I walk up to Charlotte's front door, knocking on it a couple of times before it swings open. After we left the hospital I got a message from Camryn saying that she'd bring Jade with her to Charlotte's place and Victoria would be there as well. Before I left I asked Haruto to pass a message to Julia that we wouldn't bring Jade over to see her but Camryn instead and that I'd call the hospital later to see how she's holding up. 

"What happened to your face?" Victoria asks incredulously when she sees me.

"If you think this looks bad, I had to cover up the other half of my face with makeup because it's currently a lovely shade of black and blue," I answer with a chuckle as I walk inside and lock the door behind me. "I don't want Jade to be more worried than she'll already be when she sees me."

"I heard you were at the hospital because of work but didn't hear anything about you" she comments as I take off my shoes and follow her inside.

"Haruto knew since he took care of this. He wasn't surprised to see me so he must have heard my name when they said an officer was injured," I tell her as we bypass the living room where Jade, Wren, and Oli are doing their homework while Jayden and Justin are playing with their toys. "Please tell me you have coffee," I call out when I see Charlotte and Camryn. The first time the four of us met up I learned Charlotte and Camryn had their own issues to deal with from the time Charlotte and Wren were kidnapped but from my standpoint right now everything seems fine between them. 

"I'm one step ahead of you," Charlotte says as she pushes a big mug of hot coffee towards me.

"You're the best," I tell her as I sit down next to Camryn at the island and wrap my hands around the mug, the heat warming them up.

"What happened to you?" Camryn questions and Charlotte also has a face of concern. I take a sip of my coffee before placing the mug back down.

"I can't go into too much detail but a coworker attacked me and Jade at my apartment a couple of days ago. Long story short, this came from arresting her today," I tell them. "I wonder if it'll leave a scar."

"You don't know how happy I was to see the both of you the next day," Camryn says, her eyebrows pulled downwards from sadness.

"Don't let her calm demeanour fool you, the other half isn't any better than what you're seeing now," Victoria says as she sits down across from us as the other two look back at me.

"My other cheek is very bruised right now and if it wasn't for freaking out the kids, I'd be icing it right now," I answer as I give them a small smile. 

"I'm glad to hear that you're okay but are you still staying at your apartment?" Charlotte questions and I shake my head.

"No, we moved in with Nash," I tell her and all three of them have smirks on their faces as they look at one another before turning back to face me.

"So things are going good for you two?" Victoria teases and I roll my eyes at her words.

"Yes Victoria, things are great between my boyfriend and me," I tell them and I look at them for a couple of seconds before putting my forehead on the island so I'm not looking at them. I'm not embarrassed but it's my first time admitting we're dating aloud and I can't say I hate the feeling passing through me.

"Jax did tell me that there was something about the two of you that seemed to change," Charlotte comments. "I guess this is what it was and you guys finally got your acts together. I didn't even know you two that well but the times I used to visit Victoria in the hospital, I'd just watch you two wondering when you'd get together."

"You guys are cute together, actually all of you and your boyfriends are cute together. I'm the only one who's left out," Camryn says with a pout and we all chuckle when she says that.

"There there, you'll find someone someday," I tell her as she looks at me with a glare. I feel a hand pulling on my pants and I look down at Justin looking up at me, a toothy smile on his face. "Well hello," I say as I lean down to pick him up and he wraps his arms around my neck hugging me. I see Jayden toddling into the kitchen and he goes straight to his mom talking a mile a minute.

"Mom, we're done with our homework, is it time to eat?" we hear Wren ask as he also comes into the kitchen with Jade and Oli behind him.

"Natalia! You're hurt," Jade exclaims when she sees me and she rushes to my side. She looks upset when she sees the bandage and I shift in my chair as I turn towards her.

"I'm okay Jade, it's just a really bad scratch," I tell her as I pull her against my side and she hugs me tightly.

"Where's Nash?" she mumbles into my sweater. 

"He's still at work, he'll probably be home by the time we're there later," I answer as she pulls back and nods her head. 

"Mom, are we having dinner now?" Wren asks again, the sole reason the three of them came here in the first place.

"Yes, it's been ready since an hour ago but I didn't want to interrupt you three while you were working," she tells him. "Take a seat while we get it ready," she tells the three of them. Jade sits on the other side of me while Wren and Oli sit on Charlotte and Victoria's side. Charlotte passes Jayden to Camryn to hold while Victoria helps her get some plates and Charlotte pulls out a homemade pizza from the oven.

