The Temptation of Goren: Part Seven.

(If you haven't read the previous disclaimers, go and do so. They're all the same. Thanks to blucougar57 for the review. Yes, Bobby deserves someone OTHER than Alex. And yes, you are right.)

Goren almost dropped the phone in relief. The pain in his heart was quickly replaced with the absolute joy of having Maria back.

'O-oh, oh m-my god,' he said shakily, sobbing down the phone.

'Goren! Get it together!' Eames' voice came sharply from the receiver. Goren collapsed in shock into his chair next to the phone.

'I-I'm sorry Eames, I-I j-just...' Goren stuttered, still shaking. The receiver went dead for a moment.

'I know, Bobby. I'm relieved, too,' Eames replied, her voice softer.

'So... when can we go and see her?'

'The hospital said she's still unconscious but she's stable enough for us to see her tonight. I'll pick you up in a hour or so.'

'Alright, see you then,' Bobby replied, putting the phone down. He ran a hand through his dark hair. It turned out that life was beautiful, after all.

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Alex put the phone down and smiled. Deakins noticed her grin.

'What's tickled your funny-bone?' he asked. Alex jerked her head up.

'Wha-? Oh. It's nothing, really. I just called Bobby with the good news.'

'What good news?'

'I just got a call from the hospital. Maria's in a stable condition, but she's still unconscious. We can go and visit her tonight. I called Bobby and told him I'd pick him up after work,' Eames replied, her smile broadening. Deakins smiled.

'What's her stats?'

'The bullet punctured a lung, but the medics arrived on time to save her. Luckily it missed her major arteries and lodged under one of her ribs,' Alex said. Deakins cringed.

'That's gotta be painful.'

'That's what I said. According to the doctor, it's amazing she survived at all.'

Deakins made his way back to his office.

'Eames?'

'Yes, Captain.'

'Have you filled out the incident report?'

Alex held up the form that Bobby had started filling in before she took him home. Deakins nodded.

'Good work. Would you mind if I visited Maria myself?'

'Of course not. I daresay that she would be honoured to have her CO visit her in hospital,' Alex replied. Deakins nodded again, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

'I don't know what it is about your niece, Eames, but you just can't help but want to protect her,' he said, before he turned and left the floor. Eames smiled and went back to her paperwork. You and Bobby both, she thought.

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Alex parked the SUV outside Bobby's apartment, ready to go in and get him. Ten seconds later, he came flying out, still pulling on his jacket. Keeping her chuckle to herself, Alex started the engine as her partner slammed into the seat beside her, looking as if he had had pure caffeine intravenously fed directly into his bloodstream. He looked at Eames.

'Well? Are we going or not?' he asked irritably. Alex just grinned and gunned the engine. The pair arrived at the hospital minutes later.

Bobby leapt out of the car and dashed up the steps. He skidded to a halt in front of the reception desk.

'Where can I find Maria Eames?' he gasped, flashing his badge. The receptionist gave him a wide-eyed look and pointed to the stairs on his left.

'Third room on the right, second level ICU,' the girl said, gulping. Goren nodded and ran up the stairs. The receptionist turned to Alex, who had just arrived behind her partner.

'Is he always like that?' she asked. Alex sighed.

'Pretty much.'

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Bobby stood quietly outside Maria's room. She was hooked up to the usual monitors, but there was something about having someone you love connected to those machines that ripped at your heartstrings. Bobby felt Alex beside him long before she spoke.

'I hate seeing her like this,' Alex murmured, watching her niece sleep. Bobby tightened his arms across his chest.

'What about the perp?'

'Dead. Died from a gunshot wound similar to Maria's, but he wasn't as lucky,' Alex replied, staring through the window. Bobby frowned. Death was too good for the bastard. He should have been left in jail to rot...

'Detective Goren? Detective Eames?' came a voice from behind them. Goren craned his neck to see a young nurse approaching them with a clipboard.

'Yes, that's us,' Alex said clearly in her 'Miss-Professional' voice. The nurse nodded.

'You'd be here to see Maria. Your captain called, said he'd be on his way in around half an hour,' the nurse said, looking down at her notes. Alex grinned.

'Can we go in and see Maria?' Bobby asked softly.

'Yes, but you must be quiet. She's just come out of surgery and probably won't thank you if you wake her up,' the nurse replied, opening the door for them. Bobby thanked her and made way for Alex to go in first. The room smelled of disinfectant and bleach, was painted mental-institution white and was freezing cold. Bobby hated it. He sat down gingerly in a spindly chair and looked at Alex.

'Can't we get her transferred to a private hospital? I don't like this place,' he said softly. Alex shook her head.

'The precinct just doesn't have the funds for it these days,' she replied, watching Maria sleep. Bobby turned his attention back to his resting girlfriend.

'She looks so peaceful, doesn't she?' he whispered, tilting his head to the side. Alex smiled. Even when his girlfriend was in hospital, his cop instincts didn't switch off.

'Look at her eyes; the laughter creases are almost totally smooth,' Bobby continued, indicating the area in question with his right middle finger. Alex chuckled to herself.

'Her eyebrows aren't as close-knit and her shoulders are relaxed, she must be in a deep sleep...'

'...well I was until you started poking at my face, Bobby,' Maria croaked from behind her closed eyes. Bobby jumped, to a sickening crack from the chair he sat on. Maria blinked her eyes open and managed a weak smile.

'Hello, Detective Goren,' she whispered. Bobby was in tears. Alex just smiled.

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Deakins parked his car outside of the hospital and quietly locked it. It was about six o'clock and it was getting dark. He wondered if his junior detective was still allowed visitors this late. He made his way up the stairs and caught the receptionist's attention.

'Excuse me, could you please tell me where I can find Maria Eames?' he asked politely, showing his badge. The receptionist's face dawned in recognition.

'Oh, you'd be Captain Deakins, wouldn't you? The nurse in ICU told me that you'd be here,' the girl replied. Deakins smiled kindly. Hurry up, girl...

'Yeah, she's second level, ICU, third door on the right. Detectives Goren and Eames are already here,' she continued, indicating the stairs. Deakins thanked her and sped up the stairs. He located the door and peered through the window. Maria was awake and Goren was holding her hand gently in his own paw-like one. Deakins smiled. So he finally got his head screwed on... well done Goren, you've just cracked your biggest case yet, he thought.

The captain quietly opened the door to the room. Maria, Alex and Bobby all looked up. Bobby quickly dropped Maria's hand. He sprang up off the chair.

'Nice to see you, Deakins,' he said in a low rumble, wringing his hands slightly. Deakins laughed.

'Sit down, Goren. I saw it all and I'm not going to complain. I know all about you and Maria, so don't insult my intelligence by trying to cover it up,' Deakins replied. Bobby's face broke into a look of relief as he sunk back into his chair and resumed holding Maria's hand. Maria smiled at her CO.

'It's good to see you, Captain,' she wheezed. James Deakins smiled at her.

'I'm not condoning what you did today, Detective. Going on a solo operation with no back-up in place was very stupid, especially for someone with a track record like your own...'

'But sir, I...' Maria began, but Deakins held up a hand.

'- but I'm willing to overlook it this once. To fill you in, your head-strong mission led to three arrests and six leads which will culminate with the certainty that the Gotham Cartel will be shut down for good,' Deakins finished. Maria beamed at him, at her aunt, then at Bobby. Bobby squeezed her hand gently.

'Well done, Detective,' he said softly.

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Maria winced as Bobby helped her down the stairs in front of the hospital two days later. The fracture in her ribs that the bullet had caused was still painful, even though she was on pain-killers. Bobby noticed her grimace, so he swept her up into his arms and carried her down the final three steps. Alex rolled her eyes at the pair, but Maria threw him a grateful look.

She crawled into the back of Alex's SUV and buckled in for the trip home. Bobby craned around to see her from the front passenger seat.

'Are you al-alright back there? I mean, are-are you sure that you don't need...?'

'I'm fine Bobby, it's going to take more than a bullet wound to break me, I assure you,' Maria replied gently. Bobby nodded and turned back in his seat. Alex jumped in and started the engine. The trio drove back to Alex's apartment and made sure that Maria was comfortable before Alex and Bobby headed back to the precinct. As they arrived on their level, they found Deakins and Carver waiting for them.

'She's out of hospital?' Carver asked as Eames and Goren, super-detectives, walked out of the lift.

'Yes Carver, she's out of hospital and she's doing fine,' Alex replied, gently squeezing her partner's hand out of sight. Bobby grinned. Deakins noticed his boyish smile but said nothing.

'Then I expect my senior detectives back on the job with no further interruptions,' Deakins said authoritatively, trying for a rise in Goren. He didn't get one. Chuckling, Deakins retreated to his office, leaving his senior detectives with Carver. Carver watched the CO disappear.

