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“Congratulations Sergeant Chen" Grey smiled warmly as he came to stand in front of her.
He produced a pair of sergeant stripes for her uniform, holding them out to her.
“Thank you sir" she smiled gratefully as she accepted them. A proud smile crossed her face as she looked at them in her hands. They were hers, she had done it. Finally a win, and it felt damn good.
“You'll be able to put those new stripes to use right away" Grey said, drawing her attention back to him.
“What?” she asked in surprise. “A sergeant's position is open?” she asked, looking over at Tim, who held her gaze, just as invested as she was.
She turned back to Grey. “Here?” she asked, for confirmation.
He nodded. “On night shift" Grey answered, a little less excitedly, hating to see her taken from the shift and knowing it wasn’t ideal for her and Tim making their way back together as everyone saw as inevitably coming.
“Oh” she said, instantly deflated.
“That’s uh….okay….that’s great” she said as though trying to convince herself. She knew she should be grateful, passing the test, even coming in first like she had didn’t mean an immediate promotion. There still had to be an open spot and that open spot could be anywhere in the department, not just at her beloved Mid-Wilshire.
But her first thought had been of the complications the shift change would cause for her and Tim.
They were so close to getting back together. They had worked through everything over the last few months and she knew they were finally ready. Her resolve to wait until she got official word that she had passed this time had been steadily crumbling with every look from Tim.
Tim had done the work. He had gone to therapy and faced his past to ensure his future and he was better, lighter, more open. Their relationship aside, it warmed her heart to see him this way.
She had forgiven him, without even realizing it had happened. She knew she would, ever since his elevator promise of small doses. She just needed time for the hurt to fade and the trust to rebuild.
And now just like that he was out of her chain of command. All the pieces had finally fallen back into place.
Now she was going to night shift, on a schedule opposite of Tim's. It felt like a punch to the gut.
“Is there any way to trade?” she asked desperately.
“No" Grey answered flatly.
“Right” she answered, resigned to her fate.
“Again, congratulations sergeant" Grey said, giving her shoulders an affectionate squeeze.
“Thank you Sir" she smiled genuinely.
Grey walked away, exchanging a nod with Tim as he went.
Lucy turned to Tim and held up her brand new sergeant stripes, smiling proudly at her accomplishment.
Tim stared back at her intently, a soft smile on his lips as he nodded, pride reflecting brilliantly on his face as well.
She held his gaze, expectantly. The nervous anticipation palpable in the air between them.
Before they could speak, Grey returned with Angela, Nyla, Nolan, Celina, and Miles. They found themselves suddenly surrounded by a loud chorus of clapping, cheering and whistling for Lucy.
Lucy’s cheeks turned pink at the attention and she laughed, soaking up this moment she had earned, grateful for the loving support of their little work family.
She was quickly swept up in hugs and congratulations and we knew you could do its.
After a few minutes Nolan spoke up. “Are we going to stand here all night or go celebrate properly with adult beverages?”
“Oh….uh, right now?” Lucy asked, sneaking a glance at Tim. He looked back at her helplessly, as desperate as he was to celebrate her privately, he knew there was no way in hell their friends would take no for an answer. And honestly she deserved this so he didn’t even try and stop it. Tonight was for her.
“Yes now, girl we’ve all been waiting for the test results so we could take you out to celebrate" Celina told her.
“Agreed, Sergeant Chen needs to be toasted" Nyla said.
“She needs to be toasted? Or toasted to?” Celina asked, with an amused smile.
“Those two things arent mutually exclusive" Nyla grinned.
“Or….hear me out, I responsibly partake in a celebratory drink or three without getting toasted" Lucy countered.
“Nonsense” Angela waved off that idea. “Besides, I'm sure Tim would be happy to be your designated driver" Angela suggested, grinning slyly at Lucy while shooting Tim a very conspicuous wink.
“Geez, you get roofied and kidnapped by a serial killer one time and you cant be trusted to manage your own drinks ever again" Lucy joked.
“Wait…what?” Miles asked mystified.
“Doesn’t concern you boot!” Tim barked at him. The color had drained from Tim's face at the mention of it, even with Lucy having been the one to bring it up.
“Trauma jokes” she shrugged at Miles. “Tough room" she added at the sight of everyone's serious faces.
Miles face scrunched up in confusion, another thought occurring to him. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for Celina to be her DD seeing as how they live together?” he asked, inadvertently digging himself deeper in the hole with his T.O.
Tim shot him a glare that instantly made him stop talking. Miles thought to himself he may not say another word all night, at least not in earshot of Bradford. He briefly wondered if even alcohol had the power to mellow him out. Probably not.
Grey chuckled and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “Come on Penn, lets get you out of here before you earn the unfortunate distinction of being the first rookie to get himself blue paged while off duty”
Nolan nodded vigorously in agreement with that being a possibility.
“Bradford would be the one to do it" Nyla teased.
“When it comes to Lucy, a thousand percent" Angela agreed with a smirk thrown in his direction.
Tim narrowed his eyes at them and shook his head in annoyance at being the subject of their teasing.
