Girl With a Badge
Chapter 2: The New Recruit
Fandom: Chicago PD
Relationship: Antonio Dawson x Adeline James (OFC)
A/N: Like promised, here’s another update to this series!! Hope y’all enjoyed this chapter!! More to Come!!
Chapter Summary: It’s the first day at Addie’s new job. Things get rather interesting for her first day, but Addie didn’t think it’d get that interesting.
Word Count: 7.9K
Warnings: Violence, Gun Violence, mentions of death
Chapter 1: Home Sweet Home
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Monday
5:05 am
A thundering crashing sound coming from downstairs jolts Addie from her sleep, quickly jumping from bed she grabs her Beretta M9 from its holster that safely laid on the ground near her bedside table. She quietly, but quickly makes her way out of her room. The small hallway was dark, quiet, and her moms door was shut, so she slowly walks over to the staircase. Bare feet walking down the wooded floor, she curses mentally when it groans from her weight, but still manages to keep it quiet. However, as she was itching closer to the stairs, hushed voices can be heard every so often, causing Addie to switch the safety on her gun and resting her finger near the trigger, just in case.
She’s been in way too many shootings to know it’s always better to have your gun ready for anything.
As she reaches the stairs, down at the bottom we’re two black figures, it was hard for Addie to distinguish who they were in the dark, only the little porch light peaking throughout the door was her source of light, but it hardly brightened the first step of the stairs and there was no way she’d be able to see who it was. However, she didn’t need the light to figure it out, as she stood at the top of the stairs the voices hushing at each other allowed her to recognize who it was who had woken her up in the middle of the night.
And boy how she wished it was two intruders.
From where she stood she knew the figure standing and crouching on the floor was her mother, she knew because her caramel hair would sometimes be visible through the porch light every so often and her hushing voice was very familiar. Now the figure on the floor had to be the one and only Ronald MacFord, who else would be stumbling through the door at five in the morning completely wasted and mumbling informalities at her mother, who by the way is doing her best to pick him off the floor.
Switching her gun to safety, Addie remains standing at the top of the stairs as she watches them two with annoyance and disappointment right before quietly slipping away to her room. It wasn’t her problem, it’ll never be her problem besides her mothers. She wants to live that way, she can deal with it.
As Addie slips back into her room she glances over to the clock on the bedside table and let’s out another annoyed sigh when she reads the time and knows for a fact she won’t be able to go back to sleep. Tossing her gun on her bed, she walks over to her duffle bag that’s still unpacked and
still on the floor. Grabbing fresh clothes, she heads out to the restroom, that’s thankfully unoccupied. She didn’t know if her mother has made it to her room and she honestly didn’t care, she just wanted to shower as quick as possible so she can get out and get on with the day.
By the time it hit 5:30, Addie was already walking out of the restroom with a charcoal grey hoodie, black jeans and some black combat boots on her feet. Going into her room she gets the rest of her stuff ready for work, grabs her holster, gun, Aviators, keys, duffle bag, shrugs on her leather jacket, and finally heads down the stairs. Turning the corner she stops in her tracks when she sees the deadbeat boyfriend passed out on the couch with a very a visible cut on his upper cheek. Typical.
“You’re leaving? Already?” She hears her mother whispering from the kitchen where she was soaking a towel,
Yeah no thanks to your shithead boyfriend, “Yeah, New York is an hour ahead, it’s basically six o’clock over there, guess my body hasn’t adapted to the time down here,” She says instead as she walks towards the kitchen,
Her mother hums, placing the soaked towel to the side and dries her hands on her pajamas, “Well, let me cook you some breakfast,”
Addie shakes her head, “No it’s fine. I’ll just stop by at the deli,”
“Troy’s doesn’t open until 6:30,”
“Then I’ll wait,” Addie replies and begins walking away when her mother calls out to her,
Turning around she meets her tired worn eyes that look as if they seen and been through a lot. Even through the dim light from the kitchen, Addie can see dark bags forming at the bottom of her eyes, making her mother seem older than she normally looks.
“Let me cook you breakfast,” Her mother pleads, face showing obvious signs of exhaustion and defeat,
Addie stares at her in silence. Silently observing her features and having a sympathetic pull in her heart at the state of her mother, but pushes it aside. Like always.
“You’ve got your hands full already,” Is all she says before turning back around towards her duffle and heads to the door, but stops just at the entrance and sighs through her nose as she turns back to say, “I love you,”
Sending her mother a small smile and a wave, Addie walks out the door, feeling a icy shiver run down her body as the morning weather hits her. With quick steps to get out of the cold, she makes her way towards the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS waiting in the driveway. It’s beautifully mat charcoal paint still looked well taken care of, thanks to her mother for keeping the car in storage and keeping it away from Ron’s prying hands. Addie was actually surprised her mother had saved her fathers car after all these years, and more surprised when she handed her the keys to the vehicle.
