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fan-of-mulligan · 1 month ago

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FOM BLOG FIVE THINGS TO PICK OUT FROM GILLINGHAM 1-2 HARROGATE TOWN

After Gillingham’s 1-0 Home Win Against League Two League Leaders Port Vale, Gillingham went into our next league match against Harrogate Town off the back of a mini season break because Gillingham’s away league fixture against Walsall was postponed because Walsall had players in there squad called up for International Duty, and there was hope and optimism that with Gillingham winning against Port Vale, and the mini season break meant that players can return from injury, and Mark Bonner can spend more time working with the players on the training ground, that maybe the win against Port Vale can be the result that can kick-start Gillingham turning there season around.

But rather then build on that win against Port Vale with a win against Harrogate Town, Gillingham lose 2-1 against A Harrogate Town side who had the worst away form of any side in League Two prior to kick off, and most of the pre-match conversation was that this fixture needs to be a win for Gillingham, even if the performance is not great and Gillingham nick the match with a 1-0 win, it is all about the three points, and with the long break until our next league game against Bromley, it was crucial that Gillingham won against Harrogate Town, and a win would have taken Gillingham back into the playoff position’s in League Two as well.

Instead, the defeat saw Gillingham put in a lacklustre performance, it’s a dreadful result, and the supporters after the game chanted - What A Load Of Rubbish - Towards the players and that is probably the most anger and frustration that has been aimed from Gillingham Supporters towards the players for some-time, and the anger due to the performance and result against Harrogate Town and the anger and frustration regarding Gillingham’s recent run of form is justified, and this result against Harrogate Town leaves Gillingham Supporters asking more questions then answers for where do Gillingham go from here ??? and how do Gillingham turn our season around ??? - But here are five talking points that I will pick out from Gillingham’s 2-1 Home Defeat Against Harrogate Town.

ONE: LACK OF CREATIVITY - Tim Dieng’s goal from Max Clark’s corner kick was Gillingham’s only shot on target throughout the entire game against Harrogate Town, really it should be two shots on target and two goals because Josh Andrews had to score that chance at the end of the match for 2-2 from Marcus Wyllie’s cross, and whilst we can point to other moments in the game, like Gillingham should have been awarded a penalty kick for the foul on Marcus Wyllie and Elliott Nevitt’s effort on goal crashing against the outside of the post, the truth of the matter is that Gillingham had one effort on target at home against Harrogate Town and that is not good enough, and when you look at the home win against Port Vale, Gillingham also had one shot on target, and that was Jayden Clarke’s header for the winning goal, and Gillingham are not creating many goal-scoring opportunities for our attacking players, and that has to change in order for Gillingham to turn our season around, otherwise this is yet another season where we are talking about Gillingham being the lowest goal-scorers in League Two, and either personal needs to change, formation needs to change, or both, to enable Gillingham to create more goal-scoring opportunities in matches, because one effort on target against Harrogate Town is not acceptable.

TWO: WEAK MENTALITY IN THE SQUAD - Henry mentioned a very interesting and very concerning stat post match after Gillingham lost 2-1 against Harrogate Town, and that stat was this - the last time that Gillingham have conceded a goal but then scored the next goal afterwards in the same game was when Gillingham won 4-1 against Carlisle United on the opening day of the season - and if you look at the matches Gillingham have lost against Accrington Stanley, Bradford City and Harrogate Town, and even the draw against Swindon Town, Gillingham have scored the first goal in all four matches and Gillingham have not won any of those four matches mentioned, and had Gillingham won all four matches, an additional ten points would have put Gillingham third in The League Two Table.

And yet, in this squad are a group of players who when Neil Harris was Gillingham Manager, If Gillingham scored first, Gillingham would win and Gillingham were exceptional at defending a lead from a winning position, now, Gillingham cannot chase matches from a losing position, and we’re also losing matches from a winning position having scored the first goal, I think the stat Henry mentioned above, as well as Gillingham seemly incapable of winning matches from a losing position, as well as the players just slump into our shell when we concede an equalising goal is a massive problem, it points towards a lack of confidence, a lack of belief, and have the players got the grit and determination to go again after conceding an equaliser for 1-1 to score the next goal and re-take the lead in the same match for 2-1, and right now, you have to say no, the players are not capable of winning a match having been pegged back level, and it’s more then likely that the opposition are going to win if they score an equaliser against Gillingham, and that is very concerning.

