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emilyylu · 28 days

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sweet nothing sleeping

summary: lucy has never been so happy to have fallen in love as she is when she’s falling asleep

pairing: tim bradford/lucy chen

word count: short??? i wrote this on notes app don’t ask me to count

warnings: none

a/n: this was written at *many* a 2am but it was my coping mechanism for the chenford breakup so there will be nothing but fluff and happiness here!! but also sorry in advance for any typos. written for my @morganupstead who gave me this idea ages ago and I just took forever to write it LOL

••• ••• ••• •••

cause they said the end is coming

everyone’s up to something

I find myself running home to your

sweet nothings

She’s had a long day.

The list of grievances wracked up in a single shift has been nothing short of astounding. For example: a man no less than an hour into her first stretch of patrol who puked on her. A bar fight gone horribly wrong, and he was drunk out of his mind so when she showed up at the tail end of a swift punch to the drunkard’s gut then… well, you can figure out the rest. Then another man threatened to sue her and the entire LAPD Mid Wilshire division because he refused to be told by a woman to stop ejaculating in public. Nothing but insufferable misdemeanours one after the other, without end. The robbery homicide tailing the end of her shift was the worst. Lucy doesn’t know what’s more horrible: how violent the young married couple’s death was, or how her first thought was that she wished she could have been the detective on a flashy case like this. Knowing she was even capable of putting her career before her compassion and duty left her gutted.

It leaves her now with a bitter aftertaste of guilt and shame. That coupled with the exhaustion and ridicule of her other calls makes for a particularly dreadful combination. Normally she can see Tim in passing and vent to him about things, but he’d been stuck in some new Metro training program all day. Updated protocol or tactical practice, or whatever they wanted to call it. Based on the state she sees Tim in at the end of one of those days, she’d call it something more akin to torture. It also means she had no support system throughout the day whatsoever apart from Nolan’s typical words of encouragement, which were swell but never substantive.

Since Tamara’s moved out, things have been lonely too. She misses her old roommate. If nothing else, at the end of the day Lucy still had a young and vulnerable kid she had to feed and house and clothe. Cooking for them always felt like a backup ritual, a healing sort of constancy, and that’s gone too.

So she heads to Tim’s. Her foot feels like lead on the gas, pushing down hard and inching dangerously closer to speeding the closer she gets to his place. It’s like her heart can feel the distance closing and misses him even more, the weight of her bad day crushing her heart and leaving spider fractures. A magnetic pull is always at its strongest the minute before contact, after all.

For the most part, Lucy’s been able to hold it together. She’s kept things professional, never complained, held her head high. And even as she trembles with anticipation as she knocks on the door, there’s a part of her refusing to let go of that facade.

She knocks at the door, but there’s no answer. Three louder knocks after a minute of waiting, and still nothing. Only after a third round of knocking does she think to use the spare key he’d given her last month.

“Hi,” Lucy calls out as she enters his place. No immediate response, but that’s no matter. She puts the keys down in his key bowl and hangs up her jacket.

The sound of nails skidding against the floor alert her only seconds in advance to Kojo’s presence. He runs up to her full speed but comes to a screeching halt when he reaches her. With his tail still waving fervently, he tries to sit down. (Tim’s trained him to understand that petting and general affection from guests is contingent upon his very handsome sitting.)

“Kojo! Hey there buddy,” she greets him with a soft laugh, like an old friend. Lucy knows by now, even having owned him once, to scratch him behind his ears. The gesture earns her a right good lick from chin to cheek on the left side of her face.

“Yeah, you’re a good boy, aren’t you? You’re a good boy,” she tells him as she keeps petting him. “Now where’s our Tim?”

She looks around half expecting Tim to appear in the hallway, but no sign of him is to be seen anywhere, save for the sound of his television from the next room. Football. Figures.

“Alright, Sir Kojo, King of the Canines,” she declares, patting him on the head and gently urging him forward by the collar, “let’s see what your dad’s watching.”

