Author's Note - Thank you, everyone. I'm having such a good time on this fic. Thank you all for inspiring me to continue. I have such a terrible track record with stories - I finish about one in ten - but now, if I feel like I can't continue, I remind myself that I can't let justawriter, KendraC, TriStateCopFan, The X-Pig, ShadowSage, and all the others down. So thank you.
Author's Note of Warning - Just FYI, anything I say could be, and probably is, sarcastic (except the thanks, I mean every word). I have a very dark, snarky sense of humor, but it is not my intention to insult or hurt anyone's feelings. I wouldn't do that - I love you guys!
brynnamorgan - That's awesome. And you're right about Fin, I caught that and fixed it for my personal webpage, but I hadn't gotten around to updating it here. I have now, thanks.
TriStateCopFan - Those two are the most fun, and the most nerve-wracking characters to write. I was afraid I was going over the top, but it was just so much fun, I ran with it, and ... well, I guess it turned out okay. And about Elliot - LOL - when I read your other comment, I actually went into panic mode. I'd already written the first part of the next chapter, and I was totally freaking out, wondering if I was throwing him way OOC, if I was going to have to rewrite, and if so, could I still have the chapter done in time for a Monday update ... so I did some checking, drank some tea, hugged my cat and went ahead with what I had. I mean, no, Elliot is not gay, never could be, but I think he's comfortable with his, and others' sexuality. (Of course, what went on between him and Bobby is probably best left unwritten LOL)
The X-Pig - Don't be embarassed and thank you for that great compliment. It's nice to know the story makes sense (well, as much sense as this plot-line allows).
justawriter - Comedy is not easy. I've read that it's easier to make your readers cry than laugh. I do so love Munch and Fin - there's never enough of them on the show. Thanks.
ShadowSage2 - Eh, updating will probably continue as is, although I am working a couple of chapters ahead right now, and I've just had a diabolical idea for you guys to earn a faster update or two. Hmmm, I'll have to think about that. Oh, the plants! I LOVED doing that. It took me hours to find the right ones, but it turned out great, didn't it? As long as it's something I want to learn, I could research all day. Novak just gets on my nerves sometimes. Most of the time I like her, but those annoying things she does just have to made fun of. Now Bishop, she wasn't around long enough to really like or dislike her, but I did like seeing Goren without his Eames. Lost Bobby, missing his partner, sigh.
About Sledge: No, I'm not telling, LOL, and Sledge was actually just a filler until Bobby showed up. I didn't think Deakins would send Alex out alone, so I gave her a temp, and named him after my sometimes writing partner, Edward M. Sledge. My Edward writes original fantasy fiction, which we're trying to get up on our website, but he has been giving me pointers and encouragement on this one. Anyway, Detective Sledge was just thrown in there for the hell of it, at first, but ... I have this terrible habit of making simple things complicated, things you wouldn't notice important, and things 'just thrown in there for the hell of it' look planned. Should you trust him? I really don't know.
08Starbaby08 - The wait is over, and, as usual, thank you very much.
lovvergurl - Thanks for reading, I appreciate the ... enthusiasm in your review(s).
Lina-Baggins - Thank you. I'm not sure if dark magick like that will have a form, though. And who said anything about Bobby surviving? I'm trying to find season one myself, so I know how you feel (probably why this fic is as crazy as it is).
qt-angel - Thanks for reading, I'm glad you like it.
Strawberry-ksc - Thank you so much. This was probably one of my favorite chapters to write so far.
SarahAnn91 - I'm on TWoP several times a day keeping up with the Hotness thread LOL, but thanks for leaving a review here, too. Fantasy is my genere of choice, so the crazy part comes pretty easily. Thank you and I'm glad you decided to take a risk on my fic - I'm pulling my hair out trying to keep everyone in character (not easy with a plot like this) and I just hope I can continue.
KendraC - Oh, come on, Fin is totally a sweet pea guy! And I was kidding about condensing the story (my dark humor doesn't come across very well in my comments). The more chapters it takes, the more I get to hear from you wonderful people.
