A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, guys. I'm really glad you appreciate the story idea and plan to include more new plot lines as the story progresses. For now, it's about building a foundation between our two beloved protagonists that goes deeper than what we saw on screen during Season One. So here we go.
It feels like being in control when the cold steel of the handcuffs snaps shut around her wrists, feels like it when he says the words Norma Louise Bates, you're under arrest for the murder of Keith Summers and when she looks at him with contempt as she is led off.
It's what Alex needs after all those weeks of living under her spell that culminated in his one-night stand with a stranger. He should have left it at that, the arrest, enjoyed the victory, but of course he has to take it too far. What is it about Norma Bates that makes him act without rhyme or reason?
One of his deputies takes her personal data and fingerprints before he brings Norma to her cell where Alex is already waiting for them, nodding to his deputy as an indication that he is supposed to leave. Alex wants to be the one who unlocks Norma's handcuffs so that it's clear she's at his mercy, that it's his decision whether she has to keep them on or not.
She continues to treat him with contempt, barely acknowledging his presence. Then again, he hasn't expected anything else. In a way it adds to the feeling of superiority.
"Turn around," he orders.
For a brief moment he thinks she will refuse. Then Norma scoffs and does as told.
Alex steps closer, too close. There is not enough space between their bodies to unlock the handcuffs. It would be the logical thing to simply back up, but this is not an option. Not when the air between them is thick with repulsion and every move will be interpreted as caving in. So he puts his hand between Norma's shoulder blades and applies pressure to make her bend over. Alex feels the tension in her body the moment his hand touches her back, Norma's instinctive attempt to get away from him combined with the push of his hand causing her to stumble. He reaches out to steady her, for some reason that manifested itself in blowing off his steam with her lookalike not grabbing her arm but clasping her waist, pulling her even closer in the process.
The moment Alex realizes what he is doing, he scolds himself for being that stupid. There are cameras everywhere. If Norma intends to sue him for harassment, he just gave her a reason to do so and even upped it to sexual harassment. And yet, he doesn't release her immediately, his hand sliding to her hip first, brushing her innominate bone before he eventually and reluctantly lets go of her. There is no way she didn't notice his reluctance. At least that's what Alex worries until he registers that she is trembling. Norma is trying to suppress it, but he sees it. A shiver of her body here, a twitch of her muscles there. She didn't classify his behavior as misled attraction. Norma believes something is going to happen to her and that neither cameras nor the fact that he is the sheriff will prevent that.
Alex has always assumed that Keith Summers was not innocent when it came to his demise. He thought threats though, nothing worse, that Keith verbally abused Norma and shoved her around a bit to scare her, something you have to expect when you buy the property of a violent-tempered man on a foreclosure. Perhaps he has to revise his assumption. There were rumors that Keith had his way with women. As it is, Norma might be able to attest that those rumors are not only that but true.
She practically jumps away from him the moment he unlocks the handcuffs, turning around to face him, for once not to provoke him but to be able to assess the danger he means to her. When Alex raises a hand to soothe Norma's nerves, she flinches and keeps staring at him as if her fierce look was sufficient to keep him at distance.
"No one is going to hurt you," Alex assures her. This is not what being in control was supposed to feel like.
For a split second she looks like a frightened child before she gets her emotions under control, her face blank. "I know. You don't scare me," Norma hisses, using the same words she said to him in his office when he questioned her. It wasn't true then and it isn't true now. Norma is clearly scared but would never admit it, her eyes burning like fire, a window to a past that shaped her into the fighter she is today. "And if you hurt me, you'd regret it," she adds, straightening herself as if she was about to take a swing at him. She'd probably do it without batting an eye if necessary.
"Like Keith Summers regretted it?"
If looks could kill, he'd drop dead right here and now.
"I told you I didn't do it." But for the first time Alex can see in her face that she wants him and everyone else to know the truth that she doesn't regret killing that sleazebag to make sure he wouldn't do more harm, and legal parameters aside, you could actually argue about this from a moral point of view. Nevertheless, Norma doesn't want him to prove her guilt, let alone to be send to prison.
She still looks at him, her expression thoughtful now. Then Norma turns her back on him, a sign that she has come to the conclusion that he is no danger to her. Alex is not sure whether this is a good or bad thing.
"Try to get some sleep." His voice always sounds a bit hoarser than usual when he is talking to her.
It doesn't matter. She is back to ignoring him. So be it. There is a thin blanket on the cot; her night will be anything but comfortable.
