He just shook his head, refusing to be baited. She looked back down at her desk and muttered in a low voice.

            "Hairball. Honest to god. Could you be any less subtle, really?"

            He smiled and they both went about their jobs.

            Deakins came back out of the office a little while later.

            "If all you're doing is going through your files and looking stuff up on the Internet why don't you both go home and research from there? It's late enough as it is and you can't be too comfortable in those getups, particularly you, Goren. I'm itching just looking at all that make-up."

            Bobby shrugged and looked at Alex.

            "What do you think?"

            "Sounds okay by me. Let's go."

            So they packed their stuff and made their way back to the elevators.

            "Do you want me to drive you home?" she asked as they waited.

            "I'd appreciate that. Thanks."

            They got into the elevator and as the door closed she pushed the button for the garage and turned to him.

            "So I'll look into Jun-Thai's pier holdings and you'll learn what you can about our victim?" she asked. He nodded.

            "That's fine. How did you choose who got what?" he wanted to know as they made their way out of the building.

            "Simple. I don't read Chinese and I figure some of the stuff may be on a Chinese website. You get her because you're all poly-lingual and I'm not."

            It was a few hours later and Alex had finally discovered that Jun-Thai had no access or connection to anything called pier ten. He did have access to plenty of piers, though. But maybe it was the name of something else. So she had branched out her search and discovered that there was a restaurant in Jersey City by that name. She called Goren and gave him her update.

            "Well you're having better luck than I am."

            "I'm sorry to hear that. So what do you want to do?"

            "Let's plan on going to the restaurant tomorrow. We'll take turns sitting inside until he shows."

            "Ok. I call second shift."

            "Oh you do, huh? And why is that?"

            "Simple. You are the early bird while I am the worm who likes to sleep late."

            "Interesting analogy."

            "You like that one, don't you?"

            "I admit to nothing. I will plan on being in the restaurant at 8:00 am tomorrow, complete with a nice thick book to keep me occupied. If they come in I'll call you. Otherwise why don't you plan on meeting me there around noon?"

            "Sure thing. That gives me time to hopefully get the results of the composite I'm doing with Frank Russ tomorrow. If I don't hear from you I'll call before I leave so you can let me know if you need me to bring you anything."

            "All right. Then I'll talk to you tomorrow."

            "Or later today, depending on your perspective."

            The pause meant he was looking at the clock and she grinned.

            "I didn't realize it was so late. You're right."

            "Just call me Madame Rolex."

            "Ok then. Goodnight, Madame."

            "Night, Bobby."

            The next morning found Alex down in the basement of One Police Plaza talking with Russ, the sketch artist.

            "A little narrower nose…yeah, like that. Umm, his hair was spiky in front but pretty short," she paused while she looked at the sketch and smiled at Russ. "Yeah, that's our guy."

            "I'll get right on this, Eames, but don't get your hopes up that I'll have an answer before lunch. We're backlogged here."

            "I gotcha. Thanks, Russ."

            "Later, Detective."

            After she concluded her session she made her way out to the car where she called Bobby as she headed out of the garage.

            "Hello?" he answered instead of his usual "Goren," which made Eames grin.

            "Hi, it's me."

            "Hi. How are you?"

            "Well aren't you just too sweet? I'm fine, thanks. How are you?" she relished the opportunity to play with him a little. He couldn't exactly call her on it without possibly drawing suspicion to himself.

            "I'm fine, thanks. Any news for me?"

            "I just left my meeting with the sketch artist and he said he'd get right on it but not to expect anything soon. I guess they have a lot of demands on their time."

            "All right."

            "What about you? Any sightings of alien craft or other unidentified foreign bodies to amuse you?" She heard him chuckle briefly and she smiled.

            "No, not so far. It's still early, though."

            "So what are you eating?"

            "Umm, let's see. Waffles, a couple of pieces of bacon, some fruit and coffee."

            Alex's stomach rumbled at the mention of food.

            "Man that sounds good."

            "So come join me and I'll buy you breakfast."

            She was stunned into silence for a moment.

            "I thought we decided that it was too big a risk that they'd recognize us from the gala if we were together? Or are you just saying that because the waitress has been flirting with you and you want to let her down easy?"

