Chapter Text
Past
“Tim,” Lucy whines.
“What?” he smiles as he comes out of the bathroom.
Lucy turns to him and points at her neck. “Look what you did.”
Tim smirks when he sees Lucy’s neck which is covered in hickeys.
“What am I supposed to do?”
He shrugs. “Just use makeup.”
“Makeup only does so much, babe,” she complains.
He wraps his arms around her middle and presses a soft kiss to one of the bruises. “Mm, you didn’t hate it last night.”
“What am I supposed to say when people ask about it?” she says.
“Nothing,” he tells her.
“Babe, I’m supposed to be a rookie,” she chuckles. “I can’t just yell, ‘No personal talk in the shop, boot’ at everyone.”
“Sure, you can,” he laughs.
Lucy pulls out of his hold and presses a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll get payback.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
She playfully rolls her eyes and giggles. “Do you remember the next big thing that happens to us?” she asks, changing the topic.
Tim shakes his head. “I know that Nolan’s greenlight is coming up soon.”
They walk out of the room together and make their breakfast.
“Can we talk about that actually?” Lucy asks.
“Luce, is that a good idea?” he softly says.
She shrugs. “We can at least try.”
Tim sighs but he does not argue.
“How much do you remember from the day?” she asks.
“I’m pretty sure Nolan accidentally broke that girl’s dress then he got attacked. Andersen rides with him, and they somehow get tricked,” he tries to remember.
It has been such a long time, and they both have tried to block the horrible memory out.
“What if we find a way for Andersen to not ride with Nolan?” Lucy offers.
He shakes his head. “That would be risking Nolan.”
“Okay, well do you remember where it happened?” she says. “We can wait there and stop them before anything happens.”
“It’s dangerous,” he replies, “Going in alone.”
“Well, what other idea do you have?”
“We can just tell Nolan to be careful on that call,” he suggests. “Indirectly tell him not to do it.”
“Okay, that can be plan A, and mine can be plan B.”
“Baby, I need you to be prepared that this might not work,” Tim tells her.
“Yeah, I know,” she reaches over and grabs his hand. “I just don’t think that I can sit around and do nothing.”
He smiles at her. “We just have to be careful.”
“How long do we have before work?” Lucy asks.
“Actually, Grey wants us early,” he replies.
“What for?” she asks suspiciously.
He just shrugs. “Not sure, but we have to leave now.”
She sighs. “Fine, let’s go.”
They go to the station separately, and they are both immediately cornered as soon as they walk in.
They end up in Grey’s office along with the other TOs and rookies.
“Today we have to start our investigation into Lewis Burch,” Grey announces. “We won’t keep you all too late, but we need to make some progress tonight.”
“What if a case keeps us late?” Nolan asks.
“Then we will work without you,” he answers. “Now, we have a task for you three rookies.”
“What’s that sir?” Jackson asks.
“There is a promotional video we need to film, and we thought it would be the perfect opportunity for you three,” Grey explains.
“Sir, I don’t think I’m the best person for this.” Lucy knows exactly what is going to happen, and she wants no part in it. “I can’t act very well, but I’m sure the other two would be interested.”
She can see Tim with an amused smile on his face, as well as Angela rolling her eyes.
“I figured that,” Grey answers. “What about you two?”
They both look over to Lucy and she just shrugs at them. They both agree and leave the office.
“I’m not falling for that again,” Lucy states.
“You still fell for it the first time,” Tim chuckles.
She rolls her eyes. “Are we done in here?”
Grey nods. “Just make sure the boots are done before rollcall. We have a special guest coming in for a crisis negotiation techniques seminar soon, and it is mandatory attendance.”
Lucy perks up. “Jessica Russo?”
Grey nods and she internally sighs, because she now remembers what happens today.
“Sir, we already know how to do this stuff,” Tim tells him. “Surely we don’t need to do it again.”
“Sorry Bradford, but you do have to.”
“Sir, if we get called on, what do we do?” Lucy asks.
“I’m going to assume you both failed.” Tim goes to argue, but Grey does not let him. “Don’t start with me, Bradford. I know for a fact that you wouldn’t have passed.”
“Okay, fine,” he grumbles. “But what are we supposed to do?”
“Will doing well in this drastically change anything?” Grey asks.
“No,” Tim denies at the same time as Lucy says, “Yes.”
“What is it going to affect, Luce?” Tim asks her.
