Rearrangements

Two days had passed since they'd found out about the transfer. It was now Carolyn's final week at Major Case since it seemed that Special Victims were desperate for her to start immediately. Mike had appologised for blowing up at her but he had not said the words he should have; about how well they worked together or what he really thought of her transfer but then Alex didn't really expect him to.

The four were sitting together in a booth, at the local cafe', slowly drinking some coffee. It had crossed Carolyn's mind more than once that this would be the last time she'd be referring to these people as colleagues and it was upsetting to her even if it was a voluntary move. "So, when do you start?" Alex asked, moving away from the silence and hoping for conversation.

"Monday." Carolyn replied, "I'll get to meet my new partner..." Carolyn looked at Mike but continued, "On Tuesday."

Alex smiled, supportively. "Well, we'll miss you." Bobby nodded in agreement, he'd definitely miss having her around as much.

Smiling, Carolyn turned to Mike, "When do you meet your new partner?"

Mike slowly turned to her and shrugged, "Well, uh, I've not been told yet so, who knows?" His question was rhetorical and there was a hint of sarcasm. Mike held back any other comment because he didn't trust himself for it to come out right. Carolyn just nodded, sensing his unease at the subject. She looked at Alex, who shrugged, she couldn't do anything else - she'd already discussed it with him, the rest was up to Mike. Alex shot Mike a look but he matched it, he wasn't planning on getting all mushy with her and certainly not here.

"I hear that the cases at Special Victims can be grueling and require a lot of character strength." Bobby commented thoughtfully and he had no doubt that Carolyn was capable of it. "I think you'll do well there and Major Case won't be the same without you." Carolyn smiled. Alex looked at Bobby in surprise, although she shouldn't have been. That was Bobby's way; thoughtful, considerate and attentive to the feelings of others and he was definitely spending a lot of time thinking about Carolyn, that was obvious.

Mike, not being the fool, took advantage of Bobby's words. "Yeah, that's true." Carolyn's smile grew as she regarded her former partner for a moment; at least he was trying.

Alex chuckled at him and then said to Carolyn, "I think he means 'ditto'." They all laughed at him and Mike tried to hide any embarrassment by holding up his coffee and taking a giant gulp. Mike shot Alex a look but she just grinned at him, giving him the well-you-weren't-going-to-say-it look.

Carolyn turned to Mike and smiled, "Thank you. You've been a great partner." She offered it up to him there and then with Bobby and Alex watching, so that if he didn't except it he could be embarrassed, knowing that his girlfriend saw it and so did her partner.

Instead Mike grinned, "Ditto."

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Carolyn sighed as she flicked through the pages of her journal. Re-reading some of the words she'd written over the past year of her life. Some of the words are angry, some are sentimental but all of them are honest and she smiles at some of the memories the words pull to the surface. Picking up her pen she writes todays date on an empty page and writes the title - Bobby Goren.

He was starting to change around her and Carolyn wasn't stupid, not only was she a detective but she was also a woman and she could tell when a man was attracted to her. But this was different, this made her feel different. Instead of feeling annoyed that this giant man was forever asking her how she was or always trying spark conversation, she was feeling relieved everytime he did so. Relieved because it meant that she wasn't making it up, she wasn't imagining it; it was real.

A buzzing sound caused her to drop her pen and close her book. Sighing because she'd remembered that Bobby was coming round to see her and she'd forgotten, only for a moment but it had still escaped her mind. She pressed the button to let him in and waited for him to come up.

She didn't have to wait long and she figured it was because he take big strides with his legs. She opened the door when she heard a knock and she quickly let him in; without hesitation. Bobby smiled at her and put a hand on her arm in a way of greeting. "How are you?" he asked, softly.

Carolyn nodded, "I'm fine. Please, please have a seat." She gestured towards the living area and Bobby gratefully took up her offer. But he only sat down for a few seconds before bouncing back up and looking at her.

"Actually, I was going to - to take you somewhere." Bobby told her, looking into her eyes. An intense way of looking at her that made Carolyn suddenly feel torn between looking back into his or looking away completely.

"You were?" She asked, trying to hide her new feelings.

Bobby nodded, "Yes." He walked over to her coat hangar and picked the one he'd always seen her wearing the most. "Here." Carolyn was surprised by the gentlemanly behaviour and she smiled as she allowed him to help her put her own coat on. Once she had it on he walked over to her door and opened it for her. Carolyn couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her, she found this kind of behaviour in a man charming but she knew it was rare; certainly in todays world. He politely gestured for her to come with him and she nodded her acceptance of his arm that he held out for her, immediately linking.

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"You can't have that." Alex swatted Mike's hands away from the food that was set out on a small table in her living room. It was a simple selection of food and none of it had be baked or cooked by Alex, just prepared by her, although Mike would probably say he helped but he didn't. Mike pretended to be hurt but Alex didn't buy it. "No." Mike rolled his eyes and gave her a look of I'll-only-have-one but Alex shook her head.

"I don't see why not. Aren't we gonna get to eat it anyway?" Mike asked, reasonably.

Alex's turn to roll her eyes as she regarded him, "You can't start eating the surprise food before the person whose going to be surprised turns up!"

