Chapter 7 – Gamesmanship

Like father, like daughter.

The litany kept replaying in her mind in time with the windshield wipers.

Like father, like daughter.

Alex wondered how long until someone actually said it. Then she wondered, if she overheard them, how long it would take her to have them on the ground eating their words.

It was a gray, rainy morning following a mostly sleepless night for Alex. They had finally stopped for something to eat – enjoying their meal in comfortable silence. It had been almost midnight when she dropped Bobby in front of his apartment building, with both of them promising to get an early start this morning. Alex was at least an hour ahead of usual, but she wasn't really surprised to see that Bobby was already sitting at his desk, chin propped on his hand reading through a file.

"Hey," Alex dropped her jacket and coffee on her desk and walked around to his side.

"Hey."

"We get the Foster files back?" she asked as she rested her hip against the edge of his desk.

"Not yet."

"ME's report on Timmons?"

"Not yet."

"Photo analysis?"

"Not yet," they said in unison. Bobby smiled up at her.

"So, what are you reading?"

"Bishop's personnel file."

"Oh." Alex walked back around to her side of the desks and sat down with her coffee. "How early did you have to call Deakins for that authorization?"

"Last night, when I got home," he answered without looking up.

"Better you than me."

'This proves Bishop's involved.' She again heard Bobby's words, but still couldn't quite believe it. The timing just seemed all wrong. If she held a grudge against

Alex, why would it take so long for her to do something about it? And why would Nicole Wallace be involved in all this?

'It explains how Nicole knew about your relationship with Mark Foster, and the details of his lifestyle.' Bobby was so far down this path, Alex thought it would take a Mack truck to stop him – and even that would probably get one hell of a fight.

"I have a present for you," his voice sounded teasing. This can't be good, she thought as he handed her a piece of paper. Bishop's computer IDs and passwords.

"Gee, thanks," she took the sheet from him, "just what I've always wanted."

The next half hour was spent with him looking through the paper files while Alex checked out Bishop's computer activity. She thought that maybe he'd wound up with the easier task.

Every couple of minutes, he would look up at her from the files in front of him, checking on her – like she was made of glass. And I swear, if he does it one more time …

There it was. Alex closed her laptop and glared at Bobby.

"Those photos are fake, Eames. You know it and I know it," he said gently, obviously misinterpreting her frustration.

"Let's just hope IAB knows it," she answered, feeling more than a little guilty. How could she be annoyed with him when he was so clearly worried about her?

Bobby gave her an encouraging smile. "CSU has their best tech working on them."

She nodded, pulled the laptop back in front of her and fought against the lump in her throat. Now is not the time to get all emotional!

Alex had gotten through all of Bishop's e-mail activity while she was with MCS. The woman was fanatic about saving a copy of every little message she sent. Bored with the e-mail, Alex flipped over to other computer activity – promising herself she'd go back to the e-mail when she had more energy for it.

Scrolling through the list of case files Bishop had researched, a name immediately jumped out at Alex – Croyden. Oh my god! What the hell was she doing accessing Croyden's file?

"Bobby," her excitement immediately caught his attention. "I found something."

He got up, snagged the chair from the desk next to Alex and rolled up beside her. When he saw what she was pointing at, Bobby reached around her back to grab the mouse and began clicking and opening files – searching for Bishop's activity.

"Why would she be accessing Croyden's file?" she asked, trying to ignore the fact that his arm was wrapped around her.

"The case came up … during one of our investigations. My … predilection toward blaming deadbeat fathers …" Bobby answered her almost absently as he scanned through the files that Bishop had accessed. "Look at the … the timing of her interest. She didn't look at these files until almost two months after she heard of Croyden."

"That date's just one week after I came back from maternity leave."

"And just one week after she learned she wouldn't get her transfer. This … this is how she hooked up with Nicole."

"Bobby, this can't just be about a job," Alex leaned against the back of her chair and turned toward him.

He let go of the mouse and brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "I don't think that it is," he muttered. Draping his arm across the back of her chair, Bobby looked at her and Alex could see in his eyes that he was wrestling with a decision. She waited. Pushing him for an answer usually had the opposite effect.

"Bishop and I had our … challenges."

Something about this sounded ominous and Alex suddenly wondered if she really wanted to hear about it. "What happened?"

"She made a comment once … a-about how she thought you might not want to come back from maternity leave. Even though you were a .. a surrogate … she thought you should transfer to a … safer desk job," he paused. "That was one thing."

"And? The other 'thing'?"

Bobby was watching her intently. "I invited her to dinner her last day here."

Alex's breath caught. Dinner was no big deal, but the fact he'd never told her about it was. Her heart sank as she realized there was probably a good reason. "And turned on the Goren charm," she said with more sarcasm than she intended.

"I didn't try to flirt with her … I never intended to sleep with her …"

"But you did?" Alex's voice rose in shock.

"No! God, Eames … give me some credit," Bobby's eyes looked around the squad room, trying to see if anyone overheard her outburst.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself before speaking again. "Sorry. So, what did happen?"

"I was in a good mood … you were coming back on Monday. We had a nice dinner. I got to know more about her in that one night than probably the entire three months she worked with me." Bobby paused, as if considering his choice of words. "After dinner, I hailed her a cab … and then it got weird."

"Weird?"

"She … um … kissed me." He must have seen something in her reaction, because Bobby leaned in closer and his voice was more determined as he quickly continued. "I thought it would be a friendly, good-bye kind of thing … but she … turned it into ... into something more."

His eyes studied her, and Alex struggled to just listen to what he had to say without letting emotions interpret for her.

"I, uh … responded at first. I …" Bobby really looked uncomfortable. Good. "I won't make any excuses, but … when she invited me back to her place, I knew the whole thing was a mistake. I told her no – several times. Finally she got angry and … and said things about you. You and me. Eames, the whole thing caught me off guard. And because I made matters worse, I really didn't know what to say. She finally got in the cab … and that was it. I never saw her again."

Alex cleared her throat, mainly to make sure she was still capable of speech. "So … let me get this straight," her voice wavered and she stopped for a moment to gain control. "She wanted you, you didn't want her."

He nodded.

"And she thinks I'm the barrier to this?"

Bobby could wear the best poker face she'd ever seen – but not with her. His eyes revealed so many emotions, and she once again caught a glimpse of the pain he'd tried so hard to overcome. "Alex …"

She held up her hand to stop him. "I know," she whispered. Alex desperately wanted to rest her hand against his cheek … tell him she understood and felt the pain as deeply as he.

Instead, she took her fallback position of sarcasm. "Perceptive little bitch, isn't she?" she said quietly.

"She wants you out of the picture …"

"And Nicole wants revenge on you," Alex shook her head in disbelief. "A match made in heaven."

"We need to find them."

TBC …