Take on the World

2.

"Are you ready to be named captain?" Maya asked as her and Andy walked outside of the barn to meet the rest of the team, soon to be met with the fire chief.

"I don't know," Andy admitted with a sigh. "My dad didn't recommend me or Jack. Plus with the stunt I pulled at the Skyscraper, I'm not entirely sure who it'll be considering it's up to Ripley."

"Just trust the universe, if it's meant to be, it'll be." Maya shrugged, and Andy hoped she was right.

After the skyscraper fire, with Travis being out recovering, Ripley had taken over as interim captain of 19. It was an adjustment, he was different that Pruitt and definitely ran things differently than Andy and Jack. But at least today they'd know who the permanent captain was, Andy being almost certain it's wasn't going to be her.

When Ripley approached the team, followed by Pruitt and another man, Andy wanted to throw up right then and there. The tall man who stood beside Ripley was someone she vowed to never speak to or see again...

Robert Sullivan.

"19, I'd like you to meet your new captain, Robert Sullivan."

As Robert looked around at the team, his eyes landed on the brunette woman he'd known all those years ago. Even if it had been five years since he'd seen her, he could tell it was her, he would be able to tell it was her if she was standing in a crowd full of people.

Andy felt Maya grab her arm, she could tell something was wrong, just the way Andy was acting, the way her face was white as a ghost and the way she was avoiding eye contact with their new captain.

"Is that him?" Maya whispered in her ear, not getting a verbal response from Andy, just a simple nod.

He didn't even bother with names, he'd get those later. He wanted them lined up, he was getting right into captain duty, no need to waste time.

From the second he started uniform inspections, Andy felt uncomfortable. There was just no way he didn't remember her, or if he did, he was hiding it pretty damn well. She hadn't managed to feel any less nauseous than she did when he first saw him, but she managed to get through uniform inspection and assignments without throwing up everywhere, so that was a start.

•••

Desk duty, possibly the worst job you could be assigned. Out of all the people he put on desk and walk-in duty, it was Andy. Maybe this was his way of punishing her because he remembered who she was.

Not a word was spoken between the two all shift, no one seemed to question it either. Their new captain only talked to them when he was giving orders, other than that, he stayed in his office, not even coming out for meals.

When Maya finally had a free moment, she went to check on Andy, who was currently tapping a pen against the desk.

"Hey..." the blonde said softy, moving to sit on the desk in front of her best friend. "How you holding up?"

"The father of my child, who doesn't even know she exists... is my new captain," Andy replied, almost not believing the words that were coming out of her own mouth. "So, i'm just dandy right now, thanks for asking."

"Are you going to tell him?" Maya asked, looking over at the door to Robert's office, he was too busy looking at paperwork to even notice they were having a conversation and probably didn't even care to listen.

"The minute he see's her, he's going to know she's his." Andy said, "She has his nose, and his eyes, there's no denying she's his."

"But the real question is, are you going to tell Luna?"

"She's never asked about her dad, so I never thought I'd have to have the conversation." Andy said, propping her elbows up on the desk then placing her head in his hands. "But I also never expected him to come back to Seattle..."

Maya knew Andy, sometimes better than she knew herself. She knew this wasn't something she planned on, kind of ironic considering she didn't plan Luna when she met Robert but maybe it was the universe saying something.

"Don't tell me you're going to hide her..." Maya said, Andy looking up at her with the face that said Maya was right. "Andy, she's grown up here, you can't keep her away and pretend she doesn't exist when you're here."

"I know," Andy sighed. "But that feels like it would be easier than telling him that he has a four year old daughter with a woman he had a week long fling with, have you seen that man?"

"You slept with him, not me." Maya said, earning a glare from Andy. "You have to do what you think is right, but he has a right to know about her. I think the longer you hide her from him, the more the band-aid is going to hurt when you rip it off."

This was an impossible situation, to Andy at least. Most people would bite the bullet and just out right tell him, but not her. How could you just casually tell the man that you'd kept his daughter from her all these years? They did vow to never speak or see each other again... So wasn't she just following the rule they'd set for themselves?

She knew it was wrong, to keep Luna from him. But she also knew that she didn't want to see his reaction when he found out about her. He was this closed off, relatively silent man who sat in his office all day and managed to get under her skin in the few hours he'd been her captain. He didn't exactly seem to be the fatherly type, but then again, Andy said the same thing about herself and now she was basically a pro at reading bedtime stories and making actual breakfast that wasn't sugary cereal straight out of the box. She'd learned how to not only get herself out of bed and ready in the morning, but also a four year old who wasn't really a morning person. She could get Luna to school on time before making it to the station right before her shift started.

But was Robert willing to be thrown into all of that? He was lucky, he mostly got to skip the hard part. The late night feedings and diaper changes, the constant crying and screaming. But he also missed the monumental moments in her life. Her first word, her first steps, her first day of school... He'd missed it all.

The question was, would he even care that he missed all those firsts?

A/N:
ahh, here's when it starts getting interesting;) thank you for all the love on this, it means the absolute world to me!<3