Title: In Pieces
author: Cindy Ryan
spoilers: all

The sun's warmth and fresh air.
Two things Lucy Chen thought she'd never experience again. She'd been buried alive after being drugged on a date. She'd been fooled by a man that had turned out to have ties to a notorious female serial killer.

Minutes after being in her T.O's Tim Bradford's arms Lucy found herself in an ambulance. Memories of her captivity were coming back as Lucy orientated herself. The crowded ambulance held two paramedics an older man with a bald head and a young red haired female. On the right sitting on the bench were Tim and Lucy's C.O Sgt Wade Grey. Both men looked dirty and tired testament to the search they'd endured to find her.

"Ma'am."The male paramedic was saying. "Can you tell me your injuries?"

Lucy began to list what she knew of her cuts and bruises and possibly a twisted left ankle and a few bruised ribs. Lucy swallowed hard as a particular memory surfaced. One so violent that she didn't want to put words to it, but she knew she had too. Forming the words was one of the bravest things Lucy had ever done. She cleared her throat and spoke focusing on the paramedic and not the two men to her right. Angry tears tracked down Lucy's face.

"I was raped."Lucy stated quietly.

Despite her best efforts her voice broke. Lucy turned her head away from the medics staring at the ambulance wall to the right of the female medic. She heard curses from Tim and a muttered one from Grey. The ambulance continued it's trek through the streets it's siren being the only sound for several minutes. Lucy finally gave into the exhaustion and closed her eyes. She was asleep before they reached the hospital.

When they reached the hospital Lucy was whisked inside. Tim and Grey followed but Tim retreated outside after a few minutes. His emotions and thoughts were spinning. Bile was in his throat threatening to release what little he'd eaten that day. Tim stalked the sidewalk outside the ER entrance his fists clenched at his side. Lucy's quiet statement echoing through his tortured troubled thoughts.

'I was raped.'

Anger swept through Tim like he'd never known. Part of it at himself the rest at Wright and Rosalyn. Tim had completely failed Lucy; his partner. She may be his rookie on paper, but Lucy had long since stopped being that. The quarantine had changed them along with Tim trying to save his marriage; dealing with Isabel's addiction and the dark world she'd fallen into. Lucy had helped him through that though she probably didn't realize how much.

'You need to have a drink; particularly with another human.'

Tim still didn't know how Wright had played him. He'd fooled everyone. Everyone but Lucy. She'd hesitated about calling Caleb back. Then that long bad shift occurred and she'd received the worst advice from her T.O Lucy had not only been buried alive but she'd suffered the worst attack a woman could face. Worse, the son of a bitch was dead and Tim couldn't kill him. Couldn't give Lucy justice.

Tim sank down onto the curb of the sidewalk next to one of the ambulances. As he put his head in his hands and rested his hands on his knees he heard his name being called. It was only then that he recognized it as Grey. He heard footsteps as the older man stopped and crouched next to him placing a comforting hand on Tim's left shoulder. Tim hadn't told him that he was the reason Lucy had been taken. He'd only been able to confess that shame to Angela. Now, Tim had no choice.

"Tim..."Grey began quietly.

"This is on me."Tim replied hoarsely. "Every bit of pain she's endured and will endure is on me."

"What are you talking about?"Grey asked.

"She wanted to go home and sleep."Tim explained hauntingly. "I told her that was a bad idea. She needed to be around people; get a drink. Focus on something else."

"Wright fooled a lot of people."Grey soothed.

"I should've seen it; seen what he was."Tim thundered as he shot to his feet. "I let her down."

Turning on his heel Tim stormed away.