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Chapter Text

Lucy walks up to the big grey doors of the new precinct she’ll be working at. She gripped her bag a bit tighter, ready but hesitant to start this new chapter of her life. The fluorescent lights greeting her as she walked in, along with a bunch of new and old faces from the academy. 

”You must be Officer Chen” 

Her eyes dart up at a lady, wearing a knee high skirt and a blouse “Yes ma’am. Officer Lucy Chen reporting for duty” 

The lady puts out her hand to shake “You know? You’re the only female rookie this season, our other two are men” she pauses “Oh, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Zoe Andersen. The Captain”

Lucy shakes Zoe’s hand “Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realize captain..” 

“No worries Officer. Now go get dressed up. Roll call starts in 10” 

“Yes ma’am, thank you”

As she walked into the roll call room, it was already bustling with fellow police officers. She sat down between two men. One was middle aged and the other seemed to be roughly the same age as her. 

"Hi.. Lucy Chen" she put out her hand to the middle aged man.

He accepted in return "John Nolan, you must be one of the new rookies as well" 

"I am" she turns to the younger guy and introduces herself. They both shake hands, his name is Jackson West. He's the legacy she heard about, apparently his father works in this building with IA.

A man steps up to the front of the room behind the podium and clears his throat "Good morning everyone. We got some new blood this morning. Stand up and state your badge numbers and names please" 

John goes first, followed by Jackson and Lucy. 

"Well now that the main part is over, I'm Wade Grey your Sergeant and your life for the next 13 months will be determined if you are capable enough to do this job, and follow basic instructions by your TO's" he pauses "Speaking of TO's lets get started on the roulette. Officer Lopez, you get our legacy, Jackson West. Detective Harper your with John Nolan and Officer Bradford, you get the girl Lucy Chen.. with that being said, get up and go start your first day of training!" 

The three made their ways to they're TO's. Tim glanced at Lucy, he shook it off and scarfed at her "C'mon Boot! Lets go. Were already late for the streets" 

He grabbed their war bags "Today, I got them. Everyday up until you become a P2, you will be signing out our war bags. Always ask for the Bradford special- nothing more, nothing less"

"Yes sir.." She followed him to the shops. 

"This is your shop, do not call it a truck, nor a car. Officer Chen, I expect fast learners. Once your working with law enforcement, mistakes become costly. Do not make mistakes"

Their first assignment came quick, it was a simple 390. Even though she proved herself to know what a 390 meant, Tim made everything into a Tim Test as he liked to call it. 

"What does a 390 mean boot?" 

"I- um its.. its a intoxicated person.. normally causing a disturbance.."

"Normally. Not always. What do you do in that case?"

"You would um normally try to maintain a conversation with the intoxicated.. asking basic questions and then take them into temporary custody to sober up.."

He signs "Good" 

This was her first real call. All the other ones she did in the academy were nothing compared to the adrenaline she got pulling up to the house and breaking down the door when the man refused open it. There was no messing this up, she just couldn't. 

By the end of it, they had successfully cuffed the man. He was very intoxicated. 

The next call came in quick. The call was for a 417. They already had a guy in the back of the shop so at first Lucy didn't accept it.

When Tim noticed she hadn't accepted, he almost bit off her head, for a quick minute she didn't know what actually stopped him. 

"What are you doing boot? Have you learned NOTHING today?"

She stared at him, her eyes widening in shock "Sir-" 

"I don't want to hear it boot. When your with me, you always accept a call" 

He grabs the radio "7-Adam 19 show us on route to the 417. ETA 11 minutes" 

She sat quietly. They both did. 

“Sir may I speak?” 

Tim huffs “Make it quick boot” 

“I- I didn’t know we could respond to another call while we have someone in the back already…” 

“That’s what backup is for Officer Chen. We apprehend whoever we need to and call backup, but at least our names are on the reports at night so it looks good on our end. Do you want Srg Grey to notice you? Or do you want to hide with the other rookies until the 30 day push comes?” 

She remains silent.

Tim pulls up to the address and shuts the car off “Let’s go boot. Stay alert the whole time we’re there. Understand?”

”Yes sir..”

7 dispatch calls, 3 speeding tickets and 4 locked up people later, Lucy's first shift was finally over. 

