1x01: Pilot

***

Hunter Lopez groaned as her alarm went off at 12 am for her 1 o'clock flight, after many years of being undercover and a detective while syncing her shifts with her best friend, Tim Bradford, who lived in Los Angeles and worked for the LAPD, Hunter finally got a golden ticket at the same time that there was an opening at the LAPD, so using her golden ticket she transferred back to her former place of work and went back to patrol.

So, the brunette pretty much jumped out of her bed and quickly got ready, she was immensely grateful that she informed her tenants that were renting her house out six months ago that she would be moving back, giving them time to find another place to live and if they didn't Hunter told them that she'd stay with Tim in his three bedroom house until they found one.

She and Tim were the legal guardians of Rose-Alexandra "Lexi" Smith, even though the two of them weren't dating, they were first responders and so long as Lexi had somewhere to stay at night where she was safe the judge signed off on the form.

Hunter and Tim never lived together but they were good friends and spent a lot of their free time together, meaning Lexi managed to form bonds with both of them, Lexi and Tim were also the first ones informed when Hunter got the job of detective in the NYPD.

Luckily her tenants had informed her that the houses they were looking to rent were far too expensive, which Hunter understood and allowed them to stay until somewhere cheaper became available, the family also had two kids and always paid their rent on time so that put them in Hunter's good books.

Hunter hadn't told anyone except Sgt. Grey and Capt. Andersen that she was coming back to the LAPD and Patrol both were glad to see her return and she promised she'd come to them if she needed anything.

She was close friends with Grant Lawrence, a fellow patrol officer, they were often working 7-Adam-20 when doing patrol and because Tim's the only person (other than her sister Angela who she called every other week) she kept in contact with he kept her updated and revealed to her Grant had no new partner.

***

Hunter, took her suitcase to the LAPD with her, she knew Andersen would allow her to keep it in her office until the end of the day, and until she confirmed that she had somewhere to live, Hunter upon arriving quickly avoided anyone that didn't know she was coming back and that was her friends and sister.

Hunter then went to the locker room, she'd arrived before anyone else and was going to make an entrance like she normally did, meaning she was going to arrive late to roll call and wait to see what was gonna happen and what the reactions of her friends were.

***

Tim and two other police officers are in the men's locker room, looking at all the rookies, who think they're gonna make it. "I love Rookie Day. It's Christmas and "The Purge" in one," Tim and the other two officers continue to walk around, when Tim see's Jackson, opening his locker. "And there's my first present. Morning, Boot."

Jackson looks at him. "Good morning, sir."

"Did I say you could talk? You better pray I'm not your training officer, Boot, 'cause I'll make your life a living hell." Tim warned him coldly, knowing full well Lucy would scold him for being so harsh on a rookie, but unless they know the world can be a dark place, he's gonna be cold, calculating and in Lucy's words, torture them.

"Sir, I'd be thrilled to have you as a T.O. My father raised me to push myself to the edge of my abilities,- and he'd be deeply disappointed if I failed to do so now that I've joined him in service." Jackson replied brightly, what threw Tim off was who his father was.

"Your father is - ?" Tim's eyes trailed down to Jackson's last name that was sewn into his LAPD issued jacket before looking back up at Jackson.

"Commander West of Internal Affairs, yes, sir." Jackson replied, still smiling brightly.

"Roll call in ten." Tim said not impressed before he left the locker room.

***

Andersen walked into the roll call room, much to everyone's surprise. "Before Grey gets started today, it is my immense pleasure to welcome back former LAPD Officer, now detective, Hunter Lopez." Hunter steps into the roll call room, Angela shot up like a bullet and hugged her sister.

"¿Qué diablos? ¿Por qué no llamaste y me lo dijiste a mí o incluso a Tim?/What the hell, why didn't you call and tell me or even Tim?" Angela asked.

"Quería sorprenderlos a todos./I wanted to surprise you, all of you." Hunter replied, she glanced over at Tim. "Hola, Timmy./Hey, Timmy."

Tim rolled his eyes at the nickname Hunter had unceremoniously given him at the academy when they were training and also called him Eagle Eyes with Isabel. "Hunter Lopez, as I live and breath, what are you doing here I thought you were at the NYPD." Tim said slightly sarcastically.

Hunter ignored him and hugged Grant Lawrence, her old partner, then she hugged Talia and finally Tim.

"Hunter Lopez, how've you been?" Talia asked.

"As you can tell, Hunter Lopez is close to her fellow officers, specifically her sister." Grey comments.

Hunter and Angela both roll their eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'll come hug you later." Hunter drawled.

She sat down in the middle with Angela on the end, Tim beside her and Talia beside him at the TO table while Grant sat at the table in front of them, Andersen then left to the room and whispers rippled throughout the briefing room as people looked at Hunter.

She was well known in LAPD before she moved to New York a year before, and she was a highly decorated detective as well, just like her friend Isabel Bradford, but she's now a cautionary tale.

"All right, all right. Settle down. Settle down. So, okay, we got some new blood this morning. And some pushing the expiration date," the other officers laugh and Grey speaks directly to the rookies. "Get up. After six months together in the Academy, you've earned the right to be here. But you'll have to prove yourself to stay. The way we do things matters. Protocol and tradition are the metal from which every cop in this city is forged. Understand?" Grey asked. 

