Work Text:
You cursed yourself quietly as you realized you had to dispatch Davey’s department to the structure fire that was called in. You typed out the entry into CAD, and sent out the tones. “Dahlia 911 to Dahlia Fire, automatic mutual aid Ferris Fire, Dahlia County Medical for a reported structure fire, Echo Priority. Possible entrapment of caller’s son’s girlfriend, 1201 Dahlia Turnpike.”
You watched the notification on your phone’s Life360 go off that Davey was leaving the station almost before you could even finish sending out the call. “Dahlia Fire Car One to Dahlia 911.” Davey’s voice called out over the radio.
“Dahlia Car One.” You acknowledged, fingers ready at the keyboard at Davey’s beck and call, even though you knew what he was going to say.
“Dahlia Car One, Dahlia Car Two, Dahlia Engine 10-1 on route.” Davey announced, then before you could reply— he continued. “Requesting tones for another driver and tanker crew.” You nodded your head as if he could see you and typed in his request into CAD so that the other volleys with the first responders app could see what was happening.
“Dahlia Car One, Dahlia Car Two, Dahlia Engine 10-1 on route, 13:23. Tones for Dahlia Fire, additional manpower for tanker.” You spoke, cool, collected. Practiced. You checked the time and were just about to drop the second tones for Ferris when you heard a voice over the radio.
“Ferris Tanker 17-2 to Dahlia 911.” The voice called. It was one you recognized, but not enough for you to put a name on over radio.
“Ferris 17-2.”
“Ferris Fire Car One, Tanker 17-2 on route.”
“Ferris Fire Car One, Tanker 17-2 on route, 13:25.” You couldn’t help but watch Davey’s location as he zoomed around in that fire truck, it always made you nervous. Squeamish, even. You sighed at the time and opened up your line, dropping the tones for EMS again. “Second tones for Dahlia County Medic requesting automatic mutual aid for structure fire, 1201 Dahlia Turnpike.” You tapped your fingers anxiously against the desk, your leg starting to bounce up and down anxiously.
“Dahlia 911, Dahlia Medic 1252.” Finally, those damn EMTs.
“Medic 1252.”
“Medic 1252 on route.”
“Medic 1252 on route, 13:26.” You glanced to the map, and were thankful that your coworker was working on getting the police there. You couldn’t stand talking to the police these days, they were far too sassy for you.
“Dahlia Fire Tanker 10-2 to Dahlia 911.” Milo’s voice. You took a breath of relief when you heard the familiar rasp across the radio and gratefully replied.
“Dahlia Fire 10-2.”
“10-2 on route.”
“Dahlia Fire 10-2 on route, 13:27.” Davey was getting close to the scene, and knowing that Milo was four minutes behind him was somehow nerve wracking. It made you wonder how much could happen in 4 minutes. It was frustratingly silent for a brief moment before you heard Davey again.
“Dahlia Fire Car One to Dahlia 911.” He called.
“Dahlia Car One.” You responded.
“You can show Dahlia Car One, Dahlia Car Two, Engine 10-1 on scene.”
You were nodding before he was even done speaking, typing everything in. “Dahlia Car One, Dahlia Car Two, Dahlia 10-1 on scene, 13:29.” You clicked across screens and watched from across the room as your coworker ended the call with the original caller, there was both Davey and Police there. You weren’t sure which would be more comforting to a stranger whose house is on fire.
You listened to the radio and responded as needed as Davey set up the scene, as the other trucks got there. Then, you helped get more mutual aid out. You requested a recovery trailer, made sure it got there as soon as possible, and kept an ear out for anything. It made you nervous when you heard Asher’s voice start responding for ‘Dahlia Command’ instead of David’s. That meant he was going interior.
And then, amongst the chatter of which hoses needed charged and who was filling up next, a slightly panicked sounding Davey came through the radio saying those three words every dispatcher and first responder dreaded to hear.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday!” He called, nearly barking it out. You scrambled for your radio button, missing it the first try.
