Law & Order: CI, Goren and Eames, Set Epsilon
Fandom: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Pairing: Bobby Goren and Alex Eames
Theme set: Epsilon
Rating: PG-13
Warning[s]: None, other than severe punctuation abuse.
I started seeing a pattern in the sentences I wrote, so I rearranged the theme set to follow the evolution of Goren and Eames' partnership.
1. Drive
After a terrifying rollercoaster of a ride through Manhattan with Goren at the wheel, Eames held out her hand for the keys: “I’m senior partner, I drive,” she said…it was the only time she pulled rank on him.
2. Vision
While watching him work a crime scene or climb into the perp’s mind, Eames often wondered if Goren had some kind of psychic “second sight.”
3. Motion
A few months after they were partnered, Alex noticed that some part of Goren’s body…sometimes just a finger…was always in motion.
4. Never
The first year of their partnership, Goren put salt in the sugar jar on April Fool’s Day…he quickly learned never to come between Eames and her sugar fix.
5. Cool
Bobby figured she’d been popular in high school, but prom queen?
6. Eye
After they arrested the eye doctor who experimented on the schizophrenics at Garcia House, Goren called his mother at Carmel Ridge; when he picked up his coat and left without a word, Eames finished her paperwork and then started on his.
7. Gentle
Goren stared at himself in the interrogation room mirror, realizing Nicole used his own weaknesses against him, and the only lifeline tethering him to reality was his partner’s gentle voice: “Then let’s get her back.”
8. Young
He looked so young, Alex thought, such a baby face…but his eyes were old.
9. Hunger
There was one night, after Croydon’s death and Nicole’s scheming…Bobby was angry and vulnerable and needy and they went to his place to get drunk, and Alex recognized the look he was giving her…she never did go home that night.
10. Wash
Afterward Bobby’s soul was cleansed, but Alex’s regret was immediate.
11. Naked
They never spoke of it again, but it was days before Eames could look at him without seeing him naked.
12. Attention
Goren fidgeted in the passenger seat, punching the radio buttons, opening the glove box, and chattering non-stop…while Eames gritted her teeth, gripped the steering wheel harder, and fantasized about dosing him with Ritalin.
13. Fool
On desk duty before her maternity leave started, Alex smirked as Bishop threw up her hands, sighed, and jogged to catch up with Goren before the elevator closed…I really do pity the fool, she thought.
14. Wait
During Eames’ maternity leave, Goren kept a calendar page carefully folded and tucked into a pocket of his binder; each night he marked off another day until she returned.
15. Hold
He looked like a linebacker cradling a football as he held her newborn nephew in his huge hands.
16. Last
Goren was the last person Alex expected to be thinking about while she was in bed with Terry, but there he was.
17. Wrong
This is wrong, Bobby told himself as he stood in his shower thinking of Alex, so wrong.
18. Thousand
Eames stirred several spoonfuls of sugar in her coffee and Goren said, “Did you know there are twenty-thousand sugar crystals in each…” but trailed off when she glared at him.
19. Hide
Eames couldn’t think of anything more amusing than watching her partner, a 6-foot-tall bear of a man, playing peek-a-boo with her baby nephew.
20. Precious
They were undercover in a boutique trying to gather information about their suspect; Eames struggled to keep a straight face as Goren affected a Southern accent and called her his “piece of precious pie.”
21. Sing
“My dad took us upstate on vacation one summer,” Eames said, and Goren asked, “Camping in the Catskills?” but Eames shook her head and replied, “Tour of Sing Sing.”
22. Fortune
Sometimes they needed a break when working late, so they’d grab dinner at the diner on the corner, the one with the TV on the counter; Bobby could answer most of the Jeopardy! questions, but words were Alex’s thing so she always beat him at Wheel of Fortune.
23. King
After Goren pointed out the red queen and the black king, Eames said, “They call it solitaire for a reason, Bobby.”
24. Soul
When he told her he found a great new restaurant in his neighborhood and he wanted to drive out to Brooklyn for lunch, Eames assumed it was Italian; so when Goren parked the SUV in front of Priscilla’s Ultimate Soul Food Cafeteria, she raised an eyebrow and he grinned: “Best fried chicken in the tri-state area.”
25. Ghost
Eames tried to sneak looks at her partner while she signed reports; it seemed like she learned something new about Goren’s childhood with each case, and she wondered how one person could function with so many ghosts haunting him.
26. Stop
When they found Eames’ car after her kidnapping, Bobby grabbed the crowbar to pop the trunk and for a few seconds time stopped.
27. Torn
Goren pushed her out of Wiznesky’s study as the disturbed officer trained his gun on them, and Eames didn’t know whether she should thank him or tear him a new one.
28. History
“Your partner has a history of…” Ross began, but Eames interrupted…”My partner has a history of closing cases and making this department look good, captain,” she said, her pointed stare making him back down.
29. Change
Watching Goren trying to program the new coffeemaker in the bullpen -- carafe on the counter, buttons beeping, and water streaming onto the hotplate -- Eames snorted: Definitely doesn’t deal well with change.
30. Mad
When Goren determined that Joe’s murder had to be reopened, he tacked the headlines and evidence to a board in the conference room and expected Eames to yell, maybe even throw a punch at him; he didn’t expect her tears.
31. One
They used to be a solid unit, GorenandEames, working as one…when had it all slipped away, Alex wondered.
32. Command
After refereeing yet another “discussion” between Goren and the captain, Eames wondered how he ever survived the Army.
33. Now
They heard Ross slam his phone down seconds before he yelled at Goren and Eames to get in his office; Eames sighed at Bobby and said, “What’d you do this time?”
34. Learn
Early on Eames learned how to gauge Goren’s state of mind by the length of his beard and the lack of a necktie, but these days…she took in the shaggy beard and untucked shirt, and she shook her head.
35. Blur
The days undercover in the prison mental ward ran together for Goren; the only two thoughts he could remember having were ‘water’ and ‘Eames.’
36. Power
Drinking beer after beer during his suspension, Goren thought about Eames’ career: she could’ve had everything…captain, chief of detectives, even chief of the whole damn department; unfortunately, she was saddled with him for a partner.
37. Harm
He wasn’t returning her calls; the job was all he had left, and now he didn’t even have that…she worried and wondered if he’d…she shook her head firmly and said, “No.”
38. Bother
Eames and the backup team burst through the door and Eames found herself staring at Goren’s gun while hers was trained on him, and she didn’t think she could ever fully trust him again.
39. Need
She couldn’t stand the needy way Goren stared at her after his reinstatement, constantly seeking her approval and forgiveness.
40. Picture
Sometimes before she drifted off to sleep, Eames wondered just what the hell Bobby had done with the Polaroid he snapped of them years ago.
41. Child
Who knew a few magic tricks he learned as a child would make Eames smile again?
42. Believe
Eames still believed Bobby was a good man, despite learning his father was a serial rapist and murderer; trouble was, she wasn’t sure he believed it anymore.
43. Goodbye
They stood at the elevator to go back upstairs after Rodgers confirmed it was Nicole’s heart; Goren still didn’t believe it, but Eames muttered, “Good riddance.”
44. Shadow
Standing next to Goren at his brother’s grave, Eames thought about Frank being the fair-haired boy, dad’s favorite when they were kids; the one mom wanted when she was battling cancer; and murdered by Bobby’s nemesis…he’d never escape Frank’s shadow now, she thought, and almost reached for his hand.
45. Safe
The safe was on its side, broken pavement radiating from underneath, and three stories up curtains flapped outside a gaping hole where the jewelry store window used to be; Goren read the word ACME on the bottom of the safe and Eames said, “Great, we’ll round up the usual coyotes.”
46. Book
Bobby always sent along a book for Alex’s nephew’s birthday; this year he chose his own well-worn copy of Treasure Island.
47. God
Every Sunday Eames took the ferry to Staten Island to attend church and have Sunday lunch with her family; she saw so much evil in her line of work that she wasn’t sure God really listened, but she always said a prayer of peace for her partner.
48. Sudden
There was no sudden turning point in their partnership; the wall was built gradually.
49. Wall
However, she’s sure she knows the foundation of the wall between them: her old letter, read in open court, questioning his judgment and mental stability.
50. Time
They sat at their desks, signing reports and filing paperwork on autopilot; in the early days, after their partnership got comfortable, one of them might suggest a drink after the paperwork was done, and usually they’d end up at one cop bar or another, but they hadn’t gone for drinks in a long time, maybe a year or two…as she signed the last form, Eames said, “Bobby…buy me a margarita?”
Pairing: Bobby Goren and Alex Eames
Theme set: Epsilon
Rating: PG-13
Warning[s]: None, other than severe punctuation abuse.
I started seeing a pattern in the sentences I wrote, so I rearranged the theme set to follow the evolution of Goren and Eames' partnership.
1. Drive
After a terrifying rollercoaster of a ride through Manhattan with Goren at the wheel, Eames held out her hand for the keys: “I’m senior partner, I drive,” she said…it was the only time she pulled rank on him.
2. Vision
While watching him work a crime scene or climb into the perp’s mind, Eames often wondered if Goren had some kind of psychic “second sight.”
3. Motion
A few months after they were partnered, Alex noticed that some part of Goren’s body…sometimes just a finger…was always in motion.
4. Never
The first year of their partnership, Goren put salt in the sugar jar on April Fool’s Day…he quickly learned never to come between Eames and her sugar fix.
5. Cool
Bobby figured she’d been popular in high school, but prom queen?
6. Eye
After they arrested the eye doctor who experimented on the schizophrenics at Garcia House, Goren called his mother at Carmel Ridge; when he picked up his coat and left without a word, Eames finished her paperwork and then started on his.
7. Gentle
Goren stared at himself in the interrogation room mirror, realizing Nicole used his own weaknesses against him, and the only lifeline tethering him to reality was his partner’s gentle voice: “Then let’s get her back.”
8. Young
He looked so young, Alex thought, such a baby face…but his eyes were old.
9. Hunger
There was one night, after Croydon’s death and Nicole’s scheming…Bobby was angry and vulnerable and needy and they went to his place to get drunk, and Alex recognized the look he was giving her…she never did go home that night.
10. Wash
Afterward Bobby’s soul was cleansed, but Alex’s regret was immediate.
11. Naked
They never spoke of it again, but it was days before Eames could look at him without seeing him naked.
12. Attention
Goren fidgeted in the passenger seat, punching the radio buttons, opening the glove box, and chattering non-stop…while Eames gritted her teeth, gripped the steering wheel harder, and fantasized about dosing him with Ritalin.
13. Fool
On desk duty before her maternity leave started, Alex smirked as Bishop threw up her hands, sighed, and jogged to catch up with Goren before the elevator closed…I really do pity the fool, she thought.
14. Wait
During Eames’ maternity leave, Goren kept a calendar page carefully folded and tucked into a pocket of his binder; each night he marked off another day until she returned.
15. Hold
He looked like a linebacker cradling a football as he held her newborn nephew in his huge hands.
16. Last
Goren was the last person Alex expected to be thinking about while she was in bed with Terry, but there he was.
17. Wrong
This is wrong, Bobby told himself as he stood in his shower thinking of Alex, so wrong.
18. Thousand
Eames stirred several spoonfuls of sugar in her coffee and Goren said, “Did you know there are twenty-thousand sugar crystals in each…” but trailed off when she glared at him.
19. Hide
Eames couldn’t think of anything more amusing than watching her partner, a 6-foot-tall bear of a man, playing peek-a-boo with her baby nephew.
20. Precious
They were undercover in a boutique trying to gather information about their suspect; Eames struggled to keep a straight face as Goren affected a Southern accent and called her his “piece of precious pie.”
21. Sing
“My dad took us upstate on vacation one summer,” Eames said, and Goren asked, “Camping in the Catskills?” but Eames shook her head and replied, “Tour of Sing Sing.”
22. Fortune
Sometimes they needed a break when working late, so they’d grab dinner at the diner on the corner, the one with the TV on the counter; Bobby could answer most of the Jeopardy! questions, but words were Alex’s thing so she always beat him at Wheel of Fortune.
23. King
After Goren pointed out the red queen and the black king, Eames said, “They call it solitaire for a reason, Bobby.”
24. Soul
When he told her he found a great new restaurant in his neighborhood and he wanted to drive out to Brooklyn for lunch, Eames assumed it was Italian; so when Goren parked the SUV in front of Priscilla’s Ultimate Soul Food Cafeteria, she raised an eyebrow and he grinned: “Best fried chicken in the tri-state area.”
25. Ghost
Eames tried to sneak looks at her partner while she signed reports; it seemed like she learned something new about Goren’s childhood with each case, and she wondered how one person could function with so many ghosts haunting him.
26. Stop
When they found Eames’ car after her kidnapping, Bobby grabbed the crowbar to pop the trunk and for a few seconds time stopped.
27. Torn
Goren pushed her out of Wiznesky’s study as the disturbed officer trained his gun on them, and Eames didn’t know whether she should thank him or tear him a new one.
28. History
“Your partner has a history of…” Ross began, but Eames interrupted…”My partner has a history of closing cases and making this department look good, captain,” she said, her pointed stare making him back down.
29. Change
Watching Goren trying to program the new coffeemaker in the bullpen -- carafe on the counter, buttons beeping, and water streaming onto the hotplate -- Eames snorted: Definitely doesn’t deal well with change.
30. Mad
When Goren determined that Joe’s murder had to be reopened, he tacked the headlines and evidence to a board in the conference room and expected Eames to yell, maybe even throw a punch at him; he didn’t expect her tears.
31. One
They used to be a solid unit, GorenandEames, working as one…when had it all slipped away, Alex wondered.
32. Command
After refereeing yet another “discussion” between Goren and the captain, Eames wondered how he ever survived the Army.
33. Now
They heard Ross slam his phone down seconds before he yelled at Goren and Eames to get in his office; Eames sighed at Bobby and said, “What’d you do this time?”
34. Learn
Early on Eames learned how to gauge Goren’s state of mind by the length of his beard and the lack of a necktie, but these days…she took in the shaggy beard and untucked shirt, and she shook her head.
35. Blur
The days undercover in the prison mental ward ran together for Goren; the only two thoughts he could remember having were ‘water’ and ‘Eames.’
36. Power
Drinking beer after beer during his suspension, Goren thought about Eames’ career: she could’ve had everything…captain, chief of detectives, even chief of the whole damn department; unfortunately, she was saddled with him for a partner.
37. Harm
He wasn’t returning her calls; the job was all he had left, and now he didn’t even have that…she worried and wondered if he’d…she shook her head firmly and said, “No.”
38. Bother
Eames and the backup team burst through the door and Eames found herself staring at Goren’s gun while hers was trained on him, and she didn’t think she could ever fully trust him again.
39. Need
She couldn’t stand the needy way Goren stared at her after his reinstatement, constantly seeking her approval and forgiveness.
40. Picture
Sometimes before she drifted off to sleep, Eames wondered just what the hell Bobby had done with the Polaroid he snapped of them years ago.
41. Child
Who knew a few magic tricks he learned as a child would make Eames smile again?
42. Believe
Eames still believed Bobby was a good man, despite learning his father was a serial rapist and murderer; trouble was, she wasn’t sure he believed it anymore.
43. Goodbye
They stood at the elevator to go back upstairs after Rodgers confirmed it was Nicole’s heart; Goren still didn’t believe it, but Eames muttered, “Good riddance.”
44. Shadow
Standing next to Goren at his brother’s grave, Eames thought about Frank being the fair-haired boy, dad’s favorite when they were kids; the one mom wanted when she was battling cancer; and murdered by Bobby’s nemesis…he’d never escape Frank’s shadow now, she thought, and almost reached for his hand.
45. Safe
The safe was on its side, broken pavement radiating from underneath, and three stories up curtains flapped outside a gaping hole where the jewelry store window used to be; Goren read the word ACME on the bottom of the safe and Eames said, “Great, we’ll round up the usual coyotes.”
46. Book
Bobby always sent along a book for Alex’s nephew’s birthday; this year he chose his own well-worn copy of Treasure Island.
47. God
Every Sunday Eames took the ferry to Staten Island to attend church and have Sunday lunch with her family; she saw so much evil in her line of work that she wasn’t sure God really listened, but she always said a prayer of peace for her partner.
48. Sudden
There was no sudden turning point in their partnership; the wall was built gradually.
49. Wall
However, she’s sure she knows the foundation of the wall between them: her old letter, read in open court, questioning his judgment and mental stability.
50. Time
They sat at their desks, signing reports and filing paperwork on autopilot; in the early days, after their partnership got comfortable, one of them might suggest a drink after the paperwork was done, and usually they’d end up at one cop bar or another, but they hadn’t gone for drinks in a long time, maybe a year or two…as she signed the last form, Eames said, “Bobby…buy me a margarita?”