Maddie, Eddie and Chimney watch in horror as the woman falls. She misses the air bag entirely and her body is smashed into pieces. Even though it is pretty clear she is gone, Hen and Maddie rush over to confirm her status.

When Ravi, Lucy and Doug come back down to the ground all three of them are silent. Maddie’s stomach drops when she sees the look in Doug’s eyes. Doug’s voice is tight when he orders all of them to head back to the station. It takes all of Maddie’s efforts to not tremble, knowing it is going to be a long night for her once their shift is over.
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On their next shift Hen is surprised when Doug and Maddie are the last ones to arrive as so far before this shift with the exception of their first one Doug and Maddie have always been the first ones to arrive. Doug is quick to start issuing everyone tasks. Hen and Maddie are ordered to take care of the ambulance.

Maddie is silent as she just does what Hen asks. Once they are finished they head up the stairs. Hen notices with a frown that Maddie is limping slightly. She wonders what happened but she can sense that asking won’t be a good idea so she stays quiet.

Their first few calls are pretty mundane. When it is time for lunch Doug orders Maddie upstairs to cook for all of them and he gets the rest of them to hang out and do more getting to know each other.

Lunch is filled with jokes and banter. Hen doesn’t join in. She sees all the laughing and the joking and the telling of funny stories, even Eddie joining in. But she stays quiet. Instead she finds herself watching Maddie. Maddie is silent and keeps her head down as she focuses on her food. When Maddie’s plate is clear Maddie’s hand reaches to get some more food before she turns to look at Doug. Doug shakes his head and Maddie’s hand drops back into her lap without her getting any more food. Hen stays silent but adds that to the mental list she is making of worrisome things about Doug and Maddie.

After lunch their next call is for a reported baby in the wall. Horror fills all of them at the thought. When they get there however there is silence. No sounds of a baby in the wall. “I don’t hear anything,” Doug snaps, turning and glaring at the guy who called it in.

“Look, I’m telling you I heard a baby crying. Someone flushed a baby down the toilet,” the caller repeats.

Hen looks at the evidence of drugs all around the apartment.

“I’m not high,” the caller is quick to say. After a pause he sighs. “Ok, I am a bit high but not on a drug that makes you hallucinate.”

“So you’re wasting emergency service’s time.” Doug glares at the caller. “Don’t waste our time again.” He turns to everyone else. “Come on, we’re going.”

Everyone starts to go apart from Maddie who pauses. “Wait, I think I hear something.”

Doug glares at Maddie. “Really Maddie, stop indulging his drug induced hallucinations.”

Maddie trembles but doesn’t back down. “I’m not lying Doug. I heard a baby crying.”

Doug grabs Maddie’s arm tightly and pulls her to the door. “No you didn’t. Let’s go.”

The rest of the 118 watches, unsure what to do, as Doug drags a protesting Maddie out of the apartment.

They are in the hallway when all of them hear a loud wailing, the clear sound of a baby's cries. Doug drops Maddie’s arm as all of them rush back into the apartment, Maddie rubbing her arm where Doug’s grip had been.

Doug orders Ravi to grab the saw. Hen uses the stethoscope to hear where in the wall the baby is and she uses a sharpie to mark out the spot on the wall. They then work together to get the baby out of the wall, Eddie running around the building telling people not to flush the toilets in order to prevent the baby from being drowned.

Once the piece of pipe with the baby inside is out of the wall they gently ease the baby out of it. The elevator isn’t working so Eddie runs the baby downstairs to the ambulance which Maddie has prepped and waiting. They are about to go when Eddie hears Athena’s voice telling him to wait. Soon the mother of the baby is also in the ambulance and then they are rushing them to the hospital.

Hen and Maddie return in the ambulance to the fire station just before the end of their shift. Maddie shivers when she sees the look on Doug’s face.

Doug is silent on the drive home.

When they arrive home Genevieve comes running up to them and Maddie gives her a big hug. Genevieve’s nanny Cassandra and Cassandra’s 9 year old daughter Claribelle greet them as well. Doug just gives them a cold look. “Cassandra. Can you look after Genevieve for the night?” Cassandra nods and gives Maddie an almost apologetic look.

Maddie watches as Cassandra takes Genevieve and Claribelle out of the house, across the backyard and to the small cottage Cassandra and Claribelle live in. Cassandra knows what Doug does (the screams she has heard and the evidence she has seen on Maddie’s body makes it impossible to deny) but Cassandra is undocumented and Doug has made it perfectly clear that if Cassandra calls the police or tries to help Maddie then Doug will call ICE on Cassandra and Claribelle. Maddie knows that Cassandra will play some music or put something on tv so that Genevieve and Claribelle won’t hear her screams and that fills her with relief. She doesn’t want Genevieve (or Claribelle) to know what Doug does to her.

As soon as Cassandra, Claribelle and Genevieve are gone Doug turns to Maddie, a terrifying look on his face.

With one swift movement Maddie is pinned against the wall as Doug’s hand squeezes tightly around her throat. Maddie feels helpless as her vision starts to dot and all of her is desperately trying to get some air. Just before she is about to pass out Doug loosens his grip although his hand stays on her throat. Maddie takes in deep gasps of air before being quick to turn her focus to Doug, as terrifying as that is.

“You showed me up in front of everyone. In front of the team. The team that I am captain of. Next time I don’t care if you think you’re right. Stay silent.”

Maddie stares at Doug in disbelief. “If I hadn’t said anything we would have left and the baby would have died!”

Maddie’s head whips sideways as Doug’s hand connects with her face. Cheek burning, Maddie starts trembling as Doug grabs hold of her chin and pulls her forward so her face is mere inches from his.

“I. Don’t. Care. Your actions made the team see me in a bad light. Don’t do it again.”

Maddie can’t stop her clear disbelief from being visible on her face. “You want me to leave people to die just to make you look good?”

Doug punches her in the stomach and Maddie drops to the floor. “YES!” Doug screams.

Even though Maddie knows talking back is stupid she does so anyway. “Well I won’t. I will always support you but not to the detriment of others.”

Doug lets out a roar of rage and unleashes the full level of his fury on Maddie. Once he is done Maddie is left lying on the floor as her face drips blood, her whole body aches and she knows that tomorrow she will be covered in bruises.

Maddie quakes when she hears Doug’s footsteps return. “Get up off the floor and make me dinner. Stop being so lazy all the time.”

Maddie is silent as she forces her aching body up and begins to follow Doug’s instructions.

Maddie is halfway through making dinner when there is a knock at the door. Her entire body freezes. Doug saunters over to it and looks through the peephole. He looks back at Maddie with a smirk. “It’s for you. You know what you need to do.”

Trying to conceal her shaking, Maddie makes her way to the door, grabbing the turtleneck that lives right next to the door (for this very purpose) and putting it on. She takes a deep breath and plasters on a smile before opening the door.

Her smile briefly falters before she fixes it back in place. “Good evening Officer, what can I do for you?”

Internally Maddie is panicking and freaking out. It is the officer that was on scene at the baby in the wall call earlier today. What if the officer recognises her or Doug?

“One of your neighbors called. Said they heard yelling, the sounds of a fight. They thought there might have been some kind of altercation and wanted to make sure that everyone was ok.”

Maddie feels Doug right behind her, just out of sight of the door. Her arm that is out of sight of the door suddenly has Doug’s tight punishing grip wrapped around it.

Maddie feels tears in her eyes and tries desperately to blink them away. If she cries the cop will know something is wrong and will push further. If that happens Doug will get mad at her for not doing her job, for not getting rid of the cop. She cannot afford to cry.

“It must have been a mistake because everything’s fine here,” Maddie says, her eyes pleading with the cop to just drop it.

She can see by the look on her face that the cop isn’t convinced. The cops eyes glance to Maddie’s side, right where Doug is standing. Even though the door is blocking Doug from her view it is as if the cop is aware that Doug is right there. “Well I’m glad to know everything’s fine. Take care and have a good evening.”

The cop walks away and Maddie closes the door behind her, wanting to sag against it in relief but she can’t until she sees Doug’s face. Doug is looking at her with an amused look on his face.

“Well you got rid of her so good. But next time you need to work on not trembling and being more convincing. She might have been stupid enough to believe you but your performance wasn’t good enough. Smarter cops wouldn’t have believed you.”

Maddie trembles more and it is a relief and a surprise when Doug just walks away from her and disappears into the living room. Maddie feels relief fill her. Although Doug was wrong. The cop didn’t believe her. She knew something was wrong. She just pretended to believe her for some reason.

On shaky legs Maddie makes her way back to the kitchen to continue cooking dinner.
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The next morning Maddie is sore and stiff. Being fully aware of that, Doug puts her as man behind, like he always did back at their old firehouse in Hershey whenever he knew she wouldn’t be up to the job. So Chimney gets paired back with Hen in the ambulance.

When they reach their first call of the day Chimney sees the snakes in the room and flees. The rest of them are still for a moment, trying to figure out how to get the snake off the woman’s neck so that she can breathe again.

After a beat Eddie is the first to move. Eddie grabs a cloth and some of the medical rubbing alcohol they have. He puts the rubbing alcohol on a cloth and brings it to the snake's nose. The snake starts unconstricting and soon the woman is released and is able to breathe again.

The woman starts thanking them for saving her and for also not hurting her snake. Doug just looks at her in disgust. “Come on, let’s go.” All of them make their way back to the vehicle.

“How did you know what to do?” Doug asks Eddie once they are on the drive back.

Eddie gives a casual shrug. “My husband and my son love going to the zoo and know heaps of animal facts. I knew what to do from one of my husband’s fact-spouting sessions.” Eddie smiles thinking of Buck and Chris and how awesome they are.

Doug’s face sours. “You have a husband.” His tone is icy and the atmosphere in the vehicle is instantly transformed. The rest of the way back to the firehouse is filled with silence.

When everyone returns to the station Maddie sees the way everyone is looking at Doug and her stomach drops. What now?

The next few hours pass by way too slow as they have no calls and everyone is pointedly avoiding Doug. She can tell Doug has noticed that as he is seething and she doesn’t know what happened but she does know that she will be the one to pay the price. With everyone else freezing him out Doug stays glued to Maddie’s side, in tense silence.

Maddie is relieved when the bells go off again as it will give her some space from Doug. So of course Doug announces that this is a simple call so just him and Maddie will go. Maddie obediently follows Doug into the fire engine.

Once they have left the fire station Doug explains that they are driving slowly up and down some streets with their sirens on to help dispatch hear the sirens and locate the house of a home invasion with a kid that is home alone. He tells Maddie to keep her eyes peeled for a bicycle. Maddie is the first one to spot it and she points the bike out to Doug.

Suddenly a girl is running out of the house, a guy right behind her. Maddie is quick to pull the girl to safety. She sees a cop appear, coming after the guy and her heart sinks. It is the cop that knocked on her door last night.

The guy pulls out a gun and points it in the cops direction. Before anything else can happen Doug is running and lunging at the guy and knocking him to the ground. Doug pushes the gun away and the cop hurries over to handcuff the guy. Doug stands up grinning proudly.

The cop gives Doug a look that Maddie can’t decipher. The girl Maddie had been protecting runs from Maddie’s side to a woman that is clearly her Mom. Doug saunters back towards Maddie and puts his arm around her and kisses her. Maddie sees the cop watch Doug and then the cop's face changes for one second when she spots Maddie before the cop’s facial expression returns to normal.

Maddie feels frozen for the rest of her shift. That cop knows way too much and Maddie knows that they often respond to scenes alongside police. So the chances of her seeing that cop again are way higher than she would like.
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After the snake shift they are having family dinner at Athena and Bobby’s. Eddie tells everyone about the snake call and he thanks Buck and Chris for giving him the knowledge that allowed him to know what to do. Both Buck and Chris are way too proud of that and spend the rest of the evening pelting all of them with facts.

Buck and Bobby share some stories from their shift and so does Athena.

Once they have finished eating Bobby heads to the kitchen to start the dishes and Buck goes to play with all of the kids. Eddie is about to head to the kitchen to help Bobby with the cleaning up but Athena stops him. “I need to talk to you about something,” she says. Her voice is serious and Eddie feels a bit of alarm fill him as he nods and follows Athena to the currently empty living room.

Athena waits until they are both seated before she begins talking. “Have you noticed anything off with your new captain and his wife?”

She sees the confused look on Eddie’s face. “Not really.”

“Well, what can you tell me about them? What are your impressions of them?”

She can tell Eddie has no clue why she is asking him this but he gives a shrug before answering. “He is arrogant and homophobic but he is also good at drawing everyone in as he is funny and good at telling stories. I haven’t really gotten an impression of his wife. She is super quiet and only talks to Doug or Hen. I haven’t had a single conversation with her.”

Athena nods. It all makes sense and doesn’t surprise her at all.

Eddie feels confused. “Why are you asking me about them? Is something wrong?”

He watches Athena’s expression and braces himself for what she is about to tell him.

“Last night while I was on shift I responded to a call from someone who had heard yelling and thought their neighbor was being hurt.”

Eddie feels himself freeze, already aware of where this is going.

“When I responded it was your captain’s wife who answered. She was bleeding and there were tears in her eyes and she looked terrified. She denied everything but by the way she was looking to her side I think he was right next to her so of course she couldn’t say anything.”

Eddie’s eyes go wide in horror. “So Doug is hurting Maddie?”

Athena nods, her face grim.

“He’s my captain. I work with both of them. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to help her? Can’t we do something?”

Athena sighs. “Until she is ready to leave him we can’t do anything. But in the meantime as you work with them try to keep an eye on it. Let Maddie know she has people that will support her. Be there for her but make sure it isn’t too obvious as Doug might not like it. You said she only talked to Hen and Doug. So she might not be able to talk to men without angering Doug. So we will talk to Hen to let her know our suspicions.”

“I think Hen already has suspicions of her own,” Eddie admits.

Athena’s face tightens before she nods. “I’ll talk to her.”

They hear cheerful squeals before all of the kids are back in the room. Eddie is quick to engage with them although his mind is whirling with the new information. He wishes he could deny what he just heard. But it makes sense. In a horrible sickening way. All the pieces match up. So now he has to figure out how to deal with this.

Chapter Text

The 118 pulls up at a fair.

Maddie’s stomach drops in horror seeing the people still stuck on the roller coaster. She shudders. She hates roller coasters. Hen runs towards the person who fell out of the roller coaster and Maddie is quick to go after her.

Doug gives everyone instructions before he begins climbing up the ladder towards where the people hanging out of the roller coaster are. It is with a heavy heart that Hen lays a sheet over the person who already fell and she radios for the coroner.

They hear screaming from above them and look up in time to see one of the people at the top of the roller coaster let go as they hurtle towards the ground. The crowd all around them starts to panic. Maddie looks at Doug to see if he is going to give any more instructions but he is continuing to climb towards the other people still hanging upside down.

Maddie turns to Ravi and Lucy. “It might help if some of us worked to control the crowd, at least until we get some back up.” Her voice wobbles a bit, knowing she shouldn’t be giving orders but not sure what else to do. Much to her surprise Ravi and Lucy listen to her.

Maddie then focuses on joining Hen in dealing with the other body. Eddie and Chimney assist Doug in rescuing the other people still trapped.

Maddie notices news cameras and she feels annoyance fill her. Seriously. Some people have just died and all they care about is shoving their cameras in people’s faces. When asked if any of them can make a comment on the rescue all of them say no, although Maddie knows that if Doug was here and not up the ladder rescuing the people that he would agree as he will soak up any attention he can get.
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When they return to the firehouse Doug is fuming. He paces back and forth across the loft, not caring that everyone is watching. “Why did that idiot let go? If he had just held on we would have reached him in time and would have rescued him. But he was so pathetic he couldn’t even hold on for a few more minutes!” Doug punches the table and everyone stares at him.

Dread fills Maddie as she sees the way everyone is looking at him. She knows she needs to get him away from everyone else. But she can’t think of any options that don’t involve him getting mad at her. Then she sees everyone’s expressions and she knows she doesn’t have a choice. She can’t let Doug ruin his job. He will never forgive her if that happens.

Everyone is giving Doug a wide berth. Trembling, Maddie steps closer to him until she is right next to him. He gives her a glare. “What Maddie? Are you going to tell me how I should have saved him?”

“C, c, can we t, t, talk in your o, o, office?”

Doug glares at her but he storms towards his office and Maddie knows she has no choice but to follow him.

Once they are in their office Doug slams the door shut, locks it and turns to stare at Maddie.

“You want to rub the loss in my face huh Maddie?”

Maddie shakes her head. “No. I would never do that. I’m sorry about what happened.”

Doug slams his fist into her stomach and Maddie bends over, wincing in pain.

“Doug, you need to calm down,” she says quietly.

Her comment does the absolute opposite. Doug glares at her and pushes her to the ground. “You don’t get to tell me to calm down. I am upset that guy let go and instead of being a good wife and comforting me you come in here trying to antagonise me.”

Doug kicks Maddie in the stomach over and over again.

“Please Doug,” Maddie begs. “We’re at work. Everyone was staring. That’s why I wanted to talk to you here in your office. So people would stop looking at you.”

Doug stops kicking Maddie and she feels relief when she sees him beginning to calm down. Doug scoops Maddie up and sets her down on the couch and slides in next to her, wrapping her tightly in his arms as he plants a kiss on her head.

“You were looking out for me?”

Maddie is quick to nod, letting out a sigh of relief when she sees Doug softening. He kisses her again. “I love you so much Maddie.”

“I love you too.”

When Maddie emerges from Doug’s office she sees all eyes on her. She gulps and looks down at the ground. It takes all her self control to not wrap an arm around her stomach in an attempt to ease the pain. However if she does so she knows everyone will be suspicious. Instead she slowly heads to the ambulance and starts restocking it. Hen joins her and they work without a conversation.

Before Doug emerges from his office they get a medical call for a dog bite so only Hen and Maddie have to go. Maddie allows herself to breathe easier. Doug is happy with her once he realised she was trying to help him. And he won’t be at this call meaning he won’t be able to analyse everything she does or punish her for any mistakes she might make.

When Maddie and Hen get out of the ambulance they hear the sound of dogs barking. Maddie gulps slightly. She loves some dogs but these dogs do not sound like dogs she will love. Maddie radios animal control before her and Hen tentatively approach the scene.

They marginally open the door, not wanting the dogs to be able to get through the door but still opening it enough that they can talk to the guy trapped on a bench, his arm bleeding, with two large dogs jumping up at him and barking aggressively.

The guy starts spraying water at the dogs and the dogs just bark even louder and angrier. Maddie gulps. Angering anything or anyone that is already furious never makes things better. It always makes things worse. She has way too much experience of that.

She hears sirens in the distance and hopes that animal control gets there soon. She looks up when she senses someone else has arrived. And of course it is the same cop that had showed up at her house. Of course.

Hen greets the cop, uses the name Athena, and it is clear that the two of them are friends. Of course the cop that turned up at their house is friends with the one co-worker other than Doug that she is allowed to talk to.

Athena pulls out a bag with burgers. She creeps forward and throws one of the burgers into a cupboard. Realising what the plan is, Maddie quietly and carefully makes her way inside and towards the cupboard. Once both dogs are in the cupboard eating the burgers Maddie is quick to close the door. Hen tends to the dog bite and Maddie makes her way outside to show animal control (who has finally arrived) where to go.

Hen assesses the bite and determines that whilst it is bad it isn’t bad enough to need them to take him to the hospital. Animal control takes care of the dogs and then a car shows up. When all of them realise the victim of the dog bite was a burglar all of them are annoyed that they let him get away. And Maddie can’t help but think about how terrible she is at reading people. She always gets fooled. Every time.

Maddie and Hen head back to the ambulance and the pain in Maddie’s stomach steals her attention now that she is no longer distracted by the call. Maddie presses her arm against her stomach and can’t help the wince of pain that she lets out, something she immediately regrets when Hen and Athena both turn to look at her.

“Maddie, what’s wrong?” Hen asks.

“Nothing. I’m fine. Let’s get back to the fire station.” Maddie starts to walk to the ambulance.

“Maddie. Are you in pain?” Athena asks.

Maddie wants to deny it but at the mention of the word ‘pain,’ her face automatically screws up as she clutches onto her stomach.

“Maddie, can I please check that you are ok?” Hen asks.

Maddie shakes her head frantically. She sees something soften in Athena and Hen’s eyes which confuses and concerns her.

“If Hen checks, whatever we see we won’t mention. We will just help as we can.”

Maddie trembles slightly.

“Maddie, you’re clearly in pain,” Hen says gently.

“It’s just a stomachache,” Maddie says tightly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll take some painkillers after our shift.”

“If you’ve got a stomachache then we should let Doug know so you can be man behind for the rest of the shift,” Hen says.

Maddie’s eyes widen. “NO!” She shouts as she turns completely pale. And then she sees Hen and Athena’s faces. Oh no. This is not good.

“Why can’t Doug know?” Hen asks.

Maddie trembles as she starts crying. They aren’t going to let it go. She can tell. And Athena already knows since she responded to their house. And if Athena is friends with Hen she might tell Hen anyway. So she has nothing left to lose.

Shaking, Maddie looks to make sure no one else is around before lifting up her shirt. Once she hears the gasps that let her know Athena and Hen have seen the army of bruises all in various states of healing she drops her shirt back down. “If you tell Doug then my stomachache will get worse. Let’s just get back to the firehouse.”

Maddie doesn’t look at Athena or Hen as she gets into the ambulance and stares at her lap. Hen tries to talk to her as they drive back to the firehouse but Maddie stays silent. It is only as they are about to pull in that Maddie talks. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t,” Hen says gently and Maddie feels a bit of relief as she can tell Hen means it.
_____

After their shift Hen, Karen and Denny go to Bobby and Athena’s for dinner. Bobby and Athena are having a family barbeque and lots of the firefighters from Bobby and Buck’s fire station are also there.

There are kids running around everywhere and in many corners people are laughing and talking. When Buck, Eddie and Chris arrive Denny runs over to Chris and the two of them go to join Harry and Robert, playing a complicated game that Robert is taking charge of.

Hen has conversations with many people but at some point in the night she finds herself in a quiet corner talking with Eddie and Athena. Eddie talks about the ferris wheel call and how hard it was that two people died. And then he mentions how weird Doug was acting afterwards.

Athena sits up sharply. “Weird how?” She asks.

Eddie gives Athena a look as he then looks at Hen.

“She knows Eddie. More than you do.”

Now it is Hen who looks confused. Athena sighs before clarifying. “Both of you know I responded to her house for a domestic violence call. And Hen saw some more stuff today. So all of us are on the same page and talking about the same thing. Eddie, how was Doug acting weird?”

“He was mad and pacing back and forth. He punched the table. He was yelling about how the Devon guy was an idiot and pathetic for letting go. All of us were keeping our distance until Maddie went and asked to speak with him in his office. When Doug left the office he was smiley and in a good mood. But before that he was insanely angry which was worrisome.”

All three of them sigh before Hen talks again. “Maddie does sometimes talk to me. And she might open up to me a bit now that she knows I know. Or she might close me off. But either way I will let her know I am there for her and that if she ever needs help I’ll give it to her.”

After that the three of them drift off to different sections of the barbeque, all of them wanting to help Maddie but knowing that they don’t have much power to change things for her.

Karen joins Hen and they watch laughing as the kids chase Buck and Eddie with water guns until Buck and Eddie are completely soaked and Buck’s hair is so wet it is literally dripping water.

May looks a bit down so Hen goes and asks her what’s wrong. May shrugs and says it's just some girls from school.

“Do your parents know?”

May is quick to shake her head. “You can’t tell them. Especially not Mom. I don’t want her getting involved.”

“Well you can always talk to me about anything if you don’t want to talk to your parents.”

May gives Hen a small smile and Hen listens as May unloads onto her. Once May has finished Hen finds some of the water guns. “Should we go and find your brothers?” May gives an enthusiastic nod and soon May and Hen are chasing Harry, Robert and Buck with the water guns. They find another water gun for Brooke and she joins them, all of them laughing as they chase after May and Brooke’s brothers.
____

The 118 arrive on scene and get out and look upwards at the building. It’s another jumper. Maddie feels nervous, knowing what always happens with jumpers. Doug is always convinced he is able to talk them down. Sometimes he can, sometimes he can’t. And whenever he can’t he blames it on her.

On their radios they get told that the balcony the guy is on is locked from the outside so they can’t get to him that way. Doug tells Hen and Maddie to stay downstairs and get the ambulance prepared just in case, Eddie and Chimney are to get prepared to do the manoeuvre in case they need it and Ravi and Lucy are to get air bags inflated in case the guy jumps.

Doug heads upstairs to try and talk the man down. When Doug gets there the man’s girlfriend is screaming at him. She turns when she sees Doug and tells him that her partner won’t listen to him and that they keep on going in circles.

“Why don’t you go inside. You being here is just antagonising him and making it worse. I’ll talk to him,” Doug says smoothly, making sure his voice is as charming as possible. The girlfriend melts and goes inside. Doug shuts the door to the balcony he is on so that no one else can hear them.

“I’m Doug. What’s your name?”

“Leonard,” The man replies.

“So, why do you want to jump? Your girlfriend causing you problems?”

Leonard nods, annoyance on his face. “I’m sure she’s cheating on me.”

Doug nods sympathetically.

“If I jump then she’ll know my death was her fault for cheating, for causing me pain. Hopefully she’ll understand what it feels like.”

Doug nods agreeably. “I get that. My wife causes me all sorts of problems and I get worried whenever she talks to other guys. But if you want to punish her, killing yourself isn’t the way to do it. There are other ways to get her to do what you want. To make her feel pain. To get her to feel the hurt you feel when she cheats on you.”

Leonard smiles as he steps off the railing and back onto the balcony. “What other ways?”

Doug talks into his radio to tell Eddie and Chimney that the manoeuvre won’t be needed before he spends the next few minutes telling Leonard some of the tips and tricks he uses on Maddie. By the end of it he and Leonard are exchanging phone numbers in order to share ideas with each other in the future.

Doug smiles as he heads back downstairs where his team is waiting.

“What happened?” Chimney asks.

“I talked him down,” Doug says with a casual shrug, pretending like it’s nothing but really he is basking in the feeling of being the hero.
____

Buck, Eddie and Chris arrive at Bobby and Athena’s for family dinner. Buck heads to May’s room planning to tell her some cool facts he found out about some of the actors from her favorite tv show.

He knocks on her door and there is silence. He knocks again. “Who is it?” May asks, her voice quiet and Buck can hear the tears in it. Alarm fills him.

“It’s me, Buck. Can I come in?”

More silence and Buck thinks she isn’t going to let him in until her voice quietly says “yes, but close the door behind you.”

Buck enters the room, closes the door and then hurries to May’s side when he sees the state she is in. She is sitting on the floor, tears running down her face as she holds a bottle of pills in one hand. Buck sees a few envelopes on her bed, each with a name on the outside of the envelope and he is filled with horror and dread.

Buck lets himself think for a few seconds, trying to figure out the best way to approach this and willing himself to not panic or freak out knowing May needs him to stay calm.

“Do you need a hug?” He asks.

May doesn’t say anything but she clings onto his side and grips onto him tightly. Her tears soak his shirt.

Once May’s tears have decreased Buck knows he needs to address the elephant in the room. He gently eases the bottle of pills out of May’s grip and she doesn’t resist.

“How can I help you May? What happened?”

May starts to sob again, her sobs increasing in intensity. There is a knock on the door and Athena’s voice saying dinner is ready. May looks at Buck in panic, her eyes wide and she shakes her head quickly.

“Can you keep our plates warm for us Athena, we might be a while,” Buck says. Athena replies that she will and then they hear the sound of her footsteps going in the other direction. May untenses when they no longer hear the footsteps.

“Are you going to tell Mom, Dad and Bobby?” May asks quietly.

Buck sighs. “I have to. You know I do. As we all care about you. But I will let you lead the way on how you want to deal with it. Do you think you can tell me why? If you can't, that's fine.”

May sobs some more. “Some girls at school.” She pulls out her phone, opens up some messages and passes it along to Buck.

Buck feels sorrow and rage fill him as he reads all of the messages. No one should ever treat another human being like this.

May continues crying as she tells Buck everything. Everything the girls have done, everything they have said, everything they have made her feel. Buck somehow manages to control his composure on the outside. But on the inside he is a mess. This is his sister those girls messed with.

Once she has finished talking about the girls May looks at the bottle of pills. “How am I supposed to tell Mom, Dad and Bobby I was planning on killing myself? That I still want to. They won’t understand. No one will. What if they judge me?”

Buck takes a breath. “I understand. I’ve been there.”

May stares at him. “You have? What happened? What changed? You managed to move on from that?”

“You know how I almost never talk about my biological family?”

May nods.

“Well when I was a kid my parents ignored me. The only way I got their attention was if I got injured so eventually I started getting hurt on purpose so I would get their attention. But even that didn’t work. Instead my sister Maddie was the one who raised me and the only one who loved me. I was desperate for my parents love but I never got it and I never understood why. Then when I was 11 my sister moved out to live with her boyfriend, now husband, and I was stuck alone in a house with no one who loved me so I started doing more and more dangerous things to get my parents attention not caring if I risked dying in the process. Maddie’s responses to phone calls and texts started getting less and less and I was drowning in my parents indifference not being able to cope with the way they saw through me instead of actually seeing me. Even though I knew they didn’t care I kept hurting myself worse and worse trying to get them to see me, not able to bear the way they looked through me, knowing I couldn’t deal with it. Eventually when I was 19 I knew that if I stayed living with my parents I was going to kill myself as I couldn’t cope with it any longer. I went to the fire station my sister and her husband work at and asked my sister for help, if I could stay with her and her husband. Her husband hates me and he pulled her aside to talk to her before she came back and gave me her car and some money and told me to leave and never come back, to find people who would love me and I would belong with. After she rejected me I planned on going and killing myself right then and there. But I figured I should at least spend her money before I did so I drove around some of the country and ended up in Minnesota where I met Bobby, Marcy, Brooke and Robert. And they accepted me for who I was and over time I started to feel loved and wanted and sometimes I still struggle. But I have you and your siblings and your parents and Eddie and Chris.”

After Buck finishes speaking May just stares at him and Buck wonders if he told her too much, if it was too much for her to handle especially considering her current state of mind.

May hugs him tighter. “Well I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re my brother. Can you get Mom, Dad and Bobby to come in here so I can tell them? And can you stay with me while I do?”

Buck nods as he gives May another hug. He picks up the bottle of pills and pockets it before exiting May’s room. Everyone else is around the table, laughing and eating. They all pause when they see the serious look on Buck’s face.

“Athena, Michael, Bobby, can you come with me to May’s room? She needs to talk to you about something.”

Bobby, Athena and Michael exchange worried glances before getting up and following Buck. Once they are in the room with the door shut, May asks Buck if he can give the bottle of pills to one of her parents. Buck hands them to Athena who looks at them in confusion. May grabs the pile of envelopes and looks at the floor. “Can one of you bin these? I need help so that I won’t need these anymore?”

Buck sees three looks of horror as one by one Bobby, Athena and Michael understand what May is saying. Athena gives May a hug and soon there are tears on everyone in the room’s faces.

The rest of the evening is spent talking and coming up with strategies and plans to help May. When Buck, Eddie and Chris say goodnight, May gives Buck a tight hug before he goes and Buck promises he will be back tomorrow. Once he steps outside of May’s room Athena gives Buck a hug. “Thank you Buck. Thank you for being there for her.”

Buck promises Athena that he will always be there for May.

On the ride home Chris talks about the fun games he, Harry, Robert and Brooke played after dinner. Buck manages to engage in the conversation although his mind is on other things entirely. Once they get home and Chris goes to bed Buck starts to cry again. He tells Eddie what happened knowing Eddie won’t tell anyone and needing to talk about it with someone who isn’t a parent to May.

Eventually Buck has talked out all his worries and it is a relief to be able to go to bed next to his husband, someone he trusts and loves with all his being who he knows will always be there for him in whatever capacity is required.

Chapter Text

Doug stares at the bouncy house in front of him. It is now dangling off the side of a cliff and there are still kids trapped inside. Genevieve’s 5th birthday is coming up and Maddie had hesitantly suggested that a bouncy house could be cool. He had pretended he was indifferent to the idea and that her idea was stupid but it was a good idea and he had actually been considering it. Well not any more.

He instructs Eddie and Chimney to rappel down to anchor the bouncy house and to then start assessing the conditions of the kids and send them down in the basket to where the ambulance is for Hen and Maddie to take care of them. He gets Ravi and Lucy manning the winch and then he makes sure to get as much intel on the situation as he can to help guide his team.

They get all of the kids out and then rescue the dad who has to be put on a stretcher. Just as Maddie is about to hop in the back of the ambulance to take care of the dad as she and Hen take him to the hospital Doug leans in close to her to whisper in her ear. “Do you see now why your bouncy house suggestion was so stupid? If we had gone ahead with it Genevieve could have died and it would have been your fault. You’re a bad mother, you need to do a better job.”

He sees tears on Maddie’s face before she wipes them away and jumps into the back of the ambulance. Doug smiles to himself. That will teach Maddie to not make suggestions. He is the one that does the thinking. He has the better ideas anyway.
______________________________

Chimney storms into their next shift, desperation on his face. “I’m a good looking guy right? I mean you could do a lot worse than me?”

Maddie ducks her head and looks at her lap hoping Doug didn’t see her face when Chimney asked if he was good looking.

“Chimney, I’ve done a whole lot worse than you,” Hen says, thinking about Eva and all the problems that came with her, relieved that is now firmly in the past.

Chim paces slightly, still looking upset.

“What’s wrong man?” Doug asks, concern on his face.

Chimney sighs. “I asked Tatiana to marry me.”

There is silence. Eventually Eddie speaks. “I’m guessing it didn’t go so well.”

Chimney groans. “First she said she cheated on me with someone I didn’t even know about and then she said that we should break up.”

Chimney sinks down onto the couch and Doug sits next to him. “Maddie, make a drink or something for Chimney, the rest of you, give me and Chim some space.”

Once everyone has backed away Doug turns to Chim. “I’m sorry for you man. You deserved better than her.”

Chim just looks at Doug. “Why would she cheat on me? I trusted her.”

Doug sighs. “Even when you trust women and do everything for them they can still mess up and betray you. You dodged a bullet but I am here for you, whatever you need.”

Maddie appears carrying two drinks. She passes the first to Chimney and then is passing the second one to Doug when she accidentally drops it. Maddie flinches before hurrying around in a panic, grabbing supplies to clean it up with.

Doug glares at the frantic mess that is his wife. “See, even a woman as perfect as Maddie messes up sometimes. You’ll find someone that’s right for you. I’m sorry about Tatiana but if she doesn’t want you then screw her. You’ll find someone better.”

Maddie comes back and scrambles around as she cleans up the mess, her movements panicky and awkward. Once she has cleaned it up she flees out of sight. Doug watches her go, a smirk on his face.

Doug stays with Chim, the two of them joking around and Chimney’s mood improving until the alarm goes off and dispatch lets them know they are headed to a car crash.

When they get there Doug sees that the 132 is already there. He checks in with their captain who is the incident commander. It is Doug’s first time working with the 132 since he and Maddie moved to LA so he quickly introduces himself as Doug Kendall. The captain of the 132 introduces himself as Bobby Nash.

Bobby then explains the situation to Doug. Doug makes his way to the vehicle and he has seen a lot before but he can’t believe his eyes. The guy in the car has a rebar going through his head yet he is still awake and alive.

Bobby and Doug figure out a plan. They get Eddie, Chimney and two of Bobby’s guys working together to extract the guy from the car. They then load him into the ambulance with Hen and Maddie and soon they are gone.

Eddie then turns to Bobby. “Wow, Buck isn’t going to believe this story. I am sure when we tell him he’s going to go down another wikipedia rabbit hole.” Bobby gives a laugh before patting Eddie on the back and telling him he’ll see him later. The 132 get in their vehicles and go and soon the 118 are also heading back.

“How do you know Captain Nash? Have you worked with him at previous scenes?” Doug asks.

Eddie smiles thinking of his history with Bobby. “Bobby and I go way back. He’s my father in law.”

“You didn’t want to have your father in law as your captain then?” Doug asks with a smile.

Eddie shrugs. “Buck works at the same station as Bobby. So the clearance of having a father and son team was already one thing. Having a father, son and the son’s husband all in the same fire house would be way too much.”

Everyone nods their heads in vehement agreement. They get back to the fire station and they are relaxing until Hen and Maddie return, both of them subdued and there are tears on Maddie’s face.

“Did he die?” Lucy asks.

Maddie gives a nod before running to the privacy of the bunk room. She lies down on one of the bunks feeling the grief and sorrow rip through her wishing she could have done something to save him even though his chances were very low. He had a rebar through the head after all.

She feels the weight of a person sitting down on the edge of the mattress and she tenses as she feels Doug’s hand wiping away her tears.

“You don’t need to cry Maddie. It will be alright,” Doug says gently.

Maddie ignores him and keeps her face buried in the pillow. Doug continues talking, trying to comfort her but Maddie isn’t in the mood for it. Eventually Doug gives up. “You know, maybe it was your fault. If you were a better paramedic he might have made it to the hospital. After all, he died in transit and you were the one in the back taking care of him.”

Maddie sobs even harder, feeling no relief when Doug gets up and leaves her. She stays there like that until they get called out again and then she forces herself up and wipes away the last of her tears as she silently joins Hen in the front of the ambulance.

They arrive on scene. The sun is beating down on them and the heat is intense. And they aren’t the ones trapped in a metal container that is the back of a truck.

Maddie hears the people inside screaming and begging for help and she thinks she is going to be sick. Memories of incidents swirl in her mind and she has to force herself to push the memories away. This isn’t about her. This is about the people in the truck they are here to rescue. But that doesn’t stop her from being haunted by the memories of all the times Doug has locked her somewhere and kept her trapped with no clue of how long she would be there for.

Doug starts giving everyone instructions and Maddie blinks, clearing her focus as she quickly obeys Doug’s commands. Eddie, Doug and Chimney start working on cutting through the lock. Hen makes her way to the front of the truck and finds the id of the driver, the culprit, dangling of the mirror.

Once the truck is opened the smell of all the people trapped together in the heat is overwhelming. Everyone starts helping lift or guide the people out of the van. Hen and Maddie rush to hand out water and administer medical aid. Eddie acts as the translator once they realise that most of the people inside can’t speak English but can speak Spanish. Maddie understands some as well because Genevieve’s nanny Cassandra and her daughter Claribelle speak Spanish so Maddie has learnt some, especially because Genevieve can speak it fluently due to spending so much time with Cassandra and Claribelle.

Doug radios in for as many ambulances as possible. Maddie does compressions on the boy in the worst shape and once he is breathing Maddie and Hen load the boy into the first ambulance and take him to the hospital before returning to take the next person to the hospital.

Maddie feels sadness fill her. She knows people can do horrible things to others, that some people chose to be terrible to people. But every time she is confronted with the evidence of how cruel people can be it still shocks her and fills her with sorrow.

For the rest of the shift all of the 118 is a bit subdued, all of them clearly still thinking about the poor people who had been trapped in that truck.
______________________________

When Maddie and Doug get home Maddie is quick to greet Genevieve. Doug sighs and brushes past them. He allows Maddie 30 minutes with Genevieve before he tells her to take Genevieve to Cassandra and Claribelle’s for the night.

Maddie picks up her daughter, faking enthusiasm as she tells Genevieve she gets to have a sleepover with Claribelle and Cassandra. Genevieve cheers in delight. Maddie crosses the backyard, soaking in the feeling of her precious girl being in her arms, before reaching the cottage and reluctantly knocking on the door.

Claribelle opens it with a smile and Genevieve begs to be put down, running inside, hand in hand with Claribelle as soon as Maddie sets her down. Cassandra comes to the door with a tired smile on her face. “She’ll have a great time,” Cassandra says softly.

Maddie gives her a small smile. “Thanks Cassandra.”

Maddie returns to the house, as normal her conversation with Cassandra full of the things they leave unsaid.

“Make dinner for 3 rather than 2,” Doug snaps at Maddie the instant she reenters the house. Maddie wonders who is coming over but she knows better than to ask so she just hurries to the kitchen.

Just before the food is ready there is a knock on the door and then Maddie hears Chimney’s voice. Her whole body freezes. Out of everyone Doug chose to have over for dinner he chose Chimney?

Doug and Chimney make their way over to where Maddie is plating up the food. “Chimney is understandably still upset about Tatiana so I thought he could come here so he isn’t by himself for the evening.”

Maddie finishes plating up the food and the three of them head to the table, Maddie not sure how to act. It is clear Doug wants to cheer Chimney up. Meaning he might want Maddie to engage with the conversation and to laugh at Chimney’s jokes and stories. But Doug also gets jealous very easily so what if this is a trap?

Doug asks Chimney the story behind his nickname saying he hasn’t actually heard it. Chim looks embarrassed but it brings an awkward smile to his face before he groans and says that he will tell them but that the story isn’t to go any further than this table.

As Chimney tells the story Doug is smiling and laughing and Maddie can’t help laughing either although she tries to control her laughter, fully aware of Doug’s eyes on her.

Once they have had dinner Maddie is relieved to be able to escape to the kitchen to start cleaning up. She thinks Chimney is a great guy and in another life maybe they could be good friends. But with Doug, even just interacting with other males is risky. So dinner felt like a minefield.

Doug comes into the kitchen and heads to the liquor cabinet and pulls out a few bottles before he goes back out to the living area.

Whilst Maddie works on cleaning everything up she hears Doug and Chimney’s voices and laughs get louder and louder and she winces with the knowledge that both of them are drunk. Drunk Doug is never good.

Doug eventually wobbles into the kitchen and his words slurring he instructs Maddie to set up the guest bedroom for Chimney as he is in no state to drive. Maddie obeys and then retreats to her and Doug’s bedroom, not wanting to be anywhere near the drunk Doug.

Maddie finds herself unable to fall asleep as even with the door shut, the sound of Doug and Chimney’s loud voices and laughs carry through. It isn’t until the early hours of the morning that their voices die down and Doug stumbles into the room and collapses into the bed next to her, draping a floppy arm over Maddie as he kisses her and mumbles that he loves her. It isn’t until she hears the sound of Doug snoring that Maddie is able to relax enough to also find sleep.

When Maddie wakes up she slips out of bed and makes breakfast. She then leaves it in the food warmer and leaves a note for Doug that she is seeing Genevieve. She doesn’t know how hungover Doug and Chimney will be but she doesn’t feel like sticking around to find out.

It is still early but Cassandra opens the door as soon as Maddie knocks. Genevieve and Claribelle are already awake so Maddie plays with the two of them whilst Cassandra makes breakfast. After they have eaten, Maddie and Cassandra talk whilst they watch Genevieve and Claribelle play.

Maddie hates the way Doug holds Cassandra and Claribelle’s undocumented status over Cassandra’s head and uses it to control Cassandra. But it is nice having a friend and seeing Genevieve’s friendship with Claribelle even with the 5 year age difference between the girls.

Maddie spends many hours at Cassandra’s until Doug knocks on the door for her so she and Genevieve make their way back to the house. Chimney is no longer there and Maddie can’t help but be relieved by that.
______________________________

The 132 are first to arrive on scene. For a moment all Buck can do is stare at what is in front of him. A plane that has crashed into the water and is now on fire. The sound of screams is enough to get all of them moving.

Bobby is the incident commander so he assigns all of them tasks and then as more fire stations arrive Bobby updates them on what is happening and what areas help is needed in.

When the 118 arrive on scene Doug runs up to Bobby and asks where he wants them. Bobby gets the 118 working on dragging out rafts to rescue the people in the water. Bobby, Buck and the 132 start working on helping the people still trapped inside of the plane.

It is dark and there is barely enough light to see, just the light from the fire and then from the helicopters above them and the emergency vehicles on shore.

As the 118 pull the first raft into the water they pass bodies. Maddie wants to cry but she knows she has a job to do. The water is freezing and their clothes don’t do much to protect them from the cold. Once the first raft is loaded up with people they drag it back to shore. Hen and Maddie stay on shore to provide medical assistance for the people who need it, the rest of the 118 take the raft back into the water to rescue the people still there.

Doug is focused on the task at hand. He is screaming out orders as they continue pulling people out of the water and everyone listens, aware of the need for urgency. Once they have gotten everyone out of the water they move to the plane to help the 132 get the people stuck in the plane out.

And then Doug sees him. Evan. Here. In LA. In a firefighters uniform. Rage fills Doug but he pushes it aside knowing he has a job he needs to focus on. As long as neither Evan or Maddie spot each other it will be fine.

Captain Nash is the first to see them. “Captain Kendall, we need two of you to help us here and then the rest of your team can help free people stuck in the plane’s bathroom.”

Doug takes Eddie with him to where Captain Nash is and sends the rest of his team to free the people in the bathroom. When Doug and Eddie approach the mom stuck in the seat with her son refusing to leave he groans internally when he sees that Evan is right there. Evan’s head is down, focusing on getting the mom out and Doug wonders how long it will take for Evan to spot him.

The mom is trying to get the son to leave and go to safety but the son doesn’t want to leave him. Doug rolls his eyes in annoyance. “I’ll get your son to safety,” he says before reaching down and pulling the kid up and away from the mom, not caring as the kid starts screaming and crying and desperately reaching for his mom.

Doug catches the moment Evan sees him as Evan’s entire body freezes. “Doug?” He whispers in horror and stunned shock.

Doug smirks to himself as he turns around and carries the boy out of the plane and then passes him to Ravi and Lucy who get him onto one of the rescue boats before taking the boy to shore. Doug then reenters the plane, to help get the mother unstuck.

Evan glares at Doug and Doug pretends he doesn’t notice although inside he is seething with rage. He stays quiet as they work to get the mom out, getting her free and all of them out of the plane just before it sinks. All of them are then stuck using the same rescue boat to go back to shore.

Doug is silent as his rage consumes him. But then he hears Eddie talking to Evan and Captain Nash.

“Buck, are you alright?” Eddie asks.

Evan shakes his head and Doug freezes. Eddie just called Evan Buck. Does that mean that the Buck that Eddie keeps on mentioning, the Buck that Eddie is married to is Evan? Doug clenches his fists as he feels his temperature rise, knowing he has to keep his cool until their shift is over. He hears Evan tell Eddie he will let him know what is wrong when he is home. Evan then turns to Bobby. “Dad, I won’t be able to make it to family dinner tonight. I need some alone time. But let May know I will come by tomorrow morning.”

Bobby nods and Doug’s thoughts are racing as he tries to catch up on what is happening. One of his firefighters is married to Maddie’s pathetic little brother. And Evan is now calling Captain Nash his dad and they all have family dinners together. This is way more connected than he would like.

When they reach the shore Doug is relieved that Maddie is nowhere in sight. But then things get even worse when Athena, the cop who showed up at their door, comes on the scene. Athena levels Doug with a look and Doug realises she knows or is at least suspicious. When did Maddie blab? Maddie should have known better.

Athena goes up to Bobby and wraps her arm around his side and the two of them kiss. Athena then looks at Evan. “Are you alright Buck?”

Evan shakes his head. “I’ll tell you about it later Mom.”

“I love you,” Athena tells Evan.

“I love you too,” Evan replies.

Doug is silent on the drive back to the station. Everyone else is silent as well, all of them all sad over the amount of bodies in the water and the quantity of people who died. Doug doesn’t care about that at all. Maddie’s brother works for the LAFD. Maddie’s brother, the one person who Maddie would possibly risk leaving him for. Maddie’s brother who is now apparently married to one of his firefighters, now has a cop for a mother figure and a fire captain for a father figure. Maddie can never find out as if she knows how many people Evan has on his side she might decide to take the risk and leave him. And that can never happen. That isn’t how his and Maddie’s story ends. They are meant to live together, grow old together and die together.
____

Maddie and Hen get back to the fire station after everyone else. As soon as they arrive Maddie’s body goes tense and she just knows something is wrong. Everyone is quiet and there is something in the air and Maddie can tell it is more than just the weight of their last call.

The rest of their shift is silent (not quiet, never the word quiet). Doug’s office door stays firmly shut and it is clear he is in there by the distance everyone gives the room.

10 minutes before the end of his shift Doug opens his office door and calls Eddie, asking if he can have a word. Doug and Eddie then disappear into the office as everyone else exchanges confused glances.

When Eddie emerges from Doug’s office there is a weird look on Eddie’s face and Maddie is disconcerted by the fact that Eddie keeps on looking in her direction. When everyone else asks Eddie what Doug wanted to talk about Eddie shrugs them off saying it was family stuff which confuses Maddie. Surely she would know if Eddie was related to Doug. Then again, she is sure Doug keeps plenty of things from her and she isn’t exactly foolish enough to try and find out what secrets he is keeping.

Once their shift is over Doug storms over to their car, dark storm clouds filling his face. One of Doug’s hands clamps down onto her thigh and he doesn’t let go the entire way home.

When they arrive Doug parks the car and turns off the engine. He then turns to face Maddie. “You have 3 minutes to say goodnight to Genevieve and to get her to Cassandra’s cottage. If you take longer than that I take no responsibility for anything Genevieve may witness.”

The implications are deadly clear and Maddie has no idea what she has done to cause this level of rage. She rushes out of the car and into the house. Genevieve, Claribelle and Cassandra all greet her. Maddie gives Genevieve a quick hug before looking up at Cassandra, unable to hide the panic in her eyes. “You need to take both the girls. Now.”

It is with a nod that Cassandra takes both girls and hurries them out even as Genevieve starts reaching in Maddie’s direction and wailing her name. Maddie feels her heart break at the sound of her daughter crying for her but she knows she doesn’t have another option. Cassandra takes the girls away and then Doug enters the house, closing the door behind him.

Doug punches Maddie to the ground and starts screaming insults at her as he punches her repeatedly. Maddie tries to use her arms to cover her face and protect herself but Doug just pulls her arms out of the way.

Maddie has never seen Doug this mad and she doesn’t even know what she did. He is even madder than he was the few times she risked trying to leave. Even madder than the time six years ago back in Hershey when Evan came to their firehouse and asked for help so Maddie gave him her car and her escape fund. By that point Doug already had full control of all the money so he knew that Maddie shouldn’t have had any money so he recognised the money she gave Evan as what it was and he made sure she paid for it. He was furious that night and she was sure she was going to die. And now looking up at Doug, his level of rage somehow even worse than it was that night, all Maddie can do is close her eyes and hope that Doug does it quickly.

Doug seizes hold of her head and slams it hard against the floor. The pain is so bad and Maddie’s head starts throbbing as her vision begins to swim and everything becomes blurry. Doug slams her head into the floor again and this time everything goes dark.
______________________________

In the end Buck decides they will still go to family dinner. He knows he will eventually tell Bobby and Athena about Doug so it makes sense to tell them at the same time as Eddie.

Dinner itself is quiet as Buck is in his head, while knowing he needs to wait until the kids have left the room. When Bobby asks what is wrong Buck gives a look around the room, nodding his head in the direction of the kids and understanding crosses Bobby and Athena’s faces.

Once dinner is finished Athena announces that Buck, Eddie and Chris are spending the night as the kids are having a movie night in the second living room. The kids are all excited and it isn’t long before all of them are cozy in the living room surrounded with snacks. Athena asks May to make sure they aren’t interrupted unless it is an emergency and May promises they won’t be, the look on May’s face making it obvious she understands that they need privacy for a serious conversation.

Buck, Eddie, Bobby and Athena head to the other living room, the one the kids aren’t using. Buck and Eddie sit down next to each other on one couch and Bobby and Athena sit next to each other on the couch opposite them, facing them.

“What’s wrong Buck?” Athena asks.

“Doug,” Buck growls, unable to hide the anger in his voice.

“Captain Kendall?” Bobby queries at the same time Eddie asks “my captain?”

“My brother in law,” Buck spits out.

There are horrified gasps and Eddie and Athena exchange an alarmed look. They were already worried about Maddie, but if she is Buck’s sister, then that just makes things even worse.

“So your sister Maddie is the same Maddie that is Doug’s wife?” Eddie asks slowly.

Buck nods in confirmation before sitting up straight. “Wait, you said your new captain's wife works at the station as a paramedic. So that means Maddie works with you?”

Eddie nods.

“I didn’t even know they had left Hershey. I haven’t seen or heard from Maddie in six years.”

There is silence before a look of pain finds its way onto Buck’s face. “If they’re now in LA why hasn’t Maddie gotten in contact with me? Why did she just abandon me?”

Athena gives a meaningful glance at Eddie and Eddie nods, holding Buck’s hand, knowing Buck is going to need support.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Athena starts.

Buck’s panic is instant. “What do you mean? Is Maddie alright?”

Bobby gets Buck to take a breath and once Buck is calmer Athena continues talking.

“We didn’t know she was your sister. But Eddie, Hen and I have already been worried about Maddie.”

Fear fills Buck’s face. “Why?”

Athena sighs. “I responded to a domestic violence call at her house. And on a different call she reluctantly showed Hen and I bruises. And from what Eddie has said she is always quiet and jumpy at work and only talks to Doug and Hen, no one else.”

“He’s hurting her?” Buck asks, his voice breaking in disbelief and sorrow.

Athena nods grimly. “We think so.”

Buck abruptly stands up and storms to the door but Eddie gets in his way before he can go after Doug. “Let me go sort Doug out!” Buck growls.

“I understand why you want to do that. I wouldn’t mind doing the same thing. But that won’t help Maddie,” Eddie says.

Buck turns to Athena in despair. “You’re a cop. Can’t we do anything?”

Athena sighs. “Unfortunately in these cases until someone is ready to leave we can’t do anything. But Hen and Eddie are keeping an eye on her at work and will update us and they will try to make work a safe space for her.”

Buck turns to Eddie. “At work can you tell her I’m your husband. That’s I’m not mad at her and that I will be there for her if she needs me, no matter what.”

A look of hesitation fills Eddie’s face.

“What is it Eddie?” Bobby asks.

“When we got back to the station after the plane call Doug requested to speak to me in his office. He made it very clear that there would be problems if Maddie found out that my husband is Maddie’s brother. She knows I’m married, but I’ve only ever referred to you as Buck, never Evan. His threats weren’t specific, just that if Maddie learns you are in LA and that I am married to you then there will be trouble.”

A sick look crosses Buck’s face. “So he will hurt her if she finds out I’m here.”

“I think so,” Eddie says, a grim look on his face, a look that is echoed on Bobby and Athena’s faces.

Buck sinks down onto the couch. “What are we supposed to do? How am I supposed to protect her if I can’t even let her know I am here?”

The rest of the evening is spent with the four of them figuring out ways to try and help Maddie plus deciding what they will do if the 132 and the 118 respond to scenes together. Eventually they decide that if they respond to the same scene Bobby will assign Buck a task out of Maddie’s line of vision as whilst Buck misses Maddie and desperately wants to see her they don’t want to take any chances and risk doing anything that will cause Maddie to bear the brunt of Doug’s anger.

Chapter Text

Maddie wakes up in the hospital. Her head is screaming in pain and in the one second she opens her eyes, before shutting them straight away due to the harshness of the bright lights, her vision is blurry. She feels a cast on her left arm which is also throbbing in pain and she wonders if Doug did it when she was unconscious as she doesn’t even remember him breaking her arm.

She feels Doug’s hand in hers and the sound of his voice trying to compete with the pounding in her head but every word he says swims around and gets lost in the mess of her brain.

Her entire body is in agony but the pain in her head is definitely the worst and it is the only thing she is capable of thinking about.
_____

Eddie arrives early to the next shift in order to talk to Hen as it has been agreed they can let Hen know that Maddie is Buck’s brother as they know she will keep that to herself. They won’t let Chimney know though as he is friendly with Doug and besides, everyone knows that Chimney can’t keep a secret.

Eddie spots Hen quickly and pulls her away to a quiet corner. Hen is confused but she follows.

“What I’m about to tell you can’t be passed on to anyone else, especially Chimney. However it was agreed I could tell you especially as you are the only one other than Doug that Maddie talks to.”

At the mention of Maddie’s name Hen’s facial expression turns very serious.

“We only made the connection at the plane call due to cut contact but we realised that Buck’s sister Maddie he hasn’t spoken to in 6 years is the same Maddie that we work with.”

Hen’s eyes go wide.

Eddie quickly explains why they can’t let Maddie know that Buck is right there (Doug’s threats) and that they can’t refer to Buck as Evan in earshot of either Maddie or Doug.

Chimney then approaches them so Eddie is quick to start sharing a story about Chris.

Ravi arrives and then Lucy. But no Doug or Maddie.

Eventually Doug arrives. Without Maddie.

“Chimney, for the next two weeks you are partnered with Hen in the ambulance,” Doug announces before heading to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

Hen and Eddie exchange a worried look. “Where’s Maddie?” Hen asks.

“Our daughter is about to turn five so Maddie wanted some time off to plan Genevieve’s party and to spend some more time with her before she is at school all day.” Doug gives a casual shrug. “I thought it was a silly reason to want time off but she insisted so here we are.”

Once Doug is distracted Hen texts Athena.
_____

Athena pulls up outside the Kendall house. She knocks on the door but no one answers. She hopes Maddie is alright but given what she has seen she doesn’t like her chances. She is about to turn and go away when she hears voices in the backyard.

Athena slowly makes her way there and sees a woman and a little girl playing in the yard. The girl spots her first and points at her and when the woman sees her she freezes.

“What are you doing here?” The little girl asks.

“I was just doing a welfare check. Do you know if Maddie Kendall is home?”

The woman pales even more but the little girl speaks up. “That’s my mommy’s name! Do you know her? She isn’t here. She’s in the hospital because she had an accident.”

The woman looks frantic and Athena is alarmed. “Are you alright?” She asks the woman. The woman looks worried but she nods her head and Athena knows she can’t do anything about it so she gets in her car and heads to the hospital.

When Athena gets to the hospital she asks where Maddie Kendall’s room is. Because she is in her uniform the nurses don't question her and instead lead her right there.

When Athena enters the room she is saddened but not surprised by the state Maddie is in. One of Maddie’s arms is in a cast and her entire body is covered in bruises.

Athena stays there for a while, deciding she will stay with Maddie until she gets called to a scene so she sits in the seat next to Maddie, settling into her spot.

At one stage Maddie’s eyes slowly open and Maddie winces with pain. There is fear in Maddie’s eyes and when she spots Athena the fear and panic in her eyes only increases and her breathing starts to get way too fast.

Athena is quick to say that she won’t try and make Maddie leave and that her husband won’t know she was here. She just doesn’t want Maddie to be alone. At those words Maddie’s panic decreases a little bit although the fear never leaves her eyes.

Part of Athena wants to tell Maddie that her brother is here in LA, that she has a support system that will be there for her whenever she is ready to try and leave. But it is clear that Maddie is concussed and can barely make sense of anything Athena is saying. Athena knows telling her Buck is here and married to Eddie won’t help right now and might only make things worse if in her still confused state Maddie ended up repeating that to Doug. So Athena doesn’t mention Buck to Maddie. Instead she just sits with Maddie until she gets called to a robbery a couple of blocks away.
____

They are still at the station when Hen sees that she has been added to a group chat. A group chat with her, Eddie, Buck, Athena and Bobby. The group chat doesn’t have a name but it is obvious what the purpose of the chat is, especially when Athena messages the chat saying that she just visited Maddie at the hospital and Maddie has a broken arm, a bad concussion and is covered in bruises.

Hen looks over at Eddie who jumps up and heads to the gym section of the firehouse and starts punching one of the punching bags. She doesn’t need to ask if he saw the message. It is obvious he did.

Hen messages the chat explaining (for Buck and Bobby’s benefit as she already told Athena) that Doug said Maddie will be off for 2 weeks and she includes the flimsy reason Doug provided for Maddie’s absence.

Buck spams the chat with angry emojis and Hen doesn’t blame him.

When they get a call to a wedding where the floor caved in Bobby says that the 132 are responding as well as the 118. Hen exchanges a questioning glance with Eddie. If Maddie isn’t here to possibly spot Buck then does Buck still need to stay out of sight of the 118? They ask the chat that and Athena suggests to keep Buck out of Doug’s sight just in case.

The 118 arrives on scene before the 132 and it is all hands on deck with 16 people dead on arrival and way too many other people trapped. It is distracting having to try and focus on keeping Buck out of Doug’s sight but with Eddie, Hen and Bobby all helping they manage to do so.

The 132 is on their way back to the firehouse when they get a call that is on their route back to the firehouse. When they get there Bobby spots the downed power lines so he gets Lena to make sure everyone stays clear. When they enter the backyard the problem becomes clearer. There is a girl sitting on a floatie in the middle of a pool that is electrified. There is a person lying facedown in the pool, clearly already dead, and the parents are hysterical.

Bobby assigns one of them to stay with the parents and make sure the parents don’t do anything foolish. After looking around Bobby determines that the garden hose lying there will work just as well as anything in their truck so he and Buck get on either end of the hose and get the kid to hold onto the hose as they slowly drag her to the edge of the pool. When she gets there Lena picks her up, making sure she stays clear of the pool when getting out.

They call the power company and the coroner and once the power has been sorted out the body is taken out of the pool and the coroner takes over.

When they get back to the fire house Buck starts pacing, wondering how Maddie is doing. Athena has said that she will check on Maddie when she can, but only when they know that Doug is on shift in case Doug has realised Athena’s connection with Buck.
______

Maddie’s head is still pounding and thinking is still impossible when Doug arrives and tells her she is well enough to be discharged. Maddie follows Doug out of the hospital, leaning on Doug's side to prevent her from falling over.

Maddie has no clue if Doug says anything on the drive home, her mind drifting and nothing making any sense.

When they arrive home Doug snaps at her to start making dinner. Maddie doesn't have a clue what the time is but she nods and somehow ends up in the kitchen. She somehow manages to cook something although she doesn’t have a clue how she did as she was zoned out the entire time and her left arm being achy and stuck in a cast doesn’t help things.

At dinner Genevieve is talking excitedly, thrilled that Maddie is home. As much as Maddie tries to pay attention to what Genevieve is saying she is unable to. She hears a word which she immediately forgets so when the next word comes she doesn’t remember what Genevieve was talking about.

Genevieve starts crying and Doug hits Maddie in the face. He starts screaming about how she is a terrible mother and how she is making her daughter cry. Maddie can hear his screaming but she can’t make out what he is saying, her brain won’t piece the sentences together, instead his words are just angry fragments flying through the mess that is her brain as she tries but fails to piece anything together.

Once Genevieve is in bed Doug yanks Maddie to the guest bedroom. The room is filled with Genevieve’s unwrapped birthday presents, wrapping paper, scissors and tape. Doug leaves the room, locking the door behind him.

She can barely piece her thoughts together and Maddie starts sobbing. It takes her a long time to calm down enough to get started on the task. A task that takes way longer than it normally would as she keeps on forgetting what she is doing and then she forgets how to wrap presents and the whole thing is just one massive mess. She eventually manages to wrap all of the presents. They are nowhere near as neat as she would normally do it so she is sure to be punished for that but her brain is so tired and once it is all done she just collapses onto the bed and falls asleep.

A few days later it is Genevieve’s 5th birthday and Maddie’s head is still stuck in a fog. She feels the hot tears build up behind her eyes, wishing she could be more present for her daughter but the relentless pounding in her head gets in her way.

She tries to be as present as she can. She smiles when Genevieve opens her presents. She nods her head and listens when Genevieve talks, even when every word she hears instantly disappears from her head. She somehow manages to prepare all the party food Doug forces her to.

Genevieve is laughing and full of energy and excitement and Maddie is happy to see her daughter’s joy even if she can barely remember what is happening and where she is.
____

It takes two more weeks for Maddie’s head to finally clear and for her concussion to heal. It is a relief when she is finally able to process thoughts again and remember what people are saying.

So she listens to Genevieve’s stories with renewed enthusiasm, so happy that she can finally compute what is going on. She listens to Doug’s stories of calls he had during his shift. A guy getting stuck in a car wash. A plane crash during a proposal gone wrong.

Maddie is desperate to get back to work but Doug refuses to let her return until her cast is off, which is still a couple of weeks away, saying she will just be useless and a hazard at work if she returns whilst her arm is still broken. And as much as she hates to admit it Maddie knows Doug is right. Her arm being in a cast would get in the way of helping others. And she doesn’t want to put others at risk.

In a way the time off is nice. She gets to spend more time with Genevieve and also Cassandra and Claribelle. The four of them hang out during the daytime with Genevieve and Claribelle playing with each other and Maddie and Cassandra talking to each other. Cassandra is the closest Maddie has to a real friend. It’s not like she’s allowed to talk to anyone at work besides Hen and Doug. And besides work she never leaves the house. So even though Maddie is longing to go back to work and back to helping people she also enjoys the time off more than she thought she would.

Whilst Maddie is recovering Doug is nice. Nicer than he normally is. Maddie doesn’t know how long it will last and as they get closer to Valentine’s day her anxiety starts to build up as she overanalyses everything, trying to be able to spot when things change so that she won’t be caught off guard when Doug eventually snaps. But in the meantime whilst Doug is being nice Maddie leans into that as much as possible. Making sure he knows how much she loves him and how much she appreciates him. Laying it on as thickly as possible in the hope that maybe just maybe he will stay like this. Even though she knows his nice periods never last.

And then they reach Valentine's day. Doug has the shift of as he wants to spend it with Maddie. They have Genevieve stay with Cassandra so that they can have time together.

Maddie starts the day by making Doug his favorite breakfast in bed. They then spend the morning and early part of the afternoon cuddled together in bed watching Doug’s favorite movies. Near the middle of the afternoon Doug selects a dress that he tells Maddie to wear as they then get ready to go to a restaurant that Doug has picked. Maddie feels both excitement and nerves fill her as she puts on the dress Doug chose and she wonders how this night is going to go.
_____

Buck smiles as Eddie stands in front of him and the two of them adjust each other’s ties. Michael and May are looking after Chris, Denny, Harry, Robert and Brooke and the rest of them are going on date nights, although at different restaurants. As much as all of them love spending time as a big family, not tonight. Tonight is about spending time with their spouses.

They reach the restaurant and soon they are seated. The restaurant is full of other couples and it is clear that everyone here is wanting to spend Valentine’s day with their loved one. Buck and Eddie settle in and start looking at the menu, trying to decide what to get as this restaurant has different options compared to the places they normally go to. Eventually their decision is made and once the waiter has taken their order the two of them start to talk about anything and everything.

They are deep in conversation when their food arrives and the arrival of their food just makes their evening so much better. They are halfway through eating when Eddie looks up and freezes. Buck sees Eddie’s eyes staring at something so he turns and then he is frozen as well.

At the entry of the restaurant talking to the waiter and about to be shown to a table are Doug and Maddie. It is the first time Buck has seen Maddie since the time six years ago when she gave him money and her car. This version of Maddie looks paler and thinner than he remembers and her arm is in a cast.

Buck doesn’t know if he wants to run up and hug Maddie or run up and punch Doug. But instead of running up he stays frozen, just staring. And then Doug sees him. Doug's face turns and Doug glares at Buck and then Buck is forced to watch as Doug’s rage comes out.
_____

Maddie is filled with excitement as they arrive at the restaurant. Doug opens Maddie’s car door for her in a rare display of chivalry. Maddie giggles as he takes her good hand in his and gives it a kiss.

They enter the restaurant, Doug holding the door for Maddie. Doug is in a great mood and the atmosphere of the restaurant is perfect. There is low lighting and romantic music playing. Maddie doesn’t look around, keeping her attention on Doug instead, but she hears the low murmur of conversation and her insides bubble with excitement.

Doug continues to hold her hand as he tells the waiter their reservation name.
_____

His Maddie is holding his hand, smiling up at him as he tells the waiter his name for the reservation. It is the perfect evening. The perfect Valentine’s day. He looks around the restaurant, at the sight of all the happy couples. And then he is filled with rage. Evan and Eddie are here. What are they doing here? Did Eddie do this? Did he want to ruin things for him and Maddie? Or was this Evan’s idea? Or Maddie’s?

He glares at Evan before looking down at his Maddie. She is still smiling and holding his hand, looking perfectly happy and he is pretty sure she hasn’t spotted Evan. He knows they need to leave before she does.
___

Things are perfect. Until they aren’t. Doug goes from holding her hand to squeezing the life out of it. She looks up at him and her heart sinks when she sees the look on his face. She has no clue what changed but she knows something has. This is no longer going to be a night filled with romance. It is now going to be a night filled with pain.

Doug leans down and kisses her on the head. At the same time he starts whispering in her ear.

“Your dress looks ugly on you. You ate too much at Genevieve’s birthday and now it is starting to show.”

Tears begin to prick Maddie’s eyes and she drops her head down, staring at the floor.

“I shouldn’t have let you out in public anyway. Not with the cast still on your arm. You are just a hazard and nuisance to everyone around you. You’re lucky that I put up with you.”

Maddie can feel the tears trying to break the barrier and she knows she cannot let that happen. If she breaks down here, in this fancy restaurant in front of everyone then Doug will accuse her of making a scene and the punishment for that will be more than she can bear. She blinks desperately, wishing for Doug’s earlier good mood to return although she knows it is too late. The night is already ruined.

The waiter turns around and starts walking to a table, showing Maddie and Doug the way to go. Doug smiles and gestures for Maddie to walk in front of him. He looks happy again and Maddie is confused by the sudden mood change but if he is in a good mood then she will take it.

Suddenly Maddie feels Doug’s hands on her back as he shoves her and she stumbles, losing her footing as she falls to the ground and faceplants. Maddie hears and feels the crunching of bones and soon her nose is gushing blood. Doug has broken her nose in the past enough times for Maddie to know what it feels like and her heart sinks when she recognises what has happened.

“Maddie!” Doug cries in concern as he rushes to her side and yells at the waiters to bring some cloths to help with the blood. The waiters are quick to bring some tea towels and Doug holds one on Maddie’s nose, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

“What happened?” one of the staff asks.

Maddie’s cheeks flush, aware that they are drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. “I tripped,” she says quietly.

Doug starts criticising the staff, saying they should make sure the flooring is more even to prevent anything like that happening again. The staff start apologising and trying to offer suggestions to make up for it. Doug turns them down saying they will be leaving as he then picks Maddie up and carries her to their car.

As Doug drives he continues acting all concerned whilst also ranting about the restaurant and how careless they were to have uneven flooring. He is so impassioned that Maddie wonders if he even remembers that the flooring wasn’t at fault, that she only fell because he pushed her.

They reach the hospital and Doug is the picture of the caring husband as he rushes her in and tells the nurses how she tripped. Their evening ends up being long and boring as they spend ages in the waiting room before Maddie can be seen to.

Her nose ends up requiring surgery to be fixed, probably partially due to how many times her nose has been broken in the past. After the surgery her nose then gets put in a splint and she is given gauze to take home to help with the bleeding and told to come back in a week.

By the time they get home they are both tired and all hints of romance are long gone. They lie next to each other in bed, Maddie’s nose throbbing in pain and she cries silently, wondering what went wrong.
____

Athena and Bobby are having a romantic dinner at home. Bobby has done the cooking and the two of them have finished eating and are about to move on to ‘dessert,’ when they are interrupted by a knock on the door.

They exchange glances before deciding to ignore it. It’s Valentine’s day after all. The kids are with May and Michael. They want to make the most of this time. But the knocking continues and doesn’t stop, instead getting louder and louder.

Bobby sighs and heads to the door, prepared to tell whoever is there that they are busy tonight.

When he opens the door Buck storms right in, Eddie following him.

“I need you to talk me out of killing him!” Buck says, pacing back and forth, a level of rage on his face that Bobby and Athena have never seen before. Bobby and Athena exchange alarmed glances.

“Who do you want to kill?” Bobby asks.

“Doug,” Buck growls.

“What happened?” Athena asks.

Eddie sighs before answering, knowing Buck is too worked up to explain. “We were at a restaurant on a date for Valentine’s day and we were halfway through our meal when we saw Doug and Maddie at the entrance of the restaurant. Maddie never spotted us but Doug did and when he saw us he glared at us before whispering something in Maddie’s ear that made her cry and then he shoved her and she fell to the ground and blood went everywhere. Doug started screaming at the staff about uneven flooring and then carried Maddie out whilst her nose was gushing blood. I think he broke her nose.”

Buck continues pacing back and forth. “If I can’t kill Doug then what can I do to help Maddie? I can’t just live my life knowing he is hurting her but not be able to do anything about it.”

“Maybe we should have Eddie and Hen tell Maddie their connection to you. So she knows you are here in LA. That she isn’t alone, that whenever she is ready to leave she has a whole team of people on her side ready to support her and protect her against Doug,” Athena says.

“But he threatened Eddie that Maddie can’t know I’m here,” Buck says in worry.

“Just because you tell Maddie that Buck is here doesn’t mean Doug finds out Maddie knows. He doesn’t want her to know because he wants her to be isolated,” Bobby says.

Buck stops his pacing. “Do you think her knowing that would help? What if it puts her in more danger? I just want her to be safe.”

Athena has a thoughtful look on her face. “I think her knowing is the best option. It might not help her leave, that might be too scary for her to consider. But it will hopefully help her feel less alone and will give her some hope. Look, when we all pick the kids up from Michael’s we can rope Hen into the plan. Considering that Maddie never speaks to Eddie it is probably better to get Hen to tell Maddie. Hen has times where it is just her and Maddie in the ambulance. So she will have the opportunity to tell Maddie without Doug being in earshot and with Maddie having some space to process that without the risk of Doug suddenly appearing.”

Buck is calmer now although still clearly distressed. He thanks Athena and Bobby for the advice and then Buck and Eddie leave. Athena turns to Bobby. The romance is now ruined. All of their plans feel kind of wrong now, in light of knowing how Maddie’s evening has gone. Athena sighs as her and Bobby put some movies on instead. She cuddles up to Bobby’s side, thankful her husband is a caring loving man that she knows would never hurt her.

Chapter Text

Doug stays glued to Maddie’s side when she has to return to the hospital a week after her nose was broken. Her splint gets taken out and whilst she is there they check her arm and decide her arm is good enough for her cast to be taken off.

When they exit the hospital Maddie feels a bit freer with her cast and splint off and the knowledge that if Doug allows it she is medically ready and cleared to return to work.

A couple of days later when Doug has his first shift since Maddie got her cast off Maddie is apprehensive, watching Doug for a sign of whether or not she is allowed to return to work.

Doug pauses halfway through getting dressed as he turns and looks at her. “Well hurry up and start getting ready, I don’t want us to be late to work.”

Excitement fills Maddie. She is finally returning to work! She apologises to Doug for being slow and hurries to get ready fast enough that she doesn’t keep Doug waiting.
_____

Hen hurries in, running a bit late as Denny had a toothpaste mishap and had to change clothes meaning all of them ended up behind schedule. Eddie gives her a look and nods his head in a direction. Hen looks in that direction and her eyes widen. Maddie is finally back at work after several weeks off. She sees Eddie typing on his phone and soon she hears a ding, the group chat between her, Eddie, Buck, Bobby and Athena having a message from Eddie saying that Maddie is back at work. Her phone dings a few more times as everyone on the chat responds in relief that Maddie is finally back at work and that Doug let her return to work.
____

Maddie’s excitement to be back at work quickly fizzles out when Doug gives her a massive list of chores to do. No one else has any chores. Hen comes to her side and starts helping. Maddie gives her a thankful smile although she also gives a fearful look in Doug’s direction worried he will be mad that Hen is helping her with the chores. She sees him watching her but he doesn’t appear to be angry so she allows herself to relax, hoping it is safe to do so.

She has barely made a dent in the chore list when they get their first call. They arrive at an arcade for a call about a kid stuck in a toy claw machine. As they rush closer to the scene Maddie spots Cassandra and she feels horror fill her. Without caring about waiting for Doug to give instructions she pushes through the crowd of people and reaches the toy claw machine where Genevieve is stuck inside crying in terror.

When Genevieve spots Maddie she starts sobbing even harder. “It’s alright Genevieve,” Maddie says quickly even as she feels panic rise up. “Mommy’s here. I’m here. Daddy is as well and Mommy and Daddy and our friends will get you out of here.”

Maddie sees and hears her co-workers moving around to help free Genevieve. She hears Doug giving her orders but Maddie ignores them. She makes sure to not get in the way but apart from that her focus is on Genevieve, on talking to Genevieve, on helping her to calm down and reassure her that she is alright.

When they finally open up the machine Ravi lifts Genevieve out and places her in Maddie’s arms. Maddie hugs Genevieve tightly, aware but ignoring Doug snapping at Maddie to hurry up. Maddie gives Genevieve one more hug and tells her that she loves her before passing Genevieve to a teary apologetic Cassandra.

As soon as Genevieve is in Cassandra’s arms Doug angrily grabs Maddie’s arm. “What were you doing?” he hisses. “How dare you disobey me.”

Maddie trembles. She wants to protest. To stand up for their daughter and her right to be comforted. But she knows that saying anything will just make things worse so as much as it pains her to do so she bites her tongue and doesn’t say anything.

Her cheeks turn red when she feels everyone’s eyes on them as Doug angrily drags her out of the building, only letting go of her arm when they are outside the ambulance.

She climbs into the ambulance and Hen climbs in next to her. Relief fills her when after one final glare in her direction Doug turns away and heads towards the fire engine.

Hen starts driving and for a while there is silence. But then Hen speaks.

“Maddie.”

Her voice is both gentle and wary at the same time and Maddie freezes, based on Hen’s tone she can tell what Hen wants to talk about and none of her wants to engage in this conversation.

“How’s Denny?” Maddie asks quickly, before Hen can say whatever she was planning on saying.

Hen takes the change in subject even though the elephant in the room is very clearly there. After talking about Denny for a while Maddie can sense when the conversation is about to turn again so she feels relief when they get a call instead.

The call doesn’t need any rescue equipment so only Hen and Maddie arrive on scene. Maddie shouldn’t be surprised to see cops there considering dispatch told them the caller was an older woman who had seen an intruder outside which scared her to the point of impacting her heart condition. But when Maddie spots Athena it is the last person she wanted to see.

Maddie and Hen hurry inside and start assessing the woman. The woman is spooked and mentions how while she was waiting for them to arrive the man seemed to disappear. Maddie feels chills down her back and can’t help the anxious glances she gives the room, feeling creeped out by the whole situation.

Once they have checked the woman’s vitals she asks if she was having a heart attack. “No, it looks more like a panic attack,” Maddie says gently, aware of why the woman thought it was a heart attack, having had enough panic attacks herself to know how terrifying they can be.

“He gave me such a fright, standing there, just staring,” the older woman repeats, clearly still very overwhelmed and scared. Maddie feels the fear fill her as well and it is all she can do to keep her composure.

“You’re ok now,” Hen says gently, reassuring the woman.

Maddie feels herself starting to lose it so she takes a step back, behind where the woman is, in order to give herself a bit more space to try and breath and keep herself together. She focuses on writing down the relevant information to get a head start on the paperwork for when they get back to the firehouse. Hen stays in front of the woman focusing on the last of the medical checks.

Suddenly there is a weird tone in Hen’s voice as she addresses the woman. “Ma’am, is this where you were standing when you saw the man outside?”

The woman replies that it was.

Athena enters the room and Maddie feels her breathing accelerate and it takes all of her strength to keep it together. She doesn’t know why she is freaking out so much. It is just a normal call. A woman who had a panic attack. Yes there were reports of a man outside but they found nothing. So she should be fine. But she can’t shake the deep sense of fear and unease that has her feeling completely rattled.

Hen makes her way over to Athena and Maddie hears when Hen lowers her voice and asks Athena if anyone was outside. Athena shakes her head and Maddie watches in horror as Hen points to the reflections from the window. From where they are standing the reflection makes it look like they are outside when really they are inside, behind the woman.

Maddie starts shaking in fear and her shaking gets more intense when she hears Hen and Athena make the realisation that the intruder was inside the house. Hen points to muddy footprints on the floor and the footprints look so similar to Doug’s and the muddy imprints remind her of the imprints his boots sometimes make on her stomach and Maddie can’t do this. She knows she is working but she can’t do this. “I need to check our supplies,” she says. A clear lie that Hen and Athena won’t believe but at least it won’t freak the woman out any more than she already is.

Maddie flees from the house and runs to the ambulance. Once there she gets in her seat and tries to control her breathing but she can’t. She feels the sensation of her chest tightening and her arms and legs going tingly. Her breathing and heart rate increase to alarming levels and she groans inwardly knowing a panic attack is coming and she isn’t going to be able to prevent it.

She puts her head in between her knees and tries to focus on her breathing but nothing works as the whole situation is unnerving her for some reason she can’t even explain or understand.

When she hears the sound of the ambulance door opening she jumps violently and starts shaking even more until she hears Hen’s voice. Hen’s voice manages to break through Maddie’s thoughts as Maddie hears Hen’s voice guiding Maddie through a breathing pattern. Maddie listens and eventually she manages to get her breathing back to normal.

“Thanks,” Maddie says weakly.

Hen gets in her seat and starts driving.

“Can we just drive around until we get another call? I really don’t want to go back to the station,” Maddie says quietly.

Hen agrees and relief floods Maddie’s body. She may no longer be having a panic attack but she doesn’t feel steady enough to be back in the firehouse with everyone else, especially Doug. She needs a bit of space.

They continue driving in silence which Maddie is grateful for. When dispatch gives them an address to head to, Maddie forces herself to shake off the last of her wobbliness. She is still on the clock and now it is time to do her job and help people.

Thankfully the next call isn’t an emotionally draining call. It starts as a call to a yoga class for a woman in labour. And then another woman goes into labour. And another one. Doug rolls his eyes in exasperation as he radios for more ambulances.

Maddie goes in the back of the ambulance with one of the women in labour whilst Hen drives. The woman is pretty calm and happily talks about her other kids and asks Maddie if she has any kids so Maddie tells her a bit about Genevieve. When they arrive at the hospital and transfer her over to the hospital staff the woman gives them a cheery wave goodbye before screaming as her next contraction hits.

When they left the yoga class Doug ordered them to return to the fire station as soon as they had dropped the patient off at the hospital so it is with a heavy heart that Maddie reenters the firehouse.

Doug is there before her as the fire engine got back faster than the ambulance.

“Maddie, can I have a word with you in my office?” Doug asks.

Maddie nods, even as she feels herself begin to shake, wondering what she has done now. She glances at Hen as she makes her way there and she sees worry but also a show of support in Hen’s eyes. Seeing that Hen is on her side allows her to breathe a bit easier even though she knows it doesn’t really change anything.

As soon as she is in Doug’s office and the door is closed Doug slams her against the wall. “You’ve been avoiding me. And ignoring my instructions.”

Maddie looks down at the ground not wanting to see the anger in his eyes. Her head bounces against the wall and her cheek stings from the force of the slap Doug just gave her. He grabs hold of her chin and squeezes it tightly. “You better look at me Maddie,” he growls, his voice menacing and angry. Maddie shivers but obeys.

“If you disobey me at a call again I will make it so that you are never able to work again. Do you understand me?”

Maddie gulps and nods desperately. Doug smiles. “I don’t care that Genevieve was the one who needed to be rescued. Cassandra was there so Cassandra was perfectly capable of supporting Genevieve. That’s what Cassandra is there for. So I don’t care what is going on or who is around. You have to do every single thing I tell you to do no matter what.”

Maddie nods again, desperate for Doug to see she means it and that she will listen to him.

Doug shoves Maddie to the ground and starts kicking. Maddie tries to huddle in a ball as she cries and whimpers quietly and finds herself hoping for an emergency so that Doug will be forced to stop.
____

Hen exchanges worried glances with Eddie. It has been too long since Maddie entered Doug’s office. Eddie looks around and when no one else is looking he sneaks over to the office and puts his ear against the door. He listens for a few seconds before his eyes widen and he hurries over to Hen.

“I think I heard the sound of her being slapped and I definitely heard the sound of her crying.”

Hen pulls out her phone and goes to the group chat and types quickly, telling Athena they need her to make a fake emergency that needs their ambulance so that Maddie can get out of the firehouse.

A few minutes later the siren goes off saying that only the ambulance is needed. The office door opens and Maddie bolts out of the office, a bright red mark on her cheek as tears stream down her face and she keeps her head down and clutches onto her stomach as she rushes to her seat in the ambulance.

Athena had set the fake medical emergency at her house so Hen drives the ambulance there. Maddie is silent on the drive there although she is still crying even with how hard she is clearly trying to stop crying.

When they arrive at Athena’s house Maddie takes a deep breath and sucks in all her tears. Maddie gets out and hurries to the door, Hen behind her. “The paramedics are here,” Maddie says loudly and that is when Hen remembers that Maddie doesn’t know they faked an emergency.

The door opens and Bobby is there with a confused look on his face. “We faked an emergency,” Hen says quickly.

Maddie and Bobby stare at Hen in shock.

“How about I explain once we are inside.”

Maddie looks panicked but follows Hen inside and soon they are sitting down on the couch.

“So, there aren't any patients here?” Maddie asks in confusion.

Hen looks at Maddie gently. “Are you alright?”

Maddie’s eyes widen and she jumps and starts looking all around the room with distrustful eyes especially when she looks at Bobby. Hen sees the fear in Maddie’s eyes and she realises that Maddie doesn’t know who Bobby is. Bobby might be her brother’s father figure but to Maddie he is a stranger.

The front door opens and Maddie jumps even higher. Athena enters and Maddie starts shaking.

“Maddie. It’s alright,” Hen says quietly, worried they made a mistake and are pushing Maddie too far.

“If you made up an emergency what will happen with the paperwork and everything. If this isn’t a real emergency then it will be noticed and we just wasted time coming here. Doug won’t like . . . I mean why would you make up an emergency?”

Athena is the one that answers. “We will make sure that officially and in all channels this appears to be a real emergency, a medical call but no visit to the hospital required.”

Maddie breathes a bit easier with that knowledge. “W, w, why would you fake an emergency?” Her voice wobbles and she looks close to tears.

“Eddie and I were worried about how long you had been in Doug’s office for so he went right outside the door and listened and he heard you crying and the sound of a slap so we faked an emergency so you could get away from there and Doug would have to stop hurting you.”

Maddie’s eyes widen and it is clear she has no idea how to react or what to think about that. Her breathing starts getting panicky again so Hen starts helping her with breathing.

“This is Athena’s house and this here is her husband Bobby. We can stay here for the length of a normal call or until we get another call. We just wanted to get you away from him even if it’s just for a little while.”
_____

Maddie’s thoughts are racing and she doesn’t know which emotion or thought to settle with. She is thankful Hen managed to get her away as Doug only stopped hurting her when the bells went off. But a part of her is angry they interfered by doing that. Another part of her is touched that they care about her enough to have done that. But the biggest part of her is terrified of Doug finding out the call was faked.

“Thanks but please don’t fake a call on my behalf again, he can’t find out,” is what she ends up settling on saying. Hen, Bobby and Athena assure her they won’t do it again although in the end her and Hen do decide on a hand gesture and a code word that she can use either of, if in the future she finds herself desperately needing a call so they can get out of the fire house. Hen promises they will only create a fake emergency if Maddie uses either the hand gesture or the code word.

Once that is settled Maddie feels a bit calmer. Some calls can take a bit of time so it is decided that they can stay for another 30 minutes or until they get a call.

Maddie finds herself looking around, curious about what Athena’s house looks like now that she is inside. “Do you want a tour?” Athena asks, watching the way Maddie is looking around. Maddie freezes. She is being nosy. She should just mind her own business. Doug always tells her she is too curious for her own good.

There is silence before Athena speaks again. “I’m happy to give you a tour. It isn’t a problem.”

Maddie hesitates before her curiosity gets the better of her and she nods and begins following Athena around.

“We have five kids although our oldest son doesn’t live at home.”

“What are your kids names?” Maddie asks, the curiosity getting the better of her.

“Harry, May, Brooke, Robert and Buck.”

Maddie pauses. She has heard the name Buck before. And it isn’t exactly a normal name. So what are the chances?

“Eddie’s husband has the name Buck,” she says cautiously.

Athena smiles and answers Maddie’s unspoken question. “Yes, Eddie’s husband Buck is our son Buck.”

Maddie takes a moment to digest that information before she has another question. “Is Buck a nickname? Surely it can’t be his real name.”

“Yeah, it’s a nickname. He isn’t as keen on his real name because of how his biological parents would say it so we almost always just call him Buck.”

Maddie nods in understanding, remembering her brothers and the way her parents would always say Evan’s name in such a harsh tone. There was never love in their voices when they said his name. If Buck’s biological parents are anything like her parents then she definitely understands Buck wanting to just go by the name Buck.

They are halfway through the house tour when Maddie hears the sound of the front door opening and then slamming shut and she freezes in fear at the force applied in slamming the door.

Soon Maddie hears a loud voice coming from the living room where Bobby and Hen still are.

“What did Doug do?”

The voice is angry but that isn’t why Maddie freezes as she slowly turns to face that direction.

“Buck, sit down and we can talk,” she hears Bobby’s voice say.

Maddie’s legs feel wobbly and like they won’t support her anymore as she sinks to the ground. Athena is quick to be at her side.

“Hen, you’re in your uniform. Was Maddie with you? Is Maddie here?”

Maddie hears footsteps approaching and she looks up at Athena in terror. She can’t do this. Not now, not here. Not when they might have to leave at any moment to go to a call.

“I can’t do this. I can’t,” she whispers as she starts shaking. She holds her knees to her chest and buries her head in her knees, not looking up, even when she hears the footsteps get even closer and Evan’s gasp when he sees her.

All of her is screaming. It is her brother. After all this time of missing him and longing to be with him she is finally in the same room as him. And yet she can’t even face the thought of talking to him or even looking at him.

“Maddie?” He asks, his voice breaking and he sounds like he might cry.

Hearing the way Evan’s voice is breaking is what gets Maddie focused. She might be too overwhelmed to deal with this right now. It is too much for her to process and compute. But Evan is here and from the way his voice was breaking she knows she needs to forget about herself and put on her big sister mode.

Maddie gulps before looking up. Once she has actually seen him she finds herself crying. She has missed him so so much. She opens up her arms for a hug and Evan falls into them.

“I’m sorry I left you,” she says through sobs as the familiar guilt swirls within her.

Evan is quick to assure her that it is fine and Maddie doesn’t know what to do with that. She doesn’t know whether he genuinely is fine with that or if he is lying and just misses her so much that he is pushing away any hurt or anger he feels towards her.

Maddie then panics as she remembers why she sent Evan away in the first place. To protect him from Doug. If Evan is in LA and is literally married to one of Doug’s (and her) co-workers that means the chances of Doug learning Evan is in LA is way too high. She cannot allow that to happen.

“Doug can’t know you are in LA. You need to make sure that Eddie knows to never mention that fact,” she says urgently, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.

When she says Doug’s name anger fills Evan’s face.

“He already knows I’m in LA,” Evan says cautiously.

Maddie freezes. No! She was supposed to keep Evan safe from Doug. She pales in fear. “How?” She chokes out.

“We both saw each other on the call with the plane that crashed into the ocean. And then he saw Eddie and I on Valentine's day. Eddie and I were halfway through our meal when we saw you and Doug entering. When Doug spotted us he glared at us and that is when he then shoved you.”

Cold horror works its way through Maddie’s body even as so many things make sense. This explains why Doug was so mad after the plane call. And why his mood changed so abruptly on Valentine’s day.

“If we both respond to the same scene you need to be surprised if you see me as when Doug realised I was here in LA he told Eddie what would happen if we let you know I was here.”

Maddie shivers, not needing a further explanation on what Doug told Eddie.

Hen knocks on the room door and gives Maddie an apologetic look when she tells her that they have gotten a call they have to respond to. Evan gives Maddie a massive hug. “If you aren’t ready to leave him that is fine but if you reach the stage that you are then I will help you and I have a massive support system that will help you. Until then Hen and Eddie are on your side and will try to look out for you at work. I love you so much Maddie.”

Maddie gives Evan another hug. “I love you too Evan,” she says, before reluctantly pulling herself away and joining Hen in the ambulance.

Maddie is silent on the drive as her mind is in overload trying to process everything. Doug knows Evan is in LA. Eddie’s husband is Evan. Evan now has a new family of his own, a loving mother and father and other siblings. And whilst Evan never specifically mentioned it she can tell that he knows what Doug does to her. Which causes a sinking feeling in her stomach. She is the older sibling. She is the one that is supposed to protect him. She never wanted Evan to know. But now he does.

Evan knows. And he hasn’t acted impulsively and gone after Doug. He hasn’t begged her to leave when she isn’t sure if she is ready. Instead he promised her support and promised that he would be there for her whenever she is ready. Meaning she doesn’t need as much of a plan. As he will take care of the details. So maybe she can begin to consider the idea.

She feels a rare spark of hope build up as her and Hen arrive at the call. They enter at the same time as Doug and the rest of their team plus other cops, cops she doesn’t know.

Maddie feels her newfound hope disappear just as fast when she takes in the scene. The broken down door. The angry guy now in handcuffs being arrested. The battered body of a woman that Hen does the medical confirmation to confirm that she is dead. Maddie can’t contain the sobs that erupt from her at that knowledge.

The woman’s mom stands there in shock. Maddie recognises her as the same older woman that was at the unnerving call with the intruder that was actually inside the house.

As the older woman starts talking everything makes sickening sense. She says how she had spent years trying to convince her daughter to leave but she had been too scared. And then when her daughter finally did leave, her husband killed a person that helped her and now killed her as well. The woman starts crying and Chimney and Eddie take her over to the couch and sit down with her.

The lady says that a 911 dispatcher called letting them know the ex had found her a few minutes too late, once her daughter was already dead.

Maddie feels herself begin to shake violently and she jumps when she feels Doug’s hand suddenly grip tightly onto her arm. He pulls her out of everyone’s earshot and leans down to whisper in her ear. “This woman was only killed because she was foolish enough to leave her husband. Not only did she die but people she cared about got hurt and put at risk. I know you’re smarter than that Maddie. You know what will happen if you leave. You don’t want to end up like her do you? You don’t want to be the reason others get hurt.”

“I would never leave you. I love you,” Maddie says quickly, unsure if she believes the words she is saying. Doug kisses Maddie on the top of her head before releasing her as both of them go back to focusing on their jobs.

On the drive back to the fire station Doug switches things up and gets Chim to go with Hen in the ambulance and Maddie to go with him and the rest of the 118 in the fire engines. Maddie doesn’t know how to feel about that as she prefers a bit of space from Doug but she is sure that if she had been in the ambulance with Hen the elephant in the room would have felt too heavy for her to bear.

Back at the fire house the mood feels somber, everyone apart from Doug feeling the weight of the call they have been on. The call where a woman was killed because she tried to leave her husband. Even if Doug hadn’t used it as a chance to give Maddie a warning it would have impacted her anyway. Before the call she had been feeling the first tiny spark of hope knowing that Evan is surrounded by people that would help her. But now after that call all her hope is gone. She knows it is too dangerous. She had been foolish and allowed herself to get caught up in thinking that maybe there is more for her. But there isn’t. Her life starts and ends with Doug and forgetting that is dangerous.

Chapter Text

Now that Maddie knows Buck is in LA the group chat between Buck, Eddie, Hen, Bobby and Athena sees a lot more action.

Buck knows from what Hen has told him that Maddie is too scared to risk trying to see him. But Maddie spends a lot of time in the ambulance with Hen so Maddie is willing to allow Hen to pass messages back and forth between her and Buck in order to finally have some form of communication with him again.

When the 132 get called to a house where a guy has locked himself in the bathroom and the boyfriend is asking him to open the door, Buck feels tense. Not one of these situations, please not. He has always hated domestic violence calls but now that he is aware of Maddie’s circumstances these calls hit him even harder as he wonders what Maddie goes through on a day to day basis and he tortures himself imagining different scenarios of his sister in absolute agony and terror, with him feeling helpless to do anything to help.

Much to Buck’s relief this call turns out to not be that type of call. Instead the guy was locking himself in the bathroom out of embarrassment and it turns out that he had a massive tapeworm inside of him. Buck isn’t able to hide his fascination with such a thing as he finds himself listing all the interesting tapeworm facts he knows and it is with a bit of excitement that he carefully pulls the tapeworm out of the guy's body.
_____________

Hen and Maddie pull up on scene to find a guy lying on the grass, a few yards away from a tree, bleeding out with a bullet inside of him. Maddie and Hen get to work right away although Hen finds herself staring at him, trying to figure out where she recognises him from. And then it clicks and she can’t stop the gasp she lets out.

“What is it?” Maddie asks.

Hen pauses, wondering if telling Maddie where she recognises the guy from will trigger Maddie as she doesn’t want to do that.

“We responded to a call he was involved in a year ago,” is what Hen eventually settles on saying.

They focus on the man for a while and work on him before going to move him to the ambulance, only it is too late for that. There are a few silent minutes as they give him everything they’ve got before Hen has to call it and she notes down the time as they then call it in and wait there for the appropriate people to come and take care of the scene.

Whilst they wait they have a bit of time to kill.

“What sort of call was it?” Maddie asks, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“Are you sure you want to know?” Hen asks, her voice wary.

It is clear by Maddie’s face that she picks up on Hen’s tone. She looks thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

“It was a suicide call. His wife had hung herself on that tree.”

There is silence as Maddie looks at Hen, clearly aware there is more to the story. Hen sighs before continuing. “We were too late, she was gone. But it was clear from her injuries that he had been hurting her. When we confirmed that she was dead he didn’t even care.”

Maddie looks down and when Hen sees the look on Maddie’s face she is sure she has blown it. She shouldn’t have told Maddie about that call.

There is more silence and Hen wonders how long until the coroner arrives on scene. But then Maddie speaks, breaking the silence, although her voice is so quiet Hen barely hears it. “I guess she did it as she felt like it was her only option.”

Maddie pauses again and Hen feels panicked. Is Maddie applying this to her situation and feeling like that is her only option?

“Don’t tell Evan this,” Maddie continues, quietly looking down at the ground, “but years ago before I had my daughter I had reached the point where that felt like my only option. My only way to escape him. I took heaps of pills and then woke up in the hospital. Doug acted all concerned and worried and for a few months after that he was so loving and kind and I thought maybe this time it would last.” Her voice turns bitter. “It didn’t.”

Maddie finally looks up and meet’s Hen’s eyes. “Now that I have my daughter that will never be an option. I would never leave her with just him.”

Maddie looks at the tree and there is clear sorrow on her face. They stay in silence, both of them reflective until the coroner finally arrives and then they make their way back to the station. On the drive Hen’s mind goes over what Maddie has told her. She finds she isn’t surprised by that knowledge, just sad. Sad for Maddie and sad that Maddie felt like that was her only way out. And sad for every person stuck in a similar situation who feels that is the only way they will be able to leave.
____

Their next call is gruesome and involves another death. A guy who was in a tanning booth for too long and got horrifically burned to the extent where they weren’t able to save him.

They then have to help a woman with a broken leg. Athena also responds to that call as it turns out the woman with the broken leg broke her leg whilst she was in the middle of committing a robbery, stealing packages from her neighbors front porches.

They then get sent to a zoo because a zoo keeper got hurt by a tiger. When they arrive Maddie sees that Doug looks like he is in a good mood so she takes a risk. “Maybe we could take Genevieve to the zoo at some point for a family day.”

Doug kisses her on the top of her head. “We’ll see,” he replies in a neutral tone. Maddie gulps, unable to tell if he is mad or just disinterested.

The zookeeper that greets them at the entrance tells them that the injured zookeeper is near the tiger enclosure but the tiger has escaped and has now got a member of the public trapped hiding from the tiger in the giraffe enclosure.

Hen and Maddie get started on helping the injured zookeeper. Athena arrives and says she will respond to the giraffe enclosure, where the person is hiding from the tiger. “I can take you there, I know where the giraffe enclosure is,” Eddie is quick to say.

“We’ll leave Hen and Maddie here and the rest of us will come and help where we can,” Doug says before then turning to Eddie who is already leading them there. “How do you know your way around here so well?”

Eddie gives a casual shrug. “Me and my husband take our son here all the time. I have a pretty good knowledge of where everything is, although my son and husband definitely have me beat, they know so many facts about all the different animals here.”

After Eddie has said that they move out of ear shot of Maddie and Hen. Maddie stays focused on her task although she can’t help her smile at the mention of Evan. He always did love his facts so she isn’t surprised that he loves coming here. She then remembers that Doug knows that Evan is Eddie’s husband and she winces, wondering if Doug will punish her later for Eddie’s mention of Evan.
_____

After their shift Doug is silent on the drive home. His face is perfectly neutral and calm but Maddie can sense rage bubbling underneath the surface.

When they get home Maddie greets Genevieve before having to pass her back to Cassandra. She feels an ache of longing and sadness works its way through her. She is Genevieve’s mom yet between working and having to send Genevieve with Cassandra to protect Genevieve from seeing Doug’s rage it feels like Maddie barely ever gets to see her daughter. She wishes she could be a better mother for her daughter, the mom that Genevieve deserves.

As soon as Genevieve is gone Doug slaps Maddie in the face.

“You’re a terrible mother. Why do you always suggest dangerous activities for Genevieve? Do you want her to get hurt? First you suggested the bouncy house and now you’ve suggested the zoo. The zoo. Where a tiger got loose and killed that guy today. Are you heartless or just stupid?”

Maddie looks at the ground as tears slide down her face. Doug grabs her head and forces her to look at him. “Answer me!” He growls. “Are you heartless or just stupid?”

Shame fills Maddie. She would never wish harm on Genevieve but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t accidentally done things that could put Genevieve in danger. “I’m stupid,” she whispers, wishing she didn’t believe her words but a part of her does.

Doug smiles as he releases her. “Well at least you are aware of that. At least you do care about your family.”

Doug then orders Maddie to make dinner as he goes upstairs and showers.

For the rest of the evening Doug is in a good mood and Maddie is silent.
____________

At dinner Eddie tells Chris and Buck about the zoo call. Excitement is quick to reach both Chris and Buck’s faces. When Eddie describes the zookeepers injury Chris and Buck both yell out the word ‘degloving,’ in unison and Eddie nods in confirmation that that was indeed the injury he had.

When Eddie tells them how his knowledge of the zoo was useful in helping them know where to go Chris is quick to use that as reasoning for why they need to go to the zoo again on the weekend. Buck is quick to join Chris with the puppy dog eyes and Eddie only lasts a few seconds before agreeing that sounds like a great idea.
__________

On the weekend Doug is full of a surprising level of energy for that early in the morning as he wakes Maddie up. He is full of enthusiasm and Maddie works hard to not let on how tired she is as she wonders what Doug has in store for them.

Maddie heads to the kitchen to begin making breakfast but Doug gets in her way. “Today is a cereal day. We have heaps to do, we don’t want to waste time eating. Cereal’s quicker.”

Maddie nods, panic racing through her brain, wondering what they are going to be doing.

She wakes Genevieve up and soon they are all eating, Doug snapping at them to eat faster. He then gets out clothes for all of them to wear, Maddie noticing that he has selected sneakers as their footwear for the day. She is thankful that she currently doesn’t have any major injuries, just a couple of bruises on her abdomen. Because based on the outfits Doug has chosen today is going to be an active day, so being in pain would just make that way harder.

Once they are dressed and Doug has yelled at her to hurry up she is then buckling Genevieve into her car seat and then Doug starts driving.

“Where are we going?” Genevieve asks.

“It’s a surprise,” is all Doug will say.

Genevieve squeals with excitement, Maddie feels fear and apprehension fill her although Doug appears to be in a good mood. So surely everything will be fine. So why can’t she just enjoy the fact that they are going to have a fun family day rather than worrying about everything falling apart?

After a bit of driving and lots of annoying LA traffic Doug pulls into a carpark. The carpark for the zoo. The one they visited for the tiger call where Doug got mad at her for wanting to take Genevieve here. Confusion and more tension fill Maddie.

From her seat in the back of the car Genevieve starts bouncing up and down in excitement. Maddie forces herself to put all of her worries away. She is here for Genevieve and here for Doug. Her feelings don’t matter. So she smiles at Doug and grins excitedly at Genevieve’s happiness. She gets Genevieve out of the car and holds Genevieve’s hand in one hand and Doug’s hand with her other as the three of them make their way to the entrance, ready for their day at the zoo.
______

After pancakes for breakfast Chris, Buck and Eddie are quick to get into the car, heading for one of their frequent destinations: the zoo. Buck and Chris have already planned out which animals they want to see on this trip and they have a clipboard, planning out their schedule for the day, down to the minute of how long they are expecting to spend at each of the animals they have chosen to see. Eddie smiles watching the two of them. They are his family and he loves seeing their joy.

Normally they follow a more logical path around the zoo but today their first stop is the Sumatran tigers at the back corner of the zoo, both Buck and Chris wanting to see it after the call Eddie was on. So they have 1 hour scheduled for looking at the tiger and Eddie smiles as he answers all their questions about the call. They see the zookeeper that the tiger degloved and when the zookeeper sees them he recognises Eddie and so Chris and Buck are thrilled when the zookeeper is happy to answer all their questions. Buck and Chris have heaps of questions but the zookeeper is very patient and is enthusiastic to answer the questions, rather than being annoyed by them.
_____

When they purchase their tickets and enter the zoo they get handed a map which Doug is quick to hold onto.

One of the first parts they walk past is the children’s zoo and Genevieve is quick to pull them in that direction. Maddie glances at Doug’s face and it is only when she sees his smile that she allows Genevieve to pull them the rest of the way there.

This is Genevieve’s first time going to the zoo and Genevieve is silent, her eyes wide open as she stares at the animals, so many of them completely new to her, beyond her level of imagination or previous experience.

Genevieve giggles at the sight of the axolotls, loving the way they look. She keeps on pointing at them and getting Maddie and Doug to look at them. Maddie makes sure to keep her attention firmly on her daughter and what she is pointing at. Doug wanders around a bit but Genevieve is happy enough with Maddie’s attention.

Seeing the excitement and wonder on her daughter’s face fills Maddie’s heart up and when Genevieve moves on to look at the sheep and the dwarf goat Maddie makes her way to Doug and leans into his side. “I love you so much. Thank you for bringing us here today.”

Doug smiles down at Maddie as she leans up to kiss him. He holds her with a gentle arm around her waist as they watch Genevieve look at all the animals in the children’s zoo before Genevieve eventually gets bored and becomes eager to move on to looking at the other animals.

After the children’s zoo they move on to The Lair. Maddie shivers a bit, wary of all the snakes and other reptiles. She knows they are all safely contained in the enclosures but that doesn’t stop her fear levels.

Genevieve has no such worries. She runs right up to them, peering through the glass, marvelling at all the different snakes. Genevieve looks back at Maddie and begs Maddie to come closer to look at the snakes. Maddie feels queasy and shaky. Doug looks her way and Maddie tenses, waiting for him to make fun of her or to force her closer to the snakes. Instead Doug comes up to her. “I’ve got it covered. You can wait outside and I’ll stay here with Genevieve until her and I have had our fill of snakes.”

Maddie feels herself filled with amazement and gratitude. She gives Doug a hug before hurrying out of The Lair, taking several deep breathes of air, relieved when she is out of there with no snakes in sight.
_____

After looking at the tigers Chris and Buck head back to near the entrance of the zoo ready to follow a more logical path around the zoo. Apparently they just wanted to see the tiger first because of Eddie’s call there.

Chris and Buck are full of excitement, exchanging snake and reptile facts as they make their way to The Lair. They are almost at the entrance when they see someone sitting on a bench outside The Lair. That someone is Maddie.

Buck and Eddie freeze but Chris continues walking until he turns around and sees that they have stopped. Maddie sees them and her eyes go wide as she is quick to shoot a terror filled glance in the direction of the entrance of The Lair.

Buck hears Doug’s voice approaching from inside and he sees panic and fear flood through Maddie’s eyes. Maddie gives him a desperate look and Buck and Eddie are quick to pull themselves and a confused Chris out of sight, hiding behind some bushes just in time as they watch Doug and a little girl they can only assume is Genevieve exit The Lair.

Genevieve is talking loudly and when they emerge Buck and Eddie watch Maddie paste a massive smile on her face as she hugs Doug before bending down to Genevieve’s height and talking to her as the three of them move in the direction of the Australian animals.

Only once Doug, Maddie and Genevieve are completely out of sight do Buck and Eddie emerge from the bushes.

Chris turns to them. “What was that about? Why did we hide in the bushes?”

Buck and Eddie exchange glances. Chris is 6, how are they supposed to explain this to him?

“We were playing hide and seek. It’s a fun daylong game. If you see that man, woman and kid let us know and we hide from them. We don’t let them see us,” Buck says.

“How do we win? Is there a prize?” Chris asks.

Buck and Eddie exchange glances again. This time Eddie is the one that answers. “If we get through the day with none of them spotting us then we will get ice cream on the way home.”

Chris cheers in excitement. Buck exchanges glances with Eddie, hoping this will work, needing it to work. If Doug sees them they know he will hurt Maddie and he can’t bear the idea of that happening. A part of him wishes they could just leave the zoo now so there is zero chance of that happening. But they have barely started their day and Chris is super excited. Thankfully he seems very interested in the hide and seek idea and he is very clearly determined to win that ice cream. So hopefully that will be enough that Doug doesn’t spot them.

Buck and Eddie quickly determine that Buck will enjoy the zoo visit, being with Chris and engaged in looking at the animals. Eddie will keep a constant look out, giving them a chance to spot Doug and move out of sight before Doug can spot them.
____

Maddie tries to pay attention as Genevieve describes all of the snakes, holding out her arms as she says how long they were. But her mind is frozen in terror. Evan is here. If Doug sees Evan. A shiver passes through her. Doug can’t see Evan. She can’t let it happen. She doesn’t want to face the pain she knows she will if Doug sees Evan.

Doug wraps an arm around her and Maddie tries to enjoy the day as they move away from the reptiles and towards the Australian animals.

When Genevieve sees the kangaroos she starts trying to copy their jumping. She asks Maddie and Doug if they can have a jumping race. Much to Maddie’s surprise Doug agrees. Doug wins the race, not caring about letting Genevieve win. Genevieve comes second with a big smile, Maddie comes last although even if she wasn’t letting Genevieve beat her she thinks Genevieve would have done so anyway as each jump jars the pain from her bruises and reminds her of how sore she is.

Genevieve then sees the komodo dragon and stares at it in fascination. “Wow, it’s so cool.” She smiles up at Maddie and Doug. “The snakes are cooler but this one is still cool.”

After several minutes of Genevieve staring at the komodo dragon Doug gets fed up and moves them onto the next animal. Genevieve doesn’t complain although she does cast longing glances back in the direction of the komodo dragon.
____

After a few hours looking at all the reptiles Buck, Chris and Eddie are all hungry so they decide to get some food. There is food right outside The Lair. However they know from how many times they have come here that they prefer the food near the African animals.

Buck keeps an eye out for Doug while Eddie and Chris go up and order their food from the Mahale cafe. Buck gets pizza, Eddie gets grilled chicken which Buck and Chris both declare boring and Chris gets a burger basket. Once their food has been ordered they find a bench to wait at that allows them to watch the giraffes.

The giraffe enclosure was where the guy was hiding and got killed by the tiger so Buck and Chris ask for the story again. Eddie gives a fake eye roll but smiles as he tells it again, Chris and Buck hanging onto every word.

When their order finally gets called it is so much that all three of them have to go up in order to carry it back to their table.
_____

After looking at the Australian animals Doug begins to feel hungry and Genevieve is starting to whine a little so Doug decides it is time for them to eat. There are closer options to where they are but Doug has heard that the Mahale cafe near the African animals is really good so he starts walking that way, snapping at Maddie and Genevieve to keep up.

By this point Genevieve is starting to complain that her legs are sore. He warns Genevieve that there will be trouble if she complains again. He smirks when he sees fear cross Maddie’s face. Maddie leans down and picks Genevieve up. Doug rolls his eyes. Maddie always babies Genevieve. Still, he sees Genevieve’s body bump Maddie right above the bruises he knows she has and when she winces he smiles.

So they continue walking, Doug aware of every time Genevieve is bumping against Maddie’s bruises. His smile grows even wider. Today is perfect.

And then it isn’t.

When they get near the cafe Doug sees three people with their backs to him as they collect their food from the counter. Those three people are Evan, Eddie and a kid. Anger floods through him. Of course they are here. And at the cafe he wanted to eat at. Maddie will pay for that. But not right now, right now he needs to make sure that Maddie doesn’t spot her brother.

Internally rolling his eyes Doug points up at a cloud. “Look Genevieve, that cloud looks like a unicorn.”

Genevieve cheers and claps her hands. “It does! It does!”

Genevieve and Maddie are soon both looking up at the clouds and Doug snorts internally when Maddie agrees with all the shapes Genevieve says they look like. The clouds don’t look like anything. They look like blobs. He thinks Maddie is pathetic for playing along. Regardless, it works for him. Genevieve keeps pointing up at clouds and Maddie looks up at them as well. Doug grabs Maddie’s arm and pulls her along, Maddie walking blindly in the direction Doug leads her whilst continuing to point at clouds with Genevieve.

Once they are out of sight of the cafe Doug’s anger returns in full force but he tells himself it needs to wait. Once they are home he can let his anger out. But right now they are in public with way too many people around. And with Evan here. Why does Evan have to be in LA?

The next food spot is a lot further away, near where the South American animals are. The further and further they walk the angrier and angrier Doug gets. He is hungry and if it wasn’t for Evan they would already be eating. And at the food place he would prefer to eat at. By the time they finally reach the food Doug is fuming. It doesn’t help when he has to pretend like this is where he wanted to eat all along. Doug growls as he pushes Maddie onto a bench. She lets out a small yelp of pain but no one hears her so it is fine.

He storms up to the line. And of course there is a massive line to wait. There wasn’t a line at the Mahale cafe. This is all Evan’s fault. He glares back at Maddie and sees her shrink into herself as she stares at him, her eyes big and scared. Good. She should be scared.

It feels like forever before he has finally reached the front of the line. He orders the most appealing looking item on the menu for himself although it is not what he wants. And he orders a kids meal for Genevieve. Maddie’s brother ruined things so Maddie doesn’t get anything. He then grabs his order number and stands to wait, glaring at Maddie the entire time.

When the food is finally ready Doug marches over and slams it down. He gives Genevieve her food and then starts eating his. There is a pained expression in Maddie’s eyes but she stays silent. He smirks when he sees a few tears fall but she is quick to blink them away before she turns her focus to Genevieve.

“Mommy, Daddy, can we get a pet snake?” Genevieve asks.

Doug blinks in shock. And then he looks at Maddie. There is a look of pure terror on her face. He remembers how in their early days of dating she told him how terrified she is of snakes. Doug feels a smile stretch across his face. “Of course darling. We can go to the pet store tomorrow.”

Genevieve jumps up and down cheering. Maddie goes pale. “I need to use the restroom,” she whispers and then she runs in that direction. Doug feels rage fill him. Maddie didn’t even wait for permission before she left. And she left him stuck looking after Genevieve. How dare she?

Genevieve smiles up at him with a massive grin on her face. “I love you Daddy!” She gives him a big hug and Doug reluctantly gives her one back although he is just staring at the bathroom, waiting for Maddie to return.

A few minutes later she does, significantly paler and with dried tear stains on her face. She approaches him with a hug and a kiss telling him how much she loves him. Doug smiles at her. Maybe she doesn’t need to pay for not asking permission to go to the bathroom.
____

The rest of the zoo visit goes as planned although Eddie and Buck take turns keeping an eye out for Doug, Maddie and Genevieve. Thankfully they don’t spot them at all for the rest of the day.

Their day finishes on a high note and they stop for the promised ice cream on the way home.
_____

When they get into the car Maddie feels wobbly. Her terror started from the instant she saw Evan and Eddie. But Doug was in a good mood then. Until lunch. She doesn’t know what happened to change his mood. She just hopes he didn’t spot Evan. If that was the cause of Doug’s mood change then she is in for a long painful night.

Genevieve is bubbly, holding onto the stuffed toy snake she got from the zoo gift shop as she talks up a storm on the drive home. She starts talking about what kind of pet snake she wants to get. Doug joins in, giving heaps of suggestions and Maddie shudders with each one. She hates snakes.

When they get home Doug walks Genevieve over to Cassandra’s cottage. Maddie is slightly surprised as Doug normally never sets foot near there.

As soon as he returns he slams the door shut and faces Maddie with fire in his eyes.

Chapter Text

Doug slams the car door behind him and Maddie jumps in fright, wincing as pain ricochets throughout her body. Doug wraps an arm around her as they walk into the firehouse and Maddie is forced to walk at his pace, her body screaming with every step, Doug’s speed almost impossible for her to maintain.

Doug assigns half of them chores whilst half of them get to rest. Maddie is surprised but thankful when Doug doesn’t assign her any chores. Instead he heads to the couches where Chimney and Eddie are, pulling Maddie along with him. When they sit down Maddie is cautious as she gingerly lowers herself down. She sucks in a deep breath at the impact when she makes contact with the couch which causes the pain in her broken ribs to intensify.

Doug asks Eddie and Chimney what they did over the weekend. Maddie sees the way Doug is staring Eddie down and she gulps. Doug must have spotted Evan when they were at the zoo. He never mentioned it, but then again, he doesn’t want her knowing Evan is here so of course he wouldn’t mention it.

“I had a movie marathon,” Chimney says.

Doug asks what movies and soon the two of them are talking about movies. Maddie sits there silently listening to the conversation, relieved that Doug’s focus has been taken away from Eddie.

After a while Hen comes up and Chim heads over to her. Maddie gulps when Doug turns his attention to Eddie. “What did you do over the weekend? Maddie and I took our daughter to the zoo. The zoo call gave us that idea.”

Maddie feels panicked as she looks at Eddie’s face. He is neutral, not giving anything away. “My husband and I also went to the zoo this weekend. We took our son with us. Did you go on Saturday or Sunday?”

“Saturday,” Doug replies, in a tone that frightens Maddie.

Eddie gives a surprised look. “Wow, that’s crazy. We also went on Saturday. Shame we didn’t bump into you whilst we were there.”

Doug gives a tight smile. “Yes, such a shame. Anyway, Genevieve loved the snakes so now we have a pet snake.”

Doug pulls out his phone and starts showing Eddie photos of the snake. Maddie trembles. She didn’t go with Doug and Genevieve when they went to the pet store to pick out the snake and everything the snake needed. When Doug and Genevieve were at the pet store Maddie was lying on their basement floor in a pool of her own blood.

When she heard the sound of Genevieve’s voice entering the house she forced herself up and somehow struggled upstairs.Where she was greeted with the horrific sight of the snake they now own, a boa constrictor that is 6 feet long, almost as long as is allowed for a pet snake in the state of California.

Doug had put the snake down on the ground and Maddie couldn’t help but scramble onto a chair as the snake had started to move around. Doug then left and went out to the car whilst Maddie watched in horror and fear as Genevieve fearlessly went straight up to the snake and started stroking it. Genevieve was gentle with the snake but Maddie spent the whole time terrified that the snake would turn on Genevieve.

Doug then came back to the house carrying the snake’s habitat, a large glass enclosure. Genevieve asked if it could be in her room and Maddie was quick to shout ‘NO!’ Doug had smirked and asked if Maddie would rather the snake live in the living room, constantly near where she is. Maddie had trembled before nodding her head. There was no way she was letting the snake share a room with Genevieve. Doug had shrugged before setting up the enclosure. Genevieve had fun running outside and grabbing branches to put inside the enclosure for the snake to climb on.

Once Doug finally placed the snake inside the enclosure and secured the lid tight Maddie let out a breath of relief and got down from the chair that she had been perched on the entire time.

Genevieve had then asked Doug if she could name the snake. Doug had instantly said no and Genevieve had cried. With a groan Doug asked Genevieve what she wanted to name the snake. Genevieve had loudly said ‘fang!’ Doug loved that name idea so even though boa constrictors don’t have fangs due to being a non venomous snake, they now have a massive pet boa constrictor snake named Fang.

Doug shows Eddie more photos of the snake and Eddie seems interested in the photos. Maddie shudders and wishes she could get away from the snake conversation but Doug is gripping onto her so tightly that leaving the conversation is impossible.

Maddie is relieved when the tones go off. Doug states that Maddie is the man behind before everyone else is getting into the fire engines and then Maddie is alone in the empty firehouse.

Maddie sags in relief. She basically never gets time to herself. She sometimes gets time when she can think by herself, when she is trapped next to the side of a sleeping Doug. But apart from that unless she is locked somewhere as a form of punishment she never gets time by herself with no expectations on her. And Doug didn’t even set her any station chores to do. Maddie hopes the call they are on is a long one.

She makes her way to the area where the spare medical supplies live. She hasn’t yet had a chance to properly tend to the injuries she got after they got home from the zoo. She takes her time tending to her wounds, wincing in pain. Once she has done so she fills in a report for the used items although she keeps her name out of the report.

She then looks at the time and makes her way to the kitchen to prepare lunch for everyone, knowing she will be in trouble if lunch isn’t ready when they return.

She has just moved the food to the warmers when she hears the sound of the trucks pulling back in. Everyone gets out and Maddie can smell them from here and she only just manages to not wrinkle up her nose at the smell. At Maddie’s questioning look Chimney lets out a groan. “A homeless guy got stuck in the trash compactor of a garbage truck. We only just got him out in time.”

Maddie’s eyes widen and she feels selfishly grateful that she missed out on that call. Until she breathes and the pain that sends throughout her body reminds her why she is man behind in the first place.

Everyone goes and showers so Maddie gets all the plates and everything else sorted. Once everyone starts trickling out of the showers Maddie puts the food on the table and everyone digs in. As per usual Maddie sits next to Doug and has a smaller portion size than she would prefer.

For their next call Maddie gets given a list of chores so she gets started on that while the others go to the call. They have two calls in a row before they return to the station. From everyone’s conversations Maddie gathers that one call involved a flooding elevator and the other call involved a hoarder’s house turned death trap. She shudders, relieved she missed that call. She is the smallest on their team so it would have been her going into that and crawling through the piles of stuff would have been so hard and painful due to all of her injuries.

Still, even though she is glad to miss some of the calls they have had she also feels a pang of loneliness. Everyone else is talking about the calls and she is outside of it, separate from them. Doug is laughing along with some of the crew and they are all connected. And she isn’t.

Ok, even when she is on calls she is separate, normally with Hen in the ambulance. And she is only allowed to have proper conversations with Hen and Doug.

She feels a wave of pain and sadness wash over her and the sharp prickle of tears fighting to break through. It takes several minutes of furious blinking before the threat of tears is finally gone.

Pretty much the rest of the shift goes that way. With Maddie doing chores while everyone else goes out on the calls and then her feeling even lonelier and lonelier as the shift progresses. During the night she doesn’t get much sleep. The bells never go off but she is tossing and turning, drowning in mental misery, unable to find the temporary peace that sleep would provide.

In the morning a couple of hours before their shift ends they get a call that is just a medical one, so Doug lets Maddie go out, just her and Hen in the ambulance.

Maddie’s heart feels heavy on the drive over so she is silent, not talking to Hen. Dispatch said the call is just requesting medical confirmation of the death of an older woman with Alzheimer’s. The voice from dispatch sounds a bit choked up when they say the woman was found by her daughter, and that her daughter works at dispatch. The dispatcher asks if they can make sure to be there for the daughter. Maddie finds that she is choked up as well when she says they will do what they can for the daughter.