THREE: CRITICISING MARK BONNER’S SUBSTITUTIONS - When Mark Bonner has made good substitutions, like Oli Hawkins and George Lapslie coming on to help Gillingham win against Morecambe, Jayden Clarke scoring the winning goal against Port Vale, and Jacob Wakeling, Marcus Wyllie and Jayden Clarke coming on to help Gillingham win 3-0 against Tranmere Rovers, we were praising Mark Bonner for his game-changing substitutions and tactical master-class.

But substituting Tim Dieng and Ethan Coleman for George Lapslie and Jack Nolan and Harrogate Town score though the middle of the pitch which is now vacated because those two have come off is a poor substitution, Tim Dieng scored against Harrogate Town, he provides height and a physical presence in what was very much a match played in wet and windy dreadful conditions, it wasn’t a match for expansive attractive football, and Tim Dieng can win the ball in the air if Gillingham opt to knock the ball long, and Ethan Coleman is very good as that defensive shield in midfield in-front of the defence.

And Jayden Clarke is Gillingham’s top goal-scorer, he should have come on much earlier to provide Gillingham with an attacking outlet, I can understand Josh Andrews on for Elliott Nevitt, because Elliott Nevitt has just come back from injury, but the two midfielder changes before Harrogate Town scored and just opening up the centre of midfield which Harrogate Town took full advantage of was very strange.

FOUR: WHAT IS GILLINGHAM’S IDENTITY ??? - And I ask this question because both Stephen Clemence and Mark Bonner have come into the football club with there own idea’s, lining up with a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formation respectively, and both manager’s have switched to a back five, and I have always maintained the opinion that a 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 formation is a very specific formation and you need specialised players to make that formation work, and the only manager in recent times at Gillingham who has lined up with a back five as his first choice formation was Ade Pennock, but Ade Pennock lined up very much with a back five to make Gillingham solid defensively, and he signed big physical players to try and make his formation work, and whilst Ade Pennock’s short tenure as Gillingham Manager was not successful, he at least had an idea heading into the start of the 2017 / 2018 season on how he wanted Gillingham to line up heading into that season.

And with the question about Gillingham’s identity, and how should Gillingham line up for our next league game against Bromley, and for the league games that Gillingham have got over The Christmas Period, then maybe Mark Bonner might need to consider reverting back to his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, because as I have mentioned above, there is a lack of creativity and Tim Dieng’s goal against Harrogate Town was Gillingham’s only shot on target, and likewise, Jayden Clarke’s winning goal against Port Vale was Gillingham’s only shot on target, and whilst the back five allows for Gillingham to line up with two strikers, it isn’t exactly like the back five is seeing Gillingham create more goal-scoring opportunities, or score more goals.

And Joe Comper spoke about Gillingham’s identity with his interview with Gills In The Blood and how this is a very new process at the football club, and Andy Hessenthaler and Mark Bonner are very much part of the discussion process on what is Gillingham’s Club Culture, and what is A Gillingham Player, and Gillingham need to find out what type of team do we want to be, are we a team that wants to play a possession based style of play ??? - are we a team who gets the ball forwards to a target-man striker and play for knock-down’s and second ball’s ??? - are we a team that is set up to be more defensive minded ??? - do we want to be a more attack minded side ??? - are we a team who sign’s players who are twenty three and younger and look to develop young players and sell them on and reinvest that money back into the first team ??? - or does Mark Bonner want a squad full of experienced players who are ready for the here and now, as Gillingham have got high ambitions and aspirations of getting promoted out of League Two and Gillingham want to be playing League One Football as soon as possible ???

