Ricky came home from work early and walked in to the bedroom, surprised to see his wife getting ready to go out. "Where's the kid?"

"At my dad's."

"And what are you planning to do?"

"I'm going out."

"In jeans?"

She looked at him. "We…" She frowned at his bruised and swollen lip and the knot over his eye. "What happened to you?"

"It's nothing. Some guy resisted. If you're going out, why are you wearing jeans?"

"I'm just spending time with my friends, not going out on a date."

He swore. "Alex…"

"Don't even start, Ricky. Since you don't seem to have this figured out, let me spell it out for you clearly, so there are no misunderstandings. You need to get over yourself. I am an adult and I can make my own decisions. I choose who my friends are and I am not going to alter my choices because you are being juvenile. Bobby is my closest friend. I will not give up that friendship for anyone. So deal with it." She shut off the light. "I won't be home tonight."

He watched her leave, seething, but he didn't say a word. He didn't go after her. He took a few breaths to calm himself down, then he went to the phone.

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When Eames got to Goren's apartment, Logan and Barek were already there. "Hi, guys. Where's Bobby?"

Logan waved a hand toward the bedroom. "He'll be right out."

She frowned at them. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. We…played ball today. He got a little roughed up, that's all."

"He's ok, isn't he?"

"Sure."

"And you're sure you and Bobby don't mind us invading your boys' night out?"

"Why should we? It's because of you we ever started having a boys' night out, remember?"

Barek smacked him in the shoulder as Eames went in to the kitchen for a glass of water. Logan was right about that. It just wasn't something she liked to think about. After setting the glass in the sink, she turned around, startled to see her partner watching her. His eye was swollen and bruised and she could see a small cut near the hairline of his temple. "It's your own fault," she said as she moved closer and examined his bruised eye. "I don't know why you and Mike have to play so rough."

An odd look crossed his face, but it didn't last. "Frustration," was all he said.

They went back in to the living room and Goren grabbed his keys from a nearby bookshelf. "Let's go."

"Bobby?" He turned back to his partner. "You know better."

She held out her hand. He laughed and tossed the keys to her.

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After dinner, they went along with Logan's suggestion to mess around at his favorite sporting complex. "I could do with hitting a few balls."

Eames frowned at him. "You're not a golfer."

"Not golf balls, baseballs."

Now they were standing outside the batting cages watching Barek take her turn with the pitching machine. Leaning on the fence, Eames watched her friend swing the bat and make contact. Logan had been heckling her, and it felt good to laugh, really laugh, again. She missed the next pitch. "Come on, Barek…that was in the zone. How could you miss it?"

Fed up, Barek turned and headed for the gate. "I'll tell you one thing I won't miss, Logan," she growled, choking up on the bat. "You'd better run, partner."

She yanked the gate open and took off after her now-running partner. Laughing, Eames sat down on a nearby bench. When Goren sat beside her, she noticed he wasn't laughing, realizing for the first time that he'd been quiet all night. "Is something wrong, Bobby?"

"No. Why?"

"You're awfully quiet tonight. Are you sure Mike didn't really hurt you?"

"Mike? What…"

"Your game this afternoon…"

"Oh, that…no, I'm fine."

Logan ran up to them and jumped behind Eames. Barek stopped in front of her. "Why the hell are you hiding behind Alex?" she asked.

"Because I know you won't hit her."

"You're an ass, Mike."

"And that's why you love me," he grinned.

"Don't push your luck." She handed the bat to Goren. "Go hit some balls, Bobby, before I really do use that bat on him."

That got a laugh from him. Logan and Barek sat down with her as he headed for the cage. "He's quiet tonight," she commented, looking from one to the other for some insight.

Logan wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I haven't noticed."

Eames looked at Barek. "Am I imagining it?"

"You have to be. He seems fine to me."

She looked suspiciously from one to the other. "Are you three hiding something from me?"

"Not at all," Logan answered. But he met Barek's eyes when Eames turned her attention back to the batting cages.

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Logan and Barek had gone, and Eames was sitting in the easy chair in Goren's living room. He came out of the kitchen with two coffee cups, handing one to her. "You staying the night?"

"If it's ok with you."

"Sure. You can have the bed."

She set her cup on the coffee table and moved to sit beside him on the couch. "Bobby, what's going on?"

He was quiet, looking into his coffee, searching for just what to say. "What the hell are we going to do, Eames?"

"About what?"

"About you. You know, I honestly never meant to cause you any trouble."

"When do you ever cause me trouble? You aggravate me sometimes…"

"Not that kind of trouble. The kind of trouble you deal with every day at home."

"Is that what's been bothering you?"

"It always bothers me. I never meant…"

"You don't. Look, the problem isn't you; it's him. I thought he understood how it was when we got married. I was wrong…and that's my fault. You are probably the only faultless one in this triangle."

"I never meant for there to be a triangle."

"But there is, whether you want it or not. I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"We have to talk about it. We've been trying to ignore it for three years, and I don't know about you, but I…" He broke off, frustrated and angry.

"Just let me deal with it, ok? I've been dealing with his insecurity since we left for Bermuda…"

He frowned darkly. "On your honeymoon?"

She nodded. He had no idea it had started way back then. She really had been dealing with this for her entire marriage. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

She looked at him. From everyone else, she got 'why do you stay?' From him, she got an apology. "Never apologize to me because my husband's an ass, Goren. This isn't your problem…"

"Not my problem?" He got up, agitated. His frustration and anger boiled over. "How the hell can you say that? I see you every morning and I know you didn't sleep well the night before. Your little girl spends more time with your dad than she does with you. I watch this eating at you, and damn it, Eames, it kills me. And there's not a damn thing I can do to fix it. Not one damn thing."

She got off the couch and walked to him, placing her hands on his chest and pushing him roughly into the wall. Pulling his head toward her, she kissed him hard. He turned her so that she was against the wall and stepped back, out of breath and confused. "I can't…"

"The hell you can't."

"This isn't going to fix anything."

"Speak for yourself, Goren. I need you, damn it."

He leaned toward her so he could look her directly in the eye. "You're married, Eames. It's not my place to…"

She kissed him again, softly this time. "Let me decide what your place is in my life." She caressed his hair, letting her lips tease his. "If there is a chance for any happiness in my life, it's not going to be in my marriage. It's going to be right here."

As much as he had fought over the past three years to keep from stepping into this exact situation, he now found no way out of it. Right now her intensity rivaled his at its peak, and there was no chance for him to step away. She wasn't going to let him. And truth be told, he simply did not want to.