She got changed and headed to her car. 

Tim was finishing up some reports when he spotted Lucy "Chen.. a word?" 

Lucy looked up at him and made her way over.

"Good job today boot. And I mean it. I normally don't go around telling my rookies they did a good job on their first day."

"I- thank you sir.." 

He gives her one of those nods "Go home, get rest Chen. I'll see you tomorrow at 7am sharp." 

Outside, the dark city buzzed around her. She spotted Jackson getting into his car and gave him a nod.

"Oh.. John?" 

Nolan turned his head "Hey! Your Lucy right?"

"Yeah..  um how was your first day?"

He smiles "It was a good. How's Bradford as a TO? I heard he's tough.." 

She smiles as well "He is.. but you need to get on his good side. Honestly it might depend on how the weather is.." 

He lets out a small laugh "What do you say about drinks? On me.." 

"That sounds great" 

Chapter Text

Lucy still felt the pain in her legs when she walked through the doors the next morning, and to her surprise John and Jackson were already there. 

"What time do you guys get here in the mornings?" she yawned.

"Early enough to beat you!" Jackson replied.

Her shoulders were still tense and she was ready to go back home and climb into bed; lucky for her, their shift hasn't even started. 

"Morning!" John said as he clutched his coffee cup.

She glanced at him, head to toe. Unlike her, he actually looked presentable "You looked like you ironed your shirt twice" 

John smiles "Some of us didn't decide to get super drunk last night" 

She scoffs "I had 3 drinks" 

"Yeah- and you got wasted!" 

"I did not! I was just a bit tipsy"

In the middle of her John teasingly mocking her, Jackson kicked her leg a bit "psst"

"Ow! What the he- Oh.. Hi sir.. good morning"

Tim's figure appeared behind the rookies "Done laughing boot? Roll call starts in 8 lets go!" he paused "Unless you want to organize the supply closet because that's where your headed if you don't get your heads in the game" he scarfed at them.

"Yes sir.. come on guys lets go.." She got up and headed to the woman's locker rooms.

Jackson walked alongside John "Does he ever smile..?"

Jackson shook his head "Not a chance"

Roll call was a blur.. night shift not doing their job properly, opened cases and new missing persons cases that rolled in early this morning.

When it ended, Lucy looked cluelessly around the room for Tim, but to her surprise he was already standing at the gear room. 

He tossed the shop keys at Lucy "Go unlock our shop boot" 

She nodded and wandered off to their car. Their shop today had most unusual licence plate Lucy had ever seen; 9999982. 

Tim walked in with one war bag. They normally would get 2, plus the two guns.

"The rest is waiting for you Chen"

Of course it was.

She nodded and made her way back to the gear shop.

When she got back to the shop with the other equipment, Tim was already in the car sitting in the passenger seat instead of the drivers.

"What's going on..?" Lucy asked as she loaded the remainder of the stuff in the shops trunk.

He glanced at her "What's going on is that I'm giving you a chance to drive today. Prove me to be wrong, and you will never ever touch that steering wheel again as long as I work here. Understand me boot?"

Her eyes widen "Y-Yes sir.." 

"Don't make me regret giving you this control Officer Chen"

She slid into the drivers seat and wow- everything felt so different. 

Their patrol began in silence, Tim kept glancing over at her as if he was the driving instructor on her driving test.

"Chen.. relax and not in the sense that todays going to be easy but relax in the sense so your not strangling the wheel"

She nervously grinned "Right.. sorry sir" 

Their patrol session began in silence. Tim corrected her on some little details she was doing wrong. 

They eventually responded to their first call, a domestic disturbance. 

Tim glanced at her "Boot remember... We're here to de-escalate this situation not escalate it" 

Lucy nodded. 

She let Tim take the lead through the apartment. Following him, she heard voices that were being raised and tempers getting higher. Normally she hated domestic disturbance calls, but today she felt a bit different. Apparently one of the neighbours had called in because they heard dishes breaking and screaming. 

Within minutes, they got the situation under control and were able to separate the group. They sent both parties off with warnings. Nobody was arrested this time, but Tim made it clear to them that there would be an arrest next time if there ever was a next time. 

Back in their shop, Lucy blew out a breathe she didn't know she was holding. 