'Intriguing man, Deakins,' he said softly, turning to Eames.

'I assume that the appropriate paperwork has been filled out about the junior Detective Eames' incident?'

'Filled and filed, Carver. Wouldn't want the A.D.A down on me, now would I?' Eames smirked. Carver grinned. He shook Bobby's hand.

'That was stupid, what you did for Maria, man. Brave, but stupid,' Carver said jovially. Bobby didn't know if he should give Carver his monthly glower or a grin. So he just pumped the D.A's hand.

'Thanks... I think,' Bobby replied as Carver farewelled them and left the office. Alex turned to Bobby.

'Well partner, it's back to the nose-grind for us. Wonder if we'll have a normal day once in a while?'

Bobby laughed.

'Eames, in our line of work, nothing is out of the ordinary.'

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Maria heard the lift bell strike as she arrived on the MCS level of One, Police Plaza. As it was her first day back at work after the shooting, she'd begged her aunt not to make a big thing of it.

'Please, I just want to go back to work quietly,' Maria had begged her aunt. Alex, reading the newspaper, had shrugged.

'I'm not going to do anything, Maria. I think that you going straight back to work is a good idea. The more quietly, the better,' she had mumbled. Yet Maria hadn't believed her. Which was why she was so nervous getting off the elevator. Stepping out onto the floor, Maria peered around, searching for anything that might indicate a surprise. She'd left Alex's apartment early that morning to avoid her aunt. She'd stopped outside Bobby's flat, considering if she should go in and drive him to work. But the blinds pulled down in the window stopped her. If he was still asleep, she didn't want to wake him up. He was so cute when he was asleep...

'SURPRISE!' came the roar at her desk. Maria stopped dead in her tracks. Bobby Goren stood sheepishly under a massive banner reading 'WELCOME BACK MARIA AND WELL DONE!'. Captain Deakins stood with D.A Carver, along with her aunt and half of the precinct. As Deakins and Carver started up a chant of 'For She's a jolly good fellow', Maria side-lined her aunt.

'I thought I said no parties?' Maria whispered, her cheeks pinking. Alex laughed.

'This wasn't my idea. Bobby arranged everything,' Alex said. Bobby inched forward, a bashful grin on his face. Maria beamed and threw her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek.

'Thank you, Bobby, but you didn't have to,' she said softly. Bobby smiled and dropped down on one knee. Whistles and cheers went up from the crowd. Maria reddened.

'Bobby? What are you doing? Get up now!' Maria hissed.

'I didn't do this right the first time, so shut up and let me get this out,' Bobby said.

'Maria Eames, from the moment I first met you, I felt that I had found the missing piece of myself that I have been searching all these years for. You are the only one that I ever felt truly understood me and I love you. I love as a detective, as a friend and as a woman. Now I want to love you as something else,' Bobby said, reaching into his pocket and taking out a small box. Opening it, he offered it up to Maria, who gasped. It was a platinum diamond ring. Bobby cleared his throat, a look of uncertainty on his face.

'Maria Eames, keep your promise to me. Will you marry me?'

The precinct went so quiet that if someone had dropped a pin, it would have been heard on the floor below. Maria looked at her aunt, then back at Bobby.

'Yes, Bobby,' she whispered. Bobby's face broke into a joyful smile.

'Yes, I will marry you.'

A/N: And so ends The Temptation Of Goren. As promised, I am including a soundtrack list.

For Chapter One:

Oh Oh – Guy Sebastian

Beautiful Life – Guy Sebastian

Kryptonite – Guy Sebastian

Chapter Two:

Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson

Behind Blue Eyes – Limp Bizkit

Chapter Three:

How – Guy Sebastian (this song is for all you BA romance-lovers out there. If you don't know the words, I can e-mail you a copy)

Chapter Four:

Like A Friend – Blue

Chapter Five:

1. I Stand For You – Nick Carter

2. Everything I Do (I do it for you) – Bryan Adams

Chapter Six:

1. Make Heaven Wait – Guy Sebastian

2. If Tomorrow Never Comes – Ronan Keating

Chapter Seven:

1. Let's Get Married – 112

2. U Got It Bad - Usher

I'd be interested to hear from any reviewers as to which fanfic they'd like to read next: Redemption Song (marriage of Goren and Maria) or Junior On Staff (When Maria was still at Sydney Homicide and learns about Goren for the first time).