Archive of Our Own

“Good morning, Detective.”

Aubrey smiles down at her notepad, finishes scribbling something down before pocketing it again. 

“Why is it that every time I catch an arson case, they assign you?” she drawls but when she turns to face the firefighter, the sight of Stacie in a black t-shirt and fire kit pants with wide suspenders holding them up makes her breathing stutter as she takes an appreciative look down the woman’s body. 

She hates that she reacts this way every time she sees Stacie in her gear but she’s had a crush since first meeting her and that doesn’t just go away after getting to know her personality. 

“Because I’m the best,” Stacie says, very obviously raking her gaze down Aubrey’s body. 

“Then why aren’t you in charge?” Aubrey teases, turning back to the scene. 

“Because then I’d have so much paperwork I’d never get to leave the station and I wouldn’t get to see your pretty face.”

Aubrey rolls her eyes but doesn’t refute the words, gestures to the building in front of them. “Can we focus?”

“I am.” 

Aubrey shoots her a bored look and Stacie smiles widely before turning to face the building. 

“Want me to walk you through it?” 

“Please.” 

“Okay, so, this is the building—” Stacie starts and Aubrey rolls her eyes. 

“I know that.” 

“Did you read my report?” 

“I did.” 

“Did you enjoy all my fire puns?” 

“No.” 

Stacie pouts at her and Aubrey gestures to the building again with an impatient sigh. 

“I worked really hard on those fire puns.” 

“I still want you to walk me through it,” Aubrey presses, blatantly ignoring Stacie’s puppy dog eyes. 

“Can I just ash you one question?” 

Aubrey blinks at her, face expressionless but eyes flashing with fire before she promptly turns away and moves towards the entrance of the structure. 

“Aw, Detective Posen, don’t heat me,” Stacie says when she follows her, grin wide when she hears Aubrey growl under her breath and practically kick down the door. “I just have one burning question!” 

Stacie stretches her arms above her head as she yawns loudly, twisting her torso sideways and dropping her arms when she feels her spine crack in just the right spot. She’s quiet as she walks through the firehouse, takes note of the occupied sleeping quarters and the light that’s still on in the captain’s office despite Captain Walsh being away. She checks on their drop-ins, all asleep in cots and a few on the floor, goes around to adjust blankets over shoulders and make sure that stray pillows are under the correct sleeping heads. 

She heads to the kitchen and fixes herself a bowl of cereal, intent on crashing on the couch in the rec room and watching television until the sun rises and people start to wake. 

She’s mid-bite when she walks into their recreational space and stops in the doorway, surprised to find the television on and even more surprised at the familiar head of blonde hair curled up on the couch in front of it.  

“Detective Posen?” 

The woman snaps her head up, clearly wide awake as she turns to the sound of her name. “Lieutenant?”

“What are you doing here?” Stacie asks, moving closer. 

“Being held hostage,” Aubrey comments under her breath and Stacie’s frown cracks, a small smile tugging at her lips. 

“What?” she asks, moving closer and dropping onto the other end of the couch. 

“Lieutenant Morgan won’t let me leave.” 

“You could make a run for it,” Stacie says. “But also it’s like, crazy out there.” 

Aubrey waves her hand dismissively. “Earlier. I came over to pick up Chloe but she was out on a call so I hung around and when the storm got worse and people started showing up for shelter, Morgan refused to let me leave.” 

“For your own safety,” Stacie points out. 

Aubrey rolls her eyes at that and sighs, tightens the blanket around her shoulders. “It wasn’t that bad. I could’ve gotten home safely.” 

“Where do you live?” 

“Why?” 

Stacie shrugs. “Curious to know if I’d have made the same call.” Aubrey still looks wary, so Stacie drops her spoon in her bowl and holds up her only free hand innocently. “I promise I won’t drive the firetruck by your house and honk the horn at 3 am.” 

“Comstock Street,” Aubrey says with a quick smile that disappears almost immediately when Stacie’s own smile widens. 

“You’re in our district.” 

“I know.” 

“That’s fun to know,” Stacie comments with a giggle. 

“Why?” 

“Now every time we get a call for Comstock Street I’m gonna wonder if this is the day we get to poke ‘round your house.” 

“Is that something you spend a lot of time fantasising about?” Aubrey teases and Stacie freezes, smile turning guilty. 

“No.” 

Aubrey arches an eyebrow in disbelief. 

“I just like seeing people’s houses. Seeing how they live.” Aubrey nods mockingly. “I’m just a naturally curious person.” 

“Oh, no, I definitely know that,” Aubrey says then with a teasing glint in her eye and when Stacie just narrows her eyes at the blonde, she goes back to her tv show. 

“For the record, I wouldn’t have let you leave either,” Stacie finally says after a few bites of cereal and Aubrey sighs, shoulders slumping. 

“Really?” 

“Was Captain Walsh already gone when you got here?” 

“Yes.” 

“And he’s not back?” 

“No.” 

“Then he decided that wherever he was, it was safer to stay there than being on the streets on his way to an actual, city-mandated shelter,” Stacie points out and she can see that Aubrey agrees with her and how much she hates it. “Plus, with the flash flood warning in place, I wouldn’t have let you go anywhere near Comstock.” 

Aubrey’s pout is deep and honestly impressive and Stacie has to work really hard to suppress a smile at the sheer petulant energy coming off the woman. 

“Sorry Detective.” 

She shrugs one shoulder, shakes her head before turning to look at Stacie. “Aubrey.” 

“What?” 

“It’s 3 am and I’m stuck here. Call me Aubrey.” 

“Stacie.” Aubrey smiles at her and there’s a beat of loaded silence where Stacie’s not sure if she should break the tension by extending a hand for a mockingly formal handshake. 

Aubrey turns back to the tv and the moment is gone as soon as it had appeared but Stacie takes the reprieve to briefly study Aubrey’s profile and the way the bright tv lights play across her features. 

A clap of thunder snaps her out of it, just as it makes Aubrey jump slightly and Stacie notices it but doesn’t mention it, doesn’t ask why Aubrey’s awake so late in the night because she doesn’t want to put the woman on the spot. 

Instead, she squirms to face the television, finally giving the show her full attention. 

“Bet you anything it’s the brother,” she comments before taking a bite. 

Aubrey shakes her head, makes a sound of dissent. “It’s the husband.” 

“No way.” 

“It’s always the husband.” 

“Does the SPD go around with these biases when investigating cases?” Stacie jabs and Aubrey rolls her eyes. 

“It’s the husband.” 

“Wanna bet?” Aubrey arches an eyebrow and turns to Stacie. “I bet you it’s the brother.” 

“What’s the wager?” 

“I don’t know,” Stacie says, shrugging as she comes up at a loss for ideas. “A drink.” 

Aubrey looks briefly impressed before a hand emerges from her cocoon made up of blankets and Stacie smiles as she shakes her hand, sealing the deal. 

Twenty minutes later has a disgruntled Stacie and a smug Aubrey on the couch, with Stacie angrily staring down the television as if it’s the source of all evil. 

“How did you know that?” she mumbles and Aubrey lets out a sharp laugh. 

“I’m a detective, it’s my job.” 

“It’s a tv show!” Stacie protests but her anger dies down fairly quickly, back to a simmering annoyance. 

“I like craft beer,” Aubrey says and Stacie has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. 

“Of course you do.” 

“Do you want to watch something else?” Aubrey offers, holding up the remote and Stacie shakes her head, smiles quickly to let Aubrey know she’s being honest. 

“I should go do inventory anyway,” she says as a new episode starts but she’s barely stood up before she drops back down onto the couch. 

“What—?” 

Stacie gestures to the tv. “Firefighting episode. I have to stay.” At Aubrey’s quick, curious laugh, she explains. “I like seeing how much they mess up with fire protocol.” 

“Seriously?” 

“See, yes, look, okay—” Stacie starts, pointing at the television again. “He just ran into the fire!” 

Aubrey quickly turns to the tv to see what Stacie’s talking about, eyes going wide when the structure collapses and the man and woman are trapped behind burning debris. 

“So stupid.” 

“What is?” 

“He didn’t even take any precautions as he went in,” Stacie grumbles, clearly annoyed with the on-screen character. 

“Was he not supposed to do anything?” Aubrey asks incredulously. 

“Nope.” Aubrey turns to her with a frown. “Look, if the husband hadn’t gone in, the door wouldn’t have been jarred and the support beams wouldn’t have crashed down.” 

“But his wife was in there, was he supposed to just stand outside and watch her die?” 

“There’s an officer with fire training there who told him to stay outside. Now they’re both going to die because they were too stupid.” 

“At least they’ll die together,” Aubrey comments lowly and Stacie’s head swivels around to stare at her, mouth agape. “She’s the most important person to him, she was his priority right then, he wanted to get her out. I’m sure you understand that instinct.” 

“That’s not the point.” 

“Then what is?” 

“I am equipped with firefighting gear. It’s my job to go into the burning building.” Stacie’s voice comes out a little too obnoxious for her own good and Aubrey doesn’t back down from the argument. 

“But surely your captain would pull you from the team if someone you care about was in there, right?” 

“Depends on the situation,” Stacie says lamely, her voice losing some of its fight because she knows Aubrey’s right.

“I would have done it,” Aubrey says softly. 

“What?” 

“If the love of my life was in a burning building?” Aubrey says, considers it for the shortest amount of time before nodding once. “Yes.” 

“You’d have gone back into the building?” 

“Absolutely.” 

“Without any gear?” 

“And without a moment’s hesitation,” Aubrey says with another decisive nod. 

“That’s just plain stupid.” 

“That’s love, Lieutenant.” 

“Stacie,” she corrects immediately and Aubrey’s smug smile softens. “You should try to get some sleep, it’s late.” 

“Backing down so easily?” Aubrey taunts but there’s no bite to her tone and Stacie returns her smile as she stands up and grabs her empty bowl to take to the kitchen. 

“This episode is clearly going to annoy the shit out of me, so I gotta get out of here.” 

Aubrey lets her go with another smile and a nod of understanding. 

“And Aubrey—” Stacie turns back to face her and Aubrey twists, looking over the back of the couch at her. “—if you’re having trouble sleeping, the upstairs quarters are specifically designed to be noise-proof. I’m sure nobody would notice if you snuck into one at this hour.” 

She shoots Aubrey a quick wink, revels in the grateful smile she gets in return. 

“Thanks, Stacie.” 

