Red Robins Don't Fly: Come Fly With Me

/at the end of le episode, Ingrid and Fillmore run off together before Vallejo can have a go at them...but where did they go, and what happened? short(ish) fluffy ficlet./

Vallejo's cry echoed through the garden, causing neighbours of the Third family to raise their eyebrows and make a mental note to talk to the father. Ingrid and Fillmore, however, were running as fast they could to escape.

"Fillmore!" Ingrid hissed, beckoning him over. She was sat behind a bush, out of the glare of streetlamps but safe enough-though she had to admit she would feel a little safer with Fillmore there to protect her. She mentally told herself off for thinking such a thing-not only because it was about Fillmore of all people, but because it was so damselish.

Fillmore skidded on the damp grass, turned and quickly joined her. "You think we'll get caught?"

"Better safe than sorry." Ingrid replied drily. "You have to teach me to confuse him like that."

"It ain't that hard..." He smirked, before turning serious. "You know, you really worried me."

"Hmm?"

"The Red Robins... For a while, I thought..." The unspoken words meant more than any ever spoken. 'For a while, I thought I'd lost you.'

"For a while, I did." Choosing to believe that his words had been 'For a while, I thought you'd left the Safety Patrol.', much as she wanted to believe that his words were to do with losing her, she had taught herself long ago not to escape onto flights of fancy.

"What made you come back?"

'You. You, Cornelius Fillmore. You drafted me, and I owe you. And moreover, I knew losing the Safety Patrol meant losing you.'

"Right and wrong. I had to be on the right side. Sure it was fun, but..." And she took the plunge. "There was more for me on the Safety Patrol...like you."

He seemed to catch his breath a little. "I'm glad you picked the Safety Patrol. It wouldn't be the same without you." He smiled genuinely. "Besides, you're the best partner-best friend-I've had since Wayne."

At least it wasn't a total loss, Ingrid mused. "You're the best friend I've had since...since ever." She blushed a little, before smiling at him. "I could never have stayed with the Red Robins. When it comes down to it, I couldn't have done anything that bad. Not without thinking about-" 'Not without thinking about your face...and the pain I saw when I let you down.' "Without thinking about the fun I've had with everyone on the Safety Patrol."

"Yeah, I'd hate to be the one to bring you down."

"You?"

"I know you, Ingrid. I'd be the one to catch you."

"You'd never catch me...belt." She replied playfully.

"You know it's true, Third-you'd be mine in a week."

She raised her eyebrows. "Your's, huh? Is that a promise?"

He flushed. "I could find you, it wouldn't be so hard."

"I don't think so, Cornelius." She teased lightly, enjoying herself.

"Oh-hoh! Nobody calls me Cornelius. What makes you so special?"

"I could take you down. I think that earns me some priviledges."

"You? Take ME down? I don't think so, Third!"

"I do. I know you, Fillmore." She mocked.

"You did NOT just say that!"

"I think you'll find I did."

"Alright, there's one way to solve this..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Tickle fight!" And he attacked her ribs, knocking her to the floor.

Not to be beaten, she fought back, tickling him for all she was worth, rolling him onto his back and sitting proudly on his stomach. "Surrendur?"

"Not to you, Third!" He cried, taking her by surprise.

This continued for at least ten minutes as neither was willing to give up. Finally Fillmore held up a hand. "Truce?"

"Truce. It's just as well we're on the same side. We're equals." She smiled brightly, and went back from trying to pin him down to sitting next to him.

"That's probably why we make such a great team." He smiled back. "Seriously though...thanks. For choosing us."

"Thanks for choosing me in the first place." She tipped her head. "One way or another, I owe you a lot. So...thank you." And in a moment of madness, she kissed him on the cheek, before ducking away and blushing furiously.

Fillmore's eyes widened. He felt his cheeks burn as he hazarded a glance towards Ingrid. He smiled a little-he knew, deep down, that this really didn't mean anything. Really, truly, she was just his best friend. He looked up at her again. "It's OK...I'm glad you joined the patrol. I've never met a girl like you before--I mean on the force...on the force."

Ingrid looked at him in the eyes. "I...Thanks." She tipped her head to the side, and smiled widely. "You...You're a good guy, Fillmore. You believed in me when no one else did."

