fyi THIS is NOT a spoiler free blog. You have been warned. About me: mhhh I don't know... Dinosaurs maybe? I love cows! Fandoms: too many ships to count
prompt: Claire x Owen, they're having a big heated argument when Claire suddenly blurts out "because I love you"
A/N: I have no idea what i’m about to write so lets pray it’s good.
“Owen, I don’t want to discuss this anymore.” Claire yelled as she marched from the kitchen. There was a clatter of pots and pans as Owen followed after her. They had been talking about Owen’s new job; going back to the island. Claire didn’t want him to go for a number of different reasons, reasons she wasn’t ready to tell Owen yet.
“Why Claire?” Owen asked again, and Claire held a hand over her eyes in frustration. She didn’t face him at first, then turned to him as she gave a heavy sigh.
I honestly don't know how this ended up being so long, I thought it would be similar or shorter than the first chapter, but I only kid myself.
Still crossing everything for another season (or more)!
Chapter two below, or at AO3
The buzzing of her phone startled them both awake, grabbing quickly to shut it up, Bex flinched when the pain shot through her arm as she instinctively used her injured arm. The name flashing on her screen told her one thing; they had a new escapee, and they weren’t getting any further rest.
“It’s 3am Hassani,” she answered with a groan, a quick glance at the time on the screen had told her that they hadn’t really gotten much sleep, “we only got back 6 hours ago.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” his tired voice came down the line, she knew that he wasn’t happy about the situation either.
“We got a hit?” she sighed disappointingly, she knew they had a job to do, but she just wished the hits came at better times or at least when the sun was up.
“Yeah, I’ll pick you up in 15, I’ll swing by Shane’s on the way,” Hassani confirmed her suspicion, the fact that he was giving her more time to get ready wasn’t lost on her, nor was the fact that his plan was futile.
“Ahh, actually,” she cut herself off, realising that she had no option but to tell him, but she wasn’t entirely sure how to voice it out loud as she shared a look with Shane, and if his smirk was anything to go off, he was more amused than concerned.
“I’ll get you both in 10 then,” Hassani made his own assumptions at her silence, nothing to his tone that would give away his opinions on the revelation.
“See you then,” she dropped back onto her pillow as she hung up, a part of her not ready for the questioning that would like follow in the car, as she checked to see what info Morales had sent to their group chat, locking her phone after a quick skim.
“Well, he’s not going to let that slide,” Shane spoke as he sat on the edge of the bed, trying to pysch himself to fully get up and voicing the thought running through her own head.
“Nope,” she smirked, keeping her eyes closed as if to pretend that their day wasn’t starting for as long as she could.
“Come on, we need to get up,” he chucked at her attempt, watching her with a wide grin as she opened her eyes once more, “Hassani will definitely be mad if we are late as well.”
“I know, I’m good, I’m up,” she coaxed herself up, sitting on the edge next to him, his reasoning winning out.
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“Look, about…” Bex trailed off, not sure how to start, fidgeting as she stared straight ahead at the road ahead of them, the silence in the vehicle had been too much for her and the last thing she wanted was to make things weird in their small team.
“I’m not asking questions,” Hassani’s response came fast, clearly having been expecting her to bring it up with no intention to bring it up himself.
“Okay, good,” she smirked at him, more than happy to skip over it and glad that he seemed to be on the same page.
“It does prove I was right though,” he told them both, taking the time to pointedly look at the both individually, in a way that she just knew he would with his kids.
“About?” she asked, her interest getting the better of her at what he was referring to.
“Beaumont questioned me about you two,” the response was slow, and deliberate, choosing his words carefully as to not cross into a territory that none of them wanted to discuss, “anyone can see that you two are close, he just wanted to know if I thought it was an issue.”
“Oh yeah?” Shane piped up from the back seat, a hint of concern to his tone and she couldn’t blame him, the last thing they needed was their team questioned again, “what did you tell him?”
“I told him that it wasn’t, that it meant I didn’t have to worry about you both as much because you check in on each other and lean on each other, and that takes a load of me,” Hassani shrugged, his tone sincere and serious all in one, “well, slightly anyway, you two both still do a lot of stupid things that cause me worry but I left that part out.”
“Thanks?” she chuckled at the call out, knowing full well that they had no room to counter.
