The Long and Winding Road: pt. 7

By: The Confused One

Rating: Again, we'll go with PG, PG-13.

Pairings: Bobby/Alex. he he he

Warnings: Some language. Other than that, fairly
tame.

Feedback: Please review and send all the great
feedback to Charmed1500y... Thank ya much.
It'll be greatly appreciated. By me, of course! LOL

Archive: Amorous: Yap. Anyone else who wants it, just
let me know where it is.

Summary: Bobby and Alex kick off their search for Hayley.

Disclaimer: I'm sure it's obvious by now that I have
affiliation with Dick Wolf, any of the L&Os, the
stars, or anything else remotely related to the
entertainment industry besides my TV. LOL I'm making
no money, so please don't sue.

The car tires screeched as Alex pulled up to the curb
in front of her sister's house. Alex didn't even turn
the engine off. By the time she got around the car,
Bobby had his gun drawn already. Alex drew her gun as
she reached him at the front door. Suppressing her
anxiety and panic, Alex calmly knocked on the door,
and called out, "Kate. It's Alex. You here?"

After a moment, Alex met Bobby's eyes. Taking a deep
breath, Bobby tried the door. He instantly met Alex's
eyes again, as the door opened. They immediately went
inside and began looking around the house.

It was obvious that there had been a struggle.
Swallowing hard, Alex closed her eyes, and holstered
her gun. Bobby met her back in the den. Holding back
tears, once more, Alex reminded him, "Kate has three
kids, and Hayley was here. Her husband is out of town
on business. What the hell am I supposed to tell him
Goren?"

Bobby gave her his best sympathetic look before trying
to comfort her a little, "They're not going to hurt
them. They're using them all as leverage. They're
going to want me to keep quiet, and let the men who
killed Ryan walk to get them all back unharmed."

Tears began to trickle down Alex's face. Through the
tears, she chokes out, "They've got our baby, Bobby.
They have Hayley. They have my sister and my nieces
and nephew. I, I can't let something happen to them.
I want, I need my family back, but, but I can't walk
away from Ryan, and what they did to him. Bobby, we have to fix this."

Engulfing her in a hug, Bobby rubbed her back, and
tried to sooth her, "Shh. I know Alex. I know. I
promise you. We'll get them back. I'll get them
back, and they won't walk. They're going to pay for
everything they've done to us."

After a moment, Alex pulled away. Looking into his
eyes, she again said out loud what they were both
thinking, "We have to talk to Deakins. We can't do
this alone, and I'm not risking my daughter's life
with those guys. I don't trust them to bring her back
in one piece."

Jerking her chin up, Bobby assured her, "It's OK.
It's all going to be OK. We'll talk to Deakins. We'll get a CSU team out
here. We're going to find them, and I'm going to do
everything in my power to make sure those bastards rot
in jail for the rest of their life. Trust me."

Alex nodded. Taking a deep breath, she was composed
again. Sitting down on the couch, Alex suggested,
"You should. Please call him."

Bobby nodded. His instant reply was, "Yeah."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Deakins walked into the house, unsure of what he'd
find. He was relieved to find he beat the CSU team to the scene. Walking
into the den, he was greeted with the sight of Alex
leaning over on Bobby's shoulder, just so. Seeing
Deakins, she immediately sat up. Bobby greeted
Deakins, "Hi."

Sitting down in the chair across from the couch,
Deakins just came out and asked, "What's going on, you
two? Ever since the kid, Ryan, came in volunteering
to be an informant, there's been something wrong. This is a lot bigger, a lot more
personal than just a bunch of drug dealers. Since
Ryan was killed you two have both been in a funk. You
were barely talking to each other for a while,
self-imposed isolation with a side of vengeance. Then
you talk me into this hair-brained scheme, we drag two
other departments in on it, and you get flung off a
roof. Now we've found you, and you're both, for some
reason, at her sister's, and believe she and her
children have been kidnapped. You have an
explanation?"

Alex closed her eyes, and leaned her head back. She
muttered, "This is such a mess."

Seeing the confused look on Deakins' face, Bobby swallowed and began to
explain, "It was a set up. The roof. Carson is the
dirty cop. He, he tipped them off. Probably got a
pay off too."

