Ships: How they happen and Headcanons PART 1
Someone requested this, so here is the rundown of my ideal scenarios for each of the ships that I ship. It’s long and detailed so I’m sorry if you’re on mobile. For the rest of you, it’s under the cut. Includes NSFW head canons. This got out of hand so I’m going to split this post up.
So my ideal scenario for Sarah regardless of who she ends up with is that she becomes incredibly confident in her abilities as a psychiatrist and chooses to incorporate those with her training in the ED and becomes the best young doctor in whichever field she chooses after her residency (Psych or Emergency). While doing this she opens up a center for homeless youths that has guards and provides psychiatric help with PTSD or depression or drug addiction or anything else they might need. She becomes of driving force in Chicago in the fight for the homeless, youth and veterans especially. Sarah also uses her money and the connections to money she has from Connecticut and her Ivy League days to help open the many centers all around Chicago. She also creates a service dog program at Gaffney where they take in shelter dogs and train them.
So now that we have her life plotted out, let’s look at how I envision each of my ships.
Reethan
Sarah dates Noah for like a maximum of 4 months, in this time she realizes she was just desperate for someone since Joey seemed to move on so fast, and she’s always been weak for people who are nice to her and compliment her. They have chemistry for the first like month, but it boils down to Noah not being mature enough for her and so they break up. BUT during the few months they were together, Wreckton spent a lot of time with Chexton. Sarah and Ethan bond over these new experiences of dating the Sextons and probably one or two awkward trips to church. Because while April and Noah are religious the other two definitely are not and end up getting to know one another even better outside of work. The four hanging out becomes such a tradition, that the first week after they break up, Ethan stops by to try and cheer her up. The break up is awkward in the ED for the first few months, but Ethan always tries to make Reese feel welcome again when he sees her. For the next year Sarah begins falling for Ethan, but remains super friendly with him and April and pushes those feelings down because they’re happy together and that’s what matters. Eventually April and Ethan break up, they have been shaky for a while but he proposes, she says yes, but realizes it’s not best for the both of them and cancels the wedding. Sarah is there for Ethan when things get awkward for him in the ED and their friendship grows stronger.
Then Ethan gets called up from the reserves to help train medics over seas. He keeps this a secret from everyone besides Sharon, up until the day before he leaves. After a patient dies in the ED he loses it, and walks up to the roof, Sarah finds him and he finally tells her that he’ll be gone for at least 3 months if not more. He then asks if she’d be willing to take care of his bird, and if she’d mind coming over later so he could show her how to take care of it. She does and one thing leads to another and there are so many emotions that the end up having sex. Sarah wishes him good luck, but is pretty much having a mental freak out over the fact that she’s had her first one night stand with this guy she’s practically in love with. Ethan just has so many things on his plate that he doesn’t really think about until later. So basically Sarah tries to work this through in her mind while working and taking care of this bird. They kind of send messages back and forth but they never talk about that night. Ethan thinks that he’ll have to extend his time over seas and he talks to Sarah about watching his bird for longer. Then surprise he doesn’t and he comes home early and finds her like passed out on his couch with his bird flying around. She wakes up, they don’t talk about it still, and have sex again. They start dating in secret because Ethan’s an attending and Sarah’s still a resident even if they are in totally different departments. It eventually comes out and everyone’s willing to turn a blind eye if this is the last damn romance in this ED.
Head canon round
What they fight about
Sarah trying to help with his process of dealing with trauma and his PTSD and him getting annoyed about it. And possibly frustrations over both of their simultaneous difficulties with commitment at the different levels. Later on possibly children. OH, and Sarah’s willingness to sacrifice her safety for the kids she helps on the streets. Because you know the mob does not like her trying to help their sex slaves out of slavery.
Holidays
In my mind they both choose to work holidays, and have for a really long time. The two of them probably have the least familial connections out of all the doctors on Chicago Med so they kind of take the shifts no one else wants so the others can have time with their families and kids. So the tradition they started long before they ever get together is having breakfast together the morning after on their way home from work.
Families
Sarah hasn’t seen her mom really since she left for Chicago, and her dad died while she was a teenager so she is really not close with her family. Parents were each only children and her grandparents have passed on so she’s made Chicago her home, and the staff her family. Dr. Charles being her unintentional substitution of a father, and Maggie her mom. They both approve of Choi. Ethan isn’t very close with his family, but they are on more of speaking terms. His parents are still alive, if unattached to what’s happening with his life. He has a brother and sister who he isn’t very close with. The both have very practical high paying business careers on the West Coast.
