"I know it's late, and I'm sorry, but it's really urgent."
Daniel blinked a few times, and then stood aside to let Kate in. He still wasn't sure she was real, and he was having second thoughts about not waking up Lewicki.
"Did I wake you up?" she asked.
Daniel shook his head. "N-no, I was—I was already up," he stammered. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and gestured vaguely to Kate and the door. "What, uh—"
Kate spoke quickly. "Long story short, we've got a young lady in holding who thinks she's five years old. Eight hours ago, she thought she was forty. Four days before that, she might have killed Ryan Johnson." Even though it was three in the morning, Kate was practically buzzing with energy. Daniel tensed a little, still not convinced that this Kate was totally real.
"Dissociative identity disorder," Daniel said. The real Kate Moretti would have known that much.
Kate nodded. "Yeah, I got that much. Problem is, we don't have enough evidence to convict her. We need a confession, and she won't talk to anyone. She throws a fit every time someone comes near her, and she's been crying on and off for hours now."
"Can't you get an insanity plea?" Daniel asked.
Kate shook her head. "She can't plead insane unless we can convince the D.A. she's our killer."
Daniel blinked and furrowed his brow, then shook his head and waved a hand. "Fine. You want me to go talk to her?"
"Please? You know the human brain better than anyone," Kate said, and Daniel knew she was just stroking his ego, buttering him up so he'd agree to let her drag him to the precinct at some ungodly hour of the night.
Daniel sighed. "Let me get dressed," he said.
"Thanks," Kate said with a smile, and Daniel went upstairs to change. He walked past Lewicki's door and considered waking him up, just to be sure it was really Kate, but decided against it.
"Please help me," said a small voice as Daniel walked into his bedroom. A little girl was huddled on his bed, teddy bear tucked under one arm. Her other hand clutched the covers tightly, and her copper-brown eyes were red-rimmed and wet with tears.
"Oh, great," Daniel muttered as he walked into the closet. Hallucinating children. Not a terribly new thing, but not something he particularly enjoyed. It was much more difficult to be rude to his subconscious when it was conjuring frightened toddlers. He put on jeans and a sweater and went into the bathroom to splash water on his face and brush his teeth, all the while ignoring the little girl on the bed.
When he got back downstairs, Kate was finishing a note for Max. Daniel pulled on his jacket and scarf. He turned back for his briefcase and saw the little girl peeking out from the stairs. She looked so terrified that Daniel paused for a moment, tempted to comfort her right there. He shook himself and turned away. There were no children in his house. Ever.
At the precinct, Kate took Daniel down to Holding. It was deserted save for the night guard and a sobbing girl in a pantsuit that didn't match the way she was huddled in the corner.
"Jade?" Kate called. The girl didn't respond. "Gigi?"
The girl looked up, startled, and then started her wailing afresh. Kate looked to Daniel, who was trying very hard not to turn and run back out the door. The wailing—keening might have been a more accurate term—grated on Daniel's nerves and multiplied in his mind so he could barely think. He clutched his briefcase tightly, closed his eyes, and concentrated on counting to ten.
He only got to five when Kate tugged on his arm and pulled him toward the door. He shrugged away from her and hurried out the door and up the stairs, taking them as fast as he could until the poor girl's keening was muffled by the distance and two sets of heavy doors.
Kate stopped next to him, standing on the other side of the staircase. She watched him with a worried wrinkle in her brow, and Daniel waved a hand dismissively, even as he tried not to hyperventilate.
"Daniel?" she asked quietly, cautiously. "You alright?"
Daniel nodded and continued up the stairs. "Yeah. Fine."
Kate followed him up to the bullpen. The place was deserted save for a couple of agents and detectives ensconced in their cubicles, cramming in last-minute paperwork. Daniel dropped his briefcase at Kate's desk, and Kate shed her coat. Daniel pulled out his headphones for a moment of Mozart to regain his sanity, and Kate disappeared to the break room.
Daniel turned to sit in the vacant chair next to Kate's desk only to find the little imaginary girl staring up at him, silent and wide-eyed with terror. Her arms hung limply at her sides and her face was streaked with tears. Daniel stopped the tape and set his walkman and headphones on the desk. He crouched down in front of her and she started to cry. "Help me," she sobbed. Daniel stared at her, trying to find the clue he knew she held. Her sobs quickly escalated to wails, and Daniel stood up, reaching for his walkman, only to find his fingers sinking into soft fur.
