Story [The Rookie] "This 'n' That 'n' Those" | 2021 Summer Olympics | Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen Decathlon

Title: "This 'n' That 'n' Those"
Fandom: The Rookie
Author: Mira_Jade

Genre: General (expect a bit of everything)
Rating: PG-ish
Time Frame: Canon, with a big ol' helping of Future Speculation
Characters: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen, Ensemble Cast

Summary: A bit of this, a little of that, and a lot of those. A collection of moments for the 2021 FanFic Summer Olympics.


Author's Notes: Well, my muse is currently on a Rookie kick following the Season 3 finale. As Tim and Lucy have slowly crept up on me to become one of my newest OTPs, it felt only right to explore a bit of their dynamic through the FanFic Olympics. For those of you who are not familiar with the source material, but are curious anyway, I've included a bit of background below the spoiler tags. For everyone else, I thank you for reading and hope that you enjoy!

Spoiler: The Rookie Synopsis

The Rookie is a police procedural drama that follows John Nolan (played by the one and only Nathan Fillion ), who, in his forties, is the the oldest cop to have graduated from the Academy and joined the LAPD. (That part, interestingly enough, is actually based on a true story.) The plot follows Nolan and his fellow rookie officers, Lucy Chen and Jackson West, as they navigate acclimating to the ups and downs of police work and everything in-between.

Spoiler: Who are Tim/Lucy and Why Do I Ship Them?

That brings me to Lucy and her training officer, Tim Bradford. To sketch out the basics without being too spoilery: I enjoyed their dynamic from the beginning. Tim pulled no punches, was clearly ex-military in his drill sergeant ways, and pushed every last one of Lucy's buttons and then some. Yet, after a rough start, Lucy thrived for the challenges he heaped on her and has since grown into a strong, smart cop for every lesson. You could have left it there and I would have been perfectly content. Their interaction was enjoyable even in the early days when shipping was out of the question. Beyond the power imbalance that initially made any sort of romantic relationship inappropriate, S1 was also a bit of a personal mess for both characters. Lucy gave up pursuing a relationship with Nolan for not wanting to risk her reputation by dating a fellow officer while fresh on the force. Meanwhile, Tim was dealing with the return of his wife, Isabel - who was an undercover narcotics detective who developed an addiction in the course of her work and fell off the grid as a junkie. The season had Tim grappling with moral questions of how far to go with protecting and helping her verses enabling her - which Lucy found herself in the middle of more than once - and ended with Isabel finally in rehab and on the road to recovery. The two ended up divorcing, with their relationship having taken too many blows to allow them to heal and move on together.

Then S2 came along. By that point I loved their friendship; they'd already survived more than a few close calls together and had a strong bond - little as Tim would ever admit aloud, of course. Plus, they had - and still have - all the sass and snarking. Seriously: so much sassy snarky banter. Still, shipping was more of a hazy this has possibility in the future more so than anything else. That was, until the Rosalind Dyer plot-arc came along. In this storyline, simply put, Lucy survived being the target of a serial killer and, just . . . how strong Tim and Lucy's bond was during those episodes and then after as she processed her trauma and went about healing was where I really fell into the OTP deep-end. It's been downhill for me since then with the writers teasing us with so many little things and the scenes you know I am talking about in the S3 finale. Because Lucy isn't a rookie anymore, and the power imbalance is gone, and there are just so many possibilities now that we've just been cleared for Season 4 by the Powers That Be . . .

Anyway: snark and sass and fierce loyalty between two characters who challenge and help each other grow for the better? Yep. You better believe that'll get me every time.

If any more specific plot details are required down the line, I will be sure to include them. But, those are the bullet-points to start.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, but for the words. My title is a nick from Billie Holiday's This 'n' That 'n' Those, and a fond tribute to Lucy's love of classic singers and standards. Every event in this collection will have a similar such title used as inspiration. (Fun fact: Melissa O'Neil, the actress who plays Lucy, was the winner of the third season of Canadian Idol and has since starred on Broadway in both Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Misérables. Which makes her musically inclined moments on the show even better, especially this one. )

---

Index of Events​

I. "On the Sunny Side of the Street" | 400 Word Cross Country

II. "Morning Glory" | 110 Word Hurdle

III. "Because of Rain" | 200 Word Freestyle

IV. "Wait Until the Sun Shines Through" | 100 Word Sprint

V. "As We're Dancing Cheek to Cheek" | 1500 Word Dash

VI. "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" | Single Sentence Shot Put



~ MJ

 

Author's Note: We're going to kick things off with a little S2 missing scene for my 400 Word Cross Country event. My title is fondly borrowed from Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields' On the Sunny Side of the Street of the same name. There are so many fantastic versions of this song, but I'm going to have to link you to Ella Fitzgerald's rendition as my favorite.