Sleep/NSFW
Ethan’s great in bed. Loves going down on Sarah. Sarah’s literally only been with unexperienced 20 somethings so it’s a huge change, she’s kind of wondering if she actually ever got off with anyone before Ethan because it’s such a different feeling. He loves being in control (head canon stolen from mightyfinebear on AO3) and so watching her come undone at almost everything he does is satisfaction at a whole new level. Also shower sex, and table sex, and everywhere in the apartment sex. Ethan has a horrible time sleeping at night, and needs someone like Sarah who is just a rock once she’s out. He can get up, go for a run, pace, box, whatever he needs to and then crawl back in bed and she won’t even notice. Most of the time he sleeps better when she’s there, and can sleep for almost 7 hours compared to his normal 4. However that only makes the nights when she isn’t home worse to sleep. It wasn’t until she had decided to surprise by coming home early after her shift that she knew he had such a hard time sleeping. He was still up from the night before, and Sarah pulled him straight to bed where he actually talked about it until he fell asleep.
Pets/Living together
In that 6 months between April and Ethan breaking up and him leaving, Sarah found an injured pit bull on the side of the road. She knew Ethan had experience with animals and called him on just this side of crying and he came to help. They stabilized her together and got her to a vet. The dog’s leg is unable to be saved, and she didn’t have any tags so Sarah adopts her. Ethan and Sarah move in mostly because of the dog and the parrot. The dog is skittish and likes company, and so does the bird and they keep each other calm during the day.
Rheesker
So this lil ship started from me accepting that they’ll put Ava with Connor so why not have them be in a poly-relationship
So Ava and Connor start having sex to blow off tension and try and channel the competitive edge that they have towards each other into something that’s more relaxing for them. Ava is still mean to anyone not an attending and Sarah, after frankly just a shitty day like loses it and snaps at her in front of Connor after a comment she makes after a surgery.There’s probably some pent up resentment towards Zanetti and she’s just sick of rude surgeons. So Sarah storms off after that, but she’s now permanently on Ava’s radar. Her comments make her soften the way she approaches most of the doctors at Med, and she starts talking more to Sarah and inviting her out to drinks and to hang out with Connor and her after work. The more they hang out with one another the closer they all get, and they kind of become this trio who is almost always seen with each other. Then Ava kind of introduces the idea to Connor of bringing Sarah in, and he’s intrigued by it, but he thinks that she’s completely dreaming because Sarah’s just so conventional and safe and would never do that kind of thing. Meanwhile Sarah is developing this crush on both Ava and Connor because they’re just so different than Noah was, and she’s just internalizing it and keeps telling herself she’ll deal with it later.
The whole time people are getting more and more suspicious of Connor and Ava, and eventually Goodwin catches wind of it and has to figure out how to deal with it without jeopardizing her two future cardiac surgeon’s careers. If anyone found out they were sleeping together, it would open up the hospital to law suits. Sharon asks Sarah to give the warning so it doesn’t go on any kind of professional record and because she’s close to them. Sarah, this whole time, didn’t really pick up on them sleeping together. And she’s just mortified and also beating herself up because why would they like her, and she just gives them this really like terse warning about sleeping together and kind of completely pulls away from them. Ava and Connor both ask for her to talk to them and she rebuffs them for a week or so. Then Ava tells her they’re coming over whether she likes it or not and Sarah actually lets them in. Finally Ava extends the idea of the three of them being together to Sarah, who immediately thinks they’re just weirdly trying to pity her or something. Eventually they kind of coax her out of her shell and the three kind of establish what they are tentatively and they start dating. And whenever Goodwin brings up something about Ava and Connor dating, they say that Ava’s the one who’s dating Dr. Reese.
What they fight about
Connor and Ava are still competing for the spot of the Cardio attending so work can tend to bleed over into their relationship. They all also work very hectic schedules and that causes mainly frustration over just not getting to see each other very often or equally. Connor’s daddy issues, Ava’s attitude and treatment of others, and Sarah’s internalizing of her thoughts and feelings of being the third wheel.
