Chapter Text
It had been a week since the Firefighter's Ball and the floor collapse. Jack was finally back from the hospital and slowly recovering from his brain bleed. In that time, Vic had visited him often and he quickly found the words to tell her about what he had seen in the cloak room. She couldn’t deny it hurt her, but she could see for a long time now that Theo had changed; he hadn’t been the many she fell in love with for months. The relief she felt made the breakup slightly easier, she missed the first stage of constant tears and heartache and skipped straight to the grief for what could have been.
Desk duty had been the bain of her existence today; to anyone who would listen she emphasised that it was the slowest shift in the history of shifts. As she twirled in her seat with her head flung back and her eyes closed, she heard the front door open.
“Hello?” said a female voice. Vic shot round.
“Hi! How can I help?” In front of her stood a tall brunette holding a fire alarm.
“Uh this thing doesn’t seem to be working, I was wondering whether you’d be able to help me out?” Vic took a second to process. “It’s just there’s been a fire in my building
recently and I’d like to know I’m safe.”
“Uh yeah, no, of course. Lemme take a look.” It took her a few seconds to gather her thoughts, she had never felt this nervous with a woman before; she had no idea what this feeling was or what it meant.
“So uh, looks like the wire is fried; you’d just be best getting a new one. I’ll grab you one.” Vic said unable to take off her eyes of this gorgeous woman. Her piercing blue eyes were fixed on Vic’s. Her hair fell perfectly over her shoulders in lose curls. Hughes spotted a flower tattoo peaking out of her short white t-shirt. She was also unable to move.
“Uh are you okay?” The woman said with a slight smirk.
“Yeah, sorry.” Vic shook her head and ran over to the cabinet grabbing a small white box. She walked back over to the brunette and handed her the box. “Uh if you have any other issues my name is Vic.”
“Danielle. Thanks for the help, I hope to see you around.” And with a smirk on her face, Danielle left. Vic couldn’t hide her flushed cheeks.
Travis came running down the stairs.
“I know that look…” He said quickly with a grin. “Come on, spill. Was it a smokin’ hot guy? I can’t believe you didn’t call me down.”
“Uh - actually it was a woman.” Travis blinked in shock. “I’m sorry, I thought I heard you say a woman?”
“Mhm.” The reply was vague and Travis could tell just how confused she was feeling, he had been there before after all.
“You wanna talk about it?”
“Uhhh I’m not sure yet.” Vic said walking away.
After some thought, she decided to brush it off; she’d know by now if she was into women… Right?
A week had passed, and Vic hadn’t given it much more thought, to her, her theory was solid. I mean after so many years on this planet, you’d think she would have bumped into a woman who would have made her feel that way at least once. Right? She obviously acknowledged when a woman was hot but that didn’t mean she found them attractive. Right?
She couldn’t help but wonder if she would run into her again every time they went out on a call. She wished the sirens could silence her thoughts, but it was the one moment in which her thoughts were the loudest.
As they pulled up, Hughes started assessing the scene. It was a small apartment building. To the left, on the second top row of flats, flames and smoke was escaping from the shattered glass.
“Okay Nineteen, Hughes and Montgomery, search and rescue. Gibson and Ruiz, you’re on fire attack. Bishop and Warren, set up triage. Let’s go!”
Rushing from apartment to apartment, Hughes and Montgomery ushered people out of the building.
“I think that’s it, let’s get out of here.” Montgomery said while taking one last look around.
“No, we missed one over there.” The thick smoke almost completely blurred out the door. They banged and shouted, no reply. Hughes quickly kicked the door down to find someone lying on the floor. They both rushed over to the unconscious woman. As they turned her over, Vic’s stomach churned; it was Danielle. She had hoped for better circumstances for their second meeting.
“She’s got a pulse.” Vic quickly said.
“Captain, we need a gurney to the top floor. We have an unconscious female.” Travis said over the radio and in less than a minute, Danielle was taken out by the firefighters to triage.
“Hughes help with triage; Montgomery assist with fire attack.” Herrera yelled as the team worked to control the fire.
Taking off her gear, she started assisting with Danielle, and after a bit of oxygen she began to regain consciousness.
“Hey, hey slowly there, keep that on.” Warren quickly said as she tried to get up and take her mask off. “You collapsed after some serious smoke inhalation; we need to take you to the hospital to get you checked, okay?” Warren said as he moved over to the next patient.
“I’m just gonna put in an IV, and we’ll get you in the next ambulance.” Vic said with a small smile.
“You know, I kind of hoped that next time we’d meet under not fire related circumstances.” Danielle said to which Vic let out a small laugh.
“Main thing is you’re okay, and if anything changes let me know.” Suddenly, Vic felt herself getting lost in Danielle’s blue eyes. “And, hey, there’s nothing saying we can’t meet, let’s say in a coffee shop?” Vic’s cheeks began to feel flushed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t-“
“I’d love to.” Danielle said before Hughes could reach the end of her sentence.
With that Danielle was taken away and the butterflies that Hughes felt were undeniable. It was scary but exciting all at the same time. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. It felt like a new beginning, a chance to finally find the happiness she has been seeking to feel again, the one she last truly felt with Ripley. She could no longer deny that she settled in her relationship with Theo and that it was probably because she felt that it was all that she deserved for some time. Yet the hopeful side of her yearned to fight for what she thought they could achieve, which now in hindsight, was always out of their reach; actually, it was so far away she couldn’t even see it anymore. She was ready for something new, something fresh and something beautiful.