Alex POV

Sunday was a godsend. We spent almost the entire day in bed.

We were up at five due to Bobby's dream, but once we got back in, that was about it.

We even ate breakfast and lunch in the bed.

And the phone didn't ring once. Okay, so that's not entirely true. In the afternoon, we set our phones to silent because we were so sure that our perfect day would get interrupted.

I sent a text message to Cathy when I woke up around noon and told her I'd been called out on a case. Yeah, I know. Big fat lie. I would probably feel guilty about that at some point, but not today.

Today was about recovering, mentally and physically, from the week. We'd had some doozies during our time with MCS, but this week had ranked up there at the top.

"So…dinner in bed?" Bobby asked me in amusement. I had no doubt that this was the longest the man had ever willingly stayed in one room in his entire life, but he seemed perfectly content.

"No. Let's go out," I told him.

"Out of the bedroom?"

"Out out," I elaborated. "As in, shower up, get dressed, and go out into public. Let's go have a nice quiet dinner somewhere with a great view."

"I don't think any view would be better than the one I have right now," he countered as he walked his fingers up my back. I was sprawled on my stomach, and his t-shirt had long-since been discarded. The bedcovers were jammed at the foot of the bed.

I rolled over onto my side, propping my head up in my hand.

"Okay, I was wrong," he amended. "This view's better."

I didn't respond to his comment, but I couldn't help but smile. His eyes slowly traveled over my body before coming back to meet mine.

"Thanks for today," he said seriously. "It's been great."

"Yeah, it has," I agreed.

I reached out to cup his cheek with my hand. He instinctively closed his eyes at the feel of my touch. He always did that, and I had to wonder if it was because tenderness had been a foreign concept to him growing up. So maybe now he had learned to savor every moment of it.

"But you're right. Let's go out," he told me as he opened his eyes. He turned his face into my hand and kissed my palm.

Then by silent, mutual agreement, we rolled out of bed.

So we went to dinner. And then we went home and checked our phones. Three missed calls from Cathy, one from Ross, and one from Logan.

"What do you think Ross wants?" I mused. We weren't on call, and I knew he wouldn't be giving us another case.

"I'm not sure. He didn't leave a message, but he would know that we'd call him back. You call Cathy. I'll call Ross and Logan," Bobby offered.

I did my sisterly duty and listened to Cathy complain for nearly twenty minutes. Steve wanted to keep the house. He was accusing her of infidelity. He was going to fight her for custody.

"Cathy, you are being unfaithful," I reminded her. "You told me you'd met someone else."

"But…he's saying it was going on for a long time, and it wasn't. Besides, I would've never looked around if he was being as attentive as he should. It's his fault."

"You're going to blame this on him?" I asked. And yes, I knew that both parties were usually at fault in things such as this, but she wasn't taking any responsibility at all.

"You're not?" she responded incredulously. "Alex! Do you know how many times Steve and I had sex in the past month?"

"I don't, but I really don't…"

"Three times. In a month. What kind of a marriage is that? How am I supposed to be okay with that?"

"Cathy, you don't have to explain yourself to me," I deflected. I did not want to be having this conversation.

"How often do you and Bobby have sex?"

"That's not really relevant."

"Sure it is."

"We haven't even been together a year. You two have been married a long time. It's natural for the spark to die down a little. Besides, you can't compare relationships. They're all different."

"Which gives me my answer," Cathy announced triumphantly. "A hell of a lot more than three times a month."

"I'm sorry. I really need to go. I'm still at work…"

I managed to get her off the phone after only three times of insisting that I had to go.

"Everything okay?" Bobby asked me as I came back into the living room.

"Fine. She's going through a mid-life crisis or something. I don't know. What did Mike have to say?"

"He got another text from Rhonda. I told him that Ross had officially given us the case and that we would get together with him and Carolyn tomorrow to start going over the notes. I'm not sure what's been done on it since it was classified as a cold case."

"What did the text say?"

"It was similar to the last one. I'm telling you, she's escalating. She's going to show herself. I'm really glad Ross opened this thing back up."

"Did you call him back, too?" I asked. I figured he'd had time since I'd spent so long listening to Cathy ramble. Bobby nodded.

"I did. He wanted to let us know that Akers was going to be coming to his office in the morning. He suggested that we might want to come in a little late to work."

"Let me get this straight. Ross suggested we sleep in on a Monday morning. I feel like I'm in some kind of alternate universe here."

"I guess he's expecting fireworks tomorrow, and he doesn't want us to get dragged into the middle of it."

"What time is the meeting?"

"He said eight. He told me that we could come in closer to nine."

I looked at Bobby for a minute and nodded my head.

"So…want to go in about seven-thirty?" I asked him. He grinned at me.

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

Ross POV

I was feeling good about today. Sort of. As good as I could when I knew I was going to have my ass chewed.

But I'd done the right thing this time, and I was pleased with myself.

Liz was proud of me, too. She'd heard me on the phone with Goren yesterday.

"You're keeping them away?" she'd asked me after I hung up.

"They don't need to hear it. He's coming to my office because he's assuming they said yes. And he probably thinks that if by some chance they didn't, he'll be able to pull them in and strong arm them. It's an unnecessary exercise."

