A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews!

First part is kind-of rated M.

Enjoy!

After he showered and got cleaned up, he found himself sitting on the bed half dressed with no energy to finish. He was dead on his feet and it felt as if everything in his body hurt. The physical beating he'd taken yesterday was taking a toll on him now; the sore and stiffness of his muscles, the random spasms through his back, his chest and face…

Groaning, he leaned over his knees and stayed that way with his head buried in his hands. Even when he heard the door open he didn't move. He felt he couldn't. The bed bounced slightly as she sat down beside him and it wasn't until he felt her arm around him that he moved. Leaning into her half embrace, face buried in her shoulder, he let her hold him.

"You don't have to be so strong all the time. You can let it out," she softly spoke into his ear as his body shook from the awkward angle.

Shifting sideways to take the twisting motion off his back, he ended up taking them both down onto the bed. She kept her arm trapped between his neck and the bed as she shifted closer to him, giving him a kiss over his cheek and then his lips. Pulling her into him with his right arm, he deepened the kiss and kept them there until they needed air.

Shivering at the feel of the tips of her fingers skimming over his bare skin, he looked down to see her small hand sticking out from the cast and sighed. Lightly taking her hand in his, he pulled it up to his lips and kissed over her fingertips.

"Keep doing that I'll have to give you an encore performance of last night."

Bobby peered into her teasing eyes as he continued kissing and then sucking at her fingers until she rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "You thought that saying that would deter me?"

Alex laughed as she pushed him until he was on his back and she was stretched out across his body. Then her playfulness turned serious as she said, "We need to talk."

"We do?" he innocently asked as he rubbed his hands up under her shirt and along her skin.

Cutting right to the chase, Alex took a deep breath and said, "Major Case. What am I-"

"Alex," he cut her off as he rubbed at his head. He knew what she was worried about, and honestly he was worried as well but there wasn't much he could do about it except wait and hope for the best. "Once it all comes out…once they know the truth that I'm not corrupt, that I was undercover…It'll, work itself out. You'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about me. What about you? I know that I'll be forgiven and basically everything will go back to normal, but you're not just undercover. You're working for IA."

"And I'm not foolish enough to think that I won't get hell for being a rat," he told her as he kept his eyes closed as he felt a jolt of pain in his lower back. Shifting a little to get off his back, he rolled them back onto their sides, this time trapping Alex's injured arm under him, he said as he looked her in the eyes. "I understood the consequences before I agreed to do this, and if last night was any indication to how my fellow officers feel about me…" he trailed off because he couldn't get himself to say the rest.

Alex cupped his jaw and smoothed her thumb over the stubble on his cheek. "Are you sure you want to come back?"

Not knowing what she was trying to ask, he asked, "Wha-…You don't want me to?"

"No, I do, but I'm just thinking that maybe it'll be best if you stayed away."

"I'm not running away-"

"I didn't say you were or that you should. I can't help but be concerned for your well-being," she stressed to him as he groaned. "And stop being so stubborn."

"I'm-" he cut himself off as he felt the anger, the fight, returning. Pushing himself up onto his right arm, he leaned down and kissed her before saying, "I will not give up Major Case just because a couple of the detectives don't like me. It's where I belong and if I get to go back there, I'm going. Whatever happens after that…I'll deal with it."

"We'll deal with it," she emphasized as she pulled him down for another kiss. "Don't forget I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"You say that now," he teased but a small part of himself would always feel that to be true.

Alex only smiled at him and kissed him again as she moved under him, running her leg up between his legs.

Naturally he moved against her as he groaned at the sensation she caused within him. Caressing along her leg, he pulled it up to his hip as he rubbed along the fabric of her jeans. "You shouldn't tease me," he whispered against her mouth before moving his lips to the sweet spot on her neck.

Moaning, she bucked up into him as he sucked, licked and kissed over the sensitive skin. "Who said anything about teasing? As of this morning, you can have whatever you want."

That was all he had to hear before he tugged at her zipper. As she laughed at his sudden urgency and desperation, he managed to get her jeans off but didn't waste any time to get himself undressed as he pushed his boxers and jeans down far enough to get himself out before he was sinking into her. It took him all the energy and control he had left to not come the moment he was inside her. She felt so good, so warm and tight and just purely wonderful.

Only then, when he was settled inside of her depths, did he take the time to worship her body. As he slowly moved in her, he unbuttoned her shirt and using his hands, fingers, lips, tongue, and mouth, made her feel exactly how blessed he felt to still have her. He had to leave her a few times as he kissed lower on her abdomen then to her hips, her inner thighs, the back of her knees, before moving upward again to slide back into her. With each reentering it was like reigniting the fire and the more passionate it became until Alex wrapped her legs around his waist and held on tight.

At hearing her broken words and moans of encouragement, he lost himself completely while devouring her mouth in a kiss that tried to swallow all her screams until her trembling voice broke free. At hearing her strained silence as she came, he nearly cried out as he tensed and buried his face in her neck. He kept pushing, rocking into her until he had nothing left and his body gave.

She was still quivering and shaking under him and he could feel the last of her orgasm easing as he regained his composure by pulling out then rolling onto his back. Alex follow as she draped herself over his side and stayed.

After a few deep breaths, he asked, "Do I make you happy?"

"I'm happy right now."

"So, the sex makes you happy."

"We both came didn't we?"

"That's not…" he had to take a breath to be able to keep talking.

Alex, who recovered quicker than he ever could, propped her chin on his chest and stared at him. "I want to know what you think it means for me to be happy."

That took him by surprise. Bobby peered down at her as he wiped the sweat off his forehead and then ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know, that's why I asked. I…Last night I was thinking and I-I…I kept thinking that, that with intimacy, uh, being in a relationship, it's based on a few things…None of which I provide fully, to the extent of satisfying a, uh, a person like you to stay."

Alex raised her eyes to his and she looked confused, but more than that, amused. "And what exactly are these few things a relationship is based on according to you?"

Bobby squirmed under her as he continued to be taken off guard by her questioning. "Well…Okay, when a woman's with a man it's for many different reasons."

She suddenly pushed up on the bed and grew defensive as she stabbed him in the chest with her fingernail, and it hurt. "Wait a second, mister," she poked him again. "You're not about to give me the 'I'm a man' speech are you?"

Smirking a little, and just to goad her, he said, "But I am the man, it's only logical that-ow!" he shouted as he felt her pinch him in the ribs. Thankfully it was his right side. After the short shot of pain eased he started laughing. "Hey, I'm trying to be serious and actually talk."

"Can you do it without sounding like a typical male prick?"

Bobby kept laughing as he grabbed her left hand, the one he least suspected of pinching him since it was in a cast, and said, "I wasn't trying to sound like a prick, but it's the truth. Women want a man who's confident, strong, and able to provide a secure life based on-"

"Personality, ethics, morality."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Money. It's what all women want, Eames."

She shoved him hard and he laughed a little more. "He has to have a great sense of humor, intelligent, sensitivity-"

"That's what you say but not what you want."

Alex looked at him and asked, "How would you know?"

Bobby didn't answer right away as he hiked his boxers and jeans up around his hips and then scooted further up on the bed so he could prop himself up on the pillows. His neck and back were starting to hurt from laying flat on his back. "You say you want sensitive," he said once he was resting against the pillows, "but really if a man is going around apologizing all the time…It's pathetic. You'll get sick of it. Hell, I'll get sick of it. What you really want is just someone you can talk to, a man who'll listen, and take what you say into consideration. Sensitive has nothing to do with it. I can be sensitive and listen, but don't expect me to apologize."

"Like I would," she huffed out. "I've never once heard the words 'I'm sorry' out of your mouth unless it's when you accidentally step on my feet."

"That happened once," he said in his defense but he was smiling. "Anyway, as I was saying before you interrupted me, no matter how we're raised or what we're taught, a man is still a man, Alex. I do possess fears of inaccuracy by not being able to properly provide for you as a man should."

That got her attention as she regarded him with a look of understanding. Alex moved up the bed only to straddle his waist. His hands immediately went to her sides, rubbing at her skin. She suddenly pointed at him, saying, "Is that why you're so insistent on paying for everything?"

As shameful as it was for him to admit it, he nod a little. "Partly, yeah. I need to feel like I'm doing something. You won't let me do anything."

"I let you do plenty…We're talking right now aren't we."

Bobby just looked at her. "I mean something productive….something, uh, physical that I can actually do."

Alex sat back on his thighs and took a moment to gather herself before leaning forward and taking his face in her hands. She kissed him with a smothering passion before pulling away, saying, "Fine, if it'll make you feel better pay the damn bills."

Now he was confused. He had been expecting more of a fight from her, not understanding and that kiss. "You're fine with that. With…letting me financially support you while you're living with me?"