When Alex closes the door behind him, the superior feeling he had when he was waiting for her in the cell is gone. Yes, she's the one behind bars while he's the one holding the key. In the end, who's in control is nothing but a question of semantics though, the awareness beginning to sink in that, handcuffs or not, Norma Bates will always win, whatever damn game it is that they're playing.
The next morning, Alex arrives just when Zack Shelby comes out of Norma's cell. Shelby has a shady conception of the law as far as himself is concerned but aside from that, he is one of his best deputies. Considering the time of day he must have brought her breakfast. Alex catches a glimpse of Norma's small frame behind Shelby before the closed door blocks his view, suddenly remembering something. A memory that eerily fits the fact that Shelby is the last person who cares about whether someone they arrested gets enough food or not.
"A moment." Alex beckons him over, his realization filling him with blazing anger. How could he have been so blind?
Alex has his eyes and ears everywhere. This is his town; he has to know. One of his sources told him not long ago that he saw Shelby meet up with a woman. They were making out in his car in an alley. Alex didn't pay much attention at the time. It's none of his business what Shelby does in his spare time as long as it doesn't interfere with his job. He remembers the details now though. Apparently his source had a good time spying on Shelby and the unknown woman. He described her as blonde, hot said that Shelby couldn't keep his hands off her, actually had his hands between her legs the entire time before they drove off, most likely to take things further at a more private place. Alex would like to claim he knows every blonde, hot woman in White Pine Bay but although he had his fair share of this type, he doesn't. So that's what it was when he heard the story. Some nameless, faceless woman that his deputy had fun with. It didn't even remotely occur to Alex that it could have been Norma Bates who somehow had managed to hook up with his deputy just around the time he had started to investigate her. How convenient, how her.
"Stay away from her," Alex states, barely able to suppress his rage.
"From whom?" Shelby feigns ignorance.
"Don't… don't do that," Alex doesn't even pretend that this is not a threat, images of Shelby and Norma making out, her head thrown back in ecstasy as Shelby's hands tease her much too vivid in his mind. It's about professional behavior, Alex tells himself. And it could be save that it's a lie. He knew Shelby was doing some kind of illegal business with Keith Summers and still let him stay on the team that has been investigating Summers' disappearance and alleged murder. He gives a shit about professional behavior as long as what happens serves his agenda. Alex simply can't stand the thought of Norma Bates being touched by someone that is not him. He has no idea what this is between them but until he does, everyone else is supposed to back the fuck off. "She's a suspect. So you and her? It has to stop," he growls. "Right now."
Shelby knows when it's time to give in. "Okay," he agrees without further ado.
Considering the effect Norma has on men, Alex doubts this will be an easy promise to keep. Let alone that it's probably a lie, anyway.
"Don't mess with me."
"I won't."
Alex nods in approval, indicating that their talk is over. As he watches Shelby walk away, he is well aware, though, that this most likely wasn't their last face-off regarding this delicate subject.
A good two hours later, Alex is sitting in his office, spotting Norma outside. Apparently she has gotten released on bail. She ignores her younger son who has been waiting for her with a bunch of flowers. What was his name again? Norman. Norman Bates whereas her firstborn has another last name. Two different last names, two sons who couldn't be more different, two fathers. There is a lot of testosterone swirling around Norma. Is there ever not a man waiting for her, wanting to do something for her?
Absentmindedly Alex pulls the upper drawer of his desk open, his subconsciousness having a heyday because there it is – a calling card, classic off-white with an elegant font. Carol Buret. Consultant. Only a phone number. The woman he met at the bar wouldn't be so reckless to give her address to her one-night stand. She left the card under his glass at the bar. Alex considered throwing it away. He didn't intend to call her. So why keep it? But for some reason it ended up in his drawer. The one at work as a precaution since he doesn't want her card within reach in his house when he is alone at night, drinking.
Alex looks out again. Norma Bates is gone. She had an argument with her son. He couldn't make out the words, only heard her raised voice before she stomped off. Alex rubs his eyes. Norma is sleeping with his deputy. Was, he corrects himself. Either way, it's clear that she prefers another type of man, not the dark, brooding kind he is. Not that it mattered, his attraction to her nothing but a crazy aberration. He just has to accept that. Why can't he fucking accept it? Maybe he should call Carol tonight. He is in sore need of a distraction again.
Alex groans. He is stuck, literally. Well, his car, to be exact. It takes him several attempts until he is able to drive off, the wheels stuck in the mud, the symbolism so obvious that it almost makes him laugh. If Alex Romero laughed, that is.
