A/N: Hey, I was re-reading this and thought I should explain something before you read on. The character of Goren is still Goren. He's not a spy, or has a fake identity or anything. However, the way I wrote it, how he acts at home and at work, and how he views himself at each are different. Which I thought, looking back, might be confusing. There's not much problem with differentiating them here, but, possibly in later chapters there might be.
Just a warning.
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Goren's phone rang loudly, awakening him from his deep, and much needed, slumber. Checking his caller ID he paused for a moment to collect himself before answering. He would never allow himself to be caught unawares when work called. He answered quickly, giving no sign of his previous grogginess.
"Goren."
"Hey, sorry to call so soon Goren. Did you manage to get any sleep yet?" It was Deakins, he sounded regretful and tired, meaning another case had been pushed to his desk requiring the skill of his best detectives. It wasn't that Deakins didn't like them or want them working, but the pair had just closed a long, draining case and both were tired, in need of some serious rest.
"Not much, but I just woke up. Did you need us?" Goren had long ago stopped referring to his partner separately, a true testament of his connection with Alexandra Eames. She was important to him beyond almost everything else, and depended on her to keep him together.
"I'm sorry, but we just got this in. High profile, also kinda strange so I want you guys here."
"Okay, just give me the address and we'll try to be there soon. Have you called Eames yet?"
"Um, no. Actually, I was kind of hoping you would do that. She seemed kinda tired, and you would probably have a better chance of living then me." Goren chuckled inwardly, Deakins was right, but he would still have to bribe her with coffee.
"Okay, no problem. Be there soon. Bye"
He hung up the phone and laid back down for a few seconds. He loved his job, but he was tired. He hadn't had much time to himself lately, and had missed it. When he was home, alone, in his apartment, he could be Bobby. Just a regular guy. He could let all his walls down, and not be afraid to hurt anyone, his apartment was his safety net.
He could let himself go, sort of, with Alex, but there was always the part of himself that he kept hidden. The rational part of his mind told him she wouldn't care about it, but the larger, irrational part said she would, and Bobby wasn't risking anything. Their partnership was one of the most important dynamics of his life, and he wouldn't do anything that had half a chance to wreck it.
Bobby sighed, reigning himself in. He got up and dressed, meticulous to the end, turning himself back into Goren. He called Alex, with the promise of coffee, and left the apartment.
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Alex was asleep, and the annoying ringing was not a welcome part of her dream. She muttered under her breath quiet curses before checking her caller ID, assuming it to be work. It was Bobby, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He was probably stuck on some inane detail, and once she settled him down, she could go back to sleep.
"Hello Bobby, what'd you miss." She listened to his quiet shock as he was immediately called out.
"Actually, Eames-"
"Whatever, it is. It's an anomaly. I promise. And if it's not, we can talk about it in roughly", she checked her watch, "8 hours."
"Eames, there's nothing wrong with the case."
"Well then, why are you calling?" She answered bluntly.
"Deakins called, he needs us-"
"No way, we just got off work, like, four hours ago."
"Look, I'm almost on my way now. Don't worry, I have coffee." He hung up quickly, as she let out a frustrated and tired sigh. And as she hauled herself out of bed, she swore she would make Deakins life absolutely miserable for the rest of the day.
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By the time they reached the crime scene, Alex had already finished her coffee, and it was just starting to kick in. They jumped out of the car as they watched the massed crowd around the crime scene. There were reporters and a whole wave of curious onlookers that sat outside the crime scene tape, gawking. The partners glanced at each other before deciding to run the gauntlet, both wordlessly communicating their strategies for breaking through the crowd. Goren led, while Alex fell in step behind him, letting him break through the masses. For someone who wasn't great with people, she noted he was great at working a crowd, and had them through in no time. They approached the crime scene cautiously and spotted the scene supervisor pushing his way towards them.
"Hey, we've got a male vic, 'bout 26 and, well, see for yourself, he's in bad shape." The man waved behind him to the corpse, that was surrounded by CSI's, and hurried away. Both detectives started for the corpse immediately, pulling on white gloves to protect the crime scene. Alex hung back and waited for her partner to observe first. She had noticed he liked to survey a scene before stepping into it, and didn't want to be in the way.
Goren walked into the crime scene, aware of his partners drop. He sent a silent thank you her way, and crouched down to study the body. He had on his game face and processed the crime scene mentally. There was the victim, and Goren saw what the supervisor meant by 'bad shape.' The body was badly beaten, with many cuts and bruises. They were probably the cause of death, but Goren would wait for the autopsy before declaring the fact. He simply inferred, and continued on. There was no blood, and the cuts would have left lots, so this had to be a dump site. He walked around the crime scene several more times gathering information and filing it away for later use. The coronor wasn't there yet, so they had to wait for him to clear the body before they could get the wallet that Goren could see sticking out the vic's back pocket. He paused at one end of the scene and Eames came up behind him. He was startled, but didn't show it. It un-nerved him that she could do that, that she was the only one who could evade his senses like that.
'Maybe that's why you're attracted to her', chanted the little voice in his head, 'She's a mystery.' Bobby shook his head, he didn't need to slip up here, this was important! Goren resurfaced and the overwhelming rationality reinforced his presence. He noticed Eames watching him and waiting. She was waiting for the signal. He would say something that made no obvious sense, then she would turn into something intelligible. It was the way they worked.
