Author's note:  Please be aware that from this point forward, the language and the situations get a little bit more mature.

Chapter 4

            Alex Eames and Bobby Goren stood at the reception desk of the police archives at 8:58 the next morning.  Bobby watched the front door, obviously waiting for Alicia Goren and Lewis Matthews.  Alex amused herself by watching the girls behind the desk as they surreptitiously stared at Bobby and whispered to each other.  It was obvious they were drooling over him.

            Alex never failed to get a kick out of watching women of all ages react to Bobby.  Robert Goren was a handsome man.  He wasn't classically, "pretty boy" handsome, but he was definitely a looker.  He had curly brown hair flecked with gray and dark brown eyes, making him look distinguished and sexy all at once.  He was also possessed of a killer smile, when he chose to use it, that is.  His looks coupled with his height and breadth - he was 6'4" and weighed at least 220 - made him an arresting figure.  Alex grinned inwardly at the pun, but it was so very true.  She witnessed women's reactions to Bobby time and time again.  They couldn't help but stare at him, and the bolder ones even tried to flirt with him.  But he always appeared oblivious to the attention he generated.  Alex's old partners would have taken advantage of that kind of attention, but not Bobby.  Oh, he knew it was happening; sometimes he even commented on it, like the time they were interviewing a woman who'd been friends with a victim whose murder they were investigating.  The woman was definitely turning on the charm full blast, and Bobby nonchalantly called her on it.  But while some other guy would have pursued it, Bobby simply blew it off.  Alex always wondered why.  Now, having met Alicia Flaherty Goren yesterday, Alex finally had the answer to that question.

            Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bobby check his watch, prompting her to check her own.  It was 9:04.  Alicia and her partner had not arrived yet.  She glanced at his face.  He was obviously worried.  He's gonna give himself an ulcer if he keeps this up, Alex thought.  She looked back at the girls behind the desk.  Still drooling.  Alex hid her sudden grin behind her hand.  Wait till they got a load of Alicia and Bobby's obvious reaction to her.  Were these girls in for a surprise.

            At that moment, Bobby emitted what could only be called a sigh of relief.  Alex turned to the door.  Lewis Matthews was walking towards Alex and Bobby, a look of irritation on his face.  A few paces behind him was Alicia Goren, looking for all the world like a supermodel and being trailed by a couple of detectives.  It was clear the detectives were dogging her every step.  Alicia looked as though she couldn't wait to be rid of them.  She walked up to Alex and Bobby.

            "Good morning, Alex.  Good to see you," Alicia said with a smile.  She turned to Bobby.  "Hey, handsome," she said softly as she stepped into the circle of his arms.  They shared a quick peck on the lips and a big hug.  Alex took a quick glance at the girls behind the reception desk. The four of them looked as if they had seen a ghost, their jaws hanging open.  She had to smother a laugh.

            "Sorry we're late," Matthews said.  "We were kind of ambushed in the lobby."  He gestured toward the two detectives who had trailed Alicia into the archive room.

            Bobby arched an eyebrow at Alicia and she shrugged.  "Bodyguards," she said, "courtesy of the Chief of Detectives, Liam Flaherty."

            "You don't need bodyguards, Alicia.  You're riding with us," Alex said.

            "I know that," Alicia said with a sigh.  "Tell it to Liam."

            "Oh, believe me, I will," Bobby said as he reached for his cell phone.

            "Well," Alicia said with a grin as Bobby moved off to talk to his ex-father-in-law, "this should be real good."  She winked at Alex and Alex laughed.

            Matthews turned to Alicia and stepped closer to her.  Lewis Matthews was a medium sized man of about 37 years of age with brown hair and piercing blue eyes.  He was somewhat good looking in an artificial kind of way.  Alicia couldn't help but think that he'd had plastic surgery of some type.  Some of his features just didn't look entirely real. He seemed phony, even in his attitude.  He seemed to try too hard to have people like him.  So far, it hadn't worked since no one at the field office seemed to like him much.  And he certainly had not left a good impression on Bobby and Alex. 

            Alicia forced herself to look at him as he got closer to her.  His most striking feature was his eyes.  They sometimes looked overly bright, and it made Alicia uncomfortable if he looked at her too long.  She didn't back down from a stare down with him, however, no matter how uncomfortable she felt.  She was determined not to let him get the better of her.  He'd been trying to engage her in a pissing contest since the first moment they met, and, in less than a week of partnering with him, she could tell when he was going to rag her about something. Like right now.

            "You sure you had no idea about this, Goren?" he asked irritably.

A dark look of anger briefly flitted across Alicia's face and was gone.  "No, Lewis," she said evenly.  "My da knew enough not to say anything to me about it, especially not last night with my whole family there.  World War III would have erupted right then and there.  He probably figured if these bodyguards magically appeared this morning, I wouldn't put up too much of a fuss.  I think, however, that he forgot about his rather formidable son-in-law."  She gestured toward Bobby, who was obviously entrenched in intense negotiations with Chief Flaherty.

            "Well, I'd feel better if we weren't being tailed all day, Goren," Matthews said.

            "I'll take that under advisement, Matthews," Alicia said as she turned to face Alex.  It was obvious the two agents did not get along.

            Alicia gestured for Alex to follow her away from the reception desk.  When they were out of earshot of both Matthews and Bobby, Alicia let out a frustrated sigh.  "That guy is a complete and total dick!" she whispered angrily.  "Jesus, what did I do to wind up with him?"

            "Why don't you ask for a change in partners now, while it's still early on in the case?" Alex asked.

            "That's just it," Alicia said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she felt the onset of a nasty headache, "the Bureau Chief is going to say that it is too early on to tell if we won't work as a team.  Assistant Director Barkley is a by-the-book kind of guy."

