Chapter 3

Mendoza knew they were after him. He ran hard, yanking a gun out of the inside of his coat as he did. He ran right into the building they'd been watching and raced down the stairs, clearing the last 3 in one bound.

Goren and Eames were with him. Again, Eames reached for her phone, but Bobby was on the stairs, and vulnerable. She kept her mind on her partner.

The basement was mostly a storage room. There were metal shelves against the wall full of all kinds of things. Chemicals, cleaning supplies, ingredients for meth. The center of the room had a workspace with a mix of office desks and tables. The stained tops indicated that sometimes this place was a lab.

Alex was beside him. They walked carefully between the shelves and the desks and then she saw movement. She made a hand motion for Bobby and then stepped a few feet away from him.

A shot rang out, and Bobby saw Eames fall. He turned his head and a bullet blasted through a bottle on the shelf, spraying chemicals into his eyes and on his face. He cried out and moved wildly, struggling with the burning sensation.

Alex ignored her sore leg and lunged for Bobby. He was an easy target, the way he was staggering around at full height like that. She grabbed the tail of his suit coat. "Bobby, c'mon, get down!"

She pulled him down as another flurry of shots rang out. There was the definite sound of the door slamming closed. Bobby writhed on the floor, and Eames remembered a half a bottle of water she had tucked into her coat pocket earlier. She pulled it out. "Bobby! Bobby, I've got water to rinse your eyes. You've got to hold still. Hold your eyes open."

She physically moved his hand to his eye so he would understand what she wanted him to do. He held his eyelids open and she splashed some water over his eyeball. They did the same for the other eye, and then repeated until the water bottle was empty.

"Better?" she asked him, and he grunted as he started to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. She stopped him. "Don't do that. The chemical, it's on your suit coat."

With a nod, he stripped out of his jacket and blinked. He couldn't see anything, just a blur of light and color. "Eames?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Alex sat back on her bottom with her legs out in front of her. Her hand was on her left leg, and blood was oozing onto her skin. "I think I'm shot," she said.

Bobby was no longer thinking of himself. He reached a hand out, groping for her, trying to find a way to help. "I can't see," he admitted. "Where are you hurt?"

"My leg," she told him, and used her free hand to direct his hand to where her hand was applying pressure. "Don't ask me how, but I think the bullet's still in there."

"Your hands are cold," he said. "You're in shock."

"I'm okay," she replied.

Bobby reached into his pocket and handed her his switchblade. Then he took off his button down shirt. "Here, hold this," he said to Alex. He stripped off his t-shirt and showed it to her. "Is this… the chemicals aren't on it, right?"

"No, it looks good," she said.

He handed her the t-shirt and took his button down back. "Cut it into strips and I'll bandage you." Bobby slipped his overshirt back on as Alex used the switchblade to cut the cotton of his t-shirt.

She had to guide his hands to the right spot, but he managed to wind the cotton strips around her leg.

"You okay?" He asked her.

"I'm okay. It's not bleeding much, I don't think." Alex looked over at him. "Bobby?"

"Yes, Alex?"

"Your eyes are swelling shut."

"Doesn't matter, I can't see anyway," he said. "Do you have your phone?"

She dug it out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Uh, Bobby? We need to move. That wet spot on the floor, the chemicals? It's getting wider."

He tucked her phone into his pants pocket and got to his feet. He rubbed his eyes quickly and then regretted it, because it made the burning sensation worse. Bobby reached down and she grasped his hand. He helped her to her feet.

Alex gasped as she tried to put her weight on her bad leg. Bobby hoisted her up firmly, and she talked him through it. "Straight ahead," Alex commanded. He did as she said, but his right leg bumped against a table. He stopped. "Sorry, I didn't see you were so close to that. Uhm, one step left and then straight ahead."

They made it about three steps forward and then Alex collapsed. He squatted down with her, reaching out gently with his hands. "Alex?"

Her breath caught and hitched. "I can't," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Well, we got away from the chemicals, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's okay, then."

He grabbed her phone out of his pocket and just as quickly handed it back to her. It was a smart phone, a smooth piece of glass. "There's no buttons to dial," he explained.

Alex took the phone and looked at the screen. "Doesn't matter," she said. "No service. I guess this basement is insulated enough…"

"Maybe my phone," he said, turning his head and trying to see through the swollen, blurry mess.

"No, Bobby. If there's no service, there's no service."

"But my phone has buttons."

"I can't walk again," Alex said. "And you'll probably get into the chemicals. Just leave it."

He sighed and nodded.

"How are your eyes?"

"Burning."