Story [The Rookie] The Beat Goes On -2021 Summer Olympics-ensemble cast

Title: The Beat Goes On
Author: brodiew
Characters: Officers Nolan, Chen, Bradford, West, Lopez, Harper, Gray, et al.
Genres: Drama, humor, romance, angst.
Time frame: Modern day Los Angeles
Summary: The Rookie (2018) was inspired by a true story. John Nolan is the oldest rookie in the LAPD. At an age where most people are at the peak of their careers, Nolan cast aside his comfortable, small-town life and moved to L.A. to pursue his dream of being a cop.
A/N: This thread is a NSWFF entry into the 2021 Fan FictionSummer Olympics. I opted to do a Pentathlon. We'll see how it goes.

110 Word Hurdle

Honey, I'm Home

Within a couple of days of them moving in together, she had taken to saying 'Honey, I'm home!' when arriving at their apartment after work. The fact that they were not dating and that he was not straight made the greeting all the more fun. Her roommate's standard response became 'What's for dinner?' which made them both fall into a fit of laughter on the couch. The natural progression of their banter ranged from the benign, 'How was your day?' to the more absurd 'What headache?' Eighteen months later, the greeting and the response were still in place, even if the tone varied based on the events of the day.

 

I love this look at Lucy and Jackson's relationship and how it evolves. I love their friendship (and with Nolan, of course!) and how they are really there for each other no matter what the situation. This story really shows that!

Great job!! I'm excited to read more!

 

@mavjade: Thank you for stopping in, mav. It is heartening to know there is another Rookie fan out there. Lucy and Jackson are great. Their chemistry is just so good in the humorous as well as the dramatic.
@Mira_Jade: Mira! I am so glad you liked this. It is short, but sweet. They are there for each other, high and low.

A/N This piece is a preamble and interlude to Assumption, a ficlet from @Mira_Jade's Speak, Friend, and Enter thread, presently featuring The Rookie. At one point in that ficlet, Tim says that Nolan just threatened him. It is a humorous moment for which I challenged Mira to write the exchange between the two men. She counter challenged me and his 400 word intrspection for Bradford is a lead in. I hope to get their verbal exchange into the Pentathlon soon.


400 Word Cross Country

Prep Time

Tim Badford didn't know what to do with John Nolan. He had wanted to simply watch the guy crash and burn as the oldest Rookie in the LAPD. That hadn't happened. He had wanted to chalk the guy up to a fool on a fool's errand. That had not turned out to be the case. He had even wanted to hate the guy simply because he and Lucy had been in a relationship. Tim Bradford was not a petty man. Aside from a couple of stumbles and one major trip up, Nolan had turned out to be a pretty good cop. Not Tim's kind of cop, necessarily, but a solid, dependable boot. Talia said so. Harper said so. And, Tim had two eyes of his own. Nolan wanted to Protect and Serve. Like it was in his DNA. As much as Tim didn't care for those those that wore their emotions on their sleeves, he could see that Nolan cared about the public, cared about the job, and cared about his fellow officers.

Lucy and he had talked about her relationship with Nolan and why it had stopped. And, why their new relationship would be difficult for the department to handle. He wasn't thinking about them at the moment. He was thinking about Nolan. Lucy could have been the one to tell him. She wanted to be. However, Tim persuaded her to let him do it. She knew that he and Nolan weren't close. She knew he respected the guy, but didn't connect with him. She knew that their might be some tension. You should probably do some of the those breathing exercises I recommended, she said, knowing the tension would probably be more on his side. Tim Bradford did not do breathing exercises.

As Tim signed off shift, he was surprised by a twinge of nervousness. He shook it off as he scanned the building for Nolan. End of watch seemed seemed as good a time as any to break the news. He might even offer to buy the guy a beer. If he was with Lucy. If he loved Lucy, which he most emphatically did, he would need to get to know Nolan. He and Jackson were her best friends on and off the Force. As much as it rankled him to have to go outside of his comfort zone, it would be worth it in the long run.

 

I love this look at Tim and I think you characterized him perfectly! He and Nolan are very different, but I do think Tim sees him as a good guy and a good cop.

