TITLE: The Bet
RATING: T or what used to be PG or now K9 the rating is longer than the story
BETAed by: Linda (thank you, again)ARCHIVE: Anyone who would like. Drop me a line so I can visit.
SYNOPSIS: Logan and Barek make a wager.
COMMENTS: Inquiring minds want to know are they or aren't they.
DISCLAIMER: Everything relating to Criminal Intent is owned by Dick Wolf and NBC productions. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.

Please Review! It will make you feel all warm and Fuzzy.

Wait? Maybe it will make me feel all warm and fuzzy? Naw…. Review and find out. Thanks.

He leaned back in his chair, turning his head left toward his partner Barek. "I'm telling you they are." Mike Logan was keeping his voice low and constantly scanning the squad room.

His partner Detective Carolyn Barek had her head down and was trying to read a report on her desk. Looking up at Logan, she had the expression of a mother who has heard "Are we there yet" one too many times. "They are not." She briefly looked right to left to be sure no one was close enough to hear them talking. "You're leaving yourself open for an ass kicking." She returned to studying the report in front of her.

"Psst." Mike smirked "Like I'm afraid of Goren." He threw his chest out a little.

Barek rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm thinking there won't be much ass left for Bobby to kick after Alex scrapes you off her shoes."

"Oh, Please." Mike sat straight up and swung his chair to face her.

"Mike, drop it." She shook her pen at him. "They have been partners for over five years. They click, they have a rhythm, and you're reading in something that does not exist."

"They have got to be more than work partners." Mike leaned over the desk towards Barek, while keeping a watchful eye sweeping the bullpen. "They read each other with just a look." He jabbed his finger down on the desk as if to nail a point. "Hell, they finish each others words, and thoughts."

Elbow on her chair's armrest, she dropped her chin into her cupped hand. "Rhythm, five years," She shrugged. "Do you even listen when I'm talking?"

"Naw, it's more than that." He waved her off with a dismissive hand gesture. "I've been watching them. I've seen when he thinks nobody is watching; how he looks at her when she has no idea he's watching her." He looked left to right. "I've seen that look before. It's not how you look at a partner."

Barek dropped her hand down to the edge of the desk and pushed back into her chair, for the moment accepting defeat by giving up on the report. "You're basing this on your interpretation of some random glances?" Logan was like a pit bull; he wasn't going to drop the subject until it was settled. "Mike this is pointless. They aren't," she put up her hand to stop him from speaking, "and even if they are, nobody knows and nobody will ever know, it's not like anyone is going to ask them."

"It not just..." Mike glanced around the room again. The dynamic duo had returned to their side of the bullpen. "It's a two way street. Alex does it as well." He laid his hands palms up, down on the desk, as if he was holding an invisible book open. "Look, I reviewed some footage of a recent sting operation they did. Nobody can be that convincingly, unless…"

"Logan, it's an act." God, he can be tenacious. "An act they are extremely good at pulling off. They plan and have all the moves scripted out for the job at hand. They have to be able to improvise and use correct body language, if it's not convincing it could tip their hand and in the worst situations get them killed."

Logan decided he would never convince Barek without hard proof. He just had to know. He had to be right. So, it was time for action. "$100.00 bucks says you're profiling skills are wrong on this one and my cop gut tells me I'm right."

"You're on." She leaned back further and crossed her arms. "How are you going to find out?"

"Simple." Mike smugly answered. "I'll ask them."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Your life insurance paid up?"

"Funny. Very funny. I'll get them in interrogation room two and you watch from the observation deck. See if your profiling skills can catch something I might miss."

"Whoa, I don't want a part of this." Her hand was poised in the halt position. "If you have got to know, then go for it. For the record, it's none of your business, or anyone else's for that matter." Barek pulled out her pen to get back to the form in front of her. "Leave it alone."

"Fine." He wasn't about to let it drop. He thought for a moment, then said, "Pay up, 'cause I'm going to do this, prove I'm right and win this bet."

"Mike…."

"How are you going to know unless you watch?"

"Fine." Anything to get him off this obsession. A discarded pen rolled across the unfinished work. Barek headed toward the coffee maker in the opposite direction as Logan headed for a challenge.