A/N: I took the liberty of sending Logan and Barek out to find their body in Saving Face in December instead of late November

A friend of mine has told me about the New York craze for Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. I have no idea what they taste like but I want one.

So many times during the show Alex has made a wisecrack and then Bobby has turned his back on the suspect. I know he's laughing and trying not to get caught.

Please read, review and enjoy!

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Chapter 3 Cupcakes and Christmas shopping

Seven am came way too early the next morning. Alex punched the button on her alarm clock as if it were a live thing that she could inflict damage on. With consciousness came cognizance and her mind turned to the previous night's activities. Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, Bobby had plucked Alan Pemberton out of the dark corners of Central Park and sent him back home with the family's retainer. She snuggled up with her pillow with a silly grin thinking of how thoughtful her partner had been to come up with a solution where the poor man might be able to keep his dog. That was the thing about Robert Goren. He looked at their cases as not just exercises in detective work but also as exercises in morality. He wanted to catch the bad guys and he wanted to make sure everyone was treated fairly, victims and perpetrators alike. In Bobby's mind the problem hadn't stopped with finding Alan and returning him safe and sound, he had also had to do something about the dog, as well.

Alex groaned, got up and headed for her shower. How was she supposed to concentrate on taking her life in a different direction when Bobby kept sucking her back in by behaving like some goddam superhero? Life, liberty and puppy kisses for all. It also didn't help that the kiss she had shared with Dante had already faded from her mind.

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She got off the elevator on the 11th floor and nearly collided with Mike Logan who was followed by his partner, Carolyn Barek. "You two are off early."

"Captain wants us to check out a surprise two kids found behind a dumpster." Mike told her in his crisp no-nonsense tone.

"Ooh, dumpster diving before breakfast, have fun you two." Alex told them as the door closed.

Bobby was not at his desk. Hmph, that's twice lately that I've beat him to work. She knocked on the Captain's door.

"Come on in. I got Bobby's message this morning about the mayor's brother. What the hell was Goren doing in Central Park at that hour anyway?" The Captain asked.

Alex merely threw her hands up indicating she had no idea. "I am concerned though that the guys who bought the dog might not take too kindly to Alan's rescue. I would also like to know how Alan just waltzed in and took one of their dogs without anybody stopping him."

"Your right," Deakins pointed his finger at her. "We don't need someone gunning for this guy in revenge. You and Goren take today and see if you can't button this thing up."

"You got it." Alex went back to her desk to start making a list of people to talk to. The first name on the list was whoever this Stephens was who kept flubbing up where Alan was concerned. He hadn't been present during their first round of interviews.

A large hand came over the top of her and placed a familiar looking white box with brown lettering on her desk. "Oh my God, you didn't?"

"I woke up with a taste for them." Bobby shrugged. "No, no, no the German Chocolate one is mine, the Devil's Food is yours."

"I like them both" Alex said, licking the frosting from her fingers after she handed him the German Chocolate cupcake from Magnolia's Bakery.

"Well, I don't. I like this one and only this one."

Alex bit into her cupcake and watched with amusement as her partner went through a complex process of carefully and completely removing the wrapper from his cupcake before taking a bite. She on the other hand had just pulled down one side and then dug in.

"I was thinking this morning about Alan." Bobby said after his first bite. Alex's mouth was full so she just nodded. "How did he get the dog away from them?"

"I already talked the Captain about it. He wants us to clear up the loose ends on this. I think we should start by having Stephens brought in for questioning."

"You mean make him sweat a little." Bobby smiled a devious grin.

"Or a lot, depending on what he has to say." Alex grinned back at him. This felt better. This felt like everything was alright between them and then she saw Bobby glance at the flowers still sitting on her desk. She watched the grin fade from his face. Was he jealous, she wondered. Was that why he went and got her favorite guilty breakfast? She couldn't help feeling a small thrill at the idea.

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Mark Stephens was a tall, thin scarecrow of a man. Alex half expected to see bits of straw sticking out of his wrinkled shirt collar. He had a large beak nose and beady eyes. The sour expression of his face was only made worse by the squirming he was doing while waiting for them in the interrogation room.

They decided Alex should go in first. She entered the room and the man visibly relaxed. I guess he thinks he can't be in too much trouble if they sent in a woman.

She started with the easy stuff. Do you work for the mayor's office, how long, in what capacity, things like that. He was comfortable enough now to start giving flippant answers.

"So, you drove Alan to that building where the dog fighting was held?"

"Hey, I didn't know what it was. Alan said he wanted to go there. It wasn't my job to question him."

"So you didn't know what it was, hadn't been there before?"

"That's right, I was only supposed to take him where he wanted to go."

"Did Alan say anything about why he wanted to go there?"

"No, he didn't tell me anything." The guy crossed him arms over his chest and looked down his nose at her.

The door opened and Bobby came in, he handed her a piece of paper as if it were an important document. In reality it was an old unfinished report he had fished out of the trash. Bobby had crossed out some of the words and turned it into a story about Deakins cavorting around with a call girl. It was all Alex could do to keep a straight face.

