A/N - I have an arsenal, hehe. For some reason that just made me laugh but that's what I'm calling it from now on.

Here's chapter 3.

Flesh and Blood

Pacing.

More pacing.

That was all she could do. The anger within wouldn't let her sit, it wouldn't let her speak, it wouldn't let her relax and it wouldn't even let her eat or drink anything. Alex was seeing red. Her hands clenched into fists as she tried desperately to control the rage that was burning within her soul. Her energy levels must have been in hyperdrive because she couldn't stop pacing. Her mind was racing and her heartbeat wasn't even at a steady, regular pulse.

It didn't bother her that they'd wanted to investigate further, what bothered her was that not only had she been suspended but they refused to allow her to make any kind of contact with anyone at Major Case and the frustrating part was that Mike was apart of that. It made her want to hysterically begin laughing until she felt herself run out of the energy, but she couldn't even do that. Without thinking, she grabbed her glass on the coffee table and threw it towards the nearest wall.

The glass shattering into too many pieces to be ever put back together. She looked at it and suddenly wondered what the hell she was doing. Why was she doing that? Throwing objects wouldn't help, it'd only mean she'd have to replace them later. Looking around the empty room she suddenly came to a decision and it didn't involve staying here.

She moved with haste, grabbing her coat and car keys, leaving the house and the broken glass.

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Mike Logan was also pacing, except for he wasn't at home; he was outside 1PP. He was once again finding another reason to hate the IAB, and this time there was no sense in their decision whatsoever. He coudn't understand the benefit of keeping her out of contact with any of her work colleagues, but then he figured the IAB just liked to punish people and this was a new way they'd come up with to do so.

He was also worried about Alex, he knew what it was like to be in trouble, to be suspended and not know what's going to happen to your career and have everything put on hold whilst rich people in suits made a decision that could make or break your life. He was all too aware of the fact that it can sometimes make you believe that you really did deserve it and considering her feelings of guilt that she already harboured, this wasn't going to be helpful.

The difference between him and Alex was that she really didn't do anything wrong, as far as she was concerned at the time she was stopping a man from killing an innocent woman. She had been doing her job.

He had to find a way to find out if she was okay without getting her into anymore trouble.

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"So, let's get this straight." John Eames, Alex's father, said whilst he, Alex and his eldest daughter, Katie, sat in the living room of his home after Alex had suddenly turned up needing a hell of a lot of calming down. "They've suspended you whilst they investigate and you're not allowed to contact anyone?" Alex nodded, gripping the cup of tea that her sister had made as if it were a lifeline.

"So by contact they mean...?" Katie asked, unsure, she wasn't a cop and despite the fact she'd grown up around them she never paid attention to anything they said.

"They mean phones, talking, seeing, any kind of contact." Alex replied, "I was almost certain they were going to pull out a restraining order." her tone of voice dry as the sarcasm just fell from her lips.

"Okay, well, honey you've just got to play it their way, stay here. You'll get your badge back." Her father tried to comfort her. Alex sighed, putting the cup down, putting her face into her hands as she tried to calm herself. Katie and John were sitting either side of her, Katie put her arm around Alex's shoulders and John put a hand on her arm, both wanting to comfort her knowing she'd never respond to words.

A thought suddenly hit Katie and she looked at her sister with concern, John noticed and he mouthed 'what?'. Katie shook her head and then said, "Alex, is Mike included in that?" Alex nodded, not moving her hands, not saying anything. That hadn't even occured to John but he realised that that would make her feel worse. "Well, I'll bet he's kicking up a real storm now huh?" Katie said, her words intended as humor and it did the trick because Alex laughed a little. Especially when she imagined what he was doing. "And Bobby too!" John shook his head, with a small laugh, at Katie's attempt at cheering her sister up. Katie had always been the one who was a good judge of character and her main impression of Mike was that if anything didn't quite go right, he'd try to sort it out or get angry about it if he couldn't. Although she knew Bobby was softer than that, she did think that if the right buttons were pushed he'd do the same.

"You are staying here, aren't you?" John asked, really hoping she was staying. He didn't want her going home to be alone at a time like this.

Alex nodded, "Yeah."

"Well good because I was planning on making chocolate cake and trifle. You can help me." Katie told her with determination. "That way we can make a mess and Dad can clean it up!" Katie grinned at her father who rolled his eyes at the very thought of being, once again, forced to clean up after their mess.

