Charlotte stood in front of her and Jackson's TV as she was watching the news from last night about the deadly plane crash that had happened. Charlotte was so thankful that her father at this moment was back in Minnesota and wasn't at that deadly crash. That's what she thought at least. "Jackson! Did you see this?" Charlotte asked as Jackson was walking into the kitchen to get some coffee.
"Shit, that's bad." Jackson said after watching the scene.
"I'm really glad that my dad isn't in LA and back in Minnesota," Charlotte whispered.
"Have you called him lately?" Jackson asked knowing she wasn't close to her father as she used to be.
"Not in the past few months... I might see what he's up to now." Charlotte muttered going back to her room.
She sat down on her bed and pressed her father's contact and then the call button hoping he would answer. Whenever something major like that happens she just needs to make sure her father is okay and alive. The call went to voicemail making her sigh, "This is Bobby Nash. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." She heard her father's voice say.
A moment of silence occurred before the long beep played, "Hi Dad. It's me. Sorry I haven't called you lately. I-I have had a busy past few months. I know you're probably gonna be mad when you hear this but I went through the Police Academy and was the top of my class. I'm a rookie here in Los Angeles where my friend Jackson is as well. You've seen a few pictures... Anyways I gotta get ready for work. I-I miss you dad. I really wish I can see you sometime soon. Do you think you'll be able to come to Los Angeles soon? It's been three years since I saw you, not like I'm counting or anything. I hope you're doing well. Love you dad."
Charlotte hit the red button to end the call and she felt a tear roll down her eye knowing how hard her father had tried getting back on his feet. The only thing she could do was wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte walked into the station and kept wondering what her father was currently doing and if he was all right. That scene on the tv had just rubbed her the wrong way and caused an old memory of fear to form in her mind by checking in with her dad. She always had when she was growing up and her dad was on shift at the fire station in Minnesota. He would always send her a text if it was a big call and would let her know when he was okay once he was safe.
"Hey, you good?" Charlotte looked up and saw Officer Lopez walking up to her.
"Yeah, just tired is all." Charlotte replied.
"I'm not buying that for a second," Lopez said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Charlotte let out a sigh, "That plane crash last night... I guess it made me think about my dad and wanted to make sure he was okay this morning," Charlotte replied.
"Is your dad a pilot?"
"No, he's a firefighter. But he's back in Minnesota," Charlotte answered. "How's Officer Bradford?" Charlotte asked, wanting to change the subject.
"Good, discharged this morning and should get cleared soon," Lopez answered, noting the fact she changed the subject of her father.
"That's good–"
"You better go get changed boot, roll call is in twenty minutes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Any response yet?" Jackson asked as Charlotte sat down beside him.
"No, and I really don't want to keep talking about him. Can we maybe talk about him later?" Charlotte whispered as John Nolan was about to sit down.
John sighed and pulled a bridal bouquet out of his seat, "Very funny. You guys." Charlotte laughed slightly at the sight, "You know this means I have to throw them," John said and tossed the bouquet over his shoulder. Lucy quickly ducked avoiding it and landed in front of the Sergeant who had just walked into the room.
"All right, the honeymoon's over. 3, 5, 21. Officer Nolan, you care to guess what these numbers represent?" Sergeant Grey asked.
"Combination to your heart, sir?" John asked, causing Charlotte to cover her mouth only earning a look from Grey.
"3 is the number of opportunities you had to disable Runaway Bride's car yesterday. 5 vehicles were damaged because you failed to do so. And the last number, Officer Bishop."
"$21,000 in property damage the city ahs to pay," Bishop answered.
"Correct. All in all, Officer Nolan's first pursuit reveals room for improvement."
"Yes, sir," Bishop replied.
"Onward. Officer Chen is in need of a training officer until Tim Bradford is cleared for duty. Officer Scott Wrigley, you get the nod. That's it. Stay safe out there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silence filled the shop as Nathan Price drove through the streets of LA. "So, are you married?" Charlotte randomly asked, breaking the silence between the two. "What? I don't know if you have a wife, kids, pets? I feel if you're my T.O. we should know each other..." Charlotte said, shrugging her shoulders noticing that her T.O. wasn't saying anything.
