1x10: Flesh and Blood

***

Grey walks into the roll call room and up to the podium. "All right. Look alive, look alive. Officer Nolan, you ready?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." Nolan replied.

"Good. Now, answer me this. What is your favorite part about the job? And don't say "To make a difference."." Grey said.

"I wasn't going to. But it is." Nolan said.

"What's your least favorite?" Grey asked.

"Oh, that's easy. Paperwork." Nolan said.

Zoe steps into the room; she's in a patrol uniform. "Imagine how I feel." She comments.

The officers murmur in surprise at that. "All right." Hunter and Angela said at the same time.

"Most of what a captain does is paperwork. 'Cause of that, I feel like I've lost touch with what being a cop is really about. People. It's not only the citizens that we serve and protect. It's every single one of you in this room. So, to remedy that, I've decided Sergeant Grey and I are gonna ride patrol today." Zoe said.

"Together?" Tim asked. Hunter laughed slightly.

"No. We're each gonna ride with a rookie, and their respective T.O.s will pair up. Well that was the original plan. The new plan is that Officer Bishop will ride with Officer Lawrence and Detective Lopez you're with Officer Bradford." Zoe said.

"Thanks." Hunter called out to Zoe who nodded her head.

"Ma'am, I'd be honored if you'd ride with me." Jackson said.

"That is sweet, Officer West, but today I'm riding with Officer Chen." Zoe said.

Lucy looks up at that. "Sergeant Grey, I'd be honored if you rode with Officer West today." Nolan said.

"That's cute, Officer Nolan. But you know my heart belongs to you." Grey replied.

"Lucky me." Nolan drawled under his breath.

***

"Lot of weight on your shoulders today, Boot." Tim said as he, Hunter and Lucy were walking in the bullpen.

"Why? What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Riding with the captain is a huge responsibility." Hunter said. "If anything happens to her, well - I don't even know how to finish that sentence." She added.

"I do. Andersen gets a scratch, and you'll be working motor pool in Sylmar till you die of carbon monoxide poisoning." Tim said.

***

Tim and Hunter are standing next to the shop, glaring at each other. "So, you didn't get the gear?" Tim asked.

"Neither did you. Do I look like your boot? I never was, we were rookies together so, it looks like we're at an impasse." Hunter said staring Tim down.

"I have an idea." Tim said.

"You're not making Lucy get the gear." Hunter said. Tim didn't answer and walked out the carport and came back a few moments later. Hunter sighed.

***

Lucy is loaded down, trying to carry twice the equipment she usually does. Zoe comes along and sees Lucy struggling. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. What are you doing?" Zoe asked.

"Oh, um, Officer Bradford told me to set up their shop, as well, so I'm just -" Lucy trailed off.

"Bradford, Lopez!" Zoe yelled.

Hunter and Tim step out of the garage. "Yes, Captain?" The two of them asked.

"Officer Chen is my boot today. Is that perfectly clear?" Zoe asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Tim replied.

"Get your gear." Zoe said.

Tim walked to the kit room, Hunter turned to Zoe. "To be clear Ma'am, I had nothing to do with this. It was all Tim's idea." She said, Zoe just smiled slightly.

Tim walks over and goes back to the garage and Hunter follows shortly after.

***

"I mean, how could we not respond? It was a shots-fired call." Jackson said to Angela after being sent away from Zoe and Lucy's domestic call that ended up the husband killing himself.

"Did the captain ask for backup?" Angela asked as she and Jackson walked to a table.

"No. But -"

"But nothing," Angela interrupted. "She's not a damsel in distress. If that were Grey, would you have insisted we ride in like the cavalry? And now you created a real problem, instead of the fake one you made up in your head." Angela replied.

A man runs past with something under his arm, followed by another man in a suit. Angela catches the second man by the arm, stopping him. "Stop that guy! He's getting away! Hey, stop! Let go of me." Wesley Evers snapped at Angela.

"Calm down." Angela said.

"Calm down? I was just chasing the guy that stole my briefcase, but you let him get away. And, by the way, you're supposed to identify yourself before you engage a suspect." Wesley added.

"A, I had no way of knowing you were the victim here, and B, I didn't have time to identify myself due to the immediacy of the situation." Angela said.

"Try that on someone who isn't a lawyer." Wesley said.

"Do you want to file a report on your briefcase or keep telling me how to do my job?" Angela asked.

