Author's Note

Happy late Valentine's Day. As an ace person who doesn't date, I don't care about Valentine's Day other than reading new sappy fanfics. Hope you like this one, I certainly went about this differently. Oh yeah, Uncle Rick has confirmed that Reyna's Ace, btw, so I'll be portraying her that way. Hope you enjoy.

This is merely part 1 of a yet-to-be-determined number of parts one-shot. I was planning on releasing it all at once, but stuff came up and I didn't have enough time to finish it all at once, and I wanted to put something out near Valentine's Day, so here we are. I have a rough idea for this whole story, but I'll see how the reaction to this one-shot is. If people want it to continue, it'll give me the motivation to spend time on it instead of other stories.

This story was written while listening to 'One of Them Girls' by Lee Brice on loop for 4+ hours.

Please follow me on Twitter & Instagram HephaestusBuild & HephaestusBuilds.


"Not One of Them Girls"

Reyna woke up like she did everyday before work; get up promptly at 4am, drink a protein shake and eat a banana, work out for thirty minutes, take her dogs for a thirty minute run, then take a quick shower, feed both herself and her dogs, get dressed and leave by 6am, arriving at work by 6:22 for her 7am shift, traffic permitting.

She lived alone— well, except for her twin Spanish Galgos, Aurum and Argentum—, but she preferred it that way. Roommates could be nice, they could take care of her dogs for her while she was at work, but in her experience, roommates just left dirty dishes in the sink, partied late into the night and invited boyfriends and girlfriends over when they weren't supposed to.

So Reyna liked living alone— liked being alone.

The same applied to dating. Reyna was a firm believer that dating— and beyond that, marriage— just wasn't for everyone, and despite what her traditional family thought; her entire purpose in life as a woman wasn't just to settle down, get married and have kids. Even if she was only twenty-six, her mother was worried she'd die a lonely old woman.

Reyna wanted to do more in life, she wanted to achieve things, make a difference and maybe, just maybe, help people. So when she turned eighteen she moved from Puerto Rico to Tennessee to make a new life for herself. Along the way, she adopted two beautiful Spanish Galgo puppies, found a cheap apartment that allowed pets, and got a job as a firefighter. It was a long and difficult journey, but Reyna loved a challenge, almost as much as proving she could do anything she put her mind to.

Firefighting wasn't an easy job, dangers aside, the long hours, stress, and mental, physical and emotional fatigue were all more than enough to crush a weaker person. But Reyna had never been accused of being weak.

"Reyna, yer early again." A thick southern accent interrupted her musings as she walked into the fire station. "Y'know you don' get paid fer it, right?"

"Good morning to you, too, Colt." Aurum and Argentum trotted through the large bay doors behind her, before running up to the man, licking him, wagging their tails and craving pets. "And you know none of us do this for the money." She smiled seeing her dogs jump on the man. "It seems Aurum and Argentum missed you, not that I understand the sentiment."

Colt smirked. "Nah, ya have a soft spot fer me, I can tell. Ya just hide it." The man laughed as he scratched and petted the dogs. "Cap'in wanted me to tell ya he needs to speak with ya when ya got here."

"The Captain?" Reyna asked. "Isn't he off today?"

Colt shrugged. "He's filling in fer Jeb, since, y'know, he just got hitched."

Reyna frowned. Jeb was a good guy and a better firefighter, to have him out for a while would mean their crew would be short, and while the Captain was by no means a greenhorn, he wasn't as young as he used to be. "Ah." Was all she said in reply.

Colt looked at her, confused. "Didn't y'know he was getting hitched? He invited all of us to the wedding."

Reyna shook her head, "No, I knew, I just forgot." It wasn't a full lie, she had forgotten, but it was because she didn't particularly care, no matter how much she cared for Jeb as a coworker and friend.

"Well, I'll talk to you later, Colt." She said, whistling to her dogs as she began to walk away. "Aurum, Argentum, come." The faithful dogs gave Colt one last look for trailing behind Reyna as she walked.

