Work Text:
Sometime late in Season 3
Lucy caught him after roll call.
“I hear you’re looking to buy a house,” she said. She was sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it was a bit much, but he’d been right in his final evaluation of her, he missed riding with her.
“Who’d you hear that from?” Tim asked, continuing toward the kit room.
“I have my sources. So, what are you thinking? I got my apartment for cheap because there was a murder there. You want to live in a murder house? Oh! If you get something kind of run-down Nolan can help you fix it up. Like his house.”
Tim scowled down at her. Nolan was good people, but there was no way Tim was going to renovate a house with him.
“Okay, not a fixer upper. Move in ready? What neighborhoods are you thinking?” She started listing off the neighborhoods of their coworkers and those coworkers’ opinions about where they lived. Tim listened to her as long as it took for his war bag to be produced from behind the kit room counter.
“No,” he interrupted.
“No what?” she asked, tilting her head in question.
“You are not helping me buy a house. If you want to know what it’s like, go buy your own.” He grabbed a body cam and his war bags, then headed for the sally port.
“I already know what it’s like,” she called after him. He could just barely hear her as she muttered “I helped Nolan find his house.”
Less than two hours later he got the first text link to a house. Accompanying it was a text from Lucy.
LUCY: 3 bdrm? 1 for sleep, 1 for gym, 1 for guests?
He didn’t bother opening the link. At a red light he typed in a response.
TIM: Guest bdrm? If I have one of those, people will want to use it. 1 bdrm
Less than 30 seconds later he got two more links.
LUCY: Galley kitchen or open concept?
He ignored them. He was working.
By lunch time curiosity was killing him. He opened the links.
It had taken Lucy less than a day to figure out his housing likes and dislikes. Now they were pulling up to the first of the five prospective houses she’d narrowed it down to. Tim still wasn’t sure how she talked him into letting her come along. And not even a meet there, drive separately kind of come along. She was in his truck. She’d even talked him into picking her up at her apartment, which was out of his way.
The realtor, Anna, was waiting for them in the driveway. She held out her hand as they approached. Tim shook it.
“Mr. Bradford, it’s nice to meet you. I thought you said you were single. You’ve got some nice picks to look at today, obviously reflecting the good taste of your wife,” Anna said with a wide smile, turning to shake Lucy’s hand.
Lucy pursed her lips, holding back a laugh as she shook the other woman’s hand.
“Whoa!” Tim said. “Not married.”
“Oh.” Anna looked between them. Lucy was still suppressing laughter. She had that mischievous glint in her eye.
“She was my trainee,” he explained, using a term more easily understood by civilians.
“Deny it all you want Tim, but we’re friends,” Lucy retorted. She turned to Anna. “Shall we look at the house?”
“Ummm. Yeah. Yes. Of course.”
Tim had no idea why Anna found their relationship status so puzzling. He followed her inside, letting Lucy go first.
Lucy’s smile vanished when they entered the house. She went into business mode. Tim had seen it hundreds of times. She’d go from teasing him in the shop to handling serious business as soon as they stepped out. The many faces of Lucy sometimes gave him whiplash.
“There are an awful lot of windows here. Any idea how many panes they are or their energy rating?” Lucy asked Anna.
“Double pane and filled with argon gas to help reduce heat gain from the relentless summer sunshine. Energy star rated,” Anna answered without even consulting the listing sheet.
Tim let Lucy handle grilling the realtor. He walked around the house getting a feel for it and thinking about what would go where as he listened to the answers Lucy prompted. After they’d visited every room, Lucy turned to Anna. “Can we have a minute to discuss?”
Anna got that puzzled look again, but readily agreed. “Of course. I’ll be outside.” She left them standing in the living room.
“Are you sure you don’t want a guest room?” she asked.
Tim rolled his eyes. “Yes.”
A bright, elated smile spread across her face. “Then it’s perfect! Fenced in backyard for Kojo, your preferred kitchen layout, lots of light, modern look, move in ready, one-bedroom, perfect living room setup for your TV and couch, easy commute to the station via surface streets.”
She was right. It was everything he wanted in a house. “Hold your horses. Let's look at the others before making a final decision.”
Lucy smiled that knowing smile. “Of course, Tim.”