Chapter Text
“Boot! Leave the damn squirrel alone,” Tim barks out as they make their way through the abandoned building. Lucy only rolls her eyes and the squirrel scurries off completely spooked. She only wishes she could easily get away from Officer Grumpy.
They got a call about a weird noise in an old abandoned building. A warehouse that was clearly converted into a laboratory or office space back in the 90s.
It’s hard to tell based on the wear and tear on the building.
The windows and doors are caked with rust, no doubt from the sea salt air. They are close enough to the ocean that they can hear the seagulls in the distance. The entrance to the building was also littered with bird crap and feathers.
Tim and Lucy were the closest to the site so they had attached themselves to the call.
The building reeks of mold and rotten wood, but as they walked in, a squirrel skittered out between two pieces of wood and Lucy came to a sudden halt as the squirrel walked right up to her and touched her boot. Tim in turn walked right into her and Lucy suspects he’s more upset he didn’t notice she stopped than anything else.
“Are we only allowed to make friends with skunks?” Lucy asks with a teasing glint in her eyes after the squirrel scurried off.
“Funny,” Tim remarks sarcastically as he turns on his flashlight, both of them turning to the sound of old wood creaking. “C’mon the quicker we check this place out the quicker we get out of here.”
“You scared?” Lucy teases, but shuts up at the glare he sends her. She knows when to press her luck or more importantly when not to press her luck.
“No. I don’t trust that roof is going to hold those palm trees much longer,” Tim remarks dryly pointing his flashlight upwards. “If you stopped making nice with the squirrels you would see what’s right in front of you. You need to be more aware of your surroundings.”
“Yes, sir,” Lucy mutters chastised as she follows him deeper into the building. She sniffs the air and grimaces at the smell. “There is so much sand in here, the beach is miles away.”
“Probably due to storms, a lot gets picked up, hence the palm trees,” Tim points out thoughtfully. Lucy glances at him momentarily, not at all surprised the smell is not even bothering him.
He picks a piece of plywood and uses it to nudge the door open. The slight pressure causes the rotten door to collapse on itself and half of the door falls backwards into the room. The loud sound echoes in the abandoned area, the sound of birds fleeing catching their attention.
“Thank god this wasn’t on the night shift.” Lucy mutters with a shiver. This building screams the perfect horror movie setting, not that Lucy would tell Tim that.
“Scared?” Tim volleys back teasingly, surprising Lucy to say the least.
There is a sudden gust of wind that picks up in the room and the rotten palm trees shake precariously above them as some dirt and debris falls but nothing to do any damage.
“If it gets any worse we abandon this,” Tim says firmly as they make their way further into the room, “no call is worth risking your life. You are no help to anyone if you get hurt yourself.”
Lucy nods in understanding then stops short when she sees another doorway but this time it’s covered in endless vines. “Uh, how are those vines even growing in these conditions? There is barely any sunlight in here.”
Tim only shrugs looking equally intrigued at the large green doorway, “looks like the entrance to the secret garden.”
Lucy’s head whips around at the reference and Tim only rolls his eyes, “I have a younger sister. I used to read to her at night.”
“Aw, that's really sweet,” Lucy gushes, yet another layer to the complicated onion that is Tim Bradford.
Tim only huffs, clearly put out after offering her that information and gestures in front of her, “keep your eyes peeled, boot.”
Lucy only grins and walks closer to the doorway; she frowns when she hears something, “I think I’m hearing running water.”
“The water in this place would have been turned off decades ago.” Tim points out, but it's clear from his expression that he is also confused by the running water, “and it hasn’t rained in weeks.”
Lucy gestures for him to come closer but he has his flashlight pointed down an empty hallway. “I’m telling you it sounds heavy, more than a stream and not a tap either.”
“Boot.”
Lucy walks closer to the vines and places her hand on the vines but is surprised when her fingers move through the mossy leaves easily. “Oh.”
“Chen, don’t…”
Lucy doesn’t hear what he’s saying because suddenly she’s falling, unable to grasp anything or see anything and as quickly as it starts it stops and she lands on a dusty floor with a thud.
