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For the purposes of this fic, Vic and Travis never left, because I don’t want to come up with loads of new people.
Something felt off about today. Maya tucked her shirt back in, having just showered after drills, and then turned her focus to her hair, grabbing the brush from her locker and starting to pull it back into her usual ponytail.
She paused, looking at her reflection, though she was mostly deep in thought, trying to establish quite why this day felt so strange. They still hadn’t had a call, which was a little odd, but not completely unheard of. No, it was something more than that.
Even when she’d woken that morning, Maya had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She’d spent the first few minutes of consciousness wondering if she was unwell, but it felt different. However she’d had to fight to leave bed, something a little unusual for her. All she really wanted to do at that moment was cuddle up to her wife, bring their beautiful baby boy into bed with them, and hide away from the day.
Instead she’d got up and left her sleeping wife and son. Normally she woke Carina before leaving for her shift, but at 35 weeks pregnant, sleep was a struggle for her, and Maya couldn’t bear to wake her when she looked so peaceful.
Except now she was hugely regretting not getting that good morning kiss from her wife.
Maybe that was why the day felt so off.
She sighed, throwing her hairbrush back in her locker and slamming the door shut.
“What did that locker do to piss you off, Bishop?”
Maya turned around to see Jack standing behind her. “You don’t work here anymore, Gibson,” she retorted back. Not that it was a surprise to see him here - if he wasn’t working at the call center, he would often turn up during A-team’s shifts. She quite liked his visits - not that she would admit that to him of course.
“Good to see you too,” he grinned. “So, how come the bad mood?”
She started walking towards the beanery, Jack following. “I wish I knew. Just got a bad feeling about today, can’t really place it.”
“Sure it’s not just lack of sleep with a toddler and a very pregnant wife?” he asked, sitting at one of the bar stools while Maya grabbed her smoothie from the fridge, shaking it up.
He had a point - sleep had definitely been lacking, and not just for Carina, but Maya could handle that. Plus, she’d actually had a couple of decent nights leading up to this shift.
Still, she shrugged. “Maybe,” she replied, not overly convinced.
The two of them walked over to sit at the table, joining most of the rest of the crew. However, she’d been sitting for approximately 20 seconds when the call went out, and her smoothie was quickly abandoned as they all ran down to the barn.
Once again, Maya ignored the uneasy feeling in her stomach as she pulled her turnouts on and jumped in the front of the truck beside Vic who was driving. She stared out of the window, taking deep breaths. The uneasy feeling had turned into nausea as they made their way towards the scene.
“You good, Maya?”
The use of her first name got Maya’s attention and she looked over at Vic. “Hm? Oh- yeah. Just… these calls aren’t the best.”
Vic shook her head, “always worse when there’s kids involved.”
They were on their way to a school fire at a local high school, and that definitely wasn’t helping whatever was going on inside Maya right now. She pulled out her phone, realising she hadn’t sent her usual message to Carina to let her know she was out. She sent the fire and heart emojis, before replacing her phone and looking forward, trying to get her head in the game.
When they arrived, she jumped out and immediately got to work. Station 2 had arrived first, and were already getting set up to tackle the fire. Their Captain asked 19 to take search and rescue - there were a group of students and a teacher missing.
Andy, Vic, Maya were together, and they headed in - going in the direction it was expected the missing group would be. They were getting progressively closer to the fire, smoke density increasing and heat rising. Maya felt uncomfortable.
She never felt uncomfortable in a fire.
They kept going. Andy made a comment about how it’d been a while since the three of them worked together like this - with Andy usually being outside as Captain, but Station 2’s Captain was in charge today, and they needed man power. Vic made a joke that Andy had come back down to their level.
Maya didn’t join in.
Her skin felt hot. Itchy. It was distracting, but she couldn't be distracted.
She ploughed on. There was no time to waste here, with multiple lives at stake.
A little further down the corridor, Maya heard something. She shushed her friends and listened - there were definite voices. She looked around, trying to place their location against the blueprints she had memorised outside. “Shit. They’re beyond the fire - there’s no way to reach them from this side.”
“The only other way in is too dangerous with the scaffolding,” Vic pointed out.
“Who the fuck signed off on that?” Maya scowled, but she’d have to save that anger for later - she knew they were all thinking it.
She took a step back, assessing the situation and running through the layout of the building in her head. There was an option.
Maya knew Andy probably wouldn’t like it. In fact she definitely wouldn’t like it, but there weren’t any other options.
“What you thinking, Bishop?” She looked up to Andy, who read her well. “Am I going to want to hear this?”
The answer was no, but still - Maya explained. “There’s a vent-”
“Absolutely not,” Andy interrupted her immediately.