So that's what they did, although Alex wasn't very talkative throughout the whole time whilst they were making them, Katie did have fun and Alex at least seemed to be okay, and no where near as upset as she had been when she'd turned up at the house looking ready to punch the living daylights out of anyone who even stepped forward to challenge her. Whilst they had been doing that Steve, her brother, had come over to visit and once he'd been informed about what had happened he'd blown up about it. He then disappeared, which confused them all, but considering it was Steve it was hardly a big thing. Steve was a man who was in his own world.

Later in the evening Alex, Katie and John were in the living room when the doorbell rang making Katie jump a little out of her skin. John stood up and left the two of them watching TV whilst he went to answer the door. Katie and Alex paid attention, however, when her father walked in carrying the biggest bouquet of flowers either had seen. "Alex, these are for you." he told her and placed them at her feet. The flowers were already in a vase and whoever sent them must have spent some serious money on them. Katie looked at Alex, matching puzzled expressions.

"Who'd be sending you flowers? Here?" Katie asked, confused. Alex shrugged and bent down, spotting the card, picking it out and reading it to herself.

"Thinking of you. I shouldn't have answered that call this morning." were the words printed on the card.

They watched with concern as Alex's puzzled expression turned into a smile and then it dropped and it was replaced with sadness. "What is it, honey?"

Alex looked at her, feeling a little lightheaded, "They're from Mike." her voice was almost a whisper.

"Mike?" Her father asked, incredulously. "How does he know you're here?" Alex passed the card over to her sister to let her read but she looked at her father and shrugged.

"I don't know."

"It doesn't say his name." Katie said, after a moment of reading. "How do you know they're from him?" she frowned in confusion.

Alex took the card off her and shrugged again, "I just do." she put the card back into the flowers and grabbed them, standing up, she walked out of the room and headed upstairs to be alone for a while.

"How did he know she was here?" Katie asked her father, not able to put her mind around it. Alex had been suspended long before she'd turned up their house, there was no way Mike could've known where she was.

"Well he's a smart guy I'm sure he would've... Steve!" John sat up straight and looked at Katie with that look he used to have on his face when one of his children had done something wrong and she'd seen that look often because he'd had six children. Katie looked puzzled at him, hoping he'd explain. "Steve was here earlier." she nodded, she already knew that, "And I caught him looking through Alex's cell." Katie was surprised by that; Steve had never been a snoop. "Then he just left."

"So?" Katie asked, the train of thought moving far too fast for her to jump onboard.

"So... Steve must've taken Mike's number from her phone and called him." John connected the dots for her but Katie wasn't convinced.

"Dad, that's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Well, what else would he have been doing?" John asked, trying to reason with her.

"Reading her messages?" Katie offered, knowing immediately that that was a stupid idea. John shook his head and Katie nodded, defeated, she knew her father was right. "Why that sneaky little devil!" she said after a few beats, "I love him!!!" John chuckled; he was truly thankful for Steve's excellent timing and for the beautiful way that Mike had allowed Alex to know that he was thinking about her and worried for her all the same, and as much as she was thinking about him.

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When Katie walked into the girls' room upstairs, holding a tray that held some chocolate cake, trifle and some tea, the first thing she spotted was the state of mess that the room was in. "Alex?" she called out, wondering just where she was because she couldn't see her. She heard someone mumbled something along the lines of 'here' but it wasn't easy to understand. "I've brought some goodies up, sweetie." Katie said, in the soft kind voice that she always used.

Finally spotting Alex, she walked over to her. Alex was sitting next to a bed, out of the way of anyone who could see her. Katie sat down beside her on the floor, putting the tray down between them. Alex noted the fact there was two of everything so either she thought Alex was greedy or her sister planned to stay with her. "You okay?" Katie asked, taking in the unusually white pallor of her sister. Alex nodded in response, she clearly wasn't in the mood for talk but Katie didn't plan on leaving her alone upstairs for any minute longer.

Katie spotted the flowers that Mike had sent; still wrapped in the paper although it had been pulled down. They were on the floor, less that half a metre away from them. "They're beautiful." enthused Katie, a smile on her face when she took in the massive array of colours that spanned the entire bouquet. Either Mike didn't know what colour she liked best or he wanted to just spoil her rotten.

Alex nodded, "Yes, they are." this pleased Katie because it meant that at least Alex was responding verbally to someone. She'd been a little concerned that her sister had turned into a mute; even though she knew that was highly unlikely - Katie was prone to irrational thinking.

"So, did you throw some stuff about?" Katie asked, using her thumb to point behind her, indicating towards the massive mess of clothes, bears and toys.

