#morgadec

With the stress of the first day back working together behind her, the worst out of the way that had kept her up the weekend before, Morgan finally found herself able to calm down and relax when coming back home just in time to witness the beginnings of a dinner chaos. With a tired smile she watched as people yelled over each other while Ludo had started making dinner as she brought the bags of groceries in. After the day she’d had even something like this made her feel monumentally better.

Things still weren’t great between her and Adam, but she was now willing to write up the tension being brought on by both of them just being unsure where the line was now drawn. Surely once they continued working together things would slowly return back to normal. She wasn't sure how safe spending more time with him would be for her heart, but she didn't want to have their entire relationship crumble simply because she had been unable to keep her feelings in check for one night.

Being able to ride to work with her own car by herself the next day made her feel even better about the entire situation. Having her own flexibility of coming and going whenever and wherever she wanted and not being dependent on Adam driving her to places brought a stabilizing calmness to her mood for the day ahead. A small ray of hope shone inside her, making her believe that perhaps they would be alright—that perhaps everything would be alright.

Arriving at the precinct she found Adam and Elena already at work along with some other early birds. She'd already thought of it before, but the two really were similar—both very meticulous with their work, believing in the system and its rules, with a shared structured professional rhythm and efficient communication. It was like watching a well oiled machine work. It left a sour taste in her mouth that she refused to admit, but knowing it also brought sense to how fast she’d started getting along with Elena. It was easy to befriend someone who was so similar to a person who she’d known for a long time now.

"Morning," interrupting the two discussing something, she greeted them.

Watching Adam turn and give her a small, professional smile that barely even reached his eyes before turning away made her stomach churn, leaving the hope of the tension between them healing crumbling in her chest. This wasn’t him being unsure how to act around her, nor was it like how he had treated her back when he hadn’t wanted to work with her or have anything to do with her, instead avoiding contact with her–even in the professional sense. 

Elena came to discuss their shared case and discoveries they had made after she had left for the day after greeting her as well, but Morgan could barely focus on what she was saying, feeling rooted in the spot with static playing in her ears while her heart raced. She could hardly remember a time when Adam had acted so coldly towards her, which left her feeling even worse about everything between them. If she didn’t know any better she would think that he would want nothing to do with her anymore. An annoyance bubbled within her along with the shock, but she pushed it down.

"—However, the coroner's report proved traces of poison."

"Huh?" Blinking, Morgan forced herself to tear her gaze away from Adam’s back to look at Elena, now fully focused on whatever she was saying.

"Though the medical examiner couldn't find out what kind of poison," Elena continued, reading the report to her from the tablet she was holding. "Meaning we will have to return to the scene of murder to try and figure out how he was poisoned and with what."

Morgan was left reeling from everything she had just experienced in such a short time.

"Oh," she responded, still feeling shocked by everything, but satisfied with knowing that a missing piece of the puzzle that was their case and their victim dying was discovered. She’d been right in that it hadn’t been a medical event, and was glad that Adam had trusted her enough to go forward with the case despite having thought otherwise. They could still work this, the case and everything between them, out. "Of course. Let me just put my stuff away then."

Watching Elena nod and tell her that she would see them at the apartment, Morgan forced her muscles to start moving. Placing her bag by her own desk, she absentmindedly wondered why they were riding separately, but figured that Elena must have other places to go afterwards. Though confident that the relationship between her and Adam could still be fixed, she also dreaded the car ride that was to come. She could feel the pit of anxiety in her stomach. 

"We're heading out. Are you ready?"

"Yep, coming." Turning around, she started walking behind him.

Getting into the car, she could feel the silence fill the air again. It was the same as before, leaving her to start thinking that there was going back to the way things were before they had slept together. Time when they could simply be in each other's presences, time when they could laugh carefree, time when they could work with an ease that had come with hard work and time and be able to celebrate a case well done was all in the past.

She didn’t want it all to end.

“You never finished what you were saying,” she started, her mouth speaking before her brain could catch up, trying to start to close the gap of uncertainty between them. She needed to do something. “Yesterday, I mean.”

“No,” he answered, giving her a quick glance before continuing again. “About what happened… I meant what I said.”

Watching him stop mid-sentence to try and find words, Morgan let out a long exhale when Adam finished. Even if it hurt to hear, she’d been expecting it–they only needed to find a way to work around it anymore.

