A/N: Hey guys! This chapter covers from 'Reckoning' to 'Lockdown.' I didn't really write for 'Local Heroes,' as there weren't too many Stris scenes. There will be one more chapter, and I promise it will be posted by the time season 5 starts Friday night. Thanks!

The grief group ended up being a lot more therapeutic than Chris expected, and there were a lot of others struggling with similar stories. It was good to know she wasn't alone in her feelings.

The group had just ended, and Chris and Street were making their way out to his bike. "Uh, hold up for a second."

Street turned to face her, suddenly looking concerned after he noticed she had stopped walking. "You okay?"

The care in his eyes warmed her heart. "Yeah, I just… I wanted to apologize. You were so great this morning to just drop everything to help me, and then again this evening. It wasn't right of me to snap at you like I did earlier, and I didn't really mean what I said." She paused, not really sure if she should continue, but decided to lay it all out there. "I didn't call because you were my only option, I called because you were the only one I wanted to see. I trust you more than anyone, and I know you care, and I knew you wouldn't judge… so I'm trying to say thank you, and I'm sorry."

Street gave a soft smile, and stepped a little closer. "Chris, you don't have to apologize or thank me. I do care, more than you know, and I will always be here for you. I've said that before, and I'll say it a hundred times over if I have to."

Chris smiled, something she hadn't been doing too much of lately. Street returned it, and they started the drive back to HQ so that Chris could pick up her truck. Before they parted ways, she hugged Street for the second time that day.

He quickly hugged her back, and this time, it lasted a little longer. Street softly kissed her on the cheek, but then he suddenly pulled back, as if he had overstepped. He smiled somewhat sheepishly, but Chris found that she didn't actually mind the contact. She didn't say anything though, just gave a small smile and got in her truck. She bid him a good night, him doing the same before she shut the door and drove off.

Chris couldn't help but think that the lines between her and Street were getting kind of blurry, but honestly, that wasn't scaring her as much as it should. For the first time in a while, she felt like everything was going to be okay.

3 WEEKS LATER

It was only eight o'clock in the morning, and 20-Squad's shift was already starting off busy. They were called in to apprehend two armed robbery suspects, and one was already in custody. The other had thought it was a good idea to hide in a campground.

That wasn't good for 20-Squad, as the area was pretty heavily populated, and all of the RVs provided for a limited visual. Chris was making her way to higher ground, hoping to get a good vantage point, while the rest of the team was in pursuit. She moved quickly, and found a spot to set up with her rifle.

"Chris, we could use your eyes down here." Hondo's voice came over her radio, and she could see him and Street making their way through the campground.

"I'm getting into position." Once settled, she had eyes on the suspect, but it was still too crowded for her to make a shot. "Hondo, it's too cluttered. I don't have a clear shot." She watched anxiously as the suspect fired at Hondo and Street. He ducked behind an RV, and Chris lost visual for a minute.

"Chris, what can you see?"

"He posted up behind the blue RV. It's two away from your position." Chris could see Deacon and Tan trying to move civilians out of the way, but the suspect was still taking shots wherever he could. That gave Chris an opportunity. "Hondo, I have something. It's just his weapon though."

"Take it."

She trained her weapon on the suspect's, hoping he didn't take a step back. Time seemed to stand still as she held her breath… and fired.

The sound of the shot rang through the air, and the suspect's gun suddenly clattered to the ground. Even from Chris' position far away, she could see the shock written all over him. She let out a sigh of relief, watching Hondo secure him with the flex cuffs.

Street held up the gun, and turned to face Chris. "Hey, nice job, Chris… but maybe try using your sights next time."

She resisted the urge to flip him off, instead settling for a smirk. "Nice job to you too." Taking that shot felt good, and she was going to savor it.

…

After the robbery suspect was handed over to local authorities, 20-Squad headed back to HQ. Street grinned at Chris and patted her on the back. "That really was a good shot."