“It might not, but…” she trails off as she looks around to the others. She leans in to whisper in Tim’s ear. “Who knows what will happen to Nolan’s relationship? I feel like that’s pretty important.”
Tim considers it for a moment. “I guess it might.”
“You two just have to pretend that you don’t know anything then.”
Tim groans and Lucy sighs.
They exit the office and go somewhere that they will not be heard.
“Tim, do you remember what today is?” she asks, panicked expression on her face.
He sighs and nods. “The manhunt, right?”
“Yes. And we have to stay back tonight.”
He groans. “All that time I could be spending with my lovely wife.”
“I mean, technically you will still be spending time with me, just not in the exact way you want,” she shrugs.
Tim playfully rolls his eyes at her. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I know,” she sighs. “It’s going to be a long day and night.”
After the seminar, Lucy and Tim mentally prepare themselves for the big day that they know is happening.
Lucy walks over to where Nolan and Jackson are bickering with each other about Jessica’s books while waiting for their gear. She checks out her own gear before she sees everyone running to their shops.
“What’s going on?” Nolan asks as he grabs his gear.
Tahlia and Angela, who are running past, stop to address them.
“Prison transport crashed, loaded with convicts from the courthouse,” Tahlia answers as she moves to go to the shop.
Jackson and Nolan quickly follow their TOs, and Lucy grabs the gear. She catches up to Tim who is running to their shop, and he helps her get everything ready.
They are driving to the site when Grey tells them to start a grid search over the radio. That is when they see their first escapee.
Tim speeds up to follow the man while Lucy calls it in. “7-Adam-19, in pursuit of fugitive suspect, heading North on Maple.”
The suspect turns and starts shooting at them.
They both duck down to avoid the shots.
“Shit, I forgot about this,” Lucy says as she covers her head with her arms.
The suspect shoots the window, shattering the shards all over Tim. The sound of the gun gets closer and closer until Tim opens the door and knocks the suspect down.
Tim is quick to hop out of the shop and point his gun at the suspect. “Get on your stomach!” He flips him over and cuffs him. “Hands behind your back!”
They get the suspect into the back of the shop and Lucy stops Tim before he can get in himself.
She grabs his arms and starts brushing off stray shards of glass. She lightly traces over a small cut on his face and looks him in the eyes. “Are you okay?”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?”
“Same.” She lets go of his arm and gets back in the shop. “Let’s get to the site.”
When they arrive, Grey is addressing everyone. “All right, listen up. This is what we know so far. So, we have seven fugitives at large-”
“Six,” Tim corrects as they join everyone.
Then Nolan walks in with another fugitive.
They listen as Grey tells them all the details and what he wants them to do.
Once they are done, they continue the search. They often stop to tell people to get inside, and they even come past a group of men with guns who are trying to help but are actually just racially profiling.
Eventually, they get called back to the crash site where Jessica Russo is there to help.
While this time, Tim stays quiet during her speech about predictive analytics, his mind is cast back to what happened last time. The multiple conversations with Russo, Lucy, and even Angela about him not changing, and not pushing himself enough. Then the outcomes of these conversations leading him to take the Sergeants exam.
“I’m pretty sure I tell Grey I want to be a Sergeant today,” he tells Lucy once they are back in the shop.
“Really?” Lucy asks, turning her head to look at him.
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I should do it again,” he shrugs.
“Why not?”
“I know we have to do everything as similar as we can, but when we switch back, Tim from this time wouldn’t have the same knowledge that I do. He is not going to be ready when it happens.”
“Just talk to Grey about it, but there was not actually that much time you even had to study, and you still did so well.”
“Yeah, I’ll see. I’m sure the Lucy of this time would be delighted to help him.”
They drive back to the station where they meet with Deacon again. They get the information they need, which they honestly could not remember all the details of.
They go to the breakroom to get some coffee when Jackson comes in.
“Hey, uh, have you guys seen Lopez?” he asks them.
Lucy turns to Tim. “Do you mind giving us a minute?”
He nods before he looks around and gives her a quick kiss on her cheek. He then takes his cup and leaves the room.
Jackson rolls his eyes at her when she is smiling watching him leave.
“You want to talk about it?” she asks him.
He walks into the room. “Umm, this fugitive we grabbed has been getting under my skin.”
“Oscar, right?” she replies.
“Right, you probably already know about this.”
She nods. “I do, and while I can’t tell you, I promise everything is going to be okay.”
“Really?”
