The Monopoly board was set up on the table by the big front window, and three of the detectives were ready to begin the game. The room was dark, except for a floor lamp near the table. They looked across the room, where Goren stood almost in darkness at the other end of the big room, near the back door, looking out into the stormy night. Lightning silhouetted his frame against the windows. Logan sighed. "Come on, Goren. Give your mind a rest for a few hours and relax."

Goren didn't answer. Logan frowned at Eames. "What the hell did you say to him?"

He'd been in a real funk ever since he and Barek had returned to the cabin, not talking to anyone, not eating…just wandering near the windows, looking out into the woods. Eames shook her head. "Never mind. Let's just play."

Thunder rumbled overhead and more lightning lit up the room from time to time as the storm drew closer. Each of the detectives kept looking toward the back of the room, but Goren stayed where he was. Finally, Eames sighed in annoyance. "I'll be right back."

She got up and crossed the room. Her annoyance faded as she drew closer. He was still troubled, but his agitation had settled. She knew her ultimatum still had him rattled, and she felt badly about that. She hated to threaten him with their partnership, but if she hadn't she would end up losing him for good. She couldn't take that risk. Would she walk away from their partnership, from their friendship? Only if she had to. Only to keep him alive. But in doing so, she fully realized she would achieve something not even Nicole Wallace could. She would destroy him completely. She came up behind him and she saw him stiffen when he heard her approach. She wondered how long it was going to take her to get him out of this mood. But at least he would still be alive to be in a mood at all.

She stepped up beside him and looked out across the deck. "I know I hurt you," she said softly. "And I'm sorry about that. I don't want to hurt you. Far from it."

He looked at her. "But you knew…" He shook his head, stopping himself. He didn't want to go back there. So he voiced a diferent concern, not caring that it was the wrong thing to do. "How can I keep you safe, if you won't let me protect you?"

Her annoyance returned, full force. "I don't need protection, dammit. I need a damn partner, not a bodyguard! If you want to protect someone, join the Secret Service. Don't be a hero, Goren. I don't want another goddam partner! But if you go getting your stupid ass killed, that's just what's going to happen." He didn't answer, and that just made her angrier. She got between him and the window so she could fully face him. "If you really want to think, let me give you something to think about. You are determined to get Nicole this time around, and that's fine. So am I. But if you step into another situation, and this time she succeeds, and she kills you, where does that leave me? Think about that. If I am here to back you up, it doubles both our chances of coming out of this alive. But if you go into it alone, your chances are cut by more than half. Figure out that math, genius."

She shoved him out of the way and stormed back to the table. "Where were we?"

Logan looked across the room at Goren, who had watched her cross the room and return to the game. Then he turned back to the window. Both he and Barek had heard her yell at him. And they side-stepped entering into a conversation about it with either of them. It hadn't worked earlier, and it wasn't going to work now. So they simply looked at one another and returned to the game, doing their best to ignore the tension in the air.

Goren watched the woods beyond the cabin, illuminated by the storm. He was frustrated and angry. If he wanted to think…she knew him well enough by now…well, that was just her point. She did know him well enough. Just planting the suggestion was enough. He…what was that? He swore he saw movement among the trees. A deer, maybe? No. Not big enough. Another flash…and more movement. "Logan," he called. He'd be damned if he'd call his partner over right now. But something in his tone brought all three of them to the window. "I think I'm seeing things," he muttered. "Watch the woods…I swear I saw someone out there."

"Out there? In this storm? You sure it wasn't a bear or a tiger or something?"

Goren looked at him. "A tiger?"

"I don't know what the hell lurks in these woods."

He looked back out the window. "Not tigers."

Another flash…but the figure was gone. "I didn't see anything," Barek said.

"Neither did I," Eames snapped. "You must be seeing things."

She walked away from the group. Only Barek noticed when Goren's shoulders sagged a little. She followed Eames across the room, Logan not far behind her. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on him, Alex?"

Logan frowned and said, "And maybe you're a little too sympathetic."

Barek turned on him. "You need to get over this, Logan. If you think…"

Eames shook her head, interrupting Barek's tirade. "Maybe we're all on edge tonight. After what Deakins told Bobby earlier and now the storm…"

Another rumble of thunder…the storm was closing in on them. Then the lights went out.

