Chapter 1
2 hours earlier
Lexa was a deputy sheriff on duty with her partner Lincoln, they got a call about a thief on the run close to them. They proceeded as usual and Lincoln drove the car to to where they were apparently last seen.
“I think that’s him, pull over,” Lexa said.
“Where?” Lincoln said as he pulled over.
“Over there, hiding in the alley,” She pointed towards an alley where there was a figure hiding behind a dumpster and climbed out of the car.
Lexa slowly walked toward the figure with Lincoln following close behind her — her right hand rested on her gun holster as she stood flat against the turning of the alley. She gestured for Lincoln to follow her as she crouched down to move in front of the dumpster and kept a finger to her lip to make sure they both remained quiet. She mouthed to her partner telling him she was going to approach the criminal and waited for his nod. When he immediately nodded in understanding she jumped out.
“Hands where I can see them, don’t move!” Lexa shouted as she pointed her gun toward the man.
Lexa had never shot anybody, and she never wanted to. Her gun was a way to provoke fear, not to murder. So when she saw the weaponless criminal run toward her she pushed her hands in front of her to initiate his fall but instead was pushed over in the process of the man attempting to escape. Her gun flew to the floor as she landed on her elbow, screaming in pain when she felt glass rip through her skin. Lincoln was already on the criminal’s tail so she was alone.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Lexa yelped.
She tried to lift her elbow but to no means, the pain spread throughout her whole left arm and she couldn’t move it without screeching in pain.
“Deputy are you okay?” Lincoln breathlessly asked through the radio.
Lexa was good at her job. Her title supported that. She was always rewarded for her work and took pride in it, it was what she loved. She never messed up, the five years she had been Deputy, this was the first time she did. So she was having difficulty telling Lincoln she’d been hurt.
“Did you catch him?” Lexa questioned.
“Yeah I got him, I’m taking him to the car, meet me there?”
“I-Uh, I nee- I’ll be there, give me a minute.”
“You got it.”
Lexa grimaced as she stood up and reached to the floor to retrieve her gun. She bent her neck over and looked down at her arm to see the damage. That’s not good, she thought as she saw a considerable amount of glass caught in her arm, which ripped through her jacket. Lexa walked toward the car which wasn’t too far away, but the journey seemed much longer with the pain she was dealing with. Blood trickled down past her jacket sleeve onto her hand and the sight made her shudder. As she approached the vehicle Lincoln immediately jumped out seeing her state with a concerned expression.
“Lexa why didn’t you say something, you’re bleeding!” Lincoln exclaimed as he rushed over to her, and spoke into his radio to call for assistance.
“I’m fine.” Lexa deadpanned as she tried her hardest not to show her discomfort.
“No you’re not, there’s glass everywhe-”
“I said I’m fine.”
Now
Lexa was on a hospital bed with Lincoln by her side as they awaited the doctor. A nurse had already seen her and cleared up her wound to the best extent she could without causing more damage, and Lexa was promised a doctor in a mere few minutes. The nurse did offer her painkillers but of course Lexa declined; her pride too high.
“Lincoln, you can leave, the doctor’s going to be here soon,” Lexa said with a smile so small it was hardly detectable.
“I’ll leave when the doctor gets here.”
“Lincol-”
“I’ll leave when the doctor gets here,” Lincoln repeated.
Lexa rolled her eyes but was grateful he was there with her. Although she would never admit it.
“I think I’m gonna start calling you commander,” Lincoln said as he gazed into the distance.
“And why is that.”
“Because you act like one.”
“Is that bad?”
“If it means you get hurt it is.”
“Lincoln I’m-”
“You’re fine I know, I heard you the first time.”
“Then do your duty and listen to me.”
“I’m not here on duty, I’m here as your friend.”
“I know,” Lexa said in a whisper.
A few minutes passed and they heard a knock on the door, it opened and a blonde rushed inside with her clipboard. She didn’t bother to look up, instead was reading over what was probably details on Lexa.
“Lincoln you can go now.” Lexa announced. “And thank you.”
