{I'm sorry, my terrible week has given me writers block, but I have a few ideas for this series. Tbh, I kinda hate the Snappin' One, Two, Three book, I know I wrote it but I really don't like what I did with it. I'm still going to finish it but I'm planning to write a chenford x oc book that is a lot more like Altruism and develops the characters more slowly and such. I'm not going to start such an endeavor until I finish Altruism up to Season Five, but that may change, knowing me, but I am going to finish Altruism and Snappin', I promise you that. Though Altruism doesn't really have an end in sight. Once I get the fifth book out, I'm going to wait until all the episodes are released for Season Six and after that it'll be a waiting game for Season 7 (which hopefully happens, fingers crossed). On the topic of said future oc book, do you think the name 'Lily' is too similar to 'Lucy' for it to be the name of my oc? Just curious. Also, this chapter is decently long, so I'm proud of myself for that.}

"Hey, you got mail" Ana says, distractedly, handing Lucy the mail Ana picked up from the mailbox on the first floor of the apartment complex.

"ooh, yay, bills" Lucy says, sarcastically.

"yeah" Ana frowns, staring down at the very cryptic letter she's received.

"what's that?" Lucy asks.

"probably just some weird way to get me to vote for a certain politician" Ana shrugs, throwing the letter away.

It's not written in English, using a very odd lettering system that Ana has never seen before. Lucy opens her mouth to say something else regarding the letter but Tamara rushes into the living room.

"you're still here? you've got a class in five minutes" Lucy asks Tamara.

"I slept in" Tamara explains, rushing to put on her shoes.

"here" Ana tosses Tamara an apple and a granola bar. "I'll stop by your university with lunch"

"you're a lifesaver" Tamara says before sprinting out the door.

Lucy and Ana share a glance before breaking down into giggles.

[Timeskip]

"hi" Ana says, catching up to Aaron before roll call.

"hey" Aaron replies, taking a step away from her.

"what's that for?" Ana asks, softly.

"it's been made clear to me that if I touch you I will be skinned alive" Aaron answers.

"by who?" Ana frowns.

"Harper, Angela, Lucy, Grey, Smitty, some random guy named Oscar Hutchinson who somehow managed to text me, hell, even the Chief threatened me" Aaron lists.

"oh, don't listen to them, they're just... I had a run in with a bad cop a few months ago and they just want to make sure it doesn't happen again" Ana explains, softly.

"bad cop?" Aaron question.

"he... touched me" Ana elaborates, softly.

"oh, like..." Aaron trails off.

"no, he didn't get to that step" Ana says, softly.

Aaron nods. "I'm sorry, but that's not the reason that everybody in this station is protective of you"

"what's the reason then?" Ana asks, softly.

"I've been all over the news for being a murderer and my fame could get you killed but you've still been friendly to me even if Harper hates my guts. I see how you interact with criminals. You see the good in people that sometimes doesn't exist, it's... admirable" Aaron responds.

"oh" Ana murmurs.

"Baby" Tim calls, catching up to them.

"Hi, how was your evening?" Ana smiles, leaning into him and he holds her hand.

"fine, Grey had me running around everywhere" Tim responds.

" 'm sorry" Ana frowns.

"it's fine, but I did want to talk to you, Grey wants me to get an aide" Tim starts.

"that's a good idea" Ana agrees, softly.

"right, I'm thinking Lucy or Webb but I wanted to ask you first to make sure you'd be okay with Lucy being my aide because I'll choose Webb if you're worried" Tim continues.

"no, that sounds great, you already know Lucy so you already trust her and everything" Ana nods, loving the idea.

"okay, so no jealousy or insecurity?" Tim clarifies.

"no" Ana answers, softly and honestly.

"and you'll tell me if there are any?" Tim inquires.

"I will, I promise" Ana says, softly.

Tim smiles. "I'll see you at roll call."

He gives Aaron a slight nod before walking off.

"he didn't glare at me" Aaron says in amazement. "why didn't he glare at me?"

"He promised to not glare at you" Ana answers, softly.

