Adelaide could hear her father's voice in her head, "big cities are dangerous places sweetheart." She had always given him a lighthearted eye-roll in response. Her mother and father had lived in a small town their whole lives. They didn't even live in the city of the small town where they resided. They lived on the outskirts, among rural farms and land that stretched on for miles without seeing anyone else. She knew they found that life comforting. The solitude and quiet stillness that came with it was something that soothed them. She felt suffocated by it. She had joined all the clubs, ran all the committees. It was never enough. She was always left wanting more. It was only when she moved that she felt her life truly began. She loved the sounds of the city, she loved the people and the constant movement and action. It was like being in the center of everything, the world. Now, as she was hunkered down in her kitchen, trying to outsmart an intruder in her underwear, she was wishing she was back home in her small town.

The guy spoke and she listened quietly, expecting demands. Instead, he...insulted her? The words didn't make much sense. She wondered if he was on drugs. He spoke about his nine-year career as if that was supposed to mean something to her and she scrunched her eyebrows trying to figure out what in the hell was going on.

She decided to make the daring choice to stand, keeping weight off her injured ankle when the intruder told her to shut up. "Excuse me?" Her eyes narrowed at the sheer audacity of the guy's nerves as he ordered her to shut up in her own home. She looked him over to see exactly what she was dealing with. When her eyes took in the slightly pale male rubbing his temples she rather liked her odds of coming out of this alive.

As he put his hand on his stomach, his body slightly hunched, her physician side all but screamed in her mind. He was going to vomit. "No..." the words came out stern. Sure the apartment wasn't the most orderly around, but it was clean and she'd be damned if she was going to have to worry about cleaning and sanitizing some strange intruder's vomit off her floor. Her hands were open, tentative and aloft. She had taken this same position days ago when she was trying to talk a gunman into putting his weapon away. This was somehow just as nerve-wracking. No there wasn't any weapon in sight, but this guy was clearly not well and the very last thing she wanted to deal with was whatever the contagious thing he had all over her carpet.

The guy began talking but his words were interrupted and she could only watch in shock as he practically ran into her bathroom. She immediately bolted towards the kitchen, ignoring the pain that was searing up her leg. She quickly grabbed a chair, shoving the back of it under the door handle of the bathroom where he was in. She might not know how to fire a weapon, but she did know that shoving a chair under that handle would effectively lock him inside and there wasn't a window in there for his escape. She pushed against the chair to make sure it would stay a moment before she heard him retching in her bathroom. "Oh come on." It was official. She was moving the second the travel ban lifted. She made her way to the bedroom, sliding on a clean pair of pants and grabbing her phone. The ankle was hurting but she could manage. She didn't think she'd need a brace.

As she made her way back to the bathroom she called out to the intruder. "I'm calling the police. I'm also going to bill you for cleaning services jerk." She sat down, leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom. "Seriously. Who does this? You should have gone to the hospital, at least there they could have helped you."

Adelaide looked at her phone, shoving the missed call from her mother off the screen. Now was definitely not the time to make that return call. Her lips quirked to the side at the thought, oh hey mom, no nothing going on just got a really sick burglar trapped in my bathroom, how's dad? Locking the man safely away in her bathroom giving her a little more security. As she mentioned calling the cops though the guy had all but yelled at her in a panic to not call them. Her brows knit together a moment. He seemed to be running the water in her bathroom which served to only irritate her further. "Yeah, please just make yourself at home in there. I think I have some aromatherapy bath bombs if you want them too." She replied sarcastically. She touched the search button and typed in a search for the police department's phone number. She didn't want to call the emergency line, as long as he was secured in the room she was alright. She didn't want to use up a line that someone else needed.

The guy then proceeded to tell her that he possibly lived in the building and that this might all just be a silly mistake. She rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, I'll definitely give you more information about where I live. Want my social security card while you're at it?" She clicked the little button on the browser. She felt a little better knowing that maybe he couldn't remember her apartment number. She supposed that was a small blessing.

