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Daphne and Oz arrive to the hotel a little before Morgan and Karadec. They’re led to the hotel’s pool area, where the dead body is lying in a lounge chair by the side of it. She’s dressed not for swimming at all, and her hair is done, Daphne observes quickly, taking notes in her notepad.
She asks the officers around her a few things, still observing the area and the body of her own accord.
Oz has gone very quiet by her side, simply following her about. Normally he would have something to say, or he would be making his own observations by now. But now he’s simply silent by her side.
Daphne can’t help but send a few anxious glances his way.
They wrap up with the other officers, and as they walk away, Daphne turns fully to Oz.
“Hey.” She says quietly, brow furrowing. He doesn’t respond. His eyes are glassy, and completely trained on the pool.
Oh.
Oh shit.
The pool.
Daphne gently goes to touch his arm, but stops herself at the last second. Oz is still staring at the pool, his hands clenched by his side.
“Hey, Oz.” Daphne says softly. “Oz.”
He looks at her this time, finally tearing his gaze away from the pool. He seems to be trying to focus on her face, even though his eyes are darting everywhere.
“Okay.” Daphne sighs, mentally kicking herself. She should’ve realised that this could have been a trigger. She’s his partner, she’s meant to be looking out for these things.
She’s lost in her thoughts for a second too long, and when she tunes back in, Oz is wrestling with his jacket. She knew why instantly, weight on his arm felt like weights holding him down under a pool. Daphne helps him pull it off, and watches as he loosens his tie as well, breaths coming quick.
“Let’s get out of here.” She says quietly. She’s still not sure if she can touch him though, and Oz doesn’t seem to be hearing much right now. He’s staring at the pool as if it’s going to leap up and get him. Maybe it will.
Daphne begins to walk slowly, hoping he would follow. She makes sure to take the side closest to the pool. To her relief, Oz follows her robotically, walking by her side.
As they walk out the doors, Lucia comes in. Daphne stares after her for a moment, wondering vaguely why she was there, but ignores it and turns back to Oz.
She leads him into a small room off to the side, and sits down, leaning against the wall. Oz does the same, pulling his knees up to his chest and putting his head in his hands. Daphne sits quietly by his side.
She feels awful, and she feels bad for feeling awful. Oz is the one suffering here, wrestling with his own mind. And yet Daphne still feels terrible, because she can’t help but think about how she could have prevented all of this.
Logically, she knows that it isn’t rational. All this guilt that she’s feeling. The gamemaker would have gotten to Oz either way, whether it was before or after the gala, or maybe even on a different day. But part of her feels like if she had just…been with him, then maybe, maybe, she could have prevented it. Done something. Acted.
Hell, even if she had gone to his apartment to check on him earlier she could have done something. If she had left the gala within a half hour of him not showing up, not a full hour. Oz was known for being late occasionally, sure, but she knew that something was off. Why didn’t she follow her instincts? She always follows her instincts.
Maybe if she had trusted herself more, then she could have found a breathing, conscious Oz in the pool.
Daphne is started out of her thoughts by Oz himself, his hand reaching out for purchase. His head is still down and buried in his arms on top of his knees, but he puts out his hand towards Daphne.
She takes it, and he grips it tightly.
After a few minutes, he emerges, eyes noticeably redder than they were before.
“You know where we are?” Daphne asks quietly. Oz nods jerkily. Daphne still makes him repeat back the relevant information about where they are.
“I…don’t know how we got in here.” Oz admits quietly.
Daphne is instantly on high alert.
“It’s like I was back there Daph.” Oz closes his eyes. “Under the water.”
A full shudder runs through his body, and Oz clenches his hands into fists, their joint hands getting broken.
“I’m sorry.” Daphne whispers, unsure of what to say.
Oz squeezes his eyes shut even tighter.
“Not your fault.” He says through gritted teeth.
It kind of was though. Daphne should’ve realised that the pool in the hotel wouldn’t have been great for him to be around. She should’ve told him that she could have handled it on her own…she should’ve…
“It’s not your fault Daph.”
Oz’s voice interrupts her thoughts and when she looks up at him he’s giving her the smallest smile.
“You did nothing wrong. I can hear your thoughts. If anything, this is on me.”
“No.” Daphne shakes her head.
Oz sighs, scrubbing at his eyes.
“We should get back out there.” He says, but makes no attempt to move.
“Just give it a minute. Plus, I saw Lucia. Morgan and Karadec must be getting here soon.”
“Lucia?” Oz keeps his eyes closed but his brow furrows.
“Yeah, I have no idea why she’s here.”
They sit in silence for a bit longer. Oz with his eyes closed, leaning back against the wall. He’s actively trying to keep his breathing controlled and deep, Daphne can tell. She breathes deeply with him, hoping it could help somehow.
She decides to make an executive decision to get them out of there. Daphne grabs Oz’s jacket and bag for him and cautiously pokes her head out of the room to make sure that there was no one they knew close by.
When she sees that the coast is clear, she walks over to Oz. She would’ve thought that he was asleep if it wasn’t for the rhythmic tapping he was doing on his knee.
“Oz.” Daphne says gently. He looks up.
“Let’s get out of here.”
For a moment, Oz looks like he’s going to protest, but then he seems to resign and nods, taking her hand offered out to him.
She pulls him up and they leave quickly, Daphne blocking Oz’s view of the pool. A quick glance behind her confirms that Morgan and Karadec have reached the scene. It’ll be fine with them there.
Daphne slips into the drivers seat while Oz takes the passenger’s side, his head immediately going up against the window. Daphne starts up the car wordlessly and pulls out of the hotel.
“You okay to go back to the precinct?” She asks with a glance over at Oz. “If not then I can cover for you.”
“No. I’ll be fine.” Oz swallows and runs a hand through his hair.
“Thanks though Daph. For everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Daphne shoots him a grin.
“Ditto.”