A/N: The second episode is like so crazy with the earthquake and so is episode three. I thought it would just be better to put them together, right? Yikes lol. Enjoy! xx Mariah

At first, Maddie's first day was going okay. She was only a little nervous and had only thought about smoking a cigarette once. She just had to remind herself that she was not in her twenties anymore and did not need them or the damage to her health.

Plus Josh was nice, even if he was a little blunt to her sometimes, made TV jokes she didn't get (except the Grey's Anatomy one she loved that show) and threw away her notes. She knew it would help her become a better 9-1-1 operator.

She'd made a joke to ease things over, and he'd laughed. Things were going to get better, right?

But then the walls started to shake, and suddenly everything was shaking. Glass was breaking and the lights flickered. At first, no-one moved, their brains unable to make sense of the input from their ears and feet. The ground was moving and the noise was like extended thunder only worse because the vibrations were coming from below.

Then like a switch had been flicked everyone moved for safety, all of them on the autopilot mode that all-consuming fear created. The walls scream and the lights flickered more rapidly before going out altogether.

Whether they lived or died depended on whether the call center stood or fell, and either way everyone's fate here was a joint one. They'd either walk away hand in hand or perish in the rubble.

"Oh my god," Maddie said, her breath tight and mind going wild. She'd never been in an earthquake. How big was it and could something have happened to her brother? Was Evan okay? She looked up at Josh, eyebrows raised. "Was that what I think it was?"

He nodded slowly, sighing. "Brace for impact," Josh said and wheeled his chair away.

A second later, it was like every phone rang in the call center at once. Maddie took in a deep breath and looked around as all the screens loaded up and the lights powered back on.

She took a deep breath and wheeled her chair back toward her desk as hers rang and she closed her eyes for a moment. She could do this. She reminded herself that five times before she pressed the button the keyboard and answered the call.

She could do this. She could totally and completely do this.

"911, what's your emergency?"

7.1

Holy crap, that was huge.

A 7.1 earthquake.

And that was just her first one? Was would the second one be like? Would there be aftershocks?

There were boxes upon boxes of pizza, but Maddie couldn't bring herself to eat. She knew she should because the next time she'd get a break was in two hours. She also knew that it wasn't good for her thoughts to spiral like this, that it would only cause her to panic. But watching the news wasn't any better.

All she could think about was her brother, and if he was in that hotel high-rise. And if he was, was he okay? Was he hurt? God, she hoped he wasn't hurt and she'd be able to see him later tonight.

Josh came back in and it was all mumbo-jumbo. They were going to be running calls, apparently, most of them would be non-emergency and if they couldn't handle it all she would have to do is call someone over.

Maddie glanced back at the tv, hoping she'd see Evan on there okay and when she didn't she rolled her eyes. She knew better than to think she'd see him there, but she'd hoped. Pleaded with the universe to give her something good for once.

She took a breath when she felt her tears welling up in her eyes, before walking towards Josh. "My brother is a firefighter, and I think he might be in that building." She explained.

"We all have people we love out there," Josh said, as he started to turn around. "The best thing we can do for them right now is our job."

She nodded slowly. She already knew that. She glanced back at the tv before walking back toward her station.

Her break was over. She needed to go back to work. She fished her phone out for a second, and even though the lines were busy she sent her brother a text. Maybe he'd get it later and be able to reply.

Hey. I just wanted to check-in. Things are fine at the call center. Nothing like a little bit crazy for my first day, right? I hope you're okay little bro

She set her phone down, almost hoping he'd reply even though the lines were busy for a lot of people.

Maddie's line rang and she put her headset in her ear as her finger hovered above the answer button. She pressed it and took in a breath. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Yeah, hi." A woman's voice said on the other end. "Umm.. so today has just been terrible. I live in Newton Park at the corner of Hallman and Collins. And it's been like three or four hours since there's been any power. So I was wondering if you could send someone to fix it?"

"Ma'am, I think everyone is having a rough time today and I'm very sorry to hear about your power being out." She said, trying to sound a little bit compassionate. But come on? If the worst thing that's happened was the power was out for this lady she really needed to get a grip. People were dying. "But emergency services are stretched thin, so I won't be able to send someone out to your house to restore your power."

