Brother's Keeper:

By: The Confused One

A/N: I think I spent more time on this chapter, than most of the rest combined. For some reason, it didn't seem to want to come out right, and I kept picking at it. I tweaked for hours. Anyway, what I mean to say is please enjoy and remember to review. Thanks.

Pulling up to Bobby's apartment building, Alex immediately noticed his car. It hadn't been moved from the night before. She fought back the sense of foreboding that clung to her. He had to be OK. She tried to tell herself that she'd get to hit him for scaring her.

Walking off the elevator, she drew her gun. His door was open. She refused to let herself think about the worst. Standing beside the door, she called Bobby's name. Getting no answer she walked inside where she gasped and froze. For a moment she felt her world stop. Then she saw it. Underneath all the glass, blood, and bruises, Bobby breathed. He was unconscious, but breathing.

Dropping to his side, Alex called for help and put her gun aside. All police training and logical thought to check the rest of the apartment was gone. She could only think about Bobby. Choking back tears, she ran her hand through his hair. She refused to cry though. She had to be strong. She had to focus. Scrambling to her feet, she was shaking as she grabbed a towel from his kitchen. Getting it damp, she hurried back to him. Trying to look him over, she cut herself on the shards of glass, but she hardly felt the cuts, and she ignored the blood. Removing the largest pieces of glass, she managed to clean him up some. She knew that was important. She could see where the real bleeding was. As she worked, she tried to speak to him, "Oh God, Bobby. Come on, open your eyes. Please… Please wake up. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave, so you don't leave, please. God, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left last night. I'm… sorry. You shouldn't have been alone. I need you. I can't lose you. Just hold on. Please, hold on. Please…don't leave me. God, I hope you can hear me. Bobby, nothing that's happened was your fault. What happened to Shane was not your fault. You have to know that."

Hearing the sirens of the ambulance and cops, Alex wiped away the couple of tears that had rebelliously managed to escape. She wouldn't let them see her weakness. She had to be strong. She whispered to Bobby, "You have to be OK. Please fight and stay with me."

Within moments uniformed cops and paramedics swarmed the room and pushed her out of the way. She still refused to cry. There would be time enough later. There was still too much to be done. She couldn't fall apart. Finding the detectives, she introduced herself and showed them her badge. She got down to business. She wasn't about to waste anymore time. She wanted this guy. "He's my partner, Bobby Goren. You two are looking for a guy named Kane."

Confused, the younger of the two male detectives, Dillan Mullen, asked, "Who?"

Taking a deep breath, Alex explained, "Bobby's older brother is a gambler. He got in over his head. Idiot told the collector, Kane, that Bobby had the money. Kane did this, and when you find him, I want a piece of him. I want at him."

Eyeing her carefully, Dillan asked, "You're sure?"

Alex arched her eyebrows. She insisted, "Yes, I'm sure. I know my partner, Detective."

Dillan's older partner, Ken Harrison, stepped in now, "We're not trying to accuse anyone of anything here, Detective. We're just trying to get to the bottom of this, for your partner. What's this Kane's first name?"

Alex closed her eyes for a moment. She watched as the paramedics loaded Bobby onto the gurney. Looking at Ken, so she could focus again, she explained, "I don't know, but David should. He's in the North Central Bronx Hospital. He nearly got stabbed to death by the guy last night, but there was more than one perp here. Bobby's a big guy, and it would take more than one guy to subdue him."

Ken continued the questions, "What happened last night?"

With a sigh, Alex explained, "Bobby and David had a fight yesterday. David wanted Bobby to give him sixty grand. He never told either of us that Kane knew where he was getting the money. I went to see him last night to talk about…that. I found him. Kerrigan and Davis from the 4-9 caught the case. Surely they've talked to David by now. He was awake when I saw him this morning. I needed to talk to Bobby. I assumed that's where he'd be. When he wasn't there, David told me everything. Bobby didn't answer his phone, so I came to check on him."

Curious but cautious, Dillan asked, "And you found him like that?"

Alex arched her eyebrows. She didn't like the insinuation, and said so. "I sure as hell didn't do this, if that's what you're asking."

Ken tried to defuse the tension again. Eames was twisting Dillan's words, and to make things worse, for some reason, he got the feeling his partner didn't like Detective Eames. "I'm sorry. We're not trying to accuse you of anything. We just need to know what happened."