"Thanks." She made her way to the locker room, smiling as she thought about the past three weeks. She was finally starting to feel like herself again, and she was grateful for it. She had continued going to the grief group twice a week, and Street had been going with her for support.

Their friendship was growing stronger, especially after Chris realized she couldn't handle pushing him away again… but she couldn't deny that things felt like they were progressing further. Nothing had been said or done in particular, but some of the looks and lingering touches between them were definitely catching Chris' attention.

She shook her head, putting her gear in her locker. She was still lost in thought when Street came in. "Hey. We've got to meet with Hicks in the Eagle's Nest." He started to put his own gear away.

"Why, what's up?"

Street hesitated. "Uh…"

She gave him a stern look. "Spit it out."

"Chris… The Imperial Dukes are back."

She sucked in a deep breath, as that wasn't what she was expecting. All she could think of was Erika's final moments, and it was time to bring in the rest who were responsible. "Then let's go see Hicks." She didn't wait on Street's reply, just headed for the door.

He followed her, and once they reached the Eagle's Nest, they went over everything they already had about the new cell of Dukes. It was scary seeing how many of them there actually were, and the methods they used to gain support. The problem was, 20-Squad had no leads as to where a new attack was being planned.

…

Street was happy to see that Chris was finally acting more like herself. The therapy seemed to be helping, and she wasn't coming to work hungover anymore.

She had apologized to him a few weeks ago for how she acted towards him… something she didn't have to do. He knew that she had been hurting, and lashing out was her way of dealing with it. He didn't blame her for it at all, and she never had to apologize to him.

Street had to smile thinking about that shot she took this morning… that was the Chris he knew and loved. He was so glad she was doing better, but he hoped her progress wasn't about to be torn all to pieces thanks to what they had just discovered.

Street knew that learning about another cell of Dukes, especially one that had connections with Erika's death, could put Chris back to square one. He would fight like hell to make sure that didn't happen though, so he needed to keep an eye on her during this case.

Right now, the two of them were in the situation room going over some new information. Chris was doing a good job of hiding how she was feeling, but Street could tell she was a little unnerved. He knew her better than she would probably care to admit, so he could tell when she was closing herself off.

She was talking about one of the suspects, but he cut her off mid sentence. "Chris? You're putting up a believable front… but this is the Dukes we're talking about. It's okay if today is tough."

She looked between him and the floor. "I'm not worried about choking in the field, or anything like that, but…" She gave a wry smile. "I just started getting myself back together, you know?"

"And then the Dukes show up again."

"I can't focus on Erika today. I have to keep busy because that's the only way to take this cell down."

"That makes sense." He glanced at her again, but knew she was ready to get back to work. They did a little more digging, and found a warehouse that looked like a promising lead. After confirming the address, they immediately alerted the rest of the team.

They debriefed as best as they could once everyone arrived on site, but they had no way of knowing what they were walking into. Street went with Hondo and Chris to one of the sides, quickly blowing a way in. Only a few seconds after entering, a gunshot could be heard from across the building, followed by Deacon giving a 'suspect down' call over the radio.

Assessing the room, it was clear that there was someone else in the warehouse. That was confirmed as another suspect started taking shots from a nearby door. Hondo used the shield to block the shots, and the suspect started running in the opposite direction.

Street was ordered to branch off from Chris and Hondo as soon as they lost their visual, but the path he took led to the same area as them. The suspect was cornered, and armed. Hondo was able to talk him down, and Street quickly put the cuffs on him.

20-Squad finished clearing the warehouse, finding some dangerous chemicals that the Dukes were planning to use. Now, it was time to narrow down a location. Street was worried that they wouldn't be able to find it in time, and according to Fowler, that would mean a lot of quick and painful deaths.

When everyone got back to HQ, Street and Chris met with Hicks again. They started discussing places that the Dukes would consider targets, and how they would even disperse the chemicals. While they were tossing around some ideas, Street kept glancing over at Chris. He noticed she had that same unnerved look from earlier.

