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Marlene sighs happily as she lays back in Caleb's bed. The night had been perfect, dinner, drinks, and dancing at the salsa club with 51 followed by amazing sex. She had told herself she wanted to take things slow with Caleb, do it differently than she had in the past, and really get to know him before they jumped in bed together. But the past month, with losing Will only after they had been getting to know each other for a few weeks changed everything for her. Caleb had been her rock. She was amazed at how understanding he was, how he would just hold her and let her cry when she needed to. She felt closer to him than the guys she had seen for several months.
"Enjoying yourself?" Caleb teases her as he comes back from the kitchen with two bottles of water noting how relaxed she looked in his bed and how she seemed to be taking in her surroundings.
"Very much" she giggles. He bites his bottom lip with a grin. She loved when he did that, it was so sexy.
He climbs back into bed while she takes a swig of the water he tosses her. When she goes to set the bottle on the nightstand she giggles again when his arms wrap around her to pull her back to him. She wiggles free so she can straddle his lap and look at him.
Marlene traces his full lips with her fingers while she smiles before leaning down to give him a soft kiss again. With his warm deep brown skin and toned athletic body, she never wanted to take her hands off him. He was so strong and handsome, she loved the smell of the cream he used to keep his beard soft.
Then suddenly a wave of sadness rolls over her and she's taken aback as she feels the tears start to well over her.
"Hey what happened? Dime que está mal (Tell me what's wrong)" Caleb asks, tipping her chin so he could look into her eyes.
"I'm sorry, It's just it comes in waves" She stammers trying not to sob and wiping her eyes.
"Hey It's okay" He soothes, "I just want you to tell me what's going on, I'm here for you"
Marlene nods and takes a deep breath. "I was just thinking how I couldn't wait to tell Will how amazing you are and how much I really like you but then I remembered he really is gone"
"I'm so sorry, se que lo extrañas (I know you miss him)" He pulls her into an embrace and Marlene feels herself calm, loving the feeling of his bare skin against hers.
"gracias por entender (Thank you for understanding)" she sighs against his shoulder.
After a few minutes, Caleb runs his hands over her body, exploring every inch of available skin and she starts to do the same.
"What's this? A brand?" Marlene asks, running over the keloid symbol on his upper arm.
"Yeah, fraternity thing" he explained about the Greek letter omega on his arm.
"That had to hurt like hell"
"Yes it did" He chuckles, he wondered if Marlene would be interested in going to the Omega Psi Phi friends and family cookout in a few weeks with him. He wanted her to stay around for a while.
"What happened here?" Caleb runs his fingers over what looked like a burn near her collarbone.
"Embers from a fire got in my turnout gear"
Caleb smiles as plants a soft kiss on the spot.
"¿Y Qué hay de este?(And what about this one?)" he asks looking at a scar on her upper arm.
"Ummm, I cut it on a rock swimming in the ocean in Puerto Rico"
She grins when he kisses the spot on her arm.
"You know I think there might be a scar on my knee from when I fell off my bike when I was 10"
He grins and rubs his hand along her knee and leans over to give it a kiss.
"Now come to think of it, I may have a scar on the inside of my thigh…" she says playfully.
"Ummm, you sure about that" he pretends to move to kiss her thigh but diverts and starts to tickle her instead.
Marlene shrieks with laughter trying to get away from him as his strong arms trap her. When he stops, both of them catching their breath, Marlene grinds against him and cups his face to kiss him. Caleb snakes his arms around her to grab her ass and squeeze. They both feel their heart rates pick up and Marlene whimpers as she feels him hard against her. Caleb is about to flip them over when his work phone rings on the nightstand.
"no respondas (Don't answer it)" Marlene mumbles against his lips.
He extends one arm trying to lean to grab his phone as Marlene pulls his bottom lip between her teeth.
"No.." She wines.
"lo siento cariño (Sorry Baby), I gotta get this," he tells her remorsefully.
She sighs and rolls off of him while he checks his messages.
"I hate to do this but we got a crime scene I got to get to"
She sticks her lip out and pouts which causes him to chuckle and he leans in to give her a kiss.
