Nightmare

Written by: HoshiHikari

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI NY

Summary: Stella's son gets abducted. As she waits anxiously for the kidnappers' to call, she ponders how she is going to find Mac, who had gone undercover, and break the news to him. Little does she know, her husband already knows about the kidnapping as he had participated in the abduction of his own child.

Parings: Mac and Stella

Chapter 3

I slammed the phone shut before bolting up from my seat on the curb. The kidnapper was good, real good. I didn't even get a chance to interrupt or prolong the conversation.

"Stella?" The chief called after me as he himself jumped up from his seated position. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the lab." I shouted without stopping. "I'm going to trace this bastard myself."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're staying here Chief. Someone needs to be in charge of this place."

"Messer can..."

"I don't want you around Chief" I shouted. "First with Mac and now my son. Haven't you ruined enough of my life?"

"That was uncalled for Stella. Yes Mac's gone because I sent him away but I had nothing to do with Adrian's disappearance."

A heavy silence fell between them.

"Look, I'm sorry if I suggested that...." I began only to stop mid way. "I just need to be alone."

"Fine. Call me when you get there." the chief said reluctantly. "We don't know why Adrian's been targeted. Like you said, Mac's gone and I, well I don't want you to turn up missing either."

"Don't you know where Mac is? You're the one who sent him undercover."

"I have an idea of where to look."

"Where?" I demanded. Sinclair had always kept his mouth shut when it came to Mac's undercover operation but now because of recent events, it appeared as though he was more willing to discuss it.

"Perhaps this is not the best time..."

"Where?" I asked again. "You know how to contact him don't you?"

The chief remained silent.

"His son's been kidnapped. He has a right to know."

"I know what he's doing, but I have no way of contacting him. I gave him his task and he had to get into it on his own. I don't even know if he succeed getting into it or not. Believe me, we haven't had any contact since I sent him away a year ago."

"Where did you send him?" I pressed on. I hated that I had to squeeze the chief for every little thing about Mac. "What is Mac supposedly doing right now?"

"You don't want to know."

"I have a right to know!"

The chief looked around hesitantly. Then he stepped closer, bent down and whispered in my ear.

"Organ transport in the black market. Children organ transport in the black market, including the abduction, transport and selling of these organs."

For the second time I felt my entire world spinning. I was falling again. If it wasn't for the chief whose' arms had caught me, I was sure that I would have hit the ground with a loud bang.

"Oh my god. That's the connection. That has to be the connection. Mac's undercover doing that. Someone's probably not happy about it and so decided to come after Adrian. That would mean either Mac's cover's been blown or some grieving parent tracked him down and wanted to take revenge. Either way this means Mac's in trouble or he will be. Mac's..."

"That's why we didn't want to tell you. We knew you'll react like this. You would have done anything to prevent Mac from going undercover in order to make sure your family remained safe and that wasn't a possibility. Someone needed to do the job and Mac agreed and well, this is all just a possibility."

"One that's too realistic for my comfort."

"Stella I truly am sorry about this mess I've created." Sinclair apologized. "I would have never intentionally put your family in danger. I had counted on the fact that Mac would abandon this operation if it became too dangerous. I had reminded him that he had a family to return to and..."

"You counted on his stubbornness. You knew he wasn't going to back down because of a small obstacle. You knew..."

"Stella..."

"Look Chief, I don't have time to argue with you. My son's been abducted. My husband's in trouble, or worst yet dead. I need to go back to the lab to trace that damn phone call myself. I'm not going to give either of them up without a fight. So if you'll excuse me, I need to get going."

Slowly he let go of me and I backed away from him. Without saying another word, I headed for my car, leaving behind the scene where my son had been kidnapped not too long ago.

I watched Pete slam the phone. Without offering an explanation, I gently picked up my son who was still blindfolded and bound and quickly walked away hoping to be able to slip into the adoring room without being disturbed. I was just about to slip through when Evan spoke up.

"Hey Mac, what are you doing?"

"Just getting him situated in his new room." I said. "Heard somewhere that solitary confinement is one of the tactics that can be effectively used..."

"Yeah, yeah I read about that too. That's your room though."

"I can take the living room." I said "I don't mind."

Please let this work. I thought to myself. If this works then at least the others won't bother him and I can move into a room where I can better monitor everything that goes on around here.

Evan shrugged and then waived me off. I gave him a stern nod and then took my son into the room that I had made into my own private sanctuary for the last year. Once inside, I wasted no time with shutting and locking the door firmly behind me before quickly pulling the blindfold and bindings off my son.

