Disclaimer: I have no claim to L&O CI OR THEIR CHARACTERS!
SUMMARY: A quick little shippy tale set after Frame ... Alex is missing Bobby. She goes looking for him and finds a puzzle.
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Mustang Alex
It had been five days eighteen hours forty four minutes and eight, nine , ten … seconds since Alex had seen or heard from her Partner … but who's counting. She tried his cell and land line at home, she stopped by his home on a number of occasions and even used her spare key … no Robert Goren. She went over his apartment with a fine tooth comb, almost like she had a warrant to search the joint. He hadn't slept there in days … she knew this because she placed a book on his bed and it was still there the following two days. She was either concerned or pissed … she hadn't decided yet. The last time she saw him, Declan Cage had declared Robert Goren free … free from his responsibility of caring for his sick Mother … who died a year ago and free from babysitting his older yet irresponsible brother … irresponsible to say the least. Could he have jumped off a bridge?… Concerned. Or hooked up? … Pissed. The least he could do was answer his damn phone … hard to do if he was wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the Hudson. The problem was, the Captain gave him time off for bereavement … he wasn't due back for another week. She was getting too anxious to wait. She thought of his friend Lewis, she didn't know him very well but she thought she would give him a call. Five days eighteen hours fifty five minutes and eleven seconds …
"Lewis's pizza emporium and ace custom auto body … do you want fries with that fender?"
"Ah … could I speak with Lewis Dawicki … please?"
"Depends … who's askin?"
"Detective Alexandra Eames."
"Hey … Detective Alex … what can I do for you?"
"Oh , ah Lewis … I was looking for Bobby … have you seen him?"
"Mostly just his ass … but yeah he's here … do you want to speak with him?"
"No, no in fact … don't tell him that I'm on the phone, okay?"
"Too late … he looked up when he heard your name."
"Great! Lewis … don't let him leave … I'll be right there."
"Trust me, he's not going anywhere."
Lewis' Pizza Emporium and Custom Auto Body???
When Alex arrived, she understood what Lewis meant when he said, Bobby wasn't going anywhere … unless he hailed a cab. The engine to Bobby's Mustang was in a million pieces laid out methodically on a cloth tarp all around Bobby's feet and all you could see was Bobby's … ah … butt sticking out of the hood of his car … pulling more parts out. She stood there with her mouth wide open. Lewis approached her.
"Yeah … I know … most women find his butt amazing."
"Hey Lewis … what the hell is he doing?"
"Rebuilding his engine. He rebuilt the trannie already … he started on the engine last night."
Bobby could hear her voice so he twisted his body to see her. He waved his wrench.
"Hey Eames … what's up?"
She whispers to Lewis … "I'm gonna kill him … that's what's up."
"Hey, I heard that … what did I do now?" He put his tools down and wiped his hands off. He leaned against his car and shrugged his shoulders.
"I've been trying to call you … I was worried. Do you know how to answer your phone?"
Lewis started laughing. "You want to tell her or should I?"
"What?"
"I dropped it in transmission fluid and haven't had time to replace it yet."
"Transmission fluid?"
"Hey Lew, get Alex some coveralls so she can see the rebuilt transmission … she's a girl that can appreciate a classic car when she sees one."
Bobby and Alex get down on opposite sides of the car and slide under on creepers and meet underneath. He starts pointing out the parts of the transmission that he rebuilt.
"See here … I had to remove all of this but I had it up on the lift of course."
He turned to face her and their lips were mere inches apart.
"And why exactly did you rebuild the transmission? I thought the Mustang was running great."
"It is. He's a little distracted by her closeness … he hadn't realized how much he missed her … he took a quick glance at his watch …Five days twenty three hours four minutes and eight seconds since the last time he saw her… he turned his lip up into a smile. I needed something to do."
"So you made a jigsaw puzzle out of your car."
"My life is a jigsaw puzzle, it might as well be."
Exasperated. "Bobby."
He slides out from underneath his car … she stays there for a few minutes thinking.
"Detective Alex … what do you like on your pizza?"
That gets her attention and she slides out.
"Meat lovers."
He looks over at Bobby.
"A woman that loves cars and can eat like a man and look like that … marry me Detective Alex?"
Bobby laughs that Bobby laugh.
"Just go get the pizza Lewis. Do you want to help me rebuild my engine Alex?"
"Which one Goren?"
Lewis stopped dead in his tracks and Bobby dropped his wrench.
She was just kidding … right?
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Any interest in finding out if she was kidding??? Thanks for reading!! Judy ;)