A/N: Hey! I hope everyone is well! I am not very pleased with this chapter, but I wanted to get something posted this week. To me, I feel like I'm sort of dragging things out with this, but I promise after the next couple of chapters there will be some major events happening. Thank you for sticking with me, and I hope that you will continue to do so.

I also wanted to let you know that I did create a very short video edit for JJ/Street. I will paste the URL in my bio. It's not the greatest, but if you decide to check it out, please read the video description. Anyway, you guys are awesome and please let me know what you think!

…

"Where's Jim?"

Maggie paused in her efforts of fixing a pot of coffee. "Uh, he went to work."

JJ's eyes widened slightly. "He already left? I didn't even get to see him this morning, I thought he would let me know."

"I'm sorry, I guess he didn't want to bother you. He did go in to check on you though."

JJ only nodded trying to pretend like it didn't bother her, but Maggie could tell that wasn't the case. From what Street had told her, there hadn't been much communication between the two and it seemed as if it was really starting to take a toll.

"JJ, if I would have known what happened, I would have been checking in or been here sooner, but I was out of town and didn't realize."

"There's no reason for you to apologize. I appreciate you being here though. How've you been?"

"Good, I'm good but what about you, JJ?"

"I'm okay. My injuries are healing nicely. How's OA?"

Of course she was already trying to deflect. Maggie had more so been asking about how she was coping mentally but it was obvious she didn't want to talk about that and that she didn't want the attention on her right now. Maggie would give her a bit of time before asking any further. "He's good. He sends his love to you and Jim."

"Have you guys been busy with cases lately? You said you were out of town, was that for work?"

"Yeah, undercover." The brunette brought two steaming mugs over to the sofa, handing one to her friend.

"What was the case?"

"You sure you want to hear about it?"

JJ nodded eagerly. "Of course."

If that's what JJ needed right now to take her mind off of things, Maggie would readily oblige. She had made a promise to Street that she would try to get her to open up, but she wasn't going to push her. Right now she felt like JJ just needed some company and would come to her when she was ready.

…

The drive into HQ was a welcome familiarity, but Street couldn't deny the nerves that were beginning to make an appearance. He truly felt that being in the field was the best thing for him right now, but would Wendy or the team see it that way?

He pulled his Ducati into the motor pool while taking note of Black Betty sitting in its usual spot. That meant the team was here rather than out on a call.

As he made his way inside, several officers from other squads greeted him along the way. Thankfully, they didn't get too personal in their questioning, most just stating that they were happy to see him back. His smile was a bit forced as he gave his thanks, but he couldn't deny that it did feel good to be there again.

He hadn't stepped foot into the building since the night of JJ's ambush, but nothing had changed and he was grateful for that. He finally reached the Eagle's Nest when some activity off to the side of it caught his eye.

Chris and Hondo were sparring in the ring, but they both looked up when they heard Street approaching. They quickly ducked out of the ropes to greet him.

"Hey, Street." Chris gave him a hug. Though brief, she squeezed him tight and it was a welcome comfort.

"Hey, Chris, Hondo." His smile towards them wasn't nearly as forced. It was really great to see them. During the past month, he had only seen the rest of 20-Squad whenever one of them would bring food or groceries to the apartment. Aside from that, they had all been giving the couple privacy to grieve.

Hondo pulled him into a one armed hug as well. "How are you?"

"I don't know, but I'm just glad to be here."

Hondo nodded while Chris reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "How's JJ?"

"She's… struggling. We have a friend from New York staying with us for a little while, so she won't be alone."

"Good. Well, as you know, your session with Wendy is in half an hour."

"Hondo, man, I'm good to come back to full duty. I'll be fine out there."

The sergeant appeared to hesitate, and Chris, as if sensing there was a conversation to be had, backed away while saying, "I'm going to go get changed."

After she left, Street continued. "What? You don't believe me?"

"It's not that. I just know that trauma can affect the mind in ways a person doesn't even expect. We can't have anything go down like it did in the warehouse that night."

Street furrowed his brows, not sure exactly where his boss was going with that comment. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying because it was personal to you, you completely ignored any direct order given to you as well as any rational thinking. You were hellbent on revenge and you put yourself in unnecessary danger to get it."

Street couldn't deny that ticked him off a bit. "There's a difference between revenge and justice, Hondo… and even so, I don't think you have any right to sit here and criticize my actions when you have no idea what it's like to have your fiancé being tortured by a sadistic psychopath. What the hell did you expect me to do?"

"Look, Street, I'm not saying I blame you or that I would have made any different decision had I been in your shoes."

"My actions from that night shouldn't have anything to do with my job now. The situations are completely different."

"Street, I'm just worried about your state of mind."

