Disclaimer: Not mine, needless to say. I'm still not sure where Dick Wolf is going with the little hints into the relationship of Goren and Eames!!!
Rating: Kish
Category: Post-ep, angst
Spoilers: Up to this week's 'Albatross'
Author: Traci
Are We Alright?
"Are we alright?"
Three little words. Three powerful words. Three words that now hung between them – haunting their every thought, movement and conversation with each other.
"Are we alright?"
His eyes seeking assurance as the words passed over his lips.
Her eyes wanting to respond with reassurance yet only able to show doubt.
"Are we alright?"
A question not just about their current disagreement on the case but covering the last months of their partnership.
In her heart, she knew things had changed between them when she went on maternity leave.
In his heart, he knew the change was his fault, a result of his resentment to her for leaving him for six weeks.
"Are we alright?"
Six years they had been partners. Six years she had supported him through everything, had stood up for him when all others questioned his ability, his sanity, him. They had a bond so strong that when, under oath, she had to read a letter she wrote requesting a transfer in the beginning she had done something so unlike her – she had broken down into tears, tears over hurting him.
Only recently he had discovered how much he really cared about her – as more than a partner but as a friend and maybe something more that he wasn't allowed. When she had been abducted by someone wanting to get back at him, it had nearly destroyed him. It was then he realized he needed to back off – to closed down to her. To protect her. To protect him. To protect them.
"Are we alright?"
A quick flash of a moment when a gun was pointed at her head and he begged the man behind the gun to let her go, to keep him instead. Another moment of waking up to find him sitting beside her hospital bed to comfort her if the nightmares began.
With the saddest of smiles, she responded as best she could.
"I hope so."