The car ride to the restaurant was so tension filled that it was suffocating, if not already accustomed to this Alex and Bobby surely would have felt under duress , and one if not both of them would have felt compelled to speak even if only to try and fill the ever expanding void that had grown between them.

As it was, Bobby was having a hard time trying to control his fidgeting, it seemed that a seemingly harmless twitch on his part could shatter the silence, and he was not ready for that yet, not today.

Hell, I don't think I'll ever be ready, Bobby thought. "Never say never, Bobby," a head with a sharp similarity to that of his former captain pronounced "You didn't think your partnership, friendship with Eames would start to go sour, did you. Just take the leap and talk…"

"Ughh…" Bobby groaned. My mind is going to be the death of me.

"Bobby, are you sure you're okay? Maybe we should wait till tomorrow to do this interview," Alex asked, doubtful that she would get a different answer from the one she had gotten before.

"No"

"No? No, you're not okay or no you're going to be stubborn and do the interview anyway?" Alex pondered, getting frustrated.

"I'm not stubborn."

"Yeah, you're just frustratingly unyielding and determinedly persistent," upon seeing Bobby's baffled expression she simply stated "You're stubborn."

"I'm not stu-"

"Yeah, you are."

"I'm no-"

"See what I mean," Alex glanced toward him knowingly, Bobby looked toward her with a blank lost expression; Alex sighed.

Bobby groaned, which he sensed was going to become a chronic condition. Great, what am I supposed to do now?! She's frustrated and I don't even know what I did, or is it something I didn't do… All I know for certain is that my mind and my partner have joined together on a collaborative task force against me.

Alex and Bobby casually entered the restaurant and headed straight for who they assumed to be in charge.

"I'm detective Eames and this is my partner Detective Goren," Eames flashed her badge to him, waiting for him to introduce himself; upon seeing that the thought hadn't even occurred to the man she politely asked "And you are?"

" O-oh, sorry, you must excuse my manners. I'm Adrian Moretti; I'm currently subbing in for Mr. Russo as manager while he's away on business. I assume you're here for something other than our vast variety of delicious entrées," he said, not so subtly advertising the restaurant.

"I'm sorry Mr. Moretti but we're here strictly for business purposes."

"In what way can I assist you?"

"Could you please inform us about an employee of yours, a Miss Allison Reed?" Bobby said injecting himself into the conversation.

"Sure, but may I ask for the purpose of your questioning?"

"We believe that she may be holding some information that could pertinent to our investigation. Now could you please tell us how you perceive her as co-worker?" Eames questioned.

"She's kind and definitely hard working. I couldn't imagine her to be involved in any kind of trouble."

"Is she dependable, trustworthy?" Bobby prodded.

"I would say so, yes. Maybe it would be best if you would talk to her personally."

"That would be helpful, if you would point her out to us."

"There she is, speaking to that gentleman over there," Mr. Moretti said pointing in the direction of the bar.

"Thank you Mr. Moretti, we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us," Eames courteously thanked him.

"Anything I could do to help," Mr. Moretti said and walked away.

"Why, take a look at that," Alex whispered to Bobby, "Looks like the grieving boyfriend has found an outlet for his despair."

And sure enough, talking to Allison Reed was no other than their main suspect; Nick Rivera.

"Well, it'd be a shame to let them have all the fun to themselves, why don't we join them," Eames said sarcastically, already heading towards the bar.

Bobby put his arm out blocking Alex's path. Eames looked at him flabbergasted and opened her mouth to speak but Bobby beat her to it whispering softly "I want to see how he interacts with her."

Just as he spoke Nick put his hand tenderly on the waitresses arm and started to stroke her arm softly and intimately.

"I think we might have just found our motive," Bobby whispered enthusiastically.

As they continued watching, Nick stood up from his stool, never breaking eye contact with Allison. He moved closer to her, nothing was between them now, leaned and tilted his head toward her. Allison parted her lips in anticipation. As he leaned even closer to envelop her in a kiss, a sudden shock spread across Allison's body and betrayal flashed in her eyes.

Alex and Bobby watched in perplexity, wondering what had caused her sudden change. Their questions were soon answered as Nick stepped away from Allison. Without his support she stumbled and fell awkwardly onto the floor, revealing a red gash in her side.

Nick stepped back and turned to face the rapidly emerging and fast forming crowd of spectators with a blood streaked knife glinting in one hand. Knowing there would be no clean exit for him, he decided to get a hold of as much control as he could muster. With his unoccupied hand, he quickly reached for and detached a gun from his belt, one that had previously been concealed by his thick jacket.

"Nobody move!" he screamed in a shaky but demanding voice. His words were wasted for all the people in the vicinity surged towards the exits. That is, everyone except for Bobby and Alex, who instead rushed towards Nick, hoping to prevent a disaster.

"Eames, we need to contain him how do you want to go about this? How about you go around from the back I'll…" Bobby planned while simultaneously rushing forward, alongside his partner.

Even through all the chaos, everyone heard the firework- like pop that signaled a gunshot. Time seemed to stand still, everyone still left standing in the restaurant glanced around them, looking for the possible victim. Bobby and Alex too had stopped.

"Eames did you see where the… Eames."

Bobby turned and his mind blanked. There, gasping painfully beside him was Eames; clutching to her abdomen as a deep maroon spread across her white blouse.

Bobby mentally chastised himself for gawking and quickly covered her hand with his, pulling her to him when she stumbled.

"I said nobody move!" Nick bellowed. "Anyone want to try that again?!"

TBC…

So what do you guys thinks? Please tell me and review! Constructive criticism is also appreciated.