Chapter Text
The chiming noises wake Rebecca from her slumber, as she blindly reaches for her phone to either answer it or throw it into the wall, she’s not sure. She grumbles into her pillow, hands flailing, finally grasping her phone, opening her eyes slightly to see who is bothering her at this ungodly hour. No caller ID listed. She silences it and tosses it onto the mattress.
“Ow,” she hears him say.
Her phone rings again.
“Fuck,” she says, as he tosses her phone back at her.
“Someone’s calling you,” Luca says, as he turns over onto his side.
She rolls her eyes, as she answers the call, voice filled with annoyance.
“Hi, Rebecca, it’s Michelle.”
“Oh,” she says.
“I’m sorry to call you so early, but I’m still creeped out by Dr. Zava’s behavior yesterday, and I want to encourage you to file a restraining order. I’m completing a report with our HR department at the hospital, and I may consider filing something with police.”
Rebecca wipes at her eyes. She’s bleary and in significant discomfort.
“Rebecca, are you there,” Michelle asks.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Are you ok,” she asks.
There’s a pause.
“I’ll consider it,” Rebecca says.
“Ok,” Michelle responds. “You sure you’re alright?”
“I am. I’m just a little disoriented from yesterday.”
“I imagine that you are. If you need any help with filing a report or need a hand to hold…whatever you need, please let me know, and I’ll be there.”
“Thank you,” Rebecca says.
“I’ll text you my personal phone number since I’m calling you from the hospital.”
“Ok. You really didn’t have to call,” she says, voice trailing off.
“I know, but I wanted to,” she replies.
“Thank you. Really.” Rebecca responds.
“Alright, I hope you get to rest a little bit today. Take care, Rebecca.”
“Thanks, Michelle, you too.”
She ends the call and drops her phone onto the end table. Luca turns toward her.
“Now that we’re both awake earlier than we thought, do you wanna fuck?”
She turns away, mind swirling.
*****
She steps out of her car, perching her sunglasses on the top of her head. She’s dressed in her usual jumpsuit, cup of coffee in her hand, fingernails digging into the styrofoam.
“Welton,” Tom greets. “Glad to see that you’re ok. That was some explosion.”
She nods, saying, “I’m quite sore today, but I’m ok.”
“You looked like shit afterwards,” Jan says.
“Good to see you too, Jan,” she replies, chuckle in her voice.
He pats her shoulder.
They hear a car door close, and Julie and Isaac make their way toward them.
“Welton, how are you feeling,” Isaac asks.
“Sore, but fine for the most part.”
“Glad you’re ok,” Julie says.
“So, we have everything blocked off. Crews haven’t moved too much debris from where the bomb was located. I didn’t want any contamination. The rest of the school that was not affected by the explosion is damaged, but structurally intact,” Tom reports.
Rebecca nods.
“Alright, let’s get to work,” Isaac says, placing a safety helmet on his head, as Julie does the same.
They walk away toward the school.
“What’s with the hats,” Jan asks.
“I have not had enough coffee for any of this,” Rebecca mutters.
“Better down that cup,” Tom says.
She sighs, throwing it back, thanking the universe that it’s lukewarm. She follows Isaac and Julie.
*****
This device was complex, she notes. The trigger chamber was well-created, along with numerous wires that connect from the power sources to the timer that is attached. Jan and Tom stand nearby, surveying what little is left of that room.
“Feels like someone heard me say that the other device was created in an amateur way. This is anything but amateur,” Rebecca says.
“There were a couple of people with us, who heard you say that,” Jan states.
“That could be a list of possible suspects,” Tom adds.
Rebecca nods, saying, “I also reported that to both stations.”
“We’ll add them to the list,” Tom says.
Rebecca continues her inspection of the device, noting the way it exploded and its blast radius.
“This is nothing like the first device. I’m not even sure they’re linked.”
“How could they not be,” Tom asks.
“They’re only linked by the fact that they’re devices, that’s it,” Jan adds.
Rebecca nods.
“Could it be more than one person,” Tom asks.
“Maybe. But maybe that’s just to throw us off.”
“Perhaps,” Tom adds.
After a moment, Jan speaks.
“I bet you offended them with your observation.”
Rebecca looks over at him.
“So they made their next device bigger and more explosive,” Tom wonders aloud.
“Perhaps,” Rebecca replies.
“Welton,” Isaac calls.
“Excuse me,” she says to Tom and Jan.
