The slamming of a car door pulled him from his dreams, and he jerked awake, senses suddenly alert. Disoriented, it took a moment for him to remember where he was, and a few more moments for him to realize he wasn't alone in the bed. As his mind cleared of sleep, he became aware of exactly who was sleeping beside him, her body curled comfortably with his...Oh, God...when?...how?... He was used to waking with a woman in his bed, just not this woman, the woman he most wanted to share his bed with...the one woman he couldn't share his bed with...
He knew he had gone to sleep alone. She'd been at her house, not here, or he would have slept on the couch. Waking with her beside him in the bed...he groaned deeply, struggling with himself as he longed to touch her, to lean over and kiss her, to waken her with a soft caress...what the hell was he thinking, he chastised himself. How could she do this to him? This was so damn unfair...
The doorbell brought him from his thoughts, and he was grateful for it. Then he looked at the time. Who could be ringing the bell at three in the morning? If Alex was here...oh, no...he lightly slid from the bed, pulled on his shirt and sneakers, and left the room.
John was crossing the living room toward the door. Goren noticed the couch had been made to look as though it had been slept on. John was a helluva smart man. Taking his cue from the older man's actions, he moved over to the couch and sat down. John heard him moving and glanced over his shoulder, nodding at him with a brief smile. Then he opened the front door. "Where's Alex, John?" Ricky demanded.
John frowned at the odor that wafted from Waters. Great...he was drunk... There might be no defusing this situation, but he had to try. "Do you know what time it is, Ricky?"
He pushed past John and stopped several feet into the room, surprised to see Goren sitting on the couch. It was no stretch of anything for Goren to look like he had just woken, since he had. "What the hell are you doing here, Goren?" he growled.
"I was sleeping. What are you doing here, Waters?"
"Looking for my wife."
Goren shrugged. "She wasn't here when I went to sleep. I thought she was with you."
"She was."
Goren smirked. "Another argument?"
Waters bristled at the insinuation in Goren's tone, balling his fists and taking another unsteady step toward him. "Why the hell are you here?"
John stepped past him, his back to the living room. "This is my house, Ricky, and I will have anyone here that I want. Why Bobby is here is none of your business."
"I..."
"Ricky?" Eames came into in the room from down the hall. "What is going on?"
Waters thrust a finger toward Goren. "He is why you left and came over here, right? You knew he was here!"
"I had no idea he was here when I left. I left because you were being an ass."
"To find him, you said."
"Grow up, Ricky."
Confused, Goren leaned back on the couch. Why would Eames use him in a fight with her husband? He was not liking where this was going at all. Why the hell would she come here looking for him? He tried to look casual, but was not at all certain how well he was succeeding. Inside, his guts were roiling. He wanted to get up and swing at Waters, imagining how good it would feel to make contact with his face. But this was John's house, and out of deference to his partner's father, whom he had an enormous amount of respect for, he stayed where he was, difficult though that proved to be. This was not his fight. He was already doing as much as he could for her.
Wakened by the angry voices, something she was not used to hearing, Maggie came out of the bedroom, padding down the hallway to the living room. She looked around the room and wondered why Daddy was yelling at Mommy and Grandpa like that. Something was wrong here. Grandpa had a mad look, and Grandpa never got mad.
Then Waters noticed the little girl, staring at him with a confused frown. The sight of her made him even angrier. "What the hell are you doing up? Go back to bed, dammit!"
Her eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip quivered. No one ever yelled at her like that. Turning, she ran back down the hall. With a muttered swear, Goren launched himself off the couch and ran after her. Eames and her dad could take care of Waters. Somebody had to make Maggie their first priority, and that was a role he willingly took upon himself.
The bedroom door slammed, and he opened it back up, entering the room and quietly easing the door closed. Maggie lay face down on her bed, crying. It broke his heart. He went to her, easing himself down on the edge of the bed, and he laid his hand on her back. "Shhh, mouse..." he whispered. He hated to see her cry.
She jumped up and threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck and crying harder. He didn't know what to do, so he simply held her, rocking her gently and rubbing her back. Softly, he shushed her and kissed her head. Gradually, she stopped crying, sniffling into his shirt and holding him tightly. Finally, still sniffling, she pulled back and looked at him. "Why did Daddy lell at me?"