"Yes, sir." Nolan, Jackson and Lucy all say.

Hunter glances at Jackson and then at Tim, pointing to Jackson. "Is that West's kid?" she mouthed to him, Tim nodded before straitening up and looking straight ahead, sending a subtle look to Hunter.

Grey was staring at Lucy, causing everyone else to stare at her as well. "Something you'd like to add, Lopez?" he asked.

"No, sir." Hunter said, shaking her head, and glancing at Tim, who shrugged.

"It's time to play the Training Officer match game. Our contestants are...Lucy Chen, a hotshot who made her first arrest before clockin' in for work. Legacy Jackson West, who broke all his dad's records at the academy. And John Nolan, who was born before disco died." Grey says causing the room to fill with laughter.

"And the winners are: Officer Bradford, you get our hotshot. Officer Lopez, you get our legacy. Leaving Officer Bishop to ride with the 40-year-old rookie. Now, hear me. Today is your first day. Don't let it be your last. Forget the Academy and listen to your T.O.s. They'll teach you the way it should be done. Detective Lopez and Officer Lawrence, you two are riding together, I know how well you work," Grant, who was still sitting in front of Hunter without turning placed a hand up which Hunter high fived out of pure memory. "That's it. All right. Be safe out there," everyone stands up and Grey speaks to Talia. "Officer Bishop, I need a word with your rook."

***

Lucy and her fellow rookies watch as their T.O's catch up before doing anything else. "Uh, I'm confused, who is that?" Lucy asked.

"Hunter Lopez, Angela Lopez's sister." Grant said as he walked towards the three of them.

"I gathered that but how does everyone know her?" Lucy asked again.

"Hunter Lopez is a decorated cop, she's one of the best especially when it comes to being undercover." Jackson said as if that explains everything.

The rookies then went off with their T.O., while Hunter joined Grant.

***

"I've just come home, you can load the shop." Hunter said with a grin as she and Grant walked to the quartermaster to their warbags signed out.

Grant rolled his eyes, Hunter looked behind her seeing Tim and his rookie Lucy come over to sign their warbags out. "Chen, while you do that I need to speak to your TO." Hunter said to her, Lucy nodded silently.

Tim raised an eyebrow while Hunter grabbed his arm and pulled him away so that Grant and Lucy don't eavesdrop on their conversation. "So, you know how I have tenants living in my house?" Tim nodded. "I can't kick them out, they've got two kids, husband's off work on disability and wife's currently the sole earner and they always pay their rent on time and couldn't find a house before I came back and you have three bedrooms..." Hunter trailed off.

"So, you need somewhere to live and you're asking me." Tim said, Hunter nodded. "You already know I'm gonna say yes, why bother asking? You could walk up to me and say "I'm moving in with you until I find either an apartment or my tenants are able to move out," you know that'd I just stare at you in shock for a few moments, come home that afternoon and seeing you in my guest bedroom. Besides, Lexi misses you and would love to see you again." Tim said, knowing Hunter far too well for her own good sometimes.

Hunter grinned at her best friend. "Thank you, luckily I still have my key and I still remember your code to your security system." Tim smiled at her to before adopting his normal neutral face when he sees Lucy looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Tim's security code to his house was just Hunter's birthday it always had been even when Tim and Isabel were married.

Hunter chuckled as she and Tim walked over, they had a secret that only Isabel knew, they dated for the last three months of their six month stint at the academy in 2007, they also dated for the whole 13 months of their rookie year so all in all they dated for 16 months. Then they broke up very amicably and in 2014 Isabel and Tim married with Hunter being Isabel's maid of honour and Tim asking if Hunter was okay with him and Isabel getting married.

Tim and Hunter were both in the Army together, the same squadron, Hunter was Tim's second in command when he became a sergeant.

"Let's go Officer Lawrence." Hunter said, Grant rolled his eyes following his partner, he shot a sympathetic smile at Lucy, something Hunter noticed, she gave him a teasing smile. "You like her." she comments.

Grant didn't answer instead he placed the warbags away in the trunk, Hunter got into the driver seat and once Grant was buckled in beside her, she drove off.

***

Tim is introducing Lucy to her duties as a rookie. "This is a shop. It's not a cop car, squad car, or black-and-white. It's a shop. It's where you work. First, we examine the exterior for damage. Any nicks, scratches, dents, or dings, you write 'em up. Got it?" he asked, Lucy nodded. "Has the suspect left anything? Money? Drugs? A dookie?" Tim noticed Lucy wasn't taking notes. "Why aren't you taking notes, Officer Chen? You think I'm impressed because you picked some low-hanging fruit on your way to work?"

Lucy quickly grabbed out her notebook. "Onto the shotgun-safety check.  Verify it's empty. Clear it. Close the action." Tim said, Lucy did as she was told to with the shot guns. "Body-cam test." Tim said to her.

Lucy looked down at her bodycam. "Officer Lucy Chen." she said.

"Now we're inside the shop. Log in to the computer. Put in our serial number. Test lights and sirens." Tim said, Lucy flicked a switch and the sirens chirped. "Finally, check yourself. You're about to hit the street with a loaded handgun and no idea what happens next." Tim added on.