Chris walked over to the screens, and was silent for a few minutes. Street was by her side as soon as Hicks left the room.

"I'm fine. I'm just sick of how many times the Dukes have slipped through our fingers."

"We'll get 'em, Chris… but I need your help with this research. We need that in order to nail 'em."

Chris nodded, and followed him back to the table. Street lost track of how long they sifted through information, and not a lot of it was panning out. He was relieved when Tan finally came in with something useful.

"Hey, there's something about to go down at the Alameda Tavern. We're not sure if it's supposed to be a drop off, or a set up. Either way, you're up, Street."

Street cast a confused look at the other officer. "What do you mean?"

"The van we seized… you're driving it to the site."

He nodded, and him and Chris quickly followed Tan to go get ready.

Forty minutes later the team was set up around the tavern. Street was in the van that the Dukes were expecting to receive, and he could hear the rest of 20-Squad exchanging input on the location. He started the drive in as soon as he received the okay from Hondo. Thanks to the ball cap and sunglasses, nobody would be able to see who he was until they got right up on him.

At first, no one could be seen as Street pulled into the parking lot, but then Chris' voice over the radio alerted him to the approaching men. One had a gun, so the team immediately swarmed the two guys. It didn't take long to realize the whole deal was a set up. It was a distraction to waste SWAT's resources.

Getting back to HQ, everyone was pissed. The past two hours accomplished absolutely nothing, and the Dukes were still preparing for a new attack. Street and Chris went back to the situation room, and he was glad that he was getting to stick with her for the majority of this case. It allowed for him to still keep an eye on her.

She seemed to be keeping it together, and he was proud of her because he knew it wasn't easy. Her mind was as sharp today as ever, and he appreciated that fact, as she ended up putting together a lot of the missing pieces. They were working through a theory when Hicks entered the room.

He seemed to agree that the Dukes were targeting a big event in LA, and they were posing as an rental service to carry through with it. Street sighed, knowing they were quickly running out of time.

…

After knowing how the attack was going down, it didn't take long for 20-Squad to figure out where. The Dukes were targeting a college ceremony. Chris shuddered at the thoughts of what could happen if the team didn't make it on time. They moved quickly, gathering any type of medical equipment they could use if people were exposed.

Once on scene, Hondo spoke to the director and everyone started to evacuate. Rocker's team was there as well, and a perimeter was set up. It was confirmed that the Dukes had already started unpacking. Chris' heart was pounding as she tried to get a visual on any of them.

It didn't take long to see that they were already arming the tanks that were being used to disperse the chemicals. Hondo ordered everyone to mask up… it was time to end this.

The team had to be careful of where they took their shots because if they hit one of the tanks, it could easily be game over for everyone. Once Hondo gave the countdown, Chris and the others quickly started closing in. The Dukes started running, and 20-Squad split up to go after them.

Shots were coming from multiple angles, and it was easy to see that the Dukes were actively trying to hit the tanks. There were two explosions, followed by a couple of the suspects getting shot. As Hondo and some of the others moved to secure them, Chris spotted Lewis, leader of the cell, running in the opposite direction.

She was after him in a heartbeat. "I got Lewis."

Street's voice came over her radio. "Chris, I got your six."

Keeping her pace, she ripped the gas mask from her face, and took comfort in the fact that Street was right behind her. She desperately hoped the rest of her team would be okay, as she heard Hondo calling for assistance with the gas tanks.

Chris lost track of how far they'd been chasing Lewis, but somehow, Street ended up in front of her. She realized that Lewis had a plan to escape, so she gave Street and Rocker a new position. They would surround him and catch him off guard as he came around the other side of the building.

Sure enough, Lewis doubled back like Chris thought and she was quick to hit him with a non-lethal bullet. Lewis was writhing on the ground, and the three officers moved in to secure him.

Rocker nodded his approval. "Way to corral him."

"Final suspect down." Chris had been waiting all day to say those words.

