Colette let out a laugh walking into her office, when she'd asked Angela to take all the gifts out of her hospital room and put them somewhere safe this was not what she meant.
It was her first day back in the office, she'd been doing a lot of work from home, Grey's orders, and recovering physically and psychologically, but she knew it was time for her to come back to work.
All the petals from the bouquets she received she had professionally pressed, wanting to save them, but seeing the stuffed animals on the couch in her office made her giggle, now knowing where they'd gone after weeks of wondering about their whereabouts.
Ironically she was back for the day she'd be needed most, 'Plain Clothes Day.' Her problem with the day was that the Rookies had full control over whether they could contact her or not, and they took every opportunity to check in on suspects' backgrounds without considering the severity of the situation.
Once Colette stepped into the office, Angela rushed up to her with a wide grin across her face. "I'm so glad you're back, I can relax now at least, I've been stressing out." Angela hugged her and was glad to have her back, but her expression soon changed from one of joy to one of worry. "Do you need me to get rid of any of these?" she asked, pointing towards all of the cards, flowers and stuffed animals that were strewn across various parts of her office.
"No, they're good decorations, however, I'll have to take these little guys," she gestured to the stuffed animals, "home with me."
"Of course," Angela nodded with a small smile on her face, "We tried to keep the cards and flowers organized but there were just so many we had no idea what to do with them all," she replied. She was just happy that Colette was back in the office but she could tell that her friend was still in a little bit of a fragile state.
"I got a new turtle," Colette informs Angela.
Angela's eyes widened in surprise when Colette informed her of the new addition to her home, her friend had always been such a big animal lover. "That's so amazing," she replies, an excitement on her face. "What did you call it?"
"Clifford." Colette grinned, talking about her new pet, she'd found him at an animal shelter, newly surrendered, he was just a bit older than Fluffy.
"Clifford?" Angela chuckles, the name was unexpected but it certainly suited her friend. "He's gorgeous," she said and she could see how Colette had immediately fallen in love with him. He was just as adorable as Fluffy. It made sense for her to bring a pet back home with her, she'd have someone to come back home to and take care of in the evening.
"I was debating getting a cat for a while or a dog, but I figured with everything going on I'll just stick with the turtles for a bit." Colette set her bag down on the floor, wincing a bit when she bent down.
"That's a good idea," Angela chimed in, she knew that it was probably the smartest thing to do right now. As Colette set her bag down, Angela immediately noticed that her friend was wincing and so her worry and concern began to rise again. "Are you sure you're really okay?" she asked in an urgent tone, "I mean, you've just been attacked and I feel like maybe you should be taking the day off at least."
"No it's fine i'm practically healed and I'm sick of rotting at home and now that my mom has a key she takes it as her queue to keep me on the sofa all day." Colette sits in her chair, letting out a sigh of relief as she sits in that familiar chair.
"You're sure you're actually alright though?" Angela says once again, still not convinced. They were best friends and she knew the situation had taken a toll on her. "You're not being pressured by Grey to come back early are you?" She was worried that he was pushing her too quickly and she had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she felt like she was being pushed into her job too soon, so Angela didn't want that to happen again.
"No it was Grey who told me to work from home, Talia thought that if it made me happy I should come back to work," Colette spun, getting used to being back in her office.
Angela smiled when she heard that and she also felt a sense of relief that he wasn't trying to rush her back into her job. "Well if you're sure you're all recovered then I won't stop you," she said, "Although, I am going to need to inspect that turtle." she joked in a playful tone, the thought of one of her best friends having not one but two pet turtle was just so amusing.
"He's great, likes it when I stroke his shell." She smiled, spotting a familiar-looking man spotting the two and walking up to the office, "Oh great."
"Oh here we go," Angela sighed when she spotted Tim walking past their room, she knew that her friend wanted to keep it professional which she was perfectly okay with. She had no reason to get involved when it was a personal matter between the two. Angela watched as he walked up to the room and she expected Colette to tell him to leave as her first response but she didn't.
