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Today is weird. She and Kate are back to being whatever they were, but hopefully a better version. This involves the title girlfriend and no secrets that aren’t job related. The term ‘whatever’ is only being used because they can’t exactly decide what name to put to what they’re doing. Dating sounds like something Alex Tennant has started doing. Sure, they go on dates, but they spend more than a few nights at each other’s places too. Jane just says they’re seeing each other, which works, but also sounds vague.
None of that is the weird part though. No, what’s weird today is that about an hour ago, she got four hang up calls from Kate in the span of fifteen minutes. When she called back, she got no answer. Lucy has no idea if it was just a butt dial or not, but means to call her back again, but things have been pretty hectic.
They’ve been working a joint case with the FBI. They have an officer who had something important and had set up a meeting with Tennant, but before that happened, he went missing. Whatever he had must be pretty important since now there are people after him and threatening his family. His wife and two sons. After school, the boys were supposed to be picked up by their protection detail, but had somehow gotten lost in the shuffle of kids leaving for the day and went missing. Hundreds of kids eager to get out in the sun can be overwhelming which is why they’d normally have been collected before school was let out, but they had only determined that the threat to them was real moments ago.
The FBI was in charge of the protection detail and had scrambled to find them. Thankfully, that had been done quickly. They’d arrived in time to keep them from getting abducted, but there had been quite a fight. Liam and Cory were safe with their mom now and they were being sent the nearby security footage to see if Ernie’s could get IDs on the guys. She and Kai are chasing down leads at their desks when she and Tennant get 911 texts from not just Ernie, but Jesse too. It has them all running down to his office. Lucy can count on one hand the number of times Ernie’s paged her 911. This is the first time. She trades a worried look with Tennant as they head in. There sits a worried looking Ernie and Jesse is pacing.
“What’s wrong?” asks Tennant. The two trade a look and Lucy can’t stand it. Is it someone they know? Someone from another case?
“What is it?” she shouts. She hadn’t meant to shout, but her nerves can’t take it. Both Jane and Kai put a hand on her shoulder. It gets Ernie started though.
“So, the kids were headed to the movie theater. They have some tradition with their dad, and Liam thought it would make his little brother worry less if they stuck to the plan. Sweet idea, but they nearly got nabbed on the way there.”
“Ernie…” starts Jane with a sigh. Lucy notes that Jesse still looks uneasy. With a look at her that just has her worry spiking, he takes over.
“So, the FBI caught up with the kids just as the bad guys were crossing fifteenth to grab them. We recognized a face, but um, Luce, has Whistler called you lately?”
“I got a bunch of hang ups earlier, why?” Lucy doesn’t like the feeling she’s getting in the pit of her stomach. Jesse taps Ernie’s shoulder and points to the large screen behind him. A second later, security camera footage playing there.
They all watch as the two boys, fifteen and twelve, walk down the sidewalk. A car goes down the street and pulls in front of them and two people get out, she’s guessing the FBI agents. That’s what they were told happened. Wait. She knows those agents. That’s Kate and Jack Chapman. That has Lucy paying closer attention. The second the boys spot them, Liam guides Cory across two lanes of traffic, intent on sticking to his plan. That’s when they spot a van pulling up further down the street and their bad guys getting out.
Kate and Jack run over to put themselves between the bad guys and the kids, but have to get through oncoming traffic to do it. The kids freeze all of a sudden and Kate reaches the older one just in time to push him out of traffic when the window of the parked car next to them explodes. Liam falls onto the sidewalk, but Kate jerks back instinctively and it has her getting struck by a car trying to race away from the gunfire. She rolls down the hood of the car and gets to her feet. Lucy assumes Jack is taking care of Cory, but she can’t tear her eyes off Kate. The car had practically knocked her horizontal and hard.
Kate gets her bearings just as one of the bad guys tries to reach Liam, who is scrambling to his feet and backing away. Kate has a good hold on the guy’s waist and yanks him backwards, enough that his gun isn’t pointed at the boy anymore, but he bashes it across the side of Kate’s face. Lucy thanks any gods that might be listening for small favors that he hadn’t just shot her. It’s a fight then, with Kate getting the gun away as well as few blows. He gets a few in too though, one to the abdomen that has her stumbling back and being hit with side mirror of another car speeding by. It ends with Kate grabbing ahold of him again, reversing their positions, a left hook to his face, a kick to his abdomen, and a devastating blow to his jaw that has him down. It’s impressive and Lucy can finally breathe. Except when she glances at Jack, his face is a bloody mess and is shielding Cory with his body just as the other guy aims his gun at him. Liam picks that moment to run towards his brother, but Kate grabs the back of his shirt with one hand and yanks him back hard. Liam must have yelled to Cory, because it has the guy with the gun turning and Kate shoots him twice in the chest. Lucy’s legs feel wobbly with relief.
