Author's notes: Has it really been almost 2 years since I updated this? Honestly, I can't even give an excuse besides major writer's block and a broken wrist.

Any Bates Motel readers still out there?

(FYI: I don't know anything about cars)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4: Feels Like Sabotage

After a night of uneasy sleep, Alex slowly and carefully unwraps his limbs from Norma's while simultaneously checking the clock on the side table. He's surprised to see the time is later than expected, proving he may have slept a little better than he thought. Unfortunately, this means he's running late to meet Dylan.

Since Alex lied about being called in for work it's not a surprise he'll be getting ready at this hour. Quietly, he steps towards his closet and dresses in another suit to keep up his lie. When he's done pulling on his shoulder holster, the detective reaches to the bottom corner of the closet to unlock his gun safe with the private code only he has access to. In reaching inside, Alex elects to grab only one of his service weapons before locking the safe again.

When he's dressed like he's headed to work, Alex pauses and looks over to the bed to see Norma's relaxed form one last time before leaving. A slight frown appears on his face when he notices Norma try to adjust to his absence in bed. She's restless for a moment and then blinks her eyes open to connect with him, noticing a bit of a scowl on his face. Ordinarily, Alex would be happily cuddling his love for most of the morning. However, those times most likely will be something of the past since Norman has now made himself at home, the detective grits his teeth at the mere thought.

"Alex? Are you alright?" She asks, now changing her position to a sitting position but angling her body to connect with his brown eyes despite the darkened state of the room.

"Yeah, I just have to get to work and I'm late. I forgot to set an alarm last night." Alex states while looking for his phone. He could've sworn it was on the dresser last night but it's not there. Feeling a bit frantic now, Alex continues to buzz around the room in his search. "Have you seen my phone? It's not where I left it."

Norma swings her legs over the bed with a yawn. "No honey, I haven't seen it but I can help you look." She proceeds to flip on the light switch, causing them both to flinch with the sudden change of light in the room. "Did you leave it in the other room?" Norma asks in a whisper as she lightly steps past her youngest son's room, careful not to wake him since last night was the first time in his own bed for quite some time.

"I know I didn't. I swear it should be here." Alex states with tension in his tone and louder than he should with another person in the house still asleep.

Norma rushes back in the bedroom with her index finger to her lips. "Shhh, my son is asleep in the other room."

"Yeah, right." Alex mumbles under his breath with a roll of his eyes as she tip toes out of the room. Even this small exchange with Norma demonstrates how everything has changed. It may be dramatic, but Alex can't stop thinking Norman will be the end of him somehow. The thought gives him a sudden shiver up his spine. Two times he's felt this way now in the matter of hours, never a good sign. As a deputy over the years, Alex has felt this phenomenon many times but he knows with Norman in the household he's bound to feel this many more times to come.

With no luck of finding his phone in the bedroom, Alex journeys to the kitchen to find Norma had started his morning coffee for him. Norma was flittering around the kitchen, hurriedly pulling out food from the refrigerator and freezer to make breakfast. He stands by the doorway with a barely there smile on his lips. Despite how he may be feeling at the moment, he loves Norma and he won't allow anyone to hurt her. Not even her own son.

The noise of sizzling bacon hitting the frying pan breaks him of his trance. Alex steps closer into the room, noticing his phone sitting on the dining table. He picks up the cell and shoves it into this pocket quickly and then steps toward his love. Gently, he touches her hips while she continues to concentrate on the bacon in the pan.

"You found my phone," he whispers in her ear. "Where was it?"

Norma flips over the bacon and swiftly turns around in his arms with a wide grin. "It was in between the couch cushions. It must've fallen out of your pocket while you were sitting." Norma then steps aside and continues with making breakfast, while Alex remains in the same position.

The couch? Alex scrunches his brows, trying to remember if he was even in the living room last night. Everything feels like a blur since the moment he saw Norman at his dining table. Maybe he did sit down and with everything going on, he simply forgot?

"I don't have time to eat love, I won't be on time if I don't leave the house in a few minutes." Alex advises when he sees Norma reaching in one of the cabinets.

"Nonsense, I can't have you fighting crime with an empty stomach and no coffee." She snickers with a wave of her hand. "I'll put together a little to go box for you." Her arm grazes his when she walks towards the cupboard, making him a bit weak in the knees. Norma still has the power to do that to him after all of this time, he thinks to himself with a slight grin.

While Norma continues to put the breakfast food in a container, Alex slips on his work shoes near the front door. After she packs up the food, Norma strides towards him and hands him a lunch bag and a thermos filled with coffee.

"Love you, have a good day at work." Norma states as she gently places the palms of her hands on his cheeks to bend his neck slightly downward to her level and then softly puts her lips on his in a sweetened kiss. "Be safe."

"Always," he says softly in a response. It's a little tradition they started since his first day of work almost a week ago. Norma wishes him a safe day at work, while he reassures her with a single word.

