7x01: The Shot

***

The team were hunting down Oscar Hutchinson and Jason Wyler, Bailey Nune's ex-husband, luckily Bailey's been deployed with the National Guard, after finding out where Jason was the team breached the building only to find Jason wasn't there, he'd played the team, but that wasn't surprising. Hunter was still on leave but Tim had to go in and help.

Grey had been promoted to Lieutenant ever since the scandal and a lot of cops had been fired, Detective Keith Graham had been made a full time Detective at the station and loved asking Angela about her sister even though it was common knowledge that Tim and Hunter were in a relationship with a baby.

Even with that being common knowledge, they didn't exactly flaunt it to other cops at the station which meant whatever new rookies were at the station we're gonna have no clue until it was known that they could be trusted.

Later, that night Hunter groaned as Hope started crying from the nursery, it was her bedroom. "Hey, I'll get her, you've pumped right?" Tim asked as he got out from under the covers allowing Hunter to sleep.

"Yeah, it's in the fridge." Hunter yawned and buried herself back into the covers while Tim fed Hope, when he came back Hunter just rolled over and buried her head in the crook of his neck, it was going to be interesting seeing as neither of them had gotten a full nights sleep and they wouldn't for another year or so.

Hope was only a month old Lexi was absolutely in love her little sister and would babysit her whenever Hunter and Tim wanted to leave but they were never gone long and more often than not would take Hope with them.

She was named in honour of her aunt and her father's best friend, as Emmy was named after her grandmother and her aunt and Hope was given her name because her mother had hoped that she would carry her without miscarrying.

Tim pet Kojo who was sleeping just outside Hope's door and would readily stand guard whenever the smallest sound in the house was made, so Tim and Hunter just moved his doggie bed to outside the bedroom door so that he wasn't sleeping on the wooden floor.

The four of them had moved to north of Grange, living in Oakdale, their house was bigger than the other one, having four bedrooms and a new island table, when Hope was first born they did live at 8111 Tunney Ave but they moved to 9801 Oak Knoll Dr when Hope was two weeks old.

****One day later*

Later, a day had gone by. Hunter was off leave and was asked to go in early to the station. "Any ideas on why Grey wanted you in early?" Tim asked as he kissed Hunter's cheek while she was feeding Hope with the bottle.

"No clue but probably to tell me things to do with pumping during the day, like I have the options of the women's locker room or a cleared out storage closet." Hunter shrugged when Lexi walked in.

"Hey, so as you both know I'm Blair's lawyer so I'll be with Wesley at the station listening to recordings of her sessions, if you want I keep Hope with me so that way as soon as you pump you can bring a bottle to the Metro-LAPD liaison office.

Hunter and Tim shared a look and hesitated for a moment, they weren't used to leaving Hope for twelve hours a day but knew that their daughter was with her sister and uncle besides Grey, Lucy, Angela and Nyla were all people they trusted with Hope. Hunter nodded at Tim who nods in return before they looked at Lexi. "Alright, but Grey wants Hunter to go in early so I'm driving us in." Tim said.

Lexi smiled and nodded. "So, how's Tamara?" Tim asked smirking at her.

"My relationship with Tam is none of your business." Lexi deadpanned back at her father.

Hunter laughed as Tim smiled. "We've taught you well." Tim comments.

***

Lucy was in the kitchen with Grant. "Hunter's gonna find it weird going in without you being there and I'm gonna hate it because now I've got no-one to ride with." Lucy said.

"I know but right now there's no sergeants positions open in Mid-Wilshire but I'll be back when there is, I promise." Grant kissed Lucy and grabbed his car keys and walked out, Lucy sighed and then grabbed her own keys, Tamara had moved in with friends but still hung out with Lexi every day when she wasn't at work.

Lucy knew about their relationship, Tamara had told her about when she felt comfortable enough. She knew that Lexi had told her parents and they were happy for her but it turns out they made a bet with each other and Tim had won.

***

Hunter was in the women's locker room, she got changed, she had the chevrons denoting that she was a Detective again and that was when Hope was a couple days old and now she was a month old.

Hunter removed the necklace Tim had gotten her on their first second valentines day when Angela walked over. "Grey wants to see you." She said walking into the locker room to find Hunter.

"I know, why are you here so early?" Hunter asked.

"I heard Lexi had my niece for the day and she and Wesley are gonna be here for a couple of weeks." Angela shrugged.

"Well Hope and Lexi aren't arriving until later, they're still at the house with Kojo."

"Damn it, I could've slept." Angela grumbled.

"How is Emmy?" Hunter questioned as she placed her engagement ring on the shelf of her locker.

"Emmy's fine, when did you and Tim get engaged?" Angela asked.