Aubrey comes out of the conference room with a weary sigh, wanting nothing more than to find a pillow to scream into and she stops halfway to her desk, shoulders slumping with defeat when she sees the woman sitting next to her desk. 

She slowly walks over, stops in front of the brunette and doesn’t say anything. 

“Hey detective,” Stacie says, barely glancing up from the Rubik’s cube that she’s unceremoniously plucked from Aubrey’s desk. 

“Lieutenant Conrad, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Aubrey asks dryly, dropping a few folders onto her desk before pulling out her chair to sit. 

“Oh, you know,” Stacie waves her hand vaguely, still intensely focused on the cube. “Working.” 

“You’re not in uniform.” 

“A very astute observation, detective,” Stacie says, shooting Aubrey a quick wink before returning to the Rubik’s cube. 

“Are you not on duty today?” 

“Nope.” 

Aubrey tries glaring at Stacie for her lack of explanation and with a growl under her breath she rips the cube from her hands, holds it out of reach when Stacie immediately, instinctively, lunges for it. “Stacie.” 

“Yes, detective?” Stacie asks, sitting back down in the chair next to Aubrey’s desk even though she keeps her eyes on the cube with a soft pout. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I was supposed to drop off this month’s arson reports yesterday but we had a huge medical thing to deal with and I worked way past shift and didn’t feel like swinging by.” 

“Medical thing?” Aubrey asks even though there’s a lot of Stacie’s sentence she wants to unpack. 

“Some kids thought it’d be fun to dump liquid nitrogen into their pool for a cool effect,” Stacie says with an eye roll, fingers restlessly tapping along the edge of Aubrey’s desk. 

“Not cool?” 

“No,” Stacie says pointedly. “Very dangerous. When they were in the water they couldn’t breathe, it was a mess.”

“Everybody’s okay though?” Aubrey asks, leaning back in her chair to study Stacie, watches with a smile as the woman stares off.

“Yeah, couple of dry drowning scares that we sent to the hospital but everybody should be fine. And they learned their lesson.” 

“No liquid nitrogen in the pool,” Aubrey says and Stacie nods. “Lieutenant?” 

“Hm?” 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I just told you.” 

“No, you told me why you weren’t here yesterday.” 

Stacie takes a breath and finally turns to face Aubrey again. “This arson thing is driving me up the wall.” 

“Sometimes… we don’t solve them immediately,” Aubrey tries to say but Stacie can see how much she hates it as well. “We’ll catch a break eventually. There’s nothing you can do until we get another one.” 

“It’s not that, I’m just… Right now it’s fine because what’s a little destruction of property, right?” Stacie muses and Aubrey squints her eyes, cocks her head curiously, slightly disagreeing but not willing to interrupt Stacie on it. “But at some point, this guy’s gonna run out of abandoned places to set on fire and somebody’s gonna get hurt.” 

“Lieutenant…” 

“Detective…” Stacie throws back in the same tone, a smile tugging at her lips. 

“I understand all of your concerns, but annoying me when I’m working isn’t going to magically turn up evidence or solve this case,” Aubrey says, trying her hardest not to mirror Stacie’s infectious smile. 

“No?” 

“No,” Aubrey says, turning away from Stacie and moving her chair so she’s properly facing her desk in an attempt to get back to work, her dismissal more than clear. 

“There are two universal truths in firefighting, detective,” Stacie starts and Aubrey closes her eyes as she sighs in exasperation, pen pausing over her paperwork.

“You’re still here?” she asks with a quick glare shot Stacie’s way. 

“Yes.” She grins widely and keeps her eyes on Aubrey, almost egging her onto ask. 

Neither of them breaks away first, the silence stretching between them as they stare at each other in challenge. 

“What are they?” Aubrey finally asks in a droll tone that gives away how exasperated she truly is. 

“One—” Stacie holds up her index finger. “—playing with fire will get you burnt.” 

“I know that one,” Aubrey says with a nod and although it seems impossible, Stacie’s grin widens even more. 

“And two: Playing with a firefighter will get you wet.” 

Beca, whose desk is opposite Aubrey’s, chokes on her coffee, has to cough to clear her airways and her eyes fill with water as she tries to regain composure but even that’s not enough to break Aubrey and Stacie’s laden eye contact, Aubrey’s eyes sparkling with fire and Stacie’s grin smug. 

Beca’s coughs turn raspy and it doesn’t sound like she’s doing any better and despite the at times volatile relationship with her partner, Aubrey doesn’t actually want Detective Mitchell to die so she glances away from Stacie, finally allowing herself to break into a smile when she sees Beca’s red face. Stacie follows her gaze, eyebrows shooting up as Beca coughs so hard her whole body contorts. 

“You okay there, Detective Mitchell?” 

Beca holds up a thumb, nods but doesn’t make eye contact. “M’fine. Carry—” Another body-wracking cough. “Carry on.” 

“I think that’s my cue to get out of here,” Stacie says lightly, slapping the arms of the chair she’s in before standing up. “Detectives, it’s been lovely as always.” 

Beca waves at her, movements still a little jerky and Aubrey just smiles, exaggerates a relieved sigh. 

“Lieutenant?” Aubrey calls after her just as she’s stepping away, twists her rolling chair around to face Stacie and leaning back, giving her an air of nonchalance. 

Stacie turns back with a small smile and a questioning look in her eye and Aubrey’s briefly distracted by the way Stacie’s jeans hug her hips. 

“Hm?” 

“You still owe me that drink,” Aubrey says with a coy smile, finally meeting her eyes. 

Stacie’s smile widens as she pauses, watches, mesmerised, as Aubrey crosses her legs. “I’ll get on that.” 

With a final wink Stacie turns to go, making sure to put a little extra swing in her hips as she does and Aubrey doesn’t turn back to face her desk until Stacie’s long gone. 

“You’re at my house,” Aubrey says blankly when she opens her front door. “Why are you at my house?” 

“I owe you a beer,” Stacie explains, holds up a six-pack as she smiles. “Are you going to invite me in?” 

“And this has nothing to do with the fact that you heard I was at the hospital today?” Aubrey asks, narrowing her eyes at the brunette. 

She can see a smile twitch at the corners of Stacie’s mouth but all the woman says is, “You were at the hospital today?” 

She’s a bad liar, but Aubrey lets her in anyway, stepping aside and motioning to the space behind her. 

“Come on in.” 

Stacie smiles as she walks past Aubrey straight to the kitchen. She sets down the six-pack on the counter and starts opening cupboards and drawers and when Aubrey finally joins her, she’s surprised by how quickly Stacie’s making herself at home. 

She’s about to open another drawer when Aubrey stops her, one hand holding the drawer shut while the other one points to the refrigerator. 

“I’m looking for a bottle opener,” Stacie says. 

“On the fridge,” Aubrey says but Stacie just looks confused. “Stop—opening things.” 

Stacie laughs at that. “You don’t like me going through your stuff?” 

“I definitely don’t,” Aubrey says and with a final, quick glare at Stacie she steps around the woman and snatches the magnetic bottle opener from the fridge. 

Stacie glances at the drawer wistfully and Aubrey watches her carefully, ready to intercept if necessary but Stacie just sighs softly and takes the magnetic bottle opener from Aubrey. She surprises Aubrey by also grabbing the six-pack and going back to the living room, dropping heavily onto the couch and reaching for a bottle of beer and uncapping it. 

She offers it to Aubrey who happily takes it and sits on the couch next to Stacie, watching as she takes another bottle of beer and after opening it, takes a long swig. 

“Bad day?” Aubrey asks before sipping from her own beer. 

“Just… long,” Stacie sighs. 

Aubrey hums in response but doesn’t ask any probing questions so Stacie doesn’t give her unnecessary details. 

“Are you okay?” 

Aubrey tilts her head quizzically as she regards Stacie. “What—?” 

“You were at the hospital today.” 

“I’m fine,” Aubrey says but her voice is too level to be true. 

“Aubrey…” 

“Who told you?” 

“Detective Mitchell,” Stacie reluctantly gives. 

“And what, she just called you up to tell you I was at the hospital?” Aubrey asks, uncharacteristically angry about it and Stacie can understand why she’s annoyed, but—

“No. We were dropping off a patient at Hart Memorial and I ran into her pacing the halls all worried about you.” Aubrey visibly deflates at that. “So don’t go chewing her head off about it,” she adds, teasingly bumps her shoulder against Aubrey’s and it draws a small, guilty smile from her. 

“Okay.” 

“But seriously, Aubrey,” Stacie presses. “Are you okay?” 

“My bp was low so they were worried about internal bleeding but as it turns out, I just have a low resting blood pressure,” Aubrey explains. 

The words visibly relax Stacie who takes another swig from her beer to hide her pleased smile. 

“Okay, good.” 

“You were worried about me,” Aubrey says and it’s not even a question, her voice taking on a teasing tone that Stacie can’t help but engage with. 

“Of course,” she replies, words melodic. 

“I’m almost touched.” 

“Who else would so happily shoot down my blatantly genius fire puns?” 

“Maybe I should take you to the hospital to get your brain checked out for thinking your puns are anywhere near genius,” Aubrey says, eyebrow arched haughtily and she draws a loud laugh from Stacie. “What’s so funny?” 

“I don’t think you can be considered any kind of authority on puns because you’ve never cracked a joke in your life,” Stacie explains, mockingly wiping tears from her eyes. 

“That’s how bad your fire puns are, Lieutenant,” Aubrey says. 

“It almost sounds like you just can’t handle the heat, Detective,” Stacie says cheekily and something about the twinkle in her eyes or her mischievous smile or the way she says Aubrey’s title makes her act on instinct. 

Aubrey doesn’t bother putting down her beer bottle before leaning in and kissing Stacie so she’s not sure if the gasp is in surprise to the kiss or from the cold bottle pressing against Stacie’s skin but that’s cleared up pretty quickly when Stacie’s fingers frantically find Aubrey’s and relieve her of the bottle, leaning away only enough to set it down on the coffee table before returning and cupping Aubrey’s neck to pull her close and press their lips together again. 

Aubrey kisses her back harshly, fingers curled into the fabric of Stacie’s soft shirt and as soon as she hears the soft moan, she pushes her tongue past Stacie’s parted lips and deepens the kiss. 

Stacie’s a little embarrassed by the growl that comes from the back of her throat at that, but when Aubrey smiles and leans further in, that feeling all but dissipates. The angle isn’t ideal so without breaking their kiss, Stacie sweeps Aubrey onto her lap, fingers tightly wrapped around her waist to hold her close and Aubrey happily settles in her new spot, taking advantage of the shift to tug Stacie’s shirt up over her head and giving her a second to catch her breath. 

