A/N: This story is loosely based off of the hit NBC drama show Chicago Fire's premise. Besides writing On Stage and Family First, I always wanted to write Liv and Fitz working at a fire station. I had thought of it for months and I truly feel compelled to write this version of them. I absolutely love firefighters and I believe that they're truly heroes.
Fighting Hearts
It was the beginning of another shift at Firehouse 51, working as a paramedic. It was a path towards her dream job of becoming a firefighter—ever since she was a young girl, that was all she had ever wanted to be. This had a lot to do with when she was rescued from her burning house by one of them. The heroism of a brave firefighter saved her life, but unfortunately not her parents. She was left with physical and mental scars as a reminder. At the age of 10, she was an orphan living with her grandmother, Claris. She never liked thinking or talking about the darkest moment of her life, preferring to shut it out completely.
Blowing hot air onto her gloved hands, she rubbed them together in an attempt to stay warm as she walked into the main entrance of the fire station. Olivia had spent the past weekend indoors, combating the cold weather of Chicago. Although she was born and raised in The Windy City, Chi-Town, she could never get acclimated to the cold. She always promised herself that one day she would move someplace warmer.
She didn't do much outside of working—her life solely revolved around the firehouse. Living only a block and a half away from her job, she normally walked to work as a form of exercise.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Finch," she greeted one of her friends.
"Good morning, Liv. Ready for the next 24 hours?" he asked, referring to their shift. Lt. Finch was part of the first responders' truck squad.
"I sure am. Fully rested too," she responded brightly, pushing the fallen strap of her duffel bag securely back onto her shoulder.
"Good, at least one of you is. Your partner is slightly hung over," he told her with a serious face, though his eyes twinkled with humor.
"Of course. When will the two of you learn not to live like frat boys?" she asked good-naturedly. Stephen and Abby were best friends and roommates, both equally wild party animals.
"Ahh, that'll be when pigs fly, mate," he joked, giving her a good Scottish accent.
"Pope," Olivia looked around to see Chief Beene calling her from the side of one of the fire trucks.
"Gotta go see what the Chief wants," she told Stephen before heading over to the fiery red truck. The closer she got to him, she could see Lt. Grant standing with Chief Beene, looking over some paper in his hands.
"Good morning, Chief, Lieutenant," she greeted once standing in front of them.
"Good morning, Pope," both men greeted her.
Getting right down to business, Cyrus said, "I wanted to talk to you before you headed inside. Lt. Grant has requested you on his team for this year's winter toy drive. The reason why I'm personally asking you is because the community depends on donations, and Lt. Grant has delivered abundantly every year for the past five years he's been with us. This is the only way some families can even afford to give their children a Christmas."
Olivia was taken aback that Grant would request her on his team. For as long as she had been working at the fire station, he had always seemed to avoid her, only talking briefly whenever it had to do with work. He always had a serious, no-nonsense demeanor about him. When most guys would sit around and joke, he would much rather be doing something else. She never understood why he was that serious.
He was cute, very cute, and had a great body, but that was all she knew about the mystery man, Fitzgerald.
"Uh, I can do that. I would be happy to help," she offered, happy that she would be busy during the holidays and not have to worry about being alone, which she often was. They always say the best way to forget your pain is to not dwell on it but instead help others, and that she would gladly do.
"Great. When the toys are collected, you're also required to distribute them to the families. Grant here has developed a system of delivering the packages anonymously, so that not only the kids would be surprised but the parents as well. He'll tell you more about that. You two are going to be our key players in making our toy drive successful this year. Thanks for doing this, Olivia." Cyrus gave her a smile and a pat on the shoulder before leaving her in Fitz's presence.
She looked down at the shiny door of the truck, suddenly feeling shy.
"Thanks for doing this," his deep baritone voice let out.
"It's no problem, Lieutenant." She looked up to watch his face, almost gasping at the gratitude she saw displayed in his eyes. She'd never realized that they were so… blue.
"Here's a list of toys the elementary school was given, from the sign-up sheets they sent home with some known underprivileged children," his voice shook her out of her trance—slightly embarrassed that she'd gotten lost in his cerulean orbs.
"Thanks," Olivia collected the ten pages and briefly scanned the top one. She saw one family with three little girls, and all they each wanted were Frozen dolls.
"We can go over it later when you're settled in," he casually offered, and with that, Lt. Grant spun around on his heels and made his way over to his squad members, who were piled around one of the trucks, ensuring that it was in working order.
