Chapter Text
-DOD-
Steady breaths. 1. 2. 3. Exhale. Just like Tim taught her. Her hands shook, an unsteady feeling entering her body. She had ran her lines like she were in a play. She knew what she had to say, she knew how to say it. But talking about Rosalind again brought back memories that she never wanted to explain to anyone.
Today, Lucy was testifying against female serial killer, Rosalind Dyer. The woman accused of several murders under the past twenty years of her life. The monster that had been locked behind bars for thirteen years after admitting to the deaths she caused. Rosalind was a manipulator. She was one to refuse to engage in Police matters, however there was one short hike that she had remembered taking. One with several familiar officers. Lucy being one of them.
Lucy Chen, P2 rank Police Officer, Mid-Wilshire Division, 29.
Lucy had been someone that Rosalind had known too much about. December 9th, 2019. Her day of reckoning. Lucy had been advised to go out, take her mind off things. Breathe. "Maybe even with another human," Tim had told her.
So, she did. She took his advice. The post it-note still folded in her uniform pockets. The one with a number written on it in messy handwriting with a winking face at the bottom. The one she had to practically pry out of Tims hands.
After shift, she had called that number. A gruff voice had answered, eager to go out with her. So that's what they did. They went out for drinks, quite a few actually. Lucy was tipsy, Caleb held her up by her arm, helping her outside once she realized what a shitty mistake she had made. The trunk opened. His hand came up, covering her mouth from screaming.
He stuffed her in his trunk. That's when she blacked out. Drugged.
The next thing she remembered was a sting on her left rib. Buzzing. She had looked up, just enough to see letters, capitalized, an abbreviation she had seen before. One that Tim had warned her about. Tim. That's the only thing she could think about. Where was he? Please let him come save me, she prayed in her head.
Hours later, Caleb had spent the morning getting prepared for something. She had seen him carry tape, rope, a gun, outside. He was going to kill her. She could feel it. She had only hoped that Tim would save her before he could. Unfortunately, that didn't happen in time.
After being forced in a barrel, cameras taped above her head so that maniac could watch her die. Lucy had slowly sung a song to herself, trying to keep herself calm as she waited, and waited to be saved. "Stars shining bright above you," she started as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "Night breezes seem to whisper, 'I love you'."
Her hands pressed against her forehead, beads of sweat forming, however she never stopped singing. "Birds singing in the sycamore tree, dream a little dream of me." The only thoughts that occurred in her mind were Tim, her training officer, but also the only one she trusted saving her. "Say 'nightie-night' and kiss me; just hold me tight and tell me you miss me. While I'm alone, as blue as can be, dream a little dream of me."
Finishing the song was the last thing she remembered before suddenly, she couldn't breathe anymore and everything went dark around her.
As Tim pumped breaths into her lungs, she finally coughed, opening her eyes to ten or more of her dearest friends standing in a circle around her. But she could only focus on Tim, pulling her to his chest as he whispered words of safety into her ear, pressing a kiss to the top of her hair, rocking her back and forth in his lap.
He saved me, she told herself, her head resting on his chest. Her mind had registered one thing, and one thing only: Safety. In his arms.