A/N: River, thanks again. And to all the people who have reviewed, your comments are very much appreciated.

~x~

Bobby's eyes flickered to the elevator nervously. His pen paused in mid stroke and he had to remember to keep breathing as another group of people disembarked. After ascertaining that Alex was not among them he visibly relaxed, and returned his concentration to the paperwork he was trying to finish. Even though the case had been passed over to SVU there were still 'i's to dot and 't's to cross. Paperwork, it seemed, knew no jurisdiction.

For the third time that morning he screwed up the form he'd been filling in and grabbed a fresh one. His mind kept wandering to Alex and what it all meant. He wasn't sure yet if it was a bad decision, a mistake, the best thing that had ever happened to him, or a memorable interlude in an otherwise predictable friendship. On the one hand, bad decisions did not necessarily equal mistakes, and on the other, mistakes were not necessarily something you regretted. That meant that there was such a thing as good mistakes, and that they could quite easily lead to, 'the best thing that ever happened' scenario. And while interludes were pleasant, he was more the 'stick around for the whole show' kind of man. At least, he thought he wanted to be. So now it was 9:17 in the morning and he was sitting there trying to make sense of the night before, standard departmental forms, and it didn't help at all that she was late.

The elevator pinged again and his head shot up in response. Clerks, cops, one repairman with an oversized tool box and a bad haircut – and there she was. Striding towards him just like it was any other day.

"Morning," she said when she reached her desk.

"Uh, morning," he grunted back.

"You got coffee?"

"Huh?"

"Coffee – have you already got a cup or would you like me to bring one back for you?"

"Oh." He gestured towards the half filled Styrofoam cup on his desk. "No, I'm fine."

"Okay then. I'll be back."

His eyes trailed after her as she approached the coffee machine and pressed the buttons, and they were still following her as she came back with a steaming cup and seated herself opposite him.

"Eug, paperwork," she groaned as she leant over to see what he was working on. "I don't suppose that you've finished it by any chance?"

Bobby scowled and tried to figure out what her game plan was, because something was sure as hell was wrong with her. She was acting . . . well, normal, and he was very aware that he wasn't.

"Earth to Bobby, earth to Bobby, come in Bobby."

"Huh?" he said for the second time in the space of five minutes.

Alex rolled her eyes and took a sip of coffee. "Paperwork. Have. You. Finished. It. Yet?" she spelt it out as if talking to a child.

"No," he answered evenly. "Why would I have?"

"Because you're sitting there with a pile of –" Alex gave up as she noticed a glazed look come over his eyes. It was a look that she was very familiar with, one that usually meant that his mind was elsewhere. "Never mind. Guess it was just wishful thinking on my part."

She took a stack of forms from his desk and started filling them in.

Bobby felt a spasm of resentment at the easy way her pen flew over the pages. She seemed to be having no trouble with completing them correctly. He decided to prod her a little. "Wishful thinking?"

She didn't even bother to look up. "Let it go."

She continued to fly through the forms, and he continued to watch her. "What?" she finally snapped.

"Nothing. I was just thinking."

"Well, quit looking at me while you do it," she grumbled, and bent her head again.

"Alex," Bobby said, leaning over to take the pen from her hand. "This is the part where you're supposed to ask me what I'm thinking about."

"Not today, Bobby."

"Come on," he cajoled. "You know you want to."

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't," she hissed. "I'm pretty sure I already know what you're thinking about, and now is not the time or the place to be having *that* conversation."

"We need to talk about it," he pressed. "It's not going to go away."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "It will if we let it," she disagreed.

He nodded in apparent harmony, and Alex heaved a sigh of relief and reclaimed her pen. She took another sip of coffee and returned her concentration to the forms, all the time aware that Bobby was still staring at her. She tried to ignore him, and felt herself becoming flustered when she realised that she couldn't. Angry, she threw down the pen and glared at him.

"What is it this time?" she demanded.

Bobby ignored both her glare and tone, and asked, "What if we don't want to let it go?"

Her heart started beating a little harder and her pulse a little faster, but none of that showed on the outside. "Then I'd say we have a problem."

TBC

A/N: Sorry it's short, but this seemed like a great place to leave it. Bwhahahahaha – I'm evil, I know. ;)