Homo Homini Lupis 1x14

Goren felt the stillness of his apartment like a shackle around his neck. Placing his keys on the table and dropping his briefcase where he stood, but refusing to shed his jacket, he stepped groggily further into the 'living' room. Finding his couch with ease despite the dark, he dropped down heavily to it with an exhausted groan. A hand reached up immediately to massage his tired eyes, outright refusing to work any longer.

This was not one of those cases detectives could not brush off with some laughter and a good bar. It was cases like these that slowly drove good people to the brink. A girl had been raped by a sadist all because of that useless vile thing called money. But she got you... she got you...

Goren shook his head, bounding to his feet and making it to his door in seconds.

He needed to walk.

~*~

Alex let her breath out in a huff. She mindlessly turned down the volume on the TV; it wasn't helping anyway. She curled her legs under her, hugging her knees and blowing a strand of hair from her face. She knew what she wanted and it sure didn't come from a late night infomercial.

"Eames? What's up?" Bobby's voice crackled through the phone, concern filling his words to the brim. Alex suddenly felt very foolish for calling, fingers worrying her nails.

"Nothing but my rent." She replied with a small chuckle. Only ambient noise filled the pause, tension in both listeners as they waited for the other.

"Sorry," She finally muttered in self-derivitive embarrassment. "I probably shouldn't have bothered you."

"It's okay, I'm not doing anything important anyway." He assured her quickly.

"Wandering?" Alex guessed succinctly. She could imagine him nodding before remembering there was no way for her to see him.

"Yep." Another stretch of silence. Alex twisted a lock of hair around her pinky. "Hey Eames?"

"Yeah?" She answered, cringing at the over-eager response.

"Can I drop by your place? I mean, if you're not busy. It's just I'm in the area and—"

"Sure Bobby." Alex said, a smile brushing her lips. Trust Goren to pick up on what she needed most after a long day. "I'll pour us some scotch, I should have some stashed away someplace."

"Good." He sighed in relief. There was a comfortable lull in the conversation, where Alex could just picture him making his way across the city streets, lanky legs, teddy bear face and all. A memory from earlier forced it's way to the front of her mind: Goren holding Maggie's tiny, sobbing form tight, enveloping her in the safety of his arms, reassuring her that she was the strong one, that she survived despite it all...

The threat of tears, foreign for such a long time, now pressed at the corners of her eyes. Alex blinked them away, along with the oh so haunting image. Never let it be said that the detective ever envied a victim.

"Eames?" She took a deep breath at the sound of her partner's voice.

"Yeah, Goren?"

"I'm, uh, I'm here." He said hopefully.

"Oh." Alex blinked in surprise.

"I'll, uh... I'm gonna hang up now." He said awkwardly. She softened, finally standing up.

"Alright Bobby." She answered, a breathy chuckle accompanying her steps to the front door. "Alright."

My first try at Eames' POV. I hope it wasn't too OOC. That one scene in the episode always breaks my heart, and I'm pretty sure Alex would have felt similarly.