Dosed.

chapter fifteen , Star Wars vs Harry Potter

a/n : Just a couple more chapters until this story starts to get ✨spicy✨

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Emerson was stuck.

She felt like her life wasn't going anywhere. And that became much more clear after losing Daniel. All she had going for her was her career. Chimney was able to get some kind of closure with Tatiana. And what did Emery get from William? A box of shit she didn't even mean to leave at his house and a whole bunch of trust issues.

And in all honesty? Emerson didn't care. She was too busy having a 'Hot Girl Summer' to even realize that she was stuck. But she was definitely going to get a wake up call. Just not anytime soon.

Emery lets out a breathy moan. Her head tilts back against the pillow and she arches her back. Her entire body felt like one giant heartbeat. She flutters her eyes open and stares at the popcorn ceiling. A small laugh escapes her lips and she covers her mouth. The blanket covering her waist flips up, revealing a brunette. She crawls up the bed and lays beside Emerson.

Emery shifts her gaze to the girl and raises her brows. "Wow."

The brunette giggles, "Thank you." She pulls the sheet over her chest. "You were pretty 'Wow' too."

After losing Daniel, Emery needed to take her mind off of it. So, she called 'Tailpipe' Josh. The sex wasn't great, but it was good enough to distract Emerson from life. Recently since Emery's been having just sex with people, they wanted...more. And that's not what Emery was looking for.

Emery props herself up on her elbow and stares at the woman. "I have a shift in an hour. So, I should get going." She arches a brow. "But thanks for this." She lets out a sigh and sits on the edge of the bed.

"We should get together again sometime."

Emery smirks, "Yeah, I would like that."

The brunette softly chuckles and goes to touch Emery's back. Before her fingers could caress Emery's skin, the Sharpe girl stands up and slips her pants on. "Hey, have you seen my bra?"

The brunette sputters her lips. "When you say that you wanna do this again. That means just sex, right?"

Emery was now on the floor, looking under the bed. "How the hell did it get under here?" She grabs her bra.

Emerson hears a scoff from the bed and quickly lifts her head up to a now annoyed brunette. The curly-haired girl tilts her head. "What? Did you say something?"

The brunette lets out a chuckle of disbelief. "Yeah, you know what? I don't think this is going to work."

Emery clips her bra back on. "O-Okay..." she frowns. Emerson didn't think that there was even a 'this' to begin with. The phone on the nightstand rings. Emery grabs it and curses. She answers the phone and places it agajsnt her ear.

"Amay—"

"Oh thank god, you answered!" Amaya exhales. "I have a crisis that needs averting."

Emery closes her mouth. "That's...why you're calling me?"

"Why else would I be calling you?" Anaya tilts her head.

Emerson thought that Anaya would be worried that she didn't come home last night. That's one thing she could relax about. Emery frowns and shakes her head, "Uh, I don't know—nothing." She stands up and puts her shirt on. The entire time Emery was putting her clothes back on and talking to her sister, the brunette was still laying in the bed with her angry eyes the firefighter.

Emery slips her sneakers on and exhales. "I think you should just talk to Charlie. I mean, they love you and you love them. You guys just need to communicate with each other with inside voices."

Amaya covers her eyes. "Yeah...I should've definitely seen that coming. You know what the say..."

"...communication is key." Emery finishes.

"Thanks, Em. Seriously. I'll be back tonight around 11."

Emery nods, "Sounds good. I'm on my way to work."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Emery ends the phone call and grabs her jacket. She turns to the woman in bed and winces. "Sorry, about the phone—"

"No, you're not."

Emery purses her lips.

"And you're not sorry for having sex with me and leaving."

Emery tilts her head, "Didn't I say...what I was looking for before we had sex last night?"

The brunette sits up. "Yes, you did. But you didn't have to be rude about it!"

Emery runs her tongue across her teeth. She then smacks her lips, "You're right. I've been...standoffish and mean. That's not fair to you and I'm sorry."

"But, this really was just sex for me." Emery presses her hands together. "And I don't think I'm what you're looking for either."

The girl's eyes sadden and she stays silent. That leaves Emerson feeling guilty as shit. Emery sighs, "I'm sorry. Seriously." She grabs her bag and makes her way out of the apartment.

☆

"Hold on, Maddie needed help moving in and you didn't call me?"

Buck rolls his eyes and looks at the girl. "Well, I would've but then I remembered, I don't like you." He leans toward the girl.

Emery quietly mocks the boy and gets out of the fire engine. "You know what, Probie?"

Buck rounds the fire engine with a smug smirk across his lips and he leans against the engine. "What, Emi?"

"There are times where I just want to hang you off the top of a very very tall building just to see you cry." Emery scoffs.

