Chapter Text
“Do we drive separately? Should I get there a few minutes before you?” Lucy asks nervously as she scrambles around her apartment searching for her car keys. Despite the fact that she secretly enjoyed the initial attention, she wasn’t looking forward to the everlasting whispers and lectures she knew they were about to face.
Tim, who has been holding out her car keys for the last thirty seconds, smiles calmly as he walks over to her. “Here.”
“Ugh, thanks babe. My brain doesn’t function in the morning,” she lets out a sigh of relief as he slips the keyring onto her finger. “So back to the question: do we go in separately and hope that everyone’s forgotten by now?”
“Luce, the entire station took bets on our breakup for weeks. I doubt that they’ve forgotten about the post in the last twelve hours. Let’s just go together”
“You’re right,” she concedes, relaxing her shoulders for the first time all morning. “What would I do without you?”
“Succumb to anxiety?” Lucy rolls her eyes, but deep down she knows that Tim is right. Without him, her mind would be in a never-ending spiral.
Through the entire fifteen minute drive to the station, Lucy runs through every single scenario they were about to face. She prepares a response to almost every possible intrusive question the nosy cops will ask, and practices her speech to Sergeant Grey.
Lucy sucks in her stomach as Tim pulls in the parking lot, soaking up the last moment they will have alone. Once they walk into the station, they’ll lose these last couple weeks of peace. She reminds herself of the beauty that comes with sharing your relationship with loved ones, though it’s hardly convincing.
Like the true gentleman he has become, Tim swings around his truck and opens the passenger side door, holding his hand out for Lucy as she joins him on the pavement.
“Ready?” he asks with a dashing smile, and she responds with a weak nod.
She isn’t exactly sure why she’s so nervous. As much as Lucy liked to preach the importance of individuality, she oftentimes found herself chronically seeking the approval of others. In her defense, no one enjoys being talked about, especially in a negative light.
However, she doesn’t exactly have time to fall into her usual whirlwind of anxiety.
“Hello lovebirds,” a voice calls out behind them.
“Angela,” Tim sighs before he’s even fully turned around. He knew that he could only avoid his (self-proclaimed) BFF for so long.
“So how long has this been happening?” Angela squints her eyes as she points back and forth between the couple, who are standing awkwardly as the pair of detectives observe their body language.
“Wow, not even a hello?” Tim scoffs jokingly, trying to blow Angela off.
“Nope, liars don’t deserve a hello.” Angela scans her friends once more and shakes her head. “3 weeks, give or take a couple days?”
“How did you-” Lucy mummers, equally confused and impressed.
“I’ve been watching you both walk into work wearing the same outfits you left in the night before for weeks. I swear I’ve seen Lucy in Tim’s jackets, and the amount of biting remarks Tim has shot my way has significantly decreased,” she pauses and takes a deep breath. “I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, because I thought you trusted me but…”
“Angela, come on. It’s not like tha-” Tim begins, but she’s already brushed past him before he can finish his sentence.
“Do you think she’s actually mad?” Lucy whispers as they head inside. Her grip on the bag slung around her shoulder is tight, as if it’ll block out the stares they’re about to endure.
“I doubt it. She’ll be over it by lunch,” he affirms, and Lucy nods her head.
In all honesty, she’s not only nervous about the opinions of her coworkers, whom she’s come to deeply respect over the past few years. Lucy is secretly dreading the fact that she now has to share her relationship with Tim, and Angela was unintentionally her first obstacle. Now that they had rekindled their relationship, people would constantly be in their business, even if they meant well.
“Here goes nothing,” she begrudgingly says as she swings the station doors open.
And it’s as if the world stops moving when the couple steps foot inside the police station. The endless chatter and footsteps quickly cease, drawing immediate attention to Lucy and Tim, who have just entered work together for the first time in months.
Lucy isn’t sure if she should play into the dramatics, or avoid everyone and make a beeline for the locker rooms. Luckily, Tim chooses for her: he brings his arm to her side and wraps his fingers around her cold hand. It’s a small gesture, but a drastic declaration, especially for Tim “no PDA” Bradford.
He gives her a quick nod before guiding her across the bullpen, dropping her off at the women's locker room. She quickly prays that it’s empty, and is immediately relieved to find only Celina behind the door.