"Adrian." I said barely above a whisper as I was afraid that we might be overhead. I gently placed him on the bed and then began checking for any injuries that might have been caused during his abduction. Luckily the only marks I found were the bruises that were caused by the binds.

"Daddy." Adrian said with a trembling voice that matched the uncontrollable shivers that were running through his body.

"I'm sorry daddy. I'm so sorry." He sobbed. "I won't be bad ever again. Please take me home. I don't want to be here. I want to see mommy."

My heart broke at that. This wasn't Adrian's fault at all yet that was exactly what my son thought.

"Oh Adrian." I said, giving him a tight hug. "You're not a bad boy. This isn't your fault."

"But I've been kid—kid—kidnapped." he cried out, louder then I hope. Luckily it wasn't loud enough to attract the others attention. "Lucy said that if you're a very bad boy or a very bad girl then bad people will come and take you away from your parents."

"No one is going to take you away, son. I won't let them." I promised, more to myself then to him. "I'm here to make sure you're safe."

"I want to go home daddy, I don't want to be here. Take me home please."

"I can't do that just yet."

"Why?" Adrian asked.

"You are right. Those two men outside are very bad people." I said patiently, trying to explain to my son the situation that he was in and why we couldn't just waltz out of here with ease. "They take children, hurt them and sometimes even kill them. Do you remember what mommy and I do?"

"Police officers."

"That is part of it." I nodded in agreement. "and the job of police officers is to catch bad guys and take them to jail. This last year I have been living with these two people in hopes of catching them in their act so that I can put them in jail."

For the longest time Adrian remained silent.

"So now that they took me, can't you catch them now and bring them to jail?"

"When the right time comes son. I don't want to put your life in danger by doing something stupid. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll stay out of your way."

"I need to keep you in sight son. I don't trust them. They are bad people. I don't want to give them any chance to hurt you."

"My arms and legs hurt." Adrian pointed out.

"I know. When the time comes, I'll make them pay."

"I hope that's soon. I don't want to be here."

"I know." I repeated. "This will be over soon. We'll get to be with mommy again."

"Daddy?"

"Yes son?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. You can always ask me anything."

"Is the reason that I'm here because you didn't want another child to get kidnapped? Is it because you wanted to protect someone else's child?"

I stared at the 8 year old for the longest time contemplating on how I should respond to that question. I could sense the unasked question hidden beneath it, the question if other children were more important in his dad's eyes then himself.

"I didn't mean for you to get kidnapped Adrian. I would rather it have been someone else, anyone else."

"I was in the way?"

"You go to the same school as the targeted child." I responded softly.. "It wasn't suppose to have been you. I still can't believe its you. I'm a very selfish person Adrian. When it comes down to it, I rather wish ill upon others or upon myself if that means that you can remain safe. I love you son. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you too daddy." Adrian replied with a hug in which I returned whole heatedly, refusing to let go.

"I have to go back out there so that they won't get suspicious." I said at last. "For the time being this is your room. I've warned them not to bother you so you should be okay." I said and then looked directly into his eyes as I said the next part. "This is important. When we're around the others we'll have to pretend to not know each other. We have to pretend that I am a bad guy too. Do you understand why?"

Adrian gave a brief nod.

"and so I might not always be able to help you with everything. However I will always be here so if anything drastic does happen, I will stop it."

"I understand."

"I'm so sorry about this son." I ran a hand through his hair. "I promise I'll make it up to you. Anything you want son."

"That means I can sleep over at Lucy's right?"

"Sleepover?"

"Yeah Lucy says she has something to show me and I can only see it at night. Uncle Danny and Aunt Lindsay says its no problem but mom says I'm too young to do that."

"You're mom's right. You are just 8."

"But daddy, you just said I can have anything I want." Adrian did his best to give his best pout.

"Within reason." I replied sternly. "I agree with..."

Just then Evan's voice carried into the room.

"Mac, you okay in there? Is the brat giving you problems? Why are you taking so long." Evan's voice jolted me back into reality. All the talk about the sleepover almost made me forget about the situation at hand.

Almost.

I stood up quickly and walked towards the door. Right before I opened the door I turned back to my son.

"You're not a brat son. Whatever they say are lies. Don't listen to them. They're bad people." I paused with a hand on the doorknob. "I love you Adrian."

I walked out of the room and then closed the door firmly behind me.

"He fell asleep." I announced to no one in particular. "I was looking for my camera. I must have misplaced it."

Pete scoffed at that.