When they get there the door is already open and a distraught woman with blonde hair directs them to where her mom is lying on her bed. Maddie doesn’t have the emotional capacity to try and comfort the daughter so she makes her way to the mom, leaving Hen to be there for the daughter.

It is as expected, so with a sad voice Maddie calls it. They call it in and then Maddie is forced to turn her attention to the daughter. The daughter sobs saying that she is alone but that her brother will be there in around 20 minutes. She asks if they can stay with her until her brother gets there. Hen is quick to agree and soon Maddie and Hen are sitting on either side of the woman who says her name is Abby.

Maddie knows she isn’t capable of providing comfort so she just sits there quietly next to Abby, listening as Abby pours out her heart. Maddie lets Hen do the replying and emotional work.

A sense of relief fills Maddie when the brother finally arrives. Her relief instantly turns to guilt for feeling that relief. This is her job, she should be willing and ready to provide emotional support rather than being terrified of feeling someone else's pain too deeply, worried she is inadequate at being there for others when she feels like she is drowning.

Once again there is silence as Hen and Maddie drive back to the fire station. That seems to be a common theme on these drives but thankfully most of the time Hen doesn’t push it and she just allows Maddie the silence and time to think and breathe that Maddie so desperately needs.
_________

Athena shows up at the call. The guy is bleeding from his head and is trying to get his wife to open the bathroom door she is locked behind. Athena really hates these calls. She radios for an ambulance and also firefighters in case they need to get into the bathroom.

They get the guy arrested just as the 132 shows up. Once he is gone and Athena assures the wife of that, the wife opens the door, looking understandably scared.

The guy tries saying it isn’t what it looks like which just infuriates Athena. Why do these people always try to make it even worse for their victims by invalidating them?

But then the guy says that his wife isn’t British. Yet she is speaking in a British accent and using British phrases. And the wife had said she woke up with a migraine and she has had violent hiccups for over an hour. A new type of alarm fills Athena as she says maybe it is a stroke. Bobby is quick to get his paramedics to check and then they are taking her away in an ambulance.

Buck looks upset and it is obvious why. Even though in this instance it turned out to be a stroke rather than a domestic violence call it still made all of them think about Maddie and Doug. All of them are united in wishing that Maddie could be free and that Doug would pay for the way he hurts Maddie.
___________

At the beginning of their next shift Doug assigns Maddie with a mountain of chores. She is the only one who gets assigned chores. Doug also states that no one is allowed to help Maddie with the chores, staring Hen down as he says that.

Hen decides not to message the group chat about that. They can’t do anything about it and it will just make Buck upset.

Maddie is struggling through the chores, her broken ribs from after their day at the zoo still making breathing and everything else more painful than it should be. She can feel Doug watching her, scrutinising her and the pressure feels unbearable. She is extremely relieved when Hen and her get called out for a medical call.

Maddie is quiet on the drive there, taking the chance to just breathe and rest. She drives occasionally but normally and as is the case today Hen drives which Maddie prefers as it gives her a tiny bit of time to rest.

When they arrive the guy is clearly dead. Maddie calls his time of death and Hen calls it in.

The call is a quick one so they are back at the fire house and Maddie is back stuck doing all the firehouse chores way quicker than she would have liked.

Maddie is working on cleaning one of the fire engines when Doug’s hand suddenly clamps down on her shoulder, pressing tightly on the bruises that both of them know lie just beneath her clothes. Maddie isn’t able to stop herself from flinching.

“You missed a spot,” Doug says, his tone cold.

Maddie trembles as she moves to go over the spot Doug pointed out. “I’m sorry.”

Doug lets out a sigh. “We need to have a talk in my office.”

Maddie feels fear run through her. Doug turns around and walks to his office. He doesn’t say anything else but his orders are clear. Maddie keeps her head staring at the ground and she feels herself begin to shake as she miserably follows him there.

Once they are inside his office Doug closes the door behind them and pins Maddie against the wall.

“Why can you never do anything right?” He hisses, keeping his volume low in order to stop anyone else from hearing. His voice may be quiet but the rage in it is clear. Maddie doesn’t know what she has done wrong this time.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, hoping that it will do something, that it will ease his anger at her for whatever she has done.

Doug slaps her in the face and Maddie feels her lip split and blood starts to trickle down her face. She stares at Doug in a panic. How on earth is she supposed to explain this away when everyone saw her enter Doug’s office uninjured and they are going to see her walk out of Doug’s office bleeding.

“You are too sloppy with the chores and you are way too slow. Why can’t you do them faster?”

Maddie gulps. She can’t tell him the truth. If she tells him she is slower than normal because of the pain in her ribs that will only serve to enrage Doug even more.

“I’m sorry,” she just repeats instead. “I’ll do better.”

Doug glares at her as he grabs strands of her hair and twirls them around menacingly in between his fingers. “Make sure of it,” he snaps harshly. Maddie can’t help the wince she lets out.

Doug softens as he pulls her close and kisses her on the head. “I only want the best for you. I want you to be the best version of yourself you can be.”

Maddie just nods numbly.

Doug walks over to his desk where there is a box of tissues. He gets one and softly wipes the blood off Maddie's face. He then looks at her for a few seconds. “It’s still a bit noticeable. You are going to leave this office and take two steps before tripping and falling. Ok?”

His tone is menacing and Maddie knows she doesn’t have a choice. She nods, although she hates the thought of having to purposely trip and end up in even more pain just to provide a cover for her split lip.

Doug moves towards the door and Maddie takes a deep breath. She really doesn’t want to do this but she knows she doesn’t have a choice. She has to do this.

She opens the door and sees Hen and Eddie instantly look in her direction. Her heart sinks even more especially as she spots Hen already clocking her injury. And yet she is still going to have to get hurt even more just to pretend it wasn’t Doug who gave her the injury.

She takes two steps forward before closing her eyes, knowing that not being able to see is the only way she is going to be able to force herself to do this.

She takes a third step, doing it at an awkward angle so that her ankle rolls (which wasn’t her intention). The pain in her ankle sends her crashing down with a yelp as she falls face first.

She hears everyone rushing over to her, Doug’s cries of concern the loudest. She can barely stand to look at him as everyone crowds around her but she knows she has to so she does.

The pain in her ankle is so sharp, too sharp, and she can’t stop the tears from running down her face.

She can also feel a few scrapes and bruises on her face so at least Doug will be satisfied by that. Everyone will think her split lip happened when she tripped.

But the pain in her ankle is stealing all of her attention. She has had rolled ankles before and she has had broken ankles before and she instinctively knows that this is the latter. She feels almost frozen in fear. Doug is going to blame this on her. She was only supposed to provide a cover for her split lip. She was never supposed to break her ankle in the process.

Doug orders Hen and Chimney to take her to the hospital to get checked out, insisting that Chimney drives and Hen is the one in the back with Maddie.

Doug carries Maddie to the ambulance and gives her a warning look before Hen then jumps in and closes the door behind them and then they start moving.

Once she knows they are away from Doug, Maddie’s tears of pain turn into full on sobbing. There isn’t really anything Hen can do for her ankle until they arrive so Hen just sits there with her as Maddie finds herself hugging Hen and desperately crying into Hen’s shoulder.

“He’s going to be so mad,” she whispers, starting to shake. “It was only supposed to be a small fall, I wasn’t supposed to break a bone.”

“What do you mean?” Hen asks cautiously.

Maddie gulps, when she said that aloud she had momentarily forgotten that Hen could hear her. But then she decides she may as well tell Hen. Hen already knows Doug hurts her and maybe being able to talk about it will make her feel less alone.

“When we were in the office he slapped me causing my lip to split. Even after he cleaned up the blood it was still noticeable so he told me that after leaving his office I was to take two steps before then tripping and falling so that me falling would explain away the split lip. It was only meant to explain away the split lip. He’s going to be furious that I broke my ankle and that I won’t be able to do everything for him whilst it heals.”

There is a pause before Hen speaks, clearly choosing her words carefully. “Your ankle might not be broken, it might just be sprained.”

Maddie gives a harsh laugh. Hen might be trying to give her hope but she knows it is broken. “I’ve had several sprained ankles and many more broken ankles. I know the difference in how it feels. It’s definitely broken.”

She feels guilt when she sees the sadness wash over Hen’s face. She always messes things up. Now she has made Hen sad as well.

They don’t say much more in the last few minutes before reaching the hospital. When they get there Maddie leans on Hen’s side as they help her in. Chimney takes the ambulance back to the firehouse whilst Hen stays with Maddie, showing Maddie a text from Doug insisting that Hen stays with Maddie until she has been seen and then Hen is to get both of them back to the fire house. Maddie feels relief that she will have Hen with her, that she won’t be on her own.

There is quite a while of waiting until Maddie finally gets seen. When they do the scans they confirm that it is broken. Which Maddie knew would be the case.

The person doing the scans then pulls up her medical records and Maddie shrivels inside when she sees their face.

“I’m sorry but we are going to need to do surgery to fix it due to how many times your ankle has been broken in the past. If our records are right then this is the 7th time that this ankle has been broken?”

They phrase it as a question and Maddie feels her face heat with shame as she stares at the ground and nods. She feels Hen slip her hand into hers and give her a reassuring squeeze which does help her a bit. She isn’t alone in this.

They are able to do the surgery right away so at least the fear of waiting doesn’t last too long. Hen gives her hand one last squeeze before she is taken away and then Maddie is all alone and she feels the fear start to consume her.

Once Maddie has been taken away Hen makes her way to the waiting room. She has texts from Doug asking for updates. She wishes that Doug wasn’t even a contact on her phone but he is her boss so there is no way around it.

Aware that anything she says could be used against Maddie, Hen gives Doug the bare minimum of information. Just saying that it has been confirmed that Maddie’s ankle is broken and that Maddie has just gone into surgery to correct it. Doug’s reply is short, just repeating that Hen is to stay there until Maddie is discharged. Hen feels relief in that, glad she can stay here for Maddie even if she can’t be in the room with her.

She spends a couple of hours in the waiting room, fielding a lot of messages especially on the group chat for people worried about Maddie. Eddie has asked for updates causing everyone else to ask what happened.

When Eddie messages that Maddie tripped, everyone is concerned and Hen lets them know that Maddie’s ankle is broken. She doesn’t tell them the reason why Maddie tripped, that was something Maddie told her in confidence.

After a few hours Hen sees Maddie make her way out, her ankle in a cast as Maddie uses a pair of crutches to move. Relief fills Maddie’s face when she spots Hen and she hurries over to her.

Now that Hen knows they are ready to leave she orders an uber for them. They have a few minutes to talk before the uber arrives but Hen is expecting it to be filled with silence. She has gotten used to silences with Maddie and she can tell that their silences are Maddie’s only moments of peace.

Maddie turns to Hen. “Thanks for staying with me. And for caring.” Maddie takes a deep breath. “I don't know how long it will be before I can return to work as clearly I can’t work on a broken ankle.”

Fear flashes across Maddie’s face and Hen feels more helpless than she would like.

Hen ends up just giving Maddie another hug which Maddie gratefully sinks into.

On the uber ride back to the fire station they are silent, partially because of the driver also being there.

When they get out Hen helps Maddie with the crutches. As soon as Doug spots them he rushes over to them with fake concern. He thanks Hen for staying with Maddie before telling Maddie she can rest in his office until the end of their shift.

Doug guides Maddie to the office and closes the door behind them. He helps Maddie onto the couch before taking her crutches and putting them in the furthest corner of the room from her, way out of her reach. “I’ll deal with you when we get home,” he hisses before he then leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Maddie feels despair fill her. Having the crutches stuck on the other side of the room just makes it even worse as she is essentially trapped on the couch.

The remaining hours of their shift pass slowly for Maddie. She hears the sirens sound a few times and can hear the movement and laughter of everyone else outside the office. But she is stuck in there, trapped on the couch.

After a long time their shift is finally over. Doug reappears in the office and gives Maddie her crutches back. He appears all concerned as he helps her as they make their way to his car.

The car ride home is filled with threatening silence.

When they enter their house Genevieve gasps when she sees the cast on Maddie’s ankle. She starts to pepper Maddie with questions.

“She tripped at work,” Doug snaps.

Doug then turns to Cassandra. “Take Genevieve now and don’t bring her back until I come and get her.”

Cassandra gives a dutiful nod before taking Genevieve and Claribelle away.

As soon as they are gone Doug pulls the crutches away from Maddie causing her to topple to the ground. Doug takes the crutches and storms upstairs with them whilst Maddie stays on the ground, in fearful anticipation of his return.

A few minutes later Doug storms back. “Your crutches are in the attic. You won’t be needing them. How long did they say you will be in a cast for?”

Maddie gulps as she tries to control her shaking. “They said at least six weeks though it could be longer. I have to go back in six weeks for them to check.”

Doug gives a thoughtful nod. “So you don’t need to leave this house for an entire six weeks then?”

He gives a smirk and Maddie can tell exactly what is thinking. Six weeks with no one seeing her means he doesn’t need to hold back due to worrying about people seeing her injuries. She knows this is going to end badly for her.

“HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?!” Doug yells, landing the first kick to her abdomen.

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE A COVER FOR YOUR SPLIT LIP. NOT BREAK A FUCKING BONE!”

Doug launches a series of kicks across her entire body and tears fall down Maddie's face as the pain fills her body. She didn’t mean to break her ankle. She was just doing what Doug told her to do.

“YOU WANT A BROKEN BONE SO BADLY THEN WHY DON’T I HELP YOU!”

Fear grips Maddie and she starts pleading. “Please Doug, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break my ankle. I would never inconvenience you like that. I’m so so sorry.”

Doug just snorts. “Well whether or not you meant to break it you did. And now you are going to be sloppy with all the chores and even more annoying to have to deal with.”

He yanks a hold of her arm before flipping her around so that she is on her front. He then grabs her left arm and pulls it behind her back, not paying any attention to Maddie’s screaming, pleading and apologising.

She hears the snapping sound as a fresh wave of agonising pain washes over her.

Doug starts kicking her in the head and everything begins to go hazy.

She comes to when she hears the sound of someone knocking on the door. She stays where she is, lying on the ground, as she hears Doug swear before he makes his way over to the door.

“Officer, what can I do for you?” She hears Doug say, clearly turning on the charm.

“Can you get your wife please so that I can speak to her,” she hears a voice say.

It is Athena. Maddie recognises that voice. Equal waves of pain, fear and hope flood through her.

Doug’s voice is tight when he answers. “I’ll just go and get her.”

Doug then storms over to where Maddie is and she trembles as she looks up at him. He pulls her to her feet, pulling on her broken arm and Maddie isn’t able to stop the scream of pain she lets out. Doug gives her a furious glare, both of them fully aware that Athena will have heard that scream.

Within seconds Athena is inside of the house, rather than waiting outside. Doug lets go of Maddie’s arm and she crumples back to the floor.

“Mr Kendall, may I speak to your wife in private please?” Athena asks.

Doug glares. “No. Whatever you are going to say to her you can say with me in the room.”

Maddie can’t help the tears that run down her face. She sees the concern on Athena’s face and she just wants out. She doesn’t want to do this anymore.

She stares up at Athena. “Help,” Maddie whispers.

Chapter Text

From the moment she received the call to the Kendall house Athena was on high alert.

When she knocks on the door Doug answers and he tries to act all charming. She isn’t buying it. Instead she just asks to speak to Maddie. Doug glares at Athena before saying that he will go and get Maddie.

But then Athena hears Maddie let out a pain filled scream from inside the house and she isn’t going to wait any longer. She rushes inside.

Maddie is crumpled on the floor. One of her arms is very visibly broken and Athena knows that wasn’t the case when Maddie finished her shift barely an hour ago. Maddie is covered in blood and bruises, and tears are streaming down her face.

It takes all of Athena’s efforts to stay professional.

“Mr Kendall, may I speak to your wife in private please?” Athena asks.

Doug refuses, which Athena expected but it makes things trickier.

Maddie weakly lifts her head and stares up at Athena with desperation in her eyes. “Help,” she whispers.

And that is all Athena needs. Within seconds she has Doug in handcuffs and is radioing in for more cops and an ambulance.

Doug glares at Maddie and watching the way Maddie starts trembling, Athena hopes the other cops hurry up so she can get Doug away from Maddie.

“Cassanda. Ice,” Doug says in a cold tone.

Athena doesn’t know what those words mean but it sounds like a threat and Maddie freezes and goes completely pale before she visibly deflates. “C, c, can you let him go? I, I, I’ve c, c, changed my m, m, mind,” Maddie whispers.

Disappointment floods through Athena. “So you don’t want to press charges?”

Maddie closes her eyes before she shakes her head. “No. I was just overreacting and being silly. Everything’s fine here.”

And as much as Athena absolutely hates it she is left with no choice but to take the handcuffs of a triumphant looking Doug.

“She said everything’s fine so you can go now,” Doug snaps.

Knowing that staying will just make things worse for Maddie, Athena reluctantly leaves and radios the ambulance and other cops saying they aren’t needed any more.

The instant Athena leaves, Doug turns to Maddie, looking the angriest she has ever seen him.

“I’m sorry Doug,” she tries, even though she knows it is useless.

Doug advances towards her and hits her head so hard that everything instantly goes black.
_____

For their next shift Chimney is partnered with Hen. Doug lets them know that Maddie will be off for at least 6 weeks or longer if her ankle takes longer to heal.

Doug ends up being in a bad mood all shift so everyone spends most of the shift avoiding him.
____

When Maddie comes to, all of her senses are flooded with pain. She tries to open her eyes to see her surroundings but when she doesn’t see anything panic sets in for a few seconds before she realises that she can feel a piece of cloth tied around her eyes. She has been blindfolded.

She tries to move her hands in order to take off the blindfold. But with both of her arms when she tries lifting them they are tied to something with rope. She doesn’t know what they are tied to. Just that they are tied so tightly that she cannot move. The tightness of the rope around her broken arm is absolutely agonising and the pain causes hot tears to flood down her face. She can feel that she doesn’t have a cast on it and she just hopes that at some point Doug will let her seek medical attention for it so that it will have a better chance of healing correctly.

She is tied up and trapped somewhere in their house, she is blindfolded and in excruciating pain. She cries until she runs out of tears.

Hours later she hears the sounds of footsteps and can tell that Doug is home. Her body tenses up as she hears loud angry thuds and can tell that he is in a bad mood. When she hears the sound of his footsteps getting louder she finds herself holding her breath as her entire being is filled with sheer terror.

The sound of his footsteps get louder and louder until suddenly she feels his boot slam down onto her stomach. Maddie can’t hold back a scream of pain. Within seconds his hand is clamped down over her mouth and his body weight is then completely on top of her, crushing her and trapping her.

“I’ve had a terrible shift Maddie and it was all your fault because you weren’t there for me because you were stupid enough to break your ankle. How dare you do that. How dare you do that to me.”

His words are accompanied by a punch to her neck that leaves her breathless and struggling for air. It is only when he grabs her neck and yanks her upwards so that she is sitting that she is able to take a breath.

He then pulls off her blindfold which feels even worse as now she is stuck seeing the complete rage and hatred in his eyes causing her to shudder. She also sees that she is in the guest bedroom but that doesn’t matter to her right now.

He picks her up and she tries not to flinch at his touch. He carries her downstairs and then opens the door to the basement. And then before she knows what is happening he has thrown her and she is flying down the stairs, screaming in terror and desperation as all of her tries to brace herself for the pain that she knows will come when she lands.

When she lands she hears and feels a horrific snapping and pain in her left leg. So now one leg is broken on top of her other leg already having a broken ankle. Her head also starts throbbing with pain and she feels the stickiness and wetness of blood coming out. As her vision starts to dim she looks up at Doug and sees fear in his face. The last thing she sees before everything goes dark is a panicked Doug hurrying towards her.
____

Karen and Hen smile as they sit on the park bench and watch Denny run around with the other children there.

It is going well until they watch Denny trip over a branch and suddenly he is flying. He lands on the ground with a hard thud and starts screaming. Hen and Karen sprint over to him. His left arm is bent at an awkward angle and it is clear it is broken.

Hen works on splinting and immobilising his arm while Karen helps to distract him and works to take his mind away from the pain. As soon as Hen has splinted Denny’s arm they make their way to the car. Karen sits in the back with Denny to offer him comfort whilst Hen starts the drive to the hospital.

Thankfully it is a quieter day at the hospital so they don’t have to wait long for Denny to be seen.
____

When Maddie wakes up she is lying in a hospital bed and Doug’s hand has a firm grip on her hand. When he sees that she is awake he tells her that he will get a nurse and that she is to ask to be discharged regardless of whether or not it is against medical advice.

She doesn’t dare go against him and she is just thankful that her left arm and left leg both have casts on them meaning they hopefully have a good chance of healing properly.

Doug disappears from the room for a few minutes and then returns with a nurse. Knowing what she has to do Maddie looks down at her lap as she quietly says that she would like to be discharged. As she knew would be the case the nurse tries to fight it saying that Maddie isn’t ready to be discharged. Maddie hates this part so much and it feels like it has taken everything out of her by the time she has finally signed the discharge papers and is sitting in a wheelchair, with Doug wheeling her out to the car.

She keeps her head down as Doug wheels her through the hospital. But then she hears a familiar voice. She jerks her head up and feels panic at the sight of Hen with a woman she is assuming is Hen’s wife and a kid with his arm in a cast that she is assuming is Hen’s son.

Maddie can tell when Doug notices Hen as the wheelchair stops moving. And then Hen looks up and sees them. Maddie can see by the look in Hen’s eyes that Hen instantly knows what caused all of Maddie’s injuries.

“Hi Hen!” Doug says, making his voice all fake and cheery but Maddie can pick up the underlying bitterness in his tone and even though them seeing Hen here was purely by chance Maddie is terrified that she is going to pay the price for that.

Hen forces a smile on her face that Maddie can tell is fake. “Hi Doug, hi Maddie. This is my wife Karen and my son Denny. We’re here because Denny tripped and broke his arm.”

Maddie says hi to Karen and Denny. Doug does as well although Maddie can tell that Doug is not happy about it.

Denny looks at his arm and then at Maddie. “Wow, we both have broken the same arm, our left arm and we both have a red cast. How did you break your arm?”

Maddie flinches and her head instinctively turns to look at Doug..

“She fell down the stairs,” Doug says smoothly. “Anyway it was nice seeing you here but we should get home as Maddie needs to rest.”

Doug then faces Karen and Denny. “It was nice meeting the two of you. Hen, I’ll see you next shift.”

And then Doug is wheeling Maddie away. As soon as they are out of sight Maddie starts trembling in fear.
_____

Once Denny has gone to bed Karen turns to Hen. “So . . . that was your captain and his wife,” Karen says. Hen gives a nod.

Karen sighs. “He’s hurting her right? Her injuries, the way she flinched when Denny asked what happened, the anger Doug could barely keep hidden, that all points towards him hurting her.”

Hen sighs as well. “He is. She’s admitted it to me and I’ve made sure she knows that I am there for her and will help her when she is ready.”

Hen pauses before speaking again. “It has been 36 hours since the end of the last shift we had with her. She exited that shift with one broken bone, her ankle. That happened during the shift as Doug forced her to purposefully trip and fall to cover for him splitting her lip. I heard from Athena that a few hours after the shift she was called to their house after neighbors heard yelling and screaming. When Athena got there Maddie’s arm was also broken. And now her leg is as well. So in less than 36 hours she has had 3 bones broken in 3 different incidents. And she already had a few broken ribs before all of that.”

Hen sighs again before she starts crying. “I want to help her but until she’s ready to leave it doesn’t feel like there is anything I can do. I hate that she arrives on shifts with more injuries than she left with. And now we won’t see her for at least 6 weeks so she will be isolated and all alone during that time.”

Karen rubs Hen’s back and they sit in silence for a few minutes. Eventually they talk a bit more and then with heavy hearts and worry and sadness for Maddie they make their way to bed.
_____

Doug yells at Maddie the whole drive home.

When they arrive home he slams his car door shut, marches over to Maddie’s side of the car and rips the door open. He grabs her non broken arm and yanks her out of the car. Maddie falls to the ground, her broken right ankle and her broken left leg not allowing her to stay balanced and standing.

Doug growls at her before grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking her into the house. Maddie can’t help the screams and whimpers of pain that escape her body, as the concrete of their driveway rips into her flesh.

Doug punches her in the head as he screams at her to shut up. Not letting out a single sound is incredibly hard with how much pain she is in but she manages to stay quiet, knowing that making a sound is way too dangerous.

He rips open their front door before he continues dragging her by her hair. When he opens the basement door she starts crying again. He drags her down the stairs, her body painfully bumping against each one.

Once they are in the middle of the basement Doug lets go of her hair. He then makes his way back up the stairs and Maddie hears the sound of him turning the lock and sliding in the deadbolt.

Once he is gone she bursts into tears. She is alone on the cold concrete floor, basically unable to move due to all her injuries and she is in so so much pain. It feels like her misery is never ending.
___

He punches one of the walls as he storms through the house. How dare she! First she was stupid enough to break her ankle and then she dared to try and ask Athena for help. She thought she could leave him? He will have to make sure she knows that can never ever happen.

There is a knock on the door and he groans. When he opens the door it is Cassandra, ready to return Genevieve to him. That’s not going to happen. He doesn’t want to have to deal with Genevieve and he is sure Genevieve would rather stay with Cassandra than him.

“Maddie will be unavailable to look after Genevieve for at least 6 weeks so Genevieve will stay with you full time for those 6 weeks,” he snaps, before slamming the door in their faces, not caring about the look of horror and sadness in Cassandra’s eyes or that way he hears Genevieve’s wails through the door, her obnoxious wails thankfully getting quieter as he assumes Cassandra is leading her away.

He doesn’t get much sleep that night, restless and angry and hurt over Maddie’s betrayal. He’s her husband and yet she tried to get Athena to help her leave. He can’t let her get away with that.

Once it is early enough that the shops are open he goes out and buys the supplies he will need. He grins as he makes his way home. Soon things will be under his control again and everything will be back to normal the way it should be.

He heads to the basement, flinging open the door. He sees the way Maddie flinches and then tenses up. Good. She should be scared. She needs to learn her lesson.

He strides toward her, noting with a satisfied smile the way she begins trembling when he approaches her. She is still lying down but when he approaches she attempts to sit up.

“Lie back down!” He snaps.

She obeys him instantly.

He then rips all her clothes off and she whimpers slightly before she manages to stop herself.

He then turns his back on her as he sets up the motion sensor camera he has purchased only a few hours ago. Once it is done he re sets his focus on Maddie, ready to lay down the law.

“Here is how these weeks will work. You will stay here, lying down and you will not move. AT ALL. Not even one inch. I will know if you do as I have just set up a motion sensor camera. I made sure to pay the extra money to get one that is extremely sensitive to movement. Every time you move I will get sent a notification. You do not want me to be sent any notifications. If I receive any you will pay the price.”

He pauses, smiling as he stands over her and sees the terror in her eyes. “Any questions?”

She visibly gulps before she speaks, her voice shaky and timid. “What if I need to go to the bathroom? Am I allowed to move then?”

He pulls out his second purchase from this morning and holds it above her head so that it is in her line of vision. He sees her face go red with shame and he feels a sense of calmness fill him.

He opens the pack of adult diapers and pulls one out. He puts one on her. She is shaking when he does so. Once he is done he stands up and laughs at the shaking mess that is his wife. “You might want to be careful with how much you shake. Like I said, the motion sensor cameras are very sensitive.”

He then leaves the basement. Only briefly as he just needs to get one last thing. He makes his way to the living room and heads to Fang’s snake enclosure. He has enjoyed having Fang as their pet. Genevieve also loves Fang not that he cares much about that. He finds Fang pretty cool and enjoys having a pet snake. But the best part of having Fang is well and truly how completely terrified of Fang Maddie is.

He removes the lid from Fang’s enclosure and reaches into the enclosure to grab Fang. Fang coils around his arm, as he then carries Fang downstairs to the basement.

Because Maddie is lying down he knows she can only hear him but for now can’t see him.

“One last thing Maddie,” he says. “I’m not completely heartless. I don’t want you to be alone so you will have Fang for company.”

Maddie visibly flinches and goes completely white.

Doug smiles as he walks Fang over and places him on Maddie’s stomach. Maddie tenses and her breathing rate increases.

“I’ve got my shift in a couple of hours. It’s a 12 hour one so I guess I’ll see you in around 15 hours time. Remember, if you move there will be consequences. Bye Maddie. Have a good day and remember the rules.”

Before Doug exits the basement he sets up one corner with food and water for Fang. He also makes sure to have the appropriate heat lamps and temperature controls for Fang set up in a corner. He’s going to be gone for 15 hours, he’s a responsible pet owner.

Once everything for Fang is taken care of, Doug then heads up the basement stairs, hearing Maddie start to cry before he has even left the basement.
___

When their shift starts, Doug announces that because Maddie is away for at least 6 weeks due to breaking her ankle he will need to shuffle up the pairings whilst she is gone.

Doug then turns to Chimney. “Chimney, whilst Maddie is away you will be partnered with Hen in the ambulance.”

Chimney smiles, thrilled to be working with Hen again. Hen doesn’t look as enthused which confuses him. He and Hen are friends and love working together. Does she no longer want to work with him? Does she prefer working with Maddie?
___

Maddie is too scared to even breathe. Doug didn’t need to tell her she can’t move or she will be punished. Fang is enough for her to know she won’t be moving.

Her entire body is frozen in fear and it feels like Doug has only just left. She has no idea how she is going to cope with 15 hours of full on terror, being trapped with Fang.

Doug had placed Fang on her stomach and in the minutes since Doug has left her here, Fang has started to slither up her body and Fang’s head is way too close to her face.

Maddie closes her eyes as she tries to pretend she is somewhere else. Tries to pretend that there isn’t a snake that she is absolutely petrified of making its way closer and closer to her face.

But she isn’t able to take her mind away from the room. Not when she can feel the cool, dry and scaly texture of Fang slowly slithering up her body. Not when she isn’t even wearing any clothes meaning she doesn’t even have the flimsy protection of a small layer of fabric in between her and Fang.

She then feels Fang moving even more and soon she is very glad her eyes are closed as she can feel Fang sliding over her face and over her eyes.

She knows without a doubt that this is the most terrified she has ever been in her entire life. Even with everything Doug has put her through, no previous fear she has felt matches the level of complete and utter terror she is currently feeling.

A gross smell fills the room and it takes her a while to realise that the adult diaper Doug put her in is now wet. Her face heats up in shame. Even though no one saw it she is horrified that she wet herself.
____

Doug chuckles to himself.

“What are you laughing at?” Chimney asks him curiously.

“Just a video on my phone,” Doug says casually as he then makes his way into his office and closes the door. Once the door is closed his attention is fully on watching his phone which is connected to the camera set up in the basement. Giving him a full view of Maddie’s terror. Seeing her wet herself in fear just makes it even better. This is the perfect entertainment for him during his shift.
____

Somehow she gets through the 15 hours but she has no idea how she does. Fang spends most of the 15 hours on her which just makes the entire thing even worse. She desperately wishes Fang would just go to the far away corner of the room, as far from her as possible.

Instead it is the longest 15 hours of her life. She spends the entire time as still as possible. She does manage to not move at all which is a small relief as it means that hopefully Doug won’t find any reason to punish her.

By the end of the 15 hours she has lost count of how many times she has accidentally wet herself from sheer terror when Fang moved on her. At one point Fang slid under her neck and then wrapped around it and she was absolutely frozen in fear, barely able to breath, terrified that Fang was going to kill her. She knows Fang killing her would be less painful than Doug killing her but she wasn’t able to shake off the all consuming terror that filled her.

Her body is also in agony. From all her injuries and also from hunger due to having no food the entire time she has been forced to lie down here. But she hasn’t paid either of those factors any attention due to her fear of Fang being so overwhelming that it is the only thing she has been capable of thinking about for the duration of the entire 15 hours.

When she hears the basement door open she holds her breath, desperately hoping Doug will take Fang away and terrified that he will leave her here with Fang for even longer. She can’t do it. She can’t deal with the level of terror she feels when trapped with Fang.

The sound of Doug’s footsteps get closer and then Fang who is currently resting on her face, almost suffocating her, is lifted away from her and Maddie sobs tears of relief. She hears Doug going back upstairs, hopefully putting Fang away, securely in Fang’s enclosure.

When Doug returns he leans down and picks her up. Maddie wraps her arms around him and desperately clings to him as she sobs, unable to keep her emotions in now that she is finally away from Fang.

“I’ve got you Maddie, it’s alright,” Doug says in a soothing tone.

Maddie sobs even harder, relieved by his kindness and needing the comfort.

For the rest of the night Maddie clings to Doug, grateful to him for removing Fang and putting Fang back in his enclosure.

Chapter Text

The next time Doug is about to leave for a shift Maddie wants to ask about Genevieve. She barely ever gets to see Genevieve and if she has to be off work whilst her injuries heal then she would like to be able to spend that time with Genevieve. It seems like Genevieve spends way more time with Cassandra than with her. At this point Maddie is scared that Genevieve sees Cassandra as more of her mother figure than Maddie.

So Maddie wants to be able to spend this time with Genevieve. But the memories of the previous day, of being trapped with Fang scare her too much meaning she is too scared of Doug’s reaction to ask such a question. Which fills her with shame and guilt. She feels like a terrible mother.

This time Doug is kinder when he leaves her to go for his shift. This time she is left in their bedroom, her non broken arm chained to the leg of the bed. However the chain is long enough to allow her to get to the ensuite bathroom. Getting there is difficult because of her broken leg and her broken ankle but still doable. The chain isn’t long enough for her to reach the door of the room but even if she could Doug has locked the door anyway. But Doug has left her food and the tv remote. And he has given her permission to move. So she has food, access to the bathroom, tv so something to do and she is allowed to move. But best of all Fang is nowhere near her. The bedroom door is locked and Fang is on the other side of that. Which is a massive relief. She doesn’t think she can deal with that level of terror again.

It is still a hard day but it is immensely better. Although only in some ways. Yesterday the pure terror of having Fang on her meant she wasn’t capable of thinking about anything else. Today her mind isn’t clouded by that fear meaning she can think. And her thoughts aren’t the kindest.

The thoughts that plague her the most is that she is a bad mom. Genevieve deserves better than her. She hates that she has so little involvement in her daughter’s life. She can only see Genevieve when Doug allows it. So normally that is only for a few hours after their shift each day. And sometimes on the weekend. When he isn’t mad at her. When he is mad then it is one minute before Genevieve is then with Cassandra.

Maddie yearns to spend more time with Genevieve but she also feels like she doesn’t deserve to. Genevieve is that much more bonded to Cassandra than to Maddie. Maddie is fairly sure that Cassandra knows Genevieve better than she does and that makes her feel like the worst person in the world.

Maddie ends up spending Doug’s whole shift thinking about Genevieve.

When Doug gets home he is in a cheerful mood which fills Maddie with relief. He unchains her before kissing her and starting to pull off all her clothes. Maddie doesn’t know if she wants to do this right now. But she wants him to stay in a good mood so she doesn’t resist.

Once he is done Doug lies down next to Maddie and rolls her over so that they are facing each other, only inches between them. He pulls her head forward and kisses her several times.

He is staring at her with so much love in his eyes and is still in a good mood so Maddie decides to risk it.

“During your next shift could I spend some time with Genevieve?” she asks softly.

Doug stiffens and she tenses.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “It’s just, I’m her mother and it feels like I barely ever get to see her.” Tears start falling down her face. She is a terrible parent and she hates it.

Doug’s hand grabs her hair tightly and she yelps as he yanks her head closer to him.

“How dare you!” He hisses. “Are you saying that I’m not enough for you?”

Maddie hurries to shake her head.

“She has Cassandra. She is fine. She loves Cassandra. More than she loves you as Cassandra is a great parent. You are a terrible one,” Doug sneers.

Maddie bursts into sobs. Doug is right. She hates that he is right but he is.

Doug smiles menacingly. “I thought you wanted to protect Genevieve. If you want to spend more time with her you can, she can join you in being locked in the basement with Fang and if either of you move then both of you will be punished.”

Maddie’s eyes widen and she feels more fear than she has ever felt. Doug hurting her is one thing. She cannot let him ever hurt Genevieve.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t need to spend more time with her,” Maddie says, feeling like she is betraying her daughter with every word she is saying but she doesn’t know how else to try and protect her.

Doug gives a firm nod. “Good.”

He then stands up, a calm look on his face. “Maddie, you need to remember your priorities. I’m your husband. So the only thing that should matter to you is me.”

He sighs deeply, acting like this is paining him. “You need to learn Maddie.”

He turns her over so that she is lying on her front. He then undoes his belt. Maddie starts screaming the second his belt connects with her back and she keeps screaming until his belt has hit her enough times that she passes out. He continues going long after she has passed out.
____

Maddie drifts in and out of consciousness throughout the night and doesn’t properly come to until the morning. When she does come to Doug is standing over her smiling.

“I’ve got a 24 hour shift soon so I need to get ready,” he says calmly.

Doug getting ready turns out to mean carrying her back down to the basement floor and lying her down on her back, the pressure of having her entire body weight lying on top of her wounds from the belt causing instant excruciating burning pain.

Once again he leaves her naked with the exception of an adult diaper, making her feel horribly vulnerable.

She starts crying when he places Fang on her again.

“Remember the rules Maddie. If you move even an inch then you will pay. And this time maybe Genevieve will as well. It all depends on what mood I am in when I get home.”

And then Doug is gone.

This time being left here in the basement feels even worse. Partially because of the level of pain her back is in from the belt. But mainly because of the risk to Genevieve if she doesn’t manage to stay perfectly still.

Fang slides underneath her torso and Maddie shudders in horror at the feel of Fang’s body being right against the open wounds from the belt. It takes all her strength to not scream in agony. But she can’t. When they got Fang initially Doug did a lot of taunting Maddie, laughing at how scared she was of Fang. But after that Doug told her that boa constrictors normally only attack if they mistake you for food or if they get startled or feel threatened. Meaning Maddie doesn’t dare scream in fear of it startling Fang. So instead, as Fang wraps around and around her abdomen area, painfully squeezing against her belt wounds, Maddie bites down on her lip, doing everything she can to not scream.

She feels her panic start to rise at the feel of Fang squeezing her. He isn’t squeezing her so tightly that it is dangerous. But she is aware that could change within a matter of seconds and Doug is going to be gone for over 24 hours.

It feels like she can barely breath and each breath is a massive effort.
______

The mood in the firehouse is low as they all return from their last call. They lost their last patient and all of them are feeling it.

Most of them feel sad about it. Doug feels the rage build up within him. He looks at the clock and is relieved that their shift is almost over. He doesn’t have to hold his rage in for too much longer. He will be home soon. He can let his rage out once he gets home.

As soon as their shift is over he heads straight home. He often has a lot of paperwork to do but that can wait for another day. He needs to get his rage out. He needs to get home to his Maddie.

When he finally gets home he slams the car and rips open the front door in a rage. He spots a vase and smiles to himself. That will do perfectly. He picks up the vase, makes his way to the basement and flings the basement door open.
_____

She doesn’t know how long it has been. She hasn’t managed to fall asleep at all, too terrified of letting her guard down.

Her body is aching. Both from her injuries and from not being able to stretch out or move even once. Her stomach is growling in hunger and her back is screaming in agony. But none of that is forefront in her mind. As Fang is wrapped around her abdomen several times. Of course when Doug chose to get a snake he chose one that was 6 feet meaning there is more snake so more that can be wrapped around her, more that can be applying painful pressure on her wounds.

Fang’s head is creeping up closer to her face and when Fang’s head reaches her line of vision Maddie closes her eyes as she tries to not tremble, terrified of startling Fang.

And then the basement door is flung open. Doug must be home. She doesn’t dare open her eyes at all, fully aware of just how close to her face Fang is. Way too close.

Doug lets out a yell of rage and Maddie gulps.

Suddenly something hard and heavy is hitting her in her side, only just avoiding hitting Fang. The added pain is instant but Maddie barely notices it as the impact causes Fang to hiss loudly filling Maddie with pure terror. Seconds later she feels a sharp pinch and what feels like a series of pinpricks on her cheek.

She feels confused and raises her hand, about to lift it to her cheek to check if it is bleeding.

“Maddie, freeze!” Doug orders.

Her hand pauses midair.

“In case you haven’t realised what happened Maddie, Fang just bit you in the cheek. And Fang hasn’t let go yet. So we need to be careful not to startle Fang so that he doesn’t attack you again. Once Fang is in his enclosure then you can assess how injured you are.”

Maddie starts to tremble and she can feel her panic rise. And now that Doug has pointed it out she can feel a few teeth stuck in her cheek. And she can feel that a lot of Fang is still wrapped around her.

She needs Fang off. She needs Fang off. She needs Fang as far away from her as possible.

Her mind starts to cloud over as fear and panic take over.

She is trapped in a terror stricken haze for an unidentified time. She only comes out of it when she feels Doug shaking her.

She blinks up at him and sees rage on his face. She gulps. How long was she out of it for?

“You made me ruin my favorite vase!” Doug snaps.

Maddie jumps and looks around only just noticing the shattered glass all around her. That must have been what Doug threw at her and what startled Fang into attacking.

“You really can’t be trusted at all Maddie. It seems I can’t even trust you when you are lying down on the basement floor not moving. Even then you still manage to mess up. How are you so useless?”

Maddie trembles.

“ANSWER ME!” Doug shouts, slapping her in the face. Maddie can’t hold back the scream of pain she releases.

Doug pulls his hand away and stares at the blood on it. Suddenly all the rage is gone from his face and it is replaced with concern.

Doug pulls her face forward. “How deeply did Fang bite you?”

He then pulls back and glares at her. “Because you just had to get bitten by Fang we now have to go to the hospital as the deepness and the level of bleeding requires stitches and surgical cleaning. Really Maddie. You know better than to have to make us go to the hospital again. We can’t have them getting suspicious.”

Doug glares at her before picking her up and stomping out to the car. He throws her into the seat and shoves all her limbs inside before slamming the door shut and stomping over to his side of the car.

The ride to the hospital is spent in stormy silence.

The hours spent in the hospital are long and tense. Maddie lets Doug do all the talking, too scared of saying the wrong thing considering the mood Doug is in.

She does see some looks when they pull up her medical history but at least this time the injuries speak for themselves. Doug may have removed Fang from her but one of Fang’s teeth is still embedded in her. Which proves their story.

When they return home Doug doesn’t speak a word. Maddie tries to apologise, tries to do whatever she can to make it up to Doug. But he just turns his back to her and acts like he can’t even hear her. His indifference and silence hurts more than if he had slapped her.

When they go to bed he turns his back to her and Maddie feels the harsh sting of his rejection as she desperately tries to figure out how she can make it up to him. She should have known better. She shouldn’t have gotten bitten by Fang. She knows they couldn’t afford another hospital visit, not with how many they have had. But she let that happen anyway.

In the morning Maddie wakes up trembling. Doug has another 24 hour shift before he then has his 48 hours off. She doesn’t think she can handle another 24 hours of being trapped in the basement with Fang, especially after Fang bit her. Now her fear of Fang is even stronger than it was before.

When Doug wakes up he doesn’t look at her but he does throw some clothes her way which confuses her. However she understands the non verbal command so with a bit of difficulty, because of all her broken bones, she gets the clothes on.

Maddie is extremely confused when Doug is about to leave for his shift. He picks her up and she feels the fear build up, sure he is about to take her back down to the basement. But instead he carries her to the car.

On the drive to the firehouse he doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t bother clearing up her confusion. It is only once they have pulled in to park that he speaks.

“Keep your head down. I’m going to go in. If none of the A shift is there then I will come back and carry you into my office where you will spend the day. None of them are to know you are here today. I just can’t trust leaving you at home after yesterday.”

Doug then leaves the car.

Maddie feels relief fill her that she won’t spend 24 hours trapped with Fang. Although it does mean she is spending 24 hours trapped with Doug instead. She isn’t sure which of Fang or Doug scares her the most.

A few minutes later Doug returns and picks her up so she assumes that means they arrived early enough to beat all of A shift there.

When he carries her into the station it is silent, all the fire engines are gone meaning the C shift must be on a call. Doug reaches his office, puts her down on the couch and shuts the door behind him.

Doug then makes his way to his desk. Underneath half of his desk is an empty space so the chair he uses can slide underneath it. Under the other half of his desk is a small cupboard that can be locked. When Doug starts taking everything out of that cupboard Maddie feels dread fill her, already knowing where this is going.

Once he has emptied the small cupboard he stares her down. “Get here right now!”

Because one leg is broken and the ankle on her other leg is also broken, Maddie has to crawl the small distance from the couch to Doug’s desk. As soon as she is next to the small cupboard Doug forces her inside.

It is tiny and Maddie is thankful that her broken leg is only broken on the lower part meaning her knee is able to bend otherwise she wouldn’t fit in this cupboard. As it is she has to pull her knees up tight against her chest with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head resting on her arms and knees in order to be able to fit.

She has her head facing out of the cupboard. Because Doug’s desk faces the door that means her view is in the opposite direction so all she can see is the row of cabinets behind him and the side of his chair.

Doug then tells her that when he is in the room he will let the cupboard door be open but when he isn’t in the room the door will be shut and locked. He sees the panic on her face and rolls his eyes saying that there are a few air holes so she will be fine being locked inside the cupboard.

He then grabs a piece of cloth and stuffs it in her mouth. He grabs another piece of cloth and ties it around her mouth. He then grabs a third piece of cloth and ties it around her eyes, stealing her vision and increasing her fear.

She then hears the sound of him closing the cupboard door and turning the lock. The cupboard walls are pretty thin so she also hears when Doug leaves the office and shuts the door behind him, leaving her alone.

She is extremely crammed in this cupboard. It has only been a few minutes and already the tightness of the position she is forced to be in in order to fit in the cupboard is very uncomfortable and starting to hurt. She really hopes she won’t be stuck in this position for the entire 24 hours of the shift. But she knows there is a very high chance that she will be.

After a while she starts to hear more voices as A shift gradually starts to arrive. She can make out a few words but not too many. However she can still make out the individual voices and it hurts so much to be so close to them but to not be able to interact with them. To know that they have no clue that she is here. Apart from Hen and maybe Eddie, all of them probably think she is having a relaxing time at home whilst she waits for her ankle to heal. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. Although she is glad that most of them don’t know. Whilst in a way having Hen know is partially comforting as it helps her feel less alone it also makes things feel worse as it makes her feel ashamed that she can’t get out. She wishes she could. But now she knows she never can. Her life being at risk if she leaves is one thing. But she isn’t going to risk Cassandra and Claribelle having ICE called on them and being deported. She may mess up all the time. Doug constantly calls her selfish and he might be right. But she isn’t that selfish. She won’t prioritise her safety over Cassandra and Claribelle’s safety.

It aches so much hearing all of their voices.

When she hears the office door open she freezes. When she hears the door close behind Doug she tenses, wondering what is coming next. But then she hears him talking and realises he isn’t the only one here.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” She hears Doug ask.

Maddie wonders which of her colleagues Doug is talking to and she desperately hopes she isn’t about to hear something personal that they wouldn’t say if they were aware she can also hear them.

“I know I don’t have any holidays available at the moment but I was wondering if it would be possible to have the Wednesday in two weeks time off,” she hears Eddie’s voice say.

Maddie only just manages to not let out an audible gasp. The Wednesday in two weeks time is Evan’s birthday. Which must be why Eddie wants it off. And Doug knows that Evan’s birthday is then. She trembles in fear. Eddie doesn’t know she is in earshot. If Eddie unknowingly mentions Evan in her earshot Doug is going to be so so mad as he isn’t aware she knows Evan is in LA.

Eddie doesn’t know what answer to expect. Doug’s face is neutral. But he knows that Doug knows his husband is Maddie’s brother. So he probably knows that the Wednesday in two weeks time is Buck’s birthday. So there is too high of a chance that he will deny Eddie the day of just to hurt Buck.

“Why do you want that day off?” Doug asks.

There is a smirk on Doug’s face and from the look on his face and in his eyes Eddie knows for a fact that Doug knows that date is Buck’s birthday.

“I would like it off for a family thing. I know I should have asked earlier,” Eddie says, keeping his tone even.

“Why that date specifically?” Doug asks and now it feels like Doug is mocking him. Eddie has to work hard to keep his cool.

Eddie doesn’t want to say why. But he can see Doug already knows and that Doug is enjoying getting to hold this over his head. Eddie grits his teeth. “Because that day is my husband’s birthday.”

There is silence and Doug smiles and Eddie is sure he is about to deny it.

“If you can find someone from one of the other shifts to take your shift then you can have it off,” Doug says.

Eddie feels relief fill him. He didn’t think Doug was going to say yes.

“Thank you,” Eddie says, before he then makes his way out of the office. He doesn’t know that many people on B and C shift but he knows that Ravi does so he makes his way straight over to where Ravi is.

Once Maddie hears the sound of Eddie leaving Doug’s office and the office door closing, the cupboard door is suddenly being pulled open and Maddie flinches.

“How’s cupboard life treating you?” Doug asks.

Maddie shakes slightly. She hears Doug laughing.

“Answer me Maddie,” he says, a warning in his voice.

If Maddie wasn’t blindfolded she would stare at Doug incredulously. Has he forgotten that he gagged her? How is she supposed to answer him?

Terrified of disobeying him she makes random mumbling noises.

“Shut up!” Doug snaps.

He punches her in the side and it is a good thing he has gagged her otherwise the sounds of pain she makes would be loud enough that she would have just accidentally alerted the rest of the 118 to the fact that she is currently here.

Tears fall down her face and she hears Doug let out a sound of disgust before she then hears the cupboard door being closed and relocked.

Doug stays in the room and she hears the sound of him at his desk, the angry sighs and sounds letting her know that he is doing paperwork, one of his least favorite things about being captain and something he often forces her to do, with disastrous consequences if she messes up. She knows some of his paperwork is only supposed to be done by him due to rank level or confidentiality reasons. But she isn’t stupid enough to bring that point up to Doug.

She hears some more swearing and Doug hitting the table which causes her to flinch even more.

She then hears the sound of him unlocking the cupboard again and her fear increases even more. Given Doug’s level of rage it is not good that he is unlocking the cupboard.

Suddenly his arm is gripping hers and she is being yanked out of the cupboard. She tumbles onto the ground. He rips off the blindfold and then unties the cloth around her mouth and pulls out the cloth that he stuffed inside her mouth.

Maddie stares up at him in confusion. He laughs at her. “Ah, my sweet confused Maddie.”

She trembles, unable to pull her gaze away from him. He reaches down and strokes her cheek. The one that Fang bit. Because of course. Whenever he strokes or touches her he always loves to touch her injuries, to press down on them. To make the pain even worse. To remind her of what happens when she steps out of line.

“Seeing as I hate paperwork and you’re here all day it makes sense for you to do it instead. So you will stay in my office. You aren’t to make a sound. If I need to bring someone in the office I will come in alone first to give you time to get hidden so you don’t need to try and hide if the door opens. Just stay silent. Oh, and whenever you end up needing to go to the bathroom let me know and I’ll find a way for you to get there without anyone seeing you.”

Doug then explains all the paperwork he wants Maddie to do for him before setting it on the desk. He then leaves the office, closing the door behind him.

Maddie crawls up onto the seat and then pulls the chair in, looking at the paperwork in front of her. She is so thankful that it is her left arm that is broken and not her right as she knows that even if her dominant arm was broken Doug would still expect it of her and he would still expect it to be perfect.

Whilst in a way it is a relief to be out of that tiny cupboard and to no longer be blindfolded and gagged, this way feels like it has the potential to be a lot worse. She knows what will happen if she makes even one mistake with the paperwork.

Knowing what is expected of her, Maddie turns her attention to the first pile of paperwork in front of her.

After a couple of hours and a couple of calls Doug makes his way into the office. “How’s it going?”

Maddie gulps. “Good,” she says quietly, showing Doug how much progress she has made.

Doug smiles and gives her a kiss on the top of her head. They then hear the bells go. “Eddie will be the man behind but he is currently on a lunch run. He won’t be back for another 10 minutes so if you need to go to the bathroom you can go in 1 minute once we are gone. But make sure you aren’t spotted.”

Doug then runs out of the office and soon she hears the sounds of everyone else leaving the building.

Once Doug is gone Maddie knows she needs to use the chance to go to the bathroom. Her bladder has been bothering her for a while but she hadn’t had any choice but to hold it. However she doesn’t have her crutches in reach. And she still has a broken leg and a broken ankle. Thankfully the bathroom is on the same level as Doug’s office so she won’t have to navigate stairs. But it still won’t be easy and she doesn’t have heaps of time to figure it out as she needs to be back in the office before Eddie gets back.

Because Doug’s desk chair is a wheely chair she decides that is her best option to move. So she slowly pushes herself to the office door. Once there she cautiously opens the door and sticks her head out, making sure there is no one in sight. Once she is certain that she is alone she quickly wheels herself to the bathroom.

She quickly does her business, relieved to be able to do so. She washes her hands and then cautiously makes her way to the exit of the bathroom. Once she has confirmed that she is still the only one in the building she quickly starts to wheel her way back to Doug’s office.

Only to turn when she hears two loud gasps.

She feels ice fill her as she slowly turns. The gasps are quiet because they are quite a distance from her. But she still hears them. She sees Eddie and Buck near the entrance of the fire house. It is clear they had just been kissing and that Buck was about to get back in his car and disappear before anyone spotted him.

But now both Eddie and Buck are staring at her in horror and she can see that both of them are taking in all her injuries. And there are so many they can’t even see. Within seconds both of them are rushing over to her. Maddie gulps. They are way too visible where they are. She quickly wheels the chair and herself into Doug’s office. She isn’t surprised when both Eddie and Buck follow her there.

Buck looks at her with tears in his eyes. “I thought you only had a broken ankle.”

Maddie gulps. There is pain in Buck’s eyes and it is all her fault.

“You need to get out of here before they get back,” she whispers.

Buck stares at her. “Maddie. You’re hurt.”

Maddie takes a deep breath. “And if Doug sees you here it will be way worse. And Eddie, you can’t show any sign that you know I am here. But now that you do know I am here just be careful what you say when talking to Doug even when you think it is just the two of you. Earlier when you asked for Buck’s birthday off I was locked in Doug’s desk cupboard and could hear everything. If you had mentioned Evan’s name Doug would have been furious with me because I’m not supposed to know that Buck is in LA.”

When Maddie looks up Buck has gone pale and Eddie looks visibly ill.

“Maddie,” Buck says again, his voice cracking.

Maddie opens her arms up for a hug. Buck carefully gives her a hug. It hurts that he isn’t collapsing into her hug the way he used to but Maddie knows he is scared to hug her, worried about making any injuries he isn’t aware of worse.

“I love you so much Evan. And I hope you have a really great birthday. I wish I could be there but we both know that won’t be possible, but know that on your birthday I will be thinking of you and hoping you have a great day.”

Maddie gives an anxious look around. “Now please, both of you need to go. Evan, you cannot let Doug see you here.”

The fear in her voice is so clear and it is enough to get Buck to say bye and leave, albeit very reluctantly.

Eddie sees Buck out and Eddie then returns to the office a few minutes later.

“I know we can’t stop him from hurting you. But there are so many of us on your side who are there for you in whatever way you need,” Eddie says.

Maddie smiles at him softly, trying to ignore the tears pricking the corner of her eyes. “The best way you can be there for me is to look after and love my brother. Make him feel loved and wanted. And keep him away from Doug.”

Eddie nods, a very serious look on his face. “I promise that I will.”

Maddie feels the tears getting harder to fight back. “Please leave the office now. I’ll be ok but not if they come back and see you here.”

Eddie nods and he does leave, shutting the door behind him. Once he is out of the office he messages the chat for people concerned about Maddie. Buck isn’t on shift so he definitely needs one of Bobby or Athena to be there for him. And Hen should be aware that Maddie is here, even if her presence has to stay hidden.

Eddie is kept as man behind for the rest of the shift, with Doug giving him random chores on the other side of the firehouse each time they are sent on a call. Eddie assumes that is so that Maddie has a window to use the bathroom without anyone seeing she is here. Because Eddie knows that Maddie is here he helps her by pushing the chair she is in so that she doesn’t have to strain to pull the chair along.

At the end of their shift Doug is last to leave. Eddie guesses it is so Doug can sneak Maddie back out.

Chapter Text

The next five weeks whilst her body heals pass slowly for Maddie.

Doug doesn’t bring her back to the firehouse again. Clearly he decided it was too risky to do so, as the chances of her being spotted were too high. However after that day he does decide that getting Maddie to do his paperwork is a good idea.

Maddie is always kept locked up when Doug is on a shift but thankfully she is now always separated from Fang. Fang biting her may have made her way more terrified of Fang but it has also made Doug decide he doesn’t want to risk leaving Fang alone with Maddie again. Which is a massive relief.

When Doug is in a good mood, during his shift Maddie is locked in the guest bedroom with access to the bathroom, food and tv as well as a small desk to do the paperwork he leaves with her.

When Doug is in a bad mood, during his shift Maddie is tied up, naked wearing just an adult diaper, in the basement with the motion sensor cameras focused on her and strict instructions of severe consequences if she moves even an inch. Those shifts are worse but not being trapped with Fang makes it infinitely easier. Although it does make staying still slightly harder as when she was trapped with Fang the immediate fear and threat of Fang kept her frozen in fear anyway.

Meaning this time as hard as she tries there are a few times where she does accidentally move. The punishments when she does are so bad that the next shift she is incapable of moving, even if she tried.

Still, the time does pass even if every shift crawls on forever, especially the shifts where she is in the basement.

Eventually they reach the day where she is to go back to the hospital to have her ankle checked.

When they check her, both her ankle cast and leg cast are ready to come off. Her left arm still needs a bit longer. Still, now that she is able to walk again it feels like she has so much more freedom of movement and it is a massive relief.

But she still can’t go to work just yet. And having her leg and ankle free results in Doug tying her up even tighter when he is on shift.

It takes another two weeks for her arm to come out of the cast and another 6 weeks after that to get her body moving as it used to and to be medically cleared to return to work.

When she finally can return to work it feels like an eternity since she was last there. Her return to work coincides with a heat wave and applications for the Hot Days, Smoldering Nights, Men of the LAFD wall calendar.

Doug is super excited about the calendar. Maddie hopes he wins a spot on it because as stupid as she thinks the calendar is (and does it really need that name) she knows that if Doug doesn’t get on it she will pay the price.

Doug, Ravi, Chimney, Eddie and the other guys all seem very focused on trying to get on this calendar.

Maddie exchanges looks with Hen and feels a sense of solidarity. It is clear that both of them think this whole thing is stupid. Although when Chimney says that he thinks sorority houses all across their great nation are ready for a new Asian sex symbol, Maddie finds herself blushing and internally agreeing that he might be right.

Horror then fills her. She cannot be thinking that about Chimney. She quickly looks in Doug’s direction and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees him still admiring himself in the mirror. He didn’t see her blushing at Chimney.

She looks at Hen and gulps. By the way Hen is looking at her Hen did see.

“So,” Ravi says, looking at all of them. “Only one person per firehouse can get on the calendar. So which one of us do you think it will be?”

“Doug,” Maddie says instantly, knowing she doesn’t have another choice. And anyway, she needs it to be Doug.

Ravi rolls his eyes. “He’s your husband. Of course you would say that. If you weren’t allowed to pick Doug, who would you pick?”

Maddie shakes her head. She is not doing this. That is way too dangerous. She keeps her eyes fixed on Doug. “That’s irrelevant. I would always pick Doug.”

Hen tries to change the conversation and Maddie is thankful for that. But Doug doesn’t let the conversation be changed.

There is a look of amusement on his face. “Ravi asked a good question, Maddie. If you couldn’t choose me then who from this firehouse would you choose to be picked for the calendar?”

It is a trap. She knows it. There is no right answer. Only wrong answers.

“No one,” she says shakily.

Doug gives her a warning look, disguising it so that Maddie is the only one who recognises the threat.

“Answer the question.” His tone is neutral but Maddie can pick up on the rage behind it.

“Hen,” she whispers.

“Isn’t the calendar only for guys?” Ravi asks.

Doug nods.

“Well that’s kind of sexist,” Maddie says quietly.

Doug’s eyes widen. “Would you want to be on the calendar then Maddie?”

Maddie is quick to shake her head, knowing how that would go. He would be furious if she was on the calendar, hating the idea of people looking at her like that.

Doug smirks. “Good, at least you're realistic about that. You’re way too ugly to be on that calendar.”

Doug walks off. Tears start to sting in Maddie’s eyes. Ravi and Chimney look very stunned and appalled. Hen and Eddie aren’t surprised but she can see that both of them are sad.

“Are you ok?” Chimney asks, his voice gentle.

Maddie is quick to nod.

Chimney looks at her doubtfully. “Are you sure? I mean, he called you—”

“I heard what he said!” Maddie snaps.

Chimney’s face drops at her harshness.

“I’m sorry,” Maddie whispers. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just an insult. I’ve had way worse.”

She turns and hurries away, not noticing the look of horror and worry on Chimney’s face.

Chimney turns to Hen hoping for reassurance of what he just heard, that it isn’t as bad as he thinks, worried by what Maddie meant. But Hen and Eddie both look unsurprised and also sad and his stomach drops. What is he missing?

Doug keeps Maddie as the man behind all shift. Which she hates. She is finally healed and ready to be back out there and she just wants to start helping people again.

After his shift Eddie makes his way to Bobby and Athena’s where the 132 and other friends and family are all having a family barbeque. Hen is also invited and it is great to see Denny again.

Soon all of the kids are running around like crazy. Brooke gets everyone to do exactly what she wants much to everyone else’s laughter.

Buck makes his way to Hen and Eddie.

“How was Maddie’s first shift back?”

Both Hen and Eddie sigh. Buck instantly looks worried.

Eddie is quick to reassure him. “He just made her man behind the whole shift. Which she was clearly disappointed about.”

“And he set a trap for her when we were talking about the firefighter calendar,” Hen adds.

Buck deflates. He hates the way Doug treats Maddie. Another thought then occurs to him. “I normally apply for that calendar. But I can’t this year can I?”

Hen and Eddie are quick to shake their heads. All of them know what will happen if Buck makes it onto the calendar and Doug sees.
____

On their next shift as the heat wave intensifies they get a lot of medical only call outs as numerous people get heat stroke. It gets Maddie out of the firehouse and away from Doug so she doesn’t mind it. Though she feels a bit guilty about being relieved to get away from Doug.

There are also some calls related to the heat such as pressure cookers exploding which also somehow results in a torn of arm ending in a pool. That call gets a lot of conversations started once they are back at the station.

At their next call when they enter the house Doug makes Maddie come in with him whilst everyone else waits outside. As they enter the house and follow the guys cries for help Maddie can’t help but notice all the military stuff within the house. There is a lot of it.

The sight of all of it makes Doug smile which causes Maddie to shiver a little bit. His clear fascination with weapons of all sorts always scares her.

They hear the guy saying how he accidentally got a practice round of a grenade stuck in his leg. Maddie has seen and heard a lot of things on the job but this is a first. She exchanges a look with Doug and sees that this is a new thing for him as well. The look they share is friendly and it has Maddie relaxing. Sure, things can sometimes be tough with Doug. But at the end of the day he loves her and he understands her.

Maddie is quick to assess the guy’s injuries and once she spots that the femoral artery is nicked she knows it is important that they transport him as soon as possible. Doug calls everyone else inside and together they help get the guy onto the ambulance.

Everyone else is about to make their way back out of the ambulance to leave Maddie with him in the back whilst Hen starts the drive. But suddenly Eddie is telling them to wait and there is a very worried look on his face.

Eddie stares at the grenade that is in the guy’s leg. “I thought you said this was a practice round?”

Maddie freezes. Is Eddie implying that it isn’t a practice round? That it is an actual grenade that can still go off?

“It is,” their patient says.

“Practise rounds have blue caps. Gold caps are live,” Eddie says, his voice sounding a bit panicked.

Maddie looks at the cap and tenses. This isn’t good.

“Cap!” Eddie yells.

Doug comes running. “What is it?” He asks.

“The round is live. He has a live round of ammunition in his thigh,” Eddie says.

The alarm on Doug’s face is instant. Doug calls into his radio, calling for the bomb squad and for officers to come and evacuate a set radius of people nearby, just in case.

Soon they are looking at an x-ray and assessing, all seeing that the live round truly is in the guy’s thigh.

Eddie explains why the bomb hasn’t gone off yet. It is the opposite of reassuring to know that if the bomb travels any rotations it will then go off.

The bomb squad arrives. Only to then tell them they need the military to do it. “Can’t you do it?” Doug asks.

The bomb squad explains that they can’t, that they need to find someone who can take it out without setting it off and that they will have someone there in an hour.

“He doesn’t have an hour,” Maddie says, thinking of the femoral artery.

“I can do it,” Eddie says.

Doug nods. “Are you confident with it?”

Eddie nods. “None of the guys I served with were dumb enough to shoot a live round in themselves but I’m familiar with the ordnance.”

Eddie looks around. “I’ll need one other person in there with me, preferably one of Hen, Maddie or Chim.”

“I’ll do it,” Maddie says without even thinking.

Doug laughs. “Really Maddie. You’re not competent enough to do it.”

Maddie feels the hurt well up within her but she stays silent. She also sees the stunned reactions of the rest of the 118 which she hates.

“I trust her,” Eddie says.

Surprise as well as a warm feeling fills Maddie. She gives Eddie a grateful smile.

Doug shrugs. “Fine. It’s your funeral though.”

The bomb squad guy hands Maddie a container, telling her to put the live round in there once they have it out and then they are to get away from there as fast as possible. Maddie nods as she takes a hold of the container.

When she opens the container she sees that it is flat meaning there is room for it to roll. Considering what happens if it rolls she doesn’t want that to happen. When she steps inside the ambulance Maddie finds some bandages and pads the box with them so that when they have the live round out of Charlie’s thigh it won’t be able to roll.

They talk briefly with Charlie to assess how he is doing. Him saying how if his wife could see him she would be saying ‘I told you so,’ makes Maddie stomach churn. She hates those words. First from hearing her mom say it all the time and now from hearing Doug say it. She quickly pushes those thoughts away. Right now the focus is on Charlie.

They then assess. Soon Maddie is keeping pressure on the bleeding whilst making sure to keep the pressure away from the live round. Eddie then carefully and slowly pulls it out. It feels like all three of them in the van hold their breaths, as Eddie carefully and cautiously lifts the live round out of Charlie’s leg.

As soon as it is out Eddie puts the live round in the box and Maddie goes back to applying pressure on the wound. They are super close to the hospital so Hen, Chim, Ravi and Lucy come and carry Charlie on the stretcher to the hospital.

Maddie and Eddie get out of the ambulance, leaving the live round in the box for the bomb squad to come in and deal with.

They get far enough away from the ambulance and see the robot making its way to the ambulance. Before the robot gets there there is a loud explosion. Doug, Maddie and Eddie all turn to see so much smoke and fire and shattered glass as the live round explodes and the ambulance gets completely destroyed.

Maddie feels her stomach sink and dread starts to set in. No, no, no, no, no. This is not going to end well for her.

Doug whirls around and gets a firm grip on her arm. It is bruisingly tight and Maddie winces in pain.

His face is red with rage. “I shouldn’t have let you do it. I should have known you are so useless you would screw that up. But this is a new low, even for you Maddie. You destroyed an entire ambulance. Do you know how much that costs? How hard it will be to get a replacement. Do you know how much paperwork I will now need to do because of you being a complete failure?”

He is fully yelling by this point and Maddie is shaking. She is relieved that most of the 118 went to take Charlie into the hospital. That the only person witnessing this is Eddie.

“I’m sorry Doug, I’m so sorry,” she says, tears pouring down her face.

Doug raises his hand and Maddie flinches backwards.

“Leave her alone.” Eddie’s voice is firm and angry.

Doug blinks in surprise and Maddie realises he was so enraged he forgot they weren’t alone, that it wasn’t just the two of them. Doug drops his hand and releases his grip on Maddie’s arm. Maddie rubs the spot his grip had been, knowing there will be bruises there tomorrow.

Doug looks at Eddie and scoffs. “You were silly to trust her. I said it was your funeral. Looks like it almost was.”

Doug rolls his eyes before heading off to the Captain’s truck. “I’m going back to the station now. When the rest of them get back all of you can take the engine.”

As soon as Doug is gone Maddie bursts into tears. Before Maddie quite knows what is happening Eddie is hugging her. Maddie leans into the hug, devolving into messier and messier tears.

When the rest of the 118 gets back they stare in surprise before all of them apart from Hen quickly make their way into the fire engine to try and give Maddie some privacy.

Hen and Eddie hold her for a few minutes, none of them saying anything, instead just silently supporting Maddie and being there for her. After a few minutes Maddie manages to stop crying. She wipes her eyes a few times. “Thanks,” she says quietly.

Hen rubs her back as they make their way back to the engine.

The ride back to the station is awkward. Everyone is silent and it feels like most of them are trying to avoid looking at Maddie. The only ones who really do look at her are Hen, Eddie and Chimney, all three of them with concern in their eyes.

Hen and Eddie’s concern feels comforting to Maddie. She doesn’t know how she feels about Chimney’s concern. She can tell that he really does care. But he is friends with Doug. Although deep down she knows that if Chimney knew how Doug treated her then Chimney would instantly stop being friends with Doug and he would hate that he ever was friends with him.

The closer to the firehouse they get the tenser Maddie gets. She is practically shaking when they finally pull into the firehouse.

When they get out of the fire engine Doug is just standing there. He gives Maddie a look and he doesn’t even have to say anything for her to know he wants to see her in his office.

When they are in his office he orders her into the cupboard under his desk. “I don’t even want to look at you or hear from you for the rest of this shift. I’ll deal with you once we are home,” Doug says darkly.

Doug then closes and locks the cupboard door behind Maddie. She hears his angry sounds as he starts on the paperwork. All of her wants to cry but she can’t as Doug is right there and she is terrified he will hear her.

Maddie spends the rest of their shift in the cupboard. The closer they get to the end of the shift the more fear she feels. She is absolutely terrified to go home.

When their shift is over and all of them are leaving she can tell from the look in Hen’s eyes that Hen is scared for her. Maddie starts shaking as soon as she and Doug are both in the car. Her head gets slammed into the dashboard before Doug has even started the car.
____

Buck and Chris are already at Bobby and Athena’s for family dinner. They are just waiting for Eddie to arrive once his shift is over.

They hear the slamming of the door that lets them know that Eddie has arrived. Buck, Bobby and Athena all take one look at Eddie before Athena is asking May to take the kids into the second living room and asking for them to all stay there. May gives an alarmed nod and soon all of the kids are out of the room.

Eddie starts pacing back and forth and it is clear he is absolutely fuming.

“Is it Doug?” Buck asks.

Eddie nods.

Bobby looks sad, Athena looks angry and Buck is a combination of the two.

After a lot more pacing on Eddie’s part Bobby eventually asks what happened.

Eddie sighs. He takes a deep breath before sitting down on one of the couches. Buck sits next to him and holds his hand. Bobby and Athena sit on the couch facing him.

“On one of our calls today a guy shot a live grenade round into his leg.”

All three of Athena, Buck and Bobby gasp in surprise. Buck feels uneasy. Considering Eddie’s mood it is safe to say the call must have gone wrong.

“It was going to take an hour for the military person who knew how to do it to get there to remove the live round from his leg. The guy didn’t have an hour. His femoral artery had been nicked. So I said I could do it, I’m familiar with what the procedure is. But I said I needed one of either Hen, Maddie or Chimney to help me, one of them because they are trained paramedics.”

There is nodding and at the mention of Maddie’s name Buck tenses, worried about what Eddie is about to say.

“Maddie volunteered. Doug laughed at her, saying she wasn’t competent enough to do it. Her face fell when he said that. I said that I trusted her. She looked slightly less sad after that. Doug shrugged and said it was my funeral before he then let her be the one to help me.”

Buck growls in anger. Whilst he hasn’t exactly had much interaction with Maddie in recent years he knows that she is amazing at her job. How dare Doug call her incompetent!

“How did the removal go?” Bobby asks.

“Good. I got it out, Maddie held out the box for me to put it in. She had padded the box so the live round wouldn’t roll, which was essential as the bomb counts how many rotations it has made before it decides when it can go off. She then put pressure on his bleeding, we got him on the stretcher and the rest of the 118 all took him off to the hospital. We then left the bomb in the box we were told to put it in. We left that box in the ambulance as instructed and then Maddie and I made it a safe distance away from the ambulance where Doug was whilst everyone else was sorting out either the patient or the bomb.”

Athena frowns. So far everything sounds like it went smoothly. But she knows from how upset Eddie is that something happened. “What happened?” she asks.

A look of anger crosses Eddie’s face. “The bomb exploded and the ambulance was destroyed. No one got hurt in the explosion though.”

Buck’s eyes go wide. “Are you going to get a replacement ambulance?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie says.

“The department will provide something though it may be old and a bit run down,” Bobby says.

“What happened after it exploded?” Athena asks with so much caution in her voice.

Eddie moves even closer to Buck before speaking, needing the closeness to Buck and knowing that soon Buck will need it as well. “Doug grabbed Maddie’s arm tightly and started yelling horrible stuff at her, blaming the explosion and destroyed ambulance on her. He called her useless and a failure. Maddie was shaking and tears were pouring down her face. She apologised to Doug which he ignored as he then raised his hand like he was about to hit her, causing her to flinch back in fear. I told him to leave her alone which stopped him. I think he had forgotten that they weren’t alone, that someone else could see them. Doug then told me I was silly to trust Maddie before making his way to the station in the Captain’s truck leaving the rest of us to wait for everyone else to then go back in the engine. As soon as Doug was gone Maddie burst into tears and it took several minutes of Hen and I holding her for her to manage to stop crying. As soon as we got back to the firehouse Doug made Maddie go to his office. We didn’t see her for the rest of the shift. Both of them stayed in his office the whole time.”

Buck erupts. Athena only just keeps her cool but she is very clearly fuming. Bobby’s anger is less visible but it is there.

“I HATE DOUG!!!” Buck yells.

Eddie, Athena and Bobby all nod in vehement agreement.

“Why can’t he just leave Maddie alone? Why is he so horrible to her? I hate it!”

Soon Buck is crying. He hates that his sister is in pain. That she is being hurt. That Doug is hurting her. He hates how helpless he is to even do anything to help.

The rest of the evening is full of messy emotions. All of them are upset about it. All of them are angry about it. And all of them hate how little they can do to help Maddie. They know that Hen and Eddie are the ones who can do a bit more for Maddie. They can help her know she isn’t alone when they are at work. Buck is grateful that at least Maddie knows she has them on her side at work. But it isn’t nearly enough.

Buck, Eddie and Chris end up spending the night as both Buck and Eddie are too emotionally worn out to face the thought of driving home.

Chapter Text

The drive home from their shift is miserable. Maddie wishes she had never volunteered to be the one to help Eddie take the bomb out of Charlie’s leg. She should have let either Chimney or Hen do it.

By the time they are pulling into their driveway Maddie’s head is already aching and throbbing from how many times Doug smashed it into the dashboard.

Doug gets out of the car and drags Maddie out of the car, pulling her by the hair. When they enter the house Doug throws Maddie to the ground before ordering her to remain completely still while he goes and tells Cassandra that Genevieve will be staying with her for the night.

When Doug is gone Maddie shivers. It is never good when Doug gets Cassandra to take Genevieve for the night.

When Doug storms back into the house pure fear consumes Maddie.

He slams the door so hard they hear the sound of it rattling on its hinges. Within seconds his hands are firmly tangled in Maddie’s hair as he then pulls her along the ground, not waiting for her to find her footing, meaning her feet slide out from underneath her and she is dragged where Doug wants to go.

When they go up the stairs each bump jars Maddie’s body. When she realises Doug is dragging her to the main bathroom she starts sobbing. “Please Doug, I’m sorry.”

Doug yanks her up and pins her to the wall, putting his face right in hers. “You blew up an ambulance Maddie. That is unforgivable. There is nothing you can do that will fix that. Meaning there is nothing you can do to change the punishment you need to face. You need to learn your lesson Maddie. I told you that you would ruin it. That you would mess it up. You know how I know that? Because you mess everything up. You’re hopeless. You should have listened to me Maddie. Next time you better listen to me.”

Maddie nods hurriedly. “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll listen to you next time.”

Doug regrabs her hair and with a yelp of pain Maddie is soon being dragged the rest of the way. A small part of her is relieved that at least she is wearing long sleeves meaning she has been saved from dealing with carpet burn.

Still, when they reach the bathroom all thoughts of carpet burn disappear.

“You know what you have to do Maddie,” Doug says tauntingly.

Maddie sobs as she places the plug in the bath tub and turns on the tap. She knows nothing she can do will change Doug’s mind but that doesn’t stop her from trying, from desperately pleading with Doug the entire time the bathtub is filling.

When the tub is full and the tap turned off, Doug turns to her with pure rage on his face. “You should have just accepted your punishment without complaining Maddie. Because you were whining, this time instead of having just your head underwater it will be your entire body. So get in the tub. Now!”

Trembling with fear Maddie looks down at the full bathtub and then back up at the furious Doug. She knows she needs to listen. That she needs to get into the tub. But she is terrified to do so. However when she takes another look at Doug the level of rage on his face gets her squealing and hurriedly jumping into the tub.

She stays sitting in the tub, the water very close to being too cold. She keeps on taking in deep breathes of air knowing that at some stage Doug will pounce without warning.

Sure enough, just after she has finished taking a breath Doug’s hand wraps around her neck and forces her head under water. His other hand pushes the rest of her body underwater and makes it so that she is lying down, her face facing up.

Almost immediately Maddie starts to panic. She tries to stop herself from doing so, knowing that it is important to remain calm. Doug has done this enough times by now that she should be better at staying calm. But the water is all over her and she can’t breathe, she can’t breathe.

To make it even worse this is the first time she has been submerged face up. She has kept her eyes open and whilst the water means the light refraction distorts the image it just makes it worse as she is fighting for breath whilst seeing a monstrous distorted version of a smiling Doug looming above her.

She needs to breathe. She needs to breathe.

She tries struggling, trying to get out from under Doug’s grip. She knows it’s pointless but her body doesn’t listen to her, her survival instincts kicking in as she does everything she can to try and get out of Doug’s grip and break free to the surface.

Soon the need to breathe is too strong and before she can stop herself she is opening her mouth to try and find air. She regrets it instantly when the water rushes in her mouth filling up her airways. She starts panicking even more. She starts coughing but she is still underwater so all that happens is that more water rushes in. Her vision starts to blur but she can still see the monstrous figure of Doug looming over her. The last thing she is going to see is Doug’s smile as he drowns her.

Suddenly her head is pulled up. She coughs up water and it takes a long time before she stops coughing and spluttering. The instant her breathing is back to normal Doug forces her back under the water.

This time he doesn’t hold her under for quite as long. The second she is about to accidentally open her mouth again he yanks her up.

This process lasts for an excruciatingly long time. By the time Doug finally tells Maddie she can pull out the plug and drain the bathtub the bathroom clock has changed by over an hour. Maddie sobs in exhaustion. He has never done it for this long before.

Her entire body is weak and she barely has the strength to get out of the bathtub. Seeing this, Doug lifts her up out of the bathtub. She clings to him sobbing as he takes off her clothes which are now dripping wet. He gets a towel and gently dries her, putting dry clothes on her and then carrying her to the living room and setting her down on the couch. He sits down next to her and Maddie is so desperate for comfort that she clings to him, sobbing into his side. He holds her and rubs her back and whispers kind and gentle words. Maddie can’t let herself think of him as the man who just spent over an hour drowning her as right now she needs the man who is comforting her.

They spend a few hours on the couches with Maddie clinging onto Doug the entire time. She still can’t find the strength to unattach herself from Doug when it is time for bed so when he gets up he just carries her.

In the morning when Maddie wakes up she is still clinging to Doug. He is asleep and she quickly (but carefully) moves away from him. She feels weak and her lungs are burning. She can’t stand to be near Doug. She thinks of how she clung to him immediately after he just spent an hour drowning her and she shudders. She hates herself for clinging to him after what he did to her.

She doesn’t dare be obvious that she is trying to avoid him but as they get ready for work she keeps as much distance from Doug as she can without him realising that she is trying to keep her distance.

When they arrive at work someone immediately calls Doug’s name and asks if they can talk to him in Doug’s office. It is a relief once Doug is out of sight.

As soon as Doug is in his office with the other firefighter Maddie looks around, trying to locate Hen. She does so pretty quickly. Hen is in a corner talking and laughing with Chimney.

Maddie hurries over to them. “Hen, can we restock the ambulance?” she asks.

Hen must see something in her face as Hen is quick to nod and soon they are going to the ambulance. They get in the back of it and Maddie closes the doors behind them before she then bursts into tears.

Hen is quick to offer her arms for a hug and Maddie falls into them. “I hate myself,” Maddie whispers.

She feels Hen stiffen slightly but Hen stays quiet, waiting for Maddie to talk.

“Last night he spent over an hour drowning me in the bathtub and then the instant he was finished I was so desperate for comfort that I clung to him and voluntarily stayed glued to his side all evening. What is wrong with me? Why would I want to be near him and want his comfort after what he did?”

Hen rubs Maddie’s back as she sobs.

“There’s nothing wrong with you Maddie.”

Maddie sobs even harder. “I wish you were right. But I’m messed up. I know that. I was a terrible daughter and then a terrible sister although Evan doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know what I did. And now I am a terrible wife. There has to be something wrong with me as I’m the common factor. I’m the one who is always ruining things.”

Hen feels at a loss for words on how to comfort Maddie as it is clear her self esteem issues run deep and she knows Doug has probably spent years destroying Maddie’s confidence in herself.

Maddie is still crying and Hen is trying to think of something to say, anything helpful. But then Hen’s phone dings. It is a text from Eddie.

“Doug’s approaching the ambulance,” Hen says.

Maddie jumps. She stops her tears with astonishing speed and then turns to the stock of medical supplies and starts counting out the numbers. When Doug opens the ambulance door Maddie is in the middle of counting out bandages.

“So, what do the two of you think about the replacement ambulance the department found for us? Will it do?” Doug asks.

Maddie swallows hard.

“It’s really good, thanks Doug,” Hen says.

Doug smiles and walks away. Maddie lets out a shaky sigh of relief.

They finish stocking the ambulance just before they get a call. Dispatch isn’t able to give them much information, just something about someone having a microwave stuck on their head. Which confuses all of them. Microwaves are a lot bigger than a head. How would someone’s head get stuck in one?

When they arrive a guy meets them. He quickly explains that the guy is concreted into the microwave and that they are out back. Apparently they put in a tube so he could breath but he thinks the cement smushed it. He says it was for youtube and this wasn’t supposed to happen. It was just supposed to be fun.

All of them run after the guy. Everyone from the fire engine is ahead of them with Maddie and then Hen behind her, bringing up the rear. They follow him up some stairs, around the side of the house and up some more stairs before their patient is in view.

Maddie skids to a stop and feels her heart pounding in her chest. Hen almost bangs into her. Hen is confused by Maddie being frozen and she moves past Maddie to see the patient. And then she understands why Maddie is frozen. Sure, the patient is in sight. But so is a pool. And Maddie told her that Doug spent over an hour the previous day drowning her in the bathtub. Hen gives a worried glance in Maddie’s direction. She can see that Maddie’s breathing has increased and that Maddie is fighting to keep her panic down.

Hen puts her arm around Maddie and quiet enough so that only Maddie can hear, Hen counts out breaths. Maddie follows them until her breathing is back to normal.

“Hurry up Maddie and Hen!” Doug snaps.

Maddie flinches before obeying, Hen is right behind her.

Doug asks the two friends what the name of the person is and they find out that his name is Jessie. “Jessie, I’m Doug from the LAFD. Can you hear me?”

There is no response. Doug shakes his head. “He’s totally cut off in this thing. Ravi, get the screwdrivers. Maddie, check his vitals.”

Ravi listens straight away. Maddie blinks before listening. Once she is at Jessie’s side checking his vitals she actually finds it easier. Concentrating on her patient gives her something to focus on that isn’t the massive pool right next to them. Which allows her to fight away the panic that is trying to consume her.

Chimney and Eddie hold the microwave in place so that the weight of the concrete doesn’t cause Jessie’s neck to snap.

Jessie starts to panic and Hen realises that he is starting to aspirate from the saliva in the breathing tube. The more Jessie starts to panic the more Maddie has to work to keep her own panic down. But it is hard because Jessie is panicking because he can’t breathe and that type of panic is horribly familiar for Maddie. She wishes she didn’t know that kind of panic but she knows it intimately.

In his panic Jessie gets up and starts moving around. He starts walking towards the pool, stumbling around with no clue where he is moving. Maddie tries to get in between him and the pool to prevent him from falling in, not wanting him to have to go through that.

She doesn’t manage to prevent him from falling in. Instead, when he stumbles into the pool he crashes into Maddie, knocking her into the pool and then falling in right after her, the cement microwave head landing right on Maddie’s stomach, pinning her to the bottom of the pool.

Maddie is trapped in her worst nightmare. She starts struggling but getting air is impossible. Her lungs are burning and she hates this so much. She tries pushing Jessie off her. But she isn’t strong enough. Her vision disappears seconds after she spots people jumping into the pool.

For one second after Maddie and Jessie fall into the pool everyone is frozen in shock. As soon as everyone comes to their senses Doug is jumping into the pool and Ravi, Eddie and Chimney are right behind him.

All of them grab a corner of the microwave and lift. The second the microwave is slightly not on Maddie, Doug lets go of the microwave and pulls Maddie out from underneath it. Doug lifts Maddie out of the water. She is unconscious and isn’t breathing. Doug swims her over to the side of the pool and passes her to Hen who starts CPR. Doug yells at Hen that she better save Maddie’s life before he swims back over to Ravi, Eddie and Chimney and helps them get Jessie out of the pool.

Once Jessie is out of the pool Chimney checks his vitals which is when they realise they have almost no time to get him out. Eddie unscrews the microwave and then Doug and Ravi hammer and chisel him out. They take off the plastic bag and a few seconds later Jessie starts breathing.

The instant Jessie is breathing Doug hurries over to where Hen is doing CPR on Maddie. Maddie still isn’t breathing and Doug feels fear run through him. It takes another set of compressions before Maddie is breathing and Hen is turning her on her side and Maddie vomits up water.

Maddie starts crying. She sees Doug and sees concern and fear on his face. “I was so scared Maddie,” he says softly. Maddie sobs harder. Hen helps her sit up and Maddie then flings herself into Doug’s arms, thankful he cares and thankful she is out of the pool.

When Jessie's two ‘friends,’ pick up the phone and start filming again Doug storms over to them, snatches the phone and flings it into the pool.

“What was that for?” Shay asks in protest.

“YOUR STUPID STUNT ALMOST KILLED MY WIFE. YOU’RE LUCKY YOUR PHONE IS THE ONLY THING I HURT!” Doug yells. He then turns to his team who are all staring at him. “Chimney, Eddie, take Jessie to the hospital to get checked out. Everyone else, back to the engine. Hen, stay with Maddie to make sure she is doing ok.”

On the ride back to the firehouse Doug gets someone else to drive so that he can sit next to Maddie. He has Hen on the other side of Maddie in case Maddie ends up needing medical attention again. Maddie clings to Doug’s side. She isn’t able to stop herself from crying a bit but she can see from the looks everyone is giving her that they are all sympathetic, having witnessed what happened on the call. Of course, none of them know just how completely terrifying and triggering the whole thing truly was for her.

They get back to the firehouse around the same time as Eddie and Chimney. Maddie is reluctant to part ways with Doug but he says he needs to go to his office and do paperwork. He tells Hen to stay with Maddie. He suggests the bunkrooms as they are currently empty so Maddie and Hen make their way there.

Much to her embarrassment once it is just her and Hen, Maddie finds herself crying again. Hen holds her while she cries. Eventually Maddie manages to get her crying under control.

“That was a tough call. Especially after what you told me this morning,” Hen says quietly, her voice gentle. “I’m sorry you went through that.”

Maddie sobs into Hen’s shoulder. “I hate that I reverted back to clinging to Doug for comfort again. I came to and he looked so concerned and scared for me and I was just so relieved to be out of the water and so relieved that he cared that I couldn’t stop myself from seeking comfort from him.

“Maddie, there is nothing wrong with seeking comfort.”

“There is when he’s the one who hurts me,” Maddie wails.

Hen rubs Maddie’s back soothingly and Maddie’s tears turn into hiccups. After a long long while her tears and hiccups ease.

“I can’t believe I needed CPR for that but not last night. I mean, last night was over an hour of him repeatedly drowning me, this time it was barely a minute. Do you think him drowning me last night contributed to my lungs being weaker today?”

“MADDIE!!!!”

Maddie jumps so hard so falls off the bed and ends up on the floor. She stares up at Doug in complete fear. It is obvious that he heard what she just said to Hen. He is going to kill her. She knows the two biggest rules of their marriage. Rule number 1: She can never leave him. Rule number 2: Never tell anyone what goes on in their marriage. And she just broke one of them.

“My office. Now!”

Doug grabs Maddie’s arm and doesn’t give her a chance to protest. With her other hand Maddie quickly gives Hen the preagreed hand gesture, asking for a fake emergency. As Doug drags Maddie to his office, Maddie can only hope that Hen manages to get a fake emergency and that it happens quickly.

Maddie spots a few people staring in shock as they see Doug physically dragging Maddie into his office. That increases Maddie’s fear. He’s so angry with her that he forgot to keep up pretences in front of everyone else.

The instant they are both in Doug’s office Doug locks the door behind them and slams Maddie into the wall.

“How dare you!” He hisses, clearly trying to keep his voice low enough that no one else will hear, but so incensed that he can barely control himself.

“You know the rules Maddie. And you know the consequences. Do you remember what I said would happen if you told anyone about what happens in our marriage?”

Maddie nods as she stares up at Doug, absolutely petrified. She feels a puddle form and sees Doug smirk in satisfaction.

Doug releases his grip on Maddie and she slides to the ground as Doug stalks over to his desk. He grabs some items from one of the drawers and then comes back over to Maddie.

He then looks at her. “You remember that I promised if you ever told anyone about our marriage then it was clear that you needed a reminder of who you belong to. Of who you are to listen to. And it looks like you need a reminder. So how big of a reminder should it be? Considering I just saved your life. Considering I jumped into a pool for you. Considering my watch got destroyed when I jumped into a pool for you. Considering you apparently don’t even care about that. It was my mothers watch!”

Maddie stares at Doug wide eyed. She really is a terrible wife. She should have realised what happened to the watch. She knows it belonged to Doug’s mom and that it is one of the last pieces of her he has. She knows Doug always wears it.

“I’m so so sorry. I’m a terrible wife for not realising. I’m so so so so sorry. I know that watch matters more than I do,” she says as she starts crying again.

Doug softens slightly. “At least you have some of your priorities correct. But you still need a reminder.”

He shoves a cloth in her mouth and then pulls up her shirt. “The cloth will keep it muffled but you better try and control your screams. We can’t have anyone else hearing you. Do you understand?” His voice is the most menacing Maddie has ever heard it and she nods.

Doug pulls out the knife. “Good.”

Doug then decides the time for talking is over.

Maddie closes her eyes, not wanting to see what happens next. She feels the knife cutting into her and she holds back a scream. She can feel the letter he is carving but even if she couldn’t recognise the shape that is being carved into her stomach she would know. Doug has spent years threatening to carve his name into her. She just hoped it would never happen.

Maddie manages to not scream at all which feels like a sort of relief. Once Doug is done he removes the cloth from her mouth. Maddie opens her eyes and looks down. The physical pain of it hurts so so much. But nowhere as much as the way her entire soul and being starts to ache seeing the way he is now permanently imprinted on her. Seeing his name carved into her stomach. She hates it so so much.

Doug looks at it with a smile. “It looks pretty good right?”

Hating herself as she does so, Maddie smiles and gives Doug a hug. “It looks perfect. I love you.”

She leans up to give Doug a kiss and he smiles down at her. He puts the knife away just as they hear the bells go off announcing a medical only call. For Bobby and Athena’s address. So Hen’s fake call came through too late to save her.

Maddie forces herself to not let any of the pain of the horrific stinging from the fresh cuts show on her face as she takes a breath and opens the office door. Doug comes out behind her.

“Chimney, you will go on this med call with Maddie. Hen, you’re sitting this one out.”

Maddie looks at Hen in horror. It is clear from the look that Hen gives her that this call is definitely the fake call Hen engineered for her. How on earth is she supposed to explain this to Chimney?

Not having any time to think, Maddie runs towards the ambulance getting there just after Chimney. Chimney offers to let her drive but Maddie shakes her head, knowing she is in so much pain that just not crying or whimpering will be hard enough. Driving would be way too much to have to focus on.

It is the first time Maddie has been alone with Chimney. He makes lots of jokes, trying to keep the mood happy and light-hearted. But she can see that he is worried, he has been worried since he heard Doug call her ugly. And that is the only thing he knows. She trembles, hating to know what he would think if he knew everything.

Maddie tries to respond to Chimney’s chatter. But she is in so much pain that she struggles to concentrate.

When they arrive, this time Chimney is the one announcing that the paramedics are here, with no clue that the call isn’t real. Bobby opens the door and they walk in. By this stage Maddie is clutching her stomach. It makes the pain worse but she is more worried about the bleeding. She can feel her hands becoming wet with her blood which worries her. She knows she needs to check and tend to the cuts. But she doesn’t know when she will be able to.

“Where’s the patient?” Chimney asks.

Maddie gulps and stares at the ground. “There isn’t one,” she says quietly. “Hen faked an emergency medical call and got us sent to her friends.”

Athena and Bobby both introduce themselves. Then Maddie hears a voice from another room. And in walks her brother. Her heart sinks.

Chimney stares at them all in confusion. “Why would Hen fake a call? It doesn’t make sense.”

Athena looks at Chimney. “Do you trust Hen?” Chimney nods instantly. “Then know that Hen wouldn’t have done so without having a very good reason to do so. So it would be best if you don’t mention this to anyone. Especially not Doug.”

Chimney frowns in confusion but he nods.

Buck then turns to Maddie. “Maddie! I heard what happened at the pool call. I was so worried.”

Buck then runs at Maddie and gives her a massive hug. Maddie lets out a yell of pain and Buck hurriedly backs away. “Where are you hurt Maddie?”

Maddie shakes her head. “It’s fine.”

Chimney looks at her. “Your hands have blood on them. Are you bleeding through your shirt?”

Everyone looks at Maddie in concern. “I’m fine,” she says tightly.

“Please, can I check to make sure you are ok?” Chimney asks gently.

Maddie shakes her head.

“Please Mads?” Buck asks.

“Evan, I’m fine,” Maddie says quietly.

“Can you pinky promise that?” he challenges.

Maddie hangs her head.

“I thought so,” Buck says sadly.

Before anyone can stop him Buck has reached Maddie and he lifts up the bottom of her shirt to check if she is bleeding. There are four horrified gasps as Buck, Chimney, Bobby and Athena all see the name Doug carved into her stomach. Carved so recently that it is still bleeding. Buck stumbles backwards, dropping the shirt and recovering up Doug’s name.

“He’s hurting you?” Chimney asks in horror, tears in his eyes.

Maddie starts shaking and her legs wobble beneath her. Athena is by her side in seconds. “Let’s get you sitting down,” she says gently as she then guides Maddie to one of the couches.

When Maddie dares to look up she sees understanding and horror dawning in Chimney’s eyes.

“I should have realised,” he whispers. “I mean, after he called you ugly you said it wasn’t a big deal. That you’ve had way worse. I should have realised then.”

He looks at Maddie, his eyes pleading. “I’m so sorry I was friends with him. I promise if I knew I wouldn’t have been his friend. I’ll stop being his friend now, I could never be friends with someone like that.”

Panic surges with Maddie and she frantically shakes her head. “You can’t let him know you know. You have to act like nothing has changed. You have to still be his friend. If you stop being his friend he’ll punish me.”

Chimney stares at her with horror in his eyes. Maddie is vaguely aware that Buck, Athena and Bobby all also have horrified expressions.

“He carved his name in me because he overheard me telling Hen about how he spent an hour drowning me last night.”

The room goes deathly silent.

“He, he, he did what?” Buck chokes.

Chimney goes white. “And then today's call.”

‘What was today’s call?” Bobby asks.

Maddie swallows. “A guy got a microwave cemented on his head and couldn’t breathe. We were near a pool and I was checking his vitals when he panicked and fell in the pool, pushing me in as well. I got trapped underneath him and because he had a massive block of concrete on his head I couldn't push him off me. Doug got me out of the pool and Hen had to perform CPR because I wasn’t breathing.”

There is more silence. Eventually Chimney is the one to speak. “Would you like me to tend to the cuts on your stomach?”

Maddie gulps before tentatively nodding.

Buck holds onto Maddie’s hand while Chimney gently and carefully tends to her wounds. This time Maddie doesn’t need to keep her sounds of pain silent but she tries to anyway, not wanting to upset anyone in the room any further. It is clear they are all sad on her behalf and she hates that. She hates that she is making them sad.

Once Chimney has finished tending to her cuts Maddie turns to Buck. “So little brother, we may as well make the most of this time considering I’m never allowed to see you. What have you been up to?”

Buck gives a small groan. “I’m now bigger than you!”

Maddie just smirks as she ruffles his hair. “True. But you’ll always be my little brother.” She pauses. “I love you so so much.” She pauses again. “Look, we both know my life is kind of uncertain. But no matter what I will always love you and you and Genevieve are the most important people in my life.”

She gives him a big hug. He is careful hugging her back, worried about any unseen injuries.

Maddie gets to spend the next ten minutes hearing Buck talk about Eddie and Chris. She listens intently, determined to soak up every second of it. When she and Chimney get radioed to another call Maddie sighs in disappointment. She gives Buck a massive hug before reluctantly leaving him.

Once her and Chimney are both in the ambulance Maddie turns to Chimney, talking first, knowing she doesn’t have much time before they get to their call and knowing that the rest of the 118 have also been dispatched meaning Doug will be there.

“You cannot tell anyone that was a fake call. If anyone asks, the person calling in thought it was a heart attack. We got there, assessed them and found out it was actually a panic attack. You cannot mention any of the people you met there. Especially not my brother. Doug knows my brother is in LA but he doesn’t know I know and there have been threats made about what will happen if I find out my brother is in LA. My brother is Eddie’s husband. But again, that is something you aren’t supposed to know. I know you struggle with secrets. But this information is life or death. If you need to talk about it Hen knows all of it so you can talk about it to her but only after making sure no one else is in earshot. If you don’t know what is safe to mention then a good rule of thumb is to not mention me or anything to do with me to anyone.”

They arrive on scene of the call just as Maddie finishes talking so she hops out of the ambulance before Chimney has a chance to respond. When they get out she is glad that Chimney sorted out her cuts as it would be a nuisance if they were still bleeding.

They are at the scene of a car crash. They have beaten the rest of the 118 there so Maddie and Chimney rush to the car to assess the patient. There is a woman sitting in the driver’s seat, bleeding and pinned in place by a tree that has fallen, a tree that she crashed into.

Maddie is quick to check the woman’s vitals and she starts talking to her, helping the woman to stay calm. While she does that Chimney starts assessing how to get the tree moved.

The rest of their team arrives at that moment which is helpful. When Doug sees their progress he gets Maddie staying with the woman and everyone else on getting the tree off the woman. Once the tree is removed Maddie stabilises the woman and gets her into the ambulance. Maddie stays in the back with the woman whilst Chimney drives.

Once they have dropped her off at the hospital Maddie sits in the front of the ambulance with Chimney. She is nervous, worried about what he might say.

Chimney turns to her, his face serious. “I won’t tell anyone about your problems Maddie. I promise. So, do you think Hen won the firefighter calendar?”

Maddie bursts out laughing. For a few seconds before she sobers up. “I need Doug to have won it,” she says quietly. She can see by Chimney’s face that he understands why.

“If you ever need to talk I am here. I understand you might not want to. But if you do, then that offer is open.”

Maddie gives a small nod, acknowledging that she heard him.

For the rest of the drive back to the station Chimney tells lots of funny stories and Maddie finds herself smiling. She hasn’t really ever interacted with Chimney before. But now that she has she finds that he is quite funny and he is really caring. She likes him a lot.

When they get back to the station Doug announces that from now on Maddie and Chimney will be in the ambulance and Hen will be paired with Eddie. Maddie is slightly surprised by this as from the beginning of them being firefighters and Doug being her captain he made it clear that he would only ever partner her with women unless she was the only woman firefighter in the station. That did happen a few times back in Hershey so when that happened he paired her with him. But now he has actually paired her with a man. Maddie is surprised and slightly apprehensive about this. She knows it is just because he doesn’t want her anywhere near Hen. but she is still surprised that this is how Doug decided to deal with this situation.

Doug then announces that the results for the calendar have come in and that one person from their station has been selected. Maddie holds her breath, feeling absolutely terrified. Pure relief fills her when he proudly announces that he is the one that has been chosen. She is the first to congratulate him as she goes over to him and gives him a hug and a kiss. He smiles happily and kisses her back.

Chapter Text

When she arrives for her next shift Maddie sees all of Hen, Eddie and Chimney watching her, all of them clearly worried that she might have some new injuries. She doesn’t. Which is a surprise even to herself. After Doug overheard her talking to Hen, Maddie was certain that Doug would hurt her when they got home. But he didn’t.

Instead during their 48 hours off he was nice and caring. He let her spend time with Genevieve and they went on a family outing to the pier. Genevieve loved it and all of them had a great time.

So now Maddie actually feels upbeat for once.

Doug is also in a really positive mood, helped by him winning the spot on the calendar. He gets Maddie to cook breakfast for all of them and as everyone arrives for their shift they all happily join them around the table, laughing and enjoying themselves.

After they have eaten Maddie picks up a pile of plates from the table to take them to the kitchen to wash. She is halfway there when the ground starts shaking beneath her. The shaking gets so intense that Maddie drops the plates as she is then thrown to the ground. She hears the sound of glass smashing and she forgets where she is as her entire body tenses, waiting for pain.

“Maddie!”

She cringes at Doug’s voice and closes her eyes, hoping Doug is quick.

There is a hand in hers and she freezes. “Maddie.”

She opens her eyes, Doug is holding her hand and looking at her in concern. “Maddie, there’s an earthquake. We need to get out of the building.”

She blinks. An earthquake?

Doug grabs her hand and pulls Maddie out of the building, making sure that everyone they pass is also getting out. Maddie stumbles along after Doug, barely keeping up with him, barely keeping her balance and not falling down.

Soon everyone is out of the building and eventually the shaking stops.

Once the shaking stops Doug turns to all of them. “That was a big one so we are almost guaranteed to have a busy shift. If any of you need to go to the bathroom or eat something I suggest you do it now as you might not get another chance for several hours.”

There is nodding as everyone starts scrambling, quickly doing what they need to. Three minutes later the bells go off. All of them hurry into the vehicles, Maddie and Chimney in the ambulance and everyone else in the engine.

As they pull up Maddie freezes.

“What’s wrong?” Chimney asks.

Maddie trembles as she points at some of the other fire engines. “The 132. That’s my brother’s station.”

Chimney exhales and Maddie feels relief when she doesn’t need to say anything else for him to understand. “You’re brother’s a firefighter but he doesn’t have paramedic training right?”

Maddie nods.

“There is the medic tent area already set up. So I’ll suggest to Doug that it might be best if the two of us stay there, so that we can help more people. I’ll get Hen to make sure your brother knows not to go anywhere near the medical tent and if possible to stay out of Doug’s line of sight.”

Maddie gives Chimney a shaky smile. “That might work. Thanks.”

Maddie and Chimney get out of the ambulance and make their way to Doug. “Cap, should Maddie and I help in the medical tent with all of the triage?” Chimney says.

Doug looks at them. He then looks behind them and sees the 132. And Evan. He nods. “Good idea Chimney. The two of you are to stay in the medical tents for the duration of this call unless you are transporting someone to the hospital.”

Maddie and Chimney nod and make their way to the medical area.

Once they are gone some of the other firehouses all congregate together while the incident commander explains the situation. They are standing in front of a high rise. Or what was a high rise. Now the entire building is on a massive lean and there are people stuck in the building.

They then get called to look at the other side of the building. All of them stare up at it when they see a guy smushed against a window, leaning precariously over the ground. Buck and Eddie are quick to volunteer to go up so the incident commander gives them the ok and soon the two of them are making their way up there.

The rest of them are split into groups to search the building. They are told to tag the ones who are gone but to not waste any time on them as the risk of aftershocks is still high so there is a chance the building might come down.

Doug, Hen, Lucy and Ravi go in as one team. Bobby and the 132 go in as another search team, looking for a girl called Kat.

As Buck and Eddie make their way to the room where they saw the guy pressed against the window they talk strategy. Unfortunately Doug has already spotted Buck. Both of them saw the way he glared at him. But now it is important that Doug doesn’t see Maddie and Buck together. Eddie tells Buck that Maddie and Chimney have been assigned to stay in the medical area. Which makes it a bit easier to stay away from her. As long as Buck stays away from the medical area it should be fine.

Once they reach the room they move to focusing on their task at hand. Thankfully after years of marriage the two of them have excellent team work so their communication won’t be an issue. It isn’t often that they get to work together on calls and if the situation was different then working together would be quite fun.

As Doug, Ravi, Hen and Lucy make their way into the building Hen’s headlight shows a pair of feet sticking out from underneath a pile of rubble. All of them rush in that direction. Lucy bends down and checks the pulse. She shakes her head sadly. Doug sighs as he tags the body and they all move on.

They continue moving through the building, calling out. When they hear a voice calling “over here,” all of them follow the voice.

They find a teen that is trapped under rubble with someone beside him. It is clear the teen is in pain. But the bigger problem is that he is trapped. Hen moves in to assess the teen’s injuries. They find out that his name is Jeff.

While Hen assesses Jeff, Doug checks in with some of the other firefighters who spotted Jeff. He finds out they had tried to move some of the debris to pull him free but had to stop when touching a beam caused everything above them to shift. When he looks up he sees that everything above them isn’t stable and could easily come crashing down on all of them.

Doug informs Hen, Ravi and Lucy that the debris pinning down Jeff is holding up their ceiling. He sees the same understanding quickly dawn on all of their faces.

Jeff’s coach tells them that Jeff has every division one college in the country recruiting him right now. Doug sucks in a breath, finding that impressive.

The coach might be helping keep Jeff calm. But just by being here the coach is putting himself in danger so he knows they need to get him out. Doug gets Ravi to lead the coach out but the coach doesn’t want to, saying Jeff is like a son to him.

Doug has to hold back his anger. Why do people always let their emotions get in the way of being sensible?

It’s only when Jeff tells the coach that it is ok for him to go that the coach actually listens and leaves with Ravi leading him out to safety. Ravi is quick to reappear.

Once the coach is out of the way meaning they can properly focus, Doug turns to Hen, asking for a description on how bad Jeff’s injuries are. And it isn’t the best but no arteries were cut so there’s that.

Based on the way Jeff is trapped and the instability of the structure there is only one game plan Doug is comfortable with.

“Ok, Jeff,” Doug says. “We have a way to get you out. You might not like it but I am afraid it is the only way we can guarantee that you make it out of here.”

Jeff screws up his face in pain but nods. “What is the plan?”

“We get a trauma surgeon in here and we cut you free.” Doug pauses, seeing the horror in the kids face.

‘From my leg?” Jeff asks, clearly understanding what Doug means.

Doug nods.

Jeff shakes his head. “Surely there is another way.”

“Listen, we’ll put you out, cut your leg free and you’ll wake up in the hospital, safe and sound.”

“Is there any way you can save both me and my leg?” Jeff asks, desperation in his face, looking around at all of them pleadingly.

Doug shakes his head. “There isn’t.”

Hen, Ravi and Lucy all look unhappy with Doug’s decision but they don’t say anything which Doug is pleased about, glad they are respecting his authority.

Jeff continues talking, trying to see if there is a way to save his leg. Doug ignores Jeff and calls into the radio, asking for a trauma surgeon. He then sends Ravi and Lucy away, to continue searching for other survivors. He keeps Hen with him though in case Jeff’s condition changes.

Jeff pleads with Doug the whole time they wait for the trauma surgeon but Doug isn’t budging. Yes, he thought of a way they could try getting Jeff out that would save his leg. But he isn’t risking his firefighter’s lives for a leg. It’s just a leg. Jeff will get over it. It isn’t worth his team's lives.

Hen focuses on Jeff and doesn’t look at Doug. Doug can tell that Hen is not happy with him but he doesn’t care. He’s the captain. He’s the one in charge.

When the trauma surgeon arrives they put him under with one person checking Jeff’s vitals. They cut his leg off, with Doug and Hen focusing on making sure the structure above them doesn’t shift.

Once the field surgery has been done Doug and Hen carry Jeff out on a stretcher. When they emerge from the building Doug finds an ambulance that is available and they send Jeff off. The coach jumps into the back of the ambulance.

Doug tells Hen to go back in the building to join the search for survivors as he makes his way to the medical area to check on Maddie and Chimney.

It is clear almost straight away that they have been kept continuously busy. He can see that Maddie is in the zone and so focused on her work that even if she does spot Evan she probably won’t even realise it due to how focused on her job is. Doug smiles. That is good.

The day continues and they are all very busy. Buck and Eddie emerge with a woman they have rescued. The guy they saw against the glass didn’t make it. Eddie finds himself mainly grouped with members of the 132 for the day rather than the 118.

Eventually it starts to get dark as it heads into night. The family members still waiting for news on loved ones trapped inside are starting to get more frantic which is making things more difficult.

The phones are down so Eddie and Buck still haven’t been able to get in contact with Chris or his school. And Bobby is working with them and they can assume that Athena is also on duty. However they know that Chris will have been taken care of. Due to Buck, Eddie, Bobby and Athena all being first responders they have already all prearranged that if there is a big disaster like this then Michael will take care of all of the kids and Michael is on the approved pick up list for all of the kids schools.

They keep on having more aftershocks and eventually the incident commander calls it, saying they need to get all of their people out of the building. Doug grabs his radio and does a head count, checking on where all of his team are. Chimney replies for both himself and Maddie, confirming that they are in the medical area. Which Doug already knew. Ravi says that he and Lucy are in the building and are on their way out with a patient. Eddie says he is with some of the 132 and they are also on their way out with a patient. He doesn’t get anything from Hen.

“Hen do you copy? Hen?” Doug says.

Silence.

Doug tries a few more times. Still nothing. He looks at the building. He doesn’t even know where in there she is. He sees Eddie running up to him in concern. Evan is a bit behind Eddie. Doug ignores Evan.

“Do you have any idea where in the building Hen is?” Doug asks Eddie.

“I think she was going down to check for the missing girl near the basement level,” Eddie says.

“Can we go to look for her?” Evan asks.

“The incident commander already ordered everyone out,” Doug says.

“You’re just going to give up on one of your team?” Evan asks angrily. “Would you give up if it was Maddie that was still in there?”

Anger fills Doug. How dare Evan? Doesn’t Evan know he loves his wife. He would never give up on her. No matter how much Maddie messes up he will always be there for her, to correct her and help her become a better person.

Annoyance fills him when he realises what point Evan is trying to make. “A direct order was made. I can’t allow you to disobey. But I didn’t see the two of you as I’m going to go and check on Maddie. Evan, considering there will be trouble if you let Maddie spot you, maybe you should go in the opposite direction from me.”

Doug then makes his way to the medical tent again. He spots Evan and Eddie running back into the building. Idiots. The whole thing is unstable and could collapse on them. Still, it would make his life easier if Evan died. Which is his main reason for turning a blind eye to Eddie and Evan going in to look for Hen.

When Doug gets to the medical tent the rush has started to die down. Almost all the patients have either been cleared to go home or sent to the hospital. When Maddie spots him she breaks out into a smile. She looks exhausted and she gives him a massive hug. Doug smiles down at his Maddie, glad to have her in his arms.

“Did Hen ever respond?” Maddie asks Doug, worry flooding through her. Next to her Chimney stiffens, also worried about Hen.

Doug shakes his head. “We don’t know where she is.”

Chimney stands up. “Can we go after her and find her?”

Doug shrugs. “Technically everyone has been banned from going back in, the incident commander gave the order for everyone to evacuate.”

Maddie sees heartbreak in Chimney’s eyes and she hates it. Doug opens his mouth again and stares her down, making her scared about what he is going to say next.

“Chimney, if you want to go after Hen you can. Just pretend I don’t know. After all, I already turned a blind eye to Eddie and his husband going in after Hen.”

Maddie feels her entire world falling apart. And she knows she can’t even react. She can tell that Doug’s comment is a test. From the way he is staring at her he is assessing her, to see if she reacted. To see if she knew that her brother is in LA.

“Do you think they’ll find her?” Maddie asks, hoping she can successfully pretend that the worry in her eyes is worry for Hen.

“I don’t know,” Doug says. “Eddie thinks she was in the basement looking for the missing girl so that’s where Eddie and his husband went.”

Before anything else can happen Chimney runs to the building, clearly focused on getting Hen out.

Maddie makes a move to run after him, wanting to help Hen. But she has only taken a couple of steps before Doug’s hand is on her arm, yanking her backwards.

“Where are you going?” He asks.

Maddie trembles. “I was going to help search for Hen.”

“Why?” Doug snaps.

“She’s my friend!” Maddie protests.

“Not anymore she isn’t,” Doug hisses. “Not after what you told her. I don’t want you talking to her again. Do you understand?”

Maddie nods and hangs her head.

“Good. Now, everyone has been sent out of the building. Even if Hen does get found and needs help there are still plenty of ambulances here. So you are to take the ambulance back to the fire station and start restocking it so that when we return we will be able to go home straight away rather than having to wait for you to restock the ambulance.”

Maddie gives a nod. Doug leans in and kisses her on the head before Maddie then makes her way to the ambulance.

She is pretty sure Doug is just getting her away from the scene in case Evan comes back out of the building so that she doesn’t spot him.

Maddie fights the tears on the drive back to the fire station, if only because having blurred vision is dangerous when driving. She may be able to fight the tears but she can’t fight the sheer terror. She is terrified that her little brother won’t come out of the building. Ok, she is also scared for Hen, Eddie and Chimney as she cares about all three of them.

But her fear for Evan is the fear that completely consumes her. She doesn’t even know when she will find out that he is safe, it could be ages before it is safe for someone to let her know her brother’s fate.

Once Maddie is back at the fire station the tears start coming. She allows them for two minutes before forcing herself to stop, having no clue when Doug will return and knowing that there will be trouble if he catches her crying.

She then focuses on the task of restocking. She is just finishing up the job when the engine returns to the station. She holds her breath and slightly exhales when after Doug exits the vehicle so do Hen, Eddie and Chimney. She wishes she could tell all three of them how relieved she is that they are ok. But she doesn’t dare. Not with Doug watching and not with him forbidding her to talk to Hen.

Instead she just hugs Doug. She is so stressed from the whole day and she needs the comfort of a hug. And Doug is the only person that it is safe for her to hug.

“All of you did a good job this shift,” Doug announces. He then turns to Maddie. “I’ll just grab the paperwork from my office and then we can go home.” Maddie nods in reply.

As soon as Doug is in his office Maddie turns to Chimney, Eddie and Hen. “Is Evan ok?”

Eddie nods and Maddie exhales in relief, finally feeling like she can breathe again. Doug emerges from his office before any of them can say anything else.

Maddie makes her way to his side and soon they are on their way home.

Both of them are completely exhausted and Maddie is relieved when Doug lets them just go straight to bed to get some much needed rest.
_____

After their shift Buck and Eddie head to Bobby and Athena’s. Both of them are just completely exhausted and want to collapse. But after cell service came back they saw they had a message from Michael saying he had picked up Chris along with May, Harry, Brooke and Robert and taken all of them to Bobby and Athena’s.

When they get there Chris is almost falling asleep but when he sees them he gives them sleepy hugs before fully drifting off. It is clear that everyone is exhausted. Buck and Eddie know they aren’t driving home.

So Athena gets out the spare mattress she keeps for this reason and soon Buck and Eddie are fast asleep on the living room floor.

In the morning Eddie wakes up to the smell of bacon. He heads to the kitchen and sees that Buck, Bobby, Brooke and Chris are all there. Buck and Brooke are cooking whilst Chris and Bobby are talking to them.

Eddie stumbles into the room, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Within the first few seconds of the conversation he quickly gathers that they are all talking about the earthquake. Brooke is saying that at first she was happy because she was in maths so it was a nice distraction but then when the shaking kept going she realised it was a bad earthquake so then she got scared.

She says how after the shaking stopped they all had to go outside in case there were aftershocks. She looked out for all of her friends and stood with them until Michael picked her up. She was last picked up based on the order the schools were in geographically.

Michael is drawn into the kitchen by the smell of the bacon. He tells Buck and Eddie how he went to the primary school first and picked up Chris and Harry. The high school was closest so he then got May and Robert before finally getting to the middle school to pick up Brooke.

This is Brooke’s first year without a sibling at her school after Robert moved up to high school at the beginning of the school year. It is another year before Harry will join her at middle school. Brooke makes it clear that she prefers having siblings at the same school as her.

Buck finds himself wondering what that would be like. Because of the age gap with Maddie he never was at the same school as her. Although all the teachers knew Maddie so they knew of him as Maddie’s little brother.

Buck starts flipping the pancakes he is making. Soon everyone else is awake and May, Robert, Harry and Athena are entering the kitchen. It isn’t long before they are all laughing together and sharing stories of the earthquakes although all the adults only share their kid friendly stories.

Chapter Text

Maddie is sleeping when she feels Doug shaking her. She blinks in confusion.

“Get up!”

Doug’s voice is filled with rage and Maddie may be completely confused but her instincts kick in and within seconds she is standing.

Doug grabs Maddie’s arm and pulls her along to Genevieve’s bedroom. Maddie is confused and fearful. When they enter Genevieve’s bedroom Genevieve is awake, standing in the middle of the room staring at them.

Doug slaps Maddie in the face. Genevieve starts crying.

“What’s going on?” Maddie asks, trying but failing to keep her voice from trembling.

Doug is livid when he faces her. “I just heard Genevieve telling her soft toys that she wishes Cassandra was her parent instead of us.”

Maddie’s tears are instant and she feels a sharp aching pain in her chest. She failed. She failed. She doesn’t blame Genevieve. Genevieve spends more time with Cassandra than she does with them. Of course Genevieve would feel that way. But knowing that doesn’t stop the intense emotional pain that fills Maddie to her very core.

“SEE WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” Doug yells at Genevieve. “YOU’VE MADE YOUR MOM CRY!”

“So do you!” Genevieve yells back. “You make mom cry way more than I do.”

Doug lunges towards Genevieve and Maddie jumps in between them just in time, falling backwards as the punch meant for Genevieve catches Maddie right in the stomach and she collapses to the ground.

Genevieve starts wailing. “I want Cassandra,” she sobs.

Doug lunges at Genevieve again and Maddie only just catches his arm. Doug angrily shakes her hand off. “WHAT MADDIE?” He asks harshly.

Maddie starts shaking. “Doug, please, she’s just a kid. She is only saying she prefers Cassandra because that’s who she spends the most time with. Almost all kids are closest with the people they spend the most time with.”

“Well kid or not she still needs to learn her lesson.”

Maddie desperately pleads with Doug. When he doesn’t listen she tries to get in between Doug and Genevieve but Doug just pushes her away.

Doug punches Genevieve and Maddie screams almost louder than Genevieve does. Doug raises his arm again and Maddie grabs onto it, trying to pull Doug away. Doug turns to Maddie in anger. “I’m trying to teach her a lesson. Stop interfering.”

Doug then turns back to Genevieve. He grabs her arm and starts twisting it back. Maddie goes pale. He cannot do this to Genevieve. He cannot break her bone. Please not.

Maddie takes a few steps back before running at Doug, thankfully gaining enough momentum to actually push Doug off Genevieve.

Doug turns to Maddie with murderous rage on his face. He grabs her arm and yanks her out of the room. Maddie can see by the look on his face that she is about to be in pain but if it gets Doug away from Genevieve then she doesn’t care.

He pulls her onto the landing and throws her to the ground. He kicks her in the side over and over again until she feels several of her ribs breaking. He then yanks her up by her hair and pulls her over to their stairs.

When they are at the top Maddie is frozen in fear. “Please Doug. Please. I’m so sorry. I’ll do better. Please.”

Doug just shakes his head. “You need to learn Maddie. And so does Genevieve.”

Doug pushes Maddie and she goes tumbling backwards down the stairs and soon everything is black.

When she comes to, everything is fuzzy and her head is pounding. It seems she has another concussion. She groans. She hates concussions so much.

She stays still and slowly assesses her injuries. Much to her surprise none of her arms or legs are broken. Her ribs are the only bones that are broken.

It takes her a bit longer to remember what happened. Everything is still fuzzy but she eventually realises she is at the bottom of the stairs. Why is she here? Doug must have pushed her.

Then she hears screaming. Genevieve’s screams. Her entire body tenses. She hears Doug yelling and even more screaming from Genevieve.

She knows trying to get in between them won’t work. So Maddie forces herself up, ignoring the pain in her ribs or how dizzy she is when she tries to walk.

It is a challenge to make it to her phone, swaying as she walks. Once she finds her phone it takes several tries before she can see her phone well enough to type in the three numbers.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

Maddie tries to speak but all that comes out are moans of pain.

“Can you tell me your address?”

Somehow Maddie gets it out.

“Are you hurt?”

She needs to explain. For Genevieve. Fighting for each word Maddie barely manages to get it out.

“My husband. He’s hurting our daughter. I couldn’t get him to stop. Please help.”

“Police and paramedics are on the way.”

Maddie slumps down in relief. She hopes they are quick. Knowing that they have been dispatched she hangs up the phone before she can be asked any questions. She staggers towards the door, hating that the sound of Genevieve’s screams haven’t stopped.

When she gets to the door she opens it quietly, waiting for the police to arrive.

When Athena is the one who shows up Maddie doesn’t know if she is relieved or more anxious by the fact that Athena is the one who responded.

“Genevieve,” Maddie says weakly, pointing upstairs in the direction of where Doug and Genevieve are, in the direction of Doug’s yelling and Genevieve’s screaming.

Athena nods and disappears upstairs. It is a relief when Genevieve’s screaming stops.

More cops arrive and Maddie just points them upstairs. When two cops Maddie doesn’t recognise come back downstairs with Doug in handcuffs Maddie panics.

“Why is he in handcuffs?” She asks.

‘We’re arresting him,” one of them replies.

Maddie pales and shakes her head frantically. “No, you can’t arrest him. I don’t want to press charges. I need him here.”

There is rage on Doug’s face but he looks slightly appeased when he hears Maddie fighting on his behalf.

“Either we arrest him or CPS comes and takes Genevieve. We’re not leaving them both here overnight,” she gets told.

Maddie deflates and stares at Doug with panicked eyes having absolutely no clue what decision to make. Doug will kill her if she chooses Genevieve over him. But CPS? She doesn’t want Genevieve to be put into the foster care system. In the ideal world she would let Cassandra look after Genevieve. But Cassandra is undocumented meaning that can’t happen.

