*Trigger warning*
Chapter One: The Start of Something New
The summer time came quickly and July shook everyone up. The world was completely quiet, everyone had stayed inside, locked their doors, and ordered as much Take out as they could. The coronavirus was killing people, infecting people, and quickly taking loved ones.
Luna was scared she had spent her entire life being careful but now she had to be cautious now she had to do whatever she could to survive and make sure that everyone else she loved was doing their part. August was dragging on causing everyone to feel so isolated and alone, Eddie still had to work so Eddie stayed with Buck for a while Luna stayed with Mac being isolated and separated for a long time wasn't so Ideal it was all they could do to protect Christopher.
Eventually, the Governor started allowing things to be open of course with restrictions. It was six long months of being trapped and scared. Of being Separated from her loved ones. September rolled around and Eddie and Luna were back at their house. They were keeping things as clean as they could. Eddie would shower before he did anything, and Luna would do the same too, she didn't want to get anyone sick she wore her mask, washed her hands, and used hand sanitizer religiously.
It was hard spending six months away from Eddie, she felt scared. Like maybe when they got back together they would forget their groove, how they liked things. But they didn't, see Eddie was smart he knew exactly what Luna liked and he made note of it every Second of the Day. When they got back together the first night well they made intense love. It wasn't like they weren't before, just this time it wasn't over a phone and there wasn't any potential that Buck or the members of the 118 were lurking around.
There were many abnormalities about this new life but there were a few certainties, Luna loved Eddie and he loved her and that was all that mattered, so they were going through a worldwide pandemic, but at least now they were doing it together and Luna couldn't be any happier, she was in the best relationship of her life and she had the best job and the best partner, so what she was scared, terrified even of this virus and what it did but she was going to fight like hell to make sure she was safe and everyone else around her was too.
Throughout everything she was happy to see that everyone was trying their best to get through this, Maddie was pregnant and Chim was trying his best to be cautious, Luna was starting work again, this was going to be her first day back and she was nervous but ready. She stares at her badge, feeling a little different.
"You know you can take more time."
Luna shakes her head, the world scared her right now but this was something she could do to help. "I am ready, I'll be fine they are putting me on desk duty anyway,"
"Yeah, but how are you sure,"
" Because I know myself."
"This last year has been nonstop for everyone with the virus, the protests, and the fires. And maybe you should just talk to the therapist." Luna presses a kiss to Eddie's lips.
"You seem stressed and It's not even your first day back at work. I have been talking with Ruth, she even agrees that it would be good for me to go back to work. I will be okay. it's all right. I'm just gonna be shuffling paperwork for a while. I promise I'll be alright. All right?"
" All right. All right. Love you."
" Love you. Too," She smiles sweetly at him and he looks down at her,
"Why don't we just call in sick, and we spend the day curled up in bed making love and eating way too much food,"
"Well as much as I would love that I need to get back to work to establish a routine. Those papers are not gonna write themselves, Baby I promise I will be only doing Desk work besides Athena wouldn't let me out in the field no matter how much I want to be." they kiss again before it's time for both of them to leave for work.
When Luna arrived everyone was bustling around. She adjusts the mask on her face. Hating everything that was happening. Athena left a cupcake on her desk for her she smiled down at the note in lovely cursive, "I got busy quickly Sorry I won't be there for your first day back but Good luck and I love you."
She approaches the captain's office and knocks lightly on the door. "Oh, Sergeant Jennings. It's good to see you. Sorry, we can't hug anymore."
"Did we before?" she replies as the Captain smiles and nods in agreement she gestures for her to sit down. " Oh, I'm gonna need some time to get the hang of these protocols." she removes her mask.
"Well, those are the guidelines right there. A little bit of light reading for you while you're on the desk."
" Perfect. I promised my family I'd be doing a lot of paperwork." Luna chuckles.
"And what about you? Are you okay with not being on the street?"
Luna looks down at her lap for a second. "I, um... I'd like to ease my way back in."
"I was surprised when I got your call."
Luna shrugs. " Elaine, I was beaten up. It wasn't the end of the world."
" No, but everything that's happened since, I mean, it does kind of feel like maybe it could be."
" You sound like everyone in my life." Luna chuckles. Elaine gives her a look. "I am fine and ready to work." she smiles.