"Well, I don't have all day, so I guess I'll file a report." Wesley said with a false smile.

"How about I take care of the report and you go enjoy your coffee?" Jackson suggested, holding his and Angela's coffee.

"I have a locator in my briefcase. If we go now, I can track it." Wesley said turning to Jackson.

"Yeah, we can't just wander around on a scavenger hunt." Angela rolled her eyes.

"Okay, can you give us a second, please?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah." Wesley said.

Jackson and Angela step aside. "Look, maybe we should help him. Otherwise, I bet he'll file a complaint." Jackson said.

"Fine. But if he gives me any more attitude, he's gonna taste pepper spray." Angela warned Jackson. "Let's go." "Let's go." Angela and Wesley said at the same time.

"Yeah. This is gonna go great." Jackson said to himself as Angela and Wesley trudged ahead.

***

Tim and Hunter are walking through the hallway of an apartment building. "All right. I'll be contact, you be cover." Tim said.

"You don't trust me to be contact?" Hunter asked.

"Fine. You be contact, I'll be cover." Tim said.

"Don't do me any favors." Hunter states.

There's a woman standing beside a closed door, looking frightened. Hunter and Tim speak at the same time. "What's going on?" "You called 911 -"

Tim and Hunter turned to each other and spoke at the same time. "But you said -" "Said I was gonna be con -"

"Never mind. Go ahead." Tim said turning back to the woman, Margaret.

"Okay. What's the problem?" Hunter asked.

"We've had some recent break-ins. We had one last night. I went to do laundry just now, and someone's hiding in the basement." Margaret said.

"Are you sure it's not a tenant?" Hunter asked.

"Yes. I shouted, and he didn't say anything. But I know he is still down there." Margaret said.

"Okay. We'll check it out. Go wait in your apartment."

***

Tim and Hunter are standing at the top of the basement stairs. "Downward-facing stairway -" "Stairway, downward facing -" Tim and Hunter say at the same time.

"I'm calling this." Tim said.

"Of course you are." Hunter rolled her eyes.

"You take point, Detective Lopez. I'll hook left." Tim said.

"Oh, so now it's "Detective Lopez," huh? Mm. Fine. After you." Hunter said evenly.

They creep down the stairs with flashlights and weapons drawn. "LAP-" "Police." Hunter and Tim once again said in sync.

"LAPD!" "Police!" Hunter and Tim once again yelled.

"Looks clear so far. You just keep holding point." Tim said as they made their way further into the basement.

Hunter shined her torch around. "It's a box, Tim. There's no one here." She said.

"Stick to the S.O.P.s, just like we were taught." Tim reminds her.

""Standard Operating Procedures" also means use common sense. My T.O. was big on common sense." Hunter said.

"Officer Belgrave's safety tactics are for crap." Tim replied looking back at her.

"Oh, here we go. The great SWAT debate." Hunter drawled as she rolled her eyes.

"There's no debate. There's a right way and a wrong way," there's a clattering noise is heard behind a utility hatch. "He's in there. You breach the door. I'll take point from here. Dynamic entry. Remember to get clear of the fatal funnel." Tim said.

"You breach the door. I breached the last one. And we should use the "wedge and slow search" technique." Hunter said to her friend.

There was a reason Hunter and Tim didn't ride with each other, they were too stubborn and would lock horns over protocol whereas normally they were fine, they just didn't ride together but they thought it'd work this time, obviously they were wrong.

The clattering is heard again. "Behind the panel," Tim said to Hunter and then he calls out. "Suspect. LAPD. We hear you in there. Slowly open the door and show us your hands." He ordered.

"Control, 7-Adam-20, we have a possible 459 suspect at our location. Send us another unit." Hunter said into her radio.

"Why'd you call for backup?" Tim turned to Hunter. "If we can't handle one mope, we shouldn't be doing this job." He said.

"What if it's not just a mope?" Hunter asked.

"If it's not a mope, he wouldn't be hiding in there. Now, breach that door." Tim ordered.

"What for? He's not going anywhere. Time's on our side." Hunter argued.

"Hunter, do I need to remind you I'm senior officer on scene? Which means I'm in charge." Tim snarked.

"The hell you are. I outrank you." Hunter snarked back.

Tim doesn't have a comeback for that. "Just, breach that door." Tim said. Hunter rolls her eyes and opens the door; Tim leans in and then jumps back, clawing at his face. "Aah! Aah!" Tim yelled.

