Spoilers: All episodes are fair game…

Disclaimer: Mr. Wolf (and all other interested parties) should know that I am only borrowing the characters. No harm is intended.

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One of the worst parts of sting operations had to be the monotony of remaining in one place for longer than most normal people ever would, Detective Alexandra Eames thought. But the most awful aspect was the need to stay regardless of the circumstances like, for instance, the weather. She cast an irritated glance heavenward as she finished this thought for at that moment dark and massive storm clouds were continuing to herd themselves into what appeared to be the spot directly over her head. Alex imagined that if there was a god of thunder like Zeus that he was sitting amongst the clouds laughing his ass off at the thought of pouring all that rain down on top of her.

She allowed these thoughts to engage but a portion of her mind, as the majority of her attention was focused on the building she was watching…still. Bored to the point of frustration Alex went back over the details of the case in her mind. It all started with the discovery of half a dozen bodies over the course of three months. Normally not a case for the Major Case Squad they had nonetheless been pulled in when the discovery of the first body coincided with a raid at a shipping yard to seize a warehouse of mostly high-end art forgeries. They were working that murder and had been handed the other bodies when they were found in similar areas.

They had discovered that the victims were linked with the help of the Medical Examiner. On the surface the fact that they were all women was the first clue, and that they appeared to be of Asian descent was the second. But the M.E. had provided them with the final clues that definitely connected the dots. First of all was the fact that the women had all been killed the same way—a severed jugular vein was never pretty—and apparently by the same person with the same weapon. Also there was startling evidence suggesting that each woman had given birth within the past three months. Add that to the lack of any positive id's for any of the victims and it hadn't taken them long to piece together what may have happened.

The theory had been that these women were all smuggled into this country while still pregnant. After giving birth they were allowed to breastfeed their child for a time and then that child was taken away and the women were all killed. She and her partner were assuming that the children had been taken away since no one had claimed any of the mothers. Nor had any missing children's reports for infants been filed that matched the probable ethnicity of the children. So they figured they were dealing with black market adoptions. And someone had decided that killing the biological mothers was an easier option than paying them for their services as surrogates.

They had chosen this man, a shipping magnate known as Jun-Thai, to watch because all of the bodies had been found alongside piers that he either owned directly or had access to. The ME had determined that the women had been killed somewhere else and then dumped on the sites where they were later found. Preliminary questioning had failed to turn up anything from their suspect but both detectives liked this guy for the job and had agreed to sit on him for a while in hopes of turning up something that would link him to the killings.

Sparing a glance at her watch Alex noted with an ill-concealed sigh of disgust that running back over the facts of the case had taken approximately four minutes. Geesh. She wondered if she were the only one to notice that Time had officially died sometime during this stakeout. It had been over seven hours already and their suspect had yet to move from his position on the bed. Not that she could actually see him in his bed, mind you. That might have at least proved a bit interesting.

Her partner, Detective Robert Goren, was watching that side of the building. He was the one who let her know where the suspect was. Bobby, as she usually called him, was positioned where he had a direct line of sight into the suspect's bedroom so he could profile the suspect better based on what personal effects he furnished it with. She, on the other hand, was stuck watching the front door of the apartment complex. It was immobile, much like she was at the moment. So in a fit of pique she decided that today she was going to refer to Bobby as Goren because she was cold, in pain and annoyed with the lack of results.

She had taken to scrutinizing the architecture when the cold had first started to seep through her coat. Her location had been chosen with care. The suspect lived in a penthouse suite across the street from a city park. The park bench she was currently laying on was a hard wood that dug into her back. Alex had thought that lying on the bench was going to be better than sitting on the bench, which she had done for the first few hours. The underside of her thighs had begun to burn and her neck was killing her. So she lay down on the bench like it was her plan all along. Dressed to look like she belonged on the bench asleep didn't help matters. At first lying on the bench had felt good. Turned on her side so she could still observe the door she had actually been okay for a while. But then she remembered that she couldn't turn over or her line of sight would be compromised. So she was stuck with three choices: sit, stand, or lay down. None of them provided her with any comfort or more importantly, shelter from what she was now sure was going to be the mother of all storms.

