Chapter 21: Good night

They all nodded and followed the lawyer in the corridor. "Please note that my client is fully cooperated and I ask that this will be written in his file so he can hope for a shorter sentence."

"We'll see what we can do about it." Lynch concluded harshly.

"Hondo, Rhokker. While we talk with Diego, debrief your teams and then we'll gather all the information. Your boys just come back from their stroll." Hicks told them as the guys entered the HQ noisily.

"20, 50 David Squads, to the control room now for your debrief!" Hondo yelled through the hall. The guys froze and ran to the locker to change quickly. Hondo and Rhokker shared a smile and laughed loudly. Sometimes, being a boss was fun.

Hicks and Lynch spent more than two hours with Diego and his lawyer. He gave them the location of the accountant books and the gun hideouts in exchange of protection for his son and his mother. And an alleged sentence for him. 15 years instead of 25. Hicks and Lynch left the room with a satisfied smile. They were getting closer to Karlsson day after day.

They joined both David Squads in the control room to conclude the debrief and gave them the good news. The financial division will study Karlsson's accounting books next week and will inform them of the conclusions.

"Time to go home and rest now! Tomorrow will be another day! Goodnight gentlemen and women!"

Hicks concluded before going in his office with Lynch. All went to the locker room to get their stuff and come back home.

Street couldn't stop and stare at Chris who was yawning for more than an hour. She definitively needed more sleep. He will try to talk to her later in the locker room before leaving. By now, he promised Hondo to tidy Black Betty with Tan and Luca. Half an hour later, Black Betty was ready to go on another mission.

"Good night, Hondo!" Street said as he saw his boss walking through the hall.

"Don't hang up here, kiddo and go home, you need to rest your ass after the last intense days we had."

"Don't worry, I'm better day after day. Just need to grab some stuff from my locker and I go home and sleep for the next twelve hours!"

"Better do this, a lot awaits for us when we'll be back next night. Goodnight!"

Hondo vanished at the end of the corridor. Like Deac did a few minutes earlier, hurrying to go back to his family. Luca was the next in line.

"Hey, meet you at the house. Need to drop some books to Kelly's before! The kid loves to read now." He told Street proudly. He was the one detecting the dyslexia she was suffering from and helped her to deal with it, as he was himself suffering from the same problem.

"Ok, be there soon. Just need to take my stuff and I'm on my way." Luca nodded at him and rushed to his car. As Jim was sure he was happy to see Kelly, he was also sure he would enjoy seeing and talking with Tuana. He was happy for him. Tuana and Kelly really brought him a lot and he found him more appeased.

He pushed the door and went to his locker. As he rummaged in it, he paid attention to a noise coming from behind him. As a whirring. Or no, more like a snoring, slight but it was here. He turned and noticed Chris's feet sticking out from the bathroom. He came closer and found her asleep, seated on the floor, her head resting upon the wall. He knelt down and shake her slowly to try to wake her up.

"Chris" He called her. "Time to wake up and sleep in in your bed, you'll be more comfortable than here on the floor."

He knew she was exhausted by the case. He knew that she still felt guilty about him being hit by Karlsson and all the consequences that it had caused. He knew she skipped sleeping to work at home on the case, even if she pretended she didn't. He knew. He could read in her like in a book. And today, she paid the price of her sleep sacrifice.

He tried to shake her again a little but he didn't manage to wake her up. She was deeply asleep, moaning some incomprehensible words through her lips.

"Hey Street, what are you doing on the floor? Looking for your contact lenses?" Tan was laughing at his own joke. Street stood up and asked him to remain silent, putting his forefinger on his lips.

"Chris sleeping on the ground, like deeply asleep. I tried to wake her up but she doesn't even move."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I can't let her here." He remained silent for a while, thinking. "I could bring her home."

"And how do you do that? Hicks and Lynch are still here. And…"

"And Rhokker's team is gone. David Squad is gone too except the three of us. Just need you to check on Hicks and Lynch…" He winked at him. "For Chris."

Tan smiled. "For Chris, ok. Let me two minutes time to check if everything is Ok."

Tan walked out the locker room while Street looked in Chris's bag to find her car keys. And her apartment keys too. Could be useful later. He found them and took all of them in his pocket. He put his bag on his back.

"The coast is clear. Lynch and Hicks are talking in his office and the hall is empty. How do we proceed?"

"I carry Chris, you take her bag and we run till her car. You walk behind me and keep eyes wide open."

"Deal!"

Street knelt to place Chris on his shoulder and lifted her up. He wedged her and stood up. Tan looked by the little opening of the door. Nobody was there. "Time to go."

The two men walked fast through the wall, looking around not to be nabbed. They stopped in a corner while two SWAT officers walked in the corridor, waiting for them to go elsewhere. As they were away, they got out of their hideout and kept walking till the parking.

"Everything is calm. Let's go." Tan went first and opened the car door so Street had just to drop Chris on the passenger seat. As soon as it was done, he closed the door. Chris was still motionless.

"Thanks bro for the help. No one has to know about this, it could hurt Chris's career. She doesn't deserve this."

"Don't worry. Won't say a word. Just hope she'll learn to take care of herself for once." Jim nodded at him. She should learn to treat herself with the respect she deserved, instead of blaming herself for all the bad things happening around her. Especially when any of them were her fault.

"Just one last thing." He handed Tan his bike's keys. "Could you take my bike and put it in the garage? Will take it back tomorrow after shift and I'll go back home tonight, calling an Uber."

