Disclaimer: In a galaxy far, far away... oopsy, wrong thing. Yeah, yeah, I already know that neither Goren nor Eames nor anything to do with the Law and Order franchise belongs to me. Must I always depress myself more by having to write this in every story?

Rating: PG (mild language for one or two words)

Spoilers: 'Want', slight reference to 'Semi-Detached'.

Category: Post-ep. Goren/Eames friendship, slight UST.

Author: Traci

Summary: Post-ep for 'Want'. Bobby's been acting stranger than normal and it's starting to scare Alex. What happens when she finally confronts him about it?

Author's Note: I know there are a few who will kill me for how this story ends but you all should understand why I left it where I did given the ep that is supposed to follow 'Want'.

The Beginning of The End?

"What is wrong with you lately?" Detective Alex Eames had reached the breaking point with her partner.

Robert Goren took a step back. He was still drained from the interrogation and the last thing he expected was Eames to lay into him. "He... didn't understand what he was doing. I... I needed him to see he would not stop by himself."

"Bobby, that's not the only thing I'm talking about," she hissed. "A few weeks ago you let yourself get too close to a suspect and now this. Since when do you side with the bad guys?"

"Alex, that's not what I'm doing," he calmly told her.

"Isn't it? Damn it, Goren, that could have been me lying in the hospital with a hole in my head or being eaten by dogs in the park! What if he had done that to me? Would you be trying so hard then to keep him from getting the death penalty? Because I would hate to think that if someone hurt me like he hurt them that you would rationalize it. I expect more from you, Bobby, and so did those girls."

Suddenly he felt very small despite his partner's petite stature. What if it had been Alex? "I'm sorry," he softly told her. "I didn't think..."

"That's just it, you didn't think." Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. "I don't know what is going on with you lately. Ever since I came back you... you've been different and to be honest with you, it's scaring me."

"No one said you had to come back," he snarled.

Alex's eyes widened. After all the years, she thought she knew him. With her jaw clenched, she brushed passed him and opened the door. "Then you know what, find yourself a new partner," she told him, slamming the door behind her.

Running his fingers through his hair, Bobby slumped against the nearby wall.

Alex shifted in her bed, still trying to read the same page of a novel that she had been trying to read for the last half hour. She had stopped crying hours ago, but her mind still wandered to her partner. Was he slowly slipping away from reality? From sanity? From her? She had always known it was a possibility given his family medical history but... somehow she had never truly believed it. Yet lately - lately he did not seem to be thinking rationally.

She groaned at the sound of a soft knock on her door. Wrapping a bathrobe around her, she padded through the living room and looked out the peephole. Hesitating, she unlocked and opened the door.

"Alex, I'm scared," he quietly admitted in the doorway.

In an instant all the anger she may have still held for Bobby slipped away. It took a lot for him to admit fear. Taking his hand in hers, she led him inside and closed the door.

They sat on the couch and she waited for him to say something.

"First, I'm sorry about today," he said. "And for everything."

"Bobby, I'm just worried. I'm sorry I yelled at you too."

He glanced at her and smiled. "Don't be. I count on you to bring me back when I go too far. I just chose to ignore you these last few times." The smile faded. "What you said... about what if it had been you. I thought about that and... you're right. If he, or anyone else, had hurt you like that I'd be ready to pull the switch myself regardless of their mental state. I guess... I guess I was projecting my own fears in trying to understand him."

Slowly, Alex placed her hand on Bobby's. "You would never kill anyone. No matter how bad things got, you would never be capable of that."

"Wouldn't I? You've seen me lose it in interrogations. How can you honestly say I wouldn't?"

She had no answer.

"I... I've been thinking. Maybe I should get checked out. Maybe take some time off and find out what's going on."

Using her fingers to turn his face towards her, her brown eyes locked into his. "If that's what you need to do. Just know that no matter what I am here. I'll be with you through everything."

His eyes searched hers. After all he had said to her, after all the chances he'd taken with their friendship, here she was, sitting beside him, holding his hand and promising not to leave his side. Somewhere in his life he had done something right... something that had given him Alex. At that moment, he would have given anything to be able to ask her if she felt the same for him as he felt for her but... that would be unfair. If he truly was at the beginning stages of mental illness that would only hurt her more. He opened his mouth to say something but the shrill of his cell phone cut him off.

"Goren."

"Bobby, it's been a long time. I see your faithful guarddog is still with you."

Alex protectively squeezed his hand when his face drained of color.

He looked at her then said to the caller, "Where are you, Nicole?"

The End