Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After four tediously long months of enduring the night shift, Sergeant Lucy Chen has finally managed to get back on days, picking Celina as her aide. She’s thrilled about no longer having to be nocturnal. She’s also thrilled to be back working cases with her found-family at Mid-Wilshire, and that she’s found her footing as a sergeant. But, mostly, she’s thrilled about the fact that she and Tim have finally had that difficult conversation.

There were plenty of tears. Tears of anger, sadness, love, and laughter. There were some bumps, but the conversation ultimately ended in them getting back together, making lots of promises, and, of course, partaking in a few other activities. He did bring up moving in together, which she promptly turned down, explaining that she wasn’t ready for that yet – emphasis on the ‘yet.’ They chose to keep their reconciliation on the down-low for a little while longer, simply wanting to enjoy the peace and quiet before the world knew, and so far, it’s been smooth sailing, until today.

Lucy has been back on the day shift for 3 weeks, and she and Celina have already proven to be a fantastic pairing out in the field. It’s early afternoon in the streets of Los Angeles, and they’re just about to go on their lunch break. They’ve been cruising through various neighbourhoods with their windows down, enjoying the cool breeze, and talking about anything and everything. The current topic of conversation is the absolute clusterfuck that is the ‘Dream Team.’

“Seriously, Celina, these guys were absolutely useless. One night, I responded to six calls in a row. Six calls, by myself, and where was my team? Take a wild guess.”

“Sleeping in their shops?” Celina guesses, taking a bite of an energy bar as she watches the license plate reader on their shop’s computer. 

“Sleeping in their shops!” Lucy confirms, the irritation evident in her voice. “Ugh, and don’t even get me started on sleep! I don’t think I’ve ever consumed so much caffeine in such a short amount of time.”

“You never know what you have until it’s taken from you.” Celina giggles teasingly from the passenger seat. “It’s like how you take breathing for granted until your nose gets plugged.”  

“I swear, I will never take the day shift for granted again.” Lucy declares, tightening her grip on the steering wheel and shaking her head with a sigh. “I’m so happy to be back.”

The younger officer hums in agreement, “I’m happy you’re back, as well, and…” a playful smirk begins forming on her face. “...I can tell by the way you’ve been smiling at your phone lately, and also how you’ve spent quite a few nights away from the apartment,” she pauses to raise her eyebrows suggestively, “that a certain grumpy sergeant is quite happy to have you back, too.” 

Lucy sucks in a breath and gives her partner an exasperated look, but before she can formulate a comeback, the radio crackles to life.

 “7-Adam-100, requesting additional units at our location. We’ve got an in-progress bank robbery, multiple armed suspects with an unknown number of hostages.” The familiar voice of Officer Penn ringing through the transmission.

“Attach us to that.” Lucy orders, putting her foot on the gas. 

Celina quickly picks up the radio, “7-Adam-300, we’re 6 minutes out, show us responding.” and suddenly they’re racing through the city with their sirens blaring.

_______

Chen and Juarez arrive at the scene, their lights flashing. They exit their shop with their pistols drawn and their eyes sharp, ready and watchful for incoming danger. A few other officers are rushing around, setting up a perimeter and clearing civilians, Lucy notices Penn amongst them. An airship hovers overhead, its rotors adding to the pre-existing background noise of unintelligible shouting and radio chatter. 

It doesn’t take long for Lucy to spot Tim. His shop is parked a few meters down the street, and she can hear him giving orders and dishing out assignments. She beckons Juarez and the two women make their way towards him. 

“Hey!” Lucy greets, stopping in front of him with a gleam in her eyes. Celina was close behind, glancing between the two sergeants with a knowing look on her face. “Care to bring us up to speed?”

“Yeah,” he says, pulling up the information on a tablet. “Five suspects, all armed with handguns. We’ve ID’d two of them as Caden Becci and Sam Garrett, who served time together for aggravated assault and burglary in California State Prison. We’re still working on IDs for the other three.” 

Lucy nods thoughtfully, and Tim hands her the tablet to read through before continuing, “We still don’t know how many hostages there are, and we haven’t been able to make communication-”

Suddenly, a single gunshot echoes around the tall buildings, quickly followed by a piercing shriek from one of the bank's upper floors. In an instant, everyone springs into action. 

“Dispatch, this is 7-Adam-300, situation has escalated, shots fired at our location, we need a SWAT team, and multiple RAs for possible casualties.” Lucy almost yells into her radio. 

_______

Before long, there are reporters lined up outside the police tape, speaking in serious tones about the situation unfolding before the cameras. The SWAT team is inside the building, moving swiftly and silently through the dimmed hallways, and as each floor is cleared, Lucy’s team of officers retrieve hostages and escort them downstairs to safety. Tim is stationed outside watching the live bodycam footage, and communicating with the officers inside the building, as well as keeping superiors updated. 

