"Ah, it feels good to breathe home air again." Luca gets off the plane, stretches and takes a deep breath.
"Well, strictly speaking it's one and the same air all over the world Luca." Chris follows him and has to grin. "But yeah, it's good to be back home." She looks around waiting for a very specific person.
After the two finally have their luggage they walk towards the exit. The way seems endless and felt thousands of people are also at this airport. The aisles are narrow and the air is stuffy. Chris has to admit that she is pretty tired and her legs hurt. Luca, on the other hand, walks briskly ahead and is the good mood personified, despite jet lag.
"Heeeyyy, look who's here Chris." He speeds up even more and beams. She looks outside and finally sees him. Street. He has his hands in his pockets and smiles mischievously. When she looks into his eyes, she realizes how much she has missed him. Street also only has eyes for her, but now he greets Luca for the first time.
Chris feels a slight nervousness coming up in her. How should she greet him? She should not smile too much, lest Luca notices something else. Hopefully Street can control himself too. That's her last thought before a soft "Hey." brings her back to the here and now.

Street spreads his arms and Chris lets herself fall into him. He squeezes her so tightly against his body that it almost hurts, but she just enjoys it. Street breathes in the scent of her hair, god how he missed it.
"How I've been waiting for this day." He whispers in her ear. His light stubble tickles her and she can't help but giggle.
"I missed you." She whispers back. They both put some distance between their bodies and look at each other. Street muses Chris from top to bottom.
"You haven't changed at all." Comes a grin from him. Luca just stands there, shaking his head and laughing.
"Street, I've been gone three months, not five years." Chris laughs now too. "How are you? How's your scar? Are you back to full duty now?" Thousands of questions are on her mind, and she knows she'll have to be patient a little longer to get answers. All she and Luca know is that Street has been back with SWAT since his recovery, but he's not allowed back out in the field yet. He's been loaned out to other departments and she can visualisly imagine how much that bugs him and he lets everyone else feel it.
"I'll answer all those questions later. For now, let's go home. Chris, I'll drop you off at your apartment, right?" He looks at her and waits. A nod gives him the answer.
"My goodness am I glad to be back. I really missed my country and you, my roommate, too. Come on off home." Luca gets between Chris and Street, puts an arm around each other's shoulder and so they walk to the car.

Chris stands in front of her door and unlocks it. She enters the apartment a little hesitantly, she still has many memories of Erika there. When she has put down her luggage she looks at the dining table and sees his note lying on it. Frowning, she walks over and reads it.

Dear Chris,

I thought you must be hungry, so after I emptied your mailbox last time, I filled your fridge with some goodies.
Welcome home!

Love Annie

P.S. Lila and Victoria have been busy helping :-)

Chris has to smile and is just grateful to have such lovely people around her. As soon as she fell down on the sofa her phone beeps. When she looks at it, her heart beats a little faster. It's a message from Street.

I missed you so much. When you've recovered from your jet lag, we can meet. We should definitely talk...
I'm glad you're back :-)

Street

Talk. They talked so much about each other before she left, but they didn't find a solution. So what's the point of talking again now? With this thought, Chris falls asleep on her sofa, completely overtired.

A few hours later, Chris wakes up to the sun's rays blinding her. She stretches and yawns heartily. Slowly, she gets up, makes herself a cup of coffee, and then takes a long shower. She has to go to HQ, Hicks wants to talk to her about her time in Germany and if she might be able to pass on some of what she has newly learned to the recruits. She gets in her truck and heads out.

When she arrives at the HQ parking lot and parks her truck, she looks around. This is her home, she is glad to be a part of SWAT, she realized that again in the last three months. From a distance, she sees Deac walking across the grounds with a few recruits. She is so proud of him, he has worked so hard to get to train the new guys.
Shortly after she has a glimpse of Tan, Bonnie drops him off in the parking lot and they seem just as happy as they did three months ago. Chris continues to look around and there is no sign of Hondo. Where is he? He is the heart of the 20 - David team. Surely he's inside and she'll meet him there, the thought flits through her mind.

She lets her eyes wander over the parking lot and suddenly smiles. Diagonally in front of her, she sees Street opening the passenger door of a car she knows very well and getting out. She has to swallow hard and frowns. Shortly after, Molly follows and gets out.
Why is he with her? Chris doesn't even know they're back in touch, Street didn't tell her. Molly smiles at him and they talk for a few more minutes. What's going on? Chris has a thousand question marks in her head and she can feel anger slowly rising up inside her. Street gives Molly another note, nods at her and says goodbye with a quick wave before getting in and driving away.

Now the message from Street comes to Chris's mind again. He wrote that they need to talk. Oh God, it feels like a punch to her stomach. Might he want to talk to her, to tell her that he and Molly are a couple again? Her eyes widen and tears form at the same time.
She's still staring at Street and at that moment he turns and sees Chris. He looks just as frozen as she does, almost caught. Chris picks up her backpack and walks towards HQ. She walks fast, just wanting to get past him, but he gets in her way.
"Chris, hey, wait. I can imagine what you're thinking now, but it's ni - " But that's as far as he gets.
"None of my business, Street. And now I am late for a meeting with Hicks." The words are incredibly difficult for her and her voice breaks on the last words.
"Chris please. Wait." But she's already gone.

When Chris arrives at Hicks, there is a certain tension in his expression.
"Hello commander, good to see you again. I'm sure you want to know how things are going in Germa -" But he interrupts her.
"Chris, sorry, but unfortunately that still has to wait." She frowns, not feeling good about what's coming up now. "I need you for a special assignment. Molly has a very difficult case right now. A small family and the father is an alcoholic and violent. The wife and the child need to be gotten out of there, preferably yesterday instead of today. Molly needs escort and you immediately came to my mind. She'll pick you up in the parking lot at 5 p.m. today." Hicks doesn't put it as a question if Chris would be willing to go, it's an order. Chris' mind immediately goes on a rollercoaster and inside she is tense. Molly. Why Molly of all people and why does she has to go. Wouldn't Street be more suitable, since he obviously seems to have contact with her again anyway. She exhales audibly.
"Okay commander, I'll be out on time." The two nod to each other and Chris is gone.

After a long training session, Chris stands in the parking lot. She feels uneasy and nervous at the same time. Her eyes follow Molly's car as it pulls up. She rolls down the passenger door window.
"Hi Chris, get in the car. We need to get going right away. I'll tell you everything you need to know while we're driving." Chris nods and gets in.
"Hey Molly." That's all she can say for the moment. She puts her hands in her lap and looks at them.
Listening intently to Molly, she stores everything important in her head. This guy seems like a real asshole.
"Um Chris, there's something else I'd like to talk to you about." Chris looks over at her, noticing her sudden insecurity as well.
"It's about Jim. I watched your reaction this morning and well, I think we should talk." Fantastic, Chris thinks. Now she's sitting here trapped in the car with her, unable to run away and having to talk to her about Street. Why had she only agreed to go with Molly. She closes her eyes and internally prepares herself.