Disclaimer: Dick Wolfe owns, I'm just borrowing.
A/N: This chapter ended up going a little bit in a different direction then I originally intended but I think it works. I hope you think so too.
They entered the bedroom knowing that Mulroony had been there. The evidence markers were on the dresser and the nightstand. The closet door stood open with a marker on the shelf above the clothes.
Alex glanced at the dresser again. The drawers with her lingerie were open, with a maker in each drawer. Just great she thought to herself. CSU obviously took pictures. It wouldn't surprise me if pictures of my panties were all over 1PP by now. She saw that her jewelry box was open with a marker. Megan was right she would have to go through it to make sure it was all there. At least all of her really good stuff, including her rings from Joe were in a safe deposit box at the bank. Then she saw it. Her wedding picture. There were obvious finger prints on it as well as a marker in front of it. The rest of it was bad enough but the perverted psychopath had touched the wedding picture. Mulroony, of all people, knew how destroyed she was by Joe's death. How many nights had she poured her heart out to him over drinks? She had been exactly like he said; broken, crushed and sobbing for Joe.
Alex reached out and picked up the picture. She clutched it to her chest and sat down on the bed. Bobby stayed by the door, unsure of what he should do. On one hand, he thought he should step out and give her some privacy, but on the other hand he had promised he would be right here is she needed him. What he really wanted to do was too...actually he wasn't sure but it sure as heck wasn't to stand there doing nothing while she suffered emotionally. Before he could decide what to do, Alex sighed and looked over at him.
"You can come the rest of the way in. You don't have to stay by the door."
"I...uh... thought you might want some privacy."
"Why"
Instead of answering he just waved his hand at the picture in her hand.
"OH...why don't you come over here and have a seat." She said and she patted the bed.
Bobby slowly walked over and sat down of the edge of the bed, making sure he was at least a foot away from her. Alex scooted closer to him and angled the picture so he could see it better.
"I wish you could have known him. He would have liked you."
"Um... actually I did know him. Not well mind you but..."
"You never mentioned it before." Alex said with a slight accusation in her voice.
"Now don't get upset...Please? We were both in Narcotics after all. The thing is, most of my time was spent undercover, which you already know. We did cross paths occasionally though."
"I don't remember seeing you at his funeral. I'm sure I would have remembered you, especially once we were partnered."
"I was undercover at the time. I had been under for two months at that point and the case was nearing a critical point. I wanted to come in for the funeral but the Chief of D's said no."
"So why didn't you ever say anything once we were partnered?"
"You said it yourself, you kept your maiden name. I knew Joe but not well enough to know the intimate details of his personal life. Once I did realize it...well it just seemed like it was better left alone." Bobby reached over and Alex handed him the picture. He stared at it for a minute then commented. "Beautiful"
"That was a long time ago."
He closed the rest of the distance between them and put his arm around her. "More so now."
"You are getting older, maybe you should get your eyes checked."
"My eye's are just fine thank you very much. And right now they can see that we have a lot of work to do. Why don't you go through your jewelry and see if anything is missing and I will go gather up the cleaning supplies." Bobby handed the picture back to Alex and stood up. Before he could step away though she reached out and latched onto his hand. He turned back around to face her.
"Thank you"
"For what?" He asked.
"For being here and for being you."
"You don't have to thank me for either of those things. I want to be here and as for being me, well it's better than me being Ross."
"I'm serious Bobby. I really don't think I could handle this on my own."
"Hm...you're stronger than you give yourself credit for. I know you could but you shouldn't have to. Besides which as long as I'm around you won't have to."