He didn't know what to say. He had never said a bad word about Waters to her, and he never would. That was not his place to berate her father to her. "I-I don't know, baby. But you didn't do anything wrong. He was mad and he took it out on you. He shouldn't have done that, but sometimes, big people do things they shouldn't do."
She looked at him, wiping her eyes. "Even you?"
He smiled warmly. "Yes, mouse. Even me."
She didn't return his smile. "You never lell at me."
"No. You have never given me any reason to." He kissed her forehead. "Put your head down and go back to sleep. Nobody is going to hurt you."
"Will you stay here wif me?"
"Until you go back to sleep, yes."
She frowned. "You gonna go? I don' wan' you to go."
"No. I'm just going out on the couch, like I always do. I'll be here when you wake up."
"I wanna be wif you."
"You'll be more comfortable in your bed, baby."
"I don' wanna be comfable. I wanna be wif you."
He softly kissed her head and sighed. "Whatever you want, sweetheart," he whispered. How many times had he said that to her mother? Not enough lately...but his damn hands were tied. There was only so much he could do...
She snuggled into him, settling her head on his shoulder and nestling her hand into his hair. He stood up and paced the room, partly to lull her back to sleep and partly to burn off his irritation. He was furious, and it troubled him deeply that part of that anger was directed toward his partner.
In the living room, John was also furious, and all his anger was directed toward his son-in-law. "Ricky," he said, his voice tight. "I suggest you go home."
"What? Goren's welcome here but I'm not?"
"Bobby has never mistreated my granddaughter."
"Mistreated? How did I mistreat her? All I did was tell the little brat to go back to bed. She had no business being up."
Eames got in his face. "Since you're the one who woke her you have no business yelling at her for waking up! Go home, Ricky. Now."
"Only if you go with me."
"You are in no position to bargain. I'll be home when I get there. I have to take care of my daughter."
"Let Goren do that. He seems to like the little shit."
He was stunned by the slap across his face. "Leave." It was all she could manage to get out.
Furious, he took one step toward her and ran into her father. "You heard her," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
"Or what? You gonna get Goren to beat me up?"
Eames came forward again. Her voice was tight with fury. "I don't need Bobby to fight my battles. You have been asked to leave. Now you're tresspassing. So unless you want to get arrested, I suggest you leave, now."
Glaring first at his wife and then at her father, he finally turned and left the house. John frowned darkly. "You should report him for DUI, Alex."
"Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll wrap his stupid ass around a tree before he gets home." She started toward the bedroom, stopping to look over her shoulder at her father. "I'm sorry, Dad."
John just shook his head and she continued to the bedroom. Stepping into the room, she was not surprised to see Goren trying to pace off his anger. "Bobby?"
He fought to keep the irritation from his voice but he wasn't successful. "Shh. She's asleep."
"I...I'm sorry about that."
"Don't apologize for him, Eames. You don't control him. You just married him."
Still uptight, she felt her anger well up again. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, defensive.
He looked at her, too angry himself to read the tone of her voice. "Whatever he does, you brought it on yourself by staying with him. But I'll be damned if I'm going to put up with him treating her like that."
She felt her anger flare even more. "Oh, really?"
He kept his voice low, so as not to waken the sleeping child in his arms. "Yes, really. It's about time someone put Maggie first."
That was it. Fairly or not, her control snapped and unleashed the floodgates of her fury, all on him. "Fuck you, Goren. She's not your daughter."
He tensed even more and she immediately regretted her words. With a soft gasp, she felt her anger fade rapidly, replaced by deep remorse. "Oh, Bobby, I..."
He shook his head. "I don't need this shit," he muttered. Gently, he laid Maggie in her bed, covering her and kissing her softly. "Tell her I'm sorry. I've never broken a promise to her before, so thanks for that, too, dammit."
"Bobby..."
She touched his arm, but he jerked it away. "Leave me alone, Eames."
He pushed past her and left the room. She followed him. "Bobby, please..."
Ignoring her, he headed for the front door. John looked confused. "Bobby?"
"I'm sorry, John. I really am." He glanced at his partner. "I can't do this any more. I-I'll call you during the week."
He headed out the front door. They heard a car door slam, an engine gun and he was gone. Eames paced for a few moments while her father watched her. Then she said, "I can't leave it like this."
"Then go after him. Whatever happened, go and fix it."
She took an unsteady breath. "I hope I can."
She ran out the door and went after her partner.