fortune teller

You step into the Major Crimes bullpen forty seconds late to find three detectives, a lieutenant, and a consultant staring at you. Karadec’s jaw tightens as he looks at the coffee cup in your hand, and Morgan narrows her eyes at your necklace.

“Good morning?” you greet carefully.

“You’re late,” Oz points out.

“Did something happen?” Daphne inquires.

You sigh, setting your drink on your desk. “You’re all very protective, you know that, right?”

“Because you give us reason to be,” Morgan interjects.

“I’ve known you for like three months,” you argue. “And the rest of you… I’m still not sure why you’re like this.”

“Because we take care of our own,” Soto explains. “Glad you’re here. Now let’s get to work.”

Daphne pushes her chair to your desk, her gaze soft as she murmurs, “You know you can tell us anything, right?”

“I’d be glad to tell you if I had any idea what we’re talking about, Daph,” you reply. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the intent, but you’re all acting really weird.”

“You showed up to work with a bruise on your face last week and new jewelry this week,” she points out, shrugging as she concludes.

You huff a laugh, then smile as you ask, “You think my husband’s abusing me?”

“Forrester!” Karadec chides. “Why would you tell her that?”

“Guys, I’m… My husband is great,” you say, looking around the bullpen. “Our dog got excited last week and jumped on me, that’s where I got the bruise. And the jewelry was a gift because my husband can’t be the center of attention. He got a new job, so I bought him a watch to wear with his favorite suit. He insisted on getting me something too.”

“The necklace,” Morgan realizes. “You could have just said that.”

“I didn’t think that you would jump to the conclusion that my husband is abusive and bribing me to keep quiet with jewelry,” you deadpan. “But I’ll remember that in the future.”

“Your husband got a new job?” Morgan asks. “That’s exciting. What’s he doing?”

“Was that supposed to be subtle?” you challenge. “You’re losing your touch, Morgan.”

She turns to Karadec, who has his head tipped to one side as he stares at her. “Really?” he questions flatly.

“I thought it was worth a shot,” she murmurs.

Unlocking your computer, you smile. Your team — your friends — are good detectives, but their skills aren’t enough when it comes to looking into your private life. They have no idea that your husband becomes their boss this week.

Nick decided not to wear his ring while working. It wasn’t a sudden decision, nor is it new. Several years ago, when you had been married for mere months, he went undercover. He put his ring on a necklace chain to keep it close, and it became a habit. Every night, however, you take the necklace off and kiss the spot above his heart where it rests. He, in turn, removes your silicone wedding band, kisses your finger, and replaces the ring he put on you on your wedding day.

So, when he comes into the Major Crimes bullpen a few days into his first week of being Captain Wagner, it’s no surprise that his ring is nowhere in sight.

“Good morning,” he greets. “How’s the Painter case going?”

“Slow,” Karadec admits. “We might have found motive combing through the bank records, though.”

“Nice progress,” Nick applauds. “Any other developments?”

“Nothing worth reporting, sir,” Daphne answers.

He nods, then turns toward your desk. “And how is Los Angeles’s prettiest detective doing today?”

Oz interjects first, pushing out of his chair to exclaim, “Whoa, no!”

“Stop!” Daphne agrees, her eyes wide as she spins to face you.

Morgan marches to your side, explaining, “She’s married!” as she lifts your left hand to show Nick the silicone ring he slid onto your finger just this morning.

“I am,” you agree, nodding up at him from your chair.

Nick’s nostrils flare as he thinks. He could explain himself, say that he knows you’re married because you’re married to him. But the protectiveness that this team just demonstrated over something as mundane as flirting is intriguing.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, taking a step back.

You watch him move, knowing immediately that he wants to see where this will go. Your team gets protective when someone oversteps, even if they know the person. So, he wants to see what it’s like in the field. Little does he know, it’s absolutely mayhem, and you’ve yet to tell him the extent of their antics.

After flirting with you in the bullpen, Nick gets a week-long show of the Major Crimes team being overprotective of you and not so subtly keeping him away from you. When he walks into the bullpen, Morgan or Karadec call him to the desk farthest away from yours to ask for his opinion on something meaningless. In the field, Daphne and Oz stay close to you, like bodyguards. Soto even stops him before he can get on the elevator one night, warning him against fraternizing with a subordinate.

