Chapter Text
“Settle down, settle down,” Sergeant Grey commands as the bustle and noise of the roll call room settles into silence.
Taking her normal seat next to Nolan, Lucy glances up to Tim, standing by Grey’s side, helping to lead the meeting in his role as sergeant, a position he’d proudly accepted, and she proudly but privately celebrated, just a few months prior. Not surprisingly, he’s staring right at her, lips quirking up into a slight, crooked smile as Grey starts the meeting. They always seem to know how to find each other in a crowded room. She beams her best smile back at him, the one she saves for him every morning, partially because she knows her relentless optimism annoys him, especially at the start of shift when he hadn’t had his optimal amount of coffee, but also because smiling just comes naturally when she sees him. The fact that the grumpiest member of the LAPD made her smile the most nowadays should freak her out a little and sometimes it does but she pushes that back with the other feelings that come out when she’s around him, which is a lot. Like the butterflies that appear when he walks over to her with a cup of her favorite coffee in his hand or when his eyes seek her out in a crowded room, always acknowledging her presence before anyone else’s. She’d been feeling some kind of way for Tim Bradford for a while, and it wasn’t just because of the way his biceps stretched his uniform shirt, although that didn’t hurt. It was more that he had layers, many, many layers and the more she peeled them back, the more he revealed to her, the more she felt her insides warm up.
Rolling his eyes at her and tipping his chin down in greeting, he turns his attention towards Grey, who was posing a question while holding up a mini candy cane.
“Can anyone tell me what the Lone Star State is?”
Lucy enthusiastically raises her hand and Gray nods towards her, “Officer Chen?”
“Texas, sir,”
“Very good,” he announces, tossing the candy cane her way, She eagerly catches it, shifting her eyes once again to Tim, a look of amusement on his face.
“And can anyone tell me what the most serious threat to the infrastructure in this country is?”
Without raising her hand, Nyla answers from the back, “That would be cyberattacks, sir.”
“Very good Detective Harper,” Grey praises, tossing a candy cane over to her. She effortlessly catches it and Lucy only hopes she could ever be that cool.
“Cyber threats have become the new focus of the top brass and they want to make sure all levels of the department have some sort of cybersecurity training. That means that two people here today get an all expense paid trip to the Cybersecurity Conference in San Antonio this weekend.”
The room once again descends into chatter as both Tim and Grey fight to reign in their attention.
Nolan raises his hand, “So who’s going sir?”
“I’m glad you asked Officer Nolan, and no, it’s not you. You have a rookie to train.”
Next to Lucy, Celina shrugs, offering Nolan a sheepish grin. Lucy was starting to love Nolan’s new rookie and her hippie dippie ways. She ventured a little on the crunchy side too and Celina was teaching her all kinds of new ways to interpret horoscopes and read auras and moods. Plus, it irritated Tim six ways to Sunday when she spouted off her new knowledge and read and interpreted his horoscope when they were in the shop together and he couldn’t get away from her.
“Our lucky participants will be Sergeant Bradford and Officer Chen.”
Lucy couldn’t contain her excitement as she let out a small squeal while simultaneously Tim let out an exasperated, “Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m joking Sergeant Bradford,” Grey deadpans and Tim shakes his head.
“Why us?” Tim asks and Lucy thinks the same thing, she hardly shares the rank or experience of anyone else in the room.
“Stick around after the meeting to find out and get the logistics.” Grey answers before quickly dismissing the rest of the group.
Lucy leaves her table and walks over to the front, taking her usual spot next to Tim. He unconsciously takes a step closer to her, invading her personal space like he always has, finding a way to be in her orbit like he has ever since she was his rookie. They have a shorthand for doing things, communicating often without words. They’ve always pushed past each other’s boundaries, but lately she’d been noticing it more, sitting closer together at lunch or pressing his arm against her when they were side by side doing paperwork. Maybe it was just a comfort thing, they’d worked so closely together for so long and now that she was his aide, they were continuing their partnership but that didn’t stop the jolt she felt every time they touched.
“Sir, did I do something you didn’t like in the past week?” Tim asks, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling. Lucy stands next to him, taking an inverse pose of arms clasped behind her back, a huge grin on her face, open to what Grey has to tell them.
