1x09: Standoff

***

Kyle is pointing a gun at Hunter's face as Hunter is sprawled on the floor. Kyle hesitates just long enough for Hunter to kick him off balance and make him drop the gun just as it goes off, missing Hunter. They struggle; Kyle gets hold of the gun. Lexi comes out of Tim's bedroom, having walked in there earlier, with a gun in her hands. "Hey!" Lexi yelled.

Hunter throws Kyle through the wall of glass in the front of the house, shattering it and rendering Kyle unconscious. "Okay." Hunter sighed.

"Hunter, are you okay?" Lexi asked.

***

Tim and Angela had switched to a patrol car and are looking for Isabel. "I knew it was a mistake." Tim said.

"Nothing you could've done to stop it." Angela said trying to reassure her friend.

"I could've blown the operation early before she went in." Tim said.

"And then you would've gotten yourself fired. Torturing yourself isn't gonna help us find her." Angela replied.

"She's dead, Angela. Vance killed her the second they got free of our surveillance." Tim said sounding distraught.

"You don't know that." Angela said.

"Yes, I do. Just like I always knew I'd end up looking for her body." Tim replied.

Angela sighed and looked at her friend.

"We found her. Alley on Crenshaw near the 10. Get here now." Talia said over the radio.

***

Tim and Angela pull up in an alley where a body is being lifted carefully out of a dumpster. They get out of their shop and walk over to Talia. "She's alive, but it's not good. They shot her in the head." She said.

"She's alive, that's good." Tim said.

Angela places a hand on her friends arm. "You gonna go with her?" She asked.

Tim opened his mouth to answer when his phone rang, he saw Lexi's name, he answered without hesitation. "Lexi? What's up?" He asked walking away.

"We have a problem and need help. I didn't know who else to call and it was at your house." Lexi said, she sounded like she was panicking.

"Alright, I'm on my way," Tim hung up and walked towards Angela and pulled her away. "I need you to drop me home, now." He said.

Angela caught onto the urgency and ushered Tim to the shop. Informing Talia that she and Tim were leaving.

***

"You need to take your car. Go to Grant's tell him what's happened and stay there until further notice. You cannot be involved in this especially at sixteen years old." Hunter said still sitting on the floor.

"But he knows someone was here." Lexi said gesturing to Kyle who was still knocked out on the floor.

"Look, look. He has just suffered a fairly serious head injury. Odds are he's not gonna remember anything, and even if he does, he didn't see you, okay? It's a harmless lie, Lexi. It doesn't change anything about what happened here. Just go." Hunter said.

"Alright but Tim's on his way." Lexi said.

"I'll call the cops after you leave." Hunter said.

"No, do it now. I'll leave a quietly as possible." Lexi said.

Hunter nodded and stood up grabbing her phone out. "This is Detective Hunter Lopez. I was just attacked in my current place of residence. The suspect is in custody," Hunter checks on Kyle. "He's, uh, unconscious but breathing. Requires an ambulance. 8111 Tunney Ave. Thank you." Hunter said hanging up the phone.

Lexi had just left and hopefully any cops arriving wouldn't check the license plate and find out the car belonged to Tim (who bought and registered the car for Lexi.) That's when Tim himself walked in.

"Hey, Lex called." Tim said.

"How'd the bust go?" Hunter asked.

"Isabel got shot in the head, she's going to the hospital now." Tim replied.

"Good. She's alive then." Hunter said.

"Yep. And so are you." Tim comments. 

Hunter sighs and collapses onto Tim who wraps his arms around her, Tim leads her out to the patio. The two wait for the cops to arrive.

***

Later an EMT is tending to Hunter's wound, with Zoe and Tim both sitting nearby. "You sure you don't need to go to the hospital?" Zoe asked Hunter.

"No, I'm fine." Hunter said.

"Good thing you got that gun away from him." Zoe comments.

"Yes, ma'am." Hunter agrees.

Tim, Hunter and Zoe are all on the patio when Percy comes up to them. "Detective Lopez. I did not expect to see you again so soon." Percy comments.

"Me neither, sir." Hunter replied, walking into the house with Zoe and Tim following her.

"Well, can you brief me while it's still fresh in your head?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, of course. Uh, I feel asleep watching TV, I then woke up, went to the kitchen for a bite to eat. I noticed the sliding door was open. I went to investigate. That's when he hit me with the bat." Hunter said to them all.

"Why didn't he just shoot you?" Percy asked.

"I think he had something he needed to get off his chest. He was clearly feeling guilty about what happened with his brother." Hunter explained.

"He said that?" Zoe and Tim both asked at the same time.

"No, not exactly, but that's what he meant. I have four brothers myself, so I know what he means." Hunter explained.

"How did you overpower him?" Percy asked.

