No, no, no.

Since there isn't a "no shipping" thread, I'll post these things here.

First, a romance between the two main characters of a cop show is often just lazy writing. They can't come up with any other characters outside the squad room?

Also, it seems very disrespectful to the characters to always assume they'll be romantically linked. Do you fall in love with everyone you work with? Can't you go in and do your job and keep your personal life personal and your professional life professional? Besides, after seeing the near-incest that goes on at SVU, it would be nice if there was something different than two cops who fall in lust with one another.

If the writers really had some chops to them, they would have played up the conflict between Goren and Eames years ago. This past few seasons, when we started to see that conflict and tension, is just when the show was getting to be its best.

And, if Goren and Eames were real, there would be lots of conflict. Eames is from a normal home that was stable and secure, and Goren … isn't. She's emotionally centered and "normal" and Goren … isn't. When two people are like this, they don't get romantically involved but they actually get irritated with one another. "Why can't he just be normal? I'm so tired of dealing with his oddities." "Why can't she understand why I'm not normal? I'm so tired of feeling like I need to apologize for myself."

This would also have been a great opportunity for them to really show Goren's emotional isolation. When she was kidnapped, they could have shown her family crowding around the hospital room - and crowding him out. When she was pregnant, they could have written that she married the baby's father and this would have given them lots of opportunities to show her on the phone with her husband, making plans for the weekend, cooing at the baby - and he goes home to his cold dark empty apartment, where he goes night after night.

Eames' new husband could also be someone that isn't crazy about Goren. Someone from the D.A.'s office, taking Carver's place. Or someone that works for the FBI that is appalled by Goren's methods and with what he's doing to Eames' career. He could be the antithesis of Goren - polished, respected, living in a nice house.

Now, if you want to talk about real writing chops and conflict, they also could have introduced another character; I call her Kate Bennett. Since this post could go on forever, I'll break it up.

Note that many things are left out of these; much of what was already in the episodes would stay, I'm just changing a few things to accommodate Bennett and this storyline. You'll need to fill in lots of blanks.

We first see Kate in uniform at the funeral for Kevin Quinn (Eames' husband's partner) and she is in the home with the other mourners, then notices Goren out on the sidewalk. She watches him, then watches Eames and the Chief of D's and everyone else. She looks at Goren again; her eyes narrow.

Later, in Ross' office Eames is pulled off the case and Bennett, we're told from Priority Homicide, is assigned to work with Goren on Quinn's murder, which of course doesn't make Eames happy. The Chief of D's states that Goren will take the lead in the investigation. The Chief walks out and as Bennett tries to leave the room, Eames stops her:

Eames: Can I speak with you privately?
Bennett: [knowingly] No, you don't need to speak with me privately. I know what you're going to say. Your partner doesn't adapt well to change. He doesn't play well with the other children. He needs a heavy hand, he needs his space, he likes to be left alone to solve his little puzzles … am I close?
Eames: Pretty much …
Bennett: Yeah, whatever else your partner is, he's also a professional. I assume I won't have any problems with him. Am I right, Detective?

And Goren, in the back of the room, speaks up and agrees with her. Bennett motions for Eames to step aside so she can leave the room; the tension between the two is obvious.

In the car, Goren starts the conversation.

Goren: You know, Eames didn't mean to step on toes back there …
Bennett: Yeah, don't worry about it. It's tough to be taken off something like this, I get that. So, the two of you …
Goren: [picking up on the implication; he's irritated] We're partners. Period.
Bennett: Hey, it was just a question. You wouldn't be the first two to be keeping company off the clock.
Goren: [shaking his head] No; we can barely talk outside the job.
Bennett: Well, that's not unusual either. I mean especially since she's so … [Goren looks at her with raised eyebrows] Normal.
Goren: And I'm a whack job.
Bennett: Is that the most difficult part of it?
Goren: What do you mean?
Bennett: That you go through what you go through, but then people around you just blame you for what it does to you? I mean, shouldn't someone like you, with what you handle at home, get more respect, more consideration?

Goren just looks at her for a moment, silent. Then, during the investigation, Goren and Bennett are having lunch at a diner and he asks her how she got stuck with the whack job.

