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It was dark when Tim was finally able to leave the precinct. He swung his bag into his truck and jumped in after. "What a supremely crappy day" he sighed as he put his seat belt on and set out for home.
It had been some time since Lucy had texted to say she was off to bed and, sure enough, the house was in darkness as he entered. Kojo pattered over sleepily and Tim gave him a few pets and sent him back to bed. He was exhausted but felt wired and couldn't shake the day.
He pushed the bedroom door open and could see Lucy's form in silhouette in their bed. He sighed again and went to have a shower.
The hot water only helped slightly and he wasn't sure how he'd ever sleep but was well aware that in a few short hours he'd have to be up to do it all again. Such was the life of the watch commander.
He eased himself onto the bed, trying not to wake Lucy but she inevitably felt the bed shift and rolled over, breathing in deeply and stretching sleepily.
"Hey" she smiled at him.
"Hey" he said looking at her with a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.
She peered at him. "Tough day?" she enquired.
"I'm fine Luce, you can go back to sleep".
She carried on looking at him, reading him as she always did, then she shuffled closer and put her hand on his chest. "No.... You've had a tough day, i want you to tell me about it". She was still looking at him, propped on her elbow and trying to catch his eyes. He finally looked at her and sighed, smiling slightly, he couldn't keep his resolve with her.
"There was that VIP visit this morning so I had to coordinate that but Hollywood were running a joint op so we were both down bodies. The Captain gave me an earful about not embarrassing her, even though it was all fine in the end. Smitty fucked up the evidence locker with his filing, AGAIN, so I had to sort all that out but not before the DA had let me know how displeased he was with our evidence storage procedures and urging me to, quote, 'get control of my people'".
He paused to look at Lucy but she was still there listening and waiting for him to continue. "Then I had all my paper work to sort, which had been delayed because I was busy dealing with all that and to top it all off, when I was reviewing the body cams..... " he tailed off and got quiet.
"What was on the body cams"? Lucy gently prompted, rubbing his chest supportively.
He looked over at her again, trying to find the words without seeing it all again. "Nolan and Penn went to a domestic...." he began, staring down at anything and nothing. "There were young kids... Their dad was hitting their mom and.... the boy jumped in to protect her so he took the brunt." He paused to take a deep breath. "The kid had bruises all over him and he looked so haunted. It just took me right back to....." he broke off and turned to look at Lucy again. "Oh Tim, I know....I know" She said.
He dragged his hand down his face as he sighed again.
"Come here" said Lucy and to his surprise she tucked her arm through the gap between his neck and the bed, curling it round his head and moving them carefully to place his head on her chest, keeping her hand in his hair. Her other arm came over him, round his back, pulling his body to her. She hooked her legs over his thighs and used her heels to pull his legs up towards her so she was hugging him with her whole body.
She combed the fingers of one hand through his hair as it rested on top of his head. Her other arm traced slow lines down his back, up again and round his shoulders, down his arm, now to his face, tracing a gentle line down his nose or his cheek then back to his arm or his back. All the while placing gentle kisses to his forehead and face and whispering that she loved him.
The sensation was amazing. Her touch was everywhere and he felt it in the swell of his heart and a tingling on his skin. He breathed her in, melting impossibly closer to her. He had never felt so loved. He had never felt so safe and he welled up with the emotion of it all, tilting his head back slightly to look at her, his eyes brimming and threatening to spill over as he stared at her. He couldn't believe he'd found someone who thought he deserved this.
Lucy looked into his eyes and smiled, moving her hand to cup his face and gently run her thumb over his cheek, catching a stray tear. "I've got you" she whispered "Close your eyes". He did so and Lucy kissed his eyelids delicately catching more tears as they squeezed out. It was so intimate, so caring and he breathed her in again, squeezing her and relaxing fully into her. She continued to hold him, stroking his hair, his back, his arms, everywhere; her mouth against his temple occasionally kissing him or whispering how much she loved him.
Tim let himself feel it all, getting more and more relaxed, before sleep finally pulled him under.
Lucy felt him get heavy against her, his breath even out and his face finally look relaxed. She loved that she could do that for him. Loved that he could be so soft with her and let her heal him with her touch and her love. She gave him one last squeeze as she drifted back to sleep, the air thick with love and care and togetherness.