Chapter Text
She arrived at the station a couple of minutes before 9, making her way up to the 3rd floor. She hadn't recognized anyone's car in the parking garage other than Adam and Selena's, which meant Morgan and her partner weren't there yet. She walked down the precinct hallways, her coat draped over her shoulders, protecting her from the wind of early morning open windows.
She was anxious to continue the case they were given yesterday; it had been driving her crazy all night. Usually, Daphne tried to turn off the detective part of her brain each night when she walked through the front door of her apartment, and most nights, she could. But something about yesterday's case wouldn't leave her head.
She thought about the worker who died in the last robbery. It was under extremely suspicious circumstances; she had no idea how they hadn't been assigned to it the second they found John Doe's body.
He was a worker at the vault, night shift, to be exact. Which (in theory) would limit who it could be. The problem, though? There were hundreds of employees, and no formal charting of who was on shift.
Some workers had been there for years, and some started this week. No one knew each other, and no one knew who was on shift that night. It was an extremely irresponsible way to run a business, something she and Oz certainly needed to look into.
Working at a place like that, you'd think it would be safe. But for some reason, they'd completely disregarded all accepted processes of safety. It wasn't always that way, though.
They used to have safety measures in place: key cards to clock in and out, very few employees in rotation, security cameras everywhere, etc. But they'd recently dropped their systems, almost like they knew this was going to happen. Almost like it was planned from the inside.
But for now, there was really not much she could do. She was waiting for the results of John Doe's dental records, which should be arriving for her and Oz later today.
Her eyes scanned the desks as she walked through the double doors, gaze falling on Morgan's desk. She probably wouldn't be there for another 30 minutes, since her consultant role meant very lax hours, but there was already an iced coffee sitting by her name plaque. It, of course, was from Adam.
Before she joined their team, he had never done a coffee run a day in his life. But now he somehow had become a coffee fanatic. Or at least that's what Morgan believed.
He literally got a plain black coffee. It had no extra pumps of flavor and was probably made using the same beans that they kept in the kitchenette.
But somehow, he'd convinced her that he liked the small business's brew so much that he went 3 times a week, and of course, he had to get her one too.
His place of choice also just happened to be her all-time favorite shop. It's where she would get coffee when she was pregnant with Chloe, something she'd told them both in the first few days of her job at the station.
And sure, he'd grumble as he placed it on Morgan's desk, but everyone knew he only went for her.
They were an anomaly. Before Morgan, he was cold and reserved. He lived to go to work, go home, probably iron his sheets, and come back to work. But now, he had a spark in his eyes. A light sparkle in contrast with the dark brown of his irises. Any time he saw her, adoration was written all over his performatively furrowed brow.
Morgan's signature coffee was lined with caramel drizzle, a drink you wouldn't expect to look perfect next to Adam's; it did, though.
They completed each other. Sometimes the thought made Daphne sad, the way they were each other's missing puzzle piece, and she was just there. She was happy for her work bestie, she was, but she wanted the quiet love they had for each other.
Daphne shook the thought out of her head and kept walking, chuckling again at the sight of Morgan's iced shaken caramel espresso, heart quietly warming at the gesture. She felt a solid presence by her side, warm and yellow.
"Oh God, what's funny?" Oz's voice whispered in her ear, suddenly walking beside her, his breath on her neck making a shiver tickle up the center of her back.
"Adam got Morgan a coffee." she replied, walking alongside him to their desks.
"He does it at least once a week." he scoffed.
"3 times." she corrected.
"You are so parasocial about them." he chuckled, sitting in his rolling office chair.
"Shut up. It's cute. He used to be so grumpy."
"I mean, he still is." Oz shrugged.
"I guess. Just, not with her."
"Yeah." he replied, way too soft.
She lifted her head from the drawer she was digging through and caught him gazing at her with his deep amber eyes, quickly looking away. He cleared his throat from the moment, straightening a stack of paper he was now holding.
She quickly returned to looking through her drawer, ignoring the fire in her chest. Instinctively, she peeked back at him again from the corner of her eye, spotting him looking at her, too. They broke out in giggles from the awkward silence, attracting the glares of the other people in their suddenly silent office. They tried to muffle their laughs, failing miserably.
