Disclaimer: Dick Wolf - ya know da drill, folks.

Title: Hurricane Katrina

Rating: K+

Genre: Humor/Angst (who said they don't mix?)

Characters: Eames

Reviews welcome.

Ch. 7 – Breakfast and Lunch

8 a.m.Saturday morning Katayeva's home, day following the meeting with Goren.

Jack Kennedy scooped the fluffy scrambled eggs out of the pan and onto the plates. Added the toasted English muffins, a bowl of fresh berries, butter, homemade jam and two steaming mugs of Japanese tea. Put all of it on a large tinware tray and bring it upstairs to the bedroom he shared with his wife. Kennedy, you are the luckiest sonofabitch on the planet. Your wife is drop-dead gorgeous, funny, and smart. You didn't think she'd look at you twice because you're ten years older, but she did. She actually married you and gave you two beautiful children. All is not quite perfect, however. She has a very dangerous job that she loves. When we married I agreed to never bug her about it. I have kept my word, no matter how difficult it has been to do so. She insists that my job is equally dangerous. On September 11th I was paying a call on a client in Hoboken. Otherwise I would have been at my desk as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor of Tower I of the World Trade Center. While I certainly have many colleagues and friends at my job, I never had a "partner" like police detectives do. I realize how closely partners must work for them to do their jobs effectively and safely. In some ways it resembles a marriage. Without the sex. Her partners have always been male. Some smarter and some better looking than others. None even remotely her intellectual equal. She is starting a new temp position with Major Case and partnering with the departmental genius. I know she volunteered for the position just for the opportunity to work with him. Even if this guy is ugly as sin, his mind could really attract her. I already found out that he's as big as I am. That's unusual, unless you count my five over-the-top brothers-in-law. Certainly explains a lot about my wife, being the baby sister to that crew. I've been very fortunate to still have what my wife loves to call my 'California surfer' good looks. As long as she's happy, I'm happy. And god knows I am a very happy and grateful man.

Jack nudged open the bedroom door. The sight of his wife in bed wearing that peach silk teddy made his heart skip a beat. Again. A half hour ago she wasn't even wearing that. Focus, Jack. Breakfast.

He placed the tray on the bed between them. Handed her her plate, already fixed. She planted a kiss on his cheek, while her hand stroked through his hair.

"I love a man who can cook," she grinned, "Jack you make the absolute best, fluffiest scrambled eggs in the world." She'd said it to him a million times before. He never got tired of hearing it.

"What's on the agenda for today?" asked Jack.

"Mikhail's soccer game, Katie's T-ball. Aren't you playing racquetball with my brother this afternoon?"

"Yeah, at the new courts. Have you spoken with that woman detective yet?"

"Alexandra Eames? Yeah. I called her last night. I'm taking her lunch today. Can you handle the kids? Is that OK? I really need to pick her brain over this Goren guy."

"I've got it covered. Go pick her brain."

His wife hand fed him some strawberries and blueberries. She really knows how to make a man feel like a million bucks. I could stay in bed all day and…

They finished eating, chatted about the kids over their tea.

"I'm going to take a shower…Can I talk you into washing my back for me, Jack?" she asked sweetly.

"Vice President Gore told us how important it is to conserve water, so I consider it my civic duty to shower with you," grinned Jack.

"Your patriotism should certainly be rewarded."

"I'll collect my reward in the shower."

………………………….

Saturday - Lunch at Becco.

Eames had indicated that she enjoyed Italian food, so Katrina Katyeva told her to meet her at Becco in the theatre district.

Katayeva already knew that Eames was short, blonde and very pregnant. It wasn't hard to spot her. The women shook hands and went into the restaurant. Both ordered the special Sinfonia di Pasta consisting of salad, appetizers and pasta.

"Detective Eames, you look terrific. How are you feeling?"

"Please call me Alex. And other than feeling like the Good Year blimp, I'm OK. I heard that you were visiting Major Case yesterday. How did it go?"

"Pretty well, I think. I must confess to bribing your partner."

"Bribing him? With what?" A copy of Smithsonian?

"Guatemala Antigua."

"But, how did you know…?"

"The counter girls at the nearest Starbucks immediately recognized my description of him and told me his favorite coffee. Did you know they all have a crush on him? It was really cute."

"I'm curious. How did he react?" Smart cookie here.

"I showed up nearly a half hour early. I figured he'd be working himself into a snit and I wanted to head it off, if possible."

"Snits are difficult to get out of once you're in one," agreed Eames. And nobody does a snit better than Goren.

"I just walked up to his desk, put the Guatemala Antigua in front of him, introduced myself and shook hands."

"Really? Was he surprised?"

"Yeah, but he managed to disguise it quickly. I not sure which surprised him more, my arriving that early or bringing that coffee."

"Where did you have lunch?"

"Burmese place….Mingala Village."

"Right…. the place that doesn't have a knife or fork anywhere in the entire restaurant."

"Ah…so that's why he chose it."

"Did you end up having to eat with your fingers?"

"Nope, I'm good to go with chopsticks. He seemed disappointed that I wasn't left handed though."

