Work Text:
This really was the last thing Lucy had expected to happen when she and Tim were sent out on patrol together.
Because who expects to be trapped under a big, thick foil shield with their ex to shelter from a wildfire?
It felt like she was suffocating. It felt like she was right back in that godforsaken barrel. Like the oxygen was being ripped from her lungs again.
Except this time, she wasn’t alone.
She had Tim. The one person she had longed for in those dark moments of December ninth 2019.
“Is this going to work?”
God, she really hoped it would. Sure, she knew being a cop was basically signing your life away to protect others, but she hadn’t really envisioned burning to death in a wildfire to be the way she went out.
“It’s designed to reflect radiant heat, protect against convective heat and trap breathable air, which is good, but it’s only meant for short-lived—”
Too much information. All she really needed was a simple yes or no. None of what he said really registered anyway, because it was way too much to process.
“Yes, yes is the answer I’m looking for.”
Everything she needed right now was the reassurance that they weren’t going to die wrapped underneath some heat resistant blanket and shrivel up together like they were lovers in a Greek tragedy.
Though sometimes, it did feel like that just a little bit.
Like they were a part of some sad Greek tragedy, their story doomed to be retold with the same ending over and over again.
“Yes, it is definitely going to work.”
Lucy exhaled softly, able to relax at least a little bit now that she knew they would at least make it out alive.
Her peace lasted a full three seconds before Tim spoke up and did exactly what she was dreading. What she had hoped he wouldn’t do.
“Listen, I wanna tell you something,” Tim started, and Lucy knew damn well what he was going to tell her.
“No, no!”
Lucy felt more panicked now than she had when she had first realized they were engulfed in fire.
The last thing she needed right now was a love confession because they were on the brink of death. She couldn’t handle that. It would break her.
Because him still loving her would mean all of the heartbreak she went through was for nothing. That she could have just had him this whole time instead of dealing with the baggage of the breakup.
“What, you got somewhere you gotta be?”
Of course she didn’t. And even if she did, it wasn’t exactly like she could make it there anyway.
Well, she didn’t want to be anywhere else either. Because with Tim was, despite everything, still her favorite place to be.
No matter the circumstances.
“You are gonna say something heartfelt because you think we’re gonna die and I don’t wanna cry right now!”
Truth be told, she already was crying, and if he noticed it, she would say it was sweat because of the heat and not raw, unfiltered emotion. She hid herself into her arm as much as she could without it being obvious that she was sheltering herself.
He was going to tell her he loved her. She knew he was going to. Despite having longed to hear that for so long, she didn’t want to anymore. Because somehow, that would feel like it was the end. Like the finality of that statement would bring the whole world down with it.
“I might say something hateful, you don’t know!”
She knew him well enough to know that was complete utter bullshit. There was no bone in Tim Bradford’s body that could ever say something truly hateful about her.
He loved her far too much for that.
“Yes I do! I know what you’re gonna say. You’re still in love with me!”
“Wow, the arrogance.”
Had they been in any other situation, she probably would have smacked his shoulder and laughed at a remark like that, but right now, all it did was split her heart in two.
Because for one fleeting moment, they felt like them again. Casual banter, close proximity and ceaseless love. And despite the fact he called it arrogance, she knew she hit the nail right on the head.
“Am I wrong?!”
What if he said yes? What if he said that she was wrong and they burned to death? Would that really be the last thing she ever heard? That he was over her and she was the only one unable to move on from what had been the best, and still most important, relationship of her life.
Even though rationally she knew he wouldn’t say yes. Because he kept showing her every day, over and over again that he still loved her.
As much as she tried to deny that, merely because she wasn’t ready to face her feelings for him. Face the fact that she needed to open herself up to the possibility of getting hurt again if it meant she could have him again.
No matter how scary that was, it would be worth it.
When she would be ready for it.
Not right now.
“No, okay! No, you’re not wrong! Of course I still love you! Do you?”
For a moment, Lucy truly didn’t know what to tell him. Of course she felt the exact same way he did – even after he had broken her heart she couldn’t help but love him just the same – and god, did she want to tell him.
The only problem here, was that she couldn’t tell him.
Because telling him she loved him felt like she was accepting their fate. That she was accepting the fact this was her final chance to tell him. That she was accepting the fact they were going to die.
She refused to do that.
So, instead of opening up the way she wanted to, she decided to build yet another layer on top of the brick wall around her fragile heart.
