Chapter Text
“Like this?” Maggie questions awkwardly, holding her fire axe staunchly in front of her as if she were about to load it onto the truck she leans back on.
“Yeah...” the photographer, Steph, chimes in, her smile bright and friendly as she looks over Maggie.
She’s pretty, seems smart and good at what she does. If Maggie wasn’t so invested in finishing up this photo shoot she might even flirt with her, but wearing half her gear in an attempt to be sexy isn’t exactly what Maggie loves about her job. A point she proves to herself as the rest of her fire crew smirks and giggles to the side of the fire truck, Winn posing provocatively and pouting at her as James laughs behind his hand.
“Are we done?” Maggie asks, dropping the axe to her side a little in impatience. “Please?”
Steph laughs, her smile hidden mostly behind her camera as she looks at Maggie.
“No, no, no.” she giggles, finally lowering the camera and squinting at Maggie as she stands blandly in her uniform. “I need a couple of shots... maybe one where you don’t look so...’’
‘’Constipated’’ Winn cuts in, laughing his ass off, Lucy joining him even as she tries to turn away from Maggie as she glares across at them. “You're a firefighter. You gotta look hot if you wanna be on the cover.” he jokes.
Maggie groans at the pun and roll her eyes. She glares at them, silently telling them they shouldn’t make fun of her while she's holding an axe.
“I don’t wanna be on the cover.” she protests. “Let James do it.”
“I did it last year.” James laughs. “We agreed to rotate for the eye candy role, and you're up Sawyer.”
“I'm going to quit, I swear.” Maggie grumbles, catching the laugh Steph let’s out at the conversation.
“No, you won’t.” Jonn suddenly speaks up, leaning out from the office.
Maggie glares playfully at her Chief, his knowing smile eating away at the frown on her face. She really does love her job too much to quit, has ever since a certain firefighter saved her from the fire that killed her parents as a kid. And despite that, Maggie's found her place here, defeating her fears and helping others who face them. It's what she believes she was always meant to do.
Which is why she's a little grumpy about this whole Christmas calendar photo shoot. It feels like she's not entirely doing what she's here for.
"This is lame." She grumbles under her breath.
“Come on Maggie.” James levels. “It’s for charity, you know how much this raises for the children's hospital every year."
Maggie nods and runs a hand through her hair, knowing that despite her grumpiness at doing all of this, it is actually worth it. But she admits it still doesn't stop the irritation at being teased by her crew when Winn chimes in on James' reasoning.
“Yeah!” Winn agrees. “So, get some people hot under the collar for a good cause.” he sniggers, Lucy smacking his arm as she bursts out laughing.
Maggie rolls her eyes and groans at them, silently wishing she could hide in the truck.
‘’Just try...smiling with your eyes.’’ Steph advises her encouragingly, motioning at Maggie lightly to get the fire fighter to put the axe on her shoulder.
Maggie just sighs, shaking her head as she does as she’s told. The advice to smile is running through her head, but it doesn’t get a chance to have an impact as the siren suddenly blares through the firehouse.
“Get going everyone!” Jonn calls from the office, phone tight to his ear as he takes directions to the fire motioning at Winn that he's sending them through to the truck's GPS.
The entire crew bolts into action, Maggie hooking the axe back onto the side of the truck as she runs to the locker room and hauls on her jacket and grabs her helmet. She’s stepping into the fire truck behind James when a hand suddenly tugs on her sleeve.
“Hey.” Steph halts her, Maggie looking down to the photographer's hand where it still holds to her jacket sleeve. Steph notices and let’s go nervously, tucking her hair back a little as she reaches into her pocket. “In case you wanna.. go over the photos or something.” She offers, holding her card out to Maggie.
“Or something...” Maggie says a little playfully, knowing by now when a girl is asking her out.
Steph nods and bite her lip as she steps back, Winn shaking his head as he turns the steering wheel and lets the truck roll out of the station. Maggie grabs the handle above her head and slumps down next to James, both him and Lucy raising eyebrows at her.
“What?!” Maggie yells over the siren.
“How do you do it?!” James questions with a disbelieving shake of his head.
“Do what?!” Maggie calls, looking between the pair in confusion.