            "You're right, we did decide that and no, I don't think so."

            "What, you're not sure if she's been flirting with you? Or you're not sure you want to let her down easy?" she teased.

            "A little of both."

            She laughed out loud and imagined he was grinning at her reaction.

            "Well I'll make it up to you. I'll let you take me to lunch instead. I'll be good and hungry by then."

            "You're going to let me take you to lunch?" he teased.

            "I sure am. Never let it be said that I'm not generous."

            "You're the personification of generosity, that's for sure."

            "Well I hate to leave you to your cold waffles and weak coffee but I'm going to tackle some paperwork before lunch. Call me later if you want."

            "That's cruel. By the way if you get through with your stack and feel like you need more to do you have my permission to start on my pile."

            "Why how nice of you to think of me! What would I do without you?" she cooed in a syrupy-sweet voice.

            "Hey you're the one who claims to be the soul of kindness and charity. I figured that would be right up your alley."

            "I'll see what I can work out. But it'll cost you."

            "Oh yeah? And what sort of payment did you have in mind?"

            She just laughed.

            "I'll leave it up to you. I trust you can find something to make it worth my while?"

            "Maybe."

            "I have every confidence in the world in you, Bobby."

            "Likewise."

            She was about to say something else when she noticed Deakins stepping out of his office.

            "Oh damn."

            "What?"

            "Deakins is on his way over. I have to get busy and give him an update."

            "Okay. I'll talk to you later, bye."

            "Bye."

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Disclaimer: Sounds like a superhero…"I am The Disclaimer!" Anyhoo, I own the plot, not the characters. Thanks for caring.

Author's Note: Greetings and Salutations! I decided to welcome November by posting a new chapter. Thank-yous are below.

cookie24—Well my dear I fear that the ending is really far away. There are at least like seven or eight chapters to go, possibly a lot more. So at least the part about posting more chapters is going to be true, it just won't be all of them by the end of the month. Thanks for liking the story enough to want to read the ending!

Aria—Will it make you happy to know that I already have the ending written, it's just some of the parts in the middle that are causing me stress? I am so honored to have hooked you on your first unfinished fic. Sorry that chapter twelve was too short. I'll try to do better. Your review was such a welcome sight in my inbox and had me smiling from ear to ear. I'm glad that you felt that I kept B & E in character, it means a lot.

A.Rowan—You're sweet. It's not too often I get a reviewer telling me to take my time. I'll do my best to rush in a relaxed way, how's that? Thanks for taking the time to review.

MagentaLee—Saffron Surprises is so entitled because it combines two elements of that chapter. Saffron refers to the color of Jun-Thai's costume and Surprises is in reference to the fact that both Bobby and Alex were surprised by the other's choice of costume. What can I say; they can't all be winning chapter titles. Thanks for asking!

DoM05—Well THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for reviewing! I really appreciate your enthusiasm. I can promise you that this will be finished, but it's a long way from being done so it won't be soon and I apologize for that.

wingjade—Well I'm sorry to hear that I caused such a severe reaction! Hopefully I'll be updating more often and not putting your life in danger! I'm so pleased that you liked this chapter…thanks for reviewing!

Kahliaa—I really appreciated your review! I was especially happy to see that you enjoyed the humor…hopefully I can keep it up! Thanks again!

Autumngold—I'm delighted to read that you felt her response was perfect…you can't ask for better than that, and I couldn't ask for a nicer reviewer than you!

Chloe6—lol. I guess I'll have to adjust to life with a big head, huh? Hopefully it won't get so bad that I can no longer visit St. Louis. Thank you for a review that made me laugh and feel good!

Shellme—Thank you so much! Your review was the type I really relish receiving and reading, complete with a nice saying to wrap it all up! Thank you!

geena1029—Your review was such a treat to receive! Thank you very much for your lavish praise. I'm so glad you like the story, and I hope I can keep you interested!

Lisa—And I must say *you* rock! Thanks for reviewing!

Issi—Well thanks! I'm pleased you're enjoying it!

Dirce—I don't want to be responsible for crushing you, by any means! Thanks for reviewing!

Cyclone2—And I appreciate the hounding/encouraging, I really do. You're a gem…Just look at how fast I got it out after you wrote me!