Chapter 2 – Vengeance

'Seven a.m. on a Sunday and I'm here.'

As she stepped off the elevator on the eleventh floor, Alex's mind was protesting the late night, lack of sleep, loss of free time… Hell, if she were truly honest, it was more likely protesting the interruption of her date with Eric last night. Right about now she should be in her own bed with a cup of coffee and the New York Times, or in his bed with more interesting activities. At least she assumed they'd be interesting, she didn't know yet.

Rounding the corner, she really wasn't surprised to see Bobby already at his desk, hunched over some file folder or other. He looked up and smiled a greeting when she opened her desk drawer to toss her purse inside.

"How do you always do that?" she asked.

"Um…do what?"

"Get here before me."

"Oh…I didn't go home," he answered before turning his attention back to the folder on his desk.

"You didn't get any sleep?" Bobby shook his head and Alex sighed. "One of these days, you're just going to collapse."

"I'll sleep tonight. I'm fine."

"If they partner me with Snyder when you do collapse, I guarantee you that you won't be fine." He didn't lift his head, but Alex saw him smile. "What have you been doing here?"

Bobby looked back up at her. "I've been waiting to see if they can match his thumb prints to DMV, but I haven't heard yet."

"What's that you have there?" she gestured with her chin at the file folder.

"I conned one of the CSU photographers to come in and print some of the digital photos of the crime scene."

"Lucy," Alex smirked.

"Yeah…well…don't get any ideas," he waved off her suspicions. "It's more likely she'd do special favors for you."

"Really? Huh." She hadn't realized that about Lucy. Not that Alex's interests went in that direction, but if they ever did, Lucy just might be her type – she was cute.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" Bobby interrupted her fanciful musings of an alternative lifestyle. Sorry Lucy, I enjoy men too much.

"Yeah, thanks." One of the plusses of being partnered with the same person for more than three years was that he knew how she took her coffee. Bobby got it perfect every time.

As he headed toward the break room, Alex got up, walked around to his desk, and sat down to look at the crime scene photos. When she opened the file, the first photo on top was a picture of her – full-length, still in her heels and sans Bobby's leather jacket. Nice picture of me, but what the hell's it doing in here?

Bobby came up behind her with their coffees. Alex picked up the photo, flashed it at him, and gave him a pointed look.

"What did I tell you about Lucy?"

The corner of her mouth twitched before she totally suppressed the smile that wanted to form. "Well…this doesn't belong in with the crime scene photos."

He set down one of the coffees and gripped the edge of the photo. "You're right." Bobby tugged, but she didn't immediately release it. Their eyes met and Alex was surprised to see a look of determination in his. She let go and Bobby just stood there, coffee in one hand and photo in the other. Alex shrugged, got up from his chair, and walked back around to her own desk. Handing her the coffee he held, Bobby laid the photo upside down on top of his binder. Sometimes she had to agree with everyone else and just admit that Bobby can be weird.

Alex flipped the page on her desktop calendar, saw it was Sunday the thirteenth, and for some reason it triggered her memory. "Weren't you supposed to see Denise today?"

"Yeah," Bobby took a sip of his coffee then set the cup down. "Thanks for reminding me…I have to call her to cancel."

He looked like he was dreading the call. Alex knew he'd had to cancel four dates in the past few weeks, and she figured he was probably worried how Denise was going to react. "Bobby," she leaned forward on her desk and waited until he met her eye. "Denise really likes you. Don't be so worried."

The look of dread gave way to confusion. "You've been talking to Denise?"

"More like she's been talking to me. I think she's trying to get me to reveal all your secrets." And now the confusion turned to something more akin to panic. Alex wondered what the hell he thought was so horrible about her talking with Denise. Judging by his expression, it must be one of his worst nightmares. "Don't worry…I thought it'd be fun to watch her figure you out on her own." There was a flash of relief before she once again saw dread settle into his eyes. Alex took pity on him and decided to give him an out. "Look…she'll be happy if you just offer her an alternative. Eric and I made plans to go to dinner tonight to make up for last night. Why don't you join us?"

Bobby looked a little skeptical. "I don't want to barge in on your date."

"You're not 'barging in.' I'm inviting you. Eric said he knows a great place for Indian food, I know you like curry," Alex glanced up as an assistant from the lab approached her desk with a file. Opening it, she saw the DMV record for Anthony Pirelli – last night's victim. "We've got a name and address," she announced.

"Let's go," Bobby grabbed his binder, but not before slipping the photo inside. Weird.

"Wait. Call Denise first. I'll give you the information to meet us at the restaurant at 7:00."

TBC…

A/N – I promise, there is a whole case file to come, I just wanted to have a little fun with them first. And I want to give credit to raz0r.girl and her story "His Watson" for a bit of comical inspiration. If you've read the story, you know what I mean. If you haven't, go find it – it's great!