The Real Thing
By Très Méchante

Summary: "Almost as pretty as the real thing." Accept no substitutes. Posthumous Collection post-ep.

Spoilers: Posthumous Collection and a reference to Semi-Detached. Govern yourself accordingly.

Disclaimer: Bobby, Alex, the L&O: Criminal Intent universe? Not mine. At least, not yet. My birthday is coming up and I'm hopeful. Deluded, but hopeful.

A/N: I was bitten by a plot bunny while watching the episode 'Posthumous Collection'. And it was a really fluffy plot bunny. This is the result. Oh, there is one naughty word, well maybe two.

"You've been awfully quiet. Everything okay?"

Eames looked over at her partner. "Yeah. I'm good."

Bobby wasn't buying it. Eames was never what one would call chatty, but her silence since they'd returned to the squad room was unsettling. He started to probe a little more, but before he could speak Eames had left her desk for coffee.

Pen tapping an erratic rhythm against the Heltman file, he tried to figure out what was bothering her. He studied her from across the room, applying profiling techniques, but getting nowhere. He sighed in frustration. He could never read her when she had her guard up. They could still anticipate one another while working a case, but on a personal level, Eames was an ever-shifting maze. Just when he thought he had her figured, something indefinable shifted and he was lost again.

So deep in thought was he that he started slightly when a cup of coffee appeared in front of him. "Thanks," he said, looking up in time to see her move back to her own desk. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the file in front of him, his eyes kept straying back to his partner. Lost in thought, he was unaware of how much time had passed.

"See you tomorrow." Bobby blinked as though suddenly awakened. His gaze focused to see Eames pulling on her jacket as she headed toward the elevators. He looked at the clock. How did it get to be 5:45? Shit. He still had to finish the report on his desk before he could head out.

With a heavy sigh he tucked thoughts of Eames back into their corner – easier when she wasn't there to distract him – and set about getting work done so he, too, could leave.

--- --- ---

Alex closed the door to her apartment with a firm click, threw the locks and headed straight for the shower. She needed to remove her day. Not that there was anything unusually stressing or disturbing. Well, not work-related anyway.

Farnell was going down for Heltman's murder and the murder of those women. She didn't like the deal ADA Carver offered, but since they would at least be able to locate the bodies, she could live with it.

She turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature. Shedding her clothes into a heap at the bathroom door she eased under the hot spray. "Ohhh Goddd" she moaned. Bracing her hands against the wall she let the water sluice down her body. She tilted her head back and allowed the spray to massage her scalp before reaching for the soap.

As fragrant steam began to waft through the bathroom, Alex felt her body loosen. It had been a hard couple of weeks. Right from the moment she'd been smacked upside the head by one Bobby Goren. And of course, he was totally oblivious to having done anything.

She'd been the bait to lure Farnell, and then Bobby had arrived to play interested passerby, to get a reaction from him about his style of drawing. But Bobby just had to take it a step further. He'd reached for a chair, right across her personal space, and as he'd sat he focused his attention, his energy on her. He said the picture was good but "not as pretty as the real thing."

Alex groaned at the memory. Her mind had frozen in shock because looking into Bobby's eyes as he said it, she could believe he was flirting with her for real, not just as part of their act. And damn the man, she'd had to fight a blush. When she had looked down, she didn't have to fake the shy act – he really had flustered her.

It was the first time she could find pity for Nelda. When Bobby focused all his attention on someone, it was quite an overwhelming experience.

Alex found herself wishing he really had been flirting with her, hinting that they should go out together. It was that thought that had been tormenting her. She knew Bobby had been worried about her being so quiet lately, but also knew there was no way she could tell him what the problem was. Maybe now that the case was closed she could begin to move on.

Turning off the water, Alex stopped out onto the bath mat and rubbed herself with the towel until it felt like her skin was being rubbed off. She wrapped the towel around herself and padded quickly to the bedroom, donning sweatpants, T-shirt and a sweater.

Following a meal of her favorite comfort foods, the balance of her evening was spent in front of the television. She flipped from one mindless program to another, hoping to bore herself enough to be able to sleep. Switching to yet another program, Alex curled up in the corner of her couch with a blanket. Maybe if her body was relaxed, her mind would get the message and let her sleep.

--- --- ---

Bobby sat up – again – and fluffed his pillow – again. With a sigh he flopped back onto the bed. This was hopeless, he thought. He couldn't sleep, couldn't relax, and couldn't get Eames out of his mind. It bothered him to see her so...what? So quiet? So distracted? He pondered that for a moment and finally admitted that what bothered him was that she had managed to put distance between them and that he never saw it coming.

He was pretty sure she wasn't mad at him. His partner was not shy about voicing her opinion or displeasure with some of his methods. He winced slightly remembering the discussion about the way he'd handled Nelda. Nope. Nothing shy about his Eames.

Bobby froze. He replayed this last few thoughts...his Eames? When did that happen? His partner sure. That's what they were, partners. But when did he start thinking of the woman in such terms? He didn't know. He couldn't even begin to guess.

Without warning a scene played out in his mind. He's walking down the street, past assorted vendors and street artists when he is stopped in his tracks by sight of a beautiful woman. She looks a bit shy and uncertain as she sits for the artist. He moves closer to see the portrait. He comments on the picture, commenting that it's "almost as pretty as the real thing." She looks away but her shy grin delights him. He talks about an artist, mentions the exhibit and – Bobby shifts uncomfortably on the bed.