‘It was always going to be yours’ Her mother comments as she hands her the golden key with a smile,
Since being back home, that was actually the first time Addie felt happy and let out a sincere smile.
Climbing into the car and tossing her duffle on the passengers seat, Addie quickly turns the ignition, smile forming on her lips at the roaring sound that erupts around her and can’t help but kiss her fingers and placing them on the dashboard. Sending her love to the car and him. Once warming up the car she heads off to the dark streets of Chicago. Her new chapter of life.
****
6:45 am
Her mother was right about Troy’s, they weren’t open yet. Thankfully, a deli that’s nearby the district, that apparently is the go-to joint for everyone who works at the 21st, was her plan b. After grabbing her breakfast and cup of coffee, she heads back to her car and drives down a couple blocks, arriving within 10 minutes at the district. Quickly woofing down the remainder of her breakfast sandwich, which happened to be one of the best sandwiches she’s ever eaten, she grabs her coffee and duffle before heading towards the entrance of the precinct.
Addie stays at the bottom of the stairs, eyes up towards the well known brick building, taking in its incredible history. If you lived in Chicago for as long as Addie, then people would understand how famous and amazing the 21st district really is. The most well known officers work or have worked in this very own building, and if you were in the law enforcement business like Addie then people would understand how truly exciting and nerve racking it can be to work at the 21st. As she remained standing outside the building, duffle hanging on her shoulder, taking deep breaths to ease her nerves she’d notice how every few seconds plain clothes or uniformed officers would walk in and out from the building. Neither of them sparing a glance at her or simply just didn’t care.
Taking another long inhale Addie finally makes her way up the stairs and through the double doors until she’s standing in the main entrance of the district. Straight ahead was the desktop with a couple officers standing behind it minding their own business and getting work done. Walking up to the desk an officer in a uniform stood on the opposite side, head and eyes down at some papers.
“Hi I’m Detective Adeline Ja-,” Addie begins to introduce herself but a voice interrupts her,
“James?” Turning to the left at the voice, Addie realizes it belonged to the one and only Trudy Platt, “Well I’ll be damned, you haven’t aged a bit,”
Addie chuckles at the compliment, “Thanks Sarge, you don’t look too bad yourself,”
“Don’t lie to me kid, we wouldn’t want your first day to be hell,” Trudy says, slamming a stack of papers on the counter as she rounds the desk,
Addie chuckles once again, never forgetting nor missing that old humor of hers, “It’s good to see you Platt,”
“You too kiddo,” Platt smiles widely as they embrace each other for a good minute before pulling away,
“How’s Mouch?”
Trudy waves a hand with a roll of her eyes, “Still giving me goddamn heart attacks every time he leaves to work,”
Addie chuckles, “I’m sure you’re no better,”
“I sure as hell am, unlike him I actually stay behind this thing,” She slaps the counter, “I don’t go out searching for the problem, it usually comes strollin in here,”
Man, things never change. Addie thinks to herself as she chuckles at Platt talking about others and commenting how it sometimes feels as if she’s running a daycare, just usual Trudy Platt stuff.
“Alright, I better not keep you any longer, I’m sure he’s exciting as much as I am that you’re here. Working for the district and not being booked,” Addie chuckles with a shake of her head, she’ll never be able to shrug those times off her shoulders,
“Well.. I’d say that’s improvement,”
“Let’s hope it is, get up there,” Trudy motions her head towards the stairs, Addie sends her a smile with a soft chuckle before walking away,
Once buzzed she climbs another pair of stairs until she’s standing in the entrance of the famous intelligence unit. No one else was around, yet, but as she was taking in everything, all the details, all the memories and history from each wall, Hank Voight comes walking out of his office with a huge smile. Addie returns the smile as she meets him halfway. Dropping her duffle on the ground she embraces him in a tight hug, getting a whiff of that same cologne, even after all these years Addie would think he’d change it but they both knew why he hasn’t.
“Hey Hank,” She whispers against his shoulder, smile still on her face as memories flash in her mind,
“Hey kid,” His famous gravelly voice softly rumbles in her ear as they continue to embrace one another,
“Ohh, I remember that one,” Hank points with a smile, touching his finger against the small scar near her eyebrow after parting away,
Addie chuckles at the memory. It was back in high school when she had gotten in a fight in an alley with Erin, luckily, both her and Erin knew their way around a fist fight and easily took all three girls down. It wasn’t easy considering the girls were much taller, but with teamwork they were able to win, although it did result to them going home with bruises, busted lips, or in Addie’s case a busted eyebrow. When she went home with Erin to get patched up that’s when she had met the famous Hank Voight for the first time, it probably wasn’t the best way to introduce herself considering they both walked into his house looking like they came back from the war, but that wasn’t the last time she’d see him. Ever since that day, her relationship with the man only became stronger, they formed a bond just like he and Erin did.