"I knocked him off balance when he fired the gun. The bullet hit the floor over there," Hunter, Zoe, Percy and Tim all glance over to where the bullet was. "And we fought, and I threw him through the glass," Hunter glanced over at Tim. "And then I called Tim and he came straight away." Hunter said.

"You were home alone?" Percy asked looking around, his eyes falling onto the photos that Tim had on the mantles and the walls around the house most of them being that of Hunter, Lexi and himself if he was in the photos, or some from his and Hunter's time in the army and some of a red headed woman with two sons and a daughter that Percy things is Tim's sister.

"Yes, sir. I was alone." Hunter replied.

"Doesn't Rose-Alexandra live here? Seeing as Officer Bradford owns the property and you two are her legal guardians and you've just recently returned from New York?" Percy asked looking back at the others.

"Yeah, Lexi called me saying she was going to stay with a friend tonight. I forgot to tell Hunter though." Tim said.

"Alright." Percy said nodding his head, Tim and Hunter glanced at one another quickly.

***

Even though Tim was out late with Isabel's bust and with the situation that went down at Tim's house, he still went into work and went to Grey's office. "So what are you doing here? Why aren't you at the hospital? Or at your house with Hunter?" Grey asked, gesturing for Tim to sit down in the black leather chairs on the other side of Grey's desk.

"Because I can't do brain surgery. But I can catch the guy who put that bullet in her head. And because Hunter's here so there's no need to be at my house given that it's basically a crime scene now." Tim said.

"Are you okay?" Grey asked him.

"I'm fine. Compared to her and Hunter. If she survives surgery, doctor says she might have a chance. And Hunter's a bit rattled after all this but other than that she's fine, better than Isabel." Tim said.

"She strikes me as a fighter." Grey comments. "And I know for a fact Hunter's a fighter." He adds on.

"Yeah. She's definitely that." Tim said.

"Tim, Wolfe and Vestri were doing their jobs with Isabel. Making what happened personal is not gonna get you what you want. You understand?" Grey asked.

Tim hesitates. "Yeah." He stands up and walks out.

***

Tim and Talia are watching Vestri and Wolfe interrogate Carson through the observation room audio and window. "You know what Vance did to your girlfriend?" Vestri asked.

"Who?" Carson replied.

"You sent Isabel Robertson out to make a buy for you last night, and Marcus Vance shot her in the head." Wolfe said using Isabel's maiden name rather than her married name.

"Ouch." Carson said not the least sympathetic.

Wolfe shoves the table into Caron, trapping him between the table and the wall. "Listen!" Wolfe yelled.

"Hey, hey!" Carson yelled as the two detectives leaned closely towards him.

"Carson, today is not the day to screw around." Wolfe warned.

"Where can we find Vance?" Vestri asked.

"No way," Carson shook his head. "I tell you that, they'll put a bullet in my head, too." He said.

"Son, you don't have a play here. If you don't give him up, every cop in this building will make sure word gets back to Vance that you ratted him out." Wolfe warns.

Carson contemplates his options.

***

Hunter walks towards Zoe's office, where she and Percy are seated, Hunter taps on the door frame. The two superior officers looked up. "Detective Lopez, come in." Zoe said.

"Is everything okay?" Hunter asked.

"Have a seat. You've officially been cleared in the Alex Montgomery shooting. It was deemed a justifiable homicide." Zoe informs Hunter.

Hunter sighs. "That's a relief. Thank you. I thought you were calling me in here for bad news." Se said. Zoe shared a look with Percy, something Hunter noticed. "No, what now?" She asked.

"A new investigation has been opened into your altercation last night." Percy said.

"Kyle attacked me. What is there to investigate?" Hunter asked, rightfully sounding miffed.

"It's pro forma. Shouldn't take, uh, but a day or two. As long as you've been truthful, there shouldn't be an issue." Percy said, neither he nor Zoe noticed how Hunter tensed up slightly.

"You'll be restricted to the station while we get this straightened out," Hunter made an annoyed face, something Zoe and Percy chuckled at. "But I'm sure you could enjoy a day of quiet after everything you've been through." Zoe added. "So, check in with Officer Yamada." She suggested.

"Thank you." Hunter then left.

***

Hunter's buried deep in her own thoughts that she almost doesn't see Grant, but she saw him time so that she didn't crash into him. "Hey, you okay?" He asked.

"No, I got put on desk duty until they investigate." Hunter looks around and lowers her voice. "How is she?" Hunter asked quietly.

"I don't think it's sunk in yet." Grant replied.

"Thanks for taking her, sorry for that by the way. You're the first person I thought of, given that Angela was helping search for Isabel." Hunter said.

"It's fine, I promise." Grant reassured her.

"Good," Hunter looks over into the briefing room. "What's going on in roll call?" She asked.

"Wolfe and Vestri got a couple possible locations on the dealer that shot Tim's ex-wife, so we're getting ready to hunt the guy down." Grant said looking in the roll call room. He starts walking towards it.

