"A Shift of Axis"

Copyright 2006 Penn O'Hara

T

Usual disclaimers apply.

Synopsis: After Bobby's decision to explore a personal relationship with Alex sends them back to his apartment, they are greeted by an unexpected guest.

A/N: This has been edited to death, and I still keep finding errors. Please overlook any more that I've missed.

oOo

Excerpt from the prequel, "Ocean's Two"…

Get out there, man. Before Alex walks out on you for good and demands the partner-swap with that ass, Logan, be permanent.

To never be with her again, day by day, working beside her, walking with her, using her as his gravity in a skewed world that he didn't quite fit.

It was unthinkable.

Resolve clasped to him like a sword, Goren strode out of the kitchen before he could change his mind. His gaze fixed on the blond head peeping over the top of his sofa, he targeted in on her, sweeping round the seat and bending down in one motion to take her hands in his and pull her to her feet against him.

"Whoa, Bobby! You've fair swept me off my feet! Streuth, I never guessed it could be like this. You're not usually an impulsive bloke."

Goren shut down in horror, his hands thrusting hers from his, stepping back from the monster in front of him.

"Nicole…"

oOo

Chapter One

"Bobby, I'm hurt," Nicole said, pouting. "You were going to start without me."

Goren's head snapped round, urgently scanning his apartment for his partner. "Where's Eames?"

He found her, tied to a dining room chair, her head lolling back, neck exposed. He rushed to her, his hands frantically searching for a pulse. She stirred and his heart stopped its sickly catapult to slow to an adrenalin-shot speed that still threatened to suffocate him.

"I don't feel too good, Bobby," Alex whispered, her voice cracking.

Goren rubbed his palms over her, his gaze desperately looking for signs of trauma. Finding none, he rounded on Nicole.

"What's wrong with her? What have you done?" He lunged for Nicole, wrapping his hands around her throat. It felt good to physically subdue her when every other encounter could only be a verbal battle of wills. In the privacy of his apartment, he could get a degree of satisfaction from doing some real damage to her.

"Now, now, Bobby," Nicole struggled the words through the grip on her neck. "As much as I love… the excitement of your hands throttling my neck… doing me harm will only hurt Eames. You need me… to save her."

In his rage, Goren pushed his fingers in harder and even though her face was turning from a puce red to a receding blue, Nicole still smiled. She had him and they both knew it. Pulling his hands away in disgust, he flung her from him so that she landed in a heap on his sofa.

Pulling his cell phone from his suit's inner pocket, he snapped it open.

"Make that call and she's dead!" Nicole warned, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

His hand froze on the phone, his eyes darting to the closed window.

"Alert anyone and she's dead. You know me, Bobby. The only avenues I leave open are my own escape routes. Rafiq?"

A man in his twenties who could have graced the front page of a GQ magazine stepped out of Goren's bedroom, a Glock with attached silencer dangling from his hand. Goren knew before he could reach the man, the gun would be aimed and fired, if not at him, then at Alex.

"Do anything to alarm me, Bobby and my faithful… friend will see that you're dead. You're lucky he hasn't shot you already, after that little cave-man display, but he's seen me get out of worse situations." Nicole's voice resounded with assurance. "But he will shoot you, Bobby, and if you're dead, there's no one left to save Eames."

Exuding confidence, Nicole flung the long blond hair from her face and draped her arms across the sofa back. The silken sleeves of the green dress that she wore fell back to expose the smooth cream of her arms. Even with her throat bearing the mottled red marks of his fingers, Goren clinically assessed she had never looked more beautiful. But it was a deadly beauty of which he was totally immune.

"What have you done to her?" he repeated, his voice low, more in control.

She raised an arch brow. "Well, I haven't exactly played nice with her while you were out of the room, but it is reversible."

"Poison?" he asked, his temper broiling with his certainty of what she was capable.

"One you won't find in the U.S., so your hospitals won't have the antidote. I always keep it for special occasions." She looked up at him through her lashes. On some women it would have been sexy. On her, it was insidious and repulsive. "I didn't want you rushing out and spoiling my fun, but I, however, do have the cure and so all you have to do is cooperate and she'll be fine."

Goren's eyes darted round the room, looking for a bag that might be hers. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, his gaze extended to his bedroom door. Nicole's 'friend' straightened, his hand tightening on the Glock.

"Bobby…" Alex' voice sounded weaker than before. His heart racing, he scanned the room again, desperate to see any sign of an antidote.

"You don't have time to search for it," Nicole said, mocking his hope. "She's got about a minute. Two at the most. I'll retrieve the vial when you do as I ask."

"Which is?"

"Be a good sport and take off your clothes, take a seat on the chair opposite Alex and I'll tie you up before I give her the antidote. I won't untie her, but she'll live. To watch."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hurry up, Bobby. You don't have much time. Your affair with your partner will end before it can start."

