Goren had the stack of witness interviews piled in front of him and he was reviewing them, hoping they had missed something but knowing they had not. He reached toward the phone when it rang, hoping it was the hospital and trying not to wince when the muscles in his back protested the movement. It was his own damn fault. "Goren."

Have you made any further progress, detective?

He swallowed his irritation. "No, Major Cressmoor," he said, glancing at his partner, who rolled her eyes. "We have not. Have you been able to find your nanny?"

My daughter's nanny, and no, I have not.

"Have you been looking, sir?"

You are the detective. Have you been looking?

"When we haven't been bogged down with witnesses who didn't see anything, we have," he snapped. He had been irritable all day and he really didn't feel up to another argument with Cressmoor. "Hold on a second, major." He put the call on hold and looked up at Eames. "Can you take this, Eames?"

She nodded, picking up the phone and watching Goren get up and head out of the squad room. She hated it when he got like this. He needed to rest and he wasn't letting himself do that. She pressed the blinking line. "This is Detective Eames, major. What can I do for you?"

"Teach your partner some manners, for one."

Between the two of them, they had her feeling like banging her head against the wall. "And who will teach you manners?"

Maybe it wasn't professional, but she was tired and cranky, too, and it sure made her feel better to say it. It was gratifying to hear the man sputter on the other end of the phone. "Put your partner back on," he demanded.

"I'm sorry, but he stepped out of the office. Major Cressmoor, I am very tired of listening to you berate and insult my partner. You are the one who brought us in on this case. We are doing our best to find this guy, and you are not helping our investigation. If you want us to find Kelly's assailant, stop harrassing us and find out where Gloria is. We really need to talk to her again. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to go back to work so that we can get some justice for your little girl by finding the man who hurt her. If you have anything to add to the investigation, please call us. If not, then please leave us alone. Let us know as soon as you find Gloria. Have a nice afternoon."

She set the phone in its cradle and sighed, placing her face in her hands and trying to get her irritation back under control. It wasn't easy. After a few long minutes, a soft voice reached her ears. "Eames?" Slowly, she uncovered her eyes to look at Goren. His face was openly concerned. "Was he an ass?"

"He's always an ass, Bobby. But I'm afraid the captain is going to be getting a call. I wasn't exactly..."

"Eames!"

She smiled at him. "See? I'll be right back."

He watched her head toward the captain's office. Maybe he should have just handled the call. But he was at the end of his rope with Cressmoor and he'd hoped Eames could have calmed him down. Now he felt guilty about it. She didn't deserve that. Well, he wasn't going to foist the major off on her again. He was used to being in trouble and she didn't need that kind of stress. After all, she had him.

Deakins looked up at her as she came into the room. "What did you do?"

"I just told him to let us do our job. If he's going to interfere with the investigation, we'll never get this guy. We got the best information we have from Kelly, and it contradicts the information we got from the nanny, who is still MIA. Major Cressmoor is not cooperating and it's frustrating. On top of that, I'm just tired of the way he treats Goren. Bobby didn't do anything to deserve that. I'd had enough and I let him know it."

Deakins sighed. "Next time, take it out on your partner, okay? My ear is still ringing."

"Sorry, captain."

He smiled. "I know he deserved it, Alex. Just try to remember who he is. He has the chief's ear and I don't need the chief on my back."

She nodded. "If he'll quit hindering our investigation and being rude to us, I'll have no reason to tell him off."

"How many more interviews do you guys have today?"

"Four."

"Well, get them done and go home. Get some sleep; you both need it."

"I'll pass that on." She headed out of the office. It was no lie that they both needed some rest. Convincing Goren of that, however, was another matter entirely.

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At the end of their first interview after lunch, Goren left the room while Eames finished up with the woman. He was just being distracting and that annoyed him today. He was beyond frustrated and he was fed up with dealing with Cressmoor, more than anything else. He wanted to solve this case and move on, and he wasn't taking it too well that the investigation was stalled. He went to his desk and shuffled through papers, looking for his notes on their talk with Kelly, the only productive part of the entire case. "Bobby?"

He looked up and smiled. "Hi, Denise."

She leaned against his desk and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm assuming you misunderstood me when I asked you not to piss off Major Cressmoor?"

He looked down at his hands. "I, uh, I tried, Denise. I don't intend to, but he keeps misconstruing the things we do and say."

"You didn't really go to talk to his daughter without his consent, did you?"

"We didn't need his consent. We had her mother's, and she was right there the whole time."

"Why did the little girl's nanny take off?"

"We have no idea."

"You didn't chase her off?"

"On the contrary. She seemed very interested in seeing more of us. You can ask Eames. But the things she told us did not mesh with what we got from the little girl. Eames and I think she heard Kelly was awake and she got scared because she lied to us."

Denise sighed. "I told the chief not to get bent out of shape until I had a chance to talk to you and Alex. The major struck me as just a little histrionic, and I couldn't imagine you two doing the things he claims."

"Well, Eames did tell him off."

She smiled and he was charmed, as always. "I'm sure he deserved that. Alex doesn't fly off the handle and lose her temper easily."

"No, she doesn't." He raised his eyebrows. "You think I do?"

She laid a hand on his shoulder as she stepped away from the desk. "No, dear. But sometimes you can...come across the wrong way." She gently touched his chin. "Well, I won't tell you not to piss him off again...that apparently doesn't work."

He laughed softly and turned back to his files as she started away from the desk. "Oh, Denise?" She looked over her shoulder. "Are you busy Saturday night?"

She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No."

"Want to get some dinner?"

"Sure, Bobby. Sounds like fun."

"I'll pick you up at seven?"

"It's a date."

He winked at her and turned back to his desk as she headed for the elevators.

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After their last witness for the day had left, he remained in the conference room with the paperwork. Eames went for coffee and he let himself become engrossed in what he was doing. It kept his mind from his discomfort and his frustration, among other things. His thoughts kept returning to the conversation he'd had with Denise and from there they would stray to Eames and then his head would spin...so he buried himself in the pile of useless interviews in front of him.

He had become so engrossed in what he was doing, he did not notice when Eames returned with their coffee. Without thinking, he stretched his back and, convinced he was alone, groaned softly. He damn near pulled a muscle when her hands came to rest on his shoulders and began to knead his sore muscles. His first impulse was to move away, but once again, his body rebelled against his mind and remained resolutely where it was. Of course, then his mind all but shut down as sore and tired muscles relaxed beneath her hands. At that point, he knew he'd died and gone to Heaven. Her hands did wonders for his back, but what was more, they were her hands.

He had no idea how much time had passed before she leaned over his shoulder and her breath, warm and scented with coffee, whispered past his ear. "Go home, Bobby. Have a few beers, unwind and get some good sleep. And leave these damn files in your desk. We don't have squat right now and reading over them a hundred times will not change that."

By then, he would have done anything she had asked. So he did go home and he left the files in his desk. He had a few beers and she called early, on his home line, to be certain he actually did go home and had not returned to the squad room. He promised he was home to stay and he would see her in the morning. Reassured, she said good night and left him to sleep, which he did...and there were no nightmares...just her...