Chapter Text
Alex signed her last form and looked up at the clock. It was nearing midnight. There was no question that Alex loved her job, but she couldn’t deny that there were times when she wondered what it would be like to work normal hours. Not nine to five, necessarily. Just the same times each day, the same pre-set days of the week.
It would probably bore me to tears, she thought. Out loud, she said, “Quitting time,” as she stood up with her stack of paperwork.
Without looking up, Bobby held up his right hand, continuing to scribble with his left. “Give me a second, and I’ll head down with you.”
He was nearing the end of his pile, but she could see he still had a way to go. She swallowed a sigh and sat down, pulling a file from the stack on her desk to review an interview for the next morning's case. Ten minutes later, Bobby reached over to her desk, lifting her stack of forms and piling them with his own.
After Bobby turned in their paperwork, they walked to the elevator bank where Alex pressed the down button and waited.
“I like your hair like that,” Bobby said.
“Thanks,” Alex said, reaching up to touch one of the clips in her hair before hitting the down button a second time. “These were a gift from my nieces for my last birthday. I figured they’d get a kick out of me wearing them on a bust. The eldest has taken to calling me Auntie Badass when her parents aren’t around. It seems I have a reputation to live up to, now.”
Bobby smiled, and she was happy to see it.
“Something tells me that won’t be a problem,” he said.
It was nice to have a normal moment between them. There were more of them, lately, but the rhythm of their interactions was still off. Before, they might have taken advantage of the way they were dressed and headed out for a drink somewhere upscale. They’d each have ordered something top-shelf to savor and would have just talked for a while—taken the time to decompress and maybe go over the things that got to them about the case. But now, that didn’t seem like an option anymore.
As they rode down to the garage, Alex considered asking him anyway but thought better of it. They might have solved this case, but the next day would see a full day’s work. She was exhausted, and she could tell he was, too.
“I can drive you home,” she said as she moved to step off of the elevator.
Bobby followed her into the garage, but said, “No thanks. The walk to the subway will do me good.”
“It’s late.”
“I’ll be fine.”
He walked her to her car, which didn’t surprise her. It wasn’t an unusual thing for him to do, but since her abduction, she wasn’t always sure how to take his friendly gestures. He’d become more protective, though he was subtle about it. The part of her that hated the idea that he felt it was necessary—that saw his actions as calling her competence into question—was annoyed. Another part of her realized that it was as much about his peace of mind as anything else. She just wished he’d let her return the favor—that he wouldn’t brush aside the attempts she made to make sure he was okay.
She got into her car and rolled down the window.
“Good night, Bobby,” she said. “Be safe.”
“You too, Eames,” he said as he stepped back from her car to give her room to back out.
She watched him in her rearview mirror until she turned a corner and couldn’t see him anymore.
By the time she got home, her fatigue had settled heavy in every part of her. She did a quick safety check, room to room, doors and windows, before hanging up her coat, slipping off her shoes, and heading to the bedroom. She thought of her nieces as she took the clips out of her hair and decided to make a point of calling her brother to arrange to take the girls out for lunch on her next day off.
I could go for a little anti-dysfunction, she said to herself before changing to get into bed.