By: KateBA
Disclaimer: Law and Order Criminal Intent and Law and Order Special Victims Unit and all associated characters are properties of Dick Wolf and NBC.
Partners
Detective Robert Goren was about to slip his key into the lock on the door of his apartment when his cell phone rang. He hoped it wasn't a call out and flipped open the phone. It was Mike Logan calling.
"Goren"
"Hey Bobby it's Mike, do you think you feel up to getting a drink and dinner at the usual? I really could use it."
Bobby had heard about the case Mike and Wheeler had been working on, it was a tough one. Rumor had it that Ross and Logan almost came to blows in his office. Of course that wasn't unusual, Ross knew just how to invite a punch to the gut. "Yea, sure I'll see you there in 30."
He went inside his apartment and changed from his work suit to jeans and a black sweater and walked out. Truthfully he didn't feel like going out tonight especially to a bar full of either really depressed or really happy people, but his friend needed him and Mike had been there for him a lot.
Thirty minutes later he found Mike Logan waiting for him in front of the odd fire engine red building that was Wogies Bar and Grill, under the awning over the front door. This was a favorite hangout of many cops because it was less than three miles from One Police Plaza and they served great sandwiches as well as alcohol. You could eat decent food and get drunk in the same place on a beat cop's salary, it didn't get much better than that. It was a nice old fashioned pub style bar.
"Hey Bobby."
"Hey Mike, I heard you caught a tough one."
"Yea, tougher than most."
They went in together and found a booth they quickly claimed. This place was hardly crowded at this time of night. Mike plopped down like a dead weight on the olive colored cushion, which was a sign to Bobby that this was worse than he would ever let on. It was typical guy behavior. The waitress came over to them quickly, because she knew them and liked them.
"Hi Brenda."
"Hey Bobby, Mike."
"What can I get you guys?"
"I'll have a cheesesteak sandwich with everything and a Dewar's neat."
"What kind of cheese do you want?"
"American" Mike said emphatically as if he was performing a patriotic duty.
Bobby looked at him searchingly. He noticed Brenda tilted her chin toward him. "I'll have a cheesesteak sandwich too with everything and provolone cheese, and waffles, and a Glenlivet two fingers. Thanks Brenda."
With that Brenda left to get their food and drinks.
"You used to eat provolone cheese."
"Yea, well I figure American sandwich American cheese."
"That's why I get the provolone because the sandwich is American, multi-cultural flavor you know."
"I hope you don't mind Barek will be coming later."
"When are you going to start calling her by her first name in public?"
"When you call Eames, Alex."
"It's a different story, she is my partner her name is Eames. When she is not my partner her name is Alex."
"Yea, that's why Carolyn isn't my partner anymore."
"You're a lucky guy Mike."
"You could be too, it's only a small step."
"I've been very lucky so far I don't want to push it."
Brenda was back with their sandwiches, waffle cut fries, and drinks. The cheesesteak sandwich was the most popular food at the bar so the meat was cooking continuously.
"To friends and confusing women" Mike said. They raised their glasses and drank.
Mike squirted ketchup over the fries from the bottle on the table before they dug into their sandwiches. Following his usual habit Bobby started looking around the bar as they ate, because for the moment Mike didn't need any conversation. He noticed a figure in a Sean John track suit hunched over the bar with six shot glasses inverted in front of him. He was less than 200 pounds, about 6 feet tall, African-American, medium length hair pulled into a ponytail. If he didn't know better Bobby probably wouldn't make him as a cop. Years of undercover work gave you the ability to blend in if you wanted to disappear in a crowded room and Odafin Tutoula had no shortage of experience in that area. There was definitely something wrong with this picture. Bobby had known Fin two years in Narcotics and to his knowledge Fin never drank, he wasn't a bar going guy. He had certainly never seen the guy drink that much hard liquor. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the scent of bergamot and oranges, perfume. Barek was here.
"Hi Bobby, thanks for babysitting Mike for me."
"No problem Carolyn." He looked down at his sandwich which was nearly finished.
Brenda came over to take Carolyn's order, and Bobby took the opportunity to order another Glenlivet.
After Brenda brought his drink Bobby said: "Listen guys, if you don't mind I gotta see an old friend."
"Ok sure" Barek said. Mike waved him off.
Bobby took his drink and headed toward the bar to take a seat next to Fin. "Fin, long time."
Fin turned toward him at the sound of his name. His eyes were glassy and his face was slightly flushed. He was pretty drunk from the looks of it.
"Bobby…Bobby Goren. It's good to see you man… I could use your help right now."
"What's going on Fin? Are you in trouble?" Bobby said in a voice that was gentle yet authoritative. He was hoping for the right tone that would cut through Fin's alcoholic haze without shutting him down.
"Na man, it's nothin' like that. You're smart, I need you… to help me figure somethin' out."
