Bobby, Hen, and Chimney were having breakfast that Bobby made them. They were silent until Chim started asking 'What if you weren't a firefighter'.

"You ever feel like you missed your calling, Cap?" Chim asked.

"What are you thinking? Michelin-rated restaurant or shot order cook?" Bobby asked.

"I was thinking TV chef." Chim marked. "I mean what you do it's like performance art."

"Mh-hmm, and much like watching cooking on TV, we never get to taste anything." Hen said. "Usually by the time it hits the table, the bell goes off."

"All right, speed round. If you weren't this, what would you be doing?" Bobby asked while making another omolete.

"Fighter pilot. Topgun. Call sign: Shogun." Chim answered. Hen laughed while walking to sit down on the table.

"What about you, Hen?" Bobby asked her.

"Editorial cartoonist, The New Yorker." She answered. Bobby and Chim looked at each other with confused expressions. "I have a lot to say."

"You draw?" Bobby asked.

"No, it's a dream. It's not supposed to be attainable." Hen said. "Topgun? You barely drive, you rebar head." 

"Good morning, everyone!" Kate said.

"Hey." Hen said softly.

"All right, Buck, Kate. If you were not a member of the LAFD, what would you be doing?" Chim asked.

"Ooh, that's a hard question." Kate sais as she took an omolete for her. "I'd probably be like a kindergarten teacher."

"Really, why?" Chim asked.

"I don't know, I just love kids." She sais as she sat next to Hen to eat.

"Uh, I don't know." Buck said. "But we're not getting fired, are we?" He asked confused.

"He'd be a golden retriever." Hen said. Kate chuckled.

"No, a bartender. No, no, no, boucer at a bar." Chim said. 

"A boucer at a strip club." Kate said and Hen laughed.

---------------------------------

A few minutes later, Kate was cleaning the engine truck. There was a gum glued to the truck and she was struggling to take it off. Eddie was laying down below the truck fixing something.

"Stupid gums." Kate said as she tried to take the gum out with a cloth.

"Why don't you try using the spatula?" Eddie asked confused.

"Because I don't wanna scratch the engine." She said and took a deep breath. "Okay, I give up. The gum has won." Eddie chuckled. 

Kate grabbed the spatula but when she bent down to grab it, the ground started shaking. Eddie gurney's wheels rolled quickly and he didn't have time to grab anything. Kate quickly ran to grab his arms and he hers. Kate helped him stand up and they worked together to get down something. They saw a table and get below it. They held onto each other so they could protect each other. That minute looked like hours, but it finally finished when the ground stopped shaking. They got from down the table and stood up.

"You okay?" Eddie asked her, concerned.

"Yeah, you?" She asked him, also concerned. He nodded and looked at each other but looked away when the bell rang.

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The way to the scene was quiet. The buildings were completely destroyed. Cars were crushed by fallen trees. They were all looking out the window except Eddie who was tapping his phone hardly. Buck finally spoke up as he saw Eddie's concern.

"Is everything okay?" He asked Eddie. Kate looked away from the window to face Eddie who was still tapping on the phone.

"Yeah. There's no service." Eddie answered. "Texts won't even get through." He said finally looking away from his phone to face the twins.

"Who are you trying to get ahold of?" Buck asked,

Eddie waited a few seconds and looked at Kate who was looking at him concerned. He finally answered. "My son. I'm trying to reach my son."

As Eddie said this, something made Kate feel... different. She snapped out of her thoughs when Buck spoke again.

"Whoa, you got a kid?" 

"Christopher. He's seven." Eddie said as he showed the twins a picture of him and his son. 

"He's adorable." Kate said with a bright smile on her face.

"I, uh, I love kids." Buck said.

"I love this one." Eddies said. Kate smiled warmly. "I'm all he's got. His mother's not in the picture." Eddie said. Kate's smile kinda faded away but never left her face.

"He's at school?" Buck asked. 

"Yeah." Eddie responded.

"Hey, I'm sure he's fine." Kate reassureed with a small smile.

