Chapter Text
[Tim] I was thinking I could make you dinner tonight. How do kabobs sound?
[Lucy Chen] I think kabobs sound delicious.
[Tim] You know what else would be delicious?
[Lucy Chen] Timothy Bradford you WILL not distract me right now!!
[Tim] Alright, fine, you’re right, you’re right.
[Lucy Chen] Any news on Caleb?
[Tim] Unfortunately, no. But I saw Angela earlier. She’s doing what she can.
[Lucy Chen] I know, and I can’t thank her enough for that. Keep me posted? I’ve got to get back to it.
[Tim] You got it. Just don’t forget to leave campus in the next couple of hours, please.
[Lucy Chen] Aye aye, Cap’n.
Tim shook his head, and put his cell phone back in the center console. He and Jackson had been on a special assignment, a stake out in front of a known drug lord’s estate. They’d relieved the previous patrol unit, and would be due to be relieved themselves in another hour. Tim and Jackson had seen nothing so far, and had used the time to get ahead on paperwork.
Or rather, Tim made Jackson get ahead on their paperwork.
Tim had been lost in his thoughts the majority of the day. Of course, he brought his A-game on a call, but since they’d started sitting here with their thumbs up their asses, doing nothing, he’d allowed his mind to wander. To thoughts of Lucy. To the image of her dark hair fanned out across his pillows. To the sounds she made when he found the right spot. To that thing she did with her tongue…
“I hate to bring this up, but… you’ve been humming off and on all day, and it’s freaking me out.” Jackson interrupted.
“What?” Tim snapped.
“You’ve been humming ,” Jackson met his glance with a smug smile. “You’ve been weird all day. Different. Like you…” Realization struck, and before Tim could tell Jackson to can it, Jackson beat him. “Oh my God ! You and Lucy… oh my God !”
Thank God that was all Jackson could say. Tim felt his face burning red, and tried his hardest to keep his irritation in check.
“West, if you say another word…”
Jackson held up a hand. “Say no more. I get it. I’m glad for you, Tim. I’m happy for you and Lucy.”
Despite himself, Tim nodded. “Thank you, Jackson.” He owed his current status to Jackson West, of course. Not that he would ever admit to the kid’s face that he’d been right. That he would end up loving his blind date.
“You’re welcome,” Jackson replied, and Tim couldn’t have been more thankful. West understood the way Tim worked, the way he expressed his thoughts and emotions. And a simple ‘you’re welcome’ went a long way. He’d forever be indebted to Jackson, but the kid wouldn’t use that against him. That wasn’t Jackson.
Tim’s phone rang in the cup holder, and his heart sank when he saw Angela’s name.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Tim, we have a problem.”
~*~
Pushing her way through the door from the stairwell, Lucy decided she would work for another hour or so, and then head to Tim’s. She’d seen a few ingredients she could make use of, and settled on baking something for dessert that evening.
Lucy stepped up to the grad office door, and just as her hand clasped the doorknob, the ceiling lights at the end of the hallway began shutting off. One by one. Darkness fell after each was extinguished, until the wave passed overhead, plunging the hallway into silence and darkness.
Okaaaay … She knew she was the only one on the floor currently, but she thought she’d have at least another hour before they started shutting the building down for the evening.
Shrugging, Lucy stepped into the office and got to work.
A half hour later, Lucy rubbed her fingers into the nape of her neck to ease the tension there. She groaned, and as her eyes tracked a paragraph on the screen, she realized she needed to reference a particular book from the department’s library. Irked, she grabbed her keys, and shuffled out and down the hallway
She’d forgotten how dark it was. The stillness creeped her out, making the little hairs at the nape of her neck stand up. Goosebumps pimpled along her arm, but she brushed it off. Instead, she quickened her pace.
Thankfully, the book was easy to find. And considering she just needed it for a few minutes, she didn’t make a notation that she’d checked it out. Book acquired, she moved fast back down the hall, but froze when she made it to the doorway.