FIVE: CREDIT TO HARROGATE TOWN - For Gillingham to be challenging for automatic promotion and a playoff position at the very least this season, Gillingham have to be wining at home against Harrogate Town, and the defeat leaves us asking more questions then answers on everything that has happening on the pitch for Gillingham Football Club, and how can Gillingham turn our season around and be up there challenging in the promotion picture between now and the end of the season.

But Harrogate Town have come to Priestfield Stadium and they fully deserved to win, more shots on target, won from a losing position - which shows the character, mentality and qualities that Harrogate Town have got in there squad - have a clear understanding on how to line up and function as a side, and when I was looking back on the game and the chances that Harrogate Town created throughout the match, Harrogate Town created the first goal-scoring opportunity of the match with Josh March running on to the ball before working his way inside Gillingham's Penalty Area, and Josh March's cross is blocked by Max Ehmer and the follow up effort from James Daly deflects off Shadrach Ogie on to Jack Muldoon and out of play for a goal-kick.

In the mid-way point during the first half, James Daly's curling effort on goal went just wide of the far post, and Jake Turner dived at full stretch and that was a great chance for Harrogate Town, and just before Harrogate Town equalised for 1-1, Dean Cornelius's effort on goal takes a big deflection and Jake Turner parries the ball behind for a corner, So Harrogate Town have created more goal-scoring opportunities, Jake Turner has had more saves to make throughout the match, Harrogate Town managed to win from a losing position, and whilst the criticism of Gillingham’s performance and lack of goals scored are very valid, as well as criticisms of the squad’s mentality, It is important to mention that Harrogate Town have had more efforts on goal, created more goal-scoring opportunities, and they stood up to the challenge of going 1-0 down to win 2-1, and for all the criticism’s we have got regarding Gillingham’s Performance, For anyone supporting Harrogate Town, you would have been pleased with Harrogate Town’s performance, because they deserved to win, even though from A Gillingham point of view we are disappointed with the result.

ADDITIONAL COMMENT

CRITICISM TOWARDS THE PLAYERS IS UNDERSTANDABLE - Provided that criticism is constructive and doesn’t over-step the mark towards personal and unacceptable abuse, this is a poor performance and poor result against A Harrogate Town side who Gillingham should be beating if we are genuine about achieving our aims of getting promoted or at the very least, reaching the playoffs this season, now had Gillingham lost 2-1, but Jayden Clarke, Elliott Nevitt, Marcus Wyllie, Josh Andrews, Tim Dieng, George Lapslie and Jack Nolan have all had efforts on goal saved by James Belshaw, we could at least say - Gillingham have done everything in our power to try and win against Harrogate Town, but we have come up against a goalkeeper in inspired and exceptional form - but we cannot say that, and when was the last time that Gillingham have lost a game and the opposition goalkeeper has had to work exceptionally hard to make sure that he is on the winning side on the day ???

But this was a poor performance, a disappointing result in dreadful and appalling wet and windy conditions, and Gillingham have got the players in the squad who are more then capable of winning at home against Harrogate Town, and this squad is under-performing, whilst at the same-time, it is also clear that Neil Harris, Stephen Clemence and now Mark Bonner just cannot get this group of players to put together a consistent run of performances and results throughout the last two season’s, and when Chairman Brad Galinson has stated clearly that he wants Gillingham to achieve promotion this season, then the players have to step up to that challenge, and this group of players just do not seem capable of helping Gillingham to achieve our objective of promotion into League One.

And if Gillingham can turn our season around, and go on a run of form that Gillingham were on at the start of the season, then Gillingham can move up the league table quickly, and move back into the playoff position’s in League Two, and the aim regarding promotion is back on again, but the players have to get back to putting in that run of consistent performances and results, and the only consistency at the moment is Gillingham losing matches, and we just have to hope that Gillingham not only can get back to winning ways against Bromley, but also, a win against Bromley can see Gillingham build up a unbeaten / winning run to get our season back on track.

#gillingham #football #matchreport #HarrogateTown

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isisparker · 5 years ago

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Candid

[The Rookie - Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen - Chenford fanfic]

word count: 3k a/n: first attempt at a Tucy/Chenford fanfic, so I apologize for mistakes and whatnot in advance! this was inspired by the latest episode as I wonder just how many humiliating pictures has Tim taken of Lucy and whether those are the only ones? also this takes place post- 2x12 “Now and Then” and, well, a bit canon divergence as have you...