“Ow.” Lucy groans softly in pain about to call out to Tim when a loud gush of wind knocks her back down on the groan and a loud thud follows.
She looks to her left and sees Tim also on the floor rubbing his torso where she knows is his healing bullet wound that flares up from time to time. “You okay?”
“Yea. You?” Tim mutters and he gets up. “Told you these floors could give away at any moment.”
“Yea, I don’t think we fell through some rotten flooring. I’m not even seeing the doorway.” Lucy remarks her voice laden with confusion as she looks at the freshly painted white wall behind them and no doorway in sight. “What is even happening right now?”
“Chen.”
Gone is the rotten flooring, and chipped wall with rusting furniture, and in its place is a pristine room, with fresh paint and newly installed furniture. This building seemed like it had not seen the light of day in decades, there is no way there was a newly renovated room in the middle of all this rubble.
“I don’t understand how…”
“Lucy!” Tim calls out more insistently.
She turns to him at the sound of her first name but he is looking something ahead. She follows his line of sight and stops short when she sees a large window, similar to the observation windows in their interrogation rooms. But what’s behind the window has her breath catching in her throat.
Standing a few feet away behind the observation is her in uniform but short sleeves.
“Is that me?” Lucy whispers in surprise, almost afraid the imposter could hear her. “What is this?”
Tim shrugs his shoulders, his eyes still trained on the other Lucy. They both move in unison closer to the window and watch as the other Lucy inspects the room she’s in which looks to be some kind of abandoned hospital or examination room.
The other Lucy is talking animatedly but they can’t hear what she’s saying, but it’s clear that she is talking to someone.
“Is it a video?” Lucy asks, her voice still laced with confusion, “it can’t be. I don’t have on long sleeves, not to mention I don’t remember ever being here before. What is going on?”
“Sergeant.” Tim mutters, leaning closer to the glass. Lucy looks closer and finally notices the three stripes on the sleeve of her shirt.
So it's definitely not her.
“I don’t understand.” Lucy says watching as Sergeant Chen talks animatedly. “Who is she? Is she me? Who is she talking to?”
“I don’t know.” Tim’s eyes are trained on the other Lucy. He glances at her then back again “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.”
The familiar quote catches Lucy by surprise. She is all too familiar with Harry Potter, she never expected Tim to not only know it but be able to quote the book back in the right context too.
Lucy tears her eyes to look at him incredulously, “the Mirror of Erised? Really?”
“Spells desire backwards doesn’t it?” Tim snaps back, at her amused look he rolls his eyes, “ I don’t only watch sports. We fell through a damn portal. We should be lucky we aren’t in fucking Hogwarts.”
Lucy raises both hands in defense, “alright, point made. Let’s say you’re correct. Sergeant? I just don’t see that being what I want.”
“Well the whole point of the Mirror of Erised is that it shows you your deep desire. Maybe that will eventually lead you to being captain or something?” Tim says with a shrug. It's clear he is also grasping at straws, neither of them knowing what to make of what they are seeing.
“I don’t know if it be touched that you think I could be capable of …oh my god it’s you!”
This time Tim’s head whips back around to see his counterpart enter the room and walk directly up to the other Lucy.
“You’re a sergeant too..two too..two also?” Lucy mutters waving her hands as she tries to explain, but Tim gets it. He is also a sergeant but second rank.
They are both Sergeants? He’s been toying with the idea for the past few weeks but had not even put anything into motion. Hell, he has not even spoken to Grey about it yet.
Is this thing showing his desires or Lucy’s?
What the fuck is going on?
Sergeant Bradford and Sergeant Chen exchange a few words and then he practically invades her personal space, and the other Lucy barely reacts, she only tilts her head back to look at him clearly amused.
“What…”
But Tim trails off, practically choking on his own breath when his counterpart cups Lucy’s face and she reaches up to cup his hand leaning into his touch.
What the fuck?
His Lucy…his rookie gasps in surprise, “they are not…we are not…I do not..”
“No.” Tim remarks firmly, his eyes still trained on the entangled pair in front of them.
