#februfluff

Lucy flopped back against the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, breathing hard. Something trickled down her face: sweat, or blood—she wasn’t sure and was too tired to find out which.

It had been a hard fight. As it turned out, the felon had had buddies in the back, who rushed out and tried to make a break for it as soon as the police had burst in through the front door.

If Nolan and Celina hadn’t turned up in time…

“You okay?”

Apparently at some point she’d shut her eyes. Lucy blinked up into Tim’s face and smiled at the look of concern etched across his features. “Yeah, just – you know.” She flapped a hand breathlessly, too tired to search for the words.

“You handled yourself well.” Tim crouched in front of her and raised his hand to rub a thumb across her brow, his touch gentle against her forehead. “We need to get you checked out.”

“Aw, crap, am I bleeding?” Lucy caught at his hand, and saw the light smear of blood on his fingers.

“Just a little. Think it’s from where you got knocked into the Christmas tree.” Tim sat down beside her and nodded across the room at the shamble of tangled green plastic and wire. “I’ve never seen somebody take down a guy with a star ornament before. That was impressive.”

Lucy shrugged and laughed. “What can I say? I’m a woman of many talents.”

“That you are.” Tim closed the distance between them, his forehead touching hers. His voice turned serious. “And I’m glad you’re okay.”

Lucy smiled and leaned into him for a moment, catching her breath, letting her heartbeat settle. Then together they got to their feet and headed out towards the police cars waiting at the curb.

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