Chapter Text
Chapter 1
“Let’s get water on that!!” Maya shouted to the team as they hopped out the engine. They had a house fire, that was spreading quickly. The fire was raging, there were a few neighbouring civilians stood on their own front yards but there was no sign of the family whose house was burning.
Maya sprinted over to one of the neighbours, “Are they home - have you seen them at all?” She rushed out.
“I’m so sorry I don’t know! That’s their car. Two adults and a small boy, he’s around 8,” she pointed to the one in the driveway. “But, they are in and out so much I couldn’t say for certain,” she said apologetically, unable to really help Maya.
“Okay, thank you.” Maya said before running back. “Dispatch I’m going to need 2 additional aid cars and a request for another engine! Herrera, Miller we have a potential three person evacuation: 2 adults and a young boy, no given location. Go through and do a sweep, careful that structural integrity is starting to get compromised - the fire is nearing the roof. Montgomery, Hughes, Gibson keep that fire back!” She ordered.
“Warren and Turner I want you on stand-by if that family is in there they are going to need medical attention,” they both nodded.
“I want an update Herrera,” Maya voiced through the radio.
“No sign of the father but we have the kid and the mother and are bringing them down now,” they responded.
“How we looking with those flames?”
“Doing good Cap!”
Miller ran out with a woman over his shoulder, a trail of smoke behind him followed by Andy who was cradling the boy in a blanket.
“Warren, Turner get them assistance.” They both rushed over with gurneys as water continued to douse the flames behind them.
“Dispatch how we looking on those aid cars?” Maya radioed.
“2 minutes out Captain Bishop,” they replied.
“Warren aid cars will be here in 2 minutes, are they both stable enough for now?” Maya asked.
“Both look to have smoke inhalation but I have I can use the PRT if anything serious happens before they arrive,” He explained, to which Maya nodded before she spotted a something appearing from the side of the house, as it got clearer she realised it was a man, presumably the father who was covered in soot, furiously coughing and staggering away from the back of the house.
“Turner! Get on him!” Maya ordered.
Turner handed over his airbag to Herrera who was close by and ran over to the man who was on the verge of collapse. He was a few steps away when one of the pipes on the side of the house exploded throwing both of them to the ground.
“Gibson! Hughes!” Maya shouted as they all quickly recovered from the sudden explosion. She could hear screams and cries from the neighbours and could see the wife panicking from the noise, not knowing what was going on.
“Montgomery, get water on that!” She ordered as she ran over to help Turner. “Hey Turner! Hey look at me!” She watched the man’s frantic eyes move around and his body try to move. He had burns across his upper abdomen and the fabric from his PRT jumpsuit had burned away from his body.
“Warren! I need you over here!” Gibson and Hughes had taken the father into the aid car that she had sent for and and they were already off but Maya needed assistance to help Turner and it wasn’t looking good. “Stay awake for me Turner! We’re going to get you to Grey Sloan! Hold in there!”
Warren ran over with his equipment a c-collar and a board to get him into the PRT and off to the hospital. The longer his burns were exposed to the air, the higher the chance they had of getting infected and causing more issues and potential complications down the road.
Thankfully the fire was finally out which meant one less problem for Maya to have to deal with thanks to Miller, Montgomery and the engine from Station 20 who had arrived to assist. Both the mother and the boy had also gone in the aid cars with the paramedics which meant she could now fully focus on Turner. They carried him into the PRT and Warren jumped in the back while Montgomery drove.
That left Maya, Andy, Miller and the rest of their crew with overhaul on the house along with Station 20 before they could head back. It wasn’t exactly how Maya had planned for their first shift on a Monday morning to go…
2 weeks later…
“Do I really have to do this?” Maya complained as she spun around in her chair.
“Yes. You’re the Captain meaning this comes under your jurisdiction,” Andy replied with a laugh as she leant against the doorframe.
“But, I hate interviews, they are so mindlessly boring and I don’t understand why we can’t just find a replacement from the hospital,” Maya added with a groan.
“You heard what Warren said - Turner won’t be back anytime soon. Full upper body thickness burns, broken arm and a few cracked ribs. He’ll be out of commission for a while plus he said he wants to go live with family out in Colorado; it’s best to get a permanent replacement now than having to deal with temps for ages,” Andy said.
“I guess you’re right,” Maya receded, fiddling with a pencil on the table and tapping it against a notepad.
“I’m always right - hence why I’m your lieutenant,” Andy said proudly with a smirk as she turned and left to go and restock the engine.
