Emma pulled her arm across her chest to try and stretch the aching muscle. She held it there for a good twenty seconds before switching and pulling the other arm to do the same.

She moved up as the line in front of her progressed and she tried to shake the fatigued muscles, as if she could somehow re-energize and strengthen them in the few seconds before it was her turn again. She was getting exhausted though, and wasn't sure there was anything she could do, but push forward.

It had been just over two weeks since the incident with her crew, and the department had decided it was time for some more intensive trainings. They'd already had several more basic safety meetings, but today they had to go over personal rescues. The training itself was quite good, in Emma's opinion, and she was enjoying the experience. But now they'd been in full gear for nearly three hours and in addition to feeling over heated and knowing her uniform was soaked through with sweat, they'd been basically working out now for the entire duration and there was only so many times that you could lift yourself and your sixty pounds of gear before your body just stopped working.

Emma felt as if she was nearing that point.

"Next."

Emma stepped up after Jefferson completed his turn. This time, she was supposed to use a hand tool as a step to reach their makeshift window, and then hoist herself up with her own strength and maneuver herself in all her gear and tank, through the small opening to the other side.

She tried to psych herself up as she stepped forward. Taking a deep breath and shaking out her arms again, she stepped up and planted her foot on the unsteady halligan.

In a quick, practiced move, Emma stepped up and threw her body as high as she could as she simultaneously reached for the window and started pulling herself up. When she had herself into the opening, she felt like her arms were going to give up. She moved fast, turning herself enough to be able to sit in the sill and take the weight from her arms. She twisted so that her tank on her back got into the opening and then finally was able to allow herself a calming breath. At that point, she was able to calmly lean back and maneuver the rest of her body through the window and onto the ladder behind.

After making it back to the floor, Emma moved slowly to the end of the line again. She barely got in place before the captain announced they were done for the day and could take their gear off. The relief she felt then, was immense.

As soon as they managed to get everything nearly cleaned up and the promise of hot shower became within reach, the tones above them sounded and Emma realized it was going to be a long day.

"This is Mr T's, isn't is?" August twisted around in his seat to ask Emma as they responded to a familiar address.

Emma narrowed her eyes as she thought.

"Yeah, but I mean since when is that old man doing heroin?"

They were all confused as the dispatch had told them they were responding to a drug overdose at one of their frequent fliers homes. The man generally complained of aches and pains or difficulties in his diabetes. He wasn't exactly a drug case.

They arrived on scene to the familiar home, but instead of just casually walking up to the apartment with the medic's stair chair, they took an extra second to grab the drug and airway bags and monitor before jogging up to the door.

A yell sounded from inside, asking them to get in their fast. They were lucky the door was already unlocked and the five of them rushed inside.

"Mr T? What's going on?" August addressed the panicking man who he could see was standing inside the doorway, down the hall.

"It's my daughter. I don't know what's wrong." The man was almost hyperventilating as they reached him and stepped into the bedroom.

"What's her name, sir?" August asked.

"Ariel. It's Ariel." He nearly started crying.

Billy, their temporary replacement for Robin, took the initiative and got the man out of the room so everyone else could work.

Emma followed the medics into the bedroom and immediately knelt down next to them to help. She'd never seen the young red head before. She knew Mr T had a few daughters, but they were all older and were spread across the country. This girl didn't look like a typical drug user. She was beautiful, didn't have any obvious track marks, no bruising or anything that Emma could see.

"Do we know what she took?" Archie, one of the seasoned paramedics, asked.

"Mr T said he didn't know." Emma answered as she helped check a pulse. "She's got a good radial." She said as she nodded to Archie.

"Alright, let's just give her two, nasally." He didn't need to clarify anything else. His partner, Sean, went ahead and grabbed the box marked, Narcan, from their airway bad and took a MAD device out as well.

In only seconds, the medication was ready to go and Sean went ahead and put the soft end into the woman's nose, compressing half of the drug into one nostril, then the rest into the other side.

It took almost no time at all before the patient's eyes started fluttering and she began making incoherent sounds.

"Ariel?" Archie spoke loudly above the woman. "Ariel, my name is Archie. We're with the fire department. Can you talk to me?"

"I'm— I..." She stuttered slightly and pressed her eyes closed.

"It's okay. Everything's okay. Can you tell us what you took?" He asked, not unkindly.

"I...I didn't take anything." As she regained her consciousness, the girl was finally speaking more coherently.

Everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

"Ariel, I'm going to explain something — we gave you a drug that's only job is to counteract other drugs. So the fact that you woke up when we gave it to you, already tells us without a doubt that you took something. Just tell us so we can help you." You could tell Archie had this conversation too many times in his career. He didn't feel like messing around much.

