Title: Niflheim
Authors: Sylphide & RivErStaR
Rating: PG-13 to R
Disclaimer: You know, I've been asking for so long, but no hope. Nope. NBC just isn't budging. Oh well. Now onto my other hope . owning Smallville . or Clark Kent . how about other hot guys? Don't mind me, I get a little hot- guy-crazy. I discovered a new hot guy. Evan Taubenfeld, Avril Lavigne's guitarist. He's so hot. Go find a picture of him. He's hot!! But as far as L & O: CI goes, no luck. Bobby & Alex seem very content with NBC, and, I suppose, the way I can't even balance homework and fan fiction-writing, NBC does a much better job at running Criminal Intent.
Replies: (Anyone familiar with my L&O: CI story, "Lost", which I hope you are (by the way although it's complete you can still review!! lol) or my CSI fic "Draugr" (in progress) will be familiar with this section. If not, check chapter two of "Lost" for the author notes.) Barbara (in response to both your reviews): Thanks for reviewing so much! I love getting reviews. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I had a break this last week but I'm taking advanced courses on the Internet and I spent the entire break doing homework. I had no time! I'm glad you like Amy's and my collaboration. Daf9: Thanks! I love your reviews. Glad you like it. Yeah, Amy's little comparison with U235 and Bobby scared me too! LOL! Black Storm: Glad you like it! Thank you very much for your compliments . Amy, don't we love Black Storm? We love you! Kiera Kingsley: Hey! Glad to see you back here. I've missed you on my CSI fic (by the way, people who read 'Draugr', a new chapter up soon! I promise!) reviews. Thank you, although last chapter I didn't do much. I edited it and stuff, but yeah. Amy's brilliant, isn't she? Wings of Love: **puff puff** Here's me hurrying! Seeing to the fact that I'm totally unathletic, this is pretty good for me! LOL!
A/N's:
Sylphide: Thank you, people, for all your reviews! (Next time, I hope we can get more! LOL!) This is mine and Amy's next chapter for this brilliant story written by . gasp! Us! LOL! Thanks again. I must say that even after one chapter, I've loved working with Amy. I'm exceedingly sorry for the delay in posting. As mentioned before, there's been so much homework. I hate my teachers. If anyone actually reads these, last chapter Amy told me that this is my chapter, and I should have fun.
I will.
RivErStaR: Wow I can't believe how many of you love my first chapter. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews. But don't stop there though. Now you have a new chapter to review and to be totally honest with you, you won't be disappointed with this chapter. It's great. But I'll let you read it for yourselves (and no I'm not biased either thank you all very much LOL). Now enough of this crap and onto the next chapter.
~~*~~
James Deakins was a smart man. He could always tell when his detectives were stressed out, or when they weren't exactly the happiest of people. He could read their minds, he could tell them exactly how they felt at that moment. He could read their moods as well --- whether happy, sad, depressed, frustrated, scared, or angry.
Bobby Goren was his pride and joy --- the man was a legend with profiling and Deakins couldn't understand why he wasn't off working for the FBI or another high-profile-but-oh-so-secretive organization. Deakins considered himself extremely lucky to even be allowed to be in the presence of this man, let alone be his supervisor. Goren could read minds almost as well as Deakins could, although his abilities were probably from extensive studies, as opposed to Deakins, who adopted the talent in question from his many years of experience with people.
Bobby was a little headstrong sometimes. Deakins could admit it --- Goren had a strange ability to always seem to be personally involved, but to appear as if he were suffering an inner battle to hide it. Bobby was good at hiding things. He always tried to hide his emotions --- his sadness, his joy at times, and even his anger --- but now, it appeared to Deakins that Bobby Goren was making absolutely no effort whatsoever to hide his expression of the latter emotion.
"James!" Bobby roared at his superior. Bobby wasn't worried about what James Deakins might say in response to his angered greeting. James was more of a friend than a boss to him. "We need to talk. Now."
James leaned back in his chair, his eyebrow raised curiously. "What's wrong, Bobby?" he asked, knowing full well that someone must have severely angered Bobby Goren to have made him this frustrated and angry. Deakins had never known anyone in the world who could make Detective Robert Goren this angry. Except one. But that was impossible. Lars Fenaisyn hadn't shown his face anywhere that he was aware of in five years.
