Thursday 29th July

Office Of The District Attorney

Eames stepped out of the elevator into the lobby quietly seething and holding tight to the Inglewood file. She could cheerfully shoot Theresa Randle and her boss Jack McCoy, even if there was something very attractive about the damned man.

Inglewood was a lazy, sleaze ball, electrical contractor who had done a lot of work for tight-fisted, private landlords amongst others all over the city. Corners were cut and that led to the deaths of three adults and one child that they knew of, the result of one fire and one electrocution. But she and Dempsey had caught up to him and set up a"sting operation" to prove it was shoddy workmanship not the victims messing with the power supply after all. A feasible explanation he'd been able to offer based on the evidence.

Nor would Eames deny some of her insight and understanding of electrical fires had come, if not in pillow talk with Dave Seaborn, discussions and demonstrations in his kitchen. The cases were not his but he'd pointed her in the direction of another couple of instances he'd come across. Luckily where people had not died.

They had Inglewood caught in the act and unable to wriggle off the hook and now the bloody lawyers were going to plead him down in exchange for testimony. Not so much on a couple of his "employers" who were equally to blame, but because his brother-in-law was deep into narcotics and Inglewood "knew stuff".

It was hard sometimes to accept certain decisions were out of your hands and that crap Randle spouted about "wood and trees" was something Eames had heard many times before.

"Whoa there Officer" said a man she walked into

"Sorry" Eames muttered then looked again. "My, my Matt Desmond. What brings you all the way from The Bronx?"

They were old classmates from the Academy and Desmond was still as good looking and hotly tipped for a Captain's berth in the next year.

"Same as you I expect Alex" he said as they gave each other a hug. "You look great"

"You're a married man now Matt. How's Maddy?"

"No law against looking. She's good. Hinting about a brother or sister for Jenny"

"Already?"

"She's 18 months now Al" he shrugged.

"Sheesh. It's been a long time but how it flies"

"True" he glanced at his watch "I'm in a rush now but I tried to call you last night and intended to try you at work later"

"Always happy to accept Maddy's cooking" laughed Eames "Can I bring a friend?"

"Sure…um…but that wasn't why. It's something else" Matt steered her slightly out the way of foot traffic.

"I've been asked to consider a berth in Major Case, Alex. Initially, just a temporary one but with a strong hint it might be longer. Would mean a more tricky commute but…to be asked is…and long term…career…you know"

"Great Matt" she smiled "You'll fit in fine if that's what you are wondering"

"Wasn't that as much as why? No-one has said and you know sometimes it can be…difficult"

Eames nodded and said quietly. "No one is close to being offered a tactical early retirement or has a suspension pending, if that's what you are worried about"

"It was" Desmond nodded.

Those were notoriously difficult situations to walk into when there were suspicions around an officer. You often found yourself double-checking their past cases and had the resentment of their loyal buddies on the team.

"We're almost permanently a body down" Eames shrugged. "And then…it's the maternity leave I expect. Carol's starts next week and I think one of our guys might be up for one of those eight week residential courses the FBI do at Quantico"

"That's a relief anyway. Sorry must go. Late already"

"So you are saying yes?"

"Call you at the weekend" Matt tapped his nose as he held the elevator door to get in. "Fix dinner for you and…what's he called…?"

Eames never answered since he wouldn't hear anyway. But Matt was a "good cop" in every sense, who might make everyone's life easier and was a minor victory for Ross in his perennial struggle to keep everyone's caseloads manageable and the Squad's "solve rate" up. Just a pity the damn lawyers then ratted you out.

Major Case Squad Room

As Eames walked in the door, Ross came hurtling out of his office with something in his hand.

"Which of you?" he more or less yelled. "Knows anything about this?

"It's a dog Captain" said one foolish soul without thinking, as his superior officer held up a ball of black and white fluff.

Eames tried to look inconspicuous as she sat down, knew Goren was fumbling under his desk and hissed. "I told you that pet carrier door was loose Bobby"

Her partner had arrived slightly late that morning and originally had the puppy he collected from the pound in the locker room. But it sat in there crying and some stiff from Traffic, who shared the 11th floor, had come in moaning and quoting regulations. So Goren had snuck Poochy's un-named successor under his desk in the doubtful box.

