Don sighed and turned over in his bed to feel a warm body lying next to his. He smiled and wrapped his arms around the body. The girl snuggled closer to him and smiled.
"Morning daddy" she yawned. Don laughed and kissed his sixteen year old daughter's forehead. Kiley Lynn Flack was Don's pride and joy. He would die if anything ever happened to Kiley. She was the result of a really bad relationship. Don would have done anything for Allison, Kiley's mom, but she didn't feel the same way. As soon as Kiley was released from the hospital, Allison announced that she was leaving and not taking 'the stupid kid' with her. Don was furious, but was already attached to the bundle of joy. He had raised her on his own, surprising considering the hours he works.
"Morning baby girl, what are we going to do on our day off?" Don asked even though he already knew the answer. He always took his days off on the weekend so he could spend all of his time with his daughter. They always did the same thing every time.
"We're taking Tony to the park!" Kiley said excitedly. Don laughed and started to get up. Every weekend he and Kiley would take their German shepherd, Tony, to Central Park. They would spend the day there relaxing. Don hopped into the shower then quickly dressed in a NYPD t-shirt and jeans. He threw on a pair of converses and left the room to find Kiley. She was sitting on the couch watching some inaccurate police show. The two of them loved spending time together making fun of all of the mistakes. Don looked to see her in his dark blue NYPD hoodie and some jeans.
"You ready to go baby girl?" Don asked. Kiley nodded and hopped up to put Tony's leash on. Don chuckled to himself and grabbed his badge and service weapon. They headed out to enjoy the day ahead of them.
"What do you want for… hold that thought" Don said as he answered his phone. Kiley knew that his job was important so if their day together got cut short, she wasn't bothered. Don took a few steps away from her because she shouldn't have to hear the grizzly things he talked about.
"Don, we've got a problem. Reyes just made bail" Don heard Danny sigh over the line.
"He what?!?" Don screamed. Everyone within ear shot turned to look at Don. Anthony Reyes was a man who he and the team had just arrested for raping and killing teenage girls. Every night that Reyes was loose, Don never slept. He would watch Kiley sleep to make sure that she was safe. When they sent him to Rikers, Don could relax again. Now that he was out, Kiley was a target again.
"There's something else you should know. He sent a note to you. It says something about him knowing your secret and he was coming so get ready. Do you know what that means?" Don froze. Reyes knew about Kiley and wasn't going to stop until he had her. The team didn't know anything about Kiley because he didn't want her marked as a target.
"Yeah Danny, I understand. Assemble the team in Mac's office. I'll be there in twenty minutes, there's something you guys should know" Don said as he turned to watch Kiley. Out of the corner of his eye he saw what he had feared the most. Reyes was watching Kiley too. Don hung up the phone and ran to Kiley. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her along, all the while looking for any other sign of Reyes. "Change of plans Kiley, we're going to meet the team now" he offered as an explanation. Kiley gave her dad a confused look, but trusted him none the less. He had always protected her and done what's best for her, so who was she to argue now? They quickly made their way back to their apartment and dropped Tony off before heading to the crime lab.
"Detective Flack what are you doing here on your day off?" the secretary asked as she smoothed her hair down. This woman was flirting with Don even after he had come in with another woman. Granted, she was his daughter, but the secretary didn't know that.
"I need a temporary visitors pass. I'll need a permanent one soon, but for now this…" he pulled a visitor's pass from the desk, "…will do. Thanks." Don handed the pass to Kiley then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to the elevators.
"How many girls flirt with you at the office?" Kiley asked slyly. She didn't care if her dad dated or not, she thought it was funny.
"As much as you like embarrassing your father, at work no less, I only flirt back with Jess" Don answered. He had told Kiley of the connection he had with his new partner. She had told him to take Jess out for dinner, but he was too scared. Kiley rolled her eyes just as the elevator doors opened. She looked around and went slack jawed at the open layout. Don chuckled and pulled Kiley to Mac's office, where he could see everyone waiting for them. Kiley stopped outside of Mac's doors. Don turned to her sharply.