Then Sergeant Bradford leans down and kisses Lucy for all she’s worth.
It’s clear this is not the first time, either.
“What….No!” Lucy all but yells in horror even so much as waving her hands in front her face.
It would be comical if Tim’s own insides weren't turning at the image too.
What the fuck is happening?
But then both sergeants stop and turn to look directly at Tim and Lucy. Lucy gasps and takes a step back in surprise, “they can see us?”
“Of course not, this is not real. You’re freaking out Chen. Stop it!” He barks out, his temper rising as his own confusion gets the best of him.
“Yes! You just had your tongue down my throat!” Lucy hisses. She points an accusing finger at Tim, as if this is his fault. He didn't conjure up the damn image. “Wait, is this your desire?”
“What? No!” Tim roars in protest, but he can feel his ears burning.
She is his rookie.
“That sounded like you” Sergeant Chen’s voice suddenly travels as the pair of sergeants walk close to the window, their focus no longer on each other.
An uneasy feeling slowly begins to build low in Tim’s belly. It’s clear they can’t see Tim and Lucy but now that they are closer they can hear them.
Which makes no sense.
None of this makes sense.
“Why would it be me? I’m right here!” Sergeant Bradford stutters, and Officer Bradford feels as confused as his counterpart looks.
“Obviously,” Sergeant Chen mutters with a soft laugh. She shakes her head and turns her attention back to Sergeant Bradford and reaches up and gently swipes his lips, “I got lipstick all over you.”
And just like that the two completely forget the matter at hand and are once again more focused on each other.
Officer Bradford only rolls his eyes unimpressed, clearly this is not real, he would never be more focused on his damn rookie than an active crime scene.
Who even are these people?
“So much for your clear boundaries, LIGF Lucy.” Sergeant Bradford quips with a teasing smile.
“You kissed me first!” Sergeant Chen glares at him, but it is clear there is no bite in her tone. Officer Chen squeaks at the exchange, her eyes trained on the pair, her eyebrows raising inch by inch as they continue to interact.
Sergeant Bradford only laughs in return and he then pulls his Lucy up and in for another kiss at which she giggles returning the kiss in kind, “that’s not exactly keeping the lipstick off your face, Sergeant.”
Officer Bradford blanches at the exchange, his forehead wrinkling in disgust. This has to be some kind of nightmare.
“No! Stop that!” Officer Chen protests loudly, her nose wrinkling in displeasure. She waves her hands in front of her face again, her eyes scanning the frames of the window, almost as though she’s looking for a magical off button.
“Are you serious?” Officer Bradford remarks hotly, tearing his own gaze from the entwined sergeants to look down at her.
The reaction is a tad bit dramatic especially since it’s clearly her desire. Not to mention if they can hear them, they need to be quiet. He can't even reprimand her like he typically would do, the entire thing having him off kilter.
He is clearly losing his mind.
“Okay, I definitely heard you,” Sergeant Chen says with a frown as she detangles from Sergeant Bradford and walks up to the wall.
She knocks on it lightly and both officers jump back as it echoes back on their side of the wall.
“Wait, they are actually there?” Officer Chen squeaks out in surprise, her eyes wide and terrified, as she looks back at her Tim in horror.
“I think. I heard you,” Sergeant Bradford says with a frown as he begins to inspect the wall moving out of sight.
“Sava?” Sergeant Chen asks curiously.
Both officers look at each other in confusion, not following the conversation, before either of them could speak however the door handle suddenly rattles.
Officer Bradford goes for his gun and Officer Chen looks at him incredulously, “we can’t shoot ourselves!”
“It’s not us, Chen!” Tim barks just as the door swings open. He does not know what this is, but he sure as hell is not going to be unprepared for whatever appears behind that door.
The sergeants come out with their guns drawn and Officer Bradford grunts, “well they seem to think it’s okay.”
“What is happening!” Officer Chen all but yells once again. She points an accusing finger at the sergeants, more specifically herself, “you’re me? I’m you? I’m Lucy…Oh god I’m losing my mind.”
“Are you serious Boot?” Officer Bradford remarks hotly, cutting off her spiralling words, “of course they know who you are!”
