AN: I don't own any of the CSI:NY Characters or any of the show's storylines that I may refer to from time to time, but the rest of the plot is mine.
AN2: Thank you all for reading and for the feedback and to Lily Moonlight for the discussions to help shape this.
2. Wanting answers
He wasn't sure how long he had sat in the same position at her side. As he sat up he knew it had been a while. All his muscles and joints screamed at him. Wincing with the pain he eased back in the hard plastic chair and stretched his arms behind his head and swung his shoulders. It had meant letting go of his hold on her and he wasn't sure if the resulting sound came from her or himself. He wasn't even sure if he heard anything above the sounds of the machines watching over her. He ran his hand across his face and turned when the door slid open.
"Jess?"
Jessica Angell walked towards him. "Hey, how is she?"
"Same …. What are you doing here?" He asked as he turned back to the bed and took her hand in his again.
"I picked up her mom. Hawkes is outside too. Why don't I sit here for a few minutes let you go talk to her." Jess placed a comforting hand on his shoulder when he looked confused. "I know you probably don't want to move, but you should talk to Maggie before she comes in. … I promise I'll stay with Nikki until you get back."
"…. Jess-" He never finished the sentence before she applied slight pressure to his shoulder and leaned over.
"Don, you have to do this. You can't sit here all the time. It's not going to change anything if you step out for a few minutes."
Finally he nodded, slowly pried himself out of the chair and stood for a moment by the bed before bending over and kissing her forehead. Jess never heard the words he whispered to her, but she could imagine it was something sweet. She had known he was married when they spent that morning on stakeout but she still flirted with him, made him a little uncomfortable, but he gave as good as he got and he told her later in no uncertain terms that he loved his wife, not that he had called her that then, they had still been keeping up the pretence that the wedding was yet to happen. Since then they had all got closer and Nikki was her friend too. She knew that this was going to be a tough ride for all of them and she would be there doing whatever it took to keep him together for when Nikki woke up. That now included pushing him out of the room he had been cooped up in for hours. She watched as he slowly walked towards the door, which slid open as he approached.
"Go on, I'll be right here." He nodded at her and stepped outside.
----
As Don saw Hawkes sitting with his mother-in law he quickened his pace. "Hawkes. Please tell me you found something that will get whoever did this?"
"I'm sorry Don, Mac and the team are working on every piece of evidence, but so far we got nothing. .... Stella's gone back to help out, go over everything with new eyes."
"Don, Sheldon has explained everything. How are you doing?" Maggie interceded touching his arm.
"Maggie." He turned to her and wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him back just as hard.
"She's going to be OK you know. She has too much good in her life to just let it all go."
"She may not have a choice Maggie. ... They want to take the baby, I can't do that to her. She wanted this so badly."
"Then they won't, if you believe it's the right thing to do I'll stand by you."
"... Maggie, you do realise what the doctor's have said." Hawkes spoke, gaining their attention.
"She might be my daughter, but she's Don's wife. It's his decision, if he believes that keeping the baby is in Nikki's interests I won't stop him."
"Thanks Maggie." Don sighed as he slowly released his grip. "Hawkes explained it all?"
"Yeah, ... She's going to be fine Don." Maggie stated quietly as she caressed his cheek in a motherly fashion. He gave her half a nod.
"Do you want to go in now?"
"We should. Then Jess is going to take you to get some food."
"I don't need anything."
"Yes you do. I understand you have been sitting here for hours with only a few cups of coffee. You need your food."
"I'm OK. I'm not leaving her."
"Don, listen to me. I know you don't want to go. I've done it myself enough the last few months. It won't change anything. What you need to do is make sure you take care of yourself, make sure that you're ready for her to wake up, that you're strong, she's going to need you more than you know right now and think about Amy. She's OK right now, but when she hears about what happened, she's going to need you. .... I'll stay with Nikki, all I'm asking is you go with Jess for a little while. If not for you then do it for my daughter."
"Don I'll stay with Maggie while your gone, we'll call if anything changes." Hawkes volunteered.
"Please Don." Maggie pleaded.
"OK."
"Thank you." Maggie whispered. "Now take me to see Nikki." He nodded and guided her down the hall. Hawkes followed.
------
Stella walked into the DNA lab where Lindsay was working.
"Hey Lindsay, how's it going?"
"Stella-" Lindsay sighed. "Not good. Mac gave me Nikki' clothes. Anything so far comes back to her or Flack. I've got a long dark hair, so not Nikki's and it's too long for Flack, but could be Amy's. No sign of anything or anyone else."
"Keep digging. Do we have Amy's DNA on file?"
"Not that I know of."
"Run DNA anyway, there should be common alleles with Don and Nikki, at least we'll know for sure."
