Chapter Text
I never struggled with anyone.
Get a rookie, train them, leave them, repeat.
That was the cycle — my routine.
So why does it feel so different now?
Yes, we’ve been through a lot. But that’s what the job is about, right?
Experiences. Traumas. Relationships.
Damn it, Lucy.
She got me thinking about this whole concept.
That’s what’s so different about her.
She’s scared of me but in a good way. The respectful kind.
And from the moment she sat in the passenger seat beside me, she helped me.
Helped me see things clearer.
She made me understand that Isabel wasn’t the woman I fell in love with.
She convinced me that I’m still a good cop, even after I went behind everyone’s back to protect my wife.
I hope to be as good as Chen one day.
As Tim gets up from the couch to grab a beer, his thoughts go back to the morning's events. He goes to sit down again, letting his journal fall onto the couch beside him as his mind drifts.
He’s always been a routine kind of guy.
Wake up. Hygiene. Feed Kojo. Go to work. Try not to get killed.
Come home. Dinner. Sleep. Repeat.
That’s how he lived — even during the worst days with Isabel.
Routine was what kept him breathing. What kept him from falling apart.
But now?
A new position as sergeant. More responsibility. More change.
And yet, the only thing he can’t adapt to is the idea of letting Lucy go out there on her own — into a world that could kill her.
Not because he doubts her.
He’s never doubted her not even on day one.
But this... this feels different.
It’s bittersweet watching her walk into the unknown without him.
Something he didn’t even feel when his wife left.
That’s why, this time, he decided to do something different.
Still staying within his comfort zone... kind of.
He wrote her an evaluation letter.
Before starting the final version, though, he opened his journal just to use it as a scratchpad.
Maybe to save the memory. Maybe just to clear his head.
He stopped.
Lucy...
No. Calling her “Lucy” felt too personal for a final evaluation.
Okay, start again.
"Officer Chen,"
Think, Bradford. Think, he muttered, staring at the blank page.
"Impressed me with every decision she made today..."
Okay this could work.
But then... he paused.
Maybe this once, he could just tell her the truth. How he really felt.
"I will miss riding with her."
As soon as the words hit the paper, he crossed them out trying to find a more professional phrase. But none came.
Because the truth is, there were no better words.
After the day they had — after everything she said, everything she did — it felt right.
Even the prank.
It confused him, sure. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
And maybe if she felt safe enough to plan something like that, he could be honest enough to admit that he'd miss her.
Hell yeah.
So, with a long sip of his beer, he grabbed a clean sheet of paper and wrote it out again. This time, for real.
Then, without overthinking it, he sealed the letter in a yellow envelope and slipped it into his work bag.
It still didn’t feel like enough.
Flowers? No too romantic. Too much.
In the end, he just packed the letter and hoped for the best.
With Lucy, it was always like that.
Hoping for the best. Hoping for her.