Title: Played
Show: LOCI
Pairing: Bobby and Alex. Seriously, is there anything else?
Disclaimer: Sadly enough, I don't own anything. This is written for pure enjoyment only and no profit to be gained!
Rating: Rated T for now. Watch the rating because it will definitely change!
Spoilers: "Endgame," "Untethered," "Frame," and "All In."
Authors Note: This came to me after watching "All In." The usual angst with some fighting, angst-sex, whatever you want to call it. And, of course, BA. Pretty much everything that is long overdue for them IMO. I would've posted it sooner but I've been out of town for two weeks (just got back). I worked on it all during vacation though…every night. =) I decided to try present tense for once. We shall see what happens. This shouldn't be too long. I have 3 chapters written right now. Hope you enjoy.
Summary: This is immediately after "All in" ended. Just something that came to me after I saw it…

CHAPTER: 1

She waits until they're outside, heading towards the SUV when she calls to him.

"Goren!"

He turns around and tries his damnedest not to roll his eyes. He thinks he fails but he's not so sure; doesn't really care either. He just so fucking sick of this. He's sick of having to think twice about his actions. It's not right, he knows that much; it's not fucking fair.

Since when did I care though? He wonders and then can't help but ask, since when did I stop caring? He figures it was somewhere between when his brother was killed and now. He knows that he still cares; it just doesn't show like it did before. Over the years he's lost a few things; his ability to care is one of those things high on the list.

"Was that fun for you?" She hisses.

"Eames—" He begins but she cuts him off. No surprise nowadays. He's not even sure why he tries.

"What the hell were you doing in there?" She prods. She looks like she's about to hit him. There's so much fucking anger in her eyes.

"Getting a confession." He says and then adds, "I thought by now you'd know exactly what that was." He says the last statement a little too calmly.

He feels like being a smartass. He's not sure why.

Ass.

"Goddammit, Bobby. Do you enjoy putting your life on the line?"

He freezes, just for a split second.

What life?

And he almost snorts out loud but he catches himself before he does.

"My life…on the line?" He repeats her words slowly. There's amusement in his voice that he's unable to hide; they both pick up on it. "Eames, I didn't put my—"

"Do you have a death wish?" She asks, cutting him off before he can finish. She's a little more demanding this time.

Death wish?

"Eames, the gun wasn't even loaded!" He says. He's partially annoyed and partially in disbelief. He turns around, takes a few steps towards the SUV and wildly opens the door. He settles himself in the passenger seat and is engrossed in the notes in his binder before Alex can even process what was happening.

One day you'll make a mistake, Bobby. One day you will and I can only pray to god that I won't be around to witness it.

And with those thoughts, she can't help but shiver. Perhaps maybe that day has come. Or maybe it's time for a change before that day can happen. She walks around the black SUV and gets in. Before she starts the car she turns to him and barely whispers, "You're going to get yourself killed one day."

There's no anger present when she speaks to him. Bobby's surprised by it. He wants to respond to her, but there are still too many police officers present at the scene. Honestly, he's not really sure how to respond to her statement anyway. Now isn't the time so he reframes from responding to her and keeps looking over his notes. There isn't really any point to it but to keep his line of sight away from her.

The drive back to 1PP is quiet; you could cut the tension with a knife. Alex called in to report to Ross but other than that, besides the sounds of the city, it was deathly silent.

Alex couldn't help but replay that image in her head; the one of Bobby pulling the gun up to his head and pulling the trigger. She heard it click and she knows she flinched. She hates herself for even reacting to that but she wasn't prepared for it. Bobby had the confession he sought after; there was no point in doing that.

Sigh.

Bobby caught even her off guard. She knows it shouldn't have, but it did. She wouldn't admit it but she didn't see the bees wax on his left thumb. She didn't know the gun wasn't loaded. He played her and she's not sure if that's what's bothering her the most or not. Back in the day she would've known what he was up to but they're so off, so fucking off kilter that she can't figure out what his next move will be without a written out plan first. And she knows it wasn't loaded; she knows now anyway. Alex knows that he wouldn't do that in front of her, but she also has to admit that she fears he would; of course with no one around. She can't help but wonder if he's ever pulled out his Glock and aimed it at his head before. And if so, how many times and when?

He did it so easily, so smoothly. Like he's done it before… He didn't even flinch when he pulled the trigger. Would he really kill himself? Would he take it that far…just to get some peace in his life? He looks better, seems to be doing better than before. I thought he was improving, I thought his stability was improving but now—

Heavy sigh.

