Author's Note: Dear Stris fan, I know the show left a couple of holes in Chris' story. So, this is my attempt at covering one of those up. Bare with me and use your imagination! Don't forget to vote and comment. Happy reading!

CHRIS

Hey! You were kinda quiet today. U ok?

Hi! Yea, having dinner

Oh, alright then. Say hi to Molly

I will, soon as I get home

[ ]

Sorry, I didn't get that

It was a picture of The Bid Dipper and Venus

U'r watching the sky?

Yeah...wanna join? It's a pretty show tonight!

Send me the pin

She knew the Salman Radek case really got to him, as even Hondo had to take him out. The situation with the kid resonated a lot with his childhood. He said so himself. She just hoped he was holding it together!

She wasn't that hungry, so she just stopped by the corner deli and ordered a tuna sandwich. She grabbed some chips and a beverage with it and hit the road. She figured she'd downed her dinner as she made it to Street's location. As she followed the GPS' orders she immediately found herself heading to a remote part of town, exiting civilization. She continued road after road after road, landing on the main highway. The route provided by the app led her towards a dirt road, just off the boulevard, heading towards LA's biggest natural reserve. She continued on the path for about 25 more minutes, passing through a tree way, until she arrived at a broken down structure off the side of the small road. The sun had come down and the road had no lighting whatsoever, so the only thing she had for light was reflected by her car's headlights. Pitch black ambient surrounded by trees. Sure looked like the perfect scenario for a horror film!

It seemed to have been the typical truck stop during the late 1950s or 60s. The blackened walls and absent windows could've been the result of a major fire or explosion. She spotted Street's bike tucked behind the structure, almost hiding from the road. She parked and turned off the engine, grabbing her jacket from the backseat and putting it on. As soon as she stepped out, she heard Street calling.

"Chris?"

"Yeah!" she said looking up at him. He was standing on the roof of the structure, waving his arms for her to spot him. To his feet there was a medium sized portable site lighting device, which reflected his silhouette and some of his facial features.

"C'mon on up!" he said gesturing to the wooden stairs at the side of the back of the structure.

She climbed the stairs and made it to the top. The view was incredible, covered mostly by the thick line of trees. However to the far side, the moon reflected its beautiful charm onto the calm waters of the lake as the mountains stood quietly in the background.

"Man! This is great! So peaceful!" she approved as she paused to take it all in. "How'd you know about this place?"

"This? Yeah, it's been closed for years. Used to sneak in at nights here, especially when I was needing a quiet place to dry out."

"Oh! You hit the lake too?"

He shot a disappointing look at her, as they both sat down on the surface. Street stretched his legs and moved his spine backwards. He crossed his arm up above his head and rested in between them. Chris observed his every move, surprised he had placed a towel just beside him.

"No, I meant my face." He said sad he curved his lips downward showing a dramatic sad face

"Damn! I'm sorry." Chris bowed he head, as she repeated his same process of laying down.

"Don't be...my life story is pretty pathetic."

"It's not! You went through a lot. You survived."

She was amazed at the show of stars! Like nothing she had ever seen before in her life! Street remained quiet as he just stared up above. They laid quiet for some minutes.

"I always used to think that coming here was the best time to talk things through. The stars? They're the best listeners coz they wont judge you."

"You know? I remember you saying something about your first day in Kinder-"

"Yeah, my mom tried her best to cover up all of my dad's marks."

"What happened?"

"One of his many outings! By that time, he didn't need a legit excuse. He would come home, usually drunk, and just complain about anything before using me or my mom as his personal punching bag. The boy is stupid, you are stupid, I hate this house, the food is cold, the table is dirty, those shorts are too tight. Anything."

Chris turned her head to face him, as he continue to stare above. She moved her head back and watched as the sky presented an amazing luminary show. A few minutes went by in silence.

"You know?" he said breaking the silence, "Buck almost caught me coming over here once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was supposed to be in a shelter, this some months into my mom's trial, and I had this routine where I would make it to supper, usually leftovers from the Italian restaurant next door, and then sneak out the bathroom window to watch the stars here. I remember my Earth Science teacher gave us a homework of drawing out what we saw for one full week."

"Did you do it?"

