"Yeah but what we need to do is get containment in here, here, or if I make it myself-" De Leon explained as he pointed to the map.
"This is a joke!" the brunet snarled. Mariana scoffed at De Leon's words and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "We know exactly where the chopper went down. So why haven't you sent out a rescue team?"
"As I said, the beacon is coming from two miles inside an active burn zone. It is not safe to send anyone up in the dark," De Leon tried to placate him.
"Commander, with all due respect, we accept the risk and we ain't asking anybody else to go," Judd interrupted.
"You know I can't authorize that."
"Those are our people out there," Buck insisted.
"They could be bleeding out right now. Dying." Buck's new friend pleaded. Eddie tensed at his words and Mariana subtly pressed her hand against his back as a gentle reminder of where they were. They weren't in Afghanistan. They were here in Texas.
"Son, we haven't had any cell or radio contact at all since the mayday. Nobody else is risking their lives tonight. And your father would be the first one to agree with me."
Shelby moved from where she had been standing next to Paul, following the guy as she called out "TK!"
Mariana watched as the two left the tent, the realization finally hitting her of who that guy was. Carlito's boyfriend. Captain Strand's son.
"So what can we do?" Paul asked.
"We will send out a rescue team at first light," De Leon assured them.
"That's too late," Mariana snapped. "I know you aren't aware of my reputation, sir, but listening isn't my strong suit."
Eddie placed his hand on her shoulder, a reminder that she wasn't in LA and wasn't immune to punishment from superiors. Bobby's leniency wouldn't extend to Texas.
"I'm sorry. I really am."
They filed out, everyone's faces holding a mixture of despair and anger. Mariana turned to face her two boys, fury coursing through her veins.
"This isn't fair! If it was one of us, Hen would be out there."
"It's not safe," Eddie sighed.
"If I was in that helicopter, you would stop at nothi-"
"You know damn well why," he growled. "Don't even say that. If you were in that helicopter Mariana, I-"
He stopped himself and ran a hand through his hair and over his face, turning away from Buck and Mari. The blond stepped back from his two best friends, letting them handle it between themselves.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I forgot. I…"
"I know. I know. I just...I need to take a walk. I'm not mad at you. I'm not. I love you, okay? That's why I can't...shit, Mari."
She nodded, her hand going up to touch the chain that hung from her neck and the two tags that pressed against her chest. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she shut her eyes at his touch, holding back the little whine that wanted to escape when he pulled away and walked in the direction of where their tent was set up.
"Way to fucking go, Ramirez," she muttered as she dug her foot in the ground. A throat cleared behind her and she turned, finding Shelby standing there with a pizza box in hand.
"Pizza for your thoughts?" the blonde offered. Mariana didn't even realize how hungry she was and she gratefully followed the Texan to one of the picnic benches. They both sat on the top of the table, watching as people slowly walked to tents and cots, the exhaustion of the day catching up with everyone.
"I gotta ask," Mariana broke the silence. "Are all Texans as intense as you? Because I share a bed with a Texan and he kinda has the same cocky attitude as you."
Shelby let out a surprised laugh. "Well, I wouldn't say every Texan but I guess. Do all Angelenos complain as much as you?"
"Ay, don't be fucking rude," Mariana snorted. "I've been told I'm special."
"Your dad doesn't count."
"Well he's dead so…"
"Aw shit. I'm sorry," Shelby groaned. "I'm such an asshole."
"You're fine. Seriously. I lost my birth father a long time ago but my captain...he's practically my father in every way but blood."
"I get that. Owen took me on when I had nowhere else to go. He's like my dad and TK's a bonus brother."
Mariana nodded and fished her phone out of her pocket as it buzzed with a notification. She grinned at the text on her screen and fired back a response.
"Sorry, it's bedtime for my boys and they wanted to say goodnight."
"I didn't realize you were a mom."
"It's new. Well, the officiality of it is. We finalized the adoption papers for my nephew right before we came to Texas and I'm going to adopt Christopher, Eddie's son, next."
Mariana pulled her phone out again to show the blonde a photo of the four of them, her face brightening just at the mention of her boys. Shelby smiled almost sadly as she gazed at the smiling family.
"You have a beautiful family. I didn't even realize you and Diaz were together."
"We try to keep work and home separate. How about you?"
A dark look passed over her face and she shrugged. "Divorced, no kids. Not dating anyone anytime soon, I can tell you that. Focusing on work more than anything."
"Yeah, I know what that's like."
