Playing with fire (Amelia Shepherd) ABANDONED

Twenty three

"Yeah, so, I have a week to pick their names and I have no fucking idea," Mallie sipped her coffee as she watched Meredith hold the twins in her kitchen. She'd stopped by Meredith's place with the twins on Meredith's morning off. Meredith had offered a catchup and Mallie needed the human contact from someone who wasn't from the station or tiny babies.

"You should look through a baby book. Or try and remember any from your childhood that you liked," Meredith said.

"Well, I suppose their names should have some Spanish heritage in them. But that works for Cruz," Mallie said.

"Well, what about your names? How did your parents pick them?" Meredith said.

"Uh, Chance, Phoenix, they were because my parents liked the whole kind of theme thing. Chance, he was their chance at a family. Phoenix, he helped rebirth their marriage or whatever. I don't know. Saf and I, I think we were just from a baby book," Mallie said.

"Well, why don't you keep in the theme?" Meredith said.

"I could," Mallie hummed.

Her phone vibrated on the table and she picked it up, face dropping when she saw the message from Travis.

"What?" Meredith said.

"Five alarm fire. I gotta go," Mallie said.

"Go, I'll watch the kids," Meredith said quickly.

"You sure?" Mallie asked.

"Yes, go," Meredith said.

"Going," Mallie grabbed her jacket and pulled it on, getting to her feet. She quickly kissed the twins' foreheads. "Te amo mucho," she called, running out of the front door.

She jogged down the steps to her car, pulling out and speeding down the street at the exact moment that Amelia's car pulled up outside Meredith's house.

"Oh, fuck," Mallie muttered, looking back through the rearview mirror. "Okay, fuck," she whispered.

Mallie ran after Vic towards the crowd of 19 firefighters around Chief Dixon. A large explosion came from the fire fifty feet ahead of them and they all jumped back, covering their faces from the heat.

"Holy fuck!" Mallie gasped, grabbing Vic's arm to steady herself while they got to Dixon.

"Welcome to the party. We've been battling this for the past five hours. We're dealing with a fire in a pile of titanium shavings. There was a massive explosion. Some workers caught shrapnel. Some got burned. They're all en route to Grey-Sloan. All right, be safe, be smart, and don't get dead. It'll be murder on the city's insurance," Dixon said, marching away.

Mallie grinned up at the fire.

"Holy fuck, guys," she said.

"Holy fuck," Vic agreed.

"Ladder 19, reported people trapped in a storage locker. 233 Fordham Street," the alarm blared loudly in the station a week later.

"Oh, great," Mallie groaned, reluctantly getting to her feet to run down to the barn.

She got changed into her uniform and climbed into the ladder with Andy and Maya.

"Isn't it the last day for you to name the twins?" Maya asked, speeding out of the station.

"Don't remind me," Mallie said.

"You still have nothing?" Andy said.

"I'm giving those damn kids names for life. I gotta pick good," Mallie rolled her eyes.