Christmas Miracle
Title: Christmas Miracle
Author: Fab_fan
Fandom: All My Children
Pairing: Bianca/Frankie
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me
Summary: Frankie experiences a Christmas miracle. AU
Note: A quick little story for the holidays.
This wasn’t good.
This was actually pretty far from good. Really far. Other side of the world type of far.
Otherwise known as a normal day in the life of Frankie Stone.
The woman rolled her eyes as the burly security guard glared at her from the other end of the metal table. The hard plastic chair she’d been unceremoniously tossed into dug into her back like an annoying little kid constantly poking someone in fiendish delight. She leaned forward, pasting a look of defiance on her face instead of making it obvious she was only doing so because the chair was painful as hell.
“Let me go, man. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The oversized man snickered and continued to glare, “You were caught trying to steal a necklace from the jewelry department.”
“I wasn’t stealing it.” She wasn’t, either. She might be a con and part-time crook, but she wasn’t a thief. And she wasn’t even a con anymore either. She’d gone straight…well, straight in regards to work. She still loved the ladies, but this time the money she used to buy them drinks came from a paycheck and not a random stranger’s wallet. “I told you, that lady dropped it and I picked it up. I was actually being a nice person. Maybe I should have let someone stomp on it instead. See how it’d look after your yeti foot landed on it.”
The security guard frowned, “You think I’m going to believe that you picked up a five thousand dollar necklace off the ground?” He snorted, “People don’t drop that stuff. You were caught red-handed.”
Frankie breathed out loudly, “People drop stuff all the time, especially when they’re the one’s stealing it!” Yeah, she’d seen the lady in the fur coat and fancy scarf thingy secretly attempting to pocket the shimmering gold. She missed the pocket and the thing hit the floor. The woman got spooked and practically sprinted away. Frankie still couldn’t believe someone could run that fast in those high of heels. Lady should go out for the Olympics or something.
The guard shook his head and leaned back in his chair, “Tell it to the cops.”
Frankie palmed her face. Just her luck some dummy botches an easy job and she somehow ends up taking the fall for it. Not like it hadn’t happened before, but at least then she knew the person who screwed up. She wasn’t even in on it this time. She was a completely innocent bystander. Now, it was the day before Christmas, and she was trapped in a backroom in some store when she was supposed to be out buying her sister a gift. Her sister. Maggie was gonna throw a fit over this. She could hear the squeaking indignation already. How could you get caught stealing? Why were you breaking the law? Didn’t Maggie tell her she could get a job at the hospital? How could she mess up their first Christmas together? Why was Santa fat and had elves for slaves? Didn’t he know he needed to eat healthier? Didn’t Frankie know the sky was blue!
The questions would go on and on, as if Frankie was an evil mastermind who knew the answers of the universe. Like she was David or something.
David.
David would bail her out. It’d be a happy reunion with her favorite cousin. She could picture it now - Hey, cuz! Long time no see. You got an extra couple hundred bucks lying around? Because the dumb cop with the gun won’t let me leave unless I give that to him.
Perfect. Just perfect. It wasn’t like she needed to steal anyway. She’d finally gotten a job. It wasn’t much, but it was legit. Her boss wasn’t too bad, either. Opal was a nice lady. Gave her work when everyone else laughed out loud at the thought Frankie even had a resume. Being a con for a few years didn’t mean she never worked before. It simply meant most of the work was under-the-counter cash only type stuff. It wasn’t easy work, either. The small scar on the back of her left hand could attest to that.
Merry Christmas. This was why she never celebrated the holidays. Something bad always happened. She was like Charlie Brown…except with hair and no little red headed girl to crush on. She never really liked red heads to begin with. Nah, she found herself drawn to leggy brunettes, to be honest.
Maybe Big Bertha would take the holiday off and they’d lock her up with a hot brunette while she waited for David to show up. They could…talk…about…cookies.