After a few adrenaline-filled hours that felt like years, one suspect is dead, and the other four are taken into custody. The last few hostages are rescued, and are slowly making their way down to the lobby. Lucy gently guides a quivering, tearful woman past the bank’s shattered glass doors, and outside to where the ambulances are waiting. After exchanging a few words with the EMTs, she takes a moment, stepping to the side with her hands on her hips and letting out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. 

She starts walking over to where Tim is standing, and is just about to raise her hand to wave at him when a voice calls out to her.

“Lucy?”

It’s a familiar voice, a man, but she just can’t quite put her finger on it. It sounds like it’s coming from the ambulances. She keeps walking towards Tim, but something about that voice is making her feel increasingly uneasy.

“Lucy!” The voice calls again, and this time she recognises it. She tenses up, and hopes the look of complete and utter horror on her face isn’t as obvious as she thinks it is.

‘Oh, god.’

Chapter Text

‘Oh, god.’ is the first thought that runs through Lucy’s head. She is immediately filled with dread, panic, and an overwhelming desire to be literally anywhere but here. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have time to come up with an escape plan because the object of her disdain has jogged over to her, calling her name for a third time. Trapped in the conversation, she begrudgingly whips her head around to face him.

“Ignoring me, huh, Lulu?” he says with a grin, looking her up and down.

She hasn’t been called that nickname in years, and yet it still makes her want to throw up on the pavement. “Yes, Matthew, that is exactly what I was doing.” she deadpans. 

Matthew grins even wider, and god, how she wants to slap that stupid look off his stupid face, but, sadly, she is a cop, and assault is – very annoyingly – against the law. 

“You know, I thought Hayley was joking when she said you went and became a cop, but look at you! Full of surprises! You look pretty damn great in that uniform.” His grin turns smug, and he looks her up and down again, before adding “I mean, I guess it’s a fitting profession for you, given how quickly you… caught on.”

‘Oh, you absolute son of a bitch.’ She thinks furiously, and holy shit, she wants to say it so badly, but she keeps her composure, and instead opts to offer him a half-hearted smile.

Matthew must’ve noticed her clenching her jaw in fury, though, because his grin somehow manages to get even more smug, “Still holding a grudge, I see.” he chuckles. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything else.”

Lucy opens her mouth to respond, but he cuts her off, smirking. “So, are you seeing anyone, or…?” 

She squints at him, folding her arms. “What do you want, Matt?” she says, intentionally inserting enough boredom in her tone to let him know exactly how much she detests this conversation, 

“I just wanted to catch up. Excuse me for being interested in what my old acquaintances are getting up to.” He folds his arms too, mimicking her.

‘An acquaintance? Is that all our relationship meant to you? Actually, no, I don’t care. It’s in the past, I have Tim now, this is stupid, god damn it, Lucy, pull yourself together.’

She starts taking internal deep breaths, desperately trying to keep her irritation contained.

“Well, I don’t know if you picked up on this, but I’m on duty. We’ve just stopped a bank robbery, and multiple people have been injured. It’s not really the best time to ‘catch up.’”

She informs him, her tone calm and professional.

“Well,” he mimics her again, “when would be a good time to catch up?” Matthew asks, adding a touch of sweetness to his voice, and she can’t tell if it’s genuine or not.

‘Never.’ she thinks, snarkily. 

“Not sure. Listen, I’ve got to get back to work. Have a nice rest of your day.” And with that, she turns on her heel and starts walking away. Tim’s now occupied with a few other officers, so Lucy just walks back to her shop and radios Celina to meet her there.

She doesn’t know if Matthew has moved from where they were standing, but she can feel his eyes on her. She doesn’t bother looking back, and if he said anything, she didn’t hear.  

_______

On the drive back to the station, Lucy is gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles are turning white. She stops at a red light, and her grip loosens slightly. She takes a deep breath, and that's when she notices Juarez looking at her, her face a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Sorry, what?”

“I asked if you were okay. You look like you’re plotting that guy’s murder.” Celina half-jokes, but the look in her eyes betrays that she is a little worried she’ll have to talk her friend out of a homicide “Who even was he?” 

Lucy’s brain buffers a little, and she struggles to get the words out. “That, uh.. That was my ex.” she clears her throat awkwardly, her eyes back on the road as the light turns green.

Celina turns to look at her, eyes searching. “Do you… do you want to talk about it?” She questions carefully. 

Lucy rolls her eyes, “He was – and probably still is – a cheating douchebag. I haven’t seen him in years. I found out he had been cheating on me with my best friend around 3 months after we had moved in together.” 