"you got him to promise that?" Aaron asks.

"yeah" Ana nods, softly.

"damn he's a simp" Aaron mutters under his breath.

[Timeskip]

"Uh, is there a problem?" Harper asks, when Aaron stands over her and Ana at roll call.

"No, ma'am. I'm just excited to hear what new nicknames you came up with for me." Aaron smiles.

"Hm. Uh, I've -- I've narrowed it down to three. Um, "Get out of my face"..." Harper starts, making Ana smile.

"Mm-hmm." Aaron nods.

"..."sit your ass down"..." Harper continues and Ana lets out a little giggle.

"Okay." Aaron says.

"...and "I will tell you when I am ready."" Harper finishes and Ana bites her lip so she doesn't burst into a fit of giggles.

"I love them all." Aaron says in approval.

"Okay." Harper says, giving him a look.

"Triple D." Aaron mutters under his breath.

"What was that?" Harper questions.

"Nothing. Just sitting my ass down." Aaron replies, going and sitting down.

"So, all right, settle down, everyone. Sergeant Bradford, you want to start us off?" Grey says, starting roll call.

"Yes. Um... I'm in need of a go-fer. Now, it won't be glamorous, but it'll be a learning experience. Webb, how about it? You ready to get off patrol?" Tim starts.

"Yes, sir. Looking forward to it." Webb agrees.

Ana looks to Tim, wanting clarification that he chose Webb because that was the better choice and not because of her. Tim sends her a nod in response, soothing her worries.

"Officer Nolan, so I saw your request to follow up on the man you pulled out of the fire yesterday." Grey continues.

"Yes, sir. I checked with the hospital. He regained consciousness. Thought it would be important to get his statement while his memory was fresh." Nolan replies.

"I agree. I'll notify Caradine for when he assigns a detective." Grey nods.

[Timeskip]

"You're driving today." Harper announces. "Runt, you cool in the backseat?"

"of course" Ana agrees, not minding where she sits.

"Hey, you know I almost qualified to race in the British Grand Prix, right? I mean, before my troubles. And you've never known real fear until you've gone airborne in a Formula 1 car." Aaron smiles.

"Yeah, try being hunted by a pack of cartel sicarios, then get back to me." Harper replies.

"Okay, that's a story I want to hear." Aaron grins.

"Nyla." Alonzo says, walking over to the three.

"Ana" Alonzo nods at Ana.

"lovely to see you again, sir" Ana smiles, softly, making Alonzo smile as well.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Harper asks.

"Just stopped by to ask you to lunch." Alonzo replies.

"It's 9:00 A.M." Harper points out.

"Oh, right. Sorry. When your kid gets up before the sun, you lose track of time. Uh, plus, I was wondering, um, if you could take care of this ticket for me." Alonzo questions.

Ana's eyes widen.

"Unh-unh. No. Put it away. I can't." Harper shakes her head.

"we're gonna set up the shop" Ana announces, dragging Aaron away.

"damn" Aaron whistles.

"that is... something" Ana says, softly.

[Timeskip]

"Where are we right now, Boot?" Harper asks as they drive.

"Uh, San Vicente and --" Aaron replies, trying to find a street sign.

"If you have to look, you don't know. And trouble is not gonna wait for you to find a street sign." Harper points out.

"Got it. Sorry. I will do better. You mind if I take this?" Aaron questions.

"Whatever you think is best." Harper shrugs.

While Aaron talks on the phone, Harper turns back to Ana.

"follow my lead" Harper mouthes to Ana, who nods.

"An alert just came in. You should check the box." Harper suggests to Aaron.

""Drive-by shooting into a...246..."" Aaron reads aloud on the box.

There's more talking over the phone before Aaron hangs up.

"Uh, did you see the guy in the trench coat? He might be concealing a weapon." Ana pipes up, softly.

"7-Adam-19, clear for traffic?" Dispatch asks over the radio.

"I didn't see a guy in a trench coat. Should I turn around?" Aaron questions.

"Do you think you should turn around?" Harper replies.

"I mean, did you see a weapon?" Aaron asks Ana.