Buck frowns, "Wow, you've got a lot of pent up animosity. Your "Hot Girl Summer" isn't going as planned or...?"

Emery's jaw goes slack and she points at Buck. "How do you know about that?"

Buck laughs and Emery's eyes widen. "How do you know about that?!"

Buck let's out a sigh and goes to step forward. Out of the corner of Emery's eye, she spots a piece of the metal bleachers swarming towards them. Emery quickly grabs a fistful of Buck's turnout gear and yanks him back. Buck grunts from the sudden force. She then presses a hand against his chest, pinning him against the fire engine.

"What the hell are you—"

Emery takes a large step closer to Buck, her chest against his; which causes his mouth to slam shut. The bleacher flies past him and Buck's eyes widen. Emery tilts her head up and her eyes meet Buck's wide blue ones. She lets out a small breath. "I just saved your life, Probie." Emery lightly shoves Buck back against the fire engine and pushes herself away from him. A teasing laugh leaves her lips which causes Buck's heart to jump into his throat.

"You now shall be eternally grateful." Emery points at him and rounds the engine to where everyone else is. Buck stops for a moment to understand what just happened. Why the hell did this one interaction with Emery feel different? It caused his body to get hot. God, he felt so hot. Emery was so hot.

Wait what?

Buck forces out a small huff and shakes his head. The thought made him feel sick. Buck clears his throat and looks around the area, to make sure no one saw how flustered he was. He didn't want that thought to ever cross his mind again.

Buck then joins the rest of the group to discuss the out-of-control helicopter.

"Eddie, after we get the people out, you think you can kill that engine?" Bobby asks.

"Think so, I'm just worried about the dynamic rollover." Eddie voices.

"The dynamic what?"

Emery looks at Buck, "Haven't I taught you anything, Probie?"

Buck still looked clueless which causes her to roll her eyes. "If we change the weight ratio by pulling people out, the whole thing could tip over, and the rotors could snap off."

Buck slowly nods his head. "Then flying rocks are gonna be the least of our problems."

"All right, visors down. Let's go!"

As soon as they pulled their visors down, the four firefighters were off.

"Buck, get her out of there! As soon as he's done with that; Sharpe, you get in the back and help the pilot!"

"On it, Cap!"

Buck instructs the woman to hold him. He loops his arms under her legs and turns his head to Em. As soon as their eyes met one another's, they both were ready. Buck pulls Taylor from the helicopter and Emery quickly gets in. From the back seat, Emery unbuckles the unconscious pilot's seatbelt. Once he was free, Bobby pulled him from the helicopter and Eddie got in the front seat.

Emery presses a hand against the helicopter window as the helicopter continues to shake. Eddie shuts off the helicopter and it slowly begins to power down. As soon as the helicopter became still Emery and Eddie exchanged a look.

Then, Simultaneously, they began to laugh. Emery holds a hand up and Eddie high fives her.

Emery watched as Hen checked Taylor's vitals.

"How are you doing?" Athena asks Taylor.

Taylor shakes her head, "Not sure." She sighs. "How's Trent? Is he okay?"

"He has a concussion." Emery folds her arms. "But other than that, he's gonna be fine."

Taylor nods her head.

"Hey, do me a favor." Buck speaks.

Emery already knew she was going to get pissed off by whatever came out of his mouth next.

"Say, "And on the 405, speeds are under five miles an hour making your morning commute a rough one"."

A stifled laugh leaves Emery's lips but she quickly covers her mouth. She looks at Hen and Athena, and they had the same smile across their lips.

"Seriously?" Hen deadpans.

"I know that voice." Buck says. "It's Taylor Kelly reporting, right? Right, Skywitness News Eight."

"Fanboy, much?"

Buck shoots a quick glare at Emery before looking back at Taylor.

"That's me."

Buck laughs, "Oh, wow!"

"Wow, um, it's, uh, it's weird to hear that voice come out of a face." Buck chuckles.

Emery's jaw drops.

"Thank you...?"

"Is that really the best you could do?" Emery chuckles. She then looks at Athena. "Is that really the best he could do?"

"You are going to make fun of him for this later, aren't you?" Athena questions, even though she already knew the answer.

Emery holds her arms out, "Oh, Athena. I'm making fun of him for it now!"

"You have helped me beat traffic in this city more times than you will ever know." Buck says.

"Oh, you might want to Uber tomorrow."

Buck chuckles and looks at the three woman, who were eyeing him. Athena and Hen walk off, giving Buck and Taylor space. Emery lightly punches Buck's arm. "Careful now, Buckaroo. What would Abby think?" She teases and pouts her lower lip.