Spoiler: Relevant Plot Notes

Angela Lopez is Jackson West's training officer (though she has since been promoted to detective), and an old friend of Tim's. They were rookies who joined the precinct around the same time, and have a very strong bond after a decade of serving together. She even made Tim her man of honor in her wedding, and they have definite brOTP status in my heart.

This ficlet falls right after Lucy's surviving her ordeal with Caleb Wright, while she's out on medical leave . . .

---

I.

"on the sunny side of the street"
400 Word Cross Country | Tim & Angela, post 2x11: “Day of Death”​

There was a bounce in his step and a smile on his face as he grabbed their gear for the day. “You know I’d only do this for you,” he told Angela after the sergeant assigned them together, who’d looked at him oddly but had grinned along for his good mood anyway. (He’d scared Jackson, though, who'd whispered to Nolan: this is how the end of the world begins. But that was satisfying enough in its own way.)

Tim hadn’t even realized that he was humming as he buckled his seatbelt – one of the many old classics that Chen liked to sing, with something about gold dust at her feet and worries left at the doorstep and without another cent I’m as rich as old Rockafeller, until -

- sitting shotgun in Chen’s place – which was okay, because Lucy was alive and they’d freed her because his brilliantresoursefulpainintheasssmart partner had saved herself and she’d be right back there next to him whereshebelonged in no time – Angela looked like she was fighting not to tease him.

“Are you singing?” she leaned over the console to suspiciously peer into his eyes. “Who are you and what have you done with Tim?”

With that, his mouth snapped shut as he realized that he had, in fact, been doing just that. Tim Bradford did not sing – not ever, and especially not while in uniform when he should have been mentally preparing himself for a day of patrol. If he was his rookie, he’d have him doing push-ups in the garage until he got his head on straight.

“What?” he scoffed. “Boot’s always singing some song or another, and they get stuck in my head. You know rookies, some things you just can’t train out of them.”

“I suppose,” Angela flashed him an unimpressed look, like he was a suspect with a flimsy alibi, before her expression softened. “You don’t have to stop, though. It . . . it’s nice.”

She didn’t say anything more of what he knew she was thinking: that she’d known him through more bad times than good now, and it had been years since he felt the urge to whistle while he worked or whatever nonsense Chen liked to go on about. Instead, she just picked up humming where he left off.

Life sure is sweet, his hands traitorously tapped against the wheel, on the sunny side of the street.



~ MJ

 

Thanks so much for the feedback, guys! I really appreciated every word.

Tim would like to emphasize the not entirely gooey part. But it's too late, we know what he's about.

In all seriousness, though, thank-you! It can be a tricky balance to achieve between those soft and hard edges in a character like Tim, so it's great to know this scene felt right to you.

As much fun as it is to ship, it's really these bonds of friendship between the ensemble cast that make this show! Tim and Angela have such a great friendship that I loved exploring in this entry.

Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing, as always.

Right??? They weren't even a blip on my radar in S1 (like you, I would have even been a hearty non shipper), but between the latter half of S2 and now . . . yep, I'm happily onboard and flying my flags proudly.

Officer All Bark, ladies and gentlemen, here he is! Like I was saying to brodie, that can be such a difficult balance to strike with characters like Tim, so I'm thrilled to hear that this struck the right chord for you.

Thank-you so much! I was thrilled for your feedback, and hope that you continue to enjoy the rest of this collection.



~ MJ

 

Author's Notes: These three events all share a common theme and time frame, somewhere in late S3-ish, so I'm just going to post them all together to tell a bit of a larger tale.

Then to disclaim, my first title is taken from What's Your Story, Morning Glory? originally by Andy Kirk and Mary Lou Williams, but sang by Ella Fitzgerald in the version I linked. (Though my inspiration was very tongue in cheek, to say the least.) The second one is from Because of Rain, again the Ella version of Nat King Cole's song. The third is from My Melancholy Baby, which was originally written by Ernie Burnett and George A. Norton.

