FBI Monitor

Chapter 1 - Popsicle Girl

Every so often, people will jokingly make a comment about the FBI agent who is reading their Tumblr. That led to this idea. It's a romance born of government surveillance.  

<><><><>

It's a hot one in National City, and Lena and Sam are enjoying a day at the zoo with Ruby. The twelve-year-old is excitedly pointing out otters who are playing with objects frozen into blocks of ice. The adults stand nearby fanning themselves, Lena under a large hat and quickly fading.

"Is there a bar someplace at this establishment?"

"Lena," Sam chuckles, "There's no bar at the zoo."

"Oh." Opening the map she has been using as a fan and studying it, Lena frowns. "Perhaps I should have asked for more details before I agreed to this little expedition. When you and Ruby took me to the Renaissance Faire, I was happily surprised by their beverage selections. It was the highlight of the day."

Arms crossed, Sam looks down at Lena. "The highlight of the day?"

Deadpan, Lena replies, "Yea, verily yea."

The two women hold eye contact for a few seconds before they both break out into a fit of laughter. They laugh long and hard enough that the sound draws Ruby over to them.

"Hey, what's so funny? What's going on?"

Fanning herself again, Lena replies, "Heatstroke, I think."

"Lena's brainpan is fried." Sam grins.

Ruby frowns as she looks back and forth between the adults, but then, as she spies something in the not too far distance, she immediately perks right up. "Hey, I see something that will help all of us."

"Is it a troubadour with a yard of mead?" Lena turns, looking in the same direction Ruby is.

"Enough you." Sam elbows Lena. "What do you see, sweetie?"

"There's an ice cream cart over there. Who wants ice cream?" At her own question, Ruby lifts her hand high.

"I could go for a popsicle," Sam says, raising her hand.

"The majority rules." Lena gestures toward the cart, and when an excited Ruby runs ahead, she adds, "Maybe they'll have some adult flavors."

"You are such a lush."

"If they had piña colada or mimosa flavored pops, they'd make a killing. Tell me I'm wrong."

"Well, okay I can't. I'd buy one."

"Thank you. I know a lot about four things, and three of them are: making money, alcohol, and science. Marketing mixed drinks combines those three."

"What's the fourth one?"

Smirking as they reach the cart, Lena says, "Get your popsicle, Arias."

Ruby ends up getting a vanilla ice cream dipped in a hard strawberry shell. Sam gets a cherry popsicle, and Lena a lemon ice cup.

"Hey, eat that fast and don't make a mess!"

Ruby nods back at her mom, her lips wrapped around her ice cream as she takes off back toward one of the animal enclosures.

"She's going to make a mess," Lena says, her phone in her hand as she takes pictures of Ruby.

"Kids are washable." Sam shrugs. "She just has to be happy and be a kid while she still is one." As Lena studies her, the younger woman's expression inscrutable, she asks, "What is it?"