A/N: FFnet was acting which is the reason why this update took longer than expected. For the record, I did have this finished yesterday. Thanks again for the reviews. Glad you didn't think Alex was too mean. Finally Bobby and Alex talk again. Enjoy! Suggestions, ideas, remarks, grammar stuff it's all welcome...just don't be too harsh!

Part six

The following morning the entire group was exhausted and grumpy. Some were hung over, others like Bobby had hardly slept. Alex and Bobby hadn't exchanged more than a polite greeting.

As the group entered the same room as the day before, Elsie immediately noticed something was wrong. The tension in the air was palpable. Relaying what they were going to do today, she kept her eyes on Bobby and Alex. There was something seriously wrong there. Looking at the group again she decided to change her plans. Clearly they all needed to wake up properly. Going outside and get some fresh air would do them good. Telling them to meet her in five minutes outside she left them alone. From a distance she kept her eyes on Bobby and Alex. They didn't exchange any words, Alex walked upstairs with Erica and Amanda and Bobby was accompanied by Lucy.

Outside everybody was in their coats, gloves and scarves. It was cold and it had snowed that night. It created a romantic scene, but no one really noticed. Elsie had set up a field with different obstacles in it, chairs, balls, branches, benches and more. In her hand Elsie held blindfolds.

"Your assignment is quite simple. Guide your partner through this minefield. It's important to really communicate with each other. Don't be fooled, this isn't as easy as it seems. It gives us a good chance to see how well you communicate with your partner and how much you trust them."

Looking at the partners she chose Amanda and Erica to go first and hoped the mood between Alex and Bobby would improve. Judging from the dark looks she didn't have high hopes. Surprisingly Erica managed to talk Amanda through the obstacles fairly easy. She communicated clearly and frequently with Amanda. Above anything else she was very patient.

"Bobby, why don't you and Alex go next. Bobby you guide her through the minefield." Taking into consideration the tension between the two, Elsie tied the blindfold for Alex and placed her at the beginning of the field.

"Two steps forward." He was standing on the other side of the field to guide her through it. "Eeuhh…stop." He said as she almost bumped into a large branch. "Now euuhh… four paces to the left."

Seeing her move to the left, he was too late to correct his mistake. It should have been her right and not left. Instead of finding a clear path she bumped into a wooden bench.

"Damn it." She swore, rubbing her hand over her now sore knee.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Just get me through this in one piece." Ignoring his apology she waited impatiently for his guidance.

"Six steps to your right and then one step forward. Euuh…no… two steps forward."

Alex stepped to her right, keeping in mind her partner's clues. "No.. one step forward." She heard him correct himself again. Standing still she raised her head to where his voice sounded. "Make up your mind, Goren. I'm not going to stand here forever waiting for you to figure out the next move."

Bobby swallowed his reply, knowing this was not the place to get into things. "One step forward. Now… go… euuhh…"

"For God's sake Goren, stop mumbling and get on with things."

This time he couldn't hold back his reply. "Just do it yourself or should I ask Enrique or maybe Roy? Would that be better?"

Alex yanked off her blindfold and started for Bobby. Luckily Elsie intervened. "Stop it you two!" Looking from Alex to Bobby she wasn't going to ignore this any longer. "You guys continue with the exercise. Roy and Lucy, why don't you two go. And you two.." She said to Bobby and Alex. "you're going with me."

Away from the group Elsie admonished the two NYPD detectives. "I don't know what's going on with you two and I don't wanna know, but you need to fix it. The entire group feels the tension. You are acting like small children. Talk this out, only then are you allowed to join us."

"Now look what you did!" Alex stalked off back into the hotel.

"I did?" He called after her. "You had a part in this too. Stop it, Alex." He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked, looking at the hand on her arm. He almost never touched her.

"We are going to talk about this."

"I don't want to." Alex said realizing how immature she sounded. She regretted her earlier actions, knowing she hadn't be fair to him. But in the heat of the moment it could be difficult not to lash out. She was confused by her feelings that had come to surface much stronger now that they were away from New York.

Giving her a look he took her hand and lead them back to his hotel room. In Bobby's room an uncomfortable silence fell between them. For the first time since their blow-up they looked at each other.

Running a hand through his hair he thought of a way to start. "This is a mess. I'm sorry for yesterday and today."

"I'm sorry too, Bobby." She shook her head, never had she thought they could get like this.

"How did we get here, Alex?" He asked her, sitting down on a chair.

"I wish I knew." His next question surprised her for she never thought he would voice it.

"What's going on with us, Alex? This isn't like us." He sounded as defeated as he felt.

For her it all came back to the moment where he'd shut her out. "I don't want you to hide from me and you are. You know you don't need to."

Leaning his head on his hands he took a deep breath. He'd dreaded this moment ever since it had happened. "I… I don't want to hide from you. It's just…"

"What didn't you want me to see?"

That was a question he didn't want her to ask. He wasn't ready to answer that yet. "C… can we push that question aside for a moment? I… I can't answer that now." He was a little surprised when she didn't object. He thought she would have pushed the subject. "Is this what being away from New York does to us? I thought we were stronger than that."

She heard the doubt in his voice, the same doubt she felt. "Me too, Bobby, me too." Feeling tired she sat down on his bed.

"I can't understand. We are good partners, we know each other and trust each other. We've never…. One simple exercise and we snap. It's as if our partnership… no friendship doesn't mean a thing. That can't be true. We are stronger than that. Where is this doubt coming from? Why can't we go back to what we had?" He paused before he voiced the question he in fact really didn't want the answer to. "Does this mean we…"

Knowing where he was going with it she stopped him. "No, it doesn't." She was determined that this was not the first crack in their partnership. "I'm sorry for yesterday evening. I was awful to you. I just… you hurt me and you knew it. You made the decision not to let me in purposely and you knew the consequences." Falling back onto the bed she stared at the ceiling. "Come here." She patted on the mattress.

Looking up he wondered if she really meant that. She wanted him next to her on the bed. That was not good. He had already hardly slept that night and knew the images of them together on the bed would come to haunt him this night. "I'm not sure…"

"Just come here, Bobby. I'm not going to attack you."

Making his way to the bed he sat down next to her and let himself fall backwards. Since he'd already examined the ceiling that night, he turned his head toward her. He found her watching him. "Let's try again." She whispered, indicating the exercise that had started it all.

"I don't know if this is.."

Placing her finger on his lips she silenced him. "I won't talk about it if you don't want to. Just… give me this. Please?"

Nodding he took the hand with which she'd silenced him in his hand, entwined their fingers and rested their hands on his chest. This time he didn't hold anything back, his gaze was open and unguarded and so was hers. They held each other's eyes for more then a minute and felt their strong bond come back to them. Both knew there was still a lot to deal with, but for now they both cherished the return of their closeness both physical and emotional.

TBC...