In Flames // 9-1-1 Fox (seasons 1-4)

seventeen // season two

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in!" Henrietta "Hen" Wilson called across the apparatus bay at the sight of the slim brunette walking towards her. Mariana "Mari" Ramirez laughed, her brown curls bouncing around her shoulders at every step. Hen had to pause and really admire the younger woman before her. Months ago, Mariana would have walked into work with a scowl and virtually no joy in her. She was angry, snappy, and frustrated with the world.

Now, she was walking into the firehouse with a grin and a pep in her step. The change in her attitude was welcome but the event that caused it was not. Hen's grip on her bag tightened as she remembered the pale, drawn face of the young woman as she laid so deathly still on the hospital bed. The doctors had pulled two bullets out of her stomach and chest and didn't expect her to live, nevertheless make a full recovery.

But here she was.

"Good to have you back. It's been a sausage party without you," Hen exclaimed as she pulled Mariana into a hug.

"I'm just the relief shift today. Bobby is still nervous to have me back so I promised I would cook, clean, and be ready if you need me. I'm just happy to be back."

"Speak of the Devil," Hen chuckled as they watched their captain, Robert "Bobby" Nash, walk through his crew, calling out various compliments. "He's been on a happy kick recently."

"You are cheery," Hen called to Bobby.

"Why shouldn't I be? Nice to see you back here, kiddo," Bobby greeted his pseudo-daughter with a quick hug.

"I don't know maybe it's because you've been like this for weeks and it's starting to get on my nerves. What's going on with you?"

"I got another DXA scan and guess who dropped another half percent?" Evan "Buck" Buckley interjected into the conversation as he joined their group. He pulled Mari into a side hug, resting his arm over her shoulder while he waved his phone around.

"A what?" she asked, staring up at him in confusion.

"A DXA scan. Measures your body fat and you can see your percentage in every part of your body."

"Does it measure the fat in your head?" Howie "Chimney" Han exclaimed as he joined them. He smiled brightly at Mari, whom he affectionately referred to as "the little sister I never wanted or asked for".

"Aw, see that would be funny but we're about a week away from submissions being due for the Hot Day Smoldering Nights Men of the LAFD wall calendar and I'm already at my goal weight so it seems like my head is clearly working perfectly," Buck shot back.

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

Mariana pulled away from Buck in order to sidle up next to Hen, crossing her arms across her chest with a smug look on her face.

"Yeah, that's now how this really works," Buck argued.

"Hen, c'mon. It's for charity," Bobby added.

"Not you too!" Mari groaned.

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

Mariana gagged at his answer and he chuckled, gently pushing her shoulder and bumping her into Hen. The older woman easily balanced her, smiling softly as Mariana laughed at their antics.

"That's what they say? That's what they say."

"Well I think you're wrong. I think sorority houses all across this great nation are ready for a new Asian sex symbol," Chimney protested. "It's our time."