“I’m freaking out! And it’s not helping that you are so calm.” Officer Chen huffs at him in annoyance momentarily forgetting their audience who are both frozen watching them in fascination. “Why are you so calm?”
“Freaking out won’t change anything.” Officer Bradford snaps back, in a way her inability to keep a level head, allows him to focus on that instead of what is unfolding in front of him. “How many times do I have to tell you to keep a level head? If you panic you can get yourself killed. You keep making the same stupid mistakes…”
“Hey!” Sergeant Bradford suddenly steps in and snaps back at Officer Bradford mid rant, “lay off!”
“Excuse me?” Officer Bradford snaps back but stops short when finally makes eye contact with himself. “What the fuck is happening?”
“Now you wanna know.” Officer Chen mutters dryly, at Officer Bradford’s warning glare she raises her hands, “Sorry sir.”
Sergeant Chen suddenly snorts, breaking the tension with her short laugh, “Jesus, I forgot how far that stick was up your ass back then.”
Officer Chen chokes at her words, while Sergeant Bradford looks at his Lucy apologetically, “I’m sorry…”
Sergeant Chen waves him off easily, “babe please I…”
“Babe?!” Both officers cut her off, stuttering out in a mixture of disbelief and disgust.
Officer Bradford avoids all eye contact with his rookie, but Officer Chen but is only focused on at the two sergeants with fascination.
Sergeant Chen only laughs in return and then looks across at her Tim, “you’re the resident nerd. You got an explanation for this? Or is one of us on some weird acid trip?”
Officer Bradford on the other hand does not understand how they can be so calm at meeting essentially another version of themselves, doppelgängers for all intents and purposes.
Now that the sergeants are standing directly in front of them Tim can now see the differences between him and his rookie Lucy and the sergeants in front of them. A few more wrinkles, and laugh lines around their faces, sergeant Chen holds herself with far more confidence than his rookie Lucy ever could.
There is also something different about the older version of himself that he just can’t put his finger on what exactly it is.
It is unnerving to say the least, and in more ways than one.
Another thing that is unnerving is that these older versions of them are completely unphased at seeing their dopplegangers, both cool, calm and collected as if this is an everyday occurrence.
Officer Bradford wishes he could find that level of calmness, or at least give some to his rookie, who looks to be on the brink of losing her mind. If Tim was honest with himself, he is right there behind her as well.
“Really?” Sergeant Bradford laughs lightly at his Lucy, and Officer Bradford narrows his eyes at the older version of himself, the lightness in the older man’s tone even catching him by surprise, “you think we inhaled some hallucinogens? Having a mutual hallucination? It doesn’t work like that, Luce.”
“I mean I could be and you’re like my little companion, nerdy encyclopedia,” Sergeant Chen teases back, sending him a suggestive wink. “It’s hot.”
Officer Bradford cannot believe they are flirting at a time like this.
“Little? Really?”
“Oh shut up, stop fishing…fine my hot…”
“Can you two stop flirting and tell us what the hell what’s going on?” Officer Bradford snaps disgruntled at the pair. Here they are standing in the god damn Twilight Zone and these two fools are flirting, “I’m assuming you do know?”
Sergeant Chen stops at his words and turns her focus on him. Officer Bradford pauses, unsure what this Lucy might do next. He tries to level her with a stern glare, but Sergeant Chen’s grin only deepens, she then takes a step towards him and smirks suggestively at him, “I don’t know Officer Bradford, what do you think?”
Tim stutters in surprise as he takes a step back from her, clearly uncomfortable. Officer Chen bites back a laugh watching the exchange in amusement. She seemingly recovered far quicker than her training officer. “He always gets squirrelly whenever someone flirts with him in uniform.”
Officer Bradford sends her annoyed look while Sergeant Chen sends Lucy a conspiratorial grin, “you just gotta know which buttons to press. I can tell you that…”
“Officer Chen!”
“Lucy!”
Both Tims call out one far more annoyed than the other.
“Oh!” Officer Chen squeaks in surprise and automatically stands straight but then catches herself and frowns, “this is too strange. What is happening?”