Bennett: Do you want to know what the brass thinks, or do you want to know the truth?
Goren: They're not the same thing?
Bennett: Do you always tell the brass the truth? [shared smile] The brass thinks I'm making a play for Major Case. If I can handle the whack job for a few days, then what could the city of New York toss my way?
Goren: And so what is the truth?
Bennett: [quiet, looking out the window] The truth is that I wanted to meet you, but I wasn't sure how to make that happen. [pause, on his raised eyebrows] Right or wrong, good or bad, the squad is like a family. Everyone knows everyone else's business. [another pause, still very quiet] My mother was in and out of mental hospitals from the time I was a little girl. She had her first nervous breakdown when I was nine. It was in church. It was embarrassing. [another pause; this is difficult for her] My father was not an alcoholic but he sure had the temper of one. I don't remember a conversation with him that wasn't at the top of his lungs, all profanity. [another pause] The more I thought about it, the more I realized that maybe you should meet me too. Because I bet you think you're the only one. And I bet some days you wish you were too stupid to know what's been done to you. What's been taken from you.

At the end of the case, Bennett is signing paperwork in an interview room when Goren walks in.

Bennett: Did you talk to your partner?
Goren: Yeah, I caught her up.
Bennett: I just need your signature on everything and then do you mind filing this for us? I need to get back to my real department.
Goren: And will you at least pretend to walk down to Homicide or are you going directly to Internal Affairs?
Bennett: [pause; she's been caught] It only took you three days to figure that out. I must be losing my touch.
Goren: No; the Chief of D's would never put me in charge. He wants me out, not in the lead.
Bennett: Actually, I think he wants you dead, but he's too dumb and out of practice to figure out how to do that and get away with it …

Goren tosses his binder on the table angrily; there is a pause between them as she looks at him with raised eyebrows, and he is trying to control his anger. Bennett watches his tirade, sitting back quietly as he starts in on her:

Goren: Do you think this is funny? This isn't just my career; this is my life. You want to lie to me about my job and who you are, that's fine. But this is how far the Chief of D's is willing to go to get me out, to have you lie about your own life? Your own family? And if that didn't work, what next? How far are you willing to go for his agenda? [he continues his tirade before finally calming himself]
Bennett: [after a pause] Are you done? [another pause] I never lied to you. Not once. Not about why I asked for this assignment, not about reading all 278 arrest reports with your name on them. [pause; emotional] And I never lied to you about my family. The only lie you were told is that I'm from Homicide and that's not really a lie; I am from Homicide.
Goren: And Internal Affairs.
Bennett: Yes, and Internal Affairs.
Goren: So, how long do I have?

She stares at him a moment, then shakes her head in disbelief.

Bennett: The great Robert Goren. [she pulls a stapled bunch of papers from her own binder and flips it open, then slides it across the table at him] It's the last paragraph you want. [he doesn't move] Hey, I had to type it up. I'm not going to read it to you.
Goren: [finally sitting down and reading from the report] As to Detective Goren's mental and emotional state, I find nothing that would make me think he is unfit for duty or that would warrant a psychological evaluation. His methods may be somewhat unique but Detective Goren always follows proper police procedure and treats those around him with nothing but respect. He also continually shows himself to be an insightful police detective and a tremendous asset to the force overall. [he stops reading] You can't file this.
Bennett: I already have. [pause] You see, Goren, people like us, we have a real blind spot when it comes to taking care of ourselves. Everyone else - the perps, the partners, the parents, they're always a priority. But you? How things affect you, how things will come back and make you look? Do you ever stop long enough to consider that? Do you even know how?
Goren: [still doubtful] So that's what this is about, how things look for me?
Bennett: No. It's about IA protecting a good detective. If you don't start thinking about how things affect you, you're going to do something. And when the Chief of D's comes after you, and he will come after, he will slap you on the wrist and he will send you to your room and make you think about what a bad boy you've been. He will reestablish himself as the alpha dog lion king male. [she pauses, heavy with emotion, her voice cracking slightly] He'll make you stand outside on the sidewalk when everyone else is inside. But he will not take your shield.

She takes the report from his hands gingerly and slides it back into her binder, getting up to walk out when …

Goren: It's not worth this risk. To your job, your shield.
Bennett: [pause, then almost angry but quiet] Don't tell me what you're worth.

She walks out, leaving him there to think.

So fast forward a few episodes to when Donny disappears (and if these are out of order, tough … that's the whole point of fan fiction, I can rewrite everything), Goren goes upstate and then makes a phone call while he's there, leaving a message on a voice mail about what he's going to do … and it's Bennett's phone. When she doesn't get his calls from the prison she goes to get him and as she's signing out a car in the garage, Eames and Ross overhear her destination and know what's up; they go with her.

