Disclaimer: I do not own these wonderful characters ... with that said, this is my first story please review and you don't have to be kind. I can take it!
The IQ Test
Goren' POV
Sometime after Purgatory
Eames hasn't spoken a word to me other than what's necessary for a case, can't say that I blame her, I've put her threw hell the past year and a half and the last straw was the strip club. I was undercover, approved this time, the Chief of D's probably thought I wouldn't make it out alive … the prick. Anyways my relationship with Captain Ross has improved some , yippee, he and Logan asked me out for drinks one night after work…so I went.
Dominic's Bar and Grill
As we walk in, the first person I see is Eames, she's with people I've never seen before . We used to be very close … I know her family … these people are not her family. Logan and Ross spot her after they see me staring. Logan yells over " yo doll what's cookin?" Oh to be that smooth and get away with it! Eames looks up and says " Nuthin I'm feedin you, Mike" with a wicked grin and never even acknowledges my presence but gives Ross a nod . Her friends are all laughing and I hear one of them say " Hey, he's kinda cute." Puhlease what are we in the eighth grade here? I used to be …cute… but the past year and a half aged me 10, so a guess I'm just pissed that women don't say that about me anymore. Logan asks her to come over for a drink and she says maybe later, I won't hold my breath.
I'm very distracted with Eames being here , being boys night out and all. I'm not really listening to Mike's Staten Island stories especially since I have heard them all before. I'm trying to figure out away to get Eames back. I love her. Always have always will, not that she'll ever know, I've done enough damage to our partnership as it is . Ross breaks me out of my reverie and says " Ya know Goren , I've seen partners split up over major issues , like one has a drug problem or having an affair with the other guys wife , I'm talking major issues. What 's gone wrong between you and Eames can be worked out. The past …what is it, almost two years now? Have been incredibly trying on your partnership. You pushed her away man … she's staying away. A partnership is like a marriage and you stopped communicating." Logan and I sat there with our jaws on the floor. How many drinks did he have? Did he know in my wildest dreams I wanted to be married to Alex? He continued…" things are looking good for you right now, you just brought down a major drug ring , the Mayor 's happy , the Chief of D's is happy … the prick, anyway , you're back on your game…let your partner know the old Goren is back better than ever , put the strut back in your walk and get back in her good graces so everyone in the Bullpen can stop walking on eggshells around the two of you." "How am I suppose to do that Cap?" "Co-m-mun-ic-ate.!!" Ya know, talk Goren …maybe tell her you're sorry for shutting her out, how old are you anyway … 5?" "What do you mean by that Sir" I'm a little pissed now that he just called me a 5 year old. "Last I heard , you're some brilliant, albeit, eccentric Detective that can figure out who done it before the "who" has even laid eyes on Detective Robert O. Goren, but you can't even figure out how to talk to your own partner of nearly 8 years?" Well if he knew how I felt about her , he would understand how difficult this was. Maybe he's right, I am acting or should I say thinking like a 5 year old … I need to forget how I feel about her and just be her partner… that's it. "You're right Captain, I'll talk to her." Just as I started to get up to go to her table , this guy pulled up a chair next to her…she was taking some kind of a test?? I started to watch intensely. Logan and Ross now also curious, did the same.