"Already on it." Lindsay replied placing a vial into one of the machines and closing the lid then setting the program to run via the keypad on the front.
"Good, I'm going to check-in with everyone else then I'll come lend a hand with the rest of the evidence." Stella left Lindsay to work and headed into the AV lab, where Danny and Adam were peering at the monitor as some hazy images changed before them.
"I make it four, big guys, ski masks, shot guns." Danny muttered frowning heavily as he peered at the screen. "Probably a wheel man in the truck too."
"Danny? Adam?"
"Hey Stella. .. How are things at the uh hospital?" Asked Adam.
"No change. Doctor's are keeping Nikki sedated for at least 24 hours to try and prevent any more swelling to her brain. Flack hasn't left her side since they let him see her."
"I thought he'd be down here breathing down our necks wanting answers."
"That will come Danny. Right now he's in shock. The doctor's are putting a lot of pressure on about terminating the pregnancy."
"They're what!?"
"They can't do that. ... Can they?" Danny and Adam half yelled simultaneously.
"It's a strong recommendation. The pregnancy is adding extra stress to her body and they're working in her best interests." Stella revealed.
"But this baby means a lot to them." Exclaimed Adam. Danny looked horrified.
"I know. Flack won't hear of it. .... The drugs they're pushing into her could also harm the baby. The additional demands of the baby may cause unknown problems. They're concerned about complications from the head injury, if anything happens .. it could be risking both their lives."
"He's willing to do that?" Danny asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I don't know Danny. I don't think he's thinking beyond the next five minutes, let alone five months and he hasn't seen her mom or Amy yet to talk to them. ... It's going to be a long night. ... Maybe when you take a break go by and see if you can get some food into him. He hasn't touched a thing all afternoon."
"OK but I'm not sure if I'll manage what you can't Stell. ... He usually listens to you."
"Not today he isn't."
Mac entered halting their conversation.
"Stella, I want you to work with Lindsay on the bank job. All the evidence has been logged. ... We need to catch these guys."
"But Mac-" Stella began to protest, but Mac raised his hand and stopped her, cutting off what she was about to say.
"I know what you're going to say. Danny and I will carry on with Adam to find out what happened to Nikki. We already believe the cases are connected, let's go over every angle and stop them before an innocent victim is actually killed."
"Mac I want-"
"I know Nikki is a friend, she is also part of this team, we all want this, but right now I need you in charge of the other half of this case. We work both sides and we meet somewhere in the middle a lot quicker."
Adam tentatively cleared his throat. "Um guys, I think I got something." He adjusted several of the controls in front of him and zoomed into an image on one of the screens. "I .. um .. I think .. Just watch this." He pressed play and the others stared intently at the screen. The fuzzy images playing in front of them. He continued to adjust the knobs and levers on the panel before him and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry that's as good as I can get it."
"Clean it up!" Snapped Stella.
"I -I - can't. That's it." He replied.
"Is that a kid in there? Right outside the bank. It looks too small for an adult." Said Danny screwing up his eyes trying to see the image better.
The next image came on screen. "There's Nikki." Said Stella as she squinted at the woman with long hair next to the child. They remained glued to the monitor as the next image flashed up. The woman was now on the floor against the bank wall. "That's definitely Nikki. She was there when I arrived. Where's the kid?"
Adam squinted too. "I can't see them."
"Adam, do whatever it takes I want better images. Have we got anything else from the cameras?" Demanded Mac.
"The external cameras are on a 60 second loop and just shoot stills." Danny clarified. "We've got nothing else. Nikki was never in the bank. What we do know is these images tie in with the time of the robbery."
"Then what the hell happened in the 60 seconds between those two shots? I want you and Adam to find any eyewitness or tourist video footage out there and get some answers."
"I'll go back to the bank with Lindsay and see if we can find anything else." Stella added as Lindsay came in with file in her hand.
"Stella, you know that hair on Nikki's coat? It's not Amy's. There's nothing in common with Flack and Nikki's DNA."
"Does it give us anything?"
"I ran it through CODIS, not an exact match, but I did get a partial. A familial match to a Meredith Hatton, in trouble on drugs charges and prostitution about 5 years ago. She still lives in the city."
"Engine's running." Said Stella taking the file from Lindsay.
"Slow down Stella." Mac cautioned, taking the file off her. "I'll take this, you and Danny go back to the bank find out if there is anything there either inside or out that will add more context to our evidence." Stella looked disgruntled. "Lindsay start processing the rest of our evidence."
"Sure Mac."
"Stella, let's go."
As everyone left the AV lab, Adam looked around. "I'll uh, just carry on here."
-----
Jess and Hawkes stood aside in Nikki's room to let Don and her Mum stand next to the bed. After a few minutes Jess stepped forward and rested her hand on Don's shoulder.
