"I've been ditched again…"
Sighing a bit, the twenty-seven year old woman turned to head back to work.
"Ask your older sister to meet you for coffee, and she sleeps in…"
Rolling green eyes good-naturedly, she fidgeted with her light brown ponytail as the MCU building came into view.
Pulling her long trench coat tighter around herself, she stepped into the building easily.
Gliding through the mob of busy officers, she stepped into the locker room to change into her work out clothes.
She wasn't about to come to work early for nothing…
Pulling on sweat pants and a light tank top, she pulled off her flats and switched them for sneakers.
Heading into the training area, she grabbed the wraps for the punching bag.
Pulling them across her knuckles, the brunette stopped in front of the stationary target and watched it as she tossed the tape onto a bench.
Bringing her fists up in a ready position, she threw one where the head would have been on any grown man.
The bag swung rather far, and it came back to meet her foot as she gave an impressive spin kick.
As she beat the sand out of the bag, someone walked up behind her.
Spinning around, her foot stopped right at the officers throat, a warning of what could have been.
Lowering her leg, she smiled reassuringly at the shaken rookie.
"Don't worry. I only kick criminals."
"Um…Lieutenant Dawes?"
"Yeah?" She replied absentmindedly, pulling off the tape.
"I was wondering if we could spar? You're such a legend, I mean…I'd be honored…"
"Sure. It's always more interesting to fight with a target that moves."
The pair moved to the ring, and took stances across from each other.
He was a true police officer, regulation stance and all, but she was a more…inventive person.
Her stance was a mix between martial arts styles she'd been training in since she was six.
He attacked first, swinging for her head, and was surprised when she slid into a split to avoid it.
Staying up on her hands, she brought her ankles up and grabbed his wrist with her ankles, using his own momentum to toss him over her.
Flipping to her feet, she stood over him and smiled.
"I didn't become a legend by getting punched in the face." She teased good-naturedly, offering a hand to help him up.
Accepting it, the fallen officer hefted himself to his feet.
"You should probably practice getting back on your feet. Fall down like that around a criminal, I might not be there to save your ass."
Taking her advice to heart, he nodded and headed off to the other rookies.
Turning to grab a towel off the rack, she smiled as she saw her cell phone beginning to vibrate.
Flipping her Juke open, the lieutenant of the Major Crimes unit alongside Jim Gordan put it to her ear.
"Hey, Rach."
"I'm so sorry, Angie. I couldn't make it for coffee with all this paperwork-."
"And your BOYFRIEND." The brunette teased, letting her waist-length hair free of her hair tie.
"Don't start with that again, Angie!" Her older sister mock-begged.
"Oh, alright."
Giggling a bit, she headed back into the locker room and started one of the showers.
"But it's alright. I got some sparring in, so there's no harm done."
"You might be a lieutenant, but you sure scare those criminals, sis."
"It's my job."
"So, how's Bruce been?"
"Sleepy."
Chuckling a bit as she pulled off her sweat pants and underwear, she kept the phone between her shoulder and cheek.
"But he's great otherwise. Just a little obsessive, you know?"
"When isn't he?"
Putting the phone on speaker so she could pull off her tank top and bra, Angie couldn't help giggling.
"I'll call you when I get off my shift. I need to shower before getting to work."
"Alright. Have a good time fighting crime."
"You, too."
Snapping her phone shut, Angie paused to look at herself in the full-length mirror in the locker room.
She was shorter than the average woman, and petite, with toned muscles and perky breasts.
She'd never considered herself pretty, but then again, she'd never really thought about it.
People often said she looked like her sister, Rachel, and she'd always thought Rachel was pretty…
Shrugging, she turned to head into the shower, her long hair hiding the white scar along her hip…
The water soothed her, the steam unwrinkling the worries that had caught up with her during the night…
Deeming herself clean, Angie shut off the water and grabbed a towel to dry off.
Pulling on her nicest jeans and white tank top, she then picked up her trusty duffel bag and headed into the sea of officers.
Finding the door that read 'Lieutenant Angela Dawes' across the glass, she opened it with ease and dropped her things on one of her spare chairs.
Catching sight of paperwork piled up to her chin atop her desk, Angie rolled her eyes.
'I hate Loeb…'
The commissioner wasn't very fond of her either, and only her impeccable record and impressive field performance had gotten her to lieutenant…
"Dawes?"
Looking up at Jin Gordan, she smiled before her wavy hair into a ponytail.
"Anything interesting going on, Gordan?"
"No, just wondering if you'd burned the paperwork yet."
Angie sent a death glare at the pile.
"I would, but Loeb would take that as a sign of weakness…"
Chuckling at her humor, her partner stepped within her office.
"Why don't you take the day off? I'll handle this."
Hope lit up her eyes, and she smiled like her namesake.
"Really?"
"Really really."
