The Good and the Bad

Stepping Stone

Chapter Twenty-Five

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Scout's fingers tapped against the steering wheel of her car, copying the beat of the song coming over the radio as she drove towards the 21st precinct for her first day of work. As she pulled up to a red light she couldn't help but glance up at the drawing she had taped to her visor. The corners of her lips flickered upwards at the sight of her older son's latest drawing.

Her attention was pulled away from the drawing by the sound of her phone ringing. She quickly turned down the radio before accepting the call and putting it on speaker.

"You do realize that you can't call me for updates about 51 anymore, right?" Scout teased the moment the call connected.

"No but I can start bothering you to make sure my brother isn't doing anything to get his dumb ass killed." Gaby quickly countered as her voice filled the car.

"Please," Scout scoffed at the light turned green, allowing her to continue on her way. "You and I both know Antonio's not the one you're worrying about pulling that shit."

"True. You were the one that ran into a burning building during a hostage situation." Gaby recalled last week's events. At the reminder of one of her last calls on the job, Scout absentmindedly brought one of her hands to her face. Her fingers lightly tracing over the greenish-yellow bruise that painted the right side of her jaw. "Would it be too much for me to ask that you avoid running into gunfire on your first day?"

"Eh, we'll see how the day plays out." Scout offered, only earning a groan from the other end of the line. "So what's up? I know you didn't call me to wish me luck."

"I was actually wondering if Matt had talked to you recently," Gaby admitted, her words causing the other woman's brows to furrow.

"We saw each other on Friday. He came over for dinner so I could tell him about the job switch," Scout told her. "Though I'm gonna guess that's not what you were hoping he talked to me about?"

"It's nothing," Gaby tried to brush it off.

"Gaby," Scout frowned as she pulled into the parking lot at the precinct. She found an empty space with ease, allowing her to turn off her car and turn her full attention to the call. "What's going on? Is something wrong with Matt?"

"It's nothing," Gaby insisted. "He's fine, Scout. And the last thing he'd want you doing today is getting distracted on the job by worrying about him. You've got some ass to kick, right?"

"When you put it like that you make me sound like I have anger problems." Scout joked, mentally making a note to talk to Matt after work to try and figure out what was going on.

"Oh, of course not." Gaby drew the words out, unable to keep herself from laughing. "It's not like you make a habit of pulling your gun on people."

"Only in self defense," Scout clarified. "I should probably head inside. But don't hesitate to call me if anything pops up, okay?"

"Got it," Gaby promised. "I'll call you later and see how things went. Love ya."

"Love ya too," Scout said before ending the call. A small sigh escaped her lips as she started to climb out of her car, pocketing her phone and grabbing her bag out of the passenger's seat in the process.

"There she is!" She spun around at the sound of Antonio's voice, spotting the man climbing out of his own car with a drink holder in hand. A large grin filled both of their faces as she made her way over to him, allowing him to wrap her in a one-armed hug before they headed around the side of the building together. "You ready?"