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Chapter Text

Metro SWAT

Chapter 1: New Kid on the Block

“SWAT rules are someone from the team has to take me,” Luca reminded the team.

“No can do, Luca. I need my sleep,” Hondo said.

“Deacon?”

“New baby. No way, Man. Besides, you keep my kids up all night playing video games.”

“I have an idea. Let the new guy take him,” Street offered.

“When’s the new guy coming?”

“Should be here any minute,” Hondo said.

They all looked up as Mumford walked in. Beside him was a tall woman with her dark hair in a braid.

“Hondo,” Mumford said as he reached the team.

“Mumford.”

“This is Kinsey Evans. You’ve been waiting for her.”

Hondo tried not to hide his surprise. He, like everyone else on the team, had assumed that Kinsey Evans was male.

Regaining his composure, he extended his hand. “Welcome, Evans.”

“Thank you, Sir. Happy to be here.”

“I’ll leave you to make the introductions,” Mumford said as he stepped back and returned to his office.

“They’re a good bunch, but they’re also very passionate about everything. Right now, the debate is who is going to take Luca. His girlfriend broke
up with him, and the rule is someone on the team has to take him till he finds a new place.”

“And being the new kid, I’m going to have to take him, right?” she asked.

“They’re trying.”

“Is he that bad?”

“Not if you’re a night owl. He stays up all night playing video games.”

She sighed. “Can’t do it, Sir. My fiancé would kill me.”

"No one expects you to, Evans. We’ll work it out, don’t worry.”

They joined the rest of the team. He introduced Kinsey to the rest of the team. She noticed Street’s smug smile when Luca was introduced to her.

“It’s not happening, Street. She’s not taking Luca.”

“Didn’t say she had to, Hondo.”

“Someone has to take me. It’s the SWAT code,” Luca insisted.

“I’ll take him,” Kinsey found herself saying. “For one night, and one night only.”

“Has to be till I can find a place.”

“Only for tonight. If it’s any longer than that, my fiancé will have a cow. One night is the best I can do, Luca. And judging by the sound of things, that’s the best offer you’re going to get.”

“Forget it. I’ll sleep in the office,” he grumbled.

“Suit yourself. You’ll only be missing out on lasagna and garlic bread for dinner tonight.”

She noticed the looks passing between the rest of the team members and Luca.

“She cooks and she’s willing to take you. I think that’s an offer you can’t refuse, Luca,” Tan said.

“Yeah, but it’s only for tonight. Where am I going to go tomorrow night? Or the night after that?”

“Well, you could call your girlfriend and apologize. That way you can get your apartment back,” Deacon reminded.

“No way. I told her I’m married to SWAT. She knows that.”

“Yes, but she’s in your apartment, and you’re here trying to enforce the SWAT code. Just be easier to call her and apologize.”

“Not happening.”

They all looked up as Cortez entered the room.

“We have a situation,” she said.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Home Is Where The Heart Is

“Here you go. There’s extra blankets in the closet. Bathroom is through that door, and all of the stuff is in there—soap, shampoo, towels, washcloths, and toothpaste. I don’t have a spare toothbrush though,” Kinsey said to Luca as she showed him the guest room.
"I have a toothbrush. I have toothpaste too. I promise I won’t leave the bathroom a mess,” he said.

“I’m sorry you can’t stay for longer than tonight. My fiancé will have a cow if you do.”
“Speaking of Mr. Fiance, what does he do?”
Kinsey sighed. She didn’t want to delve into her personal life, and for a good reason. Once he found out who her father was, it would be broadcast throughout SWAT.
“He’s an Orthopedic Surgeon.”
Luca whistled. “Doctor’s wife. Impressive.”
“I’m not a doctor’s wife yet. And I knew him before he was a doctor.”
Luca bit into the apple he was holding. “How’d you meet?”
“We went to high school together.”
Luca chewed and nodded his head. “Cool.”

