The Temptation of Goren: Part Five.

(If you haven't read the previous disclaimers, go and do so. They're all the same.)

Bobby pulled up outside the Treats From The East Indian takeaway and paid the cabbie. It was an unobtrusive building, decorated in fabulous red and gold ornaments. He scouted the edge of the building and located Maria's Holden. Bobby peered in the window and mentally searched the car. He quickly concluded that she had her gun with her, which meant that she was probably going to make an arrest. She also had her cell with her, which meant that she intended to call for back-up.

Goren made his way around to the front of the building and stared up at it. If anything has happened to her, I'll kill the person responsible, he thought angrily to himself. Bobby Goren opened the door of the restaurant and closed the door with a smart click. The restaurant was a hive of activity, even at 3pm in the afternoon. Waiters bustled around, carrying trays laden with curries and various dishes. Goren's analytic mind assessed the room. From what he had seen, Maria had to have entered restaurant from the front door. If she had gone in through the back, her car would've been parked closer to the rear of the building.

He saw that the only exit from the floor (beside the lavatories) were the stainless steel, double-doors to the kitchen. Goren made his way smoothly through the crowded room; quite an achievement for someone of his height and stature. He slipped, unnoticed by most, into the kitchens.

Met with even more panic and movement than in the actual restaurant, Goren quickly scanned the noisy room. A rickety, metal staircase ran up the wall to his right and stopped abruptly at the roof. Convinced that the staircase was not there for decoration, Goren scammed a kitchen coat from a nearby hook and crept up the stairs, his dark hair in stark contrast to the white around him.

Goren tapped the roof gingerly. A panel, concealed due to a snug fit and paint job, shifted gently against his touch. A smirk on his face, Goren lifted the panel up and slipped it to one side. He crawled, with some difficulty, up into the small space above him. After huffing and puffing his way up, Goren sat up and looked around him. He was at the end of a corridor and at the other end there was a wooden door with a frosted glass panel set into it. Clambering to his feet, Bobby made his way stealthily down the dark corridor to the door.

Sliding against the wall, Bobby Goren took out his gun and peered through the frosted glass. He couldn't see much, but he heard muffled voices. He pressed his ear up against the door, desperate to hear, his heart pounding in his ears.

'You won't get away with this! The NYPD won't be far behind me!'

'You honestly expect me to believe that? We both know that you work alone and that you always have done!'

'I put you away last time, I can do it again.'

'I don't think so, not in your position.'

'You're wrong. You won't be able to kill me.'

'It isn't my intention to do so. You are a valuable asset at the moment and I intend for you to be quite useful.'

'How so?'

'You are a major asset to the NYPD. That foolish captain of yours will do anything to ensure your safety. I will hold you hostage until I am granted diplomatic immunity for all my trading; then, ONLY then, will I shoot you.'

'Eames and Goren will come after me! You know that!'

'Goren? Eames? Ah yes, the senior detectives. I'm sorry Maria, but unless they know our link, they won't have the faintest idea where you are.'

Goren felt a surge of hot anger and kicked the door open with a bang. Weapon ahead, he quickly took in his surroundings. An Indian man stood with a gun at Maria's head, her own gun three feet away from her hand. Her cell sat on a nearby desk and she was kneeling on the floor.

'FREEZE!' Goren roared and flicked the safety catch off. The Indian man looked mildly surprised, before a smile spread across his face. Goren felt something hard smash into the back of his head. He fell face-first to the floor, unconscious.

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Goren awoke in the storeroom with a massive headache. He was lying on his back, his hands neatly folded on his chest with his jacket tucked under his head. He sat up slowly, wincing slightly and looked around. Maria sat glumly across from him, folding paper planes from the napkins that were piled beside her and tossing them at him.

'Where are we?' Bobby asked groggily. Maria shrugged.

'Somewhere inside the restaurant. After they knocked you out, they blindfolded me and took us back down the staircase. After that, I'm not sure. But judging by the contents of this room, we're still in the restaurant,' Maria said stiffly. Goren looked around and had to agree. The room contained many of the condiments used in the restaurant.

Maria looked grumpily at Goren.

'So why are you here, anyway? I told Eamesy to make sure you stayed at the station. I said that you would be in danger. Was I wrong? No,' Maria said angrily. Goren swallowed guiltily.

'I thought... well, I... I thought that maybe I... I could back up,' he stammered. Maria snorted.

'Don't insult my intelligence, Goren. I know why you are here. You thought I couldn't handle it because I'm only twenty-two and you had to rush in and act the hero, didn't you?' she spat. Bobby felt like crying. She was right, of course. It was amazing how someone he loved so much could hurt him so bad.

'Maybe... maybe I did,' he stuttered on.

'But maybe I did it because of you. Not because you are only twenty-two. The only person who ever had a problem with that was me. I went to the labs to tell you that, but you had already left. I called Eames and she told me to get back to the station. She told me what you said on the phone and I bolted. I ran a search on the database for you last case and joined the dots,' Bobby confessed. Maria chuckled half-heartedly.

