He came out of the bedroom tying his tie, and she just looked at him. "A tie? Aren't you a little overdressed for Bennigan's? Steve and Kelsey don't strike me as coat and tie people."

"They're not, and it's not like I'm wearing a tux. Why are you annoyed?"

"Never mind. Let's just go."

"You're mad because I made plans without clearing them with you?"

"Bobby..."

"Dammit, Eames! Will you get over this? I am fine. Just because I got hurt when a subway tunnel blew up and fell on my head doesn't make me fragile." He caught himself and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I am fed up with being stuck here in the apartment and I want to get out, ok? Going to dinner is not going to kill me, but if we don't go, I may just jump out that damn window." He tipped his head and leaned over to catch her eyes, which she had averted when he'd yelled. "Alex? Please."

"I'm sorry if you think..."

Two steps and he was close enough to touch her. She moved to back away, but he gently grabbed her arm with one hand and tipped her head up toward his face with the other. "I don't think you're being overprotective. I know you are. Look, can we talk about this later?" He leaned closer. "I'm hungry."

She studied his face. "Ok, and we will talk about it later."

"That's fine."

He started to turn away until she put her hand on his arm. He looked back toward her. "Sometimes you don't know what's best for you."

He looked thoughtful. "You're right. But this time I know that sitting on that couch doing nothing isn't what's best for me. I don't need to be waited on or nursed. I just need..." He trailed off, switching gears in mid-thought. Now was not the time to open that can of worms."I need to get out of here."

"Ok, Goren. Let's go, then."

"Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad, and we'll talk about it later. Now go..." She gave him a gentle shove toward the door.

He smiled at her, and she couldn't help smiling back. She loved his playful grin...it had been awhile since she'd seen it. He opened the door, turning his head toward her. "And I'm not overdressed, Eames."

"Go," she said with another gentle push.

He laughed, wincing and unconsciously pulling his arm tight against his rib cage. "Don't do that," he protested lightly as he headed toward the elevator and she pulled the apartment door closed.

"Do what?" she asked innocently.

He stopped suddenly and she walked into him. "Look at that. I didn't break..."

"Don't be an ass, or I will break you."

He turned to look at her. "Is that a promise?"

She smiled. Maybe she had been being a tad overprotective...She kissed him, lingering almost too long. "Yes. Now we're going to be late..."

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

Steve and Kelsey were waiting when they got there. Steve was dressed in jeans and a polo shirt and he looked like a typical college kid. Kelsey looked more like Goren had pictured she should when he'd first seen her, dressed all in black with the proper jewlery in her piercings.

Steve gave Goren a hug and said, "Man, you look so much better!"

"I feel a lot better."

As Steve turned toward Alex, Goren caught Kelsey, who threw her arms around him and squeezed. He let her hold tight for as long as she wanted to while he waited for the fire in his ribs to diminish. "It's nice to see you in the light," she said as she stepped back. Her eyes shifted toward Alex. "Hi, Alex!"

"How are you, Kelsey?"

"I'm taking the bus these days."

Laughing, they headed into the restaurant.

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

After being seated and ordering their meals, they made small talk as they got comfortable with one another. The waitress brought their drinks and then their meals. Steve pushed a french fry through the ketchup on his plate. "Do you still think about it, Bobby?"

Goren didn't look up. "Yeah," he said quietly. Nightmares of increasing intensity had kept his sleep more troubled than usual.

Eames slid her hand onto his thigh and he closed his hand over it. She knew how troubled he was, and she helped to keep the nightmares at bay for at least part of the night. But not even Eames could chase them away entirely. Kelsey leaned toward Steve, resting her head against his shoulder. "Me, too," she said, her tone of voice troubling both Goren and Eames. "I can't help imagining that ceilings are falling down on my head."

Goren looked at her. "Something like this, it stays with you. There's a reason the word terror is the root of terrorism. It's why the events of 9/11 have stayed with us all this time." He felt Eames' hand tighten around his. "It's why that day in the subway will stay with us."

