Inspirational music plays over an image of the American flag and the LAPD shield. Then it cuts to West standing in the station lobby, where he and Nolan are obviously filming a recruitment video.
"Good morning, Officer Nolan. Ready for another exciting day out on the streets of Los Angeles?" West asks
"Yep. Coffee?" Nolan then asks
"No, thanks, I get all the rush I need from making this beautiful city of ours safer every single day." West says and Chen enters with a smile
"And you will too if you join the LADP. I mean PD." Chen corrects
"Cut! Go again." The director yells and they do another take
"And you will too - Um, I'm sorry. What do I say again?" Lucy asks
"Cut!" The director yells again
"LAPD." Nolan and West both tell Lucy and they take another take
"Action." The director says
"I do too. And so will you if - as well if you join the LA ..." Chen says wandering off of what she was saying
"Cut!" The director yells again
"I need to spit out my gum." Nolan says and they take another take
"Action." The director says
"And that's why we joined the LAPD." Chen, Nolan, and West all say
The camera pulls back to show that the video is being shown on a screen in the briefing room to the assembled shift officers. Grey presses pause on the video amid laughter from the viewers.
"L.A.'s finest." Grey says
"Okay, guys, I know there were a few stumbles in there, yes, in the beginning, but this is Hollywood, right? They fix that stuff in the editing. I think this video's gonna make the department very proud." Nolan says
"Officer Bradford, would you like the honor?" Grey asks
"Actually, sir, I think that should go to Lopez - the whole thing was her idea." Tim says and I give him a look
"Lopez?" Grey asks me
"There is no promotional video." I say
"You got punked." Talia said and Grey brings out a bowl of popcorn and continues to play the video
"This sucks. I - This is awful." On screen Chen says
"No, you're doing good." Nolan says
"Can I get more powder? I'm sweating blocks." West says
"Can I get a copy of this for my kid?" Nolan asks
****
Jessica Russl\o speaks to a group of officers. She's wearing a suicide bomb vest and holding a detonator.
"We're all gonna die. Right here. Right now. This bomb is packed with C4, ball bearings, screws, broken glass. When this thing goes off, this whole room is gonna turn into a blender. And guess what. If you don't die instantly, you're gonna suffer fatal, secondary infections because I soaked the shrapnel in my own filth. Now, you've all been taught to shoot on sight when you see a bomber, right? But you can't shoot me, because I'm holding a dead man's switch. I let it go, it detonates. So your only shot at survival is to talk me into giving up. But you only have ten words to do it." She says then talks to West "Go."
"U-Um, ma'am, you you don't want to do this." West says
"Boom." Jessica says releasing the plunger on the detonator mockup then says "It's a slaughterhouse in here." She then turns to Chenand says "Go."
"Uh, my name is Lucy Chen, and -" Lucy starts but Jessica interrupts her
"Boom." Jessica says releasing the plunger again and says "They're IDing you through dental records."
Tim lunges forward to grab her.
"Boom." Jessica says releasing the plunger again and continues "You just got buried in a shoe box."
"I can only imagine the pain you're feeling right now." Nolan says
"You just got ten more words." Jessica says
****
Out of her vest and in street clothes, Russo addresses the cops.
"Okay, so what did you all do wrong? Officer West started mansplaining. Officer Chen wasted time by introducing herself. And Officer Bradford decided to skip words altogether." Jessica says
"They're overrated. If I'd been a hair quicker, you'd be singing my praises." Tim says
"But you weren't. So that means you fall into the fail category with everybody else except Officer Nolan. What did he do right?" Jessica asks
"He expressed empathy." Talia says
"You mean he faked it." Tim says
"It doesn't matter if it was real. The only thing that matters is how it comes across." Jessica says
"Active listening plus empathy leads to a rapport, which leads to influence and ultimately behavioral change." Nolan says
"Wow, you read my book." Jessica said to Nolan
"Twice." Nolan tells her
"Oh. Okay, well, I read your file. Actually, I read all of your files, but, um, nothing in your past indicates an ability to communicate with people like that. So why do you think that you're so good at it?" Jessica asks him
"Because of the training I received from Officer Bishop and Sergeant Grey." Nolan answers
"Boom." Jessica says making a button pushing gesture and continues "You just betrayed our trust by giving me a political answer. Our rapport is ruined, and this room is now a horror movie."
