Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY;" they're the property of CBS and Anthony E. Zuiker. I also don't own the guys from "Supernatural" they belong to the WB and Eric Kripke.
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Chapter Three
Dr. Sid Hammerbeck had seen a lot of things in his time as a medical examiner. But the bodies that had been brought in the night before were throwing him for a loop. Clicking his glasses together, Sid began a preliminary check. He noted height, weight, sex, did a check for time of death. Then he bent close over the body, going over every inch of it, searching for an outlying cause of death.
It didn't take long. He dialed Mac Taylor's office upstairs. Once he got off the phone with Mac, he turned to the bodies Peyton Driscoll had brought in. Three young people in one night, Sid thought. He did not envy the detectives that had to call the parents that morning.
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Stella passed Mac on his way down to Autopsy. "Morning, Mac," she greeted him. Then she studied him. "You look like hell."
He managed a smile. It was that smile that said You're getting away with that because we're good friends. "Nice to see you, too. Early call out," he said. "I'm on my way to Autopsy now."
"Mind if I tag along?" Stella asked. She changed directions and followed him into the elevator. He held the doors for her, then hit the button for the ground floor. "What kind of call?"
"It's complicated, I'd rather explain it downstairs," Mac replied.
She nodded. "How's Peyton?"
"She's fine," Mac said. "She was the ME on the call last night, so she's at home getting some rest. She's supposed to meet me for lunch later." He raised his eyebrows at her. "How's Flack?"
Stella pondered the question for a minute. "Flack's good. We're supposed to be going out tonight if I can take an hour of comp time."
Mac thought about it. "Danny and Lindsay are both in at five," he said. "I'll still be here...and Adam... I don't see why not."
"Thanks, Mac," Stella said seriously. "I know Flack could use the break. His arm's still a little sore from...you know...anyway, he just needs some time to relax."
Mac nodded. He understood perfectly. The tone sounded and the elevator door slid open. Mac held the door to Autopsy open for Stella. They were met by Sheldon Hawkes, Sid Hammerbeck, and a crowd of people. "Lively place," Stella whispered to Mac.
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"You look like hell, Detective."
Flack eyed Dean Winchester warily. "Didn't I make a promise last time you were here that I'd shoot you?"
"Yeah, try that whole gun thing," Dean said. "Worked well last night."
"Dean, shut up," Sam Winchester told his brother tiredly. If his brother didn't shut up soon, they'd probably both be looking at twenty-five to life!
"Still sticking to your story?" Flack asked them.
"That's my story, and I'm sticking to it," Dean said, swiping a line from a country song. He had to shake his head in disbelief. "Dude, the more you sit here questioning us innocent kids, the more killing that's gonna happen at that damn building. Give it up already; you've got nothing to hold us on."
Flack didn't say anything. He got up and left the room, letting the door slam behind him.
Dean turned to Sam. "I think he hates me."
"I'd say it's a safe bet."
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Flack knew it was Danny's turn for the late shift. But it was noon; he hoped his best friend would be up.
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It smelled like bacon. And eggs. And was that maple syrup?
Lindsay opened one eye. She was alone in Danny's bed. But she could distinctly smell something from the kitchen. And it smelled amazing. She sat up. "Danny?" she called out.
"Just a sec!" Danny yelled back from the kitchen. He added a plate with eggs and bacon to the tray. Then he added the glass of milk. It would've been juice, but he was out. Besides, he reasoned, Lindsay would rather have milk. Milk was a Midwestern thing. Then he pulled the velvet box from his pocket again. He was just about to add it to the tray when his phone rang.
No. No way. He willed it to stop ringing.
"Danny? You want me to grab that?"
"No!" he yelled back. "No, I got it!" He reached for his phone. "Yeah, Messer."
"Hey," Flack's tired voice sounded tinny over the phone.
"What's goin' on?" Danny asked him. "Everythin' okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's all good. Just had one o' them nights, ya know?"
He knew. Boy, did he know. "So what can I do for ya? I'm a little busy."
"I'm having some trouble interrogatin' a couple of suspects. You remember the Winchester boys?"
Danny's brow furrowed. "What, the vampire hunters? What the hell are they doin' back in New York?" His first thoughts turned to Lindsay. Then he made a mental note to buy some ibuprofen. He had a feeling he might need it over the next couple days.
"I dunno, but I got them in interrogation 2. I could use your help breakin' em. I tried callin' Mac, but he's busy."
Danny sighed. "Gimme about an hour," he said. "I still gotta shower and all that."
"Thanks, man," Flack said, and hung up.
Danny tossed his phone on the couch, picked up the tray and headed into his room. "Good morning, beauti-" He stopped.
He heard his shower turn on.
Flack's dead meat.
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An hour later, Lindsay and Danny were at work. Danny went immediately to find Flack. Lindsay met Mac in his office. "Morning," he greeted her. "Sorry about last night."
Lindsay shrugged. "Hey, when the boss calls... Did Sid figure COD on our body?"
"Exsanguination," Mac replied.