"To be continued" she sighs.
"How about you stay here, so when I get back we can pick up right where we left off"
"Stay here?" she asks as she leans back on the bed surprised that he was okay with her just hanging out in her apartment.
"Yes, Right here" He leans in to give her another quick kiss.
He quickly gets dressed and heads out the door and Marlene squeals with delight kicking her legs. She falls back against the pillows breathing in the scent of Caleb's cologne. She was head over heels for Caleb Prior.
Tris knocks on the door to Max's office dressed in her CFD T-shirt and uniform pants ready for the start of shift with her paperwork showing she was cleared for duty in her hand. Max waves her in just as his phone rings. He motions for her to come in while he took the phone call.
Tris looks at his bookshelf while she waits as he talks to someone about needing to order new equipment for 51. One picture Tris feels drawn to was black and white and Tris felt it had to be from the early 1900s. All the firefighters were men, which was customary for the time but she smiles when she looks closer.
"Do you know that picture?" Max asks Tris when he hangs up the phone.
"No, Sir, are all these men Black firefighters? A whole company?" Tris asks, looking at Max and then back to the picture.
"Engine Company 21, the first paid all Black fire fighting unit in the City of Chicago organized in 1872"
Max smiles when he watches Tris' eyes go wide and she leans down to look closer at the picture.
"On top of having to endure racism from other houses in the city, having effigies burned in protest because White firefighters refused to sleep in the same bunk room with them, these men invented the fire pole and saved countless lives."
"I wish we were taught more about this part of our history, I never knew about this until this moment," Tris says solemnly.
"You can borrow this" Max hands her a copy of Black Heroes of Fire: The First African American Fire Company in Chicago by Dekalb Walcott
"Thanks, Chief, Here's my paperwork clearing me for duty" Tris appreciated Max. Her last chief in Atlanta didn't care too much for women firefighters. She could tell how much Max respected hardworking people on his team, male or female.
Max nods when she hands him the envelope. Tris was special, her leadership skills shone through in her work, and he could see her becoming an officer one day.
"We sure missed your cooking, Having Ramirez, Thomas, and Porter cooking the last three shifts has been hell"
"I'm glad I was missed" Tris chuckles as she tucks the book under her arm.
"I think Eaton missed you last shift too, I have a feeling he'll be glad to see you too," Max says with a wink as he moves back to sit down at his desk.
"Not you too Chief" Tris groans and playfully rolls her eyes at him
"Eaton's on Squad, You're on Truck Prior, don't miss out on a good thing when you find it"
Max was on his third marriage, his first two wives hadn't been prepared for the strain of his hours, the constant danger. He could see how Eaton was trying to convince himself he wasn't into Prior. He hoped nudging both of them would help move things along.
"Thanks, Chief, and we're having oxtails, jerk chicken, rice and peas, and plantains for lunch," Tris tells him as she shakes her head while walking out the door.
Was Boden okay with her and Tobias being a couple? He smiles at her when she walks back into the common room and she feels the familiar butterflies in her stomach.
Zeke opens the front door to his townhouse when he hears the doorbell, knowing Tori was dropping off Dallas. Dauntless was closed on Monday so he imagined that Tori was going to relax since she asked if he could take Dallas for the night.
His mom had helped him make the townhouse homey, picking out a few things for the walls and toys. Dallas had his own bedroom, and space for his toys. That's all he really needed but he missed being with Tori and Dallas as a family.
Part of him was scared that if he went back, they would fall apart again. Things had been so good the past year and a half that he didn't want to mess with that.
"Hey" he stammers as he opens the door and is shocked when sees Tori in a short sexy black dress. Her long black hair was flowing over her shoulder.
"Daddy!" Dallas exclaims as he wriggles out of Tori's arms, reaching for his father.
"Whoa slow down" Tori laughs as Zeke quickly grabs their son and places him on his hip.
"Hey bud, you ready to hang out tonight," Zeke asks him as Dallas wraps his arms around him excitedly.
