Waters watched his wife drive out of her father's development. Ask Maggie, my ass, he grumbled. From what he could tell, Goren walked on water in the brat's eyes. Sure he slept on the couch. Alex was full of shit. She was sleeping with him; he just knew it. Well, he was going to get the proof he needed and then he would take care of it himself. This was just unacceptable.

Eames approached her desk, smiling at the coffee and danish sitting there. Even when he was upset with her, he always got her breakfast. They took turns paying for lunch, and she'd had to twist his arm to finally let her start paying. He was so stubborn.

Ten minutes later, as she finished her breakfast, he sat down at his desk, handing her a file as he did. "Autopsy report and crime scene analysis."

She set the file down in front of her and studied him. "What?" he asked.

"I...just thank you."

"For?"

"Whatever you want to think I'm thanking you for. You do a lot for me, Bobby. I just want you to know that I really do appreciate you. I have taken advantage of you, and I am going to try not to do that any more."

He held up a hand. "You know I don't agree with that, but whatever you decide, I have one proviso, Eames. If you or Maggie need me, it's not an imposition and you are not taking advantage. You'd better call me. I want your word."

When she hesitated, she saw the panic flash in his eyes. "Calm down," she said softly. "I will always call you for Maggie, okay? That's as much as I'll promise."

He looked at his hands. "I care about you, too. I...I won't let you down."

"I know that. But I can take care of myself, really. I can take care of Maggie, too, but I know what she means to you, and what you mean to her. I will never interfere with that. You have Maggie, Bobby. Be satisfied."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he leaned closer and said, "As long as you know that you can call me, that I want you to call me. Don't pull away from me because I was an ass last weekend."

"Because you...? Goren, what planet do you live on?" When he laughed, she relaxed and smiled. "I'll go this far and compromise with you. If something comes up that I can't handle on my own, I promise I will call you. Is that fair?"

It was all he was going to get, but he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted in the first place. "That's fair."

"And you'll call me?"

Call her? For what? The one thing he really needed, she could never give...well, that wasn't true. She could, and she would, willingly, but he wouldn't let her. "If I can call you, I will."

But he wouldn't, and they both knew it. Still, it was the right answer. She flipped open the file and began reading the autopsy report.

The end of the day came too quickly. It had been a good day. They had lunch with Logan and Barek, and Eames was happy to see her partner relaxed and laughing. He seemed to have gotten over the stress of the week, because he laughed with her, too. She always knew that if she could make him laugh, they were okay, and she felt entirely reassured.

She hated to see the day end as she gathered her things and prepared to leave. Goren leaned over his desk toward her. "Why don't you come out with us tonight, Eames?"

"To play pool?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. We're going to grab some dinner and then decide. Go home and get changed, then meet us at my place."

"Is Carolyn coming along, too?"

"I think so. That's what Mike said, anyway." He leaned forward and smiled softly. "Come on."

Eames was struck by a sudden sense of familiarity, something beyond her familiarity with him. Two years ago, on the day Maggie was born, she was alone in the hospital room, getting to know her newborn daughter. She talked to the baby as she studied her features, committing each to memory. There were features that she knew were her own, and others she could attribute to Ricky. But there was something else, something undefinable that she could attribute to neither of them. She had dismissed it as simply recessive traits from one or the other of them that were coming forth in Maggie. As the baby got older, though, she began to wonder. Bobby never said a word about it. He just accepted that she was Ricky's because that's what she believed, too. Maggie had to be Ricky's. She'd been with Bobby once. The odds were slim that he fathered a child during that one encounter. She couldn't understand why he'd never discussed it with her, why he'd shown no guilt at all afterwards. But she was glad, in a way. It meant he accepted it and was okay with it. So she left well enough alone and never brought it up.

Now, as he tried to talk her into joining them, she saw it again. And again she dismissed it. Maggie spent a lot of time with Bobby. Of course she would pick up some of his little quirks. It was endearing, and she was happy to see it. "All right," she relented. "Let me go home and change, and make sure Dad's okay with keeping Maggie for the night."

"Too bad she can't come along." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe we can take her to the zoo tomorrow or Sunday. She loves the zoo."

"Yes, the zoo, the museums, the park...she loves every place you take her. She even loved the 'Guggyhime' if you can believe that."

He laughed again. "She did." He shrugged. "I make it fun for her."

"And you do a great job. I'll meet you at your apartment at 7:30?"

"Sounds good."

