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Chapter Text

"What?" I asked, slightly self-conscious at the way Maya seemed to be staring straight through my soul. Her stare was unwavering, and I felt my heart pick up speed at the intensity of her gaze. The sound of a dozen firefighters playing drinking games on the other side of the glass sliding door melted away and it felt like we were the only two on the balcony of her apartment.

"You're so beautiful," she stated plainly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

My heart rate doubled, and I was sure the heat that had travelled to my cheeks was visible in the moonlight.

"I...uh..." I stuttered, physically unable to think of an appropriate response in that moment. My silence peaked Maya's interest. Tilting her head to the side like a confused cat, she raised an eyebrow.

"You look positively surprised by what I've just said despite being a woman who must hear that all the time."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "You would be surprised," I replied with a subtle shake of my head.

That piqued her interest as she turned to face me fully, her arm still resting on the railing. Knowing she was expecting an explanation by the intense look in her eyes, I gave in.

"Sexy and hot are at the top of the list, mostly before giving birth to Bruno...but beautiful...I haven't heard that one in a long while," I confessed, not really bothering to hide how much my husbands under appreciation for me actually did hurt.

Maya pushed herself off the railing to stand in front of me, her eyes filled with something I couldn't quite identify, something that sent a shiver rippling through my body.

"Moretti's gonna be on toilet duty for the next week, and desk duty the week after that," she stated, shaking her head as her eyes continued to bore into mine.

"Why?" I asked in confusion at the sudden change in topic to my husband's chores for the week.

Maya reached up slowly, her hand delicately moving to push a fallen curl behind my ear-a move that seemed to surprise us both. I felt my breath hitch as her soft, warm fingers gently traced down my cheek, her thumb brushing ever so lightly over the beauty mark on the side of my lips.

"Because there must be some punishment for a man who wakes up next to this face every morning and doesn't take the God damn time to tell you how beautiful...how breathtakingly...painfully...beautiful you are."

Those words sent a flutter shooting to the one place...the one place as a married woman, it shouldn't have. I knew it right then; for my husband's Captain-I was utterly, undoubtedly and irreversibly fucked.

Chapter Text

"So, Moretti, what brings you to Seattle? Our unpredictable, four seasons in a day, managed to temp you away from good old Boston?" I snickered, as the rain continued to pelt down against the glass window, having chased away the brightly shining sun just a mere 2 hours ago.

Antonio let out a deep laugh as he ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. "I have to admit Captain, being pissed on by the unpredictable rain this morning as I rushed to my first day here at 19 was definitely not on my list of reasons to move," he explained, the fading presence of said rain, still clinging to his crisp new uniform.

"You know Cap, Boston's all I've known since I was a kid. My whole family's there and don't get me wrong, I love it but...but this job...firefighting, it's who I am and unfortunately for me, Boston wasn't offering me much room to improve. The politics there...well let's just say, if you're not rubbing shoulders with the Brass, there's no way you're moving very high up on the ladder."

I knew exactly what Moretti was talking about. It was no secret that politics and knowing who to charm was a big part of promotional advances amongst many firefighting companies. It had taking years of blood, sweat, tears and a whole lot of ass kissing to get to where I was today, so I respected that. A man passionate about his work. Exactly what 19 craved.

"I can't say that's the only reason for the decision," he continued. "My wife Carina has been nagging me to make the move. I think her knocking heads with my mother back in the city was getting a bit too much for all of us. I know my Ma can be a lot sometimes, but she knows best and I've been trying to get Carina to see that, but Italian women are a different breed. She moved here from Italy a few years ago when we started dating and I've been trying to tame her ever since," he chuckled.

The taste in my mouth soured. Red flag number one. Of course, a man couldn't make it at least an hour without finding some way to remind me why I often preferred women.

"Any children?" I asked, trying to steer him further away from the hole he insisted on digging for himself.

Moretti cleared his throat, seemingly aware of shift in energy. "Yeah, my boy Bruno will be one in a few months...so when my cousin Vinny who's into real estate down here, found us the place on Elston for a good deal, I knew I had to take it. It's got some place for him to rough around in a bit for a good few years...nice space to expand our family even more," he explained.

"I'm sure you know the unpredictability of the job, Moretti," I decided it was time to get a bit real.

"I run a tight ship here. My team know what's expected and while you will get your due down time, I'm not in the habit of granting a whole lot of time off for kid’s runny noses or scratches on the knee." I could almost feel myself channelling Lane as the words left my mouth.

" Weakness is not what I'm looking for...now I'm not a monster, so if there's a serious situation, you'll get your grace, but other than that, I expect a level of dedication to this job and this team that makes 19 one of the best companies in Seattle. Got it?"