"Before Nolan's wedding, we told Grant, Lexi and Grey but we're letting everyone else work it out, it was private and we kept it to ourselves." Hunter shrugged.

"That's totally on brand for you two, anyway, see you later." Angela said. She walked out.

***

Hunter knocked on the door of Grey's office and noticed Tim standing in there as well. Grey smiles at her. "So, I've had a complaint about your uniform and badge."

Hunter frowned. "What about it?" She asked.

Grey hands Tim a box. "That department issued Detective's badge is wrong and won't do given that it's 80% tin," Tim holds out a box with a new Sergeant's Badge and holds it out to him. "But this is solid silver and real gold." He said.

Hunter took the badge. "And you're chevrons are wrong as well, so here." Grey pulled out two shirts with TO stripes, the diamond denoting that she's a detective and the sergeants triangle thing that Tim had on his own uniform.

"How the hell did you guess my size?" Hunter asked, taking the two shirts.

"I didn't, Tim knows your size, so he went and got them." Grey shrugged.

Hunter laughed. "Right, I will get changed, again." She walked out before Grey called out to her.

"Lopez, we've got two new rookies, you're training one of them." Grey said, Hunter nodded.

***

Tim walked over to the two rookies, one was lacing his shoes up and talking to his other rookie who was standing up. "Why aren't you ready yet, Boot? Roll call starts in ten." Tim said the rookie lacing his shoes up.

Ridley, which was the name on his nametag, stood up. "I, um--we-- I am getting ready, sir. Sergeant, sir-- Sergeant, sir!" He stuttered out and then saluted Tim.

"Let me make this easy for you, Boot. Don't bother lacing up. You don't belong here. Better to quit now than be embarrassed out on the street," Tim said crowding Ridley's personal space when the other rookie, Penn, which was the name on his nametag, started laughing. "Something funny?" Tim asked looking at him, before taking a step back to look at both of them.

"No, sir. I got mad respect for a real-life drill sergeant. Many aspire, but few live it, as you so clearly do." Penn said.

"Morning! Are these the Academy's finest?" Nolan asked as he arrived at his locker.

"Negative. These two are scraped from the bottom of the barrel. A fainting goat and a peacock." Tim replied not looking away from the two rookies.

"Welcome to the crucible, gentlemen. I look forward to learning your names if you survive the week." Nolan said getting his uniform out the locker.

***

Hunter having gotten changed walked out into the bullpen and Lucy walked over to her. "Hey, congratulations." Lucy said.

"Thanks." Hunter sighed.

"You okay?" Lucy asked.

The two started walking to the briefing room. "Yeah, it's just weird without Grant, he's been here since 2011, he was my partner after he graduated from the FTO program and he became my partner again after I came back in 2019 from the NYPD."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, it must be weird walking in without him being there," that's when Lucy noticed Lexi. "So what's Lexi doing with Hope?" She asked.

Hunter glanced over. "Oh yeah, she and Wesley are at the stations for another couple of weeks and she offered to keep her with her and then my mom can take her until she's able to go to school 'cause there's no way in hell that we're paying for childcare or a babysitter." She said.

Lucy just laughed when her phone rang. "I will see you in there." She said. Hunter nodded and Lucy stepped away to answer the phone call.

***

Lexi was pushing Hope's pram in the bullpen over to Angela desk. "I will get her off you after this morning's roll call." She said.

Angela lit up at seeing her niece. "Give me the pram." She demanded quickly.

Lexi laughed. "Surely you're sick of babies." She comments.

Angela shakes her head. "Not this one because she's not keeping me away at all hours of the night but I do love Emmy and Jack." She said picking Hope up from the pram.

Lexi laughed again. "I will be taking her back, remember that." Angela just nodded as Hope babbled at her aunt and Angela just nodded at her while Lexi walked off to find Wesley.

***

Tim caught Hunter in the bullpen just before they had to head to roll call. "Care to put money on it?" Tim asked.

Hunter frowned. "On what? Who trains a better rookie? No, thank you. That's so--" Hunter was barely three feet away from Tim when she turned around and walked back. "What exactly would the terms of the bet be?" She asked.

"Whose rookie's best-trained after a month. Most successes, fewest infractions, each day's reports independently verified. But I understand if you want no part of it. I mean, I'm a veteran, you're a rookie TO. It's not really a fair contest." Tim said.

"Bring it on." Hunter said and the two walked off, Hunter first and Tim followed.

***

"Good morning and welcome back." Nolan said as Hunter slid into the middle sit at the TO table with Tim on her left.

"Thank you." Hunter said.

That's when Nolan noticed the chevrons and badge. "Hey, congratulations on the promotion." He said.