He watched her leave, letting his mind wander until Logan stepped up beside him and elbowed him. "Coming back to Earth anytime soon?"

"Do I have to?"

Logan laughed. "Is Alex going to join us?"

"Yes."

"Good. Maybe we'll do something different tonight."

Goren shrugged and grabbed his portfolio. "Whatever. Let's get going."

Logan smiled fondly. Goren never cared what they did when Eames came along. "Hot date, huh?" he teased.

He ducked the playful swing with another laugh and followed Goren to the elevators. He was parked almost a dozen spaces away from where Goren had parked that morning, so they walked together to the parking garage, bandying back and forth things they could do and places they could go. It was rare that they spent a Friday night with their partners. "Hey, Goren!"

They turned toward the voice and Goren groaned. "What is it, Waters?"

"Where were you last night?"

Goren looked at Logan then back at Waters. "Since when do I have to answer to you?"

"Since you started sleeping with my fucking wife."

This was really getting old. "If that's your criteria, then I still don't have to answer to you."

"You were with her at John's last night."

"No, I wasn't."

"So you're denying you were at John's?"

"No, I'm denying I was with Eames." Okay, he had slept someone...but he hardly counted a two-year-old snuggling on his chest as out-of-line. "I was there to see Maggie, if you have to know. She called and asked if I would come to see her and I did. I had no clue her mother would be there. Eames slept in her bedroom with the baby and I slept on the couch. That's all there is to it."

"Liar."

Goren sighed and looked at Logan. Slowly, he shook his head and adopting a tone he didn't even use with Maggie, he said, slowly and clearly, "I have never slept with Eames."

Logan knew that he believed that to be the truth and he remained silent, but he was ready. He didn't like the two thugs that hung back and watched the encounter. Ricky had never once confronted Goren alone. He wouldn't dare. Bobby would wipe the floor with him. He kept his eyes on Waters' friends and decided if this came to blows, he'd leave Bobby on his own to handle Waters while he kept the other two out of it. He kept his hand near his weapon; no one was paying any attention to him.

"I want you to stay away from her, Goren."

"She's my partner. Just how do I do that?"

"I mean outside the job."

Slowly Goren shook his head. "No."

Waters was surprised. This was the first time his wife's partner had taken any kind of stand with him. He usually remained noncommittal. "Excuse me?"

"I said, 'no,'" Goren repeated. "I won't stay away from her. She's important to me, and so is her daughter, and I am not going to stay away from either of them because you're too immature to handle our friendship. You need to grow up, Waters. It's easier explaining things to Maggie."

Waters heard a snicker behind him and made a mental note to smack Roger around some. That was a second before he swung his fist and knocked Goren into the car behind him. Logan's gun cleared his holster and he leveled it at the two clowns who stood four cars behind Waters. "Stay," he ordered. They thought he was crazy enough to pull the trigger and they were smart enough to listen.

It didn't take long for Goren to get Waters down. He pinned him to the ground and pressed a knee on his chest. Bobby preferred to avoid fights, but it wasn't because he couldn't fight. It was because he chose not to, and Logan respected him a great deal for that. He would have pounded Waters to a pulp long ago, Eames or no Eames, if it weren't for Goren. He backed away from Ricky's lackies and nudged Goren. "Come on, man. Before my finger slips. I don't want to deal with the paperwork."

Goren looked surprised at the gun in Logan's hand. Slowly, he stood up and glared at Waters. "Go home," he said simply.

At least Eames wasn't going to be there tonight. Logan pushed him gently past his car. "Let's just take mine." He looked over his shoulder as they got to the rear bumper of his car. "You clowns better clear out or my car may just leave tire marks on your stupid asses."

They got into the car and Logan started it, gunning the engine for the benefit of Waters and his friends. Goren pulled out his handkerchief and wiped some of the blood off his face. "Shit. What do we tell Eames?"

Logan squealed his tires as he headed for the exit, disappointed that Waters and his friends were gone. He wouldn't have run them down... not really... well, maybe...hell, it would be worth another ten years on Staten Island... He looked at Goren. "Nice. We'll have to tell her something. That she's gonna notice."

"Like she hasn't noticed every other one. I guess we'll just tell her what we always tell her."

"She's not going to let us play ball when we really do want to."

"She's not my boss."

"Yeah...right. Whatever you say."

"Shut up, Mike."

Logan laughed and headed to Goren's apartment. Barek showed up not long after they got there. She studied Goren's face when she came into the living room. "I can't leave you two alone for thirty minutes. What the hell happened?"

