Today had been a hell of a day. Chris was looking all over her and smiled. Hondo, Winnie and Pops were quietly speaking on their own, in the middle of this huge jumble of noise, police lights and busy people. They seemed finally appeased. Like a real family. The stress, anger and anxiety from the early day let place to a nice, peaceful family time.

Deac and Stevens were still debriefing with Hicks in the hat of the moment. She watched them for a while and saw them making big gestures, probably to mime what had happened inside the building. The intervention in the basement with their infrared glasses, saving hostage. The woman playing with them and trying to confuse them. When she was the head of the robbery. The woman Tan and she stopped and arrested.

Speaking of Tan, he Luca were already in Black Betty, tiding the materials they had used for the mission and preparing the truck for their drive back to HQ. She watched them. They were bickering, nicely and brotherly. Having fun in the middle of this chaotic atmosphere. Doing their job but having fun. A good way to let all the stress and adrenaline of the day get out.

She loved this family but right now, she felt sad. She sighed. She would have loved Street being here with them, with her but he had been called at the last minute to testify in Denver about a case he had been uncover when he was still working at Long Beach PD. The man he was trying to catch at the time had been arrested in Denver for new larceny and the public attorney had called Street to help him to get the man in jail for good.

Of course he agreed. Almost right away. She was here when he got the call. She had come to his house to drop some empanadas from Elena. She had too many of them and she knew for sure Luca and Street would be overjoyed. And she also came because she wanted, she need to see him even if they couldn't kiss or touch. It was good to be around. As if she forgot about the reality and just enjoyed every little moment. She had not been wrong. Street made big eyes when he saw the plate, praising Elena's cooking for long minutes. What a talkative person he could be! It made her laugh. She quickly restrained her hilarity. She didn't want to show her best friend she was falling for him more and more every day. Street was putting the plate in the fridge when his phone rang.

She didn't hear all the conversation but enough to understand. He will be away for a while. Her heart tugged. But she kept her poker face, at least she did all she could to hide her troubles till she left.

But right now, her heart tugged again. She kept walking a little around the place and sat on a little wall, away from the noise. She needed just a few minutes to gather her strength and go back in the arena. She grabbed her phone from the inside pocket of her bulletproof vest and checked her messages.

Nothing special. Some commercials mails. Elena asking if she was still coming for Thomas's birthday on Saturday night and a winky face from Street. It made her smile. She kept scrolling her phone and finally did what was in her head for more than a half hour now. Actually, since they ended the mission.

"Hey!" She told, shyly as she heard him pick up the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" He seemed surprised on the line. She could feel his embarrassment.

"Bothering you?" She told with a little voice. For a while, she bugged. Why was she speaking like this? She was feeling so awkward right now. She shouldn't have called him. It was a stupid, impromptu move. And she hated herself for this.

"No, no, just in between two flights… You know travel life." He let out a little laugh.

Indeed, she didn't really know about this "travel life". The most exotic travel she did consisted into her going to Las Vegas for the bachelorette party of her cousin.

"Sorry I shouldn't have…"

"Glad to hear your voice…" He directly cut her.

She blushed just hearing his voice. Why did she react like this? She was not a teenager anymore. Even if all she knew was that she couldn't restrain this feeling. A peace of mind and blissful feeling taking over her whole body. She bit her lower lip.

"I was thinking about you…" It was out before she realized what she had just told. She was listening to the words coming out of her mouth, having with no control over them.

"Thinking about me? Kind of honored here!" She heard him giggling on the other side of the line. And she was feeling even more embarrassed. She was not acting like that. Chris Alonso was not a fluffy woman! She was a strong, independent, strong-headed person. Not the one just melting at the phone right now. She came to her mind.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Street." She tried to keep some composure. He sniggered.

"How was your day?" He asked, softly, understanding her troubles.

"Oh you know… Bad guys. Us kicking their ass. Usual stuff at SWAT…"

"And you called me just for this… The Chris Alonso I know would never call me just for this…"

Damn it, he knew her too well! She didn't call him just for this. Day had been complicated.