Therein -- according to Jackson -- a folder of incriminating pictures of Lucy on Tim Bradford’s phone. Confirmed by Lopez that such files of Bradford’s rookies exist, Lucy reasoned it is all Jackson’s fault that she’s sitting in a bar bathroom trying to find said folder of herself. A folder on her T.O’s phone that she... borrowed...

Or what happens when Lucy steals Tim’s phone, Jackson becomes a frustrated accomplice [and a good soundboard-slash-wingman], and Tim does what does best: taking unwitting pictures of Lucy Chen.

~~~

It was all Jackson’s fault.

No, really it was!

It was all Jackson’s fault that Lucy Chen had locked herself in a bar bathroom, hunting down an elusive folder that legend says majority of young, bright eyed cops lost countless sleep over: Officer Tim Bradford’s Incriminating Photos of His Rookies.

Hell, she would have laughed off the very mention of such a thing had fellow officer-slash-roommate Jackson West not open his stupid mouth and verified its existence.

(Okay, to be fair, it all started because of a 488 and Lucy chasing the damn kid through a park where Surprise! a pie eating competition was being held and, well… after a spectacular header into the contestant table resulted in an arrest despite finding herself covered in meringue and whip cream, when her training officer held his phone up, gave his signature shit-eating smirk before saying “Geez, Chen, I’ll run out of space soon…”, which Jackson later speculated that Bradford probably kept a folder filled with Lucy-inspired exploits, and followed shortly by having Jackson’s own T.O., Angela Lopez, confirming that “Oh yeah! Bradford has folders of all his trainees’... uh… mishaps? Incidents?” “Humiliating moments?” “Your words, Boot, not mine.”; so you can imagine why her paranoia placed the entirety of this adventure all on her friend!)

Because let’s be real: no amount of sanity on her end would have resulted in talking a few unsuspecting colleagues into a night out at a relatively unknown (well, to everyone but Lucy, who had the foresight to check the area out) bar and pool hall, proceeding to needle her fellow rookies to distract her T.O., and then coming into possession of Tim’s phone (that she had discreetly, uh, borrowed from his person) in an attempt to break into-- no, wait, unlock it and save her future self from potential blackmail.

“Just say ‘deleting embarrassing photos,’ Luce.”

“Shut up, Jackson.”

“Hey! It wasn’t my idea for you to steal--”

“Borrow! I’m not keeping it. Just borrowing it…”

“Right…” She didn’t need to glance up at her friend to notice the disbelief oozing out of him. “It wasn’t my idea for you to ‘borrow’,” damn Jackson, she didn’t need to look up to feel his quotation marks, “his phone, just so you can delete the pictures he has of you. So why do I have to be your accomplice--”

“It’s not a crime to borrow a friend’s phone.”

“It is if he’s your T.O. and, oh yeah, he doesn’t know that you lifted it from him!”

Lucy waved her hand, “Schematics…” she murmured, trying to limit her attempts at his passcode lest she end up locking the phone for hours. She could feel Jackson’s eyes roll as she added, “And you’re not my accomplice. You’re my lookout. I just… need…” The distinct sound of a phone being unlocked briefly pierced the gender neutral bathroom that the pair of rookies were camped in, causing the young woman to do a soft congratulatory fist pump. “Aha! Got it!”

Another cellphone ping crisped the air, causing Jackson to make an inquired hum before emitting a small sound of distress.

Which meant that Lucy’s window of opportunity was closing faster than she anticipated.

“Luce,” Jackson started, “Nolan can’t keep Bradford preoccupied for long!”

Lucy’s eyes were focused on the cell screen, her fingers scrolling and tapping to find the folder that started this utterly insane journey. “Tim loves knocking Nolan down a peg or two. As long as Nolan keeps up the charade of losing, we have time!”

“But that was before Lopez and Harper cajoled them into involving money, Luce! Plus Harper is Nolan’s T.O! She’ll be able to sniff out his act faster than the other two!”

“Well then Nolan would be shitty at undercover work if he’s unable to keep his part up!” Lucy growled, “Just like you’re doing a horrible job at being my back-up! You’re supposed to keep quiet, communicate with Nolan, and let me find what I need to-- Oh my God, yes! I found it!” She felt Jackson jump immediately to her side, his curiosity gleaming out as strongly as her own.

