Evie felt decidedly uneasy about the exchange.

She was quite certain that the only reason she'd been approved last minute to act as middle man for this gun deal was that the guy who vouched for her owed her one. Or two. The whole act seemed off-kilter, like this end of the crew had been knocked out and was spinning loose. Since Bravo had been made a mark by the cops, everyone was on edge. This was supposed to be the last deal in Chicago before the gang rolled out for fresher ground and greener cops. She fiddled with her phone and kept her face neutral.

Two of the undercover cops that were rolling up to do this deal with her were experienced, the other she didn't immediately recognize.

"You got what we want?" The one she knew as Dawson asked as soon as he didn't have to shout.

"Some. The rest I'll call in when you show me the cash."

He nodded at the others. They set down their bags. "It's all there."

Evie threw the cash a cursory glance before dialing On-three.

"Hey, call 'em in." Evie said as soon as the other end picked up. "My buyers are here."

"They're not coming." On-three sounded like he'd been saying that all morning. He probably had.

"What?" Evie knew it. The deal had been sour since the beginning. She wanted to kick something but that would be unprofessional. "Why not?"

"They smelled a rat - not you, actually - and have run scared. They wanna reschedule for next week."

"Which means never. Are you serious?" Evie didn't even bother hiding her frustration now. There wasn't any point.

"Yep." On-three's tone was carefully neutral.

Evie bit back some darling, colorful language that wouldn't help the situation at all but couldn't hold in her sarcasm as she retorted, "So I've spent my day off with my adrenaline going because I'm ready for this to finally go down but somebody flashed their tail feathers and now I have no guns to sell to the cops I've dragged out here because heaven forbid a gun deal goes down anywhere decent?"

Said cops looked at each other in varying degrees of surprise, though Evie got the feeling that they were restraining themselves tremendously.

"Uh, yes?" On-three had the decency to sound sheepish. "I wanted to call you earlier but it wasn't a sure thing until about five minutes ago."

"At least tell me that Dart has pulled everybody out."

"He's taking care of everything on his end, now you've gotta do the same. It's up to you what you wanna tell them, okay? Look, I gotta go kick those tail feathers. Just stand down. I'm sorry," he added right before ending the call.

Despite not being surprised at this turn of events, Evie was still pretty annoyed. She could have been sleeping. Maybe. She probably would've been all over town to hear what the birds were saying, but still. Too many things had been going wrong lately. She didn't like it. Bravo was out of reach now and while she was definitely going to make sure that someone was following his trail, she herself couldn't do anything further.

One of the cops, the younger one she didn't recognize, was the one to break the silence. "What's this about cops?"

"You sound so surprised," she said absently, still annoyed. "Something stunk in the wind so they pulled back. I bet you anything Bravo is having trouble with his boys from outside and they're not really sniffing in this direction. Which is good, because we can't get anywhere if he smells your metal, but bad because they're due to move on by the end of the week."

The silence resumed while nobody was being subtle about eying the others. Halstead, the last of the trio, stepped forward after too many seconds of no one saying anything. "So this can still go down. They're still interested, right? 'Cause we are." He was cute, in an arms-folded, stubborn kind of way.

"Of course," Evie answered lightly, wondering whether to just completely bust herself on them, since they were probably already thinking it. "I don't know if they'll let me run the show again, but yeah. They're still interested in selling. Especially since the gun trade has been so deadly lately and like I said, they're moving out soon." They definitely wouldn't let her run the show again and even if Dart had cleaned things up inside, Bravo would be already be gone by the time she contacted her way up the ladder. "I don't know why I'm pretending like it could still work. They might still be interested, but I know Bravo and he won't risk it."

"So, you're on our side." Dawson didn't really ask it, but Evie knew it was meant to be a question.

She give him a look, a little surprised that he asked it so soon. "Um, yeah. I'm sorry it didn't work out. I really wanted to catch these guys too."

Dawson shifted his stance, folding his arms. "What's your angle? Who do you work for?" Car doors slammed in the distance and Evie knew it was the sound of backup coming in for a closer look.

"I don't like the bad guys having guns?" Evie shrugged, knowing it wasn't the answer he wanted. "Can't just have people wandering the streets with them."

