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Buck and May were both sitting on the roof of dispatch, watching the LA skyline as they ate lunch together. Bobby had told Buck that May had been getting picked on by one of the other dispatchers but didn’t want any of her family to come and have a word with the person. So instead Buck had come by to bring her lunch and cheer her up. He was still on shift so he’d taken the Captain’s truck meaning he could rush straight over to a scene should a call come through.
So he’d taken leftovers from the station fridge, there having been plenty of leftovers from the meal his Dad had cooked the day before.
“So, who is it?” Buck said after a minute.
“Who’s who?” May asked, confused.
“The dispatcher who’s being a dick to you.”
“Seriously Buck, it’s fine, just leave it.” May groaned.
Buck glared at her, a look he’d picked up from Eddie as his husband had a habit of using it whenever Buck did something stupid, “So what’s the plan? Just wait until one of you moves on? You’re both at the beginning of your careers, there’s no guarantee one of you will leave soon.”
“She’s, uh, she’s not at the beginning of her career.” May admitted, looking away from her brother sheepishly.
“Maaay, how old is she?” May tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, refusing to make eye contact with Buck, “Come on May, fess up.”
“She’s in, like, her mid-50s.” She cringed.
Buck was gobsmacked by that, “Woah, I’m sorry, she’s in her 50s? A whole ass adult woman is bullying you? A literal teenager?”
“Which is why I don’t want to give her any more reasons to think I’m a kid!” May protested.
“No, no, this isn’t about her treating you like a child, this is about her bullying you, there’s a difference.” Buck huffed out a sigh, “Is she at least new?” Based on May’s guilty expression she wasn’t, “So what, she’s been here for years and just randomly decided to start picking on you? Or did something happen that instigated it?”
“She started out here at metro, but then moved to another location. Josh managed to convince her to come back. I went to introduce myself and she just took my coffee off of me, assuming I was an intern.”
“But dispatch doesn’t have interns.”
“Exactly.”
“And she just, what? Kept your coffee?” May nodded, “And that’s when it started?” May nodded again, “So the whole time she’s been here she’s been picking on you? What does she do?”
“She’ll take my calls from me, or take my ideas as her own, and she just treats me like crap in general.”
“Fucking bitch.” Buck practically growled, “Have you spoken to Josh or Sue about it?” May shook her head, “You need to report this.”
“I don’t want to sound like a whiney baby.”
“But you won’t. That’s a complaint due to a toxic workplace and mistreatment by a colleague.”
May scoffed, “And you know all this because…?”
“I got punched by one of my coworkers.”
May immediately deflated, “Right, sorry, yeah.”
“It’s fine, but seriously, you need to talk to someone or I will, because, trust me, I know Josh and Sue well, they’ll do something about this.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll talk to them.”
Buck wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders, pulling her into his side, “So tell me, which one is it?”
“Claudette, she’s the one who doesn’t wear a uniform.” May admitted.
“What? So she’s, like Sue’s boss or Sue 2.0 or something?”
“No, fellow dispatcher.”
Buck was so confused by that, “But she doesn’t wear the uniform?”
May shook her head, “No, she thinks it looks stupid.”
That only confused Buck more, “So… she’s a regular dispatcher, just like you or Maddie-”
“She’s at Maddie’s level.”
“Okay, so she’s a dispatcher like Maddie, but she chooses to not wear the uniform because she doesn’t ‘want to’, even though people like Josh, who are higher up then her, still have to?”
May nodded, “Yeah. Which is why I can’t go to Josh or Sue, they let her do whatever she wants, she’s that good.”
Buck ran his hands down his face, “That’s not on, they’re not supposed to play favourites like that. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great people and they’re great at their jobs but that is not on, especially in a job like this.” Buck began to stand, “I’m sorry May, I know you don’t want me to but I need to talk to them about this, because if they’re acting like this then there’s no telling how far this could go, and not just in regards to you.”
“Buck, please.” She stood, going to follow him inside grabbing the bowls as she went.
Thankfully Buck stopped, turning to her, “May, this isn’t just about you anymore, okay?” He said, his voice soft and reassuring, “I’ll make it clear you had no say in this so you don’t get drawn in, but it’s not acceptable behaviour on their part, so I’m doing something about this. We can’t let this happen with anybody else, on both ends of the equation, okay?”
