The next morning when Chris woke up in her bed, she rubbed her face and blinked slowly, as she remembered last night. The sweetest of real dates that she had ever had. Real romcom level romance… complete with butterflies, candlelight, champagne, and kisses.

"Oh, his kisses," she whispered as her hand flew to her lips remembering what they felt like. This slow approach to a relationship was one she hadn't taken in a while. She usually went all in fast, but this slow burn of desire, passion and the development of real feelings left her wanting more. When he left her with her uber ride last night he had planned breakfast,

"7am at the same café?"

"Definitely!" She answered as he kissed her hard and made her giddy. She knew he had made it that early so he could still leave in time to get home and sleep before his next shift. As she lay there staring at the leaves on the tree outside her window, she remembered telling him she wished he could stay, here in LA, longer. She felt kind of guilty for it now, knowing if he could, he would.

"You will have to come and see me soon, Ms Alonso. In Vegas," he teased her.

She had laughed and gently thumped his arm. "I will, but I am just gunna miss you okay." She confessed.

He laughed, "I know you will." He pulled her in for a tight hug and kissed her forehead sweetly saying, "I will fall asleep tonight with you on my mind."

Chris laughed at how cheesy that came out. "Dude!" She chuckled… "That was so…"

"I know," he cringed, "But I mean it." He pulled her hand up and kissed it. "I am falling for you Chris. I hate being apart. Laying in that big bed, knowing you're in the same city, but not with me, kills me."

Chris had felt bad for leaving him on that sidewalk. She knew she could have easily gone back to his hotel with him. Taken things further, but being honest, she was terrified of that right now. Her heart was becoming a player here and she was scared to get hurt.

As she arrived at the café and took a seat, she smiled knowing this time she had beaten him there. She took great pleasure in playfully texting him,

"7am right? 😉"

But as she sat there waiting on his witty response, she got nothing. 7am became 7:30am and Chris was beginning to worry, that maybe he had had 2nd thoughts and had left without telling her. As herself confidence began to plummet, she got a SWAT alert "Active mission".

She stood up, gathered her things, and took one last look at the breakfast table that was supposed to be her sweet "see you soon".

As she walked out to her truck, she called Jared. His phone rang out and went to voice mail. She hung up and dialled again. Still voicemail.

"Hey, it's me. I was waiting but then got a call in, so can you call me back please." Chris hung up and scrunched her lips. Where was he? Why was he late? Had he gotten scared and decided to ghost her? She shook her head to stop herself. After being hurt I doubt he would ever do that. She text Jared,

"I just got called in for a major case. Guess breakfast will have to wait. Call me when you get this. I wanna see you before you leave." She drove downtown cursing at herself in her head. This was not how she had planned to spend today. She glanced at her phone repeatedly. Why hadn't he called or text?

Once she had reached the scene, she saw the mobile command trailer and the rest of the team arriving. It looked big. She wondered what on earth could be going on. Bomb Threat? Active Shooter? Hostage situation? Terror attack? Her mind raced with the possibilities as she took in the scene. She had no time to dwell on her failed breakfast now. Officers were going every which way, and she could see camera crews arriving.

"Hey Boss," she said clipping up the last of her tac gear as he walked past on his way to Hicks.

"Hey, not a pleasant morning today," he frowned. Chris furrowed her brows and joined the rest of 20 David and 50 David who had gathered about. She nodded with a smile at Erika, who she realised she hadn't spent much time with lately.

"Okay, we had multiple 911 calls at around 6:30am from market stall holders along the wharf." Hicks began, explaining the situation. "It appears there are two shooters. Hold up in this building." He said pointing to one of the indoor market buildings on the map. "We also have 2 uniforms pinned down in there, one of them is injured badly. Time is of the essence here. So far, we have 4 dead and about 12 injured. Your job," he continued turning to face 50 David. "Is to neutralise the threat, and you, 20 David, help extract hostages."

"Okay with me," Hondo called as they headed towards the door behind 50 David. As Rocker and Stevens took point and entered the building, they could hear shots ringing out. Rocker and Hondo spread their teams out as they began to advance towards the chaos, clearing rooms and evacuating civilians as they went.

Chris had escorted around 10 people outside to waiting help as she found a little girl hiding behind a large dumpster. She had almost missed her she was so well hidden.

"Hey, I'm a police officer." Chris said softly, as she bent down and reached out her hand. "It's okay, come with me." The little girl was shaking, crying and could have been no more than 4 years old. She slowly reached out her trembling hand and took Chris's. Chris shielded her, with her own body as she guided her along the hallway to the emergency exit. As they pushed open the door and came outside Chris scooped her up in her arms and carried her to the waiting ambulance, telling her,

"You were so brave, you hid so well, and you know what?" She smiled at the little girl, who just sat silently looking back at her. "You are safe now." Chris hoped that the relief of being outside would calm her. The little girl glanced around as Chris sat her on the stretcher and went to let go of her to go back in.

"Don't leave me." Her tiny shaky voice said as she grasped onto Chris's neck tighter.

"Oh, okay," Chris chuckled a little surprised. She always remembered Hondo's words. SWAT treats everyone like family. She knew if that was her little girl, she wouldn't want her left alone and scared, so she sat with her. "How about I sit with you a bit?" The little girl nodded. "What's your name?" Chris asked.

"Lilly." She answered.

"Well Lilly," Chris smiled at her, "My name is Christina." A tiny smile appeared on Lilly's face as Chris continued to talk to her. "Did you come to the markets with your mom and Dad today?" Lilly nodded and then looked up at Chris. "I am sure we will find them soon, okay?" She tried to reassure her.

Chris radioed to Hondo that she was outside with a 4yrold female trying to find her parents. He was about to respond when the call came in from Rocker. "Code 4 Suspects in custody."

"Stay put Chris, we will come and help."

Soon the SWAT teams were out, and the operation was beginning to pack up. Erika was removing her gear when Street asked her,

"Where is Chris?" Erika nodded to the bank of ambulances. Street smiled seeing her sitting there comforting the little girl. A few uniformed officers spoke with them taking a description of her parents, as Street and Erika headed over.

"Can we help look?" Erika asked.

"Hey there," Street smiled at her. "Your one brave little girl." He added.

"Yeah, she was so well hidden behind a dumpster, I almost missed her." Chris said, looking back at Lilly.