With keys and food in hand, Alex paces to his car ready to finally start his journey to Oregon. Unfortunately, he can't seem to shake the guilt tinging his heart for lying to his love about where he's actually headed.

XXXX

Dylan startles awake, shocking him out of a nightmare. Once he's caught his panicked breath, Dylan pulls up his tired body and leans his back against the headboard. Dylan stretches his arm out to pick up his phone from a nearby table, but grimaces when he notices there are no messages or missed calls. Secretly, he hoped to see a message from Emma but he was instantly disappointed and even felt a slight ache in his chest when his display remained blank as it did last night.

In squeezing his eyes shut, he again plays the conversation with Emma in his head. Dylan knows he's stubborn but maybe he was too harsh in his argument last night. Her words hurt him deeply, so deep it felt like he was stabbed straight thru his heart. Ultimately, he knows Emma wasn't intentionally trying to hurt him, though it doesn't change how he felt to hear her use his greatest insecurity against him merely to win an argument. It was almost as if he was in a confrontation with Norma, because she can fight dirty.

After contemplating if he should send Emma a message, Dylan elects not to. Instead he checks the time and notices it's time for him to get ready to meet Romero. As he puts his phone down on the bed, Dylan sluggishly stands up and shuffles his feet toward the duffle bag he dropped near the door last night.

As Dylan changes his clothes, he wonders how this meeting with Romero will go. Dylan would be lying if he said he's not curious what the detective has to say, of course he is. However, if past conversations with Romero are anything to go by he'll be listening to his father-figure trying to convince him to be ok with the deception Norma pulled to have Norman return home. That is not something Dylan will respond well to. He is also not interested in hearing Romero's thoughts on Emma. Imagine taking Romero's relationship advice. Dylan laughs to himself at the thought while grabbing his keys and then steps to his room to pocket his phone.

After locking the door, Dylan heads to his truck and makes his way to the coffee shop to wait for Romero.

XXXX

Romero is already feeling more relaxed behind the wheel, allowing his many thoughts to run through her mind. Mentally, he's trying to put together what kind of conversation he wants to have with Dylan. He knows which subject to handle with care, Norma. Which subject he wants to address concerns with, Norman. And which subject he needs to avoid unless Dylan brings it up, Emma.

As he continues to think about this, Romero realizes he may be walking into a minefield with this conversation. The drive is soothing though and by the time he gets to the coffee shop he'll feel more confident in how he'll handle this talk. He and Dylan have had many positive chats, especially recently and through those experiences he's started to think of the younger man as a son. Hopefully, Dylan is starting to have that thought as well.

Romero has built such a positive connection with Dylan, he wishes he could do the same with Norman. He knows that is what Norma desperately wants also, but the situation is delicate with Norman for a variety of reasons. Neither are ready to extend an olive branch at this point. And Romero doubts it will be any time soon, especially if he wants to work on a plan for the young man to return to the facility quickly.

With him hitting the halfway mark in his 3 hour trip to Oregon, Romero's hands begin to shake. However, the tremble isn't coming from his nerves. All of a sudden he hears a hissing sound before a large amount of steam clouds the windshield and the SUV starts to shut down. "Shit!" Romero shouts to himself while he squeezes the steering wheel in a tight grip. Luckily, he is able to gradually come to a stop on the side of the isolated country road safely.

Before he gets out of the SUV, Romero sits there for a moment to calm his nerves.

After a couple of minutes of trying to clear his mind, Romero pops the front hood and exits the vehicle. The detective slams the driver's side door and races around to the front of his SUV.

When he pulls up the hood, Romero sees the steam finally start to dissipate. There is no clear issues with the vehicle as he looks around inside. However when he checks the oil level, he sees the oil reserve is bone dry. "What the hell? This doesn't make sense." He mumbles to himself in confusion, while continuing to hold the dipstick.

Not caring that he's wearing a suit, Romero squats down to look under the vehicle to see the last of the oil trickle down to the pavement. In an instant he stands up, making himself lightheaded in the process due to the sudden movement. First he couldn't find his phone this morning and now this. Another thing that makes no sense to him today.

Swiftly Romero reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone to make a couple of calls. One call to find a tow since he's nowhere near civilization where he's located right now and another call to Dylan to let him know where he is.

Adding to an already terrible day, when Romero glances at this phone he sees the screen is blank. He frantically tries to turn it on, only to notice the battery notification is red. "Damn it!" He shouts, only to hear an echo in response.

In a silent prayer, the detective tries to make at least one desperate call to Dylan. Romero knows he has one shot to get ahold of the younger man before the battery complete dies. However, due to his current location having such low cell service, the call only rings once before the phone shuts down.

Now, his options are limited.

The detective can only hope Dylan's phone at least registered the missed call before it died or a random car will journey down this desolate road. Neither of these options seem possible at the moment, especially with the kind of day he's having.

It feels like sabotage, but that's a ridiculous notion… or is it?

XXXX

I hope there is at least one reader still out there?