Rach - Spain! Oh, I'm so jealous. I would love to travel someday. I like replying, too. I'd have done it sooner, but I wasn't sure anybody wanted to hear from me. Anyway, thanks and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
"Oh, please, let's," Alex said humorlessly, but inside her stomach gave a lurch. "How dangerous is this?" Munch walked around the desk to a clear glass drawing board and seized a pen.
"Well," he said, drawing a large circle, "if I don't get Elliot and Logan to balance out, their combined anger issues could render Detective Goren into a pile of smoking ash. Worst case, of course."
"That's good to know," Alex replied, letting her biting tone mask the unease she felt. "I'd hate to think a pile of smoking ash was one of our better outcomes. Can you do it - keep these hot-heads from burning up my partner?" She ignored the dual scowls she was getting from either side of her.
"Oh, sure." He divided the circle into quadrants, labeling the upper-most point with a capital 'CN', the right side with an 'LB', the bottom with an 'AE' and the left with an 'OB'. "You ladies are easy; your implements carry their own directional association - the pentacle with the North, the athame with the East, the wand with the South and the chalice with the West. Now, we already know Olivia is quite capable of handling her partner, so we'll place him next to her." He wrote up an 'ES' just above the 'OB'. "Since Logan can't be next to Elliot, across from him, or in an adjoining quadrant, that leaves only ... here." He placed Logan's initials just to the right of 'AE'.
"You're putting him next to me?" Alex asked.
"And here I thought we were going to be friends," Logan said, leaning back against a desk, his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced over at Fin as the other detective opened his mouth to speak. "One more joke about your sweet pea and I'm going to shove it down your throat, got it?" Fin closed his mouth, his expression never changing, but Alex could sense the angry, animal side of him prowling restlessly behind those calm brown eyes.
"It's nothing personal," Alex said, stepping between the two men. "I'm just not sure I can handle this." She looked pointedly at Logan.
"Don't worry, the person across the circle from him will take the brunt of it. I just need someone calm. You look calm." He pointed at Carver. "What'd you say your first name was - Rob?"
"Ron," Carver corrected. Munch started to write it up, then glanced over at Alex.
"I can handle this, really. Maybe you should go ... prepare your partner. We don't have a lot of time." Alex nodded, her mouth suddenly dry - damn it. As she headed for the hallway back to lockup, Deakins caught her by the arm.
"Does he mean ... what I think he means?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied, making him draw back as she met his eyes. She felt no qualms about unleashing her hard as nails, cold as ice, cuts like a razor, perp-rattling stare on him; it was her best defense, after all. He removed his hand from her arm and cleared his throat, probably trying to remind himself that he was the one in charge.
"This isn't going to be a problem, is it? I'd hate to have to break up my best team of detectives."
"It's not a problem," she assured him, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded.
"Just a thought, but perhaps you should let me take care of Goren this time." Deakins and Alex turned to stare at Bishop, who was calmly watching the dagger spin on the top of the desk beside her. It slowed and came to a stop, pointing directly toward the hallway. "It would be a shame to risk such a partnership." Alex's first response was a little biased, running along the lines of 'Ewww, he'd never touch you, you little tramp.', but she quickly realized her own emotional investment in this case and was able to push it mostly to the side.
Bobby had no great affection for his temporary partner, nor an open dislike of her, but Alex was almost certain that he would have no part of the pale red-head. On the other hand, he had said, admittedly in a desperate attempt to drive her away, that he would have picked anyone over her. Maybe it was time to put his money where his mouth was.
But why would Bishop volunteer to sate the incubus's hunger? It made no sense, unless she'd been harboring a school-girl crush on Bobby all this time, her infatuation turning to obsession - Alex shook her head. Not everything was a crime waiting to happen. Maybe ... Maybe ... Aw, to hell with it.
"Why would you do this?" she asked. "Do you have any idea what you're volunteering for, the power involved?"
"I'm not a complete idiot, Detective Eames. The power is why I would do this, the total, all-encompassing, overwhelming power - to surrender to that, to become part of that ... why wouldn't I want to?"
"I don't remember telling you - Don't tell me you're a witch, too," Alex said with a groan.
"Not even close," Bishop replied with a smirk to put Munch to shame. "You see, I too know how to run a web search."
