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First Sentence Game

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

Thank you for the tag, @chenfordspiral !

I feel like this was a very nostalgic exercise for me. Hopefully a few people enjoy skimming through these and maybe even decide to read one or two of my stories. They vary in length from 4k to 150k (yikes!). Many of them are complete, but a couple of them are still works in progress.

1 - *Sense* You Know Me So Well (chapter 2) - complete

Less than ten minutes later Tim’s truck pulls up into the parking lot across the street. Tim jumps out quickly. He is wearing gray dress pants and a black button-up shirt. He is followed, reluctantly, by Ashley wearing a short black skirt and a revealing hot pink blouse. She moves slowly after Tim on her high heels. It was obviously date night for them, too.

“Lucy.” Tim’s voice is strained with concern as he approaches her.

At the sound of Tim’s voice, Lucy lifts her head and flutters open her eyes. “Tim.”

“It’s okay, Luce. I’m here now.” Tim moves past Chris, barely acknowledging his presence. He sits down next to Lucy. “Breathe with me.”

She closes her eyes again and tries, but her breaths are still shallow, her face is ghostly pale, and her hands are shaking.

Tim reaches slowly for her right hand and pulls it gently to his chest. Lucy looks up at him with worry in her eyes, but she accepts his hand and the movement. Even a little touch of his hand helps to calm her shaking a little bit.

“Just match my breathing, Luce.”

She tries. She does. But the panic attack still holds her in a tight vice. As she takes her next breath in she can smell the mintiness of Tim’s breath. It helps to calm and soothe her.  It is the same scent she was accustomed to smelling on him for years.  She can almost taste it. The mintiness carries with it a familiarity and comfort.  She grips his shirt a little tighter and leans into him a bit. Now she can smell just Tim – his cologne, the aftershave he uses, and just…him. Her next breath is slower and steadier.

“That’s it.  Good job.  I’m here now.  You’re going to be okay,” Tim mutters as the spell seems to be breaking. He has moved his hand to her back and rubs it in little soothing circles.

The sound of his voice in her ear, the smell of him, the sight of him here with her, and the feel of his touch prompts Lucy to lean in further and rest her head on his chest. All of her senses now are filled with Tim, and the rest of the world and her worries start to fade away.

Chris stands back watching this all happen.  He doesn’t understand why Bradford could say the same things he did and touch her the same way he did and get a completely different reaction.

2 - *Sense* You Know Me So Well, Too - The Sequel (chapter 2) - complete

As the other officers were collecting photos and evidence from the home, Tim’s eyes wandered to a line of photographs on their mantel.  They looked all too familiar – pictures with a new baby, Christmas photos, the oldest kid in a baseball uniform… Tim felt his blood pressure rise again, and he balled his hands into fists. 

Aaron glanced over when he returned to the house and sensed that something else had happened to make Tim even more angry than before.  Now his facial expression was so tense he had veins visibly pulsing on temples.

He leaned over toward Nolan and whispered, “Have you ever seen Bradford go super nova? I think he’s headed that way.”

“What? Tim? No, he’s been so much better over these last couple years. You should have seen him when we started. He was always so angry and so…mean.  You should hear the stories Chen could tell you.”

“Nolan,” he hissed. “I’m serious.  Look at him.”

“Aaron,” he chided.  “He’s fi….” Nolan was going to say that he was fine, but then he looked up at Tim and saw that he was definitely NOT fine. “Okay,” he conceded. “I see your point.  He’s not fine.”

3 - The Heimlich - complete

It was another beautiful day in LA. Lucy and Chris were chatting while sipping their morning coffees at the Mid-Wilshire station. Lucy was already in uniform ready to go to roll call.

“Hey. What time do you think you’ll be able to take lunch today?” Chris asked, seeing more and more officers gathering for roll call and knowing Lucy had to join them.

“Uuuuuh. I don’t know. The day can be so unpredictable. I think I’m riding by myself today, so…”

Their conversation paused as Aaron and Tim walked up to them.

“Good morning,” said a confident and enthusiastic Thorsen. “I’ll see you in there,” he said pointing to the gathering officers as he continued to walk by them.

