-1Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all its characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. : (
A/N: Just a little Valentine's Day one shot. Enjoy.
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Valentine
Pink certainly was not her favorite color.
Alexandra Eames mentally cursed the moron who had pranced around the office that morning throwing around bright pink and red streamers and leaving little paper hearts on everyone's desk that read in pretty, loopy cursive: Cupid was here. She grinded her teeth, crumpled up the little paper and tossed it into the garbage, causing a skeptical stare to arise from her partner. "What?" she growled to him and turned to smack the keys on her laptop with anger.
Maybe her hatred of Saint Valentine's Day came from her teenage years. She wasn't ugly when she was a teenager, it was just that her aggressive and tom-boyish nature had scared off the boys who had tried to befriend her. She'd never had a Valentine, and even though she acted like it didn't bother her, inside she felt herself breaking.
Alex scowled at the screen in front of her as a pop-up ad of a tiny dancing man in a diaper flashed onto it. She slammed the laptop shut and crossed her arms over her chest. Bobby blinked at her, let his head fall to one side. "Something wrong, Eames?"
"Everything's just peachy," she snarled and rose to get something to wash the bad taste Valentine's Day left in her mouth.
She poured herself a cup of coffee, went to reach for the sugar and then drew her hand back, hissing. Pink! The sugar was pink! Who was the idiot who added dye to her beloved sweetener? Alex tossed the cup, along with the coffee, into the garbage and stormed back over to her desk where she pulled out a pen and began scribbling on a piece of paper.
"Not a V-Day person, Eames?" Bobby asked as he stared over at her.
Alex sighed, put the writing utensil down and looked up at him. "Not really," she answer and pursed her lips.
Bobby chuckled, rose. "Come on, Eames, let's go get lunch."
---
The two slid into the seats of a elaborate, overpriced bistro and picked up their menus. While scanning over the choices, Bobby asked, "What is it about Valentine's Day that gets you so mad?"
"I'm not mad," Alex snapped back, and knew it wasn't true. She blew out a breath of air and slouched in her seat. "Okay, maybe it gets me a little upset." She pouted when Bobby looked over at her with his you're lying, I know it, and I'm going to make you tell me the truth face. "Fine, fine. It gets me really upset. So what?"
"Why does it make you so unhappy?" he prodded.
She shrugged. "Probably 'cause I've never really had an actual Valentine." She snorted. "That sounds petty. Look, it doesn't really bother me now, but it did when I was a kid and because of that, I hate it. Just bad memories, okay? Let's drop it," she muttered as the waitress glided over.
Alex ordered a salad while Bobby settled for some Italian dish with a fancy name. "I never had a Valentine either," he began. "It may be hard to believe, but I wasn't as charming and good-looking as I am now back in my youth," he joked, hoping it would get Alex to crack a smile. To his relief, it did, and the woman snorted out a laugh. "So technically, you're my first Valentine."
She chuckled. "So our V-Day virginity has been popped."
"Seems that way." He smiled at her as he took a drink of the icy water in front of him.
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Alex pulled her jacket tighter around her body as the chilly February wind whipped around her and her partner. She wondered how Bobby had convinced her to walk the few blocks from Central to the bistro and back in the freezing winds of winter. As they walked, Alex watched the people who passed her. Most of them were clasped in each others' arms, some of them had their hands glued together, and yet even others were locked at the lips. Alex was almost certain she could hear the squirrels making kissy noises at each other from the treetops above her head.
She growled under her breath and quickened her pace to keep up with Bobby's long strides. They arrived back at One PP quickly and dove back into their work.
When the clock struck five o'clock, Alex rose, stretched, and reached for her jacket. She bid her goodbyes to Bobby and all but ran out to the elevator to escape the pink.
---
Alex parked in front of her building when the clock on her radio flashed 5:23. She stepped out and dashed through the chilly air to her home. And there, sitting on the doorstep, was a bouquet of white and red roses arranged in a small pink vase. She stared at it for a moment through narrowed honey eyes, then reached down to pluck the card from within the jungle of flowers. It read:
To my first Valentine.
With a chuckle and a smile, she picked up the bouquet and cradled it in her arms as she unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad.