Okay, in my ongoing effort to reach 100 stories, here is number 86, Deja Vu. I got the idea for this while thinking about the awesome movie End Of Days, and I went with it. Enjoy, and please review!
Disclaimer: As long as Alex isn't molesting Bobby in an interrogation room, it's a safe bet to say they're not mine.
This story is for all my fellow CI freaks who are helping me to reach 100 stories. Thanks, everyone!
The wind was cold and stung his cheeks as he walked up the steps of the Major Case building. He checked her watch again, and let out a little sigh of relief when he realized that he was ten minutes earlier than his partner. He quickly climbed into the elevator, then waited patiently until the doors reopened, and he walked into the bullpen that he was so familiar with.
He frowned when he saw his partner sitting at her desk, with her head resting in her hand. She looked disheveled, and he instantly realized that she was wearing the same outfit she had worn the previous day.
"Hey," he said softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. She jumped at his touch, then looked up at him blearily, running one hand through her hair. "What are you still doing here? You need to go home and get some real sleep," he scolded her gently, and she sighed and began flipping through the file in front of her.
"I'm fine, Bobby," she tried to insist, but he could see through her façade as clear as day. She was beyond exhausted, and he was going to make sure that she got some sleep.
"Eames, go up to the crib right now, or so help me…" he growled, and she looked up at him, the corners of her mouth turning up in a smile.
"Fine," she conceded, rising stiffly from her chair. He smirked smugly as he watched her go, but before she reached the door that led to the beds, Deakins rushed out of his office, and Bobby and Alex turned to look at him.
"We've got a situation!" Deakins shouted breathlessly, and Bobby grabbed their coats. "Williams is holding a group of people hostage in his home. Goren, Eames, go now!" he barked, and Bobby tossed Alex her coat, then quickly walked out of the squadroom, with a sense of impending doom churning in his stomach.
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"Just… just let them go, Williams," Bobby pleaded, and Williams shook his head furiously, his gun trained on Bobby.
Alex looked at the terrified hostages, and she swallowed thickly and said, "Look, Williams, you can still walk out of here. Just let these people go. You have us. We're worth more to the NYPD than a few civilians." Bobby glanced in amazement at his partner, and he quickly caught on.
"Yeah, Williams. Let them go, and you've still got us, two NYPD detectives. They'll make any deal to get us out." He was exaggerating, but he didn't care. Right now, his primary focus was the three mothers and their frightened children, and getting them out safely. Then he would worry about his partner and himself.
But he just didn't see it coming. Williams raised his gun, and for a split second, Bobby thought his life was over, and all he could think about was his partner. But just as Williams pulled the trigger, Bobby saw his own worst nightmare play out in front of him. Alex threw herself between Bobby and the bullet, and Bobby screamed in protest as the bullet entered her soft and vulnerable flesh.
She remained standing for a second or two, then fell backwards, landing in Bobby's arms. Tears poured down Bobby's cheeks as he hit his knees, his hands desperately trying to staunch the blood pouring from her abdomen.
Her mouth moved, and Bobby leaned down to hear her. "Shoot… him…" she whispered weakly, and he grabbed his gun and aimed at Williams. Then, with a cry of sheer anguish and hatred, he pulled the trigger, and William's bloody corpse fell to the floor with a dull thud.
The mothers and children all scrambled to escape the room, but Bobby was unaware of everything except his wounded partner cradled in his arms. "Eames… Alex, hold on," he pleaded, ignoring the wave of nausea that pounded into him as her warm blood gushed between his fingers and over his hand. He could hear other officers enter the room, and one called for a bus.
She shivered almost violently, and Bobby yanked his jacket off of his shoulders and wrapped Alex tightly in it. "Hold on," he begged again, and she opened her eyes, squinting them against the light of the room. She looked so small and fragile in his large jacket, and he held her tighter.
"Love… love you, Bobby," she whispered, and he choked back a sob as her breathing became harsh and ragged.
"No, Alex. You can't leave me," he gasped, and she looked up at him with dimming hazel eyes. He could tell that she wasn't afraid, but he was. He was terrified of losing her.
"It'll be okay, Bobby," she tried to reassure him, but her breaths were becoming weaker with each passing second.
Suddenly he was furious, and he shouted at anyone who was listening. "Where the hell is that bus?" he screamed angrily. Then he felt her small hand on his cheek, and he shook as she smiled up at him and ran her bloodstained thumb along his jaw.
A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth, and tears poured down their cheeks as Bobby leaned down and gently brushed his lips against her forehead, then her lips. She kissed him back, and he stroked the back of her neck and murmured, "I love you too, Alex. I love you."
She smiled again and touched his mouth with her fingertips, then her eyes slipped shut, and her body went limp in his arms. The paramedics appeared a few seconds later, but it was too late. Alex Eames was dead.
They tried to pry her limp body out of her partner's arms, but he just howled in pain and clutched her tighter to his chest, slowly rocking back and forth.
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Bobby Goren bolted upright with a scream, his entire body shaking and lathered in sweat. His gaze darted wildly around the dark room, and he gasped and rose shakily to his feet, stumbling off of the couch and into his bedroom. He saw a lump in the middle of his bed, and he dropped to his knees beside the bed, brushing blond hair away from the face that belonged to his partner.
