Eames looked up as someone slid into the seat across from her. She was surprised to see Carver. "Am I intruding?" he asked.

"Not at the moment."

"Where is your partner?"

"He went for a walk."

"I had no idea this morning's testimony would amount to nothing more than an assassination on your characters. Shaeffer tends toward melodrama, that's for certain."

"He's a weasel."

Carver smiled. "I doubt the jury bought any of it. There was nothing for Shaeffer to dig up. Is Goren ready for Wallace's testimony this afternoon? It's likely to be a personal attack on one or both of you."

"We realize that. That's why I'm here. As for whether he's ready or not, I really don't know. He's ready for it to be over, that's for certain. I haven't been fully successful in getting him to calm down, so I'll be glad when it's over, too."

"Does Goren ever calm down?"

She smiled. "Yes, Mr. Carver. He does. Just not very often."

Carver returned her smile, then became more serious. "Just beware that it's likely to be a difficult afternoon, but I fully intend to ask for a chance for rebuttal. I will not allow them to sabotage Maggie's testimony. Please reassure your partner of that."

She nodded. "Thank you. I'll do my best to keep him settled."

"I appreciate that, Detective Eames. I will admit, I am relieved to see you here with him today. I'll see you in a little while."

He got up and headed from the cafeteria. Eames watched him go and sighed heavily. She probably trusted Wallace even less than Goren did, and she felt very anxious about what the afternoon session would hold. She still felt certain it wasn't going to go well. Nothing involving Nicole Wallace ever did.

The afternoon session was called to order and Shaeffer called Wallace to the stand. As she was sworn in, Goren slipped into the courtroom and slid into his seat beside Eames. She looked at him curiously, but he just gave her one of his smiles and she shook her head. The gallery was more crowded than they would have expected given the weather, but it seemed that the people who had heard Maggie's testimony the day before wanted to see the woman who had hurt her go to jail.

Wallace sat down in the witness box and leaned back, her face smug and confident. Shaeffer stepped forward and began pacing in front of the stand. "Nicole," he began. "Mr. Carver presented his case over the past few days and we heard from several police officers and the daughter of two of those officers. We heard from people who claim to have seen you injure that child. You have a long history with Detectives Goren and Eames, don't you?"

"Yes. Detective Goren seems to have developed a vendetta against me. And his partner has always been threatened by me."

"Threatened by you? How so?"

"Ever since I first set eyes on her partner, she seemed to be worried that I will replace her."

"As his partner?"

"You could put it that way."

In the gallery, Goren growled under his breath, "As if!"

Beside him, Eames slid closer to him, drawing his attention from the testimony. He looked at her, meeting her eyes. They're just words, he thought to himself. The ramblings of a psychopath. No one could ever take her place. Briefly, he let his fingers touch her chin, reassured by the touch and reassuring her at the same time that he was okay, so far.

"What would make you think that?" Shaeffer pressed.

"I daresay there has always been a...chemistry between Detective Goren and me."

Goren bristled at that, but the hand that rested itself on his leg settled him. She could see the dark anger that brewed in his face, but she wasn't surprised. She would have worried if it were not there.

"But his partner interfered with that?"

"She hated to see me together with him."

Eames was shaking her head slowly. Sure she hated it when Nicole turned up, hated when he had to deal with her, but not for the reasons Nicole imagined. She hated the way Nicole messed with his mind, hated the turmoil she put him through. It always took her weeks to get him back to normal. That was the one thing she hated most about the difficult cases...picking up the shattered pieces of his emotional stability and getting them all back together. That had always been worse than having to draw him back from the darkness he headed toward every time he got into a perp's mind. She tightened her grip on his leg, glancing up at him and again meeting his eyes. It was a good sign that the anger retreated when his gaze touched hers, and she gave him a small smile. When he returned it, she relaxed a little.

"So tell me what happened. How did the children end up in your custody?"

"It was all because of her jealousy."

This time it was Eames who issued a soft, derisive snort. Jealous of Nicole? Her? That'd be the day. There was no jealousy involved...just a great deal of anger at the pain Wallace caused her gentle partner. He never deserved that.

"Her jealousy? Of you?"

"Of course. Why on earth would I be jealous of her?"

Again, he met his wife's eyes. That was the root of the entire ordeal...the fact that Nicole was jealous of her. This entire scheme had most likely hatched when Nicole had found out they had married. The realization of that hit Goren suddenly, and Eames saw it in his eyes. "What?" she mouthed.