"Did she say she saw one?" Harper interrogates.

"7-Adam-19? Security check." Dispatch inquires over the radio.

"What was the drive-by shooting vehicle Hollywood was working? I-I didn't s--" Aaron starts.

"It came over the radio." Harper replies.

"Right. Um, I was -- I was looking for that guy possibly concealing a weapon, but I will find him. Suspect's vehicle is a..." Aaron starts.

"All units, unable to raise 7-Adam-19. Last location near Stoner Park. 7-Adam-100, copy missing officer?" Dispatch questions over the radio.

"Oh, my God. An officer's missing?" Aaron exclaims.

"Three" Ana pipes up, softly.

"Three officers are missing. Okay, that's even worse! Should we look for them, or should we find this trench-coat guy?" Aaron questions.

"7-Adam-100, I copy the missing officer. Harper, it's Bradford. You guys Code 4?" Tim asks over the radio, getting worried because he knows Ana is in that car.

"Code 4." Ana says over the radio.

"What's our call sign?" Harper questions Aaron.

"7-Adam-19. Ohhhh. We're the missing officers." Aaron realizes.

"Mm." Harper hums.

"That is embarrassing." Aaron groans.

"Yes, it is -- for you. I get a free pass your first week. All of your many failures are blamed on the Academy. So, what have you learned?" Harper asks.

"That taking the wheel is demanding enough..." Aaron starts.

"Mm-hmm." Harper agrees.

"...and I shouldn't be adding in personal phone calls into the mix." Aaron finishes.

"Mm." Harper hums.

"There wasn't an armed man in a trench coat, was there?" Aaron asks Ana.

"sorry" Ana apologizes, softly.

[Timeskip]

"Hello! Didn't I see you guys on a milk carton?" Nolan grins, making Ana smile and giggle.

"I don't get it." Aaron frowns.

"'Cause we were considered missing." Harper explains.

"They used to put pictures of missing kids on milk cartons." Nolan elaborates.

"Yes, in the '80s." Lucy chimes in.

"Yes, in the '80s. How did I end up the punch line?" Nolan groans.

"Oh, excuse me." Lucy says, walking over to Webb and Tim.

"Hey, how come Bradford didn't choose Lucy to be his go-fer?" Harper asks Nolan.

"I don't know, but she's not being very adult about it." Nolan responds.

Ana scrunches her nose.

"I'll talk to Tim later" Ana promises Nolan, who is obviously experiencing the brunt of Lucy's being upset.

"thank you" Nolan thanks.

Gunfire interrupts their conversation. Ana's hand immediately goes to her holster when a black SUV runs onto the sidewalk and into a store front window.

"Look out! Hey!" People on the sidewalk yell.

"Let me see your hands!" Ana calls, approaching the car.

"Show me your hands! Guns down!" Nolan orders.

"Get out of the car!" Harper commands.

"Put your guns down!" Ana says as two men get out of the car with their hands up.

"Private security! We got CCW permits! Someone just shot our client through the windshield!" Kip, one of the security guards explains.

"Front seat clear!" Nolan calls.

"Is everybody okay?!" A civilian asks.

Ana opens the rear passenger door and sees a dead body with multiple gunshot wounds. Nolan joins her looking at the body.

"Sarge?" Nolan calls.

"Yeah?" Tim asks.

"Think it's a sniper?" Ana guesses.

"yeah" Nolan nods.

"What do you see?" Tim questions.

"Three shots grouped tight, high on the windshield. Judging from where the car was, I'd say our sniper is northeast." Nolan explains and Ana nods, agreeing with his analysis.

"Control, 7-Adam-100. We got a shooter with a long gun at the 16000 block of Rochester Avenue. I need eastbound traffic from Veteran shut down. Get SWAT en route. Harper, Princess, Thorsen, secure the scene. Nolan, Chen, Webb, you're on me." Tim orders.

[Timeskip]

"I gotta admit, I'm disappointed you didn't go after him." Grey jokes, dryly, approaching the group in the parking garage.