She walks over to where Julie and Isaac stand.
“Chief,” she says.
“Same burn patterns on the walls here as the last structure,” Isaac says.
“Gasoline as well,” Rebecca asks.
“The burns marks indicate it,” Julie answers.
“How did no one notice or identify the smell,” Rebecca asks, “unless it was something similar to gasoline but odorless.”
“Sounds about right. Let’s take some of this wood for testing to determine the agent used,” Isaac states.
Rebecca nods.
“How does the device look, Rebecca,” Julie asks.
“Very professionally done. I’ve never seen anything like it, outside of my training,” she replies. “I’m planning to take the device to study it further, barring pending police investigation as well. But as you know, we’re working together.”
Julie and Isaac nod, as Tom walks up to them.
“I have a list of everyone who overheard you say that the prior device was amateur. Can you fill in who was at the fire station that day when you gave your reports,” Tom asks.
“Of course,” Rebecca replies.
“What’s this about,” Isaac asks.
“When I was looking at the prior device, I had stated that the device seemed quite amateur in the way it was made. We’re comprising a list of all the people who heard me use that language,” Rebecca says.
“List of suspects,” Julie asks.
“Exactly,” Tom adds.
“Well, ok,” Isaac replies. “Eyes open, ears open. Let’s do some additional sweeps to determine if there’s anything we’re missing.”
*****
Tom and Jan sit across from Rebecca, and Tom presses buttons on his audio recorder. Rebecca takes a sip of the coffee in front of her.
“Ok, Rebecca, give us an overview of what happened.”
“I was assigned to alpha, and I made my way down the hallway. I came to the first room, and the door was locked. I used my ax to get inside. I searched the room, found no vics, and I left that room to continue down the hall. I made it to the next room, same thing, door locked, got in, searched, found nothing. I left that room and moved to the next. The door was closed, but was it unlocked. So I opened it, searched the room, and found a vic, a male student hiding. As I was getting ready to evacuate with him, I heard ticking. I searched in the cabinets, and found the device. As you all have seen, it was built into a small piece of luggage, like for toiletries, hard shell, very complicated looking, wires, and a timer counting down from three minutes. I reported this all over comms, grabbed the student, tossed him over my shoulder, and made my way toward the door, then realized the door was closed and somehow locked from the outside. I reported this over comms as well. And Roy was able to get to me and rescue us.”
“So someone knew you’d be in that room, and locked you inside,” Tom asks.
“Yes. Apparently, as if they were trying to trap me,” Rebecca says, as a chill runs up her spine.
“Interesting,” he replies.
“Are you sure the door was unlocked,” Jan asks.
Tom gives him a look, as Jan puts his hands up in the air.
“Do you have anyone in mind who would want to target you, potentially,” Tom asks.
“No,” she replies, then pauses.
“What,” Tom asks.
“There might be someone, but I don’t believe it’s related.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “Tell us more.”
Rebecca gives them some brief details, like how she met Dr. Zava, (local bar), how he got her phone number (he asked around), and how often he contacts her (multiple times per day, even though she has indicated that she’s not interested). She then tells them about the incident at the hospital, the bizarre, erratic behavior displayed, and what he said at the end of their conversation before Michelle fully intervened to get him to leave the room.
“He said, ‘we can be something special, Rebecca. You’ll see,’” Tom asks.
“Yes.”
“That’s threatening. We can help file a restraining order, Rebecca.”
“And he’s now our prime suspect,” Jan adds.
*****
“I just don’t know how this is gonna go, Beardo,” Ted says, looking over at the heart monitor, seeing Beard’s rhythm displayed.
“I know, Buddy.”
“If she wasn’t such a pain in my butt…”
“Maybe this will force you both to actually talk to one another.”
“Beard, don’t start,” Ted says.
“Hey, I’m just sayin’.”
“Sorry, I’m just complainin’, meanwhile you’re all cooped up in this bed.”
“It’s ok,” Beard replies.
“It’s not,” Ted says. “Any other tests come back?”
“Everything looks good. This is all precautionary, since I recently had the brain injury.”
“I know. It’s just a lot…seeing you in this place…again.”
Beard nods. There’s a long pause.
“She just drives me crazy, Beard, and I don’t know what to do with that.”
He hums.
“Maybe you can put some of that energy elsewhere.”
“How you figure?”
Beard shrugs.
“Don’t go shruggin’ on me, Beardo, tell me.”
