Chenford: Closer

To Be Anywhere Else

Tim:

His heart was beating out of his chest. His best friend had been taken. His best friend, who was pregnant and on what should have been the happiest day of her life, had been snatched away. La Fiera had declared war as far as he was concerned.

So when Wesley said he was going for her, of course, he was on board. He glanced at Lucy and recalled what he had told her once.

Rules matter, Boot.

Well, then what the hell are we doing here?

Some things matter more.

Legal or not, he was going to do whatever it took to get Angela back. He knew every other person standing in that room would. But if it came down to it, he would be the one to take that chance. Harper had her daughter. Grey's wife would kill him if Grey did not come back. Angela would kill him if Wesley threw himself into the line of fire. Lucy was still his responsibility, and, he grudgingly admitted, had a bright career ahead of her as a UC. Jackson had just as much going for him too. He was the only one of them who really had no one to leave behind, no huge achievements he would regret leaving behind. He had made sergeant, he had that satisfaction. The reason he hadn't jumped into the new position was standing in the room with him. He knew that he made the right choice, choosing her. So he would be the one taking all the risks. All the chances. It was the only thing, he knew, that would keep him from going ballistic right at this moment. Focus, he told himself. If he could focus on that one thing: Angela, whatever it took. It did not matter. He knew that he was blinded. But he could still see.

Lucy:

Her UC op had been delayed. Thank God. There was no way she would have up and left in the middle of this mess. To be anywhere else was unthinkable. Jackson's TO, Tim's best friend was at the center of this mess. She had watched Tim closely. He seemed... calm. But it was not serene. It was dangerous. If she knew him as she thought and hoped she did, he was planning on taking all the hits. That was part of his pain-in-the-ass-but-admirable-code-of-honor. And for his best friend, it was not hard to imagine that there was nothing he wouldn't do. What he would do was an entirely different question. She needed to get him alone. Talk him off whatever crazy lengths his mind was spiraling into. She was sure that there was some logical method of reasoning he had to back it up. But he needed to trust them too.

Because there was always the possibility that his actions could backfire in the worst of ways. The worst of which (in his mind) would be where everyone else died instead of him. Because that's what all of his motivation probably led to. Him dying for the sake of the others. Not to be some hero. But because if that were what it came down to, he would do it because that was who he was. Tim Bradford was difficult to describe in some aspects. He did not want honor or glory or fame. But he would take a life-ending bullet. Why? Not for no reason of course. But... those reasons, evaded her. If it went in a complete 180, he would be devastated. Ridden with guilt. But he would push past, probably too far past his breaking point. Of course, no one would ever know. She was only singling out worst-case scenarios. Those would not be the outcomes.

She had to stay somewhat positively minded. There were so many other possibilities. She hoped for the best not because she was immune to gravity, but because the realistic best-case was not the fantasy best case. Fantasy best-case, they get Angela back, the baby is healthy, shut down La Fiera from the inside out, and call it a day. Realistic best-case, they get Angela back, she miscarries from the stress, (Angela, she knows is stronger than that but she cannot discount it), La Fiera disappears into the crevices of the gang community, they come home, probably banged up and facing disciplinary action. She was still here. Glancing again at Tim's expression in Wesley's living room, she confirmed within herself that there was no other place she would rather be.