"But why - " Deakins asked, frowning at the young detective.
"I thought it would be obvious," she said, rolling her eyes. "When you're climbing a rather crowded political ladder, it helps to have good shoes, strong hands, and a big stick to knock the competition off with."
"Where the hell are you heading, the Commissioner's office?" Bishop didn't reply. "And by screwing my partner you hope to - what? Earn his favor on your campaign?"
"I'll admit, having the two of you behind me, after I save your partnership from this train wreck, wouldn't hurt, but I'm really more interested in this curse. Think about it - the realm of the supernatural exists, and I have first-hand experience with some of the most intense forces it possesses. It's research, nothing more." Alex was silent a moment, letting her senses pour over Bishop unfiltered.
She was telling the truth, mostly. Either a few details were fudged, or she was leaving something out, Alex couldn't tell which. In the end, she supposed it didn't matter. As if Bishop had a chance with Bobby.
"Okay then, research away," Alex said, catching Bishop by surprise. She blinked those sharp gray eyes a couple of times, but recovered quick enough. Taking off her gray suit jacket and draping it over the back of her chair, she tossed her hair back over her shoulders and marched down the hall. "I give her five minutes," Alex said with a bitter bark of laughter. "Five minutes and he'll have her running out here in tears."
"What makes you say that?" Deakins asked.
"It's what I almost did."
"Damn. I give her three, in that case."
"I'm bettin' on Bishop," Fin said. Alex glanced up. Apparently, their voices had carried.
"Come on," Olivia said, "Bobby would never touch that - " She seemed to think better of her choice of words. "- woman, not if he had any choice, and the curse wasn't that advanced when he left."
"Ten bucks says he does," Fin replied, slapping a wrinkled Hamilton down on the desk. "And she's gone for half an hour."
"You're on." She dropped a couple of fives on there. "She's back in ten; Bobby's too nice to scare her off faster than that."
"I got twenty minutes, and the chick does him," Logan said, reaching for his wallet.
"Hang on, hang on, let me write this down," Munch said, moving to a clear space on the glass. Alex buried her head in her hands and groaned.
When Bishop reappeared at the end of the corridor seventeen minutes later, a communal groan went up from everyone except Novak, who began to gather up the pile of cash.
"Wait a minute," Logan said, grabbing her by the arm. "It's not like he had to wine and dine her - they could have -"
"No," Alex and Olivia said at the same time. They exchanged bemused glances and Olivia finished the thought. "She's walking too smoothly; no woman glides like that after sex."
"So, how did the research go?" Alex asked as Bishop drew within hearing distance. The skinny red-head took in the scene with cold gray eyes and raised her chin defiantly at the sight of Novak counting her hard won spoils.
"He told me to come back later," she said. "The curse wasn't advanced enough; he's still in control. And somebody forgot to mention that he locked himself in a cell."
"I guess a key would have useful," Alex said blandly. "You sure were gone a long time. Seventeen minutes."
"Bobby and I had a lot of catching up to do." Alex didn't know who she thought she was fooling. She and Bobby had nothing in common. Bishop walked over to the glass board before Munch could wipe off the bets. "Four to one against me; thanks for the vote of confidence." She glanced over at Novak. "How much did you win?"
"Ninety bucks and lunch at Cardinelli's." Bishop nodded.
"Whatever you do, don't order the seafood. And double or nothing says next time, I get him."
"You're on," Logan said.
"No, you're not." Alex had finally had enough. "This isn't fight night at the Coliseum. And you -" She pointed at Bishop. " - you had your chance. He's mine - my partner, my responsibility." For some reason, the thought of sending Bishop back to Bobby after the incubus had taken control, when he was helpless and vulnerable, made her sick to her stomach. She stalked across the room, grabbed her coat, and headed down the hallway. After a few steps she stopped and turned. "If I even suspect that you've been placing bets on me, I'm going to hurt every last one of you."
Disclaimer - Law and Order: CI and SVU, and the characters protrayed therin, are the property of Dick Wolf and Assoc., but Detective Sledge is all mine, Mwa ha ha ha! Er, ahem ... please don't sue.