Squealing in joy, Angie hugged him quickly before grabbing her things and bolting.
"Thankssomuchyouwon'tregretitBYE!"
Jim shook his head in amusement…
'How'd she make it to lieutenant again?'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The door to her condo opened with a flourish, and Angie peaked in with a smile.
"Honey, I'm home!"
"MOMMY!"
A little bundle of energy hugged her mother around the leg, showing a child of only four.
The neighbor Angie had left her daughter with smiled before saying her goodbyes and leaving.
Lifting the little girl into her arms, she smiled at the innocent green eyes and tousled brown hair.
"Do you want to get ice cream and meet Uncle Bruce, Mia?"
"Yes! Uncle Bruce!"
"Alright, then. Grab your jacket and we'll go."
With a squeal of delight, the child ran off once her feet touched the floor, and Angie grabbed the keys to her motorcycle.
It was a gift from Bruce for her birthday a couple months earlier, and she loved it to death.
Smiling as Mia ran back to her mother, Angie took the little hand in her own and headed down the stairs after locking the door.
Walking into the parking lot, she ran a hand across her bike.
It was more modern, with an engine in the larger front wheel and a windshield that traveled over the seat in a semicircle.
Straddling the bike, Angie lifted her daughter onto the front facing her so the little one could hold onto her for support.
Carefully starting the engine, she pulled out at a relatively slow speed so as not to frighten Mia.
Personally, she enjoyed going as fast as possible, but now wasn't the time…
Reaching the right building, she parked quickly and lifted Mia into her arms before heading inside.
Taking the elevator from the lobby, she waited for it to stop at the right floor before stepping out.
Alfred greeted them, and smiled as Mia struggled to be set on the floor.
Angie giggled, doing just that, and the child was off.
"She's like a blood hound…"
The brunette held up five fingers, counting down slowly.
Once she reached one, the surprised shout of Bruce and the happy squeal of Mia reached the pair.
"Perfect timing as usual, Ms Angela."
"It's what I do."
Grinning, she stepped into the large bedroom, seeing Mia jumping on the bed as Bruce tried to SLEEP…
"Alright, honey. Why don't you go ask Alfred for some ice cream?"
"Okay!"
Once the little girl was gone, Angie sat down in a chair, unable to hide her amusement.
"Long night?"
"You have no idea…"
Still smiling, she looked at the Advil and glass of water left on the nightstand.
Eyes glowing green, the glass and pills floated over to her, outlined the same cloudy color, and she took them easily.
"Headache?"
"Yeah, how'd you-?"
He paused, seeing her holding out the cup.
"I kind of figured. Alfred left you Advil."
He smirked a bit, accepting both items and popping the pills into his mouth.
"You and your weird magic…"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's my weird magic that's saved both our asses on a number of occasions."
"Yeah, yeah…I know…"
Crossing her legs and leaning back, Angie couldn't help that addictive smile from growing larger…
"Besides, Black Kitten is always ready to fly in when Batman gets shot down."
"Oh, really?"
She yelped in surprise when his arm found its way around her waist, pulling her over him onto the bed.
He loomed over her, and she almost laughed.
"Oh, come on. Are you embarrassed a girl had to save you?"
"Actually, it was rather hot…"
"Aw, you flatter me…"
Almost carefully, they shared a kiss, but a cough from the doorway cut it short.
"Ms Mia seems to have found the sweets…"
"Oh crap…MIA, DON'T YOU DARE EAT THOSE COOKIES! YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME!"
Bruce sighed, giving a half-hearted glare at Alfred as Angie sped out the door.
"What? You remember what happened last time, sir."
Still not particularly happy, he had to smile when he heard the happy squeals of laughter from the kitchen.
He remembered Angie's face when she'd told him she was a mother…
He'd been gone at the time, but Rachel had explained that her younger sister had been raped on a date after being drugged.
It took her a while, but Angie had made a comeback, going back to the laidback, free-spirited person she'd been…
Then she'd found out she was pregnant…
She panicked at first, not sure if she was ready for it, but Rachel had convinced her to carry out the pregnancy.
They'd had an agreement, that once the baby was born it would be Angie's choice to keep it or not.
But once she'd seen her baby girl's little face…
She'd cracked, and kept the little bundle of joy.
With her strict training regimen, it hadn't even take her too long to get her old body back, and most couldn't tell she'd given birth.
Now, Angie had her 'vengeance' by putting the scum behind bars, and was the protective 'mother bear' over her child.
When asked why she kept Mia, she always replied with "Her father may have been a bastard, but I know that child well enough to see she'd never do anything that bad to someone."
That little girl was probably the only thing keeping Angie from getting buried in her work when Bruce was busy…
"BRUCE? YOU DIDN'T REALLY LIKE THAT VASE IN THE KITCHEN, RIGHT?"
Then again, maybe both were there to test his sanity…
