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She’d frowned the first time it had happened. You’d been handing her paperwork for a patient and your fingertips had brushed. Electricity had shot up your arm, quickly dampened by her frown
“Sorry.” But she’d just brushed you off, turning without a word.
“Well fine then.” You rolled your eyes at her back, vowing to do your best to stay out of Trinity Santos’ way.
But the universe must have been looking to have some fun at your expense. Every time something happened in the ER, Robby assigned you and Trinity to work together. And you kept brushing against each other; fingertips, knuckles, shoulders. She frowned each time, quickly moving out of your space.
“Whatever.” You muttered. Not your problem if she couldn’t handle a little contact.
But it grates, watching her throw an arm around Whitaker's shoulders, laughing with Garcia, trading gossip with Princess. Wondering why she’s so easy with them, but with you it’s all frowns and straight to business.
“You know, if you keep looking like that, your face is going to freeze. And then you’ll have permanent frowny face.” McKay leans against the desk next to you, following your gaze.
“What is it about me?” You ask her without meaning to.
“What do you mean?” She knows, but she wants to hear you say it.
“Why does Santos seem to hate me?”
“She doesn’t hate you.”
You roll your eyes, finally turning to look at her, “Yeah, okay.”
It keeps happening, no matter how hard you try. It’s like you’re drawn to her, a magnetism you can’t seem to fight. And it’s fine, or at least you tell yourself that it is, but the frowns and the distance weigh on you. But then one afternoon, deep in a never ending shift, it stops being fine.
The patient codes and you manage to get him back. But then he codes again and despite your best efforts, you can’t drag him back.
“Come on! Dammit!”
Robby lets you work on the patient for a few more minutes before gently making you step back. “Call it.”
“Fuck.” You gasp, emotions rising high and fast, “Time of death is 1724.” You say, fighting the lump in your throat.
“Clean up and then take a few minutes for yourself.” Robby says, his voice still gentle.
You nod robotically, already going through the motions.
Two steps outside the room, your vision blurring, you bump into someone.
“I’m so sorry.” You say, turning towards them and finding Santos frowning at you. And it’s too much, “Oh fuck you.” You snap and whip around.
The ER parts ways for you, letting you storm out. Whitaker looks at your back and then at Santos.
“What was that about?” He asks, but Trinity just shakes her head.
“I’ll talk to her.” She says, leaving a bewildered Whitaker behind her.
For once, the ambulance bay is quiet. That’s where Trinity finds you, pacing angry from one end to the other, gesturing widely. She watches you, dark eyes tracking the movements of your hands. It takes you a few turns, but finally, you spot her out of the corner of your eye and come to a halt.
“What do you want?” You ask, angrily brushing tears from the corners of your eyes.
“Heard you lost a patient.”
“So you came to gloat? Because the great Trinity Santos would never lose a patient right?”
She grimaces, recalling her half drunken boast from a few weeks prior.
“I came to make sure you’re alright.”
“Why?” You shout, “You don’t even like me, so why the hell do you care if I’m alright?”
Shock darts across her face, leaving her mouth gaping as she processes, “You think I don’t like you?”
“You made it pretty clear, Santos. Every time we touch, you look at me like I’ve committed a crime.”
“That’s not,” She bites her lip, trying to figure out the words.
“That’s not what? Say what you have to say so I can have my breakdown in peace.”
When she's still silent, you scoff and turn away from her. You don’t make it more than a few steps before she’s wrapping a hand around your wrist.
“I’ve never felt sparks before. When someone’s touched me, it’s always just been a touch. But every time you touch me, there’s this feeling and I…” She trails off, looking faintly appalled at her confession.
Everything stops, “What?”
“Don’t make me say it again.”
“You…sparks?”
“Oh fuck.” She looks like she might throw up. You start to smile.
“You feel sparks when I touch you.”
“Don’t.” She shakes her head, half turned back to the door. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
You wait until she’s turned away, heading for the door, “So why did you?”
Her shoulders raise and then lower and you can see the way she’s struggling, “Because you looked so wrecked.” The confession is quiet, barely audible, but it’s enough.
“Trinity,” You cajole her quietly. “Look at me.”
Slowly, she turns, eyes squeezed shut.
“You’re doing a very bad job of comforting me.”
“I’m not good at this!” She snaps, eyes opening with a blaze. And then she realizes you’re teasing her. “Oh.”
You start to close the distance between you as the sun starts to sink low, casting shadows into the bay, “Trinity,” You savor her name on your lips.
“You just lost a patient, this is a bad time. Your emotions are probably all over the place. I should have just left it alone.”
“Oh, don’t back down now. That’s not your style.”
She looks at you, sees the challenge in your eyes, the competitive fire in her stoking in answer.
Trinity takes the last few steps towards you, reaching for you. She cups your face in one hand, the other trailing down your arm to your hand. With your fingertips brushing, her thumb stroking along your cheek, she leans into you. She kisses you like it’s the last thing she’ll ever do, hard and fierce and demanding. Her lips are unrelenting as she takes you deeper. And finally, she starts to soften, lowering those infamous walls of hers.
When she pulls back, her eyes are hesitant in a way they aren’t normally. “I shouldn’t have done that. That was too much.”
“Trinity,” You let your hands rest on her hips, “That was exactly what I needed.”
“Yeah?” And there’s a glimmer of that confidence, that cockiness that shouldn’t be so damn attractive.
“You just made a very bad day better.”
She grins, “Let me try again, I can make it go from better to great.”
And you laugh, just like she wanted you to. The sound warms something in her, has her tugging you back into her.
“Trinity Santos, you might just drive me insane.”
“You’ll love every minute of it.”
“Yeah,” You shift to kiss her, “I think I will.”