Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: What can I say? The Christmas spirit got me. Based on the idea that Alex had run across Bobby at some point before they were partners. Review, please!
Past Lives
She watched him mingle uncomfortably with the rest of the major case squad, occasionally looking over at her as though pleading for a rescue. She just smiled back, nursing a drink (water, because she had designated herself as his driver) and chatting with various other detectives. She remembered the first time she'd seen him, at a party like this one.
She'd been married at the time, and had accompanied her husband to some function or other. He'd been standing in a corner, a cup of coffee in his hand, completely alone. As her husband had drifted away to speak to his friends, she'd made her way across with the intention of striking up a conversation with the one person who looked as out of place as she felt. It didn't hit her until she was up next to him that he was really much bigger than she was. She'd assumed him to be of average height, but up close she realized that she came up to about his shoulder.
She'd talked to him for several minutes before her husband had called her over to introduce around, and she'd gotten an impression of great intelligence, great physical strength, and a complicated mind. She never did catch his name, but she'd remembered him. When she found out she was going to be partnered with the brilliant but crazy Detective Goren, she'd suddenly thought of the guy she'd met at a party years before.
Lost in her memories, she didn't notice her partner come up and stand behind her. "You look like I did, you know."
She smiled up at him. "I didn't know if you remembered."
"How could I forget?" He looked around the room, at all the happy people in holiday colors. "You were the only person who talked to me all night, you know."
She turned around, her disbelief evident on her face. "Are you serious?"
"Everyone thought I was crazy, remember? Most of them still do." Only because she'd known him so long did she see the subtle shift of his face that heralded his retreat into himself.
"Well, they're all just jealous. They wish they could do what you do, and they don't understand how you do it. It's human nature to fear what we don't share or understand." She shifted to the side a bit, putting herself between her partner and the people who hurt him.
He smiled down at her, a mysterious expression on his face.
"What?"
He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. With a small laugh at the look on her face, he pointed up. "Mistletoe, Eames. Merry Christmas." He wandered off in the direction of the door.
It took a few moments before she was able to process what had just happened. Then, putting down her cup, she hurried after him. "Hey, Goren! I'm your ride, remember?"
A/N: Fluff, review please.