After leaving Aurum and Argentum some food and water and telling them to stay in their usual spot in the rest area in the fire house, Reyna went to the Captain's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." A voice said through the door. Reyna entered the small room and was greeted with a warm smile. "Ah, mornin', Reyna, I see Colt remembered to tell you I needed to see you." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

Reyna promptly sat, back straight with perfect posture. "What is it, Captain? Is there a problem?"

The Captain held up a wrinkled hand to calm her. "No, no, of course not."

"Then, if I may ask, why did you need to see me?"

"Can't an old man just wish to have a nice chat with one of his friends?"

Reyna raised a brow in suspicion. "It's not like you to just ask for me just to 'have a chat', sir… What is this about?"

The Captain sighed, "And here I was hoping we could talk first, but, as always, you're all business." He chuckled to himself, smiling in a grandfatherly way. "If you wish to get to brass tacks, then I see no reason to dance around the topic. Reyna, you have been working here for some time now, and you have proven yourself as a hard-working, talented, driven and passionate person, that much is obvious, even to an old man like me. Everyone in the station trusts and respects you, and would charge into Hell with you… so, I would like to offer you a promotion to Lieutenant since Jeb is going to be on leave for some time. I know you don't like accepting things if you don't feel you earned it, so let me assure you that this promotion has nothing to do with us needing to just fill the position, but because I would trust none other to lead these men into fire."

Reyna accepted without hesitation. "Of course, sir, I accept the responsibility, thank you. I will do my best."

The Captain smiled. "I knew you'd agree, which is a good thing since I already had the badge made." He chuckled, giving Reyna her new badge that proudly had 'Lieutenant' written on it. "I know you will do right by these men, of that I have no doubt. You've earned this, Reyna, congratulations."

"Thank you, sir."

He smiled. "Now, this old man has wasted enough of your time, your first official task as Lieutenant is to make sure Colt stays out of trouble." The man chuckled to himself. "And make sure the fire engine is washed, please."

"Of course, sir, but I have to admit, keeping Colt out of trouble may be impossible."

The old man laughed, hitting his knee. "That very well might be the case, Lieutenant, but out of anyone I know, you have the best chance of making it happen."

Reyna left the office, new Lieutenant badge in hand. Her first instinct was to share the news with someone, but she mentally deflated when she realized she had no one to tell, other than her coworkers, of course. Her parents— who she only spoke to around Christmas and her birthday— would only see it as another thing she was doing wrong. Another thing that was getting in the way of her settling down, meeting a good man and having kids.

With a huff, Reyna cleared her thoughts and went about her daily routine at the fire station as she waited for a call. First on her list: sorting and organizing the equipment room.

Reyna had heard veterans say that the military was 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror, and she felt the same applied to being a firefighter. Most of her day consisted of cleaning, organizing, working out, eating, cleaning, washing the fire engine and waiting to get a call.

Reyna had just finished a set on the bench press when the siren called her to action. She and her crew dressed, assembled and climbed into the fire engine with practiced speed, rushing off to the call.

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Reyna returned to the fire station covered in soot and sweat, every inch of her body sore and stiff.

It had been a bad call. An entire apartment block had caught fire, dozens of families in danger, structurally unsound floors, plus limited access to hydrants had made the call one of the worst ones Reyna could remember in recent memory. She and her crew had returned over eight hours later utterly exhausted and ready to go home, thankful their replacements were ready to take their place.

With a stiff leg, Reyna hobbled around as she undressed out of her gear and heading to the awaiting showers, letting the painfully hot water jet across her shoulders and back. She quickly dried herself off and dressed in a pair of blue jeans, tank top and work boots, collected her dogs who had faithfully been awaiting her return, and started on her short drive home to sleep for two days straight.

But it seemed the universe had other plans.