“It was just one night.” She said, her voice sounding far away even to her own ears. Even if she wished for more, these were the cards that she’d been dealt.

“We work together. It doesn’t have to impact us.” With those words, she turned her gaze away, looking out of the window–missing the grip tightening on the wheel, the expression on his face. “Complicating that wouldn’t be fair.”

The rest of the ride back to the scene of murder was silent. Not knowing what to say, not wanting to pick the scar that was still fresh, the only other words exchanged during it were regarding the case. Small details, things he’d found out with Elena after she’d left for the day. But even the way they talked through them was different—everything about them was different. She hated it. She didn't want it all to end, but what could she do about it?

Arriving at the crime scene, she was able to put it all aside for the time being and calm her mind by focusing on the work that was to be done. Elena had reached the apartment building beforehand and was already talking to someone she didn't recognize. Approaching her, Morgan watched the man leave while Elena wrote something down on her notepad.

"Who was that?"

"The maintenance worker for the apartment building," Elena answered and put her notepad away. She’d been taking notes of the conversation she’d had with the maintenance worker. "He has the general keys that can be used to access the apartments—one that was used to open the apartment the first time around. Seems like our victim wasn’t causing any trouble and kept the apartment in a good shape. Rent paid on time and the neighbors had nothing to complain about."

Morgan took mental note of the general key—just in case.

"Any reason to suspect him?" Adam asked, standing beside her with a small distance that used to not exist before the past weekend.

"He has legitimate access to the apartment, but no reason or motive."

"Got it," he answered with a nod. "Let's head up to see what we can find."

Trailing shortly behind, Morgan watched the two talk over what Elena had discovered while talking to the maintenance worker. She stayed silent, only listening and taking mental notes when needed, not hearing anything that she particularly needed to concern herself with. If there was anything new to be found out about the murder, it was inside the apartment.

Once inside she immediately separated herself from the two, giving her some space so she could allocate her mental capacity to something where she could actually make a difference for the better. 

Heading back to the office where the body was initially discovered, she thought back on  the package that had been in the trash can the last time they’d been here. Taking out a pair of nitrile gloves from her jacket pocket to pick up the small cardboard box, she felt a small twinge in her heart which she decidedly ignored, not wanting to pay attention to the way that Adam was always the one providing her the gloves she needed, instead focusing on the piece of evidence before her.

It had been shipped to him, along with a small test sample sized bottle of something that was empty and had been thrown in the trash alongside it. Turning her attention to the desk, she could find similar bottles scattered across the table. Looking at the labels, they seemed to be fragrances seemingly meant for the humidifier on the table. There had been a residue of a strange smell in the office the previous day that was now fully gone after the apartment had been aired, leaving her to wonder if it had been from that.

Bagging the bottles, she continued searching the desk and cupboards for anything else to give a hint as to what had happened and why. However the only clue that she discovered was the fragrances. Returning to the main living area, she could see Adam talking to his phone by the front door and Elena going through what seemed to be their victim's notebook.

"I found some fragrances that had been shipped here just a day before our guy died. One of them is empty. The package is just your regular Amazon one."

"Great work," Elena responded and closed the notebook. "Going through the notebook, it seems he was working on a bigger project with someone."

"That could be the friend who had left the company they had both been working for,” Morgan commented, thinking back on when he’d been at the precinct. “They both quit around the same time. It would make sense for them to have teamed up to work on the project. Did you find anything about it?"

“It seems to be some sort of program—though for what intent I can’t figure out.”

Morgan hummed in response. It was safe to assume that money was involved; both their victim and his friend did quit their jobs, so it made sense that they were expecting to get more of it from this project. “I suppose we’ll have to talk to the friend to find out more about it.”

"I called in both the friend and the ex-girlfriend to come back to the precinct. The girlfriend will be arriving tomorrow, but the friend will be over in a few hours. Maybe we can find out more about this project of theirs." Adam said, ending the call and making his way to where they were standing.

Morgan couldn't help but look at him, noticing the broad shoulders turned away from her ever so slightly and his attention mainly on the third member of their party. She hated watching him do it, turning away from her, avoiding her. She could only hope that it was just temporary from being unsure where they stood and how to act around each other, but a small part of her couldn’t help but think if he simply wanted nothing to do with her instead.