“Trust me,” she reassures him. “Oscar is always trying to stir up shit.”
“Even if you can’t tell me, I love that you know everything,” he laughs.
Lucy laughs as she shrugs. “It’s kind of nice to know what is going to happen.”
“Ugh, I’m so jealous.”
“Of how I know what is going to happen or because of my relationship with Tim?” she jokes.
He just glares at her. “You know I just want a good boyfriend.”
She laughs. “Yeah, I know.”
“Why can’t all men treat people like Bradford treats you?” he whines. “That is a sentence I never thought I would say.”
“Tim Bradford in this time would literally wash your ass out for saying that.”
Tim and Lucy drive to Deacon’s house where the last fugitive is hiding out. Just like last time, all the 5-4 members are already there.
“Is it bad that I’m still anxious about this when I know what happens?” Lucy asks.
Tim reaches over and gives her thigh a quick squeeze. “I am too, but we not only know what is going to happen, but we are also a whole lot more experienced this time.”
She nods and smiles at him. “Last time, I don’t think I would’ve gotten through this if it weren’t for you.”
“Did you know that I was absolutely terrified last time?” Lucy looks at him with her eyebrows raised in surprise. “The only reason I didn’t show it was because I knew I had to be brave for you.”
“Aww, you cared for me back then.”
Tim shakes his head with a smile on his face. “Yeah, yeah.”
They do not say anything else as they slowly drive through the street. Tim calls it in and talks to one of the members.
They get through and Tim alerts Grey on the situation before they get out and walk up to the house.
Another truck pulls up and multiple men walk out with even more baseball bats.
“Let’s get inside,” Tim whispers to her.
He knocks on the door and Deacon opens it.
“What are we going to do?” he asks.
“Just let us in first,” Tim says.
Deacon moves out of the way, and they walk inside.
“First time I've ever been happy to see cops,” Marcos, their fugitive says.
Tim nods to Lucy, telling her that she knows what to do.
“Hands behind your back,” she tells Marcos as she approaches him.
“What? Whoa, hang on. No, you- I gotta keep my hands free in case I gotta fight.”
“Your hands won’t be much help if this does get to fighting. Turn around, now,” she demands. She puts the cuffs on him and sits him down on the couch.
Tim watches out the window and Lucy can hear glass shattering. The telltale sign that she is going to have a busy night with paperwork.
“That’s going to be a lot of paperwork, Boot,” Tim jokes, which honestly calms Lucy down slightly.
She walks up to him and lowers her voice to a whisper. “Surely you can help me this time.”
Tim chuckles. “I was already going to help you, but I don’t have to.”
“You better help m-”
Lucy is cut off by Deacon opening the door and walking out.
She grabs onto his arm and gives it a squeeze before he can go. “Stay safe.”
Tim nods before he follows Deacon out.
Lucy watches from the window, her hand resting on her gun, ready just in case something changes.
She cannot hear what Tim is saying, but all the tension in her body releases when she can hear the sirens and the helicopter shining lights down on the scene.
She grabs Marcos and goes outside once it is clear to do so. She calls it in, and her eyes rake over Tim to make sure he is unharmed.
He nods at her, telling her that he is okay, but also telling her she has done a good job despite her nerves.
Tim knocks on Grey’s office door when they get back to the station.
“Hey,” Grey says, looking up at him.
“I need to speak to you about something.” He closes the door behind him and walks over to Grey.
“What’s on your mind?”
“I am supposed to take the next Sergeant's exam, but that would cause complications when we figure out how to get back.”
“Ah, yes, I can see how that might cause some problems,” Grey says but he has a wide smile on his face. “The test is in a couple of months, and depending on when you do become a Sergeant, there should be plenty of time for our Bradford to study.”
Tim nods. “I don’t become a Sergeant until a few months after the rookies are set to graduate from the program.”
“Is there a reason it took so long for you to get a position?”
“I may have declined my first offer,” Tim shrugs.
Grey narrows his eyes at him. “Did that decision have anything to do with a certain rookie?”
“Maybe.”
He shakes his head in amusement. “Well, I think there is enough time to get this Bradford ready to be a Sergeant by then.”
“Do I have to try to get the same score as last time?” he asks.
Grey nods. “As you have probably been a Sergeant for a while, you should hopefully know everything, so maybe try and make it seem like you don’t.”
“Thank you, sir.” He turns to leave but then he thinks about something. “Would you mind still giving me all of the study material?”
“I can,” he replies sceptically. “Is there a reason why?”