“I can handle the heat just fine,” Aubrey argues but Stacie catches her lower lip between her teeth and tugs and Aubrey melts in her arms. 

“Prove it,” Stacie murmurs and Aubrey has never been able to back down from an argument with Stacie, so she doesn’t start now. 

Stacie groans at the buzzing sound, and by the fact that it’s annoying enough to rouse her from a particularly good slumber. She wants to reach out and silence it but finds her arm pinned down. She’s slow to wake but as soon as she cracks open an eye and sees the mess of blonde hair, it all comes back to her and the buzzing is briefly forgotten to make way for a flash of memories and a slow smile. 

“Aubrey…” she mumbles, voice raspy. Aubrey doesn’t even react so Stacie calls out her name again. “Aubrey,” she sing-songs. 

Aubrey just seems to curl further into her, and their legs are tangled but the way she shifts brings her thigh up between Stacie’s own just right and Stacie’s hitch of breath is involuntary. 

“Wake up, Detective,” Stacie says, trying for a commanding tone to hide how shaky her voice is because she desperately needs Aubrey to move that leg away. 

“Why?” she finally mumbles. 

“Because your phone needs your attention,” Stacie says and that snaps Aubrey awake, her eyes flying open and she practically scrambles off Stacie to reach for her cellphone still buzzing on her nightstand. 

“Shit,” Aubrey says when she peers at the screen, before hitting the green button. “Hello, this is Detective Posen.” 

Stacie watches with interest as she sits up and leans back against the headboard, seemingly unbothered by her state of undress as the sheets pool by her waist and Stacie doesn’t feel any shame in outright ogling her. 

She watches Aubrey’s shoulders square back and her jaw set, lets her fingers trail along the skin of Aubrey’s forearm and the touch makes Aubrey shoot her a quick smile before returning all her attention to her phone call. 

Stacie props herself up on her hand and lets the other one roam freely, tugging down the sheets, away from Aubrey’s legs and scraping her nails along Aubrey’s thigh, down to her knee, curls her fingers around the back of her knee and urges it away from the other one before resuming her lazy touch, this time moving upwards and along the inside of Aubrey’s leg. 

She’s about to reach her intended destination when Aubrey clamps her legs together again and traps Stacie’s hand between her thighs and when Stacie looks up, she finds Aubrey looking down at her in warning. 

Stacie pouts softly but still pulls back her hand, decides to take advantage of Aubrey’s eyes on her to kick the sheets away from her body and drop onto her back again. She presses her palms against the headboard as she stretches, a content mewl falling from her lips before she relaxes again and when her eyes open, they immediately hone in on Aubrey’s face where her lower lip is held tightly between her teeth. 

“That’s no problem at all,” Aubrey says, gaze trailing down Stacie’s body. “Okay, thank you. Bye.”

Stacie lets Aubrey look at her, crosses her arms behind her head as she waits. 

“As nice as this is—” 

“You have to go,” Stacie says, having deduced as much from the early morning call. 

“Mhm-hm,” Aubrey nods, twists to drop her phone on the nightstand. “Don’t you have to work in the morning?” 

“Nope,” Stacie says. “24 on, 48 off, you know the drill.” 

Aubrey sighs wistfully in an overly mocking way. “Ah, to be a firefighter.” 

“Gotta be well-rested to do all the hero work,” Stacie teases, shooting Aubrey a wink before sitting up and she doesn’t miss the way Aubrey rolls her eyes at that. “This was fun.” 

“We should do it again sometime,” Aubrey says and Stacie’s surprise is clear, an impressed look thrown over her shoulder at the blonde giving her away. 

“We should.” 

“Why is that so surprising?” 

“No reason,” Stacie lies. 

“It doesn’t have to be anything serious,” Aubrey says.

“We can just keep it light and breezy.” 

“Exactly,” Aubrey says, but then she turns back to the bed and hesitates. “I hate to do this, but—” 

“You’re kicking me out?” Stacie asks, lifting her head so Aubrey can see the full spectrum of surprise on her face. 

“Kinda,” she says, and at least has the decency to look a little guilty about it. 

“Without even… I don’t know, a shower?” Stacie asks, sitting up and crawling over the bed towards Aubrey. 

“You have the day off,” Aubrey replies but she’s looking at Stacie’s chest when she says the words so they sound hollow. “You can shower at home.” 

“You’re sending me out onto the street in the middle of the night, un-showered and unfed?” Stacie continues, climbing off the mattress when Aubrey takes a step back, following her and backing her against the wall. “After I brought you beer?” 

Aubrey’s almost shaking with the effort of holding back but the second before Stacie touches her and seals her fate, she ducks away and flees to the bathroom. 

“Yes,” she throws over her shoulder before slamming the bathroom door closed and locking it. 

Stacie laughs softly and grabs her underwear from the floor, pulling it on before stepping into her jeans. “You drive a hard bargain, Detective.” 

She’s sliding on her bra when she bathroom door unlocks and slowly opens, as if Aubrey’s expecting her to rush into the bathroom but Stacie stays put and just smiles with her hands on her hips. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle, Lieutenant.” 

Stacie’s smile widens. “Have you seen my shirt?” 

“I took it off in the living room,” Aubrey answers with a smug smile.  

“To the living room I go,” Stacie says. “Bye.” 

“Bye.” 

“Hey is that Chloe?” Cynthia Rose asks, bumping Stacie’s arm with her forearm to get her attention. 

“What? Where?” Stacie asks, taking advantage of her height and standing on her toes to glance around the bar. “She said she was busy.” 

“Over there, with Detective Posen,” Cynthia Rose says, pointing Stacie in the right direction. 

“Aubrey’s here?” Stacie asks, suddenly dropping back down onto the heels of her feet and running a quick hand through her hair. 

Cynthia Rose tilts her head, eyebrow arched with interest at the unexpected reaction. “‘Aubrey’?” 

“It’s nothing, we’re friends,” Stacie says quickly but Cynthia Rose doesn’t believe her for a second. 

She leans over the bar and bellows, “Beale!” 

Chloe uses her barstool steps as a way to be taller as she glances around the somewhat crowded bar, easily spotting Cynthia Rose’s waving arm and then making eye contact with Stacie.

She leads Aubrey and the two brunettes with them over to Cynthia Rose and Stacie, hugging both of them. 

“You skipped out on girl’s night to hang out with PD?” Cynthia Rose immediately says, recognising Aubrey’s partner. 

“A step up, I’d say,” Beca throws back before breaking out a smile that Cynthia Rose returns. 

“If you want to be a step closer to diabetes from all those doughnuts, maybe,” Stacie adds. 

“Hey, how’s that cat you rescued this morning?” Aubrey throws back and Stacie’s relieved that despite their change in dynamic, their back and forth hasn’t changed one bit. 

“Okay, okay, cool it, all of you,” Chloe says. 

“Wouldn’t want PD to start a fire they can’t put out,” Cynthia Rose mumbles under her breath but they all hear her and Stacie smiles as they bump their forearms together in solidarity. 

Chloe turns to them with a chiding look and they at least have the decency to pretend to look chastened, Stacie reaching for her drink as Cynthia Rose glances at the floor. 

“Ladies, meet Emily,” Chloe says, pulling the previously quiet brunette closer to her. “That’s Cynthia Rose Adams and Stacie Conrad from my station. Adams, Conrad, this is Emily Junk, SPD rookie.” 

“Wow you really are shacking up with PD tonight, Beale,” Stacie says after shooting Emily a warm smile. 

“Being friendly with SPD might be in your best interest, Conrad,” Chloe throws back. “You never know when you need a cop to get you out of a tight spot.” 

“Maybe she wants a cop to put her in a tight spot,” Cynthia Rose murmurs again and Stacie and Emily are the only ones who hear her, the latter looking shocked and amused by the words while Stacie glares at Cynthia Rose. 

“What was that?” Aubrey asks, growing suspicious after both Cynthia Rose and Stacie say, at the same time, “Nothing!” 

“Anyway,” Beca speaks up. “Emily just had her first successful court case as Detective so we’re here to celebrate.” 

They all cheer for her and Emily smiles, slightly uncomfortable with the attention but clearly proud of herself. “Thanks.” 

“I thought you were doing girls’ night at Stacie’s place?” Chloe asks, looking at Cynthia Rose and Stacie. 

“I’ve been unfairly banned from Stacie’s place,” Cynthia Rose answers and Chloe’s laughing before she even finishes her sentence. 

“Why?” Emily asks. 

“I borrowed her kayak without asking and then sunk it,” Cynthia Rose says with a shrug. 

“No, you didn’t sink my kayak,” Stacie corrects immediately. “You brought it back filled with water and left it on my deck and I woke up to water in my house!” 

Chloe’s outright laughing now and Cynthia Rose doesn’t look the least bit guilty, shrugging again. 

“Do you know how scary it is to wake up to water in my house?” Stacie all but screeches. “I thought I was sinking!” 

“Wait, what?” Beca asks, confused. 

“Why?” Aubrey adds on. 

“She lives on a houseboat,” Chloe says between her laughs the same time that Stacie says, “I live on a houseboat!” 

“Ohh…” Emily breathes, silent for a beat before bursting into laughter. 

“It wasn’t funny!” Stacie whines but when she looks around the group she finds them all in varying degrees of amused and laughing. 

“You live on a houseboat?” Aubrey asks softly, eyes shining with mirth and her jaw clenched tightly to keep from laughing right in Stacie’s face. 

“Yes.” 

“That’s really cool,” Aubrey whispers. 

“You should come see it sometime,” Stacie whispers back immediately, the line coming naturally to her and she can see Aubrey’s smile twitch, can see the mood shift as her eyes grow darker. 

“So, now I’m banned and here we are,” Cynthia Rose says, dragging their attention back to the group who had barely noticed their small aside through their laughs. 

Despite all the teasing and fighting words, the women stick together, dancing and drinking at the bar late into the night. 

Aubrey’s just coming out of the bathroom stall when she literally bumps into Stacie, hands falling to her waist and taking far too long to lift her gaze away from the cleavage on display. 

Stacie cups the back of her neck to tilt her head, dipping down and eagerly kissing Aubrey, using her hips to push the woman back into the stall and idly locking the door behind them. 

“Come home with me,” Stacie manages between kisses.

“Okay,” Aubrey says simply, fingers drifting under Stacie’s soft shirt and her thumbs easily tracing up Stacie’s ribcage to the underwire of her bra. 

