A/N: I don't own them.
A/N2: A happy belated birthday to Scripted Starlet.
Through fluttering slits of eyelids she could make out the horrible lighting and sterile white walls that were unmistakably those of a hospital. Letting out a small groan she turned her head to the right to where a petite woman was seated by her side.
Slumped over in her chair, hair falling in her face, breathing slow and even that woman was none other than Alex Eames. Upon hearing the slight moan escape the dry, parted lips of the limp body in the bed she wakened immediately. Glancing her head quickly around the room she could see by the way the sunlight was coming through the window that it was after noon.
"Al- Alex?"
"Julie. They didn't think you'd wake up so soon."
She rose out of the chair, moved around to the other side of the bed and poured water into a tall plastic cup with a straw. Pushing the straw Julie's lips the girl gulped the water down gratefully.
"What happened?"
"You were hit over the head, it seems most likely that it was with a baseball bat. Then you were dragged back down that alley, but as soon as your partner Hartley saw you go down he yelled it over the wire. The guys on the roof started firing blindly into the alley. They couldn't get a good look at anything from how far up they were. Still, it was enough to scare our perp off."
Seeing how nervous Julie seemed to appear Alex laid a hand on the girls shoulder and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed.
"It wasn't your fault, Duff. You were as prepared as you could have been. For a guy to pop out of the shadows as quickly as this one appeared to, hit you over the head with a bat and run for it… you were as prepared for that as anyone could have been."
Even as she said it, Eames didn't know who she was trying to reassure more: herself or the girl who lay injured before her.
"Where- where did he go?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Baxter. Where did he go?"
"Back inside of the building. That was the only place he could have gone, the only other way out of that alley would have been to go out onto the street and one of us would have taken him down at that point."
"So… what happens now?"
"Goren, Hartley and a couple of the other guys spent the rest of the night canvassing the building. Waking up residents and trying to smoke the guy out. Since we had a patrol car posted outside they would have seen him had he gone out the main exit. We had the back alley covered so we're not sure how this guy disappeared into thin air."
"Someone's protecting him?"
"Maybe. Goren doesn't think it likely. Not that he's the voice of god, but he tends to be right when it comes to this profiling business."
Julie nodded and then looked away from Alex.
"Look. It's really going to be okay. We're going to get this guy. You're going to get back on your feet and we're going to get this guy. Cops don't like it when one of their own is the victim. Every man on the street is on the lookout for this piece of scum. I promise you he isn't going to last much longer."
Alex squeezed the young woman's hand firmly, a sign of the solidarity between the detectives.
"Eh-hem." The throat-clearing coming in the direction of the door drew the attention of the women away from each other.
A disheveled, tired looking Matt Hartley stood unsure of himself in the doorway. He had never before experienced the deluge of emotions that accompanied a partner being injured.
"Hi, Hartley. Good of you to come by before going home for some rest. I know it's been a long night." Eames didn't think that anyone should have to be thanked for coming to visit their partner, she felt that it was just something you did. Still, she wanted to let the young man know that he was in fact doing the right thing.
"You can go get some rest yourself, Detective Eames, if you'd like. I can sit here for a while. I don't mind."
"That's good of you Matt. I may just take you up on that."
Standing up she squeezed Julie's hand one last time and gave her a knowing look. She wasn't going to give up until she found this guy.
Stepping out into the hall and moving towards the hospital elevator she was unexpectedly greeted by Paul Kemp.
"Detective."
"Captain Kemp."
"So. What now? What great idea do you have next?"
"I'm sorry, do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?:
"I was bringing you in because I thought you could make a contribution here. I thought we would have had this guy off the street by now. Instead, I have one of my best officers in a hospital bed, and I'm scratching my head wondering why I brought you here in the first place."
"You've got some nerve, you know? I didn't take this case to help you, I took this case because I think it's my job to serve and protect this city. I'm sorry if I'm not living up to your expectations in the speed and grace departments."
"I guess I just expected too much from you. I'm still trying to figure out how you qualified for Major Case anyway."
What is this guy, five years old? Is he bitter because I made Major Case and he didn't? I mean my god it is not as if he hasn't advanced at all in life.
"I'm done here. When you have something constructive that you want to contribute to the case that you are supposed to be running, you know where you can find me."
With that she turned on her heel and headed into the midday sun. She was exhausted but restless and knew that going home now wouldn't yield any positive results.
& &
Goren had gone back to One PP after scouring the buildings that surrounded the alley on 11th avenue in the 30's. He was trying to work out in his mind where on earth Baxter could have disappeared to, but it the ideas weren't coming.
Realizing that it was already 4p.m. and he hadn't yet heard from Eames, Goren decided to head back to her house. His mind drifted towards his petite partner as he drove, wondering how she was holding up.
He had been unable to read her earlier in the day when they had parted ways before dawn, her following Julie to the hospital and he staying behind to canvass the building with Hartley. It had been an exhausting ten days for her, he knew, but it did not seem that it was going to stop here.
He hadn't been able to tell how much guilt she was harboring over what had happened to her newest trainee. But, he knew that between the two of them he generally held the corner on making himself feel guilty regarding situations over which he had no control. Still, it was human nature and while maybe it wasn't her initial reaction he knew Eames was probably feeling somewhat bad about the young lady lying in the hospital bed as a result of some of the city's finest pond scum.
Entering Eames' darkened house Goren stepped quietly as he could across the wooden floors, fearing he would wake her if she was sleeping. However, when he got to the bedroom he found it empty, the bed made.
He glanced around quickly, wondering if maybe she was still at the hospital with Julie or where she would have gone if she wasn't there.
Reaching for his phone the cellular device beat him to the punch, emitting its bland ring.
Glancing at the caller ID he saw that it was the main line from the operator at One PP.
"Goren."
"Detective Goren?"
"Yeah."
"It's Brett Collins at the front desk of One PP. It's your partner. I've been told to tell you that she's snapped before you could."