The M.E. arrived and cleared the body shortly after, giving the detectives the wallet. Goren was busy discussing the case with the coronor and arranging a time to drop by the morgue, so Eames opened the wallet and went through the contents. No drivers license, but he did have several cards containing the name, photo, address and telephone number of himself. She called Goren over and started explaining before he even reached her.
"It's the vic for sure. Photo i.d. confirms it. Anthony Reynolds. This guy may have been self-employed, he had a whole bunch of business cards on him. Here." She handed over the cards, and continued going through the wallet. Goren peered at the cards quizically.
"Eames, I don't think these are business ca-" Suddenly Eames spoke up, interrupting him, and crowing in triumph.
"Got it, it was really buried in there, was stuck to the back of the thing it had been in it for so long. Looks like a business card to a hospital. The Good Samaritan. No contact name, just the hospital and a phone number. Could be where he works. We should go check it out."
Goren nodded dumbly, and handed back the cards. This wasn't good.
The car ride wasn't long and Eames drove while Goren stared mutely out the window. She tried to sneak glances at him, but it seemed that a bunch of daredevils were out, and if she wasn't constantly breaking as people ran across the road, she was getting cut off by a thousand different cabbies. All she could tell was that he was worried, and extremely agitated. She let him alone, knowing that he needed to work whatever was bothering him out alone. When he was ready he'd tell her what was wrong.
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They walked into the small hospital, and headed straight for the lobby desk. An older lady sat behind the desk tapping away at a computer. Alex felt her partner drop back, allowing her to deal with the lady. She smiled inwardly at how predictable he sometimes was. Well, maybe not predictable to other people but, sometimes, to her. He appeared to be less agitated and calmer. Alex attributed it to the lack of sleep and stress, and put her concern to the back of her mind. She stood patiently at the desk, waiting for the lady to finish typing and turn from her work. She turned to see where her partner was, and spotted him wandering around the entrance, going through his ever-present notebook. She was about to interrupt the lady, when suddenly a shrill, beeping noise filled the lobby. She turned to watch as her partner, still reading his notebook, moved to the edge of the hallway. Two orderlies came barreling past with someone on a stretcher, and turned at the end of the hallway, out of sight. The lady had looked up as the beeping went off, and now turned her attention to Alex with a tired smile.
"Hello there, my dear, and what can I do for you today? Are you new here, you know, I never forget a face." Alex flashed a huge smile at the old lady, as she greeted her.
"Actually, we're here from the police. My partner and I are looking for the records of a man by the name of Anthony Reynolds. We have a reason to believe he was associated here."
"Well now, I don't recognize the name, he isn't one of the doctors, but, sure you just wait a minute dear, while I see what we have in the computer." By now, Goren had appeared next to her, leaning on the counter, and waiting for the results. Suddenly, the lady gasped.
"Well, that's Tony. He's Dr. Miller's patient, he's in here all the time. No one ever called him Anthony. Such a sweet man. Did something happen to him?" She saw Goren stiffen at the lady's words, and answered before he could speak.
"Actually, I'm sorry to inform you ma'am , but we're investigating his death. Would you know if his doctor is still here, we'd like to interview to him." The lady paused, then turned to the clock. As she turned back, she noticed Goren for the first time, and her eyes did a brief double-take before moving on. Alex noticed and wondered, but her partner always attracted looks, be it his size, or manner, or combination of both, and she disregarded it.
'It could also be his looks, Alex,' the little voice inside her head whispered. She mentally kicked herself moments later, but it was still long enough to absorb the remark. She wondered if she'd actually thought it at all, the thought was gone quickly, and she didn't remember even thinking it up, but then realized that attributing this amount of thought towards a topic made it a moot point anyway. Besides, she should definitely not be thinking what she was thinking now, that she knew for sure. So, she tuned back into the world quickly, and focused on what the lady was saying.
"Oh yes, Dr. Miller eats lunch in his office everyday, he should still be there. He's in room-" The rest of what she said was drowned out by the sudden loud, annoying, clanging. Suddenly the room was filled with people and she stared as they milled around the accompanying two stretchers. She slowly became aware of Goren pulling her out of the lobby, and down one of the adjoining halls. She turned to face him as the doors shut behind her, blocking out the sound of the lobby.
"Thanks, I don't think I would have been able to get away from the swarm that easily." She found a wall map of the complex, and started searching for Dr. Millers office.
"Wow, damn places are built like mazes. Hey, did you hear where the office was. Goren?" She turned around, seeing an empty hallway. Looking down the hallway she spotted him nearing the end, and jogged to catch up. As she got closer she heard an elevator door ding, and jogged faster. As she rounded the corner the doors opened, and Goren stepped through, holding the door open for her out of habit.
"Goren, what are you doing? We don't even know what floor he's on, much less where his office is." He paused and looked at her, while punching one of the elevator buttons.
"I know where it is."
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Meanwhile, the lobby had calmed down, and the old lady sat back down to her computer, pondering the two detectives. She knew she had never seen the lady before, but she knew the man. She couldn't place him, but she recognized him. Older and more worndown yes, but still. She stared at her screen for a while then it hit her. She sat back, satisfied at her aging memory. She never did forget a face.
A/N: Thanks for reading! TBC? Please review and let me know what you thought.