A/N: Apologies for taking so long to update! I will finish, I promise.

ooOoo

The phone vibrated again. It was the fifth time in the last hour. Or was it the sixth? Eames was beginning to lose count. She tried like hell to ignore the damn thing, but much like its owner, she just couldn't.

She wasn't sure where Goren went. It couldn't be far; the phone was usually attached to him. Try as she might, she couldn't refocus on her computer. Eames couldn't remember what they discussed after they found the blood stains on the desk chair. Of course, if Goren was there, she'd be able to ask him. With renewed effort she went back to work but that peace was broken a short time later when Robert Goren returned.

It used to amuse her that he could take over any room with his presence, even a room full of cops. There was such a strong sex appeal, such intellectual magnetism that she used to like how it would envelop her and swept her along into his whirlwind. But this had passed and now she was merely annoyed with herself for being so foolish.

"Have you seen my phone?" He asked, the words were rushed, tinged with panic.

"On your desk. It rang a couple of minutes ago." She didn't bother looking up and sheer stubbornness kept her from asking him anything now, no matter how badly she wanted it.

"Damn!" Goren dug through is desk, finding it under a stack of papers, not bothering with keeping the files from sliding into one another and onto the floor.

Eames could hear his mother's reedy voice over his labored breath in each successive message. He swore again. "I gotta go," was all he said and with one motion his cell phone snapped shut, he scooped up his coat and left.

There wasn't anything she could do. Protesting got her nowhere, just a delayed view of his back as he ran for the elevator. She knew everyone was watching her, unsure it was pity or disgust that they felt. Her fingers tapped the keyboard but the will to continue failed her. Anger seethed under the surface. He was her partner. They were supposed to trust each other, back each other up. But this was too hard. He was tearing at every nerve in her being.

Without thinking, she jumped out of her seat and walked into Captain Ross' office and shut the door.

ooOoo

He was pretending not to notice her talking to Ross. Although her back was to him, Logan could see her ignoring the Captain's request to sit down. Her gestures were emphatic and head shook with frustration. She was fed up. Stealing one last look, he tore his eyes away and looked straight at Wheeler. He couldn't quite read the expression on her face and preferring not to know went back to work without comment.

ooOoo

It had been a long day, longer than normal it seemed to Logan. Although the business of law and order continued around them, the tension surrounding Alex Eames was palatable, keeping everyone including Logan himself, away from her.

He knew she would talk to him but now wasn't the time. Maybe some night this week they would go out. There was a new Italian place that opened up near his apartment. His thoughts immediately froze. No, he wasn't doing that. At least not with Eames; she was different.

But he didn't want to wait. So Logan managed to time his departure with hers, which wasn't that hard to do, considering his present case load. He was waiting for her as she exited the building.

"Hey."

"Hi." Eames didn't bother to hide her smile.

They walked a bit before she spoke again, almost as if they thought someone was lurking. "Aren't you off tomorrow? I was thinking of going to a movie in the afternoon. Would you like to join me?" Eames immediately felt foolish. She was sure Logan heard the nervous squeak in her voice.

"I'd love to but I have a court appearance for a case," he said. "For all I know I'll just sit in the courtroom for the whole day and they never get to me." Eames tried to mask her disappointment but Logan caught it anyway. "What about when I'm done? The court can't keep me past 5:00pm and as long as no one is killed under mysterious circumstances sometime tomorrow and neither of us is needed to solve it, we can at least have dinner."

"Okay," Eames hoped she sounded casual. She wasn't used to asking guys out on dates. They usually did the pursuing and she did the rejecting. At least, that's what she told herself.

"I'll call you in tomorrow once I get an idea of what time I may be called."

Something was better than nothing, she thought. Aloud she said, "That sounds good to me." They had reached the parking garage entrance. Eames looked behind her and then at Logan, trying to shake an odd feeling. "Do you need a ride? I can drop you off somewhere."

For a split second Logan considered it and then immediately rejected it. There was something about her right at this moment that he had to remove himself from her space.

"Thanks, but I need a walk tonight. Too much sitting." He too looked around.

"I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow," Eames said, reaching for her car keys.

"Yeah, tomorrow. I look forward to it." And before Eames could say anything else, Logan gave her a smile and quickly walked away into the night.

/to be continued

ooOoo

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