Email: slashgirl@gmail.com

Title: Equal
Fandom: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Characters: Bobby Goren/Mike Logan
Prompt: 043 Square
Word Count: 664
Rating: G/FRC (fan rated children)
Author's Notes: None, really.

 

Equal
by Stacy L.A. Stronach

A square has four sides, with each exactly the same length. Where the lines meet, right angles are formed. Each side is equal in what it contributes to the structure. Take one away and the square collapses.

Sometimes, when the two teams work together (which happens once every few months, on average) he is amazed at how well the four of them work together. Like a square, all four are equal in what they contribute to an investigation and if one were missing…. Well, the other three might not collapse but the lack would be noticed. Unlike the lines in a square they are not all identical in what they bring to an investigation but that doesn't really matter. In fact, if they were identical, then they probably wouldn't get much accomplished.

A small grin graces his features as he thinks of the four of them literally laid out in a square. Well, technically, they'd be a rectangle. Two long sides, two short sides. He was surprised to find two other people he works well with, people who were willing to accept him and his methods as quirky as they may be. He is under no illusions, he knows most other cops find him odd if not downright strange. However, he gets results and that is what matters.

His turns his gaze to the woman seated at the desk across from him. Alex is engaged in an animated conversation with someone on the phone, probably something on the latest case they're working. That she decided to remain his partner is something he will always be deeply grateful for. She balances him in so many ways and is unafraid of challenging him or butting heads with him when she feels the need. She is, in her own right, an amazing detective. What has amazed him even more is that they've become good friends, something he'd never really had with other partners. He likes this.

His gaze shifts to the woman at the desk beside him. She and her partner are quietly discussing some aspect of their latest case; she is leaning forward, showing him something in one of the files. People say that he and Carolyn are a lot alike, although personally, he doesn't see it. Yes, they both tend to be very intellectual and even theoretical but he's observed her enough to know their thought processes are quite different. He really didn't know much about her before she joined Major Case other than she must be good or she wouldn't have been chosen for the department. Even after almost two years, he still doesn't know her that well; she's a private, intense woman but what he does know of her, he likes. And, like Alex, she's a damn fine detective.

Finally, he considers the man sitting diagonally across from him. Mike. He's the man who had a reputation as a cop with a short fuse, the man who punched a city councillor and ended up in purgatory on Staten Island. When Mike had wanted in on the case at the prison, he hadn't been sure of him. By the time it was over, he'd been impressed and so, when Captain Deakins had managed to get Mike transferred, he knew it could only enhance their department. He knows Mike often plays the dumb cop but isn't. Bobby knows a lot about Mike. Even more than he knows about Alex and definitely more than he knows about Carolyn. He also knows that meeting Mike has turned out to be one of the most important events of his life.

When Mike raises his head, becoming aware of the stare that is fixed upon him, a ghost of a smile flits across his face and the look in the green eyes softens. Bobby knows this look is just for him, he sees the love and affection in it. He smiles at Mike, giving him a similar look.

Yes, a square. Four equals that fit to make the whole.

//**the end**\\