Anticipation
Disclaimer: LOCI, Goren, and Eames belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.
Description: Eames is coming back, and Goren can hardly stand the anticipation.
Author Notes: Second fic ever—A short one, and I wrote it a while ago, but I figured I should post it before Eames actually returns.
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Today is the day.
Goren is beside himself with restless energy. He gets to work even earlier than usual. At 5 am the office is silent and dark.
He went home at midnight last night after completing all of his leftover paperwork. Every trace of the work he and Bishop had done over the months is vanished.
And this morning, he is making sure everything is ready for a new start.
Eames' desk is clear. He even dusted it. The framed picture of her dog that she keeps there is shining with new polish.
He isn't trying to be cute about it, and really his excessive efforts are more a cleansing ritual for him than for her desk. His life has been in flux since the day she was put on desk duty. Never mind the day that she really left for her maternity leave. And he wanted to clear the months of loneliness out of the way. So he wiped down her desk with a paper towel and some all-purpose cleaner he brought from home, and looked at the residue on the towel as though it came off his own body.
Today is the day.
At 7 am, he makes coffee. Then, rather than give her bitter department-supplied coffee from a filthy coffee pot, he runs down the street to get her a mocha and a scone. He panics in the long line, worried she'll show up early and he won't be there to greet her.
He races back to the office, and people on the sidewalk give him annoyed looks as he pushes through the crowd.
It's 7:30. One-half hour. He fiddles around at his desk with whatever he comes across, trying to look busy. Other detectives slowly trickle in and the phones start ringing. The din of noise builds as his jittery energy comes to a climactic plateau.
The Captain is here now. He says good morning to Goren and gives him a knowing look. Deakins makes a comment about being relieved his other half is finally going to be around to keep him in check.
His other half. No one knows the truth of it better than he.
Today is the day.
At 7:45, one of the administrative assistants appears with a welcome back card for him to sign. It's already filled with dozens of little notes of congratulations and greetings. He finds a small blank space and simply signs "Goren". He isn't really sure what to say, and certainly a card like this is an inappropriate forum to tell her that he felt out-of-control without her, that every part of his life was thrown off course, that having her back was sending him into a kind of frantic seizure of post-traumatic stress.
The card sits on her desk now, next to the mocha.
There is nothing left to do but stare at the elevator doors. Other detectives glance at him, exchange glances with each other. He doesn't care. He just sits there and wills the elevator doors to open with his eyes.
At 7:58, he starts breaking pencils. The popping perfectly articulates the little explosions he is hearing in his head.
He becomes so focused on the pencils, in fact, that he doesn't notice when someone walks up behind him and leans over his shoulder to examine the pile of broken yellow sticks.
"Wow. What a way to economize. Two pencils for the price of one, huh?"
Goren becomes still when he hears the first intonations of her familiar raspy voice. Then he turns to see his partner, his real partner, standing there with the corners of her mouth turned up in her signature smirk, wearing her usual well-cut dark suit.
All he can say is "You're here."
And his usually grim face is taken over by the smile to end all smiles.
Today is the day he can start breathing again.
Disclaimer: LOCI, Goren, and Eames belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.
Description: Eames is coming back, and Goren can hardly stand the anticipation.
Author Notes: Second fic ever—A short one, and I wrote it a while ago, but I figured I should post it before Eames actually returns.
**********************************************************************
Today is the day.
Goren is beside himself with restless energy. He gets to work even earlier than usual. At 5 am the office is silent and dark.
He went home at midnight last night after completing all of his leftover paperwork. Every trace of the work he and Bishop had done over the months is vanished.
And this morning, he is making sure everything is ready for a new start.
Eames' desk is clear. He even dusted it. The framed picture of her dog that she keeps there is shining with new polish.
He isn't trying to be cute about it, and really his excessive efforts are more a cleansing ritual for him than for her desk. His life has been in flux since the day she was put on desk duty. Never mind the day that she really left for her maternity leave. And he wanted to clear the months of loneliness out of the way. So he wiped down her desk with a paper towel and some all-purpose cleaner he brought from home, and looked at the residue on the towel as though it came off his own body.
Today is the day.
At 7 am, he makes coffee. Then, rather than give her bitter department-supplied coffee from a filthy coffee pot, he runs down the street to get her a mocha and a scone. He panics in the long line, worried she'll show up early and he won't be there to greet her.
He races back to the office, and people on the sidewalk give him annoyed looks as he pushes through the crowd.
It's 7:30. One-half hour. He fiddles around at his desk with whatever he comes across, trying to look busy. Other detectives slowly trickle in and the phones start ringing. The din of noise builds as his jittery energy comes to a climactic plateau.
The Captain is here now. He says good morning to Goren and gives him a knowing look. Deakins makes a comment about being relieved his other half is finally going to be around to keep him in check.
His other half. No one knows the truth of it better than he.
Today is the day.
At 7:45, one of the administrative assistants appears with a welcome back card for him to sign. It's already filled with dozens of little notes of congratulations and greetings. He finds a small blank space and simply signs "Goren". He isn't really sure what to say, and certainly a card like this is an inappropriate forum to tell her that he felt out-of-control without her, that every part of his life was thrown off course, that having her back was sending him into a kind of frantic seizure of post-traumatic stress.
The card sits on her desk now, next to the mocha.
There is nothing left to do but stare at the elevator doors. Other detectives glance at him, exchange glances with each other. He doesn't care. He just sits there and wills the elevator doors to open with his eyes.
At 7:58, he starts breaking pencils. The popping perfectly articulates the little explosions he is hearing in his head.
He becomes so focused on the pencils, in fact, that he doesn't notice when someone walks up behind him and leans over his shoulder to examine the pile of broken yellow sticks.
"Wow. What a way to economize. Two pencils for the price of one, huh?"
Goren becomes still when he hears the first intonations of her familiar raspy voice. Then he turns to see his partner, his real partner, standing there with the corners of her mouth turned up in her signature smirk, wearing her usual well-cut dark suit.
All he can say is "You're here."
And his usually grim face is taken over by the smile to end all smiles.
Today is the day he can start breathing again.