Hearing Things
Vic had just gotten back to the hospital after the Crisis One call and was going to Jack's room when she saw Andy closing the curtain. She walked to the door and listened.
"Stop, stop it. Stop it. This is not my fault and you're not going to pin it on me or use it to make me doubt myself." Vic heard Andy say and was confused. Who is she talking to? "I worked my ass off to get to where I am. I've given my life to 19 and everybody in it. I've tried to support every single one of these people when they got promoted over me. I'm sorry you won't be a firefighter again. I really am. But what happened to you is not my fault and I'm sure as hell not gonna give up everything I've ever wanted because of it. I deserve to be captain and I am going to be better at it than Bishop, and Beckett, and Ruiz, and Sullivan." There was a pause. "Better than my dad. I'm gonna be the best damn captain this station has ever seen." Andy concluded.
"Who were you talking to?" Vic asked, walking into the room. Andy turned around, eyes teary and mouth agape, not knowing what to say.
"I...uh." Andy had no idea what to say so she just went with the truth. "No one."
Vic furrowed her eyebrows. "You just went on a serious rant, Cap. Come on. Tell me who."
Andy sat down on one of the chairs in the room. "I wasn't talking to anyone, Vic."
"Andy, come on. Just tell me." Vic pleaded.
Andy looked down at her hands and then looked up. "Since the start of this shift, I've been seeing Jack's ghost everywhere." Andy rushed out and Vic looked shocked. "Yeah, that face is why I wasn't going to say anything." Andy shook her head. "The whole day I've been doubting myself. Jack has constantly popped up behind me or beside me." Andy rubs her face with her hands. "On the Crisis One call he was constantly in my ear. "those batteries are going to go up any second"". Andy repeated Jack's words. "After I gave Bishop the order to repeal down from the roof I heard. "I hope it works." I was just in my head the whole day... until now. After my rant, I turned away for a second, looked back and the ghost was gone. It was like..."
"Like your mind telling you to get your head out of your ass and that you were born to do this?" Vic joked. "Andy, the call went as well as it could've, okay? No one doubts that." Vic tried to reassure her new captain, but she could still see the doubt in her eyes. "Andy, we all know you can do this, okay?" Vic was unsettled when she didn't get a response. Vic went over to Andy, bent down and held onto one of her hands, "Captain, look at me." Vic waited for Andy to look up. "You're ready for this position. The work you did at the ball showed that firsthand to any doubters, but we all knew you could do this job when we watched you go for the position seven years ago. You were good then and you're even better now, okay?" Andy nodded but Vic wasn't sure she got the message through. "Andy, come with me." Vic didn't wait for Andy to reply, she just pulled her outside of Jack's room and to the waiting room where Robert, Ben and Theo were.
"So, I know things are kind of tense right now. But can you all tell our captain that she's ready for this?" Vic asked, still holding Andy's hand.
"You were born to be a firefighter. You have it in your blood, and you've been working your way up to captain for years, Andy. You got this. You deserve to be captain and I can't wait to see you thrive." Robert attempted to reassure his ex-wife.
Ben walked closer to Andy and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Andy, I know things are stressful right now but the way you handled yourself at the ball showed that you were ready for this." Ben squeezed her shoulder. "You've got this, Captain." Ben gave her a soft smile.
"Andy, I know we're not on the best of terms right now, but when we were at 23 I saw how strong of a leader you are. You put Maddox in his place after he played cowboy during that apartment fire." Theo walked closer to Andy. "Andy, you're more than ready to be captain of this house, okay? You handled the call today well despite having to deal with the aftermath of the ball. You stayed calm and everyone got out of the building alive. That's a good thing, Andy. That's a good day." Theo told her, looking her in the eyes.
Andy smiled. "Thank you, guys. I didn't know how much I needed to hear all that." Andy let go of Vic's hand and pulled Theo into an impulsive hug. "Thank you for supporting me, Theo. I know how hard this probably is for you."
Still hugging Andy, "You deserve to be captain, Andy." Theo pulled back. "It's your time to shine."
