In The Family

After running around all of town with Ace beside him, Punk lost the hooded man and eventually gave up after feeling like he was going to collapse.

He walked back to the park with Ace, catching his breath as he saw the spot where the woman had been shot was taped off, and a body bag was being wheeled away. He sighed to himself, looking over at AJ sitting on the nearest bench, her hands and t-shirt covered in blood, holding her jacket out that she had pressed against the woman's shot wound.

Ace ran fast to AJ once spotting her, rubbing against her legs and nudging her as AJ smiled at him, but didn't clap him since her hands were all blood.

"Hey." Punk said, still a little out of breath, taking a seat beside her as AJ sighed, "Not good news, huh?" Punk asked as she shook her head.

He watched as AJ reached beside her, opening up the wallet that belonged to the woman, showing it to Punk as he looked on at the picture of two young girls. They both had to be below the age of five for sure.

Punk sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"She wasn't supposed to get that bullet." AJ shook her head. She'd seen things like this before throughout her career, but the more and more times it happened, the harder it got to comprehend, especially when it was her and Punk that were supposed to be on the receiving end of the bullet.

"You done… everything you could." Punk said, placing his hand on her lap as AJ sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, you guys." Seth walked over to them, "We're gonna have to talk to you both."

"We'll just talk here." Punk nodded, "There's nothing really to say. We were walking. A gun shot was fired at us and a woman went by on her bike to take the bullet for us." He said, "I ran after the guy. He was dressed in black. Hood was up. Average height." Punk nodded, "But I lost him. Ape stayed here and helped the woman." Punk said, "And that's it." He said as Punk nodded.

"Here." AJ said, putting the woman's wallet back in her purse and handing it to Seth, "There's ID in here for her. I think she has two little girls so… let's make this as simple and as easy for her family as possible." AJ said as Seth nodded, taking the purse from her.

"You two should get home." Seth said, "We'll call you tomorrow with any leads." He said whilst AJ just stared into space, leaving Punk nodding to Seth.

"Thanks, man." Punk nodded to Seth who walked off to the others cops who were gathered, "C'mon, let's go home." Punk said, taking off his jacket and putting it over AJ's shoulders, standing up and taking her hand as they headed home slowly with Ace.

When they got home, AJ had gone for a long hot shower. She had to be in there for around an hour, not that Punk was counting. He made them both a sandwich, both of them agreeing that their appetites weren't big, and he also made AJ hot chocolate since she explained to him she couldn't get warm.

Ace had crashed out under the kitchen table. Running around all of town with Punk had taken it out of him.

Punk watched as AJ came out of their bedroom. Her hair was wet and she was wearing one of his t-shirts with a pair of her shorts, "Feel a little better?" Punk asked her as she nodded, "I made you a sandwich. Some hot chocolate." He pointed as she smiled, sitting down across from him at the table.

"I just… can't get it out of my mind." AJ sighed, "I mean… someone was aiming for one of us." AJ said as he nodded, "Why?"

"There could be a lot of possibilities." Punk said, "We might be the quote on quote good guys, but we can still piss people off." He said, "Could be someone we sent away years ago. Or it could just be someone evil who got too excited with a gun." Punk said as AJ sighed, "We'll look into it."

"That poor woman." AJ sighed to herself whilst picking at her sandwich, "Two children don't have a mother now." She said, "That's bullshit." She whispered to herself. Punk always loved how passionate she was about finding those who done wrong, and who took away innocent lives, but it was hard not to.

"They'll get the support they need." Punk sighed, "We just need to… keep our work heads on. We'll find whoever this was. The park has CCTV cameras. Cops are out right now trying to find a guy dressed in all black."

"It's dark. The CCTV cameras won't have picked up much." AJ shook her head, "Do you think it's someone we know?" AJ asked him, pushing her half-eaten sandwich away and focusing on her hot chocolate.

"I don't know, Ape." Punk sighed, "I wish I had the answers you want but… no one finds answers better than you. We'll figure this out together and whoever it is, we'll put them away, just like we do with every other killing scumbag out there." Punk said as AJ nodded, "And we'll get that woman the justice she deserves."

"Her name was Dawn." AJ nodded, "I-I held her hand as she died." She shook her head in disbelief. She'd watched people die in front of her before, it was sometimes something they had to face as a police officer and a detective, and every time it happened it affected AJ that little bit more.