"Speakin' of which, I'm sick and tired of sitting here on my ass and doing nothing," Shelby complained. Mariana looked over at the motor pool and frowned, a thought coming to mind. One that would cause Eddie to kill her and Bobby would help hide the body.
"Have you ever hotwired a car before?" she asked the Texan.
"...I told you I grew up on a farm, right? That means my expertise is horses and tractors."
"C'mon, time to learn how to hotwire a firetruck."
/
"Pliers," Mariana whispered from where she was laying on her back under the seat of the fire truck. Shelby glanced nervously around as she passed the tool to the brunette who started adjusting wires.
"Where the hell did you learn this? Is this a thing they teach in Los Angeles?" she hissed. Mariana lifted her head, the flashlight trapped between her teeth shining a beam across Shelby's face. She opened her mouth and let it fall onto her chest, a pensive look on her face.
"Legally…I don't know if you want to learn the answer to that," she replied before leaning back to continue working. Shelby threw her hands up in exasperation and then ducked behind the door when she heard footsteps.
"Shit, Ramirez, hide!"
Mariana shimmied down but it was too late. Two figures rounded around the corner and came face to face with the two women. Buck stared at his sister who glared at him while Shelby sheepishly waved at a dumbfounded TK.
"What are you doing here?" Buck inquired.
"...I am doing some repairs on another truck. I was asked to," Mariana shot back.
"You're a shit liar," Buck scoffed.
"Ok, huh, well, what are YOU doing here?"
"TK and I just wanted to see what's different between our trucks."
"Oh and you have the audacity to call me the bad liar!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Buck and then directed it towards TK. "Remind me to kick your ass later."
"For what?!" he cried.
"For defiling my sweet, innocent little cousin."
"You're the Mariana? Well, I can assure you, your cousin is anything but innocent."
"Oh fuck, I don't need to hear that!"
"Are you hotwiring the Albuquerque fire truck?!" Buck exclaimed finally when he realized that she was clutching pliers. Mariana tossed them to Shelby who quickly tucked them in her back pocket.
"Absolutely not," the blonde said.
The two men stared at them with similarly unamused expressions and Shelby broke first. "Yeah, okay! We were!"
"Traitor," Mariana hissed.
"TK has these little puppy dog eyes. It's like kicking a baby, okay?"
"Listen, there's no way I could take my baby out there and I couldn't find the key to the 126 truck so here I am-" the brunette gestured lamely to the truck "-doing what I do best."
"I was coerced under duress," Shelby attempted. Mariana nudged her shoe and the blonde huffed. "I picked the truck."
Buck wordlessly held up the key to the 126 and a slow grin spread across Mariana's lips. She snatched it out of his hand and spun on her heel, letting Shelby lead the way to the Austin department's truck.
"Hey dumbass! Dumbasser! And the two idiots with them," Judd interrupted the four. They froze like deer in headlights which was fitting since flashlights streamed on their faces. "Did you stop and consider the consequences of what you're about to do at all?"
"You obviously don't know Buck and Mari," Eddie announced as he and Marjan came around the other side of the trucks.
"You four didn't seriously think that you could sneak off and drive into wildfires, did you?" Marjan scoffed.
TK looked at his other troublemakers and they shared an equal look of annoyance mixed with shame. "Yes?"
"Well, that ain't gonna happen," Paul drawled out.
"You think you're going to stop us?" Buck asked.
"If we're going to fight, I claim Eddie," Mariana blurted out. Buck shot her a disgusted look and she shrugged in feigned innocence.
"Stop you? We're going with you," the only member of the 126 she hadn't met declared. The four original rule breakers shared a look as their teammates headed for the truck. The guy stopped in front of Mariana and grinned.
"Mateo Chavez, 126. Nice to meet you."
"Mariana!" Eddie called. "Let's go."
She smirked at Mateo and held up the key in her hand. "Duty calls."
/
Even with Mariana driving, it took longer than any of them wanted to get up to the crash site. By the time she was out of the truck, TK and Buck were already climbing into the overturned helicopter.
"They're not in here!" TK shouted.
"They made it out," Buck yelled.
Judd motioned for them to follow as he began shouting orders. The haze of the fires made it harder to see, aiding in the panic that was fueling the two teams.
"Let's fan out and let's search this area here, yeah?" he ordered. Shelby and Mariana exchanged a glance before they headed for the hill. Shelby scrambled up before reaching down to help the brunette who gratefully nodded.