Maya sighed as she turned around aimlessly in her chair again, she had around 30 minutes until the first interview was due to start and she really wanted there to be a call of some sort so she could get out of it. Which may not have been the most “captain-ly” thing of her to say, but out of all the things she had to endure as head of the Station interviews were one she could not stand.
She could do paperwork, and drills and conferences and speeches but this…not this. She found them highly uncomfortable, overly annoying and knew that by asking someone some questions about their life, dreams and aspirations she wouldn’t be able to see if they would fit within the dynamics of the house. She had tried to pawn it off on Warren and Andy but they had both declined quickly claiming the sudden urgent need to complete all their chores.
She still had another 20 minutes to go so she decided it would be best to fill out some incident reports from this mornings call: a minor crash between two cars. It had resulted in three extractions and the hood of one of the vehicles needing to be extinguished so nothing too exciting to write up about; thankfully that meant it shouldn’t take her long and she would be finished by the time the first applicant came in.
The hands slowly ticked by as Maya filled out the copious number of forms. Meanwhile, the rest of team were now sat in the Beanery, taking a short break from their chores to relax.
“So, how we feeling about someone new coming in?” Vic asked, closing up the fridge and removing a bottle of water.
“I mean it is what it is, right? Can’t do much about it,” Dean replied with a shrug from his place on the table.
“Might be good, get some fresh blood in here,” Jack suggested.
“Like a transfusion,” Andy said with a laugh to herself.
“That’s not-anyways they will mostly be working with me over you guys,” Warren added, from his place next to Jack.
“Still as long as they fit the brief - they should be fine with us all. Bishop won’t bring someone in who won’t fit; she’s just as picky as any of us,” Vic said with a grin.
“Very true,” agreed Travis.
“What’s the brief?” Warren asked curiously. He was still relatively new, in terms of how long everyone else had been here and sometimes missed out on past inside jokes or comments that had been made early on in his time at the Station, this was clearly one of them.
“DBAA - Don’t be an asshole,” Andy explained nonchantly as the rest of the team laughed thinking back to one of the few cowboy cadets that had come into the Station and then had been very quickly transferred to Station 23 due to their ‘attitude’ issues, something Maya had always hated. She liked confidence, but she hated an ego - everyone in the Station did so her decision wasn’t contested by anyone.
“So, is there a reason why we can’t just get someone through the hospital - like how we had Dr Avery come in?” Dean questioned Warren, the rest of the team listening in.
“It becomes difficult with scheduling - we can’t predict when we go out on calls and sometimes the doctors are needed back at Grey Sloan. They are technically here on their own time and for insurance purposes or something along those lines they can’t be dual-employees of both the Hospital and the Fire Department. So, in order for us to always be prepared and have someone full time I suggested to Bishop that we hire someone externally. A trained doctor who can work on the PRT with me, who isn’t an associate of the hospital,” Warren explained as the team nodded in understanding.
They did all have to admit; having random people show up on their shift could be strange from time to time and indirectly messed with the balance of the team so they were all glad to have someone who would be a part of their Station 19 family. It was also helpful that they wouldn’t be someone straight from the academy that they would need to “train up”, they would be fully qualified and trained.
“When is the first applicant coming in?” Jack asked, looking up at the clock.
“Should be any minute now,” Andy replied, seeing the time was close to 11. They had 4 people coming in, barring any calls that would disrupt them but they were praying to the fire gods that they could get this all over and done with today and be saved from Maya’s rare complaints at her Captain duties that they had been forced to endure for the past week since the request had been sent out.
“So…how’s going to go and spy on who walks in?”
“Vic!” Everyone called out, much to her own chargin.
“What?! No, guys c’mon. Why me?” She groaned.
“Because, you have a good sense of first impressions and you can tell us about them all then we can blindly judge them from up here. Plus, you owe us for spoiling Dean’s surprise party,” Travis explained as if it was obvious.
Vic looked at them all each in turn then sighed and gave in, “Fine. But, you all have to do my bathroom duties for the next 2 weeks.”
“Done,” They all agreed, it was a small price to pay for the valuable intel they would receive. Vic nodded happily with her negotiations and then walked over to the top of the stairs thankful that the awkward angle of the wall coming off the steps meant she could see down into the lobby but they wouldn’t able to see her, not unless they looked so it was a prime stalk out spot for the task at hand.
She watched as she saw a woman walk in, she had bright orange hair and a wide smile. One that was way too enthusiastic for Vic’s liking. She could’t tell if it was superficial or not and that bothered her. She looked like she was ready to start bouncing off the walls with all the energy she had, so much so Vic felt herself getting tired.