"I'll meet you tomorrow for his doctor's appointment, I put some of those new fruit snacks he likes in there too in case you didn't have any. He had a snack about an hour ago, so don't be surprised if he says he's hungry again soon"
"Cool, You and Shauna going out on a Monday?" Zeke asks curiously, taking in his ex's appearance again. She looked good, damn good.
"No, I have a date," Tori replies nonchalantly.
"Oh…" Zeke says quietly, his heart sinking a bit. This was the first date she had mentioned going on since they broke up almost two years ago. Why was it bothering him so much? Sure, they had been messing around lately, nothing serious, but they weren't together.
"See you, tomorrow baby boy. I love you," Tori tickles Dallas and gives him a kiss causing him to giggle and not giving Zeke an opportunity to respond then turns and takes the short walkway back to her car.
When she gets to her car, she turns and waves blowing Dallas a kiss before she hops in and drives off. She takes a deep breath as she looks at Zeke still holding Dallas with a scowl on his face. As much as she didn't want to, she couldn't let herself keep thinking that she and Zeke were going to keep doing what they were doing. She needs to try to move on.
"Daddy, I hungry" Dallas whines, snapping Zeke out of his thoughts.
"How about we get some chicken nuggets?" He asks, jiggling him in his arms. As much as he wanted to call Tori and demand she come back, he knew that wasn't going to help matters.
"Yay," Dallas bounces in Zeke's arms with delight and Zeke gives him a kiss on the cheek as they go inside.
He had to focus on Dallas but he couldn't lie to himself, he wasn't okay with this.
Two days later, Zeke was still in a foul mood. Tori was nonchalant, acting like everything was normal between them but she hadn't made a move to ask him to spend the night the past month which they had gotten into a comfortable routine since they had started sleeping together again.
"You want to pick it up, Prior?" Zeke snaps as they hop off Truck 81 for the first call of shift.
"Yes sir, Lieutenant," Tris says, shooting a look at Marlene. It wasn't like Zeke to be so chippy but Tris shrugs it off.
The call was a chemical spill. They work with a hazmat unit to quickly contain the spill and move the overturned tractor-trailer from the road and block off traffic.
"Pedrad, shouldn't we help hazmat clear the debris over here first to get the traffic on the other side moving?" Marlene asks with an eyebrow raised. That was standard, she couldn't figure it out for the life of her
"Just do what I say, Vega, I don't need you questioning my every move"
Marlene raises her eyebrows and draws her head back, shocked that Zeke has now snapped at her too.
"¿Cuál diablos es su problema hoy? (What the hell is his problem today?) " Marlene says to Tris who shrugs her shoulders.
"Come take a break with me," Tobias tells Zeke a little after dinner time. It had been a busy day. The weather was turning chilly so Tobias put on his beanie and heavier CFD jacket.
"I'm good," Zeke says, not looking up from the report he was working on from the last call.
"Nice try Pedread, come on" Tobias pushes, he wasn't taking no for an answer.
Zeke sighs dramatically and gets up throwing on his jacket. He and Tobias climb up to the roof and Tobias tosses Zeke a cigar. They sit there in silence for a while, not speaking and Zeke blowing o-shaped rings with his smoke.
"So you want to talk about what has you biting everyone's head off the last two shifts?" Tobias says not looking at Zeke, just staring off into the night.
Zeke grunts, he guessed he had been a little unpleasant all week.
"Tori's going out with some dude...She was going out on a date when she dropped Dallas off on Monday" Zeke spits out, hating to have to say it out loud.
The girls were off having a girls' weekend, leaving Zeke with two floaters this shift that only added to Zeke's bad mood. He imagined they were all sipping drinks and giggling as Tori told them all about her new guy and how much she was into him.
Tobias nods his head in understanding.
"You still love her?" Tobias asks, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, I guess I just thought we were fine, no labels, just existing you know…"
"You two sleeping together again?"
Zeke sighs and nods his head.
"So you two are playing house, hanging out, sleeping together but you aren't officially together, and you're still banging random chicks when you want?"
Zeke grimaces when he hears the way it sounds coming from someone else. Those random girls didn't mean anything to him.
"You, my friend, are a dumbass," Tobias says with a chuckle.