The two of them make their way to the family room to see what he’s up to. For a football game, Lucy’s already surprised that he isn’t shouting at the TV and jumping up and down like he normally does.

When she enters the room though, she doesn’t see him watching sports. Instead, she sees a passed-out Tim on the couch, snoring in his Rams jersey, remote loosely balanced in his hand. She tilts her head, curiously soaking in the scene.

She should have expected this. He’s been working as hard as she has lately. Though she isn’t entirely sure as to why, he’s been taking on extra shifts and doing double overtime these past two weeks. God knows he didn’t have the steam for a full game of football. Tack on her unexpected company, and she’s sure she’ll tire him out even more.

But the look of him. The television emits a soft glow that flashes hues of green and blue across his stubbled cheekbones. His head hangs back completely crooked on the headrest, and with the positioning of his arms, Tim’s posed like a dramatic renaissance painting. She can’t help but let out a soft giggle under her breath, and then silences into the brightest of smiles she can give after a day like hers, because nothing about this is funny anymore.

Even drooling, his mere presence soothes her. Lying there, entirely disarmed and peaceful. The world and all its troubles just melt away, dissolve in her mind until only a faint trace of what remains lingers like dust. It’s a beautiful haze Lucy can get stuck in, just standing there and watching him. The tight corners of his mouth, his eyes shut gently, the curve of his neck, the way his hair’s a little shorter right now.

Oh hell. Who is she to disrupt him anyways.

She tiptoes over to the couch and carefully extracts the remote from his hand. Turning the television off to avoid more light and sound will definitely help him sleep. Whether Tim’s asleep or awake, it doesn’t matter. Lucy always sleeps better when she’s next to him.

What doesn’t help Tim sleep, apparently, is Kojo. Having followed Lucy into the room, though she will defend him ferociously and say his heart is in the right place, Kojo makes a beeline for the couch and starts pulling at Tim’s jeans with his sharp canine teeth.

“No! No, Kojo! Bad Kojo, stay back,” she pleads in a whisper pushed out through gritted teeth.

Kojo seems to only get more excited— a sort of escalation which Lucy saw all too frequently in her calls from today. Tim jolts awake almost immediately.

“What the-“ he sits up and pulls his jeans away from Kojo, but then looks up at Lucy, still hovering over him guilty as ever. “Lucy?”

“Sorry.” She winces, finally shooing Kojo away enough to give them more space. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to put a blanket over you but Kojo got excited.”

“It’s okay,” he assures her, though he’s still rubbing at his eyes. Lucy’s almost certain he’s still half asleep and hasn’t registered the whole situation before him. “I gave you a key for a reason. What are you doing here?”

“I…” She tries to explain it rationally to him, to go through each bad happening chronologically, to compartmentalize. But then, his voice. His sweet, low, milky, humming voice like the pulse of a heart being soothed into a slower rhythm. It’s so steady, so calm. Something about hearing it unlocks a valve within her. She cracks, as she knew she would when she decided to come, and before she knows it she’s crying.

“Hey, hey,” Tim hushes gently, immediately sitting up. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Oh nothing,” she sobs. “I just had a crappy day. I got puked on and yelled at and all this nonsense which I can normally handle but I don’t even know why I’m… why I’m…”

“Don’t question it too much,” he tells her. “Just let it out.”

“Okay.”

And so she does. For a little bit, she just cries. Surprisingly, it’s not sad. The world isn’t ending, nothing is going to go wrong. There is no other shoe about to drop, no real heartbreak, no evil around. These tears are but a release, and there’s a safety to them.

Once she’s done, she wipes at her tears with her sleeves and sniffles.

“Better?”

“Better,” she says, and can really mean it, genuine smile and all. “Thanks.”

“You never have to thank me.”

She nods, but switches the subject. “You never told me how you’re Metro seminar went today.”

“Eh, it was alright,” he says. “Apart from being exhausted and sore all over, of course. We’ve got some new recruits who are… eager.”

She looks at him with loving suspicion. “You went full Tim 1.0 on them, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” he admits with a big huff of relief. “I ran through the drills and protocol updates 36 times because they couldn’t get it right. I didn’t have the heart to just demote them from my team.”