Figuring on a longshot when she had seen a folder simply titled The Boots, inside of it produced multiple other folders labeled with various numbers that an ordinary citizen wouldn’t comprehend. But Lucy knew a badge ID when she saw one and quickly located her own as she scrolled through the column of numbers. Before she clicked on it to see just how many photos she’ll have to terminate, Lucy prayed that there wasn’t a lot of memory she’d have to delete, at least enough for Bradford to notice. Oh she figured on leaving a few (c’mon, her mama didn’t raise an idiot), but for her own dignity she hoped Tim didn’t gleefully capture that many embarrassing moments!

“Okay,” she breathed, adding a bit of levity, “let’s see exactly how sadistic my T.O. is…”

Lucy clicked on the folder… and blinked at it in shock.

One photo.

“What the--?” she gasped, staring at the single picture in her folder.

Jackson muttered a few curse words as he too stared at the folder’s content, knowing that they were in fact screwed.

The anxiety that had built up in Lucy’s stomach quickly twisted into dread as she took in the lone picture; an image of her uniformed T.O., one Tim Bradford, scowling and holding up a piece of paper that seemingly foretold what lied ahead beyond that bathroom door: BUSTED.

“Goddamn it!” Lucy groaned, slumping backwards until her head hit the stall with a defeated thud.

Jackson’s phone pinged a text message and Lucy didn’t need to glance over to know who sent it nor what it said. Her friend’s pale reaction spoke volumes.

“How screwed are we?” she asked, closing her eyes and truly not looking forward to all the burpees that man out there will be barking at her for the foreseeable future.

“We?” Jackson gasped, astonished, “Oh, Luce, there is no ‘we’ involved in this half-baked plan you concocted--”

“Hey--” she sat up, eyes blazing to defend herself only to shut her mouth over his continued tirade.

“--because of your desperate need to prove that your superior officer is either that big of an asshole to collect incriminating photos like trading cards…”

Yeah, if her eyes were lit to defend herself, they were definitely ablaze at the mere mention of her partner. “Tim is not--”she started to growl, only to still be bulldozed by her friend.

“--or, depending on how many photos he has of you, has some sort of underlying feelings beyond the professional that you may or may not be feeling yourself!”

“I… uh… What?!” Lucy felt sufficiently gobsmacked by Jackson’s words. She quickly picked up her jaw, lest she keep it open in surprise. Where the hell did that come from?! She even managed to utter her bafflement as much.

Jackson crossed his arms and leveled her with a look that was a mix between bemusement and pity. “Three words: Sad, Drunk Lucy.”

Lucy blinked up at him, genuinely confused save for the gnawing piece of her gut that says there is truth to his words. “Jackson, I…”

Jackson’s phone thrilled, interrupting whatever excuse seemed to want to slip from Lucy’s mouth. She had never been more grateful for it, especially as he reacted to whomever was on the other end, giving tense responses to them until he hung up. He regarded Lucy, more resigned than anything. “That was Lopez. She talked Tim into giving you a five minute reprieve before he barged in here demanding his phone back. She suggests we take it.”

“We?” Lucy echoed his reply, this time with mirth versus his own frustration. She looked down at Tim’s phone, fiddling with it nervously. “She called to save your ass, West. I think you should take it and leave me to my punishment.” Lucy heard Jackson’s steps reluctantly head towards the door. Her mind was already shuffling through various thoughts before she realized that the heavy sigh she heard wasn’t her own but from Jackson. She looked up, surprised to see him with his back resolutely against the door. He had his head tilt, curious, as he said, “You didn’t know.”

“Know what, Jackson?”

With a small smile, “That Tim Bradford and his -- quote -- ‘frustrating smirk that I don’t know whether to kiss or smack off his handsome face’ was the cause of Sad, Drunk Lucy.”

Lucy felt herself flush and knew immediately that the crush she had for her T.O., the man that had not too long ago literally pulled her up and out from a grave into light, wasn’t hidden quite as much as she had thought. Oh her mother would have a field day that she was susceptible to the Savior Complex!

