BOBBY

He hasn't asked any questions tonight and yet somehow he thinks he's answered them anyway. He worried all the way over to her apartment that he wouldn't be able to pick up the pieces, that his presence would be ineffective and only complicate things, but holding his partner while she cries and feeling her tears soak the front of his shirt, he knows he made the right decision. She wasn't looking for answers tonight – she was looking for absolution, for deliverance – and somehow his simple gesture of friendship has been enough. It's an interesting idea for his ever-cycling brain to wrap itself around, this notion that he doesn't always have to provide all of the answers to all of the questions. It's even more mind-boggling to realize that sometimes he doesn't even have to know the questions in order to answer them.

So how far would Bobby go to keep his partnership with Alex intact? Tonight, all that's required is for him to hold her while she cries – will tomorrow bring a greater challenge? If so, how will Bobby handle it? Neil Colby stooped to murder to fix his – would Bobby do the same if he thought he was in danger of losing Alex? He isn't sure. All he knows is that he understands why Neil took the action that he did and, in the meantime, he hopes that the other questions never present themselves.

Tonight, it's hard to believe that they ever will.

"Bobby?" Alex's voice suddenly breaks the rhythm of her sobs and he can't help but be startled at how small and brittle it sounds. He isn't used to it – but then, he isn't used to holding onto her while she cries on his shoulder either. The Alex Eames he is familiar with doesn't show a lot of emotion – a good trait to have in their line of work – and yet this Alex seems ultimately more human and even a bit more real. Tonight she has fallen off the pedestal he tends to keep her on, but somehow it only makes him care about her more.

"Hm?" is his soft response.

She pulls back just far enough to look him in the eye. "Thanks for coming tonight."

"You're welcome," he replies truthfully.

"And Bobby?" she adds when her head comes back to rest on his shoulder.

"Hm?" he repeats.

"You're not like Neil Colby," she tells him. "You understood him, but you're not anything like him. Remember that, okay?"

"Yeah," is all he can manage, stunned once more by her unfailing ability to read his thoughts. She knew what was running through his mind without him telling her. She understands the depths to which he fell in her absence and she has pulled him back yet again.

Wordlessly, he holds her a little tighter and silence wraps itself comfortably around them like an afghan. There is nothing more to say. Tonight – the first anniversary of Delivery Day – Alex and Bobby have delivered each other.

FIN