Celina, of course, was the only other individual outside of Lucy and Tim to possess any knowledge regarding their relationship. After Tamara’s quick realizations the first time around, Lucy learned that keeping something of that magnitude from a roommate was nearly impossible, and oftentimes used Celina to her advantage. The rookie never hesitated to cover for Lucy, or bring a fresh pair of clothes to the station after she spent the night out. For that, Lucy was eternally grateful.
“Hey, late morning?” Celina asks as she brushes a piece of lint off of her white undershirt.
“We procrastinated leaving this morning.”
“Ah, I get it,” Celina nods. Lucy laughs weakly and carries on changing, but Celina isn’t finished.
“You know, I never really understood why cops act like we are still in high school. As adults, it can be difficult to figure ourselves out while trying to balance our demanding line of work with a social life. We should be supporting each other, not talking about each other!”
Lucy wholeheartedly agrees with Celina, but she’s running low on sleep and has already been embarrassed multiple times this morning.
“Did you know that the most prevalent star sign amongst cops at this station is Gemini? Makes sense why they all love to gossip!”
“No, I didn't,” Lucy remarks, her tone lined with blatant uniterest.
“Sorry,” Celina winces apologetically. “I didn’t mean to get carried away.”
“It’s okay,” Lucy smiles. Celina can have her moments of overabundance, but she always means well. In fact, her sunshine personality often mimics Lucy’s, which is why they have made such great roommates. It never hurts to blame someone’s actions on their birth chart.
“Well, we should probably head in,” Celina directs, and Lucy follows her out and towards the roll call room. She takes her usual seat next to Aaron, but she makes sure to glance back towards Tim. Sitting next to each other was too much.
“Good morning,” Sergeant Grey starts off as usual. Though, his already intimidating demeanor changes as his eyes land on Lucy and Tim. In unison, they suck in their stomachs and hold their breaths.
“It seems as if some of you have recently forgotten how things work around here. As I tell every rookie on their first day, protocol and tradition are the metal from which every cop is forged. As representatives of the LAPD, it is your responsibility to be honest and follow said protocol and tradition. If our own cops can’t follow the system, how can we expect that of citizens?”
All eyes (that weren’t already in their direction) turn to either Lucy or Tim. The brace cops divert their eyes back and forth.
“Alright, moving on,” Grey sighs, “the night shift miraculously did their job and left us with no emergent open cases. So get out there on your usual patrol routes. You’re dismissed.”
Lucy and Tim let out a sigh of relief, and Lucy pushes her chair out and begins to head out with Aaron to grab their gear.
“Bradford and Chen, my office,” Grey calls out before they can exit the roll call room.
Oh boy.
They know they aren’t getting fired per se, but even a small infraction can have a large effect on any future ambitions they may hold. Lucy and Tim lock eyes as they follow Grey, a sense of fear shared between them.
“So, you two think it was better to inform social media of your relationship before declaring it with IA? Which, I may add, is the law? ” Grey asks firmly, skipping the pleasantries.
“Sir, I can explain,” Tim begins, but Grey isn’t looking for defense.
“Look, I get it. You’re cops, but you’re people too. I’m glad that you both have figured things out, and I assume that this will have a positive effect on your motivation and productivity. I’m not trying to be the bad guy here, I promise. I just want for you all to follow the rules,” he explains empathetically.
They had to give up to Sergeant Grey, he had put up with more unauthorized operations and secrets than any other commander in the LAPD. He put his job on the line for them multiple times, and could easily have washed all of his rookies out well before Plain Clothes Day. But the trust and understanding is what made him such an effective leader.
“We understand, Sergeant, and we take full responsibility for our failure to report our change in relationship status. We recognize that this complicates things, given our chain of command, and we are ready to take on whatever positions we need to. Even if that means transferring,” Lucy responds confidently, her voice never faltering. Tim shoots her a look, as if to say “ what?!”, but she stays firm.
“Officer Chen, I’m not asking you to switch to another division,” Grey laughs, albeit with a twinge of annoyance. “I just want you all to fill out some damn paperwork. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“Sir, I’m not exactly understanding how you would like to proceed,” Tim admits.
“All I’m saying is that paperwork takes time to process. I know that jumping into a relationship like this is hard enough, let alone with the weight of your jobs on your shoulders. We have a couple of weeks to figure it out before IA will process it.”
Lucy and Tim smile at another, relief flooding over them.
“So for the love of god, fill out the paperwork and get back out there!” The sergeant ushers them out with a few forms. “Oh, and congratulations.”
Well, that went better than expected.
A couple of congratulatory comments are made here and there as they grab their war bags, and Lucy is glad to be in the comfort of her shop as they hit the road. Though, she’s with Aaron, who is known to be one of the station's biggest gossip, and more notably one of Lucy’s closest friends.
“So, what’s going on with you and Tim?” he inquires without hesitation.
“Well, we’ve been seeing each other for the last few weeks. We have a lot to work through, but we’re doing it. In small doses.”
“You know, I’m really happy for you,” Aaron says cheerily.
“Thank you,” Lucy smiles, glad that at least one person has a positive outlook.
“Can I ask how it happened?”
“Tim asked me to join him for a friendly dinner one night,” she starts, and Aaron immediately interjects.
“Friendly? You two barely spoke 5 words to each other after the breakup and suddenly you go for a friendly dinner?”
“Hey! Let me finish!” she exclaims, and Aaron quickly apologizes. “He insisted that he treat me after I saved his life the day that we intercepted the gang fight. I agreed, mainly because he just wouldn’t let up. It was casual, but for the first time in weeks, the conversation flowed easily. Without everyone else down our backs, we had the opportunity to remind ourselves that being a police officer wasn’t our entire lives. It was nice to talk about personal things for once, you know?”
“So, you had one good dinner and suddenly fixed all of your problems?” Aaron scoffs. He had always been on the judgemental side, though his intentions were always good, even if not executed in the best way.
“No!” Lucy grits her teeth. “As I said earlier, we are working on it slowly. It takes work, but it’s worth it to us.”
“Sorry, I don’t mean to judge. But no one really ever talks about why you broke up, so I have to assume the worst. I mean, word was that Tim and Isabel had a secret love child.”
“Seriously? Please tell me that you immediately knew that was a lie,” Lucy sighs, though she knows she isn’t going to like the answer.
“It was that or you were cheating on him. With a girl.”
“Oh my god. I am finished with this conversation!!” Lucy returns her eyes to the road after rolling them. God, if cops actually observed as much as they talked, crime rates would actually drop.
****
Tim’s day is unusually quiet, so he heads back to the station early to get a jumpstart on some paperwork. Though, he immediately regrets his decision.
“So Timothy,” Angela calls out, breaking his focus. “How long did Grey yell for?”
“Actually, he didn’t yell. Told us to fill out the paperwork and said that he’ll work with us on moving around departments this week,” Tim explains, attempting to quickly get his best friend off of his back.
“No way,” she mouths, sliding into the open seat next to him.”
“Yes. Now if you don’t mind, I’m working here.” Per usual Angela ignores him and slides the papers out from under him.
“Why the secret?” The question had been burning in her mind for the last 12 hours. “Isn’t keeping a secret what ruined you both in the first place?”
Well, he thought to himself, she had a point there.
“That’s very true, but this was different. I wasn’t keeping anything from her,” he pauses and takes a deep breath. “We didn’t want to say anything if it wasn’t going to work out. If we were gonna cause a commotion, it was going to be for a good reason.”
“Okay, I get that, but I’m your BFF! You should have told me,” she repeats bitterly.
“I’m sorry, Ang. I needed to do this myself. It’s my relationship, and I think that we needed some time between us.” He repeatedly clicks the pen in his hand. “I really don’t want to mess this up again.”
“I know, and I’m rooting for you guys,” she winks. “Though, I have a strong feeling that I’ll be planning a wedding in the next couple of years.”
“Woah, we just started dating again. A wedding is far off!” he scoffs, mortified.
“You’re saying that now…” She chuckles gently before standing up and brushing her hands on her slacks.
“Tim, I’m really happy for you. You and Lucy are family, and I’ll always be here if you guys need anything,” she announces, and Tim smiles at her.
“I know you will, Ang. Thanks. For everything.”
“Anytime.” She turns around, but stops in her tracks.
“Forget something?” Tim asks, but instead she leans down close so that only he can hear her soft voice.
“How is it? You know… in bed?”
“Angela!”