Buck, Bobby, Chim, Hen, and Eddie were riding an elevator to the fourteenth floor. Evidently, a bus had crashed into the building and landed right smack in the middle of it on the fourteenth floor. They were quietly riding the elevator. Buck was scrolling through his phone.
" Oh, hey. Hollywood Reservoir is, like, 2 1/2 billion gallons. Where's all that water gonna go?" He asks.
" My mom survived the dam break in the '60s. Baldwin Hills. Water only ever wants to go in one direction... Out to sea." the elevator dings.
The doors open and there in front of them is a bus in the middle of the office conference room. " This is our stop." Bobby, Hen, and Chim get off.
" Hey, at least it's not a tsunami. Right?" Eddie jokes as Buck gives him a scared wide-eyed look. He was checking his phone he didn't want to freak but Luna being on desk duty should make it easier for her to answer, but she wasnt and he was scared. Scared that she would be thrown to the wolves. But she would just be working from a desk right?
//
" No, the reunification center shouldn't be at the school. It's in the path of the debris flow. Use the Durant Library on Sunset." she hangs up the phone
Elaine knocks lightly on the door. "They are not thinking on their feet out there. It's more like their elbows." Luna mutters adding another pin to the map.
"Got an alarming call from the Emergency Operation Center. They think those microquakes might have damaged more than just the dam. They're worried about a landslide east of the reservoir."
Luna furrows her brows. " East of the reservoir? Well, that's all residential. You're gonna need more boots on the ground, people to knock on doors."
"And someone to supervise the scene." they share a look. " Look, I know you said you wanted to ease in, but I need you back out there." Elaine walks away. So much for desk duty,
Luna arrives on the scene. "727- L31. On scene"
"Sergeant Jennings?" Luna smiles at Williams and Carson. " Well, well. Decided to kick it out here with the yard dogs?"
"Well, somebody's gotta keep your puppies on a leash." the group chuckles. "What do we got up here?"
" A few pack rats about to pull out, but who's over in that house won't come to the door. Neighbors say somebody lives there, but nobody seems to know who." Luna pulls her mask on over her face.
" I'll wrap it up here. You two get up to Skyview."
"Copy. It's good to have you back, Sergeant." Luna stares at the two men her hands glues to her lips.
" You waiting for a treat? Go." they get a move on. Going to leave as luna sighs knocking on the front door of the house.
"LAPD. Anybody in there?" she knocks. Before looking around. " LAPD! I know someone's home. I saw you in the window. Open up!"
The door opens. "How could I help you, Officer?"
"Sergeant Jennings. This neighborhood's under a mandatory evacuation ma'am"
"Of course. I got the texts and the phone calls. I'm just getting ready to leave. Thank you." the woman goes to close the door and Luna stops her with her hand pushing her way inside. "Wait, well, you can't just come in here."
"I have to make sure you're not under any kind of duress."
" I live alone." the woman explains.
" You said you were just about to leave. How? Don't see a car out front."
" Yeah, I'm getting a ride from a neighbor." She continues as Luna looks around the house.
"Which one? None of them seem to know you."
"Yeah, I keep odd hours." Luna looks at the notepad on her desk the woman's name was monogrammed on them.
" What do you do, Sylvia?"
" Uh, a consultant in the medical field," Sylvia explains briefly.
"You work from home?"
" Oh, doesn't everyone these days? Listen, I have rights. You can't force me to leave before I'm ready." Sylvia mutters.
. " Then go get ready. I'll wait. You'll need shoes." she picks up a pair of shoes from the shoe rack by the door. She hands them to Sylvia noticing that there isn't dirt at the bottom. " Have these ever been used?"
" I told you that..."
" When's the last time you've been outside?" Luna asks as Sylvia panics.
" I... I can't leave. If I do, I'm gonna have a panic attack. I'll hyperventilate. I could go into cardiac arrest."
"How long?" Luna asks.
" Seven years."
"You weren't going to evacuate, were you?" Sylvia gulps thickly
"It's not safe out there."
Eddie was panicking about Luna working, he got a text from her she explained how she was headed toward where the landslide was.
" Don't be scared." Bobby was coaching Eddie who was currently losing his shot.