I think this is also a great characterization of Nolan, and to have it come from Tim's POV is heart warming.

I think things would go well with this conversation, but Nolan might give Tim a bit of crap which would be fun! I really like that he wanted to be the one to tell Nolan, that says a lot about him and all of it good.

Great story!! I'm looking forward to more!

 

This is another fandom I have zero knowledge of, but I really enjoyed these entries!

I love the banter and friendship in "Honey, I'm Home".

And "Prep Time" has some great glimpses of characterization.

I like how Tim respects Nolan and acknowledges his good qualities here, even if he doesn't quite like him.

And he obviously cares a lot about Lucy to make this effort for her.

Great line, and so true! It's not fun or easy to step outside your comfort zone, but it's always worth it.

Great job on these!

 

@mavjade: I appreciate the kinds words, mav. They are different, but not above getting along. I may explore that more in the future. Not to mention that they both have the experience of dating Lucy.
@Mira_Jade: I'm so glad you approve. I'm more confident in this than my follow up. Tim is not above a pinch on nervousness, but he moves past it pretty quickly. Tim and Nolan are not oil and water, but its got there is definitely some work to be done. He knows that Nolan and Jackson aren't going anywhere. He will have make friends, on purpose.
@amidalachick: Thank you for taking a chance on a fandom you don't know! Tim is a smart guy who cares about his people. It can be hard to get to be one. I like how you put it, Tim respects, but doesn't like Nolan. I thinks that's pretty close to the mark.

100 Word Sprint

Absence

It was after Sarah left, after her concern for Henry, which had softened her for a time, wore off, that John acknowledged something was missing. He couldn't say he was glad to see her go, but her departure restored a peace to his life that went missing whenever she was around. Sarah's presence had reminded him what was missing. Whom he was missing. The last time he had seen her, she had said goodbye, returning to an estranged husband wanting another chance. A chance she had given him for the sake of their son. He wondered how Grace was doing.

200 Word Freestyle

Heart Attack

Tim remembers having a hundred little heart attacks with Isabel. He worried about her when she was on a job. He knew she was capable, but he wondered what she had to do to maintain her cover. What she had to give? What she had to take? When he found out she was an addict, his heart skipped again, this time harder. Again and again as he told himself he was responsible. He hadn't protected her. He would make sure she got clean. They would survive it.

It was Chen who-No Lucy who helped him see that he was not responsible. It was not his fight to win. He did not have to sacrifice all for someone who did not want to get clean. As a co-worker, and a Boot, at that, she had shown him love. It was the kind of tough love he needed. The kind of she gave freely, long before there was anything romantic.

As Tim dug in the dry dirt of the California hills, his heart about hammered out of his chest. If he could not get to her in time, it would be the one that would send him to her in the after.

 

I have never watched The Rookie so I am completely unfamiliar with the characters. However, I am a huge fan of Nathan Fillion so I am loving these stories. Looking forward to more.

 

"Absence": I really liked this one! You said so much about the relationships between these characters in these few words.

"Heart Attack": This was a powerful read.

So true. This line in particular hit very close to home.

And the ending, even without knowing the characters or their histories, was so intense and just great writing.

Awesome job, as always!

 

"Honey I'm Home" too fun. Their ease with one another and how the laughter just flows through their relationship.

"Prep Time" whew, you can really sense Tim's nervousness.

"Heart Attack" -- ooh, the urgency and the realization of just what Lucy means to him.

 

A/N: I am sorry it has taken so long to wrap up this pentathlon. Thank you to all of the above who have supported me (@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @amidalachick @Mira_Jade @JediMaster_Jen . Thank you also to @Mira_Jade for supplying the prompt.

Fantastical Fencing

Hindsight

John laughed and Lucy almost blew beer through her nose as Jackson's recounted, in a spot on impression, of his earlier encounter with Smitty. Because that is what they are: encounters. For every deadpan quip that the elder officer made about avoiding dangerous assignments, he would show undaunted courage when trouble found him. Smitty was a good cop. Wiping his mouth after taking the last bite of marinated green beans, John scanned the bar and froze when he could have sworn he say Nick Armstrong get up from the long bar and walk toward the exit. Knitting his eyebrows and sharpening his focus, he was sure it was Nick. But that was impossible. Detective Armstrong was dead. Had been for months.

