Disclaimer: I'm only sending the Detectives on a short trip. They belong wholly in Dick Wolf,s universe. They only come to visit on occasion. Please Don't Sue for the Fun of it.

One Short Deal

It was steaming hot even inside 1 Police Plaza. Not that there wasn't plenty of cold drinks flowing around the squad room. No alcohol, but plenty of other liquids. Still, the humidity that covered New York in an August afternoon was oppressive. Especially when the air conditioner for the entire building had taken a powder.

Minimal clothes were the order of the day. For the ones that had to go outside with a weapon this was particularly upsetting. Goren was in just his shirtsleeves seated at his desk and sweating heavily. Eames had it easier, she was able to wear a tank top, but then she had the physique for it. Goren envied her, she looked cool even if she was running water. She had teased him earlier about taking off his shirt. That was beginning to look like a good idea.

Captain Deakins came out of his office, also looking like he'd been running in the sun. "I just got a call from the Commissioner." He announced to the room in general. "With this heat there is a wave of fights and the uniforms are having a hard time keeping the peace. So he's put everyone on alert. If you're called to go out to a domestic, you have to go, unless you're already buried in something else."

A wave of groans greeted this announcement. Deakins held his hands up, "It's not my call, people. Dave, I'm sorry. This is your last day and it's so miserable. I think we'll all be happy when we hit that restaurant tonight. I just called and they still have air, so it won't be so bad."

Dave Liever shrugged and waved at his captain of many years. "I know what it's like, Cap. It's not a problem."

"I can't believe he's finally retiring." Eames told her partner. "He's been here since way before I came on. Dad says he was there when he was in Vice."

"Are they coming to the party tonight?"

"Yeah. Dad said he wanted to give him a special gift. He wouldn't say what though."

The phones rang and no one wanted to answer it. It rang four times, before Captain Deakins did. He talked for a few minutes and hung up. "Goren, Eames." He bellowed.

Alex rolled her eyes and they made their way into the office. Deakins gave them the evil eye. "I saw that." He told them sternly. "There's a report of a break in at an empty building down on 5th Street. Someone saw some homeless people going in there and reported it. Go check it out. Just oust them and make sure it's secure again. I'll call the owners to come check for damages." and collected their jackets. "Well, look at it this way. At least the air conditioning works in the car." Bobby said. The look Alex shot him said she wouldn't mind really shooting him.

The car was a sauna, even in the underground garage. Alex crawled into the drivers seat and kicked the air on high. After a few minutes, it began to blow at least cooler air than the heat outside. It was a relief for both of them.

Unfortunately, the drive wasn't long enough for the SUV to cool down much and they parked behind the building that had been a club. The back door stood ajar. Both detectives pulled their guns and moved to the door. Bobby was behind the door. Alex eased open the door and called. "Police. Lets see the hands."

There was only silence and still air. She flung the door opened and they both entered ready for action. After the blinding sunshine, the building was dim and hard to see inside. Alex went down and to the left. Bobby went high and right. No gunshots, no movement and no noise came from inside.

"Clear. Maybe no one's here." Bobby said, suggested.

"We'd better look around some more. You go that way, I'll go here, and meet you in the front."

Keeping her gun at ready, Alex began to move from small office to office, looking with her eyes peeled for any movement. There were some signs that people had been here, but they weren't here now. She could hear Bobby moving along the other side of the open floor plan. She absently tracked that noise with her hearing, while still keeping her attention on her own business.

No one was in the offices. She was about to call to her partner that it was all clear when she came to the double doors. She thought she saw light moving through the circular windows. She crept close to the door and listened. It sounded like there was someone inside. She pushed the door sharply open and charged inside. Only to loose her balance and fall into open air. "Aaah!" she said abruptly.

Bobby heard his partner yell from across the room. He saw her disappear into the room and ran across the room to rescue her. And ended up falling over the same precipice. Neither were able to say anything for quite some time.

SPLASH!!!

After the initial shock over the unexpected dunking, both detectives leaped up spitting and sputtering out the pool water. "Alex, are you alright?" Bobby was looking around for his partner.

Alex pushed an armload of water at her partners back, laughing. "Yeah, I'm alright. Can you believe this? I didn't even know there was a pool in here. I thought I'd heard someone in here and came charging in." She laughed again.

Bobby looked sheepish. "I heard you cry out and saw the door move and I thought you were in danger."

"Yeah, of getting wet." Alex laughed. "But it's going to take awhile for my equipment to dry out." She waved her gun in the air and the radio on her belt.

"Not if we put it on the top of the car on the way back." Bobby grinned at his partner. The water was chest deep on him and he was soaked clean through. "At least it feels good. It's a shame we can't take this back to the squad room."

"Oh, yeah, Deakins would love that." Alex scoffed. She jumped when the radio squawked. "Well, it still works."

All they could hear is garbled talking though. Alex keyed the radio. "All clear, Captain. We don't need any help." She said into the device just in case they could hear her.

"I uh, I suppose we should get out, huh?" Bobby said reluctantly.

"I suppose." Alex agreed. She seemed reluctant, too. "Not a lot of hurry is there? This is the coolest I've been in days."

"We can't stay too long. We don't know how long ago this water was treated and who's been in here since they treated it." Bobby pointed out reasonably.

What he hadn't counted on was Alex grabbing a double handful of that water and splashing him. He gasped in surprise and stared at his playful partner, while she laughed at him.

He grinned at her and skimmed his hand across the water creating a wave of water that doused her. And right in the face, because he was so much closer to the surface than he was.

What resulted was best described at a water war, with Alex drenching Bobby with the same amount of water that Bobby doused her with by only half trying. It was quite a war. They were so busy splashing each other that they didn't notice, the doors outside crash open and see a full squad of their fellow cops come pouring through with guns drawn.

The noise drew the attention of the officers immediately. They charged through the same doors and promptly fell into the same pool. Within minutes, it went from a private pool war to a full out bath for the major case squad. Even Captain Deakins was caught in the deluge and knocked into the pool. He came up sputtering, looking for a culprit.

Bobby and Alex looked around in dismay at the chaos and looked guiltily at the Captain. Deakins, trying very hard to look authoritative while soaking wet, glared at them. "I thought you needed help." He accused.

Alex lifted the soggy radio up. "I tried to tell you we didn't need help."

"She did." Bobby seconded.

"All that came across was 'help'." Deakins eyed the soaking wet but much cooler officers under his command and couldn't help laughing. "I guess we're the ones who're all wet."

The doors to the natorium opened again, more cautiously this time. Dave Liever looked in at the group in the pool. "Anyone need a towel?" he asked. The owner of the building was standing behind him.

Deakins looked at the owner. "This pool should've been drained." He said.

"They're coming this afternoon to do that. We just closed." The nervous man responded.

"Why are you closing?" Bobby asked.

"No one comes here." The man responded.

"Suppose you have a steady clientele? Would you stay open?" Dave asked suddenly.

"Sure, but….."

Dave beamed at him and the rest of the wet crowd in the pool. "Let's go have a chat." He put an arm around the shoulders of the man and they walked out of the room.

Deakins glared around him. "Let's get out of here. We have a city to protect."

"And guns to dry out." Bobby commented drily. After the look Deakins gave him, he was glad all the guns had to be dried out before they would shoot.

FIN