5x14: Death Sentence

***

Tim walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, he quietly opened a cupboard after pouring his coffee and a pair of booties fell onto the bench. "Mm. Oh." Tim said, picking them up.

That's when Hunter appeared having walked down the hallway from Tim's room wearing a dressing gown but leaving it untied. "Did I miss it?" She asked.

"It's cute." Tim comments.

Hunter walked over to him and Tim wrapped his arms around her. "Why are you up so early? I was gonna get a photo of your reaction." She said looking at him while keeping her own arms wrapped around his torso.

"There's a Metro training today. As the newbie, it's my job to, uh, haul in the gear and the ammo." Tim replied.

"Yeah, the newbie. The boot." Hunter said softly, amusement lacing her tone.

"I'm a sergeant." Tim corrects.

"Mnh-mnh," Hunter and Tim both pull back and Tim puts the lid on his coffee. "You're still a boot in my book," the front door opens and the house is disarmed by Lexi who walked into the kitchen. "Oh. Hey," both Tim and Hunter frowned. "Are you just getting home?" Hunter asked.

"Must've been a heck of a party." Tim comments knowing she hadn't even been partying, chances were she was hanging with Tamara at whatever babysitting job she'd scored.

"Yeah. Rager." Lexi said sarcastically.

"Mm." Tim hummed.

"Did I interrupt something?" Lexi asked.

"No. No, I-I was just heading out. Uh, can't be late on my first day." Tim said to both of them.

"Mm-hmm." Hunter agreed.

Tim walks towards the door, Hunter followed him. "Bye."

Hunter grabbed Tim's wrist to stop him walking any further. "Hey. You're gonna be great today." She said.

"Bye."

"Have fun." Lexi said as Tim walked out.

Hunter turned to Lexi. "Good morning." She said.

"Thank god I'm moving out," Hunter gives Lexi a look. "Just saying, I've waited so long for you two to become a couple and I'm twenty years old so you know I'm moving out."

"And you can't wait, ouch." Hunter said sarcasm lacing her tone.

"Whatever." Lexi scoffed and walked down to her room.

Most nights, Hunter's apartment was empty, Grant had moved in with Lucy taking all his stuff with him and so only Hunter's objects remained as she had exact copies of everything at Tim's house which meant if they ever moved in together the copies could be put in storage. The guest room however was still full of Hunter's stuff.

Hunter just walked back to Tim's room and closed the door behind her after rearming the house and making sure everything was locked up.

***

"Okay, you have an active shooter still at large. Your job is to locate the suspect and stop the threat." A Metro cop said over to headset.

Suddenly Tim's shot with a bunch of paintballs by Mad Dog another Metro cop. "Bang. You're dead. You're telegraphing. You're dead. Bang. Dead. You're dead. Dead. Bang. Dead." He said. Mad Dog walked over to Tim. "Bradford, this isn't patrol. This is Metro. Major crimes, terrorism, barricades, hostages. We are an elite unit. Your form's got to be perfect, man. All right. Let's take 10." He walked out.

Tim turned around. "What, there's only one way to clear a room? That's news to me, 'cause I've actually done this a million times successfully." Tim deadpanned to Pine.

"Don't worry. Happens to everyone. Metro takes some getting used to. You'll get it." Pine said before walking off.

***

Grant and Hunter were walking down a hallway. "So, Tamara's acting weird recently, staying out later each night." Grant said.

"Interesting, Lexi didn't get home until early morning." Hunter comments.

"You two sound like concerned parents." Tim deadpanned from behind them holding a box.

Hunter scoffed. "Like you weren't worried this morning," she frowned and peered closely at his forehead. "What's on your head?" Hunter poked it. "You have a -- You have a little something on your head." She said.

Grant tried not to laugh at Tim's annoyed face at being poked even by his own girlfriend. "Uh, no. It's -- It's nothing. I just need to get situated into my new office."

"Metro-Police liaison. Best of both worlds." Grant comments.

"That's right." Tim replied.

"Well, at least it won't take too long to move in." Hunter deadpanned peering into the office.

"No." Tim looked at the office and noticed it was left in slight disarray. Hunter giggles and Tim closes the door on her. Tim sighed. "All right." He also closed the blind.

"Come on, we've got to get on patrol." Grant said, practically dragging Hunter away from the office.

