bradchenford
bradchenford
ChenFord
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The name is pretty self explanatory
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bradchenford · 5 months ago
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Jealousy, Jealousy
“Tim’s jealous side shows when Lucy gets asked on a date by another officer”
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Post Season 6 / Pre season 7
Mid-Wilshire police station had seen a reduction in staff for the past few months. Sickness, injury, stress. All the usual denominators that affect an already overworked division. It was exhausting for the remainder of the staff, but their usual determination had prevailed so far. After all, Smitty was still at his desk, and that tugged at Lucy’s competitive side. No matter how exhausted she was.
However, during roll call there were some faces that Lucy didn’t recognise. She felt as though it was odd, as if her usual comfortable space had been invaded by trespassers, but that feeling was pushed to one side as soon as Grey walked in the room for his usual morning speech.
“All right, settle down” the chattering subsided as Grey’s authority hushed the room. “I hope you’ve all noticed that there are some new faces in the room today. If you haven’t, then you should consider a carer change” A couple of chuckles escaped the mouths of the seated officers, but not enough to interrupt him.
Lucy plucked up the courage to take another look around the room. To her surprise, she was met with a pair of eyes staring right back at her. They were a light green on the outside, but they had a dark centre. She gave a quick and awkward smile, before focusing back on Grey. She knew if she was caught not paying attention, he would make it known to the entire room.
The occupant of the eyes continued to stare with Lucy being none the wiser, but Tim was watching the exchange from the front of the room. He knew what type of man officer Booth was, and it was not the type that he wanted near Lucy. In fact it was not the type of man he wanted on the force, but that was not his decision. Especially since Booth was technically under the Hollywood devision.
Grey had finished roll call and just like Tim suspected Booth made a couple of strides towards Lucy, who was speaking to Lopez about her next under cover task. It was linked to one of Lopez’s ongoing cases, and Harper had taken a rare day off to spend with Leah. Tim felt his fists clench and Booth presented a smile that looked foreign on his face.
“Chen right? Next in line to be the top UC?” Booth placed himself between Angela and Lucy. Tim had envisioned a million different scenarios in which Booth failed miserably. A sudden Bee sting in which his face swelled up and he passed out. Or maybe Lucy would punch him in the face, but Tim knew that she was too nice for that.
By the time Tim’s thoughts got round to possible attempted murder, Lopez was stood in front of him with an all too familiar face. The face of ‘I know what you’re thinking, and I am about to tell you that.’
“My Abuela might have a curse we could use, certain things may fall off” Angela was also aware of officer Booths discretions, but despite this Tim new she would have his back even if Booth was the re-incarnation of Jesus. “I was thinking of something more practical… or physical” Tim grunted in dismay as Booth’s hand found its way to Chen’s shoulder.
“Unfortunately you lost that privilege when you were feeling sad for yourself and broke up with her” Tim was starting to regret this conversation, and it was not helping the anger that was bubbling up inside of him. Angela tugged him out of the room. “We’re riding together today- but- don’t argue with me Bradford”.
Tim didn’t argue
Lucy felt on edge after her conversation with officer Booth. She couldn’t figure out if it was because the words coming out of his mouth felt rehearsed and repeated like re-runs of a cringy TV show. Or if it was because of the light touches on her shoulder and her lower back which felt too personal for a first conversation.
Lucy was in the shop getting ready for the day. There was hope in her heart that the shift would be easier with the extra staffing, but she knew better than to get comfortable. As she was about to set off she watched Lopez and Tim walk towards the shop, Tim having the war bags in hand. There was no one else other than Angela that he would carry them for. Chen chuckled to herself, but was hit with a wave of sadness.
Her foot lifted gently of the clutch of the vehicle and she had left the lot before Tim could catch her staring. Lucy wished that she could look at Bradford without emotions clawing at her insides, but even though she has meditated and worked through her feelings over and over again. She still felt that emotional pull towards him that was undeniable.
She also couldn’t deny that she missed his touch, and his warmth beside her.
“Control to 7-Adam-15, 7-Adam-19 and 7-Adam-16 there are reports of multiple person fight at a property on 2210 Rosemont”
“7-Adam-15 to control, show me responding”
The scene was loud as Tim and Angela pulled up. Two patrol cars were already present, but the occupants were no longer inside. They both rushed in to the room which had about 10 people not including Lucy and Booth. The room was split into two sides and minor first aid was being administered. The tension in the room was thick, but not just between the opposing family members.
“Chen, you okay?” Lucy nodded towards Tim signalling that she wasn’t hurt. Although they were not on speaking terms, Tim still felt responsible for Lucy, especially since he was previously her TO. Or that was what he told himself to keep his head straight.
“You not going to ask me Bradford? Or do you just check on the cute female officers” The room fell silent. Or at least it did for Tim. The rage he felt earlier rose and burned behind his ears, and he couldn’t stop himself from swirling on his feet and pacing towards Booth.