"Don, let's go. Sheldon will stay with Maggie."
He nodded his head weakly and looked between his mother in law and the ex-ME. "You'll call right ... If- if-"
"Yeah Don we'll call." Hawkes assured him quietly.
Jess coaxed him out of the room, but not before he leaned over the bed and placed a kiss on his wife's forehead and his hand on her stomach.
Walking down the corridor towards the exit, he looked at his companion. "Jess, before we eat there's a couple of things I gotta do."
"Don, eat first, get your head straight, get a breath of air. I'll take you anywhere you want after that."
"Jess, I appreciate what you're doing but food is the last thing on my mind. I need to know what happened. Then I need to see my daughter and try and explain it to her."
"Then maybe it's a good thing I ordered pizza from across the street. You can eat on the way." Jess replied firmly as they reached the main doors of the hospital.
-----
Stella and Danny stood on the sidewalk looking up and down the street outside the bank, trying to place the fuzzy images from the camera into perspective, before stepping forward and shining their flashlights over the areas where the images showed there had been activity earlier in the day. After about 20 minutes they regrouped.
Stella sighed heavily. "Let's take a look inside."
They nodded to the officer standing inside and flashed their badges and he unlocked the door to let them in.
"I was told you might be back. Is there anything I can do?"
"No thanks, just do what you gotta do, we could be here a while."
Stella listened as Danny reconfirmed where he and Hawkes had worked earlier, as evidenced by the residue of fingerprint powder and smudged blood spatter from where the robber had been shot and subsequently collapsed.
They were retracing all possible steps when a tap on the window drew the officer's attention to the door.
"Excuse me detectives, you expecting anyone else. I got two more badges here."
Stella looked over first then stood up, removed her latex gloves then went to the door. "Don't let them in. Danny I'll be outside for a few minutes, Flack and Angell are here."
"Let me know if you need anything."
"Will do." She nodded to the officer who opened the door just far enough for her to squeeze out. Hearing the door click behind her she stepped up to Don and took his arm, leading him towards the yellow tape which remained around the area. "Don, you can't be here. It's still a crime scene." She cast a quick sympathetic glance at Jess as she held up the tape for them to move away.
"Stell, tell me you got something. ... what happened to her?"
"We don't know, I wish I could tell you more, give you answers, but right now we just don't know."
"... What do I tell Amy? Tell me that? She doesn't even know her mother's in the hospital and I have no clue what to say to her! I need something Stella, you've gotta know something. ... Please."
"The only thing we know is that there was a bank robbery here around the time Nikki was injured. We also know that she wasn't in the bank." Stella's phone rang and she checked the caller ID. "I'm sorry I need to take this, I promise as soon as there is any information I will tell you." She stepped away and answered the call. Angell stood with Don as he ran his hand over his face while staring at the area outside the bank.
"Someone must have seen something."
"Don, think about it, how often do we get eyewitnesses who have seen anything useful?"
"But there has to be something Jess, someone had to have seen something, seen what happened. You don't get a bank robbery go down unnoticed."
"Trust me our guys spoke to everyone who was here when they arrived, no-one saw Nikki or what happened to her. I'm sorry Don."
"She didn't put herself in the hospital Jess somebody did this to her! There's CCTV all over this area how hard can it be to look at that and see something?"
"Adam's been working on it all afternoon, the external CCTV is on a 60 second loop, all they can tell is Nikki was here, they got nothing of what actually happened."
Stella approached them again. "That was Adam. He's seen the 911 recordings from the robbery, Nikki called it in first about a minute before the alarm went off inside the bank."
"So you're telling me she went up against armed bank robbers on her own? She wouldn't do that, she knows what they're capable of and she just wouldn't risk our baby like that!" Don ranted almost incoherently.
"Don, I never said that. I said she called 911, she was standing over there," Stella pointed to the nearby bank of shops. "She told them she was off duty and would merely observe until a team could get here. She had no intention of going any closer."
"So what the hell happened to her?"
Stella looked around for a minute cautiously. "We can't be sure yet, but we think she was trying to protect someone. A child. .... I promise we'll get the guys that did this."
"I want this one Stella, you find them and let me know, I'll make sure they get what-" Stella didn't let him continue his train of thought.
"Don I know you want this, but this isn't your case. We'll get them for you and for Nikki, you can't get involved."
"I have to do this I need to tell her-"
"Don, I know you, taking a back seat is not your style. But you have to trust us to do the job right. Nikki won't thank any of us if we let you take this into your own hands, if you get hurt or lose your badge."
"Trust us Flack, we got this one." Danny's serious tone catching their attention as he approached them. "You covered my ass enough, it's time for me to repay the favour. We'll get the guys that hurt Nikki. I promise."
