Work Text:
Lucy hears her before she sees her.
“Hi handsome, you look even better than the last time I saw you here,” Sava Wu says somewhere across the station. Lucy looks up from her computer to find her lookalike approaching Tim’s desk.
She looks exactly the same since the last time Lucy saw her–the week when they filmed the documentary and scandal surrounding Jake’s death.
Sava was still sporting the ‘just walked out of a nightclub’ aesthetic. It was a look that Lucy hated wearing while playing her undercover, but Sava wore it well.
She had been the sole witness to a convenience store robbery earlier that morning. Tim and Miles were the first to respond to the scene. Lucy was under the impression that the case had been solved, but Sava being here meant there was something more to it.
It was only recently that Lucy made her way back to the day shift, taking over the position and desk from a sergeant that had transferred elsewhere. Which meant that she would now spend the ends of her and Tim's shifts together just peacefully soaking in the sound of his voice. She misses him. Badly. The night shift had only complicated their relationship further.
Lucy watches Tim and Sava’s interactions from the vantage point of her desk. Sava is facing her while she only sees Tim’s back. She tries to find interest in the case file displayed on her computer screen, but she has no success doing anything but eavesdropping on their conversation.
“I saw the latest documentary from that guy…what’s his name, Alex, Alexander? I can’t believe you and Lucy broke up, that’s just so disappointing,” Sava drawls. Her eyes shift towards Lucy, she winks.
Lucy has no time to process the meaning of it, before the phone rings–breaking her out of the trance. It’s an update on a case she had been waiting for. She summarizes the notes of the other officer as best as she can, but she’s distracted by what’s happening at Tim’s desk.
Sava is laughing and smiling at him like he hung the stars. He says something back to her which Lucy can’t quite make out. She keeps talking then bursts into laughter again, it makes Lucy’s stomach twist.
Tim was usually all business in the station. He was so serious, she spent more time laughing at him than with him while they were at work.
What was happening? Was he flirting with her?
Lucy had been flighty with Tim on the subject of their relationship. She was terrified to jump back into something that had left her broken when it ended. He had been so understanding and willing to take it on her terms–had he finally got tired of waiting?
Her evil twin had come in here and immediately brought up the breakup. Did Sava come to take him for herself now that he was single?
She hangs up the phone dramatically.
It’s a crazy thought. Sava was probably just here to review the statement she gave at the scene. But, it was a job Penn should’ve handled as a rookie, not Tim. She must have requested Tim by name–purposefully.
The conversation only lasts a couple minutes longer. “Penn, please escort Miss Wu out to the parking lot,” Tim orders his rookie.
Sava asks for a pen and a piece of paper before she gets up, Tim offers her a sticky note. She quickly writes something down and hands it to him. He rolls his eyes. Lucy feels sick.
“Don’t forget what I told you Officer Bradford,” Sava says, patting him on the forearm twice before leading Penn out.
Lucy waits until the two of them are gone before refocusing on her computer screen. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Tim walk up to her desk.
“How was your day?” He asks in a warm tone.
“You never told me she was coming into the station, Sergeant Bradford.”
“Well hello to you too, Sergeant Chen. I had no idea she was coming, she just showed up,” Tim replies. He looks confused, clearly trying to figure out why she was being so harsh.
“And what did she show up for exactly? It seemed like the two of you were having a great time, I find it hard to believe you were talking about the robbery with all that laughing I heard,” Lucy snarks back.
Tim’s frown turns into a smirk, she hates it. “Sava actually came here because she remembered a few more details about the robbery. She was nervous about being back in the police station where everything with Jake went down, so I steered the conversation towards something safe first. I asked about her new dog. That’s something you taught me to do, connect with a scared witness first, before moving forward,” he states, looking far too happy. He’s right, of course.
“She was laughing while telling me about the time her dog chased her creepy neighbor in circles around the neighborhood. The neighbor never bothered her again. Then we got back to talking about the robbery.” Oh.
Lucy is still on the defensive. “Why didn’t you send her to Miles then? She was just dying to talk to you? Don’t you think her timing is a little weird? She watched the most recent documentary–that was released three days ago by the way–and just happens to know we aren’t together anymore? It seems to me like she had an agenda,” she’s rambling, feeling annoyed because he doesn’t seem to get her last point at all.
“You’re jealous,” he smiles.
Lucy scoffs, “No I’m not. I’m just confused how you didn’t recognize she was flirting with you.” She was totally jealous.
He’s getting way too much enjoyment out of this. Lucy can’t think of anything more to say, so she crosses her arms and gives him a disapproving look.
“If you must know, she told me I have to get you back.”
“Wait what?” Lucy’s not at all convinced.
“She was heartbroken to learn we had broken up after watching the documentary,” he notices the doubt painting her face. “It surprised me too. Penn let it slip that we’re still not back together and Sava took personal offense to it.” He points to the sticky note Sava had written, ‘GET HER BACK’ was in blue, bold letters.
“She wasn’t flirting with me, she was scolding me for being stupid enough to let you go and still not have you back, all while she had a happy smile on her face. What she said before she left was just a reminder of that. Nothing more.”
“Oh,” she whispers. “I’m sorry.”
Lucy thinks back to Sava winking at her. She thought her lookalike had done it to mock her and throw the fact she was flirting with Tim in her face, now it had a different meaning.
The wink felt like Sava’s way of letting Lucy know that she had her back–that everything she said to Tim was for Lucy’s benefit, rather than it being some ill intended cue that she was about to steal her ex-not-so-ex boyfriend like she originally thought. Sava was trying to push them back together for some reason.
She was so jealous when all Sava was trying to do was help them.
Lucy has no idea what they did to deserve this personal commitment from Sava to fix her and Tim's relationship, but she’s not going to take it for granted.
“Let’s talk after work Tim–this back and forth is killing us both,” she says sincerely. “I promise I won’t fall asleep this time.”
He lets out a small laugh, “Deal.”
They both head to the locker rooms and promise to meet outside afterward. Lucy sits down on the bench and starts untying her shoe. There’s a sticky note stuck to the bottom of it.
The words “I’M A ROMANTIC” are written on it in blue pen.