Still breathing kind of heavy, Street smirked. "You catch him, you clean him."

"With pleasure."

…

Two hours later, 20-Squad was getting to head home for the night. Chris felt a lot better knowing that Lewis and his cell of Dukes were all in custody. It had been a long day, but the team succeeded in getting the job done.

Chris grabbed her bag and starting jogging towards Street in the motor pool. "Hey."

He was walking to his bike, but turned around when Chris spoke. "Hey."

"Thank you for today. I appreciate you taking my mind off of everything. Keeping me busy really helped."

Street shook his head, his way of saying no big deal… but it was a big deal to her. "Whatever you need, Chris, always… but you're stronger than you know."

"I'm pretty sure I realized that today, when I was booking Lewis. I'm not going to let idiots like him threaten my sanity."

"Good, and I'm glad you got closure today."

"Not yet. Not until all of the Dukes are taken down, every last one. That's when I'll get closure."

He nodded in understanding, and they shared a soft smile. "I'm proud of you, Chris. I know you've been through hell the past while, but still you keep fighting. You're a damn good officer, and best friend, and I'm proud to have you in my life."

Street would never understand how much those words meant to her. "Street, I wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn't for you." She reached out and squeezed his arm. They held each other's gaze for a moment, and Chris would swear she felt electricity between them.

"You want to grab something to eat?"

Chris gave him a hesitant look, not sure if that was a good idea… even if she would actually love to.

"Chris, there's nothing wrong with two friends going out to eat. We've done it before."

"Yeah, you're right. That sounds good, Street."

They agreed to meet at a diner that wasn't too far away. Chris opted for following Street, as she didn't want to have to deal with coming back to get her truck. It was a nice meal, accompanied by small talk and jokes about the team. There was a bit of tension in the atmosphere, but it wasn't unpleasant. Chris actually found herself enjoying the heated looks being exchanged.

Sitting across from Street, she took the time to truly look at him. She hadn't allowed herself to do that in a while, but it was hard not to notice how handsome he was. It wasn't as if she hadn't noticed before, it was just she had been putting him in a box labeled 'DO NOT TOUCH' for the longest time. Now, she felt free to get lost in his captivating eyes.

Lowering her gaze to his lips, she found herself desperately wanting to kiss them. It was a train of thought she really shouldn't be following, but he didn't seem to have a problem checking her out either. She felt herself heat under his stare, and she hoped she wasn't blushing too much. She didn't want to give away how he was making her feel right now… but judging by his slowly forming smirk, he definitely noticed.

They shouldn't be doing this, Chris kept telling herself that, but she didn't want their little moment to end. They had been dancing around their feelings for each other for as long as Street had been on SWAT, and Chris was sick of not being able to do anything about it. She was getting ready to say 'screw it' and ask if Street wanted to get out of there, but the shrill ringing of Street's cell phone broke them out of their spell.

They both seemed to jump, and Street quickly answered the offending device. He spoke for a minute, Chris trying not to accidentally eavesdrop, then he hung up and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Chris. That was Luca, he needs some help at the house."

"It's okay. If you don't go, he'll start asking questions. It won't be good if he starts speculating."

He nodded, although the disappoint was clear on his face. "I know, but I did enjoy tonight while it lasted." He pulled out his wallet, and laid some cash on the table for their meal.

"Me too. Thank you for dinner."

They both stood up to leave, and Street walked Chris to her truck. "I'll see you tomorrow, Chris."

She gave a small smile, and left before anything else could be said. It was probably a good thing that Luca ended up interrupting when he did. If not, Chris was sure that her and Street would have gone a lot further than they should have.

SWATSWAT

Street was officially at Pleasant Green Hospital, and he was dreading what he knew was to come. This would be the first time he had seen his mom since he sent her back to prison. He'd been avoiding it for a while, but for the past few days he'd tried talking himself into going. He had been told that she was seriously ill, so he needed to see for sure what was going on.

