UNDER PRESSURE
season two, episode one
part one

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DANIELLA RUEZ sat in her beaten up Honda as she rolled down the car windows to try and find some type of wind. LA has begun a volcano in with its heat reaching to its maximum height.

The brunette has never really been a fan of the sun which made her sound like a vampire but since she was a little girl, the heat of summer always made her upset.

It might have been because of the sweat that always irritated the latina woman or the headache she always seemed to have.

Daniella just did not like heat.

She was even more appalled by the fact that she now had to work in this heatwave. Daniella got out of her car and groaned at the sun smacking her with its ray of smoldering light. She grabbed her bag and immediately sped walked into the 118 station hoping for some cool air.

To her excitement the AC was blared up in the building and the young woman felt intense relief. She smiled at her fellow colleagues who have just finished their shifts.

They swiftly smiled back as in the station, Daniella was known as the warmth. She was the woman who would make coarse jokes and also ask how your kids are doing. She carrd more than she liked to admit and it would soon become a problem for her.

"Outstanding haircut, Martin." Bobby exclaimed from behind her. Daniella turned around and sent him a look of pure suspicion. Bobby was never this gleeful especially in the morning before a gruelling day of work.

"Why are you so cheery? Have you gone outside?" She hissed pointing at the windows. "Why shouldn't I be?" He asked.

"I don't know. Maybe 'cause you've been like this for weeks, and it's starting to get on my nerves. " Hen joined in, her lips twisted into a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah, what's going on with you? Hey Hen." Dani smiled at the older woman who wrapped her arms around the latina firefighter. Hen and Dani had a very older sister and younger sister friendship which Daniella valued a lot.

"Hey Dani." Hen greeted before turning to the captain once again but she was soon interrupted by a smug voice coming from behind them. " I got another DXA scan, and guess who dropped another half percent." Buck announced.

"Now what in the hell is that?" Dani scoffed squinting at the phone in the man's hand. "A DXA scan measures your body fat. You can see your percentage in every part of your body." He replied winking at Dani.

She pushed him away and let out a small laugh at his antics. They were the two youngest in the station and entertained everyone with their childish antics.

Buck has always flirted with Dani since she joined but she never took him seriously.

"Oh, yeah? They measure the fat in your head?" Chimney stated walking towards the group. The brunette let out a small snort and Buck sent her a mocking glare.

"Ah, see, that would be funny, but we're about a week away from submissions being due for the Hot Days, Smoldering Nights: Men of the LAFD wall calendar." Buck shrugged.

Daniella shook her head having already heard this countless times from Buck showing up to her house making her take pictures of him in different poses.

"I'm already at my goal weight, so it seems like my head is clearly working perfectly." He finished.

"Do you really need to use that whole title?You could just just say "that idiotic, reductive, sexist calendar that insults the dignity of this organization and furthers the myth that all firefighters are male." Hen ranted.

"Yeah, that's not any less words." Buck remarked. "Hombre ignorante (ignorant man)" Daniella sighed. Buck sent a questioning look but she just innocently smiled at him.

"Hen, come on, it's for charity." Bobby grinned. "You being happy scares me a bit." Dani admitted. "No. Bobby, you, too?" Hen pleaded.

"Well, why not? They say a man is at his
sexiest when he reaches 50."

"I don't think they say that." Dani snickered. Bobby gasped in offence but she just shrugged happily.

"Okay, you're both wrong.  All right? You see, I
think sorority houses all across this great nation are ready for a new Asian sex symbol. It's our time." Chimney implored.

"I think it's great." Buck smirked. "You know? I like that you're both going up for it."

"How about the fact that I am going to send my application in." Dani interjected. They all turned to her in shock and her eyes shone in mischief.

"I think a woman should go up for it and espcially a hot latina one like me." Daniella moved her hands down her body not noticing that Buck was following her movements with wide eyes.

They all shook their heads in amusement and Chimney's eyebrows rose in appreciation from behind Buck and Dani.

"Now that is a beautiful man and woman."

The firefighters looked in the direction that Chimney was pointing at and saw a bronze skinned, sculpted man and a blonde, toned woman talking in a corner.

"Scratch that, I think they should go up for it." Dani muttered. Buck glared at the way Dani's eyes were admiring the man and woman.

"Who the hell is that?" He sneered. "That's Eddie Diaz and Lucy Abrams. New recruits." Bobby started.

"They graduated top of of their classes just this week. Guys over at Station Six were dying to have them but I convinced them to join us."

"What do we need them for?" Buck asked rudely. Dani rolled her eyes and nudged him to stop but he just shrugged looking away.

"They served multiple tours in Afganistan as Army medics. They even got a Silver Star. It's not like they are wet behind the ears."

"They seem so cool." Dani grinned in excitement at the new recruits. She walked away with the rest of the figherfighters who were already walking towards Eddie and Lucy.

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"So, Silver Star, huh?" Chim asked as they were on their way to the emergency. "Yeah." Eddie replied absentmindedly. "You save a platoon or something?" Chim lightly chuckled.

"No, no, nothing like that. Uh, just a convoy." Eddie shrugged. Dani hummed and glanced over at Lucy who was sat stoic next to Eddie. "You were there, huh?" The brunette asked with a grin on her face.

Lucy gave her a tight lipped smile and nodded before turntng back to the window. Daniella's brows furrowed at the cold way that her new collegue was as usually the brunette was excellent at making conversation and new friends.

"So is your full name "Eduardo"?" Buck questioned. Dani observed as the man shook his head. "No."

"People ever call you "Diaz"?" Buck continued and Danie rolled her eyes at the macho scene infront of her. "Not if they want me to respond." Eddie remarked.

"Something's got to give.We got... we got Cap, Hen, Dani, Chimney, Buck. We can't just call you "Eddie."" The blonde man accused. "What are you doing?" Dani hissed jabbing him on the side with her elbow.

Lucy let out a small laugh before concealing it has a cough. "Can't tell if he's being serious or not." Eddie smirked.

"I like to always operate under the assumption that nothing he says is serious." Chim proclaimed. The firefighters chuckled at the comment while Buck rolled his eyes in annoyance.

They finally arrived at the scene and immediately got to work on the man who was started to inflate like a balloon.

"Buck, I need you to get a -gauge angiocath. We need to start decompressing the pleural cavity." Bobby ordered. Dani took a step back and watched as Buck got the needle ready.

"I'd go lower." Lucy stated, her eyes on where the firefighter was about to place the needle. "What? Um, no. Second intercostal space. Midclavicular line." Buck combatted.

"Here we go." Dani muttered with Chimney next to her sighing. "The chest wall is thinner at the fifth intercostal at the anterior axillary line." Eddie calmy explained.

"There's a decreased chance of injuring any vital organs. We've treated guys with collapsed lungs in combat." Lucy finished.

The rest of the team sent eachother impressed looks at what the new collegues know. "Do it." Bobby said.

"Please." Eddie gestured for the needle in Buck's hand who gave it to him reluctantly. The previous army medics swiftly went to work on saving the inflated man.

The air began to leave the man's body and he started to deflate quickly. Dani and Chim placed him on the gurney towards the ambulance.

"Well done." The brunette cheered to Eddie and Lucy who were standing nearby. "Yeah well done." Buck sneered walking away.

Daniella watched him go and wondered if this attidue was more than a bruised ego.

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Daniella arrived home and immediately went to get the wine that was stashed in her cupboard. Her phone started to ring and she saw her mother's face laughing back at her.

The brunette quickly pressed the decline button and placed her phone faced down on the table. She did not want to have a conversation with the woman that birthed her right now.

It was suprising that her mother had been calling for three months now but Dani had nothing to say to her. The last time that they talked in ended up in Daniella leaving her hometown and never looking back.

It was better for everyone involved that Dani and her mother didn't chat.

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"Can you stop with the clicking?" Dani grumbled as she started to lift some weights in the gym. "It's for the calendar." Buck chimed.

"You're in the wrong light, man." Eddie stated. "Some of us don't need lighting to look good." Buck taunted. Lucy who was sat on one of the benches tying her shoes scoffed shaking her head.

"What?" Buck argued looking over at the fearsome blonde. "Nothing, I don't want to get in the way of you and your pictures." Lucy retorted.

Daniella bit her lip trying to keep her laughter in but Buck noticed and sent her a glare. The brunette just smiled back turning to her weights.

"These are the ones I sent in for the calendar." Eddie pulled out his phone — Dani and Chim looked over his shoulder with amazed looks at the pictures he took.

Lucy's lips lifted into a smile as she remembered that Eddie sent them to her because of how proud of them he was.

"It's, uh, kind of cheating submitting pictures by professional photographer." Buck exclaimed. "The photographer's 12. She's my niece. She's a master at the iPhone filters." Eddie chuckled.

"Damn, do you think she would take my pictures?" Daniella inquired. "And mine?" Chim added.

"Sure she would, yeah. Yeah." Eddie nodded. "Ah, you know, you really shouldn't get their hopes up like that." Buck admitted.

Daniella's brows raised and she cocked her head stepping forward. "No offense Dani and Chim." He apologised.

