Author's note: I'm back with another piece that's been begging to be posted for a few years. Hope you enjoy!
I don't own any of these characters and I am not profiting from this work in any way.
He tried to keep thoughts of her at bay , but it was hard enough when he got to see her every day. This suspension, and with it, the separation from Alex, was killing him.
Bobby scoffed under his breath and took another drink of his scotch. He could call her Alex all he liked when he was alone but he could count on his fingers the number of times he'd uttered her first name in the presence of other people, usually during introductions. One more healthy swallow of scotch and his glass was empty. He nodded to the bartender for a refill and submerged himself in his melancholy thoughts once again.
At first, she had called regularly, and he'd been happy – too happy, he thought – to hear her voice. They had even met up for lunch one afternoon when she wasn't busy. But the longer the suspension dragged on, the more distance he enforced between them. He was beginning to think he might never get his badge back, and he thought this would soften the fall for the one person who had always been there for him. If he just faded out, maybe she would be better off anyway.
Now, when she called, he pretended to be too busy to talk, or, when he was feeling particularly incapable of pushing her away, he wouldn't answer at all. He hadn't been able to resist her call earlier this evening and now he was paying for it, alone on a barstool in some dive within walking distance of his apartment.
"Goren."
"Hey, Bobby." He'd known it was her when the phone rang. "How are you? It's been awhile."
"Yeah, Eames, I know." He didn't answer her question.
"So you're too busy for me when we aren't working together?" The question was delivered with her usual sarcastic wit, but Bobby heard the thread of uncertainty also in her voice.
"I'm, uh..I'm sorry, Eames. I have to…"
"You have to go." He wasn't sure he'd ever heard her voice sound quite so small. "Goodbye, Bobby." Click.
He stared at the phone in his hand for a full five minutes, feeling like a complete ass for hurting her, even if he thought it was for her own good. He wanted to call her back, patch up his mess somehow, but he knew nothing he could say to her right now would help either of them. Instead, he grabbed his keys and left his apartment.
And he ended up here, alone, drinking, and thinking about her. She was never far from his mind, but tonight he couldn't shake the thought of his partner hurting over his abandonment.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Knowing he didn't want Eames to find out how low he'd sunk, he considered not answering. He checked the caller ID anyway, though, and what he saw made him snap the phone open immediately. The incoming call was from Ross's personal cell number, and Bobby was steps away from being plunged into an undercover operation that could cost him all that he had left.