"Oh my God, Bobby," he breathed. "It's not Lars Fenaisyn, is it?"
Bobby nodded hurriedly and explained the phone call he had just received. "He said that he was very interested to meet my new partner," Bobby recited as he remembered Lars' words, now unwillingly implanted in his memory, just like the other ones.
The other ones. Bobby couldn't think about it. It hadn't happened for five years. Five long, happy years. Now, the memories were brought up. Memories of what had happened. The bodies. There seemed to be so many, although there were only six. Six lives, taken. Six people, gone. Six partners, dead. He remembered Lars' evil smile and his sickening laugh. The way he walked, how he spoke, his voice, his tone, and his face. He remembered the way Lars had grinned at him before everything went black and he woke up with James Deakins standing over him, muttering that Bobby's old partner, Michael Simone, was dead. He remembered everything about that evil man. His desire to kill, his desire to take lives --- more specifically, the lives of Bobby's previous six partners.
Why he'd murdered them was a mystery. Why they were gone was a puzzle. Bobby always hated puzzles. They were complicated, which he liked, but there was always something so incomplete about them once they were together. The thin, not-so-discreet cracks separating the puzzle pieces always infuriated Bobby Goren. It was too much. It wasn't complete. Anything incomplete, anything left undone, anything abandoned and unsolved irritated Bobby.
Lars Fenaisyn was one of these complete-and-yet-so-not puzzles. He was a man that Bobby had all the evidence to nail but always seemed to escape, to get away, somehow. He always managed to sneak away before Bobby could return the favor Lars had done for his previous partners like Michael Simone and kill the evil monster who had committed those heinous crimes.
James Deakins was in shock. It wasn't possible. "Lars Fenaisyn hasn't been seen or heard from in five years," he muttered to himself.
Bobby scowled. "Apparently, that's changed," he replied.
Deakins looked at Bobby. "Where did you get the call?"
"My desk phone."
"Did you star 69 the caller?" Deakins asked.
"Yes," Bobby replied. "Not known. I put out a trace."
Deakins sat there, taking all this information in. Something came to his mind suddenly and he stood up sharply from his fairly expensive desk chair. "Oh my God!" Deakins looked at Bobby. "Where's Alex?"
Deakins, along with remembering the day that Alex had arrived, remembered how well the two clicked and marveled at how their thoughts seemed to be so in sync with one another. How they seemed to be one. Each was a step ahead of the other.
Alex Eames was kind of a legend in herself. Well, her name was. Her father, an ex-cop, had been disgraced when he was caught dipping into the pension fund. When Deakins had learned that Alexandra Eames was to be transferred to his department and work under him with his legendary Detective Goren, Deakins wrongly stereotyped her and thought, "Oh my God, this entire time is going to be her asking Bobby a million questions about detective work and profiling."
Deakins couldn't have been more wrong. Alex came that first day and she had an aura around her. There was an air of confidence to her that mixed with the attitude of a tough New Yorker who had been to hell and back and could tell you every detail about that horrible place. Alex was the exact opposite of what he had expected. He had expected a ditzy cop's daughter who wanted to exceed what her father had done when he was a cop. He had expected everything but what he got.
He got a cop's daughter --- that much had been correct --- but everything else was wrong. Alex wasn't ditzy by any means; she was incredibly smart and clever, a woman who looked like a porcelain doll at first glance but could, truly kick your ass and hold her own amongst a number of men, including Bobby Goren. She didn't care about what her father had done or hadn't done when he was with the service; from what Deakins could see, she acted as though she wasn't related to him. She didn't want people judging her because of her father. She also didn't seem to care about Bobby's excellent reputation as both a profiler and an officer; she worked with Bobby as though he was a normal person, although he truly was anything but.