"What? What?" Hunter asked.

"Aah! Skunk, skunk!" Tim yelled as he moved away from the door.

"Oh, hell no!" Hunter gags and turns away.

***

Hunter and Tim were in the hallway, Tim placed a hand on the wall beside him as animal control walks past him holding a cage. "How was I supposed to know there was a skunk in there? Oh." Tim gagged and rubbed his eyes.

Hunter coughed as she exited the room and waved a hand in front of her face. "If we had done a wedge and a slow search, you would've seen from a safe distance." Hunter snapped.

"Give me the keys. Let me drive. I'll get us there faster." Tim said making a hand over gesture as he coughed, while another member of animal control walked past him.

"Forget that. There's no way I'm letting you in my shop smelling like that!" Hunter yelled getting annoyed.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" Tim asked as he rubbed his eyes again.

"Oh, now you want my advice. Well, here it is. Call a cab." Hunter then walked out, leaving Tim behind.

***

"So, what's in the briefcase that's so important?" Jackson asked as he and Angela followed Wesley, who was looking at his phone that had the briefcase tracker on it.

"Handwritten depositions. If I lose them, my client could go to jail." Wesley replied.

"Maybe your client belongs in jail." Angela said.

Wesley turns to look at Angela and Jackson sensing a fight might be coming on interrupted them before they had a chance to continue their argument. "Why handwritten?" He asked.

"Protects my clients' privacy. I don't trust the cloud with anything important," Wesley's phone beeps signaling that they found the briefcase. "Wait, wait. He should be right around the corner." They turn the corner and see a man trying to get the briefcase open. "Hey." Wesley yelled.

"Police! Stop!" The man tries to run away, but Angela tackles him and handcuffs him.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy. What? You don't have to be so rough." Wesley said.

"You're criticizing my arrest? 'Cause I was expecting a thank-you for getting your briefcase back." Angela snapped.

"The law defines excessive force as a use of force greater than that which a reasonable officer would use under the circumstances." Wesley recites.

"He makes a good point." The briefcase thief said.

Angela turned to the man after pulling him up. "Nobody's talking to you."

Wesley starts moving forward. "Are you gonna read him his righ -" Jackson places an arm in front of Wesley to stop him moving closer causing the man in question to pause and look down at Jackson's arm and at Jackson himself before taking a small step back.

"I will if you shut up for a minute." Angela snapped.

"I'll do it." Jackson takes the suspect's arm and leads him to stand several feet away.

"What the hell is your problem?" Angela asked.

"For starters, your blatant disregard for the man's civil rights." Wesley said.

Angela and Wesley move closer together, still arguing with each other. "That man is a criminal I apprehended based on your description." Angela said.

"You're a police officer. Why am I describing due process to you?" Wesley asked.

"You don't need to describe anything to me." Angela snapped.

"Mm-hmm. Three words: protect and serve." Wesley reminds her.

"Two words: shut up." Angela snarked.

"I'm not gonna shut up. You do something dumb, I'm gonna call you out on it." Wesley snapped.

Jackson and the briefcase thief stand, watching Wesley and Angela argue.

"I want to slap you in the face." Angela said.

"Yeah, you -" Wesley started to say. Jackson decides to get them out of there before anything bad happens and manages to convince Angela to not murder Wesley.

***

Wesley, Angela, Jackson and the thief all walk into the booking area. "Don't say anything without your lawyer present." Wesley said to the thief.

"You're doing this to mess with us, right? The guy robbed you." Angela reminds him as another cop takes the thief to processing.

"Look, the theft of my briefcase and the use of force you used to apprehend him are two separate events. The wonderful thing about our legal system is we both have rights." Wesley said with a smile.

Zoe and Lucy enter the booking area with Javier. "Whoa." Jackson said.

Angela frowns slightly and other officers crowd around Zoe. "What?" Wesley asked turning around.

"Captain took a shot to the face." Angela comments.

"All right, all right. Show's over. Everybody get back to work." Zoe turns to the officer who takes charge of Javier. "Thank you." She said. Then she leaves after checking something on her phone.

Angela and Wesley continued arguing, not realising that Jackson and Lucy are watching them. 

"You need to go wait out in the bullpen." Angela ordered Wesley.

"He's my client." Wesley replied.

"Oh, so he's your client now?" Angela asked.

"Until his regular counsel shows up, yeah. Is that a problem?" Wesley asked.