Stacie’s fingers thread in her hair to keep her close as she deepens the kiss, other hand hitching up Aubrey’s short summer dress but her hand is no sooner between Aubrey’s legs before Aubrey rips away with a ragged breath. 

“We can’t,” she says, voice hoarse and eyes clamped shut to calm her racing heart. “Not here.”

“You’re right,” Stacie replies, her own breathing harsh as she lets her head drop back against the bathroom door. 

“What did you just say?” Aubrey asks in awed disbelief. 

“You’re never going to hear it again,” Stacie admits hotly and Aubrey’s eyes flicker down to her lips. “Down, boy.”

Aubrey glares at her in response and Stacie just licks her lips. 

“Go home, Conrad.”

“Or else what, detective?” Stacie asks, stepping closer again and Aubrey is definitely going to have to do something about the flash of arousal every time Stacie says her title. 

“Go home and I’ll come for you,” Aubrey says in a jumble of words and it’s not until Stacie arches an eyebrow and shoots her an impressed look that she realises the double meaning of her words. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean,” Stacie says softly, stepping closer again and brushing her lips against Aubrey’s teasingly, pulling away just as Aubrey leans in for more and smiling at the reaction. “But also, yes, you will.”

Stacie moves away, intent on leaving Aubrey hanging when the blonde pins her to the door and kisses her harshly. 

She pulls Stacie away from the door and unlocks it while distracting her and before Stacie knows what’s happening, Aubrey pecks her lips a final time and says, “Bye.”

Aubrey slips out quickly and Stacie’s left breathing hard, head spinning. 

An hour later she excuses herself from the group, citing an early morning and forgotten doctor’s appointment.

They all taunt her about it but they let her go and as she leaves, Stacie inconspicuously drags her fingers along Aubrey’s arm and ducks her head to hide her smug smile. 

Stacie is two episodes into Blue Planet when she hears steps on the small wooden plank coming down to her front door before there’s a knock. 

“That didn’t take long,” Stacie says when she opens the door. 

“I encouraged them to do shots.” 

Stacie looks impressed. “Did you do any?” 

“Nope,” she says and doesn’t elaborate. “Are you going to show me your houseboat or did I come all this way for nothing?” 

Stacie doesn’t need much more encouragement, steps aside to let Aubrey in but the blonde doesn’t get very far, Stacie easily wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her closer. 

Aubrey laughs softly at the eagerness before kissing Stacie back, kicking the door closed behind her with her foot while she buries her hands in Stacie’s loose hair and lets herself be led into the house. 

“Does it rock?” Aubrey asks, gasping between kisses as she begins to frantically unbutton Stacie’s shirt.

“Does what rock?” Stacie says, completely distracted by Aubrey’s skin and having to touch it, bunching up Aubrey’s dress so that she can grab her ass, smiling at the moan that action elicits. 

“Your house,” Aubrey breathes, kissing along Stacie’s neck, licking before biting down on Stacie’s pulse point. 

Stacie credits long hours of fighting fires while in turnout gear for the fact that her legs don’t immediately give out. “Why would my house—?” 

Aubrey pulls away, shoots her a pointed look, and then kisses her fully on the mouth, tongue insistent as Stacie’s “oh” is swallowed down. A flash of heat sparks down her spine and Aubrey whines when Stacie removes her hands from her butt. 

“No.” 

“Shame.” 

“But we can try,” Stacie gives, fingers curling around the back of Aubrey’s thighs and easily lifting the woman. Aubrey yelps at the change, wraps her legs around Stacie’s middle and her arms around Stacie’s neck and clings on despite Stacie’s firm grip on her and it’s maddening how attracted she is to Stacie for so effortlessly hoisting her up like that. 

“Yeah, I know,” Stacie says smugly. 

“Shut up,” Aubrey replies, kissing her quiet as Stacie carries her to the bedroom. 

Stacie yawns as she descends the stairs, following the faint sounds to the kitchen where she finds Aubrey leaning against the counter, coffee cup in hand. 

She smiles, turns to Stacie as she sips from her mug. 

“Hey,” Stacie says, frowning and clearing her throat when she hears how hoarse she sounds. 

“Morning.” 

Stacie hovers at the edge of the kitchen, unsure of what to do despite Aubrey’s eyes watching her closely. They’ve never done this before, the morning after, and as much as Stacie had enjoyed spending the night, the awkwardness of the moment starts seeping in and—

“Coffee?” Aubrey offers. 

“Yes, please,” she says maybe a little too eagerly, as she steps closer to Aubrey. 

“Cream or sugar?” Aubrey asks after pouring her a cup. 

“Neither,” Stacie says and Aubrey’s smile turns coy at that, twists to hand Stacie her coffee. 

Their fingers brush against each other when transferring the cup and emboldened by Aubrey’s almost imperceptible hitch in breathing, Stacie doesn’t move away, stays in Aubrey’s personal space, only turning her head to take a sip of coffee. 

“Did you sleep okay?” Aubrey asks, hiding her smile with the rim of her cup, refusing to move away from Stacie once cottoning on to what she’s doing. 

“Yep.” 

Aubrey looks like she wants to say something and Stacie can practically see the cogs working in her brain, so she waits patiently, lets her eyes trail slowly down Aubrey’s body before moving back up and settling on her mouth. 

Aubrey ultimately decides not to speak, instead twists only long enough to put down her mug before leaning forward to kiss Stacie. 

She smiles, sets her cup on the counter behind Aubrey so that she can wrap both arms around the blonde, fingers curling into the silk fabric of Aubrey’s dressing gown as she lets the woman set the pace, keeps their kisses languid. 

Aubrey nips at her lower lip and Stacie shivers, and the momentary loss of composure is what causes the words to practically fall out of her. 

“I had a really great time last night.” 

“Yeah?” Aubrey asks, sounding a little surprised but Stacie’s too focused on her adorably flushed cheeks to notice. 

“Mhm-hm.” 

“Me too.” 

“We should do that again sometime,” Stacie comments. 

“I’d really like that,” Aubrey says softly and Stacie barely gives her enough time to smile before kissing her again. 

The laziness of the morning is as good as gone, Stacie’s hands dragging heavy along Aubrey’s body and Aubrey buries her fingers in Stacie’s messy hair as she completely presses up against the woman, a needy whimper falling from her lips when Stacie starts kissing along her jaw and sucks at her pulse point. 

“Bedroom?” Stacie offers. 

“No.” 

Before she can ask why not, one of Aubrey’s hands snakes between them and tugs at the string holding her dressing gown closed, the fabric falling apart and Stacie stutters to a stop at the reveal of the completely naked body underneath. 

“Okay,” is all she manages before Aubrey kisses her again. 

When Aubrey opens her front door, the first words out of her mouth are “Oh, thank god” softly murmured between them and a flicker of a smile tugs at Stacie’s features. 

“You heard?” she asks just as softly, leaning heavily against the doorjamb and taking in Aubrey’s relief. 

“Chloe called me.” Aubrey’s fingers reach out, brush down Stacie’s arm and Stacie shivers with the effort of not crumbling against her. “Are you okay?” 

Stacie’s nod is jerky but it’s still a nod and Aubrey steps aside to let her in and Stacie can feel her scrutinising gaze rake down her body, checking her over for any visible injuries. 

“I’m okay. Williams and Parker have to stay in the hospital overnight but everybody’s going to be okay,” Stacie explains. 

Aubrey sighs deeply. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“No.” Aubrey starts to protest but Stacie just steps closer to her, hands falling to her waist and using her hold to pull Aubrey’s body closer. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she says, words whispered and a little desperate, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of Aubrey’s jaw and she enjoys how Aubrey sinks into her, mouth parting with a deep exhale. “I just want you.” 

Aubrey twists, her impatience winning out, and kisses Stacie. 

She can feel herself unwind, can feel the tension of the day seeping out of her body the longer Aubrey kisses her and Aubrey holds her carefully, a thumb sweeping just under the line of her bra so tenderly that Stacie trembles. 

“Bedroom,” Aubrey manages between kisses, hips pressed flush against Stacie’s to move her backwards. 

Aubrey undresses her slowly, fingers delicate and careful as she strips Stacie down to her underwear, the pile of boots and SFD-issue clothes joined by her own camisole and drawstring pants. 

Before Aubrey can urge her to lay back, Stacie pulls her close, forehead dropping to Aubrey’s abdomen with a long sigh and she knows her hands tremble when she curls them around the back of Aubrey’s thighs. 

“Stacie…” Aubrey whispers, concern loud in the quiet space around them, fingers dragging through long brown locks to soothe her. 

“I’m okay,” Stacie says, voice cracking and giving her away. “I’m okay,” she repeats as she tries to convince herself. 

“You’re okay,” Aubrey echoes, pulling away from Stacie and waiting for her to lift her head. “You’re alive.” 

Her hand falls to Stacie’s shoulder, instructions clear and Stacie lies down, eyes fluttering closed as Aubrey moves over her and straddles her thighs. 

“I’m alive,” Stacie says, words growing in confidence. 

“You’re okay.” Aubrey kisses her, the words melting between them as she reassures her with her body. 

Aubrey’s weight is like an anchor pressing her into the mattress, hips moving against Stacie’s and her mouth travels between kissing Stacie’s lips or dragging down her neck and Stacie feels like she’s drowning, hangs onto Aubrey while they move together, Aubrey’s words like a mantra in her ear. 

“You’re here,” she murmurs between thrusts. “You’re safe. You’re alive. You’re here. You’re safe. You’re alive.” 

Her fingers still tremble on Aubrey’s skin as their movements grow needier and Aubrey shifts again, lifts her head to look at Stacie as she repeats the words. She ducks her head, lips settling over Stacie’s pulse point and adds in a single, “I love you” to the mantra, whispered like a secret, moments before they crest and fall and Stacie’s fingers tighten in her hair, turning her head to capture Aubrey in a needy kiss as she shakes, orgasm washing over her. 

Her heart races as she comes down from it and Aubrey shifts away to lie down on her back next to her, panting lightly and as soon as her hands stop shaking, Stacie sits up, twisting sideways to look for her underwear. 

“Where are you going?” 

“You love me?” Stacie asks plainly, only looking over her shoulder long enough to see the surprise and hurt painted clearly on Aubrey’s face. 

“Shit,” Aubrey says softly. “I…” She stumbles, words dying in her throat. “I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s—” Stacie closes her eyes, sighs deeply. “Don’t apologise for your feelings. I’m just—” 

Something buzzes, kills the moment and Aubrey doesn’t move as Stacie looks away, trying to locate the source of the buzzing. She doesn’t glance at Aubrey as she unlocks her phone, reads the message there. 

