For the next two weeks, Riley avoided Maddox as much as possible. She volunteered for all of the worst shifts- graveyard shifts, speed traps, crowd control, you name it - anything to avoid being in a confined space with her training officer.

Riley sat on the edge of her desk, arms crossed, as the sergeant rattled off the assignments for the day. The team was deep into a murder investigation, and while most officers were clamoring for a chance to take on the more high-profile tasks, her eyes lit up at a small detail the sergeant mentioned: bags of garbage taken from the scene, waiting to be sifted through for evidence. She immediately raised her hand.

"I'll take the garbage detail," she said quickly, cutting through the murmur of the room.

The sergeant paused mid-sentence, glancing at her with a confused expression. "You want the garbage?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly unsure why anyone would volunteer for such an unglamorous job.

"Yeah, why not?" Riley shrugged, trying to keep her tone casual, though she could feel Luke's eyes burning into the side of her face from across the room. She didn't look at him, didn't need to see his expression to know exactly what he was thinking.

The sergeant blinked, then shrugged. "Alright, Torres. Have at it. Tim," he said, pointing at another rookie sitting nearby, "you're with her."

Tim let out an audible groan. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," the sergeant replied with a smirk before turning his attention back to the group.

As the officers filed out of the room, Riley stood and headed toward the conference room where the garbage bags were stashed. She could feel Luke closing the distance behind her, his heavy footsteps unmistakable. Sure enough, just as she turned the corner, his voice came from behind her.

"Riley," Luke said, his voice low and tense.

She didn't stop walking, didn't spare him a glance. "I'm busy, Maddox."

"Sorting through garbage?" he shot back. "You can't keep avoiding me."

Riley turned slightly, just enough to give him a hard look. "I'm not avoiding you. I'm doing my job. Some of us have work to do."

Luke stepped closer, his jaw tight. "This is about more than just work, and you know it."

Her chest tightened at the accusation, but she forced herself to stay calm, pushing down the simmering frustration she'd been carrying for days. "Not everything is about you, Luke," she said coldly before turning her back on him and pushing through the door to the conference room.

Tim was already there, eyeing the bags of garbage piled on the table with a look of pure dread. "I can't believe we got stuck with this," he muttered, grabbing a pair of latex gloves from the box on the table.

Riley ignored him for a moment, still fuming from her run-in with Luke. She pulled on her own gloves, forcing herself to focus on the task in front of her. But as she ripped open the first bag, Tim spoke up again.

"So, you and Maddox," he began, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

Riley narrowed her eyes at him. "What about me and Maddox?"

Tim shrugged, picking through the trash with obvious reluctance. "It's just... everyone's noticed you've been avoiding him. And I don't mean just, like, a little. You're actively ducking shifts with him. People are starting to talk."

Riley felt a surge of irritation but kept her eyes on the garbage in front of her. "There's nothing going on. I just don't need him hovering over me all the time. He doesn't trust me to handle anything on my own."

Tim gave her a sideways glance, clearly skeptical. "Doesn't trust you, or... doesn't trust himself around you?"

Riley's hands froze for a moment, but she quickly shook her head, refusing to let Tim plant any seeds of doubt. "There's nothing like that," she said firmly, but her voice held an edge. "He's treating me like a rookie who needs babysitting. I'm just giving him some space to cool off." She shook her head. "No. Ew. Vomit."

To further emphasize her point, she imitated a horrible retching sound.

Tim raised an eyebrow, chuckling, tossing a crumpled receipt into the trash pile. "And that's why you volunteered to dig through garbage? To avoid him?"

Riley sighed, rolling her shoulders to ease the tension that had built up there. "Look, Luke is a control freak. He thinks I'm going to get myself hurt or screw up, and it's driving me nuts. I don't need him breathing down my neck every five minutes."

Tim snorted. "He's probably just trying to make you into a good cop. And I'm sure he doesn't want you to get hurt?"

"Let's just get through this," she muttered, turning her attention back to the trash pile. But even as she sifted through the mess, she couldn't shake the feeling that Tim might be right.

__________________________________________________________________

The sun hung high over the city, casting a hazy glow across the streets as Riley and Julie made their way through the bustling downtown area. It was mid-afternoon, and the foot patrol was more a formality than anything dangerous. Riley had volunteered for it, again trying to avoid anything that would keep her stuck in close quarters with Luke. It had been a whole three weeks since the background-check incident, and she had only had a couple of run-ins with him. Plus, she didn't mind walking, especially in good company.

Julie, walking beside her, wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead. "I swear, this uniform wasn't designed for summer."

Riley chuckled, adjusting her own collar. "Tell me about it. Whoever made these thought we'd all be in air conditioning all day. Thank god it's Friday."

As they passed by a lemonade stand, a kid no older than ten waved enthusiastically at them. "Lemonade! Only 50 cents!"

