He pulled her closer to him, her back against his chest, and tightened his arms protectively around her. She snuggled close, lightly caressing his arms. He sighed softly. She continued running her fingers lightly along his arms. "Are you sleeping?" she whispered.
"No," he answered.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"This has been bothering me. Out on the pier, Bill mentioned something that seemed to rattle you."
"You're going to have to be a lot more specific than that," he answered.
"Who was Rocket?"
She felt his body tense and she turned in his arms to face him. "Was that a difficult question?"
"Yes." He gently stroked her back. "If you really want to know...it's not pretty."
"Is any of it pretty? Bill did some terrible things to you."
"No, I don't guess any of it is pretty. But this one is...as bad as it gets, I suppose."
"I gather from your reaction to Bill that Rocket was a puppy?"
"He was. Um, it was not long after my mother first got sick. Bill wanted me to do something I didn't want to do. He threatened to tell Dad, but for some reason it didn't scare me. I guess I still thought somehow my mother could protect me. So he threatened to hurt Rocket. He was my aunt's dog, about six months old. But Bill knew I liked him. I called his bluff." He trembled at the memory, and he couldn't tell her what had happened, how Bill had tied the little dog to an old wooden fence and then set it on fire. He'd gotten some second degree burns trying to rescue the puppy, and they'd had to have him put to sleep anyway. After that, he'd never called Bill's bluff again. "It was pretty awful, Eames. He hurt the puppy badly and my aunt had to have him put to sleep. For a long time I carried the guilt for that because Bill said it was my fault it had happened. What did I know? I was eight. If he'd do something that horrible to a little dog...I don't want to imagine what he might do to a person, especially someone he knows I care about." He kissed her forehead. "And he knows I care about you."
"Do I..."
A crash from the living room cut her off. He was out of the bed like a shot, pulling on his pants and grabbing his gun. She yanked on one of his t-shirts and grabbed her own gun, but he was already out the door and down the hall. She heard another crash. Shit...
Staying pressed to the wall, she hurried down the hallway. "Bobby?"
Another crash. She should have grabbed a damn flashlight. She could barely make out the shadows of two people struggling in the middle of the living room. She didn't dare take a shot with no clear target. One of the shadows smashed into the bookcase, which came crashing down, while the other bolted out the door. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a flashlight from the drawer she knew he kept it in, running toward the door. Shining the powerful beam up and down the hall, ready to shoot, she saw nothing. She gave the door a cursory look as she closed it. It had been kicked in. She shined the light toward the bookcase and ran to her partner's side as he groaned and rolled over, dumping books off his back. He'd gotten lucky. When the bookcase collapsed, it had mostly missed him. "Bobby..."
"Where'd he go?"
"He ran out the door, but I couldn't catch him."
"Good. I don't want you...confronting him."
"You're sure it was Bill?"
"I'm sure."
"Are you all right?"
"I'm going to be sore as hell tomorrow. Um, would you find my gun? He knocked it out of my hand."
She found it and handed it to him as he stood up and stretched his back with a wince. He crossed the apartment to the window and looked out into the street below. Nothing moved in the rain. With each flash of lightning, he perused the empty street. "Go on back to bed, Eames."
"You think that's possible?"
He looked at her, seeing only her outline in the darkness. "Come here," he muttered.
He pulled her into his arms and held her as he leaned back against the wall beside the window. Resting his chin lightly on her head, he sighed. "Scare tactics," he said softly. "He had to have known I was home and he wanted me to know he was here. He wasn't even trying to be stealthy. He wants me off balance."
"He can't know how poorly you sleep."
He shrugged. "I've been woken to punches before."
Her arms tightened around him and he lightly kissed her head. "I hate to say this. I...I need you to stay someplace where he doesn't know where you are."
"What about you?"
"What about me? I told you, I don't want you involved..."
"I already am involved. Maybe more than you want me to be, but I am. As much as you want to protect me, I need to protect you, to back you up. You can't do this alone, Bobby."
He didn't answer. In silence, he simply held her, letting her words rattle around in his head. "Promise me something?"
"What?"
His fingers combed through her hair. "Stay out of the line of fire. Let me take care of myself and Bill. Back me up, but keep yourself out of danger. Please."
She thought carefully about his words. "I'll do my best."
He kissed her head and reluctantly released her. "Let's get dressed and go get some breakfast, if you're sure you won't be able to sleep."
"I'm sure."
It was a very early beginning to their day.
-----------------------------------------------------
His phone rang shortly after noon. "Goren."
"It's Logan. Your brother's looking for you."
"Is he there?"
"He was, first thing this morning. He said you were supposed to leave that book for him yesterday, but you didn't."
"That's not exactly true. I did leave it. I just took it back so he has to deal with me to get it. If he can't ask right I don't see why I should bother going out of my way to make it easy for him."
"Good for you, man."
"He got into my apartment yesterday by getting the key from my neighbor and trashed the place. Then he broke in during the night."
"No way...and he had the nerve to file charges against you and Eames."
"Yeah."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I'm not sure yet. But...I'm not comfortable with Alex being anyplace he can reach her. I won't let her go home, and it seems my place isn't any safer."
"Let me talk to Barek. I'm sure she'd be ok with Alex staying with her. What about you?"
"I'm not going to run away from my brother."
"Hold on a sec. Barek just got back." Goren heard his muffled voice over the phone. "Yeah, it's ok, if Alex wants to stay with her."
"What do you mean, if she wants to?"
Logan laughed. "She's not gonna throw you to the wolves, Goren. I can't see her going someplace safe and leaving you in danger."
"I don't plan on giving her a choice."
"Good luck with that. You've got more balls than I do. Anyway, my door's open if you want a place to sleep."
"Thanks, Mike. Talk to you later."
Eames came in from the kitchen. Power had been restored and she handed him a cup of fresh coffee. "Is anything wrong?"
"Bill stopped by the squadroom looking for me."
"Did he make a scene?"
"No, not that Logan said. He was looking for the book."
"So he'll be coming back here."
"You can bet on it."
"And you don't have a plan, do you?"
"No."
"Are you going to let him have what he wants?"
"I don't think so. If he wants to play hardball, I'm game for it."
"Does he still think you're ten years old?"
"Apparently."
She sat beside him. "So if he shows up, we'll be ready."
"I would still prefer it not be 'us'."
"Sorry, Goren. You've been outvoted."
In spite of himself, he laughed softly, gently pulling her into a hug. "Will you at least spend the night at Barek's?"
"I'd rather spend the night with you."
He closed his eyes. He had no idea how to tell her how much he would prefer that, too. But as much as he needed her, as desperately as he wanted her, his desire to protect her overpowered both. He shook his head. "I need you to be safe," he managed, forcing himself to tell her no when every part of him wanted to tell her yes.
She let her fingers trail over his chest and he caught his breath. "I don't want to stay at Carolyn's," she said quietly.
"Eames...don't...please..."
She smiled, leaning up to kiss him. "Don't what?"
Her lips teased his and he groaned softly, leaning into her kiss, letting her tongue find its way to his. A pounding at the door brought them back into their surroundings. He got up from the couch, taking a few deep breaths to settle himself. He glanced at her for a moment before he pulled the door open and found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.
