𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 | 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻

MADELINE WEST LOVED RUNNING. IT was one of the many common interests she shared with her brother. It was an escape for her, a moment during the day where she could fully take her mind off whatever was going on, to focus on the rhythmic drumming of her shoes on the pavement and the feeling of her lungs constricting in her chest. She was just lucky that she enjoyed physical exercise. Being fit was a condition of being a police officer, especially a rookie, and they had to make constant efforts to keep things that way.

After all, if she was forced out of the program because she couldn't keep up with a suspect... well, she didn't want to think about that at all.

From the very beginning at the Academy, the West siblings had immediately connected with Lucy Chen and John Nolan. They went through the vigorous six months together, enduring the hardships but then celebrating the wins when they eventually came. They had made a pact to stick together no matter what. That pact also included running. Whilst Maddie and Jackson were more than keen to get up at five o'clock in the morning and jog around Muscle Beach, John was not.

Madeline understood that, sure, but he really did bring it upon himself. Becoming a police officer was hard enough in itself, let alone beginning at forty-five.

For the last ten minutes, John and Lucy had been calmly strolling along as the brother and sister duo began their morning training. Maddie spares a look to Jackson, and they collectively turn around without a word, falling in behind John and Lucy in slow jogs. "I thought we were here to run," Jackson points out.

"Oh, yeah, we are," John nods, glancing over his shoulder to his friends. "We just need a little more warm-up than you do."

"Sure," Madeline hums. "Because you're old." Jackson snickers and Lucy looks to her with a small smile.

"Very funny," Nolan states exasperatedly. "It's getting old."

"Just like you," she claps back. This time, Lucy doesn't bother hiding her giggles. John looks between the three rookies with a scowl, but his eyes glint in amusement.

"We'll be right with you," Lucy reassures them, shifting her earbuds resting on her shirt. "But you guys look great, though."

Jackson rolls his eyes. "Okay, you think you're cute," he sneers. Lucy smiles. "... But the job's a marathon." Jogging along at the same pace as him, Madeline points to her brother in agreement. "And I'm not gonna be the one who falls by the wayside because I didn't train." He shoves his earbud back in and pushes past John and Lucy.

"Looking good," John calls to him encouragingly. "You're a beast!"

"Get off your asses and run," Maddie says. "Seriously, I can hear Grey right now." She drops her voice a few octaves lower, "'How many times do I need to tell you, Officer Nolan, we don't hire seniors!'" She snickers when John playfully shoves her arm and she takes the cue to run after Jackson.

Lucy shakes her head with a chuckle. "We're right behind you," she yells after her.

As Maddie finally catches up to Jackson, the two fall into the same stride as they run along the beach. She squints her eyes as rays of the sunrise blind her temporarily, the cries of seagulls ringing through her ears. The rising sun casts a warm, orange glow onto those below it, pastel colours bleeding across the sky and clouds, looking like candy floss.

"They think we're clueless," Jackson tells her with a roll of his eyes. They're far enough away from the second half of their group that they can talk freely about whoever and whatever they like. "It's like they think we're not observant enough to be cops."

A laugh leaves Maddie's lips as takes her earbud out of her ear, holding onto it as she glances to her brother. "I know," she says. "They're treating us as if we're blind; it's so obvious."

"Should we bring it up with them?"

"Absolutely not."

"Good idea."

An hour later, the group of rookies head through the station for the morning meeting. The room is already full, the only empty chairs being the front row and Bradford's. For the last day, Lucy had been nervously rambling about his return and how unready she is for him to take back the role of her training officer.

Madeline did not like Tim Bradford. There was teaching and then there was just being a dick. He was the latter. In some way, she probably should understand him because he taught just like how her father did. Maddie had grown up with a Tim Bradford her entire life. Maybe that's why she didn't like him, because Lucy was now experiencing what she had.

As they take their dedicated seats, Madeline gently nudges Lucy's side. "Don't worry," she whispers to her. Lucy withdraws her lip from within her teeth and stops gnawing on it. "It'll be fine. And if it's not, he can deal with me."

Officer Chen can't help but crack a smile even through her anxiety. "Thanks," she says quietly. Maddie nods to her.

And it's then that applause starts to spread throughout the room. Glancing over her shoulder, Madeline sighs as she watches Tim Bradford entering the room to congratulatory words and cheers from his colleagues. Clearly uncomfortable from the level of attention, Bradford briefly shakes some of his friends' hands before making his way over to his fellow training officers.