What happened in the last couple of weeks would last for a lifetime in another town but not in White Pine Bay, not when Norma Bates, center of unleashed chaos is living here. Alex has this mental list that he keeps adding things to, sometimes feeling like an innocent bystander until he remembers that this is his life, the train wreck it has become ever since he met her gathering speed, the wall already within sight. All he is waiting for is the impact.
He covered up the death of Keith Summers (long story) and the death of his deputy (even longer story) who had tried to erase the entire Bates family (didn't he warn Shelby and tell him he shouldn't mess with him?), threatened Norma when she came to his office afterwards obviously believing that this was the perfect basis for a lifelong friendship and mutual complaisances (but damn didn't she look nice in her tight, black dress?), was harassed by her incessant calls and appearances for such absurd reasons as someone sending her flowers (by now two of his assistants have quit because of Norma intimidating them when all they did was conduct his order to not let her through to see him), stood in her bedroom, watching Zack Shelby's bloated, dead body being carried away another time (well, maybe the one or other threat had been serious even if it included flowers). Oh, and lest he forget, he just killed a man. Technically not for her but to restore the balance of power in his town but if the man was still alive, Norma Bates probably would be dead so… semantics again.
This is madness and has to stop.
But just after Alex arrived home and is about to make himself comfortable to have a nightcap, there is a knock on his door. It's funny, he has never heard her knock before; however he knows in an instant that this is Norma, the knock impatient, blaming him for every second he makes her wait. How does he dare to answer his door so slowly when it's her standing outside?
It was a mistake to accept her offer and call her by her first name. It suggests a closeness that doesn't exist between them, something he is reminded of when he opens the door and is confronted with her face, delicate features he sees in his dreams but has never expected to see here. This is his home, the last refuge where he was safe from her.
"How do you know where I live?"
Norma gives him a piercing look that says please, you're the sheriff, everyone knows where you live. And albeit she's right, it feels like an intrusion of his privacy. Most residents of White Pine Bay might know where he lives, but only very few had the guts to show up on his doorstep in the past since he is not exactly known to be hospitable. There can't be another emergency in Norma Bates' life that caused her to come over only minutes after he shot a man at the docks and told her to go home since she had come there for the same reason or can it?
"Are you gonna invite me in or what?"
Patience is definitely not one of Norma's virtues although Alex can relate to that, something they have in common aside from killing people. God, he has to focus, his mind providing him with silly, random information. He is tired, needs to go to sleep, and yet, he makes way for her to walk in.
Norma is still wearing that dramatic, black scarf that is wrapped around her head as if she was a movie star trying to get rid of the paparazzi. She makes no move to take it off even when she is inside. Just when Alex is wondering whether to offer her a seat and a drink or continue his rather hostile approach, her words catch him off-guard.
"I wanted to thank you."
Alex is taken aback. Hence the silence that follows her statement. She said something nice. To him.
"For… you know, doing what you did and keeping your promise," Norma continues. "I didn't believe you when you told me you would make sure no harm would come to me or my sons, but that's what you did."
He still doesn't react. There used to be that thick wall between them, mainly due to her repulsion and his anger, and now that it's gone all of a sudden, Alex doesn't know what to do.
"God," Norma sighs. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult? Fine. I came here to tell you that and I did." She turns around to leave, his body that has been frozen in disbelief coming alive.
Alex grabs her arm.
"Wait."
Nothing between them ever goes right. She came here to thank him, but he wasn't prepared for the emotions it would stir. He has no idea how to respond save that he doesn't want her to leave.
Aside from their encounter in the cell, they haven't touched before, the momentum of her body letting her end up much closer to him than he intended when he grabbed her. Their physical closeness and her eyes do the usual magic. Alex gets lost in the moment, raising his hand to pull down her scarf, maybe grasp her neck next and lean forward to kiss her. Would she have let him? Even kissed him back? Or slapped him in the face? He'll never know because Norma's eyes focus on something to his left and her entire demeanor changes. She steps back.
"I have to go. My son will be home soon from the dance."
Norma is out the door so fast, for a split second Alex doubts she was even there. Then he turns around to find out what could have caused her sudden departure, spotting an earring on his chest of drawers. It's a beautiful piece – a white pearl, classic, elegant, belonging to a classic, elegant woman.
Shit!
To be continued
I didn't intend to bring Carol back, but all of a sudden it felt like an opportunity to spike up the tension between them even more since we know about Norma's affairs and this might be a way for Alex to catch up. ;)