“I have to go.” 

“Of course you do,” Aubrey mumbles under her breath but Stacie doesn’t catch it, busy tapping out a reply. 

“There’s a huge warehouse fire downtown and they’re stretched completely thin,” Stacie says. 

“You just almost died today, Stacie,” Aubrey says, tone dripping with disbelief and easily concealing the underlying worry there. “Your whole team just almost died.” 

“But I didn’t. I have to go. I’m okay,” she says, using Aubrey’s own earlier words as an argument and twisting them to accommodate her need to leave. 

Aubrey swallows thickly, pulling the sheets up as she crosses her arms over her chest protectively, and Stacie’s not sure what to do with the creeping tension in the room. 

“Stacie…”

“I’ll…” Her first instinct had been to say “see you later” but she can see the fire die in Aubrey’s eyes, the fire she’d enjoyed fueling all this time, can see how regret and disappointment take its place and she’s too big a coward to face it, ducking her head down as she gets up and steps into her underwear. She dresses quickly, haphazardly, boots in one hand and phone in the other. “I’ll call you.” 

Stacie’s perched on the counter of the kitchen bar so she doesn’t have a direct line of sight to the doorway but from her spot leaning against the counter across from Stacie, and thanks to the glass panelling meant to ‘make the kitchen look bigger’ that allows her to see most of the hallway, Cynthia Rose can see Aubrey walking down the hall towards them. 

Just as Aubrey’s passing by the kitchen she calls out to her. “Hey, Detective!” 

Stacie’s head snaps up so quickly she’s afraid she’s going to get whiplash from it and it briefly takes Cynthia Rose’s attention away from the blonde, whose expression hardens as she steps into the kitchen. 

“Hey Adams,” she says, forcing a smile before turning to Stacie. “Lieutenant.” 

Stacie lifts her hand and wriggles her fingers in an impressively lacklustre wave before going back to her cereal and Cynthia Rose watches the exchange with a flicker of confusion. 

“What brings you to our fire station?” Cynthia Rose asks, temporarily ignoring the clear tension in the room. 

Aubrey holds up a folder, motions to behind her. “I have a meeting with Captain Walsh.” 

“Well, don’t let me keep ya,” Cynthia Rose says with a smile and a wink and Aubrey’s smile is genuine even if her chuckle sounds a little forced. 

“Thanks,” she says and turns to go without another word. 

Cynthia Rose doesn’t say anything, counts to ten while patiently twisting back to face Stacie and watches as the woman seems to take forever to chew on her bite of cereal and clearly avoids her eyes. 

“You slept with Posen.” 

The hand holding the spoon freezes but Stacie keeps her eyes averted. 

“And now shit is weird.” 

Metal clinks against porcelain as Stacie sighs and lets go of the spoon. “Yeah.” 

Cynthia Rose’s eyes go wide, surprised that Stacie’s giving in so easily and Stacie knows she has a lot of explaining to do. 

“It wasn’t just a one off.” At Cynthia Rose’s arched eyebrow, she continues. “We’ve been sleeping together regularly. For a while now.” 

“What’s a while?”

“About eight months,” Stacie admits quietly, staring at deep into her bowl. 

“Eight months?!” Cynthia Rose shouts. 

“Shh!” Stacie says urgently, glancing around the space, eyes flickering to the hallway with worry. 

“You’ve been holding out on me for eight months?”

“This is none of your business.” 

“You bringing all your weird tension into the firehouse makes it my business,” she says and Stacie has to give her that. 

Her shoulders slump, back bowing and she gives up on finishing her meal, sets the bowl on the counter and slides off it and as soon as she’s deposited her bowl in the sink she sighs deeply, runs a hand down her face. 

Cynthia Rose watches it happen, brow furrowing when she notices how torn up Stacie seems about it and how unusual that is for her, for how she usually is in awkward situations with previous conquests. “Do you like her?” 

“No,” Stacie answers immediately, like a reflex. 

Cynthia Rose hums in disbelief. “You’ve been going out with her for eight months.” 

“We haven’t been—we’re not dating,” Stacie corrects, stumbling. “Just sleeping together.” 

“For eight months?” 

“Yes!” Stacie says, throws up her hands as she twists to face Cynthia Rose. “Why are you so hung up on the eight months thing?” 

“Because we saw her three weeks ago at Beale’s birthday party and you two were bantering and arguing up a storm,” Cynthia Rose explains, her voice a little defensive at Stacie’s outburst. 

“So?” 

“So what changed between then and now?” 

Stacie’s affront dies almost just as quickly as it had appeared and she finds herself leaning against the counter as if she can’t hold herself up anymore, arms propped against the edge behind her. “I… I don’t know.” 

“Do you really not know or are you too ashamed of your fuck-up to tell me?” Cynthia Rose teases but when Stacie doesn’t smile, she realises she’s gotten right to the heart of the issue. “Conrad…” 

“In hindsight…” she starts slowly, like the words are being pulled out of her and Cynthia Rose holds her breath, anticipating the worst. “I think I may have ended things?”

“Explain that to me,” Cynthia Rose says in an eerily tempered voice and Stacie lifts her head with a wry smile. “How do you not know if you ended things?” 

“I said I’d call and I never did.” 

Cynthia Rose inhales loudly through her teeth. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“You don’t just not call someone like Aubrey Posen.” 

“I know.” 

“Is she mad at you?” At Stacie’s shrug, Cynthia Rose frowns, narrows her eyes at Stacie. “How do you not know?” 

“This is the first I’ve seen her since,” Stacie admits with a shrug. 

“Aren’t you working the serial arsonist case with her?” 

“Yeah, but whoever is setting those fires is doing it every 4 weeks exactly, so I’ve got about…” She pauses and looks to the sky as she quickly calculates. “9 days until there’s another fire.” 

“And you have to work together,” Cynthia Rose adds and Stacie nods slowly. “So you have to figure yourself out before you’re forced to work with her.” 

“Any chance I could persuade you to run the report for me on the next one?” Stacie tries with a forced grin. 

“Extra paperwork? No thanks,” Cynthia Rose teases and Stacie’s face falls in a comedic fashion, her deep pout and puppy dog eyes effective, but not enough to win over Cynthia Rose. “Sorry.” 

“I’ll figure something out,” Stacie whispers dejectedly as she turns her back to Cynthia Rose to quickly dump the rest of the milk and rinse off her bowl. 

Cynthia Rose takes another cursory glance down her body, taking in the slump of her shoulders and curve of her spine, sees how every movement seems to require a tremendous amount of effort and she wonders how she hadn’t noticed Stacie’s sombreness before. 

“Stacie?” 

“Yeah?” she asks, twisting at Cynthia Rose’s uncharacteristic use of her first name during work hours. 

“Do you like her?” 

“Have you seen her? Of course I like her,” Stacie throws over her shoulder with a lecherous grin that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. 

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Cynthia Rose presses, voice hard and unflinching. 

Stacie pauses, hands covered in soap and she doesn’t turn to face Cynthia Rose, stares down at the dirty dishes in the sink as she sighs softly. 

“I like her a lot.” 

Cynthia Rose doesn’t say anything but she doesn’t need to, only steps forward to squeeze Stacie’s shoulder before leaving the woman alone with her thoughts. 

Stacie stares after her, watches until Cynthia Rose turns the corner and goes down the stairs before staring back down at her shaky hands. 

“I might even…” she starts to whisper but she can’t finish the sentence, throat closing up. 

Cynthia Rose is used to arriving on chaotic scenes but when she hops off the ladder truck, the only loud noise is from the fire raging in the building and the surrounding plains are eerily quiet. She checks her oxygen and runs a mental count while the captain talks to Conrad.

“Okay,” the captain starts. “This is probably our serial arsonist again and it looks like we have a hotbox warehouse with nobody inside. You know the drill!”

“Surround and drown,” everybody says and Cynthia Rose tries not to let the droll of her team mates lower her adrenaline any bit. 

“Exactly,” Captain Walsh says. “I’ll handle hydrant and tactile. I want Beale and Williams to start defensive operations. Parker and Morgan prep the pump, Conrad and Adams will take a 360 for recon and then join Beale and Williams unless I give you different orders. Rookie, I want you to keep an eye on the fire and if we need to, call in for back-up. Anything changes, I want to know immediately.” 

“Yes, chief,” they all say in unison and on his “okay go!”, the teams disperse, Stacie and Cynthia Rose starting their sweep. 

Cynthia Rose starts the count in her brain but something feels off about the fire and she can’t quite pinpoint what it is.

“Who called in the fire, Captain?” she asks. 

“Neighbours from the nearby factory,” he reports back and it should lessen the bad feeling in her gut but it doesn’t. 

They round to the delta side of the building and Stacie steps on an aluminium can, her annoyance clear and she kicks away the remaining row of cans but Cynthia Rose stops her with a hand to her middle. 

“What?” 

“That’s an alarm system,” she says and Stacie’s confusion grows. “For squatters, Conrad!” 

“What?” 

“If you’re squatting in a building, how do you make sure you know someone’s coming in without any modern alarm systems?” 

Their radios crackle with an incoming order, Captain Walsh’s “Prepare to wet down the structure in case we have to let this one go.” 

Stacie’s eyes go wide and she immediately reaches for her radio. “There are people inside!” 

“Repeat,” Captain Walsh says. 

“We can’t let the building burn,” Stacie says. “We might have civilians inside!” 

“Copy. Conrad, Adams, finish your sweep. Beale, Williams, gear up for search and rescue, let’s go.” 

Despite the adrenaline rushing through her veins, Cynthia Rose feels a little calmer now that she’s found the source of her uneasy feeling. 

She can feel Stacie almost buzzing with energy next to her as they round the building to the final side, reporting over comms that the fire doesn’t seem to have spread. 

Suddenly Stacie’s hand is on her arm and Cynthia Rose stops in her tracks, turning to the woman. 

“That’s—” She’s not looking at Cynthia Rose, is instead staring off into the distance and when she twists to follow Stacie’s line of sight, she sees an unmarked police vehicle parked nearby. “That’s Aubrey’s car.” 

Cynthia Rose can feel Stacie’s panic take hold of her but they don’t have time to dwell on it and she calls out her partner’s name a few times to no avail. 

“Hey!” Cynthia Rose yells, grabbing Stacie’s shoulders and forcing the woman to look at her. “What are the odds that Aubrey figured out this was the next building?” 