Olivia clutched the paper in her left hand as if her life depended on it, then walked into the inner part of the building that housed the kitchen and general living area. She saw the new volunteer, Harrison Wright, at the stove, cooking what she presumed to be breakfast. It was an ongoing injunction that newbies and volunteers were subject to the cooking of all meals. Olivia remembered her days in the kitchen when she'd first started. They were all sad when someone else new took over her role, as they had grown to appreciate her culinary skills.
"What's up, Wright?" she greeted the bubbly young man, who was singing and dancing as he flipped pancakes on the griddle. He was such a free spirit, so eager to learn and quick to listen. He may only have been twenty-two, but he already had an appreciation for life.
"Hey, Pope, I'm good. You want some breakfast?" He smiled at her and pointed his spatula to the stack of pancakes heaped on a blue plate.
"Actually, that's fine. I already ate," she referred to the bowl of oatmeal she had, along with a cup of tea, before she'd left for work.
"Suit yourself," he gave her a charming smile before returning to his cooking.
She gave him a friendly smile in return, before heading towards the locker room. She had approximately ten minutes before her shift officially started. Entering the military green musky room, she quickly found the locker with her name on it.
Swiftly stripping out of her winter jacket, gloves, and jeans, Olivia was left in her long johns. She meticulously pulled on her work navy blue polo shirt with the fire station's logo embroidered on the right sleeve and upper left-hand corner of the front, before stepping into a pair of black pants. She grabbed her heavy-duty work boots and strapped the laces tightly to her feet, and once finished, she threw back on her black Columbia jacket with the fire station's logo.
"Morning," Olivia looked up from her seat on a neighboring bench to see Abby's sleep-deprived face entering the room.
"Hey, Abbs, had a hard night?"
"You have no idea," she groaned.
"Tell me all about it later," Olivia replied with a grin. She secretly lived vicariously through Abby. She always wondered what it would've been like to be wild and free. She'd never experienced such freedom in her life. For as long as she'd known herself, she always had to behave like a grown-up, and if she didn't, there was no one there to properly take care of her. She was all she had.
A few minutes later, both girls were fully dressed and ready for work. They made sure to sign in their times before heading out into the communal area.
Grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, Olivia tossed it in the air and caught it with great ease. Some of the guys cheered for her, which she reciprocated with a slight bow. Working at the fire station, she was constantly around men—the female population was severely outnumbered. Besides Olivia and Abby, who were the paramedics, there was Lauren, Chief Beene's secretary—the three of them were the only women to work on their shift.
Before she was able to take her seat, the overhead speaker sounded.
OPERATOR'S VOICE: Paramedics needed at 400 Georgetown St. Man, age 60, reports difficulties breathing, and possible allergic reaction.
Olivia and Abby rushed out of the room and headed toward the garage where their ambulance was stowed.
"You're driving," Abby told Olivia as she claimed her seat on the passenger side.
Olivia shook her head and walked towards the driver's side. She hopped into the vehicle and started the engine. Abby informed the emergency operator that they were in transit to the victim.
Flicking on the sirens, the girls headed out to their first call of the day.
An hour and a half later, they were walking out of the Mercy Hospital complex, relieved that the victim was alive. Upon arriving at his house over an hour ago, they found him in anaphylactic shock. Administering the right dose of epinephrine, they were able to reduce the swelling in his throat while transporting him to the hospital.
The long, grueling hours were all worth it to them because they were able to save lives. That was all that mattered.
On the way back to the station, Olivia laughed as Abby regaled tales of her and Stephen's weekend indiscretions.
"You two deserve each other."
"Eww. No way! Why do you keep saying that? We're best friends."
"That's what you say, but I know it's more than that. What guy best friend makes his female best friend make out with him so that he can get rid of one of his hookups?"
"I think you're missing the point about what true friendship is, Liv. I would do anything for him and vice versa. So what if we kissed? It's no big deal."
Olivia snorted, "Yeah, right. Were there tongues involved?" She asked, focusing her eyes on the lightly dusted snowy road as she maneuvered the big vehicle.
Abby rolled her eyes dramatically at her. "Of course there were tongues. It had to look realistic, and you know me better than to give half-assed work."
