Title: Other Paths
By: Stacy L.A. Stronach
Fandom: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Pairing: Logan/Goren
Rating: PG-13
Note: Written for LJ's fanfic100 (uncompleted). Prompt 082: If.
Summary: Mike thinks about his life.***
Mike Logan used to wonder, quite often, what his life might've been like if he hadn't punched that city councillor; if he hadn't let his temper get the best of him…. In this past year, though, he's hardly thought about that at all.
Granted, he had a couple of good reasons that have driven those thoughts out of his head. The first reason was that he was now working on the Major Case Squad. Mike had been truly surprised, after the case he'd helped the squad out with, that Captain Deakins had requested him for the team. Personally. Knowing that Deakins laid it on the line for him has made Mike work even harder to prove himself.
The second reason…the second reason is sitting in Mike's lazy boy recliner, one book open on his lap and one open on the coffee table beside the chair. Both texts are thick and, Mike is pretty sure, have something to do with psychology, aberrant or otherwise. Bobby's brow is creased as he concentrates, picking up one book, reading it before setting it down to look at the other one.
Goren is definitely an odd man, in many ways. He's a genius with such razor sharp insight into people and crime that it amazes Mike sometimes. He's cerebral to Mike's physical, brain to Mike's brawn. Although, really, Mike knows he's not a dumb fuck and Bobby can be very physical…. Mike can't help but smirk and then snicker at the thoughts that cross his mind.
Looking up at Mike suddenly, Bobby quirks one eyebrow questioningly. Mike just waved his hand, "It's nothin', just a random thought." Yeah, Mike absolutely loves Bobby's physicality, especially in bed. Nodding, Bobby returns to his reading. Mike watches him for a few minutes longer, a small part of him amazed at the happiness he's found with the other man.
He no longer asked himself the same "what if" questions. Because he's pretty sure that hitting that councillor and then spending those ten years in purgatory on Staten Island have led him here. If changing his past would mean changing his now, Mike wouldn't do it. Not for anything in the world.
***