A/N: I know that quite a lot of people don't ship these two, and of course it's only early days as well so there's still so much more to see. But, even in the six episodes we've seen so far, there's definitely something between them. I wanted to explore it and that's where this came from! I hope you enjoy it. Make sure you review and all that! (And if you read my other fanfiction, Fresh Eyes, there's a little sneak peak of the next chapter hidden in here somewhere...)


Peter Stone couldn't help but notice Anna flinching with every gunshot as they watched the body cam video from their latest case. When she stood up and excused herself quietly from the room, he frowned and instantly wanted to follow her out to check if she was all right.

As soon as it was sensible for him to follow her, he did. She was back at her desk, frantically typing something on her computer. He stood in front of her desk, his hands in his pockets as he looked down at her.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Valdez?" He asked.

Anna looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "No, why?" She frowned.

With a look, Peter gestured to his office and walked ahead, taking a seat behind his desk. Anna followed him inside, closing the door behind her and taking a seat on the other side of Peter's desk, where she usually sat when they spoke.

"What is it, Peter?" Anna frowned again, crossing her arms.

He sighed and shook his head. "Don't think that I didn't notice you leaving the room when we watched that video back, Anna," he said. "You were flinching with every gunshot. So, tell me what's going on."

"It's nothing," Anna shrugged, looking down at the ground. "Honestly. I'm just a little spooked, still, after what happened with Kinzie. It's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine in a few more days. It just hasn't been very long since..."

She trailed off, letting her eyes trail back up to Peter and seeing the pitying look on his face. "Peter, really. It's nothing to worry about! Can I go back to work now? Please."

He sighed and looked briefly down at her desk. "Have you spoken to someone about it, Anna? Dr. Charles over at Med, maybe? Even Dr. Reese."

Anna hesitated before slowly nodding. "I saw someone on Tuesday night about it all. I'm going back next week," she confirmed. "I'm cleared for work, Peter. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

Stone chuckled at her. "What else am I supposed to do, Anna? Ignore it?"

She shrugged at him. "Well, yeah," she nodded.

He sighed and shook his head. "You can go back to your desk," he began. "But Anna - if you ever need to talk to someone here, my door is always open for you."


Anna closed the door of her apartment after her, sighing. She'd had a busy day and wasn't afraid to admit that she was exhausted. They'd been working on the case until late at night and none of them had left the office until it was well past dark. Usually, Anna didn't mind staying at work late, but after the accident with Kinzie, she preferred not to wander around outside when it was dark.

Maybe it was the thought that, at first, she'd thought she was the one about to be shot when she left the bar with Ray. She knew that she was scared of the sound of gunshots now because of that. And, of course, because of what happened to Ray.

What if she'd been with him when the man had fired the shots?

It could have easily been her. Even if she wasn't the one being targeted. What if she hadn't walked away from him when she did? What if she'd been shot too?

She hadn't realised that her head had fallen into her hands as her anxiety got worse, thought after thought. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and drafted out a quick text to Peter.

Anna Valdez: Might have to take advantage of that open door tomorrow...


The office was quiet when Anna walked in the next morning. She'd slept uneasily, but it wasn't too big of a deal. It was going to be a slow day anyway - the trial wasn't for a few more days, luckily.

She sent a smile to Laura as she headed to her desk. "Morning, Laura," Anna said, pulling off her coat and hanging it over the back of her chair. "Did you have a good night?"

Laura nodded at her. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. What about you?"

With a shrug, Anna spoke again. "It was good, yeah. I'm still tired, though," she chuckled, sitting down in her chair. She spotted Laura's coffee on her desk and instantly wished she'd picked one up on the way in.

"Who isn't tired at this time of the morning?" Laura scoffed, turning back to her computer. "It's an ungodly hour, but unfortunately, it's one I have to deal with."

Anna couldn't help but laugh at Laura's words - she agreed with them. "Where's Antonio this morning?" She asked, logging into her computer quickly.

Laura shrugged. "I think he's treating his girlfriend to something special. I mean, he asked me how to fix a crumbling relationship yesterday. I didn't give him any good advice, but I'd guess that's what he's up to this morning. He mentioned something about pancakes last night, but I have no idea what that means."

Antonio had been dating Sylvie Brett - one of the paramedics from over at Firehouse 51 - for a few months now. Anna didn't know too much about them, only that they'd gotten together while there was a threat on her life. It seemed very dramatic, but Anna didn't want to delve into the details.

She was friends with Sylvie, though. Antonio had introduced the two of them at Molly's only a few weeks ago and Anna had found Sylvie nice enough. While, she did admit, that she found it slightly amusing for Antonio, the tough guy, to be dating someone as sweet as Sylvie was - and vice versa.

"I guess she's one lucky girl this morning, then!" Anna smiled, clicking on her emails to check any that might have come through during the night.

As she was about to click on one, she saw Peter walk into the office out of the corner of her eye. He smiled at her as soon as he saw her, not being able to help himself. He'd gotten her text last night and had really appreciated that she was comfortable enough around him to talk about everything that had happened.

He put a coffee down on her desk as he passed and sent her another small smile. "Figured you'd need one this morning, right?"

She grinned up at him. "You're definitely right about that one, Stone."


A/N: Apologies for this being so short! I'm going to try and lengthen the chapters, but since I've never written these characters before, I'm still getting used to writing them. I hope I've done them justice for this first chapter! Chapters will probably get longer as we get to know the characters better! But I hope you all enjoyed. :)