“Feels like it was just yesterday I walked through your door looking like Bloody Mary,”
“Sure does,” Hank replies with a chuckle, smile plastered on his face as he stares at her in awe, disbelief, and happiness,
She hadn’t changed, at least in his eyes. He still saw her as that rebellious teen who would pick fights for any small thing, would shoplift just for the fun and adrenaline.
“I’m really happy you’re here,” He says after a minute of silence, causing warmth and happiness of her own to spread in her chest,
“Me too,” And she honestly did mean it, despite not being sure about coming back home after so long, she truly did mean her words,
As they both stared smiling at each other, enjoying each other’s presence and enjoying the moment, the sound of voices talking amongst one another breaks their small moments. Turning they both see three people walking up the steps, three males and one female. Three of them were in deep conversation while the other male was on the phone to even notice them, but as they were reaching the top steps another pair of voices comes through the hallway. A man with dirty blonde hair and a woman with blonde hair come walking through the door talking to one another, except they notice their presence.
“C’mon, meet the gang,” Voight motions his head at the group of people who had just arrived,
Addie softly sighs through her nose, “Still hate being the center of attention,”
Voight softly chuckles, placing a comforting hand behind her back, “You can survive a couple minutes, c’mon,”
Not having a choice, at all, Addie sighs once again but allows him to face her towards the group of people. Who are now standing and staring with curiosity. However, her eyes only settle on a specific pair for a couple seconds before averting them to Voight when he speaks out.
“Guys, this is Adeline James. She’s a transfer from New York who will be joining our team and she’s also family so I want you all to treat her like one,” While Voight introduced her to the rest of the crew, she glanced at everyone, giving them a short wave with a small shy smile,
She really hates being the center of attention, always has. However, as she waving at everybody she finds herself staring at him once again, noticing how he straightens up on his desk when they lock eyes, an unreadable emotion written on his face as they stare at one another. He was attractive, really attractive and something about him was zoning her in.
They stay holding each other’s gazes for what seemed like hours, but in reality it was two minutes before Addie decides to break it, having a feeling them staring at each other was noticeable for everyone else.
“So uh.. where do— where do you want me?” She asks, glancing over at Voight who only points in front of him,
“You can take Ruzek’s desk, Ruzek you’re moving over to Kevin’s. Making a few adjustments. Once you’re settled in meet me at my office, welcome to Intelligence,” Voight comments, gently patting her on the shoulder before walking away,
Once she was left alone with her duffle in her hand, the first to greet her was a woman with dark hair, bright eyes for days and a welcoming smile. “Hi welcome! Kim Burges,”
“Adeline James, but friends call me Addie,” She tells her with a smile as she shakes her hand,
Kim nods, smile widening at the welcoming nickname. After greeting her a tall man, neatly trimmed beard with dirty blonde hair walks up to her with a smile. She then realizes he’s holding a couple objects in his hand and knowing right away, “You must be Ruzek,”
He nods his head, extending his free hand towards her, “Yes indeed. Adam Ruzek,”
She shakes it, “Sorry for the move,”
Adam quickly waves her off, “Don’t be, he makes changes every once and a while, today just happened to be it,”
Addie nods her head in understanding, feeling the way those eyes are quietly watching her from his desk.
“Gotta warn you though, don’t be surprised if you find his candy stash in one of them drawers,” Another deep voice adds in, glancing over Adams shoulder she watches as a tall black man makes his way over, “Kevin Atwater,”
Shaking his hand another voice joins in on the conversation, “You should also be careful nothing comes crawling outta there,”
Turning to her left another man, tall, brown hair, blue eyes comes smirking her way, “I’d bring an exterminator just in case,”
Addie chuckles, “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks,”
He nods his head before introducing himself, “Halstead. Jay Halstead,”
“I’m Hailey Upton. Ignore these fools, the day goes by much quicker when you do,” The blonde woman he had arrived with appears next to him, commenting as she introduces herself, causing Addie to chuckle at her,
“Now that’s bull and you know it,” He finally joins in on the conversation, feeling the way her stomach swirls inside when she finally knows what he sounds like,
Voice deep, slightly gruff and hoarse in just the right way, just like him. Shoulders and chest wide and firm, dark brown hair neatly combed and styled upwards, small smirk tugging on those inviting plump lips of his. Man did she want to know what they would feel like against her own—-
“You and Burges know fully well that us fools keep you two entertained through the good and bad,” The sound of his voice pulls her out of her inappropriate thoughts, feeling the way her cheeks burn for even having such thoughts for a man she does not know,
“You’re right. Our lives would be miserable without you guys,” Hailey replies with a sarcastic tone, teasing smile on her face, but means it deep down,
A second passes when he finally averts his eyes towards her, staring straight into her own hazel eyes with his sweet chocolate orbs and definitely feeling the way a cold chill runs down her spine the longer she stares into his eyes, or maybe it was the small scar on his left brow that caused it or maybe it was the fact that he gives her a cute side smile. Either way, she’s sure both features would have caused that chill.