“Tim Bradford not having the heart for a tough love moment? Who are you?” She teases. “Where was this energy 6 years ago?”

“Waiting for you to come along and change it, I guess,” he sighs wistfully. “Always just waiting for you.”

“You’ve gone soft, Sergeant Bradford.” She shakes her head. “People will talk.”

“Let them.”

He pulls her in for a kiss, and it only deepens for a moment, then plateauing into a pleasant and chaste hum before release. His arms pull her into his side and her head finds that perfect spot on his chest to nestle into.

The sigh she lets out is almost a song. “This feels good, being here with you. Feeling at peace.”

“Just wait for it.”

“Huh?”

Lucy doesn’t know how Tim saw this coming, but before even asking she’s given an answer. Kojo jumps up onto the couch and steps on Lucy’s lap to lick her and Tim all over their tired, sweaty faces.

“Argh! Kojo, off!” She squeals, though not so gravely that she can’t laugh in the process. Eventually, with enough shooing, Kojo calms down. He doesn’t leave the couch, but lies down next to them, choosing to rest his head on her lap and make happy little sighs.

“Told you.”

“How did you know he would do that?”

Tim shrugs. “He’s happier when you’re around. Like me.”

Lucy smiles, even when pushing Kojo off of them. “I love you.”

Tim doesn’t respond. Too much time passes. A beat, and then another. She gets worried.

“Tim?”

“Oh so you weren’t talking to the dog then?”

She giggles and smacks him playfully across the chest with the back of her hand. “No! Well I do love him, but he drools. And you’re—“

“Human?”

“The love of my life.”

She watches the ripple of those words dance across his face. Tim smiles, his cheeks turning all shades of pink and red. Though he doesn’t seem scared off by her comment, the surprise of it still shows in his raised eyebrows and subsequent lines in his forehead. The way his head tilts, like he can’t quite believe it. But, above all else, the love in his eyes. And that way he’s looking at her now… sometimes she thinks that’s what life’s all about.

“I know I don’t have to be yours,” she continues. “You know, having been married before and all, but—“

“Don’t think for a second you aren’t,” he lets out, almost like the words couldn’t contain themselves. “You are.”

“Good.” Her turn now: the ridiculous blushing, the smile, the love in her eyes. So much joy.

So much fatigue too though. Being around him, getting to decompress like this, it’s making her crash fast. She yawns, and Tim yawns in subconscious response, and out of his own fatigue.

“I should get going,” Lucy tells him, though her face is still nestled into his sweater and has no intention of leaving. “I really only came over to feel some comfort and decompress but I didn’t bring a change of clothes or anything.”

“Mmm,” he groans in disapproval of the idea. “Stay for a bit.”

“No. No, I’ve… gotta…” She sucks in a deep breath, Tim’s woody scent catching onto her nose. Her eyes flutter and her muscles start to release their tension as the hand which isn’t sprawled across Tim’s chest starts to massage the spot behind Kojo’s ear.

“Oh, maybe just a few minutes…” she tells him hesitantly. “But keep me talking, I don’t want to fall asleep.”

“Ok. What about the rest of your day? You never finished telling me all the things that had you so upset.”

“Well it started when the air conditioning in the shop nearly exploded on me, and then I immediately took my first call at this dive bar before I could get it fixed. But oh, you won’t believe what this one guy did…”

Lucy goes on and on, her eyes growing heavy and her voice growing layers of drowsy rasp, fighting sleep to tell all her stories of woe. The drunkards, the sexist pigs, the violence. Part of her registers Tim’s lack of response or reaction as she tells her stories. Time passes. She talks, and he listens.

“I think it’s better not to dwell on it though,” she concludes eventually. “I’ve felt all I can feel about it for one day. And anyways I… I can barely remember my own anguish now. It feels so far aw—“

She looks up to see him passed out, his breathing a low rumble that threatens snoring. The soft fur under her other hand feels alarmingly still as well, until she looks to the other side and sees Kojo sleeping on her lap.

