Falling For Lucy

Epi 6 - The Hawke

"You're driving today, Chen," I told her as we grabbed the gear and walked to the garage where the shop was waiting.

"What, really?" She looked at me wide-eyed.

"Yes, today we are going to work on your tactical driving abilities, and I can't evaluate you if I'm driving," I explained

"Wow, I was starting to think this day was never going to come," she said, bouncing on her feet, practically racing to the shop to put the gear in.

"Calm down," I watched her and handed her the bag I was carrying, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Alright," she took a breath, "This is just a normal day."

So we got in and buckled up. She started the shop right away. I sent her a hard look and she noticed immediately.

"What?"

"Have you done the pilot check?"

"The what?"

"The pilot check. Sign in to the box, check lights and sirens, make sure there is gas, check the oil."

"Uh, I have to check the oil?"

I rolled my eyes, did she even know how to check the oil?

"Yes, you can't trust motor pool to take care of your shop for you. We spend almost 12 hours a day in here. You need to know your shop inside and out." I explained.

"Didn't realize I had to be a mechanic too?"

After I walked her through all that we got back into the shop and she finally pulled out to start our patrol. In terms of her actual driving ability, so far it had been pretty average. I had definitely had worse rookies than her before and I started to let my guard down. Until we got on the 101, and then things changed, mostly after a McLaren sped by and we started a pursuit.

"Okay, what's your plan here?" I asked as Chen sped after them, lighting and sirens blaring.

"Um, we try to get them to pull over," She replied, swerving through traffic.

"And? How are you gonna do that?" I asked her then suddenly the car was flying and we were spinning. The car landed upside down and all the glass broke, shattering and flying everywhere as we skidded across the road, the metal of the roof scraping the entire way. Once we came to a stop I finally let out the breath I was holding. "That work the way you planned it, Boot?" I asked, looking over to see her a little shell-shocked by her accident.

This is why I always drive.

"You okay?" I asked when she didn't respond to my berating question. She finally snapped out of her daze and looked over at me.

"I'm so sorry. I'm never driving again."

"No can do, Boot. Once we get back to the station and get a new shop you are finishing the day driving." I replied.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"I am not going to let you develop a fear of driving," I explained simply.

After that, we got ourselves out, called for backup, and swapped out a new shop with the promise of a buttload of paperwork later. That afternoon, I made her drive up to the Hollywood Hills. Mulholland Dr was the perfect place to practice her driving skills with the curvy roads, traffic, and pedestrians about. We spent the rest of the shift there just driving, talking with the locals, and taking a few calls as they came up. We talked about what she did wrong earlier and I showed her some things to pay attention to when you get into a high-speed pursuit and you start making jerky and sharp turns. It was one of our quieter afternoons but Lucy was already feeling better about herself and her driving had improved.