Tim was usually good at keeping track of things. Time, money, ways to kill someone if he could. Right now, the current stats were: 2:32; 100K, soon to be 500K; and, he'd start by strangling Diego with his bare hands if anything happened to Lucy.

"So, Tom," Gonzalez began pointedly. "Can I trust your wife?"

"Excuse me?'

"Can I trust Lacy?"

Tim stilled, even though there was no need for the question to be repeated. Now, he wished he'd taken the second glass of whiskey. If it was going to be a blame game, he was going to need a drink.

"Yes," he finally answered.

"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?"

Tim planted his feet on the ground, sitting forward. "Yes."

"Why so confident, Tom?"

"Because, my wife Lacy does business well. And we've made a ton of money when we've sold our premium product. We figured, like we told you earlier, that since we were down here in Malibu, why not see to it that our clients are serviced locally. Word on the street is you were the best go-to guy here. And so, here we are," he gestured around them.

"And how long have you two been in business?"

"Two years being buyers. Before that, Lacy partied and I supplied the favors. Well, till we hooked up for more than just drugs," he figured adding a slight chauvinism wouldn't hurt. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that part of the game is though, do I?"

Diego's head tilted, like he was contemplating his next answer. "No, no you don't. Course, I haven't managed to lock just one down. You're lucky, Tom. She's real sweet that girl of yours…"

Tim clenched and unclenched his fists two times. It was taking all his strength not to deck Gonzalez right then and there. "I am, and yes, she is." He knew there was an iciness to his voice, but he couldn't hold that back.

It'd already been close to half an hour of this ridiculous separation anxiety. He was getting impatient. He knew for a fact that it was only 20 the location Angela and Jackson designated. Grey had cleared it since it was a halfway point between LA and Malibu. The West Coast Bank.

He really wished he could get his phone so he could try to get in touch with Lucy.

"Diego, mind if I ask what's taking your guys so long? I know Lacy's solid, so what's the holdup?"

The other man shrugged, but held up his hand. Tim watched him pull out his own phone – as in, not Tim's burner – and dial it. He did, however, put it on speaker.

"Hello?" One of the guys answered.

"Hi," Diego said. "Tommy here wants to know what the holdup is. Honestly, I was being lenient giving you two, or should I say three, an hour to get this done. So, what's going on?"

"We're on track, sir. Only 5 minutes until we're at the bank."

"See to it that you get the money."

"Wait," Tim interjected. "Can I talk to Lacy?"

He heard snickering in the background, but Lucy's voice cut through it all.

"Hi, Tom. We're good. We're a little slowed up here, but like they said, won't be long now. Oh, yep, I think I see the sign. Oh wait, that's for Lopez's Bar & Grill. Oops. West Coast must be next. I swear, this grey day is getting to me. But I'll be fine. See you soon, okay?"

"Ok–"

Even though Diego ended the call before Tim could say the fake husbandry "I love you" – or, at this point, he'd consider it real…it's not like he had forgotten about that kiss earlier – he did have all the information he needed. Lucy had Lopez and West in her sights, and apparently Grey was out to assist as well. She must've seen something familiar or recognized one of their unmarked cars. Lord knows they only switched 'em out every so often. Okay, they knew that; criminals and low lives didn't.

He just hoped that between now and then, Lucy came back to him the same as she left.

Speaking of Lucy, she was currently figuring out the best way to injure these two boneheads. One was driving, the other, unfortunately, still had the gun pointed in her direction.

She knew she had mere minutes if they had another stop light. She wanted to be as close as possible to the location so in case she did get injured, she didn't have to run too far. Honestly, she didn't know if she could, even in the boots she wore. Not on gravel or hightop grass with uneven ground. I've gone through worse, she reminded herself. That thought, while meant to be comforting, was only drudging up memories of Caleb and her abduction.

She sucked in a gulp of air. Not now, not now. She closed her eyes, instead seeing Tim's expression from earlier. We've got this. They did, they were so fucking close to the finish line she could feel it.

She knew she had to act fast, because Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb were going on about how once they got the money, their – meaning she and Tim – services wouldn't be needed anymore. Translation: they'd be better off dead. And Lucy knew she was taking a big risk, but she also knew that even if they got the money, they'd still kill them. So, if they didn't get the money, but didn't get a chance to warn Diego, then, maybe….just maybe, she'd have a shot at going back for Tim.

