Tim pounded on the punching bag, loud music playing in his ear. He kept thinking about his last conversation with Lucy, over and over. He knew what was happening, Emmet was hurting her. He wanted to drive over to their house and beat him until he wasn't breathing anymore. Lucy, his Lucy was being hurt. How did he not notice before?
As he stepped back to breathe for a moment, he turned it over in his brain. Looking back now he could see the signs. The long sleeves in the middle of summer, the missing days of work last Christmas, the stiff back she kept complaining about. Most of all the withdrawal from her friends. He had put that off as her being a newlywed. That it was normal, he should have checked in with her more often.
After she had graduated it was like nothing had changed. They still rode together most of the time and texted often. She had taken Kojo back and they regularly hung out together, he thought something might develop between them. He had feelings for her and had known for a while that he has wanted something more.
Then Emmett had asked her to marry him. She almost never talked about Emmett, so it came as a shock to him when she accepted. She didn't even tell him, she just showed up at work the next day with a ring on her finger, and six weeks later they were married. Not long after that she started riding on her own and asked if he could take Kojo back, Emmett was suddenly allergic to dogs.
Why didn't he see it for what it was? Was he so distracted by his own feelings for Lucy that he didn't see what she was going through?
Punching the bag one last time he looked up to see Nyla and Angela come in with determined looks on their faces.
" I got ten bucks that says, you'd rather be punching something else." Nyla said with a raised eyebrow.
Tim shook his head and wiped his face with his towel. "She wouldn't talk to me. Just said she was handling it... God Ange you should have seen the look of defeat on her face" He put his head in his hands. "Lucy is not some weak person, what the hell has he done to her?"
Angela kneeled down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder "what are we going to do about it Tim?"
" I don't know, I would love to go over there and just beat the shit out of him, but we both know it won't help anything." standing he looked at Nyla and Angela, he didn't know what he would do without them "Can you guys try and talk to her. There is nothing we can do until we have evidence that she is being hurt."
"Copy that!" Angela said "I will make sure to stick to her side"
"Me too, I will ask Grey to pair us up during the week so she is not riding alone" Nyla nodded.
Tim thanked them and then left to take shower and head out. He hoped this was a step in the right direction.
Lucy curled up in the corner of her kitchen as Emmett raged on.
" You stupid whore! I told you no more ride along with Tim. I can see the way he looks at you!" He grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head into the cabinet. "Why do you keep doing this? You need to quit, you can't work there anymore"
"Emmett" she said shaking, "If I quit they will be worried, give me some more time and I will just transfer departments."
She had been trying to reason with him since she had gotten home. "No! You will just find someone else to cheat on me with."
"No babe" she said standing quickly, she put a hand on his chest and cried out when he bent it back "Please... I promise I am not cheating on you, I love you"
He let go of her hand and put a hand on either side of her face "you are so beautiful, I just love you so much and I can't loose you"
She let him kiss her and when she realized he wasn't going to stop, that he wanted more, she wanted to push him away, but she let him lead her into the room with quiet whispers of how he was going to make it better. As he started to do what he wanted with her, they both heard the doorbell ring and a knock.
"Ignore it" Emmett said still holding her down as he fumbled drunkenly inside of her.
" Emmett, let me check it. The neighbors might have heard you yelling." she wanted him off of her as quick as possible.
He let her get up and she could tell he would be passed out when she got back. Pulling on a bath robe she checked the peep hole and took a deep breath.
"Jackson! What are you doing here" She asked putting a big smile on her face.
" We had plans and you ditched me" He said and walked in, despite her trying to stop him. " You didn't... "
She watched as he took in the surroundings, the look of irritation changing to one of anger "Jackson, I need you to go"
"Lucy, what is going on, why is your house trashed" He said and then notice the black eye that was forming " What the fuck did he do to you!"
"Nothing I fell" she said and stuck her chin in the air "I need you to go."
Jackson leaned in closer to her "We see this everyday Luce, you are a cop. Please tell me what is going on."
"Nothing Jackson, I am fine, everything is fine" She felt herself crack a little. The shell of 'everything is alright' slipping just a little.
"No its not and I am going to get you out of here." Jackson hugged his friend and headed back out the door. "Does Tim know?"
" Nothing is wrong Jackson, what would I have to tell Tim?" with that she shut the door and slipped down it is crying. Emmett was right, maybe she should just quit.
The next morning with makeup applied a little thicker, Lucy walked into work and smiled at everyone she passed. She ignored Jackson and Nolan as they tried to stop to talk to her. She just shook her head and headed to the locker room. There she dressed as quickly as she could before anyone else got there. She had a new bruise forming on her neck and shoulder so long sleeves and turtleneck it was today.
