Bondi Rescue Imagines

Mouse - Bondi

A/N - Sorry I didn't update sooner, I was on holiday! :)

Despite it being your day off you were unable to keep yourself too far from the beach. Sure, you spent hours on the sand each day - so much that any other individual might have been sent running inside for air conditioning and cool kitchen tiles. But, with your friends all at work - the majority of them being lifeguards admittedly, you were at a loose end. You'd put it off for as long as you possibly could - you'd completed a list of chores; been to the supermarket; posted that package of Mouse's that had sat by the front door for at least four days; and now, you were stuck. You even flicked on the television and caught the tail-end of some daytime TV trash, it taking half-an-hour before you caught yourself languishing and immediately switched it off.

It wasn't early in the day - you'd woken early, hell, Mouse wasn't always the quietest person to slip from bed at 5AM. But, as soon as he'd left, you'd exploited the peace, slipped back to sleep and enjoyed a leisurely morning. And so, in the late afternoon you determined that, with nothing else to do, it would be rude not to head down to Bondi to catch the last few hours of blissful summer sunshine.

You'd dropped your belongings in the lifeguard changing rooms across the promenade, half anticipating that you might run into another lifeguard. Yet, the changing rooms were empty. You considered dropping into the tower on your way down to the beach, perhaps Mouse was inside for you were sure he'd said he was working on Bondi today, though sometimes you did lose track, having to remember where you were stationed yourself. But, you caught sight of great huddle of people surrounding the tower - some sitting, some standing, others hobbling about. There were wailing children and adults overreacting and you determined that bluebottles must have graced Bondi to draw such a crowd to the tower. Thus, you thought better of dropping-in and headed for the sand, eyes fixed on the way ahead, determined that this would be a bluebottle-sting-free beach trip - God knows you were stung enough whilst on duty that you deserved to have a stroke of luck on your day off.

You sat for a while, book in hand, sometimes subconsciously watching the water from behind your sunglasses. Twice your coworkers wandered near, but in your bikini, features hidden by sunglasses, you must have appeared as any other beach-goer, for they overlooked your relaxing figure. On both occasions, you'd glanced upwards to see whether it was Mouse, but, the first was Louie and the second was unmistakably Maxi and you rather returned to sunbathing without a word, knowing that you'd catch them at the end of their shift.

The lifeguards had announced their nearing departure when you pried yourself from your position on the sand. You made for the promenade, casting a glance over the tower to view the situation within - the people had cleared and you were sure that, as the workday was drawing to a close, you might find several relaxed and buoyant coworkers within. However, as you stepped inside, you lay gaze on Mouse alone - he had the telephone to one ear and the radio to the other. His shoulders were pinned with tension as his stare flashed along the shoreline. Caught in the moment, Mouse didn't notice your arrival - he was faintly aware of someone entering the tower, but had concluded that it was likely one of the Bondi Rescue cameramen and made no movement to confirm it. It wasn't until you produced sound that he glanced upwards, "Hey, Michael, what's going on?"

Your brow was furrowed as you stepped into the tower and towards the glass front with a sudden haste. The shift had finished almost five minutes ago and the sight of an almost abandoned tower told you that something serious was keeping them late.

Mouse, if he was surprised to see you, didn't visibly display it as he glanced at you momentarily, before returning to his phone call. Any other time and he would have taken a moment to admire the sight of you, but here, rushed off his feet, it was with a greater sense of relief, than excitement, that he saw you. He finished the phone call and was half-listening to the radio when he turned to meet you - "Everything is fucking happening - Corey and Maxi are with an unconscious patient in the bathroom; Louie is with a dislocated shoulder; and there's a missing fourteen year-old boy who's been gone for three hours."