18

Disclaimer: These characters are the property of Dick Wolf, Rene Balcer, and NBC, inc.

A/N: This is the last chapter. It took a while because I wanted it just right. And I'm sorry to be finished. I have the germ of an idea for another fic, but it will be something of a wait before I have time to execute it. I want to give homage to a fic I found while writing this called Quietly by Netherfeld. Most of you have already read it. If you haven't, go find it. It is really good. I took some inspiration from it. Thanks for sticking with me for 19 chapters almost 76,000 words. Wow! Take care and let me know if you enjoyed it.

sheila

Control

Chapter 19

Logan circled around Vinny Russo again, always the look of a predator in his eyes. Barek figured that at least half of his confessions came from that look alone. Vinny Russo looked nothing more than supremely pissed. "You screwed my evening with my kid. We had courtside seats, you prick!"

"Sorry, Vinnie, Barek and I were busy reading up on you. You're talking about your oldest, aren't you? That would Vinnie Jr., correct?"

The man glared. "What! You writing a book?"

"Vinnie J is what you call him, I think. 15 years old. Good grades. Goes to church every week. You got plans for this kid, don't you?"

The man looked away.

"I know you got plans for this kid. There are two types of mafia dads. There are those who introduce their kids to the life young, and there are those who will do anything to keep their kids straight. I'm banking you're the second type."

He rolled his eyes. "You pull me down here for a parenting class or what?"

Barek leaned forward. "Look at this. FBI caught this on camera three weeks ago. Nice picture of Vinnie J. fencing stolen goods out of the trunk of your Lincoln. Kid's a little young to be driving, don't you think?"

Vinnie seized the picture. "Leave my kid alone."

Barek shook her head. "See, they were going to hang onto it. Said they were hoping they could use it some day, but I got a friend and I thought, let's give Vinnie a chance to put his kid back on the right track. I mean, clearly you didn't know about this 'cause you would never let him be so clumsy about it. Look how he's right out on a busy street."

"What are you going to do with this?"

Logan shrugged. "On this alone, the kid could get a year in Spofford. Sounds like a good training ground for an aspiring thug, doesn't it? I hear Vinnie J is something of a math whiz. I hope he keeps up with his studies with all those other kids who can barely spell their names."

"What do you want?" The man looked like he was going to cry.

Logan dropped his hands on the table in front of Vinnie. "Tell us what you know about the hits. Tell us what you know about Paulie Sirico."

Vinnie shook his head. "I don't know nothing. I mean, what do you think? We keep a website up with daily blogs on all our innermost thoughts? Paulie's not going to broadcast his whereabouts, especially now that he knows you're looking for him."

"Yeah, but Vinnie, you know something. You know something we can use because the alternative is that Vinnie J. goes into lockup."

"And you think we're the bad guys," he said, eyes narrow.

"Vinnie, nobody's going to know it was you. Come on. We're interviewing each one of you separately." Barek said softly.

"My kid gets a walk."

Logan nodded. "I'll arrange it, but you better put parenting back on the top of your agenda, and when I mean parenting, I'm saying that beating the hell outta your kid doesn't qualify. I'll be watching for that."

Vinnie Russo sighed. "Here's what I know. There were originally supposed to be two hits."

Logan's eyebrows rose. "Two hits! Come on, Vinnie, you gotta know who. We know one of them is Detective Eames. We have to know who the other one is."

His face screwed up. "Who's Eames?"

"The detective that Ross hired Sirico to kill."

"Is he a big guy?"

Barek frowned. "Eames is a woman."

"Uh-uh, Sirico didn't get no contract on a female. We don't do that kind of work if we can help it."

Logan looked at Barek for a moment before responding to Russo. "Who, Vinnie? Who?"

Vinnie let out a deep breath. "You ask me to testify and I'm denying it. Swear to God!"

Logan slammed a fist on the table. "Who!"

"All right! Some ADA name of Carver and a detective name of Goren."

