Chapter Text
Lane Bishop had always been a popular man, he never held a job in office but he always had friends in high places. He was highly educated he held an MSc in Sport Science and he was a well renowned coach.
People knew him in the world of athletics, they held him to high regard, they knew his daughter won gold, they knew she’d moved in to climb the ranks of SFD… Maya was his success story.
People only ever saw the end results, they watched as Maya broke record after record, personal best after personal best. They saw her training 5 hours a day 7 days a week in the wind, rain and sun.
They saw a father determined to help his daughter live her dream
They didn’t see the smashed plates, the pulled hair.
They didn’t see the neglect of Mason Bishop.
They didn’t hear the rows or the slamming doors.
The holes in walls, the long runs home when Maya didn’t place or even beat her own time.
Lane Bishop was a clever man, he never let on to what happened behind closed doors and Maya was too scared and too embarrassed to speak up
He was disappointed when Maya refused to go again for Rio 2016 but he soon came around when he realised the opportunity to climb and grow as a firefighter.
At one time Lane Bishop was proud of his daughter.
Today he was disgusted by her, she’d left the world of athletics, she’d walked away from brand deals, she’d gotten distracted
Distracted by an Italian, distracted by a house with a yard and a porch, distracted by yearly vacations to the South of Italy…
Distracted by three children who he hardly acknowledged as hers despite them sharing DNA.
He despised the distraction, he despised Carina DeLuca.
He was convinced that all he had to do was get his daughter away from her and she’d be back on track, she would be a battalion chief; the chief of SFD even
Maya had emasculated him on the day of her wedding, she’d conveyed her plans to cut him off, she’d helped her mother leave him.
He was a lonely and bitter man yet he still stood tall, he still walked with grandeur and he was determined to win back his power
“Hey Emily, it’s grandpa” Lane smiled as he appeared in the doorway and Emilia looked up from her stuffed animals she was talking to
“Dov’è mia mama” she replied instantly switching to Italian out of fear and need for Carina
“You’re in America, we speak English here Emily” Lane replied again
The was no logical reason why the Italian language rilled him up.
Deep down it was probably to do with Carina and the idea that she was the reason Maya lost sight of her ‘goals’
They weren’t her goals though, they were the goals he set for her and he couldn’t deal with the idea that Maya was strong and independent and capable of shaping her own future without a need for her father
“Non mi chiamo Emily” Emilia replied pulling Pesto to her chest in comfort
“English please”
“Voglio mia mama…” she replied her voice slightly louder now as she saw nurses return to the station just outside her room “…vattene da qui, non mi piace tu” this time she shouted loud enough for someone’s attention and soon enough Carina appeared
She’d heard the Italian, she knew it was her daughters cries, she didn’t understand what had happened.
She’d left for 5 minutes to use the bathroom and sign Emilia’s discharge papers, never if a million years did she think she’d return to the sound of her daughters yelling, certainly not her yelling at the man who so often haunted her wife’s nightmares
“Figlio di puttana, you need to leave” Carina growled when she returned from the bathroom
“I’m here to see my granddaughter” Lane returned nonchalantly
The word sent a shiver down the Italians spine, he wasn’t a grandfather, he was barely even a father.
He was the reason Emilia was in the hospital in the first place and she knew she didn’t have long until Maya caught up with her and she’d very much like Mr Bishop to have disappeared by that point
“She’s not your granddaughter”
She argued, she didn’t want to argue, it was pointless, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he irritated her
“First you argue with me that they are my daughters children and now you’re denying me the right to call them that” Lane laughed
It wasn’t a funny laugh, or an evil one, it was one of incredulity.
