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“Listen up,” Zahra starts without taking her eyes off the file in her hand. “A body was found in the lake by the local PD, I need someone to go down there and investigate.” She looks up briefly, scanning the room of detectives listening attentively. “Diaz, Fox, take the SUV.”
Alex feels a pair of blue eyes on him and pointedly refuses to look over. “Both of us?”
Zahra raises a brow at him. “Is that a problem?”
Yes. “No, Chief,” he says instead, rising from his desk.
“Good. Take Spencer with you and call as soon as you have something.”
That makes Alex stop short as he pins his badge to his belt. He sees Liam freeze out of the corner of his eye. “Spencer transferred out of the unit last week, Chief,” Alex says, voice quieter.
A frown appears between Zahra’s brows for a split second before her expression clears. “Right. Take Hunter then.”
Alex would rather shoot himself in the foot than face Zahra’s wrath, but he would also like to keep his sanity, and this is not the way to go. Fox he can handle, but he does not want to put up with WASPy Hunter for longer than strictly necessary. “Fox and I can handle this on our own, I doubt a third person is necessary.”
Zahra gives him an unimpressed look on her way back to her office. “Do I look like I care how you feel about this, detective? Go and report back.”
Alex nods and bites back a groan of protest.
“Why did Spencer transfer so suddenly?” Hunter asks. “I thought he’d been working here for years.”
“He was,” Henry says drily, appearing beside them out of the blue and almost scaring Alex to death. “Those things aren’t exactly mutually exclusive.”
Alex meets his eyes, focused and so blue. They both know Spencer and Liam have been dating for ages, and every agent in their unit is more than aware of the ‘no relationships allowed in the workplace’ rule. When they got caught, they were given the choice to end the relationship or transfer to another unit.
“Yeah, but why—”
“I’m driving,” Alex announces loudly and drags his gaze away from Henry’s eyes, cutting Hunter off as he grabs the car keys. He falls into step with the other two detectives, heading towards the exit.
Neither of them questions him and Hunter snaps his mouth shut, but Alex swears he can see Henry trying not to smile at his frown. He ignores it.
“Coroner puts the time of death between nine and eleven pm last night,” Alex says not long after they’ve arrived at the scene, crouching down to examine the body. “Choking, apparently. He didn’t drown.”
Henry frowns down at his notepad. “I have witnesses saying they saw him alive and well around midnight. There was a festival in the neighborhood that ended around three am, and he was spotted by several people.”
Hunter nods seriously, tapping his chin. “Which means someone is lying.”
Alex just about manages not to roll his eyes. “Great detective work, pal. Got any breakthroughs while you’re at it?”
Hunter opens his mouth. “That was a rhetorical question,” Henry says without looking up. Hunter closes his mouth again.
Alex feels a smirk pull at his lips, but he pushes it down into a scold when Henry catches his eye with an amused glint in his gaze. Alex glares, but Henry doesn’t look any less amused.
“We should go talk to the victim’s family,” Alex says and pulls his eyes away, pretending to examine a very tiny spot on the jacket the victim is wearing.
“As soon as you’re done with your examination, of course,” Henry says.
He sounds too fucking smug for his own good. Alex takes an extra five minutes just out of spite.
“Can you tell me about your relationship with Mr. Jones?”
Alex watches Henry talk to the victim’s family with kind eyes and an even, soothing voice, scribbling on his notepad. He looks kind and understanding, offering his condolences and resting a hand on the widow’s shoulder when she chokes up.
He’s perfect. It’s fucking infuriating.
It’s no secret that Alex and Henry didn’t get along when they first joined Zahra’s team. Alex’s chaotic energy and Henry’s methodical approach clashed like fire and ice, and it took weeks of fighting and an almost suspension to get them to be civil with each other.
Now things are... easier is a word for it. They still bicker and disagree, but they can be in the same room without all hell breaking loose, and they work better together than any of their coworkers.
It doesn’t mean they don’t still antagonize each other. Alex most of all.
“You can’t possibly think he did it,” he says as they exit the interrogation room.
Henry raises a perfectly arched brow. “He’s a viable suspect.”
“He has an alibi,” Alex retorts.
“Which we still haven’t confirmed,” Henry reminds him. “And there’s the matter of the two million dollars that mysteriously appeared in his bank account just hours after the murder.”
“So he has something to do with the murder. That doesn’t mean he did it himself.”
“Although it’s still the most plausible hypothesis.”
Alex hums. “A plausible theory. But still just a theory.”
Henry huffs a laugh, trying and failing to hold back a smile. “You’d never admit I’m right, would you?”
“I would if you were,” Alex lies. “We’ll see who’s right in the end.”
