A/N: Alright I know this is shorter- but in my defense I am dying of a cold currently- so i did what I could. Next chapter is gonna be full of angst- so it may take me a few days to get it out there, so to speak. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I'm too sick to do this. Just don't sue.

She welcomed the break in the awkward tension of the room when the files arrived via courier less than an hour later. Carver must have pulled strings to get a warrant signed that fast- but it was amazing how quickly the wheels of justice could turn once someone's life was at stake. The stack of files was at least a foot deep- and she was opening files and reading off names as Bobby wrote them down, along with the addresses on the board in front of him. After the first few files, Ross wandered into the room, and started typing the list up so that they would be able to e mail it to the various task forces to split the list up for the search.

"Havlier and Wills, address for him is 672 West 41st street, apartment 105." She paused, taking a sip of water and watching as Bobby nodded, scrawling along the board and placing a mark on a map. Ross continued typing as she spoke. Sighing she grabbed the next file.

"Logan and Barek- wait, Logan and Barek?" She stopped- looking at Ross as she spoke, and Bobby turned, silent. Ross didn't look up, merely typing Logan's address – apparently from memory.

"Didn't you wonder why they were split up Detectives?" His voice was flat as he typed.

"I just assumed she went back to the FBI or-" She glanced at Bobby for help, but he just shrugged , indicating he had no clue either- not that that was surprising. "Wait- Logan is in today right?" Her voice was tight as she spoke, but Bobby was the one who nodded first.

"I saw him- a few hours ago. Maybe? He was in the break room, waiting for instructions from us when the search time comes." Once he finished speaking, Bobby turned and scrawled Logan's name on the board with a slight tilt to his head.

Shaking her head- she really had no clue that Mike and Carolyn- sure they were always joking last year- but she never thought- she had never asked either though. Grabbing the next file, she began rattling off names at Bobby who studiously copied them down, his body angled awkwardly to accommodate his left handedness. They went on with the list for another few moments, rattling off files and copying in silence.

"Benson and Stabler – address for him is 600 Canal St." She picked up the next file, feeling a sudden sense of fatigue and a slight sense of anxiety as she selected it. Opening the file, she sat silent for a moment, staring at the contents. Her face flushed, and then went pale, and she sat still as a stone for a moment.

"Eames- Are you alright?" Bobby's voice was anxious and somewhere to her left, so she automatically turned her head to reassure him, but no words came when she opened her mouth. How had this happened? Had she let something slip- let something show? And oh God if someone else saw- what if Bobby had too? And ignored it. She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering herself together and reopening them.

"Goren and Eames, Bobby I think you know your own address." She forced her usual dry humor into her voice, a sarcastic sense of 'oh how ridiculous'. Goren turned to her, snatching the file out of her hands faster than she could blink.

"Someone- someone reported us?" His voice was low and strained as he spoke. He glanced up at her quickly before turning away, still gripping the report in his hands. "Who?"

"Bobby- the complainants names are blacked out- you know that." She took a deep breath, forcing calm to spread throughout her body. She was all too aware of Captain Ross' presence in the room, even if Bobby had forgotten. "What does it matter, anyway? We weren't charged- so clearly the truth won out-"

"But this means that someone saw our conduct and found it lacking Eames- someone thinks that we aren't able to do our jobs because of some perceived conflict. Who would do that to us?" He had begun pacing, and in an effort to stop the confrontation that could occur between Bobby and their Captain, she stood, crossing over to block his path. He halted in front of her an indignant expression on his face. Gently she pried the file from his hands, and pushed him over to her chair, pushing him down until he landed with a soft thud.

"You read the rest of the names, I'll write Bobby." Her voice was stern and no nonsense, and it seemed to get through. He shook his head slightly, pulling a file over to him and she walked over to the white board , picking the marker up off the floor. Placing their file on a table over by her, she waited for him to read, ignoring Ross – as he had been ignoring them for the last few moments, thankfully.

A half hour later, they had the completed list- and were dividing it up into four sections for the task force teams. Once it was e mailed they grabbed their coats and strode out to meet the milling crew of officers awaiting instructions. Handing out the sheets with various addresses, they decided to split each task force into teams of five and each take three addresses.

