5x06: The Reckoning

***

Tim and Aaron were walking through the bullpen. "Didn't a doctor just pull a bullet out of you? Like, shouldn't you be resting?" Aaron asked.

"It was an old bullet. I'm fine." Tim replied, that's when he noticed Chris talking at Hunter not letting her get a word in and made his way over. "Hunter, Sanford, what's going on?" Tim asked.

"She won't listen to reason." Chris complained pointing at Hunter.

"He's trying to get me to date him again when it's pretty clear I don't love him." Hunter deadpanned, glaring at Chris.

Tim just sighed. "Right, have fun." He said before walking off with Aaron following.

Hunter scoffed and watched as Tim walked away and turned to Grant who'd suddenly appeared. "Did he seriously just leave me to deal with this asshole by myself?" She asked him.

Grant looked over at Chris who's faced curled up into one of rage. "It seems so but I can help." He offered.

"Yep, I'm gonna set up the shop." Hunter said walking off and ignoring Chris yelling for her to come back. Next thing she heard Grant yelling and pushing Chris out the station.

***

Lexi Lopez-Bradford had been cleared by the Mid-Wilshire department shrink and returned to the DA's office and she was talking with Sean Del Monte. "Wait I'm only nineteen, not even twenty, just passed my bar exam and just got over a Heroin addiction and you want me to sit in on the deposition?" Lexi asked.

"Yes." Del Monte replied.

"Sean, shouldn't you be sitting in rather than me?" Lexi asked, shifting uncomfortably, she knew she was qualified to do this but wasn't sure if she should seeing as she wasn't even twenty.

"You deserve it, you're the youngest DA ever and you're qualified for it," Del Monte replied, the two looked up when Wesley walked in and then looked back at each other, continuing their conversation. "Everyone knows you can do this and I know you'll pull yourself out the second you need to and I can take over." Del Monte replied.

"Thanks Sean." Lexi said, Del Monte nodded and Lexi walked over to Monica Stevens, Elijah's lawyer and Wesley who were debating. "Sorry to keep you waiting," Monica stared at Lexi. "I'm nineteen but qualified to do this."

Monica smiled coldly. "Oh, you're the prodigal lawyer, one of the youngest ADA's ever, graduated high school at seventeen and threw yourself into becoming a lawyer straight afterwards." She said, almost condescendingly.

Lexi frowned deeply at Monica. "Uh, the court reporter is still setting up inside, but I could take you back, if you'd like." She offered.

"Great. I just need to make a quick call before we get started." Monica said.

"Yeah. Sure." Lexi said.

"Excuse me." Monica walked off making a phone call.

Lexi turned to Wesley. "You know Elijah's attorney?" She asked.

"We went to law school together." Wesley said.

"Really?" Lexi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mm-hmm." Wesley hummed.

"Is there anything in her bag of tricks we should look out for?" Lexi questioned.

"She's smart, fairly ruthless, and God forbid you leave the toilet seat up," Lexi gives Wesley a confused look. "We used to be engaged." Wesley said.

"Maybe you should've led with that." Lexi deadpanned

"Mm-hmm. Oh, My Mom wants to talk to you about a trust fund." Wesley said to her.

Lexi's eyes widened in confusion. "What do you mean? And why?" She asked.

"Mom says you're family and you are so she's going to set a trust fund up for you, she says you're the granddaughter she never had, plus at least it's her annoying you about the trust fund rather than me and Angie like she did with Jack's." Wesley said.

"Oh, I'll call her after work." Lexi said and Wesley nodded.

***

Aaron and Tim were arguing as they patrol around. "I'm just saying she'll get back at you for abandoning her with Chris this morning."

"I know," Tim sighed. "Look, tomorrow's Halloween. The crazies are gonna be out in full force, so let's just focus on our job. All right?" Tim asked.

"All right," Aaron replied when he noticed someone struggling to put a werewolf prop into the back of their truck. "Werewolf." Aaron said.

"What?" Tim asked.

"Werewolf," Aaron points it out to Tim. "She looks like she needs a hand. We should stop," Tim sighed but stopped anyway. "Morning. Looks like you need some help." Aaron said.

"I have to get this prop to set or I'm screwed." The Director replied.

"Okay. Well, uh, we'll get your friend here loaded up, and you'll be on your way in no time." Aaron said as she and Tim exited the shop.