Eddie nodded and small smiled as well before looking back at the window. The twins looked at each other with worry.

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They arrived at the scene and saw a destructed building. It was... lopsided.

"You guys ever deal with anything like this before?" Eddie asked.

"No." Bobby answered. 

They then saw and woman and a man getting away from the building due to the police officers pushing them away. They were yelling that they wanted to get back into the building and saying that their daughter was still inside. The team found the incident commander, Chief Williams. She told them about what they've done and why most of them were outside. Bobby started giving orders but a police officer stopped them.

"Hey, you guys will want to see this." He said. They walked to where the police officer was pointing and looked up to see a man who was pressed on the window by a lot of furniture and facing the ground.

"We could set up a bag street-side in case the window gives." Chim said. But Bobby denied.

"Nobody's working on that side of the building. Someone's gotta have to get him from the inside."

"Kate, Buck, you say that's the 11th floor?" Eddie asked the twins.

"I would." Buck said.

"We could take the ladder to that fourth floor. Cut the distance in half." Kate said.

"Okay, guys, head on up." Bobby ordered.

------------------------------------------

They put the ladder in position and started going up. Kate went in front so she could break the window and they entered the building with Eddie and Buck following behind. They arrived to the top and Kate used a crowbar to destroy the window. Eddie has his arms opened in case she fell or unbalanced.

"After Northridge, FEMA spent 200 million dollars retrofitting every school in the LAUSD." Buck spoke up. Kate started going into the building. "Ceiling tiles, lighting fixtures... Eddie, your kid is in the safest place he can be." Buck continued. Kate was now inside the building.

"Thought that was a high-rise." Eddie joked.

"Watch your step." Kate warned. She offered her hand to help Eddie get into the building. He took it and smiled after completely standing up. They helped Buck inside. They lighted their lanterns and started going up. They moved the debris out of their way. 

"It's only six flights. Not exactly Mount Everest." Eddie joked. Kate let a tired chuckle out of her mounth.

"Yeah, except Everest might not tip over and crush you like a bug." Buck said. They went up a few more flights until they reached the 11th floor.

"You guys ready?" Eddie asked.

"Yup. Let's go." Kate said.

"On three. One two three." Buck said and they got across the hallway and started walking.

"Hello! Hello!" Eddie shouted.

"LAFD, anybody here?" Kate shouted.

"In here, in here!" They heard a female and male voice.

"This one here." Eddie said while pointing to the room the people were in. They used the saw to get in and break the door.

"Hello. LAFD." Eddie said. They went in a little further. Eddie put a rope around Buck's waist. When Buck was ready Eddie put another rope around Kate's waist.

"Good luck, bro." Kate said to Buck.

"Thank God. Please, please, get me out of here." Buck slowly started making his way to the woman, Ali.

"Whoa, whoa, ma'am I need you to just sit tight, I will come and I will get you." Buck said to the woman. She was also pressed by some furniture but she was holding onto a post in the middle of the living room. When Kate was ready, she slowly made her way to Buck so he could help her move to the man pressed on the window. 

"Try not to die." Eddie said as he smiled. She chuckled and smiled.

"I'll try."

"Uh, no offense, but I think this might be a situation where 'women and children first.' does not apply." The man, Harlow, arrongantly said. Kate has a confused expression on her face. Eddie had thrown a rope to Buck and now they were both confused as well.

"Did you just say 'no offense'?" Ali snapped. Kate had a surprised and proud face towards the woman's attitude. "Everything about you is offensive."

"First date?" Buck asked.

"Yeah, God, he wishes. Amazingly, that sweaty, fat, pock-marked pig is married with five kids. Didn't stop him from asking to shower with me." Ali snapped.

"Man, have you not watched the news all over the past year?" Buck asked. "All right, you're good." Buck said to Kate and she was now ready to jump in action.

"Seriously, catch up with the times." Eddie said. 

