Storm's coming

Episode In A Flash

Maeve's weird call of the day was when a guy was stuck in the beach.

"Help! We buried our dad in the sand and then lightning came out of nowhere!" The older kid explained. "Lightning?" Maeve asked, with no rain?

"Let's hope it doesn't strike twice."

"Hen, Chim you're with him. Eddie, Buck, Maeve dig him out." Bobby instructed.

Maeve shape-shifted into a dog and started to dig around the man, being careful to not step on any glass in the meantime. After some digging, the guy's arm bursted out blood.

"Gauze!" Hen yelled.

They managed to get the bleeding controlled and transported the guy, and the firefighter with a birthmark looked around. "Wait... if there's lightning, why isn't there rain?" Buck asked.

"Dry thunderstorm." Maeve sighed.

"Another a shift from hell." Chimney sighed.

After a few more shifts, Bobby dropped Maeve off at home. "Hey." She called, and Bobby turned to her before he left. "You doing okay, Daddy?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, sweetie." He smiled, it was still a fake smile. "Where here do you go all day anyways?" Maeve hoped he would tell her the truth. She knew how much Wendall meant to him, but she was seeing less and less of him every day.

"Just some work that the... head of the department has me doing. It's a very important project, now call me if you need anything, okay?" Bobby lied.

Maeve gave him a tight smile which dropped after he closed the door, she wanted to tell somebody but she didn't know who to tell.

Suddenly, her iPad buzzed. She opened it and found some texts from Chimney, Chimney of all people.

...

Chimney and Maeve Private Chat

Today 1:56 pm

Chimney: hey kiddo

Maeve: hey chimney :3

Chimney: could I ask a favour

Maeve: sure

Chimney: could you... pretend to be me at this lunch party thing going on

Maeve: what why

Chimney: well my parents are here and...

Maeve: You want me to pretend to be you at your own gathering

Chimney: please?

Maeve: ehh

Maeve: sure I got nothing else to do

Chimney: you are a lifesaver kid 😁

Chimney: wait where's Bobby

Maeve: I wish I knew

Maeve: be there in 5

...

Maeve arrived at Chimney's new house, in his backyard. "Great, you're here." He said urgently.

"Hey Albert." Maeve smiled, waving at him.

"Is there a reason you're hiding from your parents?" Maeve asked Chimney. "They're not..." Chimney sighed. "Aww, what a sweet thing!"

Suddenly, Margaret, Buck and Maddie's mom came outside.

"Oh Margaret, umm- this is..." Chimney stuttered. "Maeve, please to meetcha." She smiled, holding out your hand.  "Awww, you're so kind. Howard, who is this kid?" Phillip asked, and Maeve almost flinched.

She did not like being surrounded.

"Oh, she's my captain's kid." Buck butted in.

"Hey, umm aren't you supposed to be home?" Buck asked. "Chim... Howard.. asked me to get some more wine." Maeve pulled out a bottle from her bag.

"Er zi, ze shi shut de hai zi? (Son, whose child is this?)" Chimney's dad asked, also coming outside.

"Ni Hao xian Sheng, wo Shi ne de er zi de dui Zhang de hai zi. Wo Lai gei Howard ta de pu Tao jiu. (Hello mister, I am your son's captain's kid. I came to give Howard his wine." Maeve greeted.

Everyone blinked at her, amazed by what she said. "Uh- alright, let's go inside." Chimney said. "I didn't know you spoke Chinese." Buck whispered to her, picking Maeve up.

"The scientists were very strict on their teachings."

"Hey, what's... oh Maeve, I didn't know you were joining us." Maddie said confusedly, holding Jee. "Me neither, but I got wine." Maeve answered, holding up the bottle.

"It was nice to meet you all but I should really get going." Maeve said, getting off Buck's shoulder. "Don't be silly, you should join us, Maeve." Phillip said.

"Oh no, I really can't-..."

"Please, we insist." Margaret smiled. Maeve looked at Buck and Chimney for help, and they looked back at her with a pitiful expression.

"Just go with it." Albert suggested, and the shapeshifter had no other choice. "... okay. It's not like Bobby would be home anytime soon." Maeve shrugged.

