The Other Side

Part 1

By: ioanhoratio

AN: So I wasn't planning on writing a Halloween fic, but webdlfan made a convincing argument ^_^ so I came up with this. Originally this was suppose to be one long fic, but I just couldn't get it finished in time. But I figured since CBS can show their Halloween episode a week late then I have until then to finish this story! LOL! Any hoo, I've never really written anything like this so hopefully it works. Enjoy! (I hope this works for you web!)

She needed help.

There was something she was suppose to do, but she couldn't seem to make herself do it. How was she going to get out? Hadn't she just been crying? It was hard to remember. She couldn't seem to focus.

She heard a sound. It frightened her. She had to stay in the shadow so that Man wouldn't see her. But there was someone else too. Someone who needed her help. She wished her mind would quiet.

Wait…there was another sound. Another child. There was another child there now. She wasn't alone…

"Lucy Messer!" Lindsay called out to her daughter, "hurry please."

"But I don't need go potty Mommy," three year old Lucy reasoned.

Lindsay turned from the kitchen counter where she had been opening bags of candy for the candy bowl and gave her daughter a firm look. "Lucy I need you to try please. We aren't going to be able to stop and go potty until we get to Daddy's work. I don't want an accident on the trip. Now please go try."

"But Mommy," Lucy whined.

"No," Lindsay cut in. "We aren't going anywhere until you go potty."

Lucy huffed angrily and stomped her sock clad feet to the bathroom, swinging the door shut a bit more forcefully than normal.

Lindsay sighed. 'So the door slamming begins,' she thought dejectedly. "Mean old Mommy making her go potty," she quietly grumbled aloud.

A few moments later she heard Lucy yell, "I done. I need help."

Lindsay dutifully moved to the bathroom and helped her daughter clean up and get her clothes back on, then emptied the little pink potty. "Thank you for going potty Lucy," Lindsay praised.

"You're wel-tome Mommy," Lucy smiled, her earlier frustration already forgotten.

"Now, are we ready to go see Daddy?"

"Yes!" agreed the child excitedly.

"Ok!" Lindsay smiled, echoing her enthusiasm. "Go grab your shoes out of the basket."

Lucy scampered quickly to the basket of shoes near the door. Lindsay was grabbing both of their jackets to ward off the cool October air when she heard Lucy declare, "O-tay, I ready to go."

Lindsay turned and letting out a resigned chuckle simply said, "Alright, let's go." Lucy clomped over to her mom wearing her pink and green rain boots. To any adult with good taste the clash of color with her orange and white dress bearing a smiling pumpkin would be found offensive, but to the toddler it made very little difference. To a tired, worn out mom she was just glad the shoes were a matching pair.

After slipping on their coats, the mother daughter team made their way out into the city. The crisp evening autumn air, with its unusually cold temperature, swirled about them as people darted to their destinations. Spider webs, pumpkins, bats, and witches lined the streets and various small businesses along their walk.

Lucy giggled at the witch, whose face was pressed against a light pole, indicating she had flown into it, but clung tightly to Lindsay as they passed the giant purple tarantula that hung from a coffee shop window. Lucy was at the age where she was finally beginning to enjoy certain aspect of the Halloween holiday, but not quite old enough to find joy in the scarier side of October 31st.

The child badgered her mother with question after question. "Mommy, why do wit-tes fly on bwooms?" "How come pump-tins have scary faces?" "Is dat bat going to eat me?" "Can a steleton take a bath?" "Do dhosts tome out during the day?"

"Lucy, ghosts aren't real baby girl," Lindsay assured. "Day or night." It wasn't that Lindsay was opposed to the idea of paranormal activity—to each his own—it was just she didn't want a terrified three year old to be crawling in their bed every night. So with love and patience, Lindsay answered each one of the questions, doing her best to help her daughter be able to distinguish between fiction and reality. Halloween was three days away and it was important to ensure Lucy didn't get wrapped up in the fear of it all.

The pair stopped by a Chinese restaurant the whole family enjoyed and picked up the food Lindsay had called and ordered. It wasn't long before they were arriving at the crime lab. The days were growing shorter and the sun was already beginning to lower in the sky by the time they were exiting the elevator on the 35th floor.

Lindsay guided an excited Lucy to the break room. It was often the little girl was allowed to come to Mommy and Daddy's work. But tonight was different, it was special. Lucy only knew that work had kept her parents very busy which meant they hadn't had a lot of family time. She went to bed with Daddy at home and woke up to Mommy or visa versa. Tonight was a chance to spend time with both.

What Lucy didn't know, and what her parents tried to keep out of her life, was that they late nights were a result of a child abduction. The team had been working around the clock analyzing evidence; knowing that every second counted. A little girl, only a few years older than Lucy, had been taken. Unfortunately, after five days of searching, her body had been found dumped at a park. It had been a blow to everyone. Lindsay had avoided the morgue, unable to face the tiny lifeless body. And Danny wasn't fairing much better. His conviction to catch the bastard who was responsible had only burned brighter. He and Hawkes were spending the evening going over and over the evidence, trying to find anything that would tell them who had murdered the young Katelyn Murphy.

However, Lindsay knew that Danny needed to see his daughter. She knew he needed to feel her, hold her, talk to her, kiss her. It was a haunting thought to have to face the possibility of losing ones child. They both worked to stay focused, but couldn't help the moments of 'What if this was our child?' It was heartbreaking to have the case end so badly, so the family was going to find a way to be together—even if that meant Chinese take-out in the break room of the New York City crime lab.