Bobby thought about what Alex had said to him before she had stalked off. "You think I'm here to do all your paperwork?" she had yelled at him. "Just you wait and see. I'm nobody's aide and I refuse to be yours so you can just take your work and shove it." How he hated to even think about how he would live with himself if those were Alex's last words to him. Bobby honestly didn't mean what he had said about her being a file clerk for him. He knew now that he shouldn't have said anything. He knew that Alex's one insecurity --- it seemed near impossible for her to have even one insecurity --- was the fact that people always told her that she didn't measure up to Bobby. Bobby however, knew that this was anything but true. If it weren't for Alex and her influence upon him, he would be nothing.
"She got mad when I made a little joke and stalked off. I don't know where she went," Bobby told Deakins.
Deakins ran out of his office, calling over his shoulder. "We have to find her, now. Her life depends on it."
~~*~~
Meanwhile, Alex was walking around Central Park, trying to blow off some steam. She couldn't believe that Bobby had even said that. "Paperwork?" she asked herself, shaking her head in disbelief. "What am I, some file clerk?"
Alex was, unbelievably, used to people saying things like that about her partnership with Bobby. "Alex, go file this while Goren and I go back to the scene." "Alex, write the report because Goren will be too busy finding the killer." "Alex, how on earth were you even partnered with Bobby?" "Alex, you don't measure up." "Alex, your father was a failure and I suppose you will be too."
Yes, her father. Somehow, everyone always came back to her father. Her father's mistakes, her father's pension fund disaster, her father's reputation. Captain Deakins, ADA Carver, and Bobby were the only ones who Alex felt truly believed she wasn't her father and didn't want anything to do with his history. She didn't want to be stereotyped because of her father's actions when he was with the service, and she didn't want anyone to hate her because of them either. The name, Eames, was a kind of curse to Alex. It was a fine name, good, and strong, but with it came the pains of the careers of all of the past officers (such as her father) that had had that name.
James Deakins had realized Alex's true potential as an officer of the law. ADA Carver, although she didn't work with him as closely as she did Deakins and Bobby, had been convinced of her abilities as a detective by Deakins. Bobby, however, had never needed convincing. The way he looked at her the first day will always be imprinted in her mind; his eyes were sharp and piercing, and he his voice had a soft ring of acuity to it that Alex marveled at. Bobby had heard of her father, yes, but when she had questioned him, finally, why he did not expect her to be something, he said, "I believe that people are their own person and their actions do not have to be influenced upon by their predecessors." It was with this statement that Alex realized he was her ally.
But now, to have Bobby play upon her one insecurity --- her seemingly always-existent "file clerk" nickname --- well, it seemed like a betrayal to Alex. At that moment, he was no longer her ally. With that seemingly harmless crack about the filing, Alex's entire view of Bobby shattered into a thousand and one pieces like a window breaking in a car accident. Now, he was just another guy. Alex didn't want to believe that that was what he thought of her as, but it seemed that there really was no alternative.
Suddenly, there was a quiet noise behind Alex. Any normal person would not have been able to hear the subtle sound, and even if they had, they probably would've disregarded it. However, Alexandra Eames was born and raised in New York City. She wasn't stupid. She whirled around to face the butt of a gun and everything went black.
~~*~~
A good twenty minutes later, Bobby was pacing in front of his desk, waiting for any indication of Alex's safety. The phone suddenly rang and Bobby jumped for it.
"Hello?" he asked with urgency in his voice he didn't even know was possible. This was too much. Bobby hoped to God that Alex was okay. He didn't know if he could take it anymore. Not another. Alex was the best partner he had ever had, and he didn't want Lars to ruin their partnership like he had done to Bobby and his various partners so many times before.
"Hello, Robert," came a sickening voice that could only belong to one person. "You never told me that your new partner was a woman."
Bobby's heart sunk. "Where is she? Is she all right? What have you done to her?"
A laugh came across the line. "I haven't done anything to her --- yet." Bobby could hear a kind of snap in the background, like a whip cracking against a solid form. Immediately following the snap was a scream, a scream that was only pained, not scared at all, a scream that sounded so much like Alex. Bobby wanted to beat the living shit out of Lars Fenaisyn.
"Bobby!" came a shout in the background. "Bobby, don't do anything he says!"
Bobby's heart sunk even further. "Alex," he muttered.
