A/N Frame

Chapter 70

Bobby and Alex were finally back on track. They were closer than they'd ever been. He told her most everything now, before she even asked. The only thing he kept from her was anything to do with the Gages. When he'd been honest about that, it had only caused her pain.

Alex, too, had a few secrets, but not many. She didn't talk about Johnny much. He still had problems with her seeing Bobby, especially since his suspension. Johnny didn't understand, and it looked like he never would. So Alex kept quiet about it. There was no reason to reopen old wounds.

Tonight, Bobby sat across from her and played with what was left of his food.

"Something on your mind?" She asked softly.

He shrugged and grunted and tossed his fork down. "Uhm, Monday, uh, would have been Mom's birthday."

Instantly, Alex remembered everything about the previous year. Running into Frank, Bobby's excitement about that, and then the disappointment when Frank hadn't shown up to see her. She reached out and took his fingers in hers.

"I…I was thinking, you know, I should go see her."

Alex nodded, looking into his eyes when he graced her with a glance.

"I mean, I haven't been out there in a while, and her birthday, you know I always tried to make it special for her."

"Sounds good, Bobby."

He raised his head and smiled at her, tightening his grip on her fingers.

When he left that night, he kissed Alex deeply. Then he held his hands against her head, his forehead touching hers and his eyes closed. "Alex, I love you," he whispered.

She kissed him again before sending him home.

They had both parties in interrogation. Alex worked the girl, and Bobby worked her brother. The two sat at opposite ends of the long table with the detectives hovering behind them.

Bobby pulled out a slip of paper and showed it to the man. He showed him his signature. "It's your dyslexia," he told him.

The woman realized she'd been betrayed. She lunged for him, crawling over the top of the table to get at him.

Bobby easily flipped her off the table and pinned her against the wall. Alex held out her cuffs, and Bobby locked them into place. As they walked out of interrogation, Ross congratulated them.

"When you're done with the paperwork, take a day," Ross told them and walked away.

Bobby looked over at his partner, and she simply said, "Go."

"Are you sure?" he asked, and she nodded sincerely. Bobby hurried back to his desk and headed out.

Bobby stopped to get her flowers, a dozen white roses. As he set them against her gravestone, he noticed something on the ground just to the side. He bent down and picked it up. It was a framed picture of himself and Frank as kids. Frank was about 9 and Bobby was about 6.

Bobby glanced around quickly, thinking Frank might be nearby. He saw no one, so he turned back to the photograph. Frank had his arm around him protectively.

Suddenly, Bobby longed for his big brother. He looked around once more, thinking Frank must have brought the picture here, to honor their mother.

He wasn't in the cemetery, though. Bobby stayed with his mother a while longer, but his thoughts were consumed with Frank. Ever since he'd cut him off, he hadn't seen or heard from him. Bobby walked past his apartment sometimes, the one he'd had last year, but he never stopped. He never ran into his brother on the street.

And as much as it had hurt to sever the ties with him, it had seemed the right thing to do at the time.

Bobby carried the picture with him, feeling the cold glass under the pad of his thumb. If Frank had brought this to Mom, there was a chance he was straightening out. There was still that chance.

Bobby cooked his dinner and scooped it out of the pan and into a bowl. He stood at the counter, looking through his mother's old photo album and thinking of family. Thinking of how much he missed having family. He ate another bite and dropped the fork back into the dish. He thought about that conversation, when Frank had told him about his mother's accident, and how he had taken care of both of them the whole weekend. Frank had been 7 at the time.

He stared at the photograph of him and his brother a while longer, and kept thinking about that chance. And Bobby knew that since he was the one to break things off, he had to be the one to open the door. He took two steps to the kitchen table and picked up his cell phone.

After a deep breath, he dialed the number. Frank didn't answer, and Bobby didn't know it was because he was high. Bobby put his phone away and cleaned up his kitchen.

Alex called at ten. "How'd it go?" She asked. She knew she would know from his tone if he was all right or not.

"It was… I, I found a picture there. I guess Frank's been to see her."

"That's… that's good," she told him.

"I… tried to call him, but he didn't answer."

Alex had mixed feelings about Frank Goren. She knew he was a junkie, but she also knew Bobby loved him. She thought back to all the hell Bobby had been through on account of Frank and bit her lip.

"Well, he didn't answer, so… so it doesn't matter anyway, right?"

"You want me to come over?"

"N-no. I'm okay. Look, I'll call you tomorrow. We'll get together or something."

"Okay, Bobby. I love you."

Bobby smiled. "You too, Eames."

He just happened to be on Frank's street the next day. Bobby had thought about it all night, and he finally decided Frank must not want to bury the hatchet or he would have returned his call. So Bobby had shoved thoughts of family aside and had occupied his mind with what was most important to him: Alex. He was content, walking down the street in the direction of his neighborhood.