She gave an indifferent shrug before saying, "If it's that important to you. I can help out by buying the groceries or something." When he still couldn't say anything, she said, "It's compromising, Bobby. Couples do this all the time. Plus, that means I can save more money."

"You'll cook too." He started laughing when she playfully smacked him on the arm. "And I also need another cleaning lady."

Alex pushed him down into the pillows with her injured arm across his chest and pointed at him with her other hand. "Don't push your luck."

"You could not only be my dirty nurse but my naughty maid…"

Alex chuckled as she leaned down and kissed him, letting her tongue tease his lips before slipping inside his mouth.

Despite the teasing, he was thinking about what she had said about compromising. Rubbing at his head he had to remember that. Hadn't Elliot told him that he had to compromise? Nowhere in his mind did he think that Alex would be the one making sacrifices. Bobby always thought that he had to be the one to change, or at least to give something up to gain something, or to be the one to bow out to keep the peace. After all, he was usually the one that couldn't keep a relationship together; who always had the problems.

Once the kiss ended, Alex laid down on his chest but continued to kiss over his skin as her fingers played with his chest hair.

"How do I make you happy?" he asked again.

"Bobby, you know the answer to that."

"Do I? Last night, all I could come up with was that the only thing keeping you with me was the sex."

"And that's why you asked me if the sex makes me happy?" she asked in obvious annoyed disbelief. At seeing his despair with trying to voice what was going on in his head, she took pity on him by saying, "Sex in only part of an intimate relationship, it's important yeah but it's not everything, especially to me."

"Right," he said as he finally got to the point where he could focus. "Aside from the part that's sexual…how do I make you happy?"

"In many different ways."

"Stop deflecting."

Alex's elbow dug into his left side, making him grunt in pain, as she pushed herself up to glare down at him. He bit his lip to keep from screaming as she said in hast, "I'm not deflec-…Bobby?" With seeing the pain on his face, she looked down in confusion and then horror as she quickly moved off his chest. "Oh God! I'm so sorry! I forgot about the bruises…Are you okay?"

Nodding his head because it was all he could do, he closed his eyes and willed the pain and tears away.

"Babe," she said as he felt her hands on his face. "Sorry," she followed the apology with kisses over his lips and cheeks.

Through the pain that had ripped through his chest, he realized that she had called him 'babe' and for some reason, that made him want to laugh.

At hearing him chuckle lightly, she asked, "What's so funny?"

Through clenched teeth as he still felt the pain in his ribs, he told her, "You've never called me babe before, it sounded funny."

"I really am sorry."

"It's okay," he said, ignoring the apology for something that was clearly an accident, as he opened his eyes.

Her face was right above his so he lifted his head up to give her a kiss. Then a pounding sounded down the hall from the front door. Somebody was knocking…A lot of some bodies were knocking by the various different sized hands he heard hitting his door.

"I think your family's here. I detect two pairs of little girl fists and one from an irritating woman that looks remarkably like you but taller and not as beautiful."

"How'd you know it's not Terry?"

"Believe me, it's Liz. I can tell by the impatience of the knocking. I bet Terry's holding Nathan."

Alex laughed as she gave him another kiss before rolling out of bed. Finding her panties and jeans, she said, "You're gonna have to get the door. I need a minute."

Getting up, he fastened his jeans then grabbed a black t-shirt out of the dresser on his way to the hallway. As he pulled the shirt on, he called back, "To be continued?"

"Same bat hour, same bat time."

He stopped midway down the hall and turned around to see her laughing at her own little joke. "Does that make me Batman?"

"Get the door, Goren," Alex said as she walked out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

Shaking his head at the love of his life, he went down the hall to the foyer. Unlocking the locks, he pulled open the door just as Nathan went to knock and instead his little hand knocked him in the head causing the twins to laugh.

"I think that means you're too close," Terry teased. When the little boy saw it was him, he squealed in his father's arms and flung himself at him. "He missed you, Bobby," he said as he let his son jump in his arms.

As Bobby took Nathan, the twin girls rushed around his legs and into the apartment before he could move out of the way.

"Hey," Liz greeted as he let her and Terry into the foyer before shutting the door. "Where's Alex?"

"In the bathroom, she'll be out in a minute. She's…cleaning up."

Terry caught his eyes and gave him a knowing grin as he said, "I bet you're going to have to have a minute to get cleaned up too, huh?"