So much for leaving. She supposes that’s exactly how she wants things anyway. The heartbeats of these two precious boys at the tips of her fingers, nestled right next to hers. Giving her strength, steadying her scattered mind. Under these dim lights and warm blankets and beloved company, she wouldn’t dare move a muscle.

“Oh hell, who was I kidding,” she whispers to him. “I was always going to end up here anyways. With you.”

She rests her head on his chest once more. The last thing she remembers is the rise and fall of Tim’s chest against her hand and the feel of Kojo’s soft fur against her other.

This isn’t a big moment. No fireworks, no heartfelt confessions, no twirls or kisses in the rain. But even as the day ends and the lights go out, she feels love where it dwells best: in a quiet room. And it remains that Lucy has never been so happy to have fallen in love as she is when she’s falling asleep.

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emilyylu · 28 days

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Home

The lock clicks quietly as he turns the key and slowly pushes the door open. It’s late and he’s tired, he could have gone to his own house but tonight he needed the comfort of her space.

It was so uniquely Lucy and tonight he needed that, she’d been gone a month. 30 long, long days and nights, with no idea when she’d be home.

As Tim pushes open the door to Lucy’s apartment he is struck instantly with the feeling that something isn’t right.

Or maybe it is right but… unexpected.

A comforting smell greets him as he steps inside and removes his shoes. There are familiar keys on the stand next to the door and the sound of the shower running from the bathroom.

He spots her bag, carelessly thrown, on the bed through the open bedroom door and his heartbeat quickens.

She’s home.

Without thinking further he crosses the small kitchen and pushes open the bathroom door and stops dead in his tracks. There she is. The room is full of steam, she’s obviously been in there a while and her wet hair is plastered across her back. Tim doesn’t stop for long, in 2 large strides he is across the bathroom and without pause stepping into the shower behind her.

The water pours over him and he is soaked through in moments. Lucy, who had turned to face the door to the bathroom as it opened stood in front of him mouth agape.

“Hi” is all she manages.

“Hi” is all he is able to reply.

She reaches up on her tiptoes and places a gentle kiss on his lips.

With a deep breath Tim takes a step back, away from her and out of the stream of water. Finally taking her in, his eyes rake over her body. He has felt all encompassing need for Lucy before, it’s not unusual, it’s not new but this time it’s a little different.

He needs to make sure that she is ok, that she’s in one piece, that she really is home and safe.

His eyes rested, first, on a cluster of yellow and brown splodges across the right side of her ribs, bruises from an incident that must have happen around 2 weeks ago. His fingers reached out to brush gently over them.

“Someone tried to kiss me” she explained “I knocked him out” so matter of fact, her eyes watching his reaction closely.

“Mmm hmm” Tim nodded

“This was what happened when he got back up. No one tried it again though” and then with a small smile “I don’t think he’ll ever live it down”

Reaching out he takes her right elbow in his hands and trails his palms down until her hand is in his. He carefully turns her hand over in his as he inspects her skin. Some more of the yellow and brown bruises line up with her ribs, where her arms would have wrapped around her body to protect herself from the blows. He breaths out through his nose before bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it gently before using it to move her round so her can take in her back.

A growl escapes his lips at the fresh purple mark that immediately catches his eye. It starts at her hip and heads down, blooming fully over her cheek. She looks at him over her shoulder and he watches her wince at the look on his face but he’s unable school his expression.

“The extraction got a little rough… I fell” he wants to press further for information but he knows it’s not the time.

She turns for him without prompt, moving slowly. His eyes catch hers as she looks over her other shoulder, she smiles but he isn’t able to return it just yet.

When she is once again facing him she reaches out her other arm and he takes it in his hands just like before, turning it over and delicately tracing lines down the soft skin of her forearm.

“Ok” he says with a sigh so deep his body shivers. He goes to step out of the shower, suddenly very aware that he is fully clothed. But an arm reaches and takes a firm hold at the hem of his t shirt.