"Oh, thank you." Hunter said, she smiled at Nolan and then Tim.

"So where is Hope?" Nolan asked.

Tim and Hunter both shrugged. "If Lexi doesn't have her and Lucy's and other cops we trust are in here, Angela probably has her."

That's when they noticed Celina speaking to the new rookies. "So which one of you gets the ringer?" Nolan asked.

"What? Ringer?" Hunter questioned.

"Yeah, the tall guy is from Texas PD. Tim and I met him in the locker room." Nolan said.

"Wow, what kind of hustle are you running?" Hunter asked Tim.

"There's no hustle and he's no ringer. Cops who transfer from other states have to be untrained and retrained from all their bad habits. Honestly, I'm praying Grey gives me the virgin." Tim comments.

Grey walks into the briefing room, Nyla's standing on one side of the podium and Wesley and Lexi's on the other. "All right. Good morning. Now before we get started we've got to welcome back Detective Sergeant Hunter Lopez from her leave and congratulate her on her promotion to DS." Everyone applauded for Hunter who groaned. "We've also lost Officers Aaron Thorsen and Grant Lawrence to North Hollywood, with Officer Lawrence taking a sergeant's position over there," Grey said. "Now we can get started," he looked over at Nyla. "Detective."

"Following up on yesterday's raid, despite our winning personalities and fearsome interrogation methods, Detective Angela Lopez and I were unsuccessful in gaining any further insight into the whereabouts of Jason Wyler and Oscar Hutchinson," Hunter and Tim shared a look, all of them glad it wasn't Elijah Stone who escaped cause then the Lopez-Evers family would be in danger. "Which means two of the most dangerous men we have ever arrested are still at large. Now, luckily, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals are both fully engaged in the hunt." Nyla said, before moving to sit on one of the tables.

"Given our continued fallout from the mess Monica Stevens and Blair London created, ADA's Wesley Evers and Lexi Smith have both been assigned here temporarily to make sure we're flying right." Grey said.

The other cops all groaned in annoyance at that, even though they knew Wesley was married to Angela most knew that Lexi was the adopted daughter of Tim and Hunter. "Good morning. Lexi and I understand your reactions, but it is vital that law enforcement show the public that we are taking this corruption scandal seriously. So while I'm not here to judge you, I do have a mandate from the DA's office to review arrest reports and ensure their completeness and viability."

"Blair London chose me as her lawyer, to piss my parents off so that means I'm here working with Wesley." Lexi said.

Grey and Nyla's jaws dropped as did Celina's. "Is that it?" Grey asked composing himself.

"That's it." Wesley said.

"Thank you, Wesley and Lexi," Wesley and Lexi both nodded and walked out the briefing room, Grey steps down from the podium. "And if that wasn't enough, we have two new rookies starting today. Stand, state your name and your badge numbers." Grey said walking towards the two new rookies.

"Hi, I'm--I'm Seth Ridley. Badge number 6514-- 651407." Ridley said anxiously, closing his eyes to help him remember his badge number.

"Howdy. Miles Penn, badge number 653013. Two-year veteran of the Sugarland, Texas police department. I've known I was destined for greatness my whole life. But I wasn't gonna find it in a small town, so I came to Hollywood." Penn said smugly.

"Officer Penn. Did I ask for an editorial comment?" Grey asked.

"No, sir. That was free of charge." Penn said.

"Well, thank you. Keep your comments to yourself, son," Hunter places a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Or you'll be finding greatness elsewhere. Am I clear?" Grey threatened.

"Yes, sir." Penn replied.

"Now, you both earned the right to be here, but you have to prove yourself to stay. Understood?" Grey asked.

"Yes, sir." Ridley and Penn replied.

"Good. Officer Penn, you're assigned to Sergeant Bradford. Officer Ridley, you'll be riding with Sergeant Lopez. That's it. Be safe out there." Grey said and everyone stood up and walked out the briefing room.

"Just as I expected. You got the ringer." Hunter said to Tim as the two walked over to their rookies.

"Hi." Ridley said to Hunter.

"Hey." Hunter and Ridley shook hands.

"Hi. This is gonna be a pleasure, Sergeant Lopez." Ridley said.

"Nice to meet you. Let's save all that until you get the war bags and we set up our shop, all right?" Hunter asked.

"All right. Yes, ma'am." Ridley said.

"All right." Hunter said and Ridley walked out the room.

Penn looked Hunter up and down while Tim was standing at her side as she watched Ridley walk out. "Is it too late to ask for a TO swap?" He asked.

