Italic sentences represent thoughts

Contains minor spoilers for S5 Slither and Dollhouse. This is a sequel to Baby Steps.

Summary: It may seem like a small step but if felt like they were taking a giant leap. Not necessarily for mankind.

This is pure fluff.

I don't own CI and I earn little-to-no money so please don't sue.

One Small Step, One Giant Leap

There were far too many to choose from. Since when had she bought all of those? She can't even remember deciding to go into the shops where she must have gone to buy them.

Alex Eames' wardrobe was being turned upside down by herself to find something suitable to wear. How the hell do you dress up? She suddenly remembers going on some spur-of-the-moment shopping with her sister whilst she was pregnant and it hits her why she can't remember buying them.

She hadn't.

She had, at that point, been heavily pregnant with her nephew and her sister was spoiling her rotten because of it. Apparently, pregnant women should be waited on hand and foot; her sister had told her as much when she complained about the shopping trip in the first place. It wasn't enough one was doing it, both her sisters had chosen to go with her, telling Alex that she needed to have some clothes that would help to convince to lose the weight she was sure to gain from the experience. Alex groaned at the memory, she'd absolutely hated the attention being pregnant had brought to her. The way her parents dotted over her, making her spend the last few weeks at their home or the way her brothers all thought she was some kind of Goddess for offering up her body for nine months without reaping the rewards.

Actually, that just wasn't true for her. There were plenty of rewards, she had a great nephew and she loved him. Best of all, she didn't have to do the unpleasant parenting, she just got to be the loving Aunt.

Snapping out of her reverie, she forced herself to choose one, any before he turned up and she had to pretend that she hadn't be trying to choose at all. Sighing, she sat on her bed and looked at them, all of them placed around the room, either on the hooks or just resting on a chair, waiting to be chosen. She was just waiting for them to start begging her to be worn. Shaking her head she tries to remove the mental image that was pushing it's way to the front of her mind. That was not what she wanted to see.

Think, Alex, think. Be... spontaneous The best way to make a decision. She just stood up and grabbed the nearest one to her, rushing off to the bathroom to change into it before she could change her mind.

When she emerged from the bathroom she was pleased with the results, she definitely looked the part but was she? Alex had never been like this before and she mentally kicking herself for being so stupid about the whole thing. Since when do I act girly? Chastising herself, giving herself a mental shake. She smoothed over the fabric on her stomach, feeling the inpurities on herself as well as the dress. Great, the bumps of muscles and possibly fat she thought to herself grimly. Of course, her stomach hadn't been as flat as it was before she was pregnant and she somehow doubted it ever will.

Maybe there was time to change into something else?

A doorbell ringing made her visibly jump and she looked at the door with suspicion. She glanced at her watch and noticed that he was early. He's not meant to be early. Doesn't that break some kind of rule? She slowly walked over to the door and had a quick look through the peephole, using her hands against the door as support as she did so.

Yep, it was him.

Allowing herself a smile, she opened the door and couldn't contain the grin when she took in his attire. He was dressed impeccably smart, and was trying not to smile himself. She hadn't opened the door fully and was using the door to shield her own clothes, and thankful she was doing it too. "May I come in?" Mike asked, wondering if she really was going to let her in. He wanted to see what she was wearing, since he'd specifically asked for her to 'dress up'.

She remained behind the door and allowed him entrance into her home. Closing the door he finally got to see her and he was stopped in his tracks. Alex was wearing a midnight-blue, above-the-knee length cocktail dress that was tightfitting in all the right places. Her jewellery was simple, a silver necklace and silver watch that seemed to match although it was not intentional. Her blue heel sandal shoes were making her tall enough to at least compete with the height. "Okay, so is this 'up' enough?" She asked, already knowing the answer because Mike was stood there doing a perfect impression of a fish. She really wanted to grab his chin and push it back up so his lips weren't parted anymore.

Mike couldn't help but eye her up and down, taking it all in. "Hmmmm." he regarded her thoughtfully, seriously considering the question. "I'm not sure..." she raised her eyebrow at him, not expecting him to say that. "I think it's too 'up'." Mike grinned. He eyed her one more time before finally meeting her eyes, to see them laughing at him.

"Oh, well..." she looked in the direction of her room. "I could always go and change..." she started to turn and he placed her hand on his arm and she smiled at him. She appreciated his stab at humor and she just had to return the favour.

"No, I do like it. You look..." he eyed her one more time before finally adding, "Beautiful."

She smiled at him warmly, "So do you."

He looked down at his clothes and looked back at her with a questioning raised eyebrow, "This is the kind of stuff I could wear for work."

"Nah, those are different from this one." True, no need to deny that, it's cleaner! he thought to himself but figured he was better off keeping that one to himself. She kissed him on the cheek and rushed off to get her bag and coat from her room. When she returned he smiled at her and simply opened up the door for her and waited for her to leave before following him. He'd made a promise to himself that if he was going to do this, then he was going to do this right.

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"I don't see why I have to wear a blindfold." she complained, as she pulled his hands away from her face, as he had tried once again to unsuccessfully put the scarf around her eyes. They were sat in his car, still outside of her house since she refused to be surprised.

"You not seeing is precisely the point, Alex." He reminded her with a grin.

"Seriously? Come on, you've been keeping it a secret all week. I think I can know, now that we're actually going there." She pointed in whatever direction she figured they'd be going in but when she turned to Mike he was shaking his head at her.

"I want this to be surprise - you're wearing the blindfold." He told her, using index finger to point, trying to be stern and failing when he noticed the innocent face she was trying to pull on him. "Being sweet faced doesn't work on me."