“Antonio Dawson,” His name flows out of his mouth so warmly, and she constantly repeats the way he says it in her head,
“Adeline. Adeline James,” She manages to say, not once breaking eye contact with him,
They must’ve stood staring and holding each other’s hands for more than a few seconds because literally everyone in the room brought their gazes at them with raised brows and shared looks, but that quickly died down when Hailey interrupts the moment by offering to take her to the locker room so she can settle in.
“Yeah, right.” She quickly agrees, bending down to grab her duffle from the floor that she did not realize it was laying there,
The moment she faces Antonio they lock eyes once again, but this time it was only for a split second before he sends her his cute side smile and steps aside for her to walk by. Not once averting his eyes from her form until she disappears through the door and knowing deep down, Antonio’s job just got a lot more harder and interesting.
Following Hailey down the hallway, she turns into a room that had lockers on either side of the room. It was small, but spacious to move around for at least six or seven people.
“This is you,” Hailey points to a locker on her right, smile on her lips,
“Cool,” Addie says as she drops her duffle on the small bench, returning the gesture,
“I’ll leave you to settle. When your ready come join us,” The blonde head says, warm smile still on her face, getting a nod from the new recruit she leaves her be,
Once alone, Addie sits on the bench with a loud sigh, eyes closed as she hangs her head, taking in deep breaths through her nose and out her mouth. After a good minute or so, she stares straight ahead and let’s out one last exhale with a nod.
Okay. She tells herself before getting up and beginning to load her locker with her things. Which was extra clothes, extra shoes, both for work and the gym, in case she wanted to burn some steam, and a brand new cigarette pack that she’s had since she’s landed in Chicago. In all honesty, she didn’t know why she bought the pack, she hadn’t smoked since she was 18 years old, but for some reason she just purchased the tobacco. Maybe it was a habit? Or maybe it was for something else? To calm her nerves that she’s denied having? Possibly. But knowing herself she’d just deny it once again.
Once her locker was loaded with her things and her holster was clipped on her pants, she sighs once again before heading out the locker rooms and put to the ball pit. Where everyone was doing their own thing; Adam still cleaning out his old desk, Hailey and Kim were in the lunch room talking amongst themselves, Jay nowhere to be seen, probably downstairs, Kevin was kicked back in his desk on his phone and then there was him. Antonio was sitting in his own desk, eyes sharp and focused on the computer in front of him, brows knitted together as he stared at something in the screen, awhile writing something in a small notebook beside him. He looked absolutely… gorgeous——
What? Where the hell did that come from? Addie mentally comments with a shake of her head. She can’t believe she’s having these thoughts about someone she just met, correction, she can’t believe she’s even thinking such thoughts about a co-worker, who most likely has a beautiful girl or a beautiful wife to go home to with kids. Or possibly a husband to go to, who the hell knows but it’s all the more reason to just stop thinking such a way towards him when she doesn’t even know his story.
“Almost done,” Adam comments when he notices her just standing by the doorway,
Which also causes his attention. Looking up from his work he locks eyes with her for a split second before she averts them to his friend.
“Take your time,” She shakes her head and points behind his shoulder, “Gotta talk to Voight,”
Giving her a nod, she makes her way towards her boss’ office. Still feeling his eyes on her throughout the whole way, but once she knocks on Voights door and steps inside she’s able to breathe just a little better. Voights gestures at the seat for her to sit, which she does with a small smile.
“All settled in?”
She nods but points behind her shoulder with her thumb, “Uhm.. Adam is still cleaning the desk,”
“Good,” He nods then adds, “Feel free to decorate however you like. Pictures, stickers, flags, maybe a poster of that favorite band of yours,”
Addie chuckles with a shake of her head, “Times have changed Hank, my Backstreet Boys days are over,”
That got a soft chuckle to escape from the man when memories flashed in his head of the time she’d sing her lungs out to their songs with Erin, driving everybody in the house insane. It was moments like that that had him realizing how long it’s truly been since he’s last seen her. Yeah he kept in touch, either through her, her mother or Erin, but he never did see you again, until now.
