Closing the door of the car Chris felt the wait of it all hit her. Deac was right. She needed to deal with this. To work out how to move forward. As he dropped into the driver's seat, she glanced at him with a frown. Telling Deac all of this was not what she wanted to do, but she knew she needed someone she could trust.
"Thanks." She said quietly as he started the car.
"Of course." He nodded as he drove out.
"I um, I will be honest." She started fiddling with her fingers, "I am in a bad place and feel lost."
Deac nodded slightly. Glancing at her and raising his eyebrows, encouraging her to continue.
"Ok, well you guys. Everyone on the team. Seems to have their shit together and be happy and I, and well I am not. I am still living in Sarzo's granny flat. I am alone, after breaking it off with TY and Kira, struggling to win the TLI's, and now..." She scoffed pointing to her foot, "That looks even less likely." She went quiet and Deac spoke.
"And...? "
"And what?"
"Spit the rest out. I won't repeat it, but maybe I can help."
She frowned and tilted her head at the window, closing her eyes. "I, ah, I had a fight with Street last night and we are back to being in a bad place."
"Fight about what?" He asked eyeing her.
"A lot of stuff." She mumbled and again stared at her hands as she spoke.
"Start tasking, I don't read minds Chris." Deac said gently. "What did he do this time?"
"Deac," She sighed slowly, "No, he hasn't, okay maybe he has, but he isn't solely to blame here."
"Start at the start." He spoke softly as he drove.
"Okay well." She inhaled and started. "Street pissed me off at work when he and Tan were so clueless about me not wanting to compete with them in the TLI's. He offered to pull out and couldn't work out why that was not what I wanted. I told him I would run my own race and to just forget it and walked off on him in the locker room. So anyway, he knew that I was upset and struggling so he showed up at Sarzo's after shift and instead of talking it out, we fought."
Deac nodded. Whilst she hadn't come out and said what exactly they fought over, he figured it was more personal than just the TLI's. He suspected Molly and their relationship might be straining their friendship too.

They drove in silence for a bit. Before he looked at her. "Can I say something without upsetting you?"
Chris smirked, "Guess that depends on what your gunna say." She answered without looking at him.
"Well, it's about the team. Street. Molly and You to be precise."
Chris felt her heart stop. She caught her breath in her throat and tried to swallow hard. She was dreading what he was going to say next.
She slowly drew her gaze from the front window to Deacon's face as he pulled up outside Sarzo's.
He looked back at her as he switched off the engine. He saw the dread on her face and noted a slight build-up of moisture in her eye.
"Chris, you know that I kind of look at you as a daughter and I want nothing but the best for you. I respect you. I think you are one of the best damn SWAT officers I have EVER worked with, and you have a heart of gold."
"But?" Chris asked with a grimace. Scared to hear what he had to say.
"But…" He slightly chuckled. "Well, some stuff you have gone through lately is affecting you, and you aren't getting the help to fix it like you usually do, and it's building up, and I know you are feeling like you are just going to either fall apart or explode."
Chris looked at him and he knew she was upset. She chewed at her bottom lip and nodded.
"Normally you would debrief or hang out with Street and, yes I know this might sound crazy, but he often helped you get your head on straight and see a way forward. I guess now that he is with Molly, you don't hang out, you have been keeping your distance." He paused, "that's another matter I can come back to later, but you feel lost and lonely because you are not getting that anymore."
Chris swallowed hard and began, "Deac I have been trying to just be professional. Be strong and worry about myself."
"I see that. But it's starting to affect team dynamics when you are snapping with Tan and Street. So, I need you to let someone help you. And if that can't be Street anymore then I want it to be me."
"You?"
"Yes me,"
"But you are busy with Annie and the kids, and I don't wanna take up your precious free time." She looked down feeling the shame of affecting the team badly, settle on her shoulders.
"Chris," he patted her hand. "You are family too, and this isn't a request it's an order" he laughed.

She sat with Deac for a while. Leaning on the hood of his car. They talked about how she was feeling. About the failure of her relationship. About the fact that she was still living here with Sarzo, mostly because it was easy, and she didn't want to live on her own right now.
She was beginning to feel a little better. Especially after Deac encouraged her to find her own place again. Maybe one close by to Sarzo's but her own place where she could feel independent and strong. She got it. She knew that would probably help a lot. That this wallowing was not bringing about the right things for her.

"Thank you," She mumbled as she began to stand up. "This has really helped me put my own shit into perspective and see a way out."
Deacon smiled and nodded. "Good, I'm glad it did. But Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"I said I'd come back to the you and Street drama, so... here we are." He opened his arms wide and smiled at her.
She looked at him for a while. "I, ah," she laughed a bit. "I dunno what you want me to say?"
"Let's start with some truths." He interjected. "I know you two were super close at one point. Then shit got frosty, then it slowly got better up until Molly moved back here. What happened?"
She looked down at her feet. Blinking slowly as she tried to formulate her response.
"A lot!" She grimaced and eyed him.
He exhaled with a slight frown. "I see that, but what does that mean?" He added
"Well, simply put. I let him get too close. Then freaked out and pulled away, as far away as I could without moving to Antarctica." She slightly chuckled. "We were beginning to talk again, kind of, when Molly came into the picture. Probably for the best, she is what he needs."
"Wait, Chris." Deacon stood up to face her. "You and Street went passed 'friends'?"
Chris pursed her lips and nodded. "I kissed him, one night, after we drank too much at Luca's. It was stupid and reckless and as soon as I realised what I did I tried to fix it by telling him 'We are teammates and nothing more' but yeah well..."
Deacon sighed and pulled her into a hug.
"You know, it all makes much more sense now. This, your current situation... is a consequence of all of that huh?"
"Yeah," she answered softly into his chest.