“I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to her. Maybe?” Stacie says, gaze flickering over to the warehouse and back urgently. 

“Could she be in there? If she knew it was going up in flames and people were inside?” 

Stacie takes a moment, face falling and Cynthia Rose has her answer. 

“Call it in,” Cynthia Rose orders as they finish that section of the warehouse, watching Stacie closely as she gives an update to their captain. 

They can’t run in their turnout gear but their pace is brisk as they finish their inspection before rounding back to command, just in time to see Beale emerge from the building with two teenagers by her side who collapse as soon as their lungs get fresh air, dropping to the ground to cough. Cynthia Rose is immediately on them, relieving Chloe from one of the teenagers as they take the two over to one of the newly arrived backup Aid cars and hand them off to the EMTs there. 

“Williams, progress report.” 

“We have three more stuck in here, sir. I’m sending out Detective Mitchell with the last teenager, but—” 

Cynthia Rose doesn’t hear the rest of the report but she doesn’t have to, is a second too late intercepting Stacie’s path to the warehouse. 

A teenager comes out of the building crying for help with Detective Mitchell leaning heavily on him and Stacie’s right there so she catches them, Beca grabbing onto the lapels of her coat to hold herself up. 

“Your guy said she has a sprained arm and burns on her leg,” the teenager says to Stacie between coughs. 

“Are you okay?” Cynthia Rose asks and the kid nods but still leans on her. 

“Let’s get you to the ambulances to get—,” 

“Conrad, she’s—she.” 

“Did you inhale smoke?” Stacie asks urgently and Beca nods. “Then stop talking.” 

“She’s still in there,” Beca rasps out. “Conrad, Aubrey’s still in there.” 

Cynthia Rose had suspected as much, but having Beca confirm it makes dread settle firmly in her gut, especially when she sees Stacie’s eyes harden, determination setting in. 

“Williams is gonna get her out, but first we have to—” 

“He can’t! He doesn’t know where she is,” Beca says, trying to yell but her voice comes out raspy.

“He will get to her,” Stacie reassures, trying her hardest to stay level as she all but lifts Beca over to the nearby ambulance. 

“You have to go get her, Stacie,” Beca says, her hands desperately clinging onto Stacie despite the EMTs trying to get her on the stretcher. “Please, she can’t die.” 

“Beca, she’s not going to die,” Stacie says but Beca’s grip just tightens. “Look at me, hey, look at me,” Stacie commands, taking the oxygen mask from the EMT and holding it over Beca’s face to force her to calm down. “We’re the best, aren’t we? She’s going to be okay.” 

Cynthia Rose watches Beca nod and let go of Stacie, and then she sees the exact moment Stacie’s conviction flips. 

“Sir, I’m—I’m stuck. I need back up,” Williams reports over the crackle. 

“The building is collapsing, Williams. How far is she from you?” 

“She’s trapped under a collapsed column. I can’t get to her.” 

“Okay, get out.” 

Several counts of “What?!” go over the comms. 

“Williams, you know the rule, safety first. Can you get to her before we’re at a total loss?” 

“Not alone, no. But sir—” 

“Get out of the building, Williams, that’s an order.” 

“No! I need a pulley and an extra mask but I’m not leaving.” 

Cynthia Rose steps closer to the captain, ready to argue in favour of Williams’ order and in her distraction she takes her eyes off her partner. 

“I’m going in,” Stacie says over the radio and there’s an immediate chorus of objections to that decision but Cynthia Rose drowns them out with a long groan, already moving away from their captain and towards the entrance Stacie just went in. 

“Where are you going?” the captain calls out once he notices Cynthia Rose inch away from him, fingers fiddling with her oxygen valve. 

“Buddy system, sir,” Cynthia Rose says with a shrug, ignoring his opposing orders and following Stacie. 

Conscious of their limited oxygen going into the fire, Cynthia Rose keeps her breathing even and when Stacie spots her, neither of them speaks. Stacie holds out her arm and Cynthia Rose bumps her forearm against Stacie’s twice, like they’ve always done since the academy, and Stacie nods in understanding. 

They easily find Williams, who’s keeping the fire at bay and gestures to a lower, collapsed part of the building. 

Stacie immediately moves for a closer look and Cynthia Rose holds out an arm to stop her, waits for Stacie to face her before pounding her fist against the nearby wall and showing Stacie that they’re quickly losing structural integrity. 

“What’s her condition?” Stacie finally says, turning to Williams who shakes his head and shrugs. “Time to find out.” 

“Hey!” Cynthia Rose yells, tugging Stacie back and preventing her from hopping over rubble down to the collapsed area. “You’re too close to this.” 

“I’m the lightest here, it has to be me,” Stacie argues but Cynthia Rose grabs her jacket and yanks her closer again. “Please let me go get her,” Stacie begs. 

“You are going to be careful, and you’re going to take every precaution and if something happens, you get out, you hear me? I’m not digging your body out today,” Cynthia Rose commands as she lets go of Stacie’s jacket and the woman nods gratefully. 

She lets Williams and Cynthia Rose string her up and attach the pulley to one of the sturdier looking support beams before they let her down. 

“Oxygen check,” Cynthia Rose calls out as she tries to mentally map out Stacie’s movements now that she can’t see her anymore. 

“Enough.” 

“Give me a number.” 

“Eighty percent.” 

Cynthia Rose looks to Williams, knows that his number is much lower than theirs on account of being in the building a lot longer than them and when he shows her his number to confirm her thought, she mimics zipping her lips and he nods in understanding to conserve his oxygen. 

“Talk to me, Conrad, where are you?” 

“I found her but she’s trapped and unconscious.” 

“Can you get her out?” 

“There’s a lot of blood here and I don’t know if it’s hers or where it’s coming from.” 

Cynthia Rose can hear Stacie’s composure waver. “The building isn’t going to last very long, Conrad. Do you have her?” 

“I—” 

The building shakes and Cynthia Rose feels a flash of heat lick at her feet but Williams is already on it, spraying the fire down. 

“I’m fine! The rumble displaced some debris,” Stacie yells over comms. “I have her but I can’t bag her.” 

“Lift her and we’ll pull you up,” Cynthia Rose orders. 

“If she has spinal damage, it could—” 

“If you don’t get her out her spine won’t matter because you’ll both be dead, Conrad, move!” Cynthia Rose says, her worry growing tenfold when Stacie doesn’t answer. 

“Okay, go,” Stacie finally says and Cynthia Rose wants to breathe a sigh of relief but they don’t have a minute to spare. 

“You have maybe a minute, Adams,” Captain Walsh reports over comms. 

“Shut up, Captain!” Adams yells back and Williams turns to her with a surprised look. “Pull!” 

Cynthia Rose is starting to feel the heat of the fire permeate her fire suit but she doesn’t let that get to her as she and Williams pull the cord attached to Stacie, not resting until the woman is standing in front of them, both feet firmly on the ground with Aubrey cradled in her arms. 

“Williams, same way out as in,” she orders and Williams nods again and turns to lead them out of the building. 

Stacie’s fitting an oxygen mask over Aubrey’s face while Cynthia Rose unhooks Stacie from the pulley but when she tries to take Aubrey from her, Stacie physically can’t let go of Aubrey’s lifeless body. 

A wall next to them buckles and the heat increases and Williams looks over his shoulder. “Let’s go!” 

His words spur them into movement again, Stacie following him with Cynthia Rose taking up the rear and basically pushing Stacie forward. Cynthia Rose can feel her heartbeat pulsing in her ears, drowning out the crackle of fire all around them, as she keeps her hand firm on Stacie’s back and her head ducked down to avoid any falling debris. 

She can hear Stacie’s murmuring over their comms, how she pleads with Aubrey to stay alive and to just hold on and Cynthia Rose doesn’t stop pushing her forwards even after the heat of the building disappears and is replaced by a cool breeze and the familiar warmth of the sun. 

Her adrenaline is pumping so high that she shoves Stacie all the way to one of the waiting ambulances, only stepping away when Stacie drops Aubrey onto the gurney. Stacie doesn’t step away though, rips off her glove to check Aubrey’s pulse and almost fights an EMT when he tries to move her out of the way. 

Cynthia Rose wraps her arm around Stacie’s middle and all but yanks her away, holds her tightly as Stacie fights against her grip. 

“Let them help her,” Cynthia Rose orders, tightening her grip when the EMT starts giving Aubrey chest compressions and yells at the driver to get them to a hospital. “Breathe, Conrad, breathe.”

She keeps her voice purposefully calm and she can feel Stacie lose stamina as the ambulance drives away, sirens wailing loudly, ringing in her ears. 

“They have to save her, they have to save her,” Stacie starts saying and when her legs buckle, Cynthia Rose sinks to the ground with her. 

“You did good, Stace, you got her out, they’re going to take care of her,” Cynthia Rose starts murmuring to counter Stacie until the woman quiets down. 

The adrenaline that had kept Stacie moving forward through the rescue is all but gone now and she sinks against Cynthia Rose, breathing shallowly and reaching up to rip the mask off her face. 

“Hey,” Cynthia Rose says softly after removing her own mask and turning off her radio. Stacie wipes at her eyes and swallows thickly, but she doesn’t look nearly as panicked as she had moments before. “You good?” 

Stacie still looks shaken but she nods slowly, shoots Cynthia Rose a half smile and Cynthia Rose takes that as her cue to stand up, extending a hand and hauling Stacie up with her.  

As soon as Stacie’s upright again she throws her arms around Cynthia Rose, taking her by surprise. “Thank you.” 

“You think I’m gonna let your stupid ass run into a fire alone?” she says, wrapping her arms around Stacie. 

Stacie laughs brokenly and ducks her head. 

They turn at the sound of a loud, familiar creak, watch as the building they’d just been in completely collapses, the force of the roof caving in enough to knock them back a few steps. 

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Stacie asks suddenly, the desperation in her words shaking Cynthia Rose a little. 

“You did your part, Stace, the doctors are gonna do theirs,” Cynthia Rose says, makes sure Stacie’s eyes are on hers when she says the words. “Okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“Conrad! Adams!” Captain Walsh bellows as he moves closer. 

“Oh, fuck,” Stacie murmurs and Cynthia Rose smacks her shoulder in response, eliciting an affronted squawk from Stacie. 

Cynthia Rose reaches out to turn off her radio and Stacie grimaces when she realises it’d been on the whole time. 