"That's not your problem, Hondo." By now his voice was raised a little more than it should've been and there were a few pairs of eyes looking in their direction. Street knew he needed to let it rest and that Hondo was right, but his mouth couldn't seem to catch up with his brain.

"Anything that has to do with my team is my problem. Now I understand that you've been through a lot, but while you're here with us you still have to keep yourself in check whether you're in the field or not… so go get changed and take a moment before I decide to give you another week off."

Street took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down, but he was still on the verge of saying something he would regret later. He and Hondo stared each other down for a moment before Street's better judgement caught up and he turned for the locker room in a huff.

He pushed the door open, noting it was empty aside from Chris, then as soon as he got close enough his fist was colliding with the metal door of his locker.

"What the hell, Street?"

He ignored her. "You know he has some nerve, questioning me because of what I did when I can't count the number of times he went rouge just to prove a damn point."

"Who? Hondo?" Chris looked genuinely confused and Street had to remind himself that none of this was on her.

"Yeah, Hondo… back there telling me that I need therapy because I wanted to take down Peter Lewis." He spit the name out like it was poison, knowing all the while that wasn't exactly what his sergeant had said.

"That can't be what he meant."

"What he did say was that I may not be in the right mindset to go out in the field, and all he's using to judge that is what I did that night. What did he expect me to do? That bastard was holding JJ hostage while he tortured her and I had no idea if she was even alive. Hondo would have done the same thing. I'm sure of it. He can act all high and mighty now b-"

"Calm down, Street, or you're just going to prove his point. If he sees you like this he's going to think you're a lose cannon."

"Yeah, well maybe I am!" He slammed his locker closed.

Chris appeared a bit surprised by his outburst. She closed her own locker, though a lot more gently, then turned to face him completely. "Do you really believe that?"

"I don't know." He sank down on the bench with his head in his hands. "I don't know what to believe anymore. I honestly thought being here would be the best thing for me, but how am I supposed to go out in the field if my team doesn't trust me?" He didn't look up but he heard Chris move and felt her sit beside of him.

"It's not that, Street. We do trust you, we're just worried about you. What happens if you go back out there and your not on top of your game as much as you thought? We don't want anything to happen to you, Street. This team cannot lose you."

"And I can't lose this job, Chris. I've already lost so much, I can't lose this too." He finally met her eyes.

"You're not going to." She reached over and rubbed him on the back. "It just may take a little time to get back to before. You've been gone for over a month, did you really expect to just jump right back in?"

"I don't know, I guess I did."

"Don't rush things, okay? You've got to take care of yourself." She rubbed his back for a few more seconds before removing her hand.

It reminded Street of one of the first times he had ever really opened up to her. It was his first year on SWAT and the two officers found themselves in this exact same position. He appreciated the fact that he could do that with her.

She had been great about calling or texting him over the past month to check in. She made sure he knew that she was there for whatever he needed. She was really the only one who knew how he was truly dealing. "Thank you, Chris. I don't mean just for now, but for everything."

"I've got your six."

…

Despite the argument that she and Street had last night, JJ was really glad to have Maggie there. She couldn't explain why but the moment she saw her, all she felt was an overwhelming sense of relief.

She was sure Maggie could see right through the small talk, but she humored her anyway and that felt nice, almost normal even. Well, she guessed it was normal… her new normal, but it was good getting to catch up with her friend either way as she had definitely missed her and this familiarity.

Having the other agent in the same room gave her a small, yet inexplicable sense that maybe things would be okay. She felt guilty that it wasn't the same with Street.

As the two women finished their coffee, JJ couldn't help but think about Street and how things were going for him at work. She knew he was ready to go back out in the field, but she selfishly hoped it was a bit longer before that happened.

Things were still awfully tense between them, but she was worried for him today. Despite appearance, the fact that he left without saying goodbye didn't bother her as much as the fact that he was leaving in the first place.

She was terrified that something would happen and she would lose him too.

Her attitude towards him may have changed, but her feelings hadn't. She still loved Street, and despite his beliefs, she wanted things to work between them. The thought of losing him in any capacity was enough to nearly bring her to her knees… right now, however, she wasn't sure if he felt the same.

Maggie must've noticed her wandering thoughts because suddenly she was changing the direction of conversation. "JJ, how long has it been since you've been out of this apartment?"

She hadn't really thought about it before, but her response to the question made it obvious of how bad a state she had truly been in. "Uh, I haven't been since getting home from the hospital."

"Would you like to go get some lunch?"

At first the blonde was about to say no, but then the prospect of getting out and doing something that she wouldn't have thought twice about before made her realize how much she was actually craving it. "You know, that actually sounds nice."