「 ✩ Unhealthy Habits • A Chenford Fanfic ✩ 」

"What did he just call me?"

It's been a stressful week for all of Mid-Wilshire. Hell, even most of the other divisions were pulling their hair out trying to catch this guy.

A game of chicken, as Grey called it, chasing after a singular felon.

And it made the entire situation worse that he had been a cop for 4 years, already aware of most of LA's strategies. Nolan and Harper had gotten close to catching him once, and this just made the station all the more determined to finally get this guy behind bars.

⊹⊹⊹

"Well, that was a waste of time," Lucy huffed as she threw herself into the shop.

Tim's ego was majorly bruised after having not been the cop who got closest to their suspect, and it only made Lucy's days with him that much harder.

"Yeah. So much for finally putting an end to this," Tim grumbled.

He grabbed the wheel to turn out of where they were parked, his biceps twitching and knuckles turning white.

"We'll get him," Lucy tried to encourage him, "Sooner or later."

Tim scoffed and rolled his eyes, causing Lucy to roll hers right back.

Being Tim's sergeant's aide wasn't all that she had hoped. It was just like being his rookie again, only she didn't have to worry about getting Blue-Page if she accidentally accelerated too quickly. Not that she made that mistake often, considering how much Tim let her drive.

She turned the computer towards her, trying to find out as much as she could about their guy. Just as she suspected, nothing new to get them any closer. She whined quietly to herself as she skimmed over the report (for what seemed like the 50th time), mainly things like, "Why did he have to be a cop?" or "Why couldn't this prick be in a different state?"

Tim rolled his eyes and gripped the wheel, somehow tighter than he had been before, and scoffed. Lucy continued mumbling nonsense to herself when Tim finally had enough.

"God, do you ever stop talking, boot?" he barked. Lucy froze.

She slowly closed the computer, turning it back to the middle of the seats.

"Boot?" she hissed, fire lighting in her eyes. She was pissed. She shifted in her seat, turning her body to Tim.

Tim squeezed the steering wheel impossibly tighter, cringing as he felt Lucy's eyes piercing a hole through his skull.

"Lucy— I—... I didn't meant that," he stammered, "This case is just so stressful and I..." He began to trail off, trying to think of his next words.

Lucy just shook her head and chuckled under her breath. But it wasn't a Ha-Ha-Funny-Joke chuckle, it was an Oh-You're-Fucking-Dead-To-Me chuckle. She shifted in her seat again, turning to look out of her window while she fidgeted with her earring.

The remaining 5 hours of their shift were torture. Lucy's deafening silence and Tim's failed attempts at trying to explain himself were enough to make either of them go crazy.

But what bothered Tim the most was that Lucy didn't even look mad anymore. Hell, she didn't look...anything. She just sat there like a fucking statue, and any time they stopped, she made it her absolute goal to get out as soon as the car came to a stop to abandon the confines of their shop as quickly as possible.

⊹⊹⊹

Lucy angrily threw her locker open, practically tearing off her uniform to change back into her civvies and get the hell out of the station. Angela noticed Lucy's heavy breathing and quiet cursing as she walked up to her.

"You okay, girl?" she pondered, a little intimidated by Lucy's frantic movements.

"Fine," Lucy murmured, tying her jacket around her waist.

"Bull shit," Angela chuckled before walking over to her, still keeping a safe distance so she didn't accidentally get punched.

Angela leaned up against a locker a few steps away from Lucy, staring at her. Lucy eventually stopped because of Angela's gaze on her and stared back.

"What?" she scoffed.

Angela raised her eyebrows in surprise and smirked at Lucy's newfound attitude. Lucy looked down at the floor and scratched the back of her neck before mumbling, "Sorry. Tim was just...A lot today."

Angela stepped closer and placed a hand on her arm before giggling, "Isn't he always? If it matters that much, you know you don't have to ride with him anymore."

She gave Lucy's forearm a gentle pat before waltzing out of the locker room into the bullpen.

She's right. Lucy had forgotten due to Tim's idiotic word choice, but she didn't have to put up with him. She sighed and closed her locker before walking out of the locker room and to Grey's office.

Grey waved Lucy into his office, signaling for her to shut the door behind her.

"Officer Chen! What can I do for you?" he chirped as he nodded towards the seat across from his desk, and Lucy obliged.

"Sir, I was thinking," she spoke, "That I would be better off riding on my own instead of with Sergeant Bradford."

Grey nodded as he took his glasses off and placed them on his desk, taking Lucy's request into consideration.

"Well, I do believe you're right, Lucy. Being comfortable with riding alone is a necessary step to becoming detective," he rejoined with a wink.

Her eyes lit up as her mouth turned up into a grin. "Thank you, sir," she sighed before standing up to walk out of his office.

⊹⊹⊹

"Ughhh," Lucy groaned as she slouched onto the back of the couch and wrapped her arms around Jackson's shoulders.

He laughed subtly before bringing a hand up to rub her arm, "Wanna talk about it?"

Lucy patted his chest gently before lifting herself off of him and yelled as she entered her room, "Nothing new! Tim being Tim!"

Jackson chuckled to himself as he heard her bathroom door shut.

It was at least an hour before Lucy made her way back into the living room.

"That was the best shower I've ever taken," she hummed before sitting next to Jackson on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You say that every time," he responded, planting a kiss on the top of her head. Lucy giggled quietly as her eyes fluttered closed.

"So," Jackson started, "What actually happened today? You seemed more annoyed than usual when you walked out."

Lucy sighed tiredly and shook her head against Jackson's shoulder. "Tim called me Boot today and...I don't know, it just pissed me off," she mumbled before sitting up and fidgeting with her hands.

Jackson placed his hand on her knee, rubbing his thumb back and forth, "Damn, Luce, I'm sorry. I can't imagine how demeaning that must have been."

She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile before planting a kiss on his cheek and getting up from the couch. "G'night, Jack," she called to him as she walked into her bedroom, shutting the door gently behind her.