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SSN 2 Ep 14 – Casualties
The four officers stand in the roll-call room defeated.
“So that’s it, we walk away?” asks Nolan.
“If we’re smart,” says Harper.
“That’s not a yes,” Lucy observes.
Collectively they decide to take the risk to call LA Clear to figure out what they’ve gotten themselves into.
Lucy can tell Tim is hurting and wants to do what she can to get him some kind of closure regarding Mitch. She doesn’t know why exactly he blames himself for Mitch’s injury but she’s sure it’s something classically Tim. There’s no way he’s the one who planted the IED or made Mitch step on it, but knowing Tim and the way he carries guilt she wants to find a way to make him feel a little lighter.
The four of them meet up much later to discuss the very little information LA Clear had to give them and decide it’s best to call it a night.
“Wait,” Harper says reluctantly, “as much as I want to say this will be the end of it something tells me if this really is a DIA operation they will not ignore that we started digging,” she tells the room.
“You’re right,” Tim says to everyone’s surprise, “we should expect a visit from them tonight.”
“Okay, so what, someone from this DIA taskforce is just going to show up at one of our houses and threaten us?” asks Lucy.
“Pretty much,” Tim says.
“Great, so how do we know who he’ll come after?” John asks.
“My guess is someone who they think will be an easy target,” says Harper which causes Lucy and John to look at each other, “you’re both right,” she continues, “assuming they’ve done their homework they’ll know our backgrounds and with you both being rookies…” she says.
“Great, so I can expect some threatening man to darken my doorway tonight, can’t wait,” Lucy says sarcastically.
“No,” Tim says and Lucy can’t tell if it’s because he doesn’t agree or if he’s trying to be protective or both, “He’ll pick Nolan,” he says.
“What? Why me?” John asks slightly offended.
“Because you live alone, Chen lives with West, they won’t want to risk being seen by anyone else,” Tim explains.
“Fair point, so we go to Nolan’s,” Harper says.
The four officers go change out for the night and head to their cars to then drive to Nolan’s. After listening to everything the DIA agent had to say Bradford and Harper accept that their rookies won’t back down and allow them to come.
“I’m making one phone call before we head out,” Tim announces.
“To who?” asks Harper.
“Back-up,” Tim says as he puts his phone to his ear, “Lopez,” he says, “how do you feel about joining Harper and our boots for a little off-the-books black-ops mission?” he asks as a smile spreads across his face, “great, I’ll text you the address, oh and bring your sniper,” he adds.
“Good call,” Harper says agreeing with Tim’s decision, “let’s go.”
“Chen, ride with me,” Tim says, “your car will give us away before you even put it in gear,” he says half teasing.
Lucy rolls her eyes but accepts that what he’s saying is true and get in the passenger seat of his truck.
Tim checks the trackers location so they know where they are going and starting driving to the Long Beach loading docks.
The ride is quiet and Lucy spends her time debating if she should ask Tim more about Mitch and his injury. In the end she decides to wait until he’s not operating a moving vehicle.
Surprised by their success they do decide the best thing to do is tell Grey before he hears the news from the Captain or anyone else even higher up the food chain.
Tim drives Lucy back to Nolan’s house so she can get her car and go home.
“Look, don’t say anything, but I think you were right,” Lucy very reluctantly admits.
“Of course I was, but you’ll have to be more specific, I’m right about everything,” Tim says with a cocky grin.
Lucy rolls her eyes as hard as she can, “you were right about the dog, about Kojo, I’m not ready. I know that dogs can be incredibly helpful for trauma recovery; the science is all there but with our schedules it’s just not the right time.”
“Good, I’m glad you realized it was a mistake taking him in,” Tim tells her.
“I’ll call the shelter when they open, hopefully they can find a new foster for him soon,” she says sounding pretty depressed about the whole idea.
A thought crosses Tim’s mind and he instantly tries to ignore it.
“I’ll take him,” he mutters.
“What?” Lucy asks clearly not having heard him.
“I’ll take him,” Tim repeats, this time a little louder.
“Take who?” Lucy asks trying to get her head around the idea of Tim taking in a dog.
“I’m saying I’ll take the dog,” Tim says looking at her.
“You will!” Lucy screams with excitement, “Oh my God you’re amazing Tim, that’s such a good idea! He’ll be so good for you,” she tells him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tim asks taking her comment negatively.
“It means that it will be good for you to have something to come home to, and dogs are helpful to have around when you’ve been through trauma, no matter what type, so having a dog is actually a really good idea, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before,” Lucy says.
“Okay whatever,” he says dismissing her entire psych based explanation, “I’ll follow you to your place and pick him up, he better at least know to go to the bathroom outside, I’m not potty training him,” he says sternly.
They quietly enter Lucy and Jackson’s apartment to find Kojo asleep in his kennel.
“See, he’s a good boy,” Lucy whispers.
Tim just rolls his eyes at her, “quickly now Chen, I do actually want to go to bed at some point before our next shift starts,” he says.
“Shh I’m working on it,” she says.
Lucy quietly moves around the apartment collecting all of Kojo’s food, toys, leashes and paperwork and puts them in a reusable grocery bag. Then she gets Kojo out of the kennel so she can put the leash on it.
“I’ll carry the kennel,” Tim says deciding it will be easiest if Lucy takes everything else down to his truck.
She nods and grabs Kojo’s belongings and Kojo himself and heads out the door towards the elevator.
They reach Tim’s truck and he puts the kennel in the back then lets the dog hop in the back seat.
Lucy gives him a surprised look.
“What? I don’t have the energy to try and get him in that thing right now,” Tim says gesturing to the kennel.
“Mhm, sure,” Lucy responds while smiling knowing it’s because Tim is not-so-secretly soft and actually wants to ride with the dog.
“Thanks again for doing this.”
“Like you said, it could be good for me,” Tim says before jumping in his truck and driving away.
Lucy smiles just thinking about how frequently she can request pictures of his new snuggly dependent.