Alex and Bobby wound up on a team with Ross, and two SWAT officers – Norel and Healy. They set out quickly- each team trying to get the checks done and over with- so they could find and arrest Clemmans.

The first two addresses were a bust with them- they had found the men, asleep and confused about why they were being packed into a SWAT van for safety. Almost every man had the same reaction though- they immediately asked about their female counterparts. In some cases it was painfully clear they had been reported for a reason.

As they swung down Canal street- they were going to Detective Stabler's next- the tension was almost palatable in the interior of the car. The other search teams would have reported him found right away- but they had heard no word, other than brief radio contacts stating which addresses were clear. They pulled up to the door, silent- no sirens or lights- they didn't want to alert Clemmans that they were coming. As she and Bobby made their way to the front door, vests on and guns drawn, the two SWAT members went around to the back of the building and Ross trailed behind them, his weapon out. As they approached the porch they could hear shouting from inside. She tensed, and looked at Bobby significantly. The words were muffled but they could hear a male voice yelling loudly. Suddenly the sound of china breaking filtered through the cold night air, and she nodded at Bobby, who kicked down the door with shouts of 'NYPD' and his weapon held securely in front of him. She entered after him quickly to see the SWAT members hovering over two prone bodies on the floor, both stretched out with their hands above their heads. She paused- holstering her weapon when she saw that it was Detective Stabler, and his partner- not Joe Clemmans. Sighing, she waved the SWAT team off, indicating that they should radio the all clear in.

"Alright- what in the hell is going on here?" She spoke in an irritated voice, as Bobby hauled Stabler off of the floor, pushing him back slightly at the expression of anger on his face. It quickly left, however and confusion replaced. Benson stood on her own power, brushing her clothes off and glaring at Bobby.

"Shouldn't we be asking you that? Since when does NYPD bust into their own cops homes?" She glared at Bobby as she spoke- even though Alex had voiced the original question. Alex narrowed her eyes, feeling her irritation grow as she stepped in front of Bobby to speak.

"Since two cops are dead and we have a killer on the loose who could possibly be targeting your partner, Detective Benson." Her voice was clipped, almost sniping in it's anger. Bobby placed a hand on the small of her back and she could feel the tension drain out of her body. She wanted this guy caught- and he knew that.

"We apologize- we heard the shouting and glass breaking- since Detective Stabler was on our list of possible victims- we had to take every precaution- you understand." Benson still eyed him with mistrust but Stabler appeared slightly mortified and ashamed.

"Of course we understand- don't we Liv?" His voice was tight as he spoke. "I'm sorry- we were disagreeing- ask anyone, we're not known for our mild tempers. If we caused any worry- I apologize."

"Whatever." Alex bit out shortly- "You'll still have to come with us- we haven't apprehended the suspect yet and you are still at risk until we do. There's a van outside." Turning on her heel she strode swiftly through the door, leaving the explanations to Bobby and Ross. Frankly she was sick of hearing the same thing- every officer they had gathered so far had been outraged at the implication about he and his partner, and she was sick of hearing the same platitudes each time. Hell at this point, she was beginning to wonder if any teams weren't sleeping together.

She stalked out to the lawn, rolling her neck as she went, trying to ease the tension that seemed permanently embedded there. After only a few moments of blissful silence, she heard his step behind her. Not pausing to think about how she knew it was him, she just sighed tiredly. "Not now Bobby-"

"Then when, Eames? What is going on with you lately?" He had stepped in front of her and she could see the concern written all over his face. "Is it this case? Eames, come on – talk to me." His voice was gentle and persuading and against her own will , she felt the pull his voice elicited. A need to tell him and just deal with it.

"Yes and no, Bobby- this case- it's just, I mean God Bobby are there any partners not breaking the rules around here? What the hell are they there for if- if everyone is just going to ignore them?" She waved her hands as she spoke her voice strained and oddly high. He stared at her for a moment, running his hand along his jaw before speaking.