"Thank you." The Director said.

"So, what are you, like, a P.A. or..." Aaron was asking.

"I'm a director. I'm shooting a short film, but I lose my location in an hour."

"That is so cool," Aaron turned to Tim. "You hear what she said? She's a director."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay. Help her get to set. She's losing daylight." Tim deadpanned.

"Right," Aaron struggles to move the wolf and puts it down again to try another way of lifting it. "You know what? I just need a better -- I need a better angle." Aaron said to himself.

"7-Adam-100. Show us Code 6 at Bronson and Rosewood -- stalled vehicle blocking traffic," Tim places his radio down on a quilt looking thing in the directors truck. "Hang on."

Tim goes to help and Aaron tries to stop him. "Wait, wait. Hold on. You shouldn't be lifting anything. I mean, you just had major surgery." Aaron said.

"You did? I can handle this." The director said.

"No, I didn't have major surgery. I-I'm fine. Lift on three." Tim said moving to help Aaron.

"Okay." Aaron said.

"All right. One, two, three." Tim said.

"Yeah." Aaron agreed.

BRADFORDLift." Tim said.

"Yeah."

Aaron and Tim lifted the wolf and struggled to get it into the truck. "Let's go! Push!" Tim yelled at Aaron.

"I'm pushing!" Aaron yelled back but the wolf wasn't moving.

"Do you want me to call someone?" The Director asked.

"No!" Tim and Aaron yelled.

"I had back surgery, remember?" Tim reminded Aaron.

"My leg. My leg. Oh! My knee. My knee. My knee. My knee." Aaron was saying, the two men managed to get the prop into the back of the truck.

"You good?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah." Tim said.

"Thank you. Both of you." The Director said.

"Yeah. Happy to help." Aaron replied.

That's when Tim wandered off to take a phone call while Aaron tried flirting with the director. "Yeah. Bradford. No. I assigned Siega to that. No, I never got it. No. No. Don't do anything. I'll be right there," Tim hangs up and turned to Aaron as the Director drives off. "Let's go."

***

Hunter was writing someone up while Grant just stayed in the shop. "Drive safe." She said.

"Hey," Hunter turned around and carefully walked over to the director. "Uh, I'm not sure who to talk to." She said.

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

"Um, these cops stopped to help me, and one of them left his radio behind." The director showed Hunter the radio.

"Yeah. I can take that," Hunter grabbed the radio. "Did you happen to catch their name?" She asked.

"One of them looked exactly like that guy from that murder documentary, but I think the radio belonged to the broody one." The Director said.

"Oh. The broody --" Hunter paused for a moment and realised who she was referring to. "Tim forgot his radio? Tim Bradford, super cop? You know, this guy will not let me forget that I was once thirty three seconds late to roll call. Can you believe that?"

"I...guess." The Director said looking confused.

"This feels like Christmas. Thank you." Hunter said.

"Cool. So you'll get it back to him?" The director asked.

"Yeah, I got it. You have a nice day." Hunter walked back to her shop and pulled her phone out to call Tim before smiling and putting it away.

***

Monica was sitting in a conference room across from Lexi and Wesley. "How did you become involved in the sting operation against Elijah Stone?" Monica asked Wesley.

"I raised my concerns about his criminal enterprise to the LAPD." Wesley deadpanned.

"Paint me a picture. You went to the front desk at Mid-Wilshire. And then what?" Monica asked.

"Well, I didn't go through the front desk." Wesley said.

"Oh. I guess I'm confused. In your own words, describe the first time you brought up Mr. Stone's alleged crimes to the LAPD." Monica said.

"I raised my concerns with Detective Angela Lopez."

"At her desk?" Monica questioned.

"In our living room."

"They're married. But you know that already." Lexi deadpanned.

"Oh. That's right." Monica said false cheerfully.

"Mm." Lexi hummed.

"It's in my notes," Monica looks at her notepad and skims in. "Um, and this sting operation was allowed to proceed despite an obvious and egregious conflict of interest?" She asked.

"Well, we had a mutual interest in the truth." Wesley deadpanned.

Monica looked over at Lexi. "Is it common for detectives to work cases involving relatives?" She asked.

Lexi sighed. "No." She said.

"And why is that?" Monica asked her.

That's when Wesley jumped in, glancing over at Lexi. "I think there's a concern that the detectives won't view the evidence objectively, but I don't think that's an issue here." He said, looking back at Monica.

