A/N: Okay, back to this one. I'm kind of working on both this one and Defining Moments at the same time so forgive me if this one takes longer to complete.

An Unbreakable Bond - Chapter 2

Half an hour later, Bobby and Alex were seated at one of their favorite Italian restaurants, drinking wine and waiting for their food.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Bobby stated again. "I just couldn't take pity from Ross."

"I know Ross is brash and a lot more intense than Deakins but he's basically a good guy. You two just seem to rub each other the wrong way."

Nodding at his partner, Bobby stared out the window at the people passing by on the street. "I'm just tired of not being trusted by him. What the hell do I have do to prove to him I'm capable of doing my job?"

"He knows you are more than capable of doing your job, Bobby. He refers to you as his 'best detective.' I doubt he'd do that if he didn't think it was true." Alex looked at Bobby, hoping he was listening. He had that expression on his face that told her he was someplace other than in that restaurant with her right at that moment.

With a sigh, Bobby turned his head to look at her. Alex Eames. The woman who put up with him for the last six years. He knew if it weren't for her, he would be on suspension right now. Knowing his short history with Ross so far, he probably would have been out of a job.

"So, where did you go?" Alex asked, taking a sip of wine as he once again returned her gaze. Since his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, Bobby had been lost in his own thoughts a lot more than usual. It worried Alex to see him like this and it made her feel quite helpless.

"Sorry, I...I was just wondering how long I'd have been suspended or...or if I'd even...have a job if you weren't there," Bobby replied honestly.

Alex smiled, "You'd probably have a job but you might not have been allowed to do it for a few weeks."

Bobby shook his head, "No, its...not just tonight. Ross just seems to hate me. I think the only reason he puts up with me is because...because you keep stepping in on my behalf."

"Ross doesn't understand you yet. Deakins took a while, too. Even then you'd sometimes come up with things that would cause the man a major migraine," Alex chuckled, recalling some of Bobby's stunts that caused Deakins to plead with Alex to tell him that Bobby hadn't really done what it was reported that he had.

"Yea, but he didn't seem to hang over my shoulder like he didn't trust me to do my job," Bobby sighed. He really missed his old Captain.

"That's just the way Ross is with everyone. You just make him nervous because he you're unpredictable. He's a control freak, Bobby. You're not fond of being controlled. It's not a good mix but I think he does respect your abilities as a detective," Alex said thoughtfully. "And he also admires your dedication to your family. Family seems to be very important to him," Alex added as she recalled his mentioning having Thanksgiving with his sons and his ex and her new husband or boyfriend or whatever he was.

"Well, I'll give him that much, he's trying to be a good father at least," Bobby said softly, recalling his own mostly absent father who pretty much deserted the family when Bobby was only eleven.

Alex smiled, "I'm sure you two will learn to get along better. You better or else I'll have to kill you both because being stuck in the middle of two bull-headed, know-it-alls will make me go postal eventually."

For the first time that evening, Bobby laughed.

Their food arrived and they ate in companionable silence for the most part, punctuated with occasional talk about the case they just closed and everything except Bobby's mother and his brother Frank.

Alex kept her eye on Bobby, watching to see if he was really relaxed or if he was just trying to convince her so she would stop worrying. For the most part he seemed relaxed. He smiled and he joked with her but Alex could tell by the way he held his shoulders that he was still tense and she could sense that he was still shaken to the core ever since they got the word that there was a body in the morgue with Bobby's card in his coat pocket. Alex worried more about Bobby than he would ever know.

Frank Goren was nothing more than a name to her for years. She hadn't even learned his name until the Garret case when Judge Garrett decided to try and go after the reputations of the detectives who had built a murder case against him. It was in that file he had on Bobby. She had glimpsed the names of his father, mother and brother.

Bobby rarely talked about his family except in passing. All she knew about Frank Goren was that he was Bobby's older brother, he once almost took Bobby's eye out with a toy when they were kids, he had a gambling and a drug or alcohol problem - she wasn't sure which, he hated it when their mother made him take Bobby along with him when he went to play with his friends and now she knew he was homeless and out of touch with both Bobby and their mother. She also knew he apparently was an ingrate who had sold the coat Bobby had given him off his back for money to do who knows what with and he didn't even care enough to keep Bobby's card so he could keep in touch with him.