“Girls literally line up for you Sawyer!” Lucy yells, her helmet bouncing on her legs as they speed through intersections.
Maggie shakes her head. “That’s a bit dramatic, Lane!”
James and Lucy both shake their heads, Maggie reading the word ‘whatever' on their lips. She just rolls her eyes and looks out the door, trying to get focused on where they’re going.
The fire truck horn suddenly blasts and Maggie grimaces at the noise as they speed past the University, her eyes catching onto a shocked young woman who obviously had to slam on her car brakes for them.
Her short red hair has fallen across her face at the stop, the girl shaking it back a little as her hazel eyes lock with Maggie's. The firefighter smiles a little apologetically for Winn’s terrible driving and offers the cute girl a smile. She can’t help laughing a little to herself when the woman looks back at her with a stunned expression and wiggles her fingers on her steering wheel as an awkward wave in response.
The sight is soon lost, Maggie glancing back for some reason to try and see before she shakes her head and turns back to her crew. She pulls her helmet on, adjusting it and securing the straps.
“Okay let’s do this, guys.” Winn calls over the intercom. “Coming up in three minutes, be ready.”
Maggie smiles at James and Lucy.
“Always am.” she says to herself, ready to finally do her job for the first time today.
“No Kara... no.. I want the last piece of pie.. no..” Alex mumbles in her sleep, very intent on getting the last of their favourite Christmas dessert.
“Danvers.” her professor echoes quietly, not quite pulling Alex out if it as she lies face down, her arms folded across the table beneath her forehead.
“You always get it... no I don't..” Alex mumbles.
“Danvers!” the professor yells.
“Huh! What?!” Alex snaps up, her eyes focusing on her classroom, veterinary charts and diagrams lining the walls.
“Care to answer the question miss Danvers?” the professor urges, his glasses scrunching up as his beard twitches in satisfaction of Alex not getting it right because she’s been sleeping. She’s never gotten a question wrong.
“What uh... what was it, sir?” Alex asks innocently, brushing her short hair back into place as her best friend Susan sniggers beside her.
“How would you treat a case of Sinus Bradycardia in a middle-aged dog, miss Danvers?” The professor smirks out.
Alex’s brain scrambles, words flying out as she recognizes the issue.
“SB is indicated by a reduced rate of impulses on the sinus node.” Alex recites. “A complete blood profile should be carried out to rule out underlying diseases and issues. And as many dogs exhibit no clinical signs or actually require treatment if no external problems are found, my answer would be to observe and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Sir.” Alex rambles out.
The professor's eyes widen in shock, narrowing in irritation at the fact Alex is correct. Susan laughs into her hand at the exchange, coughing in an attempt to cover it up. Alex shoots her a look as the professor turns to the dark-haired girl.
“Anything to add miss Vasquez?” the professor questions.
“Uh no. No sir.” Susan chuckles out, eyes averting to her veterinary textbook as the professor stalks to the front of the class again.
He looks like he’s about to give the worst lecture of the entire year before a bell sounds, signalling the end of the class. Alex sweeps her books into her bag and rushes for the door, Susan laughing as she jogs after her.
“Slow down Alex.” Susan grumbles as they reach the front yard, Alex making her way to her car to go to work.
“Shit. That was close.” Alex mumbles, running a hand through her hair as she takes a moment to breathe.
“I’d say.” Susan smirks, the joking expression on her face fixing way to slight concern as Alex just nods. “You really should slow down a little you know. You're so focused on school, do you even have a life outside of it?”
Alex scoffs, her mind racing again to try and find an answer to this question. But it’s not one she’s prepped for.
“Of course I do... I um.. you know.” She waves dismissively at her friend.
“Actually I don’t.” Susan retorts. “I invite you out and get hit with the studying excuse more often than not. You haven’t even met my girlfriend yet Alex.” She says sort of sadly.
Alex is aware she’s probably failing at this whole friend thing right now. Because Susan is right, she is really focused on school all the time, but she has goals, ones she really wants to make happen. Alex can’t afford distractions from that.
“I know. I'm sorry.” Alex offers sincerely. “And I promise I do want to meet...” she stalls, forgetting Susan's girlfriends name.