"I didn't take anything." Ariel sat up and refused to make eye contact with anyone.

Emma had been on quite a few calls with Archie and knew he didn't have a lot of patience with people who continued to lie to him after he saved their lives. Before he could say anything else, Emma stepped in. She generally had far better luck with young, female patients, than any of the guys.

"Hey..." She started, gaining the girl's attention. She could already see a difference when Ariel looked at her, versus Archie. "Look, we're not the cops. We're not going to get you in trouble. Honestly, we're only here to help, but it has to go both ways. We can help you— all you need to do is be open and honest with us. I promise the only people we're going to talk to, is the hospital staff, okay?" She waited and could just watch as the younger girl's resolve started to break.

"It was just one time." She started and Emma just nodded, politely. "I swear, I've never done the stuff before, but my friend gave it to me. She said it would calm me down." Ariel had tears in her eyes and Emma wondered if maybe she was actually telling the truth.

"Okay, it's okay. Heroin, right?" She asked and Ariel nodded slowly. "Okay, it's going to be okay. Do you think you could walk if I help you?"

"Yeah." Ariel nodded and took Emma's outstretched hand. She didn't fail to notice that she specifically ignored Archie's offered hand.

They all walked down to the ambulance parked outside, marked Boston EMS, and climbed up into the back. Emma helped Ariel sit on the cot and latched the seat belts into place.

"Alright, this is Sean, he's going to be back here with you, okay?"

"Wait, you're not coming?" Ariel looked panicked and Emma gave her a reassuring smile.

"No, I have to go back in the fire truck. But Sean's really cool, it'll be okay—"

"No, no I'm not going." Ariel immediately started pulling at the seatbelts and Emma shook her head.

"Whoa, hold on, just hold on."

"If you're not back here, I'm not staying with them."

Emma could see the resolution in her eyes and sighed. They had patients like this from time to time, so it wasn't too new to Emma.

She looked towards the back doors of the squad that were still open and made eye contact with August. Her lieutenant had overheard the worried patient and looked between the two of them. A few seconds later, he nodded.

"We'll meet you over there."

Satisfied, Ariel calmed down and sat back into the cot and Archie started driving.

Fully awake now, Ariel was quite conversational enroute to the hospital — but only to Emma. She completely ignored Sean, even as the young medic attempted to ask her questions and get a set of vitals for her. Emma ended up having to get her history and information herself and Sean took notes from the bench seat.

When they got the hospital, Emma helped Ariel from the squad and walked her into the ER. She'd been completely fine through the whole transport, so she threw Emma off when she suddenly said she was feeling faint.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked her as she immediately took Ariel's arm, gently. The last thing they needed was to walk a patient in who couldn't stay on her feet without passing out.

"Yeah, I just need your help." Ariel smiled at Emma and the firefighter nodded, letting the patient hold her hand while she placed her other on Ariel's back.

"Alright, we're almost there."

Emma walked Ariel to the nearest wheelchair, and helped her sit down into it. She didn't see the slightest hint of frustration in the young girl's expression.

Emma wheeled her through the hall behind Sean and waited as he got Ariel registered. Once they had a room, Emma took Ariel to the bed assigned to her and helped her move once again.

"You're not leaving, right?" Ariel all but pouted and surprised Emma when she reached out and grabbed her hand.

"You're going to be fine." Emma promised, trying to give her a comforting smile. "But I have to go back to work now."

"Please?" Ariel literally batted her eyelashes at Emma and the blonde finally clued in. Pulling her hand back slowly, Emma cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry. I have to leave though."

"Well..." Ariel started and smiled at Emma. "If you have to leave, you have to leave your number too."

She was confident, that was for sure. Emma's eyebrows lifted as she regarded the younger woman.

In a different scenario at a different time, Emma probably would have jumped at the offer. Ariel fit her type, aesthetically, at least. But then this was unprofessional and it would always be awkward that they met when Emma had helped revive her from a heroin overdose. She didn't want to say that though, but then she had another excuse.

"I'm actually in a relationship. But I'm really flattered that you asked." She answered politely, feeling a little guilty when Ariel looked embarrassed and stopped making eye contact.

"Well, thanks for your help." She gave a small smile and Emma nodded.

"Of course. Good luck, Ariel." Emma stepped out of the room then and made a quick exit. She practically ran straight into August as she made it outside.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. That girl just asked me out though." She laughed as she shook her head.

"Really? What did you say?"

"I said no, of course." She said as if it was the most obvious answer.

"Why?" August's brow furrowed in confusion. "She was hot."

"Because I'm with someone." Again, she spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, okay."

Emma heard the sarcasm in his tone and narrowed her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She didn't want to be disrespectful towards her boss, but she was feeling defensive.