“Sanford. Chen,” came a gruff voice as Tim nodded at each of them. He obviously wasn’t in the mood to talk. He looked at them standing close together, smiling, and sipping their coffee, and he wanted none of that. He had plenty on his mind already. He didn’t need to have images of them being so chummy and close haunting his mind today, too.

Tim walked past them to roll call, nearly bumping into Chris’ shoulder as he strode by them.

4 - Catch of a Lifetime - (chapter 1) - Working on chapter 19 now

The next batter was new to the Dodgers.  He had come up from the Atlanta Braves organization. He was a super star there and had led his team to a World Series win. When he became a free agent after the World Series, everyone expected him to stay with the Braves.   But the Dodgers had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he signed with them instead. LA had welcomed him with open arms as he started the season with a .320 batting average, 4 stolen bases, 25 RBIs, and a whopping 10 homeruns.  Everyone knew that Tim Bradford was good, but this was hall of fame good! He was trying his best to live up to that reputation and show his new fans that he was worth the $160 million 5 year contract.

The crowd was still on their feet when he came up to bat, and now it was stomping and cheering. Bradford stood at the plate and kicked the dirt a couple times.  The pitcher wound up and threw the ball.  It was a slider that hit the catcher’s mitt in the outside corner.  Strike!  The noise level rose even higher. The second pitch was a ball in the dirt.  The third pitch caught everyone by surprise as it came right at Bradford’s hands.  He was able to step back just in time to avoid being hit by a pitch.  Although it didn’t seem possible, the noise level grew even more with calls and shouting at the pitcher from around the stadium.

Lucy and Jackson stood wide eyed, their attention rapt in the action of the game.  It was impossible to ignore the palpable excitement.   Lucy turned to Jackson and grabbed his shoulders in excitement and then turned back to the game.

The pitcher wound up a fourth time.  Despite the immense noise level at the stadium, the crack of the bat echoed through the air.  Bradford had hit the ball high and far.  The right fielder was running back to the wall.

Everyone in their section was already on their feet eager to catch a homerun hit by Tim Bradford. As the ball soared closer, Lucy recognized it was coming right toward them.  Well, almost at them, but a little bit more toward Doug Stanton.  Stanton also saw it coming and was standing ready with his glove. Time seemed to slow down for a few seconds.  Lucy smiled, squatted down slightly, pushed off of Jackson, and flew through the air in a perfect flying tackle, crushing Doug Stanton and catching the homerun. The whole stadium erupted in cheers, but the LAPD section outcheered them all. Jackson and several other cops from Mid-Wilshire ran to Lucy and hoisted her up in the air.  Doug Stanton was left crumpled on the floor, half-stuck under the bleacher. Lucy held up her glove with the homerun ball and yelled at the top of her lungs, “I GOT IT!!!”

5 - Snowed In - complete

“Hey! Just wanted to call and tell you that I got through security just fine.  The flight is listed as on time, and I can just now see the plane.  So, I think you should drive back to the cabin before the storm starts.”

“Are you sure?  It’s not a big deal to wait until you are actually in the air,” Rachel said.

Lucy Chen sighed.  She loved her friend, and she’d had a great four days with her.  They skied and snowboarded.  They made a fire in their cabin’s fireplace each night and caught up with some of their closest college friends while sipping on hot chocolate or wine.  They shopped at all the cute shops in town.  But Lucy was ready to return to her regular life and not be surrounded by so much drama – or maybe just the type of drama she was accustomed to.

“I’m sure. My weather app says that there’s a storm coming in the next hour or so.  You should get going before you get caught in it.”

“Okay.  It was so fun to see you. We should do this more often.”

6 - After the Snow Melts - a series of one-shots in the Snowed In universe

It had been three days since Tim had seen her.  Three days since he talked to her. Three mornings of waking up without her. She had said it would just be a day, maybe two.  But undercover work can be unpredictable; they both knew that.

She had promised she’d be home by Valentine’s Day.  She told him she had a surprise for him, a surprise he was going to love. He reminded her that he hated surprises, and then she recalled several surprises she had had for him in the past that he loved.   He had smiled into defeat; she was right, of course. They had reservations at 71Above, where they had their first botched date and a redo date back in their first week of dating.