Maya held a hand up, “just hear me out Captain, because I think this is our only option. I can get through there, reach the trapped group. You and Vic can go around the back, see if you can get the scaffolding area stabilised enough for me to get them out that way, and I’ll see what I can do from this side.”
Andy took a moment to think it over, with Maya watching her anxiously and Vic awaiting instruction. Eventually she nodded. “Alright, do it. Keep your radio open and if there is any sign of danger you pull back. I’m going to get bodies back in here too, see if we can do anything about the fire from this side. If I don’t hear from you for more than 30 seconds I will share something about your personal life on the open radio.”
“I-” Maya went to argue, but shook her head. “Fair enough. Communication - got you.”
Between them they located and opened the vent. It wasn't big, but it was big enough. Maya hauled herself up and started making her way through. She called out, hoping the group would hear her.
The metal creaked and groaned, especially in the section nearest the fire. Smoke had made its way in, and she was essentially blind, but luckily it was a straight line to the other end. As agreed, in between her calls she was keeping Andy updated, promising her everything was okay.
Though she was unsure which of them she was actually trying to convince.
Eventually she made it. The louder shouts from the group indicated her correct location, and she removed the vent cover, lowering herself down into the room.
Thankfully the smoke hadn’t made it to this part of the building as yet, despite the fire almost surrounding them at this point. She noted that they’d blocked the gaps in the doorframe, which was most likely helping.
Maya made the decision to take her mask off, wanting to appear less threatening to the scared teenagers.
“Hey guys, I’m Lieutenant Bishop from the Seattle Fire department, but you can call me Maya.”
“Are you going to get us out?”
“There’s fire everywhere!”
“Are we going to get out?”
“I just want my Mum.”
Cries from them all.
Even the teacher, who couldn’t have been more than 25, was clearly struggling, though Maya could see she was doing her best to hold it together for her students.
She took a deep breath, addressing them. “We are working hard to get you guys out. I’m here to help you, and my team is outside making it safe for us to take you out.”
“We tried to get out but it was blocked - here felt like the safest place to go,” the teacher explained.
Maya nodded, “you did the right thing.”
Despite the fact Maya had needed to climb through a vent to reach them, it really was the safest place they could be right now given the situation.
“Can you tell me your names?” Maya asked. She’d memorised the list of missing students, and wanted to make sure it matched by name, not just by number.
One by one they introduced themselves and she mentally ticked it off. She checked in with Andy - they were making progress.
Things were going well.
So why did Maya still feel so uneasy?
It took around half an hour before she got the all clear to start guiding them out. She’d spent that time trying to calm their fears, just talking about school and their interests. Andy had been keeping in touch throughout, and they’d managed to work out a way to stabilise the scaffolding enough, though they knew they needed to work fast.
Maya put her mask back on. She’d talked the group through covering their faces for the smoke, and what the plan was. They were doing well, though there was one girl, Hannah, she was more concerned about, and Maya was sure to keep a closer eye on her.
She led them to the exit, and when they arrived the group were quick to follow hers and Andy’s instructions for leaving through the partially collapsed structure.
Except Hannah, who was staring at the door wide-eyed and panicked.
Maya got her attention. “Hannah, it’s going to be okay, I promise. Just a few steps through there and you’ll be all safe and sound. You just need to do what all your friends just did, okay? And my friend Vic is waiting just on the other side of the scaffolding to make sure you guys are all okay.”
“Are you coming too?”
“Absolutely, I don’t plan on staying here, but you have to go first. It’s one at a time, and I’m not leaving you in here.”
Hannah nodded nervously, “but you’ll be right behind?”
“The second you’re out, I’ll follow, promise,” she smiled. “I’ve got a pregnant wife that will kill me if I don’t leave.”
That made the teenager giggle. She'd already told them about Carina in the conversations earlier, so the statement wasn't a surprise. “Go on, I'll see you in a minute.”
Hannah finally started to make her way through, being guided by Andy and Vic. As soon as she was out, Vic was going to take the group to get checked over. Maya watched until she disappeared from sight, and then waited until Andy came on the radio to confirm she was out.
“Great work Bishop, now make your way out carefully,” Andy told her.
As Maya made her first few steps out, she heard the structure creaking above her. Then there was a bang, followed by a rush of heat - the fire was closer. Much closer.
She shook her head, not wanting to get distracted. She kept moving, but then suddenly got stuck. Her turnouts were caught.
Shit.
Don't panic.
Do. Not. Panic.
She couldn't move, couldn't work out how to get out.
“Andy I'm stuck. My jacket is caught.”
