Bobby POV

I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be doing any sleeping tonight.

After what had happened at the warehouse, my adrenaline was pumping uncontrollably.

I'd killed two of the body guards.

Alex had killed the other three.

McHale and Lacey had each hit two of the guards, but theirs had not been the kill shots.

They'd been aiming to disable.

Alex and I had not.

Banta never even fired his weapon, I thought with annoyance.

I forced myself to stop thinking about it for the time being since for the past two days that was pretty much all I'd been doing.

Instead, I said goodbye to Logan and then watched with interest as he walked across the street, heading for the entrance of his building.

"Can we stay and see where he goes?" I teased Alex.

I didn't think for a second that he was going to stay there. He just hadn't wanted to tell us where he was really going.

"No," she replied with a grin. "That would be cheating."

"Cheating?"

"He challenged us to figure it out. Following him would make it too easy."

"Maybe," I agreed. "So what do you want to do?"

"Do? It's two-thirty in the morning."

"Yeah, I know," I conceded reluctantly. "We should probably go home."

Just because I had the day off tomorrow didn't mean that Alex could do the same. She'd still have to go into the office.

And we both had to go to the federal building. I couldn't wait to tell Casteel our version of what had happened because I was pretty sure that Banta would give him a different story.

"I can't wait to get out of all of this gear," she remarked as she drove us through the quiet streets.

"I can probably help with that," I offered with a grin. I turned towards her and ran my hand over her hair, grabbing onto the hairband and tugging it loose.

"Yeah, the ponytail was what I meant," she said with a smirk.

"It's all I can do while you're driving."

"Since when?" she fired back, although I noticed that her eyes almost closed as I massaged the back of her head with my fingers.

"Where are we going?" I asked suddenly when I noticed that we weren't heading towards the apartment.

"You said you weren't ready to go home."

"But you are. You have to get up in the morning."

"So we'll go to bed early tomorrow night. It won't kill me to miss out on one night of sleep."

A few minutes later, she eased the car to a stop along the side of the road.

She'd brought us to the pier, the one we'd come to months ago.

We'd made love here once, in the rain. It was a memory forever ingrained in my mind.

She cut off the engine and got out of the car, but then paused with the door open as she took off her jacket and vest. I did the same thing and then walked around to her side.

"Ready?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Together we walked down to the end of the pier. It was much colder than the last time we'd been here, but it was still beautiful. The lights from the buildings on the other side of the Hudson were reflected in the water. Traffic could be heard at a distance, but it wasn't close. It was just soothing background noise.

"This is where we were when you made me promise to take the captain's job," she said as we stood along the railing.

"And you told me about Joe, holding you back."

"You know, I didn't tell you that story so that you'd feel the need to act differently," she said quietly.

"I didn't think that you did. I just liked that you shared a part of yourself with me."

"I share all of myself with you," she answered, looking up at me with those expressive amber eyes.

"Now," I agreed. "Back then, I was so excited that you'd opened up to me. And sorry for what you'd had to go through."

"With Joe? It wasn't all bad. He just held certain beliefs."

"He believed that the man should be the bread-winner. And that his wife should never surpass him professionally."

"Uh huh. I'm sure it's not easy. I mean, you tell me. Do you wish now that I hadn't taken the job? That we were still partners?"

"I believe the exact same thing I told you last summer."

"But then it was supposition. Now it's fact."

"And my feelings haven't changed. I couldn't be more proud of you. And I would never expect or want for you to hold yourself back simply because you didn't want to one-up me," I assured her. And then I wrapped my arm around her and said, "One of these days, you might be the Chief of D's. And I'll still be a detective. And as long as you're still coming home to our bed, then I'll be the happiest man alive."

She turned towards me, slipping both arms around me, and rested her head against my chest.

"I love you," she said softly as she relaxed against me. "So much."

"How much?" I asked her as I kissed the top of her head. "Enough to help me work off some of this adrenaline?"

"Out here?"

"We've done it before."

"When it was seventy degrees," she argued, but she was smiling. "You're crazy."

"You're not the first person to tell me that. So is that a no?"

"It's not a no," she replied. She moved her hands around to the front of me and then unzipped my pants. "It's definitely not a no."

So we made love for the second time out on the pier.

This time was much more risky. She wasn't wearing a skirt, so things weren't quite as…hidden as they'd been last time.

But we didn't let that bother us as we once again tested the durability of the pier's wooden railing.

By the time we got back to the car, it was almost dawn.

"I'm starving," she told me as she started the engine.

"Let's get some breakfast. By the time we do that and then go home and shower, it'll be time to catch Casteel in his office."

Which was exactly what we did. We arrived in the federal building at ten minutes before eight. It only took a few minutes for us to get approved with visitor's passes, and then we made our way up to the SAC's office.

