In life, timing is everything. Unfortunately, outside of an interview room, timing wasn't exactly Bobby Goren's forte. In fact, timing was probably a liability. So when Bobby knocked lightly on Captain Ross's office to ask about contacting the detectives in charge of the Megan Willis case, he thought he was doing the right thing by clearing it with the captain, and in fact it would have been the right thing had his timing been just a little better.

"So you don't have enough to do, you would like to work on other detectives' cases, completely outside of Major Case?" Ross bit out at him. Bobby excused himself from the Captain's office and had returned to stew at his desk.

"What was that?" Eames looked over her shoulder where she could see the Captain scowling, violently leafing through some report.

"I just, well, I just, I wanted to get some details on a case." Bobby leaned back in his chair, so far that Eames thought that this was the day he was going to tip it over.

"What case?" Eames asked.

"Megan Willis." Bobby leaned forward again, this time leaning all the way forward so that he had his head in his hands on his desk. Eames again watched, thinking that maybe his chair would slide out from under him.

"Why?" Eames was a bit mesmerized by the punishment Bobby's chair took without ever giving way. She smiled to herself, realizing that she identified with his desk chair.

"Megan, well, Megan's mom, she's a neighbor of Lucy's." Bobby sat back, balanced normally on the chair for an instant.

"Did Lucy ask you to look into something?" Eames asked, knowing if patterns held true, Bobby was about to abruptly stand up. His agitation was palpable, and she knew he would not make it sitting still for much longer.

"No." Bobby replied, and jumped up from his chair, grabbing some stuff off his desk.

"What're doing?" Eames stood as well.

"We've got a work day, right?" Bobby snapped. "Well let's get to it." He grabbed his portfolio and his coat. Eames followed suit, and followed him out of the squad. They did have some things to chase down, unrelated to the Megan Willis case, but somehow Eames figured that the Willis case would work its way back into their day.


If timing was everything, Eames was pretty good.

"The Captain cleared your call, to the detectives working the Willis case." Eames strolled over to the desk, her voice quiet. Bobby sat up suddenly, and again Eames found herself watching his chair. It really was a miracle of nature that it did not give way underneath his size, his violent jarring movements. She watched his reach for the phone without even a thank you. She reached her hand out, blocking him from dialing and quirked an eyebrow. She knew he had been making a conscious effort in terms of voicing some niceties. She recognized in part that this was the influence of Lucy Jones, but she didn't care. If she benefitted from it, she was going to make the most of it.

"Thanks Eames." Bobby said, without looking up at her. He was staring at her hand as if willing it to move.

"Anytime." She replied, and walked away.


"Lupo." Was the greeting Bobby received after he dialed.

"Yeah, this is Goren from Major Case." Bobby replied.

"OK." Lupo responded, and Bobby realized that maybe calling someone near the end of a shift was not the best timing.

"So you caught that Megan Willis case." Bobby plunged ahead.

"Yeah." Lupo responded, not exactly chatty on the phone.

"I've got an interest in that case." Bobby replied.

"Yeah, we made you at the funeral." Lupo gave more than a one word response.

"Right." Bobby said, thinking he had made them as well.

"What's your piece in this?" Lupo asked.

"Personal. Something for a friend." Bobby offered, switching the phone to his other ear, trying to ease into this. He really just wanted to drill Lupo with a bunch of questions and ask for the file. Lucy had mentioned once you catch more flies with honey. Bobby of course knew that, he just had a hard time always applying that particular approach.

"Personal." Lupo muttered.

"We could meet. At Paulie's." Bobby named a popular bar for the 2-7.

"Hang on." Lupo responded, and Bobby could hear Lupo talking with his partner. "We're in, you're buying." Lupo relplied, indicating Detective Green would be there as well.

"Good." Bobby replied.

"30 minutes." Lupo said and hung up before Bobby could say anything further.


Maybe actually consulting the watch he wore on his wrist would help a bit with timing. As he stood knocking on Lucy's door, it occurred to him that the reason she wasn't answering was that she was asleep. It was only about 11:00pm to him, but to her it was late, nowadays, on most nights past bed time late. He could see the entry way light turn on, and he could hear her throw the locks.

"Bobby." She smiled sleepily up at him. "Come in." She stepped aside, her slippers, slipping on the wood floor in her doorway.

"You were asleep." Bobby said, walking inside.

"You are captain of the obvious, detective." Lucy replied, yawning. "Maybe, you should be detective obvious." Lucy smiled to herself, her sleepy humor not making much sense.

"Oh, I'm captain of the not-obvious." Bobby replied, smiling as well. He had spent the past few hours with Detectives Lupo and Green, talking shop, drinking, and then drinking some more. Well, at least he and Green were drinking some more. In the end, they had connected the Megan Willis case to another open homicide. After staring at the crime scene photos, Bobby had noticed a pattern of unique bruising. It was barely detectable, but once Bobby had pointed it out in Megan Willis, Green had recognized it as familiar from another case.

"Alright Mr. Not-obvious." She said. "What's not-obvious?" He watched her walk into her kitchen, and he followed along. He realized he had no intention of sharing anything about the case with her at this point. So, he wasn't exactly sure why he had come by. Though, he knew that the amount he had to drink probably had something to do with it. The adrenaline coursing through his veins by an apparent break in the case had him not feeling the least bit like going to sleep. Plus, he didn't like his empty apartment. Lucy's place felt more like a home, so home he came.

"Nothing." He said, and he could feel her looking at him, examining him. He knew that she knew he had something on his mind. He could see her gauging him, trying to decide if she should press him on it. Lucy had excellent timing, she knew just when to push and exactly when to let it be. Tonight, she let it be.

"I'm going to bed." She filled a glass of water and handed it to him. "You can either find your way home, or find your way to the couch." She walked by him and out of the kitchen. "Either way, lock up." She called over her shoulder.


A/N: Thanks for reading. And, thanks for reviewing :). I'm trying to warm back up to third person writing... I couldn't resist pulling in Cyrus Lupo. I have always had this thing for Jeremy Sisto.