Scooting back from the table and placing his napkin carelessly on his plate, John said: "Excuse me a minute."

"You okay?" Lucy asked, keenly aware of John's change in demeanor.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, forcing a smile that would satisfied many, outside the present company. "I just need some air."

"You sure you're okay," Jackson said, standing, ready to go outside with him. "Pardon the cliche, but you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I promise I'm okay and I'll be right back."

Nolan left the table and made a bee line to the door. Once is was outside, his head was on a swivel, checking the sidewalk in both directions and the opposite side of the street in case Armstrong was still nearby.

"I'm not running, John," said the confident, but disheartened voice behind him. "Nowhere to go."

Turning around, he saw Nick Armstrong standing right in front of him.

Nolan drew his off duty weapon in a heartbeat. "Hands where I can see them!"

"Put that away, John," Armstrong said. "They'll see you and thing you're cook-coo."

"You're dead," John declared, confidently.

"That's right."

"Then what are you doing here?" keeping his weapon trained on the other man.

"I said to put your gun away. I can't hurt you much less do I want to. You can't hurt me either. So, just put it away."

Nolan holstered his weapon. "Are you a ghost?"

"What I am doesn't matter, John," Armstrong said with a casual wave of his hand. "Call me a restless spirit it that helps you make sense of it. Why I'm here is more important."

"Are you haunting me?" John asked, because he could think of nothing else.

Armstrong laughed at that. A good throw your head back and hold your belly laugh.

John watched cautiously.

"John, if were haunting you, this encounter would be a hell of a lot different," Armstrong said through a smile. A smile John liked seeing. One completely absent from their last meeting. "If I were haunting anyone, it would be Rosalind. But that witch would probably still get into my head."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Came here for you, Johnny," Armstrong said. "Or Maybe it's for me. This is restless spirit stuff can get confusing. The point is I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for what I did."

"You think sorry is gonna cut it, Nick?"

"It's going to have to, John. It's all I got. After my wife died and Rosiland got into my head, I got lost. So damn lost. Desperate. Needy. I hated myself, John. But not enough to end it. Not enough to stop what I was doing. Not enough to face the consequences for my own actions."

"You killed a fellow office, Nick."

"I know," Armstrong's hands were at his sides and his posture was resigned.

"It takes a lot to forgive murder, Nick. Especially when I'm not one who needs to grant it."

"I'm not here about that," he replied. "That part has already been taken care of. I'm here about you."

"You want me to forgive you?" Nolan asked. "I learned a lot from you, Nick. I liked you. I hoped we'd be friends for a long time. I'll admit that it hurts the way it went down. The way you so quickly meant to kill me to keep your secrets. You almost did. You left me to die. you weren't man enough to finish the job. In your mind, for a time, you had killed me."

"Yup, that's right," Armstrong answered, emotion strangling his voice. "But, I'm thankful you're not dead, John. You don't have to forgive me. I know how hard it is. Trust me. But, I want you to know that I'm sorry for what I've done. That wasn't me before my wife died. No excuses. Just facts. The bottom line, John, is that I wanted you to know that I know I was wrong. Dead wrong. My words and my advice and everything I told you about being a cop and a detective was real. It sounds lame, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

John's eyes glistened, but his face held a stony, dispassionate glare. "Nick, if you've got some sense of peace coming, I'm...I want to help. Not just you. Me, too. I forgive you. I forgive you for everything I am able. But, you need to go. On to the next person or to wherever. You need to go."

Armstrong put his hands in his pockets and stared at his shoes before looking Nolan in the eye. He nodded and smiled in understanding. "Thank you, John. I mean it."

Armstrong faded slowly from sight as Jackson and Lucy came out the door looking for Nolan.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked.

"A ghost," John replied, cryptically. "I'll explain inside. I'd like another beer."


Summer Olympics Pentathlon Complete!

 

Fantastic way to end it. Loved the conversation between John and Nick. Good for John to have some closure. Congrats on finishing.

 

Excellent and unique final entry. It touches on a very not uncommon wish in RL to have cclosure, the last chance to make peace.