with panic. Running a hand through her hair, she looked every bit the frazzled college student she was pretending to be. Instead of her usual uniform, she wore clothes reminiscent of her younger years—something Valeria from college would have picked.

Two other men approached, drawn in by the commotion.

"No se preocupe," the driver muttered hastily, clearly eager to leave.

"Mira, te lo pagaré," she insisted, her voice smooth and persuasive.

He kept shaking his head, muttering "no" under his breath. That's when she heard the sirens.

Without hesitation, she pulled her gun. "LAPD! Show me your hands!"

Before she could cuff him, one of the men lunged at her. She dodged at the last second, countering with a swift move that knocked him to the ground. She restrained him before he could fight back, securing the arrest. Another suspect fled, while the last one bolted toward the red Civic, jumping behind the wheel.

Valeria sprinted to her own car.

Just as the Civic's driver thought he had a clear escape route, two patrol cars blocked him from the front and back. But he spotted an opening on his left and veered sharply to take it.

Valeria had anticipated it. Flooring the gas, she rear-ended the Civic again, effectively stopping it in its tracks.

Gun drawn, she stepped out. "Hands out the window!" she ordered. "Open the door from the outside and step out of the vehicle—now!"

The driver complied, raising his hands as he exited the car.

"Hands behind your head," she commanded as John and Finn closed in beside her.

"Blake, you got this one?" she asked.

Finn nodded, stepping forward to handle the arrest.

Valeria turned back to where she had knocked out the other suspect. Talia and Lucy helped her secure him, dragging him toward their unit.

Then—

"Behind you!" Lucy shouted.

Valeria barely had time to react before a fist slammed into her face. She staggered back but quickly recovered, dodging the next hit. With a sharp counter, she struck her attacker square in the chest, forcing him to gasp for breath.

Tim, Jackson, and Angela jogged up just as she stood over the suspect, ready to finish the takedown.

"You alright?" Tim asked, eyeing her with concern.

Valeria nodded, brushing off the hit like it was nothing.

"I'll take him to our shop," Jackson said, referring to the Bradford/West patrol car.

"Wait, I thought you guys already had someone in your shop?" Angela asked, confused.

"No, I hit the guy with our shop," Jackson clarified.

Angela blinked. "Okay... yeah, take him."

Valeria watched as Jackson led the handcuffed suspect away, Tim following closely behind his temporary rookie.

"Looks like he's keeping the job," Valeria noted, crossing her arms.

Angela smiled. "Looks like it."

"The moment of truth is upon us," Grey announced, facing the four rookies who stood at attention. "End of shift."

Their training officers sat at a round table beside them, observing, while a few other officers lingered nearby, eavesdropping.

"Time to come clean. What did you learn about your T.O.s?" Grey asked, stepping in front of Jackson first. "Officer West?"

"Sorry, sir. I was unable to gain any insight into Officer Bradford," Jackson admitted.

Grey sighed. "That's disappointing." He moved to Lucy. "Officer Chen?"

"I, too, failed in my assignment, Sergeant," she answered.

"Alright," Grey said, turning to John. "Officer Nolan?"

"Sorry, sir. Just as stumped as the others," John replied.

Grey shook his head, clearly unimpressed, before finally moving to Valeria. "That leaves you, Officer Cruz. You can say anything and win the contest."

Valeria gave him a small smile. "I failed to gain insight on Lopez, sir."

Grey chuckled. "Okay, fine. So no one wants extra credit. I guess we'll start with the basics. Tomorrow morning, you will have a quiz on your rook books. Study hard, 'cause 80% is considered a fail in my house. Dismissed."

As the training officers approached their temporary rookies, Angela walked up to Valeria.

"Why didn't you say anything? You could've gotten a day off," Angela pointed out.

"I'd rather earn a day off some other way, not by using my best friend to get it," Valeria said with a grin.

Angela smiled. "Well, I did promise to take you to our favorite takeout place. Just let me change out first."

"Yeah, I'll wait by my car," Valeria nodded.

She headed outside and leaned against her car, glancing at her watch. About six minutes had passed when she spotted Tim walking up to her. 

"Waiting for Lopez?" Tim asked as he walked up to her.

"Yeah," Valeria nodded, shifting her stance. "She said that if Jackson kept his job, she'd take me out for food."

Tim smirked. "Which means you and I won't have our day together."

She tilted her head, giving him a knowing look. "I mean, me and Angela might not even be out for long, so you and I can still..."

Tim shrugged. "Still what?"

"Still do whatever it is we do," she said with a teasing lilt.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "That's a vague way of saying you just enjoy my company."

"More like tolerate," she corrected with a grin.

Tim let out a short laugh, then leaned against the car beside her. "Well, if Lopez ditches you, you know where to find me."

Valeria smirked. "Oh, don't worry. I always know where to find you, Bradford."

Tim shook his head with an amused smirk. "Thank you."

Valeria grinned, holding up her phone as if she was going to record. "it's not every day that Tim Bradford thanks someone. This is historic. I need proof."

He rolled his eyes and gently pushed her phone away. "It's a one-time thing, Cruz. Don't get used to it."

She laughed, tucking her phone back into her pocket. "Noted. But seriously, I'm glad it helped."

Tim nodded, his expression softening just a bit. "Yeah. You pointed me in the right direction, and it worked. West is still here because of it."

Valeria leaned against her car, crossing her arms. "See? You should always take my word for everything. It'll make your life easier."

He scoffed. "That's debatable."

She gasped dramatically. "Wow. After I gave you tacos? This is the thanks I get?"

Tim let out a chuckle. "The tacos were good, though."

Valeria smirked. "Damn right they were. Next time, I might even bring extra hot sauce."

He raised an eyebrow. "Might?"

She pushed off her car, flashing him a teasing grin. "Gotta keep you on your toes, Bradford."

Angela's voice suddenly called out from across the lot. "Val! Let's go!"

Valeria gave Tim one last smirk before turning toward Angela. "Looks like I gotta go. Try not to miss me too much, Bradford."

Tim shook his head with a smirk as he watched her walk away. "No promises."

── .✦ 𝓻𝓪𝓿 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰
writing couples is so hard... also go check out my spencer reid fanfic PLEASE for the life of mine. Also I need to write my chapters way faster. 

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