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"Hey," Tim says, sliding into the same pace Lucy's at while walking with her. "You know how Ashley has a day off today?"
Ashley makes herself known by waving to Lucy while trying to keep up with Tim. It's mildly off-putting how in sync Tim and Lucy are walking (are they even matching foot patterns?), and the fact that Lucy can walk so fast despite being her height. "Hey, Lucy."
Lucy nods, smiling at Ashley, though something is a little off. Ashley doesn't even know why the younger woman should feel this way; it's not like she was the one taking over the entire double date. "Yeah, you mentioned it yesterday at dinner."
So that's why Tim couldn't make dinner last night. Ashley files this under her Lucy Chen need-to-know list.
Tim gives her what borders as a smile, which is more than enough for Tim Bradford. "Yeah. Anyway, she's up for a ride-along today, if you don't mind."
"It's not like I can say no, right?" Ashley knows Lucy is teasing, but something in her eyes gives her away. She knows Tim can see it too.
The concern in his eyes shows everything she needs to know. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. Last night was a bit rough."
Ashley looks over at the two, who've stopped walking. They're pausing near the trunk of the shop, as Tim calls it. What happened last night? And how does Tim know? Sure, she wasn't over last night so she doesn't know what happened, but something in Tim's eyes shows that he knows exactly what happened.
It would definitely explain why Ashley had to drive herself over to the station today, instead of Tim picking her up like he promised to. The text he sent was vague: something came up, sorry.
"I'm fine," Lucy says, brushing him off. "Ashley, you're more than welcome to ride along with us, assuming you've done the paperwork."
"I have," Ashley offers.
Nodding but not paying much attention to the blonde as she's putting away the war bags, Lucy speaks. "Okay then."
Tim guides the way into the backseat, where Ashley sits, placing her purse next to her. Lucy gets into the front seat, with Tim sliding into the driver's seat.
There's something about Lucy today, Ashley notes. With the way Tim seems to be walking on eggshells around her, it seems like there's something that happened last night that's made her suddenly so fragile.
"Remember that place?" Lucy points out the window at a big grassy park. There aren't many people here at this time of day, since it's a Thursday morning. However, a dog walker and an elderly couple stand out in the scattered population outside.
Tim chuckles lightly. "Remember when you got revenge on me for that?"
Lucy turns back around to face the sergeant. "Oh please, that didn't even count as revenge. You got about 30% of the mess I had to deal with in the shower that next day."
"Are you kidding me? I'm still finding flour in my hair."
"It was baking powder," Lucy says, the tension from the morning clearly lifting. "And I was picking your flour-slash-baking powder out of my ears for weeks !"
Ashley watches as Tim rolls his eyes in the rearview mirror. "It was flour. Big pack, easy to get everywhere. And yeah, I guess I won that, didn't I?"
"Whatever."
"We should take Kojo there sometime. He would really like it." And here they go again, with Kojo.
Lucy turns to Tim with a smile on her face. The smile has an unreadable undertone that makes Ashley a little uncomfortable. "He would. Until he jumps into a trash can with a powder bomb." Her eyes suddenly light up. "Oh my god. We should make dog-safe powder bombs and put them in the park. Whichever Kojo finds first loses. Winner buys dinner and drives the next day."
Tim hesitates for a second. Ashley silently hopes he won't agree to it, because that would just mean another whole day where Lucy has him (and Kojo, by association) to herself. But clearly Lucy already knows he'll give in, because her hand's moving at the same time as his to shake on it. "Deal. But let's make it official this time. Winner of this wins the riddle bet by default."
"Hm. Have fun losing, then." The teasing tone in Lucy and Tim's voices are ones that Ashley hasn't heard in a week, ever since the double date.
The double date.
How could she forget? The night when she felt like she was an outsider imposing on a date Lucy and Tim were on, the night when her suspicions about her boyfriend and his not-partner's relationship started to piece in her mind.
