Open My Eyes
©Wayward Emptyness
Chapter 1. Introducing Fear is like a treeThat grows inside of me silently
And you could be my blood
And be a part of me secretly
"Danny!"
Danny screwed up his eyes, groaned inwardly and turned in the direction of his boss's voice. Mac was walking towards him, but his face didn't tell him he was pissed at him for anything (what he could have been pissed about anyway was a mystery to him but what the hell) he was in a fairly good mood, he was holding two files and walking by his side was a woman, ah, the new girl, Monroe will be thrilled.
Danny washed a brief scan over her as they both came to a standstill in front of him, in front of the desk he'd been about to sit behind, shoulder length dark red hair, two-toned eyes, one green, one brown, black glasses, a black sweater, dark jeans, grey trainers and a pale grey satchel bag slung across her body, she was fiddling with something that hung around her neck.
"This is Rowan Mortico, I told you about her right?" Danny nodded, adjusting his own glasses nervously, nervous, why was he nervous? Get a grip Messer.
"Yeah, yeah y'did," he stretched out his hand.
"Danny Messer, how y'doin'," Rowan briefly raised one eyebrow.
"No need to introduce myself I guess, Mac tells me I'll be workin' with you my firs' case," Danny glanced questioningly at Mac who nodded and handed one of the files he was carrying to each of them.
"Homicide," he nodded to the both of them. "Have fun," he deadpanned. Danny flashed his trademark, copyrighted smirk at his bosses retreating back. Mac obviously expected him to give Rowan as much hell as he'd given Lindsay.
"So…you uh, you transfer here, or you playin' rookie? Mac never said," Rowan gave him a half smile with a raised eyebrow again. She slid the file under her arm as Danny shrugged off his labcoat and they headed to the locker room.
"Actually it's a little'a both, been trainin' t'be a CSI for a couple years, but I've unofficially been workin' consultant for the cops up the border, I moved there a few years ago, felt it was time to move back," Danny nodded slowly.
"Interestin' story, but a little abridged uh? Wanna fill in blanks?" Rowan shot him a sideways glance as they entered the locker room, Danny indicated the locker that was most likely Rowan's, went to his own, which happened to be across from it and hung up his labcoat, pulling out his coat.
Rowan hung her bag in the locker and pulled out her own kit. After a quick "Y'ready?" they headed out and Danny silently prompted her to 'fill in some blanks'.
"I grew up on Staten Island, parents moved us to Brooklyn when I was six, I graduated university when I was twenty one, I sorta broke off everything for a few years, moved up North, after a while I started consulting for the cops there, 'cos they were short on forensics, then after I got back t'studying I decided t'move back down here, missed the city y'know?"
Danny nodded as they headed outside and made for Danny's SUV. Knew that was a Staten accent.
"You got a car?" Rowan shook her head; Danny unlocked the door as they climbed in.
"In the shop," she said simply, pulling on her belt.
"A'ight, this is in Manhattan, hotel room, two DBs, Latino male, Latina female, no murder weapon found as yet, found by room service who called it in, M-STs," he glanced at her to see if she knew what he was talking about to see her nodded silently in perfect comprehension.
"Le's go then," she said casually.
Danny came to fin, throughout that morning and well past, into afternoon and on into what must surely have been massive overtime for them both, that Rowan definitely knew what she was doing.
"Hey Flack!" Danny called as soon as they stepped off the elevator and saw Flack standing outside a door, hands on hips and trying, and failing, not to glare at some young punk patrol cop who wasn't exactly showing his respect for the two dead people on the other side of the wall.
Flack's expression immediately lightened slightly.
"Hey Messer, who's ya new friend? Lord knows you need 'em," Danny softly punched his arm as they reached him.
"Very cute, Don Flack, meet Rowan Mortico," Rowan smiled and extended her hand.
"Nice t'meet you," Flack nodded.
"You a rookie or a transfer, 'lot a blood in there, killer got very into what he was doin'," Rowan raised her eyebrow.
"No worries, I seen more blood, my breakfast is stayin' put," Danny smirked, Flack grinned and stepped aside.
"Ladies first," he gave Danny a look, who just stuck his tongue out at him.
"Have fun, if you'll excuse me I gotta go strangle this li'l shit for brains," the patrol cop suddenly started paying attention promptly turning an embarrassed red then a terrified white and the two CSI's could hear Flack's enraged voice as he lit into the kid.
A while later he appeared at the door to find Danny knelt by the bed, his head tilted to one side as he scanned long it and picked up three hairs at once with his tweezers, two blonde, one dark brown.
Rowan was sat cross legged beside the trash, gloved hand deep in it, fishing for some piece of evidence, her open kit beside her displayed multiple swabs from each area of blood. Danny's held a dozen or so evidence baggies.
The coroners had come and removed the body a few minutes ago once Danny had photographed it.
"Wha'd you guys find?" Rowan replied first without looking up from her trashcan.
"Whole damn lotta blood, Christ, hard to believe it came form just those two bodies, took swabs, few fibres, few hairs, no murder weapon, and nothing to get jacked up about…'cept maybe this," Danny, having bagged the odd, tangled combination of hair, joined Flack by Rowan's side and they both squatted down next to her.
"That a syringe?" Danny adjusted his glasses and peered in.
"Yup, and the paper stuck to it? Not a wrapper of any sort, it's too thick and there's ink on it, look," Rowan, both hands lodged in the trash can, fiddled between her fingers and her tweezers, and finally, carefully, separated the syringe and the paper, which she handed to Danny. After slipping it into a bag he turned back to watch her struggle to pull the delicate syringe off the inside of the wicker basket without bringing the basket with it. Finally she succeeded and bagged it.
She looked up to see Flack ogling her in wonder.
"Damn Mortico, that's some patience! Not even Mac's got shit on that, how long you been at that?" Danny answered for her smiling somewhat proudly.
"Around fifteen minutes, swabbed the blood then a couple hairs and then the trash, now if only you could pass on that kind of patience, you wouldn't yell at suspects so much, but hell where would the fun be in that?" Flack shoved him and helped Rowan up. Danny wandered off to search the bathroom.
"Wondered why you were sitting down," Flack grinned, receiving a grin back along with that maddening eyebrow raise, maddening in a good way, oh hell, with her eyebrows and Messer's smirk, it's gonna be torture!
"Flack, Rowan, get in here!"
They joined him in the bathroom, upon seeing him Rowan immediately turned and fetched her kit. Danny had rolled up his sleeves and was fishing in the toilet bowl, resting on his knees, leaning forwards. Rowan took out a plastic baggie and handed it to him. Once done fishing he slowly extracted his hand, in it was a pretty large shard of glass, curved, most likely form a bottle, he placed it in the bag.
"There weren't any broken wine bottles in that trash were there Rowan," he said, it wasn't a question.
"No, no wine, nothing, this place doesn't even have a minibar,"
"I'll check with the kitchens," Flack said "Ask if our vics ordered any sort of room service last night.
"A'ight, me an' Rowan'll head back to the lab," The three headed out of the room, pulling the door, already plastered with a stripe or two of yellow crime scene do not cross tape, firmly shut.