We got off the elevator and went down the hall where we found him unlocking his door with his briefcase still in his hand.

"Agents Goren and Eames!" he greeted enthusiastically. Then he furrowed his brow and amended, "Or rather…Detectives. Detective and Captain. Can we just leave off the titles?"

"That would be fine, sir," I said, offering to shake his hand. But his hands were full so he just used his head to motion us into his office.

"I heard about the Hassan bust. Excellent work."

"That's actually why we're here," Alex began.

"You want to come back? There's an offer on the table if you're interested. I have to admit, I kind of hoped that working with Agent Banta again would remind you of how much more exciting the Bureau can be…"

"No sir," I interrupted. "That's not it."

"Oh," he said, looking at us in confusion. Then he put down his things and went to sit down behind his desk. "Then how can I help you?"

"Have you spoken with Agent Banta since the arrest?"

"He sent me an email outlining the course of events, but I haven't spoken with him personally. I understand that Hassan is downstairs in holding right now."

"He is," Alex agreed. "But I don't know how much you're going to get out of him. Sir, Agent Banta jumped the gun on the arrest. He nearly got the under cover killed."

"What? But he said that everything went smoothly!"

"It did. Except right when Hassan was ready to make the exchange, Banta moved on him. He didn't show the money. The sale is only presumed, not proven."

Casteel sat back in his chair and looked at us thoughtfully.

"All five of the body guards are dead," I added. "That may or may not have happened anyway, but as it stands, Hassan could very well walk. We've certainly seen it happen before."

"No. He's not walking this time," he responded firmly. "What do we need to do? How can we make this stick?"

"You need to unseal the evidence that was gathered from Agent Stahl's home. I know the Bureau covered up the fact that she was on his payroll, but if you use her accounts to backtrack the money trail, you might be able to get something solid on Hassan."

"You want me to open an investigation on the closed case of a dead agent in hopes of finding something to use against Hassan?"

"That's exactly what we're suggesting. Otherwise, you're down to emails and accessory testimony."

"Okay," he said with a nod. "Okay, do it."

"I didn't mean us," Alex corrected. "We have jobs, and I'm currently late for mine as we speak."

"I can't let agents do it," he pushed. "I won't have them investigating one of our own. Not one who was dirty."

I glanced at Alex and raised my eyebrow. She closed her eyes briefly and then looked at Casteel.

"Okay. But this is done officially. The NYPD will take jurisdiction over Stahl's case."

"Your department," he confirmed. "This is to be handled by Major Case."

"Absolutely."

"How long do you think we can reasonably hold onto Hassan without additional evidence?"

"Under the Patriot Act?" I questioned. "Quite a while. But he's an important man. And his country is going to be clamoring for his release. Once his attorney shows up, we'll be lucky to keep him forty-eight hours."

"I'll see what I can do about stalling his lawyer. And I'll fax over the necessary paperwork to Moran immediately. Get started on this, Eames. Find me something."

She gave him a nod and then got up to leave.

"Get me everything you have on Stahl. And I mean everything. If you hold something back, or have files filled with redacted information, then I'm closing the case. You can let Hassan go and explain publicly why the Bureau can't hang onto a terrorist."

"You'll get it," he promised. "Are you sure you don't want to come back? I've got a team leader spot with your name written all over it."

"Give it to Lacey," I said. "Banta shouldn't be in charge of ordering lunch."

We left the federal building and headed for 1PP.

"We just can't get away from this case, can we?" I said.

"I could just kill Banta for blowing it last night," she muttered. "I get mad just thinking about it. If it weren't for him, the FBI would have a solid case against Hassan."

"We'll still get him."

She pulled the car over two blocks from 1PP and then leaned over the console to kiss me goodbye.

"Go home and get some sleep. I'll see you this afternoon."

"You're going to work all day?"

"There's lots going on," she answered. "I can't miss. And you need to rest. You're next up for a call-out starting tonight."

She got out and headed down the sidewalk while I went around to the driver's side.

I didn't want to go home and sleep. Especially not alone. So instead, I pulled out my phone and called Logan.

"What are you doing?" I asked him when he answered.

"Laps around the house," he answered.

"You're alone?"

"It is a workday," he said wryly. "Yeah, I'm alone and I'm bored out of my mind already. What's going on?"

I filled him in about our trip to see Casteel.

"They're going to give up the evidence found in Stahl's home?"

"That's what he said. Since the feds just boxed it all up during the first go-round in order to perpetrate the cover up, the hope is that she had evidence of some kind that will allow us to track Hassan's dealings."

"Where's Eames?"

"I just dropped her at work. I'm supposed to be going home to get some sleep, but…"

"Yeah, I know. Me too. I haven't slept at all yet."

"So…do you want to skip the day off and volunteer for the Stahl case?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

TBC...