You guys are in luck! I was able to finish another chapter before my flight. Definitely won't be able to update until next Tuesday or Wednesday, but hopefully this helps in the meantime. Let me know what ya think!
Lindy woke up groggier than usual. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she wandered out into the hallway. It only took one glance at Tommy asleep on the sofa to remind her of her actions the night before. Her face immediately turned a distinct shade of pink and she was intent on doing damage control. Throwing on her boots and coat and swiping Tommy's keys from the counter, she slipped out the door, careful not to disturb him.
Tommy woke up to an eerie amount of quiet and also at an unusually late hour (for him). Curiously, he checked the whole apartment only to find Boris making himself comfortable in the space Lindy had vacated. Out of habit, he immediately thought the worst – Lindy had left without a trace, again. No note, no tap on the shoulder, nothing. But his rapid pulse slowed back to normal when he saw nearly all of the possessions she'd shown up with still scattered in the corner. Sighing, he relaxed back into the couch, but it was only a few seconds before a smirk appeared on his face as he recalled what had happened last night. It was then replaced by an expression of bewilderment. The only comforting thought was that maybe this was an indicator that he wasn't the only one who had fallen down this rabbit hole like he previously thought.
Ten minutes later the door swung open, revealing Lindy juggling two coffees and a brown paper bag. She assertively placed the spare coffee out in front of him, but dropped the bag more lightly, nudging it across the table at him. He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. She just nodded at the bag, which he took as his cue to open it. As he picked it up, she tried to avert her eyes to anywhere other than the scene playing out right in front of her. She felt like an embarrassed middle school girl.
Tommy carefully pulled out his intended "gift" – a blueberry crumb muffin with "SORRY" written in icing across the top.
He laughed and looked up at Lindy questioningly, and by this point her cheeks were the color of an FDNY truck.
"What's this?" He asked quizzically.
"Peace offering," she mumbled before hastily taking a sip of her coffee.
"For…?" He wasn't making this easy.
"Last night." She still couldn't look him in the eyes.
Tommy paused for a moment, pretending he couldn't remember and was deep in thought. Feigning innocence, he started, "What ever do you mean? Oh…OH…that."
By that point he could tell he was torturing Lindy.
"Yes, Tommy," she spat out, groaning. Huffing, she sat down in the corner chair, crossing her arms.
"Lindy, lighten up. It's fine." He couldn't lie, he was a bit confused and shaken up by the whole thing, but he was determined not to let that show.
"Really?"
He sighed. "Of course. It's been a…stressful few months. Stuff like that is bound to make people do crazy things."
"Right," Lindy laughed nervously. "Crazy…"
Lindy was still staring blankly at her hands, but it seemed like Tommy had already moved on.
"You want half?" He motioned toward the 'peace offering' in front of him.
"Huh? Oh, sure," she shook her head.
It wasn't that she really regretted what had happened, and it was barely anything at all, but their tension had been off the charts since she'd came back and she hated showing any type of weakness right now.
"Plans for today?" He asked, feigning casual curiosity.
"I think I'll head down to the hospital. Y'know, visit Sophia. I've missed her." She nodded.
"She misses you, too," Tommy confirmed.
"How'd you know?" Lindy asked dumbly.
"Um, she's had a specific visitor a few times," he chuckled.
"I KNEW IT!" Lindy exclaimed, causing Boris to jump to attention, getting up from his resting spot on the foor.
She took some time to change then emerged in the living room once again, offering Tommy a quick goodbye which he returned with a half-assed wave as his head was buried in the newspaper. Little did he know that Lindy had ulterior motives for her hospital visit.
Lindy cautiously edged her way into Catherine's room. She fidgeted uncomfortably – she didn't have Tommy around to be a buffer between the two. She mentally cursed when she saw that Catherine was awake.
"Hello Lindy," Catherine nodded.
"Hi, Sergeant," she offered a tight-lipped smile.
"Didn't know you were back in town."
"Tommy didn't tell you?" Lindy was surprised, she remembered that he'd told her about the video, so she just assumed.
"Why am I not surprised that Calligan knows?" Catherine chuckled knowingly.
Lindy chose to ignore this comment and what it was implying – firstly, it made implications about their relationship; secondly, it reminded her just how much of a headache she could be to Tommy.
"Lindy, I just want to tell you that I am sorry for withholding that information, and I mean it. I'm also sorry that it turned out to be a dead end." Catherine looked at Lindy with sincerity.