Captain Walsh’s voice is uncharacteristically soft when he stops in front of them, gaze darting between his two firefighters. “Get checked out.” 

“I’m fine,” Stacie and Cynthia Rose both say at the same time. 

“That wasn’t a request,” he repeats more firmly, gaze pointed. “Get checked out and get a ride to the hospital if you need to.” 

“Thank you, sir,” Stacie whispers while Cynthia Rose nods once and the Captain moves away to continue barking out orders. “We’re not in trouble?” 

“Oh no, we’re definitely in trouble,” Cynthia Rose whispers back, leading her over to the last remaining aid car. She nudges her head to it and Stacie follows her line of sight, a small smile forming on her face when she sees the man sitting there, holding an oxygen mask to his face while his jacket lays abandoned by his feet. 

“Hey, Tom, you good?” Stacie asks and Williams nods. 

“How’s your girl?” he asks and Stacie’s brow twitches. “Your radio was on, we could all hear you.” 

Stacie sighs dejectedly, shakes her head at her own blind-sided stupidity. “She’s on her way to the hospital.” 

“Sounds like you need a ride,” he says and tosses the oxygen mask onto the gurney in the ambulance, bending down with a groan to grab his jacket. 

“No, hey, no rush,” Stacie tries to say even though every part of her is desperate to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. 

“Get out of here, Conrad,” Williams says, getting up with a small smile and slowly making his way to the ladder truck. 

“Hey, Tom?” Stacie calls out. 

She opens her mouth to say more but he twists back and shakes his head, speaks before she has a chance to, “Don’t mention it.” 

“I’ll come for you after shift ends, okay?” Cynthia Rose says when Stacie turns back to her. “Text me with updates.” 

Cynthia Rose holds out her arm and Stacie smiles, bumps their forearms together twice before climbing onto the ambulance. Stacie gives her a thumbs up and Cynthia Rose closes the back doors, bangs her fist against the door twice and the driver yells a quick “Thanks!” before driving off and Cynthia Rose breathes a sigh of relief as she watches the ambulance leave. 

After she’s had a checkup in the ER and received a clean bill of health, Stacie sits in one of the waiting areas, staring off aimlessly as she tries to figure out her next step. Ashley finds her there half an hour later, concern clear and after Stacie tries to cobble together a sentence explaining what’s wrong, Ashley sneaks her into the doctor’s lounge and all but shoves Stacie under the shower and if it wasn’t for Ashley’s patient voice talking to her from the other side of the bathroom door, Stacie’s sure she would have broken down in tears mid-shower. 

Stacie’s adrenaline has all but crashed and now she’s just tired, frozen in front of the closed door of a hospital room. She checks the post-it note in her hand and then looks at the room number next to the door, confirming she’s in the right place, trying to summon up the courage to face what’s inside. 

Her fingers curl into a fist, nails digging into her palm and with a final deep breath, she pushes the door open. 

She’d expected the room to be empty, save for Aubrey, so when she finds a blonde-haired woman sitting next to the bed, she stops, hand still on the doorknob and looking down at the piece of paper again in confusion. 

“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong…” She makes the mistake of looking at the bed, face crumpling at the sight of Aubrey’s pale skin, body so small and practically swallowed by the large hospital bed. “… room.” 

The woman hastily wipes at her cheeks and stands up to face her and Stacie’s hit with a wave of déjà vu, like a memory repeating itself when she comes face to face with the woman. She has the same exact eyes as Aubrey, and her brow furrows in the same familiar way, and it’s almost comforting how she scrutinises Stacie, the same way Aubrey always sizes somebody up. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realise there’d be anybody else in here,” Stacie says and when the blonde’s expression eases, Stacie recognises that too. 

“We haven’t met, have we?” 

“No, I’m Stacie Conrad, I… we—” Stacie clears her throat, eyes flickering over to Aubrey. “I’m a firefighter.” 

“Oh.” The woman’s brow furrows as she takes in Stacie’s outfit again. “Were you on duty earlier? Were you at the warehouse?” 

“Yeah,” Stacie confirms with a jerky nod of her head. “I, uhm, my team pulled her out. I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to her any soo—” 

Her words are cut off by long, slender arms wrapping around her and before she fully understands what’s happening, she can feel the woman crying into her shoulder, body wracked with sobs. 

“Thank you,” she repeats over and over again and so much has been happening today that Stacie’s a little slow to respond, her arms coming up to hold and soothe the crying woman. 

“It’s… it was no problem at all.” 

As a firefighter, she’s not unused to grateful hugs from family members but this is different — Aubrey is different — so she basks in the tight embrace, lets a few of her own tears fall as the woman continues to thank her profusely, until she seems to realise her complete lack of composure and starts pulling away, wiping at her wet cheeks again. 

“She’s all I have,” the woman says, voice hoarse. “Thank you for saving her.” 

Stacie shoots her a quick smile and she steps away, clears her throat as she tries to return their situation to some semblance of normal. 

She turns back and looks at Stacie, notices the red eyes and pained expression and how she steadfastly refuses to look at the bed. “Do… do you two know each other?” 

She’s hit the nail right on the head and Stacie’s head snaps up, eyes wide as if caught. “Yeah, we’re—we work together. And we’re also… friends.” 

The woman lets out a quick, shaky laugh and Stacie resists the urge to close her eyes in shame at her fumble. 

“I’m Jade,” she says, extending her hand for an oddly formal handshake after basically crying on Stacie’s shoulder. “Aubrey’s sister.” 

“It’s nice to meet you.” 

“Nice to meet you too, Aubrey’s friend.” 

The doctor comes by a while later to talk to them about Aubrey’s condition and as soon as he’s left, Stacie turns to Jade with a frown.

“She hasn’t been sleeping?” 

“Hm?” Jade asks distractedly, too busy unlacing her shoes. “What?” 

“You told the doctor that Aubrey has been really tired and not sleeping,” Stacie says with a vague gesture to the door. 

“Oh, yeah, no, she hasn’t,” Jade says without providing any additional information and Stacie has to fight back an exasperated sigh. “Help me out, will ya?” 

“What are you doing?” 

Jade carefully shifts Aubrey to the side, lifts her arm while mindful of the tubes and wires connected to her sister. “I’m gonna cuddle with her. Cuddle therapy.” 

Stacie doesn’t have the energy to fight her on the science behind that and despite all the risks, when Jade climbs onto the bed, Stacie still steps closer and helps move some of the wires out of the way. 

“Careful with her ribs, they’re gonna be sore from the CPR,” Stacie warns and Jade nods before squirming down in the bed and carefully laying her head on Aubrey’s shoulder. “Do you do this a lot?” 

“Cuddling?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Mhm-hm, ever since we were little.” Jade twists her head so she can still look at Stacie while talking to her. “More after dad died. She’s the best.” 

“Yeah…” Stacie whispers, eyes warmly trailing over the tangled sisters as she drops down on the newly freed chair. “She is.” 

“Here,” Jade says softly, moving Aubrey’s free hand closer to Stacie. 

A grateful smile flickers across Stacie’s face and she doesn’t hesitate to reach out and slide her hand under Aubrey’s, tangling their fingers.

Aubrey’s hand is surprisingly warm and Stacie feels tears pool in her eyes again, so relieved to finally touch her and feel for herself that Aubrey’s alive and real and safe. 

A badly suppressed yawn from Jade’s end snaps her out of her spiralling thoughts and Stacie smiles at the younger woman. 

“You can take a nap if you want to,” she offers. “I’ll wake you if anything happens.” 

“Really?” Stacie nods. “Thanks. I’ve been working non-stop for the past two days and I’m exhausted.” 

“It’s no problem,” Stacie says. 

Jade yawns again but she doesn’t close her eyes, watches Stacie closely and Stacie’s about to ask if everything’s okay when she speaks again, her voice so hushed, belying her worry. “She’s gonna be okay, right?” 

“Yes. She’s going to be okay,” Stacie says firmly and the words work as a balm to her own soul. 

Jade smiles again, nods once before tucking her head on Aubrey’s shoulder and closing her eyes. “As soon as anything happens,” she mumbles. 

“Promise.” 

Stacie watches with a soft smile as Jade settles and falls asleep almost immediately. She’s not sure how long she sits there and watches them, Aubrey more than Jade, her thumb tenderly smoothing over Aubrey’s hand. 

She sits and she watches Aubrey’s chest rise and fall, slides her index and middle fingers to Aubrey’s wrist to feel her pulse beat while she counts the breaths. She’s mesmerised by the rhythm and it soothes her, calms her racing mind and clears all the horrible scenarios spinning in her head about how badly today could’ve gone. 

She’s almost in a trance so it takes her a while to notice a low gurgling sound and her head snaps up when she realises it’s someone clearing their throat. 

Aubrey’s staring up at the ceiling with a pained expression on her face as she tries to clear her throat again and Stacie’s out of her chair in a flash, grabbing the cup of water from the bedside table and moving closer to Aubrey.

“Hi you,” she says softly and Aubrey twists her head to meet her eyes, her surprise and confusion at Stacie’s presence clear. “Water?” 

She nods eagerly so Stacie holds the straw near her lips for her to drink. 

“How do you feel?” 

“Like…” Aubrey tries, voice hoarse but clearly not in as much pain anymore. “Like I was just in a burning building,” Aubrey says and Stacie has to choke back a relieved laugh at Aubrey’s playful words. 

“It’s not a fun experience.” 

“You do this regularly?” 

“I usually have gear,” Stacie says but then her smile softens and she has to resist the urge to trail her fingers along Aubrey’s cheek. “You really scared me there.” 

“Really?” Aubrey asks in a small voice, gaze skittering away and Stacie’s chest feels tight. 

“Yeah,” Stacie whispers, perching on the side of the bed to be closer to her, holding Aubrey’s hand in her lap with both of her own, only allowing herself that small indulgence. 

“What are you doing here?” she asks softly. 

“I needed to make sure you were okay,” Stacie admits honestly even though her heart feels like it’s been beating out of her chest since the warehouse and there was a good moment while she was in the ER that she thought she was going to crumble to the ground if Aubrey didn’t make it. 

“You didn’t call.” 

Stacie bows her head in shame, the horrible feeling in her chest growing stronger. “I know. I was just…” She shakes her head, dispelling all the stupid excuses at the tip of her tongue and turning back to Aubrey. “I’m sorry.” 

She only gets a blank stare in return and she has to swallow thickly to get rid of the lump in her throat. 

“I messed up,” Stacie chokes out. “I’m sorry.” 