***

Hunter arrives without Tim and joins the Captain explaining why he wasn't with her and a man steps over to get their attention. "I got a question." Razor said.

Zoe and Hunter glance over at him. "Somebody will be with you in just a minute." Zoe said.

"I need some information regarding prison sentencing." Razor said.

Hunter and Zoe realizes this isn't a casual inquiry. "What's your question?" Zoe asked.

"How much prison time for a bar fight?" Razor asked.

"Depends on the severity of the, uh, injuries and your previous record. Why are you asking?" Hunter asked.

"Is murder really the only guarantee for a life sentence?" Razor asked.

"Just get out?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, a couple weeks ago." Razor confirmed.

"Let me guess. You were in there a long time. You having trouble, uh, adjusting on the outside?" Hunter asked.

"Nah. I'm good. I'm good." Razor said shaking his head and backing away.

"You walk into a police station asking questions about murder, you most certainly are not good." Zoe said, Razor pulls a gun and grabs a bystander, jamming the gun into her side. "I strongly advise you not to do anything stupid." Zoe recommends.

"Don't worry about it. I know exactly what I'm doing." Razor said.

"Let me see your hands!" Hunter yelled.

Zoe reaches for her weapon, but her holster is empty. She locked her gun in the safe when she came back from the field. And Hunter reaches for her own gun but decides to take it out and not use it.

"I kill her, I go back inside forever." Razor reminds the two cops.

"He's got a gun!" Someone yelled.

"I'll kill her." Razor said.

"All right. Look at me. Hey, hey! You don't want to do this. You don't have to do this." Zoe told him.

Several officers have arrived behind Zoe and Hunter and have Razor in their sights. "I told you. I'll do anything to go back inside." Razor said.

"Trust me, you're going back in." Zoe said.

"I'm not looking to do a short fall. I can't handle it out here." Razor said.

"Okay. I get that, I get that. You got a little too much freedom. I felt the exact same way after I left the Army. Used to being told where to go, what to do, when to eat, when to sleep. Come on. She shouldn't have to suffer 'cause you're going through a crisis. She didn't sign up for that. Put the gun down." Hunter said, pointing her hand to the woman Razor was holding a gun to.

"Bitch, I don't care what she signed up for." Razor snapped.

"You pull that trigger, I got half a dozen cops who are gonna light you up, and I know you don't want that." Zoe said.

"Shut up! Both of you shut up!" Razor yelled at Hunter and Zoe.

"Okay. Okay. I just I have one more one more question. In your previous crimes, did you use a gun?" Hunter asked.

"What? Why?" Razor asked in return.

Zoe caught onto what Hunter was doing and added on. "You got your safety on." Zoe said, Razor hesitates, glancing down at his gun, and Zoe leaps to disarm him. "Get her!" Zoe yelled.

Hunter helped the woman up. "Come on, come on." She said.

"Get the gun." Zoe ordered as she stood up allowing other officers to arrest Razor.

"I got it, Captain." Lucy said picking up the gun.

"Turn him over!" Another cop yelled.

Lucy looked the gun over. "Holy crap." She said.

"What?" Jackson asked.

"It's a Glock. There's no external safety. You two charged a live weapon." Lucy said looking at both Hunter and Zoe.

"Told you Captain could take care of herself and so can Hunter." Angela said to Jackson as she and other cops cuffed Razor.

Tim comes in the front door. "What the hell happened here?" Everyone reacts to Tim's odor.

"Oh, my - Um, did you get skunked?" Lucy asked, Tim rolled his eyes and walked off.

***

Angela is on her way out, in street clothes, when she encounters Wesley waiting at the front desk. "Oh, man. Let me guess. You have another complaint you'd like to file." Angela said sounding annoyed.

Wesley stood up and stood across from Angela, further apart than they were when they argued. "No more complaints. I promise. Look, I graduated from Whittier Law School. Night classes, paid my own way. Needless to say, there was never gonna be a-a fancy downtown firm at the end of that rainbow."

"This feels like another thing you're trying to blame on me." Angela comments.

"Not at all. No, I like renting an office above an Ethiopian restaurant. Look, I'm scrappy, okay? I really love representing the little guy. But today, my tenacity - it clouded my judgment." Wesley said.

"Are you trying to argue an apology?" Angela asked.

"No. I'm sorry. You were trying to help me, even though you really didn't want to, and I appreciate that. So thank you for getting my briefcase back." Wesley said.