***

Grant and Hunter are patrolling. "So, why'd you leave NYC?" Grant asked her.

Hunter gripped the steering wheel slightly tighter than normal, she'd been at the NYPD since 2016 and did undercover work for two years but quit in 2018 after hearing on the grapevine about what happened to Isabel a close friend even though she hadn't seen her for two years. "Personal reasons and I got a golden ticket, I became a detective in LA I wanted to come back to patrol in LA, technically I don't need to wear uniform unless I'm doing patrol." Hunter said not delving into the reason, she'd tell Tim eventually but no-one else.

"7-Adam-20, family dispute, 2342 Centinela Avenue." Nell said over Dispatch.

"7-Adam-20 responding." Hunter said picking up the radio before placing it back down, she doesn't like talking in the shop, but unlike Tim she allows the aircon on before lunch time but doesn't like the radio on.

***

Hunter walked up to the house after pulling up outside and knocking on the door, a woman answered it, she had a bloodied nose and a bruised eye, Grant winced but Hunter frowned, they more or less looked like self defence injuries. "Ma'am I'm Detective Lopez and this is Officer Lawrence, may we come in?"

The woman nodded and stepped to the side as she opened the door, her eyes glancing around as she looked at Hunter. "What's your name?" Grant asked.

"Lily Jones." The woman said, her eyes following Hunter as she looked around, seeing things smashed and a wooden mantle smashed in half, as if a man was pushed into it or a woman at an immense amount of force.

Hunter turned to Lily. "Where's your husband, Mrs Jones?"

Lily tensed she glanced around down to the door leading towards the basement before looking back at Hunter. "He's at work." 

Hunter frowned not believing what she has to say but decides to go along with it. "Alright, can you give his details to Officer Lawrence and we'll follow up with him when we get the chance." Lily nodded and Hunter shared a look with Grant, who stepped towards Lily and took her information.

***

Hunter and Grant then left. "So, I take it we'll be back?" Grant asked as he and Hunter walked up the stairs and towards their shop.

Hunter got into the driver seat and closed the door, putting her seatbelt on before responding. "Get a warrant to search the house. Mrs Jones was acting suspiciously and when I asked where he husband was she glanced at the basement door before answering." 

"Huh, I didn't notice." Grant said.

Hunter looked over at him with an amused grin. "Which is exactly why you're not a detective." Grant just laughed while pretending to be offended.

***

"So, why do you want to be a cop?" Tim asked Lucy as they drove down a street.

"Is this a trick question?" Lucy asked, her head leaning on her hand which is in the shape of a fist.

"You want me to train you, I need to know why you're in this car." Tim replied glancing over at Lucy.

"Okay. Um, my parents are both therapists, so I spent my childhood talking about my feelings -" Lucy was saying.

The tires screech as Tim slams on the brakes. "I've been shot!" Tim yelled.

"Wh -" Lucy started to say, having been confused by what Tim was saying.

"Where are you, Boot?!" Tim yelled not answering.

"What?" Lucy asked confused.

"I'm bleeding to death. You have to call for help. Where are you?" Tim asked, sounding slightly done.

"Uh -" Lucy looked out the window to try and find a street sign.

"Where are you?!" Tim yelled.

"Um -" Lucy leans out the window looking behind her, trying to find a street sign before sighing and leaning back into the car.

"Now I'm dead. It's your fault. Get out." Tim said.

"What?" Lucy scoffed in surprise.

"Get out and walk. You can get back in when you know where you are." Tim replied. Lucy is walking alongside the patrol car that Tim is driving. She continues looking for a street sign. "You know where you are yet, Officer Chen?" Lucy once again looks around for a sign. "No? Then finish your story why you became a cop," Lucy glanced at Tim. "Here, I'll do it for you. You wanted to piss off your parents for making you an emotional science experiment." Tim said.

A vehicle behind them honks their horn. A small truck has stopped behind the patrol car; inside are three men who look like laborers singing along with the radio. Tim gets out of the patrol car and walks up to the driver of the truck. "Gentlemen, I have an honest question for you. Were you grown in a petri dish of stupid?" Tim asked.

"Por favor, no hablo inglés./Please, I don't speak English -" The driver started to say.

"Don't pull that crap with me." Tim snapped.

Lucy, who was standing on the passenger side and looked through the window. "Licencia y registro, por favor./License and registration, please."

"Well, aren't you fancy?" Tim mused, looking at Lucy over the top of the car before looking through the drivers window. "Tell him that it's immigrants like them that make Americans like you look bad. If it was up to me, we'd send them all back by catapult." He said.

Lucy hesitates. "Um," Lucy then switches to Spanish. "Dijo que probablemente debería evitar tocar la bocina a la policía cuando su camión infringe la mayoría de los códigos de vehículos estatales./He said you should probably avoid honking at the police when your truck is in violation of most state vehicle codes."

"Officer Chen, a word?" Tim and Lucy step aside and Tim turns Lucy's bodycam off, it beeps as it does. "Do I strike you as a man who means what he says?" Tim asked her.

"Yes, sir." Lucy replied.

