Unexpected – Ch 1
Ask and you shall receive :) I wasn't completely sure how to start this story. There were multiple Ross and Herrera moments I saw through the show I liked as I was re-watching the show but I figured I should start here.
Sullivan and Ross never happened.
After the ball drama. After making her Jack was okay. After making sure her team was okay she was walking around the hospital, she wasn't able to sit still after hearing the news about Jack never being able to fight fires again.
She was walking around for what felt like hours when she found herself knocking on Chief Ross' hospital room door.
"Come in!" Ross called from in the room and Andy walked in. "Herrera? What are you doing here?" Ross asked, surprised to see the newly minted captain.
"I was just walking around after I got some news about Gibson, and my feet led me here I guess," Andy told her. "Mind if I sit down?"
"No, not at all. I'm sure you're exhausted." Andy nodded and ran a hand through her tangled hair. "You should go home, Andy."
Andy snapped her head up. Natasha had never called her by her first name before.
Andy sighed. "I know I should. I just really don't want to be alone right now."
"You mentioned Gibson earlier. What happened?" Natasha asked and she frowned when she saw Andy's eyes tear up. "What did the doctor say?"
Andy sighed and thought back to the conversation she had with Amelia.
"There's no change in his neuro exam, but there's all kinds of scarring on his brain." Amelia paused and saw emotions play over Andy's face. "It's called encephalomalacia. Small punctate areas of microhemorrhages from previous traumatic brain injuries. It's possible he lost some fine motor skills on his left side."
"Oh, he-he'll recover from that, right? In time?" Andy asked, trying to stay calm.
"He might, with physical therapy. But some football players and hockey players who have brains that look like Jack's, go on to develop CTE. It's a neurologic disorder caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain." Amelia tries to not choke up at Andy's facial expression. "He is alive. That is a win. It's not my call, but realistically, I don't see a world in which any doctor or- or the department will clear him to fight fires again. Not after they see his scans." Amelia briefly touches Andy's hand. "I'm sorry. We will continue to give him the best care we possibly can." Amelia told her, got up and walked away after squeezing her shoulder when she walked by Andy.
Andy swallowed back the lump in her throat. "She told me that he's at risk of developing CTE and that there is no way he can continue to be a firefighter." Andy let a tear fall. She knew that Natasha was her boss, but Jack was one of the most important people in her life, so she was unashamed right now. "She also told me that he's lost some fine motor skills on his left side. He'll be able to gain them back in time with physical therapy though."
Ross nodded and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Andy." Andy just nodded and wiped the tear that fell off her cheek. "Is there anything I can do?"
Andy took a minute. Breathing in and out, trying to calm herself down she looked at Natasha. "I don't think so. But thank you for offering." Andy gave her a small smile.
"Andy, there's something I need to tell you." Andy furrowed her eyebrows. "I wasn't the one to make you captain of 19. I asked the union to make the decision." Natasha paused and looked at Andy. "I couldn't make the decision because I don't want to be accused of a scandal."
"No way." Andy sputtered.
Natasha gave her a soft smile. "Yeah. I know this is the least romantic place to talk about this, but I need you to know how I feel." Andy nodded and motioned for her to continue. "I like you," Natasha told her simply. "I don't know how it happened. I don't even know when it happened, but when I watched you command 23 and 19 that first shift, I knew there was something special about you." Andy blushed. "I know you're probably thinking about the code right now, but as Chief, I talked to the union, and we adjusted the rule. It's still frowned upon to date someone ranks above you, but it isn't if you sign the paperwork soon after a relationship is started." Andy opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. "I don't know if you being speechless is a good or bad thing right now, so I'll just keep talking." Natasha paused.
Andy reached over and grabbed her hand. "I like you too, Nat." Andy let the nickname slip off her tongue. She watched Natasha blush. Andy leaned forward, connecting their hands and felt butterflies in her stomach.
"I know this is kind of awkward. Me being the Chief of the whole department and you now being a captain, but I haven't felt this way about someone in years." Ross told her honestly, blush deepening.
"You sure this isn't because of what happened two days ago?" Andy asked.
Natasha shook her head. "I know it isn't. Like I said, watching you take command that first day, I was impressed."
Andy smiled and thought back to the day of the rescue of Doctor Own Hunt. She remembered having to reprimand Warren in front of everyone, showing the leadership skills that are needed to captain a house. Before that call though, she remembered them meeting just a short few hours before.
"Chief Ross, welcome to station 23."
"It's a shame about Captain Aquino. I understand that he's home now. He's doing PT. I trust acting Captain Herrera is keeping you all in line." Natasha saw the firefighter's nod. "Yeah?" Natasha looked at Andy and stood in front of her. "You come from quite the legacy in the department, I hear. That's nice. But I'm not interested in what anybody's parents did. I'm interested in what you do."
Andy and Natasha grinned at the memory before thinking about the ravine call with Hunt.