***

Hunter and Grant were patrolling when Lexi rung her mother. "Hey, what's up?" Hunter asked answering the call.

"I'm at a babysitting job with Tamara because it's my day off, and things are weird. Cosmo says when he woke up, both of his parents were gone, Tamara's tried calling no one's answering their phone."

"Okay. We'll be right there," Hunter went to hang up when she realised something. "Wait, why are you there? You can't work with kids."

"Tamara's the one babysitting, I'm just keeping her company." Lexi deadpanned before hanging up.

***

Tamara opened the door with Lexi and allowed Grant and Hunter into the house. "Thanks for coming." Tamara said.

"Yeah, of course." Hunter replied.

Tamara and Lexi led the cops into the kitchen. "Cosmo's in here," Cosmo looked up. "These are the cops I was telling you about," Tamara points at Hunter. "That's Lexi's mom."

"Hi." Hunter said.

"You good? How's the cereal?" Tamara asked.

"Mm, it's cereal." Cosmo deadpanned.

"I like this kid the most." Lexi comments. "He's so deadpan."

"Hey, I offered you unicorn cloud bread. You're the one who wanted Wheatie Bran. Weirdo." Tamara said.

Cosmo snorts slightly. "Can I play on the Switch?"

"Go ahead." Tamara said.

"How's he doing?" Hunter asked.

"He hasn't said much. I know he's scared. He just doesn't want to admit it." Tamara notes.

Hunter turned to Lexi. "I'm gonna assume you arrived at the same time," Lexi nods. "Did you notice any signs of forced entry when you got here?" Hunter asked.

"No. Tamara used her key to get in. I looked around for a little. Everything seems normal. No broken windows or anything." Lexi said.

"How well do you know the family?" Grant asked Tamara.

"I've been working here for six months. The dad's a little aloof. He works a lot. Some investment thing. The mom's around more. She runs a non-profit. Lexi just hangs here when she's got the day off, the mom likes her, dad like said is aloof so he doesn't pay much attention." Tamara explained.

"Hi." Lexi said with the most deadpan tone from beside Tamara.

"All right, well, we'll check with their employers." Hunter said.

That's when Mr. Laetner walked in. "Mr. Laetner. I've been calling you." Tamara said.

"You called the police." Mr. Laetner comments, seeing Hunter and Grant.

"Sorry, uh, yeah, um... I couldn't find anyone. I was scared so I got Lexi to call the cops." Tamara said.

"I'm so sorry. It's all been so crazy. We had a family emergency. My wife had to fly home to deal with an aunt who had a heart attack. I should have told you. It...completely slipped my mind." Laetner explained.

"Where did you say your wife was?" Hunter asked.

"Cincinnati. Uh, she probably forgot her phone charger. Typical. This is all a-a big misunderstanding." Laetner said.

"And where were you? Your son woke up alone." Hunter deadpanned.

"I...took her to the airport. I thought I could get back before he woke up. Is he okay?" Laetner asked.

"He's fine. He's in his room." Tamara said.

"I'll go talk to him. I'm so sorry you came out for nothing." Laetner apologised.

"Well, we need to talk to your wife to, uh, verify she's okay. It's protocol. You understand, right?" Hunter asked.

"Right. Um, I'll get you her aunt's number. I know I have it somewhere."

"Here," Hunter handed Laetner her notepad. "Just give us her full name and approximate age, and we'll find it."

"Of course." Laetner handed it back to Hunter after writing down.

"Should I take Cosmo to school?" Tamara asked.

"You know what? He's missed half the day already. Can you stay and look after him?" Laetner asked.

"No problem." Tamara said. "But Lexi's gonna hang here with me."

"Great. Again, I'm so sorry we wasted your time." Laetner said.

"I'll see you later." Hunter said to Lexi and she and Grant walked out.

***

Hunter and Grant walked to the front door and lowered their voices. "You buying that?" Hunter asked.

"Not a word. We should loop in the detectives." Grant suggested as they stepped outside to towards their shop.

***

Hunter and Grant were walking in the bullpen when Angela intercepted them. "You were right about Sonia Laetner. She wasn't on any flight manifest, and none of her family in Ohio has heard from her." Angela said.

"What about her cellphone?" Hunter asked.

"It last pinged near their house, then went dead." Angela explained.

