Author's Notes: I changed my mind. There will be more. Feedback appreciated.

ooOoo

Eames drove Logan home and parked in front of his building. Before she could say good-night, he said, "I'm curious as to why you asked me to dinner. I mean we work together, but…" He left this thought hanging not wanting to point out that they existed in different spheres.

"I thought you'd be hungry."

"And it had nothing to do with Goren and Wheeler taking off together?" Logan asked.

It was on the tip of her tongue to lie; it would be so much easier than having to explain the emotional surge she had at the thought of two shadows walking down the street together. She just couldn't trust him with this. How ironic, she thought. His partner can't trust him and neither can I.

Then again, he was more than honest about his attraction to Wheeler and his reasons for not wanting to pursue her. Taking a deep breath, Eames plunged in. "I asked you to dinner 'cause I was ticked at Bobby and I could tell you weren't exactly pleased with Wheeler going with him. So I thought we could be miserable together." Grateful for the darkness, she was sure that her face was pink from embarrassment.

Nodding, Logan said, "Yeah, I thought so. See, you do this thing with your chin and lips that told me you were pissed."

"You're very observant."

"I'm a cop." Logan grinned.

"Not all cops are that aware of the people around them."

The tremor in Eames' voice made Logan backtrack over their conversation and pieces of the evening started falling into place. "Would this have anything to do with your partner?"

Eames wasn't entirely surprised that he figured this out and at the look of sympathy on Logan's face, she let all of her uncertainty pour out. "It's not like Bobby and I were officially dating or anything. We're partners and friends; we do things outside of work and we have a good time together. About a year ago, we started getting a lot closer and I thought, we both thought that we should let it would grow into something bigger. But then Bobby's mom started getting worse and he'd be constantly dealing with doctors and the nursing home. After a while, he just disappeared and whatever had been there ceased to exist." She took a deep breath and swallowed back the unshed tears. "Logan, you don't want to be like us."

He could only nod, surprised and unsure of how to respond to such a revelation.

After a long pause, Eames asked, slowly, "Why do you think he would go to Wheeler? I've done everything I can to let Bobby know that I'm here for him, that I'm supportive and caring and undemanding. I always thought he'd come to me and not, not, someone else." She cleared her throat in an effort to control the emotion washing through her and suppressed the desire to call Wheeler something else, something that rhymed with witch.

Logan shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they need people outside of the situation they're going through; I don't know. I'm really not good at these things; ask any of my ex-girlfriends."

She looked over at Logan, the shadows around him softening the lines of his face. "Overall though, I bet you were a good boyfriend."

"Most of the time. Depends on the woman." For some reason Logan couldn't meet her eyes.

Silence fell between them and mistaking his lack response for embarrassment, Eames said, "Well, it's been a long day and um, I'm sorry about all of this."

Logan reached out and touched her arm, lightly. "Don't be. This is a difficult time for both of you and I'm sorry that it's not working out. I'm good a listener so anytime you need to talk…" He got out of the car and just as he was about to close the door, he leaned back in and said, "And I do mean that."

The sincerity in his voice made Eames smile.

ooOoo

As she drove away, Eames decided that the first thing she was going to do when she visited her nephew on Sunday was to see if his book of fairy tales had any pictures of pixies, redheads specifically. And maybe while she's at it, she could see if there were any blondes, too.

ooOoo

It wasn't until he got to his apartment, that Logan realized that his leftovers were still in Eames' car. Hopefully she would remember to bring it tomorrow, but if she didn't, he didn't care. He suspected they might be having dinner again.

And that was something he just might look forward to.

/to be continued

ooOoo