Work Text:
Karadec woke up with a startle, staring at a ceiling tile that he swore looked a bit like a Smurf. He didn’t know where he was, but it definitely wasn’t home.
“This is… this is not my apartment,” he groaned softly.
Perched in a chair next to his bed, Morgan stopped scrolling on her phone the second he came to. “Well, thank goodness for that,” she beamed. “Because this place has far too many germs for you to live comfortably.”
He didn’t respond, but met her gaze with a vacant, confused stare, and Morgan softened sympathetically. “Anyway... Good morning, sunshine. How are you feeling?”
He blinked slowly, turning his head away with a wince. “Not great. Are you… my doctor?”
She snorted before she could stop herself. “Doctor? Oh..no. No. Definitely not.”
His brow furrowed, and familiar creases formed, like he didn’t quite remember how to form his signature scowl just yet. “My nurse?” He asked.
Morgan glanced down at her attire: a bright purple and neon-blue leopard print top, paired with a gold lamé skirt, and smirked.
“Dressed like this?” She asked. “I mean, they’ve loosened the dress standards for nurses since the days of the white knee-length dresses and matching caps – but I think this get-up would be a little much, even by today’s standards.”
He strained his eyes. “My...lawyer?”
“Lawyer?” she laughed, tilting her head. “You really did hit your head hard, didn’t you?”
He swallowed. “Okay. Then… who are you? And... where am I?”
“I’m Morgan,” she said quietly. “Your… partner.”
His eyes widened. “My partner?”
“Yeah,” she said quickly. “Your partner in crime, and work – really,” she waved a hand. “You know, life-adjacent stuff.”
“Oh,” he said, studying her curiously. “Well, you seem... nice.”
And there it was. That strange glitch in personality that doctors had warned her about.
“Nice,” she smiled. “That’s a new one, are you going to tell me I’m reserved and timid, too?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I feel like I need... more information.”
“Well, I gotta admit... this outfit alone should be sending you loud and clear signals about that, but... you did get a pretty nasty bump on your head,” she reached out and touched his arm gently. “Honestly, you gave me quite a scare for a bit. But you’re going to be all right, although the doctors did say you’d be – disoriented – for a little while.”
The door opened before she could say more. Oz was the first to step in.
“Hey,” he said. “They said he was awake...”
Karadec turned his head abruptly. “Oh, hi. I’m Adam.”
Oz blinked. “Yeah... uh, I know.” He turned to Morgan, whispering out of the side of his mouth. “He’s introducing himself, now?”
“Head injury,” she replied. “But at least he remembered his name."
"The doctors said the memory loss will be temporary," she continued. "It’s not full-on amnesia – which is almost too bad, he’s been downright pleasant.”
Daphne entered the room, her eyes flicking to Morgan. “Did I hear Karadec is being pleasant?”
Adam squinted. “Am I usually… not nice?”
Morgan crossed her arms. “Well, nice is a loaded word,” she smirked. “You’re a good guy, but a tiny bit... grumpy. It’s part of your charm.”
“Do you know where you are?” Daphne asked.
“A very clean place,” he said. “It smells like disinfectant – I like it.”
“Well, that checks,” Morgan spat out. “I think he’ll be fully back any second now.”
Karadec looked at his visitors and grabbed a shocked Morgan’s hand. “Are you… our friends?” He asked Daphne and Oz.
“Uhm... yeah,” Daphne replied. “But do you two have something to tell us?”
“We’re partners,” Adam grinned.
“Yeah,” Morgan agreed, gently taking her hand back. “Work partners. LAPD – you’re a detective - I'm a consultant. We're partners, but not partners, you know?”
His face fell. “Oh. That’s... too bad.”
Daphne let out a laugh. “Oh, someone get me popcorn, because I could watch this show all night.” She turned to Morgan. “How long is this supposed to last? I could get used to this!”
“Well, enjoy it while you can,” Morgan chuckled. “He should be back soon.”
“Back to what?” he asked.
“Back to being you.”
He considered that, then reached out again, his fingers brushing the edge of her sleeve. “Are you with me a lot?”
The room went very quiet, and Morgan’s expression softened despite herself. “Yeah,” she said. “I am.”
He smiled at that. “Good,” he said, before mentioning something about being sleepy and nodding off.
Morgan stared at him for a long moment, and when she looked up again, Dapne and Oz were gawking her way - eagerly waiting for her reaction.
She floundered for a moment – a rare moment where she found herself at a loss for words. Then, she cleared her throat. “I, uhm... I should go tell the nurse he was awake... they should know.”
Daphne and Oz exchanged a look. “You know what,” he said. “We’ll go tell them. Why don’t you stay here?”
“Yeah,” Dapne said, rising to her feet. “If he wakes up – I have a feeling you’re the one he’d want to see.”
They were already at the door when her words registered with Morgan. “Wait... what? What did you mean by that?” she asked, but Daphne just smiled and clicked the door shut behind her.
Morgan sank back into her chair and looked at Karadec, really looked at him. She took in the ease in his face, the way his head tilted to the side, and she swore there was the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. She had to smile herself; he looked like one of her kids when they were asleep.
“Oh, Adam,” she sighed, reaching out and rubbing her hand along his arm. When she reached his hand, his fingers curled around hers, and she let them stay there without hesitation.
“You know,” she murmured, leaning in so only he could hear. “I’m not exactly hating this version of you.”
His lashes fluttered. As he fell deeper into sleep, his grip of her hand loosened, but he never let go.
"I think I'm just going to sit here a while."
She made herself comfortable and closed her eyes. She didn’t know how much longer she’d have this version of him, but she was determined to enjoy it for as long as she could.