Another day,
Another dime,
Another hour,
Another crime…
Eames was whispering under her breath as she walked into One Police Plaza, towards the lifts and punched in the button for the eleventh floor. The rhyme had been in her head since she had woken up that morning and was giving her a headache – worse then one of the ones that Goren gave her when he was zoned out, babbling about a case.
Hearing the characteristic 'ping' of the elevator and seeing the doors slide open, she stepped inside and waited for the doors to close her off from the world so that she could be alone in the enclosed space of the lift, zooming her up towards her desk, her job, her responsibility…
And yet the rhythm and words of the rhyme spun around in her head, like a record stuck on repeat. The lift sung out again, announcing grandly that she had reached her destination and ordering her to step out, or risk being transported to another floor.
"You're late." Said a disembodied voice that she recognised as Goren's. Stepping out just before the heavy metal doors caught her in their vice like grip, Eames spun around, trying in vain to pinpoint where her partner was.
Warily she walked over to another detective and asked him, "Where's Goren?"
He smiled and replied, "In the Captains office. Playing with the new toys." Pointing towards the oak door the detective guided her eyes towards the visible shadow of Goren, pacing back and forth, his hand raised slightly towards his mouth.
"Thanks." She muttered, and stalked towards the office door, her already bad mood getting worse with every step that she took. Suddenly the voice boomed out again, breaking the relative silence of the Major Case squad room.
"Don't walk like that Eames. It's bad for your posture, straighten your back."
One or two of the less experienced detectives chuckled, but received a death glare from Eames, who flung open the door and stomped inside, making sure to slam it after her, just for effect.
When she was inside she saw that Deakins office had been transformed into a mini electronics store; TV monitors lining the room with coloured pictures flickering on and off, cameras pointed in every direction, and Goren, slumped in a chair, grinning from ear to ear, a joint ear piece and microphone clipped to his head.
"Wait – let me guess," Eames said jokingly, "While I was away you ram raided an electronics store and stole all their merchandise?"
Goren got up from the chair and took off the head piece, the microphone grazing along his cheek slowly, putting it down on the desk and then replying,
"No, but you were close. Deakins has gone security mad and he's had cameras installed all over the place, cameras and speakers."
With a slight smile he grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the other side of the desk where there was a panel of buttons and switches, each with their own label, written in the Captains neat handwriting.
"Look at this," He muttered in awe; his free hand floating over the switch board like a magician would before pulling the rabbit out of the hat. "It's the newest model, the Z728. This is the kind of thing that millionaires have in their panic rooms. Top of the line Eames. Top of the line."
Eames smiled as she imagined him picking up the board and hugging it until it bent in the middle. Like a kid in a candy store…
He let go of her hand slowly, realising that he had held it too long for it to be just friendly, but wishing that he didn't have to, her reassuring grip made him forget about everything – well, almost everything. Everything except for that annoying poem rattling around in his head…
People suffer,
People cry,
People kill,
People die.
So ominous, so foreboding. He'd recorded it earlier on some of the equipment in the hope that doing so would chase it out of his head, but to no avail, it still persisted in staying glued to his brain.
"You two having fun?" Deakins asked from the door as he walked into the room, seeing the two detectives hunched over the switchboard, each deep in thought.
Pushing a pile of papers away from his chair with his foot, he flopped down into the soft, leather and tilted his head back, taking in the smells of his office – his space.
"Going a bit home security crazy Captain?" Eames asked mockingly, her headache slowly starting to fade away into nothingness.
"No, we just needed some new stuff." He replied, his eyes closed.
"You mean you just wanted something new to play with."
"Oh, why don't you go do some paperwork. I don't see Goren making fun of me."
"That's because you've got your eyes closed." She stated, smiling slightly as Deakins opened one eye and poked his tongue out at her lazily.
Goren stood back, watching the exchange with interest but not wanting to be involved quite yet. Better not to choose sides until you know who was going to win.
"Did you just see what he did to me!" Eames exclaimed into Goren's ear, making him jump with surprise.
"Umm… No?" He replied quietly. His plan of defence ruined he had to choose a side. And he chose Deakins.
"Oh, you're just siding with him so that you can play with his stuff some more." She said to Goren, pouting in the way that she knew made any man melt, then she turned to look at Deakins glared at him and then swayed out of the office, shut the door and walked towards her desk.
After a long silence where the two men looked at the closed door Deakins turned to Goren and asked: "So – Did you really stay here just to play with my new toys, or did you want to spend some time in my glorious company?"
Shuffling his feet uncomfortably and looking down at the ground, he replied,
"Umm, I was wondering if, umm, maybe -"
"Maybe I could give you some advice on how to ask out a certain female detective?"
The husky detectives head shot up, and Deakins noticed that Goren's face was redder than a sunburnt beetroot. "How did you know?" Goren asked, embarrassed.
"Well, it's pretty obvious with you two. You're flirting with each other all day," The Captain replied, laughing a little at the expression on the detectives face; one of surprise and bewilderment. "Look, just ask her out, she won't say no to you. Just like you wouldn't to her." Fighting the urge to add; 'And do it today, I've got money riding on this', Deakins gestured towards the door, wordlessly telling Goren to leave.
Smiling to himself when he was alone in the room, Deakins watched the burly male detective walk over to his desk and sit down, and start to scribble on a piece of paper. Zooming in on the TV screen he read the words that appeared on the paper, one after the other:
'Dear Eames – Alex, I mean Alex."
Smiling as the black and white detective scrunched the paper into a ball and threw it into the rubbish, he thought of what Eames and Goren's date would be like, Robert probably being the gentleman that he always was, opening the door for her and pushing in her chair, and Alex shyly replying to his comments, maybe even giving one of her light hearted laughs at one of his smart jokes.
God, they were like his own kids, and he had watched their relationship bloom into what it was becoming now – love…
OoO
Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't be writing these right after I watch sappy movies…
Oh well, personally I think it turned out alright, but if you wish to prove me wrong in the reviews. Speaking of reviews, all flames will be happily read and used to roast marshmallows and/or various meat products.
I don't think that I'll do another chapter of this… I like one shot's better because I don't have to keep working on something…
Caitabee…