Chapter Text
The thing was he knew she could handle her own. He wasn't lying when he told her she was in the top five of rookies he had ever trained, hell if he was being honest she was the best rookie he had ever trained, but as great of a cop as she was he was still scared for her safety, especially when she wasn't with him.
That fear was ever more present today as they were looking for a serial bomber. Especially when Lucy was almost blown up by said bomber when she was partnered with Nolan.
He remembered getting the call over the radio and swore he felt his heart stop when he heard it was her that had been injured. He drove as fast as he could to the scene and the only thing stopping him from running straight towards her was the fact that there were other people around.
She had been checked out by the paramedics and given a clean bill of health but he was still on edge and had her ride with him for the rest of the day.
As they were hitting the side of the humvee later though he wishes he had just sent her back to the station to follow up on leads. It was the thought that she could have died twice in one day that made him send her back to the station later instead of joining him in the field. At the station she was safe. In the field however…
Now he found himself standing outside her apartment, Kojo's leash in one hand and dinner in the other. He wanted to check on her so instead of staying home he picked up Kojo and grabbed burgers before going to Lucy's.
He just needed to make sure she was okay. At least that was what he told himself. Really he just needed to see her, to see with his own eyes that she was okay and alive. He also knew she didn't think about eating sometimes after a tough case and she needed to eat, even if it was takeout that they got regularly on shift.
Taking a deep breath he raised his fist and knocked on the door.
Sitting on her couch, Lucy was suddenly wishing that Tamara wasn't at a friend's house the weekend. The apartment was too quiet and her mind just kept replaying the events of the last two days, namely almost dying. Twice.
Throwing her head back against the back of the couch she let out a sigh, resigning herself to a quiet night in when she heard a knock on the door. If it was anyone else she probably would have ignored them but she knew that knock and she knew that if there was one person who could keep her from getting too into her head it was Tim. Standing slowly she made her way to the front door, undoing the locks and pulling it open to reveal her two favorite boys.
As the door opened and revealed his partner (because as much as he tried to deny it she was his partner) he let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
"Hey. I brought food and the boy." He gave her a small smile as he held up the leash and bag of food. That seemed to make her laugh as she crouched down, wrapping her arms around Kojo for a hug before unclipping his leash. They watched as he ran straight to the couch, jumping up in the corner and looking at them impatiently.
"Looks like someone is happy to be on the couch." She smirked at him as he walked past her into the living room, rolling his eyes for good measure.
"Someone isn't supposed to be on the couch." He glared but unlike when she first met him there was no anger behind his eyes, just teasing annoyance.
"My house, my rules." She stuck her tongue out at him as she grabbed a couple beers and walked over to the couch, sitting in the middle and waving Tim over to join. "And I say Kojo can get on the couch." As soon as she said the words the dog dropped his head onto her knee and they both looked up at Tim who was trying his best to hold back a smile.
"Only because it's your house. Don't be getting any ideas when we go home buddy." He pointed at Kojo who just closed his eyes in silent resignation.
Lucy let out a loud laugh as Tim grumbled about her spoiling the dog before she clinked their beer bottles together. They ate in relative silence until suddenly Lucy sat her food down, turning to face him.
"Why are you here Tim?" She dropped her hands in her lap as she waited for his response.
"What do you mean why am I here? A guy can't bring his friend dinner anymore?" He shrugged like it was no big deal, avoiding her eyes that were rolling at his response.
"Seriously Tim. Why did you come over tonight?" His resolve crumbled as she laid a hand over his. Sitting his own food down he turned, putting a hand on the back of the couch as he faced her.
"I needed to make sure you were okay." He held up his hands before she could say anything. If she wanted him to talk he was getting everything out now. "I know you weren't hurt by the explosion or when we rammed the humvee but my mind started running with what ifs and I just-" he shook his head, hearing how pathetic he sounded. "I just needed to see with my own eyes that you were okay. And I know that you don't usually eat anything after a particularly hard day so…" He shrugged, still not looking at her.
