Santa Mug
By: The Confused
Disclaimer: I sadly don't own anything remotely associated with CI, except maybe the DVD sets that are out, but I have no real control, and I promise to put Bobby and Alex back where I found them, unharmed. Just please, don't sue.
Warning: None.
Rating: K+
Feedback: Please Review.
Archive: Just let me know where so I can visit.
Summary: The origin of the Santa mug and what happens when it gets broken.
A/N: Don't ask where this story came from. I was watching my DVDs and a story that has the mug in it popped into my head. I hope Bobby and Alex aren't OOC to everyone. Enjoy. I enjoyed writing this one.
Alex and Bobby both stood in shock. There was no way the events that had just played out had happened. It was too horrific to think about. They couldn't bring themselves to look at each other.
They stared blankly at the broken pieces of ceramic on the floor. Alex mumbled, "I'm sorry Bobby."
Bobby didn't look up either. He couldn't believe it had happened. He mumbled back, "I provoked you."
Carolyn Barek stood over Alex's shoulder. She assured them both, "I have Logan grabbing maintenance. It's fine."
Alex shook her head. No. It wasn't fine. She knew that. There were times when it seemed to her that her entire partnership was tied up in that mug. She remembered the first time she had seen it.
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Alex sighed and tapped her pen on her desk. It was the day before Christmas and she was tired. She just wanted to get out of there so she could go see her family. Looking from the clock, to her partner of only about six months, she finally stood and broke the silence between them, "I'm going home Goren. I guess I'll see in a couple of days."
Bobby looked up from his paperwork. He put his hand up and stopped her, "Hold on. I have something for you."
Alex stared blankly for a moment, processing his words. She smiled slightly afterwards. She had given him his present a couple of hours ago, and she knew he hadn't left his desk. She surmised he had had one the whole time and had just waited to give it to her. She watched him open his desk drawer and pull out a bag with tissue paper sticking out of it. She gratefully took it and replied, "Thank you."
Putting the box with the pen she had given him back in his drawer, he confessed, "It's not as nice as yours, but I didn't forget."
Alex shook her head and smiled. She should have known better. He was a better guy than that. He wouldn't neglect her. Pulling out the tissue paper, she laughed. Pulling out a Santa mug, she met his eyes and reiterated, "Thank you Goren."
Bobby watched as she stared for a moment at the two jars that held all of their pens and scissors. He was beginning to wonder if she had actually liked it all. The idea that she didn't concerned him. He finally ventured, "Something wrong?"
Alex shook her head no. She smiled again. Meeting his eyes, she explained, "These jars are eyesores. I know how to use this mug."
Bobby looked confused, till she started moving all of the pens and scissors over to the Santa mug. He smiled now too. With a nod, he agreed, "It'll look better."
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Bobby bent down and started picking up the pens that were now scattered all over the Major Case bullpen. He felt her presence in front of him, doing the same. It wasn't until all of the pens were up and the maintenance men were walking in that he dared meet her eyes. Standing up again, he tried to reassure her, "Its fine. Really. It was a piece of ceramic, not us."
Alex almost smiled. She would never understand how he was able to almost read her mind sometimes. She reiterated, "I'm so sorry."
Bobby shook his head, knowing he had caused the scene to start with. He had refused to listen to her, again, for days. Instead, he had been dismissing her, and she had finally had enough. With a sigh, he suggested, "We. We should talk."
Mike Logan watched Alex nod. The two silently walked to the elevator. Shaking his head, he commented to Carolyn, "I didn't think they ever fought."
Pointing to the mug, Carolyn cracked, "That might be why."
It was then that Deakins noticed something was going on. Poking his head out of his office, he called to Logan, "What happened?"
Giving Mike a look, Carolyn covered quick, "Eames dropped a mug. It's fine."
Mike watched Deakins nod and disappear back inside his office. Smiling smugly, he teased Carolyn, "You lie like that often?"
Carolyn narrowed her eyes and pretended to be angry. Shaking her finger, she walked back to her desk and tried to excuse herself, "Well, it did get dropped. It just happened to be on purpose."
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Alex sat her desk. Looking up at her partner, she sighed slightly. He was engrossed in some report. He wouldn't want to talk for a while. Looking back down at her own report, she sighed again. She needed to talk. They had been avoiding it all day. They had to talk about the suspect. She was getting frustrated. He had managed to avoid the subject all day. Looking back up at him, she bit the bullet and spoke, "Bobby."
Bobby sighed. He knew what was coming. He knew she thought he was wrong about Carl Jeffers, but he knew he wasn't. He wasn't going to budge, and she needed more than just his word on this one. Jeffers had a supposed airtight alibi, and the evidence seemed to point to the cousin, Andrea James. Sure, he and Alex usually agreed on a suspect once he zeroed in on one, but he hadn't given her a real reason to suspect Carl yet. After a long moment, he replied, "Yeah."
Alex shook her head. Her annoyance was growing. She knew he knew perfectly well what she wanted to talk about. He was trying to play dumb in hopes she'd drop the subject entirely. He was not going to get that lucky, and she mused, he should know better. She replied, "We need to talk about looking at Andrea."