Tim and Hunter both looked at Penn and Hunter rolled her eyes. "Get your eyes off Sergeant Lopez, Texas. You're not fit to breathe the same air. Go get us set up. After all the peacocking you've displayed, I'm expecting perfection. I'll be grading you on a serious curve," Penn walked out and Tim took his spot of standing across from Hunter, who had a small smile at Tim defending her, it was like Rosalind Dyer said, Tim was her fierce protector and he always would be, even when they were broken up. "What?" Tim asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just liking my chances right now." Hunter said before walking out the room, Tim watched her go and then followed.

***

Angela was pushing Hope's pram while walking down a hallway in the station with Lexi and Wesley. "I heard you got booed in roll call. Who am I hurting?" Angela asked.

"That's fine. I can take it. And having my wife beat up the people that are mean to me isn't gonna win me any fans." Wesley deadpanned.

"I'm just saying, I'll cut a bitch," they stopped outside Tim's old office. "Nice of Metro to let you use the liaison office." 

"Yeah, we need the privacy. Wesley and I still need to finish reviewing the final recordings of Blair London's therapy sessions." Lexi said.

Angela sighed. "So creepy."

"Yeah, tell me about it. All I feel is dirty listening to everybody's secrets. Especially when most are only guilty of being humans in emotional distress," Wesley thought for a moment. "Hey. Any news on Monica?" He asked.

"Not since she evaded Interpol in Bolivia," Angela turned to Lexi. "Can't I keep her for the day Lexi?" She asked her niece.

Lexi laughed and shook her head. "No, not if you're needed on a case." She said taking the pram off of her aunt and wheeling it into the room.

Wesley stepped into the room and set the laptop up, Angela walked off and Lexi got Hope settled before sitting beside her uncle and opening a book, she also closed the door.

***

Hunter and Ridley were patrolling together, Hunter was working 7-Adam-19 while Tim was 7-Adam-100, although soon her call sign would be changed to 7-Lincoln-100 as she was a DS. Hunter who was driving glanced over at Ridley. "It's very simple. You know, things move way too fast out on the street for me to coddle you. Yeah?" Hunter asked her rookie.

"Yeah. I understand. Just consider me like your sponge. I'm eager to absorb all your knowledge." Ridley states.

"All units, be on the lookout for a gray vehicle. Partial license plate, Edward 2-3-9. Suspect is white male, black shirt, brown hair, armed and dangerous. Shots were fired, at least one victim. Unknown condition." Dispatch said.

"OK. Officer Ridley, what's our follow-up?" Hunter asked, handing Ridley the radio.

"Um--" Ridley said, not quite sure what to do now.

"Don't you want to know distance of travel? The time element." Hunter advised, she wondered how long it would take to wash him out.

"Right." Ridley said.

"Yeah?" Hunter asked.

"Control, what is our DOT and time element?" Ridley asked.

"Six minutes ago. South on Garmond." Dispatch said.

"Which means he's headed away from us." Hunter said, testing Ridley on what he knew about LA's roads.

"No, Garmond is north of us, which means he's coming in our direction." Ridley said.

"Good. And he's probably headed towards the freeway. But the traffic's heavy this time of morning, so if we hustle... We might just catch up to him. You want to hit the lights?" Hunter asked Ridley and he flicked the switch, turning the sirens on.

***

"Do y'all have license plate readers? I assume you do, big city like this." Penn said on the laptop that the shop had.

"Yeah, we do. Where you going with this?" Tim asked.

"I'm plugging in the partial. Request a real-time search of this neighborhood." Penn replied.

***

The two lawyers were still listening to the recordings they were on Officer A. Unger. "Thanks, Dr. London. It feels good to finally be able to unburden myself. I'll see you next week."

"OK. No incriminating information. Cleared." Wesley said, checking him off.

Lexi clicked onto the next person. ""I had that dream again last night. The things she did to me. Seriously, this is becoming a problem. I mean, how am I supposed to sometimes work next to Hunter Lopez when all I can think about is how much I wanna—" Lexi paused the recording.

Lexi turned to Wesley her face pale. "Wes, you heard that right?" She asked.

Wesley nodded and Hope started crying so he stood up to check on her while Lexi just sat back in her chair in shock.

***

"All units, 211 suspect plates recorded heading west, 2100 block of Lincoln ten minutes ago, but the vehicle did not pass through the next intersection." Dispatch said over the radio.

Ridley thinks for a moment. "That's just around the corner. There's an alley on Lincoln. Maybe he ditched the car down there," Lucy turns down the alley and the two spotted the car. "Oh, my God. There it is." He said.

"OK, focus, Officer Ridley. Do I park here or pull in closer?" Hunter asked him, staying away from the car.

"We, uh, we park here." Ridley said.

