"Henry got engaged." Nolan announces.

"Yeah, he just turned 20." Jackson responds.

"wait, he's engaged at 20?" Ana asks, softly.

"I know. It's too young." Nolan frowns.

"I'm 26 and I haven't even had a boyfriend" Ana crosses her arms.

"wait, seriously?" Lucy asks, coming over.

"there was never really time, there still isn't really time" Ana shrugs.

"Damn, but if it makes you feel better, Henry's getting engaged way too early" Nolan says, making Ana nod.

"Didn't you get married around then?" Jackson asks.

"That's not the point." Nolan replies.

"So, I just talked to my dad. Apparently, he only brought home a bagel for himself. He did not bring one for my mom." Lucy announces, looking at her phone.

"That's why she left?" Ana asks, softly.

"Bagel that broke the camel's back. Maybe it's for the best." Nolan shrugs.

"Oh, God, no. Separately, they will make my life twice as miserable. I have to get them back together." Lucy shakes her head.

"yeah, definitely do that, when my abuela and abuelo got divorced, it got so much worse" Ana groans.

Ana looks up when Detective Harper walks in.

"morning, ma'am" Ana says, softly but Harper ignores her.

"damn" Lucy whistles.

"So, Officer West, can you tell us what a "friendly" is?" Grey asks, starting roll call.

"Yes, sir. A "friendly" is another term for a Confidential Informant." Jackson responds.

"Correct. And Confidential Informants can be an incredibly useful tool." Grey nods.

"They're definitely tools." Tim says, making other officers laugh.

"Are you saying you don't use them, Officer Bradford?" Grey asks.

"No, sir. Just saying they're lying liars who lie and they need to be dominated, never allowed to think they're in control." Tim replies.

"Officer Lopez, you agree?" Grey questions, turning to Angela.

"No, sir. C.I.'s are most useful when they think they're part of the team." Angela replies.

"You're both wrong." Harper says.

"Please, school us, Detective." Grey gestures.

"C.I.'s are just people trying to get by. Some are psychopaths who play ball because it's the best available option, some are people in over their heads who cling to you desperately as a way out of trouble. Treating them all the same is a mistake." Harper explains.

"Well, it's time to put these theories to the test. Nolan, Cabrera, Chen, part of the second phase of your training is developing your first C.I. See, you've known this day was coming, so I'm confident that you have a plan of action in place. But be forewarned -- you will be evaluated on the arrests generated by your C.I., as well as their long-term viability. So, choose wisely. Alright, that's it. Be safe." Grey says, dismissing them.

[Timeskip]

"Thanks Nolan" Ana says, softly, over the phone.

"Of course, you were the one to help me carry that marble and your abuela made me cookies, so, name is Bianca Windle, I just texted you a picture of her" Nolan replies.

"thank you, see you later" Ana smiles before hanging up.

Tim is going to get Nolan and Lucy CI's, but Harper is going to leave Ana to figure it out for herself, so Nolan is going to help the helper.

They pull up behind a car. A woman (Bianca) is searching through her backpack to the side of the car.

"Hi, it's Bianca, right?" Ana asks, softly, getting out of the shop with Harper following her.

"Do I know you?" Bianca asks.

"um... well, no, but I think you know a friend's friend of mine" Ana responds, softly. "He says that you run drugs"

Bianca's eyes widen and she starts to run away.

"Ma'am, we're not here to arrest you" Ana calls, softly, running after her.

"She's got drugs in her bag." Harper says as they run after her.

"oh, thank you, ma'am" Ana replies, softly.

Bianca runs into the back of an SUV and collapses to the ground.

"oh" Ana winces. "here, I'm sorry about all of that"

Ana helps Bianca up before opening her backpack which is filled with Heroin.

"Heroin?" Ana guesses, softly.

"Yep. Enough to put Bianca in prison for the rest of her child-bearing years. Do you want to go to prison, Bianca?" Harper says.

"No." Bianca replies.

"then do you think you could flip on your boss? become my informant and we can take down more drug dealers and suppliers" Ana offers, softly.

"I can't do that. They'll kill me." Bianca shakes her head.

"I won't let them" Ana promises, softly.

"She can't promise you that." Harper interjects.

"You need to be clear with a C.I. You'll do your best to treat them right, look out for them, but you're not God, and you're not with them 24/7." Harper explains to Ana.

"okay, thank you, ma'am" Ana smiles before turning back to Bianca.

"um... so you either go to jail or help us make these streets a little safer, what will it be?" Ana asks, softly.

[Timeskip]

They are in a motel room with Detectives Boyd and Hastings who are hooking Bianca up with listening devices.

"You're gonna get me killed." Bianca insists.

"We'll be just across the courtyard if anything happens" Ana promises, softly.

"Your boss usually punctual?" Harper asks.