Logan looked puzzled and he turned to Barek who nodded and said. "It makes sense, Mike. He wants her alive and at the trial. Everything is about her reaction to him. He's trying to take away the two people who can protect her most. This is still about destroying her, but it's about taking away her security first. I'm sure he sees Goren and Carver as the most outward signs of that."

Vinnie spoke. "I got another tidbit for you just so you don't blame me for this if anything happens. His lawyer, Bloom, was a last minute addition. Ross was really pissed at the guy. Paulie did him first. Here's the issue. Ross only paid for two hits, and now Paulie's gotta do three. We ain't no discount center. Ross owes us money, 20 g's, only he's not coughing up. This is a problem. Ross had a deadline and it passed. We gotta send a message. We can't let the guys in Rikers think they can get away with that kind of bull."

"You're going to whack Jimmy Ross?" Logan said.

Vinnie shrugged his shoulders. "I've said enough. Besides I'm sitting here with you guys. I ain't out there killing anybody."

Logan took Barek by the arm and steered her to the door speaking quietly. "We got to warn people."

"Yeah, you get Goren and Carver. I'll take care of Ross."

He squeezed her arm and hissed. "No way! We take care of our own today. I get Carver and you get Goren. We'll look out for Jimmy when we have time."

"But—"

"This man put snakes in your bed. He has killed two people, has tried to kill two more including you, and now he has a contract on two more people. We worry about him last, dead last. You understand me!"

She backed away. "This is a dangerous road, Mike."

"I'm willing to walk it alone."

"We're partners."

"Let's take care of Goren and Carver and then we'll talk, okay?"

She hesitated and then nodded slowly. He let go of her arm and took her hand. "I carry the weight on this. Okay? This is my thing."

She shook her head as if trying to loosen something and slipped out of his grip. "I got to call Bobby." Then she walked away, unable to meet her partner's eyes.

……………………………………………………………………….

He looked so peaceful when he slept. His face was clear of all the work and worry it carried during the day. She had slipped out from under his big arm, and snagged his t-shirt from the foot of his bed. She didn't know how he liked his women when he woke, but she had no interest in being one of those women who could be casual about their nudity. She was aware from experience that men loved small women parading around in their shirts. She slipped it over her head, and it draped past her thighs. Then she curled up on the bed again, watching him sleep.

Making love to him had been a revelation. She knew he would be gentle as he had that big man understanding of his size and how to temper it. Instead of the awkwardness she had anticipated, the two of them found a rhythm quickly and she felt surprisingly safe sharing intimacy with him. He seemed to know what she wanted, and she found that it was easy to anticipate his needs as well.

There is always that moment when the passion is spent and you're laying next to a man and you suddenly realize for the first time that you're naked and he is someone with whom you have a professional relationship, and now you're not just colleagues, but naked ones who have just said and done incredibly intimate things together.

She waited for that moment with him, but it never came. He lay next to her in the light of late morning and talked about everything as if the most natural thing in the world. She searched for the signs of panic or hesitation in his eyes, but there was none there. He seemed to sense her thoughts though because he stroked the hair away from her hair and whispered, "I feel like I've come home, Eames. I really do."

Her eyes stung for a moment, and she figured it wasn't the best time to talk to him about using her first name, and so she just smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

She was reliving those moments when she heard a sharp sound at the door; then there was an insistent scratching. She sat up and listened more carefully. This was not the sound of a rodent; this was the systematic sound of someone working on Bobby's door. She reached over and shook him. "Bobby! Bobby, wake up!"

He moaned and squinted at her. "What time is it? Did Deakins call?"

She put a hand over his mouth. "Someone's trying to get into your apartment."

He sat up, his hair flat against one side of his head. The sound was clear now, and Alex could sense that he was almost in. "He must think you're not here. It's the middle of the day. He's going to come in and wait for you."

Bobby was on the floor pulling his pants up, and searching for his gun. Alex knew her gun was in the living room, and she wondered if she could get to it before he caught her. There was a sharp clang and she heard the front door swing open. Bobby turned to her and whispered. "Get in the closet now."

"We do this together," she hissed.