"Any idea?" Mariana gasped out, her lungs fighting against the sudden exercise mixed with the acrid taste of smoke in the air.
"None," Shelby admitted regretfully. "CAP!"
"Hen!"
It felt like forever that they scrambled up and down the burnt soil in search when Marjan started yelling that they found them. Mariana was really grateful for Eddie making her wake up and go for runs because she bolted towards their voices. They were pulling burnt wood off of a pile of debris and Mariana hopped into the fray, yanking charred wood from the top of the pile and throwing it off to the side. Once there was a big enough opening, Buck helped her climb up and slide into the mine. TK slid in after her and Buck followed suit.
"Hen!" Mariana called, kneeling down next to her friend. She placed two fingers against Hen's neck and let out a heavy sigh of relief at the slow but steady thrum of blood under the skin.
"We gotcha, Hen," Mariana assured her. "We've got a pulse."
She looked up, catching Shelby's eyes. The two women nodded at each other in respect before returning back to their teammates. Mariana turned to look at Eddie and Buck.
"We gotta get her out of here and to the truck," she ordered. They each took one arm and helped Hen up, carrying her out of the mine shaft as Mariana radioed to base camp to update them.
"You defied direct orders, Ramirez," De Leon barked over the radio.
"Yeah, I do that occasionally. Thing is...we saved them. You're welcome for doing your job."
/
"Hen's fine," Mariana assured Bobby over the phone. "She's up and alert and medical cleared her. Eddie and I will pester her with check ups every hour on the hour. We're gonna head out soon and be back by dinner tomorrow."
"I'll call Captain Strand tomorrow and thank him. You guys did good. If you get here in time, Athena and I might have some leftover chicken bake you guys can take home," he said. She laughed as she approached the 118 truck.
"You and I both know that there are three pans in the oven right now."
"You know us too well. Hey, did you hear anything about a break in at the motor pool? The Albuquerque chief called to warn everyone that his truck was broken into and it looked like someone tried to hotwire it. Wanted to make sure all the trucks were good."
"What? That's crazy. Our engine is fine. Nothing showed up on my usual checks."
"Probably just some idiot kids nearby trying to do a joyride. See you tomorrow, kid."
"See you," she sang before hanging up and pocketing her phone. The latina shrugged off her medic bag and stuffed it in one of the compartments. Just as she shut the door, a throat cleared behind her. The brunette turned, finding Mateo leaning against the truck next to the 118 engine.
"So, you guys are heading back to LA," he said.
"Before you even start, I'm letting you know you don't have a chance," she drawled out before patting his shoulder and heading off to find the other members of the 126. Shelby was leaning against one of the ATVs next to Paul and the blonde grinned at the sight of her new friend.
"Sure you don't want to move to Texas?" Shelby asked.
"I've got a few things keeping me in LA, unfortunately," Mariana joked. "Besides, I don't think your captain would want to deal with the citations that I rack up."
Shelby pulled the shorter woman into a tight hug before pulling away, a small smile on her face. "Sorry for being such an ass."
"You redeemed yourself," Mari teased. She glanced over at Paul and Marjan and stepped back a bit, pulling Shelby with her. "Hey, I think I know what that phone call was about because I know that look in your eyes. Are you safe?"
"I am. Your cousin actually is the one that helped me." Shelby sighed and shook her head. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Yeah, well, unfortunately I am. It's a little thing I do called caring deeply for my friends. You're stuck with me. But I just want you to know that I know what it's like. ...It hurts. Your heart hurts so bad some nights that it feels like you can't breathe but it gets easier. Breathing gets easier. Life gets easier. Lean on your team. They're your family."
Shelby hugged her once more, her shoulders shaking just slightly. She inhaled sharply as she pulled away and offered her a tight smile. Mariana nudged her shoulder and looked over at where Eddie was chatting with Judd at the truck.
"I didn't think I would be able to move past the pain. But life had other plans. I know that will happen to you too."
"You and Diaz are cute together. I want pictures of you and your boys or I'm driving to LA and smothering them with auntie love."
Mariana grinned. "Hey, I don't think they would fight you on it." She spotted someone out of the corner of her eye and waved to catch his attention.
"Sorry, duty calls again," she explained to Shelby before jogging over to fall in line with TK. He grinned at the sight of the latina and shook his head.
"Here to tell me that if I ever lay a finger on Carlos again, you'll break it?" he asked.
"Nah. Carlos told me about your shooting," she said gently. He paused, turning to stare at her with a surprised expression. Mariana continued on, leaning against the 126 firetruck as she talked.
