Ross POV

As I crossed the squad room, I was surprised that I didn't recognize anyone.

And no one paid me any mind.

How could that be?

It's only been a year.

Have things really changed so much?

I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but something.

Some kind of wow, it's great to see you, Captain. So glad you're not dead.

Granted, it was the lunch hour so there weren't a lot of detectives around, but still…

I kept my head up and my eyes forward, but I couldn't keep from using my peripheral vision to scan for Goren.

Or Logan.

I wasn't sure what kind of welcome I'd get from either of them.

Goren probably had a party when he thought I was dead, and Logan…please.

Those two were a match made in hell. I'd probably only need to hang around for a few minutes to find multiple departmental violations.

Logan hadn't even been with the department when I left.

In fact, he'd quit a couple of years before, disenfranchised with the whole system, so I'd been really surprised to hear that he was back.

And dating Liz.

How the hell had that happened?

It was hard to say, but it was near the top of my list of things I'm going to fix now that I'm back.

I paused in front of the door to my office.

Her office.

The captain's office that would be mine again soon enough.

The blinds were closed and I wondered for a moment if maybe she was out to lunch.

And then I wondered why I'd even come here.

To apologize for yesterday?

To see Goren and Logan, maybe shake their hands for their part in taking down Hassan?

Who am I kidding?

I'm here because I'm curious as to how things are going in Major Case.

I saw a clip of Eames on the news last night, and I hate to admit it, but she did really well.

Was it possible that she was flawlessly running this department?

And that Goren was happily working beneath her?

When I told Moran that I wanted Eames to fill my vacated spot – when I got the job of Deputy Chief – I never expected her to actually take it.

And I figured that if she did take it, it would be the end of Goren.

Without her, he'd self-destruct in a matter of weeks.

Apparently not.

I raised my hand to knock, but my pride wouldn't let me do it.

I don't knock on the captain's door.

I am the captain.

So I opened the door and saw Logan holding Eames in a bear hug.

And she was smiling.

And Goren was saying something like not even your dented refrigerator can top that.

But at the sound of the door opening, they all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me.

I didn't say anything at first.

Instead, I looked around the room, taking in the casual and relaxed scene.

They were…eating lunch?

Since when did detectives hang out and have lunch in the captain's office?

And then I looked at Logan as he stepped away from Eames, and I was unable to resist analyzing him, wondering what in the world Liz found so appealing about him.

"Ross," Eames stated, blatantly dropping my title and clearly displeased with the fact that I'd interrupted their closed-door session.

Goren got up from his chair and stared at me, too, and suddenly the situation was even more awkward than I'd expected, and I had the insane urge to turn around and run.

"It's going to take time."

That's what my handler had said to me.

"You have to remember that everyone with whom you're re-associating yourself has been under the impression that you were killed."

"No kidding. I'm the one who spent the past year in Wisconsin."

"Which you can't tell them," she'd reminded me forcefully. "You can't tell them anything about what's gone on…our part in the Hassan investigation or what happened afterwards."

"I know the drill, Anne, so spare me the lecture, okay?"

Because it was tough for me to show her any respect.

For the past year, she'd been at my beck and call, specifically assigned to take care of my wants and needs.

Or at least, that's how it felt to me.

I picked out the apartment I wanted, and she secured it.

I told her where I wanted to work, and she got me the job.

For ten months, I'd spouted requests, and nearly every one of them was granted.

"It's customary to knock on a door when its closed," Eames said pointedly.

And I'm not in Wisconsin anymore, I reminded myself.

I started to say something smart.

In fact, I had it right on the tip of my tongue, but considering I was flanked by Logan and Goren, I thought it might be better if I eased up on my position a little.

"Old habits die hard," I said with forced casualness.

"Apparently so do old captains," Logan retorted. And then he put a smile on his face and said, "But it's good to see you, Ross. I'd shake your hand, but…"

He finished his statement by holding up his hand. It was yellowish-brown in places and bluish-purple in others and it had what appeared to be a healing bullet wound in it.

"Hassan's cronies managed to get in a good one," Goren explained. And then he offered his hand and said, "A faked death. I should've considered that one. Your people did a nice job."

I was still reeling from Logan's cordialness.

Had Liz not told him about my visit?

That gave me hope, because if she kept it from him, that meant things might not be all that great between them.

I shook Goren's hand and as I refocused on the current situation, I realized that he was squeezing a little tighter than was necessary, and the handshake went on longer than normal.

Classic alpha male behavior, and yet unexpected from him.

Was he really going to challenge my position here?

I'd have to nip that in the bud as soon as I was back in this office.

Goren finally let go, but he held my gaze for a moment longer and then he turned to Eames and said, "Captain, I'll bring those pictures to you in a few minutes, and then we're going to swing by the CCS and check on their progress."

"Keep me posted," she replied.

Logan gave me a careful onceover and then slowly moved past me, heading for the door.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Ross," he said over his shoulder as he went through the doorway.

"It is," Goren agreed, shaking my hand once more. "You should stop by again some time."

Then he nodded at Eames and left the office.

"Subtle," I said smartly to Eames once we were alone.

"Loyal," she corrected. "So what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to see the old stomping ground again. Where is everybody?" I asked, looking through the open doorway.