Buck clenches his jaw at the girl. He snaps his eyes back over to Taylor and nervously laughs. Emery walks off while she throws her head back and laughs. She then joins Athena and Hen with talking about Buck's nervous stammers with Taylor.

☆

The very next day, Taylor was at the fire station with a cameraman. Emery was checking the completed tasks off her chore clipboard (yes, she made her own clipboard and chore chart to keep track of the tasks), when she saw Taylor and Buck talking to each other.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Eddie asks Taylor. "Any side effects after the crash?"

"I'm great." Taylor chuckles. "Thanks to all of you."

Emery clicks her pen a few times before she makes her way over to Taylor, curious about what she was saying.

"Which is why I'm here."

"Please, no autographs today." Buck quips.

Emery rolls her eyes. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"You tell me everyday." Buck sighs.

"You guys were so amazing."

Emery and Buck look back at the redhead that was in awe, when talking to the firefighters. Emerson laughs softly and nods her head. "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" she inhales a deep breath then exhales.

Everyone stares at her with either a look of annoyance or shock that she was making this about her. Emery notices everyone staring at her and she clears her throat. "I-I mean. We were all amazing." she rolls her eyes. "Oh, what? Buck can say some pompous crap, but I can't?"

"I would've taken you for a humble type." Buck shrugs in a teasing manner.

"Look how low you've fallen." Chimney shakes his head.

Emery tilts her head to the ceiling and groans. "Okay, whatever—you were saying?" She looks back at Taylor.

Taylor softly chuckles, "Right, uh, I want to do a story on this firehouse and on the heroes who work here."

Emery frowns and tilts her head. "Don't you report on traffic?" She points at the woman.

Taylor slightly opens her mouth she then presses her lips together. "I'm not quite ready to go back in the sky. So, I thought I'd try my hand at telling a story from the ground."

"And use your newfound fame to put your face in front of the camera." Hen voices.

Taylor nods, "That too."

"Smart girl."

"I can't wait to interview all of you." Taylor chuckles. "I want to know why you chose this job, the crazy things you've seen, what it's like ti face death."

Emery squints her eyes. Even though she thought this entire situation was hilarious, she didn't want to have anything to do with this interview shit. She knew people like Taylor and at the end of the day, they didn't care about the person. Just the story.

Emery lets out a sharp breath and walks away from the group of people. Taylor notices Emery walking away from the group. "Oh, Emerson, I was wondering if I could interview you first?"

Emery turns on her heel and looks back at the redhead. She lets out a sigh, "Listen, Tay Tay."

"It's just Taylor."

"Mhm—yeah. Whatever." Emery waves. "I appreciate you wanting to hear our stories and put them out there. But, I'm good with being unseen."

"Says the person who has spent years trying to get a month in the firefighter calendar." Buck teases with a laugh. He then looks at Taylor. "And I mean years."

"That was one step in taking down the patriarchy." Emery snaps. "And this isn't that."

"But it could be."

Emery snaps her eyes over to Taylor and she squints her eyes. "What are you taking about?"

Taylor internally cheers that she got Emery's attention. "Imagine all the attention a black female firefighter would get?"

"Besides an enormous amount of hate?" Hen voices.

Emery points at Taylor and slowly wags her finger. "Not only would I get hate, but I would get attention. Attention that could make people listen." She looks at her co-workers. Their eyes were wide from how quickly her attitude shifted. Emery looks back at Taylor, her eyes filled with determination and a smile on her face.

"I'm in."

Taylor smirks and she inhales a breath. "Okay, then let's get started."

☆

"Tell us about all this."

Chimney inhales a breath, "Oh. This table is all about the love." He motions to the sweets in the table. "It's, uh, tokens of appreciation from the people we serve. Baked goods are big, and cards, we love the cards."

Buck enters the camera view and grabs a cupcake. "And carbs. We love carbs." He goes to eat the cupcake, but Emery grabs it from his hand. Buck snaps his eyes over to Emery. "Em..."

Emery arches a brow and places the cupcake into her mouth. She points at him and laughs. "Payback is a bitch, Probie."

Emery looks at Taylor, "Can I say bitch or is that not tv friendly?"

"We can bleep it out."

"Anyway!"

Buck and Emery look at Chimney, who was glaring at them for disrupting his segment. "This stuff is what really keeps us going. The love."

"And the carbs." Buck grabs another cupcake. Emery goes to grab it, but Buck grips her wrist and pulls her close to his chest while he raises the cupcake high above her head. Emery rolls her eyes, "I'm almost as tall as you, dumbass." She slightly tilts her chin up at him and Buck's breathing hitches.

Emery grabs the cupcake from his hand and triumphantly laughs. Taylor slightly opens her mouth, "Ummm what's that about?"