"We're gonna find her body in Griffith Park, aren't we?" Grant deadpanned.

"Bring her husband in. I want to talk to him." Angela said.

"Okay." Hunter and Grant walked out.

***

Mad Dog was speaking through a headset as Tim was shooting. "There's no excuses for a bad shot. Metro never misses. Good call. Mikey's a lovely man. Although his ex-wife might disagree." Tim managed to shoot each target without getting paintballed this time and everyone walked into the range. "Yeah, Bradford. Nice." The other's applauded. "Well, clearly you got the goods to be here. And now that you're one of us, you get the company ink."

Tim narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? What ink?"

"It's the tattoo we all have, brother. It's how we show our loyalty."

"Oh, come on. We all know that as soon as a group of cops get the same tattoo, they're going to prison."

"What are you trying to say?"

"All right, let me see it."

Suddenly a trap door opened above Tim and unicorn stickers fall out and land on him, Mad Dog laughed. "Lighten up, brother," Tim just scowls. "Here. Here. Have a unicorn."

"Too kind," Tim laughed dryly. "Too kind. Thank you."

The team walked out and Pine walked over to Tim. "They're testing you, seeing how far you'll bend."

"Yeah, Lopez and I saw the same kind of thing when she and I were in the military." Tim deadpanned.

"Not about how many stripes on your sleeves with this crew," Pine turned to walk off and then back to Tim. "Hunter Lopez? You've known her for that long?" Pine asked.

"It's all good. Team building. And yes, I've known Hunter that long." Tim said.

"If you're gonna lead this team, they need to know who you are. Show them the Tim Bradford that was tapped to join Metro in the first place." Pine said to him.

"Thanks." Tim said and Pine walked off.

***

Laetner walked over to Cosmo and Tamara and Lexi who were all waiting for him to finish up with Angela. "Cosmo, let's go."

"He did not look happy." Lexi comments.

"He's not." Angela said.

"What happened?" Hunter asked her sister.

"Claims Sonia was kidnapped for a ransom but doesn't want the cops involved." Angela said.

"Do we buy that?" Hunter asked.

"He's already lied to us once. I'm not taking anything at face value," Angela turned to Lexi and Tamara. "You two spend a lot of time at the house. Do you think he'd hurt her?" She asked the two girls.

"No. He's -- He's never been violent. I've heard them argue maybe like twice. Why? Do you think he killed her?" Tamara asked.

"I'm not ruling anything out. We need a team to search the house. Once they're done, I want units parked outside. If he leaves for any reason, I want him followed." Angela said.

"You got it." Hunter said.

"I'm gonna get a warrant for his phone. For whatever reason, he cannot be allowed to make a money drop alone -- if there even is a money drop." Angela said.

"All right. Come on." Hunter said and she and Lexi both walked out.

***

It was nighttime, Tim entered his house and noticed boxes around everywhere that Lexi was packing. "So, you've found an apartment?" Tim questioned, Lexi and Hunter poked their heads up from the living room floor where there were other boxes.

"Hi." Hunter said, standing up. "Yes, Lexi's found an apartment, so I was helping her pack." Hunter added.

"You're late." Lexi deadpanned.

"Yeah. Sorry I'm late. Ready for the movie? I found out that Time After Time is on a streaming platform." Tim said.

Hunter smiles. "I love that film. Lexi?" Hunter asked turning to the red head.

"I've got nothing better to do and I can pack afterwards," Lexi walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of premade popcorn. "So, popcorn?" She asked sitting down beside the two of them. Hunter turns the movie on.

***

The next day Laetner was bought in again by Lucy and Aaron, he was interrogated by Angela and finally folded.

***

Tim was on the rooftop with Metro, Grant, Lucy and Aaron, Hunter was standing beside Tim looking across the road where Sonia Laetner was being held, Hunter was looking through binoculars and noticed two men walking.

Tim and Hunter turned to face the team on the rooftop. "All right, everyone switch to channel 9," everyone switched their radios to channel 9. "Listen up. We have a confirmed hostage situation at that compound across the street. Hostage is Sonia Laetner. White female, dark hair. Last seen with an orange sweater and black pants. We've identified five suspects on site, but there could be more. We don't know which building our hostage is being held in, so we need to clear everything," Tim looked at Hunter. "Detective Lopez will be our spotter. She'll provide overwatch." He said looking back at the team.