Kinsey started down the stairs and made her way into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and started pulling out vegetables. She washed her hands, then the vegetables and set them on a cutting board. She opened the fridge again and brought out ground meat and eggs.
“Need some help?” he offered.
“Could you make the salad for me? And peel some potatoes?”
“I can do that.”
“That would be a big help.”
“Not a problem. I like to cook.”
She washed her hands, dried them on a hand towel, and dumped the meat into a bowl. She took the onions and peppers that Luca had chopped and added them to the bowl, followed by an egg and bread crumbs.
“I love meatloaf,” he said.
“It’s John’s favorite.”
“Oh, so it’s John?”
She mixed the meatloaf.
“Yes, it’s John. He’s an orthopedic surgeon, and we met in high school. He has an older brother and two younger sisters. His Mom is a teacher and his Dad is a cop. And yes, he encouraged me to go to the Academy.”
“Wow, whole life story, except where he went to school.”
“UCLA. Stanford for Medical School and Residency.”
Just as Luca was about to say something, a Boxer dog wandered into the kitchen. Kinsey set the bowl out of reach, and washed her hands. After drying them, she bent down to greet the dog.
“Hey, Buddy,” she said as she gave him a hug.
Luca watched as the dog slapped his paw against her leg.
“I knew he’d come in to try and mooch whatever you were making for dinner,” came a voice from the doorway.
She looked up from the dog and smiled. “Hi, Honey.”
He walked into the kitchen and over to Luca. He extended his hand.
“You must be Luca.”
“Yeah. Dom Luca. Nice to meet you, John.”
The dog walked over to Luca and started sniffing.
“And this is Jo Jo. Short for Smokin’ Joe.”
Luca bent down and held out his hand to the dog. “Hi Smokin’ Joe.”
Joe placed his paw in Luca’s hand.
“Hold your hand up and he’ll give you a high five,” Kinsey said.
Luca held up his hand, and the paw was placed against his.
“Way cool. So, I have to ask---”
“After Smokin’ Joe Frasier,” Kinsey said before he could ask the question.
“John must be a boxing fan.”
“Actually, no, Kinsey is,” John said.
Luca looked at Kinsey.
“For real?”
“For real.”

Dinner finished, John and Luca cleared the table and stacked the dishwasher. Luca thought he was being a good guest. John explained that since it was Wednesday night, after dinner Kinsey took Smokin’ Joe for a walk and then left to go play pool in her pool league.
“Sounds like you two are always busy.”
“We are, but with different things. She plays pool. I golf.”
“I think all doctors golf.”
“Pretty much. I don’t know any that don’t.”
“Occupational hazard?”
“I guess so. We share a lot with Cops too. Especially the high divorce rate.”
Luca sighed. “Which is what led me to the current homeless problem. She wanted to get married.”
“And you didn’t?”
“I tell them all at the beginning I’m married to SWAT. They all think they can change that.”
John nodded and opened the fridge door. He brought out two bottles of beer and handed Luca one. “Like nurses. A lot of them go through school just to snag a doctor.”
“I know two like that.”
He rummaged around in the cupboards.
“She hides the junk food so I can’t find it. But you can’t watch a ball game without chips and beer.”
"Got that right.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 If Mama Ain’t Happy….

“Good Morning,” John greeted as he kissed Kinsey’s cheek and took the cup of coffee that she offered him.
“Morning,” she said as she turned her attention back to the coffee maker.
“Luca up yet?”
“Up and out the door half an hour ago,” he said
“I never heard him.”
“He left when you were in the shower. Said he had to get in early. I suspect it was just his excuse because we need to talk.”
She turned her head and looked at him.
“We need to talk? What about?”
He took a deep breath.
“This arrangement that you had with Luca. It was just for last night.”
“Yes. We discussed it, remember? It was only for one night.”
“Yeah, well, he’s going to be renting the spare room until he finds a new place.”
She looked at him. The air left her lungs. She felt like someone had kicked her in the chest. Hard.
“He’s what?” she managed to squeak out.
“He’s going to rent the spare room. Come on, Kins. What’s the big deal? He needs a place to stay.”
“The spare room is the Nursery,” she reminded.
“Yes, but you’re not pregnant.”
“Not yet. And what’s going to happen when I am and he’s still living in it?”
“Kins, we can’t throw him out on the street.”
“We don’t have to throw him out on the street. This city has like a million hotels where he can stay until he finds a place.”
“Come on, Honey, be reasonable. He has nowhere to go. He’s willing to pay rent. We’re not using the room---”
“—Yet,” she interrupted.
“I am being reasonable. You’re not! Don’t you realize that by him being here and renting our Nursery, we’re not going to have any privacy? And you’re going to get stuck listening to him and me talking shop all night. Did you ever think about that?”
She poured coffee into a commuter mug and snapped on a lid.
“I have to get in. I can’t be late.”
He looked at her. He knew she was pissed. He just didn’t understand why. He thought she would like having another member of her team around.
“All right. Have a good day. We can talk later,” he conceded.
“Oh, you can count on it,” she warned.
She grabbed her coffee and headed out the door.