Liz groaned and shook her head. "T.M.I.! I didn't need to hear that," she announced as she shot her husband a glare before pointing down the hall. "Bathroom?"

"Door on the right." Bobby watched as she went in search for her sister as he put Nathan down and helped the kid take his coat off. Once Nathan was free, he was on a dead run down the hall after his mom.

"This is okay, isn't it" Terry asked as he grabbed his nieces coats off the couch where they had thrown them once inside the warm house.

Taking the coats from him, Bobby put them away in the closet as he answered, "Yeah, it's fine. I, uh, I wasn't expecting anyone over today, but…" he shrugged as he started for the kitchen. "Coffee?"

Before Terry could answer one of the twins, Bobby had no idea which, asked from the couch, "Can we play your games Uncle Bobby?"

At hearing the little girl call him that, he stilled for a moment as he stared into their pleading eyes.

"Please, can we?" the other sister asked and her voice was what pulled him out of his moment of shock as he nodded.

"Uh, sure," Bobby said as he walked over and took the remote off the coffee table. Putting the TV on the right setting, he powered on the Play Station and waited until they chose a game before putting it in for them.

As he started back toward the kitchen, he heard Terry say behind him, "Mario Kart, nice.'

Bobby smirked as he said, "Actually, that one was left by a friend of mine. He just hasn't bothered to get it back from me yet." Making himself and Terry and cup of coffee, he handed the cup to the guy before going over the counter and leaning on it while Terry sat at the table.

"Cop friend?"

"No…Lewis is a mechanic. Well, he does more than that. He restores classic muscle cars, anything made in that era…" he trailed off as he took a sip of the coffee and rubbed at the pain that shot through his left side when he swallowed.

"So, how is that Mustang of yours running in this cold?"

"Like a dream." He smiled as he thought about the performance of his car. "She's holding her own."

"Driving a clutch isn't killing your leg yet?"

Bobby laughed as he said, "Actually, it's not too bad. I mostly drive around Brooklyn, and when I go upstate to visit my mother. If I had to drive it around Manhattan, then I'll consider making it an automatic. The constant shifting, tapping the clutch in stop-and-go traffic all day, no thanks."

"What're you boys talking about?" Liz asked as she came into the kitchen followed by Alex.

"Bobby's Mustang." "My car." They said in union, making both women laugh at the seriousness in which they responded.

Alex hummed and then leaned over the counter to kiss him on the lips. "You're not complaining about the clutch yet are you? I told you should've gotten an automatic."

Terry's jaw nearly dropped and Bobby chuckled. "I still can't believe you and Liz are sisters. Liz wouldn't know the clutch from a brake pedal."

Liz shot him another glare as she said, "In my defense-"

"She hates cars," Alex interrupted before she could finish. Pouring herself another cup of coffee, she explained, "Our dad tried to teach her but she was too busy fixing her makeup and talking to Tommy Freeman on the phone all day."

"I was going to say I was the girly-girl and Alex was the tom-boy, but…"

"That's what Alex just said," Terry told his wife. "Only she made it more entertaining."

Bobby laughed at the teasing jabs from the close-knit family, but inwardly, subconsciously, he was watching for any signs of hostility. That at any moment, the playful good-natured fun would turn disastrous. His body was tensed and he was fidgety as he waited for the outburst of anger. It wasn't something he noticed because the response was one that he had done so often and for so long that it was almost instinctive.

He didn't realize it until Alex put a hand on his shoulder and he felt how tight his muscles were. His jaw was even tensed. Rubbing a hand over his jaw and then around to his neck, to tried to ease the tension.

Her hand joined his and at rubbing his shoulder, Alex said, "You need to relax."

"I'm trying. It's…I think I'm just going to be stiff for a while. I know I'm still sore from yesterday."

"We should get massages and have the department flip the bill for them. Claim compensation."

Bobby smiled as he took a sip of the coffee as he walked around the counter. "I'm going to get, uh…finished dressing. I do want to visit my mother today."

Alex gave him a reassuring nod, letting him know it was still okay.

He hesitated in the entryway as they kept their eyes on each other. With no care that other people were in the room, he leaned across the counter and kissed her hard before muttering as he backed away, "How many different ways?"

"Oh, I'll say about three," she sarcastically teased.

Bobby just laughed. "Still two more than what I could come up with," he said as he walked out of the room.

"What was that?" she called after him. "And don't say-"

Bending back around the frame sideways, he simply said as he interrupted her, "You love me, therefore, I make you happy."