Another french fry trailed through the ketchup on Steve's plate. "Why do I feel so bad, you know, about not being able to save more people?"

Goren didn't answer, averting his eyes. That haunted him as well. Finally he looked up. "Steve, we did everything we could have done."

"Maybe we should have..."

"Don't do that. Don't second guess what we did. Everything we did, we did because we thought it was the best thing to do."

"But looking back..."

Eames shook her head. "Don't look back, Steve. Hindsight is always 20/20; foresight never is. You just can't predict the future. You make your decisions and then you deal with the results. You guys were in an unimaginable situation. As scared and as worried as I was, I realize it was nothing compared to how you felt."

Kelsey looked at Goren. "You weren't scared."

"I hide it well. I act first and react later. Of course by the time it was ok to react, I wasn't feeling much of anything."

"Weren't you afraid we were going to die?"

He took a drink of his beer. "Yes, I was afraid for you and Steve, and the others who were stuck down there with us. But me?" He shook his head. "I lost my fear of death a long time ago. I have...other fears to take its place."

Steve said, "You really didn't seem scared."

Eames answered, "He never does."

Goren glanced sideways at his partner. "Neither do you, Eames."

"It's that cop mindset. Never show your fear."

Kelsey thought about that. "So how do I learn not to be afraid?"

"That's not something you can learn," Eames said. "We never learn not to be afraid. We just..." She trailed off, looking for the right words.

"We master our fears," Goren filled in for her. "We never let them master us."

Steve took a drink. "Well, it worked for you, and it helped keep the rest of us from panicking."

Goren smiled. "Then I did my job." It was time to steer the conversation in another direction. "So what's going on in school, Steve?"

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

After the meal, they left the restaurant together. "We're going clubbing, if you guys want to join us," Steve invited.

Goren shook his head. "No, thanks. We really should get home."

"Um, can I ask you something, Bobby?"

"Sure."

"Are you seeing anyone about this, you know like a shrink or something?"

"No. But the department will make me before I go back on the job."

"You got an opinion? You know, like for us?"

"I won't hurt, Steve. I think it's a good idea."

He nodded, extending his hand and pulling Goren into a hug when he took it. Kelsey wrapped her arms around him again and kissed his cheek. "I am so glad you're ok."

They started to turn away but Kelsey turned back. "Bobby?"

He turned toward her. "What is it, Kelsey?"

"Are those little kids ok?"

He nodded. "They are. The state is going to give custody to Mrs. Davis, the woman who took care of them in the tunnel. The little guy eventually let go of my badge."

Steve laughed and asked, "You gonna see them?"

"Yes, after they get settled with Mrs. Davis. Maybe in a week or two. It'll do them good to see me after everything that happened."

"Yeah. You were dying the last time they saw you. They didn't handle that too well."

Kelsey grabbed Steve's hand and smiled at the two cops. "We can do this again, can't we?"

With a smile, Goren said, "Sure. Just give me a call."

Eames watched them walk off with a smile. "I must say, Kelsey is a perky one."

Goren smiled. "They're a cute couple."

As they walked toward the car, he fell silent and she left him alone with his thoughts. But once she slid behind the wheel, she turned to watch him. It took a minute for him to realize the car hadn't started, and a moment longer to notice she was looking at him. He'd been in this situation before. "What'd I do?"

"Guilty conscience?"

"No. Staring partner."

She smiled and started the engine. "You didn't do anything."

"Why were you staring at me then?"

"I just wanted your attention."

"Ok. You got it."

"Bobby, I'm sorry."

He looked puzzled and went through the events of the evening to find what it was she was apologizing for. He came up empty. "I give up. What are you sorry for?"

"For being overprotective. Why did you let me get away with it?"

"Because I understand why you were doing it. It was starting to get annoying, but...like you said, you were worried and scared, and if you didn't care it wouldn't have mattered. So I let you do what you needed to do."

"Suppose I'd felt the need to beat the crap out of you for scaring me like you did?"

He smiled. "If that's what you needed..."

"Really?"