“Plus, I told him that we need you in one piece,” he glanced at her, something to his look telling her that he definitely had more opinions on the topic, but that he was not about to voice them, not yet anyway, “and the only way to ensure that is to keep Shane around, even if he does eat all the snacks on the plane.”
“Hey, I also am the only one out of us that restock it at all,” the rebuttal from Shane made them all chuckle, bringing a lightness back to the conversation in a way that only he could.
“So, we’re all good?” the last thing that Bex wanted to do was discuss anything, but she knew that the last thing the team needed was tension between the three of them, and she knew that Shane wasn’t about to make anything weird, but she needed to no without a doubt that Hassani wouldn’t either.
“Yeah, we’re all good,” Hassani stated after a moment and she knew that he was being honest, that if he did actually have an issue with whatever was between her and Shane, that he would have been the first to tell them.
“Good,” she nodded at him, before moving on from the topic completely, “so, is Morales still too scared to wake me up?”
“You mean because she called me and not you?” he countered with his own question after a moment for his brain to figure out what she was referring to.
“Well, technically I am the boss now,” she grinned, truthfully she wasn’t fazed but she had wondered why the call hadn’t to her directly first.
“Yeah which is why she leaves that call up to me,” his reasoning making sense, and Jen had chastised her on more than one occasion for her lack of sleep, so she had thought that would play into the reason that she had been bypassed, “plus, I think she feels less bad waking me than you.”
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Bex had been finishing up on her latest report when Ben had told her, asking if she wanted him to inform the rest of the team, and she had been quick to tell him to hold off until she told him otherwise. She knew that Shane at least deserved to hear the news in person, and she knew that he deserved to hear it from someone that cared.
She had rushed through the remainder of her report, suddenly not caring if it was perfect, just caring that she got out of there as soon as she could, heading to his house the second she did. Making a stop for food on the way, if only to give herself an initial reason to be at his place, though, truthfully, she knew that she didn’t really need any reason to be at his door, not with him.
Taking a deep breath as she turned her car off him his driveway, collecting herself before she exited as she tried to work out the best way to approach the information that she had no choice in telling him. By the time she knocked on his door, she was fairly certain that he had already clocked her car there, and if the speed at which he opened the door was anything to go off, she was right.
“Hey,” Shane smiled in greeting, stepping aside to let her in without hesitation, instantly clocking that something wasn’t right with her, “what’s wrong?”
“I have dinner,” she side stepped his question with ease, walking past him into his living room to place the food on his coffee table, making no move to open the takeout bag as she sat on his couch.
“I can see that,” he followed her, his head cocked as he called her out as if he was trying to get his own read on her, “but, that’s not an answer.”
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” she turned on the couch to face him, tucking her leg under herself and she could see his concern grow at her actions.
“Okay?” his brows furrowed in question, his eyes following her movement as she reach a hand to his arm, needing the contact.
“It’s about Lazarus,” Bex spoke gently, rubbing a thumb on his wrist in comfort but she wasn’t sure if it was for him or for her, the topic wasn’t one that they hadn’t really discussed since that night.
“Okay,” he sighed, seemingly unfazed that it was the reason for her visit, and a part of her wondered if he truly got bothered by anything, but she knew it wasn’t true, she had seen him bothered plenty of times when she had been in danger, not that that was something she was ready to dwell on either.
“Obviously, the on record story for her death was quite different to what actually happened, which is another thing that we should probably talk about at some point,” she could feel herself start to ramble, simultaneously trying to set an explanation on what she needed to tell him, but unable to just skip over the other part of her death completely.
“Just add it to the list,” he smirked at her, and she couldn’t help but smirk back, only he could give her an out so easily, all while making her concerns feel seen.
“Anyway, that means that officially, she was a high ranking military colonel at the time of her death, with many people out there that would expect a proper send off,” Bex brought the conversation back around to the point.
“She’s getting a military funeral?” he pieced together the information that she was giving quickly, as she had expected he would.
“Sort of, not a massive one, but not doing one at all would have drawn too much attention,” she explained, the entire thought of it all had made her stomach turn, it was the last thing that Lazarus deserved, but at the end of the day, none of what they were doing, none of what she had done, would ever see the light of day.
“Makes sense,” Shane shrugged at the information, but she wasn’t sure if he was just downplaying the information or not, not that she really could be mad him if did, it would be a play out of her book if he was.
