She's Gone

Disclaimer: See previous

The storm started late that night. Carolyn woke up to the rain pounding on the windows. She was still in her clothes. She sat up, realizing she was alone and that she also hadn't had a dream. Well, after the day they'd all had she was grateful for that. The thunder boomed overhead, making the windows rattle. Her breath caught in her throat, scaring her. It'd been ages since thunder scared her. The door to the bedroom opened, scaring her again. Bobby. He walked in wearing a robe and some sweat pants. He took off his robe and got back in next to her.

"Are you all right?" Bobby murmured.

"It just scared me. I didn't know it was supposed to storm tonight."

"Neither did I." She slid back down under the covers. Bobby put his arm around her. "Do you want some pajamas? I have sweats and stuff."

"That would be good." They both got out of bed. Bobby moved to his dresser and pulled out another pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He turned away while she changed into them. Wordlessly, they crawled back into bed, holding each other as the storm raged outside.

"Carolyn?" Bobby said after a while.

"Bobby?" Carolyn whispered back.

"You're still awake." He moved his hand up into her hair. She found his lips again.

"Why are we doing this?" Carolyn asked as she moved in for another kiss.

"You know why." He held her face in both of his hands. She started to cry again; she did know why. It wasn't right. It was the furthest thing from it. But it felt good. It felt good to be held, felt good to be needed. It felt good just to give a tiny bit of comfort to some body. She rolled on top of him and opened her eyes to look into his. He looked absolutely miserable. She told him as much. "So do you." The lightning illuminated them for a minute.

"I miss her Bobby." He put his arms around her.

"I do too," he replied hoarsely. They kissed and listened to the storm before Carolyn nodded off. He gently rolled her back off of him and held her. He cried to himself silently.

Mike's Apartment…

Mike sat awake, listening to the storm die down and Lynn's breathing beside him. He tried counting how long in between the lightning and the thunder, but it wasn't working. He kept thinking of Lynn. She was different. He didn't know why, he just knew. But he wasn't going to say anything just yet. Play it cool. Mike nodded to himself in bed.

"At whom are you nodding?" Lynn propped herself up to look at him. Mike looked at her suddenly, a grin on his face.

"At whom am I nodding? Who says that?"

"Well, clearly I do. It's grammatically correct." Lynn poked him in the side.

"You just woke up. And don't poke me or you're going to get it." Lynn poked him. "That's it!" Mike flipped her over and started tickling her.

"Mike, stop!" She was laughing and slapping at his back. "Mike-" There was a loud pounding at the door. They both stopped and sat up straight. It came again. "That's not thunder. Who the hell is that?"

"I don't know. You stay here." Mike grabbed his piece off his dresser and walked out into the kitchen. Lynn rolled her eyes at him and followed him out. Her piece was in the kitchen. She grabbed it and held it at the door. Mike shook his head at her. "Who is it?" Mike called out to whomever it was pounding on his door at five in the morning.

"It's Jimmy." Lynn and Mike stared at each other in shock. "I know Bishop's in there, just let me in." He sounded more tired than angry. Mike opened the door. Their captain stood before them, soaked and exhausted.

"Jimmy, did you walk here? What the hell happened?" Mike brought him into the living room. In the light, Mike could see a cut on Jimmy's temple.

"Well, I went out with a few buddies of mine. Well, I thought they were buddies of mine. We knocked a few back, and then some one said something about female detectives. And I said what about them." Lynn brought Jimmy a cup of coffee and a blanket from Mike's bed. He regarded her for a moment then thanked her. He looked back at Mike. "I don't know what's going on here, but you keep it quieter than quiet, silent as a tomb. And I never saw this." Lynn blushed; Mike smirked.

"Gotcha. So what happened?"

"Well, Ted says that female detectives are unreliable. And I said wait a minute, that's not true. I have quiet a few female detectives and three of them are among my best detectives over-all. So," Jimmy laughed evilly, "Neil says, don't you mean two of them? And I said no three of them. Ted reminds me that no, I'm actually down to two because Alex got killed and that's what she gets for being a female in a male job." Jimmy took a sip of his coffee. Mike and Lynn looked at him, eyes bugged out, mouths hanging open. "I told him, if her father ever heard him say that he'd have his ass. He just laughed. I hauled off and hit him. Right in the eye." Jimmy took another sip of his coffee. "Speaking of eyes, you never did tell me what happened to yours, Logan."

