Archive of Our Own

1.

Ben had been depressed for weeks. Ever since he and Miranda separated, Ben had been moody and irritated and living in the station. 

The team tried to comfort him but their words of comfort weren't at all welcome by the former surgeon who responded with anger or negativity. 

One night a month later they had a call that was extremely hard. 

A warehouse fire that had sparked suddenly trapping an entire crew of graveyard shift workers inside. 

"Maybe I'll get injured so Miranda will want to see me," Ben muttered parking the aid car beside the rest of the trucks. 

Travis looked at him with concern. "Warren don't say stuff like that." 

Ben snarled. "Don't look at me like that!" 

He shoved the door open, jumped out of the aid car, and slammed the door shut behind him before Travis could even retort. Travis sighed and got out of the car. 

It was really no use talking to Ben when he was in this state. 

"Hererra, Gibson, and Bishop start search and rescue," Sullivan called out. "Miller, Hughes get a line going. Warren, Montgomery start setting up triage!"

Everyone scattered to get to work and Travis let go of his concern for Ben and got to work. They were at it for about three hours when the explosion happened. 

Thankfully Gibson, Herrera, and Bishop were out of the building when it happened because no one remaining on the inside survived the blast. 

Miller and Hughes were sent flying away along with the other firefighters holding the hoses but they were okay. 

There had been seven firefighters still inside from other stations as well as a dozen workers who had not been rescued yet. 

Triage was jam packed, firefighters were injured all over the place, and Sullivan was already trying to organize a body recovery, yet Ben stood there motionless watching the flames shoot up into the sky as if trying to reach the clouds. 

It was a tough call. 

The only call that was tougher than this one was when Ben left Travis bleeding to death in a burning skyscraper to try to help a trampled girl who ended up dying anyways. 

And the only thing Ben wanted to do was to tell Miranda all about it. But he couldn't. Instead he had to go back to his stupid little bunk and lay there by himself, unable to sleep wondering if his marriage was going to survive. 

"Warren," Dean said stopping him from leaving the kitchen area. "Sit." 

"I gotta go to sleep," Ben muttered trying to push past him. 

"It wasn't optional," Jack said from behind him. 

Travis turned a chair around for him. "Sit down Ben." 

Ben looked at them with harsh eyes. "I don't need advice." 

"This isn't advice," Dean said guiding Ben over to the chair and sitting him down. "This is an intervention." 

"An intervention?" Ben said. 

"You've been depressed for a month and you can't keep living in the station, B shift is starting to talk," Jack said. 

"Tonight you talked about wanting to be injured so you could see your wife," Travis said. 

"You believed that rant?" Ben said. 

"And tonight was a tough call, we lost so many people and firefighters too," Jack said. "It must be overwhelming." 

"What do you know!?" Ben snapped. "None of you except for Travis have been married, and none of you have a son! I hate being here away from my family!" 

"We get it Warren we really do," Dean said. "But we are your family too. I know we can't replace your wife and son but you aren't alone."

"That's right man," Jack said grabbing Ben's shoulder. "We are here for you."

"And because I do know what it's like to be married," Travis added. "I do know that I would have never been able to overcome Michael's death if it hadn't been for my Station 19 family." 

"And we are gonna start by getting you out of that bunk," Dean said. "Get your stuff, you're staying in my houseboat." 

Ben looked at him in surprise. "Really? Y-you're letting me stay with you?" 

"Dean's couch is super comfortable," Jack said. "Way better than the bunks." 

"And if it gets tough with those two I have a nice couch at my apartment too," Travis said. "The point is we are here for you." 

"So no more shutting us out," Jack said. 

"Come on," Dean encouraged. "Get your stuff, you're gonna love my houseboat." 

Ben looked between the three of them and tears rushed to his eyes as he said, "th-thanks guys. Thank you so much." 

...

2.

Dean was helping Vic and Maya roll up the hoses when a shrill voice rang through the station calling Dean's name making them all cringe. A skinny blonde that they had rescued two weeks ago strolled in carrying a plate of casserole and Dean visibly flinched. 

The woman immediately kissed Dean on the lips and handed him the food. "For my man and his big strong friends," she said giggling. 

Maya snorted her laughter as Vic looked at her incredulously and mouthed out, "my man?" 

"Lucy hey," Dean said squirming uncomfortably. "What are you doing here?" 

"You left so early in the morning I didn't get to give my man a proper send off," Lucy responded. "Have a good day at work honey." 

"Listen I..." 

"Bye pookie bear!" 

Dean stared at her helplessly as she started to walk away then looked at Maya and Vic who were smirking at him. 

Vic glanced at Maya and said, "intervention?" 

"I think we have to or he will end up marrying this firefly," Maya said. 

"Wait, what are you gonna do?" Dean said. 

Vic and Maya ran after Lucy and stopped her at the door. Dean watched from a distance as they talked and little by little Lucy started to look angrier and angrier. 

Then she shoved past Vic and Maya and started stomping towards him. "Uh oh," he muttered. 

"You two-timing slug!" Lucy cried shrilly slapping Dean across the face. "You opportunistic man-whore! How dare you make me one of those 'firefly' girls?"