She sees the look in Doug’s eyes and feels herself giving up. She feels like the worst mother in the world even if it feels like she doesn’t have a choice.

“Call CPS then,” she whispers, staring at the ground in shame.

They continue dragging Doug out and she snaps her head up. “Did you not hear what I said?” she asks in confusion.

“We did Ma’am. But we are still going to keep him for the night to give you the chance to change your mind.”

Maddie trembles. They can’t take Doug. He will never forgive her. What did she do? She shouldn’t have called 911.

“Please! I won’t change my mind, you don’t need to take him,” she says in desperation.

They don’t listen and soon they have taken Doug out of the house. Maddie collapses to the ground in tears.

Maddie is crying on the ground when paramedics arrive and hurry upstairs. Dread fills her. What did he do to Genevieve?

They carry Genevieve down in a stretcher. She has a clearly broken leg and a clearly broken arm. Her head is bleeding and she is covered in bruises. Maddie isn’t even aware when she starts wailing in agony at the sight of her daughter.

Even though CPS has been mentioned they still let Maddie go in the ambulance with Genevieve which she is grateful for.

When they get to the hospital Genevieve gets wheeled into surgery and Maddie collapses into a sobbing mess in the middle of the hospital entrance.

Suddenly Athena is at her side, guiding her to one of the waiting rooms and sitting down next to her.

“Do you need medical attention Maddie?” Athena asks.

Maddie shakes her head. “I’m fine. I just have a concussion and some broken ribs, nothing too major.”

Athena stares at her. “You should get checked Maddie. How many concussions have you had?”

Maddie trembles. “I don’t know,” she admits. “I’ve lost count.”

The knowledge of the added danger of each additional concussion stays unspoken but both Maddie and Athena find that fact near the forefront of their mind.

“They will let Doug go tomorrow right? They need to,” Maddie asks.

“Are you sure you don’t want to press charges?” Athena asks.

Maddie nods firmly.

“Even if it means CPS takes Genevieve?” Athena presses.

Maddie swallows harshly. “It’s too dangerous to press charges. Anyway, Genevieve is probably better off without us. Living somewhere safer. Though I wish she could stay with Cassandra.”

“Who’s Cassandra?”

Maddie’s eyes widen. “I didn’t say anything,” she whispers.

“Maddie,” Athena says, her voice gentler this time. “Who’s Cassandra?”

Maddie trembles. “That depends. What’s your view on ICE?”

Understanding fills Athena’s face. “She’s undocumented?”

Maddie nods.

“Don’t worry. I turn a blind eye in those cases. I would never report her.”

Maddie lets out a sigh. “You wouldn’t. But Doug would. That’s why I can’t leave him.”

Horror fills Athena. “The other time I responded and you asked for help Doug said ‘Cassandra, Ice,’ so you dropped charges. He was threatening to call ICE if you didn’t comply. That’s why you dropped the charges.”

Maddie nods. “I wasn’t going to risk her life and her daughter’s life just so I could leave Doug. If her and her daughter get deported they won’t be safe. They fled Cassandra’s ex. He wasn’t able to get across the border so they are safe here. But if they get deported he will find them and kill them. That is why I can never leave Doug. Until they are documented or her ex dies I will never be free to leave him. I won’t put them in harm’s way for my own sake.”

“Without mentioning her name or situation, I will look into it and see if I can find a way for her and her daughter to get documented. Both for their benefit and yours,” Athena promises.

Maddie smiles slightly. “Thanks.”

Athena sighs again. “So, Genevieve.”

Maddie gulps. “Is it possible to see if Evan and Eddie can look after her? Without Doug knowing.”

Athena nods. “If Buck and Eddie want to take in Genevieve it shouldn’t be a problem. They are related family which is preferred over a foster family. And there are definitely cases in foster care where the children’s family aren’t allowed to know where their children are staying for the children’s safety.”

“If they can’t or don’t want to look after Genevieve then would you be able to?” Maddie asks.

Athena nods. “If they won’t then we’ll do what we can to take her in.”

Maddie gives Athena a grateful hug.

“Maddie!”

Maddie’s head jerks up. She sees Buck and she bursts into tears of relief. Eddie is also with him.

Buck reaches Maddie and opens out his arms for a hug. Maddie collapses into them. Buck wraps his arms tightly around Maddie and she never wants him to let go.

She only lets go of him when a nurse comes and asks for the family of Genevieve Kendall. Maddie pulls away from Buck as she stands and collects herself.

Athena, Buck and Eddie join her as they listen to what the nurse says.

“Her right arm is broken and now in a cast. Her right leg is broken in two places and required surgery and is now in a cast. She has 2 broken ribs. She has a concussion and then she also has bruises all over.”

Maddie lets out a sob and clings to Buck.

The nurse then addresses her. “Mrs Kendall, if you want to see Genevieve you can only do so with a police officer present.”

Maddie gulps and nods her head.

“I can go with her,” Athena says.

The nurse nods. “That will be fine.”

The nurse turns to lead Maddie and Athena to Genevieve. Buck tells Maddie that he and Eddie will be waiting for when she returns.

Maddie feels nervous as she approaches Genevieve’s room. She doesn’t want to see what Doug has done to her.

Athena puts a steadying hand on Maddie’s shoulder which helps her remember to take a breath.

Her head is still pounding with pain and her ribs are screaming at her but all thoughts of her own pain completely disappear when she sees Genevieve. She knows that the instant she is away from Genevieve she will break down. But right now she needs to be strong for her daughter.

Genevieve is awake. “Mommy!” She cries weakly.

Maddie hurries to her side before pausing and looking at Athena. “Am I allowed to hug her?”

Athena nods and Maddie gives her daughter a hug. Genevieve is crying but her little arms wrap tightly around Maddie.

“Why is Daddy so mean and scary?” Genevieve asks.

Maddie gulps. She has known that at some stage Genevieve would have these questions. Genevieve spending a lot of time with Cassandra has shielded Genevieve from a lot of it but Genevieve has still heard Doug yelling at Maddie. She has seen Maddie covered in injuries. And now she has experienced it herself.

“I don’t know darling,” Maddie says quietly. “There are just some people that aren’t very nice.”

“Then why did you marry him? Why would you marry someone who isn’t nice?”

Maddie shudders. She wishes she had never married him. Although if she had then she wouldn’t have Genevieve. And she loves her daughter so so much. Though as she looks at her daughter she doesn’t have a clue of how to answer her.

“Sometimes mean people pretend to be nice,” Athena answers.

“Did Daddy do that?” Genevieve asks.

Maddie nods.

“Well now that you know he is mean why don’t you unmarry him?”

Maddie pales and looks at Athena helplessly.

“Sometimes people can do and say things that are really scary which makes people scared to leave,” Athena says.

Genevieve’s face crumples. “I don’t want to live with Daddy anymore. I’m really scared of him.”

Maddie feels her heart shatter. She never wanted her daughter to feel this way. But it does bring up the conversation that she needs to have with Genevieve anyway. She needs to explain foster care to Genevieve.

“You don’t have to live with him anymore. Because he hurt you they are going to find a nice family for you to live with where you will be safe and happy.”

A range of emotions flickers across Genevieve’s face. “But what about you Mommy?”

Maddie’s heart breaks even more. “I’m not brave enough. But I love you and I will try to be brave enough.”

Genevieve starts crying. “What if the family I live with is also mean?”

Maddie is quick to reassure her daughter. “They won’t be. We are going to see if you can stay with my brother who is really nice. If you can’t then you will stay with Athena.”

Genevieve looks past Maddie at Athena. “Athena is nice! She stopped Daddy from hurting me. She saved me.”

Maddie nods. “Athena is nice.”

“Is your brother nice?”

“The nicest.”

Maddie gives Genevieve another hug. “I love you so much Genevieve. Never forget that.”

Genevieve looks at panic. “Are you saying bye? Will I see you again?”

Maddie looks at Athena for an answer.

“You will see her again but we don’t know when. So it is bye for a while but not bye for good,” Athena says.

Genevieve sobs and gives Maddie a massive hug. Maddie hugs her back, wishing she never has to let go.

The nurse returns just as they are hugging. Maddie can tell from the look on the nurse's face that her time is up.

Maddie gives Genevieve one last hug, telling her how much she loves her, before Athena is walking her out of the door.

The instant Maddie is out of the room she bursts into tears. Athena leads her to a small private room. Buck and Eddie are in there but apart from that it is empty.

It is quiet for a while as Maddie just sobs and sobs and sobs. Buck and Athena sit on either side of her, holding her, being there for her, while she cries.

After a long time once Maddie has finally managed to slow down her tears she turns to Buck and Eddie.

“CPS is taking Genevieve. This might be too big of an ask and you can say no if you want to but一”

“Of course we’ll look after her for you,” Eddie says. Buck nods in agreement.

Maddie looks up at them with tears on her face. “You’re sure?”

Both of them nod fiercely.

“Chris will love getting to know his cousin. He’s 7 at the moment so only 2 years older than her. He’ll love it,” Buck says.

Maddie gives a small smile.

“Doug will think Genevieve is placed with a random foster family and will be told he isn’t allowed to know where she is placed. He will be made to think that Maddie has that same information. It is imperative that he never learns you have her. So if you are out in public with her make sure you keep an eye out for him. Don’t go with her to any of the shops or places near where Maddie and Doug live,” Athena instructs.

Buck and Eddie both nod seriously.

Buck turns to Maddie. “Is there anything we need to know about her to look after her well?”

Maddie feels shame, wishing she knew enough about her daughter to properly answer this question. Cassandra would know more. But Maddie does know a little bit.

“Spanish is her first language so when she gets upset sometimes she doesn’t speak any English.”

Buck and Eddie both look at her in confusion. Maddie sighs. “Doug basically never lets me spend time with Genevieve. Her nanny and nanny’s daughter live in a cottage at the back of our property and Genevieve spends way more time with them than me. Her nanny speaks Spanish which is how Genevieve learned it.” Maddie turns to Athena. “Her nanny is the one I was talking about when I said I couldn’t leave Doug because of my friend who was undocumented that he would call ICE on if I left.”

Athena nods grimly.

Buck turns to Maddie seriously. “If she only ends up speaking to us in Spanish that isn’t a problem. Eddie’s fluent and Chris and I both are pretty decent with it. I’m close to fluent.”

Maddie slowly exhales at that.

Athena gets a message from her radio. She turns to Maddie. “They’re releasing Doug in an hour. Do you want to be home or out when he is sent home?”

Maddie’s eyes widen in panic. “I need to be home. He needs to think I am on his side.”

Athena nods.

Maddie gives Buck a hug good bye. Buck looks very unhappy about it but he hugs her back, promising that he and Eddie will take good care of Genevieve.

Athena then drives Maddie back to her house and then reluctantly says goodbye, clearly unhappy about leaving her there, knowing that Doug will probably be mad with Maddie.

When Maddie opens the door Doug isn’t home yet. She sees blood all over the floor. There is a small puddle of it at the bottom of the stairs and she is sure there will be more in Genevieve’s bedroom.

She gets out the cleaning supplies. By now she knows exactly how to get rid of blood stains.

When Doug opens the front door Maddie is on her hands and knees at the bottom of the stairs, scrubbing at the bloodstains there.

He looks at her and Maddie freezes.

“Keep scrubbing!” Doug snaps.

Maddie gulps and hurriedly continues. Doug walks up to her and she tenses but continues cleaning.

“You better make it so there are no stains.”

She nods.

He stalks off and she sighs in relief. She knows his anger will come but she was expecting him to hurt her so it was a pleasant surprise that he didn’t. Although her concussion and broken ribs from earlier are still screaming at her so her body is still in agony. But the pain in her body is nothing compared to the pain in her mind.

It takes a few hours for Maddie to clean up all the blood. As she expected there is way more blood in Genevieve’s bedroom. Which absolutely sickens her. She has cleaned up her own blood countless times. She is used to that. But cleaning up her daughter's blood? That is absolutely horrific and it is a struggle to not cry. By the time she is finished she is emotionally wrung out.

She puts away all the cleaning products and then starts making dinner. She makes one of Doug’s favorite meals as she is very worried about how tonight is going to go.

They eat in silence, Maddie’s fear building with every second.

Once they have eaten Maddie loads the dishwasher. As soon as she is done, Doug appears behind her and grabs her hair. Maddie tells herself that whatever he does to her she deserves. She let him hurt Genevieve so she deserves whatever is about to happen. Though that does nothing to decrease her fear.

Doug yanks Maddie backwards before throwing her across the room. Maddie lands in a crumbled heap. Doug stalks over to her and towers over her.

“Because of you I had to spend 12 hours locked in a cell in the police station. 12 hours Maddie!”

Maddie trembles. “I’m so so sorry. I never wanted that to happen. I promise. I made a massive mistake, I know I messed up. I never wanted that to happen.”

“Yet it did!” Doug snaps.

Maddie tries to move backwards but there is nowhere for her to go. Doug punches her in the stomach and she doubles over in pain.

“Get up!” Doug snaps.

Maddie hurries to obey although she is a bit shaky on her legs. Doug punches her again and she drops to the ground.

“Up,” Doug repeats.

Swaying slightly Maddie stands on two shaky legs.

Another punch sends her to the ground. Doug forces her back up. That happens again and again. Maddie wishes he would just let her stay on the ground.

“Up!” He snaps.

Her entire body trembling, Maddie has to fight with her body to manage to stand.

“Go to the basement.”

Gulping and trembling, Maddie obeys. She hates the basement. Nothing good ever happens there.

Doug takes a few minutes to get to the basement so Maddie spends the time waiting for him shaking in pure fear. When he comes down the basement stairs he is carrying a metal chain and a piece of cloth.

“Take off your clothes.”

Shaking, Maddie obeys.

Doug then walks over to her and throws her clothes into one of the corners of the room. He then grabs a piece of cloth and ties it tightly around her eyes, the pressure causing instant pain and adding to the intense headache she already has due to having a concussion.

She then hears footsteps and she thinks Doug has left the basement again but she can’t tell. She stays frozen in place, not daring to move.

When he returns she hears him setting something down.

“There is a chair in front of you. Stand on it.”

Maddie feels around with her hands. When she finds the chair she cautiously stands on it. She hears the sound of what she thinks is Doug standing on a chair next to the one she is on.

“Put your hands above your head.”

Maddie has no clue what he is planning. He has never done anything like this before. The uncertainty terrifies her even more but she is quick to listen, not daring to disobey him.

She feels Doug attaching a metal cuff to her left wrist. She then hears the sound of metal clanking and colliding before Doug swears in frustration. That sound happens again but this time Doug makes a satisfied sound. She then feels a metal cuff being attached to her right wrist.

“Try and move your arms.”

When Maddie does she can slide them back and forth but that is it. She realises that there is a chain connecting the two cuffs and based on the way she can move them she realises he has looped the chain over one of the metal beams that runs the length of the basement ceiling. That must be what the metal sound was. Doug was throwing the chain over the beam and he missed it the first time but got it the second time.

She hears the sound of Doug kicking away the chair. Her body instantly drops and she is dangling above the ground. Her wrists instantly start screaming in pain, with the cuffs tight around them and the chain and cuffs supporting the weight of her entire body. Hot tears stream down her face, seeping out from underneath the blindfold, and she is powerless to stop her tears. She hears Doug laughing and it just makes everything worse. Her feet automatically swing, trying to find solid ground.

“You can swing your feet all you like. They’re 2 feet above the ground, you’re never going to reach it.” Doug’s voice is full of amusement.

Maddie isn’t able to stop herself from crying even harder.

“Genevieve isn’t here. So what happened after I got taken away? Where is she?”

Maddie trembles. “CPS took her. They wouldn’t tell me where they were taking her.”

Doug lets out a harsh laugh. “Well, she deserves that. This whole thing happened because she said she wanted a different parent. Looks like she got her wish.”

Maddie cries even harder.

“Are you sure CPS didn’t give you any clue as to where they sent her?”

Maddie shakes her head. “They wouldn’t say anything.”

“Did they ask if there was any family we could send her to?”

Maddie trembles knowing she needs to be believable. She nods. “They asked.”

“So what did you say?” His voice is harsh and Maddie shudders. Her arms start aching even more and already the metal cuffs are digging painfully into her wrists.

“I said I don’t have a clue where either my brother or your sister are and that both sets of parents were not a good option.” Maddie shudders. “I would never ever want her with my parents.”

Doug laughs. “You mean the parents that created a child for spare parts and then lied to him about it for his whole life. You are right, we definitely don’t want Genevieve with them. Or with my dad.”

“Do you, do you think we’ll get her back?” Maddie whispers, finding herself suddenly vulnerable. She starts crying even more.

She hears the sound of a chair being pulled up next to her and then Doug is up at her height, his hand on her chin. “Hey, it’s alright. We’ll get through this together,” he says, his tone gentle and soothing.

Maddie leans her head against him and sobs into his shoulder. Doug rubs her back in slow steady circles. A part of Maddie knows how weird this would look to outsiders. He is comforting her whilst he has her blindfolded and dangling from the ceiling with immense pain being placed on her arms. But that doesn’t matter to her. She is a mother without her child and she is in pain. Doug is all she has.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t get her back. I won’t be able to cope with that. I’ll break,” she whispers.

Doug doesn’t say anything but he continues rubbing her back.

They stay there like that for several minutes, Maddie dangling and crying, Doug next to her rubbing her back and whispering soothing, gentle things.

Eventually Doug pulls his hand back and Maddie feels bereft. She doesn’t want him to go, she needs him.

“It’s getting late and I’m tired. I had to spend 12 hours in a cell because of you so you will spend overnight dangling here to make up for that. I will take you down from there in the morning. Night Maddie. I love you.”

Panic fills Maddie. “I don’t want you to go! Please don’t leave me alone. I need you.” She starts sobbing anew.

Doug’s voice is gentle when he replies. “I’m sorry Maddie. I don’t want to leave you either. But I was alone in the jail cell. Because of you. So this has to happen.”

Maddie hangs her head. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

Doug says he loves her and then she hears him going back upstairs.

She is left there all alone. Her head is still pounding, every breath hurts because of her broken ribs, her arms and wrists are screaming in pain, her feet are desperate to find solid ground. Her soul is crushed by Genevieve being taken away. And she is all alone.

She spends the entire night crying.

Chapter Text

When they arrive for their shift Maddie can’t help herself from rubbing her wrists. They are red and raw from the cuffs and the strain of supporting her entire body weight. Her arms are aching and she can barely move them.

When she sees Eddie she longs to go and ask him how Genevieve is. But she can’t.

Soon everyone is gathered for the pre-shift briefing.

“We are having another change in who everyone is paired with,” Doug announces.

The room is filled with displeased looks.

“In the ambulance we will have Chimney and Hen. Eddie, you will be paired with Ravi. Lucy is paired with Max. Maddie will be paired with me. All other pairs will remain the same.”

As they disperse there are some murmurs of surprise and Maddie knows it is because normally no one is ever paired with the captain. It seems like that is a first for everyone here. It isn’t a first for Maddie. In Hershey whenever he wanted her to be particularly close to him he would partner her up with him.

It isn’t long before the bells are going off and they are on their first call of the day. For this shift Doug has them in three vehicles - Hen and Chim in the ambulance, Maddie and Doug in the captain’s truck and everyone else in the fire engine.

She is used to rides with just her and Doug. After all, they drive to and from work together. But it still makes Maddie feel uneasy.

When they pull up on scene there are a bunch of people all pointing their phones in one direction which makes it pretty clear where they need to go.

Before they get out of the captain's truck Doug turns to Maddie. “Can you lift your arms?”

“Not really,” Maddie admits.

Once they are all out of the vehicles they get a proper look at what is going on. Stuck in between two buildings, several stories high, is a guy who is screaming for help.

Doug is quick to give orders. “Maddie, you’re on crowd control. Make sure that no one gets in our way. Lucy and Max, see if there is a way to get a rescue cushion underneath him in case he falls. I know it is too narrow for the typical one so try and be creative. Everyone else, we’re going up to the roof.”

Once they are on the roof they are closer to the guy so can hear him. They find out that his name is George. Hen starts asking him questions, to assess how he is doing medically. He says he can’t feel his legs which isn’t a good sign and he also thinks his ankle is broken. When Eddie asks if George has any idea how long he has been stuck there he says he saw the sun come up. Meaning it has been a while.

When Chimney asks how his breathing is, the answer isn’t very reassuring and Doug knows they need to get him out of there. “Can you show us how high you can reach so we can see if we can drop you a line and pull you up,” Doug says.

George starts to try and reach up but the second he does he starts slipping so he freezes. Looks like they need to come up with another plan.

Soon they are invading an open home. The real estate agent isn’t pleased when they have to start cutting through the wall but Doug doesn’t care. He feels anger starting to build. Everyone always tries to get in the way of things. He manages to shove his anger away, telling himself he will deal with it later, as right now he has a job to do.

Eddie and Hen stay up on the roof where they can see from the outside. Soon they have their mark and Ravi is drilling through. Doug checks in with Eddie and Hen and they confirm they got the right spot so Doug tells Ravi to continue.

They then need to use the sledgehammer to create a big enough opening to get George through. Doug does that himself, he likes breaking things and he has some anger to work out. By the time the opening is big enough to pull George through Doug has released his anger and he feels a lot better.

When the real estate agent angrily asks why they couldn’t have gone through the building Doug is barely able to keep his cool when he says that this wall is thinner so quicker to go through.

Soon the guy is safely out and no longer trapped in between the two buildings. Doug tells Hen and Chim to get him to the hospital to be checked. Doug then tells the real estate agent which part of the fire department to contact to see about getting the wall damage fixed.

And then he is back downstairs where his Maddie is. She smiles when she sees him and soon they are back together in the captain’s truck as they head back to the station.

When they get back to the station Doug asks Maddie if he can speak to her in his office. Maddie gulps as she nods and follows Doug in there.

Once the door is closed he turns to her. “Show me how high you can lift your arms.”

Maddie lifts her arms as much as she can, almost crying with the strain. Even with how hard she tries she can barely lift them more than a few inches with how weak she is. Doug groans in annoyance. “I should have taken more care with how I chose to hang you there.”

Maddie stays silent as she stares at the floor.

There is a moment of silence before Doug speaks again. “I guess I’ll have to put you on crowd control for all of our calls today.”

The bells go off again and they all make their way back to the vehicles. When they get there Doug explains that dispatch said a girl got her head stuck in a tail pipe. It is clear by the looks they exchange that all of them are wondering how that could even happen.

Doug gets all of them apart from Maddie carrying in tools from the fire engine that they might need.

A few people come running out of the building, ready to guide them to their patient.

As they make their way to the patient they get comments about how hot firefighters are and Maddie shivers with discomfort. They have to battle their way through all the people to get to the patient. But eventually they get there.

They find a woman, on the ground on her knees with her head stuck in the tailpipe of a truck. When Hen asks what the patient’s name is, the guy standing there says the name of the truck. Hen rolls her eyes. They then hear the muffled reply of the woman saying that her name is Jennifer.

After a bit of assessing it is clear there is only one option. Cutting the tail pipe of the truck. As everyone else works on it Maddie is stuck on crowd control. Which is harder at this call than it was at the other call as everyone keeps on trying to get close and then there are way too many flirty comments to deal with. She keeps on repeating that she has a husband but it feels like she isn’t being listened to and she is terrified that Doug is hearing all the guys that are trying to flirt with her.

Eddie is the one that saws through the tail pipe and then Hen and Chim gently ease Jennifer’s head out of the tail pipe.

Once her head is out Hen lists medical instructions and signs Jennifer needs to be aware of for the rest of the day.

Once Jennifer is fine it feels like the entire crowd swarms around them even more, with all of them getting hit on. Maddie sees the look in Doug’s eyes and terror fills her. And anger. She told them to stop flirting with her. Are they not aware of the consequences she is going to face because of this? Ok, she knows they aren’t aware but that is irrelevant. She knows that Doug is going to hurt her because of this. In anger she snaps at the guys who keep on flirting with her.

“Stop flirting with me! I keep on telling you I’m married. What part of that do you not get?”

She pushes past all of them and makes her way to Doug. She glares at all of the guys trying to flirt with her before she leans up and kisses Doug. Doug wraps his arm around her and keeps his arm around her as all of them make their way back through the bar and out to where their vehicles are.

Maddie and Doug get into the captain’s truck and are the first ones to drive away.

The rest of the 118 stands there for a second.

“I’ve never seen Maddie be angry before,” Ravi says quietly, clearly in shock.

Lucy shrugs. “Guys not knowing when to quit can be annoying. I get why she snapped.”

Eddie, Hen and Chimney exchange more knowing looks with each other. They are sure that part of Maddie snapping at those guys was Maddie trying to protect herself. All of them are worried, hoping Maddie snapping at the people who tried to flirt with her will be enough to keep Doug from hurting her.

On the way back to the station Doug stops and orders food for everyone. He would normally get Maddie to cook for the team but considering she can barely lift her arms he knows that isn’t possible.

While they wait for the food he gives her a big hug. She leans into the hug but she looks a bit nervous.

“I’m not mad. I know them flirting had nothing to do with you. You tried to stop them. And you made sure everyone there knew you were mine. Which is what matters.”

At his words she visibly relaxes and he smiles.

By the time they get back to the fire station everyone else is there as stopping to get the food delayed them a bit. Doug carries it upstairs and soon they are all sitting around to eat.

Even lifting the food up to her mouth is a struggle for Maddie but she forces herself to act normal although it requires so much effort to not cry from the pain. It doesn’t help that her head is still pounding from her concussion meaning everything already requires way more concentration than it normally would.

Maddie eats less than she normally would as the struggle to take each bite of food just isn’t worth it. She is then completely worn out so she makes her way to the bunk room. Doug starts assigning chores as she is in the middle of walking there but he doesn’t stop her, he lets her continue making her way there and he doesn’t assign her any chores.

When she reaches the bunk room she collapses on the first available bunk and even though it is the middle of the day she falls asleep almost instantly. Although to be fair, she is incredibly tired as she got no sleep the night before due to the fact that she was dangling from the basement ceiling in so much pain it was impossible for her to sleep.

Maddie gets a few hours of sleep, not waking up until they get their next call. Once again they end up taking three vehicles to the call.

They arrive at a mall. Doug gets all of them apart from Maddie carrying in gear they might need. One of the mall staff greets them at the entrance and shows them where to go, talking on the way, explaining that a guy was on the escalator, in the middle of proposing, when a panel fell out and he fell down into the machinery below it.

As they make their way through the crowd it easily parts for them. There is also mall security keeping everyone in line meaning Maddie knows she won’t be on crowd control for this call as it isn’t needed.

They reach the top of the escalator where a woman is calling down to the guy trapped there.

“Daniel, help is here.”

Maddie freezes and her insides turn to ice. Even though she has been a paramedic firefighter for years this is somehow the first time they have ever had a patient named Daniel. Maddie hasn’t heard the name Daniel in years. Even though Daniel is a pretty common name she thinks the last time she heard that name might have been the day after his funeral when her parents sat her down and said they were never going to mention him ever again.

Doug hears the name Daniel and quickly looks to see Maddie’s reaction. He sees that she is completely frozen and he can tell by the look in her eyes that she has completely gone from here and her mind is elsewhere.

He asks for the woman’s name and finds out it is Ariel.

“Ravi, take Ariel to the side and stay with her. Hen, Chim, Eddie, check for responses and one of you is to go down there to assess him. Chim, I have something that I need to focus on so if I don’t give you a response then you are in charge of making any decisions.”

Chim, Hen and Eddie all look at him in confusion but Doug doesn’t focus on them. He hurries over to Maddie and guides her over to the side, away from all the people. She is still staring vacantly into the distance but she has also started shaking. Doug gently guides her down so she is sitting.

He can tell she is dissociating and he needs to help her ground herself in her surroundings. He speaks to her softly, continuing to talk, hoping the sound of his voice will bring her back to where she is.

While Doug has his focus on Maddie the rest of the team is confused but working to help Daniel.

Chimney moves the step and then jumps a few feet down to where Daniel is. When he checks, Daniel has a pulse which is a massive relief. When Chimney talks to Daniel trying to get a response Daniel talks back, saying he needs to see Ariel. Daniel tries to get up but Chimney is quick to stop him saying it is important that Daniel stays still but that Daniel should keep talking.

Chimney then investigates further and sees that Daniel’s leg is partially caught in the machinery.

He pokes his head back out, looking for Doug so he can report back and get instruction. He eventually spots Doug who is off to the side with Maddie who looks like she is dissociating. Chimney instantly feels worry for Maddie but he knows that right now he needs to focus on Daniel.

Because his captain isn’t available, Chimney turns to Hen, Eddie, Lucy and Max. “The escalator chain is sitting on top of his femoral artery. I think it’s possible it nicked it.”

“So we can’t loosen the chain as it might make it worse because the tension is acting as a tourniquet," Eddie says. Hen and Chimney both nod in agreement.

“We need to get him out of there,” Lucy says. All of them nod in agreement. Chimney goes back down to tie it off and Hen gets an I.V.

Once Chimney has it tied off he clips the wires and chain to free Daniel. Which works but causes Daniel to start screaming in pain.

Nothing Doug is trying is getting Maddie to realise where she is. Until Daniel starts screaming in pain. Maddie’s eyes unglaze and she jerks upright in horror. When she realises where she is and what is happening she starts hyperventilating. Doug starts trying to help her guide her breaths but Maddie can barely hear him.

Thoughts of Daniel are racing through her head and the pain of missing him feels like it is crushing her. She has never really felt this when she thinks of Daniel before. Probably because she never lets herself think of him, not wanting to let down her parents. Allowing herself to think about Daniel feels like she is betraying them.

Chim, Lucy and Max pull Daniel out from where he is trapped and then they get him on the backboard. He stops screaming. They run a few checks and he is breathing and conscious. The crowd around them all starts cheering.

When the crowd starts cheering Doug has a quick look. He sees that Daniel is on a backboard, breathing and conscious.

“Maddie, he’s breathing. See, he’s fine.”

Maddie looks over and only when she sees Daniel talking does she manage to follow Doug’s breaths and finally get her breathing back to normal. Once it is normal she lets out a shaky breath. “Thanks Doug,” she says, giving him a big hug.

Maddie and Doug make their way over to the rest of their team. Which is when Daniel starts coughing up blood.

“His blood pressure is dropping,” Hen calls out.

“His breathing is shallow,” Eddie states.

“We lost a pulse, he’s in cardiac arrest,” Chimney says before starting CPR.

Maddie’s breathing starts speeding up again. Doug turns to Lucy. “She’s having a panic attack. Help guide her breaths.”

Lucy nods so Doug then turns his focus to his team. Chimney keeps on doing CPR but they hear Daniel flatline. After a long while he knows they need to call it. Doug is about to call it but Hen does first.

“You did your best Chim,” Hen says softly. “But it’s over. Daniel’s dead.”

At the words ‘Daniel’s dead,’ Doug hears a sharp intake of breath. He turns to Maddie and sees she has gone completely white and is shaking. He can tell she is seconds away from completely losing it.

“Hen, I need to take Maddie home. You’re captain until I get back. I might be a while. If I end up not coming back I’ll let you know.”

Hen stares in shock until she looks at Maddie and notices the state she is in. She nods. Doug picks Maddie up and takes her outside, getting her to the captain's truck as quickly as possible.

Once they are in the captain’s truck Doug starts driving them home. Next to him Maddie is rocking back and forth whispering the words “Daniel’s dead,” over and over again as tears stream down her face. Doug has always hated Maddie’s parents but right now he hates them even more.

He gets them home in record time and then he carries Maddie inside and upstairs to their bedroom before carefully placing her down on the bed. He climbs in next to her and gives her a hug whilst talking about random stuff. It takes over 30 minutes before she starts to blink as awareness comes back to her.

When she does she bursts into tears and clings onto Doug. “Can you stay? I don’t want you to have to go back on shift,” she whispers.

Doug nods. “I’ll let them know.” He pulls out his phone to text Hen before he then alerts all the official channels necessary. Once that is done he puts his phone away and turns his focus back to Maddie.

The rest of the 118 pack their gear up and make their way back to the firehouse in silence. All of them are sad about Daniel and all of them are confused and worried about whatever happened with Maddie and Doug.

Once they are back in the station Hen gets a text from Doug telling her that he and Maddie will be off for the rest of shift so Hen is the captain for the rest of shift. When Hen lets everyone know that, all of them are even more confused.

When Hen, Chimney and Eddie all look at each other it is clear they all need to talk. So they find an empty spot they can talk in, making sure that no one else is anywhere near earshot.

“Did he do something? Do you think he hurt her after the call with the tailpipe where everyone flirted with her?” Chimney asks.

Hen frowns. “I don’t know. He was nice to her after that call and he let her sleep when everyone else was doing chores and he never went into the bunkroom. And she was fine when we got to the call. It was only during the call that she got really upset, something must have happened.”

“It might not be related to the call,” Eddie says.

Hen and Chim look at him. “What happened?”

“CPS took their daughter off them yesterday. Once Genevieve gets out of hospital she will be staying with Buck and me. Of course, none of us can act like we know she got taken away and Doug thinks she is with a random foster family. He can’t know where she is. So we just don’t mention or ask about Genevieve at all. Maddie knows Genevieve will be staying with us, that is where she wanted Genevieve to go. Buck and I saw her yesterday at the hospital after she was there seeing Genevieve.”

“Do you know what happened?” Chimney cautiously asks.

Eddie sighs. “Doug hurt Genevieve badly in the middle of the night and Maddie called 911 at 3:00 am. Genevieve has a broken leg, a broken arm, 2 broken ribs, a concussion and bruises all over. Maddie refused to press charges although the police still held Doug for 12 hours. We found out more about why Maddie didn’t press charges. She has a friend, Genevieve’s nanny, that is undocumented and Doug has threatened that if Maddie leaves or ever presses charges against him then he will call ICE on the nanny.”

Horror fills both Hen and Chimney’s face.

“How could he do that to a kid?” Chimney asks in outrage. “And then threatening the nanny. That’s despicable.”

“Maddie cares so much for others. She will never leave him if it will cause harm for someone else,” Hen says.

Eddie nods in agreement. “It’s worse than just the threat of deportation. The nanny has an abusive ex. The ex can’t get into the United States but if the nanny and her daughter are deported their ex will be able to get them and will kill them. So Maddie will never let that happen. Athena is working on trying to get the nanny and her daughter the legal right to stay here but unless that happens I don’t think we will ever be able to get Maddie to leave him.”

A dark mood settles amongst them, all three of them realising just how trapped Maddie is and all three of them hating that.

They sit there in unsettled silence for a few minutes until Eddie’s phone dings. He takes it out and checks it. “That was Buck. Genevieve has just been discharged so he’s taking her home now. He spent the earlier part of the day getting the house set up for her and a social worker went around inspecting it and then he spent the rest of the day in the hospital with her. Although we are strangers to her. This was Genevieve’s first time meeting Buck.”

Hen tells Eddie some of the things her and Karen have learnt as foster parents and says if they need any advice they can call her any time.

For the rest of the shift things in the station are pretty subdued.

Once his shift is over Eddie makes his way home, ready to meet Genevieve. He is careful when he opens the door, not wanting to scare or startle Genevieve.

He hears the sound of Chris’s voice so he makes his way towards the sound. He sees Genevieve and Chris both sitting at the table. Chris is building something with lego and Genevieve is frozen in place watching him. Buck is off to the side.

Chris looks up. “Dad!” he exclaims happily.

“Hey buddy,” Eddie says. He talks to Chris briefly before turning to Genevieve. “Hi Genevieve. I’m Eddie. I’m Buck’s husband. It’s nice to meet you.”

Genevieve pushes herself further back into her seat and stares at Eddie with wide fearful eyes. Eddie takes a few steps backwards.

Genevieve looks at Chris. “Is he nice?” she whispers. Eddie feels his heart breaking and a quick look at Buck lets him know it is the same for him.

Chris nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, both my dads are super nice. They both always take care of me and do lots of fun things with me.”

Genevieve still looks fearful although a tiny bit of her fear disappears with Chris’s reassurance.

“Do you like pizza?” Eddie asks.

Genevieve stares at him for a few seconds. “I don’t know,” she eventually whispers. “Dad chooses gross toppings.”

“Well, you can choose your own toppings. We can make some and you can put whatever you want on it and have it exactly how you want it,” Buck says.

Genevieve’s eyes widen. “I, I get to choose?”

Buck and Eddie both nod and Genevieve’s eyes fill with amazement. “Wow,” she whispers.

“It’s heaps of fun!” Chris says excitedly. “One time I just put a mountain of cheese on my pizza and nothing else. Another time I tried to make a picture with the toppings.”

Soon Chris, Eddie and Buck are all telling stories of crazy pizzas they have made and Genevieve’s eyes light up with excitement which Buck and Eddie are definitely relieved to see.

After that the rest of their evening goes better than Buck and Eddie could have hoped for. Genevieve never completely lets her walls down but she does have a great time making the pizza.

Chris makes his pizza as full as possible. He piles on the toppings until the dough is completely buried. Eddie makes his the same as he always does, with the specific toppings he likes. Chris groans saying that Eddie is always so boring. Buck always experiments with his pizza but this time he asks Chris and Genevieve for suggestions so they dictate how he does his pizza. Genevieve is full of concentration with hers and she ends up using pineapple to make a G. “It’s G for Genevieve!” She says proudly. “Cassandra taught me how to write my name.” She deflates slightly after that saying she misses Cassandra and her mom. She decorates the rest of her pizza with ham and cheese.

When all of the pizzas come out all the toppings on Chris’s pizza have completely fallen off which makes Genevieve laugh a little before she quickly stops her laughing and looks around in worry. When Chris starts laughing and then Eddie and Buck join in she relaxes and lets herself laugh again.

Genevieve gets more scared when bedtime approaches. Buck shows her the room they have set up for her and Genevieve trembles in fear.

“What if something tries to get me?” she whispers.

Buck walks across the room and gets the rainbow unicorn squishmallow they had gotten for her. “This is Princess Annabelle. She has magic powers and can protect you from anything. If you get scared you can hug her and she will protect you. Although if you get really scared then you can come and wake up either Eddie or I. We won’t mind if you do.”

Genevieve’s lip wobbles slightly. Buck hands her Princess Annabelle. Genevieve grabs onto her and gives her a massive hug. Her lip wobbles a little less.

“We also have a nightlight that I can turn on if you would like so that you can see what’s around you. Would you like that?”

Genevieve nods so Buck goes and turns it on.

Feeling a bit less scared Genevieve climbs into bed, holding on tightly to Princess Annabelle. Genevieve asks for a story so Buck tells her a story about a princess called Maddie who always looked after her little brother Evan.

“Is this story about Mommy?” Genevieve asks. Buck nods and Genevieve lights up. She listens enraptured as Buck tells her the epic story of how Princess Maddie saved Evan from a big mean bully who was making fun of his birthmark. Genevieve smiles and she is asleep before Buck has reached the end of the story.

Buck quietly slips out of the bedroom, turning off the main bedroom light and pulling the bedroom door closed.

Buck and Eddie then put Chris to bed before having some time to themselves which is mostly spent figuring out the best way to support Genevieve. And also a bit of worry about Maddie especially after Eddie tells Buck how Maddie freaked out at one of the calls during their last shift.

Eventually they are both really tired so they call it a night and go to bed.

Chapter Text

When Maddie wakes up her thoughts are on Daniel but also Genevieve. So she feels very low as her and Doug get ready for work. Doug is in a caring mood but that doesn’t do anything to lift her spirits. She is silent on the drive to work.

When they arrive Maddie wishes she was currently one of the two assigned to be working on the ambulance so that she could complete the task of restocking it as that would give her something positive to think about.

When she sees Eddie arrive, all of Maddie is desperate to run up to him and ask how Genevieve is. But she knows she can't, which just makes her feel even emptier inside.

A wave of grief, both for Daniel, and for missing Genevieve, comes crashing down upon her, pulling her under and Maddie bursts into tears. Everyone stares at her so she hurries to Doug’s office, feeling him following her there.

Doug closes the door gently behind him and wraps Maddie up in a big hug as he guides them towards the couch. Maddie clings to him sobbing.

“Is it Daniel?” He asks.

Maddie nods. “And Genevieve.”

Doug stiffens slightly at the mention of Genevieve’s name and Maddie freezes. “But mainly Daniel,” she quickly says, although she has no clue if that is true. But it does what it needs to as Doug relaxes again which allows Maddie to unfreeze, hoping that for now she is safe.

They stay in Doug’s office with Maddie crying and Doug comforting her until they get their next call.

They arrive to find a woman who has been hit by a car and yet is more focused on trying to get the car’s license plate. Chimney feels puzzled, something about the woman seems familiar. When Athena arrives it makes sense where they remember her from, she was the porch pirate.

They are all unimpressed as they treat her and then Hen and Chimney are taking her away in the ambulance. Maddie sees Athena looking at her and can see the level of concern in her eyes. It is nice to know that people care about her even if it doesn’t change anything. She gives Athena a weak smile.

Before they can return to the fire station they get another call, this time for a car crash. There is a kid in the back who is scared but uninjured. However the person in the front is in a very bad way.

Doug is quick to give out orders. He gets Maddie staying with the kid, knowing she can still barely lift her arms so won’t be much help. Chimney and Hen are on checking the woman’s vitals and checking for a response. The rest of them are all tasked with getting her out of there.

But the car is crushed and her leg is pinned underneath the steering wheel and the rest of the car. Doug gets Ravi and Eddie unscrewing and taking off the steering wheel which they do manage to do.

While they are doing that the woman gains consciousness and starts to respond to Hen and Chimney which is a good sign. Her head is bleeding from where she whacked it against the steering wheel and when she tries to talk her speech is all slurred which fills them with alarm.

Eventually they get her out of the car. However she is losing a lot of blood from where a part of the car punctured her so it is a rush to stabilise her enough to get her into the ambulance so they can get her to the hospital as fast as possible.

It is only once Doug has sent Hen, Chim and Eddie with the patient to the hospital that he realises the kid is still there, crying next to Maddie. He feels frustration fill him as he calls social services to come and pick up the kid and then they are stuck waiting for them to arrive.

At least the kid isn’t crying too loudly as Maddie is doing a good job of keeping them calm which is something. When social services arrives Doug sees Maddie look up and he sees recognition in her eyes as she flinches and starts trembling. Doug is instantly on alert. Is this the person who took Genevieve away from them? Does she know where Genevieve is?

He can see Maddie beginning to falter so he goes over and does the talking. It is a relief once the social worker has taken the kid and left.

Maddie feels weak in the knees once the social worker leaves. She met her a couple of days ago when Genevieve was in the hospital and knows that her name is Harriet and she has been assigned as the social worker in charge of Genevieve’s case.

She was never expecting to have to see Genevieve’s social worker when she was at work. All it has done is reignite the pain inside her. Pain at the injuries her precious daughter is suffering through, pain at the fact that she isn’t the mother Genevieve deserves and pain at the fact that she is separated from her daughter.

Maddie’s legs barely support her as she stumbles back to the captain’s truck. Once everyone else leaves in the fire engine Doug turns to Maddie. “Was that Genevieve’s social worker? You acted weirdly when you saw her.”

Maddie trembles. “It was.”

Doug grabs her head and bashes it into the side of the truck. Maddie yelps in pain.

“You need to quit thinking about Genevieve. We’ll either get her back or we won't. Either way it doesn’t matter. You need to stop getting all upset about it.”

Maddie stares at him in horror. “She’s our daughter! Do you not care about her?”

Doug shrugs and Maddie starts crying. Doug growls at her. “STOP CRYING!”

Maddie sniffs in a desperate attempt to stop the flow of tears. She isn’t very successful which causes Doug to punch her in the head. Maddie’s vision starts to swim and her already concussed head just gets even worse and she can’t control the quiet whimpers she lets out.

Doug sighs angrily before turning to focus on driving back to the firehouse. Maddie closes her eyes as when they are open everything is spinning.
When they get to the firehouse everyone else is already back. Maddie gets out and tries to walk inside but everything is spinning around her and she struggles to stay upright. She can barely see in front of her so she misses the worried looks Hen, Chimney and Eddie give each other.

Doug is quick to reach Maddie’s side. He puts his arm around her and supports her weight as he guides her to the bunk room, Maddie swaying with every step and only just managing to stay upright.

The instant she is on the bed she collapses onto it and passes out.

When they get their next call Doug checks and sees that Maddie is still out of it so they leave her behind.

The call is for a factory fire. It is a large one so other firehouses are also called. This time when Doug sees the 132 trucks he knows it doesn’t matter as much as Maddie is safely back at the firehouse. Although when he spots some of their firefighters he never spots Evan.

Eventually they get the fire out and everyone rescued but it is a long and draining call. Doug tells Eddie and Ravi to pick up some lunch for everyone on the way back to the firehouse.

That means Doug is the first one back so he goes straight to check on Maddie. She is awake now and looks up at him weakly, her eyes only partially focused. He goes to his office to get some of the painkillers he keeps there for her and then returns with them and a glass of water. Maddie takes them gratefully.

By the time everyone else returns Maddie’s gaze is a bit more focused so she doesn’t look as obviously out of it. Her head is pounding as she heads to the table. Doug sits next to her. When everyone else returns they are loud and Maddie winces in pain.

Ravi bounds up the stairs carrying several boxes of pizza. Everyone cheers, saying pizza was a great idea. All of them sit down at the table and start passing pizza amongst all of them.

“See Eddie. I said pizza was a great choice,” Ravi says.

“You didn’t want pizza?” Chimney asks aghast.

“What have you got against pizza Diaz?” Hen asks jokingly.

“I don’t have anything against pizza,” Eddie says, holding his hands up mock defensively. “We had it last night is all.”

“Was it the epic homemade pizza creations you’ve mentioned?” Max asks.

Eddie nods. “Yeah, Chris had a friend over.” Eddie gives Maddie the smallest look when he says that and she realises he means Genevieve. “So we decided to make homemade pizzas. Chris went overboard with the toppings as per normal. His friend was a lot calmer with it and focused more on making it an amazing work of art. Both of them enjoyed themselves though which matters more than the result.”

Doug scoffs. “I think the end result of something matters a lot more than whether or not someone has fun.”

“It’s pizza,” Eddie replies.

Doug rolls his eyes. Maddie’s heart begins to pound and she puts all her focus on her food. Still, she is happy to hear that Genevieve at least enjoyed pizza making last night. She doesn’t know how the rest of Genevieve’s evening went but at least Genevieve enjoyed the pizza and had a bit of happiness.

The bells go off just after they have finished the pizza. Doug tells Maddie that she is man behind. Which is a relief as Maddie’s head is still killing her. She stumbles back to the bunk room and collapses onto the closest one.

She ends up spending the rest of the shift in the bunk room. Everyone else goes out on a few more calls but Maddie is the man behind for all of them.

After their shift Eddie and Buck often go to Bobby and Athena’s for a family dinner. They don’t do that tonight as Genevieve is still settling in. She might be semi comfortable with Athena but adding Bobby, May, Robert, Brooke, Harry and Michael into the mix would be way too overwhelming for her.

Genevieve is a bit more settled when Eddie gets home. She is listening to Buck telling her and Chris stories. Buck had taken his shift off and Bobby has given him the next week off so that Buck can be there for Genevieve until she is a bit more settled.

“Do you have any cool calls today?” Chris asks Eddie.

Genevieve looks up at him. “Are you a firefighter?”

Eddie nods. “Both Buck and I are.”

“My parents are both firefighters,” she says quietly.

Chris lights up. “Do they tell you cool stories about calls they go on?”

Genevieve shrugs. “Sometimes. Daddy likes saying that he's a hero and how awesome he is on calls.”

“My dads are both heroes!” Chris says proudly.

Genevieve looks unsure. “My dad says he's a hero. But I thought heroes were meant to help people. Not hurt them.” She starts crying.

Chris looks up at Buck and Eddie, scared and unsure. Eddie takes Chris to his room to talk to and comfort him. Buck stays with Genevieve who continues crying for a bit. Eventually she speaks again, voice firm. “I don’t care if he thinks he is a hero. He hurts mom and he hurt me. So he isn’t a hero.”

Buck agrees with her. Doug is the furthest thing from a hero.

Eventually Chris and Eddie emerge. Buck asks what they should have for dinner. “Pancakes for dinner!” Chris shouts.

Genevieve’s eyes light up. “That sounds fun. Can we?”

“Of course,” Eddie says. Buck heads to the kitchen and starts making them. Soon Chris and Genevieve are watching him as he flips each pancake, giving him scores out of 10, rating how well he flips each pancake.

Once they are eating the pancakes Chris and Genevieve use the toppings to turn their pancakes into faces. Eddie cuts Genevieve’s pancakes up for her due to her broken right arm leaving her unable to do so. Once he has done that all of Genevieve’s pancake is in bite size pieces that are easy for her to stab with her fork.

There are times when they are eating where Genevieve drifts into her thoughts and looks super sad. But there are also moments when the conversation is super funny and they hear the amazing sound of her pure and unfiltered laughter.

Eventually it is time for bed. Genevieve is still really scared to go to bed but it goes a bit easier this time. This time when she asks for a story she asks for ‘a mommy story.’ Buck has heaps of stories about Maddie so that is an easy request. He tells her the story of the magical pinky promise.
___

By their next shift Maddie’s head is a bit better. She still has a concussion, it hasn’t healed yet. She still has an insanely bad headache with pounding in her head. But she is no longer dizzy and she is able to focus when she looks at something. Which is definitely an improvement.

They have a slow morning. Doug assigns a few chores which they all get done and after that there is a lot of chilling and down time. Most of them all talk and interact with each other and enjoy each other’s company.

Maddie is forced to keep Doug company in his office whilst he does paperwork. He doesn’t talk to her, too focused on his paperwork. But he won’t let her leave the room meaning she is stuck, sitting there in silence, with nothing to do.

Eventually they get a call, just before midday.

They show up to a military funeral that has a crowd of protestors. Angry people yelling hate. Maddie shivers and feels a bit of fear. She spots Athena which helps her fear decrease a little bit.

One of the protestors starts coughing and then falls to the ground just as the 118 gets on scene. Athena lets them know that he started coughing before grabbing his side and falling over.

Doug gets Maddie to try and help with crowd control as her arm movement is still not where it needs to be even though it has now been a few days. He then clears a way through the people, with Hen and Chimney right behind him.

Doug spots a colonoscopy bag and says that they’re going to need to intubate him and that he will get the trained paramedics to do that.

When Hen moves to start helping the patient takes one look at her. “Oh, hell no.” He looks at Doug. “You do it.”

“I’m not a trained paramedic,” he says calmly.

“Well, do you have any white paramedics?” the guy asks.

“MADDIE!” Doug yells.

Maddie jumps from where she is and hurries over.

The patient looks at Maddie. “She’s a woman. Have you got any guy paramedics?”

“Maddie can do it. Women are natural care takers. It’s one of the few things they’re good for,” Doug says.

At this the patient relaxes and nods. “Fine, she can do it.”

Doug turns to Maddie. “He has a colonoscopy bag. You need to intubate him.”

Maddie gets straight to it. Her arms feel shakier than she would like and it hurts but she gets it done efficiently and soon he is intubated.

When he is ready for transport because he is still refusing to be treated by Hen or Chimney, Doug gets Maddie to ride in the back of the ambulance with Chimney driving.

Maddie and Chimney have just dropped him off at the hospital when they get a call for an ambulance to a restaurant. The current pairing that Doug assigned for the ambulance is supposed to be Hen and Chimney but because Maddie and Chimney are the ones currently with the ambulance they are the ones who go.

When they arrive Athena guides them in, explaining that the restaurant owner got shot by a robber and then lost his pulse shortly after. Maddie and Chimney are quick to start working on him. They give it their all but it is too late, they didn’t get there in time and the guy has lost too much blood to save.

It is always hard when they lose patients on calls. Each time it just reminds Maddie of what Doug always says and what her parents always used to say. She is a failure. She can’t do anything right.

Once they have called his time of death Athena calls the death in. Maddie hangs her head as she moves to go back to the ambulance.

“Wait, Maddie,” Athena says.

Maddie pauses and Chimney who had also started to move to the ambulance also pauses.

“How are you doing?” Athena asks.

Maddie gulps. She knows what Athena means.

She looks back at Chimney who is in earshot. His eyes go wide. “I can go back to the ambulance if you don’t want me to hear. Although I am here if you want. And I know that Genevieve is currently staying with Eddie and your brother.”

“You, you do?” Maddie chokes out in surprise.

Chimney nods. “After the escalator call we were worried about you so Hen, Eddie and I talked, wondering if something happened. So Eddie told us about Genevieve. Don’t worry, we won’t say anything, we know Doug can’t know where Genevieve is.”

Maddie trembles. The escalator call. Daniel dying. Daniel dying. He is always dying.

She barely even notices when her legs give out and she crashes to the ground, Chimney and Athena catching her just before impact. She starts shaking and she can feel tears running down her face.

Chimney’s face is full of guilt. “I’m sorry Maddie. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

Maddie is quick to shake her head. “It’s fine. Just don’t mention the escalator call again. Or the name Daniel.”

Maddie shudders as a wave of memories and emotional pain rips through her. She finds herself wanting to tell them about Daniel, just to get it out. Just so it doesn’t eat her alive. But Buck can’t know. And Athena is his family.

“Doug hates my parents,” is what she ends up saying.

“Has that always been the case?” Athena asks.

Maddie shrugs. “He never liked them that much. But his hatred of them started after I told him something. Something my parents told me never to tell anyone. Something Buck doesn’t know. And I don’t know if he should know.”

There is worry on Chimney’s face and caution on Athena’s face.

“I told Doug back in our early days. Before he ever hurt me. It was the first time I ever saw him truly angry. But he was angry on my behalf so I didn’t think anything of it. Should I have?”

“I don’t know,” Athena says. “It depends on what he was angry at them for, on what they did.”

The coroners arrive to pick up the body so they finish up the scene and then all go and sit inside Athena’s police car.

Maddie is shaking, filled with indecision. A part of her really does want to just get it all out. And then maybe she can let Athena decide whether or not Buck should know. Maybe that would be a good idea. That way the burden of that decision is no longer fully hers.

“I think I might tell both of you. And Athena, maybe you can decide if Buck should know. As I don’t know if he should. I want to protect him.”

Maddie shakes, nerves filling her. Is she really doing this? Doug is the only person she has ever spoken about Daniel with.

Chimney hovers his hand above her shoulder and Maddie nods so he places it there and the touch feels grounding and she reminds herself to focus on that if she starts to get panicked.

She bites her lip and stares at her lap. When she does start speaking she is shaking and her voice is quiet. “I was a sister before Buck was born.”

She can feel that Chimney and Athena are both confused, but they are quiet, waiting for Maddie to continue.

“I had a brother. Daniel. He was only a year younger than me so we were super close. We did everything together. But then when I was five and he was four he started getting really weak and really tired so Mom and Dad took him to the doctors and they did heaps of tests and he was diagnosed with juvenile leukaemia.”

Maddie feels tears trying to come and she swallows hard, fighting them down. She needs to get through this.

“For the next few years Mom and Dad tried everything to save Daniel but he just got sicker and sicker. He needed a bone marrow donation. So Mom got tested, Dad got tested, I got tested. They got all our friends and extended family tested. They got our neighbors tested. They got as many people as possible tested. But no one was a match.”

Maddie swallows even harder. When she risks a look up she can see by the look on Athena’s face that Athena can tell what Maddie is about to say.

Maddie trembles before continuing. “Because they couldn’t find a match they decided to make one. They were never planning on having another kid but they were determined to save Daniel so they had Buck in order to try and save Daniel. Buck was a match so within hours of being born Buck had already donated parts of himself to try and save Daniel. It initially worked and Mom and Dad were so thrilled. They spent all their time with Daniel, ignoring me and ignoring Buck. I tried to not get upset about them ignoring me. I understood it, they wanted to spend as much time with Daniel as possible in case he died. But Buck was just a baby. He didn’t understand what was going on. He didn’t understand why he would cry in a full diaper for hours and none of them would come. Eventually I just took over his care as it was the only way his needs would be met.”

Maddie starts shaking even more. She feels Chimney’s hand gently rubbing her shoulder which she uses to ground herself. She is here. She isn’t back in that hospital watching her brother die. She is here.

“For a few years it seemed like things were going well. Then Daniel relapsed. They got Buck to donate again but the cells didn’t graft and this time we lost him. I had to watch my younger brother die when I had promised I would always protect him.”

Maddie loses it and starts sobbing. It takes a while before she can speak again. “The day after Daniel’s funeral Mom and Dad sat me down and told me that we were moving to a new town and that I was never to speak about Daniel ever again, especially not to Buck. I tried mentioning Daniel a few times as I knew Daniel wanted us to remember him. But the few times I mentioned Daniel, Mom would slap me and I quickly learned not to mention him. Soon I was too busy raising Buck to have time to think about Daniel anyway.”

She pauses for a moment. “Doug is the only person I have ever told about Daniel. When I told him, he was so mad at my parents for forcing a 9 year old to keep that secret and for making me have to raise Buck. It felt so good to have someone on my side and it made me love him more. It was the first time I truly fell in love with him.” Maddie shudders at her words, full body vibrations that she can’t control.

“Would you like a hug?” Chimney asks gently.

Maddie nods. Chimney opens his arms and Maddie crashes into them. “Am I a terrible sister for never telling Buck? I almost did once, when he was a teenager. But then Doug called me and the moment got taken away. I’ve considered it a few times. But I never wanted to hurt him, to make him feel like he wasn’t wanted. As I want him and I love him.”

Maddie swallows before she looks up at Athena. She can see anger in Athena’s eyes which makes her nervous even though she is pretty sure that anger isn’t towards her. “Do you think it would be better or worse for Buck to know? I just want to do whatever will cause him the least amount of pain and hurt.”

Athena is silent for a moment, clearly thinking. Eventually she responds. “You said Doug knows about Daniel?”

Maddie winces but nods.

“Is there a chance Doug would ever try and weaponise that information against Buck?”

Maddie’s eyes go wide with horror. That had never occurred to her. But she wouldn’t put it past him. With pain in her eyes, Maddie nods.

Athena looks unsurprised. “In that case I think it is better that Buck knows. He has support around him. Eddie, Me, Bobby, his whole fire station and lots of extended family. We will help him process this.”

Sorrow works its way through Maddie as she realises that she can’t even tell Buck. “I don’t know when I will next be able to see him. Athena, because it isn’t safe for me to tell him about Daniel, will you tell him?”

Athena nods, her face serious. “I will. I promise I’ll make sure he knows you only kept it from him to try and protect him, that you never wanted to hurt him.”

Maddie trembles slightly. She hopes Buck won’t be mad at her. But if he is then she knows she deserves it and that she will have to accept it.

Maddie’s radio then makes a sound and Doug’s voice comes through it. “Maddie! Where are you and Chimney? Get back here. NOW!”

Maddie goes pale and completely forgets everything else as she jumps out of the car and runs to the ambulance. It takes Chimney a few seconds to catch up before he runs after Maddie and seconds later they are on their way back to the firehouse.

As soon as they return to the firehouse Doug demands that Maddie talks to him in his office. As expected no talking happens. Instead Doug passes Maddie a piece of cloth that she reluctantly places in her mouth before Doug begins his punishment. This time Maddie feels like she might deserve it. She broke her promise to her parents. She told two people about Daniel. And now there are two more people with terrible opinions of her parents. Because of her. So she is the worst daughter in the world and the worst sister in the world.

As Doug continues to hurt her she can’t stop the tears that fall. But the tears aren’t because of the physical pain she is in. The tears are because she hates that no matter what she tries to do she always ends up hurting those she loves. She is a terrible person.
___

After his shift Eddie is eager to go home and see Buck, Chris and Genevieve. This time the evening routine goes smoother than it did two nights before on Genevieve’s first night here. Genevieve is still very nervous and jumpy. And she complains about the itchiness of her casts. But she is starting to get a bit more comfortable around them which makes a big difference.

Once the kids are in bed Eddie and Buck cuddle up together on the couch watching one of the documentaries Buck is interested in. They are halfway through hearing about the history of rubber ducks when there is a knock on the door. Both of them turn to look at each other in confusion. This is a weird time for someone to come unexpectedly.

Eddie gets up and makes his way to the door. When he opens it Athena and Bobby are standing outside. Athena looks serious and Bobby looks confused.

“Can we come in?” Athena asks.

Eddie is quick to nod and move out of the way. He makes his way to the living room, with Athena and Bobby following him. When Buck sees them he is surprised and worried.

“Can we sit down? There’s something I need to talk to you about,” Athena says.

She looks serious and terror floods through Buck. “Is it Maddie? Did Doug kill her?”

Athena is quick to shake her head and relief rushes through Buck’s body. Knowing that Maddie is alright Buck moves to the couch. In the end Buck and Eddie sit on one couch and Athena and Bobby sit on the couch opposite them.

“So, if it isn’t Maddie what is it?” Buck asks.

“It is partially to do with Maddie.”

Buck tenses again. “What did Doug do?” he growls.

Eddie’s hand finds his and Buck holds onto it tightly.

“What I need to tell you has nothing to do with Doug. It has to do with your biological parents.”

Buck freezes. Are they dead? If they are, he doesn’t know how he feels about that.

“What about them?” he says tightly.

“Today Maddie told me a secret your parents kept from you and one that when she was 9 they forced her to keep from you and from everyone else. Before I tell you the secret, just know that Maddie wanted to protect you and do whatever she could to prevent you feeling hurt. That is why she never told you. Also, whenever Maddie initially mentioned the secret your mom would slap her so eventually she learned not to mention it. She tried to tell you once but then Doug called her and by the time the call was over she lost the nerve to tell you.”

Fear fills Buck. From Athena’s long disclaimer he is very worried. What on earth could his parents have kept from him and what is so bad that they would force Maddie to keep it a secret as well?

“Who else knows the secret?” he asks weakly, not quite ready to ask what the secret is.

“When she told me the secret earlier today, Chimney was also in the car meaning he now knows it. And years ago she told Doug. Though when she told me that she made a point of mentioning that she told Doug that in their early days, before he had ever hurt her. She didn’t say this but I get the feeling that she regrets telling him.”

Buck doesn’t know how he feels about Chimney knowing the secret. He has never met Chimney but has heard about him from Eddie. He guesses what the secret is will impact how he feels about Chimney knowing it.

What he does know for a fact though is that no matter what this secret is he hates that Doug knows it.

“Do you want me to tell you the secret? If you don’t want to know then you don’t have to,” Athena says.

Buck considers. Athena did say Maddie never told him to try and protect him. Meaning the secret is something that could hurt him. But Doug knows the secret. He doesn’t like the idea of Doug knowing something potentially about him that he himself doesn’t know.

“Tell me,” he says.

Athena nods.

“Your biological parents had 3 kids, not 2.”

Well. He wasn’t expecting that. He doesn’t know what he was expecting. But not that.

“Their other child was a year younger than Maddie. When he was 4 and Maddie was 5 he got sick, juvenile leukemia."

Horror fills Buck. He thinks he already knows where this is going.

He grips onto Eddie. “Am I a saviour baby?” he asks hollowly.

There is sorrow and rage in Athena’s eyes when she answers. “Yes.”

“So that’s why they never cared about me,” he says numbly. “They never wanted another kid, they just had me for parts.”

When he looks up he sees horror and shock in both Eddie and Bobby’s eyes.

“I hate them even more than I already did,” Eddie says darkly.

Bobby and Athena nod in vehement agreement.

“I need some air,” Buck says before getting up and going outside. He stands there for a few minutes as his thoughts go everywhere as he tries to process this. He doesn’t even know where to begin.

After a few minutes he returns and sits down next to Eddie. He finds that he has several questions, he just hopes Athena knows the answers.

“What, what happened to that sibling?” Buck asks.

“They died,” Athena says softly. “You were a baby, he was 8 and Maddie was 9.”

At the mention of Maddie, Buck tenses up. He doesn’t know how he feels about her not telling him. He knows she probably thought she was doing the right thing but it doesn’t take away the betrayal. Though he hates that his parents made her keep it a secret in the first place.

He sits upright and gasps in horror with a realisation he makes.

"What is it Buck?” Eddie asks in worry.

“You, you said Maddie didn’t want to keep it a secret but mom slapped her whenever she mentioned the sibling so then she stopped talking about it.”

Athena nods.

Buck feels a lump in his throat that he has to swallow past. “So our mom taught her to comply and push back her own feelings and emotions or she would be hurt.”

He shivers and all of them understand the implication of Buck’s comment.

“They set her up to fall for someone like Doug!” he cries angrily.

There is silence and Buck knows it is because everyone agrees with what he just said. Buck feels anger racing through him. He hasn’t spoken to his parents since he left Hershey. However if he had been in contact with them he knows this would have been the final straw.

It takes a while for him to calm down but he does when another question comes to mind. “Did Maddie tell you the siblings name?” He hopes Maddie did, he would like to know the name of his brother even if he is dead.

Athena nods. “She said his name was Daniel.”

Eddie gasps loudly and when Buck turns to him he sees that Eddie’s eyes are wide with shock and dawning understanding.

“What is it?” Bobby asks quietly.

“This explains Maddie and Doug’s behaviour at the escalator call.”

“What escalator call?” Athena asks.

Eddie sighs. “A couple of shifts ago we responded to a call where a man was going up an escalator and was near the top when the panel fell and he fell into the machinery. His name was Daniel. Doug was pretty distracted when he heard the name Daniel. He rattled off some instructions then said he had something to take care of and said Chimney could make any decisions if needed. We were then focused on the call and when we tried to report what was going on to him we saw that he was way off to the side with Maddie who looked like she was dissociating. So Chimney had to make the decisions. We got Daniel out and it seemed like he would be alright so Doug and Maddie came back over. Maddie looked very upset. Daniel started coughing up blood and went into cardiac arrest. We were busy trying to save Daniel but I heard Doug telling Lucy to stay with Maddie as she was having a panic attack. Eventually Daniel died but Chim kept trying to work on him so Hen tried to gently let him know that it was over by saying the words ‘Daniel’s dead.’ Maddie went white and started shaking. Doug looked panicked and told us that he was taking Maddie home and Hen was in charge until he got back. Both of them took the rest of the shift off.”

There is a bit more silence while all of them try to process all of that. Buck feels like his mind is going to explode. This is so much information to try and take in. He was only born for spare parts. His parents never loved him. His parents never let Maddie grieve. His parents never gave him the chance to know about his brother.

Buck ends up letting out a harsh laugh. “Well if I wasn’t already having some time off whilst Genevieve settles in I would be needing time off to try and comprehend all of this.”

Bobby and Athena stay at their house into the early hours of the morning. Buck’s mind is trying to process. But it is so much to process. He needs more information. He needs to understand.

He makes a list of everything he needs to google. He knows he wants to find out more about the history and ethical implications of saviour babies. Of juvenile leukaemia and the treatment options back in the early 1990s. Then he also wants to know more about parentification and how it impacts kids when they grow up and become adults.

He starts his wikipedia journey with Eddie, Athena and Bobby all at his side. Athena is also very interested in knowing more about the ethical and legal implications of saviour babies so that is where Buck’s research starts.

Chapter Text

When morning comes Eddie is relieved he is currently on his 48 hours off as all of them are exhausted. They were on wikipedia until they were literally falling asleep, with their heads and eyes drooping.

They can’t just sleep like both of them need to as they need to get Chris and Genevieve to school. Both of them sleepwalk their way through the morning routine. When they get home from dropping the kids off they set an alarm for when they need to get ready to pick the kids up and then both of them collapse into their bed and fall asleep instantly. Both of them only wake up when the alarm goes off and it is time to get the kids.

It is more of a rush after school as they have the first visit from Genevieve’s social worker Harriet to check how Genevieve is settling in and doing.

Before Harriet arrives Eddie sorts out Genevieve and Chris’s after school snack whilst Buck runs around the house, tidying everything up. When there is a knock on the door both Eddie and Buck are nervous but they shove those nerves down and Buck goes to answer the door.

The visit ends up going well. Harriet has a look around the house. She asks to talk to Genevieve in private which she does in the second living room for 10 minutes. She then talks to Eddie and Buck out of the earshot of the kids, to discuss the plan of action.

Buck doesn’t like the plan. For now as it was the first time Genevieve has come to the attention of the social workers all that is required is for Genevieve to completely heal and for Doug to attend a 6 week long anger management course. And if that happens then the plan is for Genevieve to go back home.

Buck keeps it together whilst Harriet is here. He keeps it together during dinner and the bedtime routine.

Once Chris and Genevieve are in bed he falls apart.

“Did they not see her broken bones? Or how scared she is of her dad. Yes, I am sure Maddie misses Genevieve and is heartbroken without her. But Genevieve isn’t safe in the same household as Doug,” Buck rants angrily.

Eddie nods in agreement and they spend the rest of the evening angry and upset about the whole thing. Buck’s only hope is that Doug will refuse to go to the anger management course.
___

It is their shift of and Maddie is nervous as their social worker, Harriet, is due for a visit to talk about the plan of action regarding Genevieve.

She feels torn on what is the best decision here. As much as she loves Genevieve, deep in her heart she finds herself wanting Genevieve to stay with Evan. Genevieve will be safe there and will thrive there. If Genevieve is returned to them then she will be in danger. Their household isn’t suitable for a kid. There was a reason Maddie was terrified when she discovered she was pregnant with Genevieve. She hates that those fears came true.

Apart from their initial conversation about Genevieve being taken by CPS, Doug hasn’t mentioned it at all. So Maddie has no clue what he is thinking and she doesn’t know whether or not he will try to get her back. She knows that no matter what he decides, she will go along with it. It’s not like she has another choice.

When there is a knock on their door Maddie trembles. Doug makes his way to the door and Maddie quietly follows.

From the second he opens the door Doug turns on the charm. He welcomes Harriet in and fixes Maddie a stare. Maddie flushes before hurrying to ask Harriet if she would like a drink of some description. Harriet says that some tea would be nice so Maddie disappears into the kitchen whilst Doug leads Harriet into the living room.

“So, what do we have to do to get Genevieve back?” he asks.

“We should wait until your wife is in here to begin our discussion,” Harriet says.

Doug resists the urge to roll his eyes. Maddie’s opinion doesn’t matter. She doesn’t need to be a part of this conversation. He doesn’t openly say something as he knows that as much as he hates it he needs to play nice. So he has to put up with small talk while he waits for Maddie, getting madder and madder the longer he waits. Maddie will definitely have to pay for that later.

When Maddie returns she passes Harriet a drink and then also gives Doug one. He smiles at her. Good, she can learn. He is glad that he didn’t need to ask her for a drink for her to give him one.

“Because this is the first time you have come to our notice there aren’t as many requirements to get Genevieve back.”

Doug smiles at this. Good. Hopefully this whole thing can be dealt with and they can get Genevieve back. Having a kid in foster care is a bad look for him and he can’t let that continue.

Maddie seems tense for some reason. He internally rolls his eyes. She cares about Genevieve way too much.

“What are the requirements?” Doug asks.

“The first is just a time thing. Genevieve won’t be returned until all of her injuries have healed.”

Doug clenches his fists and notices Maddie flinching. Why does it matter if Genevieve is still injured?

“The second requirement is that Doug, you will need to complete a 6 week long anger management course. The course will have three sessions a week with each session lasting 2 hours.”

Maddie shrinks back into her seat but Doug doesn’t even notice. He wants to yell and scream. How dare they say he has a problem with his anger? He is fine. If he wanted to control his anger then he would.

This feels like too much hassle. Genevieve definitely isn’t worth it. But the stigma of having a kid taken from them by CPS is something he cannot let continue. He needs to get Genevieve back before any of his superiors or coworkers realise Genevieve has been taken off them.

“How do I sign up for the course?” He asks.

Harriet smiles and tells him the time table for it. She lets him know how there is one course that is more flexible for people with shift work and how it has courses running 7 days a week and he just has to go to three of them each week but they don’t need to be the same days each week. He forces himself to keep the charm turned on as he gets himself signed up for it.

“Do either of you have any questions?” Harriet asks.

Doug shakes his head. He knows what they need to do to get her back.

“Are we allowed to see Genevieve at all or do we have to wait until we get her back?” Maddie asks, her voice so quiet it is closer to a whisper.

Doug whirls round to glare at her. Who said she could talk?

“If you want to see her we can get you supervised visits set up at a contact center where you can see her for two hours per week under supervision. Do you want that?”

Doug gives Maddie’s hand a warning squeeze but she ignores him. “Yes,” she says eagerly as she nods.

Harriet then asks them for their work schedule and says she will come up with a time that works for them where they can visit Genevieve.

As soon as Harriet leaves Doug turns to Maddie. She whimpers and tries to back away but he grabs her before she can.
___

Maddie is silent as she and Doug make their way to work. Once at work she keeps her head down and gets a start on the chores.

Near the beginning of their shift Max approaches Doug to ask if he can speak to him in his office about something. As soon as Max and Doug are in Doug’s office Maddie searches the firehouse for Eddie. She spots him by himself far away from Doug’s office and nowhere in sight of Doug’s office door. Relief fills Maddie as she hurries over to him.

Eddie sees Maddie approaching him, worry, but determination on her face.

“Did Athena tell Buck about . . .” she asks, her voice trailing off.

Eddie knows what she is talking about so he nods. “She did. Bobby and her came over once the kids were in bed. Athena told him whilst Bobby and I were also in the room.”

He sees Maddie swallow and there is fear on her face. “How did he take it?” she whispers. “Is he alright?”

Eddie thinks about how Buck has been since he found out about Daniel. Buck has been understandably hurt and he is still trying to come to terms with everything he has learnt.

“He’s struggling but he knows he has all of us to support him. He’s been doing lots of research into saviour babies and stuff like parentification and being denied the chance to grieve. I think once he has a lot more information and understanding that will help him process.”

Maddie looks slightly pale but she nods. “Thank you for being there for him. I’m sorry for being a terrible sister to him and causing pain.” She stares down at the floor. “Is Genevieve doing alright?”

“She’s starting to settle in. She was terrified to go to bed the first night so Buck has started telling her stories about Princess Maddie. Genevieve calls them ‘Mommy stories,’ and absolutely loves them.”

Maddie smiles slightly at that but there are tears in her eyes. “Thanks Eddie. When you get home please tell both Genevieve and Buck how much I love them.”

Eddie nods seriously.

Maddie then looks down. “The social worker came yesterday and told us about the plan to get Genevieve back.” She visibly swallows. “I love her but she’s safer at your house.”

Eddie fully agrees with that.

Maddie’s voice gets even quieter. “It would be better if she could stay with you, at least until Doug is no longer a threat. If that ever happens. But he is determined to get her back saying he can’t have anyone finding out CPS took our kid off us. I don’t dare go against him.”

Eddie thinks of Genevieve’s obvious fear. The way she startles at noises. How scared she is to go to sleep. And how much she is struggling to move with the casts and injuries she has. He does not want Doug and Maddie getting Genevieve back. But looking at Maddie he knows it isn’t her fault. She is in a tough situation.

“I don’t know how long Max will be keeping Doug occupied for so I need to go and focus on the chores,” Maddie eventually says before she then moves away, leaving Eddie by himself.

Maddie gets a few of the chores done before they are sent to a call.

They arrive on scene to find that a helicopter has crashed into a set of bleachers at the edge of the field. The rotors are still going, causing a wind that is sending things flying. There is a crowd of people that Athena is trying to get away from the helicopter and to safety.

Athena makes her way over to them and lets them know that the pilot had radioed in saying they had mechanical failure and he tried to put the helicopter down. Looking at where the helicopter is now it is clear the pilot’s aim was off.

Doug tells Eddie that once they have the people out of the helicopter Eddie needs to turn off the engine. Eddie says he will but that he is worried about the dynamic rollover. When Eddie explains what that is, Doug knows they will need a more detailed plan.

Doug orders everyone to pull their visors down and then they are moving. They run behind the bleachers to give them a bit of cover. Maddie is at the back of the pack as her ribs are screaming at her.

Doug gets the woman out of the helicopter, getting her to put her arms around him so that he can carry her out. As he does so the entire helicopter starts moving. The rest of the team all focuses on trying to hold the helicopter in place.

Eddie then goes inside the helicopter to help with the weight ratio. He also turns off the engine and rotors which helps solve one of their problems. They get the pilot out and then Eddie gets out. Once they are out of the helicopter it crashes off the bleachers and lands on the field. All of them watch it for a few seconds before turning to assess the pilot and the woman.

When Hen and Chimney are assessing the woman Doug realises something about her voice seems familiar. “I recognise your voice. Are you Taylor Kelly from Skywitness News 8?”

Taylor nods and Doug smiles in excitement. “That’s so cool. My wife and I often listen to you to get traffic updates when we are heading to work don’t we Maddie?” He says. Maddie is quick to nod.

On the drive back to the firehouse Doug goes on about how cool that call was. Maddie stays silent and just listens to Doug talk. For the rest of their shift Doug is in a good mood.
___

Since getting Genevieve placed with them Buck and Eddie have been aware of not wanting to overwhelm Genevieve so have held off on their normal family gatherings.

But today is Brooke’s 13th birthday so they aren’t going to miss that. Before they leave to make their way to Bobby and Athena’s, Buck and Eddie sit Genevieve down and tell them where they are going and about all the people she will meet. They tell her that if it gets too overwhelming for her then she is to let them know. She promises that she will.

As Buck, Eddie, Chris and Genevieve arrive at Bobby and Athena’s, Genevieve seems both nervous and excited, saying she has never been to a birthday party before.

She lights up when she sees Athena. She remembers Athena as the person who saved her when her dad was hurting her so now Genevieve loves Athena.

They had gone shopping and both Chris and Genevieve had picked out gifts for Brooke, with Buck and Eddie telling Genevieve what Brooke likes.

When Bobby welcomes them in and introduces Genevieve to everyone Genevieve is thrilled to hand Brooke the gift she chose for her. Brooke opens it and her face lights up as she declares that she loves it. She asks Genevieve if she can give her a hug and Genevieve is happy to accept that.

After that Genevieve quickly settles in and doesn’t mind the people and noise which is a relief for Buck and Eddie as they were both worried about how she would handle it.

The afternoon is filled with fun, games, awesome food and cake and all of them have a great time celebrating Brooke’s 13th birthday. Brooke has a great day although there is a quieter moment when she gets a bit sad and wishes her mom could be there as well.
___

They have barely started their next shift when Doug spots Taylor Kelly walking into the station. Behind her is a person with a camera, following her and filming her. Confusion fills Doug as he makes his way downstairs.

“Hi Taylor. It’s nice to see you again. What are you doing here?”

Taylor smiles at him. “They didn't call you yet?”

Doug is even more confused. He then hears Maddie’s hesitant voice letting him know that the chief’s office is on the line wanting to talk to him. Doug takes the phone from Maddie and shoves her out of the way as he goes into his office and closes the door behind him. Maddie stumbles and falls over but he doesn’t care.

As the chief talks to him he can’t stop from smiling. Finally someone sees him for the hero he is and wants to film and highlight him. Well they also want to highlight his team. But he is the captain of that team.

Doug is sure there is a smile on his face when he makes his way downstairs. He calls everyone together. “Everyone, this is Taylor Kelly. She is here to film a piece on firefighters. We are happy to have her here and I expect everyone to make her feel welcome.”

Soon everyone disperses as they start getting the chores done. Doug turns to Taylor. “Where do you want to start? I could give you a tour of the firehouse.”

Taylor agrees that would be good. Doug yells for Maddie to come over. “This is my wife Maddie. She also works here. She is one of our paramedics.”

Maddie is nervous as she shakes Taylor’s hand.

Doug is quick to start the tour, with his arm wrapped around Maddie as he keeps her close by his side. His grip is a bit too tight but Maddie is used to that so she tries to not let it bother her.

Doug is proud and boastful as he shows Taylor around the firehouse. Taylor seems very interested and impressed which Maddie is relieved by as if this goes badly Maddie knows that she will be the one Doug blames.

Once the tour is over Taylor says that she would like to interview each firefighter, to find out why they chose the job, what crazy things they’ve seen and what it’s like to face death. Maddie can’t help but flinch at that last part which Taylor notices, swinging the camera round to face her. Doug grips her tighter and Maddie gulps.

“Have you come close to death whilst on the job?” Taylor asks.

Maddie swallows, feeling Doug’s grip get even tighter. She feels trapped but she knows she needs to answer. “Yes, we had a call where someone got a microwave concreted to their head so they couldn't breathe. That caused them to panic. However we were next to a pool so they fell in but they accidentally pushed me in as well and I got pinned underneath them and the concrete.”

Maddie then turns to face Doug, pressing her hands against his chest as she stares up at him, managing to not tremble at the undercurrent of anger in his eyes. “It was terrifying but thankfully Doug and everyone else jumped in after us. They got the guy to safety and my wonderful husband Doug lifted me out of the pool. They had to perform CPR on me but Doug and the team saved my life as well as the patient's life.”

Maddie forces her gaze at Doug to be full of love as she gives him a hug and gazes up at him with fake adoration on her face.

Taylor smiles. “That will be perfect to include in the piece. It’s cool that you work together as husband and wife. I want to interview both of you together, to find out what it is like to work together when you have such a dangerous job and one of you is the captain. I’m interested to know how that power dynamic works between you and if it has an impact on your marriage.”

Maddie gulps, knowing they are going into a minefield. Doug smiles and says they can go into his office and can interview him and Maddie there.

Once they are in Doug’s office Maddie feels very on edge. Doug sits as close to her as possible, leaving not even an inch of space in between them. He puts his arm around her and pulls her in even closer.

“So, Doug. What made you decide to become a firefighter?” Taylor asks.

Doug gives his routine answer of wanting to help people. Maddie knows he is lying, he just likes being called a hero and the way people look at him when they learn he is a fire captain.

“And Maddie. Why did you decide to become a firefighter?” Taylor asks once Doug has finally finished talking about himself.

Maddie feels Doug squeeze her. She automatically looks down before remembering the camera so forcing herself to look back up and look at the camera. She feels a brief debate raging in her head. Should she just give the safe cliched line of wanting to help people or should she say her true reason which might result in her facing Doug’s rage.

In the end, as dangerous as it is, she decides that she wants to say her true reason. “Growing up my parents didn’t really pay much attention to my younger brother and I. I was mostly the one raising him. One day I had something on after school and my brother was left home alone. I was 14 and I think he was 6 at the time. He tried to cook something for himself but started a fire. He almost burnt the house down and almost got killed in the fire. The firefighters came and saved him and only the kitchen was ruined. Ever since they saved my brother I knew what I wanted to do. I could have lost him but I didn’t because they cared enough to put themselves in danger for him and that gave me the strength to do the same for others.”

Maddie feels fear racing through her, not daring to look at Doug’s face to see his reaction although she knows he is mad as the second she mentioned Evan, Doug’s grip became painfully tight.

Taylor makes a generic comment in reply to Maddie’s story about why she chose this job. She then fires off another question.

“So, what is it like working together?”

Doug smiles. “It’s amazing. It means we are never away from each other which is perfect. I need to have my Maddie as close to me as possible all the time.”

“Maddie, what about you? What’s it like having your husband as your captain and boss so having him tell you what you have to do?”

For a second Maddie stares in Taylor and the camera's direction. Why on earth would Taylor ask her such a dangerous question?

Remembering where she is, Maddie tries to push her fears away and focus on answering the question.

“It’s amazing working with Doug. I love him so much and getting to work with him is incredible.”

Doug’s grip loosens slightly. It is still tight but it is no longer painful.

“But how do you feel about the fact that at work he gets to tell you what to do?” Taylor presses.

If she wasn’t acutely aware of the danger she is in, Maddie would laugh. Doug has way more control of her at home than he does at work. “I love Doug and he is a really good captain.”

“But how is it having him as your boss?”

Maddie wants to glare at Taylor. Why can’t she just leave it alone?”

“I trust Doug completely,” she lies. “Therefore I am happy to do what he says as I know he has better judgement than I do.”

She flashes Doug a smile, so she can check to see how angry he is. It is a relief when she sees amusement and love in his eyes.

“But do you ever feel like there are times when your judgement is better than his?”

Doug’s grip tightens and Maddie wants to scream. Why won’t Taylor let this go?

She shakes her head. “Never. Doug is always right.”

Taylor laughs. “No one is right all of the time.”

Maddie glares at her. “Well Doug is.”

The bells go off before Taylor can ask another dangerous question and Maddie sighs in relief.

All of them run downstairs and jump into the vehicles, Maddie and Doug in the captain's truck, Hen and Chimney in the ambulance and everyone else in the fire engine. Just like normal. Although this time Maddie spots Taylor and her camera person getting in a news van and following them.

Once it is just her and Doug in the captain's truck Maddie starts shaking slightly. “If I said anything I shouldn’t then I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to say, she kept on firing all those questions at me.”

Doug’s hands clench around the steering wheel even tighter and Maddie trembles. “I know you tried Maddie,” Doug starts and Maddie’s heart sinks. “But you tried too hard. You were giving me so many compliments it almost didn’t sound believable. And you saying I’m always right. What about all the times you made the mistake of questioning my judgement? Are you just pretending that never happened?”

Maddie is quick to shake her head. “I’ve learnt from that. You’ve shown me that you always know best. I know that now.”

Doug sighs and shakes his head. “I really should punish you for this Maddie but I’m feeling generous so I’ll let it go. Next time you won’t be so lucky.”

Maddie gulps and is quick to thank Doug for his kindness. Doug doesn’t respond and soon they are pulling onto the scene of the call they are responding to.

Doug leads the way as they hurry up to where everyone is gathered. “We were told there is a man here choking to death?” he says.

An older woman shakes her head and holds her hand up, trying to get in their way. Doug already finds himself disliking her. “No, Gregory says he doesn’t want any help now,” she says.

Doug scoffs and pushes past her. He notices that Taylor and her camera man have also turned up. He growls. He had thought Taylor was cool, trying to shine a spotlight on all of them. But after the way she tried to get Maddie to crack he now can’t stand her. She was trying to get Maddie to reveal the secrets of their marriage. Maddie did alright but he could tell she was close to cracking. The only person that is allowed to break Maddie is him.

Once they make their way through the crowd of people they see a few people at a table and it is clear which one is their patient.

‘Sir, are you refusing care?” Doug asks, hoping the answer is a no. Hoping that their time hasn’t just been wasted. If it has been, if they have just been called out here and don’t end up with a patient to treat then he will not be happy.

The guy waves them off and Doug feels his anger start to build.

There is then a hissing from down below them as a monitor lizard makes itself known. Chimney yelps and hurriedly backs away. Maddie also jumps slightly although Doug is pretty sure her jump was more from getting startled than from being scared of the monitor lizard. That is confirmed for him when Maddie doesn’t back away from the monitor lizard. Although considering her fear of Fang he wonders what makes the monitor lizard something she is apparently fine with when snakes absolutely terrify her.

Suddenly the patient that doesn’t want to be a patient collapses. All thoughts of the monitor lizard go away as they hurry to the man’s side.

Doug orders Ravi and Eddie to get the tables and chairs out of the way and he gets Lucy and Max to keep the crowd a good distance from them. He notices Taylor and her camera guy filming and decides that as long as they don’t get in their way it doesn’t really matter. Though remembering Taylor’s questions he decides to have a bit of fun and while Hen and Chimney start tending to their patient, he bosses Maddie around giving her lots of senseless orders. Maddie follows all of them with her usual panicky and scared expression whenever he starts doing this. He would laugh at her fear if he wasn’t aware of the camera watching them.

Hen and Chimney continue focusing on the guy whilst Doug enjoys making Maddie run back and forth getting gear they don’t even need. Eventually Doug knows he needs to actually do his job so he turns to the patient to see how Hen and Chimney are doing. Just in time to see crickets come crawling out of the guys mouth.

“We allowed anything that Claude would eat, we thought it would be fun,” Sandy says weakly.

It takes all of Doug’s self control to not glare at her. What a stupid idea. Who on earth would think it was a good idea for humans to eat live bugs just because that’s what a lizard monitor eats.

The human stupidity Doug sees on calls never ceases to surprise and infuriate him.

“His pulse is weakening. He’s in v-fib and he’s coding,” Hen announces.

Chimney starts compressions.

Hen says the blockage is too big and asks for something to pull it out with. Doug snaps at Maddie to get it and within seconds Maddie is passing it to Hen. Doug then gets Maddie to hold out a piece of cloth, in Hen’s reach for Hen to put the blockage once she gets it out.

A few seconds later Hen pulls a gross looking thing onto the cloth in Maddie’s hands. Maddie looks around, clearly wondering where to put it down and Doug rolls his eyes. “Just put it in the waste container Maddie. It’s not that hard,” he says. Maddie gulps before hurrying to do so.

Soon their patient opens his eyes with a gasp. Hen and Chimney get him sitting up and he starts puking up crickets. Which is gross.

Then another contestant starts puking up cockroaches and by this point Doug is completely fed up with Sandy and her stupid contest. What an idiot.

When the call is finally over Doug is angry when he and Maddie get back into the captain's truck.

Maddie sits as close to the window as she can, trying to create as big of a gap between her and Doug as possible.

“That call was stupid. If they had all stopped being idiots for a second and decided to use some common sense then we would never have been called out. Instead they wasted all of our time,” Doug rants.

Maddie is silent as she tries to make herself as small as possible.

“I mean, who on earth would want to voluntarily eat live bugs, it’s disgusting,” Doug continues.

Maddie agrees.

They reach a red traffic light and Doug turns to face her. “What did you think of that call Maddie?”

“It was gross.” She shudders. “Just the thought of eating live bugs makes my skin crawl.”

She sees a glint in Doug’s eye and she stares at him in horror as she goes pale and starts shaking. He doesn’t say anything more but it is clear what he is thinking and she is filled with pure terror.

For the rest of their shift Doug bosses her around way more than normal. Maddie doesn’t complain. She just does everything he tells her to as quickly and perfectly as possible.

It is a bit distracting having Taylor Kelly still there. Taylor goes around filming interviews of everyone but she also films a lot of Doug ordering Maddie around which worries Maddie a bit. But Doug worries her more so she pushes Taylor to the back of her mind and allows her only thought to be Doug’s most recent command.

Chapter Text

For their next shift Taylor Kelly is back. Eddie feels annoyed by it. She is annoying and he doesn’t like her.

He avoided her on the first day but at the beginning of this shift she chases him down saying she wants to interview everyone from the firehouse. He groans but he doesn’t think he has a choice so he decides to just get it over with.

The interview is painful but he gets through it and he is glad when he can go back to his normal routine.

He notices that when Taylor isn’t interviewing any of them she just gets her camera person to film Doug and Maddie. Which worries Eddie as he is aware of what the repercussions of that could be for Maddie. Considering they are being filmed, Doug is showing a lack of caring about that as he just bosses Maddie around like crazy, making her run back and forth after him, to the point where she is clearly exhausted.

When they get a call Maddie all but collapses into her seat in the captain's truck, grateful for at least a few minutes where she doesn’t need to do anything. She can just sit and be still.

When they arrive on the call and get out of their vehicles Taylor Kelly and her camera guy are right behind them, with the camera turned on and focused on them.

They make their way through the crowd of people. Eddie nods in recognition as soon as he sees their patient. “Looks like extreme hyponatremia.”

At all of the confusion by the surrounding people at Eddie’s statement Hen clarifies that it is a Charley's horse. So of course when Chimney asks the patient their name he turns out to be named Charlie.

Hen asks Charlie when he last had fluids and Charlie says that it was yesterday afternoon. Chimney says that his potassium and sodium have bottomed out and that is why he is seizing.

Doug then turns to Charlie, a serious expression on his face. “Now, before we start replenishing your electrolytes you need to answer me honestly. Are you dosing?”

Maddie sees the way Charlie looks at the cameras before Charlie shakes his head.

“In that case Hen and Chimney, start giving him saline,” Doug says.

“Wait,” Maddie says.

Doug turns to her with a glare on his face. “What is it Maddie?”

Maddie gulps and looks down. “Maybe we should get the cameras to back away. He looked at them before answering about if he was dosing so he might not want to tell the truth in front of the cameras.”

Doug rolls his eyes. “Maddie, if he said he wasn’t dosing then he wasn’t dosing. Chim, Hen, push saline.”

Eddie makes his way to Taylor and tells her that she and the camera need to back off. Taylor tries to protest but when Ravi, Lucy and Max join Eddie she quickly backs down.

Once the cameras are out of the way Maddie focuses on Charlie. “If we start giving you saline and you have been dosing then your kidneys will start to fail.”

“I’m on steroids,” Charlie says.

When Hen nods and asks if he is on anything else Charlie says he also took a diuretic last night. With that information Doug says they need to transport Charlie. Hen and Chimney get him loaded up and soon they are gone. Everyone else heads into the engine and then it is just Maddie and Doug left along with Taylor and her camera guy. Taylor gets her camera guy to point the camera at them.

“Doug, could I get any words from you about this call? It seems that you aren’t always right as this time your wife had the better judgement.”

Maddie stares at Taylor in horror. Why would she say that?

Doug ignores Taylor’s question. “We’ll see you back at the station.”

He then grabs Maddie’s arm and storms off to the captain's truck. Maddie barely manages to keep up with him but she doesn’t dare not keep up with him because she is aware of Taylor still filming them and it would look bad if she stumbled due to Doug pulling her along.

“I’m so sorry,” Maddie tries, the instant they are in the truck.

Doug just glares at her. “We’re making a stop on the way back to the fire station.”

Maddie stares at him, wide eyed and confused.

It takes a few minutes for her to realise where they are going. Their house is halfway in between the call they were just at and the fire station. Soon Doug is pulling the captain's truck into their driveway.

“Our bedroom,” he orders.

Maddie gulps as she makes her way there. Doug brings their radios and puts them on the bedside table so they will hear if they get sent on another call.

He goes into their closet and calls out to Maddie that she is to take her shirt off and then lie face down on the bed. Stomach twisting Maddie obeys. She starts pleading the instant Doug emerges holding one of his belts even though she knows nothing she tries is going to stop him. The only thing that will stop him is if they get a call they have to go to.

They do not get a call.

Minutes later Maddie is a sobbing mess and her back is on fire. Doug then grabs a bowl of water and a cloth and washes the wounds before bandaging them and telling Maddie to put her shirt back on. Maddie struggles to do so and in the end Doug has to help her.

They then get back into the captain’s truck. Maddie works to control her tears knowing that once they are back in the station she will need to pretend that nothing happened.

When they return to the station after the call Hen and the rest of the team notice that Doug and Maddie take a bit longer to get there. Taylor and her camera man get there a few minutes after Hen did which rules out the theory of Taylor delaying Doug and Maddie with an interview.

Eventually they hear the sound of the captain’s truck pulling in. When Doug and Maddie get out Maddie looks pale and her face is pulled tight. It is obvious that something just happened.

Doug starts giving Maddie more orders. Maddie stares at him for a few seconds, her eyes full of pain and hurt. Doug glares at her and she jumps before obeying, although her movements are much slower this time and Hen feels like she might be sick.

When Hen looks at Chimney and Eddie she can see that both of them have figured out the same thing she has and they both also look ill. They eventually disperse, all wishing they could help Maddie but unable to so, meaning all of them needing to distract themselves.

Eddie makes his way upstairs and smiles when he sees the table full of baked goods. As everyone starts making their way towards the table it catches Taylor’s attention so she comes up and asks what this table is.

Doug smiles when he explains that firefighters are loved by the community so many people bring in baking for them.

There are some brownies on the table. Hen grabs a piece and so does Eddie.

Maddie tentatively reaches for a piece as she feels really weak and she knows she needs to get some food into her system to get back some energy. When Doug glares at her she is quick to retreat her hand, the fiery pain from her back more than enough to remind her why she needs to do whatever Doug wants.

Doug then looks Maddie in the eyes as he reaches out and grabs a piece of brownie. He takes a bite, maintaining eye contact with Maddie. He takes another bite and another bite, taunting her with every bite he takes. Maddie trembles. Doug smiles and takes another piece. And another.

By the time Chimney makes it up the stairs Doug has had so many pieces of the brownie that there isn’t anything left of the brownie. Chimney protests in disappointment, saying that he loves brownies.

Soon after everyone has finished the brownie they get another call, this time it is just a simple med call. Doug decides that Chim, Hen, Maddie and he will go. He forces Maddie to drive which throws her off as he never lets her drive. Ever.

She is tense and nervous and puts all her focus into driving perfectly, terrified of making a mistake. By the time they get to the scene Maddie’s focus is almost gone as she put all her effort into concentrating on the road.

When they walk into the building it is clear that they are at a kid’s beauty pageant. Maddie shivers, remembering how her mom once wanted Maddie to do pageants. Then Daniel got sick and her parents forgot about her and focused on Daniel and beauty pageants never got mentioned ever again.

Maddie spots Athena who is in the middle of arresting a woman.

Athena lets them know where the victim is. Chimney heads in that direction and so does Maddie. When their victim turns around they see that she has a high heel in her face. She has been stabbed with a high heel. That is a first for both Maddie and Chimney.

Chimney is quick to get their patient to sit down, before she passes out. Once she is sitting he also gets her to hang up her phone. When Chimney looks for where everyone else is, Maddie also turns around. They see that Hen and Doug are just standing there. There is a look on Doug’s face that Maddie has never seen before which fills her with anxiety as it means she has no visual clues to try and gauge how safe she currently is.

“Can someone please bring me the rest of my gear,” Chimney asks.

Maddie looks in Doug and Hen’s direction. Both of them are still standing there with vacant gazes and not doing anything. “I’ll get it,” Maddie says, before she goes back out to the ambulance to grab what is needed.

Hearing Chimney, Athena turns to look at Hen and Doug. She can instantly tell that something is up.

“Thena, Thena, you smell like love,” Hen declares.

Athena stares at her.

Doug is looking around all frantically and that is when Athena knows something is up.

Athena calls Chimney and Maddie over. “We’ve got a problem. Your guys be tripping.”

Chimney and Maddie exchange looks of confusion. Chimney tries to get Hen and Doug’s attention and asks if they know where they are.

“We’re everywhere,” Hen says.

“Where’s Maddie? I need my Maddie. I need her. I need her,” Doug says.

“I’m here Doug, I’m here,” Maddie says, moving into his line of vision. He looks at her but it is clear he isn’t seeing her. Instead he just repeats that he needs her.

“They’re on drugs,” Athena states.

Maddie doesn’t know what to do with this and she stares at Athena and Chimney in fear and uncertainty. Meaning she sees when understanding dawns on Chimney’s face.

“Oh man, it’s the brownies,” he says.

“Brownies?” Athena questions.

Chimney is quick to explain how they got a new batch in today. Athena is shocked that they eat it and Chimney replies that everyone loves firefighters.

Chimney looks at Maddie. “Did you have any of the brownies?”

Maddie shakes her head. “Did you?” she asks. Chimney shakes his head.

“And they both did?” Athena asks. Maddie and Chimney both nod.

Athena tries calling their station but no one picks up. “Did all of them have the brownies?”

“I think so,” Maddie says hesitantly.

Athena then calls dispatch to get the 118 taken offline. She lets them know she has also called for an ambulance from a different station to come to the scene and treat the woman with the heel in her face.

Hen falls into Chimney’s arms and starts laughing. Chimney pats her on the back. Doug keeps repeating that he needs his Maddie, leaving Maddie very unsettled and scared.

Athena says that they need to cuff both Hen and Doug for their own personal safety so that they don’t accidentally hurt themselves or anyone else.

Maddie panics at that but she doesn’t dare protest.

Hen asks what’s going on and Athena tells both Hen and Doug that someone dosed them with a hallucinogen and that the cuffs are just to keep all of them safe. It appears Doug doesn’t hear a word Athena says as the second the cuffs are put on him he starts yelling at Maddie, screaming how dare she call the cops on him.

Maddie goes pale. “You need to uncuff him!” she begs.

She sees Athena look unsure.

“Please!” Maddie pleads.

Athena looks very unhappy and reluctant to do so but she does.

“Where’s Maddie?” Doug asks.

“I’m right here,” Maddie says shakily, standing right in front of him.

Doug reaches out and slaps Maddie in the face. Maddie trembles in fear, aware of their audience and scared of any repercussions Doug might face as if he faces any consequences for this then she knows he will just use that to punish her later.

After he slaps her, one of the cops moves forward, wanting to cuff him again. Maddie shakes her head. “Please don’t.”

The fear in her eyes and the way she is shaking makes the cop look at her skeptically but in the end they listen.

It is then decided that they all need to head back to the station, so that they can make sure everyone there is alright. Athena says she isn’t going to have Maddie with just Doug in the captain's truck on the drive back. Maddie panics as the only other option is Athena driving Doug and Hen back to the station. But if that happens Doug will blame Maddie.

It seems like Athena is aware of where Maddie’s thoughts are going as she shakes her head. “Maddie, you will drive the ambulance back to the station with Hen also in the ambulance. Chimney, you will drive the captain’s truck back to the station and Doug will be with you. I will get in my car and follow both of you.”

Maddie lets out a shaky sigh of relief.

Athena helps guide Hen and Doug back to the respective vehicles.

Maddie is filled with fear for most of the drive back to the station. Hen talks a lot of nonsense about random things that make no sense to Maddie. Eventually they get back to the station.

When Maddie enters it is immediately clear that most of the station had some of the brownies. She is suddenly very relieved that Doug didn’t let her have any brownies. She shivers at the thought of being dosed against her will. She then gulps, realising that is what happened to everyone else.

As soon as Chimney and Doug get out of the captain’s truck Doug keeps calling out for his Maddie. Maddie feels trapped as she makes her way to his side. He grabs onto her and keeps on repeating that he needs his Maddie. Maddie looks at Athena helplessly, not knowing what to do. She has encountered patients on drugs before. But not Doug. Doug on drugs terrifies her. He is unpredictable enough as it is, she doesn’t need an added thing coming in and making him even worse.

When they see Taylor Kelly filming everything, Maddie’s fear increases even more. It is a relief when Athena marches over to Taylor and very quickly forces Taylor out of the fire house.

Athena then lets Maddie and Chimney know that she has called the partners of everyone who got drugged. Maddie looks around and sees that Eddie must have eaten a piece of brownie. She freezes.

She steps away from Doug so that Athena can hear her but Doug can’t.

“Is Buck coming to pick Eddie up? Doug cannot see him.”

Athena knows why Maddie is scared and is quick to reassure her. “Bobby is coming to pick Eddie up. We aren’t going to risk Buck coming. Besides, Buck is looking after Genevieve. He can’t leave her. Eddie will stay with Bobby and I until the effects have worn off. We won’t have him around Genevieve or Chris until they have.”

Maddie exhales slowly as a few of her fears disappear.

Karen is the first to arrive. After her other partners or family members come to pick people up including Bobby to get Eddie.

Eventually the only person who had a brownie remaining in the firehouse is Doug. Maddie knows he needs to go home, that she needs to take him home and stay with him and look after him. But she is scared to do so, especially when she knows that it could take between 7-12 hours for the drug to wear off. The idea of being alone with Doug for that long while he is still under the influence scares her.

“I suppose I have to take Doug home as he can’t exactly continue working this shift,” Maddie says quietly to Chim and Athena, feeling tears well up.

“You could keep him here in the bunk room and I could stay with both of you so that you aren’t alone with him,” Chimney suggests.

It is a kind idea and so sweet of Chimney but Maddie shakes her head. “When he comes off it and realises what happened, any option that isn’t me taking him home will make him mad. He wouldn’t want anyone other than me seeing him under the influence.”

Maddie is reluctant to take Doug home and she can tell Athena and Chimney are just as reluctant to let her go home by herself with him. But she doesn’t feel like she has any other choice.

When she guides him out to the car he tries to get into the driver's seat so she has to direct him towards the passenger seat. He starts yelling about how he is the one in control and not her. Maddie doesn’t know what to do and finds herself looking at Athena and Chimney for help.

Athena calmly repeats to Doug that someone dosed them all with a hallucinogen. He just starts repeating that he needs his Maddie. Maddie tries to keep her voice calm when she says that she is right here.

Eventually she manages to get him in the passenger seat and then she drives them both home. She knows that because he had the most pieces of brownie that also means he got the highest dose of whatever drug was in those brownies meaning he will be affected the worst.

When they get home Maddie tries to guide Doug to the couch, hoping that if she gets him sitting down and then gets him some food and water that will help. But Doug refuses to sit, saying he needs his Maddie.

The next 10 hours are very long. Doug spends the entire 10 hours repeating that he needs his Maddie and that she can never leave him. Maddie tries her best to stay calm and reassuring as she repeats that she is right here and that she will never leave him.

Eventually when it is late evening Maddie can see the awareness starting to come back to Doug. He looks at her, panic on his face. “What happened?” He demands.

Maddie gulps slightly, scared of how he will react. “Someone dosed the brownies at work. So several people including you got affected by that so everyone got sent home early and C shift took over.”

“Who did it and what did they dose it with?” Doug asks, clear anger in his voice.

“We, we don’t know yet. Athena is looking into it.”

“ATHENA!?” Doug roars. “What does she have to do with this?”

Doug pins Maddie against a wall, staring her down and Maddie starts trembling. “We noticed something was off when we were at a call. Athena was responding to the same call.”

“Did I do or say anything I wouldn’t have wanted others to see?” Doug asks.

Maddie trembles even more and tries to look down at the floor so Doug grabs her chin and forces her to look at him.

“Answer me Maddie.”

Maddie feels dread creep through her. “You mostly just went on and on about needing me and not wanting me to ever leave you. But Athena and Chimney did see you slap me.”

The punch to her face isn’t surprising. Maddie drops to the ground.

“You should have known better Maddie. How could you let me do that in front of other people? You shouldn’t have let me slap you where there are witnesses. You know what happens in our marriage is private.”

Maddie stares up at him. Is he really blaming her for him hurting her in front of others? Does he not think that if she knew how to, she would stop him from hurting her?

“You embarrassed me Maddie. You’re my wife. You’re supposed to support me. Yet you embarrassed me.”

He starts squeezing her neck. She starts gasping for air as her vision begins to disappear. Eventually everything goes black.
___

Because most of them were dosed, the A shift gets a longer amount of time off in between shifts than normal.

Genevieve’s first mandatory visit with Doug and Maddie falls into the end of this time off. It has already been arranged that Harriet will come and take Genevieve to and from the contact session as they aren’t going to risk Doug seeing either Buck or Eddie and realising where Genevieve is staying.

Before the visit Buck and Eddie sit Genevieve down to explain what is happening.

“This afternoon you will get a 2 hour visit with your parents. Harriet will drive you there and back.”

Genevieve looks at them wide eyed. “Will it just be Mom or will Dad also be there?”

She looks scared, which both Buck and Eddie hate.

“We don’t know,” Buck says softly. “But there will be another adult in the room, watching everything that happens to make sure it isn’t possible for your dad to hurt you.”

Genevieve looks slightly less scared by that but there is still clear fear in her eyes.

“If your dad is there it is important that you don’t mention our names or Chris’s name as your dad doesn’t know you are staying with us,” Buck says.

Genevieve goes slightly pale. “If dad finds out I’m staying with you will he hurt mom?”

Buck feels ill and doesn’t know how to answer.

“We don’t know. He might,” Eddie replies.

Genevieve looks serious. “I won’t mention you at all then.”

Genevieve has a few more questions which Buck and Eddie answer. They then have lunch and they build a massive lego tower with Genevieve and Chris working together to make it as tall as possible.

Eventually there is a knock on the door and all of them tense a bit. Buck goes to open the door and Harriet comes in. “Are you ready Genevieve?” she asks.

Genevieve looks a bit nervous as she quietly nods. Eddie passes Genevieve her crutches which Genevieve takes, having finally figured out how to use them, her broken arm having complicated matters. Once she has gotten herself sorted she allows Harriet to lead her out of the house.
___

Doug insists on coming to the contact center to see Genevieve as well. Maddie wishes it could be just her and Genevieve so that they could interact freely. With Doug joining that won’t be possible.

They were given an earlier arrival time than Genevieve so that they can be in the room before Genevieve arrives. They are told what room to go to and informed that Genevieve’s social worker Harriet will be the one supervising the session.

Maddie is glad that they are arriving first as it means she can be seated before Genevieve arrives meaning hopefully Genevieve won’t notice that she is currently limping.

As soon as Genevieve and Harriet enter the room Maddie lights up. Wanting to get to her daughter as quickly as possible Maddie forgets about her limping as she is quick to stand. Doug grabs onto her arm but she shakes him off as she ignores him and hurries to her daughter.

It makes her heart ache seeing Genevieve slow to enter, with one leg in a cast and one arm in a cast. She doesn’t dare look in Doug’s direction as she doesn’t think she would be able to stop herself from glaring at him. How dare he do this to their daughter!

When Maddie reaches Genevieve, Genevieve pushes her crutches to the side and gives Maddie a massive hug. Maddie manages to not let out an audible wince of pain and instead leans into the hug.

The room has lots of toys and games so Maddie suggests to Genevieve that she can pick out something for them to do together.

“Lego!” Genevieve exclaims.

Maddie happily makes her way to the lego, Genevieve coming with her. Maddie is aware of Harriet watching them. Which feels a bit awkward but she knows Harriet is there to keep Genevieve safe. Which she appreciates. Anyway, having Doug watching her feels way more invasive than Harriet watching her.

Soon Maddie and Genevieve are sitting at the table, with lego all over the table.

“The people I’m staying with have heaps of lego so I’ve played with it heaps. I wish we had lego, it’s really cool!” Genevieve exclaims.

“That does sound cool,” Maddie says. “What is the best thing you’ve made?”

Genevieve grins and as she and Maddie work to build something, Maddie following Genevieve’s very intense instructions, Genevieve happily talks about all the things she has made.

It is awesome to see her daughter so animated and engaged. That doesn’t happen often at their house. Genevieve is too cautious and scared of Doug. Maddie feels a rock settle in her stomach realising that as much as she misses Genevieve she really doesn’t want them to get her back as Genevieve is so much happier with Buck and Eddie.

Maddie also picks up on the fact that Genevieve is very careful to never mention Buck, Eddie or Chris’s names. She only refers to them as the people she is staying with. Maddie wonders if Buck and Eddie had a talk with her about that. Either way she is thankful as the price they would pay if Doug finds out who Genevieve is staying with is a price too high.

For the entirety of the two hours Doug doesn’t interact with Genevieve at all. Instead he stands behind Maddie, pressing her shoulders down with his hands, looming over her, his presence like a dark cloud. Maddie works hard to pretend he isn’t there as she isn’t letting him steal any of her precious time with Genevieve.

All too soon the two hours are up. Maddie and Genevieve give each other a massive hug bye, with both of them telling the other that they love them. And then Harriet is leading Genevieve out of the room and Maddie feels like a piece of her heart is walking out of the room.

Doug is grumpy, ordering Maddie to the car, saying how that was a waste of their afternoon. He spends the rest of the day yelling at her for it but Maddie doesn’t care. Seeing her daughter will never be a waste of time.
___

When Harriet returns Genevieve to them both Buck and Eddie are a bit apprehensive, worried about how it went.

Genevieve is a bit sad, saying how she misses her mom.

“Were both your parents there?” Eddie asks.

Genevieve nods. “Dad didn’t talk to me at all though. He just stood right behind Mom the entire time with his hands pressing down on her shoulders. Mom and I sat at the table and played with lego. It was really fun. Although I wish dad wasn’t there.”

She shrugs and it is clear she wants to forget about her dad. Chris excitedly tells her how much taller the lego tower got while she is gone and soon both kids are invested in making the tower even taller.

Chapter Text

The 118 is on shift when Taylor Kelly’s piece on firefighters airs. So all of them settle down to watch it although Doug gets him and Maddie watching it in his office. Everyone else crowds around the tv in the loft.

The piece starts with Taylor saying how they see firefighters everyday on the streets of Los Angeles, running into burning buildings, pulling people from collapsed cars and high rises and saving her from a helicopter that spun out of control. She then says that they are the brave men and women of the LAFD and it was her own brush with death that inspired her to share their story.

Maddie feels tense, wondering just exactly what Taylor is going to show.

The piece shows them responding to a call and then moves to Taylor’s interview with Hen. Hen feels slightly emotional seeing her story there on the screen. She gets warm looks from everyone around her.

They show Chimney being interviewed. And Eddie. And most of their team.

They then hear Taylor say how with all the heroes in that firehouse they also have their captain who is also married to one of the paramedics in the same firehouse.

The screen then shows Maddie and Doug sitting in his office for that interview. Maddie tenses. Doug grabs onto her arm tightly and it is clear both of them are anxious, worried about what the editor included.

It has Doug saying how he became a firefighter because he wanted to help people. It then has Maddie telling her story of when the firefighters saved her brother. Doug’s grip tightens even more and Maddie tenses even more although she knows that so far it is going alright.

When it shows Taylor asking them what it is like to work together Maddie gets even more scared. Thankfully it just has Maddie saying how amazing Doug is and then it goes back to showing Taylor talking, saying how it was a privilege to get to hear all of their stories and to understand more about the lives of their heroes.

And then the piece ends.

Maddie risks a look at Doug.

“Go clean the bathrooms,” he snaps.

Maddie hurries to obey.
___

Genevieve has now been with them for long enough that Buck has to return to work. Thankfully between Eddie, Buck, Athena, Bobby and Michael there is always at least one of them not working meaning if the rest of them are, then whatever one isn’t looks after all the kids.

Since Brooke’s birthday they have gotten back to frequently going to Bobby and Athena’s so Genevieve has made fast friends with Brooke. She also likes Harry, Robert and May. But Brooke is the one she is closest to.

Halloween is getting closer so they start brainstorming costume ideas. Robert and May try to say they are too old for it but all the other kids are so desperate to have a massive group costume with Robert and May a part of it that Robert and May agree.

They strongly consider all going as firefighters but Genevieve is a bit more hesitant due to the fact that her dad is a firefighter. So in the end that idea gets shut down.

They decide they should definitely go with costumes that require a mask, just in case as they will be going to lots of different places with Genevieve and while they aren’t exactly expecting Doug to go trick or treating they want Genevieve to not be as noticeable just in case.

Genevieve seems excited by the idea of wearing a mask.

In the end they decide to go as lego. Genevieve will have a yellow minifig head mask on her head, a red sweater that says lego on it and black pants. Harry will be dressed the same although his minifig head mask has a different face on it.

Brooke and May will go as pieces of lego. Both of them will wear a long sleeve top and leggings. Pink for May and green for Brooke. They then have a matching colored box around them that has been made to look like a lego piece.

Chris will go as an astronaut lego minifig and Robert will go as the batman lego minifig.

They spend a few days all gathered together making them and soon they are all happy with their outfits. They just have to wait until it is Halloween and they can actually use them.
___

The closer they get to Halloween the more nervous Maddie gets. Doug’s birthday is on Halloween and there is always so much pressure on her to get things perfect.

They will be on shift for Halloween which makes things a little bit easier. But not by much.

They will be on a 24 hour shift, starting at 7:00 am on the 31st and ending at 7:00 am on November the 1st.

Maddie has heard rumours of a cake guy so during one of their shifts once Doug is busy she makes her way over to Hen.

“I heard you have a cake guy.”

Hen looks excited as she nods. “What kind of cake do you need?”

Maddie gulps, worried about how Hen will take the request. She knows Hen’s opinion of Doug. And she knows it is her fault that Hen doesn’t like Doug.

“Doug’s birthday is coming up soon,” she says quietly. “I have to get it perfect.” Or he will hurt me, is what she thinks and leaves upspoken. Though looking at Hen she can tell Hen knows what Maddie isn’t saying.

Hen nods. “I can take care of that. Are we on shift for his birthday?”

Maddie nods. “A 24 hour one. We start at 7:00 am and finish at 7:00 am the next morning.”

Hen nods. “Well leave the cake to me. I will get it set up and we can get everyone to get a party set up to surprise him when you enter.”

Maddie stares at her. “You’d do all that even when you don’t like him?”

Hen looks at her seriously. “If he isn’t happy with whatever you do for his birthday then he will hurt you won’t he?”

Maddie nods.

“Then we’ll do everything we can to make sure he has the best birthday ever.”

Maddie smiles slightly at that.

“When is his birthday anyway? How long do we have?” Hen asks.

“His birthday is October 31st.”

Hen stares at her for a few seconds before she is laughing. She is quick to clamp her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry for laughing. It just feels kind of fitting. Of course his birthday would be on Halloween. Of course. It isn’t the scariest day of the year for nothing.”

Maddie stares at Hen for a few seconds before she bursts out laughing. She quickly looks around and when she sees that Doug is still nowhere in sight she allows herself to continue laughing, feeling tears coming to her eyes from how much she is laughing. Really, it probably isn’t that funny. But she can’t stop herself from laughing.

The bells go off forcing Maddie to stop laughing. She smiles at Hen before going and joining Doug in the captain’s truck. She is in a good mood as they make their way to the call.

“What’s got you so happy?” Doug asks suspiciously.

Maddie gulps slightly. “I was just working on the planning for your birthday and was then thinking about how much I love you.”

Doug looks at her and smiles. Maddie feels herself relax.

When they arrive on scene Maddie is a bit unnerved by the fact that they are at a graveyard.

A guy comes up to them and informs them that two of the staff were preparing someone’s grave when they got sucked in. They get led to one of their patients, a man covered in dirt. Hen is quick to start giving him oxygen.

Apparently the other staff member is still missing so Doug asks their patient what happened. Their patient says that he and Stavros were digging a plot when they got pulled in, like the grave was digging itself. Maddie shivers.

Chimney moves away from their patient to have a look around them. “It’s a sinkhole,” he announces. “Probably from the earthquake a couple of months ago. It must have shifted everything around down there. We’re basically walking around on eggshells and bubblewrap.”

Doug turns to the patient. “How long ago did it happen?”

“I don’t know, maybe half an hour,” he says shrugging.

“Chimney, you stay with him. Everyone else, get your flashlights and start searching.”

They see a massive hole and all of them head there, shining their flashlights into it, trying to spot Stavros.

Maddie steps a bit too close to the edge and the ground starts crumbling underneath her. She feels herself falling and fear fills her. Suddenly Doug’s hand is in her hair and he is yanking her back, saving her just in time. It is the first time she has been thankful for the harsh pain of him yanking on her hair.

She turns and gives him a hug. “Thanks for saving me.”

Doug rolls his eyes before raising his voice so everyone can hear him. “This whole side is like quicksand so be careful not to fall in. Don’t be stupid like Maddie was.”

Maddie turns red with shame and she is thankful it is dark enough that no one sees.

“The guy has been breathing dirt for an hour. Will he even still be alive?” Ravi asks.

“There are air pockets. He might be in one of them,” Hen replies.

Doug orders them to start supporting the area with wooden boards so that it is safe for them to stand there and search for Stavros. Once they have the scene all boarded up Doug runs a sensor over the area, trying to pick up heat signatures. It picks up a lot of corpses. They may be in a graveyard but that still creeps all of them out.

Once they find Stavros on the monitor Doug gets all of them to get shovels and buckets. He gets most of them down in the hole digging whilst he and Maddie stand on the wooden boards, taking up and emptying the buckets of dirt they are passed before passing the empty buckets back to everyone.

Suddenly the boards Doug and Maddie are standing on shift and start to fall. Maddie automatically reaches for Doug’s hand. When the boards stop moving Doug growls at Maddie and swats angrily at her hand. She is quick to pull it away.

“Are you both ok?” Hen asks.

“We’re fine,” Doug says. Maddie doesn’t dare to say anything.

All of them are a bit more on edge, aware that whatever shifted wasn’t good.

Hen turns to stare at the excavator. Doug sees her looking and nods. “Good idea Hen.”

Hen turns to the graveyard worker. “Where are the excavators keys?”

“They should still be in it,” he says.

Hen makes her way to the excavator and sure enough the keys are there. Doug gets everyone else moving out of the way. Hen has a quick look at the controls for the excavator and once she has figured it out she turns it on and uses the excavator to clear the obstruction in their way.

She then turns off the excavator and they all hurry back into the hole to do the last part of digging Stavros out by hand. Soon they have him out and they get him on a backboard and into the ambulance. Hen and Chimney then take him to the hospital to get him checked out.
___

The day before Halloween Buck and Eddie meet at Bobby and Athena’s to discuss their plans for the day. Hen, Karen and Denny also come.

Denny is also dressing to the theme of lego so he is ready to join them.

For Halloween the 118 is on shift. The 132 is off shift. Athena is working. Karen and Michael aren’t.

Because Karen, Michael, Bobby and Buck aren’t working they will spend the day with the kids and will take them trick or treating. The kids managed to persuade all four of them into also wearing costumes so they did. Buck and Bobby end up having lego costumes that make them unrecognisable due to having masks. It is easy to recognise Karen and Michael.

Because the 118’s shift starts at 7:00 am, all the kids have a sleepover at Bobby and Athena’s so that they can sleep a bit later and don’t have to get up early.
___

Soon it is the morning of Doug’s birthday. And Halloween.

Doug had previously given Maddie a small amount of money with the instructions that it was to be used for his birthday. She doesn’t have any access to money so without that she wouldn’t have been able to get him anything.

Because their shift starts at 7:00 am they don’t normally have breakfast before they leave. So Maddie had spent ages agonising over whether or not to do breakfast in bed for Doug, unsure which option was the safest.

In the end she prepares coffee and a pastry for him, something light so that she has done something but not so filling that he will complain about not being able to have breakfast at the station.

She waits until he is awake before she then enters the room with a tray with his favorite coffee and favorite pastry on it. Doug smiles up at her but she doesn’t dare relax.

“Happy birthday Doug,” she says softly.

She then passes him a birthday card she has written for him and a box of his favorite chocolates. He goes straight to opening the card and she holds her breath as he reads it. His expression is neutral and she doesn’t know what he is thinking.

Once he has read it he sets it down. “Come here Maddie,” he says, his tone not giving any hints as to his mood.

Insides quaking Maddie makes her way to his side. He grabs her neck and she tenses but he just pulls her close to him and kisses her on the top of her head before releasing her.

After he has eaten they get ready for work as per normal, Maddie making sure to tell Doug how much she loves him. Thankfully he appears to be in a good mood by the time they are pulling into work.

The instant they walk into the building it is to everyone saying happy birthday. Doug looks around and sees how everything is decorated with banners and streamers and balloons.

He sees a table filled with cards and walks closer to it. The table has cards on it and presents underneath it. But the star is the massive cake on the table.

The cake has two components. The first is a normal cake, with red icing, Doug’s favorite color. On top of that is a cake in the shape of a fire helmet with the words ‘Happy Birthday Captain Kendall,’ on it. Doug smiles when he looks at it.

“Who got the cake?” he asks.

“Hen ordered it from her cake guy but it was Maddie’s idea,” Eddie says.

Doug turns to his Maddie and pulls her in, giving her a massive hug. She hugs him back.

When he makes his way upstairs the table is filled with all of his favorite breakfast foods. He knows the only person here who knows his favorite breakfast foods is Maddie.

As they all settle in around the table, Doug pulls Maddie’s chair closer to him. He is feeling happy so this time when Maddie reaches for something sweet and then pauses and looks at him he nods. Her face lights up and his heart feels warm.

After they have eaten, Doug pulls Maddie into his office and closes and locks the door.