“Now why would you think that, Sergeant Bradford? Is there something I need to know about?” Grey gives Tim a questioning look and Tim stays silent so he goes on, “I picked you two because it’s a quick turnaround and I need people who aren’t tied down with families and other things. Plus, you guys work well together and I figured a little vacation wouldn’t hurt either of you.”
“Thank you so much, sir,” Lucy gushes as Tim lets out an annoyed sigh.
“So we really can’t say no, can we?” Tim grouses out and Lucy elbows his side.
Raising his eyebrows at them, Grey shakes his head, “Unless you feel like disappointing some other colleagues who have to rearrange child care and the like or letting down the top brass.”
Tim scowls harder as Grey continues.
“Of course, I could also send Chen and have someone else go with her.” Lucy feels a pang of disappointment go through her at his words but tries to keep her face neutral.
“No, I’ll go,” Tim says quickly, flicking his eyes down to Lucy and she leans into him slightly, tilting her head up to him and giving him another thousand watt smile.
“Then it’s settled, enjoy your vacation down to the lone star state and be ready to present what you’ve learned during roll call when you get back. Further details to come later today”
With those words, Grey dismisses them and Lucy gives Tim one last bright smile before bouncing off to get war bags, envisioning him stomping away behind her, growling about having to attend the conference.
Their plane leaves early Friday and Tim offers to pick her up at her apartment so they can drive together. Knowing that Tim would be exactly on time and even though she likes poking the bear at times, Lucy had packed the night before and set her alarm extra early because when it came to punctuality, she knew he didn’t mess around.
“And you’re excited about this trip, why?” Tamara had asked the evening before, while she watched Lucy pack and munched on the gingerbread cookies Lucy had baked earlier that evening, “Aren’t you just working but in a different city?”
“Part of it will be work, but we’ll have some down time. I’m excited to sight see, I’ve never been to Texas.”
“But with Tim? The grumpiest human on the planet? He’ll probably just want to hang out in his hotel room and watch sports and brood.”
“He’s not that bad.”
Tamara gives her a look, “He is that bad. I don’t think I’ve seen the man smile.”
“He has a great smile,” Lucy doesn’t know why felt like she had to defend him but she did.
Tamara leans forward, pointing the headless cookie at her accusingly, “You like him.”
“What?” Lucy sputters, a flush crawling up her neck, “I mean, of course I like him, he’s my friend, and we ride together.”
“No, you like LIKE him,” throwing herself back on the bed dramatically she continues, “Oh my god, I should have noticed this from the beginning, it’s so obvious, you are so in love with Officer Zaddy.”
“I am not,” Lucy throws a pillow at her and it only make Tamara start to giggle hysterically, “We’re just friends..and work partners, I mean, I’m his aide and he’s my superior, I mean, he’s the sergeant-”
She doesn’t know why she’s getting so tongue tied but she is and she knows she’s blushing, she can feel the heat rising up her neck.
Tamara sits up, “There’s nothing wrong with it Lucy, you’re both adults. And it’s so obvious he feels the same way about you.”
Lucy freezes, her toiletry bag in hand as she gapes at Tamara, “What?”
“Yeah, you’ve never noticed the way he looks at you?”
“You mean the permanent eye roll he has every time I speak?”
“No, the man looks at you like you are the greatest thing in the world, like you are the literal sun, he’s been crushing on you so hard since the first time I met you guys. I mean, you were his rookie then and he’s like honorable and all so I knew he wouldn’t do anything but I figured he would have at least asked you out by now.”
Lucy stays silent, not sure of what to say. Did Tim have a crush on her? Did he like her like that? Their relationship was definitely deeper than a friendship but she never in a million years thought that he felt anything romantic towards her, plus he was with Ashley and she had only just broken up with Chris.
“Well, since you guys are forced to go, maybe you can make the most of it.”
“He has a girlfriend,” Tamara shrugs her shoulders and makes a face that says so what, “Technically, he had an out and Grey said they could find someone else but he insisted on going with me.”
Tamara falls back on the bed again, kicking her legs out like a toddler, “Oh my god, you are so going to have a Christmas love trip,” she squeals.
The next morning, in true Tim fashion, he was right on time and Lucy was waiting for him in front of her apartment, sitting on her suitcase.
He rounds the front of his truck with a coffee in one hand and a bag from Nevin’s in the other.
“What’s this?” she asks, standing up as he hands them to her.
Shrugging, he picks up her luggage and effortlessly toses it into the backseat before opening the passenger door for her.
