In Major Case, Goren was doing his best to avoid Barek's accusing stare and had piled up a mountain of paperwork on the desk in front of him to shield him from her eyes. It wasn't working. He needed a cigarette.
Eames slid into the chair across from him. "Earth to Goren?" She waved a hand in front of his face. "What's eating you?"
"Nothing," he answered distractedly, and looked down at the horticulture book he'd had open on the page of hellebore for the last fifteen minutes. "Just checking something out."
"Bobby," Eames said gently, and reached across the table. "It's upside down."
Goren, unfortunately, wasn't master enough of his emotions to stop the blush that rose to his cheeks. "Right." He refocused on the page. He'd memorized it about eighteen months ago, the first time he'd read it – having a photographic memory was a wonderful thing. Recognizing the familiarity of the information, his brain tuned the book out again, and he could almost feel his eyes glazing over.
"Bobby." Eames had narrowed her eyes now. "If looks could kill, Barek would have stir-fried you about half an hour ago. What is going on?"
Goren sighed and rubbed one hand over his face. "I woke up with her this morning," he said simply. "How do I explain it to her?"
Eames smirked. She knew this scenario all too well. "She have any memory left?" He shook his head mutely. "Tell her she drank too much last night at the bar. I'll back you up."
He shifted restlessly. "Alex..."
"I get it, I get it. You don't want to lie to her. Well, what are you going to tell her, Bobby? That you slipped her the love potion in her last beer?" Eames shook her head. "She'll never believe you. I mean, I did, but that's different. I'm, well...me."
Goren's right leg was bouncing ceaselessly, and he was beginning to attract some peculiar stares across the squad room. "Alex, you threw things at me," he reminded her patiently. "A sneaker, a copy of Ulysses and a mug. A mug of three-day-old coffee."
"I got over it." She raised her eyebrows, daring him to disagree.
"You never let me live it down. You threatened to tell Deakins I'd instigated fraternization with you if I didn't keep letting you drive – even while you were too pregnant to fit behind the steering wheel properly. That's blackmail." Now his left eyelid was twitching. "If Barek won't cut a deal..."
"I'll talk to her," Eames promised. "Come on, Bobby. You can't keep up this pretense for all that much longer. How can you keep passing off your impeccable case stats as knowledge? You're going to have to come out and tell them you're a wizard sooner or later."
He bit his lip and sighed. "A guy has a little magical power and he's labelled a wizard. Sheesh." He took a deep breath. "You'll talk to her? What are you going to say?"
"Oh..." Eames smiled mischievously. "I'll think of something."