Sitting in her chair, feet propped up on the desk, was Caleb.
~*~
“I just got back to the station after a coffee run, and I thought I’d try and work Caleb over again. But when I got down to booking, the officer said the captain had sprung him.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Tim’s heart jolted, beginning a furious staccato.
“I wish I was. So when I asked the captain why, he said because he saw no reason to hold him, and that he was taking up valuable space. Caleb’s out, Tim. Has been for at least an hour.”
Tim began looking out the windshield, as if their relief for the night would materialize. “Angela, I’m stuck on a stake out. Authorized by Grey. I can’t leave.”
Everything in him wanted to turn the engine over and gun the shop up the street, drug lord be damned. But the larger part of him that could be described as a stickler for the rules screamed that Grey could give him an official reprimand for leaving his post. Especially while training a rookie.
“I’ll talk to Grey. In the meantime, I’ll get another patrol officer to find Lucy. Don’t worry. I’ve got her, okay?”
“Angela, I…” But Tim trailed off, his throat working around the words he couldn’t speak.
“I know.”
Angela hung up, and Tim did the same. Jackson looked somewhere between terrified and concerned.
“Is she--?”
“She’s fine, but Caleb’s out. The captain sprung him. Said it was a waste to hold him.”
“Son of a bitch!” Jackson growled, pounding his fist against the door, feeling just as trapped as Tim.
Thoughts racing, Tim called up Lucy’s phone number, but the call went right to voicemail. She’d gone back inside, into the dead zone…
~*~
Terror curled tightly around her heart, constricting her throat and freezing her in place.
“C-Caleb?”
“Hey, Lucy!” He greeted, a giant smile on his face as though he hadn’t been tormenting her the past few weeks. He greeted her as though they were old friends, with a familiarity Lucy might have once felt in return. But now, she had no idea who this man was.
“Wh-What are you doing here?” She breathed. You’re supposed to be in lock up .
Caleb shrugged, as though his presence wasn’t a big deal. “I wanted to see you. You’ve been avoiding me. Ignoring me. You must know how much it hurt my feelings to be thrown in jail because of you.”
“You were thrown in jail because you’re a psychotic stalker, Caleb. It’s all on you, not me.”
Caleb frowned, and jerked to his feet. “You continue to say such horrible things about me, Lucy. Why? I thought we meant something to each other.” He took a couple menacing steps towards her. Lucy found she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. As though one wrong look from him would strike her down right there.
“Maybe once, Caleb. But now? You don’t mean anything to me.” Lucy replied, her voice shaking despite her best efforts to sound angry and firm. “And I think you know, deep down, that I don’t mean anything to you. Not really. I’m just an obsession. Nothing serious. Nothing consequential.”
Caleb shook his head. “No,” he growled. “No, you mean… so much to me, Lucy. And I’ve tried to show you that. I thought if I went to grad school away from you I’d get over you. But I couldn’t. So when I got a job in LA, I had to take it. I had to see you. But you don’t see me . You never have.”
“Oh, I see you, Caleb,” Lucy replied, her fear turning to pure adrenaline, her fight or flight response roaring in her blood. “I see you for what you are. My only regret is that I didn’t see it sooner. When we were together.”
Caleb blanched, as though she’d struck him physically. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” she said, with all the sincerity and bravado she could muster. “I really do. Now, if you would please leave, we can both get on with our lives.”
Lucy stepped aside, hoping that maybe Caleb would leave. Just walk right on out, no harm, no foul. But he didn’t move. Not one inch. His eyes watched her, an unfathomable disdain in his eyes. Directed at her. How had he never shown this side of himself to her before? Maybe he had, and she’d never seen it? Didn’t want to see it?
“Please, Caleb,” she whispered, her voice shaking, no longer unable to hide her fear. Funny how she’d faced down an armed robber, a knife practically pointed in her face, and she didn’t bat an eye. But now? Now she was rooted in fear, petrified.