Natasha and Andy briefly looked at each other before Andy turned and watched Ben get lowered. As soon as he was down on the ground Natasha watched Andy walk over to him,
"Warren back away from the patient," Andy said, coming closer to him,
"What, now you want to discipline me? After I get him out alive?"
"Warren," Maya shouted, knowing he crossed a line.
"Warren, back away from the patient right now before I send your ass back to the Academy." Beckett told him, also walking closer.
"Look. I am not sorry for choosing to risk my life to save my friend." Warren told them as Hunt was being loaded onto a stretcher.
"Your life? You risked the patient's life. You risked your team's lives. Now I feel like I'm on a loop with you lately. First, it was the PRT. The only reason I didn't write you up for that is 'cause the guy lived. Now…"
Ben interrupted. "and now this. Two lives saved thanks to me."
Andy was quick to step in. "Thanks to you? Warren, your whole team was down there." Natasha watched Andy start to walk around Ben while Sean was telling Ben that he wouldn't be going.
"Oh, the hell I'm not." Ben turned to start walking toward the aid car, but Andy stopped him before he could even get a couple of steps away and put a hand on his chest.
"No, you lost that privilege. Sullivan and Bishop are handling the transport. You are picking up gear and heading back to the station." Andy saw that Ben was about to argue. "Don't make me repeat myself," Andy said, leaving no room for Ben to argue with her. She watched him walk away before turning to Sean. "Your team isn't well, Beckett. Get them in order before I have to bury another friend." Sean walked away and Natasha walked closer to Andy.
"Impressive, Herrera." Natasha told her and then walked away. Andy looked up and sighed. She was grateful that the Chief was approving of the work she did.
"I got to be honest about something else from that day," Natasha told her. "I heard you talking to Ben when everyone was packing up the gear." It took Andy a few seconds before remembering the moment she was referring to.
"Warren," Andy called. "Look, I'm not gonna give you the speech you've heard a mission times, but just tell me, do I need to be worried about you?" Andy got no answer from Ben. "Look, we call you "dad" for a reason. You're out North Star. That- that's why Miller wanted you to raise Pru. Because you're a rock. A- a port in the storm. Someone who…"
Andy got cut off. "Yeah, I get it, Herrera. I'm supposed to be solid."
Andy shook her head. "No, my point is that's a lot of pressure for you to- to feel like you have to hold everyone down. You don't have to keep it together for us, but you do need to stay alive for Pru!" Andy told him, raising her voice. "and bucking orders and going cowboy isn't the way to do that. You're feeling out of control and you're letting it affect your work. Don't." Andy finished and then walked away,
"You heard me?" Andy asked, surprised.
"Yeah. To be honest with you I was really impressed. I was already impressed with you stopping him from going to the hospital with his friend but then you do that, you give him a talking to about how wrong he was. It's a good quality for a leader to have."
"Yeah, well. I've worked with Ben for a few years now. I care too much about the family I have at 19 to let anyone else die." Andy watched Natasha nod.
The room was filled with comfortable silence, Andy resting her head on the bed when they heard a knock on the door. Andy's head snapped up and turned around.
"Amelia, hi." Andy breathed out, thankful it wasn't some random doctor or resident she didn't know coming into the room. "What's up?"
"You've been in that dress for close to over 40 hours now," Amelia told her. Amelia tossed the bag she was holding to Andy. "Go shower, get changed, and I'll bring you something to eat." Andy sighed and nodded.
"Thank you, Amelia." Andy stood up and pulled Amelia into a quick hug before walking into the bathroom that was connected to the room.
Amelia turned to Natasha. "How are you doing, Ross?" Amelia asked, checking Natasha's heart monitor numbers.
"My head is okay. My ankle though is hurting again." Natasha told her honestly. Amelia nodded and pumped some more pain meds into her IV. "Do you mind grabbing us both some fries? I don't think either of us is hungry after the last couple of days."
Amelia nodded. "Sure. I'm also going to bring you two a salad just in case you're still hungry." Amelia looked to the bathroom. "How's she doing? She looked like she was barely holding it together when I told her about Jack."
"She's devasted. She's worked with Gibson at 19 her whole career. It's got to be painful as hell for her to know that he can't be with her anymore. Especially when she just became captain." Natasha told her.
"She finally got captain?" Amelia had a huge grin on her face. "About time she did. She's deserved it for years now, but she kept getting passed over." Natasha nodded and closed her eyes. Starting to feel the effects of the pain meds. "Since you're most likely going to pass out in a few minutes I'll grab a couple of salads and one fry tray for now," Amelia told her and walked away.
Andy walked out of the bathroom about 10 minutes later and when she looked to the bed, she saw that Natasha was asleep and that there was good on the bedside table. Andy was so thankful that she was going to be okay, that she escaped falling with just a minor concussion and a sprained ankle.
Andy smiled to herself. She was so grateful that Natasha felt the same way that she did. She had a crush on Natasha for what seemed like the longest time and never imagined that the feelings would be mutual. Andy smiled for the first time since she had been named captain. It still felt surreal. She was happy she was made captain, but she was also devasted that Jack wouldn't be working alongside her anymore.