monsters

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"Okay, let's gear up. Turnouts and head protection." Bobby turned to the team of firefighters to give them orders after receiving some clarification from the teacher inside the bus.

Dispatch had called the 118 down to a pumpkin patch about two boys trapped in a farmhouse. According to the teacher, there was a flock of crows preventing them from going anywhere.

In the process of reaching the farmhouse, there was an issue with Chimney and his nametag. The piece of metal kept falling onto the floor and causing everyone's nerves to intensify whenever he crouched down to retrieve it.

"This is weird," Eddie commented. "You see crows all over the city. Never heard about them attacking anybody."

"And that's because crows are very docile," Hen enlightened the team. "They don't attack unless they're provoked. No sudden movements and we should be good."

Like clockwork, Chimney's nametag fell to the ground causing him to let out a curse. When he made a move to retrieve it, a crow landed just a few feet away from them.

"Oh, hell," Olivia mumbled. "Leave the damn nametag, dude."

"Copy that."

"Everybody stay calm," Bobby advised.

Everyone flipped the shields of their helmets down as they slowly walked by the crows. They managed to make it inside the farmhouse in order to reach the two boys trapped inside.

Only one of them was injured by the crows and the other was just a little panicked by the situation. But as they tried to exit the farmhouse, there was a flock of crows that landed outside preventing them from going anywhere.

It didn't seem like the crows were going anywhere so Bobby quickly stripped himself of his jacket and helmet to conceal one of the children while the other was covered in gauze as he lied on the gurney.

Halloween was always an interesting time for the 118.

✶❤︎✶❤︎

Olivia poured some hot coffee into her mug before shuffling over to one of the kitchen stools and plopping down on it. Hen strolled up the staircase a few seconds later and headed right for the coffeemaker as she carried a white box in her hand.

"Good morning, Liv."

She peered over her phone, nodding her head. "Morning, Hen. What's in the box?"

"It's just a little something to celebrate Buck's first day back to work. Did you get him anything?"

"Yeah," she snorted. "An ass-whooping."

"Olivia..."

"Why would I get him anything after he put us and the department through hell?"

Hen narrowed her eyes at the woman. "You were Buck's biggest supporter in the beginning. There's no way things have changed so quickly."

"I'm just...upset, okay?" She admitted. "I'm supposed to be his best friend and he didn't even tell me about the lawsuit and then when everything was settled, he still didn't reach out. So...whatever. I'm glad I only have to endure a half shift with him today or I might lose my shit."

"You're only working a half shift, today," Hen furrowed.

"Yeah," Olivia confirmed. "I asked Bobby for it off a couple of months ago. I wanted to make sure I could take Kai trick or treating and since we're all working tonight...I offered to take Christopher too."

Hen smiled, raising her eyebrows in amusement. "I'm sure you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hen simply shrugged as she chugged down the rest of her coffee and then snatched the white box to head down the stairs. Olivia rolled her eyes and stayed upstairs until it was officially time for their shift to start.

When she joined everyone down in the apparatus bay, Bobby was exiting his office and heading over to where Hen, Eddie, Buck, and Chimney were standing.

"Welcome back, Firefighter Buckley," Chimney greeted the firefighter with a handshake.

"Thanks, Chim, glad to be back," Buck flashed him a smile and then glanced at Bobby.

Bobby cleared his throat, ignoring the stare much like Eddie and Olivia. "Alright, now that we've got that out of the way, morning briefing..."

The alarms of the firehouse began to blare, cutting Bobby off before he could descend further into the conversation while everyone ran to the vehicles. With the exception of Buck, who was the man behind for the day.

Clearly, Olivia wasn't the only one icing him out.

✶❤︎✶❤︎

Olivia felt like they were going in circles at this point. She, Kai, and Christopher had been walking around a neighborhood adjacent to hers, the kids were happily collecting candy from homes and whatnot.

She couldn't complain, though. It was nice to be able to work a half shift and take the kids trick or treating because there were many holidays that she missed while being a first responder.

"Can we go to the firehouse, now?" Kai slipped his hand into his mother's hold. "I think we've been to all of the houses."

"Yeah, please?" Christopher chimed in. "I want Dad to see me in my costume."

"Of course, we can. We just need to walk back to my car."

They headed in the opposite direction away from all of the homes that looked like Halloween puked all over them. It didn't take too long before they were hopping into the car and headed straight for the firehouse.

Like every year, the place was decorated incredibly festively for the holiday. There were decorative pumpkins strung up all over the place, random scarecrows scattered all over the apparatus bay, and there was a table with treats and smoke detectors.

It seemed like Olivia and the kids had arrived at the perfect time, the engine had just pulled up after finishing up their recent call, and Buck was still the man behind as he passed out smoke detectors and candy to the children.

"Christopher!" Eddie scooped his son into his arms, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. He glanced over at Olivia, giving her a subtle head nod and smile, mouthing thanks.

She nodded back with a soft smile on her lips before redirecting her focus onto Kai who had run off to Buck. She strayed back for a bit and then decided to walk over to the table where they were at.

Buck looked hopeful at her presence. "Hey, Liv."

"Hey."

He cleared his throat, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Weird not having you on shift."

"I doubt it was too weird. It's not like you were with the team or anything." She winced, pursing her lips. Her eyes shifted over to where Kai had run over to talk to Eddie and Christopher. "I should go."

Buck frowned. "No, no. Liv, look, I know⎼"

"I don't think I'm ready to talk about this." Olivia shrugged her shoulders unapologetically. "Honestly, I'm not sure when I'll ever be ready."

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authors note:

Buck and Olivia not being on good terms physically hurts to write😭 but there will be a reconciliation soon!! The next chapter will be up shortly and should be...interesting
👀