"He's gonna have my ass when he finds out I've come back to work." Colette huffs, she knew he'd pitch a fit at her not being at home and resting even though she was stabbed over a month ago, the only reason she took so much time to recover was because of the internal damage.
"He might have you sit your ass back down, you've been through a lot," Angela says and Tim walks by and looks into the room, he saw Colette and he didn't look impressed. He didn't like the fact that she'd come back to the office while she was supposed to be on some kind of recovery break.
He looked at Angela first and then his eyes moved back to Colette, he had a very disapproving look on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked her, his voice low.
"I could never miss 'plain clothes day', I've become too attached to those little rookies to let them go without my help." Colette joked, grinning at Angela and avoiding eye contact with the man.
"You're still supposed to be recovering, at least work from home if you're so attached," he said in a low, annoyed tone. He knew that she was trying to make light of the situation but he wasn't having it.
"What and have you checked in on me every single day on your way home, at least you can keep me under surveillance here, not like I can exactly go anywhere," Colette smirked at him, taking a sip of her hot chocolate, he'd taken it upon himself to go to her house every day and check if she was holding up okay, the two became closer than before.
"You're joking right?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes slightly, he could read his friend like a book and he knew just how sarcastic and playful she could be. He chuckled a little before a serious expression settled on his face again. "Please just go back home, it's too soon," he said with a hint of frustration in his voice.
"And who was it who came back to work too early after being shot?" She raised a brow, turning to Angela who smirked because she knew Colette was right.
Tim sighed as Angela smirked at him, she was in on this too. He really didn't like that she was back at work because he felt like it was unnecessary. She could work from home and he could pop around after work just to make sure she was okay. "You know that was different," he said, now beginning to get a little frustrated.
"Was absolutely not but go on." She grinned at him, she adored making him annoyed, it was her favourite pastime.
"It absolutely was," he said sharply, not enjoying her smug attitude at all. There was a silence for a couple of seconds before she sighed and rolled her eyes at him. "You're being too stubborn, just go home."
"I am at no risk here, this is the safest place to be, the police station, I mean apart from the parking lot." She grimaced, remembering her stabbing.
He rolled his eyes, she was so stubborn but he understood her reasoning, being around so many cops did make her safer in some ways. He still felt like she was rushing it however it was obvious that she was going to be stubborn about this, and she rarely backed down.
"Okay," he sighed, he didn't need to argue with her. If she felt safe here then there was nothing more that he could really do. "Just promise me you will make a quick exit as soon as the day is over." he finally asked politely.
"I have a police escort taking me to my car, I know you've already had Grey see to that." She rolled her eyes at the dramatics, she wasn't the first person to be stabbed nor would she be the last one and Colette doubted the man would come back.
"That's not the point," Tim exclaimed and he let out a sigh, she wasn't going to give him an inch so he had to accept this. "The escort is good, you'll be safe. But just be careful okay?"
"I'll be very safe here, now go and terrorise poor Lucy," Colette spun around to face her computer and away from the two police officers.
"I'll do just that," he replied in a sarcastic tone, he hadn't really needed to say anything more but she was already turning her back to him and back to the computer. He looked over to Angela who just shrugged and smiled, it was now time for Tim to leave the office and terrorize Lucy for the day.
"Is he gone?" Colette spun back around, breathing out a sigh of relief.
She nodded her head, Tim had finally left the office. It seemed like it wasn't going to be a happy day for him however from Colette's perspective, things were much better. Angela looked at her with a smile, "He just wants the best for you, you know that right?" she asked.
"I do, and I appreciate it but he doesn't need to be worrying about both me and Isabel, which I heard he went to see on Valentine's Day and apparently she's doing well so if she's okay he doesn't need to worry about anything anymore especially not me, poor man will have a heart attack," Colette spoke, stretching out and taking in her little office.