'Ever the detective, Goren,' she sighed. Bobby dropped his head.

'I went to the labs to find you to tell you that you were wrong. I do love you. I love you in a way that I have never felt before. I love you in a way that makes me want to be with you forever. Maria, I love you enough to ask you be my wife,' Bobby said softly. Maria's face clouded over angrily.

'Don't lie to me Goren,' she said dangerously. Bobby shook his head.

'I'm not lying to you, Maria. I've never met anyone like you. You're the only one who knows what it's like to be so intelligent that the people closest to you don't understand you. You know that pain. You opened up to me because of it. You knew it before we met. You know because...'-Bobby choked on his words-'because you love me, too.'

Bobby studied Maria's face carefully. The thunderstorm look on her face broke into an expression of pain. Tears spilled out of her eyes. Bobby couldn't bear to see his beautiful Maria cry. He crawled over to her and wrapped his bear-like arms around her and cradled her close.

'Oh Bobby,' she sobbed into his arms. Bobby stroked her hair gently.

'Shhh, it's alright,' he reassured her. Maria looked up at him, her face red and blotchy.

'We can't get out of here,' she whispered. Bobby kissed her forehead.

'We can and we will. If he's taken my cell, as soon as he reaches one hundred feet away, it will send an automatic GPS message to Eames' phone. She can track us from there,' he replied. Maria looked impressed.

'Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else from you,' Maria grinned. Goren smiled, happy that once again, the woman who he loved the most (with, he thought, maybe one exception) was now officially in love with him. He brushed her copper curls out of her face and kissed her softly on the mouth. Maria wound her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Reaching for his jacket, Bobby spread it on the ground so that as he lay Maria on the floor she wouldn't feel the cold. As their legs intertwined and his kiss moved down Maria's neck, Goren thought foggily about Eames and wondered when she'd get there. In a half-hearted prayer, he hoped she didn't show up for the next half hour.

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Eames screeched to a halt outside the Indian restaurant with the rest of the squad, clad in a bullet-proof vest. Taking her gun from it's holster, Alex stepped out of her SUV and quick-stepped to the front of the takeaway. Noticing that Maria's car was there, Alex checked the GPS in Goren's cell. Same place. The squad moved in on the restaurant.

The doors burst open and terrified customers ducked under the table as officers ran in, guns raised and worked their way into the kitchen. Within five minutes, they located the trapdoor and the hidden corridor. Eames looked around. Still no sign of Goren or Maria.

She pulled the officer in charge to one side.

'Our primary objective is to find Detectives Goren and Eames,' she explained in a hushed voice.

'Take anyone who appears to be involved with drugs into custody, but make sure your people know what we're looking for.'

The officer nodded and sent the word around. Suddenly, from the back of the kitchen, someone fired a gun at the officers. A shooting frenzy ensued, causing Alex to duck quickly behind a bench as a tall Indian fired at her head. The bullet glanced off a door behind her, ripped out one of the hinges and causing it fall sideways. Alex spun around. The door opened onto a storeroom and peering blearily back at her was her partner, Robert Goren.

'BOBBY! GET OUT OF THERE!' Alex shouted as she fired back at the Indian. Goren got to his feet, grabbed his jacket and lumbered out of the storeroom. A few seconds later, Maria tore out of the room and ducked down with Goren and Eames.

'Nice of you to join us!' Maria yelled over the gunfire. Eames grasped Maria's shoulder.

'You and Bobby need to get out of here now!' Eames cried. Maria nodded and looked at Bobby, who appeared totally confused. The gunfire suddenly died.

'Quick! Go now!' Eames hissed. Goren grabbed Maria's arm and hauled her to her feet. The pair looked across the room. The drug cartel were scattered across the room, many draped over the food preparation benches, blood oozing onto the cold steel. Goren swallowed.

'We need to get out of here,' he whispered, but Maria's eyes were fixed. Fixed on the one bit of movement in the room. One of the cartel struggled up off the bench he was lying on. Goren grabbed Maria's arm. The man lifted his gun.

'No!' Goren shouted.

He pulled the trigger. The sound exploded around the room. Silence reigned once more. The cartel member slumped forward onto the bench, dropping his gun which landed on the floor with clatter. His eyes flickered and closed. Eames looked down beside her.

'Oh my god,' she whispered. Her hand flew to her mouth. She choked silently.

'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.'

Eames punched in a number on her cell.

'Deakins here.'

'Captain, call the ambos. We... we have a casualty,' Eames stuttered. The phone went dead for a moment.

'Who is it?' Deakins asked flatly.

'It's... it's Maria sir,' Eames said, looking at Bobby kneeling over Maria's lifeless body.

'She's been shot.'

A/N: Okay readers! Should Maria live, marry Bobby and live happily ever after? Or does she die from the bullet, leaving Bobby in a pit of despair and maybe take his own life? You have the power to decide, so R&R!