****
A fleet of patrol cars races up to the crash site, where a bus can be seen at the bottom of a hill, obviously damaged. One of the sheriff's deputies is staggering up to the road.
"Hey, what happened here?" Grey asks
"A coyote ran in front of the bus. Graham swerved. We went over." One of the sheriff's deputies say
"How many people on board?" Grey asks another question
"20 prisoners, two other guards." The deputy answers
"Did any prisoners get away?" Grey asks another
"I think so." The deputy answers
He starts to sway and Grey catches him on the way down.
"Whoa, whoa, hey." Grey says then turns to the cops and says "Hey, get down there! Get me a head count. Control, this is 7-L-20 at scene of crash."
"I got this one." West says after seeing a body
"I'm declaring a city-wide tactical alert. I need multiple RAs, scramble airships, and call additional units from Rampart and North Hollywood." Grey says
"He's dead." West tells him
"I need a hard perimeter set around the crash; assume a ten minute head start." Grey says
West, Nolan and I find our way to the bus, which is on its side with the windshield shattered. Weapons drawn, we proceed to check inside. Nolan sees some bushes moving near the site.
"I got something over here, 10:00." Nolan says to us
"Check it out, be careful." I tell them and then turned to the injured deputy and say "Don't move. An ambulance is on its way. Can you give me a sit rep?"
"Seven of them escaped. They got my keys, my gun. They went out through the windshield." The wounded deputy tells me
"All units, be advised, seven prisoners escaped from the bus. At least one is armed. Hang tight. We're gonna get you out of here, okay?" I tell him
****
"Where's Nolan?" West asks
"Officer Nolan, report." I say into the walkie talkie and me and West go to find him and soon we arrive at the scene
"Nolan? You okay?" I ask him
"Yes." Nolan answers
"Get control of him." I tell West
West cuffs the prisoner as Nolan looks sadly back at Graham's body.
****
"All units, possible fugitive sighting. Parking garage 19558 Sunset Boulevard." We hear dispatch say through the radio
Me and West arrive on scene and the valet comes running up to our shop.
"Guy in an orange jumpsuit took a bunch of keys, ran up the ramp." The Valet says
"7-Adam-07, show us Code 6 on fugitive suspect." I say
We park the shop sideways to prevent any cars from getting past them, then move along the rows of cars with their weapons drawn. I hear a car alarm chirp, then a sedan comes hurtling down the ramp and pulls up just in time to avoid hitting the patrol car. Me and West run up to the car.
"Police! Turn off the engine and get out of the car now! Show me your hands. Open the door from the outside. Get down on your stomach." I tell them
"What's your name?" West asks
"Oscar Hutchinson." Oscar answers
"Control, we have fugitive Hutchinson in custody." I say into the walkie talkie
"I was only running because I thought the bus was gonna explode." Oscar tells us
"Uh-huh, is that why you stole a car, too?" West asks
"I always loved driving. Ah, I've been locked up for decades. I was kind of hoping to get a little "me" time in before you guys caught me." Oscar says
"I hope it was enough, 'cause your sentence is only gonna get longer now." West tells him
"Oh, I'm in forever, son. Every moment out here is gravy." Oscar tells him
****
"Okay, great, then you and Officer Bishop can stay with me while everybody else runs down more obvious leads. Okay? All right, here we go." Russo says
West and I are processing Oscar Hutchinson.
"Grand theft auto? Really? I barely made it 100 yards." Oscar says
"There isn't a distance requirement. You stole a car, which means we gotta process you before we ship you back to prison." I tell him
"Hey, I'm not complaining. This place is like the Ritz compared to Victorville." Oscar says
"Get him squared away while I contact the Sheriff's Department about procedure." I tell West
I leave the room and West takes charge of Oscar.