"Be careful." Hunter said to her partner.

"Yeah. You too." Grant replied, walking over to Lucy while the two walked into roll call together.

***

"So, according to Carson, Vance is most likely located at a warehouse facility in South Gate at this address," Grey points to the board. "All right, Detectives Wolfe and Vestri will stake it out with patrol units from that division, while you guys will head over to Bronson Estates, where Carson says Vance's girlfriend, Cesiah Olivo, lives." Grey said to his patrol officers.

"But Carson doesn't know which apartment she lives in, so we'll have to do some knocking on doors." Wolfe added.

"All right, listen up. This has the potential of being a very dangerous operation. Vance is a heavy hitter. He has a well-armed crew. So he won't go down easy. All right, watch each other's backs out there, and be careful." Grey told his crew.

The patrol officer start exiting the room. "Hey, I'm so sorry about Isabel." Lucy said to Tim as they walked out.

"Yeah. Thanks. Go kit up our shop. Ask Mike for the Bradford Special." Tim replied.

"What is that?" Lucy asked.

"You'll see." Tim replied.

***

"Fill out one of these." Yamada said handing a civilian a form.

"Yamada, you're stuck with me today. Until I'm cleared." Hunter said.

"Nice to see you too Lopez." Yamada drawled with an amused smile. "This must be torture for you, stuck behind a desk all day." He comments.

"It is, I hate not being able to be out on the street." Hunter said.

"You'll be cleared soon, don't worry." Yamada said with certainty. "You know what do right?" Hunter nodded and Yamada leaned over and grabbed a form. "You fill out one of these. Stamp it right here, in the uppermost right-hand corner. Give the complaint filer a copy." He reminded her.

"Got it." Hunter said. She reaches for a stamp before realising that she almost grabbed the wrong one. She then takes another stamp and stamps the blank form in the upper right hand corner. 

Yamada takes the form and examines the stamp. "Not bad. But it's important the stamp stay within the confines of the designated area. You got some line crossage. Do it again." Hunter groaned in annoyance. "I can't wait for the day you get to my age and can't be allowed on the streets." Yamada comments with an amused smile.

"Nolan's your age and he's a rookie." Hunter points out.

"That tells me that you'll be on the street till your Jerry's age." Yamada said referring to one of the other officers.

"Correct." Hunter said.

***

Tim and Lucy were heading to the kit room when Percy stopped them both. "I need to speak to Officer Bradford, you go on Lucy." Percy said to the brunette who nodded her head. "I need to talk to you about Detective Lopez."

"Sir, with all due respect you spoke to me last night and I thought she was cleared for the shooting." Tim replied.

"She was. It's just, uh, most officers never face a fatal shooting or a violent home invasion. Lopez's had both in a 48-hour span. Not to mention the home invasion was at your house." Percy said.

"Sir, if you're concerned about her head space, don't be. Okay, she was the kind of person at the Academy helping to study for an exam, she's a good person. She's just hit some bad luck." Tim said.

"Hmm." Percy said, sounding like he wasn't certain.

"You don't think so?" Tim asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, let's - let's just say something feels a little off. Good luck finding whoever shot your ex-wife." Percy said before walking off down the hall.

Tim watched as Percy walked away before heading to his shop.

***

Hunter was talking to someone at the front desk. "Are you deaf? I said Shakespeare stole my dog." A man named Flawless said.

"The Shakespeare?" Hunter asked, so far as she was aware Shakespeare was dead and in England.

"Is there more than one?" Flawless asked.

"I don't know. You said your name was "Flawless." I'm just trying to roll with it." Hunter said. "Flawless" grabs the form and flounces away. To the next visitor. "Can I help you?" She asked.

The woman walks up to the desk. "Can you arrest someone for being incompetent, uncaring, self-centered, unfaithful, and pathologically late?" She asked.

"I wish, I'd arrest my father, if he wasn't dead." Yamada gave Hunter a look. "What's this about?" Hunter asked.

"My husband - Ex-husband. Soon-to-be ex-husband. We have our custody exchange scheduled for now, and he's late, as usual." Wendell's mom said.

"Scheduled for here at the station?" Hunter asked.

"Yes. Here. Court ordered. W-What are you, new?" Wendell's mom asked sounding confused.

"No, I'm not. I've just been dumped with desk duty. Normally I'm out on the streets." Hunter replied.

"Oh." Wendell's mom said.

"Whatever, just a day or two and I'm back out there." Hunter said mostly to herself.

"Look, Wendell's father and I hate each other with the passion of a thousand burning suns. So the judge thought the police station would be the best place for us to make our switch." Wendell's mom explained.

"Makes sense." Hunter comments.

"Only I am going to get fired if I'm late for work again. So can I leave him with you?" Wendell's mom asked.

"Oh. Um yeah, of course. Just make sure he has your number." Hunter said.