"Interesting," Monica writes it down and then moves on. "Next question --"

"Uh, can I finish --" Wesley tried to interrupt.

"Moving on." Monica interrupted him.

Lexi looked at Wesley. "Let's just move on." She said.

***

Tim and Aaron had pulled over and were searching the shop. "I'm telling you, it's not in the shop." Aaron said looking at Tim.

"Well, it didn't just jump off my hip. Let me check this bag again," that's when Tim realised something. "The werewolf. I put down my radio to help you lift that dumb prop. The director must have it. Did you get her number?" Tim asked.

"Almost." Aaron said.

That's when Tim gets a message from a no caller ID contact meaning he had no idea who it was, he looked at it and noticed a photo of his radio on a newspaper. "What the hell?" Tim asked.

"What is it?" Tim showed Aaron. "Who sent that?" He asked.

"Someone who's about to get in a lot of trouble." Tim replied.

"You know, uh, you could just file an incident report and get a new radio, right?" Aaron asked him.

"And get written up? That's one day's suspension without pay. I think I know where this is. Let's go." Tim replied and the two got into their shop.

***

Aaron and Tim arrived a run-down coffee shop where two builders were getting their coffee. "Man, this is one sketchy-ass looking coffee truck." Aaron comments.

"This is where Hunter and I get our coffee every morning," Tim lines up behind a construction worker. "No oat milk mafia hipsters rewriting screenplays. Buck for coffee and you go to work." Tim deadpanned.

"You sound like the old dude from Up." Aaron comments.

Tim glared at him and stepped forward once the construction worker had left with his coffee, he showed Johnnie the photo. "Hey, Johnnie."

"Hi." She replied.

"Anyone drop off this radio?" Tim asked her.

Johnnie peered closely at the photo and shook her head. "Nope. No." She said.

"All right. Thank you," Tim and Aaron start walking away when Tim's phone buzzes again. "Damn it," he showed Aaron the photo of a movie poster with his radio. "They're running us all over town." He said.

"Okay. So, like, what's the point? I mean, they haven't asked for money or anything, and if they really wanted to screw with the police, they could do a whole lot more with that radio." Aaron comments.

"I don't know. We got to figure out which studio lot that is." Tim replied.

***

"Someone's happy." Grant comments, glancing over to Hunter as he was driving.

"Well, I've got Tim's radio and now I'm torturing him as revenge for abandoning me with Chris." Hunter smirked.

"I know seeing as I've been watching you sending him photos of it all day." Grant comments.

Hunter smiled in amusement. "It's funny torturing him."

***

Aaron and Tim walked out of a movie lot, both holding a coffee each. "Now, this is my kind of coffee." Aaron comments.

"Wait, wait, wait. My favorite movie was shot right here on this lot." Tim said, pointing at a movie poster.

"Wait. Your favorite coffee place. Your favorite movie. Whoever's doing this knows you really well." Aaron said.

That's when Tim realised who it was. "Hunter."

***

"Who is Arthur Andrews?" Monica asked, clasping her hands together.

"Arthur Andrews witnessed a murder committed by one of Elijah Stone's relatives." Wesley sighed.

"And you represented this relative as a favor to Mr. Stone. Is that right?" Monica asked.

"If by "favor," you mean your client threatened to hurt me if I refused, then yeah." Wesley deadpanned.

"Now, you could have questioned Mr. Andrews in your office, but you chose to do it in his home. Why?" Monica asked.

"That was more convenient for him." Wesley said.

"Or you were trying to intimidate him and you didn't want any witnesses." Monica said.

"No. No. I went there after your client ordered me to find a way to undermine Mr. Andrews' credibility. He said, "Either you make this witness go away or Moreno will." And for the record, Moreno is one of Elijah Stone's enforcers who is currently in prison, awaiting trial on several charges, including the attempted murder of police officers." Wesley said.

"Alleged enforcer. But what we know for a fact is that you called in a tip about an illegal firearm in Mr. Andrews' home." Monica deadpanned.

"Yeah. And that tip saved his life." Wesley replied.

"According to you, yes. But your client, a man accused of murder, went free because you damaged the reputation... ...of the only witness against him." Monica said.

"Yeah. No. It's a good argument. It is. And if I was on the other side of that table, I would be making it myself. But it's B.S., and you know it!" Wesley yelled, starting to lose his temper.