When she was done, she walked towards Sergeant Greys office. Knocking she smiled at him as he gestured for her to come in.
" Chen what can I do for you today" He asked, and she could see something more hiding in his tone.
She handed him the envelope she was holding and stepped back " I am putting in my 30 days."
He stood up and looked at her sadness crossing his face " May I ask why?"
" Emmet and I are trying to start a family and we feel that it would be better that I stay home."
" Can't you wait until you are actually pregnant, why rush?"
" It's just for the best" She said and ducked her head. " I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."
"whatever you want Chen." he was silent for a moment as he set her notice on his desk. " You know if something was wrong you could come to me, right?"
She looked up at him, holding back the tears. " I know Sir" With that she left. It was done.
This whole station was set up so that you could see everything going on. The only rooms that were not covered in glass were the interrogation rooms. So, Tim stood and watched from the roll call room as Lucy handed in her resignation. He knew that's what it was when she came out almost in tears and Grey looked like he was about to come undone.
Just about everyone in their inner circle of teams had watched as she almost died, how she was pulled out of a barrel in the ground and brought back to life. they all cried as she was taken to the hospital and they all cheered her on, on her first day back. They watched as this spunky boot, became one of the best officers at Mid-Wilshire, and Tim was going to be damned if she left. He wasn't going to lose her again.
Looking at Grey he nodded and followed Lucy to her shop.
Walking into the garage he sees that she is sitting on the perp bench and is holding her head in her hand. " What did you just do?"
" Bradford, its none of your business" She stated and got up opening the back door to the suv and setting her gear inside. " I am riding alone today. Please go"
" Fuck that" he said and slid into the drivers seat before she could argue. As she slipped in the passenger side he looked at her hard " You are going to tell me what is going on and we are going to fix this. Do you hear me?"
Lucy flinched when he put his hand on her arm. " there is nothing to fix. Now drive."
Tim pulled out of the station and headed towards their favorite spot, where there was a beach and tacos. He was going to make sure she talked to him today, there would be no more hiding.
" Tim where are you going? We are downtown today?" she asked and pointed in the direction they were supposed to be going.
" No, Grey already knows we will be offline for a bit."
"God Damn it Tim! We have a job to do!" She yelled.
" No, the only thing that needs to happen now is you need to tell me what is going on" he said as he pulled into an empty parking lot.
Turning to look at her, he took in the thick makeup and the way her hair seemed to cover more of her forehead today. He took in the long sleeves and turtleneck, he reached over and tugged on it just a bit seeing the bruising there. " Lucy, you know that I am here for you no matter what right? that you can tell me anything?"
" Yes Tim" She said not looking at him, her voice cracking.
"Then why didn't you come to me and tell me that he's hurting you?" He wanted to hold her, to tell her he would never let this happen again. He wanted to tell her that he loved her and that she needed to leave Emmet, if not for herself then for him and everyone who cared about her.
"It just started happening." she said, and he wiped away a stray tear. She shook her head and looked out the opposite window. " I guess I was in shock at first. I hadn't done anything and he just came home blitzed from a night out and was mad that I was not up waiting for him. He pulled me out of bed and kicked me until I threw up. Afterwards he was so apologetic that I let it go. It didn't happen for a while after that. The next time it was worse. He dislocated my shoulder."
"that's when you took a few days off this last December?" Tim asked wiping away his own stray tears. His heart was breaking hearing her tell him about everything. " Lucy you have to leave."
" where am I going to go Tim? I have nothing left, I sold everything to help pay for the wedding and he's weeded out all of my other things... ha the house isn't even in my name. He made sure of that."
"You can come live with me until you find a place."
"No Tim I can't do that to you." She said she pulled her arms in to tuck around herself and sighed.
" No, its not a problem at all." He said and when he pulled her over the center console to hug her, she didnt flinch this time. " Let's go get your stuff".
She nodded and Picked up the radio "7 adam 19 show us off duty and notify the sergeant in charge."
"Copy, Showing 19 off duty and notifying the sergeant."
Lucy couldn't hold back the tears as they got closer to her house, she knew that Emmet was at work and that was a relief, but she was still terrified of how he would react.
As they pulled into her drive, she noticed that Nyla and John were parked across the street, she nodded at them as she stepped out of the shop. Turning she saw that Angela and Wes were standing on her front porch, with Jackson. She stopped and looked over to Tim " Tim?"