"All right, fine, so I'm a dinosaur. A forgotten relic of a forgotten age. For God's sake, just get ne the hell out of here." Harlow begged. Kate was now ready to take the furniture off of Harlow. She slowly tookit away. 

"I'm gonna throw you a rope, okay?" Buck asked Ali. She agreed. "I'm gonna need you to try and secure yourself."

"Okay." Ali understood.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

"All right."  He threw a rope to her and she started to put it around her but the ground started shaking. Kate heard glass cracking.

"Don't move!" Kate orderd.

Ali was is starting to go up. The window glass was cracking.

"Oh, God." Harlow screamed. 

"Hold on. Hold on." The twins said at the same time for the respective people they were trying to save. Harlow tried to move his arm.

"No, don't!" Kate screamd but with no efficiency because the glass broke and Harlow fell to the ground while screaming to his death. Kate stared at the dead body but snapped out of her thoughs when she heard Ali scream. She was sliding down to the broken window.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Kate! Kate!" Buck screamed.

Kate saw this and jumped to grab Ali's arms. She was able to grab Ali's arms. Ali was screaming and Kate was struggling to grab her left arm.

"Give me your other hand." Kate said. She was able to grab Ali's left arm. "Get me up, Eddie!" 

Eddie did so but before he could pull her up, her rope snapped and she and Ali slowly started making their way down again to the broken glass that is now an opened window facing the ground. Kate didin't speak. The only thing that was on her mind was death. This is it, she thought, This is how I'm gonna die. She stopped thinking when two hands grabbed her boots. She turned her head around and sighed in relief. Eddie had catched them. Death had to wait. 

"Buck!" Eddie warned and Buck helped him getting Kate and Ali up. They were now standing up. Kate's breathing was heavy but started slowing down when she heared Eddie's concerned voice.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered.

"I though I put safely." Eddie said, still concerned and kinda embaressed.

"It snapped, not your fault. Don't worry." She reassureed him and he nodded. She tapped his shoulder and they started making their way back downstairs.

------------------------------------

On their way downstairs, Eddie went in front to move the derbis out of their way. Kate was behind him and Ali was in the middle of her and Buck. Kate had her hand up in case Ali needed it. Eddie glanced often at Kate with concern but he never stopped focusing on the way down.

"That's it. You're doing great." Buck said. "You've, uh, you've done this before, haven't you?" Buck asked. Eddie and Kate looked up at him confused.

"Yeah. It was, uh, my major at the Rhode Island School of Design." She said sarcastically which made Kate chuckle a bit. "Sorry. Sarcasm is my fallback for pretty much everything."

"Welcome to the club." Kate said with sarcasm as well which made Ali laugh and relax a bit. "I got you." Kate said offering her hand to help Ali.

"Okay." She took her hand. "Do you think he'll still be on the sidewalk when we get down there?" She asked. 

"No." Buck said. "And we're not going out that side, anyway."

"Let's hustle up. We don't wanna stay here for the next aftershock." Eddie said after sighing. Kate shot him a 'seriously?' look. She didn't want Ali to panic even more. Eddie looked at Kate with wide eyes as he just understood what she meant which kinda made her smile a bit. 

"Wait, what do you mean, the next afterschock?" Ali asked. 

"Great." Kate muttered, saying that with sarcasm. "Come on." Kate said.

They go a little further down. Eddie jumped to a secure bit of... What was that? A wall? Maybe... Kate jumped as well and stood next to Eddie. There wasn't a way out because giant rocks were blocking the exit. Kate and Eddie looked at each other.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Buck said. 

"We're not getting out this way." Eddie said.

"Now what?" Ali asked. They all looked up and Kate pointed her light up as well.

"We go back up." Kate said.

"Back up?" Ali asked.

Before they could answer, they heard Bobby's voice through the radio. 

"Ladder 118, respond. This is Captain Nash, I need a head count."

"Ladder 118 responding. Diaz, Buckleys, we're good, Cap." Eddie responded through the radio.

