This Was All Chance

AN: Okay, so this is gonna sound…different, I guess is the operative word…but this derived from a dream I had a couple weeks ago and I can't get it out of my head. I think it came almost as a mixture of other stories I have read or am reading, I'm not really sure, but nonetheless it stayed in my head as things tend to do until I wrote it down…Only the dream was mainly from Remy's POV, so I guess I was her…I don't really know, but I'm just gonna write it in 3rd person because I don't really like writing in 1st…I tend to ramble, as I am now…sorry. Here it is.

Diner

Nineteen-year-old Remy Hadley was having a great start to her second year of college. She was doing well in all her classes. She had had a job for a little over a year now, granted not a classy job, but it was a job that she could pay her bills and get food with—that she was really excited about. As time had gone by, she became pretty used to being on her own. Yes, her dad had technically been there all her life, but he wasn't really there. He wasn't there to congratulate her on getting onto the college she wanted, he wasn't there when she came home to announce that she got plenty of scholarship money to take care of her college career…for the most part. All she really had to pay for was part of her books and if she had decided to live on campus, she would have had that daunting her.

Thankfully, she decided against that. She found a rather nice apartment; at least it was nice for the price it was at. It was a really small one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen/dining room with a living room too; although it should really have just been, kitchen/dining/living room. It didn't really matter to her; all that mattered was that it was hers.

This week was going like any other, she had classes on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, and worked in the evenings those days, she worked a full day on Tuesday so that she only had to work a little bit on Thursday. So, lucky for her, this day happened to be Thursday. And it happened to be after work. She had decided that she was going to go for a run, so she got herself together and was off. Her apartment building actually flowed into a part of the city that was almost like a small town. She loved running in this area. There were restaurants, boutiques, two parlors, and video rental store.

She tended to rent a movie after she stopped sweating, but today was different. Today she didn't even start to sweat. As she was getting ready to pick up speed she saw, sitting outside of one of these cozy restaurants, one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life. This practically perfect specimen was having a girl's lunch out. This woman had red hair, light brown eyes, and a perfect body (pretty much this woman was Daneel Harris). After seeing this woman, she knew that she had to have her, so she decided that a eating a late lunch would be fine. And, being the ever prepared person she was she had money on her already.

Remy walked in the main entrance and asked for a seat on the porch. She sat there looking around, every so often glancing at that girl. She had also taken notice that this girl was glancing her way too.

Remy had barely ordered her water—the best things are free, aren't they?—when she noticed a tiny thing toddling down the sidewalk. When she focused her gaze, it turned out to be a little girl, she would guess no more than three. She looked around for a mother, a father, a babysitter—anything that could be with her, watching out for her. Remy was willing to place money on this little girl being the cutest thing that had ever graced the planet with breath. She had the biggest, brightest blue eyes on the face of the earth. Her hair was a rich, chocolate brown and had so many curls.

After Remy had made the assumption that this little girl was lost, she jumped the small fence that barricaded the tables and chairs and left the restaurant without so much as a second thought. She didn't even remember the reason she came in.

This little girl was looking up at every adult that walked by asking if they had seen her mommy. She was a brave one, but was wearing down quickly. This little one was to her limit, and let out a huge cry; that was when Remy got to her. She knelt down so that she was eye level with this precious little chunk of a person. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked, knowing full and well what the answer was.

"I lost my mommy! I just want to see my mommy!" She was still crying, but calmed after she knew she had someone's attention.

"What's your name?" Remy asked.

"Abbey." She said. "I want my mommy."

"Okay well, Abbey? I'm Remy. Sweetie do you remember where you were last time you saw her?" Remy asked.

"At da store." Abbey replied.

"The store, huh?" The toddler nodded and Remy looked around, there at least twelve 'stores' on this street. "Well, do you remember what kind of store?"

"It had clothes." She sputtered out. "My coursin Assey was asposed to be watchin me but I wanted mommy, so I went to find her." Remy's eyebrows raised. "I'm real good at hide and seek. I tought I would find mommy real fast. But, I got lost." The tears started again.

"Okay, okay." Remy picked her up and stood herself. "Abbey baby, we're gonna find her okay?"

"Otay Remy." She buried her little head in Remy's neck. She was still crying, but stopped when Remy started walking.

Remy was looking in every place they passed, even if it wasn't a "store." She would take a quick scan, and if there were no chaos she would move to the next place. She figured that if a mom had realized her child was gone, she would be throwing more than just a fit. Remy had been searching for about five minutes by the time Abbey had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She was rubbing the toddler's back and kept walking into every store.

It was the third place she checked after Abbey had fallen asleep that she heard screaming. She was standing outside and could hear them easily, so that's where she stayed.

"How could you just 'not see where she went' she is four years old dammit!" Remy saw a brunette yelling at a girl that was probably twelve.

"I'm sorry Aunt Allison, but Abbey was just being SO annoying and I was just trying to look at the clothes!" The girl said.

"That is no excuse, Ashley!" This came from yet another woman that was standing next to Ashley.

Ashley, yes, Assey is Ashley in toddler speak. This looks like the right place. Remy opened the door and walked inside. She weaved her way around the clothes racks so that she was behind this brunette that was really laying it on thick to this pre-teen. Deciding to save the poor kid from more and more yelling she reached her hand out and tapped the brunette—Allison, if she heard correctly, on she shoulder.

"WHAT?" The brunette turned toward her.

Remy's eyes went wide, and she feared for her life, but answered anyway. "Hi, I'm Remy Hadley, and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." She paused and the brunette stared at the bundle of child she had in her arms. "I think I have something, well someone you lost…" She turned the little girl in her arms to the other woman.

"ABBEY!" She took her from Remy and hugged her so tight Remy thought the little girl might run out of air.

