Many thanks for the positive reaction to this. Some time with Alex and Ross before the action picks up. By the way, there are rumors that even if the WGA Strike is settled soon, there won't be new LOCI episodes until March. So, write!

CHAPTER TWO

Captain Danny Ross sighed and set the receiver back in his phone's cradle. In the fifteen years he'd known the man he'd never realized that the Chief of Detectives was an ass, and a vindictive one. "He couldn't have been like that when I met him," Ross thought. "I wouldn't have liked a man like that, would I?" He shook his head. His postings kept him removed from some of the worst of the NYPD's politics, and his stunning success as the head of several investigation provided him both with an entry into the Brass' world and protection from it. But his year as the head of Major Case led Danny Ross to conclude that he would have to choose between being part of the Brass and being a good cop and captain. "I suspect," he thought. "That the Chief of D's is wondering why we ever became friends." Ross stared out across the Major Case squad room and saw Alex Eames moving steadily through a pile of paperwork. For the past weeks she'd served her time in an uncertain purgatory with quiet grace. Another cop might have tried to hide in disgrace, or resigned from the force, or at least requested a transfer. Ross had offered her a few days off immediately after their and Bobby Goren's punishments were revealed, but Eames refused to hide until things cooled. She calmly and coolly strode into Major Case the day after the hearing. She faced down the few—surprisingly few, Ross thought—hostile or curious looks firmly and went to work.

Ross didn't know quite what to do with her. There was no one to partner her with, and he was reasonably certain that Eames would resist any attempt to give her more than a temporary partner. There were rumblings from the Chief of Detective's office that an ignorance of Detective Alex Eames would please certain members of the Brass. But there were ripples of support for Eames—and Goren—within the Department, and some of those ripples came from members of the NYPD and city government with equal or more power than the Chief of D's.

Ross sighed. He couldn't defend Eames and Goren's actions, but he did understand their motives. He admired Goren's quiet acceptance of his punishment—Ross sensed that Goren in some way wanted and needed some punishment—and Eames' loyalty to Goren. He couldn't shake the feeling that the Department had failed Goren and forced him into taking his extreme actions, and he knew that the detective had suffered terribly as a result of those actions. Ross was a good and effective leader, and he realized that the conspiracy aiding Goren's infiltration of Tate involved several members of Major Case and extended beyond the squad's boundaries. He knew that a poll of Major Case would reveal a great deal of support for Goren and Eames and that his own siding with the two detectives had finally led to the squad's acceptance of him as its captain. In spite of the extra work it meant for the squad, Ross heard no complaints about his failure to find even a temporary replacement for Goren.

"I'm facing a test," Ross thought. "And it's still going on. The Chief doesn't want Goren back…But he's going to be cleared for duty, and I want him back. He's a great detective…this past year…functioning halfway…he was better than any detective I've seen…And a moral man…The Squad needs him…The NYPD needs him…The city needs him…" Ross glanced at a photo showing him with the Chief of Detectives and other officers. "How the Chief could consider Patrick Copa a better cop…better man…than Goren…" Ross walked behind his desk and sat. "Well, I know which side I'm on…I want Goren back…Although, he may not want to come back…"

A frantic knocking on his door broke in on his thoughts. Ross looked up as a deeply worried Alex Eames rushed in his office. She thrust her cell phone towards him.

"Bob…Goren…" She said tensely. "He's inside a bank branch that's being robbed. He dropped his cell phone and left it on. It doesn't sound good." Her voice trembled with the last words.

Ross reached for his phone. "Give me the details, Alex…Let's get ready to move…"

Alex sat unhappily next to her captain. She held her cell phone to her ear. She hated that she wasn't driving, that she couldn't tell what was happening at the other end of the connection, that Bobby wasn't next to her. For the past few weeks the sensation of not sitting next to Bobby had become familiar, but unwelcome. She missed him, missed his physical presence, his reassuring bulk, his warmth, his graceful, expressive hands, his dark eyes, his soft, warm voice. She'd missed him during the few days he'd taken off after his mother's death, but there was a definite end to that period. This suspension was a different matter; Alex didn't know when or if Bobby would return, whether because of the department or his decision. She managed to trick him into coming to her home once in the suspension's early days, but he resolutely maintained a physical distance from her since then. As she nursed a mug of hot chocolate one evening, Alex realized she was waiting for Bobby's call. She'd convinced him, or at least threatened him enough, to call her on a regular basis, and the time was near for one of those calls.

"It is too late," she thought as she stared at her phone. "He means more to me than…certainly my career…He's the most important thing in my life…Oh, God…Does that mean I love him?"

As Ross weaved in and out of traffic, Alex juggled the cell phone, the radio and her thoughts. None were reassuring. Garbled sounds came from the phone, and anything remotely clear was a frightening blur of angry and scared voices. The radio squawked out a cop's nightmare. There were several heavily armed perpetrators and a large number of hostages. Alex processed all of this information with a growing despair.

"Bobby's not in any shape to deal with this," she thought. "Certainly not physically…I don't care how well he says his counseling is going…He's not over what happened at Tate…and there's so much else…Oh, Bobby…"

"We're almost there," Ross said in a tense but controlled voice. "Your partner will be all right."

For once, Alex wasn't upset by the Captain's reference to Bobby as her partner.

"There's no other cop I'd want in a situation like this," Ross continued. "Even with everything that's happened."

Alex looked at him. "You…you mean that," she said softly.

"I do," Ross answered firmly. "I just wish I could see Goren at work without any complications."

Alex nearly blurted out, "He's amazing," but her fear and discretion held her tongue. "I hope you get the chance," she said.

"We're here," Ross said as they rounded a corner.

The announcement wasn't needed. Police cars and barricades blocked the street. Beyond them was a sea of pulsating red lights and blue uniforms. Ross stopped the car in the middle of the street. A wave of his badge appeased the uniformed cops who rushed toward him and Alex.

"You're the detective with the connection inside?" a sergeant asked as she moved to escort Alex and Ross.

Alex nodded. "I'm afraid we can't hear much…"

They arrived at the hastily assembled command center. Alex dimly recognized the Captain in charge as someone her brother had worked with and liked.

"A detective from Major Case is inside?" the Captain asked Ross.

"Detective First Grade Robert Goren," Ross replied. "But he isn't on the job and doesn't have his gun or badge."

The other Captain blinked and frowned, and anger joined Alex's fear.

"Ignore what you may have heard about him," Ross said. "He's not a loose cannon or a whack job. His methods are unusual, but I can't think of another cop I'd want in there. He won't grandstand or try to play the hero. He'll do everything he can to get the civilians out safely."

"But he won't take care of himself," Alex thought. "Not himself."

END CHAPTER TWO