“I love you Maddie,” he says.

She smiles up at him. “I love you too.”

He reaches for her pants and Maddie stiffens. And just like that his happiness is gone. Why does Maddie always have to ruin everything?

“It’s my birthday Maddie,” he says harshly. “Do you not want me to have a good day?”

Maddie gulps and there is panic in her eyes. “I want you to have the best day. Just, what if we get a call?”

Doug rolls his eyes. “If we get a call then we pull our pants up and go. It isn’t that difficult Maddie. Must you always try to take away my happiness?”

Maddie winces. “I’m sorry.”

He is mad now. But he wanted to have sex at work on his birthday so he is going to, regardless of whether or not Maddie is being her usual annoying self.

He pushes Maddie roughly onto the couch. She lands with a small thud and whimpers softly. He knows he doesn’t need to tell her to be quiet but he shoves a cloth in her mouth just in case.

He then pulls down her pants and pushes inside of her. The more he thinks about how she has already managed to ruin his birthday the angrier he gets so the faster and rougher he gets.

He hears Maddie quietly sobbing and whimpering which just angers him even more and makes him determined to make it as painful as possible for her to serve her right. So he gets even rougher.

Eventually she is sobbing hard enough and he feels satisfied enough that he is happy to pull out and pull his pants back up and put his belt back on.

Still sobbing, Maddie is quick to pull her pants back up. He looks down at her and shakes his head. His wife is a mess. She shouldn’t be a mess. But she is. He feels filled with fury. He wanted a wife that would be perfect, not a wife that would be a mess.

He glares down at her and slaps her harshly on the bottom before walking out of the office, closing the door behind him.

He makes his way to the pile of presents, hoping that seeing what everyone got for him will take away his anger and restore the good mood he had before Maddie went and ruined it.

Once Doug leaves her in the office Maddie starts shaking. Tears are streaming down her face and she focuses on trying to stop crying, knowing they could be sent on a call at any point so she needs to be ready to face everyone else at a moment’s notice.

But she is in so much pain and she didn’t want that. She almost never does. Not that Doug ever cares.

Once she has managed to mostly get control of her crying she gingerly gets up. She gets to the door of the office and cautiously opens it and looks around. There aren’t that many people in sight and most importantly she can’t spot Doug.

She carefully exits the office and manages to make it to the showers without anyone stopping her. Once there she focuses on cleaning up. And if she cries a bit it doesn’t matter if she does as the water is louder than the sound of her crying.

For a firehouse shower she takes a long one and it is a relief that her shower isn’t interrupted by a call. Almost as soon as she is out of the shower and dry and dressed again they get a call and she is just relieved that the call wasn’t a few minutes earlier.

They have to drive a bit further than normal to get to the call. As they do they drive higher and have a great view of the ocean. Sometimes Maddie would appreciate that, but right now she doesn’t as Doug’s hand is resting on her thigh and all of her just wants him as far away from her as possible.

Once they get out they all look around them. The ground is a lot of dry mud, with small green shrubs. There are a few paths and Doug lets them know the information dispatch gave them. Which doesn’t turn out to be much as dispatch hasn’t been able to ping the phone and hasn’t had any contact with them since the call dropped.

They follow the path in the direction they have been given from dispatch. They have to just hope it is the correct direction. They follow the path for a bit, all of them looking around, trying to spot any sign of the hiker they are trying to locate. As they are walking Doug has his arm wrapped around Maddie pulling her into his side. Which makes it hard for Maddie to concentrate on looking for the hiker. And yet Maddie is still the first one to spot something.

“I found something,” she says quietly so that only Doug can hear her. When she knows she has his attention she points at it.

“I found something,” Doug declares loudly so that everyone can hear him, sounding all triumphant and proud of himself. He makes his way to a dropped selfie stick with a phone attached to it. “This must be where he went over.”

“Chimney, Hen, go get the winch and guidelines and prep a basket just in case. Eddie and Ravi, get geared up with the ropes. Everyone else gear up as well just in case. I will radio aerial recon to get them on standby.”

Once Doug has given out all of his instructions he gets his radio and calls aerial recon.

Soon Eddie and Ravi are slowly making their way down the cliff. They are careful with their movements as the cliff doesn’t go straight down, it is a bit bumpier. When they are at the bottom of the first part Doug radios them and asks if they can see anything.

Eddie and Ravi both look around and then Eddie spots something. “I think we found something, we will investigate further,” Ravi reports.

Ravi and Eddie are both slightly surprised and horrified when they realise what they have found. “We found human remains cap, skeletal remains.”

“Flag it but don’t disturb it. Continue looking for our live hiker,” Doug says.

Eddie and Ravi confirm that they will. They then hear the sound of someone calling for help so they let Doug know before they then head towards the voice. They soon find their missing hiker. His leg is broken so Doug says he will send down the basket to get him.

Once they get him up they carry him to the ambulance and then Hen and Chimney take him to the hospital. Everyone jumps in the fire engine and then it is just Doug and Maddie.

“It’s a pretty amazing view isn’t it?” Doug asks as he wraps his arm around Maddie.

Maddie nods as she forces herself to smile up at him. “It is pretty romantic,” she says softly.

Doug smiles down at her. “A beautiful spot for my birthday. It would also be a gorgeous view to have sex in front of.”

Maddie somehow manages to not flinch or show any outward reaction. Inside she is yelling at herself for describing this place as romantic. She was just trying to ease Doug’s anger towards her because she knew it was still there. He’s already forced her to have sex with him once today. Isn’t that enough?

Apparently it isn’t. Soon Doug is grabbing her arm and pulling her into the back of the captain’s truck. With where it is parked they can see the ocean out the window.

As Doug does what he wants and what Maddie really really doesn’t want, she stares out the window and tries to just focus on the view. It is a great view. And Doug isn’t as rough this time as he was earlier.

But that doesn’t stop her whole body from screaming at how wrong this feels. It doesn’t stop her from wanting to get as far away as possible.

When he is finished Doug is all smiles as they get back into the front of the captain’s truck. At least he isn’t angry at her any more. He is in a good mood and he is happy with her again. She tries to hold onto that even as deep down her entire being is desperately crying out in agony and pain.

When they return from the call they change the decorations of the firehouse. They keep the upstairs still decorated to celebrate Doug’s birthday but the rest of the firehouse gets decorated for Halloween.

Every year the LAFD encourages the firehouses to decorate and hand out candy to trick or treaters.

Doug loves Halloween, probably helped by the fact that Halloween is his birthday. So he is in a great mood as everyone works together to decorate the firehouse.

Maddie is sent running back and forth, rushing all over the firehouse, as Doug assigns her every small annoying task. Maddie just keeps her head down as she does what Doug tells her to do.

Doug says that if they get any calls, because they are handing out candy and allowing people to come in they will have two people as man behind and he says those two people will be Maddie and Eddie.

Maddie isn’t surprised that she will be the man behind but she is surprised that Doug paired her up with Eddie.

Around 4:00 pm the first trick or treaters start to arrive. They don’t have a call so all of them fuss over the kids who arrive. Soon Maddie is very busy handing out candy.

After a busy rush of kids they hit a lull which allows them a bit of a breather. Partway through that they get a call so then everyone apart from Maddie and Eddie leaves. As they leave Maddie notices Hen and Chimney exchange a look with Eddie and then Eddie briefly gets out his phone and types something on it before then putting it away. Whilst Maddie is confused by that she doesn’t really pay it much attention.

A few minutes later their next group of trick or treaters arrives. It is a large group with everyone all dressed as either a lego piece or a lego minifig. Maddie thinks their costumes are cool.

“Mommy!” one of the lego minifigs says before making their way over to her. Maddie freezes in shock. Although she should have known when she saw the cast on the leg and the cast on the arm. She just wasn’t expecting to see Genevieve and Genevieve is wearing a mask meaning she can’t see her face.

She then also hears Buck’s voice. She tenses and looks around the firehouse, with panicked eyes, half expecting Doug to jump out at her and catch them.

Within seconds her brother is at her side. “It’s alright Mads. Hen and Chimney will text us when they finish their call and are about to come back. There is zero chance of Doug spotting us.”

Maddie slightly relaxes before she has a thought. “But what about Genevieve? She was taken off us. I’m only allowed to see her during supervised contact.”

“There are lots of people watching her, Maddie,” Buck says.

Maddie knows that doesn’t count. But she really needs this time with her daughter so she folds.

She gives Genevieve a massive hug and is happy to sit and listen as Genevieve tells her all sorts of stories about things she has done with Chris. Chris joins in, saying how they have made a massive lego tower. Buck gets out his phone and shows her photos of the tower and Maddie is impressed. She makes sure to let both Genevieve and Chris know how impressed she is and it is clear that both of them are thrilled by that praise.

They stay for a bit longer and Maddie makes the most of her precious time with Genevieve and Buck, so happy to get this unexpected time with them.

It feels way too soon when Eddie and Buck’s phones both ding at the same time and they look at them and then look up at Maddie and she knows it is time to say goodbye. She gives Genevieve and Buck massive goodbye hugs, telling them how much she loves them. She sees that Eddie gives Chris and Buck hugs goodbye and he gives Genevieve a high five goodbye.

And then all too soon they are gone. The firehouse feels way too empty and Maddie’s mood drops. It was great to see them but now the ache of missing them just hits her even deeper.

When everyone else returns Doug’s mood has turned and it is clear that the call didn’t go well. She notices that everyone else seems sad and from the words she picks up before Doug is dragging her to his office she gathers that the call had something to do with a horse that died.

Once they are in Doug’s office Doug goes straight to pull Maddie’s pants down and she feels a piece of her die inside. He’s already done this twice today. Why can’t he just leave her alone?

She knows it is partially because it’s his birthday. Every birthday he goes on about needing to have extra sex to celebrate his birthday.

She closes her eyes and tries to take her mind anywhere else. But she can’t and she is stuck in the office, stuck in her body, as Doug rapes her for the third time that day.

When he has finally finished she feels even more broken than normal. For the rest of her shift she doesn’t interact with anyone. She can’t even force herself to look up, instead her head just automatically moves to stare at the ground as she has to force back the tears and she feels a heavy numbness settle within her.

By the time it is 7:00 am the following morning and their shift is over Maddie feels like she is only half there as she lets Doug pull her to his car.

Chapter Text

A few days after Halloween it is time for Maddie and Doug’s second supervised visit with Genevieve. This time much to Maddie’s surprise and relief Doug says he isn’t going. He states that it is a waste of time and that if Maddie wants to waste her time then she can but he isn’t going to waste his time.

Like last time Maddie has to arrive before Genevieve is due to arrive so that Genevieve doesn’t have to wait for her.

Maddie feels her anticipation build as she waits for Genevieve to arrive and when the door opens and Genevieve and Harriet enter she is filled with happiness.

“Where’s Dad?” Genevieve asks, cautious optimism in her tone.

“He’s not coming today,” Maddie says.

Genevieve cheers loudly. Maddie notices that Harriet writes that down. Last time Harriet made many notes as she observed them.

This time the visit is way easier as they don’t have Doug looming over them.

Genevieve doesn’t censor herself when talking about Buck, Eddie and Chris. Because Doug isn’t in the room she says their names when talking about them.

Maddie and Genevieve spend the two hours at the table, working on drawings together whilst talking about what they have done over the week. Genevieve asks Maddie for the stories of cool calls they have been on. When Maddie starts telling Genevieve about the coolest call of the week Genevieve starts laughing. “Eddie already told me about that call. It must have been really funny if you both wanted to tell me about it.”

Maddie nods. “It was.”

A small part of her feels a bit upset that Genevieve had already heard the story. But she knows Genevieve is thriving where she is and it is good that Buck and Eddie are treating her so well. But she does feel that bit of hurt rise up within her, even though she shoves it down and does what she can to push it to the back of her mind.

The two hours pass way too quickly and soon Maddie reaches the part she dreads. The part where she has to say goodbye to Genevieve.

Once Harriet takes Genevieve away Maddie bursts into tears.

She is sad on the drive home and she wishes things could be different. She wishes that it could be safe for Genevieve to live with her as she misses her daughter so so much but she knows Genevieve is better off with Buck and Eddie.

As soon as she pulls into their driveway Doug storms up to her and her stomach drops. He yanks her out of the car before she has barely had a chance to turn the car off.

As soon as they are inside he pins her against the wall..

“You need to be a better wife Maddie. You should have been spending those hours with me, your husband. You need to rethink your priorities.”

Maddie starts shaking but unlike normal she is shaking with rage, not fear. However she knows that she cannot afford to let her anger out. She clenches her fists and focuses on taking deep breathes, willing herself to calm down.

Doug looks at her and his expression turns. “Are you angry Maddie?” He asks incredulously. “Why on earth are you angry? I’m the one who should be angry as you keep on forgetting what being my wife means.”

Maddie is quick to shake her head. “I’m not angry. And I’m sorry for letting you down. I’ll do better in the future.”

Her head bounces against the wall and seconds later she is on the floor as Doug towers over her.

“Liar,” he hisses.

He spits on her and Maddie flinches.

“Tell me why you are angry!” He demands.

Maddie tries to move backwards but there is nowhere to go. “I’m not angry,” she says, her voice pleading. And it is now true. In an instant her anger disappeared as fear took its place.

Doug rolls his eyes. “Because now you’re all scared and pathetic. But you were angry. Why?”

He punches her again and Maddie whimpers in pain. Looking up at him she knows he isn’t going to let it go. She wonders if she can come up with a believable lie but when she tries to think of something she comes up empty. In the end it doesn’t really matter anyway as he is almost guaranteed to hurt her no matter what she says. So she may as well tell the truth.

“I was angry because you had so little care towards Genevieve. She’s our daughter. Seeing her is not a waste of time. It will never be a waste of time. I know you are first. You are my first priority. But she is my second priority.”

She is lying. Genevieve is her first priority. Genevieve is who she cares about most. Then Buck. And then after Genevieve and Buck is Doug.

When she dares to look up at Doug’s face she is met with pure rage. Doug grabs her by the hair and pulls her upstairs to the bathroom. Maddie starts shaking when she realises where they are going. Not again! She can’t cope with it.

Doug forces Maddie to put the plug in the bath and turn on the tap, taking pleasure in making her be the one to do the preparations for what is coming.

Once the bath is full Doug orders Maddie to get in it saying that after last time he has decided that this way is funner as it allows him to see the terror on her face as he drowns her.

Maddie is trembling before she has even gotten into the bath.

The instant she is in the water Doug pushes her down, face up, so that as panic sets in and she desperately tries to get air she sees his pure joy as her vision starts to fade away.
___

As she follows Doug into the firehouse Maddie feels weak and shaky and each breath takes more effort than it should. Last night Doug spent even longer drowning her than last time. This time it lasted for three hours and he had to do CPR on her four times.

A large part of her is surprised that she even lived to see this day. After the second time he did CPR on her and then immediately put her back under water the instant she started breathing again Maddie was convinced that he would take it too far and that at some point he wouldn’t be able to get her back when he had to do CPR.

Yet she is here. She is alive. But she doesn’t feel like she is living. She is just barely surviving.

Soon after their shift starts Doug disappears into his office. As soon as he does Hen, Eddie and Chimney come over to Maddie.

“Are you alright Maddie?” Hen asks cautiously. “You don’t look very well,” she adds.

Maddie sighs. All of them already know. And it doesn’t matter anyway. If she tells them and Doug finds out and kills her then at least her pain will be over.

“Last night he spent 3 hours drowning me in the bathtub. He had to do CPR 4 times. Honestly, I’m surprised I’m even here. I was kind of expecting him to end up taking it too far and for him to not be able to bring me back.”

Eddie, Chimney and Hen look at her in horror. Maddie sighs. “Eddie, when I die you need to do whatever you can to make sure that you and Buck get Genevieve. Doug cannot get her. I know he is her dad so has the most legal rights to her. But you cannot let him destroy her. You need to fight for her. You and Evan need to fight for Genevieve.”

All three of Eddie, Hen and Chimney look even more alarmed.

“Is there really no way you can safely get out so that he doesn’t end up killing you?” Chimney asks, a heart broken look on his face.

Maddie starts trembling and she has to force herself to not cry. “Unless Athena gets Cassandra and Claribelle documented I can never leave him as he will call ICE on them meaning they will be deported and Cassandra’s ex will kill them both. I will never put my safety above theirs. Even if it means Doug kills me.”

Hen, Chimney and Eddie all still look horrified but she sees a bit of defeat settle in their eyes as well, all of them knowing that Maddie will never change her mind on what she just said.

There is so much pain in Chimney’s eyes when he speaks. “Well no matter what we will always be here for you. If you need anything no matter how big or small we will all do whatever we can for you.”

Maddie’s eyes start to water. “Thanks,” she whispers.

“I promise we will do whatever we can to get permanent custody of Genevieve if anything happens to you,” Eddie says.

Some relief fills Maddie’s body. “Thanks.”

Hen looks hesitant before she speaks. “Maybe when possible Chimney, Eddie and I should start taking photos of your injuries. Even if not for your benefit then to prove Doug isn’t safe to have Genevieve so that she can stay with Buck and Eddie.”

Maddie swallows before nodding. “That makes sense. Though right now none of my injuries have visible marks. But when I next have visible marks, if I can get a moment alone with either of the three of you then you can take photos.”

Eddie, Hen and Chimney all nod. They then hear Doug’s office door opening so they quickly disperse and Maddie makes her way to Doug’s side as she wraps an arm around him. He has just pulled her closer to him when the bells ring.

As they make their way to the scene they are grateful for the sirens that mean all the cars move to clear a path for them as the backup and traffic jam is intense, even for LA standards. Eventually they get through all of the traffic and they pull up on scene to see that the police, including Athena, have beaten them there.

Doug is filled with irritation. He doesn’t mind the calls where someone is in actual danger and needs help. But he hates the calls where it is a result of someone being stupid. And this is definitely a new one. There is a woman, standing up on the freeway sign, with a massive sign saying ‘see me Norman.’

Because the sign is on the overpass Doug gets Maddie, Eddie and Ravi to take the engine and go up to the top street so that can get to her from above. He then gets Lucy, Max, Hen and Chimney to work on setting up an air bag underneath in case the woman falls.

He hears Athena over the loud speaker talking to the woman, trying to talk some sense into her. It means he finds out that the idiot's name is Lola. He already hates her. She is wasting everyone’s time.

Lola then starts whining about how her husband doesn’t see her. Doug rolls his eyes in frustration.

Athena turns to Doug and tells him to get someone to move onto the sign to try and help Lola off it. Doug nods and speaks into the radio. “Maddie, go down onto the sign. Maybe she’ll be able to relate to you, after all both of you are terrible wives.”

Athena glares at Doug but he doesn’t care. He knows that if she could she would arrest him. But there is nothing she can get him for so he feels like laughing in her face. He doesn’t though as right now he is stuck working with her.

Doug sees Maddie climbing over the sign, to where Lola is and he radios for Chim, Hen, Lucy and Max to move the air bag into position. The four of them start running the air bag underneath her.

When Lola sees the airbag she starts screaming. “No, no, no, no, no, no. What are you doing? I told you.”

She starts getting all frantic and Doug feels his frustration building.

“It’s just there for your safety Lola,” Athena says.

Lola pulls out a gun and shoots the air bag. Horror fills Doug as Maddie happens to get onto the same small landing that Lola is on at that exact moment.

It feels like everything freezes as he watches Lola panic and turn to face Maddie. He sees Maddie raise her arms defensively in a clear surrender position. But Lola must ignore that as before Doug knows what is happening he watches Lola shoot Maddie. He watches his wife be shot.

He sees Maddie crumple and she falls off the platform. Eddie and Ravi are holding the safety rope that Maddie is attached to so they are quick to grab onto it which stops her from falling the rest of the way.

Lola points her gun at Athena and her finger moves. Before Lola can fire, another gunshot sounds and this time Lola is the one collapsing.

Doug frantically runs to underneath where Maddie is. He radios Eddie and Ravi to lower Maddie down knowing that will be quicker as the ambulance is on the lower level where he is, rather than the higher level where Eddie and Ravi are.

He yells at Chimney and Hen to grab a stretcher and soon they are all at Maddie’s side. Doug feels fear when he sees the amount of blood coming out of Maddie. He presses down, to create pressure to help stop the blood from coming out.

Chimney and Hen get Maddie on the stretcher and they run her to the ambulance, Doug running at the same pace as them as he keeps pressure on her wound. Just before they get into the ambulance he yells at Eddie that Eddie is temporarily in charge.

Hen is the fastest driver so Doug orders her to go in the front and then he and Chimney get into the back with Maddie, slamming the door closed.

He feels his heart racing as Chimney works on Maddie. Thankfully the hospital is close by. Maddie is still breathing when they get there but he is really scared by the amount of blood she has lost. Once they have passed her off to the doctors Doug stumbles towards the waiting room and then collapses on the floor there.

A few minutes later he sees Lola being rushed in and rage fills him.

He knows that this hospital has a gym that is open to the public. And he doesn’t have his Maddie right here with him so he needs another way to let out his rage. So he makes his way to the gym and thankfully there is a punching bag available. He pretends that the punching bag is Lola and soon he is attacking it with an uncontrollable level of fury.
___

Buck is making cookies with Chris and Genevieve when his phone rings. It is Eddie. He smiles as he picks it up.

“Hey! You’re on speaker with Chris, Genevieve and I.”

“Take it off speaker.”

Eddie’s voice sounds off and terror fills Buck. He turns to Genevieve and Chris. “Want to watch some Bluey?”

They both cheer happily. Buck gets them set up on the couch, relieved that as Genevieve’s concussion has now healed she no longer has to be kept away from screens.

He then goes to his and Eddie’s bedroom and shuts the door.

“Genevieve and Chris can’t hear me now. Is Maddie alright?”

“She got shot on a call. We don’t know if she will make it.”

Buck’s legs give out and he collapses to the floor. He probably should have sat down before he asked Eddie what happened.

“I need to see her,” he says.

“You can’t,” Eddie says, his voice full of sorrow and it is clear he doesn’t want to say that Buck can’t see Maddie.

“But she could die!” Buck says, feeling equal parts fear and anger. He needs to see his sister.

“If she survives this but you visit her and Doug sees you then he will probably kill her. He’s getting worse,” Eddie says.

“But—”

“Buck, earlier today she told Hen, Chimney and I that last night Doug spent 3 hours drowning her. He had to perform CPR on her four times. He is getting way too close to killing her. I know you desperately want to see her. But it is way too dangerous.”

Buck hears a loud wailing sound and it takes him a few seconds to realise it is him making that sound.

A few seconds later there is some gentle worried knocking at his bedroom door. “Uncle Buck?” Genevieve’s worried voice says. Chris’s voice also sounds through the door.

Buck gulps. “What am I supposed to tell Genevieve?” he whispers.

“I will be home in a few minutes. Dispatch has put us offline for the rest of the shift. For now just go to her. We can figure out what to say when I get home.”

Eddie hangs up and Buck opens the bedroom door to a scared looking Genevieve and Chris. Buck feels his heart breaking. What if Maddie dies? How is he supposed to live in a world without Maddie and how is he supposed to tell Genevieve her mom is gone?
____

Doug paces the waiting room impatiently. Hen and Chimney are also there which just makes him more agitated. But he can tell that they aren’t going anywhere meaning he is stuck with them.

Hours and hours pass before a nurse is finally coming out, asking for the family of Maddie Kendall. Doug is quick to stand up.

“Will she be alright?” he asks.

“We can’t 100% confirm that but we are pretty sure she is out of the woods. She required surgery as she was shot in the liver and right kidney. Our surgeon was able to fix the damage. It will probably be around a week before she can return home and then a few months before she is fully healed.”

Doug feels relief fill him. Maddie will be alright. He can’t live without his Maddie so now that he knows she will be ok he can finally breathe again.

“Can I see her?” He asks.

The nurse nods. “But only for 20 minutes. She is more alert than we expected but she still needs rest.”
___

It hurts.

She has had worse pain before. But that doesn’t change how much this hurts.

The machines all around her feel familiar. It isn’t exactly her first time in the hospital. But it is her first time being shot. Her brain repeats the memory of feeling the intense hot metal inside of her that felt like it was burning her from the inside out. She whimpers, feeling the pain coming from where she was shot.

The doctor has already explained her injuries to her and Maddie is terrified of Doug’s reaction. He is going to be so mad at how long it will take for her to heal.

Ok, the doctor also brought up her medical history and asked her if she needed help. Maddie hates how that now happens every single time she ends up here. She understands it, her medical history is very very long. But she isn’t able to leave Doug so she hates feeling like people are judging her for not leaving. They don’t understand.

The door to her room opens and a nurse and Doug enter.

“I’ll be back in 20 minutes,” the nurse says before closing the door and leaving Maddie alone with Doug.

Doug rushes to her side and holds her hand in his.

“I was so worried about you Maddie,” he says.

He looks genuinely worried and upset so Maddie lets herself relax.

Suddenly he slaps her in the face and she gasps in shock. She then gets mad at herself for relaxing. She should have known this was coming, why was she so surprised?

“How could you have been so stupid? If you die I won’t be able to carry on. I need you Maddie. I can’t live without you. Next time be more careful. I can’t trust you to do anything.”

Maddie gulps. “I’m sorry Doug.”

He glares at her. “The doctors say it will probably take you months to recover. Months Maddie.”

Maddie can feel herself shrinking and she hates it.

“Sometimes it is so hard to love you Maddie. You’re lucky I will always be there for you. No one else would. You need to be better.”

Maddie nods, hating herself when she starts crying. “I’m so sorry Doug. I didn’t mean to cause you worry.”

Doug sighs. He reaches out and strokes her hair. “I love you Maddie. But you need to learn.”

At those familiar words Maddie tenses. Surely he isn’t going to hurt her now? Not when she has just survived being shot.

Doug sees the way she tenses and he laughs. “Really Maddie? Stop acting like I’m some big scary monster you need to be afraid of. I’m your husband. Being scared of me is silly.”

Doug stands up and heads to the door, opening it just as the nurse returns. Doug leaves the room and the nurse comes in and does some checks. Maddie is on edge the whole time the nurse does the checks and the second the nurse is gone and she is alone she bursts into tears.

She is a terrible wife. She should have been more careful and made sure to not be shot. She should have thought about Doug. Despair fills her.

She is still crying when the door opens again and she tenses, not ready to face Doug again.

When she sees that it is Hen and Chimney she sobs even more, this time it is tears of relief.

“Hi Maddie,” Hen says as she and Chimney come and sit down on the chairs next to her.

“Is it my fault?” Maddie asks.

Hen and Chimney look confused.

“If I had done things differently could I have managed to not have gotten shot? Doug is blaming me for it and he is mad at me for getting myself shot.”

“It is not your fault!” Hen says fiercely.

“None of us knew she had a gun until she was pulling it out and shooting,” Chimney adds.

Maddie looks down. “I still should have known better,” she mumbles.

There is a small pause filled with silence before Hen breaks it. “Do you want to talk to your brother? He won’t come and visit, but only because he doesn’t want to put you in more danger if Doug spots him. Eddie had the hard task of stopping Buck from rushing to your side. But you could video call him on my phone and one of Chimney and I can keep watch so we know if Doug is about to come into the room.”

Maddie gives a small smile. “That would be nice.”

Chimney goes and sits outside of the room, telling them he will knock and then open the door and come in, if he sees Doug approaching.

Once Chimney is on guard Hen then video calls Buck. He answers on the first ring. “Hen! Is Maddie alright?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself,” Hen replies, turning the camera so that Buck can see Maddie.

“Maddie!” Buck exclaims. “How are you? I hope it doesn’t hurt a lot.”

Maddie gives a quiet shrug. “It hurts a lot but I’ve had way worse pain many times before so it’s alright. I can deal with it.”

Buck looks slightly ill at that comment and a look at Hen reveals that she does as well.

“How’s Genevieve?” Maddie asks.

“She’s doing well,” Buck says.

“Does she know, that, well . . .” Maddie trails of.

“She knows you got hurt at work but that you will be alright. She seemed a bit sad by that but mostly shrugged it off, saying she is used to you being hurt.”

Maddie winces and feels shame rush through her. She is a terrible parent.

“She shouldn’t be used to that,” Maddie whispers. “I hate that it has become so normalised for her. I’m a terrible parent.”

“You’re a great parent Maddie,” Buck says passionately. “She loves you.”

“She’s doing way better with you and Eddie. She’s way happier there. Which is proof I’m failing her.”

“She’s happier here because she is away from Doug. She misses you so much. Doug is the bad parent. Not you.”

Maddie just shrugs. Buck might believe she is a good parent but she isn’t. She can’t provide a safe environment for her daughter. Her daughter is happier away from her than with her.

Maddie needs the conversation to be changed. “What have Genevieve and Chris been up to today? How tall is the lego tower now?”

Buck grins and starts talking enthusiastically about what they have been doing. As she listens to the comforting voice of her brother Maddie starts to become sleepy and she feels her eyes drifting closed. She vaguely is aware of Buck saying bye to her before she then falls asleep.

Chapter Text

After a week of being in the hospital Maddie is ready to be discharged. It still hurts where she got shot but Maddie is used to being in pain and overall she is currently in less pain than she normally is which causes her to be in a more positive mood.

If anything she is more upset that because she was in the hospital for a week she missed one of her visits with Genevieve. Buck assured Maddie that he let Harriet know what happened so Maddie not attending won’t be held against her. But that doesn’t take away the ache of missing her daughter.

Doug still hasn’t attended any of the anger management classes and at this point Maddie thinks that might be a good thing as Doug is getting worse, not better, therefore Genevieve is safer with Buck and Eddie.

On the day she is to be discharged Doug comes to pick her up. He is silent on the drive home and Maddie can’t tell what he is thinking which puts her on full alert.

“Guest bedroom,” Doug stays stiffly, the second they get home.

Maddie just nods as she makes her way there, Doug following close behind.

When she enters the room she sees that there is a chain attached to the heavy leg of the bed. Her stomach sinks. Doug then attaches the other end of the chain around her right ankle.

“You’ll stay here until you’ve recovered. This was your fault so you will be all alone in your recovery.”

He then closes and locks the door behind him.

When he is gone Maddie looks around the room. The tv has been removed. The room itself only contains a bed and then in one corner of the room on the floor there is a bowl, spoon, can opener and a pile of canned food. A massive amount of canned food. Several months worth. When she ventures into the bathroom she sees that it is pretty bare boned. Just the basics.

She is sore and tired so she climbs onto the bed. The ankle chain does slightly interfere with finding a comfortable position but she knows she will have to get used to it so she tries to just ignore it as she settles down and eventually she falls asleep.
___

On Doug’s first shift back after Maddie got shot he is in a grumpy mood so everyone goes out of their way to avoid him.

Their first call is just a simple medical call so only Chimney and Hen are able to escape the tense atmosphere that is currently cloaking the firehouse.

They pull up to a gas station and get out the gurney before making their way in. It turns out that their patient was trying to rob the place and when it went wrong she tried to climb into the roof to escape. Only for the roof to give way underneath her causing her to fall to the ground.

Chim and Hen get her onto the gurney and take her to the hospital.

Considering Doug’s very clear anger they decide to take their time returning to the firehouse. Doug doesn’t ever care if they don’t return to the firehouse in between calls. It is only when Maddie is one of the ones on the ambulance that he cares as then he wants her close to where he is.

Neither Hen or Chimney vocalise it but it is clear that both of them are worried about Maddie. They don’t know how long it will take her to heal but it could be months until they next see her.
____

Maddie is bored. Doug stripped the room of all of its entertainment so it is literally just her and food. And nothing else to do.

She tries counting as high as she can to pass some time but that is even more boring than doing nothing. The room doesn’t have a clock so she can’t even tell how much time has passed.

The room does have a window but it is a high one. Which she can reach, although to look out it she has to stand as there are no chairs in the room and the bed isn’t close enough to the window for her to sit on that instead.

The guest bedroom is at the back of the house meaning her view out of the window is off their backyard and then the cottage where Cassandra and Claribelle live. Not that she has seen either of them in ages. She doesn’t know when she last saw them but she knows it was before Genevieve got taken by CPS. She wonders how they are doing.

She stands at the window for a while although nothing outside changes so the view is kind of boring. Eventually her legs get really tired of standing and she feels the pain in her abdomen forcing her to sit down. So she makes her way back to the bed, away from the window, where her only view is the white walls of the room and the large pile of food in the corner.
___

The station remains tense. Doug shuts himself in his office which does help a little bit but everyone keeps on sending wary glances in that direction.

When they get a call Doug doesn’t even look at any of them as he emerges from his office and gets into the captain’s truck. Everyone exchanges looks before Chim and Hen jump into the ambulance and everyone else gets into the captain’s truck and they then follow the captain’s truck to their next call.

When they get closer to the scene they see that police are already there, blocking off the road. When they arrive the police move the cones and direct them through. As they get closer they spot Athena and she uses hand gestures to direct where they should drive their vehicles to.

Once they are stopped all of them hop out and Doug makes his way over to Athena. “What happened?”

“Another car drifted into their lane, the driver tried to avoid getting hit but it resulted in the car going off the road. Our driver is Paul Williams but we don’t have any id on the passenger. It’s bad. The car’s wrapped tight around the tree.”

Doug gives a grim nod as he moves in that direction, to assess the situation. The side that the car went off is slightly downhill so they have to watch where they step as they make their way to the car.

‘Eddie, Ravi, go round the other side of the car and check if you can get in and assess the passenger. Lucy, Max, see if you can get into this side of the car,” Doug instructs.

Everyone nods and moves to follow Doug’s instructions.

There are branches all over the car. When Ravi gets a closer look he can tell it is bad. “The tree is folded right into the car.”

When Doug sees that Eddie is now round the other side of the car he asks if Eddie can reach the passenger. Eddie leans into the car. He can reach her and he checks her pulse, relief filling him when he can feel it. “I found a pulse. She’s alive.”

“I don’t have a clear path to the groom. Does anyone else?” Lucy asks.

There is a chorus of nos. Doug reaches for his radio. “Hen, Chimney, we need the jaws.” He then does a general report into the radio for everyone still up the top. “We have two passengers in bad shape. One is confirmed alive and we currently don’t have any access to the other passenger to be able to assess their condition.”

Max moves closer to the vehicle, trying to get to Paul. “Paul, can you hear me? It's the LAFD.” He hears some moaning which is a relief.

“Cap, he’s alive, I can hear him moaning.”

Doug is quick to update everyone using the radio.

Hen and Chimney bring the jaws down and soon they are getting into the car. With the help of the jaws they soon have a lot easier access to the female passenger. Chimney gets a neck brace on her. Everyone then comes together to help carefully get her out of the car and ease her onto the backboard. Once they get her out it is clear her injuries are not good and there is a lot of blood.

Chimney quickly assesses her. “She has an open femoral fracture on her right leg.”

“And a probable broken pelvis,” Hen adds. “We need to move her, now.”

All of them get around the backboard and Doug gives the count, and then they all lift her up and carry her to the ambulance. Lucy and Hen go with the ambulance, Lucy driving it and Hen in the back.

Athena is the incident commander so Doug tells her they will need another ambulance, before looking up and seeing that it is starting to get dark. He is quick to say they need to get some lights down here and that they need to pick up the pace.

As they go back to the car to work on getting Paul out the darkness starts to set in. Eddie reassures Paul that they are going to get him out.

Chimney climbs into the back of the car to try to get to Paul. But there are so many branches and bits of tree inside that he has to spend a few minutes clearing it before he can then reach Paul. Once the branches are out of the way Chimney is able to get a neck brace on Paul.

Paul then starts saying that he is so tired. Chimney and Eddie exchange looks. Eddie starts talking to Paul, trying to keep him alert and conscious. Chimney jumps out of the vehicle and goes to where Doug and Ravi are.

“We’re running out of time. Do we have a plan to get him out?” Chimney asks.

Doug looks angry at the assumption that he doesn’t have a plan. Although he doesn’t.

Ravi is the one that ends up replying. “We’re working on it. It’s like the car went through a crusher with Paul still inside meaning we can’t just cut him out.”

At those words Doug’s eyes light up and it is clear he has had an idea. Soon they are getting the tow truck that happens to be on scene and the fire engine. They get both sides of the car attached to it and then they are able to stretch the car out enough to allow them enough space to get Paul out of the car.

“Get a backboard in here,” Doug says.

Max arrives with one and soon all of them are getting Paul onto the backboard. When they get Paul carried out to the road the 126 has sent an ambulance so they load Paul into the ambulance and then the paramedics from the 126 take him to the hospital.

Once the ambulance has gone Chimney turns to Doug. “That was a good idea Cap. We wouldn’t have gotten him out in time if you hadn’t come up with it.”

Chimney hates Doug, therefore he hates complimenting him. But the compliment does what he was intending as Doug smiles and when they return to the fire house Doug is in a way better mood and the atmosphere in the fire house is way better.
___

After his shift Doug is sitting in his bedroom. Alone. Which infuriates him. Maddie should be with him. But Maddie needs to learn her lesson and isolation normally works a treat. By the time he lets her out she will be so desperate for stimulation and interaction that she will be all over him, desperate for any attention he will give her. Which is how he likes it.

He is going through Maddie’s phone, making sure she isn’t hiding anything from him when the phone dings with a text. He glares at the phone before clicking onto the text.

It is from Harriet, reminding Maddie about the scheduled 2 hour visit with Genevieve the next day. The text states how important it is that these visits are attended by at least one of them, but preferably both of them in order to build a good case to get her back.

Doug groans. He had forgotten about that. He doesn’t care about Genevieve. But he does need her back in order to keep up appearances. However he definitely isn’t letting Maddie see Genevieve tomorrow. Maddie needs to be punished. Anger works through him when he realises that means he is going to have to be the one to visit Genevieve.

The next day he is in a grumpy mood as he angrily makes his way to the contact centre. He gets there at the required time and heads to the room he is told to go to.

He sits down at the table. Genevieve happily enters the room, with Harriet behind her. She freezes when she spots him. “Where’s Mommy?” she asks, her voice wobbling.

If Harriet wasn’t watching he would let out a harsh scoff. But she is watching so he forces his annoyance down, knowing he can let out his rage at a later stage.

“She’s tired. She got hurt at work a little while ago. But I’m here.”

Genevieve just stares at him. He sees Harriet taking notes and he feels his frustration grow. Why can’t Genevieve just behave and be happy to see him? He’s her dad after all.

Knowing he has to keep up appearances for Harriet’s sake he looks around the room trying to see what toys or games look the least annoying. He sees some paper and markers and shrugs. That could work.

“Want to do some drawing together? I could tell you some cool work stories?” he asks, trying to make his voice sound exciting.

Genevieve stares at him but slowly edges forward. She does end up sitting down at the table but she chooses the seat furthest from him. Doug pretends to not notice that. He passes her some paper and markers. And he ends up grabbing some paper himself. He did enjoy drawing as a kid. Well, until his dad ripped up his drawings saying that drawing is for girls.

They sit in silence as Genevieve draws stuff, purposely not looking at him. Doug doesn’t particularly care to look at her either so he focuses on his paper. Without even realising what he is working on he finds himself drawing a fire engine. A very detailed one. He works on it for an hour and then realises he is quite proud of it. He smiles to himself. He then looks at the clock. There is still 45 minutes left of this visit. He groans internally.

He then remembers that Harriet is taking notes. He doesn’t mind pretending that Genevieve isn’t here and it is clear Genevieve wants to ignore him as well. But if he wants her back he probably needs to try and interact with her.

“Do you like the fire truck I drew?” He asks Genevieve, pushing his drawing over to her.

Genevieve jumps when she hears his voice before she cautiously edges her hand towards the piece of paper and picks it up. He hears her gasp when she sees it. “That is so cool dad! I didn’t know you could draw. It’s really good.” she says quietly, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Genevieve grabs another piece of paper along with a red marker and a black marker. “I’m gonna try and draw a fire engine as well!”

She draws for a minute before looking up at him. “You should do more drawing Daddy. It’s cool.”

Much to his surprise for the rest of the visit he and Genevieve keep up a conversation with no difficulty at all. He has basically never talked to his daughter like this before and he is surprised at how easy it is.

When Harriet says the session is over Genevieve asks Doug if she can keep the drawing of the fire engine that he did. Doug nods and Genevieve gives him a happy hug which startles him.

Once Genevieve and Harriet have gone, Doug feels frozen in surprise. He wasn’t expecting to enjoy the visit.

He hates the idea of being told what to do and that he needs to go to anger management classes to get Genevieve back. He can control his anger fine when he wants to. But once he walks out of the building he finds himself looking at the details he was given for it. He sees that there is a class in one hour so he makes his way there.
___

There is a knock on the door and Buck smiles. “Genevieve must be back.”

Sure enough when Eddie opens the door Genevieve is there, holding a few drawings. They wave bye to Harriet and then help Genevieve make her way to the table, where Buck is serving up pancakes.

“Did you have a good time seeing your mom?” Eddie asks.

Genevieve deflates. “Mom wasn’t there.”

Buck and Eddie look at each other in confusion. “Did you just spend the time with Harriet then, waiting for your mom to arrive?” Eddie asks.

Genevieve shakes her head. “Dad was there.”

Buck and Eddie’s eyes widen in twin shocked expressions. “How did that go?” Buck asks cautiously.

Genevieve gives a shrug. “It was very quiet at the beginning. We just sat at the table. He gave me some paper and markers so I did some drawing. I ignored him and he ignored me. But then near the end he showed me the drawing he did. His drawing was super cool. I told him how much I liked it. After that we talked and he actually listened to me. That’s never happened before.”

She then holds out a piece of paper. “I didn’t know Daddy could draw but it turns out he is really good. He let me keep it when I asked if I could.”

Buck and Eddie look at the paper. And Genevieve is right. That is a very good drawing of a fire engine. Both of them are surprised. They didn’t know Doug was good at drawing.

“I did miss Mom,” Genevieve says looking down. “I asked Dad where she was. He said she was tired.”

Buck and Eddie exchange looks of concern. They know that Maddie would never let being tired stop her from seeing Genevieve meaning something must have happened to prevent her from going. They know they will definitely voice these concerns. But later, in the evening, once Chris and Genevieve are in bed.

Soon, they are all making crazy pancake decorations. Once they have decorated their pancakes and taken photos of all of them with their creations Eddie cuts up Genevieve’s pancakes for her. Until her arm is out of the cast that is something that is still necessary.
___

She is desperate for any human contact. Any outside stimulation. She is bored out of her mind. Maddie has read every single can label multiple times. She has spent hours staring out the window. Hours staring at the ceiling. She has run through all the songs in her head that she knows multiple times. But none of that helps. Time still seems to crawl.

She is so so bored.
___

Today is the day where Genevieve has her check up to see how healed her arm and leg is. Genevieve is nervous, hoping that her casts can come off but scared she will have to keep them on even longer.

Buck and Eddie are both hoping that Genevieve will get to take them off and it is clear Chris is also hoping for that.

Chris asks if he can come with them. Eddie and Buck ask Genevieve what she thinks and she is happy with that idea especially when Chris asks if they can get ice cream afterwards.

So they make their way to her appointment, with both kids viewing it as a fun family outing.

After all the checks are done the doctor tells them that it is good news and that both her arm cast and leg cast can come off today. Genevieve cheers in happiness. Chris does as well.

Genevieve doesn’t look so happy when she sees the saw they will have to use to get the casts off. She looks at in fear. “I’ve changed my mind. The casts can stay on,” she says.

Buck kneels down so he is at her level. “I know it’s scary Genevieve. But all of us are here with you and it will be quick.”

Genevieve looks at the saw, distrust and doubt in her eyes. “What if it cuts me?”

Buck shakes his head. “It won’t. These saws are made in a certain way that means that they are not able to cut skin. It’s impossible. It might tickle and you might feel some movements. But it won’t get you.”

Genevieve screws at her face, looking at Buck seriously. “Do you promise it won’t hurt me?”

Buck nods. “I promise.” Before he realises what he is doing he then holds out his pinky finger.

Genevieve lights up. “A pinky promise! Mommy does those. She says they are important and that you should only ever do a pinky promise for a promise you know you can keep.”

Buck nods. “Your mom is the one who taught me about pinky promises.”

Genevieve relaxes as she extends her pinky finger and links it with Bucks, the power of pinky promises giving her complete trust that she will be safe.

Soon both her casts are gone. When she tries moving her leg and arm it feels strange after so long with them in the casts. They both feel so light as well. When she tests walking she stumbles a bit.

Eddie tells her it will take a while to get the strength in her leg back but they can do some fun exercises that will help with that.

“Is it ice cream time?” Chris asks.

Buck laughs and nods.

Soon they are all eating ice cream and laughing at the funny stories Buck tells them.
___

The house feels so empty. He considers letting Maddie out as he misses her company. But that would defeat the purpose of her punishment.

He ends up finding some paper and pens. He stares at it for a long time, indecision plaguing him. Then he remembers that it has been decades since he let his dad control him. If he wants to draw then he will. Maybe he can do some drawings for Genevieve. It will look good for Harriet’s notes if he does.
___

When they arrive for their next shift Doug is in a surprisingly cheerful mood. They have basically never seen him this upbeat and all of them are in shock.

Partway through their shift Doug calls all of them to the loft. On the table next to him there is a lot of paper along with markers, and colored pencils.

“I figured we could have some fun. We will have a drawing competition. You have two weeks and then I will pick the best one. We can then use the drawings for decoration. Whoever does the best drawing will get an extra week of paid leave that they can use at any time.”

There is silence for a few seconds.

Chimney and Hen look alarmed, like they think Doug has grown a second head.

“Do you like drawing?” Ravi asks.

Doug nods. “Yes. I haven’t done it in years but then I was drawing with my daughter the other day. I drew a fire engine which she loved. So I thought it would be cool if we did some drawing as well. Oh, that reminds me. You can get your kids and their friends to enter as well. The best drawing by a kid will win that kid a ride along for a day where they will be allowed to go on the safer calls, the chief has already approved it.”

Doug then makes his way to his office.

Once he has gone everyone starts talking, very confused with his change in mood.

“Are any of you going to enter?” Ravi asks.

Eddie shrugs. “I’m not really good at drawing.”

“A paid week off is a paid week off,” Chimney comments.

Everyone nods in agreement.

Soon the firehouse is full of people drawing. Which is definitely a different sight compared to normal. When the bells go off it is clear that several of them are disappointed to have to stop working on their drawings.

They arrive on scene to see an older man trapped in between his car and the gate. The call ends up being a hard one. Soon after the older man dies his husband also dies. Everyone is reflective for a minute.

Doug thinks it is perfect. They lived together, grew old together and died together. Just like he wants for him and his Maddie.

Chapter Text

Much to Doug’s surprise he finds himself looking forward to his next visit with Genevieve. Is this why Maddie was so sad about not getting to see Genevieve?

One day when he is shopping he comes across a lego fire engine. It is perfect so he buys it knowing he will bring it to the next visit.

He also attends the anger management classes. He doesn’t bother properly listening. He has no desire to control his anger. He is fine the way he is. The only requirement was that he attends the classes, it never said anything about him paying attention to the classes.

Soon his next visit with Genevieve arrives. He gets there on time, bringing the lego fire engine with him along with a few drawings he has done and some paper and markers just in case the room they are using this week doesn’t have any. Although when he checks he sees that it does.

When Genevieve arrives with Harriet she looks around. “Is Mom still tired?” she asks.

Doug nods. “She is. But I brought a lego fire truck we can make together.”

Genevieve’s eyes widen in delight. “I love lego! I dressed up as a lego minifig for Halloween, that’s how much I love lego.”

Doug smiles. She liked his gift. Good.

“As well as the lego I also brought with me some drawings I did this week.”

Genevieve’s face lights up. “Yay! Your drawings are cool. I also brought some drawings to show you too!”

She shows him the drawings she has done. They are quite messy. He doesn’t know what level of drawing is considered good for a five year old. When he doesn’t comment on them her face falls and he sees Harriet writing something down. Realising his error he tells Genevieve her drawings are really good. Genevieve smiles at that.

Genevieve seems interested in the lego fire engine so they get down on the floor and make a start on it. Genevieve says she is happy that her casts are finally off as it means she is able to get down on the floor. It hadn’t even occurred to Doug that having casts would prevent her from being able to do that.

As they work on the lego fire engine Doug tells Genevieve about the kids drawing contest the fire station is running. He tells her that because he is judging and she is his daughter it won’t be possible for her to win, however she can still do drawings for it and they will then be hung up in the firehouse along with the other drawings entered. Genevieve seems happy with that even though she can’t win so Doug tells her to bring any drawings that she wants to enter with her next week when he sees her. Genevieve nods.

When the visit is over they do an exchange of drawings with Doug taking home the drawings Genevieve did and Genevieve taking away the drawings Doug did.
___

When Genevieve is dropped off she shows them all the drawings Doug gave her.

When Buck and Eddie look through them they are begrudgingly impressed with them. They don’t want to be but his drawings are good.

Eddie tells Chris and Genevieve about the kids drawing contest. Genevieve nods enthusiastically. “Daddy told me about that today! Though he said I won’t be able to win because he is judging so it wouldn’t be fair for me to enter. But I can still do drawings and bring them to him the next time I see him and he will hang them up in the firehouse with the other entries.”

“Am I allowed to enter the competition?” Chris asks.

Eddie nods. The kids seem a bit confused by that but after some explaining they understand.

“We need more drawing supplies,” Genevieve declares.

Chris nods in firm agreement. Soon they are at the shops buying all sorts of pencils, pens, crayons and all the other essential supplies needed to make the best drawings possible.

Once they get home Genevieve and Chris monopolise the table, spilling out all their drawing supplies as they get to work. They end up eating dinner in front of tv as the table has been taken over.
___

Maddie hears a sound and she jumps violently. Once the rapid beating of her heart has returned to normal she gets as close to the door as the chain will let her get as she strains to hear what is happening in the rest of the house. Doug must be home.

She wants to yell for him to hear her. She feels like she is going crazy and she is desperate for human interaction and she is close to making enough of a noise that Doug will come in here to shut her up. At least she wouldn’t be alone if he did that.

She starts sobbing. She can’t do this. She needs this to end.

She has no clue how much time has passed. The pain from where she got shot has mostly disappeared and she can tell it is starting to heal. Normally if she had managed to have injuries heal with no new ones in that time she would be overjoyed.

But she has never been lower.

She lies on the bed and stares at the ceiling. She has run out of thoughts. Run out of ways to try and pass the endless amount of time. She is blank. She is empty. She is numb.
____

There is anticipation in the air at the fire house when Doug gets ready to announce the winners of the drawing contest. B shift and C shift heard about it and got invested in it so both their captains agreed that if any of them won then they would get the same prize offered to the A shift - the paid week of that they could use whenever they wanted.

Doug smiles at the suspense as everyone gathers round. He is holding the winning drawing for the adults competition, only right now no one else can see the drawing as he is holding it with the back of it facing everyone.

“Drumroll please,” he announces, loving the excitement in the air.

Everyone obliges and the drumroll gets intense.

“The winner of the adults drawing competition who will get the week off is . . . . . Lucy from A shift!!!!”

Lucy grins with happiness and all of A shift cheers, thrilled that the winner was on the A shift.

He holds up Lucy’s drawing and everyone compliments it, agreeing that it is amazing. And it is.

Once everyone has had a good look at Lucy’s drawing Doug gets everyone’s focus again.

“And now for the kids drawing contest.”

Obviously, none of the kids who entered are currently here. But the people who are here are just as excited.

“Drumroll please.”

Once again everyone happily does so.

“For the kids contest the winner is . . . . Christopher Diaz, Eddie’s son.”

Doug then holds up Chris’s drawing. He didn’t want to choose Chris as the winner. Because Chris is Eddie’s son and Eddie is married to Evan. But Chris’s drawing was just that much better than all the other drawings so in the end he knew that Chris had to be the winner.

Eddie looks surprised but pleased that Chris won. Once everyone has finished congratulating Eddie on Chris’s behalf Doug asks Eddie if he can speak to him in his office.

Once they are in his office Doug turns to Eddie. “For Chris’s prize ride along you can choose any day within the next month, just let me know in advance. He can also have one friend. And as much as I hate it, if the ridealong is before Maddie returns then I will allow your husband to come as well. Although I know he hates me so I’m sure he won’t.”
___

Eddie can’t wait till the end of his shift so he can tell Chris that he won.

Once he gets home he sees Buck, Genevieve and Chris all gathered on the floor, around the lego fire engine that Genevieve brought back after seeing Doug.

“Today Doug announced the winners of the drawing competitions.”

That gets everyone’s attention. All of them put the lego down and look at him in anticipation. “The adult competition was won by Lucy.”

Silence. Which is fair. Buck has only met Lucy the few times the 132 and 118 have been on calls together. And Chris and Genevieve have no clue who she is.

“And the kids competition was won by . . .”

He pauses for dramatic effect. Chris glares at him. “Who won Dad?”

Eddie smiles. “You did!”

Chris stares in surprise. Genevieve claps happily. “You won! That is so cool!!!”

“The prize was a ride along right?” Buck asks. Eddie nods.

Chris laughs. “I’ve had heaps of ride alongs before with Buck and Bobby.”

“Well this time you get to go on one with your dad,” Buck says.

Chris grins. “That will be fun. But I wish Buck and Genevieve could come too.”

The mood sinks a little bit. “Well, you are allowed to choose a friend. But unfortunately it can’t be Genevieve as her dad isn’t allowed to know where she is staying.”

Genevieve pouts. “I want to go on a ride-along.”

“I can talk to Bobby and see if you can go on one with me,” Buck says.

Genevieve lights up. “Yay!”

Buck gets in touch with Bobby and is quick to get permission. They do some planning and once they have figured out the dates that work best for all of them Eddie then texts Doug, letting him know what day he wants to bring Chris long for. He gets a text back saying that date is fine.

They look at the dates and grin. Chris’s ride along with Eddie and the 118 falls on the same day and shift as Genevieve’s ride along with Buck and the 132.

The day of their respective ride alongs is a week away. That week it is almost all Chris and Genevieve talk about.

When Genevieve has her supervised visit which only her dad shows up to she struggles to not mention the ride along. She knows why she can’t but it is super hard as she is so excited about it.

Eventually the morning of the ride alongs finally arrives. Both Chris and Genevieve wake up earlier than normal, both of them bursting at the seams with excitement and anticipation. They have pancakes for breakfast and then soon they are both going off separate ways, to separate firehouses.

Because Chris was allowed to bring a friend with him to join him on the ride along he ended up choosing Denny. Which Hen was happy about.

Eddie and Chris pull into the fire station around the same time as Hen and Denny do. When Chris and Denny spot each other they race up to each other and both talk insanely fast, the excitement spilling out of them.

Hen smiles at the boys as she heads over to Eddie. “Thanks for choosing Denny. He has been wanting to go on a ride along for ages, especially after hearing about the ride alongs Chris, Harry, May, Brooke and Robert have all had with the 132. I was starting to think we would never have a captain that would allow one. Although I am surprised that this is the captain who finally gave Denny the chance to have a ride along.”

Eddie nods in agreement.

They then make their way inside, Chris and Denny both bursting with excitement.

Doug meets them inside and when Eddie and Hen see him interacting with them it is like Doug has transformed into a completely different person and Eddie, Hen and Chimney exchange looks of pure bewilderment.

“You must be Chris and Denny,” Doug says.

Chris and Denny both nod, massive smiles on their faces.

“Well it’s great to meet you both. Chris, your drawing was amazing.”

Doug then points out where it has been hung up and Chris smiles happily. “Dad, can I get a photo of me in front of my drawing?”

Eddie nods and pulls out his phone. Chris does a few silly faces for the camera as well as a couple of sensible ones.

Once Chris and Denny have finished looking at the drawings Doug talks again. “I have a surprise for both of you.”

He then pulls out two kids size sets of turnouts and firefighter helmets. One says captain on it and Doug says that Chris gets to wear that one as he was the one that won the competition.

Chris and Denny get the firefighter clothes on as quickly as possible and then Eddie and Hen end up taking a lot of photos with them dressed up, including photos with everyone else in them and some with the fire engines.

“There are a few rules for today but mostly today is about the two of you having fun,” Doug says.

Chris and Denny nod eagerly as they listen to Doug.

“When you are downstairs there can be moving vehicles so you have to be with your parent. Upstairs you can move around more freely. When we go on calls you will get to come but depending on the call I might tell you that you have to stay in the vehicle for your safety. Do both of you understand?”

Chris and Denny nod.

“In that case let your day of fun begin.”

Doug starts giving Chris and Denny a tour of the fire house.

Hen, Eddie and Chimney follow but all of them are so confused. They have never seen this side of Doug, none of them knew he was capable of this. All of them feel very unsettled by this.
___

When Buck gets to work Genevieve looks around her in awe. When she sees Bobby she smiles and runs over to him. He grins at her. “Genevieve!”

Genevieve smiles. “I’m having a ride along today!”

Bobby nods. “I know. You’re going to be a great helper for us. But first you need firefighter gear like the rest of us.”

Bobby pulls out a firefighters outfit and Genevieve squeals in excitement. She gets into it in record time and soon she is posing for photos all over the fire station. Bobby goes over the safety rules with her and Genevieve nods, promising she will listen to them all.

Bobby then shows her the inside of a fire engine and Genevieve is practically vibrating with excitement. “I want to be a firefighter when I grow up. Like you. And like Uncle Buck. And Uncle Eddie. And Mom. And Dad.”

She giggles. “I know lots of firefighters!”

It is now December and when their first call is to a Christmas tree farm Genevieve lights up in excitement. When they get to the call they don’t let Genevieve out of the truck, which she is disappointed about. Buck stays in the truck with her and tells her lots of fun stories which lifts her mood.

Once everyone gets back in the truck after the call, they tell Genevieve about it. Kid friendly version of course. A person was cutting a Christmas tree down. But they misjudged where it was going to land so it fell on top of them, with several branches impaling them. They tell Genevieve how a Christmas tree trapped someone so they freed the person from the Christmas tree. They don’t mention the Christmas tree impaling the person.
____

When the bells go off Chris and Denny both light up in excitement. This time Doug rides in the engine with everyone rather than going in the captain’s truck like he normally does. Which is a bit confusing. But everything about Doug’s behaviour this shift is confusing Eddie, Hen and Chimney.

Doug lets them know that their patient has been trapped in a Christmas present. Both Chris and Denny’s eyes go wide at that.

When they find out that the Christmas present the guy got trapped in ended up in a plane all the adults are worried. But because Chris and Denny are there the worry is left unspoken, but all of them are very aware of it.

When they arrive and need to start searching Doug says Chris and Denny need to stay in the engine with one of Hen and Eddie staying with the kids and the other one of them helping with the call. In the end Eddie helps search the boxes for the man trapped inside and Hen stays with Chris and Denny.

Once the call is over and they have rescued the person in the Christmas present they spend the drive back to the firehouse telling Chris and Denny all sorts of cool stories about calls they have been on.
___

By the time both the 118 and 132’s shifts are over all the kids are tired but happy.

Buck and Genevieve arrive home just before Eddie and Chris do. They order takeout and then when they are eating dinner the conversation is filled with Chris and Genevieve excitedly saying everything they did that day and demanding that Buck and Eddie show everyone else the awesome photos they got of them.

When it is bedtime Chris and Genevieve both fall asleep very quickly as both of them are tired.
____

When he gets home he is angry. He wants Maddie. But she needs to learn her lesson. It is her fault that he is stuck without her and when he is ready to let her out he will definitely make her pay.

She has been in there for two weeks already. He thinks he will keep her in there for two more weeks, letting her out around a week before Christmas so that she can decorate their house and can plan and make their Christmas meal.

He glares at the tv as he eats the meal Cassandra made for him. Because Maddie is being punished he needs someone to do the cooking and cleaning. And it isn’t like Cassandra has anything better to do as she doesn’t have Genevieve to look after. So he has gotten Cassandra to do everything.

Cassandra did make one protest. But then he reminded her of how easy it would be for him to call ICE.

So his house is being cleaned and all his meals are being cooked for him. If he had his Maddie with him then everything would be perfect.
____

She stares at the wall. She thought she saw it moving earlier. But now she has been staring at it for a long long time and it hasn’t moved at all. But she is so sure that it moved earlier. It moved. It had to have moved.

She is startled away from her thoughts when her stomach grumbles loudly. Maddie looks around the room, terrified, wondering where that sound came from. She can’t see anything but sounds don’t just come from nowhere.

She checks under the bed but there is nothing. She tiptoes towards the bathroom. It is empty. She walks back and forth around the room, trying to find the source of the sound. But there is nothing. She spends hours searching for the cause of the sound but she comes up empty.

Her legs give way underneath her and she sinks to the ground. Her stomach screams at her and a part of her brain realises that she is hungry.

She considers moving towards the pile of food cans. But she is so tired and the food cans are so far away. She ends up staying where she is as her exhaustion takes over and she is pulled into a restless sleep.
____

Harriet returns Genevieve from a session visiting her parents.

“Were both your parents there?” Buck asks.

Genevieve shakes her head. “Just Dad again.”

Buck and Eddie exchange concerned glances. The first time they thought it was just a one off. But now it has been way too long with no one having seen or heard from Maddie. Once Genevieve and Chris are in bed they call Athena.

When she hears that no one has heard any trace of Maddie she is just as concerned. She says she will do a welfare check and asks Eddie for his work schedule so that she can check on Maddie when Doug is at work.
___

A few days later Athena finds herself at Maddie and Doug’s doorstep.

She knocks on the door. And waits and waits. She doesn’t hear anything.

She knocks again. A lot more waiting. She doesn’t hear a single sound.

She spends 10 minutes knocking and then waiting and listening. But she gets nothing. She wishes she could just go in and search the house, aware that Maddie could be somewhere inside, tied up or too injured to get to the door.

But she doesn’t have probable cause for entry so as much as she hates it she is forced to play by the book.
____

Someone is banging at the door. She jumps every time a bang is made. She hurries to the bathroom and closes the door as much as it can close with her ankle chain in the way. She then gets in the shower and huddles in a ball on the shower floor.

Every time there is another bang at the door she jumps violently.

Soon she is shaking all over and rocking back and forth. Her eyes are glazed over and she doesn’t know where she is. Her body is screaming that she is in danger and she is terrified. She is terrified. She is terrified.

She doesn’t want to do this anymore. She can’t do this anymore. She needs to find a way out of this. She needs to die.

Chapter Text

Maddie strains at the chain on her ankle, trying to get out of it. She pulls and pulls and pulls but all it does it make her ankle hurt.

Eventually she gives up and collapses into a ball and starts sobbing. She doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t want to be here.

She looks at the window and then at the chain around her leg. She slowly moves closer to the window, her steps slow and unsure. The room seems to grow bigger and it feels like the window is getting further away.

She bangs into the wall and blinks. She has reached the window. She tries to open it but it won’t open. She bangs her hand against it over and over again. Nothing happens. Nothing changes. This is hopeless. She drops to the floor as despair takes over.

She just wants to get out of here.
_____

Buck and Eddie sit on the edge of the fountain, watching as Chris and Genevieve wait in line to see Santa. Both of them are filled with excitement and wave back to them. Buck and Eddie offered to wait in line with Chris and Genevieve but Chris and Genevieve were excited to do this by themselves.

They haven’t been given a full timeline and plan of how long Genevieve is staying with them. A friend from the 132 let them know they saw Doug in an anger management class. Which surprised them to learn but also means that Doug and Maddie are working towards what is needed to get Genevieve back.

Buck and Eddie will still plan for the assumption that Genevieve will be with them for Christmas. And if she isn’t then they will send the Christmas presents they got for her home with her.

Eventually they see the line move forward and Chris and Genevieve are talking to Santa. After a few minutes they are done and an elf brings Chris and Genevieve over to him. “You two have a beautiful family,” the elf says.

Buck smiles. “Thanks.”

They move away as they head back to the car.

“Are we allowed to know what you asked Santa for?” Eddie asks.

“I asked for lego and video games,” Chris says.

Genevieve grins. “I also asked for lego.” She looks down, a sad expression appearing on her face. “I also asked to see Mom again.”

Buck’s heart sinks. He looks at Eddie and sees Eddie is just as upset about it as he is.

“Do you ever see your mom?” Genevieve asks Chris.

Chris looks down. “I don’t see her much. She found parenting me too hard so I now see her on my birthday and on Christmas.”

Genevieve looks thoughtful. “Do you miss her?”

Chris shrugs. “Sometimes. But I have dad and Buck and they are awesome and are always there for me.”

Genevieve goes quiet. Once they get home her and Chris play with lego. But she is quieter than normal for the rest of the day.
___

Doug is waiting for Genevieve to arrive. When she enters the room she bounds in, full of enthusiasm.

“Dad, I saw Santa!”

He only just manages to not scoff. He didn’t realise that Genevieve believes in Santa. How silly. But he sees Harriet taking notes so he forces himself to match Genevieve’s excitement.

“What did you ask Santa for?”

“I asked for lego and to see Mom again.”

He sees the way Harriet reacts to that. Oh.

He shrugs. It has probably been long enough by now. Maddie should have learned her lesson.

“She’ll be here next time you come and see me.”

“Yay!” Genevieve cheers.

For the rest of the visit Genevieve is full of excitement. She rambles on a bit too much for Doug’s liking but he is aware of Harriet watching so he needs to act the part.

When he gets home he makes his way to the guest bedroom. He hasn’t been here for several weeks. It is now 10 days before Christmas. And he left Maddie in here around the middle of November. So it has been a month. He hopes that is long enough for her to have learned how to behave.

He undoes all the locks and opens the door. Maddie is staring at a wall and she doesn’t even look up when he comes in.

He goes over and undoes the chain around her ankle. “You can come out now, your punishment is over.”

She doesn’t respond.

Anger fills him and he grabs her shoulder and turns her around. There is complete blankness in her eyes and he can tell she isn’t even aware he is in the room. Alarm fills him, there is a chance he took this too far.

He was planning on telling her that she needs to start decorating the house and that he expects perfection. But from looking at her it is clear that even if he said something she won’t hear him so he would just be wasting his breath.

For the rest of the afternoon and evening Maddie is completely blank. He tries to get her to engage with him but it is like she is completely gone and is just an empty shell. He slaps her in the face, hard, hoping it will make her aware of her surroundings. But she doesn’t even blink.

How dare she do this to him! He has had to spend a month without her in order to punish her. And now that she is with him again she isn’t actually with him as she hasn’t even noticed he is there.

Fury overtakes him so he knocks her to the ground and starts kicking and punching her.
____

The wall is white. There is air around her. A voice sounds but she doesn’t notice it. She is being punched but she barely feels it.

There is yelling and her head hurts.
__

She is now alone. She isn’t in the room. But she is still alone. Her hand touches her head and comes back down. It is red and sticky.

Red. Something new. She stares at the pattern it makes on her fingers, completely mesmerised.
__

She is bored. She needs to get out of this room. She stumbles to her feet. Where is the wall? She bangs into something and falls down. She slowly gets back up. She needs to see the window. She needs to see outside.

She moves forward. She bangs into the door and blinks. She looks down at her ankle. The chain is gone.

Peace fills her. She isn’t locked up. So now she is free to go and die. She opens the front door and walks out of the house.
____

At work Doug is in a weirder mood than normal so everyone steers clear of him, not sure what is up with him, just knowing that they need to keep their distance.

He almost looks worried, which in turn worries Eddie, Hen and Chimney. Doug never seems worried so him being worried is extremely alarming.

They go to their first call of the shift, a kid that got electrocuted from Christmas lights. They have to keep on asking Doug what they should do as his mind is clearly somewhere else and he forgets to tell them what to do.
____

Athena is a few calls into her shift when she receives a call to a bridge for a jumper. It is one of the higher bridges which is known for suicides and it doesn’t have a sidewalk so people were concerned when they saw a woman walking out across the bridge, walking on one of the lanes of traffic. That lane has since been closed but they need someone to try and talk her down.

Dispatch lets her know that the 132 is also on route but that she will get there first. Athena puts on her sirens as she just hopes she can get there in time.

As Athena arrives on the bridge dispatch updates her that the caller has reported that the woman has just climbed the railing and is now sitting on it, only just holding on. Athena knows she needs to be there immediately.

She gets onto the bridge and parks her car. Once she gets out of the car she can see the woman. And suddenly this whole situation has just gotten way worse.

She is quick to get her radio.

“Bobby?”

“Yes.”

“You know the jumper call you have been sent to?”

“Yeah, we’re on our way.”

“I just got there. The jumper is Maddie.”

She hears Bobby suck in a deep breath before she puts the radio away as she cautiously makes her way towards Maddie.

Maddie sits on the thin railing, her hands grabbing onto the top of it, her feet dangling down below her. She stares at the water below her. All she needs to do is lean forward. Then everything will make sense again. But she hates water and her body won’t let her move forward.

Tears cloud her vision. She blinks, looking for the wall. Where is the wall? She thought it was right in front of her. Is she looking out the window? Has the backyard changed?

“Maddie.”

There is sound in the distance. She barely pays attention to it. Doug isn’t going to come and let her out of the room. So there is no point straining her ears, hoping she will hear him coming up to the room she is in.

“Maddie. Can you come down from there and we can talk, we can figure out how to help you.”

The water is calling to her. But memories of being pushed underneath and gasping for air plague her. She should have gone to a building instead of a bridge.

“Maddie. Please come down. We can help you.”

She needs to read the food labels again. She needs to occupy her mind with something. That is important. She knows that prolonged isolation can cause people to lose their minds. She can’t let that happen to her. Maybe she can pull apart her pillow and see if she can make something with it. Hopefully that will take up some time. She wonders how long she has been here.

She needs to think of something else. She should look out the window again. Although her legs always ache when she is standing by the window. Her legs wobble and her body lurches forward and she is vaguely aware of screaming sounds.

Before she can finish falling a hand grabs her shirt and pulls her up. Soon she is flat on her back looking up. The bed is super hard which confuses her. She thought it was soft. The bed is soft. The bed should be soft. But it isn’t.

The ceiling has also changed colors. It is no longer white. It is blue, like the sky.

She doesn’t understand. Why is her mind doing this to her? The bed is soft. But her mind is telling her it is hard. The ceiling is white. But her mind is telling her it is blue. Has she lost her mind? Sobs fall down her face. She tried so hard. She tried to find things to occupy her mind with. She tried to keep her grasp of reality. But she failed. The bed is soft, the ceiling is white. But her mind is lying to her.

Her brother’s face enters her line of vision. She smiles. If she is seeing things then at least now she is seeing her brother. She loves him. But she is a mess. He deserves better than her.

“Maddie, it’s me Buck, Evan.”

She sees blue eyes. She has always loved his blue eyes. Blue like Daniel’s were. Blue like the sky. Blue like the ceiling. Why is the ceiling blue? She doesn’t remember painting it. But she hopes she did. Otherwise her mind is playing tricks on her.

“Maddie. Do you know where you are?”

Of course she knows where she is. “I’m in the guest bedroom. I’m always in the guest bedroom. Where else would I be?”

Now her mind is being cruel. She thought it was nice when it showed her her brother. But now it is making her brother look sad and heartbroken. She closes her eyes. She just wants to sleep.

She feels herself being picked up and then she is being moved. Which makes no sense. She cries even harder. Now she is imagining that she is being moved. Why is her mind doing this to her?

Looking at his sister Buck feels completely helpless. It is clear she isn’t even aware of her surroundings.

He still feels the terror within him. The terror when Bobby told him the jumper was Maddie. The terror when Maddie started to fall and he only just grabbed her in time. And now the terror that fills him as he is wondering what is going on in Maddie’s mind.

They get Maddie into the ambulance and Buck gets in with her. Athena tells him that she will meet them at the hospital.

On the ride to the hospital Maddie mumbles random things that make no sense to him. She keeps on talking about the ceiling being white and talking about walls and a window. Buck feels a level of fear within him that he hasn’t experienced before.

This is different to being scared when Maddie got shot. Back then he was worried for her physical health, scared she wouldn’t pull through. But this is something else entirely.

He knows his sister is in there somewhere, but it feels like she has buried herself deep within her and there is only a numbness where his sister should be.

When they get to the hospital Athena is there, just as she promised. At the handoff between the paramedics and the hospital staff Buck hears the words 'psychiatric ward,’ and ‘involuntary 48 hour minimum stay.’

It is clear Maddie needs the help. But he is scared of what the lack of control will do to her. Scared of how she will react if she realises she can’t leave for at least 48 hours.

He says bye to Maddie, letting her know that he loves her. She doesn’t appear to hear him but he hopes that deep down she knows that he loves her.

Once they have left Maddie there Buck turns to Athena and falls into her arms. Athena holds him for as long as he needs.

“I’m sure Bobby will give me the rest of the shift off if I ask. Can I stay with you until Eddie gets off?”

Athena nods. “You can. Although I have a stop to make first so you will have to stay out of sight for that.”

Buck stares at her wide eyed. “You're going to go and talk to Doug? When he did who knows what to her and left her in that state!”

Athena sighs. “She has to stay in the psychiatric ward for at least 48 hours. We may hate Doug but he is still her husband. What do you think will happen if he doesn’t know where she is? What happens if he thinks she left him because he can’t find her in their house?”

Buck deflates. Athena is right. He hates it. But she is right. On the drive to the 118, Buck calls Bobby who is very quick to give Buck the rest of their shift off.

When they reach the 118 Athena parks the car out of sight of the building but Buck makes sure to stay down and out of sight just to be on the safe side.

Athena then walks into the building. She hates that she is going to have to talk to Doug. She particularly hates that she knows she has to tell him what happened. She has to tell him about the bridge. If there was anyway around it she wouldn’t tell him. But it won’t be hard for him to find out why Maddie was sent to the psychiatric ward as it will be in their records which Doug will have access to as Maddie’s husband.

Athena just hopes that Doug won’t use this against Maddie.
___

Eddie looks up and sees Athena walking into the firehouse. He is confused. He turns to Hen and Chimney and sees that they are also confused.

Doug sees Athena enter the building and anger builds within him. What is she doing here in his firehouse?

She sees him and walks in his direction and his anger builds. Is Athena here to arrest him? Did Maddie call the police on him? Surely she didn’t, she knows better than that.

Athena stops when she is a few feet away from him. “I need to talk to you.” She looks around. “It’s probably best if we do this in your office. I don’t think you want everyone to be able to overhear me.”

Doug glares at her but he makes his way to his office.

Once they are both in his office and his door is closed he turns to face her. “What is it?” he snaps.

Athena looks completely unfazed by his anger.

“Maddie has been taken to the psychiatric ward of the hospital. She has a compulsory minimum of 48 hours stay.”

Doug stares at Athena in shock. Did Maddie call 911? Did she drive herself there?

“What happened?” he asks.

“I got sent to a call about a jumper at one of the bridges.”

Doug freezes, hating that he knows where this is going. She tried to leave him! Does she not know that if she died he wouldn’t be able to continue going on? How dare she! How dare she not care about him and how he would cope without her.

“When I got there I saw that the jumper was Maddie. One of the firefighters who responded pulled her back just as she started falling. When we got her down it was clear she didn’t know where she was and wasn’t really hearing or seeing any of us so based on that and where we found her we had to send her to the psychiatric ward. You’re a fire captain, you know the protocols.”

Doug nods numbly. “What hospital is she at?” he eventually asks.

Athena tells him but warns him that the psychiatric ward has strict rules so she doubts he will be allowed to see her.

Athena then glares at him, which just makes him even angrier at the whole situation and at Maddie.

“I don’t know what you did to her. But if you love her like you claim then you can’t do this again. You may have worn her down to the point she never leaves but if you do this again you will lose her mentally as she will just be a shell of herself.”

Doug stares at Athena, outraged by her audacity. “I didn’t lay a hand on her and I don’t appreciate you insinuating that I did.”

“I’ve responded to your house before Doug,” she says calmly.

Doug glares at her. “WELL I DIDN’T LAY A HAND ON HER THIS TIME SO BACK OF OK? SHE NEEDED TO HEAL AFTER BEING SHOT BY LOLA SO I LOCKED HER IN A ROOM FOR A MONTH TO GIVE HER THE TIME SHE NEEDED TO HEAL.”

He takes a few angry paces, pulling at his hair. “It was hard on me as well. I love her and I wasn’t able to talk to her for an entire month as I wanted to do the best thing for her and make sure she truly learned her lesson.”

Athena takes a few steps back, shock and horror on her face. “You deprived her of human contact and stimulation for a month? No wonder she tried to kill herself. If you want to be able to grow old together with her then you need to treat her better so that she actually lives that long.”

Doug looks at Athena in shock. Who does she think she is talking to him like that? And how does she know about the growing old together line? What has Maddie been saying?

Athena gives him one last glare before leaving his office. Once Athena is gone Doug lets out a yell of rage and punches the office wall. A satisfying hole remains where his fist attacked it and he feels a bit of his anger release. He punches the wall again and again and by the time he is finished he is feeling a lot calmer. And the wall is full of holes.

While Athena is in the office with Doug it feels like everyone is just waiting, wondering what is going on inside the office.

Eddie, Hen and Chimney are gathered not too far away, waiting for Athena to emerge.

Before she does they hear Doug yelling, his voice filled with rage. He is yelling loud enough that they can hear every word and they exchange looks of pure horror.

A few minutes later the office door opens and Athena appears, looking very very angry. The second the door closes behind her they hear angry yelling and the sound of the office walls being punched.

All of them stare in that direction in horror. They notice that everyone else has also paused what they are doing and the entire firehouse is staring in the direction of the office.

“What happened?” Chimney whispers.

“We can speak in the entrance of the firehouse. Further away from the office,” Athena says.

Eddie, Hen and Chimney are quick to follow Athena there. Once they get there Athena sighs. “The 132 and I were sent to a bridge for a jumper. It was Maddie. Buck pulled her back just as she started falling. Physically she was there but mentally she was completely gone. We took her to the hospital and she has to have a minimum stay of 48 hours at the psychiatric ward. Meaning someone had to let Doug know that Maddie has to stay there. I knew the state Maddie was in was Doug’s fault. It turns out he locked her in a room with no stimulation or human contact for an entire month.”

All of them are completely horrified.

“According to the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules more than 15 consecutive days in solitary confinement is considered torture and inhumane. And she has had almost double that,” Eddie says in horror.

“How did you know that fact?” Chimney asks.

“Buck.”

All of them shiver slightly.

“Wait,” Hen says cautiously. “If she’s just been locked up for a month, what's it going to do to her if she is now locked up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital in what is a potentially similar room to the one she just spent a month trapped in.”

“I’ll call the hospital and let them know what we just found out as that might impact how they treat her,” Athena says, before getting her phone and ringing them up.

Once Athena has talked to the hospital they thank her for telling them. Athena then says bye to Hen, Eddie and Chimney and makes her way back to the car where Buck is waiting.

“How did it go?” He asks.

“I’ll tell you when we are further away,” Athena replies.

Buck straightens up. “Why?” he asks, his voice tight.

“Because I don’t feel like arresting you for attacking Doug.”

Buck makes a lunge for the car door and Athena stops him. “I don’t want to have to handcuff you but if you try anything I won’t have another choice,” she warns.

Buck groans and slumps down in his seat.

Once Athena has driven a bit away from the firehouse she pulls the car over.

"What happened in there?” Buck repeats.

Athena sighs. “I told him where she was and what happened. I didn’t want to but he has to know. He got all annoyed and basically said it wasn’t his fault, that he didn’t even touch her. He said he locked her in a room for a month with no human contact or anything to do. He complained how it was hard on him as it meant he went a month without speaking to her and that he missed her for that month.”

Athena isn’t surprised when Buck lunges for the car door. She holds the handcuffs up as a reminder and he sinks back down into his seat.

Buck’s voice is so quiet and soft when he talks again. “In the ambulance when we were taking her to the hospital she just kept on mumbling random words that didn’t make any sense to me, talking about walls, a ceiling and a window.”

He looks at Athena with pure despair on his face. “What if she can’t recover from this?”

Athena puts her hand on his shoulder. “Your sister is strong. I know it isn’t fair that she has to be. But she has always come through everything Doug has done to her. We have to believe that she will come through this as well.”

Buck bursts into tears. “I can’t lose her, Athena. I can’t.”

Athena holds Buck as she rubs his back. “I know you can’t. I know that.”
___

Maddie is guided through random corridors. There is a voice that talks more as they reach a door. When she enters there are white walls and two beds. One of them is empty and one has a person on it.

She goes to the empty one and stares at the wall.

The wall is white. She looks at the ceiling. It is also white. She turns back to the wall. She is staring at a wall. A white wall. And she is on a bed. A soft bed. Her mind has stopped tricking her. She knew the wall was white.

She feels herself relax. The wall is white. The bed is soft. Things make sense again.

Panic fills her. Where is the window?

She bursts into tears. She needs her mind to stop playing tricks on her. She forces herself to forget about the window and concentrate on what she knows is here.

The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.

The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.

The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.

The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.

Chapter Text

Doug stomps into the house and makes his way upstairs to the attic where all their Christmas decorations are. He grabs an ornament and flings it across the room. Maddie is supposed to do all the Christmas decorations. But she just had to get herself committed to a psychiatric ward 9 days before Christmas. Now what is he supposed to do?

He stomps around the rest of the house, glaring at Fang when he passes him.

He needs something to lash out against but he isn’t stupid enough to lash out at Fang, not when Fang could bite him back.

He considers going out the back to Casssandra’s cottage. But even with the threat of him calling ICE on them he doesn’t know if Cassandra would call the cops on him if he hurt her. So he can’t risk it.

In the end the kitchen bears the brunt of his rage with every single plate and smashable thing in the kitchen being broken. Only then does his rage dissipate. He makes his way back to their bedroom and stares at a photo of him and Maddie. He just needs his Maddie. Why does no one understand that? He can’t cope without Maddie. He needs her. She is the selfish one in their relationship yet she somehow has everyone on her side. He glares at the photo before throwing it across the room.
____

“It’s time to get up.”

Maddie blinks awake. When she realises she heard a voice panic fills her. Why is there a voice? That doesn’t make sense. There is no one else here. She feels herself sinking even lower. Is she hearing voices now?

She takes a deep breath. She needs to focus on what is real. She feels the soft bed beneath her. Once she has confirmed that it is there she risks opening her eyes. In front of her the wall is white.

The bed is soft. The wall is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. Both like they should be.

“Breakfast is in an hour. You need to shower before then.”

Maddie yelps and jumps violently. No, no, no, no, no. Why is she still hearing voices? She can’t be hearing voices. She can’t, she can’t, she can’t.

“Maddie, do you know where you are?”

Maddie clamps her hands over her ears and screws her eyes shut.

No, no, no, no, no.

She starts rocking back and forth, desperately repeating the three truths she knows.

The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.

Those facts are true. They have to be true. She needs them to be true.

“Maddie.”

She presses her hands tighter against her ears. Why can she still hear voices? What is wrong with her?

“Maddie. Do you know where you are?”

The voices aren’t stopping. They aren’t going to stop. Maybe if she answers their questions the voices will be satisfied and will leave her alone.

“I’m home, in the guest bedroom.”

“You aren’t there Maddie.”

Maddie flinches. She is there. She has to be there. She doesn’t know what it means if she isn’t there. If she isn’t there, where is she?

“No, no, no, no, no. I have to be there. I have to!” she protests.

“Open your eyes Maddie.”

She is too scared to. She can’t. She can’t.

“Maddie, you need to open your eyes, to see that you aren’t in that room.”

Why can’t the voices just leave her alone? Despair fills her and she reluctantly drops her hands from her ears and opens her eyes knowing she doesn’t have any other choice.

When she opens her eyes she blinks in confusion. A stranger she doesn’t know is sitting in front of her and she is in a room she doesn’t recognise.

Terror fills her. What is going on?

“But? But? I don’t understand,” she whispers.

She shakes her head fiercely. “I have to be there. The walls are white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. You can’t be here. I’m making you up.”

She bursts into tears. “Why is my mind playing tricks on me? I don’t want to be seeing things.”

“Maddie, you’re not seeing things.”

Maddie shakes her head. “I am.”

The woman in front of her looks at her. “Maddie, can I touch you? So that you can feel me and know that I am real, that you aren’t seeing things, that I’m really here.”

Maddie considers before shrugging. “I guess.”

The woman’s hand reaches for her hand and Maddie gets herself ready for the disappointment, the confirmation that her mind is betraying her.

The woman’s hand gets closer and closer. And then Maddie feels the woman’s hand touching hers. She stares at their connected hands in shock. She felt it. It’s real.

“You’re, you’re real. I’m, I’m not seeing things?” she whispers in disbelief.

Suddenly it hits her. If she isn’t in their guest bedroom then where is she? Who is this woman?

“Where am I?” she asks, backing away hurriedly as panic begins to flood through her.

“You’re in a psychiatric ward of a hospital,” the woman says gently.

Maddie stares at her. “What happened? How did I end up here?”

“First responders found you at a bridge ready to jump off. You started falling and your brother grabbed you just in time. He then brought you here.”

“I, I, I tried to kill myself?” she asks.

The woman nods.

‘Why?” Maddie whispers.

“You didn’t say. But we found out that you were kept locked in a room for a month with nothing to do and no human contact, we suspect that is part of why you tried to.”

Oh.

Oh no.

No, no, no, no, no.

“Is my husband mad at me?” she whispers before she starts crying and can’t stop.
_____

The horrifying realisation pulls him out of his sleep and Buck sits up gasping for air.

Next to him Eddie wakes up having heard Buck’s gasping. When he turns and sees Buck, worry fills him.

“What’s wrong?”

“She wasn’t at the visits with Genevieve because she was locked up in that room.”

Eddie hadn’t even thought about that. But it does explain Maddie’s absence from those visits.

“We should have pressed. We know Maddie would never want to miss a visit with Genevieve. We should have done more,” Buck continues. He then gets up and starts pacing, looking incredibly distressed.

“Buck.”

Buck’s pacing gets faster.

“Buck. You did notice. You called Athena and she did a welfare check.”

“Yeah, but nothing happened with that.”

Buck goes to grab his phone. Eddie reaches out and stops him. “It’s the middle of the night. You can call in the morning to ask Athena what happened during that welfare check.”

Right. Buck had completely forgotten the time. He slumps down, feeling full of defeat. Eddie holds him and Buck holds onto him tightly, needing the comfort of his husband.
_____

Athena has barely opened her eyes when her phone starts ringing. She looks at the caller id and sees that it is Buck. The second she answers the call he starts talking, not bothering with saying hello to each other.

“A while ago when you went and did the welfare check at Maddie’s did you see or hear anything?”

Athena isn’t surprised by his question. She told him what happened straight after she did the welfare check. But considering what has happened with Maddie more recently she understands Buck’s need for more information.

“I knocked on their door and waited. After a few minutes of not hearing anything I knocked again. I knocked and then waited and listened and then knocked again for 10 minutes. I wanted to break the door down and look for her but I didn’t have probable cause.”

There is silence on the other end of the phone.

“Do you want me to come over?”

More silence before Buck’s voice finally sounds, a lot quieter and sadder than normal. “Yes.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

Athena ends the call and sees that Bobby has woken up. “That was Buck. I’m going over there.”

Bobby nods and gives her a hug.

Soon Athena is on her way to Buck and Eddie’s. She gets there just as Eddie is about to leave for his shift. When Eddie sees her he sighs in relief. “I’m glad he won’t be alone. I wanted to take today off. But considering who my captain is, that isn’t going to happen.”

He is right. Which Athena hates.

Eddie says goodbye to Buck, Chris and Genevieve before he then leaves. Once he has gone Athena takes one look at Buck and announces that she is taking Chris and Genevieve to school today so they need to hurry to be ready on time.

Chris and Genevieve start scrambling and they are ready in record time. Just before she leaves with them she tells Buck she will be back as soon as possible. Buck just nods listlessly.

The instant Chris and Genevieve are at school Athena heads straight back to the house. When she gets there Buck is in exactly the same position he was when she left and it is clear that he hasn’t moved an inch whilst she was gone.

She sighs knowing that it is going to be a long day and wishing that she could do more to help Buck. And Maddie.
_____

Maddie stares down at the plate of food in front of her. A plate, not a bowl. And food that didn’t come from a can.

There are sounds all around her. The sounds of all the other people here. But she barely notices them. She is just marvelling at the food in front of her. She has toast with scrambled eggs and then a cup of coffee on the side.

When she has a bite of the toast it feels harsh and scratchy going down and requires more chewing than she remembered. Canned food slides down much easier. Instead the toast requires so much effort and she starts sobbing into her plate before she can stop herself.

Giving up on the toast she moves to the eggs. Eggs don’t require that much chewing. They shouldn’t be a problem. Right?

It feels both good and bad the instant she has a mouthful of eggs in her mouth. She had forgotten what it is like to eat food that is hot. And it does go down way easier than the toast. But it just feels so different.

She starts sobbing even harder. It’s just eggs. She has eaten eggs numerous times before so she doesn’t understand why she is now struggling with it so much. What is wrong with her?

She starts taking heaving gasps as she tries to get herself under control. A staff member comes over to her and a part of her realises they are saying something but she is so upset she can barely hear them and when she does eventually make out the words they are saying she just stares at them blankly, feeling even worse for not remembering how to form answers. It has only been a month of not talking to people, surely she should still know how to hold a normal conversation.

She starts crying even harder and completely loses it, so inside of her head that she doesn’t even feel embarrassed by the amount of people witnessing her.

Eventually one of the staff guides her back to her room, her breakfast barely eaten. As soon as she is in the room she gets on the bed and stares at the wall.

She now knows that she isn’t in the guest bedroom. She is in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. But things don’t make sense here. In the guest bedroom things made sense. She needs to be there. And if she can’t be there then she needs to pretend that she is.

So she starts listing of her reminders.

“The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.”

But this room doesn’t have a window.

“The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.”

But this room has two beds.

“The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.”

But this room has another person staying in it.

“The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.”

But this room isn’t in her house.

“The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.”

Why isn’t it working? It needs to work. It needs to work. It needs to work.

She starts sobbing even harder, rocking back and forth, frantically repeating herself, getting louder and louder and more and more desperate and hysterical.

“The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft. The wall is white. The ceiling is white. The bed is soft.”

Some of the staff come in to try and help calm her down but she is so worked up she doesn’t notice them. Eventually when they have tried and failed to help her calm down they go to their last resort of injecting her with a sedative.
____

Things at the 118 feel even more disjointed and out of sorts than normal. All of them, not just Eddie, Hen and Chimney, are avoiding Doug and looking at him suspiciously. The rest of the team might not be fully aware of the way Doug treats Maddie. But they all heard him yelling at Athena saying he didn’t lay a hand on her this time which strongly implies that he has previous times and they heard him yelling that he locked her in a room for a month. Whilst the yelling that was loud enough for everyone to hear never mentioned Maddie’s name it is clear to everyone who he was talking about.

So now things at the station are tense. Tenser than they ever have been even with some of the worst captains they had before Doug.

When the bells go all of them are glad to get out of the firehouse, glad for a reprieve from the tension. It also helps that Doug insists on going by himself in the captain’s truck rather than going in the fire engine. Everyone is glad that they aren’t stuck having him in the engine with them.

Once they get on scene they are professionals, all of them pretending that they don’t hate their captain so that they can work together and do what they can to help the people they are here to help and serve.

They see a slightly injured person so Hen rushes up to them.

The rest of them follow Doug. A cop comes up to Doug and starts talking as she walks, guiding them past a bus that is now on its side and towards their patient.

“We don’t know how but there are mostly minor injuries, just some cuts and bruises. Except for one guy that we don’t know if he will make it.”

The cop finishes talking just as they reach their patient. Once they reach the patient it is obvious just how bad it is. The patient is bleeding from their neck, a lot. A man in military uniform is there, holding pressure on the wound.

The man that is applying pressure talks, letting them know what happened. “A truck came out of nowhere and a piece of glass clipped him in the neck. It feels like it hit a major artery.”

“Is your finger in the hole?” Eddie asks.

The guy nods. “It’s what I was trained to do and I’ve seen it before unfortunately.”

Eddie and the guy have a quick discussion, each finding out where the other has been stationed in the past before they focus on their patient.

“Do you mind keeping your finger there? You don’t have anywhere else to be right?” Eddie asks.

The guy says he is good which is a relief as his finger is putting pressure in a vital spot and transferring that pressure would be risky.

Eddie looks up at Chimney and asks him to run the fluids wide open. Chimney nods and is quick to do so. Doug just stays in the background which is a surprise that he is letting Eddie run this but Eddie is definitely relieved by that. He does not have the energy to deal with Doug right now.

Eddie starts wrapping a bandage around their patient's neck, with the military guy helping keep the pressure in the required spot. Once the bandage is applied they keep the pressure on their patient's neck and slowly transfer him into the ambulance. Hen and Chimney then head off taking the patient to the hospital, Chimney driving and Hen staying in the back applying pressure to the patients neck and making sure his vitals stay stable.

Eddie turns to the military guy and thanks him for his help. The guy nods and goes to turn away.

They all make their way to their vehicles but then get stopped by some bystanders who let them know that the guy was on his way to surprise his daughter who he hasn’t seen in ages and who is singing in a choir.

“Lets drive him to get to his daughter on time then,” Eddie says.

“No,” Doug states.

All of them stare at him. “Why not? If we get a call then we will go to it but otherwise what’s the harm?” Max challenges.

“I’m your captain. I said no. What I say goes,” Doug says before turning and marching off to the captain’s truck.

The instant the captain’s truck pulls away Eddie runs after the military guy telling him they heard he has somewhere to be. The military guy looks deflated when he says he’ll never get there in time.

Ravi smiles. “Maybe you wouldn’t. But we have a fire engine with sirens.”

Soon the military guy is in the fire engine and they are hurrying to make it in time. He gets changed into a new uniform so that he won’t be covered in the guy's blood when he surprises his daughter.

It warms all of their hearts when they see his daughter’s reaction to seeing her dad. All of them are in high spirits as they make their way back to the station.

Their high spirits disappear the instant they enter the station.

Doug is standing there, waiting for them with his arms crossed and a furious expression on his face. All of them are nervous as they slowly exit the fire engine.

“Did you take him to see his daughter’s performance?” Doug asks.

Silence.

“I asked you a question. I expect an answer.”

“We did. Because it was the right thing to do,” Ravi says bravely.

“Well you disobeyed a direct order. All of you did. I’m writing all four of you up for insubordination.”

Everyone stares at Doug in horror.

“What?” Lucy eventually splutters.

“You heard me,” Doug says, his voice calm with a layer of menace hiding underneath it.

“Ravi, you are to clean the toilets. Eddie, you have to clean the showers. Max, you have to make us lunch. Lucy, you are to scrub the floors. I expect all of you to do it perfectly or I might write you up again.”

Just as he finishes talking the ambulance pulls in and Chimney and Hen jump out. Doug smiles at them. “Hen, Chimney, come join me in the loft. We can chill and watch some tv. Everyone else, get to it.”

Hen and Chimney shoot the rest of them questioning looks as they reluctantly follow Doug upstairs to the loft. The rest of them get started on the chores, not wanting to risk angering Doug even further.

For the rest of the shift the firehouse feels even more divided. Doug treats Hen and Chimney really well, giving them no chores at all. For everyone else he gives them chore after chore after chore. He makes it so that their assigned chores are as far apart as possible essentially isolating all of them from one another and then he does rounds of the firehouse, telling all of them how they are messing up and doing it wrong.

Eddie has never been more relieved for his shift to be over.

When he gets home Athena is there and Buck looks emotionally wrecked. He looks around wondering where the kids are.

“Chris and Genevieve are at my house with Bobby. They’re going to stay the night,” Athena says.

Eddie nods in relief.

Athena looks at him. “Are you alright?”

Eddie shrugs.

Buck snaps his head up and must see something in his face.

“What did Doug do?” he asks through gritted teeth.

Eddie sighs. “He just chose to be a dictator all shift. We had a call where a guy from the military helped us but it almost made him late for surprising his daughter who he hasn’t seen in ages. After the call when we found out we wanted to take him so he could get there in time. Doug said no but we did it anyway and when we returned Doug was furious. He wrote all of us up for insubordination and then spent the rest of the shift giving us never ending chores, walking around and criticising all of us.”

Athena shakes her head in disgust. Buck just looks even more upset.

“I hate him! I hate him so so much!” Buck eventually spits out.

“Same,” Athena and Eddie instantly say.

The rest of the evening is pretty miserable. All of them are worried about Maddie and all of them are united in hating Doug.

Chapter Text

Doug is seething with anger as he paces back and forth across the living room.

It may be the following day but he can’t believe the disrespect of his team. He’s their captain. They are supposed to listen to him and yet they disobeyed a direct order. How dare they?

He growls as he throws a vase across the room, feeling little satisfaction when he watches it shatter into pieces.

Why can’t they just listen to him? How hard is it to obey? Maddie is normally pretty good at it. But no one else seems to be. He needs his Maddie.

He stands up, grabbing his keys. He needs his Maddie. Who cares if the hospital wants her to stay for 48 hours. It’s basically been that long now anyway. He looks at the time. It’s been 47 hours. So by the time he gets there it should have been 48 hours. If they try to keep Maddie any longer he won’t let them. He doesn’t care if they don’t think she’s ready to leave. He’s her husband so he’ll decide.

A sense of calmness washes over him as he gets in the car and starts the drive. He is getting his Maddie back.

Soon he is walking into the hospital and making his way to the reception area for the psychiatric ward of the hospital.

“I’m here to collect my wife,” he tells the person at the reception.

They ask for his wife’s name so he tells them and he shows his id and proof that he is related to Maddie.

“She’s not ready to be discharged,” the nurse says.

Doug does all he can to stay calm on the outside knowing if he stays calm he has a better chance of getting what he wants. “Her 48 hour mandatory stay has ended so you can’t keep her. I will make sure she has plenty of support in place to help her. But she will do better at home in a familiar environment. I promise I will make sure she has what she needs.”

The nurse seems very doubtful but a few minutes of sweet talking later the nurse is saying she will go and get Maddie. Doug smiles as he sits down and waits for his Maddie to be returned to him.
___

She is sitting in the communal room with the other psychiatric patients. She keeps herself in the corner, unable to handle trying to interact with others.

There isn’t a bed in this room. But the walls are white and the ceiling is white. Which helps her. She can try and just concentrate on those two facts.

She is staring at the wall when she hears her name. She jumps and slowly turns to see one of the nurses looking at her. Panic fills her, she isn’t ready to try and navigate a conversation.

“Your husband is here to pick you up.”

Pure ice fills Maddie’s body. “He, he, he’s here?” she stutters. “I, I, I’m not ready. I’m a mess.”

The nurse's voice is gentle. “He said he will make sure you have all the support you need. He sounded very committed to doing what is best for you. And he thinks you will do better at home.”

Maddie starts shaking. She isn’t ready for that. But she knows she doesn’t have a choice. Keeping her head down she reluctantly follows the nurse out. When she sees Doug’s shoes her entire body tenses.

“Maddie, I’m so glad to see you,” he says.

His words wash over her, she only takes in his voice, not the individual words. She starts shaking even harder.

She feels his arm wrap around her waist and she feels numb as she lets him lead her out of the building and to his car.

Maddie isn’t aware of the ride home. One moment she is at the hospital, the next moment she is in her living room.

“You tried to kill yourself Maddie. You tried to leave me. Why?”

She doesn’t have an answer. She is staring at the wall needing the reassurance of that constant. The wall is white. If the wall is white then everything makes sense.

She is being pulled around so that she can’t see the wall. Instead she sees Doug and there is pure fury on his face. She needs to see the wall. She needs to see that the wall is white. She needs the visual proof that she hasn’t lost her mind.

Her head jerks backwards and her cheek starts burning. When her head jerked backwards she got a glimpse of the ceiling. She saw that it was white which allowed a sense of calm to wash over her.

“WHY MADDIE? WHY DID YOU TRY TO KILL YOURSELF?”

His voice is dangerous. A part of her knows that. A part of her recognises that. But she just needs the reassurance that the wall is still white.

A punch to her head knocks her onto the ground and then she is staring up at the ceiling. The ceiling is white. She likes that. She needs it to be white. It isn’t blue. It isn’t cream. It is white. The color it has always been.

Doug is climbing onto her, crushing her with his weight but more importantly he is blocking her view of the ceiling.

She can’t see the ceiling. She needs to see the ceiling. Or the wall. She starts panicking. What if she is still seeing things? What if she has lost her grip on reality? No, she can’t let that happen.

“ANSWER ME MADDIE!” Doug screams, punching her in the stomach.

Maddie lets out a cry. She needs to see the ceiling. “I’m broken,” she whispers. “My mind is betraying me. I’m a mess. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

She bursts into tears. Suddenly she is being pulled up into a sitting position and Doug is pulling her into his arms. She sobs even more, feeling the comfort of his hug. It feels like forever since she last had meaningful human contact with anyone.

“I need you,” she whispers. “Please don’t leave me alone again. I can’t cope with that. I’m too weak. I need you.”

He rubs her back. “It’s ok Maddie. I’m here.”

Maddie sobs in relief. She hugs Doug even tighter, needing that touch and reassurance.

She clings to Doug for the rest of the day, unable to physically pull herself away from him. She needs him. She can’t manage without him. Without him she is broken. With him she is still fragile and a mess but at least things make a little bit of sense.
___

On their next shift all of the 118 are wary, not wanting to deal with Doug again. All of them are relieved and pleasantly surprised when a relief captain is sent in Doug’s place and they are told he won’t be here for this shift.
___

They spend the day watching Doug’s favorite movies. Maddie stays glued to him, unable to bear being away from him for even a second. She needs Doug and she is scared to let go of him, fearful that if she does she will be all alone again. She knows she won’t survive that. She needs Doug.

The next day she wants to just cling to Doug but he turns to her with irritation on his face. She gulps slightly but still tries to cling to him.

“Maddie. It’s less than a week till Christmas. You need to start decorating and making everything perfect.”

She stares up at him blankly. He slaps her in the face. “If it isn’t perfect then maybe I will leave you alone again.”

She starts crying. “No! Please don’t. I need you Doug. I’m sorry.”

“Then make it perfect!” he snaps. “I have a shift so I’ll see you later. When I get home the house better be perfect.” He then storms out of the house leaving Maddie calling out for him.

She looks around in a panic. She is alone! She can’t be alone. She needs Doug so that she knows she isn’t losing her mind. Despair fills her and she starts sobbing on the floor. After half an hour she realises that she can call someone so that she isn’t alone. Still sobbing she gets up and swaying slightly as she walks she makes her way to her phone.
___

Athena isn’t working today so she is enjoying her day off. The 132 is also not working. Bobby has taken all the kids ice skating and Buck has come over and is spending the day with her.

She and Buck are just about to begin baking some Christmas cookies when Athena’s phone rings with an unknown number. She looks at Buck before picking up the phone and answering.

“Hello?”

She hears crying on the other side. “Athena?” Maddie’s tear filled voice quietly asks.

Athena straightens up, now on full alert. “Maddie?”

She sees Buck sit up in alarm. Athena turns the phone on to speaker.

“Maddie. Are you alright?”

More tears come through the phone. “He, he, he left me alone. I, I, I can’t be alone. His shift is 24 hours. I can’t be alone.”

“Do you want me to come over?” Athena asks.

More sobbing. “Yes,” Maddie whispers.

“I’m spending the day with your brother so can he come over too? I can get Eddie and Hen to let us know if Doug leaves so there will be no chance of him coming home and catching your brother there.”

More crying from Maddie’s end before she gets out some more words. “Seeing Evan would be nice.”

Athena and Buck get in the car straight away. Due to how upset Maddie sounds they keep the phone on and talk to her on the way there. On the drive over Buck texts Eddie and Hen, letting them know they are going to spend the day with Maddie so they need to keep them updated on Doug’s whereabouts. Eddie and Hen both reply that they will.

When Buck and Athena arrive Maddie opens the door and collapses into Buck’s arms as she starts sobbing even harder.

Athena guides them to the couch. She sees Buck looking around slightly and realises that it is his first time inside Doug and Maddie’s house.

Maddie clings tightly onto Buck, needing to be able to feel him, to know that he is really here and that she isn’t seeing things. He is here. He is here. She is holding her brother and he is here.

Eventually she manages to get her crying under control. “What should we do today?” Buck asks with a grin. “Watch Christmas movies? Tell embarrassing stories about me? Go out somewhere?”

Maddie shakes her head. “I, I have to decorate the house. If it isn’t perfect he will leave me alone again. I can’t let that happen. I need him. I won’t cope if he leaves me alone. I, I, I can’t be alone. I need proof that what I’m seeing is actually there. That I’m not seeing things. Being able to touch people helps with that as if I can feel what I’m seeing then I know I’m actually seeing it.”

“Where are the Christmas decorations kept?” Athena asks.

“In the attic,” Maddie whispers.

“You stay with your brother, I’ll go and bring down the decorations and then once they are down here then the three of us can decorate together. Is that alright?” Athena asks.

Maddie gives a small nod before burying her face in her brother's chest and hugging him even tighter.

Looking down at his sister as she hugs him even tighter, Buck feels flooded with worry. It has only been a few days since he saw her at the bridge and it is clear to him that she wasn’t ready to be discharged. He wonders why the hospital even discharged her in the first place. He doesn’t ask Maddie though as he is worried it will upset her further.

Maddie clings onto him and doesn’t look up until Athena starts bringing the decorations down.

Once all the decorations are down Maddie is very reluctant to let go of Buck. She does but she keeps on staring at him and going back and giving him another hug, reminding herself that he is real.

Soon they get started with the decorations. It is nice having Buck and Athena help but it does nothing to help her stress levels. When Buck puts the angel on the top of the tree slightly lopsided she starts having a panic attack and Buck and Athena have to help calm her down. Once she can finally get out words she just points a shaky arm at the angel. “It needs to be straight. It needs to be straight. If it isn’t . . . It just needs to be straight. I can’t be alone.”

Athena is quick to adjust it. “Is this alright?” she asks Maddie, her voice full of kindness. Maddie gives the smallest nod.

The rest of the decorating follows a similar pattern. Buck and Athena do their best to help her. But they don’t know the exact way Doug demands the decorations get done so every time they hang a decoration in a way that would get Doug hurting her, Maddie starts panicking and is only able to stop panicking once one of Buck or Athena have adjusted it correctly.

Eventually they get all the decorating done and to a standard that Doug will hopefully be alright with.

Maddie slumps down on the couch in relief only for her phone to ding with a text. She jumps and then pales when she sees the text. It is from Doug. He has sent her the list of what foods he wants her to cook for the two of them on Christmas day and he is expecting her to meet him at the firehouse to collect some cash she can pay for the food with and then she is to go to the grocery store and get the ingredients needed.

Maddie starts shaking.

“What is it Maddie?” Athena asks.

Wordlessly Maddie just passes the phone over.

“We can go with you to the grocery store Maddie,” Buck says gently.

Maddie feels panic. “I’m not ready to go out. Or to have to potentially face the team when collecting the cash.”

She feels herself sinking. “I don’t have a choice though. So it would be nice if you came with me.”

So they do.

Athena drives them to the firehouse but parks a distance away so that Doug won’t spot her car or either of her and Buck.

Wishing they could come with her for this part but knowing that they can’t, Maddie gets out and on shaky legs walks the rest of the way to the firehouse. Once outside she takes a deep breath. She touches the wall of the firehouse. It is hard, it is real. She can feel it. She is really here. She isn’t seeing things.

Trying to not let her shaking be visible Maddie forces herself into the building. She sees Eddie, Hen and Chimney spot her straight away and she feels herself freezing.

Hen comes up to her. “Hi Maddie,” she says warmly.

Maddie quakes and stares at the ground. “Do you know where Doug is?” she whispers.

“He’s in his office,” Chimney replies.

“Thank you,” Maddie whispers before making her way there.

When she reaches his office she takes a deep breath before knocking on the office door.

“Come in,” Doug’s voice sounds.

Shaking slightly Maddie opens the door. Doug greets her with a smile and she relaxes slightly.

“Maddie!” he exclaims, getting up from his desk as he makes his way to her and hugs her. “Hows the decorating going?”

“Good,” she says quietly. “I’ve finished it all.”

“To my standards?” He asks, his voice rising a little bit.

Maddie nods hurriedly. Doug smiles at her which allows her to breathe a bit easier.

He grabs his wallet and pulls out some money. “Remember, I expect you to give me all the change and the receipt once you are done.”

Maddie nods obediently, she knows the drill.

Doug pulls her head forward and kisses her on the forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Maddie says.

Doug dismisses her and Maddie keeps her head down as she hurries out of the firehouse. She hears Hen, Chimney and Eddie calling after her but she ignores them.

It is a relief when she reaches the car where Buck and Athena are waiting. She climbs into the backseat with Buck and holds tightly onto his hand, needing that human contact, as Athena drives them to the grocery store, making sure it isn’t the one the 118 shops at just in case they decide to do a grocery run.

When they enter the store Maddie blinks. It is too big. It is too bright. It is too loud. There are too many people. She can’t do this. Her head starts going fuzzy and her arms and legs start tingling. Her breathing rate increases. She can’t do this. She can’t do this.

“Maddie. Just follow my voice and repeat my breathing ok.”

She somehow listens to Athena’s voice and several minutes later she is blinking away the fuzziness in her head to see that Athena and Buck are looking at her in concern. At some point they guided her out of the grocery store and now they are sitting in Athena’s car again.

When she realises where she is she feels herself starting to panic again. “There’s too many people. It’s too loud and bright. I can’t do this. But I have to.”

She looks down at her lap and starts crying. Some Buck is giving her a hug. She focuses on the feel of her brother as she tries to take deep breaths.

“I can do it for you and you and Buck can stay in the car,” Athena suggests.

Maddie is quick to shake her head. “Doug is very particular about what he likes. I’m the only one who will get it right.”

“Athena and I could video call each other. So you and I can stay in the car but Athena can show us what she is looking at so you can make sure she gets everything correct,” Buck suggests.

That could work.

Maddie somehow nods. She hands Athena the money and watches as Athena disappears into the store. She and Buck then sit in the backseat of the car, Maddie leaning against Buck, needing the comfort of knowing that he is right there.

Buck gets the video call with Athena set up and Maddie is able to make sure everything they get is just how Doug will want it. Once Athena returns they take the groceries back to her house and then they unpack them, Maddie directing Buck and Athena where to put everything.

Maddie then looks down at the remaining cash and the receipt in her hands. “Can we maybe go back to the firehouse so I can give it to Doug now? That way if he gets mad at least I won’t be alone afterwards.”

Buck and Athena are quick to nod and soon they are heading back to the firehouse.

Maddie is shaky as she reenters the firehouse. This time she doesn’t even look up. She hears her coworkers saying her name but she just stares at the floor as she hurries to Doug’s office.

She knocks and he says to come in so she does. She holds out the change and the receipt. Doug pockets the change and then starts his inspection of the receipt. Maddie shakes whilst he does.

Seconds later she is on the floor staring up at him. “You got the wrong brand of apple cider,” he says, glaring down at her. He spits in her face and kicks her in the stomach.

Maddie stares up at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. They were sold out of the brand you like. I thought getting the wrong brand was better than not getting it at all.”

“Well you thought wrong. You should have gone to another store and if they didn’t have it then you should have kept on going to different stores until you found one that has it. You’re useless.”

Tears stream down her face. “I’m sorry.”

Doug shakes his head. “Every year Maddie. Every year I think that this is going to be the year where you finally get things right. But every year you mess up. Some day you’ll get it right. Some day you’ll be perfect. But apparently not this year.”

Doug pulls her up and holds her against the wall and squeezes her neck until her vision starts to disappear and she is frantically trying to pull his hands away, needing air. He lets go just before she thinks she would have passed out. He bangs her head against the wall and Maddie’s vision starts swimming and her head starts pounding.

Doug grabs the receipt and the change and slaps it into her hand. “You are going to go home, get the apple cider and return it. You will then go to another store and get the correct brand. If they don’t have that brand you will go to another store. Once you have found a store with the correct brand then you will come back here and give me the receipts and cash. If I am on a call when you return then you will sit in my office and wait for me. You better get this right or you will be in for a long time when my shift ends.”

Doug slams her into the wall again. “Get out of here.”

Maddie nods, tears running down her face.

The second she is out of his office she sprints out of the firehouse not caring how everyone calls after her. She runs round the corner and eventually reaches the car where Buck and Athena are waiting for her.

She sees alarm on their faces the second they see her tears.

“What happened?” Buck asks.

Maddie closes her eyes as she feels overcome with shame. She should have known. She knows Doug cares about getting his favorite brands. She should have known she would need to go to the other stores.

“I got the wrong brand of apple cider.”

Silence.

“He said I have to go home, get the apple cider, return it for a refund and then go to another store to find it. If they don’t have it then I am to look for it in another store and I have to keep on going until I find a store that has it. Once I have it I then have to go back to the firehouse and give him the receipts for the refund for the wrong apple cider and the receipt for the purchase of the correct brand apple cider along with any change.”

More silence.

“Can you just drive me home so I can get the apple cider?” she asks.

Athena turns on the car and relief fills Maddie. She didn’t have to tell them that Doug just hurt her. So of course her brother is the next one to speak.

“Did he hurt you?” Buck asks.

Maddie sighs. She had hoped she could avoid that question. “It doesn’t matter.”

“So he did,” Buck says, anger in his voice.

Maddie tenses. “Buck, just leave it. Please,” she begs.

“He hurt you!”

Maddie shrugs.

“Maddie. What did he do?”

She looks at her little brother. She doesn’t want to tell him. But he is looking so scared and she is sure he is imagining that it was way worse than it actually was. So if she just tells him then he will know that it wasn’t that bad which will allow him to calm down.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” she says quietly. “It’s nothing he hasn’t already done before. All he did was spit in my face, kick me, punch me, strangle me and slam my head against the wall twice.”

Buck stares at her and she instantly knows she made the wrong decision to tell him.

“Not a big deal?” he splutters. “He, he, he strangled you! And slammed you against a wall. Twice!”

Maddie looks down. “Buck. Please. It’s fine, it doesn’t matter.”

When she dares to look up she sees her brother's eyes are filled with pure heartbreak. Pain rips through her. She did this to her brother. It’s her fault that her brother is now staring at her with tears in his eyes.

He gives her a hug and she winces. She doesn’t deserve comfort. Her brother is currently crying because of her.

When they get back to her house she asks them to stay in the car saying she will be quick grabbing the apple cider. In reality she needs a few seconds away from the way that Buck is looking at her.

The instant Maddie gets out of the car Buck explodes. “How could he do that? And why is Maddie saying it isn’t a big deal? It is Athena. It is!”

Athena turns to face him, her face a perfect blend of sorrow and rage. “It is a big deal. You are right. But if she feels trapped then maybe she needs to believe that it isn’t a big deal in order to help her be able to cope with it all.”

Buck opens his mouth to protest but Athena gives him a look. “Your sister’s coming back. We can continue this conversation after we have said bye to her at the end of the day.”

Buck nods but he isn’t happy about it.

Maddie is silent when she reenters the car, carrying the bottles of apple cider. When they get to the store Athena says she can return it for Maddie and get the refund for her. Maddie doesn’t say anything, she just passes the bottles and the receipt to Athena. But both Buck and Athena see the sigh of relief Maddie gives at the fact that she isn’t the one who has to go and return it.

It is a battle for Athena to get the refund, the store trying to say they don’t do refunds this close to Christmas. Athena is quick to point out all of their terms and conditions and how they have to give her the refund. Eventually they cave and give it to her. Athena then returns to the car, holding up the receipt and cash triumphantly. She sees the way Maddie sags with relief into her seat when she sees that Athena managed to get the refund.

They then make their way to another grocery store. Once Maddie has repeatedly said what brand it needs to be Athena goes in. Several minutes later she comes out shaking her head. Maddie feels the worry start to set in. What if every single store is sold out?

By the seventh store Maddie is shaking with fear when Athena goes in to see if they have it. Buck is trying to comfort her but his words are meaningless as nothing he can say changes what she will face if they cannot find the correct apple cider.

At the tenth store Athena emerges holding up the correct apple cider. Pure relief floods Maddie and she bursts into tears, clinging onto Buck.

Maddie gets out of the car and once Athena has put the apple cider in the car Maddie gives Athena a massive hug. “Thank you Athena. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

They then get back in the car to make their way to the fire station so that Maddie can show Doug the receipts and give him back the change. It is clear Buck doesn’t want Maddie to go in, not after what happened earlier. Maddie shakes her head at all his protests. “It will be fine Buck. Just stay out of sight in case he comes out.”

She then hurries out of the car before he can protest any further.

It is a relief when she enters the fire station and they are all here. She was scared they would be out on a call because then she would have to wait and that would just allow more time for her fear to build.

She keeps her head down as she makes her way to Doug’s office. She knocks and he tells her to come in. She enters the room, holding out the receipts and the change.

“What took so long?” Doug snaps.

“I’m sorry,” Maddie says quietly, shaking slightly. “It took 10 stores before I found one that still had it.”

“Well can I see it then?” Doug snaps.

Maddie gulps. She wasn’t prepared for that. “It’s in the car. I can go and get it.”

Doug stands up. “I’ll come with you. We haven’t had many calls today. It will be good to stretch my legs.”

Maddie freezes in pure fear. “You, you, you don’t need to come. I can get it.”

Doug sneers at her. “What are you hiding Maddie?”

She starts shaking. “N, n, nothing.”

He laughs. “Well your body is saying you are lying. I know you’re hiding something Maddie. I’ll find out what.”

He grabs her arm and yanks her out of his office. She looks down as he drags her out of the firehouse, her cheeks heating in shame, hating that everyone is watching them.

Doug pauses when they get outside. “Where’s the car?”

Maddie trembles. “It’s around the corner.”

She gulps. She isn’t getting out of this. He is going to see that it isn’t her car. He is going to see Athena. She just hopes he doesn’t spot Buck.

“Why is it around the corner? What are you hiding?”

She trembles. He’s going to find out anyway so maybe if she is honest it won’t be as bad. “Athena was with me,” she whispers.

He slaps her in the face and she stares up at him, trembling all over.

“Is she parked around the corner then?”

Maddie nods shakily.

Rage fills Doug’s face but at least he has stopped dragging her. It is obvious he doesn’t want to have to face Athena which is a relief as it means he hopefully won’t spot Buck.

“Why were you with her?”

“I was lonely. And she helped me with the shopping. I would have been too weak to get the refund for the wrong apple cider on my own as the store tried to push back. Athena was the one who wouldn’t back down until they gave it to me.”

Doug reaches for her face and Maddie flinches. He grabs her chin and pulls her face so it is inches away from his face.

His voice is low and dangerous as he speaks. “Next time you get lonely you either suck it up and deal with it or you come to the firehouse and keep me company in my office. Do you understand?”

Maddie is quick to nod.

Doug grabs Maddie’s arm and starts dragging her towards where Athena’s car is parked. Once they are in sight she can feel Doug stiffen when he spots Athena. He then gives Maddie a harsh shove and she lands on the concrete sidewalk, skinning her chin and knee. Doug then walks back to the station as Athena comes running to Maddie to see if she is alright.

Maddie cautiously gets to her feet, with Athena helping her. Maddie is quick to assess her injuries before turning to Athena. “I’m fine. It’s just a bit of blood, it’s not a big deal.”

Athena sighs but doesn’t say anything, which Maddie is incredibly grateful for.

When they get back to the car and Buck sees that Maddie is bleeding his face says it all. Maddie gives him a look, pleading with him to not say anything and to just let it go and much to her absolute surprise and relief he does.

Once she gets back home she takes the apple cider inside and then hugs Buck saying she should probably say goodbye to the two of them. Considering that Doug knows she has been with Athena the chances of him swinging by to check on her are high and she cannot have him seeing that she is with Buck.

It is clear that Buck is reluctant to go but he does. Once they are gone Maddie is all alone again. She wraps her arms around herself. She doesn’t want to be alone. Having Buck and Athena spend the day with her was a good distraction.

She starts sobbing. She doesn’t want to be alone. She remembers what Doug said and she weighs it up in her mind. Either she stays here. All alone. Or she goes to Doug who might then hurt her. But he could just as easily hurt her later and then she would have been all alone for nothing.

So she gets in her car and drives back to the firehouse. When she arrives it is empty and she knows they must be out on a call. She makes her way to Doug’s office and gets comfortable on the couch.

After around half an hour later relief fills her when she hears the sound of the vehicles returning. She won’t be alone anymore.

Soon she hears the sound of the office door opening. Doug doesn’t seem surprised to see her and she guesses he saw her car outside.

“I didn’t want to be alone,” she whispers.

He smiles as he makes his way over to her. He gives her a hug. “It’s alright Maddie. I’m here now. You’re not alone anymore.”

Relief fills her. She isn’t alone.

Chapter Text

Her entire body is aching and screaming in pain and the last thing she wants to do is get up. Suddenly cold water is soaking her and she sits bolt upright, gasping in shock. Once she has processed enough to blink open her eyes and take in her surroundings she sees Doug standing over her, holding an empty bucket.

He yanks her arm and pulls her out of bed, throwing her onto the floor.

“GET UP!” he screams.

Maddie shudders and hurries to stand. Doug throws her across the room and she collides with the wall and it takes everything in her to not fall back down to the ground.

“We have a busy day today. This afternoon we have our two hour supervised contact session with Genevieve.”

Maddie gasps in surprise, instantly feeling like the worst mother in the world. How on earth had she forgotten about that?

“As today is three days before Christmas it will be the closest to Christmas that we will see her so this morning we will need to buy and then wrap her Christmas presents.”

Maddie blinks in shock. Doug is actually aware of needing to get Genevieve Christmas presents? That’s a first.

“She asked Santa for lego and to see you again.”

He paid enough attention to know what Genevieve wants for Christmas? Maddie is shocked to the point of being speechless..

Doug goes into the closet and throws a dress at her. “Get dressed and be quick about it.”

Still trying to process, Maddie grabs a towel and quickly dries herself before she then pulls on the dress Doug selected. The instant she is dressed Doug grabs her arm and yanks her to the car.

Soon they are at a toy store. Doug directs them straight to the lego section and Maddie just follows him, still so confused by the fact that he is being so involved in choosing Genevieve’s presents. Normally he just gives Maddie a tiny amount of money and instructions to not get anything noisy or messy and to give him the receipts and any change. He has never had an interest in choosing Genevieve’s gifts before so Maddie is confused that this has changed. But it is nice to see Doug so enthusiastic about picking out Genevieve’s Christmas presents.

Doug then moves them to the lego section with all the fire related stuff. Maddie hesitantly points towards a lego fire engine. “Genevieve might like that.”

Doug shakes his head. “I already brought that for her a few weeks ago and gave it to her when I saw her at contact. She loved it though which is why I am looking at seeing which fire station set we should get her.”

And Maddie is even more surprised. Doug went to see Genevieve at contact without her? She then realises that when she was locked in the room she missed out on seeing Genevieve. That realisation takes all of the breath out of her and her mood gets lower.

The store has five different lego fire station sets so Doug pulls them all down and starts going through the pros and cons of the different sets, asking for Maddie’s input which worries her. Two of the five sets include a lego station dog so Maddie quietly says that maybe they should pick one of those two sets because she thinks Genevieve would like getting the lego dog. Doug smiles and tells Maddie that is a great idea. Once it has been narrowed down to the two he decides on one and puts it in their shopping cart.