Lars laughed over the phone. "Yes, Robert. It's Alex, and if you don't want her to end up like the others, you'd better do something, and quickly. Because I won't stop until eventually, it'll be you sitting here with me. It'll be you, suffering. And lastly, it'll be you, dead on the ground."
Click. Lars hung up.
Bobby slammed down the phone. "Damn it!" he exclaimed in horror. "Put another trace out on that call," he ordered a passing street officer before running outside and hopping into an empty squad car. The officers who belonged to the car yelled, "Hey!"
Bobby flashed his badge at them and said, "I'll bring it back later." He sped off, his sharp eyes scanning the road for any sign of Deakins, Lars Fenaisyn, or Alex.
He located Deakins and a group of officers standing on a corner a couple of blocks from the station. Bobby drove up and repeated Lars' words to Deakins. Deakins nodded and turned to the other officers.
"Get a larger assembly of officers and set up a search team," ordered Deakins. "We need all the time we can get. The larger the perimeter, the better."
The officers nodded and turned away.
Deakins turned to Bobby. "Did he say anything about where they were?" he asked.
"No," Bobby said. "James, this can't end up like the others. It just can't."
James nodded, completely understanding without the need for words.
~~*~~ MEANWHILE ~~*~~
"It'll be you, dead on the floor," Lars was saying into the phone before hanging up.
"Bobby, NO!" Alex tried to scream before her cries were silenced by the snap of a whip against her leg.
"SHIT!" she screamed, looking up at Fenaisyn, who was clearly enjoying her suffering. "What's your problem?"
Lars frowned. "What's that, Alexandra?" he asked, snapping the whip against the ground next to her body, which was bleeding and now permanently scarred with whip marks.
Alex wasn't intimidated. "What's your problem with Bobby?" she asked again, refusing to play his little 'victim' game.
"You're a spitfire, Alex," he replied, laughing.
Alex scowled. "Damn straight. Whatever game you're trying to play, Lars, just cut the crap."
Lars studied her for a moment. She wasn't like the others. She was stronger, more fierce and independent than he'd counted on. "I misjudged you," he said.
"Story of my life," Alex muttered.
"Oh?"
Alex laughed. "Don't even try to play the stupid 'psychiatrist in control' roll. It doesn't work for you. It's not your style."
Lars shrugged. "You see right through me, Alexandra. But you know what? You don't know a damn thing about me."
"Oh, really?" Alex challenged. "Let's see...you're a convicted murderer. You escaped from prison and for some reason, three years later, you murdered Detective Robert Goren's partner, Andrew Vartan. Two years later, you murdered another partner of his. You've killed six of his partners over a course of sixteen years."
"You're good," Lars replied, unconvincingly trying to hide the slight fear in his voice.
"Too good," Alex countered. "But I'm not done. Five years ago, your trail went cold. You literally dropped off the face of the earth. But now -- - you're back to kill Bobby's new partner."
Lars nodded. "Seems like you've got it down, Alexandra. This is the perfect crime."
"With one difference," cut in Alex.
Lars looked at her quizzically.
"I refuse to be the perfect victim."
~~*~~
Author's Notes:
Sylphide: Hey! I hope my chapter could even compare to Amy's. Did I live up to her shining example? **big, hopeful smile** I hope so. Anyway, I don't think anything needs explaining for this chapter. If it does, don't hesitate to email me at sun_burst77@hotmail.com. I guess, um --- again, hats off to Amy for chapter one, and, like you guys, I can't wait to see chapter three. See you again for chapter four!
RivErStaR: Syl this is just so great. See we make the best pair. Now all I need to do is work out where I'm going to take this story too. I'm thinking the New York Zoo. What do you think? I think the story will have a fun time there, coz you know we all love the zoo!! LOL Excellent work and I really love that jigsaw analogy. Nice touch and I guess I'll see you all next time with the following chapter. But give me some time please. Uni has started for me so I'll be a busy beaver however I'll get it done ASAP.
Oh yeh, and please hit the review button and send us some. We're only human after all and remember 'The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated,' and 'Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.' - Voltaire. So basically what these two quotes are saying is this; SEND REVIEWS COZ WE NEED TO KNOW THAT WE'RE APPRECIATED!!!!
