Falling For Lucy

Episode 26 - Fallout

It was before shift and I was at the station when Rachel suddenly showed up. "Hey!" She greeted me with a tense smile.

Confused, I smiled back. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked, not expecting to see her today.

"We've got a problem." She whispered to me as she pulled me to the side. I raised an eyebrow at her in concern. "I just got a wedding invitation and-"

"Oh, I don't do weddings," I said quickly. She looked confused up at me.

"I don't know what that means, and I wasn't inviting you, " she tilted her head at me. "Um, Lucy got the same invitation. The couple getting married is her ex-boyfriend and her ex-best friend, " she informed me.

Oh, now I get it. This had nothing to do with us and everything to do with Lucy Chen. The bane of my existence, and the object of all my desires...

"Let me guess, they hooked up while Lucy was still dating him?" I asked.

"Living with him." She answered.

"Mmm." I groaned. That was kinda shitty.

"She's obviously devastated, so maybe take it easy on her today?" Rachel asked sweetly.

"Look, Chen is my rookie, not my friend. My job is to train her, not help her through her messy social life." I explained, and Rachel gave me puppy dog eyes as she pleaded with me to 'take it easy' on Lucy today. "Fine," I conceded. For Rachel, definitely not because I felt bad for my rookie. "I will dial it down like 2%."

"That's my guy!" She smiled up at me and then gave me a quick kiss before leaving like she had never even been here. I got the impression she didn't want Chen to see her here.

Roll call was starting soon so I made my way to the conference room to take my seat. Angela joined me shortly after people started filing in.

"I'm just saying - I don't get out of the car for less than a felony when the needle hits 100." She said to me.

"Your commitment to protecting and serving is admirable." I laughed. **This was nothing compared to being deployed in Afghanistan in 120-degree heat in the dead of summer.**

Harper walked by then to take her new usual seat at the front.

"You know the front row is for the rookies, right?" I said to her as she walked by. She stopped and turned to look at me.

"You hoping I'll sit by you?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm just telling you how it is," I replied with a shrug.

"The day I need that from you is the day I hang up my spurs." She retorted and continued to her chosen spot.

"You know you are losing right?" Angela leaned over and asked with a chuckle.

I grunted in response as Grey entered the room.

"Good morning, everyone. We've got ourselves a heat wave, which means what Officer West?" He quizzed the rookie.

"Studies show that a 1% loss of body mass due to sweating decreases cognitive ablilty and increases anxiety levels." Jackson answered.

"Translation," Grey said, "tempers will be short, drug & alcohol use will be up, so stay hydrated and stay sharp. Now while the rest of you will be baking in the sun, Officer Nolan will be flop sweating in his very first preliminary court hearing." Grey smiled deviously at him. We all wanted court to go well, don't get me wrong, but this was going to be brutal.

A few chuckles sounded around the room. Court was literally the worst, especially your first time.

"Oh, no flop sweats here, sir. I have reviewed the arrest report repeatedly. I am 100% ready to testify on all the facts."