A little bit short but the cut is needed. As always, updates will take some time as I am writing as I go. Thanks for checking in :)

He was nervous arriving at Molly's place. He hadn't dared to call her first. Too afraid of the possibility of not being able to explain. During debrief, Hicks had informed them that Molly had spent the day at HQ after having received the pictures. After the takedowns, she had refused to stay and had opted to go home. Something had been unnerving about the looks Hicks had sent his way during debrief and that feeling just didn't go away even after a shower.

To his surprise Street gets buzzed in without a word and even Molly's door is open when he arrives at her floor, but she isn't waiting at the door. Street finds her curled up on the couch, a blanket securely wrapped around herself nursing a cup of tea.

Molly turns her head when she hears the front door fall shut. She was still a little surprised that Jim had shown up tonight. What was he going to say? Did he come here to…?

"Hey," she hears him say softly, standing awkwardly next to the sofa.

Street isn't too sure what he should or shouldn't do right now. With Molly barely acknowledging his presence but she let him up and in. She flicks her eyes to him and nods for him to take a seat.

"I don't even know where to start," he lets out quietly and searches for Molly's eyes which are still trained on her teacup. She shifts her head to glance his way once motioning for him to just start with what he wants to say.

She hadn't been sure what was irking her about that one picture she had snapped but that one glimpse she had of what was undeniably Chris, in a barely-there outfit had put it in perspective. And now she is steeling herself for the inevitable.

"I am sorry," he starts softly gauging Molly's reaction. She simply shrugs. "It was work. My dad filled me in after…" she lets out with a non-committal hand wave, leading to Jim reaching out for her hand and carefully intertwining their fingers.

He feels her stiffen at the contact and so he hastens to continue his explanation.

"I wish I could've told you but we, I couldn't put you at risk. I wanted to reach out…"

Before he can finish his sentence Molly pulls her hand back and scoots away from him. Her arms wrap around her legs again and she mumbles softly.

"I get that, I just, I don't… I didn't think, I don't think I can deal with you disappearing without a word, hearing through the grapevine you supposedly quit no one knows anything or tells me anything..." Again, her arms flail helplessly before covering her face with her hands.

"I don't plan on disappearing again. Long-term undercover isn't part of the job," Jim scoots closer and tries lifting her hands of her face but she keeps resisting. So, he resorts to tracing his fingers along hers until he can place his hand on her cheek. He softly strokes her cheek and whispers "Will you look at me?"

"Why? So, you can see me cry? Why are you even here?" Molly lets out and pushes his hand off.

Jim is confused and sits back, sensing that him being close is not what she wants right now.

"I came here to talk to you," he starts and keeps his eyes trained on Molly. "I needed to see you. Explain and…"

"And what? End it?" Molly interrupts choking on tears and not even trying to hide them anymore.

"No, what made you think that?" Jim rushes out and sits closer to her again and suddenly it hits him.

"Molly what you saw in those pictures, it was all part of the cover."

He takes a moment to take a breath and then continues, all the while holding her gaze trying to convey that every word is true. "I do realize that with what happened, and what I told you before I went under, that this is really awkward, but you have to believe me. There wasn't and there isn't anything going on. We are just friends."

This time Molly lets him entangle their fingers again and she drops her eyes to their joined hands. Pressing her eyes closed, willing those pictures away and the movie they start in her head but it isn't working and so she softly shakes her head and pulls her hand back again.

"Is there anything I can do to help? To make this easier, to make you believe me?" Jim whispers and can't keep the desperation out of his voice.

"No, I don't think so. I just, I think I need some time to process and figure out what I want."

Street hates that he has to leave now, leaving things this unclear and Molly seemingly pushing him out of her life. He slowly gets up from the sofa.

"Okay, I am going to go, give you space. All the time you need but please, don't give up on me. On us."

At the door, he turns back to look at her one more time and his heart breaks seeing her sitting on her sofa curled up into a ball, shaking from tears and he can't fix it.

A few days later Street is still struggling to comprehend what mess his life is right now. He'd love to talk this out with Chris and get her perspective, but he can't deny he has been distancing himself from her out of fear that any closeness could be misconstrued by Molly simply seeing them together.

He shakes his head and decides to take out his frustration on the boxing bag in the gym.

Chris observes her friend quietly and can't help but be worried. Ever since he left HQ that night to talk to Molly he was withdrawn and angry. She tried more than once to corner him into talking but he always disappeared as quickly as he could. Something didn't feel right. And when Hondo assigns them to get a warrant together that feeling that something went wrong that night gets all but confirmed.
They round a corner and Street freezes for a second then disappears back around the bend again. Chris looks between Molly and her colleague chatting up ahead and her friend pressed against the wall.

"What's going on?" she asks while placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I, eh, I forgot something in the charger. I'll meet you outside," he stammers out and is already on his way back outside leaving Chris to pick up the warrant on her own.

Street is even more withdrawn and quiet on their way back to HQ. He doesn't react to any of her questions, be they personal or professional and therefore she decides to do something that could very well backfire, but she can't keep silently watching this mess and not try to help.

The next day their shift only starts in the afternoon and Chris takes advantage of the free morning. She had contemplated going to see Molly but in all honesty that probably wouldn't have made a difference at all, not if she had no real idea what the issue was right now.

Her way leads her to HQ to work out a little while she figures out what she can do to get Street to talk.

After a while, she suddenly finds herself in an oddly familiar situation. While she is finishing up the rope skipping portion of her cool down, she hears Molly's voice from the side.

"Chris, do you have a minute?"