Disclaimer: Same old stuff - I don't own them they belong to Dick Wolf.
A/N: For the purposes of this story, the Untethered episode hasn't happened yet. And of course I couldn't resist the Ross/Rodgers reference now that we KNOW they're an item. :-D Thanks to gorengal for the beta.
A LOCI Christmas Carol
The Annoying Visitor from the Present
Despite his agitation at Deakins' visit, Bobby managed to quickly fall back to sleep. It was a deep, dreamless sleep that was rudely interrupted once again by his phone ringing.
Groping his nightstand in the dark, Bobby knocked his lamp over as he tried to find his phone. Cursing under his breath he found the phone and answered it without checking the caller ID. "What?" he growled.
"Goren?" his current captain inquired.
"Ah...yeah, sorry Captain, I thought you...I was expecting someone else." Bobby apologized. Great. Now that I just want to sleep I get called out to a crime scene.
"Sorry to disappoint you, detective," Ross said with his usual sarcasm.
Grabbing the lamp off the floor, Bobby placed it back on the nightstand and turned it on. "Hang on, Captain, let me just get a pen and some paper," he began as he opened the nightstand drawer.
"You won't need that," Ross interrupted. "I think you can find your way without notes."
Once again, Bobby's mind started racing. Oh God, not an accident...not Alex? Did Frank finally end up dead in a ditch somewhere? "What happened?" he asked, selfishly praying it was someone else's tragedy Ross was calling to inform him about and not his own.
"Just get downstairs and I'll explain. I'm waiting in front of your building." Ross replied.
Bobby's anxiety was replaced by confusion. "Downstairs? But..."
"Detective, no one is hurt or dead so just hurry, I don't have all night." Ross said tersely and promptly hung up.
Bobby hurriedly threw on his sweats and sneakers, grabbed his coat and made his way downstairs. In front of his building he found Ross waiting for him in the SUV he and Eames used at work. A light coating of snow covered the roads and sidewalk.Ross better not be lying about no one being hurt or dead. Alex should be here, not him.
As soon as he climbed into the passenger seat, he turned to Ross. "So what's going on? Where's Eames?"
"We'll see her later. Right now we're going to check on your brother." Ross pulled the SUV out onto the road.
"My brother? Is he all right? What happened to him?"
"Don't worry, Detective, your brother is fine." Ross replied.
"Then why are we going to see him? Is he in jail?"
"You worry too much, Goren."
"I...you...you show up at my apartment at...whatever ungodly hour it happens to be now, and you expect me to...to not be worried?" Bobby glared at Ross. What is his problem with me now? I thought we were getting along a lot better this year and now he pulls this crap.
Ross smirked. "Deakins told me you were in a bad mood."
Bobby blinked. "Deakins?" His eyes narrowed as he observed his captain. "You spoke to Deakins tonight?"
"Look, believe it or not I'm not here to harass you." Ross said as he pulled into the parking lot of a church.
"Really? Well you could have fooled me." Bobby felt that same agitation he did when Deakins was at his apartment. I'm dreaming again. I have to be! Same damn dream with another captain. I'm never watching another stupid Christmas movie again.
"Come on, Detective. You'll thank me later," Ross hopped out of the SUV and looked expectantly at Bobby who sat with his arms folded in front of him, refusing to get out of the vehicle. "Goren, I told you I don't have all night."
"Neither do I!" Bobby remained in the SUV, staring straight ahead. "I want to get some sleep!"
Ross slammed his door shut, went around to the passenger side of the vehicle and pulled Bobby's door open. "Look, this is your dream. If I had my way, I'd be involved in someone else's much more 'fun for me' kind of dream than your 'I'm so depressed' dream."
"My dream?" Bobby asked incredulously. "You think if this were my dream I'd want you here?"
Ross chuckled. "I never would have guessed it either, Detective. But here we are and if it's not a dream, then I'm still your captain so I'm no longer asking you to get out, I'm ordering you."
Deakins was much nicer. Bobby reluctantly pulled himself out of the SUV and followed his current captain into the church.
"Just because Deakins didn't yell at you as much as I did doesn't mean you didn't irritate him as much as you irritated me last year," Ross said over his shoulder.
Bobby glared at the back of Ross' head.Bite me...he thought just to annoy the captain.
"How old are you, Goren? Just let's get this over with, shall we?" Ross smiled tightly as he held the door open for Bobby. "After you."
Bobby was now entering disconcerting territory. If this isn't a dream then I've lost my mind.
"Not yet but if you keep this up you might," Ross said, making his way past him and once again taking the lead.
"This isn't fair!" Bobby exclaimed. "Stop doing that!"
Ross sighed. "Detective, this will be over shortly, please stop whining. You didn't give Deakins this much of a problem."