The night when Chris confided in her later that night about ending it with Lucy because it seemed like the officer had feelings for her superior officer, aka Ashley's boyfriend himself. The following bomb Chris dropped was that he felt like Tim reciprocated said feelings.
As friends and fellow "third-wheels", Chris said, he wanted her to know. Just in case.
When Ashley returns to the present, neither Tim nor Lucy have even noticed her. They're trapped in their own world, chatting as if they're the only two people in the shop.
She finds a way to intercept the conversation. "So, is it normally this quiet in the morning?" Tim and Lucy have only had to leave the shop once, and that was to deliver a ticket to a red car parked in front of a fire hydrant.
The silence that follows is deafening.
"Tim, we might have to kick her out of the shop," Lucy says, seriously.
A chill runs down Ashley's spine. Did she say something? Why isn't Tim disagreeing? What did she do wrong? Is Lucy mad at her for something? Is Tim on her side? What's happening?
Part of Ashley wants to just run out of the shop. The other part of her wants to tell Lucy off. It's not like Lucy can just kick her out without Tim's approval. Tim's her superior officer, and her literal boss. Not to mention, Tim could be mad at Lucy for even letting the thought of kicking Ashley out of the shop enter her mind.
So she does the logical thing.
"Excuse me?" The snappy voice in her tone isn't there accidentally.
Tim lets a laugh at that, not even the slightest bit defensive of his own girlfriend while he turns to his partner, giving her what must be a playful side-eye. "Ash, she has the right to be the slightest bit mad. You just said the Q word."
Quite a few thoughts run through Ashley's mind. First of all, the fact that Tim's taking Lucy's side. Second, that he's not even the slightest bit angry at Lucy for blatantly disrespecting Ashley's own ride-along privileges over a single two syllable word.
"Quiet?"
"Oh my god!" Lucy shrieks. "Ashley, don't say that word!"
Ashley tries to wrap her mind around this. Is this some inside joke between the two of them? Like Gerald the goat? Or is it just a cop thing that her dad never thought to mention to her? "Why? What's wrong with the word qui-"
"Ashley." Tim's voice is warning, and he's cut off by Lucy before he can continue talking.
"Tim, we've been triple-jinxed. This is a very thin tightrope we're walking on."
Ashley can't help as her confusion and slightly-pissed off attitude at Lucy grow. "What?"
"Saying the Q word in the shop is a jinx, Ash," Tim explains, though he seems a bit agitated with the word she's uttered today.
"It's not like you guys are going to get shot or anything," Ashley starts.
Tim pulls over to the curb instantly, not wasting a second before Lucy starts lightly slapping Tim's forearms rapidly. "You don't know that," Tim says casually, as if his work not-partner isn't invading his personal space.
Personal space, which Ashley learned, by the way, is a boundary Tim rarely lets her cross. It's normally just holding hands or his just grazing the small of her back.
It's never like this, with Tim looking amused as Lucy ends her little release of emotion into his arm. In fact, Ashley notices, it seems like Tim's head has been naturally turned that way for the past hour since they've been in the shop.
Maybe even longer.
"Sorry," Ashley says, almost meekly.
"The last time this happened, we dealt with two dirty cops and a gang that controlled said cops." Lucy's voice is dry, almost straightforward.
The only response Ashley can come up with is, "oh."
Tim starts the shop back up, and continues driving down the street when he lists off reasons why the Q word should never be spoken. "When I was a rookie, I said the Q word while in the shop. Two hours later we dealt with a double homicide, and my T.O. was almost stabbed in the abdomen. Now, whenever a rookie of mine says the Q word, they wash out. Instantly."
Lucy turns to Tim. "I swear I've said it before. You've never had me washed out."
"Maybe I saw something in you, boot."
"Call me boot one more time," Lucy says, though there's nothing serious about the tone she's using. "I swear, I can't go shoe shopping anymore."
Tim shakes his head. "Not my problem, hotshot."
Lucy groans. "That's not that much better."
"It's how you were introduced to me, Lucy."