“Lucy.” Susan chimes, motioning over Alex a little as if proving a point.
Alex winces at that and nods approvingly.
“Right! Lucy. I promise I want to meet her. And I’m glad you’re so happy Vas.” Alex smiles out, nudging her friend’s shoulder as they walk towards her car.
The other woman rolls her eyes and smiles at her.
“You could be happy too, you know.” Susan says playfully. “She’s got a friend who’s totally your type-"
“Woah, woah, hold up.” Alex cuts in. “You know I’m not doing any dating right now. I can't concentrate on that.” she reasons.
Vasquez stops her with a hand on her shoulder and sighs.
“You'd like her Alex. That’s all I'm saying.” she explains.
Alex looks down and kicks the cement with the tip of her boot, refraining to scoff.
“I'm not sure that’s a good thing.” Alex admits. “I don’t want to have to choose between school and someone, I won’t.” She determines, unlocking the car and throwing her bag inside onto the passenger seat.
Susan looks her over, eventually nodding to herself in acceptance.
“Okay. But you'll meet her one day and regret not doing it sooner.” She jokes, pulling Alex into a hug.
“Yeah, yeah I know, you always say that.” Alex chuckles out, pulling back from her friend with a smile.
She smacks at Susan’s arm as she rolls her eyes and starts towards her own car.
“I mean it this time, Alex.” Susan throws over her shoulder. “You could love this girl.”
Alex just shakes her head. She isn’t looking for anything right now, let alone love. So she just gets in the car, the key scraping as she pushes it into the ignition and pulls her belt across her chest as the engine rumbles.
She reverses out and looks around a little before pulling towards the exit. The street is mostly clear, so Alex starts rolling off the line looking down the way she’s turning, but she slams on the brakes when a loud horn blares from the other direction, her gaze snapping to a fire truck as it speeds towards her.
A part of her braces, another focused on the way the truck moves to miss her. Her gaze ends up looking straight into deep brown eyes, the contrast of the bright firefighter's uniform on the woman’s dark skin making Alex’s mouth go a little dry as she flicks her hair out of her face to see a bit better.
The motion of the insanely hot firefighter waving at her prompts Alex’s fingers to wave back a little on the steering wheel, even as the woman’s smile leaves her staring blankly after the truck as it speeds down the road.
Alex watches after it, the wheels clipping the curb a little as it takes the corner at the end of the road. She lets out a deep breath and shakes her head a little, the image of the woman’s wave sticking a little in Alex’s head.
She only really breaks out of thinking about it when her phone rings, ‘Caitlin S.’ flashing on the screen with a picture of Alex and her co-worker goofing around with the dog toys at work. Alex scrambles to answer it.
“Hi Caitlin.” Alex mumbles into the phone.
“Hey, you're coming in, today right? Ms Devonport is here again and you know you're the only one who can deal with her.” Caitlin laughs softly to mask the mild annoyance.
Alex chuckles to herself, her head finding the steering wheel at the mention of the recurring customer that drives them all a little crazy. The elderly woman always seems to forget that the pet store isn’t a vet office, even though Alex still ends up sending her out with dog treats and at least one collar.
“Yes, I'm on my way right now, be there in ten.” Alex assures.
“Great! I’ll see you in a bit.” Caitlin says excitedly and a bit relieved, the line beeping off as Alex tosses her phone onto the seat beside her.
This time, she looks carefully before rolling out onto the road, some tiny and inaudible part of herself hoping to see a fire truck come around the corner as she does.
Maggie sighs, leaning her chin on her forearms after turning her truck off. It's been a long night shift, they’re all usually long shifts. And especially now with December starting, everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit, so many people stopping Maggie in the street after recognizing her from the calendar they released last month. Those encounters feel more draining than her actual job sometimes, so when Maggie finally gets to come home, it's practically the best relief of the day.
So, she can’t help but smile at the house she’s currently calling home. The old Victorian style building looks right at home against the rising sun, even the old paint not making a dent in its charm.
It’s been something she’s done for a while now, buying a house, fixing it up and then selling it. But for some reason this one... well Maggie just has a good feeling about it.
