8Dani let out a deep breath as she took a step back from tearing down the wall, letting Bobby and Chimney get to the big piece of pipe instead. She tucked a strand of hair come undone behind her left ear and turned to pay attention as Hen said, "Guys, that pipe services a quarter of the toilets above us; it's going to be messy."
"Oh, no," Dani realized with widened eyes. "We need to stop the upper floors from using them."
"Yeah," Hen agreed, explaining to the other pair working the wall, "even with the water off, if anyone flushes the toilet it could drown the baby."
Their captain wasted no time in ordering them to go.
"Hey, guys I couldn't-" Buck stepped into the bathroom, a confused look quickly settling on his features when he found them mid-way from tearing down the wall. "What's going on?" He turned to the pair of women who dropped everything and rushed out the room.
"Here," Dani halted for a moment and took off her gloves, shoving them onto his chest in a hurry as she said, "just help them get the baby out."
Buck grabbed the brown pair of working gloves and opened his mouth to say something back but she ran out of the apartment, repeating a string of words in Spanish that he could only guess were a translation of what Hen exclaimed out onto the hallways of the upper floors.
Dani followed after Hen as she climbed up the stairs and warned people not to flush their toilets. Children and adults alike came out of their homes and voiced their questions, which she didn't have time to explain until one woman reached out and grabbed her arm before stepping on the next flight of stairs.
"Qué está pasando?" She looked up at Dani with worried and confused eyes.
Dani shook her head as she tried holding back her tired breath and told her the same thing, "No se preocupe, señora. Solo asegúrese de no usar su inodoro. Todo va estar bien."
"Entonces ya encontraron la mamá?"
"The mom?" Dani repeated with furrowed eyebrows, listening carefully as the woman explained how she had seen a young girl make her way to the fifth floor with blood all over her dress and legs.
She thanked the woman for her information and once again reminded her to tell the others not to flush their toilets.
Dani took the stairs two steps at a time, her calves' muscles burning when she caught a glimpse of Sergeant Grant. "Athena!" She raised her voice loud enough for the officers to stop their persistent knocking on doors and turned in her direction.
"Dani," the short-haired black woman stepped away from the apartment door and called back, "what's wrong?"
"Someone saw the mom going up the fifth floor," she explained and Athena hurried behind her one more flight of stairs.
"LAPD! LAPD! Open up!"
They went door to door, asking for the young girl but those who answered them didn't have a clue about her. "Any luck down there?" Athena asked Dani and let out an exasperated breath when she replied back with a no.
She turned to try the doors across the hallway, noticing a frightened man out of the corner of her eye before looking at him down the hallway. "Hey, sir- Sir!"
The man's eyes widened in alarm as he bolted and she didn't have a choice but to run after him.
Dani saw him at the last second, too, following Athena but to no avail as he slammed the door on their faces and locked himself inside his apartment. The sergeant muttered out a low swear and turned to Dani, who looked down suspiciously at the trail of blood dripped all the way to the back exit.
"Okay," Athena took another deep breath and told her, "I'm gonna see where this leads to. You stay here and try to get him to open up, if the girl is in there she's going to need medical assistance."
Dani nodded her head at her orders and watched her leave before turning to the gray door again. Despite her constant banging, the man didn't answer and the thought of breaking down the door crossed her mind in desperation.
With Athena's orders going through her head, she gave way to her instincts and kicked the door twice before it splintered in half and she finally stepped in.
More blood trailed inside the small foyer going down the hallway and turned the corner to where no doubt the mother was being held. Dani pushed aside the middle-aged man yelling at her and ran to the bedroom. A sudden sense of déjà vu overwhelmed her senses, frozen at the sight of the teenage girl curled up and weeping on her bed.
A gut wrenching memory invaded her mind as she pulled the bloodied covers from the blonde and felt the anger flood through her veins. "Did you do this to her?!" She whipped around to face the hideous man as she bellowed. "You sick son of a bitch!" Her rage blinded her to the father's cries while he pleaded for his daughter's safety in his native language. "How long have you kept her here?!" She grabbed a fistful of his collar-shirt, the scared man fighting back but all she could see was the face of her abuser. "How long?!"
"What the hell, Dani?" Athena came into the room, shocked to see her ready to strangle the defenseless man in her hold. "Hey, let him go! Reyes! Let him go!" She tore the brunette away from him and tried bringing her back from those dark memories. "It's her father Dani, and he's scared; just look at him."
Athena's far-away voice slowly came into focus as Dani found herself back in the apartment bedroom. As the rapid drumming of her heart calmed down with every breath she took, she looked away from Athena and apologized to the shaking Russian man, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay. You're good, I'll take care of him," Athena sighed and finally let go of her. "But the girl needs to get to a hospital fast."