At the prison when the warden stalls with Eames and Ross, Bennett reveals to the warden that she's IA and takes blame for Goren's breakdown, that she was assigned to evaluate his mental health and failed. She is near tears as she says that she would like that mistake to stop with her and her career and not affect anyone else's. The warden relents. Outside, as they watch the ambulance pull away, she's all business again, telling Ross and Eames to go back to the city and she'll have IA handle it from there; they realize she played the warden in what she said.

As Goren is questioned by his superiors they tell him that calling IA is the only thing that is protecting his job. They question Bennett and she states that by the time she got the message, Detective Goren was already upstate. Alerting his superiors then may have put him in danger. She used her own judgment, as an Internal Affairs Officer, to wait until the situation played itself out. When she realized Goren's life may have been in jeopardy, she decided to act on her own so as to raise the least amount of suspicion at the prison. She's calm, cool, collected and confident of herself.

That night, after looking for Donny, Goren goes home, slides into bed, switches off the lamp on his side table and reaches over to switch off the lamp on the other table, and then we hear:
Bennett: You'll know he'll turn up. [Whoa! she's on the other side of the bed, her things on the table next to it] And he's smart enough to know to call you when he does.
Goren: How can you be sure?
Bennett: He's a Goren. He's brilliant.
Goren: The brass; what did they say to you …?
Bennett: [shaking her head] Calling me from upstate was perfect. They think it's the first I heard of it.
Goren: That was your idea.
Bennett: Well, maybe you're not the only brilliant one in this bed.
Goren: [reading her face] You're angry at me.
Bennett: Not angry. I thought you were dead. Does that mean anything to you? That right now I would be in this apartment, going through your things, trying to figure out where to bury you?
Goren: Just cremate me and put me in a mayonnaise jar. That's probably what's going to kill me anyway.
Bennett: [quiet, not ready for his humor] Bobby, I know it sounds like a cliché, but I just now found you. You can't go now. I need to see what happens next. Don't you want to see what happens next?
Goren: [realizing her emotion] I'm right here. I'm right here.
Bennett: [whispered] Yeah. For now.

And she leans in for a passionate kiss.

Intrigued? Bored? Steam coming out of your nose yet? Wait until you read further …

The episode where he goes undercover while being suspended. Bennett is at home, her apartment now, gathering up their clothes from the bedroom, turning out pockets, obviously making laundry piles. She picks up one of his jackets and goes through the pockets, and then pulls out the rolled-up twenty he almost snorted the cocaine with. She just looks at it, shocked, knowing what it is.

Later, at the end of the episode, after Eames chews him out and he finds the dead rat in his desk drawer, he goes home to find Bennett sitting at the kitchen table silently. He sits down, knowing something is up. A pause, silent, and then she slowly sets the rolled-up twenty on the table in front of him.

Bennett: You'll need to do better than this.
Goren: Second person to tell me that today. [pause] This isn't what you think …
Bennett: You'll need to do better than this.
Goren: Kate, I didn't …
Bennett: This passive aggressive, "let's hope she finds this and then I can leave" garbage just won't do with me. [off his confused look] You left this for me to find.
Goren: And why exactly would I do that?
Bennett: So that you could leave. So that I would push you out. [forceful and direct] All this time you have been walking around on eggshells wondering what I would find out about you, what terrible horrible nasty dark thing inside of you I would find that would make me run screaming in the night, as you assume I'm going to do. And since that hasn't happened yet you decided to speed things up by leaving this for me to find.
Goren: [nodding his head] That does sound like something I'd do.
Bennett: Well you're going to have to do better. You want to walk away, you know where all the exits are. But I'm not going anywhere. It's your choice; everything is always your choice.

It ends on Goren just sitting there, staring at the twenty, thinking deeply.