"No, you have no gun. We don't have time for this. Go!"

She scrambled off the bed, his t-shirt billowing around her, and stepped into the closet. She saw Bobby slip out of the bedroom. It was all she could do to keep from following him. She was a better shot, but she also had better reaction times. She cursed herself for leaving it in the living room although it would have looked odd to bring into the bedroom when her only purpose for being there had been to bed her partner. His phone started ringing on the bed stand, and she cursed its distraction.

She jerked when she heard a shout and then two shots. There were sounds of feet pounding the floor and more shouting. She felt around the closet, and realized she had propped herself against a golf bag. She had no time to wonder when Bobby ever found time to get to a golf course. Instead she stood up and felt around for the two heaviest clubs. Armed with them, she snuck out of the closet. She could tell that they were both still moving outside the bedroom, and she had no idea how she would contribute with a nine iron, but it was impossible to just crouch and wait for the whole thing to be over.

She heard a crash and Bobby howled in pain. Without thinking, she burst out into the hallway and ran toward the living room. Bobby was sprawled over a fallen lamp, and a man was standing across the room pointing his weapon. Neither had time to process the small woman rushing at them like a crazed caddy. The man turned to point his weapon at her, but Bobby swung the fallen lamp into his knees and he doubled over. Alex was there with both clubs, swinging them into the back of his skull. He groaned and toppled over. Bobby scrambled over and pulled the weapon out of his hands, throwing it toward her. "Cuffs!"

Alex found her bag, dug them out, and threw them toward him. The phone in her bag lit up and she picked it up. She listened for a moment and then said, "Well, that ship has sailed. We're going to need back up here right away. You got an address?"

She hung up and saw Bobby looking at her in confusion. She smiled, "That was Carolyn warning us that there's a contract out on you."

He was still sitting on the cuffed man when he looked at her and chuckled. "I live four blocks away from the precinct. You have about two minutes before you're going to have to explain what you're doing in my living room with nothing on but my t-shirt." The man under Bobby heard this and raised his head to look. Bobby slapped the back of his head and growled at him to stay down.

She looked down at her attire, and her eyes widened. She quickly turned and disappeared down the hallway.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Technically, Eames hadn't been cleared for duty, but no one was saying anything to her about it and so she made like a detective in the squad, settling into her desk, her gun strapped to her side.

Paulie Sirico was on his way to the hospital with a concussion and a bad knee. Carver was there quizzing Logan and Barek about their interview with Russo. The man had his family to think about, and he wanted confirmation that there wasn't another man out there waiting to walk into his house like Sirico had done to Bloom.

"Sirico was it as far as Russo was concerned, and Russo was giving us what he knew," Mike reassured him for the third time.

Deakins leaned in. "Were they able to get Ross out of the general population?"

Barek looked at Logan and neither responded.

"Come on, guys. We've known about the threat to Ross for three hours. Tell me that somebody called Rikers."

"We were so caught up in warning Bobby and Carver," Barek began.

Logan waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I took care of it. He should be safe."

Everyone caught the surprised look that Barek gave him.

"I realize it's tempting to let the weasel fend for himself, but we're better than that."

"Don't worry, Captain. I took care of it." Logan sat with a look of perfect calm on his face.

The phone rang from Deakins' office. He let it ring for a moment while he looked at Logan warily, and then he jumped up to get it.

Bobby narrowed his eyes. "Logan, tell us. Do we need to get on the phone to Rikers or did you take care of it?"

"Please, Bobby, don't tell me you would lift a finger for that mope."

Carver squeezed his eyes shut. "Why am I hearing all of this? Please, someone, pick up the phone and call Rikers!"

Deakins appeared in the doorway. "It's too late. Ross got stuck with a knife fifteen minutes ago. He was still in the general population. They're working on him, but we better get down there just in case."

"Yeah, I'll say a prayer."

Deakins pointed at him. "Knock it off, Logan! Someone asks the right questions, and we got a big problem on our hands. I can't protect you from this."

"No problem, Captain." Logan grabbed his coat and was the first one to the door.