She narrowed her eyes and tried to force the door of the apartment complex open by a sheer force of will. They were waiting for the suspect to leave to meet someone. The problem they had was they didn't exactly know who he was going to meet. Would it be one of the pregnant women? One of the buyers? Or was this man not the ringleader at all and would he instead lead them to that individual? Bobby thought he was the ringleader and that alone was enough to convince Alex. She smirked at that thought and then indulged herself in more thoughts of Bobby, something she rarely did. Well that wasn't entirely accurate—she did think of him, just not those kinds of thoughts…um, that often. They were together so much as a result of their caseload and during that time she thought about what he was saying or doing and all sorts of job-related things. But as far as thinking about Bobby as a person well—Bobby had this uncanny knack of just being able to almost read your mind with one look at you and Alex had learned very quickly not to think anything she didn't want him to know about in his presence.

So being left alone with her thoughts now provided her with what felt like eternity to think about Bobby and she was at a loss. What should she think about first? Wasn't it you who just decided he was "Goren" today and not "Bobby?"  her inner voice teased, What happened to that plan? Ha ha, she told herself. Back to business. Mmm…his eyes. They were a rich, intense brown and when he focused them on you there was no doubt that his attention was anywhere else. His stare was so penetrating it often unnerved people and if Alex had been a different type of person it might have done that to her too, the first time it happened. But when they had first been introduced as partners and he had turned the full force of that stare on her she just patiently returned it, aware that he was cataloguing her and willing to wait for the verdict. She smiled at the memory. That had been a good day.

Realizing the direction of her thoughts she decided a little mental clarification was in order. She was not mooning over Bobby, er, Goren (damn it). Not at all. She was in fact indulging in these thoughts against her will. Practically. See, when two people work well together it's one thing, but when they have "chemistry" that makes their work together noteworthy then it's a whole other ball of wax. And that's the situation Detectives Goren and Eames found themselves in. Well actually she was probably the only one in this mess. While Goren (A-ha! I did it!) was perpetually observant about, well just about damn near everything, when it came to the relationships he had with the people around him Alex would bet her last paycheck that he barely spent more than two seconds thinking about anyone who wasn't involved in the current case.

No, it was left to her to shoulder the burden alone. The burden of course being the nosy people who just insisted on asking, and re-asking, for details as to the status of her and Goren's relationship. People were far too intimidated by Bobby to dare ask him anything unless they had to. It was up to Alex to wade through the throngs of co-workers who caught up with her anytime they noticed she was away from Bobby. Which meant she tried not to be away from him too much. Which of course furthered the rumors. And thus the vicious cycle perpetuated itself.

The most annoying thing about the constant stares and questions was what happened when Alex was alone. Because when she was alone she asked herself the same questions and wondered at the replies as well. After all, there are only so many times you can hear the same thing before you start buying into the cult mentality. And as far as their precinct went there was a definite "Hidden Goren/Eames Romance" cult that held sway over far too many of her fellow officers.

As she waited out in the increasingly bitter cold she replayed the usual introductory questions she would get from a cult member.

What's going on between you and Goren?

What do you mean?

The way you two are together…is there something going on?

Besides the case we're trying to solve?

Quit being a smart-ass, you know what I mean.

No, I don't.

Are you two going out?

Going out? What are we, twelve?

Fine. Are you dating each other?

We're partners.

And?

And what?

Don't give me that shit. I see the way you two are together.

Oh? And what "way" is that?

This is usually the part where the person floundered around, searching for adequate words to try and describe it. Normally they would sigh, maybe shrug their shoulders, and launch into the description without the words they really wanted.

I don't know how to describe it, exactly. It's like you guys have this connection. It's almost a tangible thing. You're obviously great partners but there's something else there.

Care to fill me in?

It's a hundred little things. Your body language with each other, the way you talk to each other, stuff like that.

Then they would grin and deliver the blow. The thing that gnawed at Alex for more time than it should. They would feel the rush of triumph and their eyes would gleam with what they considered irrefutable evidence.

And let's face it; no one can make you smile or laugh quite like Goren can. I mean sometimes your whole face lights up…

Of course you would know this because you're what, stalking me?

Ha ha, Alex.

But being the level-headed person she was, Alex kept her cool. Just because that business about the smiling and laughing was true didn't mean anything…necessarily. She would roll her eyes and maybe snort before replying.

So you're telling me because I smile that means I am harboring some deep, unrequited love?

She dreaded the times when she replied like that; because chances were that someone would say the words that had shocked her into silence the first time she heard them.

Oh, it's not just you.