The bag contains her favorite, a chocolate croissant and she hums in delight when she bites into it then takes a sip of coffee. Looking over at Tim, she swears she sees a ghost of a smile play on his lips as he watches her for a second and then starts the truck, grabbing his own cup of coffee and taking a sip.
The early hour makes the drive to the airport fairly quick and they easily clear security and find seats near their gate. Lucy leaves Tim to guard their stuff while she visits the various stores and kiosks to begin her flight ritual.
Returning to their seats armed with two huge bottles of water and a gossip magazine, she plops down next to Tim, who’s watching sports videos on his phone.
“What’s all this boot?” he asks, peering over at her.
“Water and entertainment for the flight. And I’m not your boot anymore. I’m going to go grab a breakfast sandwich, do you want me to get you one?”
He knits his eyebrows together in confusion, “You just ate.”
Now it’s her turn to roll her eyes, “Yeah but we have another hour before the flight and a three hour flight to Texas plus travel time to our hotel. We’ll be starving if we don't eat now. You’re already grumpy enough for the both of us, you don’t need me to be hangry as well.”
He sighs and reaches into his belt for his money clip, pulling off a twenty and handing it to her. She gives him a questioning look.
One side of his mouth quirks upwards, “My treat, wouldn’t want you to be hangry.”
She grabs the twenty and their fingers brush, a palpable spark igniting between them and she thinks he feels it too because he swallows thickly and moves his eyes towards hers, staring for a moment before looking away and letting go of the money.
Sandwiches eaten and enough content downloaded to entertain her through the flight, the hour quickly passes and they ready themselves to be called for boarding. Tim grows increasingly restless as the minutes tick by and the first boarding group gets called. She notices his right leg bouncing nervously as he fidgets with his phone.
“What’s wrong?” She had never seen him like this.
“Nothing,” he mumbles, wiping his hand down his pants.
“Are you nervous?” She asks, glancing from his legs to his face where she sees a tiny bead of sweat coming down. Suddenly it dawns on her, “Oh my God, you’re a nervous flier!”
“I am not.” He sounds particularly offended.
“Wow, tough guy Tim Bradford is afraid of flying.” She chuckles as their boarding group gets called. Glaring at her, he pockets his phone and wordlessly walks over to the gate.
Once on the plane, Tim stows her luggage away for her without even being asked to and motions for her to take the window seat, positioning himself in the middle seat as an older man sits on his other side. His agitation doesn’t seem to abide as the flight attendants run through the pre-flight safety checklist and the plane taxis and he doesn’t even make a comment when she pulls a neck pillow out of her bag. He just grips the hand rest next to her so hard his knuckles turn white and she almost starts to tease him when she glances up at his face and sees the grimace.
“Tim, you really have it bad don’t you,” he opens one eye to look at her, “Haven’t you flown plenty of times? I mean, you were in the military.”
“Yeah and the majority of those times, I was flying off to a warzone.” Lucy lets her mind wander to what the young Tim Bradford was like, barely out of high school, dressed in his fatigues, heading off to a foreign land to fight for his country.
“This isn’t a very long flight and the weather’s good.”
“I just don’t like the idea of being stuck in a metal tube with two people in charge who aren’t me.”
“You are such a control freak,” Lucy sighs.
His breathing remains heavy as the plane takes off, bumping a little and before she can talk herself out of it, she places her hand over his on the armrest, gently prying his stiff fingers off it. To her surprise, he turns his hand over and their palms press together, fingers flexing to entwine in hers. Instantly she feels him relax, sagging slightly against her as the plane continues to climb. She leans against him, taking in his cologne and some other scent she can’t recognize, sharp and manly, the essence of Tim himself. He’s hunched over a bit and his head rests on her shoulder and she can’t resist resting her own head on his just slightly, the intimacy of their closeness leaving her spinning a little off kilter.
She feels his hand tighten as the climb hits a few bumps and sees that he's breathing in and out through his nostrils, face looking a little gray.
“Tim, is there anything I can do to help you?”
“Talk to me,” he grits out through clenched teeth.
Nodding, she starts spouting off the research she’s done on San Antonio over the past couple of days, “You know, we’re heading to a super historical city, I started reading up on it when Grey told us we were heading here. It actually has a similar history to LA, Spanish missions and all. We definitely need to visit the Alamo and take a riverboat to see the Christmas lights. Did you know they actually built the riverwalk as a relief project during the depression and it’s controlled by these gates so it never floods. The hotel we’re at is actually on the river so I’m kind of excited about that, I hope I get a room that faces the river.”
