#stami

Hey anon -

Thanks for the request! You probably wanted something canon-adjacent for this but I recently wrote a Chenford fight scene in "Some things are more important" (STAMI) that I'm proud of. If you haven't read STAMI -- All you really need to know going into this scene is that (in the previous chapters) Lucy transferred to Hollywood and attended UC school after Chenford got together. While Lucy was away at school, Tim went undercover to help on an op related to Jake / Sava and got stabbed -- and then he downplayed it A LOT to Lucy. Hope you like it!

Tim rounded the corner to the squad room and found Lucy standing with Grey, her arms crossed across her chest. Despite the tension radiating off her body, he broke out into a smile. He wasn’t expecting her back for another day. 

“What are you doing here?” Tim asked, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She let him, but he felt how tight her jaw was when his lips met her skin. 

“To ask you the same thing,” Lucy said with fire in her eyes. “I just asked Grey if you’re riding a desk and he said no. You are not ready to be back in the field. You need to let that heal.”

She pointed to his stomach. 

This was not how he expected their reunion to go. 

“Are you barking out orders now?” Tim joked lightheartedly. “Last time I checked, I was the sergeant. Not you.” 

Grey let out a low whistle and focused on a spot on the ground. 

Lucy narrowed her gaze. 

“Fine,” Lucy stuck her hands on her hips. “Let’s hit the gym first and you can prove to me you’re fit for duty.”

“You’re going to put me through a workout?” Tim asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“I’m going to spar you,” Lucy told him. 

“I am not sparring you, Lucy,” Tim replied incredulously and crossed his arms. 

“Are you saying you’re not up for the challenge?” Lucy smirked, tilting her head to the side. 

“Of course I am,” Tim rebuffed. “I wouldn’t be back unless I was.”

“Ok. How about we make a deal: if you can take me down without popping a stitch, you can work today,” Lucy shrugged confidently. “If there is even a drop of blood, you go home and continue recovering. And you don’t come back until your stitches are out.”

Tim looked over at Grey who was finally meeting his gaze.

“You know I agree with Chen,” Grey laughed. “I told you as soon as I saw you that you shouldn’t be back yet.” 

“So you called her?” Tim accused.

“I did no such thing,” Grey asserted, his face full of amusement. 

Tamara. Tim rolled his eyes. He should have known after those big sad eyes she’d given him yesterday morning.

“Fine,” Tim conceded with a sigh. “But after roll call.”

“Works for me,” Lucy agreed with a smug grin. 

He was definitely not going down without a fight.

* * *

“I thought you had your last set of classes today.” Tim bent down to tie his laces, doing his best to hide a grimace. This was going to be brutal. 

Lucy had stood at the back of roll call with Angela and Nyla, glaring at him the entire time. Every single person in the room noticed. She hadn’t been to a dayshift roll call at Midwilshire in six months. Between the jabs Smitty was making under his breath and the hardly concealed laughs of Nolan, Webb, and Thorsen, he’d barely made it to the end without blowing a gasket. 

“It was just closing ceremony stuff so I booked an earlier flight to surprise you,” Lucy told him. “Imagine my surprise when I got home and Tamara told me you were going to work today.” 

“Like I told Tamara, I was planning to take it easy,” Tim insisted. “Thorsen was going to do all the heavy lifting.” 

“You know as well as I do that once you’re on the streets, you have no say in how easy the day will be.” Lucy stared him down, not ready to give him an inch. Behind the stubbornness, he could see the concern in her eyes. 

“I’m fine,” Tim assured her. 

“Stop stalling,” Lucy flicked her hand. “Get up.” 

Tim stood and rolled his shoulders out to loosen up. He circled the mat, waiting for Lucy to charge. 

She didn’t. 

“What are you waiting for?” Lucy taunted. The corner of her mouth ticked up. “Take me down, Sarge.” 

Tim went in low and Lucy spun, taking out his legs in one swift motion and ending up behind him. The next thing he knew, he was face down on the mat, and Lucy’s knee was pressed into his back. 

“Too slow,” she said, a smile in her voice. She rose to her feet.

“What was that?” Tim asked, popping back up. Renewed energy surged through his body. 

“What?” Lucy asked innocently. “You thought I spent four weeks at UC school sitting on my hands?”

“You’re teaching me that move,” Tim demanded with a proud grin and circled her again.

“Nah, I can’t give away any trade secrets.” She shot back, staying on the balls of her feet. 