She sank into the chair next to Buck, trying to make herself look smaller so no one would notice and talk to her.

"Is Bobby okay?" Buck whispered to her as he passed on some mashed potato. "I don't know. He says he is." Maeve whispered back. "What are you two whispering about?" Margaret asked.

"Nothing much, just work." Buck chuckled nervously. "Gong Zuo? (Work?)" Chimney's dad asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maeve works as an LAFD SRA unit with Howard and Buck." Maddie explained, setting Jee down.

"What's an SRA unit?" Phillip questioned. "It stands for... You should show them but gently, something smaller." Chimney suggested.

Hesitantly, Maeve shape-shifted into a cat, and it made Margaret scream and Phillip and Chimney's dad gasp.

"Oh my god!" She screamed, also scaring Maeve. "It's okay, it's okay!" Buck exclaimed, putting his hands up. Jee just laughed, clapping her hands like it was a performance.

Maeve shape-shifted back and frowned, fiddling with her fingers. "... sorry for scaring you..." she whined. "Y-you should have warned us!" Phillip yelled, making Maeve flinch.

"Dad, don't talk to her like that." Maddie said firmly.

"How old is she?" Margaret asked. "7... she turns 8 later this month." Chimney answered. "Wei she me ta ke yi bian cheng xiao mao?" Chimney's dad asked.

"Maeve is adopted, we... don't know why." Chimney answered again.

Lunch went on quietly until Maeve had to go home. "I gotta go before Bobby gets worried. Thanks a lot, you guys. See you next shift!" Maeve smiled, getting up.

"Alright, bye Maeve." Buck grinned, hugging her. "Good luck." She whispered, as she lets go.

When Maeve got home, May had just left the house. She opened the door and found Bobby and Athena standing over a table of papers, looks like they were doing research.

"What is all this?" She asked curiously, scaring them.

"Maeve-! Um, where... where were you?" Bobby asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Chimney wanted help, I came over and ended up staying for lunch. Again, what is this?"

Maeve caught sight of a brochure for a rehab facility but Bobby hid it before she got a good look, suspicious. "Your mom is just helping me with my special project." Bobby replied calmly.

"Okay... then, umm, I'm going to change and go to the firehouse. I'll meet you there."

Maeve could notice changes in Bobby at work as well, after a call, he was staring ahead at his red locker. He stared for like 2 minutes and then left to go upstairs.

Buck was cooking while Bobby was on his laptop, talking about ODs or something. Why would the 'special project' from the head of department be about OD?

Then, Buck came over and gave Bobby a spoon to try it.

Maeve knew how much Buck meant to Bobby, he knew him longer than he knew her. Buck was like his kid, it was almost funny. Buck asked for the secret ingredient and Bobby shook his head.

In the end, Bobby gave it to him. Cocoa powder, and an evil thought came over her. "Thanks for letting me know too!" Maeve exclaimed with a mischievous smile.

"Oh no, what am I going to do?" Bobby replied in a monotone voice and a small smirk, closing his laptop.

"Get me two scoops of ice cream or I spill it to everyone."

"One scoop."

"Deal." Maeve said, shaking his hand. "What are you guys talking about?"

Buck was about to answer but Bobby beat him to it. "Just some research on the dry thunderstorm, right, Buckley?" He said, turning to Buck with a serious face.

"Uh yeah, right."

...

"Am I a jerk for not wanting to have a relationship with my jerk of a father?" Chimney asked, scrubbing the top of the firetruck. "That's not completely wrong but not right either?" Maeve replied.

"Albert's not wrong, Chim." Eddie added, and the shapeshifter nodded. "There's no reason why Jee doesn't deserves to have a good relationship with her grandfather."

"So am I the jerk for having second thoughts on that too?" Chimney asked. "W-well..."

"You want to protect her. Like any parent would." Hen said. "I'm just glad it's not the Buckley family bringing in the drama." Buck smiled, making Maeve laugh.

"Your parents are really sweet, despite that one comment and the screaming... and all those disgusted looks..."

"They were real well behaved, not sure why." Chimney said, a small frown on his face when Maeve mentioned the looks. "The lack of drama is actually concerning."

Then, the bell rang.