" But she's out there. Right where they're saying there could be a landslide." He shakes his head. "I knew it was too soon, we should've stayed home
"She's probably just helping out with evacuations." Hen tries to assure him.
" It's too soon."
" Hey, Luna is doing her job. And I'm sure she'd want you to be doing the same." Bobby explains as Buck rubs his shoulders, Eddie takes a deep breath.
//
"You know, today was my first day back on the job. Six months since I last put on this uniform." Luna explains.
" What happened?"
" I was... injured. Line of duty. Took some time to heal." she says as Slyvia nods.
" Not everything heals in six months."
Luna chuckles. " You're right about that. My arm's fixed, but the rest of me? I even lied to my boyfriend this morning. Told him that I would be all right. Didn't mention that it took everything in my being to get out of that bed this morning and pick up this badge. Then I lied to my captain. Hell, maybe I've been lying to myself."
"What do you think those shoes are? And this outfit? And the makeup? It's the same lie. It's a game that I play with myself that someday... maybe... I will go out there. And then I never do."
" But now you need to because this hill is about to come down on itself and take you with it," Luna says as Syliva sighs.
"Maybe I should let it."
" You got up this morning. And put on makeup. You're still in the game." Luna places both her hands on either side of Sylvia's shoulders. They get her shoes on and Luna opens the door stepping outside onto the street first.
" You got this, Sylvia."
"I'm sorry." Sylvia is about to close the door. When Luna runs inside the house starts shaking sending them flying back further into the house.
Luna wakes up seeing herself on the floor. She sits up seeing Sylvia's house in shambles. "Sylvia. Sylvia, can you hear me?"
"Oh, I'm here."
"Are you all right?" Luna asks.
" No."
" Me, either. But we're alive. Now we just gotta find our way outta here." Luna begins looking around.
"This is why I don't leave the house. Bad things happen."
"I'm pretty sure this bad thing happened while we were still inside the house. But guess what? You survived." Luna gives her a weary smile.
"What do we do now?"
"Do you have a cell phone?"
Sylvia shakes her head. "Not in years. Don't you?"
"Ugh. In my patrol car. Lost my radio in the fall. You see that daylight up there?"Luna points to the small beam of light ahead of them. "There's gonna be plenty of copters in the sky. Let's just climb out to signal for help."
" I don't think I'm that brave."
"I don't need you to be brave. I just need you to trust me and put one foot in front of the other. We're gonna get outta here together. Are you with me?" She looks back at Sylvia, extending out a hand.
"Okay"
" Come on." Luna pulls her up to where she was standing.
The 118 find themselves at the center of where all the damage was. The captain on the scene was debriefing them.
"All of the water from the dam caused more damage than just flooding and mudslides. It quickly eroded the bottom of the hill, and then.." Reeves says.
"Brought the whole hill down."
" Most of the damage is concentrated east of the dam. Exposed gas lines, unstable structures, and mud. Lots of it." She continues.
"Any casualties?"
"Two tagged so far, but there's bound to be more. LAPD was evacuating residents when the hill came down. Might not have gotten them all out in time." Captain Reeves says as Hen and Bobby look at each other.
"Have any officers checked in with Mobile Command?" Bobby asks.
"Not that I've seen, but it's still golden hour."
" It's our best chance to find survivors. After that, It becomes a recovery operation." Bobby explains as she nods.
Eddie walks up with Buck. "Should we be worried about more of that hill coming down?"
"Yeah, we work quickly, we work safe, and we hope for the best."
"Where do you want us?" Bobby asks Reeves.
"The Hollywood sign."
The group looks behind them at the sign that reads. "Lywood."
"Where's the rest of it?" Buck asks.
"Downhill. About where the H landed just west of here. There were some hikers in the area."
"Guess they should have bought a vowel." Chimney jokes.
"Okay, Hen, Eddie, you're with me at the sign. Chimney, Buck, you stay here and help search for survivors." Eddie hits Chimney on the shoulder.
"That's punishment for bad jokes," Hen says.
" Not bad jokes. Dad jokes. Getting in the habit early. I know. I'm gonna be a terrible father." he says as Hen shakes her head at her best friend.
//
"Just a little higher." Luna was army crawling over debris toward the light
"You make it sound so easy."
