POST MORTEM: DIAMOND DOGS
A/N: So much for a one shot. LOL Couldn't resist, and there could be another chapter or two to come after this one. If nothing else, I know I'm going to be obliged to write a short resolution between Mike and Carolyn. Alex watched her partner hurry after Logan, shaking her head in mild amusement. She almost wished she’d gone with him, if only to see just how he went about handling the infamous Mike Logan. If nothing else, she figured it probably would have been worth a couple of Polaroids, at the very least. Her attention finally slipped back to Logan’s partner. Carolyn had lifted her head out of her hands, and seemed to be making a valiant attempt at doing her paperwork, but Alex had no problems noting that her pen was not actually connecting with the paper. Smiling sympathetically, she walked over and lightly touched the other woman’s shoulder. Carolyn looked up, startled, and then smiled weakly. “Hey, Eames.” “C’mon, we’re getting out of here,” Alex told her firmly. A frown passed fleetingly over Carolyn’s face. “But I have this paperwork to do…” “It’s nearly six,” Alex cut her off abruptly. “We don’t get overtime for staying behind voluntarily to do the paperwork. It can wait until tomorrow morning. Don’t make me haul you out of here.” It didn’t take much for her to give in. Grateful for the excuse to get out of the building, Carolyn grabbed her coat and followed Alex out. “You like Thai?” Alex asked as they emerged into the chilly open air. Carolyn nodded wordlessly. Alex eyed her thoughtfully, but didn’t press right then. Now was not the time or the place for it. “C’mon,” Alex murmured. “I know a great little place a couple of blocks away. It’s quiet, and cheap, and the food is actually pretty good.” Once again, Carolyn simply nodded and allowed Alex to lead her. Only minutes later, they found themselves seated in the corner booth of a casual little Thai restaurant, sipping at margaritas. “My favourite drink for the end of a rough day,” Alex explained at the bemused look Carolyn gave her when she ordered the drinks for them. “Bobby and I had a really difficult case about four years ago. Someone was sniping abortion doctors. You can imagine it didn’t take long for the politics of abortion to take over the case, and I was getting really stressed. At one point, I said to Bobby to promise that he’d buy me a margarita when it was all over. I then forgot that I’d even said it, but he didn’t. When we wrapped the case up finally, he took me to a cocktail bar and bought me what I think must have been the most expensive margarita in the whole of New York. But damn, it made me feel better. Not so much the margarita, but knowing that he cared enough to remember that I’d asked in the first place. Since then, it’s been a kind of tradition with us.” Carolyn stared bleakly at her drink as she swirled the liquid with the swizzle stick. “Somehow, I doubt I’ll be partnered with Logan long enough to develop any traditions like that.” Alex regarded her sympathetically. “Rough case?” “Four people dead,” Carolyn said, sounding sick. “Deakins was ready to draw and quarter us by the time we got the two responsible.” “Don’t take that to heart,” Alex reassured her. “He’s like that with all his detectives, when they first start.” “Was he like that with you?” Alex laughed softly. “And then some. After two weeks of being railed on by him, I came so damn close to quitting…” “What stopped you? Was it Goren?” “No, Bobby wasn’t part of Major Case then. And if you think you got it bad from Deakins, you should’ve seen how he treated Bobby at first. But anyway, I don’t know that it was anything in particular that stopped me from throwing in the towel. Just, one day, I reported to him for something and instead of yelling at me, he told me I’d done a good job and to keep it up.” “As simple as that, huh?” Carolyn wondered, and Alex nodded as she downed the last of her drink. “What about Goren?” “What about him?” “Did you two click when you first started working together? I mean, did you work all right together?” Alex laughed, then. “Are you kidding me? He drove me up the fucking wall! I could have cheerfully shot him more than once. You know, he once used me as bait to get a suspect to show his true colours to his wife? I had to let the slimy son of a bitch hit on me in the interrogation room. God, that made me want to throw up. I wanted to kill Bobby for making me do that.” “But you’re still working together now, four years later,” Carolyn pointed out. Alex smiled and nodded. “Yeah, we are. And I wouldn’t trade him for anything.” Carolyn looked away dismally. “I screwed up today, Alex.” “How?” “When we were interrogating the kid. I, um… I looked into Logan’s past when I found out who I was going to be partnered with.” Alex nodded wordlessly. That was not an unreasonable thing. She had done the same after offering to Deakins to take on Bobby as her partner. Carolyn went on unsteadily. “I found out some things from one of his psyche reports… about how he was treated by his mom when he was a kid. She used to, um…” Alex held her hands up, silencing Carolyn. “It’s okay, I get the point. I don’t need to know the details.” Carolyn nodded. “Well… I saw a comparison between