I'm just about free when I suddenly Ross walks up to me "Eames what are you doing, did they release you already?" he asks.

I poke the floor with my toe and decide that I need shoes as I answer his questions "I don't need medical attention, I need to find my partner."

"You slept with him didn't you?" Ross asks almost seemingly out of nowhere.

"Whoa, um how did you find out about that?" I'm a little caught off guard.

"Danny Messer from the crime lab is going around telling everybody that you're pregnant by Goren, is this true?"

"Yes" I try not to seem nervous, but I'm suddenly scared that Ross will end our partnership.

"Well, I'm not going to sever your partnership, that would just be stupid especially since your partner is missing."

I breathe a sigh of relief.

"On one condition." Ross states.

"What's that?" I ask warily.

"Next time the two of you have intercourse, use a condom."

I decide not to point out that a person cannot get pregnant while they are already pregnant and my partner doesn't have STDs, I'm just glad that it's a fair compromise. Now I just need to get out of here and save my partner. I can't imagine what kind of hell he's going through.

"I need to get out of here." I continue to look at my grey socks, suddenly feeling like they are the most interesting thing in the room.

"If the doctors haven't released you yet you can't leave."

"I don't care what the damn doctors have to say! I care about my partner! I need to find him before they kill him!" I find myself wondering when I became this person, this woman who is reckless and a bit crazy. Who risks her life and sanity for a man with no family, with few friends, a man who I am no doubt in love with. All I know for sure is that if I loose him my heart will be broken beyond repair.

"I need to get out of here," I repeat more slowly.

"Fine," Ross finally listens to me.


Two hours later I'm sitting in the break room of 1PP wearing clean, fresh clothes but more importantly I'm studying the evidence from the crime scene. Nichols and Porter sit across the table from me, also poring over the evidence. Ross walks in.

"So what have we got?" he asks.

"Nothing boss," Porter groans.

Ross turns to me "Eames, did you notice anything strange about you lov.. I mean partner." the idiot was about to say lover. Why won't the bastard leave me alone about it.

"He's been more tense lately," (probably my fault, I've been an ass to him lately, will he ever forgive me) I respond.

"Do you know why he was tense?"

I hang my head " I believe Detective Goren was under the impression that I was angry with him. That I might want a new partner."

"Were you angry with him? Did you want a new partner?"

"I was angry with myself for drinking too much , sleeping with him and well.. ( I ignore the stares that Nichols and Porter are now giving me) I may have took my anger out on him to hide the emotions I really felt. I could never ask for a better partner, even though of course he's not an easy partner to have. I just want to see him alive again."

I try to hide the emotions overwhelming me, probably due in part to the unbalanced hormones my pregnant body now contains and due in part to what feels like a part of me being ripped out. That's when I feel my stomach lurch again.

"I need to go." I rush towards the ladies room, barely getting into the stall before I vomit violently.

I exit the stall and wash my hands, that's when Porter walks in "Are you okay?"

I nearly scream NO I'M NOT OKAY, MY PARTNER IS BEING TORTURED AS WE SPEAK!!! but I compose myself, "morning sickness."

"Oh, so Messer was right?"

"Yes, and if it weren't for the fact that he's got a family to provide for, I'd murder him for blurting that out."

I don't say anything else as I wipe my hands on a towel and toss it into the trash before leaving.

When I renter the break room Nichols looks up from the file he is reading "Crime lab identified one of the abductors. When they tried to track him down, they discovered he had been killed, body was two blocks from your house. Detective Flack is going to interview his widow.

"I want to help with the interview," I blurt out.

"Okay," Ross walks in. "I'll tell Flack."

"Good"

Ross pulls out his cellphone and begins to dial the number.