Henry opens his mouth, a teasing sparkle in his eyes, but Zahra’s voice cuts through before he can get another word in.
“Do I pay you two fuckers to stand around and chit chat? Get back to work before I put you on paperwork duty for a month.”
“You’re glaring.”
Alex scowls. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You are,” Pez insists with a smirk. “You’re glaring at Henry because he made the arrest before you did.”
“He got lucky,” Alex mumbles as he watches Henry handcuff the killer and bring him in. The asshole looks calm and professional as if he hadn’t just tricked the suspect into confessing like a goddamn mentalist. Alex refuses to admit it but even he is a little impressed.
Pez rolls his eyes. “Of course he did,” he says, most likely aware that it’s no use arguing with Alex. “Are you coming to the bar for traditional case-closed pizza?”
“Is Henry coming?” Alex asks before he can stop himself. He curses internally, carefully avoiding Pez’s gaze as he grabs his coat.
“He mentioned going home early,” Pez says slowly as they exit the building with a few other agents, eyeing him curiously. Alex refuses to let the disappointment show on his face.
“Well then,” he says. “Pizza it is.”
He’s on his second slice of pepperoni and mushroom when everybody’s phones ping with notifications.
Liam stares at his screen for two seconds before leaving the bar without another word. The other agents around the table don’t spare him a second glance as they read something on their phones too, humming approvingly. Pez looks up at Alex with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open like he can’t believe it.
“What?” Alex asks, wiping his hands to reach for his own phone. “What’s going on?”
“They changed the rules,” McKay says without looking up. “Relationships between coworkers are allowed now, no questions asked. They even allow marriage.”
Alex freezes, his heart beating furiously in his ears. “What?” he repeats, his voice barely a whisper as he turns to meet Pez’s gaze.
He finds a brilliant grin directed at him and a phone shoved in his hand, an email open for him to read.
He doesn’t make it past the second paragraph before he puts the phone down and stands up, Pez pressing his coat into his hand with a smile. “Go,” he says. “Tell him the good news.”
Alex is already one foot out the door.
It takes him ten painfully slow minutes to get to his apartment, and his hands shake so much he drops his keys twice before he can open the front door.
There’s a moment of silence when he crosses the threshold and toes off his shoes absently. A beat, and then Alex finds Henry in the living room, gripping his phone so tight his knuckles are white. When he looks up his eyes are wide and wet, disbelief coloring his features.
Neither of them speak for a moment, and then they talk over each other.
“Did you see—”
“Have you read—”
“Is this real—”
“Can we really—”
Then Henry is in front of him, his hands cupping Alex’s face and Alex is being pulled into a kiss that takes his breath away, his back against the wall and his fingers deep in Henry’s impossibly soft hair. He melts into it like liquid gold under Henry’s careful hands and kisses and kisses until he can’t think straight. No matter how many times he’s kissed Henry’s stupidly soft lips, Alex’s head spins every time.
“They changed the rules,” Henry whispers, mouth stretched into a beautiful, wide grin. “We don’t have to hide anymore.”
“We don’t have to hide anymore,” Alex repeats in a whisper, pressing soft kisses on Henry’s mouth and all over his face. “They even allow marriage between coworkers, as long as there’s no power imbalance,” he murmurs, pulling back to watch those beautiful blue eyes he fell in love with long ago.
“So I’ve heard,” Henry says, carding his fingers through Alex’s curls. “Are you saying now is the time to be happy neither of us has been promoted yet?”
“I’m saying we don’t have to break any rules now,” Alex says quietly with a kiss on Henry’s jaw. “And that I want to tell people,” he adds, skimming his palms over Henry’s nape, his hair, holding his face.
Henry bites his lower lip, but it does nothing to hide the grin tugging at his lips. “All of it?”
“Yes. Do you want that?”
“Of course, love. I want everything with you. May I—”
“Yes.”
Henry laughs, and Alex tilts his head forward. He feels Henry’s hands slide down from his face, ghosting his fingertips over the column of his neck before going around to the nape. He unclasps the chain around Alex’s neck with deft fingers and Alex takes it, smiling at the soft look on the blond’s face.
He slides the ring off the chain before clasping it around his neck again, only the key that never leaves him resting on his chest. The engagement ring rests on his open palm and Henry takes it before brushing his lips on Alex’s skin, his knuckles and the back of his hand, a silent promise with each gentle kiss.
When he takes Alex’s left hand and places the white gold ring on his finger, Alex drags his fiancé into a scorching kiss that leaves them both a little off balance.
“You and me,” Henry whispers, resting their foreheads together.
Alex breathes out. “You and me, baby.”