A/N: The inspiration for this fic comes from watching hours and hours, years and years of the Twilight Zone.

A/N: Thanks to Kim (chlark4) for her extra pair of eyes, much appreciated.

Same Name, Same Face, Another Life

Chapter One

The frantic phone call from Eames to Ross was very early, "Captain, its Eames, Bobby's in the hospital, he's been poisoned."

He rubs his eyes as he focuses on the clock, One thirty in the morning. "Eames, what in the hell are you doing with Goren at this hour of the morning?"

"What? We….we were at a Yankee game with some friends…."

"Detective, I'm sorry….what you do on your own time is none of my business. What happened?"

"We went out for a late dinner and around midnight he felt ill."

Ross turns on the lamp as he sits up, "What hospital?"

St. John's Hospital

Ross arrives through the ER entrance and finds Alex pacing in the waiting room, "Eames," he calls to her.

"Captain, thank you for coming," she doesn't wait for him to ask. "All I know is that he has been poisoned. One of the nurses informed me that from his symptoms, the poison is Carbamazepine."

"How could he….?"

"It was in his dinner. It had to be, someone put it there." Ross rubs his forehead, "Someone?"

"Yes," she places her hands on her hips. "I know who you think it was and you're probably right. What's scary is that she must have been following us all night, maybe following him for days." She shudders, "Gives me the willies." Alex exhales as she sits down on one of the many empty couches in the waiting room. Ross follows her lead and takes the seat next to her, she continues. "He had commented that a piece of his steak tasted slightly bitter. He sent it back and was given a new dinner."

They look up when they hear someone enter the room, "Miss, Mrs. ah? Are you his wife?" The tall gray haired man asks shyly.

"No," she stands. "I'm his partner."

"Partner?" the doctor frowns, "You're his partner?" You don't look like a man.

Alex blushes slightly from the doctors' uncomfortable manner, "No I'm not his 'partner' I'm his…."

Ross interjects, "They are, we are cops."

The doctor rubs his tired eyes, "Yes of course, I'm sorry it's been a long day, week." He holds out his hand, "I'm Doctor Owens."

"I'm Detective Eames and this is Captain Ross."

Th doctor nods as he shakes hands with them, "We have begun the administration of oral activated charcoal to prevent further absorption of the poison."

"Can I…." she touches Ross's arm. "Can we see him?"

"Well….there is one more thing….he's in a coma due to the loss of oxygen. His brain function is normal however we won't know the lasting affects until he awakens. I think it best you contact his family?"

"If I can find his brother I will," she takes a step closer, "Now," she says sternly. "Can I see him?"

"Yes of course," he checks his watch. "We need about half an hour to get him settled in a room, upstairs. I'm sorry for this."

"Thank you Doctor."

"I suppose I should call…." She resumes her seat on the couch, "Call who? I can't think of anyone to call, except some of his friends. I've met quite a few but…."

"Eames," he lightly taps her arm. "No need to worry about that now."

Alex slaps her thighs, "Sir, we need to get a guard. If it is Nicole and she finds out that he survived, she'll be back."

"Yes I agree," he stands. "I need to make a few calls. I'll be right back." Ross removes his cell phone from his jacket pocket, flipping it open as he walks out of the room and down the hall.

Alex remains in the waiting room. She picks up a magazine, flips though the pages and after the fifth square card falls, she closes it up, "The hell with this," she says as she tosses it on the table. She stands and then begins to pace. Try to be calm and think Alex, try and remember if anything looked out of the ordinary last night. Have we lost our touch not able to sense when danger is lurking?

Ross returns, "Everything is set, the officers should be here within the hour."

A nurse enters the waiting room, Alex recognizes her as the one who informed her about the poison. "You can go up now, he's in room 718."

Room 718

An oxygen mask is in place and his vitals are being monitored. He is laying still as the noise of the machines fill the room. They stand motionless at the door. "They say that comatose people can be aware of their surroundings," Ross says

"Excuse me," a nurse says.

"Sorry," Alex says as she steps further into the room.

"That is true, Sir," she points to Ross. "It's best if you talk to him and let him know that you're here." She begins her task of checking his IV and the monitoring devices.

Alex shrugs her shoulders, "I hope so." She walks slowly and cautiously across the room, Ross is a step behind. "I feel so helpless," Alex states sadly, "Any chance that he'll wake up soon?" Alex asks as she makes eye contact with the petite red-haired nurse.

The nurse completes her task of checking his IV. "It's possible," she pulls the blanket over his arm concealing the IV site, "The problem is that we don't know when he'll wake up."

"You mean if he wakes up." Alex states firmly.

"Yes, I'm sorry Ma'am." She walks across the room toward the door, "Take all the time you want." She exits the room.

