Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Ok, I have temporarily overcome my carpal tunnel, (read had half day off from work) so I am giving you the story I promised. Julie and Kel, you deserve thanks. Cause this was your idea. Points at them If you knew how many questions ("Fluff or no fluff?" "Character study or no?" "Actual song or metaphor?") I'd asked them, you'd realize that it really was almost all their ideas. Please do review!
Chapter Two: Goren
He didn't take his hand off her back in the elevator, nor did he remove it as they made their way down the street to catch a cab. She gave the cabby her address, and he didn't say anything. He was too busy watching her.
SOME SECRETS NEED TO BE KEPT
SOME STORIES SHOULD NEVER BE TOLD
SOME REASONS SHOULDN'T BE UNDERSTOOD
THEY JUST MIGHT TURN YOUR BLOOD COLD
He was pretty sure he loved her, if only for the fact that she knew when to leave him alone. He had all sorts of issues, things he felt comfortable sharing with no one. His other partners hadn't understood; they'd deluged him with details of their home lives and been offended when he hadn't reciprocated. He doubted they wanted to hear the things he wasn't saying. It would have made them even more freaked out by him and he was eternally grateful that Alex hadn't pestered him.
WHO NEEDS ALL THE ANSWERS?
WHO TAKES ALL THE CHANCES?
WHO SAYS THE TRUTH'S GONNA SAVE YOU
WHEN THE TRUTH CAN BE DANGEROUS.
Her attitude was sort of something of a "unless it will directly affect my life, I don't need to know" thing, and it was refreshing. She understood that she didn't need to know everything, that there were things he wasn't going to tell anyone, ever, and that was alright.
LIKE THE WAY I FEEL
IT'S ALRIGHT TO STEAL
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
DO WHAT I HAVE TO DO
SAY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY
GO WHERE I HAVE TO GO
AND THAT'S DANGEROUS
DANGEROUS TO KNOW
She really was a great partner. He could take without asking, because she was always ready to give without hesitation. She backed him up without question, even when he did something nobody else understood. Whatever he said, wherever he had to go, she followed him, supported him. Sometimes he was pretty sure that Alex cared more about what happened to him and his career than her own.
I WAS A LAW UNTO MYSELF
WHEN YOU FOUND ME OUT ON MY OWN
TOGETHER NOTHING WAS SACRED
TOGETHER WE WERE ALONE
They got out of the cab at her building, he paid the driver, and then they headed up to her apartment. The elevator provided another great opportunity to study his partner.
She'd saved him, she really had. He'd been out of control. Thinking about his earlier behavior, it was no wonder all his ex partners had become, well, ex partners. Through Alex, he could communicate with the world at large, but it was more than that. She didn't just translate, she taught him the language. She understood him, joined him in his own little world, and helped him slowly make his world part of everyone else's.
WHO NEEDS ALL THE QUESTIONS?
WHO LOST THEIR DIRECTION?
WHO SAID A LIE'S GONNA BREAK YOU
WHEN A LIE CAN BE DANGEROUS.
They were at her door now, and she was inviting him in for food. She was using the face, so he agreed. He didn't want to know the real reason she'd invited him in. Not knowing allowed him to pretend that it was something more than friendship that compelled her. That was the sort of lie he told himself at night when he was worried that she might leave, that he'd pushed her too far.
LIKE THE WAY I FEEL
IT'S ALRIGHT TO STEAL
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
DO WHAT I HAVE TO DO
SAY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY
GO WHERE I HAVE TO GO
AND THAT'S DANGEROUS
DANGEROUS TO KNOW
He accepted her offer of leftover pizza, sat on a barstool and ate it under her watchful eye. When she was satisfied that he was really eating, she started her own meal.
He used the opportunity to stare at her again. This time he couldn't even find an excuse to do it. She turned suddenly and caught him at it. Her eyes searched his face and, apparently satisfied with what she saw, she kissed him.
IGNORANCE IS BLISS
YOU'RE SAFE WHEN YOU RESIST
THERE'S NO SAFETY IN A KISS LIKE THIS
IT'S DANGEROUS
SO KISS ME
KISS ME
It wasn't a sister to brother kiss, that was for certain. Even as his hands went up to cradle her head, his mind was working overtime, thinking about why this was so wrong: they were partners, they had to work together, he had too much baggage...
And then, Robert Goren did something he'd never done before in his life. He stopped thinking.
LIKE THE WAY I FEEL
IT'S ALRIGHT TO STEAL
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
DO WHAT I HAVE TO DO
SAY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY
GO WHERE I HAVE TO GO
AND THAT'S DANGEROUS
DANGEROUS TO KNOW
After what seemed like hours, she pulled gently away. "Bobby?"
"Yes?" He couldn't make himself say any more.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes." He smiled and pulled her closer. "Better than alright."
LIKE THE WAY I FEEL
IT'S ALRIGHT TO STEAL
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
DO WHAT I HAVE TO DO
SAY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY
GO WHERE I HAVE TO GO
AND THAT'S DANGEROUS
DANGEROUS TO KNOW
"You are going to sleep tonight, Bobby." He decided he liked the way her voice sounded muffled by his chest.
"Fine. I promise I'll go home and get some sleep."
"No." She pulled back, nearly as tall as him as he perched on the stool. "I know you, Bobby. You'll find something to do when you get home." His guilty look seemed to add to her conviction. "You're staying here. I'll sleep on the couch and you can take the bed."
"No. You take the bed or I go home." He had resigned himself to staying, but he could see her couch. It was too short even for her, and she need sleep more than he did.
She sighed and stuck out her tongue at him in a momentary fit of childishness that he found incredibly endearing. "Fine. We'll both sleep on the bed. It's certainly big enough."
And that was how Robert Goren ended up in Alexandra Eames' bed in a t-shirt and boxers, spooned up against his partner.
SOME SECRETS NEED TO BE KEPT
He was watching her again, sleeping peacefully in his arms, face free from normal burdens. She had her secrets, and he had his. They'd probably never know all of them, and that was ok. It was who they were and how they lived, and he loved her all the more for her acceptance of it.
And then, for the second time in as many hours, he cleared his mind. She'd said sleep, and she'd used the face. With one last look at her, he closed his eyes and obeyed.
A/N: Tada! The end! Review! I like exclamation points!