"Thank you," she walked over to her son. "Wendell, I've got to go. Your dad will be here any minute. Officer...?" She trailed off and the two looked over at Hunter.

"Detective Lopez." Hunter supplied.

"Detective Lopez will look after you until then, okay? I love you." She kisses her son on the cheek and then turns to Hunter. "Thanks." She said.

"So, how's it going?" Hunter asked awkwardly.

"Thought I was going to soccer practice. Instead, I'm stuck in the lobby of a smelly police station." Wendell said shrugging.

"I feel your pain." Hunter said when Yamada gave her a look.

***

Three patrol cars pull into the parking lot. Tim, Talia, Grant, Lucy, Nolan, Angela, and Jackson get out. "Let's gear up. Got your backup piece?" Tim asked Lucy.

"Uh, yeah, of course," Tim hands her a metal plate. "What's this?" She asked.

"Trauma plate for your vest. Little extra protection." Tim replied unbuttoning the top three buttons of his uniform and placing the trauma plate in and then buttoning up again.

"Oh," Lucy removes her tie and does the same as Tim. "Bradford Special. You really think we're gonna need this?" She asked.

"You know why they call this place the Bronson Estates?" Tim asked her.

Lucy glances around. "'Cause a guy named Bronson built it?" She asked.

"No," Angela said, Lucy and Jackson turned to her, while Tim adjusted his uniform shirt back to where it was most comfortable. "Back when you were in short pants, there was a movie called "Death Wish." Starred Charles Bronson." Angela said.

"Yeah. For a long time, responding to a call here meant that you had a death wish." Talia said.

"But it's better now, right?" Jackson asked.

"It's no longer the wild, wild west. Lots of low-income families live here. But it never hurts to be cautious." Angela replied.

Lucy goes over to get something out of the car. Jackson follows her. The two of them talk.

They rejoin the group, where Tim has retrieved a large rifle from the trunk. "Let's go." Tim said.

"A little extra shock and awe?" Angela asked.

"Damn straight." Tim replied.

"We're here to talk to people, not scare the hell out of them." Grant said.

"Speak for yourself." Everyone gives him a look, with Angela's reminding Tim of Hunter's. "All right," Tim puts the rifle back in the trunk. "Let's do this. This'll go faster if we split up," Tim turns to Grant. "You all right riding solo?" He asked him.

"Have you met me?" Grant asked.

"Okay. Chen and I will start on three. You take two, Nolan and Bishop will take four. Jackson and Lopez will ground floor it. Stay in constant radio contact." Tim holds the door open for the others to enter the building.

"What a gentleman." Angela comments as she walks past him, Tim rolled his eyes.

***

Hunter walks over to where Wendell is sitting and crouches down beside his chair and showed him what she was holding. "All I could find were these. I thought maybe you could color them." She suggested.

Wendell looks at them and nods. "Cool. You got crayons?" He asked.

"Um, maybe. Let me check." Hunter said, she ends up in the bullpen going through each desk draw and finding crayons when she hits the jackpot, someone, Hunter presumes Angela by the way things are organized, that's when Percy comes over. 

"Looking for something?" Percy asked.

"Uh, yeah. Crayons. Long story." Hunter said.

"You got a minute?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. What's up?" Hunter asked placing the crayons down.

"Maybe we should go somewhere a little more private." Percy suggested.

"Okay." Hunter said sounding confused.

***

Percy leads Hunter into the interrogation room and closes the door. "Seems serious." She comments.

Percy gestures for Hunter to sit down and she did, so did Percy, sitting across from her. "Oh, not at all. It's just, something's come up that I need to get clarity on. Kyle Montgomery, the man who attacked you, he claims that you lured him to your house in order to kill him." He said.

"That's ridiculous. Why would I do that?" Hunter asked.

"That's what I thought. But I have to ask. You didn't do that, right?" Percy asked.

"No." Hunter said shaking her head.

"Great. Good," Hunter and Percy stand up and walk towards the door when Percy remembers something. "Oh. You know, he also said one other thing. He insists there was someone else at your house. Says he heard a voice before you knocked him out. You said you were alone, right?" He asked her.

"Yeah." Hunter said.

"Are you lying to me, Detective Lopez?" Percy asked.

"No, sir." Hunter said looking Percy dead in the eyes.

***

Officers are knocking on doors and getting an assortment of responses. "Go away!" A woman yelled.

"Get out of here!" Another man yelled at a different apartment.

Grant knocks on the door to an apartment, a man opens it and sees his uniform, so he closed the door before Grant could speak.

***

Hunter was sitting at the front desk deep in thought. "Something bothering you, Officer Nolan?" Yamada asked.

"Uh, no, I'm fine." Hunter replied.

"Liar." Yamada said.

"I just had, uh, an intense couple of days, and I'm not quite sure how to talk about it yet." Hunter said.

"Long as you're clear with yourself, there's no reason you have to share anything. I'm taking the kid for a snack. Mind the fort." Yamada said.

