Author: SilentG
Title: Mr. Big
Fandom: LO:CI
Pairing: B/A
Rating: T for now
Spoilers: Nope
Archive: Anywhere – no need to ask – just attribute, and let me know if possible
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: Alex Eames hasn't even figured out this New Bobby and he's already rushing off to Arizona to help Carolyn Barek of all people. So what does a clever detective do to get her partner back faster when he's off solving a case without her? B/A casefile S10 compliant. Despite the title, there is NO Logan in this fic. :)

A/N 1: Like Hazel-Rah, I have two clever rabbits who make everything better. Thank-you to Weathergirl and Metisse – two accomplished writers with lots on the go – who were kind enough to take time out of their busy lives to preview this fic with a gimlet eye.

~.~.~.~.~

CHAPTER ONE: THE OLD BOBBY

"Detective Goren, could you join us please?"

Alex got a funny sick feeling as she watched her partner jump out of his chair and dash to the Captain's half-open door. Ensconced within and sequestered with the Captain since before she and Bobby arrived that morning was – from what Alex could see of the back of her head – a petite, lively female. Alex's attention was self-consciously riveted on her partner's fit, trim, sharply-dressed form as he disappeared into the room.

She spent the next forty-five minutes shuffling papers and scribbling nonsense, keeping up the pretense that she was getting something done. The person in the Captain's office was probably some citizen making a complaint, or maybe a Captain checking a reference Bobby had given for a fellow detective. It wasn't Bobby's new boss, it wasn't his new partner. He wasn't going to leave again, he wasn't going to replace her.

It wasn't someone he was interested in. Sleeping with. Going to sleep with.

Not that it was any of her business, what Bobby did with women. His recently-regained zest for life, his machismo, his sexuality, were all things she was accustomed to viewing with disinterest, unless they were useful for a case. Or put him in danger. So that was what she was doing, regarding with disinterest. And the squirmy feeling in her chest, the ugly squint she couldn't wipe off her face, were due to something else entirely.

She had just come to the helpful conclusion that her unease was simply due to the newness of their return – perhaps a delayed, sublimated traumatic reaction to the events that surrounded their abrupt departure two years ago – when she heard another summons…

"Detective Eames? In my office please."

O.O.O.O.O

For not the first time, Captain Hannah wondered if there was something going on with his two best detectives that went beyond the job, beyond their already well-documented attachment.

He'd spent close to an hour with the FBI agent, getting crystal clear on the particulars of her request. After hearing her out, it was obvious to him why she was asking for Bobby, but although there was little risk in the assignment, he couldn't help but feel reluctant to grant her request.

When he'd called Bobby in, the big detective had been shocked but apparently ecstatic to be introduced to the agent. With little prompting, Hannah found them deep in conversation, reminiscing, catching up, the tiny brunette almost visibly melting from the warmth in Detective Goren's eyes.

But when Detective Eames joined them, the tableau changed.

"Detective Eames, I believe you know Agent Carolyn Barek, of the FBI?"

"Alex," the agent exclaimed immediately, forestalling any assumed formality.

"Carolyn," Detective Eames replied, the slight catch in her voice drawing Bobby's attention. The second half of Hannah's best team greeted her former colleague cordially, but when Hannah invited her to sit, her movements were stiff and now she was staring stoically and unwaveringly at her Captain, a twinge of defeat in the curve of her mouth.

Which was probative, but not conclusive.

More interesting was the change in Bobby. From the moment his partner entered the room, he hadn't taken his eyes off her. His whole body, which had hunched and curved towards Agent Barek, seemed to stretch and spread in the presence of Alex Eames. Hannah watched fascinated as Bobby turned towards his partner, adjusting his trousers, tilting his chin up, puffed his chest out a little and sucked in his gut. He draped his forearm across the back of her chair. All the while staring at her as though she was the only person in the room.

Agent Barek seemed to have noticed as well. She tried to regain the attention of the big detective with touches, and finally he turned back to her. Detective Eames blinked, hard and rapidly.

For – again – not the first time, Captain Hannah decided that whatever it was between them, he didn't want to know… as long as it didn't interfere with their work. He speculated if it would be possible to rescind the offer to loan Detective Goren to the FBI.

"Eames?" Detective Goren pulled away from Barek again and turned in his seat to almost fully face his partner. "Carolyn, um, asked if I could be spared for a week or so to help the FBI with a sting."

Whether it was recalling her partner's previous stint undercover without her, or the prospect of him keeping company with Carolyn this time, a legion of repressive expressions – reluctance, fear, disapproval – marched across Detective Eames's face.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" She croaked.

"Captain," Agent Barek interjected, "Perhaps you could fill in Detective Eames? I have some things to discuss with Detective Goren."

Hannah nodded, watching Detective Eames swallow. Goren touched his partner briefly between her shoulderblades, just below the fall of her hair, as he stood.

O.O.O.O.O

Will bring you coffee.

Alex pointedly ignored the yawing feeling of instability, like an undermined house of cards about to come down.

She hadn't really expected them to be there when she emerged from the Captain's office. After a detailed explanation, her barrage of questions and his reassurances, she felt less terrible about the assignment that was taking her partner away.

"A 'Mr Big' sting," her captain had said. "In Arizona. Someone in the breakaway Mormon community."

"Arizona? What – is that where Agent Barek's working out of right now?"

Her captain had shaken his head. "Nope, this is a cold case. Apparently something to do with the Federal Prosecutors, trying to stir up leverage. The guy's a lynchpin of some kind."

"In the FLDS? Oooooh." The pieces began to fall into place for Alex.

Bobby would be in little to no danger. And it would be quick, and most importantly, right up his alley.

The Mr. Big sting was a time-consuming, expensive, but very successful way to gain traction in cold cases. Bobby would play Mr. Big, the top guy who'd parachute in to invite the target, who'd been groomed with small confidences and little jobs, to join the top ranks of his organization. For a price.

Honesty.

The perp would have to disclose and describe his worst actions.

And it would all be on tape, of course. Audio and video.

The perps in these cases were typically unoriginal cowards, unlikely to pose a danger to the team.

There were serious restrictions on the operations due to constitutional issues… Alex assumed the feds were all over that.

Alex fingered the conciliatory note, at once a bribe, reassurance, and show of solidarity. This small courtesy was new, and thawed a corner of her fear-frozen heart. But disappearing to pursue an angle without her? That was classic. The old Bobby was back.

~.~.~.~.~

A/N 2: I know. What Happens in Vegas. Brownied Girl.

I invite you to chew me out thoroughly in your review. :D

WORDS: 1295 UPLOADED Wednesday, September 18, 2013