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It had been a few days since Seth was removed from the LAPD. At first, he tried to blow up Lucy’s phone with texts and calls, but she quickly blocked his number. She knew she should probably tell Grey what he was doing, but a part of her felt guilty enough, so she let it go.
She hadn’t talked to Tamara since the day in the break room after Seth’s big adventure almost got the three of them and Celina hurt. She sent her a text to warn her, but got no answer.
After a long day of work, she finally sat down on the couch and was about to drown her sorrows in reality tv when her phone started ringing. Picking it up from the coffee table, she saw that it was Tamara. She answered and placed the phone up to her ear.
“Hey Tamara. Everything okay?” A worried tone in her voice. Normally the young girl would just send a text unless it was something urgent.
“No, she’s not okay.” Lucy heard a voice on the other end of the phone that definitely wasn’t Tamara’s.
It didn’t take her long to realize it was Seth.
“Seth, what are you doing?”
“Just having a little fun, aren’t we Tamara?” He asks turning his head slightly away from the speaker.
“…Lucy help!” Lucy could barely hear.
“You need to let her go!” Lucy yells.
“Only if I can talk to you in person.”
“That’s not happening,” Lucy shoots back.
“Fine then. But you might as well say goodbye to Tamara,” she can practically see his smirk on the other end of the phone.
“Wait… Just tell me where,” she sighs already getting up to grab her keys.
•••
Lucy makes the quick drive to the address Seth gives her. Again, she thinks about telling Grey or Tim about this, but knows it will only make things worse. She can do this. She can go in and reason with him and keep both herself and Tamara safe. Hopefully.
Walking up to the door, she slowly knocks. A few seconds later, the door swings open.
“Oh good you’re here.” Seth looks a little rough, like he hasn’t been sleeping or something.
She walks inside and he closes the door quickly. She sees Tamara sitting in the corner strapped down to a chair. She gives her a sympathetic smile before Seth comes walking over.
“Now, Lucy… tell me why you think it was your right to go behind my back and convince everyone I’m a ‘liar’,” he put air quotes around the last part.
“There was no need to convince. I had all the proof.” She says straightforward.
“You had no right to do that! None!” He yells.
“You need to calm down,” Lucy yells back at him.
“No. You’re not my training officer anymore, you don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m in control now!”
“Why are you making Tamara suffer? She didn’t do anything to you.”
She can see the wheels turning in his head before he looks over at Tamara and nods.
“You’re right. She can go, but you’re staying.” He walks over to Tamara and sets her free.
“Go! Get out of here!” Seth shoves her towards the door.
The girls exchange a quick look before she leaves the house.
“Now, let’s go for a ride. What do you say?”
Lucy wants to argue, but she knows better than to argue with someone in this state of mind. She nods her head and looks up at him. He’s holding a gun and he has it pointed at her.
“Where did you get the gun?”
“Don’t worry about it!” He hurries her along.
Seth isn’t being smart at all. He has no idea where they’re going and he doesn’t realize Lucy has her off duty weapon on her as well as her own cell phone.
“You know, you ruined my life so now it’s time for me to ruin yours,” Seth looks back at her from the drivers seat.
“You don’t have to do this Seth.”
“I do. My life is over and it’s all your fault.”
“I haven’t done a thing. You dug your own grave, now you’re buried and want to blame everyone else for your own actions.”
Seth quickly hits the breaks, similar to when she did after one of their first days in the shop.
“What did you say?” His voice is a little louder.
“You heard me. I gave you all the opportunities to come clean, I even covered for you longer than I should have.”
“Get out of the car! Get out now.” Seth is angry, he gets out and walks back to open her door.
“I said get out!” She does what he says and he quickly shoves her to the ground. She tries to fight but he’s quick to get some kicks to her face and ribs in.
“Get up! Let’s go before anyone sees us.” He yanks her by the wrist and she hears something pop.
He shoves her back into the backseat and starts driving. Lucy can tell he’s starting to get nervous and doesn’t know what to do next.
“C’mon Seth. Let’s just go back to the station and you can turn yourself in. It will beat what they do to you when they find us,” Lucy says with a convincing tone.
“They won’t find us!”
By now, Lucy’s ribs and wrist are really starting to ache. She also can feel blood rushing down her face and she carefully tries to wipe it away. She must’ve scraped it on the ground when he pushed her or while he was kicking her.