“All responders hold radio silence for the mayday, go ahead Dayday— mayday— mayday— go for mayday.” You choked the words out like they were too big for your mouth. Your heart leapt into your chest and you could practically taste your own heartbeat as you sat on the edge of your chair.
“I am David Shaw, I was separated from my partner and I am unable to find my way out, I am low on air, and think I am in the back living room by the—“
And then you heard it.
The sound of something creaking and cracking and falling. Falling either on or close enough to Davey to knock his hand off his radio. It crackled and then fizzled before you heard his voice again. “Living room by the kitchen. The ceiling is starting to come down on me, I need immediate help.” Your eyes prickled when you heard his voice crack just a little bit. Just enough for you to nearly mistake it for his radio rather than him. Your coworker looked over at you and the two of you shared a wide-eyed expression before you ripped off your headset and nearly sprinted outside to your car. You didn’t even have time to process the sharp words of your boss calling after you as you scrambled into your driver’s side seat and peeled out of the parking lot like there was no tomorrow.
—
You got close to the scene and there were people standing by a roadblock with stop signs, you pulled up and flashed your dispatch ID, rolling down your window. “I am David Shaw’s spouse, I need to get to him.” You insisted, looking more panicked than anyone had ever seen you before. You couldn’t lose him. Not like this. Not for a fucking volunteer department. The two traffic workers debated briefly, but seeing your panic somehow get worse each second they took to debate, they decided to let you through after giving a warning over the radio.
You drove your car through the scene, past where there were trucks dumping water into portable ponds, past waiting police officers, and down to the parking lot where the rehab trailer had been set up. You barely even had time to put your car in park— let alone turn it off— before you were getting out of it and putting your feet to the ground to get to the ambulance. Your fear loosened slightly when you saw Davey sitting up, alive, on the back of the ambulance. You kept running. You saw the moment he realized you were running for him, moving to pull the O2 mask off of his face to meet you halfway and nearly flinching when the EMT, someone who you didn’t care to question if you recognized in this moment, moved to stop him. You got up to your Davey and stood up in front of him, muttering a soft ‘no, stay there.’ When he tried to get up.
You couldn’t help the tears that pricked at your eyes as all of your emotions barreled past your wall of adrenaline. Your hands found David’s cheeks, and his found your hips. He was shaky, and despite his size, he seemed so… small in your grasp in this moment. His jacket had been taken off, whether by him or others you didn’t care to ask. He was in his bunker pants and Dahlia FD t-shirt, all covered in ash and soot. You could almost see the tension melt from his body as soon as your hands were on him. “Are you okay?” You asked, looking him over while tears brimmed in your waterline and threatened to fall onto your cheeks.
“Yeah, Angel.” Davey replied, nearly too quick for there to be even a whisper of a pause between your question and his answer. His arms wrapped around your waist as he pulled you to stand between his legs and held you oh so closely. “I’m okay, baby…” he mumbled, the oxygen mask muffling him slightly. You didn’t care. You cradled his head into your chest and pressed a gentle kiss to his hair. The smell of smoke filled your nose as you did so, his own musky and earthy smell nearly completely masked by the stench of soot and fire.
You took a shaky, but deep breath, calming yourself and managing to fight back against those tears to calm yourself down a little more. Davey was here. He was okay. He was breathing, and he wasn’t hurt. One of his big hands was slowly brushing up and down your back, and you felt as his own body slowly began regulating back to a calmer state. That was something you always loved about your relationship with Davey. Each time you two got near each other the tension would melt off of you in waves. You leaned down to rest your cheek on top of Davey’s head and slowly pet over his hair. “I love you.” You whispered.
“I love you too, Angel.” His voice rattled your own chest as he spoke the words, with how close to you he was. You two stayed like that for a good while before you seemed to remember that there was an EMT awkwardly standing near you.
“Sorry.” You blurted out, only standing up rather than pulling away, keeping Davey’s head tucked close to your body. The EMT, who you now recognized as Vincent, gave you an understanding smile.