“What a piece of crap.” Celina exclaims, screwing up her face in disgust.

Lucy chuckles a little, agreeing wholeheartedly. “I know, right? The worst part is, they invited me to their wedding.”

“Oh, that is a low blow. I’m sure you came up with some extravagant plan to sabotage their wedding, though. How did that go?” Her friend pries, smiling conspiratorially.

“Well, I didn’t actually do anything, but I thought about it, like, a lot.” The sergeant admits, grinning, “Cancel the rehearsal dinner, change the registry to a bondage webstore, hire a gang of clowns to storm their wedding, and hire a chopper to fly over their outdoor reception. Tim also offered to hook me up with his friend who studied cockroaches at a university.”

The pair gossip and laugh for the rest of the drive back to the station. Lucy truly appreciated the chance to vent to a close friend, and was in a much better mood by the time she walked into the locker room.

_______

A few days have passed since the disastrous bank robbery, and also Lucy's little encounter with her bastard ex. She’s put it to the back of her mind and has mostly forgotten about it, until she’s called the front desk whilst booking a suspect into custody. She’s mid-conversation with Tim when her phone rings.

“Sergeant Chen, there's a guy named Matthew here at the front desk for you.”

‘Damn it.’ 

Her previously bright smile warps into a scowl. Tim immediately notices her sudden change in demeanour, and makes the decision to try and lighten her mood using his typical method of teasing. The corner of his mouth twitches upwards in a smirk.

“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed you get that mad, that quickly. Are you okay?” 

Lucy scoffs at that, then flicks her eyes up from her phone to meet his gaze. 

“Do I look okay to you? God, I can’t believe this asshat has gotten so far under my skin that he can ruin my day by simply being mentioned in a phone call.” 

She takes a deep breath and then brushes past him to walk towards the front desk, muttering to herself and clenching her fists. Tim gazes after his girlfriend in pure befuddlement, before turning to Celina.

“Any idea what that was about?” 

Celina winces awkwardly “I think it’d be better if you asked her about that.”

_______

“Look who came running to greet me! Afternoon, Lulu.” Matt gleefully exclaims upon seeing her approach the front desk. 

“What do you want, Matt?” She deadpans, repeating the same question she asked a week ago, the familiar nausea from the nickname immediately making a comeback.

Matt’s annoyingly smug grin returns to his face. “As I told you last week, I want to catch up.” He leans his elbow on the front desk and raises his eyebrows expectantly. “I totally get it if this isn’t a good time, because you’re sooo busy, so how ‘bout we grab dinner tonight? Or tomorrow. Or, just, whenever you’re free.”

Lucy’s jaw almost drops in astonishment. After everything he did, he’s out here trying to chat her up? ‘The audacity of this man, I swear to god.’

The officer behind the desk is quite obviously eavesdropping, and lets out a tiny snort of amusement upon hearing this creep ask out her sergeant. Lucy gives the officer a stern look.

“Matt, I don’t know how you didn’t pick up on my tone during our last conversation, but I am most definitely not interested.” She pauses to create emphasis on her last two words. “What you are right about is that I am very busy. My partner and I should be back out on patrol right now, so if you’ll excuse me…”

She nods to the officer behind the desk, offers Matt a polite smile, and turns to strut back to her work. Before she can walk around the corner, though, she hears him yell out  “So should I come back on your lunch break, or…?” 

While she’s irritated by his persistence, she can’t help but let out a satisfied sigh at the subtle defeat in his voice.

_______

As she’s walking over to the garage to help Celina prepare to go back out, she bumps into Tim. 

“Hey!” She says, smiling sweetly at him. “Sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

He smiles back, with an identical loving glimmer in his eyes. “Hi. Don’t apologise, I just wanted to check you were okay. What happened earlier?” he says softly, his hand reaching up to brush her shoulder

“Oh,” she sighs, rubbing the back of her neck “it’s a long story. And a moderately funny one. I’ll tell you tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” he says, his face curious, and his smile growing wider, “Oh, that reminds me. Angela invited us out tonight. Just us and a few friends. You in?”

“Definitely. I’m gonna need a few drinks after today.” She giggles, tilting her head at him in that adorable way she does.

“I hear that,” he chuckles, “have a good rest of your shift. Stay safe out there.”

“You too.” They both stand there and look into each other's eyes for a few moments, the background noise from the station disappearing for the shortest time. 

As much as she wants to lean in and peck him on the lips before she leaves, they did agree to keep their reunion on the DL, so instead she reaches up to touch his shoulder, then walks past him into the station garage. Tim longingly watches after her.

