Disclaimer: I don't own Law and Order Criminal Intent or any of the characters.

Author's Notes: I finally broke down and wrote my own Bobby/Alex fluffish fic for 'In the wee small hours'. I watched it for the third time and finally deemed myself worthy of writing a fic about it and not having it be too horrible. It's not one of my bests, but I still like it. Realistic? No, but I suck at being realistic. Also, I want to apologize for lagging behind in the updates of 'Devastation'. I should have the next chapter up hopefully before Wednesday. To all of you who are reading this, you should read my fic 'Devastation' too, just to make me feel happy.

Emotional Roller Coaster

"Look Bobby, I should have told you–"

"It's okay.." he paused, "you're right, I am an acquired taste." he was about to leave, but stopped to face his partner. "And I'm luck you withdrew the letter." without another word he walked off, leaving Eames to stare after him.

It was later that evening that Goren was lounging on the couch in his apartment, staring up at the ceiling. He was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a plain black t-shirt.

"That case was the worse." he muttered softly to himself, jumping slightly in surprise as a warm, fluffy something jumped into his lap and curled up. An ever so slight smile crossed his lips as he stroked the cat laying in his lap. The feline merely purred contently, seeming comfortable. The two sat in silence for a moment before there was a knock on the door. Goren blinked. "Who could that be?" he muttered, glancing at the cat. "Were you expecting anyone?"

The cat just blinked up at him and mewed before standing and leaping off his lap onto one of the other couch cushions, curling up. Bobby's eyes gleamed with amusement as he slowly rose from the couch and stretched, hearing the person knock on the door again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." he called out, sauntering over to the doorway. He glanced out the pep hole, surprised to find his partner standing outside his door, looking slightly nervous and tired. "Eames?" he inquired softly as the door swung open.

The petite blond was startled out of her thoughts. Gazing up at her partner she was suddenly at a loss for words. She had been thinking about what she would say to him, practicing it over and over in her head, and yet when the time came she couldn't say anything.

"Come on in, it must be cold out there." he stated gently, stepping back and motioning his partner inside. Alex stepped into his partner, glad for the warmth it provided. Her partner shut the door and came to stand half behind her, but at an angle so he could kind of face her. It would have been an awkward position for most people, but he made it look natural. "What do I owe this visit?" he inquired, even though he had a feeling he knew exactly why she was here.

"I just...I needed to see you I guess..." she tensed as he rested a hand gently on her lower back and led her over to the couch. The cat was sprawled over two cushions and looked up at the two humans with upmost innocence as Goren glared at him.

"Steve, move." he stated, sighing as the cat didn't budge. "Stupid thing..." he muttered, reaching down and picking the cat up. He then proceeded to set Steve on the ground.

"Since when have you had a cat?" Alex asked, taking a seat on the couch.

"I'm watching him for Lewis while he's off at some out of state car show." Goren answered, taking a seat beside her. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "So...how are you? You look tired..."

She laughed weakly, rubbing at her eyes. "Don't I know it...this case has really taken a lot out of me."

"Ah, I think it's taken it's toll on everyone. It was a hard case, but we got through it, right?"

"Yeah..." she paused, "How is your mom doing?"

"She'll be fine. She has certainly suffered through worse."

"And how are you?" Eames asked softly. "You really had me worried when you stormed into the judge's chambers and when you were talking on the phone..."

"Sorry about that..." he offered her a slight smile. "I just...I get worked up when something bad happens to my mom y'know?"

"Yeah." she fell silent, gaze switching to her feet, of which Steve was currently laying across.

"What's on your mind Eames?"

"Alex." she corrected.

"Huh?"

"Please...just for tonight Bobby...call me Alex alright?"

"Okay, I can do that." he answered, leaning his head back against the couch. "How are you holding up after the whole letter incident?"

"What? How am I holding up? How about you Bobby? You are the one who was betrayed..." she was slightly offended as he laughed gently.

"Oh Alex, I wasn't the one who was about to burst into tears. We had hard times when we first started out, I knew it. I was also aware you had probably put in a request for a new partner, I just never brought it up, hoping you would stay."

"So you...aren't mad?" she inquired. It seemed too good to her to be true.

"Of course not. I was a little surprised...but not mad because I know what's in your heart, and that's more important than what some stupid piece of paper says."

"That's a relief..." she whispered, eyes closing. Goren studied her for a moment, noticing her posture was still ridged and she still seemed to be a little...down.

"Something else bothering you?" he asked.

"I just..." she sighed and ran a trembling hand through her hair. "I care about you Bobby. This case...it just...it sucked. It sent me on an emotional roller coaster ride and I just..." she fell silent, not really knowing how to continue.

"Alex..." he murmured gently and slipped an arm gently around her waist, pulling her against him in a half hug. She was tense, but soon relaxed, head coming to rest on his shoulder, eyes closing. "Just relax. It's all over now."

"You must mean 'for now'." she whispered weakly. "I'm almost positive the cases will just get worse and I'll..." she trailed off and shifted, face buried in his shoulder as she mumbled out the rest of the sentence.

"You'll have to remove your face from my shoulder and speak up Alex." he stated gently, bringing his hand to her chin and lifting her face up gently, hazel eyes meeting dark chocolate brown.

"I'll keep falling deeper in love with you." she stated, averting her gaze. Bobby's hand remained on her chin as a slight smile crept over his lips. Leaning forward, he caught his partner by surprise as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Try not to worry." he murmured softly as he pulled away.

"B..Bobby..." she didn't quite no what to say.

"Get some sleep Alex." he stated gently and pulled away from her, standing up.

"Can I...?"

"Of course." he answered her unfinished question and padded down the hall into his room. Smiling slightly, his partner rose from the couch, gently bending down and picking up Steve, depositing the snoozing feline onto the couch. She turned off the light and followed Bobby into his bedroom, the door shutting with a soft click.