Riley glanced at Julie, who shrugged. "Why not?"

They made their way over, digging into their pockets for change as the kid beamed. He poured the lemonade with all the seriousness of a seasoned professional.

"Thank you, officers!" the kid chirped, handing them their cups.

"Stay out of trouble, kid," Riley teased with a grin.

As they continued walking, sipping the cool lemonade, Julie glanced sideways at Riley. "So, Riley," she began, leaning in like she was about to share a big secret, "have you been trying to date anyone while juggling all of this craziness?"

Riley sputtered, nearly choking on her lemonade. "Dating? Who has time for that?"

Julie laughed nonchalantly. "I feel you. But I've been thinking about it. You know, I kinda have a thing for uniforms."

Riley wiggled her eyebrows, intrigued. "Oh yeah? You got your eye on someone at the station?"

Julie grinned mischievously. "Oh, no. Dating a coworker seems like a recipe for disaster. Who knows? I might have a thing for firefighters."

Riley burst out laughing. "A firefighter? The force will disown you! Don't you know we have a rivalry with those guys? Cops versus firefighters? You'd never hear the end of it."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that serious."

Riley finished her lemonade and chucked it into a nearby garbage bin. She wiped her lip with the back of her hand, eyes wide. "I don't know about that."

Julie chucked. "Okay, so it definitely is that serious. I heard that once, John and Maddox snuck into the fire station and replaced every single poster with one of those 'sexy christmas cop' calendars. Of them."

Riley stopped short. "Luke Maddox did a sexy cop christmas calendar?" she asked, incredulous. "John did a sexy cop christmas calendar? John is, like, sixty years old. Really?"

Julie nodded.

"Like, a shirtless photo, laying on the hood of a cruiser, sexy cop christmas calendar? Wearing a Santa hat?"

Julie nodded again, barely containing her amusement. "I heard Maddox did it in Christmas boxers too." She sighed. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to dig up any evidence."

Riley shook her head and nudged Julie with her elbow. "Well, there's always paramedics, right? Or maybe a doctor-"

Before Julie could reply, a piercing scream echoed from an alley up ahead. Both of them snapped to attention, adrenaline kicking in.

"Help! Someone help me!" a woman's voice cried out.

Without a second thought, Julie threw the remainder of her lemonade over her shoulder and sprinted toward the sound, Riley following closely behind. As they rounded the corner, they saw a man yanking a purse from an older woman, who was desperately clutching onto it.

"Hey!" Riley shouted. The man's head snapped up, and he made a break for it.

"Stay with her!" Riley yelled to Julie as she took off in pursuit of the mugger.

She bolted down the street, her boots pounding against the pavement, weaving through startled pedestrians. The mugger was fast, but Riley was faster. Every step brought her closer until she was right on his heels. With a burst of energy, she launched herself forward, tackling him to the ground.

The guy struggled, but Riley had already pinned his arm behind his back.

"You," Riley panted, out of breath, "Are under arrest." She reached back and grabbed her cuffs. The man cursed under his breath, but didn't put up much of a fight after that.

By the time she hauled him back to his feet, Julie had the woman calmed down and was taking her statement. As Riley began to march the perp back to the station for booking, she turned back to Julie with a raised eyebrow.

"Why... Did you throw your lemonade like that?" The women looked at each other seriously for a moment, and then both burst into laughter.

_________________________________________________________

Back at the station, Riley was in the middle of booking the guy when Luke appeared seemingly out of nowhere. His eyes scanned her, then landed on the suspect. "He give you any trouble?"

Riley shook her head. "Nope. Just a runner. I got him cuffed without any issues."

Luke folded his arms, leaning against the wall, his expression unreadable. "How close was Julie when you caught up to him?"

"Close enough," Riley muttered, finishing up the paperwork.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "But far enough that he could've turned on you and she wouldn't have been able to help, right? Did you consider that?"

Riley paused, sensing the familiar tension building. "I had it under control."

"You were running blind," he continued, his voice hard. "What if he had a knife? A weapon?"

Riley's grip tightened on the pen. "But he didn't."

"That's not the point." Luke's voice was firm, demanding. "You shouldn't have chased him alone. You didn't call for backup, you didn't have a visual on the suspect's hands—"

"I didn't need backup!" she snapped, cutting him off. "It was a simple mugging. I handled it."

"Simple?" Luke scoffed. "You think any situation is simple out there? You don't know what could've happened. You should've called it in, assessed the situation before—"

"I'm not a rookie in need of babysitting!" Riley shot back, her voice edged with frustration. "I did my job. I got the guy. No one got hurt. Leave me alone."

Without waiting for his response, she walked past him, her heart racing. But she couldn't help feeling the sting of his constant second-guessing, and how much it grated on her. She didn't need anyone's protection, especially not his.