“Don’t you worry. I get it.” He glanced over to where the fire was still burning, and where additional manpower had shown up to. “If that were my partner, I’d be worried as all hell too.” You smiled, your own eyes shifting to the fire before going back to Vincent.
“He’s okay, though, right?” You asked, pulling away from David just enough to hold his face in your hands and give him a look over yourself. He melted into you and gave a little whine, one that earned a playful ‘aww’ from you.
“Yeah, he’s good. The plaster and shit falling on him knocked his mask’s seal loose so he was breathing in smoke for a while, but he’s doing good. No cuts or burns, but I’m sure he’ll have a hell of a bruise on his back by tomorrow.” Vincent was very matter of fact. You liked that about him. He told you exactly what you needed without sugarcoating and without trying to fluff things out to make you feel better. You nodded your head and raked your fingers through Davey’s hair to push it away from his face.
“How long does he have to stay here? How long does he need the mask?” You wanted to pull it off of him, it made your heart ache to see his face covered by it. Vincent shifted on his feet a bit and leaned against the ambulance, giving Davey a once over. He pushed off of the ambulance and reached over to his bag to grab his stethoscope and motioned to Davey. You kissed Davey’s forehead before pulling away from him. His hands lingered on you for as long as possible, and your hand found his. Your fingers intertwined with each other as Vincent stepped up to Davey, listening to his lungs and heart quietly before giving a short hum.
“He’s okay to take the mask off, but I’d prefer he stay on scene just in case, he’s still our chief and he could still have a coughing fit.” Vincent stated, pulling away from Davey and taking off his stethoscope. You nodded and moved right back over to your boy and gently pulled the mask off of him.
“Thank you, Vincent.” You smiled kindly and looked back at Davey with such a soft expression on your face. You could practically feel the love exchanging between you two, a warmth spreading across your features and reflecting back to you through Davey’s relief to be in your presence. You leaned down and kissed him, hands cupping his cheeks and thumbs brushing slowly back and forth across his cheekbones. He gave a muffled noise against your lips and pulled you right back into where you’d been between his legs moments before. When you moved to pull away to speak, his lips chased yours and he kissed you again. You couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, a soft chuckle escaping from your chest. “Baby—“ you tried to say, but it ended up muffled. Davey growled a little, a more possessive version of that soft whine he occasionally made, you’d learned. But, he let you pull away. “Why don’t we go sit in my car, huh? Then we don’t have to make poor Vincent our third wheel.” You joked. Vincent laughed and pointed at you.
“I like how you think, small fry.” He looked over to David. “Go, relax, it will help you feel better.” David grumbled something under his breath and wrapped his arms around your waist, picking you up and throwing you right over his shoulder. You yelped, giggling and going slightly limp so as to not make it any harder for him.
“Hey! You’re supposed to be resting!” You squealed, looking at Vincent with a ‘help me’ expression. He shrugged and shot you a ‘don’t look at me.’ Look right back. You could practically hear David roll his eyes and he started towards your car, putting you down only after he got to it. He opened the backseat and motioned for you to get in. You raised a brow at him but complied. You crawled into the backseat of your car, and Davey followed close behind. He leaned over to pull your legs onto the backseat, and you gave a small noise of surprise, watching Davey crawl in the backseat over top of you and pull the door closed behind him. “What’re you—“ Davey cut you off by kissing you, slow, gentle. He felt around blindly on the floor of the car and grabbed your work backpack, lifting you up by cupping the nape of your neck and placing it under you to get you more comfortable.
“Shh…” he hushed you, nuzzling into your neck and letting himself lie most of his weight onto you. “Just hold me…” His voice cracked, just a little, and your heart melted. Your hands found Davey’s scalp, and you gave him gentle scratches to his head.
“I’ve got you, sweet boy…” you breathed, kissing the top of his head as he settled in on top of you. “You’re okay, everything is okay…” You smiled and leaned your head back, letting your eyes slip shut. “You’re okay.”