Disclaimer: One day I'm going to meet Dick Wolf, get him nice and drunk, and get him to sign over the rights to Law and Order Criminal Intent over to me. Until then, I don't own it, or any of the characters from the show.

Author's notes: I'm feeling inspired, and I'm hoping to get more hits on this fic. There will probably be some Goren and Eames lovin' as well as some Barek Logan stuff and...maybe I'll even mix it up a bit. Stress makes you do things you normally wouldn't eh? As always, please review! It keeps me motivated. Also, I'm always open to suggestions on how I can make this better.

Man oh man. I wrote this chapter, posted it, didn't like it, re-wrote it, and here I am posting it again. Though, I like how this one came out. So it's all good.

Opening arguments

"What should we do?" Eames asked quickly, looking to her partner, still holding the license.

"I...don't know." Goren replied, sighing. "You were always a better people person..."

"Not when it comes to telling our Captain his daughter is dead!" she exclaimed a bit too loudly.

"What?" an all too familiar voice questioned as a tall, lean, gray haired man appeared. The two detectives silently observed their tired looking Captain. Deakins' had dark circles under his eyes and his shirt was buttoned incorrectly. The collar of both his shirt and the jacket he was wearing was discombobulated and all in all, he looked older than he was.

"Um...hey Cap." Eames greeted, throwing on a weak smile, though it soon dissipated as it was matched with Deakins' scowl. Though, instead of replying to his Detective, he turned his attention to one of the uniformed officers.

"Why in the hell were my Detectives called about a new case before I was?" he inquired, trying to act calm, but anyone who had ears could hear the underlying irritation.

"Well..um...I don't know...sir...Captain...um..." the young uniformed officer was the same rookie Goren had tried to talk to earlier.

Deakins glared at the kid before looking to Goren and Eames.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, sir...I think maybe we should go sit down somewhere." Goren stated. "There is a café down the stree--" but it was too late. It didn't take long for their captain to spot the bloody and beaten remains of his daughter. He recognized her instantly and his heart almost stopped.

"Jenny..." he whispered. Goren counted all the different emotions that flickered across Deakins' blue eyes. Anger, frustration, fear, sorrow...and others.

"Sir..." Eames started, but Deakins was already rushing to the body, all his common sense having been thrown to the wind. Goren was quick though, and intercepted his upset Captain, holding him back.

"Captain, you can't touch the body. You'll contaminate the crime scene. I'm sorry..." Goren murmured, holding Deakins back with slight difficulty.

"My daughter...my baby...let me...go..." he muttered halfheartedly before slumping against the slightly larger male that was holding him back, tears stinging at his eyes. He held them back though, still leaning against Goren. Eames approached the two and rested a comforting hand on Deakins' upper arm.

"I'm sorry Captain. We'll get the guy..." Alex Eames whispered, glancing up to catch her partner's gaze for a moment.

"We promise." Goren confirmed, nodding. They both watched their Captain stand up straight, his posture a bit more rigid than usual.

"I have to get home...I'll..." he paused, finding himself looking back over at his daughter's body. "I'll see you tomorrow...well..." he checked his watch, "actually, I'll see you later today." and without another word he turned and left, heading back to his car.

"There goes a defeated man." Eames stated, standing beside her partner. Bobby Goren simply nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"A defeated man indeed." he stated. "Come on. We'll let CSU finish up here. We are going to need all the sleep we can get."

"Okay, what did I miss?" Logan inquired as he took a seat at his desk across from his partner. He blinked as he realized Barek had her back to him and seemed to be staring in the general direction of Deakins' office. "Barek?" he stated, trying to catch her attention. It was when he failed miserably that he finally looked over at the same spot she was, issuing a low whistle. "Woah. Deakins, Goren, Eames, and the Chief of Police as well as Carver all in the same room together. Seriously, what did I miss?"

His partner didn't bother to answer, and a moment later the Chief of Police left the office in a huff, scowling. Carver trailed after him. Mike watched them exit the squad room before turning his attention back to Deakins' office where his Captain was sending Goren and Eames a glare. Both detectives looked rather defeated and exited his office, Eames first followed by Goren.

Mike Logan all but whined and sat back in his chair. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, watching as Goren walked right by him and into the break room. Alex watched her partner before picking a manilla folder up off her desk. Her cold hazel gaze met Mike's and a shiver ran down the older detective's spine.

"Here." she stated coldly, throwing the folder onto his desk. "Educate yourself." and without another word she headed over to her partner. Logan blinked and opened up the folder, scanning over it's contents. Barek blinked and slowly rose from her chair, coming to stand behind her partner as she read over his shoulder. The two cursed at the same time.

"Deakins' kid...crap." Mike muttered, glancing at his partner. Carolyn Barek frowned and straightened up, glancing once more in the direction of her Captain's office.

"It's horrible..." she murmured softly, more to herself than anyone else. Logan nodded and sat back in his chair, tossing the folder onto his smooth desktop.

"Yeah, it really is." he answered, emerald eyes closing for a moment. "Should we...?"

"No, we should just leave him alone for now. I think he's been bothered enough for the time being." his partner answered.

"I feel like we should do something..." he stated.

"I know. For now, we can only be here for him and be ready to put everything we have into this case." she allowed a hand to rest on Mike's shoulder, which seemed to sooth the older detective.

"If only I could bring people back to life..." Logan whispered softly.

"Life wouldn't be worth living if you could bring everyone who died back to life." came her reply. The comforting hand left Mike's shoulder as Barek walked off.

"I guess..."

Meanwhile, Bobby and Alex were in the break room, arguing in low tones.

"I don't think Deakins should be leading this case Eames. He's too emotionally attached..." Goren stated.

"It's his daughter. He has every right to lead this case and bring her killer to justice." his small partner replied.

"But Eames, he's likely to jump the gun. I mean, come on...he's in distress. He's a great Captain, a good cop, but right now he's in no shape to do this." Bobby answered, leaning against the counter.

"We have to trust him Bobby." Eames commented, standing in front of her partner, arms crossed over her chest.

"I do trust him...but..." he frowned. "I think Carver and the Chief are right. He could mess this up. We might never be able to find the guy who did this with him on the case."

"Just drop it Goren. He's not leaving, and we shouldn't want him to." she snapped.

"No, I'm not going to drop it Alex! He should be at home with his wife and his other daughter. He needs to at least take time off..." Bobby argued.

"I said drop it Goren. He's staying on this case whether you like it or not. Stop dwelling on what could happen and get your head in the game. We are going to need all your brain cells focused and ready if we are going to catch this guy."

"Fine, I'll drop it...for now." he muttered in defeat.

"Good, now lets get back to work. I believe the M.E. would like to meet with us." she commented and turned, leaving the break room.

"Darn her." Goren muttered, watching his partner walk off. Rubbing a hand over his face, he sighed and soon followed after her. Who was he to argue with the oh so popular Alex Eames?