"You've been on one date with the woman." He pointed out and Emma frowned.

"That's because she's busy, but we've talked like every single day since the fire." Emma defended weakly.

"Exactly. All you've done is talked. I think you're allowed to shop around a bit in the meantime."

August turned and left then, heading back towards their truck. Emma followed behind, but she hung back a few steps, still frowning. It was no wonder August didn't have any lasting relationships with an attitude like that.

She was trying not to dwell on it, but it was true they hadn't really been actually dating, per se. The night Regina had come to the hospital, they had decided to give it an honest go, but then in the weeks following, they had yet to actually see one another again.

There was always a good excuse from Regina. She had a lot of responsibilities with her company and a small child at home. It was a full plate for anyone, so it was understandable that she wouldn't have any availability left for a dating life.

But then that didn't mean Emma was thrilled with the arrangement. She felt like they'd had such a meaningful moment when Regina came to see her. Regina had decided to take a chance and give them a try and since then, they'd talked on the phone every day and texted as well. They were connected, but Emma was admittedly bummed that she hadn't gotten to see her again, which was likely why August's words got to her.

When they got back to the station, Emma decided to text Regina. She knew the other woman was working, so she just typed a few words into her phone, hoping to get something back from her to ebb the uneasiness following Ariel's flirtations and August's reaction.

Hey, just wanted to see how your day was going.

Emma waited a few minutes, but when she hadn't heard back yet, she decided it would be a good time to take a quick shower and clean up from their busy morning.

She was always fast at work, because she'd learned the hard way how much it sucked to get a call when you were naked and completely soaking wet.

When she got out, she relaxed a bit and took her time in the locker room, getting dressed and relaxing a bit. It wasn't until she was heading back towards the day room, that she checked her phone and smiled at the name on the screen.

It's going alright. Better now that my meetings are completed for the day.

Emma didn't waste anytime texting back.

Yeah I bet. Hey I was wondering if maybe you'd be free tomorrow night? Maybe we could do dinner?

She tried not to feel too hopeful because she knew Regina was busy, but she still ended up feeling pretty bummed when she saw Regina's response.

I'm sorry, but I have a company dinner to attend to.

Emma sighed and put her phone down. She was trying not to start doubting things, but this was all starting to make her worry.

As if guessing some negative feelings from the lack of response, Regina texted again.

It's for a very big fundraiser. I wouldn't go if it wasn't important. Maybe we can do something next week? I have some openings.

Emma read over her words with a frown. She felt like Regina was basically saying she'd pencil her in when she got a chance. She didn't really think the other woman meant to come off that way, but Emma was a little sensitive when it came to being pushed aside or undervalued. She tended to jump to conclusions, so she was trying to reassure herself this wasn't like that.

Yeah, maybe.

Emma only waited a few seconds for a response this time.

So how is your day going?

It's okay. Lots of trainings because of that fire. So we spent all morning in gear practicing self-rescues. It was pretty exhausting.

She certainly wasn't exaggerating. She felt completely depleted and it wasn't even noon yet.

Well I'm glad. Whatever you have to do to be safe.

Emma rolled her eyes. Of course Regina would just care that they were training more and more. It made her smile as well, though. No matter how much time that had, or more so hadn't spent together, it was still clear Regina cared. That had to mean something.

Emma tapped her thumbs over the screen to respond.

Yeah, but it sucks when you're drenched in sweat and then have to run out for a call.

I'd imagine. How did your call go?

Emma nearly laughed when she remembered her very forward patient.

It went well. It was a drug overdose and we got her back right away. She was pretty entertaining though. She only wanted to talk to me and like literally tried to hold me there at the hospital when I went to leave.

Regina's reply came instantly.

Really?

Yeah. She said if I had to leave, I had to leave my number too. That was a new one for me, lol.

Emma saw the three dots show up, indicating that Regina was typing, but then they disappeared. They popped up again a few seconds later, but then disappeared again as well. Emma just sat there, confused.

Eventually, the dots stopped appearing. Emma waited. And then waited some more.

Finally, it had been nearly fifteen minutes and Emma was starting to think, hoping more like, that Regina had simply been called away. It was when she finally stood up and clicked off her phone and decided to try and be productive, that the device chimed, indicating a new message.

As it turns out, they can make another space at the dinner tomorrow. So if you'd be willing, I'd like to invite you to accompany me.

Emma stared at her phone for a full minute, trying to understand the sudden change in conversation, before it hit her.

A slow smile pulled across her face.

It appeared Regina was suddenly motivated to meet up again and Emma found herself very grateful to Ariel.

A little shorter this time, but it felt like an appropriate stopping place. Thank you for reading. Please take a few seconds to leave a review.