"Well, Callas really cleaned house when she took over, so there aren't but a handful of detectives left from your days as captain."

"Callas?"

"My predecessor," she explained.

"What about Zach? And Wheeler?"

"You really haven't called anyone since you've been back, have you?" she asked in surprise. "Zach quit. The NYPD investigation into Hassan's dealings left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He stuck it out for a while, and then he decided he'd had enough. And Megan never came back after having the baby. You know, you go back a ways with both of them…especially Zach."

"Are you going to chastise me for not making a couple of phone calls?" I asked, instantly annoyed with her condescension.

"I'm just wondering what's going through your head."

"Excuse me, Captain?"

"Yes?" I answered at the same time as Eames, and as I turned around to look at the detective standing in the doorway, it finally hit me that he didn't mean me because he was looking at her and then he bounced his gaze to me uncomfortably for a moment and then back to her.

"What can I do for you, Wyatt?" she asked since my presence seemed to have him tongue-tied.

"Oh, it's…we just got a call from the 2-4 and it looks like…our…um…we've got a…um…" he stammered, still watching me closely and then he stepped up to Eames and said something in her ear.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Eames muttered.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. No. Yuille and I are going to…"

"Yes, go."

He gave me a hard stare and then turned and left the office.

"Eloquent," I remarked.

"Cautious," she replied protectively. "You could be a reporter for all he knows."

"Speaking of reporters, I notice you're on a first name basis with a whole slew of them," I said. "I guess they're taking advantage of having a pretty face in the office for the time being."

"This media assignment is short-term."

"You could have a career in that department. I wouldn't close doors just yet."

She stared at me for a moment and then shook her head and walked around the desk, taking a seat and putting the massive structure in between us.

"I can understand that it's probably strange for you," she said as she waved casually at one of the chairs.

I mentally kicked myself for waiting for her offer.

This is my office.

I should've just sat down.

But since I didn't, I wasn't going to do it now.

"Strange?"

"You've been gone. As far as you're concerned, things should still be the same now that you're back. But it doesn't work like that. You made the choice to do what you did, and now you have to live with the consequences."

"I made the choice? You think I chose to be targeted by Hassan?"

"You chose to go undercover with the feds. And with this other unnamed agency that you and I both know is the CIA. And you definitely chose not to trust any of your detectives."

"I was supposed to trust you and Goren?"

"With the fact that you were working cases for dual agencies? Yes," she fired back, and there was that Eames temper again. Or rather, the Goren temper that she'd assimilated. "If we'd have known that, then we would've pieced together what happened. And we might have been able to take Hassan down a whole lot faster. But the CIA never showed its head once you went under and the FBI was in the dark, so it took us a long time to make sure that we had everyone. And now you're back because we were successful, and yet you just expect things to go back to the way they were. That's just not going to happen."

"I want my job back. What's wrong with wanting that?"

"I'm sorry…Captain?"

Yet another detective lurking in the doorway.

This time, I managed not to answer, since it was obvious she wasn't speaking to me.

"What can I do for you Jacobs?"

"Oh," she said when she saw me standing off to the side. "I'll come back."

"I'll be done in just a few minutes," Eames told her, clearly letting me know that I'd be done in a few minutes.

That was fine.

This visit hadn't gone like I'd hoped anyway.

"So…" Eames said as she got up from her chair. "Feel free to walk around and reacquaint yourself with the lay of the land."

"I appreciate the hospitality," I said smartly.

She was going to allow me to walk through my own precinct?

"I understand you have a meeting with Zaring and Moran on Monday," she continued as she came back around in front of the desk.

"Yes, I do."

"Good luck," she said as she offered to shake my hand. I clasped my hand onto hers and she held my gaze and said, "You know, a thank you and a little bit of humility might have made this whole thing different."

"You're the second person who thinks I should've said thank you."

"Liz," she stated knowingly.

"Still a good detective, I see."

"I've only been out of the field for a week now. You know, the Hassan case and all. How long have you been out?"

"Touché, Eames."

"Captain Eames," she corrected with a smile.

"So everyone keeps telling me."

We broke off the handshake and she walked with me to the door, and we got there at the same time that Goren showed up.

"Captain, I've got those pictures," he said to her, ignoring me altogether.

"Thank you," she told him as she accepted the offered file folder.

"And you've got…" he began and then he trailed off and tapped his watch.

"Right," I said after Eames nodded at Goren and he went back to his desk. "Press conference. I won't keep you."

I glanced around the room, seeing that a lot of detectives were back from lunch. The flurry of activity gave me a surge of adrenaline.

I want this back.

"You know," I continued. "If I come back…when I come back…I'll put you back with Goren, if you want. I don't have any problem moving Logan around."

"I'm sure you don't, seeing how he's dating the woman you want," she said, catching me off-guard with her ability to see through my intentions.

"You think I'd make a professional move based on personal motives?"

"Honestly? I don't think it matters. We're discussing an obsolete scenario."

And as we stood there, neither of us backing down from the other, the sprinkler system went off.

I couldn't help but laugh as I looked out across the squad room and watched the detectives scramble to protect their work.

I glanced back at Eames, who was already soaking wet and due in front of the cameras in ten minutes, and I gave her my best condescending smile.

"Obsolete? I think you meant to say imminent."

TBC...