"Wes." Lexi said, trying to calm her uncle down.

"I know no such thing. You just can't admit that I'm outarguing you." Monica smirked.

"Yes, if you ignore the truth!" Wesley snapped at her.

"Wesley, let it go. You never won an argument in the five years we were together. What makes you think now is going to be any different?" Monica asked.

"Uh-huh." Wesley huffed.

"Why -- Why don't we pick this up tomorrow?" Lexi suggested.

"Yeah. No," Wesley stands up and grabs his thinks. "That's a great idea." Wesley walked out.

"That's perfect. Of course." Monica said and Lexi follows Wesley out and Monica walks out shortly afterwards.

***

Lexi stops Wesley in the main part of the DA's office. "Hey. Wes. Hey. Hold up. You can't let her rattle you like that." She said to him.

"Yeah, sorry. Just lost focus. Won't happen again." Wesley apologised.

"Okay. Well, the facts are on our side, so just focus on that." Lexi said to him.

"Yeah. Right." Wesley scoffed.

"I have to ask you this -- how did it end between you two?" Lexi asked curiously.

"Lexi are you asking if I'm still hung up on her?" Wesley asked eyeing his niece suspiciously.

"Or she on you. I don't know. I just need to know where this thing could go." Lexi said.

"All right. Look. Monica and I wanted very different lives. Right out of law school, she targeted the most powerful law firms. I rented a space next to an aquarium-supply store. It was never gonna work. Just took us two years to figure that out." Wesley said.

"Okay. Look, take the rest of the day, but tomorrow, you come in with your game face on, yeah?" Lexi asked him.

"Yeah." Wesley walked off.

***

Tim finds Hunter in the bullpen the next day and walked over to her. "Where's my radio?" Tim asked.

"Did something happen to your radio? Oh, you know what? Halloween is tomorrow. Maybe a vengeful spirit took it."

"Why are you doing this?" Tim asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hunter said with a smirk.

"Is holding my radio hostage payback for abandoning you with Chris?" Tim asked.

"Did you? Gosh, I hadn't noticed," Hunter said sarcastically, Tim gives her a look. "Okay. But again, I don't know what you're talking about, but I might be able to help you look for your radio if you tell me why you just walked off." Hunter said with a smirk.

"Never mind." Tim replied.

"Then I don't know where your radio is." Hunter said and Tim walked off, Hunter watched him go.

***

Monica was sitting across from Angela and Lexi again. "Detective Lopez. I hope you and Wesley had a lovely date night." Monica comments.

"It was great. Thank you." Angela deadpanned.

"Let's dig in, shall we? Mid-Wilshire station logs shows your husband visited a suspect in custody by the name of Aiden Merritt." Monica said.

"If that's what's in the logs." Angela shrugged.

"What's not in the logs is the fact that the next day, Merritt was found dead in his cell at the Twin Towers. He'd been shanked by a fellow inmate. Were you aware that your husband represented this inmate that killed Merritt?" Monica asked.

"I don't keep tabs on my husband's clients." Angela said.

"I'd keep a close eye on him if I were you." Monica comments.

"I don't have to. I trust him." Angela said.

"Here's the thing -- Merritt's killer is prepared to testify that Wesley paid him to commit the murder." Monica said.

"That didn't happen." Angela said.

"How can you be certain? Maybe you don't know your husband as well as you think you do." Monica comments.

"I know my husband is not a killer. Elijah is." Angela said.

"Let me tell you what it looks like to me. It looks like your husband tried to coerce Merritt into pointing the finger at my client, and when he refused, your husband had him killed." Monica said.

"I've dealt with a lot of shady lawyers in my day, but you are next level." Angela scoffed.

"Please. The personal attacks are so unprofessional." Monica said.

Angela laughed. "Okay. Unprofessional? You're paying one of Wesley's clients to give false testimony."

"I did nothing of the sort." Monica said.

"Then Elijah did. It doesn't matter." Angela deadpanned.

"What matters is what a jury will believe. And the slipshod way you ran this investigation has provided ample reasonable doubt," Monica leans forward. "Honestly, if Elijah goes free, it will not be because of me, it'll be because of you." Monica points at Angela.

"Okay. Let's just take a break here, hmm?" Lexi suggested.