"Oh, I was halfway out the window. Lucy had to pull me back." Nolan replies.

"Mm-hmm." Grey hums, obviously skeptical.

"This guy's a pro, Sarge. Put three bullets through tempered glass into a moving vehicle and still dead-centering his target -- only a couple dozen people in the world who could do that." Tim explains.

"The secondary escape route screams elite training. Someone paid real money for this guy's services." Harper adds.

"You got a name on the target?" Grey asks.

"Michael Silver. Some kind of import-export guy. Hired a security company a week ago. Didn't tell them why -- or, at least, they're not sharing with us." Tim replies.

"Intelligence unit is running Silver's name to see if he's in their database." Harper says.

"Well, clearly, he pissed off some bad people." Grey remarks.

"Okay, we got an ID on our arson victim. Nelson Crespo. He's a 35-year-old restaurant manager, a couple of minor drug arrests, and he has an apartment in Culver City with his wife, Celia." Lucy says, coming over.

"Sir, we could handle the death notification. See if Celia might shed some light on what our DB was doing in that house." Nolan suggests.

"I'll have Harper, Nugget and Thorsen work the sniper with Bradford." Grey decides.

"Nugget?" Ana questions.

"Thorsen isn't the only one whose gotten a text from Hutchinson about you" Grey shrugs.

[Timeskip]

"Tim" Ana says, hanging back while Harper and Aaron walk back to the shop.

"I really don't know what to tell you, sunshine, you're just a very sweet person" Tim grins, thinking that's what she wants to talk to him about.

Ana blushes and smiles. "thank you, but I was actually worried about Lucy"

"I picked Webb" Tim says, frowning.

"No. No. I know. I just-... she seems upset that you didn't pick her" Ana explains.

"ah" Tim smirks.

"why did you choose Webb?" Ana asks but someone from the Intelligence Unit walks over to them and their conversation is interrupted.

[Timeskip]

"Whoa." Aaron says as they arrive at the morgue.

"Oh, what, the smell? Yeah, it smells like month-old eggs and maggot meat. I mean, you don't -- you don't have to go in, but this is part of the job." Harper shrugs.

"No, I'm good." Aaron says, before clearing his throat.

"Mm. Can I just have a sec?" Aaron requests.

"of course" Ana agrees, softly.

"Oh, yeah, no. Gather yourself, because what awaits smells like a septic tank filled with tumors." Harper warns.

"Okay... I see what you're doing. This is payback for me trying to get too familiar earlier, but you know what? It's all good. I can handle it. I'm just gonna have to cancel my reservation at Eliza and Elektra tonight, because there's no way I'm eating after this." Aaron realizes.

"Whoa, are you crazy? You have to book that place like six months in advance. I dream of eating there." Harper says, amazed.

"You want the reservation?" Aaron asks.

"Seriously?" Harper asks, amazed.

"Yeah, it's yours -- if you stop torturing me?" Aaron offers, making Ana giggle.

"Deal." Harper agrees.

"Yeah. I mean, the only question is, which boy toy are you taking? Is it gonna be the speed demon from this morning, or the upright citizen from this afternoon? I mean, unless there's a third choice." Aaron questions and Ana smiles.

"No, it's James. It's definitely James. But he's probably busy." Harper shrugs.

"you should text him" Ana suggests, softly.

"All right, fine." Harper agrees.

"Oh, no. The vanishing three dots. That is the worst." Aaron complains.

"He's probably gonna respond later. You kn-- Let's get back to work." Harper decides.

"Right" Aaron nods as they walk over to Lowell.

"Nugget, it's so good to see you" Lowell smiles, hugging Ana.

"It's lovely to see you too, Sol" Ana says, softly, deciding to not ask if he's been in contact with Hutchinson too.

"Detective. Nice to see you. Judging by the long sleeves and queasy demeanor, I'd say you have a new rookie." Lowell turns to Harper and Aaron.

"Yeah. Dr. Lowell, meet Officer Thorsen." Harper introduces Aaron.

"Of course. Now I recognize you. You know, I have to say that the forensic work in your case seemed pretty solid. You're lucky the Parisians set you free." Lowell says.