Tim cleared his voice "Good job staying in your lane. Most rookies want to jump and play hero within a few weeks" he pauses "You didn't and I'm proud of that because it proves to everyone that I'm doing something right in teaching you.

She didn't exactly take this as a praise, but from Tim.. anything that came out of his mouth that wasn't bullshitting was a praise. She tucked the words away for when she needed to hear then again and Tim telling her that she did a good job was definitely something that she would need to hear again. 

That evening, the three rookies regrouped in the parking lot by the food trucks. Nolan was venting to Jackson about Nyla's TO choices, and Jackson was listening but doodling on a spare piece of paper he had. Lucy sat with them, her food untouched. Listening more then she was speaking. 

The men both noticed her silence but none of them said anything until John decided to speak up.

"Quiet day today Lucy?" 

She shrugged. Nothing about today was particularly tough, just another normal day.. but tonight she just didn't feel like talking. All she wanted to do quite frankly was go home and sleep. 

"How was Bradford today?" Jackson asked.

She hesitated "He was tough.. but fair I guess..?" 

"You sure?" Jackson adds "You hesitated" 

Lucy glanced at Jackson with "You weren't there. He gave me credit where it was needed, and it was nice hearing something encouraging coming from him" 

Her words drew silence.

For every hard edge that people saw on Tim Bradford, there was a tiny glimpse of softness Lucy had found in him. 

By the time she got home, she collapsed on her couch. The day washed over her and she felt more in control of her new policing job then she did yesterday. She thought about Tim, and his words with his actions. How he inspected the world and demanded a slice of perfection in everything he walked over. 

This was just the beginning for the three of them, the beginning of everything new. New relationships, new friendships, new career paths and most importantly; new life decisions. 

Chapter Text

Lucy swore by this point she knew Tim like the back of her hand. She read his reports and how he analyzed things. She spoke to her coworkers that have been here much longer then her. But she quickly learned that hearing things about Tim and riding with him on a daily basis were two different things. 

By a few weeks into her work, she managed to figure out a way to understand him. Tim didn't just want perfection, but he demanded it. 

"Again" Tim barked at her as she struggled to recite call codes that she should've known. 

Lucy closed her eyes and began reciting it again for the 3rd time. 

He gave her a small nod and continued driving "Better.. but you hesitated. Don't hesitate next time" 

She nodded. If she were to say the things that were going through her head right now, she would instantly get fired. 

Tim glanced at her "Out here" he paused "Hesitation gets people like us killed. You don't know what to do or say? Bam. Your dead"

"Yes sir.." 

Their first call of the day came in shortly after. It was a shoplifting at the corner market

When Lucy and Tim arrived, the shop owner; a old man sat outside. His face was fuming red and his arms were crossed over his chest.

"He tired to steal from me! Right there Infront of me and the customers!" 

Lucy cut him off "Sir- we hear you. But we cant do anything without your name"

"Alan" he pauses "I want him cuffed! Immediately" 

Tim steps in "Sir- were going to go as far as cuffing him now until we properly asses the situation" 

Alan stands abruptly "He needs to be imprisoned!" 

"Woah.. sit down sir" Lucy steps in. She turned to look at the suspect, who was a teenage boy. Roughly around 14 years old. He was thin, hands in his pockets and dirty, scruffy hair. 

"What's in your pockets sir?" she asks while Tim inspects the inside of the building.

The boy hesitates. He glares up at Lucy with a shy, embarrassed expression. 

"Silence isn't going to get you anywhere" she adds.

He pulls out a crumpled sandwich, handing it back to the man.

"Why...?" she asks.

He shrugged. "I was hungry" 

Alan scoffs "I'm 74 years old, I work 12 hours a week and this punk thinks he could just walk into my store and take me from like its nothing? Please!"

"Sir! Sit back down!" Tim scarfs as he grabs Alan's arm yanking him down. "We didn't say you could talk. Nor stand" 

Lucy's eyes widen "Sir.. relax your going to hurt him" 

She glanced at Tim, then back at the boy. She could see his thin arms and his ribs through his shirt.

The books said this was either a fine or an arrest... but she couldn't bring herself to arrest the kid.

"Alan.. I'm going to let him off with a warning, and if it happens again, don't hesitate to call us okay?" She slips him her card. 

