Crushing on the Ambulance Girl

Characters- Sam Taggart, Tony Gates

Disclaimer- I own no characters of this story, I don't even own their laundry… I do however own the idea, but if TPTB wants to use it, feel free :)

Author's Note: This is just kind of a one-shot. I seen the episode 'Status Quo' from ER and I thought it was cute to see Gates and Sam flirting.

For now, this is a one-shot, but if well received and I feel like it, I may turn it into a story. Ya never know

I changed some of it because I was informed my story wasn't 'in-character' enough… mind you, I just started to actually follow these characters… two episodes ago (teehee)… so I apologize for this… it may not be perfect, but… here it is!

Tony Gates was your average guy. He spent his days working at a job he enjoyed. After which, he'd come home, grab a beer, and laze around. He wasn't anything new. And with his teenage- tenet gone to a friend's house for a lovely 'teenage sleepover', he was definitely free to do regular guy things. And since he didn't work until the next morning, he felt he should take advantage of the opportunity. It wasn't like he got to be alone in his house very often.

Lying on his couch, a beer in one hand, and the remote in the other, Gates flicked through the television stations on his TV, not remotely interested in what was on but felt the need to be watching. He wasn't a big 'TV person'; he enjoyed shows that had little depth so if he missed an episode he wouldn't be totally lost.

"Tonight I should be watching Desperate Housewives with Sarah," Gates laughed, as he flicked through the channels, settling on the football game, and sighing. Usually Sarah chose the TV shows, and since he wasn't fussy about TV and she was the only other one in the house, he got to watch very female shows. Because of this, one Sunday Night football game should be a huge deal for Gates. Except he didn't have anyone to compete with, so watching a competitive game alone wasn't as enjoyable.

The days at work had been quite busy this week and he was happy to have the evening off in order to unwind. To calm down from all the mayhem that seemed to surround him working in the ER. Crazy patients who went screaming when you entered a room, parents crying after hearing their beloved child was injured, rape victims, car accidents, people who failed to commit suicide, and basically anything else you could think of were a regular occurrence in the ER this week. Nothing was ordinary. The holidays had definitely made people think they were invincible.

And Gates was just happy to get away from it all.

After settling into the game, his doorbell could be heard ringing through his apartment. He wasn't expecting anyone but he assumed it was Sarah stopping by saying she forgot to something. So with a yawn, Gates slowly got off the couch and stumbled tiredly over to the door.

Opening the door, he was greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Gates!"

"Hello, Sam" he replied in surprise, this being the last person he'd expect to see standing at his door, "How did you get in?"

"Someone was opening the door downstairs and let me in," the tiny brunette said with a smile.

"Oh," he replied, laughing inside about how trusting everyone was. Ya never know, Sam could have been an axe murderer… a very hot axe murderer, but one none the less, "What are you doing here?"

"To do your laundry," she faked a seductive voice, Gates stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face before Sam laughed, "Should I say please after or was that not a part of your dream?"

Gates laughed and opened the door, "Hey! Reality is so much better then fantasy, come on in."

What he said was true, although fantasies had their place in the world, reality was usually better. And Sam standing at his door offering to do his laundry in real life was much better then her doing it in his dreams. Even if she was joking…

The petite brunette walked inside and smiled, "Thanks for informing me I was part of your fantasy, but your reality check has to come at some point, so might as well make it now," she laughed before standing on her tip-toes in order to lean into his ear, "I'd never beg," she whispered.

"Darn!" Gates joked as she took a step back and smiled. He loved how tiny she was, it made her all the more adorable. She was tiny and yet had a huge personality. She didn't hide away under her looks, it was no wonder he noticed so many men flock to her.

"You left your wallet on the bench at work," she said, pulling the black leather wallet out of her jean jacket pocket and handing it to him, "I thought I'd stop by and return it before you got worried or Archie bought something with your money. And we all know him; you'd be embarrassed with what he bought."

"Thanks," Gates replied, "I just put the game on if you're interested?"

"Who's playing?"

"Titans versus Chargers," he replied with a smile.

"Chargers will win, but sure I'd love to join you," Sam grinned as Tony led the way to his living room. Sam knew about football? It was a question that ran through his head as they walked. He'd never met a woman who knew about sports, so it sounded weird for her to ask about the game and actually be able to know who was going to win.

"Want a beer?"

"Oh, so you can't get me to beg so you're trying to get me drunk?" she joked as she sat on his sofa.

"You caught me!" he replied with a laugh throwing his hands in the air, "I just can't resist you Sam… after seeing you flirting with that ambulance guy I just can't get you out of my head!"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'll have a beer please," she replied, ignoring his comment.

