Ignite | e. buckley

thirty four

"I just don't get why someone would want to basically try to kill Sue. None of this makes sense, she's like the nicest person ever." Anastasia said aloud.

The shift had ended a few hours ago, but near the end of it, the 118 was called to a grocery store parking lot where a woman was ran over in a hit-and-run. That woman being Sue Blevins, the supervisor and boss at the dispatch center. From what the eyewitness, a security guard, had described, the car didn't slow down at all, but rather sped up as if targeting Sue.

Maddie was obviously close to Sue, so after leaving the station, Buck and Anastasia went to the call center to check up on her and see how she was doing. And maybe gossip a little to figure out why it happened in the first place. The couple sat with Maddie and Josh Russo, another dispatcher who was one of Maddie's best friends. However, there were only three chairs around the table, so Anastasia was on Buck's lap and they were trying very hard to not look like one of those grossly PDA-obsessed couples. Because they weren't, they both just needed to sit after their shift.

Maddie and Josh were having a little 1-on-1 conversation in front of the couple, paying attention while playing footsies and holding hands. "Did she say anything to you guys when you responded to the call?"

They both shook their heads no. "She just kept repeating "911", but Hen and Chimney think it was because of shock and trauma." Buck told them.

"Bobby just went to the hospital and said she's out of surgery, but they're still waiting on her to wake up." Anastasia added. "Hopefully she can help ID someone and make some sense out of this."

The new information gave both Maddie and Josh a little relief, but both were still visibly anxious. "I don't know how this place runs without her. She's the glue that keeps everything together." Josh stressed.

"It's got you." Maddie stated in comfort. "It's also got all of us and we're not gonna let Sue down, especially right now when she needs us the most."

The couple stayed a while longer, spending their whole break with the two dispatchers to offer as much comfort as they could.  When their break ended and they had to get back to their phones and computers, Josh decided he should go to the hospital for a little bit to check on Sue and accurately update everyone. 

The next day, Anastasia and Buck went to do their own little investigation at the grocery store.

When it came to them, Anastasia was Buck's passenger princess, and since they began dating, some of her essentials from her Jeep slowly migrated over into his.  His glove compartment now always had lotion, perfume, hand sanitizer, period products, etc.  And obviously her seat was always set to the perfect position, so she never had to adjust it when she got in.

As usual, Buck drove with one hand, and his other was holding Anastasia's, their intertwined hands resting on her thigh.  "Stas, I know a few days ago I kept talking about kids because of all the calls we had, and I just—I didn't make you uncomfortable, did I?"  Buck asked.  "Like we've only been together a few months, so I know it's still early, but I didn't want to make you feel like I was forcing it on you or anything."

"You didn't make me uncomfortable, B."  She said as she squeezed his hand.  "I do want kids in the future and with the whole biological clock thing, I should probably start in the next few years.  But with COVID and me barely working here a few months, I don't plan on starting... you know, this year."

"No, yeah, of course.  We're only 29, you still have time.  Enough time for us to get nosy and figure out what happened last night."

"Is your reporter friend there already? With the security cam footage?"

"Yeah, I don't get how reporters always get their hands on this stuff. I feel like it's kinda a privacy invasion." Buck commented as he parked.