"No… Winnie, Hondo's sister was implied…"

"What?! What happened Chris? Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry… Everyone's safe… Just was a harsh call, you know…"

"There's always calls like this…"

"Yeah… But anyway, I shouldn't have called you… You're busy and..."

"Chris, for once in your life, stop being sorry. Really, it doesn't bother me that you call me. Middle of the night, in between flights… Always there for you. Hope you know this…"

She remained silent for some seconds. She was not used to be given so much importance. She always thought she didn't deserve it. But since Street was around, he didn't miss a single time and occasion to remain her how amazing and special she was. Maybe she was after all. At least, just a little. She took a deep breath and started to talk.

"It's just I needed to talk to someone about what happened…" She hesitated some moments before keeping speaking. "And you're… You know… You're this someone." She could see him grinning on his side of the phone. "And don't smile like Cheshire cat! I know you do!"

"No, I don't!" He burst into laughing, causing him to be watched by all the people waiting the same flight as him in the hall.

"Ok, I do. But it's not all day that the Chris Alonso told you that you're her someone! Let me just enjoy that. At least for a few seconds."

She burst into laughing on her own, hiding in a corner so no one could see her. She leaned on the wall behind her. She knew she could confess him what was worrying her.

"It was hard to see Hondo like this… He was so shaken, losing his self-control…" He heard her voice break.

"Let's start from the beginning, Chris. So I can get everything…" He told her softly. Letting her know he was carefully listening to her.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry…" He felt she was still shaken by what had happened. Hondo had not been the one moved by this case.

"This morning, we were called for a robbery and a hostage situation in a big auction house in Downtown Los Angeles. The place where Winnie works. And then Hondo realized she had called him earlier… And left a voice message. She was agitated, panicked. She screamed, telling some men were inside, that she was trapped inside with other colleagues, that they had guns and they were after them…"

"Oh that's awful… Wish I was here to help. What happened? What did Hondo do?"

"He was stressed but he tried to remain calm. Not easy. He worked on himself. And Deac was there, to help, to take the lead when boss was borderline. To mediate, to conciliate things. You know how things can get worse with tension…"

"With Hicks?" He dared to ask.

"Yes… But also with his dad…"

"Pops was here?"

"Yes… He remains the whole time of the intervention… If I heard well, he was there from the beginning… Even before… He was there with Winnie and they had a big disagreement. He got out just before the criminals entered. They left in bad terms and then he understood something bad was happening when the building locked itself down. And he stayed. Waited. Staring at the building as if his dark look could break the walls. Talking a lot with Hondo. With Hicks…. It was just... It's just…"

Once again her voice broke.

"It reminded you of bad family moments. Arguments. Anger. Tension…" He couldn't see her but he could swear he saw her nodding at his words. "I feel you, Chris. It' have reminded me of bad moments too… Moments you'd rather forget, hide in a corner of your mind, lock them in a drawer and lose the key forever… Got mine too…"

She knew he will understand her. Because he had the same crappy childhood as hers. Even worst because he didn't have Sarzo and Elena and he was thrown into the system, navigating from one foster family to another. Of course, he did have Buck but still, he had not a stable home as Elena and Sarzo gave her after he mom died.

"Sorry, I didn't want to open up old wounds…"

"Don't worry, Chris. I've made my peace with those wounds. Accepted for what they were. Are. A part of me. Shaping me. Sometimes haunting me but forcing me to give the best of me."

She didn't answer. She didn't know what to add. She knew this feeling too well too. And she felt that despite the enjoyed tone he kept. He was sad just by thinking about this distant past. She chose to change from topic. He had already been nice enough to listen to her Ted talk.

"I realized I talked nonstop for the last ten minutes. Sorry…"

"For once, I'm not the talkative one!" He announced, proudly.

"Shut up!" She giggled. She heard him giggle too. It was good.