Lincoln nodded and stood up to leave, “No worries, message me when you’re out.” He smiled and left telling the doctor to ‘take good care of her’.
“Right, so I got here that you fell and landed on glass and there’s still some stuck in your arm?” The blonde said, eyes still on the clipboard with her eyebrows knitted together as she pieced the information together.
Lexa couldn’t deny that the woman before her was atractive: her hair fell over her shoulders freely, her figure was voluptuous and eyes an intense shade of blue. Lexa felt her cheeks prickle a shade of red as she felt nerves shoot through her; an unexpected reaction to the woman. One that wasn’t usual for Lexa, it was a foreign experience.
“Yeah that’s right,” Lexa said. Her gaze didn’t meet the blondes’, instead she looked at the clock next to her. 11:02pm.
“Okay, how is your arm right now?” The blonde questioned, genuine concern plastered over her face.
“Hurts.”
“Sorry, that was a silly question.” The woman answered. “Let me get a look at it,” She continued as she placed her clipboard on the table beside Lexa. “Alexandria, right?”
“Well everyone calls me Lexa,” She said. “But I don’t mind if that’s what you want to call me.”
“No, no. Lexa it is.” Clarke smiled. “I’m Clarke, It’s nice to meet you Lexa.”
“I’d say the same, but under the circumstances…” Lexa smiled.
Clarke laughed as she slipped on her gloves and fiddled with the tools in front of her.
“You’re right.”
“So you’re a doctor?”
“So you’re a cop?”
They both laughed at that. Lexa wasn’t really sure why she asked such an obvious question but nonetheless, she did. Lexa forgot about the pain in her arm until the blonde approached it, and slowly lifted it from it’s position.
“Ahhh.” Lexa grimaced.
“Sorry, I just needed to move it so I can see where all the glass is.”
Lexa nodded in response, and watched as the woman picked out a tweezer like piece of equipment. “This is gonna hurt isn’t it.”
“It might, but you seem like a tough one.”
“Everyone says that.”
“Then you probably are,” Clarke said. Her eyes fixed on green for maybe a moment too long. But not for too long as she went forth and picked out a small piece of glass from Lexa’s arm. “There you go, not so bad right?” She spoke, and lifted her eyes to meet Lexa’s.
Lexa nodded, she found it easier not to speak. She didn’t want to say something stupid.
“So what happened?” Clarke asked as she picked out the small pieces first.
“Tried to catch a bad guy, didn’t want to use my weapon so I tried to push him over but he pushed me over instead.”
“You don’t sound too happy, I mean at least you tried right?” Clarke said her attention still was on Lexa’s arm.
“I guess, but this is the first time I messed up.”
Clarke furrowed her brows. “I wouldn’t say you messed up, Lexa.”
Lexa grimaced as Clarke pulled out a larger piece from her arm. But soon felt better when Clarke began to press something to Lexa’s wound to stop the dull bleeding.
“And why’s that?” Lexa asked.
“You were just trying to take care of your people,” Clarke said as though it was the world's simplest answer. But Lexa didn’t quite understand and it was obvious that Clarke detected her uncertainty when she continued: “Okay, so you have the bad guy who you were trying to stop for the benefit of others right?”
“Well, yeah I guess so. But he was just a thief he wasn’t a murderer.”
“But he still stole from someone else, that would've hurt them in some way. And you tried to stop that.” She said plainly, continuing to remove the glass from Lexa’s arm. “Plus, you being a cop-”
“Deputy Sherrif,” Lexa smirked.
“Deputy Sheriff. Sorry excuse my mistake,” Clarke chuckled. “You take care of your community by keeping people safe you know?”
“Maybe you’re right. I’ve never thought of it that way.”
“You haven’t?”
“No. Not necessarily. I was raised to be an officer, most of my family have some relation to the system and I just went into it thinking that it’s what I had to do. I didn’t really question why I did it or why I should do it.”
“That’s fair.”
“Is that how you feel?”
Clarke looked up at Lexa, and Lexa swore her heart skipped a beat.