Authors: Sylphide & RivErStaR
Rating: PG-13 to R
Disclaimer: You know, I've been asking for so long, but no hope. Nope. NBC just isn't budging. Oh well. Now onto my other hope . owning Smallville . or Clark Kent . how about other hot guys? Don't mind me, I get a little hot- guy-crazy. I discovered a new hot guy. Evan Taubenfeld, Avril Lavigne's guitarist. He's so hot. Go find a picture of him. He's hot!! But as far as L & O: CI goes, no luck. Bobby & Alex seem very content with NBC, and, I suppose, the way I can't even balance homework and fan fiction-writing, NBC does a much better job at running Criminal Intent.
Replies: (Anyone familiar with my L&O: CI story, "Lost", which I hope you are (by the way although it's complete you can still review!! lol) or my CSI fic "Draugr" (in progress) will be familiar with this section. If not, check chapter two of "Lost" for the author notes.) Barbara (in response to both your reviews): Thanks for reviewing so much! I love getting reviews. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I had a break this last week but I'm taking advanced courses on the Internet and I spent the entire break doing homework. I had no time! I'm glad you like Amy's and my collaboration. Daf9: Thanks! I love your reviews. Glad you like it. Yeah, Amy's little comparison with U235 and Bobby scared me too! LOL! Black Storm: Glad you like it! Thank you very much for your compliments . Amy, don't we love Black Storm? We love you! Kiera Kingsley: Hey! Glad to see you back here. I've missed you on my CSI fic (by the way, people who read 'Draugr', a new chapter up soon! I promise!) reviews. Thank you, although last chapter I didn't do much. I edited it and stuff, but yeah. Amy's brilliant, isn't she? Wings of Love: **puff puff** Here's me hurrying! Seeing to the fact that I'm totally unathletic, this is pretty good for me! LOL!
A/N's:
Sylphide: Thank you, people, for all your reviews! (Next time, I hope we can get more! LOL!) This is mine and Amy's next chapter for this brilliant story written by . gasp! Us! LOL! Thanks again. I must say that even after one chapter, I've loved working with Amy. I'm exceedingly sorry for the delay in posting. As mentioned before, there's been so much homework. I hate my teachers. If anyone actually reads these, last chapter Amy told me that this is my chapter, and I should have fun.
I will.
RivErStaR: Wow I can't believe how many of you love my first chapter. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews. But don't stop there though. Now you have a new chapter to review and to be totally honest with you, you won't be disappointed with this chapter. It's great. But I'll let you read it for yourselves (and no I'm not biased either thank you all very much LOL). Now enough of this crap and onto the next chapter.
~~*~~
James Deakins was a smart man. He could always tell when his detectives were stressed out, or when they weren't exactly the happiest of people. He could read their minds, he could tell them exactly how they felt at that moment. He could read their moods as well --- whether happy, sad, depressed, frustrated, scared, or angry.
Bobby Goren was his pride and joy --- the man was a legend with profiling and Deakins couldn't understand why he wasn't off working for the FBI or another high-profile-but-oh-so-secretive organization. Deakins considered himself extremely lucky to even be allowed to be in the presence of this man, let alone be his supervisor. Goren could read minds almost as well as Deakins could, although his abilities were probably from extensive studies, as opposed to Deakins, who adopted the talent in question from his many years of experience with people.
Bobby was a little headstrong sometimes. Deakins could admit it --- Goren had a strange ability to always seem to be personally involved, but to appear as if he were suffering an inner battle to hide it. Bobby was good at hiding things. He always tried to hide his emotions --- his sadness, his joy at times, and even his anger --- but now, it appeared to Deakins that Bobby Goren was making absolutely no effort whatsoever to hide his expression of the latter emotion.
"James!" Bobby roared at his superior. Bobby wasn't worried about what James Deakins might say in response to his angered greeting. James was more of a friend than a boss to him. "We need to talk. Now."
James leaned back in his chair, his eyebrow raised curiously. "What's wrong, Bobby?" he asked, knowing full well that someone must have severely angered Bobby Goren to have made him this frustrated and angry. Deakins had never known anyone in the world who could make Detective Robert Goren this angry. Except one. But that was impossible. Lars Fenaisyn hadn't shown his face anywhere that he was aware of in five years.