"Pizza!" Oli exclaims in excitement while the rest of us chuckle. Charlotte cuts them up into slices before putting them on plates which Victoria passes out and also hands them a glass of water.  

"How much do you two want? And do you want cheese or vegetable?," Charlotte asks me and Camryn.

"Two please and one vegetable plus cheese," Camryn tells her.

"Same here," I say to her as Victoria places a small plate in front of me for Jayden. 

"Wren, could you go grab the twin's bibs? I swear they get so messy whenever they have pizza or any type of finger food," Charlotte sighs as I laugh aloud.

"Maybe they find your frustration funny," I tell her as I keep laughing. "You find it funny when your mom gets angry don't you?" I say ticking Justin as he laughs.

"Wait until you have your own kids Natalia, we'll see who's laughing then," she says with a glare as Wren hands me a bib and I tie it around Justin's neck while Camryn does the same for Jayden. Just being here with these girls and the kids, I can easily momentarily forget the events of today.

"By the way, I told Julia that we're definitely having a girl's day together once she's out of the hospital and fully healed," I tell them and Victoria nods her head in agreement. By this time Jade and the other two have gone to watch some cartoons so we can talk more freely now.

"She's opened up to me and Natalia, don't know about you two but there's also one more person," Victoria says. "Haruto," I say simultaneously with her.

"I think it's good she's also making friends with him, from the few times I met him you can get along with him easily," Charlotte comments and we all nod our heads in agreement.

"It's too early to say what's going to happen but there's nothing wrong with observing," Camryn says and Victoria looks at her with a proud look on her face, almost like a parent.

"Just a year ago you'd be poking your nose into things that didn't concern you and now look at you," Victoria says in a fake crying tone, wiping an imaginary tear off of her face while Camryn blushes.

"I told you I wouldn't mess up, can't have my first real friend hating me," Camryn says as Victoria grins.

"Oh don't worry we'll be best friends for life," Victoria says and from Camryn's expression I can tell she wants to get up and hug her but she still has a toddler in her lap eating.

"Let's become best friends too, we'll be so much better than them. Julia can join us too," I tell Charlotte as she chuckles while the other two look at us in mock offence.

"Hmph, like you could beat us two," Victoria scoffs jokingly while rolling her eyes. Charlotte and I laugh as the two explain why their bond is superior, both of us poking fun at them, the tension from today already gone from my body.

✘✘

"When do you have to go back and get these removed?" Nash questions as he carefully cleans my stitches.

"Haruto said to come back in five or six days from now," I answer as I wipe the foundation off of my face. "You planning to do this for me every night?" I ask as my eyes flicker up to look at him as he places a bandage to cover it.

"As if you'd be able to stop me or say no," he says with a light scoff before kissing my forehead and moving back so I continue with my nightly face wash routine while he washes his hands.

"Was Aurora talking when you guys were back at the station?" I ask him as I rub my face with my facial cleanser and he sits back on the edge of the bathtub watching me.

"If by talking you mean she sat there and stared at Jason for two hours straight then yeah, she talked," he says sarcastically "After two hours Jason decided to put her in a holding cell for the night and then try again tomorrow."

"Yeah, his patience would run out from that," I comment as I turn off the tap and pat dry my face and finish up my routine. "Before we go to bed I have one more file to look over, for some reason compared to the others it's the most encrypted."

"It probably means that it's the most serious one, whatever is there means that they're desperate to hide it," he comments as he follows me outside the bathroom, closing the door behind us. "Never doubted for a second that you wouldn't be able to work it out, I swear your skills are on par with Felix," he says as he wraps an arm around my shoulder and kisses my temple.

"When I first came here, the previous Chief made sure majority of my work was the same as Felix's, digital forensics but I preferred to be out in the field," I tell him as I sit down at the kitchen island he places a bottle of water and pain medications in front of me. "But when Jason took over, we compromised that I would work in the field but if I was personally interested in a case or if  they needed my skills then I could do it; the main reason why he never stopped me when I said I'd work on decoding the encryptions for this case."

"It never made sense to me back then when you didn't join us on investigations and was stuck with desk work," he says to me as he sits across from me. 

