After an hour of tossing and turning on the sofa, Street gets up again. Rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck. He walks around the counter and starts the coffee maker while also splashing his face with water.
He paces the living room, straining his ears to hear if and when Chris would wake up. He slows down at her door and breathes a little easier, hearing her deep breaths.
Sipping a coffee, he fills the rest into a thermos and places it next to a cup, a water glass, and two aspirin together with a post-it note. He just hopes Chris will be reasonable when she wakes up later.
His own phone reminds him it's time to leave for work, and he knows he should leave to be on time.
With one last sad frown, Street leaves the apartment.
At HQ, he heads straight for the locker room, and when he walks through the door, he hears Hondo telling the team that Chris won't be coming in today. With the door falling shut behind him, all eyes turn to him.
"You heard that?" Hondo asks, and Street nods, trying to keep a straight face.
"Okay, get ready. Deac, take the team on the range. Street with me," Hondo orders, and Street frowns. His boss sounds angry, and he can feel the worried looks of Tan and Luca on him.
Luca taps his shoulder before walking out, and Street knows that look. He will ask later.
Street hurries to get ready and walk into the gym to find Hondo. He can spot him upstairs next to Hicks. Both men look serious, and Hicks waves for him to come up.
Street swallows. This didn't look too good. He wracks his brain what he could've screwed up again, but he can't think of anything right now.
He can feel his phone vibrating, climbing the stairs. He glances at the display and can see Chris has texted. She is probably pissed right now, but he has to focus and work out what Hicks and Hondo want with him.
He collects himself one more time before tapping the frosted glass of Hick's office door.
"Enter," Hicks's voice booms, and Street feels a lot more like going to the principal than ever before.
When he walks through the door, he can see Hondo and Hicks behind the commander's desk staring at the screen. Hondo looks up at him and leans against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Hicks simply orders him to take a seat.
Street swallows, and for some reason, his palms begin to sweat.
"Street, what happened last night?" Hondo asks, frowning and glancing at the screen ever so often.
"I don't," he begins, but the words get stuck in his throat when Hicks turns the screen telling him, "Don't even think about lying."
Street stares at the grainy picture of a traffic cam, seeing himself driving Chris's truck. He forces a swallow and furrows his brows, looking at his superiors.
"Again, what happened last night?" this time, it is Hicks prompting him.
Street presses his eyes closed and tries to figure out what to say. He can't tell them the whole truth, right?
He contemplates for a minute to even ask how they got that picture.
"Street? You shouldn't need to think so much. Why were you two out that late? Luca thinks you were out seeing a girl…" Hondo says, and Street's eyes fly open.
"No, that's not what this was," he swallows, glancing at Hicks. That's when his eyes take in the envelope and the paper on the desk. "Someone sent you this?" he asks, and Hicks nods serious.
"Was on my desk first thing,"
Street sighs. Now, he really has no choice anymore.
"I don't know what's going on. Chris wasn't feeling too good, and she got to a traffic stop, Tony, my former patrol partner, ran. He called me to pick her up, and that's what you're seeing on screen," he states as succinctly as he can. He doesn't know if they ran a breathalyzer or made any notes to that effect.
"That's why she called in sick before going to bed?" Hondo holds up his phone.
"Yeah, she wasn't going to be fit today. She was still sleeping when I left," Street admits. There is no point in hiding this.
"What do you think is going on?" Hondo presses on, and Hicks leans back in his chair, mustering him.
"I, I don't really know. She isn't really talking. To any of us, I think," Street mumbles and somehow can't help but be glad Chris seems to have withdrawn from all of them.
"Okay, now you can go join the others. We'll figure out what to do next," Hicks dismisses Street after a moment of silence.
Outside the office, he finally pulls out the phone.
"What the fuck did you do? What were you thinking? You had no right!"
He reads the message, frowning. There is nothing he can write back right now to calm her down. He can simply hope that Chris will understand this was for the best with time.
A few hours later, after a call, Street is training in the gym when Chris walks down the stairs. He turns his head, a bit confused, and that's when Chris seems to notice him and turns on her heel. She stops directly in front of him.
"You really think you know everything. Don't you dare come near me again. Ever," she seethes and then storms off.
Street stares after her, bewildered, and can see most of the others in the gym look confused, too. Tan puts down the weights he has been working on and walks over.
"Come on, we're taking a break," his friend decides for them, and Street follows him to the kitchen. Tan steps to the fridge and pulls out two waters, offering one to Street, who still tries to figure out what just happened.
His mind is spinning. When did they call in Chris? And why was she this mad at him now?
Tan leans against the table, just watching Street pace. "You wanna talk about it?" he quietly asks, but Street shakes his head. "I shouldn't. It'll work itself out somehow,"
Luca pokes his head through the door. "Guys, Hondo is looking for you. Get moving," he taps the frame, and Tan and Street place their bottles on the table to sprint after him.
Hondo throws Street a pointed look and frowns.
"Okay, we're taking Benni with us for the foreseeable future. Chris is on leave," he explains, and Street is about to open his mouth, but Hondo's repeated look silences him. "We hope that in time Chris is fit for duty again," Hondo concludes, and suddenly, Street catches two other slightly less confused but worried looks. Tan and Luca seem more worried than Deac and Hondo, and something tells him he missed a lot.
"Do you know what's going on?" Luca steps to him, and Street takes a second to contemplate his words. "I think so, but it's not my place to tell," he sidesteps, giving a straight answer. "Did you leave last night because Chris called?" Luca pushes on while keeping a close eye on him.
"No," Street replies, thankful that he didn't have to full-on lie to Luca. "Listen, I am sure it'll get worked out, and Chris is back soon." he forces out, in part to convince himself.