Disclaimer: I don't own any characters of CSI:NY.

Chapter 1: A Day in the life of New York's Finest

New York City. People would say it's the city that never sleeps – and that saying has much truth behind it. Even at the crack of dawn, there were street vendors getting ready for the day. There were morning joggers running with their dogs at Central Park. There was already a traffic gridlock in the lower end of Manhattan. But most of all, the precinct where Abigail Hendricks worked, was already in full working force.

It was barely 6:00am, as Abigail had sat down at her desk with a cup of lukewarm bland coffee. Telephones were going off the hook, and as she looked around, she could see some of the detectives in her office already had an interesting start to the day. Tom Parks – her partner in narcotics, was already questioning a drug addict who looked like he had gone through hell and back and had survived to tell the tale.
Good luck with that Parks. It doesn't look like you're going to get anything out of him, she thought. Abigail moaned in agony and rubbed her temples. She was already starting to get a headache, and the last thing she wanted to do today was to chase down drug dealers and such. The smell of a hot coffee sparked her attention, but she did not look up, keeping her eyes closed

"It looks like you need one"

"I already got one Parks. Dark, full of flavour and volume. It's the worst of the worst. Honestly, you'd think the Captain could go and pull some strings about this."

"It's Starbucks you Pop-tart," Abigail looked up and saw her forty something ageing partner holding a hot cup of steaming coffee, "It's your favourite too Abby."

She took it from his hand and warmly embraced the closest thing to heaven. As she was about to take a large gulp, Abigail paused and raised an eyebrow at her partner, "What's up Parks? It's not everyday you'd treat a girl to a cup of coffee," Abigail inquired.

"You, a girl? I never noticed," he replied. Before his brunette counterpart could throw the closest thing at him, Tom Parks quickly continued, "I'm doing you a favor darling. Captain told us to check out a tip we got couple of days ago. It's going to be a long day. Com'on. We don't want to be missing any fun today. Leave your things here. I'll drive."

Abigail groaned as she got up and followed the man who had mentored her for the past 7 years. "Is there a day when you don't act like a cheerleader?"

Tom looked back, "I like cheerleaders. They're so…cheery"

"Well I don't," muttered Abigail. Heading out the door, she knew it was going to one very busy day.

"So what have we got today?" Abigail asked.

"Anonymous tip saying there was going to be a drug shipment coming in tomorrow night. We think it's by the Tanglewood boys"

"So where are we headed? To the docks?"

"Nay, it's too early to tell where the drop is going to be. But I think we know someone who might hold that information"

"We know?"

"Well, more like you know, sweet cakes."

"Parks, you know I'm not very patient. Where are we going?"

"Oh com'on. Have a little sense of humour. I keep telling you kid, you're never going to find Mr. Right if you don't smile or laugh or make some jokes." Tom looked at his young partner, who clearly did not enjoy being nagged at.

Abigail had been assigned to him almost 7 years ago after his previous partner had died in a drug bust that had gone terribly wrong. She was a rookie, he remembered, who had about 3 years experience as a street cop. She came to him as a young ambitious detective who had dreams of cracking down every drug dealer in New York City. He wasn't very fond of her in her early years. He had always thought women were a liability in his years of experience. But she was different, as he observed her. Abigail was tough, and an incredible chameleon. She was able to hide her emotions and perform effortlessly. Her ability to act also made her one of the damn finest undercover cops in the division. Tom looked at Abigail like a daughter. All in all, Tom had a part in molding this rookie cop into one of the toughest, meanest narcotics detective.

"Tom," Abigail said in a tone that he knew she wasn't playing around.

"Alright alright, Sheesh, kid. No wonder all the boys run the other way when they see you. You take everything so seriously. We're going to see our good old friend Benny."

"Bernard Marx? I thought he was doing time for armed robbery."

"Got out on parole 2 months ago. Now it's time to pay him a visit." Tom paused, and chuckled to himself, "The fool missed his parole meeting. Probably to get high or somethin'"

"And you think he knows something about the drop?"

"Abby, he knows everything. Don't you remember?"

Abigail shuttered, "Don't remind me"

"Oh? But why not walk down memory lane? If I remember correctly, he knew you were a size 6. He knew you like your coffee black. He knew you smelled of sweet lavender with a hint of rosemary. He knew –"

"That's enough. Don't make me recall some of my memories I have that put you in the spotlight." Abigail narrowed her eyes, then slowly, but quietly laughed.

"See kid? You really should laugh more. It lights up the whole world!"

As her laughter died down and masked her face with a tone of confidence. "Another time Tom. We're here. Shall I take the back entrance?"

Tom nodded and signaled another cop to come with him to the front entrance, as Abigail walked off to the backyard.

Bernard Marx was involved with a case 4 years ago that put him in for possession of crack and armed robbery. In the plea bargain, the DA had agreed only charge him for armed robbery. It wasn't a pleasant case for Abigail. Bernard had become infatuated with her, during her undercover operation, and she had let him get close – a little too close.
That's all in the past now, she thought.

