Chapter 5
It had been a couple of days since Lexas first shift at Firehouse 23 and today was her second shift.
She'd spent the last 48 hours worrying. After her first shift, she'd began to wonder if she'd made a mistake by trying to start over in a new place. But she'd spoke to Lincoln and he'd assured her that if she just gave it time, it would all be worth while. So with that, her she was, freshly showered after her early morning workout, sitting in her hotel suite looking through local house listings. She knew she couldn't stay in the hotel for long, it was too complicated.
Lexa was sipping on her coffee when one particular listing caught her eye. She scanned the pictures listed with the house and immediately decided she needed to see this place in person, so proceeded to get a time booked for the following day to view the house. For the first time in months, Lexa felt, almost, excited about something.
"Shit!" Lexa exclaimed as she noticed the time. Dumping her mug in the sink, she grabbed her helmet and backpack and made her way to the elevator. She was soon in the lobby, being greeted by the hotel staff as she made her way to the valet to collect her bike. She'd already pre-discussed her schedule with the staff to make sure her ride was always ready when she needed to leave for work.
"Running a little late I see Ms. Woods." The young valet playfully teased. "I'll start her up while you get yourself sorted." He offered. Lexa smiled a thank you to the young man. From her previous conversations with the him, she knew he had a love for bikes and was saving so he could learn to ride.
Her bike soon roared to life as she pulled her helmet on and buckled it up. She was just securing her gloves when the man pulled the throttle back. He had a huge grin on his face as her looked up at Lexa. She just laughed and threw him a $50 as a thank you before she sped off into the streets.
She was soon pulling into the firehouse parking lot. Upon parking her bike, she noticed Clarke climbing out of her car and called out to her. Clarkes head lift and she acknowledge Lexa before reaching back into her car for her bag and coffee. Lexa jogged over to her, helmet in hand and said good morning with a small smile.
"So about the other day.." Lexa started.
"It's okay Lexa, you don't have to talk about it, I completely understand." Clarke cut her off. She didn't want to upset the woman again.
"Okayyy.." Lexa drawled out "But, what if I wanted to talk about it.. with you..?" She shyly questioned. Clarke looked at Lexa, something akin to sympathy in her eyes. "Not right now obviously, we have work. But maybe tomorrow? After shift? Or lunch maybe? I have a house viewing at 10am but I'm free after that. Unless... You wanted to come with me and we could grab breakfast and we could talk then.. thats if you don't have plans yourself. What am I thinking, of course you have plans." Lexa rambled. Clarke reached a hand out, gently placing it on Lexas bicep. She couldn't help but noticed how firm it was as she smiled.
"I don't have any plans in the morning. I can come with you." Clarke stated.
"Okay then." Lexa beamed "It's a date." She gawked at her own words and fumbled trying to back track. "Not a date, but just like.." Clarke cut her off.
"It's a non-date date." She winked "C'mon, we better get in there before they send out a search party for us." Clarke giggle and turned away towards the firehouse before Lexa could make any kind of wity comeback.
Lexa and Clarke soon settled in to breakfast with the rest of 23.
A short while later, Clarke and Lexa were seated next to each other on the couch watching the morning news. They were rather close but neither of them noticed as they chatted about what was going on in the world.
It wasn't long before an older gentleman made his way into the room. He smiled as he saw Clarkes head of blonde hair and then gave a quizzical look towards Raven and Octavia when he noticed a brunette almost cuddled into her. They shrugged, but smiled, trying not to acknowledge the girls closeness as anything more than them just talking quietly. They knew the man would be curious and concerned as Clarke meant a lot to him and visa-versa. He smile as he walked over to the pair.
"What? No hug for your uncle Marcus?" he questioned making Clarke jump to her feet with a smile.
"You're back!" she beamed as they embraced in a hug over the back of the couch. He eyed Lexa, who was now standing just behind Clarke. She looked like a deer caught in headlights.
As they pulled back, Clarke caught where his stare was and shook her head slightly. Clarke went to introduce the two but was beaten to it by Marcus.
"Caption Kane." He introduced himself as, hand outstretched. She saw Lexa visibly gulp as she took his hand.
"Lieutenant Woods, sir." she greeted. Clarke once again shook her head. And decided she'd re-do the introductions.
"Lexa this is Marcus or Kane, Marcus, this is Lexa. The new lieutenant for squad." She smiled. Kane studied Clarke for a moment, try to decipher is she was really okay with this but decided to play nice, at least for the time being. After all, he owed both Clarke and her dad that much. He soon dismissed himself to go see Chief Indra.
"Uncle?" She nervously asked, turning to Clarke.
"Well yes and no." Clarke shrugged. "He's my dads best friend. Or was.." She explained sadly but continued. "They grew up together, went through the academy together, so naturally when my parents married, and they had me and my sister, he was already part of the family really and we grew up calling him uncle." Lexa smiled and nodded, completely understanding but for some reason it didn't make her feel any less nervous.
"You have a sister?" Lexa realised after a moment.
"Yeah. Maddi." Clarke answered. "She's currently at BCU studying law. Says she wants to be a police officer or lawyer. Hasn't quite made her mind up yet. Either way, she'll be amazing at whatever she chooses." Clarke beamed, proud of her little sister. "Not that our mom would agree, she wanted Mads to follow in her footsteps and become a doctor like her. She's still not over Mads' decision."
"Pity." Lexa said. "Your moms missing out because if she's anything like you, she'll be incredible at what she does." Clarke blushed at Lexas comment before whispering a small thanks.
"Clarke?" Lexa says, getting Clarkes full attention back. "I'm really sorry about your dad." she gently says, her hand resting on Clarkes knee. Clarkes smiles sadly but before she can say anything, Raven rocks up to the duo, arms coming around the pair as she asks what their talking about.
"Lexa just met Kane." Clarke informs with a bit of a grin.
"I bet that went well." Raven laughs.
"Not too bad actually. Much better than any other lieutenant thats been here." Clarkes smiles, hoping everything stayed that was. She was starting to really like Lexa. She was easy to talk to and Clarke felt like she could tell her almost anything.
"That sounds prom-is-sing!" Raven sings out. "Sooo.. did you guys get up to anything fun with your down time?" Raven probes.
"Just the usual." Clarke replies, shrugging the question off and directing the attention to Lexa.
"Umm... not really." Lexa responds. "I hung out with Lincoln a little, catching up and then I did a little house hunting. Figured it'd be a good idea to not be permanently living in a hotel." She laughs.
"Ohhh house hunting! Thats exciting!" Raven quips. "Have you found anything yet?"
"Maybe." Lexa shrugs. "I have a viewing set for tomorrow. I asked Clarke if she wanted to come along." Lexa continues and then adds "With me not knowing the area all that much, I figured, why not have a local around to let me know if it's a bad area or not." She covered, hoping no one noticed her nerves at spending some time alone with Clarke. Clarke just smiled at her, remembering her ramble this morning when she asked her. She thought it was kinda cute to see this side of the 'bad-ass' that had turned up only a few days prior. She smiled, thinking she liked it and hoped she got to see more of it.
The alarm, signalling a new call out went off and Lexa thanked everything and anything for it as it meant that she wasn't the centre of attention again. She wasn't keen on questions too much, not wanting to talk about her past too much.
The entire company, truck, squad, engine and ambo all headed out of the firehouse and towards their current call. A small factory fire.