A/N: Pivotal chapter. Enjoy.
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December (~one week after Thanksgiving)
Friday – 6:15 pm – Redstone Women's Center
Alex stands in front of her closet, picking up top after top from the rack and putting each one back. What she desperately needs is something she hasn't worn before. If she was in New York right now, she would have already ditched the closet and gone shopping.
Bobby's picking her up tonight after work and taking her to dinner.
She loves their relationship. He's incredibly sweet and everything is great. They hold hands, cuddle, and occasionally sleep in the same bed but don't have sex.
So basically, an old married couple.
Maybe he's right though. Keeping things simple makes sense for now. She's still in counseling. They've both had their lives uprooted and would rather be in New York. It won't always be like this.
She managed to get done work early tonight, rushed home, showered, and now stands in a bathrobe staring at the same three tops and wishing she had put more thought into what she had sent out here, so in the random chance she'd be going on a date, she wouldn't look like she was going to work or physical therapy.
It's not like she can ask Inspector Casey with the US Marshals or Agent Asshole to take her shopping.
She can't borrow her friends' clothes since none of them is a petite size.
Finally, in the back of the closet, she finds a skirt and decides to put that on with a sweater and that's about as exciting as her ensemble is going to get. She decides to wear her hair up, which Bobby seems to like. She picks out a pair of dress boots that come up to her knees and are cute.
She leaves her clothes lying on her bed and goes back to the bathroom to start fixing her hair and putting make-up on. There's a good chance she'll be staying over at Bobby's, so she quickly returns to her bedroom, pulls out her overnight bag, and tosses in some things.
It's only because her friends cover for her and sign her back in that she's able to get away with spending the night with him. They all do this for one another.
It's strange to her how much she's willing to overlook when she used to be so firm about following rules.
xxx
It's just after 7:00 when she finishes getting ready. There's a knock at the door. Bobby said he'd be there by 7:30 and he's usually right on time, so she thinks it might be one of her friends down the hall.
Alex glances through the peephole and there's Bobby.
She opens the door. "Hey, come in." He enters without saying anything. Shoulders are slumped. Head is lowered. He's unhappy, but also pensive. Something's off.
It could just be work and he needs to vent, which means he'll be a little grumpy tonight until he has a drink or she gets him talking about whatever it is.
She closes the door behind him and they wander into her living room area.
"So, I was thinking about that restaurant you like near the art gallery. You love their stuffed mushrooms. If you want, we can walk over to that gallery afterward. See if they have a Lucian Freud exhibit."
"I wish we could do that." His lips lift into a little grin. "And I was just thinking about those stuffed mushrooms."
She looks into his eyes and steps closer. "What's wrong?"
"They're sending me to Quantico for a few weeks and from there I'll be reassigned. I wasn't told why. Just that it's an upper-level decision."
"From your boss, Dunkirk, or from Dana?"
"Dunkirk."
"Does Dana know what your UC found? Has there been anything more on that since Thanksgiving?"
"I haven't told her anything. I might have a name. The UC called and I scribbled some notes from that I need to look over. Probably make sense of it on the plane ride. But…"
He pulls out his phone, checks the time, and shoves it back into his pocket. "I barely have time to pack and get to the airport. I wanted to see you before I go."
"You need to pull Dana aside and tell her, Bobby. Tell her everything. I don't like the timing of this. Something's off."
"She's not answering her phone. Might be in New York. I have to go." He goes to hug her.
Alex sighs. "I hate this."
"Me too. Just be safe."
He separates from her, then reaches inside his interior pocket and hands her his backup Glock and a small bag with ammo. "Just in case."
She nods and puts it under the couch for now. She'll have to find a better spot to hide it.
No firearms of any kind are allowed in the building, except for security officers. While she's living here, any bureau-issued service weapons would have to stay in a lock box inside the field office.
This doesn't exactly help when Malik and his goons are a bigger threat than anything on the job. One of them already tried to break in.
He steps away and walks toward the door. Alex is standing back by the couch. She's not going to hug him again, as much as she wants to, because the chances of her actually letting him go are dropping by the second.
His hand is on the door, he turns the knob and stands there while his gaze is focused ahead and his thoughts are somewhere else.
She wonders why he hasn't moved or what he might be thinking about telling her.
"Bobby?"
Suddenly, he releases the doorknob and walks back over to her.
Then he touches her cheek, guides her face toward his, and kisses her. She instantly reaches for his shoulders and pulls him close, although she's standing on her toes and her neck isn't at a good angle.
They deepen the kiss quickly, practically sinking into each other's arms.
Her head is about to explode. Nothing is clear right now except that she needs this.
She wants to savor this moment and all the tiny little details; tastes, scents, touches, the whole experience, but all she can think about is that he's leaving her and this is a goodbye kiss and she absolutely hates the bureau right now.
Bobby breaks the kiss and leans his forehead to hers. He needs something to hold, so he grabs both of her hands. "I'll try to reach you as soon as I can. Keep your phone on."
"I will." Her eyes are filling with tears.
He steps back from her, releases her hands, and walks toward the door. Once again, he's holding the knob and looking back at her.
He's still upset, hurt, pissed off, or some combination of all of that, but has to keep going because he has no choice.
Then as he's exiting. "Alex… I love you."
He's gone and the door closes before she can process the words.
One of the rare times he uses her first name and it's to communicate something like this.