"Offense taken." The brunette hissed walking away. Chim shook his head following after. Buck's expression hardened and wished that he never said that.

"What's your problem, man?" Eddie sighed. Buck shook his head and stood up pointing at the man. "Okay. You."

"You're my problem. Your comfort level. You're-you're not supposed to just walk in here like you've been here for years. It's meant-meant to be a getting-to-know-you period. You're meant to respect your elders." Buck ranted.

"You're not his elder, Buck." Chim grunted as he did some pull ups. "It's more like he's your elder." Dani added, her lips twisting up into a sardonic smile.

"Look, I in no way meant to, uh, be too familiar or step on anybody's toes. I know you're going through
some personal stuff right now." Eddie elaborated.

"What personal stuff?" Buck interjected. "Your girlfriend breaking up with you." Lucy smiled standing next to Eddie.

Daniella took a step closer to the scene as Abby was a sore subject to Buck. When they first started dating, the brunette always didn't like her and when she left that dislike turned to hatred.

"She didn't break up with me. Who told you that?" Buck demanded. Eddie's eyes glanced to Chim who continued grunting as he operated the machine.

"I'm just saying I hear you're a good guy, and... I'm sorry you're going through pain, but... you don't need to take it out on me or-or be threatened by me." Eddie commented.

"Yea, we are all on the same team." Dani chimed in trying to defuse the tension. Lucy rolled her eyes and the brunette's face contorted into confusion.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Dani asked to the blonde. "No, just your go lucky attitude." Lucy explained and she walked away leaving Daniella there annoyed and even more confused.

"Why would I be threatened by you?" Buck scoffed, his question directed to Eddie. Dani's nose crinkled and she left the gym realising that these teammates would be more of a problem that she thought.

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Daniella was sat in the back of a rig with Buck and Eddie beside her. They have just answered a call about a man who shot himself with a grenade launcher.

"I guess you've seen a lot of shrapnel wounds." Buck stated looking over at Eddie as Dani tried to compress the wound. "My share." Eddie replied.

"You ever seen a guy with a length of rebar stuck through his skull?" Buck boasted subtly. Daniella rolled her eyes and tutted knowing that another immature fight was about to happen.

"What are we measuring here, Buck?" Eddie asked — his tone filled with a low level of patience. The patient let out a groan and the firefighters tried to make him more comfortable.

"Need to change those dressings. They're soaking through." Eddie pointed out from where Dani sat. She let out a small hum getting to work.

"I'm just saying, working the streets of L.A. is not exactly stress free." Buck started. "Not like a warzone but.."

"Are you done?" Dani questioned as she was getting tired of the constant snarky remarks. But before Buck could combat her words, Eddie steadied the man and glanced at the wound in suspicion.

"I thought you said this was a practice round." He said slowly. "It is." The man groaned.

"Wait what?" Daniella's brows creased in confusion. "Uh, what-what-what's going on?" Buck stammered.

"You see that cap? Practice rounds have blue caps." Eddie explained and his eyes widened in realization turning to the driver. "Gold caps are live. Pull over!"

Daniella stood next to Bobby as Eddie and Buck went to defuse the bomb worry shining in her eyes. Lucy leaned against a tree — her own eyes trained on where Buck and Eddie where.

The brunette walked over to where the blonde was and gave her a small smile. "They will be fine."

"I know."

Daniella cleared her throat and nodded looking anywhere but Lucy. "I just want to say that you don't have to like me but we are teammates so I just hope that overtime we can be good colleagues."

The blonde glanced at her and licked her lips nervously. "Thanks."

Daniella pursed her lips and walked away leaving Lucy to think about what she said.

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A knock on the door awoke Dani from the small nap she was taking after her shift. Eddie and Buck defused the bom safely and she was now ready to sleep into oblivion.

She opened the door, her hair disheveled and her eyes wide at the sight of Buck standing there with a sheepish look on his face.

He held up the wine in his hand and Dani smirked knowing what this was. "Apology wine?"

"Apology wine." He confirmed. The brunette opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter. Buck turned around and placed the wine on the counter top.

"Sorry for being such an ass these days." He smiled nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, next time you're being an ass. I'll be the bigger one." She remarked. Buck chuckled lowly and swiftly walked over enveloping her in a massive hug.

"Wanna watch a movie?" He murmured in her ear. Dani inhaled sharply at the low vibrato of his voice and nodded.

He let go of her and immediately went to find a skewer top to open the wine. Dani watched him go with a smal smile on her face.

aish notes:

- sorry guys for how long this chapter took but the firefighter scenes are really long and boring at times to write.

- ep one will be split into two parts.