Caleb stared for another beat, and then two. He began to shake his head, slowly at first but then more manic. “No, no I can’t. I told myself I would come back for you. And that you’d be mine. But then I find you with that… that cop . He’s not worthy of you, Lucy. No one is. Only me.”
Lucy wanted to puke. The cold epiphany that Caleb meant her harm was sobering. Because what was left unsaid was the most terrifying: If I can’t have you, no one can .
“You can’t take me out of here without a fight. Someone will see you or hear you.”
“No one’s in the building, Lucy. It’s just you and me. Everyone’s gone. Amazing what a little email about spraying for pests can do to clear out a building. And you know what else helps? Automated door locks. Hacking those was child’s play.”
Breath caught in her throat. How he’d managed all that, she’d never know, but the stark reality of being utterly alone made her want to give up. To roll over and show her belly.
The second that ideation entered her mind, she firmly shoved it aside.
Like hell .
She had made it too God damn far to give in to this spineless, sorry excuse for a man. Lucy needed to see Jackson graduate from being a rookie to a full fledged P2. She needed to see her parents one more time, to see the pride in their eyes as she walked across the stage in her doctoral robes. She needed to make it to Paris. Milan. London. And she wanted to feel Tim’s kisses again. To hear his laugh, his touch, his voice telling her it would be okay.
Lucy needed to survive.
“I’m sorry, Caleb,” Lucy breathed, straightening her spine, balling up her fists, and preparing herself for what would come next.
“I am too, Lucy,” Caleb said, and for a moment, she almost believed his remorse.
Lucy waited a beat, then as quickly as she could, she lashed out with her leg, aiming for his groin. She hit something, heard a pained howl, but she didn’t stick around. She booked it out of the room, down the hall, and into the stairwell.
~*~
Tim sat in the driver’s seat of their shop, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the steering wheel. The wait was killing him, damn near literally. And he could tell Jackson was jittery in the seat next to him, fidgeting and checking his phone every five seconds.
Tim’s phone ringing startled him. He picked up the device and glanced at the screen. When he saw Lucy’s name, he couldn’t swipe his thumb across the screen fast enough.
“Luce--”
“… Tim?”
Tim sat straight up in his seat, white-knuckling his phone.
“Why are you whispering, Lucy?”
“Oh God, Tim. He’s here. He’s in the Psych building.”
Tim could barely hear her words on the other end of the line, but they had trouble processing. Her voice was more breath than words, and he strained to make them out. His heart thumped, ratcheting to 100. His hand shot out to swat at Jackson, getting his attention. He pulled the phone away and flipped it on speaker. Tim gestured for Jackson to take it.
“Lucy where in the Psych building are you?” He asked, projecting so she could hear him. As though an act of God, the next patrol unit meant to sit on stake out rolled up. Before Tim could brief them, he’d already fired up the engine, flipped the lights and sirens, and took off down the street towards the highway.
“I’m on the second floor. In the experiment wing. He’s got the doors locked. I can’t get out.” Her voice shook, and for the rest of his damn life, Tim would never forget the sound.
“It’s going to be okay, Lucy, we’re on our way,” Jackson reassured her. Tim reached for the radio and began apprising dispatch of the situation. He marked them en route as he merged onto the highway, his foot nearly meeting the floor.
Tim couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. The only thought cycling through his head was to get there in one piece. Save Lucy. Find he r in one piece. He had to get it together. Tim would be no good to her without his full attention and strategy. He’d at least had the presence of mind to request SWAT for a hostage situation. God, he never wanted to use those words again anywhere associated with Lucy.
Jackson talked to her, suggesting places for her to hide, attempting to maintain a calm voice. Tim didn’t know how he could. He didn’t think he could hold it together for very long. The worry quickly turned to stone cold fear, and with it came rage. He’d do whatever it took to save her life. Even if it meant pulling Caleb’s insides out with his bare hands.
“Lucy? Lucy!”