"You were there for her." Punk said, "You didn't make her feel alone and scared." Punk assured her, "You done all you could." He said as AJ nodded, "Come here." He waved her over as she stood up and walked around the table, taking a seat on his lap as his arms circled around her, "You ok?" He asked her softly. He was trying not to think about how he could have lost her tonight or how he could have gotten shot tonight. It was always a scary thought when their lives were on the line, it was something they could never quite get used to even though they'd been in many situations like it. It just seemed a lot scarier now that they had each other.

"What if I lost you?" AJ whispered into his neck sadly, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"You haven't." Punk kissed her cheek, "I'm right here." He said, "And we're gonna get this scumbag." He nodded to her as she lifted her head and looked into his eyes.

"Don't ever leave me." AJ shook her head. She was always scared of losing him, but even more so now that it was he who held her at night and kept her safe. She didn't know what she'd do without him. He was the stability in her life. The only real love she'd ever felt. She didn't want to be without him.

"I'm not going anywhere." Punk nodded, pressing his lips against her softly as she kissed him back. She'd hold onto him just that little bit tighter tonight.

The next day they were at work and were trying their best to piece together possible scenarios. AJ spoke to a few witnesses that had saw the man dressed in black running down a street. So far all they had was a white male dressed in black at average height. That wasn't much to work with, but it was getting somewhere they supposed.

"If it was someone trying to shoot either you or AJ, wouldn't it make sense if it was someone you guys knew?" Dean questioned.

"I'm getting the scope on the latest prison releases, see if it matches with anyone me or April sent down in the past." Punk said, "Could be someone looking for revenge. Or it could just be an evil fucker who picked one of us as their target." Punk said, "You know how this city is."

"Yeah, I know." Dean nodded, "Where is AJ?"

"She's talking to a few witnesses right now." Punk said as Dean nodded, "She's a little shaken up, I think. She doesn't wanna admit. You know how strong willed she is but… she seemed shaken by it all."

"Well I don't blame her." Dean sighed, "Poor girl has been through enough. Had her ex try to sabotage her career and now this?" Dean shook his head, "How is her health gonna deal with all of this?" He asked. Obviously, everyone knew about her bipolar disorder, and her close friends were regularly asking how she was.

"She's got a doctor's appointment tonight. Normally when she gets stressed out to an extent, she'll have a few bad days." Punk nodded, "I don't even know if it's wise if she works this case." He said.

"C'mon, we both know who AJ is. She'll be working that case whether you like it or not." Dean nodded as Punk knew that to be true, "She knows her own limits I'm sure." Dean said, "If it's too much, she'd let you know."

"That's the problem, I don't think she would." Punk shook his head, "She takes good care of her health, though. It's not something I worry about." He nodded positively, watching AJ walk out of an interview room, watching as she smiled over to him as he winked back at her.

Whilst AJ was at her doctor's appointment later that night, Punk had stopped by on his way home from dropping her off to get gas at a gas station. He was filling the tank up when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned around, taking the hose from the gas cap and hooking it back up as he looked on at his mother standing in front of him. His mother hadn't saw in over a year.

"Mom." Punk shook his head, looking across at her with confusion.

"I don't wanna talk to you." His mother, Juliet said, "I tried to call you to let you know but you must have changed your number." She said, "Your brother is out of prison." He said.

"Do you think I care?" Punk asked her as she glared up at him. There was no love there. Punk wasn't sure there was ever any love between them. It was nothing but bad blood.

"Well you should." Juliet said, "Whenever I visited him in prison, the only thing he was concerned about was you, and what you were doing. Of course, I never had any updates for him since I didn't know what you were doing or where you were." She said.

"Why is he concerned about what I'm doing? All I do is work. He knows that." Punk said.

"Well I don't know." Juliet shook her head, "Your father thinks he has something to do with the shooting that took place last night." She shrugged, "He was worried about you. I don't know why he bothers." She remarked as Punk just shook his head.

"Mike doesn't have the balls to attempt something like that." Punk shook his head.

"Prison can change a person." Juliet said, "You should know from the amount of times your father was there." She shook her head.

"Is this all you have to say to me?" Punk asked, "You think Mike is trying to kill me? Why would you even care? It wouldn't make a difference to your life if I was dead or not." He said as Juliet just looked down at the ground, "Can I go pay for my gas now?" He asked her, watching her as she walked off. Sometimes he thought she had problems, but then sometimes he thought she was just stupid and ignorant. There was no way his big brother would be trying to kill him. The hatred wasn't that deep. His mom was just yet again, trying to stir things, trying to get a reaction from him. It didn't work on him anymore.

A/N: Let me know what you think!