It had only been two weeks, but they had been interminably long for her. She still could not get used to his absence. Summoning all her resolve, she walked into the squad room and strolled to her desk, trying to act as if nothing were different…but who was she fooling? No one. Because everything was different. Everything.

She sat down at her desk and placed her hand on the pile of paperwork that waited for her…and she looked across at the empty desk in front of her. She trembled with the effort to maintain her composure, looking down when the tears welled in her eyes. She couldn't do it. She couldn't look at his desk and forget he would never sit there again. She couldn't pretend he was just late, or out sick, or across the room joking with Logan. Because she knew, and her damn mind wouldn't let her forget that he wasn't coming back.

"Alex?"

She stiffened when she heard Deakins' voice because she knew what it meant. A new partner. But she didn't want a new partner. She wanted her partner. Damn it! All she wanted was her partner!

"Alex, can I see you please?"

Yeah, sure…let's get on with life and living. As if… She got up from her desk and headed to the captain's office, closing the door behind her.

Deakins looked at her with deep concern. "How are you doing, Alex?"

"How do you think I'm doing? I…I'm lost, Captain. That's how I'm doing."

She let her eyes stray to the man in the seat in front of the captain's desk. Geez…he was a kid, not more than thirty, if that. Deakins said quietly, "Alex, this is Roger Tuvelo. He's going to be your new partner."

The words grabbed her heart in a vise, even though she knew they were coming. Her new partner. She managed to control the trembling of her body, although just barely, and Deakins knew her well enough to see the battle she waged with herself. "Tuvelo, this is Alex Eames."

Tuvelo held out his hand. "I've heard of you. Good things. You're a good cop, a smart cop, and I'm pleased to be your partner."

She took his hand, but there was no emotion in her greeting. "Welcome to Major Case." She looked at Deakins. "Anything else, Captain?"

"Are you sure you're ready to be back? If you need more time…"

"More time for what? More time to get used to the fact that he's not getting off that elevator, that he's never coming back? There isn't enough time in eternity for that, Captain."

She turned and headed out of the office, before she lost it in front of him. Tuvelo followed. "So, I hear I'm going to be replacing Goren."

She stopped dead in her tracks. Eyes turned, voices murmured, Deakins came to his door. All eyes were on the diminutive detective who had spent the past ten years steadfastly defending her big, eccentric partner. "Excuse me?" she said in a low voice, full of menace. "Replacing him? Is that what you said? Look, pal, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but no one will ever replace Bobby Goren. You got that?"

He nodded mutely, cowed by her verbal attack. She turned and headed from the squad room. Barek jumped up from her desk and ran after her.

Tuvelo walked slowly to his new desk, where Mike Logan joined him. "Hey," he greeted the new detective, holding out his hand. "Mike Logan."

The newcomer accepted the outstretched hand. Logan leaned against the desk and looked at the stunned man. "I don't know who told you that, man, but you better get that idea out of your head right now. You may be using this desk, but it's still Goren's desk. You may be her partner right now, but she'll always be Goren's partner. Now this is just some friendly advice, but you'd better watch out for her and treat her right, 'cause if you mistreat her in any way, Goren'll come back from the grave to kick your ass." He leaned a little closer. "And if he doesn't, I'll do it for him."

Tuvelo looked uncomfortable. He dropped his eyes down to the desk in front of him. "Uh, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"I've heard, you know, rumors..."

"Quit hanging out around the water cooler, Tuvelo. You got questions, you come to me. Got it?" He nodded. "If I were you, I wouldn't talk to her about Goren unless she brings him up. And for God's sake, remember, you aren't here to take his place with her. No one will ever do that."

He started back toward his desk. "Uh, Logan?"

"What?"

"What I wanted to ask you…uh, word has it they were…more than partners…and the brass knew, and they ignored it, for years…That can't be true. Can it?"

"Sure it can, because it was. Yeah, the brass knew. But they weren't just anybody, kid, and the quicker you realize that, the better off you'll be. They were Goren and Eames."

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Eames leaned over the sink, splashing more cold water on her face. She heard the restroom door open but she didn't look up. Barek rested a hand on her back. "I'm sorry, Alex."

"Nowhere near as sorry as I am, Carolyn. I…I don't know if I can do this."

"I don't know either. But you owe it to him to at least try."

She turned her head to look at the dark-haired detective. "I know, I know. He would want me to get on with my life. But how can I do that? He was my life. It didn't start out that way…but it became that way. And now I just don't know what to do without him."

Barek looked uncomfortable, but she said what was on her mind anyway. "You have to find a way to do it, Alex. You have no choice, because he's gone and you have to live without him."

"And that includes putting up with an idiot partner."

"I do," she said with a small grin.

But Eames just didn't have it in her to grin back. She dried her face, whispered a sincere 'thanks' to her friend, and returned to her desk.

Tuvelo looked at her. "I…I'm sorry about what I said, Eames. It was… insensitive."

She studied the young detective. "Just keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you, ok? And never talk about my partner again."

"Uh, I am your partner."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

With a mumbled apology, he pulled out a folder Deakins had given him and set about reading the rules and regs specific to the Major Case Squad.

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The day was interminable. Deakins gave them a case and at the scene, Eames gave Tuvelo a chance to prove himself. "Look around at the scene, Tuvelo, and tell me what you see."

"I see a dead hooker."

"A hooker? What makes you think she's a hooker?"

"Look at the way she's dressed. It says hooker to me."

"And that means…"

"We pass it on to homicide and wait for a real case. Dead hookers don't float my boat, Eames. We shouldn't have gotten called out on this one."

She just stared at him. "Tuvelo, go wait in the car."

She could just imagine what Bobby would say about that!

When they got back to the squad, she stormed into the captain's office. "Since when am I a goddam babysitter?"

"Bad day?"

"I can't work with him. Find me someone else."

He just stared at her. "Alex, it's only been a day. You gave Goren more time than that."

"Goren never told me a case didn't matter because of some pre-conceived notion he had."

Deakins smiled sadly. "Bobby had no preconceived notions."

"Right. And this kid is arrogant and opinionated…he's not Major Case material. Send him off to homicide and get me a different part…" Her voice hung up on the word. She closed her eyes for at least the twentieth time that day. "It's not going to work."

"Alex," he began gently. "Bobby was one of a kind. You…you're not going to find another Goren."

And that was it. She had held on to her control all damn day. Grasping at straws in the dark at times, she had kept it together, until now. She collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her hands. Deakins came around his desk and pulled a chair up beside her, resting his arm across her back in a fatherly way as her grief shook her body again.

When she had pulled herself together, he agreed to her request. He would do everything he could to find her an experienced partner, one who wasn't afraid to follow in Goren's footsteps or to dwell in his shadow.