Chapter Text
Lucy's first day at Mid-Wilshire station was going to complete shit. Her four month old had kept her up all night and didn’t want to wake up in the morning, she spilled very hot coffee all over herself in the morning, and her daycare came up with a new system so she had to sign a bunch of new paperwork. Now she would barely get there in enough time to meet her new captain and get orders. She rushed into the building very stressed, not knowing where the captains office was.
“Um, excuse me. I seem to be a bit lost, do you guys know where the captain's office is?” Lucy asked a group of three women. Two were in uniform and one was in a blazer.
“Down the hall, up the stairs.” The officer said. Lucy took a look at her name tag, making a mental note not to stick her at the scene of a crime having her guard.
“Thank you…officer Lopez.” Lucy said and began to walk off. She earned small grins from the three of them. She quickly picked up her pace and had finally made it to the captain’s office, even with a minute to spare. But like her old T.O used to say, if you're not early, you're late. She lightly knocked on the door and waited for a response.
“Come in.” A strong but feminine voice said. Lucy did what was instructed, she entered the office and offered a small smile. The captain smiled back and rose out of her seat, then offered a hand. Lucy shook her hand while introducing herself.
“Lucy Chen.” Lucy said. The Captain smiled again.
“Captain Anderson, happy to have you under my command. Take a seat?” She asked, to which Lucy immediately nodded and did. “You have an impressive reputation.” The captain said while skimming through her file. “You caught a serial killer, took down multiple head gang members, and have a masters in psychology. Why pick Mid-Wilshire out of all the stations? I even heard that the FBI was trying to poach you.” The captain said, clearly impressed. Lucy took a deep breath and stopped her fingers from fiddling with each other.
“Best fit for my life right now.” Lucy answered semi-honestly. The captain accepted her answer and gave her another smile.
“All right then. Like I said, I’m happy to have you under my command. You report to Detective Caradine every morning and for now you’ll be paired up with Detective Nyla Harper. She’s a wild card sometimes but is a good person. I presume that you’ll find her good company.” The captain said, standing up again. Lucy stood up with her and gave her one final handshake. “Oh, don’t forget to introduce yourself at roll call this morning, in….thirty minutes. Good luck.” The captain waved Lucy off. Lucy hurriedly walked through the halls, trying to find the detective's station. She internally sighed as the hallway she took, only had more hallways. She turned around quickly once she realized she was at a dead end but accidentally bumped into someone. He huffed when they collided and Lucy automatically began to profusely apologize, a bad trait she had picked up from her childhood.
“Oh crap. I am so damn sorry. I was just in a rush trying to find-” Lucy began to explain to the tall dirty blonde haired man with piercing blue eyes.
“Locker room is down this hall boot, and roll call starts in twenty-five minutes.” He angrily growled. Lucy’s head cocked back in surprise, sure she was young and he probably thought she was a rookie but why was he being an ass about it.
“It was an accident.” She growled back. The man just scoffed and shook his head.
“You better hope I’m not your T.O.” He snarled before walking away. Lucy didn’t return fire and just walked away, she’d save the grenade for roll call.
Lucy was able to find the detective's desk just for enough time to meet Caradine and get her things to her desk. She was waved in by the watch commander and caught everyone’s attention.
“We have a new homicide detective joining us this morning. She is young but trust me, you want to be on her cases.” He slightly introduced her, she stood at the front of the room full of officers and examined the room.
“Hello, I’m Detective Lucy Chen joining you from Olympic station. I really hope I enjoy working here.” Lucy said quickly, her eyes still examining the room. Her eyes landed on the same man from earlier that day. She looked at his name tag and smiled, Bradford. It’s almost like he could read her mind, he scoffed and turned his attention to the large windows. Roll call ended and Lucy stayed behind to introduce herself to the watch commander.
“It’s very nice to be working with you….” Lucy said.
“Watch commander Wade Grey.” He said as he confidently shaked her hand. “Have you introduced yourself to Captain yet?” He asked curiously.
“Yup, first thing in the morning.” She replied honestly. He smiled and gave their hands another shake.
“Good luck on your first day.” He said as he collected his things and began to walk out.
“Thank you.” She said as she too walked out. Lucy spent her time very busy, unlike at her old station. She was given cases right away and was finally being introduced to her new partner. Lucy was a little surprised but happy that she was the one she had seen earlier that day, so did the other women.
“Nyla Harper.” She said while reaching a hand out.
“Um, Lucy Chen. It’s nice to meet you, and I’m looking forward to working with you.” Lucy said with a gentle smile, also looking Nyla up and down. Nyla smiled back.
“Um, let’s get started.” Nyla said happily. She was good company. She was nice, smart, but did put up a harsh persona. They were very similar to say the least. Time and conversation flew by and now it was lunch time.
“Since it’s your first day, lunch is on me.” Nyla said, offering a small smile. Lucy took a shaky breath and stopped walking with her.
