Supernova, station 19.

03.

CHAPTER THREE,
before season 1

HER FOOT TAPPED against the concrete grey floor as her hands were placed under her thighs. The dim light shining in through the window shined against the side of her face as she glanced away from it. The sound of footsteps approaching caused her to look up as she groaned at the sight of the officer approaching her.

Spotting who was walking behind her made her groan louder as she stood up slowly, crossing her arms over her chest as she faced the officer. "You seriously called him? I thought I told you to let me rot."

"You stole some clothes, no big deal." The officer responded, his brown hair covering the slightest part of his forehead as he unlocked the bars for her to step out.

Travis stared at his cousin in shock, after finishing off another shift at work at Station 19 the last thing he expected was to get a call from Ryan Tanner informing him that his cousin who he hadn't seen in months was now suddenly caught shop lifting and now had spent the night in jail. "Stella, why'd you steal the clothes?"

"I plead the fifth." Estella responded, shrugging her shoulders at them both. "Can I leave now?"

Ryan and Travis glanced over at one another, not saying a word until Ryan eventually nodded his head, stepping out of the way for Estella to walk out as she walked past them both, heading out of the building.

Hearing Travis following behind her, she sped up, not wanting him to catch her as she knew he would lecture her again. "Stella! Wait up!" Travis yelled after her, rushing after her as she headed down a different street, trying to get away from him.

"Sorry! Got places to be!" Estella yelled back, turning back around for a moment as Travis sighed, but refused to let her go. Just as she turned back around, she bumped into someone else, sending her to the ground as the other person tried to stop her from rushing away.

"Gosh, Stella, you all right?" She heard the distant voice of Travis say as he held onto her hand, helping her get back up.

"I'm fine." She scoffed, shaking his hand off her as he stepped back, glaring at the woman who had just knocked her down she said. "Mind watching where you're going next time?"

"You walked into me." The woman responded, her hair placed in French braids as she placed her hands onto her hips. "Who is this, Trav?"

"This is my cousin, Estella." Travis introduced, gesturing to the brunette who was busy looking for ways to get away from them both. "Estella, this is Victoria, we work together."

Suddenly her interest had peaked as she looked between them both, "At the first station, right? Surprised you want to put up with him willingly."

"Thank you so much." Travis commented sarcastically as Estella grinned.

Victoria laughed at their interaction together. "She's like the female version of you, kind of weird."

"I'm offended." Estella remarked dryly.

Travis glared at her, his jaw dropping slightly as he looked back at Victoria, taking the hint, she gave them some space, heading on her way as Travis faced Estella again with the same disapproving gaze she had grown fond of.

Travis and her used to be close, but after events had happened, they had both taken different paths in life. Travis had been married and was a fire fighter, whilst Estella spent her time wondering when her next meal was going to be.

"I haven't seen you in-" Travis said before he was interrupted.

"Six months and three days." Estella finished, nodding her head. "Yeah, I know."

"What's going on with you? Last time I saw you, you were living in an apartment training to be a fire fighter, just like me. Now, you look like you haven't slept in days, let alone you getting caught stealing." Travis said exasperated, raising his arms slightly.

Glancing down at her shoes, she kicked the stone away from her old converse. Everything that he was saying was right, ever since she was little she inspired to be exactly like him, he was so out going and caring towards everyone, and was able to show his vulnerable side but for her, she was never taught that.

Shaking her head, she took in a deep breath before responding. "People change. Life happens, Travis."

"I'm being serious, if you need some help then I can help you." He told her, holding onto her arm as she looked down at the contact for a moment. "Please, Estella."

Putting a smile on her face, her face hardened slightly. "I don't need help and I'm fine on my own, so if you would just let me get on my way then that would be amazing."

He sighed, letting go of her arm as he reached for a pen in his pocket, lifting up the sleeve of her shirt as he wrote his number and email on her arm as she let him do it, "Even if you don't use it, it's there for you. Do you have a phone that you could use?"

"No, but I can get one." She informed him, noticing the look on his face she then said. "Calm down, Mr. Morals, I'm not going to steal one...Yet."

"Seriously? You know what, I'm not even going to ask about that." Travis shook his head, "I need to head back to work, please, call me if you need anything."

"Will do." She nodded, not meaning what she was saying exactly.

As soon as she turned around to walk away, he took a hold of her arm again, stopping her from going anywhere else as she spun back around, her eyes wide as she made eye contact with Travis again who was staring her worriedly.

"Promise you'll call." Travis pleaded with her, his brown eyes wide.

Sighing for what seemed like the millionth time, she thought about it for a moment, knowing just how stubborn he was and she knew better than to lie to him, he was always good at getting her to reveal the truth. "Fine, I promise."

Travis seemed to agree with her response, allowing her to leave as he watched her walk away with the same look on his face that they both knew all too well. As soon as she was out of sight, he rushed into the fire station, spotting Dean Miller standing in the middle of the station, cleaning up some of the trucks on his shift.

Dean turned around, spotting the luck on his friends face. "Everything okay, man?"

Travis nodded his heard firmly, not in the mood to speak about what had just happened. "Nothing, I'm just going to finish some stuff here and head out."