Tim registered Jackson’s panic. And that’s when he heard the bone chilling scream. Lucy’s scream. There was a struggle, and then the phone disconnected.
No .
~*~
Lucy had managed to evade Caleb long enough to put in the call to Tim. It was the most natural call to make, like breathing. Why she didn’t just go straight to 9-1-1 she didn’t know, but what she did know was that she wanted Tim. So badly. She wanted to live to see him again.
She’d hidden in one of the lab classrooms, but Caleb had found her. Snuck up behind her and grabbed her hair. Caleb yanked her up, and she dropped her phone on instinct, to put her hands and arms to use. Lucy flailed, trying hard to ram her elbow back into his gut. A few hits made contact, but not enough to disable him long enough to make another run for it. Lucy cried out when he yanked harder. Caleb slapped her, to shut her up. The pain singed up her cheek, jolting her head to the side. Lucy tried to lash out again with her foot, but Caleb saw it coming this time. The next slap came as a punch, connecting with her face hard enough to send her reeling backwards into cabinets where her head collided against the wood with a crack. She saw stars, and not the good kind. Her vision blurred at the edges, and her body collapsed to the floor.
Was this it? Was this what her death would be like?
Caleb grabbed her shirt, by the back of her neck, and dragged her unceremoniously from the classroom. Lucy was too dazed, her arms and legs like lead, unmoving, as her limbs squeaked across the linoleum flooring.
“I tried, Lucy,” Caleb sniffed. The bastard was crying. “I tried to convince you. The only one for you is me, and no matter how much I show you that, you’ll never get it.”
He stopped walking, and distantly, she heard a door open. Caleb dropped her for a moment, right in the doorway. She heard him walking around the room, then grunted as though lifting something heavy. Lucy scrambled to think, to use the mental map of the building to determine where she was. The slosh of water clued her in.
He’d brought her to the sensory deprivation tank.
If he put her in there, and made it so she couldn’t open the lid, no one would find her in time. Lucy thought as fast as her addled mind could. She’s almost sure she has a concussion from her skull meeting the cabinet. It made processing difficult, through the pain and the confusion.
Hansel and Gretel.
Breadcrumbs.
Could she lead someone to her?
Slowly, hands shaking in their attempt to be stealthy, Lucy slid her ring from her finger. The one she wore everyday as her good luck charm. Hopefully, it would bring her luck now.
Just as Caleb returned and started dragging her again, she unfurled her fingers to let the ring slip to the floor. It landed just to the side of the door frame, and settled against the wall.
Find me, Tim .
~*~
The shop roared up onto the sidewalk, decidedly not where it belonged, and raced to the Psychology Building. SWAT was just in front of them, and Tim quickly came to a halt just behind it. He and Jackson were out of the car in seconds, guns drawn.
Tim didn’t even wait, he went immediately for the building’s bank of doors, finding them locked.
The SWAT team came up behind him with a battering ram, and beat open the door, shattering glass. Despite the protest of the onsite SWAT commander, Tim breached first, heading right for the stairs, taking them two and three at a time until he got to the second floor. He paused before opening the door into the hallway, cracking it open to peer out. Tim didn’t immediately see Caleb, so he ventured forward, gun up and safety off. He listened carefully, trying to hear any sound that would give away where Lucy was.
Nothing.
Just eerie, God forsaken silence.
Swallowing thickly, not allowing himself to think of worst case scenarios, Tim pushed forward, going from room to room and searching. He’d made it halfway down the hallway when the SWAT team tumbled out from the stairwell. Once they saw Tim off in one direction, they went in the opposite, with Jackson and a couple of other SWAT guys meeting up with Tim as back up.
The more rooms they checked and found empty, the more Tim’s fear grew.
The group turned a corner, and that’s when he saw it. The glare of the fluorescent hallway lights shone, and if it hadn’t been for them, he might’ve missed the subtle glint of a jewel.
Tim surged forward, sliding to his knees to grab the object.