Food
The three of them loving going out to dinner. It’s always been Sarah’s favorite kind of date, and she has tried an absurd amount of restaurants from all over the city out, so she’s like an expert at places she’d know they’d love or hate. She’s also a vegetarian, which Ava found hilarious, and so completely fitting of her the first time they all got food. (”What?” “You’re just such a stereotype.” “What does that mean?”) The moment that Sarah kind of fell in love with Ava a little more was when she called Sarah at work because she wanted to get her some sort of veggie burgers she liked, so Sarah had something to eat at her house. Connor’s the best cook out of them all, with Ava coming in second, and Sarah being proficient at the things she was good at, and horrible at anything else. Her house mainly consists of frozen faux-meat in her freezer, frozen dinners and veggies, crackers and bread, and 8 jars of various nut butters. Sometimes eggs, but she only buys those 6 egg cartons because she never uses a whole dozen. Connor and Ava both have extensive bars in their apartments filled with excellent whiskeys and gins. Both of which turn Sarah’s stomach, so they start buying white rum, vodka and wine to keep at their houses for her.
Families
Ava’s family is entirely normal, especially put in perspective with the other two. Her parent’s had high expectations but she’s met all of them and so it’s never been much of a problem in her mind. Sarah thinks that she’s so critical of others because of how critical her parents were to her but Ava doesn’t see it. Connor’s got good ol’ Cornelius Rhodes who creates all the same issues he did in the show, and Sarah has all the issues she had that I mentioned previously. But Claire, once she got over the initial news, loves both Ava and Sarah and the three girls get dinner alone when they can.
Sleep/NSFW
Sarah almost always sleeps in the middle. It’s mostly out of function because she can never seem to get warm, but also because Ava kind of worries about her feeling left out. The facts that she isn’t in cardio and usually is the one with the most different of schedules, and that she was brought in last all make Ava and Connor worry about her. They both also selfishly like being the big spoon and cuddling around her. Sarah’s also the heaviest sleeper of them all and can sleep through both sides shifting and getting up in the night.
The two of them are weirdly Connor’s dream girl separated. Ava’s this sexy hot head who challenges him in work and in their relationship, and he just lives off it. Sarah is all the gentleness and cooling that’s opposite of Ava, she just wants someone who is kind of gentle and domestic. She adds like this softness to both his and Ava’s personalities and they can turn off the competition when she’s around. She tempers both of them where they can have this actually thriving relationship. So when it’s just Connor and Ava, the sex is faster and filled with this needy, brutal energy; just trying to fuck out the problems they refuse to resolve with words. The direct competition is hard on them and when they’re alone it’s always hovering over them with this foreboding dark cloud. If they don’t think about it, they don’t need to address it. Sarah and Ava is a lot more playful. Ava can pull a smile out of Sarah like her life depended on it, and she’s just so enamored with Sarah and her shyness and the she’s like almost blind to how attracted the two of them are to her. She’s usually the one that has Sarah pressed up against the elevator door on their way home. Sarah and Connor are very sweet. He likes that he can pull out his most romantic moves and she really appreciates them. Not that Ava wouldn’t, but Sarah is a romantic nerd at heart and likes the more traditional date nights. They’re the two that are most likely to have slow dances in the living room and sweet sex in the bedroom. When the three of them can actually manage all being together when they aren’t too tired or have to work at a stupid early time, there’s like this thrum between all of them. An excitement and playfulness that normally isn’t there, and all of them get a little handsier than usual. Sarah’s leaning into Connor’s chest and he’s got his arms around both their waists. Ava’s playing with Sarah’s hair as they wait for their meals to come out, and Connor’s just making moon eyes across from them. They’re all just so careful to like memorize and take in every detail when they’re all together.
Pets/Living Together
They don’t have any pets. It’s just very unreasonable with their schedules and the life styles they like to keep of going out for drinks and dinner until late. Sarah loves animals though, so it’s not entirely off the table, just until Sarah’s not a resident anymore. They don’t live with each other, but none of them ever really sleep at their own place most of the time. Connor’s apartment gets the most use because it’s closest to the night life of the city and it has the biggest bed and the nicest views. It also has indoor parking for the cold Chicago winters which Sarah loves. Sarah’s house is cozy and nice and usually they’ll sleep there when she has a big day ahead of her. She’s a creature of habit and only in this relationship has she been ok staying over at her significant others’s house. And while her bed’s not as big, it is the most comfortable and so the just sleep a little closer. They spend the least amount of time at Ava’s. She wasn’t even really unpacked until the three started seriously dating. Then Sarah told her it was very sad that she had no life here and they spent the whole day making her house more homey. Sarah suggested getting her a fish to liven it up, but was shot down by both surgeons out of fear for it dying when they weren’t there.