"I'm lucky the appeals court understood that forensic science can be as corrupt as the rest of law enforcement." Aaron replies.

"First autopsy?" Lowell guesses.

"Yeah." Aaron nods.

"Smear this under your nose. It'll help with the smell. I'm surprised your TO didn't tell you." Lowell suggests, handing Aaron a jar of ointment.

"I can't give away all my secrets in the first week, Doc. So, you get anything useful from the autopsy?" Harper questions.

"Yeah, I found this lodged in his T4 vertebra. Looks like it's from a .223." Lowell says, holding up a bullet.

"Yeah, possible 77-grain. Also known as NATO rounds for their full metal jackets." Harper nods.

"Yeah, very heavy and very lethal in a skilled marksman's hands." Lowell agrees.

"Yeah, to make a long-distance shot from a .223 round would require a specialized weapon, which would seem to confirm that our shooter had military training." Harper decides.

"Oh, hey. She gave you the menthol on your first visit?" Nolan asks as he and Lucy enter the morgue.

"No, the -- the doc did." Aaron replies.

"Ah, that makes sense." Nolan says, clearing his throat.

"All right, he's all yours." Harper tells Nolan and Lucy.

"Let's go get you a ginger ale and Nugget hear some nuggets" Harper decides, talking to Aaron and putting an arm around Ana's shoulder as they leave the morgue.

[Timeskip]

"Nugget, I need you to get your ass down to Eliza and Elektra" Harper says when Ana answers the phone around ten o'clock.

"why? what's going on?" Ana asks, softly.

"both of my boys arrived and I need you here" Harper replies.

"on my way" Ana says, getting out of bed and changing into the fanciest dress she owns.

[Timeskip]

"hi" Ana sits down across from Harper.

"you're a lifesaver" Harper exhales. "a lemonade mocktail"

"thank you" Ana giggles. "so how's Lila doing?"

[Timeskip]

"your boyfriend's an asshole" Lucy mutters in the locker room the next morning.

"um, we're not actually dating yet" Ana replies, softly.

"but everyone knows you're together" Lucy points out, in a bad mood.

"well yeah, but we just... aren't yet" Ana shrugs. "b-but like we're exclusive and-"

Lucy rolls her eyes and leaves, making Ana frown and deflate, a little hurt by Lucy's rude behavior.

[Timeskip]

"Good morning. So, we have a clearer understanding of yesterday's sniper shooting. According to the Gang Unit, the victim had a falling-out with Elijah Stone." Grey starts roll call.

"So, it was a contract killing?" Harper asks.

"Looks like it. Gangs put together a list of potential shooters that Elijah might use. We ran it against military personnel records and came up with a dozen names. And you guessed it -- detectives want patrol to do the initial canvass. So...let's get to work. Oh, oh. One more thing. Sergeant?" Grey turns to Tim.

"Yeah, um, I've decided to spread the love and give someone else a chance to be my go-fer today. Smitty, you're up." Tim decides.

"Seriously?" Lucy scoffs.

"I'm sorry, you have something to add, Officer Chen?" Grey asks, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Sir." Lucy shakes her head, annoyed.

"All right, that's it. Be safe out there." Grey dismisses them.

[Timeskip]

"How was the restaurant?" Aaron asks as they set up the shop.

Harper gives him a look.

"What happened?" Aaron questions.

"They both showed up." Harper explains.

"Oh, no." Aaron frowns.

"Oh, yes. Yesterday, I was dating two cute guys, and today, zero." Harper sighs.

"Well, it had to end at some point, right? I mean, if you cared about one of them, you would have made a decision a while ago." Aaron points out.

"I liked the freedom. It was fun being able to take it slow." Harper shrugs.

"but?" Ana urges, softly.

"But I just -- I can't get the look on James' face out of my head." Harper admits.

[Timeskip]

Ana frowns, looking down at the mail. There it is, the same cryptic letter that she can't read. It's the exact same as the last one, but at the very bottom is a little word in English.

"Fire."