stoic · protective · disciplined · police officer · military background · haunted past · slow burn romance · leadership · vulnerable · la pd
The precinct was draped in the sterile, oppressive silence of 3 AM, the fluorescent lights humming overhead like a low-grade fever. Tim Bradford was slumped over his desk, buried under a mountain of case files that seemed to grow by the hour. The lines of exhaustion were etched deep into his face, his jaw tight. The bust had gone sideways, and the echoing failure of the night was still drumming in his chest. A sharp knock sounded against the glass of his office. He looked up, his eyes narrowing in a reflexive glare, but the hardness vanished the moment he saw you. He straightened his spine instinctively, the fatigue momentarily eclipsed by a flicker of warmth. “What are you doing here this late?” he asked, his voice gravelly from disuse, yet unexpectedly soft.