Bobby shook his head. He emphatically gestured and insisted, "No. I know it's him."
Shaking her head, Alex glared at him. She continued, "There isn't even a hint of evidence against this guy. Why can't you even consider someone else?"
Bobby's frustration was growing too. He was too used to the two of them being on the same page. It tended to send him in all different directions when they weren't. Raising his voice some, he persisted, "I don't… I just know Eames. Trust me, please."
Throwing her hands up in the air, she flippantly responded, "You know I trust you, but I have absolutely nothing here to follow you to this conclusion with. Not to mention, he has an alibi. Andrea doesn't."
Bobby met her eyes. He replied faster than he had meant to, "Andrea James didn't do it."
Shaking her head, Alex was getting even more irritated. She was getting sick of this conversation, round and round. They had been having this same argument for days. Sick of it, she pushed a little too hard, "What? You have some sort of thing for her?"
Anger flashed in Bobby's eyes. He bitterly hissed, "I don't, but even if I did, that wouldn't affect my judgment."
Alex continued needling him, convinced it would get him to think and slow down on his crucifixion of Carl Jeffers, "Just like Nicole doesn't affect your judgment."
He couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. His anger mounted. That was it. He had had it. As Bobby's anger rose, he lowered his voice, "This conversation is over."
Alex closed her eyes. She silently cursed herself for saying those things. He didn't deserve that. She didn't understand what had possessed her to say them. Sure, she knew they had argued in the past, but it had never gotten personal. She softly tried to reach out to him, "Bobby."
Bobby took a deep breath. He didn't want to talk at that moment. He needed a moment. So he ignored her. He closed his eyes when she said his name again, this time a little more desperate. He finally spoke, "I'm fine."
Alex watched him. She knew he was lying. She had really done it this time. She had truly hurt him. She mentally kicked herself. One thought consumed her, why? Why had she said those words? She tried again, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that…" She let her words trail as off as she watched him stand.
He couldn't take it. He had to get away for a moment. He cryptically explained, "I'm going to take a walk."
Alex closed her eyes again. Standing up, she called out to him, "Bobby." He ignored her. Desperate, she grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on and dropped it.
She watched him stop and turn to face her. Shaking, she realized what she had just smashed to pieces. The Santa mug was gone. He walked back over to their desks. She couldn't face him again. She looked down at the shattered pieces and stayed.
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Sitting down with the coffee, Bobby found her eyes. He spoke first, "I'm sorry. I've been acting like an ass."
Alex shook her head vigorously. She insisted, "No. I had no right to say what I said, and I definitely had no right to smash the mug, no matter what you have or haven't done."
Bobby shook his head. Touching her hand, he assured her, "You were emotional, and I was being stupid."
Alex put her hand to her forehead. She bemoaned, "I still can't believe I broke it. I broke the mug."
Bobby smiled slightly. He teased her a little, "Quite the temper tantrum."
Alex, embarrassed, eyed her coffee and the table. Taking a sip of her coffee, she softly added, "Yeah. I don't know what got into me."
Bobby shrugged. He spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Stress."
Alex nodded. Something told her he was probably right. He sipped his coffee. She finally spoke, "We still need to talk about Jeffers and James."
Bobby sighed. Eyeing his coffee, he agreed, "Yeah. I'm going to make this easy this time. We'll look at Andrea James."
Alex smiled slightly. She nodded, again. She was pleased and said so, "Good."
Bobby smiled again. Meeting her eyes, he challenged her, "In fact, I'll give you ten minutes, when we get back to the squad room, to convince me."
Alex nearly spit out her coffee. She met his eyes. She saw the look in his eye. It wasn't mocking or teasing. He trusted her to convince him, to explain her theory and shoot him down for once. She smiled and agreed, "Alright. You're on."
Picking up his coffee, Bobby smiled as he followed her back to IPP. He was pleased with himself. He was compromising, even if it was just a little. She had to prove him wrong. He had no doubt if anyone could do it, it was her.
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Sitting down at his desk, he met her eyes with a small smile. The smile got wider when she returned it. He assured her, "You were very good."
Alex snorted. She reminded him, "You got her to confess."
Bobby shrugged. He explained, "If it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have gotten there."
Alex shrugged. She wasn't comfortable taking credit. She tried to play it off, "You would have figured it out, eventually."
Bobby gestured some and kept going, "Still. I have something for you."
Alex's face fell into confusion. After the last few days and seeing as it wasn't a major holiday or anyone's birthday, she wasn't sure why he was giving her anything.
She watched Bobby pull out a bag from his desk drawer and hand it to her. He had a pleased look on his face. Looking at it warily, she pulled out the tissue paper, and started laughing. Pulling out a carbon copy of their old Santa mug, she met his eyes and questioned, "How did you find this? It's almost April."
Bobby smiled, pleased with himself. He explained, "I found this little place that sells Christmas items all year long. I took a shot, and they had the exact same mugs."
Alex shook her head and began moving the pens, pencils, scissors, and highlighters into the mug. With a sigh, she decided, all in all, things had worked out pretty good.