Get your head straight.
“Take the jacket off if you can't get free, the fire is getting nearer to you - getting out is a priority.”
Right. Taking her jacket off. Why didn't she think of that?
Maya quickly undid the fastenings, shrugging it off. She grabbed the radio from it, and reached into the top pocket to retrieve the picture of Carina and the kids she kept in there - just in case.
Then she turned.
Then there was a loud noise.
And then everything went black.
With Carina being 35 weeks pregnant now, Maya was almost aggressively protective over her and the baby. She didn’t like the idea of Carina being home alone, and that’s why she was currently being kept company by Jo.
She didn’t mind, her and Jo were good friends, and she’d also bought her twins so Carina was currently very much enjoying a snuggle from Peyton who had fallen asleep on her chest.
It had been a couple of hours since Maya had sent the message that signified she’d gone out on a call. That wasn’t an extreme period of time by any means, however Carina had a strange feeling in her chest about this one.
Maya hadn’t woken her this morning to say goodbye. Carina knew why, she even understood why, but she didn’t like it. She always wanted to kiss her wife goodbye and tell her to be safe, and any time she didn’t get to do that left her uncomfortable.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Liam’s cries over the baby monitor. “Ah, someone has woken from his nap,” she commented, and then realised she needed to stand up. “Uh- sorry, can you take Peyton?”
Jo, however, had already stood up. “I’ll do you one better and save you moving, I’ll go and get Liam. Hattie’s quite happy on the floor there if you can just keep an eye on her?”
“Of course, thank you,” she smiled, grateful. Moving was becoming increasingly difficult, especially getting up from the sofa, despite that often being the most comfortable place for her to be.
Her phone rang seconds later. It made her jump, but thankfully Peyton stayed sound asleep on her chest as she picked it up, not really registering who it was.
“Hello,” she answered, still watching Peyton’s sleepy face, with one eye on Hattie who was trying to chew at her hand.
But the voice on the other end got her attention, because it was Andy.
“Carina, listen-”
“Is she okay?”
There was only one reason Andy would phone her mid-shift. Something had happened to Maya.
Carina tried to keep level headed, but she could feel her heart rate rising.
“She’s been taken to Grey-Sloan. There was an explosion, I don’t know a lot yet, they took her quickly. Travis and Vic took her in, she switched out with Sulivan to be with her. I had to stay, I’m sorry, I just… you should get down there, but try and take it steady. She’s with good people. We’ll be there as soon as we can, I promise.”
Someone called for Andy in the background. “I have to go- is somebody with you?”
As if on cue, Jo walked back into the room with Liam. She was initially smiling, but seemed to read Carina’s face quickly. “Yeah, Jo’s here. I’ll… you go, thank you for calling.”
She was lost. Jo sat down on the sofa beside her. “What’s happened?”
“I- it’s Maya- an explosion- I-”
Jo shifted Liam and took Peyton from her. “Carina, take some deep breaths for me, you’re panicking. Look at me, breathe with me.”
She looked up, following Jo’s deep breaths. “I’m sorry, I just… I need to go, she needs me…” Carina stood up, briefly struggling to get her balance before she started moving around the room without sense, her brain completely scrambled.
“Carina, what are you doing?” Jo asked.
“I need my car keys, and I need to sort Liam, and I need Maya’s favourite sleep tee because she hates hospital gowns, and my hoodie because she likes it for comfort-”
Jo stood up now, standing in front of her with Liam in her arms, Peyton having been placed down by Hattie. “Are you alright to drive like this?”
“I’m pregnant Jo, not an invalid,” she scowled. “I need to get to Maya.”
“I know, I know you do, but Carina you’re not just pregnant. You’re 35 weeks pregnant, and you’re upset, and your wife needs you to get there in one piece. Plus, she’d probably get up from her hospital bed and throttle me if I let you. So here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to take Liam, because he needs his Mamma right now. I’m going to go and get the things you want, and call Link to come and collect the girls. I will drive you to the hospital. We’ll take Liam, he can go to the daycare, but then he’ll be nearby.”
“But I need to go now-”
Jo carefully handed Liam over, making sure Carina took him. “Maya is with our colleagues, our friends. She will be looked after. Link isn’t far away, this won’t take too long, okay?”
Liam had snuggled into her now, almost as if he could feel she needed it. “I… yeah… okay.”
She knew Jo was right, but she also desperately wanted to get to Maya.
The lights were so bright, but everything was blurry. That was the first thing Maya noticed. Then she felt the searing pain through her body. Then the noise - so much noise. Lots of beeping. Voices everywhere.
She couldn’t place anything. Where was she?