"He was a fucking sexist, he didn't believe that women should be out in the field with men and that if we wanted to work in this profession, we were better suited for desk work," I scoff as I roll my eyes and take a swig of water. "I was working with other females in our precinct to get him removed from the job or if it wasn't possible, at least change the policies. You don't know how happy I was to find out he was being arrested for working with the mafia."

"Didn't you go visit him when he was in jail?" he asks as I power up the computer. 

"Yeah, listen, I'm spiteful sometimes. When Jason took over, I went to see him and gloat that almost all the women were finally doing fieldwork now that his sexist ass was gone. His face turned so red from anger when I said I couldn't stop laughing in his face," I chuckle at the memory of my old boss. 

"Why am I not surprised to hear you did that," he says shaking his head with laughter.

"The power he kept holding over us for years was finally gone, it was closure but also a satisfaction to see whatever he was trying to do with our precinct wasn't happening anymore, I don't know if it was to make an example of us or he was showing off the position he was in," I say to him as my fingers tap away at the keys. "Though you didn't hear it from me, Jason came with me for his own personal amusement."

"Somehow I can picture that but don't worry, my lips are sealed," he says with a smirk as he turns his focus to his phone. It's silent as I work and he watches the news, my fingers pausing when there is something that catches my attention. I'm distracted again I hear footsteps coming towards the kitchen. 

"Jade, why are you up?" I ask her as I glance at the time, it's only half-past ten which means she's only slept for about two hours. 

"I can't sleep, I keep turning in bed," she says as she sits next Nash, leaning against his side and I watch as he brushes her bangs back from her face and places a hand on her forehead. It clearly shows she was tossing and turning in bed from how her hair loosened from the simple braids I helped her with the night before. Like her mom she has beautiful curls so when we first took her in I looked up how to take care of it and thank goodness Jade knows and was able to help me. Not to mention she's pretty independent in managing her own hair unless she asks me for help.

"Maybe you just need a warm drink to help you sleep, give me a couple of minutes," Nash tells her as he stands up and goes behind me to make her a drink. My lips purse in thought as I watch her facial expression, there's definitely something on her mind, maybe something she wants to ask but I don't want to put any pressure on her so I'll let her bring it up to us herself.

"Thank you Nash. What are you doing Natalia?" she asks as she looks at the laptop.

"I'm just finishing some work," I reply. My eyes are trained on her face, her eyes aren't red and there are no tear tracks on her face so I guess it's just one of those nights her thoughts are keeping her up. "What's on your mind Jade?" I ask her, my eyes moving from her face back to my work.

"I don't know, I was just thinking about school and then I tried to sleep but I couldn't," she says as she puts her head on the island and I hold back my chuckles when I see her pouting.

"Is something from school bothering you? Or someone?" I ask her and she sits up shaking her head.

"No, I was just thinking everything at school that I'm learning is getting a little boring. I get perfect scores all the time or sometimes make one or two mistakes on my homework and tests," she tells me and I look at her in surprise when she says that. I knew she loved learning but didn't know her intellect was high. Maybe I should bring it up to her mom about maybe skipping a grade so she can do more advanced learning plus test her i.q as well.

"Here you go Jade, honey and lemon tea," Nash says as he places a mug in front of her. "Be careful, it might be a little hot so wait a bit for it to cool down."

"Okay," she answers as she watches the steam curl up in the air. 

"Nash, come here for a second," I tell him before he sits back down beside Jade.

"What do you need?" he questions as he comes to stand beside, a mug of his own in his hand.

"Finally cracked the last file. This is our biggest lead yet," I say as I move the cursor to point at what I'm reading. He's quiet as he reads and I watch him choke on his tea when he realizes the significance of it.

"You've got to be kidding me," he says as he coughs and clears his throat and I sigh as I look back at the page. I wish I was because now this new information is going to bring a new set of problems.

✘✘

A/N Hello everyone! How are you all? I've been busy with school and slowly writing. In all honesty, my original plan was to write out maybe five chapters and then post all out once but then I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for so long for an update so here we are.

It was interesting writing a scene with a female group. You all know by now that the interactions with the females were either one on one or two-on-one, you get the gist. And I always found it much easier to write out a female and male friendship but the story has to progress right? I'm currently working on editing the earlier chapters so I have more correct wording and it makes more sense, so far I've reached chapter six.

But anyway, I had to leave things with a cliffhanger (sorry not sorry) Be sure to leave your thoughts of the chapter in the comments!!