Eames jumped, her heart pounding. Why was she so on edge? Because Goren was seeing things out in the woods? It's just the storm, she told herself, until another flash of lightning showed her partner's silhouette at the back door. His gun was in his hand.

"What is your deal, Goren?" she snapped. "Put that damn thing away."

He waved at her to be quiet and Logan, drawing his own gun, crossed the room toward him. "What is it?"

"That wasn't the storm," he said quietly. He met Logan's eyes during the next flash of lightning. "She followed him," he muttered, hoping Eames and Barek wouldn't hear him.

No such luck. Both women heard, and they joined their partners by the window, guns in hand, as Logan said, "Him? You mean Deakins?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Eames asked, heart pounding, gut in a knot.

"There's no other way she could have found us."

"Are you sure she's out there?"

He was sure, though he couldn't explain why. A sixth sense? Maybe. He just knew that the storm had not knocked out the lights, and he had seen a figure out there in the woods. He could sense his partner's apprehension…her fear…and there was nothing he could do to calm it. Logan flipped off his safety and engaged the slide. "Let's get her."

"Hold on there, D'Artangan," Barek settled a hand on his arm. "I am not rushing out into the night willy-nilly without a plan. So what is the plan?"

Silence, followed by Logan, saying, "Let's rush out into the night willy-nilly and kick some Australian ass."

Barek smacked him. "I agree with Eames here, you ass. I don't want to bury my goddam partner."

Eames felt Goren tense, but she didn't respond to him. She was still mad. "Carolyn is right. We need a plan."

She could sense Goren's growing agitation and restlessness. Once they were committed to the hunt, though, he would settle right in to it. She knew, beyond all doubt, that when the action started, he would be ready. She could always count on her partner.

"Ok, fine," Logan grumbled. "You don't like plan A. Here's plan B: Two of us need to head out the front, and two out the back. We secure the place, call Deakins and crawl under the beds to wait. Ow!"

"Ass," Barek hissed in his ear.

"Well, we're getting nothing done standing here debating it."

Goren let out an impatient sigh. "You and Barek go out the front; Eames and I will go out this way. We'll meet by the boathouse." He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and slipped them into Logan's hand. "Lock the door."

He went into the kitchen, rummaging in a drawer for the extra set of keys Deakins told him were there. Slipping them into the pocket of his jeans, he returned to the door. "Go."

He put his hand on the doorknob to open the door, but Eames stepped between him and the door. She wasn't about to let him go into this thinking there was anything unfixable wrong with them. He needed no distractions. "We are ok," she whispered into his ear, softly kissing his scruffy cheek. Then she opened the door, and he followed her out into the stormy night.

The rain was cold, and the wind whipping around them just made it colder. It was also hard to see through the driving storm. The lightning was flashing with greater frequency, followed by thunder that was getting louder with each crashing boom. Goren had somehow slipped in front of his partner, though she didn't remember him doing it. She followed him down the steps, careful to remain close to the house. The quick lightning flashes gave her a glimpse of him. His entire body was on guard, eyes looking for every movement, ears straining for sounds that did not belong to the storm. She, also, slipped into cop mode, gun at the ready, body on alert. They stepped away from the deck.

At the front of the house, Logan and Barek, also tense and alert, slipped down the steps and away from the porch. But the lightning revealed nothing and the only sounds beyond the storm were the small sloshing sounds made by their footsteps in the mud.

There was nothing to be found as Goren and Eames headed around the house. Eames was beginning to question whether he had even seen anything, but she kept her suspicions to herself. It had to have been the storm that had knocked out the electricity. Why he was saying it wasn't was a mystery to her. She would have to get him to explain that one.

She started when his voice whispered into her ear. "I don't see anything. Go on to the boathouse, and I'll be right behind you."

She turned her face toward his. "What are you going to do?"

He looked confused. "Nothing. I'll be right behind you." In a rare response to an impulse, he kissed her. "Go on."

She disappeared into the storm. He started after her, sliding to a sudden halt when a noise came to him above the sounds of the storm. It was the chambering of a round in a gun, accompanied by a chilling "Hello, Bobby."