One Heart, Two Bodies

3. There Must Be Something More

Lucy and Tim stared at the picture of Zilla along with the news coverage that she murdered a bunch of people senselessly.

"Tim! That's Zilla."

"I know!"

"We have to do something."

"What? We're not cops anymore."

"Hang on. What do you mean 'we'?"

Tim bit his lip. "I sorta quit a few weeks ago."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Don't be mad at me, Luce. You DIED! I just...I couldn't..."

"Right," she sighed. "I'm sorry. I...I guess I never imagined you would quit."

"What choice did I have? I couldn't walk around that precinct with my so-called friends who stopped me from saving you," he absent-mindedly stroked the burn along his arm.

"You swore an oath to serve and protect."

"And, you think that mattered to me when I lost you because of that oath?"

Lucy winced. She understood his thought process, regardless of how shocking it was to think of Tim quitting the LAPD. "Well, I still feel a duty to serve and protect, and she's my doppelgänger. I wanna stop her."

"So, you want to track her down?"

"Yeah, so let's start with the woman she asked about last night. Maybe she can give us a lead."

"You mean Rowena?"

"Mhm...how do you know her by the way?"

"I stumbled into her shop a few weeks ago, and she said she could help bring you back. Said she's a witch. It sounded really dumb, but I...I've been a mess, Lucy. I was in a bad state when I met her on the day we were supposed to get married...I...the night before what was supposed to be our wedding and I met Rowena,...I took my gun, and I held it against my forehead. I don't even know how long I sat on the floor of the bathroom with that gun, but...I couldn't go through with it. I can't explain why, because all I could think about was if I pulled the trigger, I wouldn't have to miss you anymore," his voice broke, and he swallowed back tears.

She reached out to squeeze his hand and tried not to cry. "Tim, I'm so..."

"It's not your fault. I don't blame you. In all 49 days that you were gone, I never blamed you once. I was never pissed that you went into a burning building to save a kid, because that's who you are. That's one of the things I love about you. I only ever blamed myself for not getting to you faster. I should've been there to save you, and I didn't."

"You couldn't have. The fire moved fast. So fast that I didn't even hear sirens from backup before I started losing consciousness. I tried to stay awake as long as possible for Julie, but the smoke was so thick..."

"She's okay, by the way. Julie only had a minor burn and was returned to her family safe and sound."

"That's good to know." Lucy was happy to know she saved a little girl's life in her final moments.

"Is it bad that it's a little bit of a relief that not even the firefighters could get there in time?"

"No, I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened to me, and we got a second chance, so it doesn't matter anyway."

Tim offered her a small smile and kissed the back of her hand. "I'm still sorry I couldn't get to you in time."

"It's okay," she touched his cheek gently and smiled back. "We...we need to talk about this more, Tim, but we also need to stop Zilla, which means we need to speak with Rowena."