"Think we're all done here either way," Elena responded before turning to look at Morgan. "Anything still standing out to you that you want to go through?"

"No, I'm good."

"Morgan, catch a ride with Elena and I'll see you both at the station. I have somewhere to drop by for another case first," Adam explained before turning around to leave.

Morgan felt her stomach churn again. She didn't mind catching a ride with other detectives, but this time the reason behind the isolation hurt. Walking back to the car, she was glad that the mood during the drive back was not awkward at the very least, nor was there a suffocating silence during the ride, but instead a radio playing with her humming along to the occasional song that played and a comfortable silence.

In every way the ride back to the precinct was more comfortable—something she should be grateful for.

"So," Elena started after a while, breaking the silence. "You and Adam. Are you dating?"

Whipping her head in surprise, she turned to look at Elena, completely shocked and unsure how to answer her question. Although Elena hadn’t been with them for too long yet, Morgan didn’t think that she would be misunderstanding the relationship between her and Adam like that. Still, she hadn't seen a wedding band on Elena's finger and wasn't aware of anything regarding her personal life, leaving her to draw an unpleasant conclusion that sat heavy on her chest.

Her and Adam had been drawn to each other all the way from the very beginning. They worked well with each other, were similar to each other, and he seemed to hold respect for her in a way that would never be given to her; in a way he would give to a professional who had climbed the ladder to earn her spot. It shouldn’t be surprising that Elena was attracted to Adam—in fact, she should have seen it already. After all, she understood those feelings. 

"No. We just work together," she answered after a beat. It was the truth. They weren't anything.

"Oh. With how close you two are—"

"No," she repeated, cutting Elena off before she could say anything that made the heaviness in her chest worse. "We really aren't dating. Just been working together for some time now."

"Of course," Elena responded with a tone she couldn't quite get a read on, understanding that it wasn’t a topic she wanted to talk about. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's fine," her voice gentle, Morgan responded. It really wasn't, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it to the one person that wasn’t in any way responsible for their current mess. Instead she was going to be supportive and root for Elena’s feelings even if it crushed her. She wanted nothing but happiness for Adam, and if that came in the form of a person who was completely different from her, then she would have to accept it. "But we really are just coworkers that occasionally go out for a drink after solving a case."

"The bar downtown that people from the precinct go to?" Elena asked, letting the topic change. Morgan was grateful for it.

"That's the one. You should join us some time—we usually gather up as a group." She said, letting a smile rise up on her face as she extended the invitation. After a small moment, she added, “even Adam joins in; it’s the only time he seems to loosen up even.”

"I'll have to think about it," Elena said with a smile of her own.

They arrived just in time for the victim's friend to arrive for questioning. With Adam still nowhere to be seen, Soto gave the point to Elena. Pulling her focus back on the case again, Morgan went to stand behind the two-way mirror and listened in.

The friend of their victim, Dylan, had in fact been working on a project that they were going to sell for a high price with the victim. They'd had a fight over stolen code, but he had no access to the apartment, nor was he in the state on the day of death. Money usually was a great motive, but when there was no way for him to be at the apartment, they couldn’t do anything about it.

Morgan sighed as she left the room, her thoughts moving to lunch to bide away the headache that threatened to come. Walking towards the board to fill out everything that had been learned during the questioning, she heard their suspect leave and Elena joined her shortly after. Talking through everything, she started writing details. After a couple bullet points Adam arrived, joining to stand beside them by the board that she was filling in, proving himself to be a distraction before she was able to focus back on the job. Still, watching him stand beside Elena left her stomach churning.

With the girlfriend coming over the next day for an interrogation, they went through what they knew, continued chasing down leads and confirmed the man’s alibi. Unfortunately it held, and it seemed that he was being truthful when he said he knew nothing of the fragrances that had been shipped to the apartment. Something about the interrogation gnawed at her, about how he kept bringing up their friendship, but she wasn’t sure what.

Feeling already emotionally exhausted from the day, she was thankful to be able to leave by early afternoon. The air at the precinct felt suffocating, only disrupted by other people. She hated it. She had enjoyed the job, but now it felt like a trap. Ludo would probably kill her if she quit, though of course he would also understand her. They could work everything out like always.