She clambers out of the truck, leaning into the back to grab her duffel bag off the box of her truck. She walks toward the house and winces at the absence of snow to fit the few Christmas decorations she’s had the time to put up. Might be the one and only thing she misses from Blue Springs.
Maggie stops in her tracks when she hears a loud hiss and a scared yap sound from the pile of wooden planks in the yard. She shakes her head and shuffles over to investigate, knowing that Mrs Davidson’s cat from next door is always cornering any other animal it can find.
Approaching the stacks of wood, Maggie spots the black and wiry cat inching into the wood pile, tail raised and whiskers flaring as it hisses again, scratching into an empty space between the fresh cut planks and bags of clay. Maggie frowns and whistles to get the cat’s attention when she realises it's attacking a small pup.
''Get out of here!” Maggie shoos sternly, stomping her foot a little on the driveway when the cat looks up at her grumpily. “I mean it.” She scowls, folding her arms in approval when the cat sulks off and jumps back over the fence.
The firefighter approaches the puppy as it takes a few steps back. And even she has to admit, she smiles a little at the little puppy face that stares up at her, little black and brown spots patching themselves across snow white fur making the small Labrador even cuter.
“Come on buddy.” Maggie urges, kneeling down. “The mean cat's gone I promise.” She chuckles out at the sceptical look on the puppy's face. ''I’m not gonna hurt you cutie, don't worry.’’ Maggie coos, leaving her hand between them to give the puppy time to adjust to her.
It slowly trots toward her, his front paw cradle to his chest, whining. Maggie’s heart aches at the sight of small drops of blood matting in his white fur.
“Come here little guy.” She urges gently picking him up cautiously as she looks into his brown eyes as her fingers scratches behind the dog’s dirty ears.
‘’Aren’t you handsome, little one? Yeah, you like that, don’t you?’’ Maggie cuddles, standing back up and clearing her throat. She hopes nobody just heard her talk like a baby to a hurt puppy.
But when the dog licks her chin and closes his eyes happily, Maggie finds she doesn’t care if anyone heard her. She smiles a little and notices a red collar around his neck and read the chip name. JACK. Maggie grins at the name and picks up her duffel bag from the pavement, walking back toward the house.
‘’Well Jack, seems like you need a warm place to stay until I find your owner, what do you say?’’ Maggie questions, forcing herself to use her normal voice.
She opens the front door and shoulders her way through it, putting her bag and the dog down. But Jack whines again, hiding his head in Maggie’s leg, rubbing himself against her. Maggie frowns, looking down at the hurt and irresistible puppy. So of course, she picks him up again, sighing as she closes the door with Jack in her arms. She looks him over when he grumbles a little and nuzzles up into her neck.
“You hungry?” Maggie assumes, finding herself cuddling the puppy to herself at the little noise he makes in response. ‘’Alright, gonna have to buy a few things for you, right buddy?” She continues, frowning at the realization that she's talking in a baby voice again, her fingers running absentmindedly through Jack’s fur. It freaks her out a little, not that Maggie will admit it.
“But you're just staying the night.” Maggie determines against the warm feeling in her chest at having Jack’s puppy breath on her face. “Seriously, I don't even have a plant because that's too big of a commitment.’’
Jack just puts his paws on her chest, pushing back slightly to look at Maggie. And even with the joyful look on his face, the slight traces of fear are still there and his nose sniffs at Maggie nonstop, making sure he can trust her.
The gesture puts Maggie on edge, her smile fading as she too smells the young pup and realizes he must have been hanging around in the neighbourhood lately, dirt sticking to his back and paws which leave prints all over her dark blue shirt. Maggie sighs and pats Jack’s back as she shuffles further into the house.
‘’Oh boy... I’m in trouble, aren’t I?’’
Alex bites her lip and chooses another ice cream flavour, pathetically putting it in her cart with the others. She rushes to the end of the cold aisle and turn to the next row to get Gertrude some food before anyone can see the mountain of frozen dairy she’s got.
She stops abruptly as she sees a beautiful and familiar brunette eyeing the dog food section meticulously, two bags balanced in her hands. Her hair is up in a neat bun, showing her tan skin and full lips as she reads the back of a bags with a sceptical look in her eyes.
