A/N: Hey guys!! I am so excited to be writing this story!! The Rookie is my absolute favorite show right now, so I hope I'm doing the show justice in this story!! Most of my fanfics about The Rookie will be centered around Lucy and Bradford! Read and review and let me know if you like the story so far!! Thanks!
Summary: Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen are both trying to figure out their feelings towards each other, which is complicated because of their training officer and rookie status. But when a call goes wrong and one of them is left fighting for their life, it changes everything.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Rookie it any of its characters... (if I did, Bradford and Lucy would already be together lol)
(This story is set sometime in the beginning/early middle of season 2. After Tim got infected but way before what happened to Lucy (don't want to spoil the show if some of you haven't caught up yet lol))
Chapter 1
Tim Bradford walked into the Los Angeles Police Department and took his seat at roll call. The whole department was gearing up for one of the hottest days of the summer, and Bradford was not looking forward to it. To add to that, tonight was going to be a full moon, and the crazies were already starting to come out. Some people didn't believe that the full moon caused people to go crazy, but having worked with the LAPD for twelve years, Bradford had seen many instances of strange things happening during a full moon.
"Alright, listen up!" Sergeant Wade Grey called from the front of the room. "Today is going to bring us record high temperatures, and tonight, a full moon. Those two things together are going to be an interesting combination, so don't let your guard down and don't let anything surprise you. Be safe out there."
Bradford left the room with his friend and fellow training officer, Angela Lopez following behind him. "Hey, me and some of the guys are going to get a drink after shift. Want to join us?" she asked him.
"Can't. I'm going out tonight."
"Going out with somebody?" she questioned, smiling.
"Yes, with somebody." He curtly replied, not willingly giving up any information.
"And, is this somebody a she?" Lopez pushed.
He stopped and turned to glare at her. She just smiled at him, and he sighed, "yes, the somebody is a she. I have a date tonight."
"Aww, is it a first date?"
"You're lucky I told you I had a date at all," he joked. "Let's get to work, its going to be crazy today. You and West stay safe."
"You too. See you later."
He turned and almost ran into his rookie, Officer Lucy Chen. "Boot. Where's our gear?"
"I'm going to get it right now, sir."
"Make it quick, the calls aren't going to answer themselves."
She nodded and walked past him and got their gear, then met him at the shop.
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Bradford and Chen had been on the streets for no more than 10 minutes when their radio crackled to life, "7-Adam-19, reports of a possible domestic disturbance at 347 Crenshaw Drive. Neighbors said they heard screaming and yelling coming from the house."
Lucy grabbed the radio and responded, "7-Adam-19, copy. En route."
Bradford switched the lights and siren on and pressed down on the gas. Two minutes later they pulled up at the address and were surprised when they saw a young lady frantically run out of the house. She ran up to them crying hysterically.
"Ma'am, I'm Officer Bradford, can you tell me what's wrong? Is someone after you? Does anyone in the house have a weapon?" Bradford tried getting information out of her.
"No, no... my baby sister... is choking!" She yelled between sobs, "please... help her!"
Bradford sprinted for the house while hollering behind him to Lucy, "Chen, radio for medics!"
Lucy grabbed the radio and said, "7-Adam-19, requesting medics. There's a baby choking at this address."
"7-Adam-19, ambulance already responding, we just got a call from one of the residents. ETA about 3 minutes out."
Lucy followed the young lady into the house, and they found Tim carefully taking a small baby girl from a hysterical mother and father. They caught the tail end of what the father was saying, "we were sitting right here with Olivia, I don't even know how it happened. Please, help my baby girl!"
The little girl's eyes and mouth were opened wide, but no sound was coming out of her mouth. Her skin was starting to turn blue.
Lucy walked next to Bradford and spoke quietly so only he could hear "medics are 3 minutes out, that's way too long."
He nodded and gently turned the baby over in his arms, so she was facedown along one of his forearms, holding her head lower than her chest. He used the heel of his other hand to deliver quick, firm back blows while whispering to himself, and the little girl, "Come on... come on, Olivia..."
After a few blows, they all saw a grape fly out of her mouth and heard the reassuring sound of her take a deep breath in, and let it out, now screaming. Lucy released the breath she didn't realize she was holding in and felt tears well up in her eyes, as Bradford carefully handed Olivia back to her parents, who were crying with relief.
"Oh, thank you. You saved our baby, thank you so much!" The mother said, crying and hugging her baby tight.
Bradford just nodded, then said, "An ambulance should be here any minute, they'll probably want to take Olivia to the hospital for evaluation."
The parents nodded and continued holding their crying little girl. Olivia's sister, the young lady who had come out to the car, rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Bradford. He tensed at first, but then relaxed when she said, "thank you for saving my sister, Officer Bradford. We'll never be able to repay you."
"You don't need to repay me. I'm just doing my job." Bradford replied nonchalantly. They heard the ambulance sirens, and all went out to meet the medics.