"Do I seem laid-back to you? Wishy-washy in any way?" Tim continued to ask.

"No, sir." That's when Lucy realised that Tim could speak Spanish, wondering why she was surprised seeing as he seemed to understand what Hunter was saying in Roll Call as she was speaking to her sister. But then again, Tim never gave anything away that said he understood Spanish.

Tim speaks Spanish. "En ese caso, ¿por qué cambiarías las palabras que salen de mi boca?/In that case, why would you change the words that come out of my mouth?" Tim then switches to English. "Everything is a test, Officer Chen, and you just got another "F". I know what you're thinking - was that casual racism a test, too, or just the Spanish? Unfortunately for you, there's no way to know."

That's when Tim's phone rang. "Bradford. What? How'd you manage that? Alright, I'm coming." Tim turned to the men and citied them before turning to Lucy. "Get in."

Lucy frowned. "Where are we going?" She asked as she got into the passenger seat.

"The North Hollywood Division." Tim answered.

"What? Why?" Lucy asked.

Tim doesn't answer and instead texts Grey, who lets him off for a couple hours to deal with what he needed to.

***

A teenage red head, Rose-Alexandra "Lexi" Smith, who's sixteen years old, was leaning against the wall of a Holding Cell in North Hollywood when she got arrested for accidentally assaulting an officer, which is why they told her they wouldn't be charging her. She accidentally ran into the man but they decided to hold her until an adult picked her up, seeing as she had no parents, so she needed to call one of the people she trusted.

The door to Lexi's holding cell was opened and the red head looked up seeing Officer Jameson. "Your father's here."

Lexi walked out the holding cell. "He's not my father, just someone who cares about me." Jameson handed Lexi her things back. "Thanks. Don't tell Hunter." Lexi said keeping her gaze on Tim.

Lucy cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Hunter's back at the LAPD and you're coming back there with us," Lexi opened her mouth to argue but Tim held his hand up to silence her.  "You shouldn't've flaked on school, Lex. Hunter and I are your legal guardians, you've been living with me since Hunter and I met you four years ago. So why'd you flake on school?" Tim asked.

Lexi shifted her weight uncomfortably, while Lucy frowned, feeling like she was intruding on a private father-daughter conversation but she said nothing. "I just, there are kids at the school who think I'm the reason my family all OD'd and became drug addicts in the first place. That rumour was started by druggie sister before she OD'd."

Tim sighed and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "So you what? Ran to North Hollywood? For a day off?" Tim asked.

"Yeah," Lexi sighed, she looked at Tim. "I know I shoulda called you but you'd've gone all Dadford at the school and probably lost it at the principal and he's tight with some dirty cops would've had you cited." Lexi explained.

"Okay, not even going to ask how you know that until later." Tim dropped his arms by his side and Lexi knew that was an invitation and she took it, Lexi wrapped her arms around his torso as he automatically brings his arms around her small body. Lucy shifted now really feeling like she was intruding on a father-daughter private moment. "Okay, you're gonna spend the rest of the day in Wade's office."

Lexi looked up at him, not removing her arms from around him, her chin resting on his chest. "Well then, I'm commandeering his couch."

Tim smiled at her and Lucy raised an eyebrow, that was the second time she'd seen her TO smile, first he smiled at something Hunter had said and now Lexi saying she was going to commandeer their watch commander's couch.

Lucy, however didn't question what was going on, she decided that asking Grant or maybe Jackson, he might know what was going on. So, Lucy followed Tim and Lexi, keeping quiet knowing that Tim would make her walk beside the shop for the rest of the day.

***

Tim, Lucy and Lexi arrive at the station at the same time as Hunter and Grant, with the raven haired woman raising an eyebrow at Lexi and glancing at Tim, noticing how Lexi just made her way to Grey's office.

Through the window, Hunter noticed how Grey wasn't surprised at Lexi's arrival meaning Tim or Lexi herself told him. "What happened? Why isn't she at school?" Hunter asked Tim.

Tim looked around and pulled Hunter into an empty hallway. "There are kids at Lexi's school who think she's the reason her family all OD'd and became drug addicts in the first place. That rumour was started by Lexi's druggie sister before she OD'd. That's what she told me anyway."

"So, how'd she end up getting picked up by you and Lucy. I don't imagine she was in Mid-Wilshire." Hunter comments, she smiles at someone as they walk past, Tim nodding to them, only the higher ups, Grey, Andersen and Commander West of IA know that they're the legal guardians of Rose-Alexandra "Lexi" Smith.

"Lexi flaked on school." Hunter opened her mouth when Tim held a hand up signaling that he wasn't finished. "Because of what everyone thinks, she also didn't tell me because I'd've lost it at the principal and he's tight with some dirty cops would've had me cited."

"How does she know her principals tight with dirty cops?" Hunter asked with a frown.

"I don't know, I didn't ask and we need to get back out there." said Tim.

"Then we'll talk to her about it later." Hunter said, Tim nodded in agreement.

The two of them walked back towards Lucy and Grant, speaking in unison. "Let's go." Grant and Lucy shared a look but followed nonetheless.