"It wasn't a complete dead end, Jake gave me a tablet with information about my sister. Turns out it was staged," Lindy sighed.
Catherine's eyebrows were nearly to her hairline. "Staged? So you know where your sister is? But you're here in Brooklyn?"
Lindy hadn't realized she had made quite the reputation for herself.
"I just- I'm not sure what to do. I needed to take a breather first. It's unlike me, I know."
"Do you know why she did it?"
"Something about 'keeping me safe'? I'm not sure, there was nothing after that." She didn't know why she felt compelled to disclose this information to Catherine, but the words were flowing out of her whether she liked it or not.
"And you have no idea what from?"
Lindy shook her head.
"I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say, and obviously you're free to completely disregard it, but you really shouldn't go alone. Have you been doing research?"
"Not much." Lindy felt slightly ashamed at her lack of preparation. More than anything, she was tired. Everything with Jake was still so recent. Any average and reasonably sane person would take a reasonable amount of time to recover from that before diving headfirst into another potentially traumatic situation. But time was never on Lindy's side, and she never quite learned how to be patient.
"Go to the CCU. Use our resources. Let us help you. Let Tommy help you," Catherine advised.
Lindy felt internally conflicted. "Ah, I don't know, I mean-"
"Lindy, I found you because of your search for your sister. You're not a quitter. You used yourself as bait for a serial killer. If you're not going to give up on this – which I know you're not, and you shouldn't – at least use as many resources as you can." It felt a lot to Lindy like she was getting a speech from an elementary school teacher. "You'd be surprised to find out that the way I found Calligan isn't too unlike how I found you."
"Huh?" Lindy paid no mind to her lack of tact.
"Ask him – he'll tell you." She wore a knowing smirk that told Lindy their conversation was over.
After a minute of awkward silence, Lindy decided to go.
"I'm glad you're feeling better, sergeant," she nodded.
"It was nice to see you, Lindy," Catherine smiled.
Lindy flashed an uncertain smile in response and let herself out, taking a deep breath once she was on the other side of the door. She sure had a lot to think about, as usual.
She wandered aimlessly down the hallway and after a few turns and a short elevator ride, she ended up outside Sophia's room.
Luckily, Connor wasn't there.
"Lindy!" Sophia nearly screamed at the sight of her.
Lindy simply smiled in response – a genuine smile, reaching her eyes – and hugged her, being careful not to jostle any wires.
"You're in Brooklyn?!" Sophia's expression was still one of shock.
"I am," she nodded.
"But…why? What about Sara? George told me-" but Sophia trailed off when she saw Lindy shrugging.
"I just got a little frustrated and needed a breather," she sighed. "I think people forget I'm human sometimes."
"But you are gonna go find her, right?" Sophia said, loosely grabbing Lindy's hand from where she had now sat down at the edge of the hospital bed.
Lindy laughed slightly. "Why does everyone seem so concerned?"
"Well, this is just kinda…unlike you, Linds. You've never really been one to just wait, especially not if Sara's involved."
"Don't worry about me, Sophia. Just worry about getting better, please." Lindy squeezed her hand back.
"Will do." Sophia smiled. "Have you decided when you're leaving?"
"I don't know. Soon, I guess. I haven't even stopped back home since I came back to Brooklyn last night. I've just been at Tommy's."
Lindy immediately regretted saying that the second she saw Sophia's raised eyebrow.
"Tommy, huh?" She smirked. "So I guess all is forgiven then?"
"No, Sophia. I just needed somewhere to go, and he was there and…I don't know, okay?" Lindy said defensively.
"Lemme guess…it's 'complicated'?" Sophia rolled her eyes.
"Everything involving me is," Lindy sighed.
"Whatever you say, Linds. Just promise me one thing," she waited for Lindy's nod before continuing. "Promise me that when – not if, when – you have a booty call with the hot cop I'll be the first to know."
"No cops. No booty calls," Lindy crossed her arms, laughing.
As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked Yeager.
"Whoa, walked in on the wrong end of that conversation," Yeager shook his head. "But hey Lindy."
Lindy glanced back and forth between the two, mouth agape in a grin. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, Sophia."
Sophia narrowed her eyes at Lindy momentarily, but wasn't able to keep a straight face for long.
"Don't mind her, Yeager, we were just talking about her and a certain broody detective," Sophia explained.