He switched things up and used a combo he hadn’t tried since his days in the military. She wasn’t expecting it and lost her footing. 

This time, he was on top. He propped himself up just enough to avoid squishing her but relished the feeling of her warm body underneath his. Her eyes flickered to his lips and his mouth twitched into a satisfied grin that only grew when Lucy’s fingers edged under his shirt. 

He took in a staggered breath and began to lower his mouth. 

“I win,” Lucy whispered before dumping him off to the side. 

“What?” Tim blinked and looked down at the fresh blood stain on his shirt. He lifted the performance fabric and sure enough, he’d popped a stitch. 

Lucy sprung to her feet and held out a hand to help him up. He shook it off and she rolled her eyes at him. He tried to ignore the tug of another stitch pulling loose as he helped himself to his feet. 

“Go get cleaned up,” she ordered. “We’re going to get your stitches fixed and then I’m taking you home.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Lucy.” He shot back, the pain from the oozing wound doing nothing for his temper. 

“Ooookay.” Lucy’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “It’s time to reset some expectations. We need ground rules.”

“For what?” Tim asked.

“For how we do this,” Lucy motioned between her and Tim. “How we do our jobs and still be good partners to one another.”

“Oh, so now I’m not a good partner?” Tim asked with a wince, finally giving in to the stinging pain in his side. 

Lucy grabbed a clean towel and softly dabbed it over the wound, which was now eagerly seeping into his shirt. 

“I never said that,” Lucy tossed back, looking up at him with a sharp gaze as she pressed the towel firmly into his gut. “You know, I felt so guilty for going back under as Sava after I told you I was done with UC. And yet, I had the courtesy to call you beforehand and tell you how to get status reports. ”

“I never asked you to give up undercover work,” Tim reminded her. Irritation poured from his throat before he could stop it. “I told you to go to UC school, didn’t I?” 

“You might have said the words, Tim, but your body language told me you didn’t want me to.” She crossed and uncrossed her arms in frustration when he stepped back so he could pace the length of the mat.

“I can’t win, then, can I?” He countered. “Either I’m supporting you wrong or I’m wrong in not supporting you.” 

“This isn’t about winning anything,” Lucy shouted in frustration. “We already won. We have each other. This is about communication and how we’re going to be doing a whole lot more of it.” 

“We are communicating,” Tim said sarcastically. He motioned between them and Lucy narrowed her eyes, clearly not amused by his joke.

“Okay, then tell me honestly,” Lucy said and swallowed. “Would you have dated me if I hadn’t said I was done with UC work?” 

“Yes,” Tim said without hesitation. “How can you even ask me that?” 

“Because I didn’t know the answer,” Lucy shot back. “Part of me has been waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since Jake showed back up in our lives.” 

“What?” Tim shook his head. “I’ve been in love with you for–. Honestly, I don’t know exactly when it turned into love, but it was well before you and I started dating. And once we crossed that line...”

Tim paused, remembering when the switch flipped in his brain and he realized that he could have a future, no, share his future with Lucy. 

When his eyes focused, he saw her watching him closely.

“There was no going back after that. Not for me” he confessed. “I am all in. Tell me you can see that.” 

“I want to believe that,” Lucy pushed. “But you were disappointed–”

“No.” Tim shook his head. “I’m not disappointed in you, Lucy, I’m just terrified of losing you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lucy said, her wide eyes pleading with him. 

“We can’t promise each other that,” Tim said. “Our jobs are dangerous, that’s a fact. Things happen outside of our control every single day.”

“True,” Lucy conceded. “But there are still plenty of things within our control. You taught me that.”

He was at a loss for words. 

She had him there. How many times had he told her that when she was a rookie?

“You didn’t tell me you were going undercover,” Lucy said calmly, “and you got hurt and you weren’t honest about how bad it was. Then you went back to work before it healed and if you’d hit those streets today, you would have been putting yourself at unnecessary risk, maybe even Aaron too.” 

He took a deep breath. Fuck. 

He hated to admit how right she was. 

“I love you and I don’t want to lose you,” Lucy said, her voice growing thick. “And your actions worried me sick and made me feel like you don’t trust me to put you first.”

“No, Luce,” Tim shook his head. “I trusted you to do exactly that and I wanted you to finish school. You have so many doors open for you now and that was more important than my third career knife wound. I knew I’d be fine.” 

“Tim, I need you to hear me when I say this.” Lucy walked over and grabbed his hands. “ You are more important.”