Sergeant Chen only takes a step back from Officer Bradford breaking out into laughter, as she looks across at her Tim, “this is so much fun.”
“Stop it.” Sergeant Bradford demands lightly with a small huff and a shake of his head. “We need to focus and figure out what the hell is happening.”
“So then you two do know what happened?” Officer Bradford remarks hotly, still annoyed that they don't seem to be taking this as seriously as they should, “the general consensus is what? That you two fell from another dimension?”
“I think that would be us though,” Officer Chen chimes in thoughtfully, she raises her hands at the glare her training officer sends her. “What? We did fall through some kind of trapdoor or whatever.”
“Which is now gone.” Officer Bradford points out, as he gestures to the blank wall behind him.
“Maybe,” Sergeant Bradford says thoughtfully, despite his calm demeanor, it's clear that he has been contemplating what is currently happening to them. His blue eyes move from one officer to the next before he glances at his Lucy briefly before he pulls out his phone.
When it lights up Officer Chen, who is standing close enough to him, not so subtly peaks at the screen. She squeaks out in surprise when she sees a picture of herself with a large dog licking her face clearly in bed. “Whose doggy?”
“Ours! That’s Kojo!” Sergeant Chen says enthusiastically as she pulls out her own phone and Officer Chen immediately shuffles over to her to see.
“Ladies.” Sergeant Bradford calls out warningly as he presents his phone to everyone. “It’s 2025. So we are clearly where we are supposed to be.”
“Six years?” Officer Chen squeaks out in surprise, the dog forgotten.
“Time travel? Really?” Officer Bradford asks skeptically, despite the fact the idea did cross his mind initially, but he thought he spent far too much time watching Doctor Who recently. He pulls out his own phone and frowns when he sees he has no bars and SOS runs across the screen. He then looks at his Lucy, “it’s not working.”
Officer Chen frowns and pulls out her own phone and grimaces when she sees the deep crack along the screen, she presses the button on the side but the phone refuses to turn on. “I landed on it when I fell.”
“Are you okay?” Sergeant Bradford asks automatically and both officers turn to him startled. Sergeant Bradford rolls his eyes, he glances at Sergeant Chen who is grinning at him and he huffs before looking at the younger Lucy. “Well, are you?”
“Yes, sir” Lucy replies automatically.
Sergeant Bradford stops short, seemingly surprised by her words while Sergeant Chen snickers. He reaches out to her and gently pinches her side. “Stop it.”
Sergeant Chen only grins impishly in return and she’s about to reach out to him when Officer Bradford all but growls startling everyone, “can we fucking focus on what the fuck is going on?”
He’s getting really fucking fed up of these two.
They need to figure out what is going and get the fuck home.
Officer Chen’s eyes widens and she takes a step back from the pair of sergeants avoiding eye contact with her Tim. “Ti—officer Bradford mentioned time travel. You really think we came six years into the future? Why?”
“Good question.” Sergeant Bradford straightens, finally focusing on the matter at hand. He sends her a nod, his voice much softer than the younger Tim. “Did the two of you do anything out of the ordinary? We're in the newly renovated O’Hara Observatory that is supposed to be opening in the coming months.”
“It’s still the abandoned Stanley Adams Laboratory," Officer Bradford clarifies as he folds his arms across his chest. His eyes trained on his older counterpart, deciding in this moment its best he just avoids looking at all versions of Lucy to keep his sanity in check. “We got a call about a disturbance and we were the nearest unit. What about you two? Why would you even need two sergeants at a crime scene?”
The sergeants exchange an uneasy look both thinking the same thing, and Officer Bradford is immediately on high alert, it’s the first time in this whole thing that either sergeant looks worried. “That’s what had us concerned, when we first got here. We came separately and no one was here. Someone had to request the Watch Commander and…”
“I’m…you’re…I’m watch commander?” Tim asks, startled with wide eyes. He can ignore the thing with Chen aside, but Watch Commander is something more tangible he can focus on.
“Oh wow! Tim, that's amazing!” his rookie gushes in delight but she stops her cheeks pinking up in embarrassment and she quickly looks away from him.