"For a drug dealer." Bianca replies.

"Remember, you just have to do what you do every time, give him the drugs, take your money and leave, it's simple" Ana says, softly.

"All done. Talk in a normal voice." Detective Boyd instructs.

"Tell the man at the funeral home that I want to be turned into a tree. Make sure they don't put me in a box. I get claustrophobic." Bianca answers.

"Bianca, we're going to be there just in case anything goes wrong, you'll be perfectly safe" Ana assures her, softly.

"Can I go to the bathroom with this stuff?" Bianca asks.

"Sure." Detective Boyd replies.

"And don't listen." Bianca instructs.

[Timeskip]

"w-wait, I thought --" Ana says, softly, when Harper escorts Bianca back into the room.

"Yeah, don't do that. He'll be here in a minute. Let's get set." Harper replies.

[Timeskip]

Ana and the Detectives are watching in the room as a blue car drives up and a man (Dillon) emerges. Detective Hastings is recording everything.

"He's here." Ana says, softly.

They watch as he walks into a motel room.

"He went into the room." Ana narrates, softly.

Detective Boyd turns up the volume on Bianca's listening device.

"She's going in."

"wait" Ana says, softly, seeing that a little scuffle is occurring. Bianca tries to give Dillon the bag and he in returns tries to close the door in Bianca's face. Ana makes a move to the door, but Harper grabs her arm.

"It's fine. Let it play out." Harper answers.

Bianca and Dillon end up in a shouting match before Bianca finally gives him the backpack and he gives her the money. Dillon shuts the door while Bianca walks back to their motel room.

"See? All good." Harper replies, watching as Bianca knocks on the door.

"Arms up." Boyd instructs Bianca before removing her listening device.

"Hey, I don't get to keep that?" Bianca complains when Boyd also takes the roll of money Dillon gave her.

"Sorry." Ana apologizes, softly.

"Alright, well, let's go get this guy." Harper says, with her and the other Detectives leaving the room.

"You did amazing, just wait her and we'll be back soon, thank you again" Ana says, softly before rushing out of the room as well.

They follow Dillon to his car.

"Freeze. Police!" Harper exclaims.

"Hands up. Drop the bag. Interlace your fingers behind your head. Don't move." Ana instructs, softly, pointing her gun at Dillon.

Ana cuffs Dillon while Boyd and Hastings look in the truck of Dillon's bag and find many bags of Heroin.

"Decent bust, rookie." Boyd nods in approval

[Timeskip]

"Bianca?" Ana calls, softly, as she walks back into the motel room.

She rushes over to Bianca when she sees Bianca on the ground with a cut on her forehead.

"Bianca? Can you hear me?" Ana asks, softly, as Bianca gasps for air.

Her gaze falls on a bag of Heroin on the floor, seeing that it's partially empty. Her eyes widen and she grabs her radio.

"Detective Harper, I need Narcan in the motel room right now" Ana says over the radio before getting up and getting a towel to put pressure on the cut on Bianca's forehead.

"Hold on, help is coming, just stay awake for me" Ana pleads, softly, when Harper reenters the room.

"Where'd she get the drugs?" Harper asks.

"I don't know, maybe leftovers from the deal?" Ana guesses, softly, taking the Narcan and injecting Bianca with it. Bianca gasps for breath and sits up a little bit.

"Hey, hey, we got you" Ana says, softly, laying Bianca back down.

"Control, 7-Adam-15 -- We need an ambulance at the Dollar Motel on Olympic. Female, 25, head injury and overdose." Harper says over the radio.

[Timeskip]

Ana is sitting next to Bianca's bedside at the hospital. The doctors say that she'll be fine but Ana can't help but feel guilty.

"So, are you counting Bianca as your first C.I.?" Harper asks, leaning against the door frame.

"No" Ana replies, softly. "he wants long-term prospects too and I can't imagine putting her through that again"

"listen runt--" Harper starts but Ana interrupts her.

"No. I just-... don't you ever feel bad, using people this way?" Ana asks, softly.

"No, she's not a saint, she's selling drugs, she's a criminal" Harper replies.

"But, something happened in her life that led her to where she is" Ana frowns, softly. "It just feels wrong to use her for all she's worth when her life is miserable."

"Her life isn't miserable, she chose to do this" Harper argues.

"No" Ana shakes her head. "No. I didn't choose for my father to be murdered in front of me and look at me now, I'm an orphan"

"But you somehow survived and are now a cop" Harper points out.

"yeah, because I got lucky" Ana says, softly.

"Runt, you are the least lucky person I know" Harper lectures. "You are a hard worker, your hard work is what got you here. You taught yourself English and science and math while hitchhiking with grandparents. You managed to submit an application to UCLA and you got a scholarship there. You've been at a disadvantage your entire damn life and you never let that stop you."