"You have one," The younger one pointed out, his other hand moving towards his. He looked like such a baby. Evie wondered how long he'd been in this elite gang of Intelligence. She should probably already know the answer to that.

"Of course I have a gun, I'm always running with wolves. I'm-" Evie's phone rang again. She sighed, but didn't walk away to answer it.

"What's up, MB?"

"Smoke and sparks at 31 Water E. If you're available."

The day could turn out to not be a complete waste of time after all. Evie looked around at the guys. "I am now. I guess I'll just bring my company with me."

On the other side, MB didn't even bother asking who the company was, which was typical. Evie appreciated her trust as it vastly reduced the amount of arguments she would have. "Hope you're all wearing 'cause it's about to be all lit up over here. Should have been fine, but Sixpence decided to get involved. Again."

Evie sighed. She was gonna kill that kid if he didn't make it happen for himself. "I distinctly remember telling him to wait on this and he's not completely stupid. What are we dealing with?"

"Too many to catch, but right now it's about not getting caught, either. If this were a raid proper, I wouldn't even be calling. Maybe next time you could send in people who know what they're doing. Sixpence is only good for surveillance."

"That's why you exist, MB. Meet me at the corner with whoever you've got, okay? I'm on my way."

MB ended the call and Evie looked at the now five cops who all had put their hands on their weapons. She didn't blame them. "I've got a guy in with the Grapes on Water St and he's in trouble, so I'm gonna go help out. This can't be the third time this month that we lose Boris and his Oxy."

"That kind of thing is left to the cops," Halstead immediately responded.

"How lucky then, that I have five of them here with me," Evie answered with a smile.

"You know about Boris' Oxy?" Dawson asked skeptically.

Evie didn't really need to be bringing them, but she doubted that they would just let her skip on out of there without some solid answers. "I just said that, didn't I? Since you're not really dressed for a shootout, you can call for it or borrow from me. I'm going either way."

They called. Partly, she thought, because they did believe that this was a job for the cops and partly because Voight probably just needed to shoot somebody.

On the way, with Ruzek - the young one - in her car presumably to keep an eye on her and his phone connected to the others, Voight asked the question Evie couldn't believe he hadn't already. "By the way, who the hell is calling you about making a drugs bust? If you're a fed, just say so."

"I'm not a fed. Why does everybody always assume that? I mean, I'd have to be the youngest fed ever, right? I'm not a fed. I'm employed by the feds, but I'm not one of them."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm a consulting investigator."

"I've never heard of that," Ruzek said, finally done inspecting her badge.

"Well yeah," Evie said, stashing it in her back pocket. "Of course not. It's just a title. I do a lot more investigating and information relay than working on specific cases. I couldn't do all that if I was just regular law enforcement. I'm like the ultimate undercover agent, in a way. I've got connections you all wish you had."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. We've got eyes in lots of places too."

Evie chuckled at Ruzek trying to make himself sound cool. "Honey, I hate to break your heart, but most of your informants also belong to my networks."

"They know better," Voight said, his voice sounding even rougher over the phone. "They belong to us or they get taken off the streets."

Evie imagined the sergeant and his detective in the other car were feeling very suspicious of her, if the look on Ruzek's face was anything to go by. "Look, I'm not trying to steal your jobs or your information. I'm on your side, okay? There are different levels of law enforcement for a reason. I'm just an anomaly; I'm a weird hybrid between CI and cop. I can't even say what I technically am in the system because it's so ridiculously complicated. Suffice to say, I have a badge and I have a gun, and I use them the same way you do, okay?"

Evie knew none of them would be satisfied with that answer, but they didn't push it just then. And thank goodness for that, because Evie really didn't want to get into it just then.

They arrived at the entrance to Water E. and Evie parked her SUV next to another just like it. "There are vests in the back if you want one."

"Don't you?" Ruzek seemed to be the type to ask simpler questions when he meant to ask harder ones. He opened the trunk and just shook his head at the array in front of him.

"Already wearing." Evie unzipped her jacket a little to reveal the super light Kevlar that Titus made for her. "Suit up." She made a note to get that vest back from him later. Titus was very particular about loaning out his gear. Evie wasn't sure why she was offering. The grizzled gear-maker was always happy to harp on anybody who did his work wrong.

