Work Text:
Tim was out on patrol today with Miles. So far it was like any other day, and for once it seemed like Miles had his head on straight.
He remembers hearing something about Lucy and Seth doing some undercover work but he wasn’t exactly sure what it entailed. All he knew is that he had a bad feeling in his gut that Seth was going to fail and somehow Lucy would be put in danger. But, it wasn’t his place and he knew Lucy would handle herself so he didn’t say anything.
•••
A few days ago, Tamara had asked Lucy if she could stop by the apartment, there was something she needed to talk to her about. That worried Lucy a bit considering all other times, the girl would just call or text her.
Lucy had just gotten home from work and had just sat down on the couch when she heard a key in the door. She figured it was just Celina so she didn’t even turn around.
“Hey!” Tamara says as she walks in the door.
“Hey you,” Lucy stands up and walks over to her to give her a hug.
“So what’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I heard about something that might be going down at a college party in a few days and just don’t have a good feeling about it,” Tamara walks over to the fridge to get a bottle of water.
“Okay… what’s happening?”
“I heard some guys who attend the college invited these drug dealers to the party. They go around to different colleges and try to find the ones who do drugs. But I’m talking the hardcore stuff.”
“Now how did you find out about this?”
“I… I promised not to say. But I swear the person who I got the info from does not do any sort of drugs.
“Okay, well I’m not looking to get them in trouble. Listen, I’ll bring it up tomorrow at work and see what we can do,” she assures her.
“Thanks Lucy, I just don’t want anything bad to happen,”
“It won’t. Not with me involved.”
•••
Lucy immediately brought it to Grey and the detectives attention. They decided to send one of their own in for this party but the person needed to be young enough to play the part. Nyla had suggested Tamara, offering to give her a full run through if she’d be willing, but Lucy wasn’t willing to put her through that.
“What about Seth?” Lucy suggests.
“What about him?” Grey asks confused.
“He could do it. He looks young enough to be a college student.”
“Officer Chen, do you really trust your rookie to go in there to get these guys?”
“I think he could do enough,” she admits nervously.
“I think Officer Chen is right. I think we need to give him a chance,” Nyla says, surprising them all.
“Chen, you and I can give him the full run through. Maybe put him through some of the trails I put you through.”
Lucy hopes she was right in trusting Seth with this responsibly.
•••
The night of the party, Lucy made sure to stress to Seth numerous times how he could not show he was nervous. He just needed to act like he was there for a good time, to make contact with the men and strike a deal. Lucy, Nyla and the other officers were outside waiting.
Tamara was also in attendance at this party, promising to stay away from the men. She also was there because Lucy knew she could remind Seth to stay calm.
Everything is going great, the two are actually enjoying themselves at the party and then the guys show up. Seth makes it known to them he is interested and they tell him to meet them in the other room. Suddenly, after that everything isn’t okay anymore.
The men start fighting, Tamara runs in there trying to help Seth but is quickly taken down and now she’s injured. Lucy, Nyla and everyone else have already moved in but now it’s too late. Shots rang out and Lucy was on the ground.
•••
Tim was sitting on his couch when his phone rang. He picked it up and didn’t recognize the number but decided to answer anyways.
“Sergeant Bradford?” He says into the phone.
“Yes, Sergeant Bradford. You’re listed as the emergency contact for Lucy Chen. She was brought in a bit ago, she was shot in the shoulder. She’s currently in surgery at St. Stephen’s.”
“Oh uhm okay wow. I’ll leave my house now. I’ll be there soon, thank you.” He’s about to hang up and she stops him.
“Also, Sergeant, it appears you’re also the other emergency contact for Tamara Colin’s. She was also brought in. She’s not in surgery but they’re running tests on her.”
“I’ll be there in about 10 minutes. Thank you for calling.” Tim hangs up the phone and he knows he broke a few laws to get there but he needed to make sure his girls were okay.
When Tim gets there, they recognize him and he’s immediately told a room number. Quietly thanking the woman, he quickly walks down the hall until he finds room 20.
Inside the room, he sees Tamara lying there on the bed with her eyes closed. Careful to not disturb her, he quietly knocks. She immediately looks up at him.
“You can come in,” she signals him in.
“How are you doing? What happened?” He stands awkwardly at the foot of her bed.
“I’m okay, really sore but they don’t think anything is broken. You know you can come closer, sit down.”
Tim knows not to argue with her, so he takes a seat in the chair next to her.
“A nurse called me that both you and Lucy were brought here. I don’t think I’ve ever driven so fast in my life,” he sighs.
“It got pretty intense there. I just remember feeling pain and then worrying about Lucy.” She looks down sad.
