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Chapter Text

"Mayday! Mayday! Chopper 154 going down, I repeat chopper 154 going down! Total engine failure! Beginning autorotation!” 

Lucy Donato felt sick to her stomach at her pilot, Tim’s words, and gripped the bar beside her so tight that her knuckles turned white. A thought crossed her mind for a split-second – this is how I’m going to die , before her flight training kicked in and she remembered what her instructor had said. Falling to the ground in a fireball after engine failure was a complete myth, and most of the time, if it happened, the pilot could land safely. 

 “You OK, Donato?” The pilot asked through the headset, and Lucy nodded, then cursed herself when she realized that he couldn’t actually see her from there. 

 “Yeah, uh, I’m good.” She stammered. She was not good. She loved flying, hence why she took the job at Harbor. Well, most of the time. “We’re gonna need an ambulance to take the patient to hospital.” She pointed out, looking down at the figure below her, thankful that he was still unconscious, after being found that way on a trail way up in the hills. At least he didn’t know what was going on, the last thing she needed was panicked patient in front of her... 

 “Dispatch is gonna send the 136 our way.” He called back, his voice taut, filled with concentration as he aimed the chopper for the nearest empty field. “Prepare for a bumpy landing, Donato, but we’ll be good.” 

 And, as Tim had promised, the landing was pretty rough, but he managed to get them close enough to the edge of the field just as the firetruck and ambulance showed up. 

“You OK, there, Donato?” Tim asked, turning back. 

“Yeah, all good.” Lucy tried to hide the tremble in her voice as she started to climb out of the door to let the paramedics in. Feeling her foot slip on the landing ski, she fell forward, and instinctively threw her arms out, ready to land on the soft grass below. Instead, she landed on something soft and human-shaped. 

“Hey, I got you.” A voice came from above her, and she glanced up to see a woman with long dirty blonde hair plaited to halfway down her back, pretty blue eyes and a dazzling white smile. 

“Uh, thanks. I’m such a klutz.” Lucy tried to smile as she pulled herself upright. “Seems some power up there is determined to hurt me. ‘ Well if she survives a chopper going down unscathed, might as well make her break her ankle again’ ” she joked, and to the ever so slightly smaller woman, and to her credit, she laughed slightly. 

“Well, good thing I was there. Don’t think we’ve got enough room in the ambulance for one more. And after the day you’ve had, you deserve to go to a bar, not spend it in the ER. I know a…” 

“Hey! Bosko, need you over here!” The captain interrupted, and Lena rolled her eyes. 

“Sorry, gotta go. But, you know, let me know how you’re feeling when the adrenaline wears off.” Lena smiled. “Just call me at the 136, I’m there til 8pm. If I’m out, someone will take a message.” And Lucy was not ashamed to say she watched intently as the woman she only knew as Bosko ran back to the chopper to join her team. 

She didn’t hear Tim creep up behind her until he touched her elbow. “Stare any harder you’ll burn a hole in those turnouts.” He murmured, and Lucy spun around to face him. 

“I wasn’t, I mean, I’m not…” She stammered, and now it was his turn to roll his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure, I believe you…” He teased. “Want me to go all middle school for you? Hey, my friend really likes you…” 

“Do. Not.” She ordered through clenched teeth, but Tim caught Bosko’s eye when she turned around and gave her a wave. “I hate you.” Lucy murmured. 

“No, you don’t. And our ride’s here. After something like that, they like to send us home quick as possible and schedule an emergency therapy session.” He spoke like it wasn’t his first time crashing a chopper. Considering he’d been flying so long, it probably wasn’t. Following him to the captain’s car, she took one last glance at the 136 before climbing into it. Maybe emergency therapy would do her some good. Or maybe calling a friend, getting blind drunk and hooking up with someone would do the job better. No, Lucy, you’re better than that now! She tried to tell herself, and most of her mind agreed. There was just this tiny little voice in the back of her head that told her that her ex was now single... 