****
"Hey, uh - you think I've changed since you've met me?" Tim asks me
"You got more annoying." I answer
"I'm serious. Have I changed at all?" Tim asks again but more seriously
"Sure." I answer once again
"How? What do you mean?" Tim asks
"You're older. What you went through with Isabel certainly changed you." I tell him
"Made me different, or just made me more - me?" Tim asks
"What's this about?" I ask him confused why he is asking all these questions out of the blue
"Just wondering if I've been treading water a little you know, not challenging myself." Tim says
"Since when does Tim Bradford do introspection?" I ask him
"Never mind." Tim says and Chen comes up with coffees
"Hey. We got a plan of action to find Marcos?" Chen asks
"Hit the streets, sweat some more of his people." TIm says then turns to me and says "I'll see you later."
"Hey, Bradford. You've also gotten dumber. Does that count?" I ask him and leave
****
A sheriff's van is waiting to transport prisoners. West comes in with Oscar.
"Tell your old man I said hi." Oscar says
"Yeah, I don't think I will." West says
"Why? You afraid of what he might say?" Oscar asks
"Nope, I just don't want to bother him with a bunch of nonsense." West says
"Oh, you don't believe me. That's cool. Every kid should worship their dad. But if you want to find out the truth about him, read my file." Oscar says and West comes over to me
"What was that about?" I ask West
"Nothing - I hope." West says
****
When I get home, I notice that Angela is not downstairs so I know that she is in her room probably asleep. After taking my shoes off and putting my keys in that bowl by the door I go into the kitchen and get something to eat and look through my phone trying to clear storage out of my phone.
I have gone through apps I no longer use and I am looking through photos from the first photos I have taken to now and while I am looking at photos from the past I see a photo of me and James before we got married and I save it and soon I run into a photo of us at his family's house in a group photo and save that photo. And the last photo I find of me and James is on our wedding day and I save it planning to print the photos out and delete the ones on my phone.
Continuing on looking through my photos, I am on photos that were more recent and see a photo of me and Wesley from our first date then after that photo I saw a video he does not know I have of him eating food and sauce being all over his mouth and he goes to grab a drink but dumps his drink all over himself and when I hear my laugh I know this is when he saw that I was videoing.
And the last video I see of Wesley is the second date when he was talking smart stuff about being a lawyer then I see a photo of me and him kissing under the moonlight that I asked someone to take but it turned into a kissing photo instead of a normal photo. I smile at that photo and save it along with the other videos and turn my phone off and go up to my room after putting my dirty dish in the sink after rinsing it.
When I get to my room I decide to reorganize it and pack up things I no longer want in here to remember me of James after 3 years.
I had boxes in my room for whenever I move out of my sisters and start packing everything that has James involved and I almost have everything except the photo on my nightstand. When grab that photo I remember how it was our first date and everything was going down because of me getting soaked by the rain along with James and having to run to get under something to not get more wet but it was still awesome and that was when I knew that I wanted to marry him.
After looking at the photo I put it in the box and look around one more time and don't find anything else of James when I hear someone behind me.
"Packing up everything of James?" Angela asks me
"Yup. Its time to let him go now, can't hold onto him after three years anymore or else I won't ever fully move on." I tell her looking at my room
"Do you want help?" Angela asks
"I think I got everything." I tell her and she smirks at me
"Sis, I have known you our whole life. What is in that box right now, is not everything of James." Angela says and looks in the closet finding some of James clothes
"Whoops. To be honest I did forget I had some of his clothes in there." I tell her and she gives me a look "What I am serious I totally forgot about those being in there because I open the other side for clothes in the morning and my shoes are on the same side with my clothes."
She grabs his clothes and does one more check just in case because she knows me and finds nothing else.
We stand in my room looking at it and a tear falls down my cheek and I know that I am finally moving on.
"Do you want to help me reorganize my room and order new things for my room?" I ask Angela and she smiles at me
"Yeah, I would love to." She says and we got to work and after 1-2 hours we were done with getting rid of the things I will no longer use except the bed because I am ordering a new bedding and everything for a bed.
"Well, one last thing even if we are not on talking terms right now." I say and after getting the printed photo from our photo printer I put it in a frame and set it on m nightstand
The photo is of me and Wesley kissing under the moonlight after a long night out and I smile at it and me and Angela look at it and before I go to sleep I look at the photo and smile happy I am moving on after everything that has happened.