"There is no affair–" he began, not wanting Nicole to guess at how important Alex had become to him.

"Shame on you, Bobby. Lying to a lady!" She playfully shook her finger at him. "I was watching you from your bedroom window. I saw the kiss in the car. So sweet. Judging by the tentative nature of it, it was your first."

Alex moaned, her head dropping to her chest and Goren moved. He didn't necessarily believe that Nicole would give Alex the antidote if he did as she bid, but he knew she would let her die if he didn't. It was a long shot he had no choice but to play.

Ripping off his coat, he pulled hurriedly at his tie. "I'm doing what you asked. Give her the antidote."

"I'm not stupid, Bobby. All of your clothes."

"Why!" he asked, his heart in his throat. "Why is this necessary?"

"Look, if you really want to risk your partner's life and waste more time, I'll tell you."

Nicole leaned forward, clasping her hands in her lap and explained patiently as if to a child. "It's simple. Whenever we've locked heads, neither one of us has been able to get the advantage. We're too well-matched. I figured, if I could only get you at a disadvantage, I would be able to get the upper hand. A man like you…" She slipped off the sofa in a fluid motion that brought her toe to toe with him. "…needs to hide your insecurities. Disguise your low self-esteem with expensive clothes. Rid you of the trappings of your courage," she flung her hands wide, "and I'll have you where I want you."

Goren could hear Alex' breaths becoming laborious and erratic. Whatever was poisoning her was taking hold of her lungs, preventing them from retrieving life-giving oxygen.

"You're a crazy bitch!" Goren shouted, unable to hold back his contempt of her.

"You're wasting time!" she shouted back, and Goren's eyes narrowed. Nicole wasn't as in control as she pretended. He got the feeling that it didn't suit Nicole to let Alex die, but judging from Nicole's near-panic, Alex' life was in imminent danger.

"Just give her the antidote, then we'll talk," he said, deliberately injecting a calmness into his voice that he didn't feel.

"You disappoint me, Bobby." Nicole swung on her heel and walked toward Alex, gently coaxing the curtain of hair away from her ashen face, tucking it behind her ear. "I thought you cared about Eames. I thought you'd finally learned to love. I was wrong. She's going to die and you're not even prepared to humiliate yourself to prevent it. Very disappointing." Nicole started toward the door. "Till next time, Bobby."

"Stop!" Goren knew he had no choice but to accede to her demands. He had misjudged her. Nicole would let Alex die rather than let him win. Loosening his cuffs, he hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt and ripped it from his shoulders. He flung the shirt at Nicole's feet, chest heaving, his jaw set in defiance.

Nicole's eyes gleamed. "The rest, Bobby. Keep going. Much as I'm enjoying the sight of a toned barrel chest, I want the rest."

Cursing, Goren went for his trouser belt and removed it. Bending down, he slipped off his shoes, then straightened, eyebrow raised as he paused on the zipper of his trousers.

"Definitely the pants, Bobby." She gave a little-girl pout that made his skin crawl. "Don't tease me so."

Goren yanked down the zip and pushed his trousers to the floor. "How's your friend with the gun going to feel about this?" he asked, tossing a look at the man still hovering in the bedroom doorway.

"Why, Bobby, how thoughtful of you to consider Rafiq's feelings, but don't worry about him. He's used to a threesome."

Goren believed her. Nicole had the toxic knack of taking over the free will of everyone who got close to her. Alex' breath had gone from painfully sonorous to quick shallow breaths that couldn't accommodate her need to breathe. She was feebly gasping for air now. Goren kicked off his trousers and stood trembling with anger before Nicole.

"The boxers too, sweet-cheeks," she smiled. "I want to see you. All of you." She laughed the laugh of the insane.

Sliding off his boxers, Goren stood tall, not willing to bow down before this woman in any way. His humiliation was secondary. Alex' life was worth it and more and he would subject himself to anything to keep her alive.

Nicole looked him up and down, her smile widening. "Very nice, Bobby. I think… I really think I can do something with that. But not just yet. I'll tie you up and then I'll fulfill my side of the bargain. Rafiq." Nicole strolled over to the other man and took the Glock from his hand. "Be a love and get me the other rope, then help me over here." She walked back to Goren and circled him, a lascivious smile on her lips, the gun held loosely in her palm.

"Take a seat, sport, before you collapse. I want you conserve your strength. You're going to need it."

Goren peered at Alex opposite him as he slowly sat, his heart clawing at his ribs. She was still breathing. Barely. If Nicole only knew, to lose Alex now when he had finally made the decision to show her how he felt, would be all the revenge Nicole wanted and more.

