Title: When The Time Comes
Spoilers: 3x01 - Undaunted Mettle
Disclaimer: Don't own these two, this show, or that baby. Dick Wolf and Co. have all the rights. This is purely for fun.
A/N: I am obsessed with Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Bit of a late arrival to this fandom, I am only on Season 3 and loving every minute of it. I've managed to carefully avoid spoilers, so I'd love if in your reviews, you could avoid mention of later stuff. Depending on what kind of response this gets, I plan to do an Episode Tag for every single episode of these ten seasons. All mistakes are my own, and feedback is adored, positive or negative. Enjoy!
Alex Eames: Well, I told him.
Robert Goren: What'd he say?
Alex Eames: He gave me a big hug. He said it was a great thing I was doing for my sister and he said when the time comes he'll hook you up with a temporary partner.
Robert Goren: Oh no! I didn't even think of that. (Suuuree, Bobby.) What'd you say? (Will you miss me?)
Alex Eames: I pity the fool. (Alex Eames, I love you.)
James Deakins: How 'bout our gal, huh? Surrogate mom.
Robert Goren: ...
Oh, Bobby. You are terribly obvious.
Here's a ficlet based on his utter look of woe at that moment.
Wasn't it funny how just one word could change everything?
Baby.
Eames was going to have a baby: her sister's baby. There was small comfort in that, he supposed. It wasn't as if the baby was hers. She was just carrying it, like you'd carry a shopping bag for an old lady, or lug a heavy box up a flight of stairs to your apartment. It was a small thing.
No, it wasn't. Eames, when he told her that, had shrugged off the selflessness of the act. She said she was tired of picking her sister up off the bathroom floor every time the test was negative. Said it broke her heart. In her head, it was just one more thing she could do to for family.
Typical Eames.
Why wasn't it so simple for him?
Honestly, Bobby was struggling to not look at her differently. Every time he spoke to Eames now, it felt like it wasn't just Eames he was talking to. It was Eames, uh, plus one. It was her, and it was this thing. This new life, which would bring infinite joy to complete strangers. That was good. This new life, which would remove Eames from his. That was bad.
Some days, he felt resentful. But then he would look at Eames. He would note the beginnings of that extra curve in her cheeks, observe that faraway look in her eye, and...he'd smile, just a little. He could say the baby wasn't part of Eames, that it belonged to this faceless, grateful sister. But he couldn't. It was her, and Bobby could never resent Eames. Those times, he was happy that this life has taken residence in her. It suited her. Who was he to complain?
He would need a name for it then, this life he had grown to accept. Nothing human: it would be too much a of shock when it was gone. Foetus? Too technical. Thing? Too mean. Eames? What would Eames say? Stop staring, Bobby. The bump won't explode or anything. Eames...E-Eames, Little Eames, Eames Junior?
Eames Junior. He could live with that.
So now, every morning that he sweeps in from the wet or the cold, he is resolute. He takes off his coat calmly and with ease. He levers himself down into the chair opposite. He looks at her; keeps his face carefully blank as he extends his usual greeting.
"M-Morning, Eames."
"Hey, Bobby. Cap wants us in the office in 5."
He nods, swallows hurriedly. He extends his first cautious greeting to that other part of her; the part he can't help but feel like he contends with. The part that will eventually take his partner away.
Hello, Eames Junior.
Then, and only then, can Bobby get to work.