She was praying that what she was seeing was pure pre-interview nerves because if not she just had to hope that Maya would make the right call. There was no way anyone in the Station could cope with someone who was like that; they were all a lively bunch but endless amounts of energy and 24/7 smiles were not two things that would mix in well with them.
She watched as Maya welcomed her in, then she slowly retreated back up to the beanery to reveal her knowledge.
“So?” Andy asked from her place at the sink where she was cleaning off some vegetables.
“Absolutely not. For a start she is ginger...”
“No.” Travis immediately said, causing everyone to look questioningly at him.
“Please don’t tell me you’re superstitious?” Jack asked amused.
“Me and Travis had a bad run in with a ginger woman once; nearly took our heads off with a baseball bat. Then, Mr Johnson who walked in, managed to spill coffee over the front desk.”
“Then Yvonne with the tiger. I’m not judging. I’m sure there are some amazing red-headed people out in the world, but they have all caused me many problems over the years so excuse me for being cautious,” Travis added.
The rest of the team looked at them confused but sighed, nodded and accepted it anyways because when it involved Vic and Travis you just had to at this point.
“Please continue,” Warren asked, cutting up the potatoes and putting them in the pan. They were all hungry so they’d unanimously decided on vegetable and noodle soup for lunch.
“She had a smile from here to New York and had so much energy I thought she was about to self combust.”
“Yeah….unless she manages to really impress Maya she hasn’t got a chance. No way is she letting someone that excited and bubbly in here,” Andy said.
“Why because she’s not excited and bubbly,” Dean laughed.
“For exactly that reason,” Andy laughed back.
Back downstairs Maya had just finished up her report when she saw the first applicant walk into the lobby. She stood up from her chair and walked over internally dreading the next 20 minutes the she was being forced to endure. Luckily, she had managed to convince, well more like ordered, Warren to give her some more technical medical based questions so she could get a better sense of who they were professionally as a doctor and not just what was on the page.
Maya opened up the application paperwork as the woman sat down opposite her desk, “So…Dr April Kepner?” She asked skimming the details that had been listed.
“That me!” She said eagerly.
Maya’s eyebrows rose at the clear…energy that this woman seemed to possess at what was still considered quite early.
“Wow…aren’t you an enthusiastic one,” Maya half-joked.
“Oh definitely, I love being a doctor; always have done. You know it all started when I grew up on a farm with my parents in Ohio, I would look after the pigs and then they’d get slaughtered when the time came and I couldn’t help but just want to help them, seeing their little faces so I decided to become a Doctor so I could help people and make sure no one felt any pain, well as little as possible,” she said all in one breath.
Maya didn’t know what to say. If she had been on the fence about interviews, she definitely had made her mind up now. She couldn’t believe she would have to be stuck in this room for another 15 minutes with this woman; who each to her own may be a very lovely person but she just wasn’t Maya’s kind of person. However, she still had to interview her despite her already knowing the outcome.
“So, what’s your medical background?”
“Well, I did my intern year and residency at Mercy West Hospital, then transferred over to Grey sloan formerly Seattle Grace Mercy West to complete my residency after they merged. I became a trauma attending but after a few years I moved with my then husband Matthew across to New York. Now, I am back here in Seattle and was looking for something new,” April explained, her smile still plastered on her face.
Maya gave a satisfied nod, actually impressed by the qualifications Dr Kepner had, unfortunately degrees and years of experience weren’t the only thing she was looking for.
15 minutes later Maya was showing April the door and thanking her for her time.
“I hope to get a call from you,” April added before she left, a grin still on her face that hadn't left since she'd walked in.
Maya just gave her a smile and closed her office door. “I wouldn’t count on it,” she muttered to herself. She couldn’t believe she had to sit through 3 more of these today, her body and brain both felt totally drained of energy already.
She decided to go grab a cup of coffee from up in the beanery to try and rejuvenate her will to continue with the day and not just cancel all the interviews right this second. She jogged up the stairs but furrowed her brows in confusion from hearing the loud shouts and chatter that was coming from there, knowing full well there was a list of jobs that needed to be completed.
She walked in and smelt soup which helped her mood but she crossed her arms and stared at everyone waiting for them to notice her presence.
A few seconds in the room fell silent and they all looked guilty, like deer in headlights being caught out.
“Anyone like to tell me what’s going on here?” She asked.
“Well, Captain. You see, we were just discussing the new recruit,” Travis started who received an elbow from Andy.