"What's the matter?" he questioned worriedly. Kiley started to tear up.
"What if they don't like me?" Kiley wondered out loud. Don looked at her sympathetically. She was worried that if the team didn't like her that he would have to choose between her and them. She knew that he would always choose her over anyone else.
"They'll love you baby girl. Don't worry about it ok? I will always love you" Don explained pulling his daughter to him. Kiley nodded and allowed Don to pull her into the office. Everyone suddenly grew quiet as the two made their way inside. Kiley curled into Don further as everyone looked at her curiously.
"Guys, this is my daughter Kiley. Kiley this is the team: Mac, Stella, Danny, Lindsay, Adam, Hawkes, Jess, and Sid" he explained as he pointed everyone out. Danny's confusion suddenly turned to a knowing look then anger.
"There's no way in hell Reyes is touching her!" he yelled. Kiley flinched at the sudden loudness. Everyone turned their looks between Danny, Don, and Kiley. Don sighed before pulling Kiley closer to him and kissing her temple. She looked up to him.
"What's going on daddy?" she whispered. Don looked into eyes that mirrored his own and sighed.
"Anthony Reyes made bail and threatened Kiley" Don explained still looking at his little clone. Everyone put two and two together and got the gist. Kiley looked at her dad confused and was about to ask what was going on when she was interrupted by eight voices yelling.
"Absolutely not!"
"No!"
"Not a chance!"
"I will kill the bastard before that happens!"
"Not on my life!"
"It's not possible!"
"He can't do that!"
"How can we stop him?!?" Kiley looked at these people she had known for less than five minutes wanting to put their life on the line for her. She still didn't understand what was with this Reyes guy and why she was still in danger. Don watched Kiley look around the group in awe and confusion. He bent to whisper in her ear.
"They already love you and think you're a part of the 'lab family' as they like to call it. Reyes… Anthony Reyes raped and murdered girls your age. That's why I couldn't sleep for weeks Kiley. I want you to be careful. He's smart and sneaky. He will try to be your friend, but you can't let him." Kiley turned to Don with tears in her eyes. She nodded and buried her face into his chest. "I won't let him hurt you Kiley, but I need you to do whatever we say. Do you understand?" Don sighed as he felt Kiley nod into his chest. Her tears were soaking through his shirt and it broke his heart to see her so vulnerable. "I promise Kiley, I won't let him hurt you."
"Kiley why don't we go get something to drink in the break room? I think they've got some stuff to talk about, you want to come Adam?" Adam nodded and followed Kiley and Sid to the break room. Don had a hard time letting her out of his sight even though he knew she was safe.
"Don, what are we going to do?" Don shook his head.
"I have no idea, but I do know that if that bastard comes near her I will kill him, to hell with my job" Don said with fire in his eyes.
"I can go see if I can find anything about his whereabouts. Maybe we can tail him and get him on something stupid, like an unpaid parking ticket" Jess offered. She started out the door with Don trailing her.
"I'll be right back" he called over his shoulder. The other occupants of the room smirked.
"Twenty bucks that they get together before the end of the day" Danny offered. Everyone turned to him and placed their bets.
"Jess… Jess wait up!" Jess stopped and turned to Don. She was heartbroken that he would play with her like that when he already had a wife, or girlfriend. He had a daughter for God's sake! She wanted to break down and cry, but she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he broke her heart.
"What Flack?" she asked coldly. Don was taken aback. They had been on first name bases for a while, but she must have been mad because she only called him by his last name when she was pissed.
"I don't want you helping on this investigation." Jess stared at him.
"What? Do you not think I can do my job or do you just not want your wife to know…?" Jess was cut off with Don's lips. She allowed herself to get lost in it before she remembered he was playing her. She pulled away and started to yell at him when he started kissing her again.
"I don't have a wife or I wouldn't have flirted with you. It's just Kiley and me at home, but that's not the point. I don't want you to do this investigation because I'm afraid he'll try to come after you too." Jess looked at him shocked for a moment. Was he implying that…?