"Everyone is here to help you leave. You never have to worry about not having some where to go again" He said and pulled her into a real hug. One where she felt him completely, she felt every emotion he was feeling mixed with hers. He led her to the porch where she hugged Jackson and walked into her house. She looked around and shook her head when they asked if their way anything she wanted to grab from the living room or kitchen.
She walked into her bedroom, Tim following right behind her. She looked at the rumpled bed, blood on her pillow from the previous night's beating. She could feel Tim tense behind her, and she turned to look at him. " I don't have much here"
She pulled out a suitcase and put her dress uniform in it, the little bit of casual clothing she had left from Emmet throwing them out and a small box of photos that she had hidden away at the top of her closet. As she looked to make sure nothing else, she wanted to take with, she spotted a faded envelope poking out of one of Emmett's coats. As she pulled it out she realized it was a letter she had written to Tim after she had graduated, she had spilled everything she had ever felt about him out in this letter. Smiling she folded it and tucked it into her back pocket.
" Is that everything? Just one bag?" Tim asked quietly as she turned to him.
"Yes, like I said he got rid of a lot of my things. Clothes, pictures, anything personal." She fought back tears again as Tim hugged her.
" Come on, lets head back to the station." He held her hand as they walked out of her room. She made sure to hold it in and not react to the looks that everyone was giving her.
As they walked out of the house, Tim still holding her hand. She watched as Emmet came speeding up the drive and park on the lawn blocking Tim and Lucy in the drive. "What is going on?" he said as he jumped out of his truck.
John and Nyla quickly came across the street and stepped in front of Emmet " I am going to have to have you stop right their Sir" John said.
Emmet looked at him like he was crazy " Sir, John you've had meals in my home. You were at our wedding."
John just gave him a hard look " that was before my friend showed up at work with a black eye and hand marks on her neck" Nyla put a hand on John shoulder to stop him from getting closer to Emmet.
That did not stop Emmet though, " Just a friend?" He asked and Lucy shrunk back behind Tim as she watched his face change. Gone was the kind soft Emmet that he showed everyone and in his place was the hard unloving cruel man she had married. " Because from what I remember, you were pretty hot and heavy in the academy."
Nyla was the one that needed held back this time. Stepping in front of John and reaching for her gun but before she said anything Emmet was moving on to Tim " and you. She's was so tangled up in you that she didn't even pay attention to anything at home" He stepped right up to Tim and stared at him " Did she suck your dick a few times to get a good review Tim? did you know that when she has a nightmare it's you that she calls out for in her sleep? We never even had the chance to have real marriage, you were always in the way."
Tim took a step back and held onto Lucy's hand. " Emmet if your smart you'll go into the house and let us leave with no problems."
"says the man taking my wife:"
" I don't want to be your wife anymore" Tim's eyes closed as the scared cracked voice that came out of his lucy's mouth. His lucy was not this timid woman. She was a fighter.
" Lucy, Babe" Emmet said his voice changing again " you don't mean that."
She stepped out from behind Tim, still holding his hand " Yes I do Emmet. You need help, and I can't be that person who helps you."
" Baby please" He begged, " I promise I will stop drinking, I will be better please."
" No Emmet, I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore."
" fucking Whore" It was like he was never sad; it took a split section for him to change back. " where the fuck are you going to go?"
Emmet made the mistake of grabbing her by the hair and yanking her away from Tim John and Jackson were on him before he could do anymore damage. John had a gun to his head while Jackson Cuffed him.
" Emmet you are under arrest for assault and battery. You have the right to remain silent..." Jackson said as he pulled Emmet up and escorted him over to his shop.
Lucy and Tim sat on her front lawn, her in his lap sobbing and him holder her as close as he could. Tim watched as Angela and Wes walked up to Emmet and dropped restraining order paperwork in his lap before he even had the chance to ask what it was.
" You come within a thousand feet on Lucy, and I will have you in a cell so fast you won't even know what happened." Angela said and slammed the door in his face.
The next few hours were a blur for lucy. She remembered the stares from the other cops as she walked into the station her make up almost gone from crying and her black eye and busted lip showing, her hair was down and messed up from where Emmet had grabbed her. Tim guided her into Grey's office and they turned to watch as Emmet was escorted to booking. Most of them took a double take as it happened.
She had expected it to be one of her friends to react first but was surprised when it was Smitty who 'tripped' Emmet during booking and 'spilled' his fresca on him. She had never seen Smitty so pissed off to sacrifice his favorite drink.
Turning back she looked at Grey "I would like to press charges"
Grey just nodded and tossed a crumpled resignation letter in his trash.
"Whatever you need Chen."