"He wasn't telling me just to tell me. I don't know if he ever told you that I was shot in the line of duty about two and a half years ago. Everyone told me the recovery was the hardest part...but I think it's the nightmares afterwards. Fireworks and the sound of chip bags popping. It makes you want to curl up and hide from the world. Carlos told me that sometimes you have nightmares. I just wanted to let you know that you're normal. You're just like the rest of us in this small pool of gun violence survivors."
He let out a surprised laugh. "Not what I was expecting but...thank you. Sometimes it feels lonely."
"Because no one understands," she finished. "Yeah, I lucked out and sleep with a guy who knows what it's like so we can trauma bond together. He hates when I make jokes like that but we're still together so…"
"Now I see why Carlos calls you the fun cousin."
"Tell gordito he needs to text and call more often. Hell, tell him to make a group chat for us. I wanna bug you two even when I'm in LA." She stood up and patted his shoulder before she gripped down on it, leaning in close. "That being said, if you break my cousin's heart, I will end you. I will feed you to the fishes like a five course meal. He won't show it but he cares a whole fucking lot for you and if I even get a whiff of him in pain because you two are oblivious idiots, I will drive twenty hours to Texas and go Carrie Underwood on your car. Am. I. Understood?"
"Yeah. Yep. Yes ma'am," he squeaked out. She patted his shoulder once more and headed back to the 118 truck, a satisfied smile on her lips. Eddie grinned at her, wrapping his arm around her waist and tugging her into his side. Mariana opened her mouth to remind him of the rules when he stole a kiss from her.
"We are no longer working so I am going to kiss you as much as I want until it makes Buck sick," he said, backing her up so her back hit the truck as his hand protected her head. She laughed at his vow and grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him into a searing kiss.
"If this is what I have to deal with on the drive back, I'm hitchhiking," Hen complained as she passed them. "It's like two teenagers in a high school hallway."
The couple broke apart with breathless laughs and Mariana leaned her head against Eddie's chest. He tugged on her braid before pushing her towards the truck. Buck would be the first driving shift.
"Ready to meet my parents?" he asked. She squared her shoulders and climbed up onto the steps leading to the back before she turned to look at him.
"Fun. It'll be fun. Meeting the parents."
"You don't sound like you're having fun."
She rolled her eyes and climbed into her seat, shutting the door behind her and leaving him to ride passenger next to Buck.
/
"This is where you grew up?" Mari asked as Buck pulled the truck to a stop.
"Yep. Welcome to El Paso," Eddie announced as he climbed out of the truck. He opened the door and held his hand out, helping Mariana to step down even though she climbed up and down them everyday at work. He ran his thumb over her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"We're a team," he reminded her.
"I've got your back and you've got mine," she added. "We can do this."
Eddie knocked on the door of the small Texas home, his other hand gripping Mariana's. The door swung open, revealing the Diaz matriarch who grinned brightly at the sight of her son.
"Edmundo!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "We were so surprised to get your call but we have plenty of room and you know I love feeding people."
"Thanks mom." She ushered them into the house and Eddie led Mariana into the living room. She offered him a nervous smile and he bumped his shoulder against his.
"Helena! Is that Eddie and his friends?" Ramon shouted from the backyard.
"Yes, dear! Come say hi!" she called back before addressing them. "He's excited to have people over to break the grill out again. I hope you guys like barbecue."
To be honest, the idea of food made Mariana's stomach feel like lead. Eddie had told her long ago before they were even dating about his parents and how they treated Shannon.
"Mom, dad, this is Buck and Hen. You might remember them from when you came up to LA for when I graduated. There's one member of our team you weren't able to meet," he began.
"Ah yes, you must be Mariana," Helena greeted. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
"I'm sorry we never got to meet before. I was still in the hospital and Eddie is a bit stubborn when it comes to me and hospitals, I guess." She laughed nervously at the end of her statement.
"You had three broken ribs. There was no way I was letting you out of that hospital bed for something as small as that."
"It wasn't small. It was important to you so that means it was important to me," she grumbled. He snorted out a laugh as she nudged his foot with hers.
"Well it's lovely to meet you, Mariana. Chris talks about you every time we call. We are so excited to meet the infamous girlfriend."
"Actually, mom…" Eddie glanced down at Mariana and she squeezed his hand. The dog tags that hung from her neck weighed heavily against her skin but the promise that was tied to it reminded them both of their promise to one another.
"Mariana is my wife."