He is beginning to realize separating Chen from any of this is going to be harder than he thought.
The sergeants pause at their words and exchange a silent look, “maybe we should hold off on divulging any further future information.”
Officer Chen scoffs incredulously at the older man’s words. Tim doesn’t really blame his rookie, they already opened far too many can of worms as it is, not that he would ever voice that out loud. Officer Chen continues her gaze still focused on the older Tim, “says the man who was making out with his rookie at a crime scene.”
“Office Chen!” Tim snaps his own ears turning red in embarrassment.
All the subtly of a freight train, his rookie.
“I mean she makes a point.” Sergeant Chen chimes in with a teasing smile at her Tim.
“Okay one. We don’t know that this is a crime scene.” Sergeant Bradford remarks firmly, he sends a warning look at his Lucy, and Officer Bradford is glad to see that she actually listens to him as she sobers immediately, all hint of humour gone from both of them. “But we should hold on divulging anything further, deal? The goal is to get you two back where you belong and if you’re lucky you’ll have zero recollection of this whole thing.”
“Wait, why do you want us to forget?” This time it’s Sergeant Chen that speaks, looking slightly confused, and Officer Tim thinks it's obvious. He looks across at his own Lucy and he sees that she has a matching look of confusion.
Has neither of them ever picked up a comic book?
Well, they are technically the same person, so clearly Lucy has never has.
Sergeant Bradford gives his Lucy a pointed look, “you know we…they should not know about their future.”
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t actually pay attention when we watched Back to the Future.” Sergeant Chen confesses sheepishly, and at her Tim’s exasperated look she smiles apologetically, “I’m sorry. It’s just so boring but I did enjoy watching you watch it. If that helps.”
“Yea, that does not help us in the slightest, babe,” Sergeant Bradford points out more amused than anything.
Once again their eyes lock and they get lost in each other, and younger Tim is about to lose his mind, how do they get any work done if all they do is gaze at each other and make out?
Who the hell are these people?
Officer Bradford makes the mistake of looking at his Lucy only to see she’s watching the pair no longer appalled but curious, and a bit of longing. Tim scowls, they are losing track of things again. “Can the two of you not? The only thing Chen and I need to do know is how to get home and forget this entire nightmare ever happened. Can we focus on how we are getting home?”
Both sergeants immediately frown and Sergeant Chen glances at his rookie briefly before turning back to Tim. He knows he should apologize, but right now, nothing is making sense and he needs to get home and back to something that does make sense. “Alright, fair but you Officer Grumpy are gonna go with my Tim and Officer Chen—wow that’s weird I’ve never talked to myself in the first person.”
“Yes you do.” Both Tims chime in immediately, both men look at each other and Sergeant Bradford only laughs in amusement
Officer Chen bites her lips sheepishly and glances at her training officer, clearly surprised he picked up on this trait of hers, “I didn’t know you heard me giving myself a pep talk.”
“You give yourself a lot of pep talks,” Officer Bradford remarks deadpan, but there is no bite in his tone, just barely a hint of a smile tugging on the corner of his lips, but he looks away before she could notice.
“I always loved hearing your little pep talks to yourself.” Sergeant Bradford suddenly chimes in sending his younger self a pointed look almost daring the younger man to say otherwise.
The traitor.
Sergeant Chen bites back a smile in amusement at the exchange, while Lucy’s cheeks pink up in embarrassment. They are gonna go in circles at this point. “Okay. So we girls will take the east side of the building and look for whatever it was that brought you here. You boys take the west. No radios. Tim—my Tim—can call us if anything and vice versa.”
“But we literally fell through that wall.” Lucy chimes in, pointing at the blank wall behind them. “We were going to try and backtrack our steps then you two distracted us through the mirror.”
The small group turns in unison as she points to the wall then the mirror. Sergeant Bradford frowns and walks up to the wall and tentatively puts his hand on it, hitting the solid wall. “Through the wall?”
“Well, it was a doorway, covered in vines,” Officer Bradford explains as he moves next to his older self and mimics his action.