***

Lucy and Tim arrive at the Hollywood Boulevard to see Nolan chasing a suspect. "Go get him, Boot." Tim said to her as they both got out of the car, with Tim standing by Talia as the two watched their rookies chase down the suspect.

Hunter and Grant arrive a few moments later and Grant looks at Tim. "Yeah. I'm not chasing him." said Grant. Tim snorted and Grant then turned to Hunter after feeling his phone buzz and he checked it. "Our warrant's been approved. We can search Lily Jones' house when you're ready."

"Good. We'll check it out after lunch." said Hunter with a nod.

***

Several blocks later, Nolan tries a shortcut but gets tangled in a chain on a locked gate. On the other side of the gate, Lucy tackles the fugitive and cuffs him.

"Please let go of me! You have to let me go! You don't know what you're doing! You don't know what you're doing! You don't know what you're doing! I have to find him! Help me! I have to find him! The unicorn! The unicorn!" the man yelled, he sounded destressed.

Tim, Grant, Hunter and Talia have all on scene and releases the lock, freeing Nolan. "Welcome to the arrest." Hunter comments, while Grant, Tim and Talia walked over to the man while Hunter joined them after unlocking the gate.

"I have to I have to find him!" the man's cellphone rings. "He needs me!" he yelled.

"Who needs you?" Talia asked.

"Lucas! I can't find him!" the man's phone continues ringing. "Please, let go of me!" he begged.

"Hi, this is Detective Lopez - Y-Yes, ma'am, I'm with your husband now. Slow down." Hunter said answering the man's phone.

"Lucas!" the man yelled.

"Who's Lucas?" Hunter asked into the phone.

"Lucas needs me!" the man yelled.

Hunter still has the phone to her ear but tilts it away from her mouth slightly. "Sir, where is your boy?" She asked.

"I only left him in the car for a minute. The unicorn has him." the man said.

"That car is gonna be an oven." Grant said, looking up at the sky.

"We got to find that unicorn." Nolan said to the others, looking at all of them.

"Be advised, the suspect vehicle is a gray Corolla. License plate Two Paul Charles -" Dispatch said.

Everyone drives around trying to find the gray Corolla, with Talia and Nolan being the ones to find the car and the boy, saving his life, much to everyone's relief.

***

The rookies and T.O.s all stopped for lunch, with Grant and Hunter joining them. "Hunter, Grant how's your day going?" Angela asked, wanting to catch up with her sister.

"We got called to a domestic and the woman let us in with what looked to be defencive wounds from someone else, somethings were destroyed and when I asked about her husband, she looked over at the basement door and says he's at work." Hunter said, sitting herself beside Angela and Tim, watching as Talia speaks to her rookie before walking over and sitting across from Angela and sitting beside Grant, while Tim sits at the head of the table, sitting with Hunter and Grant beside him.

"How's your day going, Angela? 'Cause I saved a kid. Probably gonna make the paper tomorrow." Talia said, trying to get under Angela's skin.

"Mm. You're so cute trying to get under my skin." Angela comments.

"Trying?" Hunter took a sip of his drink. "She's already under. Just like you're under hers." Hunter comments.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Angela asked.

That's when Tim speaks up. "You've wanted to be a detective since you were a kid. Talia just wants it 'cause it's a stepping stone to the top. And that pisses you off. Meanwhile, she knows yours and Hunter's ability to be mercenary gives you a leg up 'cause she's got an overdeveloped sense of morality, which gets in her way." Tim said, knowing how merciless Hunter can be, she's also the reigning Mid-Wilshire shooting champion, or she was before she left in 2016, with Tim taking over her crown after she left.

"Shut up." Talia, Hunter and Angela said at the same time.

Grant and Tim shared the same look before Tim speaks.

"Well, I don't know why the hell you two are so determined to get out of patrol. This is where all the fun is and besides one Lopez is a detective and even she came back to patrol." Tim sighed, pointing to Hunter.

"He's got a point." Grant said shrugging.

"That's cause you're his former rookie." Angela said.

Nolan brings over Talia's food. "Is there meat in this?" she asked.

"Uh... no?" Nolan said sounding uncertain.

"7-Adam-15, return to 1401 West Sycamore. Situation has escalated." Dispatch said over Talia's radio.

Talia looked up at Nolan. "Told you we'd be back."

***

After collecting their warrant, Hunter and Grant returned to the Jones household, Hunter knocked on the door. "Mrs Jones LAPD! Open up!" Lily Jones timidly opened the door and Hunter flashed the warrant. "This is a legal requirement, meaning you legally have to let us in to search your house."

"And if I refuse?" Lily asked.

"You'll be facing legal consequences." said Hunter.

Lily stepped aside and allowed Hunter and Grant in, the raven haired woman headed towards the basement and slowly opened the door, holding a torch and pulling out her gun once she's entered the room.

Hunter looked around seeing a freezer. "Officer Lawrence, can you come down here and give me a hand?" Hunter yelled up the stairs. Grant walked down and stood beside Hunter, she looked at him. "Help me open the freezer." she whispered so that Lily wouldn't hear them.

Grant nodded and the two lifted the lid, seeing a man's dead body, frozen, Hunter grabs out her radio. "7-Adam-20, our call is now a 187. Have Homicide respond to our location."