Chapter Text

“He asked you to dinner? My god! The audacity of this man!” Lopez all but shrieks.

“That is exactly what I thought when he said it! I almost had to pinch myself to make sure it was real and I was actually him hearing right.” Lucy laughs, throwing her head back, grinning from ear to ear before taking another sip of her cocktail.

The music is booming and the lights are flashing. The mid-wilshire crew are sitting around a large table towards the back of the bar, drinking, talking, and laughing whilst watching Aaron and Miles attempt to play pool whilst drunker than two sailors. 

Tim doesn’t seem to be enjoying the topic of conversation, but puts his annoyance aside to concentrate fully on Lucy’s smile, and her laugh. God how he missed hearing her laugh while they were apart. He is so amazingly grateful for this second chance with the love of his life.

After a while of listening to Nyla, Angela, Lucy, and Celina gossiping like high-schoolers, he notices their pitcher of beer has been long empty. He exchanges a look with Wesley, before picking up the empty jug and walking up to the bar for a refill. 

It’s there he sees three women at the bar with dozens of glasses sitting in front of them. One of them is sobbing hysterically whilst the other two console her,  and while Tim can’t hear their whole conversation over the music and scattered conversation around the bar, he can pick up on a few phrases, and he just can’t help but eavesdrop.

“...I should’ve known from the beginning he’d do something like this!” The girl in the middle slurs in between sobs, behind her tears and all the alcohol. “I mean, what was I expecting? It’s how our relationship started in the first place….” 

The bleach-blonde hair surrounding her face has been glued to her skin by her tears, and her skirt is drenched, presumably from a spilled drink. “...It wasn’t a perfect marriage, but I thought we were happy!” She snivels, then her friend says something he didn’t quite catch.

 The first girl buries her face in her hands and groans  “God, I know, Tiffany, the irony is not lost on me.” she laughs bitterly, calming down. She takes what appears to be her fifth shot before continuing her conversation.

“Here’s your refill, sir.” The bartender says to Tim, grinning professionally. It snaps him back to reality, and he scolds himself for finding entertainment in eavesdropping like a pre-teen. He thanks the bartender and begins sauntering back to the table, where he’s met with gratitude from the rest of the group as they all refill their glasses.

_______

As they’re all preparing to go home, Lucy quickly excuses herself to the restroom, ignoring Tim’s warning that their Uber would arrive in 5 minutes. She walks down the hallway and pushes the door open, nodding at a woman washing her hands in the sink nearby. She walks into the first stall, placing her phone and purse on top of the toilet paper holder. 

She’s just finishing up her business when she hears another woman bursting into the bathroom. The air immediately fills with the smell of multiple different types of alcohol, and she hears the woman muttering incoherently to herself. Lucy flushes, but as she’s picking up her belongings, the drunk woman bangs on the stall door.

“Hurry up in there, would ya? I’ve gotta piss, like, real bad.”

“One sec!” Lucy calls out, quickly shoving her phone into her purse and pulling the strap over her shoulder. She unlocks the stall and steps outside, only to be standing face-to-face with the very woman she had been cackling at, and openly shitting on with her friends only 20 minutes prior.

“Lucy?!” the woman gapes at her.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

“Hayley. Long time, no see.” Lucy stutters awkwardly, smiling and shuffling past her former best friend to get to the sink. 

“Well it's great to see you too. That shhtupid bastard husband of mine is no good, ya know? The guy is an evil, cheating, lunatic with zero love to give.” Hayley yells, clearly not aware of her volume. She seems to have forgotten about her urgent need for the toilet. “You should be thankful I took him off your hands.” 

Lucy doesn’t know whether to laugh, or slap this bitch across the face. What a thing to say to someone you fucked over with no regards. She raises one eyebrow. 

“So you’re telling me, that the man who cheated on his girlfriend to be with you, ended up cheating on you as well, and you’re upset?” She’s too drunk to care about censoring herself, and immediately says exactly what she’s thinking.

Hayley gasps dramatically, she leans against the sink, likely too drunk to stand up straight and looks Lucy dead in the eye, but her face is so puffy and covered in running mascara that Lucy can’t take her offence seriously. 

“You see, bitch, this is why I didn’t wanna invite you to the wedding. You’re so salty, you can never let anything go, and you only care about yourself.”

Lucy lets out a breath and laughs to herself, shaking her head. “It was nice seeing you, Hayley.” she turns and struts out of the bathroom without a second thought, letting the door shut behind her. She has no doubt Hayley had more to say, but the drunken, soon-to-be divorcee was probably too intoxicated to follow her down the hallway.

She walks back over to the table where Tim and the others are waiting with a huge grin on her face. “You guys will never guess who I just met in the bathroom.”

