Disclaimer: I don't own Law & Order: Criminal Intent or its characters…

Author's note: Sorry it took this long for an update. I've been busy not getting my work done. So really, I have no excuse besides I just didn't feel like writing this. But I finally forced myself to do it, and found that I liked it and hence it ended up quite a bit longer than I had ever intended, but I hope it's enjoyable…

Just A Little…

Girl Talk

"Hey, Alex!" Detective Carolyn Barek called out her coworker's name as she followed the woman out of the office. She wanted to catch her before she left for the day.

"Oh, hey," Alex said, turning to face the person who called out her name as she caught up to her.

"Are you busy?" Carolyn asked quietly, falling into step beside Alex.

"No. What can I do for you, Carolyn?" she answered, becoming curious as to what the generally private detective could want from her.

"Can I buy you a beer?" Barek continued, reassured by the other detective's warm acceptance.

"That sounds great," Alex answered, but wanted more information concerning the invitation. "But can I ask you why the offer?"

Carolyn sighed as she pushed the elevator button. "I need some advice."

"I appreciate that you came to me," Alex responded, a little concerned that she wouldn't be able to fulfill Barek's expectations. "But am I really the best one to give you advice? I mean we don't really know each other that well."

The two detectives entered the elevator together. After the doors swished shut leaving them alone in the steel box, Carolyn felt more comfortable to talk about her problem. Although she probably wouldn't feel really free to discuss it until they had found a private place to talk at the bar, as well as a couple of beers in her.

"The thing is," Carolyn tried to explain her reasoning for approaching Alex. "I've tried to talk about…my problem with my friends and they just don't understand because-

"They're not cops," Alex finished for her.

"Exactly," Carolyn responded, more than slightly relieved that she understood.

"Why didn't you go to your partner?" she asked, knowing full well the reason.

Carolyn swallowed hard. Well, this was it; the test that would see if she would actually be able to reveal all and ask for help from Alex. "He's the problem."

Alex simply nodded, giving Carolyn an understanding look. It eased the nervous tension she had been feeling ever since she had decided to request of the other female detective a sympathetic ear. She respected Alex Eames, and she didn't want to do anything to lose her respect. However, Carolyn also knew that she was her best hope for any outside perspective that comprehended the facts and the life.

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Carolyn had been right. Two had been the magic number; the number of beers she needed to loosen up just enough to spill everything to Alex.

"I remember that case," Alex said. "I was so relieved that we didn't get that one, not that I'd wish it upon you guys."

"Tell me about it," Carolyn responded. "Anyway, Mike really felt like celebrating the closing of that one. And I guess so did I, because after sentencing, we went out for a few drinks."

"And he tried to hit on you again?" Alex asked.

"No…well yes…" Carolyn answered, slightly confused. "But how did you know about that?

"I have my sources," she answered, winking and taking a sip of her beer. Just because they were trying to be open and friendly with one another, didn't mean Alex had to reveal that her sources were simply Mike having told Bobby about his stupid behavior and her prying it out of Bobby. Let the woman think she had connections. "So, what exactly did happen?"

Taking another swig of beer, Carolyn found the strength to reveal all. "I woke up the next morning, in bed with Logan, naked. That's what happened."

Alex' eyes grew wide and several seconds passed before she found herself able to respond. "Oh my. What did you do?"

"It was pretty obvious what we had done," Carolyn retorted.

"No," Alex corrected, laughing slightly. "I mean after you woke up."

"Oh," Carolyn blushed slightly at realizing her mistake. Was she already on her third beer? Maybe she should slow down a little. "I got dressed. He made us coffee, found my underwear. Then I left."

"Found your underwear?" Alex asked, picking out the strange detail.

"Um…yeah," Carolyn answered, still rather embarrassed over the whole ordeal, but feeling better over the receptiveness of her new found friend. "We apparently had misplaced them during the night. After some searching, Mike found them near his apartment door"

"How was it?" Alex asked after she finished laughing, picturing Mike hunting down his partner's panties. She wondered if even Bobby could save face in such a situation.

"Awkward."

"No," Alex found herself trying to explicate her meaning again. "How was he?"