It was Lucy’s opal ring.
He’d seen her wear it time and time again. She’d once told him it was her good luck charm. She’d worn it the day they met. Glancing up, Tim read the sign beside the door and paled.
Sensory Deprivation Room.
Tim jumped to his feet and opened the door. Jackson came in right behind, clearing the room while Tim went for the tank.
He’d never actually seen a sensory deprivation tank before. It resembled something right out of a dystopian flick. Like a bunker half buried in the ground, with the door like a bomb shelter hatch. To Tim’s absolute horror, the door was closed and someone had zip tied the handles together. Tim put his ear to the cool metal of the tank.
No sound came from inside, no sounds of struggle, no sounds of life.
Something inside of Tim snapped.
The thought came unbidden, something straight from his nightmares. He didn’t think anymore after that. He simply acted. His hand immediately went to the holster on his belt, locating his switch knife, and began sawing at the zip tie. Once it fell away, he yanked open the door.
The interior was dark, even with the door open allowing the light from the room to spill in.
Worst of all, there was no movement from within.
Tim leaned into the tank, so hard and so fast he winded himself against the lip. His hands swept mindlessly through the water, until they hit something solid.
“West, I need your flashlight!” He shouted.
Jackson was there in a flash, MagLite beam on and trained inside the tank.
Lucy floated, face up, eyes closed.
His panic crested, overflowing. Or rather, his tears did. Tim wrapped his arms under Lucy, and pulled her from the tank. When one of the SWAT guys made to help, Tim snarled at him to get back. When she was free of the confines of the tank, Tim laid her on the floor and put his fingers to her throat.
Weak pulse.
Tim put his cheek to her face, and felt no sign of breath.
Immediately, he pressed his hands, one on top of the other, to her sternum and began compressions. After the allotted 30, Tim tipped her head back, sealed his mouth over hers, and gave her one breath, and then another. When she didn’t respond, he started compressions again.
“Come on, Luce. Don’t do this to me. Please don’t do this to me,” he breathed, his voice wavering. The tears slid down his cheeks, but he ignored them despite his vision blurring, and instead gave her two more breaths.
Tim held his own, waiting…
… Then Lucy jerked, and tipped her head to the side as she retched water. Tim sagged in relief, and rolled her on her side. His big palm rubbed across her shoulder blades soothingly.
“Tim?”
God, she didn’t even sound like herself. Her voice was rough, fragile, and he never wanted to hear it like that ever again.
“I’m here, baby,” Tim murmured, gathering her up against his chest, one hand sifting into her hair to cradle her head. He pressed his mouth there, wetness be damned. “I’m here.”
~*~
2 Months Later…
Lucy stepped out of the classroom, and into the hallway.
They had been waiting for her there: Jackson, her parents, Angela… and Tim.
When they saw she had emerged, all five of them stood from their seats, looking expectant. Her mother held onto one of Tim’s hands, and the other grasped her father’s.
“Well?” Vanessa Chen asked.
Lucy sighed, fiddling with her hands. She waited, giving a good dramatic pause, and then grinned. “You can call me Dr. Chen now.”
The small crowd erupted into cheers and applause, and closed in on her to sweep her in a group hug.
After the Caleb incident, Lucy had spent a couple days in the hospital under observation. She’d had a concussion, had been without oxygen for who knew how long, and not to mention, had earth shattering nightmares for days. She still did, but with Tim asleep next to her, it was as if he chased those demons away. Work on her dissertation didn’t resume for a week, nearly two, and she thought she had truly lost ground and wouldn’t defend on time. But Past Lucy had done a whole lot more than she’d thought, and now here she was… officially able to walk at graduation and be called “Doctor.”
“Lunch is on us!” Lucy’s dad declared, grabbing his wife and heading for the exits. Angela and Jackson glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed after the couple.
“Congratulations, Dr. Chen,” Tim said softly, holding his palm out to her. Lucy slid her hand into his, and they turned and followed after the others.