Someone was saying her name. Somewhere. Behind her maybe? She tried to look around, but her head was restrained.
Why couldn’t she move?
A wave of panic rushed over her. She tried to sit up, but something was stopping her. Someone?
Was this why she had felt so bad this morning? Was this what her mind had been warning her of? Whatever this was…
Then the one thing she needed to ground her.
“Bambina, I’m here. Try and stay still. You’re at Grey-Sloan.”
Carina. Her wife. Her beautiful wife. Her pregnant wife.
Maya’s eyes found her, her right arm reaching out, finding the bump housing her second child.
“Sí, we’re both here,” Carina placed a hand on top of Maya’s, “but I need to step back and let the doctors work.”
Suddenly there was a lot of beeping again.
More voices, more talking. She couldn’t pick anything out, not except Carina.
“Are you sure?”
“Okay, yes.”
“No I can stand.”
No. You need to sit Carina, you need to sit.
She couldn’t talk, couldn’t argue.
“Okay my love, I’m staying here. Amelia has insisted I sit, you’ll probably thank her for that later,” Carina joked, though Maya could hear how unsettled her voice was - she was worried.
She still didn’t know what had happened. Carina sat down, keeping hold of Maya’s hand as the team continued to work around her. There were a lot of people. Amelia - that meant neuro.
What had happened?
No. New question. What hurt?
Everything. It all hurt.
That wasn’t helpful.
Carina’s voice came back again. Closer, she’d leant in. “Maya, bambina, try and stay calm. I know it’s scary. There was an explosion at the scene, you got thrown away from the building-”
The school. Maya remembered now. She was almost out, but the blast had thrown her forward. Everything after that was blank - so she was probably knocked out for a while. Amelia made sense now.
Did she have burns? She’d taken her turnout jacket off. Did her skin feel bad? Maybe-
“Stop self-assessing bambina. You had a CT before I arrived. You have a concussion, some fractured ribs, and a broken ankle. There are some burns, but they are not too bad. They are currently struggling to stabilise your blood pressure and there is some internal bleeding, that's why so many people here. You might have to go to surgery soon.”
A concussion. That made sense. Everything made sense. But surgery… and broken bones… they had a baby coming. She needed to be better.
But Carina spoke again. She was stroking her hair now, and Maya realised the neck brace was gone. “We will be okay, bambina. You just focus on getting better, okay? Try not to worry. Please my love,” she kissed her temple gently. Maya's eyes briefly fluttered closed at the contact.
She knew Carina was crying. She couldn't see, but she knew. All Maya wanted right now was to take her home and curl up in bed with Liam.
Liam.
Who had Liam?
She wanted her family. She wanted not to be hurt. She wanted to be okay for them.
But she wasn't. And that hurt more than any physical pain.
Carina walked into the daycare and went over to where Liam was playing… with Jo.
“You're still here?” she asked, sitting down on the floor beside her.
Jo nodded. “Link has the kids, he's called in reinforcements so I could stay here. Liam and I have had a lot of fun together, haven't we?” She smiled down at the boy sitting in her lap, though he fairly quickly leant towards Carina who scooped him up close, breathing in his scent. “How is she?”
“Broken ribs and ankle. Some burns and a concussion. Now in the OR - splenectomy,” she explained, rubbing Liam's back. He grizzled slightly. “Va tutto bene. La mommy starà bene. [It's okay. Mommy will be okay].” She calmed him. “She was so scared, she couldn't talk. I knew she was worrying about me and the baby too. I tried to help, but she was so scared….”
Jo placed a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure you did everything right. Did you get there before she woke?”
Carina nodded, “she was waking up as I arrived. They let me sit with her the whole time, worked around me. I just tried to keep talking to her, she was thinking so hard. She always does, always thinking. I can see it in her eyes.”
“You two are incredible, the way you can read each other. Absolute couple goals,” Jo told her.
Carina laughed just slightly, “you’re not the first person to say that. I never know what to say, I can’t explain it, we’ve just always had this connection,” she explained. “Like I knew something was wrong today. I had such an uneasy feeling.”
She sighed softly, and looked down to see Liam falling asleep in her arms. “I think I’ll take him to my office. I just want to be alone with him for a bit. The rest of 19 arrived and I know I should go and see them but I just… I can’t.”
“I’ll go and see them if you want, fill them in? Call me if you need anything, okay?”
While Maya was in surgery, Carina had hidden away in her office. Liam had slept the whole time, his little hand gripping onto her top as they lay there. She watched him the whole time, using his breathing to ground herself.
The knock on her office door made Carina jump a little, Liam stirred, looking up at her slightly disgruntled at being woken, but not crying.
