�Indictment. Good thing, too, because if they hadn�t, I might have had to hurt someone.� Bobby didn�t doubt that for a minute. He would not have liked to have torn Mike off of the various people in the grand jury room. Would have been funny, though. //Like trying to stop a semi truck with a clothesline. Not happening.//
�Jason looked awfully embarrassed when his mother nearly fainted.� Who wouldn�t? Though having her faint that loudly had been a bit of a sight, even he had to admit he was embarrassed for the poor woman, not to mention her son. They�d had the day from hell. He couldn�t exactly blame either of them for being overwhelmed.
�Well, I�m sure she�ll be fine. And hopefully now they�ll be able to talk more, and she�ll be a little more forthcoming when it comes to putting her son�s needs first.�
�One can hope.�
�Man, I�m bushed.�
�It�s been a rough day, and you strike me as a basketball fan. Come on. We�ll order pizza and watch the game over at my place.�
�Knicks and Celtics, right?� a strong arm dropped onto his shoulders as the two began the rather long trek to the garage.
�Yup, and tonight it�s gonna be a bad one. More injuries than healthy players, so both sides are running their second string line-up. Should be interesting.� Mike seemed almost relaxed, but the tiny twitch in his arm told Bobby something quite different. But it didn�t matter just then. It was over, for now, and tonight a celebration was most definitely in order. He smiled as best he could, as the two traded basketball trivia and favorite team stories, all the way out to the car.
The pizza was bit of a debate. Mike had insisted on Chicago-style deep dish with everything but the kitchen sink and no olives or anchovies, and Bobby had reluctantly agreed. But when it arrived, he couldn�t resist the amazing mixture of aromas and tastes that the pizza provided. //Trust someone who once had Lennie Briscoe for a partner to know his take-out.//
�This is wonderful.� Mike smiled as he reached for another slice.
�Told ya.�
Bobby grinned sheepishly, and Mike finally chalked one up for himself in the �I got him� scoreboard in his mind.�Yeah, you did.�
Bobby was watching him again. Not that he minded so much, it was just kind of weird to be watched so closely after living alone for as long as he had. Most of the people he�d brought back to this apartment had either had only one thing on their mind, or been so drunk they didn�t have much on their mind at all. But not Bobby. He was always thinking, always calculating, and yet he wasn�t really that kind of person, as far as Mike could tell. He wouldn�t ever use what he observed against someone unless the person was a suspect, and even then, he wouldn�t ever be malicious about it. Would he?
Mike wondered at that a moment. Would Bobby really do such a thing? What did he really know about Bobby Goren? Aside from what he�d heard and what little Bobby had allowed him to see over the past days, not much. He went back over the case in his mind again, trying to pick apart not the suspect nor the victim, but his partner. Had he truly been so secretive, or simply closed? Mike could still feel those haunting eyes on him, even when he wasn�t looking. Those eyes had said so many silent things, none of which made any sense to Mike at the time, nor did they really now. Bobby didn�t speak much, but even when he did, he seemed so�understanding. As if it didn�t matter what people said to him, he could empathize. From a mother protecting her child, to an overbearing attorney on a power trip, to not one but two abuse victims, one on a borderline emotional rampage while the other was trying desperately to sink into a deep dark hole and never come out. He�d backed off and let Mike handle the things he knew he needed to, without question nor qualm. And through it all, he�d stood steadily by, giving only what was needed, nothing more, except to Mike. To Mike he�d been a touchstone, a leaning post, even if Mike didn�t realize he�d been leaning. And there had been moments.
Mike figured initially that that was due to being trained as a profiler, but now he wasn�t so sure. Could one man be so knowing, so inwardly feeling as to almost be empathic when it came to the emotions of others? Mike smiled a bit at that thought. Oh boy, if only his old shrink could see him now. Dr. Olivet would definitely flip�
He was smiling. That was a good thing. Not that Bobby was certain it wasn�t some inside joke about those obscene plaid ties, but Mike honestly seemed relaxed here. His home didn�t say much about him, more than cop, Irishman, and �cop. Not a lot of pictures, not a lot of books, just everything he absolutely needed. The furniture was simple, functional, but comfortable and surprisingly elegant. It was the epitome of a bachelor pad, and Bobby had to admit he liked it here. It felt homey, if a bit vacant.
He looked Mike up and down a moment, once again ignoring the basketball antics on TV. He had relaxed some, but his hands were still fidgety. He didn�t seem so much nervous as pensive. Bobby inwardly cursed his ever-working mind, analyzing this partner as he always had those around him, including Alex. He�d never expressed it, but she would not believe the things her body language gave away. Much like Mike. He couldn�t possibly know how much his hands said about him, both in motion and not.
And there was no way in hell he could know how much his face gave away. Mike had obviously taken years to perfect the �cop stare� of perfect stoicism, but he�d missed a bit. Quite a bit, actually. From the gentle curve of his lip when things were going his way to the sent of his hands to the softness of his eyes when something truly touched him, even when he didn�t want it to. Soft and as changing as the sea, and sometimes just as green as any scrap of land in all of Ireland�
Bobby sat straight and stared meaningfully at the TV. Stupid. Of all the times to let that slip. He only hoped Mike hadn�t caught it. Or at least that he hadn�t gotten completely freaked out by it. The last thing Mike needed right now is to have to deal with his partner making cow eyes at him. It hadn�t worked with Alex, and he was not going to make that mistake again. The thought of Alex and romance was a distant memory now, a hurdle thrown headlong into his face and he�d gotten over it. Mike was a different story, and he was not about to spook yet another male partner.
Which brought up another interesting point. What the heck were they doing here? Not that he was going to complain about spending time with Mike. On the contrary, he was glad that his partner felt at ease enough to let him into his own house. They were comfortable together, even to the point that Mike had postponed a night of skirt chasing for his company. But was that really it? Mike hadn�t batted an eyelash at anyone or anything throughout the whole case, and at first Bobby had thought that to simply be about the subject matter and professionalism, which he admired. But now that he thought of it, Mike didn�t do it to anyone. Mike, legendary chick-magnet and one-night-stand specialist, didn�t seem to be getting anywhere in the dating arena. Why?
Bobby let a single notion take over his conscious mind, pulling together all the jumbled facts and notions into one cohesive thought. Mike had punched out a gay-bashing councilman and had subsequently gotten a first class ticket to Staten Island. He�d put yet another child-molesting priest behind bars, but he hadn�t made mention of any conquests, any relationships, or any women he even found attractive in the entire time Bobby had known him. //Nah� he couldn�t be�.could he?//
He looked over and watched a moment as Mike settled further into the couch, a soft smile gracing his chiseled face. He looked up, just in time to catch Bobby�s gaze, his grin widening just a touch. Bobby took the opportunity before him, seeing no others within his grasp.
�Mike, we can�t keep this up.�
Disclaimer: The characters, names, and references made herein belong to NBC, inc, Wolf Productions, etc. No copyright infringement intended. For fun, not profit.