"That's because Deakins had the decency to let me stay in my warm apartment and watch the television instead of dragging me out into the cold night." Bobby no longer believed he was awake and decided if it was his dream, he would address his captain as he saw fit.
"I'll pass that information along then. Now come on." Ross opened a door that led to a brightly lit soup kitchen. It was crowded and filled with the homeless and the volunteers who gathered to help them out.
Bobby's heart sank. Frank must have fallen off that wagon again...how many times, Frank? One day you're not going to get back up again. Bobby looked at the crowd gathered at tables having their Christmas meal. Once again the smell of turkey and ham assaulted his senses as he followed Ross through the crowd.
They arrived at the table where the meal was being served by the volunteer church members. Bobby walked into the back of Ross as he continued to search the crowd for Frank.
"You're looking in the wrong place, Detective." Ross pointed to the volunteer who was carving the ham.
"Frank!" Bobby said in surprise. The last place he expected to see his brother was volunteering at a soup kitchen. Frank was smiling and kindly serving slices of ham to the people in line. He didn't seem to notice Bobby standing a few feet away.
"Surprising isn't it?" Ross said. "Seems even your brother is having a better Christmas than you are."
The priest of this particular parish approached Frank and put a hand on his shoulder. "Frank, it's been great having you here. You've been a life saver."
"It's the least I can do after all the help I got from you," Frank replied.
"I can take over here if you like. If you have family to get back to..." the priest began.
"Nah, my family...they're...they probably don't want to...I mean..."
The priest smiled kindly. "I understand. Sometimes it takes a while for all old wounds to heal."
Bobby started to feel rather uncomfortable. Some wounds never heal. He didn't even come to Mom's funeral! "So you're fooling these people now, too, Frank?"
He can't hear or see us, Detective," Ross informed him. "It seems your brother has learned to overcome his difficulties," Ross said as he observed Bobby's reaction to seeing his brother offering help to others instead of taking from them.
"He's overcome his difficulties before - many times before he fell again. I give it a month," Bobby said angrily. "I don't need to see anymore. I'm not buying his act and I'm not talking to him."
"You're not listening to me. I said he can't see or..." Ross began.
"Yeah, yeah he can't see or hear us and you're the result of some weird indigestion I had from those stale cheese crackers," Bobby muttered.
Ross chuckled. "Indigestion? Oh come on. Here I thought we were getting along so much better lately." Ross led a sulking Bobby out of the church and back to the SUV.
They drove in silence through the snow covered streets. Bobby stared out of his window, doing his best to ignore Ross. When the SUV came to a stop, Bobby looked around in surprise. "This isn't my apartment building," he said, glaring at Ross.
"No, it isn't." Ross smiled at Bobby and once again got out of the SUV without any explanation. They were parked in front of a brightly lit house with cars lining the driveway.
Ross looked expectantly at Bobby. "Let's go, Goren. After this stop you're rid of me."
That was enough incentive to get Bobby out of the SUV. He followed Ross up the walkway to the house, hoping this stop wouldn't be as upsetting as his last. I must be one warped individual if I'm conjuring Ross as a tour guide to Christmas.
"You probably like me more than you think," Ross said with a smile as he opened the door and let Bobby lead the way into the large living room filled with people. The living room held a seven-foot-tall Christmas tree decorated with red and green ornaments. Several presents were under the tree, and children were laughing while trying to guess the contents of each package.
Looking around Bobby recognized some faces but couldn't quite place them. Just as he was about to ask Ross where they were, he saw Alex's sister Vicky enter the
room from what appeared to be the kitchen. She was looking for someone and was obviously frustrated at not finding them. She approached a couple who Bobby now recognized as Alex's older brother and his wife. Alex's brother pointed towards the hallway.
"This is Alex's family?" he asked Ross.
"Her parent's house," Ross replied. "You spent a Christmas Eve with them once, right?"
Bobby nodded. "It was at her sister's house." He looked around the room and couldn't see Alex anywhere. "Where's Alex? She should be here."
"Follow her sister," Ross instructed.
Bobby watched Vicky push her way out of the room. Ross and Bobby followed her as she entered a small bedroom at the end of the hall.
Alex was there, sitting on the bed staring out the window at the lightly falling snow.
"Hey Alex, we're going to open presents soon," Vicky informed her little sister as she sat next to her on the bed. "What's up with you? You've been pretty gloomy all day."
Smiling at Vicky, Alex shrugged. "I'm just tired."
"Come on, it's me you're talking to." Vicky put an arm around Alex's shoulders. "I know you better than that. Christmas usually energizes you, especially when it comes to Nathan. He's been wondering where Aunty Lexi is all day. You two are usually inseparable."
"I'm sorry, is he looking for me now?" Alex asked as she tried to get up.
