"We have a new rookie joining us," was the greeting Grey extended. "Bradford―"

"Sir?"

"You wouldn't have become sergeant if you weren't an outstanding T.O. With Nolan training Juarez and Harper away on vacation, I want you to take her under your wing."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Alright, be safe out there."

The scraping of chairs and busy bodies leaving the room was a brief commotion. Mostly alone with Grey, Bradford looked at him and asked, "Well, what's she like?"

"She was really nice. Free spirit, logical. Jessie Wells, I think you'll like her."

"Not to jump the gun, Sarge," Bradford quipped, "But everyone in this room puts free spirits behind bars."

"Well, try to train her without breaking her; from what I gather, she's been through hell."

"Yes, sir," Bradford parroted compliantly. James and Nyla had gone through hell, and Grey hadn't mentioned it... That didn't bode well for his new Boot.

Bradford waited quietly at the weapons desk until his patience thinned out; checking his watch he stopped leaning on the wall and approached the front desk to get the gear himself.

"She late?" Chen asked as she arrived.

"By twelve minutes. That's unacceptable," he grumbled.

"Oh, come on! She's brand new to the building, she's probably lost... After all this time, are you still really this much of a hardass?"

"You know exactly how hard my ass is. Uh, no, never mind," he muttered, trying to ignore her smile. Finally straightening from his inspection of the gun, he turned around as he shouldered the bag. "You just gonna stand there looking at it, or do you have a job to do?"

Her smile warmed. "Maybe you should define," but her words ran out when she saw an unfamiliar girl walking towards them. She wasn't an officer; Chen could only deduce that by the simple fact that it wasn't Plainclothes Day. The girl was wearing a yellow shirt featuring a cartoon purple star on it, with a face. What kind of officer, or at least a self-respecting one, dressed like that?

The girl's roaming eyes found them then, and she quickened her step, rushing to where Chen and Bradford stood. "O-M-G, I'm so happy I found you, I've just been wandering around for," she grabbed his wrist to check, "Psssh, twelve minutes."

Bradford's eyes narrowed in displeasure. "You my new Boot, Jessie Wells?"

"Boot, what? No, I'm in the Forensics department."

"So, wait, why are you happy you found him?" Chen asked.

"Because I can't find the Forensics department."

"Ugh," Bradford scoffed. He began handing his gear back over to the kit room officer. "I'll take you. I'm just waiting for this slow-ass rookie to show up anyway. Probably have time to run to the cafeteria, too."

"You guys have a cafeteria? That is amazeballs."

Bradford escorted her away, turning back to give Chen a sour look of disapproval as they went.

"Well, I guess since we're going to be seeing each other around, you can call me Ella."

"You can call me Sergeant," was the gruff response.

"Sergeant, cool. Congrats. Guess you're the big man on campus. Wait, and you're acting T.O.?"

"That's the way it works sometimes. I'm also stationed at Metro."

"Oh, wow. Busy, busy, busy! Man, I could never leave Forensics. I've been doing it so long and it's just who I am. You know? It's me."

Looking over at him, she saw when he stopped cold in his tracks, gazing straight ahead; Ella looked forward just in time to run into the large, well-formed chest of a four-striped officer. She stumbled back, grinning at the familiar face of Wade Grey. "Sorry, Sergeant."

"No problem. Bradford," he added, sidestepping Ella, "Remember what I said."

"I will. That is, if she ever shows up."

Grey halted, frowning at him. "What?"

"Yeah, she's still not here. Can you believe the tardiness of this woman? I'm thinking of blue-paging her already."

"No, no," Grey muttered. He pointed at Ella. "I thought you were Jessie Wells."

"Uh, nope... Ella Lopez."

"Ah, shit," he cursed, as Bradford's eyebrows went up at the familiarity of the name, "I must've been half-asleep. So the person who I thought was a scientist is sitting at home, and Bradford's ambitious rookie is cleaning beakers for a living."

She grimaced, tilting her head. "Well, I mean, that's not all I―"

"Sorry," he interrupted. "Now that you're here, I'll just say it. We're not looking for scientists right now. So, unless you're interested in entry-level police work, you can leave," he added, and waited for her response.

Ella pushed her shoulders back and sighed, a frown coming over her pretty face. "Actually, um... I think I'm interested."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, I need the job, and a good ol' change of pace... I'm even good with a gun!" she added, flummoxed by how peaceful she felt. "I mean, I literally just said I could never leave Forensics, but if you don't need a scientist, if you won't hire me as one, then... Okay! I'll become a cop!"

"You think you can handle it?" Bradford asked.

"I mean, does anyone go into this line of work with their eyes wide open? I'll learn. I just, I cannot go back to my last station. Besides, it'll... It'll be a nice change, getting called to deal with the living."

"Okay," Grey said, "I'll go get your papers done right."

"Wait, hang on," she blurted, "What'll happen to Wells?"

Grey shrugged. "I'll hire you both. Good luck out there."

"Thanks," she said, and watched his tall, broad form as he walked away; then, feeling a tap on her arm, she looked over at Bradford―and scowled, reluctantly taking the blank blue Post-It from his waiting hand.