"Our time together was short, but beautiful."

Nilsa first saw her when she and Carlos were going out for lunch(heading to the Sanders Cafe). 

The woman dropped off the teenager(Who Nilsa knew to be Jackson Darby. One of her student patients mentioned the name), before heading on her motorcycle. 

Nilsa had almost forgotten the mysterious woman, until she had appeared once again. This time Nilsa had gone out for a jog by herself(Carlos could never keep up with her endurance) out in the desert of Jasper, Nevada.

The woman had just sped past her, not noticing the jogging woman on the dusty Jasper backroads. 

Nilsa couldn't help but notice whenever the woman appeared. Either she just seemed to pop up in the background, or she'd just be riding past. Or her motorbike would be used by Jackson Darby.

It had taken Carlos three weeks before he too noticed how the woman, whose dark hair was a massive contrast to Nilsa's fiery red, who popped in the background.

The archer and the red haired both agreed that it was a little odd.

It wasn't until three months later did Nilsa and the mysterious woman finally converse.

It wasn't anything special, just a hello from Nilsa that surprised the blue eyed female who barely managed a hello back before Nilsa had disappeared.

Carlos had teased the red haired woman about the interaction when he too left K.O., after the interaction. The archer having been "eating" when the mysterious woman came in to alert Jackson Darby that she was here to pick him up(of course Carlos and Nilsa spied on the woman's schedule to figure out when would be the best time to "bump" into her).

Apparently, it was a lot harder for Carlos and Nilsa to even track the woman than they originally thought. It took them the good old fashioned way to track her down, even then, it was extremely hard.

And, no. They were not stalkers.

They were just….. curious, yeah! That's the word. 

The pair of curious adults were totally not acting like children.

Nilsa and the mysterious woman's second meeting went much better, they actually spoke more than one word to each other.

And, the mysterious woman was the one to strike up the conversation this time(even if it was in a controlled environment that Carlos and Nilsa had set up).

Nilsa had been at the counter at K.O.(finding it ironic that Knock Out was the same name that an old friend of hers was dating's race name, of course this information was supplied by Riley) buying more food for her friend when the mysterious woman stepped into the store.

The woman's immediately landed on the flash of red hair at the counter, her eyebrows rasing in surprise.

Carlos grinned as he realized that his best friend had let to get his order(she was kind like that. Carlos burst in to hysterical laughter at that thought) and didn't notice the woman she was so infatuated with.

Jackson Darby was pale in shock at how much Nilsa was ordering, the red haired had snorted when Jack asked her if she was going to eat all of it herself.

"No way in hell," Nilsa rolled her eyes, jerking a thumb over her shoulder in the direction her friend was, "That asshole there is."

Jack glanced over her shoulder at Carlos who gave him a small wave, inwardly cackling at the sight of the woman who had come to pick up Jack.

Jack's eyes caught Arcee's and he sighed, "So, that'll be four triple bag knocks, five fries, six sundaes, eight cokes, and ten cheeseburgers?" His voice's pitch went a little higher towards the end, still horrified at the amount of food.

"Yep," Nilsa said, pulling out her debit card from her thin black wallet, Jack catching sight of more than the average amount of cards in it, "Thanks, Darby."

Jack sighed, "I'll be right back," he admitted in defeat, going to help Christie and Lucas prepare the food in the back.

Nilsa's easy going grin disappeared from her face as a sigh left her lips. She spun around, planning on going back to Carlos until the idiot's food was ready, but blinked as she came face to face with the woman that she had been curious about for over three months.

"Eh," Nilsa started, her eyes wide.

The woman raised an eyebrow at her, "Hello to yourself," she said casually.

Nilsa blinked, catching her best friend grinning like a lunatic out of the corner of her eyes and making her want to go over there and slam in his head into the table, "Hey."

The woman's amused smile had Nilsa weak in the knees… and Nilsa was never weak in the knees.

"You come here often?" The woman asked, a curious but protective glean in her eyes. No one would have probably noticed it if they didn't have the same amount of training and skill that Nilsa did.

(And the same dedication in finding everything(that she was able to find) on a person that she was curious about)

"Sometimes," Nilsa said casually, letting her body relax slightly, hoping that it would help the woman across from her relax slightly, "Carlos likes to eat a lot of food."

The woman's head turned slightly so she could see Carlos who quickly tried to act if he hadn't been watching them, "He's your….?"

The slight higher pitch at the end made the statement a question, "Friend," Nilsa said firmly and confidently, "My jerk of a friend who thinks it's okay to injure himself then befriend his physical therapist."

The woman's amused snort didn't go unnoticed by Nilsa as she also noticed how the woman's body let out a breath she apparently didn't know she was holding(which was noticeable by how her blue eyes widened the slightest as the corners of her lips twitched downwards slightly in confusion), "He sounds… interesting," she cracked a grin.

Nilsa smiled, "Don't get me started," she shook her head.

The dark haired female opened her mouth…

"Nilsa, your order's ready," Jack's tired voice said, making the red haired woman spin around again to the young teen.

"Thanks, Jackie," Nilsa grinned, "How's your ankle doing?"

Jack grinned back, "Better than it was eight years ago."

"Better damn well be," Nilsa stuck her nose in the air in mock snobbishness, "It was nursed back to proper working order by the Nilsa Queen."

Jack laughed as he handed the tray of food over to her, "Sure you don't need a hand with that?"

"I'm good," Nilsa said, before her eyes darted back to the woman who smiled as she watched the pair, "Besides, I think your ride's here."

Jack's shoulder relaxed in relief, "Thank God," he muttered.

"I think you should be thanking her," Nilsa jerked a thimble at the woman before snorting as Jack headed back to take his leave.

Nilsa grinned to the woman who was looking at her with an odd look in her eyes(a look, Nilsa had only seen in her relationship helping appointments she sometimes had with fighting couples), "I'm Nilsa Queen, by the way," she said, "I'd shake your hand-" she glanced at the tray that was in her hands and gave the woman a sheepish grin, "-but I think they're busy."

The woman laughed, a sound that made Nilsa's heart soften. It was the laugh of a warrior. The laugh of one who had already lost so many.

"Ailce," Alice said finally, "I'm Alice Ally."

Nilsa smiled as Jack came back, "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Alice."

Nilsa missed Jack's confused look as he looked at "Alice", "Nice meeting you too, Nilsa."

Nilsa tilted her head slightly in a farewell to the woman before making her over to her table as "Alice" left with Jack.

Carlos didn't miss the beginnings of an intense longing in "Alice"'s eyes as she left, her eyes landing on Nilsa who sat down next to Carlos.

"What's the scoop?" Carlos asked immediately as soon as "Alice" and Jack had left, a sly grin on his face.

Nilsa grinned at him, a twinkle in her eyes that definitely wasn't there before she had gone to order his food.

Here's the first chapter.

Um, wow. How did I manage to write this in less than 3 hours? 😮
Don't worry, this book isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows.

Credit to: Dalar_Rose! Thank you again for this amazing idea! It's an honor to be writing it!

Hope you enjoyed!
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