“How’s your mom?” He asks after a while of silence,
Addie nods, her mood changing instantly at the mention of her mother’s whereabouts, “Good. Same ol’ same ol’,”
Just from that alone Voight knew things hadn’t changed, ever after all these years he knew her mother was still in that dark hole. Rotting her life away with a lowlife.
“She still with Ronald McDonald?” Addie scoffs both at the nickname and at the question with a slight roll of her eyes,
“I honestly don’t think he’s leaving anytime soon,” she states, face painted with pure annoyance and animosity, then adds, “He’s like a disease that can’t be cured, or something my mom doesn’t want to cure… So yeah, he’s still around,”
Voight hums at her, fingers interlocked on his stomach as he leans back in his chair, listening to the young woman in front of him and not being able to stop the pity that tugs on his heart knowing that was one of the main reasons why Addie avoided coming home.
Speaking of.
“Where you staying?”
“My moms,” Figured. “For now. Got a spot picked out but.. it’s taking longer than expected,” Addie adds with an exhausted sigh,
Voight stays staring at her for a couple seconds, observing her state, noticing how young she still looks and picturing nothing but that same lost, angry 17 year old in front of him. She truly hasn’t changed. Well, she has found herself and became a independent woman, but she still held onto that anger and self closure, just like she always has.
“You know you can stay with me anytime you like right? Or at least until you get your own place. You practically lived there your senior year,” He offers from his heart, earning a small curl to appear on the young girls lips,
Addie nods, shyly looking down at her lap from his next words, “It’ll always be your home kiddo,”
“Thanks Hank,” She sends him a warm, sincere smile, which he returns,
“Got shots fired on Maple and Ave, officers pinned and in need of backup,” Jay suddenly informs them through the door, interrupting their small moment,
“Hit it,” Voight gives him the go,
Without any hesitation Jay leaves the office, shouting at the rest of his teammates to gear up.
“Ready to see some action?”
Addie scoffs with a smile, “Thought you’d never ask,”
++++
‘10-1 10-1!! We’re fucking pinned out here! Where the hell is our backup?!’
A panicked voice cracks through the radio, along with other commotion in the background before it gets cut off.
‘This is 5021 George, we’re 5 minutes out, stand your ground!’ Jay’s voice cracks through the radio this time, letting the officers know their location,
The rest of the team however were 10 minutes behind, which happened to be Ruzek, Atwater, Voight and Addie, since they all split different directions to cover other exits to prevent the perps from slipping on them. Once on the scene, both Voight and Addie hop off the truck, getting a perfect sound of gunfire from left and right. From what they’ve learned, it was a robbery gone wrong, a group of masked people decided to rob a small little nail salon but had tripped the silent alarm without even knowing it, which then resulted in them being in a shoot out.
Crouching to avoid getting hit by a flying bullet, Addie makes her way over to Ruzek’s car, taking cover right next to him and waits for orders. However, at one point while shots were being exchanged, one of the officers who were assisting the situation gets hit right in front of her, causing him to fall on his ass with a load groan. Yelling at Ruzek to cover her she quickly makes her way over to the fallen officer the moment Ruzek fires back. Grabbing the man from underneath both armpits she quickly pulls him away from sight as best as she can, yet it was difficult since she had to crouch in an awkward way to avoid getting hit herself, but as she was dragging him she then feels another hand sliding next to hers and helps pull the officer. Taking a quick glance she realizes it’s Dawson helping her.
After dragging the fallen officer away from sight and up against the car, Addie quickly jumps to action, checking him for an entry wound, for blood, but luckily it was just the powerful impact from the bullet that had sent him flying. Clapping him on the shoulder she does her best in calming him, letting him know he’s perfectly fine but to stay hidden until he recovers his breathing, knowing too well all the oxygen from his lungs had left with the powerful blow.
“Hey we got two of them splitting into an alley!” Kevin yells into the ear piece,
“Dawson, James, go through the next house and cut them halfway!” Voight orders, and in an instant they both move,
They stay crouching as they move away from flying bullets, but once safe from them they quickly make their way through the house to get to the alley where Atwater had pointed. As they made it to the other side of the block and towards the alley, they both stay standing in place, glancing around when they don’t see anybody. However, straight ahead through passing cars and people, Addie spots a person walking down the street with a black hoodie, black jeans and a black duffle bag by his side. He could have passed as a walking civilian, but the idiot blows their cover when they turned and immediately starts running down the street when they spot them both.