Chimney looks at Taylor, "Oh. They hate each other...like a lot." He then pulls his brows together. "And yet, they get uncomfortably close to each other."

Taylor raises her brows in agreement. Emery eats the other cupcake and walks away. Buck holds his hands out to Emery and pretends to strangle her. He lets out a frustrated breath and looks back at the camera. "That's Emerson. Our local uptight annoyance." He grabs a cupcake before he could eat it, Chimney grabs it and eats it.

Buck throws his arms up, "Chim!"

Chimney slows his chewing and bunches his shoulders. And with a mouthful of cupcake he speaks in a muffled voice. "What?"

...

Emery keeps her eyes on the table as she cleans it thoroughly. "What made me want to become a firefighter..." she sputters her lips. "Let's see, for one, the turnout gear was cool. And it was better than becoming a cop." She shifts her eyes to the camera. "No offense, Athena. Love you."

Emery thinks hard about her next response. Taylor taps her finger against her arm, becoming slightly impatient. The redhead clears her throat and Emery blinks. She looks at the news reporter and slightly opens her mouth. "Oh, uh, I wanted to be a photographer when I was younger." Emery admits. "It was all I ever wanted. I went to college for it." She keeps her eyes on the suds that were soaking her hands. "Then, one day...I was doing this Mother's Day photoshoot for a lady I knew. Her name was Shelly. She was my neighbor practically my whole life."

Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "The building we were shooting in wasn't up to code. There were so many fire hazards and...some faulty wiring caught light and so did the building." She sighs. "I was the last to get out of the building."

Taylor tilts her head, "And what about Shelly?"

Emery's eyes sadden and a lump forms in her throat. "She didn't make it." She looks at the redhead. "That whole situation could've been avoided if the owners of that building..." she moves her neck to one side and it cracks. Emery felt her angry increasing just thinking about the situation. "I vowed that something like that would never happen under my watch. Something that could be so easily avoided shouldn't happen." She shakes her head. "Shelly had two kids and a husband waiting for her at home."

Emery thinks to herself. What do I have?

"So, I became a firefighter." Emery shrugs. "Despite others ridicule."

Taylor raises her brows, "And who was ridiculing you about becoming a firefighter?"

Emery's chest tightens, "My parents..."

Taylor squints her eyes, "Anyone else?"

A lump forms in Emery's throat and her eyes begin to burn. She quickly recovers and blinks her eyes. Emery points at Taylor and manages a small laugh. "Now, that's a story for a different time." She pushes in the chairs at the table. "A story you won't be hearing."

Emery then walks past Taylor and her cameraman. Taylor lets out a frustrated breath.

☆

"I was told there's a man here who's choking to death."

The older woman shakes her head. "No, uh, Gregory says he doesn't want any help now."

Emery exchanges a look with Bobby then looks back at the woman.

"Okay, excuse me, ma'am." Bobby brushes past the woman with his team behind him.

"Wonder how many he put down."

"Excuse me?" Emery looks at Buck.

Buck shifts his gaze to Emery. "Have I taught you nothing, Emi?"

The girl rolls her eyes.

"Joey Chestnut scarfed down 74 hot dogs in ten minutes at last year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest." Buck explains.

Emery sighs softly, "I've always wanted to do a food eating contest."

"Really? You?" Buck chuckles.

Emery shrugs, "Yeah. I love food. And I love eating." She puts both her hands together. "It's a match made in heaven."

"You know what? I could see you in an eating contest too." Buck nods.

A small smile forms on Emery's lips and she pulls her brows together. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, what else are you gonna use that big mouth for?" Buck laughs.

Emery's smile drops. "Hahaha, so funny!" She mocks him in a deep voice. She shoves Buck to the side.

"Excuse me, sir, are you refusing care?" Bobby asks.

Emery watches the man at the table wave them off. A hiss comes from underneath the table and Chimney jumps back into Emery's arms when he sees the Komodo Dragon. Emery softly grunts but she catches the man with ease. Everyone laughs at Chimney's reaction and Emery holding him like a baby.

Chimney looks at Emery and softly chuckles. She gives him a playful wink and sets him on his feet.

"That thing yours?" Chimney asks.

"That's Claude. He's the grand prize."

The man at the table falls out of his chair and onto the ground. "Guys! Guys! Guys!"

The firefighters make their way over to the unconscious man. Emery motions the group of civilians away from the scene. "Give is some room!" She turns back to the unconscious man and crouches beside him.

They move the tables out of their way.

"Prep the dfib."

"Airways are sealing up." Hen speaks. "I need the BBM."

"What was this, like, a pepper eating contest?" Taylor asks the older woman. "No. Protein."