"Oh of course! So he could do it again" 

Tim gives Alan a glare "Get inside man" and then he gives Lucy another curt nod.

"As per you.." she looks at the boy.

"Stealing is not okay.. you should've just asked if you were this hungry. Maybe he could've given you something small for free. Where are your parents by the way?"

He shrugged, clearly not wanting to answer. 

Lucy sighed "Okay.. fine. Just.. run off. Don't get into anymore trouble"

Back on the road, Tim glared at her "Why?"

"Why what? 

"Why didn't you chose to arrest? Or fine?"

She shrugged "He was obviously homeless.. or poor. His ribs were showing through his skin. It wouldn't even be jail at that point it would be more of like a hostage situation. Were keeping him in a cell while he's malnourished.. tell me what that sounds like to you?"

"So why didn't you follow him home to asses it further instead of letting him go?" 

She looks down, fidgeting with her hands "Because we didn't get called for that. We got called for shoplifting.. So technically we didn't have a warrant even if we did go check it out" 

He smiles "Good Job Chen. Your actually learning something here"

After multiple more stupid calls, it was finally break. 

Lucy plotted herself down beside Jackson and let out the worlds loudest sigh known to man kind.

"Bradford?" Jackson asked. 

"Who else?" 

"The guys relentless. Lopez rides on me but Tim? He wont let you breathe the wrong way" 

Lucy smirks as she sips her coffee "He pushes me until I break and then expects me to rebuild in 5 seconds" 

"Maybe that's what makes him good" Jackson adds. 

Lucy tilts her head at her friend "Or he likes watching me squirm under pressure"

"That too" He takes a sip of his coffee. 

Lucy just managed a quick smile when Tim's voice came through the walls "Boot! Lets go. NOW!" 

Her eyes widen and she sighs "Duty calls" as she stands up to leave.

Jacksons shakes his head what a life their living.

"Yes sir?" 

"We going on patrol. There's a driver I want to stop" he loaded the war bags into the truck.

Lucy gives him quite the look "um Sir? How do you know by all means if were not on the streets...?"

"I have my ways" he barks.

"Right.." Lucy slides into the passenger seat as Tim gets into the drivers.

Within minutes they were tailing the black sedan.

"Hit the lights boot. Your on this call" 

"I- I am?" she flicked the lights and sirens on.

"Yup wanna test your knowledge on traffic stops" 

Tim pulls the shop into park behind the car and nods at Lucy. She gets out and walks towards the drivers side.

"Afternoon sir.. Do you know why we stopped you?" It was a two was question because neither Lucy knew why this poor guy was stopped. 

Lucky for her the man stayed silent. Not a word, not even a movement. Pure silence. 

"Sir can I get your License and Registration please?" 

He moved his hand to the glove compartment and pulled out a stack of papers, handing the two items to Lucy.

Lucy took them and walked back to Tim, handing him the documents. 

He took them in silence and started looking the numbers up "What did you notice?" 

"Um... He wouldn't speak to me.. didn't even look at me. He only moved to get his stuff from the glove compartment" 

Tim sighed and shook his head "That's where you messed up Officer Chen. You never go to a traffic stop alone, there should always be another officer present with you. One on either side of the car. You don't know when their going to pull out a gun and shoot. Bam. Your dead" 

Lucy grits her teeth "You told me to go alone" 

"And I thought you knew better. Obviously you don't. Go give this man his stuff back and lets go. Someone clearly has studying to do" 

She grabs his stuff, returning it and apologizing. "Was this another Tim test?"

"Everything is a Tim Test officer Chen. And you just failed this one." 

Lucy sighed. Of course everything is a Tim Test. 

Chapter Text

End of shift was something that all officers liked. It meant going home after an exhausting 12hrs and having the rest of the day ahead of you to sleep and relax.. unless you were the lucky officer who had the next day off. 

Lucy slung her bag over her shoulder as she walked out of the change rooms. She was exhausted but felt good on the little impact she had on the City of LA today. 

Tim had already cleared out for the night. He was totally done with everything to do with work, ready to go home and sip a beer, put on the football game and call it a night. 

Lucy spotted him heading towards the exit and he looked so ready to go home. 

