A/N: Again, thanks to my awesome beta, kensi54382. Please enjoy! Let me know if you like it by leaving a review!
Queens, Apartment of Matthew Sweeney
Alex led the way along the sidewalk and up the few steps into the front porch of the small duplex apartment. A high-pitched buzzing reached their ears, coming from the door to the left—Thomas' apartment. Looking at each other with raised brows, the two continued on to the door on the right. Alex knocked the strong, hard knock of a police officer and they waited...and waited. Bobby's brows furrowed and he peeked around the side of the apartment. A car was parked there, so he must be home. Turning to Alex again, he silently told her to knock again. She did so with more force.
"Matthew Sweeney, this is the NYPD. Open up," she called, knock one last time. Turning to Bobby, she sighed in frustration. Bobby recognized the pissed-off look on her face. The look didn't completely dissipate when they heard the sound of a lock turning. The two detectives waited as the white door opened, revealing a tall blonde young man with ear buds in his ears. They could hear the music blaring from the buds; Bobby noticing it was classical music and Alex not giving a care at the moment. Upon seeing the visitors at the door, the young man smiled and pressed pause as he took the ear pieces out. He saw the pretty little blonde's annoyed look and smiled, almost shyly.
"Sorry, I had my music in," he apologized, gesturing to his ears. Alex nodded, still irritated but cooling off.
"Matthew Sweeney?" she asked, and the young man nodded. "I'm Detective Eames and this is Detective Goren from the NYPD."
Bobby tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brows when he caught the silent alarm that passed over Matthew's face.
"Yeah. Is this about Thomas?" Matthew asked, looking between the two detectives. He decided he didn't like the big one. He felt so uncomfortable under his gaze. The small, pretty detective gave him a nod and he decided he would talk to her.
"Come in," he said, stepping out of the doorway to invite them in. He quietly led them into the house, the annoying shrill buzz continuing on its tirade. The two detectives looked at the walls full of paintings and the tables full of sculptures.
"That damn alarm has been going off since Thomas disappeared,"'Matthew laughed dryly, clearly not finding any humor in it at all.
"You're good," Bobby said, gesturing at the artwork surrounding them. "The noise makes it hard to work though?" he asked, looking at an unfinished sculpture of a woman. Matthew shrugged.
"I just put on some headphones or try earplugs. No one's done a thing about it though," Matthew said irritably.
"How well did you know Thomas?" Alex asked, returning the focus from the art to the case. Matthew shrugged, shaking his head.
"Not very well. I just knew he was a wannabe rock star, and a personal trainer at my gym, the NYC Wellness Center," Matthew said, his hands in his hips. He scoffed, adding, "the only personal thing I know about Thomas was Fatty Patty."
Alex raised her brows, nearly smiling at the childish name calling.
"Fatty...Patty?" she asked, controlling her voice but a little amusement escaped. Matthew smiled when he thought he had the woman cop hooked on his charm. Bobby smirked at how wrong he was.
"Yeah. She was one of his clients at the gym. She started stalking him and being all creepy. One night she even came to his door. She started yelling and pounding in the door when he didn't answer," Matthew said, having the detectives' full attention, until the woman's phone rang.
"Excuse me," Alex said, answering the phone as she stepped away. Matthew looked at Bobby, who watched him intently and him feel uncomfortable again. The next minute Matthew spent avoiding Bobby's scrutinizing gaze, waiting for Detective Eames' phone call to end. It was a relief when she returned to Bobby's side, breaking Matthew's awkwardness and Bobby's amusement.
"Thank you for answering our questions, Matthew. We can show ourselves out," she said, touching Bobby's arm, telling him his fun was over. Matthew followed them to the door anyway, and watched as they walked away talking between themselves. They left him to the buzzing alarm.
"So who called?" Bobby asked, tossing his binder into the SUV.
"Rogers. She finished the autopsy..."
The car went silent as Alex drove past the apartments and back towards One Police Plaza.
"You were having too much fun in there," Alex finally said with a smirk, breaking the silence. Bobby smiled, turning to meet her eyes before she returned to watching the road.
"So...let's get this woman's information and have her come down for an interview," Bobby said, scribbling in his binder. Alex nodded, checking over her shoulder as she switched lanes.
"We can go to the gym and get lunch after," she said and Bobby nodded in agreement. He noticed Alex's disgusted look on her face. It was faint, and he was probably the only one able to detect it, but it was there all the same. Touching her elbow, Bobby silently asked Alex what was wrong. She answered with a smile, finding it sweet that Bobby could read her so well and he was truly concerned for her.
"Nothing is wrong, Bobby. This just happens to be one of my least favorite parts of the job." Bobby nodded in understanding.
"For what it's worth," he said, meeting her eyes with a slightly teasing look in his, "if it makes you feel any better, I am glad that I'm not your least favorite part of the job."
Alex smirked, glancing at him with smiling eyes.
"I did say it was one of my least favorite, Bobby..." she teased. Bobby looked over with raised brows, observing her teasing smile and twinkling mischievous eyes. He struggled to keep a straight face.
"Ouch."
The Morgue
"Low amount of alcohol, and there were traces of marijuana. Your guy was also infected with E. coli, but obviously that didn't kill him," Elizabeth Rogers said, laughing lightly as she walked around the examiner's table with the detectives following.
"Part of his hyoid bone is shaved off. Someone slit his throat...but not with a knife. The lack of serrations on the bone tells me a knife wasn't the weapon used, or anything with a jagged edge for that matter. It was something very thin and fine. The impact of the fall the body took was what broke the neck, and before it was dragged to the dump site, the head had been attached."