Alex notices the navy bomber jacket over the woman's body, the emblem of the local firehouse stitched proudly on the sleeve. Alex mentally berates herself when she finds her eyes following the line of the firefighter's waist, along her cargo pants before forcing her eyes to drift back to the bags of food she holds instead.
‘’I wouldn’t buy that one.’’ Alex speaks up before she can even stop herself.
The vet student winces at her randomness while the woman looks up in confusion, turning toward her. She looks around, wondering who Alex is talking to when she realizes it was actually her. Alex bites her lip and walks closer, scratching her eyebrow nervously.
‘’Hi! It’s just that I notice you were hesitating between the brand and I’m just not recommending the commercial brands.’’ Alex tells her, nodding a couple of times, trying to appear confident in her messy save of the situation. “But this one is pretty good.” She reasons, reaching for the same kind she gets Gertrude if she’s in a hurry.
The woman grins at her slowly and puts the two bags she holds back on the shelf in a show of acceptance for Alex’s advice.
“How so?” she questions, seemingly very interested in the difference Alex clearly knows, a hand finding her hip as she waits for a further explanation on the choice.
“Well this one is made local, so its fresh and the ingredients are all locally sourced. But those...” Alex motions over the shelves the firefighter was at. “Are imported. Months old and usually the pieces are so stale it hurts the puppy's teeth.” she says, having done her research meticulously after getting Gertrude a few weeks ago.
The brunette nods at the information sincerely, Alex noting how she clearly wants the best for her puppy even though she’s totally new to this. She takes the dog food from Alex with a genuine smile and rests it under her arm.
“And where exactly would I find the best dog food then?” the woman asks. “Where do you get yours?”
Alex gulps down the nervousness and reaches into her purse, pulling out a business card.
‘’Well here, this is the address to the store I’m working at.” she explains, passing the card over. “You can come by anytime you want... or not. It’s your choice, really.’’ Alex ramble before shutting up.
The firefighter keeps on smiling at her, tipping her head to the side coyly.
‘’Do you always steal the grocery store’s clients to bring them to your work?’' the woman jokes, dimples etching confidently into her cheeks.
Alex half gasps and half laughs at the sight, the sound that ends up coming out of her mouth making her want to die. She shakes her head and looks down the floor in embarrassment.
‘’I don’t, I...it’s not my store, I just work there while I’m finishing my veterinarian degree. I just want the best for your puppy.’’ she explains quietly.
The firefighter nods and smirks at Alex while the vet student chastises herself for not acting like a regular human in front of this woman.
‘’Actually, it’s not my puppy. I sorta rescued him from this menace of a cat and decided to look after him until I find his actual owner. I’m just grabbing a few things for him.’’ The woman tells her.
“Oh! So you’re a hero!” Alex points out, hands motioning over the woman's uniform as Alex swears at herself internally. ‘’Well, obviously you are, I guess that makes you a double hero, then.’’
The firefighter just chuckles as she stops looking over the shelves of food and turns toward Alex.
‘’Anyone would have done it I’m sure. And this is just my job so... you know.” she offers modestly, a slight hint of nerves creeping into her tone before she locks eyes with Alex again. “Oh, while I have you, an apprentice expert! Jack, the pup, he got hurt by the cat. I cleaned the scratches on his paw and bandaged it up a little. Is that alright?’’
Alex congratulates herself for actually hearing everything the woman just said, her mind definitely focusing a little too much on her smile. If she’s honest, Alex can’t help but notice how cute the firefighter looks when she's worried. Cute...and hot. Alex shakes her head, forcing herself to get these thoughts out of her mind. She doesn’t have time for this... doesn’t have time for crushes. She needs to finish vet school.
“You did great, yes.” Alex assures. “I have a co-worker who can check him out if you come by with Jack tomorrow.’’ she tells the beautiful brunette.
The woman smirks at her and shrugs, the gesture making Alex finally notice that the brunette is actually shorter than her. It doesn’t help Alex’s rambling heartbeat, enjoying towering the petite strong woman.
‘’Could you do it?’’ the firefighter questions.
Alex laughs shortly, pushing her hair behind her ear. God, her sister would make fun of her right now if she saw this. She's never been this nervous before. Alex clears her throat, massaging the back of her neck to stop from fidgeting.