"Yes to all of those. Married for about ten years, one kid, one dog."
"Aw, I love kids." Charlotte said.
"7-Adam-12, there has been a report of a noise complaint at 3215 Pinewood Avenue," the dispatcher said over the walkie.
"7-Adam-12, responding," Nathan answered.
"You think it's probably a party happening?" Charlotte asked.
"That or a local gang," Nathan replied.
Charlotte hoped for the party option and not what her T.O. had suggested. The two arrived at the location and the two got out of the shop. Charlotte didn't see any signs of a noise complaint on the streets which made her confused. That's until a loud bang rang throughout the air, "7-Adam-12, Code 6," Nathan said into his walkie. "Nash, follow behind me..."
"Yes sir," Charlotte said as she held her gun in the air following Nathan's lead as the two walked around the house.
Charlotte noticed three men who were yelling at one another as one held another at gunpoint, "Oh, thank God. It took you long enough to get here! Please tell my idiotic neighbor that he doesn't need to kill this man!" The man exclaimed.
"No! He hasn't stopped... He's a sinful man," the one with a gun in hand called out.
"I didn't do anything man!"
"Shut it!"
"Woah, hey! I suggest you let go of that man sir. Then we can talk about why you think this man is sinful," Nathan said, lowering his weapon.
"No! He needs to pay for his sins."
"Sir, I suggest you get behind us. Do you know his name?" Charlotte asked the man who was trying to stop the other that was trying to shoot the 'sinful man'.
"It's Luke Dollen. George and I were just walking around the neighborhood and he jumped us saying that George was a sinful man. I mean the only thing I could think of that George had done as 'sinful' is cheating on a girlfriend back when we were in high school. I do know he was just diagnosed with a dissociative disorder..."
Charlotte paused for a moment thinking back to one of her psychology classes thinking about the topic of multiple personality disorder. "Officer Price! He has Dissociative Disorder," Charlotte told Nathan in a low voice, and understood this man more now than before.
"Hey, Luke. Why don't you come with us and you can talk to one of our detectives and tell them about why you think this man is sinful?" Nathan asked.
Luke eventually let George go and came with them. Once they had Luke processed and was in the waiting cell her T.O. came up to her, "Boot what made you think about him possibly having a personality disorder?"
"Well the neighbor was saying how the only thing George had done that was sinful was cheating on a girlfriend and that he was diagnosed with a personality disorder. After that it was easy to connect," Charlotte replied.
"Keep that thinking up," Nathan told her
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte sat on the couch looking at her dad's text. Well, more like a voice memo, which she had no idea her dad even knew how to do. It explained how he had been in LA for the past year as a Captain of the 118 and that he meant to tell her but everything happened so fast. He also wanted to get coffee with her soon to explain everything in detail of why he had been MIA from her life sense that accident.
Charlotte didn't realize it but she had tears rolling down her cheeks. The hurt she felt that her father didn't even tell her that he had moved only minutes away hurt her. She needed to talk to someone, that someone wasn't Jackson as she knew he was already asleep by this point. The only person that was up that she knew close enough was Wesley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So your father has been living in Los Angeles for almost a year and is a Captain of the 118?" Wesley asked after Charlotte told him the situation that she was dealing with.
"Yes! Is it bad I'm mad at him? I just got over the last incident with him and now he threw this bombshell at me. I just don't understand why! He could have told me the last time we talked on the phone," Charlotte said as she flopped onto his couch.
Wesley took a moment before responding to what Charlotte had said, "I don't think it's wrong that you're mad at him, but he's trying to fix what he broke in your relationship. He wants to be back in your life and is trying to prove that he has everything under control."
Charlotte blinked back a tear that was threatening to fall down her face, "I know he is. I just wish he would have done that earlier this year and not in the first few months of me being a rookie. I don't want the entire station knowing about how I didn't know my father was in LA this entire time."
"They won't. I bet if you talk to your T.O. or anyone else that they'll tell you the exact same thing."
"You give the best advice Wes," Charlotte muttered as she felt her eyes fighting to close.
"Get some sleep Charlie, you can take the guest room," Wesley said as he stood up and took her upstairs.
