"Having Seen Everything"
A Law & Order: Criminal Intent Fanfiction
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler
Having seen everything he could have imagined seeing in his years as a New York City Detective – first in narcotics, and now, more presently, in Major Case – Robert Goren could scarcely believe his eyes.
The hardwood floors of the unfamiliar room chilled his bare feet as he stood just outside the doorway to the bathroom, mouth slightly agape. The prone shadow of a human being laid motionless in the bed, entangled in the covers only enough so that a slender leg poked out, draping off the edge. The dim light – mostly shining from the bathroom's fluorescents – silhouetted the muscle and bone of a shapely calf, delicate ankle, and petite foot.
A blink confirmed his initial discovery, and, seeing as the evidence did not fade when he rubbed his bleary, sleep-tired eyes with a hand, he knew that it was no trick of the light.
In his time as a detective, he'd seen many things. Drug addicts with every kind of disease, attitude problem, and unfortunate fate. Bodies contorted, bloodied, battered, and left for dead on street corners or in dumpsters. He'd seen preppy fraternity boys find their way in with mobsters and gangs. He'd witnessed wives lying to their husband's faces, sociopaths claiming to be upright citizens, and children admitting to brutal murder. In those ten years as a detective, he'd seen every bit of depravity that humanity could offer and, in the end, trained himself to be unsurprised by even the strangest twists of fate.
The body in the bed stirred, and a muttering voice escaped the mass of sheets, pillows, blankets, and strawberry-blonde hair. "If you're going to stand in the middle of the room, Bobby, at least turn out the light," moaned the woman's voice irritably, drawing the covers up over her eyes. "It's bright."
Yes, Detective Bobby Goren smirked to himself as he stepped backward just enough to flick the bathroom light off, he had seen pretty much everything in the world in his years as a detective. And now, thanks to the pale light from the bathroom, that list included the crescent-moon tattoo on his partner's right calf.
Climbing back into bed, the sheets almost as warm against his bare skin as Alex's equally bare back, he resolved to thoroughly tease her about it, come morning.
Fin.
Standard Disclaimer: Law & Order: Criminal Intent and all trappings thereof belong not to me but to Dick Wolf and NBC. I am not making money of this, though the thought of being a professional fanfiction author is ridiculously tempting.
Author's Notes: So, as I went up to bed tonight, I thought to myself, "Gee, the linoleum is cold." Which then made me imagine Bobby puttering around Alex's apartment after some sort of raunchy night with her and thinking how cold the linoleum was. And then, it shifted, and became this. I think it's funny. And cute.
March 3, 2005
3:43 a.m.