She pushed the record button on the video feed of her camera purse. She knew that Angela and Jackson would get a notice of the red button going on, so they'd know what was happening. No matter how it turned out. She put on her best innocent smile as she feigned leaning back to "stretch" in her seat.

In reality, she could feel them slowing to a stop before the turn into the parking lot. This was her chance. It was now or never. So, she held onto her pocketknife for dear life, and as soon as the van hit a dead stop, she lunged for them.

She stabbed the knife into the the one guy's leg that held the gun, so she could wrestle the weapon from his hands. She struggled, him managing to clock her in the head with the butt of the gun once. But, she kept going, clawing, kicking, scratching, whatever she could do to get him off of her, and get that damn gun.

She must've landed a kick in his face or where it would really hurt, but either way, it sent him flying backward. She literally ripped the knife from his leg, causing him to howl in pain, and went after the other guy, who was, by now, trying to subdue her. She sliced his face, and he was knocked off kilter for a moment. Enough time for Lucy to spring for the door, kick it open and run.

She didn't look back, only down once to make sure the knife was still firmly in her grasp. It was, and she kept running. She only had one more leap of grass until she was on the asphalt, and in her team's direct line of sight. Lucy knew by now they were already armed and ready to bolt if needed since their video feed had started.

Her left foot hit the edge of the pavement, but her right didn't make it before she was yanked down to the ground. She hit face first, already feeling the disgusting warmth of blood on her skull. She winced, but still fought, kicking and yes, screaming.

The guy managed to pull her back a few feet, but she kicked him hard enough to make him let go. She scrambled to her feet once again, turning around so she could fight him. As soon as she did, she heard the best sound in the world.

"LAPD! On your knees! On your knees!" The goon dropped down right in the grass. "Interlock your fingers! Do it, now!" He did, and no sooner did Jackson scoop him up and dragged him off to their car.

Lucy was surprised to find Angela out in the field. She figured she must've pulled some strings somewhere to get assigned this case. However it happened, she was just glad they came when they did.

"Angela, second offender's still in the vehicle. Massive leg wound."

"7-Adam-7, requesting EMS to my location. One in custody, one badly injured." Angela radioed off the usual to Control, before looking back to Lucy.

"Angela, I have to go get Tim," she begged, assuming the next words out of Lopez's mouth were going to be to ask her to watch their second suspect. She reached out her hand, in desperate need of that walkie. Angela tossed it just as another voice rang out.

"Go, go, I'll cover you," Jackson called down, only a few feet away now. He'd locked up one of the suspects in the patrol car, and was coming back to round up the second one. "I've got him," he insisted, as Lucy could only watch him yank said suspect out of the vehicle in handcuffs.

"Go," he motioned to her. "Go get Tim."

Lucy ran to the opposite side of the van, thanking god the moron didn't take them out of the ignition. She immediately flipped to the open channel, calling for backup and airship as she was in pursuit of suspect Diego Gonzalez with a possible 205.

She drove like a crazy woman, she was more than certain of that. But, she didn't care. Obviously she did it with non-reckless abandon, but, there was some urgency involved. It was Tim, after all.

She was only 15 minutes out. She prayed and prayed that her whole world just blow up in 15 minutes.

Unfortunately for Tim, Diego's suspicions got the better of him. He turned on Tim 10 minutes after the phone call was made to his men.

"They still aren't back!" He yelled. Tim had already started backing up towards the exit when Diego lost it completely. "What aren't you telling me?!"

Another struggle for another gun ensued, both men throwing and taking punches. It was a regular knock down, drag out type of situation, but of course, Tim knew the consequences of him losing. And he couldn't bear the thought of something happening to Lucy and him not being there to protect her. So, that hypothetical rage and very real fear fueled him.

He'd give back ten times as hard as he got, finally managing to get Diego in a chokehold after the few minutes spent pummeling each other into the ground.

As much as Tim wanted to kill him, he knew that wouldn't help anything, but he did know that if he didn't at least get him unconscious, he could still hurt Lucy. Despite his now tattered shirt and bloodied face, he didn't stop the maneuver until Diego went silent.

"Tim? Tim? Tim! Answer me, Tim!"

