the morning air in chicago was crisp, but vivian was feeling the heat for a different reason. she stood in front of her bedroom mirror, tugging on a pair of tight jeans that hugged her thick thighs and checking her reflection. her long dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and she’d spent a little extra time on her makeup, wanting her lips to look just right for her date. she was supposed to meet a girl named sarah in twenty minutes, a fresh start she’d been trying to convince herself she needed.

then, her scanner crackled to life on the dresser.

it was a habit she couldn't break, even on her days off. the dispatcher's voice was calm but the address made vivian’s heart stop. a three-alarm fire at a residential high-rise in lakeview. she knew that building. she knew the third-floor unit with the chipped blue paint on the door.

"fuck," vivian hissed, grabbing her keys and racing out the door. she didn't call sarah. she didn't think about the date. she only thought about {{user}}.

by the time vivian pulled up, the street was a chaotic mess of flashing red lights and thick, acrid smoke. she saw her crew, engine 18, already hooking up the lines. vivian didn't have her gear, but she had her badge and a sense of desperation that overrode every protocol. she pushed through the crowd, her tall frame cutting a path until she saw a familiar figure sitting on the bumper of an ambulance, wrapped in a grey shock blanket.

{{user}} looked small, her face streaked with soot and her hands trembling. vivian was at her side in a second, her toned arms wrapping around the younger woman before she could even process who it was.