Deakins arched his eyebrows. Not quite sure what to
do with the information, Deakins urges him to
continue, "OK. Start from the beginning."

Moistening her lips, Alex jumped in, "I should explain
most of this. I started this whole mess, and I
remember it."

Bobby closed his eyes before nodding. Taking a deep
breath, he suggested, "Right."

The silence from Deakins unsettled Alex. It was
obvious that it was sign that someone needed to
continue and fast. Ignoring the tightening of her
chest, she began, "About seventeen years ago now

Bobby and I began dating. We kept it quiet. Neither

of wanted to mess up the partnership if things didn't

work out, but things did work out. Cliff notes version,

we told my family that we got married. We've had two

kids, that I told the department were surrogates. And

we've continued to participate in active deception to the
department. The department is pretty much the only
people who use the P. O. boxes. We've had a house
with our kids for years. Our daughter is named
Hayley. She's nine. Our, our other was Ryan, as in
the informant Ryan. The things he was seeing at
school angered him. He wanted to help. We didn't
want him involved, didn't want him hurt. But he was
determined. So he came to the precinct and, where he
knew we couldn't stop him, became an informant. It's,
it's why we pursued the case. We wanted to help him,
protect him. You know the rest. We couldn't let it
go. They weren't going to walk away from this.
Hayley was staring here, with my sister and her kids,
while I looked for Bobby. I had to find him. Hayley
stays here a lot when we're working. When Ryan showed
up, Carson must have, have gotten suspicious. He must
have figured it out. Fed them the information, and they've

been playing us since, to get us all right here, right now."

Bobby, who was staring at the rug, explained, "They're
going to try to deal with us. My silence, and our
daughter, Alex's sister, nieces, and nephew go free."

Alex sneered, "They've got us right where they want
us, Ryan's killers or our daughter, but I don't think
they counted on us figuring Carson out or finally
coming clean. We've made enough mistakes, and Hayley
isn't going to pay for them anymore. When Ryan died,
weeks ago, we decided that we had to come clean. Now,
now it's almost out of control, and it has gone way beyond

the secrets we've kept."

Deakins sat in stunned silence. His silence before
had been strategic, to get the story out, fast, but
the story they had just told him was beyond anything
he had ever even began to imagine. He finally managed
to utter, "This, this is so outside of anything I was
even thinking, ever could have imagined. You, should
have, could have told me. What did you think I was
going to do?"

Closing her eyes, Alex kept a tear from falling. She
admitted, "It was stupid. We know that. We should
have told you. Of everyone, you should have known."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Deakins railed, "Yes, I
should have known. I would have done what I could
to... As it is, I don't even know where to begin. I
should probably take both of your badges, start a full
out and out IA investigation into it, find a different
way to get Lopez and Domingus prosecuted, find out
what Carson does know, and even have social services
take Hayley when we find her. I can't do any of it
though. Twenty minutes ago even, I would have said
that the two of you were the most honest, most
reliable, best detectives I have. So, I'm going to forget

protocol for the moment. Getting Hayley and the
others back is all we're focusing on right now. We'll
talk about the rest later."

Alex took a deep breath. With a nod, Alex replied,
"Thank you."

Bobby finished her thoughts, "It's all we want."

Deakins closed his eyes and nodded. Standing up, he
replied, "I know. Listen, I'm going to start some
inquiries into what Carson has been doing lately.
When we go to IA, we're going to have some proof."

Bobby nodded. He finally met Deakins' eyes. Bobby
answered the unspoken question, "We're staying in this
thing. We're part of the game. If we get out of the
case, it'll send up red flags anyway. We'll stay with
the CSU unit when they get here. Go home and get some
sleep Deakins. God knows someone should be able to
get some."

Deakins almost smiled. He nodded his head and headed
for the door, a little relieved. The Bobby Goren he
knew was back. Beyond getting a very quiet
investigation going on Carson, and letting them run
the kidnapping case, he was sure there wasn't anything
he was going to be able to do for them at this point.
He just hoped he would be able save them from the
hailstorm from IA and the brass.