Her attention was pulled from her phone though as he pulled on the doorknob. She jumped from the noise, dropping the phone, her body tense as she hoped the chair would hold up. The doorknob rattled but seemed to be holding. She let out a breath, her body relaxing slightly. At least while he was in there she was safe. He called out to her,"Look, I’m having a bit of issues with… small rooms.” and she replied wryly again, "And I have an issue with infectious strangers breaking into my home yet here we are."

Adelaide picked up the phone from where it had fallen, moving back to sit against the wall. She hoped the police wouldn't take long. She didn't want to spend any more of her time alone with this guy than she already had. The door began reverberating from his assault and she jumped, "Seriously, just stay in there. The police are going to be here any minute and they can take you to a hospital and you can tell them whatever story you want." She had a brief moment of sympathy wondering if perhaps he was telling the truth and he was scared of small spaces. Then the more practical side of her took over and quickly pushed that idea out of her head. She figured it was better to play it safe than end up dead.

When he asked if she was burning her apartment down she froze, the smell of something burning filling the air. She murmured a curse word before jumping up and scrambling to the kitchen. She had forgotten about the bacon. She opened the oven door and a billow of dark black smoke rolled out causing her to cough. She turned from the stove trying to clear her lungs. She grabbed an oven mitt and carefully grabbed the pan. She had gotten it halfway out when the smoke made her cough and choke. She accidentally dropped the pan, the grease splattering everywhere and igniting a flame.

She jumped back, her eyes wide. She needed the extinguisher. Normally it would have been under the sink in the kitchen but she had needed more room under there so she had moved it to the bathroom sink. She cursed again, there wasn't time to think. She ran to the bathroom and shoved the chair away from the handle. It fell to the side and she grabbed the door handle, opening it. The door swung open and she didn't glance at the stranger before grabbing the extinguisher. She ran to the kitchen with the dark red bottle, her hands shaking as she began  trying to pry the nozzle. "No. No. Stupid thing." It was jammed. She felt tears come to her eyes, her apartment was going down in flames because she couldn't get a stupid extinguisher to do its job. She coughed again, having to turn from the smoke that was rapidly filling the room.

Adelaide's fingers had pried desperately at the large red bottle that refused to be opened. Her mind ran to the most ridiculous of things while she had been fighting the metal canister. Things like, do fire extinguishers have to be inspected? Was there a course she had missed on them? Did they expire? How much did ovens cost? Oddly enough, she hadn't thought much about the stranger who she had locked into her bathroom until he was out and grabbing the extinguisher out of her hands. She had met his eyes and found the irritation beginning to course into her bloodstream at the look of sheer contempt he had on his face for her. As if she had carelessly decided to burn her apartment down for funsies.

She watched, one hand on her hip, as he gripped the extinguisher, prying in the same way she had. She heard him utter a curse and she couldn't help the look of pure validation that came across her face as he realized he couldn't open it either. Had her apartment not be in the midst of burning to ashes she would have offered up a lovely remark. Instead she saw him drop it and her eyes went back to the stove.

She had to shut it off. Maybe, if she cut off power to the place she could put a slight damper on how fast the fire spread. She closed her eyes trying to remember where her circuit breaker was. If she was in her parent's home she knew exactly where it was of course. Her father had taught her from an early age how to be self-sufficient, but this was not a single home. This was a whole building with units and she was pretty certain the box wasn't in her building. No, it had been in a central location to her floor.

Her mind raced through all the common areas of their floor until she remembered seeing it in the little alcove before the stairway at the end of the hall. She opened her eyes, ready to run when suddenly something was entrapping her. She slipped on the edge of it, falling to the ground, "What the hell?!" she yelled, trying to shove off whatever had been entangling her. She realized one of her blankets had been apparently tossed over her and she worked on setting herself free. The smoke filling her lungs as the weight was pushed off. The stranger was nowhere in sight and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, she was glad that the intruding coward who had apparently thrown a blanket over her and ran for it, was gone. On the other hand though, she had some choice words that she would have loved to share with him.


So she got up and ran. Out the door, to the right, eight doors down and to the left, through the doors and inside the alcove. Her eyes found the square metal box and she pulled open the cover. Her hands running over the board and pushing all of the levers down to the power-off side. The lights went out immediately and she took off running back to her apartment.