"Always the logical one."

"Believe me, Alex, when it comes to us loving each other, there is nothing logical about it." Bobby left her contemplating that as he headed for the bedroom to finally finish dressing.

How he ended up on his doorstep he couldn't exactly remember. All he knew was that on the drive back to Brooklyn from the town of Carmel in upstate New York, he didn't think he was ready to go home yet. That he couldn't go to that apartment with Alex's family there in the mental state he was in. Her family, especially her nieces and nephew did not need to see him like that. Battered and bruised…figuratively of course.

The emotions that coursed through him were sharp, jagged, and raw. So, instead of going home, he was standing on a doorstep in Manhattan and knocking until he heard the chain slid and bolts turned.

When Mike opened the door and saw it was him, he griped, "Looks like we both drowned at the bottom of the same bottle last night."

Bobby did say anything as he moved pass Logan into the living room. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Nah, I always spend the holidays alone. That wasn't supposed to sound as depressing as it did. I actually do prefer it that way. Just me, myself, and football. Have a seat."

He had already been sitting when Logan offered for him to sit. Staring up at the ceiling and the fan that was circling above, Bobby said, "I don't know what to do, Mike."

"So the man with the plan no longer has one. I'm worried."

"My head is so…bombarded with personal issues, with Alex and our relationship, that I can't focus. You know, it used to be just work. From the time I woke to the time I went to sleep, all I thought about was work, theories…working out the plan. How to get from point A to point B. I haven't been to the library in over a month."

"Okay, now you lost me. Library?"

"Research. I haven't researched anything in over a month. I'm too distracted by personal problems that I've been neglecting my job."

"If it matters, I think you've done a helluva job so far. You got that Connelly kid for murder. You single-handedly took down corruption on Staten Island-"

"Yeah, by screwing everything up," he mumbled as he felt the failure rip through his heart once again.

"Screwed up or not, you got the job done."

"Stapleton's dead, Alex's-"

"Alive and complaining because she can't kick your ass with only one arm. She'll get better, it'll heal. She'll be throwing punches again, left and right, in no time."

Bobby finally shifted his eyes away from the ceiling to look over at Mike. Logan was leaned back in he recliner sipping on a bottle of beer and watching the a college football game. The Rose Bowl…maybe. He didn't know. The only reason he usually kept up with sports anymore was to have something to talk about that wasn't literarily. Well, except for baseball. He still really liked baseball.

As he stared at the television, he couldn't help but think about his visit to Carmel Ridge and why he had wanted to visit his mother that day. How it couldn't wait until tomorrow, Sunday, like always.

Pressing the code for the door, he saw the red light flick to green and quickly pulled it open to this mother's wing. As he waited for it to shut and the locks to click back in place, he saw someone down the hall. The image of a man and when he looked up, he was stunned.

Standing down the hall, outside his mother's room, was Frank. He had just talked to Frank…His brother had told him he was busy, that he couldn't talk. Anger flared as he left the door and headed straight for the man.

Frank looked up and stared in surprise and then fear as he approached. Holding his hands up in front of him, Frank went to speak but before he could say anything, he pushed him hard until he was stumbling back into the wall.

"How much?'

"Bob-"

"How much?" he asked again, keeping his voice low and deadly as he stared hard at his brother.

"I didn't ask for it, she gave it to me."

He grabbed his brother's jacket and held him against the wall as he pulled out his wallet. Flipping it open, he saw a couple hundred bills along with a few twenties, fives, and ones. "Mom's not here to pay off your debts, Frank."

"She offered," Frank protested as he tried to grab for the wallet. "You know how she is. Every time I show up she-"

"Gives you money. It's the only reason you come around. You know it's the holidays, she's going to feel like giving you more than a few bucks, so you show up on Christmas and today for a handout." He shoved the wallet into his brother's chest and held up the two bills. "I'm giving it back."

"I need that."

"Then get a job."

"I have a job," Frank shot back as he stepped away from the wall.

"A real job. One that'll pay for an apartment instead of cheap motel rooms." He started for his mother's room when Frank called after him.

"She's not in there."

Stopping with his hand on the doorknob, he turned and eyed his brother before pushing the door open. Sure enough, his mother wasn't there. "Well, where is she?"

"They took her…" Frank said as his voice lowered. "She…I don't know what happened, but she started complaining of headaches or something and they took her."

"Headaches? They wouldn't take her away for headaches."