Spoiler: Plot Notes

In the latter half of S2, Lucy adopted a dog (you can say that was a bit of a coping mechanism/protective measure) that she ended up being unable to care for properly. (Long shifts and a tiny apartment don't mix, and Jackson can attest to Kojo's chewing habit when he's bored and left to get into mischief by himself. ) Tim stepped in and took Kojo for her so that she didn't have to completely give him up. (The big ol' softy. ) Which leads us to . . .

---

II.

"Morning Glory"
(110 Word Hurdle)​

The text came obnoxiously bright and early: Look what your dog did.

There was an attached picture of Kojo, his tongue lolling and fuzz stuck to his muzzle as he posed over a mess of flayed couch cushions.

At 0536: His walk was delayed by five minutes.

0537: FIVE.

0537: If I’m dealing with this, then so are you.

At 0538 she answered: It’s Saturday and I'm off-duty. He’s your dog now, remember? No take-backs.

His reply was ominous in its brevity: See you Monday, Boot.

And, just like that, she was wide awake. Meet you at the dog park, ETA 0600?

0540: We’ll see you then.



III.

“Because of Rain”
(200 Word Freestyle)​

She asked for the first pictures, which Tim provided grudgingly. After that they came randomly throughout the day.

Lucy laughed for a shot of Kojo snuggled up with the neighbor’s cat, and had to share with Nolan and Jackson over beers and burgers after shift.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Jackson muttered darkly. “He’s really a hell-hound.”

“He looks happy,” Nolan approved, returning her phone.

“He really is,” Lucy agreed, her expression softening as she typed her reply. “He’s home.”

Still looking down, she missed the glance her friends traded. “So . . . you text Bradford after hours?” Jackson commented.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, only belatedly frowning when she realized that she was being given a look. “What, you guys don’t text your T.O.s?”

“Just sometimes,” Jackson shrugged, reaching over to steal a fry.

“Harper isn’t really the texting type,” Nolan said diplomatically. Which was fair; if Tim was all bark, then Nyla was the bite.

“Neither is Tim,” Lucy rolled her eyes. “If there wasn’t the dog, what would we have to talk about that twelve hour shifts together don’t cover?”

That was the truth, wasn’t it? And yet . . . Lucy put her phone down, and carefully ignored it for the rest of the meal.



IV.

"Wait Until the Sun Shines Through"
(100 Word Sprint)​

Lucy sat in the parking lot with her doors locked, trying to catch her breath. The date had been going good, too – all until he’d offered her more wine and took her glass . . .

Her fingers fumbled as she sent Tim a text: Got any pictures for me?

You’re hopeless, was his reply, but three images were quick enough to follow.

Thanks, she felt her heartbeat level out. I needed that.

A moment passed. Are you okay? appeared next on her screen, hesitant but not unwelcome. She breathed deeply, in and out, reminding herself that she still could.

I am now.



~ MJ

 

That line really just wrote itself, what can I say?

The funny thing is that this is still pre-ship for Tim and Lucy! She just had it pointed out to her that they are closer than she realized, which of course had to be an unsettling moment.

Honestly, I may have been too subtle here because of the word limit. Her date was probably just a nice guy who wasn't up to anything untoward, but her drink being tampered with was how Caleb got her in the first place. I think she just had a bit of a PTSD attack and had to take a moment to recover - or at least that was what I was trying to imply. Maybe with another hundred words I could have done better in spelling that out!

Honestly, she's going to have trust issues with every new date moving forward, or so I can imagine - but that's one of the reasons I love her with Tim so much. She already trusts him, completely. With him she won't have to build up from scratch and question her instincts like she did here, which is so important!

Ask and ye shall receive!

He really is her safety net, it's too true. Their absolute trust in each other is one of my favorite things about their dynamic. So, even if she was just having a bit of a bad flashback with that drink, Tim's the first person she turns to when she's trying to come down out of her spiral.

Also: Kojo is the best dog - even if Jackson doesn't agree, and I love that they are already puppy-parents who share custody. That's really just the best.

Thank-you for reading, my friend! As always.

It is so kind of you to pop in and give these stories a go, even when you're not familiar with the source material! That made my day to hear. As much as I love Tim/Lucy - they are soooo well matched - The Rookie really does have the best ensemble cast, so I'm glad all those friendships came across as strong as I wanted them to be.