Her ribs started to ache, making her reach across their shared desk for moral support. He lightly caught her hand, strong fingers going straight to her ring. He spun it around her finger as their laughter slowed, her brain unfortunately acknowledging how intimate the motion felt.
Her heart ached. It caught her off guard; the way her chest tightened felt unfamiliar, especially in response to a very typical Oz movement.
He did this with her ring all the time, really. When they were working late, he'd reach over her notebook and move his fingertips up and down over the metal, slowing her breathing.
He was a very touch-oriented person, and so was she. Well, kind of. She loved physical touch from her friends and sisters. But if a man touched her, they would probably have one less limb. She didn't take kindly to bullshit, especially from guys.
But for some reason, Oz's hand on her back never felt predatory or condescending. It was always light; he never went beyond her hand or upper back. Just gentle. It felt like she was just being checked on.
She always waited until a few weeks into any romantic relationship to let a man touch her, even if she knew him well already. So she didn't know why Oz felt safe. He always had, she guessed. Maybe it was the way she knew he'd never hurt her. Maybe it was that he knew her better than anyone (other than her sisters). She truly had no idea, but thinking on it too long gave her a headache, so she avoided the subject.
"What the hell is so funny?" a voice grumbled from the formation of desks across from theirs. Adam.
"Don't you have a job to do?" Oz asked, a smile still spread across his face.
"I assume you two do too."
"Allegedly." she shrugged,
"Then do it. God knows it'll be a gigglefest anyway."
"A grown man just said gigglefest." Daphne snorted.
This made him grumble, sitting back in his black chair.
"Grown man also bought a caramel iced shaken espresso," Oz added.
"It's for Morgan." Adam said defensively, shooting them a look.
Daphne didn't know what exactly he was being so protective over. It could have been the fact that he had a very sugary, feminine drink, or the obvious. That it was for her.
"I know. You wanna discuss that?" Oz proded, trying to hide his smirk.
"What do you mean? I bring her something when I get it. Or else she'll steal sips of mine even though she hates black coffee."
"Oz, does Morgan drink out of your coffee?" she joined in, eyebrow raised inquisitively.
"She doesn't, Daph. Not casual coworker behavior." Oz answered, raising an eyebrow back in Adam's direction.
"Would you two stop that, please? Jesus." He groaned.
She and Oz sent each other satisfied looks, clearly having achieved whatever they were trying to accomplish. Honestly, she didn't really have any idea what that was. I think the entirety of LA was sick of whatever was going on between Morgan and Adam, and they were no exception. Adam watched them closely and rolled his eyes. Then, his energy suddenly changed, eyes lighting up at something in the doorframe;
Morgan. Because who else?
Daphne looked over at Oz, catching his eye again. They erupted into once more, her head falling into her hands.
"Interesting." Morgan smiled, looking between the two warmly.
She was wearing hot pink pants, a material mixed between denim and leather. She had a grey graphic t-shirt on too, layered with a white lace tank top under it, showing through the worn holes. Her hair was the same long blonde style, her bangs blown out and slightly curled to each side. She looked beautiful, like always, making Daphne turn to gauge the look on Karadec's face. He was entranced.
"Does anyone plan on doing any work today?" Soto asked, entering the open office space.
She tried to catch her breath, her ribs aching again. Oz was still laughing too, much to the dismay of Adam beside them, who was slumped in his chair. This, unfortunately, just made her laugh even harder.
"What is so funny??" She asked judgmentally, but Daphne could hear a smile in her voice.
"We literally don't know." Adam grumped.
"Look at them. They're so cute." Morgan said, setting her bag down at her desk.
"They have dental records to go over." Their boss sighed.
"Well, clearly they need a minute." He murmured.
"How long have they been doing whatever that is?" Morgan asked, coming around to stand next to the two others.
"Too long."
"Adam. It's sweet."
"Why would it be sweet??" Karadec asked incredulously.
Morgan shrugged, smirking and bumping Adam's shoulder. This instantly made Daphne sit up, sending her a confused look. Morgan shrugged again, sitting on her partner's desk to take a big sip of her coffee. Oz took a deep breath, calming his laughter. Fuck, what was Morgan on now? She had the look in her eyes that she got when she was about to solve a case. But there wasn't anything to solve. So what was happening?
"Okay." her partner said, taking a steady breath out. "What are the dental results, Soto?"
"Both of you, follow me." Soto said and turned to lead them toward her office.