Sergeant Grey, and Captain Anderson summoned the squad, briefing them on the Zombie robbers. They were assigned to man the perimeter, while SWAT handled the manhunt.
As chaos would have it, shots were fired at Bishop and Nolan, and Bradford and Ember were inbound to assist. The suspects split up, and Ember grabs the car radio.
"7-Adam-19, we'll take Bower, you take her."
As they followed him, they pulled up behind a truck parked into the alley, and got out of the car.
"Flashlights on, Boot. Eyes right, I'll take left."
Bower, feeling trapped, starts shooting at them, and Bradford calls for backup and airship.
"He's trapped. If I can go over this trailer, I'll come up on top of him." Ember offered.
"And what makes you think I'll let you go?" Bradford replied with a bite. Still bitter about how his day is going.
"Improvisation is a useful tool for a rookie to learn." What Ember really wanted to say was, You're clearly still injured, and I'm not about to deal with a trigger happy suspect and a grumpy T.O.
Bradford narrowed his eyes at her, as though trying to decipher whatever underlying intention his rookie had. Figuring it was the best option they had, he wanted to play it out like it was his idea to begin with, just to irk her.
"Looks like you can learn after all. You passed today's test. Get your ass up there."
"Sir, yes sir." Ember mock salutes him and stealthy climbs up on the truck cab. She gets her eyes on the suspect.
"Police! Drop your weapon! Do it now and get down on your stomach!" The suspects complied and Bradford came around the side of the truck to cuff him. He looks up to see his rookie smiling at him.
"What do you want, an applause? Get down here." Successfully deflating Ember's mood. She just knew this day wasn't going to end well.
________________________
Ember texted her godmothers, letting them know she was about to leave. She's stopped by Anderson on the staircase.
"Great work out there, Officer Ross." Anderson smiled at her, clearly hearing how it went down.
"Thank you, Captain, but it was teamwork. Couldn't have done it without Officer Bradford's support."
"Versatile fighting skills and humbleness. You could teach some of these boys a thing or two." They laughed and Ember was about to leave, but Lopez and West stopped them.
"Let's ask Ross and Captain."
"Ask us what?" Anderson asked.
"What was your Plan B?"
"Actually this is my Plan B. Plan A was to be a recitalist." Everyone looked at Ember weirdly.
"Why's everyone looking at me like I'm crazy?" Ember started at the three.
"How does one go from Recitalist to Cop?" West asked incredulously.
"Life happens." She shrugged like it was no big deal, "How about you, Captain?"
"I didn't have one. I was all-in. Nothing was going to stop me from being a cop. Turned out pretty well."
"I agree, Captain." West said with a big smile.
"Whatever," Lopez realised she'd never win.
Ember neared in towards West and whispered, "Kiss-ass," which earned her a friendly punch to the shoulder.
_________________________________________________
I'm home." Ember yelled as she removed her jacket and headed to the kitchen.
"Is that my baby girl?" Marina beamed and engulfed Ember in a bear hug.
"Hey Ma, what's for dinner?"
"Salmon and roasted vegetables." Marina said, doing a little dance while opening the oven.
"And I've got the good stuff." Reggie walks in with a bottle of Chardonnay.
"This is why you're my favourite parent." Ember grabs the bottle and pours them all a glass.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Marina muttered while taking a sip.
"I really missed you both, though. How're things here?" Ember smiled at her mothers.
"Oh you know. Trying to fill the void you left in our hearts." Marina answered dramatically.
"And you wonder why you're her least favourite parent, you smother her. Em, hon, grab the plates and set the table while Marina and I bring the food." Reggie dismisses Ember.
She does what she's told, and soon enough, the three ladies were enjoying a delicious meal.
"So...tell us everything. How is work?" Marina, clearly on the verge of being drunk, acting like a high school gossip girl.
"It's been interesting. Definitely different from the academy, but I love it." Ember smiled as she thought of her work.
"I expected as much. Back in the army it was similar. No two days alike. Just gotta be able to adapt."
"Exactly." Ember was relieved that she had someone who understood what she was going through.
"I don't care about the workload. I wanna know about the man you're riding, Officer Bradie." Marina giggled, swaying in her seat.
"Nice to know how much you care for our child's welfare." Reggie rolled her eyes.
"Firstly, it's Bradford." Ember started explaining, before Marina interjected.
"That's what I said, Officer Bedford."
"Never mind. Secondly, he's not the man I ride, he's the man I ride with, emphasis on with." Ember said, trying to get her point across with heat rising up her neck and face, which didn't work, as Marina thought she was blushing and started shrilling.
