Don't own and all of that.

Her cell phone rang on the coffee table, where she had tossed it after coming home 20 minutes ago. Sighing, she stretched before getting up from her favorite spot to answer it.

Please,she thought, Don't let this be a call out.

"Eames" she said answering it.

"Alex, it's Megan"
"Hey, how did it go upstate? You find the kid?"

"Yeah, we got him, or rather Nichols got him. As to how it went, that's kind of why I am calling. Are you busy tonight?"

Alex looked longingly at her spot on the couch before answering. "No, I'm not doing anything that I can't do another time."

"Do you know the pizza joint on 32nd?"

"Sure, 45 minutes?"

"I'll be there, though since I am closer and really hungry, I may start without you."
"Order me a beer, and Megan?"

"Yeah?"

"I better not see any anchovies."

Hanging up she looked at the couch again and sighed. What she really wanted to do is the curl back up in her favorite position and shut out the world for a while. It sounded like Megan needed to talk though and from the rumors about her new partner, Alex probably had the best idea of what she was going through. She pocketed the phone and grabbed her stuff before putting on her shoes and heading out the door.

When Alex walked into the restaurant she saw Megan sitting in a booth halfway back on the right. After sliding into the booth, Alex took a close look at the pizza before taking a piece.

"Don't worry" Megan said. "Anchovies are on my reason to puke list not my cravings list."
"Good"

They made small talk while the ate, discussing Megan's pregnancy and Alex's past pregnancy. Once they were done eating, Alex decided it was time to get to the point of why Megan had called.

"So, Megan, what happened upstate?"

"Actually, it has been a series of things but what happened up there was like the last straw."

"Well I have to say, I've been kind of watching Nichols and heard rumors. I'd figured we'd be having this discussion before long."
"You've been watching him? Isn't watching Goren a full time job?"

"It used to be, but he is getting better lately. Other than that, sure I've been watching him. After what happened with your fiancé and then Logan leaving, well you know."

"Yeah, but Ross assured me he was OK"

"Look, I know he's your rabbi on the force but let's just say he and Bobby have had their differences so we would rather form our own opinions. Besides, if Nichols was OK then why are we here?"

"You're right. Earlier when we were at Stroup's cabin, without even discussing it with me first, he just handed me his gun and called to Stroup that he was coming in. He didn't wait for the guy to even agree. He just went in there unarmed to talk down a physco holding a kid hostage with a gun."

"Worried you and pissed you off at the same time I would imagine. Did he succeed?"

"Of course he did." Megan said grumpily.

"Of course, they always do."

"He goes off on tangents that don't make sense to me and comes up with the who, how and why."

"Irritating I know. Here's the thing Megan. Even though I don't really know him that well, I can see that he is a know-it-all genius."

"You can say that again."

"The best advice I can give you is to hang on and enjoy the ride."

"That's it? Hang on and enjoy the ride?"

"If you give up too soon, you may miss out . It's not every detective that gets to work with men of Nichols and Goren's caliber. They can be irritating , frustrating, maddening, worrisome, and a whole lot of other things that are too numerous to name. But, men like them can also be fascinating, loyal, amusing, caring, and so on. Let's be honest here. They make us look good. Not that we're not good in our own right, but they make us look even better. You'd be surprised at what you'll learn."

"You've learned from Goren?"

"Sure, not all of it useful in the day to day sense but you never know."

"I get the feeling he is watching me a lot when I am not looking, like he's expecting me to grow a second head or something."

"Did he do that before he figured out that you were pregnant?"

"Some, but not as much as now."

"Then he is probably reading up on pregnancy and is trying to gage and time everything that is going on in your womb."
"Did Goren do that?"

"In spades, but be careful, he will likely start to coddle you."

"He better not!"

"At least your partner's cute in a nerdy sort of way."

"EWW!! He's my partner. You don't think about your partner like that do you?"

"Who me? Like you said, he's my partner. That would be wrong wouldn't it." Alex said more as a statement than a question. "Besides, with that beard he's more a teddy bear than nerdy."

Both women giggled at that.

When Alex finally got back home, she put a pizza box on the coffee table and started emptying her pockets. After kicking off her shoes, she settled herself back into her favorite spot and sighed in contentment.

"Have you eaten?" she asked

"Na, I got caught up in a documentary on the criminal justice system."

"Really? Did they get it right?"

"Nope. Well, they did get some of it right but they misrepresented a lot of stuff too."

"I'm sorry I missed it. It's fun to ridicule their so called experts. Well I brought pizza if your hungry."

"Oh, I'm hungry alright, but not for food."

He extricated himself from behind her on the couch and stood up. Turning, he scooped her up and headed for the bedroom. "So what advice did you give Wheeler?" he asked while they were moving through the house.

She laughed as she looped her arms around his neck. "To hang on and enjoy the ride."

"Oh is that what you do?" he asked as he laid her on the bed.

"You know me, I'm always good for the ride Bobby. Now stop talking and come here."

END