But here it was Wednesday, February 14th, and Lucy was still gone.

7 - Worth the Wait (part of chapter 3) - Working on chapter 11 now

“I know you have a strong moral compass.  You always try to do the right thing and protect the people in your life. I’m glad I got to be one of those people.” Her voice cracked a bit as she said that, so she took another breath and tried to finish her thoughts. “I will miss you, but I… I will respect the situation you are in and keep my distance.”  She sat up a little straighter and pressed down on her blouse to straighten out the folds in it. Then she stood and took her pile of tissues to the trash.  She bent down to grab her purse and took a few steps toward the door.

Tim watched her in silence.  She walked closer to him and looked up into his eyes. She smiled at him a very sad smile. Tim couldn’t help what he did next.  It was like a magnetic force pulling them together.  He closed the gap between them and pulled Lucy into his arms. She immediately tucked her head into his chest and turned her head to hear his heartbeat and breathe him in.  One of her arms wrapped around his lower back while the other clutched at the hospital gown over his chest.

Tim cradled her head with one hand and put the other hand firmly between her shoulder blades, keeping her pressed against him. He leaned his head down on top of hers. “Lucy,” he whispered, his own voice cracking with emotion. “I’m so sorry.”

Lucy broke down again. Her tears that had started to moisten his hospital gown soon seeped through the thin fabric, and he could feel them on his chest. The salty water seemed to burn directly into his heart as he felt this emblem of their shared pain make a mark on his soul. They rocked together to the rhythm of her cries for several minutes.

8 - Kintsugi - The Golden Repair - complete

“But this time it’s going to take more effort.”

He nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. “Yeah. I know. I ruined things. Everything.”

“Everything isn’t totally ruined, but it is shattered into enough pieces that it’s going to take time and effort and care to rebuild it,” she said gently. “I need to know that I can trust you with my heart again.”

“Mmm.”

“Did you know that in Japan when a precious piece of pottery is broken that they glue it back together with a special lacquer and then paint the lacquer with gold or silver powder? It’s called Kintsugi, which means golden repair. Once the piece is finished, it’s considered more valuable and beautiful than before it was broken.” She paused for a moment to let what she said settle in. “Do you see what I’m talking about?”

“I broke our pretty pot, and you want to put it back together with gold glue?” he said with a note of curiosity and some hesitancy.

“Yeah.  That’s the gist of it, I guess,” she said as she blew out her breath. “I don’t know if it’ll work. Even the best artisans can fail at kintsugi. Not all pieces are suitable for repair, and not all artisans are skilled enough to do it. So, I can’t promise this is going to work. I don’t know if we can repair what we had.  But I’m willing to try if you are.”

9 - A Different Kind of Mother’s Day - complete

It started off as little things that Lucy saw on her social media – birthstone jewelry, mother/daughter matching outfits, Etsy shop specials on personalized mom shirts, mugs, and picture frames.  All of them crept into the ads on her phone in April to allow plenty of shopping time.  At first it didn’t bother her; she just kept scrolling.  But as May drew closer, the ads and the chatter about Mother’s Day started to accumulate.

She never used to mind Mother's Day.  She would get her mother some flowers and call or visit her, ready for the sound of disappointment in her voice or the click of her tongue as she shook her head in shame. It had been that way ever since she had started at the police academy seven years ago. Lucy usually volunteered to work that day so that her colleagues that were mothers could celebrate with their families.  It was easier to stay focused on work that day than to have to deal with her mother.  This way she didn’t have to trudge through guilt trips from her mother or be surrounded by families out celebrating their wonderful mothers. It was just simpler not to have to think about it. In fact, she was proud to work that day and looked forward to seeing her colleagues’ posts and shared pictures of what their children did for them. She hoped that one day the tables would turn, and she would be the one staying home with her little children.

Tagging anyone else that wants to join the fun @silverskull, @thisnightissparkling089, @arch78, @sijetaismoi, @mostowa, @theawkwardanglophile, @rookieoneil, @centralperkchenford, @girlintotv, @imperiumwifestrikesagain and @fuzzywuzzywuzzawriter