Her phone buzzed. "Yeah, I'm here. Who else you got? Oh, this is gonna be a breeze. Stop frowning, you're getting older every time." It was a joke that MB was far too young to be that old.

Ruzek strapped his vest on with an expression of mild bewilderment. "You just keep bulletproof vests in your car at all times?"

"'Course," Evie replied, shoving extra ammo into the belt she'd already strapped on. From where they were she knew running was bound to happen more than shooting so she didn't even bother with a long gun. "Makes it easier for things like this to go down when we weren't expecting to be invited, you know?"

"Right." Ruzek tightened the straps and looked at her with that half-confused kind of awe that'd been decorating his face pretty much the whole time. "You are something else, you know that?"

"I know that. Tell me again later," Evie grinned at him, adrenaline already starting to flow again, "after we beat down the fire."

Voight and Halstead joined her and Ruzek and they all walked quickly towards the muted sounds of a violent household argument. A guy fell out of a first-story window and stared at them for a second before tearing off down the alley. Halstead immediately took off after him. Evie caught sight of MB through the window and Sixpence wrestling with somebody in the parking lot. Two more guys came around the corner and all of a sudden there was only gunfire and running.

Evie wouldn't have it any other way.

"You let a cop wear one of our vests? Titus is gonna kill you." MB shook her head as she held up the article like it'd been lying in radioactive goo or something. Her voice had no inflection, same as always.

"Who's Titus?" Halstead was just going to keep asking questions until he got some satisfactory answers, Evie knew it. Despite the constant barrage, her new respect for the detective's skills in action took precedence over annoyance, so she decided she could probably give him some answers.

"Ask something else," MB countered immediately, getting impatient with Evie's struggle in taking off her jacket. "I just got this for you and you've already got blood on it. Are you kidding me?"

"Sorry," Evie replied, unable to keep the lazy grin off her face even though her shoulder was burning. "I'll just wrap myself in plastic next time so as to keep my clothes pristine."

Voight and Dawson were watching them with critical eyes, like they had Intelligence x-ray vision or something. The latter had offered to call up a second ambo for Evie, but she'd refused. Given that she was the most injury-prone person most people have ever met, it was a miracle she'd gotten off with something so superficial.

"What does MB stand for?" Halstead asked next, leaning his gun on the truck he'd also been up against before moving over to assist in Evie's medical attention. In addition to his endless questions and scrutiny, Halstead was the sort of guy who had your back. It was a good thing to know, Evie mused.

She wasn't somebody who'd just automatically reject willing helping, so she let him support her for a second while MB divested her of the vest that was more like a corset after all that running. Evie's head spun for a moment while her body greedily sucked in air. Halstead lowered her onto the curb so MB could inspect injured shoulder. "Thanks," Evie said tiredly, the adrenaline of the morning having worn off some minutes ago.

"What does MB stand for?" Dawson prompted, now rather invested in the situation, apparently. "It's not like, Most Bullets or something, is it?"

Halstead rolled his eyes.

"Mockingbird," MB answered promptly, even though she'd been acting like nobody but Evie existed at the moment. She never showed it, but Evie knew she was proud of that name.

"Ow," Evie hissed, more as an automated response than out of actual pain as MB prodded her shouder. There was a dull ache in her muscles from being slammed against a brick wall and she wasn't actually sure where the bleeding was coming from. MB supplied her with the answer.

"Don't get shot next time," she rejoined in her signature monotone. MB was so businesslike at all times, which helped immensely with the job, but didn't endear her to many. Still, Evie knew she had a big heart along with that sharp tongue.

"So how long have you been chasing the Ouroboros gang?"

Evie supposed she really should have seen that question coming, but it took her by surprise anyway. MB glared - in monotone - and finished bandaging her shoulder. "Should maybe get stiches," she threw over her shoulder as she took her supplies away.

Halstead's question was quickly followed by Voight and Dawson offering up their own.

"A long time, then?"

"You have a history with them, or something?"

"Yeah," Evie ventured, levering herself up from the sidewalk, pulling on her coat to try and stall for time. It wasn't that cold out, but the questions facing her were hard ones to answer. Not so much because she was unwilling, but rather because there was a lot she couldn't really say. Unwanted shivers coursed through her body, an annoying reminder that slight blood loss was still enough to wear the body down regardless of how well she dealt with pain.

