"Okay, five-alarm fire. We're third on the scene. Captain Mehta from the 133 is IC. It's his show. You guys know what to do. Gear up and stand by for a size-up," Bobby ordered.
"Jameson!" Mariana yelled as she moved to grab her hood and mask. "You're on ladder. Work with Carson on hose wherever IC directs you. Got it?"
"On it," he called back. The brunette yanked on her year and hoisted her SCBA tank onto her back, strapping it on over her bunker coat. Pulling off her cloth mask, the brunette yanked on her real face mask, ensuring it was attached to the air hose before she fixed her helmet on.
"You good, Buck?" she asked as he joined her in gearing up.
"Fine. Just want to get this over with, y'know?"
"Hey." She bumped her shoulder against his. "I need you in there with a clear head, okay?"
"Alright guys, listen up!" Bobby shouted. "It's a dangerous fire and a large one, so you stay with your teams. If you need to split off, you remember your hose line is your lifeline. You get lost, you find a wall. There are still twelve workers in there unaccounted for. Eddie, Mari, and I will be joining the 133, searching on the Charlie side. Hen, Chim, Buck, you will be running a team with two firefighters from the 141. Your entry point is the alpha side. Let's go!"
Mariana shot Buck an apologetic look before gravitating over to Eddie. Her husband immediately checked her SCBA tank to ensure it was working. He tapped her shoulder twice and she sent him a thumbs up, turning to check his own tank.
"We're good to go, Bobby," Mari announced.
Bobby led the way into the warehouse, giving room for Eddie to breach the door. They swept over the floor, calling out for survivors as flames jumped and licked at their feet. Accelerants were everywhere and Mariana grimaced at the thought of this place flashing over.
"LAFD!" Bobby shouted. Faintly, a voice called back and Eddie pointed in the direction. Mari paused, tilting her head to the side.
"I think there's someone to the west too," she yelled. "I can go."
"Not alone!" Bobby ordered. "Ramirez, Diaz, go check. We'll locate the east side."
They split up and Mari turned on her flashlight in hopes of adding some visibility to the smoke filled warehouse. Eddie pressed closer to her, keeping an eye out around the warehouse but still warily watching the flames sparking and crawling along the ceiling.
"I'm worried about Buck," she said. "He's shutting Chim and Maddie out."
"Give him time to feel," he called back. "He had a bomb dropped on him. He needs time to figure out how he feels."
"Doesn't make it any less frustrating." The brunette paused and pointed to her right. "I see movement there. LAFD!"
A woman weakly waved her hand, the smoke clearly affecting her. Mariana checked for spinal damage before looking up at her husband. The flames were getting dangerously close to some of the hand sanitizer and so Mariana made her next move without even thinking.
The latina crouched down and wrapped the woman's arms over her back. Standing quickly, Mari hoisted her up and over her back in a fireman's carry. Eddie gestured lamely at her and she waved him off.
"Yeah, yeah, you could have done it," she grunted out. "Now let's get out of here."
Cue her poor timing. The fire hit an accelerant and the Diazes hunkered down as a wall of fire shot up, spreading the flames further through the warehouse.
"Cap," Eddie shouted over the radio. "We've been cut off from you. We'll find another way out."
"Got it. You two be safe," Bobby ordered before addressing everyone. "IC, Captain Nash here. Be advised we have located seven victims, but we've had some accelerants ignite up here. We are separated from two of our team. Sending them back out."
Mari shifted the woman's weight a little on her shoulders and put more weight on her thighs rather than her knees. Eddie moved to walk in front of her, guiding them out of the warehouse.
"We need a wall!" she yelled over the roar of fire.
"I know! There should be a door nearby."
He grabbed her arm and yanked her forward just as debris came hurtling down centimeters from where she had just stood. Mariana blinked up at him incredulously and he shrugged. "I made a promise to Diego."
Bobby was waiting for them outside, a worried look written on his features as he paced back and forth. Mariana deposited the woman on a gurney and yanked off her mask, stretching out her back muscles.
"We're the first team out, huh?" she asked.
"Chimney and Hen are out too," he explained.
"Where's Buck?" Chimney cut in, looking between Eddie and Mari. They shot him a confused look in return.
"Could ask you the same question," Bobby replied.
"He split off when you lost two of your guys," Hen explained. Mari groaned at the words and shook her head.
"Eddie and I were fine. We never saw Buck out there."
"IC, this is Buckley, 118," Buck called over the radio.
"Buckley, did you ignore my direct order to evacuate?" IC demanded.
"He does that sometimes," Bobby sighed.
"I got the last victim, but this sanitizer has ignited all around me," Buck reported. "I wanna say I'm near the northeast corner Delta wall, but...I'm not sure. Sure could use some sprinkler action. They online yet?"
"Negative. We got you. Hang tight. We're gonna get you both out. Rig team, rig team, deploy. Delta entrance. I repeat, delta entrance. Rescue team's coming to you, Buckley."
"Copy you. Not going anywhere."
Mariana started to yank on her mask again, ready to ignore orders and haul ass with the rig team when the warehouse flashed over. A roll of fire erupted from the windows, shattering the glass and sending flames to kiss the sky. Heat washed over them and Mariana paused in her methodical movements for just a moment, thinking about her brother trapped inside.
/
2017
"Ramirez!"
The sound of Captain Nash's voice made the brunette grit her teeth in an effort to not reply with a nice hearty "fuck off". Dropping down from the pull up bar, she grabbed her towel off the bench and wiped the sweat off of her face.
"What?" she snapped in response, turning to find him standing there with a tall blond guy who looked ready to shit his pants. She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Bobby to introduce them.
"Mariana Ramirez, this is our new man, Evan Buckley."
