So this is my first fic for 911. I have only seen the first season (I don't have TV or streaming services, and they haven't put season 2 on DVD yet), but I have heard of the relationship between Bobby and Athena, which I am a fan of. However, I got this idea, and maybe it's stupid, but I just had to write it. It's a "what if" type of scenario, and I did my best to have it make sense. It's designed to be a one-shot, but I could expand it if people are interested in having more. I just ask that you please be kind in your feedback.

Thank you to WriterontheBlock97 for bringing me back into the world of 911 and getting inspired to write this.

Happy reading.

Bobby Nash was smiling, and for once, it was genuine. He hummed to himself as he got ready for work in his apartment. He kept thinking about the night before and the date he had been on. It had felt a little awkward at first, but then he just decided to be himself and discovered that it was so easy to do with her.

Athena.

Who would have thought? When he first met her, he would never have guessed they would end up going on a date. It was just that, a date. It might not go anywhere, and it might go somewhere. He'd leave it up to fate to decide. His phone alerted him to a text message he had just received, and he looked at it.

Had a great time last night :)

He smiled and wrote back.

Me too.

He grabbed his keys and headed to work. It was a new day.

Hours Later

Buck was in the middle of teasing Hen about her choice of lunch when they heard someone calling from down below. Bobby was out with Chimney getting something to eat. Buck thought it might be Abby, and his heart lurched. Had she perhaps changed her mind after all and got off the plane? If she had, why did she wait until the next day to tell him? He went to look, already knowing that it wouldn't be her even though he so badly wanted it to be.

Instead, it was a woman he didn't recognize. He frowned.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Bobby Nash," she answered. Hen appeared beside Buck then, looking down at her with her fork in her hand still.

"He's out at the moment. Can we help you?" Buck asked.

"I just really need to speak with him," the woman said. Her shoulder length blond hair was wind whipped. She looked anxious and tired but also excited.

"I'll call and tell him you're here," Hen offered. "What's your name?"

The woman hugged herself as she looked up at them all.

"My name is Marcy Nash."

Bobby & Chimney

"Whoa, so you went on a date with Athena last night?" Chimney asked, not having heard correctly. Bobby was grinning like a goof.

"I did."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"I didn't want to spoil it."

"I wouldn't have spoiled it..."

"I know you, Chim, you would have spoiled it somehow," Bobby argued. He was still smiling.

"So...how did it go?" Chimney pressed, eager to hear details.

"I was a perfect gentleman."

"You always are. Go on. How did it end?"

Bobby's mind flashed to the end of their date where they stood by their parked cars and talked until they hugged goodbye.

"Good. I think."

"You think?!"

"She texted me this morning," Bobby said. "Is that not a good sign?"

"That's a very good sign."

Bobby's phone rang at this point, and he saw it was Buck. He ignored it, knowing he was going to be at the station in ten minutes anyway. The kid could wait.

"You gonna see her again? On a date?" Chimney asked as they finished eating and tidied up their food wrappers before throwing them into the trash. They walked side by side to Bobby's vehicle.

"I think so," Bobby nodded. He had a good feeling about it anyway.

His phone rang again, and this time it was Henrietta. He sighed. It must be urgent for both of them to call him within seconds of each other.

"Yea? I'm coming back," Bobby said, answering. "What's so urgent?"

"You gotta get here right now," Hen said, rushed.

"Why?"

"Just get here!"

She hung up, and he stared at his phone before putting it down.

"What?" Chimney asked.

"I don't know. She hung up on me."

"Weird."

They drove and chatted a bit more about his date. When he arrived at the station, he got out and started walking towards the entrance. Buck and Hen both burst out of it at the same time.

"Whoa!" Bobby exclaimed with a laugh. "Where's the fire?" He understood the irony of that statement, being a firefighter and all.

"Just go," Hen urged, shoving him towards the door. "Go, go, go!"

"Now!" Buck chimed in loudly.

"What the hell has gotten into you two?" Bobby demanded. They pushed him through the door and did not follow him. He turned forward, shaking his head at their sudden insanity. He made it four steps before he saw her.

He stumbled, feeling as though he was having some strange, psychotic episode. He blinked. Was he hallucinating? Was he dreaming? Was he somehow dead and nobody had told him?

