When Eames woke up the next morning at the sound of a six thirty alarm, she was surprised to be looking up at a dark green ceiling instead of a white one. Ugh, this early? Where am I- oh, yeah. She turned and looked into the face of a sleeping Bobby, hardly graceful, a bit gruff, but exactly the way she loved him. "I love you," she said as she kissed his forehead
She looked over the side of the bed; where are my- oh, there they are. She grabbed her shirt, pants, and underthings and went to the bathroom to wash up and change. After she was dressed she went down the hall and into the kitchen. In a few minutes the distinct aroma of coffee beans filled the air.
She went back into the room to wake up Bobby, but he looked so peaceful that she decided to give him a few more minutes of sleep. She turned to exit when she heard his familiar, if groggy, voice coming from behind her. "You're leaving already?"
She turned back around, smiling and happy to hear him, saying, "You can't get rid of me that easily, Goren." She went back to the side of the bed and sat next to him, rubbing his back. "You okay?"
"Yeah, you?" He looked relaxed, she thought, more relaxed than he had in days. "A really great night will do that to you," he said, as if he could read the relief on her face.
"Come on, I made coffee."
After he had changed and showered he headed into the kitchen. "Navigating your way around alright?" he said as he pulled up a barstool.
"Yeah," she said as she handed him a cup of coffee. She hadn't been this happy since…since her husband died. She had always thought that she would never be able to cope with another man, another body to care for besides her own, ever again. When he died it cut a hole in her stomach, and while it would always be there, she knew that she gained a lot more than she ever could have thought from Bobby, in experience, friendship, and now in love. She laughed quietly to herself, overcome with happiness.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
"Nothing, it's just that this is Java; I'd always figured you to be a French Roast kind of guy."
"Yeah, well, like me it's an acquired taste, remember?"
"Yeah."
He laughed lightly, and then looked at her more closely. "Hey, are you crying?"
She reached up to her eyes; they were covered in wet tears. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she tried to cover up her face.
Bobby stood up and walked behind the counter to hold Alex in his arms while she cried silently. "It's okay, Alex, it's okay." He held her for the longest time before she looked up, wiping the tearstains from her face. She looked up at him, afraid she had hurt him in some way.
"I'm sorry Bo-"
He held her even closer, so as not to give her any room to misinterpret how he felt. "No, don't ever be afraid to cry in front of me. I love you, remember?"
"I know," she said, "I just…I'm so happy to have you."
He kissed her forehead. "You always have."
They stayed in that way for a bit longer, neither wanting to leave the other's embrace, when Bobby saw the clock on the wall. "Hey Alex?" he said, his chin resting slightly on her hair, "We have to get going to work."
"Oh, God, I'm not dressed!" She left his arms and hurried around frantically looking for her keys.
"Yes you are," he said, watching her move and quietly analyzing how this tiny woman, nearly a head shorter than him, could be so productive.
She stood up and looked at him mockingly, "In the same clothes I wore yesterday?"
Oh, right. "Here," he said, handing her a cup of coffee. "Your keys are in your purse, which," he laughed, "is somewhere down the hall."
She walked towards him and, putting the coffee down in the kitchen, she reached up to stroke his face. "You're impossible," she said laughingly before she rested her lips on his.
15 minutes later, Alex got into her car and drove to her apartment. She showered and looked into her closed for something workable to wear. She picked out a pair of black jeans and a blue collared shirt, buttoned just enough to keep Bobby wondering, like he still is!, and headed out the door.
She was lucky enough to find a space off of a side street to park in instead of having to pay at the garage. After getting out, she walked for two minutes until she heard one of the loudest booms that she had ever heard before.
CICICICICICICICICICICICI
Bobby arrived at work on time, and as he thought, no one the wiser when he sat down at his desk. Unfortunately, Mike Logan decided that this was not his day.
"Hey, Goren, how are you?"