But as he stops by his seat, he shakes his head with disapproval and takes his pen out from his breast pocket. Jackson stifles his laughter when Tim holds up the cushion Lopez, Delgado, and Bishop had put on his chair. Without another thought, he stabs the fabric, immediately deflating it.

"All right, all right, all right," Sergeant Grey calls out as he enters the room. But even he can't hide his own small smile. "Let's get to it. You ready, Officer Nolan? 'Cause once again, we start with you."

John squints his eyes as he looks up from his notepad. "I'm flattered?" he offers uncertainly.

"Don't be," Grey retorts. "Yesterday, a four-man crew disguised as zombies knocked over a cash advance near Pico and Robertson." Madeline's brows furrow as she takes a copy of the rap sheet being handed out. "So, Officers Bishop and Nolan were able to apprehend two of the criminals, while the other two escaped. Somehow, Officer Nolan managed to let a civilian steal ten grand in already stolen cash. Luckily, CCTV captured our thief. Still waiting on an I.D."

"Uh, he plays guitar," John speaks up. "If that helps."

"Absolutely," Grey confirms, sarcasm seeping off the word. "'Cause they always list special talents on your rap sheet." Quiet laughter is heard from the officers behind them. A short knock on the door turns the entire room's attention over to Captain Anderson, a coffee in hand as she walks inside. "Captain, how can we help you?"

The woman steps up behind the podium, her eyes scanning the room, briefly landing on Madeline before continuing on. "First off, I wanted to welcome Tim Bradford back," she addresses. "If you need anything, you let me know."

With his arms tightly folded across his chest, Bradford curtly nods. "Yes, ma'am."

"Secondly, we just got some new intel on our zombies. Turns out that they're responsible for a rash of armed robberies in the last six months, always disguised differently." The row of rookies quickly jot down the information on their pads. "Detectives want to get the two in custody to flip on their partners at large, but there is no guarantee, so, don't stop hunting. Finally, we got a request for a civil standby. Turns out somebody's getting fired from a tech job. Supervisor's worried things may not go right."

As Zoe Anderson steps back, Sergeant Grey places a hand on his hip as he turns to face the front. "Babysitting a termination," he begins, the ghost of a smile on his face. "A patrol officer's favourite assignment. So, who shall I bless with it?"

Maddie slowly turns in her chair to look at John. On the other side of her, Jackson stifles his laugh. John then reluctantly raises his hand into the air.

"Officer Nolan, are you volunteering?"

"Just embracing the inevitable, sir," he replies. Iris glances to Talia in amusement, watching the short-haired woman roll her eyes in annoyance at her rookie.

"Smart man," Grey acknowledges. "Get the address from dispatch. That's it."

As the room starts to disperse, Maddie pats Jackson's arm encouragingly before turning to find her TO. As she stops at the third row, she and Tim lock eyes, their expressions completely emotionless, giving nothing away. Iris's eyebrows raise in amusement as she looks between the pair who now seem to be engaged in a staring contest.

Madeline's eyes narrow ever so slightly as she shifts her weight onto her other foot. Bradford crosses his arms atop of the desk.

Whilst Talia is already long gone, Angela turns in her chair to watch the exchange. "Finally," she whispers with a smirk.

Thirty-one seconds later, Tim Bradford blinks and diverts his eyes to the front of the room. Madeline's entire demeanour does a complete one-eighty, her lips curling into a smug smirk as she turns on her heel and heads off to the kit room to grab their gear for the day.

Iris leans back in her chair and smiles proudly. "That's my girl," she mutters. Angela snorts when she notices the deep glare Tim is throwing Iris. "She won fair and square, Bradford."

"Fuck off."

"So good to have you back."

⋆。 ﾟ☾。 ⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆

"Seven-Adam-Eleven," the dispatch radio announces. "Got a Thirty-Seven reported on Crenshaw."

Madeline brings the radio up to her mouth to reply, "Seven-Adam-Eleven, show us responding." She glances to Iris in the driver's seat. "Think it'll be anything?"

The woman breathes a sigh as they turn a corner. "Probably not," she replies. "This'll just be a routine check, try and get a witness who saw the vehicle being stolen, get plate numbers, that sort of stuff."

She nods her head in understanding, lips pressing together for a moment. When their cruiser finally pulls to a stop at their destination, Maddie's eyes widen in shock. So far in her rookie career, she had come across two stolen vehicles. However, neither of arriving scenes had looked anything like this one.

"Seven-Adam-Eleven, show us Code Six and out of our vehicle. Thirty-One-Oh-One Crenshaw Boulevard." Slowly stepping out of the car, Maddie's hand moves to rest on her belt as Iris joins her side. "Well, that's something you don't see every day," the detective states.

