Hey guys :) Another one-shot here. I'm still trying to plot out my multi-chapter fic but I've got a few ideas now at least. Should be up in a week or so maybe. Hope you all enjoy this!
Allison Rafferty froze as she heard her name being called from behind her. She thought about running, about avoiding that feeling in her gut once again.
"What are you doing here?" Shay asked.
"I heard that you got trapped in a sinkhole. I just wanted to come by. You know, take five minutes and check in." She shrugged, turning to face her old partner.
"So why are you leaving?"
"I changed my mind. Didn't wanna bug you, I guess." Allison took in the sight of Shay, still in her fire dept. jacket and pants and covered in dirt and dust.
"You're not bugging me. How'd you hear about the sinkhole?" She shrugged off the coat, revealing a heavy posture under the weight of the procedure she had just had to perform.
"You're being hailed as a heroine on every news channel in the city, idiot. You cut off a guys leg while a sinkhole caved in around you. You could have died today, Leslie." The brunette finally looked Shay in the eye. The full impact of those ice blue rings hit her like a kick to the chest.
"It's not a big deal. I was just doing my job." Shay blinked somberly, finally feeling the wave of exhaustion she had been fighting before their last call.
"It is. We could have been preparing for a funeral procession right now. That day in the locker room? That could have been the last time I ever saw you or spoke to you." She shook her head in disbelief and tried to recall the speech she had run through in her head earlier about the things she would regret not saying if anything happened to Leslie.
"Look, Rafferty. I gotta shower but why don't you come in, hang out for a bit. I could use the distraction, and everyone misses you." She scratched her forehead and felt the dirt collect beneath her nails as it smudged around her skin.
"You're not hearing me, Leslie." She draped her arms around the shorter woman's neck and kissed her, slowly, but with all the passion she could find.
It took a moment for Shay to respond, but when she did their bodies moved together in perfect time. It was true that Leslie had imagined the moment before, but never had she thought it would actually happen, and certainly not like this. The taste of dirt still lingered in her mouth and she couldn't imagine she smelled much better. Allison didn't care though. In that moment, she needed a way to explain the things her words couldn't. Their foreheads pressed together as they parted and locked eyes.
"I need you to tell me that that meant what I think it meant." Leslie breathed hard as her heart pounded in her throat.
"I can't live without you. I- I, I can't think or breathe or sleep or eat or do anything when you're not around. I didn't think I could ever love like this again, but... Here I am. Whatever baggage you've got, whatever the future has in store for us... I want you, Leslie Shay. I need you. So you have to stop putting yourself in harm's way. You have to stop getting shot at and trapped and injured. Because I can't live without you." She pressed her lips against Leslie's one more time, just to get the point across.
"I love you, too." Shay smirked as they parted again and pulled the other woman against her chest in a tight embrace.
"You owe me fifty bucks!" Dawson's laughter came from around the corner, accompanied by Christopher's loud groan.
"That 'ain't fair. Everyone loves a hero!"
"Hey Herrmann! Everyone else can get their own hero. This one? She's mine." Rafferty and Shay moved into view of the group that had been eavesdropping and kissed in the most theatrical manner possible, the blonde dipping her backwards with flair.
The group of men and women erupted into applause and "it's about time." along with various similar statements and congratulations were shouted as the women broke apart and grinned at one another.