"Yeah, okay." Dani concentrated on the bleeding girl as she walked over to the bed, careful as she took her feverish body in her arms and followed Athena and the father out of the building.
The ambulance was ready to drive off but thanks to Athena's orders, it was held back for Dani to reach its double doors as she carried the frail girl in her hands.
"Where's the stretcher?- Get me a stretcher!" She waited for the paramedics to pull out the equipment, all ready to get her inside the ambulance, before the doors opened and Buck looked at them in disbelief.
"Yo, is that the mother?!" Both Dani and Athena stared back at him, noticing the newborn baby wrapped in his arms as he continued to yell, furious. "No! Screw her!"
"Are you insane?!" Dani shouted at him in equal anger as he reached his arm out to block her entrance.
"Look what she did!" He referred to the baby, the hatred obvious and pungent in his eyes as he glared at Dani and the girl.
"She is a child!" Athena shook her head and attempted to get the girl inside but Buck wouldn't let them.
"What- What's going on?" Bobby came out of the apartment complex, interrupting their clamoring. They should've been long on their way to the hospital by now.
"He's refusing to take her!" Athena blamed Buck for their hold-up.
"Alright, alright," their captain glanced between Dani carrying the girl and Buck with the baby in his arms, putting an end to all of it. "Get her inside. Come on, we have to go."
Buck shook his head in disapproval while Bobby and Dani helped the mother, his emotions running high as he couldn't help but explode at her and Athena. "If this baby dies, it's on the both of you!"
The tension was thick and all too asphyxiating, as Dani seethed silently on her side while tending to the young girl and Buck took care of the baby with tense shoulders across from them in the back of the ambulance. Bobby remained quiet in between them and prioritized the well-being of the patients, saving his words until all of this was over.
"O2 sat: 59. I can't get a pulse," their captain sighed as he continued monitoring the newborn.
"I'm so sorry," the girl, Marika, said in a shaky breath holding back tears. "Is she gonna die?"
"Give me your hand," she reached out her free hand and let Bobby guide her to the baby. "It's alright, it's okay," he comforted, giving her a small smile when the baby wrapped her tiny hand around the mother's finger. "Here we go," he sighed once the heart monitor of the baby beeped steadily once again.
The endearing way in which Buck talked to and soothed the baby all the way to the hospital's front doors washed away some of Dani's anger towards him. When the nurses helped the patients off the ambulance, she was left more tired than anything.
"Hey, you okay?" Hen looked at her still seated on the back of the ambulance, noticing the distant look in her dark-brown eyes.
"Just tired, but I'll be fine," Dani nodded and brushed off Hen's concern with a small smile before they turned their attention to the sound of screeching tires.
Next to their ambulance truck, Athena's police cruiser came to a stop as she got out and closed the door behind her with a scowl on her face.
"Hey!" She angrily pointed her finger at Buck, "You do not get to choose who lives and who dies!"
"Really?" He turned to her with a sass that only deepened the frown on her face as he met her with a smirk. "'Cause I was under the impression that kind of was my job-"
"That mother was no less a child than her baby," Athena cut him off as she stood directly in front of him, and Bobby let her have at it while he took a step back from the boy. "You're gonna get someone killed."
"Well, maybe, but not today," Buck answered back coolly, but anyone could tell he was beginning to feel guilty for the way he acted.
"Yeah, you keep making jokes." Athena nodded and narrowed her eyes into sharp daggers as she locked his gaze on hers, "I promise you, the next time you screw up, it'll be your last."
Buck scoffed, watching her walk away and leave in her vehicle, turning back to his team with a look of utter disbelief at the woman's words. His smirk dropped from his lips when he was met with multiple frowns and Bobby's stern look, "What?"
"Get in the truck."
This time, Dani allowed herself a satisfied smile as she got on the truck with the rest of the team.
Athena Grant calling out and setting Evan Buckley straight in front of his own captain? It was more than she could've asked for.
A/N: I'm so happy to see the positive reaction this story's gotten, so I wanted to give you guys a little more! Even if this is a short chapter, I hope you still enjoyed it. :) Also in response to Dani's faceclaim, I picture her to look like the actress Adria Arjona. Oh, and for those who are caught up on the actual show, what do you think about the return of a certain character? lol please let me know, I'm curious of your thoughts!
And as always, for those who've read/favorited/followed this fic, I thank you as well!
I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and any constructive criticism you may have. Reviews are always great for a boost of writing motivation and do encourage me to update faster, so don't be afraid to leave even the simplest of words in the review box! :D
Thank you so much for reading, I wish you all lovelies a good day/night!