So the episode where his brother is killed, it involves all four detectives (this would be Logan's last episode). When Goren discovers his brother's body, Major Case arrives and Bennett is already there. She tells them that IA is handling this; Ross asked why they were called in:

Bennett: The man's brother takes a header out a fourth floor window three months after he finds a dead rat in his desk drawer? I'd like to know why you didn't call IA yourself.
Ross: I didn't know anything about that.
Bennett: [obviously shocked, then addresses Eames] Did you?
Eames: No, I didn't.
Bennett: Are you sure?
Eames: What does that mean?
Bennett: That means IA is also very interested in why it is that you seem to keep putting Detective Goren between yourself and a loaded gun, when that's the job of the senior partner. [intense and accusatory] I realize the man may be a full foot taller and perhaps even a full foot wider than you, but since when do we use our partners as our own personal human shields?

Now Eames is pissed. She's a good cop and she's in trouble with IA because of him?

Bennett dismisses them and goes back to Goren; as she does, Logan watches her. She's all professional and all business but Logan knows something is up. He approaches Bennett off to one side, out of everyone's earshot.

Logan: The scene will clear soon enough. I know how tough this is for you.
Bennett: Excuse me?
Logan: [nodding towards Goren] You two? [Bennett looks panicked and angry but Logan waves her down reassuringly, still keeping his voice low] Your secret is safe with me. That's not what this is about. You know who I am?
Bennett: Everyone in IA knows who you are Logan.
Logan: Then you know I won't back off and neither will Major Case. I'm going to help you get whoever did this.
Bennett: And why would you do that?
Logan: Because whack job or not, he's a damn good cop. And I know he'd do the same for me.

Bennett is the one that goes with Goren out of town to gather the evidence and puts things together, but Ross and Eames continue to dig through Goren's personal information and find his bank accounts. Bennett is alerted to the search and tells Goren, who confronts Ross about it in his office. He then angrily goes to the M.E.'s lab and confronts her about revealing the paternity test, and Bennett needs to step between him and Ross and Eames, telling Goren to step out (remember, they don't know that she and Goren are involved). After Goren is gone, she chastises Ross and Eames ("What part of IA-will-handle-this did you not understand?"), reminding them that IA knows the pressure he's under and this is why they wanted Major Case out of it.

Outside, Bennett and Goren have the conversation about him being set up. She reminds him that he needs to set his anger and grief aside for now because he's the only one that can solve this. Who would set him up, who would know how to do this, and who would be motivated enough to kill his own brother? And why would anyone do that?

Later Bennett is pulled into a conference room with the Chief of D's, Ross, and Logan. They confront her about Goren's behavior and at first she paces like a caged animal, accusing the Chief of being jealous because Goren is the better detective, reminding him that Eames' husband's killer went free for eight years, laughing at them, and that happened under his watch - while Goren cleaned up his mess in less than eight days. No, she won't help them investigate Goren for his own brother's death. Besides, why would he snap now? He's been dealing with his mother's illness and his brother's addiction for years, so why now?

Logan tries the soft approach with her, understanding her misguided loyalty - the father of her child. Bennett angrily seethes that she's not pregnant, and Logan says that no, she isn't, not anymore - and produces pictures of her coming out of an abortion clinic, the day before Bobby's brother died. The reason he would snap now, the catalyst.

She seems to break and tells them that she asked for the paternity test and when it came back that Brady was Bobby's father, she knew she couldn't bring his child into the world. And when Bobby realized what she did and why, he just got quiet - and left the apartment. The next day his brother was dead, and she knew. Before they can leave the room:

Bennett: You know Bobby's one mistake as a detective? Nicole Wallace. [they don't get it] Why did Nicole kill her own child?
Logan: Jealousy. Over the father's attention.
Bennett: [shaking her head in disgust] That's what a man would say. It's all about sexual jealousy with you men. Nicole Wallace saw how that little girl's father looked at her, and she knew. She knew what that girl's life would be like. She figured that the child would be better off dead than in that world.
Logan: She killed her child to protect her?
Bennett: In Nicole's world, that made her a good mother. The ultimate sacrifice for the safety of her child. Her one redeeming quality, in her mind anyway. And when Bobby didn't see it, she just gave up. If he couldn't see what she thought she was … [near tears] God, he thinks he's such a great detective! But he's just a man. He's just a man, like any other.

Bobby gets arrested in the squad room, and they bring in Gage as a courtesy, Ross telling him that Goren was asking for him. Goren is watching the interview of Bennett as Gage comes in and he chastises Goren for giving in so easily. Someone is setting him up; it's time to think!