"I suppose I should call his mother."

"Have you ever met her?" Ross asks with his head down, keeping his focus on the man in the bed.

"No," she shakes her head, "Never I suppose. He didn't think it necessary."

The door opens and they turn toward the sound, "Captain Ross."

"Yes," Ross answers then takes a step forward.

"Sir, I'm Officer Trainor I've been assigned to guard Detective Goren."

Ross whispers to Eames, "Wow he got here in thirty minutes." He walks toward the door assuming his authoritative demeanor, "No one is allowed in unless they show you ID," he points at the young officer, "Understand?"

"Yes Sir," he closes the door and assumes his position of standing directly in front.

Ross returns to Alex's side as he checks his watch, "Eames….Alex you should go home and get some rest."

"I…." she looks up at her C.O. "I suppose."

"Do you need a ride?"

"Yes I left my car on the street near the restaurant."

Ross turns to leave, Alex remains by his bedside. "Are you coming?"

"Yes Sir I'll be there in a minute." Ross's sweet smile goes unnoticed by her. He opens the door and she takes a quick glance as the door closes behind him. She leans down lightly caressing his face, "Bobby, I'll be back in a few hours, ok. I won't leave you alone for long." She reaches up and kisses his forehead.

The Next Morning

She half expected him to be awake when she returned that morning. He is as she left him hours ago. As she enters the room, a nurse is at his side. She asks, "Has he opened his eyes at all?"

"No he's been very quiet," she says as she injects a vial of clear liquid into the injection site. She finishes her duties, then lightly taps Alex on the arm. "His vitals are very strong." The nurse leaves and she finds herself alone in a room with nothing but the sound of machines blinking and beeping. Damn you Nicole, I swear if I see you I'll shoot first and ask questions later. Maybe it wasn't her at all maybe it got into the food accidentally. No….then more people would be sick. It's her alright. "Come on Bobby wake up, we have work to do. We have to find the devil's daughter." She remembers the first time they called her that, both very accustom to death but meeting her was an eye opening experience for them. Taking a life was so easy for her, too easy.

She sits for a moment then immediately stands and begins to pace. "It's a nice day outside today, a little chilly for July but the sun is very bright." She crosses her arms and looks out the window. Maybe I should try and find Frank. Where do I start? Wait, she suddenly remembers, Bobby's cell phone. I'll bet there is a phone number in there for him. She searches through the phone numbers and does indeed find one for Frank, "I found it Bobby." She allows the phone to ring ten times, she hangs up. "I'll try again later." She places his phone on the stand next to the bed. "You know when we left the game the Yankees were winning, believe it or not I heard this morning that they gave up three runs in the ninth and lost can you believe that?" She shakes her head in disgust.

She sits once again and finds herself tapping her fingers in time with the machines beat. "Did you ever play in the school band?" she places her arms on the bed railing resting her chin on her arm. "I tried once, I wanted to join because this really cute guy played the trumpet," she begins to laugh. "Problem was I didn't own a band instrument and certainly couldn't play one. The big jerk never noticed me anyway." She sits back, "Wow I haven't thought….did you date a lot in high school? I….well my Dad wouldn't let me date until I was sixteen and a car date? My God he did everything to the kid except take his fingerprints. But I guess that's how Dad's are." She slouches in the chair, "I wonder sometimes what kind of Mom I'd be….looks like I'll never know." She pats his hand, "Do you ever think about that? I don't mean being a Mom," she laughs aloud. "I'll bet you do all the time. You know in this day and age we still have time, don't you think?"

She closes her eyes, "This is definitely weird Bobby me doing all the talking," opening her eyes she straightens up. "Come on Bobby wake up, talk to me." She pauses, "Bobby please," she pleads. "Wake up, come on wake up."

His eyes flutter open. "You slept through the alarm, that's unusual," a female voice says.

He looks up and sees a familiar face from many years ago, "Cathy?" He shakes his head, "Cathy," he eyes her from head to toe. "You haven't changed…."

"No I haven't, I just got out of the shower."

"Huh," he sits up in the bed. I had a one-night stand with my old girlfriend. He watches her as she brushes her wet hair. Wait; if I had a one-night stand I would hope that I would remember that. He follows her with his eyes as she walks across the room, stopping at the closet door; she opens it and stands motionless looking at the contents inside. I remember going to a Yankee game with Eames and….He finds himself staring at her, she seems oblivious. Damn she looks fantastic. She flashes a sweet smile at him as she tosses her clothes on the bed. He immediately returns the smile. This is really freakin' weird. I'm not hung over, so I didn't get drunk, what the hell is going on?

"Bobby," she calls his name, he looks up. "Are you going to stay in bed all day?"

TBC