After the second sigh Bobby turns his head briefly to look at her. She ignores him this time and allows herself to go back to her thoughts.

I'm playing you…

She knows, of course, that he's almost always in control of every situation he gets himself, both of them into even when the odds are against him. Her rational side is telling her that he had complete control the entire time. But another side of her, however, fears it. She fears that one day that control is going to seep out of him so fast that he won't be able to regain it. One day his trickery won't work and it'll backfire on him. She doesn't want to be around when it spirals out of control.

Once she pulls back into the One Police Plaza parking garage is when all hell breaks lose.

Bobby gets out of the SUV rather quickly to Alex's surprise. He's out of her sight before she even has her seatbelt off. She groans in frustration as she hastily takes her seatbelt off and swings the door open. When she's just planting both feet firmly on the ground is when she see's Bobby storming around the back of the SUV and heading towards her.

"What the hell is your problem, Eames?" He asks and boy is he pissed. Alex hasn't seen him this angry since the time he was in Ross' office yelling at him about his paternity results.

Brady.

Another thing she wants to sigh, question, get some fucking answers about but once again there isn't time because she currently has a very pissed off Robert Goren to deal with.

"My problem?!" She's just as pissed. He can tell right away but he doesn't care.

He takes one giant step towards her and they're so close that it almost scares her. Almost. She can't remember him ever standing this close to her. He towers over her, she's well aware of the difference in height as well as body mass, but she also knows he won't hurt her. She just isn't used to seeing Bobby standing his full 6 foot 4 inches in front of her. He usually bends at the waist or tilts his body to one side to make himself smaller but not this time.

Alex thinks it first, but then the words are out of her mouth so quickly that she can't stop them; she doesn't want to stop them.

"Don't you dare use your size to intimidate me, Robert Goren! It won't work. I'm not one of your goddamn suspects." She roars.

He hears her loud and clear but chooses to ignore her of course. He doesn't back away from her either.

"You really think I'd put my life on the line like that? Do you really think I'd…I'd pull the trigger of a loaded gun poised and aimed at my head all for a…a case?" His eyes were dark and intense. The look in his eyes should've scared her, it would've scared any normal human being, but it didn't scare her. "In front of…in front of you no less."

"Yes." She quickly responds without giving it a seconds thought.

Bobby was about to yell again, but the honestly in her answer halts him from doing so. She knows immediately that he's surprised by her answer. She can practically hear the gears turning in his brain; she can hear them jamming.

Yes?

"Yes, Bobby, I do. I don't know where you'll draw the line for a fucking case anymore! I can't help but think that one day you'll be killed because of a goddamn case; because of one fucking suspect."

He squints his eyes at her and wastes no time in responding.

"And why the fuck do you care all of a sudden?" He asks. The shock in his features is replaced with vigor once again. He was changing his approach because he knows he's losing the former.

"Oh, don't you pull that shit on me, Goren. If you want to get yourself kill, or for that matter, if you want to kill yourself don't do it in front of me!" She bellows.

They never break eye contact with each other the entire time. He looks into her eyes, similar to the way he did when he told Ross, 'Yeah, my father was a killer. So I'm that too, is that it? Yeah, I'm a killer.' His eyes are just as consuming, just a fierce as that fucking time and Alex isn't sure if he's about to bust apart at the seams or not when he finally replies to her.

"I'll remember that…" He whispers it so softly she thinks she imagines it at first.

It's nothing she expects during their little blow up. Bobby stares at her for a few more seconds, his eyes still powerful yet saddened deeply. He never blinks in this time period. He looks into her eyes a few more seconds; they seemed liked years and then turns and leaves. Alex watches him go of course and she swears she saw tears in his eyes. She too shocked, too stunned, too fucking frightened at the moment to move or call out his name. She can't help but drop her jaw slightly as she continues to watch him go. It wasn't the response she was waiting for. It was nothing she expected from him. All the fight in Bobby was sucked right out of him. And to her disbelief, he gave up without a fight.

I'll remember that.

Those three words replay over and over in her head as she watches him walk around the corner and out of her line of sight. She shook all of a sudden, as if she had just stepped out of a warm, cozy house and into the arctic.

She felt cold. She felt like she had opened the door wide to something that was just starting to close.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Good idea or no? Obviously I couldn't stay away like I had planned. Maybe after this I'll take a break from writing. So, any thoughts? Opinions? Comments? Questions? And, of course, complaints? =) More to come!

-Snyder-