“Um, actually, I kind of have something, more like somewhere to be.” Lucy said nervously, hoping Nyla wouldn’t catch on. Lucy was very good at hiding her emotions, but when it had something to do with her daughter, they were clear as day. Nyla stopped walking too and eyed her up and down, trying to read her emotions. That caught Lucy’s attention quickly and she masked her feelings as best as she could.
“I’ll come with you.” Nyla said with a serious face while walking over to Lucy. She began to stutter.
“You-you don’t need to. I-I’m fine to go alone. I’ll be back by…the time lunch is over.” Lucy nervously stuttered. She didn’t want her personal and work life to mix like at her old job. It was harder.
“What, are you hiding something?” Nyla asked while tilting her head, she was trying to make Lucy feel intimidated and it was working. Nyla was probably the only person who could make her feel that uncomfortable.
“W-what? W-w-why would you…ask that?” Lucy asked.
“Why are you getting nervous?” Nyla continued to ask. Shit, Lucy thought. Well she was a woman so she would understand and sympathize with Lucy.
“If I take you, you can’t say anything to anyone. Understand?” Lucy snapped out of nervousness, her kid was nothing to mess around with. Nyla let out a small smirk and nodded. They both got in the car and Lucy heavily sighed before turning it on. They drove in silence and when they pulled into the parking lot Lucy gave Nyla one last warning look before getting out of the car. Nyla silently followed her into the daycare.
“Visiting Tamara Chen.” Lucy told the receptionist while signing in. She turned back to see Nyla looking very confused. “You have to sign in.” She said to Nyla while gesturing to the piece of paper. When Nyla signed in, Lucy hesitantly walked to the baby side of the daycare. There she was, laying on her tummy. A four month old baby with a thick black head of hair, brown doey eyes, and skin like Lucy’s. She was a miniature Lucy in all ways. Lucy gently picked her up and bounced her. “Hi my sweet girl.” Lucy said in a playful tone. She took a moment with her daughter before facing Nyla. Her confused expression quickly turned into a happy one.
“Who is this?” Nyla playfully asked while walking towards the two.
“This is Tamara….my daughter.” Lucy nervously said. Nyla looked up from the little girl and into Lucy’s eyes. Lucy could sense confusion but a bit of joy.
“Can I hold her?” Nyla cautiously asked. Lucy was taken by surprise a little, she carefully handed her daughter over to her co-worker. “Aren’t you the cutest!” Nyla said in a high pitched tone while bouncing her daughter.
“You won’t tell anyone right?” Lucy asked with a skeptical tone. Nyla eyed her again and gave her a sympathetic smile.
“I would never, but it doesn’t hurt to tell people.” Nyla tried to reason.
“It would, trust me, I know.” Lucy said. Nyla gave her an understanding glare and stayed quiet, still bouncing the four month old.
“You look just like your mommy!” Nyla continued to talk in a high pitched tone. Nylas laugh and smile was genuine which calmed Lucy’s nerves. They spent their lunch playing with her before being called to a home invasion that ended up a homicide scene. Luckily Lucy’s day was turning around and started to go smoothly. That is until he showed up at their scene.
“How can we assist you?” He asked Nyla. Nyla raised her eyebrows and looked at Lucy. When their eyes met they had a whole conversation about how he was being an ass.
“Canvas the area.” Lucy ordered him. He didn’t look at her but nodded and left. She looked back to Nyla with an annoyed face.
“What the hell's his problem?” Nyla asked her.
“I don’t know. I bumped into him this morning and he was already acting like an ass.” Lucy said while putting her hair up into a ponytail. Nyla hummed in understandment while they put their blue gloves on. Nyla looked around at the empty crime scene except for them.
“So….why are hiding a child from people.” Nyla asked casually.
“Harper, it’s more complicated than that. People will treat me differently once they find out I’m a single mom. I’ll get the more boring cases, I’ll be called in less. And don’t get me wrong, I loved my daughter and am not ashamed of her, it’s just harder at work when people know. Plus I’m not a big fan of work and personal life mixing.” Lucy said while examining the body with Nyla.
“Hey, you don’t need to explain yourself to me, I understand. And no one here would ever treat you differently, I would know. I have a seven year old, Lila. It’s hard being a single mom, on top of all that, it’s also hard being a detective. Longer hours, we see horrible things every day, and with no support it’s even harder. All I’m saying is, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask.” Nyla said sincerely. Lucy inhaled and nodded her head. They finished up and waited for him to come back.
“Neighbors said there wasn’t any suspicious activity but her next door neighbor did say she was having an affair. Supposedly she would invite this mysterious man over every time her husband left for work, typical.” He snarcked the end part. The two detectives eyed each other but bit their tongues.
“Thanks, leave the report in our box.” Lucy said as they began to write down things in their notepads.
“Anything else to report about Bradford?” Nyla asked once she noticed he was still standing there. His attention was mostly to Lucy who didn’t look up at him. He stayed quiet for a while and sighed.
“No.” He responded before leaving.
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say Bradford had a crush on you.” Nyla joked, then laughed at her own joke. Lucy rolled her eyes and finished her notes. With that her shift ended and she went to pick her daughter up. All in all, it wasn’t too bad of a first day. She’d do better tomorrow, she thought.