She grabbed the scarf out of his hands, "Oh, well, it was worth a try." When he was satisfied she couldn't see he pulled off from their parking position. It was silent in the car for a quite a few minutes, classical music playing in the background whilst he was driving but when he turned his head to see how she was doing, he noticed that she seemed to be concentrating. That can't be on the music he mused.

"I can see what you're doing. Don't bother because I've been taking the scenic route." He told her with a chuckle. Defeated, she slumped back into the seat and sighed. He smiled at her determination to find out just where they were going. Once a cop, always a cop. Alex hated surprises and she preferred to drive so right now she was annoyed. She hoped that where they were going was good for Mike's sake.

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Thankfully the surprise had turned out to be better than good. When they reached the inside of the building, Alex had finally been allowed to take the blindfold off. When she could open her eyes without being blinded she was so stunned she couldn't speak. She slowly turned to Mike, who looked pleased with himself - clearly she was having the desired reaction. "Mike? This... is..." she wanted to say it must have cost him too much or they're going to look out of place but she knew that both points he'd probably already considered since he'd clearlry planned this with alot of thought. She didn't want to hurt his feelings with her doubts so she smiled at him. "This is amazing." she spoke breathlessly, and it truly was amazing. He had outdone himself, there was no way he was ever going to beat this.

The restaurant that they'd entered was clearly of a high standard. The cream table clothes were punctuated effectively with the forest green napkins that were holding utensils. The room had a 'candlelight' feel to it with the soft lights and the flickering of lanterns, with paper flames being blown by a fan to create the effect of a medieval torch. But not those cheap ones, these actually looked real and Alex couldn't be sure if they were or not. The walls on the right side of the room decorated in a deep red and the walls on the left side of the room decorated in a deep green. She felt like she'd enterted some foreign place and the atmosphere seemed to light but romantic.

A young waiter led them to a table that was semi-private and away from most of the other guests. There were no windows in the room just to help create the illusion of privacy. They sat down and Alex just smiled at him, refusing to say or do anything before he finally caved in with wanting to know what she was smiling so enthusiastically about. "What?" he said, keeping his voice low.

"You." she replied, still smiling. "You amaze me. I -" she paused whilst looking around the room, "I never saw this coming and I tried to guess where we were going and this was not on the list."

"Well don't believe everything they say, I'm actually a nice guy." He joked, and she just shook her head, she was still in awe about it. "I hope this means that you like it."

"Are you kidding? I love it!" Her enthusiasm was contagious to say the least, he began grinning like the cat who got the cream. He leaned forward on the table. They weren't sitting opposite each other, they were sitting almost next to each other, although she was sitting at the side of the table to his left.

Coming close to her he almost whispered, not wanting anyone to eavesdrop. "I wanted to show you that I'm being serious." she looked at him as he spoke, "That I'm not looking for something short or some kind of passionate affair..." She put a hand to his face and she smiled.

"I get it. It's okay." She took the hand away from his face when the waiter returned, pouring them each a glass of water and handing them both a menu. They thank him and he disappeared to wait on the needs to someone else.

Mike took a sip of water and looked at her, "So, how are you and Goren doing?" he seemed to be genuinely concerned and Alex smiled at him for showing it. Considering that the two (Goren and Eames) had almost come to complete blows in the middle of the squad room a week earlier, she had been surprised that they'd managed to deal with it effectively and professionally.

"We're doing okay now, we're listening to each other again, which is a good thing." She paused, and waited for him to put his glass down, once he did she continued, "We found a head in a fridge this morning." Mike looked at her to see her face was serious, except for the smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Mike was thankful she'd allowed him the chance to put his glass down and swollow the swig of water he'd taken because he was pretty sure he would've sprayed it everywhere. Nothing could prepare you for the way Alex surprised you with her direct approach. "Well, gee, it seems you guys get all the fun." he retorted and Alex grinned at him in response.

"You don't have fun?" asked Alex, leaning forward as well.

"Oh sure, seperating sisters is always my idea of fun." Referring to the case they he and Barek had recently closed.

"Well, in that case, you should avoid me and my sisters when we get into one of our fights. Because we literally blow." Alex was laughing at Mike's amused expression. "It can get ugly." she grinned and picked up one of the menu's the waiter had left.

"You have those often?" Alex looked at him to see that his facial expression was showing that he couldn't decide how to take her comment.

"No. But usually it's only my Dad that can seperate us." She chuckled at the memory and at him. He laughed, realising that that was probably true. Women, especially related women such as sisters, had a habit of arguing more frequently and it would usually end up in some kind of fight. He'd recently learnt that everything was fought over with sisters, including babies.

"So is it hair pulling stuff? Nail scratching? Biting?" he asked, also picking up his menu but not really reading it.

She put hers down and looked at him with a curious, playful smile. "Why do you want to know?"

Grinning, "I just need to know if I've got to avoid meeting your sisters." Alex laughed at him.

"I promise, if we have a real fight, I will tell you just before hand so you can duck out of the room." She replied, neither realising just what Mike had been suggesting. She was about to look at the menu again when she decided to voice something that's been on her mind since they'd walked into the building and her blindfold had been removed. "Mike?" he looked up from his menu, "Are you sure you can afford this... ? I mean..."

Mike put his hand gently on her arm, "I can." wanting to put her mind at ease, "It's okay. I saved up, you can pick whatever you want." She leaned into him and kissed him gently on his cheek to show how much she appreciated his effort. He tried to hold down his excitement but that had been the second time she'd done that in one evening. Smiling, he kissed her cheek in return and she giggled? Mike was watching her intensely, wondering if he'd heard that one right.

He was pretty sure he had but he had never even considered that Alex Eames could giggle.

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TBC