“What did you think?” Maya asked dropping her Captain act and going over to inspect the food. She knew full well that they’d watched Kepner walk in and already formed an opinion.
“Please no,” Vic quickly said. “I mean, I know we haven’t even met her but please she looked way too happy and I just can’t have that all the time y’know,” she added dramatically. The team all nodded in agreement.
“Trust me, you don’t need to worry. I felt like I barely got a word in edgewise, and I think I know her entire life story so that was nice way to spend my morning,” Maya said sarcastically, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“So how many does that leave you with now?” Gibson asked.
“3 more, please don’t even remind me,” Maya groaned, resting her head against the fridge door.
“It’s like what, an hour tops?” Andy countered, trying to make light of the situation.
“An hour too long,” Maya mumbled, drinking her coffee.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you hate something so much - apart from Dixon. That hate will never be matched, by anyone,” Vic observed.
“Very true,” Miller agreed.
“Nothing will ever meet my hatred for that sorry excuse of a man however this is definitely in the top five…oh shit, I’ve got to get back down there. Now, can we all please wrap this up we still have a station to run,” Maya said as she looked at the clock.
“Yes Captain,” they all said. Maya nodded and headed back, coffee in hand. Before she turned the corner she called back to Warren.
“Save me some of that soup,” he nodded with a smile and a thumbs up as Maya went back into her office. Her mind feeling slightly better now she had some caffeine in her system. 1 down three to go.
“So…only one more to go,” Andy said, walking into Maya’s office.
“Thank god,” Maya said with a sigh of relief and a roll of her eyes.
“Any verdicts?”
“Well, of the three I’m leaning towards Dr Altman; she has incredible experience. Worked as an Army medical major and did tours out in Iraq and Afghanistan, is quick on feet. Calm in a crisis, I mean its exactly what we need…”
“But?” Andy asked, knowing her best friend well enough to know there was a but coming.
“She just wasn’t very friendly. I mean we have sunshine and rainbows walk in first then queen of the ice; why can’t we find someone who is in between?”
“What about the one who came in second? After Kepner?”
“Dr Pierce, again good qualifications although she focuses mainly on Cardiothoracics which isn’t our area but she’s incredibly smart and driven, one of the youngest heads of department and finished med school at 26 because she skipped a few years of high school,” Maya recalled.
“Ah so, she’s like the doctor version of you? Ambitious, goal-orientated, achieves almost the impossible. Yeah, we can’t have two of you running around - we can barely keep up with one,” Andy joked.
“That is very true,” Maya laughed. “But, I don’t know I get the feeling that the whole on site triage and trauma thing isn’t up her alley. When I asked the about it she looked sort of..I don't know scared.”
“Not something we want.”
“No. Exactly. So unless this final person is exactly what I’m looking for a.k.a not too nice, but not cold either, clear background in trauma surgery and triage, observant, quick on their feet and can fit in well with everyone here - I think Altman will be our pick,” Maya said.
“Ah, so you’re not being picky at all then?” Andy teased.
“Hey! I’m doing this for all our benefit - I want the best candidate, no use settling for anything less,” Maya argued.
“I know, I know. We know you’ll make the right call, you always do. You have the captan instinct,” Andy said with a smile. “Want me to take your soup bowl back up?”
“Please, thank you,” Maya said, handing it over. She was grateful that Warren had dropped off a bowl after Altman had left, she could feel her stomach rumbling towards the final 5 minutes and she knew she wouldn’t be able to make it through her next interview without some food in her system.
“Anyways, I’ll leave you’ll to it,” she said leaving Maya to deal with the final candidate of the day.
Maya watched the hands tick closer to 1.30, minute by minute, second by second until a knock at the door brought her out of her trance when she realised she had to actually get up. She jogged over to the door and opened it but was shocked to see who was behind it.
She was faced with a gorgeous brunette, a few inches taller than herself with dark hazelnut coloured eyes. Her breath was caught in her throat and she couldn’t seem to form a sentence until the woman spoke forcing her to focus on the task at hand - speaking.
“Are you Captain Bishop?” The woman asked, looking at her inquisitively.
“Yes, yes that’s me,” Maya managed to say. “Please come in,” she widened the door and finally let out the breath she’d been holding as the woman walked past her to sit down on one of the chairs opposite the desk. Maya returned back to her own seat, recollecting herself as she did so.
“You are early,” Maya observed seeing the clock read 1.25.
“I always believe that punctuality is the first step to success,” the woman said with a smile.