Carina called her visitor in, sitting up a little from where she’d sunk down into the sofa, which took more effort than it should - but everything did these days.
Jo walked in first, and Teddy followed. If she could’ve stood up then she would have, but between the bump and Liam she resisted. Instead, Teddy sat down beside her. “She’s doing well. The operation was straightforward, but we did have to stabilise her when we first got in which is why it took slightly longer.”
A small weight was lifted on hearing that. Carina nodded her understanding. “Thank you so much. When can I see her?”
“About half an hour she’ll be back on the ward. The last thing she said before we knocked her out was that she wanted you and Liam,” Teddy smiled. “Do you need anything?”
She went to shake her head, but then Liam started grumbling. “He needs food… I don’t have anything…”
Jo piped up now, she’d been standing by the door. “Luckily, we are near to paeds. I will go and see what they’ve got.”
“And I will go and get something for you, because I’m sure your other baby is quite hungry too,” Teddy smiled, standing back up.
As Liam fussed and she adjusted her hold on him, Carina had a moment of appreciation for her friends, grateful for the support.
Liam ended up making an exceptional mess with the pasta that Jo had found him. He’d also not been the most impressed with the hospital cooked dish - Carina was proud of her piccolo italiano.
It had resulted in a quick outfit change (a sleepsuit, retrieved from the donations to the department - Carina would make sure it came back), but now they were on their way to see Mommy.
When she got up to the floor, Andy and Vic were sitting in the corridor nearby. They stood up as Carina walked down, and Liam squealed happily at the sight of two of his favourite people, clapping his hands. They both greeted him with smiles, fussing for a moment before turning their attention to Carina. “The rest of the team are still downstairs, we just had to check.”
Carina nodded, “thank you all for coming, I know she’ll appreciate it. I do too. I think she might not be up for visitors for a bit, but I will let you know.”
“It’s okay if she’s not, but we’ve been taken off duty for now so we’re gonna hang around for a little longer if that’s okay?”
“Of course, you’re her family,” she gave them a small smile. “I’ll message you in a bit.”
She left them to it and made her way towards Maya’s room. As they entered, Liam immediately tried to lean towards Maya, making “ma ma ma” noises. He hadn’t quite got words yet, but he was close.
As cute as it was, Carina had to work hard to keep him upright in her arms. “Lo so, vuoi la mommy. Presto, piccolo. [I know, you want Mommy. Soon, little one].”
He settled a little, but didn’t take his eyes off Maya as Carina moved across the room and sat down. She shifted the chair closer, but towards the foot of the bed and then sat Liam on the edge of the bed - far enough away not to be near her areas of injury. He leaned forward, seemingly trying to reach for something and getting frustrated. Carina wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted, but she moved him forward slightly.
The second he grabbed Maya’s finger, Carina felt the tears forming. His other hand went up to join, playing a little with his Mommy’s index finger.
“If I hadn’t just had two babies, this would definitely be giving me baby fever.”
Carina hadn’t heard Jo enter. She looked beside her and gave her a small smile before turning her attention back to who was still holding onto Maya. “He loves her so much,” she commented. “Maya’s such a good mom. You know she was so scared of being a parent. For a while she didn’t even want kids, but I always knew she’d be the best. Then when we got Liam it was like… it all clicked for her. Everyone always thought she’d be the strict mom, but I think she would let him get away with murder. Probably help him bury the body,” she chuckled slightly, as did Jo. “I can’t wait to see her with this little one,” Carina glanced down at her bump. “I just hope she doesn’t beat herself up about this happening so close to the due date…”
“There are plenty of us who will help,” Jo smiled.
“I know, grazie. You should go home now though, go be with your babies.”
Jo nodded, “I will, but if you need anything then call.”
Carina agreed, and Jo left. Liam still hadn’t let go of Maya’s finger, still just watching her. He never sat still this long, but somehow their little boy knew what to do right now.
Then something stirred. Maya’s eyes flickered, and her fingers moved. Liam tried to push himself forward, but she held him back for now.
“Bambina?” Carina spoke softly. Her eyes opened more, immediately settling on Carina. “Hey, hi there. Take it steady, you had surgery to remove your spleen, but it went well. You’re going to be okay.”
Maya’s eyes moved to Liam. “Probie…”
Carina smiled, “sí, he has been watching you, making sure you are okay.”
There was a small smile on Maya’s lips. “Come here?”
She managed to shift the chair and Liam in one movement, and rested him where Maya could hold him as comfortably as possible, though she still supported.
“My family…” Maya sighed with a hint of contentment. “We’re okay?”
“Sí bambina. We are okay.”