"Mac misplacing his belongings? Now that's unheard of. You're a neat freak you know." He paused. "As far as I know, you don't own a camera."

"I thought I did."

"Why do you need one anyway?"

"To take pictures of the boy and then send them to the parents. Visuals usually help cement the deal."

Evan hummed at that.

"I don't find that necessarily."

"I do." I replied offhandedly. "We're waiting anyway. Might as well do something to ensure the ransom doesn't fall through."

"Wasting your time Mac." Evan warned.

"Burning time." I corrected. "I'll pick up a camera and some take out for dinner. Do either of you need anything else?"

The two shook their heads giving a negative reply.

"I'll be back in a few. As long as the boy doesn't cause trouble, just leave him in solitary confinement."

"Anything?" I demanded as I practically ran up to the lab tech that was listening to the ransom recording.

"Sorry Stella nothing at all." Adam said seriously.

"Nothing?" I echoed. If Adam couldn't identify anything then there was little chance that I could. "Maybe you just need another ear."

"Maybe, but I've done everything there is and..."

"Adam!" I said, my patience thinning. "Stop rambling and just play the damn recording."

"Right. Sorry Stella." Adam caught himself just as he began to ramble. He pressed play and the mechanized voice came on again.

"We have your son. I want one million dollars in unmarked bills. Do not call the police or the FBI. Further instructions will be provided at a later time."

"Everything's standard." Adam said after the recording was replayed two more times. "Nothing stands out at all."

"There has to be something." I said. "There has to be. No one's perfect. There is no perfect crime. We're just not looking hard enough, not looking at this the right way."

"Stella."

"No Adam. This is our only lead. We'll find it. We'll crack it. Failing to do so is not an option. The stakes are too high for..."

"I know the stakes Stella." Adam said gently. "This is personal for you. This is personal for all of us. If there was anything else I could do then I would but I know my limits too and..."

"so you're telling me to wait for their next move."

"It's you're next move Stella. They asked for a million dollars. They expect that you'll have the money by their next call."

"I'm not paying them."

"Stella."

"Keep working at it Adam."

"Of course. I'm just saying that you shouldn't put too much hope with me cracking this.."

"I am confident with your abilities Adam." I paused offering a tight smile. "I remember a time when Mac wanted to replace you with new and more sophisticated machines. I of course disagreed with his decision. You're the best tech person I know Adam. You haven't disappointed me then nor will you disappoint me now. Just keep working at it Adam."

"Right of course. That means more then you know Stella."

"Well get to it. I..."

"Stella?"

"Yes?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How can you remain so calm and collected when faced with a situation such as this?"

"Because I have to."

I have never been anywhere near a police station this past year in fear of being recognized. Now I was standing across the street from the building that I've worked at for almost 2 decades, walking towards the coffee stand that Stella and I frequented on a regular basis.

"Next customer please" I said with ease as I slid myself next to Ben, the man who owned the coffee stand.

Ben who was making a skimmed latte turned towards me, opening his mouth to say something. However whatever it was that he was going to say never made it out of his mouth when he saw that it was me.

"Mac! It's been a long time since I've seen you around." Ben said, handing the hot drink to the customer before giving me a brief hug. "Where have you been?"

"Undercover." I whispered honestly right before he released me from his pleasant greeting.

Ben raised an eyebrow at my answer. He then turned to help the next customer in line.

"That explains a lot." He said offhandedly. "Here I'll get you your regular in a minute. It'll be on the house. Missed having my single customer who could easily hold up my business in this economy."

"Thanks but I'm not here for my coffee." I said, helping Ben ring up customers as he made the drinks. "I'm still doing you-know-what."

"Ah." Ben nodded. "Just saying hi then?"

"Actually I need your help."

"My help?" Ben asked, pausing in his drink making to look at me. "You know I'm a good standing citizen. I won't ever dive into that stuff. It's not worth it. Besides I'm happy where I am at now. I'm making a fortune out of he-who-runs-on-coffee-instead-of-food-or-sleep-like-a-normal-human-being."

"Don't worry. Nothing illegal." I said. "I just need you to bring this up for Stella."

"And you can't do that yourself?" Ben asked in wonder, eying the take out that I had been carrying.

"I'm not here right now." I said stiffly. "I never was here."

"That's not take out is it?"

"It is." I paused. "Please Ben, I need you to do this favor for me. It's important. I would do it myself but I can't risk being seen with Stella at the moment. My uh..."

"job forbids it." Ben finished for me.

"Yes." I replied. "Please Ben, this is important. I'll hold shop while you go deliver the dinner to her."