“This is so weird.” Officer Chen mutters with a shake of her head as she gazes at the men’s matching movements, she exchanges a matching amused look with herself and they both shake their heads. “Maybe we are having a trippy collective dream.”
Question is who is the we in this scenario, Officer Bradford wonders fleetingly, but once again does not voice his thoughts.
“Regardless, the only thing we have to go on with this is this portal thing. So we look around and see what either team comes up with.” Sergeant Bradford orders firmly, immediately taking charge. He looks at his Lucy sternly, “no heroics. If anything seems out of the ordinary, call us and we’ll come and figure it out together.”
“Afraid I’m gonna fall through a time portal and end up 5 years in the past?” She quips teasingly.
“Yes.” Sergeant Bradford says firmly, leaving no hint for laughter, and she sobers immediately. “The only people going through portals are theses babies and together.”
“Babies!”
“Don’t we get a say in this?”
Both officers snap back affronted at the older versions of themselves not only making all the decisions, but calling them babies of all things.
They are grown ass adults, they can make their own decisions.
“You two wanna stay stuck in 2025, running the station on your own?” Sergeant Bradford snaps back at them clearly annoyed at being questioned.
Officer Bradford frowns hating that the older man makes a point, he would not even know where to begin in this strange world he and his rookie have found themselves in.
“Not to mention sharing a bed,” Sergeant Chen quips with a giggle, laughing at the way both younger versions of them blanches and immediately look away from each other.
That particular detail Officer Bradford pointedly ignores as well.
“Then it’s decided. Head on a swivel. Call if anything out of the ordinary comes up.” Sergeant Bradford orders. He reaches for his Lucy’s hand and squeezes it gently, “please be careful.”
Officer Bradford then looks sternly at his rookie, he may not know her as well as his counrterpart knows his Lucy, but he does know how nosy she is. “Don't be drilling yourself about the future. We have to go under the assumption that the less we know the better.”
“We watch ourselves make out, nothing can be more shocking than that.” Lucy quips but raises her hands at the glare he sends her. She opens her mouth, then closes it before she finally speaks, Officer Bradford still looking at her curiously waiting for her to speak. “Be safe. I’d really prefer if we leave the same way we came.”
Her training officer eyes softens slightly at her words, “agreed.”
They look at each other for a beat when they realize how quiet the room has gotten, they both turn to see their counterparts watching them fondly. Officer Bradford holds back a groan, at the look the older Lucy gives them.
“It’s like a weird home movie,” Sergeant Chen quips with a smile, she sends her Tim a teasing smile, “I always knew you had a soft spot for me from the very beginning.”
Officer Bradford scowls at her words but when Sergeant Chen saunters over to him, he freezes in surprise, hating that this version of his rookie can get under his skin so easily. She smiles up at him teasingly. What's worse is she knows that she can get under his skin. “You’re going to tell me otherwise?”
“Boot.” He tries to sound stern, despite knowing it won’t have any effect on this Lucy. Sergeant Chen’s smirk only deepens as she takes another step towards him and Officer Bradford immediately steps back.
“Lucy, stop it.” Sergeant Bradford calls out in exasperation. Sergeant Chen only grins as she takes a step back but not before sending Officer Bradford a wink and he almost trips over his own feet in surprise, his scowl deepening at the way this woman can so easily throw him off his game.
Sergeant Bradford only shakes head in amusement and gestures to the opposite door. “C’mon let’s go. The faster we do the faster you get home and you can pretend none of this ever happened.”
Officer Bradford huffs hating that the older man is correct, that he knows him so well because he is him.
Or was him.
This entire thing is ridiculous.
He glances at his Lucy one more time, and nods in acknowledgment before he follows the older man out the door.
“She’ll be fine. You taught her everything you know.” Sergeant Bradford points out thoughtfully, once again reading the younger Tim’s mind. “She’s an excellent cop because of you.”
The older man’s words offer little comfort, because now Tim can only imagine both these Lucy suddenly falling through time and space unsuspectedly and neither of them seem to have much knowledge of time travel in the first place.
This is an absolute clusterfuck.