"'Officer Bradford. You get our hotshot.' Exactly what Grey said on my first day," Lucy remarks.
Ashley doesn't know how to feel about the terms of endearments Tim has for Lucy. She knows they'll refuse to admit it, but they are. Tim doesn't even have one for Ashley, and they've been together for almost two months.
She also doesn't know what to think about the fact that they remember the first words they said to each other. Ashley knows she doesn't remember the first thing Tim said to her, or what she said to him.
It's a little unsettling, if she's being honest.
"7-Adam-100, we have a possible 211 in progress near your location." The dispatch breaks Tim and Lucy out of their little argument, while Ashley finds herself relieved at the change of topic.
Lucy reaches for the dispatcher, a hand on it before Tim moves. It seems like he knows she'll grab it. "Control, this is 7-Adam-100. Show us responding. Send us the location."
It turns out that saying the Q word in the shop is an actual jinx.
Within the four minutes that it takes for them to get to said 211, Tim and Lucy realize (with a lot of finishing each other’s vague sentences) that there are hostages in the store.
The conversation was extremely hard for Ashley to follow, but it had a lot to do with Lucy saying three words, then Tim interrupting and pointing out something, and back to Lucy cutting him off to inject her own thoughts.
After detecting a possible bomb, Tim and Lucy head in without backup. "Control, this is 7-Adam-100. We're at the 211. Hostages, possible bomb on the second floor. Send backup and a bomb squad. And RAs, just in case."
Ashley uses this time to worry about her suspicions regarding her boyfriend and his partner while waiting for backup (they should be about eleven minutes out).
With everything she's seen today, from Tim knowing what Lucy was up to last night to them planning what would sound like a date to outsiders, it's clear they don't have a regular relationship. The fact that bothers her the most, honestly, is that Tim never even thought to invite Ashley (who was literally sitting in the backseat less than four feet behind them, mind her) on their outing with Kojo.
Something in her gut tells her it won't matter if she were there anyway. Like she's been basically all morning, Ashley's just invisible.
Just then, an explosion rocks the left side of the second floor of the building. "Tim!" Ashley yells, as a woman pulls her back. She vaguely registers the woman as Detective Nyla Harper.
Almost in slow motion, backup arrives. Shops pull onto the street, blocking out the street as officers evacuate the nearby buildings. Ambulances and fire trucks still aren't here, but news vehicles trailing not far behind.
Suddenly a gunshot rings out, followed by two more in rapid succession.
It’s silent for a good forty-five seconds.
Ashley's heart starts to pound in her ears, but she relaxes slightly when eleven hostages run out.
She's looking out for Tim and Lucy--though, as a sweetheart, as Lucy coined him two weeks ago, it's entirely likely Tim's helping out some other hostage out. However, she overhears one of the hostages confirm to Sergeant Grey that there are only eleven of them: seven female, four male.
So what's taking so long?
"Alright, I just talked to Nolan. Bradford and Chen aren't responding. There is a possibility the bomb is interfering with their signals," Grey announces to the officers, over the sounds of pure chaos surrounding the scene. "In four minutes, we'll go in. Everyone hang tight while the bomb squad starts prepping. Harper, keep communicating with Bradford-"
As if on cue, the sound of Tim's voice, packed with concern, panic, and authority rings out. "We're Code 4!"
Everyone turns in his direction. It's a little dark inside the building, but Tim's figure is visible from where Ashley is standing. He's carrying someone in his arms, and a gash on his forehead is spilling over with blood.
While that would be the RAs' concern, Ashley's focused on the look adorning his face. Tim's face looks like a cross between worry and anguish. He kneels on the ground, placing the person down.
Grey, Harper, and Nolan run over, with Thorsen in tow. Ashley follows just to make sure everything's okay when she registers something.
Lucy never walked out.
Ashley realizes now that Lucy's the one Tim carried out. Worry washes over her mild dislike of the woman, and she tries to get a closer look when Tim speaks again.