“Uhh... no. I’m not licensed yet.” Alex explains. “I’d love to meet Jack though. He’s so lucky that you found him.’’ she offers with a small smile.
The firefighter accepts the answer and nods briefly with a smile of her own, her hands reaching up and playing with the edge of her bomber jacket in a subtle show of bashfulness. And Alex can’t help but follow the motion, her eyes locking onto the way the brunette’s fingers tighten on the bottom of the jacket’s zip, paint splattered over her knuckles.
“Painting today?” Alex asks curiously.
The brown eyed woman looks up at the question, following Alex’s eyes down to her hands. She smiles up at her and reaches a hand behind her back, pulling two cards from her pocket.
‘’Because you’ve been helpful, ...’’ She stalls, eyeing Alex for the rest of the sentence.
‘’Oh! Um... Alex. Alex Danvers.’’ the vet student rushes out, surprise with herself for giving her name this easily.
The other woman smiles at that, repeating her name quietly as if reciting it to memory. Alex just loses herself in the lines of the petite woman’s mouth for a second as her name motions out.
‘’Because you’ve been tremendously helpful, Alex, I wanna know which white you think might be the best for my living room?’’ she asks, lifting the cards up, varying shades of white scrawled over the surface.
‘'Angel’s wings...yikes. Cloud’s dust or Cocaine bust?’’ the woman questions, her eyebrow raising playfully.
Alex laughs at that, throwing her head back a little and brushing her hair back to see better.
‘’It does not say that!’’ Alex argues.
She shakes her head and reaches for the cards, but the brunette pulls away. She joins her laugh to Alex’s chuckle at the defensive motion and lifts her hands up in surrender.
‘’Okay, okay, it doesn’t! It’s actually Snow kiss.’’ the fire fighter reads, her eyes moving over the name on the card before holding them out to Alex again.
Alex snorts at the cheesiness and ignores the lifted eyebrow she gets from the woman in response. Instead she tries to focus, inspecting the white choices and eventually pointing out her favourite.
‘’Definitely ‘Thousand Suns’. The name is pretty inaccurate but the white is warm enough but not blinding. If your house is more traditional, it’s definitely the perfect fit.’’ Alex explains, certain that Kara and most definitely her sister's boss, the real estate giant Cat Grant would be proud of her choice.
The firefighter frowns and holds the card up close to her face, taking a moment before smiling at the choice.
‘’Huh, look at that, you seem to know everything Danvers.’’ The woman jokes with a small grin.
Alex shakes her head and looks back down to her boots, hoping she won’t be caught blushing.
‘’Everything but your name.’’ Alex bravely says, looking up into the woman’s ebony eyes when she chuckles.
Grinning, she extends a hand toward Alex, the vet student still mesmerized by her dimples.
‘’I’m Lieutenant Sawyer. At your service.’’ she smirks, shaking her hand.
Alex just stares with an impressed look in her eyes, still holding the woman’s calloused hand long after she stops shaking it.
“You're a Lieutenant...” she repeats, pulling her hand back nervously when the brunette looks down at their joined hands in amusement.
“Yeah.” Sawyer confirms, politely not mentioning Alex’s lack of communication skills right now.
Even though Alex wants to keep whatever this is going, she finds her hands searching for a bag of treats for Gertrude before landing heavily on her cart, part of her wanting to find the closest hole and crawl in it.
“I should um...go pay.” she rambles out, motioning to the checkout.
The lieutenant bites her lip to suppress a smile and Alex practically feels her lungs give out as the brunette says something over the action that has Alex lost in thought.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Alex questions, shaking her head to clear it a little.
“We’re headed the same way.” Sawyer repeats with a smile, nudging her way past Alex’s cart and tugging the front of it a little to get the vet student moving towards the cashiers.
Alex follows on, trying her best to stay focused on the lieutenant’s back instead of letting her eyes wander anywhere else. It proves to be a mission and a half, so Alex is grateful when the woman chooses the express lane and she ends up in the one beside it.
The small amount of space seems to let Alex catch the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, the sound of her items ticking past the cashier calming her a little. At least until a commotion sounds from the isle over.
