3:43 PM
Looking across their desks at Bobby, Alex resisted the urge to hum the theme to "Mission: Impossible," but not by much. Captain Ross had just hung up the phone, and it was time for what she, Beth and Bobby had come to refer to as 'Showdown at the MCS Corral.' She cocked her head to draw Bobby's attention to the Captain's office, and nearly laughed aloud when he swallowed hard, realizing that the time had come.
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The Plan, Part One
"Okay." Beth said. "Now that we've resolved you are both (pointed look at Bobby) ready for this, here's what I think you should do. Wait for an opportune moment, when Captain Ross isn't busy, isn't pissed off, and seems relatively open to discussion."
Bobby had grinned while Alex glared. He laughed, "Oh, so we won't be doing this soon, then?"
Alex then smiled wickedly. "Well, Goren, he may not always be open to conversation with you, but he seems to like talking to me." She winked at Beth as Bobby muttered, "A little too much for my taste."
Beth arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Is there something I should know?"
Smiling directly at Bobby, Alex answered, "The captain has, in Bobby's opinion, a little crush on me. I think he just admires my saintly tolerance of my partner. It's Logan who's got the actual crush."
Were it possible, Bobby's head would have exploded. "LOGAN! How do you know that? Did he say something to you? Did he TOUCH you?"
Patting his hand sweetly (if a little patronizingly), Alex said, "I just have the men of Major Case falling at my feet, Goren. I got it like that."
"Alexandra…" he growled.
Nodding to Beth that she would handle this, Alex asked, "Pisses you off, doesn't it, Bobby?"
"Yes," he spat through clenched teeth.
"Wanna do something about it?"
"YES!"
"Great. Now cut the shit and let's figure out how we're going to let everyone know I is your woman now."
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Looking down at her now as they approached Ross' office, Bobby realized how well and fully she'd played him. Eames of all people knew that his macho possessive side was reserved only for those he thought did not appropriately revere and respect her, and that he counted Ross and Logan among them. Little did she know that he generally included everyone of the male persuasion in that group, but a man had to retain some aura of mystery, after all.
They have no idea who this woman really is. And they never will.
These thoughts sustained him as he and his partner entered their captain's office and sat down. He surprised her by being the one to initiate the conversation as, in a strong voice, he stated, "Captain Ross, Detective Eames and I have something we need to tell you."
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The Plan, Part Two
Beth nodded. "So you've made it into his office and have let him know you have something to discuss. I recommend you do your absolute best to stay calm, whatever his reaction."
Both women looked at Bobby to see how he took that particular piece of advice. He spread his hands in a classic "who, me?" gesture. "Who, me? I'll have you know I am a very calm and controlled individual."
Alex snorted. "Yeah, right. The SUV has dents from all the times you've gone all "calm and controlled" on its ass."
Beth interrupted before Bobby had a chance to respond. "Well, let's practice. I'll be your captain, and you be yourselves. Okay?"
They nodded, one of them reluctantly.
"Good morning, Detectives. How are you both?" Beth chirped.
Alex burst out laughing. "Um…that was good, but be a man, okay?"
Beth nodded. "Got it. Hey, detectives, what's up?" she said, manfully.
Bobby bit back his laughter as Alex went into the whole "something to tell you" spiel.
BethRoss said, "Well, what is it?"
Realizing that Bobby was going to be zero help, Alex said, "Detective Goren and I are involved – personally" She paused. "With, you know, each other."
"How the hell did that happen?"
Alex was momentarily stumped, not expecting to have to tell the captain a love story. Bobby, on the other hand, was attempting to rein in his temper, and kept his mouth shut in service of that goal.
"Okay, never mind the details." BethRoss continued. "You two know the rules; you'll have to be assigned to new partners. If there aren't detectives on this squad willing to do it, we'll look into transferring you to other squads."
Bobby lost it. "You can't do that! I don't want another partner, goddammit!" He slammed his palms onto Beth's desk, startling her. She stared openmouthed, having never seen this side of Bobby before. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to have grown preternaturally calm.
"Bobby, sit down," she said soothingly. "He might not say that."
Sitting, placing his head in his hands, he mumbled, "Yes, he will. He'll split us apart, Eames."
She stepped in front of him and placed her hands on either side of his face, tilting his eyes up to hers. "Don't you see? Even if they sent us to opposite ends of the five boroughs, they'll never split us up. We have this now." She leaned in to kiss him as Beth watched with a smile.
Breaking the kiss, Bobby smiled up at Alex. "You're right."
"As always," she sighed dramatically.
"Okay, let's not take it too far." He grinned, then both turned to Beth.