Bradford led the way so he could talk to the EMTs first. He detailed what happened to them, and they decided to take Olivia to the hospital for evaluation and observation. After the ambulance drove off, Bradford and Lucy headed back to their shop.
"You were amazing back there," Lucy smiled at him.
"All part of the job. Crazy situations are always going to come up, boot. You just have to be prepared for anything and everything. Don't ever forget that." He said and gave her a small smile back.
Tim Bradford was as tough as nails, and the hardest training officer in the LAPD. Lucy couldn't deny that he had some very odd ways of teaching her lessons, but driving away from that call, Lucy knew this was one lesson that she would always remember.
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The rest of the day was just as crazy as that first call. Bradford and Lucy responded to an assailant with a machete in a shopping center, a report of gunshots near the Santa Monica pier, they had four traffic stops leading to the arrests of two individuals and worked a three-car accident with serious injuries.
Bradford was relieved that their shift was finally over. He ran into Lucy on the way out of the station, "Boot, good work today."
"Thank you, sir. I'm going to get a drink with Angela, Nolan, West and some of the guys. Are you coming too?"
"Not tonight, I already have plans. Rain check, though." He said and headed towards his truck.
Lucy watched him walk away and was surprised to discover that she was a little disappointed he wasn't joining them. She pushed those feelings aside and went to find Lopez.
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The next morning Tim took his seat next to Lopez at roll call. "So... how was your date last night?" Lopez asked.
"I don't really want to talk about it, Lopez."
"You know I have to ask, what happened? And don't feed me bull crap. Seriously, tell me what happened."
Bradford sighed, "well, the evening seemed to be going pretty well. She was a blind date, one of my friends set me up with her, and apparently, he forgot to mention my career. After I told her that I'm a cop, she basically told me that she likes me, but she didn't want to spend every night of her life worrying if her significant other is going to come home. She didn't want to lead me on, so she told me she doesn't want another date."
"I'm sorry, Tim. There's someone out there for you, you just have to keep looking."
Bradford started to say something back but was glad when Sgt. Grey started speaking from the front of the room. He didn't want to get all into his feelings right now. He was content with where his relationship life was right now, at least that's what he kept telling himself.
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Later, he was riding in the shop with Lucy when they heard John Nolan's call over the radio, "7- Adam-15, requesting backup for a felony traffic stop. Troy Boulevard and Langley Drive."
"7-Adam-19, responding. ETA 3 minutes." Lucy replied to the call.
When they pulled up, they saw that Harper and Nolan had already blocked off and diverted traffic, and they both had their weapons drawn and were yelling commands to the driver of an old red Toyota. They got out and drew their weapons as well, and yelled "covering", to let Harper and Nolan know they were there. The driver of the Toyota complied with all their commands, he got out, and they handcuffed him.
After putting him in the car Harper called out, "let's search his car."
Bradford had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Hold on guys, something doesn't feel right."
"What do you mean? He's in custody, there's no one else in the car. Piece of cake." Harper replied matter-of-factly.
"That's exactly what I mean. He went too easily. It was a piece of cake, which is what makes me feel like something is wrong."
"Come on, Bradford. Take this for what it is. He gave up, he's arrested. That's it. We can be done as soon as we search the car and call a tow truck."
"Harper, think about it, what is this guy's rap sheet?"
Nolan spoke up, "petty theft, larceny, possession, and currently has warrants out for assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and grand theft."
Bradford continued, "this guy is going away for a long time. He doesn't have much to lose. Why would he give himself up so easily?"
"Bradford, it's a scorcher out here today. I don't feel like sitting out here in the blazing sun while you try to figure out your gut feeling. Nolan and I are searching the car, and it would go a lot faster and be a lot easier if you would help."
Bradford angrily sighed, "okay, but I still don't like it."
"I didn't say you had to." Harper snidely replied.
Harper and Nolan started searching the front seat, while Lucy started in the backseat, and Bradford moved towards the trunk, all the while furiously mumbling to himself. He was angry that Harper didn't want to listen to him. The feeling he had told him something was very wrong, and his instinct was rarely ever wrong.
He popped open the trunk and his eyes went wide at what he saw. "Bomb!" he yelled, "Less than 10 seconds! Everyone out of the car!" Harper, Nolan, and Lucy jumped out of the car and started running. Bradford had waited for them to get out of the car and run ahead of him, so he was bringing up the rear.
They hadn't made it far when they heard a thunderous explosion behind them. Harper and Nolan had made it behind their car, while Bradford and Lucy were a few steps away. Bradford lunged forward and threw himself on top of his rookie as carefully as he could. They felt the force of the explosion, and the heat on their backs as the ground shook.
What came after could only be described as an unnerving silence.
I hope you guys enjoyed this! Review and let me know what you think about my first fanfic for The Rookie!! Thanks for reading!!