Montgomery was fine, he was going to be fine, Vic didn't visit him in the hospital, she wanted to, but she wasn't ready to do it yet, she was upset with him.
Montgomery gave up, he gave up on life, he gave up on her, on their friendship and Vic was mad at him, she couldn't help it, he was too important to her.
She walked away, didn't visit him in the hospital, when he returned to work Vic ignored him, stopped answering his messages and stopped answering his calls, she closed herself off, thought it would be easier that way.
So they fought, Vic couldn't take it anymore and exploded, threw everything in his face and they fought in the middle of the station.
Sullivan caught them fighting and told them to solve their problems in the support program.
Vic decided to go to the support program, she was angry but still wanted to work things out, she missed her best friend.
Vic arrived at the support program, she looked around the room until she found him, Montgomery. She sat in the empty chair next to him.
— I didn't think I'd see you here — she said with a small smile.
— Hi
— How's the sharing going? — she asked as she looked around.
— Well, there's a lot of that — Montgomery said, smiling. — I'm glad to see you here.—
— Me too — they laughed.
Ripley stood in the middle of the room in front of all the seated firefighters and started talking about the skyscraper fire.
Vic's eyes widened when she saw him, she didn't expect her chief to be there, wearing a regular outfit, it was so weird to see him without his uniform. He looked helpless there in the middle, talking about the fear he felt and the nightmares about the fire.
Vic felt bad, she accused her chief of not caring about his firefighters, she thought he didn't care about what happened that night, but she was wrong, Lucas cared a lot about what happened that night, he cared about his firefighters, contrary to what Victoria thought.
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she listened to him talk, Vic hated him, she thought he was more of a boss who didn't care about anything but money, but Lucas was different, he wasn't a boss like the others.
As soon as he finished his speech everyone applauded.
— Vic? Why don't we go to the cafe next door? — Montgomery moved closer to her ear so she could listen.
— Yes, let's go — she replied with a small smile. — I need to do something first, meet me there.
Montgomery got up from his chair and left, like many firefighters, the room was getting empty, Vic saw Ripley in front of the table with food getting some coffee, she took a few deep breaths gaining courage and went to him.
- Chief?
— Ei — he replied, looking away from his coffee cup.
—Hi.— Her voice came out as a whisper.
— I saw you sitting in the back with Montgomery, good thing he's recovered.— Lucas said turning to face Vic and looking her straight in the eyes.
Lucas sipped some of his coffee while Vic nervously fiddled with the hem of her shirt, fixing her look on the floor.
— Oh... I wanted to apologize — she said finally looking straight at him. —For the way I talked to you at the skyscraper fire.
Lucas managed a small sympathetic smile, Vic looked away and took another deep breath.
— If I made this experience harder for you, I'm so sorry.— Vic finished speaking and looked directly into his eyes.
— Thanks Hughes, I understand where it was coming from.— He smiled sweetly.
— I took it out on you, I shouldn't have done that.— She managed a small smile and Lucas nodded.
— I thought I would hate this, but I liked what you said. — She smiled.
— Thanks, I guess. — He raised his eyebrows and chuckled.
— Oh no, no, I mean,— Vic replied, chuckling trying to explain himself and Lucas smiled again. — What you said was depressing, in a good way.
— Okay. — He blushed.
He felt good, normally he didn't laugh with his firefighters, he didn't talk to them about things other than work, but with Vic it was different, she wasn't afraid of him and didn't try to please like all the other firefighters, she was being herself and for the first time Lucas had a great time.
— God no, I'm sorry. — She let out a nasal laugh, apologizing and tucking a small curl behind her ear awkwardly. —You were good, what you shared was good.
Vic's eyes widened, she was embarrassed, he was her chief and she was just rambling in front of him.
— You could talk too. —Lucas continued smiling, since the conversation started he hasn't stopped smiling for a second.
— I don't know, maybe, ah, have a good night chief.
I hope to see you here again.
Vic smiled one last time and walked away, Lucas was looking at her the whole time, until she walked out the door.
He thought it was too cute that she rambled on, Lucas couldn't explain it but there was something different about her, what he felt during the 5 minutes of conversation was definitely not what he felt when he was talking to Frankel or some other battalion chief. He really liked the sound of her laugh.
Vic liked the support program, she liked what her chief said and without a doubt, she enjoyed talking to him.
So she came back the next day, this time without Montgomery, Vic listened to him talk for a while, until he called a fireman she didn't know to give his testimony, Lucas sat in the chair next to her and they smiled at each other as their eyes met.
Vic played awkwardly with the zipper of her coat, she was too nervous to be sitting next to her chief. It wasn't normal, Vic rolled her eyes whenever she heard the name Ripley chief Ripley and was now nervous to be on his side? When the support program ended, Lucas got up from his chair and took two steps but then turned back.
— You drink coffee?
— Yes .— She looked up shyly from the zipper of her coat until she met his blue eyes.
Lucas took two cups of coffee, walked back to her and handed her one, Vic smiled in thanks.
— You didn't share your story — Lucas said, sipping some coffee.
— Oh, I…I don't have a story to share.— She tugged a curl behind her ear and played with it between her fingers.
—Everyone has a story to share.— Lucas smiled friendly.
—I don't…um…— she closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip awkwardly, —I shouldn't say that because you're my boss.
—Oh,yes of course, I understand.— His smile faded.
—No, it's just...— Vic sighed. —Can you pretend we didn't have this conversation?
-—Yes? — Lucas frowned wondering what she was going to say.
Vic took a few deep breaths before starting
— This is harder than I thought — she fixed her eyes on the floor trying not to look at him — I was afraid of the fire, after the blue fire I was afraid but it's fine now — she forced a smile and tapped her fingers nervously in the coffee cup.
Lucas kept his friendly smile and placed his hand over her hand, squeezing it lightly to comfort her.
The moment was interrupted by the sound of his phone, Lucas quickly took it out of his pocket and the name Laura appeared on the screen, Lucas hit the off button and Vic looked at him confused.
— Well I need to go, my shift starts in a little while, thanks Chief,for the coffee and the talk . —She smiled at him and he smiled back.
Lucas gave his best smile, his cheeks hurt and he couldn't help but notice her beauty, he shook his head getting rid of that thought, after all she was his subordinate.