Chapter Text
It was an unfortunate fact that success came with paperwork.
Maya wasn’t sure quite how she felt about her current success. She’d spent ten years as a Battalion Chief, overlooked for promotion again and again in favour of white male privilege.
They’d finally made her Assistant Chief after rigorous interviews.
And then Chief Grady had bribed the wrong politician and SFD found itself embroiled in scandal. It wasn’t exactly how Maya wanted to move forward in her career, but she was starting to accept that when it came to her SFD hopes and dreams? Nothing was ever going to be clean-cut.
Six months after Grady messed up and took most of his senior officers with him, Maya found herself promoted one more time. Temporarily, they said.
SFD needed her. They needed her gender and her celebrity and, much to her chagrin, they needed her sexuality.
Maya Bishop, Olympic gold medalist, the Hero of the Holland, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Valor, woman, firefighter, bisexual wife and mother.
Not, Maya Bishop who’d put in her time, who’d worked herself to the bone, who’d more than earned her rank. Never that truth.
So Maya’s life was now sitting in her office at SFD headquarters, trying to do the job of both the Assistant Chief and the Deputy Firechief while SFD searched for Grady’s replacement. Everything was paperwork. She spent most of her days squinting at budget spreadsheets while on the phone with lawyers, trying to save SFD’s reputation from total ruin.
Maya felt like she’d barely seen her family in months. There was just no way to balance her work anymore – she could see herself failing her kids. She could see herself failing Carina. And she didn’t know how to stop it.
Eyes forward...
The old mantra haunted her. As she leaned back in her chair, Maya pinched the bridge of her nose, her mind a jumble of work stress and missing her kids and worrying a little about her marriage.
Carina was busy too. She’d recently testified in front of the United States Congress, arguing that clearing the country’s rape kit backlog should be a federal project, not a state-by-state decision. It seemed like every two weeks, Carina was off to the airport, flying all over the world to meet with politicians and doctors and do this incredible thing that made Maya so proud.
And so frustrated.
She took a deep breath, brushing her hand over her crumpled tie, forcing herself to concentrate. It was nearly six, which meant it was almost time for her to go home. Jamie had skipped swim practice due to a lingering chest cold and Hayden would be getting home from his art class soon. Carina had texted earlier in the day to say that her flight was on time and she was scheduled to land around 8PM. There was every chance that for the first time in days, Maya would get to fall asleep next to her wife.
The thought brought her unexpected comfort.
Eyes forward could only get her so far. A night cuddled up with Carina would be healing.
When her phone vibrated seconds later, Maya smiled to see the name on the screen.
Bam: Mom, are you going to be home soon?
Maya’s smile faded.
Mom: Just leaving now. Everything ok?
Bam: Jamie is really sick and I don’t know what to do.
Maya rose from her desk, blindly reaching for her jacket as she continued to text with one hand.
Mom: What do you mean really sick? Is she throwing up?
Bam: No. She’s coughing a lot. She says she’s ok.
Of course she does. Jamie could be so selfless, she likely didn’t want to worry her little brother and was trying to downplay her illness.
Mom: I’ll be home in fifteen minutes. <3
Bam: kk
Maya shoved her phone into her back pocket and started gathering a few documents she’d need. The feelings of failure returned – knowing that her kids were at home while she had spent an extra hour working. She grabbed her bag and was about to leave the office when her phone vibrated again. Maya assumed it was Hayden, so she paused, wanting to read his latest text.
But it wasn’t Hayden. And it wasn’t a text.
“Mom?” Maya said, picking up the call. She expected her mother to ask about Jamie’s cold or check about Carina’s travel schedule.
“Maya,” Katherine’s voice was strange. She sounded breathless, as if she was trying not to be overheard.
“Mom? What’s...”
“Sweetheart, you need to come to my house right now. Mason is back.”