Alex scanned the room once and then shook her head, "No, that was already there." she then added, sarcastically. "I did consider throwing a bear but it wouldn't have that satisfying crash." Katie frowned, and Alex decided to explained, "Oh, see, I threw a glass at home and it made this fantastic sound as it hit the wall." Her sarcasm was pushed into overdrive, her entire sentence was dripping with it.

Katie laughed, "I'm sure it made a mess too." They remained silent for a few minutes, nibbling on crumbs of cake and sipping tea. Katie then decided to speak, "So, do you think they'll take a long time to reach their decision?"

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. They've got to re-interview everyone." she let out a sarcastic, short laugh. "That's probably why I'm not allowed to speak to anyone... just in case I influence their statements."

"Hopefully it won't take long." Katie told her, hoping to inject some positivity into her spirits. "At least you have some pretty flowers!" Alex laughed and hugged her sister, grateful for the fact she was her.

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Mike, Bobby and Carolyn were sat at a booth in a bar, near to Mike's home. Carolyn and Bobby had taken it upon themselves to try to cheer the poor guy up. So they'd dragged him there as soon as work had finished. Although Bobby was struggling with the absence of his partner, he knew that Mike was having more of a tough time with it then perhaps even he expected. In the two days that had passed since Alex had been suspended, Mike had grown increasingly more aggitated and as a result he was much easier to irritate and it was starting to get on Carolyn's nerves. Although Mike was never known for being an easy guy to get a long with for most people, unless you knew him well enough, but now he was worse.

Mike didn't really want to go, but he didn't want to look like a sap. Since he'd sent her the flowers though he knew it was okay, although he hadn't told anyone that Alex's brother had got into contact with him - telling him where she was and if she was okay. Since then, Steve has phoned Mike every day to give him a 'report' on how Alex is and they've even passed on messages through him. Nothing substantial or anything that revealed emotion, Mike couldn't do that through a middle-man no matter how desperate he was.

"So, have you been re-interviewed yet?" Mike asked Bobby, as he took a large gulp of his beer.

Bobby nodded, "They've interviewed me several times."

"Checking for inaccuracy." Carolyn theorised and Bobby nodded again.

"What? They think you're lying?" Mike scoffed, not surprised about IAB thinking that but it would've surprised him if Bobby actually lied.

"I guess so." Bobby shrugged, "But there's no reason to." Bobby was rubbing his mouth with his hands, in thought, thinking about the event that had happened and how it could've gone differently. There had been several times over the past few days where he wished he'd been the one to pull the trigger and not her. He actually missed her acerbic wit.

"I've heard that the Chief of D's is unhappy with what's happened." Carolyn informed them, in that quiet voice she has, that despite it's low level is full of more intelligence than most and it always seems to impact more than it should. "Apparently he's insisting the situation be resolved quickly."

"That makes sense." Mike agreed, "Since she and Bobby have one of the best solve rates of the city." Bobby refused to comment on that apparent 'fact'. Bobby never thought about it as a statistic, it was his job, nothing less.

Bobby jolted a little, causing the other two to look at him with concern and surprised. "Are you okay?" Carolyn asked, worried.

"Uh... yes." He replied, slowly, he then pulled his phone out of his trouser pocket. "I- I have it on ... vibrate." This caused Mike to start laughing at him. "Goren." he answered the phone, ignoring Mike completely. "When? ... Thank you." Bobby ended the call and looked at them, as they waited for an explanation, but Bobby just sat there, as if he was still thinking about what had been said.

"Well?" Mike asked, getting impatient.

"Oh... right. IAB have made their decision." Bobby informed them but didn't continue, not until he felt Mike kick his shin under the table. "Uh... the - the suspension has been lifted. Eames is free to come back to work tomorrow."

Mike growled in frustration, "Why didn't you say something straight away?!" Although they knew the answer to that, Bobby had been too busy thinking about it, so it didn't occur to him to say it immediately. Bobby couldn't help but feel some pride that he'd teased the man without even intending to. Mike stood up and grabbed his coat.

"Mike? Where are you going?" Carolyn called after him, but he didn't reply because he was already out the door. Carolyn looked at Bobby, "I guess we're paying for the drinks." Bobby offered her a small smile and handed her some money, which she gratefully took. Bobby then reopened his cell phone and decided to dial Alex's number and hopefully beat Mike to the punch. He wanted to break the 'non contact' first.

Shame he didn't know about the flowers though.

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TBC