Disclaimer:All of the characters are the property of Dick Wolf. I thank him, the writers, the directors and all the great actors who brought them "to life" for our benefit. Any "liberties" I have taken with them stems from my fond admiration (and a few personal quirks I will seek "help" for).
AN: This story is not set within the accepted "canon" for the characters as it is only officially portrayed by the TV series. So I get to "fool around" with them in ways in which they've never been seen, stretching that to the limit and suspending the "reality" that is "fiction" to start with…now there's a contradiction in terms!!!
(And yeah Goren I know the proper word for that is oxymoron…pity you never know when the dishwasher needs emptying)
I find "angst" impossible to write…but here goes…
AT TWO IN THE MORNING"Eames?" The voice on the phone was uncertain and trembling.
"Is that you Bobby?" Alex sat up in bed suddenly alert.
"Yes. Eames…I…I need you…come over. You. If…if you can. Please" The deep uncertainty, the fear in Goren's voice that she had never heard before sent a sickening roll through her stomach.
"Are you hurt?" she asked as horrible images went through her mind that something had happened to him. Or worse that he'd done something to harm himself.
"No. Not like…not like that. But please hurry"
Twenty minutes later she used her spare key to unlock the door to his apartment and calling his name eventually found him in the kitchen. Slumped in a chair at the table his head in his hands. A place it must have been for some time the way those grey highlighted dark curls she wanted so often to reach out and touch stuck up in spikes at the front. Bobby lifted his head like it weighed several tons it seemed so much effort. She could see he must not have shaved in at least three days. His eyelids puffy and the shadows under them almost black, he looked utterly exhausted as if he'd not seen his bed in the same time. Clothes rumpled and as she got closer with a faint smell, not totally unpleasant with his "maleness", that indicated he'd not changed them or showered in that time.
"Thank you. For coming Eames" he croaked rubbing his temples as if steel spikes were sticking in them.
Eames drew back the hand she had extended to put on his shoulder as Bobby flinched like a whipped dog and settled for "What is it? How can I help you?"
His large hands, with those fingernails he kept beautifully for a man, shook pitifully. He needed both to hold the cup of coffee he drank from. Like his throat was as dry as the desert.
"I think you need to…to see for yourself. In the bedroom" he paused "But please don't ask me to…I can't…go back in there"
"You don't have to Bobby" she said softly trying to fight down the bile rising in her throat at what she might find "Leave it to me"
It was as bad as she had feared. Made her recoil and almost fall back on the bed. It took a lot for an experienced cop like her to almost faint. But she had to look again. To be sure she wasn't imagining this. That it was real and take in that Bobby…her Bobby as she secretly thought of him…could have done such a thing.
But at the same time her mind was racing. His career would be ruined by this. She'd be lost without him. She could help cover this up if anyone could. After all it was only the two of them knew what happened and perhaps in time he could get by it. Forgive himself if never be able to forget it. And to hell with her duty and truth. This was Bobby. It had to be an accident. She'd do what she had to do. For him.
"How did this happen Bobby?" she asked at the kitchen door
"I'd had a few drinks. I…wasn't drunk Eames…honest I wasn't. I thought I was being…careful…but my hand slipped" he took a deep breath "And then I knew. It…it was too late. It was done"
"It's alright now Bobby" she said gently "No-one needs to know what you did. You can relax. It's over. I took the pair of blue socks out of the drawer where you only keep grey and black ones. They are back where they should be. With all the other blue ones"
"Oh thank you" he sighed