As Wesley closed the door he took one glance back and felt a small smile on his face seeing his friend finally asleep. In the small time the two have been friends he sees her as the little sister he never had and swore to protect her in any situation. He just needs to talk to Captain Nash.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where were you this morning? You were gone before I even woke up," Jackson asked as the two were walking into the Briefing Room.
"At Wesley's. I found out big news about my father. And you were asleep and I needed to rant. He's like an older brother to me, so he was my next option besides you of course," Charlotte said.
"Big news? Good or bad?"
"In the middle... I'll tell you either at lunch or after shift," Charlotte whispered, noticing how there were more officers and detectives in the room along with Captain Andersen.
The two sat down beside Lucy and John as Grey began to explain the case to the officer's, "Her name is Emma Vasquez. Reported missing three weeks ago. Detectives think she's the one that Christine left behind."
"I've approved extra shifts and O.T. until we find this girl," Captain Andersen told the group.
"Everyone canvases between calls. Anything else?" Grey asked the Captain.
"Yes, one more thing. Officer Nolan. The motor pool is considering taking out a hit on you for all the damage you've caused to their vehicles. I talked them into, uh, a different situation," Captain Andersen told John, causing Charlotte to raise her eye at the Captain wondering what the different situation was.
Charlotte, Jackson, and Lucy along with other officers followed John and the Captain outside to see the different situation she had got for him. Charlotte smiled as she saw an older shop that could be the same age as John. "Try not to damage her, huh?" Andersen asked hooking the keys on the pocket of his uniform since his hands were full with his and Bishop's gear.
"Come on Boot, get our gear," Her T.O. said with a smile on his face that she hadn't seen much before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte felt her phone buzz and she quickly looked down at it and saw Wesley saying he was going to talk to her father at the end of the day. The girl's eyes widened at his text, "Sir I know I'm not suppose to make personal calls–"
"You get two minutes."
Charlotte nodded her head and quickly pressed the call button and not even two rings in Wesley answered, "Charlie? I thought you were working–"
"Listen, Wes, you are not going to my father's station and you will not be talking to him today. I will ditch our scone breakfast run tomorrow if you do and won't talk to you for a week," Charlotte said, causing Nathan to raise his eye at his rookie.
"Ouch, you're worse than the criminals I work with."
"Take it or leave it. I have about sixty seconds left," Charlotte said.
Wesley paused for a moment and sighed, "Fine. but you have to talk to him sometime soon. Deal?"
"Deal. That'll be later on. See you tomorrow–"
Charlotte hung up the phone and let out a sigh, "Boyfriend troubles?" Nathan asked.
Charlotte let out a laugh, "No, Wesley's like an older brother to me. He was going to try to talk to my dad about what he did to me–"
"What did he do to you?" Nathan asked with a slight frown on his face knowing he wouldn't do anything to hurt his five year old daughter.
"I just learned that he's been in LA for the past year and is the Captain of a fire station here. I think he was going to give him a piece of his mind and I want to do this on my own. Not with any help."
"7-Adam-12, there has been a crash needing responding officer in the local area."
"7-Adam-12 responding." Nathan said putting up his walkie and looked over at Charlotte, "Give him another chance. I know that's what I would want if anything happened between me and my daughter."
Charlotte sighed as the two went to the crash. Everything would workout for the better, but when would it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte waited for Jackson to come out of the locker room after a long shift. She was leaning on the wall and looking at a picture of her and her family trying to think what her mother would have said to her. Something along the lines of, forgive him. He didn't mean to hurt you.
Charlotte closed her phone as Jackson came out of the locker room, "You ready?"
"Yeah, so much to catch you up on," Charlotte told Jackson.
"Well I say, we get Chinese food and swap stories tonight," Jackson said as the two turned around but came face to face with Lopez.
"Nice work today, Officer West," Lopez told him.
"Thank you," Jackson replied.
"You took a very bad man off the street, proved you got some fight in you."
"So this mean we're good or–" Jackson trailed off.
"No. but we're getting there."
Lopez walked off from the two rookies, "what was that about?" charlotte asked.
"Something I've been meaning to tell you... But first Chinese food and then home." Jackson replied as the two walked out of the station together.