"Yes, sir." Hunter said, Yamada moves away from the desk and takes Wendell to the break room. Hunter takes out her phone and hesitates over calling Grant to talk about what to do seeing as Kyle knows someone else was in the house. She's interrupted when a disheveled man comes up to the counter.

"Yo." Jeff said.

"How can I help you?" Hunter asked  putting her phone away.

"I'm, uh, Jeff Turner. I'm here to pick up my my son. Wendell." Jeff said gesturing around.

"Right. Officer Yamada just took him to the break room for a Doritos run. They shouldn't be a few minutes. Do you have any photo I.D.?" Hunter asked.

"Oh, yeah." Jeff fumbles in his jacket for his wallet, has trouble extricating it, and then drops it on the floor, scattering the contents. He picks up the pieces.

Hunter comes around the counter. "Mr. Turner, have you been drinking?" She asked.

"No, no. I mean, you know, not really. Just a little a little eye-opener." Jeff said.

"That's not a thing. How'd you get here? Did you drive?" Hunter asked.

"No. No, um Uber." Jeff replied.

"Why don't you come with me? Right over here." Hunter leads Jeff to the Holding area. "I'm gonna let you sober up in here for a little while. I can't let you take your son home in this condition. And I don't think you want to let him see you like this." She said to him.

"I'm fine." Jeff replied.

"Or I can arrest you for being drunk and disorderly, and you can see how much fun L.A. County Prison is." Hunter warned. Jeff grudgingly steps into a holding cell and NOLAN shuts the door on him.

***

Tim knocks on the apartment door. "Who's there?" Cesiah asked before opening the door.

"Gas company," Tim lied, Cesiah opens the door, then tries to shut it when she sees cops. Tim stops her and steps inside. "Cesiah Olivo. Just the woman we're looking for." He states, Lucy followed Tim in.

"Marcus isn't here." Cesiah said.

"Yeah, we're gonna need to be sure." Tim replied.

Lucy slammed the door shut and moved to check the bedroom.

"Hey, you can't -" Cesiah was saying.

"Sit!" Tim snapped, he looked in the kitchen. "Clear." He said.

"Clear." Lucy said from the bathroom.

"When's the last time you heard from Vance?" Tim asked as Cesiah sat down on the couch.

"Yesterday. He was supposed to come over last night. He never showed up." Cesiah replied.

"You know who he is? What he does for a living?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah." Cesiah looked down.

"And you're okay with that?" Lucy asked.

"No. But I was pregnant by the time I found out. And he made me move in here so his guys can keep an eye on me. Make sure I don't go anywhere." Cesiah replied.

"So you're a prisoner." Tim comments.

"No. But he had a son who died in a car accident. He needs to make sure nothing happens to our baby." Cesiah replied.

"You want out, we can get you out." Tim said to her.

"Only if I give him up. Forget it." Cesiah replied.

"If we -" Tim started to say.

"Cesiah, do you really want a guy like that taking care of your child? There's no guarantee that he'll keep you around after this baby is born." Lucy said interrupting Tim and sitting down on an ottoman.

"All you have to do is call him. Say you're not feeling well. You're worried about the baby." Tim suggested.

"I can't."

"It's one call. We get him out of your life for good, make sure you and the baby are safe." Tim said.

Cesiah scoffs. "You promise?" She asked.

"He hurt someone I used care a lot about. He's going away forever." Tim replied.

Ceisah calls Vance.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Why are you calling?"

"You need to come over. I I don't feel right. I-I'm worried that there's something wrong."

"I'm sure everything's okay. You're probably just overreacting."

"I'm not. What if there's something wrong with the baby?"

"Okay, okay. Stay put. I'll come over as soon as I can."

***

Grant pauses upon hearing gunshots being fired, he grabs his radio. "Tim, what's going on?" Grant asked into the radio getting static in return.

***

Tim and Lucy both look around hearing the gunshots and Tim grabs his radio. "7-Adam-19. Shots fired at Bronson Estates." Tim's met with static and he tries again. "Control, respond." He said.

"Marcus has a frequency jammer in the basement. One of his guys brought it back from Iraq." She explained.

"No signal." Lucy said grabbing her phone out.

Cesiah started throwing clothes in a suitcase. "We don't have time for packing. We gotta go." Tim said.

"Hush." Lucy said shooting Tim a look.

"I need things for the baby. I can't leave here without them."

"It's okay. We're gonna get you to a safe place. When are you due?" Lucy asked.

"A week ago."

Tim looks through the peephole. "Vance," he turns to Cesiah "Your boyfriend's here." He said.

One of Vance's men knocks on the door. "To the police officers inside, I'm here for Cesiah. She walks out, you walk away. Otherwise, we're gonna come in and take her." Vance said.

"No, you're not. 'Cause you can't risk her getting hit in the crossfire. You give up, we'll make sure she goes to the hospital when the baby comes." Tim replied.