“You should’ve called,” she says and Stacie starts to pull away, fighting back tears that she’d fucked up one of the best parts of her life, but then Aubrey’s fingers tangle with hers and she squeezes her hand, tugs her back. “You’re an idiot.” 

“Definitely,” Stacie confirms with a wry smile and Aubrey finally sighs, corners of her mouth twitching. 

“But I’m really happy you’re here.” 

Stacie looks down at their clasped hands with a soft smile, smoothes her thumb over the back of Aubrey’s hand. “Don’t do that to me again, okay?” 

“Do what?” 

“Scare me like that,” Stacie whispers. 

“Same goes for you.” Stacie looks up at that, brows furrowing. “Rushing out to a call after working an almost deadly shift?” 

Stacie chuckles tiredly at the callout but nods, smiles as she meets Aubrey’s eyes. “Yeah.” 

“Okay,” Aubrey says, the fight slowly seeping out of her as she sighs and squeezes Stacie’s hand again. 

Stacie lifts her hand and turns it over in her hands, lips brushing against her palm in a lingering kiss and Aubrey’s eyelashes flutter as she closes her eyes and sighs again, a serene smile taking over her features. 

“Trade,” she murmurs.

“What?” 

“Trade with her.” 

“What are you—?” 

Aubrey shakes her head, turns to the woman still curled up next to her. “I know you’re awake.” 

There’s a beat of silence as Aubrey patiently waits and Stacie finally realises what’s happening before Jade grumbles softly, cracks open an eye. 

“You were having a moment, I didn’t want to interrupt.” 

“Jade…” 

The woman’s cheery grin softens when she meets Aubrey’s eyes and she shifts to prop up her head with her hand, staring down at Aubrey with a stern look. 

“However romantic, she’s right, you know. No more near-deaths, please, Bee.” 

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Aubrey says in an apologetic tone and Jade shoots her a wry smile.

“Of all the things I could’ve been called to the hospital for, injured in a burning building was never even on my list,” Jade grumbles and Aubrey’s look deepens. Jade rolls her eyes at that, sighs deeply. “Fine, I forgive you.” 

“Thank you,” Aubrey says with a small triumphant smile. “Do you wanna go home?” 

“You’re kicking me out?” Jade asks, her affront clear, if a little exaggerated. 

“You were just asleep and it’s your day off.” 

“And you wanna make out with your girlfriend,” Jade whispers, leaning in close and much to her surprise, Aubrey doesn’t refute the words, eyes unabashed as her face remains stoic. “Fine. But only because I’m super tired. I’ll come back later with dinner.” 

“Thank you.” 

“If you need something from home just text me.” Aubrey nods and the younger woman leans in to give her a careful hug, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead in the process. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Jade whispers and neither of them mention how shaky her voice sounds. “I love you, Bee.” 

“I love you too, Jay Jay,” Aubrey whispers.

Jade’s smile twitches then, clearly bursting with relief and joy at the words as she climbs off the bed, hastily putting on her shoes. “I can’t believe you’re kicking me out,” she murmurs again but her angry face is a little too pinched to be genuine and she hides it by letter her hair curtain over part of her face. 

“Go home to sleep, babycakes,” Aubrey teases and Jade rolls her eyes but doesn’t fight it anymore. 

“Don’t forget that the nurses can see what’s happening on your heart monitor,” Jade says with a teasing grin and Aubrey tries not to smile but the blush creeping up her cheeks is unmistakeable and Jade lets out a soft giggle as she grabs her bag. 

“It was nice to meet you, Stacie,” she says. 

“Same here.” 

With a final, lingering touch to Aubrey’s blanket-covered foot, Jade bids them goodbye. 

Stacie’s still perched on the side of the bed, body twisted as she stares at the now-closed door. 

“You have a sister,” Stacie says slowly when she turns back to Aubrey, waits for the nod. “Who you live with?” 

“Mhm-hm,” Aubrey hums, biting her lower lip. 

“I’ve been to your house.”

“You’ve been to our house.” 

“Like, a ton of times.” 

Aubrey nods, hums again. 

“We’ve had pretty loud sex at your house,” Stacie points out. “And your sister was there all along?” 

“Well, she—” 

“You ate me out on your kitchen table, Aubrey,” Stacie hisses, eyes wide with panic.

“I cleaned it afterwards!” Aubrey protests immediately but then her face pinches, throat burning with the effort of speaking at that volume and Stacie’s expression melts into one of worry as she grabs the cup of water again. Aubrey shakes her head, clears her throat. “She works for Delta, she’s never been home while you were there.” 

“That’s a small relief,” Stacie says with a teasing smile that Aubrey can’t help but mirror. 

“C’mere?” 

Stacie makes quick work of her boots and before long she’s climbing onto the hospital bed, leaning back against Aubrey’s pillow and helping the blonde shift so that she’s cradled against Stacie, her head on Stacie’s chest and she sighs softly when Stacie reaches up to move some hair away from her face, dipping her head to kiss Aubrey’s temple. 

“I’ve missed you, Aubrey,” Stacie whispers in the quiet of the room and Aubrey doesn’t respond but Stacie feels a weight of her chest when the woman curls further into her with a content sigh. 

“Seriously?” Stacie exclaims as she moves away from the fire truck and closer to where the two detectives have crossed under their yellow tape cordoning off the area. “What are you doing here?” 

“Don’t waste your breath,” Beca says, throwing up her hands in exasperation. “I already tried.” 

“I’m going crazy at home,” Aubrey says, trying to get a peek over Stacie’s shoulder and grumbling when the woman steps to the side to block her view. “Stace…” 

“Detective Posen, you are on medical leave. You’re not allowed to be here,” Stacie says firmly, gaze flickering over to Beca when her mouth opens to protest. “Detective Mitchell, you’re allowed to stay.” 

“This is my arson case,” Aubrey protests immediately. “Mitchell doesn’t even know anything about the case.” 

“That’s true,” Beca says and Stacie sighs. 

“We only just got the fire out, there’s nothing for you to do here yet. I don’t have a report for you,” Stacie says, dropping her voice and trying to seduce Aubrey away from the scene. 

“You have a history of wrecking my evidence so I thought I’d get here before you ruin my scene.” 

“It’s not your scene yet,” Stacie says. “It’s not your scene until I say so.” 

She crosses her arms smugly and lifts her chin and Aubrey would be super attracted to her in that moment if she wasn’t so incredibly annoyed. 

“Stacie…” she tries with a pout but the woman doesn’t relent. She curls her index finger into Stacie’s suspender and tugs firmly at the elastic, causing Stacie to take a step closer to her to keep her balance. “Please?” 

She can see Stacie’s resolve crumble and Stacie’s voice is shaky when she says, “No.” 

“Baby, please.” 

“This is ridiculous,” Beca mutters under her breath but they both hear her and Stacie snaps away to look at the detective. 

“Go flirt with your own firefighter,” she says with a teasing smile that widens when Beca’s cheeks turn bright red and she attempts to sputter out a response. “Beale!” 

“Conrad,” Beca grumbles, trying to regain her composure before the bubbly redhead joins them. 

“So mean,” Aubrey whispers, dragging Stacie’s attention back to her when that index finger trails down Stacie’s abdomen, stopping right before it reaches Stacie’s pants. 

“Detective…” 

“Jade’s gone tonight,” Aubrey says in a low voice. 

“I know.” 

“Really?” Aubrey asks, ripping away in surprise and her curiosity grows when Stacie ducks her head with an embarrassed smile. “How?” 

“She sent me her work schedule and said, and I quote, ‘to surprise you naked in bed’.” 

Aubrey presses her lips together to keep from laughing at Stacie’s miserable look. Her eyes flicker over Stacie’s shoulder again, expression dropping and she’s too quick for Stacie when she steps around her and towards the fire truck. 

“Captain Walsh!” she calls out and Stacie swivels, brain slow to catch up. 

“Hey, Detective Posen. You’re back,” he says with a kind smile, his gaze darting to Stacie and back. “Here for your usual arson case, huh?” 

“Yes,” Aubrey says, pleased that he seems to have no problem with her presence. At her probing questions, he offers to take her around himself and Stacie doesn’t even have time to interject with an objection before they’re moving towards the building. 

When she comes back, Aubrey finds Stacie rigging up one of the water hoses and she patiently waits until the woman is done. 

“Got what you need?” Stacie asks, her warm, loving eyes dampening the exasperated tone she uses. 

“Yup,” Aubrey says while holding up her notebook and shaking it. 

“And now you’re gonna go home, right? To rest? Like the doctor ordered for another two weeks?” 

“No,” Aubrey says and Stacie has to breathe slowly to avoid exploding when she sees that Aubrey doesn’t look even a little ashamed or guilty. 

“What?” Her voice is too tempered to be genuine and Aubrey has to suppress a smile. 

“I got a good lead, we’re gonna go check it out.” 

“You know, Aubrey…” Stacie starts, her exhale joined by a low grumbly noise and Aubrey knows she shouldn’t enjoy how much she can rile up Stacie. “I realise saying this to you risks me getting arrested for threatening a cop or whatever and—” 

“Conspiracy to commit harm to a police officer is probably the closest thing,” Aubrey interjects in an attempt to be helpful but Stacie just glowers at her. 

“—and I love you, but sometimes you frustrate me so much and I just dream about choking you,” Stacie finishes. 

“That’s funny,” Aubrey says with a coy smile that completely throws Stacie off her game. Aubrey steps closer, quickly glancing around to make sure there’s nobody nearby. “Sometimes I dream about your hands wrapped around my neck too.” 

Stacie’s mouth drops open, unintelligible sounds falling from her lips as she tries to form words to respond, brain blanking at the thought and Aubrey lets out a low chuckle. 

“I’ll see you tonight,” she murmurs, leaning in to kiss Stacie quickly. “And I love you too.” 

Her brain is still short-circuited so Stacie’s body moves completely on autopilot when she reaches out and tugs Aubrey back, mouth pressing against hers in a kiss that immediately grows deeper. 

Aubrey’s tongue touching hers seems to do the trick and Stacie slowly comes back to herself, and when they pull apart, Aubrey seems every bit as dazed as she is. 

“Okay,” she murmurs, shakes her head to clear it while Aubrey licks her lips. 

“Okay,” Aubrey repeats breathlessly. 

“Go home, Detective,” Stacie says weakly and Aubrey shakes her head as she moves away again. 

Aubrey wriggles her fingers as a goodbye and ducks under the yellow tape. 

“Goodbye Lieutenant.”