"Yeah, it was one of the only things of school that I enjoyed. Of course I wasn't your all around ace student. I skipped like crazy, but I used to love that class."

"So, if you were not in SWAT you would've shot for the NASA or what?" Chris asked curiously, with a slight smirk

"Nah, that would've required doing the job at school, which I didn't. I got suspended so many times in high school, I thought I would never graduate!"

"You're a smart guy, Jim."

"Yeah, it wasn't coz I wasn't smart. I just didn't find anything useful in it. Played sports and liked girls, but that was pretty much it. Except for Astronomy and Home Ec, there wasn't anything interesting."

Chris lifted her upper body in surprised, as she gasped. "Home Ec? You serious?"

"Sure! I loved to cook and make a mess in the kitchen. Plus, I was the only guy in the class. So, when something fell on the floor or it was time to open up the oven door, it was a free porn movie moment for me." he said as they both giggled. Chris shook her head slowly, as it rested over her crossed out arms behind he head.

"Some things never change." she said

"Hey! I like to think I have evolved!"

"Right."

"Don't tell me you didn't do anything stupid in school!"

"I was pretty quiet myself. Didn't have that many friends...kinda a loner. I wasn't a straight A student coz I didn't want to, really."

"Do you remember Kinder?"

"Some. By then, my mom's alcohol addiction wasn't an issue, or at least not with me. She had a steady job, took me to school, picked me up...you know? Regular happy life."

She paused as Street turned his head to face her.

"It all went to hell when I got to third grade, really."

"What happened?" he asked turning back to face the sky

"As time went by my mom got more and more drunk and since the after school programs in my school started at grade three, that's when she really escalated. I would finish school, go to wood work or Taekwondo or painting and then waited for hours for her to pick me up. It was the perfect time for her to get a fix. She would come drunk and annoyed. A few times she would tell me in the morning to get a ride home, only to find her crashed in the couch or her bed. It got so bad, by the time I got to fourth grade, my mom's record in the hospital wasn't even archived! It was left in the counter or at hand's reach."

"Was she ever dangerous?"

"Sometimes, yeah... but the scariest moment for me was one day, that I came home from school and found her in the kitchen bent over with a knife. I thought someone had stabbed her coz from my point of view it went from her chest through to her back. Turns out she had tucked it under her armpits thinking it was the newspaper."

She paused as she took a deep breath and shook her head slowly.

"I think that's why I get so spooked when a perp takes out a knife at me suddenly, especially in an enclosed space, like a room. I just picture my mom bent over the kitchen table, sitting in the chair, with the knife sticking out. I remembered as a little girl I screamed and picture a scene from the most horrific movie there was, right then and there!"

"Was she ok, though?"

"Yeah. She was drunk out of her mind!"

"I know how that's like. Alcohol changed my dad's personality completely. Guy did a 180!"

"You know? It's horrible! They don't realize how much it actually hurts others."

"No...it's an addiction that like many others just blinds you. Most of the time it's to forget reality altogether!"

"I used to think that I would never succumb to that, you know? I would never resort to drinking like her. For many years I thought I didn't wanna have a family at all!"

"But... you turned out fine."

"It wasn't easy, Street. Before I moved in with my Uncle Sarzo and Aunt Helena, I used to run away like you. It took me some time to settle in with them, not because they were mean or anything. I love my uncle and my aunt and my cousins, it's just...I wanted my happy life back! I wanted the mother that went to school with me, did homework with me, took me to the movies...I wanted to go back to that soooo bad, you have no idea!"

"You're right, I don't."

"It especially hurt when I was a teenager. So many times I found myself wanting to clarify a bunch of stuff with her."

"Yeah, me too. I wish my father would've been there. Probably would've kept me out of a lot of trouble."

"Do you remember your dad ever being nice with you? Like, a good father?"

"Not really! And judging by mother, he never really was."

"Damn!"

"Yeah, I never really had any positive moments with him at all."

"Not even as a baby?"

"Whose gonna remember that, Chris?"

"I remember some stuff."

"No way!" he said turning his head to look at her. She did the same and their eyes met. She smirked.