"Bobby," Marcy whispered.

Hallucinations didn't talk, did they? He couldn't remember.

"M-M-Marcy," he stuttered. "Marcy?"

"Yea," she said, nodding and crying now. "It's me."

"But you're...you're dead," he said, pointing a finger at her now. "You're dead. I caused the fire that killed you...all of you."

Marcy shook her head vigorously.

"No," she said. "No."

"Yes, you are. You're dead. They told me so..." Bobby trailed off. Marcy came forward and took his hands in hers. As soon as she touched him, he knew it was real.

"I took the kids in the middle of the night to a hotel room," Marcy explained. "I woke up and you weren't there. I knew you were drinking, and I was so mad at you. I wanted to punish you. We left, and then in the morning, I heard about the fire. I couldn't get any information on you. I couldn't find you. No one knew anything or wanted to bother finding out anything. They just said you were gone, and I assumed that meant you were dead. They just kept saying that all bodies were unable to be viewed due to their nature. I thought you were dead."

"But...they said they found the kids...that you were taken to the hospital and died there..." Bobby said, trailing off. They hadn't let him see his wife. They had said she was burned beyond recognition, that he shouldn't see her like that. They hadn't let him see his children either, stating the same thing.

"It was the neighbor's kids," Marcy went on. "Grace and her children. You remember...the single mother? They had the wrong apartment number...they told you the wrong kids and woman were dead. Bobby, our kids are just fine. I'm fine."

"Oh my God," Bobby said, feeling like he was going to collapse. "I...I can't breathe."

He scrambled for the nearest chair. He could see Chimney, Hen, and Buck hovering by the door, eavesdropping. He didn't have the energy to tell them to go away. He was thinking about everything. So the hospital had taken his word for it that the woman, Grace, had been Marcy, that the kids had been his. How could there have been such a mix up? Then again, Grace had had no family, no one to claim her or look for her.

And as for him, he'd left everything behind and changed his number, so if anyone knew Marcy was still alive, they wouldn't be able to call him. He'd disappeared.

"I thought I'd lost you," Marcy cried, going over to him again.

"How did you find me?" he asked. She pulled out a clipping from an internet news article. His picture was on the front, detailing events of the plane crash and how he and his team had saved lives.

"I just found this a couple days ago," she said. "It was so random that it even came across my screen. I thought I was losing my mind, but it's you. I had found you...you weren't dead after all. I came as soon as I could. I spoke with the Minnesota police again about the fire, and that's how I found out about Grace and her children being dead and us being listed as dead too. The mix up was clarified then."

Bobby felt so much emotion surging to his chest, throat, and eyes now. They had been alive all this time, and he had thought he'd killed them. Miscommunication and human error had created this confusion. He felt a slight bit of anger at this, but he knew with all that confusion and chaos after the fire, it was easy enough to make a mistake.

"You're alive," he said almost dumbly. Marcy nodded, still crying.

"You're alive too."

"Are you...are you seeing anyone?" he asked. He had to know. It had been a few years after all.

"No," she shook her head. "Are you?"

Athena popped into his mind, but it had been one date. They weren't in a relationship. He felt guilty suddenly, but he hadn't known.

"No," he answered.

"Where did you go? After the fire?"

"I hit rock bottom and then went to rehab. Then I came here," Bobby answered.

"I went to my sister's," Marcy said. "In New York."

"I can't believe this," he said.

"Me either."

"I'm clean now," he said suddenly. "I mean, I had a bit of a relapse after that plane crash because it just brought back everything about that fire, and the guilt...it was so intense. But I'm back on track. I'm serious about my sobriety, Marcy. It's never been more important to me. This job has helped, and my friends."

"I'm glad," Marcy said, smiling a little.

"I know you might have trouble trusting me," Bobby started.

"I'm just glad you're alive," Marcy cut him off. "I was so upset that we had fought that night, that our last words were out of anger and not love. When I married you, I said for better or for worse, and I'm going to stick by you no matter what happens because we are a family."

Bobby stood up then, needing to hold her, needing to feel her in his arms.

He hugged her tightly, and both of them were crying openly now.

"I got you," he kept saying. "I got you."

They hugged and rocked back and forth for a bit before they started kissing. Bobby didn't let it get too carried away since he knew prying eyes were still observing.