"Bianca is in that bed because she didn't do everything she could to live a good life, but you did, so don't ever compare yourself to her" Harper orders.

"Really?" Ana asks, softly, looking up at her.

"don't get sentimental on me now, runt" Harper shakes her head before gesturing her head for them to leave. "let's go find you a real CI"

"thank you, ma'am" Ana replies, softly, standing up and walking to the elevator with Harper.

[Timeskip]

"So, you got a game plan for running down a new C.I.?" Harper asks.

"um... a vague one" Ana replies, softly. "I think--"

She's interrupted when a lawyer (Trent Silver) stands up and approaches Harper.

"Ms. Harper?" Silver asks.

"Hi. Uh...um, what are you doing here?" Harper asks.

"You didn't sign your petition." Silver replies.

"Right. I'm sorry. I, um..." Harper starts.

Ana detects that this is personal business.

"um... hi, my name is Ana Cabrera, I'm Detective Harper's rookie, it's been lovely to meet you but I'm going to excuse myself" Ana says, softly, before excusing herself and walking off to come up with a better plan.

[Timeskip]

"ma'am?" Ana asks, softly, approaching Harper once she's done with Silver.

"what is it, runt?" Harper asks.

"I think I've figured it out" Ana replies, softly.

"okay, let's hear it" Harper says.

"My grandparents go this club like almost every night, the owner is the younger brother of the second in command of this drug kingpin. He lives up in San Francisco, so I don't know if it's our jurisdiction, but I at least thought we could check it out and even if we can't use him, we can send the information up to the SFPD" Ana explains, softly.

"wait, wait, hold on, runt, your grandparents go to a club?" Harper asks.

"yeah..." Ana says, softly. "well my paternal grandparents, my maternal grandparents do part time chef work at a nearby Mexican restaurant."

"alright, runt, let's track this down, but if we can't use him, we're not giving information to the SFPD" Harper replies.

"why not?" Ana asks, softly.

"The SFPD are LAPD wannabes, we're not gonna give them anything" Harper answers.

"s-so you think we're better than them?" Ana asks, softly.

"No. I know that we are better." Harper replies.

[Timeskip]

"what are you wearing?" Harper asks, when Ana meets her in the garage wearing her police uniform.

Harper meanwhile is wearing an outfit appropriate for the club.

"um... my uniform" Ana replies, softly.

"nope, if you want to meet the owner of this club, we got to dress as customers, then we can reveal who we are" Harper shakes her head.

"Okay" Ana agrees, softly, rushing back to the locker room.

When she returns, her hair is down. She's wearing a black crop top under a mesh shirt that goes down to her belly button. She's also wearing a lace up corset skirt that barely reaches her upper thighs. Ana has combat boots on her feet.

"this good?" Ana asks, softly, looking uncomfortable in the outfit.

"perfect, runt, let's get going" Harper nods, leading her to an unmarked black van.

[Timeskip]

When they arrive at the club, Harper gives her a slap on the ass.

"It's your idea, runt, it's all yours" Harper says, before walking off and sitting down on a couch near the stage where someone is performing on a pole.

Ana hesitates for a second, looking like a lost deer for a moment before she walks over to the bar.

"what can I get you, sweetheart?" The bartender asks, looking her up and down.

"I was wondering if you'd seen my abuelo around today" Ana starts, softly. "um... Mario?"

"ah... are you the Ana he likes to talk about?" The bartender asks.

"yes, sir" Ana replies, softly.

"well, sweetheart, I've not seen him around today" The bartender replies. "but you're welcome to look"

Ana nods. "thank you" Ana hesitates before turning back to the bartender.

"And could I get a mocktail for my friend in the tight black dress?" Ana asks, softly, handing him a twenty.

Ana gestures to Harper. " 'course, sweetheart" The bartender grins.

Ana wanders through the club. She sits down in a corner, looking at all of the guards who are blocking off access to different rooms.

Ana pulls up her phone and finds the blue prints for the building, curtesy of Nolan. Three of the rooms are presumably private rooms, but one door leads up to a stairwell where a large attic is at the top.

Ana is willing to bet that that's where this younger brother (Tiger) is right now.

Harper walks over.

"alright, which guard do you want me to distract?" Harper asks.

"the guy standing in the left corner there, ma'am" Ana replies, softly.

"good job, runt" Harper grins, obviously having been testing her on if she had figured it out.

Ana watches as Harper sways over to the guard and easily charms him. Ana sneaks over while Harper has his attention and slides through the door with no one noticing, or so she thinks. Ana walks up the stairs quietly and into the large attic space. There is Tiger sitting at his desk, working on something or another.

"LAPD" Ana announces, taking off her badge and showing it to him.

Tiger freezes for a second. "that's a nice get up you got going on there, baby girl, but unfortunately, you don't got anything to tie me with"

"June Bankridge" Ana says, approaching him and looking around the space.