“Okay, fine.” May grumbled, making Buck smile. May was extremely mature but she was still a teenager, so although she’d handled this with grace she wasn’t above being a mopey teen when her brother got involved.
Buck gave her a soft kiss on the forehead before heading down the stairs and back onto the main floor.
“Josh.” The man in question looked over at him, “I need to have a word with you and Sue.”
“Sure thing.” It was clear that whatever this is it was serious, Buck clearly all business.
Josh led him into Sue’s office where the woman was typing away. As soon as she heard the door open she looked up smiling at the pair, “Buck, hi, what can I do for you?”
“What’s the deal with Claudette out there?” He asked, arms crossed, face serious.
“Oh, of course, she left just before Maddie joined so you wouldn’t know her. She started her career here with us years ago but ended up moving over to Valley, Josh here managed to get her to come back. She really is a fantastic dispatcher and has been filling the gap your sister left extremely well. She’s been back for two months now so I’m sure you would’ve worked a call with her.” Sue explained. She could obviously read Buck’s face but tried to keep her smile up, hoping to not turn this conversation sour.
“And she’s what? On the floor today because you need the extra hands rather than supervising?” He knew the answer, but he wanted Sue to admit what was going on.
“No, she’s always on calls.”
“But she doesn’t wear a uniform.” Buck pointed out.
Josh chuckled uncomfortably, “She thinks they’re corny, and it’s not like she’s facetiming them.”
“So if you didn’t want to come in in uniform you wouldn’t have to? If Maddie were still here and she ‘didn’t like it’ she could just wear whatever?” He challenged.
Sue stood, walking around her desk so she could lean back on it, bringing herself a bit more level with Buck, “No, everyone is expected to wear the uniform.”
“Everyone but Claudette.” Buck amended.
“No, uh, no, she’s expected to wear it too.”
“But she doesn’t.”
“Trust me, you’ve never tried to tell Claudette no.” Josh told him.
Buck couldn’t hold back a scoff, “You’re her bosses, if you can’t tell her no then she shouldn’t be here.”
Sue didn’t want to be having this conversation with Buck, this wasn’t his dispatch after all, “This isn’t a fire station or the military Buck. Yes it is expected, but it isn’t life or death, so it’s easier to just let it slide. It’s not like it’s hurting anyone.”
“Oh, so you don’t know?” Josh and Sue sent him an uncertain look, “Because she’s clearly got a complex, like she can get away with anything. The lack of uniform gives her permission to do what she wants, and what she wants to do is harass a teenage girl and make her life hell.”
Sue’s face fell, “What do you mean?”
“She’s been treating May like crap. And I only know that because she’s my sister so she told me and our parents. How many other people is she mistreating? Who’s she going to pick on next? Because I’m pretty sure that isn’t the kind of workplace you are trying to foster.”
“Do you know what your brother is talking to them about?” Linda asked, coming over to May’s desk so they could both watch whatever conversation was happening in Sue’s office.
May groaned, “Don’t ask, it’s a whole thing.”
“It must be big, he looks angry.”
May let out a sarcastic chuckle, “Oh that's not him angry, you’d know if he was angry.”
“I always forget how intense he can be.”
“Yeah, you’d never expect it, but that’s Buck for you.”
Suddenly Claudette walked over to May and Linda, “Who’s that you were with?” She asked, looking extremely curious.
“That’s May’s brother.” Linda told her, neither she nor May taking their eyes off of Buck as he gesticulated as he spoke.
“Oh?” Claudette’s curious tone had May turning to look at her.
“He’s adopted.” she clarified, “He’s an ex-navy SEAL turned firefighter.” Although the second bit wasn’t necessary information she wanted to make it extremely clear who Buck was, and if that had Claudette jumping to conclusions? Well, she wasn’t against that.
“Must be an impressive man.”
“From what we know about him, he is.” Look, May liked to think she was a nice person, but she did have a petty streak so it wasn’t her fault she was indulging in upping Buck’s scary factor, especially if he was the reason Claudette was going to get called up on her bullshit, “Pretty much his whole Naval career is classified so we don’t know anything about it other than the fact he was in Afghanistan and it’s how he met his husband.”
