Symbiosis

It didn't make any sense. Goren was only gone for a couple of days. No reason for Alex to feel the way she did.

But as she kicked around 1PP, following up on cold cases and lending a hand to anyone who needed it, she felt an odd sensation. Like when you get used to carrying a water bottle in your backpack and suddenly it's not there and then you can't seem to get the thing to fit you right.

Only it was more than just that he wasn't with her.

She also felt a little empty inside.

Bobby listened to the team as he doodled in his binder. The group was somewhat effective, except for the seasoned veteran, Marnell, who always commandeered command of the group and then wasted time philosophizing about police work in general. This was the third meeting he'd endured today, and he was starting to lose his patience.

Bobby tore the doodle page out of his ledger and got to his feet as he loudly crumpled it into a ball. At 6'4, standing in the middle of the group, all eyes were on him. He looked at each of them in turn, then silently flicked the paper wad into the trash can in the corner.

"Did you have a suggestion, Detective?" Marnell asked.

Bobby gave a shy smile and waggled his head slightly as he started to speak. "Yeah, I, you know… I think instead of sitting here filling the room with hot air you might want to go out and do some interviews."

Marnell's face hardened. "Who, exactly, would we interview? We've already talked to everyone on the list."

Bobby looked at the young female detective in the group. She was new to detective work, and was too timid yet to share her ideas in front of the team. Bobby had eaten lunch with her, however, and he knew she had some good insight into the case. "A-ask Lindsey. She knows."

The men all turned their attention to her. Bobby stared at her too, but his eyes were kind.

She shrugged. "I thought that Austin might be lying. I thought maybe if we put the pressure on him again, he might give us something."

Marnell scoffed and turned to Goren. "This guy give you that idea? He's a wank from the city. He doesn't know these country folks like we do."

Bobby's blood was boiling. For a split second he wished he had Eames with him. He turned slowly and quietly spoke. "I'm a… a wank? Your captain called me in, here. A special invitation."

Marnell stood in front of Goren and glared up into his eyes. "Well, I'm telling you we don't need you. You can get your happy ass back into a car and head out right now, for all I care."

"Marnell," Jus said. "Back off, Marnell. Take a breather."

"I don't need a—"

Bobby didn't back down, and neither did Marnell. Jus took Marnell by the shoulders. "C'mon, let's go for a walk." Slowly, he got the old man to back down and leave with him.

Bobby was left with the other two detectives. "You think Austin knows more?" The young guy asked his colleague.

She nodded. "When he spoke, he always rubbed the back of his thumb with his hand. It was a… it was his nerves. Only I noticed he did it more on certain questions."

"Well, why? Who is he protecting?"

Bobby paced a few steps away and smiled to himself as he listened. The young girl was coming out of her shell.

"Hi, Bobby. Everything okay?" Eames asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. She'd picked up on something in his tone of voice. "Uh, yeah, you know… just wish I was home."

"Things aren't going so well? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He knew she wouldn't let it go at that, so he thought about what he should say. After a moment, he said, "It's not the same, you know?"

"Yeah. I know."

"So, what about you? Things going well there?"

"Yeah," she replied, but there wasn't much force behind it.

"Eames?"

"It's just kind of… lonely without you, Bobby. Like you said, it's not the same."

"I'll be back tomorrow night."

"I'm glad."

"Good night, Eames."

"Good night, Bobby."

She spent the morning studying the computer files belonging to one of Jeffries' suspects. She read them and reread them, caught up in the work. Suddenly, she looked up and opened her mouth to speak, but Bobby's desk was vacant.

Alex closed her mouth. She sighed, and then got up to go find Jeffries.

Austin led them to Janet, who led them to Levon. Levon was in interrogation by 2 in the afternoon. Goren watched from the observation room, offering suggestions and comments when he could.

Most of them were receptive to him, except for Marnell. Now, Marnell had pulled rank on his team and was locking horns with the suspect.

He was losing him. The man was closing off against Marnell, and their window of opportunity was closing. Bobby made a few quiet comments, but the others in Marnell's squad were in no position to step in.

Finally, Goren couldn't stand it anymore. He spun on his heel, and marched around the corner and into the interrogation room.

"Uhm, excuse me, uh, sorry. I just… Could I?" he asked Levon politely.

The man was thrown by his arrival. He nodded, and Goren dragged a chair across the floor until it was next to Levon. He sat down and leaned close to the man.

