Chapter 29

"Pets. Life's apology for every crappy day ever." – Unknown.

"Sierra nine six, from dispatch." Cisco, the patrol dispatcher, called for Sara.

"Go ahead for nine six," Sara responded almost immediately, she hated when officers made the dispatchers wait.

"Sending you a phone message. Let me know if you respond and I'll start you a second." Cisco was curious as to what the woman requesting to speak to Sara had wanted. The call taker had said the woman had refused to provide any information. Only that she would speak with Officer Lance and no one else.

"Nine six, I copy," she acknowledged.

Sara got into her cruiser to look at the call dispatch had sent her. Leonard, who was standing at her open window, blew out a breath. "That isn't even your district." He didn't care much for people that demanded to speak to certain officers, especially when it was out of the officer's normal district. It caused a delay when the officer had to respond back to their assigned area.

Sara looked at the caller's name for several seconds trying to place it. She checked for any cross-referenced information and found none. Dispatch had not found any past history with the caller. "No cross reference," she told Leonard. "According to the notes, she refused to give any information," she sighed. Calls like this made the hair on the back of her neck stand. While her guard was always up at work, she took it up a notch further when she had to deal with so many unknowns. When she'd first returned to work, she'd received countless calls from people she assumed were Damien Darhk's lackeys, all blaming her for his incarceration. While most of the threats they'd made were empty, they had still triggered her panic attacks. Leonard had taken it upon himself to screen many of her calls until they'd lost interest. One look at Leonard told her he was thinking of those days too. She smiled reassuringly at him. "Let's see what she wants." She dialed the number leaving the phone on speaker.

"Hello," an elderly voice answered.

"Hello, this is Officer Lance with the Star City Police Department. How can I help you today?" Sara responded with the greeting she usually used when she didn't have much to go on.

"Oh Officer Lance, thank you so much for returning my call. You know I almost didn't answer. The number is blocked. Though your dispatch did tell me it would be."

Sara smiled as Leonard rolled his eyes. While he loved elderly people, they had a tendency to ramble and often repeat themselves. In some cases, when talking about an incident, they preferred to start at the beginning, thirty years ago kind of beginning. She hoped this would not be one of those calls.

The woman continued. "It would have been silly of me if I'd sent you to voicemail. I sure am glad I answered. I was hoping to talk to you."

Sara smiled, holding back laughter at Leonard's exaggerated eye roll. "Well, you have me on the phone now Linda, how can I help you," Sara asked, hoping to move the conversation along. She was almost at the end of her shift and she still had a few reports to finish up.

"I don't know if you remember me, but a few months ago, you saved my baby."

Sara frowned trying to recall the incident. She looked to Leonard for help. He shrugged. Incidents involving children were hard to forget. "I'm sorry Linda, I don't," and then it hit her. The woman had used the same terminology then too. 'My baby.' She couldn't believe she'd done it again. She'd mistaken the woman's baby for an actual child and not what he was, a damn cat. A cat with moves worthy of being named after Justin Timberlake. "You mean JT," she asked to be sure.

"Oh you do remember," the woman said excitedly. She was sure the officer would have forgotten their encounter.

Sara closed her eyes and rested her head back against her headrest doing her best to suppress a groan. "That's not a call I can forget." The fear she'd seen in Ava's eyes had been ingrained in her memory. For a brief moment, she'd thought she'd lose the woman she loved because she'd recklessly risked her life for a cat. "How can I help you today Linda," she asked, redirecting the woman to the present.

"I was hoping you could come by. I would like to talk to you in person."

"Is everything alright," Sara asked. She remembered the woman's story and the loss she'd already endured in the passing of her husband. While annoyed, she hoped everything was okay with the woman and her cat.

"Everything is great, really. I just want to talk to you in person. It's easier that way."

"Okay Linda, I'll be by after I finish up a few reports. Is that okay," she asked.

"That would be great, no rush at all. See you soon dear." She disconnected.

"The things you get yourself into." Leonard laughed. "Justin Timberlake." He chuckled, jumping back when Sara tried to punch him.

"I hate you." She muttered.

"No you don't, you would be bored without me."

Sara groaned. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She loved her partner, even if he teased her endlessly anytime she goofed up. And going into a burning building to save a cat because she'd failed to identify it as a pet and not a baby was a big whoops. "Sierra nine six, I'm clear for now." She'd deal with Linda and JT later. "I need to get these reports done before Sarg calls." She was down three reports, all minor incidents, but she needed to get them done before the end of the shift. Especially, since it was her Friday.

"Keep me posted on what JT's mom wants, if you want I'll cover you." He chuckled as he walked away. "Oh, and make sure you don't run into any burning buildings." Sara was a good sport. She'd put up with a lot of good-natured teasing when she'd returned to work. Instead of getting angry or defensive, she'd laughed at herself and the ridiculousness of the whole situation.