“So, I just wanted to tell you, check in if you wanted to at all-” she watched him closely, wanting to make she got a clear read on him.
“No,” he cut her off the second he registered what she was asking, meeting her stare with an intensity that she couldn’t place, or at least, that she couldn’t bring herself to.
“You sure?” she had expected his answer, but she had to triple check regardless, and she wanted to make sure he knew it was completely his choice, “might be a good way to get closure.”
“I’m sure, I don’t want to go to a celebration of her life,” his reasoning making complete sense to them both.
“Okay,” she nodded, accepting his answer without any further pushing, and she saw that the fact she did surprised him.
“That’s it?” he questioned her, between his lopsided smile and slightly burrowed brows, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling at the site.
“It’s up to you, there’s no right or wrong choice here,” Bex told him, moving her hand down to take his with a squeeze to back up her words.
“Honestly, I’m okay with it all, I know I probably shouldn’t be, but I am,” he nodded as he spoke, his words similar to what he had already told her back at the bar, and his understanding around what had happened gave her the courage to bring it up.
“It’s probably not the time, but I, it’s just,” she dropped his gaze, staring at their hands to ground herself before continuing, the words that had been playing in her mind doing their best to make sense as they came out, “I guess, I’m not sorry I did what I did, and I would do it again without hesitation, but, I am sorry for what it meant for you.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” his reply was fast and sure, his steadfast resolve in her and her decision making her pause for a second, and she found herself unable to meet his stare that she could feel on her.
“I just wish it could have been different, that she didn’t turn out to be all bad, I guess a part of me wish for your sake that maybe getting to know you would have brought something good out in her, and I’m sorry that that never turned out,” she could feel herself rambling again, but she needed him to know that even though she would make the same call every time, and that even though she was the enemy that they were fighting, that it still wasn’t the outcome she had wished for.
“Look, I made no secret in that I had hoped for that too, but I need you to know that no part of me is mad at you, or resentful, or upset at you for what you did,” he dipped his head in attempt to catch her eye, waiting until she met his gaze before he continued, “truthfully, I’m thankful.”
“Thankful?” her head tilted slightly as she tried to work out where he was going with his gratitude, all while trying to work out how he could possibly be thankful to her for doing what she did.
“I know that sounds weird, but I am,” he was the one to drop eye contact this time, if only for a few moments, but it was enough for her to know that he was hurting, but something told her that it wasn’t over the fact his biological mother was dead, “I’m not sure how much you heard, but she was goading me, she was telling me to shoot her, and that she killed you so I should want to kill her, that it was who I was being her son.”
“Shane,” the information that he was sharing crushing her, the fact that the man in front of her who cared so deeply had been so badly treated by his own mother made her blood boil.
“I know that if it came to it, I would have taken the shot, but then she would have won, she would have been right, and I think that it would have been harder to have lived with that, to have her voice in my head telling me that killing comes naturally to me,” he explained further and the way that his voice lowered as he looked away from her, told her that it was harder for him to talk about than he let on, “and to live with taking her life when I was so angry, that would have been…”
“Hey, the fact that you hesitated, that you even think that way, shows that you were never like her,” she told him, hoping that he would believe her words, hoping he would take her word that he would never be like her.
“Anyway, so, yes, I owe you a thank you,” he met her gaze once more, and she could see he was genuine, even if she couldn’t completely understand how he could be after everything.
“You don’t owe me anything,” she leant forward, closing the space between them without a second thought, her lips on his before he had a chance to register her actions fully, but his response was nearly instant, as he kissed her back.
All the shades of emotion that they had gone through since she arrived, rushed out as they lost themselves in each other, both trying to convey to each other the feelings that they were far from ready to voice. She shifted herself so that she was sitting on his lap, his hands slipping under her shirt to rest on her hips, as hers worked to remove his shirt, only pulling back for a second to strip it off him fully.
She smirked at him as he closed the distance once more, one of her hands snaking around the back of his neck to ensure he stayed as close as possible to her, as her other ran down his muscled torso, something that she had wanted to do for longer than she was ready to admit out loud. A sigh left her mouth as he moved his lips to her neck, but she used her hand to direct his face back to hers, unable to get enough.
