TREMORS

CHAPTER 7

This chapter is set during and after Stress Position.

Thank you to Squarey for co-writing this chapter, specifically the last scene.

Thank you as always, Spook. You catch my boo-boos and inconsistencies.

Mike turned his key in the lock and let himself into Gina's apartment. They had been dating five months and he spent a considerable amount of time at her apartment these days. The apartment was quiet as he entered and he thought for a moment that Gina wasn't there. But then he saw her in the bedroom, sitting on the foot of her bed. She was sitting still, staring straight ahead. Her eyes were red from crying, but she was sitting calmly.

"Gina?" Mike knelt in front of her. "What's wrong? Did something happen to your mother?"

She shook her head. "N…no, it's not my mother." She took a deep, shaky breath. "One of the guards from my prison was murdered this morning, Taylor Kenna."

"He was from your prison?! I heard about it, but they hadn't released his name or where he worked. Did you know him well?"

Gina nodded. "Yeah, he used to come into the infirmary and talk sometimes. He was studying to be a firefighter and I'm studying to be a paramedic. He passed his exam and was hired by the fire department. He was leaving soon." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I…I don't know why I got so worked up. I'll go fix us some dinner, OK?" She tried to stand, but Mike pushed her gently back down.

"Hey, it's OK, Gina," he said softly. "A coworker was murdered. That would shake anyone." He put his arms around her and she laid her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry about dinner. We'll order pizza or something."

Gina closed her eyes and held back more tears. "Thank you," she whispered.

She said little over the next few days. When Mike tried to talk to her, she insisted she was fine. But on Friday night Mike arrived at her apartment and found her agitated. Still she refused to say much, but she did finally tell him that two detectives came to the prison and talked to her about Kenna. She was obviously upset about their visit, which he couldn't understand. Mike knew that it only made sense for the detectives to talk to Kenna's coworkers to try and find out who might have had a motive to kill him. However, Mike was certain that she was afraid of something, but he couldn't get anymore information out of her. She finally showed him the card that one of the detectives had given her.

After she excused herself and locked herself in the bathroom to take a shower. Mike looked at the card. "Detective Robert Goren—Major Case Squad—NYPD". He tucked it in his pocket and decided that on Monday he would go to One Police Plaza. He wanted to have a talk with this Detective Robert Goren and find out just what he had said to Gina that had her so scared.

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Three weeks later, Annie was setting the table for dinner. She ran her finger around the delicate flowers on the rim of a plate. Tonight's dinner party was a good excuse to use her fine china. Alex would be there with Tom Spencer. She knew Alex had been dating him for some time, but Annie had not seen him since the day they met on the side of a busy highway where a small boy had been hit by a car. Annie and Tom had worked together, doing CPR, until the ambulance arrived. She would always remember the sight of that small boy in the big firefighter's arms. Also joining them would be Mike Logan and Gina Lowe. She knew Mike vaguely, having met him in the ER years earlier when he was a detective for the homicide division of the 27th precinct. She had never met Gina, but knew that she was Mike's girlfriend, she was a nurse, and that until recently she had worked at Brooklyn Federal Prison.

When Annie read about the "secret prisoners" and their torture at the hands of a few guards, she remembered the night that Bobby came home very late and asked him if this was his case. He confirmed that he and Alex had worked on it but, as was beginning to happen much more frequently, he did not want to talk about it. However, Alex had told her some of the details of what went on, including the fact that Mike Logan had inserted himself into the investigation because of Gina, and that he and Bobby had faced down four guards in order to protect Gina. She also told Annie that Captain Deakins had been very impressed with the detective and was considering asking for his transfer to Major Case. Annie had insisted, over Bobby's objections, on organizing a dinner to meet Logan and Gina—as well as to spend some time with Alex and Tom.

The table was set, the salad was made and was chilling in the refrigerator, the lasagna was almost done baking, and the garlic bread was ready to go in the oven just before serving dinner. Bobby was still upstairs, showering and changing clothes from work. The children were spending the night next door with Janey and Rob. Annie sat down on one of the dining room chairs and relaxed with a soda.