Before Tim could cause any physical injury Lopez was in his Path. “You, outside and cool off” Tim felt his anger subside enough for him to take a look around the room. All eyes were on him, but the only ones he focused on were Lucy’s. Her eyes portrayed a look of shock that Tim hadn’t seen in a while. There wasn’t a lot that took Lucy by surprise, but Tim understood that his lack of control over his emotions wasn’t a part of his usual stoical character.
Tim was waiting outside of the property when Lopez, Chen and Booth left. “No one is wanting to press charges, no one is telling us who threw punches” Time to go. Lopez grabbed Tim by the shoulder and tried to move him a long.
“Do we have an issue Bradford” Tim heard Lopez groan from beside him, but he had already heard enough from officer Booth today. “We will have a problem Booth, if you keep up the inappropriate conduct at work. I will put a complaint into your watch commander” Booth laughed, but it was a laugh out of anger. Tim had already looked him up on the system, and the complaints from female officers were already pileing up. It would definitely have an impact on his career, especially since he was already under the big eye.
“Cut the high and mighty sergeant crap Bradford, tell me what you really want to say” Booth was now practically face to face with Tim, despite his stature being significantly smaller. Tim looked down at him with a look of pure disgust on his face. “You’re sleazy Booth, you treat women like shit. Chen is here to do a job, and a job that she is good at. She doesn’t need your gross comments”
“You sure it’s not just because you want a piece of that fine ass…” Tim’s hands were on Booth’s shirt before he even knew it. Booth tried to punch Tim in retaliation but wasn’t able to build up a good enough swing with Tim’s arms in the way.
“Tim stop!” Lucy’s voice broke Tim out of his trance which gave Booth a chance to push him off. Booth stormed off mumbling some insults to Bradford. “What is wrong with you” Lucy hit Tim in the chest, but not hard enough to cause pain. His mouth moved to say something but the words didn’t come out. “You just had so much to say to him, and nothing to me?”
“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me” Lucy saw that people were coming to their windows to watch the argument and she walked away as she felt the tears prick at her eyes. She was frustrated by the mix of hurt and confusion. Tim had said all those things about her being great at the job, but yet didn’t feel confident that she could deal with some creep.
Lucy didn’t spend time sat in the shop, she buckled up and drove away so she could process this far away from Tim’s watching eye. She didn’t understand him, why he broke up with her or why he was acting like he was. She also knew she was unlikely to get an answer from him.
….
It was the end of shift and it was a miracle for Tim that Booth didn’t put in a complaint. Angela had given him an earful in the shop as well as a look of sympathy that he didn’t want. He didn’t deserve sympathy, not when he had ignored Lucy’s feeling all day because of his own anger…or as Angela had put it ‘jealousy’.
Jealousy wasn’t an emotion Tim felt, or he didn’t think he did. It was not an experience he had been through before. Or so he told himself. He had at least not felt it so deeply. He was arguing with himself in his head about if he felt jealous of Booth, and his actions towards Lucy. It just felt impossible to him that he could feel like jealous of some sleezeball, or that he thought Lucy would even entertain it. Before he even realised the answer he was in his truck heading towards her flat, and then at her door.
Tim had paused at Lucy’s door. He had been here a million times before, but he was hesitating this time. Before Tim could even knock the door swung open and Lucy stood before him. Her green dress caressed her body elegantly, and her her was pinned behind her ear.
“Tim?” Again, Tim found himself lost for words. He was at her apartment but he didn’t quite know why. “Where are you going?” He instantly knew that it was the wrong thing to say, even before Lucy’s face showed evidence of dismay. “Not that it is any of your business but I am going out to meet Tamara”. Tim held his head in shame and chose his next words more carefully.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to quiz you that’s not why I am here. I also know it’s not my place.” Tim waited to see if there was a reaction from Lucy but her facial expression and her body language remained unchanged.
“I’m also sorry for my actions earlier today. I don’t know what was going through my head, I just knew what kind of guy Booth was and I hated that he was speaking to you. Especially in the manner he was” Tim struggled to to get the words out in the correct order with Lucy’s hard stare.
“So you were jealous?”
“Why do people keep saying that? I was not… it sounds like you were” Tim sighed. He didn’t want to admit to Lucy that he had been taken over by something as petty as jealousy. “Okay maybe I was a little jealous, and I know again that it isn’t my place to be”
“You’re right it’s not” Lucy seemed less tense with Tim, even offering a small smile. She moved forward so she was able to turn and lock her door. When she turned back around Tim was much closer. They both leaned in slowly until their lips met, and Tim’s hand went to her cheek.
It was a short lived, but sweet kiss between the two before Lucy pulled away. “Tim, this is not the right time, especially if it was born out of jealousy. You still have a lot to work through”
Tim didn’t say anything in response but nodded. He hadn’t intended for the kiss to happen, but it was difficult not to when it was all he wanted to do. Lucy said a polite goodbye before leaving Tim in the hall on his own, and for some reason he knew that it was going to be okay between them eventually.
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