He held up a finger and slid from his seat. She watched him head to the bar and squat by it, leaning forward to whisper into Carver's ear. The ADA listened intently, then gave Goren a brief smile and a nod. He returned to his place and leaned over to whisper to her what he'd just told Carver. She smiled. Nicole would hate having that thrown in her face. With a satisfied smile, she nodded. Carver's guns were well-loaded.

"So this was all an elaborate scheme to frame you?"

"Of course," she purred with a sly smile. "What else could it be?"

Goren watched, fascinated. There was that seductive manner she worked so well. He had no doubt she had played Shaeffer like a well-oiled machine. And he fell right into her trap without ever realizing he was in it. That was one thing he had always realized...that Nicole was a predator who lured her prey with seduction before she pounced. She had pounced on him twice, first with Croyden, and he had barely gotten away that time. The second time had been when she took his children. But he had never fallen for her seduction. His biggest flaw in dealing with Nicole was that he constantly underestimated her. And it was that, more than anything else, that had led to the kidnapping of his children and everything that had come of it.

"Why would two NYC detectives want to frame you for anything, much less the kidnapping of their children?"

"You would be surprised what Detective Goren is capable of...how wrapped up in his partner he is. She could get him to do anything, I daresay."

Again, Goren bristled, and Eames returned her hand to rest on his leg. His eyes slid closed as he focused on her touch. Initially, he hadn't wanted her there to witness Wallace's testimony, but now...he didn't want her to be anywhere else. He needed her there, and he tried to keep more of his focus on her than on Wallace, to keep from losing his temper. He knew Wallace was a pathological liar and so far little of her testimony had been the truth. Her perception of the truth, perhaps, but not things as they truly were. But the jury didn't know that...and he had to trust Carver to make that clear to them. He always had trouble entrusting important tasks to others, except for Eames. She was the only person who had ever earned his implicit trust...although Mike Logan was close. He opened his eyes and looked at her when her thumb moved against his leg, and he again gave her a small smile. Because his smile touched his eyes, she knew he was still in control of both his emotions and his temper.

"Anything? Even manipulate their daughter?"

"Especially that, and it would be so easy for him, since she's Daddy's little girl and all."

Again, Eames increased the pressure of her hand on his leg. She'd felt his body jerk at that statement. Nicole knew just what buttons to push to get to him. She always had...and she'd figured out that the past was no longer a trigger for him. On the stand, she must have seen his reaction, because she settled back in her seat with that look on her face, the one that had always told him gotcha. Eames could feel the tremor of rage in him, and she was impressed that he still had it under control. She could imagine the effort it took, but even her imagination could not bring her close to knowing exactly what it did take for him to keep control. The subtle tremor in his body was just a small hint.

Carver had risen from his seat. "Objection, your honor. That is pure speculation on the witness' part. The prosecution has already proven to your honor's satisfaction that Maggie Goren was not manipulated by any adult."

"Sustained," Burrows agreed. He was fully satisfied that Maggie's testimony had been genuine, and so, he was certain, was the jury. Not one statement had begun with 'Daddy telled me to say...' and he felt certain Maggie would have said just that if it had been true.

Wallace turned her predator's eyes on Burrows. "I can see they have pulled the wool over other eyes."

Burrows frowned. "I will not hesitate to charge your client with contempt, Mr. Shaeffer. I suggest you not lose control of this testimony."

"Yes, your honor."

Eames saw the brief smile that touched her husband's lips and, judging from Wallace's reaction on the stand, knew that she had seen it, too. She allowed a smile to flit across her own features. His smile had been intended for Wallace...and it had produced the desired reaction. It was nice to see that Wallace was not gaining the upper hand, and that was the main source of the anger Eames saw on her face. A gentle squeeze of encouragement to his leg brought his attention to her and with it came reassurance that he was not starting to retreat into himself as he often tended to do. She smiled at him, drawing a brief smile and a feather-light touch along her arm from her elbow to her wrist. He sensed rather than heard when she caught her breath, and he gave her another smile, this one much softer, before returning his attention to the front of the courtroom.

Shaeffer took a deep breath, obviously unsettled by the judge's reprimand. Why would he think he would lose control of his client's testimony? "You heard the testimony of the people who claim to have been witnesses to the events at the Exxon station in Stockbridge, Massachussets. What happened there?"