"Night Sir" she shouted from down the hall, trying not to sound to soft or Lucy-Like.

He jerked his head towards her and grumbled something. 

Before he could reach the exit, the glass doors slowly creaked open and a little girl, with brown long messy hair and the biggest blue Lucy's ever seen walked in clutching a stuffed giraffe like it was her life line. 

She was small, maybe 5 or 6. She was wearing a green t shirt with stains on it and a white zip up hoodie that was far to big on her. Her mismatched socks peaked through her sneakers and her jeans were just a bit too long. She stood at the door, scanning everybody up and down until she found who she was looking for. 

Her eyes widened and her smile grew ear-to-ear "Daddy!" she said while directly looking at Tim. 

Tim visibly stiffened, but for exactly a second. He bent down and opened his arms "Hey bug.. What's going on? I'm not supposed to see you for another few weeks" 

The little girl runs into his arms and shrugs "Momma had to go somewhere. She said you could take me earlier!" 

Tim scooped her up with ease, his hard-edged personality fading away surprisingly quick. His jaw tightened as he listened to her words. 

"Okay bug.." he exhaled "You hungry?"

The girl nodded. 

During this, Lucy stood on the sidelines of the scene. A million things were spiralling through her head. Tim has a kid? Tim was married?  In the few months they had been sitting shoulder to shoulder, he's never mentioned anything about a family. 

Lucy darted her eyes around the station and quickly realized she was the only one staring at Tim and this little girl. Everybody else was focused on other things and was ignoring the fact that Tim had a toddle on his hip; like it was the most normal thing in the world. 

"Daddy? Whose that?" Sofia's eyes darted towards Lucy, lifting her arm up to point.

"That's daddy's co-worker Sof" 

Lucy looked back at the two and smiled. "Hi.. I'm Lucy" 

Sofia nuzzled her head into the nook of Tim's neck.

"Your a cutie huh" 

Sofia smiled "You don't look like a police officer like my daddy does Wucy"

Lucy smiles "I get that a lot. I'm new to the job. Your daddy's been working for a while. He's more smarter. He's teaching me!"

"My daddy teaches you?" Sofia asks, lifting her head back up to look at Lucy.

Tim shifted, wanting to leave "We're going home" he said, brisk and stern.

Sofia's little hand waved bye to Lucy as Tim walked towards the door, his boots echoing against the floors.

The station smelled like burnt coffee and sweat when Lucy walked in the next morning. Her hair was still damp from the quick shower she had taken. Her mind was racing all night with the encounter. 

By the time she found John and Jackson near the locker rooms, Lucy couldn't not bring up the fact that The Tim Bradford had a child. 

"Okay-" she said, briefly pausing "Someone needs to tell me why I didn't know Tim had a daughter!"

John's head snapped up "Wait- You didn't know?"

Lucy blinked "You did? Why does everyone say that like it was something I should've been studying in the Rookbook!"

Jackson laughed "Lopez told me. Her name is Sofia. She's 5" 

Sofia. A name to the little girl clutching the giraffe. 

"Five..? He never mentioned her"

Jackson leaned against the wall "That's Bradford for you. Bishop told me he's very protective of her" 

John smiled "Yeah. You probably wont get Tim to talk about her but I've seen pictures, cutest kid ever" 

Lucy stares at them, blinking. It was all starting to puzzle piece together but before she could say something else, John flared his throat. 

“Sir” he said trying to hint at Lucy to stop whatever she’s doing. 

“Boot” Tim nodded. “Chen let’s go. There’s a whole lot of paperwork with your name on it” 

“I- yes sir. Coming sir.” She glared and Jackson and John one last time before darting off after Tim.

Later on that day, the duo found themselves on patrol. It was a quiet day not too many calls yet. The drive was silent, each in their own bubble of thoughts. 

“So…” Lucy starts “Last night.. was that your daughter?” 

The silence continued. 

“Stay focused Chen” Tim barked. 

Lucy swallowed. She knew if she continued she was going to get in trouble but she was very curious. “She’s really sweet. Seemed happy to see you” 

Silence

”We are not talking about this right now boot”

Lucy finally stopped. It was enough, the tension in the air was unbearable. 