“It doesn’t matter!”
It did matter. So much. More than he would ever know. She wanted to scream ‘yes’ at the top of her lungs, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t have to. Because he would know without her even telling him.
“So that’s a yes?”
He knew her too well. Of course he would take her avoidance for the confirmation it was. Of course he would see right through the fact that she didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t have to tell him, he just knew.
It was indeed a yes. It always had been and it always would be. But even right now, with those three little words caught in the back of her throat, Lucy couldn’t give in and tell him how she felt.
“Oh, you are infuriating!”
Immediately after, she regretted not telling him. Because she would hate herself forever if she never got to tell him again.
Why couldn’t she just get over herself and face her feelings?
“I know! I know!”
Everything after that was a blur. All Lucy remembered was the steady thumping of Tim’s heart beneath her own as he crushed her into his chest. It served as a reminder that they were still alive. That they were alright.
It made her feel safe, like that alone could shelter her from the storm of fire around them.
It felt like forever that they were under there, but when the fire finally seemed to have died down, Lucy carefully lifted the heat protector off the two of them, peeking up at the destruction around them.
Funny, that was kind of what her whole life felt like. Complete destruction.
“I told you we’d make it.”
“Only because I made you.”
He held his hand out and lifted her to her feet. She managed a small smile up at him, though she wasn’t able to do much more than that – still too much in shock to really wrap her head around what happened.
“Control 7-Adam-100, we are code four.” Tim said, and Lucy had never been more relieved in her whole life.
“7-Adam-100, please repeat.” Grey’s voice came over the radio full of disbelief. He hadn’t sent out the water drop yet, so he definitely thought he was just hearing what he wanted to hear. That he hadn’t lost two more officers who were like family to him.
“We are code four. I repeat, code four. We could use a ride.”
“Copy that. Help’s on the way.” Grey sounded like a massive weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. Then again, maybe it had.
His arms suddenly pulled her tightly against him – as if he wanted to see if they really did make it out alive. Scratch that, she had never been more relieved in her whole life right now. Back in his arms, safe, and most of all, alive.
“Hey, I thought we were going to die out there,” Lucy broke the silence, lifting the oxygen mask off her face.
“Me too.”
“Having an experience like that really just crystalizes your priorities. It’s crazy,” she muttered, shaking her head lightly.
“Yeah, my priorities were already perfectly clear.”
She really, really tried to ignore the way her heart sank at his words, because it was so clear he was talking about her.
It wasn’t fair to keep stringing him along like that – she knew that, too – but her self-perseverance kicked in before she could allow herself to share that she felt the same way.
“I keep talking about it, but I have to… I have to get serious, you know. I need to move forward in my career.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I-I agree.”
She hated that she could almost hear his heart drop. Her own weighed heavy with guilt. She couldn’t keep doing this to him. She felt terrible.
“You know, um, I’ve been thinking about taking the sergeant’s exam.”
“Yeah?” He turned to look at her, almost hopefully.
“Yeah,” she whispered, smiling that one particular soft smile she only ever reserved for him.
“Well, I mean, if you pass, then I wouldn’t be your supervisor anymore.”
She knew exactly what that meant. What he meant by saying that.
That the chain of command wouldn’t be an issue anymore. That there would be no reason for them to not get back together unless she didn’t want him back.
She nodded, her smile widening subtly. “That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of that.”
She had thought of it. In fact, that was the first thing she thought about when he mentioned the chain of command in the elevator.
Because she had already been thinking of taking the exam then. And maybe, just maybe, that had landed a tally in the ‘pro’ category for taking the exam.
Screw that, it had landed at least five tallies.
“I’ve got some excellent books on tape. I could, uh, help you study.”
Oh.
He kept the audiobooks she had made for him almost five years ago now.
She didn’t think he still had them lying around.
“Oh. Well the test isn’t for another few months, but it’s always good to get a head start.”
Besides, if that help studying was anything like the other times he had helped study, she was definitely going to need those months to make up for the time lost on said studying methods.
“Oh, thank God you guys are okay,” Seth’s voice pulled them from their moment. Her smile almost immediately dropped. “You’re—you’re better than okay. It’s like nothing even happened.”
Seriously? They almost burn to death, but sure, nothing even happened.
“Yeah,” Lucy replied gruffly, her voice still rough, “smoke inhalation and, like, a lifetime of nightmare fuel, but other than that.”
