The Long and Winding Road: 8

By: The Confused One

Rating: I'd give this one a PG, PG-13

Warnings: angst warnings That's about it. :)

Feedback: Yes, PLEASE. And send it to Charmed1500y...

Archive: Of course, to Amorous Intent. Are you someone else? Just
let me know where it's going.

Summary: The search for Hayley begins. Bobby and Alex deal with each
other and their feelings about what's happened.

A/N: I hope this chapter doesn't bore you too much. I needed them to
deal with some stuff. And I wanted to show what was happening to
Hayley, Kate, and her kids.

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Walking back into Kate's den, Bobby stopped. Alex had her head
leaned back against the couch. He was fairly sure she was asleep.
He whispered, "Alex?"

Immediately sitting up, Alex met his eyes, "Sorry."

Bobby shook his head. Sitting down beside her, he assured her, "No,
I'm sorry. You're the one who hasn't gotten any sleep in over twenty-
four hours."

Alex leaned back again. Ignoring his comment, she asked, "They
almost done?"

Bobby sighed before answering, "They're done. We should go."

Alex nodded, knowing he was right. Her phone ringing stopped her
from getting up. Picking it up, she answered, "Eames."

A voice on the other end, demanded, "Let me talk to Goren."

Alex closed her eyes, knowing it was all about to start. Handing the
phone to Bobby, she whispered, "For you."

A little confused, Bobby answered, "Goren."

The voice quickly instructed him, "I'm sure you know we have a few
people that mean an awful lot to you and your whore by now. If you
want to see them again, I suggest you start forgetting what you saw
in the mansion."

Closing his eyes and biting back the boiling anger at the situation
and Alex's name being slandered. Keeping his voice controlled, he
demanded, "Let me talk to Hayley."

The man laughed, and the next thing he heard was another
voice, "Hello?"

Bobby instantly lit up. He called into the phone, "Hayley! Hayley
Sweetie."

Hayley also instantly brightened, "Dad! Mom found you?"

Bobby took a deep breath, he assured her, "Yeah. I'm fine. Look,
listen to me. I have a couple of questions, and I need you to answer
them with just yes or no. You understand?"

Bobby got his answer immediately, "Yeah."

Bobby smiled a little now. He replied, "Good girl. Is Aunt Kate
with you?"

It took a moment, but Hayley finally answered, "Yes."

Staring at Alex he nodded before asking, "What about Jamie, Heather,
and Will?"

Hayley spoke quickly, "Yes."

Bobby nodded again to Alex, who he could tell was desperately wishing
she were talking to Hayley. Bobby quickly asked, "Is everyone OK?"

Hayley's answer was again, quick, "Yes."

Bobby took a deep breath and thanked God. He began asking his
questions as fast as possible, "Do you know where you are, at all?"

Hayley's answer was hesitant, "No. No, I'm sorry."

Suddenly he could hear the phone being jerked from her. The man
spoke again, "Remember what I said Detective. If you want to talk to
her again, you better forget what you saw. Better help them get off."

Shutting off the phone Bobby resisted the urge to throw it. He
angrily spat, "The game's started."

Alex, who had jumped to her feet when she saw that Bobby was talking
to Hayley, asked, "What did she say? Is she OK?"

Handing the cell phone back to her, Bobby assured her, "She's OK.
She said they're all together, and they're all OK. She doesn't know
where's been taken to."

Alex nodded. She reminded him, "I got a hold of Richard. He's on
the first flight back. He'll be back in time for lunch. Everyone's
meeting at my parents. We'll tell them then."

Bobby nodded. Bobby persisted now, "Come on. We need to go home to
get some sleep. We can't do any more tonight."

Alex begrudgingly nodded her agreement. She knew he was right. They
had to go. They had to sleep. They'd never find Hayley if they
didn't sleep. Pulling the keys out of her pocket, she held them out
for Bobby, explaining, "I don't think I could make it back to the
house."

Bobby nodded, understanding just how tired she was now. He knew
better than anyone that she only relinquished her keys under extreme
circumstances. Leading the way, he informed her of what the CSU team
had told him, "There isn't any sign of blood. It's something to be
thankful for. No one is really hurt. Hayley just assured me of
that."

Alex nodded as she locked the front door. She guessed, "I'm sure
we'll be waiting for the test results on the rest."

Opening the car door for her, Bobby agreed, "Yeah, the finger prints,
hairs, pictures, we'll be getting the reports in."

She nodded and slipped into the seat with a thank you. Sliding into
his side of the car, Bobby continued, "I've got Harrison and Trevor
tracking down names and addresses for associates and any properties
under any of their names."