After telling who he was, he got the room number from a nurse, and made his way upstairs. Seeing the door was open, he lightly knocked on the frame.

Karen was sitting up in the bed, with a book in her hands. She looked up at the sound of him knocking. "Jimmy!"

He hesitantly stepped farther into the room. "Hi, mom."

She threw the book down and straightened the covers around herself. "Oh, what a surprise! I must be a mess. How did you know I was here."

"The prison, they told me you were transferred. The doctor says something's seriously wrong with your liver?"

"Oh sweetie, you don't have to worry about me. I specifically told the doctors not to even contact you about this."

Street resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Oh yeah? Then they violated some major privacy laws, so I need to go talk to them." He started for the door, but Karen was instantly protesting.

"No, no! Don't bother with them, Jimmy. Who knows, maybe I did sign something. I had so much paperwork to go through, and I'm on a lot of medication. Something I signed could have been a privacy waiver." She was stuttering, and Street wondered if she thought he was stupid… because nobody in their right mind would believe her right now.

"You know, I've been here for like a minute, and I already feel like I'm being played."

"Sweetie, don't do this now. Let's just enjoy this time together because we don't know how many moments we have left."

This time, Street did roll his eyes. "Wow."

She sighed heavily.

'Oh, this ought to be good.'

"Okay, you know what? I'm dying. That's what's going on. My liver is shot, and since I have a history of addiction, I have no chance of getting on the donor list." Then she started crying, although in Street's opinion, they seemed more like crocodile tears.

The next thing he knew, she was apologizing for how she had treated him over the years, saying she regretted all of it because she had a lot of time to think now. "Jimmy, I just want you to promise me that you don't blame yourself for sending me back to prison. That was my own fault, and I should have listened to you."

The truth was that if she'd have said that a long time ago, Street would have blamed himself… but now, he no longer harbored that guilt. He didn't believe her apology either, so instead of saying anything about that, he opted for "Do you need anything?"

"No, I just… can you sit with me? Tell me about your life, please?"

Well, he was pretty sure that couldn't possibly end in disaster so he sat on the side of the bed and started talking to her about SWAT. He stayed another fifteen minutes, then he figured it was best to leave… but he did want to talk to his mom's doctor.

That ended up being an interesting conversation. The doctor wanted Street to get tested for a partial liver transplant… something his mom had failed to mention. Of course, because there was always a catch with her, he expected there to be more going on, but he wasn't quite expecting this.

Shaking his head, he grabbed his phone that had just alerted him to a text. It was Tan, saying that something had gone down at the courthouse, and to meet him at HQ. Typing out a quick reply, he made his way to the hospital's exit. He could deal with the family drama later.

…

It was supposed to be 20-Squad's day off, but here Chris was, with Fowler, on her way to the courthouse. Hondo and Deacon were trapped in there trying to protect civilians from armed prisoners. Chris got the alert not even thirty minutes ago, and picked Fowler up on her way.

By the time they arrived, the rest of the team was already there, Street and Tan having pulled in only seconds before. Everyone geared up, and Luca was tasked with leading the negotiation.

Hondo and Deacon were able to get some of the hostages out through the back windows, but they were running out of time in getting the rest out. The commander was on scene, and him and Luca were trying to devise a plan. Chris and Street were instructed to be prepared in case they needed to move in quickly.

Right now, they were gathering vests from Black Betty that were to be sent in to the prisoners. Chris noticed Street checking his phone every little bit, and she was reminded of what was going on the last time that happened. "You keep checking that thing, what's wrong?"

He shoved it back in his pocket. "It's, uh, it's nothing." He sighed, and glanced at her. "Actually, it's something. I saw mom today. Her liver's failing, Chris."

"So, it's life-threatening." It was more of a statement than a question, as Chris knew how serious something like that was.

"Yeah, but even legitimately dying, she still couldn't be straight with me. She's just trying to butter me up to get what she wants."

"Which is?"

"Part of my liver. Apparently, they can do partial transplants, and her doctor wants to have me tested."

