Eyes Wide Open

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. This story is on an AU track.

Chapter 3: Brothers and Sisters In Blue

"Must be nice being a consultant," Fin teased. "No paperwork, and you get to come in whenever you feel like it."

Goren didn't laugh. "I'd meant to be in an hour ago," he said, clearly frustrated that this hadn't come to be. "But my girlfriend wasn't feeling well this morning, and then my car started giving me trouble on the way in. I was worried it wouldn't make it into the garage."

"Don't worry about it," Olivia assured him, walking up from behind him. "We all have those days. Hell, I probably have more of them than anyone; I have a toddler and a seven-year-old."

"Do you mind if I have a friend of mine come into the garage and take a look at it?" he asked her. "I know it's not standard to have civilians walking into our parking garage, but it's kind of a specialty car, and not every mechanic knows how to deal with it."

"No, go ahead. Just have your friend sign in."

"Hey, look what we got!" Rollins walked into the squad room, clutching a large, thick yellow envelope. "I think this is the Sebastian file."

"Finally," Amaro said, walking up to get a look at it. "It's been a week."

"Goren, I think this is for you." Rollins handed him a single sheet of lined paper with a handwritten note.

Bobby

Here are the full crime scene and autopsy reports from the Sebastian case, including pictures. I'm still pushing them to hand over the rest of the file; they're being extremely territorial, you know how they hate to share. Hope this helps in the meantime!

-Carolyn

"Better than nothing, but not as good as everything," he commented, handing the note to Olivia so she could read it.

She made an audible sound of frustration. "I don't get it. I mean, I understand wanting a collar for yourself, but taking that to the extreme of withholding information that could save a life?"

Goren smiled a little sadly. "As much as we wish it were different, not all cops' motives are pure, and I'm not just talking about those who are outright dirty. They blew this case twenty-one years ago; they don't want to be showed up by the NYPD."

"Then let them put their effort into working the case," Olivia grumbled. "But instead, they just block us. Come on, give me that file. Let's see what we got."

xxxxxxxxx

"Hey, Liv!"

She turned, smiling when she saw the petite blonde woman standing near the door. "Alex. What are you doing here?"

"Helping out a friend." The Lieutenant smiled. "So, how's married life treating you?"

"I can't complain. Unless you count complaining about the old married woman jokes my squad keeps throwing at me."

Alex laughed. "Well, they'll stop. Eventually."

"How would you know?" Olivia teased. "You've never been married. Have you?" she added belatedly when Alex didn't reply.

"For three years, fifteen years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you couldn't have known. It's not something I talk about very much."

"What happened?" Olivia asked. "Messy divorce?"

"No." Alex smiled sadly, shaking her head. "I'm not divorced. Joe - Joe was a cop too, worked narcotics. One night he was making an undercover buy from a drug dealer who had his nervous teenage cousin with him. He moved the wrong way, and nervous teenage cousin pulled the trigger."

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," Olivia said again.

"Don't. It's okay. I don't avoid talking about it because I can't deal with it or anything like that. It just seems so far removed from my life now. So," she said, quickly changing the subject. "You and Elliot."

"It's going great. I'm almost worried we're going to crash sooner or later, we're flying so high right now. But when I really think about it, it's not like that's some constant of the universe, that unbelievably good now means it'll fall apart later. We just have to keep working at it. So, you told me at the wedding that you were thinking of contacting your former partner."

"Actually," she corrected with a smile, "I said you inspired me."

"Okay, I inspired you. So, did you? What happened?"

Before Alex could reply, the garage door creaked open, and Olivia looked over to see Bobby Goren standing there. The first thought that crossed her mind was how bizarre it was to have both of them in her field of vision. Bobby Goren was one of the biggest people she'd ever met, and probably the biggest person she'd actually worked with. Even in heels, Alex Eames barely came up past Olivia's shoulder, and she was as slender as she was short.

She looked back to Eames, intending to introduce her to their consultant, only to see that the blonde woman's eyes had lit up at the sight of him. "Hey."

He smiled. "Hey. Thanks for coming out of your way."

She smiled back. "Anytime. What's the damage on the car?"

"Lewis towed it back to his shop. He said he thinks the engine needs a new belt."

She grinned full-on now. "Guess you're stuck with me as a chauffeur for the time being, then."

It wasn't the words that struck Olivia so much as the nonverbal parts of their interaction. Despite their differences, they seemed to fall into an almost perfect sync with each other the moment they occupied the same space. It was like they breathed in harmony. "You two know each other," she said finally.

"Oh, sorry," Bobby said quickly.

Alex turned to the dark-haired woman with a smile. "You were asking about my partner from Major Case?"

"You two were partners," she realized.

"Nine years," Bobby replied. "Right up until I retired."

The unbelievable connection between them suddenly seemed to make sense to Olivia. She and Elliot had certainly grown close in their twelve years of partnership, and Elliot had been by all measures more or less a normal cop. She could tell that Bobby Goren was one of the last people who could ever be described as normal, and an abnormal cop would likely have had to struggle to fit in. She'd always been quick to defend Elliot against IAB or anyone else who seemed a threat to him; she had no doubt Alex would have defended her partner against the entire department if necessary. The closeness of a partnership would have only been heightened by the sense of being together against the world.

"Olivia's the friend I told you about," Alex was explaining. "The one whose wedding I was at."

"So your new husband is your old partner?" he asked, clearly having connected the rest of the dots on his own.

Olivia nodded. "Yep. We were partnered for almost twelve."

"Must've been a good partnership," Alex said wryly.

"I could say the same to you."

Alex shrugged, not denying Olivia's comment. "It was. This man here's the best partner I've ever had."

The big man dropped his head, staring at his shoes. Alex smiled knowingly. "Although he absolutely cannot take a compliment. C'mon, let's go home."

By some unspoken agreement, he walked around and settled himself in the passenger's seat while she slid in behind the wheel. Olivia thought she'd known couples who'd been married for years that weren't half so in sync. She smiled as she watched the car drive out.

"I guess I owe Olivia," Bobby commented as they drove out of the garage. "For bringing us back together."

"She shouldn't have had to," Alex replied softly. "I should've reached out to you on my own."

"Hey," he chided gently. "Nothing was stopping me from making the first move."

They were stopped at a light, so Alex chanced leaning over the center console to briefly kiss him. He smiled warmly. "And if I'd realized what I was missing," he admitted, "I would have."

A little short, I know, but I wanted to get all our major players on the same page before I throw in the next major plot point. I'm really sorry this took so long, but reality kind of got in the way and I had to spend a ton of time doing non-fanfic writing, which got in the way of this and my other story. Anyway, I'm back!

This chapter references the CI episode Amends. (I'm not going to keep tagging Blind Spot in every chapter, just know that the story in general will reference that episode a lot.)

Reply to anonymous review: I know that Jo's primary intent was to get Declan's attention, but what's important in this case (besides the fact that it led them to Goren) was that Gage, who knew Sebastian better than anyone, actually believed it was Sebastian. That will eventually become very, very relevant.

Please review.