            Alex chuckled.  "He and Deakins should get along just swell."

            Alicia grinned.  "Yeah, but you're lucky.  You want to keep Bobby, not give him back.  It's nice to work with a partner you like."

            "Sure is," Alex agreed.

            "Can I ask you a question, Alex, even though you might not be able to answer it?"

            "Sure.  What is it?"

            "Why the hell are those girls staring at me, then at Bobby, then back at me?"

            Alex laughed.  "Oh, I can answer that one, all right.  It's called 'the Power of Goren.'  All the young, and old, girls love Bobby."

            A slow, slightly wicked smile spread across Alicia's face.  "Oh, do tell, please, Detective Eames.  This might just make my day."

            Alex returned the smile.  "Well, wherever we go, the females of the species just sit right up and take notice when one Detective Goren enters the room.  Rare is the female who doesn't drool in one form or another.  Even some of the female perps dig him."

            "Ah," said Alicia.  "And tell me, Alexandra, my new bosom buddy, does Detective Goren ever dig them back?"

            "Nope."

            "Never?"

            "Never.  It's pretty amazing, actually.  All of my other partners would have partaken, that's for sure."

            Alicia glanced over at Bobby, who appeared to be finishing up his conversation with Chief Flaherty.  "So, these young ladies at the reception desk have a thing for my Bobby, hmm?"

            "Yep.  Happens every time we come in here.  Your appearance here coupled with that bit of kissy-face you two played has certainly not made their day."

            "Yes, I can see that.  I mean, if looks could kill, I'd be an expensively clad puddle right now."  Alicia chuckled.  "Sorry, ladies."

            Alex laughed.  She and Alicia were going to get along just great.  "Hey, Alicia, as much as I dislike your partner, and I do, I really do," Alex paused as Alicia laughed, "I'll do what I can to keep him occupied while you and Bobby do your thing during this investigation.  Maybe I can keep him from getting on your nerves too much while we track down this perp."

            Alicia smiled gratefully at Alex.  "You really are my new bosom buddy.  You would do this for me?"  Alex nodded.  "Well, then, after this is all over, you and I have a date at this great day spa my mother told me about.  Just us girls.  Deal?"

            Alex grinned happily. "Deal!"

            Just then, Bobby came up to them and slid his arms around both women's shoulders.  "I should be extremely nervous about the two most important women in my life getting along so well.  I watched you two while I was listening to Liam.  You look like you're plotting something."

            "We were just bonding," Alex said innocently.

            "Yep," Alicia agreed.

            "God help me," Bobby said with a shake of his head.

            Alicia gave him a playful jab in the ribs.  "So you were listening to Liam, huh?  That usually means Liam, one, Bobby, zero.  Am I right?"

            Bobby pulled a face at Alicia.  "Well, uh...the bodyguards stay, but they follow us in their own car and will assist us as needed during this investigation."

            "Ladies and gentlemen," intoned Alicia in a ring announcer-type voice, "the winner and still champion, Liam Seamus Flaherty, Senior!"

            Bobby pulled another face at Alicia then kissed the top of her head.  Alex watched all this with fascination.  This was a side of Robert Goren she didn't know existed.  She always knew that he was a man of great passion and compassion, but this playful, affectionate side was a revelation.  It was obvious that Alicia relaxed him, brought out the kid in him.  Bobby Goren practically lived inside his head, all the time, showing Alex only occasional flashes of boyishness and a sense of humor.  However, he seemed to allow Alicia Goren to lure him out of his shell completely.  Alex recalled how open he'd been with her in the interrogation room yesterday.  He'd never talked with her like that before.  It was obviously a result of Alicia's influence.  Alex smiled.  She was happy to finally see her partner from all sides.

            Bobby noticed the smile on Alex's face and gave her a quick squeeze.  "What's funny?" he asked her.  She was about to answer, "You," when she felt Matthews come up behind her and place a hand on her elbow.  Alex felt her smile freeze into place.  She shot a look at Alicia, and Alicia raised her eyebrows in a "Don't ask me what this nut is doing" kind of look.  Alex, still standing within the circle of Bobby's arm, turned slightly and said, "Something I can do for you, Agent Matthews?"

            "Well, I just wanted to share in this little love-in you three have going here," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

            "Uh-huh.  Okay, then, we should really get started on those files.  As I recall, there were a lot of them and it's going to take a good part of the day to get through most of them."  Alicia leaned into Bobby for a quick second then ducked out from under his arm.  As she walked past Alex, she reached out and grabbed Eames' hand and pulled her along in her wake.  "Come on, Alex, I'll introduce you to my minions."

            Bobby watched Alicia introduce Alex to her bodyguards.  He then glanced over at Matthews and was surprised to find him staring intently at Alicia.  Bobby cleared his throat and Matthews started.  He looked up at Bobby.  "You're ex-wife doesn't seem to like me much," he said.

            "Why do you think that is?" Bobby asked nonchalantly.  He knew Alicia wasn't the type to dislike someone for no reason.  Her instincts about people were usually dead on, so if she didn't like Matthews, there was definitely something wrong.

            "I haven't got a clue.  I was hoping we'd get on like gangbusters.  She's got quite a rep within the FBI.  Amazing profiler; just an all-around brilliant agent.  Anyone would be lucky to have her as a partner.  I hope she comes around.  I sure like her."

            Bobby stiffened slightly at this last remark.  There was something about the way he said it that just didn't sound right.  He looked at Matthews, who had gone back to watching Alicia.  Her instincts have yet to fail her, Bobby thought.  There's something a little bit off about this guy.  Bobby was going to have to keep an eye on Agent Matthews.