Lucy looped her arm through his, her hand resting on his forearm as they walked.
“I know you wouldn’t do that" she smiled up at him.
“No promises" he shrugged back but his face softened into a smile.
“You can deny it until you're blue in the face but I know I softened you.” She said with a satisfied smirk, giving his arm a little squeeze.
He didn’t disagree. ]
Everyone parted ways to go to their cars, saying they'd see each other at the bar.
Tim led Lucy to the passenger side of his truck and opened the door for her.
“Such service" she grinned teasingly.
“All part of my driver duties I was voluntold for" he shrugged.
“I mean you don’t have to, I can drive myself” she pointed out.
“No" he answered quickly. “I wasn’t saying….I mean I want to do it”
A thought suddenly occurred to her and she pulled on his arm “Hmm, my driver…It's like you're my aide, I mean my gofer" she grinned excitedly.
“Absolutely not" he said, shutting it down immediately. “Don’t get any ideas"
“Oh I've got ideas" she said, letting go of his arm and turning to face him.
He gaze fell on his arm, immediately missing the feel of her touch.
“Did you have any ideas about tonight before we were ambushed into this gathering?” she asked.
He shoved his hands into his pockets like he didn’t trust them not to move on their own.
“I did" he nodded without hesitation. “But everyone wanted to celebrate with you and you deserve that, I want you to enjoy your win, so I'm here to serve you.”
“And just how are you going to do that?” she asked, taking a step closer. He stayed planted in his spot
“Drive you, get your drinks so you arent roofied and kidnapped as you so casually pointed out, or just keep you from getting white girl wasted” he grinned playfully.
“I'm only half white, not sure that applies" she pointed out, taking another step closer until they were almost chest to chest.
“And right now, I havent had anything to drink. My head is perfectly clear so I know exactly what I'm doing" she said looking up at him expectantly, her eyes landing on his lips.
“So was there anything you wanted to ask me?” she asked, gazing up at him.
He pretended to contemplate it for a moment, focusing his gaze away from her. “You mean like ask you on a date?” he paused, returning his gaze to her as his head dipped slowly closer to her.
She shifted slightly closer to him in response.
“Or ask you to be my girlfriend again?” he asked, earning a brilliant smile from her.
“Maybe something like that" she nodded.
“Or I could ask you to move in with me" he said boldly, watching her carefully for her reaction to see if he had gone too far.
But she just grinned back at him.
“Or even to marry me" he finished, making her breath hitch as they closed the remaining distance.
They were close enough that Tim could feel her breath on his lips when she spoke.
She put her hand on his chest, over his heart.
“What you ask, if anything…..I leave totally up to you" she said, their lips nearly touching now.
That was all he needed to hear. He was on her instantly, his mouth on hers, hands in her hair, pulling her in closer as they kissed needily.
Her hands slid under his shirt, needing to touch him. Her fingers skimming across his abs before coming to rest on his lower back, just above his hips, keeping his body pressed into hers.
When they finally broke away they were both grinning like idiots.
“You think they'd notice if I skipped my own party?” she asked, looking at him longingly as though she was considering stripping him right there in the parking lot.
“I don’t think they'd be surprised" he chuckled. “But I would catch all the blame and I really don’t want to deal with Lopez" he sighed.
“Oh my God, you're actually scared of her" Lucy teased.
“A little" he admitted with a shrug.
“That’s cute" Lucy smiled.
He shook his head “I'm not cute" he insisted, kissing her softly once more.
“You're adorable" Lucy smiled even bigger, pecking his lips in return.
“Stop it" he said, pulling her impossibly closer.
“Nope, never. This is what you signed up for" she said, pointing at herself. “And you're stuck with it forever. I'm never letting you go again" she said, turning serious.
“Good, don’t" he nodded. “Because I'm never letting you go either. You're it for me, you always were" he told her honestly.
This time it was her pulling him in for a kiss that they quickly got lost in once again.
When they pulled back, he didn’t release his hold on her, not letting her go far.
“I mean it Lucy" he said staring at her intently.
“I know you do" she smiled softly.
“Okay lets go before I fully commit to ditching everyone and drag you back to your house….er….maybe our house if you get to the 3rd question" she smiled back at him over her shoulder as she slid into the seat.
Tim's lips parted and he blew out a breath as he stared after her, completely in awe of this woman.
Once she was settled in her seat, he moved in, cupping her neck as he captured her lips again.
She giggled into the kiss “At this rate we're never going to make it there"
“I meant it, I want you to move in with me so we can get our life started. I hate that I caused us to miss all that time together" he said shaking his head.
“I know, me too. But now I see that it was probably what needed to happen" she nodded and stroked her thumb across his cheek lovingly.
“If I had dealt with it sooner maybe it wouldn’t have gotten to that point" he said shakily, looking down.
“We cant know that. Things happened the way they did but its behind us now okay?” she said encouragingly, scratching her fingers comfortingly through the back of his hair.
He nodded, “I'm sorry I hurt you, I wont ever do that again" he said assuredly.