"I don't know why but I remember the day before Pre School. I might've been three or four." She paused as Street sat up and placed his knees up, wrapping his arms around them. She continued, "I remember my mom ironing my little dress, probably one of the only times in my life I've worn a dress by the way, and preparing the bow I was going to wear in my hair. I had long black hair, to my waist. Aaron, her boyfriend at the time, was such a great guy, she used to tell me we were going to be the happiest family in the neighborhood. She had great plans of moving to a bigger house with a great patio where I could run with a dog or two."

"That sounds nice."

"Yeah, until Aaron found her stash of liquor and called it quits when I was in second grade. She went through depression and that's how the alcoholism started. I remember by the end of the school year there were more bottles of liquor in the pantry than spices. I didn't make much of it at the time, but by third grade I understood."

"Wow."

"Yeah. She didn't make me pull a trigger like yours coz she pulled it herself."

"I'm sorry, Chris."

"Stuff happens, you know?"

"That's why you wouldn't let go of the politician's kid DUI thing, huh?"

"I told you, if he doesn't get help, he will ruin his life and somebody else's. The time around my mom's death were the most horrible years of my life. I spent a lot of time in the streets and even survived a couple of attacks."

"True survivor, huh?"

"Yeah, you didn't go through scares?" she asked curious as she sat up, folding her legs under her.

"Yeah, especially when I landed in the foster home where I truly felt like home, you know? I even made this bond with another kid, used to call each other brothers. I used to get bullied a lot and in fights. He would stand up for me, but at times I would join in to fight with him. I don't remember how many black eyes and busted lips I collected over those years. They were enough to leave some scars!"

"So...how did you go from that to the Police Academy?"

"Buck." he answered quickly, as he gestured for her to follow him

They made it down the roof and sat along the side of the small dirty road, where a fallen tree trunk laid on its side.

"I got into this huge fight at school and the principal hated me, so she kinda pushed the parents of the kid that I beat up to file for assault charges. I got arrested and somehow Buck found out. Landed in lockout within the hour and shook me so bad, I felt like I needed to wake up, you know?"

"What did he say?"

"He asked me if I wanted to be a screw up like my father, if I wanted the same fate. Just got up in my face...kinda what Hondo did."

"He bailed you out that night?"

"Actually no."

"What? He didn't help you?"

"Yeah, eventually. He let me think about it...told me later I needed the scare...and boy did I ever! It worked."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the next day I research information on the Coast Guard, the Marines and Police Academy. I figured that was the only way to keep me away from drugs and the streets."

"How'd you chose?"

"Buck visited me in foster. Told him about my plans."

"He helped you decide on police, huh?"

"No, actually he said there was no way the force would recruit someone like me. So, I signed up to prove him wrong."

"Reversed psychology, for sure!" she said as both giggled.

"But...it worked!" Street shrugging

"Yeah, I see."

"How about you? Did you consider anything else?"

"No, actually after surviving major traumas in my teen years I was determined to be a cop. I needed to help those who couldn't help themselves and give voice to those who otherwise would be silent."

"That bad?"

"Yeah, intense stuff."

"Guns and fights like me?"

"Nah." she paused looking around."It's getting late and Molly's probably worried about you."

"Yeah, and you changing the topic."

"C'mon, Street!"

"Alright. Something tells me I'll find out eventually."

"Hopefully not...it's not a bedtime story."

"Bed? Time?" he asked with a devilish grin

"Go home to your girlfriend, Street! I'm gonna get some sleep. Work day tomorrow!"

"Right. Thanks for coming and for...listening!" he said with a grin

"No problem" she said standing up and stretching. She dug her hand into her pocket and took out her car keys. He already had his and was approaching his bike.

"Now I get why you like watching the stars. Did any of your foster brothers ever come with you?"

"No. Nobody knows about this spot."

"Oh." she said surprised, shrugging

"Yeah, I didn't know if I'd ever find someone who would appreciate it as much as I do. Someone who would understand its value and its effects, you know?" he said grabbing his helmet and placing it over his head.

Chris nodded her head frowning, as she opened the driver's door. "Street, don't make this weird!" she said giggling

"Just saying...some might think this is dorky or something!"

"Well, I don't! It's kinda cool."

Both stared at each other smiling, frozen in time. "See you tomorrow?"

"You got it!" she said