He was right, Maya had had countless arguments with him over that fact that they were her children though Carina never thought he’d use that argument against them
“Madonna mia…” she rolled her eyes “…you almost killed her”
“Almost” he grinned
“I am so far past screaming and shouting at you…” she exhaled deeply closing her eyes for a brief moment
“…so this is me asking you nicely to leave my family alone, leave my children alone, leave my wife alone. You and Katherine are divorced, Maya and Mason have both taken out individual restraining orders that you are currently in breech of. My daughter is sick, my wife is stressed out and run down, my mother in law is facing 12 months of recovery. I need you go home and not come back”
“Or what?”
“I- I don’t even know…”
She felt defeated at this point and it was evident in her tone. She was exhausted, over run with worry and concern though she had a point to make and she was going to make it.
She didn’t expect empathy from the man, she didn’t want sympathy either, she just wanted him to leave and for him to stop bothering her family, in particularly her wife
“…I don’t know how you made bail, I don’t understand why you aren’t facing prosecution. You don’t love them, you don’t care for them, I’m not even sure you like them that much…”
She laughed stoically, it was almost as if she was going crazy from the exhaustion as she set off into a deep dive analysis of Lane’s parenting skills
“…what you do like is power, and you crave to be feared but they refuse to give you the satisfaction and that angers you. You don’t control them anymore Lane, they’ve disowned you…”
“…now please vaffanculo! Go away, leave”
Lane walked away laughing to himself and Carina knew that he’d worked out that he had affected her.
She refused to let his words fester within her, she had no relationship to this man, she had no reason to believe him, she had no reason to accept his futile opinions on her children or wife.
Her heart broke for her Maya, her heart broke for the 15 year old Maya, for the Maya who went to the Olympics, for the Maya who graduated the fire academy, for the Maya who her wife was before she saw Lane for who he was
Her mind ran at a hundred miles an hour, she needed a minute to calm down but the low sniffles of her daughter quickly shocked her back to reality and within minutes she’d swept Emilia up in her arms and held her close
Lane for his part carried on his way towards the exit, he was about to take a left when he saw his daughter with his granddaughter and he couldn’t help himself, he still had more chaos to cause, more disruption.
Carina had stripped him of his power but he was determined to get it back and he would do that the best way he knew how, by belittling Maya
“What are you doing back here” Maya furrowed her brow
Any recent trace of laughter now well and truly disappearing as she subtly pulled Eleora to stand behind her
“I came to see my granddaughter, she’s sick” Lane replied
“Yes because you crashed into her grandmothers car when she was in it and she sustained a head injury that’s developed into a brain bleed” Maya growled
She knew he didn’t care about Emilia, he also didn’t care about Katherine.
He was there to attempt to wield his power over her but she wouldn’t let him. Carina wouldn’t let him. No one would let him, he’d been rendered powerless
Whether it was the years of therapy, her wife, or her children… something had made Maya change the way she viewed her father. She could never imagine putting any of her children through what she went through
If they wanted to compete professionally in any of their sports, she would find the best coaching team for them. She certainly wouldn’t abuse them into her own strict schedule, she couldn’t do that, love stopped her from doing that
“Hi Eleanor” he smiled waving childishly at the 11 year old
“Non mi chiamo Eleanor” Eleora growled frowning at Lane the same identical frown Maya wore on her face
“How do you speak to your kids when they don’t even speak the right language” Lane shook his head as he rolled his eyes but Maya just ignored him
“Go to Melee’s room and go find Mama…” she whispered softly to Eleora “…I’ll be right behind you”
“Va bene” she nodded squeezing Maya’s hand before running off down the hallway
Maya turned back to Lane and he knew she was ready to swing for him figuratively and physically. It wasn’t until he caught security walking over to them he decided to back down and walk away for the day
Maya grit her teeth and balled her fist as she went to speak but Lane held up his hand though what he was about to say would anger the blonde
“Hey I’m leaving you don’t need to tell me twice” he chuckled realising he’d cut his daughter off taking back his own fraction of power
“History would say otherwise” she scoffed realising what he was doing and the anger only grew inside her
“Why won’t you let me have a relationship with my grandchildren Maya, was I not a good dad, did I not lead you to victory…” he tried to sympathise, his tone sweet and caring lulling her into a false sense of reality
But she’d grown past that, she knew it was fake, she knew he didn’t mean it, she was waiting for the next comment. The change of tone, the anger, the viciousness, the absolute delusion that her success was also his
“… I won you that medal” he growled
“I won it myself…” she replied through gritted teeth “…I’m tired of this argument Dad, now get the hell out of here and leave my family alone”
“Mr Bishop” a security guard took a step closer as Maya’s voice raised in decibel but steadied in emotion
“I’m going” he replied holding his hands up in surrender determined not to be escorted out of the hospital for a second time
Lane disappeared and Maya ran the rest of the way to Emilia’s room. She could still hear his voice, his words. She could still see his eyes glaring at her, how his eyebrow twitched with anger, how his fist balled.