It was just over a week since Thanksgiving. A whole year since my "banishment", Annie thought wryly. It was her turn to work this holiday, so Bobby and the children had gone to Carmel Ridge to spend the day with Frances. They were home before she got home from work, and Bobby insisted on taking them all out to dinner. She sighed as she thought about last Thanksgiving, with the work and preparations she had put into it. She had been so excited to have Frances and Frank join them, as well as Grandpa. But then it had all gone so terribly wrong. She wasn't sure anything would ever be the same.

She had gotten some good news, though. True to her word, Olivia Benson had stopped by the ER one day this week to tell Annie about the four children she had wanted so desperately to take home; Judy, Sammie, Mikey, and baby Susie. According to Olivia, they had been placed with a wonderful, loving foster family; a mother, a father, and one child just about Judy's age. Olivia told her that they were doing very well. Judy and Sammie had started school; the foster mother had worked with them all summer to get them ready, especially Judy who was so far behind. Olivia said that Judy had started out the year somewhat behind her classmates, but had quickly caught up, thanks to the tutoring of her foster mother. Mikey was in a preschool program three mornings a week and had become a happy, chubby little boy. She said that even Susie, the somber baby who rarely cried or smiled, was beginning to catch up to her developmental milestones.

"You know," Olivia said, "the social worker, Lily, told me about the visit you had with the children that morning. She said that Susie smiled at your husband—the first time she had smiled since we brought her in, and the only time she smiled for quite a while, even after being placed with the foster family."

Annie smiled at her. "That's my Bobby—he can charm any female, even an infant."

Annie was glad to hear that the children were doing so well and that they had spent a very happy Thanksgiving with their new family. She wasn't sure she was as happy to hear that Children's Services was going forward with a plan to reunite them with their mother. She had escaped jail time for the neglect charges, but was on probation. Olivia said that she was attending parenting classes and having supervised visits with the children twice a week.

"Smells good," Bobby said as he walked in and leaned down to kiss her. He pulled a chair next to hers and sat down.

"It should be ready to come out of the oven soon." Annie smiled and ran her fingers through his damp curls, noticing for the first time a few gray strands. "Olivia Benson came to see me this week. She says the kids are with a good foster family and are doing really well."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

"But….well, they are trying to reunite them with their mother. I hope…." She trailed off.

Bobby looked down at the floor and nodded his head. "I know, Babe. I'm sorry…we just…"

"I know," she interrupted. "I know we couldn't. And even if we had taken them, they would still be having visits with their mother…Children's Services would still be planning to reunite them. The important thing is that they are being taken care of." She leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes. "Maybe you were right…that I need to be needed."

Bobby held her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. "I need you," he whispered. The timer rang in the kitchen. Bobby smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'll check on the lasagna," he told her. Together they went to the kitchen and put the finishing touches on dinner.

Listening to the talk around the table later that evening, Annie was glad she had insisted on this dinner. Everyone seemed comfortable and to genuinely like the others. Gina was uncomfortable at first, but when she found out that Annie was also a nurse she began to relax and open up. Annie watched Tom and Alex surreptitiously. At least she thought she was being surreptitious until Bobby nudged her under the table. She smiled at him as he frowned slightly and shook his head almost imperceptibly. She knew as well as he did that Alex would not be pleased if she caught Annie beaming with joy at her and Tom. So she tried to control her facial expressions, but couldn't help the giddy feeling at the thought of the possibility of Alex being in love. She was enjoying getting to know Tom. They had only met once, under traumatic circumstances, and he had gained her respect that day. But seeing him now, laughing and joking with Mike and Bobby, turning his full attention (and devastating smile) on Alex each time she spoke, Annie was liking him more and more each moment.

Everyone pitched in to clear the table after eating. Tom and Mike were both impressed to hear that Bobby owned a 1967 Mustang and asked to see it before they sat down to enjoy the cheesecake Annie had made for dessert. The women preferred to go straight to the cheesecake. Annie and Alex asked Gina questions about herself, trying to draw her out. The conversation turned to the reason Bobby and Alex had met her; the investigation that led to the discovery of "secret prisoners". Gina described the confrontation Bobby and Mike had with the corrupt guards. She was overwhelmed by the realization that the men she had worked with were planning to harm her.