She has a rough idea of where they are and before she can say anything, Seth is pulling off the road.
“Let’s go. Get out of the car.” Lucy does what she told and walks with him inside the building.
It was an abandoned warehouse that they had caught some kids in just a few weeks ago.
“Get down!” He points down at the ground and shoves her.
“You know, you likely won’t make it out alive when they find us.” Lucy huffs out trying to ignore the pain.
“They won’t ever find me,” he says evilly. “You however, they’ll just find your body.”
She didn’t even notice he was carrying a bag, although she shouldn’t be surprised. He pulls out a rope and makes quick work of tying her up.
Now she can almost guarantee her wrist is broken with the way it’s tied up. She groans and he must hear her, even from the few feet away.
“Quiet! Not a single peep!”
He disappears for a few minutes only to make sure they’re alone in the building before coming back.
“So… Lucy. Why’d you do it?” He come’s walking back over to her.
“I already told you. The LAPD has no place for pathological liars like you.”
“I’ll admit, I lied about the other things but why would I ever lie about having cancer?”
“You tell me. If you weren’t lying, then why wouldn’t you submit to the blood test? If you were being honest, it would’ve told us that and you would’ve kept your job.”
Before he can respond, they both hear faint sirens in the background. She looks up at him and closes her eyes, afraid of what he’ll do next.
“They’re coming. I need to get out of here,” she can hear the panic in his voice as he runs out.
She’s been holding it together this whole time but now that she knows he finally left, she lets the tears start to fall. She can’t believe she got herself into this situation, again.
The sirens get closer and eventually they stop. She sighs thinking they went away until she hears some noise and a voice.
“LAPD!” She’s pretty sure the voice is Tim’s, but it’s still a little too far away.
“LAPD put your hands up!” A voice, more importantly, her Lieutenant’s voice is heard loud and clear. She lets go a breath she’s been holding onto for the last however many hours since she first got the call.
“I’m over here,” she says quietly through the tears. He looks over at her before using his voice again.
“She’s in here!” He makes his way over to her and not even a minute later, Tim, Angela and a few others from the station are seen rushing in.
Tim immediately gets down on the ground and places a hand on her shoulder. Grey is working to untie her, which doesn’t take much effort or time before she’s freed.
“Are you okay?” Tim asks, his voice filled with concern. She looks at him and he has that look on his face that’s only ever been reserved for her.
They weren’t where they needed to be yet, but they were definitely in a better place. Talking more outside of work, hanging out together with Kojo. She couldn’t wait for the day she would be able to give him her heart again.
She tries to answer him, but no words come out. Instead, she lunges towards him and starts sobbing.
“I got you. You’re safe. He can’t hurt you anymore.” He whispers to her as he holds her tight.
“Lucy, Bailey needs to check you out.” Grey kneels down beside Tim.
She only gives him a nod before Tim loosens his grip on her and lets her sit up. But he doesn’t leave her side.
“Lucy, I need to examine your body. Would you prefer to do it here or in the back of the ambulance?”
“Ambulance please,” she says quietly, just above a whisper.
“Okay, can you stand up and walk?” Lucy gives her a nod. They help her stand up and she immediately clings to Tim for support.
After the slow walk to the ambulance, Tim stops them before they get inside.
“Do you want Angela in there with you or are you okay by yourself?” He looks down at her, an arm still around her shoulders.
“Can… can you come?” She looks up at him with a new set of tears in her eyes.
“Of course I can,” he gives her a soft smile.
Once she’s in the back of the ambulance, Bailey closes the doors while Tim helps her get settled onto the gurney.
“Okay Lucy, can you lift up your shirt for me so I can take a look at your abdomen.”
She does so and winces almost immediately when Bailey puts pressure on her ribs.
Tim is quick to grab her hand and reassure her.
“Well, it definitely seems like you have some broken ribs due to the pain you feel and the bruising already starting to form.”
Lucy nods, “what about my wrist?”
“Just by looking at it, I can tell it’s broken. We’re going to go ahead and get you off to the hospital,” Lucy throws her head back and sighs.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear Lucy but you’re hurting. Let us and them take care of you, okay?” Tim’s grip on her hand tightens as he waits for a response. He only gets a nod but it satisfies him enough.