Luna looks down seeing her radio. She picks it up. "I'll be damned. Maybe our luck is turning around. Dispatch, this is 727-L-31. I'm trapped in an unstable structure in the Hollywood Hills. We got caught in the slide. Do you copy?"
"Copy that 727-L-31 What is your location?"
"Well, it was 1415 Ledgewood Drive. Not sure where we landed." Luna explains.
"I'm pretty sure that address moved. But it looks like your patrol car is still in the area. You're just south of it. Anyone injured?"
"Some bumps and bruises. We're gonna keep climbing toward the daylight. We sure could use a lift outta here." Luna sighs leaning back against a few pieces of debris. She winces her shoulder was killing her and she could tell that it was moved out of place.
"Copy that. Units are in the area, but the mud's slowing them down. We'll get you that ride
home as soon as we can."
"Cavalry's on the way. Let's keep moving." the ground and everything around them start shaking.
"That can't be good. Dispatch! This thing isn't gonna hold much longer. We need that rescue now." Syliva is screaming and Luna turns to look behind her. "Sylvia!" before long Luna is being thrown back.
Meanwhile. Bobby, Hen, and Eddie were dealing with a case of quick mud. It was sucking this poor guy in,
"Don't move. That mud is liquid. It'll suck you right in." Bobby says as the guy just sighs,
"Yeah. Tell me about it."
Bobby and Eddie were moving a piece of Plywood over. While he was checking on the victim's vitals. "Okay, try to relax. What's your name?"
" Dylan."
"Okay, Dylan, everything's gonna be fine. We're gonna get you outta here. BP's slightly elevated, and his breathing's a little shallow." The hen looks to Bobby who is finished Setting up a few pieces of plywood around Dylan.
"Is that normal?"
"Given the situation, yes. But not ideal." Hen says.
"All right, that mud has probably started to restrict his lungs."
"Oh, my God. I'm gonna die." Dylan starts panicking.
"You're not gonna die," Eddie replies simply.
" Oh, I should have known. I should've never taken this trip. 2020 has been a dumpster fire. Why should this be any different?"
"You're acting as if I forced you to come. I was just trying to be nice and include you." Caleb one of Dylan's friends says.
"We're roommates." the woman Maya smiles and nods at Bobby.
"Ah."
"No, I and Caleb are roommates. You came over for dinner and never left." Dylan barks back.
"Okay, stop moving. Every time you do, that mud is gonna pull you in deeper. Stay still and keep your hands above the surface."
"I just feel like I'm gonna drown."
"You can't drown in quicksand. Human body's too dense. But the more you struggle" Eddie explains.
"Ugh, I'm stuck! And and and sinking! Oh, God. Oh, God, okay. Can you help me?"
"Can't we just pull him out?" Caleb asks.
"Not unless you wanna rip him in half."
"We need to put something in there to support him. You think the pipe poles would work?" Eddie asks the captain
"No, too short."
" The H. Maybe we can use some of that."
"Let's do this." they begin taking a saw to the H.
"Okay. Okay. I need to say something. Just in case I don't make it. I'm sorry. I know that I've been kind of an ass."
"Kind of?" Caleb mutters.
"Dylan, it's fine. We've all been under a lot of stress. Just listen to what they say so they can get you out of there." Maya reassures him.
"I love you," Dylan says to Maya.
"I love you too, bud. Go quaran-team."
"I'm in love with you."
"Son of a" Dylan says,
" Have been since lockdown."
"And the plot thickens." Hen mutters.
"But you've been a total jerk to me. You've acted like me living with you guys has been torture.
Because it has." Maya says.
"I mean, don't you see? The three of us living under one roof, you two kissing and canoodling, it was killing me."
"Cap, you wanna hurry that up, please?" Hen yells she was uncomfortable with the entire conversation.
"But you never Okay, Dylan, I..."
"I know. I know that you don't feel the same way. I just didn't wanna die without telling you. I-I can't breathe."
"Gotta move fast. Pressure from this mud is gonna collapse his lungs. Stop moving around. You're going to make things worse." Eddie explains.
"I-I love you too, Dylan," Maya says.
"What?"
"So you stay still. Don't give up. Live. For me. Okay?" She says as Dylan nods.
"Ok okay."
"Okay, Dylan, I need you to lean back as far as you can like you're sitting in a chair, okay?" Eddie explains.
"Okay."
