Disclaimer: Criminal Intent, Bobby Goren, and Alex Eames are not mine.
A/N: This little ditty contains spoilers for The War at Home…Reviews are better than chocolate.
Walking up and down the aisles, Alex Eames threw enough groceries in her basket to last her the two days she had off for the Christmas holiday. Bread, fruit, a few bags of Skittles to get her through "It's a Wonderful Life" made up the bulk of her purchases from the small grocery store near her new apartment. On her way to the checkout, Alex threw a couple of Lean Cuisines into the mix and rounded the corner of the frozen foods section nearly colliding with another customer.
"Excuse me," Alex said automatically, just as she looked up to see Bobby Goren standing there with a box of chocolate covered cherries in his hand. "Oh, hi."
Bobby unconsciously looked down at the floor and answered, "Hi."
Seconds ticked by before either of them spoke again.
"It's good to see you, Eames," Bobby finally said, looking at her.
"You too," Alex replied, taking a moment before continuing. "I didn't know that you shopped here."
"I don't usually, but my mom likes this brand of candy and this is the only place in town that I can usually find it," he replied, holding up the box awkwardly.
"How is..how's your mom doing?" Alex asked, remembering the last time she'd asked the same question.
"She's doing better. They found a new medication that helps," he answered, shifting his feet, also remembering the incident in the squad room.
"The captain told me about your leave of absence…I wish you…nevermind. I'm glad to hear your mom is doing better," Alex replied hoarsely.
"Yeah, I just…I couldn't…"Bobby answered not even able to finish his sentence.
"Yeah, I know. Well, Merry Christmas, Bobby," Alex said, trying hard to smile.
"Same to you," he replied, still not quite ready to move away from her.
"Take care of yourself," she said, laying a hand on his arm and looking up at him.
Bobby didn't answer her. He knew that he didn't have to. They had not been partners for more than six weeks now and he knew that she could still read him like a book. Alex moved past him and he watched her get in line to pay for her items. She never looked back. Half of him was glad and the other half of him wanted to go up to her and grab her and beg her for forgiveness for abandoning her, for abandoning them. But he didn't, Bobby watched her walk out of the store and onto the snowy street.
"Merry Christmas, Alex," he whispered, trying to hurry up so that he could get back to his dying mother.
The End.