That’s when other FBI agents and HPD arrives. Kate looks over at Liam, who nods that he’s okay, and then over at Jack and Cory. Jack’s struggling to stand, but gives her a thumbs up. Lucy lets out a deep breath as Kate braces herself on her knees to keep from falling over, gun still in one hand. There was no audio to the footage, but Lucy felt like she could hear every blow, every shot, and every heavy thud.
She has her phone out in a second and is calling Kate. She looks over at Jane when it just rings and rings before going to voicemail. Hanging up, she tries again.
“See if you can figure out who the failed kidnappers are and who they’re connected to, as well as the guy that stayed in the van. I’ll be back soon. Lucy, do you have keys to Kate’s place?” Lucy nods. Emergency keys and this definitely qualifies.
Jane drives them over to Kate’s and Lucy doesn’t argue. After watching the footage, she can’t really think about anything but seeing Kate. She’s given up on calling, because even if she heard her voice, she needs to see with her own eyes that Kate is in one piece. Kate doesn't like asking for help. There's her pride, but Lucy's learned that Kate's had to rely on herself for most things and having someone to reach out to is still new to her. Racing down the hall from the elevator, she knocks with one hand while the other fumbles with the keys.
“Kate? Kate, are you in bed or on the couch?” she calls as she pushes the door open, only to meet resistance.
“On the floor…” comes a groan and Lucy moves around the door to find Kate slumped in a sitting position against the wall. Bending down, she gently runs her hand over Kate’s hair as she takes in the dried blood at her hairline and under her nose as well as the bruising.
“Can you get up?”
“No. This is as far as I got. I thought I’d sit a minute and then head to the couch, but I can’t get up.”
“And you didn’t think to call me? Call anyone?”
“I did. And then I felt stupid and hung up. Any minute now, I was going to crawl over to the couch and collapse. That was the plan a while ago though and I still haven't been able to budge.” Lucy bites her lip at how dejected Kate looks at that fact. There are a lot of things her girlfriend can do by sheer force of will, but this isn't one of them.
“Well, you have the collapse part down” says Jane softly. Lucy turns to see her walking towards them from the kitchen. “Let’s get you up. First, where do you want to go? Couch or bed? Which is closer to the bathroom?”
“Bed” answers Kate. “On both counts.”
“Please tell me a doctor saw you? Not just an EMT?” asks Lucy as she and Jane carefully help Kate to her feet and lead her towards the bedroom. Kate hisses with every step and they take a break after a few feet when she looks close to tears.
“Doctor says nothing is broken, but I’ll probably be hurting for a while. I knew all that without a medical degree. Jack got his face smashed against the side of the building. Broken nose, a few ribs, and a concussion” answers Kate. Lucy rolls her eyes and Jane smirks.
“Okay, but we’re asking about you. How do you feel right now?” asks Jane.
“My bruises have bruises” whines Kate. Lucy bites back another smile.
“But nothing sprained or torn? No concussion?” she pushes. Kate narrows her eyes at her.
“Didn’t get that lucky. I’m one large swollen bruise, but in one piece.” Jane grins.
“Just want to be sure there isn’t something special we’re supposed to be doing for your wounds. Something besides just ice, like a brace or keeping something elevated” explains Jane.
“No. Just hit by two cars and a fist fight. Sorry to disappoint” mutters Kate. Lucy smirks. As much pain as she’s in, Kate still has her sense of humor. That’s a good sign.
“How are your hands?” she asks. Kate pouts and Lucy tries not to laugh.
“Asshole had a very solid face.”
“Well, you have a very solid punch and that was more than a simple fist fight” says Jane. “How are your ribs?”
“Bruised like the rest of me” answers Kate as they gently help her into bed.
“Anything you can take? Prescriptions to pick up?” asks Jane. Kate scowls.
“No helpful meds. He suggested Aleve.”
Jane nods and motions for Lucy to follow her. Once they’re in the next room, Jane puts a hand on her arm.
“Do you want to work from here or stay a little while and then head back?” Lucy blinks. “Unfortunately, for the family to be safe, we have to get to the bottom of this and fast.” Lucy nods.
“I know. I mean, I forgot that it’s just us on the case, but I know that Kate will kick me out at some point to go work on it.” Jane raises an eyebrow at her and Lucy sighs. “Remember when she was shot twice in the vest and it slammed her against the wall? Cracked ribs and a concussion? I got her settled on the couch and before we were halfway we were through the movie Clue, she was throwing pieces of popcorn at me to get me to go back to work.” Jane thinks for a moment.
“Wasn’t that when we were looking for the missing cadet?”