“He’s actually the firefighter who got trapped under the exploding ladder truck.” Linda added, she wasn’t fucking with Claudette, she was giving her a reference for who he was as there was no doubt she’d heard about it, if not seen it.
“It was actually his husband who did the amputation. Not even a year later he got caught in the tsunami, walked for hours whilst bleeding out to find a kid he didn’t even know.” May inspected her nails, really pushing the nonchalant persona as she continued to list Buck’s more hardcore exploits, “It wasn’t in any of the news articles but he’s actually the guy who killed Jeffery Hudson, apparently he shot his finger clean off before shooting him through the lung and killing him. But he was a sniper so it’s not a surprise he’s so good with a gun.” She looked back up at Claudette, “He’s taught me a few bits of self-defence over the years, but our Mum isn’t too happy that he taught me how to use a knife effectively, or that he bought me one.”
May hadn’t expected herself to be quite so ballsy, usually shying away from the other dispatcher, but something about Buck’s presence gave her the confidence to actually speak up. But it helped that she was mainly talking about him rather than herself.
“But he’s also an extremely sweet young man.” Linda chirped, which unfortunately diffused a lot of what May had said, but still, at least Claudette understood what Buck was capable of, “His other sister, Maddie, was a dispatcher here for a while, it’s why so many of us know him so well, he’s pretty much had at least one member of family working here ever since he’s been a firefighter.”
“He’s a pretty big deal in first responder circles, but that’s what happens when your Mum is a well respected police Sergeant, your Dad is a highly decorated fire Captain, and you’re an extremely skilled firefighter with multiple high risk saves under your belt both on and off duty.”
Suddenly Sue stepped out of her office, her eyes scanning the dispatch floor until she spotted Claudette, a small frown came across her face before she called out to her, “Claudette, can we have a word?”
May’s brother had sounded pretty scary but she trusted Linda’s read on people so knew she wouldn’t lie to her or be wrong when she’d said he was a nice person. But stepping into Sue’s office to find the man in question stood behind her desk, arms crossed and a face of thunder still unnerved her.
Up close she could finally get a good look at him; he was in a short sleeve shirt so his arms were on show, pale skin littered with scars and tattoos, muscles bulging, whilst his face had a pink splodge over one eye and three scars across it, looking like claw marks. His blue eyes looked cold and calculated, he’d seen some shit over the years, there was no doubt about it.
“Claudette, this is Buck Grant-Nash.” Buck just nodded at her when Sue introduced him, “Buck, this is Claudette Collins. Claudette, please have a seat.” She sat just like she’d been asked to, the other chair occupied by Josh who gave her an apologetic look.
She expected Sue to be the first one to speak but instead it was Buck, “I want to make this extremely clear as my surname makes it obvious; yes May is my sister but this has nothing to do with her, she didn’t ask me to have this conversation, this is off of my own back based on what I have observed and comments she’s made in passing, so we’re not getting her involved in this, clear?” Claudette nodded, “Good.” He then looked to Sue.
Sue sighed before speaking, “Firstly, I’m going to have to insist on you wearing the uniform from now on, it isn’t a fashion show, this is work. And although these calls can impact us as individuals, at the end of the day we’re a unit and the uniform reflects that. So from now on you’re expected to dress like everyone else who works on the floor.”
“But-”
“No, Claudette, you’re expected to wear the uniform and we can’t make exceptions just because you don’t like it. It’s here for a reason, and you’re not above that. And clearly us turning a blind eye to this has had a negative impact on the workplace.
“Yes, you are a good dispatcher but that doesn’t mean you can belittle or berate your colleagues. If you have concerns then you come to me or Josh, you don’t take that into your own hands. We expect you to treat your colleagues with respect and kindness, as I’m sure you would like to be treated.
“We asked you to come back because you are a very skilled dispatcher, but if you’re going to keep acting like this then we’re going to have to seriously reconsider whether you’re fit for this role, do you understand?”
“Seriously?” She scoffed, “You called me in here because I’m not dressing right and I’m teaching May how to do her job right?”
“You were called in here because you are acting inappropriately in the workplace, that includes your uniform and treatment of others.”
