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Fitz sat on the stairs outside his room while he waited for the cavalry to show up. That was an awkward call to make. He could just imagine the rumours that had immediately started flying around. He was no stranger to rumours. At least it wasn't his own stupid fault this time.
Coming home to a dead man in his bed wasn't exactly how he expected to end the day. It really kind of ruined the good mood he'd had from Jane getting arrested. Ruined everything really. He was getting comfortable here, thinking of this as his home. Not anymore.
Any sense of home or safety he'd had here had now been shattered. He felt adrift, again. It brought back memories he'd rather not think about. Sitting on a hard plastic chair listening to the social worker talking to someone on the phone. This felt like that. Everything turned on its end and nothing making sense.
That day back when he was 13 had actually been the start of something better. He hadn't known that though, that day in the child protection office. That day he'd been terrified and felt completely lost. He'd been convinced he was being sent to a group home for troubled youth, but that wasn't what happened. Fitz didn't think this situation was going to end as well for him.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the arrival of several SPMP cruisers. He felt relief flash through him at the sight of Arch getting out of one of the cars. He tried to stop his hands from shaking before someone saw and he embarrassed himself.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, he'd seen hundreds of dead bodies as a cop. He shouldn't be reacting like this, like a victim. Sitting here dwelling and showing signs of shock, but the body was in his motel room, in his bed. He felt violated.
He stood to greet her as Arch came over to join him while the other officers entered his room.
"So, let me guess, you have no idea where the dead guy in your bed came from?"
"Ha ha, obviously not. I was with you all day."
"What exactly happened?"
"Are you asking as a friend or to get my statement?"
"Both."
"Nothing happened. I got home, went inside, something felt off, and I turned around and there was a dead man in my bed. Then I went outside and called it in. And that's it."
"Okay. Any idea of the identity of the victim?"
"Never seen him before."
They stood there in companionable. silence for a couple of minutes.
"Man, I was looking forward to sleep, and now my room is a crime scene, so I have nowhere to sleep."
"Are you going to get a different room?"
"I don't know. I guess I'll have to, there's not a lot of places still open this late. It doesn't feel right though. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep in a different room identical to mine."
"You could spend the night at my place. I have room and I don't mind."
"Are you sure? I can just suck it up and get another room."
"I'm sure. Now let’s go talk to Marcus so we can go. We can figure out what's going on here in the morning."
They quickly located Marcus and got his permission to leave, and then they were on their way to Arch's place. Fitz sighed at the realization that he had nothing with him and would have to sleep in his clothes and would have to use his finger for brushing his teeth The perfect end to a great day.
-
Arch watched as Fitz laid his jacket on a chair and then stood there looking lost. She decided to offer him some clothes her ex had left behind to sleep in. They were around the same size. She also had an unopened toothbrush to offer.
"Hey, here's a toothbrush you can use, unopened, and Kadeem left some clothes, you can sleep in them if you want. So, you won't ruin your suit."
"Thanks, clothes and a toothbrush would be amazing. And thank you for letting me stay here, I really appreciate it."
"It's what partners are for."
They both went to bed very quickly after that. They had to get some sleep so they could figure out who the dead guy was in the morning.
Unfortunately, Arch was only asleep for a couple of hours when she was woken up by Fitz talking in his sleep. She debated if she should wake him up or not, but he sounded distressed and she couldn't stand it. Awkwardness be damned.
When she stepped into her spare bedroom, Fitz was mumbling in his sleep and tossing his head back and forth. She wondered what he was dreaming about, but still quickly and gently shook him awake. She was careful to put distance between them when he started to wake up. She didn't feel like getting a smack in the face at 2 am.
Arch was kind of relieved when her partner woke up enough to look at her in confusion but then go back to sleep when she told him to. She felt a rush of fondness for him; he really trusted her. It felt kind of heavy. She couldn't mess this up.
In the morning neither of them mentioned the middle of the night incident and Arch assumed Fitz wasn't awake enough to register it as more than a dream. They wasted no time getting ready and leaving in the morning.
Only stopping to grab coffee on the way. Arch had offered to spring for breakfast too, but Fitz had claimed he wasn't hungry. She only felt slightly bad eating her scone in front of him. He gave no signs of being bothered though. Sometimes his silence drove her insane despite knowing she wasn't any better.
It made her smile when he hit back at Marcus for doubting his honesty about knowing the dead guy. His face at Renuf's dig was hilarious but he didn't have a come back for that one. Probably because Renuf wasn't wrong.
It was a little less funny when she realized the same could be said for her. She also needed to get a life.
Her and Fitz could both work on being less boring after they solved the mystery of the dead guy in her partner’s bed.