"Why?" Hunter asked.

"Because we can't see if the suspect is in the vehicle or not, so it's safer to approach on foot." Ridley replied.

"Correct," Hunter grabbed the shop radio. "7-Adam-19, I have eyes on the suspect vehicle. West side of the alley, 2100 block of Lincoln. Show us Code-6 to investigate. Send backup." She said.

"Copy that, 7-Adam-19. Be careful." Dispatch said.

"All right. Tell me how we approach." Hunter said.

"We have our weapons drawn, we approach with caution, we try to call out the driver. If he does not respond, then we can get a little bit closer. Always make sure we have an exit route available. And we'll check the trunk on the way up." Ridley said.

"It's an SUV. There is no trunk. Don't just parrot academy training, all right? This is the real world." Hunter said.

"Right. Yes, ma'am." Ridley states.

"All right." Hunter said.

Ridley spoke into the radio. "Control, can we make sure that nobody comes northbound to this alley in case there's fire?" He asked.

"Copy that, 7-Adam-19." Dispatch said.

"That's a good call," Hunter and Ridley get out the shop and walked carefully towards the SUV. "Driver! This is the police! Roll down your window and show me your hands! Show me your hands! Do it now!" Hunter called, when she turned to Ridley after he accidentally lowered his gun pointing it in Hunter's direction. "Watch your--watch your muzzle." She said.

"Sorry, sorry." Ridley said.

"Go this way." Hunter said pointing to the other side of the car.

"OK." Ridley said walking to the passenger side of the car.

"I see the suspect. Show me your hands!" Hunter yelled.

"He looks dead." Ridley said looking through the window

"We can't know for sure. Come this side," Ridley joins Hunter and follows her. "I'm gonna open the door. You grab his shoulders, pull them out on three. OK?" She asked.

"OK." Ridley said.

"One, two," Hunter opened the door and Ridley pulled him out and started gagging. "Hey, do not get sick." Hunter said.

"OK." Ridley said gagging.

"Don't puke on him. No," Ridley pukes in the car. "Damn it," Hunter placed a hand on her forehead as Ridley leaves the car, Hunter speaks to him. "Ridley, you just contaminated the crime scene." She said.

"Sorry.' Ridley said.

"7-Adam-19, 211 suspect in custody. We need RA for possible OD." Hunter said into her radio.

***

"Must have been jonesing for a fix when he robbed the pharmacy. Pulled over to dope up as soon as he thought it was safe. On the bright side, taxpayers save millions if he kicks it." Penn said after hearing Lucy over the radio.

"We never root for a suspect to die, Officer Penn." Tim warned.

"Yeah, totally. I-I'm just saying--" Penn was interrupted when a car sped on the road. "Finally, a little action of our own," Penn looked at the laptop. "Reported stolen early this morning. Pull up close and I'll shoot out the tires," Tim looked at him in disbelief. "I'm kidding, man." Penn said. "Ooh, that hurt." Penn said when the car crashed into another car that was parked.

"OK, what--" Tim was saying when Penn just got out the shop not waiting for Tim's orders.

"Police! Show me your hands! Show me your damn hands! Ah, he's running! Get down! Show me your hands!" Penn yelled as the man fell to the ground and he cuffed him.

"You should have waited. That was all bad, Texas. Strike one, you jumped out the car while I was trying to communicate. What if I was trying to tell you I saw a gun or a second suspect? Strike two, you ran out in front of my field of fire, so I couldn't engage even if I had to. And strike three, by going to that driver's side alone, you left an escape route out the passenger side. And don't even get me started on your little "shoot out the tires" comment. It is now a permanent part of this case. That may not sound like much now, but wait till a civil liberty attorney hears about it. Might be writing this kid checks for years." Tim warned.

***

"All right, as punishment for being a cowboy, you're checking every VIN on that stolen vehicle to make sure it matches." Tim said as he and Penn walk into the garage.

"That'll take hours, Sarge." Penn complained.

"It's Sergeant Bradford, not Sarge. You're way too eager to get in trouble, so I'm slowing you down," suddenly an alarm started going off and Tim turned to his rookie. "Back out." He said, moving backwards.

"Wait. Why? What is that alarm for?" Penn asked.

"Back out! Every department garage has a Geiger counter. This car we brought in is radioactive." Tim explained and the two ran out of the garage.

***

Tim was talking to Penn in the bullpen when Grey knocked on the call window of his office and pointed to Tim. "You're with us."

Tim nodded and turned to Penn. "Go study your rook book." Tim walked into the office.

"Close it," Grey said and Tim closed the door, Garza from the FBI was in the office as well. "A battlefield nuke was stolen from the port this morning." Grey said.

