Tim Bradford, Lucy Chen: S4 Moments

Moment 8

*See the end of this Moment for an extensive Author's Note where I rant about Ashley and present a wild theory that will probably be as long, if not longer, than the actual fanfiction itself. 

Tim POV

She was so confident that she was going to take this from him. As the bet was coming into play, he could almost hear her mind rifling through all the uncomfortable options with which she hoped to torture him with like the wheel on a game show. She was almost cute. It was unfortunate for her that that was not enough. But it wasn't just her. One, Tim Bradford valued competition and winning way ahead of the basis of attraction. He wasn't immune to a woman's natural charms, but he knew how to work above it. Did he just admit to himself that Chen was attractive? Maybe. In his defense, it could be considered an objective fact. She was, an attractive woman. She was also his gopher and subordinate. On top of that, she had become his gopher despite all the bad gossip he feared it would bring her way. So, he, could not entertain thoughts like that. Should not. Even objectively. Honestly, because it scared him to think of what realizations he could end up facing if he did. 

Riddles were fun and all, but this was the job. The job wasn't to follow this wild goose chase like a citizen. The point was to follow the case like a cop with the object in mind being to solve the mystery to clear the city of crazys. And to beat Chen and watch her proud ambitions of humiliating him crumble to pieces. 

Lucy POV

She could not believe he had actually done it. He had won. His reaction of childlike joy was... new to her. She almost forgot the bitter taste of defeat that was on her tongue, seeing him so happy. Almost. But she had never lost. She definitely did not like losing this. So, being the petty person she sometimes was, she called "Tie!" Harper joined her. She knew, deep down, it was not fair. Okay, who could she kid? It was 100%, not fair. Tim and Jerry had won 100%. But no. She was going to ruin this for him. There was no way she was going to be quiet for an entire shift. Hell no. 

Tim POV

He never in a million years would have pinned Chen as a sore loser. Harper, he knew, without a doubt, would stoop that low. But Chen? Well... now that he thought about it, he could see it. Hotshot rookie with everything to prove and nothing to lose but everything to lose at the same time. Yeah... she was a sore loser. The only reason, he supposed, it never popped up during her rookie stint was because when he won (which was always) she won. Welcome to the big leagues, Officer Chen, he thought. 

He met her outside of the women's lockers after shift. She looked surprised to see him. "Never pegged you for a sore loser, Chen," he said. "It. Was. A. Tie," she said through gritted teeth. "Say what you want. We both know that Jerry and I won fair and square." "Since it was a tie," she carried on like she hadn't heard him, "what do we do about the conditions of the bet?" 

"What do you mean Chen?" He sighed, "Fine, to please your hurt ego, we call it a tie. Split the punishment. You only have to be quiet for half of our next shift, and I only have to do something mildly outside of my comfort zone and only you get to be witness to it." She considered this, then stuck out her hand. "It's a deal." He took her hand in his, and much like earlier, they both held on way too long. "So... what mildly uncomfortable thing do I have to do?" Her face lit up. "I have thought long and hard about this-" "For the last thirty long seconds, sure," he interrupted. "You have to let me set you up," she finished proudly. "Sorry, can't agree to that Chen." She basically threw a fit right there in the garage. Her stature made it incredibly comical. "What do you mean no? We literally just shook on it. Fine, if you won't agree to it, you will have to deal with not only a talkative Lucy Chen but a chatty, irritated-" he held up his hand. "Chen, I can't let you set me up because I pretty much just asked someone out. "Oh," was her subdued response, "who?"