Reyna swerved to avoid a car that had spun out, waking her from her sleeplessness. Reyna hadn't even fully registered what was happening when the car crashed through the railing and rolled down the steep embankment into a river.

Reyna had parked her truck, hit her hazards, grabbed her to-go rescue bag, bolted out of her truck and vaulted over the railing before she even knew what she was doing. All of her years of rescue had trained her to react before she could think.

Reyna found the hot pink BMW a crumpled mess at the bottom of the steep hill, it was hard to tell the front from the back. Reyna went to grab her phone to call 911, but she realized that she had foolishly left it in her truck in her haste. Cursing herself under her breath, Reyna called out to the driver as she made her way through waist-deep water and mud.

"Hey! Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

No response.

Reyna swore as she forced her way to the BMW. "I'm on my way, don't worry! Are you injured?"

Then the worst possible thing happened.

The car burst into flames and Reyna could hear something leaking into the water.

"Shit." Reyna swore, doubling her speed through the water and mud. "I'm coming! Don't worry, the paramedics are on their way!" It was completely possible that they weren't, but this person didn't need to know that. Plus, Reyna was a highly trained first-responder, so she would do until the paramedics arrived.

Reyna finally reached the BMW to find the driver unconscious and unmoving at the wheel. She tried the door, but it was locked. Reyna swore again. She was about to try another door when she noticed the door was crumpled and a hinge was off, so she tried to force it open by hand, to no effect.

If only she had been driving a work vehicle, the jaws of life would really be useful right now. Reyna tried forcing the door open again, but it was jammed.

The fire was spreading and would engulf the driver in seconds, so Reyna had no choice. She summoned all of her strength, said a prayer, and ripped the remaining door hinge off with her bare hands, pulling the door free. In a quick movement she pulled out a knife, cut the driver free of her seat belt, threw her on her shoulder and ran from the flaming vehicle as fast as she could in waist-deep mud. She made it to the embankment and heard sirens off in the distance and several terrified voices of bystanders, but they didn't matter. Only saving this woman did.

The BMW exploded behind them, making Reyna's ears ring and body shake, but she was thankfully far away enough to avoid any flying debris. Reaching the steep embankment, Reyna huffed as she began to scale the stone hill, nearing the waiting arms of good samaritans above.

~Page Break~

[Piper POV]

Piper had been driving too fast, she knew that, but she had done it for years and nothing bad had ever happened, so she ignored a nagging voice in the back of her head that told her to slow down.

Turns out she should have listened to it after all.

She didn't remember much up to spinning out after taking a turn too fast, then the guard rail was suddenly in front of her and that's when everything went black.

The first thing Piper felt was pain. Pain everywhere.

Her head was spinning, her body ached and her leg was throbbing. She could hear a loud pounding through muddled ears, but couldn't pinpoint it. She could hear a voice, too, but couldn't make out what it was saying in her condition.

Then everything got hot.

Piper didn't know what was happening, she had probably passed out again, but a loud sound of metal creaking made her try to open her eyes for the first time. Though blurry vision she saw her car door fly off and a pair of very strong arms freed her from the car and placed her on someone's shoulder.

Her vision went black again.

Piper could feel herself coming to. She was laying on grass and something was under her head, but other than that, she had no idea what was going on or where she was. When she finally had the strength to open her eyes fully for the first time, she was greeted with a tan-skinned, muscular woman wiping the sweat from her brow and looking down at her. She was also hot, like, really hot.

Piper didn't know if it was normal to be this attracted to someone seconds after a near death experience, but figured she didn't really care. This woman was hot, okay? It was her only weakness.

"...H-h…"

The woman looked at her with concerned eyes. "Don't try to speak, the paramedics are on their way."

PIper tried her best to shake her head. "...H-hey…"

The woman had been checking her for injuries, but stopped upon hearing her. "What is it? Are you in pain?"

"...A-are you… s-single?"

