From Intern to Family | 9-1-1 Fanfic

Chapter 23

"Cooper Reed, get down here right now!" Andrea yelled as she made her dramatic entrance into the firehouse.

The team frowned at the sound of the social worker, whilst I was more focused on finding somewhere to hide. I ran to the kitchen and ducked behind the counters, listening to Andrea's heels click up the stairs.

Bobby, who was making some lunch, peered down at me with a raised eyebrow. "Cooper stop hiding you child." Andrea sneered and I peeked the top of my head up from the counter. "I'm not a kid!" I objected.

She rolled her eyes and pointed to the table, which I reluctantly followed her to. The others watched us with vague worry and interest, but I paid them no mind.

"I've been trying to find you since the incident. You've been avoiding me for three days straight." She complained.

I scoffed, "You know I work here, so I can't have been avoiding you that well." I argued. Bobby passed behind me, brushing his hand against my back as a form of reassurance. I ducked my head down shyly.

Andrea, however, glared at the Captain. "You were supposed to be staying at an emergency placement and we were meant to have a meeting this morning about a new home." She explained, sliding some papers across the table.

I peered at the papers with distaste. "Eddie let me crash on his sofa for a couple nights, so I was fine. I told you I didn't want another house." Eddie ducked down when Andrea's sharp glare turned to him.

Even though Buck has his loft he technically lives with Eddie and Chris, so I've got to spend a lot of time with the Diaz-Buckley family lately. Chris loved hanging out and the adults didn't like leaving us alone otherwise we'd probably get up to something troublesome. It was fun though- really fun.

"Well he has no legal guardianship over you, so you can't stay there. I don't care if you don't want another house, you need one." She argued.

"No I don't!" I snapped back.

"Would you rather go back to fighting? Scraping money together as long as you could take a hit? Huh?"

"You weren't complaining when I gave you some of that money, were you?"

I hadn't even noticed that we had both stood up until the team wandered over. My whole body heated with anger as I refrained from shouting again.

She was such a hypocrite. Criticising me for earning money when she was pocketing some of it herself.

Clearly, the team hadn't taken too kindly to our argument either. "What do you mean he was fighting?" Chim questioned.

They all knew that I got in a lot of trouble before I became an intern and that I got into fights. I don't think they knew that I got into fights on purpose.

"Fighting for money. An underground ring with a big audience where the cops couldn't find them. Except, Cooper was caught a couple times which is why he is on his last warning from the police." She explained.

All eyes turned to me and I wanted to shrink under their stares. Instead, I grab the papers Andrea had handed me and ripped them in half.

"Cooper!" One of them exclaimed.

"Screw you!" I hissed, glaring at the demon woman in front of me.

Andrea blinked at me in boredom, whilst the team didn't take my attitude as well. "That's enough. Cooper, I understand you're angry but can we try to talk about this reasonably?" Bobby questioned.

My jaw clenched on its own accord and I felt an old anger bubble in my chest. It felt like Bobby was talking down to me as if I was just a silly kid.

Buck, obviously noticing my frustration, stepped forward and gently reached out. I didn't move as he placed a hand on my shoulder, since I actually didn't mind the contact. Despite our early days arguments, Buck was always in my corner (Even when I was in the wrong).

Bobby was more level-headed, hence why I was annoyed with him. I wanted him to just agree with me, is that so much to ask for?

A moment of awkward silence settled as I focused on the weight on my shoulder, using it to settle my thoughts.

"Cooper, if you continue to fight me on this, I have to inform the police. With another child, they might be more lenient but not with you. You either do this my way or no way." Andrea threatened.

That wasn't fair. Why were things always unfair? Hadn't the universe kicked my ass enough?

Hen stepped forward, "We don't threaten people here. If you could be more understanding about Cooper's situation, maybe you two could come to an agreement." She lectured.

The paramedic glanced to me and I softly nodded, agreeing with Hen. It was hard. Especially since Andrea and I had never seen eye-to-eye.

Still, the social worker closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine. But I'm serious, my job requires Cooper to be in a suitable home until he is eighteen." She stated.

Once again, all eyes were turned towards me and I refrained from groaning and throwing a strop like a toddler. "Whatever. I'll go to the stupid foster house." I grumbled, feeling Buck's hand squeeze my shoulder gently.

A sigh of relief echoed through the group and Andrea gathered her things. "Great. I've got a family waiting for you now, if you come with me we can get you sorted by the end of the day." She smiled and crossed her arms expectantly.

"I'm working-"

"It's fine, he's free to go." Bobby cut in.

I turned sharply, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But Cap, I'm meant to be here. This can wait." I explained.

The Captain shook his head. "Having a foster home is more important. We don't need you here today, it's okay to go and sort this out." He stated.

Everyone seemed to turn to Bobby in shock and I glanced down to clear my stinging eyes. "Yeah I guess. Since you don't need me here, because why would I stick around when I'm not needed?" I muttered, the bitterness evident in my tone.

Bobby's eyes widened, seemingly catching on to what he had said. Buck nudged me forward before he could defend himself, seemingly agreeing with me on this matter.

The rest of the team were probably less impulsive than us two, but that didn't mean the comment wasn't hurtful. I knew that I needed this team, no matter how much I denied it. Yet, it seemed that the feeling wasn't reciprocated.

Who was I kidding? Why would these people ever need someone like me?

Buck walked us out the building, pulling me in for a tight hug before letting me go. "Call me when you're settled in, okay? If you need anything you can ring me or Eddie. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" The older rambled.

A small smile breached my lips at his blatant display of care and I nodded, patting my pocket to reassure him I had my phone on me. I only glanced once at the team on the balcony, choosing not to wave at them.

Sure, I was only mad at Bobby, but I still felt bitter about the situation in general.

I felt queasy as I climbed into Andrea's car like all the previous times before. This new place would be my fifteenth home, which makes it sound momentous. In reality, it was just sad.

My fifteenth house, yet none of them really felt like the right fit.