“Son of a bitch,” Addie mumbles under her breath right before she chases after them, Dawson following close behind,
While chasing the perp down the street and yelling at people to move out of the way, Dawson can be heard behind yelling over the radio, updating on their location and position. It was going good, a non-dangerous foot chase, until the fucking asshole decided to pull out his gun and start shooting up in the sky, causing everybody to scream and scattered around, making it much more difficult to run through them. Thankfully, through running bodies Addie was able to see the moment the perp slips into another alley. Quickly making her way over, she leans against the wall and slowly peaks her head to get a view, only to see the fugitive running down the alley. Pulling away from the wall Addie continues running after them, feeling her lungs burning from the freezing weather and feeling the way her ribs are pushing against her side with each step she takes, but she pushes through the burn and pain. If she lost them then it wouldn’t be no use for the team.
After another torturing mile of running after the perp, they finally slip into a backyard of a home. Once again, like in the alley, Addie leans against the covered fence and peaks her head to see, however, this time they fire two shots at her, connecting it with the wooden fence, causing her to flinch away from sight.
She groans both from annoyance and discomfort when powder from the wooden gate went into her eye, “Come on.. play nice,”
“You good?” Dawson questions, voice firm but still laced with worry when he sees her blinking and shutting her eyes,
She nods and wipes a fist in her eye, “I’m good. I shoot you go?”
She asks him through one eye open, already feeling the burn in her left eye and having a feeling it’s already turning red. Nodding his head Dawson gets ready to move, once she fire a couple shots he runs past her and into the yard, taking cover behind a broken truck.
“He’s moving!” Dawson yells as he cautiously moves forward,
Addie steps into view, watching as the perp runs down to the front of the house. Quickly thinking, she runs over to the neighbors house and cuts through their yard to ambush the son of a bitch, if she’s lucky and if he doesn’t run away. Although while doing so, she nearly got her ass bitten by the neighbors dog but continues running through the yard and risking it when she hears gun shots being exchanged next door, making her pick up her pace. After dodging the neighbors dog, jumping over various kids toys and bicycles, she finally makes it out the damn house and to her right was the fugitive, shooting towards the house, not aware of her charging at him. Until he’s tackled to the ground with a loud groan.
With quick movements, Addie mounts him from the back and quickly grabs him by one arm, turning it into an uncomfortable position behind his back, causing a pained groan to escape from the man underneath and using that moment to cuff him.
“You alright?” Dawson asks her once again, she nods at him with a pant as she gets up from the fugitive to allow him to lift him off the floor,
Once on his feet Dawson pulls the mask from his face, revealing an African American boy, who looks like he’s in his teen years. Both Addie and Dawson share a look of pure disbelief and pity, a young boy like him should be out studying, going to school, not robbing nail salons for the adrenaline.
“C’mon,” Dawson says as he leads the teen down the sidewalk, with Addie following behind after picking up the gun with a glove,
“Dawson here, offenders in custody. Heading back,” He says into the earpiece, after a good couple seconds a voice comes to life,
‘10-4. Were all good over here too, situation has been contained,’ Jay responds, letting a large relief slip off both Addie’s and Dawsons chest,
“Has the other offender been apprehended?” He asks once again,
‘Negative. He’s in the wind, got patrol cars circling the perimeter,’ Jay informs them, causing a tired groan to slip from Dawson,
“10-4,” He replies instead and continues walking down the sidewalk, ignoring the way multiple civilians were staring at them both,
The three of them continue making their way back to the rest of the team in silence, awhile keeping an eye out on their surroundings, two cops walking down with a cuffed teenager can quickly escalate things. Thankfully, they were only a couple blocks away from where everyone is at.
“You sure you’re okay?” Dawson asks for the third time that day, causing Addie to glance up at him and noticing how his dark brown eyes were staring down at her,
He really is handsome. “Yeah I’m—I’m good,” She says instead as she lets her fingers reach out towards her eye,
She rubs at her eye, still feeling the way his eyes are on her, watching her every move. They stay quiet once again, walking side by side, until he speaks again. Rumbling voice sounding like music to her ears.
“You should use manzanilla,” She was rubbing her eye when he had spoke, making her look up at him with a slight confused look,
“Huh?” The way her stomach, heart, flip together when a small smile tugs on his lips,
“It’s a uhh.. Latin remedy for irritated eyes,” He explains to her with a warm, inviting, smile and continues, “You use the tea to flush your eye,”
Addie returns the smile with a small nod, “I’ll give it a try when I can,”
They both stare at each other, neither struggling to look away, not like they did anyways. They were both captivated by each other’s eyes, however, what does break their small moment is the sound of a police siren going off, looking straight ahead they realize they are back at the scene.
“Well, nice of you two to join the fun,” Adam comments while holding a small notepad in his hand,
Both Addie and Dawson chuckle as they split apart, Addie heads towards Adam while Dawson walks towards a car to put the teen inside.