She bit her lip, her hands laid on her lap. The only sound that was heard was the sound of the tires rubbing against the road and the motors soft hum. Not a word from Tim, not a word from Lucy. Pure silence. 

She might not be getting any answers now, but one day she will. She knew he was keeping something; something that he didn’t want anyone to know. 

And it made her wonder why. 

Chapter Text

The precinct had that same hum it always does. Radio's cracking to life, officer chatter and the same phone ring tune. Yet through all this chaos, when Lucy walked in, she felt at home. 

She spotted Tim, doing whatever he does. She saw Angela chatting with Nyla, She also seen Jackson making his way towards her "Your here" 

She smiled "Yeah. Traffic was crazy this morning" 

Tim jerked his head towards her "Chen- lets go. We got a 502 DUI call" he says in that tone he used to intimidate his rookies. 

"Y-yes sir..!" She stammers.

On the drive there, he rubbed his temples. She wanted to say something but decided that keeping quiet was the best thing to do. 

When they finished with the call, Tim drove them back to the station in complete silence.

"Long day..?" Lucy muttered against the hum of the running engine. 

Tim's eyes flickered to her "When is it ever not a busy day Officer Chen?"

She let out a dry laugh "I meant... with your personal life. You just seem a bit off today sir.." 

"I'm fine. It's just another day" 

Lucy didn't press him further. She learnt that the hard way. 'Fine' in Tim's world could mean 101 different things like exhaustion or frustration and it didn't look like he was in the mood for a guessing game today. 

Back at the station, Angela wandered in to the breakroom with a cup of mildly cold coffee. Tim was there as well on his phone. He told Lucy to go finish up some paperwork so he could have some needed alone time. 

"Hey. How are you?" 

"Hm? I'm fine." 

"No your not" 

"Yes... I am"

"Timothy. I'm your best friend. I know when somethings up. Now what's going on?"

Tim sighs "Its just my rookie. She notices everything" 

"Aww she's being observant"

He sighs "A little too observant. She asked me how my day was going them told me I looked a bit off" 

Angela smiled "She's a rookie Tim, she's supposed to notice these things. It means your doing a good job with her training" 

She headed for the door "Just don't let it get to your head Bradford- Your better then that" 

Lucy walked in a few minutes after Angela left "Sir?" she paused "I'm done the reports" 

"Look... I know I'm just a rookie but.. if there's anything I can do-"

Tim takes the papers from her hand "I don't want to hear it Chen"

Later, during the day Lucy found herself in the breakroom more then she expected. Tim was already there leaning against the counter. 

"Your here again?"

He turned to her "I could ask you the same thing" 

She shrugged.

He looked up at her :Ever wonder why people do this job?"

"Um.. I know I started working here to protect people... but I cant speak for everyone in this world"

He gave her a humourless laugh "Some people think its to make a difference although I think it feels like you make a difference for a few minutes... then everything falls apart again"

"That doesn't mean its not worth trying" she said meeting his eyes. 

He studied her for a minute and just in that moment; the world seemed to stop around them. 

The next thing they knew, Nyla was walking into the breakroom and as quick as the moment came, it ended. 

"Oh- am I interrupting something here?"

Tim clears his throat "No. Not at all" he backs away.

Lucy pulls away as well and goes to the fridge to distract herself. 

"Good cause I have a case for you here... me and Angela already did our part so you two can occupy yourselves now-" 

Tim takes the file "Chen lets go. Its a 261" 

The car ride was a bit tense. Lucy kept her eyes on the case file while Tim had hid eyes glued to the road. She could sense the tension in the car but kept her mouth shut. 

Everything was going to be okay. 

As they arrived, Lucy started noting details, letting Tim handle the other stuff. 

Walking back to the shop, Lucy finally asked the question she'd been meaning to ask all day "Hey... are you okay?"

Tim looked up at her, stopping Infront of the shop. He managed a small smile "I'm.. managing"

Lucy nodded "If you ever need to talk-"

"No" he interrupted "Not yet" 

She let it go for now, quietly getting into the car and minding her business.

That night, Lucy drove home to her quiet, empty home. Reflecting on all the things that happened today.

Outside her car, the city lights twinkled. Somewhere right now Tim was probably tucking his little girl into bed.

Tomorrow, she would see him again; and everyone else. Hoping for the conversation she was promised.