Doug then steers the shopping cart around the store. Maddie wants him to stop it when they reach the doll aisle and he sees the way she is looking. “I already got her a doll, I brought it online and it came a few days ago.”

Once again Maddie is stunned. It feels like today is full of surprises. “That’s great,” she eventually says. “What sort of doll did you get her?”

Doug smiles. “At work I was mentioning buying Genevieve’s Christmas presents and Hen told me about Triple F firefighter dolls. You can only get them online but they are realistic firefighter dolls and all of them are female. They have all of the proper firefighting gear that they can take on and off and their hair is brushable and can be styled. Genevieve has started saying she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up so it will be perfect for her.”

Maddie’s eyes well up with happy tears and she gives Doug a massive hug. “She’s going to love that!”

Doug smiles down at Maddie. “I know.”

After that Maddie gratefully clings to Doug as they continue shopping for Genevieve. They end up getting some drawing supplies as well as some chocolate before they are then making their way back home to wrap up the presents. Doug pulls out Christmas themed firefighter wrapping paper and Maddie is filled with awe. When Doug shows her the Triple F firefighter doll it is absolutely perfect and she knows Genevieve is going to love it.

Maddie looks at Doug and knows she loves him. He did all of this for their daughter! She can barely believe it.

A few hours later they are loading all the presents into the car and driving to the contact session. When they get there it takes them a few trips to carry all of the presents into the room.

Because they always have to get there before Genevieve, they have enough time to arrange all the presents. Because it is so close to Christmas the contact room is now decorated for Christmas including a Christmas tree that is in the corner so Doug and Maddie place the presents underneath the Christmas tree.

They then set out the chocolate and other Christmas treat food that they had brought with them on the table.

A few minutes later the door of the room is opening and then Genevieve and Harriet enter. The second Genevieve spots Maddie, her eyes go wide and she runs at her. The impact of her daughter slamming into her does make all her injuries hurt more but Maddie doesn’t care as she is just so thankful to finally have her daughter in her arms again.

After a few seconds Genevieve pulls away and goes to hug Doug. Which is yet another surprise for Maddie. It seems that everything that has happened so far this day has surprised her.

“Because we won’t see you on Christmas we are doing Christmas with you today,” Doug says.

Genevieve starts happily jumping up and down.

“You see the presents under the tree?” Doug asks.

Genevieve nods enthusiastically.

“Well those are all for you. Do you want to open them?”

Genevieve nods and soon all three of them are sitting underneath the tree. Harriet is still in the room, watching and taking notes, but none of them notice her.

Genevieve opens the lego set first and her eyes go wide. “This is awesome! And it goes with the fire engine you got me.”

She then pauses, clearly thinking of something. “Did my drawing get hung up in the firehouse?”

Doug nods. “Along with all the other drawings. I thought yours was the best so it was a shame that I couldn’t choose it as the winner. But you understand that as I was the judge it wouldn’t have been fair.”

Genevieve nods happily. Maddie feels confused. What drawings? What winner? What are they talking about?

As Genevieve opens the rest of her presents, she and Doug interact in a way Maddie has never seen them interact before. It feels like in those few weeks of visits she wasn’t at, she has missed so much and now she feels like she is on the outside looking in, as she is missing the context to understand most of what Doug and Genevieve are talking about.

As the visit continues Maddie tries to stay in high spirits. She is finally seeing her daughter again after spending ages missing her. But she has never felt more like an outsider and she feels herself sinking. She manages a few words but for the most part she stays silent and watches Doug and Genevieve having a great time together.

As soon as Genevieve and Harriet leave, Maddie bursts into tears. Doug slaps her in the face. “Stop crying,” he hisses.

Maddie tries but she just ends up crying even harder. Doug growls and pulls her by the hair to the car, not even caring about the people that see the whole thing as he angrily drags Maddie past them.
____

When Harriet drops Genevieve off both of them are carrying armfuls of presents and Genevieve is beaming with happiness.

“Dad said that because they won’t see me on Christmas I got to do Christmas with them today! Look at all the presents they got me!”

Chris looks at them and Buck and Eddie can both spot some jealousy on his face. Before he can complain too much Eddie reminds him that when he sees his mom in two days time at Christmas Eve that he will get presents from her then and that Genevieve won’t get any then. But both of them will get presents from Buck and Eddie on Christmas day as well as the presents from their other separate parents at different times. After that Chris nods in understanding but he still looks longingly at Genevieve’s presents.

Completely unaware of Chris’s jealousy, once Harriet leaves, Genevieve excitedly explains all her presents. Chris still seems a bit grumpy until Genevieve asks him if he can help her build the lego fire station she got. As soon as she asks that Chris lights up and the rest of their day is spent working on that.
___

They have a shift on the 23rd but this year they are then fortunate enough that their next shift isn’t until the 26th meaning they actually get both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off.

When they arrive Doug gets them all putting up decorations. There is then food on the tables in the loft, the sort of food that works best for grazing on. Which considering that they can be called out at any moment, that is the perfect option for them.

Maddie can’t face the idea of being alone so although Doug seems annoyed by it he lets Maddie come with him. Maddie hopes she can come back to work soon. She feels completely healed from the gun shot. Ok, sure, it still causes her a tiny bit of pain every now and then. But she has worked with way worse injuries in the past without it being a problem so she feels fine to get back in there. And she can’t cope with spending the days all by herself in the house. She needs to be able to get out of the house.

She feels so awkward around everyone, especially Hen, Eddie and Chimney. She pretty much ignores them and instead clings to Doug all shift as she no longer knows how to interact with them. When they go off on calls Doug doesn’t bother leaving a man behind, just having Maddie staying there instead, saying that whilst Maddie isn’t back at work yet she still knows what to do if someone comes in needing help. Which is true. Thankfully no one comes in.

The shift passes pretty smoothly. Well as smoothly as it can pass when almost everyone there now seems to hate Doug and where Maddie tries to avoid everyone apart from Doug.

Once the shift is over almost everyone is in high hopes as they leave, thrilled that it is now Christmas.
____

On the morning of Christmas Eve Shannon comes over. Chris is excited to see her and is happy with all the presents he gets. For everyone else things are a bit tense with her around as none of Shannon, Eddie or Buck really know how to interact with each other. Everyone apart from Chris is relieved when Shannon leaves.

In the early afternoon Eddie’s family all arrive. They have a great time and it goes a lot easier than the early visit with Shannon did. Genevieve gets very excited about the food, some of which she hasn’t tried before. They have dinner with Eddie’s family before Eddie’s family all leaves.

Once Eddie’s family has left they bundle Chris and Genevieve and all their things needed for bed into the car and head to Bobby and Athena’s. It has become tradition that every year all the kids fall asleep together in one of the living rooms that has everything emptied from it and the room gets filled wall to wall with mattresses that all of the kids sleep (and jump) on.

All of the kids are filled with energy and it takes a long time for all of them to eventually fall asleep. Once all the kids have fallen asleep, Eddie slips back home and loads up the car with all of Chris and Genevieve’s presents.

When he gets back to Bobby and Athena’s they all help unload the car and put the presents under the tree. Athena, Bobby, Michael, Buck and Eddie then spend a few hours getting everything ready for the morning before they all then head to bed wondering how early they are going to be woken up this year.

In the morning as anticipated they are woken up by excited screaming. When Athena looks at the clock it is 5:39 am. So not the earliest they have been woken up in the past. But they have also been given a bit more sleep in other previous years.

Bobby greets them in the kitchen, passing each adult a coffee as they all then make their way to the living room to greet the kids. All the kids start talking about presents but they are reminded that breakfast is first. The kids all groan, full of impatience.

Breakfast is always the traditional pancakes made by Buck and Bobby. All of the kids love pancakes but this is the day of the year where they practically inhale them and then all stare at the slowest eater, impatiently waiting for everyone to be finished so that they can get to the presents.

This year the slowest pancake eater is May so she is then faced with everyone staring at her, their faces full of impatience.

Eventually May has finished eating so they then head to the tree. They always do it one present at a time so that they can see what everyone else gets. They take turns being the one who pulls a present from under the tree and then looks at the name tag on it and passes it to the person who it is for. This year Brooke is the one pulling the presents from the tree.

The first present she reaches has Robert’s name on it. Everyone watches him unwrap it with eager eyes. When he reveals a remote control car his face lights up and there are multiple sounds of awe.

The next present is for May. Then there is one for Genevieve. Then Harry. Then Chris.

Eventually all of the presents have been opened. Everyone enjoyed opening their presents as well as watching everyone else open them.

They spend the rest of the day playing with the presents they got as well as having heaps of delicious food together. By the time Michael is leaving and then Buck, Eddie, Chris and Genevieve are going, all of them have had a great day.

When Buck, Eddie, Chris and Genevieve are in the car on the drive home the trunk is stuffed full of presents and it couldn’t fit all of them so some of the presents are sitting on Chris and Genevieve’s laps.

“This is the best Christmas I have ever had,” Genevieve says happily.

“What do you normally do for Christmas?” Chris asks.

Genevieve shrugs. “Mom normally spends all day cooking but then makes a mistake so Dad gets mad and sends me to go spend the rest of the day with Cassandra and Claribelle. And then normally when I next see Mom she has bruises all over her and she looks sad.”

Genevieve looks sad and thoughtful. “I hope Mom had a good Christmas this year. I think Dad is being nicer now, at least he is when I see him, so hopefully that means he is also being nice to Mom.”
____

The ground is hard beneath her but she barely notices it. Everything is swimming and she can feel the ground getting sticky underneath her head. Just before her vision fully fades she sees Doug approach her and then her body is swaying as Doug is carrying her.

Doug looks down at Maddie with fear. She isn’t breathing. He sets her down and does CPR for a few minutes, getting more scared the longer it takes. Eventually she takes a breath of air but almost instantly falls unconscious. He picks her up again and hurries her to the car knowing she needs to go to the hospital.
____

As soon as he can Doug gets Maddie discharged. He carries a groggy Maddie upstairs to the guest bedroom. He lays her gently on the bed and then leaves the room, locking the door behind him.
___

She opens her eyes but everything hurts so much and she is so tired and her eyes fall shut almost straight away.

The next time she opens her eyes her head is pounding and the light in the room is too bright so she closes her eyes again. She realises that there is a bandage around her head and she wonders what happened but doesn’t get time to wonder for long as she soon drifts back to sleep.

She opens her eyes and realises that she is already crying. She closes her eyes again and cries herself back to sleep.
___

It is their first shift after Christmas and all of them are in a good mood. They spend the shift happily discussing their Christmases and what they did.

Most of their calls for the day are calls from the fallout of Christmas.

People who got too drunk on Christmas so ended up doing silly things that they wouldn’t normally do. People getting into fights at Boxing Day sales. And people needing medical care after being hurt by their partner.

That last category gets most of them on edge and Doug is the only one who remains completely calm and unaffected by them.

After his shift Doug makes his way to another anger management class. Like normal he doesn’t bother paying attention to what is said. He only has 1 more class he needs to go to and then they will have met the requirements so he will hopefully be able to get Genevieve back.

When he gets home he watches some tv and goes to bed. He won’t keep Maddie in there for as long as last time. But she can spend a week or so there. It won’t harm her.

Just before his next shift he enters the guest bedroom. Maddie is asleep. He puts some more cans of food there just in case she needs them and he then exits the room, locking the door behind him.
____

Maddie wakes up and this time her vision is clear enough that she is able to see the ceiling when she opens her eyes.

The ceiling is white.

Pure panic floods through her. The ceiling is white. She turns to the wall. The wall is white. She looks down. She is on a bed. The bed is soft.

No, no, no, no, no. She can’t be in here again.

Maybe the door is unlocked. Maybe Doug just let her rest here so she wouldn’t be disturbed. Yes, that has to be it.

Fear building up within her, she slowly approaches the door. She holds her breath, almost too scared to test the door handle. But she needs to know either way. Body shaking she puts her hand on the doorknob and tries to turn it. It stays fixed in place.

No, no, no, no, no.

She can’t do this. She can’t do this. She can’t do this. She needs out.

This time there isn’t a chain around her ankle. So she can do this.

She looks around the room. The door is locked and she isn’t strong enough to break it down. And the window is the kind that doesn’t open. But some of the cans of food are still there.

Doug is going to be furious with her but she doesn’t care. She can’t do this again. Last time she ended up trying to kill herself. She can’t go through that again.

She covers her eyes and throws a can of food at the window. She hears the sound of the glass shattering and relief fills her.

When she gets to the window she can’t quite reach it. And the bed is too heavy for her to drag it underneath the window to stand on. So she carries the remaining cans of food over and arranges them into a small step. Once she has done that she stands on it. The cans wobble a bit but that doesn’t matter. She will be quick.

She gets her arms onto the windowsill. Shards of glass immediately cut into her skin but that doesn’t matter. She clings onto it and pulls herself up.

And then she looks out the window and down. The guest bedroom is on the second story. She pauses for a second. It is high. But she cannot be alone.

Hoping it doesn’t hurt too much she lowers herself as much as she can in order to decrease the distance to the ground. She then drops herself the rest of the way and holds her breath, hoping she doesn’t hurt herself.

When she lands her legs jar with the groundshock but apart from that she somehow got down with no injuries.

She makes her way around to the front door and sees that Doug’s car is gone. He must be at work. Her car is there but the keys are inside the house and she can’t exactly get to them without breaking another door or window. And Doug is already going to be furious with her for the one broken window so she isn’t going to break anything else.

She knocks at Cassandra’s door and soon Cassandra has dropped her off at the firehouse. Relief fills Maddie when she sees that they are there. They aren’t on a call. Now she won’t be alone anymore.

She makes her way to Doug’s office, not even noticing the way Hen stares at the blood dripping from her arm. She knocks on the door and Doug says come in. When she enters he stares at her in shock before quickly getting up and then closing and locking the office door.

“What are you doing here Maddie?” he asks.

Maddie clings to him and looks up at him. “I can’t be alone again. I’m not strong enough for that. I’m too weak. I need you.”

Doug sighs and looks down at her. “How did you get out?”

She trembles. “Please don’t get mad at me.”

He glares at her. “Maddie, what did you do?”

She gulps and stares down at the ground. “I used a can to break the window and then I jumped out of it.”

He pushes her harshly, causing her to go flying and crash heavily into the wall. “YOU PURPOSELY BROKE THE WINDOW?” he yells.

“I needed you,” she whispers. “I can’t be alone again. I can’t.”

“WELL I DON’T CARE. I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU MADDIE!”

She looks up at the pure rage on his face and knows she made a mistake. She should have just accepted that she was stuck in that room again. Being alone is better than what she is about to face.
___

All of them stare at the office in horror and Hen is quick to grab her phone and call Athena. They can hear Doug yelling at Maddie and then they hear Maddie screaming and the horrific sound of what they are pretty sure is Maddie being thrown around the room and punched.

Eddie shakes his head. “Athena isn’t going to be quick enough.”

He runs to the door and tugs at the handle. It is locked. He starts banging on the door. For a few seconds the sounds stop but then they start again, getting even worse with Maddie’s screams getting even louder and more horrific to hear.

Ravi runs away and then a few moments later he returns with a battering ram. Eddie nods and then Ravi, Chimney, Eddie and Max all grab onto the battering ram and push it at the door. The door budges a bit and the screams from inside get even louder.

They ram the door again. The screams stop but Doug’s yelling and the sound of him hurting Maddie does not.

They ram the door a third time and this time it comes crashing down.

Doug looks away from Maddie for a brief second.

“ALL OF YOU, GET OUT NOW!!!” He yells, his face a violent shade of red.

Ravi, Eddie, Max and Chimney all work together to try and pull Doug away from Maddie. They manage to but only just and from how hard he is struggling they know they won’t be able to hold him back for long.

They yell for Hen and Lucy who come rushing in with a gurney. They get Maddie loaded onto it and run her to the ambulance, getting Maddie out of the firehouse just before Ravi, Eddie, Max and Chimney lose their hold on Doug.

Doug runs out of his office and stares after the ambulance. He turns back to face Ravi, Eddie, Chimney and Max.

“You should have stayed out of it. I was having a private conversation with my wife. It was none of your business.”

“As soon as you laid a hand on her it became our business,” Eddie says furiously.

“I’m writing you all up for destruction of property,” Doug snaps.

“And I’m arresting you,” Athena’s voice rings out loud and clear.

Doug just laughs. “She won’t press charges. As soon as she gains consciousness she will start begging you to let me go. You’ll see.”

Athena doesn’t bother trying to hide her disgust. She just starts reading him his rights and then forces him into the car.

Once he is gone the firehouse descends into horrified silence.

“How are we supposed to continue having him as our captain?” Ravi eventually whispers, breaking the silence.

“If she didn’t need to have people here that are on her side I would put in for a transfer. I hate having to work with him,” Eddie spits.

Ravi, Chimney and Max are all quick to nod in agreement.

The bells all go off and they stare at each other for a second. “Did no one put us offline?” Max whispers.

Eddie is the first to come to his senses. “They still need us, let’s go.”

So they do. On the drive there Eddie lets dispatch know that the ambulance is already taking someone to hospital and that their captain has just been arrested. The person from dispatch seems completely taken aback by this. She tells them that the 132 is also responding to the scene they have been called to so for this call they will report to and take instructions from the 132’s captain and after that they will be taken offline.

When the 118 arrive on scene and Buck sees Eddie, Buck looks around cautiously.

“Doug’s not here,” Eddie says. He then turns to Bobby. “Dispatch told us we’re under your command for this call. Afterwards our station is being put offline.”

He can see the obvious worry and questions on Buck and Bobby’s faces but they don’t ask them as they turn their focus to the call in front of them.

Once they have freed everyone trapped from the car crash and gotten all the seriously injured people sent to the hospital, Buck and Bobby make their way over to where the remnant of the 118 is.

“What happened? Where is Doug?” Bobby asks.

“He got arrested. Which he deserved,” Max spits.

Bobby and Buck exchange worried glances. “Did he hurt Maddie again?” Buck asks.

Eddie nods. Ravi shudders. Chimney looks sad and Max looks furious.

“Partway through our shift Maddie turned up and went to Doug’s office. Very soon after that we heard Doug yelling, Maddie screaming and the sound of Doug hurting Maddie. We called Athena and then used a battering ram to break down the door. It took four of us to get Doug off Maddie and we were only able to hold him off long enough for Hen and Lucy to get Maddie in an ambulance and out of the building,” Chimney says.

Buck’s legs collapse underneath him. Bobby and Eddie both reach out and together they catch him just before he falls.

“I need to see her,” Buck says.

Bobby exchanges looks with Eddie. “Who arrested him?”

“Athena,” Eddie replies.

Bobby is already getting out his phone. “I’ll let Athena know that Buck wants to visit Maddie so we need warning if Doug is let out so that Doug won’t catch Buck visiting Maddie. Eddie, you take Buck there. Chimney, can you make sure Eddie’s absence is taken care of?”

Chimney nods.

Eddie calls an uber for him and Buck and then they make their way to the hospital.

Chapter Text

“Maddie.”

Everything hurts.

“Maddie. It’s alright if you can’t open your eyes. I can just talk to you. Did I ever tell you about our Christmas traditions? We go to Bobby and Athena’s and all the kids sleep the night on a mattress on the floor. Genevieve loved jumping on the mattress. We then had pancakes for breakfast and then lots of presents. Genevieve had a great day.”

It hurts so much. She needs a distraction.

“Tell . . . me . . more . . about . . Genevieve.” Every word causes pain to shoot through her throat.

She feels a hand in hers and knows it is Evan’s.

“She loved making a massive lego city with Chris.”

Everything hurts. Why is she always in pain? She hates this so much. She starts crying. Soon her brother's hand is carefully stroking her hair.

“I’m here Mads. I’m here.”

She just sobs even harder. Evan stays by her side, telling her stories and stroking her hair.

Eventually she falls asleep to the comforting sound of her brother's voice.
___

Buck can tell when Maddie has fallen asleep again. She may have never opened her eyes but he knew that she was awake just like he knows now that she is asleep.

And now that she is asleep he finds himself starting to cry.

The doctors have already told him her list of injuries. She has a concussion, a cranial fracture, two black eyes, a broken right arm, 13 broken ribs and a broken pelvis.

He was absolutely horrified hearing the list and seeing her was even worse. He knows that once he has to leave Maddie he is going to be sucked into a research spiral, trying to find out how long it will take for each of her injuries to heal.

He doesn’t think he has ever hated Doug more.

Athena calls him and he is quick to pick up. She informs him that because of how seriously Doug hurt Maddie unless Maddie wakes up and says she wants Doug to be released Doug isn’t going anywhere.

Buck is scared that Maddie will want Doug to be released. But at least he knows that means it is safe for him to stay by Maddie’s side as if she makes the decision for Doug to be released then he will know about it anyway. But unless Maddie makes that decision he can stay by his sister’s side.

Buck calls Bobby asking for a currently unknown amount of time off. Bobby assures him he can have as long as he needs. Buck then calls Eddie saying he doesn’t know how long he will be at the hospital for and that he might stay overnight. Eddie assures Buck that he is good at home with the kids and Buck can stay by Maddie’s side for as long as he needs.
____

Their first shift back is not a good one. It passes almost in silence. A weighted silence. A silence filled with horror about what happened. A silence none of them dare break.

Chimney has been named interim captain until the LAFD decides what is happening with Doug.

No one mentions Doug’s name or Maddie’s name at all but it is clear all of them are thinking about what happened. A few times Chim or Hen hear some of the other firefighters whispering, horrified that they never realised what was going on and hating that they had liked Doug. Chimney understands. When he realised that Doug was abusing Maddie it took a while to not hate himself for not seeing it.

The shift drags on and the atmosphere in the fire station is almost unbearable. All of them are relieved when their shift is finally over.
____

The instant she wakes up she starts crying. It hurts so so much. She tries to open her eyes to see where she is but when she tries to she can’t. She whimpers. Is she all alone again? She starts crying even harder. She hates being alone.

“Mads, I’m here,” her brother’s voice says. Suddenly his hand is holding hers and a small ache within her disappears.

Maddie sobs even harder, so relieved that she isn’t alone. Her crying then makes the pain in her ribs even worse so she tries to get control of her crying as she needs the pain to decrease.

Maddie freezes as she realises something.

“Where's Doug?” she whispers.

There is anger in Buck’s voice when he answers. “In jail. As he should be. He will only be let free if you don’t want to press charges. Please Maddie. Please press charges. Please.”

Fear fills her. Doug is going to be livid with her. “How long has it been?” she asks.

“Three days,” Buck replies, the confusion as to why he has been asked this question evident in his voice.

Maddie starts shaking. If Doug was furious after 12 hours in jail she can only imagine just how angry he is now.

“Maddie. He can’t get to you. You’re safe,” Buck says.

Maddie doesn’t know if she wants to cry or scream. She’s not safe. She will never be safe. Doesn’t he get that?

“You need to tell them I don’t want to press charges. They need to let him go,” she says.

She feels Buck’s hand in hers tense up and she trembles. She can’t see him due to her eyes not opening but she can tell he isn’t happy about what she just said.

“Maddie!” There is pure desperation and heartbreak in her brother’s voice. “If he gets out he’ll hurt you again. This is your chance to break free.”

Maddie swallows. “Has Athena found a way to get Cassandra and Claribelle documented?”

There is a pause before Buck speaks. “I don’t know.”

“Can you find out?” Maddie whispers. “If she somehow has then I will at least think about going ahead with pressing charges. If not then I need him out as soon as possible. The longer he is there the angrier at me he will be.”

Her brother sounds visibly ill when he tells her he will call Athena. He moves as if to go and call her but Maddie grabs onto his hand. “Can’t you call her while you are here? I don’t want to be alone.”

She feels him sitting back down next to her and relief fills her.
___

When Athena sees that Buck is calling her she answers in an instant, moving to the other room so that the kids don’t overhear her.

Buck doesn’t bother with greetings, he dives straight into the conversation.

“Have you found a way to get Cassandra and Claribelle documented?”

Athena’s heart sinks straight away. It is obvious what this is about. She has tried to approach it, to find out how to do it. But the process is incredibly complicated and very risky as applying for it is enough to alert people to the fact that they are undocumented in the first place.

“I’m still working on it. The process is very complicated.”

“Well, is there a way to speed it up?”

She hears desperation and fear in Buck’s voice.

“She doesn’t want to press charges unless they are documented does she?” Athena asks.

“I’m not putting my safety above their safety,” Maddie’s voice says through the phone. Before Athena or Buck get a chance to say anything Maddie speaks again. “I can’t leave so therefore you need to get Doug unarrested and released as soon as possible. The longer he is in there the worse it will be.”

Athena hates this. She truly does. She says bye to Buck and Maddie and then calls Michael. Once he has arrived to look after the kids she then makes her way to go and get Doug released. Something she is not happy about.

Once she has Doug released he looks at her with a smirk on his face. “I told you she wouldn’t press charges and that she’d beg you to let me go.”
____

After Buck ended the call with Athena he saw that Maddie started to get panicked. In the end he reluctantly had to leave her in case Doug came to the hospital once he was free. Buck could tell by the way that Maddie gave his hand a squeeze that she was just as reluctant for him to go as he was.

When he gets home there is worry on Genevieve’s face and it is clear she knows something is wrong. He is still surprised when she outright asks if her dad hurt her mom. He wasn’t planning on telling her but he doesn’t want to lie to her so he ends up nodding. Which he regrets when her face instantly crumples.

That night Genevieve requires a lot more Princess Maddie stories than normal in order to be able to fall asleep.
____

She wakes up to the sound of the door opening. She hates that her eyes are swollen shut as it means she can’t tell who has entered so every time her body goes on full alert in case it is Doug. So far it has just been the nurses and doctors. But this time she can feel every hair standing on edge and she just knows.

When she feels his hand hold hers she only just manages not to flinch. Knowing what Doug requires she turns her head in his direction even though doing so feels kind of pointless considering her eyes are currently swollen shut so it isn’t like she can even see him.

“Maddie.”

His tone is completely neutral and Maddie has no clue if he is mad or not. Not being able to see his face just makes it harder to find any clues to figure out how safe she currently is.

“I’m so sorry. I know it’s my fault they arrested you. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them.”

There is silence but his hands move to her throat and Maddie’s entire body tenses. She hears Doug chuckle before he then moves his hand to her forehead and strokes it gently.

“I know you had no control over it Maddie. You were unconscious when I was arrested. I told that cop that you would beg them to let me go as soon as you were conscious. And I was right.”

He gives her cheek a gentle pinch.

“However I was still in jail for 3 days because of you. Which can’t go unpunished. But because I’m nice and because I love you I won’t punish you until after you have been discharged.”

“Thanks,” Maddie whispers.

Suddenly she has a horrific thought and she flinches and starts shaking.

“What is it Maddie?”

She just shakes even harder.

“MADDIE!”

“TELL ME!”

She doesn’t want to tell him. If it hasn’t occurred to him then it will just enrage him. Although she knows that eventually it will come up. And he is mad now so she has no choice but to tell him.

“Did, did, did一”

Her cheek burns and the harsh sound of a slap echoes throughout the room. “Spit it out Maddie.”

“Did I cost you your job?” she whispers.

Silence before a growl of anger. “I don’t know yet. For now I’ve been temporarily put on leave without pay. Considering you’re the reason why, you need to phone the chief and ask him to give me my job back. That should help my chances.”

She hears Doug sneering at her. “You better do it Maddie.”

Maddie nods quickly, wincing with pain when nodding makes the pain from her concussion and skull fracture intensify. “I’ll do it.”

She can practically hear Doug smiling. “I’ll give you some privacy to do it. Considering you can’t see, I'll dial the phone for you and then I’ll leave the room.”

Maddie is surprised he is giving her privacy for this conversation. But she is grateful for that as well.

Soon the phone is dialling. She hears Doug leaving the room and closing the door behind him and then she hears Chief Alonzo speaking. She feels fear run through her. She needs to do this conversation right. She needs Doug to get his job back. And she is also nervous just because she hasn’t exactly ever had a conversation with the chief before.

“Hello?” he asks.

Maddie gulps. “Hi Chief Alonzo. It’s firefighter Maddie Kendall from the 118 here.”

She hears him let out a sound of surprise. “Are you doing ok? We’re all horrified by what happened.”

She gulps. “I’m doing fine. I’m calling to ask about whether or not Doug will be able to get his job back.”

There is both concern and anger in his voice when Chief Alonzo replies. She knows the anger isn’t directed at her but it still makes her quake a little bit. “He was captain of a station. We thought he was trustworthy to lead a station. I’m so sorry he hurt you. He won’t be getting his job back. He attacked a firefighter, his wife, you, whilst on duty where everyone else heard him. That isn’t acceptable and we won’t have that sort of person representing the LAFD, especially not as one of our captains.”

Maddie can’t hold back the sobs that spill out of her. Doug’s going to kill her. He lost his job and reputation because of her and he will never forgive her for that.

“Maddie, are you alright?” There is alarm and concern in his voice but Maddie is so scared she doesn’t pick up on it.

“Is there really no way he can get his job back? I’m the one he hurt, surely if I say I’m fine with him returning then it doesn’t matter. I’m not pressing charges so he won’t have a criminal record.” She tries to keep the desperation out of her voice but she doesn’t succeed.

“Maddie,” there is caution in his voice when he says her name. “Is there a reason you are trying to get him his job back? Is there a reason why the idea of him losing his job is making you sound so scared?”

Maddie freezes. She doesn’t know how to answer this. She can’t answer it without betraying Doug even more. She ends up just crying even harder. She really is the worst wife in the world.

Eventually she remembers she is still on the line with him. She feels herself giving up. Doug is never getting his job back. Meaning he will kill her. It’s over. Nothing she does now will make a difference or will matter in any way. Defeat fills her.

“I’m sorry for wasting your time,” she says hollowly, a numbness and sadness working its way through her as she begins to accept her fate.

“Maddie, wait,” he says, but it is too late. She hangs up the call and feels the phone slipping from her hand as she bursts into tears. It is over. She has ruined Doug’s life. There is no way he will let her get away with that.

She is still a complete blubbering mess when the door opens.

“How did it go?” Doug asks.

Maddie tenses. “I’m so sorry Doug. I tried. I really did. I’m the worst wife ever. I’m so sorry.”

She isn’t surprised when he slaps her in the face.

“How could you Maddie? Everyone’s going to hear what happened and I’ll never get a job again. You’ve ruined my life Maddie. You’re my wife. You’re supposed to make things easier for me. Not ruin everything I care about.”

Maddie sobs even harder. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s too late for that.” Doug’s voice is suddenly ice cold. “You ruined my life. My career and reputation and everything I have ever worked for is gone in an instant. Just like that. Because of you.”

Maddie starts shaking and her cheeks go red with shame when she feels herself lose control of her bladder.

“You made it so there is nothing left for me Maddie. So for that you have to die. And then because I can’t live without you once I’ve killed you I’ll have to kill myself.”

Another slap to her face. “You’re an awful person Maddie. I can’t believe you would make it so that I have to kill myself.” He then lets out a harsh chuckle. “I hope Genevieve loves whatever foster family she is stuck with considering that she is going to become an orphan.”

Doug’s hands then grip tightly around Maddie’s neck. Every time he has done this in the past she has been filled with fear. But this time the fear is completely overwhelming as she knows that this is it. She thought she had accepted this but now that it is happening pure terror fills her. She starts sobbing which only makes it get even harder to breathe.

She isn’t ready to die. She isn’t ready to never see Genevieve again. Or Buck. The only good thing in all this is that Doug said he will kill himself afterwards meaning there is no chance of Genevieve being trapped with him. Genevieve will be with Buck where she will be safe and will thrive.

Doug’s grip gets tighter and Maddie knows that this is the end. As breathing gets harder and harder she is surprised when a sense of peace washes over her. This is it. This is the last time he will ever hurt her. It is over.

She stops trying to fight it and instead embraces it. She is ready for her pain to be over.

She is almost there. She is just about to lose consciousness. She is ready for this.

And then Doug’s phone rings.

Doug swears and his hands fly off her throat. Maddie gasps for air, hating the way her body immediately takes in as much air as it can. She was ready. And now when the phone call is over he will just do it again. Tears slide down her face. She was ready for her pain to be over.

“Chief Alonzo,” she hears Doug’s voice say. All of Maddie freezes.

Doug says a few ‘yesses,’ and a few ‘nos,’ and Maddie’s entire body fills with terror.

When the call is over Doug rests his hand on Maddie’s forehead and she flinches.

“I’ve got my job back. I’ll be back as captain next time A shift is on.”

He kisses her on the forehead. “I knew you could do it Maddie. You can be a good wife when you try.”

She then hears the sound of him leaving and she is filled with confusion. What just happened?
____

They are at Bobby and Athena’s celebrating May’s 17th birthday when Eddie gets a text saying that next shift Doug will be back and that he is still their captain. Eddie stares down at his phone in disbelief. How on earth is Doug still allowed to be the captain after what he did?

Eddie only realises the way he is glaring at his phone when he sees everyone staring at him.

“What is it?” May asks.

Eddie shakes his head. He isn’t going to take the focus away from May. It’s her birthday. She deserves to be celebrated, nothing should get in the way of that, especially not something Doug related.

Buck makes his way closer and then he sees Eddie’s phone. Buck goes white. The phone clatters to the ground as Buck runs out of the room. Eddie is quick to run after him, completely forgetting about the phone and not noticing as Athena bends down and picks it up.

Outside Buck starts pacing back and forth. Eddie doesn’t know how to help his anger considering he is also fuming with rage. How on earth did the chief allow this? What sort of a fire department do they work for?

Ten minutes later both Buck and Eddie are still fuming with rage when Athena appears.

“I just got off the phone with Chief Alonzo,” she says, her face grim.

That is enough to get Buck and Eddie to stop pacing.

“Did he explain why on earth he is just letting Doug return as captain after what Doug did to Maddie?” Buck practically screams.

Athena nods. “He was never planning on letting Doug back. He is horrified by what happened and hates that a man like Doug was ever representing the LAFD, especially as a captain.”

“Then what changed? Why is he reinstating Doug’s role?” Eddie asks.

Athena sighed. “Maddie called Chief Alonzo. From what Chief Alonzo told me Maddie asked if Doug could get his job back and when Chief Alonzo said no, Maddie started crying and there was fear and desperation in her voice before her voice went all numb and hopeless and she apologised for wasting his time. When he heard that he tried to get her to stay on the line so he could find out what would keep her safe but she hung up.”

“So the only reason he is letting Doug get back the job he really doesn’t deserve is to try and keep Maddie safe?” Eddie eventually asks.

Athena nods.

“I HATE THIS!” Buck yells. “I hate that Doug keeps on hurting her. I hate that I can’t keep Maddie safe. And I hate that I understand why Chief Alonzo let Doug keep the job he really doesn’t deserve.”

Neither Eddie or Athena say anything, instead they just nod in agreement. All of them hate everything about this.
____

When she hears the door open Maddie tenses. She hates that her eyes won’t open. Hates that it means she doesn’t know who is in the room until they speak. Hates that every time a nurse enters she is terrified that it is Doug.

“Hi Maddie,” a voice says.

Maddie’s face twists in confusion. The voice feels somewhat familiar but she can’t quite place it.

“It’s Chief Alonzo,” the voice says.

Maddie freezes. What is he doing here? She has no clue what to say so she doesn’t say anything.

“I wanted to see how you were doing.”

That just increases her confusion. Plenty of firefighters get hurt. Chief Alonzo almost never visits any of them in the hospital. She doesn’t understand. And it isn’t the only thing she doesn’t understand.

“Why did you give him his job back? After everything you said. I don’t understand.”

She hears him sigh and she tenses.

“He doesn’t deserve his job back. He shouldn’t get to be a member of the LAFD, much less a captain,” Chief Alonzo says.

And, that just confuses Maddie even more.

He sighs again. “The only reason he got his job back is because of how scared you sounded about what would happen if he didn’t get it back.”

Maddie tenses. She doesn’t know how she feels about this.

She hates that even more people know what Doug does to her. And the chief of all people. And she feels guilty that Doug still has his job when it is clear Chief Alonzo wishes he didn’t.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn’t do anything wrong,” he says.

Tears slide down her face. He is wrong. Everything she does is wrong. Doug knows that. Her parents knew it. She knows it. Why does no one else understand that?

“You shouldn’t have had to give him his job back if you didn’t want to. Not for me. I don’t deserve that.”

“From what your other co-workers tell me, you're amazing at your job. And no matter what no one deserves to be hurt.”

He’s wrong. She does deserve to be hurt. If she didn’t then Doug wouldn’t constantly hurt her.

“Was giving him his job back the wrong way to protect you?” Chief Alonzo asks, his voice now uncertain.

And now Maddie feels even worse. Chief Alonzo is being kind and trying to help her and she isn’t being grateful enough. Doug always hates how ungrateful she can be. She gulps, knowing it is vital Chief Alonzo knows how grateful she is.

“I’m sorry for being ungrateful,” she whispers. “Thank you. It was the right way to protect me. He was furious when we thought I had failed at getting him his job back. He was in the middle of trying to kill me when you called. If the call hadn’t ended with him getting his job back he would have finished the job. So you did protect me. Thanks.”

She hears a gasp of horror and runs through her words. Oh. She goes cold. She said way too much. Why on earth did she say that? Chief Alonzo may want to protect her but there is no way he is going to let someone who tried to kill a person remain as a fire captain. She has ruined it. She starts crying again. She tries to stop, fully aware that he is still in the room. But she can’t.

Chapter Text

Their first shift with Doug back as their captain is the New Years shift. Which is always a crazy shift to be on with a lot more emergencies than normal so everyone’s hatred of their captain doesn’t help things. At all.

Doug gives them orders and everyone listens although none of them are happy about it. But much to their disgust most of them manage to pretend they still like him after Chief Alonzo stopped by the shift before Doug was due back and told them that he understands they may all now hate Doug and that he does too but they need to pretend that nothing has changed as if Doug perceives that they no longer like him then he will probably blame that on Maddie and take it out on her. The room was filled with a silent horror as they all understood what Chief Alonzo meant.

Some of them can’t fully hide their disgust although all of them try to. But only for Maddie’s sake.

It doesn’t help matters that all of them know that Maddie is still in the hospital, because of what Doug did to her.

They may have had bad captains in the past. Some captains that divided them, some captains that were horrible. Well now they are all united in the understanding that Doug is the worst captain they have ever had and all of them hate him. The 118 is definitely far from the family that some stations are.
____

When Harriet arrives to take Genevieve to her supervised contact Buck doesn’t want to let her go. He doesn’t know if Harriet is even aware of what has happened. So he gets Eddie to stay with Genevieve and Chris in another room and asks if he can talk to Harriet.

Once they are seated Buck talks. “Does Genevieve have to go to contact today?”

Harriet nods. “The only reason contact would get cancelled is if her parents cancelled it or if it was deemed dangerous.”

“Well Maddie won’t be at contact today because Doug put her in the hospital. Surely something like that is a reason as to why Genevieve shouldn’t get to see him.”

A sad look crosses Harriet’s face. “Unfortunately we are only allowed to look at how Doug and Maddie treat Genevieve, not at how they treat each other. Unless Doug gets criminal charges against him or unless he hurts Genevieve directly, nothing can be done to stop him from seeing her.”

Harriet pauses before talking again. “And I know you won’t be happy to hear this. But Genevieve has healed, Doug has completed the anger management classes. That was the only requirements for them to get her back. So today after contact I will be talking to Doug about the plan for Genvieve to return home. She will probably be returning home sometime in the next week.”

Harriet then goes up into the other room and gets Genevieve, before her and Genevieve exit the house.

Buck wants to let out a yell of anger and frustration but he is aware that Chris is in the next room and he doesn’t want to scare him. Instead he settles for punching one of the cushions on the couch. He hates this so much. It isn’t right. Genevieve won’t be safe if she returns home. How does CPS not understand that? Isn’t the word protective literally in their name? Buck feels like if Genevieve returns home then CPS is failing in their responsibility and duty to Genevieve.
____

At the end of contact a different social worker comes to take Genevieve back to her foster family. Harriet then turns to Doug and says that it is time to talk about the plan to get Genevieve coming home.

Soon it has been set up that in three days time when he has his next 48 hours off Harriet will bring Genevieve back home.

Doug is annoyed by this but he pretends he is happy. However when he gets home he is furious. The whole reason he wanted Genevieve back was so that his reputation wouldn’t be damaged. But Maddie has already ruined it so now it doesn’t matter.

Maddie is going to be in so much trouble when the hospital discharges her.

More anger fills him. Why does the hospital always want Maddie to stay for so long anyway? Well he doesn’t care. She is getting discharged regardless of whether or not she or the hospital staff like it.

He gets in the car and speeds the entire way there. When he arrives at the hospital he storms straight to Maddie’s room. He smiles seeing the way she flinches when the door opens. He stays silent, seeing her tremble as she tries to figure out who is in the room. He loves that her eyes swelled shut and stole her vision as her fear is so fun to witness.

He quietly makes his way closer, happy that he can sneak up on her. Once he is closer to her he slaps her in the face. She yelps in shock.

“Hi Doug,” she says, trying to force a smile onto her face. He knows her smile is fake but he appreciates the effort.

“I’m discharging you. I’m going to get a nurse to sort that out and then I’ll be back.”

He chuckles to himself seeing the way she tenses but doesn’t dare protest.

As is always the case it is a massive fight with the hospital staff in order to get Maddie discharged. They are clearly very unhappy to do so. But legally they can’t force her to stay so in the end they reluctantly have to let Doug take Maddie home.

Because of her broken pelvis she is unable to walk so Doug borrows a wheelchair to get her to the car. Once they are home he carries her upstairs and places her in the bed in the guest bedroom. He has now boarded up over where the window had been. She found the room boring before, well now it doesn’t even have a view anymore.

Maddie is silent as he gets her set up. Tears run down her face but she doesn’t say or do anything. He chains her ankle to the bed but leaves the door open as he then makes his way to the living room and watches some tv.
___

When the 132 get their next call Bobby tells Buck he is the man behind. Buck didn’t hear what the call was for so he protests.

“You can wow us with one of the recipes I have taught you,” Bobby says before he jumps into the engine.

Buck sighs as he makes his way to the kitchen.

When Bobby and the 132 arrive on scene it is bad. The police are already there and they take the man away. Bobby and his crew then rush in, with his paramedics working on her.

The room around them looks like a tornado has gone through it. Everything is out of place, there is broken glass everywhere and the floor and walls are splattered with blood. The sight of it makes him feel sick.

His paramedics work on the woman as hard as they can but eventually they have to call it. One of the cops calls it in and they then return to the station. The mood is somber as it always is after a call ends in a death. But domestic violence calls just make the heaviness even heavier.

When they return to the station there is excitement in Buck’s eyes. “I think I nailed the recipe! You have to try it!”

Bobby manages a smile as he makes his way to Buck’s side. When he tries it he lets out a genuine smile. “You nailed it! Good job kid!” Buck grins happily and he is full of enthusiasm as he serves up the food.

News travels across all the fire stations meaning everyone from the 132 has heard what happened with Doug and Maddie. Most of them are aware that Maddie is Buck’s sister so all of them know not to mention the call they just went on.
___

She can hear Doug moving around the house and she tenses every time he comes close to her. But at the same time a part of her is yearning for company, desperate to not be alone.

She hates this. She is in so much pain because of Doug and cannot move even an inch without sending waves of pain rippling through her body. Yet there is still a part of her that longs for Doug’s company. What is wrong with her?

After what feels like hours but could have been minutes she hears Doug enter the room. She feels the bed move underneath her as Doug climbs on.

“Are you hungry Maddie?” He asks.

She freezes, unsure how to answer. She thinks she is hungry although she isn’t fully sure. But she doesn’t know what the correct answer is. In the end she doesn’t answer and she hears him sigh.

“You’re supposed to answer me when I ask you a question, Maddie. Open your mouth.”

She gulps but obeys. She feels the metal of a spoon entering her mouth and then she feels the hot liquid of soup entering her mouth. She is quick to swallow. It is her favorite flavor soup and she smiles. He does still love her!

“My favorite soup! Thanks Doug, I love you.”

He strokes her cheeks and kisses her on the forehead. “I love you too Maddie.”

He then feeds her the rest of the soup. A part of her is a bit embarrassed. Her right arm might be broken. But her left arm isn’t. She is still capable of feeding herself. Although not being able to see would make it trickier and more dangerous due to increasing the risk of spilling soup on herself.

Still, a part of her thinks it is sweet that he is feeding her when she could technically manage by herself.

Once he has finished feeding her he cuddles up to her side, the side with her good arm. The two of them cuddle together for a while. Her entire body may be filled with close to unbearable levels of pain. Because of him. But right now all she cares about is that she isn’t alone and that he is currently being so sweet.

He holds her tenderly as he talks about lots of different things. Maddie cuddles up closer to him and falls asleep in his arms.
____

Doug walks into the fire house and feels the way everyone is silently judging him. Anger builds up within him. This is all Maddie’s fault.

Needing to try and get some of his anger out he gets everyone doing lots of training. Ordering them to do numerous laps around the building, yelling at them to do push up after push up. As he continues yelling at everyone and sees the way they begin to struggle with his demands he feels a sense of calm wash over him. He only lets them stop when they get sent on a call.

They get called to a farm where a kid fell into a septic tank. Doug grins, trying to decide who he is angriest with. In the end he goes with Eddie. Multiple of the team tried interfering with the discussion he was having with Maddie. But he hates Eddie the most because Eddie is married to Maddie’s brother. And he cannot stand Evan.

Eddie doesn’t protest although Doug does see anger in Eddie’s eyes which fills Doug with satisfaction.

It doesn’t take long for Eddie to come back up with the kid, both of them smelling horrible. The kid isn’t breathing so Hen and Chimney also get covered in the smell when they have to remove the contents that are blocking the kids airway and Chimney then has to perform CPR on the kid. Eventually the kid starts breathing and then they are making their way back to the firehouse.

Doug grudgingly allows Eddie, Hen and Chimney to have showers, knowing forbidding that would be seen as taking things too far. He then makes sure that for the rest of the shift everyone is kept doing chores the entire time. He doesn’t let anyone get even a minute’s break.

By the end of the shift it is clear all of them hate him and he couldn’t be happier. He wonders how long it will take him to break them. To make them all want to transfer. If they all transfer then he will get new firefighters, firefighters that won’t try and interfere in his marriage. And then things will be perfect again.
____

When Eddie gets home from his shift he is absolutely exhausted. He didn’t get even one minute of rest and he is completely worn out.

When he walks in the door it is to the sound of Genevieve’s tears and he freezes. He had almost forgotten that Genevieve is going home today. All of her bags are packed and are sitting near the door.

As he makes his way further into the house he sees that Genevieve is clinging to Buck and tears are running down her face. Chris is also crying and Buck looks close to tears.

When Genevieve sees that Eddie is here she runs up to him. Eddie is quick to open up his arms and Genevieve jumps into them. “I don’t want to go,” she sobs.

Eddie swallows a lump in his throat. He doesn’t know how to do this. But when he looks at Buck it is clear that Buck is struggling to keep his composure. So whilst Eddie knows he is going to miss Genevieve so so much and whilst he hates that Genevieve is going back to Doug he knows he needs to be the strong one, who keeps it together for all of them.

“I know it’s going to be different. And we will miss you so much. But you’ll get to spend more time with your mom. And you’ll get to see Cassandra and Claribelle again.”

Genevieve doesn’t respond. Instead she just grips tighter to him.

When there is a knock on the door Buck goes white. Because Genevieve is still clinging to Eddie, Buck is the one who goes and answers the door. He helps Harriet load the car with Genevieve’s items, hating every single second of it.

Once the car is loaded Buck makes his way back inside, Harriet coming after him. When Genevieve sees Harriet she hides behind Buck and Eddie. “Please don’t make me go back! I’m really scared of Dad. Please!”

A look at Harriet’s face shows that she is just upset about the whole situation as the rest of them are. “I’m sorry Genevieve. But your parents did what was needed to get you back so I don’t have a choice.”

Genevieve bursts into tears.

“It’s time to say goodbye now Genevieve,” Harriet says.

Chris starts crying even harder. “You’ll always be my sister even if I never see you again,” he says through sobs.

That is enough to get Genevieve pulling away from Buck and Eddie as she goes and hugs Chris. “You’ll always be my brother.”

The two of them pinky promise.

Genevieve then gives Buck and Eddie massive hugs and then with everyone crying Harriet takes Genevieve out to the car. Buck, Eddie and Chris follow them outside and wave until the car is out of sight.

As soon as they can’t see the car anymore Chris bursts into noisy sobs and Buck also starts crying. Eddie guides them to the couch before he makes his way to the freezer. He grabs three tubs of ice cream along with 3 spoons. They then sit in front of the tv watching a movie and eating ice cream. It is clear that all of them are too upset to properly watch the movie but it provides some background noise and gives them an excuse to not have to talk, something all of them are too emotionally wrecked to handle.
____

Maddie’s heart soars when she hears the sound of Doug coming home. Her day has been horribly long. She hasn’t been able to move due to all the pain she is in and having her eyes swollen shut means she can’t even see anything which has just made her boredom even worse.

His footsteps sound loud as he gets closer which makes her wonder if he is mad but she decides it doesn’t matter. She just needs to not be alone.

“Doug!” she exclaims happily as soon as she can tell he is in the room. “I missed you so so much.”

He greets her with a slap to the face and Maddie swallows.

“Everyone at work hates me and it’s all your fault.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He punches her so hard she falls off the bed. She screams in agony. When it doesn’t seem like he is going to attack again she tries to get back onto the bed but she is unable to do so. After a few minutes of her struggling she hears Doug laugh before she is then in his arms as he gently places her back on the bed. She then feels him getting on the bed as he gets next to her and holds her in his arms.

“Since they all hate me I decided I may as well make the most of it. So I gave them drills and chores all day. I’ll break them until all of them transfer and we get all new firefighters. Then everything will be perfect again with everyone admiring me and no one trying to interfere with our marriage.”

Maddie feels flooded with guilt. She hates that he is going to do this to their coworkers because of her. But she doesn’t dare to protest.

“That’s a good idea,” she says, hating herself before she even says it. Still it works as she feels Doug relax and soon he is telling her how much he loves her.

He stays by her side until there is a knock on the door. “I’ll be back shortly,” he says.

Doug then leaves Maddie as he makes his way down to the door. When he opens it Harriet and Genevieve are standing there.

Genevieve feels filled with terror as she stares up at her dad. She doesn’t want to be here. She managed to stop crying on the drive over knowing her dad hates it when she cries. Although her face is still tear stained.

Her dad gets them to come inside. Genevieve stands frozen in place as her dad and Harriet talk and her dad brings all of her things inside. Once Harriet leaves, her dad closes the door and looks at her.

“So you’re back home.”

She trembles, unsure what to do. “Can I see Mom?” she eventually asks.

There is anger on his face and she gulps before taking a step back. But then he smiles. “Of course you can. She’s in the guest room. Come upstairs with me.”

Her dad holds out his hand. Genevieve doesn’t want to take it but by the glare he gives her she knows she doesn’t have a choice.

Her dad moves too quickly and it is hard for her to keep up with him.

Suddenly he pushes her in front of him and then he is shoving her through the doorway of the guest bedroom. She stumbles into the bed and hits her knee on it. “Ow!” she says.

“Genevieve!” Her mom exclaims before sitting bolt upright within seconds.

“Mom!”

Genevieve forgets about the pain in her knee and hurries onto the bed and gives her mom a massive hug. Her mom holds on tightly to her and soon both of them are crying. She hears her dad groan before he then leaves the room, filling Genevieve with relief.

Genevieve never wants to let go and she thinks it might be the same for her mom. They stay holding each other for several minutes and Genevieve is still hugging her mom when her dad reenters the room.

He scoffs loudly. “You’ve hugged for long enough. Stop hugging.”

Both of them reluctantly pull away.

Maddie feels a massive mix of emotions. She is overjoyed to be with Genevieve again. But she is also worried about it. And confused. Is Genevieve here for a visit?

“Genevieve, go unpack your bags. You’re back at home now so you need to act like it,” Doug snaps.

Maddie feels the weight of Genevieve getting off the bed and she deflates.

“Is she back to living here again?” Maddie asks, trying to get rid of her confusion.

Doug pinches her and she yelps.

“How stupid are you Maddie? Did you not hear me telling her to unpack her bags? Yes she is back. Seriously. I can’t believe I married someone so stupid.” He slaps her in the face before she hears him walking away. She cries softly, quick to stop her tears when she hears footsteps nearby, however this time no one comes into the room.
_____

Much to Maddie’s surprise, on Doug’s first shift after Genevieve has come back home he doesn’t get Cassandra looking after Genevieve. He lets Maddie spend that time with Genevieve. Although Maddie feels guilty about that.

Her eyes have finally unswollen so she can see again. And Doug hasn’t even chained her or locked her up anywhere. Probably because due to her broken pelvis Maddie is stuck on bed rest and isn’t capable of moving.

She feels like the worst mother in the world for the fact that she isn’t capable of taking care of her daughter. At lunch time she decides healing or not she needs to get up in order to feed her daughter. She takes one step out of bed before falling to the ground and accidentally screaming. Hot tears run down her face and it gets even worse when Genevieve runs into the room and starts crying when she sees Maddie on the ground.

“Can you get Cassandra?” Maddie asks.

Genevieve nods and goes running out of the room. A few minutes later Genevieve is back in the room, Cassandra and Claribelle with her.

Cassandra helps Maddie get back on the bed, putting her in the middle of it. Genevieve and Claribelle then clamber up on either side of Maddie. Claribelle grabs the tv remote and puts on her and Genevieve’s favorite show. Cassandra tells Maddie that she will make them all lunch and will bring it up when it’s ready. Maddie feels guilty for letting Cassandra do all the work. But she is incapable of even moving so she reluctantly stays where she is.

Genevieve and Claribelle laugh and talk about the show they are watching and it does give Maddie some joy seeing how happy the two of them are.

A while later Cassandra comes into the room, carrying four trays of food. The girls move over to make enough room for Cassandra and then all four of them are sitting on the bed, eating and watching tv. Maddie doesn’t focus on the tv that much as her concussion still hasn’t healed and anyways, just moving her arm enough to get the food to her mouth is taking all of her concentration. But it is good to be with her daughter, Cassandra and Claribelle, all of them just hanging out together. She has missed this.
____

January passes easier than Maddie expected it to. Her concussion fully heals but she is still stuck on bed rest due to her broken pelvis. Plus she has the broken arm, fractured skull and multiple broken ribs.

But this time she hasn’t been locked in a room by herself and that makes all the difference. When Doug is home he sends Genevieve to stay with Cassandra and Claribelle and he focuses on Maddie. There are definitely times when his focus is not a good thing and where Maddie feels even more trapped than normal. But there are also times when he is loving and kind.

When Doug is on shift then Cassandra, Genevieve and Claribelle all join her in the guest bedroom meaning she isn’t alone. Maddie still feels guilty about the fact that Cassandra is essentially looking after her on top of looking after Claribelle and Genevieve. Cassandra never signed up to look after Maddie as well. Though every time Maddie apologises to Cassandra for being stuck looking after her, Cassandra reassures Maddie that it is fine. Maddie doesn’t quite believe her, hating that she is a burden.

So things might be going alright this time. But Maddie is still very on edge, not helped by the fact that February is coming up. February has Genevieve’s birthday, Valentines Day and Maddie’s birthday. Her birthday isn’t as much of a minefield. But Valentine's Day definitely is and even Genevieve’s birthday can contain danger.

Genevieve is still really into firefighting so has asked if she can have her party at the fire station. Which Doug agreed to, saying that is one of the perks of having her dad as the fire captain. Maddie knows for a fact that if any other member of the 118 wanted to have their kids birthday party at the fire station Doug would be very quick to say no and he would enjoy saying no.

Even though she still can’t really move and is on bed rest Doug still expects Maddie to do all the planning for the party. Which mostly ends up being a lot of delegating. Some of it Maddie can do from the bed. She gets Genevieve to choose a list of friends and then sends out the party invites through texts to all of their parents.

She debates for a while on whether or not to call Hen. Because she would definitely like a cake from Hen’s cake guy at the party. But whilst Doug might be letting Maddie use her phone in order to put together all the arrangements for the party he is still checking her phone whenever he comes home from a shift to see who she communicated with. And Maddie doesn’t think Doug will like it if he sees that she called Hen. Even if she calls Hen as part of planning Genevieve’s birthday party.

In the end Maddie imagines the amazing cake Hen’s cake guy could possibly make for Genevieve and decides she will take the risk, hoping that it is worth it. When she calls Hen, Hen offers to do a lot of the planning and organising on the fire station side of things, setting up decorations and all that sort of stuff. Maddie is very thankful for that.

After that shift she is more nervous than normal when Doug goes through her phone. She feels frozen in place on the bed as she watches his face get redder and redder as he scrolls through it. Eventually he throws the phone at her and it hits her in the face. Maddie hates that she flinches when it hits her as the flinch causes pain to jar throughout her body.

“I thought I forbid you from speaking to Hen.” His voice is dangerous and he gets closer to her as he talks. Maddie tries to lean back, away from him. But there is nowhere to go.

He slaps her in the face and even though she tries to stop them a few tears start to fall.

“Why did you dare to talk to her after I forbade it?”

Maddie gulps. “I was planning Genevieve’s birthday party and Hen has a contact with a cake person who makes amazing cakes.”

“And why couldn’t you just contact her cake person directly?”

Maddie trembles. “Because she guards that information fiercely and no one has ever managed to get it out of her.”

Doug scoffs. “Well that’s stupid. It’s just a cake person. Why is she so protective over it?”

Maddie shrugs.

Doug rolls his eyes and sighs before he takes Maddie’s phone and walks away. Maddie wasn’t even aware that she was holding her breath until she finds herself exhaling in relief once Doug is gone.
____

When they reach the day of Genevieve’s birthday Eddie wonders what this shift will be like. He knows they will still be on call. Just that for a few hours Genevieve and lots of her friends will also be there, taking up some of the loft for their party. Doug has also said Maddie will be there so everyone is looking forward to seeing her, to check that she is doing okay.

Eddie thinks his biggest concern for the day is that when Genevieve spots him he is worried she will react in a way that alerts Doug to the fact that Genevieve knows him. Hopefully Maddie has realised this possibility and has talked to Genevieve about it.
____

Hen promised she would get all the setup done for the party meaning Maddie and Genevieve don’t arrive until 30 minutes before the party is due to start. Cassandra and Claribelle are also coming, which is something Claribelle and Genevieve are excited about and Cassandra and Maddie are nervous about.

Maddie is still supposed to be on bed rest and isn’t yet able to put any weight on her legs due to her broken pelvis so Cassandra managed to find a wheelchair that Maddie can use. They enter the firehouse with Genevieve and Claribelle both holding onto Maddie’s wheelchair as both of them wanted to push her.

Maddie feels so awkward seeing everyone again considering what happened the last time she saw them. But she will eventually return to work meaning it's not like she can avoid them forever so Maddie is kind of relieved that at least her seeing them all again is only for a few hours, rather than an entire shift. And today she has Genevieve that she can focus on.

Maddie sees Genevieve freeze and stare at Eddie before Genevieve purposely looks in a different direction. Maddie shudders slightly.

Genevieve’s party is in the loft upstairs so Doug insists on carrying Maddie up and he orders Chimney to carry up the wheelchair. An order that proved to be unnecessary as Chimney was already moving to do so before Doug had even opened his mouth.

When Maddie sees all the decorations she gives Hen a grateful look, wishing she could thank Hen, but not daring to speak to her. Not with the way Doug is watching Maddie.

The party goes well. Genevieve and her friends all have a great time. Maddie tries to have a good time and tries to focus on Genevieve’s joy. But Maddie is very aware of Doug watching her intensely the entire time and she is terrified she will do something wrong.

Maddie feels bad for being relieved when the party is over and Cassandra is taking them back home.

The rest of the day is then spent with Claribelle and Genevieve having insane levels of energy, probably due to all the party food. Genevieve and Claribelle have a good time playing with all of Genevieve’s presents and Maddie and Cassandra are both happy to sit back and watch the two kids having a great time.

Chapter Text

This year the 118 is on shift for Valentine’s day. It takes a tiny bit of the fear and pressure of Maddie as she won’t even be with Doug for most of the day. A part of her is surprised that he didn’t take the day off.

She pays him as much attention as possible before his shift and makes sure to let him know how much she loves him. And the day actually goes smoothly. Valentine’s day almost never ends well for her so it is a surprise but a relief when she goes to bed with no more injuries than she started the day with.
____

For Valentine’s day Buck has Brooke, Robert, May and Harry over so that Bobby and Athena can have a night to themselves. Eddie is working so it is just Buck and all of the kids. They have heaps of fun and whilst Buck wishes he could spend Valentine’s day with Eddie it is still a good day.

At one stage Brooke does mention that she misses Genevieve. Which gets Chris and then all of the other kids agreeing. Which does lower the mood for a while, especially on Buck’s part as he is worried about Genevieve (and Maddie) living in that house. But then Harry sprays whipped cream at May which starts a food fight and soon there is so much laughter and happiness that his spirits are lifted.
_____

A week after Valentine’s day is Maddie’s birthday. The 118 is on shift again but Doug takes the shift off. Which puts Maddie on edge although it is also so sweet of him.

On the morning of her birthday she has an appointment to see how she is healing which stresses her out knowing this sort of thing can often set Doug off, especially if any of the medical staff give him suspicious looks.

Doug acts all charming and caring as he wheels her in, Maddie hating that she currently still can’t stand up due to her broken pelvis. After doing all the scans and asking her some questions it is decided that her arm has healed enough for her cast to come off. Which does feel kind of freeing. But her skull is still fractured, her ribs are still broken and her pelvis is still doing badly so it is clear she has a long way to go.

Maddie wants to burst into tears of frustration but with the way Doug is standing right behind her she doesn’t dare.

After the appointment Doug takes them to one of his favorite lunch places. Maddie doesn’t like it but she makes sure to smile and thank Doug heaps for bringing her there.

As they wait for their food to arrive Doug stares at her and smiles as he reaches forward and grabs a strand of her hair. She only just manages to not flinch.

“I love you so much my Maddie.”

She makes sure to smile as she echoes his words back to him.

When their food arrives it is clear Doug is in a good mood so Maddie tries to relax. It’s her birthday after all so she wants to enjoy it. After they have eaten Doug takes them back home. He spends the rest of the day right by her side. Maddie makes sure to echo how grateful she is for him and how much she loves him and the day ends with her falling asleep next to him as he holds her tightly. He went all day without hurting her so it was a good day.
_____

Doug feels angry as the 118 makes their way to the call. He is aware that right now Maddie is at a physical therapy appointment to start working on standing and walking again now that her pelvis is starting to heal. He hates that she is out of the house without him. That should never happen. She should be either home or at his side. There shouldn’t be any other options. But this is a requirement for her to begin to get back to work and he wants her back as soon as possible. He is fed up with being separated from her when he is at work.

Dispatch lets Doug know that the caller says she counted backwards and everyone is now dead. Which isn’t exactly helpful but he is able to gather that everyone is unconscious. Aware that it might be a gas leak Doug orders everyone to put on hazmat suits.

Once they pull up on scene Doug carries the monitor to check what is in the air and he orders everyone else to carry in the supplies.

It is silent as they enter the building. They hear a phone ringing in the distance but no signs of life.

“What are we thinking? Is it a gas leak?” Chimney asks.

“It could be some kind of pathogen,” Hen muses.

Doug looks at the monitor in front of him. “We are negative for combustibles as of now. Masks stay on for the duration.”

As they walk further into the building the silence feels kind of eerie.

“Where is everyone? It’s too quiet in here,” Ravi says.

Everyone apart from Eddie turns to stare at Ravi in horror. “What?” Ravi asks.

“You said the Q word,” Chimney says, his eyes wide in panic.

Eddie snorts. “Jinxes aren’t real.”

Doug rolls his eyes. Not this again. His old firehouse back in Hershey got all squirrely over the Q word and it appears that the 118 does as well. “Q word or no Q word, focus on that after this call.”

Everyone is quick to nod. Eddie then spots something. “We’ve got one over here,” he yells as he runs to a person who is lying unconscious on the ground. He is quick to check her vitals and he reports to them that she has a pulse and her pupillary response is normal. Meaning she is stable, which is good.

They then hear a person calling for help from another room so Doug orders Eddie to stay with the patient he found whilst he gets everyone else to follow him as they make their way to where they heard the person calling from.

They enter the room and see a woman on a bed with a person on her.

“Help me, they’re crushing me,” the woman says.

As they get closer they see that her neck is all exposed and cut open, probably because they’re at a plastic surgeons. Doug gets Ravi to help him lift the person off the woman whilst instructing Chimney to check on the woman on the bed. The woman asks what’s wrong and tries to move her hand to her face. All of them are quick to tell her to stop and to not touch her face.

Sensing the woman’s confusion Hen steps in. “Ma’am, it looks like the staff here just weren’t 100% done before they lost consciousness. You’re still under the effects of the general anaesthesia which is good. We’re going to keep you nice and numb, but I’m gonna need to put a cold compress on your face, okay?”

The woman is clearly still confused and asks if there is a stitch loose, not aware that her entire face is loose. She tries sitting up which results in gravity allowing her face to flop down over her eyes. She starts panicking a bit so Hen helps her get her face back in place and helps calm her down.

Whilst Hen is focusing on that woman, Chimney lets Doug know that their other patient is stable.

Ravi looks at the wall. “They run the anaesthesia lines through the walls in these places don’t they?”

Doug nods. “Yes they do. Ravi, Lucy, Max, check for any leaks or ruptures.”

Ravi and Lucy are quick to obey. Max stares at the woman for a few more seconds. “Why isn’t she also out?”

Which is a good question. Doug then realises the answer. “It looks like she’s receiving oxygen from the nasal cannula.”

Doug then asks Eddie if he copies and for a status update. When Eddie reports back that he has found several more patients, all stable but unconscious, Doug sends Max who is still in the room to help Eddie rather than searching for the source of the gas leak with Lucy and Ravi.

Doug then speaks into the radio telling Lucy and Ravi to see if they can locate the tank supply room and to turn off anything they see in the building that has a knob or a valve. Both Ravi and Lucy radio to confirm that they will.

The woman still on the bed mentions something about hearing construction workers so whilst Hen stays working on her Doug makes his way to see how the construction people are doing, getting Chimney to come with him.

They soon find more unconscious people and then Doug locates the leak. He lets everyone know that the leak has been located. He has just started plugging it when Chimney says he found someone with a saw stuck in them that is bleeding. So Doug radios the rest of them in to help whilst also calling for more ambulances.

Eventually they get both patients into ambulances and then they are heading back to the station.

They don’t even get fully back in before they are being sent on another call.

For the rest of their shift they get an insane amount of calls and everyone gets annoyed with Ravi, blaming him for jinxing them. Doug doesn’t know if he believes in jinxes, however everyone else is mad at Ravi and is blaming him so Doug is happy to join in with that.

When their shift is over and Doug finally gets home he is exhausted. When Genevieve runs at him full of energy he is not in the mood so he yells at her to go to Cassandra’s. She runs there, tears streaming down her face.

Doug then stomps upstairs, needing his Maddie. There is fear in her eyes that she tries to disguise with a smile when she sees him. But it is too late. Her automatic reaction wasn’t to smile at him and considering the shift he has just had that is the last thing he needs.

He feels his rage build. All he wants to do is rest but now Maddie is forcing him to have to punish her. She should know better.
_____

The 132 pull up on scene. To find a shark attached to a guy's arm. And they are on land.

The call goes smoothly and it feels awesome when they release the shark into the water and watch it swim away. On the ride back to the station Buck enthusiastically lists shark facts. Everyone listens attentively and Sam and Emily join in with the facts.

Their next call is at the aquarium where one of the tanks burst causing injuries from the broken glass as well as people slipping in the water. For the rest of the day after that Buck is very happy listing off facts. When they are at the station Buck ends up putting on a sea creatures documentary which most of them watch.

When Buck gets home he tells Eddie and Chris about the two calls. Both of them think it is cool that he had two ocean life related calls on the same day. Chris starts pleading to go to the aquarium. They go there a lot but considering the call Buck was sent on Buck reluctantly says no, or at least not until they have fixed it and checked that the glass in all the other tanks is strong enough that it won’t happen again.

So then Chris asks if they can go to the zoo. So the following day they do.
____

“Try harder Maddie!” Doug snaps.

Maddie works hard to not cry as she puts as much effort as possible into taking a few steps forward. Her pelvis still hurts when she tries to put weight on it but she has been told that she can. So now she is at her physical therapy appointment with Doug hovering right over her making everything worse. Her physical therapist tried to get Doug to move but when Doug gave Maddie a death stare, Maddie quickly said she would prefer it if Doug stayed there. She was lying.

It hurts so much but she does make some progress. Of course on the car ride home Doug spends the whole time telling her how pathetic and useless she was. She tries to hold back the tears but she can’t and by the time they arrive home tears are streaming down her face. When they enter the house Doug gives her a look of disgust. “Make me dinner,” he snaps before storming off to the living room where Maddie then hears him turning on the tv.
____

Chris smiles. Buck and his dad won’t know what hit them.

It is almost April fools so he is currently at the store with Buck, buying prank supplies. He asked Buck if the two of them could team up against his dad and Buck was super excited by the idea. What Buck doesn’t know is that two days ago Chris went to the store with his dad and brought prank supplies, telling his dad it would be the two of them versus Buck. And what neither of them know is that a week ago he purchased prank supplies with Bobby and Athena. He doesn’t dare prank Athena but he is going to have a great time pranking everyone else.
____

Maddie is on the bed in the guest room. Genevieve, Claribelle and Cassandra are with her. She knows she is close to being healed so knows Doug will have her back at work soon. She doesn’t feel quite ready for that but Doug has spent hours berating her for being off and forcing them to be apart during his shifts. So she knows he will be shoving her back to work as soon as he can, not caring if she is ready.

Physically this healing period has been harder than normal but mentally it has gone better than she expected. Doug does keep her chained to the bed when he goes to work, however he lets her have the company of Genevieve, Claribelle and Cassandra. Not being alone makes all the difference.

They hear the front door slam shut and all of them jump. Cassandra and Claribelle are quick to get up, knowing Doug will want them gone as soon as possible. Genevieve is also on alert, all of them not knowing whether she will be sent off with Cassandra and Claribelle or if Doug will want her to stay here.

His footsteps get louder and all of them are on edge as he approaches. When he enters the room he flicks a dismissive hand at Cassandra and Claribelle. The two of them hurry off. Doug then pushes Genevieve at Maddie who only just catches Genevieve before Genevieve would have fallen over. Doug then leaves the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

When he is gone Genevieve shakes in Maddie’s arms and Maddie feels helpless to reassure her as she doesn’t know what is going to happen. Both of them hug each other, feeling very on edge.

Eventually Doug reopens the door. “Genevieve, go toilet if you need to pee and then get in the car and put on your seat belt.”

Genevieve runs out of the room.

Doug then turns to Maddie. “I took a few days off work. We’re going on a vacation. And you don’t need your walker. You’ve had enough physical therapy, you need to stop being weak and using crutches. You’re basically healed now, act like it. I’ve already cleared it that when we return from our vacation you will come back to work with me. So don’t let me down.”

Maddie trembles slightly. “I won’t,” she whispers.

Doug just sighs. “You’d better not.”

Without giving her any warning he then picks her up, filling her with a bit of fear which she tries to push away. He is being sweet, he’s surprising her with a vacation. She needs to stop being so distrusting all the time.

Once they are in the car Doug starts driving. Maddie wonders if he has packed any luggage but she doesn’t dare ask. Genevieve asks where they are going, causing Doug to yell that it is a surprise and they should be grateful. For the rest of the drive neither Maddie or Genevieve dare to say a word.

Eventually Maddie figures out where they are going, once they get close enough to see the signs.

They are in Big Bear.

Doug goes to the manager of the cabin rentals and soon they are then making their way to a cabin.

Considering it is the end of March, Maddie is slightly surprised by the fact that there is still quite a lot of snow. The cabin’s scenery is quite pretty. There are lots of trees and snow as well as a frozen over lake with a curved bridge going across it.

Genevieve looks out the window, eyes wide with awe. “It’s like the Poconos!” she exclaims happily.

Doug nods, a smile on his face. “You’re right. It’s exactly like that.”

Maddie shudders. She is glad Genevieve doesn’t remember how bad that vacation was. But Maddie does remember and the fact that this place is similar causes her to shudder. But she forces that down and puts a massive smile on her face as she gives Doug a hug.

“This was a perfect surprise! I love it so much. Thanks Doug!”

Doug wraps his arm around Maddie as they head inside the cabin. “Anything for my two girls,” he says.

Doug starts working on the fire before telling Maddie to get their bags in from the trunk of the car. Maddie does so. She never packed anything so she just hopes Doug packed everything they need as she knows he will blame her if they don’t have everything they need.

Once the fire is going and the cabin has started to warm up Doug turns on the tv and puts it on a kids channel. He gives Genevieve strict instructions to only leave the room if she needs the bathroom and to stay far away from the fire. Genevieve nods seriously.

Doug then pulls Maddie away to the cabin's master bedroom. Maddie hates that they are leaving their 6 year old alone in a room with a fire. She just hopes Genevieve is sensible enough to stay far away from it.

As soon as the bedroom door is closed behind them Doug pulls Maddie’s clothes off and pushes her onto the bed. She tries to be into it, to tell herself that Doug is her husband and she loves him. He surprised them with this trip which is super sweet.

But she feels repulsed and it takes all of her strength to make Doug believe she is as into it as he is. Thankfully he somehow believes her act and once he is done he is in a very good mood. He goes to one of the bags and pulls out a dress for Maddie. She doesn’t like the dress but she doesn’t dare protest.

Once Maddie is dressed he then pulls out a dress for Genevieve. Soon all of them are dressed up and then they head to one of the restaurants in the area. The food is a bit too fancy for Genevieve. Maddie can tell that Genevieve hates it but thankfully Genevieve manages to eat it anyway, preventing Doug from calling her ungrateful and then getting mad.

Genevieve is yawning when they get back to the cabin so Doug is quick to announce that it is her bed time. Soon Genevieve is in bed. As soon as she is Doug turns to Maddie and Maddie’s heart sinks when she sees the look in his eyes. She is tired and they have already had sex today. She really doesn’t want to have it again. But she doesn’t dare protest.

It lasts too long but eventually it is over and then Doug lets them go to bed. He holds onto her all night causing Maddie to be so conflicted which just fills her mind with confusion. She loves him, he is her husband and he loves her and sometimes like today he can be so sweet. But he also terrifies her and hurts her so badly and now even when he is being sweet her body is often uncomfortable when she is around him.

Even though she is tired she is also so confused and puzzled about how to feel about Doug that her thoughts go all over the place and it takes her a long long time to fall asleep.
____

Eddie is dreaming of being at the zoo with Chris and Buck. Suddenly a massive barbie appears. Eddie blinks awake and sits up in shock. Why can he hear barbie music? He is awake now, not asleep so his dream should have ended.

Suddenly he hears giggling from outside of the room and then the door is opening and Chris and Buck have entered the room, both of them laughing and Buck carrying a phone currently playing the barbie girl song.

Eddie groans. “Really?”

“Happy April fools!” Chris and Buck chorus in unison with massive smiles on their faces.

Buck then heads out to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Eddie angles an eyebrow at Chris. “I thought we were working together to prank Buck?”

Chris just smiles. “We are.”

Then they hear different to normal sounds from the kitchen and Chris just smirks. “See!”

Eddie just sighs. Seconds later Buck is back in the bedroom. “Which one of you rearranged everything in the kitchen? The forks are where the spoons live, the cups are in the fridge, the bowls are in the oven. Seriously?”

Chris laughs and Eddie can’t hold back a smile. “April fools!” This time it is Chris and Eddie speaking in unison.

Buck gives them an indulgent eyeroll before looking at Chris. “I thought you were working with me.”

Chris starts laughing. “I’m working with both of you and pranking both of you. Because I am going to win April fools day.”

Neither Buck nor Eddie know if April fools day is something you can even win but Buck just grins in excitement and Eddie decides to just roll with it. It’s only one morning after all.
____

Cold water drenches her, ripping her from her sleep. Maddie sits up, gasping from shock. Doug looms over her, a massive smile on his face as he holds a now empty bucket.

“Happy April fools day!”

Maddie’s stomach sinks. Doug loves April fools day but his pranks are always really mean and make her even more on edge than normal. She reluctantly gets up and goes and makes them breakfast, knowing she is in for an even longer day than normal.
_____

Eddie walks into the fire station and instantly senses the energy is different. He groans. Doug isn’t here so can’t they just make the most of that? Looking around Eddie’s sees that Chimney looks very nervous. Eddie sighs and walks over to Hen. “What’s up?”

Hen sighs, clearly already over it before she points. “Someone wrote a sign saying Happy April Fools Day. Chimney saw it and freaked out and now he is convinced someone is going to pull a prank on him.”

Eddie snorts. “Imagine if that was the prank, just freaking everyone out with nothing actually happening.”

Hen laughs. “If that’s the case then I would give that person a medal. Although I’m going to be the one dealing with Chimney today so that does mean it’s going to be a long day for me.”

Eddie gives her a sympathetic smile. “It’s currently 8:00 am, meaning it’s only for a few hours. How bad can it be?”

Hen takes a few steps away from him and looks at Eddie with horror on her face. “You did not just say that.”

Eddie just looks at her. “I just said a comment, what’s the big deal?”

Hen gives him a death stare. “You jinxed us Eddie.”

Hen gives him another look before walking over to Max who is interim captain whilst Doug is away. Seconds later Max is gathering them all, to talk through their upcoming shift. “Today Chimney and Eddie will be partnered together in the ambulance and Hen will be partnered with Ravi.”

Hen gives Eddie a triumphant smirk. Eddie sighs in defeat. Chimney makes his way over to Eddie, Chimney looking all paranoid and jumping at shadows. Eddie groans. The bells go off and soon they are in the ambulance. Chimney talks the whole way, wondering who left the note and scaring himself wondering what pranks could be coming his way. Eddie sends himself a mental reminder to murder Hen. Or whoever put that note there. Either works.
_____

Maddie feels tense as she makes them breakfast. She doesn’t know what is coming, just that something is and that she will hate it but if she doesn’t react right then things will be even worse.

Once she has breakfast made she puts it on a tray in order to take it to the dining table. She turns around and Doug jumps out at her yelling loudly. She can’t control the scream that flies from her mouth or the way she jumps and the tray flies from her hand. Terror fills her. Panic takes over and she scrambles wildly, trying to catch the tray before it falls onto the ground. She sees it nearing the ground and dives for it, painfully colliding with the ground. Somehow she manages to catch the tray. She has no clue how but she does. Once the tray is in her hands she starts trembling, all sprawled out on the floor with her hands in front of her outstretched, tray in them, Maddie staring up at Doug, wide eyed with fear.

“April fools!” Doug yells triumphantly. He then gives her a kick. Maddie swallows her yelp of pain. “Get up Maddie, stop being so lazy.”

“Sorry,” Maddie says as she hurriedly gets up.

She carries the food over to the table and the three of them eat in silence.
____

It has only been a few hours and Eddie can’t cope with this. Chimney is driving him crazy. Eddie isn’t that concerned about the sign saying Happy April Fools. But Chimney is and he will not let it go.

When they get back to the station Hen disappears straight away. Chimney looks for her but when he doesn’t find her he just returns to Eddie and starts spiralling. When others start to eat Chimney refuses to, speculating that it is probably a trick and that they shouldn’t trust anything.

Eddie messages Hen, asking where she is, saying he needs her as Chimney is driving him crazy. Hen doesn’t respond.

Realising that Hen isn’t going to be of any use Eddie stands up. “Alright, who put the piece of paper saying Happy April Fool’s Day there?”

Silence.

He stares them down. “Come on guys! You’ve had your fun. We’ve all seen Chimney spiral. I can’t deal with it anymore.”

“Hey!” Chimney protests.

Eddie turns to him. “Don’t you want to know who put the sign there so you can relax?”

Chimney is quick to nod in agreement.

They spend a few minutes trying to get the culprit to admit to it. But no one does and soon they are being sent on another call.
_____

After breakfast Doug gives Genevieve an i-pad and tells her to stay in the room she was sleeping in. Maddie doesn’t like Genevieve getting unsupervised or unlimited screen time. Yes the i-pad has parental controls, but she doesn’t fully trust it. However she knows it is safer for Genevieve to be away from Doug, especially on April fools day.

Once Genevieve is shut away Doug drags Maddie back to the master bedroom. When he pulls her clothes off she just wants to cry. But she doesn’t dare to. Instead she disgusts herself by responding to Doug and doing exactly what she knows he requires of her. She hates that she has to do this but even more she hates herself for going along with it and just letting him do what he wants even when every fiber of her is screaming to get as far away from him as possible. Yes, she knows that if she resisted then he would hurt her. But she feels like by not resisting she is betraying herself.

Once it is done she needs to pee so she hurries there. Doug refuses to give her back her clothes which she hates but tries to accept. She is barely aware of what is happening when suddenly Doug is standing over her, yelling at her and yanking her from the toilet. She looks down and sees that pee is everywhere. Doug then lifts the lid and peels of cling film. He is too angry with her to say April Fools. She tries to back away so he slams her into the wall and then uses his body to press her into it.

“How dare you Maddie,” he says. He isn’t yelling but somehow that is even scarier.

He then releases her and she drops to the ground.

“I’ll give you a minute head start.”

Maddie looks up at him in confusion.

“You made a mess. I’m sick of that Maddie. You’re always making a mess, you’re always ruining things. So I’ll give you a minute’s head start. If I catch you within the next hour then I will kill you, if it takes me longer then I’ll let you live.”

Maddie stares up at him in disbelief. He just starts counting. He gets to 5 and stares at her incredulously. “Do you want me to kill you? Run!”

“What about my clothes?” she somehow whispers. She doesn’t know why that matters when he is threatening to kill her. But it does.

Doug just laughs harshly and continues to count. Her brain catches up to what is happening when he is at 10. She scrambles up from the ground. When she reaches the door of the cabin she hears that he is at 15.

Pure terror fills her. She may be naked and it may be freezing outside but she needs to live. Shivering almost instantly she bolts out the cabin. She doesn’t even let herself think of where she is going, she just runs.

She has barely managed to heal enough to start walking properly again and there is no way she would be cleared by the doctor to run right now. But she doesn’t have a choice. She feels the pain and knows she really shouldn’t be running. But she has to.

The icy snow is painful to her bare feet but it doesn’t matter. She races across the bridge over the frozen lake, running so fast she almost pukes. But she doesn’t stop, she can’t stop. Soon she hears Doug yelling that he will find her and she starts shaking. She can’t stop running.

But soon she can’t breathe. She tries to keep running. After all, she is running for her life. But her body won’t listen so she gets behind some trees and stands there, panting for breath.

As she does she looks around. There are some trees, but not enough, they don’t give her enough cover. This whole area is way too exposed. It will be easy for Doug to find her. And then she looks down at the snow. She has left footprints. Leading Doug right to her.

However, because it is now April the snow isn’t as thick as it would be if it was still winter. The snow is in patches. So she jumps from non snowy patch to non snowy patch, making sure not to leave any footprints.

She hears Doug calling out taunts and she starts crying. This is impossible. She isn’t going to be able to evade him for one hour. He’s going to find her and then he’s going to kill her.

She won’t be able to outrun him for an hour, especially with a still healing broken pelvis. She needs to find somewhere to hide. She looks up at the trees, wondering if it is possible to climb any of them. But for all of them the lowest branches are far too high for her to get to.

And there aren’t any hiding places. The only thing in sight is trees and snow. And the trees won’t work. Yes she can stand behind a tree, but Doug can cover so much distance so quickly and if he gets in sight of the tree she is behind she won’t be able to get away in time.

She hears Doug getting closer and she starts shaking. She needs to be there for Genevieve. This can’t be it!

Her entire body is freezing and horror fills her when she comes up with a hiding place. Looking around she sees the snow that the sun hasn’t reached. The snow that is the thickest.

Checking that the coast is clear she hurries over to the pile of snow. Hating what she is about to do she lies on the ground and then quickly scoops snow on top of her. Soon she is buried in the snow. She instantly starts shivering violently, her lack of clothes making the cold even worse, the snow’s contact with her skin causing her so much pain.

She tries to control her shivering. She cannot move. If she shivers then the movement will give her away.

But soon she is so cold she can’t stop herself from shivering. She can still hear Doug and when he gets even closer she manages to be still for a little bit until his sounds get further away.

She feels herself start to get tired and panic fills her. She wonders if it is better to die of hypothermia or to let Doug kill her.

She hears Doug let out a rage filled scream which quickly makes her decision for her. She may be unbearably cold but that is way better than whatever Doug will do to her if he catches her.

She hears his footsteps get closer but this time she is shivering too much to stop herself. She feels slightly confused and so so so cold.

Suddenly there is a foot on her stomach. She yelps in pain. Seconds later her arm is jerked upwards and she is standing, although swaying on her feet.

“Well, well, well. I found you.” Doug makes a show of looking at his watch but Maddie barely notices. She is cold, so cold.

“It took me 13 minutes to find you. Really Maddie, I’m disappointed.” He shakes his head softly.

“Well, I am a man of my promises.”

He pulls out a knife and Maddie starts shaking even more. She isn’t sure whether it is the cold or her fear that is making her shaking so intense but either way it is the worst she has ever been shaking in her entire life.

“Please Doug, I’m so sorry.”

He slams her into a tree and presses her against it. Maddie starts crying and the tears freeze on her face. When she risks a look down she sees she is slightly blue.

He puts the knife against her neck and Maddie tenses at the feel of the cold metal. He presses it slightly and she feels a few drops of blood fall. There is such glee in his face and she refuses to watch his joy as he kills her. Shaking even harder she closes her eyes and flinches, hoping he gets it over quickly.

Suddenly he is laughing and he pulls the knife away. She risks opening her eyes.

“April fools!” He yells enthusiastically.

She stares at him, pain in her eyes, before collapsing to the ground in tears. She hears Doug scoffing above her.

“Really Maddie? It’s just a prank. Stop being so sensitive. Grow up.”

Maddie sobs even harder.

Doug picks her up and starts carrying her back to the cabin, Maddie crying the entire time.

When they get back to the cabin he gives her back her clothes and gets her in front of the fire. Maddie is so stiff from the cold that she is unable to get her clothes back on so Doug ends up doing it for her, shaking his head, a look of disappointment on his face, as he does so.

“You should have picked a better hiding place, you almost gave yourself hypothermia Maddie. Why are you so stupid?”

Maddie gulps as she hangs her head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”

Doug just sighs softly before pulling her into his arms and kissing her on the head. “I love you Maddie.”

“I love you too,” she echoes numbly.
______

At midday the Happy April Fools sign disappears but no one owns up. Chimney gets a bit less paranoid but he still manages to drive Eddie crazy for the rest of the shift, coming up with elaborate theories as to who left the sign and why.

By the time their shift is over Eddie is fed up with Chimney and more than ready to get out of the firehouse and home to Buck.

Max gathers them round for the shift debrief. He mentions a few things from the calls they had before looking serious. “Ok, who put out the sign and was that the full prank?”

Ravi grins. “It was me.”

Eddie glares at him.

“Was that the prank?” Chimney asks.

Ravi nods as he starts laughing. “I figured it would be funny to watch everyone unravel. And it was.”

Annoyance fills Eddie. “Well you weren’t the one who had to deal with Chimney all shift!”

Ravi just gives a casual shrug. “It’s just a bit of fun. Besides I have a double shift, you all get to leave but I’m still on with the B shift. So because my shift is so long I wanted to do something to make the time go a bit faster.”

Eddie gives an evil smirk. He sees Hen’s eyes widen as she realises what he is about to do just before he does it.

“Quiet,” Eddie says.

Ravi stares at Eddie in horror. The bells go and Ravi and all of B shift hurry out of the firehouse. All of A shift laugh and give Eddie pats on the back as they then leave. Hen looks at Eddie quizzically. “You don’t believe in jinxes.”

Eddie shrugs. “But they do.”

Soon all of Eddie, Chimney and Hen are laughing as they then all say bye to each other and make their way home.

Chapter Text

They all know that today is Maddie’s first shit back. Normally when someone returns after being away for a long time they celebrate and they have a cake. But this time they don’t feel like they can considering the reason Maddie was off from work in the first place.

When Doug and Maddie enter, Doug reminds everyone that today they are having the school field trip coming here. He announces that Lucy and Maddie are in charge of the presentation and he assigns everyone else chores.

Eddie and Hen both know that Harry is one of the kids coming on the field trip. Harry has met Genevieve back when Genevieve was staying with Buck and Eddie so just to be on the safe side they have gone over with Harry what he can and cannot say. Harry was a bit confused by that but he promised he wouldn’t say anything he shouldn’t.

They have a few hours before the field trip arrives so before that Doug orders Maddie to make them all some breakfast and soon they are sitting around the table eating. Everyone is glad to have Maddie back but they did enjoy the few shifts without Doug so having him back brings down the mood.

“You two missed what Ravi did for April Fools,” Max says grinning.

Maddie flinches.

“What did he do?” Doug asks.

Ravi grins. “I put a sign up saying Happy April Fools and then did nothing else. Chimney spent the entire morning spiralling and paranoid, convinced there was going to be a prank.”

Ravi laughs again and Doug joins in. Maddie shrinks into herself even more.

“Then I got partnered with Chimney for the day so had to deal with his paranoia,” Eddie complains.

“You were only partnered with him because you asked how bad could it be. If you were going to jinx it then you were going to be the one dealing with it,” Hen retorts.

“When Eddie found out that it was Ravi, since Ravi was on a double Eddie purposely jinxed B shift by saying the Q word,” Lucy says.

“How many calls?” Doug asks Ravi.

Ravi groans. “Too many.”

“I love April fools day,” Doug announces.

Maddie stays silent as she tries to push away the memories of April fools day. She fails. She asks Doug if she can go to the bathroom and he grudgingly allows it. As soon as she is out of sight she runs to the bathroom and locks herself in a cubicle before crying quietly. Soon she hears Hen. But she doesn’t know if she is still forbidden from talking to Hen so she doesn’t dare reply. Instead she keeps her crying as quiet as possible and eventually they hear Doug calling for Maddie so she wipes her face and then hurries out of the bathroom, keeping her head down as she passes Hen.

For the next few hours Doug keeps Maddie by his side until it is time for the school field trip.

Maddie sets out all the chairs for the kids to sit on. Doug tells her all the points she needs to cover and reminds her that he will be watching and that the presentation better be perfect. Maddie nods at the same time her entire body shudders. When she hears the kids arriving she takes a deep breath before gulping down her fear. This needs to be perfect and she needs to get it right.

The presentation goes better than Maddie could have hoped for. She felt a bit nervous standing at the front and explaining everything to the kids. But they were engaged and she didn’t stumble at all. Once the talking part of the presentation is over the kids get to go and have a look at the fire engines. All the other firefighters move to interact with all the kids.

Doug pulls Maddie into his side, forcing her to stay back from where everyone else is.

“Did I do alright?” she asks nervously, looking up at him.

He smiles down at her. “You did perfectly.”

Maddie lets out a real smile as she exhales in relief. She did it. She was perfect. Doug holds her tighter and kisses her on the head and she tries to let herself enjoy it.

Eventually the kids all leave and then everyone in the station is buzzing, talking about how fun the visit was. A few of them say how visits like that when they were in school is what inspired them to become a firefighter in the first place. All of them agree that it is pretty cool.

The bells then ring, announcing that computer aided dispatch, CAD, is down. Because this means that dispatch will have to do things more old school this means they are now in tactical emergency mode so will be in their vehicles driving around, rather than remaining at the station.

“I’ve changed a few of the pairings again,” Doug announces, just before they jump into the vehicles.

Everyone looks at him waiting for the pairings and Doug smiles happily. “Maddie, you and Chimney will be paired together in the ambulance meaning that Eddie and Hen will be paired together. Everyone else’s pairs remain the same.”

Blinking away her surprise Maddie quickly gets into the passenger seat of the ambulance, leaving Chimney driving. Everyone else gets into the fire engine. Maddie is slightly surprised Doug isn’t using the captain's engine, then again he only really rode separately when Maddie was paired with him and he wanted it to be just the two of them in the vehicle.

It feels kind of weird it being just her and Chimney. Especially because they aren’t driving to a call, they are just driving around, waiting to be sent to a call, having to periodically update dispatch on their location so dispatch knows where they are.

“Do you want to drive at all?” Chimney asks.

Maddie looks down, feeling shame redden her cheeks. “I’m a bad driver,” she whispers.

“Are you?” Chimney asks, his voice kind. “Or is that just what Doug tells you?”

There is silence for a few minutes and Chimney wonders if he has put his foot in it but then Maddie speaks up although her voice is so faint he barely hears it. “I don’t know. He doesn’t let me drive unless he has no choice so I don’t have enough experience driving to know.”

“Would you want to drive?”

Maddie looks down. “I don’t know.” She pauses. “It doesn’t matter as if he found out I drove when he didn’t allow it . . .”

She trails off but it is clear what she means.

“So, have you watched any good movies lately?”

Maddie gives him a small smile. “Not really.”

“Well you could revisit old classics. Die Hard. Mission Impossible.”

“I haven’t seen either of them,” Maddie says.

Chimney gasps in shock. He then starts listing movies, getting more and more horrified the more of them she hasn’t watched. By the end of it Maddie is laughing as Chimney’s mock (and partially real) horror is hilarious.

“Have you seen any movies?” Chimney eventually asks, causing Maddie to laugh even more.

Eventually she stops laughing and she gives a shrug, as she focuses on answering Chimney’s question. “I was too busy to watch movies growing up. I was more focused on raising Evan. And then, well, I got married.”

She feels her mood dropping at the reminder of Doug.

“Well in that case I will need to tell you the plots of all the essential movies. With my own special Chimney twist on them of course.”

Maddie bursts out laughing and her sadness disappears.

They continue driving around as Chimney tells Maddie the plot of Die Hard, adding in so many jokes Maddie is laughing so hard she is in tears. Eventually they get sent to a call so then the jokes die down a little bit as Maddie needs to compose herself for when she is around Doug again. He cannot see how filled with joy she currently is.

The call is for a vehicle that collided with a 58 year old male cyclist. However when they get there and jump out, they see that the police and the 122 are already there. Doug is filled with annoyance.

“Dispatch,” he snaps into the radio. “There’s already another unit here, the 122, why did you send us?”

“Copy that, maintain emergency protocol,” the dispatcher says.

Anger fills Doug and he clenches his fist. He needs a few minutes alone with Maddie so he can release his anger. But he doesn’t have that so he settles with glaring at her instead, feeling some satisfaction at the way she hunches in on herself in response.

As soon as they are back in the ambulance Chimney launches back into his summary of Die Hard which fills Maddie with relief. She knows he saw the way Doug glared at her. But she doesn’t want to talk about that. Instead Chimney fills the space with lighthearted conversation and Maddie finds herself laughing again and whilst her joy initially feels a bit muted she soon feels happy again.

She hopes Doug keeps her paired up with Chimney permanently.

She pauses her laughter when she has that thought.

“Is everything ok?” Chimney asks, worry in his tone.

“You can’t let him see that I’m enjoying being paired up with you.”

“Or he’ll change the pairs again?” Chimney asks.

She nods.

“Well we can have ambulance mode meaning when it’s just the two of us in here you can relax and just be yourself. And as soon as we step out we will be serious and completely professional.”

Maddie takes a risk and makes a joke. “You’re capable of being serious?”

A flood of panic fills her and she starts to spiral. She is foolish, foolish, foolish. Her jokes are stupid. She knows that. Doug makes sure she knows that. Why did she mess this up? Now Chimney won’t like her anymore.

Chimney pulls a silly face. “Me? Serious? Never!”

Maddie feels relief rush through her. Chimney starts speaking in a silly voice and Maddie starts laughing.

A few sentences later Chimney pauses. “I can be serious when needed. I know I don’t fully understand your situation, but I know it is dangerous and I won’t do anything that will put you in more danger.”

Maddie gives Chimney a grateful smile. Soon Chimney continues his funny retelling of Die Hard and Maddie is laughing again.

After a lot of driving around, following the fire engine that the rest of the 118 is in they eventually get sent to a call of a woman in labour in the lobby of a high rise and it is a geriatric pregnancy. Maddie puts on the sirens as they follow the fire engine there.

As they approach the address Maddie feels confused. She knows they didn’t go to the wrong place as they are following the fire engine. But there is nothing there. It is an empty building. Fear swirls within her as she reluctantly gets out of the ambulance and makes her way to the fire engine where everyone else is.

Irritation fills Doug as he jumps out of the fire engine. He knows CAD is down but seriously, why is dispatch making so many mistakes today? He grabs his radio. “Dispatch, there’s nothing here.”

“You mean no pregnant woman?” Dispatch asks, clearly confused.

Anger fills Doug and he grits his teeth. “It’s an empty lot. NOTHING is here. Like I said. Didn’t you listen the first time?”

Silence from the other side and he wants to yell in frustration. Eventually dispatch speaks again. “Sorry, it turns out there are 3 San Vicente’s, we had the wrong one. You need to proceed to the one that is East of the Miracle Mile district, your nearest cross street is sixth.”

“Copy that, but next time just get it right the first time.”

Doug puts his radio down and storms back into the fire engine, shoving Maddie as he passes her. He sees her fall down but he doesn’t care. A few of his team stare in shock. “Hurry up, we’re already late responding thanks to dispatch,” he snaps. Everyone is quick to jump into the engine and then Doug starts the drive to the correct place, trying to contain his anger, telling himself that once the call is over he can get Maddie in his office and let off steam.

Maddie tries to hold back her tears. She can feel that her knees are bleeding and her palms are red and stinging from the impact against the concrete. But she doesn’t have time to worry about herself. Chimney offers out a hand and helps her up. She dusts herself off and makes her way back to the ambulance.

Soon they are both inside it, Chimney driving. “Are you alright?” Chimney asks softly.

Maddie looks down. “Can you distract me?”

Chimney is quick to launch into another movie description. He is a bit subdued compared to how he was previously which Maddie feels guilty about. Thankfully she doesn’t have long to sit in her feelings as soon they are pulling up in front of a high rise. Maddie desperately hopes that this time it is the correct place. Doug is first into the building, with the rest of them following behind him, carrying the bags of necessary equipment.

They round the corner to find a woman in labour on the floor of the lobby, a few people around her. Maddie can tell just by the way the different people are acting which one of them is the father of the baby.

The father of the baby looks up at them. “Where the hell have you guys been?” he asks, looking mainly at Doug.

Maddie winces, knowing how Doug will take that and knowing who will pay the price for that.

“Dispatch sent us to the wrong place,” Doug says, his tone icy. Maddie swallows, knowing she needs to put her fears aside and focus on their patient.

“Maddie, start assessing her. Chimney, run fluids,” Doug orders.

Maddie hurries down to where the woman is. The first thing she asks is for the woman’s name. It is Sonia. The dad starts protesting, saying that they can’t just have the baby here, in the lobby, how that isn’t how this is supposed to happen.

Sonia says what Maddie is thinking. “Roger, this is pretty much the way it has happened throughout human history.”

Sonia then turns to Maddie. “I’m 39 weeks pregnant and 38 years old which makes me a geriatric pregnancy.” Sonia groans in annoyance. “Man, I hate that word.”

“It’s ok,” Maddie is quick to reassure. “Your age doesn’t matter, either way you’re getting a baby out of it.”

Sonia gives Maddie a weak smile.

Maddie makes her way to where she can see how things are progressing. Sonia is fully dilated and it is clear that Sonia can start pushing. But then Sonia looks a bit off and says she thinks there’s something wrong with the baby. She starts panicking which gets Maddie on alert. Panicking is the last thing that Sonia needs right now.

Sonia starts saying how she isn’t ready to have a baby, how she shouldn’t have gotten pregnant. Maddie doesn’t know if Sonia truly feels that way deep down or if it is just fear now that she is in labour and the time has come. Either way Maddie knows she needs to help Sonia to calm down, both for the health of Sonia and her baby.

“All you need to do is push,” Maddie says, hoping her voice sounds soothing and reassuring.

The next few minutes are filled with Sonia pushing and screaming and Maddie focusing on the baby. Nothing else exists. Sonia and her baby are the only thing Maddie is aware of.

After lots of screaming on Sonia’s part Maddie can see the head, which she tells Sonia, hoping it will encourage her. And then soon the baby is out. Maddie makes sure to catch the baby and soon the sound of the baby’s cries fill the lobby and Maddie feels herself smile. She hears Eddie say that the baby has a set of pipes.

Knowing where the best place for the baby is, Maddie keeps a careful hold of the baby as she says she will take the baby to the warmest place in the lobby. She moves towards Sonia only to freeze when she sees that Sonia is unconscious.

The next few minutes pass in a blur. Maddie is vaguely aware of Eddie taking the baby from her arms and of Doug yelling at her.

Within seconds Chim is at her side as the two of them check Sonia’s vitals. The look of alarm on Chimney's face when he checks Sonia’s blood pressure is not good. And after another look Maddie realises that Sonia has cyanosis.

And then Chimney says he has lost Sonia’s pulse. And then Sonia goes into cardiac arrest. Maddie announces she is starting compressions. Her focus is on the compressions but she also hears the whirlwind around her. Roger panicking, Doug saying they need to get Sonia transported now.

Soon Ravi and Lucy are loading Sonia onto a gurney, making sure to stay out of Maddie’s way as she continues doing compressions whilst they get Sonia into the ambulance. Doug jumps into the back of the ambulance with Maddie and someone closes the door behind them and soon the ambulance is moving.

Maddie is out of breath and it is taking everything within her to keep on doing compressions. But she won’t stop. She can’t.

“It’s been 12 minutes, Maddie. We should call it,” Doug says.

Maddie stares up at him. “And give up on her?” She shakes her head. “No.”

Doug slaps her in the face and her head jerks back. She somehow manages to keep on doing compressions through it but she doesn’t know how.

“I SAID TO CALL IT!”

Suddenly she is being yanked away from Sonia and held in a tight grip against Doug’s chest. Maddie tries fighting his grip, desperate to get to Sonia and continue CPR. She can’t give up on her! She can’t!

Doug’s grip just tightens and Maddie feels even more trapped so she tries fighting his grip even harder, kicking and moving around with all of her might.

“I suggest you stop. Struggling is useless and is just making me angrier,” Doug says.

Tears fall down Maddie’s face but she doesn’t stop struggling.

“She’s completely gone. Can’t you hear the monitors?”

Maddie pauses her struggling and looks around. Oh.

Doug releases his grip and Maddie hurries over to Sonia’s side. She checks her pulse. And she is gone. Maddie bursts into heaving sobs. She can practically hear Doug rolling his eyes. “I don’t understand why women in labour are always so dramatic. If she had just not panicked then she would probably be fine.”

Rage fills Maddie. She stares at the ground, biting her lip and clenching her fists knowing she doesn’t dare say a word. If she does she knows she will say things that she means but things that she will regret as saying what she wants to say will result in her being hurt and even possibly killed. So she stays silent as much as doing so pains her and takes all of her self control and restraint.

And then they are at the hospital. Which feels useless. Chimney opens the door and she sees the concern on his face when he sees how hard she is crying.

“She didn’t make it,” Maddie whispers, hoping that can explain away her crying.

A look of sorrow passes on Chimney’s face. Ravi and Lucy wheel Sonia on the gurney out of the ambulance. The hospital staff take over, having a protocol for dead people. After all, many people die in hospitals.

Once the hospital staff have taken Sonia in and a distraught Roger holding the baby has followed her, Doug looks at all of them. “Maddie and I will be in the ambulance, everyone else in the engine. CAD is still down so we will still be driving around, however this time we will drive in separate areas rather than following each other so that we can cover a wider range.”

Maddie shivers, having an idea of what Doug might be planning.

Sure enough once they get in the ambulance Doug drives them a few streets away and then pulls the ambulance over. He then walks around to Maddie’s side of the ambulance and pulling on her hair he drags her into the back of the ambulance where he then closes the door behind him.

Doug forces her down onto the gurney and climbs on top of her.

“You disobeyed me Maddie,” he says, his voice seemingly calm but Maddie can recognise the level of danger hiding in it.

“I’m sorry Doug,” she tries.

He just laughs at her. “You think you were in the right, don't you? That maybe if you had done CPR for a few minutes longer she would have survived.”

He slaps her in the face.

"News flash, she wouldn’t have. She was going to die either way. By continuing to do CPR after I said to stop all you did was anger me. Which was foolish of you Maddie. Do you want me to hurt you?”

Maddie stares up at him. Obviously she doesn’t want him to hurt her.

“I asked you a question. Do you want me to hurt you?”

Panic floods her, sure there is a wrong answer. “No, no,” she stammers.

Doug punches her in the stomach. “Then start listening to me for once. Maybe if you actually behaved and did what you were supposed to then I wouldn’t have to do this.”

Maddie tries pleading and apologising but she knows it is too late. He squeezes her throat and her vision starts to disappear.

When she comes to, she is still on the gurney and Doug is still on top of her. He starts punching her all over and she can only whimper in pain as tears fall down her face. Eventually everything goes dark.
____

It is nice not having Doug on the engine with them but all of them are worried about Maddie being alone with Doug.

They are driving around random roads when they see smoke in the distance. They let dispatch know that they see smoke in Doheny park. Dispatch says they haven’t got any calls from there but that there is no harm in checking it out and to report back.

When they pull up they see several houses on fire and a guy screaming for his kid who is trapped in a house. Eddie lets dispatch know what is happening and they promise they will send more resources but that they might be on their own for a while.

Because Doug isn’t here they don’t have a captain so Eddie assumes charge which everyone accepts.

They spot movement in the upstairs room so Ravi goes up the ladder, to get the boy. He is partway up it when the ladder snaps and Ravi only just manages to hang on.

“I can call Tommy, see if they can fly over and put out the fire for us?” Chimney suggests.

Eddie nods. “Do it.”

Minutes later they are hunkering down underneath the engine as Tommy and the 217 fly over them. As soon as the fire is out Eddie races into the building. A couple of minutes later he emerges carrying the unconscious but alive boy, filling all of them with relief.

Chimney checks the boy over. Soon he is conscious so Chimney tells the dad the boy is probably fine but what to look out for.

After that call they drive around for a bit more before dispatch updates them that CAD is back up and running so they don’t need to patrol the streets, they can return to the firehouse.

When they return they can see Doug but there is no sign of Maddie. At the clear question on their faces Doug rolls his eyes. “Maddie was tired so she is sleeping in the bunk room. Don’t disturb her.”

There are nods.

Chimney does some fake yawns. “Would it be alright if I took a nap? I haven’t gotten much sleep lately and I want to be on top form if we get another call.”

Doug rolls his eyes. “Fine. You can be man behind for our next call. But don’t disturb Maddie.”

Chimney makes his way to the bunk room, hearing the bells go off as he does. Relief fills him when he sees Doug leave with everyone else that leaves.

Chimney hurries into the bunk room and sees Maddie on one of the beds. When he gets closer he realises it looks more like she is unconscious, rather than sleeping.

He doesn’t care what Doug said, he gently shakes her, needing to check to see if she is alright.

When she opens her eyes she looks so confused. “Where am I?” she asks.

“In the bunkroom,” Chimney replies.

Panic floods through Maddie and she sits up, ignoring the pain it causes. “Where’s Doug?”

“They’re out on a call,” Chimney says.

Relief washes over Maddie.

Chimney looks at her, care and concern on his face. “Are you alright?”

Maddie bursts into tears and falls into his side. He is quick to hug her and she holds on tightly, needing any comfort she can get.

“No,” she replies.

“What do you need from me?” Chimney asks.

Maddie shakes her head, wincing at the pain that doing so causes. “Just having someone that cares is enough. Just stay with me. Until they get back obviously.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Chimney promises.

Maddie sobs even harder and holds onto him even tighter.

Chapter Text

When Hen arrives on shift she looks around for Maddie, wanting to see how she is, Chimney having updated her and Eddie on what happened last shift. However Hen doesn’t see either Maddie or Doug, obviously they haven’t arrived yet.

But Hen does see Marty, along with a replacement ladder truck. She has a brief conversation with him before going and getting changed into her uniform. When she emerges after getting changed Hen sees that Maddie and Doug have arrived. Maddie is staring at the ground and Doug has a hand around her arm as he drags her into his office. The door shuts behind them and everyone stares at it, all of them worried for Maddie.

Maddie stares at her lap as she sits on the couch in Doug's office. He ignores her. She knows that is better than the alternative but she still hates it so much. Doug focuses on paperwork, however at one stage he swears and bangs the table causing Maddie to jump. Soon a few pens go flying, a couple of them hitting her. Maddie tries to pretend that nothing is happening.

More minutes of silence pass before Doug swears again. This time he stands up and advances towards her and Maddie’s insides freeze. Just as Doug is about to reach her the bells go off, flooding Maddie with relief.

Maddie hurries out of the office, Doug right behind her. Jumping into the ambulance next to Chimney and far away from Doug feels like freedom.

Maddie can see that Chimney is concerned. She asks him about the plot of Mission Impossible. Chimney gives her a grin and launches into a hilarious explanation and soon Maddie is laughing and she is able to forget about her problems, if only for a few minutes.

Her laughter dies down once they reach their call. This time they are at a bank. Maddie thinks it is the first time she has ever responded to a call at a bank. When they get out of the ambulance Doug lets them know that dispatch has said that someone has collapsed although they don’t know the cause of the collapse. Doug tells Maddie and Chimney to stay right behind him as all of them then make their way inside the bank.

A woman runs out guiding them where to go so they are quick to follow her there. Once they see their patient Chimney is quick to start assessing. He checks that her airways are clear and confirms that he can’t see a medical bracelet and that her jaw isn’t clenched and her tongue is neutral.

Doug tells Chimney to start the patient on O2 and then turns to the woman who guided them where to go. “You said there was a second patient?” he asks.

The woman nods and guides them inside a bank vault where they see a man down on the ground, making gagging sounds. Doug shoves Maddie and she lands in a heap at the guys side. She is quick to ignore her pain as she starts checking the guy's vitals.

“Doug, his pupils are dilated,” Maddie says.

She hears uncertainty in Doug’s voice. “I don’t know what I’m looking at here,” he says.

Maddie gulps as she starts running through all the possibilities in her head. Doug hates uncertainty so she needs to figure this out immediately.

Just then Eddie enters the vault. “It could be a nerve agent,” he says.

Maddie feels herself freeze.

“You’ve seen that before?” Doug asks, with worry in his voice.

Eddie nods. “I’ve been trained for it. The symptoms all line up, the fact that we have multiple people down. I can’t say for sure until we run some tests.”

“Maddie, back away,” Doug orders.

It feels like it is going against everything within her to do so. But she remembers what happened after she didn’t back away from Sonia. So feeling like a terrible selfish person she listens to Doug and backs away from her patient.

Doug then marches out of the room and all of them quickly follow him. “Everyone stop what you are doing right now,” Doug announces. “Step away from the patient in here. We have reason to believe it might be a nerve agent so we are now preparing for a possible chemical exposure incident. So nobody comes in and nobody comes out. We can’t risk spreading whatever may be present.”

As Doug finishes speaking they hear the vault door starting to close. Maddie looks up in time to see the patient inside the vault start convulsing. And suddenly she doesn’t care about Doug’s orders or the risk of a nerve agent. That is her patient and she needs to help them. Maddie makes a run for the vault door, noticing that Hen is just behind her, doing the same thing.

“MADDIE!!!” Doug yells.

Maddie ignores him and gets into the vault to check on their patient. Everyone runs after them but the door closes before anyone else can get in leaving just Maddie and their patient inside.

The patient sees Maddie above him as she checks to see if he is alright. He reaches for her with his hands. Maddie flinches and tries to back away but he grabs her face before she can. She yanks harder and manages to get out of his grip.

“Maddie, you copy?” Doug asks through the radio.

Maddie shakes, hearing the level of rage in his voice. “Yes,” she whispers.

“Well that was an idiot move!” Doug snaps. “What were you thinking?”

Maddie trembles. “I’m sorry Doug. I was worried about the patient.”

Doug scoffs. “Well maybe you need to focus on yourself and remember your priorities. You should have listened to me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She hears Doug laugh. “Well I just asked one of the staff members how to open the vault. It’s on a time lock, it won’t open until morning. I’m sure you’ll be fine. I know how much comfort it brings you to be locked in a small space.”

Doug laughs over the radio and Maddie winces and pulls the radio further away from her ear. She tries to ignore Doug and the panic that fills her at the thought of being trapped in this room for that long.

She makes her way back to check on her patient. But suddenly she feels weird. Soon everything gets a bit dizzy and she slumps onto the floor as everything goes dark.
____

Annoyance fills Doug. Maddie just had to get herself trapped in there. Why is she always causing him problems?

Still, it will do her some good to be trapped in there. He wants to just enjoy that fact but he is still working so he knows he has to focus on that. He asks the bank lady if there are any other ways to get the vault open. She tells him about a number that can be called so Doug tells Lucy that she is to sort that out. Lucy gives a nod and follows the bank lady.

And then he looks at the vault camera and sees Maddie collapse. He groans in annoyance but he also feels a bit of worry. He needs his Maddie. He can’t have a nerve agent take her out. He can’t function without her.

Doug updates dispatch and soon reinforcements are coming in and the scene gets taken out of his hands as the people with more authority arrive. With the other people taking over most of the scene Doug turns to his team. “Do any of you know any way we can get in that vault to get Maddie out? Or do you know anyone who would?”

He sees them all exchange looks before he sees Hen’s eyes light up and it is clear she has thought of something.

‘What is it Hen?” he asks.

He can tell she doesn’t want to share the information with him but she looks at the vault camera and at Maddie before sighing.

“One of my friend’s has an ex husband who is an architect. He might be able to access the bank's blueprints which could give us more of an idea of what we are looking at.”

Eddie realises Hen is referring to Michael.

Doug nods. “Call him.”

Michael pulls through for them and soon they are looking at the blueprints. Chimney is the one who verbalises what they all can see, the bank vault is built into the wall of the bank.

So they make their way out of the bank and soon they are breaking the wall. As they do so Doug feels a bit of his anger evaporate. Hitting and destroying things always does help calm him down.

Partway through he realises they should probably make sure they aren’t endangering either Maddie or their patient with their efforts to get into the vault so he gets Chimney to go back inside and watch the vault camera.

They crash into the wall and climb into the vault just in time so see the vault door swinging open. Doug growls. Really?

After that the call is just wrapping things up. Everyone has to get decontimated and then Maddie has to go to the hospital to check that she is alright after being exposed to whatever caused her to go down so Doug goes with her, telling Eddie he is in charge for the rest of their shift.

When they get to the hospital they see the other patient, the one that didn’t get trapped in the bank vault, crashing which alarms Doug as he looks down at Maddie. Thankfully she looks alright. Her hand reaches for his and he gives it a gentle squeeze. With his other hand he gently brushes her hair. “You’re alright Maddie. You will have to face consequences for disobeying me. But you’re alright.”

Maddie smiles up at him although her smile wavers a bit. But he doesn’t care.
____

The rest of them arrive back at the 118. Only for heaps of police cars to appear and all of them are told to step away from the vehicles. Confusion fills them as they obey. A few cops come up and take out the gear bags stashed on the ladder truck. They then empty them and all of the 118 stare in surprise as cash notes rain down onto the ground.

Soon they are all being told they have to go to the police station to be questioned.
____

Doug gets Maddie discharged and he is leading her out of the hospital when a cop approaches them. Rage fills Doug and he grips onto Maddie tightly, however when he looks down at her he sees that she looks confused.

“Captain Kendall, Maddie Kendall,” the cop greets them. “We discovered $300, 000 of missing money from the bank in your ladder truck. So all of the 118 including the two of you are being taken in for questioning.”

Rage fills Doug. Fear and worry fill Maddie.

Soon they find themselves at the police station. They see most of the 118 all sitting in the waiting room, with a cop standing over them, reminding them that they can’t talk to each other at all.

Hen isn’t in the room so Maddie assumes that she is the one currently being interviewed.

They may not be allowed to talk but Doug still positions himself next to Maddie and maintains a tight painful hold around her waist. Maddie closes her eyes and tries to mentally get away from this situation.

Eventually they hear footsteps and then Maddie hears her name. Doug gives her a warning squeeze before Maddie is then getting up and reluctantly following the two detectives to the interview room.

Her stomach drops when she sees it. It is a small concrete room. She has to remind herself to not panic. She did nothing wrong. She has nothing to do with the stolen money. The detectives are just trying to find out what happened, that is all. But no matter what she tries to tell herself nothing reduces her fear.

“Sit down there,” one of the detectives says, gesturing to a chair.

Shaking, Maddie makes her way there and sits down, staring at the table.

“You seem very nervous there Maddie. So why don’t you just tell us the plan and we will go easy on you.”

Maddie stares at the table, feeling very weak and vulnerable. “I didn’t do anything,” she says quietly.

“Well you don’t sound very believable. Why aren’t you looking at us? People without anything to hide can make eye contact with us.”

Maddie starts shaking and it takes all her strength to force herself to look up and make eye contact with them. When she does she can see they believe she is guilty which makes her tremble. How is she supposed to convince them of her innocence? She can never convince Doug of her innocence when he is accusing her of things. And she is familiar with Doug, she has a few tricks to navigate situations with him that sometimes help. But these detectives are strangers and their job is getting things out of people and finding things out. She finds herself starting to panic.

“Why did you run into the vault?”

“To try and save our patient. He was convulsing and I needed to get to him,” she says softly.

‘You disobeyed a direct order from your captain. Is that something you do a lot?”

Maddie flinches before shaking her head. “I know I shouldn’t have disobeyed him. I’m sorry.”

She starts shaking even more and she pulls her legs up onto the chair, wrapping her arms around them, automatically making herself as small as possible.

“Why did you disobey him?” they ask, this time their voices less accusatory although Maddie is too panicked to pick up on that.

Maddie shakes all over and buries her head in her legs. “I don’t know. I just wanted to help our patient. But I shouldn’t have disobeyed Doug. I know the consequences.”

“What are the consequences?”

Maddie flinches. And then horror fills her. No, no, no, no, no. Doug can read her like a book, he will know she made them suspicious. She starts crying and she tries desperately to wipe away all her tears.

“Do you do whatever he tells you?”

Maddie nods, not looking up at them.

“We need a verbal answer. Do you do whatever he tells you?”

“Yes,” Maddie whispers.

“You need to be loud enough that we can hear you.”

“Yes,” Maddie stammers out.

“So if Doug told you to go into the vault to provide a distraction so he could go and steal the money would you do that?”

Maddie trembles. She hates herself when she realises what the answer is. “I would. But he didn’t tell me to, I promise I’m telling the truth.”

“Is there a chance he would tell you to be a distraction without telling you why? A chance he knew you would want to help the person regardless of what he said so he was counting on you disobeying him so that he could go and steal the money?”

Maddie is quick to shake her head. “He would never expect me to dare disobey him. He wouldn’t come up with a plan that relied on that.”

“Ok, well do you think he would be capable of stealing that money?”

Tears flood down her face as she shakes even more. After a silence when she realises they are waiting on an answer she finally gets one out. “I don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Thank you for speaking to us Maddie. You can go now.”

Maddie stares up at them in shock. “I can? Am I cleared of suspicion?”

They both nod. “You are,” one of them assures her. “Before you go, do you need any help?”

Maddie’s eyes go wide and she looks at them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The detective's voice is gentle when he talks to her. “You said you always obey him, you sounded scared of the consequences of disobeying him and basically admitted you are so scared of him that you will do whatever he asks. Is he hurting you?’’

“You said I can go?” Maddie confirms.

They nod.

Maddie looks at the door and hurries out, ignoring the sound of them calling her name. She knows she should wait for Doug to have his interview. But all of her just needs to get out of the building.

As she rushes out the building she bumps into Athena. Maddie stares at her wide eyed.

“Do you need a ride?” Athena asks.

Maddie knows she shouldn’t accept. But she just wants to get home. So she nods.

She doesn’t talk to Athena at all on the drive home although Athena asks her a few questions. It is only when she arrives home that Maddie speaks, thanking Athena for the ride.

When Maddie steps into the house she sees Genevieve, Claribelle and Cassandra. She gives Genevieve a massive hug. She knows she should make the most of any available time she has with her daughter. But she is seconds away from losing it so she knows she can’t. She gives Cassandra a look and thankfully Cassandra can tell what she is asking without Maddie having to say a word.

Soon Maddie has the house to herself. She collapses onto the bed and bursts into tears, feeling emotionally wrung out. Eventually she cries herself to sleep.

A slap to her face wakes her up. Maddie blinks and opens her eyes. Standing above her is Doug and he looks absolutely furious. He grabs her hair and pulls her out of the bed, Maddie landing on the floor with a painful thump.

He doesn’t say a word as he drags her downstairs to the basement, Maddie crying in pain and fear as he does so.

He pulls her to the center of the basement before shoving her onto the floor. The contact with the hard concrete jars her body.

Doug then drags a couple of chairs over. “Take your clothes off and then stand on one of the chairs,” he orders.

Shaking, Maddie quickly obeys.

Doug then grabs the metal cuffs and stands up on the chair next to her. Maddie starts shaking even more, remembering how useless her arms were after the last time. “Please Doug, I’m sorry.”

Doug slaps her in the face and she only just manages to not fall off the chair.

‘What did you tell the detectives, Maddie? It was clear by their questions that you spoke badly about me.”

Maddie shudders. “I didn’t mention you.”

Doug scoffs and punches her in the stomach. He then grabs her throat and leans towards her face. “Tell me the truth.”

She trembles and stares at the ground. “They asked me why I disobeyed you and I said that I shouldn’t have done that. They then asked if I always listen to you and I said I did so they asked if I would listen if you told me to create a distraction. I told them the truth.”

When she dares to look up she sees the tiniest amount of his anger has gone. But there is still a lot of anger remaining.

Doug cuffs her right wrist and then throws the chain over the pole above them before then connecting the other cuff to her left wrist. He then gets off the chair he is standing on and Maddie tenses, trying to brace herself for the pain she knows is coming.

But instead of kicking away her chair like she was expecting, he goes to the corner and grabs a piece of cloth. Maddie trembles even more when she realises what it is for. Soon a piece of cloth is tied tightly around her eyes making her feel even more vulnerable than she already does.

Suddenly the chair gets kicked away and Maddie’s body drops. The pain is instant and Maddie had forgotten just how much this hurt. Her body starts swinging, desperately trying to find solid ground. Her mind knows it is pointless but her body doesn’t. She hears Doug laughing at the way she is flailing around which just adds to her pain.

The sound of a belt moving through the air doesn’t give her enough warning before suddenly Doug’s belt is attacking her and her screams fill the air.

Normally he only uses the belt on her back but this time she can hear him moving around and from the angles the belt comes it is clear he is walking in slow circles, attacking her from every direction.

Maddie screams even louder with each lash of the belt, her pain intensifying to unbearable levels.

Her head slumps a few times as she goes in and out of consciousness, Doug's hits with the belt continuing throughout all of it.