"You should probably go to the hospital," Dawson said reasonably, but she still wanted to punch him. While Evie thoroughly believed in getting medical attention when the situation called for it, she was already such a frequent flier there.

"What, and have Will give me the same lecture he always does? No thanks. I'll go when I actually get shot!" Evie called the last part in MB's direction. She was ignored, which was to be expected.

Halstead had retrieved his gun. "You know Will?"

Evie removed an empty cartridge from her belt to hand to MB when she returned. "What, doesn't he talk about me all the time? 'Yeah, this girl, man, she comes in all the time and one of these days she's not gonna be able to say that the other guy looks worse…that scares me.' I heard him telling another doctor that last time. You can tell him I'm sorry I worry him but I'm just too fond of him to stop coming."

Halstead nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm not gonna tell him that."

Evie shrugged, then winced, screwing up her face for a second. "No extraneous shoulder movements. Gotta remember that."

"You won't," MB intoned from her spot to the left, accepting the cartridge.

"I am aware, thank you, love," Evie aimed a kick in her direction.

Ocher and Nyx, the two kids that had initially responded to the scene with MB wandered over hesitantly. "So, Val wants us back and uh, we're gonna go. Are you coming with?"

Evie shook her head. "I gotta go see Chaucer first. You go and I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." They both skittered away, not being really comfortable around cops. Surprisingly, none of said cops tried to stop them or ask them anything. It was a small thing, but Evie could appreciate it. MB stopped in front of her and held up a finger.

"I will go and get stitches later, after I see Chaucer, MB."

She didn't move. Evie know this was about her well-being, but MB was so difficult sometimes. She could appreciate this sort of behavior so much more when MB was being stubborn about really anybody else.

Trying again, Evie grimaced and rephrased, "I will go now and see Chaucer later?"

MB finally moved away, a very small, yet very satisfied smirk appearing on her face.

"This is why we leave you at home when we go on raids!" Evie called after her, still planning on going to go see Chaucer first. He had already found what she needed and all she had to do was pick it up. It would take a few minutes and then she could go bother Will. Maybe. If there weren't so many other people involved, Evie would just drop in at Robin's clinic later that evening and skip the hospital altogether, even if it was likely to be crowded. But that wasn't really an option here, so she didn't bother bringing it up.

Voight, Dawson and Halstead were all still standing there looking at her. No doubt they had a million questions and Evie really couldn't blame them for wanting answers but she also had a million things to do and if she arrived home without getting her shoulder properly attended to, MB would kill her. There had to be a way to get everything done and at least partially satisfy everyone.

"Listen, boys, it's been fun, but I got things to do, okay?" Evie stuck her gun into her belt and smiled winningly.

"Why don't you come back with us? If you know stuff about Ouroboros, then you can help with our investigation. Plus, we need your statement about the gun deal and this bust." Voight sounded like he didn't expect to be refused.

"Isn't this your day off? That should give you plenty of time," Dawson added.

"Yeah," Halstead jumped in, "and I can take you to see Will first, if you want, since uh-"

"Since he's your brother, yeah I know," Evie finished for him.

"I was going to say since your friend seemed so insistent," Halstead protested, suddenly almost adorable. He seemed to be that guy who swung between being huggable and punchable.

"And you can tell us a little more about being a, what did you call it?" Ruzek appeared kind of out of nowhere to ask. "A consulting investigator? I noticed that can be shortened to CI. Coincidence?"

She had to go and involve real-deal cops and now she was dealing with the blowback. Granted, she almost always had to eventually, but the powers that be were generally happier when she involve no blues at all. Evie did like poking that bear once in a while, though. "Fine. But I'm driving my own car."

"Cool," Ruzek smiled. "I call shotgun."

A/N: I prefer my author's notes at the bottom, if they're going to exist at all. I'll just mention a couple of things. This is cross-posted, as most things are. Notes about Evie: she's 26. This is set vaguely in Season 2 or 3, but without complete canon. Adam is younger, everybody else is older. I'm not ruling out romance, but I have no plans for it currently. Evie might flirt with people accidentally - that's pretty much the only trait she shares with me. I don't usually take readers' preferences into account, but in this case, maybe.