She had just made it through her open door when she heard an extinguisher go off. Adelaide walked over, her eyes adjusting to the dimness, finding the intruder with an apparent working extinguisher. She looked at the stove, or rather what was left of it. The fire had spread to the cabinets directly to the sides of the oven, as well as a blackened mark on the roof where the flames had licked it. She silently began assessing the damage, as much as she could see in the now darkened room, as his words broke her silence.


"Excuse me?" She turned her attention to him. "Yes, you are. None of this would have happened if you hadn't decided to play Airbnb with my apartment last night." She crossed her arms, listening as he brought up the fact that she'd have to leave her place for a little bit. Well, wasn't that just lovely. First, he had broken in, then he had contributed to ruining her breakfast and almost burning her home to the ground and now he was playing fire marshall. "Well thank you for that astute observation....are you a detective in your spare time?"

She went over to the hallway where she had been sitting earlier, looking around the ground for her phone. She was almost certain someone had called the fire department already, but better safe than sorry. That and the fact that her whole floor now had no power, surely someone was calling an official. She wondered if their building manager was in today.

She felt her foot graze it and she bent down, picking it up off the floor. She walked back over to where the stranger was, turning the flashlight feature on on her phone, scanning the damage. The stranger said his apartment was across from hers and she turned back to him, hand on her hip again. She watched as he moved over to one of her windows, opening it up. When he mentioned the bacon she raised her eyebrow, "Is..is that a joke?" She was going to kill him. That was it. She was going to lose her apartment and go to jail for murder all in the same day.

The sound of sirens broke through the tension-filled silence and she took a steadying breath, fighting down ever urge to punch him. "You know what, I changed my mind, it's fine. Just go. Forget the cleanup and leave." She rubbed her forehead a moment before walking to her room, pulling a suitcase out of her closet. She didn't have time for some random guy ruining any more of her day than he already had. The firemen would be there soon and she was sure her place was about to be filled with even more strangers trying to figure out what the hell happened and if it was safe for everyone else. Her apartment was officially ruined and she now had less than 12 hours left of her only day off to rest before going back to the hospital. No, she didn't have the time for him and she sure as hell didn't have patience.

Adelaide's head tilted slightly in annoyance when he brought up the fact that she didn't lock her door. She had been beyond tired last night, that was certain. Though, if she had been honest, it wasn't the first time she hadn't locked her door for the night. She had chosen this place specifically because the crime rate had been low. The place was safe, relatively speaking of course. There had been a handful of times where she had forgotten before and lo and behold no one had decided to make her home their bedroom for the night. When he mentioned, yet again, that it was a misunderstanding she gave a humorless laugh, "Oh, yeah, well cool motive...still breaking and entering though."

The guy had then given a sarcastic laugh of his own before heeding her advice and walking out of her place. Adelaide didn't care. This morning had been ruined, her apartment was ruined and her mind was running through the list of things she now needed to do today. Top of the list was pack. She hauled her suitcase out of the closet and unzipped it. The room was too dark for her to see much so she abandoned it and moved to her bedroom window, pushing the curtains aside.

Sunlight streamed in the room and she moved back to her closet, grabbing garments and carefully folding them neatly into the suitcase. She had barely gotten two outfits in when a voice came from her living room. It sounded like the guy who had left, so she got up, walking over to the doorway. She was a little surprise to see that he had returned and appeared to actually be helping her. She listened as he spoke to the officers, curious to see what story he was going to give them.

"Detective Hawtrey, my badge number is 4375. I don’t have it on me but you can check with the department."

When he said he was an actual detective Adelaide raised her eyebrows. If it had been any other situation she might have laughed out loud, but with the given time and place, all she could muster was mild interest as she listened to him speak to the officers. This certainly was one for the books. Not only had a guy accidentally broken into her apartment, but it wasn't just anyone, no, of course not. A policeman had accidentally broken into her place. If it wasn't for bad luck she supposed she wouldn't have any at all.