"I've been, uh, you know, watching, from over there." Bobby wagged his hand toward the two way mirror.

"Goren, I've had enough—" Marnell said, a nasty tone on his lips.

"And I noticed that you… you keep shifting your weight to your left hip. Did you, you know, did you hurt yourself? I mean, 'cause these chairs aren't very comfortable and if you have a pinched nerve or something…"

Marnell looked over to his partner, astonished that Goren was ignoring him.
"Yeah, I got this nerve, and I can't seem to get comfortable."

"How'd you pinch it? I know that's very painful."

"I don't know, I just woke up like this…"

"Could be a herniated disc. You know, the disc, it puts pressure… on the nerve." Bobby illustrated with his hands. "You should see a doctor."

The man was all ears for Goren, now.

"Of course, you could have hurt your back… falling or something."

"Somebody get this guy out of here," Marnell complained.

"Goren," the other Detective said. "Goren, c'mon."

"Just a minute," Bobby said, holding a finger up in the air. "Levon was about to tell me how he thinks he injured his back."

"I don't know, I probably fell down."

Bobby reached across the desk and pulled the stack of crime scene photos away from Marnell. He put one in front of the man. "Like, maybe, tripping over a chair like this? I almost tripped over that chair. Do you know where this is?"

"That… that looks like Terrell's apartment."

"It is Terrell's apartment. When was the last time you were there? Last week?" Bobby snapped a finger. "Tuesday. I remember. You saw him on Tuesday."

"No, you got it wrong."

"Yes, because Janet said—"

"Janet doesn't know shit! I was there last Saturday. Not fucking Tuesday!"

"Oh. Saturday?"

The man nodded.

Bobby paused in thought, and Marnell took it as his cue to butt in. "All right, I think we've had enough of this little sideshow."

"Just a minute!" Bobby said enthusiastically. He poked a finger against Marnell's ribs, and the man's blood pressure went up. "Saturday?" Bobby asked Levon.

"Yeah. I was there on Saturday. I had to drop off the…" His voice tapered away.

Bobby's friendly tone changed to deadly serious. He lowered his voice and looked Levon in the eye. "What did you drop off, Levon?"

"Th-the…"

"I mean, you… you gotta tell us. This could be the thing that clears you…"

"I was delivering a package for Austin. I think it was guns."

"You think? Or you know?"

"Look, I didn't see them, all right? But it was supposed to have been two guns."

"How big was the box?"

"About like this."

"How much did it weigh?"

"I don't know… maybe… like six pounds?"

Goren looked over at Marnell's partner, who had finally realized he'd just broken open the case. The man walked over and sat down, eager to interrogate Levon further. Bobby got to his feet and strutted out, unaware that Marnell followed after him.

Bobby entered the observation room and the older Detective called him out. "If you so much as set foot in my interrogation again, I swear to God, I'll—" he threatened.

Bobby turned to face him. He said nothing, but the look in his eye could have killed.

Marnell was the first to budge. He bumped Bobby hard, and the two ended up in a prizefighter's hold. Finally the other Detectives managed to break them apart. The young woman ushered Goren out of the room quickly.

She tried to talk to him, but he stormed away.

God, he wished Eames was with him.

Goren drove into the city and was on his way home when his cell phone rang. "Goren," he grunted. "Yes, Captain. I'll be right there." He turned the wheel and headed for 1PP.

Alex wasn't at her desk. He walked past and knocked on the Captain's door.

"Come in, Detective," Ross said.

Bobby took two steps and stopped.

"I got a call from the Captain over there. He said you, uh… overstepped."

"Overstepped?" Bobby pretended to be clueless.

"Something about Detective Marnell?"

Bobby reached up to rub his neck, and Ross knew enough. "Yeah, he's uh… very territorial."

"I didn't send you over there to mark territory."

"Captain, he was hindering the progress of the case."

"Says you."

"They could all see it. Only they were too… too timid to do anything about it."

Ross scrutinized Goren carefully. Finally, he nodded. "All right. Good night, Detective. See you in the morning."

Goren nodded and then left. He nearly tripped over Eames as he rounded their desks. "Oh, uh, hey!" he said cheerfully.

She smiled at him. "Hi, Bobby. You're, uh… you just get back?"

"Yeah. Uh, I'm done for the day. You?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe we could… go get dinner?"

"Sure."