There was a knock on the door, and the security guard gave her a menacing stare as he stood up. Frankie couldn’t stop the eye roll. What, did he think she was going to attempt a daring escape? She didn’t even know where she was. The store didn’t look that big, but the back hallways were like Pan’s Labyrinth. Besides, even if she were to escape, was his ‘bad cop’ stare supposed to stop her? Because this rent-a-cop didn’t scare her. His belly did, but not his stare. His belly only scared her because when they were walking down the hallways, he kept smacking her with it. He needed to stop swinging that thing around. Or else try out for Santa at the mall.
The guard’s beefy hand wrapped around the door handle, and he roughly pulled it open. Frankie peeked over, but she couldn’t see anything around his extra large frame. Sighing to herself, she settled her eyes on the table and twiddled her thumbs. This might take awhile.
It didn’t, though. The blonde was so entranced by her twirling thumbs she didn’t see the person standing beside her until a soft hand lightly touched her shoulder. With a jerk, Frankie spun around and came face to…well…not exactly face because the woman was standing, but got an eyeful of long dark brown hair, rosy cheeks, and kind chestnut eyes.
That thud thud? Yeah, that was Frankie’s heart growing like the Grinch’s and pounding like a jackhammer. She might have even whistled unconsciously.
This girl was absolutely gorgeous.
And her hand was on Frankie.
If this was the cop, Frankie had been a bad bad girl.
The beautiful brunette turned her head and glanced at the guard, “Thank you very much, Sam. Merry Christmas.”
The guard grunted and folded his arms. It almost looked like he was pouting.
Frankie squinted in confusion. Thank you? Was she being carted off to jail this quickly? Why wasn’t this girl in a blue uniform? Was she a plainclothes detective or whatever? Did they need to perform a strip search? Because she might be up for that.
The woman grinned at her and tilted her head, “Ready to go, honey?”
Honey? “Uh…sure.” Frankie slowly stood up. Shouldn’t she at least have handcuffs or something on?
They carefully made their way out of the room, the guard following them like a watchdog as they meandered down the back hallways.
The unknown woman walked beside Frankie, their arms brushing every few steps. Without a word, their fingers linked like it was the most natural thing in the world. Except it couldn’t be because they’d never met before. Frankie chanced a look at her, and was met with a dazzling grin
This was weird. But a nice weird. Extremely nice weird.
What was going on?
Could she get this girl’s number?
“I’m sorry about all this, baby.” The girl spoke apologetically. She made a show of squeezing Frankie’s hand in plain sight of the guard, “You know how my mom gets about this stuff.”
Frankie’s brow wrinkled in befuddlement, but something in those eyes told her to trust her…and she did. So, she simply nodded, “Yeah, I know. It’s cool.”
When they finally reached the door leading back into the store, the other girl opened it and ushered Frankie out, gifting the guard with a polite nod before closing it behind them.
Rounding to a halt near a rack of brightly colored dresses that she would never ever be caught dead in, Frankie blinked, “Alright, not that I don’t appreciate the lack of cuffs and fingerprinting, but what’s going on?”
The woman chuckled and casually grabbed her free hand, swinging it between them. She tilted her head to the side, and Frankie noticed a group of guards standing around watching them, “I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry.”
“I said it was cool.” Yep those guards were definitely watching them. “And…uh…I missed you, too.” Was it strange she actually did feel like she had missed her? Could you miss someone you’d never met before? Because she was wondering why it’d taken them so long to meet.
The smile on the girl’s face brightened, and Frankie felt like she was seeing the sun for the first time. It was wondrous.
A small tug had Frankie pressed up against the taller woman, and she held her breath as the heart shaped face lowered towards hers.
This must be what a Christmas miracle felt like, because the moment their lips touched, Frankie was ready to shout for joy, run around in circles singing songs, and cry with happiness.
Holy Santa, was that some kiss.
When they broke apart, the brunette blinked slowly, her cheeks flushed and lipstick mussed.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.” Frankie whispered.
They stared at each other, drinking in the feeling of pure amazement and joy that cocooned them.
Their eyes closed as their lips met again.
Definitely a Christmas miracle.