--- 

OK, so maybe therapy did help, she thought a few hours later as she climbed into her car outside Frank’s office, because she no longer wanted to indulge in what he called “her self-destructive behaviors”. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she placed it in the holder and put it onto charge. She knew she had two options here. She could call the 136 like a teenager and ask to talk to Bosko, which would be ridiculous, because she didn’t even know her first name, let alone anything about her. And yeah, she did say to call, but she didn’t mean it, did she? She rescued so many people every day, why would she even think about Lucy? Just because she was also part of the LAFD? And Lucy didn’t want to look like one of those sad cases that showed up and flirted with the people who saved them. Not that she had been flirting, of course. The word vomit that had come out of her mouth could never be classed as flirting. More embarrassment. 

The other option would be not to call anyone. Go home, watch mindless reality TV, order takeout and go to bed, ready to be called tomorrow to see where she was going to be placed until the chopper was fixed. And it could be anywhere. The 118 might be fun. It wasn’t too bad last time, before she transferred. The guys were cool, and she had a soft spot for the new probie, Ravi. Or the 133 under Captain Mehta wouldn’t be so bad. She’d spent a week there before and it was fine, she guessed. The team were friendly enough, and she wasn’t left behind all the time, so that wasn’t a bad thing. Or... nope, not even thinking about that , she muttered to herself at the next thought that popped into her head. The 136. With bright eyes Bosko, as she’d christened her. OK, so she was cute, but she was a grown-up, not a teenager. She wasn’t meant to get silly crushes on girls... 

Her phone beeped before she even had the chance to release the brake, and she glanced at it to see a message from someone she hadn’t seen in a while. 

Buck: Hey, heard you had a crash this morning! Must have been scary, hope you’re alright. B x 

Taking it out of its holder, she hurriedly sent a message back. 

Lucy: Yeah, it was, but everyone’s OK. Just out an emergency session with Frank about it, heading home for a beer. Think I need it. 

She started to put the phone back in, then paused halfway before typing up another message. 

Lucy: Hey, do you know anything about a firefighter at the 136 called Bosko? 

Chapter Text

“You so cheated!” Buck yelled as he threw the controller onto the couch beside him in disgust.  

“Aww, is poor baby Buck throwing a tantrum?” Chimney mocked his brother-in-law, making Eddie laugh as he placed his own controller on the table in front of them.  

“I hate you both.” Buck pouted, reaching over for his bottle of water. “Rematch!”  

“Nah, I’m done, promised Cap I’d help with dinner.” Eddie’s smile should have been smug. Anyone else it would have been. But not with Buck. With him it was soft and gentle and loving. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to his fiancé’s temple and then whispered in his ear “we can go for the title at home…and I don’t mean at Street Fighter”, making Buck turn bright red and Chimney shake his head.  

“Walking away now, I don’t want to know what he just said…” Taking two steps, he stopped when Bobby appeared in front of him and pointed back in the direction of the couches, Hen a few steps behind her captain.  

“OK, I have an announcement to make. We’re getting Lucy Donato back for a couple of weeks, her chopper went down this morning. Don’t worry, everyone is fine, but she needs a firehouse for a few weeks until it’s repaired.” He reassured everyone. “Please make her feel welcome again.”  

“But not too welcome, Buckaroo.” Chimney added, which only earned him an elbow in the ribs from Hen, an annoyed look from Buck and a confused one from Ravi. “Hey!”  

“Shut up and go and start dinner.” Hen murmured at him.  

“But it’s Eddie’s turn, why should I have to…?” Chimney started to protest, then stopped and sighed. “Fine, but he’s doing breakfast tomorrow.”  

“Works for me.” Eddie smirked. Eggs, bacon and toast he could make. Bobby’s complicated recipes, even with supervision were way above his abilities. Turning to his fiancé, he watched as Buck’s fingers typed out a message quickly. A reply came within seconds, and then another.  

“Well, Chim, I don’t think we need to worry about that…” Buck thrust the phone towards his brother in law, who read it, and then nodded. “I don’t know much about her, maybe you or Eddie could play cupid?”  

“Play cupid with who?” Eddie asked, looking from Buck to Chimney and back again. Taking the phone from the shorter man, he read the messages, a confused look on his face.  