"Daddy!" Lucy squealed as he entered the break room after having received Lindsay's text telling him they had arrived.

"Hey baby girl," Danny greeted, sweeping her up into his arms and hugging her tightly.

Lucy wrapped her short arms around his neck and squeezed. Danny moved his fingers down her sides, eliciting immediate laughter. Her grip loosened as he applied more pressure to his tickling and soon she was flaying her arms in all directions trying to squirm away from him.

"No Daddy! No ti-tle Yoo-see!" Her laughter rang out even as she chastised him.

"Wuz that Lucy? You said tickle me please?" Danny teased, hanging her upside down and attacking her belly with his mouth.

"No!" she yelled happily, her laughter so intense it was reaching the higher decibel range.

Finally Danny pulled her back up and finished with a tight hug before setting her on her feet.

"Hey," he greeted his wife, placing a kiss against her lips. "Long time, no see."

Lindsay smirked at him. It had only been a few hours since she herself had gotten off of work. "Yeah, like a whole two hours," she teased back.

"Feels like an eternity," he whispered in her ear dramatically.

Lindsay shoved him away with a scoff, the smile on Danny's face communicating he wasn't offended since he was joking anyway.

Grinning, he asked, "So, whadya bring me to eat?"

The family dished out their meal and talked and joked. Lucy, quite content to be spending time with both her parents, and to have the two adults providing her a rapt audience, quickly filled them in on her day at school telling them about the candy corn cutout they made, the green slime they got to play with, and how she ate all of her snack.

"I made a new fwiend today," she finished with, then shoved a handful of noodles into her mouth.

"That's nice Lucy," Lindsay praised.

"Her name is…uh…" Lucy thought for a moment, a few noodles hanging out of her mouth.

"Luce, swallow ya food first then tell us," Danny advised.

"O-tay Daddy." Danny just shook his head as a few noodles fell out of her mouth.

After swallowing down her food Lucy said, "I guess I don't remember her name, but she was so fun."

Before either parent could respond Danny's phone buzzed loudly. He snatched it up and read the message.

"Sorry ladies but Daddy's gotta run," he told them, shoving his phone in his pocket. In a softer tone he informed Lindsay, "Hawkes thinks he's got somethin' that could really help. He's down in reconstruction. I gotta..." He trailed off, his voice apologetic.

"No worries," Lindsay assured him. "Go."

Danny stole another kiss from her. "Thanks for doin' this. I know it interrupted the night time routine."

Lindsay shrugged. "Totally worth it."

Danny turned to his daughter. "Sorry babe-a-roo, but I gotta get back to work. I'm so glad I got to eat dinner with you. I love you ok? Be good for Mommy. I'll see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning Daddy," Lucy responded, holding her arms out for a hug. Danny tucked her in close and gave her an extra kiss on the head before dashing out.

Lindsay and Lucy finished up eating and Lindsay made sure to put the leftovers in the fridge for Danny. Then the two headed out. It was a long trip home and one tired little girl got to skip bath time, and just jumped straight to snuggling with her mommy in bed when she remembered, "Tate! Her name was Tate."

A confused Lindsay turned from the book about a dancing pig she had been reading aloud. "Who baby girl?"

"My new fwiend," Lucy answered, "I jus' 'membered."

"Oh," Lindsay nodded, not at all surprised by her daughter's non sequitur. "Alright. Let's finish our book so we can get to sleep and maybe you can play with your new friend again tomorrow."

Lucy nodded, obediently closed her eyes and drifted to sleep as she listened to her mother's voice.

Once Lindsay was sure Lucy was asleep she carefully crawled off the mattress, avoiding the mountain of stuffed animals and turned the night light down to its lowest setting and closed the door softly behind her.

Lindsay then began her own night time routine; pick up toys & books, make Lucy's lunch for school the next day and make sure her bag is ready, prep for breakfast and dinner, get a load of laundry washed, dried, and put away, if time then update family blog, then shower and finally a moment to relax. It was only suppose to be a moment that she closed her eyes, but around midnight her eyes flew open—the late night show wrapping up with a musical guest on the tv—and realized the sound of the door opening had awoken her.

Danny walked into the living room, surprised to see her.

"Hey," he greeted softly.

"Hey," she responded, pushing her hair out of her face.

"You fall asleep?" he asked knowingly.

"I…I guess so," she answered with a bit of confusion. She felt like she hadn't actually slept at all asleep. She shook her head, trying to clear the cob webs when she felt a wave of cold air wrap around her body.

She shivered, "You must have brought a draft in with you."

"Yeah, the temperature has really dropped out there."

Lindsay nodded and pulled her body up from the couch. She grabbed the monitor off the side table and moved to walk passed Danny, stopping briefly to rest her hand against his chest. "Come to bed soon," she instructed.

Danny gave her a tired smile. "Yeah, as soon as I…"

He was interrupted as the monitored squawked to life.

Mommy…Mommy, where are you?

Danny and Lindsay frowned at each other. "What is she doing awake?" Lindsay wondered aloud.

Mommy…

They could hear her begin to whimper and cry.

Mommy I need you!

Quickly they moved to the bedroom to check on their child. Lindsay, reaching the door first, pulled it open gently and peaked in.

Lucy was fast asleep.

End Part 1

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for reading.

Hopefully will be posting Part 2 tomorrow.