Finally when the plane starts coasting, Tim straightens up and she feels cold with the lack of his weight on her. Nervously she shifts over and moves her hand away from his while he mouths a silent thanks, his eyes fixed on hers, looking brilliantly blue in the light coming in from the window.
He smiles, one of the rare ones that’s big and crinkles the skin around his eyes, and shakes his head. Lucy’s eyebrow arches with a silent question at his expression.
“You are such a nerd.” he laughs, and her mouth drops open in offense, “You probably have the whole conference itinerary memorized too.”
She scoffs but then turns to him again, “Actually, I do. The keynote speech is this afternoon and then there’s a reception. Tomorrow is when the bulk of the presentations are…” She trails off as she catches his amused expression.
Shoving him she tries to hide her smile but fails and they settle in for the flight.
Lucy immediately loses herself in a Hallmark Christmas movie she’d downloaded, positioning her neck pillow around her and before she knows it, the flight attendants are taking drink orders and passing out snacks.
Tim nudges her when it’s her turn and she asks for a plain coke, turning off her headphones with a tap while she orders. She’s about to turn them back on when she hears Tim and the man next to him start a conversation.
“I heard you two talking about the conference, are you in law enforcement?”
“Yes sir, LAPD,” Tim answers, offering his hand, “Sergeant Tim Bradford.”
“Agent Micheal Feiden, FBI” the man says and the two shake, “Is your girlfriend law enforcement too?”
Tim shifts uncomfortably next to her and Lucy keeps her eyes trained on her phone, pretending to watch the movie but waiting to hear Tim’s reaction.
“She’s, uh, not my girlfriend, she’s my aide. I mean, yeah, she’s in law enforcement.” Tim stutters his answer and Lucy tries to not smile.
“Oh, sorry, you two seemed really comfortable around each other.”
“We are, I mean, we’ve worked closely for a while, she was my rookie. We’ve been through a lot together. But we’re just friends?”
His voice tilts up and the last word sounds like a question and Agent Feiden makes a noise that almost sounds like disbelief at Tim’s answer. Lucy can’t help the blush rising to her cheeks. She waits for Tim to say he actually has a girlfriend who is not here but he doesn’t and she wonders why.
Once the chips and drinks are passed out, Lucy takes out her headphones and looks over at Tim.
“Did Ashley say anything about you having to suddenly leave this weekend?”
He takes a drink of his sprite and sets the glass down, spinning it around before answering, “We broke up, a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t really a big deal, it wasn’t working out anyway. Honestly, I think having a cop for a father really made her not want to date cops at all. It was fun while it lasted but we didn’t really have much in common. What about Chris? How’d he take it?”
Now it’s Lucy’s turn to look down and fidget with her drink, taking a deep breath before answering, “I broke up with him last week, after the trial prep.” She can’t stop the small shake in her voice and she knows Tim notices it.
“Why, did something happen?”
Yes, Lucy thinks, remembering the sick feeling in her stomach when Chris had hummed the song. She hadn’t told Tim about it, afraid of what his reaction would be. Tim had pulled her from the barrel and she knows he watched the footage because he’d told her he did but he’d never done anything like that. He would never even bring it up, ever since he gave her the most inspiring pep talk of her life and tossed her ring back to her, giving her the realization that it was him who’d pulled her from the barrel. In fact, he’d seen the live feed, had watched her die and then brought her back to life, pushing everyone away and desperately performing CPR on her. After watching all the trial prep videos she’d realized just how huge of a part he’d played in her ordeal. The fact that Chris could consciously or unconsciously hum that song in her presence, or even stand to think about that song without feeling physically ill made her question everything about him and their relationship. The other thing was that it was dredging up painful memories about her abduction and the barrel and the fact that Chris had always asked her all these questions about why it happened, bringing up her insecurities about the violence done to her and why she was chosen. Tim had never done that, not in the hospital room the next morning or anytime since then, he’d always treated her like a fighter, like it wasn’t her fault that it happened and it was just another way that he made her feel safe, just by being around him.