"And the OG backpack runs about 80 pounds, making it highly mobile. What do you know about the stolen car's owner?" Garza asked.

"Paul Scoville, 31, rent-a-cop at the port. Recently divorced. I assume money problems, but I can't confirm till I pull his financials." Tim said.

"Any idea where he is now?" Grey asked.

"No. Called his house, his cell, haven't heard back. But I just found out he's a person of interest five seconds ago." Tim replied.

"I'll have the office work on the warrants." Garza said.

"Known associates, too?" Tim asked.

"Oh, absolutely. We are gonna piggyback the whole menu on this. Home, phone, storage lockers, PO boxes, and the same for all known associates. Anyone we can establish a clear nexus with. I'll mobilize HRT," Garza said using his phone, he looked up at Grey. "Can you get Metro and SWAT up to speed?" He asked.

"Of course." Grey replied.

"Good. We're gonna need to get ready and gear up, because when it is time to move, we are gonna need to move fast." Garza states.

"Copy." Tim said before leaving the office.

***

"Hey," Hunter walked over to Ridley who was in the waiting room at St Vincent's hospital, he turned around, holding a writing pad in his hand. "They officially called time of death at 13:29." Lucy said to him.

"Right." Ridley said.

"Write that down," Ridley grabbed his pen and wrote that down. "And they still have to do an autopsy, but it seems pretty clear it was an overdose, so--" Hunter trailed off.

"Listen, about earlier." Ridley said.

"No, look, I get it. It's your first dead body. All those fluids, it got to you. But we have to protect the scene." Hunter reminds him.

"Yeah, no," Hunter frowned. "I--I-- yes, we got to protect the scene, but it's not that simple. I-- this is not my first OD," Hunter tilts her head curiously. 'I had this girlfriend back in junior year of high school, and I found her after prom in a bathroom at Rory Hatcher's house. And, um... she had her eyes rolled back, you know, and-- She wasn't breathing, so I tried to give her CPR, but--" Ridley sighs. "I couldn't get the taste of her sick out of her mouth for like two days. And I can still taste it if I, um-- I--" Ridley clears his throat. "I wasn't being a delicate flower out there today, OK? It all just came rushing back. And I promise it's not gonna happen again." He reassured her.

"Ridley, that's awful. I'm sorry that happened to you. But in this job, we have to separate from the personal. It's the hardest thing we have to do, trust me, I know. Because if we lose control, bad things happen, right?" Hunter asked.

"Understood. What do you mean, that you know separating from the personal is hard?" Ridley asked curiously.

"Um, that doesn't matter." Hunter said, Ridley getting the hint that Hunter didn't want to talk about it nodded his head. She knew because she was engaged to a cop, the sister of a cop, a cop herself and a mother of a newborn who she didn't want anyone ever seeing if they knew she was a cop.

***

Tim and Nolan are in the interrogation room watching Garza and Grey speak to one of the suspects. "You're wasting your breath. I ain't talking."

"That's fine. Better you listen for the moment anyway, because what you choose to do next will decide the rest of your life." Garza states.

"Paul Scoville is clinging to his life at Saint Stephens. So as of this moment, there's still a path to immunity for you. We can hang the charges on your crew, give you a golden ticket to a new life. But we need names and a location for the device." Grey informed him.

"I told you--" The suspect started saying.

"Shut up!" Garza snapped and moved so that he was standing at the edge of the table rather than sitting across. "You have literally five minutes to decide if you are gonna be part of the solution or go to prison as a domestic terrorist." Garza warned.

Hunter joined the two men in the observation room after pumping in the women's locker room. "You think he'll flip on his guys?" She asked.

"He has to. There's no other option." Nolan states.

Hunter glances over at Tim. "How's it going with your cowboy?" She asked.

"Great. How's the virgin?" Tim asked in return.

"Great." Hunter said.

"Celina's doing great, too. Thank you for asking." Nolan said, Hunter and Tim both looked at him.

"Fine." The suspected relented, he really didn't want to be arrested by the sounds of it.

Grey pokes his head into the room. "Lopez, go get Wesley and Lexi."

"Sir." Hunter said and walked out.

***

Lexi and Wesley were watching Det. Graham interacting with Angela, Lexi being the daughter of Tim and Hunter was able read their lips. "He's asking about Mom obviously." She said lowering her voice as the new rookies were talking with Celina.

"I spoke to him in the breakroom when I walked in to get Hope's milk, he told me how badass and amazing Hunter is and we all know that but he's barely interacted with her." Wesley comments.

"I've seen them speaking on a few occasions after shift." Lexi said.

That's when Celina walked over to the two of them. "Um, everything okay?" She asked them.