Gates walked over to his kitchen, opened the fridge door and reached for a beer. The cold air felt good on his skin, he felt like a high school boy, all heated up because a girl was sitting close to him. He could vividly remember the first time he'd ever had a major crush. It felt the same as this, and he acted the same way, joking and trying to be sarcastic.

He did have feelings for Sam he'd admit that. He supposed it all started when he'd seen that guy come after her on her first day of ambulance field training. She was being tough and stood up to some guy. He'd always known Sam to be a tough, go getter kind of girl, but that day it kind of came out differently. Like he'd never seen her before. He saw her in an entirely new light, like she was all brand new. He wanted to protect her from harm. And now when he looked at her, it was like she glowed, she moved and everything went in slow motion. He would lose his words and forget what he should have said; all of her traits seemed endearing when before they would have been annoying.

Gates returned to the living room and plopped down on the sofa next to Sam. He tried to ignore the warmth that was running through his body sitting so close to her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as he handed her the beer. She placed her hand overtop of the beer and twisted, opening the bottle without the aid of a bottle-opener, and then settled back into the couch.

"Wow, we got ourselves a country girl here," Gates joked, motioning towards the bottle in her hand.

"Oh, yeah!" the brunette laughed, "I hung out with mostly guys when I was younger. I learned football, darts, how to fight, how to drink…"

"So you were a tomboy?"

"Nope, perfectly feminine. I just preferred men to women," she explained, taking a swig of beer, "Makes me a better nurse."

"Just makes you a hard ass."

"Oh!" she hollered, punching him in the shoulder, "I'm not a hard ass!"

"Geez, you got some arm there!" Gates laughed, his free hand rubbing where she hit.

"Told you!" Sam laughed, placing her hand over the top of his and giving it a rub, "I learned how to fight."

"Well, remind me not to piss you off," Gates laughed, taking a drink out of his bottle.

Sam removed her jacket and it was then that he noticed she wasn't in nurse or ambulance uniform. She wore tight blue jeans that sat quite low on her hips and a dark green tank top that showed just an inch of her flat stomach.

Gates swallowed hard once he noticed this, trying to keep his mind on other things besides what she was looking like. The task was hard, even at work when she was dressed in the blue nurse scrubs or the oversized ambulance uniform, he stared at her, now that he seen her in a more 'female' look, he was even worse.

As he continued to look at Sam rather then the game, he was blessed at seeing a new Sam. Not the tough girl you'd see at work, but the kind of girl you'd see lazing in your house. She seemed relaxed. Almost at home sitting there with him.

"Told you they were going to win!" Sam said with a smile.

"What?" Gates asked, snapping back into reality. He was too busy looking at Sam to realize the game had finished. Was he really staring at her for the remainder of the game?

"I told you the Chargers were going to win," she giggled, "Were you not watching?" Sam had noticed that Gates wasn't paying much attention, but supposed he wasn't interested in the game.

"I was thinking…"

"About what?" Sam asked, taking another sip of her beer.

"About you in that cute ambulance uniform," he smiled and Sam gently shoved him.

"Ha ha! Very funny," Sam replied, "Did you invite me in to watch the game or to stare at me?"

"A bit of both"

"Ah-ha," the brunette smiled, "I should take off then before you take advantage of me or something."

"You're not drunk enough yet," Gates replied and Sam gently shoved him

"You're an ass"," she laughed, "It's getting late and I don't need to walk the streets much later then this."

"I'll call you a cab…"

"Don't worry about it, from what I remember, you work in the morning so I better not keep you awake," Sam said, standing up, grabbing her coat and placing the beer bottle on his coffee table, "You need your beauty rest," she giggled, putting her hand on his cheek with a smile. She let her hand linger for a moment to long before she pulled her hand away and cleared her throat, starting to walk towards his door.

Gates laughed and followed her to the door; he really didn't want her to leave. He enjoyed her company. She was one of the very few women in this world who was strong and yet feminine all at the same time.

"Well, I'll see you later, Gates," Sam smiled, reaching the door and looking at him. She was about to turn around to let herself out when Gates grabbed her face with both of his hands and kissed her. She paused for a moment, not expecting it but then returned the kiss.

Gates pushed her up against the door as he kissed her and groaned as Sam's hands ran up his chest. He wasn't sure why he just kissed her, it was like his body had taken over for a moment, but he was glad to see she wasn't objecting.

The kissed was filled with passion, fire, but with an underlying hint of uncertainty. It was like both were unsure of what the other was thinking but neither wanting to stop and ask.

Breaking apart after a moment, the two stood their trying to catch their breath, neither sure what had just happened.

"What was that for?" Sam asked with a smile, looking up at the man in front of her. Her voice was low and raspy.

"Didn't want my crush to leave," Gates replied with a smile.

"You've been hanging around with Sarah too much, crush" Sam laughed, her hand still lingering on his chest, "And why did this whole crush thing start?"

"Must have been the ambulance uniform."