Ficlet (my new favorite word!) about Bobby's attitude in (the season premier)

Bobby put his cell phone in his pocket. He had never before had anyone accuse him of that, especially Nicole. She had always been so evil to him, so evil in general, that this outburst of emotion from her had taken him aback. For so long he had wanted to scream at her, to catch her, to put her away- and now he was forced to feel compassion for her. This was messing with him bad… He walked out of the room to Alex and said, "Come on, let's go."

Alex stopped him. "Bobby, can I have a word?"

He looked at her with the tiniest showing of surprise. "Yah, sure."

He followed her into the interrogation room where she closed the door. "Bobby, I can't have you bossing me around like this. The entire Wallace case you've done nothing but drag me along. I understand that you wanted to get her, I know what she's done to you- trust me, after 5 years of partnership, I know. And all this week you have done nothing but openly criticize my ideas, bossed me around and strung me along like a puppy to pursue what a lot of people call, and not without reason, your vendetta against Nicole. Bobby, this has gotta stop. I am willing to let you do your own thing, and most of the time I will follow your ideas, but this can't happen. You have to respect me."

Goren was stunned. "I, I-" he sputtered. Suddenly, quite calmly, he seemed to regain himself. "What," he paused, "specifically did I do?"

Alex looked at him. "I don't know- it was your whole demeanor. I'd say something- oh, I remember. I asked if you could be wrong and you shook your head and said 'no.' And you just generally bossed me around. I can't really say it any more eloquently. And sometimes I wondered if I should have challenged you more, but I had no desire to argue with you in front of Deakins. And I can't always depend on you being right as justification to over look your actions…"

Bobby sat there deep in though, retracing every step he took in the Wallace case. Everything he said to Eames, everything… He suddenly felt very ashamed of himself.

He crossed the room to Alex, standing uncomfortably close to her. "I'm sorry," he said as he took her in a hug. "It won't happen again."

Alex relaxed and smiled. "I know."