"Tim." His name fell from her lips in a whisper as her heart swelled. As much as she knew she shouldn't, she had to be touching him right now and brought her hand up to cup his cheek, forcing him to finally look at her. "Thank you." She could feel tears prickling at her eyes and willed them to stay away until he left.
"When I heard about the explosion over the radio this morning I-"
"I know. I know. I can't stop thinking about it either. We were so close. If we had stayed in that building any longer…" she let her voice trail off, both of them knowing she was seconds from being carried out of there by CSU. "But I'm here. And I'm okay." She brought his hand up to rest over her heart, letting him feel the rhythm of it as it pounded in her chest. She fully expected him to pull away, but instead he smiled lightly and nodded before pulling her into a strong hug.
His left hand cupped her head while his right held her to him, her arms trapped between them resting against his chest. All of the emotion of the last two days hit them full force and they found themselves shedding silent tears together.
Face still pressed into his shoulder Lucy felt brave enough to whisper her next words.
"Stay with me? Just for tonight?"
"Of course." She felt his nod, his hand tangling into her hair as he held her on the couch, exhaustion quickly overtaking them.
Waking slowly, Lucy pressed herself closer to the warm body that was holding her. The arms that were wrapped around her tightened, a sigh escaping from their mouth and she found herself wanting to stay like this forever, thinking about more mornings where she woke up tangled with this body that definitely wasn't Chris's…
She froze as she came to the realization that it was Tim holding her, it was Tim she was so tangled with on her couch that she couldn't tell where she ended and he began. She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard him stir.
"Mmm…" He placed a kiss on the side of her head and tightened his arms around her and she braced herself for his reaction to their current situation. "Lucy." He moved his face into her neck and she knew he had to still be asleep, otherwise there was no way he would be doing this.
That thought made her pause because if he said her name and was still asleep, that meant he was thinking about her in his sleep and that thought was enough to make her blush and snuggle back into him.
If he could enjoy this longer then so could she.
Lucy woke again an hour later to the smell of breakfast but this was much better than what Tamara ever tried making. Rubbing her eyes she sat up slowly to see Tim in her kitchen. He was standing at the stove with his back to her. He had taken off his sweatshirt he was wearing last night and was now shirtless so she let herself sit there for a minute and enjoy the view.
She must not have been paying enough attention because Tim turned around and, if the smirk on his face was any indication, he had definitely caught her checking him out.
A blush filled her cheeks and she cleared her throat, standing up and walking over to join him in the kitchen but not before pulling on his sweatshirt that found itself on the back of her couch.
"What's this?" She looked down at her island to see two plates filled with pancakes and sausage, cups of coffee at each plate. Tim shrugged as she looked at him.
"I figured the least I could do was make breakfast for us." Her heart melted and she couldn't resist hugging him.
"Thank you Tim, that's so sweet."
"Anytime." He whispered into her neck where his head rested and her arms tightened around him. They stayed like that for much longer than a friendly hug should be until suddenly the door opened, causing Kojo to bark and them to jump apart.
"Tamara! What are you doing home so early?" Lucy internally cringed as she realized how the question sounded, especially with Tim standing next to her shirtless while she was wearing his sweatshirt that was large on her, covering up the shorts she was wearing.
"I realized I forgot my backpack but I didn't want to come over in the middle of the night so I figured I'd stop by this morning. But if you need some alone time…" she let the sentence hang in the air, her eyes going back and forth between Tim and Lucy with a knowing look.
"Look Tamara, this isn't what it looks like. Tim-"
"Lucy why's your door open?" She froze at the voice that preceded the man walking through her front door. She certainly hadn't invited him over and she cursed him for choosing now of all times to want to come to her place. He closed the door behind him before looking up and seeing them, stopping in his tracks. "Lucy what's going on here?"