"You're protecting them."

"I…well, I guess I am, yes."

So when I got off the elevator on the eleventh floor, I was stunned to see the two of them sitting at their desks.

"Goren," I addressed him in shock. And then despite the ridiculousness of how it sounded, I greeted her, too. "Goren."

"Captain," she replied with a nod. "I can't tell if you're stuttering or saying hello."

I was going to miss her wit.

"I thought I suggested a nine o'clock arrival this morning," I said slowly.

"Yeah," the original Goren agreed with a smile. "But really, when have we ever followed the rules?"

I barked out a laugh and gave him a nod.

He was exactly right. On the big stuff, yes, they mostly followed the rules. But the little things, the inconsequential things, they liked to do their own way.

"You just wanted a front row seat, didn't you?" I asked without heat.

If they were okay being here, then I was fine with it. I'd just wanted to save them the verbal lashing that Akers was going to inflict.

"We appreciate the consideration," the other Goren spoke up. "But we can fight our own battles. We're not leaving here with our tails between our legs. If Akers has something to say, we'll let him say it. It won't change anything."

Okay, I was going to miss more than just her wit.

And I could kick myself in the ass for being so slow to appreciate the finer qualities of both Gorens.

"Very well then," I conceded. "I'll be in my office."

Thirty minutes later, Akers descended upon the eleventh floor.

He'd taken to the power of the chief's job like a duck to water. I hoped like hell they named someone else permanent chief and that his pro-temp title was truly only that. For the time being.

He crossed the squad room and opened my door without knocking. He'd not given either Goren a passing glance and I wondered idly if he even knew what they looked like or if he only knew them on paper.

"Ross!" he said exuberantly as he slammed my door closed behind him.

"Chief Akers," I replied as I stood to shake his hand. I offered him a chair, but he chose to wander around my office, picking up knick-knacks and turning them over in his hand.

"I trust your weekend was productive in regards to the retention of your two best detectives."

"Detective Robert Goren," I stated, because now I was just getting annoyed. "And Detective Alex Goren."

"Right, right. Your married partners. Kind of an embarrassment, isn't it?"

"No, sir, I don't believe it is."

"Good. Because I don't either. They solve cases, and that's what I care about."

"You care about protecting the department from the Moran debacle," I corrected.

I considered that I may be committing career suicide, but I didn't care. I wondered if this was how Goren had felt. Bobby, I mean. All of the times we'd butted heads.

Had he refused to fall in line behind me because he felt my agenda leaned towards being politically correct rather than solving crimes? Or doing the right thing?

It was very possible.

Now that the shoe was on the other foot, so to speak, I could understand where he'd been coming from.

Alex, too. She'd knocked me down a few pegs when she stated that she didn't want to be like me.

And I sure as hell didn't want to be like Akers. I watched him as he preened around the room, full of pomp and bluster. I wasn't going to stand behind this man, and I wasn't going to let him get away with saying anything other than the truth.

"Moran?" he asked in false innocence. "What does he have to do with this?"

"You would have never made the offer if you weren't afraid that Detective Goren would go public about Moran."

"The offer is legitimate. It has nothing to do with Moran."

I gave an internal eye roll and then bit the bullet.

"Be that as it may, the Gorens have declined your offer to stay with the department. This Friday will be their last day."

"Declined? Did you tell them they could stay on as partners?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ross, I thought I could trust you to get the job done. I thought you were a suitable captain for a department as prestigious as Major Case. Maybe I was wrong."

"With all due respect, I have an exemplary record in this department. Our solve rate is through the roof and there have been a record-low number of complaints filed against my detectives."

"You allowed two detectives to carry on a romance right under your nose!" he shouted, his affable disposition gone by the wayside.

He was clearly someone who expected to get his way.

"What kind of detective are you if you couldn't see what was going on?" he continued. "They owe this department. Call them in here. I'm going to speak with them myself."

"They don't owe this department anything. You forget that Detective Alex Goren just received an award from the commissioner? She's branded a hero, and for good reason. The other Detective Goren saved his own ass when the former chief tried to set him up for murder!"

I hadn't meant to call Bobby 'the other' Detective Goren, but I think that in my head so much, it just came out. Of course, it slipped right past Akers. He was working himself up to a full-blown tantrum.

"Call them in here now," he ordered as he flung my office door open and pointed toward the squad room.

I looked out and saw more than a dozen detectives staring back at me. This was turning into a spectacle, but I wasn't going to back down now.

"Chief, it won't change anything," I said quietly. "They've made their decision. They've made commitments elsewhere."

"I'll be the judge of that! And if you don't have better control over your detectives, then maybe you're the one who should be leaving on Friday!"

He said that loud enough for the entire room to hear, but I didn't budge.

I stood face to face with him in the center of my office. I'd come too far now, and I wasn't going to call in the Gorens just to appease him.

But I should've known better.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and within a minute, both Gorens were in my doorway.

"Captain," the female Goren spoke up, addressing me and ignoring Akers altogether. "We'd like to join this meeting, if that's okay with you."

TBC...