_______

Lucy tells Tim every detail about her breakup with Matthew during their drive home, the Uber driver pretending not to listen. She shed a few tears, but it was mostly a funny conversation that consisted of laughing at Hayley’s drunken state, and at Matthew’s bold attempt at winning back his ex.

They arrive at Tim’s house just after one in the morning. They stumble through the front door together, and Lucy kicks off her heels before crouching down to give Kojo his butt scratches as the dog cheerfully gets up from his bed to greet her.

“Tonight was so much fun. I needed that so much, I haven’t been able to just let loose in forever.” she says, standing up and placing her hand on Tim's chest.

“I agree entirely.” He says with a sly grin. “You know what could make tonight even more fun, though?” He hints, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

She giggles a little, and says in a voice as soft as silk “I think I have an idea.”

They both smile brightly and gaze into each other’s eyes before their lips meet in a passionate kiss. Her hands run under his shirt and brush over the soft skin of his stomach. The kiss breaks momentarily so she can shove his shirt over his head and toss it somewhere on the living room floor. She takes a minute to eagerly check him out before he’s cupping her face and drawing her back in.

“Bedroom?” he mutters lowly against her lips. “Bedroom.” she agrees, smiling, sucking his bottom lip between her own as they both blindly stumble down the hallway to Tim’s bedroom.

He picks her up bridal style and tosses her onto the bed before moving to shut the bedroom door. She’s giggling the whole time and bites her lip as he begins undoing his jeans.

Once they’re both in their underwear, Tim joins her on the bed, crawling on top of her. Her legs wrap around his waist as they kiss once more, and she can feel him hardening against her belly. She giggles again against his lips and reaches down to cup him through his boxers. He breaks their kiss, both of them already panting. 

“I don’t think either of us are naked enough.” He smirks, his forehead pressed against hers.

“I don’t think so either.” And she can’t help but feel thankful for Matthew's unfaithfulness, because without him, she wouldn’t be here having mindblowing sex with the man of her dreams.

They both sit up, and Tim reaches behind her to undo her bra, the garment falling down her arms. He takes a moment to appreciate her breasts before moving to pull her panties down her gorgeous thighs. She bites her lip again and runs her fingers down his abs before hooking her fingers into the waistband of his boxers, tugging them down to reveal him to her.

He pushes her shoulder so she’s lying down, resuming their previous position, she immediately spreads her legs wide and wraps her arm around his shoulders, pressing kisses to his neck as he lines himself up and pushes forwards. They both moan in unison as he sets a slow and steady rhythm, their bodies moving in sync as he fills her. The room fills with the sounds of their union, and eventually they both fall over the edge together. Holding each other, breathing each other in, and enjoying the other’s presence. 

After cleaning up and changing the sheets, they both fall asleep beside each other. Lucy’s head is resting on Tim’s chest with her arm draped gently across his stomach. They’re both breathing softly and quietly, and it doesn’t need to be said that they both sleep better when the other is there.

Chapter Text

Tim wakes up first, yawning, at five o’clock on the dot, like a rooster. Their bodies are pressed against each other, their limbs entangled, and Lucy's hair draped wildly across her pillow. The early morning sun is streaking across the room through the curtains, and half the duvet is in a crumpled mess on the floor.

The man recalls the night prior with a proud smirk on his face, looking down at the ethereal being lying on his chest. Her face is soft with sleep, her cheek smooshed against his skin, a strand of her hair sticking out from the corner of her mouth. He doesn’t think he has ever been more in love with her. He strokes her hair once, and presses a soft kiss to her forehead. 

It’s half an hour later that Lucy stirs awake. She's instantly met with her boyfriend’s boyish grin. She reaches up to brush the sleep from her eyes and the hair from her mouth, then looks up at him and beams, letting out a contented sigh as she meets his eyes.

“Morning.” She croaks, the lack of sleep showing in her voice. She reaches up to press a tender kiss to his lips before pulling back and smiling even wider.

“Morning, baby.” He whispers back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, then running the backs of his fingers gently down her cheek.

She sighs contentedly. “Being up all night with you is infinitely better than being up all night on the night shift.” 

She presses another kiss to the corner of his mouth before sitting up, hugging the duvet to her chest. She smirks at him before turning around and climbing out of the bed. Tim watches her dress with a grin on his face, yawning before putting one arm behind his head and leaning on it. Lucy does a little jump to put her jeans on, zips up her fly, and goes to lean against the door frame. 

“Where are you going?” Tim calls after her, also getting out of bed and digging through his neatly organised drawers for a fresh pair of boxes and a clean shirt.