"And you're considering it?" Chris couldn't help her incredulous tone, this was crazy.

"She's my mom, and if I don't do it, it's basically a death sentence for her. I don't think I could live with that."

"Yeah, but this could be extremely dangerous for you. You could lose your life, or lose SWAT."

"Chris… I don't know what to tell you. Maybe I won't even be a match." With that, he walked off in the direction of Luca and the commander.

Chris' heart was pounding at the revelation, and all she could do was hope that he wouldn't be a match. She couldn't stand the thought of something happening to him.

…

Thankfully, 20-Squad was able to rescue Hondo, Deacon, and the remaining hostages. The prisoners were taken down, and Chris was able to keep her cool through the rest of the day. It was dark and everyone was exhausted by the time they got to leave HQ.

Chris saw Street heading towards the motor pool, so she bid everyone a good night and caught up to him.

"Hey. To think today was supposed to be our day off."

"Yeah, crazy."

He started to walk off. "See you tomorrow."

Chris took a deep breath. "So what if you're a match? What then?"

He turned around, and it took a moment for him to respond. He looked utterly defeated. "Cross that bridge when we come to it I guess?"

"Doing this could risk your life."

Street stepped a little closer to her. "You think I don't know how screwed up this is?" He paused, and they just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. "She only has me, Chris."

Chris didn't know what to say to that, so she remained silent.

He gave her a small, sad smile and walked away.

…

Chris knew this probably wasn't the best idea. After all, she was thinking with her feelings rather than her head… but she walked into the hospital anyways.

Karen had put Street through hell his entire life, and now she was putting him in a position to choose maybe going through with a potentially life-threatening procedure. Chris couldn't stand the thoughts of Street doing the procedure, it scared the shit out of her… but she knew he would if he was a match. That's how strong his loyalty to family was. It was something Chris loved and hated about him. She admired that he was so loyal, but she had seen how many times that got him in trouble in the past.

A subtle flash of her badge was all it took to get Karen's room number, and before she knew it, she was standing in the doorway. There was Karen, smiling at some ridiculous soap opera, and all Chris wanted to do was smack the smile right off of her face. She knocked on the door. "Karen?"

Karen muted the tv, and was obviously surprised to have a visitor. She smiled nevertheless… Chris didn't return it.

"Hi, I'm Chris Alonso. I work with your son."

"Oh, of course. I heard so much about you when I lived with Jimmy. He never told me how cute you are though." She giggled and it made Chris sick.

"He's told me a lot about you." She watched as Karen's face fell.

"I'm sure of it, but I hope he told you about the good times too."

Not so much. "Your doctor talked to him about the possible transplant. She wants him to get tested."

"What?" She acted surprised, but Chris could see right through her bullshit. "I don't want my Jimmy to do that. I told these damn doctors to leave my son out of it. They don't listen."

"That's exactly what you want Karen, you just didn't want to be the one to ask."

She sighed. "I can imagine the horror stories you've heard about me, but I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt my son."

"Except with an operation like this, you're asking him to throw away everything he's ever built for himself."

"I didn't ask him for anything." Chris could see her starting to get angry.

"I came here to keep it that way."

"And who are you to be making demands?"

She opted out of saying 'I'm the bitch you don't want to mess with.' She kept her voice calm, yet firm. "You're still using, I can see it on your face, even if your son doesn't want to. Six months… if you stay sober that long, you can get onto the donor list… but no. You're sure you've found the easy way out. I want you to hear me right now. This is what you're going to do. You're going to tell him you don't need anything from him accept support.. You don't want to fight me on this."

Karen smirked, and Chris knew she wasn't going to like what the woman was about to say. "You must really love my Jimmy."

That was it, Chris had to get out of there before she did anything stupid. Later on, she would probably be regretting going there in the first place, but right now she was just pissed. Street shouldn't have to endure any more of Karen's lies and manipulation… it just wasn't fair.