Emery pulls her brows together, "Like eggs or meat or—"

"Locusts!" Hen shrieks.

Emery snaps her eyes over to the insects hopping out of the man's mouth. Her eyes widen and she shoots up onto her feet. "No!" She gasps and starts to swipe away anything on her shirt and legs.

"Actually they're crickets."

"What the hell, Sandy?!" Emery shouts while kicking the crickets off her boots.

Sandy gasps, "Language, missy!"

Emery growls and Buck points a finger in her face and laughs. Emery smacks his hand out of her face.

"We allowed anything that Claude would eat." Sandy informs. "We thought it might be fun."

"Oh, yeah—so fun!" Emery says through gritted teeth. One thing that could change her mood were bugs. She hated bugs.

"His pulse is weakening. He's in V-fib." Hen states. "He's coding."

"Staring compressions." Chimney announces. As Chimney attempts to resuscitate the man, crickets continue to leave his mouth. Emery wrinkles her nose.

"Dammit, the blockage is too big. He's not getting any air." Hen sighs. "Let me try something."

"Em, give me the Magill."

Emery rummages through the bag and holds the instrument out to Hen. Her skin begins to crawl as the crickets inch over to her. As soon as Hen grabbed the Magill, Emery retracted her hand and shudders. Hen pulls a large beetle form the man's mouth and Emery dry heaves.

Hen pumps air into the man's lungs and his eyes open.  He sits up and throws up the crickets he stuffed in his mouth.

"All this for a lizard, huh?" Eddie sighs.

"A monitor lizard, and 500 bucks."

A small 'MnMnMn' comes from Emery's mouth and she shakes her head. She looks to her side and notices she was standing next to Buck. This might be the one time she was fine with standing near him.

"And I just lost!"

"Yeah, you did!" The woman still eating cheers. The woman's eyes widen and she begins to lurch forward. Emery's mouth opens and her entire face pinches together. "Oh, no, oh god—"

Hissing Beatles begin to leave the woman's mouth and she vomits. Emery's hand finds Buck's bicep and she dry heaves. "This is the worst day ever!"

"You still want to enter that eating contest?" Buck quips.

Emery shakes her head, "Ohhhh shut up, shut up, shut up..." she leans forward with a hand on her knee.

"Claude, I guess you're staying with me." Sandy says.

The Reptile flicks it's tongue toward Taylor and she flinches. Sandy chuckles, "Oh, I guess he likes you. He likes redheads."

Emery giggles, "Funny, same thing goes for Probie." She then shakes Buck's arm.

Buck points at Emery, "Eat Beatles, Em."

"How dare you?" Emery gasps and points at him.

They both start to lightly smack each other's fingers out of each other's faces. Eddie walks past the two, "All right, you two, don't make me turn this car around."

Emery and Buck look at Eddie. Then they look back at each other. Emery shudders once again, "Do I have anything on me? I feel like I have something on me?"

Buck squints his eyes, "Oh, oh shit!" His eyes widen.

Emery's eyes widen as well and her breathing quickens. "What? What?!"

"You got something right..." he points at her shirt."

Eddie shakes his head, "Don't do it..."

Emery looks down and Buck flicks her nose. Eddie laughs, "Aaaand he did it. And she fell for it."

Emery rubs her nose and gasps. "You think that's funny?"

"Yeah, I do." Buck laughs.

Emery arches a brow, "Oh, really?" She flicks his cheek and he winces.

"Ow!"

"You like that, Probie?" Emery then flicks his forehead and he whines.

"Ow!"

☆

"Captain Nash, just a—"

"Busy. Maybe another time?" Bobby bunches his shoulders and brushes past the news reporter.

Emery lets out a small laugh and follows after Bobby. "Captain!"

Bobby pulls his brows together. He turns to Emery and blinks. "Sharpe...?"

Emery stands in front of Bobby with her hands behind her back. "Captain Nash, sir—"

"You don't have to call me Captain all the time, you know that right?"

Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "Heard, sir. I was just wondering...why you didn't want to get interviewed by Taylor Kelly?" She shrugs. "I don't usually meddle, but if you don't want her here then...why continue to have her?"

Bobby chuckles, "Believe me, if I could get kick her out of the station I would. But the Fire Chief wants her here." He holds his arms out. "So, I'll try my damndest not to get interview by her."

Emery chuckles, "Yeah, I wish I had that much Will power, sir."

"What do you mean?" Bobby asks.

Emery sighs and rubs the back of her neck. "Well, I was going to stand my ground and not have an interview with Taylor. But then...she started talking about me catching attention and being an inspiration..."

"...and that won you over."

