Labels R Us

[Annabeth Tucker]

'You've gotten into my bloodstream' Beth composed herself. Just when she thought calls could go bad... She'd not been able to get a hold of Tanner by telephone, so here she was at the firehouse. "Is Tanner in his office?" It was becoming a familiar phrase out of her mouth. Screw propriety, everyone knew there was something between Beth and Tanner so calling him Lt. Sutherland just made people look at her funny. "Lieutenant, your girlfriend is here..." Beth sighed. "I'm not his..." never mind, clearly some people didn't understand and would make their own conclusions anyway. She just decided to wait on Tanner to find her this time. Besides she was just going to be dragging his behind out with her anyway once she dropped the bombshell about his sister. Back to why she was here. Tag: Tanner Sutherland

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Tanner Sutherland]

Tanner heard one of the firefighters call down the hall for him, but he visbibly winced at the use of the dreaded 'G' word. When had that become an actual thing? Sure, he and Beth were seeing each other with increasing regularity, but outside of one instance when he'd come close to threatening her partner within an inch of his life, neither had used the words 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' to refer to each other. Tanner still wasn't sure he was ready for that step, though he appreciated Beth's patience – maybe more than she knew.

Getting up from his desk, Tanner went in search of Beth and found her waiting for him. Curious, he decided, that she hadn't come to visit him in his office, but maybe in speaking with her, he could figure out what was going on. Certainly the expression on her face concerned him. "Beth?" Tanner approached her cautiously. "Is something wrong?"

Annabeth Tucker

[Annabeth Tucker]

'You've gotten into my bloodstream' The moment Tanner came out of the office she grabbed his hand and attempted to drag him to her ambulance. “I came to get you. Your sister is going to kill me.” She grumbled as she pointed at the ambulance. “She's feeling alright but I responded to an accident call.” Beth was talking circles, “she's been admitted for some tests. Her car caught fire after colliding with a tanker, she and your niece got out safely. Cpt Severide is with her, she's a bit shaken up.” Beth didn't want Tanner to worry about his sister being in any bad condition but she thought he deserved to know. Beth climbed up into the ambulance waiting on Tanner. Then she heard someone making the girlfriend statement again and visibly cringed. “Your girlfriend, she's cute Lieutenant.” One of the newer firefighters piped up. Beth then proceeded to ignore the comment from that point. She saw no point in snapping at someone right now, she was here to get Tanner to take him to Britt. It wasn't exactly a social call. Tanner Sutherland

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Tanner Sutherland]

Tanner tried to formulate words, but nothing came easily. Beth had thrown a lot of information at him. Car. Accident. Fire. He was having trouble processing that his sister had landed in the hospital. You never thought those things could happen to you, or someone you cared about... until they actually did. Tanner managed to croak a single concerned name. "Britt?"

No, Beth had said Britt was going to be okay. Tanner nodded mutely, but there was no way he could drive to the hospital right now, instead letting her guide him towards the ambulance. Tanner climbed into the front seat on the passenger side to the tune of one of the other firefighters making another one of those comments about Beth. "Not the time to ogle my girlfriend." He slammed the door shut for emphasis. If the entire station was going to gossip about his relationship with her, could they at least pick a better time?

Waiting on Beth to turn the key, a million questions finally came pouring out – the news starting to sink in. Tanner wasn't even sure if Beth had already answered some of them. If she had, it hadn't registered with him at the time. "The baby's okay too? Is Kelly with her? Has Britt said anything?"

Tanner shook his head. He was throwing a lot back at Beth, and probably didn't seem very grateful in the process. Beth had gone out of her way to inform him, to take him to the hospital – knowing Britt, against her wishes. "Thank you for this. You didn't have to come."

Annabeth Tucker

[Annabeth Tucker]

'You've gotten into my bloodstream' Beth nodded when he said Britt. She’d just riled him up and now she was expected to tell him to calm down. Then she heard the girlfriend comment from him and the door slam. She bit her lip. “I know that wasn’t the G word…” They’d never really been about labels and Beth wasn’t sure about labels yet. And it hadn’t been the first time he’d said it either. Then the millions of questions as Beth got in on the driver’s side. “Leslie has already been discharged. And yes babe, Kelly is with the both of them.” Brittany hadn’t been discharged yet because she was waiting to get test results back. “Brittany was well enough to tell me off at the scene.” She assured him. “The hospital it’s precautionary.” Maybe he would get the idea. As she turned out of the firehouse and onto the main road, she looked over towards Tanner. “It’s family Tanner. If you think for ONE second that I didn’t have to be here. You are sadly mistaken.” Beth didn’t really understand normal family dynamics by any stretch of the imagination. Tag: Tanner Sutherland

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Tanner Sutherland]

It took Tanner a moment to realize what Beth was referring to – a surprisingly long moment, all things considered. Of course, he'd be the one to break their unspoken rule without realizing it, using one of the dreaded words that they'd both been trying to avoid. The last time Tanner had called Beth his girlfriend, he had easily rationalized the label: her new partner, AJ, had been a jerk, coming onto any woman within five inches. When Beth had come to him in a panic, he'd protected her the only way he knew how. It was harder to explain now. So Tanner didn't try. "What if it was? I wouldn't mind..."

At least Beth was patient enough to deal with his questions – repeat information or no. The answers were exactly what Tanner needed to hear. Leslie, thankfully, had already been discharged. And Kelly had been notified; he was with the two girls now. His sister, on the other hand, was being incredibly difficult. That didn't surprise him one bit. "Sounds just like Britt."

The news caused him to start settling down. Despite what Beth said, this wasn't something she had needed to do, but she had. It reaffirmed, in his mind, the use of the previously dreaded G word as the right word. Maybe Beth still wasn't willing to hear it, but he was ready to say it more – to claim a label. "You could have called or... well, you didn't. So thank you."


Annabeth Tucker