The woman kneeled motionless next to her for several seconds before blinking and scrunching her brow. "You're clearly disorientated or concussed, most likely due to head trauma. Don't try to speak."

The sirens were practically on top of them now.

"Y-you're hot."

The woman frowned and she went back to checking her for injuries. "Yeah, definitely concussed."

Paramedics arrived and took over, which really pissed Piper off as they made the hot buff woman step to the side.

"I don't know how it's possible," a paramedic said. "But other than a few bumps and bruises, she's otherwise fine."

"It's a miracle." Another said. "How is that possible?"

"The hot lady saved me." Piper told them helpfully. The paramedics frowned, but looked over to the hot lady who was currently speaking to the police.

"You should consider yourself lucky, Ms. McLean, if that woman hadn't been here, then you most likely would have died when your car exploded."

"Do you want to go to the hospital? Normally I'd insist, but I honestly can't find anything wrong with you. So it's your decision."

"I think I need a drink more."

The paramedic chuckled. "If I were in your situation, I'd feel the same way."

Piper had just finished giving her statement to the police when she saw the hot woman starting to walk away. "Hey- wait!" The woman kept walking, not having heard her. "Miss, wait!" Piper followed the woman on shaky legs through the small crowd of people. "Hot lady!"

The woman turned on the spot, brow raised in confusion until she spotted Piper. Finally catching up, Piper stopped in front of her. "Hey, don't leave so soon, I wasn't able to thank you for saving my life yet."

The muscular woman shrugged. "Don't mention it. I just did what anyone would do in that situation."

Piper scoffed. "Don't sell yourself short, girl, not everyone would do what you did. So, thank you for, you know, saving my life."

"No problem."

"Lemme buy you a drink. As thanks. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell could use one right now."

"It's 8am." The woman said. "We can't start drinking this early-."

"Speak for yourself." Piper laughed. "It's evening somewhere."

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to pass. I've just gotten off work and I'm really tired-."

"What do you do?" Piper asked, interrupting her and looking her up and down appraisingly. "You look like an athlete, or an action movie star, but I don't recognize you, so you can't be. Or are you in the military?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm a firefighter."

Piper's eyes grew wide. "Oh! That's so cool! I guess that explains the whole 'ripping a door off a burning car' thing. It certainly explains a few things."

The woman just 'hmmd'.

"Hey, so, what's your name anyway? I figure I should know the name of the lady who saved my life. I'm Piper McLean." Piper hated telling people her full name— it helped people connect the dots to her famous father— but she figured this woman wasn't likely to freak out or ask for an autograph. She waited for the woman to make a visible reaction, but the only emotion on the woman's face was exhaustion.

"I'm Reyna."

"Reyna…?" Piper asked, probing for a last name.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Just Reyna."

"Well, 'Just Reyna', 'Just Piper McLean' would like to know if she could buy you a drink for saving her life."

Reyna frowned again— seriously, Piper thought, does this woman not have any other facial expressions? "Like I said; I just got off a twenty-four hour shift and I'm really tired, so I'm going to have to pass, sorry."

"But it's the least I can do, you literally saved my life." Piper decided to pull out the big guns and used the face that helped shoot her to the top of Hollywood. "Please come have a drink with me?" She begged. "Please."

Reyna groaned, took a breath, cursed in Spanish, then sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll have one drink with you." She held up a single finger. "That's it. And right after that I'm going home because I literally haven't slept in almost thirty hours."

"Yay!" Piper cheered, wrapping an arm around Reyna. "This is going to be so fun!"

"Why did I agree to this?" Reyna asked under her breath.

"That's the attitude I want to hear, now, come on, the bar awaits!"

"I'd rather go to bed."

To be continued?


Author's Note:

Well, like I said, I wasn't planning for this to be a multi part one-shot, so sorry about the abrupt ending. Lemme know if you want this one-shot to continue, it'll probably only be like 3-5k more words or something, I have no idea.

Question of the Day: 'What is your favorite Reyna pairing?'