Emery looks at the ground and scoffs. "It's like..." she rubs her face and looks back at her Captain. "...I don't want my story and life to be exploited. But as soon as I heard about being well known. I am such a sucker. It just seems like she doesn't actually care."

Bobby shakes his head, "You're not a sucker, Em. Taylor told you everything she knew you would want to hear..." he trails off his sentence and slightly tilts his head. "Maybe that does kind of makes you a sucker."

Emery manages a small laugh and wipes her nose. Bobby smiles, "Maybe just keep your distance from her. All she needs to do is get a little bit more footage and we'll be rid of her."

Emery softly chuckles, "One can hope, right?"

...

Chimney laughs as he makes his way over to one of the containers of treats. "New arrivals! When they send them in plastic, you know it's gonna be good."He pulls open the container to reveal nothing. "Aw..."

"Seriously, you guys?—You couldn't even leave me any crumbs?"

"Oh, Chim, you missed out." Buck takes a bite out of the brownie.

"Is that chocolate?"

"Fudge, with nuts." Eddie adds.

Chimney's expression saddens. "I love fudge with nuts."

Emery softly hums and eats her brownie. "Chim, I really tried to save you one, but..." she looks at the brownie in her hand and takes another bite. "...they're just so good."

Chimney pulls his brows together, "And how many did you have?"

Emery slows her chewing, "I dunno...one?"

Buck laughs, "One? Oh, you mean one thousand?"

"Are you food shaming me, Probie?" Emery tilts her head to the side. "And it wasn't one thousand. It was just two."

Emery turns to Chimney and giggles. "Okay, but, they were so...so..." she holds her hands out, trying to find the right word. "Hen?"

Hen finishes her brownie and sighs. "Scrumptious. They were scrumptious."

Chimney sets the container down and lets out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, you had to see this. This dark underbelly of hour 21 in a 24-hour shift. Gets pretty mercenary around here."

"It does! It does!" Emery makes her way over to Chimney and points at the camera. "One time. Buck and I were playing Mario Kart and he cheated—"

"I did not!" Buck exclaims.

Eddie nods, "He did."

"I almost gauged his eyes out." Emery holds her pointer finger up.

Buck nods his head with his lips pressed together. "She did."

The alarms begin to blare through the station, which catches everyone's attention. Emery takes a step toward the stairs and suddenly colors exploded in her vision.

"Whoa..."

☆

Emery felt like she was floating. Everything in her eyesight started to get bigger then...smaller. She honestly was having the time of her life.

"Today has been the best day ever."

Chimney looks at Emery and she had a look of content across her face. He pulls his brows together. Emery then purses her lips, "I think today might be better than sex."

Chimney's eyes widen, "I-I'm sorry?—"

"No, no. Sex is soooo good. Nothing is better than sex. Can't be." Emery shrugs.

Emery wiggles her fingers in her view and giggles. "I can feel everything!" she squeals.

Buck was sitting next to Emery and he grabs her hand. Emery snaps her eyes over to the boy, a smile on her lips. "I feel everything too!" Buck squeals. Emery and Buck then start to laugh.

Chimney looks between the two. They have never not even once, held hands. Let alone, laughed together. What the hell is going on?

"Jeez! Allergies are going crazy today." Eddie wipes his eyes.

"You too?!" Buck and Emery exclaim.

"The index wasn't elevated this morning." Buck says. "Think it's a new kind?"

Emery knits her brows together. Her eyes weren't on the men, but she was still listening intently.

"New kind of what?" Eddie asks.

"Of pollen."

Emery giggles, "New pollen..." her smile then drops. "Wait...is that possible?"

"A new kind of pollen?" Chimney deadpans.

Emery looks at her hands she then opens and closes her fists.

"You're not feeling this, Chim?" Eddie asks.

"No, I do not."

Emery softly gasps, "Wh-What if...we are seeing outside of the simulation and Chimney is still inside of it?"

Emery, Buck, and Eddie all look at Chim. The man feels uncomfortable under their intense gazes. "Wh-What?—"

"Are you in a simulation, Chim?" Eddie asks, his eyes filled with fear and worry.

"You can tell us if you are." Emery whispers. "Blink once for yes and twice for no."

"Shhhh!" Buck hushes. "He can't tell us if he is. Maybe he might have an existential crisis and jump off a cliff."

"Or kill us." Emery gasps.

"Or someone might kill him!" Eddie gasps even louder.

"Knowing Chimney's luck, it's probably the latter." Emery says. Her eyes trail over to the quiet woman. "Is Hen, dead?"

Chimney looks over at Hen and notices her giggling while looking out the window.

The firefighters finally got to their destination and make their way to the building. Emery for some reason was staying beside Buck. They were both chatting it up like they were best friends. It made Chimney uncomfortable.

