Work Text:
“I had a thought last night,” Crews said.
“I suppose you're going to share this thought with me,” Reese said.
Crews forked a piece of mango and slowly chewed. Reese sighed.
“Fine,” Reese said. “Tell me about this thought.”
“Driving,” Crews said.
Reese made a “go on” gesture with her right hand while her left hand gripped the steering wheel.
“Driving is an act of Zen,” Crews said. “You're experiencing and acting at the same time. It’s meditative.”
“You aren’t driving,” Reese said. “You do terrible things to cars. Maybe being less Zen about driving would help.”
“Zen is not a fleeting experience,” Crews said. “It is a way of living in the world.”
“Finally, a crime scene,” Reese said.
They pulled into the parking lot. Stark met them and all three of them ducked under the police tape.
“I was hoping someone else would catch this case,” Stark said.
“Are we not good enough for you,” Reese said. “When did we become second-string police?”
Stark stopped walking. Reese and Crews looked at the door they had stopped in front of. The sign read “International Meditation Center of Los Angeles”.
“Oh,” Reese said. She clenched her left hand in an effort not to reach out and grab Crews’ hand. They were surrounded by cops and enough of those cops didn’t like Crews as it was. He could hardly be seen holding hands with his female partner at a crime scene. Reese thought that if they were alone, Crews might have reached for her hand.
Crews took a deep breath. He and Reese pulled out their gloves and opened the door. Reese wanted to walk in first but she knew that Crews wouldn’t accept such a gesture.
The place was crawling with cops, including the head of the Violent Crimes Unit. A crime with religious overtones always sent press scurrying out from whatever corner they had been hiding in and this was sure to lead the local news and go national after that.
The victim was sprawled across the cushions, a single bullet wound to the back of his head.
“Victim is Jack Thomas,” Stark said. “He’s been a regular for years. Comes twice a week. Same day. Same time.”
“So his schedule is easy to follow for someone looking to hurt him,” Reese said. “That certainly narrows down our pool of suspects.”
“Thomas also had a key.” Stark said. “He sometimes liked to stay late after class. He’d been here so long that they gave him a key.”
“Who found the body?” Crews said, speaking for the first time since they had entered the center.
“The 7 AM class, “ Stark said. “That’s them over there.”
“What class did Thomas attend?” Reese said.
“6 PM. But he stayed after like he usually did,” Stark said. “Here’s something else, Thomas had a key but he always locked the door after the last person left.”
“So he had to have let in whoever shot him,” Reese said.
Crews stood there with them but Reese could tell he wasn’t really listening. Reese knew as soon as she got back to the precinct she was going to get them off this case.
“Have the uniforms do the interviews,” Reese said. “We’ll head back to the precinct and see what we else we can find out about him.”
Reese and Crews arrived back at the office and Reese made a beeline for Tidwell’s office, closing the door behind her.
Tidwell looked like he was about to make a joke and then he saw the look on Reese’s face.
“What is it, Dani?’ Tidwell said.
“You have to take us off this case,” Reese said. “What were you thinking when you gave us this case?”
“You want off a case?” Tidwell said, confusion written all over his face.
“We went to a Zen meditation center,” Reese said, “and looked at a dead body.”
“Oh,” Tidwell said. “Well, fuck.”
“Find someone else,” Reese said. “Do it now. I’m taking Crews home.”
Reese found Crews sitting at his computer. He hadn’t even bothered to turn it on. He was staring into space.
“Let’s go,” Reese said.
Crews followed her to the parking lot where Reese had parked her car. Crews got into Reese’s car, not even seeming to notice that they weren’t taking an unmarked car.
Reese drove and did her best not to curse LA traffic. Crews was silent. No comments on what a beautiful day it was, no munching on fruit, no Zen observations.
Crews finally noticed where they were when they pulled into the parking lot of Reese’s building.
“What are we doing here?” Crews said. “Don’t we have a case to work?”
“We’re off the case,” Reese said. “We’re here because you needed to go home.”
“This isn’t my home, “ Crews said. “I have a very nice home. It has a pool and everything.”
“An empty mansion with a pool where you sleep with women and have no furniture is not home,” Reese said. “You are staying in my spare room tonight. We are going to order in food and then if you want to read or watch tv or complain about global warming or pesticides in fruit, I will listen to you.”
Crews looked at Reese. “Okay,” he said.
They entered Reese’s apartment. Reese shut the door. She took Crews by the elbow and lead him to the couch.
“Sit,” she said. “I’m going to order soup and sandwiches from the local deli.”
When Reese came back into the living room, Crews had found an airing of the BBC documentary “Earth”.
If Reese hadn’t known Crews so well, she would have thought he was deeply engrossed in the show but she could tell he had the tv on for show.
She took her shoes off, sighing with relief to be barefoot. Crews was sitting on the very end of the sofa, taking up as little space as possible. Reese walked over to the sofa and sat down next to him. He glanced at her, startled. She put her legs up on the sofa, tucking her toes underneath Crews’ leg. He looked over at her. She wiggled her toes briefly. He smiled and they turned their attention to the tv. They stayed that way until their food arrived.