"Everyone back up. Give her space." He sounds scared, and there's a faraway look in his eyes. Is he remembering something? Did this happen before?
Knowing not to ever cross Tim Bradford, Ashley, along with the four other officers, back up at least six feet. Thorsen looks extremely concerned, while Harper, Nolan, and Grey are exchanging looks. It seems like they know--or are reliving, even--something from the past. Something they'd really rather not remember.
"What happened?" Grey asks.
"Shooter--bomber," Tim corrects himself. "He shot Lucy. She's unconscious, not breathing."
"Her vest had to have caught it," Harper says.
Tim shakes his head. "Lucy gave hers to an older woman." He lies her flat, unbuttoning her shirt--oh God, the blood--and putting his ear to her chest, then to her mouth.
He looks like he's about to cry when he presses his mouth to hers (Ashley wants to say something, since she can see this happening in very different circumstances, but she does this all the time for her job, so she can't complain). After giving her some air, he pushes against her chest, applying pressure. Thirty repeats of the same motion has him going back to giving her air.
Ashley suddenly realizes she's probably more qualified to do this, and is almost going to offer to switch places with Tim when Lucy gasps. She's clearly just barely conscious, but alive.
The building behind them decides to explode then, the leftover fire most likely catching on something else. Everyone covers their heads, but Ashley doesn't miss the way Tim throws himself on top of Lucy.
When the building settles, the firefighters and bomb squad rush in, handling everything while the officers and Ashley go over to make sure Lucy is okay.
She's a little behind the officers, her ears still ringing and her body feeling slightly disoriented when she makes it to the two officers of the hour.
What she sees almost stops her in her tracks.
Lucy's hanging onto Tim, her hands reaching for his shoulders as he puts a hand on her hair, the other rubbing circles on her back. Ashley can tell that Lucy's not crying, but is probably reminiscing something terrible. She's not even sure if it's safe for Lucy to be in the borderline fetal position while a bullet's lodged in her abdomen.
A paramedic reaches for Lucy's shoulder, and Tim glares at him before letting Lucy go. Lucy, on the other hand, vehemently refuses to leave Tim, who promises he'll be there once they finishing checking her vitals.
Ashley reaches Tim after he almost painstakingly tears himself away from his partner. "Hey. You okay?" She gestures to the gash on his forehead.
Tim seems to just remember that said gash is there. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. I'll get it checked after Lucy's done."
"There are multiple ambulances, Tim."
"It's fine," Tim says, almost sharply. Ashley almost flinches at the tone, and Tim notices, relaxing. "I'm sorry, it's just...the last time I had to bring Lucy back..." he trails off. "It's not something either of us wants to remember."
Ashley doesn't press, but she wants to know. Today's been eye-opening though, and seeing as they have a shared traumatic past isn't surprising. They've only been together two months so Ashley doesn't expect to know everything about Tim's life. She can't help but feel kind of left out, though. "Oh."
An EMT walks over, readying a gauze for Tim's forehead. "You're going to need stitches, Sergeant. We're taking you to Shaw Memorial."
"I'll ride with Lucy. Chen," He seems to add it as an afterthought. The EMT nods, heading off to Lucy's ambulance, when Tim turns to Ashley. "I'm sorry. Go with Harper and Thorsen. I'll be at the hospital when you get there."
He doesn't make a move to give her a parting touch, so she doesn't push him.
Something about his willingness to hold Lucy in such an intimate way, yet barely go further than holding Ashley's hand, has gears turning her head.
"So Tim and Lucy," Ashley starts, in the backseat of Harper and Thorsen's shop.
Harper pauses for a second, before turning her head enough so Ashley can see the emotions running through.