She felt his smile at her actions, as he moved a hand to unbutton her shirt, the other staying on the small of her back to steady her, the cool air hitting her skin as he gently pulled her shirt off, careful not to cause pain to her injury. The hand on her back was running up and down the bare skin as his other threaded through her hair to cup the side of her face, much like he had when he had kept her in his arms in the hanger, and she felt more content and loved than she could ever recall, even if she wasn’t quite ready to admit it to herself.
The sound of their phones buzzing made them both groan, pulling apart instantly as she rested her head on his shoulder, his hand sprayed across her back to hold her in place as he leant them both forward enough to pick his phone up with his other hand. The interruption allowing them a moment to catch their breaths, and their thoughts, but she found that instead of feeling unsure or awkward, she just felt disappointed at the interruption.
“It’s Morales,” he sighed unlocking his phone to see what was the cause of the interruption was, even though they could both easily guess.
“There’s a hit?” she lifted her head enough to be able to read his text, the words on the screen confirming her question without any need for him to as well.
“We could pretend we didn’t see it?” Shane grinned, the suggestion held no merit, them both knowing that regardless of how much they might want to; that it wasn’t an option.
“As much as I would prefer that, we both know Hassani will call if we don’t respond,” she chuckled as she extracted herself from him, grabbing her own phone to send her own reply to the group.
“I guess you’re right,” he grinned at her, picking her shirt up from the ground and helping her back into it, and she had to bite her lip slightly to stop herself from re-instigating their previous activities.
“I usually am,” she smirked back at him, a soft smile remaining on her features at his actions and she could tell that he was stopping himself just as much as she was.
“Oh, I know,” he chuckled in response, picking the untouched food off the table to put in the fridge, forever making sure not to waste food.
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Their escapee had been a hard one, Bex had nearly got him not long into their investigation, but he had stabbed a women in front of her, shoving her into Bex to stall her ability to go after him. From then on, as he knew he was found, he had gone on a spree in the 40 hours it took for them to capture him; 5 women dead, 3 in the hospital, and she had taken each victim personally.
Throughout it all, she had barely slept, an hour here and then when she was desperate enough, but it was far from enough and she was starting to concern him and the rest of the team. But Shane knew that she wouldn’t stop until they had caught him, and there was no point trying to force it, so instead he just stayed at her side as usual, ready for whatever she needed.
By the time they were on the plane home, they were all quiet and exhausted, the calmness of the plane washing over them as he moved to sit on the couch, feeling like he didn’t have his usual energy to do anything else. He watched her closely as she sat next to him without a word, talking her shoes off before manoeuvring herself to lie on the couch, dropping her head onto his lap, her intentions clear and he was glad that she had come to the conclusion herself.
He gently lifted her head, placing a pillow under it for her comfort and the fact that she barely reacted told him that she had fallen asleep almost instantly, something that he was thankful that he was able to offer her. Watching her steady breaths brought a calmness to him, in a way that he was finding that only she could, and it was a calmness that if he was being honest, he might just want to chase forever.
The relief at seeing her sleeping was evident on Hassani’s face as he joined them, picking up a blanket and handing it to Shane without a word. The two of them knowing full well that it was a rare occurrence for her to actually sleep when they were awake, and that the fact she was was a sign of concern at how exhausted she had managed to let herself get.
“Thanks,” Shane stated as he gently threw the blanket across Bex with a small smile, the fact that she trusted him to look after her when she needed it meaning more to him than he was willing to admit just yet.
“I’m glad to see that she is finally getting some sleep,” Hassani spoke quietly, sounding just as drained as the rest of them.
“It’s only an hour flight, but better than nothing,” Shane sighed, he didn’t like how little sleep she was running off, but he was willing to help ensure she got as much as possible, his hand resting on her side and the whole thing just felt right to him.
“You’ll take her home once we land, I don’t want to see her back at the base,” the instruction about the easiest one that he could get.
“Of course,” there wasn’t any question to it, he had fully planned to get her home straight after the plane, regardless of what she had said, though, he was fairly certain that she wouldn’t put up a fight, nearly as certain as that she wasn’t the only one that needed rest, “maybe you should listen to yourself too.”
“I know that you and I haven’t really talked about, you know,” Hassani gestured between them both, an awkwardness to showing that he wasn’t sure how to approach the conversation he was initiating.