“It’s half past six. I’m getting started on breakfast, then we can shower after we’ve eaten.” she responds, already halfway down the hallway to the kitchen.

She makes bacon whilst Tim makes his signature pancakes. He scolds her a few times in jest for continually feeding Kojo pieces of human-food from the table. 

“Lucy, he’s on a diet, we can’t let him get overweight.” He groans as she slips the canine a piece of her pancake.

“Stop fat-shaming my baby, you horrible, horrible man!” She teases, scrunching up her nose and leaning towards her boyfriend.

“He’s got his own food. Feeding him ours is going to make him spoiled.” he mumbles, moving pieces of his breakfast around his plate, then stabbing his pancake with his fork.

“You make him salmon and eggs every Thursday, you hypocrite!” she laughs loudly, her bright smile making his heart flutter. He leans in and lovingly presses his lips against hers. 

The couple finish their breakfast, and give Kojo his intended meal of kibble – with some leftover bacon on the side, much to Tim’s dismay – before taking a shower together. They drive to work together in Tim's truck, and give each other a quick peck before exiting the vehicle and strolling into the station, their hands brushing every so often as they walk.

_______

After half a day consisting of easy, tame calls, Celina and Lucy have reached their long awaited lunchbreak. They radio in that they’re stopping for lunch, then pull up to the food trucks where they all usually congregate for lunch. Nolan’s shop is parked across the street, and, to Lucy’s delight, Tim is parked right next to him. 

Miles and Nolan are already sitting at a table waiting on their food. Celina notices Lucy searching, and nudges her arm. She looks over at a taco truck where Tim is busy ordering.

She quickly pulls her phone from her pocket and brings up their texts.

“Grab me a small plate of nachos, and a diet coke, please! xoxo”

She sees him check his phone, then raise his head and look around with a confused look on his face, smiling when he spots her. She waves at him, then goes over to an empty table to sit down. After a while, Tim’s sitting down with her, and they’re continuing their mock argument about Kojo’s diet, whilst Celina waits in line at a nearby Vietnamese food truck.

“He’s a good boy! He deserves a little treat every now and then!” Lucy protests, with an amused glint in her eyes. She dips one of her chips into Tim’s guacamole and pops it in her mouth with a defiant expression on her face.

“Yeah, a little treat every now and then, not half your breakfast.” He retorts, his jaw dropping in ‘shock’ as his girlfriend takes food off his paper plate.

Tim finishes his lunch before she does, and goes off to a nearby public restroom after disposing of his trash. Lucy’s just finishing up her last few bites, when a voice resembling that of a distressed goose rings out from behind her.

“Lulu! Fancy seeing you here!”

‘Oh, for fucks sake. Why are you everywhere?’ she almost groans out loud before reluctantly turning around to face this vessel of obnoxiousness for the second day in a row.

“I told you I’d come back during your lunch break.” He grins, strutting over in that stupid way he does, taking Tim’s chair and leaning nonchalantly on the table. “So, anything interesting happening with you, today?”

Lucy looks over Matt’s shoulder, throwing Celina a look that says ‘help me please’ and gets a nod of understanding in return. Celina gets out her phone and starts typing. Matt gives her a confused look.

“I’m finishing my lunch and going back out on patrol.” She says plainly, getting her things ready and preparing to stand up.

“You can’t avoid me forever, Lulu.” He says firmly, reaching across the table to place his hand beside hers. “Listen, I know our relationship didn’t end on the best terms-”

“You mean when you cheated on me with my best friend? Yeah, I agree it wasn’t exactly amicable.” She interrupts, scoffing and giving him a look.

“I said I was sorry! I convinced Hayley to invite you to the wedding to try and make amends! I know I hurt you but you have to admit that what we had was special, Lucy!” He says, the previous smugness of his demeanor disappearing, desperation oozing into his voice. He looks at her like a kicked puppy, and Lucy can’t help but feel bad for the pathetic spectacle before her.

_______

Tim is just putting his belt back on after using the bathroom when Celina’s text comes through. 

“Matt just showed up at the food trucks.”

‘Oh, hell no.” he thinks angrily, speeding up his movements.

He quickly washes his hands and bolts out the door of the men's room, jogging back towards where his girlfriend has been cornered by this relentless shitbag that is her ex.

Their conversation comes into earshot, and he can see the mixed expression on Lucy’s face, a strange concoction of disgust and pity. He almost laughs.

“...what we had was special, Lucy!” is the first thing he hears of the conversation. 

‘Yeah, right.’ His own smugness is evident in his face as he uses his last few steps towards them to come up with a game plan. He doesn’t want to burst in with the possessive ‘knight-in-shining-armour’ act. He doesn’t want to seem like he’s undermining her, or make her look like she can’t handle herself. He has suffered her wrath once before, and would rather not do it again.