"I was so scared when they came after us in that hallway," she said. "If Mike and Bobby hadn't been there…." She shuddered slightly and was silent for a moment before going on. "Mike was…well, Mike. He was ready to just jump in and start fighting. He told them that…well, that they would take at least one of them with them, and that the death penalty would be for the others. I thought that…." She faltered and Annie reached across to squeeze her hand. "Anyway, Bobby told me to tell what I had seen, the injuries I had seen on the secret prisoners. I did, and then Bobby started talking to each one of them. It was amazing; it was like he was inside their heads or something. He knew things about them…not just the stuff that he could have found in their personnel files, but how they think, how they feel. I couldn't believe it when Hector threw down his stick and walked away. And then Rollie did the same thing. Then Doug put his stick away and he walked us out. I've never seen anything like that. How does he do that?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know, but I've seen it over and over. It's like Bobby not only knows how they think, he actually thinks their thoughts. He just seems to instinctively know their weakest spot and he hones in on that until they are completely defenseless."

Annie listened in silence, realizing that this was a part of Bobby's life she had never seen. Although he talked to her about cases…or at least he used to talk to her about them; he seemed to do less and less of that lately. But when he did talk about a case, it was as though he was using Annie as a sounding board to process his own feelings about it. She had only occasionally seen him in his capacity as a cop, on the rare instances that he came to interview a victim in the ER. But she had never seen him with a suspect, had never seen this side of him that Gina and Alex were describing.

"After Doug opened the gate, Bobby and I walked out with him. But Mike went back and picked up one of the sticks from the floor and faced down Kurt Plumm like he wanted to go after him. But Bobby called him to come with us and he threw the stick down." She sighed and took a sip of coffee. "Even though Plumm and the others are gone and the secret prisoners aren't secret anymore…I just couldn't stay. I quit and didn't even give any notice. I got a job at a hospital on Staten Island. It doesn't pay as much, but it'll do until I pass my paramedic exam."

Annie shook her head and sighed. "I could never work in a prison. I don't even like it when the police bring suspects in before taking them in to be booked. It's not just that I would be scared working in a prison," she said thoughtfully. "Although, I would be very scared. But when the police bring someone in and I see this man or woman with hands cuffed behind…it's just…depressing? Does that make sense?"

Gina nodded her head. "Yeah, it does. It is depressing."

The men returned from the garage, talking about cars and engines, and Annie got up to serve them cheesecake and coffee. She watched Bobby as he laughed at something Mike said. She was glad to see him enjoying himself, especially knowing that he had only agreed to this dinner because she wanted it. That was one of the many things she loved about him, his willingness to step out of his comfort zone just to please her.

As they stood in the doorway, saying goodbye to the two couples, Bobby kept his arm around her and she leaned into the warmth of his body. He helped her clean up in the kitchen and they went upstairs. Bobby lay on the bed, watching her go about her bedtime routine. She climbed on the bed and sat cross-legged, facing him.

"I remember reading about Mike hitting that city councilman. And I remember all the broken hearts when he stopped coming by the ER," Annie told him with a smile.

Bobby grinned at her. "Was yours one of those broken hearts?"

"Hardly. I already had my own hunky cop to come home to." Bobby rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand. "I like Tom," she told him. "He's crazy about Alex."

"Uh huh…" Bobby traced designs on her leg with his finger, sending little sparks through her. "You need to keep a lid on that….uh….enthusiasm. Eames will not be amused."

"I'll try." She sighed. "But I can't help being happy to see her happy. She and Tom just seem….happy," she said with a laugh, at a loss for a better word. "Now Mike and Gina, on the other hand, are a different story entirely."

"Really? How so?"

"They won't be together much longer. If this whole thing at the prison hadn't happened, they probably would have broken up already. But the danger and drama of what they went through together, and her gratitude that you and Mike saved her…well, it's kept them connected for a while. But it'll wear off and they will drift apart."

"Really," he said again in an amused voice.

She nodded with conviction. "They don't have that connection that will keep them together long term."

"And you know this how?"

Annie shrugged and grinned at him, then lay down with her back to him and scooted against him until he was spooning her. "I know a little something about human nature, too, Mr. Detective."