“Lucy helped me study last time. She recorded audiobooks for me to help, and I think it would help the Tim from this time if it is all there for him when we switch back.”
“She really has changed you for the better,” Grey laughs. “It’s nice to see.”
“Thank you, sir,” Tim repeats before Grey says anything else. “I’ll see you later.”
Grey nods and Tim leaves.
He sits opposite Lucy and takes half of the pile of paperwork. They finish as fast as they can before they can go home. They have a quick dinner before they wait for everyone to arrive.
Eventually, everyone does arrive, looking incredibly tired, but they know they have to start now before they never do.
“I know that it has been a big day for everyone, but we have held off on starting for a few days already, and we cannot hold this off anymore,” Andersen states. “I am also letting Lucy take over these meetings as she knows the most.”
Everyone turns to look at Lucy from her spot curled into Tim’s side.
She sits up and looks around. “Okay, I think today we are all pretty tired, so we will stick to getting more knowledge for now.”
Everyone agrees with her, so she takes out the file she has started for the case. “I have a few things that I believe are important for us to figure out, the first being why this happened when it happened?”
“I would think that it’s because of the machine being started, right?” Angela suggests.
Lucy nods. “That would make the most sense, but what about the specific time that we appeared here?”
“Burch probably just set a specific time he wanted to go back to,” Talia puts out there.
“If that is the case, then why the specific time? It’s a good theory though,” Lucy states.
“What other things do we have to consider?” Grey asks.
“The best way for us to get information is to find Burch. Our main problem is, I don’t think he is in California right now. I never got the chance to look that far back into his whereabouts, but he may have come here before.”
“I think I can get a trace on him if we can find out where he is right now,” Andersen tells them.
Lucy nods. “I can have a look through his social media. I’m sure there would be something about where he is.”
“What about-” Tim starts, but he is cut off by Lucy.
Her arms wrap around her stomach, and she doubles over in pain.
“Whoa, Luce.” Tim immediately kneels down in front of her and cups her face with both his hands. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she groans. “I just had a really sharp pain in my stomach.”
“Is this something that happened in the past?” Tim asks, his brows furrowed in concern.
She shakes her head. “It feels more like the cramps I was getting before.”
“Like your pregnancy cramps?”
She nods. “But I’m not pregnant here.”
“Could it be some lasting effect?” he suggests, his face still full of anxiety.
“It’s probably nothing,” Lucy brushes off.
Tim does not push it, but he cannot help but worry about her.
“Are you alright to continue?” Grey asks her.
Tim moves back to the couch when Lucy sits back and nods.
“You sure?” Tim whispers to her.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Is it possible that-” Tahlia starts but Lucy interrupts again.
She quickly stands up and runs off.
Tim immediately follows her into the bathroom where she is bent over the toilet. He goes to her side and holds her hair back as she throws up. He rubs her back to soothe her, something that he does when she is experiencing her morning sickness, which was more like all-day random sickness.
Lucy leans back into him when she is done being sick.
“Have you been feeling sick all day?” Tim asks, rubbing her arms.
She shakes her head. “Could you get me some water?”
“Of course, baby,” Tim says. “I’m also sending everyone else home.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine.”
“Luce, you need to rest.” He stands up and gets a glass of water from the kitchen before he goes back into the bathroom and passes it to her. “Are you going to be sick again?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay.” He helps her stand up and he takes her to his room. “I’ll be back in a second.”
He walks out to where everyone is waiting.
Jackson stands up as soon as he gets back into the room. “Is she okay?”
Tim nods. “She is, but I think she needs to rest.”
“I figured,” Andersen sighs. “If Lucy is feeling better, we can continue this tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Tim murmurs.
Once everyone has left, he locks up the house before he grabs a bucket and goes into his room.
He runs a bath for Lucy who is currently lying on the bed, clutching her stomach.
He sits by the tub as Lucy gets in, leaning her head back against the wall.
“I think you were right,” Lucy mumbles.
“It’s nice for you to finally admit that,” Tim chuckles.
Lucy playfully smacks his shoulder. “Enjoy it, it’s the only time you’ll hear it.”
He shakes his head in amusement. “What am I right about?”
“I think this is related to my pregnancy.”
“Do you think it’s just lasting effects?”
She shrugs. “I cannot think about what else it will be. The cramps feel too similar, and I don’t think I’m due for my period.”
“Let’s just hope that this doesn’t last long.”