"Uncomfortable."

"No." Alex laughed uncontrollably for a minute. "How was he, you know, in bed?"

"I'm not sure I can share that information."

"Oh, why not?" Alex asked. "Please? It's not like Logan doesn't share details about his exploits around the water cooler on a daily basis."

Carolyn laughed. It was sort of true about her partner's bragging. However, he hadn't mentioned what had occurred between them to anyone. Bobby was the likeliest candidate for Mike spilling his guts to, but if he had, Alex would've known by now. But that wasn't the vital factor in Carolyn's assertion. "I try not to remember that night."

"Why?" Alex asked, shocked. "Was it that bad?"

"No!" Carolyn countered. "It's not that at all. The opposite actually. I just don't want to think about it. It mixes me up. That's the entire problem. I don't know what to think about him anymore.

"Hmm…"Alex tried to consider the problem. She herself wasn't in an entirely different situation, if she had interpreted what Barek's problem actually was. Feelings had popped up, feelings they weren't necessarily ready for, or willing to accept. But at least, in Alex' case, they had come on so gradually, it was easier to relegate them to the side of her mind. She couldn't imagine suddenly being inundated with new emotions, ones that she had to face everyday without time to figure them out. But, "Honestly, I don't know what to tell you Carolyn."

"Really?" she asked. "Because I could've sworn that you and-"

"Bobby?" Alex interrupted. "C'mon, Carolyn. Bobby Goren? Do something impulsive, make a rash decision? That'd be the day…"

"Are you sure you want to stick with that story because-"

"Somebody tell you otherwise?" Alex asked, suddenly becoming defensive. "Because they're lying and if I find out who it is I'll-"

"No, no," Carolyn cut the uneasy woman off. "Nobody told me anything like that. I just observed that there seemed to be something between you two, but maybe I was just reading into it too much."

"You were," Alex asserted, beginning to calm down again. This was supposed to be about Carolyn and Mike, not her unacknowledged feelings for Bobby. "The only thing between Detective Goren and me is respect."

"And you've never wanted more than respect from him?" Carolyn asked, unable to let it go. Maybe if she figured out how the other pair of detectives worked around their emotions, she could it apply it to her relationship with Logan. Although, apparently, they had never made the mistake that Carolyn and Mike had, a.k.a. getting drunk and waking up next to your partner the next morning.

Alex contemplated Carolyn's face. She was being sincere with her, open and honest. If Alex wanted to get a friend out of this, she would have to do the same. She took a deep breath. "Bobby is a nice, considerate, man. And a brilliant detective." She caught Carolyn's look. "Although, somewhat of an acquired taste."

Carolyn smiled at the comment. Admittedly, she was slightly unnerved by Detective Goren. However, his partner seemed to be quite comfortable with him. In fact, Carolyn was sure there was more to it than even the flattery Alex had just laid upon him. "And…"

"And…" Alex began, still uncertain of voicing the feelings aloud that she had kept hidden even from herself for so long. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider him attractive, entertain the idea that we-but it's just an idea, nothing more."

The sadness that enveloped Alex' features touched Carolyn. She had never witnessed that side of the woman before. She had always thought her stronger than herself, with an impenetrable skin, tough and resilient. But Alex Eames was just a woman, like Carolyn herself, one that had the same desire to not be alone.

"And never will be, never can be," Alex finished. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat with a gulp of the alcoholic beverage sitting before her on the petite high wooden table. It seemed to refresh her entirely. "But that's not why we're here, getting drunk, is it? You asked me here because you wanted help with your problem."

"Yes," Carolyn conceded, but not quite wanting to switch the subject back to her so soon. "But I thought you said that you didn't know what to tell me?"

"I did say that," Alex answered. "But that was before I had time to think it through."

"So?" Carolyn questioned eagerly, leaning in slightly.

"So we find out if Mike feels the same about you," Alex supplied. "You do have feelings for him? That's what this is all about, right?"

Carolyn seemed hesitant. She hadn't quite figured out the nature of her feelings for Mike, besides that they were confused. But Alex was right, she was confused because she liked him and didn't know what to do about it. Well, she knew that she should probably just let it go; it was a silly notion that they could be together anyway. But she just couldn't seem to do that. "Yes. That's my problem."