this kid we were interrogating, and Logan. And I… um…” “You used it,” Alex guessed. Carolyn nodded in guilty confirmation. A soft sigh escaped Alex’s lips. “I guess I can understand why he looked so pissed off, then.” “I know,” Carolyn muttered. “I really screwed up. Won’t be surprised if I get to work tomorrow, and find he’s already put in a request for a new partner.” Alex regarded her thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Just wait and see, okay? Give him a chance to cool off and then talk to him about it.” Carolyn shook her head. “I wouldn’t blame him. I don’t know why I used it, and I know I shouldn’t have. But after everything that had happened… and we had Deakins breathing down our necks…” “You just wanted to pull out all the stops, and break the case?” Alex suggested lightly when Carolyn hesitated. She nodded glumly. “Yeah. Pretty much.” Alex smiled reassuringly at her, quietly wondering how Bobby was doing with Mike right about then. “Try not to worry too much about it, Carolyn. You might find that tomorrow morning he won’t be quite so pissed off.” Even in her glum state of mind, Carolyn couldn’t miss the knowing inference in her colleague’s words. “What do you know that I don’t?” she asked, focussing a piercing look at Alex. Alex couldn’t hide a grin. “I sicced Bobby onto Mike,” she answered simply. Carolyn stared at her incredulously. “Are you crazy? Don’t you know Logan’s reputation? He’ll kill him!” “I don’t think so. You’re underestimating the power of male bonding.” It was with some effort that Carolyn didn’t simply burst out laughing. “Somehow, I find it hard to imagine your partner taking part in male bonding.” “You’d be surprised,” Alex said, smirking to herself. “Anyway, Bobby should be pretty safe with Mike. Mike still owes him one from the last time.” “The last time…?” Carolyn wondered. “Oh… The prison thing. I heard about that. Word was that Goren single-handedly talked eight or ten prison guards out of beating him and Logan to death.” Alex snorted. “Don’t believe everything you hear.” “You mean they weren’t in danger?” “Oh, they were in danger, but it was four guards, not eight. But yeah, Bobby talked them down. If he hadn’t, you probably wouldn’t have Mike for a partner today… and I wouldn’t have Bobby, either. Those guards were going to kill them. I don’t think Mike’s forgotten that he still owes Bobby for that one.” Carolyn sighed softly. “I just hope he can forgive me, Alex. I know I stepped over the line today, but I never meant to hurt him.” “Just tell him that tomorrow,” Alex advised her. “No frills, or anything. Just keep it simple. Tell him you’re sorry. You might find things aren’t as bleak as you think they are.” Carolyn tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I hope you’re right. I do like Logan… He’s different to the partners I’ve had in the past. He’s not afraid to step outside the box, and do whatever he has to. I like that about him.” Alex regarded her with a smile. “Is it true, did he really bail a guy up with a pool cue?” A smile fought its way onto Carolyn’s face at the memory. “Yeah, he did. The guy was being a jerk, giving us the run-around. Frankly, if Logan hadn’t done what he did, I might have done something myself. It was just another thing for Deakins to hit the roof over, though, when he heard.” “Well, rest assured that Mike isn’t the only one with violent tendencies. When I was on desk duty while I was pregnant, a rumour got back to me that Bobby nearly took the kneecaps off a guy who was a Jew killer. Apparently he went for a lead pipe, and Bobby snatched it off him, but then he started swinging it at the guy. They did get a conviction in the end, but it went to trial, and the defence lawyer savaged Bobby on the stand. He’s lucky he never landed a blow. His career would never have recovered.” Carolyn couldn’t resist a grin. “He could’ve joined Logan on Staten Island.” Alex snorted with laughter. “Better keep that one between us. I don’t think our boys would appreciate it.” Carolyn’s smile widened, and this time it did reach her eyes. “Our boys… I like that.” “Well, they are,” Alex said, nodding thanks to the waitress as their food finally arrived. “You think it’ll be okay?” Carolyn asked quietly, and Alex smiled reassuringly at her. “It takes time to develop a trusting partnership, Carolyn. God knows, it took long enough with me and Bobby, and there was a point where I was honestly ready to give up. But I didn’t, and I’m glad that I didn’t. I trust Bobby more now than I think I’ve ever trusted anyone, and I wouldn’t want to give that up for anything. But it took time, patience and hard work to get there, and it hasn’t been all plain sailing. Trust me, you’re going to have moments when you’ll want to throttle Mike. But you know he’s a good cop, and good guy, so as long as you remember that, you’ll be okay.” Carolyn sighed softly, and though there was noticeable sadness in that sigh, Alex took heart in the life that seemed to have returned to the other woman’s eyes. “I hope you’re right, Alex. I really do hope you’re right.” Alex closed her hand gently over Carolyn’s, and let it linger there for just a few seconds. “I know I am.”
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