“She’ll be okay, you know her,” they share a laugh. “So what happened?”
“College party with drug dealers. Seth was brought in to try to get them to strike a deal. Not exactly sure where he went wrong but he got beat up pretty badly.”
“He had it coming,” Tim admits, shocking Tamara slightly.
“T, can I ask you something? Why did you keep me as one of your emergency contacts? Even after everything.”
“Because I always knew deep down you’d be there for me like you always have. I knew if I was in trouble or hurt, regardless of what’s going on between you and Lucy, I could count on you.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, because it’s true. Listen, I know you probably hate me and it’s warranted. But no matter what, I will always do whatever I can to make sure both you and Lucy are always safe and taken care of,”
“I know Tim. She knows that too.” She gives him a smile.
They were interrupted by a knock at the door, they both turn to see a doctor making his way inside.
“I’m assuming you’re Sergeant Bradford?” Tim nods.
“Officer Chen successfully made it through surgery. We were able to get the bullet out of her shoulder and there wasn’t too much bleeding. We expect she’ll make a full recovery but she’ll definitely need some time after the cast comes off in PT.”
“Thank you, doctor. Can we see her?”
“I can take you to her room now if you’d like,” the doctor offers.
Tim looks over at Tamara not wanting to leave her but also wanting to go see Lucy.
“Go, I’ll be fine. I’ll see if they let me go and see her too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes now go see our girl!”
Tim gets up and follows the doctor. She was only a few doors down.
She looked so small lying in the bed. Her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn’t sleeping. Likely still waking up from the anesthesia, she was just resting her eyes.
Like when he saw Tamara, he carefully walks in and she opens her eyes.
“Hey,” she smiles up at him.
“Hey yourself. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. I’d feel better if you were sitting next to me though.” She gives him those puppy dog eyes he’s never been able to resist. He laughs before taking a seat in the chair next to her.
“Luce, what happened?” He reached for her hand, unsure if she’d let him take it. But she did and she held on tight.
“Seth let his nerves get the best of him,” she says quietly.
Tim just shakes his head. Seth has had far too many chances and this one resulted in two of the most important people in his life getting hurt. He wasn’t going to let this one slide like the others.
“Hey Luce, can I ask you something?”
“Mhmm” she mumbles.
“Why did you leave me as your emergency contact?”
“Because I knew that no matter what, you’d be here and you’d make the best decision for me. It took some time and initially I was going to take you off but deep down I always had hope that you still loved me.”
“Lucy Chen, listen to me,” he says calmly still holding her hand. “I never stopped loving you. I know it probably seemed like that and I should’ve made that known but it was never about you or never about not loving you. You showed me so much love while we were together, and even before. More than I ever deserve.”
“Isn’t that a decision for me to make?”
“You’re right. I’m trying, Luce. I really am.”
“Good. But for now, I just want you here with me. We can talk about the rest later.”
“Yes we will,” he stands up only to kiss her forehead before sitting back down.
For the next little bit, they just sat in silence. It was a comfortable silence though. Lucy was resting and Tim couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
There was a knock at the door that immediately caught Tim’s attention. He turned slightly to see Seth standing in the doorway.
“What the hell are you doing here Ridley?” Tim stands up, Lucy’s grip on his hand tightening.
“I… I just wanted to see how Officer Chen was doing.”
“You don’t have a right to ask that. You’re the reason she’s here.”
“Sir, I’m sorry I just—“
“Save it. I’ve tried to keep my distance and let Officer Chen deal with it since you’re her rookie but enough is enough. I will be speaking to Grey. You better start looking for another job.”
He doesn’t say anything else, he turns and quickly walks away. Lucy pulls Tim to sit back down.
“I’m sorry Luce. I tried, I really did. But because of his actions two of the most important people in my life are sitting in the hospital tonight. I’m not just going to let it slide.”
“I know, and I wasn’t going to tell you otherwise. Thank you. I hate that I’m in this position with him but you’re right, his time is up. At least with me.”
There was again another knock, this time they saw Tamara standing in the doorway.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Lucy asks while Tim gets out of his chair making her sit.
“Sore but nothing is broken. Just some bruised ribs. How are you?”
“I’m okay. Better now that you’re both here. Tim, come sit on my bed next to me. You’re not going to hurt me,” she waves him over.
Tim of course doesn’t leave Lucy’s side until she’s discharged. And of course he insists she come to his house to continue recovery. She quickly agrees, and is immediately greeted by Kojo and his cuddles.
That night, after he’s helped her shower and change, she’s had her meds, he hops into bed next to her. It surprises him when she slides over so she’s lying with her head on his chest, but he doesn’t say anything. He just holds her close giving her kisses as she falls asleep.