She nodded her head sadly, “I was… slightly… aware of my crush on Bradford.” Lucy gave her friend a determined look, “It’s just a small thing, Jackson. Unrequited and easily managed.”

When Jackson snorted at her last few words, she narrowed her gaze and implored for an explanation. The man shook his own head, refusing to utter another word. Lucy stood up, about to demand for him to explain himself when Jackson gripped the door knob and said, “I’m going to do you a favor, Luce, and buy you some more time.”

Confused, “What? More time? For what?”

“To look for your folder.”

Lucy scoffed, holding up Tim’s phone. “But there is no folder, remember? This was yet another one of his stupid Tim Bradford tests! One that I failed, by the way!”

Jackson gave her a knowing look, “Lopez said that she saw it. But that it’s not what you think it is.” He opened the door slightly and proceeded to set the lock before he turned and added, “I can probably hold him back for another five minutes, Luce, but then I’m afraid he’ll end up kicking the door down.” He winked, “Good luck,” before disappearing from her sight.

What? The folder wasn’t what she thought it was? What was she to make of that?!

Lucy scrolled through the folders in The Boots, nodding as she concluded that she wasn’t mistaking them for other than badge numbers-- Wait a sec… She paused at a sequence that screamed out in haunting familiarity.

12919

Her hand unconsciously ghosted over a spot on the lower left side of her body. No. No... He wouldn’t. There is no way he’d use those numbers! No way that he’d use that particular date as a label to a folder of her most humiliating moments on the job! Tim wouldn’t be so cruel!

Lucy’s hands shook as she opened the folder, only to find to her dismay that it was indeed filled with pictures of her! She perused through, noting all the various moments of hilarity at her expense, and trying her best to remain calm and refrain from wanting to kick her T.O’s ass! Oh, she really didn’t need an extra five minutes, especially with her sudden urge to punch Tim’s face, no matter how infuriatingly handsome he is!

She intended to close the folder, the desire to verbally assault Bradford so strong, when her eyes caught a few abnormalities to her supposed gallery of shame. One was the photo they took at the hospital with the young boy that those two Instagramers had harangued. Another photo was of the two of them when Tim had gotten his commendation. There were a few more group pics scattered throughout and with the common trait being of the two of them sitting or standing next to each other.

And then there were the pictures that Lucy wasn’t aware had been taken of her! Some of them were taken in their shop, angled almost as if he had taken his phone from his pocket and took it with ninja-like discretion. Lucy noted that she was mostly gazing out the window in those pictures. A few had the light of the California sun emit a soft glow to her profile. Another batch of those had the shadows of the night sky cast around but never swallowing her. There was one that was taken while she was studying up on codes in the break room. A hard look of concentration with a hint of quirkiness when she had a pencil dangling from her lips. One picture had her talking with Nolan before roll call, her eyes sparkled as she was caught mid-laugh. Another picture was taken while they had answered a call near an animal shelter. Lucy couldn’t believe her luck when she talked Tim into letting her take a minute to look in on the canines! She must have been so enamored with the little creatures that her partner snuck a photo of her joy while she was cooing at one of the fur babies. On and on the different shots of her ranged; beyond the laughable moments to more delicate and lovely candids. Photos that exposed her in such a soft and unflinchingly human light that Lucy couldn’t help but feel her eyes water as she looked through them.

Lucy would have gotten lost staring at all these pictures had she not stumbled on a picture of herself in the hospital bed after one of the most traumatic experiences of her life. Or at least she assumed it was of her after the event, for the picture itself wasn’t a full body profile but merely a prominent shot of her hospital admittance band wrapped around her wrist. She held her gaze on the band, wondering why, of all things, it compelled Tim to focus on that particular shot.