………………………………………………………………………

Carolyn waited until Logan got in the car and then drove off, startling Carver and Deakins who had also hoped to ride along.

Logan craned his neck, looking back. "Uh, you forgot the boss."

"It was a misunderstanding, okay. I thought you were going to call and you thought I was going to call."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are we matching stories here?"

"You just tell the captain that we got mixed up. Tell him you didn't want to bust me in front of everyone. Just say that you thought I was going to make the call, and I'll say that I thought you would, and everyone will understand that it was a simple mistake."

"Yeah, but that's not what happened."

"'Cause you want to get busted for this? Come on, Mike! I thought you wanted to be at Major Case. Don't screw it up in the first six months."

"So you think I'm lying too."

She sighed deeply. "I didn't say that. We talked about this. You were not crazy about watching out for him. Then Carver asks you and you don't say anything. What am I supposed to think?"

"I'm a lot of things, Barek, but a liar isn't one of them. I said I took care of it and I did. I don't know why he was still in the general population. But I'll tell you one thing: I'm hoping he got stuck good. I would love for this particular problem to go away."

"Knock it off. This is the last thing you want to be caught saying if this thing blows up."

"Carolyn—"

One eye on the road, she pointed a finger in his direction. "You're going to you're your big mouth shut in there. Promise me or I swear to God I'm going to push you out of the car at the next street corner."

Logan grinned. "Hey Cookie, it's nice how you look after me, but seriously—"

She swerved the car violently over to the curb and ground it to a stop. She swiveled in her seat and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Promise me!"

"Okay! I won't say anything."

She glared at him a minute more before shifting the car back into drive.

……………………………………………………………

It became immediately clear that the staff at Riker's Island were having an usually bad day. Guards they had known for years gave them nothing but curt nods and waved them through. The hallway to the infirmary was littered with guards and bloody prisoners. The six of them shouldered past this as best they could. A large nurse looked at them, hands on her hips. "Unless, you have a medical degree, you got no business here. We're up to our elbows in cuts and breaks."

"Hi Rose." Logan stepped forward. "We gotta see how Ross is doing."

"Ross? Oh, yes the fool who offered me $100,000 to triage him at the top. Too bad the good Lord gave me a nasty conscience otherwise I could be planning a nice retirement in the motherland." The lilt of her accent suggested someplace Caribbean.

"Is he bad?"

She shrugged. "Hard to tell. There was a riot in the cafeteria. He came in after most of these guys. We're still assessing, but he got a blade in the right side of his chest so it could be anything."

"We do need someone to see him as soon as possible," Carver said.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure thing. Let me ring the thoracic surgeons playing poker in the next room. He'll get attention according to the order in which he was triaged. If you want to give it a shot and crack his chest yourself, he's that way." She pointed and then turned on her heel and headed back to a group of inmates lined up against the wall.

Deakins led the way, moving past men moaning on gurneys until they found Ross at the end lying curled up on a stretcher. He glared at them and hissed, "Do something."

Carver looked at him with a stone face. "Help is coming. The doctor will get to you soon."

"No! I'll die if I have to wait." He groaned at the effort of his words.

Goren frowned. "They have extra people coming in. There's nothing else we can do, but we won't leave until someone sees you."

Ross ignored him as his eyes had settled on a face next to Goren. "It's been awhile, Alex."

She didn't respond.

"Did you come to see what you've done to me? Is it satisfying to you?"

Bobby stepped in front of her protectively. "That's enough."

"Move! I want to see her. I want her to know that I'm still stronger than she is."

Bobby didn't budge until Alex pushed him to the side. She walked toward him. "Hi Jimmy. Looks like you're still confusing being strong with being just plain mean."

Jimmy squirmed and licked his lips as pain rumbled through him. "If I die today, it will be on your head, Alex."

She threw back her head and laughed. "Don't do me any favors, Jimmy."

"You tricked Lisa into saving your life."

"No, I didn't. She had a heart, she couldn't hurt me, but you wouldn't know anything about that now, would you?"