"So what do I do?" Zeke asks. He wanted to make things right with Tori, he wanted his family together, under one roof.
"You need to be honest with her and tell her how you feel"
"It's a sad day when I'm taking relationship advice from Tobias Eaton" Zeke shakes his head and wipes his face with his hand and chuckles.
Tobias grins. He wasn't the greatest at relationships but he knew Zeke and Tori belonged together.
"And when are you going to take your own advice?" Zeke asks him with raised eyebrows.
Tobias playfully jabs him in the shoulder before going back to puffing on his cigar. Zeke was right, sooner or later he was going to have to deal with his feelings for Tris.
"So what's up with you and Eaton?" Christina asks as she sips her margarita.
Tris falls back dramatically on the pillows of the cabin floor. She, Christina, Marlene, and Shauna all coordinated one day of leave so they could use their days off between shift for a cabin getaway.
"Spill it!" Tori yells as she comes back with another margarita and passes it to Marlene. Hana had Dallas for the week so Zeke could work and Tori was determined to enjoy her much-needed getaway.
"There's nothing to spill!" Tris defends
"Sure there isn't, you two just radiating sexual tension off each other is nothing" Shauna declares with an eye roll.
"Oh My God, we literally live with two of you, how could we be hooking up without you knowing" Tris defends as she shakes her head.
"Tris has a point" Tori reasons, claiming a seat on the floor with Tris and crossing her legs before sipping her margarita.
Christina narrows her eyes at her best friend.
"Well I can say your two latest conquests have not been quiet" Christina says with an eye roll and Marlene hollers when Tris bites her lip looking guilty.
"Wait, who?" Shauna presses not realizing Tris was as sneaky as she was.
"You remember that night we went to that cocktail lounge downtown, the waitress with the long curly hair?"
"Damn Prior, I'm impressed" Shauna remarks as she leans back against the sofa cushions.
"Who was the other one?" Tori asks waggling her eyebrows.
Tris laughs and drops her head.
"Dr. Scott…from Med.." She falls over laughing when everyone but Christina gasps at the newfound information.
"That man is…damn!" Marlene admits.
"Ohhhh He's been at Dauntless with Uriah and the Chicago Med crew" Tori grins as she puts the pieces together in her mind.
Tris sighs, she was having fun, they had both been nice. Dylan was fun and she met him while coming to check in on someone they saved from a car accident. When they bumped into each other at Dauntless one thing led to another. He had been texting her about taking her on a date but she had ignored his messages.
"I mean Tobias and I are just friends. That's it, I can see whoever I want" Tris draws out the word friends hesitating. Would she really consider her and Tobias just friends? She wanted to, but being in the same house just created a dynamic she didn't want.
"Ahhhh hesitation proves my point" Shauna grins.
"Do you want to be more than friends?" Marlene asks.
"There's no point in even considering it" Tris shrugs
"Why, because you're in the same house?" Marlene clarifies.
Tris nods not sure if she was confident in her response now the way everyone was looking at her.
"It's technically not against any rules, it's just looked down upon. If you were reporting to him on truck that would be one thing but people have in-house relationships all the time" Marlene explains.
"She's right, Tris don't let that be the only reason you stop yourself from being with Eaton, and besides the man is head over heels for you" Shauna smiles.
"He is not" Tris smiles with an eye roll as she leans back on her hands.
"Oh, he so is" Tori confirms with a laugh and Tris' eyes go wide.
"Tris, come on, everyone can see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking".
"Don't sit there and act like you aren't in love with him too" Christina teases.
"I am not in love with him!" Tris practically shouts and feels her cheeks burn as she looks at her friends who are all laughing. She wasn't sure about that part, she did like him a lot, she had from the day she spent with him and now they spent so much time together at work and now outside of work. She was starting to see what everyone was talking about.
"Well, maybe I'm in very strong like" Tris whispers after a minute.
"Awww, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Eaton is a good guy despite his lack of interest in monogamy. I would have never made him God Father to my son if he wasn't" Tori reassures her as she scoots over and wraps her arm around her shoulders.
"The fact that you damn near put an end to his conquest of Chicago is proof he's in love with you" Shauna adds.
