Lovey-Dovey

Disclaimer: Not mine. Dick Wolf owns Bobby, Alex and L&O:CI, but USA Network gives me my daily fix. :-)

A/N: This scene at Café Brasilia is the one that caused me to set sail on the good ship BA. I know the ending scene to this episode is begging for analysis as well (hello, Daddy issues!), but I liked this one better. And I'm assuming the hostess was speaking Portuguese, but if not, feel free to let me know.

Summary: What was Bobby doing with that camera, anyway? Alex might not be lovey-dovey, but Bobby's not so sure. Spoilers for 2x12, "Suite Sorrow." BA angst.

Goren: Phone calls to Julie in South Beach ever couple of hours.

Eames sarcastically: So lovey-dovey.

Suite Sorrow

Café Brasilia

Five, four, three, two, one. He pushed off the hostess stand he'd been leaning against and started towards the wall. Bobby was on the move again. Alex mentally smiled and continued to ask the hostess about the picture she held in her hand, all the while keeping one eye on her roaming partner, who was now pacing in front of a bulletin board plastered with Polaroids.

"Everybody's having a – a good time," he said to the hostess, drawing her attention away from Alex, who then mentally rolled her eyes as she watched the hostess bat her eyes at Bobby.

"This is a good time place," she flirted back shamelessly.

"I – I like these photos, who took them?"

Alex felt her heart tighten at the sadness that peaked around the corner of her partner's dark brown eyes. The difference in his stoic expression was so slight that it went unnoticed by everyone but her. Dear Bobby. For just a moment, he'd looked as though he'd like to be on that board, having fun, his arm wrapped around someone he loved. Alex glanced the board and its pictures and tried not to snort out loud.

Bobby wandered back over to Alex and the hostess as she spoke in rapid Portuguese to another employee. The girl moved forward, a Polaroid camera in her hand. Alex began to question her immediately, wasting no time on idle chit-chat. Bobby loved her tenacity. She had the ability to stay on course while they were investigating, having a single-minded determinedness to get to the bottom of the puzzle without allowing suspects to fuss, fidget and worm their way out of answering her. She was the perfect complement to his wandering rambles. And when he took the camera out of the girl's hand and began to examine it, turning it this way and that, he knew that she paid him no attention.

Bobby continued to fuss with the camera, half-listening to the conversation around him. You've always wanted a picture of the two of you, his mind told him. Now's your chance. She won't think twice about it. It's the perfect opportunity.

Bobby glanced over at Alex to confirm that she was still pounding away at the girl. He worked out the few last details, then backed up towards her. He leaned in, thankful that Alex was used to him invading her personal space and that this time wouldn't cause her to have any suspicions about his feelings towards her. She can't ever know, he reminded himself.

He held his right arm out, aiming the camera at them, silently praying that he'd get them both in the view finder. He only had one shot. He leaned closer and closer until their ears nearly brushed against each other. He couldn't smile; that would be too suspicious. He noticed how Alex tripped over her words right before he clicked the picture ("What (pause) did his date look like?), then continued on as if it was a completely normal thing for her partner to walk around snapping pictures of him and her. Bobby headed over to the hostess and stood by her side, but he didn't lean in. With Alex's back to him, he quickly turned the camera around so that it was facing away from him and clicked the button, ignoring the look of confusion on the woman's face. Perfect. Alex would think he was just being his fidgety self, and he'd have the picture of them he'd always wanted.

Alex kept Bobby in her peripheral vision as she talked to the girl. She'd learned quickly that she had to, or Bobby would amble off and get into trouble. It was almost like having a child - A 76" tall child with a lightening fast mind. Alex noticed as Bobby moved closer and closer to her, bending down until their heads were at the same level and his scruffy jaw was over her shoulder. What on earth - she thought as she saw the Polaroid appear in front of them. She tripped over her words briefly at the shock, paused as the flash went off and then continued. What was he doing now? He'd just taken a picture of them. A picture that would cause a stranger to assume that they were a couple. Surely not, she thought, dismissing the idea at once. He's just being Bobby. Her suspicions were alleviated a second later when she heard the pop of the camera going off once more, although she could have sworn she saw the flash, and wondered briefly why she would have seen it if Bobby was behind her, taking a picture of himself and the hostess.

The two left the restaurant moments later, and Bobby carefully tucked his precious picture into his overcoat without a glance. He'd have time to look at it later. A quick peak in the restaurant before it had fully developed had confirmed that he'd gotten the snap he wanted. It was him and Alex, and they looked so… so lovey-dovey, just as he'd always imagined they would.

Fin