"Waters happened," Logan explained.

"Again? Bobby..."

Goren raised a hand. "Don't say a word, Carolyn. Please. We played ball for an hour after work. That's all."

"And Logan's untouched? Come here and let me touch you, Logan."

"No thanks. I'm good."

Goren laughed and Barek smiled. "You do know that Alex is going to be upset."

"If she knew what really happened, yeah. But she's not going to find out. I'm not going to have her shooting him and going to jail, Carolyn. I'm fine."

Logan tossed a wet facecloth at him. "At least he gave as good as he got and Ricky's buddies stayed out of it."

She shook her head and took the facecloth from Goren. "Let me take a look. It's no wonder Deakins says you two give him ulcers."

Ricky found his wife in the bedroom, getting dressed, when he got home. "Where's the kid?"

"At my dad's."

"And what are you planning to do?"

"I'm going out."

"In jeans?"

She looked at him. "We…" She frowned at his bruised and swollen lip and the knot over his eye. "What happened to you?"

He thought about telling her the truth about her partner, but decided he didn't want to get into another fight with her right now. "It's nothing. Some guy resisted. If you're going out, why are you wearing jeans?"

"I'm just spending time with my friends, not going out on a date."

He swore. "Alex…"

"Don't even start, Ricky. Since you don't seem to have this figured out, let me spell it out for you clearly, so there are no misunderstandings. You need to get over yourself. I am an adult and I can make my own decisions. I choose who my friends are and I am not going to alter my choices because you are being juvenile. Bobby is my closest friend. I will not give up that friendship for anyone. So deal with it." She shut off the light. "I won't be home tonight."

He watched her leave, seething, but he didn't say a word. He didn't go after her. He took a few breaths to calm himself down, then he went to the phone. He waited while the line rang. Hello.

"Nate, I want someone to follow Alex tonight."

You want what? Are you totally losing it, Rick? Let her go, man. Let Goren have her. You're forgetting everything.

"Are you going to help me or not?"

After a brief silence, Bedford sighed heavily. I think this is a mistake.

"Did I ask you?"

All right. Where do we pick her up?

"Try Goren's."

Hammond is going to nail your ass to a wall after he has your balls for lunch. And it'll be a filling meal because you have more balls than any guy I know.

"Screw Hammond. She's my wife."

She's your cover, stupid. She's just a woman. I still say you ought to let Goren have her. He's not a bad guy and he'll take good care of her.

"Shut up, Nate, or I swear I'll shoot you."

Fine, asshole. I gotta go follow your damn wife.

The line went dead. Waters took a shower and put ice over his eye. He wanted nothing more than to pull out his gun and put a bullet in his wife's partner. Take care of the son-of-a-bitch once and for all. He might yet do just that.

Bedford sat in the car, shaking his head slowly as he watched Alex leave Goren's apartment building very early the next morning. God, Ricky was going to have a cow. But the thought of lying to him never crossed his mind. His orders were to back Ricky up, though he wondered if this was what Hammond meant. He tried calling the FBI agent in Texas, but he was too busy to bother with him, so the hell with it. Follow orders. Back up Waters. He's in charge. So he'd do just what he was told to do. He pulled out his phone.

What'd you find out, Nate?

"Not even a hello?"

I can kick your ass this afternoon. Will that do?

"I can hang up the phone and not tell you what I saw."

Quit screwing around. Where did she go?

"They went out to dinner and then to batting cages over in Queens."

Who was she with?

"Goren, Logan, and Logan's partner, Barek."

Where'd they go after that?

"Back to Goren's."

And?

"And she just left."

Alone?

"Yes, alone."

Did Logan and Barek leave, too?

"Yes."

When, dammit?

Bedford sighed. "They left last night." Dead silence. "Rick?"

Find Roger and Tuck and meet me at his apartment at one o'clock.

"Ricky..."

Don't, Nate. Just meet me there.

"This is so wrong, Rick."

Fine. Send Hudson and you can stay home and suck your thumb.

"Fuck you. I'll see you at one."

He ended the call and dropped his phone on the passenger seat. Okay, fine. This was so not going to go well, but he was not going to let Ricky kill the guy. Tuck and Roger would back him on that at least. He'd been on the receiving end of Ricky's rage once, and he did not envy Goren at all. Ricky never played fair. Starting the car, he drove off to find Roger and Tuck.

A/N: Confrontations ends with this chapter. Love That Hurts the Deepest and The Last Third continue with what happens next.