Chapter 18

Bobby jerked his chair back and fell into it a little too hard. Alex lifted an eyebrow at him from across their desks. "Care to share?"

"I screwed up."

"Come on, let's get some lunch." Alex popped up out of her chair and grabbed her jacket. Bobby sat scrubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he rose to follow Alex. They didn't speak on the elevator. It was crowded at the lunch hour and full of idle chatter. He followed her silently through the front doors of 1PP. They grabbed a seat at a busy little diner just down the block.

"What happened?" Alex asked.

Bobby shook his head. "I… I lost it with Gyson. She asked about you and… and I panicked. Then I… I tried," he shook his head. "I tried to cover and ended up accusing her of thinking I was hitting on her. Then I just got mad… and…."

"Wait. Start over. She asked you about me. What did she want to know?"

Bobby leaned back heavily in the booth. "She wanted to know if I have romantic feelings for you."

"And you said?" Alex tried to see his eyes but the salt shaker had his complete attention.

"I… I said something about respecting you… and… and that you're like a sister to me…"

Alex tried to stifle her laugh but just ended up choking on her sip of diet coke. Bobby's head shot up and he stared at her in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Bobby, but I'm like a sister to you?" Her eyebrows disappeared into her hair. "That's guy speak for 'Yeah, I like her'. Gyson knows."

"What do I do now?"

"You have to tell her the truth. She has to trust you, Bobby. It goes both ways. And, from what you've told me about her, I think you can trust her."

Bobby sat uncharacteristically still except for the finger he was tapping on the table. "What if…?" Alex's cell phone rang. She looked at the screen to see if she really needed to answer. "It's the captain. Eames… We're on our way." Alex dropped her hand onto Bobby's. "We'll talk more about it tonight, o.k.?"

Bobby nodded. "Where are we headed?"

"Rogers is waiting for us."

As strange as it might be, Alex loved to watch Bobby in the M.E.'s office. She and Rogers had discussed "Bobby and the bodies" in great length. After their captain's death, Alex had reached out to the very private medical examiner. They had become fairly close. Rogers was very good to her when she and Bobby had reopened Joe's case. She respected Bobby and seemed to understand him better than most. While they had tussled over more than one body, Bobby had a healthy respect for her as well. Alex excused herself from Roger's office to answer her cell phone. Bobby was standing next to the body with his fist to his mouth, contemplating their next move. Rogers stood at the victim's head. "Detective," she began but received no response from the big detective who was lost in thought. "Detective Goren?" Bobby slowly turned to face her, pulling himself away from his thoughts. He waited for her to continue.

"Detective, I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're back, you and Alex both." She shifted her weight back and forth, uncomfortable with her personal revelation. Bobby nodded. Alex stuck her head in the door, "The phone records and financials are back."

Bobby moved toward Rogers and the door. He stopped just past Rogers and turned back half way, "Thank you. It's good to be back. Believe it or not, I missed this." His hand flew wildly around his head. Rogers smiled. "I believe that coming from you." Bobby smiled too and headed through the door to find Alex.

The following weeks ran together. Bobby and Alex were swamped at work. Their evenings however belonged to them. Alex could see that he was healing. One night, after they had spent the day "on Broadway," Bobby pulled Alex close as they settled into bed. "Do you think we could have what other people have?"

"What do you mean?"

He pulled her in even closer. "You know, a normal life?"

"Normal? I'm not sure what normal is, exactly, but yes, I think that if we work at it…" she turned to face him. "We could make each other happy for the rest of our lives."

"Is that what you want?"

She buried her head into the crook of his neck. "A life with you? Yes, that's what I want."

"I love you, Alex. That won't change."

"I know. And I love you too." Alex yawned and Bobby stroked her arm until she fell asleep. For the first time, he allowed himself to contemplate the long term. It didn't scare him or leave him feeling empty and alone. He had hope, something he had not had in a very long time.

Thanks for reading! One more chapter ought to finish things up.