Ok, it's time to bring them home. It's so hard writing fluff for BA when they're not even on the same continent… That leaves the summing up of things…see, this is what happens when I am forced to write an 8 page calculus paper… my mind gets all fuzzled… thanks a lot Mr. Wyss…

Chapter 12- Now This Is How Things Stood II (say it in your best Sean Connery accent)

Barek boarded the plane, followed by Bobby. She threw her carry-on bag into the seat by the window, threw her person in after it, and then accidentally threw her head into the wall.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, rubbing the bump on her head, much to the bemusement of Bobby.

He calmly put Alex's laptop bag under the seat in front of him, slid gracefully into his seat, and then buckled his seat belt like a good boy.

Paris had been quite the trip; all stress and no progress. The luthier in Paris had just died literally 2 days before they got there and all Carolyn could get out of his weeping widow was that her late husband made excellent violins. All Bobby could get out of his assistants in the shop was that the man was too old to be using that saw; accidents like that were bound to happen.

Once Bobby had finally managed to gain access to the luthier's records, all he could find was evidence that the man really was too old to be doing this. The notes were in scribbled French shorthand that nobody in the shop seemed to be able to decipher. And though his financials were in excellent order, they still could find no record of the Dominguez violin ever having passed through the place, let alone being sold to her.

"Well, shit," had been Alex's response over the phone.

So, Robert and Carolyn had left the place and then proceeded to the Police Headquarters to try to access financial records concerning violins, but not before Bobby had stopped to try to buy some cheese. This was the most stressful of all of the events as Bobby was no cheese expert and the man behind the counter kept giving him more and more outrageous cheese to try while Barek just stood in the background and laughed. She obviously knew what all of the cheeses were, but felt like having her moment in the sun. For some reason, women seem to know more about cheese than men do.

So, continuing on… no such luck at the police station either. I won't go into the details of why, but lets just leave it at "unsuccessful."

So, they puttered around Paris for the next day and a half. Bobby took pictures (with Barek's camera) of all of the places he could find that Alex might like. And Barek took pictures of interesting women for Mike. Hot Women, ugly women, women who shouldn't be dressed like that; all sorts of women. She had a feeling he'd like the good looking girls, but'd get a real kick out of the one's who didn't have enough sense to dress themselves properly.

So, here they were on the plane now, finally going home. It had seemed like forever to the both of them, though for Alex the time seemed to fly. She hardly slept the entire time, constantly keeping busy with notes, interviews, and all of the follow up procedure involving the Dominguez violin. She had been most put out when Bobby and Barek were unable to get any leads through the luthier.

"Bastards," she had muttered over the phone. "I am going to kill you, Bobby."

"You're only saying that because you can't see me right now."

There had been an awkward pause…

"Shut up. I will kill you when I get my hands on you."

"I can't wait to see you," muttered Bobby.

The look on Alex's face had immediately changed. She must have melted in her chair. "I miss your nose," she said in a voice that wasn't hers.

"My nose?"

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He stepped off the plane, walked through the little tunnel thingy (the name escapes me), went through the door to the concourse, and…

"Barek!"

Bobby wasn't aware of this, but right then his nostrils flared and he got a look of total hatred on his face, followed almost instantly by a look of bitter disappointment.

"Relax, wise-guy. She's just in the bathroom," said Mike Logan as he walked up to Barek and took her bag to carry.

Bobby immediately looked towards the ladies room where he saw Eames coming out. She saw him, smiled, and walked over a little faster than her usual pace. When she got up to him she held out her hands and flicked water in his face.

"Always wanted to do that," she said smiling as she looked up at him.

Bobby wiped the water drops from his face. "Right," he said. He then grabbed Alex around her torso under her arm, lifted her up, and kissed her.

Mike stopped short as he was approaching them. "Ok," he said, then turned and walked in the opposite direction. Barek tugged on his jacket sleeve.

"Just give them a second," she said quietly.

A second went by, then two, then three… they were now approaching their 40th when Mike coughed loudly. "I hate to break the love birds up, but parking is $8 an hour."

Barek smacked him on the arm. "Ow!" he said, before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Nothing," he responded.

Eames' cell phone rang. She and Bobby separated as she fumbled through her jacket to find the source of the ringing. She flipped open her phone, took a quick look, and then threw Mike the bird before she picked up her bag from the ground and walked back towards them with Bobby in her wake.