Alex nodded. She acknowledged, "Good. We won't need to waist time
doing it in the morning. We can get started on checking the places
out."

Bobby continued driving, and the car slipped into a silence the rest
of the way. Neither knowing what to say to even begin to help the
other or make other understand what they were thinking. Neither
truly wanting to deal with the sudden tension anyway.

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Walking into the bedroom, Bobby began trying to peel off the too
short suit jacket. Alex, who was following him in, smiled slightly
at his struggling. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she
whispered, "Let me."

Silence engulfed the room as Bobby silently let Alex help him. He
closed his eyes. He knew they had to talk. The silence would be
worse than any conversation ever could be. Bobby turned around and
faced her. He had every intention of telling her everything he felt,
everything he was thinking. But the words felt short, "Alex. I.
I'm sorry. Before, when I… I didn't mean it…"

Alex had been relieved to have him turn around. She had hoped
talking would be easier this way. She had hoped that the silence
from the car would be broken, but she was wrong. She didn't have the
energy to even attempt to untangle what he meant or even what he had
actually said. All she knew was that her daughter was missing, and
she was sure that he somehow thought it was her fault. Meeting his
eyes, Alex held back the tears once more that night. Choosing to
ignore his attempt to break the silence, Alex began trying to
explain, "No, I'm sorry. I've just about shut down here. I, I know
I can't. It's just… if anything happens to her…"

Bobby, suddenly realizing where this was going interrupted her. This
time he was able to say the words, "Alex. Don't. Please don't.
We'll find her. We'll get her back."

Alex was still staring into his eyes. This time the words sunk in.
She understood them, and his eyes told her that he was trying to
believe it too. Finally looking away, Alex replied, "We have to get
her back."

Bobby sat down on the bed before assuring her, "I promise you. We'll
get her back."

That was enough to bring a few of tears to the surface. Meeting
Bobby's eyes again, she warned, "Don't make promises you're not sure
you can keep."

Bobby's eyes darkened a little. Refusing to break eye contact he
assured her, "This one I'll keep."

Wiping away a few tears, Alex assured him, "This isn't your fault."

Looking away, Bobby, knowing he couldn't continue the conversation,
changed the subject, "We have to get some sleep."

Alex closed her eyes. She suddenly knew why he had been so quiet,
and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Wiping away the last
of her tears, she resigned herself to playing by his rules before
agreeing. She knew he'd talk when he was ready to talk, "Right. We
have to try to sleep."

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Waking up in cold sweats and with a start, Bobby instantly sat up,
and froze for several seconds willing the pain to dissipate. Alex
woke up from the movement. Sitting up her self, the worry in her
voice was evident as she asked, "You OK? What happened?"

With a nod, Bobby lowered himself back down slowly. He assured
her, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Bad dream. Sorry."

Staring down at him, Alex couldn't help her self, "About?"

Bobby insisted, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Arching her eyebrows, rolling her eyes, and shaking her head, Alex
answered for him, "Memories then. Your father's women, your father
leaving, your mother's schizophrenia, or your brother leaving?"

Blinking, Bobby looked away before admitting, "My mother."

Closing her eyes, Alex knew those, usually, were the worst. Rubbing
his cheek, she assured him, "You're OK. I promise. I guess we've
found the downside of your memory returning. At least it seems
you're getting it back though."

Meeting her eyes again, Bobby admitted, "A little, just enough to
understand what you meant. There are huge gaps."

Alex settled back down. Taking a deep breath, she assured him
again, "It's OK. You're here now. Nothing's going to happen."

With a sigh, Bobby guaranteed her, "I know. Like I said, I'm fine."

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Alex reached over and hit the off button on the alarm clock. She
groaned before sitting up. Looking over at Bobby, she realized he
was awake and staring out their window. She whispered, "Hey."

Bobby met her eyes. Working through the pain, he sat up as he
answered, "Hey."

Alex tried her best to hide the worry on her face. Pushing a few
pieces of his hair out of his face, she ventured, "What were you
thinking about?"

Meeting her eyes once more, Bobby admitted, "My family. You know, my
mother, father, brother, our children, you."

