Hooked Into You

Riding Together Again

"Don't let this go to your head, but I'm about to give you a big compliment, Tim, and I need you to know you deserve it. You're one of the best training officers the LAPD has had in a long time. You're damn good at your job and learning the insight you have about what makes a good cop, and how to make a good cop, can only benefit my career. I know words of affirmation are far from your love language, but I also know you don't hear them often enough. I just meant to start a conversation as someone who trusts and values your opinion, doesn't quite know where they want to end up in the LAPD, and wonders if TO would be the right path."

Tim pursed his lips as he considered her words. Damn Lucy for always keeping him guessing and disarming him when he least expects it.

"Thank you," He said quietly, taking his eyes off the road for just a moment to make that connection with her.

She was a P2 now, and while he had technically passed his Sergeant's exam (scored in the top three), his promotion had yet to come around and he would wait until his current rookie passed or washed out of the program.

At least, that's what he said to anyone who asked. But he felt this need to prove himself with one more successful rookie before leaving the role of TO for greener pastures. He needed that insurance just in case...

He had seniority over Lucy still, but he was no longer in charge of her future at the LAPD. She was just a fellow officer, on the same shift, in the same department. He could stand to offer up a little career advice, as someone whose opinion she values and trusts.

"I think you'd make a great TO, and I'd support you if you wanted to go down that path. But I think you should explore other options. There's more out there for you than just patrol, you could go anywhere you wanted in the department. Talk to Angela and Nyla, and other people in other units. You have an incredible skill set, Lucy, any Captain would be lucky to have you,"

Tim's hands tightened on the steering wheel. He wanted to reach out and touch her, not sure where the inclination had come from, but he felt closer to her now than he had since before her fake admission of feelings for him. He couldn't get that confession off his mind lately, even if it was made in jest.

"Thank you," Lucy blushed. Unsure what had caused them both to be so open with their communication. "So, Officer Howard?"

Tim thought about it for a moment, navigating through a dense section of California traffic before finally exiting the clusterfuck and responding to her question.

"Howard's got good instincts, a good perspective of the world, is knowledgeable and competent with the equipment and procedure, but lacks drive and connection. It's only been two weeks. They can ace as many Tim Tests as they want, but at the end of the day they're failing to connect with the work and I've got to figure out some way to get through to get them to show a little more emotion."

Lucy covered her mouth as a quack tried to escape past her lips. From what she saw, that kid was pouring emotions from their pores. Were they really that good at hiding it from Tim?

"I'm sorry, you complained for months about me being emotional on the job and now you're saying your new rookie isn't emotional enough? Nothing's ever good enough for TO Bradford, huh? " Lucy laughed again, seeing the irony in her long-standing desire to soften the hard edges of Tim Bradford.

"Hey, your ability for empathy is your cop superpower– I know that. Not everyone can be as good as you are, Chen. And what happened to ' I'm the best training officer in the LAPD ' Huh?" Tim scoffed, eyeing a sign for a gas station. He was kicking himself for not filling up before work as he planned, but somebody needed their salmon and eggs breakfast a day early.

"One of, I told you not to let it get to your head, Tim. I just find it interesting how different you are with each of your trainees." Lucy tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"I mean, the things we went through my rookie year were once-in-a-lifetime kind of incidents. Things like that didn't happen with your other rookies and aren't likely to happen with your new ones. I don't want to go as far as to say what we had was special, because a lot of it was truly horrific, but you have to admit, Tim, we've been through some really tough shit that's bonded us as people. Even if we didn't work together or have Kojo to keep us connected, I think what we've been through has intertwined us in a way where I don't see a future without you in it in some capacity."

Lucy looked out the window, cringing and wondering what the hell had compelled her to flush out the thoughts she had been letting swim in her mind ever since she (falsely) suggested that there could be something more between them since she was no longer his direct subordinate.

That and if the call about Angela's whereabouts hadn't interrupted her when she stayed over at his house after Jackson was killed, at the very least, she would have asked him to hold her all night long in his bed.

If they had done that, there'd be no telling how long it would take before the physical attraction caught up to their emotional connection and pushed one of them to make a move for more.

Maybe some distance between them would do them some good. Maybe this weekend away with Tim was a bad idea. So much for clarity, huh? Lucy felt like this trip might muddy the waters beyond sight.

Tim pulled off the highway at the next exit and with his silence since her confession, Lucy wondered if he was leaving her on the side of the road and continuing on his journey without her.

"What are you saying, Lucy?" Tim asked, pulling up to a gas pump at an empty gas station.

"I don't know." She sighed, not sure if she was ready to broach that conversation with him now. She did have some kind of feelings for Tim, she just wasn't sure if or when she wanted to do something about those feelings. She knew of the personal and professional risks ahead of her. It wasn't the right timing now anyway.

Speaking of time, Lucy was giving it all time to settle and process. She was fresh out of her probationary year and along with everything else, Lucy needed to establish herself in the department before she jumped into bed with her old training officer. Not that she thinks that's where they'd end up, especially not right away, but time would help settle those feelings and allow for them to see if a role other than TO/Boot could work for them.

"I don't know if I'm saying anything. I'm just expressing how I feel, and I don't know, maybe it will help you figure out your next Tim Test for Howard. Let's just leave it at that." Lucy slapped her legs and then reached to the floor to bring her bag to her lap. "I'm going to get some snacks and a drink from the store, do you want anything?" Lucy waited for his response with her hand ready on the door latch.

"Something to keep me up, and something sweet," Tim moved to get out and fill up his truck while Lucy went inside. After a year of buying overnight shift snacks for him, she had a pretty good idea of what he'd like. Before she got too far though, Tim called out to her, "Lucy?"

She turned to look at him, eyes wide and looking exhausted.

"For what it's worth, I see you in my future, too," He gave her a rare painless smile and let her walk off out of sight as he retreated to the gas nozzle.