"Uh..." 

"I never wanna see you again!" Lucy cried snatching the casserole from Dean's hands. "And I'm taking my casserole too." 

She stormed off and Vic and Maya approached him slowly. "Sorry dude didn't know she was gonna hit you," Vic said. 

"Yeah," Maya agreed. "We just thought the truth would be the best way to..." 

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Dean cried pulling them into a bone crushing hug, one under each arm. "I've been trying to get rid of her since the night we rescued her!" 

...

3.

Jack hasn't slept in weeks. Every time he closed his eyes he was surrounded by fire cooking alive and he couldn't move because there was something on top of him crushing him and the only thing he could hear was the haunting beeping of his uniform. 

Everyone noticed something was off. Both Pruitt and Sullivan had ordered him to sleep several times, Andy and Vic had been yelled at once when they asked him if he wanted to eat with them, Dean got shoved into a wall when he tried to corner Jack to get him to speak to him, Maya had been told to "fuck off" when she told him, "hey Gibson get your shit together," and Ben and Travis had been snapped at when they tried to stop him from running into a burning house without his mask. 

That night he had to be treated with smoke inhalation and he stared at his worried team with tired, haunted eyes without saying a word. 

He needed to be away from the bunks. The rest of the team would hound him for his recklessness and he just wanted to sleep so he climbed on top of one of the trucks and laid on the top. 

He closed his eyes to sleep and immediately heard the beeping and felt the heat around his body. He woke up with a gasp. 

"Hey you're safe." 

Jack turned his head and saw Dean lying beside him. 

"Come on try to sleep again." He turned to the other side and saw Andy lying there with her head propped up on her arms. 

"What are you doing..." 

"Intervention," Dean said. 

Jack scoffed. "I just wanna sleep." 

"Then sleep," Andy said. "We are only the first shift. Ben and Maya have next, then Travis and Vic." 

Jack stared at her blankly without saying a word. "We are here Jack," Dean said. "You are safe. Now sleep." 

Jack sighed tiredly and closed his eyes slowly, mumbling a sleepy, "thank you." 

...

4.

Andy glanced at Chief Ripley and said, "does he always get like this?" 

"On the anniversary of his wife's death?" Ripley said. "Yeah." 

"What do we do?" Andy said. 

"Talk him down," Ripley said. "But that never really works." 

"He hasn't gotten out of his office all day," Andy said. 

"And he won't," Ripley said frowning. "Not today anyways." 

"What will you say to him?" Andy said. 

"The usual, that it wasn't his fault, that she wouldn't want him to be miserable, yadda yadda." 

Andy frowned. "Can we try something new?" 

Ripley looked at her with a raised brow. "We?"

Andy blushed and stammered, "y-yeah, uh, he'a my captain." 

Ripley just smiled. "Sure Herrera. What do you have in mind?" 

"Maybe what he needs is not to talk about it or even think about it at all," Andy said. 

Chief Ripley hummed at that then said, "alright then. Tell me what to do." 

"Come with me to the kitchen, we will prepare a basket and go have a picnic in his office," Andy said. 

It only took them a few minutes to prepare but the whole time the rest of the team were looking at them with intrigue especially Vic who kept staring at Ripley with narrowed eyes. 

The moment they left the team started speculating but neither Andy nor Ripley paid any attention as they headed up to Sullivan's office. 

When they entered he looked up from his paperwork with a scowl. "What?" 

"You gotta eat captain," Andy said setting the basket down on his desk and serving the food. 

"What? No," Sullivan snapped. 

"It's not an option Robert," Ripley added sitting across from him and helping Andy set up the food. 

"I have a lot of paperwork to do," Sullivan said. 

"It's lunch time," Andy said. 

Sullivan sighed and glared at Ripley. "I know why you're here." 

"Yeah we already told you," Ripley said smiling. "We are here to eat." 

Andy sat down next to Ripley and grabbed a sandwich before motioning to Sullivan to do the same. 

Sullivan looked down at the food then up at them who were sitting there quietly eating sandwiches. With a dejected sigh he picked up a sandwich and took a bite. 

"What paperwork are you working on?" Ripley said casually. 

Sullivan looked at him incredulously. 

Ripley didn't budge and just kept smiling kindly at him. 

Sullivan sighed. "The restaurant fire." 

"Oh yeah that was a good restaurant," Andy said. "Best fried chicken in town." 

"I never ate there but I regret it cause now I won't be able to," Ripley said. 

Sullivan looked in between them suspiciously. "Alright what is going on?" 

"Glad we stopped the fire before it got Carlo's," Andy said. 

"Now there I have eaten," Ripley said. "Best burgers in Seattle." 

"Best burgers in Washington!" Andy added chuckling. 

"Best burgers in America." 

Andy and Ripley looked at Sullivan who was smiling slightly at them. "Thank you," he added. 

Ripley smiled at him as Andy continued on, "So, have you had tacos from that stand in the corner? Now those are some good tacos." 

...

5.

Jack sat crossed-legged on the foot of the bunk and looked at Vic who just stared him with her reddened eyes and vacant expression. 