"Ok"
"I heard something I wasn't suppos' to know and it's weighin' on me. It's Liv and Eliot man. The Brass and the Rat Squad are on their tail, Cragen in the middle." He paused and looked to Bobby for understanding.
"Go on." Bobby knew immediately that he was referring to Eliot Stabler and Olivia Benson, they were the only two people who could be Liv and Eliot.
"See Liv had a personal thing going on, she was stalking her brother or somethin'. Eliot tried to back her up, what partners are supposed to do man. Plus, you know Liv an' Eliot always out there savin' the world. It turned into a big mess Liv and Eliot caught in it. Cragen pissed off. Brass got wind of it. They're sayin' if Liv and Eliot weren't so close they would of done more of the right thing instead of havin' each other's backs all the time."
Bobby didn't like where this was going at all. His mood and visage had darkened as the story progressed. "What happened?"
"They said Liv and Eliot gotta see a shrink to see if they still got their heads screwed on right. So, they saw the shrink. Shrink says somethin' like mutual emotional dependence, compromised effectiveness shit like that. Now Cragen's between the rock and the hard place because shrink said it, he's gotta split them up. He's tryin' to think of a way not to. I don't think they even know they didn't pass the fuckin' test poor bastards."
"You overheard Cragen talking about them."
"Yea man, I forgot somethin' in my locker. I come back and Cragen is on the phone screamin' his head off. Doesn't want to lose his detectives. I can't believe this man. All this fuckin' shit because Liv's a woman. Nobody ever asked me if I got mutual dependence issues with my partner 'cause he's a guy. That's the way partners are supposed to be. If you called me and you needed my help I'd come help you and we were never even partners. Cops are supposed to be like that. Now they got all this suspicion and a guy is gonna think twice now before partnering with a woman. And they talk about giving women a fair shake, it's bull man. I am here thinkin' about losin' two good friends."
"You're right it's bad and it's not fair." Bobby noted that Fin was sobering up as he talked. He was starting to wish he was dead drunk.
"Liv and Eliot argue like an old married couple all the time. But I stake my word on it, they're not sleepin' together. All this emotional dependence crap is bull man. Liv wen' under cover for a couple a months and Eliot got a new partner he was fine with it. Liv came back they were fine. He didn't fall apart."
Bobby thought back to his own near breakdown after Eames went on pregnancy leave. Luckily she came back before he started throwing around objects that were heavier than balls of wadded up paper.
"Word is he is tryin' to make it right with his wife" Fin was saying. "Him and Liv always got different points of view on stuff. It's a witch hunt, first Liv and Eliot then everybody else. The Rat Squad needs something to do, not so many real crooked cops anymore."
"Why the Hell did you turn off your phone? I've been looking all over for you."
Bobby looked up to find Detective John Munch standing behind him in a black suit and red tie. John Munch currently held the honor of being the oddest oddball in the department.
"I jus' want some peace."
"And you found it in a bar. I think you've had enough I'll take you home. Good to see you Goren."
"I don' need a babysitter" complained Fin as he got off his barstool and reached for his wallet.
Bobby barely noticed the interaction between the two men. He was already deep in thought. What if Fin was right? What if it was a witch hunt? The Brass could decide to shake things up, split every male and female partnership and give them new partners. Maybe they had head exams slated for everyone. Psychology he could deal with, but these evaluations were more like interrogations in the guise of psychological evaluations. They were fact finding missions. He could imagine the kind of questions they asked. How often do you eat dinner with your partner? How often do you call each other on the weekend? He knew he and Alex didn't have strictly professional answers for any of those questions. The fact that he still called her Eames wasn't enough to cover a multitude of sins. Everyone had seen him fall apart when she was kidnapped. She had stayed with him for two weeks after she got out of the hospital. How was he supposed to convince the Rat Squad that it was all strictly platonic? Even if he could convince them that they were not lovers, there was no denying their emotional attachment. All these years of sacrificing his feelings to preserve their partnership may have been for naught.
Mike and Carolyn had been stealing glances at Bobby and Fin at the bar. Then they watched John Munch storm into the bar. A few minutes later Fin got up and payed his tab. Then they saw Bobby walk out of the bar like a man possessed. He didn't even stop by their table to pay his share of the bill, which was a sign that something was very wrong. Their first thought was to go out and talk to him, but they both knew they couldn't reach him. Only one person in the world could reach him and she wasn't there. Barek surmised that he would call her right about now.
Bobby caught a cab back to his apartment. It was eight o'clock in New York City and the traffic had thinned out. He was standing in front of his door in fifteen minutes. He opened the door and realized immediately that someone was already in his living room. The moonlight coming from the window on the far wall illuminated a figure sitting on his couch. Judging by the silhouette it was definitely a woman and he recognized her. He couldn't remember the last time she had used her key and slipped into his apartment when he wasn't in it. He was angry at her because it was things like this that would put their partnership in jeopardy. They needed to have a serious talk.