"I don't know," Frank defensively said as he straightened his jacket. Stepping up to him, he said, nearly pleading, "C'mon, Bobby, give me the money back. It's not for a gambling debt, okay. I'm getting clean. It's for rehab."

Staring down into the blue eyes of his brother, he knew he lying. "Keep talking, maybe one of these days I just might believe you."

"Why would I lie about that? Here," Frank pulled out a pamphlet that had been stuffed into his jacket pocket and handed it to him. "N.A. I've got a sponsor and everything. He suggested the rehab. It's four hundred. I got half paid already."

"You could've asked me first."

"You would've said no," Frank shot back and it hurt because he knew he was right. He would have said no. "I know I've cried wolf so many times, but I'm not lying. I wish I could be like you, ya know, always honest. You were the lucky one…I wish I had been so lucky."

He knew Frank was only trying to talk him up in order to get him to feel guilty, and he hated it because it was working. He closed his eyes and shook his head. How both his mother and Frank could get it so wrong about him, about how he grew up, still amazed him. According to Frank, because he hadn't been pressured into always having to be perfect by their father that it meant that nothing horrible had ever happened to him. And his mother, she didn't know which memories were real and what weren't half the time, but she never noticed his world anyway to fully understand what he had gone through as a child. All the lying, the secrets, the shame and fear, guilt.

The abuse and betrayals…everyone in their family had suffered; he wasn't lucky. He had only managed to keep himself afloat by vowing to never be like any of them and in doing so he had completely cut himself off from being able to truly be happy with anything. He had pushed not only the world away, but people as well. And when anyone got close enough, he lied to them. Sometimes to the point of pure denial.

Maybe he wasn't so different from the rest of his family after all.

Alex was the only woman to ever stick with him because he figured she believed in him. Held out hope for him.

Frank was needing that same kind of hope. He needed someone to believe in him. And, fuck it, he was his brother. If he screwed him over with this, he would just find his own way of paying his mother back.

Holding the bills out, he asked, "What clinic?"

Frank smiled a little as he took it. "Mount Sinai has a program. It starts next week."

"I'll be checking."

Frank glanced at him as he put the money back in his wallet. "Thanks, Bobby."

"Yeah, don't thank me. I'm doing it for mom. She still believes in you, has faith. She thinks I underestimate you all the time."

"I'm sorry."

At hearing that soft apology from his brother, he felt the anger stir up in him because he knew that Frank was going to disappoint him. That their mother's faith in him was useless. Shaking his head, he said, "Just…" he held up his hand then waved it away, saying, "Leave, okay."

"You always come on Sunday," Frank said as he started walking.

He watched as Frank left the wing before go in search of someone who could tell him what was going on with his mother.

Closing his eyed, he rubbed at his head as the world around him came back into focus. He could hear the announcers and whistles being blown on the TV as well as the hum from the heat kicking on. Opening his eyes, he glared at the television then looked over at Logan who was acting oblivious to the fact that he'd been staring off, lost in his head for a while.

"Got another one of those," he asked as gestured to the beer bottle in Logan's hand.

"Yea, help yourself," Logan answered without looking away from the game.

Bobby got up and headed for the kitchen as he took off his coat and tossed it on the back of a chair as he passed. After getting a beer, he sat back down on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table without much thought, and Mike didn't seem to mind as he didn't say anything about it. "You got any family?"

Logan huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "Nope, they're all long gone."

"No siblings?"

Shaking his head again, he said, "Just me."

"Want my brother?"

Logan started laughing but didn't answer him as he took a sip of the beer and kept watching the game. Then, he said, "I'll leave him to you. I don't think he liked me very much."

"What makes you think he likes me any better?"

At that, Logan did look over at him as he told him, "Maybe because he does. You two make each other miserable for a reason. If you didn't love someone, you wouldn't be bothered by what they did or didn't do."

Bobby looked over at Logan as he thought about that. He figured Mike was right; if he didn't love Frank so much, he wouldn't feel anything, not even disappointment. "Why won't he come to me for help?"

Logan didn't respond right away as he looked over him and whirled the bottle around by the neck. "He's older than you, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's ashamed. You're his younger brother; he should be the one helping you out, not vice versa."

"Pride? No, I don't think he has any trouble with pride."

"How'd you know?"

How did he know? Bobby shook his head as he realized that was second time today he had no answer to that question. He thought he did, but the truth was he didn't. He wasn't Frank, and he wasn't Alex. He was just Bobby, and right then it was hard for him to figure out just what being Bobby meant.