"Why would Reyes come after me too?" Don sighed. He had hoped that she wouldn't ask him that, but he should have known better.
"Because… he might come after you because I like you. I'm pretty sure I love you" Don said waiting for Jess to slap him. Instead he was surprised when Jess wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately.
"I'm pretty sure I love you too" she teased. Don smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. He bent down to kiss her when they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
"Um… as much as I'm glad I totally just won the bet, you might not want to do that. The brass is on their way to skin our hides for letting Reyes go. They'll be here…" Danny was interrupted by the elevator ding. The team watched as Sinclair and Gerrard stepped off and started walking their way. Don and Jess instantly let go of each other and stepped apart. "…now."
"Taylor!" Sinclair yelled. Mac flinched at the tone.
"Yes Chief Sinclair?" Mac asked as he stepped forward with his hand out stretched. The three higher powers shook hands and stepped apart. There was an invisible line drawn between the two groups.
"Taylor, how did Reyes get out?" Gerrard asked furiously. Sinclair shot him a look and turned to hear the CSIs and homicide detectives answer. The team looked between each other trying to get an answer straight.
"Well, sir, he was released on bail. If you'll excuse me I've got to…" Jess explained quickly as she started stepping away from the group. Gerrard's hand shot out and wrapped tightly around Jess's delicate wrist.
"No one's going anywhere until I get the answers I want" he replied looking each detective in the eye. Don was having a hard time seeing past his rage. He took two strides toward his partner, and now lover, and quickly removed Gerrard's hand. Jess pulled her wrist toward her chest and allowed Don to rub the spot where a new bruise was starting to form.
"Don't you dare touch my partner again!" Don roared at him. Gerrard looked taken aback. He was not used to people talking back to him, let alone yelling at him.
"Couples are not allowed to work together" he informed the group. Mac turned his eyes from Jess and Don to glare at the brass.
"They're not a couple; they just trust each other completely. They have each other's backs. They are not being separated. As for Reyes, it was not our fault. We processed the evidence completely, but the judge didn't think that was enough. He held Reyes' bail at $25,000, which was paid off earlier today." Sinclair and Gerrard looked at each other in silent communication before turning back to the group.
"How did the judge not…?"
"Daddy?" Kiley questioned as she made her way to her dad. Don quickly wrapped her in his arms while still rubbing Jess's sore wrist.
"Who's this?" Gerrard demanded. He started to move forward, but quickly stopped when Don pushed her into Jess's arms and stood protectively in front of the two women.
"She's my daughter and if you touch her, you'll be in for a world of trouble" Don threatened. He didn't care about his job anymore, only about the safety of Jess and Kiley. Gerrard was about to respond when the gas leak alarm went off. Don reached back and pulled the two women with him and the rest of the team past Gerrard and Sinclair. Once they got outside, Don pulled the two girls in front of him and checked them over. "You guys okay? Are either of you hurt?" Jess and Kiley rolled her eyes at him at the same time.
"I'm fine Don. You do realize I can still take care of myself, right?" Don nodded blushing as Kiley started laughing at the couple. He turned to her as soon as she started to calm down.
"I'm fine daddy, just a little spooked" she admitted. Don looked at her worriedly. Kiley was always like her dad, she always put on a brave front, so when she admitted she was scared, Don knew it was worse than she was letting on.
"You've lived with your father for way too long" Jess admitted, as she heard the waver in Kiley's voice. The girl looked up at the older woman in amazement. All of the time she had spent with Allison, the woman in front of her knew the two better. Jess thought she had said something wrong when both people just stared. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say anything…"
"Relax, Jess! I was just thinking about how you knew more about dad and me than my biological mother does" Kiley said in awe. Jess smiled and stroked Kiley's hair gently.
"I don't know how your mom could give you guys up, I mean, you two are the greatest and most lovable people I know. You're like giant teddy bears" Jess said with love in her voice. She pulled Kiley into her side and kissed her temple. Kiley smiled and wrapped her arms tightly around Jess's torso.