And then he saw the ambulance. And the unmarked cars… the detective writing notes in his pad. His steps slowed as he realized he was right in front of Frank's place. He stopped and turned back. Bobby walked up to the detective. "What's uh, going on here?" he asked.

"Dead junkie," the detective answered, matter-of-fact. "Got high, took a header out his window."

Bobby's heart sank. He had to know. He had to know if it was Frank. He reached into his pocket for his shield and held it high over his head as he trotted through the police tape, down the stairs and past the detective on the scene.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" the guy said.

"Major case, major case," Bobby said. The guy barely caught the glint of gold in his hand. He let him go.

Bobby walked through the passage and into the back alley behind the apartments. The body was on the ground, covered with a sheet until someone gave the go-ahead to take it to the morgue. A lone officer stood guard nearby, waiting for word from his superiors. One guy from CSU and another from the ME's office were on scene, wrapping things up.

Bobby paused, wondering what he would do if it was Frank under there. Then he stepped forward purposefully. He had to know. His badge was on his pocket now, in clear view of everyone. No one would try to stop him.

He bit his lip as he went past the last two workers. Bobby raised his left hand and scratched his neck, trying to summon his courage. He rubbed his face as he squatted down to one knee. He held his breath and pulled back the sheet, only to see Frank staring lifelessly beyond him.

Bobby felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart. He looked away, his hand to his mouth and tears welling in his eyes. He glanced back, and felt the stab again. He pressed his hand hard against his mouth and sobbed.

"Hey, man, are you all right? Detective?" It was the guy from the ME's office.

Bobby got back to his feet and turned away, mumbling through his tears. "My brother. He's my brother."

The guy took Bobby by the arm and guided him over to sit on the steps. He recovered the body as he signaled the CSU man to go get the detective. Bobby looked at the sheet and sobbed again.

"Yeah?" The detective asked as he followed the man back in.

"He said the victim's his brother."

The man stopped and saw the body, then the man mourning on the steps.

"We, uh, got the okay to move it," said the young man from the morgue.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Eames' phone rang just as the Captain began to speak. "Eames, Goren's brother. He's dead. Goren's on scene right now."

Alex felt a chill go through her. She could see the concern in Ross' face. When it came to Bobby's family, he had a hard time keeping it together. Ross was worried about him. She glanced at her phone. The display read "Goren."

"This is him," she said quietly, and lifted the phone to her ear. "Hi, Bobby," she said softly.

"Y-you heard?" he asked.

"The Captain just told me. You holding up?"

He waited too long to answer, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I, uh, I gotta answer some questions."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll see you soon."

"Okay."

He hung up then, and Alex pressed her hands against her head. After last night, she knew how Bobby must feel, how hard he would take it.

The detective and his partner stood by Goren as they put Frank in a bodybag on the gurney and zipped it shut. They watched as they wheeled him away.

"We found 800 bucks in his pocket," the first Detective said. "You think there's more to the story? Your brother had enemies?"

"He was a… gambler and a… junkie for… 30 years," Bobby said. "I'm sure he had some enemies."

"Any names?" asked the other detective.

"I don't know. I didn't keep in touch."

"So… what, you just decided to show up this morning?"

It was all Bobby could do to keep his emotions in check. "Uh," he said shakily, "yesterday was my Mom's birthday. She passed away last year, so…"

"So you're the only family?"

At first Bobby nodded, but then he remembered. "Oh, he's… got a son, Donny, sorry." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But the kid, ran away from him. Look I don't know where the kid is." Bobby got to his feet and stepped off the porch, looking up to the open window from which Frank had fallen. He saw the sheet blowing in the breeze. Turning, he saw the neighbors watching from all sides. Bobby gave the detectives a nod and slowly walked away.

Alex met him at the front entrance of 1PP. Bobby was on his way to the morgue, to sign the paperwork and formally ID his brother's body. She didn't hug him. She knew if she did, he'd fall apart. Instead, she touched his arm gently and walked beside him to the elevator. By grace, they had the car to themselves, and Bobby talked to her as it moved.

"Frankie never blamed himself for anything. He directed his anger out, not in. Where did he get the $800 from?" Bobby looked over at her, then back at the floor. He quietly cleared his throat.

"Could he have won it at the track, or… gambling?" she asked.

Bobby looked over at her. "Yeah." He was quiet a moment as the elevator car came to a stop. "He could have." The doors opened and a man came in. Bobby scooted slightly closer to Alex.

She turned to him and kept her voice quiet. "I'll talk to the Captain. We'll make sure they do a real investigation. You'll be at arm's length, but I'll keep you posted."

Bobby nodded at her and then dropped his gaze to the floor once more.