"What do you meant services are stretched thin? Just call someone and send them over here!" The woman yelled, groaning. "This is totally unacceptable."

"Ma'am like I said, I'm very sorry that your power is out but there's nothing I can do. It should be restored in a few hours, if not, in the morning." Maddie tried to keep her voice calm, despite the rudeness this lady seemed to be spitting back at her. "Now if this isn't an emergency call, I'm going to have to hang up and keep the line open for actual emergencies."

"I can't believe you actually just said that to me," the woman was practically screaming now. "I demand to speak to your boss. NOW."

Maddie pressed the hang-up button and rolled her eyes. She hated entitled people. She wished the least of her problems was the power being out. She was so worried about Buck.

The first thing Maddie did when she saw her brother was she hugged him for a solid two minutes.

She was so happy to see him, even though he'd texted her when she was still at work and told her that he was fine. She was just so glad to see he was in one piece.

"Uh, Mads?" Evan said once it had become five minutes. "I'm totally fine and I love you, but I think you're crushing me."

"I was just so worried about you," she sighed, pulling back. They walked toward the kitchen at first, but she led him to sit on the couch. "Were you in that high-rise, Evan?"

"Yeah, I was," he shrugged like it was no big deal. He had that same cocky smile on his face that she had remembered since he was a little boy that she was chasing around the house after. "It wasn't that big of a deal, Maddie. I'm fine."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Why did he always act like everything was no big deal? "So what happened? What did you do? I want you to tell me everything," she said, sitting down first. "I feel like I've been waiting for you to come home for hours and I'm just your sister."

"It's fine, Maddie. I totally understand. Today was crazy," Buck sighed, sitting down beside her. "I was climbing through a sideways stairwell with that new guy, his name is Eddie. Some creep executive guy fell through a window and Eddie nearly fell with him along with the girl who was there too. Her name was Allie, I think."

Maddie gasped. "And? What happened?" She hit his shoulder when he tried to stand up and walk away without telling her. "Evan, I want to know."

"Eddie saved her and we had to get out through the elevator shaft. During another aftershock, the elevator nearly fell on us, but we were fine," he explained, going into the kitchen. "Just some bumps and bruises, Mads. Everyone at the 118 was in one piece." Buck came back with two glasses of wine, sitting down next to her. "Stop worrying so much."

"Buck! If you tell me one more story like that and act like you didn't nearly die I'll smack up upside the head," she sighed, groaning. She took a heavy sip of the white wine, leaning back into the couch. Her brother could be such a knucklehead sometimes no one would ever think he was almost thirty. "I was so worried about you and I knew I was right to. You are always knee-deep in danger."

"At least Eddie was with me," he shrugged, taking a sip. "He always has my back."

"I feel like all I've heard about is this new guy, Eddie." She teased, eyeing her brother from the inside of her wine glass as she finished off her glass. Today had been rough. "Sounds like you've got a man-crush on him, Evan. Or do you not have any other coworkers?"

"No man crush, Mads. I swear. That was only a stint during community college, and Eddie, he's just a great guy," he said as he shook his head. "But since you're asking. There's the Captain and that's Bobby, then there's Hen and Chimney. Hen was trapped today in the rubble, and it was all hands on deck to find her. Chimney was amazing actually. He was driving the truck that moved all the rubble out of the way."

"See, that's heroic! Now I want to hear more about this Chimney guy." She asked. This guy definitely sounded interesting. "Is that a nickname and not his first name I hope?" She stood up to refill her wine glass, but that didn't mean she didn't want more information.

"Yeah, it is. His first name is Howie," Buck laughed. "Not sure how he got the nickname though. They haven't told me the story yet."

"Hmm, we'll have to get to the bottom of that then." She said, returning to the living room with the whole bottle so she wouldn't have to get up again. "Don't you think?"

"For sure," Buck agreed. "But let's talk about how your first day. How crazy was it?"

She sighed, "You wouldn't believe the day I had, Evan."