“You got hit?” Adam asks, pointing at her eye with his pen, brows furrowed,
Addie simply shakes her head with a wave of her hand, letting him know it’s nothing to worry about. Which was the truth it’s nothing she can’t handle, or anything a specific house remedy can’t fix.
“So have you figured out what happened?” She asks, walking with Adam towards the nail salon,
“So far it looks likes a robbery gone bad. There was five of them and only two made it out,” He explains, stopping by the caution tape where three covered bodies laid on the floor,
It never does get easy to see another human being lifeless on the ground, but that’s what the job is all about, seeing cruel things.
“Have you identified them?”
Adam shakes his head, then motions his head towards inside the building, “We do know one thing though.. it’s gang related,”
413.
It read on the wall in large black graffiti letters.
“413?” She asks, still observing the wall,
“Yeah, they own half the neighborhood a couple blocks down,”
“And who owns this side?”
“The eighty-eights, but there’s been heat between them over territory for a while now so I wouldn’t doubt it if this was their way of calling them out,” Adam explains while walking further into the nail salon,
As they both made their way inside, other officers stood around doing their jobs, either taking notes themselves, taking photos of the crime or simply just assisting other officers. Although, straight down the hall was the rest of her team in an office where the safe had been broken into.
Addie looks around the office, it was a pretty spacious room, just a simple wooden desk in the entrance with a computer, which also happens to be their surveillance of the whole thing, unless of course they knew about the cameras. The walls held a couple framed photos of different landscapes, but one that captured her attention was the broken one on the floor. In the photo was an Asian woman holding two small boys, twins, all three of them were smiling and laughing at the camera, causing a small tick to tug on Addie’s lips when she’s seen a similar photo in her mothers room.
“This the owner?” Addie points to the photo on the ground,
“Yeah, Xoe Lin, 50 years old, lives up in Pearl Street and has been open for over 30 years,” Kevin informs her as he stands next to her, both of them looking down at the photo,
“Has she been notified?” Kevin nods his head,
“Some officers are heading over to her house right now,” He tells her,
Addie stays quiet, trying to piece the pieces together. They were all scrambled, but slightly obvious to her. Why target a simple nail salon? Why mark their territory? Is the owner connected to the eighty-eights? Is she in some protection with the gang? Or is she a disguise?
Before she can try and answer any of her assumptions, Voight walks in with Antonio. After asking his team what they’ve gathered so far and being filled in, he tells them all to head back to the district to start connecting the dots and to try and get anything useful out of the apprehended teen. While that is happening, he mentioned both Kim and Antonio were gonna go talk with the owner of the building, try to find anything that’ll help with the case. Nodding their heads at the order, everybody began walking out of the office.
“Hasn’t been a day and you’ve already been shot at?” Voight comments as she makes her way past him, causing a small chuckle to escape from her,
“New world record,” Is all she says, throwing him a smile over her shoulder, but slightly feeling it grow when her eyes land with his once again,
It didn’t last long, just a second or two before she’s turning around to head out the office. Although, that didn’t mean his eyes had averted from her frame, matter fact, his slanted smile was still on his lips as he watched her walk away. Something about her just.. had him drawn, had him tethered. Did it freak him out? Slightly. Did it frustrate him? Definitely.
+++
10:35 am
Addie sat at her desk, looking over a couple files of the teen they had apprehended, who she soon found out his name was Stefon Malone. He had just turned 18 a month ago, has been in the foster care system since he was 13 years old along with his younger brother Austen Malone, who is 15 years old. Neither boys seemed to have any trouble with the law, they both lived with a white married couple, the Morris’s, is what it said in his file. It also said, both their parents had been out of their lives for quite sometime. The father was in the wind, left when Stefon and Austen were just kids, and their mother had been sent to prison for being highly intoxicated while driving. With them in the car.
They moved from foster care to foster care after that, neither wanting to get adopted separately, if it wasn’t both of them then it wouldn’t be official, eventually they settled at the Foster Now where they had been adopted by the Morris’s. What Addie couldn’t understand was how Stefon was affiliated with the 413 when he lived with his adoptive parents 15 miles away from where the gang is located. Unless.. she tells herself as she flips the page and searches for what she’s looking for.
Bingo.
When Stefon was being transferred from foster care to foster care, he was enrolled into North Grove High up until he got adopted, and the school was in the center of the 413 territory. Which explains now how Stefon is connected to them, making Addie’s job slightly easier for her and her team. She still needed to gather information on why the kid and his crew would want to target a nail salon, declare war and how he manages to keep his gang life hidden from his adoptive parents for nearly four years.