She arrived at SWAT headquarters in time to hear Luca breaking the news that he would be renting a room at Kinsey’s house.
“She agreed to that?” Deacon asked.
“Well, not exactly. Her Fiancé and I worked it out during the ball game last night. She was at Pool.”
“They have a pool?” Street chimed in.
“Yes, Street, they have a pool, but that’s not what I meant. I meant she had Pool League last night.”
“She plays pool?”
“Yes, she does,” Kinsey said as she walked in. “And she’s damn good at it too.”
“Morning, Evans. Luca was just telling us he was going to rent a room from you and your Fiancé.”
“Apparently, he and John worked all of that out last night. I’m not privy to the information.”
She opened her locker door and slid her bag into it. “I’ll be in the gym.”
The rest of the team watched her head down the hall to the gym.
“If Mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy,” Hondo said as he looked at Luca.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

As the team watched Kinsey head to the gym, Tan shook his head.

"I get the feeling she’s pissed,” Street said.

All eyes turned to Hondo.

“I’ll go talk to her.”

Hondo found her in the gym, punching the hell out of the heavy bag. He caught it as she continued to punch.

“You know, I need your head in the game,” he said gently.

“My head’s always in the game, Sergeant Harrelson.”

“You just feel the need to beat something up?”

She stopped punching and glared at him.

“Look, I know you’re pissed. Just know that Luca doesn’t like to live by himself. He must like your Fiancé if he offered to rent a room in your house.”

She sighed and leaned against the bag.

“ Everybody likes my fiancé. Even his patients. But you don’t understand. The room he’s renting is the Nursery.”

He nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’m pissed at John, not Luca. We had an agreement, and he went and changed it behind my back. He springs this on me that Luca’s renting a room, and he expects me to be okay with it. I’m not okay with it. Not because Luca needs a place to stay, but because we didn’t talk about it. That’s not something that you decide on your own. You discuss it with your wife to be.”

“You weren’t home though. Luca said you had Pool League last night.”

“I did. And I got the impression that it was all decided before I got home last night.”

She punched the bag again.

“So, you go home tonight, you talk with John, and you get it all worked out.”

“You make it sound so easy. We both know it isn’t though.”

“Relationships never are.”

She leaned against the bag and dropped her gloves.

“For the record, I don’t bring my personal stuff into work. That’s why I’m here punching the hell out of this bag.”

"None of us do, but sometimes it happens. Just be ready when we go out on a call.”

He handed her her water bottle.

“I will be.” She looked over at him. “I know I’m new and all, but I really want to do a good job for you.”

“I appreciate that. Just remember we’re a team.”

“More like a family, and I feel like the redheaded stepchild.”

He smiled. “You’ll fit in in due time. You’ll see.”

“I hope so. SWAT has been my dream job since I was a kid using my slippers as holster holders.”

His eyes opened in surprise and stifled a laugh.

“What? They had the toes cut out. My brothers’ toy cap guns fit in them perfectly. When we were playing cops and robbers, I was always the cop.”

“And your brothers let you?”

They kind of had no choice. I threatened to squeal about them not eating their veggies and what they really did with them.”

“I have a feeling that I don’t want to know.”

She smiled. “Nothing bad. They just tossed them to the dog who was under the table. He would eat anything.”

He laughed. “Gotta love dogs.”

“I do. Have one.”

“Let me guess. Pit Bull?”

Her eyes widened. “No, but why do you think I’d own a pit bull?”

“I just have a feeling that you’re like one when you’re on to something.”

“That’s true. But no. I have a Boxer. Jo Jo.”

That’s an unusual name for a dog.”

That’s what I call him. His registered name is Heavyweight Smokin’ Joe. And before you ask, I’m the boxing fan, not John.”

“Interesting.”

“Don’t judge me too harshly.”

“I’m not judging you at all, Evans. When I do, it will be on your performance in the field.”

“That’s fair,” she agreed.