Mike sighed, "Nobody is here, who's gonna know?" Alex shot him another look that told Mike to drop it and he realised that he should before he got into some serious trouble. "Fine." Alex laughed, looking at the way he was trying to act hurt but not all at the same time. Without warning, he took hold of her hip and pulled her to him, pressing her body against his. He eyed her up and down, "Are you laughing at me?" This just caused Alex to laugh even more, "Oh, I see. It's like that is it?" Mike wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist.

She stopped him from carrying on with the task he was about to do by putting her fingers to his mouth; preventing him from kissing her. "They're gonna be here soon." she told him, reluctant to let him go.

Mike shrugged. "Not for another hour." Mike raised his eyebrows at her, having a suggestive look in his eyes. Grinning, she removed her hand from his mouth and he immediately found hers. His hunger for food had disappeared, now he was just hungry for her. It was obvious in the intense and passionate way he had locked his mouth to hers. He took a few steps towards the end of the sofa and he dropped them on to it; the fall didn't interrupt their actions. It just intensified their passion as Mike's body now covered hers completely, their legs dangling off the arm of the sofa.

Wrapped up in each other to the point where nothing else existed, neither of them heard the doorbell ring several times. The persistent ringing didn't seem to phase them. Mike was enjoying his exploration of territory he'd already explored; this was terrain that would never get old. It took the sound of the phone ringing to cause them to stop what they were doing. Mike lifted his head up from Alex's neck and looked at her, her eyes full of desire but it was obvious that it had suddenly registered to her what they'd missed. "I thought they weren't going be here for another hour?" Mike asked, slowly, trying to regain his inner composure before he completely lifted himself up from her.

"I guess Bobby... bought her round a little earlier." Alex slowly theorised, pausing when she saw Mike's eyebrows raise to his hairline. Mike sighed and lifted himself so he was standing above her. Taking hold of her hand he helped her up and she smoothed out her clothes and hair. Looking at him as if to ask if she looked presentable, Mike nodded and gave her a small, sweet kiss that didn't compare to what they'd just been doing but was enough to say 'later'. Alex tried to prevent herself from sighing in disappointment but she figured he could tell.

Outside the house...

"That's strange." Bobby spoke thoughtfully, looking at Carolyn as they stood on Alex's doorstep. Bobby was holding his cell phone to his ear and giving Carolyn a puzzled look. "She's not answering her phone either."

Carolyn looked towards the window, "Well, the lights are on." She pointed out and Bobby nodded, they knew she had to be there. Carolyn had been surprised when Bobby had told her that the four of them were going to spend the evening together as colleagues, for the final time. Carolyn had been quick to point out that they'd never done this before so it was technically the first time but the thought made her smile.

"Mmmm." Bobby rubbed his face thoughtfully and then using a semi-tight fist he banged on the front door. The thudding sound was quickly followed by a click and a rush of air as the door opened to reveal Alex, standing in the doorway, looking at them with a confused look. Alex didn't say anything as she let them in. Bobby spotted Mike and noticed how he seemed a little ruffled and was lacking some composure. Looking back at Alex as she closed the door he realised that she looked the same. "Are - Are we disturbing anything?" Bobby asked as Alex walked over towards the living room, silently showing Bobby and Carolyn the way; even though they knew the way.

"No." Alex said at the same time Mike said, "Yes."

Looking at each other they both quickly replaced their answers, "Yes." "No."

Bobby and Carolyn both frowned at their friends' behaviour. Bobby folded his arms and looked at them with amusement, his mind having put it all together. He looked at Alex and a small, knowing smile appeared on his lips. "So, are we disturbing you?"

Mike and Alex slowly turned back to them and said, "No." together; in unison. Bobby and Carolyn nodded as if to say they completely understood. Alex tried to ignore the looks she was getting from her partner; the look of I-know-what-you-were-doing.

"I thought that you were going to come a little later?" Alex said, her tone of voice showing that it was a question, hoping to move the topic away from her and Mike. Mike looked at them and nodded.

"I don't know, I only found out about half an hour ago." Carolyn replied. "If you want..." Alex put her hand up, immediately seeing that Carolyn was going to try to leave.

"No, no." Alex quickly squashed any doubts. "This is just plan A not working."

"Yeah." Mike agreed, guiding his partner to the sofa. "Sit. We'll do plan B." He said, the sarcasm was small but it was there.

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Carolyn had been impressed with the gracious and caring way her friends had given her a 'goodbye and good luck' evening; filled with food, films and gifts. She didn't know what it would be like at Special Victims, she didn't know whether they'd be such a close squad or not but she was eager to find out. Although she was going to miss Major Case, she knew that it was time to move on.

Of course, she'd still see them everyday and she definitely intended to ensure that she saw Bobby, as much as possible, given they'll both be busy. She knew that Bobby could get incredibly into his work to the point where he'd forget others existed but she also knew that she did the same, maybe not to the same extent or with such intensity but she understood it.

Thoughts of this kind filled her mind as she closed her journal and slowly walked into her bedroom. Feeling content with her decision but nervous about it at the same time.

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A/N Okay the Bobby/Carolyn story will be done in more detail for you (if you want me to) in a seperate story/series. Let me know what you thought of this one.

M/A/N Mike/Alex is not over. :)