Mike absent-mindedly fingered his eyebrow. "Carolyn hauled off and hit me."

Jimmy grinned. "You insinuated something was going on between her and Bobby?"

Lynn snorted. "That's exactly what happened. After he gave me a whole to-do about not saying anything."

Jimmy laughed. "Well I'm going to get going. Angie's not going to be to thrilled with me." Lynn took his coffee cup from him and he stood to fold up the blanket.

Mike took it out of his hands. "I've got that. Just get home safe." He shook Jimmy's hand.

"I never saw this." He nodded in Lynn's direction. "Goodnight, Lynn," he called out to her. And with that, Jimmy Deakins stepped back out into the early morning.

Saturday Morning…

Carolyn awoke to the smell of pancakes wafting in through Bobby's open bedroom door. She got out of bed and followed her nose. Her stomach was growling. Bobby was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes. He turned to her. "Good morning." He went back to his task.

"Need any help?" She sat down at the table as he put a plate in front of her. Blueberry pancakes no less. She smiled and poured some syrup over them. "I guess not, huh?"

Bobby sat down with his own plate. "I guess not." He couldn't look her in the eye. Oh great. This was going to be awkward, Carolyn thought. "Do you want some coffee?" He stood up to get her a cup before she could respond.

"Bobby, last night-" He placed her cup down in front of her, interrupting her.

"We, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." He sat back down.

"It's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault. It just happened." She looked at him closely.

"Well, it won't happen again. I'm sorry." He still couldn't look at her.

"I understand that, but it's going to be hard to stay friends if you can't look me in the eye." She poked him with her fork. "Look at me Bobby." He looked up. He looked like he was going to cry again. "What happened happened. We can't change that. I love you. You're my friend. You were my best friend's fiancé. You have that wonderful baby girl and I love her like she was my own. I don't want to lose either of you just because we got too needy to think straight." Carolyn felt the tears trickle down her face.

Bobby reached over to hug her. "I couldn't lose you either." Man of little words he is, Carolyn thought as she hugged him back. "You've been such a help and such a good friend. And Nan adores you. I couldn't stand it if she didn't have you." He smiled at her. "I really am sorry."

"I'm sorry too. Now, your pancakes are getting cold." Carolyn brushed her tears away and smiled at him.

Mike's Apartment. Yes, Again…

Mike woke up on the couch. How did I get here? Mike saw a note on his coffee table. He picked it up and read it.

Mike,

I had to stop home. There's coffee. Call me later if you want.

Later,

Lynn.

Mike looked closer at the letter. Originally she had written love, Lynn. She wrote over it to make it look like later, Lynn. He smiled at the letter. If that hadn't freaked him out, he was gone. He leaned over to get his phone to call her.

Lynn's Apartment…

She put the TV on mute as her answering machine clicked on. Mike. She turned the volume back up, returning her attention to her "Arrested Development" marathon she had going. She nestled back into her couch with her guilty pleasures, a chocolate milkshake and Cheetos. How could she have been so careless as to write love? Love! I'm an idiot, she thought as Gob accidentally drugged himself with chloroform. He was a sweet guy, but did she really love him? She cared for him. Lynn's thoughts ran rampant in her head. This was ridiculous. She sucked the remains of her milkshake and got up to throw out the cup. Screw this, she thought. I'm going for a run. She changed into a pair of yoga pants and ran out. She ran, not thinking anything as she passed people walking their dogs, carting around shopping bags and tending to their children in their strollers. She ran and ran and then ran smack into something solid. Everything went black.

Carolyn's Apartment…

Carolyn had stopped at home to take a shower and change clothes. She had just stepped out of the shower when her cell phone rang. "Barek? Yes, I know her. I'll be right there." Carolyn got dressed quick and ran into her living room where Bobby sat reading one of her magazines. "Hey, we have to go to the hospital. Something happened to Lynn."

A/N- Well I think that worked out rather well. And does anybody else think it's an absolute crime that "Arrested Development" isn't on the air anymore? Well, R&R and enjoy. :)