He handed the stuffed bear to the little girl, and she took it just as Kate returned, a mug in each hand. "Daniel?" she asked.
"Kate," he said. "I think I might know how to get through to Jade."
Kate handed him a mug. "Jade or Gigi?" she asked.
Daniel looked into the mug. "No milk, no sugar?"
"Just the way you like it," Kate said with a smile.
"Gigi," Daniel answered, returning to Kate's question. "The only way you might be able to reach Jade is through hypnosis."
Kate frowned. "Well... it's a start. What are you thinking?"
Daniel glanced to the little girl, who was crooning to the teddy bear she cradled in one arm. "Gigi's a little kid," he started. "Now imagine this: you're five years old, and you go to bed in your own bed at home, and then you wake up, and you're in a place you don't recognize. It's dark and there are strangers everywhere. How are you going to react?"
Kate shook her head. "But she was awake the entire time we brought her here."
Daniel shook his head. "You brought a different alter here, remember? The last place Gigi remembers being is at home in bed. Dissociative identity disorder, Kate. Each alter is a completely different person, with a whole different set of memories."
Kate nodded slowly. "Okay, but we can't take her home."
Daniel looked at the little girl. She squeezed the bear in her arms. "You don't have to," Daniel said. "Just bring some of her things here. Bedding, maybe a few of her favorite toys. Just enough that she won't completely freak out."
Kate nodded. "Okay." She set her mug on the desk and shrugged her coat on.
Daniel blinked. "Wait, that's it?"
Kate looked at her watch. "It's four in the morning. We can't call Jade's grandmother for at least another four hours, and I haven't got any other leads."
"But—you didn't have any leads before, either!" Daniel spluttered.
"I'll leave Reardon a note with your suggestions, and tomorrow we'll try to get a confession and an insanity plea." Kate shrugged, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "I thought you might be able to get through to her, if anyone could."
Daniel scoffed. "So you showed up at my house in the middle of the night to—to what? Ask for my help on a case that was pretty much closed?"
Kate flinched a little. "Well, I was going to ask for your help earlier," she retorted, "but Jade hadn't spontaneously changed identities, and you seemed upset." She looked away from him, studying the mug of coffee on the desk.
"Oh, don't give me that crap, Kate."
Kate scowled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Daniel shook his head and stuffed his walkman into his briefcase. "Forget it."
"No," Kate said firmly. "I'm not going to just forget it! What is your problem, Daniel?"
Daniel balked. She knew he was crazy. She'd seen it, witnessed it firsthand. She even knew he'd been admitted for it. "Uh, Dr. Strange? Crazy? Any of this ringing a bell?"
Kate stared at him for a moment. "Oh," she said quietly. "Oh." She laughed a little, and it sounded nervous. "You don't want anyone else to define you by your—your diagnosis," Kate said accusingly.
Daniel furrowed his brow, gaping at her. He didn't understand what she was trying to imply.
Kate picked up her briefcase. "Come on," she said, as if they hadn't just had a spat in the middle of the precinct. "Lewicki's going to kill me if I don't get you home. You have to teach later."
"Fine," he said, picking up his briefcase and slinging it over his shoulder. If she was going to be tight-lipped, well, two could play at that game.
The car ride back to Daniel's house was tense, and they exchanged glances back and forth constantly. When Kate parked, neither of them made any move to get out of the car. Kate studied her fingers and sighed. "Daniel," she said in that voice she reserved for making him uncomfortable.
"Don't," Daniel interrupted, not wanting to have to suffer another moment-with-a-capital-M when he was this frustrated. "I'm going. I'll see you later." He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door.
He walked up the walkway, and heard Kate's hurried footsteps behind him. "Daniel, listen to me for thirty seconds, will you?" she snapped.
He turned, bracing himself.
"I care about you, okay?" Kate said, annoyed. "You, Dr. Daniel Pierce, the brilliant professor who teaches at university and lives a pretty damn normal life."
"Normal?" Daniel scoffed.
Kate threw up her hands. "You are impossible, Daniel! Just because you're so hung up on your condition doesn't mean everyone else is." She sighed. "Go get some sleep," she said quietly. "I'll let you know what happens with Jade."
Kate walked back to her car, leaving Daniel standing on his porch in shock.
A/N: Thanks again to my lovely beta, EnoughToTemptMe, for helping me fix the dumb stuff. This story is doing that thing where it is way longer than I wanted it to be.
Thank you all for your reviews on the last chapter! They make me want to keep writing even when I have to rewrite a whole chapter.