He was always happier when he heard Lucy's voice, but, he was especially happy now because it meant that she was okay. "I'm here, Luce," he called, finding his voice to be surprisingly raspy. He coughed, only feeling the bruise to his jaw when he calmed down. Well, shit. He probably looked worse than he felt.

"Tim–" she stopped in her tracks, taking in the scene as quickly as she could. Diego? Out cold. Tim? Injured as usual. Damn him, she thought, as her eyes wandered over his poor beaten up face.

"Tim," she said happily.

"Is that the only word you know now, boot?" He joked, earning him an eye roll.

"Ha, ha, very funny," she replied as she came to his aide. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Fight, same as always," he answered so casually, she wanted to smack him silly. But, she refrained when she saw the concern flash in his eyes.

"What the hell happened to you, Lucy?"

He was reaching for her face before she could stop him, and so, she let him fuss for a minute. She knew she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said, swatting his hands away.

"Yeah, just like I'm fine, right?" He retorted, giving her his famous TO look.

"Fine," she relented. "I'll go get patched up if you do, Bradford."

"Deal," he held out his hand to shake on it.

Lucy was ready to roll her eyes and brush him off, but she figured what could it hurt. So, she took his hand, ready to shake it when he pulled her to him. About the same as they were this morning, his lips met hers in one passionate, fluid motion.

This time, she was fully aware she did kiss him back, even going a step further by threading her hand in his hair and pulling him down closer. Injuries aside, it felt right, it felt easy, it felt like something warm, familiar, and honestly, it felt like love.

No eyes were on them. The only eyes they had were for each other. No fake names or fake profiles. Just Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen, finally giving in to what they always knew had been brewing under the surface.

And, just like most of their happenings, the moment was unexpectedly – or, expectedly, because they just knew it would occur – interrupted.

Two coughs in quick succession broke the two newlywe– lovebirds, apart.

"As much as I'm going to enjoy ragging on you later," Angela began, sending a knowing look Tim's way. "Can you two please do that some other time so Jackson can haul this guy off with the other neanderthal?"

For whatever reason, that's what sent Lucy into a giggle fit. She didn't know if it was Angela's deadpan, or the smirk that threatened to take over her features, but whatever it was, she couldn't stop laughing.

Subsequently, Tim couldn't stop smiling. When Lucy was happy, he was happy. So, he grabbed her hand, and the two fell in step like usual as they finally made their way out of that ridiculous building.

"So," Lucy segued, batting her eyes up at Tim. "How 'bout now?"

Who was he to say no to her? His lips barely brushed hers again when Jackson's voice echoed on his way out with suspect #2. "Aye, Lopez! You owe me 50 bucks!"

That sent Lucy into another giggle fit, and Tim could only smile and pull her alongside him for a second time.

"How 'bout we go get all this taken care of first," he tried, looking down at her.

"….And then we can–"

"Do anything you want, Luce."

"Anything, huh?" She hiked her eyebrows up in surprise. "You know what I really wanna do right now?"

Tim's mind was thisclose to crash landing into the gutter when he realized what she was actually implying.

It was almost the exact same phrase she said that day. So, how could he not oblige her and answer the same way? "Get a veggie burger and fries, with extra pickles?"

"Well, yes, but– preferably on a date!" She answered playfully.

"Lucy Chen, would you please go out with me and I'll get you a veggie burger and fries with extra pickles? Cause that's what I really wanna do right now."

"You always want the last word, don't ya," she teased.

"That wasn't a yes, boot," he sassed back.

"Yes, you always want the last word–" she paused, never tiring of seeing his expression changed the tiniest bit. "But yes, I'll go out with you."

"Good, 'cause in case you didn't know, I think I'm kinda falling in love with you."

He felt Lucy still beside him. He forced himself to look at her. He had to know. He hadn't meant to say all of that, but, now that it was out there, he had to know.

"Good, 'cause I think I'm kinda falling in love with you, too."

She gave him a genuine smile, which he returned tenfold. They knew deep down, beyond all their surface tension or teasing, those feelings were real, and they'd been buried for so long it was time they came out.

Apparently they had to skip to marriage before they got to a first date, but hey, it worked. And when they were sharing burgers and getting to know the littlest of details they shockingly hadn't already uncovered about the other, they knew that sometimes, the best things came out of the toughest situations.

A/N: And this ends my first multi-chapter Chenford fic. Hope you guys liked it! Cannot wait to see what happens this Sunday! :)