The sun had set when Logan entered the pub. Relief loosened the knot in his stomach when he saw his friend at the end of the bar. He approached and slid onto the empty bar stool beside Goren. "Merry Christmas," he said, waving off the bartender when he approached.

Goren's only response was a soft grunt. Logan laid his hand on Goren's shoulder. "Come on, buddy. It's not doing you any good to sit here alone. Why not spend what's left of the day with someone who cares about you?"

"I'm okay here," Goren insisted. "It's warm and...comfortable."

"Yeah? So's your apartment when you turn the heat on."

"Mike..."

"Humor me, okay? Please."

Goren looked into his glass, which was still full. After a moment, he downed the scotch, dropped a few bills on the bar and accompanied Logan out of the pub. In silence, they shuffled through the snow that had accumulated on the sidewalk as the large flakes continued to fall heavily from the sky. A strong wind was just starting to blow out of the north. It was going to be a wicked storm.

They entered the apartment building and stomped the snow from their shoes, choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator. When the weather was anything but clear, Goren tended to avoid the elevator. His claustrophobia made him reluctant to take a chance on the power failing in the old building while he was in the elevator.

Goren pulled out his keys and opened the door, letting them into the cool apartment. With a shiver, Logan switched on a light and turned the heat up a little. Goren hung up his coat and disappeared into the kitchen, returning with two beers. He handed one to Logan.

Logan took it and said, "Eames came by this evening."

Agitated, Goren rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought she wasn't going to stop by unannounced any more."

"She stopped by to see how you were doing because you weren't answering your phone."

Sitting heavily on the couch, Goren scrubbed his face with both hands. "She really needs to stop surprising me."

"Complaining?"

"No...yes...I don't know. I just...it's her way of...trying to control me, to get me to stop...living my life. Besides, I hate surprises."

Logan was quiet for a moment. "Bobby, she's not trying to control you, and she doesn't want you to stop living. She wants you to stop self-destructing."

Goren opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it silently. He clamped his hand to the back of his neck and looked at the floor. Logan sat beside him and rested his elbow on his knee, studying Goren carefully. "Bobby," he said softly. "She worries about you, and I can't blame her. Forget that she's married. That has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. You have been her partner for years and she's very close to you. Like it or not, she loves you. You can't make her stop loving you or stop caring or stop worrying...and you shouldn't try. Just accept how she feels and move on. It doesn't mean she's going to step away from her vows, you know."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Goren said, "She would, Mike. If I let her, she would."

Logan had Goren exactly where he wanted him to be: at that rare place where he'd had enough to drink to loosen his tongue without having so much that he quit thinking. He would be receptive to this conversation. Logan had been waiting for this opening for a long time and he jumped on it. "So what's stopping you?"

With a frown, Goren looked at him. "What?"

"You heard me. What's stopping you? Tell me you don't love her."

"She's married. That's what's stopping me. How I feel has nothing to do with it."

Logan knew he had to tread carefully or Goren would shut down on him. "Having moral standards is a good thing, buddy, but sometimes, it's not practical to be inflexible. Sometimes, you have to bend the rules. Sometimes you have to break them. There's no such thing as an absolute. All you're doing is making both of you miserable."

"You see how Waters is and I haven't done a damn thing. If I crossed that line..."

"What would change? Waters already thinks you're sleeping with her. If you actually did, then at least you'd deserve the shit he dishes out. Right now, you're getting punished for nothing. If he's gonna go after you whether you're guilty or not, why not do something to at least deserve the blood you shed?"

He had to admit, Logan had a point, and he hesitated, giving it some thought. Waters didn't deserve her fidelity. He already didn't trust her, and if she couldn't earn his trust... He shook his head slowly. "She's better than that."

"Bullshit. She's not perfect. No one is. But she is miserable, and she doesn't have to be. Neither do you. If she feels she needs to stay with him, fine, but she has alternatives. She wants you; you want her. Waters already thinks you're getting her. So give him the satisfaction of being right and give her the satisfaction of loving the man she wants to be with."

Goren seemed to waver, but then he shook his head. "I can't."

Logan looked at the coffee table and scratched his temple. "So where does this moral high road get you? Neither of you is happy, and you can change that. Who's it gonna hurt, Bobby? And if you say Waters—so what? He doesn't deserve, well, anything."