Sleep didn’t come easy that night. The nagging over the case didn’t ease, but neither did the feeling of distraught and annoyance that came with Adam ignoring her. She’d developed feelings for him in the process, but she also had chosen to continue in the job under the condition of finding Roman. She had chosen to stay for her family, and that was what she needed to continue to do in the future. So she could be able to pay for Ava’s college, Elliot’s special school, whatever Chloe would become interested in the future. She only had to remind herself of that.

The next morning came too soon, too fast after finally being able to fall asleep from exhaustion hitting her, leaving her feeling tired and irritated. Getting up from bed as the alarm rang, the loud noises of people awake and the TV already on brought on a wave of headache. Only drinking a small amount of coffee and catching a quick, small bite, she left for work as soon as she was able to.

Arriving at the precinct, she left her bag and coat by her desk and made a straight beeline for the coffee machine. After even snapping at Ludo just for being slightly late that morning, she hoped that a cup of coffee and a moment of peace and quiet before putting her focus on what needed to be done would help. He hadn’t deserved that and she would have to apologize to him later for it, even if he seemed to understand that she was just tired and annoyed.

Sipping from her cup while leaning back against the counter, she watched as the two early birds were already working on their case. Watching Adam give an easy smile to Elena left her stomach churning. For the past few days he seemed to be barely acknowledging her even after all the reassurances that nothing was wrong, that they could still work together, so watching the scene of camaraderie and closeness unfold just across the room left her feeling even more annoyed and betrayed. 

She’d been trying to patch them up, trying to keep at least their friendship intact while he kept clamping up but still insisting that they were okay. That their night together had meant nothing. Watching him act like that hurt even more than the rejection.

With a sigh she pushed down the bubbling annoyance and got up to join the two with her coffee mug on hand. Nothing good would come out of simply standing there and wallowing in her own misery; they still had a case to crack. The ex-girlfriend of the victim would be coming over to be formally questioned as one of the suspects and they would have to go through the case again for anything they might have missed before that.

There was something about the case that was nagging at her, but until they got to ask some questions from the ex-girlfriend there was not much she could do about it.

Doing her best not to stare at Adam, to ignore the closeness between him and Elena, Morgan joined them to go through the evidence again. They still had to include everything that the friend of their victim had told them to their case board and the timeline of the murder. So she assumed a professional role, keeping her feelings in check so she wouldn’t snap at anyone. 

Thankfully they were able to hold a lunch break before the next person would come in for questioning. Morgan felt more emotionally exhausted from the day more than anything else, and ready to just go home. 

Sitting by her own desk and watching Adam return to his computer with a cup of coffee while continuing to ignore her, she once again felt an annoyance bubbling deep within her, threatening to spill over. She knew that she should give them more time to get their partnership, their friendship back to what it had been, but she also didn't want to wait that long and watch it all deteriorate even further. She didn’t want to risk everything that she had worked for crumble away.

Making a decision she stood up from her desk, grabbing her coat and bag with her before walking over to his desk with determination in her step, making Adam look up at her with curiosity in his eyes.

"Come with me," she said after closing the distance between them.

Adam looked up at her with a confused frown. This was perhaps the closest they had physically been in days–at least voluntarily. "Morgan?"

"We need to talk. Let's go get something to eat."

Turning away and starting to walk out, not waiting for him to come up with an excuse to stay behind, she listened to Adam get up with a sigh and grab his jacket before walking out of the precinct alongside her. With his long legs he had been able to catch her in no time, and she hated how much she yearned for the feeling of having them tangled up with hers in the morning. 

A hazy memory of being barely awake in the small hours of the night and moving closer to him while their legs were entangled surfaced along with the desire. Was it better to know how it felt to receive the kind of love she yearned for but never be able to feel the intimacy again or to never have known at all?

Making her way to the diner close to the precinct, one which they had gone over for lunch multiple times together, Morgan chose a booth further away from the door in an attempt of gaining at least some privacy. She'd basically dragged him here but she needed the courage to go through with it as well, unsure how Adam would take it and if she would end up simply making things worse with this. Still, she waited until they had both ordered something to eat and been left alone by the waitress before speaking up.

“You said you wanted to talk.” Adam said, interrupting her internal dilemma.

