Page 33 of Oddly Fine

“Beckett! Are you okay?” Hayes gripped the radio anxiously, feeling shaky with relief.

Agent Cho headed his way, her own radio in hand, but he waved her off and turned his back on her.

“I’m—” there was a long pause, “knee deep in skeletons.”

Hayes’ blood turned to ice. Beckett’s voice had an undertone of panic, just like the time they’d been on an FBI training assignment. Beckett’s PTSD episode that day resulted in a three-story tumble to the parking lot below the training facility after he’d tussled with several new recruits. Then, as now, he’d clearly begun to lose touch with reality. Hayes had to act quickly to pull Beckett back from the abyss.

“You’re in Canada. You jumped into a tunnel like a total dumbass. You’ve been out of the service for ten years. You own a goddamned cat.” Hayes calmly listed a few general facts about his life, hoping that would help Beckett work his way back to the here and now.

“The line should be kept clear for emergencies and—” Agent Cho snapped, disrupting his efforts to help Beckett.

“With all due respect, he’s a veteran with PTSD trapped in a collapsed tunnel, armed with a Glock and a Ka-Bar, guarding two suspects who we need to keep alive, so—I’d call this an emergency.” Hayes kept his back to her as he addressed her with cold disdain. If he faced her, he’d have to shoot her. But right now Beckett was his number one priority and he didn’t have the time to spare.

“Do me a favor,” Beckett requested, sounding a lot less stressed than he had a minute ago.

Hayes was insanely relieved that his plan was working.

“Anything.”

“Keep talking, Nancy,” Beckett pleaded softly.

“Nancy?” Officer Lavigne asked, looking perplexed.

Hayes ignored his question as he launched into a monologue about the Thérault family and everyday life.

“Your mother expects us to show up for Easter. Your older brother opened a new jewelry store. Your niece loves the doll you got her. Pantouffle is going to be really mad at us when we get home because we forgot to leave her treats again. When we get back, we’ll have a mountain of laundry to do, and you’ll probably set fire to the condo doing it. I’m pretty sure the pot roast I bought is beyond its expiration date, and I forgot to toss it in the freezer before we left. Chase and Madeline are getting engaged soon, that’s for sure. Gill is probably going to have kittens when he gets our report.”

Hayes wasn’t much of a talker and Beckett, as well as anyone, had always known that. But Hayes would gladly chatter for days if it kept Beckett calm and under control. Turning around, he immediately noticed Agent Cho’s icy glare, her face tight with anger. Hayes still wanted to shoot her, but settled for gesturing wordlessly towards the engineers, clearly asking, “Are the nerds done yet?”

Agent Cho frowned and began to speak. But Hayes swiftly put his back to her again, as he resumed relaying information to Beckett, starting with local weather reports and then moving on to their plans for New Year’s.

A loud crash, followed by a big bang, startled everyone. Officer Lavigne was the first to realize what was going on. An old inscription plate that had covered a coffin space had fallen from the wall and landed right next to his boots.

“What the—” he muttered, frowning as he pulled his flashlight from his utility belt, turning it on and directing the beam towards the gaping hole in the wall left by the plate. “No!” he shouted, jumping back just as a dirty hand reached out and grasped his forearm. He yanked his arm away and backed up, eyes riveted on the hand that had just shot out of a hundred-year-old coffin and that was still reaching out for him.

In fascinated horror, everyone watched the filthy hand and arm gradually emerge from the coffin. When a dusty head wearing night vision goggles popped out, Hayes could barely make out the man’s features. Regardless, Hayes could readily identify his partner anywhere, anytime.

“What? Y’all have never seen the dead rise before?” Beckett’s mocking smile was incredibly bright against his dirt-covered features.

Hayes’ feet had been stuck to the floor in shock at Beckett’s sudden appearance, not sure until he’d heard him speak that he was real, and not a mirage. Now, he bulldozed his way through the crowd of law enforcement officers to kneel in front of Beckett.

“Are you alright?” Anxiously, Hayes scanned him for injuries.

“I had to crawl my way up the skeleton of a dead priest—not exactly my idea of a good time,” he replied cheekily, even while his expression revealed stark relief as he gazed back at Hayes.

Hayes gestured for Officer Lavigne to help him. Cautiously, they supported Beckett’s shoulders and back as he worked himself free of the coffin. His cargo pants were ripped all to hell, and his t-shirt was gone, having been used as a mask. Hayes felt his knees weaken with relief at having his partner back safely. With complete disregard for the rules prohibiting PDAs, Hayes wrapped his arms around Beckett, running his hands possessively up and down the smooth skin of his back.

Beckett chuckled with disbelief at Hayes’ lack of restraint in front of the team.

Hayes had to force himself to step back, reminding himself that all eyes were on them.

“Careful, Daisy, I might get the wrong idea!” Beckett smiled and winked.

“You were being literal, when you said you were knee deep in skeletons.” Hayes frowned, ignoring his teasing comment.

Beckett snorted and nodded. Then he reached back to grab something from the coffin. He held it out for Hayes to see, looking as proud as a Golden Retriever bringing its owner a stick.

“Thanks for giving me a hand with that, by the way!” Clearly only too pleased with his joke, he extended one of the hands from the dead priest’s skeleton with a cocky smile.