Work Text:
“Jackson, why are we here?” Lucy Chen asked as she held the glass door open for her friend to walk through, the cold air conditioning of the building a stark contrast to the heat and humidity outside. “It’s our day off.”
“Because, we need to stay in shape.” He told her as she joined him standing in front of the entrance. “And we’ve already paid for the next three months.”
“Money I could be spending on wine.” She grumbled under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing!” she replied quickly as Jackson gave her an incredulous look. “I mean exercise, yay?”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “You can have your wine after we work out Lucy.”
“Jackson, do you not think that we work out enough as it is? We spend twelve hours a day in a police academy and honestly, I would rather spend my evenings not a gym full of cops.”
“Exactly Luce, a gym full of our potential colleagues, what better way to scope out the workforce than by working out with them.”
Lucy blinked, staring Jackson down before she blinked again. “You’re serious.”
“Come on Lucy.” He pleaded. “Three months.”
“And at least one bottle of red.”
“Deal.”
“And I don’t mean the cheap stuff.”
Jackson exasperatedly sighed. “Fine, no cheap stuff.”
“Good. Now,” she sighed “lets go change, I’ll meet you at the treadmills in five.”
Ten minutes later, the friends and LAPD candidates were running side by side, halfway through their second lap as their feet pounded into the machinery below.
“Have you started studying yet?” Jackson asked, huffing between each word.
Lucy snorted. “Only every waking minute.”
“Same. Nolan told me the other day that he’s writing his notes on flashcards and has planted them around that mansion he’s staying in.”
“It’s not a mansion Jackson.”
Jackson turned his head towards her, his stride never wavering. “Fine, not a mansion but still, it must be nice to have friends like that.”
The two continued to jog, catching up with each other on the things that had happened since the last time they had been able to hang out.
Lucy planted her feet on the sides, pressing the red button, stopping the machine.
“I’m hitting the mats before weights. Have you seen any medicine balls?”
Jackson looked around, spotting them on the far wall. “My 11 o’clock.”
Lucy turned, looking towards where he had directed her, spotting the rack attached to the wall filled with the weighted balls. “Thanks.”
She made her way over, grabbing a fifteen-pound ball, carrying it to a more secluded part of the gym. She made a workout up in her head, deciding on sets and reps as she began tucks before moving on to V-Twists.
She had just finished a round of front squats, beginning shoulder presses when she seen him.
Lucy stared, turning around to face the mirror behind her to not make her staring so obvious as she tightened her grip on the ball. She could tell that he had a few years on her, his skin glistening with sweat as she watched his body go up and down, his muscles contracting with every move.
‘Holy shit.’ She thought as she watched him switch from his left arm to his right. ‘Who the hell does one armed pushups?’
“Lucy!”
Lucy squealed, dropping the medicine ball to the floor, gaining the attention of the man she had been watching, meeting his eyes over Jackson’s shoulder as he gave her a smirk.
“I’ve been saying your name for five minutes. You good?”
Lucy felt her blush deepen at her friend’s concern. “Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fixing to move on to weights.” She told him, turning back around towards the mirror as she bent over to pick up the fallen weight, glancing in the reflective glass at where the man was before, finding the spot empty.
Jackson gave her dubious look but let her slide. “I’m done with cardio, are we doing cleans or presses?”
“Cleans. I think my arms will be soup instead of jello if I do presses.”
Jackson moved towards weight room, leaving Lucy behind as she moved back towards the storage rack, placing the ball onto the rack above her head.
“Need some help?” asked a voice from behind.
Lucy stood on her tip toes, pushing the ball onto the back metal. “No, I’m good.”
“You sure? Because damn girl, with a body like that…”
Lucy turned around quickly, finding a tall black-haired man in her space. “Excuse me?” she asked, her face twisting in anger.
“You heard me. Now, how about you and me get out of here so you can-“
“If you want to keep your dick I wouldn’t finish that sentence.” She seethed.
The man laughed, “Feisty. I like it.”
“Are you trying to get your ass kicked?” she asked, quickly glancing for Jackson who was nowhere to be seen.
“No, but with an ass like that, I wouldn’t-“
“If you don’t want to be arrested for sexual harassment, I wouldn’t finish that sentence.”
“Hey babe, did you get done?” asked another voice off to the left as they moved towards Lucy.
Lucy turned her head, finding the man who she was shamelessly ogling earlier.
“Who ar-“ she began asking when she noticed the look on his face. “Yeah.” She said plastering on a smile as she moved closer towards him, standing at his side. “You ready to go?” she asked him, noticing the duffle bag hanging from his right hand.
“I’m sorry.” The man said in apathy. “But we’ve got reservations to get to.”
“Bitch. You led me on.”
Lucy opened her mouth to speak when the man standing next to her moved towards the harasser in the blink of an eye. “You’re one comment away from getting one phone call from the inside of a cell. So if I were you, I would choose your next words carefully.”
The man’s eyes grew wide as the stranger spun around, grabbing the duffle that had fallen to the floor before he grabbed her hand, pulling her away and out the door.