"Thanks baby" Don whispered in Jess's ear. Jess giggled slightly before nodding in response. The small family left to head to the precinct while the others waited for the lab to be cleared. Little did they know that Reyes was working his way into their life.
"Flack residence, Kiley speaking!" Kiley answered as Jess started making dinner. She had moved in to the apartment about a month ago. She and Don were engaged to be married soon.
"Hello Kiley, this is your mother, Allison." Kiley rolled her eyes at Allison. She had blown up at her during Christmas dinner when Allison suggested they do mother and daughter things. Kiley was furious that she would walk out on them and then try to take Jess's place.
"Hey Allie, what's up?" Jess narrowed her eyes when she heard Kiley. She knew the girl was doing it just to piss off Allison, but that didn't keep the woman from calling Don and complaining about his daughter's lack of manners.
"I'm getting married and I want you to come to dinner and meet the man. He's very sweet. How's tonight at six? Good, well we'll be picking you up in about two hours. Toodles!" and before Kiley could get two more words out, Allison had hung up.
"Two hours!?! She's giving me two hours to get up to her standards?!? Ah!" Kiley yelled running around the apartment. Jess followed her daughter knowing full well that Allison had just pulled another trick out of her bag.
"Baby, calm down and talk to me; now, what's going on?" Jess listened as Kiley retold what she had just been informed. She didn't know what to do about the situation because Don was in the field and couldn't be reached and he didn't like it when he didn't know where Kiley was because of Reyes. "All right, how about I get us both ready and I'll come with you? Does that sound ok?" Kiley wiped the few tears that had fallen and nodded. Jess smiled and pulled Kiley into her and Don's master bedroom. She pulled out two bags. "You have your choice, red or black?" She pulled out both dresses and let Kiley look over them.
"You've worn this one?" Kiley asked incredulously pointing to the red one. Jess rolled her eyes.
"It was an undercover assignment. They let me keep the dress because they liked it on me. How considerate of the male police force!" Kiley laughed as Jess ranted about that mission. She knew her parents were heroes in every sense of the word.
"I want the red one" she finally decided. It only came down to her knees and had a fake diamond belt just under the bust. It had lace straps to hold the thing on her shoulders. She paired it with a red clutch purse and some silver heels. Jess quickly put on the black one. It came down just past her knees and had three inch straps with ribbons. A belt ran underneath her bust. She added a gold clutch and gold heels. She turned to Kiley.
"What do you want to do with your hair?" Kiley thought for a moment before running to her room and grabbing some clips. She had Jess help her pull the top of her hair up and curl the rest. Jess left her hair down, but curled it. Jess put on a necklace that her parents had given her for Christmas that matched her dress along with the matching earrings. Her engagement ring sat on her left ring finger proudly. "All right, are we ready to go?" Jess laughed as Kiley nodded and started pacing. Jess walked over to the nightstand and threw her gun, badge, and cell phone into her purse.
"Can we just skip this?" Kiley pleaded. Jess gave her a knowing look before the doorbell rang. Jess answered the door to see Allison standing there in all of her glory.
"Hello Allison, would you like to come in?" Allison pursed her lips and looked past Jess in distaste to see the apartment in disarray and Tony sleeping on the couch. They had met several times before and it took everything Jess had in her not to arrest the woman in front of her for being a stuck up snob.
"No, but our reservations are in twenty minutes and Anthony is meeting us there" Allison said impatiently. Jess gave a fake smile and nodded.
"Of course, Kiley, it's time to go!" Jess called back into the apartment. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Allison flinch at her tone. "It's all right I come, right?" Jess said as she and Kiley walked out of the apartment, not really asking Allison. Kiley looked over her 'mother' to see what she was wearing. Allison wore a form fitting dress that went a little past her knees. The top was white with a black bow and the bottom was black. It was held up by spaghetti straps. She wore a pair of black ballet flats and a string of pearls. On her left ring finger was an enormous rock.