"What?!" Tris squeaks.
"Yeah, Tobias I think slept his way through half of Chicago, and after your…" Shauna pauses looking for the right words.
"Romantic and passionate but brief encounter" Christina finished for her.
"Thank you, Dawson, It took him a while to get back in the saddle, and as soon as you showed up again…Bam! He was done again. He wants you, Tris, even if he hasn't said it out loud"
Tris groans in frustration and flops on the floor onto her back again, was it that simple for them to just be together?
"Enough about Prior and Eaton, Tori, please give us a heads up before you go on another date so we can avoid the wrath of Captain Blood," Marlene says as she playfully narrows her eyes at Tori.
"Captain Blood?" Tori asks with her eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah, that's become Pedrad's alter ego" Tris groans. "He's been unbearable the last two shifts. Do you know he had us running drills like we were in the fire academy anytime we weren't on a call last shift!"
"I think I'm still sore," Marlene grumbles.
"I'm so sorry! I'll talk to him" Tori apologizes. She didn't realize just how bad Zeke would react. She wanted to shake him up but in true Zeke fashion instead of talking to her, he was just internalizing all his feelings.
"So are you into this guy?" Shauna asks.
She along with Uriah and Hana had really pushed Zeke to step up with Tori if he didn't want her dating anyone else. It was clear they still cared for each other and now that things had settled down with the bar and Dallas being older, it seemed like the right time for them to give their relationship another shot.
"Not really," Tori admits. "I mean he's a nice guy and all, but…"
"You've just been trying to make Pedrad jealous" Christina finishes for her.
"Basically, I'm not stupid, I know what happens when he and Tobias go out on their guy's nights. It's like he has a double standard. I thought I'd give him a taste of his own medicine. I'm so sorry he's taking out all his frustrations on you"
"You still love him don't you," Tris asks as she reaches over to rub her knee in comfort.
"So much so. When we broke up, things were so tense and all we were doing was arguing about everything from what kind of diapers to buy, to what kind of alcohol to stock at the bar. When he said he needed some space, I gave it to him and we both felt like we could breathe for the first time in a year. I thought when things calmed down, we would figure it out. But the next thing I knew we were just co-parenting and there was no us. Then we started sleeping together again but he's been avoiding us talking about getting back together and keeping up his side girls"
"Damn Pedrad" Christina shakes her head. It was a fuckboy move and they all knew it.
"I swear I'm gonna kick his ass, Tori" Shauna vows, putting her drink down on the side table.
"I thought if I went out on a few dates, maybe he would wake up and get his shit together, but I guess I was wrong"
"I'm sorry Babe," Shauna says honestly.
Tris leans back on her hands as she listens. She knew she had been avoiding getting involved since her relationship with Nita. She moved on anytime someone seemed too clingy or pushed her for more. Maybe it was time for her to really let Nita go. Tobias was right there in front of her.
"You missing Atlanta yet, Prior" Tobias teases as he blows in his hands as they walk out of 51.
It was cold, Tris could feel the wind biting through her coat and she could tell by the way the sky looked, that they were in for their first snow soon.
"Ehhhh, I forgot how this wind is" She groans as Tobias chuckles.
"What are you doing this weekend? It's nice we have Friday and Saturday off this week" Tris asks as she puts her hands in her pockets. She and Christina had driven separately since Christina was heading off to a doctor's appointment as soon as shift was over.
"Nothing much, I might see if there are any tickets left for the Bulls game on Saturday"
"Ooooh, come with me! I have an extra ticket since my brother has to do a stakeout for a case and Dawson is working at Dauntless," Tris says excitedly.
"Yeah, it sounds like fun," Tobias agrees with a smile. His heart flutters just a little bit at how her eyes lit up and how she added a little skip to her step.
He genuinely likes spending time with her, whether it was their late-night talks in the common room, or when everyone was crowded around a table at Dauntless laughing. Maybe just maybe there was a chance they could figure out how to make things work between them but part of him still felt like Tris Prior was going to be the one to break his heart.
Check out the history of Engine Company 21, the first all-Black Fire Company in Chicago!
