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Robert was getting ready to go for a run in the park near the station. Shift had just ended and he was not in the best mood.

He and Andy had been married for about three days and she was insistent they tell no one. He was ecstatic to be married to this amazing woman, but it was almost like she was embarrassed of him.

He kept trying to convince himself that she was just trying to adjust and that she didn't want to make a big deal about it because there was enough other stuff going on right now at the station. However, he couldn't help but feel like maybe she was already starting to regret her choice to be with him only a few days in.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head as he entered the park, which was essentially empty, heading over to a double bench to stretch in hopes of keeping his CRPS under control.

On the far side of the second bench, a woman was sitting there, also dressed in what appeared to be running clothes, talking on the phone.

As he approached, he realized this woman was not speaking English, but rather Italian. He frowned as he listened to her rant to someone on the other end about how they needed to get help, needed to admit they had a problem, that they were worried they were going to hurt someone,. He was blown away by what he was hearing as he continued to stretch. The woman hung up, clearly angry.

"Is everything ok?" he asked in Italian, catching her attention.

"Si," she answered in what was clearly her native tongue, "Everything is fine."

"You know, if someone is hurting you or someone else, it's not really fine," Robert said, raising an eyebrow.

"You were listening to my conversation?" she said, eyes wide as she looked at him, "That is none of your business."

"You were having the conversation in public in front of me," he responded, not understanding why she was so upset, "I am a first responder. Battalion Chief for the Seattle Fire Department. If you are in a dangerous situation, I can help."

"I do not need your help," Carina said, "And I was sitting here first. You came over here where I was sitting. There are plenty of other perfectly good benches in this park."

"You don't own this bench," he said countered, a little shocked his Italian was still this fluent after how long it had been since he had spoken with it, "You know what, I am going to go on my run. If you decide you would like help with the problem you are clearly having, let me know. My office is at Station 19. Feel free to drop by anytime."

"Go to hell," the woman said as he put his headphones in, "I do not need a man to take care of my problems."

He took off, pissed about what had just happened. Why was it that women would not just accept his help when he offered it. He was a good guy, always trying to make sure people were taken care of in the best way he knew how, and with all his experience, he knew better than most.

The path he had decided to run was a circular one, only about half of a mile, because he needed to be able to have a quick exit if his CRPS flared.

The woman was still sitting on the bench after his first two laps, avoiding eye contact with him whenever he ran past. However, on his third lap, he noticed she was gone. He was a bit disappointed that she never saw that he was just trying to help her but decided to just keep running.

About halfway through his fifth lap, his pain flared and he limped over to a bench that was about 100 yards off the trail and obscured a bit by a bush.

He started massaging the pain, wishing he had some fentanyl to help it feel better, but then he remembered he had sworn off the drugs. He had his TENS device in the car but walking there seemed almost impossible at the moment.

He tried to get the pain to calm down, feeling a little better when he suddenly heard voices on the trail that sounded familiar.

"Come on, you can do it," he heard a voice that sounded a lot like a certain blonde fire fighter, "Let's just finish this lap."

"I am so tired," a voice with a very distinct accent said, clearly winded.

Robert looked toward the trail, seeing the still relatively newly appointed fire captain on the trail, the Italian woman from early next to her. They were walking very slowly on the trail, and it was clear the Italian woman was struggling. He was still relatively hidden and the two women were not paying attention to anyone but each other so he just kinda watched, not wanting to interact with either of them at the moment.

"Come on, Carina," Maya said, "I will do that thing I did last week that makes you crazy if you finish."

"With the ice or without?" Carina asked, slowing the pace even more so she could talk to Maya.

"With the ice," Maya said, smiling as Carina let out a little squeal.

"Ok," Carina said, "But I think I might need a tiny bit of motivation to keep going."

"Oh, you mean like this," Maya said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her lips.

Robert's eyes were wide as he realized the Italian woman from earlier was seeing the captain of one of his stations, and it actually kinda seemed like they might be dating. He hadn't heard anything about Bishop dating anyone since she broke up with Gibson, but he tried to avoid the station gossip as much as he could. He was a bit surprised his wife hadn't said anything, but he knew she and Maya were still not on the best terms so maybe he wasn't surprised.

He watched as they started running again at a pace he knew was very slow for the captain, but she seemed to be letting Carina set the pace, something that shocked him. He had always known Maya to use everything as a competition, especially running. He had run into her in this park once, about six months after he had become captain and had thought maybe he could run with her, but she was so fast and would not slow down for him. He had heard from Andy that Maya always ran like her life depended on it, and that most of them at the station wouldn't run with her at all, and those that did, only did it when they were looking for a really intense workout, usually to make up for skipping workouts. Seeing Maya running at a slow pace almost hurt his brain because it was so weird.

He shook his head, starting back to his car, crossing through the park instead of using the trail, knowing it was shorter. He got into his car, starting it just as Maya and Carina finished their lap.

Sullivan started driving away, looking in his rearview mirror as he did, seeing a huge smile on Maya's face as she helped Carina get a drink of water. He hadn't seen a smile like that since he had told her she could stay at 19 and not get transferred to 23.

He kept driving, thinking about his own significant other. He wasn't sure he had ever seen a smile on Andy's face that was anywhere close to how Maya was looking at Carina, and if he had, it was definitely not related to him. It made him wonder how she really felt about him, shaking his head and deciding that Andy just expressed her emotions in a different way. He knew they were meant to be together and so did she, right?

What did you think? Thanks for reading!