She seems to choose her words carefully before beginning. "Bradford and Chen have been through it all. Life, death, all of it. They'd be dead if it weren't for each other. And today's events almost mirrored a traumatic experience for both of them, mainly Lucy. Listen, Lucy's been through more in these past two years than most officers do by retirement. And Bradford is there for her, picking her up after everything, and vice versa. They owe it to each other to keep each other running. In more ways than one, they're soulmates." Harper starts to tear up at the end of it. "Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that last part. I'm sorry, pregnancy hormones are just-" She breaks down right there, and Thorsen almost instinctively hands over a box of tissues.
The man nods. "Ashley, Tim will take time to open up to you. But don't take anything the wrong way, they're really just friends."
"Lies," Harper manages out, before covering her own mouth. "Fuck."
"Woah. Ma'am, you always call me out on my language-" Thorsen shuts up after Harper gives him a look. "Sorry."
Ashley isn't listening anymore after that. If even a detective can see something, then clearly she's not crazy or looking too much into things.
They make it to Shaw Memorial in thirteen minutes.
Ashley spots a small handful of officers, mostly the same ones from before, as well as Detective Lopez.
There's a framed picture in Tim's living room of their tight-knit circle of friends at Lopez's second and only successful wedding: the very pregnant bride in the middle with the groom standing next to her, Tim standing next to Angela as her Man of Honor. Lucy and Harper are on Lopez's side next to Tim, while Nolan and Grey are standing on Wesley's other side.
The part of the picture Ashley likes to forget is the small three-inch scene where Tim has an arm around Lucy's waist, while Lucy's staring up at him, her eyes shining bright. In the picture, the color scheme appears to be a deep purple ("Imperial purple. A royal color that Angela insists is the only color that will suit everyone. Lucy just thinks that Lopez is going through her Speak Now era, but I think that she's been going through her own Speak Now era," Tim said. Ashley didn't see why the last snippet about Lucy and Speak Now was relevant, but it seems like Tim can't have hold a conversation without mentioning his partner anymore). Lucy's dress is a flowy sleeveless skater dress, which she brings out with red lipstick. Tim's bow tie coincidentally matches her dress exactly.
Everyone else in the photo happens to be looking at Lopez, who seems to be forcing a smile through a contraction.
Tim likes to tell the story of that photo to Ashley, even if it's already told to her multiple times. That exact picture happened to be taken two seconds before Angela's water broke, and they had to call an ambulance immediately. Her son was two weeks early, but no one minded. Other than the twelve hours they spent in the hospital waiting room (Ashley once found a picture on Tim's phone of Lucy asleep on his shoulder with his jacket covering her up. Tim said that Luna, Grey's wife, had taken it), it was a very exciting night.
Ashley's honestly surprised she hadn't figured where Tim's heart truly lied when she saw that picture.
But after this morning, everything's been so painfully clear. It's like she'd been seeing in muted colors and suddenly everything's bright and screaming at her.
She's in the waiting area with a cup of coffee in hand, bouncing her knee (as she has been for the past fifteen minutes) when Tim walks out, a bandage on his head and looking much less dusty.
Ashley wants to stand up and put a hand on his shoulder, to reassure him and tell him everything will be okay. But something stops her.
It could be the realization that he probably doesn't want to be touched. The fact that she's not the one who should be reaching out. It's not her that should be comforting him. In fact, it shouldn't be her in any scenario in his life. Because even if she left, Lucy would be there to fill the hole she leaves.
If she leaves a hole, that is.
Ashley surmises that Tim wouldn't even notice if she slipped out of his life. While he'd leave a gaping abyss in hers, she won't even leave a crack.
She slowly comes back to the present when Tim gives Grey his briefing of the incident.
Apparently, Tim and Lucy headed in to find a shooter who claimed to have an active bomb on the other side of the building. Tim distracted the shooter long enough to let the hostages run out, and the shooter let the bomb off when he found out. After a good minute or two of talking, the shooter lowered his gun, only to hit Tim with it, who hit his head on the corner of a shelf. Tim was unconscious for a good twenty seconds before he opened his eyes and saw Lucy fighting the man.
