If he didn't die (Fargo fan-fiction)

Part 4

Numbers adjusted his collar with a smile, it was nice to be back in his old coat. It hid the bandages well and no matter how wounded he felt, he would still look intimidating as hell. He was stood by the desk in the lobby listening to the slow ticking of the clock on the wall, it was 6:15 in the the morning and he had been correct in assuming that no-one would be around. He liked it that way, the general public wasn't there and that was always a good thing. His peaceful thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his partner speeding down the stares with a half-smile on his face, he was carrying their shared overnight bag in one strong fist and stopped to grin at Numbers when he reached the carpeted floor. The smaller man just raised his eyebrows in amusement,

'Someone's perky today,' he signed with shining eyes. Wrench just shrugged and started to make his way to the revolving doors before Numbers stopped him with a tug on his brown sleeve, 'We can't go yet, I've got something to do'. He lent forward over the marble desk and rang the bell twice with a gloved hand, it didn't take long for a small man with slick black hair and diamond earrings to approach them with a dazzling smile.

"Can I help you two?" His voice was very high pitched and overly friendly, Numbers tried to open his mouth to reply but the assistant continued his irritating babble, " We've got some real nice rooms, you know," he raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Double beds" 

Numbers interrupted him with a loud, annoyed cough, "We're actually here to check out. And make a complaint,"

The man's smile faltered a little but he kept his perky attitude as he swung round to the computer,

"Okay... names?"

"Mr.Johnson and Mr.Smith," Numbers said in a low voice, nudging his head towards his partner. There was a pause as the tiny man tapped away at the keyboard,

"Yep, Only stayed one night," He gave them both a suggestive smirk, "And the complaint?"

"Yeah. The, uh, shower curtain fell down and the towel rack broke last night," He realized what he'd said and blushed slightly, "I mean, I tried to take a shower and the uh.."  He trailed off in embarrassment as the assistant began to laugh,

"Don't worry, I'll see to it." He winked at Numbers who immediately felt uncomfortable and he murmured an quick 'Thanks' before grabbing Wrench by the hand and dragging him out through the revolving doors.

Wrench shook off his partners hand and frowned at him, 'What the hell was that all about?' 

'That was humiliating! If it wasn't for your hissy fit last last night...' He stopped when he saw Wrench's confused face,

'He thought we were a couple.' There was a pause as Wrench tried suppress a smile before the smaller man burst out laughing as he shoved him towards the car.

                                                                           ~

Many miles later and the cars atmosphere turned from light-hearted to filled with tension as the true reality of where they were going started to sink in. Numbers had driven the entire way despite his injury and they were both exhausted by the time their car had pulled into an icy driveway. The journey from St.Paul had taken a lot longer than expected and it was just after sunset when the car drove to a stop.  For a while, the two men just sat in silence, neither one wanting to leave, and they stared out into the blackness ahead of them through the dirty front window. Finally, Numbers grew agitated by the silence and he tried to set out a plan,

'OK, we're gonna go in and just explain what happened and we'll make sure he understands.  I'll do all the talking, obviously, and then everything will just go back to normal.' He pulled a face, he wasn't even convincing himself. He didn't want to admit it to Wrench, but he was scared. Numbers looked over at his partner and felt a twinge of anger as he saw that he was trying not to laugh.