He was seized by pain again and groaned loudly, rocking back and forth on the gurney. Through clenched teeth, he said, "My life was fine until I met you. I was successful and well respected, and you've reduced me to nothing more than a common criminal."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Jimmy."

"This is payback, right? You watch me die and it makes us even from when you lay on the floor of my basement, and begged for your life."

Alex stopped breathing and backed up a step. Barek placed hands on her shoulders. "Hey, Alex, you don't have to listen to this. It's okay." She began to gently pull her away from Ross.

Bobby nodded at Barek, grateful for her help. He leaned in toward Jimmy and spoke in a surprisingly soft voice. "You can't hurt her anymore. Save your energy. You're going to need it."

Jimmy coughed and a trail of blood rolled down his chin. He saw it when it dropped onto the sheet and he screamed. "Alex! Alex! Please help me!"

Alex pulled away from Carolyn and came toward him again, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. He saw her face and grabbed at her hand. "Please! I'll confess. I'll say exactly what happened. I'll tell them everything I did. I'll tell them how badly I hurt you. Please! Just get me some help!"

She pulled away from his hand and turned to her colleagues. Mike turned and trotted back to the front of the infirmary. He reached for her again, but Bobby was there gently pulling his hand away and putting it back onto the gurney.

He was sobbing now. "I'll tell them everything! Don't let me die!"

She looked at Bobby and then back at him. "I don't have any control over this. I can't help you."

"Please! Everything happened as you said. I'll tell them everything!"

"Okay, that's good, Jimmy. You need to do that. Confession is good for the soul. Logan went to get a doctor. Just…uh, hold on."

He raised his head and looked into her face, and then dropped back onto the gurney, sobbing into the sheet. "I can see it in your face. You're not going to help me. You don't want to; you want to watch me die."

"No," she whispered. She didn't pull away when Bobby put his arm around her protectively.

"You're just like me, Alex," he sobbed. "You're no better. If I die, it will be murder and you'll be my killer." His body shuddered and his eyes closed; his sobs growing softer.

Alex turned toward Bobby and buried her face in his lapel. He held her tightly. Carver came forward. "Don't talk anymore, Jimmy. Just stay quiet. The doctor's coming."

Carolyn turned her head and saw Logan coming toward them, pulling a doctor by his arm. The man pulled a stethoscope out of a pocket and clamped them on his ears before Logan even got him there. Clearly, working in Riker's infirmary left staff with some flexible coping skills. He didn't even bristle at Logan's approach. He just pushed past him and turned the patient on his back. He felt for heart sounds, and then turned and yelled for a crash cart. Bobby herded all of them into a corner, and they watched as what few personnel available came running. Defibrillator paddles appeared and a nurse put gel on them, and handed them to the doctor. The first shock startled Alex as his body arched off the table. The doctor watched the screen, and his heart rate continued to flat line. He called for another one and then another. Only a few minutes after he arrived, he was calling a time of death. A nurse came with a sheet and covered Jimmy Ross from head to toe. Alex Eames shivered violently, unaware of the long arms rocking her gently.

………………………………………………………………………..

The infirmary was understaffed and understocked, but they had a hell of a nice waiting room attached: couches, carpets, pictures and everything. A plaque near the door identified it as a gift from the Dolly Fiterman foundation. How Dolly decided to reach in and create this little piece of heaven in the middle of the world's largest holding cell was anyone's guess. They all sat silently in overstuffed chairs looking at everything but each other. There was no reason to still be there, but there was so much left to process that no one could bring themselves to leave. Finally Logan couldn't stand it anymore. "What are we supposed to be feeling here? I can't figure it out. I feel sick, but I don't feel sad."

Deakins shot him a look. "You should feel sick. What the hell am I going to say to the lawyer when he asks me why we sat on this threat long enough for Ross to get stabbed?"

"I already told you I took care of it."

"We don't kill people, Logan. We defend them, and God help us, sometimes we defend ourselves from them, but we never kill them."

Carolyn looked up. "Captain, he says he took care of it."