"That is gonna distribute your weight more evenly. Move slowly. Your leg should start to rise. Now just lean back." Hen explains. They manage to get Dylan out of the mud. Of course, the Quran team was fighting each other, and let's just say that they werent friends anymore.
Luna was calling for Sylvia through the crushed house. "Sylvia! Where are you? Answer me!" she shines her flashlight over the room seeing Sylvia laying under a big piece of debris. "I see you. I'm coming down to you." she slides down on the debris.
"Sergeant."
" Oh, I'm here. I'm here. Can you move?" Luna asks she looks around, she was tired and all she wanted to do was be in the comfort of her home.
"Barely. This thing is crushing me. Oh, it hurts. You don't think anything's broken?" Sylvia asks.
Luna can't see much of her body just her head and neck. She places two fingers to feel for her heartbeat. "Maybe a couple of bruised ribs. How's your breathing?"
"I'm getting oxygen if that's what you're asking."
"Good. Let's get this off of you." Luna tries to lift it. She lets out a very loud gutherly yell and feels a sharp pain before she stops trying to pull out her radio. "Okay. Dispatch, this is 727-L-31. I'm gonna need an ETA on those units."
" All units have been notified. They are trying to locate you as quickly as possible."
"It might not be quick enough. The structure shifted, and we just slid several feet. Don't have much time."
"You go. You save yourself." Sylvia says.
"Luna listen to her. Get out of there before you both die." May Grant's voice was heard, Luna was practically her sister. May was worried about her returning to work just like everyone else was. Only she had been close with Luna, the Sergeant at one point spent every Sunday at the grant household having dinner. She still did occasionally.
"Dispatch, I appreciate your concern, but I have a job to do and I'm doing it. If you wanna help, get that rescue down here now."
"Rescue's on the way, Sergeant."
"We're gonna get you out of here," Luna says standing up.
"How? It's too heavy. You're wasting your time."
"If I could just find something and use it as leverage to lift it off of you." she sees a metal beam from one of the windows. "Bingo."
"The longer you stay, there's a chance neither of us is getting out of here. Go and get help. You
can come back for me."
Luna begins using the metal beam. She grunts loudly. "I'm not leaving you. We're in this together, and neither one of us is dying. Not here. Not today."
"You have kids, right?" Luna shakes her head no. as much as she loved Chris he wasnt her kid. "Family? I have nobody. No one's gonna miss me if I go down with this thing. You have people to go home to. Go. I deserve this."
"You think you deserve to die alone in the dark just because you lived your life alone?"
Sylvia shakes her head, "I deserve it 'cause I never should've survived in the first place. It was a car accident. I was driving. My sister was in the passenger seat. Another car came out of nowhere, and I survived and my sister didn't."
"I'm sorry."
"Afterwards, everyone told me I should get back out there and move on with my life, but without my sister in the world, I just Just wanted to be in it less. Eventually, I just stopped going out at all." Sylvia continues.
"You gave up on yourself. On life." Luna continues trying to pry the debris off Sylvia.
"Wouldn't you? Of course, you wouldn't. You're not a weak person."
Luna stops she leans back against the wall next to Sylvia. " When I said I was injured in the line of duty I was attacked. I was looking for a suspect, but he found me first. I've never felt weak. More powerless in my life."
"Your trouble wasn't your fault."
"No, but I still blamed myself. Walked into that building alone. just like you blame yourself for driving. It's that guilt that you've been carrying. It doesn't help; it only isolates you." Luna explains.
"But I couldn't save my sister."
Luna wipes a stray tear from her eye. But you could still save yourself. You can push through the fear and the pain and come out on the other side."
Luna gets a nice spot and starts prying at the debris again.
"Oh, it hurts. Ah."
"But you can do it. You can do it. Now lift and push. Push through the pain. You've got to.
It's the only way. You ready?" Sylvia nods. "Okay. One, two, three. Push!" she felt this newfound strength, this new sense of power, and soon Sylvia was out from under the debris.
"Thank you for not leaving me." Sylvia holds onto Luna's hand.
"Okay. The Hard part's not over. We still gotta climb outta here."
"Well, then, we better get moving."
"Ready to move?" Sylvia nods. "Atta girl."