“Not really… I guess I grew up knowing I always wanted to help people.” She said, voice low and honest. “But I guess now I feel this sort of obligation to help, I don’t know the best way to explain it.”
“I think I understand.” Lexa nodded slightly. “Like everyone needs you, or they rely on you even when you’re off duty?”
“Yeah, that’s a way to explain it.”
“Yeah.”
Lexa watched as Clarke continued to take the last few pieces from Lexa’s arm. The pain wasn’t as prominent as it had been earlier. Lexa noticed the extreme concentration on the blonde’s face, clearly not wanting to cause her anymore pain.
“Maybe one day we’ll owe nothing more to our people!” Clarke said giggling.
“I hope so,” Lexa laughed and received a smile from Clarke which almost made her breath hitch.
“So, was that your boyfriend?” Clarke asked, eyes focused on Lexa’s arm.
“Oh no. No, no, no.” Lexa winced. “Uh- not my type.”
“What is your type?” Clarke laughed at Lexa’s discomfort.
“Well uh... not men.” Lexa blushed.
“I see…”
“Sorry, does that make you uncomfortable?”
“Not in the slightest.” She started. “I can understand that.”
“You can?”
“I mean yeah, I’m a fan of both so I can see why you prefer one over the other.” Clarke said as she placed her tool down and continued to press on Lexa’s wound. All the glass removed now removed from her arm.
“Fair enough.” Lexa felt a spark of hope knowing the girl was into girls too. She looked at the blonde for a moment, she wanted to ask her if she maybe wanted to do something sometime and her head told her not too, but her heart overpowered. “So, is there someone waiting for you at home?” She said. “I-I mean you know it’s late.” Lexa attempted to cover herself.
“Nope.” Clarke lifted an eyebrow at Lexa, and Lexa was sure that was an invitation to ask. “You?”
“Nope.”
“Mmm.”
“Yupp.”
They both looked at each other awkwardly and Clarke began to put a bandage on Lexa’s injured arm.
“Should be fine in a week or two, so no work until then I’d recommend.” Clarke insisted. “But I’m sure you won’t listen.” She smiled.
“You’re right in thinking that,” Lexa said as she lifted the corner of her mouth into a smile. “Thank you for your help today, Clarke.” The name rolled off of her tongue like it was a word Lexa had repeated her whole life.
“My pleasure, it was nice to meet you, Lexa.”
Lexa didn’t want to part from the blonde. She liked the feeling of being around her, it felt different; refreshing. “You too.” Lexa watched as Clarke stood up and patted down invisible creases in her white doctor’s coat. “It was nice.” Lexa said. “Speaking to you I mean.”
“Yeah, it was.”
Lexa wanted to see her again, she really did. They only spoke for what seemed like a few minutes, but it felt different. She felt different. “Would you- I…” Lexa attempted to get the words out but they failed her. She looked up to see Clarke with a smug grin on her face.
“Something you want to ask officer?”
Lexa rolled her eyes but continued: “Do you maybe want to get coffee sometime? It’d be nice to have a friend in a similar profession.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re asking me to get coffee? As a friend?” Clarke raised her eyebrow.
“Do you really have to make this so difficult?” Lexa huffed and stood up so she was now slightly looking down on the blonde. “Just forget it, sorry I shouldn-”
“I’m kidding, Lexa. I’d like that.” Clarke said diffidently, and looked down at her shoes.
Is she nervous? Lexa thought. “Uh, good. I’m glad I mean, glad you want too…”
“Me too.”
“Here, take my number.” Lexa said as she pulled out a card from the breast pocket from her jacket. “I’ll leave it up to you to call or text, no pressure.”
“You’ll hear from me.” Clarke grinned and tucked the card into her own pocket.
They both stood there hesitantly for a few seconds, not quite sure how to say goodbye. Until someone knocked on the door breaking their silence.
“Dr. Griffin, we need you as soon as possible.”
Clarke nodded and walked out of the room, she turned around and gave Lexa a bashful smile and closed the door on her way out. Lexa’s stomach fluttered in response. This is a new feeling, Lexa thought.