He had let the little fantasy run riot while they were on a case. He had been on the verge of asking her outright for a date before he remembered why they were there. It had been so easy to get lost in the fantasy. The beautiful day, beautiful woman, a 'chance' encounter...flirting came so easily. For the briefest of moments they weren't cops undercover; they were just a man and a woman attracted to one another.

To one another? Bobby sat up as that thought ricocheted through his mind. He thought again of her reaction when he'd started flirting. Eames had looked almost stunned, and her shy smiles seemed genuine, not just an act. He had gotten pretty good at reading her body language when they were undercover and something in her reaction struck a chord in him. She hid it quickly, but there had been something that looked like...interest?

Restless now, he got out of bed and rummaged in one of his drawers for supplies. It was his secret. People had seen him doodle on his notes, but no one knew about the more serious drawing he did on occasion. With sketchbook and pencils in hand he sat on the bed and proceeded to draw the image in his mind. With deft strokes of the charcoal pencil he captured the face, the expression that now haunted him. When he was done, he tossed the pencils back in their box and then carefully propped the sketchbook at the foot of his bed. He leaned back and gazed at...Alex.

The face that looked back at him was not his partner. The expression held none of the intensity of his partner Eames. This face, this open expression belonged to a pretty woman he met one day on the street. Alex. And he wanted to see her again.

--- --- ---

Alex was making hot chocolate when her cell phone rang. Glancing at the clock, she knew that the only calls she got after midnight would be a family emergency or work. With a longing look at her mug of hot chocolate, she abandoned her treat and grabbed her phone. "Eames."

Silence.

Great, she thought. A crank call. "Hello? Anyone there?"

"Hey. It's Bobby."

"Bobby. Let me grab a pen. Where--"

"N-no. It's not a call-out. It's...can-can we talk?"

"It's awfully late. Can it wait until tomorrow? We could go for lunch if you'd like."

"I'd like that. But I really think we need to talk now. In-in person."

Alex sighed. "Where do you want to meet?"

"Um...your kitchen?"

"Excuse me? Goren where the hell are you?"

"Outside your door. Can I come in?"

Alex closed her phone with a sharp snap and stalked over to the door. Sure enough, the reason for her sleeplessness stood on the other side. "Come in."

Bobby hesitantly stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind him.

"So what are you doing here? I could've been asleep you know."

"I was...passing by and saw your light on so I figured it was okay to stop in."

Alex shot him a skeptical look but let it pass. "You want anything? I just made some hot chocolate."

"Sure. Whatever." Bobby started to pace, moving around her apartment in a seemingly aimless pattern. He finally settled when she brought him his drink. "Thanks."

They sat in silence until Alex decided she'd had enough. "Bobby it's late and I really need to get some sleep."

Bobby got up and started pacing again. Suddenly he turned to her and said, "I meant it."

Alex was lost. "Meant what?"

"About the picture being almost as pretty as the real thing."

Alex was speechless. Her mind immediately went back to that moment when she posed for Farnell. Warmth suffused her skin as she recalled in exquisite detail the look in Bobby's eyes when he'd said it.

"You don't have to-to say anything. I just wanted you to know. I almost took it too far. The-the setting...everything was just so perfect and I-I had this little...scenario going in my head for the character. And when I looked at you, it was all real. Just for that moment it felt so real." Bobby paused and took a deep breath before risking a glance at Alex. "I'd just met this pretty girl and wanted to-to ask her out, you see."

"I'm not so sure you should be telling me this. It's the kind of thing that can hurt a partnership."

"I know. I was scared at first, but then I kept seeing your face. And-and then when I saw this, everything became clear." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to her.

Alex gingerly took the paper and unfolded it. She was shocked to see her own face looking back at her. And yet, it wasn't her face. There was an innocence that hadn't been there in a long time. The woman who looked back at her was smiling shyly, and if there had been color on the page she was sure the woman's cheeks would have held a blush. But it was the look in the eyes that held her attention. Her eyes held surprise, pleasure and, unmistakably, interest. Alex knew without a doubt that she had not hidden her feelings quickly enough.

Looking up at Bobby, she could see the handsome passerby lingering in his eyes.

Bobby walked toward her, crowding her a bit as he stepped solidly into her personal space. "Hi. My name's Bobby."

"Hi Bobby. I'm Alex." She grinned at the silliness of it, but mostly she grinned at the rightness.

"Hi Alex," he said, lingering over her name, savoring the feel of it on his tongue. "So, uh, I was passing by and wondered if maybe you'd like to go out some time. Maybe dinner or-or a movie or something?"

"I'd like that Bobby. I'm pretty sure I'm free on Saturday. I don't usually work weekends."

Bobby nodded his head. "Okay. I'll call you this week and you can tell me what you want – for dinner, I mean. Where we should go for dinner." Bobby's shy smile was echoed by Alex's.

"How about...here? It's not formal, but the food is good and it's quiet and private. Perfect for conversation and getting to know someone."

Bobby's eyes held Alex's for long moments. Finally he grinned, a carefree boyish grin. "I'd like that very much Alex." He hesitated for a moment. "I guess I should go. Work tomorrow."

"Me, too. See you Saturday." Her voice had suddenly acquired a breathy quality.

"Saturday. Bye." He paused before turning to leave, taking in everything about her, knowing that each new detail would become part of his dreams. He hoped the next few days passed quickly.

As the door closed behind Bobby, Alex let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She'd had dreams about this, about her and Bobby exploring something other than a professional relationship. She had created little scenarios to soothe herself into sleep. But no matter how satisfying her fantasies had been, they could not compare to what just happened. There really was no substitute for the real thing.

-FIN-