It had taken an hour for a crime scene unit to arrive and pick the bullets out of the house. Matthew had stayed, talking to Bobby for awhile, getting details.
Alex refused to see anyone, and had disappeared to bedroom.
"Okay, Ben. I'll talk to Emily tomorrow?" Matthew asked.
Bobby nodded. "She'll come by after work. I think she's in shock at the moment."
"Understandable. Listen, if you and Emily would prefer, Jessie and I could put you up at our place?"
Bobby shook his head. "No, we'll be fine. I think we probably just need some sleep."
"No problem. See you tomorrow."
Bobby shut the door after Matthew, and leant against it. He made his way up to the bedroom, finding Alex curled up on the bed, her small body shaking.
"Alex?"
"Go away."
He sat on the bed beside her, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Alex?"
"I said, leave me alone," she told him, pushing him away.
"Are you crying?"
"Very good, Detective." She turned away from him.
"Why?"
"WHY?" She turned to him and punched him in the shoulder, her anger taking over. "Because you're an ass, Bobby! Because you took a risk…a HUGE risk! I mean, let's remember what I told you, Bobby. I'm not entirely ready to watch another man I lo…care about die in front of me!" Alex was ranting now, taking out years of anger at Bobby for putting himself in situations without backup. "For god's sakes, Bobby! Do you get some kind of sick thrill out of it? Are you TRYING to get yourself killed? Do you know how many times I've gone to work and wondered if today was the day I was going to lose you? Let's look at all those cases, shall we? How about when you put yourself in a room with a deranged maniac with a rifle? Or got into a fight with a guy strapped up with bombs? Is it all just a rush to you?"
"Alex…" Bobby said nothing for a moment, just watched her. "I…guess I don't think."
She laughed bitterly. "That's a first. Bobby Goren not thinking." Lying back down, she turned away again. "Just leave me alone."
Bobby put his hand on her shoulder. "No. Alex…we have to talk about this."
"You're the last person I want to talk to at the moment."
"Alex…"
"And another thing!" she said, turning back to him. "I'm a cop too, you know? I'm not completely useless. So you telling me to stay down and do what you said was completely out of line!"
Bobby looked at her, confused. "You're a great detective, Alex. I've never thought of you as useless. I couldn't do what I do without you by my side." He grinned. "You should have seen me when I was stuck with Bishop."
Alex looked over at him. With a sigh, she reached out, her hand clutching the tags that hung around his neck. "I don't want to be left just holding these."
"What, you don't like them?"
Alex let out an exasperated sigh. "You just don't like talking seriously with me, do you?"
Bobby rested his hand on her arm. "Alex." He sighed. "I…I didn't think." It finally dawned on him what Alex must have gone through. "God, Alex, I'm sorry."
"I swore I'd never get involved with another cop. Never again. And then you came along."
Slow and painful realization comes over Bobby Goren. His mind started connecting things that he'd been too stunned to connect earlier. "Okay, we need to back up here. I need to answer things."
"Bobby…" Alex sighed. "I really…just want to be left alone."
"Tough," Bobby replied. "You got to say your piece, so now I get to say mine." He mentally went over what she had started with. "First of all, I have never attempted to get myself killed. I wouldn't want to leave you by yourself."
Alex turned back to look at him. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"
Bobby held up a finger. "Let me finish." He sighed. "When I said you were a great detective…I meant it. What I didn't say was…that wasn't the reason I told you to stay down."
"Then what was?"
"My first reaction was to protect you."
Her eyes locked onto his. "Excuse me?"
"Not because you can't take care of yourself…I know that. It was more of one of those alpha male moments…where I wasn't thinking of you as my partner."
Alex didn't say anything, instead just waiting for the next part of his sentence.
"I was thinking of you more as…as not a partner."
Alex groaned and let her head fall down to the pillow.
Bobby took a deep breath to try again. When he finally spoke, the words came out in a rush. "You're not going to lose me because I'm in love with you."
Alex's eyes widened and shot up to meet his again. "What did you say?"
"You're not going to lose me. I'm not trying to get myself killed. I think you're an excellent detective, whose help I need to do my job. And I'm in love with you." He looked down at her. "I think I covered all the points."
Alex opened her mouth and closed it again. "I…okay."
"Is that all you're going to say?" Bobby asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No. I'm just torturing you for a moment," Alex replied.
Bobby frowned. "Payback for earlier?"
Alex nodded. "If you tell anyone I cried earlier…I'll kill you."
Bobby smirked. "I won't tell a soul."
There was silence again for a moment.
"Am I still being tortured?" Bobby ventured.
Alex shot him a look. "Bobby…" She smiled slightly. "I'm not torturing you anymore."
"I appreciate that."
"I'm in love with you," Alex murmured.
Bobby smiled at her, his hand resting on her cheek. "Thank you."
Alex raised herself up and pressed a kiss to his lips. "If you ever do something stupid like that today…I'll kill you."
"I won't. Or at least, I'll do my best not to."
Alex climbed atop of Bobby, curling her body up against his. Surprised, Bobby caressed her back with his hand.
"I'm sorry I put you through that," he whispered. "But my first instinct wasn't to remember your past. It was to keep you safe."
"The alpha maleness," Alex whispered back, resting her head on his chest.
"Yeah." Bobby kissed the top of her head. "I promise I'll try to rein that in. Particularly on the job."
"Hmm. If you don't, I might have to slug you. Which we both know I seem to be the best at."
Bobby smirked. "You're a riot."
"I beat you fair and square."
"Both in the gym and at baseball."
"Don't think I don't know what went on in that game."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."
"Matt wants to talk to you tomorrow."
"Bobby, don't you think it's strange that he was here almost immediately as it happened?"
"He lives next door."
Alex bit her lip, resting against him again. "True."
"But I still want to investigate this myself. I'm sick of sitting around. I need to do something."
A small smile played on Alex's lips. "I was hoping you'd say that."
"But first, we're just going to rest here for a bit." Bobby closed his eyes. "You fit quite well."
"Hmm. You've answered my question that I've had for years."
"Which was?"
Alex closed her eyes. "Is cuddling Bobby like cuddling up to a teddybear?"
TBC