"We can't continue like this," she answered with nerves buzzing through her veins. “We slept together, but time and again we both agreed that it wouldn’t affect us.”

"Morgan—" Adam started, before being interrupted.

"No. Listen, I get it. It's awkward and it's weird, but you can't just shut me out. We promised that we could still continue working together. That it wouldn’t impact us in any way." I don't want to lose this—lose us, she thought, but leaving the words unsaid.

Shutting up before she would say something that she really shouldn’t out of consideration for his feelings–or rather the lack of them, Morgan watched as Adam stared at her with a shocked expression on his face before it turned into that of regret. Processing her words, she watched as a crease settled in between his eyebrows and a frown twisted at his lips as he thought through what she had said before responding.

"You're right," he eventually said, breaking the silence between them that had felt like it had stretched on for forever. I wasn't sure how to act in a way that wouldn’t make things worse and ended up placing unnecessary distance between us even after saying otherwise. I'm sorry."

Letting out a relieved exhale, she could feel the tension leaving her body with it. She hadn't been sure how Adam would take it and if she should even bring it up so soon, having been determined to almost leave them be and wait for something to happen that would fix them. "A do-over then?" She suggested.

He smiled at her choice of words. "A do-over."

Even after clearing the air, a small amount of tension and uncertainty buzzed in the air between them as they tried to find their footing within their relationship again. Still, she was happy. It was not what she yearned to have, but it was what she was given and that was what she would be able to find a way of living with.

The rest of the lunch passed by with a calm between them. It wasn't quite what they’d had before, but it was close. The air between them had been cleared and there was hope again for the coming days. They wouldn't shut each other out and they would eventually fall back into the easy rhythm that they had curated over months of working together.

Their other suspect came over after lunch hour, and with Elena next to her Morgan listened in on the questioning from the other side of the glass, but the ex-girlfriend seemed to be a dead-end. She'd been the one to leave the relationship and had given her keys back well over a week before their victim died. After hearing that he had died, she'd truly grieved for him. Morgan didn't think that she had it in her to be the murderer. But this time it was easier to focus on the questioning with a burden removed from her shoulders.

"It wasn't her," Elena said while walking out with her.

"I agree. There's no motive."

Returning to the board, Morgan removed the ex-girlfriend's picture. They were back to square one; waiting for toxicology results. She'd given away the bottles to be tested for any poison, though this time she'd been promised that the results would be expedited. When a familiar ding came from across the room, she moved to Adam's side instinctively to hear the results.

"It seems that the bottles contained poison in them, something that when aerosolized killed our victim."

"The girlfriend did mention that the fragrances of what was in the bottles weren't something that he used," Morgan said, thinking back on the questioning, her thoughts rounding back to the friend. The case was starting to look almost wrapped in her brain. And a wrapped case meant going home and finally being able to relax for the first time in days, maybe even enjoy a glass of wine on the couch while watching TV. "Elena interviewed the other guy; the only thing he was clear for was alibi with being out of state by the time of death."

"I'll talk to her and call him in."

The shipping box in the trash was likely how the poison made its way into the apartment. Their victim most likely thought it was from the ex-girlfriend, had thanked her with a message, added in the first fragrance and got poisoned over time while working from home. All because a person who he thought had been his friend had decided to undercut him and sell their work. Most likely he had refused to sell which is why he had become a target. It had all been meticulously planned.

The man was called in as an official suspect in the case and taken to the interrogation room. Morgan stayed behind the two-way mirror again—part of the rules that she had to leave the detective work to the actual officials—and listened in while watching the two detectives work their magic. It was smooth work; they had discussed everything earlier after Adam had caught up on the interrogation he had missed out on, and built a solid case against their suspect.

In the end it turned out that she'd been right. He had wanted to sell their project for a good amount of money, but as it hadn't been his alone he needed to do something about it. The court would eat him up; there was no doubt about it. Leaving to join Adam and Elena after they wrapped up their interrogation, leaving the murderer in the room waiting for a police officer to take him into custody, Morgan felt a lightness in her chest. 

The past few days had felt like they had dragged on for an eternity and the thought of wrapping everything up and heading home made her feel almost giddy. Though the morning had promised nothing but more heartache, she had been able to talk everything out and was ending the day on a happier note.