“Yeah and she knew it. She knows what kind of cases we handle and she knows the specifics of this one. I’ll get her settled and she’ll probably sleep until the case is done anyway.”
“I’m injured, not deaf! Seeing how you’re discussing me; shouldn’t I get a say?” calls Kate from the other room. Jane shakes her head.
“I put a few ice packs in a large bowl for her.”
“Laptop and you guys can go!” Lucy sighs and rolls her eyes as Jane gives her a smile and heads for the door. Lucy goes to the kitchen and spots the bowl. Going through the fridge, she gets a few things for a light snack. Grapes, apple slices, and string cheese. Kate's also getting used to being taken care of. That's another thing she's not used to and it makes Lucy sad. The first time she was over for one of Jane's dinners, she was greeted with a hug from Jane. It seemed to shock her. Shaking those thoughts away, she grabs the plate and bowl and heads back into the room.
“Okay, here. Let’s start with this and then I’ll get your laptop. Any idea what you’re going to watch?”
“House on Haunted Hill.”
“Is that the Mike Flannagan series that we watched on Netflix?” Kate smiles softly. Normally, horror isn’t really her thing, but Kate enjoys it and it’s never the kind of horror she expects.
“No, this is Vincent Price. It’s a black and white film. He throws a haunted house party and each guest gets ten thousand dollars if they survive the night. Ten thousand 1959 dollars. It’s a horror classic. Afterwards though, I might watch Hush now that you brought up Flannagan.”
“Okay, but if you start to drift off at some point, go with it?” Kate nods. Grabbing Kate’s laptop from the table in the other room, she also grabs her phone and plugs it in next to the bed. “Do you care if I text you every so often? That way if you’re asleep it might not wake you, but if you are, let me know you’re still doing okay?”
“I’m going to try and stay awake awhile since my head still feels off. I don’t need weird dreams on top of everything.”
“Right. Because you couldn’t get those from a creepy black and white horror movie.” Kate rolls her eyes. “Do you want me to help you change into something more comfortable or would that hurt too much?” Kate looks down at herself and tries to decide.
“Something comfy, but you can’t look at me.”
“I’ve seen every inch of you, you know. Just this morning in fact” says Lucy with a grin.
“Yeah, but then I wasn’t bruised all over. I don’t want you to worry and seeing them sort of freaks me out since they look pretty bad.”
“Kate—” Kate gives her a pleading look. “Okay, we’ll carefully get you changed without either of us looking.” That pulls a cute smile out of Kate, but Lucy can also see that she’s relieved.
Grabbing a large sleep shirt and shorts, Lucy carefully helps Kate undress. The white button up shirt that had Kate looking especially sharp with her black suit jacket, is a far cry from it’s pristine condition from this morning. The charcoal grey pants are torn in various places. Her clothing shows various signs of the fight earlier, but it’s all replaceable and Lucy will take care of that.
She’s braced herself as best she can, knowing that she won’t be able to avoid a glimpse or two and manage to get Kate dressed. She still isn’t ready. She’s helping Kate pull on her shorts when she sees the side of her thigh. In her mind’s eye she can see Kate getting hit by the car that didn’t exactly slow down at the sight of her. She sees her rolling down the hood of the car and landing hard on the street. She takes a shuddering breath.
“Nothing’s broken, Luce. I’ll heal up just fine, the doctor said so.” Swallowing hard she nods. She must have let something slip. A second later, Kate’s thumb is brushing tears off her cheek. “I’m okay. I have a snack, a movie I haven’t seen in ages, and one to follow it. I’ll let you work, but I’m happy to text back or you can call if you want.”
“Let me get you cleaned up a little more.”
“Lucy, your job is important. That family needs your help tracking down the dad. Your team is good, but you play a part in that. They need you there.”
“Yeah, well, I need you okay.”
“And now that I’m here in bed, knowing that you’ll be joining me at some point after saving the day, I am. Might have to give up some of my morning surfing for some sparing time with Jack.” Lucy gives her a faint smile and heads to the bathroom. She comes back to the bed and crawls next to Kate, turning her face towards, and gently wipes at the dried blood still on Kate’s face. The blood at her hairline has turned the blonde strands dark and stiff, but Lucy does the best she can. She does need to get back to the office, but nothing is going to make her rush through this, checking for herself that Kate is fine.
“I get what he wanted.”
“Hmm?”
“Liam. Wanting to stick to the plan they had with their dad. A way of telling himself everything was okay. That things were going to be okay. Hell, the idea that their dad might even just show up and join them. I talked to him while we were in the ER. Apparently, things have been tense at home. Their Dad’s work has been stressing him out. He was probably trying to figure out what to do. Their parents arguing because he wouldn’t tell their Mom anything. Didn’t want to put them in danger. She knows that now, but they are anyway. Liam just knows that things are worse now and he wanted to do one thing he knew always used to make them happy. Wasn’t working for Cory though. It just reminded him that their dad wasn’t there for something special, something he’d never miss.”