"He's just worried," Angela replied, she understood how Colette might find it annoying but she knew that he genuinely did care. "He just wants to make sure everyone is okay. I'm sure he'll feel better when you're completely healed."
"Your spleen ruptures and you get rushed into emergency surgery once and everyone treats you as if you're glass, I am fine," Colette says as she pulls out her drawers and grabs some essentials, the essentials being a pack of gum and some gel pens to doodle with.
After being stabbed apparently, the perp had stamped on her side while she lost consciousness or was so concerned with the stab wound that she didn't notice but the hospital soon realised what'd happened and had her put into a medically induced coma due to all the internal damage.
Angela chuckled when she looked at Colette's essentials, gum and pens were all that her friend needed to stay productive and alert throughout the long day at the office. "Well, if you need anything, you know I'm here for you right?" she said, trying to ease her friend's mind even if it probably wouldn't work.
"You're as bad as Tim, I'll be fine and if anything happens which I doubt will happen by 99.9% you'll be the first one I call." Colette raised a brow at her.
"I just don't like the idea of you being hurt again," Angela insisted, she hated seeing her friend in pain which was why she'd been so adamant about her leaving the office. "But I will take your word for it, I'll leave you to it." she smiled, trying to at least cheer her friend up slightly.
"Have a good day."
"You too," she replied, and with that Angela left the office, leaving her friend alone in her office with her trusty gum and pens.
⤍❀⤎
"I mean I thought you'd be thankful your car doesn't start, the best way to pass 'Plain Clothes Day' is to not even be out there to fail at all?" Colette snickered, leaning on Angela as Jackson stressed over not being able to go out and beat his father's record.
Angela let out a laugh as she glanced over to Jackson who was so frustrated. She'd been watching him for a few minutes and she had to admit that she just found the whole situation funny. He'd been having trouble ever since he couldn't get his car to start. "I bet you thought you'd ace this today too," she commented, the irony not being lost on her.
"I mean I thought I had daddy issues, not knowing my actual dad and all that but I think Jackson here takes the cake." Colette and Angela laugh, although she rarely ever talked about it Colette was adopted, but she'd never trade her parents for anything, to her those were her real parents and she never had the desire to find her biological ones.
"...You know I've never really asked..." Angela said thinking through that statement as she continued to watch Jackson. "Have you ever wanted to find your biological parents or are you not interested in ever finding them?" she asked Colette, maybe this wasn't a subject she was comfortable with talking about but Angela was curious.
"I'd rather not fly all the way back to Italy to find people that didn't want to be found, I was given up for a reason so why push into someone's life when I'm happy," Colette explained, she knew the basics of her adoption, her parents always being honest, she was an affair baby, her biological mother not wanting her but was too far along so gave her away.
"That's a totally valid reason, I just wondered because you've never said any of this before," she said in a friendly tone, she was glad that her friend was happy in life, it was the most important thing. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her friend in any way. "I'm just glad you're happy, your parents, well your adopted parents they really do care about you."
"I mean I couldn't imagine being like you Jackson," She joked, hoping the man wouldn't take it too personally, "The only thing I wanted to beat my dad in was Guitar Hero."
Angela laughed along with the joke, Jackson did look so stressed out right now. She could understand why he would want to beat his dad's record however, she also had to wonder whether his constant need to compete with him was healthy. "And did you beat your dad in Guitar Hero?" she asked Colette, eager to know the outcome.
"No, he's weirdly good at it, It used to drive Enzo crazy." She reminisces about her childhood with a smile, watching the mechanic finally come out and start looking at the car, Jackson still just as stressed.
"How good is he?" she asked with a laugh, this conversation was beginning to turn her attention away from the increasingly stressful situation with Jackson. She looked over at the mechanic with a smirk on her face, she was so eager to see this car start because just having it in the garage was giving Jackson such terrible stress.