“Wait, Lena’s gay?” Everyone’s head snapped around at Eddie’s sudden exclamation.  

“Babe, we really need to get your gaydar fixed. I don’t think it’s ever worked. You know YOU’RE gay, right?” Buck teased and was met with a middle finger across the table.   

“Shut up.” He mumbled, turning to Hen, who had an amused look on her face.  

“So, Lucy likes Lena…we need to find out if Lena likes Lucy…” Chimney pondered. “Hey, Buck, didn’t the Chief want us to go and pick up that stuff from the 136 today?” he asked, winking at Buck behind Bobby’s back. “We could go and do that today…”  

“What…oh yeah, that stuff. The stuff that we ran out of that they have plenty of…” Buck stammered.  

“Yeah, I mean, we have a couple of extra bodies today, we could go and get it now…”  

“What stuff?” Bobby raised an eyebrow at Buck, and he almost caved. Almost. Until Ravi, who, as usual, was fully invested in the love lives of people he had either never met, or barely knew, intervened.  

“A new pair of turnout pants -  they didn’t have any in my size in central, and firefighter Han here called around for me last week while you were off sick, and the 136 happened to have a couple of spare pairs. And there was some stuff that they needed that we had extra of in our stores, and they had extras we needed, so we agreed to swap. I know I wrote it down somewhere…” He sounded so convincing that Bobby just nodded, believing every word that he said. After all, Ravi would never lie to him just to get some gossip. The others, definitely, but not Ravi…  

“OK, two of you only. Ravi and Buck, you go, since Chimney has volunteered to help with dinner. But be quick about it. And I want to see these pants when you get back.” Buck threw Ravi a panicked look, but the younger firefighter looked surprisingly chilled for someone who was expected to pull out a pair of pants from absolutely nowhere.  

“We will! Come on, Buck, I left the boxes at the front of the store room, we can take my car.” Ravi practically dived towards the stairs, Buck following close behind, and waiting until they were safely in the store room, he hissed “where the Hell are you gonna get a new pair of pants?”  

“In the trunk of my car, they got delivered last week. I asked the B-shift captain to order them for me, Bobby knows nothing about them.”  

Chapter Text

Lucy had just opened a bottle of beer and was just about to pour it into a glass when the doorbell rang. Sighing, she thought about ignoring it, but after the third time, she got up from the couch and traipsed over to the door. Opening it to see Buckley and Ravi there, she threw it open further and motioned for them to come in.  

“We don’t have time, come on, shoes on, we’re going out!” Buck tried to explain and Lucy just rolled her eyes.  

“Buckley, I’ve had a long day and it’s not even 5pm yet. I just want to sit, have a beer, a bath and wallow in self-pity” She protested, but Buck crossed his arms and stood steadfast in front of her, foot in front of the door to stop her from closing it on them.  

 “Not happening, in the car.” Buck ordered. “Because we lied to Cap to come here just to help you find a date.” Her eyes flicked from Buck to Ravi and then back again. “We’re going to the 136, Chim is going to ask around to try and find out what she likes so you can impress her, and Ravi...well, he’s far too invested in this to miss it. Now shoes, car.” He pointed to the Jeep, and Lucy took a step back from the door.  

 “You two are ridiculous.” She scowled, wishing she’d never even asked Buck about Lena, because she should have known he’d go all in. There was no way that Lena would even be interested. She could be married, she could be with someone, or think that she was a total idiot for the way she acted after the chopper went down. But then a little voice on her head remembered the words that she’d said before they’d got interrupted. She knew a bar, she wanted Lucy to call her at work…  

And that’s how she ended up in the front of the Jeep, Ravi having been relegated to the back, listening to Chimney through Buck’s speakers.  

“Alright, so I got a hold of one of the guys at the 136 and got some Intel from him. First of all, she is single right now, has been on a couple of dates but no one that’s lasted more than two. He said there was definitely something there between you earlier, and she’s been hanging around the Captain’s office, asking if there’d been any calls for her half the day, but he wasn’t sure who she expected to call. And third, if you really want to win her over, she likes bright flowers, especially yellows, and she’s addicted to those iced vanilla lattes from the coffee shop around the corner from the firehouse, goes there at least twice a day for one. And…”  

Ravi let out a rather girly squeal from the back, his legs vibrating in excitement.  

