Are We Out of the Woods?

3. House Party

Street refused to go anywhere without the burner phone from Chris.

They agreed no real messages could be texted, but every morning and every night and sometimes at points in between, she would send him an "x" to let him know she was thinking of him, and he would reply almost immediately in kind.

Trying to hide something from a bunch of cops was tricky, but he always ducked away for privacy before checking the phone. No one could know Chris was undercover, and he didn't want them to know about their private way of communicating.

He received an "x" from her as he arrived in the parking lot and bent down to pretend to tie his shoe to text her back before hiding the phone again.

"Kid, Nichelle really wants to have you and Chris over. It's been a minute since we've seen her," Hondo said as he approached.

"I...I can ask, but there's a new girl at the safe house who needs a lot of attention. I've barely seen her," he lied. It was the least he could to help keep her cover. And it wasn't a complete lie; he hadn't seen her in 10 days since their night at the movie in the park. Not that he was counting.

"Is something going on? I mean, is she struggling with civilian life?" Hondo asked with a furrowed brow.

"She's...okay. I think there's just a lot more going on with the girls and this new way of life. Mama Pina is an exceptional woman," Street admitted. At least that much was true.

"I saw Mama Pina a few days ago. You brought her some really beautiful flowers," Hondo mused.

"That room at the hospice center needed some brightening up," he said casually and scratched his head. Street couldn't tell Hondo that he visited for Chris. She couldn't risk anyone finding her, since Mama Pina knew the truth about the operation to some extent. Street knew how much Chris cared about the woman and didn't want her to be alone as her health was steadily declining. He had suggested to the team that everyone should visit every once in a while to keep her company while Chris was still getting used to the safe house. In classic 20 Squad fashion, everyone visited in the last few weeks.

"You know, I was a little worried about you two dating, since I mean, no one is good enough for Chris, but you aren't half bad at this," Hondo admitted with a smile.

"Thanks...I guess?" Street replied tentatively.

"It's a complement. When you see your girl, tell her we say hi and to stop ghosting us," Hondo urged and put a hand on Street's back to guide him into HQ.

—————-

Street was walking down a hallway in HQ scrolling through intel on a tablet trying to help break the case.

"Come here," Hicks demanded looking at Street and walked into his office. Street followed his commander into the office and shut the door.

"Marie has an admirer," Hicks said and crossed his arms.

"That's...that's good, right?" Street asked.

"For this assignment maybe. I still don't understand the names, so why Nick and Marie?"

"Our first undercover assignment together, those were our names," Street replied with a small smile.

"Right...look, she told me about you being...your..." he began uncomfortably

"Our situation," Street assisted.

"Yes, that. Listen, I lost a buddy of mine on an undercover op, because he couldn't stay away from his girl, and it blew his cover. I'm not losing one of our best officers, because you two are in love," he said matter-of-factly.