Gray awoke to the tight grip of John's hand on his wrist. Their arms were hidden under the sheets and it gave the men enough time to prepare. They had to be startled and defenseless as anyone else would have been. Let themselves be thrown on the ground. Let the handcuffs hold them. Let themselves be lead out in front of the whole neighborhood. And finally, let themselves be loaded into the cruiser.
"Well..." John sighed as they finally relaxed themselves into the seats. "That was fun."
Gray only grunted. Despite his inner voice, he had hope John and himself were the only ones getting caught. After things were sorted out, they would be released and he could return, finish what he started. Before they had gone to bed, everything had just clicked. The job hadn't been so clear to him till then. So clear and so thrilling.
Glancing between the window, John, and the cops up front, he had to pause and watch his partner. John was leaning against the window, his lips almost in a smile as his eyes darted to all the curious faces watching them drive through the city. When their road ran alongside the large park, John lifted his eyes and smiled at something.
The detective dropped a box of doughnuts in front of them. The front had gaped open as the weight pulled it down to the right.
"A half-empty box of doughnuts?" Gray said, flicking the box open. "Thanks?"
"It's breakfast." The detective shrugged. "Sorry for pulling you out of your bed like that. I couldn't tell them anything before they went in."
John grabbed one before Gray let the lid fall back down.
"What about the Laten deaths? We didn't get any clear evidence to connect them to it. This isn't over." Gray's weight shifted to his elbows, planting them on the desk and rising slightly in his seat.
"We had other people in there. We only called you in because we didn't know if they would get what we needed. Turns out they delivered."
The sweat started to form at the back of Gray's neck. Normally covered by a suit, it actually started to show on the grey cotton shirt given by the cops. Bouncing his thumb on the other fist, he looked to his partner. John returned the look with none of the anger or indignation.
"Fine." Gray stood up, knocking the chair back to momentarily balance on two legs before it clanged all four feet on the linoleum. He snatched a doughnut before heading down the hall. John trailing behind with another treat, exchanging pleasantries with the detective on Gray's behalf.
"You know we won, right?" John asked as they both stopped at the end of the hallway, waiting to let a group of people walk past. Across the open room, rows of desks, and gatherings of people, a man was sitting beside a desk. He was uncuffed, leaning casually back against the seat he was on and laughing. Tired as he looked, he was genuinely happy and maybe even a little proud.
"Yeah," Gray muttered as Hank's eyes locked on his. Hank offered a quick nod before someone else approached him for a handshake and pat on the shoulder. Marching his way towards the exit, he barely broke his stare with the exit sign. Within a few hours, they would be back in the safe house, transitioning back to their "real" selves again. And just as last time, he would be the one behind the wheel to get there.
"Well, that's not surprising," John muttered, scrolling through his phone's feed.
"What?" Gray took a swig of his soda, letting the bubbles rest on his tongue for a second before swallowing.
"Derrick is already out. Both he and his father have been released on bail. Of course, they were." He laughed.
The palms on the wheel itched as Gray debated turning around. As far as Derrick knew, they were still just Gray and John, two people working to get inside. And now there was an obvious opening. They could still accomplish something. He just had to come up with a purpose to do so.
"It'll be nice to get home early," John continued, "I had left that foster dog in Rae's care and I'm sure she'll enjoy the relief." John laughed, looking out the window as the upcoming exit listed off its fast-food options. He always looked out for the Bojangles when they were on the east coast.
"I thought you were going to give it to Kori?"
"She said she could serve as a backup, she didn't think she could handle a foster and have to give it away."
Gray gave a noise of understanding and relaxed his grip. That was their life and he had to let go of this fake one. After stopping for lunch, they would be less than an hour from that real life.
"Hey," Gray said, turning down the already low radio. John put his phone in the cup holder and turned to face Gray, waiting a pause while Gray gathered his words. "Thanks for doing this job with me. I couldn't have done it without you."
"Heh, are you sure?" John murmured.
Gray took a deep inhale. "Yeah. Yeah, I..." An apology almost came, but he shut his mouth early.
"Alright, well, anytime you need a little ... assistance, you let me know." John nudged Gray in the elbow before resuming his search for delicious french fries.
Gray nodded, already thinking of how to bring him into all the following jobs.
Yet a month later, Dick was off on another solo mission getting back into his old routine.