Grant ran upstairs and cuffed Lily Jones, who seemingly showed no remorse for what she did while Hunter stalked up to the main part of the house. "What the hell did he ever do to you?!"

Lily stared at Hunter blankly before speaking. "Nothing." Hunter shivered at the coldness in Lily's tone, it reminded Hunter of Tim's father, Tom, when she asked him why he abused Tim as a child when Tim did nothing to him, that was before Tom got drunk and made Isabel cry and her and Tim's wedding.

***

After filling out hours of paperwork because of the domestic turned homicide Hunter finally arrived at Tim's a few hours after midnight, being able to start the shift tomorrow later if she and Grant so wished.

Hunter unlocked the door and placed the code in so that the alarm didn't go off and wake Tim and Lexi up and so the police didn't arrive for a false alarm, what Hunter didn't realise was that Tim had heard what happened and stayed awake waiting for her to arrive.

"Hey," Hunter jumped when she heard Tim speak, he was leaning against his doorframe leading to his bedroom, his room was right across from Hunter's. "I read the report about what happened."

Hunter sighed and rubbed her temples. "That woman, Lily Jones, was abusing him for no reason and this time he fought back so she stabbed him five times in the back and twice in the heart, she also sliced his abdomen just to make sure that he did indeed die and then she stuffed him in a freezer. This all happened before Grant and I arrived because Mrs Jones was smashing everything up and screaming as if she was getting abused making the call happen after everything that happened."

Tim said nothing instead he wrapped his arms around Hunter and she melted into his hug, placing her arms around his torso and resting her forehead on his chest. "It reminded me of your Dad." Hunter hummed, she felt Tim tense. She looked up at him. "Sorry, it's just, you remember how I spoke to your Dad at your wedding asking him why he hurt you as a child before he got drunk and made Issy cry?" Tim nodded his head. "He told me in the coldest tone that it was for no reason. Well not for no reason not to him anyway, he seems to think it was to make you who you are today-"

Tim interrupted Hunter. "Hunt, you're rambling."

"Sorry, anyway she said in the coldest tone he did nothing to her to warrant the abuse and even if he did it's still wrong." Hunter said with a frown, Tim just kisses the top of her head, something he did after a long stressful day, he even did it when Isabel and him were married but it never bothered her. "Anyway, it's late. We should go to bed."

Tim nodded and separated from Hunter and walked towards his own bedroom. "Good night, Hunt."

"Night, Tim." Hunter replied as she walked to her own room and closed the door, Tim had bought her luggage seeing as she was at a crime scene and filling out paperwork involving what she knew about the murder that had occurred.

***

The next day, everyone sits and waits for Grey to arrive for the morning briefing, with Grant in front of Angela, Hunter, Tim and Talia, all of them having their claimed their seats the second each one stopped being rookies and needing to sit at the front.

"So, all right, all right. Settle down. I just got a disturbing video. Never seen anything so horrific. So prepare yourselves." Grey said.

The video shows Nolan's difficulties with the locked gate while chasing the father. "Give me a sec." Nolan on the video said.

"Such grace and athleticism has never before been seen in the LAPD," Grey said. "Is that a gazelle wearing the blues? Or a dinosaur from a long forgotten age? Now you will see Officer Chen execute a perfect flying tackle," the other officers applause for Lucy. "All right, fun's over," Grey turns the video off and hands out paper to each officer. "This is a BOLO for Mr. Lance Selby, who violated his parole yesterday. Scale from 1 to 10, this guy's a 12. Did a nickel for attempted murder with a claw hammer. So whoever gets him off the street will get a sincere handshake and Super Bowl Sunday off. That's it. Be safe out there." Everyone stands up and leaves the room.

***

Tim pulls up outside a convenience store. "I've decided on your punishment." Tim tells Lucy.

"Are you gonna tell me what it is?" Lucy asked.

"More of a "show you" kind of guy," Tim and Lucy get out of the shop and Tim notices someone on the sidewalk and calls out to him. "Ghost Head," Ghost Head was talking to someone and started walking away when he heard Tim's voice. "No, no, hold up a minute." Tim said.

"Yo, this is harassment." Ghost Head complained as he stood in front of Tim and Lucy.

"What? No, it's just good customer service. Kind of like a frequent flyer program for dirt-bag drug dealers. Search him, Boot." Tim ordered Lucy.

"Turn around, grab the wall." Lucy said, hesitating slightly.

"Make me, Boot." Ghost Head said condescendingly.

Lucy said nothing and went to grab his shoulder to turn him around when he dodged her and tried to punch her, Lucy dodged that but Ghost Head pinned her to the wall and tried to take her gun, Lucy just headbutts him, which allows her to get an upper hand, she manages to knock him to the ground and kicked him the chest when he tried to get up. Lucy then gets him face down on the pavement. "You're under arrest," she said to him as she cuffed him before looking at Tim. "That was my punishment?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"Yep. Plus I got to see if you could handle yourself, so it's really a two-fer." Tim then gave Lucy a hand lifting Ghost Head off the concrete and then lets her haul him to the car while he speaks solely to Ghost Head. "When you're telling this story in lock up,you might want to leave out the part where you got your ass kicked by a girl."

