Help Her

Trust

*Nighttime: District 21: Locker Room*

A livid Hank, who was also dressed in uniform, stormed in with his wife right behind him. Ana wasn't as angry as her husband nor was she wearing her uniform. They both spotted Adam sitting in front of his locker, head bowed, and half dressed in his offical clothing.

"I told you to walk it back. Tell Trudy's friend it was me who got in the altercation, not you- me!" The older man growled, marching over.

The Officer stood up, shaking his head.

"Boss, listen. I thought about it. I thought about it long and hard, and I just-I did what I thought was best for you and for everyone else." He reasoned.

"It's not your job to protect me-"

"But I wasn't protecting you. I was protecting Ana" Adam corrected, interrupting Hank in the process. "Losing you would break her heart and you know it."

"It's not your job to protect her either." The older man retorted.

Ana stayed silent during all of this, not wanting to be drawn in lest they started to get really loud.

"Why is that? Why are you the only one that gets to live by a code?" The Officer inquired, angirly. "I don't understand. Boss, this is who I am. I'm always gonna do whatever I can to protect you all. It's how I'm built, like Al was, like you were, and I just don't understand why you don't get that." He cried.

"Because you're not Al!" Hank yelled and Ana flinched, not from the volume of his voice, but because of the mention of a friend who was no longer with them. "And you're not me. You're a kid, got your whole life in front of you.

"Well, I can handle whatever comes my way-"

"We had one chance to make this right, you hear me? One and you blew it!" The older man snapped, getting right in the Officer's face.

"Boss, listen to me-"

"This is my unit, MY UNIT!" Hank shouted, pushing Adam into the locker. "I take the heat, I take the bullets! Is that clear? Is that clear?!"

"It's clear." The younger man nodded. "I'm sorry."

The male Sergeant glared at him one last time before storming off with his wife in tow and Ana said nothing until they were in a separate hallway a safe distance away from Adam.

"Henry." She called, making him stop and turn around instantly. "Are you sure you don't want me to come to the event?"

Hank let out a small sigh of relief, grateful that the brunette wasn't mad or upset about what just occured.

"I don't want you anywhere near Kelton." He explained, nodding gently. "I trust the man about as far as I can throw him and the same goes for Brenan too."

Ana held back a knowing smirk and merely smiled in response.

*The Next Morning: Bullpen*

A little while after the event had ended, a Defense Attorney was shot and killed in his home.

"So, Bernie Hoffman had multiple cases in pretrial, including seven homicides. All seven of those defendants are in jail." Adam informed from the left of the whiteboard.

"Yeah, he's also got 23 violent offenders awaiting their day in court, and they're all out on bail." Kevin added from in front of it.

"All right, did you talk to his firm?" Ana wondered from her desk.

"Yeah, one client stood out, Andre Griffin." Adam nodded. "He's a major player in the Southside Hustlers. He calls for half of Englewood. Hoffman repped Griffin on three major drug offenses, two agg assaults. Griffin walked each time."