Eventually he finally stops hitting her with the belt. Maddie’s entire body is in agony. Tears are streaming down her face and it feels like her entire body is wet with blood. How much is she bleeding? Fear fills her, worried that she is bleeding too much.

She hears Doug’s footsteps move before they then come closer to her.

“I have a new toy,” he announces, pure glee and excitement in his voice.

Maddie tenses. She can tell whatever it is will be bad.

“Don’t you want to know what it is?” he asks, his voice teasing.

Maddie shudders, sure that she doesn’t want to know. Although knowing will at least allow her to try and brace for the pain.

‘What is it?” she asks, her voice shaking with every word.

There is pure joy in Doug’s voice when he replies. “A blow torch.”

Maddie wets herself. Doug’s laughter fills the room.

“Please Doug. I’m so so sorry. I’ll never disobey you again. I’ll do whatever you want, I’ll be the most obedient wife in the history of the world. Please Doug. Please don’t do this.”

“You are saying all the right things,” Doug starts and Maddie tenses knowing there is a but coming. “But I spent all this money on this toy. Do you want me wasting my money?”

Maddie gulps. “No. I’m sorry.”

“I knew you’d understand,” Doug says.

She hears Doug get onto the chair next to her and all of her freezes in pure terror. No, no, no, no, no.

And then fire is on her. She screams and screams and screams. Fire is burning her breasts. She needs him to stop.

She feels the fire moving, spreading the pain even more. As Doug inflicts unbearable pain upon her he also talks. “Can you recognise what I’m writing with the blow torch? You should be able to considering that I once carved the same thing into your stomach?”

Maddie is going to be sick. “Your name,” she says, before screaming and screaming and screaming.

“Correct,” Doug says, happiness in his voice.

By the time Doug has finally finished Maddie is a whimpering pathetic mess. Her entire body feels wet. Wet with blood. Wet with tears. Wet with sweat. And wet from where she lost control of her bladder.

“I love you Maddie,” Doug says as he steps down from the chair. “If you obey me then things will be easier for you. Have a good night.”

She hears Doug disappear and then she bursts into tears. It hurts so much and the pain consumes her. She goes in and out of consciousness and she finds herself begging it to take her. Her arms are aching, her entire body is filled with the sharp stinging pain from the belt. But by far the worst of all is the pain from the blow torch. She has no clue what degree the burns are. She won’t know until she can see them. But based on the pain she would guess they are at least a second degree burn.

It is a restless night. The only sleep she gets is when she loses consciousness as when she is awake she is in too much pain - both physical and emotional - to manage to fall asleep.
___

In the middle of the night Hen wakes up with a realisation about the bank call. She lets Athena know and soon they have figured more things out.

But then in the morning cops arrive to search her house. She groans in annoyance, she was ready for this whole mess to be over.
___

Doug wakes up and whistles happily as he makes his way through the house. He considers letting Maddie out so that she can make him breakfast. But he remembers she could barely lift her arms after last time so he decides there is no point. She’ll just be useless. And he can cook a few things.

So he makes himself some scrambled eggs and then eats them in front of the tv. He has just finished eating when there is a knock on the door. He opens it and his good mood evaporates. The cops show him the warrant and then push past him. Panic fills him. He should have let Maddie out earlier, he can’t have the cops finding her like that. He runs to the basement door but they stop him before he can get any further.

One of them takes him outside and Doug can’t do anything as they go through his house.
____

Maddie hears the door opening and she tenses, terrified that Doug will still be mad.

“I’m so sorry Doug. I love you so much. I promise,” she begs.

She hears a gasp of horror. And it is not Doug. Pure fear fills her. If someone else is here then how on earth is she supposed to explain her current state? She starts shaking and crying again.

“You’re safe now. We’ll get you down,” a voice says.

Seconds later a chair is underneath her and Maddie feels some relief that the strain has been taken off her arms. The blindfold is taken off her face and then Maddie is looking at the eyes of a worried looking cop.

“Is there anyone we can call for you?” they ask.

Maddie is confused by the question but says the first name that pops into her mind even though she knows saying it is a mistake. “Sergeant Athena Grant.”

The cop nods and soon they are radioing for backup, asking for Athena and for an ambulance.

“Do you know where the keys for the cuffs are?”the cop asks her.

Maddie shakes her head.

“We’ll find them,” the cop promises before saying something to someone else.

“Why are you here?” Maddie asks.

“We got search warrants for all of the 118, to see if we could find anything related to the bank robbery.” The cop sighs and her voice sounds sad. “Doug tried to stop us going into the basement which made us more convinced he was involved in the bank robbery. I would never have imagined the real reason he didn’t want us coming down here.”

Maddie hangs her head, feeling shame run through her.

Soon there are more sounds coming from the basement door. Maddie looks up and sees Athena. Relief floods through her. All of Maddie wants to just crumble into a ball. But they haven’t found the key yet so her arms are still above her head, still aching and so so sore.

And then another cop comes in. “I have the key.”

Athena nods and takes it from them and then asks all the other cops to leave, saying to let her know when the paramedics arrive but that Athena is in charge of who is allowed into the basement. The other cops all nod before leaving.

Athena then gets up on the chair next to Maddie and unlocks the cuffs. Maddie collapses into Athena’s arms and Athena gently lowers her down.

Athena looks sad but Maddie is just so relieved to have someone there for her.

“Is there any progress on getting Cassandra and Claribelle documented?” Maddie asks desperately.

Even more sadness crosses Athena’s face. “The laws are getting harsher and harder. I will keep trying and will do everything I can. But it is looking less likely.”

Maddie bursts into tears.

Some voices come through over the radio but Maddie doesn’t bother hearing the individual words. Soon two paramedics enter the basement, carrying a stretcher. One of them also has a blanket which Athena helps Maddie loosely wrap around herself.

Whilst having just a blanket feels way more vulnerable than if she was wearing her clothes Maddie is relieved for it as her clothes are too tight and she knows they would just make everything hurt even worse.

Soon she is getting loaded into the ambulance. Thankfully Doug is nowhere in sight when she is taken there. Athena gets in as well which fills Maddie with relief.

Maddie answers the paramedics questions but she mainly focuses on Athena. “You can’t press charges against him for this. You can’t. Has he been arrested?”

Athena sighs. “He has. But I could guess your worries so I have made sure he was told it is because of the bank robbery and everyone knows to not mention you.”

Maddie knows Doug will still blame her anyway so she just cries even harder.

When they reach the hospital Maddie tenses even more knowing that in order for them to treat her she is going to have to be incredibly exposed due to having wounds all over her body.

She gives Athena a pleading look. Athena holds onto her hand and promises she will be there the entire time.

Some photos are taken which Maddie hates. So she looks at Athena.

They have to dress and then bandage the burns on her breasts. Maddie really really really hates that they have to touch her there. She knows it is necessary but she hates it so much. She tries to forget that it is happening so she focuses on the feel of Athena’s hand in hers.

They have to clean and bandage every one of the cuts from the belt. And there are hundreds of them, the cuts on almost every part of her. Each one stings and hurts even more when it is taken care of. Maddie closes her eyes and squeezes Athena’s hand, whimpering from the pain.

Once they have finished tending to all her wounds Maddie knows she doesn’t have another option. She has to discharge herself.

The nurses try fighting it and Maddie gives Athena a pleading look. She can see from her face that Athena doesn’t like that idea but Athena still battles the nurses for her, saving Maddie from having to do it herself.

Once they leave the hospital Athena tells Maddie that Doug won’t be released for a few hours so offers to take her to her and Bobby’s house for a meal. The idea of that does sound nice but Maddie knows there is a chance her brother could be there and she can’t cope with him seeing her like this. Athena seems to know what Maddie is thinking as she promises that she will make sure that everyone is out of the house.

When they arrive there is a meal ready for them, that Bobby prepared. As Maddie expected she isn’t able to move her arms at all. She feels a bit of shame when Athena has to lift the food to her mouth for her. But Athena is so kind about it and focuses the conversation on other things which helps decrease some of Maddie’s shame.

Afterwards Athena drives her home. Maddie is reluctant to say bye to Athena but she knows she doesn’t have another choice.

She sees that everything is neat and tidy which is a slight surprise. When she was being led to the ambulance the house was a whirlwind, from the cops turning it upside down.

Still, she is relieved the house is tidy. If it wasn’t then she would have to clean it before Doug gets home. And she can barely lift her arms so that would have been close to impossible.

She sits in a chair near the door, waiting for him. She is terrified for his return. But she knows she needs to be on his side, to give her the best chance of things being alright.

When she hears his key in the door she tenses but forces a smile on her face. And then the door opens.

“I love you,” she is quick to say.

He looks annoyed but he softens when she says that. He picks her up and carries her to the bedroom before laying her on the bed. The pain from the weight on her belt cuts hurts so much but she manages to not let Doug see her reaction to the pain.

Doug pulls her pants down and Maddie wants to cry. But she forces herself to smile.

Soon Doug is thrusting into her, taking even more of her. It feels like all he does is take away from her and make her feel smaller. She hates him. But she loves him. She hates that a part of her still loves him.

She is in so much pain and she just wants to sleep and forget about everything. But she smiles up at Doug and tells him how much she loves him.

When he is finished he is in a good mood which fills Maddie with relief.

They have the rest of the day off due to the investigation so Doug makes himself comfortable on the other side of the bed and turns on the tv.

Maddie is in so much pain and she wishes for privacy so she could break down. But it isn’t safe for her to do that so she forces herself to bury her emotions. Her parents may have been terrible but at least all the years of being forced to ignore Daniel’s existence and ignore her grief allow her to have this skill mastered. Which is necessary. Pushing her emotions and feelings away keeps her safe.

So she pretends nothing happened. She is enjoying her day off watching tv with her husband. And that is all.

Chapter Text

Eventually all of them get cleared and soon all of the 118 A shift are on their first shift since the bank robbery.

Maddie can barely move her arms so Doug declares her and Chimney as man behind with Eddie and Hen going in the ambulance. Maddie is slightly surprised that Chimney is also being made man behind but she figures maybe that is in case someone comes in needing help then they need someone at the station who can actually move their arms.

“So,” Chimney starts, once everyone else has gone. “Want to verse the great table tennis champion?” He grins and points at himself and Maddie smiles a little bit.

“Maybe some other day. It would be fun to beat you,” she says with a smile.

Chimney looks confused and Maddie sighs. “I can barely lift my arms. That’s why I’m man behind.”

Chimney’s face falls before he nods. “Want to watch a movie? You can see if my descriptions of the plot were accurate.”

Maddie grins. “Your descriptions were so crazy that surely there is no way they are accurate.”

Chimney smirks playfully. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Maddie smiles and she and Chimney make their way to the couch. Chimney pulls a dvd out of his bag and puts it in the dvd player. Maddie looks at him. “Do you just always carry a copy of Die Hard around with you?”

Chimney nods and Maddie finds herself laughing. Chimney just gives a playful shrug. “You never know when it will come in handy. And today it did.”

And well, he isn’t wrong.

Soon Maddie is happily settled down next to Chimney watching the movie.

The rest of the 118 get several calls in a row meaning they don’t return to the firehouse until after Maddie and Chimney have finished watching the movie.

“So, did I give you an accurate description of it?” Chimney asks.

Maddie smiles, before pretending to ponder the question. “Mostly, although you made it sound a lot more dramatic and cool sounding. But I still enjoyed it.”
___

Athena makes her way to the Kendall property. But this time it isn’t to see Maddie. Instead she makes her way to the cottage where she knows Cassandra and Claribelle live.

She knocks on the door and then hears some movement. The door cautiously opens. The woman who Athena is assuming is Cassandra looks at Athena and then at her uniform and her face fills with fear.

Athena mentally kicks herself. She should have known to not show up in her uniform.

Before either of them can say anything she spots Genevieve in the background. When Genevieve sees Athena she pushes past Cassandra.

“Athena!” Genevieve exclaims happily before flinging herself in Athena’s arms.

Athena scoops Genevieve up. “Hi Genevieve. It’s great to see you.”

When she looks past Genevieve she sees that Cassandra now looks less scared. “You’re Athena,” she says quietly.

Athena nods.

Cassandra doesn’t say anything but she moves aside and gestures that Athena can come in. They make their way to a small living room before Cassandra tells Genevieve to go and play. Genevieve gives a reluctant nod before disappearing into one of the rooms.

“What are you doing here?” Cassandra eventually asks.

“I’m here to see if there is any way I can help you and Claribelle get documented.”

Cassandra’s eyes widen. “Is that possible?”

“It is. It’s very complicated and there are lots of rules but I have been doing lots of research and looking into it and I think I have found a way to make it happen.”

“That’s so kind. But there’s so many people in our situation. So why us? Why do you want to help us?”

Athena saw that question coming. “Partially because I do want to help you and your daughter. But also because I want to help Maddie.”

Cassandra sighs. “I hate what he does to her. I hate that I can’t stop it. And it brings back bad memories.”

Athena sighs. She agrees with that. She hates domestic abuse so much.

“I don’t know if Maddie has told you this but one of the reasons she hasn’t left him is because he has threatened that if she leaves him or disobeys him then he will call ICE on you.”

Cassandra’s eyes go wide and she looks around fearfully, shaking slightly before she shakes her head. “She hasn’t told me that.” Her eyes then wet with tears. “I understand the feeling of being trapped with someone who hurts you, and this just makes even more sense.”

Cassandra starts crying. “I don’t want to be the reason she can’t get out.”

Athena nods. “And that’s part of why I’m here. For you and your daughter. But also for Maddie and Genevieve.”

Cassandra wipes her tears and straightens up. “Can you explain the options to me?”

Athena nods and gets into it.
____

When the 118 arrives on scene Athena greets them and Doug seethes. He is just thankful that he put Maddie and Chimney as man behind. He doesn’t like Maddie interacting with Athena.

Athena tells them that their patient is a guy named Barry Johnson aged 57. Apparently he threw his money off the roof of a building before jumping 20 stories after it and landing on a car. There are also some bystanders who got minor injuries.

Doug orders Ravi and Lucy to triage the bystander injuries before getting Hen, Eddie and Max to join him in making his way over to where Barry is on top of the car he landed on.

“Hen, take spinal precautions. Max, get the jaws,” Doug orders. Hen nods as she hurries over to where Barry is. Max runs to the engine and comes back with the jaws.

Soon they get Barry loaded onto a gurney and into the ambulance. Doug shakes his head with a snort as he goes back to the engine. Barry was so pathetic. Kind of like Maddie can be.

When he arrives in the station he finds Maddie and Chimney on one of the couches watching a movie.

He makes a tutting noise. Maddie jumps as she turns around to face him. “I can’t believe you are being so lazy,” he says with a sigh. Maddie opens her mouth, probably to give him useless apologies. He holds up his hand and Maddie’s mouth shuts and she stares at the ground.

“Chimney, you can restock the ambulance. Maddie, why don’t you have a chat with me in my office.”

Doug doesn’t give Maddie a chance to say anything, he just yanks her arm and drags her to his office, not caring that everyone is watching.

Once they are in Doug’s office Doug slams her onto the floor and Maddie whimpers quietly. Doug clamps a hand over her mouth as he climbs on top of her, pushing her into the ground, crushing her with his weight.

“Why are you so lazy Maddie?” He says. “I can’t believe I ended up with a wife as lazy as you.” There is venom in his tone and Maddie winces.

“Still, you may be lazy. But at least there is one thing you’re still good for.”

Maddie cries, knowing what is coming. Sure enough she soon feels Doug pulling down her pants. She tries to control her crying but she can’t and the harder her sobs get, the harder and faster Doug thrusts into her.

He is still going when the bells go. Doug gives a sigh. “We’ll finish when I get back.”

He runs out, closing the office door behind him. Maddie lays on the floor sobbing, her arms too sore and useless to manage to stretch down enough to pull her pants back up. It doesn’t matter anyway considering he is planning to continue where he left off the moment he gets back. So she just lies there and cries.

A minute later the office door opens and Maddie tenses.

“Maddie.”

Horror fills her. It is Chimney. What if he realises what just happened? Crying even harder she reaches down to try to pull up her pants and grunting with pain and effort she finally manages to get them up.

“What do you need?” Chimney asks.

Maddie sobs even harder. She can’t handle seeing his care and concern and besides she doesn’t deserve it, she’s lazy and useless just like Doug says.

“Maddie, are you alright?” Chimney asks gently.

She doesn’t deserve his care and concern. She can’t do this. She can’t.

“Can you just leave?” She asks.

He doesn’t respond but she hears the sound of him exiting the room and closing the door behind him. As soon as he is gone she regrets it as now she is all alone. She reminds herself that is what she deserves. But that knowledge doesn’t ease her loneliness, instead it just increases it.

She doesn’t know how much time passes as she lies there crying. She knows she should get up. But she doesn’t see the point. The next time the office door opens she tenses again.

She knows it is Doug as soon as she feels a weight on her.

“So lazy,” he mutters. “Did you really just lie there without moving the entire time I was on that call?” He carries on, not waiting for an answer. “Oh well. At least it means you are ready for me to finish what we started.”

He yanks her pants back down and Maddie slips into her mind, trying to go anywhere apart from where she is. Her body is crying, lying on the floor of her husband’s office whilst he rapes her. But her mind is floating, far away from it all.
____

Chimney feels worry fill him as he looks in the direction of the office. He can see everyone else also looking that way in concern. He keeps quiet about what he saw. It was clear from when he saw Maddie what just happened. And the thought of that possibly happening right now makes him feel ill.

He gets up and runs to the bathroom just in time. After he has vomited he rinses out his mouth. He shakes slightly before getting into the shower, where he then cries, the water loud enough to hide the sound. He hates this. He hates Doug so much. He knows Doug hurts Maddie. So he should have realised what that had included. But it didn’t occur to him until he saw the aftermath that Doug also takes that from her. He trembles even more. He hates this so much. He wishes Maddie was far away from Doug. He wishes she was safe. No one should ever do to another person what Doug does to Maddie.

Once Chimney gets out of the shower he is still a bit shaky. For the rest of the shift he avoids Doug. Which is made pretty easy to do by the fact that Doug is in the office for the whole shift apart from when there is a call and when there is a call Chimney is man behind along with Maddie. Not that Maddie emerges from the office at all. Each time everyone else goes away on a call Chimney knocks on the office door and gets a quiet voice asking him to go away. Which breaks his heart. But he listens and slowly goes back to doing some of the station chores.
____

It takes a few more shifts before Maddie is able to move her arms enough for Doug to decide she is fine to be back on calls.

On the drive to their first call of the shift Chimney turns to Maddie. “Well this call will be a first for me. A guy stuck in a vat of chocolate. Have you ever had a call like that before?”

Maddie nods. “Yeah, back in Hershey.”

Understanding floods through Chimney. “The Hershey factory?”

Maddie chuckles. “Yeah.”

“So, did you just pull them out?” Chimney asks.

Maddie winces slightly from the memory. “We tried. Doug got me and him in charge of pulling the guy out. It created an air pocket pulling both Doug and I in as well. Eventually they got us out by adding cocoa butter to decrease the viscosity of the chocolate. But it was terrifying and then afterwards Doug blamed me for the two of us falling in.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Chimney says.

Maddie shrugs, preferring not to think about it. “I just hope he remembers about the air pocket. If he orders us to pull the person out I don’t dare disobey him.”

“If he tries to get us to pull the guy up I can be the one that disobeys him. You said cocoa butter was the answer?”

“Yeah,” Maddie replies.

Maddie sees Chimney nod before he gets a thoughtful look on his face and she can tell that he is coming up with a plan.

When they arrive Doug grabs Maddie and forces her to be right behind him as they make their way inside. A factory worker greets them, saying her name is Carol, as she then leads them through the factory, along the high up metal walkways. She talks as she goes. “We tried pulling him out but he was struggling so much that he sank even deeper.”

Carol pauses for breath and Doug is quick to whisper into Maddie’s ear. “See, struggling only makes things worse.”

Maddie shakes slightly and doesn’t reply.

Carol continues walking. “Our chocolate is the richest in the country but unfortunately that also makes it the heaviest.”

Alarm fills Maddie, worried that this means this call could go worse than it did back in Hershey.

Soon they reach the vat and Maddie has to steady herself as all of it just reminds her of the call in Hershey.

“How are you feeling in there?” Doug calls down to their patient.

He even uses the same opening question. Maddie shivers, trying to force her memories of Hershey away, knowing she needs to focus on the present.

“W, warm,” the guy gets out.

“We had to leave the heat on, my foreman was afraid that if we didn’t the whole batch would just harden up,” Carol says.

And why is that sentence almost word for word the same as what happened in Hershey? And then someone mentions that otherwise they’d have to chisel him out and Maddie flinches even more, remembering that comment being made at the Hershey call.

Doug gets Ravi and Lucy bringing out the ladder which he then gets them to lay over the vat. Doug then tells Hen to check the guy’s vitals. Hen is quick to check his pulse, reporting back that the pressure on his body is probably slowing his circulation meaning that if they don’t get him out of there soon he may lose consciousness.

“Well then let’s get him out of there,” Doug announces.

He then looks Maddie in the eyes and it feels like he is taunting her when he next speaks. “Maddie and I will pull him out.”

Maddie stares at him frozen. Does he not remember what happened? “Doug?” She tries.

“Are you questioning me?” He snaps, quietly so that only Maddie can hear.

Maddie gulps. “It didn’t work last time. Shouldn’t we just get the cocoa butter?”

Doug glares at her. “Get on the ladder and help me pull him up. Or else.”

Doug’s tone is dangerous and Maddie doesn’t dare protest, she knows she has already taken it too far.

Trying to contain her fear Maddie climbs onto one half of the ladder so that she can reach the guy. Doug holds onto the other side of the ladder.

“Can you reach your hands above the surface?” Doug asks. The guy replies that he can’t.

Doug looks at Maddie. “We grab him on 3.”

He stares her down and Maddie reluctantly nods. She sees Doug smile. Maddie wishes she could use her arms to hold onto the ladder but she knows she will need both arms for pulling the guy up so she twists her legs around the ladder instead, trying to hold on as tightly as possible.

“1, 2, 3,” Doug says.

Maddie and Doug both have their hands under one of the guy's armpits and together they try to lift him out. But as Maddie knew would happen it creates an air pocket and the guy goes deeper in. Doug is quick to let go. Maddie tries to but then she feels Doug shove her and she falls into the vat, face first.

Panic fills her straight away. She can’t breathe and the pressure is so intense. She wants to cry but instead she is just filled with panic. She can’t breathe. She is being crushed. She can’t breathe and she is being crushed.

Doug smiles but he is quick to act all worried. His team wonders what happened and Hen explains the physics of air pockets. They then get the O2 tank and get their patient on oxygen with a tube in his mouth that they tell him to bite down on which proves necessary when seconds later the guy goes completely under.

Maddie still doesn’t have oxygen but Doug checks his watch. It’s only been 30 seconds, she’ll be fine. He’ll give it a couple of minutes.

All of his team looks panicked and some of them try to pull Maddie up. Doug just smirks, they are fools, did they not hear what Hen just said about air pockets?

He hears a sound and looks up and sees Chimney wheeling along the cocoa butter. That is good, Maddie probably needs air soon.

Chimney starts pouring the cocoa butter in and tosses the paddle to Doug. Doug catches it and starts stirring. The guy is first to surface and Ravi and Eddie are quick to pull him out. Doug knows he should probably then focus on Maddie as it has been a while.

When they finally get Maddie out she is unconscious and isn’t breathing. Doug groans in annoyance. The ladder isn’t firm enough a surface to do CPR on so they have to waste time getting Maddie onto a hard firm surface. Once she is there Doug does CPR on Maddie, yelling at Eddie and Lucy to take the guy to the hospital.

Eventually Maddie starts breathing again. Doug turns her onto her side and she vomits up chocolate before bursting into tears. Doug just sighs. Why is Maddie always so dramatic? She was fine, he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. Really, why can’t she just trust him?

When they get out of the building Doug takes one look at the chocolate dripping down Maddie before grabbing the hose of the truck and drenching her with water. Maddie doesn’t say anything, she just closes her eyes and accepts it.

Because Eddie and Lucy took the guy to the hospital in the ambulance the rest of them all have to use the fire engine. Maddie is silent as she sits on the towel Doug ordered her to sit on, after he yelled at her that she better not make a mess of the fire engine.

Once they get back to the station Doug gives Maddie a harsh shove in the direction of the showers. “Get cleaned up, you disgust me.”

Maddie nods before running to the showers.

She knows Doug will time how long she takes so she doesn’t have time to have a proper cry and then focus on getting cleaned. Instead she has to hurry to clean herself, tears falling as she does. Doug may have rinsed her off but a lot of chocolate still remains so she focuses on getting rid of all the chocolate.

Once she is out of the shower Doug smiles at her when she returns. “Maddie, can you make a dessert for us to have with our lunch? Something with chocolate in it?”

Maddie flinches before making her way to the kitchen. She hears Doug laughing behind her before he heads to his office.

Once Doug is in the office Chimney appears at Maddie’s side. “I can make the main for lunch. What should I make?”

Maddie smiles before tentatively suggesting one of her favorite options. Chimney’s face lights up. “That’s one of my favorites. Great idea!”

Maddie gives him a small smile. “It’s one of my favorites as well, that's why I suggested it.”

Chimney gives her a grin. “Well great minds think alike.”

Soon both of them are focused on what they are making. Maddie would prefer to not be working with chocolate considering what just happened. But having Chimney in the kitchen alongside her makes it bearable as every time a memory threatens to consume her Chimney makes a joke and she finds herself laughing.

By the time lunch is ready she doesn’t feel quite so wobbly and she is definitely in a better mood.

Halfway through lunch they get another call, this time for a bomb that went off. Maddie is silent on the drive there and thankfully Chimney is happy to do enough talking for the both of them.

Calls for bombs are on the more unusual side so Maddie wonders what happened.

When they arrive Athena is the one that greets them, causing a stone to sink in Maddie’s stomach. Maddie may trust Athena and feel safe around her. But she knows Doug can’t stand Athena and every time they respond to a scene alongside Athena, Doug is then in a darker mood which he often ends up taking out on Maddie.

They hop out and Athena approaches Doug. “It was a mail bomb. The wife is in rough shape but still in one piece. The house hasn’t been cleared yet and the bomb squad’s still a couple of minutes out.”

Doug nods, in acknowledgement that he heard her. They then hear the patient’s husband telling them where they are so they head in that direction.

“She’s not breathing, I tried talking to her but she didn’t answer,” the husband says, sounding panicked.

“She probably can’t hear you as the blast probably blew out her eardrums,” Eddie explains, trying to reassure the husband.

Doug looks at Eddie. “Have you dealt with situations like this before?”

Eddie nods. “I did my fair share of these in combat.”

“Ok, then I will start the post attack protocol. You, Maddie and Chimney are to treat her with you being in charge.”

Doug then moves away from the woman. He gets Ravi and Max to clear everyone away as the house hasn’t yet been cleared of bombs so for all they know there could still be more explosives. He gets Hen and Lucy to reassure and calm down the husband. He then stays in contact with the other emergency services as they strategise together.

Eddie looks down at the woman. “Her breathing is shallow. I think we’re looking at a bilateral pneumothorax, we need to release the pressure or she will suffocate and die.”

Chimney and Maddie both nod. Eddie gets Chimney to get some fentanyl on a slow drip and he gets Maddie to get a four inch catheter with a ten gauge. While they do that he checks again to see if she can hear them. This time she gives the smallest of nods when Eddie asks if she can hear them.

Eddie, Maddie and Chimney work quickly and efficiently and once they have relieved the pressure and she can breathe easier the woman starts screaming and sobbing. As they work they hear the bomb squad arrive but that isn’t their focus, they are focused on their patient.

Once they have her breathing and stable they get her loaded onto the ambulance with Chimney driving and Maddie and Eddie in the back. After they drop her off at the hospital they make their way back to the station where some of the 118 finish their lunch and the rest of them decide to not bother doing so.

Doug tells Eddie he did a good job with their patient before he then goes to his office. Everyone stares behind him in astonishment.

“Did Doug just say something nice?” Max asks in shock.

“I think he did,” Hen says, eyes wide.

“He is capable of being nice. He just normally chooses not to be,” Maddie says quietly before looking down. There is an awkward silence for a few moments until Chimney makes a joke which eases the tension.

Still, the tension in the air doesn’t completely dissipate so all of them are relieved when they get another call.

They pull up to the scene of the car crash. Doug is quick to give orders. “Max and Lucy, triage the minor injuries. Chimney and Hen, you’re with me. Eddie and Maddie, check the driver of the car.”

Doug’s random pairing on scenes don’t always make sense to Maddie but all of them hurry to do what Doug told them to.

“Can you hear me?” Maddie asks, once she has reached the car and opened the door.

“I, I tried to stop. I didn’t see any of them,” the woman says shakily. “Are they ok?”

“They’re being taken care of by the rest of our team. Right now our focus is on you,” Eddie says in a soothing voice.

“My neck hurts,” the woman admits.

Eddie passes Maddie a C collar and Maddie puts it on the woman, telling her they are just doing it as a precaution until the doctors at the hospital can check her.

“There was a lady. Is she alright?” The woman asks.

Maddie keeps her focus on the woman in the car but she notices Eddie looking. He freezes and runs that way. Maddie wonders what happened but she maintains her focus on her patient.

Eddie runs forward, his heart in his throat. Shannon! No, it can’t be.

And as he gets closer he grows unsure. The woman is lying on the road and it is clear she has been hit by a car and doesn’t have good chances. Eddie spots a wallet close to where the woman is lying so he is quick to grab it, flicking through it looking for ID.

And then he spots a driver’s license. The photo looks scarily close to Shannon. But it isn’t. Which is confirmed by the name. The woman here is someone named Kim. So not Shannon. Relief fills Eddie.

He sees the rest of his team looking at him in confusion. “Sorry,” he says. “She just looks like someone I know. But she isn’t.”

There are nods of understanding before Doug directs Eddie back to the car to help Maddie. Eddie nods and goes there.

The woman in the car ends up being alright so Doug ends up calling Maddie and Eddie to help him with Kim. Things aren’t looking good so they get her on the backboard and then get her in the ambulance to transport her with Chimney driving and Maddie in the back with her.

On the way to the hospital Kim dies.

Back at the fire station the mood is slightly muted as is always the case when they lose a patient on a call.

All of them end up on the couches in the loft in front of the tv. Even Doug joins them which is a rarity. They end up watching the news. Meaning they all see the mention of a package bomb.

“Is that the call we went to?” Max wonders aloud.

“I don’t think so, it’s in a different location,” Hen says.

The news then says it is the second package bomb in as many days. An ominous feeling fills the room.

“Two package bombs isn’t a coincidence," Maddie whispers.

There are nods of agreement.

“That’s a serial bomber just getting started,” Eddie says.

Doug turns the tv off and stands up. “Considering what we just saw, our down time is over. We are all going to go over our training and protocol for these situations so that we will be prepared if we get called to the scene of another package bomb.”

Everyone is quick to get to action and soon they are going over the procedures, all of them a bit on edge, none of them liking the reason behind this revision.
___

When Eddie gets home he turns his attention away from thinking about the bombs. The following day is Chris’s birthday. They hold him a massive party with lots of presents, games, friends and family.

Shannon also turns up, it being one of the two times a year Chris sees her. Chris might not see her much but he loves her and he greets her enthusiastically and watching the two of them together Eddie is so relieved that the woman who got hit by the car was not Shannon, just a woman who looked scarily similar to her.

Chris has a great day, all of them do. Afterwards Chris, Buck and Eddie play some games together before Chris goes to bed. Eddie then turns to Buck and ends up telling him about the call and how he thought for a second that the woman was Shannon. Buck stays steady and offers Eddie the reassurance he needs and eventually the two of them go to bed.

Chapter Text

It is a couple of hours before their shift. Maddie has made them breakfast and the three of them are sitting in the living room eating it. Doug has the tv turned onto the news. Doug makes some comments about what they are watching. Maddie makes sure to give the answers she thinks Doug would want. Genevieve stays silent.

Most of the news articles are pretty boring. But then it mentions the package bombs. Doug stands up and throws the tv remote across the room. Maddie stays frozen in place and out of the corner of her eye she can see that Genevieve has also frozen.

Doug starts pacing the room, swearing and yelling and getting louder and louder. Eventually he turns to Maddie who is still frozen in place and he shoves her off the couch and she lands on the floor. He starts hitting her and Maddie makes desperate eye contact with Genevieve. There is hesitation in Genevieve’s eyes but eventually Genevieve listens and Maddie is relieved when she hears Genevieve going out the back door knowing that Genevieve will be safe with Cassandra.

This time Doug doesn’t bother trying to come up with something that Maddie has done wrong. Instead he just yells angry things about the bomber whilst shoving Maddie’s face into the carpet so that she can barely breathe.

Eventually he stops and he turns around and offers Maddie his hand, helping her up. He then looks at the time. “I guess we need to get ready for work now.”

Maddie just nods as she begins getting ready.
____

Eddie sighs slightly. He loves his husband. But considering the current circumstances he isn’t quite in the mood to hear heaps of facts about bombs. But he doesn’t say anything as he knows it is part of how Buck processes things. Anything he is interested in he researches. And anything he is worried about he researches in order to give him more knowledge which normally helps reassure him.

Chris is also enthusiastic, eagerly listening to every bomb fact Buck spits out, asking heaps of questions and soon the two of them have completely forgotten about eating as they are huddled around Buck’s phone, deep into the wikipedia page about bombs. Eddie just smiles fondly at them as he takes their forgotten plates and clears them off before placing them in the dishwasher.

They are both on shift today but the 118 starts earlier than the 132 does. Eddie says bye to Buck and Chris as he makes his way to work, sure that once all of them are home they will be doing a lot more bomb facts research.
____

When they get to work Doug doesn’t let anyone have any down time. Those he doesn’t assign chores he makes go over training and procedures. It is clear everyone is annoyed by this but no one says anything about it.

Eventually they get a call about a bomb at an elementary school. Which alarms all of them. Thankfully it isn’t the name of a school that any of their kids go to but it is still very worrying.

They are quick to get in their vehicles and reach the scene. When they get there they see heaps of kids running out of the building and they see the bomb squad and the police pulling in. It is very clear that the 118 are there to do what they are told to, they will not be the ones running the scene.

They get given the order to spread out all their vehicles to make a shield between the kids and the backpack with the suspected explosive. So Doug gets them all parked in the correct spot and then all of them make sure all of the kids are huddled behind their trucks.

Some of the kids seem excited and others of them seem scared. Maddie focuses on trying to comfort the scared kids, trying to ignore the way she can feel Doug staring at her.

Athena lets them know that none of the kids claimed the backpack as theirs which is why they are treating it with suspicion. The bomb squad makes the decision to proceed with controlled denotation. They radio Doug to tell him that so the 118 makes sure that everyone is ready and safely behind the fire station. Once they are all safely in place Doug radios the bomb squad to let them know that so then shortly afterwards they all hear the sound of the explosion.

A greyish paste splatters everything around them. “What is that?” Hen queries, asking what they are all thinking.

“It’s tuna fish,” a little girl's voice says.

One of the teachers turns to the little girl. “Emily, was that your lunch?”

Emily nods. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Athena asks.

“I don’t like tuna fish,” Emily says.

Annoyance fills Doug. “Well you should have sucked it up and not been a picky little brat and just told the teachers it was your backpack,” he yells.

Emily bursts into tears and everyone around them is horrified. But Doug either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care as he continues. “YOU WASTED EMERGENCY SERVICES TIME!”

Maddie tries tugging on his arm to get him to stop whilst the teachers start hurrying a crying Emily away.

Doug yells after the retreating girl. “IF SOMEONE DIES BECAUSE WE DIDN’T GET THERE DUE TO YOU WASTING OUR TIME IT’S YOUR FAULT!”

Everyone is staring at Doug. Maddie gets in front of him seeing that he is about to continue yelling. “Doug, you need to stop,” she says.

Doug pushes Maddie harshly and she stumbles back a few steps. Trembling and all too aware of everyone around them Maddie reluctantly takes a few steps closer to Doug.

“Everyone’s watching,” she says quietly, making sure only Doug can hear her. He looks around and she can tell his rage just increases.

He turns to the 118 who are all staring at him in horror. “Maddie and I will take the ambulance back to the station, everyone else you’re on the engine.”

Doug then grabs Maddie’s arm and she feels helpless as Doug drags her away from everyone else.

When they get into the ambulance Maddie turns away from him and stares out the window. She is scared but she is also angry. He yelled at a child! Did he not see how young she was? Did he not care?

Doug drives them a few streets away before pulling over. He then grabs her head and yanks it so that she is forced to stare at him. Maddie glares at him and surprise fills his face.

“Why are you angry Maddie? I’m the one who should be angry. That girl wasted our time and then my wife didn’t support me.”

Maddie continues glaring at him. “You yelled at a little girl. She didn’t deserve that.” There is venom in her voice, something she normally never ever dares to let be the case when she is talking to Doug. But right now she is furious.

Doug slaps Maddie in the face so hard her head bangs into the dashboard. “She deserved it, Maddie. Just like you deserved that hit.”

Maddie lifts her head back up and stares at Doug defiantly. “No one deserves to be hurt, no matter what they did.”

Doug’s eyebrows raise and he stares at her in shock.

Maddie glares at him even harder. “I don’t deserve to be hurt no matter what I do. You shouldn’t hurt me. It’s wrong.”

Pure rage fills his face and a part of Maddie knows she shouldn’t have said what she just did. She knows how foolish it is. She knows Doug will only have one response. But a part of her has been so desperate to say that, even just once. Even if it is the last thing she says.

Doug starts punching her in the stomach over and over again and Maddie starts crying, knowing she can’t do anything to stop him. He continues going and only stops when someone opens the door on Maddie’s side of the ambulance.

Doug pauses and Maddie turns in shock. It’s Athena.

Athena guides Maddie out of the ambulance. “I’ll take Maddie back to the firehouse. She will be man behind for the next call.”

Doug glares angrily at Athena but Athena doesn’t give him a choice, quickly getting Maddie in her car and then driving away.

Maddie starts crying as an entire wave of emotions fill her, so many emotions, so many different emotions, all of them filling her with confusion. She doesn’t know what to say so she doesn’t say anything.

Athena pulls into a McDonald’s drive through and then turns to Maddie. “Are there any drinks or anything you would like?”

Maddie just stares at her. Athena shrugs casually. “I’m going to get myself an ice cream sundae and an apple pie. Would you like anything?”

Maddie feels so confused. But an ice cream sundae paired with a hot apple pie does sound nice. “Maybe, could I then also get that?”

Athena nods. They then reach the part of the drive through where they can order so Athena puts the order in. They sit in silence but a less weighted silence as they progress through paying for their order, waiting for their order and then finally getting their order.

Once they get their order Athena passes it to Maddie and then drives to a nearby park before parking the car. They stay inside the car but they have a nice view in front of them. Maddie passes Athena one of the apple pies and one of the ice cream sundaes and for a while they sit and eat in silence.

Athena is the one that breaks the silence. “After a longer than I would have preferred process I have managed to get Cassandra and Claribelle documented. So they are now here on legal visas and Doug can’t use the threat of ICE.”

Maddie drops her apple pie in shock and it lands on the paper McDonald’s bag that was sitting on her lap.

Tears start welling up in her eyes. “You actually managed to do it?” she asks in disbelief and wonder.

Athena nods.

Starting to cry, Maddie launches herself at Athena and gives her a massive hug, only just not knocking over the ice cream sundaes. “Thank you so so much.”

Once they pull away from the hug Maddie takes a deep breath. “I can leave him now,” she breathes in awe. “Or at least I can start to plan.”

They finish their food in mostly silence. Maddie’s thoughts are racing. For the first time in forever she feels hope. Hope that someday she and Genevieve will be able to live a life away from Doug, a life where they are safe and happy.

Eventually they finish eating and Athena starts the drive back to the firehouse. Maddie knows Doug will be furious with her when she gets back. She knows he will hurt her. But she now has the chance to leave him. So this doesn’t have to be her life forever.

When Athena pulls into the fire station all the vehicles are gone and Maddie lets out a sigh of relief. They must be on a call. She has a bit longer before she has to face Doug.

She gives Athena a hug bye, thanking her over and over for what she has managed to do.

Athena then leaves and Maddie makes her way into the firehouse, wondering if anyone else is also man behind or if it is just her.

After wandering around the firehouse she decides that she must be alone so she settles herself in the loft.

“Maddie.”

Maddie jumps and falls off the couch. She stares up at Doug in fear, her heart pounding.

“Why aren’t you on the call?” She gets out. “Who’s in charge if you’re not there?”

“I put Eddie in charge,” Doug says as he closes the distance between them and grabs onto her hair. He starts pulling her across the loft and then down the stairs, not caring as Maddie screams in pain. “I decided I would sit this call out as I wanted to be here when you returned.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Maddie cries as Doug continues dragging her by the hair until they are in his office. He shuts and locks the door behind him.

He slaps her in the face. “You were wrong Maddie. You do deserve to be hurt. I thought you knew that by now but I guess I failed to properly teach you that. So I’ll need to do better.”

He slams her up against the wall and her head starts swimming. He puts his hands around her throat and squeezes painfully hard. It gets hard to think and her mind goes foggy before everything goes black.

When she comes to she is on the floor and it is clear Doug has just finished doing compressions on her. He kicks her in the stomach a few times before grabbing her hair and pulling her out of the room.

Maddie can’t hold back her screams of pain but the firehouse is empty so no one is there to help her.

Fear floods her when they enter the shower room. She hates when he drowns her. Please no. Please.

Confusion fills her when instead of turning on the water he grabs a bar of soap.

“You said things you shouldn’t have, Maddie. You dared to speak back. You said I was wrong. Well you’re the one that is wrong. So I think your mouth needs to be washed with soap so that you learn what you should and shouldn’t say.”

Maddie stares up at him in panic. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I was wrong, you are right. I know that now, I know better. You don’t need to wash my mouth out. I know.”

Doug just smiles at her. “I don’t think you do. I think you need to learn your lesson.”

Doug then forces her mouth open and jams the bar of soap into her mouth. She instantly starts choking on it and the foul taste fills her mouth. Doug harshly pushes the bar of soap around in her mouth banging it into every corner of her mouth.

She can’t breathe. She can’t breathe.

Doug then fully gets the bar of soap in her mouth even though it is so big it barely fits. He then manually clamps her mouth shut and puts his hand over her mouth, preventing her from opening it.

Maddie can feel the soap pushing her cheeks out and she thinks she might vomit. Tears stream down her face and she needs to breathe.

Doug opens her mouth and pulls the bar of soap out. Maddie leans forward and vomits. Doug jumps back just in time to avoid getting splashed.

He then smiles sadistically. “Considering you just puked I guess your mouth is all dirty and needs to be cleaned.”

“Please Doug. Please,” Maddie begs, shaking all over.

Doug ignores her and just smiles widely as he opens her mouth and shoves the soap back in her mouth. He watches her for a minute before getting bored and telling her she can spit it out.

He then snaps a piece of soap off the bar, about an eighth of it. “Eat it,” he says, handing it to Maddie.

Maddie stares at the soap and then up at Doug in horror. “Doug,” she protests weakly.

“NOW MADDIE!” Doug yells. “You think this is bad? Then you don’t want to even imagine what I will do to you if you don’t eat it.”

Sobbing, Maddie closes her eyes and puts the soap in her mouth. The taste is just so so wrong and she finds herself gagging just at the thought of eating it.

Doug kicks her in the leg. “Now Maddie. I don’t have all day.”

Crying, Maddie pinches her nose to try and block out the taste as she chews and swallows the soap, hating every moment of it and hating herself for doing it.

The instant she has swallowed it she vomits it back up. Doug looks at her, his face filled with disgust.

“You’re a mess Maddie. Have a shower and get cleaned up.” He then smiles. “I even have some soap you can use.”

He passes her the remainder of the bar of soap before whistling as he leaves the room.

As soon as he is gone Maddie breaks down in tears. She cleans up the puke before having her shower which takes her forever to do as she is crying so hard. When she emerges from the shower everyone else is back from the call. They talk about a guy who got his head stuck in the gears of a sports car. Maddie shudders at how gruesome that sounds.
____

Buck’s shift is almost about to start. He has been hanging out with the kids all day but now that his shift is about to start he makes his way to drop them all off at Athena’s as her shift is almost over.

When they pull into the driveway they spot a package on the doorstep. Harry and Chris run up to it in excitement and Buck’s entire body fills with alarm.

“Freeze!” he says. And thankfully they listen.

He calls 911 and then Athena and soon the place is swarming with people. When the bomb squad tries to safely take the bomb so they can study it for evidence it explodes in the bomb proof box before they can get a chance.

Buck feels shaken up by the fact that the bomber sent a bomb to Athena. And it is clear he isn’t the only one shaken up by that. But his shift is about to start so he gives everyone big hugs before joining Bobby as they make their way to work.
____

For the 118’s next call Doug sends everyone else on it and has him and Maddie staying at the station. He makes his way to the couches in front of the tv up on the loft. He orders Maddie to come over to where he is so she reluctantly does.

“You know, I don’t want to have my feet resting on the ground. I would prefer a footrest. But we don’t have any of those. So get down in front of me, you will be my footrest.”

Maddie stares up at him, tears forming in her eyes.

“NOW!!!” Doug screams.

Maddie jumps and hurries to obey. Seconds later she is on the ground, curled into a ball with Doug’s feet resting on her back. There may be no one else around to see but that doesn’t change how completely humiliated she feels. Tears run down her face and she is sure that her cheeks must be bright red. She closes her eyes, wishing she was anywhere else.

It gets worse when they hear the sound of everyone returning. She tries to move but Doug tells her to stay where she is, the tone of his voice not leaving any room for arguments.

Maddie squeezes her eyes shut even tighter, terrified of how her friends and coworkers will respond.

She hears their voices as some of them enter the loft and then their voices all die down at the exact same moment and her eyes may be closed but she can tell that they have seen her. More tears fall down her face.

“How was the call?” Doug asks cheerily.

Silence.

“How was the call?” Doug asks, an edge in his voice.

“Someone ended up having bugs coming out of their face,” Eddie says, his voice more hesitant than Maddie has ever heard it be.

“That sounds gross,” Doug says with a chuckle. “Does anyone want to watch tv with me?”

There is an edge in his voice and Maddie knows she needs at least one person to make that sacrifice as Doug will be mad if he is left watching tv by himself.

“Sure,” Chimney says, his voice wobbling and even though she can only hear him, not see him, Maddie can tell how upset he is. Hearing the pain in his voice makes her cry even harder.

She starts shaking from how hard she is crying. Doug kicks his feet down, hard against her back and Maddie yelps in pain.

“Be still Maddie. You’re even more worthless than a real footrest.”

She trembles even more but tries really hard to stop crying. She wonders how many people are watching and she tentatively opens her eyes and lifts her head. When she does she sees Chimney. He looks heartbroken but when he sees that she has opened her eyes he pulls a few funny faces which helps Maddie to stop crying.

From where Doug is sitting he can’t see either Maddie or Chimney’s faces so for the rest of the time that Doug forces Maddie to be his footrest Chimney makes lots of silly faces which helps distract Maddie from how humiliated she feels.

Eventually they get sent on a call and relief fills Maddie. Anything to get her away from being Doug’s footrest.

Once Maddie and Chimney are in the ambulance, heading to the call, Maddie looks down at her lap. “Thanks Chimney,” she says.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” he says. She can hear anger in his voice but she knows the anger is towards Doug, not her.

“You made me know I wasn’t alone and you distracted me from how humiliated I felt. You did heaps,” Maddie says.

A few minutes later they arrive on scene. Police are there and they tell them to wait for a bit, as the bomber is currently there. One of the police tells them what happened. The bomber set a bomb on the fire engine and it exploded and pinned a firefighter partially underneath it.

Maddie looks past the police at the scene and feels her entire world crumble. “EVAN!!!” She screams, feeling anguish tear through her.

At the name she screams both Eddie and Doug’s heads jerk up. Eddie visibly pales and Doug look furious.

Eddie runs to Buck’s side whilst Doug grabs Maddie’s arm and tries to drag her away. “Leave me alone Doug,” she snaps.

“We’re going Maddie,” Doug says.

“No, we’re not. That’s my brother. I’m staying,” Maddie says.

Doug scoffs and starts dragging her away. Maddie tries to unpeel his grip from her but she isn’t strong enough. But there is no way she is going to let him stop her from being there for her brother.

“Let me go!” she says, her voice firmer than it has ever been.

He doesn’t.

Maddie looks around and sees many police around. She looks in the direction of one and then yells “HELP!”

Soon Doug is being pulled off her and she is able to turn and focus on where her brother is.

When Doug was trying to take her away she missed what was happening but now the bomber is gone and everyone is trying to lift the firetruck of Buck.

Eddie is already at Buck’s side holding onto his hand. Maddie runs over and holds his other hand. Buck screams in pain as everyone tries to lift the truck off him, and his screams get more agonising to hear when it doesn’t work.

Eventually the crowd rushes past the barriers to help lift the truck off. Buck screams so loud, the pain feeling unbearable. Both Eddie and Maddie feel their heart’s breaking seeing and hearing Buck be in so much pain.

As soon as Buck is out from under the truck people are rushing to get him on a gurney and into the ambulance. Eddie hops into it and Maddie doesn’t even think before following.

Suddenly she hears Doug’s voice screaming and she looks back to see him having broken away from the police and running in her direction. “MADDIE, IF YOU GO IN THAT AMBULANCE WITH EVAN THEN THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU I WILL KILL YOU!”

Maddie slams the door in Doug’s face and the ambulance drives off.

Buck stares at her. “Maddie, don’t put yourself in danger for me.”

Maddie shakes her head. “That doesn’t matter. The focus is on you.”

The paramedic works on Buck whilst Eddie and Maddie each hold onto one of Buck’s hands, only letting go once they reach the hospital and Buck is taken into surgery and they are forced to let go.

Maddie and Eddie blindly stumble towards the waiting room and they collapse onto two chairs next to each other.

Eddie feels hollow and he just stares blankly at nothing, trying to quieten the fear that threatens to overtake him.

Maddie is filled with fear. She needs Buck to be ok. She needs that. Tears fall down her face but she isn’t even aware that she is crying.

So Eddie and Maddie sit there, next to each other. Both of them feeling a similar pain and fear but both of them holding their pain inside of them, trying to keep it together.

Chapter Text

Eddie is snapped out of his numbness when Athena and Bobby hurry into the waiting room. Bobby asks if there are any updates. Neither Eddie nor Maddie manage to respond. Bobby says that’s alright, before he makes his way to find someone that can update him.

When Eddie manages to speak it is one word. “Chris?”

“He’s at my house along with Michael and the other kids.”

Eddie gives a stiff nod.

Maddie tenses up and sucks in a sharp breath of horror before she starts shaking in complete terror.

“What’s wrong?” Athena asks.

“Genevieve,” Maddie whispers. “When I was getting into the ambulance with Evan, Doug told me that if I did so then the next time he sees me he will kill me. What if he gets tired of waiting for me so kills her instead?”

She starts sobbing. “I need to be there for Buck. But I also need to go home so he leaves Genevieve alone and takes out his anger on me instead.”

Tears streaming down her face Maddie gets up, swaying on her feet, as she takes a few steps towards the entrance. Athena stops her before she can get far and gently guides her back down onto her seat.

Athena then grabs her phone and makes a call before turning to Maddie. “I’ve got a friend of mine to go and pick up Genevieve, Cassandra and Claribelle. She’ll make sure they are safe. You don’t need to worry about them or Doug right now, you can just focus on being here for Buck.”

“Thanks,” Maddie whispers through sobs.

The next few hours are long and slow. More people fill the waiting room, all of them there for Buck. All of them sitting in silence, dwelling in their own feelings and worries.

Eventually a nurse comes in and says that Buck is out of surgery and can have a few visitors but no more than four.

Eddie instantly stands up.

Maddie’s heart sinks. She wants to be there for Buck. But there are so many people here in the waiting room who want to be there for him. And only four are allowed. There are sure to be more than four people here that are more important to Buck than she is.

“Maddie, are you coming?” Athena asks.

Maddie looks up and sees that Eddie, Athena and Bobby are standing up but no one else is.

“Are you sure?” Maddie asks in disbelief. “Surely there are other people here that mean more to him.”

All three of Eddie, Bobby and Athena shake their heads.

“You are so important to him,” Eddie says, his voice hoarse and weaker than Maddie has ever heard it before.

Maddie doesn’t fully believe them. But she realises that she is delaying Eddie, Bobby and Athena getting to see Buck so she gets up and joins them, not wanting to steal any more of their time with Buck.

Once they are shown which room is Buck’s, Eddie is the first one in, straight at Buck’s side. Bobby and Athena also are quick to go in. Maddie has a desperation to be in there as well but she doesn’t know if she belongs.

But her need to make sure her brother is alright wins out and soon she is also standing in the room, although in the corner, letting the people who matter more be closer to him.

Seeing her brother in the hospital bed, with his leg in a cast reminds her of all the times she saw him like this as kids. The difference is that now he has loving parents who will be there for him. Now he doesn’t have only Maddie. Now he has people there for him that actually matter.

When Buck opens his eyes he feels a bit out of it but then the first thing he sees is Eddie, right above him, and everything instantly makes sense. Athena and Bobby then also come into view and he feels worried about the future of his leg. But he knows they will all help him through whatever comes.

But that doesn’t change his need to know just how bad it is. He sits up slightly, trying to see his leg. And panic fills him a bit when he sees how it is in a cast. Eddie is quick to rest a calming hand on his shoulder which allows Buck to take a few breaths. But he is still scared.

“Did you speak to the doctor? Did he say anything about how the surgery went?”

Bobby is the one that answers. “The doctor said you made it through the surgery. And you now have one titanium rod and four cobalt-chromed screws.”

Buck feels more worry but he tries to play it off with a joke. “We need to take the kids and go through a metal detector, they would love seeing me beep.”

None of Eddie, Bobby or Athena manage convincing smiles at his joke.

Buck feels himself sinking and he looks at Bobby desperately. “Will I be able to work again?”

Bobby sighs. “I’m not going to lie to you kid. There are no guarantees. But we’ll be with you the whole way and if anyone can work again after getting crushed by a ladder truck it’s you.”

“What if that doesn’t happen?” Buck asks, starting to panic.

“It won’t. But if it does then Chris and all the other kids will love getting more time to hang out with you,” Eddie says, his voice calm but his face panicked.

After a bit more back and forth and asking what the doctors have said, a new worry springs to Buck’s mind. “Is Maddie safe?”

Eddie, Athena and Bobby all turn their heads to the corner of the room. Buck sits up properly and stares in that direction. “Maddie?”

“Evan,” Maddie replies before breaking into tears that she quickly wipes away.

Buck holds his arm out and Maddie rushes across the room and gives him a massive hug, her tears getting Buck wet but he doesn’t care about that.

When Maddie pulls away Buck then looks at her in confusion. “Were you in the room the whole time Eddie, Athena and Bobby were?”

Maddie nods.

“Then why didn’t you let me know you were here?”

Maddie stares at the ground. “They are more important to you. They have a bigger role in your life. I didn’t want to take away from that.”

Buck stares at her. “You’re my sister. You raised me. You will always be important to me.”

Maddie stays silent and just continues to stare at the ground.

“Are you alright Maddie?”

Maddie’s head jerks up. “Of course I am. You’re the one we’re worried about. You’re the one who got crushed by a ladder truck.”

Buck stares at her. “I’m sure everyone else in this room is more worried about you than they are about me.”

Maddie looks down. “I want to be here for you. But me being here is taking away from everyone focusing on you and giving you the care and attention you deserve. I should go.”

She moves towards the door.

“Wait!” Buck calls in a panic.

Maddie freezes mid step but she doesn’t turn around, she stays facing the door.

“Please Maddie, you can’t go home,” Buck pleads.

Maddie slowly turns around. “I have to. But it will be ok. I love you Evan. Just focus on getting better. Don’t worry about me.”

She moves to turn back to the door but freezes when he starts crying. She rushes to his side. “Is your leg hurting really badly?”

Buck stares at her. “My leg doesn’t matter. I’m not crying because of my leg, I’m crying because Doug said he would kill you if you got in the ambulance with me. I don’t want to lose you.”

A harsh lump gets stuck in Maddie’s throat and she can barely breathe. She finds that she doesn’t know what to say.

Instead she just slowly backs out. When she reaches the door she turns to Buck. “I love you Evan. I always have. Please look after Genevieve.”

“Maddie,” Buck cries, anguish in his voice that fills Maddie with sorrow and self hate.

“Please. You can’t go home. If he kills you I will blame myself because it was you riding with me that got him mad.”

Maddie freezes. “It won’t be your fault. I knew the consequences. If he kills me it wasn't because of you. It was because he is a monster. And if he kills me because of this then I died because I love my brother. And that is something I am willing to die for. I love you so much.”

Maddie then turns, and ignores everyone’s protests as she walks out of the room. She is a few steps away from the room when she feels a hand clamping around her arm. She looks up and trembles. “I was just making my way to you,” she says, voice shaking.

“Sure you were Maddie,” Doug says harshly.

He drags her out of the hospital to his car and Maddie doesn’t dare protest. Once they are in the car Doug turns to her. “Where is Genevieve?”

Maddie shakes her head. “I’m not letting you hurt her. You can kill me if you want to but you aren’t getting to her.”

Doug just smiles. “I’m not going to hurt Genevieve. Well not physically. I just want her to watch. If you don’t tell me where she is then after I kill you I will get a gun and go to the hospital. I will then kill Evan, Eddie, Athena, Bobby and then as many other people in the building as I can before I get stopped. So what will it be Maddie? Genevieve watches you learn a lesson or numerous people including your brother get killed and it is all your fault.”

Terror fills Maddie. No part of her wants to give away Genevieve’s location. But she can tell by the look in Doug’s eyes that he means it. If she doesn’t tell him where Genevieve is then he will kill as many people as possible.

Shame and guilt flood through her and Maddie feels like the worst person and parent in the world. “She’s at Athena’s house.”

Doug smiles. “Good. Put the address into the GPS.”

Hand shaking Maddie does. The drive to Athena’s house is silent. When they get there Doug shoves Maddie out of the car, telling her she better be out of the house in less than 5 minutes and Genevieve better be with her.

Maddie nods before making her way to the door. Trembling, she knocks on it and a man she doesn’t know opens the door. He smiles at her. “You must be Maddie, Genevieve’s mom and Buck’s sister.”

Maddie nods.

“I’m Michael, Athena’s ex husband and May and Harry’s dad.”

Maddie gives him a small smile. “I’m here to pick up Genevieve.”

Michael gives a nod. “Of course.”

He calls Genevieve’s name and soon Genevieve is at the door. Maddie thanks Michael for looking after Genevieve before her and Genevieve then walk to the car. Genevieve freezes the second she sees Doug and she looks at Maddie with clear betrayal on her face as she gets into the back seat.

Guilt swamps Maddie as she gets into the seat next to Doug.

The drive to their house is spent in dangerous silence. When they arrive Doug parks the car and drags Maddie into the house.
____

The second Maddie leaves the hospital room Buck starts asking how soon he can be discharged.

All of Eddie, Bobby and Athena are worried. Buck isn’t ready to be discharged yet. But Buck insists and they know there will be no changing of his mind so Bobby sighs before getting a nurse into the room to begin the process.
____

The instant they are inside the house Doug throws Maddie across the room and she lands awkwardly, sharp pain filling her, alerting her to the fact that she now has a broken leg and a broken arm. But as Doug storms towards her she knows that a couple of broken bones are the least of her problems.

Both Maddie and Doug are distracted, Maddie by pain and fear, Doug by anger and determination to hurt Maddie. So neither of them notice Genevieve getting the nearest phone (Doug’s phone) and calling 911.

Doug punches Maddie in the face as he begins screaming. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO IN THE AMBULANCE WITH YOUR BROTHER. I WARNED YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. I WARNED YOU THAT I WOULD KILL YOU. SO THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!!!”

Doug kicks Maddie in the stomach so hard she is propelled across the room and bangs into the other wall. As Maddie starts screaming and crying in pain Doug storms over to the kitchen. When he returns, holding a knife, Maddie accidentally wets herself.

He did warn her. So she knew this was coming. But it doesn’t stop her level of pure fear. “I love you,” she says, looking at Genevieve, not Doug.

Thankfully Doug doesn’t notice who she is looking at. Instead he just scoffs. “It’s too late Maddie. I told you what would happen.”

He plunges the knife into her leg and Maddie screams, almost louder than she has ever screamed before. He pulls the knife out and plunges it into her abdomen. Blood spurts everywhere and Maddie screams even louder.

Maddie feels the blood start to drain out of her and everything gets a bit foggier.

Doug tosses the knife to the side and climbs on top of Maddie, pulling down her pants. The part of Maddie that is still aware is filled with disbelief. Is he really going to rape her whilst she bleeds out?

She starts crying. The pain floods through her, she feels herself getting weaker and weaker, she hears Genevieve screaming, and then Doug is smiling as he leans over her whilst taking as much as he can from her even as she bleeds to death from wounds he has caused.

Not wanting to see his smile anymore, Maddie closes her eyes and pictures Genevieve and Buck as everything slowly fades away.
____

Buck has managed to get himself discharged. It is clear none of Eddie, Athena or Bobby are happy about it but Buck doesn’t care. He needs to save Maddie.

He is a bit annoyed about being in the wheelchair that Eddie is pushing. He can handle crutches just fine. But when he tried to say that Athena just levelled him with such a look that he instantly backed down.

They make it to the entrance of the hospital just as an ambulance pulls up. They move to the side, to allow space for the paramedics to get the patient in.

But when the back of the ambulance is opened the first thing Buck spots is Genevieve who is crying. His stomach drops and he looks at the gurney. He sees his sister, looking so lifeless and pale that he is terrified she is dead. And the blood, there is so much of it everywhere. Terror grips him but the hospital staff grab the gurney and run Maddie to a surgery room and Buck knows that if she was gone then their sense of urgency wouldn’t be there.

Genevieve sees them and her eyes go wide. “Uncle Buck!”

Genevieve runs to him and climbs onto his lap, quickly soaking his shirt with her tears. Eddie wheels Buck back into the hospital, to the waiting room. Bobby and Athena follow.

Once they are there Genevieve starts sobbing even harder. “Dad tried to kill Mom. He only didn’t because I called 911 and they came and pushed him off her. Will she die?”

Buck bursts into tears. He hears Athena start talking to Genevieve but he doesn’t pick up on a word she says as he is just filled with fear. He can feel Eddie’s hand in his but it doesn’t make a difference.

It is hours of waiting before a doctor comes out, calling for the family of Maddie Kendall. Buck is quick to make his way there, Eddie, Bobby and Athena right behind him.

“Is she going to be ok?” Buck asks fearfully.

The doctor nods but his face still looks grave. “She will have a long road to recovery but she will be alright. She got stabbed in the right kidney which we weren’t able to save and she had to have multiple blood transfusions to make up for how much blood she lost. She also needed several stitches from where she got stabbed in her left leg. And then her broken right leg required surgery and so did her broken left arm.”

“Can I, can I see her,” Buck asks.

“She is still asleep but yes. She can have up to two visitors for a maximum of ten minutes. But no kids.”

Genevieve starts crying harder at that. Eddie picks her up and nods to Buck that he has her. Buck knows that nothing can stop him from seeing Maddie. Athena comes with him, leaving Eddie, Bobby and Genevieve in the waiting room.

Buck feels sick to his stomach as he and Athena make his way to the room Maddie is in. When they get there, because Buck is in a wheelchair thanks to his leg being in a cast from the ladder truck, it interferes with his speed to get to Maddie’s side.

But when he finally gets there he rests his hand on top of her right hand. He wants to cry looking at her.

There are all the injuries the doctor described which are all horrific. But there are also bruises in other places the doctor didn’t mention. Buck hates this. He hates Doug. And a part of him blames himself knowing this happened because Maddie got in the ambulance with him.

Maddie whimpers and shakes but her eyes stay closed and Buck just wants to cry but he knows he will wait until he has left the room.

The ten minutes pass both fast and slow. It is agonising seeing the state Maddie is in which causes the time to drag. But he also never wants to leave her side again meaning the time goes way too fast.

Soon a nurse is in the room telling Buck and Athena they need to leave in order to let Maddie rest.

Once they leave the room Athena and Buck stop in a quiet corner, before returning to the waiting room where Eddie, Bobby and Genevieve are.

“He’s been arrested right?” Buck asks.

Athena nods. Whilst they spent a few hours in the waiting room Athena had been on the phone with her colleagues finding out as much information as she can.

“What if Maddie doesn’t want to press charges?” Buck asks fearfully.

Athena understands his fears, aware of the pattern that has happened in the past. “This time is different. This time it is attempted murder. If Maddie’s testimony was the only evidence then she could get the case dropped if she wanted to. But this time there is other evidence. Maddie’s injuries, the 911 call and Genevieve as a witness. That isn’t counting everyone at the ladder truck scene who heard him yelling at her threatening to kill her. There's even a chance the news cameras caught that. So the prosecutors have enough evidence for them to be free to go ahead and charge him, regardless of whether or not Maddie chooses to go ahead with it.”

A small bit of relief fills Buck. It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change what happened to Maddie. But hopefully it means that Doug can’t get to her now. Hopefully she is now safe.

And then something Athena said makes Buck realise something. “Genevieve saw it?” Buck asks, his voice breaking.

Athena nods, her face grim. “She’s the one who called 911. If Genevieve hadn’t been there then Maddie would be dead right now.”

Buck’s stomach turns and he only just manages to not puke.

“Has Genevieve been interviewed?” Buck asks, gulping, hating the idea of her going through that.

Athena shakes her head. “Not yet. I’ve already made sure I will be the one doing it so at some stage I will take her with me to the station to be interviewed. If you are willing to leave the hospital then you can be there during the interview to support Genevieve.”

Buck nods straight away. He doesn’t want to leave Maddie. But he knows she puts everyone first and would want Genevieve being supported to be put above her.

“What happens to Genevieve after the interview?”

“If you and Eddie want to, you can look after her again. However I understand if that might be a bit difficult considering your current injury. If you can’t then Bobby and I will take her in.”

Buck is quick to shake his head. “Eddie and I will take her. Her and Chris get along and my injury just means I’ll have more time to spend with her.”

Athena and Buck then head back to the waiting room.

“Is Mommy alright? Can I see her?” Genevieve asks.

“She is resting so it will be a while before you can see her but we will make sure you can as soon as possible,” Buck says.

Genevieve frowns. “I want to see Mommy.”

Athena bends down so she is at Genevieve’s height. “I know you do. But right now we have an important job for you. You, me and your uncle Buck are going to go on a trip to the police station so you can tell us some important information.”

Genevieve looks doubtful but she doesn’t say anything else. She just climbs back onto Buck’s lap.

Athena gives Buck a look and he nods, wheeling himself and Genevieve to the entrance so that Athena can talk to Eddie and Bobby outside of Genevieve’s ear shot.

It is quickly determined that Eddie will go home to get things set up for when Genevieve comes to stay with them after the interview. Bobby will stay at the hospital to hear any updates. By this stage there are a few more people in the waiting room as Chimney and Hen are also there so they stay with Bobby.

The car ride to the police station is pretty quiet with none of them speaking much.

When they arrive Genevieve looks a bit nervous. “Is Daddy in here?” she asks in fear.

“No. He’s in another building far away from here,” Athena promises and Genevieve looks slightly less nervous after hearing that.

Genevieve climbs onto Buck’s lap again as they make their way through the building until they reach a small interview room.

Buck is surprised when he enters the room as the walls are bright and colorful, not the plain white he was expecting. Instead of a table with chairs there are a couple of couches along with a rug on the floor and some toys. Athena sees the way he is looking at the room. “This interview room is designed for interviewing kids so they have tried to make it feel friendlier in order to help the kids be more comfortable.”

The three of them then move into the room. Buck stays in the corner, knowing he is there as a support figure for Genevieve but not wanting to interfere with the interview itself.

Genevieve looks at the toys but walks past them and sits on the couch. Athena goes to one of the other corners where there is a camera and a camera stand. She turns to Genevieve. “This camera will be on so we can remember what you say but you don’t need to worry about it ok.”

Genevieve looks at it suspiciously before giving a tiny nod.

Athena finishes getting the camera set up and turns it on to recording. She then makes her way to the couch that Genevieve isn’t on and she sits down.

“Do you want to play with any of the toys?” Athena asks.

Genevieve looks at them. She sees some lego so gets off the couch and sits down with it. She looks up at Athena. “Are you going to build it with me?”

Athena nods and gets down on the ground at Genevieve’s level. Genevieve asks Athena if she can sort out all the 2x10 pieces and put them in a pile for her. Athena says that she will. Genevieve then starts looking for all the 2x8 pieces.

“Do you understand what this interview is for?” Athena asks as she finds a 2x10 buried underneath some of the smaller blocks.

Genevieve maintains her focus on the lego bricks. “So you can know what happened when Daddy hurt Mommy.”

Athena nods. “That’s right. I will ask you a few questions. If you don’t know the answer you can tell me that you don’t know and if you don’t understand a question you can ask me what the question means.”

Genevieve nods, continuing to look down as she stares at the lego.

Athena asks a few more questions, trying to get Genevieve to feel more comfortable before she then starts focusing on seeking information about what happened.

“Can you tell me everything that happened?” Athena asks.

Genevieve starts very intently at the lego. “All of it or just today?”

“Just today, but everything you remember from today,” Athena says.

Genevieve’s lip wobbles slightly and she puts all her concentration into pressing two lego blocks together.

“Mom and Dad were at work when a cop arrived and took us away from home and to your house.”

“Who do you mean by us?” Athena asks.

“Cassandra, Claribelle and me,” Genevieve quietly says.

“What happened next?” Athena asks.

Genevieve starts building a lego tower. “I was playing with Brooke and May. But then Michael called me. He said my mom was here to pick me up. So I ran to the door happy to see Mom but then when I got to the car Dad was also there.”

Genevieve angrily smashes some pieces of lego together.

“I was angry that he was there so I didn’t say anything on the car ride home. Mom and Dad were also quiet.”

“When we got home Dad got out of the car then went to Mom’s side of the car and dragged her out of the car and inside.”

Genevieve stares at the lego as she starts trembling slightly. “He then threw her across the room which made her arm look funny. It was bending in a way that made me feel ill.”

Genevieve looks down at the lego in her hand. “He threw her super hard. Like this,” she says as she picks up a handful of lego and throws it across the room with force, the lego bouncing against the wall.

“Dad was super mad and Mom was really scared and neither of them were looking at me so I got Dad’s phone and called 911. I forgot to whisper when talking to the lady but Dad was so loud that they didn’t hear me.”

Genevieve pauses with the lego as she starts shaking slightly. “Dad punched Mom in the face and then started yelling. It was hard to hear the 911 lady because Dad was yelling so loud. I was trying to hear the lady so I didn’t really listen to what Dad said. Until I heard him saying that he was going to kill her.”

Genevieve starts crying.

“Do you need to take a break?” Athena asks.

Genevieve looks up at her, tears streaming down her face. “If I do, will I have to come back and finish telling you what happened?”

Athena nods.

Genevieve gulps before taking a deep breath. “I want to do it now then.”

“Ok, in that case just continue when you are ready.”

Genevieve nods and takes a few more deep breaths. She grabs one of the squishmallows sitting in the room and holds onto it tightly, looking at the squishmallow and only the squishmallow.

“He then kicked her in the stomach. It was really hard. She flew across the room and banged into the other wall. Dad then left the room but Mom still looked really scared. When Dad came back he was carrying a knife. The 911 lady was asking me what was happening but I couldn’t move when I saw the knife.”

Genevieve shudders and throws some more lego across the room. She then hugs the squishmallow super hard. “Mom looked at me and said ‘I love you.’ Dad thought she was saying it to him but I knew from the way Mom was looking at me that she was saying it to me. With my eyes I said it back to her.”

Genevieve shakes and closes her eyes. She doesn’t want to say the next part.

“Dad then lifted up the knife, and, and, he, he, he stabbed Mom in the leg with it. She screamed really loudly and there was so much blood.”

Genevieve starts crying. “He pulled the knife out and stabbed her again, this time in her stomach.”

Genevieve starts crying so hard she can barely breath and she has to take a few minutes before she can talk again. She looks up at Uncle Buck for support and sees that he is also crying which just makes her feel worse. When he sees her looking at him he tries to wipe his tears and give her a supportive smile but it doesn’t convince her.

“You’re doing really well Genevieve. Just take as much time as you need,” Athena says.

Genevieve can only give her a small nod. She is scared to say the next part. It confuses her a bit but also scares her way way more. She collects lots of lego blocks and sorts them into piles. Once they are sorted into piles she isn’t crying anymore although she can feel the dried tears on her face.

“I think I started screaming at some point but I don’t know when. After Dad stabbed Mom in the stomach he then threw the knife to the side. I thought about getting it to try and save Mom but I was too scared.”

Genevieve feels shame fill her. She should have done more to help her mom.

Genevieve closes her eyes tight and squeezes the squishmallow hard, knowing she won’t be able to say this next part if she looks at anyone.

“Dad then climbed on top of Mom. He pulled her pants down and I was really confused. Mom started crying. Blood was everywhere and I was really scared. Dad then undid his belt and he—”

Genevieve thinks she might puke and she gags but nothing comes out. Once she can breathe properly she squeezes the squishmallow even harder.

“I, I, I don’t understand what he did. But it looked like he put his penis inside her. Which I don’t understand. He then made scary sounds and movements. She was crying and I was screaming and Dad was smiling. Mom’s body then went all weird and floppy and I was so scared that she was dead. Dad didn’t care. He continued doing whatever it was he was doing, making Mom’s body move a lot. I was frozen, scared Dad would notice me. Then there was a loud crashing sound and the room was filled with police. One of them pushed Dad off Mom. An ambulance came and I refused to leave Mom so when they put her inside I jumped in and went with her.”

Genevieve slightly relaxes the tight grip she has on the squishmallow. “That’s everything that happened. Can the interview be over now?”

“Nearly,” Athena says. “Do you have any questions for me?”

Genevieve nods, keeping her head buried in the squishmallow. “Is Dad in jail?”

“Yes,” Athena says.

Genevieve dares to look up. “If Dad is in jail and Mom is in the hospital then what happens to me?”

“You’ll stay with me, Eddie and Chris again,” Buck says.

Genevieve gives a small nod. “In that case can we go now? I don’t want to stay here?”

Buck looks at Athena who nods. “Of course we can Genevieve. Is there anything you want for dinner? I can call Eddie and give him our request.”

“Takeout pizza,” Genevieve whispers.

Buck nods. “I’ll order it now, we’ll pick it up on the way there.”

They get to Buck and Eddie’s house and then eat pizza. Chris is excited to show Genevieve all of his birthday presents. She doesn’t want to disappoint him so she acts interested although she isn’t really in the mood, she is just so so scared that her mom is going to die.

Afterwards Genevieve just wants to go to bed. Eddie has the room set up so she goes to bed and once the door is closed behind her she starts crying.

Once Chris and Genevieve are in bed Buck gets onto the couch and then starts crying. Eddie climbs in next to him and holds him as he cries.

Eventually Buck’s crying starts to reduce although it takes a long time for that to happen.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Eddie asks.

“Sitting in that interview room, hearing what Genevieve was saying was so hard. I barely managed to hold myself together. I hate Doug so much. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.”

Eddie holds Buck and they spend the rest of the evening like that, both of them getting out their fears and anger. Partway through Bobby calls and lets them know that visiting hours have been closed for the day. Buck knows he will head to the hospital first thing. Bobby also says that although visiting hours are closed Chimney is set up in the waiting room, Chimney having said that he will be staying there all night. Hen is staying with him but everyone else is going home for some sleep.

Eventually Buck and Eddie are both exhausted so they make their way to bed knowing it is going to be a full day tomorrow. Thankfully neither of them have a shift, although of course it will be a while until Buck has a shift. They set their alarm pretty early so that Buck can go and visit Maddie as soon as possible and so that Eddie will be prepared for a day with Chris and a very upset and traumatised Genevieve.

Chapter Text

Buck and Eddie wake up to the sound of Genevieve screaming. When they enter the room she hasn’t properly woken up yet, instead she is begging her dad to leave her mom alone.

After a few minutes of Buck talking, Genevieve finally blinks awake. She sees Buck and then bursts into tears, clambering onto his lap and hugging him. It is still pretty early but Eddie knows none of them will be getting any more sleep so he makes his way to the kitchen to begin making breakfast.

When he has finished making it Chris is still asleep which is good that the screaming didn’t wake him up. Eddie leaves some of the pancakes aside for when Chris wakes up and then he takes the rest of them into Genevieve’s bedroom.

There are tears running down Genevieve’s face. When she sees the pancakes she takes one and chews it numbly.
____

Everything hurts. Memories of what happened flood back and she wonders how she isn’t dead. And then she remembers that Genevieve witnessed Doug raping her. She starts crying. She is the worst parent ever.

She is thankful she doesn’t have a concussion this time as it means she is able to think which is something she definitely needs to do even if it is hard to think about.

He tried to kill her. She doesn’t feel safe to ever return. Though he did get arrested. But even if he gets a few years at some stage he will be released and then he will come straight for her. She knows that. Meaning she will never be free.

She doesn’t know what to do so in the end she just cries.
____

The line for the phones seems to take forever but finally Doug gets a turn. As soon as it is his turn he dials one of his friends. A prosecutor. Who is also friends with a judge. And many other high up people with influence. They talk for a few minutes, his friend promising they will do what they can to make this whole thing go away. By the time he hangs up the phone he is smiling. It pays to have friends in high places. Soon he will be out of here and back with Maddie, the two of them together as they should be.
___

Maddie hears the door opening and she tenses.

Chimney enters the room and relief washes over her. “Chimney!” She exclaims, before bursting into tears.

Chimney makes his way to the chair next to her and gives her a smile although she can see the sadness in his eyes.

“Can we talk about anything apart from this?” she asks.

“Of course,” Chimney says. “Did I ever tell you the story of how we once had a probie who accidentally triggered the fire suppressant system?”

Maddie shakes her head so Chimney launches into the story.

Chimney has just finished the story when his phone rings. He looks at Maddie who nods so Chimney puts the phone on speaker and answers it.

“Hi.”

“Hey Chimney,” Eddie says. “Genevieve was wanting to see how Maddie is, do you think it would be alright for her to come and see her?”

Chimney looks at Maddie. Maddie feels guilt run through her. She hadn’t even thought to wonder where Genevieve was. But she should have, considering that she is in the hospital and Doug is in jail.

Maddie doesn’t like Genevieve seeing her injured so a part of her wants to say no. But she knows Genevieve has seen her in much worse conditions than she currently is in and considering Genevieve witnessed what happened it will probably be good for Genevieve to see Maddie, to see that she is now alright. Well, alright on some levels. But alive.

“She can come. Will Buck come as well?” Maddie asks.

“Yes. We’ll drop Chris off at Athena’s first and then Buck, Genevieve and I will come,” Eddie says.

Eddie and Chimney end the call, with the promise they will be there soon. Maddie bursts into tears for reasons she doesn’t even fully know. Chimney doesn’t say anything but he holds the hand of her non broken arm and the touch feels comforting.

Eventually there is a knock on the door so she wipes her tears away. Soon Genevieve, Buck and Eddie are in the room.

Genevieve looks a bit nervous but there is also visible relief on her face when she sees Maddie.

“Mom!” she cries, before running to her side.

Genevieve climbs onto the bed and cuddles into Maddie’s side. Maddie takes in the comforting feel of her daughter against her side and relaxes, letting out a smile.

There is only one seat in the room so Chimney is quick to give it to Buck. Buck looks like he is going to protest but Maddie narrows him down with a look. “Evan, you’re on crutches, your leg is in a cast. You get the chair.”

Eventually Buck listens and he sits down.

They spend a while with Genevieve cuddled into Maddie’s side, with Maddie working hard to keep the conversation away from why she is in the hospital. Buck is the only one who tries to bring it up so whenever he does Maddie just asks him about his leg and the process for that to heal.

It is clear Buck is annoyed every time she changes the subject. But Maddie doesn’t want to talk about it. She doesn’t want to even think about it.

Eventually she starts to get a bit tired. Thankfully all three of Eddie, Buck and Chimney pick up on that so soon Buck is telling Genevieve that it is time to go. Genevieve is clearly reluctant but she listens, giving Maddie a big hug before she leaves.

Once Genevieve has left Maddie feels all her energy evaporate. She closes her eyes and the last thing she is aware before she drifts off to sleep is Chimney’s hand in hers.
____

Doug grins as he walks out. He wasn’t expecting it to happen this soon. He is aware he could have potentially been locked up for months. Thankfully his friends pulled through for him. Though they weren’t able to completely make it go away. He has been given a $2, 000 fine which he is not happy about. Maddie will definitely have to pay for that.

But he is out and now he can go to Maddie.

He goes to their house first and it is empty. He growls. She better not have left him. If she isn’t here then she better be in the hospital.

Anger starts to fill him as he gets in the car and makes his way to the hospital.
____

Chimney has gone to go and get some snacks from the vending machine. Maddie is glad that it means he will eat something. But it also means she is alone in the room, something she doesn’t like.

Relief fills her when she sees the handle on the door turn. Chimney must be back. She won’t be alone again.

The door opens. But it isn’t Chimney who enters the room.

Her body goes cold and she momentarily forgets to breathe. She shrinks back as much as she can. “D, D, Doug,” she stammers.

“Hey babe,” Doug says, a smile on his face and anger in his eyes as he makes his way closer to her, sitting on the chair next to her.

He puts his hand on her hand and Maddie tenses. With his other hand he reaches her forehead and brushes the hair away from her face. Maddie trembles.

“How, how did you get out?” She questions. “They said that they would charge you even if I asked them not to.”

Doug smiles. “I have friends in high places.”

He cups her chin with his hand. “Why don’t we get you discharged so you can come home and be back where you belong.”

Maddie tries to pull away from his grip as she stares at him in disbelief, terror filling her. She doesn’t want to ever go back to him.

“I, I should stay until the doctors discharge me,” she whispers.

Doug’s eyes widen. “Are you disobeying me?” He slaps her in the face. “You’re coming home Maddie and you are coming home now.”

Maddie considers her options. If she says no Doug will hurt her. But if she says yes and goes home with him then he will hurt her anyway and at some point she knows he will kill her.

She closes her eyes before shaking her head. “I don’t want to go home with you,” she whispers.

She almost falls off the bed with how hard he hits her. He grips her arm and she winces, waiting for more pain. But then the door opens and Chimney walks into the room.

He freezes slightly when he sees Doug before trying to act normal. “I got some things from the vending machine,” he tries, holding them up.

Doug glares at Chimney.

“Do you want any of them?” Chimney asks Doug.

Doug doesn’t respond but he grabs a chocolate bar out of Chimney’s hand.

“It was nice of you to keep Maddie company whilst I couldn’t,” Doug says in a tone that makes it clear he does not think it was nice.

“But I’m here now so I would like to spend some time with my wife in private.”

Chimney looks at Maddie, giving her a look that lets her know he will do what she wants. Maddie gulps. “I’ll talk to you later Chimney, when I’m back at work. Thanks for keeping me company until Doug could come.”

Looking ill Chimney gives a nod and backs out of the room, closing the door behind him. The second he is out of the room Chimney calls Athena.

Once Chimney is gone Doug turns to Maddie. “Why was Chimney here?”

Maddie gulps slightly. “I don’t know, he was here when I woke up.”

Doug looks at her suspiciously but decides to drop it.

He grabs hold of her arm again. “We’re going home now Maddie.”

She knows it would be easier to listen. But she doesn’t want to do this anymore. And at least if they have the conversation here then there will be people that can hear her scream, people that can help her.

Closing her eyes she takes a deep breath. She opens her mouth, tries to find the words to say that she wants to leave him. But when she tries to speak, the words get stuck, fear preventing her from saying them.

Doug looks at her and rage fills his face. “Do you want to leave me? Is that why you’re delaying going home?”

Fears fill Maddie, freezing her in place. She knows she should say no, say that she would never leave him. But instead she says nothing and Doug interprets her silence as the correct answer.

His face turns and Maddie shudders.

“You don’t get to leave me. How many times do I have to tell you how our story ends?”

He smiles wickedly as he pulls out his phone. “Do you want me to call ICE?”

Maddie looks at him, a tiny bit of defiance in her. “Do it then. Cassandra and Claribelle are now documented and on legal visas.”

Doug stares at her before laughing and shaking his head. “You’re bluffing.”

Maddie stays silent and he realises she is serious. Rage and horror fill him and he stares at her, feeling his control slipping away and knowing he needs to regain it however he can.

“Well even if I can’t call ICE on them you know I have other ways to make you stay.”

He smiles and Maddie gulps, wondering what he is about to say.

“If you leave I have enough friends in high places that I can probably manage to get half if not full custody of Genevieve. And this whole mess is her fault, she’s the one that called 911 and got me in jail. So whenever I next see her I do need to teach her a lesson.”

Maddie’s entire body slumps and she knows Doug has won. Although she doesn’t want to let him know that yet. But when she looks at him she sees the victory in his eyes and she can tell he knows he has won. Tears sting her eyes.

“She’s your daughter,” Maddie says quietly. “Surely you wouldn’t hurt her.”

Doug just laughs before shrugging. “Why not? I’ve done it before. Besides, I care about you more than her. So if you don’t stay with me I’ll kill her. And it will be your fault.”

Maddie starts crying. Doug just rolls his eyes.

“Come on Maddie. You already know what decision you are going to make so quit stalling. We’re getting you discharged, then we’re going to pick Genevieve up from wherever she is and then all of us are going home.”

“No,” Maddie says firmly.

Doug squeezes her arm. “I told you the conditions Maddie. You aren’t allowed to leave.”

Maddie is quick to shake her head. “I know that Doug. I’ll come back. But Genevieve isn’t coming with us.”

“She is,” Doug says.

Maddie shakes her head firmly. “Our house isn’t a good environment for a kid to grow up in. I’m a bad mother. And this way I won’t be distracted looking after her so you’ll have me all to yourself.”

Doug pauses and Maddie can tell he is considering it. Desperately she continues on. “If you let her live somewhere else I will never leave you or try to leave you again. I will never disobey you, I will do everything you want.”

“But who would she live with?” Doug asks.

Maddie looks down. She doesn’t want Doug to know where. “Does it matter?” she asks.

Doug scoffs. “Let me guess, you want her living with your brother. When she was in foster care was it a random family or was she with your brother?”

Maddie looks down and doesn’t say anything.

“So she was staying with your brother,” Doug says, not sounding as angry as Maddie expected.

Doug shakes his head. “Call your brother, tell him Genevieve is living with him forever and that you won’t be talking to him or her ever again as you have realised that I am your priority. After that I will take your phone as you will never need it again. I am all that matters. Is that clear?”

Maddie nods, trembling.

“Good, I’ll go to the nurses and get you discharged, you call your brother.”

Doug makes his way to the door but before he can open it the door opens from the outside and Buck and Athena enter. Both of them pause when they see Doug although something in their expressions makes it clear that they were expecting to see him there.

Doug smiles. “Looks like you won’t need to call your brother after all Maddie, considering that he has just shown up. Well, I’m still going to go and get you discharged, you know what you need to do.”

Maddie nods in response to Doug and he smiles before leaving the room. Athena closes the door once he is gone.

Buck opens his mouth to speak so Maddie is quick to beat him to it. “Doug and I have decided that it is no longer healthy for Genevieve to live with us. So we would like you and Eddie to look after her. Permanently.”

Buck freezes slightly and splutters a little bit.

“But what about you Maddie? Are you going to return to him after he just tried to kill you? And how did he get out of jail anyway?”

Maddie sighs. “He has friends in high places. And I have to return. He threatened Genevieve. She isn’t safe with him. Please, I know you don’t want me returning. But I need Genevieve to be safe. She matters more.”

“You matter as well!” Buck protests.

“Please,” Maddie says, starting to cry. “I don’t want to go back. But this is the only option. I don’t have a choice. If I could leave him I would. But I need Genevieve to be safe. I need you to tell her that I love her and would never have abandoned her if I had another option. I need you, Eddie and Chris to love her.”

“We already all love her Maddie,” Buck says softly. “I wish there was another way, but of course we will look after her.”

Maddie sighs in relief. Genevieve is safe. That is all that matters. Maddie then turns to Athena. “Considering Doug’s rage and considering that Genevieve is leaving us, meaning we won’t need Cassandra to be her nanny, can you try and find her and Claribelle somewhere safe to live and another job? I don’t want to leave her in the lurch.”

Athena nods. “They have been staying at my house for the last few days. We’ll take care of them.”

Maddie then turns back to Buck. “Genevieve is really close with them so if possible can you try and make it so that she still gets to see them? Cassandra has basically raised her as Doug let Genevieve see Cassandra more often than Genevieve got to see me.”

Buck and Athena both look sad but they nod.

The door opens and Doug reenters. “Maddie, you’ve been discharged. We’re going now.”

Maddie nods. Buck tries to protest. Doug glares at him.

“Evan, I’ll be in contact to get the legal rights of Genevieve transferred over to you and Eddie. If you want, Maddie and I can fully give up our parental rights so that you can adopt Genevieve down the line. I don’t want you or Genevieve communicating with my wife ever again. Don’t even bother trying to call her as after today she won’t have a phone.”

Doug then turns to Maddie. “You have one minute to say goodbye to your brother. After that you aren’t allowed to speak to him ever again.”

Maddie nods and crying, she gives Buck a massive hug. “I love you so much. You’re the best brother ever and I’m so thankful for you. I’m so proud of the person you have become. I will always love you.”

Buck is also crying, as he holds Maddie even tighter. He doesn’t want to let go of her. “I love you so much,” he says. “Thanks for raising me. I promise I will raise Genevieve with love and will let her know how much you love her.”

“Time’s up,” Doug snaps.

Maddie pulls away from Buck, both siblings still crying.

“I love you so much,” Maddie says as Doug pulls her away. The last thing she hears before they leave the room is Buck saying how much he loves her.

Once they are out of the room Maddie manages to hold in her tears until they are in the car at which point she starts sobbing uncontrollably. Doug doesn’t say anything.

When they get inside he takes her up to the guest room and Maddie quakes in fear. Doug rolls his eyes. “I know, I know, you don’t want to be alone. Which works perfectly as you are never leaving my side ever again. But I know you’re all upset about your stupid brother and about Genevieve. However, your crying annoys me. So I will lock you in here for 24 hours and you can cry to your heart's content. But after that you aren’t to cry about them again or speak their names ever again. And don’t tell me that’s too hard to not mention them again. You managed it with Daniel. And he was actually dead. Buck and Genevieve are still alive, they just won’t be a part of your life anymore.”

Maddie gulps before nodding although she is slightly hesitant, as she has a question.

Doug rolls his eyes. “What’s your question Maddie? I can see you have one so spit it out.”

Maddie gulps slightly. “At work everyone often talks about their families. So if Eddie mentions Buck what do I do?”

Doug rolls his eyes again. “In that setting I guess you can talk about him. But only in the context of him being Eddie’s husband. He isn’t your brother anymore. He is Eddie’s husband and that is it.”

Maddie nods although tears betray her true feelings as they start rolling down her face. Doug just sighs. “Remember, you only get 24 hours to cry for them. I’ll even be nice and leave a clock in here so you know exactly how much longer you are allowed to be a baby about it for.”

He gets a clock and puts it in the room and Maddie makes sure to note what the time is. Doug then closes and locks the door behind him and Maddie bursts into tears.
____

Doug stomps around the house. He glares when he sees Fang. He wishes he had never gotten a pet snake. He only got Fang in order to scare Maddie but looking after Fang is more work than it’s worth.

He shakes his head in annoyance.

He then looks and sees that he has a shift in a few hours. He had almost forgotten about that. Thankfully this time as it happened outside of work and he didn’t miss any of his shifts there is no reason for it to be an issue. His job is unaffected.

He grabs Fang and all of Fang’s supplies and puts him in the car before heading to work.
____

Eddie doesn’t want to go to work. Genevieve burst into tears when she learnt there is a high chance she will never see her mom again.

She cheered up slightly when Chris said he will be happy to be her brother. And when Buck made her pancakes.

But she is still very upset, for understandable reasons. So Eddie did not want to leave her today. But Buck and Bobby are both there with her and Chris asked if he could stay home from school to comfort Genevieve and he was persuasive enough that they said yes. So Eddie knows Genevieve will have the support she needs.

When Eddie walks into work he wants to glare at Doug when he sees him. He settles for looking in the other direction instead.

So of course Doug comes up to him. Eddie groans.

“Diaz, I need to speak with you in my office,” Doug announces before turning, expecting Eddie to just follow him.

Eddie sighs and grits his teeth before following Doug.

When Eddie enters the office he starts in surprise. There is a snake in Doug’s office. A snake in a pet terrarium with other supplies.

Doug follows his gaze. “You’re wondering why there is a snake in here aren’t you,” Doug says, a smirk in his voice.

“This is Fang. My pet snake. I only got Fang because Genevieve begged for a pet snake and Maddie is terrified of snakes. But I no longer want Fang. He’s too much work. Genevieve loves Fang. So call your husband and see if you want to take Fang as your pet.” Doug shrugs. “If you don’t want Fang there’s no pressure. I’ll probably just kill him but it’s fine. I’m going to go and assign everyone some chores. You can use my office to call your husband from. If your husband says yes then you can have 3 hours off to take Fang home and buy any supplies you need for him from the pet store.”

Doug then leaves his office.

Eddie feels surprise. He is already pretty sure of what Buck will say. Buck and Chris love snakes. Eddie is the one who doesn’t particularly want a pet snake. But he knows Buck, Chris and Genevieve will be happy about it. And even if they say no he will lie and tell Doug it was a yes and then they will find a home for Fang. He is not letting Doug kill Fang.
____

Bobby puts a lego block on top of the tower and Chris stares at him sternly. “That’s not where it goes.”

Bobby looks at Genevieve in mock disbelief. “Do you think Chris is right? Surely he isn’t. I mean, this brick looks perfect here.”

Genevieve giggles slightly, although it is muted compared to normal. “I don’t know,” she says quietly. “It does look a bit weird there.”

Chris grins and holds his hand up for a high five, which Genevieve is quick to meet.

“I think you’re both wrong, the brick should go here,” Buck says, putting the brick in a place that has all three of them gasping in horror and shaking their heads.

The phone rings and Buck sees that it is Eddie. He is quick to pick up.

“Hey Eddie,” he says.

“Hi Buck. Are the kids in the room? You can turn the phone on speaker for this conversation as we have a family decision to make.”

Buck feels confusion but he puts the phone on speaker and places it on the table.

“Eddie’s on the line,” he announces.

“Hi Dad,” Chris says.

“Hi Eddie,” both Genevieve and Bobby say.

Eddie says hi to all of them before he gets down to it. “I am currently standing in Doug’s office where Fang, Fang’s terrarium and all of Fang’s things are. Doug doesn’t want him anymore so wants us to look after Fang.”

“Can we, can we, can we?” Genevieve asks, bouncing up and down on her seat.

“Who’s Fang?” Chris asks, confused.

“My pet snake,” Genevieve says proudly. “I love him. Though Mom is really scared of him.”

Chris’s eyes light up. “Snakes are so cool. And I’ve been asking Dad and Buck for one for a while. Buck always says yes but then Dad says no so then Buck says no.”

Buck and Eddie both protest slightly at that.

“Well this time we can do a family vote,” Eddie says. “I vote yes to keeping Fang.”

Chris and Genevieve both jump up and down happily.

“I vote yes,” Genevieve says.

“Me two,” Chris says.

“Me three,” Buck says.

“Well then it’s settled. Doug said if I said yes I could have a few hours off to take Fang to our house so I will be home shortly. Buck, can you take the phone of speaker and go to the other room?”

Buck nods. He gives a look at Bobby who reassures him the kids will be fine. Buck then goes to their bedroom and closes the door.

“Ok, I’m in our room now. So, I thought you would never get a pet snake. You’ve always been the holdout,” Buck says.

“Doug said if we didn’t take the snake he would probably end up killing it.”

Buck gasps. Oh.

Eddie then continues. “Obviously we won’t tell the kids that. But that’s why I’m saying yes. It will also be good for Genevieve as it is something familiar for her. But mainly I wanted Fang out of that house. As even if Doug decides not to kill Fang I don’t trust him to look after Fang properly. Plus he said the main reason he even got Fang was to scare Maddie because she’s terrified of snakes.”

Buck growls. He hates Doug so much. It feels like everytime he hates Doug so much he thinks it would be impossible to hate him anymore, Buck then learns something new that just increases his hatred towards Doug.

They hang up shortly and then not long after that Eddie is arriving home, with Fang and Fang’s terrarium.

“Can Fang live in my bedroom?” Genevieve asks.

Buck and Eddie exchange looks. Buck realises he hadn’t thought to ask how big Fang was. And now seeing the size of Fang compared to the size of Genevieve he feels unsure.

“I want Fang in my bedroom,” Chris protests.

“Well Fang was my pet first,” Genevieve argues.

“But I know more about snakes than you do,” Chris protests.

Buck and Eddie look at each other. Looks like the kids bickering solves that problem.

“He won’t live in anyone's bedroom. He will live in the living room, that way everyone has equal access to Fang,” Buck says.

There is a bit of groaning but Chris and Genevieve don’t protest too much.

They get Fang set up in the living room and then go to the pet store to pick up some items they need.

Once they return they get Fang all set up and then Eddie has to go back to work.

Genevieve and Chris spend the rest of the day focusing on Fang.

Chapter Text

Maddie spends almost the entire 24 hours crying. She only stops when she sees that there are only five minutes left, knowing that Doug won’t be happy if she is still crying when he lets her out.

It is hard though. As she is devastated. She knows this is the safest thing for Genevieve. But it feels like the biggest betrayal she could ever do to her daughter and she hates herself for it. And the idea of having to pretend neither Genevieve or Buck exist haunts her. She did that with Daniel. But she still carries the pain of that. However she knows she doesn’t have a choice. She has to act perfect, she can never mention their names in Doug’s hearing. Her safety and potentially Genevieve and Buck’s safety depends on that.

When she sees the door opening, as sick as it makes her feel, Maddie greets Doug with a smile.

“I love you so much, I missed you during those 24 hours apart,” Maddie says, somehow managing to be sincere enough that Doug believes her.

His face softens and he comes up to her and kisses her. He then pushes her down onto the bed and Maddie wants to cry. But she knows that if she cries he will accuse her of crying about Genevieve or Buck even if that wouldn’t be the reason for her tears.

So instead she smiles and plays along even as she hates every single second of it and feels a piece of her dying, like is the case every single time they have sex when she doesn’t want it.
____

Buck feels annoyed when he has his first follow up appointment for his leg. He wishes he could just be back at work already. Or spending the time with the kids. And while his leg is still in the cast the check ups feel kind of pointless. Once his leg is out of the cast he can start getting it back to where it used to be and then working to get back to work. But right now this is just taking him away from the kids.

Eddie is on a shift and wasn’t able to get it off to come with Buck thanks to having Doug as his captain. So Athena comes with Buck and Bobby takes the kids ice skating.

Afterwards Buck and Athena meet up with Bobby and the kids for lunch. Chris and Genevieve start talking about Fang. Harry asks if they can also get a pet snake. Athena shuts that down with just one look, she doesn’t even need to say the word ‘no.’

There is a bit of fake sighing. Robert asks if they can all go to Buck and Eddie’s to see the snake. So after lunch they all make their way there. All of them are fascinated by Fang so the adults sit and talk whilst the kids interact with Fang.

The adults make sure to be able to see Fang as Fang might not be venomous but he is still a constrictor meaning he still has the potential to be dangerous so they aren’t leaving him unsupervised with the kids.

Brooke, Robert, May and Harry have lots of questions about Fang and Chris and Genevieve are proud to be the ones with answers.

“Why doesn’t Fang have fangs?” Harry asks, clearly disappointed by that fact.

“Fang is non venomous. Snakes only have fangs if they are venomous because the fangs are how they deliver the venom,” Genevieve states, proudly.

Athena shudders a bit hearing that fact.

“Can all snakes bite or only venomous ones?” May asks, a hint of caution in her voice.

“All can but boa constrictors like Fang normally only bite if they mistake you for food or if you provoke them. Fang’s chill. Fang won’t bite anyone,” Chris says.

Genevieve looks down. “Fang once bit Mom,” she says quietly.

Athena stiffens. Bobby stills. Buck feels horror run through him. Considering Maddie’s fear of snakes this will have just made things worse. He is glad that they are the ones that now have Fang so that Maddie doesn’t have to face Fang anymore.

“Did she provoke him?” Brooke asks, sounding confused.

Genevieve gives a shrug. “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me what happened, just that Fang bit Mom. But Mom would never provoke Fang. She was terrified just being in the same room as him. Dad probably did it.”

“That doesn’t sound very nice,” Harry says.

Genevieve looks down at the ground. “Dad isn’t nice,” she says quietly, before she then starts crying.

Harry looks alarmed. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry.”

Genevieve sniffs as she wipes her tears. “Dad made me cry. Not you.”

Harry doesn’t look convinced and he starts crying. And then some of the other kids start crying. Soon the room is filled with tears and it takes a while to comfort everyone.
___

A few minutes before the end of their shift Doug tells Eddie to wait for him at the end of their shift. Eddie is confused and annoyed by this but he nods.

Once their shift is over Doug walks over to his car and opens the trunk. It is filled with bags of clothes and toys.

“This is most of Genevieve’s stuff. We don’t need it anymore. I binned the rest of it but she can have this.”

Eddie feels a bit stunned.

“Well hurry up and transfer it to your car. I want to go home,” Doug snaps.

Eddie is quick to do so.

When he gets home the house is filled with laughter and good smells. He sees Bobby cooking in the kitchen. Athena, Buck and the kids are in the living room.

Eddie asks Athena for help getting everything from the trunk. Athena looks confused and it is clear she doesn’t know what Eddie is talking about but she nods and gets up and follows Eddie outside.

When Eddie opens the trunk Athena stares at it.

Eddie gives a nod of agreement to Athena’s unspoken question. “He said that what he didn’t give to me he threw out. I think he erased all traces of her.”

Athena looks sad. She goes to grab one bag of things and pauses. “Is that?”

Eddie nods. “It is.”

All of Genevieve’s photo albums are there. Meaning Doug and Maddie don’t even have photos of Genevieve.

“He took her phone. So even if her phone had photos she doesn’t have access to them. So she has no photos of her daughter anymore,” Athena says, horrified and near tears.

They stand there in silence for a few minutes, both of them needing to collect themselves. Eventually they pull themselves together enough to take Genevieve’s things inside.

When they bring everything inside the kids look up, finally taking their attention away from Fang.

“What is all that stuff?” Brooke asks.

“It looks like my things,” Genevieve says quietly.

Eddie nods. “Your dad gave them to me at work today.”

“Will he bring the rest of them in on his next shift?” Genevieve asks.

Eddie gulps and looks at Athena.

“He won’t,” Athena says.

Genevieve looks confused. “Why?”

Eddie panics. They can’t tell her that her dad threw out the rest of her belongings.

“Did he throw them away?” Buck asks bitterly.

Eddie stares at Buck. What is he doing? He couldn’t have asked that outside of Genevieve’s earshot?

Genevieve slumps down. “He did, didn’t he?” she asks.

All Eddie can do is nod.

Genevieve looks upset and Eddie is worried she will cry. She stands there, still for a few minutes, before she straightens her shoulders and turns to all the other kids.

“Who wants to help me set my things up and see what toys I have?”

All the other kids are enthusiastic about that. They grab all of the bags and take them to Genevieve’s bedroom. Genevieve then announces that this is a kids only task before Chris closes the door firmly, shutting all the adults out.

Buck, Eddie, Athena and Bobby stare in that direction for a few seconds before laughing. The mood dies down quickly though.

“He packed her photo albums,” Eddie says, his phone dark.

“And we know he took away Maddie’s phone,” Athena adds.

Horror fills Buck when he realises what they are saying. “So Maddie doesn’t have any photos of Genevieve.”

Eddie and Athena nod.

“That’s horrible,” Bobby says quietly, a fierceness in his voice. “After the apartment fire I lost all the baby photos of Robert and Brooke meaning I don’t have those photos of their early years. But I still have Brooke and Robert and I get to see them every day. And whilst Genevieve is alive, as Maddie isn’t able to see her there will be grief involved and she doesn’t even get the photos of her to look through.”

Bobby’s eyes tear up and he starts crying. The room fills with silence, all four of them feeling a complicated mixture of anger and sorrow.

They are only pulled out of that a while later when Genevieve’s bedroom door opens and the kids spill out of it, saying that all of them must come and see her room now.

When they enter they see the kids have done a great job. All of Genevieve’s things are neatly around the room. The photo albums have been placed in a bookshelf although one photo has been taken out of the photo album as a photo of Genevieve with Maddie is now sitting on Genevieve’s dresser.

“Tomorrow should we go and buy a frame for that photo?” Eddie asks.

Genevieve nods instantly. “Could we maybe get a few so I could have some more photos on my dresser?” Genevieve asks.

“Of course,” Buck says.

Genevieve gives a small smile.

By this stage dinner is ready to come out of the oven so Bobby serves it up and they have a good time at dinner, all of them laughing and talking. There are definitely moments where some of them get sad or angry but then someone tells a joke and they all cheer up.

Afterwards they say bye to Bobby, Athena, Harry, Brooke, Robert and May. Chris and Genevieve then play with their lego for a while before it is then time for bed.

Genevieve asks for a Princess Maddie story, tears in her eyes as she does. It is hard for Buck to not cry when telling her the Princess Maddie story. He gets a feeling there will be many more requests for Princess Maddie stories in the future.

Once Chris and Genevieve are in bed both Eddie and Buck end up ranting back and forth to each other, venting out all their fears and frustrations, mainly about Doug.

Remembering Bobby’s story of losing the early photos of Brooke and Robert in the apartment fire, Buck and Eddie decide that the following day as well as buying a few photo albums they will find a way to back up all the photos they have of Chris and now Genevieve so that if something does happen to them they will have other copies.

And they vow to take many photos of Genevieve, as they hold out the hope that one day Maddie will be able to get free from Doug and then they want her to have photos of Genevieve.
___

Maddie wakes up to Doug throwing clothes at her.

“I’ve got my shift. And considering your pathetic struggle with loneliness last time you were healing you can come to work with me each day. We’ll let the others know you are there, the whole sneaking you in and out thing is too much work. But you’ll spend most of the time in my office.”

Maddie nods.

After she gets dressed she makes her way downstairs and stares at the spot where Fang’s terrarium should be.

Doug comes up behind her and places his arm on her shoulder. He gives a laugh. “Don’t worry. I didn’t kill him.”

And that thought hadn’t crossed her mind but now she doesn’t know whether to believe him. As scared of Fang as she might be, she really hopes Doug is telling the truth. That he didn’t kill Fang. As Fang doesn’t deserve that.

“Fang has a new home. With Eddie and his husband. I might have liked having Fang because of how scared of Fang you were. But the amount of effort required to look after Fang wasn’t worth it. There are other ways to scare you, ways that require a lot less effort.”

Maddie shudders and Doug chuckles. “See, you proved my point. Just talking about ways to scare you scared you. And saying words is way easier than looking after a snake.”

He steps away from her. “I’m almost ready for work, go and wait in the car. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Maddie nods and using her pair of crutches she makes her way to the car, her progress slow so she only gets there just before Doug does.

She is quiet on the drive. Her insides are aching, hating the way that Doug refused to even mention Buck’s name, just saying ‘Eddie and his husband.’ Yes, Buck is Eddie’s husband and Maddie knows Buck is proud of that. But she hates the way Doug was purposely erasing Buck with his words.

Once they arrive and Doug parks, Doug walks right behind Maddie as she slowly (but as quickly as she can) makes her way inside.

A few people wave at her and she looks up at Doug for permission. He smiles down at her. “You can wave to them, Maddie. And with the exception of Hen and Eddie you are allowed to talk to them.”

So Maddie waves back and soon her and Doug are in his office. Maddie looks at the couch and Doug nods so Maddie settles herself down on there. Much to her surprise and relief Doug lets her keep the crutches within her reach.

Doug then makes his way out of his office to start up the shift so Maddie gets a book and starts reading. Doug allowed her to bring a few books, just with the rule that when he is in the office she isn’t allowed to read, even if he is just doing paper work and not interacting with her. But when she is by herself then she is allowed to read.

She gets a few chapters read before the office door opens. She hurries to put her book down and Doug smiles at her obedience.

He makes his way over to her and runs his hands down her body before going to his desk.

He sorts through some of the paperwork and then hands some of the easier stuff over to Maddie. Maddie is quick to start on it, thankfully for something to do considering just sitting here watching Doug doing paperwork is very boring. Even though paperwork is kind of boring, at least it gives her something to do. It is less boring than just sitting there watching Doug do paperwork.

She has just started when the bells ring. Doug gets up and turns to her. “Continue on the paperwork. Chimney’s man behind, you’re allowed to talk to him as he’s chill. But focus on the paperwork first.”

Maddie nods.

Minutes after everyone else leaves she hears a knock at the door. “Come in,” she says.

As she guessed, it is Chimney.

“How are you?” He asks.

“Just doing some paperwork,” she says.

Chimney raises his eyes. “Is that Doug’s paperwork?”

Maddie shrugs. “It gives me something to do. He said I’m allowed to talk to you but I have to focus on the paperwork first.”

Chimney nods. “Do you want me to leave then so you can concentrate on it?”

Maddie shakes her head. “Some company is nice. I hate being alone.”

“Wait,” Chimney says, realisation and worry in his voice. “You said you’re allowed to talk to me. Does that mean there are some people you’re not allowed to talk to?”

Maddie nods. “He said I can’t talk to Hen or Eddie but I can talk to everyone else. Hen because he once heard me telling her about stuff he had done to me. Eddie because he’s married to my brother. Whose name I’m not even allowed to say anymore. I’m not even allowed to say my daughter’s name anymore. Eddie and Buck have her now so I am meant to pretend she doesn’t exist.”

Maddie thinks she might cry so she quickly continues talking, not letting her tears get the chance to start. “And for some reason you are the person he is happiest with me talking to. Which probably means you’re going to be man behind a lot more often, sorry about that.”

“If being man behind means I get the pleasure of your company then I would choose to be man behind every day,” Chimney says.

Chimney then goes bright red. Maddie smiles. “That’s nice,” she says quietly. “But surely you can’t mean that. I’m not worth that.”

Chimney shakes his head fiercely. “You’re amazing Maddie. You’re a great paramedic and firefighter. You’re really funny. And even with all the shit that gets thrown at you, you are always so positive and kind.”

Maddie blushes, feeling a bit embarrassed but she also feels a warmth rise within her. “You’re amazing too,” she whispers, feeling herself get even redder. “I should focus on this paperwork. But then if we have time before they get back we can find something to talk about.”

Chimney nods and soon he is settled on one of the chairs in the office, whilst Maddie works on the paperwork. Doug didn’t give her too big of a pile so she gets through it pretty quickly.

Once she is done she turns to Chimney. “It’s talking time!”

Chimney smiles and Maddie giggles. Her giggles stop soon though when she thinks of something. “Can you tell Eddie and Hen that I’m not allowed to talk to them? I don’t want to offend them but I don’t dare disobey Doug.”

Chimney nods. “Of course.”

They talk for a while until they hear the sound of everyone coming back. Chimney then says bye to Maddie and makes his way out of the office. Moments later Doug enters the office.

He makes his way over to her. “Did you leave the office?” He asks.

Maddie shakes her head.

“Did Chimney come into the office?”

Maddie gulps and nods her head.

Doug laughs. “You don’t need to look so scared Maddie. I said you were allowed to talk to him.”

Doug shakes his head before heading to his desk. He doesn’t give Maddie anymore paperwork so she stares at a wall. A few minutes later there is a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Doug says.

Chimney comes in, carrying two cups of coffee. “I thought you could use one after how hard you worked at the last call,” he says to Doug.

Doug smiles. “Thank you Chimney, you can place it here,” he says, gesturing to a spot on his desk.

Chimney nods and places it there. He then passes the other one to Maddie before leaving the office, closing the door behind him.

Doug takes a sip and then looks up at Maddie. “He made it exactly how I like it.”

Maddie takes a sip of hers and it is perfect. “Same for mine,” she says before smiling softly.

Doug grins. “See, Chimney’s a good guy. That’s why you’re allowed to talk to him.”

Doug then turns his focus back to his paperwork. Maddie sits there, slowly sipping her coffee, enjoying the warmth that flows through her.

She knows Chimney doesn’t like Doug. So she knows the coffee was for her. She knows Chimney has realised that when people annoy Doug then Maddie isn’t allowed to talk to them. So she can tell that Chimney is making sure to stay in Doug’s good books so that Maddie is allowed to interact with Chimney.

Maddie feels thankful for that as Chimney makes her laugh and more importantly he makes her feel safe. She likes him, he is nice and caring and really funny.
___

After Chimney exits Doug’s office he is met by stares of shock. “Why on earth would you give Doug coffee? He’s horrible and we all know what he does to Maddie,” Max says, outrage in his voice.

Chimney makes sure he is far away from Doug’s office and nowhere near his possible earshot before talking. “Exactly.”

He turns to Eddie and Hen. “Eddie and Hen, Maddie wanted me to let you know she has been forbidden from talking to you. She doesn’t want to offend you by not talking to you but she is too scared to disobey Doug.”

Chimney then turns to Max. “Maddie needs people on her side. When people make it obvious to Doug that they don’t like him and are on Maddie’s side then Doug goes harsher on chores and forbids Maddie from talking to them. When people are friendly with Doug he sees them as less of a threat and allows Maddie to talk to them. And she needs people that aren’t Doug. So as much as I hate Doug, if I have to pretend to like him and if I have to suck up to him in order for Maddie to have someone on her side that she can talk to then that is what I will do.”

Max’s annoyance towards Chimney visibly fades. “That does make sense. Still, as much as I want to support Maddie I don’t think I am capable of pretending to like Doug. I hate him too much.”

“Me too,” Eddie says darkly. “Besides, I’m married to Maddie’s brother so Doug will never like me no matter what I do.”

Chimney nods. “When Maddie gave the reasons she wasn’t allowed to talk to you and Hen the reason she isn’t allowed to talk to you is that you’re married to Buck.”

“What was the reason he gave her, forbidding her to talk to me?” Hen asks.

“Apparently he heard her telling you something he did to her,” Chimney says.

Hen nods, knowing what instance Doug means.

It takes a few more hours before they get their next call. When they do, Doug comes out of the office. “Chimney, you’re man behind. You and Maddie are to make lunch for all of us.”

Doug then jumps into the fire engine and soon everyone else is gone.

Chimney hears the office door open and then Maddie emerges, moving slowly as she relies on the crutches.

Once she gets to the kitchen Chimney finds a stool that is the right height for her to be able to reach the kitchen bench when sitting down.

"So, what shall we make?” Chimney asks with a grin.

Maddie sighs. “Doug told me what we have to make.”

She names the dish and Chimney sighs a bit. It isn’t one he particularly likes. Maddie sees his face. “Do you hate it too? I can’t stand it.”

Chimney nods. Maddie giggles slightly. “So we know there is at least one dish we both love and one dish we both hate. I wonder what other similarities we have when it comes to taste buds.”

Chimney grins as he starts getting out the ingredients for the meal both he and Maddie hate.

Even though neither of them are enthusiastic about the fact that they will both have to eat the meal they are currently making, that doesn’t influence the mood at all. Instead as they work together to make food both of them don’t like, they talk happily. Each of them takes turns to state a random dish and then getting louder each time they do a countdown of 3 before then yelling out either ‘hate,’ ‘love,’ or ‘neutral,’ based on their opinion of the dish.

By the time they have finished cooking the dish and have it placed in the warmer, ready for everyone else’s return they have gone through so many different foods. There were a few foods they put in different categories to each other. But for most foods they had the same opinion. And they didn’t have any massive differences as the foods that did end up with them picking a different option was where one of them went neutral. So neither of them love a food that the other one hates. Or if they do it was something they didn’t get up to.

Because they have some more time they start making a dessert. Maddie lists Doug’s top favorite five desserts and they then count to three before calling out their favorite of those five. And they both have the same favorite (the one that is 2nd place on Doug’s ranking). So that is the one they make.

They have just finished making it and have put it in the fridge to chill when they hear everyone return.

Once Chimney looks over the balcony and confirms that it doesn’t look like showers were necessary Chimney and Maddie then take the food out of the warmers and get it set up.

Maddie knows what seat Doug always sits at on the table so once they have everything in place Maddie sits down in the seat next to Doug’s preferred seat. Chimney takes the seat on the other side of Doug’s seat.

Maddie finds herself feeling a pang of jealousy at that which she knows is stupid. She’s just spent a few hours hanging out with Chimney. And he’ll still be near her at the table. Besides, Chimney is just sitting next to Doug to keep Doug thinking that Chimney is his friend, that way Doug will let Chimney interact with Maddie.

When everyone comes up the stairs Doug smiles when he sees how everything is set up. “This looks amazing Maddie and Chimney,” he says, smiling as he reaches Maddie and kisses her on the head before getting into his seat.

Everyone else then gathers around the table.

There are two clear groups at the table. The people who pretend to tolerate Doug and the people who can’t stand him and don’t bother hiding that. The latter group sits at the far end of the table and speaks in quiet whispers.

The group with Doug is loud and joking, with people telling Doug how funny he is.

Maddie stays quiet, Doug’s hand on her thigh the entire time they eat.

Once lunch is over most people start to disperse. Doug makes his way to the couches and tv. The arm he wraps around Maddie makes it clear she is supposed to come with him. Doug then turns to Chimney. “Hey Chim, do you want to join us?”

“Sure,” Chimney says, acting casual.

Doug smiles before turning around and glaring at Hen and Eddie. “You two, do the dishes and clean up the table.”

Hen and Eddie give angry nods before moving to do what Doug told them to.

When Doug, Maddie and Chimney reach the couch Doug sits on one end of the couch and pulls Maddie into his side. The couch is big enough that Chimney sits on the other end, meaning Maddie is in between them.

“It’s a shame you’re not healed,” Doug says. “I would love a foot rest.”

Maddie goes bright red and it is a struggle to not cry.

Doug gives a shrug. “Oh well. When you’re healed you can be my footrest again.”

He turns to Maddie. “You will be my footrest once you’re healed enough won’t you?”

His voice is dangerous and there is only one right answer.

“Of course,” she says, her voice wobbling slightly.

Doug smiles and pulls her even closer to his side. “That’s my Maddie.”

The bell goes just then and Doug groans. “Seriously?” He snaps.

He sighs before getting up and leaving. As soon as he is gone Maddie bursts into tears.

“I don’t want to be his footrest. It’s humiliating,” she says through tears.

“I’m sorry you have to go through that,” Chimney says quietly. “I’ll brainstorm and see if I can find a way to make it less humiliating for you in case he decides to go through with it when you are healed enough.”

Maddie sniffs a bit and wipes at her tears. “Thanks Chimney,” she says quietly.

“So, on a scale of 1 to 10 how gross was lunch to eat?” Chimney asks.

Maddie laughs. “1. The grossest, I don’t know how Doug likes it.”

“I guess sometimes not nice people like not nice things,” Chimney says.

“Chimney!” Maddie exclaims, fake acting all scandalised. “How could you say such a thing! How could you say the truth with such clarity?”

Chimney laughs and soon the two of them are in fits of laughter although Maddie is careful to not laugh too hard as her abdomen is sore from where Doug stabbed it and she doesn’t want to risk pulling any of her stitches.

For the rest of their shift when everyone is at the firehouse Maddie spends it sitting on the couch in Doug’s office, bored out of her mind as he does paperwork. But when everyone is out on a call Chimney and Maddie end up telling lots of jokes and stories and she has a great time.

By the time their shift ends she feels happy. And Doug is also in a good mood so it ends up being a good evening when they get home. So she might have had a bit of boredom at times but when she goes to bed she feels satisfied. It was a good day.

Chapter Text

Buck’s cast comes off just before his birthday. Once it is off he starts working as hard as he can to get it back up to where it was before. He wants to get back to work as soon as possible.

Genevieve is now mostly settled living with them. It probably helps that she lived with them for a while last year so already knows them. She misses Maddie a lot and occasionally has nightmares but she is starting to manage a bit better. Buck and Eddie got her into therapy knowing that will be vital for her.

This year neither the 118 or 132 have a shift on Buck’s birthday so they have a massive party for him at Bobby and Athena’s house. There is a spectacular cake, courtesy of Hen’s cake guy.

All of the 132 are at the party plus Hen as well. Cassandra and Claribelle also come. Athena helped them find a cheap 2 bedroom unit to live in, Hen got Ravi on board which made a difference. The perks of knowing a landlord. After that Cassandra was quick to find a job. Genevieve sees Cassandra and Claribelle every couple of weeks and video calls them occasionally. Buck and Eddie didn’t want her losing them especially when she can’t see Maddie so has already lost that.

The party is full of energy and excitement. Buck has a great day and the only thing missing is Maddie.
____

Maddie wakes up sad on Buck’s birthday. She misses him so much. And she knows she can’t even cry as Doug knows it is Buck’s birthday so if she cries he will accuse her of thinking about him.

Instead Doug made it so one of her follow up appointments was today. When they go in she is able to get both casts off so her previously broken arm and broken leg are now free.

On the drive home Doug talks about getting Maddie back at work as soon as possible. Considering Maddie is already at the 118 during shifts in some ways it feels like she is already back. She may not get to go on calls but she sees everyone, mostly Chimney. And she is tasked with cooking most of their meals.

Once they get home Doug spends the rest of the day yelling at her for random stuff. Eventually it is too much for her and she breaks down in tears. As soon as she starts crying Doug slaps her in the face.

“I know it’s his birthday but you’re not allowed to think about him anymore.”

Maddie blinks. At that moment she hadn’t been. “I wasn’t. I was crying because you were yelling at me,” she says.

Doug slaps her again. “Then you need to grow up. People yell at each other. So what? It isn’t a big deal. Pull yourself together.”

Maddie nods desperately. “I’m sorry.”

Doug sighs. “I just want the best for you Maddie. You need to stop getting upset so easily. Things aren’t as big of a deal as you pretend they are.”

Maddie nods again. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”

Doug sighs again. “You’re lucky I love you. No one else would.”

He moves forward and begins to peel off her clothes. Maddie feels frozen. Is he right? Is he the only one who is capable of loving her? Is she unloveable?

She starts crying again and Doug’s face turns red with rage. “You better stop crying Maddie.” His tone is icy and dangerous. “You know what is required as the wife.”

Maddie stares in confusion before she realises Doug thinks she is crying because he wants to have sex. Terror fills her, she knows she needs to pretend she likes it.

“Am I really unloveable?” she whispers.

Doug stills. “Was that why you were crying?” he asks.

All Maddie can do is nod.

Doug pulls her into his arms and holds her tight. “It doesn’t matter if you are. I love you anyway. I always will. And I will never leave you so you will always have my love.”