Spray painted on the side of the building are the words Too slow, catch me never! Drawn below is what looks like a flaming orange car, zooming off into the distance.

"I mean, at least we're confident now that a car was stolen," Madeline observes, her tone of voice dry. Iris rolls her eyes. "Okay, let's try and find a witness."

"Read my mind, Boot-"

"Hey! Hi! Excuse me! Oh, my God." The two women turn around to find a man breathlessly running up to them, eyes wide with alarm. He wears a grey hoodie, his black hair short, and a long gold chain hanging from his neck. "Thank God y'all are here. Are y'all here about the car? 'Cause I was just hanging, listening to some T-Swift, and this guy just came out of nowhere!"

Delgado's eyes narrow as she takes out her notepad. "Okay, sir, can you tell me what happened?"

"Well, like I said, he came out of nowhere. Of course, I was listening to my girl, T-Swift, so I didn't really hear him. But I saw him! Came down this path, running like the wind, jumped in this orange car... Could be a Pontiac, but I dunno my cars."

Maddie closes her eyes for a moment and sighs. "Sir, did the car happen to look like that?" She points to the wall behind them.

He gasps. "No way," he exclaims in surprise. "That's exactly what it looked like! Wow, that's amazing. Identical picture."

"Sir, can I get your name, please?" Officer Delgado questions.

"Jacob Francine Peralta," he answers. "Sorry, but I have this appointment with my barber, do y'all need me to stick around any longer?"

Maddie glances to her TO to see Iris shake her head. "No, that's okay. Here's our cards, and if you remember anything else just give us a call, okay?"

Jacob Peralta nods and takes the small piece of paper from Iris. "Thanks so much," he tells them. "Y'all do some fantastic work around here, BTWs."

As he walks off, Madeline tilts her head to the side. "Did he just say BTWs?"

Iris blows out a long breath. "I think he did," she confirms. "Right, let's check out some CCTV. We need a plate number." But as she returns to their shop, Maddie stays on the sidewalk. "Boot," she calls over her shoulder. "Let's go!"

Her eyebrows furrow as she gets lost in her endless stream of thoughts. "Did you notice an accent?" she asks.

Iris rests her hands on her duty belt and stops by the open driver's door. "What the hell are you on about?" she presses impatiently.

"His accent," Maddie clarifies. "He's definitely not from here. It almost sounded New York-ish? Maybe Brooklyn? Don't quote me on that."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm not sure, but something just doesn't sit right with me." And then Madeline West groans in frustration.

Iris looks to her questioningly, finding her rookie glaring daggers at the ground. The footprints from their witness have traces of orange within them. "Oh, shit," she says simply. "That slippery bastard."

With her eyes blazing with anger, Maddie grabs her radio. "Dispatch, I need a background check on a Peralta, Jacob."

"Copy that." They listen to the tapping of Nell's fingers on the keyboard for a few seconds. "Uh... Sending through to your box now."

Jumping back into the shop, Madeline stares at the computer screen in disbelief. The photograph plastered on the screen looks nothing like who they had just talked to. The biggest differences being that this Jacob Peralta is white, and he works as a detective in the NYPD.

"Well, fuck me," Iris mutters. "Okay. Let's see if we got him on the camera."

Entering her badge number, Maddie scrolls through the footage of the different cameras located in their vehicle. Once she reaches the dashcam, she clicks on the file timestamped fifteen minutes earlier. She watches herself come into view, then interact with the man who identified himself as Jacob Peralta.

"So far he's got identity fraud down," Madeline says with narrowed eyes. She catches the look Iris throws her. "And vehicle theft, obviously." Her tongue darts out the corner of her mouth in concentration as the video continues to play. "And... there we have it."

Officer Delgado nods as her rookie pauses right at the split-second their suspect looks into the lens of the camera. "Perfect," she smiles. "Okay, put it into FRT. Hopefully he's got at least a prior."

However, what comes up on the search result makes Maddie's jaw fall slack. "Oh, my God," she says. She zooms in on the screen and reads aloud the profile. "'Doug Judy, also known as the Pontiac Bandit, wanted in the state of New York for over six hundred felonies, including three counts of GTA, countless charges of theft, fraud, and drug dealing."

"Jesus Christ," Iris whispers in shock. "We need to call this in."

Maddie quickly nods. "Dispatch, put us through to Sergeant Grey."

After a few moments of silence, they finally hear Wade's familiar voice. "Seven-Adam-Eleven, go for Sergeant Grey."