"Oh I haven't tell you!"

"What?"

"Luca may have found himself a girlfriend!"

"You're kidding?!"

"Nooooo!" He loved when she used this overjoyed tone. "I swear, I saw a vibe between him and this Olivia girl during the case. You know like a spark. He was smiling. No more like grinning. And his face. You should have seen it!"

"Did he invite her?!"

"He will, told him to!" He enjoyed her malicious tone.

"You did?! What did he do?"

"He ran after her to give her a piece of evidence!" She answered mischievously.

"Oh well done!"

"Yes, pretty proud of it…. He really deserves it…"

"Like you…"

She lowered her head, blushing. As if he could see her right now. "See you when you come back…" She prayed for him to answer. She didn't like the silence. It made her feel uncomfortable.

"In a few days… Maybe we could have a walk… Or we could watch a movie or…" He stopped all of a sudden. Maybe paralyzed with fear. Maybe out of ideas.

She couldn't restrain herself. It was coming from nowhere. She snorted with laughter. Street was asking her out without asking her out. It was so sweet and cute and… She didn't have the words to describe how she felt. All she was absolutely sure of right now was that this man was respecting her so much and paying attention to her beliefs, her principles, her rules. Even, if it meant keeping his expectations low and waiting for her to be ready for years.

She was a little ashamed of having been so slow in the process to be honest. But she was stuck in her bad memories. She was afraid to lose all she had built for herself when in fact, Street made her feel more confident. Allowing her to be a better version of herself.

"I was more thinking of…"

She stopped and tapped her fingers on her legs, nervously. She never usually did that. It was not so hard in normal time. She used to be more spontaneous, more like a fierce steer. But right now, she was terrified.

"Thinking of going… Skydiving… Would you come with me?".

She heard him, giggling on the phone. "Really?"

"You really think I was gonna ask Tan to come so I can push him off the plane?" They both laughed to her remark.

"Tan wouldn't have jumped anyway!" He laughed loudly, idiotically. "Ok, he would have but with less style than I will!"

She giggled loudly on the phone. He loved to hear this sound. It was music to his ears.

"Chris, time to go!" Hondo called her from the corner of the street. The whole team was waiting for her in Black Betty.

"Yes, Boss, coming!" She yelled at him, barely getting out of her hideout. "Guess it's time to go…"

"Already miss you, Chris…" She blushed once again. He had this power over her. The power of making her feeling like she was fifteen again. But a happy fifteen version of herself.

"Miss you too, Street…" She realized what she had just told and blushed even more. It just got out of her mouth so easily, so naturally. "I've got to go, this time. Really… They're waiting for me."

"Hide your blushing cheeks before you get into Black Betty, or we could get caught."

She snorted. "You, dumb and now go and get your flight. See you soon." She heard him snigger before she pressed on the red button, ending their talk, regretfully. She hung up and rushed to join the rest of the team in Black Betty.

"Finally, we've almost waited for you!" Stevens teased her.

"Sorry… I was just checking on something…" How clumsy and stupid this argument could this be. She couldn't believe it and she was the one inventing it. But now it was told, she had to stick with it. She raised the head and looked at Stevens in the eyes. Supporting his inquisitive look.

"Yeah, yeah, something." As expected, Stevens was not buying it. She just lowered her head to hide her troubles and put a hand in her pocket where Street's SWAT coin was. He entrusted the piece, time for him to go and get some old Long Beach case stuff done. She pressed it under her fingers. Felt like home. Forgetting about her troubles.

"Let's go back to HQ!" Luca proudly announced, turning Black Betty's engine on.

"Everything's fine, Chris?" Hondo asked her as the truck was leaving the crime scene.

"Yeah, boss. Feels good to kick some ass!"

He tapped over her shoulder before keep talking with the boys about the next BBQ at Deac's house. She put her head against the car wall and closed her eyes for one minute. "Today has been a good day!" She thought before taking a quick, little nap on their way back to HQ.