There’s a lot Lucy could take from that; any number of things Kate could be thinking of. The two of them when they were broken up, her brother and trying to keep things normal after his death, her relationship with her dad. Maybe all of them. Maybe Kate has tried to do something similar, the same activities she’d done before with them, trying to keep various memories alive.
She’s wiped the dried blood from under Kate’s nose, as well as the rest of her face, just to be sure. Kate reaches up and takes her hand, giving her a glimpse of her hand. Her fingers look swollen and scraped raw in various places from catching herself on the pavement. Bringing them to her mouth, she gently places a kiss on each one. After helping her put the ice packs where she needs them and kissing her softly, Lucy heads back to the office.
It’s two hours before Lucy checks in with Kate. She’s back in the office after chasing down a few leads with Kai. Collapsing into her chair she pulls out her phone.
“Hey, put it on speaker. Let us hear how Whistler’s doing and tell her to take it easy?” says Jesse. Lucy nods and a minute later, Kate’s voice comes through the phone.
“How’s your case going?” Lucy rolls her eyes as Jane joins them from her office.
“Fine. How are you feeling?”
“Same as before.” Lucy narrows her eyes at her phone. Kate’s going to have to give her more than that. Then she hears a slight groan and shifting and realizes Kate’s just readjusting herself. “The movie was good. Now I’m watching Lodge 49.”
“You did good Whistler!” calls Jesse from his desk. Lucy listens as Kate says she needs more practice and the guys offer to help, but she’s listening to Kate’s voice. She sounds okay, tired, but not to the point where she’ll try to sleep yet. Jane tells her to get some rest in that mothering tone of hers and then it's back to work.
She winds up calling once more, this time from Ernie’s office, and he checks in on Kate too. Lucy smiles at how close Kate’s gotten with her team. Ernie had never been intimidated by Kate’s frosty side. She texts a few times, but both go unanswered which makes sense since it’s the early hours of the next morning by the time she gets home.
They’d found the dad just in time, but not without getting into a scuffle of their own. When she gets home, she crawls into bed next to Kate, now sporting a few sore spots of her own. She’d give anything to be able to curl up close with Kate, but with her injuries, breathing in her direction seems like it might hurt her. She must have been thinking too loud, because Kate’s hand reaches over and takes hers. Looking up, she meets Kate’s gaze.
“Got him. He’s safe with his family. Bad guys taken care of too” Kate smiles.
“Knew you save the day.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m going to avoid cars of all kinds for the foreseeable future. All the way down to go karts and bumper cars. Even Hot wheels toy cars are pushing it.” Lucy smiles. She won't mind driving Kate into work or picking her after. She feels Kate’s fingers brush under her eye. “You’re developing a shiner here.”
“Didn’t duck or get my arm up in time.”
“Sounds like you could do with some extra sparing too. Maybe we could together.” Lucy grins.
“I think we both know how that would end…”
“So? Still physical exertion and endorphins.”
“You’re racking your brain for any and all healthy terms, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but those are valid ones. Especially the endorphins. I think. Why? Are you opposed to spending mornings that way? We could start with actual sparing, you know.” Despite her exhaustion and the injuries on her face, Kate’s smile is beautiful. Lucy chuckles.
“I honestly don’t know how you have the energy to suggest it, much less picture it, with the way you must be feeling, but no, I’m not against the idea.” She lightly traces Kate’s jaw with her fingers and then leans in for a kiss.
“I can picture lots of things.”
“I’m sure you can, but for now, let’s get some sleep. Neither of us have anywhere to be tomorrow. Is there any way I can hold you or is that too much right now?” Kate thinks for a moment and then turns on her side, away from her. “It won’t hurt your back?”
“I’ll be fine. I feel better with you holding me.” Lucy moves in closer and wraps an arm lightly around her waist as Kate snuggles in closer.
“By the way, the guys are excited at the idea of helping and sparing with you, so we’ll probably have to make time for that too.”
“It won’t be nearly as fun, but I think we can make time. Jesse is more my height and Kai is a better fighter I’m guessing.”
“Hey! I’m scrappy! You’ve said so!” Kate laughs lightly.
“You are, I’m just thinking that the people that I'll typically be up against aren’t going to be like you. They’re more likely going to be like the guys.”
“Okay. As long as we’ve got that clear. Now sleep” says Lucy as she places a kiss on the side of Kate’s neck. Physical exertion of any kind will have to wait a while. Kate needs time to heal and Lucy intends on taking advantage of that time down time together.