He mimes zipping his lips.
Ted sighs, and Beard gives in, changing the subject.
“Maybe do something nice for her? Maybe that’ll smooth over any possible awkwardness.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ted replies. “She did have a difficult time with Dr. Zava in the ER last night.”
“Oh,” Beard asks.
“Yeah, he was so weird, Buddy. It was really scary how he talked to Rebecca and Michelle.”
Beard studies his body language.
“But yeah, that’s good advice. Maybe I’ll do just that,” Ted says.
Beard nods.
*****
“Please tell me they fixed your fucked up foot,” Rebecca says, as she enters the room.
“Fuckkkkkk you,” Roy replies, as Rebecca laughs, reaching his bed, taking a hold of his hand.
“Babe, do you need me to fluff your pillow,” Keeley asks from behind her, as she wraps her arms around Rebecca.
He shakes his head.
“She’s going to be walking around your flat with a nurse’s costume on for the next couple of weeks,” Rebecca tells him.
He raises an eyebrow at her, as Keeley laughs, letting go of Rebecca.
“She’s right,” Keeley replies.
“So, there was a benefit to me blowing out my ankle,” he asks.
“I’m sure you didn’t need to do that for Keeley to play dress up for you,” Rebecca replies.
“It’s true,” she answers, immediately.
He grunts.
“My man of few words,” Keeley says, as she reaches the other side of the bed, hand landing on his cheek, as she kisses him gently.
Rebecca watches them in the intimacy of the moment, before looking away.
“So I hear that the stations are merging search and rescue,” Roy says.
“You heard right,” she replies.
He grunts.
“Please don’t murder him in my bed. I’ve heard blood is very hard to wash out.”
“Jesus fuck, Roy,” Rebecca replies.
He shrugs, as Keeley laughs.
“I keep telling you…” Keeley says.
“Talk to him, yeah I know.”
She shrugs.
“I’ll give you both some time to chat,” Keeley says.
“You don’t have to leave,” Rebecca interjects.
“I know, but I want to get some fresh air,” she says. “Will you be ok, Babe?”
He grunts.
“I’ll be back soon,” she says.
*****
“Ted,” Keeley exclaims, seeing him walking down the hallway.
He turns toward her.
“Keels, hey,” he replies, as he walks toward her, opening his arms.
She hugs him.
“How’s Roy?”
“He’s good. Surgery went well, and he has all his nerve functioning intact. Normal grumpy, you know, the usual.”
He chuckles.
“I was so glad to hear that the surgery was successful,” he replies. “And how are you holding up?”
“I’m as best as I can be. I’m being strong for him.”
“I’ve always admired you both and your relationship,” he says.
“Thanks, Ted.”
“Are you doing ok,” Keeley asks.
“Yeah, I’m definitely sore and uncomfortable today. Grateful for the pain medication they gave me.”
“Rebecca said the same.”
“Oh,” he says.
“I’ve heard that you’re going to be working together.”
“Yeah.”
There’s a pause, as Keeley considers her next words.
“You know, I saw the way you looked at her that night, before any of us met her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do. You don’t have to admit it to me, but I saw it.”
She pauses.
“I wonder what would have happened between you both if it never happened."
“Keeley,” he says.
“I’m done. I promise.” She pauses. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
He allows himself to take the out she’s given him.
“Thanks, Keeley.”
“Good to see you, Ted. Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
*****
Rebecca enters the room that she now shares with him, placing her bag onto the bed. She notices a pink box on her desk. Curiosity gets the best of her, as she walks toward it, picking up the box. She opens it, finding shortbread staring back at her. She lifts it to her face, smelling the aroma, noting that it smells familiar, like home.
“Hey,” Ted says, from the doorway.
She lowers the box from her face and turns toward his voice. She takes in his face, soft eyes, the twitch of his mustache. She opens her mouth to speak, but is immediately interrupted.
“Welton, Lasso, training simulation, now,” Isaac yells.
She places the box back down on the desk, tucking the flap inside.
“No rest for the weary,” Ted says.
“Apparently not,” she replies.
He moves aside to make space for her to go first, but she stops and gestures. He sighs. He makes his way out of the door, and she takes a deep breath and then follows. They make their way down the stairs, finding Isaac immediately.
“Welcome back,” Isaac says. “Suit up.”