"Sarge, we've got a problem," Delgado begins, glancing back to the box that still has Judy's profile open. "Our stolen vehicle has put us in contact with Doug Judy, AKA-"

"The Pontiac Bandit," Grey finishes. Maddie's brows raise when she hears him swear under his breath. "Damn it, what the hell is he doing in LA? You have him?"

"Well, sir, he, uh, he might have managed to manipulate his way out of talking to us..."

"You let Doug Judy go?" Grey questions them incredulously.

Maddie grimaces at his booming voice. "Actually, we didn't realise it was him until about ten minutes-"

"Boot," Iris hisses. Madeline simply shrugs. "Look, sir, we can see this through, get nearby-"

"No," the sergeant interrupts. "No, I need you both on our zombies. I'll send it through to the detectives." A beat of silence passes. "Good work."

Madeline leans back into her seat as the radio falls silent. She's still staring into the smiling mugshot of Doug Judy. Of course, it's disappointing not being able to see something like this through, to be able to be there firsthand when he gets caught. But, sadly, for Officer West and Delgado, it's not their biggest priority today.

Grey is right, they do need to focus on the robberies. From what she's read, Maddie doesn't believe Judy to be a necessarily violent person – he's strategic and smart. These two robbers that had fled the clutches of law enforcement yesterday? They're violent. They need to be off the streets. Doug Judy isn't their problem anymore.

As the day continued into lunch hours, Madeline West couldn't stop thinking about how she had engaged in a conversation with one of the most prolific car thieves in America – nae, the world. She had come to realise that her training officer was in the same boat as her. It had to be hard for Iris, having to set aside her detective mindset to instead train a rookie police officer.

Lucy walks into the break room and frowns at the sight of her best friend staring deeply into her cup of coffee as if it would be able to solve all of her problems like a crystal ball. "Hey," she says. "Uh, do you have a second?"

Maddie shakes her head slightly to snap herself out of her thoughts and nods to the empty chair beside her. "What's up?" she questions. Her brows draw together when she notices the concern on Lucy's face. "What did Bradford do?"

"I-" Lucy's eyes drop to the table. "I'm worried about him."

"And I'm out."

Lucy's eyes widen when Madeline abruptly stands up from her chair. "No, Mads," she pleads. "Wait, come on." With a stubborn huff, the woman in mention returns to her seat. "It's just..." She presses her lips together in a moment of hesitation. "He instigated a fight with a biker, wouldn't let me call for backup, could have gotten both of us killed."

Over the course of the influx of information, Maddie's facial expression hadn't changed at all. However, inside, she feels something burning within the depths of her stomach. Her high from winning an ego battle against Tim Bradford has well and truly disappeared by now.

Lucy takes her silence as a cue to continue. "I think he's spinning out," she says quietly. "Trying to prove himself. And he got hit with a lot of personal stuff on top of it, too, and he's not handling it well."

"Well, I would say that's his problem, but because it's his problem, he's made it your problem," she sighs. Maddie gnaws on her lip for a few moments, frowning at how deflated her friend is. "I mean, have you thought about reporting it?"

Lucy closes her eyes. "Yeah," she admits. "But he's my TO. I'm not gonna narc on him."

"If you don't want to, I will."

A huff of laughter escapes Lucy's lips. "Yeah, I know," she murmurs.

"Well, Chen..." Maddie pats the woman's arm as she stands up from the table. "You're just gonna have to resort to your favourite option." Lucy arches a brow in question. "Talking. Just talk to him."

Lucy throws her head back with a groan. "It's not gonna go well."

Maddie snorts. "Of course it's not," she says. She rolls her eyes at the exasperated look her friend gives her. "But he intentionally put you in a dangerous situation that could've had pretty shitty consequences. So, it's either you or I narc on him, or you give him a good ol' fashioned therapy sesh." Lucy pulls her lip between her teeth. "You got this."

⋆。 ﾟ☾。 ⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆

By six o'clock in the evening, Maddie was sort of satisfied with her day. She had picked up a low-level drug dealer after lunch, Lucy had taken her advice and talked to Bradford, and she hadn't been shot. Yet. Hopefully never.

No one on patrol had managed to catch a glimpse of the two runaway zombies, so right now everyone was relying on the two in custody to flip. Maddie had enthusiastically asked Officer Delgado to let her in the interrogation room, something that Iris had seriously considered because her rookie was sometimes, well, terrifying.

It had been Wade Grey who had immediately dismissed the notion.