As she crept around the house, she noticed it was getting a little too quiet for liking. She bent down and slowly reached for her gun. Abigail approached the window and peaked inside. Surely enough, she saw her old friend and some of his friends shooting high. She also noted that at least 3 kilos of cocaine were lying on the counter. She then heard Tom's voice.

"NYPD. Open up Benny! We need to talk!"

With those words, the house went into chaos. Abigail saw the men scrambling to rid of all trace of their party and hiding the bags of cocaine in a bag. She then saw Benny head for the back door. As Tom kicked down the front door, Abigail quickly ran to the back entrance, quickly glancing at Tom and shouting, "I got him Tom! Don't worry"

She followed Benny through the many alleys, quickly closing in the space between her and the suspect. "Com'on Benny! We just want to talk," Abigail yelled as both her and Benny were heading towards the Hudson River.

"Fat chance, bitch," and Benny turned around and pulled a gun at Abigail. "The last time we talked I landed behind bars. You're bad luck to me."

Abigail panted, catching her breath. "Oh that was one little incident. What's done is done. We just want a little information, that's all."

"No way, I'm not talking, " He fired one shot in the air, and stepped back, creeping closer to the edge that met a hundred feet of cold water.

"Don't make me mad, you prick," Abigail warned as she held up her own gun, "In 5 minutes there will be a lot more cops you're going to have to deal with. So we deal with me, or the whole of NYPD. Your choice."

She observed that Benny looked extremely nervous, so she decided to keep pressing. "All we want is the location of the drug shipment tomorrow night. You must know something Benny."

"I can't tell you Abs! They'll kill me," he wailed, "They'll kill me and my Ma."

"We can help you Benny. I can help you. Where is the drop going down?"

At this point, he was starting to become hysterical and became dangerously near falling into the Hudson River. Abigail knew there was little time left before he either killed himself, or fell into the water. She couldn't take any chances. "I can protect your mother Benny. You know I can. Tanglewood's smart enough never to mess with me."

A look of hesitation passed Benny's face, but soon relaxed and his gun dropped a few centimeters. "It's going to be at least 50 kilos of co-"

He was violently interrupted with 4 gunshots. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Abigail took cover and saw as Benny's body slowly met the cold water of the Hudson River. Abigail had been so focused on Benny that she had failed to notice the car that had driven by. The black Buick had now driven off leaving tire marks on the street, just as Tom and other police officers were coming down.

"God dammit!" She muttered, as she followed Benny into the river. She was not about to lose him when he was so close to telling her what she wanted to know. The cold water hit her like a thousand knives, as she swam towards the unconscious body.

Reaching him, Abigail checked his pulse and noted he was still alive – just barely. There were multiple shots in his chest, with one very close to his heart. "You better stay alive, you son of a bitch! You better stay alive. I did not jump in to save your ass for nothing," she muttered as she struggled back to shore.

Tom was already near the bay and offered his hand to help, which his partner gladly took. "Jesus Christ Abby, you're shaking. You need a paramedic." He reached out his radio and called for one.

Abigail, though, had better things in mind other than her own well-being. She began shaking Benny, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Where is the drop?! God dammit Benny! Don't you die on me now. You can die any day but today Benny!"

Tom observed Benny's lifeless body and bowed his head down. "Abigail," he said quietly, "he's gone now. It looks like he bled out."

Abigail stopped the shaking and just sat there silently beside him. "He can't be dead," she whispered.

"I'll call the CSIs," Tom said. "You did your best, kid. But sometimes, these things just happened. We're going have to find some other way around this."

"I was so close Tom. ­So close."

"I know, kid. I know. Come on, we need to warm you up. Paramedics are here." Tom grabbed her elbow and attempted to help her up, but was met with much resistance.

"I'm fine Tom, really. I'm just going to linger around until homicide gets here. That alright with you?" Abigail looked up. Tom could see what was going through mind. He knew she wanted to cry, wanted to yell, wanted to scream. But he also knew she was too strong-headed and stubborn to do so.

"Yea, that's fine. I'll head back to the precinct. You sure you're alright Abby?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

Abigail blinked a few times, as if she ridding herself of any emotion towards the now lifeless body on the ground. "Yea, I'm fine," she replied, and coughed, "Never better." She smiled reassuringly to her partner. "Really. I'm fine. If I have an emotional breakdown one day, I'll let you know and you can get me a shrink okay?" she joked.

Tom wasn't convinced, but knew Abigail had dealt with worst things and lived through them. He knew she would be fine. What he didn't know was how she dealt with them, and that worried him because he didn't know how that would affect her health in the long-term.

"Alright kid. You call me if you need anything."

A/N: This is my first try at writing for CSI:NY. Leave any comments or feedbacks! The CSIs to appear in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading!