When they walked into the office, Allie was already at her desk reviewing her notes from the Crawford interview. She had the crime scene photos and the autopsy report spread out, and she was trying to piece together a puzzle.
"Allie?" Bruss inquired.
"Yeah, what's up Patty cake?"
Dean looked at Bruss. He mouthed the words, "Patty cake?"
He gave him a little look that said, don't ask.
"What are you doing?" Bruss asked.
"Oh, I don't know, it looks a little like my job. If you did yours, you would know."
She rolled her eyes. She was completely back to normal as if nothing had happened. In her mind, nothing had happened.
Bruss took a seat at his desk. Dean just stood there, not knowing what to do. Should he leave, sit down, and talk to Bruss about what they discovered?
Before he decided, someone called Allie's name, and it sounded familiar. "Kingston!"
It was Alex. The scent of his cologne filled her nostrils.
"Oh God fuck my life. Did he see me? Dean stand in front of me. I could use a wall to hide behind."
"I think it's a little late for that," he said.
Alex was approaching the desk. "You must be Agent Carron. The rumors are true; you are a beast.
He shook Dean's hand. Each trying to out-squeeze the other's hand.
"Funny thing about rumors, many of them are the truth, right, Allie?" Dean said. "You look familiar. Have we run across each other before?"
"We may have passed each other at the Crawford crime scene," Jack said without interest in Dean's presence.
"Oh, that's right. Wait, maybe it was Jake's. Been there recently?"
"Actually, I was there last night. Were you there? I would have seen you. You're hard to miss," Jake playful punched Dean's arm very aggressively.
"Yeah, actually. We should get a beer sometime. Maybe Allie would like to join us." He playfully punched him back in the gut very aggressively. "What do you say, Allie? Would you like to join us? We can have a law enforcement threesome.
"Oh, Snap," Bruss said under his breath.
Allie spun around to face the two large children who acted like they were fighting over their favorite toy.
"What can I do for you, Alex… Alvarez… Corporal Alvarez?" she asked.
She was visibly flustered.
"Because you already haven't done enough to him?" Dean said under his breath.
Luckily, no one had heard him.
I heard that. Malibu giggled. This is going to be an entertaining two minutes.
"Maybe we should talk in private somewhere," Alvarez said, glancing at Dean and Bruss.
"Sure. No problem."
She pushed her chair back, and it scraped against the floor.
"What do you think that's about?" Bruss asked, trying to sound confused and clueless. He failed.
"I'm not an idiot, Bruss. I know she spent last night with him; I saw them at the bar. I saw them sucking face outside, and I saw them leave together. I saw way too much."
"Oh, double snap," he said. "Would that be a subject of discussion in the car on the way back?"
"I may have brought it up in anger. Or jealousy."
"Jealousy?" Bruss asked.
"Another time, another place, alright?"
"Yeah, sure, man."
"Who is he to her?" Dean asked.
"Alex? Old flame. A tragic story."
"Old flame? Tragic story?"
"Don't tell her I told you, but she and Alex were very serious several years back. Like head over heels in love, he had the engagement ring all said to go, and most importantly, Allie said I love you."
"Damn. Why did they split up?" Dean asked.
"That is the tragic part. He was her FTO, and they started their relationship long before she was done with her training. Well, a few years went by, and the brass found out. He lost his rank of corporal, and then they gave him an ultimatum."
"Which was?"
"Drop the FTO position if he wanted to keep her or keep the FTO and call off the relationship," Bruss said.
"Wow. He chose his position over the woman he was head over heels for. That's a selfish prick move. I could never do something like that."
"He wanted to lose the position. All he wanted was Allie, but she wouldn't let him. She insisted he keep the FTO position, and she left. Allie walked away because she loved him and was willing to give up her future so he could have one. It took her a long time to get over him. It completely changed her. She has done a lot of changing over the years. The only thing that remains the same is her sarcastic and smart-ass attitude."
"Wow. Do you think she wants to get back together?" Dean asked.
"She can't. Only when he drops FTO or becomes a sergeant. He's still at least a year away from that."
Dean's heart started to ache. He thought about what he had said about her not having serious relationships and keeping her options open.
Allie and Alex went to the breakroom. She folded her arms over her chest.
"What is it, Alex?" she said.
"Well, for starters, nice to see you too, Allie. That was a surprisingly good disappearing act you did this morning."
"You know I'm trying to catch a serial killer, right?"
"Okay, I see the pleasantries are over. You left these at my house," he said.
Bruss and Dean leaned as far to the left as possible, craning their necks.
"What are they saying?" Bruss asked.
"I'm not a fucking bat dude."
"Can you see anything? You are as tall as a tree."
"Not a rubber tree. My neck only goes so far," he said. "Do your body language thing."
"Well, I'm not fucking Superman; I can't see through walls."
"Do you see anything at all?"
"He's giving her something, a wadded-up piece of something. She just shoved it into her pocket."
"Holy shit, he just gave her her panties back," Bruss said.
"No? You think so?"
"I've given my fair share of panties back. For some reason, they can never find them; even if they do, they shove them in their purse."
"Well, that made shit real."
"You know what they say, the funny thing about rumors," Bruss said. "You know what that means. She's not wearing any now. That's so fucking hot."
"Don't you have a girlfriend?
"Just because I'm on a diet doesn't mean I can't look at the dessert menu."
He handed her a pair of wadded-up blue panties. She snatched them from him quickly and shoved them into her pocket.
"Jesus Christ, Alex, seriously!" she said.
"What? I thought you might need them, and I wanted to see you since you snuck off this morning. I didn't know when I would get the chance again."
"Well, you saw me. Thanks for dropping them off," Allie said. "Till next time, whenever that happens."
"Come on, Allie, don't do that. You don't want to go out, maybe, have dinner. We were perfect together, so nice we did it twice. I miss hanging out together."
She rubbed her hand on her face, half embarrassed and half frustrated.
"You know that is not possible. You are not giving up the FTO. You know a sergeant's position might be coming up anytime now."
"So when I get the promotion, you and I will pick up where we left off."
"Alex, come on. I am sorry you thought this would lead to anything more than a fun night together. I made it abundantly clear last night. Take the win. Now, I have a lot of work to do. It's been a pleasure."
He called after her.
"Yes, Alexsandra. The answer to your question is yes."
She turned around and walked back to him.
"Oh, he said something she didn't like," Dean said.
"How do you know that?"
"She does that thing with her hand sliding around and grabbing her face."
"Nice catch. Good to know you're paying attention when I talk."
"Shit, she's coming back."
"No, wait, she just turned around and is going back," Dean said.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"Did you use me last night and take advantage of me? Yes. You did."
"You're only saying this to hurt me because I walked out on you."
"That did hurt, but no. I'm just answering your question. And I already know that you would never have accepted my proposal. You used me. You used me now, and you used me then."
"Oh, that is not fair. You know that is not true. You pursued me, not the other way around. What is the word Buchannon used? Oh yes, you preyed on me."
"Oh, please, come on. You slept with me after knowing me for sixteen hours. Maybe your friend Shawn was right about you."
He immediately regretted saying that. He just shamed the woman he loved more than life itself.
You heard the slap echo through the entire Bureau.
"Oh, my holy fucking mother of God! What the hell did he say to her!" Bruss exclaimed.
"How dare you, Alex Alvarez! I can't believe you just said that to me!"
Her eyes began to swell with tears.
He put his hand to his cheek.
"Allie, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to. I said it because I wanted to hurt you as much as I do right now."
He rubbed the side of his face. It was bright red, and you could almost see the handprint.
"I think it's time for you to go," she said.
He could hear the pain in her voice, the betrayal. It took every ounce of strength for her not to let the dam burst, and her tears flow.
He softly grabbed her arms. "Allie, look at me. Please. You know I didn't mean that. You know how much I love you. I am so sorry Cara Mia."
She looked at him. "I never want to hear you say that again. You have lost the right to call me that. You are not my world; you are no longer my life," she said.
She walked away, leaving him in the breakroom.
"She's coming back. For real this time," Dean said.
Dean sat down quickly, and Bruss picked up the phone.
"SOOOO, how did that go?" Bruss asked.
"It went about as well as I expected it to go. This fucking blows." She stopped short. "Don't fucking say anything," she said.
"Come on, you walked into that. We deserve to say something," Dean said.
"Why are you still here?"
Alex walked out, and the two of them saw his face.
"Allie, what happened? Are you okay?" Bruss asked.
"I've been better."
Dean put his hand on her shoulder.
"Allie, I just wanted to say that I—"
She cut him off.
"Dean, get your hand off my shoulder, or I will shatter every bone in your wrist."
"I would remove it if I were you," Bruss said.
"Alright. Alright, I'll go. I do have a question before I go."
"If I answer it, will you leave?"
"Promise," he said with a wide grin.
"What is it?"
"Are they bikini or thong?"
Her face turned red, "If you have to ask, then you don't need to know. Now leave."
Bruss and Dean looked at each other. "Thong," they said in unison.