Rafiq retrieved his Glock from Nicole, pocketing it, and Goren got a lungful of expensive after-shave as the other man helped Nicole expertly tie Goren's hands behind him, before looping the rope round his waist and forearms, slipping the knot tight and binding his ankles with the end. Rafiq had all the trappings of a male model but the detachment of an assassin and Goren wondered where Nicole had found her latest lackey and if the man knew what happened to her previous lovers.

"You just happened to have two ropes?" Goren jeered as they worked. "I thought you weren't expecting Eames?"

"It's a well-known fact that a lady's handbag is kitted out for any emergency," Nicole laughed as if they were friends sharing a joke. She stepped back to view her handiwork, then smiled into his eyes. "Imagine what her overnight bag is capable of storing."

Strolling over to Goren's bookcase, Nicole reached high to pull out his well-thumbed copy of 'The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes' and fished out a slender vial slipped between the book's spine and the bound pages. Goren could have looked amongst the books and eventually discovered it, but there was no guarantee he would ever have found it in time.

Goren's heart raced; he wanted to yell at her to hurry, to give Alex the antidote before it was too late, but the bitch just looked at him and calmly smiled, mocking the urgency that shook his body.

"Rafiq?" Nicole held out her hand and GQ retrieved a slim black case from his coat pocket and handed it to her. Opening it, Nicole selected and assembled a syringe with the ampoule she retrieved from Goren's book. Working efficiently, she injected the serum into Alex' exposed arm and returned the used syringe to its case. She was not only very familiar with her tools of torture but meticulous as well.

"Won't be long now, Bobby," Nicole said, "and she'll be right as rain. I'm glad you cooperated. I didn't really want her to karck it. Much more fun to have her as spectator."

"A spectator to what?" It didn't matter what she had planned for him, but if she harmed Alex again in any way, he would kill her.

"Our show, of course. Rafiq and I have been watching since this arvo for you to come home from work. I was waiting on your bed but you spoiled that plan with an unexpected guest. But I always have alternate plans and this one will be just as much fun."

Alex was stirring, moaning softly and calling his name. "N… Nicole's… here, Bobby. Be careful." She lifted her head, eyes opening a crack. They widened as she focused on the other woman and Goren steeled himself for the moment when Alex would become aware of his predicament.

"Take it easy, Eames," Goren said, not wanting to alarm her, but he feared he had brought her back from death's door to a worse fate. "How do you feel?" Keeping his voice neutral, he couldn't let Nicole see his immense relief that Alex was recovering.

"She should be feeling as sick as a dog," Nicole chuckled. She flicked her head at Rafiq, directing him to station himself on the sofa. The man settled into the seat, one leg crossed over his other knee, his fingers lightly tapping the expensive material of his trousers.

"Better… than I was before," Alex said, her words slurring. She was squinting at Goren, but his state of undress wasn't yet registering on her. "What did she inject into me?"

"Funnel Web spider venom," Nicole said, bending low to gloat into Alex' face. "The little buggers are unique to the Sydney suburbs of Australia, which is why your New York hospitals won't have worked out which anti-venom was needed in time."

"Why are you here?" Alex asked, concentrating on the other woman. "Don't you ever… tire of yanking Bobby's chain? Why don't you… get a hobby... like everyone else?"

"She's bored," Goren said in an attempt to ease Alex's expected anxiety, but he knew better. Something was different about Nicole. She'd shed her British polish, having dropped several Australian colloquialisms – something she'd never have done if she were still playing a role. She'd finally abandoned her Elizabeth Hitchens persona and was truly Nicole Wallace. The Nicole that had murdered tourists for sport, drug-runners for profit, several lovers for revenge and her own child in the name of jealousy.

"Bobby! My God!" Alex gasped, finally realizing he was unclothed. Goren frowned at her slightly, warning her not to give Nicole the gratification of reacting further. He wasn't so much embarrassed for himself as for her. And the guilt he carried made it difficult for him to meet her eyes. If Nicole hadn't had this personal vendetta for him, Alex would never have been subjected to Nicole's freak show.

"This is my hobby, Alex," Nicole said, walking back to Goren. "I never tire of Bobby. And I've decided to take our interaction to a new level." She licked her lips as she ran her hands slowly across his shoulders and down his chest.

Goren locked his gaze on her, drawing back his lips in revulsion.

Nicole blew him a kiss. "Looks like I'm gonna beat you to him, Alex."

oOo

TBC …

A/N: Don't blame me for 'defrocking' Goren. I was channel-surfing the TV recently and happened upon "The Cell" in which a younger VD'O thought it was challenging to accept a role that had him naked, suspended by meat hooks through his skin, over a dead woman's body and getting off on it. Yuk! But I couldn't get the visual out of my head either. :D