"Let's." Angela stands up.

"Great idea. You and I should talk." Monica said pointing at Lexi and Angela walked out the office leaving the two red heads alone to talk.

"I get what you were trying to do in there, and that was clever, but the fact of the matter is, we caught your client in a warehouse filled with illegal narcotics." Lexi deadpanned.

"My client was just as shocked as the LAPD. Elijah Stone is an upstanding member of his community. The only crime here is that one of the people he took under his wing betrayed his trust, exploiting my client's goodwill to further their own criminal endeavors." Monica said.

"Do you really expect anyone to believe that Elijah Stone was oblivious to a massive drug-smuggling operation going on right under his nose?" Lexi asked.

Monica shook her head. "It won't matter."

"Okay. We'll see about that." Lexi deadpanned.

"Honestly... the optics of your case are a hot mess. If you take this to trial, I will drag the LAPD and the DA's office through five miles of mud. You, your boss and you boss's boss will be lucky to survive the scandal with your jobs. So...do yourself a favor. Walk away while you still can." Monica said.

Lexi stands there, watching as Monica walked off before contemplating her choices before walking to Del Monte's office to talk to him about it.

***

Tim walked into the sallyport where Hunter was pestering Aaron for answers. "Ready to roll?" Tim asked him.

"Mm-hmm." Aaron said, closing the trunk.

"Hi. Good morning." Hunter said.

Tim walked past her. "Morning." He said.

Hunter turned towards him. "Still missing your radio?" Hunter asked.

"No. It's in the shop." Tim replied.

"7-Adam-100, officers on event. 7-99 are calling for a supervisor."

Tim grabbed a 60s radio out of the shop. "Copy. Show me en route." He replied.

"Where is your standard issue?" Hunter asked looking amused.

"This is it." Tim shrugged.

"That hasn't been standard since the '60s." Hunter deadpanned.

"Let's roll, Thorsen." Tim said slipping into the drivers seat.

"Well, wait. Let me get a photo of you with it first," Hunter said and Tim wound the window up, Hunter just held her phone at the window and grabbed her radio, speaking into it. "7-Adam-100, can I get a radio check, please? 7-Adam-100, do you copy?" Hunter asked, as Grant walked in and pulled her away so that Tim could go and do his job.

***

Lexi walked into the room where Angela and Wesley were talking. "Hey, I've just spoken to Sean. Uh...we're dropping the case against Elijah." Lexi said to them.

"What?" Wesley asked.

"You can't be serious." Angela scoffed.

"I'm afraid I am. There's just too much risk in trying to take this thing to trial." Lexi said.

"I put my family in danger going after this guy." Wesley argued.

"Look, I get it's upsetting, but we're just playing the hand that you dealt us." Lexi deadpanned.

"So you're just gonna let him walk?" Wesley asked.

"It became clear after these depositions that this case is a loser. Look, take a few days, you know, get your head on right. We'll talk about what's next for you here." Lexi said before walking out.

***

Tim and Aaron were walking through the parking lot. "Hey, happy Halloween. You got any plans tonight? Or should I just assume you're gonna be inside, hiding with the lights out?" Aaron asked.

"I don't hide. I leave a bowl of candy on the porch," Aaron walked off and Hunter walked over, holding his radio. "Oh. Hey." Tim said.

"Um...here. I thought torturing you would be more fun," Hunter held Tim's radio out and he grabbed it but she didn't let it go. "But I should know better by now. Good night." Hunter said, allowing her hand to drop.

Tim smiled. "Just so you know, I-I did appreciate your whole radio gag... a little. It took my mind off things, like Chris bothering you this morning and me not helping." Tim said.

"Well, good. Mediterranean sound good?" Hunter asked.

"Sounds perfect, I'll see you at home." Tim said and the two got into their respective cars.

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

I loved Monica as a villain.

Also, I know the chances of a nineteen year old lawyer sitting in a deposition is unlikely but I'm not a lawyer so I've got no idea and it's a fanfiction so whatever.

Also, Hunter turns 40 in episode 11.

Lexi turns 20 in episode 12.

Hope you enjoy.

If you're wondering why I updated during the day it's because I got my period last night and every once in a while I get really bad cramps, look really pale and feel exhausted that I just can't go anywhere. I normally don't get cramps at all and normally I get my period really bad during assignment time when I get stressed but it's really assignment time yet.