"And what the hell does that mean?" Did you call a buddy on the unit and ask him to divert a couple of guards so it would be easier for Russo's men to get at Ross?"

"Captain! I think this conversation should cease. We should not be talking about this amongst ourselves in case we are called on to testify." Carver was uncharacteristically uninterested in details.

Bobby leaned forward. "Mike, you said you took care of it. I take that at face value. I don't have any questions."

Carolyn looked at Deakins. "I stand by my partner. He's given me no reason to doubt him."

"There is no evidence of any wrongdoing here. We don't write up anything unless the court asks for it. Do you understand?" Carver got up and gathered his camel coat up in his arm.

Deakins sighed and shook his head. "I don't want to be the bad guy here, but we got standards, and I don't anybody in this room thinking we throw integrity out the window if the mood strikes us."

Alex stood up. "Captain, nothing like that happened today. The man was bad and he was reckless, and it all came back to bite him on the ass. He got what was coming to him and that's nothing but a fact."

"How this came about is not a problem for you," he challenged her.

"What do you mean by that? My colleague says that he took care of warning Rikers about the threat. All due diligence was followed. Ross started dealing with people who don't play. He hired someone to kill three innocent people, two of whom are in the room presently and he didn't pay up. He got what was coming. End of story. My nightmares died today, and once the fog clears, I'm going to feel nothing but relief."

Bobby stood beside her. "She's right, Captain and while I appreciate that you're trying to protect the integrity of the squad, I don't think that's going to be a problem. We all did our jobs today."

A bald man peeked his head in. "Logan here?"

Logan nodded. "Hey Graco!"

"Mike, I heard you were here, and I thought I would stop. Just wanted to explain why we couldn't get to Ross in time. The riot in the cafeteria was killing us, Man, and we only had so many resources to spare. I heard he bought it. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I don't think anyone's going to lose any sleep over this. Thanks for telling me what happened. His lawyer is probably going to want a report on this."

Graco nodded. "We'll take care of it." He nodded once more and left.

"Feeling better, Captain?" Barek asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, now I'm just feeling stupid."

Logan shook his head. "Don't sweat it, Cap. They were all thinking the same thing. You were the only one willing to voice it. I'd like to see one person in this room tell me they weren't thinking that I left him out to dry." He chuckled. "Truth is I was on the fence about calling. I almost didn't, but I have more trouble living with my demons than anyone here seems to imagine. I couldn't live with hiding it. I would have confessed it to all of you over beers within weeks if I had done it, and I wasn't about to lose the best job I've had in years for that mope. The church never really leaves your blood I guess."

……………………………………………………………………….

Logan parked at her place and swiveled to look at her. She had been struggling to say something to him the entire trip, and he figured he'd give her one last chance to spit it out. Barek gave him a half smile. "Good work today, Partner."

"Thanks for sticking up for me."

"Sorry I doubted you."

He shrugged. "Your instincts told you what I was capable of doing, and they were right."

She nodded and looked down. "So I was thinking…maybe you want to come up. We could…uh, order a pizza, process everything that happened…you know, whatever."

He chuckled. "That was smooth, Barek."

"What? I offered you pizza."

"And whatever," he said, raising his eyebrows in that particularly infuriating way of his.

Her head shot up. "Well, whatever means whatever. It doesn't mean…uh, whatever."

"I better not."

"Why? You think I'm propositioning you, and you have to protect your virtue."

He smiled that big 'I got the world in my pocket' smile. "If I went up there with you right now, there'd be a misunderstanding in about five minutes. That's the kind of mood I'm in."

She snorted. "Okay, then is this particular to me or will any female do for you right now?"

"No Cookie, this is definitely about you. And we're tired and I'm feeling…a thousand things right now which tends to put me in a vulnerable spot. I mean, you're a looker. I knew that coming in. I just didn't know that you also came with heart and a brain and the courage of ten men. It's a little overwhelming right now."

"Wow! I didn't know. Can you work with me?"