It was fifteen minutes later, after a few people had discreetly cleared their throats that the new couple broke apart. Frankie scratched the side of her neck uncertainly while the brunette ducked her head with a blush. Frankie couldn’t say why, but this girl made her nervous. No one ever made her nervous.
Were those butterflies in her belly? Or an entire marching band? Whichever was wilder.
She looked so cute when she blushed. And when she smiled. Frankie wanted to be the one to make her blush and smile for the rest of eternity. If Santa let her do that, she would buy him the entire cookie aisle next Christmas.
“Hi.” The other woman said softly.
“Hi.” Frankie replied just as gently. Her cheeks burned brightly.
She cleared her throat before speaking, “I…um…saw what happened. With that person dropping the necklace and you picking it up. I tried to tell the guard, but he wouldn’t listen. I had to get my mom, which was why it took so long. I’m sorry they did that to you. I didn’t want you to get in trouble for something you didn’t do.”
Frankie took this in. The stranger was being a good Samaritan. No one was a good Samaritan. No one would have even thought about helping Frankie out. This girl did, though. If it wasn’t for her, she’d probably be in the back of a cop car right now. “Um…thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She pushed her hair back behind her ear. Silky hair that glistened in the light and beckoned Frankie to run her hands through it.
Then, it struck her. “Wait…your mom?”
“Yeah,” a light self-deprecating chuckle, “my mom is Erica Kane.”
Frankie felt her eyes bulge, “Erica Kane? As in…the lady who owns these stores?”
“Yeah. I had her call the head of security, and he let me get you.”
“But…why would she do that?” Not that she didn’t appreciate it, Maggie and David’s wallet sure would, but Erica Kane didn’t exactly know her, and she wasn’t known for her generosity toward potential thieves. Quite the opposite, really.
A bashful shrug, “I might have told her you were my…”
“You’re what?”
“My girlfriend.”
“Oh.” That explained the handholding and the miracle.
“Yeah.”
“Well…uh…” Frankie shifted her feet. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. Her girlfriend? That sounded…pretty awesome. She couldn’t exactly say that, though, and she couldn’t exactly think it since she was known throughout her family as the commitment-phobic one. Frankie Stone and relationships didn’t really mix. At all. Don’t even bring up the topic of love.
“I’m so sorry, but I didn’t know what else to tell her. I’ve made you uncomfortable.”
“No!” that was shouted way too loud. Lowering her voice, Frankie licked her lips, “No, it’s fine.” She grinned, “Got me a kiss from a pretty girl.” Prettiest girl Frankie had ever seen.
There was that dazzling smile again. There went Frankie’s heart into thump thump mode again. Were there angels singing? Because Frankie swore there were. She lowered her head as the tips of her ears warmed.
“My name’s Bianca.”
“Frankie.”
“Frankie, would you like to get some hot cocoa with me?” the question was asked as sweetly as if the words were freshly spun sugar.
“Yeah.”
“Great.”
Frankie bit her lip, unable to stop herself, “Why did you help me?” People were never this nice. Especially not to her.
Bianca shrugged, “Because you didn’t deserve to be in trouble.” Her eyes sparkled, “And because I wanted to meet you.” Her lips quirked, “I was walking toward you when I saw you pick up the necklace.”
Really? She wanted to meet her? “Oh.”
“Yeah,” she fiddled with her fingers, “is that weird?”
“Yeah,” Bianca’s face began to fall, “but only because security decided to play matchmaker for us. You didn’t need the help. I’d have said yes to cocoa anyway.” Her face brightened back up. “What can I say, I’m a sucker for cocoa.” Bianca giggled at Frankie’s words, causing Frankie to beam, “Next time tell them to put the mistletoe up. Would have made things a lot easier.”
Bianca laughed and playfully nudged her shoulder, “You were too busy staring at me to notice there was mistletoe.”
“What? There was?” she made a show of looking around.
“Come on, let’s get out of here before you get almost arrested again.”
“You wouldn’t come save me?”
“I’ll always come save you.”
There went Frankie’s heart. It was a done deal. Bianca had her hook, line, and sinker.
With matching smiles, they turned and began to leave the store, hands slowly tangling together once more.