The Long and Winding Road: pt. 3

By: The Confused One

Rating: This chapter? G.

Pairings: Bobby/Alex. Who else?

Warnings: No warnings, unless Bobby/Alex pairing fics
bother you.

Feedback: Yes, of course. I live for feedback,
especially for chapters like this, where I take some
risks. Please send it to Charmed1500y...

Archive: Amorous Intent, of course. Anyone else, just
please let me know where it's going first. Thanks.

Summary: This is the chapter where it gets VERY
shippy. LOL So be warned of that. I forgot that this
chapter is supposed to come before the chapter where
we find out about Bobby, so you're getting this little
chapter here that, honestly, will probably feel very
out of left field, but I assure you, there are reasons
for the characters introduced and information given in
this chapter. It'll all make sense later. Anyway, I
hope you enjoy, and you don't get too confused.

Disclaimer: Since I sadly don't own anything remotely
related to anything L&O, I am not making any money.
So please, pretty please, don't sue. Not that you'd
get much, if anything, if you did sue. See, I'm what
is called…a poor college student. So I have nothing
of value. So, I reiterate, please don't sue. Thanks.

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Alex pulled into the driveway. She could see the
first signs of dawn. Parking her car, she took a deep
breath. Forcing herself out of the car, Alex stumbled
to the door that connected the house to the garage.
As much as she hated it, and as much as she would
rather be looking for Bobby, Alex knew Nikolas had
been right. She had been up for over twenty-four
hours. She wasn't any good to anyone until she got a
couple of hours of sleep, at least. Not to mention
that she had spent at least twenty of those hours away
from Hayley.

As Alex walked through the den, someone stirred on the
couch. A young woman instantly sat up from underneath
a pile of blankets. The girl instantly smiled at
seeing Alex. Alex smiled back. Alex skipped the
greetings and got down to it, "Thank you for staying
the night, Megan. I'm sorry I didn't get home
earlier. I hope Hayley didn't give you any trouble."

The girl's features immediately softened. Climbing
out of the blankets that she had fixed onto the couch,
the girl even smiled. She confidently replied, "Oh
that's fine. Actually, Hayley was great.. She even
went to bed on time."

Alex immediately gave Megan an encouraging smile.
With a nod, Alex assured the girl, "You are good.
That must be a first for that girl."

Megan laughed. Giving Alex a dismissive wave, she
underplayed it, "Ah. She's not so bad. I've had
worse." Looking at her self, Megan looked at Alex
again, and excused her self, "I think I'll go ahead
and change so I can get out of your hair."

Alex smiled again. Digging into the purse that hung
at her side, Alex assured Megan, "I'll be in my room
by the time you're done, but I'll leave the usual on
the counter."

Megan nodded began grabbing her stuff before replying,
"Sounds good. Thanks."

Alex smiled and watched the girl walk off with a hand
full of clothes. Quickly writing a check, Alex headed
down the hall towards her bedroom, only stopping at
Hayley's room. She wondered if she dared to enter.
She didn't want to wake her. Taking a deep breath,
Alex cracked open the door, hoping she wouldn't wake
the girl yet. Slipping into the room, Alex just
watched her daughter sleep. Moving some of Hayley's
stray brunette hairs out of her face, Alex kissed the
girl on her forehead. Alex whispered, "Night Hayley."

Stepping away from the girl, a single tear fell down
Alex's face. She quickly turned around and headed
towards the door when a small and quiet voice made her
stop instantly, "Mom?"

Alex turned around and plastered a smile on her face.
Looking into the girl's brown eyes, she spoke softly,
"Yeah, it's me Sweetie. Go back to sleep."

The girl's face lit up, but she stayed still. She
simply replied, "I'm glad your home. Is Dad home
too?"

Alex instantly closed her eyes. It was the one
question she couldn't, no wouldn't answer her daughter
right now. Taking a deep breath, Alex decided on a
half-truth. She just couldn't bring herself to try to
explain this to her nine-year-old daughter. She had
just lost her brother. She wasn't going to spring
this on her, right now. Alex explained, "No. No,
your Dad isn't here right now. But don't worry about
that, OK? He'll be home soon. Real soon."

Hayley nodded, and gave her mother a slightly confused
look. Seemingly letting it go, Hayley yawned, and
assured Alex, "OK. I'll be quiet when I get up. So
you can sleep."

Alex smiled a genuine smile. She shook her head in
amazement. Alex was quite sure that she had the most
perfect little girl ever. Alex replied, "Thank you.
That would be nice. I'm sorry Honey, when I get up
I'm going to have to leave again though. Your father
needs my help. You mind staying with Aunt Kate?"

Hayley shook her head no. With a sigh, she replied,
"When you and Dad catch the bad guys who hurt Ryan,
you're going to be home more right? I miss you and
Daddy."