"Forget it. I'm not leaving here without my kid." Vance said.

"Then I'd say we're at a stalemate." Tim said.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked making her way over to Tim.

"I bought us a little time, but they're coming through that door soon enough. And I'm not sure we can stop them." Tim said he then looked through the peephole. There are now three gunmen in the hallway outside Cesiah's door.

***

Hunter is talking to Percy in the roll call room. "I think I know what happened. I had the TV on back at the house. "Top Chef." Kyle must've heard that and got confused." Hunter said.

"Yeah. Could be. Let me ask you this When I was there, I noticed that Officer Bradford's gun safe for his off duty piece was unlocked but you didn't have the gun on you. I found the gun under the couch." Percy said.

Hunter recoils slightly upon hearing that Percy looked around Tim's house and in Tim's bedroom. "I sometimes keep my off duty piece in that gun safe and it was mine that you found under the couch, Kyle kicked it there when he noticed that I had it. I thought I closed the safe." Hunter lied.

"Mhm." Percy said, as if deciding whether or not he thought Hunter was telling the truth.

"Um, I should get back to the front desk." Hunter said, getting off the table she was sitting on.

"You have a daughter, don't you?" Percy asked before Hunter could leave.

"No, I'm just the legal guardian of Rose-Alexandra Smith, as is Tim. She's 16." Hunter replied.

"That in my book makes her your daughter. The biggest sin for my kids was lying. I told Jackson from an early age I can forgive anything but dishonesty." Percy informed Hunter.

"I told Lexi something similar when Tim and I fostered her together." Hunter said.

"You have till the end of the day to amend your statement. After that -" Percy trailed off.

"Understood." Hunter said and left.

***

Grant is walking carefully through the apartment building when he gets shot at by some of Vance's men, getting it in the arm, he manages to get away and manages to somehow find Nolan and Talia, with the young woman having been shot herself.

"Oh good. How'd you guys get here?" Grant asked.

"Stairs." Talia replied.

She is pounding on the door. An older woman answers. "What do you want?" Josie asked.

"I'm sorry, but we need to come in. Are you here alone?" Grant and Nolan walk in followed shortly by Talia who shuts the door.

"No, my husband's here. What's happening?" Josie asked.

"There are at least three active shooters in this building. We've lost comms, and our fellow officers are in danger." Talia said. She picks up the phone but gets no dial tone.

"Oh, I-I stopped paying the bills months ago. My husband has cancer. And all of the money goes to his treatment. Look, he can barely get out of bed anymore. And you are putting him in jeopardy by just being here." Josie told the three cops in the apartment.

"I'm sorry, but until I think of a better option, you're stuck with me. Now, if you could find some medical supplies, I'd love to take care of this arm and I'm sure Grant would as well." Talia said to her.

Grant nodded. "Oh, God. Of course. If I have anything, I have medical supplies." Josie said.

***

"You okay?" Lucy asked Cesiah noticing how the woman winced in pain as she walks back to the couch.

"A contraction." Cesiah said.

"Okay." Lucy said, helping Cesiah to the couch.

"Really big one." Cesiah said.

"All right. Maybe you should sit down," Cesiah sits down and Lucy turns to Tim. "How long until somebody knows we're missing?" She asked him.

"It might be a while. We're on special assignment here. They don't expect us to check in regularly," Tim pauses as he tries to look through the peephole. "They blocked the peephole." He said annoyed at that.

"What, so we're blind?" Lucy asked.

"No, we're not. Find me some tape." Tim said looking up at the window above the door.

"Cesiah, do do you have any tape?" Lucy asked.

Cesiah waved at a drawer. "Front, front. Just -" She trailed off.

"Give me your body cam. Put tape right here," Lucy took her bodycam off and Tim attached it to his baton. "There's a body-cam app on your city-issued phone. Open it," Tim holds it up to the transom window, sees gunmen in the hall. "They're getting ready to come in. Help me barricade the door." Tim said.

"Lucy." Cesiah said.

"Yeah?" Lucy asked turning around.

"My water just broke." Cesiah sinks back onto the couch in pain.

"What are we gonna do? If they break through the door, we're gonna get overrun." Lucy said.

"Gotta get to them first. Okay." Tim said.

Lucy is holding the phone for him to see the hallway outside on the body cam. Tim crouches in front of the door with two handguns aimed at it. When he sees the men in the hall come at the door, he fires a row of shots through the door and the wall, bringing down at least one of the gunmen. They return fire and Cesiah screams from the couch. Then the shooting stops suddenly.

"Should we move her to a different room?" Lucy asked.

"No. Looks like we're clear for now." Tim said.

"I need to go to the hospital. The baby's coming." Cesiah replied.

"Yeah, no, I know, I know. But that's not possible right now." Lucy states.