“Me too,” Maya agreed, she’d instantly picked up on the Italian accent as soon as the woman had opened her mouth and for some reason it was causing her brain to go fuzzy as well as the smell of the woman’s perfume, how could one smell cause someone to lose so much focus so quickly - it was intoxicating. Maybe these next 20 minutes wouldn’t be so bad after all..
“So, want to tell me a bit about yourself, how you got into medicine in the first place Dr…?” Maya questioned as she tried to find the application form.
“Dr Carina DeLuca,” she said, with a smile. “Well, I grew up in Italy, my father is a doctor so I followed in his footsteps. I got my medical degree and started my rise through the chains…”
‘Ranks’ Maya mentally corrected but thought in a way it was quite endearing and let her continue.
“I completed my residency and then started my fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology then I became head of my department five years later,” Dr DeLuca continued.
“While I don’t doubt your medical capabilities - may I ask why? I must say we don’t get many OBGYN’s around here,” Maya asked.
“Well, I was in London completing some research when I was involved in a car accident; I had to keep everyone alive until the first responders came and it was quite possibly the scariest moment of my life; I lost a good friend of mine due to some complications in surgery - but with all the pain and hurt that I experienced from that, I realised while I enjoyed my job as head of department it didn’t fulfil me. So, I changed specialties and redid the final years of residency and then a fellowship in trauma. I continued at my previous hospital for a while before I realised I wanted to get out and enjoy the world which brings me here,” Carina finished.
Maya didn’t really know what to say, this woman amazed her in a way she hadn’t expected. She’d been at the top of her game, head of her own department and then changed it all so she could be happy. Not many people had the courage to do that. To take a risk that big.
“So why here and why not just work at a hospital - you can trust me when I say this city is not suffering from a lack of crazy cases?”
Maya noticed how Carina’s eyes seemed to flicker down to the floor for a split second before she looked back up, “My brother, Andrea DeLuca works at Grey Sloan. I wanted to be closer to him but not…invade his space, but when I saw an opening here - it seemed like the perfect fit,” Carina explained.
Maya could sense there was more to this story from the only hint of nervousness Dr DeLuca had exhibited since she’d walked into Maya’s office, but due to professionalism she’d chose not to push, she didn’t get involved with family drama.
“So why did you become a firefighter?” Carina asked. “After winning a gold medal enrolling in the fire academy wouldn’t seem like the first choice I’d make?”
The question threw Maya, in all her interviews today no one had asked her about her choice, no one had known about her medal either. If she was being honest they all seemed far more interested in proving to her just how qualified they were and why they should be given the job. But, Carina was different, very different…
“You looked me up?” Maya asked with a smirk, although was quickly shut down.
“No, I saw the medal when I walked in. Track I’m guessing?” Carina mused.
“Observant. I like it,” Maya said, settling back into her chair, bringing her leg to cross over the other and interlacing her fingers over her knee. “How did you figure that? Because I know for a fact the inscription is way too small for anyone to read from that far away.”
Maya watched as Carina tilted her to the side as if she was studying her, then she spoke: “Well, you’re way too short to do anything with jumping,” Carina said bluntly.
“Very true,” Maya replied, enjoying the candid side that the doctor seemed to have; unafraid to speak the truth.
“So, that leaves track, field, swimming, cycling as the main categories, but swimmers are more lean, where from what I can see you’re all muscle…”
Maya didn’t know how to react after that comment but hoped that there wasn't any redness forming on her cheeks. Thankfully Carina continued, “I’m going to take a wild guess and say you don’t look like the type who rides a bike,” Carina asked amused.
Maya let out a small chuckle, “You would be correct.”
“So, that leaves us with track and field. You firefighters are all incredibly strong; heavy hoses; heavy equipment, no doubt you could throw something very far...but I’m going to go with my intuition and say track?”
“That was strangely impressive,” Maya said with a smile, Carina laughed and shook her head.
“I didn’t get a medical degree for nothing you know,” Carina joked.
“Well, you’re clearly very qualified, observant, intuitive, a smart risk-taker and you know how to have a laugh,” Maya said, she wanted to add gorgeous and beautiful but sometimes her thoughts were better left unsaid. “I really like you Dr DeLuca, I think you’d do well here.”
Maya saw Carina smile bashfully, not quite knowing if what she was saying what she think she was saying.
“Welcome to Station 19, Dr DeLuca. I- We are very pleased to have you!” Maya said, holding out her hand. The brunette shook it with a smile and Maya feel the electricity that shot up her arm as they touched.
The only problem she now had was the question that was swirling around her head was: Had she made this choice with her head or her heart?