The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to. ~Dodie Smith

Robert Goren set the phone back on its cradle, his brow furrowed. Eames looked up at him as he shuffled his paperwork together and slipped it into his desk drawer. "Uhm, Rodgers needs to see us," he told her as he closed the drawer.

"Why? We haven't caught another case yet."

"She wouldn't say."

Eames put her own papers away. "Then let's go see what she wants."

Things had changed between the partners since the death of Goren's mother a few months earlier. Goren seemed to be skirting an invisible line between propriety and disaster, and Eames was much more patient with him than usual, willing to put up with his erratic behavior to the point of covering for him when he crossed the line.

They exited the elevator at the morgue. The mixture of odors that first assaulted them when they got off the elevator always made Eames' stomach lurch a little, but Goren was unaffected. While she breathed in a soup of odors, he mentally broke the air down into its individual components—disinfectant, soap, formalin, decay.

They tracked down the medical examiner, surprised to find both Logan and Wheeler with her. They looked distinctly uncomfortable. The body of a young woman was laid out on the slab before them. Goren's eyes gave the room a quick scan—he nodded at Logan and Wheeler—before they settled on the body of the young woman. As usual, Eames spoke first. "You wanted to see us?"

Rodgers had not specifically requested Eames, but she was glad to see her. Not surprised, but very glad. This was going to be difficult. The ME watched Goren as he studied the young woman. He can't help himself, she thought with affection. "This is about you, Detective Goren."

He looked up at her, then at Logan and Wheeler. Logan was unusually subdued. With a puzzled frown, he looked back at Rodgers. "This is their case," he said.

"It involves you," Wheeler said gently.

"Me?" He looked around the room again. "Am I a suspect?"

Logan frowned. "Why would you ask that? Do you know her?"

"No, but I can't think of any other way I could be involved."

"Did we ask you for an alibi?" Logan replied lightly, obliquely dismissing the idea that Goren was a suspect.

Wheeler glared at him. The last thing Goren needed was Logan giving him a hard time, even if he wasn't serious. "You're not a suspect," she assured him. "But you need to listen to what Dr. Rodgers has to say."

Eames stepped closer to her partner, a move that didn't go unnoticed. Whether she was being protective or supportive didn't matter. He would likely need both from her. Rodgers looked at Logan and Wheeler. Wheeler took the cue and said, "We caught this case last week. The body is a Jane Doe, mid-to-late-twenties. Her body was dumped at Gracie Mansion, which is why we caught it. The mayor's wife came across her while walking their dog."

"The shock bought her a two day hospital vacation," Logan added.

Goren listened with interest, his eyes drifting from Logan and Wheeler to the body, making note of her features. Her dark hair was wavy and cut to shoulder length; it would have framed her pretty face nicely. She was tall but not too thin. Athletic—he would describe her build as athletic."What was the cause of death?"

Rodgers answered, "She was choked into unconsciousness and then drowned in a bathtub."

He nodded, noting the subtle signs left by partial asphyxiation on the lithe, young body. He leaned down, catching the last lingering scent of the bathwater that had claimed her short life, the scent of tropical fruit riding the less subtle scent of decay. "I still don't see how this involves me."

"Just wait," Logan said. "We haven't gotten to the good part yet. Doc?"

Rodgers' tone was uncharacteristically gentle. "It's not about the case, detective. It's about the victim. Her prints were not in the system, so I ran her DNA, on the off chance something would pop."

"Something popped, okay," Logan interjected, earning him another glare from his partner.

Rodgers went on. "I didn't get a match on her but I did get something else: a strong partial match."

Goren had no trouble following her. He cocked his head to the side, his expression a mixture of interest and confusion. "A partial match...to me?"

The ME took a folder from the counter behind her and held it out to him. He knew how to interpret the data. Everyone in the room watched him study the DNA evidence as Rodgers said, "When this hit came back, I specifically ran her DNA against yours in the system, to see if I could find out why you popped against her genetics. Detective, this woman has enough DNA in common with you to be a sibling or a child of yours."

Goren studied the report until the pages started to blur. He looked at Rodgers, his expression reflecting his bafflement. He was stunned. He met the M.E.'s eyes. "Is...Is mine the only DNA that was flagged?"

She nodded. "Yes," she answered, not surprised by the question.

He looked back down at the body, his expression now more than one of casual interest and curiosity. "I-I don't have a child, an-and my only sibling...is my brother."

"Would his DNA be in the system?" Wheeler asked.

Goren shrugged. "I don't know."

"It can't be, if he wasn't flagged as well," Eames insisted.

Rodgers was shaking her head. "I looked. Frank Goren's prints are in the system but not his DNA."

"Unless this is a kid you never knew you had," Logan suggested, earning him another harsh look from his partner as well as one from Eames.

"Or...Or something else," Goren muttered, distracted. "H-How old is she again?"

"Mid-to-late-twenties," Rogers answered.

Goren began to circle the table, talking more to himself than to the others in the room as he tried to work out the details in his mind. "So...She would have been born...between 1978 and 1983...I went into the army in 1980...and I was away...until, uh, 1992." He shook his head slowly, mentally running down the list of women he slept with during that time. "No. She's not my child."

"Are you sure?" Logan pressed.

Still looking at the body of the young woman to whom he was somehow related, he nodded. "I'm positive. If I'd gotten anyone pregnant during that time...well, none of them would have kept it a secret."

"So that means...she was your sister..." Wheeler said haltingly, watching him carefully as she spoke.

He looked at Rodgers, who barely moved her head from side to side in response to an unasked question. "You...You're sure?" he asked her.

Rodgers gently said, "I knew you would ask, and I checked just to be sure. Then I ran yours three times before I called Logan and Wheeler. It's not wrong."

His eyes shifted to Logan and Wheeler. Wheeler said, "I told her you had to be told."

Goren nodded. "Thank-Thank you, Wheeler." He closed the folder and looked back at Rodgers. "Uh, can I..."

Rodgers nodded. "I made that copy for you."

"Thank you. I...I'll look into it." He was beginning to sweat as the walls seemed to close in on him. Starting for the exit, he stopped when he got to the door and turned. "Thank you," he repeated, his eyes once more resting on the pretty young woman whose life had been brutally stolen from her.

Eames looked around the room, obviously in full protective mode. Although he had joked a little, trying to lighten the mood in the room, Logan understood the grave implications of what had just happened. Goren was his friend and he would protect him as fiercely as Eames did. He raised his hand. "It doesn't leave this room, Eames. Promise."

The two women agreed with him and Eames hurried after her partner.

Wheeler was the first to speak. "He took that better than I thought he would."

Logan shook his head slowly. "You think so? I don't."

"What makes you say that?" Wheeler asked.

"Four years ago, we kind of worked a case together. He saved my life, and that's not something I take lightly. We started hanging out together after that. He plays his reactions very close to the vest. Trust me, Wheeler. He didn't take that well at all." He started for the door. "Thanks, Rodgers."

Rodgers let out a soft sigh. She agreed with Logan. The news hit Goren much harder than he let on. She drew a sheet over the young woman, reassuring herself that Logan and Eames would take care of Goren. She wheeled the unclaimed body to the cooler. Something told her it wouldn't go unclaimed much longer. This Jane Doe would be buried with dignity and a name.