Disclaimer: Not mine. I just borrowed it… I'll put it back like I found it, promise!

A/N: For some reason, I was feeling down. So, unlike a lot of people who write depressing stuff when they're down, I wrote something happy and fluffy to cheer myself up. Interesting, no? Anyhow, I hope you like my little version of what might happen if a perp went to far and it was the proverbial straw…

Paper Faces on Parade

He could see her shoulders heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Small hands braced themselves on the windowsill, head dropped towards the floor. He ignored his coworkers removing the suspect from the room, only briefly acknowledging them when they asked him to let go of the man.

It had been routine, to start with. A politician's daughter, killed by the man now in handcuffs being dragged out. She'd threatened his happiness, so he'd killed her. They'd managed to find him without much trouble, and they'd brought him in for questioning. Goren had been late, obsessing over something small that got him an exasperated look from Eames as she headed into interrogation.

He was still kicking himself for that. The man, Carlson, had evidently listened to Eames and decided she was a threat to his happiness too. He wasn't carrying a weapon, but he didn't need one. He'd lunged at her, grabbing for her throat. Goren, who'd been halfway in the room when it had happened, had wrapped a massive hand around Carlson's arm, pulling him from Eames, and twisted it behind his back. It was the least he could do, after leaving his partner alone with the man in the first place.

Now it was just the two of them, and Bobby had no clue how to approach her. He hovered, wanting to apologize, wanting to check on her neck, wanting to grab her, hold her tightly, and promise never to do that again… he shook himself free of that thought and took a tentative step forward.

"Oh, for crying out loud." She lifted her head and tilted it to one side. "There, see? There'll be a little bruising, but not much. Satisfied?"

He gently laid one hand over the red marks marring the smooth skin. "Does it hurt? Because I have Advil in my desk."

"It's fine, Bobby." She raised a hand and covered his, squeezing it briefly. "Really, I'm alright."

"No, you aren't." He moved back and sat on the edge of the table, wanting to distance himself from her, the way she smelled, and the way she felt. "What's wrong?"

"I should have seen it coming." She knew she couldn't hide anything from him, so she told the complete truth. "I should have seen past the mask."

He smiled a little ruefully. "You know, there's a line, from Phantom of the Opera. 'Masquerade, paper faces on parade, masquerade, hide your face so the world can never find you.' That's what a mask does, it hides a person from the world. Nobody is infallible, Alex. Not me, not even you."

She turned around, leaning against the wall, hugging her waist protectively. "He was so calm about it. He killed her because she was a threat to what he wanted. I was a threat, so I had to die. Even for the split second that he had his hands around my neck," here one hand fluttered softly over the forming bruises, "he didn't show emotion. It was like I was a dog that bit the mail man one too many times and had to be put down… except with him, he'd be more likely to be the mailman and pull out a gun and shoot the dog on his own." She laughed humorlessly. "I've been attacked, Bobby, that wasn't what scared me. It was the total lack of feeling he showed. There was no remorse, no guilt… there wasn't even anger or hatred. There was just a sense of duty, like he was doing what he needed to do."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "We've got him now, though, Alex. He's going to be gone for a long time."

"Don't talk to me like I'm a victim, Bobby!" She angrily shrugged his hand off. "I know that. I'm just… not numb enough to be able to see that without being slightly scared." She paused, seemingly to collect herself, then looked him straight in the eye. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Get inside their heads like you do. You get into everything; why they do it, how, where, what their motivation is… how do you pull out?"

"I have an anchor."

"What is it?" There was a slightly desperate tone to her voice. She needed to find out how to do it so that this didn't destroy her the way it was threatening to do. In all her years as a cop, this was the first time she'd run into anyone who truly had no feeling of right or wrong.

"You." He shrugged. "I use you, your friendship, to pull me out of the darkness that these people create."

Knowing him as she did, Alex realized that this was a big admission. It was flattering as well, and it also explained why he was so difficult to work with. Goren was a man who depended on his partner for his sanity, and he had high standards. Only someone who understood him could keep him grounded in reality, and she was flattered that he'd chosen her to be his connection.

"Does it ever get easier?"

"No." He shook his head. "It doesn't."

"Oh." She looked away again. His gaze focused on her neck again, and he reached forward, unable to stop himself from brushing the hair behind her ear.

"You sure you don't want a painkiller for that?"

"I'm fine, Bobby. Really. Just... a bit lost. That's all."

Acting totally on impulse, he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. It was a brotherly thing, his mind declared. She's like your sister, and she was almost seriously injured and you're just expressing your happiness that she wasn't. That argument might have worked, too, if she hadn't been turning her head towards him at the same time. Even with the height difference, their lips met, and they both froze.

Neither of them deepened the kiss, but neither of them pulled away. They just stood there, outside of space and time for a while; the gentle pressure of their mouths sending sparks throughout their bodies. Then a car honked outside somewhere, and they sprang apart, looking sheepish. They had to get back to work; they had bad guys to catch and paperwork to fill out.

But Bobby couldn't leave it like that. "Hey, Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"You want to get a cup of coffee sometime?"

She gave a small smile. "Sure. And Bobby?"

"Yeah?"

"Still offering the Advil?"