Chapter Text
Morgan strutted into the bullpen, her heels making a distinct clicking sound against the cold floor. She just had the best night of sleep in weeks, because the past dozen or so nights, she’d been needing to do so with one eye open because of the Game Maker. She knew he probably wouldn’t find her address, break into her house at night, restrict Chloe’s consumption of baby goop, tell Elliot his mum didn’t like geochronology, and god forbid, take Ava’s phone, but Morgan wasn’t willing to take that risk.
Last night however, was a different story. After the Game Maker had tried to pull off his dramatic stunt, which ultimately failed, they had locked him up for good, meaning there was (a close to) zero chance of him kidnapping anyone. Morgan had gone home with a sense of comfort she hadn’t had in a long time. She pulled up to her driveway exhausted, and was met with an attack of hugs from Elliot and Ava. Ludo was sitting on the couch with Chloe and joyfully explained they had seen the arrest on the news. They spent the night snacking on whatever was in the pantry and spending time together. There weren't any calls from work or random case realisations, there was just family.
“Good morning all. I’m sure we’ve all heard of the arrest of Matthew Clark. I’d like to say thank you to everyone here, as we all assisted in solving this tough case and putting this criminal to a stop.” Soto announced from the middle of the bullpen. Her voice always had an underlying tone of authority which everyone respected. Applause scattered the room, then everyone continued typing and typing away on their next tough case.
Morgan had been watching from the outskirts of the room, not wanting to draw attention to herself. After all, she had been the one to confront Clark with her pretty cool monologue. (if she does say so herself)
After Soto’s speech, she made her way over to her friends.
Morgan approached her usual bunch and took one of Daphne’s lollipops before sitting on the edge of Karadec’s desk. “Good morning my friends! How are we all feeling after last night?”
Karadec looked up towards Morgan, his blazer neatly hanging behind his chair. He was fiddling with a pen in his hand, but he looked less stressed than usual. To anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have been able to see it, because Karadec’s ‘unstressed’ wasn’t much different to his regular demeanour, but Morgan could see a difference. “Pretty alright, thanks.” he replied, not making much of an effort to acknowledge anyone.
Daphne let out a little laugh hearing Karadec’s unbothered tone. “I think you’re the only one who would feel just ‘alright’ after arresting what’s currently the most intelligent criminal in LA.”
“Since when was he considered ‘the most intelligent criminal in LA?'" Karadecc asked sceptically.
Morgan let out a laugh as she finished opening her candy.
“Come on, you’re telling me you haven’t seen any of those posts raving about how amazing this guy is?” Oz dramatically sighed.
“Amazing? Really?” Karadec questioned, finally looking up from his work.
Daphne continued. “I think they somehow forgot about the part where he captured like, half a dozen people, because all everyone can say about him is either how hot, smart, or charismatic this guy is.” she said matter of factly.
“Sounds about right. All anyone cares about these days is how good someone looks when slapped onto a video thumbnail.” Soto piped in from her office doorway.
Oz mumbled something in agreement.
“Will you four come into my office please?”
The group followed her into the relatively spacey room.
“Uh oh, are we in trouble?” Morgan whispered.
Daphne and Oz sat in the two chairs directly in front of the desk, and Morgan and Karadec stood a bit further back. Soto weaved around them, making her way to her chair. She pushed the large stack of paperwork and binders aside once she’d sat down.
“So… what’s going on?” Oz asked.
“I’ve been planning something for us five. I’ve organised a week-long stay at a resort that’s pretty far away from civilisation. Think of it as a team bonding experience if you will. I know how hard this case has been for us. Some more than others.” She briefly glanced at Morgan, but not long enough for anyone to notice. Soto cleared her throat, “So, what do we think?”
Everyone muttered amongst themselves before they all made sounds of agreement. Karadec was the first to say something. “I guess you’re right. It’s been an intense past few weeks. It’d be good to take a break.”
Morgan looked at him, a look of fake shock plastered on her face. “Really? The Adam Karadec saying he needs a break?”
“Uhm, yea?” He said.
“Hmph… interesting.”
“Anyways,” Soto interrupted, “I’ll take that as a yes from you four?”
They nodded.
“Good because I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Our reservations are booked for tomorrow. We’re expected to be there for check in at 7pm.”
“And.. guess we had no choice regardless.” Morgan teased. “I’ll pack tonight.”
The others agreed and they all left the office.
Karadec had just finished up his day at the office. By then, his surroundings were close to empty, the only sound being the occasional whiteboard marker squeak or printer starting up. He got his stuff and went into the elevator.
As the doors began closing, he shut his eyes and let out a small sigh. Tomorrow he’d actually be able to be with his friends without being in the presence of a dead body or a major crime. A full week of having a good time. No prank calls or hysteric emails, just good company. Most adults would loathe a mere ‘team-building’ exercise, let alone a full week being with their colleagues, but most adults don't work in major crimes, where if you’re not trying to solve a murder, you’re trying to solve a thievery. It gets tiring. You get used to assuming a crime has happened whenever you see your friends’ faces, which is pretty disappointing.
Just as his thoughts wandered, they were disrupted by a sudden thud as the elevator doors froze in place as someone stumbled in. He opened his eyes. It was Morgan. Of course it was Morgan.
“Hi Morgan. What’re you doing in the office so late?” he inquired, as she walked towards him, standing a respectable distance away.
The elevator doors started closing. “Well, you may have forgotten, but I am your partner, meaning we share cases. I just finished going through the physical evidence from that one case we got earlier today.” She grimaced, handing him a report on what she’d found.
“Hey wait, I know this case. I had just finished sorting those!”
“Oh uhh.. Sorry?” She flashed him an insincere grin.
He sighed, “It’s alrigh-”
She cut him off, “Also…”
“Yes, Morgan?”
“Can we carpool tomorrow morning? I don’t want to leave Ludo and the kids motherless and car-less for a week.” she put on her best pleading face.
That was a pretty valid point. “Yes, Morgan. We can. I’ll be at yours around 11am then. It’ll be an eight hour drive to the resort.”
“Phew, that's quite the drive.”
“Maybe it’s for the best.”
“Hmm, then... great! Ok partner, see you tomorrow.” Morgan said, as the elevator doors opened.
“See you tomorrow.” Karadec smiled back in response.
Morgan had got home and told Ludo and the kids she’d be away for a week, for a work thing. She’d already started packing everything that would be needed for a week-long trip at a hotel resort. Just the thought of it was making her excited. One full week with no kids and her very favourite people. What could get better than that?
By this time, it was already quite a bit past midnight, but she had to finish packing as soon as possible. Morgan spent the rest of her night sorting through her clothes, mixing and matching them to see what would look nice together. Cyan and pink? Yep. Flowers? Of course! And maybe about a dozen pairs of sunglasses.
An hour or two had passed, and Morgan had accidentally fallen asleep, still wearing the clothes which she had been ‘trying on.’ It’s alright though, she had already stuffed everything she needed into two small-ish suitcases. This included (she made a checklist) her toiletries, her clothes, her pillow cover, three packs of snacks, her electronics, and a book. Altogether, (as she predicted) everything fit into her small black suitcase and her slightly larger pink suitcase.