After he leaves, she's in a fog. It's maybe a couple of minutes of just thinking about the feel of his lips, his hands, his body, their closeness, the emotions, and his words.
Her thoughts are interrupted by a loud boom and then a low rumble sound that comes from somewhere outside. It's strong enough that it feels like the building shook.
Her New York instinct takes over and she's grabbing her keys and running out into the hallway with the thought that she has to make sure that whatever the hell that was, Bobby's okay.
Her neighbors have already started opening their doors and poking their heads out to see what the hell the commotion is about. She rounds the corner hallway, enters the lobby, and rushes toward the double doors while Dory, the front desk clerk who is about to leave for the night, and John, the security guard call her name and for all of their efforts, there isn't a damn thing anyone is going to do to stop her.
She's regretting her choice of footwear, though. As cute as these boots are, she can't run in them.
Her eyes pan everywhere until she sees a billow of smoke coming from the main parking lot on the side of the building.
The cars belong to the center staff and approved visitors. Probably enough room for 80 cars in two rows, which is excessive because there aren't that many vehicles ever. On a Friday night, the lot is almost empty.
Once she's outside of the building, she follows the sidewalk to the left, down the length of the front of the building before turning to her left again, passing some transformer units, up some stairs and she's in the first row of cars.
Bobby's car is in the second row and is engulfed in flames. The next closest car belonging to staff is several spaces over. She goes through a few seconds of panic as she notices someone lying on the pavement a few feet away and realizes it's him.
He wasn't inside the car, so it's likely that he saw something and tried to get away but was still close enough to be thrown from the blast.
The parking lot is cold because it's December, although fortunately it's dry and there's no snow or ice.
Then she's squatting down and sitting on the ground beside him.
"Bobby…? Bobby…?"
He's lying on his back, unconscious, and has a weak pulse but he's breathing. Not the worst case scenario, but she's going to worry until she knows more.
Glancing over him, there are a few small cuts on his forehead which she assumes are from shattered glass pieces. On the back of his head is a larger gash.
No need for CPR for now, but she's going to watch him until the paramedics arrive.
She puts one hand over the gash to apply pressure. With the other hand, she's brushing some of the short strands back, which is pointless because it's not like his hair needs grooming, but it's comforting because touching Bobby just is.
"I guess this is one way to get out of going to Quantico," she teases. At least she hopes.
She leans her head down toward his ear and says, "I love you too. Stay with me. I'm here. Not going anywhere, partner." Her voice breaks with her words.
Yep, she's crying again.
The sirens close in and a fire truck and ambulance enter the lot. Two patrol cars follow.
As she's sitting up and wiping her eyes, she looks over to see Curtis, one of the maintenance guys standing on the side of the building. There's a cigarette in his hand. His eyes are looking toward the burning car. He's likely the one who called it in.
She's not supposed to be out here, but she'll thank him at the next opportunity. She also wants to know what he saw.
Emergency vehicles park and workers file out of vehicles.
The place erupts into chaos in a matter of minutes as more cops show up. Administrative-level Redstone staff who had left for the day returned to talk to the police and there's probably a big paper trail for them. There's also a media van here like it's the biggest thing around.
She plans to stay with Bobby. The cops, fire department, and EMTs are all trying to find out what happened, they're throwing questions at her left and right. She's relaying all of Bobby's important medical information to a very sweet, sympathetic female EMT named Vicky. She tells a male officer what she saw and then directs him over to Curtis who had been there first.
The rest are looking at her like she's in the way.
EMTs Vicky and Jon are willing to let her ride along with him to the nearest hospital which is about ten miles away in Aurora. She'll have to find a way back.
Then Vicky becomes concerned about his weak pulse and mumbles something about his pupils to her partner and starts rushing to get them on the road.
But as Alex is about to stand up and get into the back of the bus, two strong arms grab her by the shoulders from behind and pull her backward.
She turns around and looks into the eyes of Agent Kirkpatrick."What the hell do you think you're doing, Ms. Eastman?"
It would be one thing if he actually cared about her well-being or exposure out here instead of just being an arrogant, controlling prick with too much authority.
"Get off me!" She hisses. The unfortunate thing is that with the way she's sitting, and with his arms through hers, he's able to prevent her from standing up.
So aside from causing him serious bodily harm to escape—and she's considering it—she doesn't see a lot of options to get herself free.
"Leave me the hell alone! I'm going with him!"
When one of the cops walks up to see what the commotion is about, Agent Asshole waves his badge and backs him off.
Then to her, "I'll cuff you if I have to!"
Vicky and Jon look over at her and she sees that they need to leave and the last thing she's going to do is delay Bobby from getting medical help so she waves them off.
As soon as the doors are shut and the ambulance is on its way, Kirkpatrick moves to allow her to get up.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Inside!" he orders her.
She glares at him but starts walking toward the entrance.
Her eyes glance everywhere for Curtis, wanting to talk to him but he's nowhere in sight.
She walks in through the front and gets a lot of glances and probably some mutters about how she broke the rule, and she'll probably get a reprimand and have to attend some bullshit lecture, watch an hour-long video on the rules and sign a form vowing not to do it again.
Meanwhile, she's thinking about a plan to get to the hospital.
Alex reaches the door to her suite and looks to her right where she sees her three friends in the hallway staring back at her with concerned expressions.
"I need your help. But first, I need to tell you what's really going on."
xxx