"Don't promise what you can't deliver Danno .. you have no leads, no evidence to speak of-" Don turned away and pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. "Yeah, Flack. … Hey Sarah. …. No, don't I can't talk to her right now, just tell her to go to sleep. … yeah well kids can't always have what they want. Hell even we can't have what we want. … Someone will come get her tomorrow." Don cancelled the call slipped the phone back in his pocket turned and stared at the assembled group. "What are you still standing there for shouldn't you be processing evidence or something?" He snapped at Stella and Danny.
"Flack, I know you're upset, but there ain't no call to be nasty." Danny told him stepping between Don and the women.
"Stop telling me what I can't do and tell me what I can do? You're not letting me near the robbery I got chased out of the hospital, I gotta do something, I'm going crazy here."
"Don." Angell's calming voice floated from behind Danny and she stepped forward. "We don't want to keep you away from the hospital we just want you to take a break. What did Sarah want?"
He shrugged like he didn't really know. "Some shit about Amy not going to bed without talking to her Ma. I can't be dealing with that right now."
"Maybe it is. She's a bright girl Don, she'll know Nikki was supposed to have picked her up today, that she would have been home tonight. What has Sarah told her?"
Don shrugged again. Angel rested her hand on his arm. "Let's go talk to her."
Stella and Danny watched as Angell coaxed him into her car and they drove away. Then they turned and headed back into the bank.
----
Mac joined Lindsay in the lab as she was sorting the last of the evidence bags into groups for the different tests required.
"Hey Mac, did you get anything from Meredith Hatton?"
"Not much. She was at the bank with her daughter Millie, she's 3. Every parent's worst nightmare, she lost Millie for a minute or so on the street. She heard all the shouting and when she turned the child was in the middle of a stand off with the robbers. She confirmed Nikki was there, but once Millie saw her she saw nothing else, all her focus was on her daughter. Reunited, she high tailed it away from there. … She's going to come down tomorrow and make a statement, but it's pretty useless, it still doesn't tell us what happened to Nikki other than she was in front of the bank with the child."
"Well I've separated all the evidence, I'm just going to take all this down to DNA." Lindsay answered disappointed with Mac's news as she waved at a plastic box of items.
"Any word from Stella and Danny?"
"No but Adam's got the 911 calls, Nikki made the first one, but he's still working his way through the others."
"Where are you going to start?"
"Don't say that Mac, I've already been at this for about 5 hours and all I've done is sort out and log everything that came in from the bank. … I'll scan the prints, get AFIS working on them while I see what other trace I can find."
"Alright Lindsay, keep at it. I'm going to check on Adam see if we can send him to run DNA."
"Thanks." Lindsay sighed as Mac took the plastic box of samples from the table and left the room with it.
----
After Jess drove away from the bank she headed back in the direction of the hospital.
"Don, what do you want to do? I can take you to the hospital or to see Amy, just tell me what you want."
He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed tiredly. "Hospital." He mumbled as he stared out the window. Snow was starting to fall but he didn't really take it in. He pulled his phone out and scrolled through some messages. "Am I doing the right thing Jess?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nikki, the baby. … If I sign those papers, I'm as good as telling them they can murder a child."
"It's not like that."
"So tell me how it is, … no, don't. I do what they want, that's like- like putting a hit on my own child, … Jess, I don't want to lose either one of them, but I can't make that choice, it's not right."
"Maybe you should talk to Hawkes, he can give you better medical advice than I can. I'm sure he'll answer any questions you've got and let you know the score in a way that will help you and Maggie. … Maybe you should talk to her too. She may have told you that she'll stand by your decision, but you should talk about things."
"... I don't know what I would do if anything- if - .... I can't lose her, but I don't know what losing the baby would do to her. ... Last time, was bad enough, but to know I gave them permission to kill my own child, I couldn't forgive myself."
"There's nothing to forgive Don, it's an impossible situation, whatever you decide, we'll all be there for you. ... No one will blame you for choosing to give Nikki the best chance to recover, ... You said you're afraid of what will happen if they don't terminate, the doctors have given you worst case scenario, have you thought about what might happen if she does keep the baby and they survive?"
Jess was met with a half sigh half groan from the man beside her then silence descended.
Don stared out of the window for the rest of the trip back to the hospital. His mind scrambling over the words of the doctors, the faith placed in him by his mother-in-law, the desire to get out and find the guys that robbed the bank, the images of his wife in the hospital bed, her life in the hands of strangers and machines. How could he decide what was the right thing to do? He wanted to talk it over with her, but there would be no calm influence and rational thought, he was on his own. He had to decide what would happen to his family .... and live with the consequences.
Not sure when the next chapter will be up as I am trying to finish a few other things first. However I am at the mercy of the muse and a few ideas are forming for the next part.