Tim was tongue-tied as he stared down at their joined hands before meeting her gaze. The earnesty he found there was almost enough to break him into a million pieces. 

“You’ll always be my first priority,” Lucy rephrased. “I love this job but what we have will always matter more.” 

He’d never been someone’s priority before. Not with his family growing up. Not with Isabel or the women that had come after her. 

He felt the last ounce of fight leave his body.

“I didn’t want you to worry,” Tim explained, squeezing her hands gently. “You had enough on your plate.” 

“I understand that but I need to be able to make that decision,” Lucy urged. “You can’t make it for me just like I can’t make it for you.”

He nodded.

“So, rule number one: we don’t lie about injuries.” Lucy dropped his hands so she could use her fingers to count off each rule. 

“Ok,” Tim sighed. 

“Rule number two: we always tell each other before we go undercover.” Lucy looked up at him, waiting for his acknowledgment. 

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. 

“Rule number three: our relationship comes first,” Lucy stated. “Whenever that is in doubt, we discuss it.” 

“Deal,” Tim approved.

Lucy let out a satisfied breath and Tim felt his muscles start to relax one by one. They stared at each other as the seconds ticked by one by one on the old wall clock behind him. 

What now? 

“So… should we shake on it?” Tim asked.

A smile lifted at the edge of Lucy’s lips as he took a step toward her. 

“Or…” His voice dropped and Lucy raised a brow as he skimmed his hand over the side of her hip, rubbing his thumb over the buttery fabric of her leggings. He loved her thighs in leggings.

“Or what?” She asked, sliding her hands up his chest. 

 “I haven’t seen you in weeks,” Tim murmured, swiping a loose strand of hair out of her face, “and I really want to kiss you.”

She waited.

He stared down at her, taking her in. He loved this woman. He loved her strength, her fire, her ability to break his brain with a simple phrase or the touch of her hand. He cupped the back of her head and tilted it back, brushing his thumb over the vein in her neck. 

She rolled her eyes in frustration.

“Oh my god. Kiss me alread–” 

He didn’t let her finish. Instead, he sucked the end of the sentence right out of her mouth along with the breath she’d been about to take. 

She moaned into his kiss and for a second, he forgot he had an open wound. She had the unique ability to take away his pain with the touch of her lips. 

God, he’d missed her. 

He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her up until he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. Her arms looped around his neck and he felt her fingers grab hold of his hair.

He wanted nothing more than to tear off her clothes and make love to her on the mat, but the flickering light from the camera on the ceiling had Grey’s words ringing in his ear. There is no expectation of privacy in the police station. 

And he liked his job. Right? 

“Let’s go home,” he grumbled against her throat. 

The sound that escaped Lucy seriously made him question whether he needed a job at all. 

She cupped the sides of his face. 

“Shower. Hospital. Home.” She managed to say between staggered breaths. 

He nodded and rested his forehead against hers before lifting back up and kissing her softly. 

“Okay,” he agreed. 

She held out her hand and he laced his fingers through hers, following her out of the gym and toward the locker room.

drew me and my two best friends sticksonas :D

stick sock or stock (myself), stami, and gamick!

(other doodles below)

Summary: Lucy finds a jewelry box in Tim's dresser. Later, they have a heart-to-heart about undercover work.

Read and comment on AO3

Excerpt:

Tim watched the rise and fall of his arm over Lucy’s back as he lay awake in bed. She was splayed on top of him, her cheek pressed into his chest and an arm tucked into his ribcage. He always woke before her and today was no different. 

He’d managed to sleep in two hours later than normal and was thankful when he heard Tamara let Kojo out before she moved from the sofa to her room. He loved these quiet moments in the morning when the air was still and the drum of Lucy’s heart played a steady beat against his skin.

Especially after a night like last night.

Thorsen had copied Tim on the report, which he scanned from his phone while Lucy slept. He knew one of the crew was shot and killed, that Hajek had shown up and that Lucy had fled the scene with Jake in tow. 

His eyes traveled over the blue and purple streaks that colored her arm, wishing he had the power to heal her with his mind. 

He willed himself to stay calm, to stop himself from thinking of every way an op could go wrong every time Lucy went under. He had to come to terms with this part of the job.

But, fuck, he’d be lying if his chest didn’t tighten at the thought of her being in constant danger. 

She could handle herself. He knew that. 

He just couldn’t handle himself if he ever lost her...