He thought, as he took a drink of the beer, that he would never figure that mystery out. Not without forced therapy because, according to him, he was just fine.

"So, why is there a lock on that door," Terry asked as he came into the living room after chasing Nathan down the hall and back.

"Bobby had a momentary lapse of sanity this morning. I think it's his time of the month."

Liz chuckled as she pointed to her husband. "And don't say anything; men do have their own time during the month when they suffer serious mood swings."

"I wasn't going to say anything except for I know. I read it in Men's Health; our testosterone starts going crazy and we freak out."

"No, that's called being in heat," Alex shot back as she chose a card from the deck and groaned. "How come I'm always going to jail?"

"Because that's where you send people all the time," Amber said with a giggle.

"Great, Monopoly karma." Alex moved her silver dog to the jail on the board game before getting up off the floor as the timer went off in the kitchen. "Pizza's done."

"I'll help," Terry said as he followed her into the kitchen. "What's in the room?"

"Books, and a porn stash."

Terry stared at her before smiling and giving a nod. "Gotcha."

"It's not like that. Although, if I wanted normal I should wish that it was like that. Bobby, because he's such a great profiler, is also a research freak. If a suspect has some weird, sexual fetish, I bet Bobby has some magazines covered in post-it notes about it." Alex pulled the pizza pan out of the oven and placed it on top of the stove. "Hmm, smells just like delivery."

Terry chuckled at her as he pulled out a can of soda out from the refrigerator and then grabbed two cups. "Videos too?"

"I don't know, I've never looked in the closet."

Terry nearly died from laughter as he opened one can of soda and divided it between the two cups. "Wanna snap the lock off and find out?"

Alex shook her head at her brother-in-law before saying, "After the kiddos are asleep, and I've had way too much to drink to care about Bobby's reaction…then maybe."

"Alright, we have tonight's events planned. Getting you drunk and breaking into the mysteriously locked room."

"If there's one thing I like about you, Terry, you know how to keep things lively."

"There's just one?" he teasingly asked as she searched around for the pizza cutter.

"Help me find the damn pizza cutter and I'll make it two," Alex said as she pushed another drawer close.

Terry started searching around and then asked, "Does he even have one?"

"If he doesn't, I do. It could still be packed in a box…Ha! Found it," she triumphantly exclaimed as she pulled it out of the dishwasher. "And just my luck, I still have to wash it first."

Terry watched her for a moment before saying, "You know, I can do that."

Alex shot him a look as she said, "I can handle it. I may have the use of one arm, but all my fingers still work."

Terry smirked and shook his head.

She saw a contemplative look come over his face and she had to ask, "What?"

He leaned against the counter as he crossed his arms over his chest. It was a move she had seen her brother-in-law do before, and it was always followed by something serious. Alex cut the water off and dried the utensil as she turned to face him and braced for whatever Terry had to say.

"Alex," he said as he looked to the floor. "We didn't just come over to see you. I mean, we did, but…" Terry caught her eyes and he sighed heavily. Stepping closer to her, he placed his hand on hers, stopping her movements.

Alex waited patiently and now suddenly a little scared as Terry hesitated, but before he could finish, the back door opened and Bobby stumbled in.

She watched as he cursed and stomped the snow off his boots before shutting the door and locking it. When he turned and saw them, he glanced between the two of them and his features darkened.

Alex was confused by the turn of his mood so quickly that she was at a loss of words as he walked further into the room and right up to Terry.

Leaning into Terry, Bobby told him, "Let go of her."

Terry, confused and a little afraid, stumbled out, "What?"

Before she could say anything, or react, Bobby grabbed Terry's hand and twisted it back. As Terry screamed, Alex grabbed Bobby and pulled him back while telling him to let go. When he didn't, she did the only thing she could think of to do. She hit him.

As Bobby stumbled sideways, he let go of Terry as Liz's voice yelled, "What's going on in here? Bobby!"

While Liz continued to demand what was going on, Alex stood staring at Bobby as he leaned against the wall and rubbed his face. Terry was staring at him as well as he rubbed his wrist, and Liz was seconds from going ape shit on the both of them, but mostly Bobby.

Alex finally shook herself from her shock as she told Liz, "Enough! Everything is okay. Just a misunderstanding."

Liz looked from her to Terry and then to Bobby. "Misunderstanding of what?"

