Logan

153. Five Alarm, Part 1

Present Day

*Natalie's POV*

The stinging cold on my face wavered as I remembered the last twenty minutes. Luckily my punch to Elena's face hadn't caused too much damage to my hand, cleanup was minimal.

Desmond carefully cleaned my hand, his touch soft and careful, and he stood beside me as I sat on the counter.

"What do you think is going to happen today?" I asked.

"You won't be doing anything, just observing. You never put yourself in unnecessary danger, I don't care who it is or what the situation is, whomever is in the car with us, we can handle it. If it's me, well...just know I'm okay and I'm doing what needs to be done." He tipped my chin to face him, "Promise me. I need you to promise no matter what you see or hear, that you will not attempt to risk your life for me." Desmond's tone was serious, but gentle in the way he looked into my eyes. I saw the way he looked at my lips, and passed his tongue over his own.

My hand reachd out and took his wrist, "I promise." I whispered, and Desmond's other hand rested on my knee. He leaned just a little, his gaze still on my lips, I leaned a little further, testing him. If he kissed me, what did this mean? Before he could do anything, the klaxon's sounded and he instinctively grabbed me and lifted me off the counter.

"Come on, that's us." Desmond stuttered, putting his hand at the small of my back for a second before we ran for the truck. I sat in the back, and we took off.

I watched as he and Parker opened the back doors and Desmond pointed at me, "Remember, you don't touch anything." I nodded and he and Parker went off to tend to the patient. I'd done this at another station, but it was so sweet to see Desmond's commitment to the span of knowledge all of the months here have taught him. Plus, it was kind of hot to see him so dominant. God my feelings were all over the place.

The first few calls were minor, elderly check in, fender bender, and a grease burn at the local highway diner. My body prickled with excitement, seeing all of this up close, I could see why he loved it. We were finished eating lunch and Parker went to the counter to pay, now I could ask him what had been bugging me.

"Desmond?" I asked, setting my sandwich down.

"Yeah," he looked up and was taking a sip from his drink.

"Is it true, you slept with Elena?"

"What?" Desmond choked and sputtered, barely getting his breath together. I handed my water to him and he drank it.

"Elena, did you sleep with her?" I asked, a bit more firmly this time.

"NO," he whispered loudly, "Absolutely not, no," he leaned in a bit, "She came onto me, and yes, we did kiss a little but she was so..." his body shivered, "I don't know how to describe her. Elena's hands were too aggressive, SHE was aggressive, I said 'no' multiple times." When he said this my blood boiled, but I tried to hide it. "I had to run out of there, it didn't feel right, I never would have done anything with her and I haven't. Why, who told you that?"

"She did, but I saw the way you reacted when I saw the lipstick on your neck. So what does this mean? I mean, I don't blame you, she is pretty-but her personality sucks."

"Natalie stop," Desmond's hand closed over mine and he squeezed "I said no, she chose to run over my boundaries with a tank. I like YOU. I want YOU. Until you decide otherwise, I'm saving myself for YOU. I don't want anyone else."

I shook my head, "Did you say anything to Ripley?"

"I mentioned some things to him," he sighed, "But... he didn't make her leave until today."

Desmond's hand was still on mine, and his voice softened, "Don't get mad. I'm handling it."

Before I could say any more, the radio on the table came through, and a call for an aid car.

Desmond looked at me, squeezing my hand one more time before pulling it away, "That's us, let's go."

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*Desmond's POV*

I felt horrendous thinking that Natalie-even for a second-thought I'd had sex with Elena. I tried to think of every moment between Natalie and I in the last few days, I made my feelings absolutely clear. I know I hurt her feelings by saying she was making excuses, something I wish I could take back. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin seeing Natalie in a EMT mock uniform, and I saw the way she looked at me when I was giving her directions. There had to be something there, right?

I knew she was still grieving Logan, I knew this much better now and I wanted to give her as much time as possible. My mind wracked with what to do about that. I knew there was a part of her that wanted to be with me, but I knew she had to come to this conclusion herself. If she didn't, I'd have to be okay with that. I just wanted her to be happy. Natalie was the only person who ever made me feel safe enough besides Remy to trust with my virginity, with anything more personal than my favorite color. I don't know what I'd do without her now.

I had to reward her for the way she approached a crisis; controlled, took down notes, and even wrote down some questions she had for certain procedural measures. Three more hours and my shift would be up. I was tired, and I really just wanted to be alone with Natalie. I wanted to fix this.

We were back at the station doing a routine restock and taking inventory. She double counted just like I told her to.

Captain Ripley walked up behind us, "How's my girl doing?"

Natalie leaned over to look at him, "That's Koughlin to you, Captain Ripley," she joked.

I noticed the way his face soured, and he was quiet, "Right."

"Would it make you feel better to call me Carter?" She asked, rubbing his arm.

Ripley seemed to be thrown off by that too, so he just said, "What did you learn today?"

It was an odd tension, Ripley seemed uncomfortable and tense, and she was telling him some of the things she learned but we both noticed his attention was on something else. Instead of saying bye, he just walked off.

"I wonder what happened? Did I do something wrong?" Natalie looked confused, a little hurt, even.

"I'm sure he's just tired. Happens every once in a while before a shift is over."

She wrote some numbers down and shook her head, "I hope not, he and I are supposed to be having dinner after shift."

She decided to walk up to him, but the klaxons sounded, and a large announcement came over the loud speaker. A five alarm, immediate assistance. I recognized that address as the local plant, they made certain foods and sauces. Ripley looked at me and I tucked everything back in, and Natalie did her best to help me. Twelve to fifteen bodies rushed into the garage, and Natalie's face was unreadable as she readied herself and Ripley ran up to her, saying something in her ear and kissing her forehead. She nodded and then got in the back.

Whatever was going to happen in the next few hours would be life-altering.