//
"Yeah. How was the practice run?" Eddie asks, He had just helped get Chimney out of a house that was being used to hold a few pregnant woman hostage. Unbeknownst to him, his girlfriend was trapped inside the house, Bobby went to Handle it he didn't need Eddie. breaking out.
"Great. In all fairness, I didn't have to do a lot. Just kinda catch."
"Yeah, and he doesn't need a practice run. He is gonna be a great dad to a baby Buckley."
"Hey, where'd Bobby go? He kicks off early?"
The hen looks to Buck who clears his throat. "No, he's still working." Buck looks to Eddie.
"What?"
Buck sighs. "Something's happened?"
Eddie's face turns serious so quickly, "What happened?"
Luna was crawling out of the house with Sylvia.
"Look! Over there in the distance!" They see a helicopter above them.
"Hey! Down here! Hey! Hey! Hey!" Luna was yelling waving her hands back and forth, "They can't see us. The beam's too weak." she looks over to the left seeing her patrol car. "Wait here." she clears it and breaks the window getting inside to turn on the lights. She hops on the hood yelling and waving her arms about. She sighs in relief when the helicopter sees her it lands.
"Wasn't expecting to see you, Captain." she smiles and hugs Bobby.
"Well, I heard you needed a ride." the other firefighter gets Sylvia loaded up.
"Dispatch, this is 727-L-31. The rescue has arrived."
"Copy that, 727-L-31. Glad to hear you're okay."
"Glad to hear you too, Dispatch" Luna looks to Bobby. " Thanks for coming to get me."
"Always. The 118 is your family now." Bobby says as Luna lays back in her chair sighing. The minute she lands she sees Eddie there.
"Hey, you okay?" he begins inspecting feeling up and down for any breaks. "You need to get checked out, we need to get you looked at you have been trapped down there for a whole day. Something could be broken..Or..." Luna just hugs him.
"Edmundo, I'm okay. Nothing is broken I'm okay."
Eddie shakes his head tears in his eyes. "No, because I am not okay. I was so scared." she cups his face. "They didn't tell me you were trapped til an hour ago. I would've gone with him."
"Eddie, honey, It's okay You had to do your job."
"My job is to protect you, that's my job that's been my job since the moment we met." Eddie was practically hyperventilating at this point.
She places a hand on her chest. "Look my heart is beating," they stare into each other's eyes. His breathing slows down and they just look at each other. He cups her face as his breathing finally settles. "Let's go home."
The two went home and Luna was doing the dishes. Eddie goes to tuck in Christopher. They were on a facetime call with Carla. It was her night to read to Christopher, Eddie was getting in a few more snuggles.
"People who love each other are always connected by an invisible string made of love."
"Carla, do you have an invisible string?" Christopher asks.
" You know I do. And it's connected right to you."
"Even if I can't see you?" Christopher continues.
"You can see me any time you want on the computer. See, me and you? We're connected. No matter what." Eddie smiles down at Christopher. It had been a long day, and he had felt so relieved, so loved by his son and his girlfriend. A little later and Carla was reading to Eddie and Chris."As they slept, they started dreaming of all the invisible strings they had, and all the strings their friends have, and friends have until everyone in the world was connected by invisible strings." she looks up seeing the two sleeping just at Luna walks in. she takes the laptop from Eddie's hands.
"I think they fell asleep on you Carla."
Carla chuckles. "I am glad they are getting their rest. Night, boys. Night Luna."
"Goodnight Carla." They hang up and Luna shakes her head at her boys. She snaps a photo of them sending to the group chat before readjusting Christopher in bed. She kisses his head and then sighs. "Eddie!" she yells as he jumps up half awaked she laughs at his face.
"Where's Carla?"
"You fell asleep on Carla come on sleepy head lets go before we wake him." She giggles as Eddie stumbles up rubbing his eyes, they walk down the hall to their bedroom and get ready for bed.
"Marry me."
Luna laughs. "Eddie your half awake. Turn over and go to bed."
"Marry me."
Luna looks at him she turns to see his face, leaning back on her elbow, and the strap of her shirt falls down her shoulder. "You're being serious?" He nods. "Edmundo."
"Luna" they look at each other. "Marry me"
There was a thing about those invisible strings, they were only meant for people who were in love, who were meant to be together forever, who were.....soulmates.
Word count: 5200
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