"Doesn't surprise me," Lindsay said. "Do you think it's someone from the club bust?"
Mac nodded. "I think so."
Lindsay thought about it for a minute. "Should I tell Danny?" she asked Mac.
"I think you should. He worked the case as the primary." He raised his eyebrows. "Besides...he should be involved...for other reasons."
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Danny had a vested interest in this. You see, Danny had discovered a new...talent, in the past year. And it had become one of the lab's greatest assets. Danny had visions. More like headsplitting nightmares, actually, but visions. He could see things before they happened. It had just sort of come upon him, right around the time his relationship with Lindsay started to bloom. Usually, the information was connected with a current case. But it also meant that Lindsay was in trouble. Sometimes it was connected to Flack. But most of the time, it was Lindsay. People close to him.
Danny hadn't quite figured out why he was getting them. Maybe some higher power was giving him a hint. He thought it was sort of like that connection that twins or siblings have. You know, when one twin could sense when the other one was sick or in trouble. It was good. It helped him keep tabs on Lindsay. It helped him keep her safe.
They used to be a burden. But after their last case, involving a club full of vampires intent on destroying New York City, Danny was ready to accept them. Fortunately, he hadn't had any lately.
He was thinking about it now as he stood outside of one of the interrogation rooms with Don Flack.
"Did you hear any of what I just said?" Flack asked him. He'd noticed his friend had zoned out.
Danny blinked. "Sorry. No. What?"
Flack shook his head. "Didn't get much sleep last night, huh?" he teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
Danny smacked him in the shoulder. "Funny. Real funny. No, I was just...thinking."
"Ooh, careful with that stuff," Flack said. He nodded into the interrogation room. "Anyway, what I said was these two must think I'm the dumbest schmuck on the planet."
"Smart guys," Danny retorted, getting him back for his earlier line. Flack acknowledged it with a nod. "Why do you say that?"
"Do you know what they told me this morning?" Flack asked. "Those two-" here he jerked a thumb backwards through the viewing window- "tell me that there's a sea monster in the Hudson River."
"A sea monster?" Danny snorted. "I knew there was some nasty stuff in there, but Nessie?"
"Nessie's in Scotland," Mac Taylor's voice pointed out behind them. The two men turned around as the superior officer and Lindsay Monroe came in. Mac glanced through the window. Sam and Dean Winchester hadn't changed any from a month away. "Those are the two kids that were on the club case," he said.
"Found them at the Harbinger Institute last night," Flack explained. "Right now they're my prime suspects." He managed a grin. "See, they think that because they saved the world last time they were in New York, they get a get-out-of-jail free card."
Mac shrugged apologetically. "Well, they're going to."
"What?" Danny asked.
"What?" Flack sounded incredulous. "Mac, are you freakin' kidding me?"
"I'm dead serious," Mac replied flatly, the irony not lost on his friends.
Lindsay tugged on Danny's shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked him.
He nodded. "Don't want to listen to this, anyway." He followed her out of the room.
Flack threw his hands in the air. "Mac, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what they did last time they were in town, but I can't let them off this time!"
"Flack," Mac said, in a tone that made it clear that there wasn't room for argument, "you don't have a choice. With the cases we're working right now- yours plus the alley from last night- we need their expertise."
"Why? What did you run into last night they can possibly help with?" Flack demanded.
Mac held up the autopsy report and handed it to Flack. Flack flipped it open and scanned through it. His brow furrowed and he looked up at Mac. "Mac- this looks a lot like what happened at Darkness Falls."
"Now you see why we need their help," Mac said. "Like it or not, Flack, we've got to ask the Winchesters for their help one more time."
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Lindsay stepped out into the parking garage, pulling Danny with her. "Come on, Montana," Danny said. "What's up?"
Lindsay scuffed the pavement with her shoe. She was making a point to look everywhere but at Danny. Finally, Danny had had enough. He tipped her chin so she had no choice but to look at him. "Montana," he said firmly. "What. Is. Going. On?"
"Okay!" Lindsay sighed. "Danny, the case I got called to work last night... Mac thought you should be involved."
He shrugged. "Okay. That's it?"
"No, Danny, that's not it. Danny, the girl- the victim- she..." Lindsay looked into his blue eyes and sighed. "She had two puncture wounds in her neck. Her body was almost completely drained of blood."
Danny had to fight to remain standing. The news hit him like a Mack truck. He knew now why Lindsay had waited to tell him. Great. Things just got crazy again...and this definitely isn't the right time. "Is she the only one?"
"So far," Lindsay said. "But Danny, you and Mac led that raid. Her dad died in the fight..."
The her that Lindsay was referring to was a teenaged, spiky-haired vampire that Danny only knew as Spike. Her father had been the owner of the club Darkness Falls, the front for a group of vampires. In the ensuing battle to keep the demon Caleph from rising, Spike's father was killed. Danny had let the teen go, not thinking her to be a threat.
Now he was regretting it. "We'll have to find her before she can find us," he said. He smiled. "No problem."
He only wished he was that confident.
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