Rebecca steps into her turnout pants, feet slipping into her boots. Ted does the same, as he reaches for his jacket hanging on the wall hook. Rebecca places the suspender straps up her arms, letting them fall onto her broad shoulders. She reaches for her jacket, as Ted finishes fastening his.
When they’re both fully geared up, including their comms system, they follow Isaac, who leads them to their training site behind their station.
“Alright, since you two have never worked together, I thought it would be helpful to complete a training simulation,” he says, over comms.
“Copy,” Ted says.
“Confirmed,” Rebecca adds.
“For this exercise, we’ve gotten word that there are two vics. Welton, alpha, Lasso, beta. Give me one moment as I begin the fire simulation.”
There’s a pause. The simulation begins, and they’re standing in front of a structure, computer generated images of fire, as well as heat that flows through the space.
“Begin,” Isaac says.
Ted and Rebecca make their way to the front door.
“Fire department, call out,” she yells.
She signals to Ted, who moves back, giving her space, as she kicks into the door, and it gives, opening, simulation of fire and heat moving toward her. He moves around her pushing it open.
“Fire department, call out,” Ted yells.
“Welton, report,” Isaac requests over comms.
“Fire on all walls, smoke, moving toward alpha,” she reports.
“Lasso, report.”
“Moving toward beta.”
Rebecca moves through the room, staying low, as the imagined fire rages above her.
“Debris down,” Ted reports over comms.
“Lasso, do you need my assistance,” she asks over comms.
“No,” he reports.
Rebecca continues to search around the room, finding a dummy victim. He’s lying face up. She does a brief assessment.
“Found vic, unconscious. Need transport,” she reports.
“Transport is available,” Isaac states. “Lasso, report.”
“Debris down, blocking access into beta.”
“So you do need my help,” Rebecca says over comms.
Ted doesn’t answer her. She ignores him and gets to work on rescuing the vic. She lies next to him, as best as she can with the oxygen tank on her back. She places her left leg between his. She reaches around to his left leg, pulling it over her own, then using her right leg to secure his leg between hers. She reaches for his left arm, and she turns them, so the vic is wrapped over her back, as she pushes up into a squat position.
As she lifts them completely, she reports, “vic secured, coming out,” over comms.
“Lasso, report,” Isaac says.
There’s no response.
“Lasso, report.”
Rebecca exits the simulation with the dummy vic wrapped around her back. She squats down, placing him gently on the ground.
“Lasso, you mother fucker, report,” she growls angrily over comms.
“Welton, report,” Isaac requests.
“Vic transported to emergency services,” she says. “Going back in for Lasso.”
She re-enters the simulated structure, making her way through alpha, moving toward beta. She sees him immediately. He is crouched down in front of a computer simulated blockage of debris.
“Lasso,” she says, over comms.
He doesn’t answer her.
“Not again, for fuck’s sake. Lasso,” she yells over comms.
“Welton, report.”
“It’s Lasso, he’s not moving.”
She assesses him quickly, noting the quick breaths and gripped hands.
“Panic attack,” she reports over comms.
“Shut the simulation down,” Isaac yells out.
Everything goes dark, and then the lights come up. Rebecca pulls her helmet, face shield, breathing apparatuses, and other protective gear off her face.
“Lasso,” she says, taking his helmet off his head, removing his breathing apparatuses from his face.
Isaac comes running into the area.
“You alright, Rebecca,” he asks.
“Yes, but how the fuck am I supposed to do my job,” -
“Stop,” he tells her.
She huffs.
“Ted,” Isaac says. “You’re alright. Can you hear me?”
No response.
Rebecca unzips her jacket, reaching for Ted’s hand, pulling his glove off, and places it over her chest, as Isaac watches.
“Ted,” she says, gently. “Breathe to the rhythm of my breath.”
She exaggerates her breathing, hoping that it helps him slow down to bring him out of the panic. She feels him grip onto her shirt. She smoothes her palm over his closed fist, gently pressing down into her chest, allowing his hand to flatten out, tension releasing.
“You’re ok. You’re safe. I got you. I promise,” she tells him.
“Rebecca,” he says, opening his eyes.
“Breathe, Ted. Breathe with me. It’s ok.”
He follows her movements slowly. He becomes more acutely aware of the surroundings.
“Shoot,” he says, and he starts to fidget.
“Don’t move, Ted. Breathe. It’s alright,” Isaac says.
“Rebecca,” he says, as his eyes reach hers. “I’m so sorry.”
She shrugs it off.
