AMENDMENTS

By radical edward

First fic so be gentle. All reviews welcome .

I only saw the two minute teaser but this is what it spawned. Originally this was going to be longer but after re-reading it then rewatching the episode I decided it was just a fill-in between the scenes shot. Blame Dick Wolf, I do.

No copyright infringement intended. I own nothing but bits of what happens in this fic

Chapter The First.

"This isn't one of your puzzles Bobby!" She had shouted at him, tears in her eyes and her voice breaking "it's my LIFE!" she slammed the door and he watched her go as a cold fear gripped his heart, he could never fix this. He'd done it again, gotten so wrapped up in the facts that he'd forgotten there were real emotions to deal with, more, they were HER emotions and therefore by extension his own, for whatever she felt he felt and he knew the fallout from this case was going to knock the crap out of them, he just prayed he could hold it together for both of them.

Alex brushed the tears away angrily, he'd done it again hadn't he, she didn't know who she was more mad at, herself or him, though she suspected it was herself, he was only being Bobby and when she calmed down and dealt with this freshly opened wound in her heart she would have to deal once more with him, God hadn't they both gone through enough this past twelve months? With her kidnapping and almost murder to his loss of his mother and the revelation of his questionable paternity, could they survive this intact or would it be the one thing that irrevocably ruined their partnership, friendship and fledgling…other thing, her thoughts stumbled over the…other thing, too early to call it a romance yet deeper than friendship. That she loved him she had no doubt he in turn fascinated and infuriated her and she couldn't get enough of either, His presence at her bedside after her escape from captivity had made her feel secure enough to give in to the drugs and to finally sleep without dreaming, he was a constant in her life, she had yet to decide a constant what.

Goren sat at his desk, the file open in front of him, he had to get to the bottom of this, had to close the case for her, she deserved answers, deserved closure and he wanted to be the one to give that to her, he knew it could end their..whatever it was they had…yet still he wanted to do this, for her, for Eam…for Alex.

It was easier for him to think of her as Eames when they were working,, Eames was a cop, a ballsy, no nonsense, smart-mouthed cop whom he admired and respected, but off duty she was Alex, an intelligent, quick witted, attractive woman and he was hopelessly smitten, that was why she was always Eames at work because Alex had haunted his dreams on far too many occasions and he truly couldn't afford for Alex to be at work with him or he'd never get anything done.

He rested his chin on his hand and flipped the pages of his notepad trying to focus on the evidence he was processing. Yet time and again he was drawn back to the cigarette butt, he knew it contained the final piece of the puzzle. He hated that he had to involve Eames any further, couldn't bear to see the haze of pain in her eyes, the slump of her shoulders as the weight of the past bore down on her once more and she was forced to face the nightmare of losing her husband all over again.

Standing suddenly he swiped his hand across the back of his neck, sighed deeply and went to find her.

She was in the bathroom.

He paced up and down the corridor as she did whatever it was that women did in there.

She splashed water on her face, dabbed at it ineffectually with a towel and wondered abstractly just what she was supposed to have achieved with such a useless activity apart from buying the time to get her emotions under control, and heavens knew ONE of them had to be controlled. She stifled a hysterical giggle at the thought of both her self and Bobby out of control then bit her lip as she remembered why and the tears came again.

He'd done four laps of the corridor outside the bathroom and time was moving on. He had to get her out of there, had to close the case then perhaps the healing time could begin but not before..he sighed…The evidence locker was going to be harder on her than anything before, he knew what would be in the box; bloodstained clothing, relevant personal effects and Joe. He hated that he had to do that to her and prayed she wouldn't hate him for it.

He was a split second away from going in to see she was alright when the door opened and out she stepped, mask firmly in place looking a little ragged round the edges but she was Eames enough for him for now and he filed away the rest to deal with later. She looked at him steadily and he was struck once again by her strength as his admiration for her stepped up another twelve notches.

"Let's get this over with." She stated simply and he stepped back to allow her to precede him, taking his rightful place at her shoulder watching her back.