"Castillo and Jackson responding." They heard. "Paulson, Marcus and Riley responding" 

"Chimney responding." Chim responded. Kate sighed in relief by hearing Chim's voice but there wasstill someone missing. Hen... They all stopped as they didn't listen to her.

"Hen, do you copy? Hen? This is Captain Nash for Henrietta Wilson. Do you copy?" They heard Bobby but no response. Kate's expression fell. What happened to Hen? 

"Is that a friend of yours?" Ali asked. Eddie took a small breath.

"Let's keep moving." He said after putting his hand on Kate's shoulder. "She's okay." He said to her softly and she nodded with a small smile. They started going back up again. They finally go to one safe floor.

"Miss, there's this egress on the north stairwell of this floor." Eddie said.

"What if it's blocked too?" Ali asked. "Can't you get a ladder into one of the windows?"

"It's too risky." Kate said. "Building shifted too much."

"No, we got this, Abby. We'll get you out of here." Buck innocently said. Eddie and Kate turned around to look at him.

"Ali." Ali said. 

"What?" Buck asked.

"You called me Abby. My name's Ali." She said.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." Buck apologised. Kate and Eddie looked at each other with smirks on their faces. "Um, Abby is my... It's complicated."

"Isn't it always?" Ali asked.

"Uh, she's in Europe. She's travelling. For the first time, I'm glad she's not around." Buck said.

"He's still living in her apartment." Kate said.

"Umm, so are you." Buck snapped.

"Yeah, but I'm moving out in a few months." Kate said.

"Really? Since when?" Buck asked, not convinced.

"Since Maddie's in town. She helped me looking for cheap and good apartments near you and the station." She had a playful smile on her face and Buck rolled his eyes. 

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." Buck said. "You guys hear that?" They heard a male voice and stopped. 

"Help! Is anyone here?"

They opened a door and saw a man laying down on his back. 

"I knew help would come." He said.

"That's right. We're here, we got you, buddy." Eddie said. Buck started looking around the destroyed apartment to look for something to transport the man if needed.

"Okay, don't move. I just need you to relax and stay as still as possible. Okay, we gotta roll him over. On three. One, two, three." Kate said after bending down. They roll him over. The man screamed in pain.

"I... uh, I soiled myself." The man, Batari, said.

"Forget about that, okay?" Eddie said.

"Not my proudest moment." He said before groaning in pain. Eddie took Batari's shoes off.

He shock his head as a 'no'. Batari's probably got a spinal injury. Kate shock her head to Buck and he keept looking for something to transport Batari.

"Can you wiggle your toes for me?" Eddie asked Batari. He tried to do so, but he couldn't.

"We gotta move him out now." Kate said. 

"On what? I can't find anything." Buck said.

"Guys, what about this?" Ali said with an ironing board on her hands. Eddie and Kate looked away from Batari to look at Ali.

"Could work, but how are we gonna get him down the stairwell?" Eddie asked. 

"Maybe we don't use the stairwell." Buck said.

They walk with Batari on the ironing board to the nearest elevator. Buck and Eddie opened the elevator door and they looked down, as well as Kate. 

"At least we're not blocked by any debris." Eddie said.

"Or an elevator." Kate said and they all looked up. 

"Um, how much do you think that weighs?" Ali asked concerned. 

"2,500. 3,000 pounds?" Eddie guessed.

"I like our chances." Buck said. 

----------------------------------------

"Okay, what about this? Eddie, you go down with Batari. Then Buck, you go down with Ali when Eddie reaches down there. And, then, I'll go down." Kate said. They nod, although, they have worried expressions. "I'll be fine. I'll be right behind you, I promise." She reassured and they nodded.

Eddie started making his way down with Batari on the ironing board. 

"How are you doing, Batari?" Eddie asked.

"Been better." He answered.

"How are you feeling?" Buck asked Ali. Kate watched behind.

"Not dead yet." Ali answered.

"Yeah. You guys are doing great." Buck shouted to Eddie and Batari. "You're almost there."