Maddie sobs. She feels her heart breaking and she moves in closer to Doug. If he is the only one that is able to love her then she can’t let him down. She needs love. She can’t risk doing anything that will take his love away from her.

“I need you,” she ends up saying.

Doug smiles down at her. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

He holds her even tighter and when he transitions to having sex with her Maddie forces herself to tell herself that she is enjoying it. Her body disputes that idea as it feels frozen and all her hairs stand on end. But she tells herself that she is just cold. She enjoys this. She has to be enjoying it. As Doug is her husband and the only person who loves her so she needs to embrace his love.
_____

Buck is in the living room, working on some of the stretches and exercises needed to help get him back to where he was before his leg was crushed by the ladder truck.

Chris and Genevieve are copying the exercises, thinking the whole thing is very fun. Their enthusiasm and excitement makes the whole thing feel better and slightly distracts him from his worries about what if he doesn’t get back to work.

After the exercises they spend the day baking. Genevieve is still slightly in awe of it, whispering that her dad would never have allowed it in case it made a mess. Whenever Genevieve makes a comment about her dad, Buck has to work hard to not let his anger show. No matter how horrible Doug is he is still Genevieve’s parent and it is only natural for kids to talk about their parents.

Once Eddie gets home they start packing as Eddie has a week of work and they are going on a vacation. The vacation was planned before Buck got crushed by the ladder truck and before they had Genevieve permanently living with them.

So the changes do worry Buck slightly. Mainly considering where they are going for their vacation. Because they are going to El Paso, to see Eddie’s family.

Initially Eddie’s parents didn’t like Buck, blaming him for ruining their son and making him think he was gay. But eventually they have come to begrudgingly accept him into the family, partially after they saw how openly Pepa and Abuela accepted Buck into the family. Neither Helena or Ramon wanted to be shown up by them so after that they suddenly started being nice to Buck.

For many years that niceness was so clearly fake but Buck is pretty sure that now they actually like him. Which is good. But he is worried about how they will react to Genevieve.

There had been a debate when planning the trip on whether they should drive there or fly there. Flying was faster but in the end they settled on driving, so that they had the freedom to move around freely in El Paso rather than having to rely on rides from Eddie’s family.

Now they are glad they made that decision as getting an extra plane ticket that was next to all of their seats might have been tough. However the car already has space for Genevieve so her occupying one of the seats doesn’t make a difference.

Before they go to bed Hen, Karen and Denny come over to pick up Fang and his terrarium as they will be looking after Fang for the week. Something Denny was excited about, Hen and Karen less so but they agreed after warning that it better only be for the one week.

Once Fang has been collected they all go to bed earlier than normal. The following morning they get up super early and they leave when it is still dark outside. It’s an almost 12 hour drive not counting any stops and they want to get the drive done in one day.

Both Genevieve and Chris are tired when they get woken up. They fall asleep pretty quickly and Buck and Eddie know it is good that they will get a few more hours of sleep.

Eventually they hear the sounds of them waking up and soon both of them are saying they are hungry so they find somewhere to stop and have breakfast as well as a bathroom break. Within half an hour they are back on the road.

Chris starts excitedly asking if they can play some car games. Genevieve sounds confused and asks what that is so Chris enthusiastically explains it to her and soon they are pointing out different license plates.

Hours pass and then they have lunch. Although instead of a normal lunch they have ice cream for lunch. Just ice cream. But really big ones. Maybe it isn’t the best idea to give so much sugar to two kids about to spend many more hours cooped up in a car. But that’s part of what makes a vacation interesting.

“I love going on vacation!” Chris declares.

“This one is fun,” Genevieve agrees.

There is something in the way she says it that makes Buck and Eddie realise she is thinking of past vacations she has gone on with her parents. Both of them go a bit quiet, worried about what could have happened on those past vacations.

They keep an eye on Genevieve and she seems a bit down for a while but then she is pointing out a yellow car and then her and Chris are eagerly yelling out everything they can see. Well, it starts as a game of i-spy. But it quickly devolves into just yelling things out, with both Chris and Genevieve agreeing that yelling stuff out is the fun part. And they aren’t exactly wrong. Soon all four of them are having a great time, saying random stuff, getting crazier and crazier as they go with all of them laughing really hard.

Eventually the long drive reaches its final stretch as they enter El Paso. Chris asks Genevieve if she has ever been to Texas before and Genevieve shakes her head.

“It’s hot here,” she says.

Buck is quick to nod in agreement.

“I guess,” Chris says.

“It’s not that bad,” Eddie says.

“Yeah, because you grew up here,” Buck counters.

“Well you grew up in Hershey so you think most places are hot,” Eddie fires back.

“Hey, Hershey summers can still get hot, can’t they Genevieve?” Buck protests.

Genevieve nods.

“See!” Buck says triumphantly.

Eddie just smiles. “Ok.”

And then they are turning onto the street Eddie grew up on. His parents had insisted they have enough room for them to stay, saying that a hotel was a waste of money. When they let them know that they now have Buck’s niece living with them his parents just said they would set up another bed. They didn’t make any other comment on that so Eddie has no clue what their thoughts on that are.

“Are your parents nice?” Genevieve asks, a hint of fear in her voice.

And Eddie isn’t fully sure how to answer that.

“They are,” Chris says. “Though they fuss over everyone a lot and don’t give you much personal space. They will probably treat you like you are younger than you are and there might be some comments that are slightly mean but nothing more than that.”

Genevieve still looks a bit unsure. “They won’t hit anyone though?”

Eddie is quick to shake his head. “I promise they won’t. The worst it will be is some unkind words. And that might not happen.”

Genevieve nods, though it is clear she is still scared.

They pull into the driveway and before Eddie has stopped the car people are spilling out of the house to greet them. Genevieve starts shaking slightly.

Eddie is first out of the car and he is instantly swarmed, with his parents and sisters all going straight to him.

Chris is next out. Before he can be swarmed he goes to Genevieve’s side of the car and opens the door for her. Genevieve takes a deep breath before getting out. Buck gets out and goes over to Genevieve and Genevieve is quick to cling to his side.

Eventually the swarm releases Eddie and then they focus in on Chris, picking him up, asking how he is and peppering him with questions. Chris giggles before answering them.

Once they have finished swarming Chris they turn to where Buck and Genevieve are. Thankfully when they see that Genevieve is trembling they have the sense to not swarm her as well.

“It’s good to see you again Buck,” Helena says warmly before turning to look at Genevieve and bending down to her height, but making sure to stay a few feet away from her to give her a bit of space.

“And you must be Genevieve?”

Genevieve gives a small nod and burrows in tighter to Buck.

“I’m Chris’s abuela,” she says. “If you want to you can also call me abuela but you don’t have to.”

Buck and Eddie are both slightly surprised, but pleasantly surprised by this.

Genevieve’s eyes go wide. “I’ve never had grandparents before.”

“Well you do now.”

Genevieve’s eyes water and then her fear is gone as she runs to Helena and gives her a hug.

Once they have finished hugging each other Helena gets one arm around Genevieve and the other around Chris. “Whilst your dads unload the car how about you come on inside. Genevieve, you can meet the cousins.”

When they enter the house Adriana and Sophia are there along with Adriana’s husband Miguel and her three kids: Rosa who is 14, Carmen who is 10 and Diego who is 6.

Diego proudly announces that he is 6 and Genevieve smiles shyly, saying that she is 6 as well.

Once everything is unloaded they are then all ushered to the table that is full of food. Genevieve ends up in between Diego and Chris. She is still a little bit scared of all of the people she has just met. But they all seem nice.

Soon the table is flowing with loud joyous conversation, all of it in Spanish. When Genevieve first says something in Spanish Helena looks a bit surprised. “You can speak Spanish?” she asks.

Genevieve nods.

“She’s fluent,” Buck adds.

After that the conversations and laughter carry long into the night until all the kids are exhausted and sleepily stumble their way to the beds set up for them.
_____

Doug is screaming at Maddie.

“You need to try harder than that, Maddie.”

“Stop crying Maddie.”

You’re weak Maddie.”

Tears run down her face as Maddie pushes through the exercises she had been given as homework after her physical therapy appointments. However whilst her leg and arm might now be healed and out of the casts she did just lose a kidney and that area still feels very weak and sore and Maddie is scared of pushing it too hard. But looking up at her husband she is more scared of him so trying desperately to stop her crying, Maddie grits her teeth together and puts all her effort into the exercises Doug is yelling at her to do.
_____

“Tag, you’re it,” Diego yells as he comes up and tags Genevieve.

“Hey, no fair!” Genevieve protests, running after him and tagging him back within seconds.

Diego pouts as Genevieve runs far out of his reach. Seeing that he won’t be able to catch her, Diego turns around and tags Carmen.

“I’m not playing,” Carmen says.

“You are now,” Diego says before running away.

Carmen sighs before turning and racing after Chris. Genevieve has climbed up a tree by this stage so she giggles as she watches from up on her high vantage point. They can’t tag her if they can’t find her.

Eventually Helena comes outside and calls that food is ready. Grinning, Genevieve hurries down the tree and joins the scramble at the crowded sink as they all wash their hands as quickly as possible, eager to start eating.

Sitting at the table Genevieve now feels completely at home here and it is strange to think that at the beginning of the week she was scared of them. Tomorrow is the drive back home and Genevieve will be sad to leave. She can tell Chris feels the same.

The rest of the day is filled with more playing and laughing and food. Heaps of delicious food.

Buck and Eddie get the kids going to bed early, much to lots of protesting. However they have another long drive and early start so sleep is needed.

In the morning there are a lot of hugs and goodbyes before they are given lots of food to take with them that they can eat on the car journey home.

The car ride feels quicker this time and soon they are back at their house.

“That was the best vacation ever!” Genevieve says.

“Totally!” Chris agrees.

Eddie and Buck agree that it was definitely a good vacation. And once the kids are in bed they talk about how it was nice that Eddie’s parents fully accepted Genevieve and it was wonderful to see Genevieve gaining in confidence as the week progressed. It was also nice that Genevieve can speak Spanish as it means she didn’t feel left out.

They don’t stay up too late as Eddie has a shift starting early the next morning. Eddie would have preferred a bit of time to rest from their vacation before returning to work, but it was hard enough getting Doug to approve a week off so they knew that trying to squeeze one more shift off from Doug would have been very unlikely if not impossible.
____

Maddie stares at Doug. “What?” She repeats.

Doug rolls his eyes. “Didn’t you hear me the first time Maddie? I said I got my doctor friend to clear you to return to work. You’ve lazed around for long enough, it’s time you get back to work.”

“But, I, I'm not ready.”

Doug sighs. “Don’t be so dramatic, Maddie. It’s not like you haven’t already been coming to the fire station every shift anyway. Besides, you’ll only be doing medical calls. I won’t have you doing any crazy stuff like running into a fire or rope rescues. Other people can do that. And you are ready. I have the doctor's note and recertification papers to prove it.”

Maddie stares at Doug, still open mouthed in disbelief.

Doug slaps her in the face. “Get ready for work Maddie. I won’t be happy if you make us late.”

Shaking slightly Maddie is quick to nod as she then hurries around to obey Doug. In a way she guesses he is right. She is mostly healed. And it’s not like she isn’t used to working injured. She has worked in way worse states than she is currently in.
___

Eddie gets to work before Doug and Maddie arrive which is always nice. Everyone crowds around, asking how the vacation was. Eddie smiles and pulls out his phone as he shows them all photos.

When they hear Doug arriving Eddie is quick to put away his phone.

Doug makes his way straight to the locker room, Maddie right behind him. When they emerge both Doug and Maddie are in their uniforms. Everyone looks in confusion. Surely Maddie isn’t healed enough to be working again.

Seeing their stares Doug gathers everyone in. “Maddie is back to working. Her approval from the doctors just came in. So all the pairs will go back to how they were when Maddie was last working.”

He then assigns everyone chores before going off to his office.

Chimney and Maddie make their way to the ambulance, which they have been assigned with restocking. They work in silence which Maddie is thankful for. They get sent for a medical only call just after they finish restocking.

“I’m surprised you’re back to working already,” Chimney says, once they are driving to the call.

Maddie looks down. “I was too. He only told me this morning. I don’t think I’m ready, it still doesn’t feel healed where I lost the kidney. But he didn’t give me a choice and said he’d only get me doing medical calls so therefore it doesn’t matter.”

“That sucks,” Chimney says.

“Agreed,” Maddie says quietly.

They arrive at their call before the conversation can continue any further. It is a pretty basic call. A woman called because she thought her dad was having a heart attack. Which he was. Chimney does CPR but then they get him back.

They load him into the ambulance and then Chimney jumps in the back. Maddie freezes. “You want me to drive?” she asks, feeling slightly fearful.

“If it’s too much I can. But if he needs CPR again it will be better for me to do it considering you aren’t healed yet.”

And Maddie can’t argue with that logic.

Feeling a bit nervous she makes her way to the driver's seat. It feels wrong, her driving the ambulance, lives at stake, when it has been years since Doug last let her drive. But surprisingly it goes smoothly and they get the guy to the hospital in good time.

Once the hospital staff have taken over, Chimney makes his way to the passenger seat. Maddie stares at him.

“You’ve got this,” Chimney reassures her.

Maddie gives him a small smile as she starts the drive back to the fire house. And surprisingly Chimney is right. She does have this and it feels good to be driving again, to have some form of control. She is the one in control of the ambulance.

But then they pull into the fire station and she sees shock on Doug’s face when he sees that she is the one driving.

As soon as her and Chimney get out of the ambulance Doug makes his way over to them. “Maddie, how about we talk in my office.”

Gulping, Maddie nods slightly, as she follows Doug there and he closes the door behind him.

“Why were you driving?”

His tone seems more curious than angry which gives Maddie hope that maybe this will go alright.

“Our patient needed CPR. Chimney wasn’t sure I was up to it so he said I should drive.”

Doug rolls his eyes. “When you haven’t driven for years. Yet he suggested that.”

“It’s not like he knows you don’t let me drive,” Maddie says quietly, hoping he doesn’t realise she is lying.

“Well, did you mess up?”

Maddie shakes her head. “It went alright. I was scared but it went alright.”

Doug sighs. “I guess you can drive the ambulance every now and then. You’re less likely to screw that up than looking after the patients in the back.”

Maddie fores back tears at those words.

“Just don’t start getting any ideas that you can drive outside of work. You can drive the ambulance but that is the only time you are allowed to drive. Is that clear?”

Maddie nods hurriedly.

Doug dismisses her with his hand and Maddie hurries out of his office. When she spots Chimney she makes her way over to him. He looks at her, worry on his face. “Did it go alright?”

Maddie nods, a smile on her face. “Surprisingly it did. He even gave me permission to drive the ambulance in the future. He said I was less likely to mess up driving than looking after the patients in the back.”

Chimney’s face drops.

“It’s fine,” Maddie is quick to say. “It’s just one comment. And if it means I get to drive the ambulance then it was worth it. I kind of enjoyed getting to drive it. I felt like I had the tiniest amount of control over something. Which I never get. So it was a nice change.”

At that Chimney smiles before changing the conversation. “So, should we start making lunch, one of his gross favorites?”

Maddie laughs before nodding.

By the time Doug emerges from his office Maddie and Chimney are serving up lunch. Doug smiles when he sees it and he pulls Maddie into his side and gives her a kiss.

“You made one of my favorites.”

Maddie nods. “Chimney was the one who suggested making one of your favorites so I told him what dishes you like.”

Doug smiles over at Chimney. “Thanks Chim.”

They then all settle into their food. Some people start asking Eddie how his vacation went. Maddie sees the way Doug stiffens which causes her to tense up. She sees Chimney clock that and so Chimney starts up a conversation with her and Doug, trying to distract Doug’s attention from the conversation at the other end of the table.

It sort of works as Doug does keep a tight hold on Maddie but his hold gets looser and looser the more jokes Chimney makes and by the time they have finished eating he is more relaxed and no longer looks as mad.

The bells then go off. Once they are in the ambulance with Maddie driving, Maddie turns to Chimney. “Thanks,” she says.

He gives an embarrassed shrug. “You’re welcome.”

Maddie looks at him, more firmly. “If you hadn’t relaxed him with your jokes then he would have hurt me. So thanks.”

Chimney looks at her seriously. “I’ll do whatever I can to reduce your pain.”

Maddie smiles. She knows he means it.

As she continues driving the ambulance to their call she feels slightly optimistic. Yes Doug is still Doug. But he is now letting her drive the ambulance. And she has someone who makes her feel safe. Because when she is around Chimney she does feel safe. And that feeling means everything to her.

Chapter Text

Buck grins as he walks into the fire academy, ready to get certified as soon as possible.

The previous day he had another medical check up and they cleared him to start retraining to get back to work. After removing the metal rods, at the check they realised that the rods were no longer necessary and were actually making him be at risk of having blood clots. So he has more check ups scheduled in order to keep an eye on that. Which is a big time commitment but if it means he can get back to work as soon as possible then Buck will do it. He will do whatever it takes to get back to work.
____

Maddie runs around the house, scrambling to get ready in time. Unknown to her Doug turned off her alarm meaning she didn’t wake up with enough time needed to get ready. Instead he slapped her awake, yelling that they are leaving for work in 2 minutes. So now she has basically no time.

She goes to the bathroom and pulls her clothes on, getting a few seconds to run her hair brush through her hair before Doug grabs her arm impatiently. Maddie’s hand manages to grab a hair tie as Doug pulls her past it and seconds later they are in the car.

“If we’re late it’s your fault,” Doug snaps.

Maddie just nods. She then ties up her hair into a ponytail, using her hands to smooth over the bumps, hoping it still looks neat enough, though knowing that the lack of a hair brush or comb will probably show through.

Sure enough when they get to work Doug parks the car before he looks at her and scoffs. “Your hair is a mess Maddie. Come on, you know you need to do better. You’re my wife. I expect you to be presentable at all times.”

He grabs the end of her ponytail, painfully yanking on her hair as he pulls her over to him. He rips the hair tie out of her hair, not caring about how rough he is.

“When we go inside I expect you to do it again. And it better be neat this time.”

Doug then pulls Maddie out of the car, not giving Maddie enough warning meaning she ends up on the ground. Doug slams the car door shut and storms ahead of her, into the firehouse. Maddie picks up the hair tie and then picks herself up as she gets to her feet.

When she enters the firehouse she sees a few people are already there including Chimney. She gives Chimney a small smile before she stares at the ground as she makes her way to the bathroom as quickly as possible.

Once there with the help of the mirror she eventually gets her hair neat. She is worried Doug won’t be satisfied with it but she knows it as good as she is going to get it without having the aid of a comb or hair brush.

Knowing that Doug will require an inspection, once she emerges from the bathroom she looks around trying to locate him. She sees that he is on one of the couches near the tv, Chimney with him. Chimney also being there helps her to not be quite as nervous as she walks over to where Doug is.

Doug smiles when he sees Maddie. “Is it perfect this time?”

Maddie nods. Doug pulls her head in to have a closer look before releasing her. “Good. Next time make sure it is neat enough the first time round.”

Maddie is quick to nod. She should have known better. She shouldn’t have messed up. Yes she didn’t have a hair brush or a comb and she was doing it in a moving car but Doug would just call those excuses.

Maddie takes a few tentative steps backwards, hoping that she can move further away from Doug. Just before she is out of his reach Doug’s hand darts out and grabs onto her arm. Maddie automatically freezes in place.

“You know what would be nice,” Doug says, a dangerous edge in his voice. “If I had a footrest.”

Almost instantly there are tears in her eyes. “I could get you a chair,” she says quietly.

“Well I don’t need that do I, Maddie? Not when I have a perfect footrest standing right next to me.”

“Please,” she whispers.

“Now Maddie,” Doug says.

Trembling and already crying, Maddie reluctantly gets down. Almost straight away she can feel Doug’s feet on her. He makes sure to press his feet down into her back as hard as possible and she shivers, knowing he is mad. She squeezes her eyes shut, feeling shame flood through her. She hates this so much. It would be one thing if he did it at home. It would still rip through her self esteem as it feels demeaning and makes her feel like she is worthless. But him choosing to do it at work in a public place where her coworkers will then see her like this and see how worthless she is just makes the whole thing way worse and close to unbearable.

“So, Chimney, what shows have you been watching recently?” Doug asks.

The casualness and lack of concern in Doug’s voice just makes Maddie even more miserable. Chimney names a show and Maddie can practically hear Doug grinning as he says how much he loves that show.

She shakes harder every time she hears Doug’s voice but each time she hears Chimney’s voice it feels like her reminder to breathe.

“You know, I feel like having two footrests would make way more sense than having one. That way you can stretch your legs out more if you want to, rather than having to have them kept next to each other,” Chimney says.

And now Maddie is confused. What is Chimney doing?

“That is a good idea,” she hears Doug say. “But there’s only one Maddie. What would I use?”

“I would be happy to be your other footrest. You’re the Captain. You deserve it.”

“Ok, then,” Doug replies.

Soon Maddie feels one of Doug’s feet move away from her back, with only one still there. She dares to open her eyes and sees Chimney right in front of her facing her, also on the ground, with one of Doug’s feet on his back.

Maddie looks at Chimney with tears in her eyes. She knows he is only doing this for her and she can barely believe it. It feels unbelievable that someone would care enough about her to lower themselves to this level so that she isn’t alone in it.

Doug calls out orders to lots of different people and so the loft is filled with people coming and going. Maddie still feels the shame and humiliation. But having Chimney next to her in the same position makes it a bit easier. She isn’t alone in this. He is right next to her in the same position. And when people look in her direction their staring doesn’t hurt as much as she isn’t the only one they are looking at. When it was just her as Doug’s footrest there was so much judgement in people’s faces, or at least if felt that way. Now with both her and Chimney being footrests people just have a brief look of confusion before shrugging and moving on.

Still, even with no longer being alone in it Maddie can’t stop the tears from rolling down her face. She keeps eye contact with Chimney as that feels comforting. She can see some pain in his eyes which she hates. But he pulls a few silly faces as well as giving her many caring looks.

It feels like an eternity before the bells finally go and Maddie is able to escape from being Doug’s footrest.

Maddie gets to the ambulance before Chimney so she sits in the passenger seat. She feels too upset right now to concentrate on driving. Once Chimney is inside and the doors are shut she turns to him. “Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t want you to be alone. I thought that if you weren’t the only one as his footrest it would help take some of the humiliation away.”

Maddie gives him a small smile. “It did help a little bit. Thanks.”

“I’ll do it every time he wants you as his footrest,” Chimney says and he is so serious that Maddie can tell he means it.

Maddie doesn’t quite know what to think. “I still don’t understand why you would do it for me of all people. I’m not worth it.”

“You are worth it,” Chimney says straight away, his voice the fiercest and most passionate she has ever heard it, to a level that Maddie is stunned. “I can only guess what he tells you but it is lies. You are amazing Maddie. You are kind, funny and an incredible person. It is obvious how much you care about others and the difference you make to everyone you interact with.”

Maddie looks down. “Doug’s also a firefighter. His job is also helping people.”

Chimney shakes his head. “The job doesn’t matter. It is the way you interact with people, what is in a person’s heart that makes the difference. Doug doesn’t care about people, you do. And patients can sense that even if it is subconsciously and it makes an impact on how well they do.”

Maddie feels uncertain but they are almost at their call. Considering how impassioned Chimney just got, Maddie feels like making sure he knows he also matters.

“I feel safe around you,” she says quietly, before getting out of the ambulance and hurrying over to put pressure where their patient is bleeding.

It takes Chimney a few seconds to get his head back together. Maddie feels safe around him. That means everything. She deserves to feel safe. He just wishes she could always feel safe. But she feels safe around him and he knows that isn’t nothing.

It takes a few more seconds for him to remember they have a call. He hurries out of the ambulance and to their patient. He starts taking vitals and works around Maddie whilst Maddie keeps pressure on the wound.

Eventually they get their patient stabilised enough for transport. As Maddie is the one applying pressure she is the one who goes in the back and Chimney is the one that drives. The whole drive there Chimney just keeps on repeating Maddie’s sentence in his head. She feels safe around him. He vows to never let her down and to continue doing everything he can to make her feel safe. And like she matters. He hates that she doesn’t feel worthy of care or consideration. He hopes he can begin to show her that is wrong, that she matters, so so much. No matter what Doug or anyone else says.
_____

When Buck gets home Chris and Genevieve pepper him with questions of how it was to be back at the fire academy. Buck answers all of their questions and by the end of it both Chris and Genevieve are announcing that they definitely want to be firefighters when they are older. Buck smiles, wondering whether or not that will happen. He can’t deny it would be cool if it did. But the idea of it also scares him. He knows how risky this job is. But if it is what makes them happy then of course he will support them.

Eddie arrives home just as Buck is serving up dinner. So then Eddie is the one peppered with questions, asked about the calls he went on. Eddie answers all of their questions and they have all finished eating long before Chris and Genevieve’s questions have ended.

Eventually Chris and Genevieve run out of questions so then they go and play with the lego fire station and lego fire truck, making the lego firefighters do the same calls that Eddie just told them about.

Buck and Eddie smile, watching them, before Chris and Genevieve are then calling them over getting them to join in as well. The remaining hour before the bedtime routine is spent with them all very enthusiastically playing with the lego.

Eventually it nears Chris and Genevieve’s bedtime. This time Genevieve asks for a firefighter story. So a change from her normal Princess Maddie story requests. Buck doesn’t know how to feel about that. He doesn’t know how much Genevieve misses Maddie as she doesn’t talk about it that often but he does sometimes catch her staring at the few photos of Maddie she has set up in her room.

He knows he will need to talk about it with her at some stage. But not tonight as she is super happy and he isn’t going to bring down her mood. Instead he just tells her the best firefighter story possible until he hears the change in her breathing and realises that she has fallen asleep.

Buck gently tucks her in before quietly tip toeing out of the room and then gently closing the door behind her. He smiles when he sees Eddie emerging from Chris’s room, with the same level of caution as he carefully closes Chris’s bedroom door.

“How much do footrests cost?” Eddie asks.

Buck blinks in confusion. “Um, I dunno. Not that much. Why? Should we get some?”

Eddie shakes his head before moving to sit in front of the tv, a look of anger on his face. Buck feels his insides twist. “Did Doug do something?” he asks cautiously, not sure if he wants to know the answer.

“I think the firehouse needs some footrests,” Eddie says, ignoring Buck’s question.

“What did Doug do?” Buck asks.

Eddie sighs. “He forced Maddie to be his footrest. She didn’t cry as much this time, probably because Chimney suggested to Doug that it would be better if Doug had a footrest for each foot so then Chimney offered to be the other one. Meaning Maddie wasn’t alone in it.”

Buck lets out a loud growl. “I hate Doug so much.” He then stiffens. “You said this time. Meaning he’s done it in the past?”

Eddie nods.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Buck asks.

“I don’t always know if I should tell you when he does stuff. Maddie doesn’t feel like she can leave Doug, meaning you are helpless to change things for her, so hearing about it will just make you angry and upset, especially since you can’t do anything about it. And there are times when she is so clearly embarrassed by things and she tells me not to tell you, either because it will just make you upset or she feels ashamed about the idea of you knowing.”

Buck sighs and rests his head in his hands. He really really hates this.

Eddie sits down next to him and wraps his arm around him and they sit there like that in silence for a long time.
_____

Chimney looks at all the couches in front of him. He never knew there were so many options. Mrs Lee makes her way to look at some of the other couches and Chimney feels a warmth fill him. He is glad he reconnected with the Lees. It took him a few years after Kevin died as he was the one that led Kevin to his death. But the Lees don’t look at it that way and they have continued to be there for him. So now he is here at a furniture store with Mrs Lee, to help her get a couch and then help with any heavy lifting that might be required.

He sees some footrests and his stomach turns slightly. He goes to turn away from them but then he hears his name so he turns around. It is Eddie and Buck.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks.

Chimney looks at Mrs Lee before smiling. “I’m helping Mrs Lee get a new couch. What are you looking for?”

“Footrests for your fire station,” Buck says, his tone dark.

Oh.

Chimney knows Maddie would hate it that her brother knows about that. He turns to Eddie. “Maddie can’t know Buck knows about that. She is ashamed enough about it as it is. Knowing that her brother knows would just make it worse.”

Eddie nods his head. “I won’t tell her.”

Buck looks at Chimney, visible pain in his eyes. “Thanks for making her feel less alone.”

Chimney nods. “I’ll always do it. I told her that if in the future Doug makes her be his footrest again then I will be one as well. Every time. I won’t let her have to do it alone.”

Chimney then bites his lip nervously. “Look, I understand why you want to buy footrests for the station. But there are plenty of options. Maddie suggested that she could get him a chair. Doug insisted that she had to be the footrest. So even if the fire station had proper footrests he would probably keep making Maddie be one in order to hurt her. And I think it would add to her shame and make it even worse for her if there were proper footrests right next to her but Doug was still making her be one.”

Both Buck and Eddie’s faces drop.

“He would do that,” Buck mutters bitterly.

Chimney can see that Buck and Eddie know he is right and that like him they hate that fact.

Buck and Eddie say bye to him, Eddie looking angry and Buck looking dejected. Chimney sighs, he hates this so much.

Mrs Lee makes her way back over to him and he helps her select a couch. When they get it to her house she insists he stays for lunch. Once they have food in front of them she asks him what’s wrong and Chimney tells her all about Maddie and Doug.
_____

It has now been a few weeks of Buck being back at the academy, working to get recertified. He only has a few tests to pass which are in a couple of days time and if all goes well he will be back at work within a week.

He is so ready to be back and apart from when he is worried and upset about Maddie he is in a good mood. Things are great with Eddie. Chris and Genevieve are both doing well and soon he will be back in the job he loves, making a difference and helping the people in his community.
_____

“Seriously?” Doug says.

The 118 is on route to their next call and Doug can barely believe what dispatch is telling them to do. He groans before turning to the team to tell them the plan, having the radio turned on so that Chimney and Maddie in the ambulance can also hear the plan.

“Some idiot teenager went for a ride in his dad’s car without permission and now the car won’t stop. So dispatch has told us that the plan is for the teen to hit the back of our fire truck in order to stop the car. Maddie and Chimney, as soon as the car crashes into the truck you will be up to make sure he is alright. Ravi, when we stop you grab the jaws in case we need to move stuff to get to the teen. Is everyone clear on their roles?”

There are nods from everyone inside the fire engine and over the radio Chimney confirms that he and Maddie are good to go.

It is all Doug can do to not seethe with anger. They are going to purposely let the fire engine be damaged just to stop some reckless teen. Well he’s not going to be the one doing all the extra paperwork required for the damage of the vehicle. Maddie can do that and she better do it perfectly.

Dispatch lets them know when the car is about to crash into them and then they feel the jolt as the car makes contact. It takes a bit more driving to slow enough for the car to completely stop. As soon as they are stopped Max puts the fire engine in park and then they are running out of the fire engine, in order to get to the teen.

The instant they see the car collide with the back of the fire engine and both of them finally slowing to a stop a small distance later, Maddie is stopping the ambulance and then her and Chimney are running to the car, Chimney carrying the bags with their medical gear. There is so much smoke coming from the back of the car and Maddie and Chimney have to dodge the path of the smoke as they make their way to the driver's door of the car.

They get there just before the rest of their team reaches the car. The car has one of the tops that can come off pretty easily so Lucy and Max get the roof off within seconds. He isn’t pinned in any way so Doug is quick to get him, Eddie and Ravi pulling the teen out of the car and onto the gurney. Once the teen is on the gurney Maddie and Chimney are quick to start assessing him at the same time as everyone starts moving the gurney to the ambulance.

The teens dad arrives and comes running. “Is he ok?” He asks, the worry in his voice and on his face clear.

“He’s got a broken nose and a possible concussion,” Chimney says.

Maddie asks the teen what parts of him hit the car and soon they are getting in the ambulance. Maddie in the back with the dad jumping in and then Chimney in the front driving.

When Maddie and Chimney finally get back to the fire station Maddie’s stomach drops when she sees the way Doug is looking at her. “Maddie, Chimney, can I speak to both of you in my office,” Doug says, his tone making it clear that it is a command and not a question.

Fear fills Maddie. Although he wants to talk to Chimney as well. Meaning she doesn’t think he will hurt her. But she still has no clue what Doug wants or what she did wrong so she is unable to stop the way her body starts shaking slightly.

Soon Maddie and Chimney are both in Doug’s office. Doug gestures for Maddie to close the door and then for them to sit down on the chairs facing his desk.

“I’ve decided that as Maddie is a female paramedic it isn’t safe for her to be in the back of the ambulance by herself if the patient is a male or the person riding with them is a male. So from now on if either the patient or the person with the patient is a male, then unless it is a child, Chimney, you will be the one in the back and Maddie, you will be the one driving.”

Doug then looks at Chimney. “You don’t need to tell anyone about this rule. Just make sure that you and Maddie follow it.”

Chimney nods. “Of course we will.”

Doug smiles. “Good. Chimney you may go now. Maddie, stay behind for a few more minutes.”

Maddie watches Chimney leave, wishing he could stay in the office and not leave her alone with Doug. She can tell by the look on his face that he doesn’t want to leave her alone with Doug. However both of them know that not listening will just make things worse for Maddie.

As soon as the door closes behind Chimney, Maddie is quick to move into appeasement mode.

“Thanks for making that rule, for caring about my safety,” she says.

Doug scoffs loudly. “That rule has nothing to do with your safety. I just said that for Chimney’s benefit. The real reason is that I don’t trust you around other men. Chimney’s fine cause he’s harmless and he’s my friend. But you’re so pathetic and desperate for attention and to not be alone that I’m sure you’d do whatever sick thing some guys would ask you to do just so you could get some attention.”

Doug steps away from the desk and walks around it as he makes his way to where Maddie is standing. She flinches back and as Doug gets closer to her she keeps on stepping back until she is against the wall with nowhere to go.

“I wouldn’t. I promise,” Maddie says desperately. “You’re the only person I care about.”

“Then prove it Maddie,” Doug says and Maddie feels her heart sink.

Doug steps outside his office and says that he and Maddie will be man behind for the next call so Hen will join Chimney in the ambulance and Eddie will be in charge of the call. He then steps back inside the office, closing and locking the door behind him as he stares down at the pathetic person that is his wife.

“You’re a desperate attention seeking wreck. So lets have some fun Maddie,” he says, feeling excitement when he sees her pure terror.

For the next hour he pushes limits he hasn’t pushed before and gets as creative as he can. Maddie tries to refuse and he can see the fear and revulsion and horror in her eyes with each thing he orders her to do. Which makes it even better.

Eventually he manages to wear her down with each thing he wants her to do. By the time he has run out of inspiration Maddie is a sobbing mess on his office floor, trembling all over and her entire body is red with shame. Doug’s mood couldn’t be better.

He decides he wants to go on the next call but when he looks at Maddie he knows she will be absolutely useless on a call. So before everyone returns and sees them he makes the most of the empty firehouse to carry her to the bunk room and place her in the bunk furthest from the door.

Everyone returns shortly after that. The bells go off again within minutes. Doug announces that this time Chimney and Maddie will be on man behind with Hen and Eddie in the ambulance. Doug then gets into the fire engine, full of energy and in the best mood ever, still feeling the exhilarating rush of power from everything he managed to make Maddie do.

Once everyone has gone Chimney looks around the fire house, wondering where Maddie is. He checks Doug’s office and she isn’t there. He checks the bathrooms and showers but no one is there. So he checks the bunk room and he sees her on the bunk furthest from the door, curled up into a ball, making herself as small as possible, her entire body heaving with sobs.

Not wanting to scare her he makes a few fake coughs as he makes his way over to her. She doesn’t even look up although he is pretty sure she heard him.

She hears Chimney coughing so she knows she isn’t alone. But that doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. She sobs even harder. She can’t do this anymore. And if she can’t leave Doug then there is only one option.

Soon Chimney is in front of her, kneeling down on the ground next to the bed. “What do you need?” He asks, his voice full of concern.

Maddie cries harder. Nothing can make this better. Nothing can erase the memories of that hour in Doug’s office. Nothing can quench the burning shame and guilt she feels for her part in that. She hates the things she ended up doing. The things she resisted doing but ended up being forced to do, no matter how much her mind and body was screaming at her that she couldn’t do it. That she wouldn’t do it. But in the end Doug’s threats were too much and she had to cave. She had to betray herself and do what he wanted, the joy in his eyes making it so much worse. She hates herself so much for giving into him.

“Maddie?” Chimney says hesitantly.

Maddie cries even harder. A part of her wants him to stay. A part of her needs to not be alone. But she is disgusting. With the things she did Chimney should stay far away from her so that she doesn’t infect him.

In the end her need for comfort wins out. “Please don’t leave,” she says, instantly hating herself even more the second the words leave her lips. She doesn’t deserve comfort, not after what she did.

“I would never dream of leaving,” Chimney says seriously.

And he doesn’t. Well not until everyone else gets back but she knows he has to then. Things would get even worse if Doug saw him there.

Moments later she hears footsteps approaching her and she tenses. Soon Doug’s hand is on her. “Still crying Maddie?” He asks, laughing harshly. “You really are a pathetic disgusting person.”

“I know,” she whispers. “I know that.” She starts crying even harder. “I know I’m worthless and unlovable. I don’t understand how you are able to love me. Can you please just leave me alone? I don’t deserve to be around people.”

Doug sighs but when she looks at him she sees that he is smiling and Maddie’s misery just expands. Doug doesn’t say another word but he does get up and leave the room. Maddie continues crying. And crying. And crying.

The next time everyone else is out on a call she gets up and makes her way out of the bunkroom. When she looks around she doesn’t see anyone. So maybe she is the only person as man behind. She makes her way to where the spare medical supplies are kept, the cupboard that they use to restock the ambulance from. It is locked but as one of the paramedics, Maddie has a key.

She knows stealing from work is wrong. But that doesn’t matter anymore.

She grabs a full container of the fentanyl painkillers and takes it back to the bunkroom. Sitting in the darkness she swallows one pill after another, sobbing even harder after each one.

She is useless and doesn’t deserve to be on this planet anymore. She knows it is time for her to die. She will miss Buck and Genevieve. But they have each other. They don’t need her anymore. They are better off without her. Everyone is.

Soon she has swallowed every pill in the container. She lies down on the bunk, pill bottle still in her hand as she closes her eyes and waits to die.

Chapter Text

Chimney smiles as he steps into the firehouse showers. The bell goes seconds after he has stepped under the water but Doug had already said that Chimney and Maddie would be on man behind the next call meaning Chimney doesn’t have to worry about getting out and racing to a call.

However he still speeds up when he hears the bell. He can’t be with Maddie when everyone else is here but when it is just the two of them then he can be and he doesn’t want Maddie to be alone.

So he showers as quickly as possible, drying so fast that he doesn’t really end up dry, he is still wet when he puts his clothes back on.

As he makes his way to the bunkroom he passes the cupboard where the backup supplies for the ambulance live. He pauses. The cupboard is open. Which is weird. A look inside shows that an entire container of fentanyl painkillers is missing. Alarm fills Chimney. Where are they?

He wonders who could have gotten in. The cupboard is intact. It is clear that it hasn't been broken into. Meaning whoever took the fentanyl has a key. And the only people who have a key for that cupboard are Doug, Maddie and him. Doug would have no reason to take a container of fentanyl. And Chimney didn’t take a container of fentanyl.

Which leaves Maddie. Maddie who was absolutely miserable. Maddie who would have a reason to take a container of fentanyl.

Panic flooding through him, Chimney grabs some narcan from the cupboard, just in case, as he then runs to the bunkroom, desperately hoping he is wrong.

He bursts into the room, flicking on the lights, so worried about Maddie he doesn’t stop to think about not wanting to scare her.

The second the lights are on he can see everything in the room and horror and fear fills him. He was right.

He rushes to Maddie’s side, seeing the empty fentanyl bottle inches away from her hand. He knows that the container was full. Meaning she took the entire container.

He is quick to administer narcan whilst also radioing dispatch, letting them know they need an ambulance and hating the fact that their ambulance is currently out of the firehouse, on a call.

Maddie isn’t breathing. He starts CPR whilst checking how she is doing. After a few minutes it is clear she needs another dose of narcan. Which doesn’t surprise him considering the amount of fentanyl Maddie took.

The ambulance arrives within two minutes. Two extremely long minutes. Still, Chimney knows it is a fast response time. Dispatch already told the responding station that the situation was in the bunk room so Chimney doesn’t need to leave Maddie’s side to show them where to go.

Chimney is thankful when they rush into the room. Chimney continues CPR whilst the 115 gets Maddie onto a gurney and then hurries her into the ambulance, Chimney maintaining CPR the whole time.

Once they get into the ambulance Chimney continues CPR whilst the 115 paramedic gives Maddie another dose of narcan.

And finally, 7 terrifying minutes later Maddie takes a breath. Her eyes don’t open and she stays unconscious. But she is alive and that is all that matters.

When they get Maddie to the hospital Chimney stays in the waiting room. He doesn’t care if not returning to the station gets him fired. He isn’t leaving.
___

The 118 is on call when Doug hears dispatch trying to get his attention over the radio. He growls. “What is it? I’m on a call.”

“We know you are. But you should get someone else to take over the call. Maddie has just been rushed to the hospital.”

Doug freezes. “What happened?”

“She took a container of fentanyl from the supply cupboard at the station and swallowed the entire container. Chimney found her in time and called an ambulance before administering narcan and CPR. She’s alive.”

They then tell him what hospital Maddie is at and Doug feels in a daze. “Eddie, you’re in charge for the rest of the shift,” Doug says as he stumbles slightly.

“Cap, are you ok?” Hen asks.

“I need to get to the hospital. Maddie,” he somehow says.

Hen looks at the patient they are just loading into the ambulance. “What hospital? We can take our patient there so that you can get to Maddie.”

Doug somehow says the name of the hospital and then makes his way to the passenger seat of the ambulance.

Ravi ends up being the one driving the ambulance and he has the good sense not to say anything to Doug. As they get closer to the hospital Doug feels his worry turn to rage. How dare Maddie try to leave him! He’s the one that gets to decide when she dies. Not her. She should know better.

When they get to the hospital Doug doesn’t give their patient another glance. He just storms up to the desk and demands to know what is going on with his wife.

After dealing with several annoying staff members who won’t listen to what he is saying, one of them finally tells him that he will be able to see Maddie soon and that he can wait in the waiting room until then. Doug wants to yell the building down and demand that he sees his wife right now. But he sees the way security is looking at him and he is not going to be kicked out of the building. Not when his Maddie is inside.

So feeling his rage building he angrily stomps to the waiting room.

When he enters the room he sees Chimney pacing back and forth and it is clear how worried Chimney is. And suddenly Doug’s anger disappears. If it wasn’t for Chimney his wife would now be dead.

Doug reaches Chimney within seconds and gives him a massive hug. Chimney is shocked and just freezes in place. Eventually Doug pulls away and looks at Chimney very seriously.

“Thanks for saving my wife's life.”

Chimney looks down. “I just wish I had noticed before she took it. If I hadn’t been having a shower then I might have.”

“But you still noticed it in time,” Doug says.

Chimney just stares at the ground before he collapses into a seat, looking completely worn out.

Eventually a nurse comes out and tells Doug that he can see Maddie now. When he enters the room there are tears in her eyes and Doug sighs. Why is she always such a baby?

He waits until everyone else leaves the room before turning to her.

“Why Maddie? Why would you try to kill yourself? Why would you try to leave me?”

Maddie looks down and Doug slaps her in the face. “Look at me,” he demands.

She lifts her head but slowly, slower than Doug would like.

“I wasn’t trying to leave you. I know I can’t do that. I was trying to leave myself,” she says quietly, tears streaming down her face.

Doug snorts. “Well you can’t leave yourself. That’s impossible Maddie. Don’t be so silly.”

She looks up at him, completely defeated. “I know that. The only way to leave myself is to die.”

Doug grabs her by the throat and Maddie doesn’t even care anymore. “Well you don’t get to decide that. The only one who gets to decide if you live or die is me. Do you understand?”

Maddie knows she should answer him. But it doesn’t really matter. And if she antagonises him then he will probably be quicker to kill her or at least knock her unconscious. And all she wants is an escape from herself.
____

Buck takes off his mask and takes a few breaths of air, the dummy he has just pulled out of the fire on the ground next to him. He looks up at the instructors, waiting to hear how he did.

“Baby doll factory, new record. Most guys take the stairs, welcome back Buck.”

The instructors shakes hands with Buck and everyone cheers. Buck grins. Finally! He can’t wait to be back, he has been waiting for this for months.

The rest of the day goes well, everyone at the academy in a celebratory mood and Buck feels unstoppable, like nothing can bring him down.

Afterwards he makes his way to Bobby and Athena’s. They said it is just for a normal dinner but he knows them. He knows it will be a surprise party.

When he enters their house sure enough everyone jumps out and yells ‘surprise,’ and a congratulatory cake is brought out. But something is wrong. He can tell something happened. All of the adults look off, especially Eddie and Hen.

“Whats wrong?” Buck asks.

Hen sighs, sadness in her eyes. “The news can wait until after the party. We should celebrate you now and focus on that later.”

Buck narrows his eyes. “What happened?”

Eddie looks at all of the kids in the room and soon May is ushering them all out to the backyard and is closing the door behind them. Once the doors are closed Buck looks at Eddie. “Is it Maddie?”

Eddie nods and Buck feels his legs giving way underneath him. Eddie is quick to catch him and guides him to a seat.

“What happened?” Buck eventually asks, his voice breaking as fear floods through him.

Eddie holds Buck’s hand and Buck focuses on the feel of Eddie’s hand in his, aware he is going to need that comfort as he hears what happened.

“We were on a call. Maddie and Chimney were man behind. Doug got a call from the radio so listened to it before telling me I was in charge for the rest of the shift. He looked shaken and upset.” Eddie sighs.

Hen ends up being the one that continues telling Buck what happened. “I asked Doug what happened. All he was able to say was that he needed to get to the hospital and then he said Maddie’s name. We had just loaded up a patient so we took them to the hospital Maddie was at so that Doug could get there.”

Buck screws up his face in confusion. “If Doug was surprised by that does that mean he wasn’t the one to put her in the hospital? And in that case what happened?”

“Well he didn’t do it directly but I am sure it is still his fault,” Eddie says.

“Come on guys, just spit it out,” Buck begs.

“Chimney was having a shower and when he came out he saw that the cupboard with the backup medical supplies was open and a container of fentanyl was missing. The only people who have a key to the cupboard are Chimney, Maddie and Doug. Chimney realised what happened so grabbed narcan and ran to the bunk room where he had last seen Maddie. The pill bottle was next to her hand empty and she wasn’t breathing. Chimney had to call for an ambulance as our one was on the call and then he administered narcan and did CPR for 7 minutes before she was breathing again,” Hen says.

“She tried to kill herself?” Buck asks brokenly, starting to cry.

“We haven’t spoken to her since it happened to confirm but we are pretty sure that is the case,” Eddie says.

Buck clings to Eddie’s side and starts weeping. Eddie wraps his arm around Buck and Buck cries even harder. He feels so helpless. He wants to help Maddie but he doesn’t have a clue how. He hates that she ended up desperate enough or sad enough (he doesn’t know which) to try to kill herself.

“How am I supposed to help her?” He eventually asks, still crying a bit.

Hen just shakes her head sadly. “I wish I knew.”

“I hate how helpless I feel. I just want to be able to make everything better for her. My whole childhood growing up until she moved out she was always the one looking after me. The one who fixed everything. The one who made me happy when I was sad. She was the one that protected me. And now I want to return the favour, to protect her, to keep her safe. But I have no clue how I am supposed to do that.”

Buck turns to Eddie, pure desperation on his face. “How am I supposed to help her? How? I need to know.”

Athena puts her hand on Buck’s knee. “You’re looking after her daughter and keeping her safe. That might not feel like it is protecting Maddie directly. But on some level it still is. She doesn’t have to worry about Genevieve’s safety anymore which leaves her free to try and prioritise her safety. So it does help. You are helping her, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

Buck just stares at his lap. It doesn’t feel like he is helping Maddie.

“Look outside, at the backyard Buck. What do you see?” Bobby asks.

Buck sighs and reluctantly lifts his head. When he looks outside he sees all the kids playing, looking happy and free. Including Genevieve. Smiling as she tags Denny, laughing as her and Brooke hide behind Robert. She looks happy. And healthy. And safe.

He sighs. “I just wish Maddie could also be safe.”

“We all do,” Hen says.

Eddie, Bobby and Athena are all quick to nod in agreement.

For the rest of the evening the mood is weird. All the kids are happy. But all the adults are sad. So when the kids are watching they try to act cheerful, in order to not upset the kids. But when the kids aren’t looking they are sad as all of them are upset for Maddie and worried about her.

Eventually it gets close to the kids bedtime so they take them home. When Genevieve asks Buck for a Princess Maddie story Buck almost bursts into tears. He comes up with a story where Princess Maddie escapes a cruel beast and lives the rest of her life happy and full of joy. Genevieve loves the story. Buck’s heart breaks when telling it as he is terrified it will never happen, that Maddie will never break free. He tries to tell himself that his sister is strong. She always seemed so strong and invincible when he was growing up. But now he is worried that she has been through too much.

Once Buck exits Genevieve’s room he makes his way to his and Eddie’s bedroom. Eddie meets him there and the two of them lie next to each other, holding one another, both of them lost in their thoughts.
____

Maddie stares at the ground as she slowly gets dressed for work. She doesn’t want to go to work. It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore. And everyone will be watching her. It has only been 48 hours after all.

Doug snaps at her to hurry up and Maddie feels numb as she continues getting ready at her slow pace. Eventually Doug gets impatient and drags her to the car. Maddie doesn’t care.

He talks at her the whole drive there but she barely hears him. Once they enter she just goes straight to the bunk room. Doug tells her to restock the ambulance. She doesn’t listen to him. She just goes to the bunk room and lies on the corner bunk, staring at the wall.

Soon Doug is slapping her in the face. Maddie just closes her eyes.

He punches her a few times. “Please just kill me,” she says.

Silence before she then hears Doug walking away.

She hears the bells go and waits to see who is man behind. To see if Chimney is going to come in here. The room stays empty.

She gets up and makes her way back to the ambulance supplies cupboard. She pulls out her key, opens the cupboard and reaches for another bottle of fentanyl. Hopefully this time no one will save her. Hopefully this time they will let her die.

Suddenly there is a hand on her shoulder. Maddie panics. No! She needs this to work. She can’t go on anymore. She quickly opens the container and grabs a handful of pills, raising her arm to her mouth to shove them in.

Before she can get them there her arm is yanked with force and pills go flying.

“Really Maddie?” Doug’s voice is harsh and disappointed.

“First you wasted an entire container of fentanyl on our last shift and now you are trying to waste more. Clean it up and don't even dare try to eat any of them.”

Doug’s hands are on her back as he shoves her to the ground. Tears flowing down her face Maddie picks up all the pills. Doug angrily tells her to put them in the bin, yelling that they are wasted now due to having touched the ground.

Doug then puts the bottle back in the cupboard before locking it and snatching Maddie’s key from her hand. “Clearly you can’t be trusted with one of these keys anymore. And you always do the restocking with Chimney so it’s not like you need a key when he has one of his own.”

Doug then grabs Maddie’s hair and drags her to his office, closing the door behind him. He slams her against the wall and starts squeezing her throat. Maddie welcomes it, internally begging him to kill her.

However he soon lets go, way quicker than normal. “It’s not the same when you want me to do it,” Doug says, annoyance on his face.

He punches her in the stomach and Maddie drops to the ground. Doug then sits on her stomach, pinning her in place, before he leans over her head and stares at her intensely.

“You aren’t allowed to try and kill yourself again.”

Maddie just closes her eyes. He can’t stop her from that. He controls enough things but surely not that. She will just continue to try and eventually it will work. She can’t live with herself anymore. And she can’t live with Doug either.

“Tell me what the punishment for leaving me is.”

“You’ll kill me,” Maddie says numbly.

“And?”

Maddie sighs. “And you’ll kill Genevieve and Buck.”

“Exactly,” Doug says, as he begins to smile. “Well, if you kill yourself I will count that as you leaving me. Meaning that if you kill yourself then I will kill Buck and Genevieve.”

Maddie stares up at Doug in horror. “Please Doug. Please.”

Doug just looks at her. “It’s up to you Maddie. It’s pretty simple. If you don’t want me to kill them then all you need to do is not leave and not kill yourself.”

Doug gets up and makes his way to his desk to start doing paperwork.

Maddie stays where she is on the floor in front of his desk as she starts to cry. How is she supposed to continue? But now she has no choice. She has to. She cries even harder, not caring when Doug yells at her to cry quieter. She can’t.

Doug storms over and kicks her several times in the stomach but it doesn’t quieten her tears. Eventually he sighs, completely fed up. He picks her up and carries her to the bunk room, roughly throwing her onto one of the bunks so forcefully that Maddie bounces a few times before the bunk then settles in place.

Maddie doesn’t stop crying.

When everyone else returns from their call Doug reenters the bunk room. “You have to stop crying now Maddie. If you don’t there will be consequences. And considering you don’t seem to care what happens to you, you won’t be the only one facing consequences. So I suggest you stop crying.”

At the threat to others Maddie hurries to wipe her tears away, desperately wiping at her face for several minutes until finally she manages to stop crying. Doug just rolls his eyes. “I guess it’s good enough. Go to the kitchen. You and Chimney are on lunch duty.”

Maddie nods as she slowly stands up. The bell goes just then and Maddie feels a bit of relief as everyone rushes out.

She makes her way to the kitchen where Chimney is.

“What are we making?” she asks.

“Maddie,” Chimney starts.

“What are we making?” she repeats.

She hears Chimney sigh before he tells her. Maddie grabs some of the vegetables she knows are in that dish and starts cutting them.

They work in silence for a few minutes before Chimney speaks again. “Maddie, are you一”

Maddie cuts him off. “I’m not ok but I won’t try and kill myself again. He made sure of that, saying that if I did then he would kill Buck and Genevieve. So you don’t need to worry about me. Ok?”

She yells the last few words and starts cutting the vegetables super aggressively.

Chimney is momentarily frozen, full of concern.

Maddie can see he doesn’t believe that she is alright and she knows he wants to check how she is doing. But she can’t deal with that. “Please Chimney. Can we just talk about something else?”

There is clear desperation in her voice and thankfully Chimney gives a small nod. “Buck passed his recertification and tomorrow will be his first shift back since the ladder truck,” Chimney says.

“Do you know if it was hard or easy for him?” she asks, tentatively.

“He set a new academy record,” Chimney says.

Maddie gives a wobbly smile. “That’s pretty cool. If you get the chance, tell him I’m proud of him. Otherwise get Eddie to tell him that.”

Chimney nods. “I will.”

They continue working on making the lunch, going back and forth between moments of silence and moments of meaningless conversation. Everyone else arrives just before they have finished which causes Maddie panic, worried Doug will be mad the food isn’t ready yet.

But as everyone gets closer it is clear they need showers which has Maddie deflating in relief. They have a bit more time.

Maddie then gets mad at herself for even caring. It’s not like it matters. If he hurts her it doesn’t matter as nothing does. Nothing matters anymore.

Maddie feels numb as she eats lunch sitting in her seat at the table, everyone else talking and laughing. Maddie is silent. She feels Doug’s hand on her thigh as he laughs with some of the people next to him. The fork in Maddie’s hand slips out of her hand and she lets it rest on her plate. What’s the point of eating?

Doug picks up her fork and puts it back in her hand. He leans over so he is whispering in her ear. “Eat.”

She doesn’t want to. She doesn’t see the point. But Doug squeezes her thigh even harder so Maddie reluctantly puts some food on her fork and slowly brings it to her mouth. It takes so much effort to swallow hard enough for the food to go down, passing the massive lump in her throat. The food tastes like cardboard and it feels like she has to chew it forever to manage to get it down.

The bell goes and Doug puts other people on man behind, which allows Maddie to escape from the table. Chimney drives which is good as Maddie’s head definitely isn’t in it. She thinks he is saying something but if he is she isn’t managing to listen.

It is only once they arrive on scene that Maddie forces herself to switch back on. She might be a mess and worthless. But she isn’t going to put other people’s lives at risk. So she will force herself to be present even if being present just makes all her emotional pain come flooding in.

Dispatch had said the caller mentioned someone being locked in a room so Doug sends Eddie, Ravi, Hen and Max around the back with ladders in case they can’t get in through the door.

Doug, Chimney and Maddie then make their way towards the entry of the retirement village. A woman comes hurrying out to meet them. “Oh, thank goodness. I wasn’t sure that they were gonna send anyone.”

“Are you the one that made the 911 call?” Doug asks.

The woman nods. She starts walking so Doug, Maddie and Chimney follow her. She talks as she walks. “It’s my dad Jack. We came to have lunch with him, he was acting weird. And then Dave, that’s my brother, he noticed something on his stomach. We tried to get a closer look but he kicked us out and locked the door.”

The woman continues walking and soon they reach a hallway with a few people gathered around a door and it is clear that this is their stop.

When the person outside the door hears them he turns around and looks up. “Finally. My dads having a medical emergency behind a locked door that no one in this damn place can seem to open.”

Maddie gulps seeing the way Doug stiffened when the guy said ‘finally.’ Whenever people on calls make comments about having to wait for them to arrive Doug never takes kindly to that.

Doug makes his way to the door and tries to open it. He rattles it a few times but he can soon tell what this is thanks to the times Maddie has been silly enough to try and shut him out. He turns back to the people who are there. “The lock isn’t the problem, there’s something on the other side of the door, barricading it shut, preventing it from opening.”

Doug then gives Maddie a harsh look and he sees the way she momentarily shuts down before forcing herself to be present in the moment. Doug chuckles to himself.

Chimney looks at Dave. “Your sister said that you saw something on your father’s stomach?”

Dave nods. “These marks, like wounds or maybe sores. It was hard to tell.”

Doug knocks on the door again. “Jack, this is the LAFD. Will you please let us in?”

Anger starts to soar through him. Being behind a locked door is annoying, especially when it is clear that they are capable of getting in. They are firefighters after all. But no, everyone just has to waste their time by forcing them to have to get into the room before they can then treat their patient.

The small panel in the top of the door opens and they see Jack’s face looking through it. “Not until those ungrateful vultures stop circling.”

“Dad,” the daughter protests.

The door hatch closes. Dave sounds annoyed. “Ungrateful? Who does he think pays for this place?”

They all hear Jack yelling through the door. “You sold my house to pay for it.”

And now Doug thinks he understands why Jack locked his kids out. But still, even if Jack’s reasons are valid they have still been called here, they still have to treat him. Meaning they need to get into the room.

He speaks into his radio. “Eddie, you’re going to need to storm the Bastille here.”

“Copy that cap,” he hears Eddie’s voice say, coming through the radio.

While they wait for Eddie, Hen, Max and Ravi to get in from the other side Doug finds himself stuck listening to the siblings bickering with their dad. He wants to groan in frustration.

“He’s acting like a child,” Dave says.

“I am not,” Jack is quick to say, his voice coming through the door.

The daughter then talks about how their dad is dying. But it turns out she is just calling him old, he isn’t ill.

Jack opens the hatch again. “I’m as healthy as a horse.”

And Doug is so fed up with this conversation. He speaks into this radio. “Are you almost ready guys?”

“Almost,” Eddie says.

Doug growls under his breath. “Well hurry up.”

“And stubborn as a mule,” Dave replies to his father.

“Hey, I’m your father. You’re not too old for the back of my hand,” Jack says.

Maddie flinches at that which does bring Doug some amusement.

Doug doesn’t bother hearing what the son says back as he finally gets Eddie radioing him to let him know that they are in the room. “It’s about time,” Doug mutters.

Soon they hear the sound of things being moved on the other side of the door and then the door is swinging open with Ravi directly on the other side. All of them are quick to rush inside the room.

Doug tells Maddie and Chimney to start examining him. Maddie looks at his stomach. “That’s not a rash.”

“Maybe it’s MRSA,” Chimney says. He turns to Jack. “Have you been to the hospital recently?”

“It’s not a MRSA,” Jack says, sounding very confident about that.

“You sound pretty sure about that,” Maddie says. “When did the symptoms start?”

“A few weeks back,” Jack replies, sounding pretty casual about the whole thing. “I figured it’d go away on its own like crabs.”

Understanding fills the room. Maddie backs away fast, almost bumping into a few people. Doug catches her arm so Maddie freezes in place there.

There are silent looks sent through the room as they realise that someone is going to have to examine Jack’s private parts. Maddie keeps her head down as she stares at the floor. There is zero chance it is going to be her. Especially not with Doug in the room.

In the end Chimney realises it is going to have to be him. He sighs. “Fine, I’ll look.”

In the end both Chimney and Hen look and confirm that Jack has a flesh eating STD.

They take him out of the room, to get him to the hospital for treatment. His kids start going on at him for having an STD and Doug is glad they got rid of Genevieve. If kids are still this whiny and annoying to their parents even when they’re adults then he definitely doesn’t want to have to deal with that.

He keeps a hold of Maddie’s arm as they continue walking back down the hall.

When they reach the room with lots of people in it Dave tells everyone that his dad has a flesh eating STD so whoever slept with him should go to the hospital for treatment. Which results in almost half the room standing up.

In the end there are so many of them that they talk to the retirement village manager who ends up organising a village shuttle to take them to the hospital as they don’t have enough room in the engine and ambulance to get everyone there.

So all of the firefighters then exit the retirement home and all of them apart from Maddie start laughing.

“Maddie and I will take the ambulance back to the station, everyone else can take the fire engine, we’ll meet you there,” Doug announces before he then pulls Maddie to the ambulance.

Maddie stays silent as she hurries into the ambulance.

“You sure backed away from him fast,” Doug says, a laugh in his voice.

Maddie gulps.

“Why were you so desperate to get away?” Doug asks.

Maddie shakes slightly. “I, I, I realised that one of us was going to have to examine him there. And I’m married. I wouldn’t betray you by doing that.”

Doug smiles at her and runs his fingers through her hair. “Good. I was worried you just have a fear of them in general. Which would be a problem, considering that you are right. You are married.”

Doug smiles again and Maddie sees the hunger in his eyes. Doug pulls her into the back of the ambulance and slams her down onto the gurney. Maddie just stares up at the roof, feeling numb with tears rolling down her face and wishing she was anywhere else. Maddie cries whilst Doug just takes and takes from her.

Chapter Text

Buck is finally back at work and he feels so ready for this. Everyone greets him with banners. And a cake. He stares at the cake before turning to Bobby. “Did Hen actually divulge the contact information for her cake guy?”

Bobby laughs and shakes his head. “I asked. She refused to tell me. But she did put the order in for me.”

Everyone else then comes up to Buck and tells how good it is to have him back. Buck grins. It feels good to be back.
____

Maddie’s body is stiff and sore and she knows it is going to be a long day. Within minutes of their shift starting they get sent on a medical call. At least it means only her and Chimney will be responding but Maddie can’t help groaning.

Once they are in the ambulance Chimney looks at her. “Are you alright?”

Maddie sighs. “I’m just in pain. It’s fine though, I’ll work through it.”

Chimney looks doubtful but he nods and changes the subject, something she is thankful for.

When they arrive on scene they see Athena who points them to the back seat of a car. They see a newborn who has turned blue and isn’t breathing. Maddie is used to treating a wide range of patients. But something about it being a baby this tiny just makes it way harder.

Maddie does CPR on the baby and thankfully the baby starts breathing. As soon as the baby is breathing Maddie gets it into the ambulance, slamming the door shut behind her. Chimney jumps into the driver's seat.

The baby starts to cry so Maddie rocks it back and forth and sings softly to it and soon it’s crying stops. She keeps a very close eye on the baby and thankfully it stays breathing.

Once they get to the hospital and transfer custody of the baby to the hospital staff Maddie’s arms feel empty. Once they are back in the ambulance Maddie bursts into tears.

“I miss Genevieve,” she says.

“Would talking about her make it better or worse?” Chimney asks.

Maddie sniffs a bit, wiping away her tears before shrugging. “I’m not sure,” she says quietly. “I don’t let myself think about her much as Doug has forbidden me from thinking or talking about her. And from thinking or talking about Buck. Which hurts so much.”

“What’s the silliest thing she’s ever done?” Chimney asks.

Maddie laughs, instantly coming up with an answer. She tells Chimney and soon they are both laughing although Maddie cries a bit more, realising just how much she misses her.

By the time they get back to the station Maddie doesn’t know if she is in a better or lower mood than she was before they went out on that call.
____

Buck’s first call back ends up being one that is an emotionally hard one. Even though the patient survives.

They get a call for a woman who called 911 saying she was stabbed and trapped somewhere dark. They eventually figure out that she is trapped in the trunk of a car and Athena and the 911 dispatcher piece together where the car is.

Buck and Emily rush over to the trunk of the car, having to use their tools to open it. Bobby and Sam wheel over the gurney and they all carefully lift her onto it. Their two paramedics Eliana and Joseph then hurry to start treating her.

It feels like all of them hold their breaths when Eliana checks the woman’s pulse and they only release it when Eliana declares that she is breathing.

Because of how bad a condition the woman is in, Bobby gets Buck driving the ambulance to the hospital so that both Eliana and Joseph can be in the back tending to the woman.

When they get back to the station all of them need to shower and change as all of them, especially Eliana and Joseph, are covered in the woman’s blood.

Buck feels slightly sick and doesn’t even know why he feels more upset by this call than normal. It isn’t exactly the first time he has ended up with a patient's blood all over him. And he knows it won’t be the last.

Once Buck has finished showering he makes his way to one of the couches and sits down, staring at the ground.

After a while he feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up as Bobby moves to sit next to him. “Are you alright kid?” Bobby asks gently.

Buck sighs. “I just can’t stop thinking about the amount of blood. And I don’t get it. It's part of the job. I’m used to that. So I don’t understand why it affected me so much. It wasn’t even a domestic violence call. If it was then I would understand why I am now so impacted.”

“Did it make you think of Maddie?” Bobby asks gently.

Buck looks down and nods. “Though I don’t understand why it did as it wasn’t a domestic violence call.”

“Buck,” Bobby says gently. “You’re scared for your sister. And it might not have been a domestic violence call. But it was a woman who was scared, attacked and trapped in a small dark space close to dying.”

Bobby pauses. “Do you need to see a department therapist? I can give you some recommendations.”

Buck shakes his head before standing up. “Can I help make lunch?”

“Of course,” Bobby says as he also stands up. “But if you ever need to talk about anything then you know I am always here. And so is Athena. And Eddie.”

Buck nods. “I know. Thanks cap.”

Buck then heads to the kitchen and starts talking about lots of different crazy food combinations. The rest of the team hears and gives their input, mostly a lot of nos but a few yeses so they end up deciding to experiment with the weird food combination that got a lot of enthusiasm from everyone.
___

By the time Buck gets home he hasn’t exactly forgotten about that call but he doesn’t feel as upset by it.

Everyone asks how his first call back was so he gives them lots of stories. Once he runs out of stories Genevieve and Chris just turn to Eddie and then they get all of his stories from his shift.

The following morning the 118 have a shift but the 132 don’t and neither does Athena.

Once Eddie leaves for work Buck, Chris and Genevieve make their way to Bobby and Athena’s. There they do an exchange.

Genevieve will spend the day with Athena, May and Brooke. Genevieve is super excited about what they are calling ‘girls day.’ Plans include going out for breakfast and then to a massage place which Genevieve is buzzing with excitement about. Buck thinks it sounds a bit boring and wonders if Genevieve will be able to sit still for all of it. Still, he knows that if she can’t sit still it will be fine as Athena will have it handled.

The rest of them are having a boys day. Although not Bobby as he has lots of paperwork to catch up on. Which Robert, Harry and Chris all say is boring and Buck is quick to agree. Bobby ends up sighing before saying he will have breakfast with them but then he is going back home.

All of them cheer and soon Buck, Bobby, Robert, Harry and Chris are at a breakfast diner with most of them having pancakes. The boys are excited, talking about what they plan to do at the pier today. They also spend a lot of breakfast trying to convince Bobby to come with them but in the end they aren’t able to. All of them are a bit disappointed by that, but when they reach the pier Harry, Robert and Chris are so excited by everything around them that they forget to be disappointed by Bobby’s absence.
___

Maddie clutches onto her side as she walks into the fire house, each breath an effort and causing pain to fill her. She knows she shouldn’t be at work today. Not when she knows she has multiple ribs broken. She isn’t sure just how many of them are broken but she thinks it might be four.

When she carefully suggested that maybe she needed a day of work Doug just glared at her before saying he wasn’t going to have a weak wife and that she needed to just suck it up and deal with it. Maddie didn’t dare protest after that.

Her and Chimney get sent on a basic medical call straight away. Maddie manages to do what is required of her but it hurts so much. Once they have dropped the patient off at the hospital Chimney turns to her, clear concern in his eyes.

Maddie sighs and drops her eyes. “Can you help me bandage my ribs in place so they don’t hurt as much,” she whispers, feeling ashamed to ask but knowing Chimney will be kind about it.

And he is.

“Of course,” he says.

They make their way to the back of the ambulance where Chimney then gets out the medical supplies needed. Maddie closes her eyes when she goes to lift her shirt up so that Chimney can do what he needs to.

She hears a small intake of breath and she knows he has seen the bruises and the scars. So many scars.

“Yesterday I tried cooking meatballs,” Chimney says, as he starts wrapping the bandages around her.

“Tried?” Maddie queries, sucking in a sharp breath at the pain.

“Yup. Tried. The recipe said to add water but I think I did it wrong as it ended up with meatballs just swimming in water.”

Maddie laughs before wincing at the pain that brings.

“Sorry,” Chimney says.

“It’s fine,” Maddie says quietly. “Did you end up eating it?”

“Nope. I didn’t want to risk food poisoning. I ended up ordering uber eats.”

Maddie smiles. “Did your uber eats order include meatballs?” she asks, a mischievous hint to her tone.

Chimney laughs and shakes his head. “No way. I’d seen enough meatballs for one night. I got Chinese.”

“And I’m done,” Chimney declares.

Oh. That went quicker than she expected. Maddie looks down and sure enough it is perfectly wrapped. “Thanks Chimney.”

They get back into the front of the ambulance and then return to the firehouse.
____

Chris wins a massive teddy bear and Buck, Robert and Harry all cheer enthusiastically although it is clear that there is a bit of jealousy on Harry and Robert’s part.

But then Harry wins a prize at a different game and then later so does Robert and soon all of them are happy.

Robert and Harry start begging to go on the ferris wheel. Chris is a bit reluctant, saying he wants to look out at the ocean.

Robert and Harry continue asking and Chris makes it clear that he doesn’t want to. In the end Buck decides that seeing as Robert is 15 and Harry is 11 they will be fine for a few minutes. He gives them strict instructions that they can only go around once and then they are to return to where he and Chris are. Robert and Harry both nod and promise that they will.

Soon Buck and Chris are standing on a bench, looking out at the ocean. Buck is holding onto Chris’s t-shirt to make sure he doesn’t fall, while Chris talks about what he wants to do when he grows up.

And then Buck hears Chris ask where all the water went. Buck looks to see a massive wave coming towards them. Panic fills him. He glances at the ferris wheel and can make out that Robert and Harry are at the top of it. So it will be impossible for him to get to them.

Buck grabs Chris and runs as fast as he can. However he knows he is never going to outrun a tsunami so he puts Chris into a small booth, hoping it will offer a tiny bit of protection before jumping in after Chris and holding onto him tightly just before the wave hits them both.
___

Genevieve giggles. The massage chair tickles. The ladies around them are really nice and she is having a great time.

Afterwards they all get back in the car with Athena and May in the front and Brooke and Genevieve in the back.

They are now on their way to the movies to watch the new angry birds movie which all of them are super excited about. Genevieve was the only one that hadn’t watched the first one so in preparation for today she watched the first one last weekend and now she is super excited about it.

In the front seat, May is talking to Athena about what to write in her college application essays. In the back seat Genevieve and Brooke are talking together, wondering what the movie will be like.
___

The water hits them with more force than Buck could have imagined. He tightens his grip on Chris, knowing he cannot let go. If he does then Chris is almost certain to die and he cannot let that happen.

Things crash into him and his lungs are burning. But Chris is still in his arms and that is all that matters.

Just as he feels like he is about to pass out he somehow surfaces. As soon as he has taken a breath of air he is quick to lift Chris up. He hears Chris gasp for air and relief fills him. Chris is alive. They both are.

Chris starts sobbing and he clings to Buck tighter. The current continues pushing them through the very high water and Buck just clings onto Chris. They are both alive and they are both breathing. Now it just needs to stay that way.
____

Suddenly a car crashes into them from the passenger side, hitting the side of the car that May and Genevieve are in. Athena gasps, May is frozen, Genevieve screams and Brooke starts crying.

The glass of the windscreen is cracked and the air bags are deployed. Athena is quick to look around. “Is everyone ok? Are any of you injured?”

“I’m alright,” Brooke says, her voice quiet and shaky.

May is now bleeding on her forehead but she nods, feeling more stunned than anything.

Genevieve just cries.

“Genevieve, are you alright?” Athena asks.

“My arm feels funny and my side hurts,” Genevieve says quietly.

“Just stay where you are, I’ll come around and help you,” Athena promises.

Genevieve nods slightly, fear on her face.

Athena, May and Brooke all try to open their car doors. Brooke is able to open her door but Athena and May aren’t able to open theirs.

Athena tells Brooke to stay in the car, that she will be the first one out. Not wanting to climb over Brooke and knowing that the car is already damaged anyway, Athena grabs the tool Bobby made her keep in the car and after warning the girls to shield their eyes she uses it to break the window.

She then climbs out of the car and ends up on the bonnet of a car that crashed into her. They are in a massive pileup and she sees why her door and May’s didn’t open. They both had other cars right there.

She sees that many other cars have crashed but right now they are not her priority. She makes her way around to where Genevieve is and thankfully that door opens.

When she sees Genevieve more clearly it is obvious that Genevieve has a broken arm. Genevieve had also said her side was sore so Athena checks it. She doesn’t see any visible bruising or blood but she knows that as soon as she can she will be taking Genevieve to the hospital to get it properly checked out.

But after seeing how massive the pileup was she knows they might be here for a while. Athena looks around the car and sees the sweater sitting on Brooke’s lap. “Brooke, do you think you will need that sweater?” she asks.

Brooke shakes her head, looking confused. Athena asks her if she can then have it and Brooke nods before passing it to Athena. Athena then uses the sweater to make a makeshift temporary sling for Genevieve’s broken arm. It isn’t the best but it will be better than nothing and will hopefully not be needed for too long before they can get Genevieve’s arm properly looked at.
____

Robert and Harry stare down at everything below them. There is now water all around them. They are thankful they were at the top of the ferris wheel when the tsunami came but now both of them are scared.

Both of them stare at the mess all around them, their spot giving them the perfect view of all the destruction.

“Do you think they survived?” Harry asks fearfully, staring at the spot where Buck and Chris had been and where they had watched when they realised what was about to happen. Both of them stare at the spot where they watched Buck and Chris disappear into the wave.

“I don’t know,” Robert says quietly. “Buck maybe. He’s strong and a firefighter. But Chris.”

He stops talking and both him and Harry shudder in fear.
____

Buck sees a fire engine, the one solid thing that isn’t moving that is above the level of the water. Using all of his strength he forces his way there. He lifts Chris onto it and then climbs onto it as well, flopping down onto it. They are both on solid ground. They are out of the dangerous currents. They are alive.
____

They wrap up the call they are at, having just finished using water to put out the fire. And then Maddie’s shoes feel wet. She looks down and sees that they are standing in a layer of water.

Doug looks down and anger is quick to fill his face. “Who left the hydrants open?”

And then they all hear the buzzing of their phone's emergency alert system. Alarm fills them as all of them (apart from Maddie who no longer has a phone) pull out their phone to see what it is.

And it is a tsunami alert.

“I guess it wasn’t the hydrant,” Hen says.

“I guess it wasn’t,” Doug agrees.

All of them move to the fire engine and ambulance. Apart from Eddie who is frozen in place.

“Really Eddie. Hurry up,” Doug snaps.

Eddie just stays still and the phone slips from his hands. Chimney catches it just before it lands in the water. When Chimney goes to return it to Eddie he sees that Eddie’s hands are shaking.

“Eddie, what’s wrong?” Chimney asks.

“The pier, there was a tsunami, a tsunami hit the pier,” Eddie stutters out.

Doug rolls his eyes. “We’re all aware that there was a tsunami at the pier.”

Eddie turns to look at Maddie. “Buck took the boys to the pier today.”

Maddie stares at Eddie. Buck is at the pier? She instantly feels weak all over and her vision starts to fade. Chimney looks at her just as her eyes roll back in her head and he catches her just before she would have hit the ground.
_____

Buck checks his phone to check in with Eddie. His phone is still in his pocket but it is soaked and it doesn’t take long to know that it isn’t going to work.

He hears people screaming for help so he tells Chris to stay on the fire engine before Buck jumps into the water and heads in the direction of the people who need help.

There is a guy stuck in a car that is filling up with water but there is a woman in more immediate danger so Buck tells the guy he will be back to help him before Buck makes his way to the woman.

He uses the hose from the fire truck to create a line going over the water to give people something to hold on to. He then gets the woman to let go and catches onto her as the current pushes her towards him. Once he gets her on the fire engine he asks her to look after Chris and she nods that she will.

Buck then makes his way to help the guy still trapped in the car. And everyone else as well, as now he can hear many many people calling for help.
____

Harry and Robert are both crying and clinging to each other. They are both safe where they are but they don’t feel safe. The woman on the neighbouring gondola of the ferris wheel is screaming for help, saying something about how her ex husband’s head is bleeding.

“Put pressure on the bleeding,” Robert screams.

The woman looks at him through her panic. “With what?”

Robert unties his sweater and throws it to her. Thankfully she catches it and soon she is pressing it against his head. Robert can’t see the man so he gets the woman to call out what she can see. It is clear that the man needs help as soon as possible. Robert tells the woman the few bits of medical advice he knows from his dad. But he knows that it won’t be enough. Not if help doesn’t get here and soon.
_____

Once Athena has tended to Genevieve’s injuries and made sure that all of the girls are alright as they can be given the circumstances she looks around and assesses the situation. The pile up is massive. Athena isn’t able to count just how many cars are involved but she can tell that it is at least 20 cars.

“LAPD,” she says, holding up her badge as proof. “Is everyone ok?”

“Someone ran the light,” an older woman says as she holds onto her shoulder.

Athena looks around, trying to spot the light. And then she sees something much worse. A downed power transformer, that is on top of a car and is sparking.

Athena is quick to tell everyone to move to the side, knowing they need to get everyone far away from the transformer. She yells louder, telling everyone that there is a downed transformer, so that everyone is aware of the danger.

“Something's wrong,” a woman says to Athena. “I’m on with 911 but they’ve got me on hold.”

Alarm fills Athena. She knows that sometimes happens, when dispatch doesn’t have enough operators on. But that is not good and not what they need.

May looks down at her phone and sees an alert and her body goes cold. “It’s a tsunami,” she says, her voice choked. “It took out the pier.”

Athena stumbles slightly. Her children are there. Harry, Robert, Buck and Chris are there. Her fear wants to take over but she can’t let it. May, Brooke and Genevieve need her to stay calm. And everyone else here at the pile up needs her as well.

So she focuses on the pileup. If she concentrates on that then she won’t have to think about the tsunami and she won’t have to worry that she might never see her babies again.

Athena tells May, Genevieve and Brooke to stay in the car. Genevieve and Brooke didn’t hear about the tsunami so Athena quietly tells May not to let them know. May looks terrified but she nods.

Athena then makes her way from car to car, checking for injuries. She is helping a man out of his car when another man comes up to her demanding that she takes a report. Annoyance fills Athena. Can he not see that people are hurt? Or that she isn’t even in her uniform? She isn’t on duty.

People start bickering about insurance and that is just not the time for this.

“People, people,” Athena says, trying to get them to listen. “There’s some real trouble down by the beach. You’re all waiting for help. Well it’s here. And it’s us. So check to see who needs help.”

There is some grumbling but soon Athena isn’t the only one going from car to car, seeing who needs help.
____

When Maddie comes to Doug is towering over her and glaring at her. “Get up Maddie. We have a call to go to.” He then smiles. “The call is at the pier.”

Maddie bursts into tears and starts shaking all over. Evan!

“WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOU TO BE A PATHETIC MESS!!!” Doug screams. “We have a job to do and we have people we need to help so pull yourself together.”

Maddie just stares at him numbly. Her brother was at the pier. Her brother might be dead. How does Doug not understand that she isn’t able to think about anything else?

Doug then turns to Eddie who is also shaking slightly. “You also need to get your head in the game. We’re being sent to the pier to help people. So maybe we’ll find your husband while we’re at it.”

Doug then turns to everyone. “Everyone, hurry up and get in the vehicles. Now.”

There are nods as everyone does. Eddie is stumbling slightly and Hen guides him there. Soon the fire engine is on its way there.

Maddie can barely move. She is shaking and crying so hard. What if her brother is dead? She can’t lose another brother! She can’t.

Suddenly she feels a hand on her shoulder. Somehow she doesn’t jump. Chimney gently guides her to the ambulance. Maddie’s head is in a cloud and she doesn’t even see where she is walking, she just numbly goes where Chimney steers her.

As they drive there Chimney tries to comfort her. But it doesn’t work, especially as they get closer and see the increasing destruction and also some bodies as they make their way further into the path the tsunami has made.

Maddie sobs. What if her brother’s body is somewhere here?

Chapter Text

Athena continues running from car to car, checking on everyone and it isn’t long before she spots a woman still in her car with visible blood on her. Athena runs up to the woman. The car window is open meaning Athena is able to easily talk to her.

“Hey, what’s your name?” she asks.

“Vicky,” the woman responds.

“Alright Vicky, can you move?” Athena asks.

Vicky lets Athena know that her leg is pinned, meaning she is trapped in place.

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep the pressure on this,” Vicky says weakly. Which is when Athena then sees that Vicky has a bad wound on her neck. The blood isn’t pumping out of it which is a good thing. But there is still too much blood and the wound isn’t looking good.

Athena can see that Vicky is getting weaker and that she won’t be able to maintain the pressure for too long. But Athena can’t stay here as she needs to continue checking on other people.

Athena tells Vicky that she needs to hold on for a few minutes before Athena is running back to her car. “May, I need your help.”

The girls look confused but all of them follow. Athena would prefer for Brooke and Genevieve to stay in the car but when she tells them to do so they don’t listen and Athena doesn’t have enough time to waste some of it getting them to stay in the car.

Soon Athena is back at the car where Vicky is, this time with May, Brooke and Genevieve at her side.

Athena turns to May. “I need you to put pressure on this while I go get the first aid kit.”

May reels back, slightly scared from all the blood. “Mom, I-I,” she starts.

“Just for a minute,” Athena says.

May is still clearly hesitant. And then suddenly Genevieve’s non broken arm is there, applying pressure onto it. Genevieve doesn’t look the slightest bit fazed by the sight of the blood.

Athena looks at May and Brooke who look just as surprised but pressure is being applied and she needs to get the first aid kit. “Stay together, all 3 of you don’t leave the car and make sure at least one of you is applying pressure at all times,” Athena ends up saying before she then gets out of the car, leaving the girls there with Vicky.
____

They reach the pier. Maddie’s head is still in a fog and she is terrified out of her mind. But they have reached the pier.

They step out of the ambulance and Maddie’s head is swimming. Doug slaps her in the face and Maddie blinks but the fog goes away. “You need to get your head in the game Maddie. People’s lives are at stake. You know you’d never forgive yourself if people died because you weren’t focused. So stop worrying about stupid little Evan and focus on your job.”

Maddie gulps. Apart from Doug calling Buck stupid, everything else he said was true. She needs to pull herself together.

The area is surrounded by emergency vehicles and is clear that every unit possible was called here.

The incident commander spots them and comes up to them, focusing on Doug as he talks. “We’ve already had two waves so far. We expect another four or five before it recedes. We’re commandeering anything that will float.”

“I’ve heard there were four fire houses in the path of this thing,” Doug says, wondering how spread thin their resources will be.

“Yeah, they’ve all checked in except for the 136. They were responding to a call on the pier when the surge hit, so . . .” He pauses and his silence says everything.

A sense of gravity and weight hits all of them. Even without the pure worry and fear for Buck and the boys, today is going to be a very hard day. All of the 118 exchange serious looks.

They get given one of the rescue boats to use and are told to look around and help where needed. Doug orders all of them to be on the lookout, searching for anything they can see. Everyone nods.

It isn’t long before they spot a body lying face down in the water. Maddie checks their pulse but she already knows what it is going to be. Doug tells her to tag it and move on. Her heart already feeling heavy, Maddie does so.

Eddie looks around, feeling frantic, but trying not to show it. Every time he sees a body he is terrified it is going to be Chris, Buck, Robert or Harry. From the fear in Maddie’s face he can tell that she is just as terrified as he is.

It isn’t long before they hear a woman calling for help so all of them head in that direction.
____

Soon the top of the fire engine is full of people and is running out of room which is a worry to Buck. What are they supposed to do if more people need help?

He looks around and sees bodies starting to float past. Horror fills him. Chris can not see this.

He is quick to get Chris facing him, although making sure that Chris is still safe and secure with where he is sitting. Soon he is playing i-spy with Chris, making sure to point out things that are high so that Chris is looking as far away from the bodies as possible.

He wonders if Robert and Harry are safe. He hopes they are. They were in the ferris wheel when the tsunami hit, meaning they were above the wave, so he hopes that means that they didn’t get caught in it and that they are still alive.
___

It takes a few seconds for them to locate where the screaming is coming from. Ravi is the first one to spot the woman standing on a boat, waving them down.

As they approach the boat Doug reminds everyone to be careful as the boat is unstable. They all then carefully get onto the boat as the woman says that her fiance and son are inside and she begs them to hurry.

As they see the injuries Maddie wonders if Buck is badly hurt right now. Her heart twists at that thought.

Eddie tries to push away thoughts of Buck, Chris, Robert and Harry. He can’t think about them right now because if he does then he knows he will fall apart. Which won’t help the people in front of him.

There is a bleeding guy on the deck of the boat so Doug tells Hen to assess him before the rest of them go into the cabin. Inside the boat things are way way worse.

“Gentlemen, can you hear me?” Chimney asks.

They hear groaning in response and as they get closer they can see that there is a pole of some sort going through the guy. Eddie looks at the exterior of the boat and realises that the antenna from the radio station pierced the hull of the boat and then it pierced them.

Both of the men are bleeding a lot and the antenna has gone through both of them and out through the bottom of the boat.

When Maddie gets closer she sees that they are skewered from the shoulder to the abdomen. It is clear to her that this is going to be a more complicated rescue.

Doug looks down. “The boat is taking on water.”

Looks of alarm cross all of their faces. “We need a plan and we need one fast,” Eddie says.

Doug nods in agreement. “Maddie,” he says, gesturing to her to follow him as he moves back on the deck to figure out an option out of ear shot of the two guys trapped.

Maddie looks at him. “Normally we’d travel them both and let the ER sort them out. If we take it out they could bleed out.” She looks down. “But if we don’t they could drown.”

Doug looks at her. “Is there any way they make it if we take it out?”

Maddie shudders. “Those chances are low.”

Doug sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Then we need to separate them from the boat. I’ll grab the tools, you go back inside and tend to our patients.”

Maddie nods and hurries back into the boat's cabin. Doug grabs the necessary tools before he goes back into the cabin and makes his way to where the two guys are. “We have a plan.”

The older guy says the only plan is to save the kid. Doug says that they will save both of them. He wonders if he is lying.

Doug gets Eddie to cover them with a blanket to protect them from sparks. He then gets Maddie and Chimney keeping an eye on the guy's vitals. He and Hen then hold up the pole and Ravi saws through it. Once they have sawed through it Ravi tosses the pole to the side.

So now they have removed the top part of the pole. But it is still going through the bottom of the boat which is fast taking on water.

Doug then tells Chimney and Maddie they need to carefully lift the two guys up so that they can cut the pole that is in between the two men. It is tricky and both men let out grunts of pain but they manage to get them separated from each other.

The younger guy who was pinned on top is now free from the boat so they get him on a gurney and Doug gets Hen and Lucy to take him. It is a distance to an ambulance as they are more inland so he gets them to use one of the boats with Lucy driving and Hen there for the medical care.

Once they have left the boat everyone remaining turns their attention to the older guy.

“Chim, Maddie, how’s he doing?” Doug asks.

“His abdomen is distended and warm. I’m pretty sure his spleen is ruptured.” Chimney shakes his head and looks up at Doug. “He’ll probably lose too much blood if we pull him off this pole.”

“Then we’ll have to cut from underneath,” Doug says.

All of them frown as they look at it.

“He’s too close to cut it from inside the boat,” Maddie says quietly.

Doug looks at her with a smile. “Which is why you will be going underneath the boat and cutting the pole from that side.”

Maddie freezes and looks at Doug. “What?”

Doug rolls his eyes. “You heard me Maddie. Chimney and Eddie, keep an eye on his vitals and let me know how he is doing. Me and Maddie will be focusing on the other side of this.”

Chimney and Eddie nod. Doug then makes his way out of the cabin and Maddie knows she has no choice but to follow him.

When they reach the deck Doug grabs the diving gear, including the mask and air tank. Maddie stares at it fearfully.

“Please Doug. I don’t know if my ribs are up for it,” she says quietly.

Doug just scoffs. “Don’t give me excuses Maddie. I know you’re just avoiding it because you’re scared of water. Well that doesn’t matter. Someone’s life is at stake. That’s more important than your silly fears.”

And he is right. She hates that he is. However knowing he is right doesn’t take away how terrified to do this she is.

Doug helps Maddie get suited up and she hates this so so much.

Once she is suited up, trembling all over, Maddie focuses on controlling her breathing before she forces herself to dive into the water, before she can overthink it too much. As soon as she is underneath she hates it so much.

At least she has air this time. Normally when she is underwater she doesn’t have air. Because normally when she is underwater it is because Doug is drowning her.

She sees more water approaching and realises it is another surge. She speaks into the radio, thankful they have a version that still allows her to communicate even when she is underwater like this, and warns everyone that another surge is coming.

Inside the boat Eddie and Chimney are quick to get the man steady and they hold him in place as the surge of water rocks the boat. Soon more water starts rushing in and Eddie has to lift up the guy's head so that he doesn’t drown.

Maddie then hears Doug’s voice coming over the radio. “The water’s coming faster Maddie. You need to hurry up or he’ll die and it’ll be your fault. Once you have finished cutting the pole, bang on the hull 3 times so that we will know when we can move him.”

“Copy that cap,” Maddie says before she then forces herself to focus on the task at hand.

Inside the boat the man stops breathing and Chimney and Eddie realise that they will have to do CPR. But that requires a flat surface. Meaning he will be underwater. But he isn’t breathing so they need to do something and fast.

Doug passes them another scuba mask. Eddie is quick to attach that to the guy’s face and Chimney starts CPR.

Maddie starts working on cutting the pole. It is kind of weird doing it under water. If a life wasn’t in danger and if being under the water wasn’t making her so claustrophobic and panicky then she might find it kind of cool.

But she is panicking and it is getting harder to focus on what she is doing. Her vision starts to dot as the panic takes over and she looks at the pole and it still hasn’t been cut through.

Just when she thinks she is about to fully lose all control of herself the pole finally cuts through. Some relief fills Maddie but it still isn’t over yet. She bangs on the hull of the boat three times and then hears Doug over the radio, clarifying with her and she tells him the pole has been cut.

She then gets out from underneath the boat as fast as possible, getting onto the deck of the boat just as Chimney and Eddie carry the guy out on a gurney.

Maddie rips the mask and diving gear off her and bursts into tears.

“Get it together Maddie,” Doug snaps.

Maddie gulps. “Sorry.”

Doug just sighs in annoyance.
____

They feel another surge coming and Buck holds onto Chris tightly as he makes sure that both of them stay on the fire engine. They hear a voice calling for help and Buck knows he should go and help them. But the water is making the fire engine start to rock and he isn’t going to risk Chris and his ability to hold on.

So as much as it pains him, Buck puts his focus on Chris and ignores the other people. He sees other people on top of the fire engine respond to the call for help and they pull him onto the fire engine as everything rocks even more. Buck hears a splash and sees one of the people who was helping the man fall into the water. The other people try to get to him but it is too late, that person has floated out of sight.

Chris starts shaking and Buck is quick to go back to playing i-spy whilst at the same time making sure that he and Chris stay firmly on top of the fire engine, where they are both safe.
____

“I got 911, finally,” the woman who was on the phone yells.

She passes the phone to Athena. Now they can hopefully get some more resources and help sent here. “This is Athena Grant, LAPD,” she says to the dispatcher. “I’m at the intersection of Brockton and Wilshire. There’s a multicar pileup with serious injuries. We’ve got water in the street and a downed transformer. I need a DWP crew right now.”

So of course dispatch tells her that all the DWP crews are busy. Which is not what Athena wants to hear. Athena tells them it isn’t going to work and says that they have a woman who is bleeding out. Dispatch says they will get resources to them when they can but that it will be a while as they are stretched thin due to the tsunami.
___

Genevieve looks at Brooke and May fearfully. Vicky’s head is flopping.

“I’ll take over Genevieve,” May says.

May puts her hand on top of Genevieve’s and then as carefully and quickly as possible Genevieve slips her hand out and May clamps her hand down, applying the pressure.

“I need you to stay with me,” May says to Vicky.

Vicky is starting to get drowsy and all three of Brooke, May and Genevieve feel scared.

“Is she going to go unconscious?” Genevieve asks quietly. “Mommy sometimes went all weird like that before she went unconscious.”

May shakes her head. “She won’t. We will keep talking to her and keep her alert. We won’t let her go unconscious.”

Genevieve nods, trembling. “Do we need to get Athena to help?”

May tries talking to Vicky but Vicky starts to slump over. May nods.

Brooke gets to the edge of the vehicle and sees water running there. She pauses, not wanting to get her feet wet. But someone’s life is at stake. She is about to put her foot on the ground to go and get Athena. But then she hears Athena yelling at her, telling her to get back in the car and that none of them are to step foot out of the car until she tells them to.

Feeling even more nervous and unsure, Brooke slowly nods and gets back in the car.

Vicky tells them that it is ok as she then closes her eyes and slumps forward. All three of them panic.

“You can’t die,” Genevieve says, tears streaming down her face. “She has to survive. People can survive bad injuries. I’ve seen it a lot. Mom has survived worse. So she can survive.” Genevieve turns and looks helplessly up at May and Brooke. “Right?”

Trying to hold back her own tears in order to try and not scare Genevieve even more, May nods. Brooke is too shaky to respond.

Finally Athena hears sirens and help starts to arrive. Once everything else is sorted out she runs back to the car where she left May, Brooke and Genevieve with Vicky.

She stills momentarily at the sight. All three girls are crying and Vicky is slumped over, not breathing.

“We tried, we really tried,” May says through sobs.

“We need to try harder,” Genevieve shouts, her hand pressing on the wound. “People can survive these injuries. I’ve seen it heaps with Mom,” she says. “She isn’t dead, she isn’t. We can’t give up. She just needs a rest from the pain but she will wake up. That’s what happens. That’s always what happens.”

Athena guides May and Brooke out of the car. She then tries to get Genevieve to let go but Genevieve is crying and screaming, saying that they can’t give up on her.

Athena knows that she should have fought Brooke and Genevieve on this. She should have made them stay in her car. She failed them by letting them see this.

When it is clear that Genevieve isn’t going to give up, Athena has to pull her away. Genevieve is kicking and screaming, so it is hard for Athena to move her away especially as Athena has to be away of Genevieve’s broken arm and hurt side.

Once they are cleared of the car the paramedics move in behind them. They get her unpinned from the steering wheel and then bring her out of the car. And then they hear a paramedic say they got a pulse.

All four of them turn to stare at it. May breaks down in heaving sobs and falls to the ground, Athena catching her just in time. Brooke is frozen in shock and just stares.

“She just needed a small rest from the pain,” Genevieve says quietly, relief on her face.

Athena turns to the paramedics. “Do you know if there is a field hospital yet?”

The paramedics tell her about one that has been set up in a currently unused hospital. Athena thanks them for telling her.

She then turns to the girls. “Let's go and get Genevieve’s arm looked at.”

All three girls look kind of numb and all of them are crying. Athena picks Genevieve up and carries her back to the car with Brooke and May walking on either side of her, staying as close to her as possible.

There is silence on the drive to the field hospital. All three girls have trauma in their eyes and Athena knows that today is going to have an impact on all of them.

Of the three girls Genevieve looks the least haunted. Even though she is 6 compared to May’s 17 and Brooke’s 13. Athena hates that it is because Genevieve is used to seeing injuries and is used to seeing Maddie in worse conditions.
____

As they get the two guys from the boat to the ambulances, dispatch informs Doug that they have set up a new field hospital so they are to send patients there.

Doug looks at Maddie and sees the way she is barely keeping herself together. “Maddie, you go with them. See if you can help them out at the field hospital.”

Maddie nods quietly.

She goes with the guys in the ambulance and then helps guide them inside the field hospital. She is about to go and ask where she can help when she hears Genevieve’s voice yelling her name.

She instinctively turns and there Genevieve is, running straight at her.

Maddie crouches down so she is at Genevieve’s level and Genevieve runs right into her, colliding with her at force as she gives her a big hug. Maddie tries to not let out a sound of pain but she fails. Her face screws up and she lets out a whimper as the force of the hug causes her broken ribs to hurt even more.

Genevieve quickly backs away. “Mom, are you hurt?”

Maddie ignores the question. “That doesn’t matter. Are you hurt?” She asks, pointedly looking at Genevieve’s arm.

“Oh yeah,” Genevieve says, looking down at her arm in slight surprise, as if she had forgotten her arm was broken. “We got into a massive car crash. Heaps of cars were in it.”

Maddie looks up and sees Athena with who she is guessing is May and Brooke. All the girls and Athena are covered in blood and Maddie’s stomach drops.

“Whose blood is that?” she asks fearfully, looking Genevieve all over, trying to find the source of the bleeding.

Genevieve shakes her head. “It’s alright Mom. It’s not mine. At the car crash a lady was bleeding a lot so we had to apply pressure. She went unconscious and stopped breathing. May and Brooke thought she had died. But I knew she just needed a rest from the pain and that she would be alright in the end. Like how you always are.”

Maddie doesn’t know how to respond to that. Athena sees her face and hurries in. “Your Mom is still on shift so I am sure she has lots more people she needs to help. Why don’t we go and get your arm sorted.”

Genevieve sighs before nodding. Genevieve and Maddie then give each other massive hugs, both of them making the most of it as they don’t know when they will next get to see each other.

And then Athena is carefully guiding Maddie’s daughter away from her. It is hard for Maddie to not break down crying the second Genevieve is out of sight.

Maddie gathers herself and moves to go and ask where she can help. But before she can she hears Doug calling her name over the radio. She sighs before bringing the radio up to her mouth.

“Yes?”

“Change of plans. The field hospital should have plenty of people and resources. Get back here and help us. We’re making our way to the ferris wheel.”

“Copy that cap,” Maddie replies.

Chapter Text

“I-spy boats!” Chris exclaims.

Buck looks where Chris is pointing and sure enough there are rescue boats coming their way.

Soon they are all being loaded onto the boats. Buck looks at the firefighters who have recused them. “My phone isn’t working but my husband is a firefighter with the 118, he’s on shift. Can you radio them to let them know that Chris and I are fine but we are searching for Harry and Robert who were on the ferris wheel when the tsunami hit.”

“Of course,” they promise. “Can you tell us your name?”

Buck nods. He’d forgotten about that.
___

“I’m here cap,” Doug hears Maddie say into the radio.

He turns and sure enough there she is, just in time as they were about to get into the boats to head out to the ferris wheel. He pats the spot next to him and Maddie is quick to sit down there.

She feels fear fill her knowing that Buck is still out there. At least Genevieve is safe but she hates that Genevieve has a broken arm. And that Genevieve had to watch a woman nearly die.

Doug hears a voice on the radio asking to speak to the captain of the 118 so he brings the radio to his ear, so that he can only hear it.

“This is the captain of the 118,” he confirms.

“Can you let firefighter Diaz know that his husband Buck and son Chris have been found safe and sound but that Robert and Harry haven’t been found yet and were on the ferris wheel at the time the tsunami hit. Buck’s phone was ruined in the tsunami so he hasn’t been able to get in contact with Eddie yet.”

Doug smiles. “Of course I’ll let him know. Thanks for updating me.”

He then puts the radio back down and turns to Eddie. “That was one of the other fire captains. Chris is safe. They found him seeking shelter on top of a fire engine. He doesn’t know where your husband is, they got separated in the tsunami. Chris also said that Robert and Harry were at the top of the ferris wheel when the tsunami hit which means we should be seeing them shortly.”

Eddie nods. Part of him is filled with relief. Chris is safe. But where is Buck? His terror remains. He looks at Maddie and sees that she is shaking. There is some comfort that he isn’t alone in his fear. But when he sees just how terrified Maddie is he wishes he was alone in his fear as he doesn’t want her to be that scared.

As they approach the ferris wheel they hear people calling for help. They see that a few other firefighters are already there.

“Help up here,” a woman yells. “My husband’s hurt.”

Doug tells the first boatload which contains Hen, Ravi and Lucy to help the guys on the lower levels of the ferris wheel. He says that the other boat which has him, Maddie, Chim, Eddie and Max will help the lady’s husband.

“Eddie,” Robert yells as he looks down and sees him. Soon Harry is also calling Eddie’s name.

Doug sighs. “Eddie, you can get the two kids down and into a rescue boat, the rest of us can focus on the lady’s husband.”

“Thanks Cap,” Eddie says.

Eddie looks at the depth of the water and the height of the ferris wheel. Considering the slipperiness of the ferris wheel and the fact that they don’t have enough ropes for everyone he reckons it will be safer for Harry and Robert to jump down, that way they won’t have a chance of getting hurt by banging into the ferris wheel. They will just be jumping into the water.

“Jump. One at a time though,” Eddie calls up.

“You go first,” Robert tells Harry.

Harry just wants to get off the ferris wheel so he nods. He looks down and Eddie tells him where to jump, saying to jump out as far as he can so that he doesn’t risk hitting the ferris wheel on his way down. Harry nods and then he is jumping. He goes down into the water and he is quick to kick his way back up to the surface. As soon as he does Eddie is next to him guiding him onto one of the rescue boats.

Once Harry has jumped Eddie then calls for Robert to jump. So he does and once he surfaces Eddie guides him to the boat.

Harry starts crying. “Buck and Chris were on the pier when the tsunami hit. Have you heard from them? We saw the wave sweep them away.”

Eddie gulps. “Chris has been found and he is safe. Buck hasn’t been found yet.”

Soon both Robert and Harry are crying. Eddie looks at them and sees that a rescue boat is set to go back to land. He asks where it will be going after that and is told they will be going to the field hospital.

Eddie looks at them. “Go with them to the field hospital and stay together. I will get in contact with someone to meet you there. Don’t leave the hospital until either Buck, I, Athena, Michael or Bobby are there. Stay together.”

Harry and Robert nod and promise that they will.

Once they are gone Eddie grabs his phone. He decides to try Athena’s number first. She answers on the first ring.

“Athena, where are you?” he asks.

“I’m at the field hospital. We got in a pile up and Genevieve’s arm got broken.”

Eddie is surprised to hear that.

“We found Robert and Harry on the Ferris Wheel and they are going with a group to the field hospital now. I told them to stay together and to not leave until either Buck, you, me, Michael or Bobby gets there. Another fire station called and told us that Chris is safe. We don’t know about Buck yet. He got separated from Chris in the tsunami.”

He hears Athena audibly gulp. “Copy that,” she says. “I’ll make sure to get Harry and Robert when they arrive. And I’ll find out which fire station has Chris and will get them to bring him here. I’ll look after all the kids and I’ll call Bobby to come out and search for Buck. You just focus on your job, I’m sure lots of people need help.”

Eddie sighs. “You’re right.”

He says bye to Athena and hangs up, putting the phone in a plastic bag before putting it back in his pocket. He then heads up the ferris wheel to help his team.
___

After harnessing up and climbing up the ferris wheel Doug and Maddie reach the gondola with the couple asking for help. Maddie’s entire body is on fire, her broken ribs not showing her any mercy during the climb, and it takes all of her strength to focus on the task at hand and not give in to the pain.

The whole ferris wheel shakes and looking at the structure it is clear that soon the whole thing is going to go. Doug is quick to speak into the radio, telling everyone that they need to evacuate everyone as soon as possible before the whole thing goes.

Eddie climbs halfway up the ferris wheel before finding someone who is scared to get down and go in the water so Eddie gets the harness out and starts to help them.

“What happened here?” Maddie asks the couple in the gondola that is near the top.

“He hit his neck when the wave came and now he can’t feel his fingers.”

Maddie exchanges a look with Doug, both of them knowing that this isn’t good.

“My arms went numb, a couple of minutes later my legs gave out,” the guy says. “Am I paralysed,” he asks, staying surprisingly calm considering the question he is asking.

“It’s too soon to tell,” Maddie says, trying to keep her voice as calm and soothing as possible.

“You said you lost sensation in your arms first and then your legs,” Maddie asks, looking for clarification.

“Yeah,” the guy replies.

“Well that might be a sign of swelling which means you bruised your neck instead of breaking it,” Maddie says.

As she finishes saying that the entire ferris wheel rocks even more. Maddie turns to Doug. “We need a backboard and we need it now.”

Doug nods, not even commenting on Maddie telling him what to do. He just radios, asking for someone to get a backboard up to him asap. He then radios for a helicopter, knowing they will need it to get the guy clear of the ferris wheel before it goes down and to also get him to a hospital as soon as possible seeing as they are looking at a possible spinal injury.

All the firefighters stationed at different points on the ferris wheel pass the backboard from one person to another until soon one of them is passing it to Doug.

Maddie puts a C collar and neck brace on the guy, in order to help him remain as immobile as possible to reduce the risk of further injury. With the help of Doug she then gets the guy onto the backboard, being as careful as possible when they do it.

Soon the guy is talking to his wife, talking about a pen and papers and saying how they were always a disaster. Maddie goes all weird and fuzzy watching the two of them sign the divorce papers. Doug lets out a low growl and grabs Maddie arm, gripping it tightly. Maddie swallows hard. She had let herself forget for a second that divorce isn’t an option for her. But how she wishes it was.

Soon they hear the sound of the helicopter above them and they are then transferring the guy onto it.

Once the guy has been lifted to safety Doug looks down and sees all the debris floating his way. He sees how the whole ferris wheel is rocking.

“We need to go now.”

He looks at Maddie and the other woman. “We’re going to have to jump.”

The other woman doesn’t hesitate. She jumps and seconds later they see her surface and other firefighters are helping her onto the rescue boats which are hurrying a bit away so that they won’t be in the path of the ferris wheel when it falls.

Doug looks at Maddie who is trembling. “Once we jump we’re going to have to swim fast so we don’t get hit by the ferris wheel when it comes down.”

Maddie just shakes even more and her eyes glaze over. Doug sighs. They don’t have time for this.

He stands behind Maddie and wraps her in his arms. Once he has a secure grip on her he jumps. Within seconds they are in the water, Maddie still in his arms. Doug kicks his way to the surface. When he surfaces he quickly checks how Maddie is doing. Her eyes are closed and she is trembling all over.

Doug hears the creaking of the ferris wheel and he looks up to see it falling. He swims as fast as he can and only just gets him and Maddie out of the way before the entire thing crashes into the water, right where he and Maddie had been only seconds earlier.

He swims the rest of the way to one of the rescue boats. Chimney helps Doug get Maddie onto the boat and then Doug climbs onto it. They then do a check to make sure that no one else is still in the water and once they have confirmed that everyone here is in one of the rescue boats they then make their way back to shore.
___

Chris is tired and so is Buck. But his phone is destroyed and he knows he needs to be able to get in contact with Eddie and everyone else.

They don’t even have his jeep as it was parked on the pier last he saw it. Even if he knows where it ended up now he knows it is probably destroyed. And he can’t exactly use his phone to call an uber. On account of his phone being destroyed.

He sees some fire fighters heading inland and hears that they are going to the field hospital. It is near one of the malls so he asks for a ride there. Once they get there Buck makes his way to the mall, carrying Christopher who is tired.

When they get there Chris says he is hungry and it has been hours since either of them have last eaten. So a phone can wait a bit longer. They make their way to the food court which is incredibly deserted and empty compared to normal. Buck assumes that is because of the tsunami.

Soon he and Chris are sitting at a table eating McDonald’s burgers and ice cream.

“Do you think Robert and Harry are ok?” Chris asks quietly.

“They were at the top of the ferris wheel. The water never reached that high,” Buck says.

Chris nods, seeming reassured by that.

Once they have eaten they go to the phone store and Buck buys a new one. When he shows them his id he is able to get the new phone on the same plan as his existing one. Much to Buck’s relief and surprise the SIM card from his old phone still works meaning that he hasn’t lost everything that was on his old phone.

The store staff help him transfer the SIM card to his new phone. He thanks them and then calls Eddie immediately. Eddie doesn’t pick up and after 3 tries Buck assumes it is due to Eddie working. He is probably busy helping people. Buck sends Eddie a text telling him that he and Chris are safe and that they are making their way home where they will wait for him.

Buck then orders an uber and eventually they get home. Once they do, Chris goes to the tv and starts playing a video game. Buck decides to call Athena to see how their day went and to update her on Robert and Harry.

She answers almost straight away.

“Buck? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. I’m safe and at home. Chris is with me as well.” Buck stops, then feeling choked up. “When the tsunami hit Harry and Robert were at the top of the ferris wheel but that was the last I have seen or heard of them. I’m sorry, I don’t know where they are, I should have looked after them better, I should have一”

“Buck,” Athena cuts him off. “Robert and Harry are safe. Eddie spoke to me when they were responding to the ferris wheel and he sent Robert and Harry to the makeshift field hospital. They are there with May, Brooke, Genevieve and I. We have just finished up here so I will come over to your house.”

Buck sighs in relief. Him and Athena hang up and Buck makes his way to Chris. “Robert and Harry are safe. Athena is with them. She is going to bring them and all the girls over here. They should be here soon.”

“We should make something for them to eat in case they are hungry,” Chris says.

“That’s a good idea Chris. We don’t know when any of them last ate.”

So Buck and Chris head to the kitchen. Chris organises snacks and Buck works on making something a bit more substantial. He has just finished cooking when there is a knock on the door.

He makes his way to open it and soon everyone is piling inside. Buck stares at Genevieve. Her arm is now broken and in a cast.

“What happened to your arm?” He asks.

“There was a big car crash. A car smashed into us and lots of cars crashed into other cars,” Genevieve says, sounding remarkably calm about the whole thing.

“Because of the tsunami no one else came for ages. We had to hold pressure on the wound of someone who was bleeding out,” May says.

“I thought she was dead,” Brooke says.

“Me too,” May says, trembling slightly.

“I knew she wasn't dead,” Genevieve says quietly. “She just needed a small rest from the pain. That happens a lot with Mommy which is why I knew she would be alright. Mommy always is and she is normally hurt way more than the lady today was.”

Buck doesn’t know how to process that information. Athena sees the food and tells the kids to take the snacks to the living room. Once they are gone she turns to Buck. “Are you alright?”

Buck tries to take a few breaths and struggles. Athena guides him to a chair and Buck sits down on it. Athena guides him through his breathing and eventually Buck can breathe normally again.
___

The rest of their shift ends up being very busy and longer than normal due to what happened. Maddie spends the entire shift trying to focus on her job but getting more and more scared about Buck. It doesn’t help that as the day progresses they see more and more bodies.

At one point they get sent to a call where the leakage in the water along with a lamp sparking resulted in an explosion. Which is when they discover that a building had a gas leak. That is a hard call. They have to use the full gas protection face masks with O2 when they go into that building. They find many people in the building. Every single one of them is dead. There must have been a gas leak at some stage that no one caught as they were so busy with the tsunami.

Soon after that depressing call dispatch lets them know that they can finally finish their shift. All of them are exhausted when they pull into the station. Doug sends everyone else home but gets him and Maddie to stay for a bit longer. The two of them are quiet as they work on restocking everything and cleaning the trucks.

Maddie is almost falling asleep as she stumbles along to do what Doug instructs. And now that the adrenaline of the rescues has faded all she feels is fear. Pure fear. She can’t cope with another brother dying. She needs Buck to be alive. But Doug has kept in contact with other fire captains and the field hospital and hasn’t heard anything. She knows Doug only kept on checking for Eddie’s sake, not hers. But Doug hasn’t heard anything about Buck all day and now she is so so terrified.
___

Eddie is exhausted by the time he gets home. And scared. They still haven’t heard anything from Buck. However he knows that Chris needs to be his priority.

When he opens the door the first thing Eddie hears is Buck’s voice and relief fills his body.

He rushes into the house and gives Buck a massive hug. He then turns and sees Chris and Genevieve and he gives both of them big hugs as well.

“I’m so relieved that all of you are ok,” Eddie says.

All of them hug even harder and they stay in one big group hug for a few minutes, although everyone makes sure to be mindful of Genevieve’s broken arm.

It is clear that all of them are tired and soon Chris and Genevieve start yawning.

“Time for bed,” Buck announces.

Chris and Genevieve start protesting even though it is obvious how tired they both are.

Buck shakes his head. “I let you both stay up later than normal, until Eddie was home like you asked. But he is home now and you have seen him.”

“I don’t want to sleep alone,” Chris says quietly.

“Same,” Genevieve whispers.

“The two of you could sleep in the same room,” Eddie suggests.

Chris and Genevieve look at each other briefly before nodding. Soon they are both making their way into Genevieve’s room as she has the slightly bigger bed. Eddie and Buck settle the two of them in, with Genevieve on the right side so that her broken arm is on the edge of the bed and isn’t at risk of being accidentally bumped by Christopher.

Buck tells them a bedtime story and both Chris and Genevieve fall asleep before it is done. Eddie gently tucks the blankets around them and then they carefully leave the room before making their way to the living room.

Buck and Eddie collapse onto the couch next to each other.

“I’m so relieved you’re ok,” Eddie says to Buck. “It was a terrifying day. From the moment I found out about the tsunami to the moment I arrived home and finally set eyes on you I was terrified that I would never see you again.”

Buck sits up, feeling slightly confused. “Did you not get told when Chris and I were safe? I asked them to tell you.”

Eddie frowns. “One of the other captains told Doug that Chris was safe but that Chris had said he got separated from you in the tsunami and that Robert and Harry were on the ferris wheel when the tsunami hit. We were just reaching the ferris wheel at that stage so I soon saw Robert and Harry.”

Buck gasps. “You spent the whole day worried I was dead? Chris and I never got separated. I was with him the whole time. When they radioed saying that Chris was safe they also told him that I was safe.”

“So Doug lied,” Eddie says.

Buck nods, anger on his face. “I know he hates me. But he made you spend longer than you had to being terrified I was dead. That is so cruel. I know he’s a horrible person but I am still surprised he would sink that low.”

Eddie goes pale.

“What is it?” Buck asks, feeling worried.

“Maddie,” Eddie says quietly and Buck feels his heart sink.

“Maddie spent the whole day terrified for you from the moment we found out there was a tsunami and I said you were at the pier today. Both her and I struggled to keep it together all day because of how scared about you we were. But I think she struggled more. She actually passed out from fear at one point, when she first heard that you were at the pier. And she doesn’t even know that you are safe. Doug knows. But we both know he won’t tell her that you are safe.”

Buck buries his head in his hands as he tries to not cry. “We don’t even have a way of letting her know I’m safe. She won’t be able to find out until your next shift so she is going to spend that entire time terrified I could be dead.” Buck gasps in horror as he has a new thought. “What if Doug just completely lies and tells her I’m dead?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Surely he wouldn’t do that. After all, he knows his lie would eventually be found out.”

But Eddie doesn’t sound sure of what he is saying.

Both Eddie and Buck end up sitting there in silence. They had spent their day scared for each other. But now they are back to the fear they are more used to, a fear for Maddie.
____

Maddie feels completely drained when they finally get home. But now her adrenaline has gone and her fear is eating her alive. And she doesn’t dare voice her fear, knowing that Doug hates her brother.

“Let’s go to bed, that was an insane shift,” Doug says as he passes her and makes his way upstairs.

Maddie stands frozen in place. She starts shaking and she wraps her arms around herself. Buck can’t be dead. He can’t be dead. But what if he is? How is she supposed to continue if he is? She can barely continue living as it is. She only lives so that Doug doesn’t kill Buck and Genevieve. But now Buck might be dead anyway.

“Maddie, are you coming?”

Maddie jumps and looks up at Doug who is now ready for bed. How much time has passed since they entered the house?

He looks at her. “You’re shaking. Why are you shaking? It isn’t cold?”

She stares up at him in his direction but finds herself looking through him. She never got over losing Daniel and she knows she won’t get over this either. Why does her life keep on trying to take away the few good things she still has left.

She starts crying and shaking even harder.

Doug slaps her in the face and Maddie doesn’t care. He pins her against the wall and she is just so scared that her brother might be dead.

He drags her to the basement and her mind is filled with horrifying images of her brother’s body.

He pulls out the blow torch and Maddie knows she should be scared of it. She knows how much it hurts. But her brother might not be in this world anymore and that hurts more than a blow torch ever could.

Doug slaps her in the face. “LOOK AT ME,” he yells. Maddie tries to focus on where she is. But it doesn’t matter. Her brother could be dead. So the only thing that still matters is Genevieve.

Doug slaps her again. “LOOK AT ME MADDIE. NOT THROUGH ME BUT AT ME.”

She can sense growing rage in his voice and realises that if Doug kills her then she won’t be able to go to Buck’s funeral. And that thought is the only thing that allows her to look at Doug.

“Finally,” he growls.

“You’re scared that your pathetic little brother died in the tsunami. Aren’t you?” he snaps.

Maddie shakes and just stares at him.

“AREN’T YOU?” he demands.

Maddie nods.

Doug glares at her. “Well you seem even more scared of that than you are of me. You didn’t even get scared when I got out the blow torch.”

She wasn’t aware he noticed that.

Doug grabs the blow torch. And whilst she is scared of it, everything dulls in comparison to her fear for her brother so she barely feels any fear about the risk of Doug using the blow torch on her.

“He’s alive,” Doug says.

Maddie stares at him, hope flooding through her eyes. “He is?” She asks, her voice breaking.

Doug nods. “I found out when we were at the ferris wheel. At the same time we found out their son Chris was alive. I lied. Chris never got separated from your stupid brother. They were with each other the whole time.”

Pure relief fills Maddie. Her brother is safe. Her brother is alive. She breathes out, feeling peace fill her.

Doug slaps her in the face and pulls out the blow torch. This time pure fear fills her body. How was she not scared earlier? She feels a puddle form and embarrassment fills her when she realised she wet herself. She starts shaking. “Please Doug, please.”

He stares at her intently, studying her fear. And then he is punching her hard in the ribs and Maddie screams as her already broken ribs are attacked.

Doug turns to her as he slams her to the ground and puts his fingers around her neck and he begins squeezing. Maddie’s body automatically struggles as she tries to pry his fingers away so that she can breathe. She looks up at Doug and pure terror fills her when she sees the determination in his eyes. Is he going to kill her this time? For spending the whole day thinking about her brother. She realises he might and as everything becomes blurry she starts to cry.

When she comes to, Doug slaps her in the face.

“HOW DARE YOU MADDIE! HOW DARE YOU.”

He glares at her, his face an ugly shade of red and then purple. Maddie starts shaking even harder. She is used to seeing his face turn red. But it is very rare he gets so angry that he turns purple.

He speaks again, this time his voice quiet but dangerous. “Before you knew he was safe you were more scared that your pathetic little brother was dead than you were of me. Meaning you were putting your brother first. Not me. How dare you. I should scare you more than the thought of your brother dying. But you were so scared about someone as worthless as him that you weren’t scared of me, even when I threatened the blow torch. You only became scared of me the way you should be once you knew he was safe. How dare you betray me.”

Maddie stares up at Doug feeling confusion and disbelief. Huh?

He laughs seeing the new expression on her face. “My poor confused Maddie,” he says as he reaches his hand down and cups her cheek. Maddie gulps. She has no clue what is going to happen next.

He gets off her and yells at her to sit up. Maddie is quick to do so. He then walks to the corner of the basement where there is a tarp covering a pile of things. Maddie has never seen what is underneath that tarp.

He walks around to the side out of her reach and lifts up one edge of the tarp. She hears him pulling a few things out from underneath the tarp before he walks over to her. Maddie’s stomach drops when she sees what he is holding.

“Clothes off,” he snaps.

Maddie is quick to obey.

He then grabs her hands and is quick to zip tie them together, doing it painfully tight.

He then grabs a dog collar and a dog leash and Maddie just stares at them. Knowing that considering they don’t have a dog he must have brought it just to use on her makes her pain and hurt increase.

He yanks her head forward and secures the dog collar around it. He then attaches it to the leash.

“Should we go for a walk?” He asks, using the tone of voice someone would use when speaking to a dog.

Maddie stares at him as tears start to fall down her face.

Doug yanks the collar and Maddie yelps at the pain in her neck when he does that. It is clear that she has no choice but to follow.

She takes a few steps and Doug shakes his head. “On all fours. Like a dog.”

Shaking Maddie slowly gets down. But when she tries to move, the zip ties on her hands make it almost impossible for her to. Doug sighs. He disappears upstairs and returns with a pair of scissors which he uses to cut the zip tie.

He then spends an hour walking all around the house, dragging Maddie along by pulling harshly on the leash, making her move at a pace she can barely keep up with. By the end of it she is sobbing and her knees and legs have horrific carpet burn.

“I’m hungry considering we didn’t end up eating all shift. I’m sure you are as well,” Doug announces.

When Doug says that Maddie realises she is hungry. But she sees a glint in Doug’s eyes and she stills, knowing he has something planned and that whatever it is she won’t like it.

Doug places the leash around the leg of a chair. Maddie could undo it but she knows better.

Doug whistles as heads to the kitchen, keeping the light in the room that Maddie is in off.

Maddie sits in the dark by herself for 30 minutes before Doug returns and turns the light on. When he returns he is carrying two plates of food. He places one on the table and then one underneath the table, right underneath the other plate.

Maddie’s cheeks burn red. She knows which plate is for her.

Doug grabs the leash and moves it so that she is secured to the leg of the chair he is sitting at. He then yanks her arms behind her back and zip ties them together. Maddie sobs.

Doug doesn’t have to tell her what is required. Sobbing the whole way through it Maddie reluctantly gets down on her knees and leans forward. She has to basically smash her face into the food to even get any of it down. Doug’s plate was roast chicken with vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. Maddie’s plate is just mashed potatoes and gravy.

Her face gets messy as she eats and she cries even harder. But she doesn’t have another option as she is hungry and she knows that if she doesn’t eat this then Doug will use it as an opportunity to punish her or as an excuse to starve her.

Once she has finished Doug gets up and then returns with a dog bowl full of water. Maddie starts crying even harder. Considering they don’t have a dog she knows it is another thing he purchased purely for the purpose of humiliating her.