As they talk, Bennett comes into the observation room with Logan where there is Eames, Ross, and the Chief of D's. She's back in control, and tells them not to move in even if Gage confesses. Bobby wants to talk to him and he'll signal her. They realize that Logan worked with Bennett and IA to set them up and Eames realizes she was left out of the loop by Goren - again. An argument erupts between the men and Bennett has to shush them as she tries hard to focus on Bobby's conversation in the next room.

Goren is breaking down Gage. He talks about ridding Bobby of his brother and then motions to the video of Bennett; if Bennett doesn't believe in Goren then maybe he should broom her too.

In the observation room, it's silent as Bennett leans in close to the glass. When she hears that, there is a pause, and then she gasps and runs to the next room, knowing what's about to happen. Bobby flips the table up and goes at Gage; Bennett needs to get between them, talking to Bobby softly but firmly and with respect. Logan leads Bobby out of the room and as he does, Gage says something flippant to Bennett about holding Bobby's attention, about engaging him. She stops and looks him dead-on.

Gage: How long do you think until you get irritated with him? Before he gets bored with you?
Bennett: Irritated? Bored? With the 164 IQ points up here [tapping her forehead]? [quiet; shaking her head in disbelief] We are trying to get pregnant. Whatever is broken up here [gesturing around his head] I know that you remember what a man and a woman need to do to get pregnant. Who do you think he's going to pay more attention to, some cold dead ghost in a grave or a live warm woman in his bed?

Goren and Eames have an exchange outside in the hallway, with Logan as well.

Eames: This is the second time you've frozen me out, Goren. IA or not, when you can't trust your partner to let her know what's really going on, then it's time to get a new one.
Logan: And when you start thinking that maybe your partner really did kill his own brother, maybe you're ready for a new one as well.

All the commotion gets to Goren and he takes a step back, closes his eyes, and passes out just as Bennett steps out into the hallway. She screams his name as everything goes black.

Later, outside, in the dark and the rain, a lone figure (Bennett) all bundled up is jogging along the road and she runs right into a van's open door. Inside, Bennett takes off her hood and faces her IA boss; I'm going to name him Riley.

Riley: How's Goren?
Bennett: He's fine. It was just exhaustion. He needed some rest, some fluids; we will both be back in on Monday.
Riley: Well when you come back, be warned. [he hands her a folder and she opens it, then is obviously upset] I understand you two were pretty hot and heavy back in the day.
Bennett: Yeah. We were. So when did he get back in town?
Riley: A month ago. You don't need to talk to him; everything is set. I just don't want you to bump into him in the hallway and … choke him to death.
Bennett: I can't promise that. You know, it's bad enough Goren has to lose his job but to this guy …
Riley: Not Goren. He's not out. He's safe for now.
Bennett: Then who?

And there is a shot of the face in the folder that Bennett is holding; it's NICHOLS! And in the last scene they cut to Logan and him leaving.

That's right, Bennett and Nichols were hot and heavy and think of the possibilities that would give them! Eames is pissed at Goren, her husband is encouraging her to leave, she wants bigger and better things for herself, and Goren's insecurities all come to a head when he needs to work in the same room as the guy that used to sleep with his girlfriend. This could also really tear at Goren and Bennett's relationship as she may have some lingering feelings for Nichols and they see how that would all play out between her and Goren.

So how does it all end? Keep in mind that this whole scenario brings up lots of possibilities for storylines in the meantime. Eames' new husband butts heads with Goren. Bennett could be assigned to work with Nichols for a case or two when Wheeler is out. This can help us get a feeling for who he is and sets off sparks with Goren and Bennett because of how insecure he really is with her.

Okay, so back to the ending. The last episode; it starts with Goren and Bennett obviously getting ready to leave in the morning. They're silent for a few moments, and then:

Bennett: How long are you going to pout?
Goren: I'm not pouting.
Bennett: You hate that I have to work with him and you're feeling insecure and left out and you're pouting.
Goren: I'm not pouting. [his expression says that he is …]
Bennett: Look, Bobby, I know what's going on inside your head. You look at this guy and you see everything you're not, and everything you thought made you special. You're brilliant, so is he. You're a good detective, so is he. You're funny and interesting and caring and quirky. And so is he. You think he has his life together more than you and it's scary and it hurts, I know that.
Goren: [quietly thinking] There have to be reasons why you were with him for so many years.
Bennett: Yeah, and lots of reasons why I'm not anymore. You're right, he's everything you're not. He's self-centered and wrapped up in his own world and decided to run when things got hard. [pause] I'm going to hold your hand through this for only so long.
Goren: [nodding his head] You know, he's even taller than me.