Tim opened the door to the shop, when Isabel Bradford (nee Robertson) Tim's ex wife comes out of the store. "Hey! Hey! Hey, let him go! Come on." Tim turned around, stunned at the appearance of his ex wife, the one who left him in 2016 with just signed divorced papers on the table.

"You all right here?" Lucy asked Tim who ignored her.

Tim walked slowly towards Isabel, still shocked that she was here. "Isa- Isabel?" he asked.

Isabel seemingly didn't recognize him. "Leave him alone."

Tim didn't step back, he just kept slowly moving towards her as if she was a skittish wild animal. "Isab- Isabel- it it's it's me. It's Tim. It's okay. I've been trying to find you just- just to make sure you were okay. Are you okay?" Tim asked.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" Tim moves closer to Isabel causing her to move back. "Get off me!" she yelled.

"I just want to help," Tim's voice became desperate as he spoke to his ex wife. "We just want to help."

Isabel gets an idea and looks at him. "You want to help me?" she asked.

"Yeah." Tim whispered.

"Give me all your cash." Isabel demanded.

Tim frowns. "What?"

"Give me your money." Isabel said, not backing down from the request.

"God, I'll get you rehab." Tim said earnestly.

"I don't need rehab! Come on. Please." Isabel said.

Tim digs out cash from his trouser pockets, hesitating and Isabel noticing snatches it off her and runs away.

"Hey. What- What do you want me to do with this guy?" Lucy asked.

"Let him go." Tim said, sounding slightly dejected.

"Let him go?" Lucy repeated incredulously, but she releases Ghost Head, Tim just sits himself down in the shop.

"What the hell just happened?" Lucy asked as she got into the shop.

"That was my ex-wife. I haven't seen her in almost two years." Tim said, revealing apart of him that very people have seen.

"I won't tell anyone." Lucy said.

"You're damn right you won't." Tim said, closing off once again.

Talia then radioed for assistance. "7-Adam-15. Requesting additional unit to meet us at 1350 Bellview Street. Possible location of our BOLO suspect. We are en route."

"7-Adam-19. Show us responding." Tim replied picking the radio up.

"7-Adam-20. Show us responding." Hunter said also over the radio.

"7-Adam-19, 7-Adam-20, be advised, we are approximately five minutes away." Talia said.

***

Hunter and Grant cruise down a residential street. "That's the address for Selby. All right, we'll set up in the alley behind in case Selby rabbits when Bishop and Nolan come calling." Lucy said.

They pull up in the alley and see a man standing next to a car with the trunk open, when Tim and Lucy pull up as well.

"That's our guy, Selby." Hunter said to Tim.

"Call it in. Backup and airship." Tim said.

"7-Adam-19 and 7-Adam-20. Show us code 6 on BOLO suspect. Need backup and airship." Hunter said into her radio.

Hunter, Tim, Grant and Lucy each got out from their respective shops, Lucy starts heading towards Selby when Tim stops her. "No, no, no, you stay here till we clear them from that car. LAPD, gentlemen. Step away from the car and show me your hands." Tim said.

"There a problem, officer?" Selby asked, innocently.

"There will be if you don't show me those hands," the four cops each grabbed their guns out, but didn't show them to Selby or his companion. "Now!" Tim orders.

Selby and his companion pull weapons out of the trunk of the car they're standing behind and open fire. Tim, Hunter, Lucy and Grant return fire, and Tim is hit in his midsection. Hunter gets around to his side of the car and drags him back out of the direct line of fire.

"7-Adam-19. Officer down. Shots fired. In the alley of Bellevue and Clinton. I repeat, officer down! Please send help right away!" Hunter said into her radio.

"Don't worry about me! Shoot back!" Tim ordered.

"Don't yell at me like I'm your Boot." Hunter huffed almost playfully before shooting back.

Selby's companion jumps into another car and starts to drive away down the alley, swerving past Talia and Nolan as they arrive to help.

Lucy sees that her and Tim's patrol car has caught fire and she starts to drag Tim to better cover. Selby sees them and takes aim, only to be surprised by Nolan firing at him from behind.

"You okay?" Nolan asked Tim.

"No! I got shot! You go get him, Boot! Just go!" Tim yelled, Hunter rolled her eyes at how slightly over dramatic her best friend was.

Lucy, Grant and Nolan all exchange a look as Talia comes running up. "When this is over, we're gonna have a conversation about you running off. Where's Selby?" she asked Nolan.

"He went through the alley." Nolan said before running off with Grant and Lucy following.

"Suspect heading northbound towards residence on Clinton Street." Talia said into her radio.

"7-Adam-07 arriving on scene." Jackson replied through the radio.

Hunter joins Angela and Jackson as they pull up and get out of the patrol car. Angela and Hunter both return fire as they shelter behind the car. Jackson stays on the ground, frozen, with a panicky expression on his face.

"Officer West, get out your gun and cover us!" Angela yelled over her shoulder before firing back.

Hunter looked back at Jackson. "Damn it! Get your ass up and engage the suspect! Get up!" she yelled, sounding pissed off. Hunter turns and starts shooting again, with both herself and Angela shooting Selby in the leg, Nolan, Talia, Lucy and Grant all chase after him as Jackson cowers, staring.