"Ah. Yeah, he's been worried sick about you, Lindy. He has this week off. Maybe you should stop in just to show face," he suggested.
"Trust me, she knows that already." Sophia was having far too much fun with this.
"Thank god," he let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, I'd hate to third wheel on this little date, so I'll be going now," Lindy smirked, now it was her chance.
"Please come see me before you leave," Lindy pleaded as the two girls hugged.
Lindy said a quick goodbye to Yeager and then was back into the hall again.
She wandered around in the afternoon sun for a while, figuring Tommy could use the momentary space away from her. She marveled at how easy it was to forget how beautiful Brooklyn could be when you were distracted by a mission to find the person who killed a man you love.
A few hours later she meandered in lazily, and was assaulted with various smells of food cooking. She called out to Tommy, but no response. Making her way over to the kitchen, she realized that he couldn't hear her over the alternative music he had playing.
"Um, hello?" Lindy called out, laughing.
"Wha- Oh! Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, turning down the music.
"Am I interrupting something? Big date?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She immediately remembered the disaster of a time when she tried to cook for Jake and he didn't even show.
"Hm, no," he laughed. "Unlike you, I'm not a cheap date and I actually take my dates out to places."
She rolled her eyes and laughed. When she spoke it was dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, nice, very nice."
"Sorry, low blow."
"I'll get over it. So what's the occasion?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing special, I tend to cook on my days off, or whenever I can, really. Believe it or not, last night was actually not a common occurrence for me." He shrugged.
"What's on the menu? It smells great." She hovered near his shoulder, over a sizzling pan until he shooed her away.
"Irish fajitas," he explained.
Lindy raised an eyebrow. "What makes them Irish?"
"Nothing," he laughed. "Just the fact that my Irish-blooded mother called them her specialty."
Lindy chuckled, then stopped abruptly. "Soo…"
"Yes, there's enough for two," Tommy shook his head, smirking.
"Oh thank god," she sighed in relief.
After a few more minutes, he started plating everything family-style and placing it on the table, while Lindy rummaged around for a few plates. Once he sat down, he tossed a piece of steak to Boris, who happily accepted. Lindy was absentmindedly petting the dog with her free hand when she spoke up after a few bites.
"Okay so number one, this is really good. And number two, how did Catherine find you for the CCU?"
Tommy nearly choked on the mouthful he was chewing. "Uh well first, thank you. And second, where the hell is this coming from?"
"I saw her today. I went to visit Sophia and I just figured same hospital so...why not?" She shrugged, but didn't come off as nonchalant as she wanted to.
"So basically that was your plan all along." Busted.
"Hey! I really did miss Sophia."
"Alright, fine. But why do you ask?"
"We were talking about my sister, and she told me to ask about your story." Lindy looked at him earnestly.
"You really wanna know?" He sighed.
"I do," she nodded.
"Okay. I was younger and just starting out on the force. It was right when my mom and aunt had left, like I told you," he kept pausing to make sure Lindy was following, where she responded with attentive nods. "Well, obviously when the only person you're close to in your family leaves, it's kind of tough to deal with, so like any sane person would, I looked for her. I searched day and night, whenever I didn't have training or work. Anything I could do. I thought I was close once, then the next day I got a call from an unknown number, but I knew that voice from anywhere. She said, 'my dear Tommy boy - because that's what she always called me - you know I love you more than anything. And I know you love me more than anything. But if you truly love me, you'll stop looking, it'll keep me safe.' So of course I was torn, but I stopped. I guess that was what I considered closure. And then Catherine scooped me up - said she'd been keeping track of me and wanted me on her team, and the rest is history."
"Hm, so she did kind of find you the same way you guys found me," Lindy nodded in slight amazement.
"Yeah, except I was easier to find. I was already on the police force, you were on our radar because what you were doing was very illegal," he laughed quietly.
"True...so I guess we are kind of the same...in some ways," Lindy shrugged.
"Sure, except I do it legally, and you don't."
"Right. So we do the same things, except I have more fun," she smiled at him with an evil smugness that made him want to roll his eyes and kiss her senseless at the same time - he settled on the former, though not without some internal debate first.
More plot than fluff, but I hope you guys still liked it! Next we'll be getting more back into the Sara search, plus *gasp* Lindy remembers she actually has her own apartment (don't worry, that doesn't mean the Tindy fun is over). See you all next week!