"Wait. So, what? You're gonna deliver my baby?" Cesiah asked.

"Uh - Yes. Yes, I guess I am." Lucy said.

***

Hunter sat with Wendell behind the desk, with Wendell colouring and Hunter writing a report. "Will my dad be here soon?" Wendell asked, looking at Hunter.

Hunter things for a moment. "Wendell, your dad's actually here already. He was only a few minutes late. But when he arrived -" Hunter trailed off.

"He was drunk." Wendell said.

"Yeah. I'm having him sleep it off in one of the cells." Hunter said.

"He's drunk a lot. That's why they're getting divorced. But my mom says it doesn't mean he loves me any less." Wendell said.

"Well, she's right. And I'm sorry I almost lied to you. I thought I was going to be protecting you if I lied, but I - I see you deserve the truth, so I told you." Hunter said.

"It's okay. My folks lie to me a lot these days. I know they mean well, but it just makes things a lot worse, you know?" Wendell asked. Hunter hummed at that.

***

Wolfe and Vestri enter the elevator and the doors close. On the second floor, Talia, Nolan and Grant all hear footsteps and looks out the peephole to see three gunmen enter the hallway.

"Get beside me." One of then gunmen said.

The gunmen take up positions to fire on whoever is coming up in the elevator. The elevator door opens, revealing the detectives. The gunmen open fire on them. Talia steps out of the apartment and fires on the gunmen as Wolfe and Vestri fall, wounded.

"Go! This way! Found one! Shoot him! Shoot him, shoot him!" A gunman yelled.

The gunmen fall back as Talia continues firing. She makes her way over to the detectives, who are bloodied but conscious.

"You good to walk?" Talia asked.

"Yeah." Vestri said.

"I'm not." Wolfe said.

"Come on," Talia and Vestri grab hold of Wolfe and drag him into the apartment. "Can you get some towels please?" Talia asked.

"Yes. Hold on." Josie said.

Grant and Nolan were sitting on the floor, against the wall beside Josie's husband's bed, both looking up seeing Vestri and Wolfe. "Okay," Talia speaks to Vestri, who has collapsed against the wall. "Help me take off his vest. He –" Talia sees that VESTRI is unresponsive.

"Oh, my God. Is he dead?" Josie asked.

***

Cesiah is well into labor by now, breathing heavily and screaming. "It's okay. Just - Just breathe. I know that sounds cliché, but I promise it does work." Lucy said.

"Have you done this before?" Cesiah asked.

"No, no. But I aced it at the Academy. I know Your birth plan didn't involve a cop and your couch, but I promise you, I will protect you and your baby. Okay?" Lucy asked.

"Okay." Cesiah said.

"I'll be right back." Lucy said.

"Okay." Cesiah said.

Lucy goes to get another towel from the kitchen. "I assume this is another test." She said.

"They don't stop just 'cause we're pinned down. And let's face it, you'd think less of me if they did." Tim said.

"Yes. Okay." Lucy said.

Unbeknownst to them, someone starts sawing the wall in the next room. Things are silent for a while, something feels off.

***

Talia is keeping pressure on Wolfe's wound as Josie is heating Talia's knife over the stove. "Are you sure about this?" Josie asked.

"We can't let him bleed out. Just don't let it turn white. If it's too hot, it'll do more harm than good," Talia starts speaking to herself. "Identify. Isolate. Repair or close." She said.

"A-Are you talking to me?" Josie asked.

"No. Talia's just trying to remember how they taught us to cauterize an artery. Okay, Talia, Isolate." Grant reminds his friend.

"Okay. You ready for this? Here." Josie hands, Talia the red-hot knife.

"Ready or not." Talia said.

"Okay," Talia applies the flat of the knife to Wolfe's wound as he groans. "Is it okay?" Josie asked.

"No, it's still bleeding." Talia said.

"You've got this. I-I have faith." Josie said.

Apparently the procedure work; Talia withdraws the knife and gets a towel to continue applying pressure. "Close."

"You did it." Josie said.

"It won't matter if we can't get him out of this building soon." Talia said.

Suddenly the power goes out, Grant stands up and tries to turn the light on. "Power's out." He said.

Suddenly the police radios start to work. Talia looks out the peephole; the hallway is empty. "7-Adam-15. Officer needs help at Bronson Estates. Officers down, multiple gunmen. Send airship, S.W.A.T., R.A.s, everything you got." She said into her radio grabbing it out.

"7-Adam-15, roger that. Help is on the way." Dispatch said.

***

Hunter makes her way over to Percy who's heading up to Zoe's office and turns around when Hunter calls out for him. "Commander West, if you have a moment. There's something I'd like to tell you."

Percy opens his mouth when Zoe comes down the stairs. "A distress call just came in. Citywide, tactical alert. Percy, Hunter, come with me," the three walk with Zoe to somewhere more private. "Your son is one of the officers involved. Hunter, your partner, your sister and officer Bradford are also officers involved in the situation." Zoe said looking at the Detective.