He leaned toward her, resting his arm on the console between them. Softly he said, "I love you, and meeting your needs is part of that."

"What about your needs? I haven't exactly been giving you your space like I normally do."

"We'll get back there. You'll start letting go, once you quit being so afraid that every time I sneeze I'm going to puncture a lung." He didn't bring up his frustration that she refused to let him do anything more than sleep beside her.

She kissed him softly."I don't want to hurt you..."

He traced his fingers along her jaw. "I know. You won't."

He let his fingers continue down the side of her neck, watching her close her eyes...across her collarbone, and she swallowed hard...then she caught his hand. "We're not teenagers, and I am not going to let you do this to me in the car. Not in the middle of Times Square!"

He looked around. "We're not in the middle of Times Square..."

"Bobby!"

He laughed softly. "Ok, then," he murmured, close to her ear. "Let's go home."

She gasped softly when he nipped playfully at her earlobe. "Dammit, stop."

Reluctantly, he settled back in his seat, looking out the window and forcing his body to settle. Thank God she wasn't a slow driver...

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

He watched her try to ignore him as the elevator carried them up to his floor. Moving to stand behind her, he leaned forward, close to her ear, and whispered,"Alex..."

She jumped. She had been so focused on...other matters, she hadn't even noticed when he moved. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No." He rested a hand on her hip, drawing her back against him. "Not at all."

"We're in an elevator. Cut it out."

"Aw, come on..."

She stepped away from him when the elevator stopped and the door opened. She was already out of the car before he had time to realize she'd stepped away. "Eames..."

He hurried down the hall after her. "Come on," he said. "Wait for me...unless you plan to start without me..."

She already had the door open. "Hey..." he started as he got to the doorway.

She grabbed his tie and pulled him into the apartment, kicking the door shut as soon as he was clear. Every sign of overprotectiveness was gone, every fear and insecurity...He grunted when she knocked him down onto the couch...but nothing mattered to him...nothing but her...

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Ignore it," he whispered into her ear.

Another knock. She wasn't going to ignore it. Shit...

She pulled open the door and Mike Logan grinned at her as he moved past her into the apartment. "I know I'm a rude son of a bitch because I didn't call, so tell me something I don't know. I'm just tired of being told not to come over..." He trailed off when he noticed the frustration on her face and the anger in his. "I'm interrupting."

"Yes," he grumbled at the same time she said, "No."

"Ok, I may be rude but I'm not stupid. I'll leave if you promise to call me tomorrow so we can have lunch or something." He eyed Goren. "You owe me, remember?"

"I'll buy you lunch for a month if you get the hell out of here now," he said.

Logan laughed and Eames shoved him toward the door. He looked at her. "You're not going to hang up on me again?"

"No. Now get out."

Logan was laughing as she shut the door on him and turned back toward the couch. She smiled as she crossed the room toward him...and the phone rang. "I've got a machine," he said as she looked toward the phone.

"Deakins knows I'm here."

"Alex..." He groaned as she headed toward the phone. "Hello?"

"Detective Alex?"

"Hi, Lewis."

"Tell him I'll call him later," Goren said.

"Hey, is Bobby around?"

"He said he'll call you later."

"Oh...ok. Are you coming with him to pick up the car?"

"Is it done?"

"Yeah. I finished it the day he got hurt, but I didn't want to bother him with it."

"You working on anything good?"

"I have a sweet '65 Mustang...and a '61 Corvair."

"Ok, then...I'll be there! Tomorrow?"

"Sounds great. See you then."

She turned back to see him watching her with his arms folded over his chest. She smiled. "We're going to see Lewis tomorrow."

"Fine."

She crossed to the couch and dropped down beside him. "I can call Mike back if you want."

"No. I just want you to quit answering the damn door and the phone."

She laughed and slid her arms around his neck. He pulled her close. "We'd have had fewer interruptions over at Times Square."

"Yeah, but Deakins isn't going to hear about anything that happens here."

"Hmmm. What happens at home..."

"..stays at home," she concluded.

Laughing he turned into her and lowered her back onto the couch.