Colette just gave Angela a nod, smirking as she watched Jackson pace back and forth.
Angela smiled as she saw the smirk from her friend, her curiosity was now piqued even more to see whether the car would start. She was just wondering whether it would go on like this all day or whether Jackson would have to call it a day and move on to the next vehicle. It was funny to watch him pace around, she just found it so amusing.
Colette's phone starts to ring, scowling down at the caller ID she answered with a sigh, "You're meant to be on patrol."
Angela let out a small laugh when she heard Colette's annoyed response, it wasn't like her friend to be annoyed when someone called her. "Who is it?" she asked, wondering who could possibly annoy Colette at this moment, there were very few people who would fit the bill.
She chuckled a little bit when she saw her friend mouthing the words 'Tim' to her, she assumed that he would call at some point but it was always a moment she looked forward to since this would be so entertaining. She couldn't help but smile at the idea of Tim on the phone to Colette.
The sound of Tim's voice over the phone caused Angela to laugh, she'd been waiting for this moment since she'd seen him walk past the office. A very entertained Angela put her attention on the phone now, waiting to hear what Tim would say to explain why he'd called.
"I was just checking up on you, making sure you were okay" he began, his voice was slightly condescending which made Angela laugh even louder because she knew exactly where this was going.
"Well, I've been held at gunshot 6 times so yes I'm great." Colette snarked, Tim had been like this for the past few weeks, always having to know what she was doing.
"Just making sure," he replied in a slightly less condescending tone as he got a little tired of her sarcasm. He couldn't really blame her though, she was just teasing him a little for being so overprotective but he couldn't help it. "You're not even supposed to be at work yet."
"And you're meant to be working and instead you're calling me," She fake gasps, "What will your superiors think when I report you?"
He sighed at her response, he knew that his bosses wouldn't even care but it was just the point that she was making. "Do whatever you want," he replied, he knew that she was going to take the piss regardless. "Just make sure you don't do much today, understand?"
"I'll see you later Tim, leave poor Lucy alone." And with that, she hung up and watched the mechanic figure out what was wrong with the car.
"Dead battery." The mechanic announced, Colette let out a loud laugh before walking away.
⤍❀⤎
"If Chen threatened the guy, why didn't you step in and sort it out?" Talia questioned, Colette, humming in agreement.
"It's Plain Clothes Day. That'd be cheating. I'm a man of principles." Tim disputed, shrugging as the three of them sat at a table.
"Yeah, but they could terminate her." Colette interrupts, worried about the outcome of this situation.
"I'm not gonna let that happen." Tim shuts down.
"Thought you were a man of principles?" Talia calls out his contradiction.
"And contradictions," Tim admits with a sigh, Colette shaking her head at the man as she takes a sip of her drink.
"You think he's back too soon?" While Tim and Talia began to speak Colette zoned out, she was ashamed to admit it but this was the first time she'd been openly out in public, she'd been in her yard yes but other than going out to the car and back this was the first time she'd been sat in public since the stabbing.
"I'll be right back." Colette was knocked out of her trace by Talia leaving to speak to Wolfe.
He turned to Colette as she was zoning, looking at her with a concerned look. "Are you okay?" he asked, the last thing he wanted was for her to be upset on her first day back.
"I'm fine, it's just... a bit weird." Colette said, licking her lips, "I'll be fine, don't worry."
"Are you sure?" he asked, his tone slightly more caring as he saw her lick her lips. It was evident that something was bothering her, she was a terrible liar in this type of situation.
"Yeah I'm fine Tim," She disregarded, "Are you going to eat those?" She points to his fries.
"You're not going to try and steal all of my fries again, it's not happening," he said in all seriousness, she knew he was only half joking but he didn't want her to think she was going to get away with it again. She still was feeling off so he was reluctant to push her for answers but he also wasn't going to let her steal all of his food. "Just one," She begged.