“I’m happy to keep it that way,” Shane smirked, the last thing he had expected was to discuss whatever he and Bex were with Hassani before her, though, in hindsight, he realised that he should probably expected it, “or is this where you threaten me not to hurt her?”
“Honestly, if anyone would get hurt, my monies on you,” the reply came fast, and it held a hint of amusement that only Hassani could pull off.
“Thanks?” he felt both insulted and cared about, somehow all in one.
“I just mean, she is not an open person, and she very much strikes me as the type of person to pull away if things get too serious,” Hassani explained further, clearly ready to go deep into the conversation, and Shane couldn’t quite figure out why, but he did find that it was refreshing to discuss it, “and, I think that you are all in.”
“I’ve been told the same about myself in the past,” he admitted, the part that he wasn’t ready to admit was that it wasn’t a thought that even crossed his mind with her, if he looked deep enough, he knew that there wasn’t a chance that he would walk away from her, but the chance that she might did scare him, “you think she’ll pull away.”
“I’m not sure, but I’m fairly certain you won’t,” the fact that Hassani seemed to be absolute in his belief towards him, did make him feel somewhat better about it all, that maybe it wasn’t completely crazy that he was good enough for Bex, “and that is exactly what she needs, she needs someone that will stick by her without question, without hesitation, and for what it’s worth, I do think that is you.”
“If she lets me,” his fear reared back up, most people in his life had been quick to dismiss him, and he wasn’t ready for her to as well, lowering his gaze to her sleeping face, subconsciously running his fingers down her arms as if to allow himself to while he still could.
“You know, I’ve been with you two since you met, and knowing what I know now about the both of you, I have to say, for two people with issues, you both trusted each other fast, and I think that was partly because you two just clicked, and largely because you stuck at her side and never left,” the words coming from the other man shocked him, he wasn’t dumb enough to think they had done a great job to act completely platonic around the team, but he didn’t realise just how much Hassani had paid attention to it.
“And I don’t plan to,” he glanced down at her once more, knowing she was asleep but he needed to see it again with his own eyes, he wasn’t sure he was ready for her to be hearing all of this, partly because he was worried it would make her pull away, but also because he had never gotten as close to anyone else as he felt he had with her and if he was honest, it scared him as well.
“Good, because take it from someone who had that, and it was taken away, I’ll just say that I would do it again knowing it was only limited, because that kind of connection, even if it’s limited, it’s more than most people get,” the reason for the discussion coming clear; a warning from a man who had survived loosing the love of his life, “but, I also think that it all means a lot more to her than she’ll let on, at least for now.”
“We actually haven’t talked about any of it,” he almost felt the need to clarify that they had barely actually crossed the line, but the words didn’t come, and he knew that he would be lying, just as he had picked up on the fact that she had also never clarified when given the chance, not even to her own daughter. They both knew that it didn’t feel right to pretend that it was nothing, and even if they didn’t discuss anything anytime soon, that was enough for him.
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” the chuckle that followed was genuine, as was the sentiment that followed, “she’ll avoid it and you’ll never push her, but, I do think it’ll work.”
“Kinda sounds like you approve,” Shane smirked at his half statement, half question, not that he would admit it, but he knew that the other man’s approval would mean something to them both.
“I approve of anything that means she sleeps,” Hassani stated, both giving an answer and putting an end to the conversation at hand.
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She stood at her bathroom mirror, staring at the tired shell of herself that reflected back at herself, and Bex couldn’t push down the feeling blame that raised back up when her brain started replaying the last few days once more. The short nap of the plane had given her brain a chance to shut off, which in itself had surprised her, although she knew that it was largely due to the man in the other room, but now her brain was slightly more rested than it had been, but still too tired to compartmentalise like it usually would.
“You okay?” Shane asked as came up behind her, the concern in his eye clear as day as he caught her gaze in the mirror, the force behind it making her drop her eyes to the basin.
“Yeah, sorry, these couple of days, they’ve just been a lot,” Bex shook her head, a small smile gracing her features at his concern, but she knew that they both could see that it was lacking her usual lustre.
“You’re incredible, you know that,” he stated simply, the words so far from what she had been expecting from him, she wasn’t sure exactly what response she had expected, but she knew it wasn’t that.
“What?” her eyes shot up, meeting his in the mirror instantly.