Terry looked at his wife as he answered, "I was about to tell Alex…She was nervous so I took her hand in mine. Then Bobby walked in, got the wrong impression and…Alex hit him."

Alex noticed that Terry didn't mention to her about Bobby grabbing his hand and twisting it back, but she was grateful for that…in a way.

That seemed to relax Liz but not by much as she looked at Bobby again. "Are you drunk?"

Bobby only nodded as he kept his hand on his face. Then, slurring a little, he said, "I need-a sit down." He didn't wait for anyone to help him as he slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

Alex crouched down in front of him and asked, "Did you drive?"

He shook his head and winced at the movement. "Took the train from Logan's."

"You were at Mike's? After you went upstate?" When Bobby only nodded, Alex got up and turned to Terry. "I'm sorry. I don't know what-"

"It's okay," Terry shrugged as he stepped over Bobby's legs to grab the two cups of soda and handed them to the twins.

Alex hadn't realized they had been standing there watching until just then. Closing her eyes, she shook her head then glared down at Bobby who had closed his eyes. It looked like he was asleep but then he peered up at her and she could see the pain in his eyes. "Big idiot."

"Is that one of the reasons?"

Alex huffed out a laugh. "It's about ready to be, but not one of the reasons you think." She went over to the stove and quickly cut up the pizza into slices and grabbed plates. Dishing the food out, she handed them to the adults and the then the kids and told them, "Can you leave us for a moment, please?" she asked as she rubbed at her forehead. It was starting to hurt from an oncoming headache.

"C'mon," Liz said as she guided the twins out of the room.

Terry lingered for a moment as he told her, "Go easy on him. He doesn't look too good."

Alex gave him a soft smile and nod at his understanding before turning back to Bobby. "I can't believe you got jealous of Terry."

"I'm not jealous," he protested but it was a weak one. Bobby breathed as he looked away, saying, "…'kay, but only a little."

Smirking, she shook her head again and groaned. "Why did you have to go see her today? It couldn't have waited-"

"I didn't get to see her. They wouldn't let me. I saw Frank."

Alex didn't know what to say to that but she nodded, encouraging him if he wanted to say more but she didn't think he would. He didn't.

Sliding up the wall to his feet, he stumbled a little to the side but caught himself on the counter. Alex grimaced at the look of pain that darkened and twisted his features before he nodded, saying, "I'm okay. I thought…um, I, uh, I thought they would've been gone by now. Should've called first."

"We were having fun. I told them it was okay, they could stay. It's a long drive back to Staten Island and we've all been drinking."

Nodding, Bobby chuckled at that. "Yeah, we have," he spoke softly as he regarded her a little more somberly. "I'll leave."

"You live here."

"But you were having fun…I'm not having any fun."

That pained her to hear because for a moment she didn't know if he meant right then or if it had meant something more. "You're not going anywhere, Goren. Take off your boots and go to bed. You need sleep and-"

"No, no, no," he shook his head as he headed for the backdoor. "I don't want to sleep. I'll leave, okay, so you can get back to your family."

"Dammit," she muttered as she grabbed him, keeping him from leaving as she rounded in front of him.

She didn't know what to expect from her bold move, especially since his head wasn't in the right place at the moment, but when he pushed her up against the door Alex couldn't help the yelp or the sudden rush of fear.

Bobby, despite his drunkenness, noticed and he flinched as if he'd been hit again. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Alex sighed and nodded. "I know that."

His eyes searched hers and for a moment she saw the disappointment in he felt before he smiled. It was a soft smile that held more pain than happiness, as he said, "I'll just…be in the car."

"You didn't drive, remember."

Smiling a little more, but looking like he was about to shattered, he told her, "I lied."

She glared hard at him as she said, "And you didn't think I would find out? All I had to do was look out the door."

He shook his head as he said, "I know, I just…couldn't help it. I didn't want you to be mad."

"Too late for that. You could've killed someone, or yourself, got arrested…hit a pole." When he shrugged, she wanted to hit him again. Instead, she reached up and rubbed his swollen cheek and sighed. "You should go to bed, Bobby."

Bobby closed his eyes against her touch and then suddenly, he started to shake as he said, "I failed…Alex, I'm so sorry."

As he buried his head into her neck and shoulder, she held him tight to her as she whispered, "God, Bobby, why do you have to torture yourself so much?"

She wasn't expecting an answer, but the one he gave her nearly broke her heart.

He trembled against her as he answered softly as his voice broke, "Because I care."

TBC…