That had been the situation for the past hour. They just sat there together in complete silence until Vic said, "I wanna sleep." 

Jack smiled. "Okay." 

"Alone Jack," Vic scoffed pulling up the blankets and laying down on the bunk. 

Jack climbed off the bunk and said, "alright." 

He left the room quietly and gave a nod to Travis and Maya who walked into the room right after he left. 

Travis climbed into the bunk right behind Vic and spooned her while Maya settled in on the other side. Vic sighed in annoyance, "what are you doing here?" 

"Sleeping," Travis mumbled against her shoulder. 

"Then get on another bunk," Vic said tiredly. 

"Nah we like this one," Maya said snuggling into Vic's arms and laying Vic's head on her chest. 

"I don't need this," Vic said crying again. "Just leave me alone." 

"Nope," Travis said. 

"Not a chance," Maya said at the same time. 

Vic sighed defeat and closed her eyes to sleep. She couldn't be home because it just reminded her of him and it was oddly comforting to be in a tiny bunk with two other people. 

Travis body against her back was like a security blanket and Maya's bosom was warm and comforting.

When she woke up the following morning Travis and Maya were gone and Andy and Dean were sitting in the chairs beside her bunk holding trays of eggs, pancakes, bacon, and juice. 

Vic groaned and said, "I'm not hungry." 

"We didn't ask," Dean said sitting on the bunk with the tray. "Open up." 

Vic grumbled obscenities and took a bite out of the bacon that Dean shoved in her face. 

Andy adjusted Vic's pillows and made her sit up. Vic just glared at her and snarled. 

"Give me dirty looks all day but you have to eat," Andy said filling up a fork with eggs and pushing it towards Vic's mouth. 

It took about an hour for Dean and Andy to finally get Vic to eat all her food and then they left. 

Almost immediately Ben walked in holding a book. 

Vic let out a frustrated grunt and said, "what do you want?" 

Ben sat down at the foot of the bunk and said, "Just gonna read." 

"Go read elsewhere," Vic snapped. 

Ben just smiled. "No, I'm gonna read to you."

"Why can't you guys leave me alone?" 

"Because we love you Vic."

Ben read to her for about two hours and the whole time Vic was lying on her side facing away from him. When he finally left someone else walked in and sat where Ben had been sitting. 

Vic snapped. She whirled around angrily and said, "I just fucking want to be alone!" She blinked in surprise and sat up. "C-captain."

Sullivan looked at her solemnly and said, "Lucas was my best friend."

Vic sat in silence as fresh tears rushed to her eyes. 

"Losing him was so hard, so so hard but he always taught me that I was never alone," Sullivan said. "He was there when my wife died and he stayed with me even though I constantly pushed him away and even blamed him for her death." 

Vic gulped. "I'm sorry about your wife." 

"Don't be," Sullivan said. "And also don't be mad at your team for being there for you. Even if you push us all away, we will never stop being there for you Vic. Lucas taught me that." 

Vic started sobbing. "What am I gonna do without him?" 

Sullivan reached over and grabbed her hand. "You're going to lift your head up high and keep going because you are the strongest person I know Vic." 

Vic moved forward and sobbed into Sullivan's shoulder. Sullivan was surprised for a moment before he just hugged her. He held her until her sobs subsided and she backed away slowly. 

"I ruined your uniform," Vic said grabbing a tissue from the dresser. 

Sullivan smiled slightly. "It's okay, I have more."

"Thank you Captain," Vic said. 

"Anytime Vic," Sullivan said. "Anytime."

...

6.

"I really don't need your help here," Travis said annoyed. 

"Oh come on Montgomery," Ben said waving the picture around. "He's a doctor!" 

"Plus he's so cute!" Vic said flanking Travis on the other side. "I've seen him at Grey-Sloan, he's adorable." 

"Just look at the picture," Ben said shoving it into Travis' hands. "His name is Dr. Levi Schmitt." 

Travis sighed and looked at the picture then handed it back to Ben, "Not my type." 

"Oh come on one date," Vic said. 

Travis turned and faced them both. "Guys I really don't wanna date anyone right now."

"Travis, you've been so grumpy and weird lately and we just want you to be happy," Vic said grabbing his hand.

"Yeah man, you are alone all the time and we just thought that..." 

Travis interrupted Ben with a wave of his hand. "I get it and I really appreciate it but..." 

"Emmett!" They are turned and saw Emmett's girlfriend run into his arms and kiss him. "My proposal was accepted! I just had to tell you the good news." 

Emmett glanced at Travis with a sad expression then turned back to his girlfriend and hugged her tight. 

Travis looked back to Vic and Ben who were looking at him worriedly. He grabbed the picture from Ben and said, "I guess one date won't hurt." 

Ben beamed. "Great I'll set it up!" 

As he left Travis saw that Vic was looking at him with narrowed eyes. "What's going on with probie?" 

Travis looked at her in shock. "W-what nothing!" 

Vic hummed. "Yeah sure whatever. Well you know that you aren't alone and that you can tell me anything. So when you're ready to do that, you know where to find me." 

When she turned to leave Travis grabbed her arm and said, "hey. Thanks." 

...