How much she saw herself in him.
“Mom” Eleora was first to reach Maya as she walked into Emilia’s hospital room and wrapped her arms right around her moms waist
“Hi…” Maya smiled relaxing into the hug, not realising so much she needed it as she ran her hands up and down her daughters back “…are you okay?” She whispered to Eleora when she seemed reluctant to let go
“Hmmm non lo so…” she replied softly looking up at Maya clearly spooked by the man’s presence “…has he gone?” she asked
“Yeah, he’s gone” she nodded
“Is he coming back?”
This voice was much meeker and came from the 7 year old who looked equally as spooked as she curled into her Mama’s body, Carina holding on to her tightly
“No, no I don’t think he is” Maya replied shaking her head
“Where’s Drea?” Emilia asked looking around for her brother waiting for him to walk through the doors too but he never did
“He’s sat with Nanna, keeping her company until uncle Mason comes back” Maya smiled softly
“Can I go sit with Nanna?” Emilia asked
“Sure my baby, we’ll all go” May smiled before she looked to Carina “…she can leave right?”
“Si bambina, she’s been discharged, the bleedings stopped so she’s perfectly fine to come home”
“Io perfetta” Emilia beamed looking up at Carina who giggled
“Si, sei perfetta patatina” Carina replied softly kissing Emilia’s forehead “…now get dressed so we can get going”
Carina pulled out one of Emilia’s lounge set tracksuits from a bag and threw them at her earning loud giggles from both her daughters
The 7 year old jumped out of the bed wobbling slightly at moving too quick but Eleora caught her to the sound of a sweet and grateful ’grazie’
After some quick and unnecessary pleading Eleora agreed to braid Emilia’s hair in the bathroom attached to her room whilst Maya and Carina got to packing away the toys and pyjamas that had spent a few nights in Grey Sloan with Emilia
“Maya, bambina” Carina whispered softly as she tried to get her wife’s attention noticing the blonde seemed to be moving on auto pilot with little to no consciousness to what she was doing
“Maya” Carina tried again this time a little louder as she placed a soft hand to the base of Maya’s spine feeling her wife instantly straighten at the touch so she quickly pulled away
“You okay?”
Carina looked to her as Maya looked back at her with sad eyes.
She hadn’t meant to flinch under Carina’s touch it was a reflex reaction though she had no idea where it came from
“Not even a little bit” she shook her head
“Can I hold you?” Carina asked not wanting to over step scared of pushing Maya too hard and having her close herself off completely
“Please” she replied
Her word was more of a whimper, muffled by a sob she tried hard to hold back.
She didn’t know why she was crying, what Lane had said hadn’t hurt her, it wasn’t new information.
She’d heard it all before except last time she’d believed him.
This time she didn’t.
She buried her face in the crook of Carina’s neck in a bid to hide her tears, holding onto her wife like she was the anchor that would hold her still in the ever changing waters.
The Italian had that effect, she always had, her touch could diminish her fathers, her words and affirmations could penetrate through any thought Lane had ingrained into her
Carina held her, kept her safe, kept her steady.
She’s always been her anchor, she always would be.