“Wearethe cops.” Ronan deadpanned.
“Well start acting like it.” Ten set his hands on his hips as he surveyed the room. “Do one of you asshats want to explain to me what the hell you’re fighting about?” When no one answered, Ten turned to Ronan. “Why are you sitting on the floor? And why do Jude and Fitz look like they’re going to swing on each other?”
It was on the tip of Ronan’s tongue to tell his husband to mind his own business, but with the way things were going with Jude and Fitz, he needed all the friends he could get. “I fucked up and missed an interview with a possible killer and instead of reminding me about the appointment, Fitz came for me and Jude was the third man in.”
Ten turned to Jude and Fitz, who’d thankfully taken a few steps back from each other. “Why didn’t you remind Ronan about the interview?”
“Because it wasn’t on my calendar either. I only found out when McClellan’s attorney called to tell me we’d missed our one shot at speaking to his client.” Fitz had the good sense to look a little guilty.
“I should have seen this coming,” Ten began.
“No shit,Nostradamus,” Ronan deadpanned, lifting himself off the floor.
“One more word out of you and you’re sleeping in the Mustang for the next week. What I was trying to say before your dumb ass interrupted me was that all of you have been on edge lately. You’ve been a pain in the ass for the last few days. According to Jace and Cope, so have the two of you.” Ten pointed back and forth between Fitz and Jude.
“These two are driving me up a fucking wall,” Fitz muttered.
“Ditto for the two of you!” Jude charged back.
“Double ditto,” Ronan said, sheepishly.
“There’s only one thing left to do,” Ten said with a sad shake of his head.
“Jesus, Ten,” Ronan moaned, “we’re not about to hug this out and sing Kumbaya.”
Ten rolled his eyes heavenward, as if he were hoping for divine intervention. “What the three of you need is to do some kind of team building exercise. You know, trust falls and other things that will help your communication skills and get to the root of the sticks up your asses.”
“I saw a movie last week where coworkers went on a camping retreat and all of them were horribly butchered by the machete-wielding office manager.” Ronan had loved that movie so much that he’d watched it several more times over the last few days.
“Sounds good to me,” Ten enthused. “You can leave on Friday and come home on Sunday. I’ll go shopping for tents, snacks and machetes.” Without another word, Ten headed back downstairs.
“What the hell just happened?” Jude asked.
“Looks like we’re going camping,” Fitz muttered. “Have any of you been before?”
“No,” Ronan said, “unless sleeping in the backyard counts.” Everly loved doing backyard campouts and sleeping outside.
“What about you,” Fitz said, his eyes on Jude. “You must know all kinds of survival stuff from your time living on Navajo Nation.”
“I was an angry outcast kid who stayed inside my grandfather’s trailer and played video games.” Jude’s hard look softened. “I think I can probably light a fire with matches if you guys gather the wood.” Jude sighed. “How hard can it be to survive together for two nights in the woods?”
With as angry as they’d all been with each other just now, Ronan was afraid of the answer.
2
Jude
On the Road Again
Friday dawned bright and sunny. Unfortunately, Jude felt like a grumpy raincloud. He, Ronan, and Fitz might have agreed to give team building and camping a try, but the impending weekend trip was the last thing they’d agreed on since Tuesday.
As the week progressed, Cope had gone shopping with Ten and Jace for all the gear, tools, and food the detectives would need for their virgin camping adventure. Jude could only hope their first trip wouldn’t end in disaster. He wasn’t sure how many more rough days their partnership could survive.
“Okay,” Cope said cheerily, from the front door. “You’re all packed and ready to go. Fitz is parked out front and he and Ronan are loading the SUV.”
Jude sighed. “Be right there.” He’d been procrastinating over his bowl of now soggy Cheerios, which he dumped down the sink. As he washed his bowl, Jude’s thoughts turned to how he was going to help strengthen the bonds between himself, Ronan, and Fitz. The idea of their relationship devolving further was out of the question.
“Hey, there he is,” Cope greeted, when Jude walked into the kitchen. “You’re looking pretty hot this morning.” Cope wrapped his arms around his husband and gave him a hug.