"Hell, if Goren and Eames can do it with the amount of hormones that rise up whenever they look at one another, then I imagine that we'll be just fine."

She clicked her tongue once, and made to leave the car, but she stopped and looked out the window instead. "What if I told you that you turned out to be something of a revelation yourself. You play dumb, but your mind is as sharp as mine. And you got a heart that could fill the squad room, but you like to hide it. I feel fortunate to be one of the few who gets to see it."

"Geez, Cookie, you're steaming up my car windows. Better calm down there." He was gripping the steering wheel a lot more tightly than was necessary for someone in a parked car.

She chuckled. "I don't want to screw up what we have. I just want to spend some time with you. Take it slow. Get to know one another."

"You're not worried about office gossip or department policy?" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"The gossip will be there whether we get together or not. And as for policy, well that's all it is. It's a good policy, but it's a guideline, nothing more."

"Captain could split us up."

She shook her head. "The captain's not going to know anything unless you're a talker."

"Not about this I'm not."

She smiled. "I'm thinking….pepperoni, green olives and onions."

"Nix the onions." His voice was almost a growl and she shivered a little in spite of herself.

She started playing with the glove compartment. "Truth is that I'm not really hungry…for pizza."

He reached over and captured the fingers which were methodically clicking the compartment open and shut. "There's a nice Puerto Rican place down the block. Why don't we go up for a bit and finish our conversation? Then I'll take you out for the best arroz con pollo in town."

"You like Puerto Rican?"

He brought her hand up to his face and kissed the palm. "Well, right now my preference is dark haired Polish Catholic with a hint of too many languages."

She smiled. "I could bring out Grandma Logan's nightie."

"Don't kill the mood, Cookie. Don't kill the mood."

…………………………………………………………………

"Are you sure there are no baby cows in there?" She leaned around his arm and looked into the pot.

"No, there are not. You have made your position on eating…'baby cows' quite clear."

"It's just that I took that trip when I was a kid to the farm and the cutest little baby cow-"

"Otherwise known as a calf," he said.

She looked up at him. "Whatever…anyway, this 'calf' licked my fingers, and had the biggest, brownest eyes, and I said to myself, 'Alex, you are never eating a baby cow again.' And I can say baby cow because that's what I thought it was and technically that is what it is."

"And you don't feel the same about lamb?"

She screwed up her face. "The lamb they had was dirty and made a lot of noise."

"So the lamb's life meant less to you."

She gave him a look. "Yeah, Freud, that's about the long and the short of it."

He chuckled. "Okay, well, for you, I am making my famous veal piccata with chicken instead."

She smiled. "I never had a boyfriend who could cook before."

He put down the spoon he was stirring with and turned to her. "So I'm your boyfriend, huh?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah, and my partner and my lover and my best friend and the man I dream about at night."

He nodded. "We had a pretty rough day, you know."

"And it's over, and he's dead and I am sorry that I was there to witness it, but I'm not sorry he's gone."

"Me neither." He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Do you think we can handle not having Jimmy around to keep us distracted from our feelings?"

She laughed into his shirt. "I don't think we're going to need old Jimmy Ross to keep us together."

"So you're saying that we're grown-ups and should act accordingly?" He whispered into her hair.

"I think you're ready for that, Goren, don't you?"

He answered by trailing his mouth down her neck and chewing gently on her shoulder.

She moaned and then sniffed the air. "Uh, Bobby, I think the baby cow is burning."

He smiled into her shoulder and reached back with a hand and turned off the burner. Then he surprised her by sweeping cooking supplies down to the end of the counter, and picking her, placing her on the counter. She giggled. He planted himself squarely between her legs. He reached over and captured her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and groaned into his mouth. After a few minutes, of deft tongue aerobics, she pulled away. "I was never much into kitchens."

He responded by pushing her shirt past her torso and over her face. She squirmed her way out of it, and found her bra was snapped off before she could say another word. He looked at her with a smile and reached in to whisper into her ear. "I promise you, Eames. The kitchen is an experience. There's nothing like a counter to make up for a height difference."

The End