" Yes Cap." He straightened in his chair, giving a firm nod of the head. "When I am under this roof and in this uniform, firefighting comes first. Then everything else. Carina knows that and Bruno...he'll learn it soon enough. I've made it very clear to Carina when my boy was born, she's his mother, he is her responsibility while I am out at work. I am the provider. It's how my Pops was and his pops before that. I assure you; you're not making a mistake by adding me to your team Captain Bishop."

I took a moment to ponder Antonio's words. He had a stellar transcript from Boston FD and after speaking to their Captain, it was evident that they were losing a key player in their team. But as good as a reference was, it was now my job to make sure he slotted in with the already tight knit team that was 19.

19 had been through its fair share in the past, Captain Herreras tragic passing, Andy’s, and my race to become Captain that temporarily tore a hole through our friendship, a series of lesser stand in Captains that almost had the team splitting in a multitude of directions, until 2 years later, when we'd finally started to settle into our new normal. Captaincy was my destiny, as it was Andy's, it just happened that I was ready first, a fact that was hard for her to accept at first, but something we had overcome together as a team, making her my best Lieutenant today.

As excited as I was to add Moretti to the team, the last half hour of getting to know him had presented some orange flags to say the least. As a proudly bisexual woman, I was not blind enough to not see how good looking he was. Those strong Italian features; tan skin, thick, dark hair, that attractive beard, the build of a man who spent a fair amount of time in the gym, something I could appreciate and respect. I knew bringing in a man who looked like that was going to mean that space would need to be allocated for his accompanying ego.

I could tell by the way he carried himself, the confidence with which he spoke, he was not the type of man to typically take orders from a woman-a hurdle I'd been jumping over for years. It was evident in the way that he spoke of his wife, in the way he referred to their son as just his. I could tell he was a man who wanted his wife kept and away to the extent I wondered if this Carina ever got in a word edge wise. I wondered if she was a woman with no hopes and dreams, no aspirations or profession of her own, claiming her the way firefighting claimed me. But that wasn't my concern. We weren't gal pals. As far as I was concerned, Carina Moretti was just the wife of my lieutenant, nothing less and certainly nothing more.

I knew that it was going to take some time before Moretti really saw and respected me as the man in charge and it would only be then that I could establish whether he'd be a good fit for this team permanently. In my years of fighting fires with my team, I knew only time would tell.

Extending my hand out to shake his, I looked deep into his stark green eyes. Time would tell if Antonio Moretti would survive 19.

***

"Great work, 19! I expected that to take longer but you proved me wrong. Montgomery, great job on that ariel rescue," I gestured towards Travis who had really outperformed himself today.

"Moretti," I turned towards the disheveled Lieutenant, "Good working spotting that gas line. It wasn't an easy find. You saved a lot of lives today." I praised seriously, always wanting my firefighters to know just how important their observations and contributions were to the team.

"Okay 19, clean up, get some rest and get some food in you. Hughes and Herrera, you're on kitchen duty this evening."

There was a brief sigh of gratitude as the team avoided Gibson and Kline’s tasteless meatloaf for at least another shift. Team dismissed, I dragged myself to my office, tired and ready to tackle the paperwork I knew was patiently waiting for me. It took me 20 minutes to get cleaned up and to plant myself at my desk for the next few hours of shift. Eyes forward Maya activated, pen in hand, my evening of reports began.

It was probably only 20 minutes later when a sound broke me from my work mode spell. I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it was enough to break my concentration. Listening carefully for a second, I recognized Dixon’s voice at front desk, clearly talking to someone. Deciding to get back to work, I turned the page of my report, ready to get back to it. That's when I heard it again.

It was a laugh. A laugh that made my insides feel weird-the kind of weird that wasn't necessarily bad. A woman's laugh. Curious to find the owner of said laugh, a laugh that I had definitely never heard before, I creeped up from my desk and walked over to my window, strategically pulling down a strip of the white blinds.

Hair. Dark brown, blonde highlights scattered through the most luxurious tresses I had ever seen. What looked like natural, wild curls cascaded down the tan, coat-covered back of the woman stood merely a few feet away from my office door, her black heeled boots swaying gently with her body. Blissfully unaware of my lightly pervy spying as she engaged in conversation with Emmet who was manning the front desk, I felt my heart rate start to rise. Who was this mystery woman with the beautiful hair and angelic laugh?

Maybe a grateful Samaritan, helped by 19. Maybe a woman looking for help changing the batteries in her smoke detector. Whoever she was, I desperately needed to see her. There was no way that hair that beautiful didn't come with a face to match it.