Exactly. In canon, Lucy did have a very bad experience that started with someone tampering with her drink, so her extra vigilance here sadly comes from a place of knowing better the hard way. Her date may have been a wholly nice guy, but she won't take any chances.

Aw thanks!

And then I say definitely give The Rookie a try! It's such a fun, heartwarming show with just the right amount of drama and angst to keep things interesting, and, of course, Nathan Fillion is at his absolute best throughout. What's not to love?



Alrighty, then! Thank-you so much for your kind words, everyone. I'll have more up in just a little bit.


~ MJ

 

Author's Notes: I hardly have to say it, but my first title is taken from Irving Berlin's Cheek to Cheek, made famous by none other than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The second title is from What a Little Moonlight Can Do of the same name, by Billie Holiday.

Then, as a disclaimer: beware of all the fluff. If you do not like all things bright and happy and joyous, then these two events are not for you. But after that S3 finale, I felt I was warranted a bit of mushy S4 speculation such as this.

Enjoy!

---

V.

"As We’re Dancing Cheek to Cheek"
(1500 Word Dash | Angela/Wesley’s POV; S4 speculation fight me, canon)​

“You know, I even managed to get married and those two idiots still can’t figure it out.”

“You make it sound as if one thing was supposed to directly coincide with the other.” Not even hours away from the altar, and she knew how to interpret that look. Wesley smiled, but not without first shaking his head, his mouth taking on that particular little smirk that either made her hands want to clench into firsts – or kiss him. Thankfully, their dancing together – finally as man and wife – made the decision for her. She swatted his shoulder, but still allowed him to hold her close as they swayed to the music together.

“Well, no, not exactly,” Angela defended without retreating. “But I know how to make the best use of what resources I have. Would you look at that tux? I made Tim my man of honor just so he could wear that tux. And look at Lucy in that dress – that dress. Do you know how much of a sacrifice that was on my part? I could have been the evil bride I had every right to be and insisted that she’d wear hot pink chiffon up to her eyeballs – especially when I feel like a beached whale right now with your kid doing all sorts of interesting things to my figure - ”

“ - I have to say it, but there’s only one dress I’m really noticing right now – and one very . . . interesting figure wearing that dress.”

Of course she had to kiss her husband for that. “Nicely said, Mr. Lopez.” She broke the kiss and drew away just slightly to add, “and to think that I might have caught you there.”

“Oh,” Wesley dropped his voice to a low, husky whisper, and there went those butterflies again, “I’m all too happy to be caught, officer.”

That definitely deserved a kiss, too. “You’re trying to distract me,” she murmured, eyes shining. “And it’s a very good distraction, granted, but I still - ”

“ - they’ll figure it out,” Wesley gently interrupted to assure her, fighting back a grin all the while. “Just give them time.”

“But how much time?” she knew that she was bordering on petulance, but couldn’t seem to help it. “You know that I stood up at his wedding with Isabel, too, right? I watched her wreck him, and helped him pick up the pieces, and now . . . he’s my friend, Wes, and it’s . . . it’s been too long already.”

She closed her eyes to remember back when I think Isabel is having an affair turned into it's so much worse than that. She remembered the exact day Isabel disappeared, and how Tim had thrown himself into his work to cope when he realized that this time she wasn't coming home, his hard shell only cracking to look up for every blonde head that passed through booking as he paid special attention to every drug den and dealer they busted, hoping with such an awful hope all the while . . .

It had been so long since she'd seen her friend content in his own skin; he'd too long been the abused kid, the war vet, the abandoned husband who didn't know how to process his grief. But she didn't want him just merely content. No, she wanted him happy and cared for and loved in a relationship where he wasn't the only one bearing his heart (as much as he'd scoff at her for saying so), but also having that heart cherished in return. Angela thought Lucy could be that for him – she already was, in so many ways, at that . . . just as he was for her.

A long moment passed, filled with only the gentle rhythm of the music and happy clamor of their closest friends and family celebrating their union. She leaned her head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat sound in tandem with their baby’s languid kicking. It was a hushed, intimate feeling that she would never completely get over for the awe it inspired. Not so long ago, it was a treasure she had worried might be torn from her forever. Now, she simply held on tighter and cherished it all the more so.