Her eyes bounced back to the date featured on her folder and Tim’s voice weaved through her stream of thoughts. She remembered them to the point it became a mantra she buried within her heart.

“It wasn’t your day of death, Officer Chen. It was the first day of the rest of your life…”

Lucy mused on that, wondering… maybe even hoping? But hoping for what? Would she really, honestly, want what a piece of her heart is denying for fear of losing so much? She could stop. Just chalk it up to her T.O. having a secretive photography skill. Nothing more to ponder on. She really could stop despite the gallery of evidence literally in the palm of her hand. But Lucy couldn’t help but speculate if Tim himself saw that date not as a reminder of trauma but of feelings that was, maybe? possibly? born from that incident.

And boy did that thought take her breath away!

A little giddy at the idea that her feelings weren’t unrequited afterall, Lucy nearly missed the two harsh raps against the bathroom door. She, however, didn’t miss the bark of said man of current adoration as he called for her attention.

“I won’t hesitate to kick this door down, Boot, if you don’t get your ass out here! Now, Chen!”

Oh shit, she thought as she knew that he truly would cause such damage. She exited out of the photo app and swiftly shut his phone down. She quickened a glance at herself in the mirror, realized that she was presentable enough, and scrambled towards the door just as she heard him growl a countdown.

“--4, 3, 2…”

She swung the door open, looking up at him with her most dazzling smile. With the knowledge that she had gained, she wasn’t at all intimidated by his imposing scowl as he towered over her smaller frame. “Hi!” she squeaked, and wincing a bit at that sound. Okay so maybe he still instilled a bit of fear despite the fact that she knew how truly soft he was towards her.

Tim had one hand braced against the door frame while his other was on his hip as he leaned a little closer to her. His eyes darted up and down her person and she knew it was his way of making sure that she was physically fine. When he seemed okay with his assessment, his eyes pierced into her own and, well, Lucy tried her best to not look as guilty as she felt.

But there was a reason Tim was amazing at his job. “Chen…” he started, narrowing his eyes and holding his hand up, palm out. “My phone.”

Lucy was torn between acting petulant and feigning ignorance or just outright owning up to her misdeed. As she found herself in a staring contest with her seasoned colleague, Lucy realized that she had a better chance at coming out unscathed if she were honest versus dishonesty, no matter how playful an act she could put on. With a cheeky grin that she knew he found both infuriating and amusing, she pulled his phone from her back pocket and handed it over, and said, “Here you go… sir.” She hadn’t meant to add the address, nor meant to make it sound as sultry as she did if she had to go by his eyes briefly widening before becoming predatory.

He pocketed his phone but kept his gaze solely on her. The calculating look he had made her squirm and wow, she was in trouble, wasn’t she?

And because he knew her so well, Tim allowed a small smirk to slowly grace his face as he said, “You’re trouble.”

Lucy blinked, thinking she misheard him. She was about to voice as such before Tim shook his head, leaned in closer and clarified, “You heard me just fine, Officer Chen.”

She will utterly deny it to Jackson, goddamn it, that a small shiver fell through her when Tim used his authoritative voice on her. Just as she will deny the effect he had as he pulled back and grinned openly at her when he added, “Hope those photos were worth it. I know they are.”

Lucy gaped at his bravado, her mind racing as to how to properly respond to Tim openly candid with her. Before she could form a cohesive response, a flash nearly blinded… Oh no, he did not!

“Yep,” Tim smiled at his phone, already saving it into its designated Lucy folder, “That’s going into the Favorites.” He turned to head back towards the pool hall, but not before glancing back at his partner with a genuinely soft smile as he asked, “You coming, Lucy?”

Oh yeah, Lucy grinned, this was all Jackson’s fault, and she couldn’t be happier for it!

~fin~

#the rookie #chenford #tucy #tim bradford #lucy chen #my fanfic #tim x lucy #chen x bradford #otp: you know me so well #lookie i was finally inspired to fanfic!#i hope i did right by the fandom!

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