They share a smile.

The case Nichols and Bennett are investigating involve a former cop and domestic violence. It's take a personal toll on Bennett and Nichols notices. They have a private conversation:

Nichols: If you need to step away from this I can tell Ross that we need to be split up. I know this is tough on you.
Bennett: Don't tells me how I feel.
Nichols: Kate, you don't need to pretend this isn't bothering you. Not with me you don't.
Bennett: Don't you even think of acting like there is a you and me. You don't get to act like you're so concerned about my feelings now.
Nichols: Kate, I am sorry for what I did to you. But you need to understand I had to leave.
Bennett: I understand you were going through some things. I understand you needed to get away from the job and Ross and your parents. But I don't understand that you needed to leave me, especially the way you did.
Nichols: You were the reason I left.
Bennett: [walking away] Great. Thanks. What every woman wants to hear.
Nichols: I had to leave because you couldn't. You wanted me gone but couldn't do it yourself.
Bennett: You're deluded.
Nichols: Am I? Layers and layers of pain, hiding what you really are. You couldn't break through it and really face it, so you run. You date toys, and I was the first one that was real. And that scared you to death. It was hard for you, not me.
Bennett: You're saying you did me a favor.
Nichols: Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever did. It killed me every day. But I couldn't let you go and stay. [moves close to her] It was you, Kate. It was always you. You're the one.

He moves in to kiss her and she doesn't return the kiss but she doesn't back away either.

At the end of the investigation, an interview is obviously very upsetting to Bennett; it involves child abuse and being broken beyond repair. Nichols looks at her during the interview, knowing it's hitting some sore spots. She stays in the interview room as the person is led out; she quietly sits at the table, her hands flat out in front of her. Nichols notices and stays with her but she doesn't speak, shell-shocked. He asks if he should get Goren and she just shakes her head; he says to take all the time she needs and steps out, and Goren is outside by his desk. He notices her and knows something is wrong. He asks Nichols about her and Nichols says she needs her space. Goren gets irritated and tells him that he doesn't need to tell him how to "handle" her. They're having a tense exchange when Ross steps in and sends them to neutral corners.

Back in the interview room, Ross goes in and sits down quietly. He talks to Bennett about Nichols and Goren; they're interesting, nothing vanilla about either of them, but they're also exhausting. The collateral damage to oneself might not be worth what you get in return, especially if you're damaged to begin with. This statement obviously strikes a chord with her; he knows she's damaged, it's that obvious.

Bennett says nothing and walks out, past Goren and Nichols without a word. Later at the apartment, it's empty as Goren walks in. He looking around, thinking, and then heads out.

In a dark hotel room, Bennett sits, smoking, looking out the window. Goren is let in by the manager and quietly sits by her.

Goren: Are you going to talk to me about this? [no answer] You're sitting here alone, two blocks from home, in the dark, smoking …
Bennett: [almost in a fog] I don't smoke. [she takes a drag on the cigarette]
Goren: What did he say to you? Was it Nichols, did he say something? [no answer] The case you were working on, what happened? [no answer; they sit for several minutes, just quiet, and then he tried a different tactic] I need you to come home, Kate. You can't run when things get hard; I didn't, and you can't either. Whatever it is …
Bennett: You thought it would be you. All this time, you thought that what would break us apart would be you. No one can get close to you because you're so bent, you're so broken. You were the damaged one. [sad smile] But you were wrong. It's me. I'm the one that's broken. [very quiet, still in a fog] You can go now.
Goren: [getting up] You'll be home tomorrow?
Bennett: No, I mean you can go. Go back to your apartment, your life, your safety net. I 'release' you of your obligation to stay with me. We can't make this work, either of us. Why delay the inevitable?
Goren: [sitting back down; pause] You'll have to do better than that. You're not getting rid of me that easily. Whatever it is you think is broken inside of you, you'll have to do better. I'm not going anywhere. [there is a long silence between them and then Goren gets up] You take all the time you need. But you come home. I'll be waiting for you when you do.

He leans over and kisses her forehead but she doesn't move. As he heads toward the door, he looks back at her:

Goren: Kate. Why are you punishing yourself? Aren't you angry at the wrong person?