“The way you just keep going, you just don’t give up, regardless of everything,” he smiled as he spoke, moving his hands to run them up and down her arms ever so gently in comfort, the line between them evidently completely dissipated now, and she found that she wasn’t fazed by that.
“I should have stopped him sooner, all those women,” she stated, shaking her head as she blinked slowly, trying to push the memories of their bodies from her mind once more.
“They aren’t your burden to carry, they are a result of his twisted mind, not anything to do with you,” his voice was quiet and gentle, as he tried to get her to believe what he was telling her.
“But he wouldn’t have had the chance if I just stopped him the first time,” Bex sighed, she knew that she shouldn’t blame herself, and had the roles been reversed, she would have been the first to say the things he was telling her, but she also couldn’t shake the feeling that she could have done more.
“You can’t think like that, you can’t blame yourself,” he shook his head at her, his hands working to ground her in his words.
“Why do you care?” his movement’s stilled the moment she asked, and she realised that her tone held more bite than she had meant it to.
“About you beating yourself up, or about you?” he cocked his head slightly, and she could see that he was surprised that she had even asked.
“Both, neither,” she closed her eyes, trying to backtrack at her question, she knew that she shouldn’t have brought it up, not when she wasn’t actually prepared to delve into any of it, “it doesn’t matter.”
“Someone has to,” Shane shrugged, his mind catching up to his words as felt that he needed to clarify what he meant, but she had known regardless, “care, that is.”
“I know it’s unfair to you, but I can’t talk about whatever…” she dropped his gaze once more as she trailed off, she knew that it wasn’t fair, but with everything that had been going on, even before she was shot, she just didn’t have the mental capacity to add anything more, not without pushing herself too far.
“I’m not asking you to, okay?” the fact that he wasn’t pushing, that he was okay with taking whatever they were at whatever speed she could handle, was something that she knew she was taking advantage of, but she also knew it was one of the things about him that made her feel safe enough to even try.
“I know it’s about the least you deserve, but I just can’t, not right now,” she near whispered, she wasn’t exactly sure what her end game in the conversation was; she just knew that she needed to make it clear to him that she wasn’t saying no to them, she just wasn’t ready to talk it out.
“Hey, listen to me, I’m okay with not talking about it, ignoring the fact, that you know, we’re kind of talking right now,” he told her, his hands dropping back to his side, giving her the space that he seemed to think she needed, “but, ignoring that, we can properly talk all about everything, about anything you want, whenever you are ready to.”
“Why?” she caught his eye, watching him in the mirror as his brows furrowed at her question, obviously unsure where her question was going, “why give me that leeway?”
“Because I’m pretty sure that your the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he stated simply, holding her gaze as she tried to work out what to do with his words.
Turning around she stared at him for a second, really stared, and she could see that he was watching her just as close, but she knew that he would leave it to her to make the next move, his admission bordering a line that neither would be able to take back. Her fingers collecting the hem of his shirt, lifting it slowly up over his torso as he complied without a word, letting her slip it off over his head, his own moving to the buttons on hers the second she was done.
Working his way down, he made no move to kiss her, and she wasn’t sure he was leaving that boundary to her, even though they had already crossed it the other day, or if he was just taking his time with her. The moment her shirt dropped to the floor she got her answer, as he took her in slowly, bringing his hands to her face, his fingers threading through her hair to pull her close, kissing her slow and hard.
Leaning back against the basin, the cold stone doing nothing to cool the warmth that she felt, as she allowed her own hands to go exploring. Breaking the kiss, they paused for a moment, their breaths mingling as she brought her hand to his on the side of her face, collecting it as she brushed passed him without a word, pulling him along with her as she headed to her bedroom.
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It hadn’t taken long before Morales had been forced to come out in the field on a case with them, a prisoner had made his way to a small mountain town with limited phone and internet, so the easiest way had been for her to go with them, solving their tech issues on the fly. It had been rough, a game of cat and mouse in the woods that had at multiple times nearly had each of the team meet their end, but ultimately, the prisoner was the only one that had but it had been close enough to scare them all.
Hassani had been the one the to make the suggestion to stay instead of making the two hour trek on mountain rounds in the dark back to the plane, and she had been quick to agree. They had as usual sent him into the reception to get them a room, the rest of them getting whatever they had from the SUV as they waited, no one in much of a mood to discuss much.