"Oh my God, Bobby," he breathed. "It's not Lars Fenaisyn, is it?"
Bobby nodded hurriedly and explained the phone call he had just received. "He said that he was very interested to meet my new partner," Bobby recited as he remembered Lars' words, now unwillingly implanted in his memory, just like the other ones.
The other ones. Bobby couldn't think about it. It hadn't happened for five years. Five long, happy years. Now, the memories were brought up. Memories of what had happened. The bodies. There seemed to be so many, although there were only six. Six lives, taken. Six people, gone. Six partners, dead. He remembered Lars' evil smile and his sickening laugh. The way he walked, how he spoke, his voice, his tone, and his face. He remembered the way Lars had grinned at him before everything went black and he woke up with James Deakins standing over him, muttering that Bobby's old partner, Michael Simone, was dead. He remembered everything about that evil man. His desire to kill, his desire to take lives --- more specifically, the lives of Bobby's previous six partners.
Why he'd murdered them was a mystery. Why they were gone was a puzzle. Bobby always hated puzzles. They were complicated, which he liked, but there was always something so incomplete about them once they were together. The thin, not-so-discreet cracks separating the puzzle pieces always infuriated Bobby Goren. It was too much. It wasn't complete. Anything incomplete, anything left undone, anything abandoned and unsolved irritated Bobby.
Lars Fenaisyn was one of these complete-and-yet-so-not puzzles. He was a man that Bobby had all the evidence to nail but always seemed to escape, to get away, somehow. He always managed to sneak away before Bobby could return the favor Lars had done for his previous partners like Michael Simone and kill the evil monster who had committed those heinous crimes.
James Deakins was in shock. It wasn't possible. "Lars Fenaisyn hasn't been seen or heard from in five years," he muttered to himself.
Bobby scowled. "Apparently, that's changed," he replied.
Deakins looked at Bobby. "Where did you get the call?"
"My desk phone."
"Did you star 69 the caller?" Deakins asked.
"Yes," Bobby replied. "Not known. I put out a trace."
Deakins sat there, taking all this information in. Something came to his mind suddenly and he stood up sharply from his fairly expensive desk chair. "Oh my God!" Deakins looked at Bobby. "Where's Alex?"
Deakins, along with remembering the day that Alex had arrived, remembered how well the two clicked and marveled at how their thoughts seemed to be so in sync with one another. How they seemed to be one. Each was a step ahead of the other.
Alex Eames was kind of a legend in herself. Well, her name was. Her father, an ex-cop, had been disgraced when he was caught dipping into the pension fund. When Deakins had learned that Alexandra Eames was to be transferred to his department and work under him with his legendary Detective Goren, Deakins wrongly stereotyped her and thought, "Oh my God, this entire time is going to be her asking Bobby a million questions about detective work and profiling."
Deakins couldn't have been more wrong. Alex came that first day and she had an aura around her. There was an air of confidence to her that mixed with the attitude of a tough New Yorker who had been to hell and back and could tell you every detail about that horrible place. Alex was the exact opposite of what he had expected. He had expected a ditzy cop's daughter who wanted to exceed what her father had done when he was a cop. He had expected everything but what he got.
He got a cop's daughter --- that much had been correct --- but everything else was wrong. Alex wasn't ditzy by any means; she was incredibly smart and clever, a woman who looked like a porcelain doll at first glance but could, truly kick your ass and hold her own amongst a number of men, including Bobby Goren. She didn't care about what her father had done or hadn't done when he was with the service; from what Deakins could see, she acted as though she wasn't related to him. She didn't want people judging her because of her father. She also didn't seem to care about Bobby's excellent reputation as both a profiler and an officer; she worked with Bobby as though he was a normal person, although he truly was anything but.