The 118 drove away until they saw a burning flipped over car. "Let's knock that fire down." Bobby instructed, Maeve shape-shifted into a dragon and hissed water all over the fire.

"Clear!" She yelled as she shape-shifted back. "LAFD, can you hear me?" She asked, bending down. "Cap, we got a pregnant lady here. She's unconscious."

Maeve shape-shifted into a wolf-dog and started to tear down the walls of the car. "The umbilical cord is out!" Maeve yelled, alerting the others.

"Could the baby have been ejected?" Bobby asked.

"It's possible, we have to get her out now." Chimney replied. It took some scratching, but they managed to get the women out. She was screaming in pain, and the baby wasn't attached.

"Maeve, I need you over here. We need to find this baby." Bobby shouted, Maeve shape-shifted into a mouse and climbed under the truck. She shape-shifted back and saw a pink rubbery line.

"Over here!"

It was stressful, but they got the baby.

After some CPR, the baby started crying.

Maeve remembered the sounds of babies crying at the lab.

Brain chips were the problem.

When the scientists made a new baby, it didn't have powers. So they put this metal implants in their brain, while the baby was conscious. It hurt so so much, more than any bullet.

But when you grow up, you nearly forget the feeling of it.

Just a bruise burned into your mind.

The driver was safe too, so was the mom. And everyone went home. When she went home, Athena, May and Bobby would be out doing their special project.

It was a special project, just not for the mayor.

Bobby dropped her off at home and like clockwork, he and Athena got ready to leave. "Where are you guys going?" Maeve asked, crossing her arms.

"The-..."

"Yeah, yeah, the special project you and Mama have been doing." Maeve said, waving her hand. "... The project's about Wendall..." Bobby suddenly blurted out before the shapeshifter turned away.

"What?"

"The special project... is about Wendall's death..."

"... I knew it!" Maeve nodded. "Woah, you knew?" Athena raised her eyebrow. "Come on, it's not rocket science... I knew you guys would get into it because Wendall wasn't the kind of guy to do this type of stuff."

Bobby almost looked relieved.

"And... you're okay with this?"

"Of course... you guys go have fun being stalkers, I'll watch the-..." All of a sudden, the fire captain hugged Maeve. "... Thanks, kid.."

"Pfft, no problem..."

After they left, the youngest firefighter sat in the living room, watching Bluey when the lights in the house shut off with thunder clapping outside. Maeve got startled and banged her knee, whimpering.

She couldn't help but hide under the couch.

May came back after the shapeshifter had calmed down and the power was restored, thank goodness. Then, Maeve went on another shift on a really rainy night. The call was about a building on fire, and Maeve decided to help out Buck on the ladder.

"I'll come up the ladder with you, might be fun." She said. Maeve walked up the ladder and shape-shifted into a dragon, blowing fists of water at the roaring flames.

The other firefighter followed after her, spraying water with a hose.

"Buck and Maeve, the dream team." Buck laughed. "A-And also the best team, might I add."

Maeve made a chirping sound in response and was about to go back to blasting water when she heard something, she shape-shifted back and looked up at the sky.

"You feel that?" She asked Buck, and the other firefighter nodded his head. "It feels weird.." he replied. "Oh, maybe it's-.."

Then kaboom.

A strike of lightning hit Maeve and Buck where they stood. Buck fell off the ladder and hanged by a rope connected to the ladder as Maeve was thrown back, crashing into the ground.

Everyone stared in silence, completely frozen until Eddie got up from the ground and started yelling.

"Buck!" He screamed.

"Maeve!" Bobby yelled, running towards Maeve. The younger firefighter was in a pit made in the ground, choking on her own blood as she slowly started to go unconscious.

"Baby..." Bobby whispered, his hands trembling as he lifted up her head. The last thing Maeve saw before she went unconscious was Bobby with a tear sliding down his face.

"Cap!" Hen shouted, rushing over. They brought the injured shapeshifter onto the gurney and wheeled her into the ambulance. "Why is she bleeding and he's not!?" The captain asked frantically.

Hen didn't know what to say, she was speechless. "I... I don't know."

Maeve could hear screams, shouts, Bobby crying.

Then, she heard nothing at all.