*⁀➷ champagne coast
【 the rookie 】

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*ೃ༄ for reading:
times new roman
dark mode , size:
second smallest

you got my six?
a l w a y s.

【 summary 】

▬▬INES SOUZA changed her life. To go from a receptionist to the police academy with the ambition for detective was a spur in her world she did not see coming. Ines suddenly went from spending her days sitting at a computer behind the front desk to carrying a gun at her hip and wearing a badge. They always said the brain didn't mature until twenty-five when the prefrontal cortex was fully developed▬Ines wasn't a doctor, nor did she go to college. Still, she couldn't help but feel as though everything suddenly switched when she reached that milestone in her life. Her dreams, her motivations, and her understanding of the world around her felt as though it had finally been opened. The narrow pathway of the teenager who didn't quite know what she wanted in life, had already decided she was going to settle down with her first love and was too stubborn to see anything else finally broadened.

For the first time in a long time in Ines's life, she was single. For the first time in her life, she was trying to find a place to live and trying to get by on her own. For the first time, she had a choice in where her life was going and had a moment to stop and think what she wanted that life to look like. And somehow, that lonely girl had found herself enrolling into the Police Academy.

Everyone laughed at her when she told them. They all told her she couldn't do it▬that she was going to wash out or pull out on her own accord. And maybe they were right. When someone imagined a police officer, they never imagined her. Ines was soft-spoken, she was anxious, and she wasn't someone who looked particularly intimidating or tough. All her life she had been stepped on▬by her friends, by her partner, by her coworkers and the patients that had walked through the doors of her old job.

But one week at the Academy turned into two, and then two weeks turned into two months, and just like that, to the surprise of everyone in Ines's life, she graduated. She had proved them all wrong.

However, Ines Souza quickly learnt she will always be working hard to prove others wrong for the rest of her career.

Getting into the LAPD as one of four new rookies, Officer Ines Souza found herself assigned to the T.O. of every rookie's nightmare. She quickly learns that finishing and graduating from the Academy is one thing, but going onto the streets is something else entirely.

Ex-Military Sergeant Officer Tim Bradford was tough, he was intimidating▬he was the complete opposite of Officer Souza in every word he spoke, every breath he took and everything he believed. He was relentless with every test he sprung upon her and every chance he took to humiliate her. Officer Bradford seemed to have made it his personal mission to put Officer Souza through the gates of hell and she wasn't sure how she was going to come out the other end.

It became obvious to Officer Souza that just like everyone else, Officer Bradford believed she was going to fail. Now, she had to prove to him, too, that no matter what he threw at her, she was going to show him otherwise. He was trying to wash her out into the tide, and she was stubborn enough to keep her head above the water and cling on.

Officer Tim Bradford truly believed he must have done something to piss off both his Captain and Sergeant for them to assign him to the rookie of every T.O.'s nightmare. Officer Ines Souza wasn't cut out to be a cop. He knew it from the very first glance that the moment she stepped out onto those streets, she would get herself killed. 

Training rookies was something Officer Bradford took very seriously. It was his responsibility to make sure the next generation of cops could keep themselves and others alive▬to protect and serve. But to train the quiet Ines Souza was probably the biggest test he was yet to face. He had trained a few rookies, but none like her.

However, soon Officer Bradford realises that it wasn't Officer Souza who was in way over her head▬it was him. Ines Souza was a variable in his life he was not prepared for at all▬she drove him mad. Absolutely mad. And yet, somehow, he cannot imagine his life without her.

He has trained many rookies, but none like Ines Souza▬none at all.

i want you, and nothing
comes close to
to the way that i need you

【 cast 】

꒱꒱ INES SOUZA ▬▬
alba baptista

we hide our emotions
under the surface and
try to pretend.

꒱꒱ TIM BRADFORD ▬▬
eric winter

baby, tell me what you need
young as i want to know
i'll never let you go

disclaimer▬▬
i do not own the rookie, obviously, the show belongs to its respective owners. i do own, however, my own plot changes, interpretations, characters etc so pls don't steal.

it is important to understand that this show and this fanfic etc does not reflect an accurate interpretation and representation of the police force, first responders, first aid, penal codes and other aspects of the los angeles police and fire departments, and other first responder departments that protect and serve. this fanfic will not try to be accurate, one because i am obviously not a police officer, and also the american law enforcement system is different to the australian law enforcement system etc. this a work of fiction, a fanfic nonetheless, and should not be taken as a guide to the way the police force, the law, medical first aid etc actually is/should be administered. the themes that this fanfic explores through the rookie are very real and affect real people who are in these workplaces, but does not attempt try to understand, discredit the danger first responders put themselves in daily and disclaims that the rookie, and by association this fanfic, romanticises the real life dangers of this line of work and once again is not a reflection/representation of real life.

also, yes, lucy chen is not tim's rookie in this, but i'm also not gonna absolutely shove her aside you know me. but was i gonna pass up the angst/development/pure cheff kiss that is having an oc be tim's rookie? hell no. i can do what i want lol i've been on wattpad for like ten years (*cries and rethinks life*)

we'll see how it goes, i have no time on my hands, but this tv series got me through my breakup so here we are.

warnings▬▬
this book is rated mature for descriptions of violence, gore, gang violence, weapons/gun violence, terrorism, death, trauma, themes of racism, kidnapping, mentions of domestic violence, financial and emotional abuse, some sexual themes, mental health

there is an age gap between ines and tim, as well as power dynamics in their workplace environment that the show does mention and somewhat works through and this fanfic will attempt to do the same, but this fanfic is aso rated mature due to this. pls be aware of the circumstances surrounding this environment and how it is not always healthy in a real life situation. do not let romanticisations of toxic relationships in stories/tv reflect what you search for in your relationships as well.

the relationship between ines and tim starts off strictly platonic and is a slow burn, and needs to be as tim is in ines's direct chain of command.