Bobby thought about what Alex had said to him before she had stalked off. "You think I'm here to do all your paperwork?" she had yelled at him. "Just you wait and see. I'm nobody's aide and I refuse to be yours so you can just take your work and shove it." How he hated to even think about how he would live with himself if those were Alex's last words to him. Bobby honestly didn't mean what he had said about her being a file clerk for him. He knew now that he shouldn't have said anything. He knew that Alex's one insecurity --- it seemed near impossible for her to have even one insecurity --- was the fact that people always told her that she didn't measure up to Bobby. Bobby however, knew that this was anything but true. If it weren't for Alex and her influence upon him, he would be nothing.
"She got mad when I made a little joke and stalked off. I don't know where she went," Bobby told Deakins.
Deakins ran out of his office, calling over his shoulder. "We have to find her, now. Her life depends on it."
~~*~~
Meanwhile, Alex was walking around Central Park, trying to blow off some steam. She couldn't believe that Bobby had even said that. "Paperwork?" she asked herself, shaking her head in disbelief. "What am I, some file clerk?"
Alex was, unbelievably, used to people saying things like that about her partnership with Bobby. "Alex, go file this while Goren and I go back to the scene." "Alex, write the report because Goren will be too busy finding the killer." "Alex, how on earth were you even partnered with Bobby?" "Alex, you don't measure up." "Alex, your father was a failure and I suppose you will be too."
Yes, her father. Somehow, everyone always came back to her father. Her father's mistakes, her father's pension fund disaster, her father's reputation. Captain Deakins, ADA Carver, and Bobby were the only ones who Alex felt truly believed she wasn't her father and didn't want anything to do with his history. She didn't want to be stereotyped because of her father's actions when he was with the service, and she didn't want anyone to hate her because of them either. The name, Eames, was a kind of curse to Alex. It was a fine name, good, and strong, but with it came the pains of the careers of all of the past officers (such as her father) that had had that name.
James Deakins had realized Alex's true potential as an officer of the law. ADA Carver, although she didn't work with him as closely as she did Deakins and Bobby, had been convinced of her abilities as a detective by Deakins. Bobby, however, had never needed convincing. The way he looked at her the first day will always be imprinted in her mind; his eyes were sharp and piercing, and he his voice had a soft ring of acuity to it that Alex marveled at. Bobby had heard of her father, yes, but when she had questioned him, finally, why he did not expect her to be something, he said, "I believe that people are their own person and their actions do not have to be influenced upon by their predecessors." It was with this statement that Alex realized he was her ally.
But now, to have Bobby play upon her one insecurity --- her seemingly always-existent "file clerk" nickname --- well, it seemed like a betrayal to Alex. At that moment, he was no longer her ally. With that seemingly harmless crack about the filing, Alex's entire view of Bobby shattered into a thousand and one pieces like a window breaking in a car accident. Now, he was just another guy. Alex didn't want to believe that that was what he thought of her as, but it seemed that there really was no alternative.
Suddenly, there was a quiet noise behind Alex. Any normal person would not have been able to hear the subtle sound, and even if they had, they probably would've disregarded it. However, Alexandra Eames was born and raised in New York City. She wasn't stupid. She whirled around to face the butt of a gun and everything went black.
~~*~~
A good twenty minutes later, Bobby was pacing in front of his desk, waiting for any indication of Alex's safety. The phone suddenly rang and Bobby jumped for it.
"Hello?" he asked with urgency in his voice he didn't even know was possible. This was too much. Bobby hoped to God that Alex was okay. He didn't know if he could take it anymore. Not another. Alex was the best partner he had ever had, and he didn't want Lars to ruin their partnership like he had done to Bobby and his various partners so many times before.
"Hello, Robert," came a sickening voice that could only belong to one person. "You never told me that your new partner was a woman."
Bobby's heart sunk. "Where is she? Is she all right? What have you done to her?"
A laugh came across the line. "I haven't done anything to her --- yet." Bobby could hear a kind of snap in the background, like a whip cracking against a solid form. Immediately following the snap was a scream, a scream that was only pained, not scared at all, a scream that sounded so much like Alex. Bobby wanted to beat the living shit out of Lars Fenaisyn.
"Bobby!" came a shout in the background. "Bobby, don't do anything he says!"
Bobby's heart sunk even further. "Alex," he muttered.