Alex nodded, and both women watched as Bobby leaned closer to the body.
"Did you get his stomach contents?" he asked, looking at the neck of the head. Rogers met Alex's eyes briefly before sighing in mild irritation.
"Yes," Rogers said, shaking her head as she grabbed a pile of papers. "Chai tea, honey—" Alex felt Bobby's gaze on her, and like a magnet her eyes were drawn to his. He smiled at their memory of earlier that morning. "—and a throat lozenge."
When Rogers looked up at the two detectives, she was surprised to catch the two of them grinning at each other. They reminded her of two high school kids with crushes on each other, sharing smiles across the room and silently conversing between themselves as the teacher—her, in this case—droned on about the boring lesson. Except this wasn't science class, it was the New York Police Department and this wasn't high school, it was Major Case Squad.
When Alex saw the puzzled look on Rogers' face, she quickly sobered and cleared her throat.
"This is good. We can search for the most recent E. coli outbreak,"'she said after a beat, looking at Bobby and hoping he would jump in. Straightening from looking at the body, Bobby nodded. He began walking towards the door, ready to leave.
"Did you get those particles out of the vertebrae?" Bobby asked as he opened the doors to leave. Rogers looked at him exasperatedly.
"Detective, I have samples undergoing tests right now. That's all I have for you," she insisted, wanting him to leave her morgue. Bobby nodded, stepping through the doors and into the hallway outside.
"Thank you, Liz," Alex called back, her expression slightly apologetic but also willing the Medical Examiner to understand. Elizabeth waved it off, smiling lightly at the blonde detective that had to deal constantly with the frustrating puzzle that was Detective Bobby Goren.
Bobby awaited Alex in the hall and so she hurried out of the morgue. When she came through the doors, she was met with Bobby leaning against the wall. He glanced down at her with a half-angry look before starting down the hall. Alex watched with furrowed brows and eyes with smoldering embers in their depths. With a frustrated sigh, she quickly tried to catch up with him.
"Bobby," she called, silently asking him to slow down. He didn't, just ignored her and that pissed her off even more. "Bobby! Goren, slow down!"
Sighing loudly, Bobby stopped his quick gait and turned to look at her.
"What the hell was that?" she asked, more than annoyed with him. Bobby's face softened when he saw and heard her anger.
"Eames, it's not you. It's fine. I'm sorry, and I will slow down," he said too quickly and in one breath, making Alex stand still and put her clenched fists on her hips. Raising a brow, she silently asked him, "really?"
He turned away from her, shaking his head as the anger built up.
"Sometimes I wish you weren't my partner," he said, glaring into the wall. Alex stared at his back with her mouth open, ready to fire something back. But what do you say to that? Truth was, that had hurt Eames immensely.
"What?" she asked in disbelief, her look of hurt changing to one of anger again. Bobby turned around, his eyes raking over her and gaging her reaction.
"No, Eames. Not like that," he insisted, stepping closer to her as she folded her arms across her chest. Her face was full of anger and hurt. "Eames," he said, taking her shoulders in his hands. She didn't pull away and Bobby saw that as a good sign. "People think the worst about me...I...I just don't...want them thinking bad about you, too, just because of me."
Alex listened carefully, the anger slowly dissipating to leave just raw hurt. Her eyes drew Bobby in, and he saw the impact his words had on her. Their partnership was as important to her as it was to him. With a smile, Bobby lightly squeezed her arms in an affectionate gesture. Alex finally gave him a smile, and his heart did a flip at the beauty that was presented before him.
"You know you could give me a real hug. I promise I won't shoot you," she teased, referring to his light squeeze of her arms, though that was welcome as well; it was physical contact with him that she craved.
"We don't hug," Bobby teased her with a crooked smile. Alex laughed, already moving towards him.
"We can make an exception," she said as her hands ran down his chest and slowly slipped beneath his suit jacket, wrapping around his waist. Her touch left a trail of fire on his skin, but he craved more of it. He tried his best to ignore the feelings she gave him and enjoy the moment, but it was impossible. So he tensely wrapped his arms around her in a brief hug that she pulled out of, aware of his discomfort.
If only she knew that it wasn't discomfort he was feeling, but lack of control. He was far too comfortable in her arms with his body against her warm small, slender frame.
Alex smiled brightly before leading the way down the hall that led to the elevators.
"Are we good again?" Bobby asked, holding the elevator doors until Alex got in. He hit the button to take them back to the parking garage. The silence that followed his question made Bobby look worriedly at his partner. She was contemplating something, and the doors closed, trapping him with her.
"No. We're not," she said matter-of-factedly, looking up at him. Bobby looked down at her in confusion, silently asking.
"I don't care what others say about me," she said, her hands back on her hips. "And don't let a damn thing those idiots say about you go to your head. They don't understand what an amazing detective and wonderful man you are. They don't know you like I do. Understand?"
Bobby smiled sadly, his eyes showing the doubt still left in his mind.
"Understand?" she repeated more forcefully. Bobby's lips curled into a smile, a real smile this time. If Alex thought this about him, that's how it was. She wouldn't lie to him. Besides, her opinion was the only one that mattered. With a nod, Bobby answered her sincerely. For the time being, he actually believed it.
"Good," Alex said with a satisfied smile, turning to the opening elevator doors in triumph. "We're good now."
Bobby smiled, allowing Alex out of the elevator and into the parking garage first.
"Good. So how does Sue's sound for lunch too?" Bobby asked as they got into their SUV. Alex smiled brightly, starting the car and nodding. Her eyes met his and he swore his body melted into the seat.
"Sounds good, partner."