“Your turn” he is confused at first, his turn for what? But the hand holding the hem starts to pull up and his brain quickly catches up and he takes over, pulling the shirt up and over his head and throwing casually in the basin.

“All of it” she says glancing at the still clothed portion of his body.

There is no smooth, or graceful way of removing sodden pants and socks but her giggles as he wobbles and tugs of his clothes do more to ease his worried soul than merely checking her body for injuries.

He tries to aim a glare at her but he’s too relieved that she is home to tease him that he ends up just smiling down at her.

Lucy follows his lead, encouraging him to turn and he is reminded of the dangers of his own job when her face creases in concern at a mostly healed wound caused by a knife fight nearly 3 weeks ago. He’d required 5 stitches and had spent 3 days on desk duty.

When he is back to facing her she nods “ok”

Tim steps back under the water, pulling her gently with him and for a moment they let the water course over their bodies as the hold each other close.

It is only when a yawn wracks Lucy’s small frame that Tim once again jumps in to action.

Stepping out of the shower he grabs the towel Lucy had set out for herself, wraps it around his body, heading out of the room he calls over his shoulder “hold on” returning a minute later with a fresh one for her. Turning off the water and holding out his hand he helps her step out the shower and wraps the towel gently around her shoulders.

“You do whatever it is you do before bed” he waves his hands at the lotions and bottles that cover the unit and makes his way out the room. Giving her some privacy.

Tim makes himself busy, he dries and dresses in under wear and an old t shirt, removes her bag from the bed and makes it ready for them to get into. He makes a selection of drinks, warm tea in her favourite mug, a glass of cold water and a random bottle of something from the fridge that has something to do with electrolytes and arranges them on the bedside table on her side of the bed.

A small sigh from the doorway alerts him that she’s finished in the bathroom and he walks over, removing her towel, glancing quickly over her body one last time before handing her one of his old t shirts, the kind she had taken to sleeping in most nights. Her small hand feels tiny in his as he leads her to the bed and helps her climb in.

He can’t help but notice the wince she tries quickly to hide as the bruise on her hip makes contact with the mattress.

“Babe” he whispers, leaning in the kiss her forehead. He runs quickly round to his side and climbs in. Scooting as close to her as possible he runs his hand gently down her leg, hooking his fingers in the crook of her knee and as carefully as possible brings her leg over his body. The bruised parts of her body lift off the mattress and she hums in relief as the pressure fades.

Tim leaves his hand on her leg, drawing patterns with his finger tips as he leaves kisses in her hair where her head now rests on his chest.

He knows that in the morning they will talk, maybe even argue, probably even argue. That he will not be able to hold back his questions indefinitely, that his concern for her well being will ultimately win. But for now he resigns himself to listen to her breathing slow as she quickly drifts off to sleep in his arms.

With one final kiss, before he falls asleep himself, he whispers

“Welcome home”

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emilyylu · 28 days

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My TO

“So what was your training officer like, Officer Chen?”

The reactions of the group around the small table couldn’t have been more different upon hearing this simple question.

John Nolan’s eyes grew wide, he lent forwards slightly in his chair, becoming very interested in his lunch in front of him. His eyes regularly darting to watch the reactions of his friends and colleagues.

Angela Lopez on the other hand lent back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest openly taking in the scene in front of her. Ready.

Lucy Chen let out a slightly nervous cough of surprise as she was mid bite of sandwich, she began chewing frantically so that she could answer the question before someone, mostly likely Angela, could embarrass her.

And lastly Tim Bradford. Who upon Arriving at the table had smiled politely at the new face, who he knew to be Johns new rookie (Nolan had lent across and quietly whispered “Tim Bradford, Metro Liaison sgt” as way of an introduction), and taken his seat next to Lucy. Brushing the quickest kiss against her cheek as he sat, they were both in uniform after all, he hungrily set about demolishing the sandwich Lucy had pushed in front of him. Tim’s demeanour didn’t change upon hearing the question, his eyes didn’t flicker, his focus on the food of in front of him unswerving.