Where he went to sleep or seemed to be content with the occasional chew on Goren's toe through the mesh until they could deliver him. Goren had checked with Miss Ringwald's niece it was okay and it wouldn't be far out of their way somewhere they had to be later.

Goren stood up. "Um…it's evidence"

"Which case?" snorted Ross moving the puppy to his arms and trying to pretend he wasn't petting it. "Finding Nemo?"

"Babe: Psychopath in the city?" suggested Mike.

"Careful Logan! Or you'll be helping him. Well move yourself Goren! Go fetch a bucket and cloth. The little bast…thing…has peed on my new carpet and there's a nasty smell you can apply your well known olfactory sense to locating the source for"

"Yes sir" he muttered pulling a pair of gloves from his desk drawer.

"Don't look at me partner" sniggered Eames. "You're on your own with this one"

Dave Seaborn's Apartment, Queens

Dave found the story of the puppy Marge Ringwald had decided to call Poochy to avoid confusion, light relief after the day he had. Sifting through the remains of a warehouse fire whose collapse had killed one fire fighter and badly injured two others. He'd seem to get the measure of Goren in their two brief meetings.

The first when work brought them together and when Eames was sure Bobby took himself off on purpose. As much sensing the discrete "interest" the two of them were showing each other, as motivated by his insatiable curiosity to learn something from Dave's colleague. The second time was the first week Goren was home from hospital, when they were "sick visiting" though by then he was getting around his place without the stick.

It had slightly surprised her Caro wasn't over in Brooklyn that time, though Eames somewhat doubted she'd abandoned him and just hoped her self-contained partner wasn't pushing her away as he had done to people after his Mom died. But in the scheme of things Goren going down to Virginia for those few days was more of a surprise. Meeting someone's parents didn't have the "significance" it once did but Eames had not teased him about it.

So as they washed dishes, Dave could well imagine the looks on his face that morning when his rather sweet and kind thought for a dotty old lady backfired on Goren. Or from what Eames gathered, had backfired over a large corner of Ross's precious, almost new, carpet.

Goren had not said why he was called to see the Chief again that afternoon, but Eames doubted it was over the dog business. Ross wasn't that petty and had even given the puppy some milk from his small icebox. All the time pretending to loathe the little thing.

But for three days Eames had sensed some things were different or "not quite right" about her partner. Something she could not decide whether it was work related or personal. And perhaps it was her? Underestimating the impact of what had happened and not giving Bobby enough time to settle back in to his life?

Goren's Apartment, Brooklyn

As his senses finally stopped sending pulses of delicious sensations through his own body Goren became aware Caro's under him had quit doing the same and was relaxing as they almost melted together. He felt her thigh slide up his own a little more, before she curled her leg over the back of his. Stroking his slightly heaving sides gently before he shifted his arms, his upper body weight to his left elbow and rested his head in the palm.

Looking at her in the soft light, mouth slightly open and with the faint hint of a smile on her lips. Her eyes no longer bright with a healthy degree of lust but a warm contentment. And he knew full well when she looked up at him she was seeing the same on his face.

He reached out to brush back some stray hair from her face and felt her lips turn briefly onto the ball of his thumb. Kissing it before he ran his fingertips from there to her neck and the length of her body he could reach. Hot, slightly damp in places like his own.

"You know Rob" she said softly. "You really will have to take a look at this bed head"

"I know" he sighed. "Comes a point where a faint and rather sexy background noise can become a distraction. Luckily just as it might have for me my…attention became fully focussed elsewhere"

"Your attention to detail is excellent" Caro smiled.

"Fascinating subject" he said quietly and then glanced in the direction of the wall. "And fixing a crack in that before I move out is one thing I don't need"

"You're going to be busy Rob"

"I know. Worth it though"

"I'm sure it will be" she returned the brush of his mouth on hers. "So what's the first thing?"

"Nothing I intend doing right now" he wriggled his pelvis into a more comfortable position against hers. "But that will be telling Alex"

To be continued…