“Maybe they are just trying to avoid the appearance of anything inappropriate?” Wesley finally offered. Apparently, he’d been turning the matter over from every angle in the meantime. Her crusades did so often find a way of becoming his. “Tim was still her T.O., what, just a few months ago?”

Oh yeah . . . that. After everything the precinct's three rookies had endured together during their first year on the force, sometimes she had a hard time remembering that they weren't veteran cops just like the rest of them. “Stop talking like a lawyer,” Angela gave a grumpy huff into his tuxedo jacket. “It’s not a turn-on right now.”

“Careful,” he brushed a kiss against the top of her pinned curls, “you literally just signed a contract saying I do. You can’t throw me back now.”

“You better believe there’s nowhere left for you to go,” Angela stood up to her full height again with a smirk. “And don’t you think for a second that I missed the as long as you both shall live in those vows. I’ll hold you to that.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Mrs. Evers.”

Her smile then felt wide enough to split her face as her heart turned impossibly full. It didn’t matter then: their first aborted wedding, looking down the aisle towards her future and watching as it was all torn away from her. The fear and the uncertainty they had suffered meant nothing now, not when she had this man and this child to complete her life's circle and make her whole in a way she never knew was possible before. She kissed her new husband then with everything she had to give as they paused in their dance, raising a few teasing whoops from her fellow officers and inspiring yet another round of raised glasses and cheers. She would have happily continued kissing him – forever, the romanticism of the day wasn't lost on some girlish part of her as she felt a giddy fluttering in her chest, the same as if she’d been allowed to drink the good champagne that Wesley’s mom had splurged on, until -

“ - I would never call my beautiful, detective wife distracted – though, wow, what a great distraction,” Wesley drew away from her to whisper, “but need I point out that they both left the dance floor when you weren’t looking? Then, they both exited the ballroom separately. Circumstantial evidence and pure speculation, if you ask me, and yet . . .”

“Hey: there’s no greater weight to be found between circumstantial and direct evidence, remember? People v Lin Foon. And, if that legalese means what I think it means . . .”

“You know that’s true, but technically, if I was arguing this case for the defendant I would focus on the uncertain nature of conjecture and whether or not - ”

“ - yeah, yeah, stow it,” Angela fondly hushed her husband. “Look there: Jackson's coming over. And I know that face. He’s about to lose a bet.”

Sure enough: “Fine,” just a moment later her rookie – no, her fellow officer, now; a proud P2 and her second bridesman, at that – wore a scowl on his face that didn't quite measure up against the smile that was lighting up his eyes. “You win. They’re out back in the garden and making out like a couple of teenagers. It was gross, and my eyes are scarred.” Huffing, he surreptitiously pressed a crumpled twenty-dollar bill into her hand. “Be right back. Gotta go pay Harper now. And Smitty, too. How the hell did Smitty beat me?”

“Aw, my poor boot,” Angela crooned with a smile that was all teeth. She ruthlessly tucked her prize away in the bodice of her gown and ignored Wesley as he rolled his eyes and muttered something about and people think lawyers are mercenary. “At least you’re collecting from Nolan, though?” she had to make sure. "I know that I taught you how to read people better than that."

For that, Jackson smirked. “Oh, everyone is collecting from Nolan. Speaking of, I need to go cash in before his wallet empties out. It’s not going to completely cover my deficit, but it’s gonna help.” He saluted her with a wink, and then turned on his heel to go find his friend.

Angela gave a bright laugh to let him go before she turned back to her husband – her husband – who was watching her with a fondly patient expression all the while. The look was love in one of its myriad formed, and she basked in the rightness of the moment. “Are you happy now?” he asked.

“Oh,” she whispered as she stood on the tips of her toes to tug her new husband down to her level again, “just about.” And then he was kissing the smile from her lips even as she laughed against his mouth, content down to her very bones that everything had finally – blessedly – worked out the way she had prayed and dreamed . . . for everyone.

---

VI.

"What a Little Moonlight Can Do"
(Single Sentence Shot Put | 1500 Word Dash companion)​

“Is this another test?” she whispered as he leaned in close to her, and then he was kissing the smile from her mouth and oh, oh but that was the bit of magic in the moonlight she’d been looking for, right there next to her all along.

Of course he was smirking for her slightly dazed expression when he pulled away, but that was okay. Lucy found the best way to wipe off that grin was to kiss him, and that she’d oh so happily do again and again -





~ MJ