"Not a problem, you can count on me. Good night and good luck."

"Thanks again. See you tomorrow. Say hi to Bonnie for me."

Victor nodded and ran to the bike to park it in the garage. Jim got up in the black pick up and drove to Chris's apartment. He parked the car in front of the door of the building, took the two bags and picked them in the apartment. He got back to the car and took Chris in these arms. This time, she put her arms around his neck and rested her head over his shoulder.

He smiled. He would have loved this could last forever. But he was lucid, it couldn't last. They were colleagues and SWAT applied a very strict non-fraternization rule. All he could imagine would have to remain in his head. And right now he had to enjoy feeling Chris's breath in his neck and smelling her delicate, natural perfume.

He held her till her room and put her in her bed. He removed her shoes and covered her with the blanket. She let out a deep sigh. He grinned, looking at her. It was nice to see her so peaceful when he used to see her tortured and very active. He enjoyed the view for a few minutes before remembering he had to get back home.

He got out of the room, found a piece of paper and a pen and wrote her a little note to explain how she landed here when the last thing she was probably reminding was the locker room of the HQ. He dropped the paper on her nightstand before leaving.

"Street?"

"Yeah it's me, don't be scared. You fall asleep at SWAT and I brought you here. You can sleep well. I'm on my way back home now."

She looked at him in the eyes, with her tiny sleepy eyes and tapped the pillow next her. "Please stay tonight. I don't want to be alone."

He looked at her puzzled, stumbling on his own words. "Okay… Are you… Okay." He removed his shoes and his jacket, put his bag in a corner. And sat next to her. She had already rolled on the other side of the bed, hidden in the blanket. He laid down on the pillow and grabbed the plaid at the end of the bed to cover.

"Good night, Chris…" But she was already deeply asleep again. He grinned. He was happy. He was peaceful. Tonight, he felt asleep looking at the person he preferred in this world. A privilege.

[…]

When she woke up, she was surprised. She was in her apartment, in her bedroom, in her bed. She lifted the blanket up. She was all dressed like the day before, except for the shoes that were on the floor. Her head was aching like hell. She looked at the alarm clock. It was 6:30AM. It had not rung. "Fuck, I'm gonna be late." She jumped from her bed, not paying attention to the noise coming from the kitchen.

She got out of her bedroom and remained frozen as she saw Street in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

"Hey… Slept well?"

"Yeah… Gotta take a shower." She ran to the bathroom and sat for a minute. Yesterday night was so blurry, she didn't remember things clearly. She just reminded of the locker room. And then it was foggy. She got undressed and entered the shower. She needed to refresh her still sleepy mind.

"Come on, Chris."

She took a long shower. Longer than she used to. It was necessary. It was life saving. And then it came back in her mind. Little by little. Piece by piece. She was so tired. Exhausted. She remembered sitting on the floor and did she fall asleep? OMG she did but how did she finish in her bed and Jim in her kitchen? She got out of the bathroom, all dressed for a new day. But still shameful for the day before. Shameful to have asked to Street for staying with her, to have revealed her weakness.

"Breakfast ready!" He handed a plate with eggs and roasted bacon with one hand and poured some coffee in a cup with the other.

"Didn't know you had been a waiter in another life!" She joked.

"Still a lot of things to learn about me. I'm not only a pretty cop!" He let out a laugh. She smiled. But still they could both feel the awkwardness surrounding them. "Anyway you could drop me at work… I had to let my bike there last night… And you know…"

"Not a problem… And you're already here, so… I'm not gonna let you run till HQ. It's a little too far." She shyly smiled at him.

"Are you discussing my ability to run? I feel offended."

"Will not dare to… But if you want to show your skills, feel free to…"

He cut her. "No thanks, a car ride will be perfect. Need to keep some strength for work."

She giggled. Long time since I had not. And it was good to feel so light, so pointless. She raised her head to see Street eating his eggs voraciously. "Thanks for being my friend."

He was so surprised by her reaction that his eggs almost went down the wrong way. He coughed a little before drinking some water Chris had just poured him. "Are you alright?"

He nodded but she remained worried. "Was just thinking about thanking you for what you did. Didn't want to kill you…" She looked down, embarrassed by what she had caused again.

"It's just I didn't expect you to... You know… But it's OK. It was my pleasure to bring you home… And to discover that you're snoring when you are deeply asleep."

He started to laugh. "Stop it!" She tapped him with the towel on the table. "Not funny." He kept laughing and soon she joined him. "Ok it is, say thank you to my cousin who broke my nose when I was eleven."

They finished breakfast, grabbed their jackets and bags and went to the car. As Chris drove them to HQ, Jim seized the opportunity to tell her he was worried for her. "You should take some time for you, for resting, for doing things for you. You're way too tough on yourself… You know this, Chris, right?"

As he finished his sentence, he could see that the large grin from this morning had let place to her grumpy pouting. She was not enjoyed by what he had just told her. But she needed to know the truth. Even if deeply he was sure, she already knew it.

"Not your problem, Street." Was her only answer.

"What if now it is…" She was surprised he answered her so quickly and sharply. She tried to hide her confusion but Street could see she was uncomfortable. "I just don't want you to get hurt on the field, Chris. Not everything is your fault. For once, listen to your friends. We're all worried about you. Listen to us… Listen to me…"

She parked the car in the yard brusquely. Not a word. She was dwelling on Street's words. They got off the car and she walked alone to the inside of the building. No need to talk with her when she was like this. Street knew this too well. Better let her calm down and talk later.