Chapter Three

"How badly do you think this is going to go?" Travis asked Maya.

Maya didn't know what to say. Her best friend. The person she had been with for every milestone in her career was about to tell the station that, once again, she would not be captain. She turned to Travis after sliding down the poll. "Bad. Like really bad."

Maya and Travis rush to join the lineup. When they do, they look to the front and see that behind Andy there was Farria and Chief Ross.

Andy clears her throat, trying to figure out where to start. "Um... I have some news, everyone."

Everyone saw how hard this news was for Andy and only Ben was able to ask what they all wanted to know, "What's going on? Why is Farris here?"

Andy swallowed back her emotions but knew she needed to rip this off like a band-aid. "Battalion Chief Farris will be taking over while I've been demoted back to lieutenant," Andy told them. Ross closed her eyes when questions started to be asked about why this happened but before she could get a word in Andy raised her hand. "Quiet!" Andy's voice rang through the barn and the firefighters all fell silent. "This is happening. It's happened. Everyone get back to work." Andy told them in her 'no bullshit' tone and they scattered off while Andy turned to face the two chiefs.

"Herrera, can I please talk to you?" Ross asked her. Andy sighed and nodded her head. They walked out of the station and Ross turned to her and saw Andy looking down. "Andy, look at me." Andy looked up at Ross, not wanting to waste any of her time. "Are you sure you want to do this? I'm sure there's another way."

Andy shook her head. "No. No, I'm not sure. No, there isn't another way, but I needed to do this." Andy told her firmly, not wanting to back down from what she told Ross before. Ross nodded and motioned for her to get to work, and Andy hurried off while Ross made her way to the captain's office where Farris was and closed the door.

"Chief Ross? What's going on?" Farris asked, his full attention on Ross.

Ross sighed. "I need you to keep an eye on Herrera." Ross got straight to the point. "She didn't want this but we all, well all of us who know the truth, know that something had to be done for the budget and Herrera did save us all a big headache."

"I'll look after her, Chief. I know she means a lot to this station and a lot of people in SFD" Farris told Ross, a small reassuring smile on his face.

"I'll still have my set up here since this station is sort of in the heart of Seattle so if you need me, I'll just be in the conference room upstairs, okay?" Ross watched Farris nod and she made her way up the stairs.

Ross sighed. She watched the team from the catwalk and saw Andy cleaning the aid car, a frown on her face when Ben and Travis walked over to her.

Andy was so focused on cleaning the aid car that she didn't hear them come up behind her which caused her to jump up. "What do you guys want?" Andy asked, somewhat harshly and loud which caught the attention of Vic, Maya, and Sullivan.

"Whoa, chill Andy," Ben said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "We just wanted to know what the real reason behind the demotion is."

"Real reason?" Andy raised an eyebrow. "I told you all why in the lineup," Andy told them, then looked around and saw the rest of the station. "Guys, let's just get back to work and finish up so we can take a break, okay?" Ross watched the scene play out and watched as everyone started asking Andy questions, not even letting her get a word in. Ross looked at Andy and saw the overwhelmed expression on her face.

"That's enough!" Ross yelled from the catwalk and as everyone stopped talking, she saw Andy sigh in relief, clearly not liking being questioned so harshly. "This demotion happened. You all need to learn how to adjust to this. It happened whether you like it or not." Ross finished and everyone scattered to do their chores. All except Andy who was looking at her like a kicked puppy for a couple of seconds before she schooled her expression. She watched on as Andy finished cleaning the rig, help from Maya making the chore go by faster. She turned to go back into the conference room but saw Robert in the room.

"Robert, not now," Ross told him.

"What the hell is going on?" Robert asked, crossing his arms. "We finally got a good captain in Herrera and now we gotta deal with Farris?"

Ross sighed. "Robert, I can't tell you. Please just leave this alone." Robert just nodded and stormed out of the room. Ross sighed again. Lying to everyone was starting to suck.

Meanwhile Andy and Maya were just finishing cleaning and stocking the aid car. Andy went to walk up the stairs when Maya grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the turnout room. What she didn't expect was for Andy to panic on her.

Andy's eyes shot open. "No! let go!" Andy yelled and Maya let go right away. She wanted to facepalm. Since the Jeremy attack, Andy was triggered when someone grabbed her arms and Maya should've thought her plan through more. Maya backed up and gave Andy room to breathe. It took some time, but Andy's breathing did calm, and she slid down to the floor and pulled her knees up to under her chin and Maya sat beside her, not saying a word.

Andy let out a shaky breath. "I had to do it, Maya. We already lost Jack to injury, I know it had been a rough last few months with Ruiz, but he was still the only one I had to confide in at station 23 when I felt isolated from 19 even when I had stayed with a few of you. He helped lift me back up after the engine fire and whenever else I needed someone to talk to, he was there." Andy continued to look down. "I couldn't let Osman control Vic's fate." Andy lifted her head to look at Maya and for the first time that day. Maya saw the deep hurt that was in Andy's eyes and pulled her to her side, Andy resting her head on her shoulder. "It was the only thing I could think to do," Andy whispered to Maya, not able to get her voice to go any higher with how drained she was feeling.

Maya wrapped an arm around her and pulled Andy into her. "There's no words I can say to make this better, I know, but let me be here for you, okay? As long as you have this burden on your shoulders you need at least one friend with you." Maya felt Andy nod into her and that's when Andy just broke down. Maya tightened her arms around her and held her until her breathing slowed and just continued to hold her, even when the tears stopped. Both women were content in the way they were sitting when they heard the door open. They both looked up in panic, Andy wiping the tear tracks off her face when they realized it was just Carina. Maya sighed.

"What the hell is going on?"