"Eight more feet, Buck." Eddie said. He finisheed his way down.

"All right. I'm on my way. You ready?" Buck asked Ali. 

"Okay." She sighed. Buck glanced over at his twin who nodded.

They start making their way down. When they finished, Eddie kicked the door and it opened. Kate finally started making her way down. When she was in the middle of her way, the building started shaking, again.

"Come on, Kate!" Buck shoutd. She made her way down faster. The elevator started going down. 

"Let's go, Kate!" Eddie shouted.

"All right, here I come. Here I come." She jumped through the broken door and bumps into Eddie.

"You okay?" Eddie asked her.

"I'm good. I'm good." She answered and breathed heavily while laughing in relief. He laughed a little as well. 

---------------------------

They finally managed to get out of the builing. They transported Batari to an ambulance so he went to the hospital. Ali went to a tent to get checked out.

"Have you seen Bobby, or Chim? Or Hen?" Kate asked to Buck and Eddie. They looked at her with concerned faces and shock their heads.

"They're still inside." Chief Williams said from behind Kate. She turned around to face the Chief.

"What? They were supposed to already be outside the building." Buck said.

"They haven't. Apparently, they've found Firefighter Wilson and they're trying to get her out." Chief Williams said.

"We have to get in there." Kate said.

"You can't. All firefighters have been evacuated." Williams answered.

"Except them!" Eddie said.

"Please, we have to get in there, it's our team we're talking about." Kate begged. "Please..."

Chief waited a few seconds before she answered. "Fine. But my team is coming too." Kate's smile grew. Williams called her team and they started making they're way in. "Don't make me regret this, Buckley."

"I promise, I won't." Kate assured.

-----------------------------

Bobby, Chim and some other members of the 118 were trying to use a truck and a chain to get the rocks out of where Hen was in, but the chain snapped.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Buck said. Eddie and Kate behind him with small smiles on their faces. Bobby turned his head to see them. 

"Yeah, seems like they're planning on having all the fun without us." Eddie said.

"Heard over the radio you needed some equipment and available hands down here." Kate said with the same smile on her face. 

"You know you guys are disobeying a direct order." Bobby warned.

"And they'll be duly reprimanded, as soon as we're done here. Especially Miss Buckley here." Chief William said from behind them. 

"Looks like you're gonna have to reprimand yourself, as well." Bobby said. 

"I'm seriously considering it. Your people are very persuasive and persistent. One shot, Captain. Either way, no one's coming to rescue us." William said and Bobby nodded. 

They started taking the rocks by using the chain attached to the truck. After hard minutes of taking the rocks out, they manageed to open a safe way for Hen to get out. They all waited silently for Hen to get out. The tension in the air was heavy. Istead of hearing a human voice, they heard barking and a dog came out from the way. 

"Hen?" Kate called. "Hen, are you there?" 

A few seconds were filled with silence again. Those seconds stopped when Hen came out with a little girl on her back. 

"Hey, fellas." Hen said before coughing.

"Hen!" Kate called.

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

Hen stood up and finally they were able to get out of the building. They all got checked out and started getting the engine ready to get back to the station. Buck and Kate's phone started buzzing. Maddie had sent them a message on their group chat asking if they were okay. They answered that they were. 

"Hey. Service." Buck said.

Eddie immediately took his phone out of his pocket. Kate and Buck looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Eddie? Want a ride to the school?" Kate asked. He nodded with a big smile on his face.

-------------------------------------

They made it to the school and even before Buck stopped the truck, Eddie opened the door and ran towards the school's door where his son was waiting for him. Kate and Buck watched as they saw the two embracing each other. Eddie lifted Christopher one the air and started spinning him around with the biggest smile on his face. Small tears appeared on Kate's face as she watched the two with a smile. Buck put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a side-hug. 

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Hey, readers! Sorry it took me a while to write this chapter. This was intense!! I'm so excited for next chapter! Kate will finally meet Christopher! Thank you so so so much for reading, I really apreciate it!!