𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆, tim bradford

𝟬𝟬𝟴. anti-bac wipes and lunch boxes

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008. anti-bac wipes and lunch boxes
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when penelope entered the diner, she was still in shock. wrigley was essentially a T.O made of her worst nightmares. he was lazy, uninspiring and quite frankly disgusting. speaking of disgusting, the diners tables were sticky and stained, a fact that penny quickly noticed after she sat. the second thing she noticed was her lack of lunchbox.

"dammit" she whispered to herself, realising she'd be going without lunch for the day. unbeknownst to her, tim walked into the diner a few second after her and had unintentionally snuck up behind her.

"why the long face, doc?" he asked, making penny jump as he sat opposite her with a bag in hand.

"hey" she smiled happily "what are you doing here? you should be resting"

"heard you got wrigley. he always dumps his rookies here while he goes home to eat mac and cheese in his undies"

"so, what, you came to check on me?"

"i live around the corner. i was getting takeout"

"or so you say" penelope quipped.

"shut it" he halfheartedly scolded "how's it going?"

"it's good..." she nodded, staring at tim with wide eyes as he looked at her suspiciously "okay fine, it's horrible!" she gave him, dropping her fake smile and leaning closer to him over the table "i tried to tell him i don't eat lunch out but he didn't listen and the tables here are sticky and i don't have my lunch box and he doesn't do anything! ever! i know he's my superior right now but he's... he's boring! i need structure, i've always needed structure and he doesn't tell me to do anything!" she exploded, sitting back in her chair with a large sigh once she'd finished telling tim everything.

"well first of all" he pulled out a pack of anti bacterial wipes from the bag next to him, holding them out to her.

"oh my god! thank you!" she smiled, snatching the pack from him and beginning to wipe down the table "where- did you bring these for me?"

"i haven't been your T.O long but i know you well enough to know this place would disgust you"

"thank you"

"secondly" tim pulled another thing from his bag. a small plastic box. he passed it to penny who opened it confusedly. inside was a foil wrapped sandwich, pack of crisps, and a small chocolate bar. "you made me lunch!?" she asked incredulously, smiling widely.

"don't read into this, doctor" he warned, willing his smile away "i can't have a malnourished boot. and don't worry, i cleaned the hell out of everything before i used it" he explained. penelope, meanwhile, kept repeating the phrase 'don't cry' in hear head.

no one had ever made her lunch before. her mother died after being diagnosed with cancer when she was young and her father had never cared enough to do anything above throwing some cash at her sometimes before she left for school. she just caouldnt get over the fact that tim had gone to the effort of making her lunch.

she forced herself to listen though as tim began talking again "thirdly, he's what we call a slug, just doing his time, allergic to real police work"

"slug is definitely the right word"

"and last of all, why don't you look at what i sent you" he said, gesturing to her phone that was sat face down on the table. they'd exchanged numbers on the first day for what tim called 'out of hours contact'.

"i don't-" she spoke as she opened up the message on her phone "an audio file?" penny questioned.

"an audio file" he repeated in agreement "its of me quizzing you. i expect a perfect score by the time i get back"

"you do know i would know all the answers after my first listen, right?" penelope said boldly, not sure how tim thought to bring anti-bac wipes and a packed lunch but didn't think she'd have the answered memorised by the end of her shift.

"which is why it's in reverse"

"what!?" penelope almost laughed.

"it's backwards. figure it out"

"i-" the woman bit her lip to stop from smiling ear to ear at how lucky she was in the T.O department "yes sir" she nodded once, straightening her back. "i'll make sure to wash and return your tub by tomorrow"

just as tim was about to reply, penny's radio came to life "wilshire units, store owner called with suspected shoplifter" the dispatcher spoke "caucasian male, yellow track suit, 314 franklin drive"

"that's three blocks from here, boot" tim casually mentioned as he flicked through the diners menu, taking note of her longing look towards the radio.

"what, like i could respond? my T.O.'s not here and i don't have a car and im hungry"

"im your original T.O, you've got legs, and does it look like i care about your eating habits"

"kinda" she scoffed, holding up the lunch he made her. tim glared at her, making the woman backtrack with a reluctant sounding sigh "7-adam-21 responding on foot" she said into the radio as she told up from the table and began leaving the restaurant. before she got too close to the door, penny stopped in her tracks and spun around to go back to the table "oh um, here" she dropped some cash on the table without checking the amount "i skipped out on paying for you on my first day!" she took off, too slow for tim's liking.

"run, doc! run!"

————— authors note 💭

hey loves!!!! sorry for this chapter taking a little longer but i've been super busy lately 😭 hope you liked it anyway tho, please comment and vote 💞💞💞

love u byeeeeee <333