Slowly releasing the blind, I stood up tall, adjusting the 2 metal bars on my collar, smoothing down my short, shoulder length hair and prepared myself to help this woman. As Captain of the fire station of course.

Pulling in a deep breath, I took one confident step forward and pulled open the door, apparently with a bit too much gusto as Dixon and mystery lady turned to look.

If it was possible for a heart to stop in one's chest, I was certain mine did. The Maya Bishop all my friends knew me as was an incessant, confident flirt, who had no trouble finding a more than willing man or woman to add some excitement to my Wednesday evenings. I was never at a loss for words. Never had a woman's beauty thrown all my vocabulary out the window as it did when my gaze met the most hypnotizing sparkling brown eyes I had ever seen.

This woman’s beauty was borderline sinful. Tan, velvety looking skin, smiling eyes, what was probably the most perfect nose I'd ever seen, finished off with the most tempting pair of blush pink lips I'd ever dreamed of. I knew I had been staring from the way the corner of her lips had stared to curl into a sinfully sexy smirk. Oh, this woman knew she was hot.

"Captain Bishop...Captain Bishop are you okay?" Emmett's voice finally knocked me from my trance. Shooting my gaze to him, I cleared my throat in embarrassment.

"Uh...yes...I... I’m good Probie," I stuttered out very un-captain like, much to my dismay. Chancing a gaze at the goddess in front of me, I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I noticed her eyes wonder up and down my body before settling on my badge.

"Oh...so you're the famous Captain Bishop my husband has told me about."

To be fair, I hardly registered the meaning of her sentence because as if she already wasn’t the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, her accent sent my heart into a tailspin. It was so thick and sexily European. She could tell me to go to hell and I'd probably still thank her. Shaking myself out of the weird little spell she'd put me under, I tried to gain control of the situation.

"Uh, Captain Maya Bishop," I introduced myself, holding a hand out to a woman I hoped I’d be seeing again. She looked at my hand, a small smirk settling on her lips.

"Hi, I'm Carina. Antonio Moretti's wife," she replied as she slipped her delicate, ring adorned hand in mine.

My brain malfunctioned for a second, maybe because of the perfect way in which her soft hand fit in mine...or maybe because of the way she smiled at me with a smile that could cure the world...or maybe because I couldn't believe that the most perfect looking woman standing in my station was taken...taken by my newest Lieutenant.

"Carina made lasagna for the team," Dixon announced, interrupting the moment I was clearly having in my head.

Letting her hand go gently, already missing its softness, my eyes wandered to the two foil covered dishes on the counter.

"Oh, Si! Antonio has been saying how welcoming everyone at 19 has been and I just wanted to show my appreciation...so...lasagne!" She chuckled softly, the sound making my stomach flip again.

"That's...Wow that's really nice of you Mrs Moretti-"

"Please, call me Carina. Mrs Moretti is my mother-in-law."

I swallowed thickly, that thought of saying her name out loud, doing something to me.

"Uh...okay. Thank you, Carina...the team will really appreciate it."

Carina smiled a million-dollar smile. "Fantastico! Let me leave you in peace to finish your shift. Hopefully we'll meet again soon," she said sweetly before turning to leave.

"Wait!" I shouted a bit too enthusiastically. Carina stopped and turned around, her eyebrow crooking slightly.

"Why...why don't you come up and meet the team? I'm sure they'd love to meet you." I found the quickest excuse to stop her from going because I would be lying if I said I didn’t want a few more minutes with her, just to look...to admire.

Carina looked thoughtful.

"Are you sure Captain? I don't want to impose during work hours."

I didn't even have to think despite it being such an off-book decision for me.

"Not at all. Everyone's upstairs in the beanery, probably starving after today's call. Let them at least thank you for dinner," I insisted, my brain still wrapping around the way she called me Captain in that accent.

Carina smiled widely. "Ok, if you’re sure, I'd love to!"

"Probie, help Mrs Mor-Carina and take those trays upstairs for her please." I instructed Emmett who immediately gathered the 2 trays in his arms before turning towards the stairs.

"After you," I gestured to Carina to follow in Dixon’s direction.

Carina threw me a smile before turning towards the staircase. A gust of air hit me as she whipped her hair over her shoulder. Her expensive smelling perfume hit me square in the face and sent an actual shiver rippling through my body.

"Jesus Christ,” I sighed as I tried my hardest not to watch the way her body moved as she walked up the stairs in front of me.

She was the wife of my Lieutenant. Yes, she was a beautiful woman, but I could be professional. I was more than capable. It was going to take more than the most beautiful Italian woman I’d ever seen to ruffle my feathers. I was Olympic Gold Medalist Maya Bishop- Captain of 19. No distractions. Eyes forward.