Playing with fire (Amelia Shepherd) ABANDONED

Three

"Cruz, you got a visitor!" Jack called that morning. Mallie groaned, doing one last push up before she stood up. She walked out of the gym and peered over the balcony, smiling when she saw Alex Karev stood with Jo Wilson at his side.

"Never thought I'd see you two rocking it up in my house," she said.

"Well, we thought we'd stop by, see what all of the fuss is. People keep jumping ship. Must be some reason," Alex said. Mallie laughed and walked to the pole, sliding down and walking over to them.

"That's the reason. Mallie Cruz, half naked and sweaty, sliding down a pole after a workout. I might jump ship, too," Jo smirked.

"I would hug you hello but I'm gonna save you from needing another shower. Come on. We've got coffee," she said.

"Where's Warren?" Alex asked.

"He's on a call, I think," Mallie said, pouring three cups of coffee. "What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing," they said. Mallie raised her eyebrows.

"Liars. What do you want?" she said.

"Fine. We came to visit you. We haven't seen you in a while and we miss you," Jo said.

"Cute," Mallie smirked, sipping her coffee.

"Ladder, Station 19, respond, structural fire," the speaker sounded.

"Gotta run," Mallie threw her coffee cup into the sink and ran across the beanery. She slid down the pole again, grabbing her pants and tugging them up.

"Be safe!" Jo shouted down at her as Mallie yanked the suspenders over her shoulder.

"Catch!" Maya shouted. Mallie caught her jacket and pulled it on, winking up at Jo and Alex as they watched the chaos.

"Helmet, Cruz!" Jack shouted.

"I know!" Mallie laughed, smacking her helmet over her messy ponytail. "See you guys later," she said, climbing onto the side of the engine to get in.

"Be safe," Alex said.

"Always am, Karev," she said, climbing into her seat as the engine pulled out of the station.

"Beer. That's cute," Andy smirked as Vic, Maya and Mallie walked up the steps to her porch with a crate of beer after their shift had ended an hour ago.

"I brought vodka," Mallie said, shaking the bottle. She put it on the table, climbing to sit on the side of the fence. Andy grabbed a beer with a sigh.

"You know, my dad is..." she trailed off. "I don't know what to do with him. He... He's refusing to stay home, he thinks he needs to get some desk job. Then I made the mistake of talking to him about Frankel," she said.

"Pause," Maya said, handing out shot glasses of vodka for everyone. They took them, holding them up happily. "For a toast to your first day as captain and one hell of a first shift. You murdered it," she said.

"I will day-drink to that," Vic said. The girls all laughed, taking their shots.

"Frankel didn't see it that way," Andy said.

"Mm. Well, Frankel doesn't pay compliments because she never got them. She had it tough coming up," Vic said.

"Yeah, and she thinks I didn't," Andy said.

"You didn't," Vic said. Andy raised her eyebrows. "Well, not like her. None of us did, partly thanks to her," she said.

"True," Maya agreed.

"And that's true," Mallie said.

"To Frankel," Andy said, pouring them all more shots.

"To Andy," Maya said.