"I...I knew that you were special...I mean...you were innocent." He coughed. "I swore when I became a safety patroller that I would help the innocent. And you needed help."

"If I'd wanted to, I could've cleared my name on my own."

"Oh, I know. But you didn't want to. And that's why you needed my help."

She pursed her lips, but conceded a smile. "Alright, you helped. But you needed me, too. You needed a partner."

"I needed a best friend. And I found both."

After a moment of hesitation and nervous anticipation, they embraced gently. Ingrid closed her eyes and smiled into his shoulder. It almost surprised her how comfortable she was, just...safe. With him. In his arms. And she felt happy. She felt him shift from an embaressed preteen trying to comfort a friend to a gentle young man who wished to express his friendship through a tight hug.

He had known the moment her head had rested on his shoulder that this felt right. This felt, in fact, more right than anything before. What had been awkward was now warm and natural. He smiled-she was surprisingly warm, despite the cold temperatures and their proximety. He sighed contentedly.

Ingrid pulled away. "We should probably be getting back to mine. Dad'll be worried, and I bet everyone is waiting for us." She yawned widely and began to walk. She turned. "You coming?"

"Yeah, sure." Fillmore smirked and followed her. He grinned. "This is kinda nice at night...when you're not running from an angry juniour commissioner."

"Yeah, you can see why we moved here." Ingrid smiled before yawning widely. "I'm glad we did. I could be a whole different person."

He smiled at her. "I could stil not have a partner. And I wouldn't have had such a great friend."

She smiled back, one of the few genuine smiles Fillmore had seen from her. He felt a warm feeling run through him. They walked back together, silently considering the way things could have been, and the way things were.

Vallejo looked up at them. "Where you two been?"

"You weren't coming after us?" Fillmore raised his eyebrows.

"With pitchforks and flaming torches?" Ingrid added.

"No..."

"Oh. Good." Ingrid sat down. "We thought you would want your vengence."

"Nope."

Fillmore sat down. "I knew you were a good guy, Vallejo. Now, let's start this next hand-Aces high."

"Oh, by the way-till the budget gets sorted, you two are on convention duty."

"WHAT?!"

"VALLEJO!"

"What's that Mom? Home right away? See you guys!" Vallejo smirked. "I'll see you Monday-there's a soup convention." He left with a wave.

Fillmore scowled. "He'd better run."

"Let him go, we'll get him on Monday." Ingrid commented darkly, but smiled. "We'll have fun, anyway."

Fillmore smiled back, and looked at his hand. Queen of hearts. He looked over at Ingrid, and smiled widely. She was right, it wasn't what they were doing, is was that they were friends, and that they stayed that way. That had been what had stopped her from becoming a Red Robin full time.

The truth of it was, everyone there that night was a born Safety Patroller. They had flirted with other pathes, but at the heart of it there was nothing else but the Patrol.

And in some cases, there was a special reason to be on the Patrol.

Ingrid and Fillmore had proved to be a near unstoppable team. When the two were paired there was very little that could stop them. But that wasn't the badge, as he'd said. It was just them. Sometimes you meet someone who you just click with. Someone who makes you better than you already are. Someone who you make a great team with.

It was all about loyalty. He'd walk through fire for her, face Satan himself for her. And he knew she'd do the same. There was a fine line between best friend and being two halves of a whole.

It was then that he knew they'd crossed that line a long time ago, and he never wanted to look back.

/Ta da! All done. I don't own Fillmore! cause if I did, not only would there be new episodes, but there'd be FLUFF, damnit! A tonne of it.

This is my first Fillmore fic, woo! I'm working on an epic right now called Rebel With A Cause (see what I did there? see what I did? nyao!) so look out for that one. By the way, I did have a really good title, but then I forgot what it was. So now this title which is a bit...crap, really. This is just PG as a security measure, I don't think it's actually PG. And I also wanted to say "Crap" just then. Bless me.

Please review and let me what you think-I'm not sure that I got the characters right...I'm pretty sure that I made them all rather OOC, but then I might be being overcritical. Let me know what you think, anyway...

Take care and all that jazz

(he he...all that jazz...like the song...)

-Sylvi Storm (aka SSD)/