spark

Chapter 5 : Awful People

Athena and Stiles had received a report of a vehicular accident at a mall. Upon arriving in the parking lot, Stiles turned off the sirens as they got out of their shop and made their way over to the gathering of people, a familiar ladder truck parked nearby with its lights flashing.

"Lookie here, looks like our boys are having fun." Stiles jokes, earning a chuckle out of Athena as they approached the 118 surrounding a blonde woman whose legs were trapped under a minivan. Hen was standing above the woman, looking down at her with an inquisitive expression.

"Hey, wait. Don't we know you?" Hen asks, kneeling down to get a better look at the woman. Stiles shared a glance with Athena, who shrugged as she too inspected the downed woman.

"Uh, no, I don't... I don't-I don't think so." she replied, the amount she was stuttering immediately tipping off Stiles to the suspicious nature of the blonde.

"Last year. Hancock Park."

"That's right. I never forget a femur." Chimney inputs, placing his hands on his hips. Athena seemed to have an epiphany, pursing her lips and clicking her tongue.

"It's the damned Porch Pirate." Athena proclaimed, causing Stiles to snort. The 118 paramedic duo got Lorraine onto a gurney, placing a c-spine brace to preserve her neck as she inhaled the O2 Chimney provided Lorraine with. "Guess you moved up from porches to parking lots, huh, Lorraine? What's your scam?"

Lorraine held a fake oblivious expression. "I don't know what you are talking about. I went to my court-mandated treatment. I'm completely cured." Lorraine states, while Chimney held his hand to her wrist to assess her pulse. "Haven't stolen a package in months."

Stiles left Athena to interrogate Lorraine, making his way over to Buck as he and Eddie watched those around Lorraine from next to the ladder truck. "Jackass says she's cured, yet she decides to commit insurance fraud for some quick cash? Sounds like an exercise in futility." Stiles said, earning a laugh out of the two.

They continued to watch as Lorraine was loaded into the ambulance, noting the annoyed expressions on Hen and Athena's faces. "Crazy lady is probably saying how she's gonna sue the LAFD for some bullshit regarding her last accident." Buck theorized, making the other two men snort at his words. "Hey, I grew up around awful people, you just know how to read them."

"Amen to that, babe." Stiles tells him, stretching up and planting a quick kiss to Buck's lips before he headed back to the shop, Athena glowering at Stiles slightly as she waited.

"Dude, how did you end up with such a compatible person?" Eddie asks, nodding towards Stiles as they made to get back into the carriage of the ladder truck.

"Damn good luck, that's what. You can also thank dehydration." Buck answered, earning a grossed out look from Eddie. "Hey, not like that. Actual dehydration, Stiles ended up in the bar I was working at in Peru, dry as a prune. Gave him some water, he started flirting with me and asked me out to a burger joint the next day."

"Maybe I should take a trip to Peru. What city were you guys in?"

🔥

A sigh escaped Stiles' lips, one of many that he's lost count of over the years. He sat in the garage after work, holding a funnel up to the opening of a canvas tube while pouring a black powder into it. Stiles didn't know what Buck thought when he said he was installing a "Security System", but if anything was getting installed first, it was going to be a Mountain Ash barrier around the entire house. Upon thinking about it, Stiles probably should've closed the garage door while he was working, but he wouldn't think about it until he regretted it.