"Hi ya babe," Sara greeted Ava first thing the next morning. "How was work," she asked. She took a step towards Ava moving away from the couch she'd been leaning against, waiting for Ava to come home.

Ava narrowed her eyes. Sara was acting strange. "Work was good," she said it in the form of a question.

"Good, good." Sara nodded, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Something was definitely up. After two days of being apart, Sara normally took her time greeting her. "What's going on," she asked.

"What do you mean," Sara did her best to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary.

Ava was not convinced. "Okay, you don't have to tell me." Sara would tell her eventually. She just needed to wait her out. As she said it, the dogs started to whine.

Sara took a step back to look behind the couch. "Guys, I said be cool, that was not cool."

"Sara." Ava tried again.

"Don't be mad." Sara held up her hands in an effort to calm any reaction Ava would have to her words.

"Do I have a reason to be mad," Ava asked. "Sara," she pushed when Sara didn't immediately answer.

"Okay, so do you remember the house fire," she asked. "The one with the cat," she clarified when Ava raised her eyebrows. As a firefighter, she had been to several house fires.

Ava involuntarily sucked in a breath at the mention of the fire. The one that could've easily ended their relationship before it had started because Sara had risked her life for what she believed to be a child. "I remember," she said tensely. It had taken weeks and several extra therapy sessions for her to deal with the nightmares that single incident had provoked.

Sara silently berated herself for mentioning the fire. "Um," she wiped her hands against her pajama bottoms. "This is not going at all like I planned. Sorry, hold on." She moved behind the couch, taking a knee. She stood up seconds later with a kitten in her hands.

Ava opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to form a coherent sentence.

"Turns out Justin Timberlake is actually Justine." She laughed at her own joke. She went on when Ava didn't respond to her terrible attempt at humor. "Linda, the homeowner, had never really checked. Anyway, JT got pregnant. This little guy is the only survivor and she said she was getting too old to take care of a kitten and thought that maybe I would like to take him since I saved JT." She rambled on. "I know I should've talked to you first, I shouldn't have brought another pet home but it's national Happy Cat Month, and I thought that maybe Siren would want another cat around since it's just her and the two dogs." She smiled nervously. Ava wasn't saying anything and that wasn't a good sign.

Ava cleared her throat. She'd been in shock. This was the same Sara that had thought cats were little demons. Finally, she smiled. Sara always teased her and called her cute when she rambled. She didn't realize just how cute it was when she herself did it. "You got a cat for our cat," she asked softly. Moments like this made her love the woman in front of her even more. She moved towards the small feline in her girlfriend's hands.

"I guess I did." She handed the kitten to Ava. "Is that okay," she asked. She was sure Ava would fall in love with the tiny kitten as quickly as she had. Linda had not taken no for an answer and had asked Sara to hold the cat before she'd made her decision. She'd been a goner the moment the fur ball had curled up in her hands and started to purr.

"He's perfect," Ava whispered. "Hi, buddy." She rubbed the cat's head. "Aren't you the sweetest." She kissed him. "What's his name," she asked, looking up to find Sara smiling adoringly at her.

"I was thinking Irons since he's ours and a set of irons…"

"Has a halligan and an ax. Tools we both use for entry." Ava finished for her. "I love it." She leaned in, kissing Sara on the forehead.

"You do," Sara asked.

"I do." She leaned her forehead against Sara's.

The two broke apart when the dogs began to whine and Siren started rubbing up against their legs.

"They love him too." It had taken a few minutes for her to introduce the kitten to the animals. "He was scared of them at first but he's warmed up to them, they were all cuddling this morning." She'd woken up to find all four animals curled up together on their bed.

"We're going to need a bigger bed," Ava commented. The dogs, when not curled up around each other already took up a lot of space.

"I don't mind pressing up against you to make room. I'm willing to make the sacrifice." She wrapped her arms around Ava pressing their bodies together.

"I'm not complaining." Ava smiled. She would never get tired of having Sara's body flush against hers. She hated the days either of them had to work while the other had the day off. The empty space was chilling when the other wasn't there.

"Come on, the pets have all been out and they've eaten. I want to show you just how much room our bed actually has."

"You've convinced me," Ava pretended to be reluctant as Sara pulled her towards their bedroom. "Maybe once we get settled, you can show me some of the pictures you've taken since you got Irons."

Sara laughed, "You know me too well." Ava was right. She'd taken over a hundred pictures since she'd gotten the little tyke. They settled against the headboard, Ava wrapping her arms around Sara, pulling her back against her chest.

"Plenty of space," Ava murmured, kissing the top of Sara's head. "Okay, show me the pictures."

Sara took out her phone, but instead of showing Ava the pictures she'd taken, she pulled up her camera and snapped a photo of the animals all curled up around each other. "They're so stinking cute," she squealed.

Ava briefly tightened her arms around Sara. "Have I told you how much I love you," she asked.

"You have, but feel free to tell me again." She turned her head back to steal a kiss.