The more she knew about Frank Goren, the more she decided she didn't like him. Watching Bobby give him that coat just made her want to run out there and hug him. It was heartbreaking to see how guilty he felt about finding his brother standing in that line at the church with the other vagrants waiting for a handout. At that time she felt sympathy for Frank as well. She had no idea what had happened to him but she thought it was a miracle, coming from the background they did, that Bobby hadn't turned out that way as well.

Now, however, she felt nothing but contempt for Frank. His thoughtless actions had apparently put a knife in Bobby's heart and this was something that he just didn't need in his life. He had no control over his mother's illness. Bobby had told Alex about his discussion with her doctor. Yet another piece of Bobby's heart was being torn apart. Alex was afraid he wouldn't survive his family at this rate.

Towards the end of their meal Bobby was staring out the window once again. Alex was having a cup of coffee to help her stay awake on the drive home later. She wondered if he was thinking of his mother or his brother. Probably both.

Watching people walking past the window, Bobby wondered where Frank really was at that moment. Was he lying dead in some alley? Was he using the money he got from selling Bobby's coat to get food or was he out gambling with it? Perhaps he fell off the wagon again.

As he looked away from the window at his partner, he sighed. She was watching him in that way she had that made it look like she wasn't. "Sorry," he apologized, "I guess I'm just not great company tonight."

Alex smiled, "You're fine. Sometimes talking is highly over rated."

Once again, Bobby found himself smiling, despite himself. Alex had a way of doing that to him. Whether through some smart aleck comment, standing up for him when no one else would or just by being beautiful, Alex Eames provided more comfort to Bobby than she would ever know.

"I just can't stop worrying about my brother. I don't know...one minute I'm...I want to see him again so I can help him and...and the next I'm just...I find myself thoroughly disgusted by him..." Bobby's voice faded as he once again gazed out the window. "Then...then I feel guilty."

"You have nothing to feel guilty about! Your brother..." Alex paused to find a tactful way to express her thoughts of Frank Goren to his brother. "He...he doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself, Bobby. You can't force him to..."

"I could have tried harder to...to keep in touch. I didn't have to write him off...to tell him...tell him he's no better than...than our father," Bobby stared out the window, avoiding Alex's gaze.

It was all Alex could do to not cry. After taking a deep breath and digging the nails of her left hand into her palm to keep herself under control she spoke softly, "From what I've seen, maybe you're right."

Feeling the sting of tears in his eyes, Bobby rubbed his face with his hands and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "He wasn't...Frank...he wasn't always like...like this. It's just...it was too much...mom...both of our parents..." Bobby found his voice failing him as the lump returned to his throat and he could feel his dinner sitting like a stone in his stomach.

"You're right, I don't suppose it was any easier for your brother than it was for you," Alex jumped in as she noticed his discomfort. "But you...you managed to over come all of it and no matter how much they hurt you..." Bobby looked up at her, his eyes, even darker than they normally were, glistened with the tears he could no longer hold back.

Alex looked down at her coffee cup as she continued, "I'm just afraid your family...they're slowly killing you, Bobby and if it hurts me to see it, I can't imagine what it's like..."

Bobby reached out and grabbed Alex's hand tightly. It surprised her. As close as they were, rarely did they touch each other unless they were undercover as husband and wife. Now here he was holding onto her as if he were a drowning man holding onto a life line.

"Don't," he said simply. "I...I appreciate what...what you're saying but...just...I can't...deal with this right now...I'm...sorry."

"It's okay, I'm sorry if I stepped over one of our boundaries but I'm scared for you, Bobby," Alex confessed, still staring intently at her cup of coffee. "It's selfish but I don't know what I'd do if..."

"Can we have this conversation somewhere else, please," Bobby asked, releasing her hand and motioning to their waiter so he could pay their bill and they could leave. He got her attention and held her gaze as she nodded, feeling slightly nervous at the direction she had suddenly sent this discussion.

Bobby was feeling very self-conscious at the moment. He wasn't sure why but he felt that the conversation was heading in a direction that would best be had in private, not in a public restaurant for any passer by to see or overhear.

After paying for their dinner, Bobby followed Alex out of the restaurant. He lived just two blocks away and Alex had parked at his building. They walked in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts, their hands in the pockets of their coats and staring straight ahead.

tbc...