Ana bites back a smile when he freezes. "what do you know about June?" Tiger growls.

"enough, enough to know that she's linked to the murders of five police officers in the past twenty years" Ana replies, softly. "and I know that you've been bankrolling her."

"you see, June is already in custody, serving five life sentences, but you... well you're walking free" Ana continues, softly.

"so, here's the thing, I can arrest you here and now, shutting down this club of yours, or you become my informant, giving me information on your older brother's operations up in San Francisco" Ana offers, softly.

"you bitch" Tiger growls, standing up and approaching her.

"so what will it be?" Ana asks, softly.

He throws a punch and Ana blocks it. But he's still a good fighter. It takes her a good ten minutes to pin him to the ground and cuff him.

"so, what will it be?" Ana questions, barely able to hold down his struggling form.

"I don't know anything about Carlos' operations" Tiger exclaims.

"I'm pretty sure you do, you took a trip up to San Francisco less than two weeks ago" Ana replies, softly.

"fine, fine, what do you want to know about him?" Tiger asks.

"he's expanding his operations down to LA, what's his plan?" Ana questions, softly.

"he's not!" Tiger yells.

"yes, he is" Ana answers, struggling to hold him down.

He manages to flip over and land on top of her, but he's still cuffed. Ana pushes him off of her but he manages a kick in the ribs, sending her to the ground. Ana struggles for breath, before pushing herself up.

"fine, prison it is" Ana gasps, reaching for her radio to call for backup.

"no, wait!" Tiger exclaims. "he's doing a drug deal tonight, at Falke's Warehouse"

"what time?" Ana asks, softly.

"2100" Tiger answers.

"alright" Ana nods.

She hesitates for a moment before uncuffing him.

"thank you for the information, sir" Ana says, softly, before walking away.

[Timeskip]

"Wait, hold on, you let him go?!" Harper yells in the shop.

"yes" Ana replies, softly.

"Why?! What was going through your runt brain that you thought that was a good idea?!" Harper exclaims.

"Criminal informants deserve trust, just like you said, they're just people trying to get by. If I earn his trust by giving him mine, he'll be infinitely more useful" Ana answers, softly.

"oh my god" Harper scoffs before falling silent.

[Timeskip]

Ana gets out of the car, followed by the SWAT team. She's wearing a SWAT suit, since Grey told her that it's her bust and that she should have it. He also threatened that if her bust failed, then it was on her and her alone.

Harper hasn't talked to her since the conversation in the shop, but Ana has always been someone to put her full trust in people and that's what she put in Tiger. She's holding a rifle, scanning the area.

They hide themselves behind the warehouse after setting up listening devices around the area. It's dark outside but they still have to turn off their flashlights to stay hidden.

"Took you long enough" Ana hears a man (Diego) say when an all black limousine pulls up.

Diego is known for smuggling drugs up from Mexico and his supplies are 70% of Heroin in Los Angeles.

"it's been quite a drive" Carlos replies. Ana freezes when she realizes that the drug kingpin is actually here, not one of his men.

Ana holds up a fist, signaling to the SWAT team to wait until Carlos leaves. They planned on getting his men too, but they need Carlos to stay as he is for them to continue using Tiger for information.

"so, let me see it" Carlos says.

Ana hears shuffling as they go into the warehouse. The SWAT team didn't set up listening devices in the warehouse, so they wait for twenty minutes before Carlos and Diego walk back out. They exchange a few words before leaving.

SWAT quickly moves in arresting Diego while Ana walks into the warehouse. But it's empty. Her eyebrows furrow, looking around.

"Guess it wasn't an exchange, just a preliminary meeting" The SWAT leader says.

"No" Ana shakes her head, continuing to look around.

"Give it up, runt, your CI lied to you" The SWAT leader replies.

Ana opens her mouth to reply as she walks towards the back of the warehouse but then the floor gives out from underneath her. She falls five feet before hitting a hard bag. She coughs, looking down and seeing a huge store of heroin under the warehouse floor. It must go at least twenty feet down and there is so much heroin here that Ana wonders if all of this just goes through Los Angeles or if this is a national supply.

"well, hot damn" The SWAT leader says, looking through the hole.

[Timeskip]

"I'm so sorry, runt" Harper says, standing next to Ana as feds look through the warehouse.

"what do you mean?" Ana asks, softly.

"this is huge, it's a national thing, the FBI and CIA are going to take over" Harper replies.

"I know" Ana responds, softly.

"why are you saying that like you don't care?" Harper asks.

"Because I still have my CI, and nobody can overdose on this heroin" Ana says, softly.

"You still trust too easily" Harper shakes her head.

"I trust you" Ana giggles.

"which is a mistake" Harper dead pans.

"of course, ma'am" Ana giggles as Harper walks away.