“Thank you, Sergeant Bradford,” Lucy grinned.
“Not officially sergeant yet. Gotta wait till West’s done with his rookie year.”
“Still…” Lucy nudged him with her shoulder, and he chuckled.
Once outside in the glaring noon sun, they promised to meet up with the Chens, Jackson, and Angela at one of Lucy’s favorite restaurants. Lucy’s parents went first to commandeer a table. Angela dragged Jackson away after glancing back at Lucy and Tim, wanting to give them some time alone.
Tim had stopped walking, bringing her to a halt with him. He turned to her to take her other hand. “I’m so damn proud of you, Lucy Chen.”
Lucy tried and failed to stop her smile. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Tim scoffed. “Of course you could have. You’re Lucy Chen. You stopped an armed robber. You beat a crazed stalker. And you finished your dissertation after said stalker nearly killed you. If that isn’t the definition of badass, I don’t know what is.”
“But if you hadn’t’ve found me in that tank, I probably would’ve drowned. You saved me.”
“You saved yourself. You dropped that ring in the most stressful moment of your life, and it led me to you. You’re a survivor, Lucy. And I’m so. Damn. Lucky to have you.”
Lucy didn’t fight it then, she grinned. “You do, you know. Have me.”
“Oh I know I do,” Tim said, tone turning slightly smug. “I had you this morning. And last night. And--”
Lucy interrupted him with a kiss, laughing against those lips she couldn’t get enough of.
When Lucy had woken up in the hospital, Tim had been asleep at her bedside. He’d looked uncomfortable, unshowered, like he hadn’t moved in days. But he was alive, and she was alive. She was happy.
She learned later that Caleb had fled the building just before the SWAT team had arrived. Angela eventually tracked him down just as he was about to hop the border into Mexico. Lucy would have to relive the worst day of her life at least once more for his trial, but she was ready. Ready to put it behind her and move forward.
“Oh, I was going to wait until later, but I wanted to go ahead and give you this…”
Tim pulled a metal object from his pocket.
Her ring.
All the talk of the ring, and she’d never once asked where it was. It had seemed rather inconsequential in comparison to what had happened, that she had put it out of her mind. It had done its duty as her good luck charm. Tim had saved her.
“You’ve been carrying this around with you?” Lucy asked wryly, taking the ring from him and sliding it on her finger.
“Yeah, it’s been my good luck charm.”
Lucy’s eyes burned with emotion. “Thank you.”
“Wait… there’s more.”
Tim reached into the opposite pocket, pulling out yet another metallic object.
A key.
“I don’t know how to ask this, really, but since you pretty much stay with me most days anyway I thought… maybe you’d want to move in with me? Kojo will be excited to have another human around.”
“Oh, just Kojo?” Lucy asked, echoing the last time she’d said it.
Tim shrugged. “Yeah, you know, I’ll be happy too.”
Lucy took the key, curling it into her fingers. She glanced up at Tim, his eyes filled with so many emotions; some she could easily identify, others not. But the most prevalent was his love for her. She hurled herself at him, and Tim easily caught her. They clung to each other tightly, and Lucy buried her face in the crook of his neck.
“By the way…” Tim said, pulling back just enough to steal a quick kiss. “You were going to tell me what you thought of me in uniform…”
Lucy laughed, pressing her forehead to his. “I’m not sure you need me to blow up your ego…”
“Sure I do. I’m the caveman that wouldn’t know an emotion if it slapped me in the face, remember?” Tim replied, reluctantly relinquishing his hold on her, only to grab her hand again and lead her back to where he’d parked his truck. “You can tell me on the way.”
Had Lucy actually said that? Yikes , that seemed so long ago.
“I guess I’m not the paragon of singlehood anymore, am I?” Lucy ribbed, tugging playfully on his arm.
“Nope, sure aren’t,” Tim said, so decidedly and so vehemently, with a touch of smug. Lucy laughed.
Who knew a blind date could actually work?