"Yeah." Lexi lied, Hope was sleeping in her pram in liaison office so Lexi just locked after being given a key to the office by Angela who was given one by Pine so that it could be used for the recordings.

"It's just you two have pained looks on your faces. Just checking to make sure you're not having a heart attack." Celina said.

"Oh, no, no, no. No, I'm fine. I'm fine. It's just I'm an officer of the court as is Lexi. We can't violate the confidentiality that we've been entrusted with. And that's the-- the cornerstone of the legal profession, really. No matter how much you want to unknow what you know, you can't, it's just there, always. Every time you close your eyes."

"Uh—" Celina had no idea what to say.

Hunter found Wesley and Lexi and called out to them. "Hey, they need you in interrogation. Nuclear guy's ready to talk, but they need you to sign off on the deal." Hunter said, catching their attention.

"Right. Right." Wesley said as he and Lexi followed Hunter to the interrogation room.

Lexi hung back for a second. "Can you keep an eye on Hope? And if Angie's done talking tell her to keep an eye out here's the key to the office." Celina nodded and Lexi handed her the key.

"Crew leader's Marcus Leonard. He's holed up in a rental in West LA with Evan Ardle and LeShawn Wilkes. That's where the nuke is. We're waiting to rendezvous with a buyer in the desert. Outside of Vegas. But you better hurry. They're on the move in less than an hour." The suspect said.

Hunter, Tim and Nolan all looked at each other.

***

"Eyes are in the sky. Radio on scrambled channel. Be advised, license plate camera captured suspect vehicle heading east on Wilshire Boulevard one minute ago. That's east on Wilshire Boulevard. Heads up. Suspect vehicle spotted west on Wilshire Boulevard heading for the freeway." Garza said over Tim's shop radio.

"7-Adam-100 two blocks away, heading northwest on Olive. What are our rules of engagement?" Penn asked via the shop radio.

"Only one: don't shoot the nuke." Grey replied.

***

"Thanks, Grey. That's so helpful." Lucy said sarcastically to herself. Before she picked up the radio. "7-Adam-19, five blocks away, heading south on Figueroa." She said.

"This seems unreal. Was your first day like this?" Ridley asked.

"No, I saved Penn's TOs life after he got shot during a firefight, had to drag him for cover. This is a walk in the park." Hunter replied.

"7-Adam-15 on an intercept course." Celina said over the radio. "OK, we're turning here on Hope Street." Celina added.

Hunter picked the radio up and was about to speak when Tim beat her to it. "Control, attach us to that pursuit."

"Attach us as well." Hunter said, placing the radio down.

***

"7-Adam-15, two more units attaching to pursuit three blocks out." Dispatch said over the shop radio in Tim and Penn's shop.

"Suspect vehicle heading east, entering Lower Grand." Garza said.

Tim picked up his radio. "I know we're not supposed to shoot the device, but how do you feel about us crashing into it?" He asked.

"And I'm the cowboy?" Penn asked looking at Tim incredulously.

"Well, in theory, it's stable enough for an outside impact, but the thing's 60 years old, so--" Garza trailed off.

"Yeah, that-- that sounds like a no." Penn said.

"Hang on." Tim said as he was driving head first into the suspect vehicle, which swerved causing the two shops to break before they crashed into each other, seeing as Nolan and Celina were coming from behind, causing the FBI car to screech to a halt as well. Tim turned his shop around and started chasing after it again, the FBI car following, along with Nolan and Celina.

***

Shops pulled up as the suspects started firing at them in a street, Tim and Penn pulled up behind Ridley and Hunter, the two men moved towards Hunter's shop carefully as she and Ridley were taking cover at the trunk, Hunter was firing and Tim grabbed Ridley's arm and pushed him back, Tim taking his spot also fired on the suspects.

One of the suspects puts the nuke on, seeing as it's in a backpack, Hunter ducks behind the trunk. "Three shooters," two of them start moving away but still fire at the cops. "Two shooters running off." She said, the third one starts to following and Hunter fires her gun, shooting him in the leg. "Got him, got him. Shooter down." She said.

The two TOs and the two Rookies run after the other two shoots, Penn taking over. "Penn, slow down!" Tim called to his rookie.

Hunter turned to Ridley. "Clear the truck."

Two suspects are running through a park like area, causing civilians to scream and panic upon seeing them as they're both holding guns. The two suspects run downstairs as the four cops arrive, so they get fired at. "Woah, woah, woah." Hunter said as she ducked for cover behind a wall near the stairway.

Tim did the same thing and turned to the rookies. "Get down, get down." He said.