"Oh God," he gasped softly as he watched her chest rise and fall evenly. "Thank you. Thank you." He wiped the sweat off of his forehead and placed his arms on the bed, leaning forward to rest his chin on his arms. For several minutes, he listened to her soft breaths and relished the sight of her peaceful, dreaming face.
Suddenly she let out a soft moan, and Bobby couldn't believe his ears as she called out his name. "Bobby. Please, no. Don't." He wiped the tears from his eyes and gently rested one big hand on her arm, squeezing it gently. That was enough to wake her up, and she started out of her sleep, her chest heaving and her eyes wide.
"Bobby?" she mumbled sleepily. "What are you doing in here?"
He shrugged his shoulders and offered her a crooked smile, saying, "Very nasty nightmare. And from the sounds of it, you too."
She tried to deny it, but quickly gave up and fell back against the pillows, throwing one arm over her eyes and using the other to pat the bed. "C'mon, Goren," she growled, and he froze and looked at her questioningly. "We're obviously not going to get any sleep unless we're both in the same room, so turn that brain of yours off and get your ass up here."
He didn't argue with her, and she rolled over onto her side and smiled as his arms went hesitantly around her waist and pulled her back to his front.
She sighed contently and snuggled down into his arms, and he exhaled and rested his face in the crook of her neck, relishing the comforting warmth of her body as he held her in his arms.
She fell asleep first. He could tell by the way her breaths gradually became deep and even again, and he nuzzled his face deeper into her soft and silky skin. "I love you, Eames," he whispered, gradually fading into a most welcomed dreamless sleep.
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Bobby's blood ran cold as he stood in the middle of the room, with Alex beside him and Williams standing in front of him, his gun trained on Bobby. His nightmare was coming true, and this time he knew that he wasn't sleeping. The whimpers of the small children and his partner's unsteady breaths rang loudly in his ears.
He could hear himself methodically pleading with Williams to release the children and mothers, then Alex informing him that two detectives were far more valuable than a handful of innocents.
He saw Williams raise the gun, but this time he was prepared for it. Everything seemed to spiral into slow motion, and Bobby forced his body in front of his partner's just as Williams squeezed the trigger of his gun.
Alex screamed, but before Williams could shoot her, she aimed her own gun at his chest and pulled the trigger, ignoring everything else as Bobby fell backwards and she darted forward to catch him in her arms. They sank to the floor, and she gasped and ran her hands over his chest and abdomen, muttering softly.
Bobby's eyes were closed, and she frantically tore at his jacket, ripping off several buttons in the process.
"Thank God!" she sobbed when she saw the black Kevlar vest that tearing away his jacket had revealed. "Get up, you big baby," she joked tearfully, sighing in intense relief when he groaned and his eyes flickered open. He coughed and groaned again, and she gently removed the vest from his body, gently pressing down on his ribs with tender hands.
He tried to climb out of her lap, but she grabbed his shoulders and firmly held him in her embrace. "Don't even think about it, Bobby," she growled, and he sighed his resignment and relaxed in her arms.
She rested her chin on the top of his head and tightened her arms around him, holding him closer to her. He sighed and rested his head against her chest, listening to her heart beat frantically.
They didn't notice Williams stir and reach for Alex's gun until it was too late. They looked at him with frightened eyes and clung to each other, each mentally expecting the inevitable. But it never came.
Instead, they heard a single, resonating gunshot from behind them, and Williams fell to the floor again, blood gushing from a bullet hole in the center of his forehead. Hesitantly, Alex turned her head and saw Mike standing behind them, his gun dangling from his hand. He calmly reholstered his gun, then dropped to one knee beside Alex and Bobby.
"The bus is on the way," he stated reassuringly, and Alex sighed softly. "Are you two okay?"
Alex looked at Bobby, whose eyes had drifted shut, and she nodded confidently. "Yeah, Mike," she murmured, surprising Mike as she kissed Bobby's forehead. "We're both fine. Now."
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After being discharged from the hospital with a diagnosis of three broken ribs, Bobby was sleeping easily with his head resting in Alex's lap.
Alex stared at the T.V., her hand absently threading through her partner's thick curls as she tried to focus on the sarcastic and conniving doctor. But her attention kept drifting back down to the dark head of curls that rested in her lap, and the day's events that kept replaying over and over in her mind, like a movie that she couldn't pause.
She fidgeted with the blanket that covered her partner's large frame and part of her lap, and she shivered as she remembered his nightmare he had described to her. First he thought he had lost her, then she thought she had lost him. Suddenly her arms ached to hold him, and she gently slipped her arms around him and brought his head to rest in the crook of her elbow.
With the painkillers that were in his system, he didn't stir from the movement, and she leaned down and buried her face in his hair, then placed gentle kisses on his neck.
"I love you, Bobby," she whispered as she adjusted herself so that they were both laying comfortably on the couch, and that she was lying on her side with her chin hooked over his shoulder. She tucked her left arm under his head, then placed her right hand on his side, gently stroking it. She knew that he couldn't hear her, so she vowed to tell him tomorrow, the next day, and every day for the rest of her life.
And when she awoke in the dead of night from her own disturbing nightmares, he was there, and his warm body provided a soft landing from the downward spiral that always accompanied the terrifying nightmares.
The End.
A/N: Okay, what'd ya'll think? Good? Okay? Gimme a shout and let me know! Ya'll keep me going!