Alex Eames was glistening with sweat, and was bleeding slightly. Cursing her heeled boots, she pulled herself up to a small grate. This took all her strength, but she managed. Yet no one was there by the sidewalk.

"Help me…" Eames said loudly, but not screaming. Pleading. She was pleading… something she'd promised herself she'd never do.

No one was coming. Damn it, Eames thought to herself. This is New York… there must be someone close by. She poked her hand out of the grate and again pleaded, "Help me…"

This time a dusty-colored dog came trotting over to her and sniffed at her fingers. Where's your owner, Buddy? Eames thought. Then he heard someone else.

"Hey! Get away from there! Come on!" And then footsteps. A man came up and looked down. "My God! Who're you?" the guy exclaimed.

"Call… call the police…" Eames said, keeping her composure.

The man pulled out his cell-phone and called 911. "Hey—I've got a woman trapped in a building…"

Thirty minutes later Eames was being pulled up by an EMT. The woman wrapped her in a blanket.

"My name's Rachel Smith. Can you tell me yours?"

"Alex—Alexandra Eames," Eames whispered. She was starting to shake.

"Detective Eames? From Major Case?" Rachel asked. Eames turned and looked at Rachel. "Your disappearance was all over the news… thank God you're all right."

Eames merely nodded. She didn't feel "all right," but she also couldn't argue.

Rachel helped Eames lay down on a stretcher, and took her straight to the hospital.

Meanwhile, at 1 PP, Eames' partner Bobby Goren was in the interrogation room with his old pal and mentor Declan, who was quickly becoming Bobby's enemy.

"YOU TELL ME WHERE THE HELL SHE IS!" Bobby screamed.

"I don't know, Bobby, I swear!" Declan protested. "You're like a son to me… I wouldn't do this to you!"

Bobby picked up one of the chairs and threw it across the room, and a crash echoed.

"Bobby—calm down! You can't focus if you let him get to you like this!" Declan said, trying to pat Bobby's shoulder.

Bobby grabbed Declan's arm. "Don't touch me—just don't touch me." Suddenly Bobby's phone rang. He answered quickly. "Goren—wha...what? When? Where? Where's she now? … I'm on my way." Without a word Bobby flew out the door.

Other officers and the captain asked Bobby where he was going, but he passed them all and raced to his SUV. His hands were shaking… it took him five minutes simply to get the keys into the ignition. At the first red light, he cursed to himself. He then turned on his siren and blew through the intersection. He kept the siren on until he got to the hospital. He got out and tossed his keys to a valet person and ran inside.

There was a nice elderly lady at the information desk filing her nails. Bobby came up to her. "Alexandra Eames."

The woman looked up at him and smiled. "Oh! Are you family?"

Bobby frowned. "No—"

"Then I'm afraid you can't see her… she's under NYPD protection."

"I am NYPD!" Bobby said, flashing his badge. "Now where is she?"

The lady pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and clicked around on the computer. "Second floor… but it's—" She looked up and saw that Bobby had already left.

Bobby ran up the stairs. He got the second floor and saw a huge sign:

INTENSIVE CARE

DOCTORS AND SURGEONS ONLY

But a sign wasn't going to stop Bobby. He pushed through the double-doors found a large room with 10 beds, all able to be hidden by curtain. He turned toward the window…

… And there she was. Her head was wrapped in a bandage… her tiny frame took up so little of the hospital bed. Her eyes were closed, and Goren could see her laboring to breathe.

Bobby put a hand over his mouth and just stared at her for a minute. Then a doctor came in. "Excuse me, sir! What are you doing here?"

Bobby flashed his badge. "Detective Goren… Major Case."

The doctor was silent for a moment. "You're here to see Alexandra." Bobby nodded. The doctor sighed. "She's asleep right now… but I guess you can sit with her." She then grabbed a chair and put it by Eames' bed. Bobby took the chair and nodded to thank her.

Bobby sat and looked at Eames. He shook his head. Who could've done this? Who would want to hurt her? Bobby also wished he'd gone home with her… maybe he would have noticed something—anything that would've prevented this.

The doctor came back with a glass of water for Bobby. "Can I get you anything else, detective?"

Bobby shook his head, and the doctor started to leave. Then Bobby asked, "What happened to her? Is she… will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine," the doctor responded.

"There were no… no… no signs of…"

"Sexual assault? No, detective. She took a hard blow to the head… but that's pretty much it except for some scratches. No concussion either… she's very lucky. She was taken by that serial killer, wasn't she? The one who stabbed those women?"

Bobby nodded. He bit his lip… she was lucky. He was lucky also though.

Suddenly Eames groaned a little and shifted. Her eyes slowly opened. She saw Bobby sitting before her and gave a tiny smile. After a moment she whispered, "You and your second wind."

Bobby chuckled. "Yeah…"

Alex sighed. "How long was I…"

"12 hours," Bobby answered. "You were gone for 12 hours." Another long pause passed between them. Suddenly Bobby looked at Eames and noticed a tear falling down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away… hoping he hadn't seen it. But another took its place.

God, she thought. I'm crying in front of Bobby… he must think I'm a baby… Then she felt Bobby take her hand. She looked at him, and saw him blinking hard.

"You're safe now…" he whispered. "I've got you. Nothing's going to hurt you." He then touched her cheek softly, reassuringly. He watched her for a moment. "You… you really got scared, didn't you?"

Alex didn't answer. She looked away. How could she admit that to her partner? She couldn't be scared… she was a cop. It was her job to be calm and collected… no matter what… no matter what.

"I was scared too," Bobby whispered. Alex turned and faced him. "I was… terrified…"

Alex chuckled. " Nothing frightens Big Bad Bobby…"

Bobby leaned in and wiped away a tear from Alex's eyes. "Everyone's afraid of something."

Alex was silent. Then she said, "I couldn't find a way out of there. There was a door… it opened to a brick wall. I looked… for another door… if that dog hadn't found me…"

"But it did…" Bobby said.

"I had to plead, Bobby… I was pleading for help at the grate," Alex said.

"There's no shame in that," Bobby said. "None at all."

Suddenly Alex remembered something. "Bobby… my cell-phone rang. That was you… wasn't it?"

Bobby tensed. "Yes… you were late. When you didn't answer I was going to head to your place… but Sebastian sent me a text message saying he had you…"

"Sebastian? You know it was him?"

Bobby nodded. "He's back. But we'll find him."

Alex nodded. Then she looked Bobby up and down, and smirked. "You look like hell…"