"It's, uh, nice to meet you. Everyone just calls me Buck," he stammered out, holding his hand out. She regarded him with an unimpressed look, her eyes trailing up from his hands to look him dead in the eyes. "Buck" let out an awkward laugh and pulled his hand back.
"Mariana here is in the running to be our engineer soon. Any questions about the truck and she can answer it, isn't that right, Mari?" Bobby said, adding stress to the whole idea of "being nice" thing he expected from her. She sent Buck a smile that looked more like a scowling grimace.
"Just because I can answer it doesn't mean I will."
Bobby shut his eyes and sighed before trying once more. "Mari, Buck is only a few years younger than you. I figured you might be able to take him under your wing and become friends."
Mariana let out a startled laugh as she turned back to the small gym they had in the firehouse. Grabbing the towel off of her shoulder, she threw it into Buck's chest and headed for the gym.
"I don't make friends. But you can clean the truck until it shines, probie."
Evan Buckley watched as the terrifying yet oddly comforting brunette disappeared into the locker room. If there was one word people could use to describe him, it would be determined.
And he was determined to be her friend.
/
2021
"Ramirez!" The IC shouted as she nearly bolted towards the warehouse. Bobby grabbed the back of her jacket like you would the scruff of a kitten and she whirled around, the fire now burning in her eyes.
"Don't even try and fucking stop me," she snarled. "That's my brother in there."
"I'm not going to stop you," Bobby explained. "Just give us time to join you."
As the delta team fought the flames, the 118 searched for Buck. He was kneeled on the floor, rope clutched in his hands as he tried to lift a column off the worker he rescued. Mariana rushed towards him, grabbing the rope above him, and helped pull. As the team held the weight, Hen pulled the man out from under the beam and they finally set the weight down. Mariana kneeled in front of Buck and stripped off her mask, shoving it over his face despite his protests.
"I'm never leaving you behind. But do that again and I'll kill you," she said without any room for argument. He wrapped her into his arms in a tight hug and she let out a quiet laugh.
"Let's get out of this fire before we do the hugging stuff."
/
In an effort to keep her nerves settled as Bobby took Buck to the hospital to get checked for smoke damage or other injuries, Mariana found herself deep cleaning the station kitchen as cookies baked in the oven. Eddie wordlessly joined his wife in her pursuit of making all of the stainless steel bowls to shine.
"Hello?" a soft voice called from the apparatus bay. Mariana shot her husband a confused look and he set down the towel in his hands. Eddie slid down the pole and greeted whoever entered, but Mariana focused on the tray she had just pulled out of the oven. If she played this right, she could save some cookies from the greedy hands of firefighters and bring them home for the boys.
"Mari." Eddie's tone caught her attention and she raised her head, finding him standing with an older couple who looked as if this was the last place they wanted to be. "This is Phillip and Margaret Buckley, Bu-, uh, Evan's parents."
"Oh." Mariana walked over to join his side, offering the Buckley's a tight smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mariana Ramirez-Diaz, but you can call me Mari."
"It's lovely to meet you, Mariana. Maddie told us that you and Evan are close friends."
Mariana opened her mouth to correct her and thought better of it, instead leading them into the kitchen to sit at one of the tables. "Can I get you anything to drink? Eat? I just baked fresh cookies and yes, Edmundo, I can see you stealing one right now."
Eddie sheepishly took the cookie and headed for the stairs, sending her a warning with his eyes. She knew he was telling her to behave, but he also told her not to try and put together their new IKEA dresser without him.
Was it built wrong? Yes. Did he fix it? Yes. Is that relevant? Absolutely not.
"Just water would be fine," Margaret requested. Mariana filled a glass and placed it on the table for her before checking her phone.
"They should be back any moment now," she explained. "I'll go tell him you're here."
The brunette headed for the stairs, but her mouth had a better idea. Turning back around to face them, Mariana finally said what she had wanted to say the second she found out the Buckley's were coming to Los Angeles.
"Your son is not just a friend of mine. He's my brother. And your daughter is like a sister to me. They're family. Family that frankly, you haven't provided. Your son is my best friend, the uncle to my son and nephew, and the most amazing person I've ever met. He is loyal, kind, and dedicated. He never gives up on the people he cares about. And hearing the pain you have caused him and the doubt that is rooted in his heart because of you...I hope you understand that I hold you in no respect. My husband might be cordial with you, but I won't be. I will gladly be the one to assure your son that he is loved and cared for and wanted. Because you never made him feel like that unless he was doing something to please you.
I hope you have a nice life because I really never want to see the two of you again anywhere near my family."
She grabbed a cookie off the tray and shoved it in her mouth before heading down the stairs. Eddie was waiting for her at the bottom and he sighed, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Got that out of your system?" he asked.
"I think I was very nice," she bit out.
The battalion chief car pulled up and Bobby and Buck emerged, finding the couple waiting for them.
"Clean bill of health from the docs," Bobby announced.
"Glad to hear it," Eddie said before he looked at Buck. "Showoff."
"I had to do it."
"We know," Mari hummed. "Just try to make me and Maddie worry less."
Buck smiled as his sister pulled him in for another hug. "I remember a time when you couldn't look me in the eye without making fun of me."
"Eh, I still do that. This time it comes from a place of love." She pulled away and patted his shoulder. "I mean it, Buckley. Pull something like that again and I'll end you."
"I know."
"You got some visitors," Eddie informed him. Buck frowned and headed for the stairs, leaving Mari to gravitate towards her husband. Eddie rested his hand on her back and kissed her temple as she watched her brother head upstairs.
"He'll be okay," Eddie assured her.
"I know. I still worry."
"That's what makes you good, Mari."