"You don't know they're all involved Eames. Hell- if someone came knocking on my door saying a serial killer was targeting fraternizing partners, I'd ask about you first too. It doesn't mean they're sleeping together- it means they care. And if every single partnership didn't have that level of caring at least- I'd be more worried." She turned away as he spoke- knowing that what he said was true. She was judging these people- just like Clemmans. Or was she just jealous? That they could clearly disregard rules, when she couldn't seem to do the same?

"I know." She spoke softly and he had to lean over her shoulder slightly to hear her. "I just kind of wonder what's the point? Why follow the rules when no one else is?"

He seemed to freeze for a moment, his eyes watching her, and she refused to look up- knowing that if Bobby was intuitive enough, which of course he was, he was Bobby for christ's sake – he could hear the implication in her statement. Her heart slowed and seemed to stop beating as he leaned closer, in order to see her face better. She could feel the heat radiating off of his body, and she shivered in response to it. "Eames-" his voice was barely a breath, hardly above a whisper, but the way he said her name – pained and longing all at once-

"Goren, Eames! Get your asses back here. Task force three radioed in- they got him!" Ross' voice rang across the yard and they both turned, startled. They both released the breath they had been holding, and ran swiftly across the lawn. Jumping into the van, she sat silently staring out the window- trying to be thankful Clemmans was caught and not think about what almost happened, or feel her partners eyes watching her carefully.

"He's in interrogation one- but you need to know- we found him at Havlier's address-" Cooper, one of the detectives on the task force that had apprehended Clemmans paused awkwardly.

"You were too late?" Alex questioned flatly, sparing a glance at Bobby as she spoke.

"He had already drugged and shot Officer Havlier. He was just preparing to- when we arrived. So at least he didn't get to-" Cooper paused, his head down as he spoke. "If we had of went there first-"

"You can't blame yourselves. Clemmans waits until they've bled out before he starts cutting- chances are Havlier was dead before we got those files." Bobby spoke in a low tone, his hand resting on Cooper's shoulder as he comforted the man. Alex walked towards interrogation one, her steps slow and deliberate, until she stood in front of the door that housed a cop killing psycho on the other side.

"Eames-" Bobby had stepped up beside her, pulling her left into the observation room with him. Turning to her once inside, he spoke quickly. "We need to- to decide what approach to take. How to break him."

She stood, silently observing him with her arms wrapped around her waist. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and pulled tight- like she would fall apart at any moment. Part of her knew the danger in this, she hadn't been herself this case. Maybe the stress of everything had caught up with her. She was terrified to step in that room and face that man- but it was her job. And she was nothing if not a good cop, and right now she needed to help Bobby plan.

"Eames?" Bobby's voice intruded on her thoughts and he observed her as he leaned against the frame of the window. She took a deep breath, swallowing her nervousness and the feeling of dread lodged in her throat.

"Alright- how do you want to play?"

"He's going to deal better with me-" Bobby paused, peering through the window to the man housed behind it. His wrists were cuffed and resting on the table, and his head was down. There was no movement of any kind from Joe Clemmans, save for the rapid tapping of his fingers against the metal table top. "He- he sympathizes with the men- thinks they're victims. In fact- if you could play that up- it would infuriate him. Act like I'm on a tight leash-"

"Act?" She spoke dryly with an arched brow and he smiled in response.

"Jerk me around on evidence- that type thing. Fail to back me up- in other words, act the opposite you normally do. It'll infuriate him." He turned to her, frowning slightly when he caught site of her standing behind him. She nodded without speaking, her eyes still fastened on Joe Clemmans, and he frowned deeper. "Are you- will you be alright to do this?"

She glared at him with a frown. "Of course I'll be alright Bobby- aren't I always?" He seemed to hesitate a moment, before nodding slightly and exiting the room, taking his binder from Ross- who had been standing outside. She followed, at about a pace behind until they stood before the door. Then Bobby reached back, gently placing her in front of him, a sign of deference. They paused for a beat- exchanging a glance, concerned on his part, nervous on hers. Their eyes held for a beat, and then two- and they turned as one to face the latest monster held within the gray walls inside.