He turned on the lights in the room and went to stand in front of her. She had a bottle of vodka and a shot glass in front of her on the coffee table. He knew that bottle had been unopened before she got to it. She had taken about three shots, which was a lot for her size. She didn't even look up or move as he approached. Something was definitely wrong.
"Eames what is it?"
She looked up and it was easy to see that she had been crying but it had been a while ago because the puffiness around her eyes was going down.
"This is stupid, I shouldn't be here. I am sorry I barged in your apartment. You should take your key back, here." She took the key out of her pocket and held it out to him. Seeing that he made no move to take the key from her, she put it down on the coffee table and turned toward the door.
"Eames you've been crying. You are here for a reason, now come on talk to me."
"Yea well that's what we do Bobby, we cry, we get emotional, attached."
"Who is "we" Eames?"
"Women"
"Men get"
She cut him off. "No men don't get emotional, it's all women. Women can't be detectives because they let their emotions get in the way. They get attached to their partners, their cases, sleep with suspects."
"Eames you know that is not true of all women. We both know you're more level headed than I am. To my knowledge you have yet to sleep with a suspect and I am the one who is always taking cases too personally."
"That may be true but when the time comes it won't save us. You forgot about the attached part, I am attached… to you."
Bobby knew that Eames and Benson were friends. "Save us from what?"
"From being split up" she almost sobbed.
"Eames that's not going to happen." He wished he could guarantee it, because at the moment that was his worst fear. He could be sure that Deakens would fight for them but with Ross there were no guarantees.
"How can you say that? I just came over from Benson's apartment. She called me terrified that they are going to split her up from Stabler. She had to go through some kind of shrink session. She says the shrink has it in for her. But the worst of it is she didn't have good answers for any of the questions. She says they had issues before, she tried to put some distance between them. She worked in another unit for a while, and then she had to go undercover for the FBI. When she came back they were distant for a short time before they slipped right back into their old routine. She says she can't imagine having a different partner, and she argues with him all the time too."
"Eames I can't imagine having a different partner than you."
"Well you better start imagining it and start looking for a male partner. With the way this is going female officers will be beat cops in very safe neighborhoods and Vice. This is the same decade old crap all over again."
"You don't really think that do you?" Fin was thinking it and he was known as a very level headed guy.
"Yes I do, I think I'll be the one pulling you over if you exceed the speed limit on your way to a crime scene. If it gets around that partnering with emotionally clingy women will hurt your career nobody will want to partner with a woman. Women will have to prove themselves a hundred times over just to have a shot at becoming detective. Then probably the best they can hope for is undercover work."
"Eames every cop I know who has a woman partner will stand up for her just as much as he would for a male partner, maybe even more."
"Yea, because you all think of us as either your little sister or you're in love with us."
Bobby was horrified. Did she really think that? Did she know? "Eames, you know that's not true. I think of you as a partner in the best sense of the word. Not all male partnerships work out either, you should talk to some of my ex-partners."
"I am not talking about you Bobby, you are the lone exception to the rule. But I am the one who has to put up with rumors about us sleeping together. You know what Eliot said to Liv one time. He said that she was always waiting for him to come and rescue her. Can you believe it?"
"Look Eames I don't know too much about Eliot Stabler, but from what I do know I think he would have issues no matter who he was partnered with and I think that they will take that into consideration. The fact that Benson has stuck with him for so many years must count for something."
"You're hoping it will for us too."
"Look it won't come to that. This is one case. They must have really done something outrageous to grab the Brass' attention." He really hoped that was true for everybody's sake. "Think of it this way, would the NYPD rather have Goren and Eames or Logan and Wheeler?"
"I'll be sure to mention that when they start coming after us." She heavily sat down on the couch as she said this.
"Stop saying that, we haven't done anything wrong. We are not involved. We haven't violated any policies that I am aware of, and I don't spend my off hours stalking you." I just depend on you in a way that I've never depended on any other human being before. I think you know me better than my own mother. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you even for one moment. I think about you in my off hours more than I can ever admit to you. I want to keep working until the wee hours of the night just to spend more time with you. I care about you more than anything else, and I try to overcompensate for that fact sometimes by putting distance between us.
"Just being close is enough." She stood back up.
"Eames this will all blow over. I seriously doubt Stabler and Benson will be split up. Even if they were, there is no reason to think this will lead to a department wide shakeup affecting all female officers. We are talking about literary thousands of partnerships. If the shrinks talk to that many cops, they'll be the ones going crazy. It's not a crime to be friends, and to care about your partner male or female."
"You're right Bobby, I was just thinking that no matter what happens this will hurt the reputation of women on the force." She sat back down on the couch. "Liv says she will fight this with her last breath, and I was thinking that if I was in her situation so would I."
"Me too." He moved to sit down on the couch next to her.
Fin