“Yeah, good. Bad, but I—good. Um, yeah, I got into it with the National Weather Service. I did some serious yelling. The fact that they didn’t update us that the fire had—had shifted is unacceptable.”
Before Lucy even had the chance to do so, Tim already intervened.
“I’m sorry. The road wasn’t safe, they didn’t tell us?”
“Yeah, it’s unbelievable, right? I—somebody’s got to get fired over this.”
“I’ll follow up and make sure they do.”
It was as if the life drained from Seth’s face at that.
“No, I—” Seth stammered, “I don’t think that’s necessary. I put the fear of God in them. Um..”
Tim looked incredibly skeptic at that. He had, of course, seen Seth handle the phone calls earlier that day. Something about it seemed off. Maybe Lucy hadn’t been wrong when she said she had a bad feeling about him.
“Anyways, I’m just here – I’m just checking on my T.O. I got to get back to the station. Grey needs me.” And with that, he was gone.
Tim glanced over at Lucy, who looked just as troubled as he did.
Something about this was off. Really off.
Turns out, they weren’t far off. They reviewed bodycam footage of that day, turns out Seth knew about the road being unsafe, failed to report and then tried to cover up the fact he had put two highly respected officers in jeopardy.
Safe to say I.A. wasn’t very happy about it.
“Bradford, Chen,” Grey called out, beckoning the two of them over to his office.
“Sir,” Lucy acquired, shifting on her feet. Either they were screwed for some reason, he had bad news about Seth, or Grey just wanted the two of them to ride together.
And with the memory of what happened the last time they were riding together, Lucy wasn’t sure which of the three would be the better option.
“With officer Ridley under investigation and officer Penn being moved to Nolan for his training, I need you two to ride together again,” Grey announced, crossing his arms over his chest.
Lucy glanced at Tim, who just so happened to do the same exact thing. She let out a heavy breath, which didn’t go unnoticed.
“Any reason in particular the two of you can’t ride together,” Grey asked, looking at Tim, then at Lucy.
“No,” Tim said, at the exact same time Lucy said, “no sir.”
“Great, then it’s settled. You two be careful of the storm out there. I can’t handle any more officers being out of commission, alright,” Grey said, right before walking off to go handle the rest of his duties.
“You go set up the shop,” Tim suggested.
“I’m not your Boot anymore,” Lucy countered jokingly.
“Not a sergeant yet, though, so,” he trailed off, nodding his head towards the gear.
“Fine,” she relented with a smile, walking off to go get their shop set up.
They weren’t even on the road for twenty minutes when their motor began sputtering and the car came to a full stop.
Of course their shop had to break down in the middle of nowhere during a rainstorm right at the one spot in LA where they had the shittiest phone service in the world.
Tim jammed his fists down onto the steering wheel with a load groan. “Damn it,” he grumbled, unbuckling his seatbelt.
“Where are you going?” Lucy asked, getting out of the car right as he did.
“I’m going to try and fix this damn motor. I’m not staying out here stranded waiting for Smitty to come pick us up.”
Lucy snorted out a small laugh, because if they had to wait for that to happen, they might as well hike all the way back to the station.
Little did she know, that was the calm before the storm.
Tim got out of the car and looked inside. The motor was smoking like crazy. Yeah, they were going to be stuck here for a little while, clearly.
“That doesn’t look good,” Lucy said softly, coughing as she inhaled some of the smoke.
“No kidding,” Tim countered, coughing as well.
They stared at the burning motor for a good few minutes before Lucy decided it was useless to keep looking at it. Especially with how much worse the rain had gotten the past few minutes.
“Come on, Tim. It doesn’t matter. Nothing we can do about the car.”
Tim’s head shot up at that, his eyes wide. Lucy realized her mistake the moment she said it. Yeah, they both got a horrible sense of deja vu there.
“The rain is getting worse, we should find shelter or get back in the shop,” Lucy offered carefully.
“That won’t help anything.”
“Neither will standing out in the rain. Do you want to get pneumonia?”
Tim scoffed and shook his head, opening up the hood of the car once more.
“Are you seriously going to fight me on this?” Lucy asked exasperatedly, crossing her arms over her chest.
“If you’re so worried about pneumonia get back inside the shop,” Tim shot out, sounding angrier than he had intended. Almost like something was bothering him.
“Why are you being so mad at me? I’m not the one that destroyed the car,” she countered.
