Title: Something Worthwhile
author: Cindy Ryan
Notes and summary: see part one

It was just past noon the next day Tim found Lucy by chance as stepped into the break room to get coffee before heading back out. His girlfriend was putting the lid on her own cup of coffee.

"Hi,having coffee for lunch too?"Tim asked as he kissed Lucy quickly.

"All the time I have today."Lucy replied. "Just brought one in and we're headed back out."

Tim took a to-go paper cup from the stack and poured his own cup.

"Same."Tim said as he put a lid on his cup.

"Upside of a coffee lunch is coffee kisses."Lucy commented as she kissed him.

"Agreed."Tim said as he captured her lips once more.

Lucy's cell phone rang and she broke the kiss with a sigh. Pulling out her phone she glanced at the screen and Tim saw her tense.

"Hello?"Lucy greeted as she held the smartphone to her right ear.

"Yes, was just grabbing coffee."Lucy responded.

Tim could hear the raised voice on the other end even from where he was. He frowned knowing it could only be Lucy's T.O.

"Understood, be there in five minutes."Lucy said as she ended the call and put the phone to way.

"Johnson?"Tim asked.

"Yes and according to his watch I'm late but this clock and my cell phone I've got five minutes."Lucy said. "I may be late tonight if he docks me for this."

"I thought things were going okay with him?"Tim asked with concern."What do you mean by docking you?

"It's nothing."Lucy replied as she looked at the clock."I need to go."

"Babe."Tim said as he caught her by the left arm as Lucy stepped away."Talk to me. What's going on?"

"Just a long day."Lucy responded."Margaret brought Emma by so I could say goodbye."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there."Tim commented as he touched Lucy's right cheek."Got ordered for OT this morning."

"I know..."Lucy replied.

Lucy's cell phone beeped signaling a text message. She pulled her smartphone out once more and glanced at the screen her frown deepening. Lucy winced and put the phone away.

"Lucy."Tim started as he stepped forward.

"I have to go. I'll see you later."Lucy said as she kissed Tim quickly."Love you."

"Love you too."Tim replied.

Watching Lucy leave he knew she wasn't telling him everything. Something was bothering her besides saying goodbye to Emma and the normal stress of a day. Tim had trusted Grey's judgment when he'd assigned Lucy to Johnson. It was past time for Tim to look into his replacement.

To Lucy's relief the rest of the day passed by for what had become a normal work day for her. Since the phone call Johnson hadn't yelled at her any more than any normal T.O would. As she changed in the locker room Lucy thought about her conversation with Tim earlier. She knew he was worried now.

Lucy just had to convince him that things were okay; which they were. Johnson was just part of the old boy network. Lucy didn't like it; didn't like his attitude. Lucy also knew she didn't have much choice if she wanted to finish her training at the same time as Nolan and West. Despite recent events with John the three of them had made a promise early on in their Academy days to be there at the end; all three of them. Lucy wasn't going to be the one to break that promise.

Back in civilian clothes Lucy grabbed her bag, shut the locker and headed for home.

The smell of delicious Italian food hit Lucy as soon as she unlocked the front door of the condo and stepped in. She went up the short flight of stairs to the living room and found Tim in the kitchen; cooking. That image was still something Lucy was getting used to. Before they'd gotten involved Lucy had always pictured him as a take-out food king. However, it seemed that Tim enjoyed preparing meals. Moving farther into the living room she saw the table on the balcony was set for a candlelight dinner complete with a bottle of wine cooling in a small ice bucket.

"Hi."Lucy greeted as she stepped into the kitchen and kissed Tim. "What's all this?"

"Thought we could both use a nice meal."Tim commented with a smile.

"Just what I needed."Lucy replied when they broke apart.

"The kiss or the meal?"Tim asked.

"Both."Lucy responded as she kissed him quickly. "Do I have time for a shower?"

Tim glanced at the various pots on the stove and nodded.

"Yes."Tim said.

"I'll be quick."Lucy promised as she walked to the bedroom. "Dinner smells wonderful."

Tim heard the shower start. He fought the urge to put the pasta and vegetables on hold and join Lucy under the hot water. Tim forced his thoughts away and concentrated on cooking. He'd started cooking during the middle years of his marriage to Isabel before things started to crumble. Tim had been surprised to find he enjoyed it and it was a stress relief on top of it. Twenty minutes later the food was ready. He prepared the two plates and placed them on a cooking sheet and into the oven to keep them warm until Lucy was ready. Turned out he didn't need to Lucy walked down the hall from the bedroom five minutes later.

Tim smiled letting himself stare. Lucy's hair was down and she'd changed into a red sundress with matching sandals. She looked relaxed and happy. Tim wanted to keep things that way. Life was stressful and hard enough. Tim had hoped to use tonight to get a conversation going about her training. If he could fix whatever was going on; Tim wanted to. Lucy deserved the best training possible. He knew she was going to be a damn good cop. The city needed more people like her.

"What?"Lucy asked with a smile as she reached Tim in the kitchen.

"Nothing."Tim responded with a grin as he pulled her to him wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. "Just appreciating how beautiful you look."

"You look sexy yourself."Lucy commented.

"Apron does it, huh?"Tim countered as he kissed her letting it linger.

"Yes it does."Lucy responded with a giggle as they broke apart.

"I'm starved."Tim said as he moved back to the oven. "Let's eat."

A few minutes later they were seated at the table on the balcony enjoying the sunset. Tim hoped the rest of the night would go as well.