Something very short and rather odd. What? No, of course I don't have finals I should be studying for...

Title: Floating Thoughts

Pairing: almost Ross/Nichols

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I merely borrow the characters to avoid doing actual academic work.

An errant thought floated by Nichols' head in the first few days of his partnership with Detective Daniel Ross.

Danny Ross is a rather attractive man.

That thought, in and of itself was a rather pleasant one and not likely to cause much trouble, for it was a harmless passing fancy. Satisfied that it was harmless, Nichols reached out, grabbed it and tucked it away in a corner of his brain. The thought that followed it however, was of an entirely different nature, and he turned away quickly, not even wanting to watch it pass by. There must have been an opening in the back of his mind somewhere, though, because three years later he discovered the idea had rooted itself firmly in his head. Lying dormant it had apparently merged with the other thought and now to his surprise what had come forth was most certainly not a passing fancy after all.