"I did not mean to dislocate her shoulder. She is a restless child and nearly ran in front of a car. I had to grab her to prevent her from being hit by the car. Who knew she was so...fragile? Maggie proved to be a willful and...difficult child."

Carver made a note on the pad in front of him and looked at Burrows, who gave him a discrete smile. In the gallery, Eames had to resort to grabbing Goren's arm, staying a bigger reaction than the tremor that now tortured his muscles. She could read the disappointment on Wallace's face as she eyed Goren, who had managed to keep his rage from his expression by focusing nearly all of his attention on the physical contact Eames maintained with him. It was obvious to them that Wallace had expected a different reaction, and when her eyes shifted to Eames, there was no denying the hatred that filled them. That look increased Goren's restlessness, but only Eames knew it did. She knew that she could settle him, but it would require a much more intimate touch than she was willing to give him in public...although it was something she would love for Wallace to witness. Eames' eyes narrowed at her. She refused to stoop to playing the game Nicole's way...she would not use Bobby as a pawn. She wouldn't do that to him; he deserved better. It was bad enough that Nicole did it, and there was nothing she could do about it. She hated that helpless feeling, and seeing the anger and hatred on her face as she sat in the witness stand was satisfying.

"Did she give you any other trouble while she was with you?"

"She is quite the stubborn thing, and she refused to let me care for her brother once she realized I wasn't taking her to their father. But it kept her busy and gave me less to fuss with. I did get tired of hearing her say she wanted to go home. I was surprised by her attachment to her father."

"Why is that?"

"Let's just say he never had the best of role models."

Eames glanced at him. In the past, she would have scored a hit with that statement. Today, nothing but a brief tightening of his hand where it lay over hers on his leg. She was deeply impressed. Wallace was gearing her responses to goad him, and he was putting forth a powerful effort to minimize his responses. He was doing amazingly well, and she wondered how much of it was because she had decided not to let him face this alone, or with Logan. She didn't even want to think about what would have happened if it had been just the two of them here today. She and Barek would likely have had to bail their asses out of jail. She suppressed a smile at the thought, glad that she was the one at his side. And she encouraged his effort with a gentle caress along the top of his hand and an increase of pressure from the fingers on his leg. His eyes closed briefly, then looked at her. Another brief smile...encouragement and reassurance. So far, he was okay, and she knew it was because she was there. She gave him a brief nod and another light squeeze. A soft sigh from him, and he turned back to the testimony.

"It seems to me you know quite a bit about Detective Goren and his background."

Her feral smile crept across her face. "Detective Goren and I have known each other for a long time. I make it a point to know as much as I can about people I frequently come into contact with."

"And why do you frequently come into contact with him?"

Her eyes shifted to the gallery, and he let her catch his gaze, being very careful to keep his expression, and his eyes, neutral. She wasn't as successful and he saw annoyance flicker across her face. He let one corner of his mouth turn up slightly and was rewarded by a glare of barely contained fury. She wasn't getting to him, and that was getting to her.

She took a few steadying breaths and turned seductive eyes back to her attorney. "Because he can't leave me alone."

She got a reaction to that, but it wasn't one she expected, and the fact that she had lost her handle on him and could no longer predict him infuriated her. For that, she blamed the woman who sat at his side in the gallery, and her hatred of Eames grew greater. Goren had leaned back in his seat, eyebrows raised in a combination of curiosity and disbelief. They both knew full well that she was the one who couldn't let him be.

Keeping her anger contained, she continued, "He is determined to see me imprisoned and will go to any lengths to achieve that goal."

Goren allowed another smirk, just to show her he knew what she was up to and that he knew she wasn't going to get away with it. Her eyes hardened and he let his face relax into more of a smile, and that infuriated her even more. Eames elbowed him and he looked at her. She knew he was antagonizing Wallace and, while she thought it was a great change of pace, she also knew how dangerous it could be, even here in the courtroom. Her eyes begged him to back off and he nodded at her silent plea, reinforcing it by lightly dragging his thumb along the inside of her wrist. When he turned back to the testimony, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.

Shaeffer was rubbing his hands together. "Why do you think that is?"

"I think he perceives me as a threat to his partner in some way, although I could never pretend to understand how Detective Goren's mind works."