Taking a long sip of her terrible coffee, Maddie closes her eyes as she lets the bitter taste linger on her tongue. She's so tired that she doesn't even care that it's terrible.

"Officer West, do you have a Plan B?" Maddie turns around to see Lopez and Jackson walk into the break room. "Because your brother does not."

Jackson rolls his eyes as he gratefully takes a cup from Maddie. "I don't need a Plan B," he says. Now it's Angela's turn to roll her eyes. He turns around and snatches the pamphlet from his TO's hand. "And if I did, it wouldn't be from some pamphlet you grabbed off the community board."

"How do you think I got the idea for the LAPD?" Angela retorts.

"Ooh," Maddie says curiously. Jackson huffs a sigh when she takes the papers from him. "Clown college?" Angela smiles. "You know what, maybe that is my Plan B."

"You would make a terrifying clown," Iris speaks up from the table.

With a grimace, Jackson nods. "Yeah, you really would," he agrees.

Maddie grabs the coffee cup from his hand and dumps it in the bin. "Nobody asked you," she counters, her voice sickly sweet. Jackson gives her a mocking smile.

Angela folds her arms as she leans back against the counter, her head tilting as she studies Madeline. "So you don't have a Plan B," she concludes. She tuts and shakes her head in disappointment. "Wow, the apple does not fall far from the tree."

"My Officer West doesn't need a Plan B," Delgado chimes into the conversation. Maddie appreciatively waves a hand toward her. "Hands down the best rookie I've ever had."

Angela snorts. "She's the only rookie you've ever had."

"You trying to make a point here, Lopez?"

Sergeant Grey pokes his head into the room, swiftly interrupting the impending bickering. "Lopez, Delgado, Wests, the zombie robbers just flipped on their partners," he informs them. "SWAT's hitting the house. We're providing tactical support. Meet in the bullpen in five."

Brief glances are shared and coffee cups are abandoned before the small group follow the hurrying sea of blue making their way to the heart of the station. Joined with the usual members of patrol, the thick black vests belonging to the SWAT unit are positioned at the front of the group in the bullpen.

Captain Anderson stands before the whiteboard marked with a map of Mid-Wilshire, and aerial photographs of the house where the remaining suspects are reportedly located. 

"All right, let's get started," she announces, instantly commanding the attention of the room. "Our targets are Steve Bower, Kai De Vera. Bit of an odd couple. Bower's known for at least six hard-core Two-Elevens, a lot of collateral damage in his wake. De Vera did two tours as a door gunner on a Black Hawk, was under the radar till she hooked up with Bower about a year ago."

Madeline nods to John in thanks as she takes the rap sheets from him, eyes running across it as she quickly takes in the information. "Damn," she murmurs under her breath.

"Remember," Anderson continues. "If anything, she's far more dangerous than he is." She turns to the man stood behind her, wearing a matching vest to the rest of SWAT. "Sergeant Laubacher will be giving you the briefing. He's in charge of tonight's operation, so listen up."

"Thank you, Captain," he nods to her. "Targets are at a house in the hills over the Sunset Strip. Ingress is limited, so we'll be coming in hot. Team one will be primary entry, deploying flash bangs and breaching tools. Team two – break and rake the back glass door. Tactical support – you're outer perimeter. Sergeant Grey has your positions. We'll go through detailed assignments on the drive in. My team, let's go."

"Get to it," Captain Anderson calls out.

As the SWAT team disperse, Grey moves to be in front of the group of patrol officers. "All right. See, we could do this whole thing in five minutes without flash bangs and BearCats, but SWAT has us on guard duty, so," he points to Lopez, Bishop, and Delgado, "make sure they take it seriously." Maddie almost rolls her eyes. As if she wouldn't take this seriously. "I don't want to be embarrassed at the next Special Ops picnic."

"Yes, sir," Angela confirms.

"We won't let you down, Sergeant," Jackson adds. Grey pauses and turns to look over his shoulder, gaze lingering on Jackson before walking off.

Madeline glances back to her brother, watching the way his confident demeanour falters ever so slightly, almost imperceptible to the human eye. "You good?" she asks him quietly.

Jackson curtly nods. "You?" She nods. "We got this." They share a small smile as they bump fists before jogging after their training officers.

Night has well and truly fallen over Los Angeles, the sky a blanket of darkness with the occasional star glowing faintly in the distance of the polluted air. Growing up with flashing blue and red lights, Madeline swears that those two colours have tainted her vision permanently, like looking through rose-coloured glasses.

As the SWAT vehicles rare on ahead down the street, three cruisers abruptly screech to stops on the forked road, blocking off any potential exits their suspects might take on escape.