The last time she'd said just one it really meant three, she was a terrible liar when it came to food so he knew what she was up to. He sighed as he handed her one of his fries, "Enjoy it, it's the only one you're getting."
"It's so small though." Colette looked at the fry with disgust. "Are you joking?"
Tim groaned, he'd known she was going to complain but he didn't want to let her have too many fries. "It's literally the same size as every other fry." he pointed out, his expression stern.
"No I think you're just taking the piss, give me another." She reached out trying to grab another, it wasn't as if this was a common occurrence, in fact, it was usually Tim who came over to her house and raided her fridge, "Don't be rude now Tim."
"Colette, can you stop trying to steal my food," he sighed, this was going to be a never-ending game if he was too kind. He kept his grip tight on his food and moved it out of her reach. If she wanted a fry she would have to ask nicely and that meant no trying to snatch them.
"Fine then, you're not meeting Clifford." She leaned back, taking a bite of her sandwich, still eyeing up his fries.
"Is that a threat or a promise?" he replied sarcastically and then nodded towards her sandwich, "Are you going to let me try some of your sandwich or am I going to have to steal it?" he teased.
"The way I will have you in a chokehold if you even lean over this table." Colette threatened, her face stern.
Tim frowned, she seemed so serious about this threat but the truth was that she was very soft and wouldn't actually hurt him. He didn't know what to believe from her at this point. "Is that an actual threat or are you just going to roll over and let me take it?" he asked, leaning his body slightly forward to increase the possibility of her letting him take the sandwich. Colette raised a brow, a hard glare directed at the man before her.
"I don't know why you think I'm not serious because I will dive over this table and rock your shit, Bradford." Colette threatened, she was not above fighting the man and was in fact looking for an excuse to do so.
He smirked at her statement, there was so much attitude in just one sentence and he appreciated exactly none of it. It was almost like she was actually looking for a reason to fight him, something that he was more than willing to give her if she wanted to start something. "Do you really think you could take me in a fight Colette? Because I know that I could handle myself against you pretty easily."
With that Colette shot around the side of the table, getting him in a headlock. "What the hell," he exclaimed as he saw Colette move so quickly that he didn't have time to react until his neck was already trapped in her grip. He tried to wriggle free of her hold but it was rather difficult given the situation he was in, she definitely knew a thing or two about fighting if this was the position she got him in so easily.
"You wanna go Bradford?" She taunted, the people around her questioning if this was actually serious or some kind of joke.
Tim was beginning to wonder whether people thought they were actually fighting given that people were just watching on, he thought for sure that they would intervene by now. He tried to wriggle free of her grip to no avail, she had him trapped. "Let me go or I'm going to start biting you," he threatened in a rather annoyed tone, he wasn't playing around about this either.
"I will bite you back," Colette warned, squeezing the tiniest bit harder, Tim still being able to breathe but unable to pull away.
Her grip was too tight for him to try and pull away, he was stuck for the time being. He sighed, there was no way he was getting out of this hold without biting her. Tim opened his mouth slightly and attempted it.
She gently slapped him upside the head before releasing him, her hands on her hips and looking down at him.
He stumbled back slightly, catching himself as he recovered, he was angry for a moment as he looked up at her standing over him but then his annoyance became amusement as he realised just how ridiculous this all was. "What in the hell was that for?" he barked, he was genuinely a bit stunned by her actions.
"I warned you and I also proved I can handle myself so you can stop with your phone calls and checking in on me at night." She smirked, knowing that she'd outsmarted him.
"Yes that is true," he agreed as she did outsmart him but that was a one-time thing and he'd made sure that she knew it. "Though next time I will bite you and I wasn't joking," he warned her, giving her a small smirk with a hint of laughter to it.
"You're a freak." She shook her head, grabbing her drink and walked away.
He chuckled at that, she hadn't changed her attitude at all. "Still the same stubborn Colette," he yelled after her, as she walked away, receiving a crude hand gesture in return.
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