"He thought you were left handed?"

"Because I was using the chopsticks with my left hand. As soon as he said it, I switched back to my right hand."

"What else happened?"

"We discussed an article from Smithsonian™ on Russian iconography and the importance of iconostasis in the Russian Orthodox Church."

"You actually subscribe to Smithsonian™?" What the hell is iconostasis?

"Yeah, it fits on my treadmill reading rack and I find it interesting."

Goren never told me he had a younger, geekier sister.

"Did any actual case work come up while you were there?"

"Yes, we went down to the M.E. to examine the body of a nun."

Viewing a dead body with Goren is always a treat. And Katayeva's still here.

"Did he do his usual sniffing, poking, prodding thing?"

"Yeah. Rogers says he's the only one who does that."

There's a surprise.

"I do stuff like that sometimes, but I am less aggressive about it. Now that I've seen what Goren does, I won't hesitate next time."

Terrific. Another corpse-sniffing-poker-prodder.

"Kat, if you don't mind me asking, why did you sign up for this temp job?"

"Goren has a reputation for being the smartest, if not the most unorthodox, detective in the entire NYPD. I like working with smart, creative people. Those people are often also quirky, but that doesn't bother me. I have five older brothers and our father is an artist. I know quirky."

"You're nearly six feet tall, so I'm guessing that your brothers are…."

"All Goren-sized. As is my husband. I'm used to them. I am sure there is a lot I can learn from Goren."

"Like what?"

"I don't know that yet. Life is full of surprises. It will probably be something unexpected. Now, please let me ask you something. What do I need to know about him that I might not guess? That I need to know to allow us to work together successfully."

Alexandra Eames went silent and thoughtful. What can or should I tell her about Goren? What does she need to know to do her job and keep both of them safe?

"Goren does his most brilliant work when he gets into the head of a suspect. Sometimes he has trouble getting himself out of there, or worse, he lets them into his head. He needs someone to reel him back in, keep him safe."

"How do you do that?"

"Sometimes verbally. Sometimes with a touch, I generally place my hand on his arm, or his back. He recognizes it as a signal to come back. It seems to ground him and help him return to reality. There is no sexual connotation to it."

Katayeva nodded.

"Goren needs to be the alpha male. He is the alpha male."

"No shit," laughed Katayeva.

"Didn't need to be a detective to figure that one out, huh?" chuckled Eames, "Goren is extremely detail-oriented. He will expect you…depend on you…to see the big picture and help put it all together, Kat."

"I am so glad you told me that. I am detail-oriented also, but I can re-focus my view or enlarge it, probably much more easily than Goren can."

"Another thing…Goren and you will probably switch-off occasionally in the good cop/bad cop roles. It's OK if you challenge him on his opinions or conclusions, just do it in private. I always supported him in front of the brass, even when I privately disagreed with him."

"Partner loyalty is always top priority. I did high school theater. Have always enjoyed the role-playing part of this job."

"One more thing….on occasion…Goren will use you as female bait, generally in the interrogation room."

"Alex, your tone tells me how much you hated that, how uncomfortable you felt."

"Yeah…especially with a sleazy lawyer who murdered several girlfriends. Goren put me in the room alone with this scum and the guy really came onto me. Touched me. Wanted me to date him when this was over. And I knew that the guy's wife was watching the entire thing on the other side of the glass," Eames had to pause for a breath, "I couldn't wait to get home and take a shower after that session. I felt so slimy."

"While I may not like it, my theater class trained me that it's a role, and I just step in and step out of it. And I leave it behind when I step out. It's served me well."

"Can I ask you a question, Kat?"

"Sure."

"Why aren't you working as a fashion model?"

Katayeva laughed, "Because I didn't want to add anorexic to my resume. I modeled in high school and college. Just runway stuff, store events. They told me that if I wanted to go into print or TV work, then I'd have to lose ten to fifteen pounds. No thanks. And it lacked any intellectual stimulation whatsoever. It was fun when I was younger, but I could never imagine it being my real job. There's no achievement, no satisfaction. I need that."

"Another question?"

"Feel free."

"How does your husband feel about your job?"

"We made a deal when we got married, Alex. I could continue to work as a cop if I wanted to. Jack would never bust me about it. However, I have to say that when I worked Vice, I could never mention my work at home. I could see what it did to him. So, one year in Vice was it for me. By the way, my husband is ten years older than me, same age as Goren."

"You're not going to tell me that they look alike, too?"

"Nope. Jack looks like one of the Beach Boys. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Really attractive and he's one of those guys that just got better looking with age. He's a teddy bear. Big family man. Treats me like a princess. I'm very fortunate."

Wonder if this Jack has a brother?

"Now, Alex, how about some dessert? The tiramisu is absolutely incredible."

"You twisted my arm."

"You're eating for two."

"Kat, do you mind if I tell Goren that we had lunch?"

"Nope. I would never expect you to keep it from him." And if he's not a happy camper, it will be my first experience dealing with this big grumpy bear.

The two detectives finished their lunch. They were glad to have met the other. And each left the restaurant feeling good about their situation.