Mad Dog looks at Hunter almost as if scrutinizing her. "Why not let Metro provide overwatch?" He asked.

"Because we need all our boots on the ground," Tim turned to Hunter. "And there's no one I'd rather have on my six than La Adelita." He deadpanned looking at Mad Dog.

That's when Mad Dog realised who she was. "Oh. I'm sorry, ma'am. I-I had no idea," Mad Dog stammered. "You're a legend at the range." He said.

"I'll forgive you this time at least. Go get her back." Hunter deadpanned.

"You heard her. Let's move. No mistakes." Tim said and everyone starts moving off the rooftop.

"¿Tim?/Tim?" The man in question turned around to Hunter. "Ten cuidado./Be careful." She requested.

***

Tim and the others took their positions and Tim spoke into his comm. "In position. Are we clear?' He asked Hunter.

"Main concourse is clear. Green and go."

***

The teams walked into the compound, Tim and his team walked somewhere inside the building and managed to take down one suspect, he spoke into his radio. "Adam Team, I need trailers for one in custody. Ramp room. Moving forward on our sweep."

Tim and his team arrived in the room where Sonia was being held captive, she was sobbing and one of the suspects was yelling at her, Tim turned to a Metro Officer and whispered. "Kill the power when I give the signal," Tim gave the signal and the power turned off, the suspect looked around before grabbing his phone out, Tim turned on the night vision on his gun and looked through the scope. "Come on. Just take one step." Tim said quietly.

The suspect made a call and moved away for a moment and Tim managed to make a shot and the suspect went down and the power was turned back on, the Metro team with Tim moved to Sonia. "It's okay," Tim spoke into his radio. "Adam Team, one in custody. Hostage is safe. We are Code 4," Tim turned to Sonia. "It's okay. It's okay. You're safe now." He said releasing her.

***

Tim and Hunter walked into the parking lot and started walking to Tim's truck it was nighttime and they'd finally knocked off, Hunter was wearing light blue jeans and a white shirt, Tim was wearing blue jeans and a dark Henley. "Ready to go home?" Tim asked her.

Hunter looked at him and smiled. "Yes, you're bed's really comfy, the comfiest bed I've ever slept in." She said.

Tim nodded his head. "It's nice to know our relationships is reliant on the comfort of my bed." Tim replied.

Hunter grinned as she looked up at him. "And the dog and the pool, lets not forget. Besides, it's not entirely reliant on any of those things, you are hot." She shrugged.

"Oh wow, said with no shame at all out loud where anyone can hear it." Tim comments, knowing Hunter would never say anything like that where anyone can hear it normally anyway.

"Well, I can't deny something that's true." Hunter said.

Tim and Hunter arrived at the truck and Tim grabbed his keys and unlocked it, when Pine walked over just as Hunter opened the door to the back seat and placed her go bag in their. "Hey, Bradford," Tim and Hunter looked over at Pine. "Good job out there today." Pine comments.

"Thanks." Tim said.

Pine looks back at the Metro team. "They're a good bunch once you get to know them." She said.

"Yeah," Tim nods. "I'll take your word for it." Tim said.

"Nothing against Patrol," Hunter hummed. "But... Metro is a different beast. We get called in situations that are already at a boiling point. That kind of stress creates a special bond." Pine said.

"And I'm on the outside of that." Tim deadpanned.

"And every single one of them was, too, at some point. Give it a little time." Pine replied.

"Okay." Tim said, he headed to the drivers side of his truck.

Pine called out to him again. "You want to grab a beer with us?" He asked.

Tim looked over. "Do I have a choice?" Pine shakes her head. "It's tradition. New guy buys a round."

Pine then turned to Hunter. "Detective, you're more than welcome to join us." Pine said, turning to Hunter.

Hunter blinked in surprise. "What? I'm not part of Metro."

Pine shrugged. "Your close enough, besides your sister cornered me the day after the UC op and told me you were dating, something she was surprisingly happy about," Pine turned around and Tim and Hunter shared a look, Pine looked back at them. "Come on." Tim and Hunter walked off and joined Pine.

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I hated Mad Dog but then he got alright I suppose.

I like Pine, she's a good character.

I enjoyed writing this chapter/episode.

Hope you enjoy.