And Goren walks out. Bennett sits there, quiet, smoking and thinking. Suddenly she is angry, up and out the door. At the apartment, Goren also sits at the table, staring at his phone, willing it to ring.

Bennett goes to her father's apartment and confronts him. There has obviously been abuse in the family. She speaks to him angrily as he makes fun of the damage done to her, that everyone knows she's just broken. She ends it with him in an angry and emotional confrontation; "You've taken enough from me. I won't let you take me from him. He needs me. We belong together and always have."

Outside, sitting in her car, she is near hysterics and in tears as she dials her cell phone. Nichols is in the squad room and gets a cell phone call. Bennett, on the phone, says not to hang up and tearfully offers apologies. She was mad at the wrong person, she loves him, it was always him, "tell me it's not too late for us," she wants to come home to him.

And it cuts to Goren, also on the phone, in the apartment (Fooled you! Not Nichols). Of course she can come home, where is she, he'll come and get her. In the car, Bennett composes herself and then she glances up, to her right and screams his name … just as a man reaches into the car with a gun and shoots at her. Bobby hears the shot.

Chaos. A hospital's ER as Bennett is wheeled down the hallway, covered in blood, Goren and Riley (Bennett's boss) running hurriedly behind.

At the crime scene, Ross, Eames and Nichols look everything over - her bloody car, the cell phone that's shattered in the passenger seat. What was she doing in this neighborhood? Nichols knows and he and Eames head upstairs to her father's apartment. He and Nichols exchange words and Nichols calls him on the man's abuse. Eames realizes the history between Nichols and Bennett.

At the hospital, Bennett is out of surgery but struggling. She is bandaged on the hand and back of her neck. The doctor explains her condition to Goren; there is no spinal cord damage and they've done the best they can to sew up everything again but she lost a lot of blood and it will be touch and go all night. Privately, Goren talks to her unconscious figure. He says that if she doesn't make it, neither will he … and the heart monitor flat lines. The screen goes black.

In the second half, there are intercuts of Eames and Nichols investigating Bennett's shooting with scenes of Goren at a job interview with the FBI, and also buying a house; he's by himself the entire time. The realtor asks him, "So it's just you then?" But we don't hear his answer. At Major Case, his desk is cleared off and empty. The investigation reveals the shooter. Mike Stoats, Copa, someone that Kate took down through IA, take your pick. The very last scene, Goren is in their empty apartment, one last box of books in hand. He looks around for the last time then closes it up. At the street, he puts the box of books in the backseat of his car and slides in, starting up the car and then sitting quietly for a minute. Then:

Bennett: Last chance to change your mind.

We see her in the passenger seat, looking out the window and up at the apartment building. Her right hand rests gently on the window, a bandage around it. There is another visible bandage at the back of her neck. She turns to look at Goren with raised eyebrows.

Goren: [shaking his head] No. And you? This was your city too, your home.
Bennett: No. Everything bad that has ever happened to me in my life happened in this city. I'm ready for a change.
Goren: Good things happened here too.
Bennett: I'm taking those things with me.

Big happy ending! Of course they're moving to Michigan to be closer to his family. I would also vote for Eames to stay and be partnered with Nichols. Ross should also stay because they always need a Captain to check in with. He's a big supporter of Eames so he could encourage her in both professional and personal ways - he's divorced so he doesn't want to see that happen to her, but he knows how important the job is too.

No, I'm not talking a lot about Eames and her situation because this was just concentrating on Goren/Bennett. I think the writer missed out on a lot of opportunities for conflict and of course Bennett would add fuel to that fire.

I know Dick Wolf (which sounds like a name for a male stripper) hates personal lives on his cop shows but I really think Eames and her supportive family would emphasize Goren's emotional isolation. And Goren could only be with a woman that is just as messed up as he is; they would understand each other and accept each other that much easier.

Comments, questions, hate mail?

If you're going to write fanfic, write fanfic! Reading an outline isn't very entertaining.

Rachel, you're insane. Where did you put your Terminator script, Halcyon's home page? (They're busy in bankruptcy court and wouldn't read it anyway! HA! Free Christian Bale!)

The Bennett/Nichols twist is good; if she goes for Goren of course she would go for someone like Nichols. Ross does have a fatherly side of him, I can see that coming out. And Eames should have gotten married with children to really rub Bobby's nose in it! For some reason we love to see our hero suffer a little. You're right, they missed out by not having more tension between them. That's when things got good.