Percy turns around to Hunter. "Why are you standing there? It's all hands on deck." He said. Hunter runs towards the kit room.

***

But soon, the baby is here. Lucy wraps the baby up, handing them to Cesiah. "It's a girl." Lucy said.

"Good job, Boot." Tim said.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked standing up and walking over to Tim.

Tim's looking at the body cam monitor at the empty hallway. "Something's not right," the sound of crashing comes from the next room. "Look out!" Tim yelled.

Pony comes through the door behind Lucy, who turns, draws, and gets shot by him. She falls to the floor and her gun goes flying. Tim knocks Pony down and fires at the other gunman.

There's gunshots being fired around the apartment.

Vance moves towards Cesiah who's on the couch holding her baby. "Come here."

"No. No!! No!" Cesiah screamed.

"Hey!" One of Vance's men yelled.

Lucy becomes aware of the melee; she was semi-conscious after her trauma plate stopped the bullet. Tim is battling the gunmen while Vance is trying to take the baby away from Cesiah. "No. No! No! No! No! No! No!" Cesiah screamed.

"Hey!" Lucy yelled.

She pulls out her gun and Vance's moves back into the room to try and escape, Lucy kicks the back of a gunman's leg who's holding Tim in a chokehold and she starts fighting him while Tim starts fighting another one.

Lucy pepper-sprays the gunman that she was fighting while the one Tim was fighting ended up going through a wall.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you." Tim said reading the gunman he fought the Miranda rights.

***

Jackson and Angela are defending their position against machine-gun fire. "I'm out." Jackson said.

"Me too." Angela replied.

A canister comes bouncing down the basement stairs, then erupts in a flash and smoke. The thugs scream and cover their ears as Percy and Hunter come down the stairs shouting at them.

"On your stomach!" Hunter yelled.

"Get down on your stomach right now!"

"Now! Get down!" Hunter yelled again.

"Do it again! Hands behind your back!" Percy yelled.

"Give me your hand! Right hand. Don't you move." Hunter warned.

Hunter and Percy cuff the men and exchange a look. "Come on. Get up. All right." Officers said to the gunmen.

Jackson emerges from cover and sees his dad. "Dad?" Jackson and Percy hug.

Angela emerges from cover as well. "Hunter?" She asked.

"Oh thank god." Hunter hugs her sister.

***

Tim is talking to Grey with Hunter standing nearby. "I just want a second with him." Tim said.

"Uh, that's a terrible idea." Hunter said.

"I can't think of a worse idea," Grey sighs. "Don't let me regret this, Tim." He warned.

"I'll go with him. Make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Hunter said, Grey nodded.

Tim goes over to the patrol car where Vance is cuffed and waiting for transport. "The woman you shot and threw in a dumpster - Her name is Isabel. She's my ex-wife. And because of what you did a friend of mine got hurt and nearly killed. Because I was looking for Isabel."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sure your friends okay. But a dead cop's wife or even ex wife always makes me happy." Vance said.

"She's not dead. And when she gets on the stand, she's gonna put you away for the rest of your life." Tim said. Hunter notices the colour drain from Vance's face. The two of them walk away talking.

***

Hunter hesitates in the open doorway, she was contemplating telling Percy that Lexi was there but she couldn't, she couldn't risk Lexi being involved. "Yeah." Hunter heard Percy say as he was talking to Zoe.

Zoe notices Hunter in the doorway. "Come in," Hunter steps inside. "We wanted to update you on the Kyle Montgomery investigation." She said.

"Okay." Hunter said.

"I'm clearing you for active duty, Detective Lopez." Percy said.

"Meaning case closed?" Hunter asked.

"Yes. I believe Kyle Montgomery attacked you in your home and you acted appropriately, using non-lethal force to subdue him. Also, your bravery and competence today proves to me that you're ready to return to the field." Percy explained.

"Detective Lopez, you don't seem happy." Zoe comments.

"No. Um I am, I am. It's just been a long couple of days." Hunter said.

"Well, that's understandable. Why don't you go home and get some rest? Tomorrow's a new day." Zoe suggested.

"Thank you." Hunter then left.

***

Hunter notices Tim and walks towards him. "I'm cleared for active duty. I better give Grant the good news." She said.

"That's great." Tim said.

"You should visit Isabel," Tim opens his mouth. "I know she left you but she was still your wife and you're allowed to still care about her even if she divorced you." Hunter said smiling at Tim before walking off.

Tim watched as Hunter walked off before deciding to go check on Isabel like she suggested.

***

Hunter had returned home, seeing as she'd decided to tell Grant in the morning and she just collapsed on her bed after making sure that everything was locked and then she fell onto her bed and fell asleep.

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Fun episode.

Hope you enjoyed it.

I'm really excited for season 5 and for episode 22 of season 4.