"I'm not doing it for him. I'm doing it for her."

"Really? Does she have a say in it? Because I really don't see her as the type to thrive on misery and torment. Unless you're punishing her for marrying him..."

"No! I'm not. I would never..."

Logan rested his hand on Goren's leg. "Okay, calm down. I didn't think you were."

"So why did you say it?"

"To see your reaction. To make you think about what you're doing and why you're doing it because I sure don't understand it."

"And there's no way I can make you understand."

"I think that if she pushed it, and I mean really pushed it, you would cave. And it would be in spectacular fashion. You never do anything by halves."

Goren knew that Logan was right, but he also trusted his partner. "She won't."

"Won't what?"

"Push it. She won't push it. She knows better."

"Oh? She knows better about what?"

"She knows that if she pushed it, even if I caved, it would damage our relationship. She...respects my position."

"Bull."

"What?"

Logan finally decided it was time to play hard ball, to try to convince Goren that he was being a fool. "Close your eyes."

Goren looked at him with suspicion. "Why? What are you going to do?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to do anything. I just want you to listen to me. Listen and let your thoughts go where they're gonna go. Don't try to direct them."

Goren still looked suspicious. Logan smacked his arm. "C'mon. Humor me."

After another minute, Goren reluctantly closed his eyes. Logan shifted closer and spoke softly. "Suppose the power went out. Tell me what you would do."

Goren frowned. "I'd get a flashlight."

"How about candles? You got candles?"

"In the kitchen, I think. What's wrong with the flashlight?"

Think fast... "Warm. Candles are warm. Remember, the heat goes out with the power."

"Okay, fine. Candles. Then we won't freeze."

"Who's we?"

Goren opened an eye and looked at him. "You and me, stupid."

Logan laughed. "Right. Okay...but suppose someone came to the door?"

"The elevator would be out."

"And? You and I hoof it up the stairs every time it rains, or snows, or fogs over..."

Goren closed his eyes again. "Okay. There's someone at the door."

"When you open the door, Eames is there. What do you do?"

Goren looked confused. "Before or after I ask her why she's there?"

"After. She says she needs to talk."

Goren hesitated, not quite sure of his answer. Logan nudged him. "Don't think about it. Just tell me what you'd do."

More hesitation. "Come on," Logan urged. "Do you let her in or not?"

"Uh, I...I...yeah, okay, I let her in."

"She comes in and sits on the couch, and she asks you to sit beside her."

He hesitated again. "I...I guess I sit beside her."

"Don't guess. What do you do?"

Goren huffed impatiently. "Fine. I sit down."

Reaching out, Logan laid his hand on Goren's arm. He spoke, his voice soft and low. "Before she says a word, she reaches out and touches your arm."

Logan saw the reaction in his friend before Goren said anything. "What was that?" Logan demanded. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"Mike..."

"Come on. It's just me. This stays right here. Tell me what's in your head."

Goren shook his head fiercely and got up. "That wasn't fair," he growled, waving his hand at Logan. "You had no business doing that!"

"It's there, man! Deny it all you want, but it's there. You feel it every time she's close. You want her so bad I can feel it."

The anguish on Goren's face was painful. Logan was right, but there was nothing that could be done. Only Eames could change the way things were and she obviously had no intention of doing that. "Let it go, Mike. Just...let it go."

He walked away, stopping on the other side of the room. Turning, he looked at Logan, his expression a mixture of anger, regret and heat. "And if you ever do that to me again, I'll knock the crap out of you. Do you understand?"

Logan nodded. "Sorry, man."

Goren turned and went to his room. Logan leaned back on the couch and sighed. Well, that hadn't gone well. He knew at the start he was risking Goren's anger by doing what he did, but he was just trying to help. He hoped that by making Goren realize the true extent of his desire for Eames, he might help him to realize that her marriage was not a sacred pact. It was a tragic mistake.

The only thing left to him was to point out to Goren that he'd already slept with her once, but no good would come of that because the guy simply didn't remember it. There really wasn't anything more he could do to help them. Like it or not, the ball was in their court...deflated and useless.

Frustrated, he grabbed the remote and flicked on the television. No sense trying to make his way home in the snowstorm that now raged across the city beyond the now-warm and dry apartment. He made himself comfortable and looked for a movie to watch.