If he hadn’t seen the difference in how they treat you, he’d think they were looking out for him.

You’re all in the bullpen combing through evidence and witness statements when one of your suspects steps through the doorway and announces, “I want to confess.”

Turning in sync, you all stare at the man before standing. Karadec is the first to offer to take him into an interview room.

“No,” the man replies. “I’ll only talk to her.” He slings his arm out, his finger pointed at you.

“Okay,” you agree immediately. “We can go to an interview room now.”

He nods, stepping back to follow your directions.

“I’ll observe,” Nick tells Soto.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Morgan interjects. “He wants to talk to her because he likes her. We already know how you feel.”

“Gillory, I’m doing my job here,” he defends. She’s not wrong, though. And he does want to be close in case anything happens. “We’re solving a case. That’s all.”

“Remember that, Captain,” Oz suggests.

Nick crosses his arms over his chest as he watches through the glass. You’re a good detective, but he rarely gets to see you work. The past week has been amazing, despite the commentary and forced distance. He brushes the back of his hand over the ring beneath his shirt and nods when you press for specifics of the crime.

“She’s good,” Daphne muses. “Right, Captain?”

“I’m not taking whatever bait that is,” he grumbles.

You excuse yourself, locking the door after accepting his written statement. When you pull the door of the observation room open, you aren’t expecting to see six people wedged inside.

“Uh, Captain?” you call. “I have a question.”

“Sure thing,” Nick replies, squeezing past Morgan to join you in the hallway. He smiles at Karadec and instructs, “You guys keep an eye on him,” then closes the door.

Ten minutes after you left to submit the hard copies of the paperwork and confession for the now solved case, your team is watching the hall, awaiting your return.

“It shouldn’t take that long,” Daphne points out.

“Maybe she’s talking to someone,” Oz offers.

“Oh, no,” Morgan mumbles. “Oh, he’s right.”

“Who’s right about what?” Karadec asks. “Wait, do I even want to know?”

“Wagner. We’re overprotective of her, he’s right about that. I mean, she’s demonstrated more than once that she can take care of herself. My first week on the job she fought a man twice her size and won. What are we doing?”

“Watching out for a friend,” Oz states.

Morgan looks back to the door first, her jaw dropping when she sees you returning with Nick. His hand is on your lower back, and your heads are tipped toward one another, laughing at something no one else heard. She stands from Karadec’s desk, then gasps and points at Nick with one hand while hitting Karadec’s arm with the other.

“What?” Karadec asks, attempting to block her hand.

Morgan gestures at your hand, then Nick’s. She saw the matching wedding bands the seconds you escaped the harsh hallway lighting.

“You’re married now?!” she exclaims.

That draws the attention of everyone else in the bullpen, overlapping questions and gasps keeping you from discerning anything specific.

Nick raises his hand to silence them, then says, “We’ve been married the whole time.”

“You didn’t tell us that!” Morgan accuses, looking at you.

“You assumed I was in an abusive relationship and didn’t tell me that, so I think we’re even,” you reply. “Seriously, Morgan, why would I start telling people I’m married to the new captain? When it comes out, I’m going to get accused of getting special treatment as it is.”

“You thought I was abusing her?” Nick asks, focused on the first part of your response.

“She had a bruise,” Daphne says, shrugging. “Sorry for all the stuff we said.”

You turn to Nick and inquire, “What’d they say?”

“That really doesn’t matter now, does it?” Oz asks quickly.

“Oh, the bruise from Ingrid,” Nick realizes.

“Hey, no, focus!” Morgan calls, snapping. “We’re talking about the two of you being married.”

Nick glances at his watch, then opens your desk drawer to get your bag. “We’re not,” he replies. “See you tomorrow.”

“I’ll find out the truth if you don’t tell me!” Morgan calls as you let Nick lead you out of the bullpen.

“I told you she’d notice immediately,” you remind him.

“Well, now they know not to get between us again,” he replies.

You roll your eyes, and when the elevator closes, Nick presses a kiss to your forehead.

“Let’s go home,” he whispers.