"Morgan, you got a minute?" Pulling her out of her thoughts, Elena stopped her.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Some of us were thinking about heading to the bar next Friday, so I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join us?"

"Of course,” she replied with an easy smile. It sounded like a great way to unwind, especially after this case and everything that had happened. “I think I'll be able to wrangle myself away from the kids for a few hours."

"That's great," she responded, looking happy that Morgan had accepted the invitation. "Adam seems to be coming along as well."

Though she said it matter-of-factly before continuing on without her, the words were enough to stop Morgan on her tracks. Things were still somewhat awkward between them, but there was a ray of light coming through, and an evening at their usual spot among other coworkers would definitely heal things up. She would just have to take care that the relaxed mood would not backfire on what she had just started patching up.

The rest of the week passed by fairly uneventfully, passing on to another with more cases coming along their way but everything that was easier to work on now that simply coming to the precinct no longer made her feel nervous and anxious. Slowly but surely they found their beat again and the days turned back to normal; filled with easy jokes and a closeness that made her heart pick up in speed. It almost felt like she’d become even closer with Adam now than she’d been before.

Trying to keep her feelings under wraps became hard–harder than it had before. If it weren’t for her sharp memory, she could have believed herself to be imagining it or think of herself crazy with the way after clearing the air between them Adam had started to stand next to her more, stand closer to her than before, the physical contact between them increasing with small touches and trying to keep her out of harm’s way. 

He started asking for her opinions on things more, referring things to her more. It was like a dam had been opened and along with it came a flood of closeness that had not existed before. She couldn’t help but wonder why it was so, but would not question it even if it certainly was no good for her heart, for getting over her feelings towards him, for not fueling her hopes and desires. Her good mood didn’t go unnoticed at home either, with questioning glances thrown her way and questions asked if something had happened.

“Morgan,” Adam said during a break at work, making her look up at him after zoning out and thinking about their current case. The expression on his face was filled with uncertainty and nervousness, leaving her curious as to what he had on his mind. “Elena mentioned something about all of us gathering up at the bar this week–something about unwinding and enjoying the weekend off. Are you going?”

The question left her looking at him in surprise, her mouth open in an O shape, uncertain where it had come from. A beat passed by between them before she answered his question. “Oh. Yeah, I think I’ll be able to get the night off for myself and join. She did ask me before if I could.” 

The relief on his face was so fast and sudden and gone in an instant before being back to his neutral expression with a hint of a smile that it made her wonder if she’d imagined it. It made no sense in her brain for him to be relieved that she would be joining; this was something they’d done before a thousand times and was almost tradition for some of the officers and detectives to spend time at the bar almost every Friday.

“I’ll see you there, then.” He nodded in response and left towards the kitchenette. Watching him fill his coffee cup and head back to his computer, Morgan tried to wrap her head around what had just happened.

With the days passing by, she couldn’t help but think back on the conversation with both a sense of nervousness and anticipation for the upcoming Friday building up inside her. After being certain that she was the only one awake anymore during one evening after work, she sent a message to Daphne with a cry for help. She needed the reassurance that she wasn’t insane for feeling so, not when it was certainly just going to be a normal night out with her coworkers. Still something about the thought of Adam asking if she was going to be there as well made her chest tighten.

Though Daphne was happy to help, she was also just happy to hear more about her love life and the current tangle with Adam.

The night before Morgan took the time to meticulously go through her closet, spending time trying to figure out an outfit for the outing, trying different combinations and sending Daphne pictures, asking for her opinions before finally landing on something that she was happy with and matched her current nails.

That Friday had been reserved for office work, giving her ample time to overthink things; she wasn't needed at the precinct today. Her job as a consultant didn't include office work, even if she did enjoy helping whenever she could. Working together had become smoother through the weeks, but nothing seemed to erase the buzzing in her veins when they stood too close to each other and feeling like they had been caught doing something they shouldn't whenever someone approached.

Distracting herself, she ran errands and cleaned the house. Prepared dinner for Ava to throw in the oven and tell Elliot to watch. This isn't a date, nothing will be happening, he doesn't feel the same, she kept telling herself. There was no reason or rhyme in the way she was feeling. But she couldn't help it; the chance to see him relax, spending time off together and talking about anything but work, the excitement that she really couldn't help but feel for the night.