Opening her passenger door, Maddie quickly inhales a deep breath of the fresh air. Already, her skin is prickled with goosebumps, adrenaline rushing through her veins, an accustomed feeling that never fails to take her breath away. She walks in step with Officer Delgado, meeting John, Talia, Angela, and Jackson in the middle.

"Sucks we have to be down here," John says, his line of sight focused on the SWAT teams disappearing in the distance.

"Yeah," Bishop nods. "Well, get used to it. Patrol is lowest on the totem pole when it comes to operations like this."

"And it's not that bad," Iris adds. She spots the pointed looks her fellow TOs are giving her. "Okay, yeah, it is that bad."

Jackson rolls his eyes at their lack of eagerness. "Perimeter watch is a necessary part of police work," he speaks up. "It's nothing to look down on." Angela slowly turns her head to look at him.

Maddie shrugs in agreement. "You never know what could happen," she says. "We might get to face them head-on instead. Everything's important."

Talia's brows raise in disbelief. "Are they for real?" she asks Iris and Angela.

Both women nod. "Oh yes," Delgado confirms.

"Neither of them have Plan Bs, though," Angela adds with a smirk.

"What?" Officer Bishop retorts in surprise. "Well, that's just crazy."

The West siblings share an exasperated look with each other. Of course they don't have Plan Bs. This has been their only option for as long as they could remember. There won't be a chance where they have to go down the road of Plan B.

Angela's eyes snap over to land on John who sports a small, amused smile as he listens to them. "Officer Nolan," she begins. "This is your Plan B, right?"

John purses his lips for a split-second. "Uh, more like Plan D," he corrects. "First it was astronaut," Maddie stifles a laugh, "then law school, then construction, then this. If this doesn't work out, I'm thinking beauty school."

That's when the rapid popping of gunfire rings through the air. Whilst Maddie doesn't flinch from the sounds, her head snaps over to Jackson, anticipating his reaction. Her brother has his eyes screwed shut as he tries to catch his breath and regain his composure.

"Should we go up there?" John questions their superior officers.

"No," Iris denies with a shake of her head. She glances to her rookie. "But we should spread out and cover the perimeter." She jerks her head to the side, indicating for Madeline to follow her.

And she does, not before casting another worried glance back to Jackson. As the two women walk down the street with their hands gripping their guns, their eyes dart around in the shadows, waiting for something sinister to jump out.

Their radios crackle to life as SWAT gives them updates. "Shots fired. Shots fired. Suspects at large." Maddie's eyes squint as her fingers curl tighter around the grip of her firearm, the feeling of the cool metal against her skin almost a comfort.

Both herself and Iris tense when they hear gunfire again, this time different than the last. There's return fire. "Let's go, Boot," Iris orders. They venture further down the dark street, edging closer to the bullets. That's their job after all; to run toward the gunfire, not away.

However, as Maddie lengthens her strides, a flash of coral orange appears in her peripheral vision. It's bright enough for her to stop. The stolen car was orange. "Delgado," she calls out quietly. With a frown of confusion, Iris turns around, her frown deepening when Maddie gestures to the left of them.

The two officers press their backs to the stone wall of the garage. "West, what the hell is this?" she snaps impatiently.

"Just look," Madeline hisses back to her. She watches Iris move past her to get closer to the garage door, then sees her eyes widen with recognition as she returns to her post. "That's the car, isn't it?"

Delgado quickly nods her head. "Yeah," she confirms lowly. "Yeah, that's it. Good find, Boot."

"What do we do? Judy's a felon, we can't just walk past this."

Iris closes her eyes as she goes over the different options inside her head. Instead of replying to her rookie, she grabs her radio. "Seven-Adam-Eleven to Seven-Lincoln-Twenty."

"Go."

"We've found Judy," Officer Delgado speaks quietly, turning the volume of her radio down and gesturing Maddie to do the same. They both fall completely silent as they hear the faint voice of Doug Judy behind the cracked garage door. "What do you want us to do?"

Just as she finishes speaking, Talia Bishop's voice rings out. "Seven-Adam-Fifteen in pursuit of armed-robbery suspects, heading south towards Franklin."

"Okay, go get him," Wade Grey orders. Madeline tries to hide the smile spreading across her face. Iris notices and rolls her eyes in amusement. "Call it in."

After receiving a nod of confirmation, Maddie inhales a deep breath. "Seven-Adam-Eleven, requesting additional units at Twenty-Three-Two-Four Thrasher Avenue, confirmed location of Doug Judy. Code Three."