She cries as she drinks the water, hating how in order to drink it, water gets into her nose which causes her to panic.

She has almost finished drinking when Doug shoves her face fully into the dog bowl. Maddie starts panicking as her lungs burn and her body starts the fight for air.

When Doug releases his grip Maddie surfaces from the bowl with a gasp. She is still thirsty but she is too scared to drink anymore.

“Have you had enough to eat and drink?” Doug asks.

All Maddie can do is nod.

“Then let’s finish our walk,” he says.

He grabs the leash again and undoes the zip ties. Maddie doesn’t attempt to stand. She just gets back on her hands and knees and cries the whole way as Doug drags her back down to the basement.

Once she gets there Doug pulls the tarp away and for the first time Maddie sees what is underneath the tarp.

It is a fully set up dog crate. An empty one that is on the smaller side. She can see that it will be a tight fit and that she will have to be squashed up small to fit inside and she will barely be able to stretch or move.

Maddie’s heart sinks even further. Doug laughs when he sees the look on her face. He lets go of the leash and Maddie reluctantly crawls over to the dog crate. Doug smiles at her obedience.

He opens the cage door and pulls Maddie’s arms behind her back and zip ties them together. He then grabs her ankles and zip ties them. He removes the leash but keeps the collar on her before he shoves her into the dog crate and closes and locks the door behind her.

He then makes his way to the end of the basement and walks up the stairs whistling as he goes. When he reaches the top of the stairs he turns off the light and closes and locks the door behind him.

The space she is in is way too small and she feels claustrophobic. Having her arms and legs restrained doesn’t help. Her entire body is in pain and Maddie feels completely humiliated and worthless. Maddie starts crying and she is still crying when she finally falls into an exhausted sleep.

Chapter Text

On their first shift after the tsunami Eddie is on alert. The second Doug goes into his office Eddie hurries over to Maddie.

“Buck’s ok, he survived the tsunami," he says.

Maddie gives him a small nod. “Thanks for telling me,” she says as she looks around anxiously, clearly worried about Doug spotting Eddie talking to her.

Eddie frowns. Considering how terrified Maddie was on the day of the tsunami, he was expecting to see visible relief from Maddie. Maddie looks up and sees his confusion.

“Doug told me,” she says quietly. “Although it is good to have it confirmed from you considering that I know Doug lies to me. So thanks for telling me.”

She gives him a small smile before hurrying away from him and heading over to the ambulance where she begins restocking it with Chimney.

Maddie and Chimney are partway through restocking the ambulance when Doug comes out and asks Maddie if he can speak with her in his office. Maddie has no clue what he wants but she follows him anyway, knowing better than to question him.

Once they are inside he closes and locks the door and Maddie gulps. He only ever locks the door if he plans on hurting her. Otherwise he settles with just closing it.

“Did you speak to Eddie at all today? Have you mentioned his husband?”

Maddie trembles and looks at the floor. “Yes. Sorry. Eddie came up to me as he wanted to make sure I knew his husband was alive. I said you had already told me that he was. Then I walked away from him.”

Doug grabs her chin and forces her head up so that she is looking at him. “So he approached you and brought the subject up. You told him you already knew and then you walked away. Is that correct?”

Maddie nods, starting to shake a bit.

Doug smiles and releases her. “Good Maddie. That is the way I expect you to handle it if Eddie tries mentioning his husband to you.”

Doug pulls her forward again and kisses her on the head. He pulls away when they hear a knock on his office door. Doug sighs and makes his way over to the door. He opens it and Chimney is on the other side.

“What do you need Chimney?” Doug asks in a casual tone.

Chimney looks at Maddie. “Two people walked in. They asked to see Maddie.”

Maddie frowns in confusion. Who would want to see her? The only people in her life are Doug, Buck and Genevieve. And she knows Buck and Genevieve wouldn’t come here. Buck knows what would happen if Doug sees him.

“What do they look like?” Doug asks.

“They’re an older couple,” Chimney says. “The lady has blonde hair and the guy has grey hair.”

Maddie freezes and looks at Doug, pure panic on her face.

“No, no, no! I don’t want to see them.”

She starts shaking and she clings onto Doug’s side. Chimney looks at them in alarm.

“Should I ask them to leave?” He says, his voice unsure as he looks back and forth between Maddie and Doug.

Doug turns to Maddie. “If you hear them out then we can find out whatever they want and then they will leave. You know they will pester you until you give them what they want. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”

Maddie sighs. Doug is right.

Maddie puts her arm around Doug, knowing she will need any support she can get. Doug wraps his arm around her and Maddie takes a deep breath.

They walk out of the office together and there Maddie sees two people she hasn’t seen in years. Her parents.

“Maddie,” her mom says. “It’s good to see you.”

Maddie just stares at her. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t speak to your mother that way,” Phillip snaps. “We’re your parents. We can come and visit you if we want to.”

Eddie feels horror fill him. These are Maddie’s parents and Buck’s biological parents? He sends a quick text on the family group chat consisting of him, Buck, Bobby, Athena and Michael, letting them all know that Maddie’s parents have ambushed her and are currently at the 118.

Maddie glares at her parents. “You cut me off when I chose to marry Doug. I haven’t heard from you since. So if you’re here then you must want something. So what do you want?”

“Don’t be that way Maddie,” Margaret says. “Besides, we cut you off because you were making a terrible mistake by marrying Doug.”

Maddie feels Doug stiffen behind her and she gulps. Although her mom isn’t wrong. Marrying Doug was a mistake. Maddie wishes she had never married him. But she isn’t going to let her mom know that.

“I love Doug and he loves me,” Maddie says fiercely, leaning in closer to him. “If marrying him was such a mistake then we would be divorced by now. And we aren’t. Because he is the right person for me and I will spend the rest of my life with him.”

Maddie inwardly cringes and she hates herself with every word she says. But Margaret takes a small step back and that feels like a victory.

“What do you want?” Maddie repeats, her tone icier than anyone in the room has ever heard from her.

“Maddie,” Phillip tries, going for a softer tone. “You should be kinder to your mom. She is unwell.”

Doug lets out a harsh laugh. Her parents turn and glare at him.

“We’re talking to our daughter, not you,” Margaret snaps.

Doug rolls his eyes. “Let me guess, you’re here to ask Maddie for body parts. To donate an organ. After not caring about her for years you come crawling back when you need something from her.”

Maddie’s parents go red. Eddie senses that this might get ugly so he messages Athena, asking her to make her way here and wait outside on standby so that if he needs her he can message and she will be there in seconds. Athena messages back saying that she is on her way. Buck is already with Athena so he messages back saying he is coming too, which worries Eddie a bit but he decides to not say anything in response to that.

“Maddie,” Margaret says.

Maddie stares at her. “Is Doug right? Are you just here to ask me for a body part?”

Her parents go red and don’t answer. Doug scoffs again. “They clearly are. The only reason they care about their kids is for body parts. We all know that’s the only reason they had Evan. To try and save their precious little Daniel. But it didn’t work as the world knew they didn't deserve to be parents so Daniel died.”

Margaret lunges forward and slaps Maddie on the face. “You told him about Daniel?” she hisses. “You know better than that Maddie.”

The room fills with gasps after Margaret hits Maddie. Everyone else in the room is trying to understand what is going on, working with only part of the information. Eddie and Chimney are the only ones who know about Daniel so have the information required to understand a bit more of what is happening. Eddie updates the chat, saying that Maddie’s mom just hit her. Buck spams the chat with angry emojis.

Doug pulls Maddie behind him. “Don’t hit my wife,” he says, his voice low and threatening.

Maddie could almost laugh. He doesn’t want other people to hit her yet he has no problem doing it himself. Still, she is grateful that he is sticking up for her.

Margaret just rolls her eyes. “If she would just behave then I wouldn’t need to hit her.”

Maddie flinches, those words sounding way too similar to ones she hears almost daily from Doug.

“I told him about Daniel because he’s my husband,” Maddie says shakily. “I don’t keep secrets from my husband.”

She takes another breath and her voice is firmer the next time she speaks. “What body part do you need?”

Margaret gives an incredulous scoff. “How do you know that’s what I want?”

“Margaret,” Phillip says gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“What body part?” Maddie repeats.

“She needs a kidney,” Phillip says.

Maddie bursts out laughing. A kidney.

“No,” she says, still laughing. Of course they would need the body part she no longer has. This is the first time she has enjoyed the fact that she now only has one kidney.

“Don’t be an ungrateful brat,” Margaret snaps. “We gave you life. We raised you and your brothers and loved you and Daniel. The least you can give me in return is a kidney.”

Maddie laughs even harder. “You didn’t raise me. I raised myself. And you definitely didn’t raise Evan. From the moment Daniel got sick you ignored me and you’ve ignored Evan his whole life. I had to raise Evan and I was the only one who cared about him. You were his parents, you should have cared for him and loved him. Do you not remember how he could have died when he was 6 because I had an exam I couldn’t miss which I told you about several times but you still couldn’t be bothered to look after him or even cook for him so when he got hungry he tried to make himself something and almost burnt the house down including himself? Or what about all the times he was so desperate for your love and attention that he would hurt himself so that you would actually care about him. And you say you loved Daniel and me? Then you should have let us talk about Daniel after he died. You know he wanted to be remembered. You know the thing that scared him the most about dying was the worry that everyone would forget him. So you should have kept his memory alive. Instead after he died you moved us away from everyone who cared about us and told me never to speak about Daniel again. You say you loved me. Then why did you slap me every time I dared to mention my brother’s name until I got too scared to mention his name. I was 9. You didn’t let me grieve my brother and then I was too busy raising my other brother to have a childhood of my own. I don’t owe you anything, especially not a body part.”

For a moment the firehouse is filled with silence, everyone just in complete shock.

When everyone unpauses, Margaret runs forward and starts hitting Maddie several times. Maddie just stands there, unmoving. Eventually Phillip pulls Margaret off Maddie.

Maddie laughs again. “Great persuasion tactics if you want me to give you one of my kidneys. Hitting me is a great way to go.”

The sarcasm in her voice is so heavy that no one could miss it.

Margaret glares at Maddie. “Sure, maybe we weren’t always there for you after Daniel died. But you don’t understand that kind of loss, what losing your child does to you.”

Maddie feels all the breath get sucked out of her. She lets out a strangled sound and takes a couple of steps back, shaking all over. She feels tears prick her eyes. Now is not the time to think about Genevieve. But now all she can think about is Genevieve and how much she misses her.

Doug’s arm around her grips on even tighter and Maddie tries to use the feel of his arm to ground herself. Doug is on her side. She has her own set of problems with him but right now she knows he is on her side. So she can use his support to help her get through this.

“You’re a terrible daughter,” Margaret starts yelling. She starts yelling more and more vile comments at Maddie and Maddie starts shaking, trembling harder with each new thing her mom says. All the words mesh together, her mom’s words combining with her words of the past and with Doug’s words. That she’s useless, a mess, that she ruins everything, that if she would just listen then things would be easier.

Eventually it is too much for Maddie and she cuts her mom off, needing the words to stop.

“Did you even wonder why I said no to giving you a kidney?”

Margaret pauses mid rant. “Of course I didn’t. You’re selfish.”

Maddie trembles slightly. “I only have one kidney. So it isn’t possible for me to donate one to you.”

Margaret scoffs. “Really Maddie. I would think you could come up with a better lie.”

“I’m not lying,” Maddie says softly.

Margaret rolls her eyes. “Then how did it happen?”

Maddie feels Doug’s grip on her turn to a warning grip. “Around a year ago I got shot during a call.”

Doug’s grip relaxes and goes back to a comforting one rather than a warning one.

“The bullet hit my right kidney.”

“Oh,” Margaret says quietly. She then shrugs. “I guess we can see if your brother is a match.”

Maddie growls in anger. “No you won’t. You’re not his parents, you’re just his egg and sperm donor. Leave him alone.”

Margaret scoffs. “Or what?”

Athena’s voice sounds as she enters the firehouse. “Or I’ll arrest you for assaulting your daughter in her place of work.”

Margaret rolls her eyes. “I didn’t assault her.”

Athena turns to everyone that is there. “Who saw her hit Maddie multiple times?”

Everyone in the room apart from Phillip raises their hands.

Athena turns back to Margaret. “I suggest the two of you leave this fire house and this city. If you bother either Maddie or Evan again I’ll have you arrested.”

Margaret leaves angrily, Phillip trailing after her.

As soon as they are gone Maddie’s legs buckle underneath her and she bursts into tears. Doug catches her and gently lowers her to the ground. Maddie flings herself at him and wraps her arms around him as tightly as she can. Doug puts his arms around her and holds her.

Doug then looks up at Athena. “Can you call dispatch and ask them to give us an hour offline?”

Athena nods and is quick to sort that out.

Doug rubs Maddie’s back soothingly. “It’s alright. I’m here. They’re gone now.”

But then they hear shouting coming from outside. Maddie tenses up. They hear Buck’s voice as well as Margaret’s voice. Eddie pales before running out of the door heading in the direction of the voices.

Athena runs out that way and gets there just in time to witness Margaret slapping Buck in the face. Within seconds she has Margaret in handcuffs. As Athena is off duty she calls in a police unit.

While they wait for them to arrive Athena suggests to Eddie to get Buck away from Margaret. Eddie looks hesitant, worried about the Doug of it all.

Chimney then appears where they are. “Doug said that just this once Buck is allowed in the same room as Maddie but that they can’t talk to each other, he is only allowing it because he doesn’t think anyone should have to be near Margaret Buckley.”

Buck and Eddie exchange glances, not sure if Doug is lying, not wanting to take the risk of Doug taking this out on Maddie later. But then Margaret looks at Buck and starts screaming at him so Buck is quick to enter the firehouse, Eddie at his side.

When Buck enters he sees the way Maddie is crying and clinging onto Doug for dear life. Doug looks up at Buck and it is the first time ever in all the years Buck has known Doug that Doug has looked at Buck without glaring at him. Which feels odd and Buck feels like his day is just getting weirder and weirder.

They can still hear Margaret yelling from outside and Buck hates the way Maddie flinches each time Margaret yells another sentence.

Doug looks in that direction and it is clear he isn’t happy about it either. He picks Maddie up and carries her to his office. He gently places her on the couch. Maddie is quick to pull her knees in and wrap her arms around her legs. She then rests her head on her knees and starts crying even harder, her whole body shaking with the intensity of her sobbing.

Doug gets onto the couch next to her and holds her tightly. Maddie leans against his side, desperately needing his comfort.
____

The firehouse feels filled with silence, all of them in shock by what they just witnessed.

They are still in silence a few minutes later when Athena comes back inside. “They’re gone now,” she says looking at Buck.

She looks around. “Where’s Maddie?”

“Doug took her to his office,” Ravi says quietly.

Buck looks down. “I should probably go before they come back out. Doug will probably change his mind about letting me be here.”

“Are you alright?” Eddie asks him quietly, making sure that no one else can hear.

Buck shrugs. Eddie sighs before giving Buck a hug. He then looks up at Athena and she nods, Eddie not having to verbalise his request. She will not leave Buck by himself. She will make sure that he has support.

And then Buck and Athena are gone and just the 118 remain.

“Their parents are horrible,” Ravi eventually says.

“I hate them,” Eddie says. “I have for years due to knowing Buck’s side of things. But learning Maddie’s side as well just makes them even worse.”

Everyone nods in agreement.

“Did she actually lose her kidney when Lola shot her?” Max asks in confusion.

Chimney shakes his head.

“So was she lying? Does she still have both her kidneys?” Lucy asks.

Chimney shakes his head again. There is confused silence for a few minutes before horror fills their faces.

“Was it Doug?” Max asks.

Chimney nods. And the feeling in the room just gets even heavier.

“Today’s the most supportive towards Maddie I’ve ever seen Doug be,” Hen eventually says.

“Well he hates her parents,” Chimney says. “Maddie told me that.”

“Well I guess that is the one thing I have in common with him then,” Eddie says, a bitter look on his face. “We both hate her parents.”

They end up talking for a bit more before drifting off in different directions, although it is clear that all of them are still thinking about what they just witnessed.

The bells don’t go off for a couple more hours. Doug and Maddie don’t emerge from Doug’s office until then. When they do, everyone can see that Maddie’s cheeks are tear stained and her eyes are red and watery.

Maddie makes her way to the passenger seat so Chimney jumps into the driver's seat.

“Do you want a distraction or do you want to talk about it?” Chimney asks.

There is a pause before Maddie shrugs.

“Eddie said he has now found the one thing he and Doug have in common,” Chimney says.

Maddie looks at him curiously. “What is it?” she asks, after a silence.

“They both hate your parents,” Chimney replies.

Maddie gives a small smile. “I think I might hate them as well. I’m not sure. They are still my parents. But I do hate the way they treated Buck when he was growing up. And how they treated Daniel’s memory.”

Chimney notices how Maddie is excluding herself from that even when it is clear that her parents also treated her badly as well. But he doesn’t point that out.

Maddie lets out a shaky breath. “Hopefully I never have to see them again. They now know I only have one kidney so it’s not like I’m of any use to them.”

“When did you last see them?” Chimney asks curiously.

Maddie sighs. “When they were yelling at me, telling me not to marry Doug.” She shrugs again. “They were right that marrying him was a mistake. But I would still choose Doug over my parents. Doug may hurt me but at least he loves me. And he helped me get away from my parents.”

There is another pause before Maddie speaks again, this time her voice is impossibly quiet and fragile. “I think my parents don’t love me.”

And then Maddie starts crying. They pull onto the scene at that exact moment and Chimney could kick himself. Maddie had managed to stop crying so of course he had to bring up the subject matter that had made her so upset.

When they get out of the ambulance Doug looks at them and sees Maddie crying. “What happened?” he asks.

“Her parents,” Chimney says.

Doug sighs but nods in understanding before going over to Maddie. “Why don’t you stay in the ambulance for this call, sit this one out.”

Maddie gives a grateful nod. Doug gently guides her back into the ambulance and then turns his attention to the call at hand.

Which appears to be a fire drill. Not a real fire or emergency. Just a tall building with a fire drill.

All of them are kind of annoyed to be sent out on a fire drill, especially on a day where they could have done with a longer break before being sent on a call.

“That’s the biggest damn fire I’ve never seen,” Chimney says as they stare up at the building. Doug laughs a bit at that comment before directing everyone to what they need to do, which is basically just helping everyone evacuate.

The fire marshal comes up to Doug and starts saying how they took longer than their allocated response time to get on scene and how the 144 got there on time.

“The 144 is only five blocks away, we had traffic to get through,” Doug says, getting angry when the fire marshal says that they still should have been faster. Doug growls with irritation. He can’t control traffic.

Suddenly there is lots of screaming and everyone on the stairs falls, like a series of human dominos. And now this isn’t just an annoying fire drill. Now there are potential injuries and a lot more paperwork.

Doug groans. “Eddie, Hen, Chimney, start triaging, checking levels of injuries. Max, Ravi and Lucy, get everyone who isn’t injured to continue with evacuating the building. I’ll go get Maddie so she can help with triage.”

Doug makes his way back to the ambulance where Maddie is. She jumps when he opens the door and it is clear that she had been in a world of her own. Doug gives her an apologetic smile. “We need you to help with triage. Everyone that was lined up on the stairs turned into human dominos and lots of people have fallen over.”

“Human dominos?” Maddie says quietly.

Doug nods. “It was kind of funny to see.”

Maddie doesn’t say anything in response. She just gets out and follows him.

The triage goes pretty smoothly. In the end they have mostly minor injuries, with the main person that they need to check being the guy who had the epileptic seizure and accidentally triggered the human dominos.

As they wheel him into the ambulance a lawyer comes up and tries to start talking to their patient. Doug rolls his eyes. “Human vultures, that’s what lawyers are,” he says quietly so that only Maddie can hear. “Just like your parents. They’re also human vultures.”

Maddie stiffens before letting out a small giggle. “They are,” she agrees.

Doug can see that Maddie is still a little bit shaky so he drives the ambulance, with Maddie next to him and Chimney in the back. He sends everyone else back to the fire station and after they have taken their patient to the hospital they make their way back to the station.

When they walk back inside the station Maddie freezes.

“What are you doing back here?” Doug asks.

Phillip holds his hands up placatingly. “I just want to talk to Maddie.”

Doug scoffs. “I think Margaret said enough for the both of you. You should go.”

Phillip turns to Maddie. “Please Maddie, can you just hear me out?”

Maddie shakes slightly and looks up at Doug. She doesn’t know if she wants to hear her dad out so a part of her hopes that Doug says she can’t so that she doesn’t have to make that decision.

“Do you want to?” Doug asks quietly, so that only Maddie can hear.

“I, I, I don’t know,” Maddie whispers.

“Well I’m going to head to my office to start on the paperwork from the human dominos. It is up to you,” Doug says, before then walking off in the direction of his office. Maddie watches him go, wishing he would stay here.

“Maddie,” Phillip says as he steps closer to her. Maddie flinches and takes a few steps back. Chimney steps in between them.

Phillip’s eyes widen in alarm. “Maddie. I would never hurt you. I just want to talk.”

“What about?” Maddie whispers.

Phillip looks around, at their audience of people. “Can’t we talk somewhere private?”

Maddie freezes even more. Somewhere private. She knows her dad has never physically hurt her. But she doesn’t trust it as in general, talks in private have never ended well for her.

Chimney looks at Maddie protectively, clearly ready to follow Maddie’s lead. Maddie looks at her dad and much to her surprise she sees concern in his eyes. Which is what leads her to nod.

“We can talk in the locker room. I know it’s see through but it is sound proof.”

Phillip nods. Chimney and everyone else seems reassured by the fact that they will be able to see them even if they can’t hear them.

Maddie enters the room first and then Phillip comes in behind her but he sits down in a spot far away from the door so that Maddie still has a clear path to the door. Which helps her breathe easier.

“What do you want?” she asks quietly. “Are you here to tell me that I’m a bad daughter for being shot so no longer having a kidney to give to Mom.”

Horror fills Phillip’s eyes and he is quick to shake his head. “Getting shot isn’t your fault,” he says.

Maddie just laughs bitterly and when Phillip looks at her Maddie can’t read the look in his eyes.

“After your mom got arrested I looked online and found an article about you getting shot. The article confirmed that you got shot in the kidney, however it said that you were able to keep your kidney. Why would you lie about that?”

Maddie trembles slightly and wraps her arms around her. “I didn’t lie,” she says quietly. “I did get shot in the kidney. I never said that was how I lost my kidney. I just told the story of being shot there and you connected the dots wrong.”

“So how did you lose the kidney then?” Phillip asks.

Maddie shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to tell you. That’s why I told you about getting shot. What do you want?”

“I’m sorry for not letting you talk about Daniel. And for making you have to raise Evan.”

Maddie just stares at him before scoffing. “An apology years later doesn’t change anything.”

“I know,” Phillip says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a few photos. Maddie gasps and tears come to her eyes. “Daniel,” she says quietly, as her fingers reach out and gently stroke the edges of the photos.

Confusion then fills her. “I thought you and Mom got rid of all of Daniel’s things and every photo of him.”

Phillip shakes his head. “Your Mom tried to. I managed to keep back and hide a few photos of him.” He passes them to her. “You should have them now. We lost a son but you lost a brother and I don’t think we ever acknowledged that.”

A lump forms in Maddie’s throat and she has to swallow hard to clear it. She wants the photos of Daniel. She desperately does. But the photos are so precious and she doesn’t dare take them home. She discovered that Doug got rid of all the photos of Genevieve, he got rid of every trace of her, just like her parents did with Daniel. Her heart broke when she discovered that, just how it broke when her parents said she couldn’t talk about Daniel. Maddie doesn’t trust that Doug won’t take these photos of Daniel and destroy them.

She shakes her head slightly. “Give them to Evan. Daniel was his brother too.”

Phillip tilts his head in confusion. “You, you don’t want them?” He asks slowly.

Maddie has to swallow another lump and she fights the tears that threaten to come. “I can lose track of things sometimes. You know how much I mess things up, how big of a failure I am. They will be safer with Evan.”

“But you knew Daniel. Evan doesn’t even know he exists.”

Maddie shakes her head and looks down at the ground as she starts to cry. “I’m sorry. I broke the promise to you and mom. I failed as your daughter. I’m sorry. I told his adoptive mom about Daniel so that she could tell him. So Evan knows now.”

“Maddie,” Phillip says gently. He reaches his hand out to rest it on her arm but Maddie jerks back violently causing Phillip’s eyes to fill with alarm as he carefully withdraws his hand. Maddie sees movement from outside and sees Chimney and Eddie heading to the room. She shakes her head and they move back away.

“You didn’t fail as our daughter. That isn’t possible.”

Maddie laughs bitterly. “Don’t lie just to make me feel better Dad. I wasn’t a match for Daniel so I wasn’t able to save him. I abandoned my other brother. And I was always messing up. I know I am a failure. Mom made sure to tell me that all the time when I was growing up. I’m selfish. I’m lazy. I’m a failure. It would be better if I was the one that died and Daniel survived as he is the only kid Mom loves.”

Phillip’s mouth drops in horror. “Surely she didn’t actually say that.”

Maddie tries to hold herself together but she can’t and soon she is crying uncontrollably. “She did. One day when I was trying to make breakfast for Evan I dropped an egg on the ground. Mom saw and slapped me in the face, telling me I just create more problems than I am worth and that it would be better if Daniel was the one that lived as Daniel was perfect and he would never be so selfish as to drop an egg.”

“Maddie,” Phillip says gently, tears in his eyes now. “Surely you must know you matter. I love you. You do know that right?”

Maddie cries even harder.

“You do know that we love you right?” Phillip repeats, growing horror in his voice.

Maddie just stares at the ground and her silence is answer enough.

“Maddie,” Phillip tries.

Maddie shakes her head, as she lifts it back up. “It’s fine dad. I know I’m hard to love. But Doug manages to love me anyway so I still have someone that loves me. It’s alright.”

“He manages to love you?” Phillip questions, placing an emphasis on the word manages. “Who told you that? Is that what you think? That it is an effort for him to love you?”

Maddie sighs. “It’s fine dad. You don’t need to try and make me feel better. Mom says I’m unlovable. Doug says I’m hard to love but that he is able to anyway. So it’s fine.”

“Does he hurt you?” Phillip asks.

Maddie stares at him. What made him ask that question? Why would he ask that question?

She stays silent for too long and soon there are more tears in Phillip’s eyes. “So he does,” he says quietly.

Maddie’s eyes go wide as she realises what she just accidentally confirmed. She shakes her head frantically. “No, he doesn’t. He would never hurt me. He loves me, he cares about me. He couldn’t live without me so he would never hurt me. I promise. He wouldn’t.”

Maddie stands up and heads to the door. “You should go now. On your way out ask for Eddie. He’s Evan’s husband so you can give the Daniel photos to him. Bye.”

“Maddie,” Phillip says again, sounding heart broken this time. “If he’s hurting you then let me help.”

Maddie freezes and her body goes cold and she shakes her head even more frantically. “No. You can’t. Don’t do anything. I have support. You will just make it worse. Please just go.”

She starts looking around, paranoid that Doug will come out of his office and realise what Phillip just said.

Phillip looks reluctant to leave but thankfully he steps out of the locker room. Maddie can tell she is about to burst into tears and she just wants to hug someone for comfort. A part of her wishes she could hug Chimney, she knows that would be comforting. But she can’t risk Doug seeing and then deciding that is enough to let her not talk to Chimney ever again.

So instead she runs to Doug’s office and opens the door, not caring about waiting to knock. Doug looks up as Maddie closes the door behind her and sinks to the floor as she bursts into tears. Doug is quick to move away from his desk as he hurries to her side. He helps her to the couch and holds her as she cries.
____

There is silence as they watch Phillip leave the locker room and they then see Maddie sprint to Doug’s office, practically slamming the door shut behind her. It is easy for them to see how Maddie’s parents drove her into Doug’s arms all those years ago.

Phillip looks devastated as he makes his way over to them. Most of them glare at him. They can see Phillip has picked up on the atmosphere as he gulps but he still heads over to them.

They all stare him down with ice cold glares, especially Eddie and Chimney.

“Which one of you is Eddie?” Phillip asks.

“Why do you need to know?” Eddie snaps.

Phillip holds out some photos. “These are photos of Daniel that I kept back. Margaret doesn’t know I kept them. I offered them to Maddie but she said they wouldn’t be safe at her house and that Evan should have them. She said to give them to Eddie, that he would get them to Evan.”

Eddie steps forward. “I’m Eddie.”

Phillip nods and gives Eddie the photos. Phillip turns to leave before turning back hesitantly. “Will you look after both Maddie and Evan? Especially Maddie.” He turns to look in the direction of Doug’s office and then looks back at them as if searching their faces for something. He must see what he is looking for as he talks again. “I asked her if he is hurting her. She didn’t answer and instead just told me to go and then stood up and showed me the door. So please look out for her.”

“She knows she has our support,” Chimney says quietly. “She knows she isn’t alone.”

Phillip gives a small nod. “Then thank you for that.”

He then turns around and hurries out of the fire station. Everyone turns to watch him go.

There is a weighted silence once he has gone. Eddie looks at the photos of Daniel in his hand. He slowly looks at each one. They are mostly of Daniel by himself but there is one photo of Maddie and Daniel sitting on a couch, with Buck sitting in between them so that he is on both their laps. Both Maddie and Daniel are holding onto Buck with massive smiles on their faces and it looks like Buck is laughing in the photo.
____

When Eddie gets home, once Chris and Genevieve are in bed he turns to Buck.

“After your biological mom got arrested your biological dad showed up again a few hours later. He gave these to Maddie but she said they would be safer with you.”

Eddie holds out the pile of photos and Buck takes them. Buck stills when he realises who the photos are of.

“He looks like me,” Buck whispers.

He then reaches the photo of Maddie and Daniel holding him and he pauses for longer on that photo before smiling wistfully, a mixture of joy and sadness in his face.

Chapter Text

When Maddie wakes up the bed is empty. She gulps in fear. How late has she slept in? How mad is Doug going to be?

She hurries to sit up but before she can fully do so the bedroom door opens and Doug enters, carrying a tray with him.

“Surprise,” he says. “I made you breakfast in bed.”

Maddie stares at him. He has never done this before. It takes a few seconds for her to snap out of it, she needs to make sure Doug knows how grateful she is. She smiles up at him. “Thanks so much, this is so sweet. I love you so much.”

Doug smiles as he places the tray on her lap and then climbs onto the bed and sits next to her. “After what happened with your parents yesterday I thought you needed a treat.”

Maddie smiles as she then leans against him. “Thank you so much.”

He stays next to her and talks as she eats. The toast is slightly burnt and the eggs are unseasoned and rubbery but there is no way she will point that out. So she ignores it and forces the food down.

Once she has eaten, Doug takes the plates away and does the dishes whilst Maddie starts to get ready for work. As she does so, her mind is spinning. Doug hates cooking and he only ever cooks or does the dishes when she is too injured to do so and when that is the case he always makes sure she pays for it. He has never ever done it voluntarily.

She is confused the rest of the way to work although Doug stays in a good mood and soon Maddie is also in a really good mood.

Maddie knows there is a big smile on her face when she enters the firehouse. “Morning!” she says cheerily as she passes everyone, happily holding onto Doug’s side.

“You’re in a good mood,” Hen observes, sounding surprised.

Maddie smiles and leans in closer to Doug who then wraps an arm around her. “Doug made me breakfast in bed. It was super sweet!”

Everyone’s faces go kind of weird at that which Maddie chooses to ignore.

Doug starts assigning chores but he doesn’t give Maddie any. Instead he steers her towards the tv. Maddie’s stomach drops and she feels herself shrink, waiting for Doug to order her to be his footrest. But he doesn’t and instead he pulls her into his side and they sit on the couch, cuddled together, watching tv.

When Maddie looks up she can see that he is relaxed and happy so she allows herself to relax and just enjoy the fact that today is a good day.

They end up getting to watch a few episodes of tv before they get sent on their first call.

They pull up on scene, at the side of a road, one edge of the road a tall drop off.

As soon as they are out of the vehicle a cop who is already on scene comes up to Doug and starts explaining the call, as she walks in the direction of their patients.

“The driver’s name is Judith Spivey. She and her two sons are trapped inside the vehicle. The mom is unconscious but the kids seem to be okay. It looks like they tumbled a bit before catching on the brush.”

When they look over the edge they can see that the car is sitting very precariously and any movement or change in weight could have the whole thing toppling down with the mom and two sons still inside.

Doug is quick to turn to his team to start issuing orders. “Eddie, set up the winch. Ravi, harness up and go down there and anchor the vehicle. But be careful as you go down, you don’t want to risk more of the cliff coming down as that could knock the car down.”

Eddie and Ravi both nod and start with their tasks. Max helps Ravi harness up and soon Ravi is rappelling down the side of the cliff, making his way to where the car is.

Maddie nervously turns to Doug. “They told us the crash knocked the mom out, but she’s still not awake. Someone needs to check on her.”

Doug nods. “Ok, harness up and get down there to check on the mom and the kids.”

Maddie gulps slightly. She prefers to leave that sort of stuff to the others, especially when her ribs are still broken. But she doesn’t dare disobey. She just nods and gets Lucy to help her harness up.

Once Maddie is harnessed up she starts rappelling down the side of the cliff, making sure to do it carefully so that she doesn’t cause any more of the cliff to start falling away. Once Maddie reaches the car she sees the two boys, both of whom look very scared. She promises them that she will be with them soon, but that she needs to check their mom first. Both the boys nod, their eyes filled with a level of fear that Maddie hates.

When Maddie reaches the mom thankfully the window of the car is open meaning Maddie is able to reach through to check her pulse. Maddie lets out a sigh of relief when she gets a pulse. She grabs her radio. “Doug, the mom’s pulse is steady but she’s unconscious. I’m going to need the basket.”

“Copy that,” Doug says. Doug then turns around. “Hen and Max, get a basket ready for Maddie.”

Hen and Max nod and hurry to get the basket ready.

Doug then grabs his radio again. “How are the kids doing?” he asks.

Maddie gulps as she sees their level of fear. “They are physically fine but are both terrified.”

Doug scoffs into the radio. “You only needed to say that they’re physically fine. Really Maddie, don’t waste time by telling me that they’re scared.”

“Sorry,” Maddie says, before she puts the radio down and turns her focus back onto the boys and their mom.

Ravi finishes getting hooks onto the back of the car, getting it secured and attached to the hood. Ravi then asks the boys their names and finds out that the oldest boy is named Camden and the younger one is named Jesse.

And then the ground underneath them moves slightly and the car starts to shift. Alarm fills all of them and Maddie and Ravi grab onto the ropes, doing what they can to help it stay in place. Up top Doug yells for everyone to stay clear of all the ropes and the edge so that no one else ends up in danger.

The car moves even more and falls off the piece of cliff it was balanced on and now the only thing keeping it from fully falling down is the two hooks on the back of the car that Ravi had secured. They hear glass shattering and the boys scream.

When Maddie hears the glass shatter she automatically flinches and throws her hand up in front of her face and it takes her a few seconds to remember that she is on a call and not at home with Doug. Getting mad at herself for forgetting what is at stake and getting distracted, Maddie quickly forces herself to forget about Doug and just focus on the boys and their mom.

“Ravi, Maddie, what’s your status?” Doug yells down the radio, unable to get a proper sight of them, just aware that many things have moved.

“We’re both good Cap, but the car dropped another 20 feet, we’re running out of time,” Ravi says.

Doug swears and angrily kicks the ground. There is more rumbling and everyone stares in horror. They all let out a breath when nothing else drops.

Doug looks at all the vehicles they have parked. He gets Eddie to get in the driver's seat of the fire engine that the car is hooked up to so that he can move the fire engine back quickly if needed. He then orders all the other vehicles to be moved so that they can get as much weight off the cliff face as possible.

Down at the car Maddie turns to Camden and Jesse. “Are you both doing ok,” she asks.

They nod but there is so much fear in their faces that it is clear they are lying. They then hear the sound of the fire engine’s horn. Maddie turns to the boys. “That’s our signal. Camden, we’re gonna一”

Camden cuts her off. “Take Jesse first. I’m the big brother. I protect him, he goes first.”

Maddie nods. She gets it. She would do the same for Buck in a heartbeat. Jesse tries to protest but Camden knows what to say to reassure him. Ravi is on Jesse’s side of the car so Ravi gets Jesse to grab onto him and then once he has a tight hold on Jesse he radios to Doug that he is ready to be brought back up.

Doug turns to Eddie who is manning the winch and gives a nod. Eddie starts working the winch and soon Ravi and Jesse are up, on solid ground. Hen makes her way to Jesse and starts checking him over.

Maddie sees the condition the mom is in and with both that and the instability of the car she knows they don’t have much time. “Doug, I need the basket as soon as possible, we need to get her up.” Maddie tries to keep her tone as soft and non assertive as possible, not wanting to anger Doug. But it is hard as she feels the urgency which does slightly slip into her tone and Maddie winces, just hoping Doug won’t use it as a reason to get mad at her later.

“Is she dead?” Camden asks.

Maddie swallows a lump in her throat before quickly shaking her head. “No, she’s alive.”

“Good,” Camden says. “Jesse’s only nine. He’s too little to not have a mom.”

Maddie bites her lip. She wants to say that Camden is also too little to not have a mom. But she knows Camden won’t view it that way. And it is also the age that gets to her. 9. That is the age she was when Daniel died. And her parents might still be alive but it feels like that is also the age she lost her parents.

Swallowing hard, Maddie forces herself to get it together. There are more important things than her right now and she isn’t going to be selfish enough to jeopardise people’s safety by wasting time feeling sorry for herself.

Maddie turns to Camden. “I will get both of you out of here. You just listen to what I tell you and everything should go alright.”

Camden nods, although the fear never leaves his eyes.

Maddie then hears Doug through the radio. “Ravi is coming down with the basket.”

Relief fills Maddie. It’s about time. “Copy that,” she says.

Once Ravi is there with the basket Maddie gets him to hold it steady whilst she carefully gets the mom in it. As soon as the mom is secure, Ravi gets the people up on solid ground to start lifting them up.

Maddie then turns to Camden. “Now it’s time for us to go up.”

More bits of rock and cliff start falling and the terror on Camden’s face increases as does Maddie’s worry. They are fast running out of time.

She makes her way to the window next to Camden and reaches for him. He grabs onto her arms and once he is out of the car he clings to her and Maddie makes sure to hold onto him tightly. It doesn’t matter that he is holding her so tightly that her broken ribs are absolutely screaming with pain. All that matters is that she gets him to safety.

Maddie speaks into her radio. “Doug, we are ready to go up. I’ve got Camden secure.”

Soon Maddie and Camden are rising up. Seconds after they pass the car it goes toppling down to the ground and Maddie realises they must have been waiting until she was past it before they released it. Maddie watches it tumble over and over until it reaches the bottom of the cliff in a cloud of dust.

Once Maddie and Camden are up Camden runs to his brother and the two of them give each other a massive hug.

The mom gains consciousness again and soon they are wheeling her into the ambulance, with Camden and Jesse squeezing into the seat in the back of the ambulance.

Maddie also goes in the back and she keeps an eye on all of the mom’s vitals until they arrive at the hospital and transfer care of her to the hospital staff.

Once Maddie gets back into the ambulance she is grateful to get into the passenger seat. She feels too worn out, both physically and mentally, to be the one driving.

When they enter the fire house Maddie is ready to just sit down and close her eyes, needing a chance to recharge.

But then she feels herself being watched and looks up to see the way Doug is looking at her. All of her squirms. Not now. She is exhausted. But she doesn’t dare protest. It’s not like it will do anything anyway. If he wants sex then he will make sure they have it. If she appears to go along with it then at least it will save her a beating.

So Maddie reluctantly makes her way to Doug’s office, hating herself for doing it and going along with it so easily. Doug shuts and locks the door behind him before ordering Maddie to lie on the floor. Forcing herself to act enthusiastic, Maddie is quick to do so.

Once it is finally over Doug doesn’t let go of Maddie. Instead he steers them towards the tv. At least he doesn’t make her be his footrest this time but he holds her tightly against him and Maddie feels trapped in place, barely daring to breathe.
____

Chris and Genevieve are both sitting in the backseat and their excitement is contagious. They are both holding a birthday present on their lap, both full of anticipation for Brooke’s birthday party.

Looking at the two of them, Buck and Eddie can see just how much has changed in a year. This time last year Genevieve had only recently been placed with them and all of them were worried about how she would handle the amount of people at this party. And whilst Genevieve does have nightmares and she struggles sometimes, she is now comfortable at Bobby and Athena’s house and they know she will be fine.

When they arrive both Chris and Genevieve are quick to give Brooke the presents they have selected for her. Brooke opens them then and there and then gives them both a massive hug of thanks. She then sets the presents down and pulls them inside, straight to the backyard where all the other kids are.

The party goes great and all of them have a good time celebrating Brooke. There is always that sadness there that Brooke’s mom isn’t there to see her have another birthday. But that sadness is held in the same space as all the joy and love Brooke has from the family that is around her.

By the time the party is over it is late and Buck and Eddie have two hyped up kids on their hands and both Chris and Genevieve are so excited that it takes a while to get them to bed.
____

Maddie has been locked in the guest bedroom for an hour and she doesn’t know what is happening. All she knows is that Doug threw a dress at her and told her to put it on and that she was then to wait in here while he prepares a surprise for her.

Maddie feels fear swirling in her body and she thinks she might be sick. She runs to the toilet just in time. Once she has finished puking she is quick to rinse out her mouth and wash away all smells of puke.

She has just gotten cleaned up and is back to anxiously sitting on the edge of the bed when she sees the door handle start to turn. Maddie stills and she can feel her heart racing. Trying not to visibly show her fear she faces the door and prepares a massive smile.

Doug comes to her with a blindfold and Maddie’s heart drops and she only just manages to not cry as her vision is taken from her.

Suddenly she is no longer on the bed as Doug has picked her up and she is now in his arms, completely vulnerable to him, as he carries her out of the room. He doesn’t say anything, to give her any hints as to what he is up to.

It isn’t long before she is being carefully placed onto a chair. She then feels Doug’s hands on the blindfold and she prepares herself to act happy and enthusiastic, no matter what is in front of her.

When the blindfold is removed she lets out a gasp of delight, before turning to Doug with love in her eyes as she reaches up and kisses him, grinning happily. And her reaction isn’t faked.

The lights in the room have been dimmed. There is a fancy tablecloth on the table as well as her favorite scented candles and her favorite flowers. Maddie also spots a box of her favorite chocolates and a bottle of her favorite wine. And in front of them, smelling absolutely amazing, are two plates of her favorite meal.

A part of Maddie is slightly confused as to why Doug is doing this for her. Romantic gestures like this were common when they first met but they quickly died out and now they normally only ever happen on Valentine’s day, her birthday, or if he has pushed her way too far and senses that she is close to breaking.

So that part of Maddie is slightly confused and alarmed. But she forces those feelings away as she allows herself to melt at the soft way Doug is looking at her.

She smiles up at him. “This is amazing, thank you so much Doug. I love you so much!”

And she means it. He might hurt her and cause her so much pain. But right now he is being so sweet and kind and she loves him for it. She knows that maybe she shouldn’t love him. But a part of her still does and in moments like this, love for him is all she feels.

Doug sits down on the chair next to her. Suddenly his hands are on her hips and he lifts her and places her onto his lap. Maddie softens in his hold and leans back into him and closes her eyes.

Doug gently strokes her hair and whispers how much he loves her. He then takes off her clothes and Maddie knows the food is going to be ignored. She turns around in his lap and moves even closer to him. She wraps her arms around him and starts kissing him and she quickly forgets about everything else.
____

For the last few shifts Maddie has been in a really good mood and none of the 118 know what to think about that. It should be a good thing that she seems happy. But instead it just puts all of them on edge and fills them with alarm.

They all watch as Maddie seems to willingly glue herself to Doug’s side and none of them know what to think about it. Eddie doesn’t tell Buck about this as he knows it will just cause Buck to worry.
____

The bells go off and Doug announces that Chimney and Maddie are man behind and that they are to prepare lunch while everyone else is on the call. Doug then smiles at Maddie. “Make one of your favorites, you deserve it.”

And then Doug and everyone else is racing out to the call.

Maddie starts humming as she makes her way to the kitchen, a smile on her face. Chimney follows behind her. It is nice to see her so happy but he is also so confused by it.

He only realises he is frowning and standing in place when Maddie stops humming, causing him to jerk his head up.

“You stopped humming,” he comments.

Maddie looks at him, worry in her eyes. “You look worried. Is everything okay?”

Chimney is quick to nod and all that does is cause the worry in Maddie’s eyes to increase. “So, what should we make?” Chimney asks, feeling weirdly awkward.

Maddie names a dish and Chimney looks at her. “You’ve previously said you hate that dish. And Doug said you could make one of your favorites.”

Maddie just shrugs. “I may hate it. But Doug loves it and he’s been so sweet and kind lately.”

Her eyes go all dreamy looking for a few seconds before she snaps herself out of it and Chimney feels a horror settle deep within his bones. Maddie knows what Doug is like, better than any of them do, so why is she acting like this?

“So things have been good lately then?” He asks, trying but failing to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

Maddie doesn’t even notice it and just nods, a smile on her face. “He’s been great. Ever since my parents visited he has been so loving and kind, like he was when I first met him.”

Maddie starts pulling out the ingredients needed for the dish they are making. And Chimney hates that she is choosing to make one of Doug’s favorites when Chimney knows it is a dish she hates. But he just starts helping her make it, not saying anything about what they are making.

“So he hasn’t hurt you since then?” Chimney asks.

Maddie smiles again. “He hasn’t. It’s been so nice.” She then pauses and it is clear she is thinking. “Ok, there have been a few things I didn’t want to do but I pretended I did so that things would go smoothly and they have.”

She pauses again before smiling even wider. “I haven’t gotten any new bruises in a few weeks.” She lets out a giddy sounding laugh. “That hasn’t happened in years. I can’t remember the last time it has been so long. Well, not counting when he locked me in the room for a month. It feels so strange but so exhilarating.”

Chimney feels a heavy sadness begin to settle deep within him. Maddie is just smiling and she seems confused that he isn’t as happy as she is.

She pauses to look at him, frowning again. “Are you sure you’re alright? You look sad.”

Chimney sighs. “I just hate what he does to you.”

Maddie shakes her head, her smile so large and unnatural it creeps Chimney out. “He’s being nice. It’s fine.”

“You said there were things you didn’t want to do but did do in order to keep the peace. You shouldn’t have to do things you don’t want to Maddie, especially if you are meaning sex. You shouldn’t have to feel like having it is the only way to stay safe.”

Maddie flinches. “The last time we had it I wanted it,” she says, her voice becoming frantic sounding. “I do want it sometimes. And having times I don’t want it and hate it just makes those times I do want it so much better. So it’s fine.”

“Maddie,” Chimney says gently.

Maddie shakes her head. “No. I need it to be fine. I can’t ever leave so I need to be fine with it. You might think I’m being unrealistic and pretending I’m living in a fantasy. Well I need to. I need to convince myself I am happy otherwise I won’t be able to cope. So please, let me have this.”

Chimney nods. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard. I won’t do it again.”

There are tears in Maddie’s eyes as she just nods and looks down, staring intently at the food she is preparing.

“I love him and he loves me. Right now he is being nice to me. That is my current reality and I need it to be real. Doug loves me. Daniel loved me but then he was gone. Buck loves me but because I raised him so he has to love me out of duty. Growing up he had to love me as he relied on me for survival and that obligation stayed even though he doesn’t need me anymore. Doug is the first person who chose to love me. He didn’t have to, he had no obligations to. But he chose to anyway and that means everything.”

Maddie turns so she is facing away from Chimney as she puts all her concentration into making the food. Chimney hears her sniffing and can tell that she is crying and he feels terrible. Maddie was in a good mood. For once. And then he ruined it and now she is crying.

They continue cooking, in horrible silence, Chimney feeling guilter and guilter the longer it goes on.

They finish cooking just as everyone returns and Chimney has never been so relieved for everyone to come back. The instant everyone else comes up the stairs and onto the loft Maddie hurries to Doug’s side and gives him a big hug before pressing herself into him, as tightly as she can.

Maddie stays attached to Doug’s side when they eat and afterwards she goes with him when Doug goes to his office.

Maddie doesn’t detach herself from Doug’s side until they get sent to their next call. Maddie puts herself in the driver’s seat of the ambulance and Chimney is quick to hurry into the passenger seat.

Maddie is the first to break the tension. “Can we pretend that conversation didn’t happen? What’s the latest movie you’ve watched?”

Aware of how fragile the peace is Chimney names the movie he watched a couple of nights ago.

“I haven’t seen it,” Maddie says quietly.

So Chimney launches into a description of the plot. By the time they pull up to their call Maddie is laughing. It is softer and more hesitant than normal but it is still laughter so Chimney will take it.

The instant they realise what the call is, all of Maddie’s happiness visibly evaporates out of her.

They are at a rage room. A place where people pay to be able to smash things. As they walk inside the building Hen comments that she thinks this is one of the dumbest things people in LA spend their money on.

They head to where they have been told their patient is but on the way there they pass other rooms and hear yells of anger and the sound of things being broken and smashing glass.

Maddie jumps every single time and she feels very on edge. She hates this so much. She hates the way she can barely focus on what Doug is saying about their patient as she is too distracted by every single crash she hears.

Too distracted by the trembling of her body. The shaking of her arms. The rapid rate of her heartbeat.

Doug thinks the place they are in seems cool. And then he sees that Athena is the responding cop and he wishes he could use the rage rooms for what they are designed for, rather than just being here for a rescue. They don’t seem to have any other cop who they see at calls as frequently as Athena. So of all the cops why is she always the one they seem to have to deal with at scenes?

“Your victim’s in there,” Athena says, pointing in the direction of what looks like an empty room.

Doug rolls his eyes. “Where? I don’t see anyone.”

Athena points at the barrel. “The victim climbed into it after her BFF started chasing her with a sledgehammer.”

And that could be a fun game. Chasing Maddie with something sharp until she is completely terrified. Doug smiles but is quick to push that thought to the back of his mind, right now he is working, he can plan his fun later.

Eddie is confused. “I thought they were supposed to smash things, not each other?”

Athena lets them know that the victim is the mistress and the friend is the wife. Which clears things up.

Doug sighs before asking if they know the victim’s name. Athena tells them the victim’s name is Denise.

They then make their way to the barrel and Doug calls, asking if she is hurt. And it is clear she can’t hear them properly.

They see that she is well and truly jammed into the barrel so it is definitely going to be a bit tricky getting her out.

Doug looks up. “Maddie, Lucy, get the saws and jaws,” he says.

“On it Cap,” Lucy says as she runs to the fire engine.

Maddie doesn’t say anything. She is frozen in place, trembling and eyes glazed over. Doug sighs. “Ravi, help Lucy with the saws and jaws.”

Ravi nods and runs out in the same direction Lucy went.

When Ravi and Lucy return with the saws and jaws they get to work on cutting Denise out of the barrel.

Once they get Denise out Athena starts to arrest the friend but Denise stops them, asking them not to arrest her, saying it is all her fault. Maddie flinches at that and Doug smiles when he sees Maddie’s reaction.

Doug directs all of them to head back to the firehouse. This time Maddie makes her way to the passenger seat, she knows she isn’t capable of driving.

Maddie keeps on jumping and flinching on the drive back to the fire house and she hates it so much. They aren’t even there anymore. But in her mind she can still hear the yells of rage. She can still hear the glass smashing. Though the sounds she hears aren’t the ones they heard on the call. They are the ones she hears too frequently in her daily life, the sounds that are always accompanied by her pain.

When they get back to the firehouse Doug beckons Maddie over so she obeys although she isn’t sure how she feels about being next to him right now.

Once they are in his office he closes the door behind him and pulls her onto the couch, holding her tightly. “Are you alright Maddie?” he asks, concern in his voice although Maddie can’t tell if it is fake or real. “You were jumpy at the call. Did it trigger you?”

There is an edge in his voice at the last question and Maddie gulps. “It just reminded me of my parents,” she whispers. “Of how Mom would always yell at me. I’m sorry for being useless on the call.”

“It’s alright,” Doug says, pulling her in closer to his side.

Tears of relief fall down Maddie’s face as she leans in closer to Doug. “Thank you for loving me,” she says quietly. “You’re the only person who has ever chosen to love me.”

“I’ll always love you,” Doug says, his hold on her tightening even more, almost to the point of hurting, but Maddie doesn’t care. He loves her. And he always will. That reassurance was something she desperately needed to hear.

Chapter Text

It is only a couple of weeks until Doug’s birthday and Maddie feels that familiar fear and dread kick back in. She tries to calm herself down, reminding herself that Doug hasn’t hurt her in a few weeks. But she still doesn’t trust it so she starts planning his birthday, trying as hard as she can to plan it to be perfect so that he will stay happy with her.
____

When the 118 arrives on scene the farmer greets them, telling them his name is Rick. He then leads them through the farm, complaining and explaining as he goes. “Some stupid animal rights protesters. They trespassed and the damn fools locked themselves to the belt of machinery and the motor got kicked on, now it seems to be stuck.”

Rick continues grumbling about them trespassing and Doug feels sympathetic, he hates people interfering with things that are none of their business. Doug voices that and Maddie flinches whilst Rick nods in firm agreement, happy that Doug is on his side. The rest of the 118 stay quiet.

When they reach the area with the problem they see a conveyor belt of hooks that is used to move the ducks. But this time there are people stuck in the hooks.

“Are you able to cut the power?” Doug asks Rick.

Rick shakes his head. “If I do that then 1, 400 duck carcasses will start to rot.

Doug nods in understanding. “In that case we’ll find another way.”

Doug hears the sound of choking which draws his attention to the patient in the worst state. “Maddie, Chimney, go and check on him,” Doug says, pointing in that direction.

Maddie and Chimney make their way there. When they get there Maddie goes slightly pale and her legs wobble underneath her. The patient she is supposed to check is trapped in between the metal pole of the conveyor belt and a wooden beam on the other side. But the thing that makes her feel weak is that he is being choked around the neck by a piece of machinery and his feet are dangling above the ground meaning all his body weight is on his neck, where he is being choked.

She reaches for the wooden beam to steady herself. Now is not the time to lose herself in memories. Heaps of people get choked. She isn’t special. Although her hands still drift to her neck and it takes effort to remember that Doug’s hands aren’t around her throat right now. There is no pressure there, she can breathe. She is alright. But their patient isn’t.

Doug asks Lucy to get the bolt cutters. She is quick to pass them to him. Once Doug has them he cuts the piece around the guy’s neck that is trapping him in. The guy falls slightly forward and Chimney catches him. He starts coughing and spluttering and Chimney is quick to assess him.

“There is some bruising, possible swelling of the trachea,” Chimney reports.

Maddie can’t help wincing or the way that her hands automatically go to her neck. Again. It’s like she can’t help herself. Chimney says bruised and swelling trachea and Maddie is reminded of every time her trachea has had bruising and swelling. Something that has happened far too often.

Chimney is still focused on their patient. “We’ll get you to the hospital and they’ll check you out there.”

They start to wrap up the call, to get ready to get him to the hospital. But then Rick makes his way to the machinery panel and turns it off. The 118 all stare at him.

“You were able to turn it off the whole time?” Max asks, rage in his voice.

“They were trespassing,” Rick says.

Doug seems amused but the rest of the 118 are furious. Well apart from Maddie but that is only because she is still trapped in her memories.

The 118 is only distracted from their anger when the guy starts choking again. One of his friends asks him where the key is and they realise he is choking on the key from the lock he had gotten stuck in that he had been stupid enough to swallow.

Chimney tries the heimlich but it doesn’t work so they get him on the backboard. Maddie has finally managed to snap herself back into it so she gives him oxygen but the oxygen mask fills with blood and Chimney and Maddie realise that they key must have torn his trachea.

Chimney asks Ravi to get him magill forceps. Rick starts saying that he can’t have someone dying on his property, earning him multiple glares.

Chimney focuses and with careful precision he gets the key out of the guy's mouth. But the guy doesn’t breathe so Chimney has to apply two rescue breaths. Thankfully that does the trick and gets him breathing again.

Chimney and Maddie load him on the gurney and then the rest of the 118 help them carry the gurney to the ambulance.

Maddie still feels slightly out of it but she has to drive. She doesn’t have a choice, not after Doug made the rule forbidding her in the back of the ambulance when their patient is a male.

Somehow she focuses enough to not cause any crashes. But once they have dropped the patient off and Chimney is in the front with her, Maddie slides along to the passenger seat. She doesn’t feel up to driving.
_____

On their next shift Doug decides they need to restock the fire house pantry. He says he and Maddie will do it. Maddie gulps slightly, Doug is a nightmare to go grocery shopping with as he is super duper specific and cares about every ingredient being the right brand and being completely perfect.

An hour later they have gotten through the store and it has somehow gone all right and Maddie feels herself starting to relax. Doug wraps an arm around her as they push the shopping cart full of groceries out to the fire engine. Maddie leans against Doug, happy he is in a good mood.

They have just gotten the groceries in the fire engine and Maddie is about to return the shopping cart when they hear the sound of two cars banging into each other. Maddie and Doug turn their heads just in time to witness one of the cars go crashing into the hydrant, taking it out and causing water to spray everywhere including underneath the car so the car ends up being lifted above the water, a few feet off the ground.

Doug sighs in annoyance. “They better not cause our cold groceries to spoil,” he mutters darkly under his breath before turning to Maddie. “Check the drivers, I’ll get the tools and I’ll call the rest of the team to come here and help us.”

Maddie nods and runs in the direction of the cars. She checks the driver of the car that isn’t currently being lifted up by high pressure water. The driver is angry but uninjured so Maddie quickly moves on to the other car.

This driver is unconscious and there is blood on his head and Maddie realises he must have whacked his head on the roof of the car when the water pushed the car upwards. Although right now with the position the car is in she can’t do anything to help him.

Doug rushes over, saying he has called the water mains people. They get tools set up under the car so that when the water pressure is released the car won’t come crashing back down to the ground.

The rest of the 118 arrive just as the water gets turned off and the car comes down onto the landing they have set up for it.

Chimney runs the gurney out of the ambulance and then Maddie and Chimney hurry him into the ambulance and make their way to the hospital, Maddie driving in order to follow Doug’s rules for her.

When they get back to the station Doug is in a clear mood, yelling about how some of their groceries went bad, calling the drivers idiots. Maddie winces and puts herself on the far end of the station from Doug, not wanting him to spot her, knowing what will happen if he does.

But then she hears him calling her name and she reluctantly goes over to him. He grabs her hair and she tenses. But all he does is pull her close to him and hold her tightly, saying he needs the comfort of his Maddie. Scared of angering him, Maddie hugs him back and says that she is here and that she will always be there for him. Thankfully her words seem to work and soon Doug has calmed down. He pulls Maddie over to the tv and settles them down onto one of the couches, pulling Maddie into his side.
_____

All of the kids start yelling out costume ideas and there is some bickering as they decide whether or not they want to go as a group costume or individual costumes. Like last year the 118 and Athena will both be working on Halloween and the 132 won’t be. Meaning that Buck and Bobby will be taking the kids trick or treating. Robert and May have declared that they are too old for trick or treating so the plan is for them to stay at their house with Michael joining them as they hand out candy.

But currently they are all in one of the living rooms at Athena and Bobby’s house and the costume theme decision is causing some issues.

“Let’s go as lego again,” Genevieve says.

“We already did that last year. Repeating costumes is boring,” Harry says.

Genevieve pouts.

“Your arm is still in a cast after it got broken in the tsunami. You wouldn’t even be able to move it in the way lego arms move,” Harry points out.

Genevieve glares at Harry and Buck has to stifle a laugh, seeing the clear Maddie in Genevieve with her glare.

“How about firefighters?” Brooke suggests.

Genevieve’s face lights up and she nods.

Harry shakes his head. “I’ve been a firefighter heaps in the past.”

Brooke glares at him. “Then what do you want to go as?”

Harry grins. “Pirates!”

Brooke shakes her head.

“Sharks!” Chris says.

Genevieve’s eyes light up and she nods enthusiastically. Brooke pauses, a thoughtful look on her face before she is nodding.

Chris, Genevieve and Brooke all then turn to Harry. Harry sighs. “I guess going as sharks could be fun.” He then gets a gleam in his eyes as he turns to the adults. “Buck and Bobby, you have to dress up as sharks as well.”

Buck nods happily and starts listing off shark facts. There is a moment of horror on Bobby’s face that has Athena and May bursting into laughter. But eventually Bobby starts coming up with ideas and now that they have decided on their theme they can get down to work, starting to make the costumes.
____

They are driving to their next call and this time Chimney is the one that is jumpy and nervous. Which is definitely a change. Dispatch let them know that the caller said the birds went crazy and started attacking the children and ever since they found that out, Chimney has been acting a bit off.

“Are you alright?” Maddie asks.

Chimney jumps before looking at her. “I’m fine,” he says, but his voice is the opposite of convincing.

Maddie narrows her eyes at him. Chimney sighs. “Don’t tell anyone but I’m kind of scared of birds,” Chimney says.

Maddie nods as understanding fills her. That’s why he has been so jumpy. “I know nothing I say will change your fear,” Maddie says, keeping her voice gentle. “Fears don’t work that way and knowing you have no choice can make it harder. But I will be there with you. Hen and Eddie will be there. So you won’t be alone in it.”

Chimney gives her a small smile. “Well with the brave and mighty Maddie on my side I don’t need to fear.”

Maddie just looks at him and shakes her head. “I’m not brave,” she says quietly, a part of her hoping she was quiet enough that Chimney didn’t hear her.

Chimney hears her and he looks at her. “You are Maddie. You are brave.”

Maddie looks down. “I’m scared all the time.” Her voice cracks and the vulnerability within is clear.

Chimney doesn’t get any time to try and convince Maddie of how strong and brave she is as they reach the call. Chimney looks at the window and sees all the crows circling and he gulps. Maddie gives his hand a quick squeeze. “You won’t be alone.”

Chimney nods and takes a deep breath before getting out of the ambulance. Maddie steps out as well. They see the rest of the 118 as they step out of the fire engine.

They look around. They can see and hear lots of crows but they can’t see any people. After a few seconds of all of them looking around trying to spot anyone they finally hear a sound coming from a school bus, a voice saying help. So all of them make their way there, Doug leading the way.

When they reach the bus the door of it is opened, but only marginally, just a crack big enough for them to speak through but small enough that no crows will be able to get inside.

“Two of my students were attacked by crows,” the teacher says. “They’re in there,” she adds, pointing in the direction of the barn that has crows all around it and leading up to it and even flying above it, circling it.

Chimney visible gulps and Maddie can see the fear on his face. She gives him what she hopes is a reassuring look and she sees him take a deep breath.

“I think I’ve seen this movie,” Chimney says.

No one responds to his joke. Maddie recognises that Chimney is trying to distract himself by adding humor into the situation.

“Everyone gear up,” Doug says. “Turnouts and head protection.”

There are nods as all of them grab the required gear and suit up. Once they are all suited up they start the slow careful walk to the barn. On the walk there Chimney’s name badge falls off. He carefully bends down and picks it up.

All of them look around, all of them a bit unnerved by the crows. “It's weird,” Eddie says. “You see crows all over the city but you never hear about them attacking anyone.”

There are murmurs and nods of agreement from everyone apart from Hen who speaks up. “That’s because crows are very docile, they only attack if provoked.”

“Do you think the kids provoked them?” Ravi asks.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they did,” Hen replies.

Chimney’s name badge falls again and he starts to bend down when a crow flies in front of them and settles down on a spot in front of them. All of them freeze and Maddie can see the way Chimney has stiffened and is holding his breath and she wishes she could help reduce his fear.

“Leave the name tag Chimney, you can always get a new one,” Doug says.

Chimney nods. “Copy that.”

They continue their very careful walk, Hen and Ravi wheeling along the gurney, as all of them try to not be too spooked out by their audience of crows.

Eventually they reach the barn door. Doug opens it and they all move inside. Maddie is last through so she closes the door behind them, keeping the crows shut out.

As soon as they are in the barn one of the boys who was sitting down, stands up to greet them. “Over here, Dean’s cut up real bad.”

Doug nods, “Chimney and Maddie, go check on Dean.”

Chimney and Maddie are quick to do so.

Doug turns to the other boy. “Are you ok?”

The boy nods. Doug still turns to Eddie. “Eddie, check the kid out.”

Eddie nods and starts checking on the kid.

Maddie and Chimney help Dean up, saying they need to take a look. Maddie starts inspecting his wounds. She sees many cuts on the back of his neck and he is bleeding. “All right. We’ll get those cuts irrigated and make sure that no major arteries were hit.”

Dean starts panicking and Maddie feels guilt settle within her. “Major arteries! Am I gonna die?”

It is like she can hear Doug’s voice calling her a stupid and an idiot, even if right now he isn’t saying anything.

“Look, she was just kidding buddy,” Chimney says, trying to reassure Dean. Dean calms down slightly and his fear decreases. Maddie’s guilt however, does not.

“So Dean,” Hen says as she makes her way to their side of the barn. “Tell me, did those crows just attack you guys from outta nowhere?”

“It was crazy, tell them Riley,” Dean says.

The other boy Riley, sounds uncertain and his eyes flick everywhere when he speaks and it is obvious to all of them that he is lying. “Uh, yeah, it was like they were possessed or something,” he says.

Doug snorts. “Quit lying. It’s just making you look silly. We know you guys threw rocks at them.”

‘He did it!” Riley says, pointing at Dean as he speaks.

‘Liar,” Dean retorts, anger in his voice.

“I tried to stop him,” Riley protests.

“Shut up,” Dean says, his tone so similar to the way Doug’s is whenever he tells Maddie to shut up and Maddie flinches, something only Chimney notices.

Chimney then looks out the window and sees the way all the crows are watching and his stomach drops. “Cap,” he says, getting Doug’s attention. He then waves Doug over and Doug comes and has a look. “They know we’re in here,” Chimney whispers.

Hen laughs. “They know the boys are in here. Crows are smart, they hold grudges.”

Doug turns to her. “Do you think they’re waiting for the boys to come out?”

Hen nods. “They’ve been known to remember the faces of their tormentors years later and still attack.”

Chimney shudders. Doug makes a mental note to never attack any crows. Other birds are fine, but not crows.

“Murder by crows, great,” Chimney mutters. Maddie can tell he is trying to cover up his fear but she knows it is there and she wishes she could help him.

“How do we get these guys past them?” Doug wonders aloud.

“Well, they’re looking for two kids,” Hen says.

Maddie smiles. “So we give them something else.”

Hen nods. “Exactly.”

Doug still looks confused and when no one elaborates he glares at them. “Come on then, tell me the plan.”

Maddie gulps and looks down. “Dean will need to go on the gurney but we cover him in protective stuff. We give Riley one of our turnout coats and a helmet so he looks like one of us.”

Doug nods. “Ok then, Maddie, give him your turnout and helmet.”

Maddie nods and gives Riley her protective gear. She can see the rest of the team's silent protests. But someone has to give Riley their protective gear and Riley’s safety is more important than hers so it makes sense to her that she is the one to sacrifice her protective gear.

Chimney and Maddie then finish up taking care of Dean’s wounds and then they get him onto the gurney. They then make sure there is enough protection on him. Once they are ready they slowly emerge from the barn.

The crows are still circling and cawing loudly and Maddie can see how tense Chimney is. When Maddie looks around she realises that out of everyone in the 118 she might be the one that is the least scared of the crows. Which is weird. She is used to being the most scared person in the room, not the least scared.

“So what happens if they fly over here?” Chimney asks, only just preventing his voice from shaking.

Hen seems to be the expert on crows as once again she is the one who answers. “Well, if you make eye contact with a crow it could change its behaviour.”

“For better or worse?” Doug queries.

Maddie winces as she is thrust into a flashback. A flashback of her wedding of all things. Of her vows. And promising to stay with Doug for better or worse. She never could have imagined what the ‘for worse,’ would mean. She shivers and misses Hen’s answer.

A crow lands in front of them and Chimney freezes. He then accidentally looks in the direction of its face and he panics when he makes eye contact with it. “He’s making eye contact with me,” Chimney says nervously. He waits a few beats and nothing happens. “He’s not attacking, I’ll keep him distracted, the rest of you go.”

Everyone nods and soon all of them are moving, wheeling Dean on the gurney towards the ambulance. Apart from Chimney who is keeping eye contact with the crow, too scared to break eye contact now. And Maddie who is still frozen.

“Maddie,” Doug hisses.

Maddie jumps and several crows look in her direction. She looks around and sees all the crows and then Doug looking at her, annoyance on his face. She winces. She had briefly forgotten where she is.

She takes slow careful steps, moving closer to where the rest of her team is. Maddie reaches them just as Hen and Eddie wheel Dean into the ambulance. Doug and Ravi get Riley safely back onto the school bus with all the other kids.

Doug and Ravi then get into the fire engine. Hen and Eddie jump into the back of the ambulance with Dean, shutting the doors so that the crows don’t have a chance of attacking Dean again.

Maddie gets into the driver's seat of the ambulance, aware Chimney might not want to drive after that. She feels bad when she looks out and sees him surrounded by the crows.

He looks up and makes eye contact with her and when Chimney realises that everyone else has reached safely he drops the granola bar he had been using to try and placate the crows and as fast as he dares he hurries to the passenger seat of the ambulance and slams the ambulance door shut behind him.

As soon as the door is shut behind Chimney and he has buckled his seat belt, Maddie starts driving them to the hospital.

Chimney slumps down into his seat, his body still shaking slightly. “That was terrifying,” he says quietly.

“Are you ok?” Maddie asks, her voice full of concern.

Chimney nods. “I’ll be fine now that we are safely away from the crows.” He pauses before turning to face her. “Are you ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Maddie says.

“You froze during the call.”

Maddie gulps. “It’s nothing. Just, well, when Hen mentioned eye contact impacting crows behaviour and Doug asked ‘for better or worse,’ it just threw me back to hearing him say those words at our wedding.” Maddie puts all her concentration onto looking at the road ahead of her. “I never could have imagined what I was agreeing to when I said ‘for worse.” She whispers out that last part, her voice getting so quiet that Chimney only just manages to hear her.

“So, what movies have you been watching lately?” Maddie asks.

Maddie breathes out in relief when Chimney moves on to talking about the movie, making lots of jokes. They drop Dean off at the hospital and then head back to the fire house.

Chapter Text

On Halloween morning Chris and Genevieve wake up super early and before they have even eaten breakfast they have both gotten into their costumes. Their school lets them wear Halloween costumes today and has a costume competition so Buck and Eddie let them keep their costumes on.

At breakfast as the two of them are dressed like sharks they take bigger bites than normal until Eddie reminds them to not take mouthfuls that are too big as they don’t want to choke. After that Chris and Genevieve do take smaller bites, although their bits are still bigger and more dramatic than normal with Chris and Genevieve making lots of different sounds, saying they think that is what sharks sound like.

Eddie then questions what sharks actually sound like so soon they are googling and looking on youtube to find out what sounds sharks actually make. Once they have found that out Genevieve and Chris then start making loud shark sounds which continue all the way to school. Eddie shakes his head, grinning as he and Buck drop the kids off. He feels sorry for their teachers.

Once they have dropped the kids off Buck and Eddie head back home. They have a few hours until Eddie’s shift starts as it is a 10 hour one that starts at 10:00 am. So Buck and Eddie get home as quickly as they can, planning on making the most of those few hours.
_____

Maddie wakes up early, tensing when she takes a few seconds too long to turn off her alarm. She cautiously turns to look in Doug’s direction and lets out a sigh of relief. He would never forgive her for waking him up early, especially on his birthday.

She carefully climbs out of the bed, constantly looking in Doug’s direction as she holds her breath, terrified that she is going to accidentally wake him up. Once she is out of the bed she tip toes towards the door and once she has exited the room she carefully closes the door behind her.

She feels some relief when she is out of the room. But mostly she just feels terror. In past years Doug has given her some money to use towards buying him things for his birthday. But this year he hasn’t. And Maddie doesn’t exactly have control over any of the money she earns and Doug keeps track of every single cent she does spend when he gives her money to buy things such as groceries.

Which means she didn’t have any money to buy him presents with. She knows her friends from work would have given her some money to use if she asked. But she didn’t dare. Doug knows she has no money to use on his birthday. So whilst it feels like he is setting her up to fail she also knows that if she had managed to purchase him a gift he would question where the money came from.

However what that does mean is that this is the first year that Maddie doesn’t have a gift for Doug. Which terrifies her.

They do have pen and paper at home so she wrote him a long note, full with a lot of lies but some truths, gushing over how much she loves him and needs him. And at least they have enough ingredients in the house that she is able to make breakfast in bed for him. Which is why she got up earlier than normal.

So she makes her way to the kitchen and starts making one of his favorite breakfasts. She finishes it just before she hears Doug’s alarm go off. She then makes her way back into the bedroom, carrying the tray of food.

“Happy birthday Doug, I love you so much,” she says.

“Put the tray down on the ground,” Doug says, his tone and face neutral, leaving Maddie shaking in fear as she is unable to tell if he is in a good or bad mood.

He looks her up and down and it only takes a few seconds for her to recognise what he wants. Her insides twist and turn although she knows she should have expected this. How on earth did she forget? It is always the main thing he wants for his birthday.

Internally sighing but externally smiling, Maddie begins taking her clothes off. She looks at Doug and can tell by the look on his face that she is doing the right thing. Which is something.

Once her clothes are off he suddenly leaps out of the bed and slams her into the wall. As he starts thrusting into her, Maddie is relieved that she is facing the wall meaning that Doug can’t see her face which saves her as she isn’t able to hide her emotions and she knows that if Doug could see them he would punish her for them.

Once he is finished he tells her to grab a chair. She hurries from the room and reappears with it moments later. He grabs some rope and ties her to it, Maddie still completely naked. Soon she is completely trapped and tied in such a way that she is fully exposed. She hates it so so much.

Doug then picks up the tray of breakfast Maddie made for him and sits on the bed, eating his breakfast whilst looking at Maddie, his eyes hungrily moving along her body the whole time he is eating. It takes everything within Maddie to keep her face blank and perfectly emotionless.

The look in his eyes never leaves and once he has eaten he pushes the tray to the side and slowly approaches her and Maddie realises he is getting ready for another round. Maddie feels tears pricking in the corner of her eyes and she is quick to blink them away. She forces a smile onto her face instead and tells Doug how much she loves him.

He doesn’t say anything. He just advances and soon he is on her and she is helplessly trapped as he does what he wants. Once he is done he smiles down at her. “I think of all the birthday presents you have ever given me this is the best one. After all, you know that the thing I want the most is you.”

Maddie feels her insides crumble. She knows he thinks lowly of her. But it is the first time he has ever voiced his belief that she is just a thing that he owns.

She forces herself to smile. “Well you own me. I am yours.”

She feels sick and she hates herself with every word. Doug just smiles as he kisses her on the head. “I know.”

He unties her. “Go and clean the dishes and tidy up the kitchen.”

Maddie nods and reaches for her clothes. Doug shakes his head. “There’s still a couple of hours before our shift. And it’s still my birthday. Be quick cleaning.”

Maddie nods and she hurries to grab the dishes and take them to the kitchen. She is quick as she cleans, knowing if she keeps Doug waiting too long he will get mad.

Once she has cleaned up she makes her way back to the bedroom. Doug smiles and soon he is doing what he wants and getting her to do things she really doesn’t want to. But she forces a smile and pretends she likes it, knowing what will happen if she doesn’t.

She is relieved when it is finally time to get ready for their shift.
____

As the A shift enters the firehouse they see that it has been transformed and is now covered in Halloween decorations. The C shift, who are all leaving, tell them how long it took to decorate and a few jokes are exchanged before soon all of C shift is gone and just the A shift are there.

“Happy birthday Doug,” Chimney says, coming up to where Doug and Maddie are.

Doug grins. “Thanks Chimney.”

The rest of the 118 exchange looks. They had forgotten that Doug’s birthday is on Halloween. None of them want to but all of them then go up and say happy birthday to him. Doug smiles widely.

Doug then pulls Maddie closer to him as he smiles even more. “Maddie did the best job of getting me a present this year. She certainly beat all past years.” He gives her a smile and Maddie feels sick.

“What did she get you?” Ravi asks curiously.

Doug just grins. “Not telling.”

Maddie looks down, feeling her cheeks go red with shame. She is relieved when the bells go off.

As soon as Maddie and Chimney are in the ambulance Maddie starts talking about random stuff. Thankfully Chimney picks up on the fact that she doesn’t want to talk about it being Doug’s birthday so he joins in and soon they are having a very random weird conversation that barely makes any sense but it is the most comfortable Maddie has been all day.
____

Once it reaches the early afternoon Doug assigns Eddie and Lucy to set up the table with treats to give to trick or treaters. And smoke alarms. Apparently all the firehouses in LA that are giving out candy also have to try and give out smoke alarms.

Doug also states that Eddie and Lucy will remain in the station if they get any calls, as they are to be there for when trick or treaters come. Once he has given out those instructions Doug then turns to Maddie. He doesn’t have to say anything. The look in his eyes does it for him.

Dread fills her but she just lowers her head and makes her way to Doug’s office. Once they are inside his office Doug closes and locks the door. He then pins Maddie to the wall and smiles at her. “Today has been a great birthday.”

Maddie forces a smile and she reaches her hand out towards his face. Doug smiles and she watches him visibly soften.

Seconds later she is on the floor and he is on top of her, pulling down her pants. This time her face is visible which makes it harder as she knows that if any of her true emotions come through then Doug will hurt her. If her revulsion shows, if her disgust shows, if the fact that she wants to be as far from him as possible shows then he will hurt her. If any of the tears that are trying to come, roll down her face then she knows he will hurt her. If her pain shows, if the fact that she really doesn’t want this shows then it will get even worse. So she smiles ever harder, even as all of her is crying on the inside. And the more she continues smiling the more she hates herself.

Once he is finally done she just needs to break down and cry. But she can’t risk that. So she gives Doug a smile and wraps her arms around him. She kisses him before pulling away. He looks disappointed the second she does and she gulps. “I should shower,” she says quietly. She sees the look on his face so is quick to speak again. “But after that we could cuddle up together and watch tv.”

She holds her breath and is relieved when Doug nods. She walks away as fast as she dares, knowing she can’t run the way she wants to as he will take offense at that. The instant she is in the shower and the water is on she bursts into tears and ends up on the floor, sitting on the ground as the water comes down around her and tears pour out of her, sobbing so hard that the sound of the water only just drowns out the sound of her tears.

Eventually her tears stop and she is left feeling hollow. She grabs the bar of soap and starts scrubbing, as hard as she can, wishing that she could scrub away all the traces of Doug. But she thinks that if she tried to do that then she would be scrubbing him away for the rest of her life.

She wants to stay in the shower for longer but she is aware that it has already been quite a while and Doug will already be annoyed at how long she is taking so she reluctantly finishes and gets dry and puts her clothes back on.

She feels a stone settle in her stomach and her feet getting heavier with each step as she goes to the couches in front of the tv where Doug is. When he sees her he smiles and Maddie obediently sits down next to him.

“What took you so long?” He asks.

Maddie tenses but Doug just chuckles. “Never mind. You’re here now. And better to have a long shower here than at home, saves our water bill.”

Doug laughs again before pulling Maddie close to him and holding her tight. Maddie’s body wants to tense but she forces it to relax, knowing that is what Doug will require.

At least this time the show Doug has the tv turned to is one Maddie actually likes so she tries to just focus her attention on the show and ignore the feel of her body against Doug’s. It is still a relief when the bells go off.

As they pass Eddie and Lucy at the tables set up for the trick or treaters a few of them make some jokes their way. Eddie glares at them, Lucy just rolls her eyes.

Chimney would normally add to the jokes but as they walk past he swears he sees a crow, sitting on one of the beams watching him. So he hurries to the ambulance, trying to get away from the crow.
_____

It takes more than normal to get through the traffic, the streets filled with trick or treaters. Maddie wonders if Genevieve is going trick or treating tonight. She hopes that if they do then Genevieve has a great time.

They eventually reach their destination, seeing that police have beaten them there. Maddie’s stomach drops when she sees that Athena is the one on scene. Maddie likes Athena, she trusts her and feels safe with her. But Doug hates Athena and every time they respond to the same call as Athena, Doug then takes it out on Maddie. Meaning Maddie is now on edge.

When they get out it is clear that Athena is the incident commander so Doug reluctantly makes his way over to her to find out what is going on. When he reaches her it is clear she isn’t happy.

“We were sent for a girl in the hospital who was injured. We eventually found out where she came from. When we checked we found several kids locked and chained in the basement.”

Maddie flinches and can’t stop the way she then shivers.

Doug turns to the 118. “Max and Ravi, see what you can find in the house that might give us any clue to any medical conditions any of them might have. Maddie, Chimney and Hen, you are to assess all of them.”

Everyone nods and starts doing what Doug told them to.

Maddie, Chimney and Hen make their way to the ambulances, where the cops have several of the kids. It doesn’t take long for them to tell that all of the kids are dehydrated, malnourished and with any number of infections. Chimney steps away to update Doug and Athena on that.

While Chimney is updating Doug and Athena, Ravi and Max then come back from the direction of the house. Ravi tells them that there was no gas or running water. Max says that they found canned food, bibles and textbooks all from the 1950s.

In the ambulances Hen and Maddie are quick to prioritise the worst looking wounds. All of them have bad sores around where the chains were and a few of them look infected.

Hen tries to start a conversation with the kids, trying to put them at ease. Maddie sees their scared faces and she has no clue what they have been through but she can see the trauma in their eyes and the way they are shaking.

She briefly closes her eyes before reopening them and talking to the kid she is treating. “It’s ok to be scared. You’re safe now although I understand it might be hard to believe that.”

The kid stays silent and Maddie doesn’t blame them.

When Maddie moves on to another kid Hen whispers in her ear when they pass each other. “Do you think these kids were kidnapped?” Hen asks.

Maddie shakes her head and Hen looks surprised by that. Maddie moves on to the next kid before Hen can think too hard about that.

The next kid that Hen treats ends up quietly telling her that they are siblings and that their parents did this to them. Hen is horrified by this, she could never imagine doing that to Denny and she can’t fathom the thought of other parents doing it to their kids. But when she looks at Maddie there is no surprise in Maddie’s eyes. Only sadness. It looks like Maddie knew or at least highly suspected that it was the parents.

Chimney arrives so Hen swaps out with him so she can update Athena. She sees cautious alarm on Athena’s face when she spots her which makes sense. Hen feels horrified so she is sure that horror is clear on her face.

“I just got one of the kids to talk,” Hen says, feeling shaken. “You’re not gonna believe this. These kids weren’t abducted. They live here. They’re siblings, their parents did this to them.”

Athena looks disgusted but unsurprised. Doug looks sickeningly amused and also unsurprised. Hen feels confused. How is she the only one surprised that it was the kids parents that did this to them?

Just then they hear a car honking and it ignores the people saying it can’t go there, as it pulls up onto the driveway and then a man gets out. “Those are our kids, what are you doing to our children?” he asks angrily.

A woman gets out after him. “Have you found Bethany? Our daughter. We’ve been looking for her for hours. She’s lost and alone.”

Hen glares at them. “Alone, like you left the rest of your kids.”

“They were secure, they were safe,” the dad retorts.

“Chained up you mean,” Athena says, shaking her head in disgust. “Your daughter is in the hospital, which is where the rest of your children will be going until CPS arrives. But the two of you will be going to jail.”

Athena then turns to two of the other cops on scene. “Read them their rights.”

The cops arrest the parents and ignore their protests as they then force them into the police cars and take them away.

With the parents taken away all focus moves to the kids. They only have two ambulances so in the end the two kids that are in the worst shape are transported in the ambulances, the rest are transported in the fire engine. All of the kids stay silent on the drive there.

Once they have the kids dropped off and are back in the ambulance Maddie feels herself close to breaking so she gets into the passenger seat before Chimney has a chance to suggest that she is the one that drives.

Chimney gets into the driver's seat and closes the door and Maddie starts crying.

He looks at her in concern. “Maddie,” he starts.

“Drive, please just drive,” Maddie pleads.

There is an urgency in her voice and Chimney is quick to turn on the engine and soon they are pulling away from the hospital.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Chimney asks.

Maddie shrugs but doesn’t say no. Chimney stays quiet, giving her the space to talk if she chooses to.

“I’m jealous of Hen,” Maddie eventually says.

And that was not what Chimney was expecting Maddie to say. He remains quiet, waiting for her to expand on that.

“She was so shocked that parents would treat kids like this. She thought the only possibility was that they were kidnapped.”

Maddie pauses and looks down. “It would be nice to believe that parents wouldn’t do that.”

Chimney frowns. “Maddie, did your parents . . .” he trails off, not sure what to say.

Maddie just sobs in reply, furthering Chimney’s alarm and worry. It takes a few minutes before she talks again.

“The chains weren’t that often. For me anyway. Doug has chained me many more times than my mom ever did. She gave us a bit more space than chains. Normally she just locked us both in my room when she didn’t feel like dealing with us. The chains were only on rare occasions. Well for me anyway. I think it was more for Evan. And I left him with them.”

Maddie starts sobbing even harder. “I’m a terrible sister. I can’t believe he would choose to look after Genevieve when I abandoned him and for Doug of all people.”

Chimney feels speechless and horrified. He wants to reassure her that she is a good sister, but he can tell that she won’t believe anything he says. Although that doesn’t stop him from trying.

“Buck loves you Maddie.”

“So,” Maddie says, shrugging. “That doesn’t mean anything. I still love Doug even with everything. So Buck may love me but that doesn’t change the fact that I am a terrible sister.”

Maddie is still crying when they enter the firehouse and Doug glares at her. “Why are you crying? It’s my birthday.”

Maddie visibly gulps and the rest of the 118 watches on, worriedly. Chimney wonders if it would make things better or worse for Maddie if he said she was crying because of her parents. In the end he doesn’t say anything as he doesn’t want to risk making things worse.

Maddie stays silent and Doug rolls his eyes before dragging her to his office. Once they are in there and the door is shut and locked Doug slaps her in the face. Maddie cries even harder.

“Stop crying Maddie,” Doug snaps.

Maddie shakes but she can’t. She is a terrible sister.

Doug shoves her to the ground and climbs on top of her. He places his hands around her throat but he doesn’t squeeze, not yet.

“You need to tell me why you are crying and if the reason isn’t good enough then you will have to learn your lesson. It’s my birthday, today isn’t the day to make things about you.”

Maddie trembles underneath him. “Sorry,” she whispers. “Seeing the kids who were chained up by their parents just made me think of my mom.”

Doug stares at her before moving his hands away from her throat, although he stays on top of her. “Did your parents chain you up?” He asks, the shock in his voice clear.

“My mom did,” Maddie whispers, before she screws her eyes shut and starts crying even harder.

Doug gets off Maddie and he grabs her arms and pulls her so that she is sitting up. He wraps his arms around her and Maddie clings onto him, wetting his tshirt with her tears.

Maddie is still crying when Doug pushes her back down. “Your parents are terrible so you are allowed to cry. But it is still my birthday.”

He then pulls her pants down and Maddie hates that he is doing this yet again. But at least this time she is able to cry. So she does. She cries the entire time he does it, no longer sure if she is crying because she is a terrible sister or if she is crying because of what Doug is doing to her.
____

“Trick or treat?” Harry, Chris, Genevieve and Brooke yell happily.

The lady at the door smiles at them before passing them candy. All four of them smile as they add the candy to their almost full buckets of candy.

“Two more streets guys,” Bobby says.

All four of them groan. Buck reminds them that they have already gone to Bobby and Athena’s to deposit their candy there before restarting with empty buckets.

For the last two streets all the kids put way more enthusiasm into their yelling of ‘trick or treat.’

On the walk home they start discussing what candy they got and Buck is sure there will be a lot of sorting, comparing and trading of candy.

Sure enough as soon as they get home all of the kids pour out their candy and start sorting it. Robert and May start trying to get some of their candy. Genevieve wraps her arms protectively around her pile. Harry just looks at them. “If you’re too old for trick or treating then you’re too old to have our candy. If you wanted candy you could have joined us.”

Robert and May both start protesting. Chris, Brooke and Genevieve all just stand behind Harry, backing him up.

Sensing that a fight is close to starting, Michael intervenes, telling Robert and May that whatever candy doesn’t get given out to trick or treaters will be equally divided between the two of them. And that does the trick and soon even Robert and May are interested in seeing the different candy ratios the others got.
____

They get the call for a medical only call and Maddie sighs before getting up. She is still crying slightly so she wipes away her tears and runs to the ambulance.

On the way there Chimney is cautious, when he asks a question. “I won’t mention this again if you don’t want me to. But the stuff you mentioned about your parents, can I maybe tell Athena? Just because she is now Buck’s parent and in case there was a situation where they ever need that information.”

Maddie just nods numbly.

It feels like the universe is laughing at her when they arrive on scene and she sees that Athena is also responding to this one.

Something in Athena’s expression changes when she sees Maddie and Maddie feels her stomach sinking. Athena makes her way up to them, to brief them on what is going on and Maddie feels dread fill her stomach.

Athena’s voice is gentle as she speaks. “It’s a domestic violence call. The husband has been arrested and taken away, his wife is in bad shape.”

Maddie sees the way Chimney looks at her at that, with worry on his face and she hates this.

“Where is she?” Maddie asks hoarsely.

“This way,” Athena says, as she leads Maddie and Chimney into the house. They pass through several rooms full of broken dishes and smeared blood before they reach the bedroom where they find the woman.

Maddie and Chimney hurry over to her and their sense of urgency increases as this is bad. There are too many wounds with blood gushing out of them to know which one to place pressure on but Maddie tries anyway whilst Chimney gives her CPR to try and get her breathing again.

It is soon clear that they are too late. Maddie bursts into tears. She is distantly aware of Athena saying she’ll call it in. Maddie is vaguely aware of people coming in and out of the room. Of people carrying the woman’s body away. Of Athena and Chimney talking in a corner, glancing at her as they do.

But none of that matters. A woman just lost her life. And she couldn’t do anything to save her.

She knows a part of her is also crying as she knows that one day this will be her. But crying because of that feels selfish so she tells herself she is only crying for the woman she couldn’t save. Nothing else. That woman is the only reason for her tears.

Eventually as if on auto pilot she makes her way back to the ambulance and Chimney drives them back to the firehouse. By this point it is almost 8:00 pm so the end of their shift.

Maddie makes her way to Doug who holds onto her for the rest of their shift. When they get home he turns to her and seconds later he is taking from her, yet again.
_____

Right now Buck is thankful that the kids schools are not open tomorrow as it means that the fact that they kids are hyped up on sugar and nowhere close to going to bed doesn’t matter. They are still at Bobby and Athena’s and it has already been agreed that they are going to stay the night.

When the door opens all of them rush to the door, excited to see Athena. The door hasn’t even closed behind her when Eddie then arrives.

The next few hours are filled with chaos and laughter and joy. Eventually the kids finally wear themselves out and go to bed.

Once the kids are in bed Michael goes home and Athena, Bobby, Buck and Eddie settle themselves in one of the living rooms.

“So, did you have any crazy Halloween calls?” Buck asks, leaning in eagerly.

Eddie shrugs. “Ask Athena. Lucy and I had to stay at the station and hand out candy to trick or treaters.”

Buck looks angry on Eddie’s behalf at that but Eddie assures him that it is fine. So Buck turns and looks at Athena.

Athena sighs. “No crazy calls this year. But there were two really bad calls. And other not so good ones as well. But two bad ones. One with multiple children who were trapped in a basement by their parents and chained up. All of them were super malnourished. And then a domestic violence call where the wife died.”

A silence settles in the room. Buck looks pale. “What stations responded to those calls? What paramedics?” He asks, his voice choked up.

Athena sighs. “Maddie responded to both of them.”

Anguish crosses Buck’s face.

Athena is gentle when she looks at Buck. “After the call with the children in the basement Maddie talked to Chimney. She told him more about her parents, about her mom.”

Buck visibly flinches and he looks up at Athena in horror. Eddie and Bobby exchange looks with each other, both of them worried.

“What, what did she tell him?” Buck eventually gets out.

“She said she was jealous of Hen, for being surprised that parents would do that to their kids. So Chimney cautiously asked Maddie if her parents did that to her. Maddie said it wasn’t that often. For her anyway. That Doug has chained her way more than her mom ever did. She said that her mom did it to you more often and that for her being locked in a room was more common. She also said that she is a terrible sister for abandoning you by leaving you with them.”

Eddie wants to punch something. Preferably the Buckley parents. Bobby feels ill. Buck starts shaking and he feels his heart rate increasing. It feels like the room is spinning in circles.

In the distance he can hear Eddie’s voice. And Bobby’s. And Athena’s.

He fights to reach those voices. But then he hears other voices. Margaret’s. Telling him he is a waste of space. That no one loves him. He tells her that Maddie loves him and Margaret laughs harshly saying that Maddie left him. And Buck cries because Margaret is right.

A hand touches his shoulder and Buck jumps. But then he realises he knows the hand. It is Eddie’s.

He hears Spanish and his body starts to relax. Margaret can’t speak Spanish.

He opens his eyes and he sees that Eddie is right in front of them. He is in Athena and Bobby’s house. He is in LA. He is nowhere near Hershey. He realises his face is wet and he wonders when he started crying.

The rest of the evening is weird. Buck ends up telling them a bit more about living with Margaret. But not much more. He tells Athena and Eddie that whichever of them can talk to Maddie first is to tell her that she is a good sister, that it may have been hard when she left but that he is glad she got away from Margaret.

After a bit more talking Buck has had enough of that so they end up watching a documentary. After the documentary is over Buck feels steadier. He and Eddie say good night to Athena and Bobby before they make their way to the guest bedroom that they are very well acquainted with.

Chapter Text

Buck stares at the scene in front of him and moves to start backing away. Athena looks up from where she is crying and shakes her head. “It’s alright. You can stay. I’ll tell you the story.”

So he sits down and then Athena is telling him about Emmett and how for years she never knew who killed him but then in the last few weeks they found the gun that killed him so Athena investigated it on her own and now his killer has been caught.

Buck doesn’t quite know how to respond to that so he just gives Athena a hug. Athena holds on tight to him. Bobby is on her other side.

After a few minutes Athena sits up and wipes her face. “So, how did Genevieve’s science fair project go?”

Buck gets the message loud and clear, they are done talking about Emmett. So he starts telling Athena about how Genevieve got 3rd place and how proud and excited she was.
____

When Chimney arrives at work the first thing he notices is that there is a very visible bruise on Maddie’s face that wasn’t there the last time he saw her. She looks at him before turning to stare at the ground. Chimney sees the smug look on Doug’s face and it infuriates him.

Doug comes up and starts happily talking to Chimney and Chimney hates having to be all friendly with Doug. He reminds himself that he is only friendly with Doug so that Doug will let Maddie interact with him. Maddie needs people on her side.

Half an hour into their shift they get a medical call and Chimney can tell he isn’t the only one glad for the chance to get away from Doug. As soon as they are in the ambulance Maddie asks Chimney about the movie he was watching most recently. Chimney recognises that as her way of indicating that she doesn’t want to talk about Doug. So Chimney launches into a bad description of the plot and soon there is a smile on Maddie’s face.

The call is for a heart attack. Maddie does CPR and they have to use the defibrillator but they get him back. Once he is breathing again they load him into the ambulance and Maddie drives him there.

They have just dropped him off at the hospital when they get another call, this time at an ice skating performance. Chimney is glad for their current location as it means they will get there way quicker than if they were still at the firehouse.

Chimney and Maddie are the first on scene although an ambulance from the 124 pulls up right after them. A person greets them and tells them about the injuries they have.

When they enter they see so much blood. They get pointed out to two main people to focus on. One guy who had four of his fingers cut off by an ice skate and one guy who has been impaled in the chest by an ice skate that is currently still attached to the woman’s foot meaning the two of them are connected together.

The 124 paramedics make their way to the guy whose fingers got cut off so Maddie and Chimney hurry to the guy who was impaled by an ice skate. From the position of the pair Maddie and Chimney instantly know that the first thing they need to do is prop them up, in order to minimise the damage as the current angle of the ice skate blade is not good.

Maddie finds a gingerbread prop that she sets in place and then her and Chimney carefully get the guy propped up. The two attached to the ice skate, in Hansel and Gretel costumes, start arguing with each other, moving slightly as they argue.

“Can your argument wait? It is important that neither of you move,” Chimney says.

Gretel glares at them. “He broke up with me just before we were about to go on.”

Chimney’s eyes widen briefly. “Well it is still important that neither of you move.”

He is about to say more when he looks up and sees that the rest of their team has arrived. Maddie flinches at the sight of Doug so Chimney gets Maddie to stay with Hansel and Gretel while he goes and updates Doug on what is happening with the call.

When Doug and his team walk into the building a woman comes up and starts telling him what happened. “We haven’t seen this much blood on the ice since a squirrel crawled into the zamboni.”

Eddie winces. “That would be messy.”

“Oh, it was,” the woman confirms.

“Do you know what caused the accident?” Doug asks.

The woman talks, saying random stuff about the performance before saying that she doesn’t know. Doug feels his anger starting to build, she could have just said a simple no rather than boring him with talk about the ice skating performance.

When Ravi steps onto the ice he almost falls over and his legs fall out from under him. It takes him a few seconds to get back up and find his balance. Doug snorts in amusement.

Chimney then comes up and Doug hopes that Chimney will actually be able to tell him information about what happened.

“What happened? What injuries are we dealing with?” Doug asks Chimney.

“One skater fell down and while he was down another skater skated over him, the blade cutting off four of his fingers. The 124’s paramedics have gotten him bandaged up and hit with a local anaesthetic and have got him ready for transport but we haven’t found any of his fingers.”

Doug nods and turns to his team. “Ravi, Eddie, Lucy, start looking for the missing fingers.”

The nod and do so. Doug turns back to Chimney. “Anything else?”

Chimney nods. “The two skaters playing Hansel and Gretel. They tripped and fell over and now Hansel has been impaled by Gretel’s skate.”

Doug nods. He sees where Chimney is pointing and sees that Maddie is there at their side. He makes his way over there and Chimney follows.

Doug places a hand on Maddie’s shoulder and she flinches. “What’s the damage?” He asks.

Maddie visibly gulps before replying. “We propped him up to minimise the damage. The skate is buried about 3 centimetres into his chest and it barely missed his heart.”

“He doesn’t have a heart!” Gretel yells.

Gretel and Hansel start arguing. Doug tunes them out and turns to Maddie and Chimney. “Do you think you can get her foot out of the skate so that you can transport him?”

“Well it would be easier if they stopped arguing,” Chimney says, which just gets Hansel and Gretel arguing even more.

Doug snaps. “SHUT UP AND STOP ARGUING UNLESS YOU WANT HIM TO DIE.”

There is a stunned silence before Hansel and Gretel both close their mouths and stop arguing.

Chimney turns to Maddie. “Can I have the trauma shears?”

Maddie passes them to him and then together the two of them help Gretel get her foot out of the skate. They have just gotten her foot out of the skate when they hear Eddie announce that he has found 2 fingers. Ravi then calls out that he has found a pinkie finger.

Doug nods. “Good, there is still one more finger to find though so continue looking.”

Maddie starts getting Hansel as stable as possible and ready for transport. They get him ready and into the ambulance and then Maddie starts driving them to the hospital. Gretel remains, glaring at the back of the ambulance as it leaves.

“Cap, I’ve found the last finger,” Lucy calls.

“Good, let’s get them transported,” Doug says.

One of the performers turns to Doug. “Will they be able to sew the fingers back on?”

“They’ve been on ice this whole time so the chances are better than they would be otherwise,” Doug says before turning away from the guy and turning to his team, ordering them back into the fire engine.

It doesn’t take long before they are back at the fire station. Maddie and Chimney return a bit after that and the second they are back, Doug gets Maddie to join him in his office, smiling as he does. Maddie lowers her head and obeys him.
_____

Maddie automatically tenses up as her and Chimney make their way to the patient. Everyone might have cleared out but the scent of violence is still in the air and she can see where the illegal fighting ring had been.

Maddie tries to push that out of her head as she and Chimney reach their patient. He is unconscious and is bleeding in the head. Thankfully he is still breathing. They get him stabilised and ready for transport and are just loading him into the ambulance when they see cops arrive.

Maddie jumps into the front of the ambulance and Chimney gets in the back and then they are on their way to the hospital. The whole drive there Maddie just focuses on driving and tries to forget about everything else. But once they get their patient dropped off at the hospital and Chimney jumps into the passenger seat Maddie starts crying.

“Maddie, are you alright?” Chimney asks gently, worry and concern in his voice.

“You should drive,” Maddie says shakily, as she gets up and makes her way to the other side of the vehicle. Chimney nods and soon he is driving them back to the fire station.

She can feel herself shaking a bit and she feels like she should give Chimney an explanation even though she knows he won’t hold it against her if she doesn’t.

“I know they were all gone by the time we arrived. But I could feel and smell the violence in the air.” She lets out a bitter laugh. “For all his love of violence Doug would never do something like this. He wouldn’t like it if the other person fought back.”

Maddie shakes her head as if she can shake all thoughts of violence away. “Do you watch much tv or are you just a movie guy?”

Chimney smiles. “I do watch some tv. But you’re right, movies are definitely more me.”

He starts talking about one of the movies he has watched and Maddie allows herself to breathe out. She is fine. She is safe. She is no longer near the illegal fighting ring. And she isn’t near Doug. The only other person around is Chimney and he is safe.
____

The 132 all stare at Bobby when he tells them where they are responding to. It feels kind of silly but they are all quick to jump into their vehicles and make their way there.

It doesn’t take them long for them to arrive at the hospital that a self-driving car crashed into. They move all the desk pieces away, get the patient onto a gurney and then the hand over to the hospital staff is instant. No drive required.

Once they are walking out of the hospital they all agree that the call felt a bit pointless. Surely the hospital staff could have handled it on their own. Eventually they all shrug and then Buck gets a gleam in his eyes. “I’m so telling Eddie about this call. He’ll be even more freaked out about technology and self-driving cars than he was already.”

Everyone nods and laughs in agreement and he has to promise them that he will tell them all how Eddie reacts to that.
____

Eddie is on edge as they make their way to the call. Dispatch didn’t give them much information, apparently all the caller said was that the robots were attacking. Which is definitely the opposite of reassuring. It doesn’t help that Doug is very clearly amused by Eddie’s very understandable worry about the technology.

Maddie knows she definitely has a concussion and while Chimney is driving them to the call the main thing she can focus on is how much her head hurts.

“Maddie.”

She snaps to attention and when she turns to look at Chimney she can tell by the look on his face that it isn’t his first time saying her name, trying to get her attention.

“Sorry,” she whispers. “What were you saying?”

“I was saying let's take down this robot revolution. But are you alright?”

Maddie sighs. “I have a concussion. It’s why I let you drive. I did ask Doug if I could be the man behind today. But he said no.”

“Well that sucks,” Chimney says.

“Yeah, it does,” Maddie says quietly.

She feels tears pushing at the corners of her eyes and she is quick to blink them away. Before Chimney can try to say anything else they reach their call and Maddie just wants to cry. Which then makes her feel guilty. She loves helping people, she loves her job. But right now she just wishes she could rest. She wishes she was man behind. She doesn’t know why Doug wouldn’t let her be man behind. He knows she isn’t going to be of much help. Maybe he just wants to rub in how useless she is.

She gets out of the ambulance, moving a bit slowly as she doesn’t feel fully steady on her feet. Chimney looks at her in concern. Doug just smirks at her before all of them are moving into the building. They are greeted by a worker. Doug introduces himself as the captain and the woman turns to him as she starts explaining what happened.

“Robot number 3 just went crazy,” she says.

“What kind of robot are we talking about?” Doug asks.

“Transport robots. Our company has a whole army of them and they’re used for moving heavy boxes.”

Eddie shivers. An army of robots? Why couldn’t a different station have been sent to this call?

“And it attacked someone?” Max asks.

The worker nods. “Yeah, my coworker Jerome. I heard that the robot just beelined for him like a suicide bomber and crashed into the end of an aisle and then took down an entire row of shelves.”

Eddie feels even more uneasy. Suicide bomber? That is not a reassuring description of the robot.

“Do you have any idea what caused the robot to malfunction?” Eddie asks, wondering if they should all just leave now while they can before the robots turn on them as well. He quickly shakes himself out of it. He has been in war zones, why is one killer robot unnerving him so much?

The worker shakes her head. “No, no clue. Normally their movements are super precise. But number 3 was gunning for Jerome.”

They are walking and following her as she explains what is going on so as she finishes that sentence they reach the crashed down aisle, where workers are all crowded around and one of them, presumably Jerome, is lying on the ground trapped underneath the boxes and shelves.

Doug looks round at their audience. “All of you need to step back, give us some space to work.”

They do and as soon as the space is clear Chimney and Maddie are down at Jerome’s side.

“Hi Jerome, are you having any trouble breathing?” Maddie asks.

“No,” Jerome says, shaking his head.

Chimney looks at what he can see before looking up. “There are obvious crush injuries, but we don’t know the condition of his extremities under there, not until we can see them better.”

“All I wanted was to take a leak, it’s a basic human need,” Jerome says.

That causes them to pause. Ravi sniffs the air. “Did you pee on the robot before it crashed?” Ravi asks, clear shock in his voice.

Jerome nods.

“Why would you do that?” Doug asks, a scornful tone in his voice.

“Our supervisor won’t let us,” Jerome says, “it ruins our picktime.”

Another of the workers pipes up. “Yeah, it ruins our picktime according to Shane.”

“And where is Shane?” Doug asks.

Several of the workers point to a man that is hiding around the corner.

“Stay where you are,” Max says angrily. “OSHA is going to have a field day with you.”

Maddie continues checking on Jerome’s vitals. It takes a little longer than it should as she has to battle the pounding in her head but she gets there. And once she has checked them she is alarmed. She looks up. “Doug, his heart is racing and his blood pressure is a little low.”

“There could be something severed underneath that is currently compressed,” Chimney adds.

Doug nods. “Guess we need to check then.” He then turns to the team. “Ravi, you’re with me, Eddie and Max, you get the other side.”

They each get to the appropriate side of the shelving. “We lift it at the same pace, at exactly the same time. On three.”

Doug counts them down and when he gets to three they carefully lift the shelving. As soon as the shelving is high enough, Hen and Lucy drag Jerome out from under there. The instant they do blood starts spurting out of Jerome’s right leg, just below the knee.

Chimney is quick to jump into action. Maddie is a bit slower which she then hates herself for. Soon Chimney is applying the clamp and tourniquet and Maddie is nearer Jerome’s head, keeping an eye on his vitals.

Chimney looks at Maddie and she knows that he needs Jerome to be still. Maddie looks up at Doug. “Someone needs to hold his shoulders down.”

Doug nods and soon he is by Maddie’s side as he holds Jerome down. Chimney continues working on his leg, trying to stop the bleeding. He gets a tourniquet in place just as Maddie realises that Jerome has lost his pulse and is crashing.

Maddie moves to compressions and it takes several terrifying seconds before Jerome is gasping for air and breathing again. Once he is, Maddie turns to Doug. “He’s ready for transport.”

Doug nods. “Good. Ravi, Eddie, get the gurney in here.”

Once Ravi and Eddie have the gurney in place they work together to get Jerome onto the gurney and then into the ambulance. Chimney jumps into the back, following Doug’s rule of Maddie not being allowed in the back when their patient is a male.

Which means Maddie has to drive. She feels dizzy and her vision starts to swim. She looks at Doug. “Can someone else drive? I don’t think I’m up to it.”

Doug snorts. “You’re fine Maddie. Stop overreacting. Get in there and start driving. Right now you’re just wasting time and you know that the sooner you get him to the hospital the better.”

Maddie fights back tears as she makes her way to the driver’s seat, swaying slightly as she walks. Maddie gets into the driver’s seat and buckles in. There are spots in her vision and she feels a sense of dread. She should not be driving.

She looks out the ambulance and sees Doug standing right outside, glaring at her. She opens the door. “I really shouldn’t be driving,” she pleads.

Doug looks around and sees that no one else is watching. He steps forward and slaps her in the face. “You are driving and nothing is changing that so shut up and start driving. When you get back to the firehouse then come to my office, you need to learn your lesson. You should have just obeyed and started driving without questioning me.”

Doug then slams the door shut and Maddie starts shaking.

She gulps, knowing that she has no choice and the longer it takes her the worse Jerome’s chances are.

She keeps all her focus on the road, barely hearing Chimney saying that Jerome is joking about wanting a catheter. They approach a set of traffic lights so Maddie presses the traffic pre-empt button. She sees the traffic lights turn green so she continues driving through the intersection.

Her vision starts to dot and she fights it, knowing she needs to stay conscious until they reach the hospital. But she really should pull over and let Chimney drive and face the consequences from Doug later. She is about to suggest that when she sees the car. Right in front of her.

Horror and terror fills her and she slams on the brakes. But it is too late. It’s too late.

They go smashing into the car and move several feet forward, pushing the car forward as well, before they finally slow to a stop. Maddie’s head bangs against the steering wheel and she struggles desperately, needing to stay conscious.

She blinks several times and once her vision finally stops swimming she looks in front of her and freezes as her body goes cold. In front of her she sees the car she has crashed into. And in that car is a woman, who is now lying on the seat, surrounded in blood and glass.

Her hands shaking, Maddie unbuckles her seat belt as fast as possible and opens the door before her shaky legs carry her to the car as fast as she can make them move. As soon as she lays eyes on the woman, Maddie runs back to the ambulance, opening the sides, to grab the medical gear needed.

Chimney gets out of the back of the ambulance and looks at her. “What happened?” He asks.

Maddie doesn’t want to say it. She has to fight to get the words out. “I, I, I, h, h, hit, a c, c, car,” she somehow stammers out.

Her legs threaten to give out under her but she can’t let them. She needs to tend to the woman. Only once the woman is stable and in the hospital can Maddie let herself break.

“I’ll call more units,” Chimney says, not that Maddie hears him.

Maddie stumbles back to the car whilst Chimney gets out his radio.

“Dispatch this is ambulance 118, we have hit a civilian vehicle at the intersection of West Olympic and Main. The vehicle driver is injured, request assistance ASAP.”

Chimney hears Doug’s voice responding. “Dispatch, this is captain 118, we are on route.”

Chimney looks at Maddie and he does not want Doug here. But he knows they don’t have a choice.

Maddie is at the car door and she starts asking if she can hear her. No response. She sees a coffee cup inside the car with the name Evelyn. There is blood on the coffee cup and Maddie thinks she might be sick. She did this.

Without even being fully aware of it Maddie starts screaming Evelyn’s name, desperate to get a response from her.

Suddenly Chimney is next to her, trying to get in the car. And then Doug is there, his hand on her shoulder. “Maddie, get out of the way. You did this so you can’t exactly work on her. Do you really think she would want you of all people working on her after what you did to her? Go and stand in that corner.”

Doug points in one direction and on shaky legs Maddie begins to move there. Eddie uses the jaws to get into the car as Maddie somehow makes her way to the corner Doug pointed out.

She reaches the sidewalk and her legs give out under her and then she is somehow on the ground. Her head is still pounding and her vision is still swimming but none of that matters. Tears start landing on her lap but she doesn’t even notice them. She is just staring in the direction of the car in pure horror. What on earth has she done?

She only realises she is forgetting to breathe when she starts hyperventilating. Her arms and legs start to go all tingly and soon they are numb and she can’t feel them. It feels like there is a massive pressure on her chest and she can’t breathe. Which is fine. She doesn’t deserve to breathe, not after crashing into Evelyn.

Her vision starts to dot even more and then she is slumping over as she loses consciousness.

There is more blood in the car than inside Evelyn’s body and all of them are worried. When Chimney says there isn’t enough room to work on her in the car, Doug says to pull her out so they do. From his angle when pulling Evelyn out of the car, Chimney spots Maddie who is now lying down and he can’t fully tell but he thinks she is unconscious.

“Is Maddie alright?” He asks.

Doug looks in Maddie’s direction before scoffing. “She’ll be fine. She’s just being dramatic. We need to focus on Evelyn. If Evelyn dies then Maddie will be impossible to deal with.”

Chimney has to force his anger down, knowing that right now all his focus needs to be on Evelyn.

Hen starts doing CPR while Chimney and Eddie work on Evelyn. But a sinking feeling starts to settle within Chimney. He can tell they aren’t going to be able to save her.

Maddie’s vision reappears and she sits up slowly, blinking. What happened?

She hears sirens and sounds and looks over and sees the rest of the 118 working on Evelyn. And then everything comes rushing back. Her entire body starts shaking as she bursts into heaving uncontrollable sobs. Soon she can barely breathe again but she doesn’t care.

And then she sees everyone step away and she sees Doug say something into the radio and she realises they are calling it. Evelyn is dead. She killed someone.

She killed someone.

Maddie pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them as she starts frantically rocking back and forth as a desperate wail comes from deep within her and bursts out of her.

Her eyes close as she rocks faster, desperate for this to just be a bad dream. More and more tears are coming and she thinks it is the hardest she has ever cried.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.

A loud slap sound echoes around in her brain and a stinging sensation floods through her cheek. Maddie somehow manages to open her eyes and is greeted with a furious Doug.

He grabs onto her legs. “STOP ROCKING!” He yells.

Maddie flinches.

Doug gets a tighter hold of her and then it is impossible for her to move so the rocking stops. But the shaking doesn’t.

Doug looks at her and sighs. “There is going to be an investigation. The LAFD and LAPD will roll up and there are going to be lots of questions. So you give short answers, don’t elaborate. Just say you pressed the pre-empt button, saw that the light was green, you went through and then as soon as you saw the car you hit the brakes. You don’t say anything else and you definitely don’t mention that you have a concussion. Do you understand?”

Maddie blinks.

Doug slaps her again. “Do you understand?”

Maddie trembles. “Y, y, yes,” she somehow gets out.

Doug lets go of her and stands up. He looks back down at her and shakes his head. “Do you know how much paperwork this is going to create for me? Seriously Maddie.”

Doug shakes his head again and tuts loudly. Maddie feels herself withering and getting even smaller.

They then hear the approaching sirens and panic starts to fill Maddie when she realises that the questions are about to start.

Doug gives her a death stare. “Remember what I said.”

Maddie nods.

And then people are arriving and she is being asked to come with them.

Chapter Text

She is in the back of a cop car being taken to the police station, to tell them what happened. And then after that she will be investigated by the LAFD team.

She is still shaking and her thoughts are all over the place. She killed someone. She killed someone. She is a monster.

They reach the police station and Maddie trembles in fear before getting mad at herself. She doesn’t deserve to be scared. She deserves whatever is coming to her. She killed someone.

They are kind as they get her out of the car. Too kind.

She is led into the building and taken into an interview room. Two cops come in the room and they get her to sit on one side of the table before they then sit down on the other side of the table. They turn a camera on and then they turn to face her.

“Before we start do you need a glass of water or anything like that?”

Maddie shakes her head. She is thirsty, so thirsty. But she doesn’t deserve water.

She is still crying and she feels so bad about that. She is also still shaking.

“Can you tell us what happened?”

Maddie gulps. I killed her, she thinks. They all know that. But Doug told her what to say and he will be mad if she disobeys.

Feeling that she is close to hyperventilating again, Maddie has to fish through the mess that is her mind, and fight through the pounding of her head, to remember what she is supposed to say.

“We were approaching the traffic lights so I hit the pre-empt button to change the lights. They were green when I went through. As soon as I saw the car I hit the brakes. But I wasn’t quick enough.”

Maddie breaks down and bursts into messy sobs. She vaguely hears them asking her a question but her brain doesn’t compute the words.

“Maddie.”

Right, she needs to focus. She tries to turn her attention to them, but her vision is blurring and it feels like there are four cops in the room, but she knows that can’t be right. There are only supposed to be two. Did two of them walk in partway through?

“Maddie, do you need medical attention before we continue with the questions?”

Her head hurts so much.

“Maddie, are you alright?”

Why is everything moving?

“Maddie, how many fingers am I holding?”

Maddie blinks and tries to focus. But the fingers are swimming making it hard to count them. But she doesn’t want to waste their time by keeping them waiting. “Three?” she eventually guesses.

“I was only holding one finger.”

Oh. This isn’t good.

“Maddie, do you think you have a concussion?”

Ice fills her body and she freezes. She forgets to take a breath and suddenly she is falling sideways as everything goes dark.

When she comes to, she is still in the interview room. She looks up to see the face of a worried looking cop standing above her. She starts shaking even harder when she remembers what happened. She killed someone. She bursts into tears.

“Maddie, I think you need to get checked out at the hospital. We can talk to you later.”

Maddie starts trembling and she desperately shakes her head. “I can’t go to the hospital. I can’t.”

Panic floods her body and soon she is trapped in a panic attack. There are voices telling her to take deep breaths and trying to guide her breathing but she can’t hear them.

She doesn’t hear them open the door before one of them runs out of the room, asking if any cops in the building have worked a lot with the 118, if any of them might know her.

She doesn’t see Athena come into the room. She doesn’t hear Athena tell everyone else to leave the room, to give her some space.

She just rocks back and forth. She killed someone. She killed someone. She is a terrible person.

“Maddie.”

She killed someone. She killed someone. Was that Athena’s voice?

“Just follow the sound of my breathing.”

She killed someone. She killed someone. She is a despicable human being. Ok, that sounds like Athena’s voice again. Maybe she isn’t making it up.

She hears Athena’s voice, calmly going through breathing. She has to focus on that. She needs to focus on that.

She tries to forget about everything else and she somehow manages to follow the breathing. Eventually the pressure on her chest eases, her arms and legs regain feeling and she can breathe again.

She blinks and stares at Athena. “Athena?” She asks, her voice breaking in disbelief.

“I’m here Maddie,” she says.

Maddie bursts into tears. Athena is quick to open up her arms and Maddie falls into them. “I killed someone,” she whispers. “I’m a monster.”

“You are not a monster,” Athena says, her voice fierce.

“But I killed someone,” Maddie whispers, her voice broken.

Athena moves back a bit so that she can look at Maddie. “It was an accident. You are not a monster.”

Maddie shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have been driving.” She looks down before whispering. “I had a concussion and was dizzy. I know I shouldn’t have been driving.”

“Did you try to get someone else to drive?” Athena asks.

Maddie gulps and looks around. Athena seems to realise what she is looking for. “There are no cameras in here and no one way glass or anything like that. The only person that will hear what you say is me.”

Maddie nods before gulping again. “I asked Doug if someone else could drive. I said I didn’t think I was up to it,” she whispers. She starts crying even harder and Athena holds her. Maddie doesn’t feel like she deserves that comfort but she doesn’t pull away. She tries to tell herself that is just because it will be easier to tell Athena what happened if she can’t see her. Though she knows that really she is just desperate for comfort.

“He said to stop overreacting and stop wasting time. But he knew I had a concussion. He knew why I didn’t think I was up to it.”

Maddie can feel her breathing start to accelerate again. Athena helps guide her through some more breaths and Maddie waits until she feels less shaky to begin talking again.

“When I started walking to the ambulance I was swaying and there were spots in my vision as I got in the seat. I saw Doug glaring at me so I opened the door and told him that I really shouldn’t be driving. He slapped me and said that I needed to shut up and that I was driving whether I liked it or not but now that I had tried to disobey him I was going to pay for it when we returned to the firestation.”

Maddie starts shaking and she sobs into Athena’s shoulder. Athena rubs Maddie’s back.

“I knew I didn’t have a choice so I started driving but I could tell I was close to losing consciousness so I was about to pull over and ask Chimney to drive and accept that I would deal with the consequences for disobeying Doug. But first there was a set of traffic lights. So I hit the pre-empt button to change them and they were green when I went through. As soon as I saw the car I hit the brakes but it was too late. I hit the car and I killed her. I killed someone. That makes me even worse than Doug as he’s never killed someone.”

“You are not worse than Doug,” Athena says, her voice fierce again. “What you did was an accident. And yes, you shouldn’t have been driving. But you tried to say that. Doug purposely made it so it would be dangerous for you to not drive, even though he knew that it was dangerous for you to drive. So this is on Doug, not you. And you could never be worse than him. You have a good heart and care about others. He doesn’t.”

Maddie starts crying even harder. “I wish I had good parents. I need the comfort of a mom.”

Athena hugs her harder. “You have me. Bobby and I took Buck in as a bonus kid. You’re his sister, that makes you our bonus kid as well.”

More tears start rolling down Maddie’s face as she hugs Athena even tighter.

They stay there like that for several minutes, the two of them hugging, Maddie crying so much that her eyes start to sting from the tears.

Eventually Maddie pulls away and sits up. “Am I going to go to jail?”

Athena is quick to shake her head. “You did nothing wrong Maddie. You followed the protocols. The light was green when you went through it and you hit the brakes as soon as you realised what happened. I will get you cleared with the police and I will speak to the chief of the LAFD and get you cleared there as well.”

Maddie gulps. “You can’t mention that I was concussed.”

“I won’t mention Doug,” Athena promises.

Maddie lets out a sigh of relief. She then pauses, before looking at Athena. “I really don’t want to go home tonight. But if Doug knew that then he would hurt Buck and Genevieve. Could you maybe make him think I have been arrested for the night. I’ll go back. I know I have to. But I can’t face him right now. I know I’m going to cry all night and he is already mad at me for this as it creates more paperwork for him.”

Anger flashes across Athena’s face before she nods. “Of course. You can stay with us for the night and I’ll get a different cop to tell Doug you are being kept at the police station overnight.”

Maddie lets out a sigh of relief and slumps into Athena’s side. They stay there like that for a few minutes before Athena speaks. “I just need to talk to a few of my colleagues to get things sorted out but then I will be ready to take you to my house.”

Maddie nods but she feels panic at the thought of Athena leaving her.

Athena gets up and then Maddie is alone in the room. She feels all her emotions knock her down in one big wave and she gasps for air. When Athena returns to the room Maddie is shaking again.

Athena wraps an arm around Maddie. “Let’s get you to my house.”

Maddie just nods numbly.

Athena guides her to her car and Maddie feels blank. On the drive there she is pretty sure Athena says stuff but Maddie doesn’t hear any of it.

Maddie starts shaking when they arrive at Athena’s house. Athena turns to her. “Currently no one else is home. The kids are at school and Bobby still has a few hours left of his shift.”

Maddie gulps, but that does help her fear decrease a little bit.

“We have a guest bedroom so you can use that for the night,” Athena says. “Do you want to see it?”

Maddie stares at the ground but nods.

Athena leads her to the room and Maddie looks around it before she climbs onto the bed and pulls her legs up. She wraps her arms around them and then buries her head in her legs and she starts sobbing, her body shaking and rocking with the intensity of her sobs.

“Do you want me to stay in here with you or do you want some privacy?” Athena asks.

Maddie knows she deserves to be alone. But she doesn’t think she could handle that. “Stay,” she whispers. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Athena assures her.

Athena climbs onto the bed next to her. “Can I hug you?” She asks.

Maddie nods.

Athena wraps her arms around Maddie and Maddie leans into her side.