"The kids?" he asked once they stopped.

"At the hotel," she answered. "I just wanted to make sure first that you were the right Bobby Nash."

"I want to see them," he said immediately.

"Of course," Marcy nodded. "Come on."

They walked hand in hand to the door. Chimney, Hen, and Buck moved out of the way, blatantly obvious that they were listening at doors.

"What's up, Cap?" Buck asked nonchalantly.

"Guys, this is my wife. Marcy," Bobby said.

"We know. She told us," Hen pointed out. Marcy had also told them what had happened.

"I thought you were...you know..." Chimney trailed off, looking at Marcy.

"It's a long story that I'm sure Bobby will fill you in on later," she replied with a smile.

Hen knew she would fill him in as soon as they were alone.

"I'm going to see my kids," Bobby said. "I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"No kidding," Chimney snorted. "Go! Get out of here, man! Take the rest of the week off!"

Bobby flashed them all a grin again as he and Marcy walked to her rental car and got in and drove away.

"Holy shit," Buck said once they were alone. "Can you believe this?!"

"It's a miracle," Hen agreed.

"He deserves it," Chimney said. "After everything...he deserves it."

"I couldn't agree more," Hen nodded.

Bobby & Marcy

The anticipation at seeing his children again was intense. He could barely walk after they arrived to the hotel. Marcy kept a tight hold of his hand as though he would disappear again. They approached the door, and he stopped.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"They're not mad at me?" he countered.

"No, Bobby. They just want their father back," Marcy answered.

"Okay."

She opened the door, and it was as thought time stood still. There they were. Older, but they were his son and daughter. Brook saw him first, and she dropped her book and jumped to her feet to race over to him. Robert was next. They both crashed into him, and he clung to them hard, crying.

"My babies," he kept saying. "My babies. Oh my God."

Marcy had a hand over her mouth, smiling through her tears.

"Dad," Brook kept saying. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Dad," Robert added.

"I love you both so much," Bobby said, gasping for air now. He never wanted to let them go. He never dreamed he would get a second chance, that he'd ever see them again.

"Mom says we're going to live here now," Brook said. "Right?"

"I...I don't know..." Bobby trailed off, looking at Marcy.

"We go where you go. If you're happy here and made roots, then we'll stay here. I just want us to be together again," Marcy said.

"Well, I'm pretty set up here," Bobby said. "I'll have to get a bigger place..."

"That's fine."

His mind was racing. It was on overload, really. The kids started talking at once about what they had been doing the past few years. Bobby listened and laughed with them at funny parts. They cried a lot too.

He had his family again, and he made a solemn vow to never let them get taken away from him ever again.

The Next Day

Athena was sitting at the diner and drinking her coffee when Bobby came in. She had heard through Henrietta about Bobby's wife and kids returning with the story of a miracle and miscommunication. She knew what was coming.

"Hi," he said, sitting down across from her.

"Hi," she replied. "Big day for you yesterday."

"It...it really was," he nodded. He felt bad, knowing that there was chemistry between them, but they couldn't move forward. Not now. Athena sensed this.

"Bobby," she said, reaching to put her hand over his. "It's okay."

"I feel bad..."

"Why? You didn't know your family was still alive. It's okay. I understand."

"If they weren't...if they hadn't come back..." he tried.

"I know," she stopped him with a sad smile. "Look, you are getting what a lot of people don't get: a second chance. You gotta take it. If I was given a second chance, I'd probably take it, so you gotta take it."

"You're an incredible woman, Athena," Bobby said. "If there was a different timeline..."

"Then we'd be invincible," Athena finished for him, smiling. He smiled back. She patted his hand then before taking hers back.

"I want you to meet them," he said.

"And I will. Go home, Bobby. Take some time off. Be with your family," she urged. "I'll meet them when things are settled."

"Thank you," he said, standing up then. "You're a very good friend, Athena."

"Go on, get," she said, shooing him. It was a bit sad that they would never find out if things would have worked between them, but she was also thrilled he got his family back.

He flashed her a grin over his shoulder as he walked away.

Yes, things were finally going Bobby Nash's way. Athena smiled as she sipped her coffee.

She couldn't think of a man more deserving of a second chance.