Adelaide pulled out her cell phone, double-checking that she hadn't actually dialed the police earlier. She had almost pressed the button when her attention had been pulled away from making the call to keep her home from burning down. She slid the phone in her back pocket as the two officers made their way over. 'Ma'am we got a call about a suspected break-in happening here.' She shook her head, "Sorry. I don't know who called but, as you can see...the only issue here is a fire so...I don't think we'll need-" Her words were cut off by one officer nudging the other with a grin on his face. The two were smirking as they left her and walked back over to where he was.


She watched in confusion as they walked back over to him, slapping a set of handcuffs on him and making jokes. Adelaide rubbed her temples, this was not happening. Surely, this was not happening. Not only did someone break in to her home, her stove catch fire and destroy her kitchen, but two officers apparently found this as the perfect time to make jokes and prank a fellow officer.


She cleared her throat, leveling her eyes on the two policemen. Adelaide spoke up, using the very serious and stern voice that she typically reserved for disciplining unruly patients, "As I said before, there is no intruder." She nodded to the guy, "That is my neighbor who, unlike you two, are actually helping the situation. So unless you would like to do something actually useful and call in the fire department, please leave." She kept her eyes locked on them, daring them to question her. Daring them to say one word other than yes ma'am. Today was not the day.

The tension was broken only by five firefighters coming through her door and into the space. She pursed her lips as she took in the boots on the rug, the dirt and debris that was added to the already smoke-filled home. She didn't say anything, instead just pointed towards the kitchen. The firefighter who was in front moved from her and into the kitchen, another taking his helmet off and following behind.

Adelaide's arms were crossed, a stern and annoyed look still very much present on her face as the officers moved to him, un-cuffing him without another word. She was relieved that whatever annoying game they were playing with her neighbor was now over. At least now she could get back to assessing the damage on her home, she thought in annoyance. As if this was all some sort of funny bit the rivaling officers could leverage with one another. The idea made her want to punch something, but she had to swallow her anger. She had to focus on the overwhelming task at hand that was her apartment fire.

The firemen were moving around her place, tracking around the soot from the kitchen. She rubbed her temples. Of all the days off, this was hands-down the worst. She could hear more sirens in the distance and she could only hope that the station hadn't accidentally sent in another truck. That would be double the bodies, double the mess. She heard her phone going off and glanced down, the number to their landlord popping up on the screen. Adelaide cursed quietly and put the phone on silent. She would deal with that after she handled this.

The sound of Detective Hawtrey's voice pulled her attention away from the chaos in her kitchen. She looked over as he murmured thanks, well sort of, and then proceeded to tell her that his offer still stood. Before she could reply he had made a joke, catching her off guard. Adelaide laughed lightly, the joke easing the tension that was in her chest just a bit. "Good one. Are all Lethford detectives this funny or am I just really lucky?"

She didn't know him, he was clearly a stranger, but he was an officer so she knew he had to at least have passed a few background checks. It wasn't like he lived far away either, if there was anything shady going on she could easily leave and retreat back to her own place. He then offered to clean, well sort of, but not before insulting her own cleaning. "Hey. I clean just fine, thank you very much. It might not look like it now, but this place is normally dust-free." Sure there were books and papers here and there, but it wasn't un-clean just disorderly. She looked back over at the firefighters, who were still moving around, going in and out. "I don't think cleaning would be much use right now anyway."


She pursed her lips for just a minute before sighing, "Okay. If you're certain you don't mind me crashing at your place for a day or two until this all gets sorted out, I'd be grateful."


Her lips pulled to one side, looking at him questioningly, "You're not a weirdo or anything right? I'm not going to find some secret headless doll collection or a ton of women's left-side shoes am I?" Thank you late-night unsolved crime dramas. It wasn't like she expected him to say oh yeah, sorry, I didn't know you were against serial killers or something of the sort, but she had to ask. He had broken into her apartment after all, well sort of.

One of the firemen motioned for her to come over and she nodded. She looked over at the detective. "How about I finish up here with them, pack some things, and then head over to your place?" That seemed like the most logical thing to do at the moment. She could head over once she got everyone out of her place and once it was ensured that there was no more imminent danger. Then they could sort out the details without constantly being interrupted. She extended her hand to him, "I'm Adelaide by the way." It felt weird to introduce herself to the person who she might be staying with for the next few days, but this was a weird day.