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Part 2 Chapter 10: The Unbreakable
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The Fair Lady
The morning at Station 33 had been normal. Calls came in, paperwork piled, and coffee was consumed in concerning amounts.
Then, Lucy Hartfield walked in with force.
Survival instinct kicked in. Firefighters who’d seen worse shut up fast. She beelined straight for Captain Ralston, who was completely unaware of the danger approaching.
“Outside. Now.”
Rodney lowered his mug slowly. Wood looked as if a roof was about to give. Jackson, young and tragically uninformed, opened his mouth—
Gavin subtly shook his head. Don’t.
“Lucy, what—”
“I’m not asking.”
Ralston sighed and went after her outside.
As soon as the door closed, everyone zeroed in immediately.
Right on cue, Lucy’s voice, muffled but unmistakable, came through the station walls.
Jackson, still not getting it, whispered, “Should we—”
Wood gave him a look. “Absolutely not.”
“Well,” Gavin exclaimed, at last.
Rodney nodded. “Yep.”
“Matt’s not okay… is he?” Jackson said.
They all knew he was still in the hospital, that only Ralston had been let in, and that the rest of them were living off whatever the department passed along.
But Lucy was here now, and she was chewing out Ralston.
“We would’ve heard if it was serious… right?” Wood said.
Rodney didn’t answer immediately.
“…Would we?”
Jackson ran a hand over his face. “Shit.”
It was a long-standing joke, one of those exaggerated firehouse stories that started as a theory and spiraled into legend.
Lucy Hartfield was scarier than her husband.
Matt Hartfield, their former captain, never lost control of a room. The man’s calm could stop arguments cold, and his stare could make you regret every life decision.
Not Lucy. Lucy came in swinging.
Today, their new captain was on the receiving end.
“You think she’s gonna kill him?” Gavin asked.
“Nah.”
“…You sure?”
Rodney considered. “Eighty percent sure.”
Eventually, the door opened again.
Ralston walked back in, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable.
Lucy was gone.
The guys watched as he wordlessly went back to his report.
More silence.
Rodney cleared his throat. “So.”
“Don’t.”
“Fair.”
Lucy was absolutely scarier than Matt.
And Captain Ralston wasn’t about to argue.
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