Days passed quickly since he was with Eames. He spent more of them alone as Eames was wrapped up in work. He also found he had not been thrilled to hear much about her long work days. They just served to remind him of what he once had and what he might not have again. He had begun losing hope that he would ever return back to work by her side. He had known Ross had been pushing hard for her to work with a new partner. Despite her objections, he would eventually be replaced. It was hard to think of it. Not because he was jealous. He was a little jealous but not in the obvious way. He missed her mind the way she would work through the evidence and work a perp. She was the only one who could keep up with him. He missed the thrill of closing in the cat and mouse games and checking his opponent until there was no way of getting out the room without admitting guilt. He missed his sense of purpose.
Every day he would sink deeper into depression. They would talk on the phone and he would give one word answers or just listen to her ramble until he made up some excuse of being tired and hitting the bed early. She was busier these days and would sometimes want to talk less too. They were drifting apart a little. He would fill the time drinking and sulking. The drinking helped to quiet those voices some. They would keep the rage inside another day. He found himself more and more not having the effort to bother showering or get out of bed.
She knew he was pulling away from her. She couldn't expect the intimacy and openness to last as she knew his patterns when it came to letting people in. He sounded farther away each day. She begged the captain to talk to the chief and try to persuade him of Goren's usefulness, the unique skill that resulted in their success rate. But the chief was adamant about making Goren pay. She guessed he was enjoying the control he had over him and how he wanted to watch Goren beg and plead for his job while realizing he would have to play according to his rules to get it. She shook her head as she knew that wouldn't happen. It was Goren and he was as stubborn as they come. He would find a way around it and get what he wanted while simultaneously throwing it in their faces that they needed him more than he needed them. It was a bluff though. She knew he needed this job more than they needed him and eventually it would become evident to the higher ups too.
Her hours were longer. The work piled on. Ross kept insisting that she realize that she had to take a new partner. They couldn't wait until they brought Goren back because no one knew when that would be. He would even try to entice her by giving her a choice of who she would work with but each day that choice got closer to getting out of her hand. She was miserable. She was being pulled by each end and it was exhausting. She heard the gossip in the halls and in the bay about the pathetic Goren who frequented the bars drinking his days away. Her colleagues actually seemed pleased in his defeat.
She would be moved to give them a piece of her mind occasionally. "Yeah, you weren't saying that when he worked holidays so you could see you kids and that ex-wife of yours. And you, when you were deep in debt and struggling to make do, who gave you some money and had the secretary's organize a collection to get you back on your feet. You criticize him and take pleasure in his punishment and forget how he bailed you out of your cases and personal affairs while also receiving none of your help in return when he needed it. You are pathetic excuses for brothers in blue when you abandon your brother and cast him off to barely make do with no pay, no cases, and no support for months now. Honestly, I do know why he bothers with any of you."
She also noted that they treated her more like a woman than a police officer. The guys would try to pick her up and sweet talk her without respect or the job she did alongside them. She'd come to realize that Goren wouldn't allow it to happen and when he was working, he demanded that they give her the respect she earned. She missed him at home and work. She just was tired, tired of being the only one trying.