The two suspects run further down the stairs and a civilian makes her way up when she gets shot, Hunter turned to her rookie. "Stay down. Ridley, pull her in. I got you cover fire." She said, Ridley did as he was told and pulled the civilian to safety and the suspects reloaded.

Hunter and Ridley got to work on stemming the bleeding of the woman who got shot until an RA arrived on scene, while other cops flooded the area taking on the suspects from the bottom of the stairs, Celina and Nolan among them.

One of the suspects fell down and his friend grabbed him up. "Get up. Get up!" He yelled and started holding him at gunpoint, talking to all the cops in the area.

"What the hell are you doing?" The other suspect asked.

"Shut up. Back off! Back off or I'll blow us all up! You want to be a cowboy? I will level this place!" The first suspect yelled when he got a minor shooting wound from Nolan, meaning the cops could finally end the situation.

"Nice shot, Officer Nolan." Grey said over the radios.

"Thank you, sir. Code-4, all suspects in custody." Nolan replied. Hunter and Tim shared a look of relief.

***

Ridley and Penn are leaving for the day, having gotten changed into their casual clothes, the two grab their go-bags, well Penn's is more like a hiking bag. "Man, that-- you think tomorrow's gonna be any quieter?" Ridley asked his friend as they walk towards the exit of the locker room.

"Not now that you jinxed it." Penn said.

Ridley chuckled, the two rounded a corner and Tim was standing there with deadliest glare on his face, that not even Lucy's seen. "Ah." Ridley jumped seeing the glare.

"Looks like you survived the day, Boot." Tim comments.

"Yeah, sir. Sergeant, uh, sir." Ridley said, still unsure of himself around Tim.

"Any blemishes? Don't lie to me. I will find out." Tim states.

"Um, no, just a small incident when Officer Chen and I found the carjacker OD'ed, I just puked in the vehicle." Ridley states.

"Dude." Penn states,

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge, Officer Penn. You almost got a blue page for your reckless behavior this morning." Tim reminds him.

"Yes, sir. I truly appreciate your leniency." Penn said smugly.

"Don't mistake it for kindness. You remain on very thin ice." Tim warned.

"Yes, sir. See you tomorrow." Penn said.

"Unfortunately. Try to suck less." Tim said.

"Will do." Penn replied. Tim walked out, shortly followed by Penn and Ridley.

***

Hunter and Tim were walking out, they managed to catch Lexi on the way out who was pushing Hope's pram. "How was she today?" Hunter asked, taking over pushing it while Tim just grabbed his daughter from the pram and carried her. She just gives Tim a look and he just shrugged before looking back Hope.

"She was good, slept for a bit, asked Celina to keep an eye on her while Wesley and I dealt with the deal but then told her that Angela could as well when she was done talking to a fellow Detective." Lexi said.

"Good." Hunter said, nodding her head.

"So, is Genny watching her tomorrow?" Lexi asked.

"Probably." Hunter shrugged. "Unless you want to watch her." She added.

"I think about it, see you two later." Lexi said, walking off to her own car while Tim placed Hope in the baby car seat and Hunter put the pram in the trunk of the car before getting into the passenger seat.

Tim got in the drivers seat and they started heading home. "Heard your guy puked all over a crime scene." Tim comments.

"Well, at least he didn't light his duty manual on fire and throw it out the window. Shoot out the tires?" Hunter asked.

"He's a little rough around the edges, but it's day one. I'll get him under control." Tim states, smiling.

"Likewise. So wait, since they both screwed up--" Hunter trailed off.

"Uh, yeah, I guess it's a draw." Tim said.

"Tomorrow's a new day." Hunter shrugged.

"Yes, it is." Tim agreed, and then two arrived back home and walked inside, putting Hope in her room to bed and Kojo then sits outside it standing guard at her door.

Hunter was in the living room. "How about a hike with Kojo and Hope tomorrow before work?" She suggested.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." Tim nodded his head and called in takeaway.

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I find actual addresses in LA and just use those from realtor websites, also I googled north of Grange LA because Lucy said in Wildfire that there were break ins in Tim's neighbourhood, south of Grange, so I searched up what was north of Grange and Oakdale came up.

In Australia, we call a trunk, boot, so it's strange writing trunk for the cars and stuff.

I hated Penn at first, I found Ridley okay but now Penn's growing on me while I'm getting suspicious of Ridley.

Tim and Hunter are going to be suspicious of Ridley because I feel like Tim and Lucy are in the actual show as well.

I copied the scenes and words for this chapter off of my story on Ao3, so I didn't have to write it all by hand, just changed the names because in that story on Ao3 it's a Chenford story. Obviously I added the recording with Wesley and Lexi in.

Hope you enjoy.