He turned his head to look at his partner and she smirked, shaking her head. She was relieved to see the amusement in his eyes. And it remained right up until Shaeffer's next question.

"In your opinion, would he be above using his family to bring you in and send you to jail?"

"Of course not."

Eames watched him drop his head down and look at the floor, but she knew him too well. She saw the tension brought on by anger. Leaning closer, she whispered into his ear, "Give Carver the benefit of the doubt. Let him have a chance before you get too angry. He has everything he needs to tighten the noose."

Her hand had moved when she drew closer, and the combination of her fingers resting against the inside of his leg and the light kiss she pressed against his ear brought him back from the edge of his control, giving him a firmer handle on his anger. He didn't look at her, but he nodded, and she was satisfied.

Shaeffer pressed on. "Is it your opinion that what happened was beyond your control? What was the motivation behind it?"

There was that smile again. "I can only speak for myself. In taking the children on a little trip, I had hoped to gain their trust and their parents' attention, so we could discuss our differences and come to some sort of truce. His daughter, though, is too much like he is and she would not cooperate with me, no matter what I said. Ultimately, she is the reason things came to blows."

That was it. The straw that broke the camel's back, and Alex knew it. She saw his pent-up tension and knew she had to cap the explosion. He got defensive when anyone said anything against her. But attack Maggie...like a grizzly bear he became very unpredictable. She leaned toward him, reassured by the fact that he let her. And she realized he was depending on her because he didn't trust himself right now. He needed her to keep him from losing his temper because his hold was slipping. Burrows had been extremely kind to Maggie and he didn't want to risk angering the judge by stepping out of line in his courtroom. When her hand slid along his side beneath his jacket and she leaned forward to talk to him, he visibly relaxed. Wallace didn't miss that, and she saw red.

When Eames looked back up toward the stand, she didn't miss the venom in Wallace's glare, but she did nothing to antagonize her either. Shaeffer looked toward the gallery, wondering what had caused her expression to change, but he saw nothing unusual. When he turned back, the look was gone and her smile was back. She said, "So ultimately, Maggie was responsible for what happened, because if she had behaved herself, things would certainly have turned out differently."

Eames balled her fist into his shirt, ignoring the murmur that rose in the gallery around them. She brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered, "Don't. She's not worth it and you know it."

He concentrated for all he was worth on the sensation of her breath whispering by his ear and her fist pressing into his side. He turned his face into her and whispered back, "Help me to keep that in mind."

She was reassured by the light kiss he left on her temple and his hand when it closed over her fist, making it clear he wanted that contact. He didn't react when her hand left his knee as she sat back except to tighten his hold on her other hand. She looked toward the bench, where Burrows seemed as unsettled as Bobby was. Wallace had leaned back, smiling that feral smile that made a lump form in Eames' gut. But Shaeffer seemed oblivious. "You seem certain of that. Different how?"

"Just...differently. I would never have had to defend myself in that barn. And Maggie would never have had to worry about being responsible for her father's death. Neither would she have to live with the pain when she loses her status as Daddy's little girl."

This time, Eames knew he was on the edge. She also knew that Burrows was watching them, and she didn't care. If she didn't do something now, she wouldn't be able to stop him from exploding at Wallace. It was never pretty when Bobby lost his hold on his temper. She turned her attention to her husband, sliding her fingers along his belt, which got his attention. He dropped his chin to his chest and drew his breath in sharply when fingers met skin past the buttons of his shirt. She watched his lips as he silently counted to himself, focusing on her fingers, eyes closed. His shoulders relaxed and she slid her hand back to his side, knowing he wasn't going to lose it now. She shifted her attention back to the front of the courtroom, noticing that Carver was looking toward them, questioning eyes filled with concern. She nodded at him and he seemed to relax as he turned around. Wallace, however, did not look happy that her words had not had the desired effect on Goren. She had no idea how close he'd been to losing his tenuous hold on his temper, and Eames didn't want her to find that out. Goren was not his father and Maggie would always be his little girl. That was something Wallace would never accept.

Still oblivious to the goings-on around him, Shaeffer seemed certain he had placed reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors. He smiled at Wallace and said, "Thank you very much. No more questions."

Burrows pounded his gavel. "Let's take a ten minute recess before you proceed, Mr. Carver. I need to see Detectives Goren and Eames in my chambers."