“He doesn’t even work here.” She protested.
“No, but we’re in the same industry, so it’s a completely valid complaint for me to lodge. If you were to interfere with another dispatcher's call without them asking for help you could cause confusion which could put the lives of the individual you are helping or of those helping them on the scene at risk.
“You know how much of this is life or death, how high the risk of danger and injury is to the people on the other end of the line. So you should understand that you need to do everything you can to keep the call as clean and efficient as possible.”
“Your sister muddies her own calls, I’m helping.” She protested.
“Claudette, please.” Sue tried to calm her.
“No, I’m sorry but he can’t come in here and get angry at me because his sister needs more training!”
“She doesn’t need more training.” Josh told her, “I observe her on the floor all the time and she is extremely competent. But no one is perfect, I know you were the same when you started out. And it’s like Sue said, if you have any concerns you come to one of us, you don’t take it into your own hands, that isn’t the procedure.”
“And procedure is there for a reason, it’s like Firefighter Nash said, this can be life or death so we need to do everything we can to mitigate any risk of making these situations worse, that’s why the procedure is there in the first place. So, next shift you are going to come in dressed appropriately and you’ll not interfere with other dispatchers calls unless they ask you to offer assistance, clear?”
Suddenly Buck’s radio went off, May’s voice coming through it of all people, informing him of an incident not too far away, “Roger that.” He replied before turning to Sue, “Thank you for this.” He then turned to Josh, “Both of you.” And then he left.
“Now that he’s left can we drop the act?” Claudette asked, trying not to snap.
“It wasn’t an act, he raised an extremely valid point.” Sue sighed, “Look, it’s like he said, May is his sister but this isn’t really about her, we would be reacting exactly the same if he, or anyone, came to us about that behaviour towards any of our dispatchers.”
“And if we’d noticed it ourselves we would also be having this conversation.” Josh added.
"She's just a kid and you’re an adult, you can’t go around bullying anyone, let alone someone who’s so much younger than you.”
“Well, if she’s a child maybe she shouldn’t be a dispatcher.”
“It’s not your job to decide who is or isn’t allowed to be a dispatcher, she’s been thoroughly screened and completed all necessary training, and she was extremely good at all of it. So you need to leave her be and stop treating her like an incompetent child, because she’s not. Look, head back out onto the floor, but me and Josh are going to be keeping a close eye on you so leave May be unless it’s an emergency. Josh will come by with some uniform for you in a little bit, I expect you to have it on by the time your shift starts tomorrow. You can leave.”
That evening May got home to find Eddie, David and her Mum and Dad on the couches chatting whilst Harry sat on the floor, playing with Chris.
“Hey guys.” May greeted, giving everyone hugs and kisses, “Is Buck here?”
“He’s in the kitchen with Bobby.” Athena told her.
“Thanks.” She mumbled, heading straight to her brother. “What the hell?” She asked, not much heat behind her voice.
“Hello to you too.” Buck replied, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, hi. Hey Bobby.”
“Hey kid, everything alright?”
May sent Buck a death glare, “No, it’s not, someone came to dispatch and then did exactly what I didn’t want him to do.”
Bobby knew exactly what she meant by that, "Seriously Buck?”
“I wasn’t going to, and then I found out she’s in her 50s. Look, yes I wanted to protect you but it’s like I said, and it’s like I told Sue, Josh and Claudette, it wasn’t about you, it was about the fact that she has a complex. We couldn’t let her escalate either with you or by picking on someone else. They were letting her get away with far too much and she knew it, so I had to put my foot down.” Buck sighed, “How was she after the meeting?”
“Wouldn’t even look at me.” May told him with a small smile, “And I saw Josh hand her a pile of uniform tops at the end of her shift.”
Buck couldn’t stop himself from laughing loudly at that, “I really hope she isn’t able to pull them off like you can.”
“Oh my god, that’s so bitchy.” May gasped, eyes glistening with mischief.
Buck shrugged, acting all nonchalant, “I’m married to Eddie, I couldn’t not pick up a bitchy streak after all these years.”
May came around the counter and pulled Buck into a hug, “Thank you.” She whispered.
“Hey, you don’t need to thank me, nobody gets to bully my sister and get away with it.”