He laughed softly and circled his arms around her, kissing her ear. He tucked her head under his chin and Annie wiggled against him slightly to get comfortable.

"Bobby…" she said hesitantly. "You never told me how Thanksgiving was."

"It was fine," he said softly.

"But…did your…" she stopped, changed her question. "How was the food?"

"It was fine. Just the usual Thanksgiving food; turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie. A lot of family members came. It was….nice." Annie didn't ask the question foremost on her mind, but Bobby answered it anyway. "She didn't ask about you, Babe," he said softly, kissing the top of her head.

Lying in the comfort of Bobby's arms, she thought about what Gina and Alex had said earlier. It had always amazed her that he knew her so well that he almost seemed to read her mind. She knew that part of that was the fact that she had never learned to hide her emotions and they showed clearly on her face. But it went deeper than that. He could read her moods and thoughts better than even Grandpa had ever been able to; he knew her weaknesses and fears, as well as what brought her joy. She was glad that she had never tried to keep secrets from him because it sometimes felt like he was inside her head. It had never occurred to her that he had that same ability to understand intimate details about suspects; that he used it to actually break down their defenses. With her it had always been something he used to enhance intimacy. She wondered what it was like for the people he was trying to break down. The thought caused a slight shiver to run through her and Bobby tightened his arms around her and pulled her even closer. Closing her eyes, she felt a warm heaviness drift over her body as sleep approached.

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Bobby found himself wandering through the darkness of the house. Even though most every night he went to bed at the same time as his wife, he rarely managed to fall asleep at the same time. As years went by, he convinced himself that was because he needed fewer hours of sleep. Of course that went against science; people do not need less sleep as they get older. However, Bobby conveniently overlooked the science of sleep and dutifully ignored the reasons he wasn't sleeping like he used to.

He poured the rest of the bottle of wine into one of the wine glasses drying on the rack on the kitchen counter and made his way back toward the dining room table. He sat in the same place he had sat at dinner. It was the head of the table. Even after all of these years it still felt funny to sit here, in his house, with his family, at the head of the table. The position was so incredibly fragile.

He drank the dry red wine and thought about the conversation earlier. Well, really he thought about the people. Eames at his house for dinner with her, um, boyfriend. Eames had a boyfriend. He smiled like a middle school kid over such a middle school thought.

Mike Logan seemed like a good enough guy. He had an uneven rep in the department, but who was he to judge a guy by his rep. Logan had handled himself well during the entirety of the case. And if Bobby had gone by the guy's rep alone, then Logan would have led with aggression first in those final moments in the prison. Instead the Staten Island detective had exercised judgment and let Bobby work toward reasoning with the guards.

He swirled the wine in the glass and watched it cling and slip down the sides. A nice evening with friends, with his wife, in his house. Each and every moment, Annie added value, she gave him possibility, something he had never had as a boy.

"Baby, come to bed," Annie surprised him. He hadn't heard her come downstairs.

"It was a nice evening." He drained the rest of the glass of wine. He reached over for her, his large hands on her rounded hips, and gently pulled her over to stand in front of him.

"Yes." She nodded, warm and slow from sleep. She ran her hands softly through his hair. Slowly he lifted her up to sit on the table.

"We should do that more often," he mumbled, moving her bathrobe aside so he could run his hands up her legs. She laughed, causing him to look up at her.

"I like to have people over for dinner," she smiled down at him, and he knew she was teasing him, because it was on him that they didn't have people over more often.

"Yeah, I know," he moved his hands up her thighs so slowly that his fingers splayed open from the gentle pressure of his skin on her skin. He could feel her breath hitch in her chest. "The kids, they're at Janey's for the night," he leaned forward and kissed her thigh just above her knee. She still hadn't let go of her breath and now he could feel her trembling beneath his kiss. So, he kissed her again, this time higher, and he used his hands to spread her thighs more open. She moved her hands to be on top of his hands, her fingernails sinking in to his skin as she moved his touch higher. He kissed her once more, very high, very softly, and she shivered. He stood slowly in front of her, his hands still on her, moving in toward her, and his mouth found hers. "I love you Annie," he whispered against her lips, and she nodded, at a loss for words. Her only response was to open her legs to him completely.

End Chapter 7

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