Rationally, Lucy knew why he was probably angry at her, but that didn’t mean she wanted to acknowledge she was the reason he was so angry. No, not angry, hurt and upset.
Tim turned around, clearly agitated. “I don’t know, maybe because natural disasters and the two of us clearly don’t mix well.”
For a moment, a look of hurt flashed over her face. Then again, she guessed she did deserve that one just a little bit.
Her mind instantly went back to when they were wrapped up under the heat resistant blanket the week before that. Yeah, she really deserved that one for leaving him hanging there.
And in the hospital.
God, she had hurt him so much. Only because she was trying to keep her heart safe.
In the process of doing that, she was continuously hurting the man she loved most. Which was incredibly unfair, despite the fact she did have her reasons for not telling him yet.
“That’s not fair, Tim. The wildfire was so different from this. You think I—”
She wasn’t able to finish her sentence before he cut in.
Tim shook his head and shrugged in defeat. “What do you want me to think, Lucy? Do you even—” he wasn’t able to finish his sentence before she rushed out her answer. She couldn’t watch that same hurt wash over his face again.
“Of course I love you!” she just about cried out, her chest heaving up and down. Her tears were, thank god, masked by the rain that poured down onto them. “I never stopped,” she added, her voice softer this time, but just as genuine as before.
Tim just stared at her. Speechless. Lucy knew she had to continue, tell him more, elaborate on the fact that she had finally confessed how she felt.
She brushed some of her dripping hair from her face, taking a deep breath before speaking up again.
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for not telling you sooner… during the fire, Valentine’s day, hell, when you invited me to stay for dinner. I wanted to, I did, but I was so scared. I didn’t want to get hurt again, and I realized that me denying how I felt about you was hurting you, and I’m done. I love you.”
The confession hung thickly in the air between them, the rain still coming down onto them rapidly, soaking them both.
“Tim,” Lucy pleaded softly, “please say something.”
She realized how selfish it might be to ask for a reaction when she had deprived him of just that when he told her how he felt, but she couldn’t handle the silence.
Just as Lucy was about to turn around, Tim surged forward, cupping both of her cheeks in his hands and crashing his lips down onto hers like they were the oxygen he needed to breathe.
Lucy made a small noise of surprise in the back of her throat before her mind caught up with what was happening. She draped her arms over his shoulders, pulling him even closer.
Neither of them seemed to care that the clouds were still raining down on them. All they cared about was having each other again. For real this time.
When they pulled apart for air, Tim leaned his forehead against Lucy’s, breathing out shakily.
“Luce,” he uttered softly, brushing a wet lock of hair away from her face.
“I know,” she whispered, brushing her nose against his. “Let’s get out of the rain, I’m getting cold.”
Without any hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, only this time, the hug didn’t catch her off guard completely.
“Still cold,” she complained half-heartedly.
“I’ll keep you warm.”
Lucy smiled up at him and shook her head fondly. “Seriously, Tim, as appealing as that sounds, my shirt is soaked, we need to get back inside the shop. We’ll worry about the motor later, the storm should be clearing out soon, so we’ll radio for help then.”
Tim couldn’t help but laugh himself, but he let go of her nonetheless, allowing her to get back into the shop. He had this smile on his face that no storm, wildfire or any other natural disaster could wipe off his face.
“What?” Lucy asked when she noticed his grin.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get you back, that’s all. I’m just really glad I did. That you’re willing to give me another chance.”
Lucy tilted her head and smiled sympathetically. “You, always,” she promised, gently taking his hand and pressing the faintest of kisses on top of his knuckles. “I just needed some time.”
Tim nodded in understanding, because he understood that she needed some space. “I know. I messed up badly and I—”
Lucy shook her head vehemently. “No, you’ve apologized more than enough. You’ve shown me you really mean it, that you’ve worked on yourself. That’s all I could ask for. I don’t need you to grovel, alright. It’s in the past, so now we move forward.”
“I thought you were only going to move forward in your career?”
“I can multitask.”
“Okay.”
“Good, because I miss our dog.”
“He misses you, too.”
Lucy chuckled softly. “That’s because I’m still his favorite.”
Tim smiled fondly, looking at Lucy like she was his whole world.
Maybe because she was.
“I don’t blame him. You’re my favorite, too.”
Lucy looked over at him, her cheeks heating up. “You don’t need to flirt me up anymore, Bradford. You already have me.”
“Good. Wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Makes two of us.”
fin.