Alex in Murderland

By: Cindy

Email: sg1phileshipper

Disclaimer: I was asleep last night and suddenly I woke up bathing in sweat and Dick Wolf was standing next to my bed. He told me I could have Goren and Eames and do whatever pleased me with them. But then I woke up and it was all a dream. So yeah, they're not mine!

Rating: K+

Genre: B/A fluff

Category: Comfort/angst/friendship/romance

Spoilers: Up until "Depths". Set right after the end of "Depths". Timeline is a bit off, but I'm sure you won't mind.

Summary: Bobby and Alex are sent undercover in Disneyworld, when Disney characters mysteriously disappear.

Author's Note: I started writing this story many years ago and found it back partly typed when cleaning out my closest. Of course, I don't have the original story anymore, so I need to type the 26 pages I already had again.

Be warned that this story is completely and utterly silly, full of fluff and probably out of character too. Started writing when I went to Disneyland Paris one too many time.

Reviews are extremely welcome and will feed my motivation to start writing more in the future. And yes, before you ask, I am seasick if I don't take pills for it. And it's so not funny...

Word of thanks: Part of this story was beta-read by Claire. Of course, after all those years, I don't have her email anymore. Thanks a lot, Claire.

ALEX IN MURDERLAND

"What did he say?" Bobby asked as his petite partner joined him in the control cabin. She looked up at him and smiled.

"He wanted to know what happened," she shrugged, while loosening her life jacket. "I said he tripped and fell."

Bobby squint his eyes at her and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's not exactly what happened, Eames," he answered smoothly, trying unsuccessfully to keep the humor out of his voice.

"He doesn't need to know all the details," she said. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him," she explained, as she continued to wrestle with her life jacket.

Bobby advanced towards her and pushed her hands away. "You really should keep this on," he said softly, tightening the jacket. She tried to push his hands away, but he just pushed them back. In all their silliness, they ended up hand in hand, playful grins on their faces.

"Stop it," Alex commanded, turning around to come face to face with Ross. "Um, Captain," she tried, but Ross waved his dismissively in the air.

"Right," she mumbled and let go off Bobby's hand.

"Behave, Detectives," Ross ordered and started to walk away.

"Maybe we should tell him we know he's fooling around with Rodgers," Bobby murmured softly, his breath tickling her left ear.

"Bobby," she laughed as she poked him in the ribs with her elbow. "You really should try to behave," she added as an afterthought.

Ross turned around and eyed them sharply. "Something wrong, Detectives?" he asked tightly.

"Nothing wrong, Sir," Bobby answered smoothly, keeping a straight face. Ross looked at him for a few seconds, and apparently pleased with Bobby's answer, turned around and walked away, leaving two grinning detectives behind.

"I swear, Bobby, you're really going to get it someday," Alex predicted, accepting the piece of gum offered by Bobby.

"Promises, promises," he said innocently, winking at her and pushing her towards the door.

They sat on deck for a few minutes, waiting for their ride back. The wind was blowing much harder than it had a few minutes ago, making the barge go up and down. They were leaning against the railing, looking at the waves hitting the barge.

"I'm glad I'm not seasick," Bobby pondered casually, casting at sideways glance at his partner. She had suddenly grown very quiet. "Are you okay?" he asked while he gently touched her shoulder, his hand lingering longer than necessary.

A very green looking Alexandra Eames turned towards him. "I don't feel so good," she admitted, holding onto his arm when another wave hit the barge.

"Why don't you sit down?" Bobby offered, pulling her down next to him. "Looking at the horizon is supposed to help," Bobby explained his partner. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked helpfully, his large hand rubbing small circles on the small of her back.

I never touched my partner so much, Bobby thought to himself. What the heck is wrong with me, he wondered.

"Urg," Alex moaned, feeling Bobby pull his hand away. "Don't stop," she pleaded.

"No?" he asked shyly, putting his hand back where it had been a second ago.

She shook her head. "It's comforting," she admitted, fighting nausea when another wave hit. "Do you mind?" she asked as she put her head against his shoulder.

"No," he whispered so softly she barely heard him.

They sat like that for a while, Alex fighting her nausea each time the barge rocked from side to side. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, opening her eyes again when she felt a hesitant finger softly touching her cheek.