"You guys ready to try this again?" she asked.
And so they were; and so they did.
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Sitting in Ross' office, watching his face go from white to purple then back to white again, Alex realized that their rehearsal had been fatally flawed. None of them knew this man well enough to predict his behavior, and stunned, distressed silence hadn't been a scenario they'd even remotely considered.
This was all kinds of bad.
It was time for her to step in and save the day.
"Captain, are you all right?" she asked softly. The raw disappointment in his eyes when he looked at her made her realize she should never have questioned Bobby's insight into human nature, and sent the first tinglings of fear traveling along her spine. Ross might have even more reason than the obvious to be upset about this information.
As the captain brought himself under control, he spoke in a low voice. "Is this…relationship of a, well, of a serious nature?"
Bobby answered with a firm "yes," and Alex nodded her agreement, all plans of saving the day having flown out the window, along with her voice, at this point.
"Do you plan to get married?"
To her surprise, Bobby responded with another firm "yes," and again, she found herself nodding. Oh, fabulous. "How did you get engaged, Grandma?" "Oh, sweetie, it was so romantic. Captain Ross asked Grandpa, and I nodded. Rrrowwwrrr."
For some reason, her own internal sarcasm strengthened her enough to find her voice. "Captain, we're very serious about each other, or we wouldn't be here. But we want to stay partners if we can."
Ross nodded. "I want you to stay partners if you can too. The thought of trying to find someone else who can deal with Goren is mind-numbing."
Bobby was nodding his assent when Alex snapped. "Hey! Don't talk about him like that. I'm sure either of us can find a position on any squad we want to, and the FBI has been after Goren for years, so you can shove the fucking attitude!"
As both men stared at her, looking like two fish gasping for air, Alex realized she'd just revealed the second fatal flaw in their plan; Bobby wasn't the only one with a temper.
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The Plan, Part Three
Beth smiled. "You guys did really well there. Very calm, unemotional but firm in your conviction not to hide the relationship. Great job. Now we need to talk about how to convince Captain Ross to keep your partnership intact. Alex, I think this is where you can take the lead; give Bobby a chance to breathe."
Alex nodded. "I can do that. I'll just be very clinical about it; bring up our solve rate, the fact that it's not only been sustained but has actually improved since our relationship began, vaguely discuss the other squads and agencies that have expressed interest."
"Perfect. I think you guys are in great shape."
Bobby and Alex smiled at each other. It was going to be okay.
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Bobby and Ross stared at each other. This was far from okay.
Alex was storming around the room now, muttering to herself about plans, clinical calmness, and men trying to tell her what to do. Neither of the men in the room had a single clue as to what to say to calm her down, but Ross finally took a shot.
"Eames! I'm not splitting you up! Cool off!"
Well, that stopped her. Staring at Ross suspiciously, she asked, "Even after what I just said with the shoving?"
He laughed and gave Goren a rueful look. "Detective, if I got angry every time a woman lost her temper at me, I wouldn't have made it through the academy, much less to captain."
Stunned, Alex said, "Well, okay, then. Thanks." She looked at Bobby, who then silently followed her from the room.
As the rest of the squad stared at them, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Way to stay cool and clinical there, Eames. I think you scared him into submission. And as a bonus for me, scared the crush right out of him" He grinned at her, causing her to smile back. They were happily lost in each other when a slap on Bobby's back broke the reverie.
"Goren! Finally broke her down, I hear. You're a lucky man." Mike Logan waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Alex, who quickly grabbed Bobby's hand to keep him from socking the wiseass.
Bobby stuttered, "How the hell did you know? We just told Ross."
Mike grinned. "Deakins. He had to let us know the pool results. And thanks, by the way. I had to split my winnings, but I still made out pretty good."
Alex narrowed her eyes at him. "Split them with Deakins?"
"Oh, no, he wasn't still in the pool, he was just administering it. I split it with someone else."
From behind her, Alex heard a lilting female voice say, "Me, actually."
Alex and Bobby turned in unison to see Lynne Bishop smiling at them, looking for all the world like the cat who'd swallowed the canary. "Congratulations. I do have one request for you, though, Eames."
Disbelieving, Alex whispered, "Okay. What is it?"
Lynne chuckled and leaned in to whisper, "If Goren knocks you up, you better give me enough notice for a head start. I'm saving vacation days." She sauntered off with Logan.
Alex and Bobby stared at each other, wide-eyed. Then it struck them, and there was nothing left to do but laugh.
And so they did.
A/N – If you think I intentionally left ya a little cliffhanger about whether that was actually a proposal, I did. 'Cuz I'm evil. Mwah-hah-hah. Thanks for reading!