“Oh my god it’s you!” the elderly cashier lady in the firefighter’s lane yells excitedly, practically clambering over the counter to haul Sawyer into a hug.
“This woman saved my life! You saved my life!” the woman says loudly to her apparent saviour, spinning her to face the entire store. “Everyone! This young lady is the bravest soul I have ever met!”
“Oh ma'am, please I'm just doing my job it’s fine.” the woman offers modestly, clearly a little uncomfortable with the sudden attention on her as everyone smiles and holds their phones up.
“Nonsense.” The cashier scoffs. “Courage such as yours isn’t found in duty young lady, it’s found in here.” She reasons, tapping at the lieutenant’s chest like a proud mother.
Alex notices the slight flash of something in the firefighter's eyes before she clearly pushes it down inside and accepts another hug from the cashier.
“Cash or card?” Alex suddenly hears, her own cashier staring at her with a less than amused expression on his face.
Alex mumbles out an apology and swipes her card over the screen before pushing her cart towards the exit, the firefighter still locked in a vicious hug as Alex leaves.
The fresh evening air hits her like a ton of bricks and Alex grumbles about the wind all the way to her car, clicking it open and hauling the boot open so she can start tossing groceries in messily.
“Of course, you'd rescue a puppy...and an old woman. All while looking like the cover of a Christmas calendar, because what else would I end up being a mess about.” Alex rambles to herself, her palm finding her face as her brain tells her to get a grip. She thinks she has, until she pulls the boot closed and looks back up.
All she sees is Lieutenant Sawyer running towards her, everything moving sort of slowly in Alex’s eyes. From the way the woman's jacket blows back a little to show her shirt, to her eyes intent with purpose the closer she gets. It all leaves Alex breathless and she finds herself bracing for Sawyer to... hug her? Kiss her? Alex can’t decide in the moment what she actually wants it to be.
But it all snaps away when Sawyer runs past her, her boots slipping a little on the pavement as she grabs Alex’s cart just before it rolls into traffic.
“Shit.” Alex mumbles to herself, fingers clenching a little as the firefighter comes back towards her, smiling as she catches her breath slightly.
“Close call there Danvers.” she jokes, leaning against the cart casually like she didn't just reorganize Alex’s respiratory system entirely.
“Yeah” Alex chuckles out, a hand finding the back of her neck nervously. “Thanks for that.”
“No worries.” Sawyer smiles. “Hey, so I was just thinking about it... I'm sorry if this is weird, but have we met somewhere before? You seem familiar...” she leaves the idea open, obviously not wanting to seem imposing.
Alex takes a second to think about it and realizes that the bright smile on the lieutenant’s face does trigger something in her mind.
“I don’t know.” Alex answer slowly, her mind searching for the connection her heart is telling her that exists. “I think maybe, but I’m not sure. I’m usually good at remembering faces, you do seem familiar.’’
“You're okay. I'm just glad you don't know me from a calendar or anything.” Sawyer laughs, reaching out to place a hand on Alex’s arm. “Let’s just say we met in a past life or something" she jokes.
Alex ignores the flutter in her chest and focuses on the first part of the woman’s statement.
“Calendar?” Alex questions, a smile tugging at her lips at the implication.
The firefighter shakes her head to hide the slight regret at bringing the subject up.
“Oh uh... nothing, nothing, don’t worry.” she rushes put with a shy smile.
Alex just nods back shyly, the warmth of the woman’s hand on her arm starting to make her lose track of the apology still running loose in her head. The woman must notice though, pulling back innocently and giving Alex an assuring smile.
“May I?” she asks, motioning between Alex's cart and the store, questioning if she can take it back.
“Oh, you don't have to I can d-"
“It’s my pleasure.” she insists sincerely, already starting to make the trip.
Alex watches after her for a moment, her mind flashing with dimples and brown eyes before she sulks over to the driver’s car door and pulls it open.
“Hey Danvers!” the firefighter suddenly calls, prompting Alex to look at her over her shoulder. “I'll see you around.” She smiles, turning back to the store.
And as much as Alex refuses to acknowledge it, her heart hopes that seeing Lieutenant Sawyer again will actually happen.