"You look nice Allison" Jess complimented. Allison gave a tight smile and led the way to her limo. After everyone was settled, Kiley started the questions.
"Where are we going? What's your boyfriend's name? When are you guys getting married?" Kiley went to take a breath and start again when Jess silenced her with one look.
"My, my, my, aren't we curious? Well we're going to the Four Seasons Restaurant. My fiancé's name is Anthony and… oh! We're here!" Allison jumped out of the car as soon as the driver parked. Jess and Kiley shared a look before climbing out and following Allison inside. Jess was amazed by the elegance. It was plain, but very nice looking. "Jessica, Kiley, this is my fiancé, Anthony!" Jess froze when she looked at the man.
"Kiley, we're leaving now!" Jess ordered pulling Kiley with her. She wouldn't take her eyes off of the garbage in front of her. "You're lucky Reyes. If I weren't off duty, I'd make sure you were in jail" Jess threatened. Reyes laughed.
"You've done a good job so far Detective Angell. Tell the rest of your team good luck finding my next victim." Jess froze.
"There are more girls?" she yelled. Everyone in the restaurant had turned to look at the argument that was taking place.
"Of course! What was it you told me? Hm… oh yes! Once a rapist, always a rapist, that's right isn't it?" Jess just stared at the piece of crap in front of her. He couldn't even be considered human anymore.
"Where are they Reyes? Where are the bodies?" Jess demanded. She watched as Allison scooted further away from him. Kiley had already taken refugee behind Jess and was inconspicuously texting the team. "What have you done with those girls?" Reyes took a step toward Jess.
"Do you really want to know what I did to them? Do you want me to show you? Normally older women aren't my type, but I'll make an exception just for you." Jess had learned to keep a calm exterior while she shook on the inside. Reyes had scared her terribly, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing it. That was the difference between a trained cop and teenage girls. Jess took a step forward to show Reyes her defiance.
"Show me Reyes. I'd like to see you try" she whispered maliciously. Reyes looked shocked that someone would stand up to him, but he quickly covered it. His arm shot out and grabbed Jess around the throat. Everyone around them jumped back.
"I normally start like this. I make them loose their breath so they can't scream when I fuck them. Not to mention, I do it so they can't fight back as hard." Jess's hands clawed at Reyes's arms. He wasn't loosening his grip. Jess started to see black spots in her vision from the lack of oxygen before he threw her into a nearby table. All of her police training hadn't prepared her for the impact. She let out a little cry of pain as she landed. Reyes towered over her and started to undo his belt.
"You do remember I'm a cop, right?" Jess rasped. Reyes had a wicked grin on his face when he dropped on top of her. Jess tried to struggle away from him, but he was just too heavy for her.
"Of course, that's what makes this so much fun. If only I had my camera with me, then I would record it like I did with the others." Jess stared blankly up at him. She saw the Dessert Eagle in the waistband of his pants. Jess frantically searched for her purse and service weapon. Anthony started to undo his pants when she heard the best sound in the world. Everyone in the room heard the sound of police sirens heading towards them.
"I win" Jess whispered. Reyes looked around before he pulled out his gun. Everyone in the room erupted in screams while Jess just widened her eyes. She could only make out one voice, Kiley's voice.
"Mom! Mom, fight back! I can't lose you mom!" Jess tried to fight the monster that had her pinned. They struggled for the gun before two gunshots were heard. Reyes's dead body rolled off of her once the room had died down. Jess looked up to see Don reholstering his gun and glaring at the body next to her. He finally looked up and once the couple's eyes locked, neither one could look away. Jess got up and ran to the safety of Don's strong arms.
"Don!" she sobbed. Don whispered comforting words in her ear as they gently swayed back and forth. Kiley burst into the room and was instantly engulfed in her parents' arms. Jess held Kiley and kept kissing her while she cried. Don was worried because he had never seen Jess cry, so he knew she was petrified.
"Come on, let's go home" Don whispered as he led his two girls out of the disheveled restaurant. Before he stepped outside, he took one last look at the guy that had threatened to take away his life.