"If I were to watch Star Wars with you, then you would have to watch Harry Potter with me." Buck says.

Emery squints her eyes, she stands in front of Buck with her hand on his chest which causes him to stop in his tracks. He slightly tilts his head down to her and she tilts her chin up at him. A small smirk forms on Emery's lips and Buck returns the same challenging smirk. The longer the two stood there the more Buck felt his heart starting to beat faster than before. And Emery knew it was happening from her hand on his chest.

Eddie pokes his head between the two. "What's happening? Are you guys fighting?"

Emery blinks and notices how long she's been standing in front of Buck with infatuation written across her face. She clears her throat and giggles softly, "No, no. We were having a serious conversation about...tv." Emery clutches her bag and rushes into the building.

As soon as Emery entered the building it was like a color overload. The color was now dancing around the walls with the loud voices hovering in her ears. Two kids run past Emery and she flinches. She raises her brows, "They're like little princesses..."

"All right, guys." Chimney notices the three young firefighters weren't around. "Sharpe, Diaz, Buckley, let's go!"

"Did these beauty queens shrink, or are we suddenly giants?" Buck whispers.

Emery looks at her hands and squeezes them shut. "I...I think we're giants." She covers her mouth. "What—I didn't eat any magic beans."

"Are there magic beans around here?!" Emery shouts. "Are there any magic beans?!"

"I think he means you guys."

Emery whips her head around and looks at the woman. "Mom, hey—hey!" She wraps her arms around Athena. The woman raises her brows, "Uh, Em—"

"Why can't you see I'm trying?" Emery huffs. "I-I mean, you know I'm trying, right? After Helena I didn't...I couldn't talk to any of you guys, but now now..."

"Emery? Emerson?" Athena grips Emery's shoulders. "Sweetheart? I'm Athena. This is Athena."

Emery blinks, she pulls her brows together. "I think...I ate a magic bean."

"Wh-What?"

"Hey, Athena! They're, like, the tiniest ladies I've ever seen." Buck speaks. Athena looks at Buck with wide eyes.

"Teeny-tiny. Just..." Buck punches his fingers together.

"Excuse me?" Athena exasperates.

"So tiny." Eddie whispers, freaking out.

"Henrietta!"

"Ooooo—you're in trouble!" Emery points at Hen.

"Thena!" Hen makes her way over to Emery and Athena. "Oh, Thena, you smell like love."

Emery then vigorously nods her head. "Y-You do. You smell like love. And I love it."

Hen laughs and points at Emery. Then Emery points at Hen and laughs.

"I see what you did there!"

"You see what I did there?"

"Chimney?!"

Emery feels someone poke her shoulder and she whips her head around and meets two bright blue eyes. "Probie."

"Emi."

Emery smiles, "You know what? I love that you call me Emi. It's like our thing."

"And I love that you call me Probie." Buck shrugs.

"Are you two gonna kiss?" Hen giggles.

"No!"

Emery and Buck then look back at each other. Buck shifts and Emery swallows. Why did it seem like they were actually considering it?

"Your guys be tripping." Athena voices.

"What? Guys, look at me." Chimney waves his hands.

Emery and Buck pull their eyes away from each other. They look at Chimney.

"Do you know where you are?" Chimney asks.

"We're everywhere, man." Eddie says, pushing his way through the balloons.

"I'm in a simulation!" Emery holds her hand up. "I know I'm in a simulation but you guys don't. And that's okay!" She grips Buck's shoulders. "Because I will get you guys out."

"They're on drugs." Athena looks at Chimney.

Chimney pulls his brows together as Hen laughs. "Okay, okay, okay..."

Hen bugs Chimney and he hugs her back. Emery holds her arms up. "Group hug!" She grabs Buck's arm and pulls him into the hug with Hen and Chimney. "Athena, get in here!"

"Oh. Oh, my God, it's the brownies."

"Brownies?"

"We got a new batch today." Chimney says.

"Wait what?" Emery pulls away from the hug.

"We've been getting a lot of stuff lately, especially since the earthquake." Chimney explains.

"You guys eat that stuff? We just throw that stuff right in the trash."

"Well, Athena..." Emery sniffles. "...you're a cop. And we're firefighters. Everybody loves us."

Athena deadpans.

Emery snaps her eyes over to Chimney. "We've been dosed?!" She touches her beating heart. "Oh, God. I can hear my heartbeat. This is the worst day of my life!"

"Okay, Em. You gotta calm down—"

"Calm down? Calm down?! I've been drugged!" Emery exclaims. "I mean, it was nice at first but now—now I'm having a nervous breakdown!"

