Chapter Text
Lucy has been undercover for 3 weeks already. She checks in everyday at 5 pm with either Angela or Nyla.
This op is taking longer than they had anticipated because the cartel's boss is smart. He's been avoiding radio communications; he's ordered a stop at street retaliation and Lucy is almost certain it's because he's got Intel that he's being watched by the LAPD and the feds.
While she's at their primary location, she pretends to use the bathroom and hides behind a door. The boss is in town and he's talking to one of his men "From now on, EVERYBODY is laying low, you hear me? I need time to do what I need to do and I can't do that with the entire LAPD on my back!!".
"What is he talking about? What does he want to do?" Lucy thinks. She can tell something is not right...
That's when she hears something that would change the course of the operation and shatter her beliefs.
"We've got a mole in our organization brother. I need to find out who it is before we advance with our plan." That's Pablo Hernandez aka the Big Boss.
"how do you know that? We are very careful with everyone who enters the family" answers James, his brother in law and right hand man.
"I've got my connections within the LAPD." Pablo says. " My contact just got that smug Bradford out of our way before he became a problem." He paused to light up a cigarette and continued "Ray took care of that for us".
Tim. They know about Tim. Someone set him up to get booted from Metro.
Lucy almost falls to the ground when she hears it. She decides to fall back and pretend like she just came from the bathroom.
She needs to tell Nyla and Angela. She needs to get to Tim. Her heart is pounding a mile per minute now. All she can think about is Tim. Her Tim.
From : Lucy Chen
To: Nyla Harper
We NEED to talk asap!!! Really important! Don't tell anyone!
*********************
Nyla is at the station with Angela, when she gets the text from Lucy. It's not 5 pm yet. The text sounds frantic. Something happened. Something that cannot wait.
She must've looked worried because Angela caught up to it " Spill it". Nyla could lie. She was good at it. But Angela wasn't someone you lied to. Plus she was in on the operation, so any updates, she needed to know.
"It's Lucy. She just texted saying we need to talk asap and that it's important". Angela immediately understands Nyla's concern " You think she's in trouble?"
"Who's in trouble?". Shit. Tim is standing behind them. Both women look at each other, exchanging thoughts without speaking.
"Screw it!!. If she's in trouble, he needs to know" blurts Angela. She had been in both of their shoes and one thing she knew for sure, is that you don't keep information like that from someone you love. Plus, Tim was always a valuable asset in any situation.
It didn't take much for Tim to understand Lucy was in trouble. Her UC op must have gone wrong. His blood was pumping in his veins and his heart was accelerating at the thought of Lucy being compromised in the op. Alone. No backup in immediate proximity. The knot in throat was tight.
"Calm down Tim. We don't know what's going on yet. She may not be in trouble at all. But she needs to meet with us." Nyla believed half of what she was telling Tim but she knew these ops too well. Lucy was in some kind of trouble. That's the only reason, she would check in 4 hours earlier than expected.
"I'm coming with" Tim responds and Angela shoots him a glare that could kill someone " Ange, don't give me that look right now. I'm going. I NEED to see her and know she's okay. And if she's not, I need to be help you get her out. So either you two take me with you to the meeting or I'm going after Lucy by myself. Either way, I'm going!" Tim was serious about it. Lucy was the single most important thing in his life. She was his life. If something happens to her, he would die. He knows it. And Angela and Nyla know it too, which is why they don't fight him back.
From: Nyla Harper
To: Lucy Chen
Okay... Meet me at Charlie's. Make sure no one sees you.
From: Lucy Chen
To: Nyla Harper
Not Charlie's !! It can't be anywhere near cop hangout spots.
That was odd. The 3 of them sensed something was truly off because why wouldn't Lucy want to meet in cops spots.
Angela immediately suggest her house. It was safe. And away from cops and other people.
From: Nyla Harper
To: Lucy Chen
Okay. Angela's place. It's safe there.
Lucy doesn't respond but they make their way to Angela's.
Tim was pacing back and forth in the living room, trying to organize his thoughts.
Gladly the kids were at daycare and Wesley was at his office.
They hear an engine shut off. It's Lucy.
She doesn't even knock and the door is opened.
She gets in and freezes when she sees Tim "What is he doing here ?! I said only you Nyla!!!" She says. And before she could complain, Tim interrupts " I was there when you texted her and there's no way in hell anyone was going to keep me from seeing you Lucy." His eyes were watering and he could care less. She was there. Alive.
Lucy feels her chest tightning and her face wet as tears start rolling down. She falls into his arms, aching for his embrace. He wraps her, holding her close and he could feel his shirt getting wet from her tears. "I'm not leaving you baby. Ever again!" He whispers. Lucy hates that he's been pulled into this but she loves feeling him again. It's been so long.
She wipes her tears and breaks away from him but reaches his hand. She needed to ground herself and Tim was the only person who could help her do that.
They sit in the couch and Lucy tells them everything. Just like she did when she first heard it, they were all shocked.
"So someone from our station has been working for these guys? It makes sense as to how they were always a step ahead" Angela points out.
Lucy looks at Tim. He was mad and confused. Someone used his past, his trauma to get him away from Metro.
"Pine" he finally says.
"Pine is the only person connected to all of this."
It finally clicks. She knew about his date night with Lucy. She must have figured about Ray. She used it to push away from Metro.
Lucy follows his train of thought and soon enough they realize, Pine wasn't the only one. There were more.
They all realized, this went deeper than they thought.
Who could they trust?