"Then let's get down to business," Beth stated, hoping the two detectives were finished interrogating her and ready to move on. "Bobby, why don't you tell me how Alex' kidnapping has affected you?"

Like a deer in the headlights, Bobby looked up to meet her steady gaze. Beth watched as fear, resignation, and finally determination danced across his dark eyes. She was intrigued to see similar emotions from Alex. They're so much in sync it's almost disturbing.

Bobby's voice was hushed, but firm. "At first, the rush of adrenaline was nearly overwhelming. I was trying to run and to yell as loudly as I could, but it felt as if I were moving and speaking through molasses. Ross was the one who gave everyone Eames' address, because I couldn't say it loudly enough." He paused to take a few breaths and calm himself, as memories of that awful morning rushed at him in a wave.

"I'm sorry," whispered Alex in the smallest voice he'd ever heard her use. "So sorry."

Shutting out everything else, Bobby turned his full attention to his partner. "Why are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry for what you went through."

Bobby snorted, a habit he could only have acquired from one person. "Don't you dare be sorry, Eames. What I sent through was nothing compared to what you suffered because of me."

Beth, who had been watching this exchange with fascination, interrupted. "Why because of you, Bobby?"

Still focusing on Alex, he said, "Because Jo Gage was so furious with me for stealing her father's attention, she took Eames to divert mine. She also framed her father, which distracted me for too long. If Eames weren't my partner, Jo would never have taken her."

"That's true," Beth agreed, earning a nasty look from Alex. "But I'm also sure that there are many good things that have happened to Alex because you two are partners. Isn't that true, Alex?"

Eames nodded. "A lot of things, including the fact that I knew enough not to scream, which, along with your phone call, probably saved my life." she said pointedly.

"Which doesn't really make you feel any better, does it, Bobby?" Beth asked.

He shook his head no.

"What does make you feel better?"

"Looking at her, knowing she's okay. Remembering how brave and resourceful she was, finding a way out. Just…being with her, looking at her."

Alex started to respond, but Beth stopped her with an upraised hand. "What makes you feel worse, Bobby?"

"Um…I can't, uh, I don't want to ever have to open the trunk of a car again." He looked down, fighting back tears.

Suddenly, Eames' arms were around him, and she was kissing his cheek and rubbing his back. He held her for all he was worth, having known, but not said, that this was what made him feel best of all.

Deciding not to comment on their current physical positions, Beth simply asked, "Did you think it was Alex in that trunk, Bobby? Did you think she was dead?"

Gently dislodging himself from Eames, Bobby stood and ran his hand through his hair, beginning to pace. "I didn't know what to think. I thought I would know somehow, if she was, uh, g-gone, but all the evidence said she-she was."

Alex, who had only heard this part of the story from Ross, who was considerably more clinical about it, was more than a little troubled to know that, even briefly, Bobby had thought she was dead. She always assumed that his Eamesian "spidey sense" had kept his belief alive. He must have been so… She couldn't even think of the appropriate word for what he would have been feeling at that moment. Quietly, she asked, "Bobby, why did you insist on opening that trunk yourself?"

He looked down at her, sorrow written on his features. "You know what she did to the other v-victims, Eames. I didn't want anybody else to see you like that. And I knew I couldn't believe y-you were…unless I saw it for myself."

Beth interjected, "Why can't you say the word, Bobby?"

His fury, which had been rumbling under the surface like an approaching thunderstorm, burst forth in a rush. I WON'T say that, Beth. Don't ask me to."

In the face of all that emotion, Beth kept her voice as calm and even as possible. "Okay. You don't have to say it, not today. Let's move on. What was it like for you when Alex was found?"

He resumed his pacing. "I was so relieved I almost passed out. I wanted to go to the – to where she was, but Ross wouldn't let me. He was afraid I would get in the way of the rescue team and the EMTs."

"No, he wasn't," Alex spoke up.

Taken aback, Bobby turned to look at her. "What do you mean?"

She smiled, which seemed incongruous to him, but felt like a warm ray of sunshine in the darkness of the moment. "He was afraid that you would destroy evidence by breaking down the door, or hijack a bulldozer and break the walls down."

Understanding, he smiled back. "I would have."

She met his eyes, her own shining fiercely. "I know."

Moments passed as they spoke to one another silently. Though loath to interrupt, Beth knew time was running short, and she had one more issue she wanted to bring up before they left. She cleared her throat, and then continued, "I have a question for both of you. If this incident hadn't happened, would you still have…let's say crossed the line?"

Still looking only at each other, they answered simultaneously. "Yes."

Speaking for them both, as she usually did when things got emotional, Alex continued, "It just…pushed the fast forward button a little. I think we both realized that all the time we thought we still had was an illusion."

Turning to Beth, Bobby nodded. "What she said."

Beth laughed. "Clearly she's got you pretty well trained already." Alex snorted at that thought, but Bobby was grinning. "I just do what I'm told, Beth."

Alex' eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "I can't believe you pick the notes-free, record-free shrink session to throw that one out there. Where's a tape recorder when I need it?"

"Whatever you say, Eames."

"Cut that out now; it's annoying."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Robert…"

"Alexandra…"

If Beth hadn't known better, she'd have thought they were on the verge of coming to blows. Only the matching mischievous glints in their eyes gave them away. "Okay, kids, stop fighting. You both did very well today, and this was helpful to me. Now, I need to see Alex on her own at least once more, but if you're interested, we can schedule another session for the two of you together.

Alex, concerned that Bobby would feel unduly pressured to agree, jumped in. "What don't we discuss it and call you?"

"That's fine. Bobby, it was very nice to meet you, and I know why Alex thinks so highly of you. I hope I see you again."

Bobby smiled at her. "Thank you. Eames thinks very well of you also, and I agree."

Beth politely showed him out the door, then put a hand on Alex' shoulder to halt her exit for a moment. Leaning in close, Beth whispered, "Yowza."

With not a little pride, Alex whispered back. "You don't know the half of it." She moved forward to take Bobby's hand, and they walked out together.

A/N – Wow, dialogue is way harder than I thought. Thanks for continuing to read and review; I feel like I know where I'm going to end up with this, but there's still a bit more to go to get there.