The ride to the hospital was about 15 minutes. They rode in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. Tim was relieved Lucy was alive and Lucy could breathe knowing she was with Tim. She knew she was always physically safe with him, regardless of where their relationship stood.
“Alright Lucy. We’re here. We’ll try to make it as pain free as possible but be prepared for a few bumps.”
•••
Lucy was finally resting after they gave her some medicine for pain and some antibiotics just as a precautionary. She did in fact break four ribs as well as her left wrist which would soon be casted.
Tim had tried to leave a few times to give her space, Angela had offered to come in and sit with her but Lucy protested saying she only wanted him. Of course he wasn’t going to object.
Seeing that she was relaxed, he wasn’t starting to doze off himself when the door opened and her nurse came walking in. He sat up straight and Lucy opened her eyes.
“How are you doing, Lucy?”
“I’m okay.” She says, but the look on her face tells Tim otherwise. He moves his chair closer and grabs her hand, feeling her relax at his touch.
“I’m just here to give you some more meds. The doctor should be in soon to cast you.” Lucy just nods before closing her eyes again.
Once the nurse leaves, Lucy turns to Tim.
“Thanks for finding me. Again.”
“I will always find you.”
“I had so many red flags tonight but I just kept thinking I could handle it. That I didn’t need help. But just like always, I was wrong.”
“None of that matters Luce. The only thing that matters to me is that you’re here and you’re okay.”
He sees another tear fall and he quickly raises his other hand to her face and wipes it away.
The room is silent after that until Lucy remembers, “Did they find him?”
“Yes. He clearly isn’t very smart and he didn’t get far. Actually, his car broke down in the middle of the road.” That gets a laugh out of Lucy, making Tim laugh too.
“I know you’re tired but there’s someone here dying to see you if you’re up to it.” She gives him a curious look before nodding her head.
He goes to stand up but she doesn’t let go of his hand.
“I have to go get them, I’ll be right back. I promise.” Let slowly let’s go of her hand before leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead.
A few minutes later, the door opens and Lucy looks up. She sees Tamara walking in with Tim right behind her.
“Are you okay?” The young girl asks as she sits in the chair Tim had been in.
“I will be,” she says trying to convince herself more than anyone.
“Tamara called me right after she left the house. We were able to get your phone tracked and that’s how we found you as quick as we did.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you tried warning me about him. I have definitely learned my lesson.” Tamara says.
“Good,” both Tim and Lucy say in unison getting an eye roll from Tamara.
“I should get back to campus. I have an exam early tomorrow.” She leans over to give Lucy a long hug.
“Do you need a ride?” Tim asks as she stands up.
“Wesley picked me up and Angela said she’d give me a ride back, she’s just in the waiting room.”
She surprises them both when she pulls Tim into a hug. Tim knew Tamara was pretty mad at him after he broke up with Lucy and he completely understood why. He gladly accepted the hug and gave her a squeeze before letting go.
“Let me know if you need anything Lucy,” she turns as she’s almost to the door.
“Will do. Thank you.”
Once she leaves, Tim sits back in the chair. Instantly, Lucy reaches for his hand again which he of course gives her.
“Thank you for staying with me,” she looks up at him.
“No where I’d rather be. I wasn’t sure if it was my place anymore but I’m glad you want me here.” He smiles as he caresses her cheek with his thumb. She leans into his touch and closes her eyes.
“I will always feel safest with you, no matter what.”
“Good. I hope you always feel that way. I hope I can always be a safe place for you and show you the love you deserve.”
“When did you become so poetic?” She jokes.
“When I met a beautiful woman who changed my life,” he says truthfully.
“I love you.” She doesn’t even realize she says it until it’s too late. Tim can tell by the look on her face she’s wishing she could take it back.
“It’s okay if you’re still afraid. But know I’m not going anywhere this time. Leaving you was the worst mistake of my life and I won’t let it happen again. That’s of course if you still want me. But regardless, I love you and I always will.” He says softly, she smiles at him before grasping his hand even tighter.
“I do still want you. Want this. I just need a little bit more time.”
“Of course. This is all at your pace, Luce.”
“Good. But for now, can I ask a favor?”
“Anything,” he says and he fully means it.
“Can you get me a veggie burger and fries?” She barely gets out before she starts laughing. He just shakes his head but can’t help but laugh himself.
“Extra pickles too?” She doesn’t even have to answer, the look on her face makes him hurry off.