Alex's heart broke into pieces. Letting a few tears
fall, she choked out, "I'm so sorry Hayley. None of
this has been fair to you. God, Sweetie, yeah, we'll
be home more. I promise. It's just, right now, the
bad men that hurt Ryan, are still out there, and your
Daddy and I are trying to put them in jail where they
can't hurt anyone else. Now go back to sleep. When
you get up in a little while go ahead and pack an over
night bag, just in case."

Hayley sighed and dutifully nodded and closed her
eyes. Alex stood up and hurried out of the room. She
managed to make it to her bedroom and get her door
closed before she began sobbing. Staggering to her
bed, Alex fell onto it in a heap, where she laid on
her stomach and continued sobbing.

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Alex emerged from her bedroom. She had finally
managed a couple of hours of sleep and a change of
clothes. Her brain seemed to have shut down
everything but the things necessary for functioning
and finding Bobby.

Hayley sat on the couch that had been covered with
blankets earlier. Watching her mother enter, Hayley
immediately brightened. She greeted, "Morning."

Alex was eternally grateful. The girl's bags were
packed, and she too was dressed, ready to go. Pasting
a fake smile, Alex returned the greeting, "Morning."

Hayley grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.
Picking up her plate she headed into the kitchen. She
knew her Mother was upset about something, and while
it seemed to be the normal state of everyone around
her at the moment, because of Ryan, Hayley knew there
was more to this. Something was really wrong. She
could feel it. These feelings were one of the many
things that she had been proudly told were from her
father. Then she knew.

Putting her plate in the sink, and walking back out to
the den, Hayley was only marginally surprised to see
that her Mother hadn't moved. Hayley eyed her
suspiciously. She ventured, "Mom?"

Alex immediately snapped out of her thoughts. Looking
at her daughter, Alex continued her charade. She
wasn't about to worry Hayley about any of this yet.
She had to be strong. She had to pretend, for her
little girl's sake, for her family's sake. Alex
swallowed hard, and shrugged her aloofness off,
"Sorry. What is it Honey?"

Hayley tilted her head slightly, as if not quite
believing what she was hearing. After a brief moment,
Hayley straightened up and just asked, "Mom, what's
going on? I, I can tell something's wrong. Where's
Dad? Is he OK?"

Alex closed her eyes, wishing her daughter, if for
just that moment, didn't have her father's perception
and instincts. After a moment, Alex admitted, "We're
not sure where he is Hayley. Lots of people are
looking for him. I'm going back out to look for him
some more."

It took a moment to register in Hayley's brain. She
stood in shock for a long moment. Finally meeting her
mother's eyes, Hayley surmised, "The guys who killed
Ryan did something to him, didn't they? They've hurt
him too?"

Alex wanted to lie to Hayley, tell her that the men
who had caused so much pain, hadn't caused anymore.
She wanted to soothe her little girl from the truth of
the drug lords who were ripping their lives apart, but
Alex couldn't. Alex knew, of all people, Hayley
deserved the truth. She was a part of so many lies
over the years, herself; there certainly wasn't a
point to lying to the girl. Alex divulged, "Yeah,
Sweetie, they've hurt your Dad. There was an
accident, and he and all the bad guys disappeared. We
don't know how he's doing."

Looking into her mother's eyes, Hayley felt like her
whole world was crashing down around her. Tears began
falling down the girl's cheeks. Hayley quickly closed
the distance. Engulfing her Mother in a hug. Hayley
managed to speak, "You'll find him. You have to find
him. It'll be OK. He'll be OK. He has to be.
You'll find him, right? You'll find him."

Hugging her daughter, Alex tried to believe the words
that were quickly becoming Hayley's mantra. Pulling
away a little, Alex swallowed and instructed, "Your
Aunt doesn't know, OK? I just called her before
getting here, ensuring that you could stay there.
Honey, I'll find him, OK, but you can't tell Aunt Kate
that your Dad is missing. You understand that? Just
don't mention it. It's just another work night for
us. OK? Can you do that for me? Things are going to
be changing as it is after this, but I need to hold
everything off till after I find your Dad. I have to
find him first."

Hayley nodded in understanding. Wiping the tears
away, she quickly became the perfect composed copy of
her Mother's strength and resolve. Hayley was keenly
aware of what was at stake for her parents. She
assured Alex, "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Mom. Just
find him though. Please."

Alex nodded emphatically. There wasn't anything that
Alex wasn't going to do in order to find Bobby, her
partner, the man she loved. She assured her, "Don't
worry. We need to go though."

Hayley nodded as she instinctively grabbed her bag,
and headed towards the car. Despite everything on her
mind, Alex remembered that Hayley had packed her own
over night bag, and that meant that something was
usually forgotten. So Alex followed behind her
daughter and asked, "You remembered your underwear,
toothbrush, socks, a change of clothes…"

Hayley threw the bag into the back seat. She opened
the passenger side door, as Alex went around the
front. Hayley cut Alex off, "Mom. I didn't forget
anything. I promise."