"Okay, we're gonna flush him out," Iris instructs her quietly. "Make yourself known at the side door, he'll come out through here. Got it, Boot?" She curtly nods. "Do not screw this up."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Maddie replies. Delgado gives her a small smile. With her gun still gripped tightly in hand, she quickly moves past the garage roller door and positions herself outside the side door to the small building. "This is the LAPD. Step out of the building with your hands on your head."

"Hot damn," Doug yells. Somehow, Maddie can picture his smile in her head. "I did not see this coming! Y'all were in the area or somethin'?"

"Step out of the building," she repeats herself firmly. "Hands on your head, interlock your fingers."

"You single, Maddie?" he calls out to her. Her eyes narrow. "Info card you left me. See, I could be into the whole cop-criminal dynamic. I've got some buddies, but that's just friendships. You're hot. Could be fun."

She grits her teeth together, ignoring the announcement over the radio that backup is on the way. "Yeah, I could be into that," she responds. She takes one hand off her gun and grips the handle to the door. "You know anywhere close with good rosé?"

When she opens the door, Doug Judy is smiling – just as expected – and his hands are not raised. "You know what?" He lets out a laugh. "You almost got me, I'm that attracted to you."

"Hands up," Maddie orders lowly. "Now."

"Yeah, see, while that does sound appealing, this baby here needs to be delivered."

Madeline almost smiles when she hears the voice of her TO. "Give it up, Judy," Iris Delgado yells. The faint sounds of sirens come into earshot. "You're surrounded. Come out with your hands up."

Judy kisses his teeth as he begins to slowly raise his hands into the air. "You're good," he admits. Maddie takes a step closer to him. "Better than the NYPD, but don't tell them I said that."

"I'll guard it with my life," Madeline replies sarcastically. "Interlock your fingers." Her demeanour falters when she swears she hears helicopter blades whirring above them. And as realisation and dread sets in with her, Judy's smile stretches wider. "On your knees right now."

As Doug walks backward, Maddie follows him, her gun unwavering in the air. "Aw, don't say that," he frowns. "It's giving me ideas." Before she can comprehend it, Judy grabs a nearby pizza box and throws it at her. "Pizza box attack!"

Maddie quickly bats it away and tears off after him, dodging the flaming orange Pontiac and out the second door they hadn't realised was there. "He's going to the roof," she yells to Iris.

When Madeline reaches the final step up onto the roof of the garage, Iris is two behind her. Both women falter when they lock eyes on the helicopter opposite them. Doug Judy stands underneath the blades, wind whipping his clothes around, and waves at them with a huge, shit-eating grin.

"Fuck," Iris hisses under her breath. "Stand down, Boot." With wide eyes of incredulity, Maddie follows the instruction, lowering her gun and looking to her superior officer. "Dispatch, we have an unmarked airship leaving our location. Code 2."

"Copy that."

Maddie raises a hand to shield her face as the helicopter raises into the air. For once, she's glad there's protocol about tightly tying her hair back. Disappointment and guilt settles in as she forces herself to look away from the face of Judy waving at them from the window.

Officer Delgado holsters her weapon and breathes out a sigh, stopping short when she catches Maddie's expression. "Hey, you did everything you could," she reassures. "It's on me, we should've canvassed the property properly."

Madeline weakly nods her head, but nothing about Iris's words make her feel better. Judy was directly opposite her. She had the power to make him stop, to listen and follow her orders.

"West, he was never going to give up," Iris says. At this, Maddie meets her eyes. "He was never going to turn himself in. Guys like that have a dozen fail-safe plans. He might've been surprised by us, but he knew we would've found him."

"Yeah," she says quietly. "Yeah, no, you're right."

"Of course I'm right."

"Okay, shut up."

The ride back to the station was silent. Iris Delgado didn't know what else to say. She had been in Maddie's position countless times, so she knew that nobody could tell her anything that would make that guilt disappear. Eventually, it just would.

It had been an eventful hour. John had been held up at gunpoint, Lucy had climbed up on top of a container truck , and both suspects were successfully in custody. "Officer West." Maddie turns to find Captain Anderson approaching herself and Delgado. "I heard what happened."

She closes her eyes and dips her head. "I'm sorry, ma'am. It's my fault-"

"Don't do that," the woman scolds her gently. "I watched your bodycam footage; you did everything right. Judy's a slippery guy, we just aren't the people that are gonna get him."

A small smile appears on Madeline's face. "Thank you, ma'am."