“Please” Lucy said, still swallowing sandwich “it’s lunch time, call me Lucy” she stalled

“Ok, Lucy” Officer Mason smiled “Officer Nolan has been so kind, so helpful! I’ve learnt so much already” she enthuses glancing at John who preens despite the obvious attempt at flattery “and I’ve met Detective Harper, who I know helped train Officer Nolan and Detective Lopez here was also a TO. Everyone seems so different, style wise. So how was your experience?”

“Yeah Lucy, how was your experience?” Angela grins widely, earning the briefest of glares from Lucy

“It was great actually!” Lucy says cheerfully, an involuntary snort of surprise erupts from John, earning him his own glare from Lucy. Tim’s focus remained on his lunch. “He taught me so much and made me the Officer I am today” Officer Mason nodded happily.

“It was all smooth sailing then Officer Chen?” John wasn’t going to let the months hed spent listening to Lucy moan about her nightmare TO slide just because Tim was now her boyfriend!

“Well…” the smile on Lucy’s face dropping for a split second to deliver another well aimed glare at John “if it had all been easy I wouldn’t have learnt as much”

“That’s so true!” Officer Mason enthused “it’s so important to learn from your mistakes” lucy nodded kindly.

“And you always got along?” Angela couldn’t help but take her turn

“No one gets along all the time, spending all that time alone together. There are going to be disagreements, but you work through them as adults, as professionals” Lucy finishes with flourish. She can’t help but notice the slight smile creeping at the corner of Tim’s mouth.

“So it was always very professional?” Angela pressed, before Lucy could wonder what she was getting at Angela continued “he was never unreasonable in his expectations? Didn’t punish you for simple mistakes?”

“Angela” there was a warning note in Lucy’s tone but Angela just grinned. Tim, nearing the end of his meal continued to keep his head down and ignore them all.

“He didn’t ever kick you out the shop and make you walk?”

“Or take your duty belt on a bathroom break” John added helpfully

“ Didn’t get you into a fist fight with a man twice your size”

“Or refuse to let you wear short sleeves in the middle of summer”

“Didn’t” Angela and John were in full swing now “take a picture of you when you fell asleep during a night shift, get it printed on a bunch of shirts and then pass them out around the station!”

“I’d forgotten about that one!” John said with a roaring laugh, turning to an increasingly shocked looking Officer Mason “I wear mine when I garden”

“Didn’t nickname you the goat whisperer, didn’t set a powder bomb off in your face, didn’t”

“Enough” said Lucy quickly eyes flicking between Tim and Officer Mason, trying to judge each persons reaction to the retelling of Rookie Chen’s adventures with her TO. “I think Officer Mason has got the idea” she laughs gently.

Tim, having finished his meal quietly began clearing up his trash.

“I look back on my time as a Rookie with nothing but appreciation and fondness, like I said, it made me the cop I am today. I’m very grateful to my TO for that.

“Wow.” Officer Mason shook her head from side to side “honestly it sounds like a bit of a nightmare! I haven’t heard any of the other rookies mention anything like that, please tell me he’s moved away from being a training officer now”

“Yeah, actually” Lucy says with a grin “I was his last Rookie”

“Except for the one after you that washed out” Angela whispered, as helpful as ever.

“Is he still in the LAPD? What’s he doing now?” Officer Mason gulps, eyes wide.

The sound of chair legs scraping across concrete draws everyone’s attention suddenly as Tim pushes to his feet

“I think he’s the metro liaison sgt now right?” And with that he simply leans down and once again plants a soft kiss on Lucy’s cheek, then silently turns and strides away.

Lucy can't help but chuckle as Officer Mason's already wide eyes bulge and her mouth opens and closes a few times, like a goldfish.

"He really was a great TO, a total pain in the ass, but a great TO" Lucy smiles at the young woman reassuringly.

"And as a boyfriend?" Angela asks, having clearly enjoyed watching it all play out.

"Still great.." Lucy grins wickedly "still a total pain in the ass!"

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