"How's it going?" Bobby asked gently, his finger tracing the outline of her jaw.

"l'll survive," she whispered, closing her eyes again, finding comfort in the soft touch of her partner's hand on her face.

"What's going on here?" Ross's voiced boomed above them. "Do I really need to lecture you guys?" Ross asked.

"She's not feeling well, Sir," Bobby bit back, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice. "So why don't you just-," he started, stopping when he felt a soft touch on his arm.

"Bobby don't," Eames whispered, closing her eyes against another upcoming wave of nausea. Bobby kept his mouth shut, but glared at Ross angrily.

"When is the dingy coming back?" he asked, his voice already a tone gentler.

"He should be here any minute," Ross answered, just as they heard the sound of the engine above the noise of the crashing waves. "Do you need a hand?" Ross inquired softly.

"We'll be fine, Sir," Bobby answered, helping Alex to get up and steadying her when the barge shook violently to the right. "Okay?" she asked Alex, as he cast her a sideway glance. She nodded her head cautiously, and gladly accepted Bobby's help to get into the dinghy.

It didn't take them too long to reach shore. Alex sighed deeply once she was back on steady land. "I wouldn't be a very good marine," she stated to no one in particular.

"I'd say," Bobby nodded. "And if you ever want to work in another field of expertise, you can always test out pills against seasickness? You'd be the perfect test subject," he explained, wincing when she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Go home, both of you," Ross's voice said from somewhere behind them, "and get a good night's sleep. I have another interesting case waiting for you," he continued.

"Another case, Sir?" Bobby asked, while getting rid of his life jacked, his curiosity suddenly piqued.

Ross eyed Bobby, a gleaming look in his eyes. "This one should be right up your alley, Goren," he said, and Alex could swear she saw his lips curve into a small smile.

Well, that's certainly going to be interesting, thought Alex. She knew Ross was up to something and she doubted Bobby would be very enthusiastic about it.

"Let's go home, partner," she said as she pulled Bobby along;

"But-but," Bobby stammered resisting Alex's pull.

"Tomorrow, Bobby," she sighed tiredly, grinning when Bobby followed her without further protest.

Alex got in the SUV, followed closely by Bobby and put the key in the ignition. From the corner of her eye, she saw Bobby fidgeting in his seat, looking at her.

"Will you stop doing that?" she exclaimed.

"Doing what? He asked, throwing his jacked in the back seat.

"Moving like-," she stopped and gave him a sharp look when he started playing with his watch. "Stop moving around like a windmill," she finished.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't realize."

"Let me ask you something," she continued as she turned the key, started the SUV and backed up. "Do you ever sit still?"

"Not really," he grinned at her. "It goes against my nature," he explained as he watched her move swiftly through traffic. "Does it bother you?"

"No," she answered honestly. "I was just wondering."

"Mmmm," he murmured and squint his eyes at her. "Okay."

Alex left the conversation for what it was and drove towards Bobby's apartment.

EAMES RESIDENCE, 3 am

He didn't know how he ended up on her porch, but after the same nightmare had woken him in a cold sweat for the fifth night in a row, ne needed someone to talk to. Ever since his mother died, he had kept what he had gone through during her death to himself. But he couldn't handle it by himself anymore. And that's why he softly knocked on her door.

The knocking at her door was hesitant and not too insistent; not exactly loud yet repetitive enough to wake her from her deep slumber. She reluctantly got out of her warm bed, put on her robe and walked to the door, turning on the light on her way.

Checking the peephole, she found her partner leaning heavily against the doorframe, his eyes downcast. Shen he didn't look up as she opened the door, she immediately knew something was terribly wrong. He just shuffled inside wearily and sank down on her couch with a heavy plop, his shoulders slouching tiredly.

With a heavy step, Alex joined him and sat down, their thighs touching. Bobby briefly looked at her and sighed when she caressed his fingers with her thumb. He smiled sadly and put his head on her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his greying curls.

"Another nightmare?" Alex asked softly. Ever since his mother died, he had shown up at her place every now and then, after suffering another nightmare. He usually just sat there and said nothing and she let him. She knew he would talk when he was ready. But those nightmares seemed to occur more and more often, ever since she had said that it was too late now. They never really talked about what she had said, even though she knew she had hurt Bobby.

