It had been a very long day. After tossing and turning all night, he'd gotten up and gone running. He spent the day on the beach, walking and thinking, not particularly caring where he went or where he ended up. By the time sunset rolled around, he was several miles down the beach from the motel. He headed back, using the time and distance to run some more. It was well after dark when he got back, and he showered and headed down the street to the diner for a quick bite to eat.

Stopping at a liquor store on the way back to his room, he stepped out onto the balcony when he got there, setting the paper bag on the table. He pulled out a six-pack of imported German beer and a bottle of scotch. He preferred scotch. His father's drink of choice had been gin, and that was what his brother chose when he had started drinking. He wasn't a heavy drinker, but when he did drink hard liquor, he never drank gin. Scotch, bourbon, Jack Daniels...but never gin. He set the bag on the floor by the chair and sat down, opening a beer. He took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. Then he leaned back in the chair and looked out across the dark ocean toward Europe. He knew this wasn't going to help his problem, but dammit, at least he would sleep tonight.

------------------------------------------

He looked at the phone in his hand, turning it over and wondering how it came to be in his hand. He hadn't called Eames yet...so he opened the phone and pressed '2'.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the phone.

"Eames," he said quietly.

"What the hell time is it?" She looked at the clock beside her bed. "Goren, it's two in the morning."

"Is it? Oh, sorry. I didn't look at the time."

His voice was...odd. "Have you been drinking?"

"Just a little."

"How much is a little?"

"Just over half."

"Half of what, Bobby?"

"I'm fine. I...I just wanted to say good night."

"You woke me up to say good night?"

"How could I say it to you if you were still asleep?"

She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Are you making sense to yourself?"

"Of course I am."

"Go to bed, Bobby."

"But I'm not done. I still have...uh, two beers and, uh, oh, well, there's not much scotch left. Shit, where'd it go?"

She could tell him. "You're done. Go to bed."

He opened another beer and took a drink. "No, I'm not. I...I'm going to sleep tonight."

"You didn't sleep last night?"

"Not well."

She wasn't surprised. He never slept well when he was upset. And he never drank like this when he wasn't. She was torn. When they went out drinking for kicks, Bobby was a lot of fun. But when he was upset and he drank, his dark moods got even darker. She decided to play dirty, taking the risk that he wouldn't be too mad at her if he found out. "Bobby," she said, her voice soft and sweet. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you in Connecticut?"

"Because my head's all screwed up and I need to figure it out."

"And what screwed up your head?"

"You did."

She was quiet for a minute. "What did I do, Bobby?"

"You didn't do a damn thing. You never had to."

"So what's your problem?"

"My problem is that I'm drunk as hell and should not be having this conversation with you. Hold on."

He set the phone down and picked up the scotch bottle. Holding the half-empty beer bottle in front of him, he upturned the scotch, spilling some into the beer but most of it over his hand and onto the floor. He dropped the empty bottle into the paper bag, where it hit the empty beer bottles and shattered. Then he picked up the phone. "Ok. Where were we?"

"I'm sixty seconds from hunting you down and beating the crap out of you, dammit. What did you break?"

"It was just an empty bottle. Calm down."

"Calm down...!" She choked off the rest of her reply. "Why did you call me?"

"Because I promised."

"Go to bed," she said slowly.

"As soon as I finish..."

"No. Don't drink any more. Just go to bed."

He looked into the bottle in his hand. "Not gonna waste it."

"Ok, fine. Finish that beer and go...to...bed." This was really getting old.

"Still got one."

"Save it."

She hated when he got argumentative. He wasn't angry; his goal seemed to be making her angry, although she doubted it was intentional. He would never intentionally piss her off. She took a deep breath. Time to try a different tactic. "Bobby?"

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Just watching everything spin."

She laughed. She couldn't help it. "It would make me feel a lot better if you took the phone and got into bed, just so I know you made it safely."

"It's just across the room."

She knew if she could just get him on the bed, that would do him in. "Please. Humor me."

"Sure. Ok." He got up from the chair and tumbled forward into the balcony railing. Looking toward the room, he made his way through the doorway and stumbled to the bed. Dropping onto it, he said into the phone, "Ok, I'm here."

"Laying on the bed?"

"Yep."

"How do you feel?"

"I'm tired...but I feel good."

"I'm sure you do. You won't in the morning. Is everything still spinning?"

"Yep."

"Go to sleep, Bobby. You can sleep now."

"Yep."

She could tell he was fading. "Good night," she said softly, with affection.

"I...uh, I love you, Eames."

She smiled and sighed. He had to get wasted to confess his heart. "I know. I love you, too, you horse's ass."

He didn't say anything more. She knew he was sleeping. Taking a deep breath, she closed the phone and sat there, debating what to do. This was insane. He wasn't getting anywhere and it was wearing him down fast. This was the last straw; she was not going to let him suffer any longer. She opened her phone and dialed another number.

"Deakins."

"I am so sorry to wake you, Captain."

"What's wrong, Alex?"

"I need the rest of the week off."

"Goren?"

"Yes."

"Did you find him?"

"Yes."

"Is he ok?"

"No."

"Alex..."

"Physically, he's ok, mostly. But I need to talk to him and I can't do it on the phone."

"Is this something I want to know about?"

"Um, probably not."

He was quiet for a minute. He heard the scuttlebutt about the squad. He knew what everyone thought. Softly, he asked, "Be honest with me, Alex. Is anything going on that is going to affect your ability to work together?"

"No. We're going to get all this hashed out."

"Do I dare ask what you're hashing out?"

"To be honest with you, I don't know."

"But you and Goren are going to be ok?"

"Yes, Captain. Neither of us would ever do anything that would affect our partnership."

"Ok. I'll see you both back on Monday."

"Thank you, Captain. Sorry I woke you."

"Not a problem. Go take care of your partner."

Oh, she was going to take care of him, ok. She got out of bed and got dressed, threw clothes into a small suitcase and, locking up the apartment, went down to the car. She started the engine and headed to Mystic, Connecticut.