Rubbing his cheek, Alex gave him a supportive smile. She knew
exactly what he was thinking, and she knew none of it was true. She
also knew that she wasn't going to be changing his mind. It was in
his head. He was sure of it. She proceeded to turn around so that
she was facing him. Keeping her voice calm and quiet, Alex tried to
comfort him, tried to make him understand, "Bobby, look at me."
Having Bobby's chocolate eyes immediately meet hers, Alex
continued, "Good. Listen to me. You are not a curse. You did not
cause your mother's schizophrenia, your father's irresponsibility,
your brother's coping method, our son's death, or our daughter's
kidnapping. None of it has been your fault. In fact, you're right.
We'll find her. She's going to be OK. We just. We have to believe
that. We have to know that right now. It's all we have, faith. I
believe in you, in us, in our daughter. I love you Bobby Goren, and
we're going to make it through this, the three of us. Then, the
three of us, will piece our lives back together."

Bobby nodded. Logically, he knew she was right. He had no control
over his mother, father, or brother, and he couldn't have predicted
what had happened with his children, but he couldn't help but feel a
little responsible. In fact, he was almost sure he was cursed to
loose and hurt everyone he cared about. Never having lost eye
contact with Alex, Bobby confessed, "With everything. It just feels…
It can't all just be horrible family luck and history. That's a
thought that keeps running through my head."

Momentarily looking away, Alex took a deep breath. She instantly and
emphatically replied, "It's not you. I can't make that any clearer
Bobby. It's not you. As much as I'd like to prove it to you, we
have to get ready. We have to find our daughter."

With a nod, Bobby painfully made his way out of the bed. Alex
couldn't help but smile as she made her way around the bed to help
him finish undressing, she commented, "Leave it to you to still end
up in a suite."

Bobby smiled brightly at this. He had to agree. It was rather
ironic.

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Waking up, Hayley instantly scanned the room she was huddled in. She
met her aunt's eyes. Kate called out to her, "Hayley. You're awake."

Hayley nodded. With a sigh, she admitted, "Yeah."

Kate watched as Hayley walked closer to join them. Kate assured
her, "They left us alone for the moment. Someone will probably be
back in here in a little while."

Inspecting the food, Hayley got the message and explained, "They put
me on with my dad. He asked some questions, if we were OK, if we
were together, but I couldn't tell him where we are. I don't know
where we are, and they took the phone right after I told him that I
didn't know."

Kate nodded. One of the twins, Heather, interrupted, "Does that mean
we're not going to get to go home yet mommy?"

Closing her eyes, she tried to assure her daughter, "Don't worry
Heather. We're going to get out of here. I'll make sure of that."

Hayley tilted her head slightly. She demanded, "How exactly?
They're not planning on letting us go. We've seen their faces.
We're not blindfolded. I know what that means."

Kate closed her eyes, knowing her niece was right. This was bad,
very bad. Before she could say anything, Will, Heather's twin, spoke
up, "Aunt Alex and Uncle Bobby will find us, right, mommy?"

Reaching over, Kate stroked her small son's head. She tried to
assure him, "Yeah, they will. Don't worry. You're getting out of
here, I promise. I'll find a way to get you all out."

Kate's oldest, Jamie, arched her eyebrows. She instantly
questioned, "What about you? I'm not leaving you here."

Hayley finally gathered her courage, and tried the food. She was
surprised it was edible. She listened as her aunt answered Jamie's
question, "Don't worry about me Jamie. Priority is getting the four
of you out. I'll be fine. I just. I need to make sure you four are
safe."

Taking a bite of her food, Jamie restated, "I'm not leaving you here
mom. I don't want anything happening to you."

Kate was horrified at the thought of her daughter not taking
advantage of a possible escape insisted, "Listen to me Jamie. If you
get an opportunity to get out, get out. That goes for all of you.
If you can get to a phone or anything you're doing more good than if
you stay. I mean that."

Hayley nodded, understanding and agreeing with her aunt. She
replied, "Same thing Grandpa and my parents would say."

Kate nodded. She agreed, "Yeah. They would. Hayley, do you have
any idea what this is about?"

Lowering her head, Hayley debated telling the truth. After a moment,
she decided Kate needed everything that she knew. Hayley
explained, "The bad guys who killed Ryan hurt my dad. Mom didn't
know where he was. She went to find and help him. I think they're
the same people."

Jamie suggested, "We're retaliation because Aunt Alex saved Uncle
Bobby?"

Shaking her head, Kate replied, "No. That doesn't make any sense.
How would they have known who we were? I don't even understand why
Alex would have been helping them find him. This just isn't making
sense."

Swallowing a bite of food, Jamie tried again, "Someone following Aunt
Alex? Someone who really has it out for them?"

Throwing her hands in the air, Kate replied, "It's possible. I don't
know. I'm sure will explain everything when they find us."

Snorting, Jamie retorted, "If they find us."