Bobby looked around before he looked back up at Mike, clearly wondering why his usually temperamental disposition was so sunny. "I'm, um, fine Logan. How are-"
"Because it seems to me," he said as he moved in, quietly picking out the most daunting words to say, "that after a guy tells a woman that he loves her and gets shot down, he should be heart broken." Mike smiled as Bobby sat, shocked. "That is, unless something happened to make her change her mind."
"Logan," he said shakily, trying not to overdo it, "what are you talking about, I-" he suddenly realized his fatal mistake.
In the interrogation room. Falacci and Logan saw it through the window. All of it.
"Someone had a lot of fun last night."
For a second Bobby contemplated the thought of Mike telling the captain what was going on, and then he remembered just what kind of man Logan was.
"Don't worry," he said, "I won't tell. Neither will Nola, and she's got a will of steel."
"Thanks," said Bobby, taking a relaxed breath, "I appreciate that."
"No problem," said Logan, "it took a lot of balls to say what you said in there."
The men smiled at each other in an understanding way, but before any work could get done Alex Eames ran through the door. At first only Bobby could tell that she was flustered, but in a few moments the entire squadron could tell that she was upset. Before anyone could help her, the phones started ringing like crazy.
"Hello, Major Case Squad…what, an explosion, where?"
"Major Case Squad, ma'am, just tell me exactly what you saw."
"Major Case Squad, yes, I understand how urgent this is."
"Bobby," she said frantically, trying to reason through what had just happened. "I think someone blew up my car."
Over the din all four could hear Ross yell "Detectives!"; Alex looked back up at Bobby. "Never mind, I know that someone blew up my car."
For the next few hours everybody was tense. For starters, the Captain told them that it was most likely a hit by Christ's Children, a name that apparently had a more dangerous connotation than it sounded. CC was a typical religious group, but over the last couple of years had turned fanatic. Now, unfortunately, it seemed that the damage had been done: not only had the attack wounded seven people, the group now knew that Alex was staked outside of the clinic that night. At the very least they thought that she was an aborter, and at the most…they could twist their sick minds into believing anything about the squad, putting everyone else's lives in danger.
Ross tried to assign the detectives a unit to keep an eye out for them, but neither of the four wanted to be followed indefinitely. In fact, all of them just wanted to get out of there and find some place quiet to think and pull themselves together, especially Alex. As soon as they were released she went to her desk to grab her things when she saw an envelope sitting on her desk. Great, another surprise, she thought, and opened the letter.
Det. Alexandra Eames,
We are watching you. We know who you are. You should be afraid.
She dropped the note on the desk and stepped back, shaking her head as if this could not be happening to her. Bobby went over to her desk and picked up the note; as he read it the color drained from his face. His hand balled into a fist and crumpled the note into a small ball of paper. He threw it on the desk and took Alex's arm. "Come on, we're leaving."
Before she could protest he had led her out of the office, into the elevator, and down to the garage. Bobby drove across the bridge towards his house when he took a sharp right and turned onto another road, leading down to the pier. He parked the car and they sat, in silence, for what seemed like forever. Finally, Alex sat up, put her head on the dashboard, and cried.
Bobby reached to comfort her, but at the last moment pulled away. She needs this moment on her own. He watched her sob for fifteen minutes, then pull herself together and sit up straight, brushing back tears. She turned to him, exhausted, and said, "They know about us."
"I know," he said.
"That's how they got to my car; they followed me."
"I know."
"They could still be following us; they could be watching us right now, and-"
She once again fought the urge to cry as tears streamed down her cheeks. Bobby couldn't hold back this time; he reached across the seat and held her close. He let her cry into his shirt and prop herself between his arms as he pulled her onto his lap. "Bobby," she said, sniffling between breaths, "I'm scared."
"Don't be." He sat her up, and looked straight into her eyes. "As long as we're together they will not touch you. I promise." She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest. He kissed her forehead. "I promise you, Alex."