"You're welcome." Angela said.

"And I'd like to take you to dinner." Wesley added.

"Let me guess - Ethiopian?" Angela asked.

"God, no, that place is a dump." Wesley said making a face.

"Do you own a nice suit?" Wesley looks down at his suit. "No, a nice suit." Angela said, emphasising the nice part.

"Yeah. Why?" Wesley asked.

"I need a date for my brother's wedding next Saturday." Angela said.

"It's bold for a first date." Wesley comments.

"Yeah. Maybe it should be our second. Buy me a drink?" Angela asked.

"I would love to." Wesley said.

"All right." Angela said, the two of them walk out.

***

Hunter's leaning against a wall when Tim walks past her. "Hey." Hunter said.

"I'm not talking to you." Tim said.

Hunter follows behind Tim, speaking as she does. "Okay first off that's petty and secondly, I shouldn't have left you." Hunter said.

Tim paused and turned around to his friend. "You should have. I was an ass." He said.

"Yeah, you were." Hunter nodded. "Don't tell me I just passed some ridiculous Tim Bradford test." She scoffed.

"I won't. But you did." Tim replied.

Hunter rolled her eyes. "Hey," she tosses him a can. "Tomato juice. You still smell really, really bad." Tim rolled his eyes and Hunter turns to leave. "Hey, what are you doing on Saturday?" She asked turning back.

"This Saturday?" Hunter nods. "Nothing, why?" Tim asked frowning.

"I need a date to my brother's wedding otherwise my Mom will try and set me up with James, one of the groomsmen." Hunter explained.

Tim nodded, knowing Emilia Lopez since 2001 after Hunter dragged him to her party (that her mother demanded she have) before her first deployment and having formed a close friendship with Tim during training she bought him along. And ever since then Emilia's been trying to convince Tim to date Hunter and whenever there's a Lopez family affair that Tim can't get to (seeing as he's always invited) Emilia tries to set Hunter and Angela up with friends of their brothers. "Deal, so do you wanna come over for dinner and Top Chef?" He asked.

"Yeah, but-" Hunter started to say.

"I know, I need another shower." Tim interrupts.

***

"Did you get skunked?" Lexi asked making a face when Tim walked into the house.

"Yes, I did Lexi." Tim replied.

"Go shower then." Lexi said.

Tim shoots her an annoyed look. "What do you think I'm going to do? Make dinner?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Ooh, when you've showered are you gonna cook dinner?" Lexi asked with a smile.

Tim rolled his eyes. "Did you seriously just ask that? Of course I'm gonna cook dinner," Tim turned to walk to his bathroom when he turned back to Lexi. "Hunter's coming over for dinner." He said.

Lexi's smile widened at that when Hunter walked into the house, Tim having already gone to his shower. "I might just stay the night. Tim's furniture is so comfortable." Hunter said, sighing as she sat on the couch.

"Sounds like a plan. Top Chef reruns?" Lexi suggested.

"That's what I'm here for." Hunter said grabbing the remote. Lexi smiled and after five minutes Tim finished his shower. "You smell like you now!" Hunter called to him from the couch as he walked into the kitchen.

"Thanks. What do you want for dinner?" Tim asked.

"Ooh, can we order Thai?" Lexi asked.

Tim turned around to Lexi. "We can't always have takeout for dinner, Lex." Tim reminds her.

"Only the nights when Hunter's here." Lexi suggested.

"Hunter's here every night." Tim replied.

"I'll pay for the takeout," Hunter opened her wallet and stood up. "Here's my card." Hunter said walking around the couch and handing it to Tim and then turned to Lexi. "But tomorrow we have homemade food." She said.

"Deal." Lexi replied.

Hunter joined Lexi on the couch and Tim ordered Thai for it to be delivered before joining Hunter and Lexi on the couch. Once the Thai was finished, Hunter placed her head on Tim's shoulder and legs on the couch, with Tim's hand on her knee and an arm around her shoulder.

Lexi shook her head with a small smile when she noticed that Hunter had fallen asleep as had Tim and so, she added herself to the hug and eventually fell asleep herself, knowing that she never had this as a child or hell four years ago before she met Tim and Hunter.

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

Just a side note: Lucy and Grant's relationship will develop more off screen (I don't have better words for that).

I'm thinking of making another one of these but based mostly around Grant and Lucy with Hunter and Tim's relationship being the one on the background, what do you guys think?