“Alright I just got off the phone with the coroner and he gave us our third name,” Jay informs them as he walks towards the board with a picture,
While doing so, Voight steps out of his office to hear everyone one out.
“The name is Miles Watkins, but goes by Sticks. He was 26 years old and has been in the 413 since he was 16,” Jay says, placing a photo of an African American man on the board,
“Just like Roscoe Shaw and Harvey Pierce,” Kevin adds, mentioning their other two offenders while standing near the board,
“And Stefon,” Addie adds on, causing everyone to look at her as she makes her way over to the board, “Stefon was living at the Foster Now for most of his teen years, but was attending North Grove High at the time,”
Kevin’s brows rise at the new information, piecing things together of his own, “North Grove High is known for being in the center of the 413,”
“Exactly,” Addie snaps her fingers at him with a smile,
“So they recruit minors?” Hailey asks, sitting on the edge of her desk,
“Makes senses if they do. The school is most likely their best option when it comes to selling, so, minors would be their best disguise in getting their products out their,” Kevin explains,
“Alright and who’s the ring leader?” Voight asks,
“A’lamar Garner. Or better known as, Tug. 38 years old, just like our offenders, he was recruited by his uncle, Tyzeek Garner, at the age of 16. Tug later then became head of the crew at 25 when his uncle died in a drive by,” Jay replies, handing a manilla folder towards him,
“Let me guess, eighty-eights?” Voight asks as he looks up from the folder, earning a wink and nod from Jay as a confirmation,
Voight softly hums as he closes the folder and looks at the board in front of him. Reading every detail that has been added and trying to solve missing pieces, but it was limited information to even try and crack the case.
“What about the nail salon? Were they calling them out? Is the owner in anyway involved in all of this mess? How is it connected?”
“Well it’s definitely gang related, but the owner, Xoe Lin, is not apart of it. So she says,” Dawsons rumbling voice rings out in the room as he enters it,
Addie’s stomach flips excitedly at the sound, it was such an odd feeling, she’d never felt this way about a person before, let alone a teammate. So why the hell was she suddenly feeling this way now? She ignores the way her stomach continues to flip as he continues talking, but she can’t help the way her heart flutters at the sight of him. Black leather jacket, navy thermal underneath, black faded jeans with combat boots on his feet and splash of fallen snow on his hair. He was absolutely breathtaking. Addie definitely felt attracted to him, hypnotized even, and that honestly scared and confused her. She barely knows the man, hasn’t even had a full conversation with him yet, but something about him just draws her to him.
“Take another crack at the kid, try to get him to flip. We don’t have a case if we don’t have anything,” Voight orders before walking back to office,
Everyone parts away, going to their respected desks except Hailey and Jay, they head back towards the interrogation room where Stefon remained cuffed. As Addie was walking towards her own desk, she had just placed her own folder on top of her keyboard when something taps on her arm. Looking to her right she notices it’s Dawson standing next to her, then realizes he’s holding onto a small yellow-ish box, with a smile.
“Stopped by a coffee shop and I spotted them in the shelf,” He tells her, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink, or maybe it was because he had just came back from the cold or because the building was warm enough,
No, it was neither of those and she knew it.
Either way, Addie couldn’t stop the wide smile from spreading on her face, “Thank you,”
She tells him with warm, inviting, appreciative eyes. Dawson nods his head at her, smile still on his lips. However, what she didn’t know was the way his heart was hammering in his chest as he continued to stare into her hazel eyes. It was a lie, on his way back from talking with the owner of the nail salon he had stopped by for some “warm coffee” when in reality he knew a spot where they sold the herbal tea, even Kim knew his intentions and gave him a teasing smile, but Addie didn’t need to know that. If she hadn’t already figured it out.
“No problem,” Dawson tells her as he begins walking away, but turns back around after the second step, “Warm water,”
Addie softly chuckles at him with a nod, “Warm water,”
She repeats with a smile, hazel eyes locked with his until he exits the room. But even after he left, that same smile still rested on her face, she couldn’t seem to remove it. In fact, the longer she stared at the small box of tea the wider her smile grew and the warmer her chest felt. Placing the box on the side of her desk she sits in her chair and let’s out a heavy sigh, eyes staring at the yellow box, her mind not being able to stop replaying the little moment, about him, about how he makes her feel every time he’s around. How her stomach and heart gets filled with excitement whenever he’s around, how she oddly feels safe around him, how he attracts her towards him, how she can’t stop thinking about him—
Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on?
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-Hope Y’all enjoyed this rather long chapter!! Reason for taking forever to upload was because I just kept making adjustments and kept adding more details to it, so I really hoped you guys liked this one! ⚡️
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