She looked at him when he sighed. "You never really told me how it was when your mother died," Alex said gently.

Bobby looked at her and started playing with her fingers. "I guess not."

"I don't really blame you," she whispered softly, tears threatening to fall. "I let you down."

"How so?" he questioned, everything clicking back into place. "Alex-," he started but she stopped him.

"I'm sorry," she said, avoiding his gaze.

He moved his head so he could look down at her. "You didn't let me down," he muttered. "You only let yourself down, because I really do understand what you meant when you said it was too late," he finished.

"Really?" she asked cynically," because I sure as hell don't know what I meant." I let myself down by letting you get too close to me, even though I swore I wouldn't let another cop that close to me, she mentally added.

Bobby hesitated and sighed. This could either make them or break them. "It's too late, because we are already too close to work with anyone else but each other," he said casually.

"What do you mean?" she asked confusedly.

"Time will tell," he answered and leaned back against the cushions of her couch.

"Sometimes I wish you had come to me after you mom died," Alex said sadly.

"I couldn't do it back then," he explained.

"What has changed since them?" Alex wanted to know.

"Me," he answered with no hesitation in his voice, just complete honesty. "I needed time and work things out of myself first. Everyone I care about leave me," he mumbled desperately.

"I'm not going to leave you, Bobby," she said.

"I'm starting to realize that," he answered just as softly. "That's why I needed to see you," he said feeling selfish for waking her up in the middle of the night when she yawned. "I should let you get back to sleep."

"You're here now, so you might as well stay," she said. "And if you want to talk, I'm here to listen."

"Thanks," he said sweetly.

"Did she suffer?" Alex asked softly.

Bobby shook his head. "The doctors said she didn't," he explained. "They gave her just enough morphine to keep her comfortable."

"Are you okay now?" she asked tenderly.

"Knowing that she didn't suffer makes me feel just a little better," he admitted, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

"How did she die?" Alex questioned, as she tenderly laid her hand against his cheek. The stubble felt unfamiliar.

"She slipped into a peaceful coma," Bobby explained sadly.

"I'm so sorry, Bobby," she said. "You should have called me when it happened."

He looked at her, offering her a small smile in return. "I didn't want to be a burden," he stated.

Her heart broke at the sad look on his face. "Oh Bobby... You're not a burden," she answered as she took in his features. He reminded her of a lost little boy, whom you just wanted to hold and never let go. Alex pulled him closer to her, but he resisted at first. But after merely a few seconds, he relaxed and melted into her embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes, each finding comfort in each other's arms.

Bobby looked up when Alex started giggling. "What?" he asked.

She pulled away from him, a grin still gracing her face. "If Ross could only see us now," she said with humor in her voice.

Bobby smiled at her. "I'm sure he would have a heart attack," he said ironically. "Maybe I should call him," he said as he started to pull away.

"I'm sure you'd score a lot of brownie points," Alex said casually, yawning again.

"I should let you go back to bed," Bobby said as he got up from the couch.

"Look," Alex replied, as she got up too. "I'll get you a blanket and a pillow, so you can try to sleep some," Alex said, "But I don't think my couch will be comfortable."

"Are you sure," he asked shyly.

"I already said you might as well stay, Bobby. As long as you don't tell Ross we 'spent' the night together," she said with humor.

Bobby laughed out loud. "I'm sure that would make his day," he said as he took off his jacket and his shoes and got comfortable.

Alex looked at him and smiled gently. "I'll get your stuff."

"Thanks, Alex," he answered, with feeling.

She blushed slightly and shook her head. "You're welcome." A minute later she got back with a pillow, a sheet and a blanket and threw them on a fidgeting Bobby.

"And if you wake me up because you're moving too much, I'll just get up and hit you over the head," she mumbled and she walked to her room and closed the door.

Bobby smiled to himself and got up to make his bed. If he was lucky, he'd get a couple of hours of sleep. But Bobby being Bobby, he was used to not sleeping. Most of his nights were haunted by nightmares. And the nights that weren't haunted by nightmares were spent sleepless too, since all he could think about recently was his partner, and how important she had become in his life.

Bobby was teetering on the thin line between friendship and love. And he really didn't know how to handle it.