"Alright Mac. Seeing that you're so desperate and you're never this unraveled, I'll do it this once. If she's not there I'll just leave it on her desk okay?"

"No. Bring it back if you can't deliver this to her directly. No one but you must know about this."

"What in the world have you gotten yourself into Mac?" Ben asked, taking the take out from me and began walking away, not expecting an answer which I was grateful for since I couldn't answer that question myself.

What have I gotten myself into? I wondered as I watch Ben disappear into the police building. When he was finally out of sight I turned back to the next customer in line and began serving coffee.

The phone lines were silent. It had been hours since the ransom call was made but Adam still hadn't been able to crack the phone call and the team hadn't been able to find any leads. Ever since Sinclair had mentioned Mac's undercover job, I just knew that Adrian's disappearance had to have something to do with it. Now I was looking through Mac's computer, which I normally wouldn't touch, trying to find anything that might shed some light on what he was doing for the last year. So far I hadn't found anything.

"Perhaps some food might help fuel the brain." A voice said from the doorway. I looked up and was surprised to find Ben leaning on the doorway, holding a plastic bag in his hand. "Smells like Chinese."

"What are you doing here Ben?"

"Helping a friend." Ben walked up to Stella and placed the bag on her desk. "Thought I might find you here. You weren't at your desk so I assumed that this is the next logical place you'll be Detective."

"But why are you here? The stand doesn't close for another hour." I said. "And how did you get here, I thought security had been increased."

"Like I said, helping a friend. Someone's watching the stand right now. You're right, security is crazy here. Luckily practically everyone knows me since almost everyone here has brought a coffee from me at least once every two weeks, and so no on really questions me being here. Besides I've done food deliveries before."

"Helping a friend?" I echoed, walking over to the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of who was working at the coffee stand. Even from the 30-something floor of the crime lab I could easily spot the people running to and fro in the streets. I let my eyes scan the block until I found the coffee stand. I couldn't tell who was working behind the counter but I could tell that his body movements was awfully familiar.

"Who are you helping?" I asked at last turning to face Ben again.

"I think you already know the answer to that Stella." Ben said softly.

"Ma.." Before I could finish the name Ben waived a hand to silence me.

"He really wanted to get this to you and only you. Didn't give me any details but I assume the answer is in there." Ben nodded at the take out which I still have not touched yet.

"So it is Ma...him." I corrected myself. Instead of reaching for the take out, I grabbed my jacket and tried to rush pass Ben. Ben took a step in front of me so that he was blocking the path.

"I don't think that is a good idea Stella. He said its best that the two of you aren't seen together."

"Forget what he says. I haven't seen or heard from him in over a year. I'm not letting him get away this easily."

"I don't think that is a good idea Stella. Think about it. If he could he would have contacted you directly. He obviously doesn't want it to be known that he made contact with you."

I let out a frustrated sigh. Ben was right to some degree. Mac would have contacted me directly if he could.

"Looks Stella, I better get back to my stand. He seemed preoccupied and nervous about something. I get the feeling he wants to disappear as soon as possible."

"Alright. I'll see you around then. Thanks for bringing me dinner."

Ben gave a smile and then nodded his goodbye. It was only until I had watch him leave that I

took out the take out box from the the bag. I studded the outside of the box and found nothing unusual. I checked the fork and the bag and also found nothing unusual. Slowly I open the box of take out and thought it was my favorite Chinese food it wasn't what had attracted my attention. On the inside flap was six words written in Mac's handwriting.

Breakfast tomorrow. Same time. Same place.

The short note was not signed and though it didn't say the actual words come alone, I knew that it was implied.

I stared at the words for the longest time, eating the food absentmindedly as everything in the last few hours flooded into me. As much as I wanted to see Mac I was curious as to what this was about. His behavior told me something had happened but I just couldn't figure out what it was.

What have you gotten yourself into Mac? Why are you surfacing now? What is with this shadowy behavior? Does it have to do with your undercover job? Does Adrian's kidnapping have anything to do with it? Is that why you're back because you know something about it? Or is it because you're...

Here Stella stopped her thoughts from wandering any further. There was no way that she was going to allow her mind to draw the conclusion that it was possible because of the undercover job that Mac had been doing that he somehow had gotten himself involved with the kidnapping of his own son.

Here is a glimpse of Adrian Taylor. Next up, Mac and Stella get to meet for the first time since he's gone undercover. All I can say is that it will be tense when Stella finds out about Mac's involvement in their son's kidnapping. Remember to Review!