Eames' table of friends , both women and men were all laughing … poking fun at one another…it seemed like a few different discussions going on at once…all drinking and eating finger type food all acting like …ya , 5 year olds. Kinda fun to see Eames in this light … she's different with them…what a beautiful smile and she's laughing and WTF, taking a test. She's reading a question and then filling in the little circle, at least that's what it looks like from here. Then there's the guy hovering over her and she's very receptive to him and I don't like it! A friend yells from the other end of the table " Ally, how ya doin on the IQ test?" Very heavy Brooklyn accent. "Well if Victor would stop feeling me up and blowing in my ear, I might be able to get past your score of stupid!" Everyone is laughing except me! I'm on the "feeling up" part. " Sorry Ally but part of the experiment is the distraction factor while you take the test…Victor volunteered." What did you distract Rocco with to make him so aaahh??…. Mentally challenged …" "BBQ spare ribs." The whole table erupted in laughter to the point that you could measure it on a Richter scale. I really wish I was part of her crowd and the one to distract her … it did seem like fun … something I never knew how to do … have fun. "Victor! That's it!" Eames starts to look around and spots Logan. "Mike … give me your cuffs." What's wrong with yours Eames?" "I don't have mine … not on duty … give me your cuffs!!" I hand her mine. She takes them and walks away. She dangles them in front of this Victor character. Whatever she says to him he slides his chair back and crosses his legs. She put my cuffs in her pocket and continues taking the test. Victor, whom is just about on my last nerve, starts to slide his chair back towards Eames. She darts him a sideward's look, grabs my cuffs and says "they're not pink and fuzzy Tori, BACK OFF!" Wwwhhat…I can't breath, she called him Tori and pink and fuzzy cuffs?? Do they use pink and fuzzy cuffs in private? Is he her guy…do they have sex? I can't breath!
Logan and Ross find this to be dinner and a show starring Detective Eames, they're shocked at the cuff comment but have already moved on. Am I the only one at 1 PP in love with Alex? Apparently. I just want this show to be over with, this Tori to go away and for Goren and Eames to be Goren and Eames again. I need to get up go over to her table and say let's go talk. So that's what I do, sort of.
"Excuse me, Eames? Could I have my cuffs back?" I know … coward. The woman sitting next to her stands up and extends her hand to me and says "Hi I'm Doreen and you are?" "Ah … Robert Goren I'm Ea .. Ally's partner" That's right I said Ally. "Alls … introduce him around the table will ya?" "Okay sure … Bobby these are my friends from High School … well some and spouses'…we get together once a month. At the end of the table is Rocco and Tammy, High School sweethearts, to their left is Trini and her husband Dillyn. This pain in the ass is Dori's brother Victor, on the other side of Dori is Julian and his life partner Martin … also High School sweethearts." " It's nice to meet all of you, I'm surprised after all these years of being Ally's partner we've never met." She shoots me a look … I'm pretty sure it's because I keep calling her Ally. Martin says to me " So you watch our Ally's back huh?" "We watch each other … that's what partners do." She is glaring at me … not saying a word. Victor chimes in. " Not too hard on the eyes either huh? You coulda been stuck with some fugly dude." Fugly dude?? Please tell me she is not sleeping with this idiot! " No, I guess Ally here got the short end of the stick in this partnership." Dori pipes in …"Nothing short about you Detective." Trini , the very cute and very married Latino friend at the end of the table says " Yea , hey Ally, you never told us that Bobby was sooo handsome!" I think I'm blushing. "Thank you" I say and with that, I look back at Eames and say again, "Ahh cuffs?" "Oh what's your hurry Bobby? Sit, join us … take a test? I'm working on my PhD in Psychology at Hudson so I'm having my friends take an IQ test under ahh … duress!?" Her friends are laughing again. Doreen, the PhD candidate has a smirk a mile long on her face. So I say. " If I take the test, do I get the BBQ spare ribs or does your brother get to feel me up?" Eames starts laughing and says "Bobby could I speak to you in private please." I'm in trouble …I thought playing along with her friends would help mend some fences here but I think I'm in real trouble. She asks to step outside and excuses us to her friends and to Logan and Captain Ross who ask if everything is alright, to that she nods and leads us out side.
Outside Dominic's Bar and Grill
"Eames?" Wwhhat did I do … whatever it is I'm sorry. I'll leave … I won't take the test, I'll leave you and your friends alone and I'll never call you Ally again I promise. I just wanted my cuffs back really."
"Bobby, was that you in there? Really you?"
"What do mean Eames? I'm standing here aren't I ? Me, Bobby , flesh and blood, not a facsimile, but the real thing Eames."
"You seem different … better."
"Better than what Eames? Better than after my Mother died? Better than after the Chief publicly called me a "whack job." Better then after almost dying in Tates? Better than after being suspended? Better than after going undercover without my partner and pointing a gun at the woman that I love? BETTER THAN WHAT EAMES?"
With that, a single tear runs down my face…I walk away.