"Mommy!" She, had just woken up, but returned her hug. Nope, guess not…she seems to be breathing just fine.

"Oh, my goodness! Baby that was the worst fifteen minutes of my life! What were you thinking? Running off by yourself like that? You are never leaving my sight again!" She couldn't seem to let the child loose, then again who would? She then turned to Remy who was slyly making her way out of the store, "Where did you find her?"

"Oh, uhh. She had made it all the way to Logan's. That diner about a block down…" She pointed behind her as she talked and took another step backward, running into a clothing rack. She checked to make sure it wouldn't fall then stood there, not really sure what she should do. She smiled stupidly and turned to take in her surroundings.

"Thank you so much." This brunette was making it really hard for Remy to breathe. Not because she was hugging her, no, it was because as soon as she saw her face she could have died and died happy because she had seen perfection.

"You're welcome" was the only thing Remy could get out.

The hot mama (literally) pulled away from her, "Remy?" Remy looked up at her. "I'm Allison…Cameron." She paused for a second, staring at this woman that had saved her heart from breaking all over again. She had lost her husband about three years before and she knew she would not have been able to handle losing her daughter in any way, shape, or form. Three years really was a short amount of time to her. She still had tears in her eyes, but it didn't matter. "How can I ever repay you?" She let a single tear from its barriers.

"Repay me?" Remy laughed, "You don't need to repay me! I'm fine with knowing that Abbey made it back to her mom safely."

"I should give you a reward. Mel? What kind of cash do you have on you?" She asked her sister and started digging in her own purse.

"NO! Really! Allison, it's fine. It's no big deal, I really don't need a reward." Remy took Allison's purse from her and set it on the clothing table that Ashley and Mel were leaning against. "Believe me meeting you was the best reward I will ever receive." Oh, shit! I let that one slip out! Stupid Freudian slips! She closed her mouth immediately after she words loose and bit her bottom lip.

The mother and daughter duo behind Allison looked at each other with raised eyebrows and walked away from the conversation; they didn't get out of ear shot, just enough so that they could make their own commentary with each other.

"Oh," Allison contorted her face and shook her head, not realizing that she was just hit on by the younger woman. "Thank you. But please! At least let me make or take you out to dinner?" She asked.

This was when the little girl interrupted their conversation. "Peez Remy? If you come to din din, we can play games after!" She started jumping up and down in her mother's arms.

Then Abbey lunged forward so that she would have to be given to Remy, "Games, huh? What kind of games?"

"We's got hungry hungry hippos, Candy's land, Mouse trap, and sometimes…" She looked at her mom and got really close to Remy's face whispering to her, "Mommy let's me play 13 Dead then Drive! I'm not asposed to cause I'm too little…" She turned from her ear and grabbed Remy's face, "Please come to din din. Mommy can make it and me and you can watch PBJ otter!"

"Well, how can I say no to a home cooked meal and PB and J Otter?" Remy asked Abbey.

"Yay! Mommy, Remy's gonna come over for dinner and play games after! Otay?" She turned to look at her mom.

"Okay baby." She rubbed her back and the little girl realized that she wanted her mommy. As Allison was getting the child back, she looked at her. "Thank you so much for letting me at least do this…" She trailed off. "What do you eat?"

"Anything and everything…well, not everything, but I'm not picky." She shrugged and stared into Allison's eyes.

"Okay, well does spaghetti sound good?" She asked, not able to take her eyes away from that look she was getting.

"Sounds great!" Remy said.

"I love pasghetti!" Abbey exclaimed.

"Okay, well," She pulled a card from her purse and wrote something on the back, then handed it over to the taller woman. "My address is on the back of that."

Remy looked down at it, "Dr. Allison Cameron – Immunologist…You're a doctor?" She scrunched her face and looked at the high heavens asking why? Why did I ask that question..it freaking says Doctor!! Allison Cameron!

She smiled, "Yeah, yes I am. And today has been my first day off in a long time. You'd think that not working would be less stressful then working…" She trailed off looking down at her daughter.

"I guess not…" She looked at Abbey, then back at Allison. "Well, Dr. Cameron, what time do you want me here—there?"

"Six-thirty?" She asked.

"Six-thirty it is…" She was staring at her again; she couldn't help it.

At this point, Mel and Ashley came out from their hiding spot. "Well, thank you so much for finding my baby cousin and bringing her back, but we really got to go."

Mel had Allison's arm and was escorting her out of the store and trying to talk in hushed tones, "Are you crazy? You don't even know that girl, and you're inviting inside your home? What if she's a thief?"

Remy heard the entire spiel, and hoped to whatever god was listening that tonight wouldn't get cancelled.

"Are you kidding me Melanie? She just returned my child to me! If she were a thief, then she would have done this little thing called kidnapping! Not bring her back and repeatedly say that she wanted nothing in return! Jesus!"

"Yeah! Jesus!" Abbey said pointing her finger at whom Remy assumed to be her Aunt as they were walking away.

"Don't say that baby." Allison scolded her daughter.

"But mommy, you just said it!" She pointed her finger at Allison this time.

"Mommy shouldn't say it either." Ashley interrupted cutting off whatever Allison was about to say.

Remy gave them a head start out of the store so that "she couldn't have heard anything," then she left and went the direction she came. She pulled her brand new Motorola T720 from her side to check the time, hmm, four thirty…that's not a lot of time considering I don't know where I'm going…

She started to run back to her place, but when she passed by the restaurant again, she saw the red head still sitting there with her friends. Just as she was passing the red head looked at her, she couldn't hide the fact that she was looking at her too, so she smiled and kept running. Damn she's hot, but she's far from perfect…and I would know what perfect is—I have looked into the eyes of perfect; her name is Allison Cameron…