“And you three are on bathroom duty for a week!” Bobby’s voice rang out from the other end of the phone. “Donato, you’re excused because these three idiots dragged you into this.” Buck let out a groan and muttered “thanks Chim” under his breath, because the man could have easily text Ravi instead of calling and getting them caught.  

“But our cause is righteous!” Chimney protested. “You can’t stand in the way of true love, Bobby!”  

“Or you could do it on your own time.” Bobby shot back. Buck could sense an amused tone in his voice, and he glanced in the mirror at Ravi. “Fine.” A resigned sigh came from the captain. “Do what you need to, then come back here. Bring coffee and I might go easy on you.”   

 “We will! Be back soon, best captain in the world!” Buck called before hanging up. Because Evan Buckley wasn’t averse to some sucking up, especially if it got him off the worst jobs in the firehouse.  

“Alright, so there’s a flower store just down the street from the coffee shop. You get the flowers, we’ll get the coffee.” Ravi glanced up from his phone. Lucy shook her head. There was no way she was going to bring flowers. It was so cliche and it would look so desperate...  

Ten minutes later, she climbed out the car nervously, a bunch of bright yellow and white daffodils, carnations and roses in one hand, a massive iced coffee in the other.  

“This is stupid.” She muttered under her breath, then turned to Buck. “I can’t do this, let’s just go back to the 118.”  

“Nope, you’re going in there.” Buck replied firmly, nudging her ever so gently forward. And Lucy took a deep breath, then a step forward. Then a step backwards again, cursing the fact that she couldn’t open the door of the Jeep because she had no free hands.  

“Ravi, open the door, please.” She batted her eyelashes at him, and he looked from Lucy to Buck again.  

“Do not.” Buck warned. “Or I’m blaming this all on you.”  

“Buckley, what are you doing here?” The 136 Captain greeted him as he walked through the front doors of the firehouse, and then catching a glimpse of Lucy, he tried to hide a smile. “Oh. I get it. She’s upstairs outside my office still. I’ll take you all up.” He offered, beckoning the group to follow him inside. Lucy ignored the stares and the nudges from the other firefighters as they made their way to the stairs. And as soon as they reached the upstairs landing, the three men took a step back, Ravi pushing her to the front.  

Lucy stood and stared for a moment at the woman sitting at the table, pouring over paperwork, then took a deep breath and strode over to her, placing the coffee beside her.  

“A little bird told me you might need this.” She managed to force an absolutely terrified smile, but the nerves all but dissipated when those bright blue eyes looked up at her.  

“Always.” Lena’s eyes fell on the flowers in Lucy’s other hand, the most beautiful bouquet she’d seen in a long time, and clumsily, Lucy thrust them in her direction. “For me?”  

“Yeah, to say thank you for this morning, and, uh, well...” She stammered before glancing back at Buck, who gave her an encouraging nod. “I was thinking, you never gave me the name of that bar, I could do with a few beers tonight...”  

“You asking me out, Donato?” Lena teased, making Lucy’s cheeks turn a nice shade of red.  

“Maybe...” She replied quietly. “If, that’s something you’d be interested in?”  

“I think I’d definitely be interested. Get me back here at eight?” She offered. “Or we could get dinner first? There’s a pizza place I’ve been dying to go to...”  

“Pizza sounds great.” Lucy felt herself break into a grin, and feeling Lena’s arms wrap around her, she instantly relaxed, her nerves all but gone. Applause came from behind them, but neither of them cared. After all, she had weeks at the 118, she could deal with those two later...  

---  

With a huge coffee order, complete with pastries, Buck and Ravi managed to negotiate their punishment from a week to one shift. Chimney was given breakfast duty for a week, and Lucy, well, after the dinner date, they decided to forego the bar and just go back to Lena’s place. Everyone at the 118 teased her for days, but she didn’t care. She was happy.