“I know that too. I'll talk to Celina about the apartment" she smiled.
“Yeah?” he asked, as a happy smile spread across his face.
“Yeah" she repeated back softly. “I want to get to that last question" she said, biting her lip.
He froze for a second, panic flashing across his face and she knew he was contemplating how to ask.
She covered his lips with her fingers and shook her head “I didn’t mean now, I think we're good for today" she grinned.
He kissed her fingers then took that hand in his, lowering it to clear the path for another kiss.
“I love you so much" he breathed out, resting his forehead against hers.
“I love you too" she smiled lovingly and kissed his lips.
The moment was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
He sighed, she giggled.
“I'll give you one guess as to who that is" she said.
He sighed as he answered on speaker. “We're coming" he said, annoyed.
“Ew, why'd you answer the phone then?” Angela teased him mercilessly.
He promptly ended the call as Lucy dissolved into a fit of giggles.
“Lets go" he grumbled, stepping back to close her door begrudgingly.
He went around the front of the truck and slid into the drivers seat.
She leaned over, putting her palm on his thigh. “Patience babe, you've got me all night" she reminded him with a wink.
“That" he said, looking at her hand then at her “Isnt helping matters"
She giggled and went to take her hand away but he caught it and interlaced their fingers, leaving them resting on his thigh.
They walked in to everyone's suspicious glances.
“What kept you?” Angela asked, arching an eyebrow at them.
“I wanted to touch up my make-up, I figured we would be taking pics" Lucy explained easily.
“And yet it looks like your lipstick is smudged" Nyla pointed out with a knowing grin.
Lucy just grinned back “So what are we drinking?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Whatever will get the truth out of you quickest" Celina said.
“So, shots. I'm on it" Angela said, summoning their server. The guys all elected to stick with beer, while the ladies downed a tequila shot in toast to Sergeant Chen and badass women everywhere.
“I better warn Wesley and James" Grey sighed and pulled out his phone to text them to be ready to pick up their soon to be drunken wives.
“I’m just going to have this one beer, I can take them" Tim offered.
“Something tells me you’re not going to want to" Grey grinned knowingly and continued texting.
Tim shook his head and took a long sip of his beer.
The girls continued to supply alcohol and try to get information from Lucy but she wasn’t budging.
“Lieutenant, its time" Angela called to Grey.
He nodded. “Sergeant Chen" he grinned at the title. “Gotta get used to that. Anyway, In preparation for assuming your new role, I scheduled you off the next 4 shifts and we all pitched in to send you on a little getaway"
“What? You guys!” she smiled excitedly.
“Officer Penn will be riding with me as Sergeant Bradford also happens to be off" Nolan added.
Tim looked at Grey questioningly.
“We actually have 2 very different things booked and what you choose is going to tell us everything we want to know" Angela grinned deviously.
“You're ridiculous" Lucy said, shaking her head.
“Okay so option 1 is a spa weekend in Santa Barbara, that was my idea because you love spa treatments but you don’t treat yourself because of your crazy rigid budget" Celina said.
“Hey" Lucy protested making a face.
“Am I lying?” Celina challenged.
“No" Lucy reluctantly agreed. “But it isnt crazy, its practical and thought out"
“Thoroughly" Celina added.
Lucy made a face.
“So, BEACH spa weekend” Angela said, dramatically emphasizing the word beach or….”
“This very romantic, private, cliff-side lakefront cabin at Big Bear with a hot tub and gorgeous panoramic views" Nyla offered with a smirk, as she scrolled through the photos for the listing on her phone.
Lucy's eyes were glued to the phone.
She turned to Celina. “I do love the spa, thank you suggesting something you know I would love" She said hugging her as Angela and Nyla stared at each other in disbelief at their plan not working.
“Buuuuuuut, I am going to go with Big Bear" she grinned, waiting for the reaction she knew was coming.
The girls broke out in cheers, as both Grey and Nolan clapped Tim on his shoulders. Lucy just laughed, delighted in everyones excitement for her and Tim.
“Yes! I knew it! I could feel it as soon as you two walked in!” Celina said.
Angela pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you for giving him another chance" she whispered.
“He's worth it" Lucy answered, locking eyes with Tim.
“Get over here Bradford, get your girl" Angela called to him.
“Remember what I said" she told him, gripping his arms as she stepped aside for him to reach Lucy.
“I will" he promised.
Lucy reached for him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in as they kissed softly.
“Look at Bradford with the PDA" Nyla said, surprised.
“He's in love" Nolan nodded knowingly. Grey clinked his beer bottle against his, both men knowing just how he felt.
“Still, would have been nice for someone to warn me before I hit on my T.O's girl on my first day" Miles sighed.
“You shouldn’t have needed that warning boot. What rookie walks in the door and hits on a senior officer" Tim said, pulling back enough to chastise him.
“He’s not wrong" Lucy agreed. “But from one Bradford rookie to another, I'll be happy to swap stories with you as soon as you graduate the FTO program" she told him.
“Looking forward to it Ma’am” he smiled before Tim's glare wiped it right back off his face.