Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, anything you don't is all mine
A/N: Another Ruby oneshot
Unbeta-ed therefore all mistakes are my own and apologies in advance
Hope you like
Casualty of War
The crime scene tape was up, protecting the crime scene, the victim lay broken and lifeless in the middle of the wonky yellow taped square, the investigator taking careful precautions and photographs, the intriguing case was personal to her, and she wasn't going to stop investigating until the case was solved.
Ruby Messer had always taken extra care with her dolls, and sure the broken one wasn't her favorite, she knew she'd never be so careless as to break the legs of the one that lay in a crumpled heap on the rug in the middle of her floor in her bedroom.
The child waterproof camera recorded the sight in front of her.
"You find anything?" Lindsay asked from the doorway, a cup of hot chocolate in one hand, the other resting on her bump, she couldn't deny her daughter the use of the crime scene tape they often carried nor the use of cotton swabs, the latex gloves were held in place on her tiny hands by hair bands.
Ruby shook her head solemnly, as she lifted one dolls leg up from the floor looked at it and then moved it to the end of her bed, the second leg followed shortly.
"You need mommy's help?" Lindsay offered, as she moved in the room and set her mug on top of the dresser.
"Yes please" Ruby sighed, and handed a spare pair of gloves of to her mother.
"I think we have something here Ruby" Lindsay smiled as she pointed to the scuff mark on the walls near the shelf where the doll had once resided. With a grin she told Ruby to stay away from her desk for five minutes while she headed off for the Aluminum Fingerprint Powder Dust to check for prints on the desk, with any luck they could carry the investigation on until Danny got home so they could go for lunch.
Twirling the brush in a circular motion over the edge of the desk revealed the fingerprint she'd hoped would be there "We got something Ruby" Lindsay smiled, "you want to come and photograph it before mommy lifts it?" she asked.
Ruby grinned for the first time all morning, positioning the camera she pressed the shutter and told her mom she could lift the print.
"What do you say we go and email this print to Uncle Flack and get him to send us who it is?" she asked "and then we can do the most important job of all" she continued as she held the print lift between her thumb and forefinger carefully "crime scene clean up and then we can fix your dolly"
Another smile showed that her daughter agreed with her.
Well Danny Messer was in trouble when he returned home, Don Flack figured, after reading and re-reading the email Lindsay and Ruby had sent, detailing the crime scene and having Mac scan the print through the system to humor the five year old revealed the owner of the fingerprint was in fact the father of said five year old.
"Tut tut" Don started as Danny walked from the interrogation room he'd spent the last forty five minutes in "murdering innocent dolls, innocent defenseless dolls" he continued while Danny stood looking confused yet amused at Flack's conversation starter.
Spinning his computer screen around he showed him the email his wife had sent along with the picture of what he assumed was his fingerprint.
"It fell off the shelf when I was fixing her cupboard" he reasoned. Luckily the end of his shift was around the corner, which meant he was going home to try and convince his baby girl he wasn't a bad daddy and it was all an accident, and if she didn't forgive him there was always the promise of a new doll.
She had watched from the window, her head on her hands, waiting to see her fathers truck so she and her mother could get into position, her daddy was in big trouble. A tiny yet mischievous glint twinkled in her soft blue eyes as she waited for the tell tale thud of her father's footsteps, her mother hid behind the door handcuffs at the ready.
She waited quietly for him to remove first his shoes and then his coat; he'd yet to notice both his girls who remained silent, eagerly waiting. The cold metal closing around one wrist and then the other made him look up confused, his hands now cuffed behind his back.
"Take a seat cowboy, Detective Ruby Messer would like a word" the silent laugh in his wife's word could not be mistaken for anything but sheer amusement, glancing across the room he spied Ruby at the far side of the coffee table, facing the couch, her arms folded across her chest, a serious glare graced her normally angelic features.
"Yeah, daddy! Take a seat" she warned, pointing to where she wanted him to sit.
Hardly one to beat around the subject of her anger or annoyance Ruby jumped straight in with the main question. "Why did you kill Rosie?" Danny and Lindsay had a hard time keeping straight faces, Ruby looked so serious and even though Lindsay had managed to repair Ruby's doll Rosie their baby girl still saw the doll as deceased.
Her hands slamming down on the coffee table startled him "Answer me daddy" she pleaded.
"It was an accident" Danny assured her wriggling under the discomfort of the handcuffs and his daughter's deadly glare.
"Mommy, take daddy to tickle prison" Ruby sighed "he's lying" she reasoned with a grin, within seconds the cuffs were removed and both of his girls were on him and tickling him until he admitted he couldn't take it anymore and stomachs growled with hunger
"If daddy gets you a new doll can we go for lunch?" Danny asked.
Ruby nodded "Can we have pizza?" she asked "Since you broke my dolly" she reminded her father ensuring her an affirmative on the pizza front.
With a sigh Danny nodded, lifting her up into his arms, and then holding an arm out to help his wife up from the sofa.
Just a little Ruby fun, i would love to know what you think.