"But…" she continued. "How are we supposed to figure out if he feels the same? It's not like I can just bring it up in the middle of an investigation. 'Oh, hey Mike. By the way, you know how we got drunk and slept together? Well, that got me to thinking that I might have feelings for you. How 'bout you? Done any soul searching lately?' That'd go over real well, I'm sure."

Alex smiled fiendishly. She had the perfect pawn in mind for recovering that particular information. "I'll convince Bobby to get it out of him. Logan's pretty sharp, but Bobby might be able to discern his feelings for you without alerting him to the fact that we sent him."

"Then what!" Carolyn responded, unprepared for the fact that things were going places she had never intended, and rather quickly, too. "It's not like we can have a relationship. It's against department regs for people who are involved to be partners…" A thought occurred to Carolyn, one that answered questions that had been bothering her for awhile. "That's why you and Bobby have never gotten together?"

It was more statement than fact, but Alex nodded her head in acknowledgement. Finally, there was someone who would understand, that she could explain herself to, something she had desired to do for so long a time. She needed to tell Carolyn, give legitimacy to her rational, and determine if it only made sense in her own head, whether she had made the right decision.

"I've wanted to, sometimes, I've thought about it. And I think he has, too," she began to tell the only other person who could ever come close to sympathizing with her, besides the man she had kept her feelings from for so long. "But he needs me as a partner much more than he needs me as a lover. Work is his life. Justice is his passion. Without a partner, he would get lost in it all. And frankly no one else could do the job."

It was Carolyn's turn to simply nod her head, while giving her new found friend a compassionate comprehending look. Alex looked away for a moment, relieved that she had finally given voice to her thoughts, upset by the finality it seemed to bestow upon the situation.

After a few minutes of silence passed between them, and they both had finished off their beers, Alex was the first to speak. "Well, then. Should we have another round?"

She flagged the waiter down.

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Oh god, she had to stop doing this! Carolyn cursed herself for her actions. She really couldn't afford to go out with the "guys" anymore. First, she made the mistake of sleeping with Logan, causing herself a crisis in identity and priorities. Then, she went out with Alex, hoping to get some advice out of the woman, which she did, to a degree. Instead she had acquired the worst hangover known to mankind, and in the process, ended up making a new friend.

She staggered out of bed and across her room to close the blinds, but realized they were already shut as tightly as they were going to get. So she cursed the bright rays of the sun that still managed to penetrate through the cracks and torture her eyes and head. Then she staggered to the kitchen, a hand in front of her face, protecting her from the outside world, in order to fetch a glass of water and something to stifle the cries of her suffering brain.

A moan from the living room couch reminded her that she had also acquired a guest the previous night. She poured another glass of water and measured out another dose of aspirin. She took her own medication, praying that it would do its job, and then made her way to the living room with the water and pills.

"Good morning, Alex," She said sweetly, and smiled when she saw the leg that was hanging out from underneath the blanket, off the edge of the couch twitch. "C'mon…I got a present for you."

The mass of knotted dirty blonde hair stirred, and Alex' face appeared to greet Carolyn with a wince and squinted eyes.

"Oh god," she moaned as she sat up, rubbing her face with her hands. "We shouldn't have had that last round."

"Or the one before that," Carolyn added, sitting down beside her and proffering the glass of water and the pills. "Or the one before that, for that matter."

"Thanks," Alex said, gratefully accepting the offering on behalf of her pounding head. She swallowed the pills and hastily drank down the entire glass of water. Drinking alcohol always made her feel extremely dehydrated the next morning. "I guess I should get going."

"You're welcome to stick around," Carolyn offered. "I'm thinking a nice quiet morning-well, day-of watching movies until the hangover wears off."

"That does sound nice," Alex conferred, but she still seemed undecided.

"It's Saturday," Carolyn coaxed. "And I know you don't have any plans."

They smiled at each other, having in common the fact that neither had a boyfriend or many other friends, or a life outside work in general.

"So, what movies did you have in mind?" Alex asked.

"I always find that the Wizard of Oz does wonders for hangovers."