Chapter Text
Tim Bradford was not the kinda person to let anything bother him. Ever, and even when something did bother him he wasn’t about to let anyone know. Which is how after years at the department no one would ever know how bad of seasonal allergies the officer suffered from.
that was until rookie Lucy Chen was assigned to him, Lucy was observant, and friendly. She had been working with Tim for months and had become familiar with some of his behaviors but on this specific day she noticed something was off with him. He had seemed quiet, less stoic, more unnerved.
”so, what’s going on?” Chen asked tentatively. Bradford wasn’t surprised by the question knowing she was observant. “I ask the questions Boot.” He responded keeping his itching eyes on the road. There was an itch budding in the back of his nose. He wrinkled his nose and kept his eyes fixated forwards, “so-“
“huh- TcHhHu HHuhTCHU hh- hTCHhU”
”bless you” Lucy said, startled by how loud the sneezes were. “You alright?”
“yes” he said, his tone left no room for discussion, but Chen never was one to quit, “are you sick?”
”Boot what part of alright did you not get?”
”sorry sir, just making conversation” she said with a shrug, Tim said nothing, but instead turned up the radio, which Chen thought was odd, but in reality the only thing that was on Bradford’s mind was ‘please don’t let her hear this’ Tim turned towards the window, performing as if he was looking around but in reality he was smashing his nose against his shoulder and forcefully stifled a sneeze which hurt his ribs and ears, he sniffled softly after, hoping it wasn’t audible. When a call came over the radio, “an ex-plug, still on probation making g trouble in the park, indecent exposure and violent and hateful speech”
“On it” Lucy said over the radio, Tim began driving towards the location, upon arriving he put the car in park, he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, instantly the outside air hit him and it felt like the pollen attacked him, his breath hitched, which sounded too much like a gasp, Lucy quickly looked over, worrying something happened to her partner. “Bradford? Sir? Everything okay?”
“HuHKTChu hh- eHttChU HHtCHhu uHTChHu!”
”bless you! Are you sick sir?”
“I’m fine, we’ve got work to do Boot” the two of them moved forward, Tim held his wrist to his nose while they walked, not at all wanting to admit how badly his nose was itching and how uncomfortable it was, the two found the exact location, they approached the scene, “Boot! Take the lead I’ll secure the area” Tim began to look around, while Chen discussed with the suspects. Tim was brought to attention when loud voices were heard, he was the ex plug was now close up to Lucy’s face. Tim quickly put the suspect in handcuffs as Lucy stood off to the side dealing with crowd. Once Tim got the handcuffs on the guy he stood up and passed him off to Lucy as the crowd dispersed, unfortunately while putting the guy in handcuffs he was a bit too close to the heavily pollinated bushes, his eyes were burning, he was fighting so hard not to sneeze, “suspect is in the car, should we get him back to the station for processing”
“obviously Boot” he said. He ran his fist over his face, “Sir? Are you sure you’re alright?”
Tim looked up, and Chen almost gasped in shock, his eyes and nose were bright red and swollen, there were tears stinging the corner of his eyes, “did you get pepper sprayed?” She asked, genuinely concerned. “No.” His voice was congested but clearly stern. He pulled a cloth from the chest pocket of shirt and blew his nose on it, muffling a harsh sneeze into the cloth, “oh my God, you have allergies”
“No shit Sherlock” he said with an irritated cough, he wiped his nose on the cloth about to put it back in his pocket, but quickly pulling it back to his nose, “heHUTCHhu! EhTChHu eh- hTChHhu!”
“bless-“
”huhYCHhu! EHTCchu! EktCHU!hEkTCHhhu”
”bless you!”
”thanks” he sniffled and rubbed his nose, “should you go home?”
”no”
”maybe you should’ve taken the day off?”
”I don’t take days off” he said, as he got back in the car, he sat in the driver seat for a second, “Boot! You drive!” He said as he got out of the car, “as much as I hate it, my eyes are killing me, I can’t drive right now”
“yeah of course, I got you” she said enthusiastically moving to the drivers seat. They drove backs to the station and processed the arestee and moved back out. While sitting in the parking lot Lucy spoke up, “Sir I don’t mean to press but would you be totally mad if I gave you something?” Chen said softly s the two of them moved back out, Tim was confused and suspicious but ultimately curious, “depends” he said, Lucy passed him a small bag, which he opened, inside was a pack of tissues, a generic name brand allergy medicine and a water bottle. “Not sure how or what this would help, but here, got it while you were in the bathroom from the medic. She did say she was expecting you soon, so I’m guessing it’s the right stuff”
“traitor” he said under his breath, “sorry?”
”no not you, the nurse promised to keep it secret. Don’t want people to see it as weakness”
“understandable. But it’s normal. Allergies are normal, lots of people have them, Nolan does, I know that much. It’s a part of life, doesn’t make you a bad cop. Just makes you human” Lucy explained, hiding a smile Tim nodded, he swallowed down two pills without water and put the car into drive. “don’t get all soft and mushy. We have a job to do”