Lucy, who was half the shooter's size, managed to get the upper hand until she was shot in the chest by the man. Tim fired two rounds at the shooter, who fell backwards. After confirming the shooter was dead, Tim picked Lucy up and left the building, taking her outside for air.
The rest they have all figured out.
Everyone's listening intently to the story to find out what went wrong, and while Ashley keeps running the story through her head, she realizes that there's nothing that could've changed the trajectory of events.
Tim looks physically in pain as he excuses himself to get a cup of coffee while Lucy's in surgery. Ashley follows him into the hallway, but finds herself hesitating before she turns the corner.
As much as it's clear she's not in his heart, she doesn't want to make it seem like she's pushing him away. On the other hand, Ashley can't seem to let him go.
The worst part is, Ashley doesn't think that he was ever hers to begin with. It was always Lucy, and it always would be. And while she didn't want to let him go to her, it didn't seem right to be in the way. He'd figure it out at some point, and since Ashley just wants him to be happy, there's no better time than now. She can only hope that Lucy will treat him the way their broken hearts deserve to be treated. Treasured.
Loved.
She steps over to him, tapping him on the shoulder. "Tim."
"Hey." Tim sounds tired, despite it being eleven in the morning. "Sorry you had to see all of that today."
Ashley gives him a sideways smile. "Kind of my fault for saying the Q word three times."
Tim doesn't even make the effort to smile at that. "It's not your fault. If I hadn't just let Lucy do the negotiating, I...God, Ashley, I'm sorry. For so much."
"What do you mean?" Ashley asks. She's not entirely sure if he's apologizing for the ride-along, or the double date, or just all of it in general.
The look in his eyes when Tim looks at her is already a dead giveaway. "When I was regaining consciousness, there were about six seconds in between Lucy standing up and getting shot. I don't know when exactly, but it was during those six seconds that I knew."
Ashley knows what he means by that, and knows it's coming, but she doesn't expect it to hurt this much.
"The thing is, I think I always knew? Like, deep down. But I didn't realize until those six seconds. And I don't know, I just suddenly realized, 'oh fuck, I'm in love with my partner.' And yeah, she's my partner. My best friend, really. I honestly don't understand how I couldn't ever see it earlier. And I'm sorry for leading you on, Ashley."
The words he says hit her full on. She's positive now, even more so than she was thirty seconds ago, that Tim and Lucy are meant to be. "I should be the one who's sorry, Tim. You're in love with Lucy, she's in love with you, and I'm just in the way.
"You know, when I first told my dad I was going out with you, he had the most surprised look on his face. When I asked why he was giving me that look, he said that he thought you were married. To Lucy. And I thought he was just joking at first, but then after the call I made to Lucy, and the double date, I started to realize that he had every right to think that. I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier. You could've had her earlier."
"It's okay, Ashley." Tim's sad half-smile appears. "I really am sorry, by the way."
"I know." Ashley gives him a small pat on the shoulder. "I'll come by in a few hours to see how Lucy's doing. Text me when she's out."
Tim just gives her a nod, before Ashley turns around to leave.
Before she does, though, she stops to call out. "Hey, Tim?"
"Yeah?"
Ashley gives him a genuine smile. "Tell her. You'll be surprised with the results."
She comes back that evening, flowers in hand. Sure, she cried at least twice during the last nine hours, but Tim's found the love of his life. The conflicting feelings inside her are fighting, and happiness is winning over.
When she arrives to Lucy's room, the sight she sees both breaks her heart and puts a smile on her face.
Lucy and Tim are both squeezed into the little hospital bed, flowers in the room surrounding them both. Lucy's half-asleep on Tim's shoulder, her head buried in the crook of his neck while Tim's pressing his lips to her hair. They both have content smiles on their face, as if everything is right in the world and nothing can make it any better or worse.
Which sounds about right, if Ashley's being honest.
Instead of wanting to interrupt them, she asks the nurse down the hall to put the flowers in Lucy's room for her.
There's a lot to carry on her heart the second time she walks out of the hospital that day, but at least it was all worth it.