Reestead
So this one is honestly a short term ship at best, but still sweet.
So after Sarah breaks up with Noah she decides to take a break from any kind of romance and starts looking for ways to make more of a difference in the world. She begins volunteering at different community centers and youth organizations to kind of consume all the time she doesn’t spend at the hospital. Sarah, once again, becomes attached to a kid she meets at the community center she volunteers at and is really torn up when she witnesses a drive by that leaves him in a wheelchair. She’s interviewed on scene by one of the beat cops, but she sees Kim and Jay across the way and makes a mental note to check up on the progress. Soon she actually goes to 21 and asks Jay what happened and if there’s anything she can do. She knows all the kids there and is familiar with the faces and so she actually plays a major part in helping solve the case. Jay gives her a ride back to the hospital so the two of them can talk to the kid who was shot, and survived. Jay kind of sees this really warm and confident and vibrant side to Sarah that he never has when he’s talked to her before. He makes his own mental note, and carries on with the case. They’re all grateful she helped them out in the case and Jay tells Sarah she can call him if she ever needs anything. They see each other at Molly’s and talk a bit, but nothing actually happens for months.
He get’s a call at like midnight 4 months from the shooting and it’s Sarah whose voice sounds shaky like she’s about to cry, and so he rushes down to the hospital where Sarah is pacing outside a door in the ED. He thinks she’s crying but her face is pure fury (she’s an angry crier, which only makes her more angry when someone points it out). Someone assaulted one of the girls she works with at the youth center and the officer who brought her in made this horrible crack about her being a sex worker and asking for it. Sarah more or less kicked him out of the hospital, but still wanted the girl to be able to file a report with someone. And she didn’t know who to call but him. And so once again they work on this case and Sarah just becomes so impassioned when she sees these kids hurt and he’d never think anyone would say this, but Sarah Reese looks ferocious, like she’s ready to take on the world for them. They get closer after this and eventually Jay invites her to a hockey game. To which she knows none of the rules, but really enjoys spending time with him and has a great night. Sarah loves that he’s so dedicated to helping people, and that he’s past that shit head 20 something thing that her exes both had. He’s mature and respects her dedication to her volunteering. Jay appreciates how different she is from Erin. She’s young and unjaded and she thinks she can change the world. It’s refreshing and things heat up between the two broken hearts.
They date casually, neither of them have a ton of time for romance or a relationship, but it’s definitely more than a one night stand/booty call situation because Sarah doesn’t know how to not do commitment. In the end they just kind of fizzle out. It’s a lot of work and neither one of them are the best at opening up when they aren’t with the person during the day. They end on really great terms and Sarah is always allowed to call his number at any time if she needs help, or more likely, one of her kids needs help. And she’s always there to check up on him, to stop him from completely running himself ragged. He’s the one who introduces her to the vet groups, and where she get’s really impassioned to help soldiers on the streets.
What they fight about
Sarah putting herself in harms way for these kids. This continues on after their break up, too. She’s so dedicated to being that person for them because most don’t have anyone else, that she will take dangerous risks. Sarah’s also the daughter of a defense attorney and so I can see her cringing and being shocked at some of the things she hears/sees while helping 21 out.
Dates
They had a really tough time finding a good balance between the two of them. They have just totally different interests when it comes to dates, so the first month it just alternated between some sports game (which Sarah didn’t get), a museum (which kind of bored Jay), Molly’s (which barely counted as a date) and Netflix and Chilling. They started doing more outdoors stuff and found, although Sarah hates being cold, that it was the best common ground.
Families
Sarah’s mom is never really informed about Sarah dating a cop. They dated for like 6 months, and Sarah’s rule is only after a year she tells her mom. Will thinks it’s incredibly weird at first, and keeps asking Jay why he had to pick the youngest coworker of his to date, but he’s fairly supportive.
Sleeping/NSFW
Once and only once did Sarah ever sleep over at Jay’s. She ran into Will in Jay’s shirt and nothing else and was so mortified that she wouldn’t look at him for the next week. They spend a lot of time at Sarah’s and she always keeps his favorite beer in stock because he usually comes over after all the stores around her place close. On those late nights they usually don’t make it past her couch. It’s beer and fast undressing, and Stranger Things afterwards. They both wake up at 3 AM with kinks in their necks before they move to her bed for the last 4 hours.