Splinters

Disclaimer: Don't own them, although I certainly wish I did…

Author's Note: My first real story on this site, so constructive criticism is very welcome. This will be three or possibly four chapters, I'm undecided. Thanks for reading! Kathryn.

Alexandra Eames walked through the door, brushing hair from her face and sleep from her eyes. How had her alarm not gone off? Or perhaps it had, but she may have simply turned it off and gone back to sleep. That had been happening more often, lately. When she had gotten back to work after Jo Gage, there had been days when she had wished for nothing more than to sleep and sleep, to forget. It was only the knowledge that her partner was waiting for her, probably already at his desk and leafing through that ever-present folder of his. Only the thought of seeing him again, of watching him work. Bobby Goren. Her partner, her friend who was always there, and always seemed to understand her. At least, until Thanksgiving.

Turning the corner, her stride faltered imperceptibly. The familiar solid figure at the desk was nowhere in sight. She turned, earthy brown eyes scanning behind her. Frowning, she walked to her desk, noting with a slight smile that a coffee was sitting in the center of her desk, steaming gently. He had been here, then. It was still hot. Moving to his desk, she realized that a second cup of coffee was knocked over, spreading a small dark pool across the surface of the desk and dripping onto the formerly clean floor. Had he spilled it on his shirt and gone to clean himself up? Alex wasn't entirely satisfied with this explanation. Why hadn't he cleaned up this mess before changing clothes? And, more to the point, when was the last time she had seen Bobby Goren spill something by accident? She remembered him spilling his drink to make himself appear an oaf, but never simply because he knocked a cup over. Any other man of his size would make his bulk appear clumsy, but with Bobby, every movement was carefully planned and choreographed ahead of time.

A faint sense of unease settled into her mind, as it had been doing with increasing regularity of late, but she shook it off and cleaned up the coffee spill with paper towels. Several of his papers had gotten soggy, so she sponged them as best she could and spread them out to dry.

Sliding into her chair, she pulled out a pen. Wherever he was, she might as well get caught up on a bit of paperwork while she waited. Alex wrapped chilly hands around the mug and gratefully inhaled the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, sipping from time to time.

Fifteen minutes later, she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Where was Bobby? Detective Goren was never late for work under normal circumstances. She let out a sigh. Of course, these days the circumstances weren't exactly normal. Shoving her stack of papers to one side, she got up and went to the Captain's office. Truth be told, she still thought of it as Jimmy Deakins' office, but she would have to adjust.

Ross was on the phone, but she knocked and went in anyway. He looked up, a harried expression on his face.

"Wait a minute, please." He spoke into the phone, and then covered the mouthpiece with one hand. "Yes?"

"Captain, have you seen Bobby this morning? He's not at his desk." She kept her voice even and noncommittal. That was her reputation, wasn't it? Levelheaded Eames, stuck with a crazy partner. She had heard the whispers many times; her 'crazy' partner wasn't the only one of the pair with sharp senses. It had been so easy to ignore them before, because all she had to do was to remember who she was supposedly stuck with, and she would know that the assignment that she had once looked at as a mistake was in truth one of the best things that had ever happened to her.

A look of slight annoyance passed over his face, and he ran a hand distractedly through his curly hair as he looked at the clock. "No, Eames, I haven't. He's late. Would you try and find him, please? I'm busy." He went back to his conversation.

She let herself out of the office, feeling unsure. What was going on? Marching out to the workroom, she approached a uniform standing at the door.

"Officer, have you seen Detective Goren? Silvery hair, brown eyes, 6'4."

The man blinked for a moment. "Goren? Yeah, he was here. Um…Twenty, twenty-five minutes ago, I think. He left, though. Looked real worked up about something. He sort of stumbled out, and was weaving like he was either drinking or in shock."

Alex felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Bobby, stumbling? Something was very wrong.

Almost running back to her desk, she snatched her cell phone and hit her speed dial. Bobby, please… Come on, come on, Bobby, pick up! It started to ring and she frantically cleared her throat, trying to get rid of a large lump she found inexplicably lodged in her throat.

The ringing was abruptly cut off, and a recorded message began playing, something about being unable to connect to the number. She took an uneasy breath and hung up.

Shrugging into her black jacket, she adjusted the neck of her green turtleneck so it sat more comfortably, and smoothed her black pants.

Taking long strides, she went out of One Police Plaza and looked around, heading first for where Bobby usually parked. His car was there, so he was most likely in the vicinity.

Right, Bobby. Where have you gone?