"Oh My Norns, you love him!" Marina stands up and pulls the sitting Ember towards her chest and holds her there, while repeating what she said like a mantra.
"Marina, you're suffocating the child." Reggie said, looking onto the scene like this wasn't the first time happening. Ember gasped, trying to inhale as much air as possible, and also gather herself from the chaotic situation that was clearly getting out of hand.
"I don't love the bastard. He's a rude, stubborn, egotistical, pompous, incorrigible piece of work, and even if he wasn't all that, I still wouldn't go as far as to say I love him. I barely know him!"
"Then let's remedy that. In a few weeks, I'll host a dinner party. You can invite your friends from the academy, and casually invite Officer Bard as well." Marina shrugged, believing her plan to be fool proof.
"Absolutely not." Ember replied with certainty. "I am not integrating my work life with my personal one. Especially if it involves Officer Bard."
"Can you feel the love tonight?" Marina started singing, grabbing the bottle of wine and waltzing to the living room, Ember close behind trying to get her point across.
"Just like old times." Reggie chuckled.
_________________________________________
Ember wakes up to the smell of coffee. She gets up from her couch, her rookie handbook falling off her, and sees Jackson pouring her a large cup, bringing it to her.
"You're a godsend." Ember's voice cracked, breathing in the aroma and taking a sip.
"Yeah, figured I'd make it before waking up the kraken. Didn't want to risk becoming the next Lucy." They both laughed, remembering the time back at the academy, where Lucy tried to wake up Ember on their free day, and sported a black eye for a week.
"Mhmm, we should probably start getting ready." The two fall into a routine like many times before. They finished up and headed out. As they arrived at the station, they saw Nolan and Chen whispering to one another.
"You think they'd want to be more inconspicuous." Jackson nodded towards them.
"I'm not even surprised you know about them."
"They're not exactly doing a good job when you know what to look for." They rush to their respective locker rooms and change into their uniforms.
"Should we talk to them?" Jackson asked to which Ember shook her head.
"They're in a bubble. You mess with that, they'll get defensive. Plus, should they get serious. I'm sure they'll tell us when they're ready." Ember waves to get Chen's attention and points to the briefing room, and the four of them walk there. Grey walks in and everyone gets seated.
"Today's a special day for our rookies, cause today we switched things up. That's right. Everybody gets a new training officer. Nolan, you're with Officer Lopez. Ross, you're riding with Officer Reed. West, you're with Officer Bradford, and Chen, you'll be with Officer Bishop." Grey goes on to explain how to go about these new assignments and they're all dismissed.
The rookies go to assemble their gear, and start talking amongst each other.
"So what's Lopez like? Nolan started.
"I'm not giving you a head start." Jackson laughed then leaned towards Ember, "Tim's gonna eat me alive, isn't he?"
"Bradford? Never, he's a teddy bear. Besides, you're a rock star, a legacy who excelled at the academy. If the man could create a cop in a lab, the result would be you." She pats his shoulder and continues gearing up.
"Unless he's gonna set out to dominate you." Nolan added.
"Or that could happen." Ember laughed at Jackson's facial expression. As the rookies continued quizzing each other to get more info, their T.O.s were watching.
"Is the kid really a rock star?" Bradford asked.
"Jackson? Most prepared rookie I've ever had."
"Screw prep. How is he on the streets?"
"So far, so good." Lopez couldn't look her friend in the eye while saying this, so she changed the subject.
"How's Nolan?"
Bishop sighed, "He's a talker."
"Well I for one am glad to have gotten paired with Ross. I wanna know more about that beautiful machinery she rides." Reed was all smiles.
"The rookies are supposed to find out something about us, not the other way around." Bradford frowned at his friend's excitement of being with his rookie.
"There's no need to be edgy. I promise I won't break her. That's your job after all." Reed smacked Bradford's back while laughing.
Bishop and Lopez go off with their rookies. Ember walks towards Bradford and Reed.
"The shop's ready, sir." She nods to Reed.
"Great." He grinned at her, but that changed to a smirk when he saw the look on Bradford's face.
"Bradford, be nice. Say goodbye to your rookie." Reed teased. Ember, not knowing what to do in such an embarrassing situation, simply looked slightly down.
"I see no need for that. Besides, we'll be back together in no time." Bradford stared at her, smirking when he saw her face heating up.
"Geez, you make it sound like I'm taking your girlfriend away from you. Cool down on the sexual innuendos." Reed jested and went to his car.
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Bradford yelled. Ember wanted nothing more than the ground to swallow her, especially when she looked up and saw Bradford glaring at her like she was the cause of all this. Before she could get a word out, he calls out to Jackson and walks off.
"Let's go, Boot."