***

Selby spots a woman walking alone. "Hey! Hey!-" Selby grabs the woman.

"Help!" the woman screamed as Nolan, Lucy, Barnes and Talia round the corner.

Selby's gun clicks; he's out of ammo. He draws a knife and presses it to the Hostage's throat.

"Selby!" Nolan yelled.

"I'll kill her!" Selby yelled, pressing the knife to the woman's throat.

"Drop it! Drop the knife!" Nolan yelled.

"I'll kill her! Shut up!" Selby yelled, the officers standing across from him are ready to shoot if needed.

"You don't have to do this. You shot a cop, but it seems you only managed to piss him off," Lucy makes a 'you're not wrong face'. "You're not a murderer yet." Nolan said.

"Get back!" Selby yelled.

"I can't do that!" Nolan yelled.

"Now!" Selby yelled, the woman slightly screamed in fear.

"I can't do that! Look, Selby, we are in this moment together, all right? What happens next could change both of our lives. Look, I became a cop to help people, not kill them. But if you hurt her,I will pull this trigger, and you will die. I'll see your face every time I close my eyes, but you'll never see anything ever again," Nolan starts lowering his gun. "Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna lower my gun, and you're gonna let her go, okay? Nice and easy. Lower that knife. Nice and easy. You're gonna let her go. I'm lowering my-" Nolan shoots Selby in the leg. Selby falls to the ground, releasing the hostage. Nolan rushes to cuff him. "Facedown! Facedown! Put your hands behind your back!"

"Call it in, Officer Nolan." Grant said.

"Suspect in custody. Code 4." Nolan said into his radio.

Grant turns just in time to see Lucy come over and take Nolan's hand. He frowned slightly, before tapping Talia so she turned around with a frown, seeing the same interaction. "You talk to Chen." Talia whispered.

"When?" Grant hissed back.

"After shift, obviously." said Talia rolling her eyes.

***

Back at the station, Hunter was anxious, even though she was Tim's emergency contact along with Isabel being his second one if Hunter wasn't available, it did nothing to ease her worries until she got a call saying he was in the clear.

Lexi was asleep in Grey's office, having been in there all day, using his phone charger when hers died. "Grey," he turns around when Hunter says his name. "Can you explain what's going to her, I need to wait for them to tell me if he's okay." Grey nodded and started walking to his office.

Hunter's phone starts ringing and she grabs it out. "Hello? Yes, this is Lucy Chen. Thank you." Lucy hangs up, she turns to Talia. "Tim's out of surgery."

"That's good." Talia said, sighing in relief.

Hunter grins, when she spots Jackson heading to the locker room. "Excuse me." she said.

Talia nodded and turned to walk away.

***

Angela and Hunter both confront Jackson. "If you don't have what it takes on the streets, then you're not a cop. Freeze up again, and you're done. I'll call up your dad and tell him myself." Angela threatened.

"We could've died or been seriously injured because you froze up, you could've been injured too." Hunter seethed before stalking out.

***

Lucy walks towards her car when she noticed that Grant was standing there waiting for her with her arms crossed.

"Talia and I know about you and Nolan. And you were right to keep it secret, but you're wrong to keep it going. It'll brand you. No matter how good you are or how hard you work. Break things off before it's too late." Grant recommended, he knew about Tim and Hunter's relationship as rookies. "I have two friends that were dating when they were rookies, but they kept it so quiet no one knows except those they trust. If you're going to date cops, wait until you're a decorated officer." With that Grant walks to his own car, leaving Lucy to mull over her own thoughts, wondering who the two rookies were.

***

"I'm sorry." Nolan said to Bishop, as Hunter walked past the two of them, sitting in the seat beside Tim's.

"You gonna leave me again?" Talia asked.

"No." Nolan said.

"Then we're good." is what Talia said, with that she sat down and Nolan joined Jackson and Lucy.

"Okay, let's get to it. Officer Bradford should be getting out of intensive care today. If you have some time after your shift, I'm sure he won't appreciate it." Zoe said, making the other officer laugh.

Hunter made sure that Lexi actually went to school but told her to call if she needed too but only when she needed too and not if it was something minor.

Grey erases the white board, leaving just the word "Today". "Today. See, every day, we start fresh, because we can't affect the past. But we damn sure can make a difference today. All right. There was a carjacking last night on Western and Wilshire. Description matches the crew we've been hunting, so we need to hunt smarter. Lopez and West, I want you to live in that RD today. So Bishop and Nolan, coordinate with the robbery table,..." Grey said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things will be changed.

So, Tim and Hunter both still care about Isabel, because of how amicble Hunter and Tim's breakup was when they became P2s, (realizing they needed to establish themselves so neither of them got a rep) it was never awkward for the three.

Tim asked Hunter if she was okay with him and Isabel dating and Hunter reassured him multiple times that it was fine, they got together in 2010, three years after Hunter and Tim broke up.

Rose-Alexandra "Lexi" Smith, will be a recurring character, she's basically Tamara but for Hunter and Tim (even though Tim calls her Hunter's Puppy), so I will be fleshing her story out and how she's her headmaster's got an in with dirty cops.