Vicky pulled her back down. "No, he's napping now. But it would be nice if you could go get him so we can all open presents together."
"Sure!" Alex said enthusiastically, once again trying to make her escape.
Once gain, Vicky pulled her back and held her firmly in place. "Alexandra Eames, you will stop trying to avoid the issue right now."
Alex sighed. "There is no issue! You're making things up in your head."
"So you're depressed?" Vicky asked, proving she was just a stubborn as her sister.
"Wouldn't you be depressed if you were me?" Alex finally snapped as she pulled away from Vicky. She went over to the window and stared out at the falling snow.
Vicky blinked in surprise. "I have no idea. You've been...distant for a while now, Alex. Dad mentioned it to me last week. He's worried about you. We all are."
"I'm just tired, Vicky." Alex said in a more subdued tone.
"You're always tired these days, sis." Vicky joined Alex at the window. "Come on Alex, we used to be able to talk about everything."
"Did we? I don't recall talking to you about serial killers or rage killings, cops who blow their brains out in front of their own families or any of those things."
"Is that it? Work? It's finally getting to you?" Vicky asked.
Alex smiled sadly as she shook her head. "No, actually. Work is the only thing I've got going for me right now. That's my life, Vicky. Murderers, liars, thieves and other ne'er-do-wells."
"I don't understand. That doesn't make you depressed?"
"Not really. It angers me. But sadly it gives me a reason to exist. The only reason."
"Alex! How can you say that? You've got us! Your family! What about Nathan?"
"I love Nathan. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for him. But he's not mine."
"But you..." Vicky began.
"I'm not trying to make you feel horrible, Vicky. I'm really not. But do you know how frustrating it is to get together with your family and be the only one..." Alex's voice cracked and she took a moment to compose herself. "The only one without a husband or children of my own? Hell, I don't even have a boyfriend. I can't even get my partner from work to...I mean he would rather sit home alone and depressed than spend..." Alex quickly wiped away a tear. "Than spend time with me."
"No! That's not..." Bobby began.
Ross put a hand on his arm. "She can't see or hear you, remember?"
"This is my dream! I want to stop this. I want to talk to her!" Bobby yelled.
"You can't," Ross stated simply as Bobby glared at him.
Vicky pulled Alex in to a hug. "Oh come on, honey, you know he's had a bad year, too."
"I know. But it still hurts. I know things have been awkward with us lately but I thought maybe this year he would finally stop pushing me away. I guess some things never change."
"Give it time, Alex. Either he'll come around or he won't. You can only do so much. And if he doesn't come around, it's his loss. Some people are just bound and determined to be miserable."
"I am not!" Bobby exclaimed indignantly.
Vicky took Alex's hand and pulled her towards the door. "Come on, stop brooding about your partner and let's go get Nathan. You can't do anything about Bobby but you can make Nathan one very happy little boy."
The two sisters left the room hand in hand as Bobby felt his heart break. I didn't mean to hurt her. I just didn't think I'd be good company for her. She deserves to be with her family. She deserves to be happy.
"It's not just her family that makes her happy," Ross said as he also headed for the door. "Time to go, Goren."
"No, how do I fix this? I need to talk to Eames." Bobby followed Ross out the door but kept looking around for Alex.
"You can't do anything about it now. You should have just taken her up on her offer." Ross was practically running out the front door.
"Then what is the purpose of bringing me here?" Bobby asked as he tried to keep up.
"To show you that you don't always know what's best," Ross replied as he hopped back into the SUV. "Now come on, we're going to be late."
"Late? For what?" Bobby asked without really wanting to know.
"You'll find out at the appropriate time." Ross gave Bobby a genuine smile. That frightened Bobby more than the sarcasm and smirks.
The drive back to his apartment was made in silence. Bobby stared out the window at the snow that kept falling.
Ross pulled up in front of Bobby's apartment building and seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of him. "Here you are, safe and sound. Now get out."
Bobby glared at Ross. "What is your problem with me?"
"I told you, I'm behaving like you expect me to. It's your own fault! Now get out! I have to get to another dream and that one is a lot more fun than this one."
Bobby smirked. "I didn't know M.E. Rodgers had dreams like that."
Ross blushed crimson. "Just get out and you'll be rid of me for the rest of the evening," he said as he avoided looking at Bobby.
Bobby got out of the SUV and watched Ross drive off. Ross and Rodgers...nah...it must be my imagination.
He felt the exhaustion in his bones as he finally stepped off the elevator on his floor. As he turned towards his apartment, he saw someone standing in front of his door. A feeling of dread came over him as he cautiously approached.
The figure was wearing a heavy black coat with the collar turned up and a black hat. He or she was facing the door to Bobby's apartment.
"Ah...excuse me..." Bobby said hesitantly.
The figure slowly turned to face him.
tbc...