“What the fuck?” she said once they were outside, pulling her hand from his as he walked ahead of her, past the row of vehicles in the parking lot. “I had it handled. Who are you to intervene? He was-“
The man stopped, turning on his heel. “He was harassing you.”
“So? I’m a woman who puts up with that shit on a daily basis. I’m not some damsel in distress who needs saving.”
The man rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome boot.”
“Boot?” she questioned. “I’m not-“
“You’re here, in a cop gym with Jackson West, son of Percy West who’s the head of Internal Affairs. Now, it’s no secret that Commander West’s son is in the academy but you two are as green as they come. You were careless in taking in your surroundings and left your back turned to the door one to many times but don’t worry we should be able to condition that out of you.”
Lucy’s mouth fell open. “Excuse me? Just who the hell do you think you are?”
“Tim Bradford.” He smirked, crossing his arms. “Training Officer for the Mid-Wilshire division.”
“Well Tim Bradford-“
“Officer.” He interrupted.
Lucy glared. “Well Officer Tim Bradford, I certainly didn’t need saving from you today. I came to the gym to work out not to gain some kind of knight in shining Kevlar!”
“You’re welcome by the way.”
“Ugh!” she screamed as she gritted her teeth. “Must you be so arrogant?”
Tim leaned closer, smirking. “You know, you weren’t complaining when you were gawking at me earlier.”
Lucy huffed out a laugh. “I feel bad for whoever your rookie is if you’re this much of a pretentious ass.”
Tim stepped back. “Careful what you wish for boot.” He told her as he moved towards his truck. “I wouldn’t go back in there if I were you, it might look suspicious if that guy is still around.”
“I know this!” she said to him exasperatedly. “How did you know he was harassing me anyways?”
He shrugged, setting his duffle bag into the hood of the truck in front of them. “Body language. You looked uncomfortable.” He told her, leaving out the part that he had noticed the guy observing her earlier. “Haven’t they taught you at the academy not to show emotion?”
“Yes,” she said rolling her eyes. “but am I on the job right now? No.”
“Boot, we’re always on the job whether we like it or not.”
“Lucy.”
“What?” he asked raising an eyebrow.
“My name is Lucy, Lucy Chen.”
“Boot.” He said pointedly, causing her to sigh. “When we swear the oath, we are swearing to protect and serve the citizens of Los Angeles.”
“I know this.” She interrupted.
“Then you know that we are legally and morally obligated to intervene in a situation that may get out of control.”
“Yes, but I have not taken that oath yet. As you pointed out I’m green and then there’s also the fact that I’m months away from being placed with a TO.”
“None of that matters. You need to learn now, before you so much as step a foot on to the asphalt, to keep your emotions locked behind a door.”
Lucy leaned her elbows onto the hood, her eyes searching his. “Is that what you do Officer Bradford? You lock up your emotions and build your walls so high that you yourself cannot see over it, let alone someone else. You’re damaged and from the looks of it, you have a hella lot of baggage.”
Tim’s eyes grew wide before his face twisted. “What the fuck? How do you-“
Lucy smirked. “Emotions Officer Bradford. You’re not the only one who’s good at reading people.”
“Lucy!” Jackson’s voice echoed in the parking lot.
Lucy turned towards his voice. “Just a sec!” she yelled back over her shoulder before turning back towards Tim. “I guess I should thank you for having my six. It was nice to meet you Officer Bradford.”
Tim grabbed the duffle bag off the hood. “Keep your head on a swivel boot and you just might make it.”
Lucy smiled walking away, meeting Jackson halfway. “What the hell Lucy? I’ve been waiting for you.”
Lucy shrugged. “Sorry, something came up.” Jackson raised an eyebrow. “It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got time.” He said as he headed back towards the building.
“Rain check?” she asked grimacing. “I’m going to get my stuff out of the locker room and go.”
“Lucy!”
“I’ll explain everything, just not right now, ok?”
“I will be at your apartment in an hour Chen, I expect details.”
“Yes West.” She told him exasperatedly.
Two hours and a large glass of wine later, she and Jackson sat in the floor of her apartment as she retold the interesting encounter of her day.
Four months later Lucy sat at the front of the room at the Mid-Wilshire division of the LAPD, a smile on her face.
“It’s time to play the Officer match game. Our contestants are Lucy Chen, a hotshot who made her first arrest before clocking in for work...”
Lucy bit the inside of her cheek to stop her smile as the Commander, Sergeant Wade Grey continued the introductions.
“And the winners are… Officer Bradford, you get our hotshot.”
Lucy’s neck popped as she quickly turned her head, her eyes widening as the name sent a jolt through her body. “Shit.” She said as he stared her down, Lucy slowly turning back around. ‘Karma has bit you in the ass.’ She thought, wanting to beat her head into the table.
“Lets go boot.” He commanded, standing as Sergeant Grey dismissed the officers.
Lucy Chen knew then, that she was in for one hell of a rookie year.