Olivia threw her head back and laughed, still maintaining her eyes on the road. She still believed that Abby and Stephen were fooling themselves about only being "best friends." The two of them would be on dates with other people and would drop everything to tend to each other, and that to her showed their love and commitment ran deeper.
Arriving back at the station, they parked the ambulance in its designated spot. Hopping out of the vehicle, she saw Harrison doing some drills while Fitz looked on. He stood tall and statuesque, legs wide apart, shoulders square, with a stopwatch in his left hand. She stood enthralled by him, watching as he talked to Harrison about his improved times after he'd finished his drills. Fitz stood tall and regal, explaining to Harrison what methods he needed to work on to be a better firefighter. She watched as the young man listened with keen intent to what he was being told. Harrison badly wanted a spot on the rescue squad.
Of all the jobs she'd had in her life, Olivia had never been surrounded by such a sense of camaraderie as she was now. Everyone there wanted to be there; they felt it was their life's calling to help others.
"Hey, you got a few minutes so we can go over the list?" Olivia was startled out of her thoughts by Fitz's voice. She was lost in her own world, staring at him and Harrison, and she hadn't realized they were no longer talking, and his focus was now on her.
Blinking her eyes rapidly to regain focus, she replied, "Uh… of course."
"Great… Let's go to my office."
Olivia followed him as he led the way to the east entrance of the building. Before entering through the main door, she turned around and made a cutthroat sign at Abby, who was winking at her, implying something was up between her and Fitz.
Walking through the door, he opened the first door on the right for her, and Olivia entered his small office. The desk was neat except for a few stacks of paper, which were in neat piles. The office bore no photos or anything too personal, except for a signed baseball.
"Have a seat, Pope," he extended his hand to the chair in front of his desk.
"Thanks," she smiled, plopping into the chair.
Getting right down to business, Fitz began speaking. "Like Chief Beene said earlier, I take this toy drive very seriously, and I hope you'll be as dedicated to it as I am. If not, I can find somebody else," his tone even and clipped.
Okay, then why did you ask me to volunteer with you? she thought.
Before Olivia could respond, he continued, "And I expect to meet up with you outside of work so that we can personally target local businesses. There are already a bunch that donate to us, but there's always room for more."
Olivia nodded briefly at him, afraid to speak in case he had something else to say and not wanting to interrupt him.
Fitz finally stopped talking and looked up at her expectantly. After a few seconds passed, he asked, "So are we in this together?"
Olivia nodded her head in agreement and replied, "We're in this together."
"Good," he delivered a panty-dropping smile at her answer. He knew he could depend on her.
"We should probably exchange numbers."
Olivia looked bewildered at him.
"To set up meetings outside work," he clarified.
Feeling stupid, she muttered, "Of course…" Why else would he want my phone number? her mind asked.
They exchanged phones, and Olivia happened to glance at his screen saver of a black-and-white dog. "Nice dog," she told him as she tapped on the contact icon to enter her name and number.
"Thanks. His name is Bubba. He's a boxer," he filled in.
"How old is he?" she asked as she saved her number.
"He's five. I got him when I first moved to Chicago."
"Oh. Where are you from?" she inquired, having never heard him speak so openly before. She took it as her opportunity to get a feel for who Fitzgerald was.
"California," he answered simply.
"Mmm, and you moved to Chicago? I wouldn't leave the warmth," she said, accompanied by a small chuckle.
He gave her a small smile before replying, "Well, my mother used to live here. She's the reason I came out in the first place."
"Oh." It wasn't lost on her that he'd used the past tense to refer to his mother's living status. Either she'd relocated to another state, or she'd died. Either way, Olivia didn't want to ask, afraid he would in turn ask about her parents, and she didn't want to talk about them.
Before either could say anything further, an emergency call came through the speakers that all units were needed for a three-car accident on the highway.
They both got up and rushed out the door to their vehicles, off to save the life of another accident victim.
AN: Thoughts? Would you like to see more of this? Olitz is always and forever endgame. FYI: I despise the bull shit storyline that is a love triangle, so I won't even attempt to write one so there's that. Can't stomach that pathetic character called Jake, so he definitely wouldn't be in the story. Not so sure about Mellie. Want her in or nah? If she's in, she will be in NO way affiliated with Fitz, just because I'm the writer and I don't like her. Soooo. Lol.
But this story will mostly stem around their work and subsequently them as a couple, and how they navigate their past and present. It will be angst ridden. Drop a review and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy this story!