Ricky walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat at the table across from his wife. Six months they'd been married and they were finally feeling settled in their new home, a nice three bedroom split level not far from where her parents lived. He was glad to get her out of that apartment and away from the city…and further away from that partner of hers. "It's nine o'clock. How come you're still here?" he asked.

"Late day. I don't have to be in until after lunch."

"What about Goren?"

"What about him? He'll be there, probably before I get there."

He decided to approach the subject he'd been stewing over for the past few weeks. "Alex, there's something I'd like you to do for me."

"Okay. What?"

"I'd like you to put in a transfer request."

She stared at him. "A what?"

"A transfer request. Work homicide, or even narcotics. I want you to transfer out of Major Case."

She stared at him, carefully controlling the anger that began to broil in her gut. "Why, Ricky?"

"I would feel better."

"And what about me? I happen to like Major Case. I've been there for six years and I like the cases we get. I am happy with my job and I'm happy with my co-workers. A lot of people can't say that."

"It's not the job I object to."

Now they were getting down to it. "It's Bobby, isn't it?"

"You have no idea what they say…"

"Why does it matter what anyone says? We never cared about that. Why do you?"

Now he was getting angry. "I don't like people coming to me and asking me how I can let my wife work with him. I don't like anyone telling me that my wife is sleeping with another man!"

Let her? She could feel her hold on her anger slipping. "When the hell would I have time to sleep with him? I come home after work, to you. When we are working a case, we're usually around other people."

"And when you're not?"

"We're working, you ass."

"What about your weekly dinner with him?"

"We eat at a restaurant, Ricky! Besides, he wouldn't."

Ricky's eyes narrowed. "They say he loves you."

"They say a lot of things. Bobby has always been a target for gossip."

"You're not going to deny it?"

"Deny what? That he loves me?" She sighed impatiently. No, she wasn't going to deny it because she knew it was true. But she had to defuse her husband's anger or they'd get into another major argument and she just wasn't in the mood. "We have been over this a hundred times, Ricky. I told you all about him when we were dating. You've met Bobby and you've seen us together. Just because people have nothing better to do than gossip does not make the things they say true."

She got up and put her coffee cup in the sink. She headed out of the room but he called her back. "Tell me something, Alex. If I laid it out for you and told you to make a choice, what would you do?"

"Are you telling me to choose between you and my partner?"

"Not yet."

"If you're smart, you never will. I'll see you tonight."

He heard the front door close and he slammed his cup on the table. It broke into a dozen pieces.

She sat in the car for a few minutes, shaking with anger. How dare he! What the hell was his problem? She started the car and backed out of the driveway. She had come to realize he had a problem with her partner after they'd been married for a few months, and she had done her best to reassure him. He'd heard the rumors before he proposed, and they never seemed to matter then. Maybe he thought that if she married him, he could control her and get her out of Major Case. Well, that just wasn't going to happen. She did love her job. The cases they worked were challenging and working with her partner was always interesting. If he was nothing else, Goren was unpredictable. And that brilliant mind of his was always working; she never knew what he was going to come up with next.

By the time she parked the car, she was talking to herself. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down. If she went into 1 PP like this, they'd be starting rumors about her. She got into the elevator and pushed 11. When she finally got to the squad room, she felt more under control. She looked at the time. Eleven o'clock. Well, at least she was there before… "What are you doing here, Goren?"

He turned to look at her. "I work here."

"You know what I mean. We aren't due in until after lunch."

"You're here," he pointed out.

She dropped into her seat. "Oh, just shut up."

He leaned forward. "What's wrong?"

She was actually glad to see him slowly returning to normal. It was two months before he'd started joking with her again. He was gradually feeling more comfortable, and reassured, in their friendship again. It had taken a lot of time and work on her part to finally get him to begin unwinding. "I'm sorry. I just had a bad morning."

The look on his face turned dark, but he didn't say anything. The last time he'd pressed her for details it had taken days for him to calm himself down. He didn't like the way her husband treated her, but there was not a damn thing he could do about it. So reluctantly, he withdrew himself from that part of her life, neither seeking details nor offering comfort, and that was killing him. She reacted just as badly to his attempts at comfort as she did to unsolicited advice from others. He'd seen her snap at Barek for asking why she put up with her husband's jealous fits, and it still bothered him that he even had jealous fits. He was at a loss over what to do to help make her life easier. What he didn't realize was that he did help make her life easier, just by being part of it.

By the end of the day, her mood was better. He even got her to laugh a few times. Then she looked at the clock and saw how close it was to the end of the day. She sighed. Time passed too quickly these days. He leaned forward over his desk, resting his chin on his hands, looking at her. She couldn't help but smile. There was one of those little boy things he did that always reminded her of why she loved him. "What?" she asked.

"You're stating to get agitated."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm not stupid, Eames."

"That is something no one has ever accused you of. I know what you're thinking, and I'm asking you to drop it. Okay?"

He sighed. "Okay. But promise me something?"

"What?" That came out much snippier than she intended, but he didn't react.

"Please promise me that you'll call me if you need me."

She just looked at him. His dark curls were slowly being claimed by the gray that climbed up from his temples, but his eyes never lost that nebulous little boy glimmer. Even when he was being sincere, it was still there. The only time she had ever seen it disappear was when she got married. She was glad to see it back.

Mimicking his posture, she looked into those eyes and she smiled. It was the first time all day she had not felt like her life was out of control. As much as they had always said she grounded him, lately he was the one who was being her anchor. When she felt things beginning to get out of control, all she had to do was talk to her partner. "I promise," she said, and she meant it.