“Got us a family room,” he told them as he returned with keys, the rest of them following him as he headed down the row of doors looking for the right one.
“Seems fitting,” Morales grinned, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, something Bex clocked instantly, making a mental note to check in on her the first chance she got.
“So, you two can have the king,” Hassani pointed at her and Shane as they entered the motel room, it had all the basics and nothing more, but that was all they really need, considering they would be up early to make the trek down to the landing strip, “and we’ll take the singles.”
“I happy to share with Bex, if that’s better?” Morales told them without a second thought, and Bex couldn’t help but smile at the genuine suggestion that her friend was giving to try to make things be as comfortable for everyone as possible.
“No, they’re fine,” Hassani called them out once more, unfazed at what he was admitting to their fourth team member, as he glared at the looks he was receiving, “what, come on, it’s the only way Bex has any hope of sleeping.”
“It is?” Morales smirked at them both, clearly tucking the information away, and Bex knew that it would be the subject of a visit from her the moment there was time when they were back.
************
Half asleep, Bex couldn’t help but get the feeling someone was alert in the room as she turned slightly in Shane’s grip around her. Squinting, she noticed Morales sitting on the couch next to the window staring out the slight gap, but not in a way that she was keeping watch, her gaze more distant than that.
“You okay?” she asked quietly, she could feel her mum tone coming out the moment she spoke but her friend was concerning her.
“Yeah, I just can’t sleep,” Morales brushed the concern off with an ease that could challenge her own ability, “it’s easy to forget how hard it is out in the field you know, seeing it all up close, it’s just easy to stay a step detached when you’re watching it through monitors.”
“You know what makes it better?” Bex asked, noting the statement away for another time, one where they were both awake and not trying to avoid waking anyone.
“Whiskey?” the half joke, half serious response came fast.
“Well yes, but also relying on your team,” she smirked, once again knowing that she couldn’t judge it too much, not when it was also a page out of her own playbook, instead she pulled the blankets back invitingly, “come on, there’s plenty of space for you too, and maybe if you’re not alone, you might get some sleep.”
“You sure?” Jen suddenly sounded unsure, like she didn’t want to overstep, Bex nodding instantly to reassure her as she turned slightly to alert the man next to her.
“Hey, Shane,” she whispered, squeezing his arm slightly to wake him enough to understand what was happening.
“Hmm?” he responded vaguely, his half-asleep state making her smile.
“Shove over, Morales is joining us,” she told him with a playful shove, turning back to her side as she did.
“Huh?” he questioned as he complied regardless, shuffling over as far as possible, his arm never leaving her side as he pulled her with him.
“He’s good for you,” Morales smiled as she got into the bed as un-disturbingly as possible.
“Yeah, I know,” Bex admitted, knowing that he was awake enough that would also have heard, and from the way that he gently kissed her shoulder, left no doubt that he heard, “now sleep.”
**********************
“How did you get roped into this situation?” Hassani questioned the next morning as he made his way to get ready, trying to hold back a smirk at the sight in front of him.
“Not entirely sure,” Shane shrugged back, turning to sit on the edge of the bed, as Bex followed suit without a second thought, “I think it’s like a twisted sisters thing.”
“What?” Hassani stopped for a moment, trying to work out what he was going on about, as Bex shared a look with Morales, more surprised at the reference than anything.
“You know, as in on Grey’s Anatomy?” Shane’s reply made them laugh, having both thought that that was what he was getting at, but it was still unexpected.
“I don’t watch that crap,” Hassani shook his head as he moved on, returning to his trek to the bathroom.
“I won’t spoil it for you then,” Shane yelled after him, wanting to make sure his comeback was heard fully, only receiving the sound of the door being shut harder than usual, sharing a smirk with Bex as she bit back another laugh.
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Side Note:
Sorry, yes the Morales part feels a bit tacked on, but I really wanted to write it and I didn't want to write a whole other chapter to make it flow in because honestly, I probably wouldn't have, so I thought it was better just to include it than not
NO CAUSE YALL DON’T GET IT. HE TOOK HIS EYES OFF THE WOMAN WHO COULD KILL HIM TO CHECK ON THE WOMAN HE LOVES. HE RISKED HIS LIFE JUST TO MAKE SURE SHE WAS ALIVE. I CANT—