Emery starts to unbutton her shirt and Chimney's eyes widen. "Whoa, whoa, whoa—let's keep our clothes on, okay?"

Emery deadpans, "I have a shirt on under this, Chim." She hisses. "I'm not a pervert." She then throws her arms up and scoffs. "Why the hell would someone do this to me?!"

Athena holds her hands up, "Okay, I called reinforcements."

"Oh, God. Now we're going to get arrested." Emery's eyes start to get teary.

"No, Emery. Nothing's gonna happen to you, all right?" Athena touches the girl's arms. "You're going to be, okay?"

Emery's eyes begin to burn with tears. "I miss my wife."

Athena's eyes sadden and she wraps her arms around Emery. "I know you do, sweetheart."

☆

Emery was left with a budding headache behind her brows. She couldn't believe that she was drugged with LSD by that lizard lady. Emery was now plagued with thoughts of her late wife and immense embarrassment from the way she acted. I mean, she was act work! They shouldn't have seen her that way.

Emery's face was practically buried in her phone when she went to leave the station. She was texting her next hook up, who she was supposed to meet in 30 minutes. After this shift, Emery felt like it was something she needed.

"Hey, Emi!"

Emery's skin begins to crawl and she groans. "Give me a break..." she rolls her eyes and spins on her heel towards the boy. "Probie, to what do I owe the...not so pleasurable, pleasure?" She cocks her head to the side.

Buck softly chuckles, "Long day, huh?"

"You're telling me..." Emery readjusts her bag.

"I was wondering if you were busy later?"

Emery squints her eyes, "What?"

Buck tenses from her forceful tone. "It's just...we said we would watch Star Wars and Harry Potter—"

Emery lets out a laugh. But it wasn't some heartwarming kind of laugh. It was a laugh a class act high school bully would give the lower class quiet student that asked them if they could be friends. Emery wipes her eyes and then sniffles. "You...you think I wanna do something with you, I told you about when I was high?"

Buck's jaw clenches, "You could've just said 'no'—"

"No." Emery seethes, her tone as sharp as a knife. "I don't want to watch Star Wars or Harry Potter with you, Probie." She takes a threatening step towards him. "I want to go home and forget I was ever nice to you."

Buck's approachable mood was now nowhere to be seen. He was glaring down at Emery with all the distaste in the world. Emery's brown eyes were filled with so much anger, she didn't know if it was for herself or for the fact that she couldn't get Helena out of her fucking head right now.

"I don't like you, Evan Buckley. I need you to get that through you dumb thick skull."

Emery needed to get her anger out. And since she wasn't on her way to have sec right now, yelling at the boy she despised seemed to be the next option.

Buck let's out a harsh breath. "You can be such a..." he shakes his head and holds his hands up. "You know what? I don't even know why I try with you, Sharpe. You tell me that I think I'm better than everyone else, but look in the mirror."

Emery squints her eyes.

"You have holier than thou attitude to you and it's fucking ridiculous. You're not better than me!" Buck raises his voice. "You're just an arrogant try hard that tries to build this perfect vision of yourself. But you're not perfect, Emerson. No one is—"

"Shut the hell up, Buck." Emery snaps, her finger in his face. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Oh, I don't?!"

"No, you don't!"

"Hey, hey, you two!" Bobby makes his way over to the arguing firefighters. "I know, we've all had a hard day. But yelling in this fire station isn't something we do. Especially as a team."

Buck scoffs, "Team...Emery doesn't think that we're a team." He shakes his head. "All she cares about is herself and how she can be seen as the 'best'."

Emery shifts and she bites the inside of her cheek. "That's not...true." She hesitates.

Buck quickly quirks a brow up and he lazily points at her, proving his point. He looks at Bobby, "I'll see you tomorrow, Cap."

Buck brushes past the girl, who had her eyes glued to the ground. Emery taps her phone against her thigh and her eyes burn with tears of frustration.

Bobby looks at the quiet girl, "Em, you wanna tell me what's going on with you?"

Emery sniffles and looks at Bobby. "With all dude respect, Captain? I don't." She sighs. "I-I have to go meet someone in like 15 minutes."

Bobby opens his mouth to talk to Emery. He wanted to tell her that he was there for her just like he always has been. But Emery was distracted and pissed. Pissed that Buck actually read her right.

So, she walks out of the station before Bobby could get any words out.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Question...if I were to write smut for this fic (there is no if. I AM writing smut for this fic) what are y'all's headcanons for Buck and Emery. If you do have any—Or just headcanons for Buck. I need to get some ideas flowing.

Update. I finished writing their first hookup scene and lemme tell you something it is so—HOLY SHITTTTT I am so excited for you guys to read it!

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