No, he wants to let her handle this herself, but also let her know that she has him in her back pocket if she needs him. Call it a cliché, but he chooses to go with the more subtle ‘let-him-know-she’s-taken’ route.

He walks over to them, his strides casual, with a wide smile on his face. He walks up to her, presses a kiss to her cheek and places his hand on her lower back.

“Hey baby, I was gonna get coffee. You want your usual order?” He asks her, sweetly. 

“Oh, yes please, just remember, for the love of god, oat milk, Tim.” She replies, putting her hand on his shoulder with mock severity as she reminds him. They both share the satisfaction of Matthew’s bewildered and slightly hurt expression, looking at each other knowingly. Tim walks off to the coffee cart, and Lucy turns her attention back to her ex.

“So, you are dating someone.” He says accusatorily, pointing at her. “You were leading me on.” 

Lucy has half a mind to throw her head back and start cackling maniacally at the absurdity of his claim.  

“I seem to recall telling you I wasn’t interested yesterday at the front desk. It’s not my fault you didn’t listen.” She says, matter-of-factly. “I’m honestly surprised you thought you had a shot in the first place after how you treated me when we were together.”

That (finally) rendered him speechless, and Lucy takes a moment to revel in the befuddlement on his face, the lack of smugness, and the peaceful absence of his voice. This moment was arguably more delicious than her lunch, and when she’s finished savouring it, she offers him a genuine smile.

“I’ll see you around, Matt.”

She turns around and walks over to where Tim is waiting with their coffees, and waits until Matt’s out of earshot before she starts talking, a bright smile on her face.

“That was so funny, oh my god.” she says, taking a sip of her drink, then smiling wider because he remembered the oat milk. “Thank you for playing it cool, by the way. I was kinda worried you’d come over with the ‘get away from my girlfriend’ alpha-male bullshit.” She jokes, teasingly.

He laughs softly at that. “No problem, his face was priceless.” He puts one arm around her shoulder, before noticing something out of the corner of his eye. “Lucy, he’s standing across the road staring at us.”

She grins mischievously, sliding her hand over his shoulder and stepping into his space. “Kiss me.”

And he does. Their kiss is soft and romantic, nothing too passionate (they’re in public, after all) but enough to ensure Matt cries himself to sleep tonight. They pull away after a few seconds, gazing into each other's eyes adoringly. Both of them wonder how on earth they didn't just spill their drinks.

“We should probably get back out on patrol and do…” Tim grins “...things.”

Lucy giggles. “Yeah, yeah we should. If you insist.” 

She steals one more glance across the street as she walks back to her shop. Matt’s gone, and Lucy smirks as she imagines him weeping on the floor of a public bathroom like the loser he is.

Chapter Text

“Oh, for god’s sake, Matt.” Lucy exclaims as she walks into the station that morning, immediately locking eyes with her ex in the reception waiting area. “What part of ‘no’ did you not understand?”

“Nice to see you, too, Lulu.” He says, half-heartedly. “You know, not everything is about you. My soon-to-be ex-wife has been arrested for public intoxication.” He rolls his eyes at the thought. “Trust me, I don’t want to be here any more than you want me to be, but I am, unfortunately, still her husband, so I do have to fulfill my spouse-ly duties and bail her out.”

‘No fucking way.’ Lucy thinks to herself with pure delight, the overwhelming joy making it easy to disregard the sarcasm in his tone. Absolutely nothing could ruin this for her. She musters up something that resembles a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She says, desperately trying to suppress her gleeful smirk, before turning on her heel and practically skipping down the hallway to the women's locker room.

“Lucy!” He calls out to her one last time. She turns around to look at him, puzzled.

“You really do look great in your uniform.”

Lucy scoffs, rolling her eyes and continuing down the corridor with the strap of her duffel bag draped over her shoulder.

She greets her friends as she enters the locker room, dumping her bag on the bench by her locker as she puts in her combination. She’s smiling to herself the whole time.

“So, Lucy.” Angela smirks at the Sergeant as she changes into her uniform. “Is there something you want to tell us, maybe?”

“Yes, holy shit, yes.” Lucy almost starts jumping for joy, ready to recount her encounter with Matt this morning with a grotesque amount of enthusiasm. “So, Matt was in the waiting room this morning, and I went over to confront him and tell him to piss off, only to find out that Hayley is currently in holding for public intoxication and he’s here to bail her out.”

Nyla pops her head around, her locker on the other side of the row. “That is hilarious, but it’s not what we’re talking about.” Her face is wearing a matching smirk to Lopez’s.