“Just breathe,” Isaac says. “We need you to breathe.”
Ted follows their orders, closing his eyes, as he breathes to the rhythm that he feels under his hand. Several moments pass. When he feels the panic subsiding, he opens his eyes again, green eyes shining back at him. He’s mesmerized. The spell is broken when Isaac speaks.
“Let’s help you up,” he says.
Rebecca pulls their hands away from her chest, as she begins to lift herself, as Isaac helps Ted get to his feet.
“I think it’s best that we go back into the station,” Isaac says.
“Can I go up to the room? I need a few minutes alone,” Ted says.
Isaac nods, and Rebecca does as well. Ted moves away from them, and Rebecca lets go of his hand. No more words are spoken, as they watch him leave the room with his head hanging and hands in his pockets.
*****
“Chief, come on.”
“No, Rebecca. He is your partner. You both need to learn to work together. You need to learn what both of your triggers are, and how to help each other through them during searches and rescues.” He pauses momentarily. “You’ve done it with Roy,” he says.
“Roy’s triggers are when someone doesn’t yell fuck loud enough,” she replies.
“It’s one of his many great qualities,” Isaac says, a chuckle in his voice. “You need to talk to Ted and get to know him. He needs to get to know you. That’s what makes a great search and rescue team. You know that.”
She sighs. She does know that.
“I just…”
“No excuses. You both need to make this work. Our town is counting on you both to figure it out.”
*****
Rebecca sets her and Ted’s equipment back up, so everything is prepared for the next call. She stands next to the truck, reaching out to touch it, as if needing a sense of grounding. She exhales loudly, dropping her head. She wonders if it has been enough time before she goes back up to the room she now shares with him. She sighs, feeling the cold metal under her fingertips, grounding her in the present. She feels her emotions bubbling up, but she tamps them down, lines on her face present, wobble of her chin visible. She shakes her head, as if she’s shaking the emotions away from her body. One last press of her fingers into the red metal has her pushing away. She turns, making her way up the stairs.
The door is mostly closed, with a slight gap. She decides to knock and then pushes it open. He looks up at her with a bright smile on his face. It’s quite the contrast from how she saw him previously.
“Hey, Rebecca,” he says, smile still plastered on his face.
“Lasso,” she replies, annoyed at the whiplash of behavior.
“I got some biscuits for you earlier,” he says, pointing at her desk. “I hope you enjoy them.”
She nods.
He continues, “Henry has always loved them, and so I figured that you might like them too. If you don’t, I can bring you something else.”
“What is wrong with you,” she barks out.
She didn’t mean for it to come out in that way, but she’s frustrated with whatever this is.
“Nothing,” he says, defensively. “I tried to do something nice for you, and you’re ripping my head off.”
“You just had a literal fucking panic attack not more than thirty minutes ago, and now you’re standing in front of me like it never even happened. Excuse me for not wanting to engage in whatever this bullshit is.”
“It’s not bullshit,” he says, eyes wild, full of frustration.
“It’s not bullshit,” she questions. “I was coming up here to check on you, to make sure you were alright, and talk about whatever happened for you so we can do our jobs together. Then all the sudden, you’re just like all happy go lucky, that ‘I’m a good boy’ thing you do…you’re a fucking wanker.”
He sighs, saying, “I’m trying.”
“No, the fuck you’re not,” she exclaims. “I’m the one trying. I’m trying to meet you halfway, and here you are acting like a knob head.”
“What does that even mean,” he asks.
His hands rise to his hair, brushing through it, face visibly angry. He then grips onto his hair, pulling, and as he lets go, his hair stands up, wild, mimicking the tension in the room.
“You’re being an absolute dickhead,” she yells, her body moving toward his.
“No, you’re being an absolute dickhead,” he yells back at her, as his body moves toward hers.
There’s a pause, and they’re both looking at each other, chests heaving, anger palpable in the room.
“Fuck you,” Rebecca yells.
“Fuck me? No, fuck you,” Ted yells back.
Then there’s a shift. It’s so quick that neither of them knows what happened, but Rebecca’s back hits the wall, as Ted’s body meets hers. His hand lands on the wall next to her head.
“Any time, any place, Sweetheart,” he says.
His phone rings, and she breaks out of the trance that she’s in, pushing him away. He stumbles back away from her.
“In your fucking dreams,” she exclaims, voice laced with something that he doesn’t understand, as she turns to leave their room.