Lars laughed over the phone. "Yes, Robert. It's Alex, and if you don't want her to end up like the others, you'd better do something, and quickly. Because I won't stop until eventually, it'll be you sitting here with me. It'll be you, suffering. And lastly, it'll be you, dead on the ground."
Click. Lars hung up.
Bobby slammed down the phone. "Damn it!" he exclaimed in horror. "Put another trace out on that call," he ordered a passing street officer before running outside and hopping into an empty squad car. The officers who belonged to the car yelled, "Hey!"
Bobby flashed his badge at them and said, "I'll bring it back later." He sped off, his sharp eyes scanning the road for any sign of Deakins, Lars Fenaisyn, or Alex.
He located Deakins and a group of officers standing on a corner a couple of blocks from the station. Bobby drove up and repeated Lars' words to Deakins. Deakins nodded and turned to the other officers.
"Get a larger assembly of officers and set up a search team," ordered Deakins. "We need all the time we can get. The larger the perimeter, the better."
The officers nodded and turned away.
Deakins turned to Bobby. "Did he say anything about where they were?" he asked.
"No," Bobby said. "James, this can't end up like the others. It just can't."
James nodded, completely understanding without the need for words.
~~*~~ MEANWHILE ~~*~~
"It'll be you, dead on the floor," Lars was saying into the phone before hanging up.
"Bobby, NO!" Alex tried to scream before her cries were silenced by the snap of a whip against her leg.
"SHIT!" she screamed, looking up at Fenaisyn, who was clearly enjoying her suffering. "What's your problem?"
Lars frowned. "What's that, Alexandra?" he asked, snapping the whip against the ground next to her body, which was bleeding and now permanently scarred with whip marks.
Alex wasn't intimidated. "What's your problem with Bobby?" she asked again, refusing to play his little 'victim' game.
"You're a spitfire, Alex," he replied, laughing.
Alex scowled. "Damn straight. Whatever game you're trying to play, Lars, just cut the crap."
Lars studied her for a moment. She wasn't like the others. She was stronger, more fierce and independent than he'd counted on. "I misjudged you," he said.
"Story of my life," Alex muttered.
"Oh?"
Alex laughed. "Don't even try to play the stupid 'psychiatrist in control' roll. It doesn't work for you. It's not your style."
Lars shrugged. "You see right through me, Alexandra. But you know what? You don't know a damn thing about me."
"Oh, really?" Alex challenged. "Let's see...you're a convicted murderer. You escaped from prison and for some reason, three years later, you murdered Detective Robert Goren's partner, Andrew Vartan. Two years later, you murdered another partner of his. You've killed six of his partners over a course of sixteen years."
"You're good," Lars replied, unconvincingly trying to hide the slight fear in his voice.
"Too good," Alex countered. "But I'm not done. Five years ago, your trail went cold. You literally dropped off the face of the earth. But now -- - you're back to kill Bobby's new partner."
Lars nodded. "Seems like you've got it down, Alexandra. This is the perfect crime."
"With one difference," cut in Alex.
Lars looked at her quizzically.
"I refuse to be the perfect victim."
~~*~~
Author's Notes:
Sylphide: Hey! I hope my chapter could even compare to Amy's. Did I live up to her shining example? **big, hopeful smile** I hope so. Anyway, I don't think anything needs explaining for this chapter. If it does, don't hesitate to email me at sun_burst77@hotmail.com. I guess, um --- again, hats off to Amy for chapter one, and, like you guys, I can't wait to see chapter three. See you again for chapter four!
RivErStaR: Syl this is just so great. See we make the best pair. Now all I need to do is work out where I'm going to take this story too. I'm thinking the New York Zoo. What do you think? I think the story will have a fun time there, coz you know we all love the zoo!! LOL Excellent work and I really love that jigsaw analogy. Nice touch and I guess I'll see you all next time with the following chapter. But give me some time please. Uni has started for me so I'll be a busy beaver however I'll get it done ASAP.
Oh yeh, and please hit the review button and send us some. We're only human after all and remember 'The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated,' and 'Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.' - Voltaire. So basically what these two quotes are saying is this; SEND REVIEWS COZ WE NEED TO KNOW THAT WE'RE APPRECIATED!!!!