"Oh my, Mark," she said as she pretended to read the report. She looked at Bobby. "Is this true?"

"Mmm hmm, every word." Bobby looked at Stephens with sympathetic eyes. "Your goose is cooked, my friend."

"It seems we have a witness that makes you as a regular betting the puppies."

"No. That's not true"

"Yeah, they say that not only are you a regular but that you were the one who helped Alan get the dog out of there."

"That's a lie." The man shouted.

"I don't know, there's a lot of detail here. They say some other interesting things as well." Alex said in a mocking tone. "I think you better start spilling your guts or we are going to start racking up the charges and go cut a deal with this guy." She shook the paper under his nose.

"Illegal gambling," Bobby started to count off on his fingers, "kidnapping and endangerment of a person with special needs…"

"All right. I took him there and I helped him get the dog. I heard about that other guy who made the ransom demand. I figured I'd take him to my apartment for a few days. Having the dog back would keep him quiet. I'd make my demand and split. I told him to wait in the car while I finished paying off the guy who had the dog but he and the mutt were gone when I got back. I looked but I couldn't find him so I just kept quiet about it.

Bobby looked at her. "Are you satisfied?" Alex nodded. "I'm satisfied." Bobby said with a wide grin. "Mark Stephens you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Alan Pemberton for the purpose of extorting ransom. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney….."

Alex left the room and went into the Observation Room, she finally allowed herself to laugh out loud over Bobby's report. Her partner handed the guy off to one of the uniforms and joined her.

"You know, I'm going to have to get you back for that." She told him when she could finally speak again and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I nearly lost it this time, I swear the guy noticed my lips twitching. It was a good thing he couldn't figure out why." She smacked him playfully on the sleeve.

Bobby just smiled, rocking gently back on his heels, his hands clasp behind his back. "You've gotten me pretty good in the past. I've actually had to turn my back on a suspect so he couldn't see me smiling." His face suddenly lost the smile. "Why did you kiss me last night?"

Alex felt her heart jump to her throat. So it was her turn to be interrogated. Should she say because a kiss on the cheek was the very least she wanted to do to him? "It was a reward, Bobby. You get a reward when you go above and beyond the call of duty." She tried to move past him out the door. He stood fast for a moment, forcing her to look up into his face. This was dangerous. She could smell his aftershave, it had notes of citrus and sandalwood. She could see the pupils of his eyes dilate. What game was he playing at now? "Jeez, Goren, you act like I threatened your virtue or something."

She saw the curtain come down on his expression and he stepped to the side, out of her way. Alex fled to the safety of the squad room. There was the booking to be done on Stephens and their final reports to write. She saw Bobby come out a few seconds later and watched him go into Deakins' office to inform him of the arrest and confession.

Once they finished all the paperwork, Alex went and asked her Captain for the afternoon off. The last several hours had been a strain with her and her partner speaking very civilly to one another without their usual camaraderie. She needed a break and she hadn't done any Christmas shopping yet. If she waited much longer the stores would be crammed.

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She hit the stores on 34th Street, including the window at Macy's. The stores were ready for Christmas, each one with a different theme. She strolled along the shop windows trying to make a list of friends and family and gift ideas for them in her head. Her Dad was easy, golf balls. Mom would be more difficult. Her sister likewise. Her brothers would get memberships to the Beer-of-the-month club. She wanted to get her nephew something really cool like a T-ball set. She always got the Captain a different commemorative U. S. Navy tie clip since he was an old Navy man. And then there was her partner.

Every year she got him something safe, something that could not be misconstrued as having any ulterior meaning. She was getting very tired of having to restrain herself as she had done today. A few hours later, her arms loaded with bags, she was on her way back to her car when she came to a high-end stationary store. The display window held an item that she knew Bobby would love. She debated for a minute, hopping from one foot to the other in indecision. Finally throwing caution to the wind, she opened the door and went inside.

At home that night she started the complex procedures of wrapping her purchases. She felt happy about each of them and hummed a Christmas tune under her breath as she taped the brightly colored paper around each gift. It suddenly occurred to her she hadn't gotten anything for Dante. She wondered if she should get him anything, they had only had one date.

Guiltily, she sprang up and dialed his number. He answered on the first ring. "Hi, I wanted to thank you again for dinner the other night, it was fun," she told him sincerely.

"I enjoyed it too. How has your day been today?" His voice seemed to imply something beyond the question.

Alex told him that she and her partner had arrested a kidnapper, leaving out the details, of course. "I took the afternoon off and went Christmas shopping."

"Oh, okay then," he said cryptically. "A colleague of mine is holding a poetry reading tomorrow night, would you like to come with me?"

"Gee, I don't know, Dante, I'm really more of a hot dog at Coney Island kind of girl."

"I promise, if it's too painful, we'll leave and do something else." His voice dropped to an enticing purr.