Iris scoffs playfully as the captain walks off. "Oh, so you'll listen to her," she points out. Maddie rolls her eyes. "I'm kidding, Boot. She's right, though. The universe is a cruel and vexing puzzle. But you never know, maybe this is just a right place, wrong time scenario."

Maddie arches a brow. "What, you mean that we won't be the ones to get him today, but we might in the future?"

Delgado shrugs. "You never know," she repeats herself. "Good job today, Boot. You did well."

⋆。 ﾟ☾。 ⋆。 ﾟ✩。 ⋆

The beach was one of Maddie's favourite places in the entire world. It made all her problems seem infinitesimal. How could you be angry about a nation-wide fugitive escaping the clutches of your hands when you had waves crashing in your ears? Leaning back on her hands, she closes her eyes and inhales a deep breath of salty air.

"You look so zen right now," Jackson observes. He yelps when his sister blindly tosses a beer can at him. Lucy breaks into giggles. "Okay, got it, ruining the zen."

"I'm officially breaking the zen," John declares. With a groan of frustration, Madeline opens her eyes to glare at him. "Now I'm starting to regret it..." His brows raise questioningly as he holds a beer out to her. "Peace offering?"

She happily takes the alcohol with a smile. "Forgiven," she says. John breathes out a sigh of relief. Maddie lets her gaze settle on the ocean in the distance. The water appears almost black with only the light of the moon above to prove it actually exists. Lucy takes a sip of her beer and lets her head rest on Maddie's shoulder, something her friend reciprocates by resting her own head on Lucy's.

"So, what happened to your Plan B?" John asks Jackson curiously.

The younger West smiles. "Captain says I don't need one."

"Yes," Madeline exclaims. John grins at the satisfaction that etches onto her face. "See? I told you!"

"But," Jackson continues, holding a single finger up. "I was thinking... it might not be a bad idea for me to find a hobby, something outside of the job I can look forward to."

"Oh, hey, you can come to my boxing gym," Maddie suggests with an excited smile.

Jackson stares at her. "Dude, you realise how violent you get at that, right?" She stares back at him. John chuckles.

Lucy hums in thought. "What about, uh, pole dancing?" she proposes seriously.

Everyone breaks into laughter this time. "Okay, clearly, I shouldn't have brought you into the circle of trust," Jackson scolds lightly with a grin. John snickers.

Her mouth gapes open. "What?" she retorts with a laugh.

"You know," Jackson nudges the oldest of the group. "You were, uh, pretty cavalier earlier about not making it as a cop." Maddie glances over to them, remembering the conversation they had shared with their TOs a few hours earlier. "Is that how you really feel?"

John blinks, silent for a moment as he takes the question in. "I'm seeing this thing through no matter what," he replies. "No matter what obstacles are thrown in my way."

A comfortable silence falls upon them after that. Maddie frowns as she watches Jackson adjust himself, his brows drawn together in what she could say is nervousness. "You know," he begins quietly, softly. "One out of three rookies washes out during their first year. And there's four of us. Odds are at least one of us isn't gonna make it."

Madeline takes a sip of her beer. "Well, maybe we have a thing for beating the odds," she replies thoughtfully. Beside her, Lucy tilts her head to look up at her. "Albeit, I will admit, these are some really shitty odds."

"No, screw the odds," John agrees. Jackson sighs. They're just as stubborn as each other. "If I believed in odds... I wouldn't even be here."

"You know what? We're all gonna make it," Lucy says determinedly. It's then that the atmosphere shifts amongst them. "Because we're gonna have each other's backs no matter what." Maddie softly smiles at her. "Deal?"

They all raise their beers and nod. "Deal," Jackson agrees.

"Yeah," John smiles. "Deal."

After clinking their cans, Madeline West nods. "Deal," she says. Fuck the statistics. They all had to make it, no matter what.

"Okay," Jackson declares. "I'm going on a night run. Who's with me?"

Maddie's eyes widen as he jumps up. "Ooh, good idea," she agrees. She grabs his outstretched hand and lets him pull herself off the sand. The brother and sister begin walking backward, waiting a second to see the remaining pairs' answers. "John's already backed out, just look at his face."

"No, we're right behind you," Lucy calls back.

Jogging across to the path, Maddie glances briefly to her brother. "First to the bikes?" she voices the challenge.

Determination sets into Jackson's face, a smirk curling at his lips as he picks up his pace. "You're on."

She scoffs in disbelief as he sprints ahead of her. "You dick," she yells in protest. "I didn't say go! Jackson!"

𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴!! 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘭𝘺𝘯 99 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩

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