“Oh, um..” she racks her brain for a second, before it comes to her. “You saw Tim and I kiss at the food trucks.” She sighs in mock defeat, letting her shoulders droop.

“Hell yeah, we did.” Lopez all but cackles. “How long were you planning to hide it for?”

Lucy rolls her eyes and starts buttoning up her shirt. “Neither of us really know the answer to that question.” She admits. “I believe his exact wording was ‘when it feels right’ which is very vague, I know.”

“You guys are adorable.” Celina coos, slamming her locker shut and securing her duty belt, before walking over to stand next to Lopez.

_______

Later on, Lucy and Celina have made their first arrest of the day. They caught their suspect pickpocketing an old lady at a convenience store, and quickly nabbed him. The two cops divert back to the station to book him, as he begs and pleads that it’s a ‘misunderstanding’ from the back seat – to no avail.

They both turn in their guns at the desk before going through the motions of booking in their perp. They take his mugshots, fingerprints, and confirm his information. As they’re moving him to the holding cells, scuffling and banging on glass can be heard from across the room.

“Lucy? Hey! I know her! Lucy!” A shrill voice rings out. “Lucy, I know you can hear me!”

Lucy avoids the questioning looks from her subordinates as she walks over to the glass door of the cell, stopping with her hand on her hip and a rather unimpressed expression on her face.

Hayley’s undereyes are darkened with her hangover and a lack of sleep. Her lipstick is smudged, her clothes are stained, and her hair looks like a bird's nest. Lucy can’t help but compare the woman before her to a barbie that’s been left near an open flame.

“Lucy! Thank god this is your station.” Hayley says, a river of relief rushing through her voice before being halted by the dam of inevitable false hope. “Do you think you could help speed up the process? I’ve been here forever and my bail still hasn’t gone through. If you could just-”

“Sorry, Hayley. I’m not your arresting officer, this isn’t my case, and bail isn’t even handled by patrol officers. I hate to say it, but you’re just going to have to wait like everyone else who gets arrested for public intoxication.” She smiles to herself, before adding sarcastically “I can try to get you a book, or something, if you want.”

Hayley’s face instantly distorts to panic and desperation. The pleading in her eyes provides Lucy with enough serotonin to keep her going for the rest of the week. She wants to breathe in a sigh of satisfaction, but keeps her tone casual and professional, offering a small smile to her ex-bestie. 

“Lucy, please! There has to be something you can do!”

She can see the tears forming in Hayley's eyes and feels a twinge of pity. Or, at least, she would have, had Hayley not called her a selfish bitch two nights ago in the bar restroom.

“I’m afraid not. Hang in there.” She gestures to Celina, who had finished booking their suspect and was eavesdropping from afar. 

The two begin walking to pick their weapons back up from the front desk. Celina nudges Lucy's arm with her elbow and hesitates for a short moment before mumbling under her breath.

“What’s that thing people say? ‘Karma’s a bitch.’” She says it with a smile, and Lucy wants to hug her with every fibre of her being. 

_______

The stars shine bright above Tim’s house, gently twinkling against a cloudless sky. They’re both cuddled up on the couch watching mindless TV and talking quietly. Lucy’s head rests on Tim's chest, and every so often she steals a potato chip from the bag he’s snacking from.

“You know, I kind of feel guilty for how petty I’ve been since Matt and Hayley came back.” 

She confesses, reaching up and running her fingers through Tim’s stubble.

“I kept telling myself to be the bigger person,” she rolls her eyes at herself, “but honestly, this has been the most satisfying experience of my life, holy shit.”

They both chuckle softly, Tim stroking her hair as she snatched another one of his chips.

“I’m actually ready to let go of the past now, I think.” She says, feeling as though a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. “Don’t get me wrong, I want nothing to do with either of them ever again, but witnessing the downfall of their marriage, and seeing both of them at their lowest points when I’m at the highest I’ve ever been? I know it’s a horrible thing to be happy about, but it feels so freeing.”

Tim looks down at her, his expression soft. “In no way am I condoning such an immature outlook on life,” he pauses to brush his hand over her cheek as she crunches on yet another of his chips, ‘but it’s so good seeing you happy.”

She meets his eyes, the light from the TV reflecting off of both of their faces as they lay there on the couch together. 

“I’ve been thinking,” She starts, breaking the short but comfortable silence, “I’ve changed my mind. I think… I think we are ready to move in together. Take that next step, for us.”

Tim’s eyes light up at that, and she catches it instantly, smiling back.

“I’m here all the time, anyway. If that’s still something you wanted.”

He wraps his arms around her and holds her close, placing an aggressively loving kiss on her forehead as she giggles softly.

“Are you kidding? Baby, I can’t wait.”