Arriving at the bar, she felt good about the night. Spotting Oz, Adam and a couple other coworkers, Morgan waved back at them, before dropping by the bar and ordering a beer. Chatting with people at the bar, she took a few sips from her bottle before wishing them a good evening and headed over to the table to join her friends.

"Morgan, hi," Oz greeted him immediately with a smile. 

“Evening, Morgan.” Adam nodded his greetings with a small smile of his own as well.

"Hi. How's Daphne doing? How are you guys?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, considering the way her phone has buzzed endlessly throughout the week?" He only laughed in return. "But she's great, we're great. Not much longer to go. I offered her to come along, but she wanted to stay home instead."

"I remember feeling like that. Not much motivation to go out when your stomach weighs and your feet hurt."

"So she says." Taking a sip of her beer, Morgan couldn't help but smile at how happy he looked. She'd always rooted for the two and was happy that they had found each other and were now growing a family.

"Where's Elena? Couldn't make it after all?" She asked, changing the subject and looking around.

"Should be here soon, she's just running a bit late," standing next to her, Adam answered. "I'm going to go get a refill. You want one Oz? Anything for you Morgan?"

"Sure, thanks."

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

Her gaze drawn to his back retreating, watching the broad shoulders accompanying the muscular arms that were pressing against the fabric of the sleeves of his dress shirt, she felt almost hypnotized. Tearing away her gaze out of respect for his feelings, she was faced with Oz having a grin wide on his face.

"You've been listening to Daphne too much," she retorted, a blank look on her face. It had only been a couple weeks, and though they had grown closer than before, she was just grateful to be able to work with Adam again. Things had finally returned back to normal after almost being destroyed. It had been too close, she had almost lost him completely, and didn’t want to risk anything.

"I didn't say anything," he only responded.

Morgan only scoffed with a roll of her eyes and took a long sip from her bottle. Turning back to look if Adam was coming back from the bar, she spotted him with a bottle in his hand and turned to face Elena who seemingly had just arrived. Just looking at them together Morgan felt like she was intruding by looking at them standing so close to each other with their shoulders almost touching, she couldn't tear her gaze away. Adam looked relaxed in her presence. 

Though she couldn't hear anything that was actually being said due to the distance from the bar to their table and the general buzz of the bar on a Friday night, she could see Elena say something and Adam laugh in response freely and openly.

Suddenly everything clicked together.

What he had been trying to say that Saturday morning, the reason he had rejected her and felt uncomfortable working with her and being close to her after they'd slept together. How he and Elena always stuck together, worked together, and even spent almost all their breaks together. The answer to all of it was so obvious a part of her couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't noticed it before, while another part of her understood that it was due to not having wanted to see the truth. Adam liked Elena. Thinking back on the question Elena had asked of her while they had been driving back to the precinct, Morgan knew that the feeling was mutual.

It made sense, really. Elena was the opposite of her in every single way, and they'd clicked immediately already on day one when he had been tasked with showing her the ropes, while he'd been nothing but hostile towards her until she finally had proved her worth, and even then it had taken her time and hard work to get where she was in their partnership.

He and Elena both shared a structured, professional rhythm, their communication was efficient with none of the chaos and friction that she brought into their work and Elena validated his way of working instead of challenging it. Elena was careful and logical, where she was anything but. Even the way they dressed were complete opposites.

For the second time Morgan could feel her heart break. Feeling completely rooted on the spot, she couldn't help but look at the two talking and laughing, unable to look away even if the hurt was overwhelming. She couldn't believe she'd ever been as foolish as to think that he could actually like her. They were partners, coworkers, and nothing else. Nothing more. They never could be.

"Morgan," she could hear Oz say, making her finally look away. He had a sympathetic look on his face that she hated. It was like he could read her thoughts.

"I— I have to go."

"Morgan, wait," he responded, trying to get her to stop.

"No, it's fine. I'm fine," she said, feeling shaky. "If anyone asks, just say that the babysitter canceled."

Grabbing her bag, she walked out briskly, circling around to avoid the bar counter, feeling like a fool. He'd only been nice to her, comforted her, had also been in need of physical contact and comfort after the case they'd had and she'd only been at the right place at the right time. He’d told her that. She’d been there when he’d said it right to her face, and she’d still ignored it. If she hadn't been there he probably would have called Elena.