Seeing them start to leave with Bobby, Alex hurriedly pulled out her business card and shoved it at Ken, who hesitantly took it. She quickly explained, "I've been through hell and back with him. We've been partners for over five years. I would never hurt him. Talk to his damn brother, room 415 at North Central. Talk to Kerrigan and Davis. If you have any other questions or you find the son of a bitch, call me."

Ken sighed as he watched Alex grab her gun again and take off after the paramedics. He looked over at Dillan now, who had moved over to the phone. He argued, "What was that?"

Dillan shrugged. He explained, "I don't know. Something feels wrong about her. There's more going on."

Ken shook his head. He reminded Dillan, "She's a major case detective, Mullen. Her partner just almost got beat to death. Give the woman a break."

Dillan waved him off. Hitting the button on the answering machine, he replied, "Yeah. Yeah."

Ken arched his eyebrows as he listened to the message from Alex. He met Dillan's eyes and argued, "We don't know what that means yet."

Dillan shook his head. He insisted, "Well, we need to know. He was avoiding her?"

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Pacing the hotel room, Joey pointed Bobby's gun at Chris again. He raged, "If that cop dies, I will kill you! You stupid idiot! We need that money!"

Chris, equally angry, argued, "It's no great loss if the asshole dies. We called remember. His brother is still alive. He'll inherit the money the damn money, and he'll give it to us. David can be persuaded."

John shook his head. He yelled, "That's not the fucking point, Chris. We were trying to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. He's a cop! He has a partner. Now cops are going to be everywhere and are going to start asking questions."

Chris fumed, "What was I supposed to do? He was going to grab the gun."

After a moment, John suggested, "I still think we should have answered his phone."

With a nod, Chris agreed, "We would have gotten her name."

Exasperated, Joey had had enough of both of them. He angrily interrupted, "Shut up, both of you. We already know her name. It's Eames. The name on the cell phone was definitely the same woman who left the message. When I stuck David last night, she identified herself. He's trying to protect her, and I wanted him to think it was working. I think she's his weak link. I have a couple of calls to make to find out more about her."

Chris shrugged. He sarcastically offered, "Like her first name?"

Joey rolled his eyes. He replied, "Yeah. That and who she really is to him. He didn't want to tell us."

John sighed. He jumped in, "You two are forgetting something. He has to live before we can use anything against him."

Being reminded left Joey fuming again. Pointing his finger at Chris, Joey warned, "I don't care if you like him or not, you better start praying he makes it. Get out, both of you. Go back to your rooms and wait to hear from me. I have to make those calls."

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Alex stared at the wall, terrified. She hadn't gotten any news on Bobby since he had been brought in. She was beginning to feel a little sick, from the lack of information and anything to do. She hated feeling helpless. She hated being in the dark even more. And she was overwhelmed with haunting memories of waiting on news from Shane. Taking ragged breaths, she wasn't sure she could handle losing another man she loved. She was surprised and stiffened when a hand squeezed her shoulder. Looking up, she met Deakins eyes and relaxed. Frustrated with everything, she admitted, "They haven't told me anything."

With a slight nod, Deakins bent down in front of her. After a moment, he gently asked, "Do you want to tell me what's been going on?"

Alex was about to start explaining when Mike and Carolyn walked in. Approaching them, Mike asked, "What happened?"

Carolyn glared at her partner, Mike. Sitting down beside of Alex, she asked, "Any news?"

Alex took a shaky breath and reiterated, "No. They won't tell me anything. They were worried about his blood loss in the ambulance. They were afraid there was internal bleeding, just to make things worse, from all the glass. They weren't even sure if the glass had punctured any vital organs."

Putting her hands on Alex's knees, Carolyn assured her, "He'll be OK."

Shaking again, Alex wasn't sure how much longer she could hold herself together. She felt like she was about to fall apart. The last few days had put her through the wringer, and now she was reaching her tipping point. She couldn't handle anything else. Meeting Carolyn's eyes, she whispered, "He looked so pale, and his breathing…became so shallow. I can't lose him."

Mike sat down on the other side of her. He took her bloody hand and tried to reassure her too, "Carolyn is right. He has to be OK. Keep believing that."

With that, Alex finally let go. She knew better. There were no guarantees. Pulling her hand away from Mike, Alex put her face in her hands and started to sob. Deakins leaned forward and held her.