Then there were his weird little digs at her job and Tim, and their partnership, especially since he’d sat through that disastrous first date with her, Tim and Ashley. She’d thought about blocking his number but so far the texts had tapered off and she was glad to put a few thousand miles between them.
Deciding that a cramped airplane probably isn't the best place to tell Tim something that would make him go nuclear, she just shrugs, “I just didn’t really like a lot of things about him so I broke it off a few days ago.”
Tim looks like he wants to say more but then the plane hits a spot of turbulence and his face goes pale and he grabs Lucy’s hand again, not saying a word as she entwines her fingers in his while the shaking passes.
The rest of the flight passes smoothly and when they land, Lucy sees the final bit of tension leave Tim’s face as they make plans to meet with Agent Feiden later and exit the plane.
Their hotel, a Marriott, is right on the river and steps aways from the mall and riverboats. Lucy is practically vibrating with joy at the location while Tim looks as grumpy as ever at the fact that they are here and not out on patrol.
“Ooh, look, there's a river boat parade tomorrow with a Christmas concert.” she reads on her phone, scrolling through information.
“Hard pass,” he bites out, shifting his bag to his other arm.
Undeterred, she continues scrolling, making note of various sights and activities when her text banner alerts her to an incoming text and she takes a sharp intake of breath when she sees it’s from Chris.
Lucy, I miss you, how many times do I have to say I’m sorry. Can I pick you up at work and take you to dinner?
Tim looks down at her, a puzzled expression on his face and she tries to play it off, but her eyes narrow at Chris’s unwanted persistence.
Angling her phone away from Tim’s prying eyes, she quickly texts back.
Sorry, can’t, out of town
Luckily they reach the front desk and start the check in process for their room. Tim leans over and his face changes into a smarmy smile as Lucy curiously notes his change in demeanor.
“Constanza, hey, that’s a nice name.”
Was he flirting? Lucy is enthralled but absolutely not jealous at all, not in the slightest bit, it’s just that she’s never seen him like this.
The clerk is flustered, taking in Tim’s blue eyes and casual smile, “Thanks, I see you guys are here for the conference.”
“Yeah, and the thing is, my colleague has never been here before and I was hoping you could make sure her room faces the river. I know it’s a busy weekend and all but it would make her happy and that would really make me happy.”
Lucy tries to not to gape at him as he gives her a quick wink while the clerk types into her computer.
“We actually have one room left and I can accommodate you on the same floor, officer-”
“Sergeant,” Tim interrupts and the woman stops typing for a brief second, looking at him through long eyelashes before smiling coquettishly and continuing with her work. Lucy would gag if he wasn’t doing it for her benefit.
“You’re all set,” she says, handing them room cards, “Maybe I’ll see you later?” There’s a hopeful tone in her voice and Lucy feels the jealousy rise up again as Tim smiles and nods, taking the keys and handing one to her. He was most certainly welcome to hang out with this women, it wasn’t like they were here to socialize with each other, it was a work thing and he’d already expressed his displeasure with the stuff she wanted to do.
“Thanks,” she murmurs, as they get on the elevator and he gives her a nonchalant wave of his hand, embodying that it was not a problem at all to specially request that she get the room she wanted.
Once on their floor, they reach her room quickly and she places her hand on the door handle, not sure if he’s going to wait until she’s inside before heading to his room.
“I’m just going to freshen up and then get ready to head down. You don’t have to wait for me if you want to go ahead.”
“I’ll wait for you Lucy,” He turns and starts walking down the hall, “Text when you’re ready.”
Checking the itinerary again even though she’s mostly committed it to memory, she sees that she has an hour to change and get ready so she heads over to the window to take in the view. It’s nice, looking down at the river and seeing the bustle of people passing back and forth. Snapping a selfie with the view she sends it to Tim and locks her phone, dropping it on the bed to get ready.
Two text notifications wait for her when she’s done, one from Tim indicating that he hearted, not liked, hearted her photo. She smiles but it quickly fades when she sees a reply from Chris asking her where she is. Ignoring it she texts Tim letting him know she’s ready to head down to the conference and he texts back quickly, letting her know he’s already downstairs. Pulling on a blazer, she heads out, an uneasy feeling building in her mind about Chris’s continued texts.
Tim’s at the bar area when she reaches the lobby, looking effortlessly handsome in a white henley and a leather jacket and her heart skips a beat. She notes that he’s alone, no flirty front desk clerks in sight and smiles widely, heading towards him.