Last night all I could think about was Flack's kiss on my cheek. It was the sweetest gesture and I couldn't wait to see him again. It was 8:00am and I had been laying awake for almost an hour, waiting for my alarm to go off. I decide to get up early and take a long shower and pick out my outfit. I stand up and head to my bathroom, and turn the shower on. Once I see steam, I jump in and the hot water feels great. I stay in the shower for about 30 minutes and decide to get out. I grab a towel and walk to my closet, grabbing black panties and a matching bra, a pair of ripped jeans, and a black v-neck. Once I'm dressed I head back into the bathroom and dry my hair. 20 minutes of blow-drying my hair and my long dark brown hair is naturally straight. I put on some eyeliner under my bright green eyes. Once I'm satisfied, I head into my kitchen grabbing a slice of pepperoni from the fridge. Then I grab my phone, keys, and leather jacket and walk out the door. I get to work 15 minutes later, getting ambushed by Stel.
"So, how was your date last night?" She asks excitedly. I smile.
"It went great, Stel. He called it a date, which wasn't said until then, and he walked me home."
"Anything happen after that?" She smirks. I pretend to be offended.
"On the first date, Bonasera? I'm not that kinda girl! Seriously though, he kissed my cheek. It was sweet." I said, grinning. She squealed.
"You are so cute! I can't wait to see how you two act around each other now." She said as we stopped in front of the briefing room. Mac was waiting with Danny, and Aiden. We walked in and Mac smiled.
"Good, everyone's here. I'll start handing out assignments. Stella and Aiden, drowning at the east river. Elena, Danny, you get the homicide at an apartment in Queens." Mac tells us and we go to grab our kits.
"Been a while since we were partnered up, Messer." I tell him with a grin. He chuckles.
"Probably because of last time." I frown.
"That wasn't my fault! I don't go looking for trouble, it just finds me." I say smirking. He nods.
We get to the apartment building about 20 minutes later and see the huge number of tenants behind the police tape. One guy checks me out and winks at me and I scoff and duck under the tape, heading inside and up to the apartment. Flack is talking to a very tan blonde in a tight purple dress outside the apartment, and I scowl. Danny stands next to me and looks at me and what I'm scowling about. He laughs. I glare at him, heading into the vic's apartment.
"You're jealous. That's adorable." He grins and walks over to the vic. I scoff.
"Just take the pictures, Danny. And I'm not jealous." I tell him, opening my kit and pulling on my gloves. Vic is a beautiful African American woman with a bloody, pink t-shirt on and jeans. Flack walks over and smiles at me before looking at Danny.
"Vic's name is Katie Carter, 31. Lived alone. She was a forensic nurse at Trinity."
"Obvious trauma to the face and hands. She was in a fight, and got a few hits in." I say, grabbing my camera and taking pictures. I check under her fingernails and find blood and possibly skin. I bag her hands and turn to Danny.
"I think our vic scratched her killer. Hopefully we get DNA." Danny nods, collecting a blood sample from the blood pool on the floor. I find a broken bottle and some blood drops a few feet away from our vic. Katie didn't have any major lacerations. It must be from the killer. I collect a sample and also grab the broken bottle, putting it in an evidence bag. I managed to lift a partial palm print from the bottle.
Back at the lab, I put the palm print into the scanner and while I'm waiting for the results, I start piecing together the broken bottle. I get about halfway done when Flack walks in. I look up and grin.
"Wow, you managed to put it together." He says smiling. I shrug.
"I like puzzles. This job is full of them. What's up?" I ask, walking over to him.
"I was wondering if that print matched anything in CODIS." He said looking around. I raise my brows.
"I would have called if it did. The real reason?" I ask, and he smirks.
"I came to see you." He said, sheepishly. I grinned, biting my lip.
"Stella probably told the whole lab about last night, so.." I leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"That was very brave of you, Elena." He said, looking at me before leaning down towards my lips.
"Ah, saved by the bell." Danny says walking in, right before we kissed, just as my results come up. I groan.
"Worst timing, ever." I look at the results and I feel dizzy. Flack catches me before I fall over.
"Whoa, careful. What's wrong, El?" He asks, concerned. Danny walks over to the screen and reads.
"Aw, shit. Flack, get Mac and Stella." He says walking over and grabbing my arm to steady me.
"You got it." He says walking out, leaving me and Danny. I look at my hands and notice their shaking.
"H-He's supposed to be in jail, Danny. After- Why isn't he in jail?" Danny shakes his head.
"I don't know, Lena. We'll catch him. We did before and we'll do it again." He says, and I nod.
Mac and Stella come in a minute later with Flack close on their heels, looking annoyed and concerned.
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Flack asks, crossing his arms. Danny sighs.
"His name is Steven Gage. He's a serial murderer. He kidnaps women, usually in a forensic profession, and beats, rapes and kills them. We caught him 4 years ago, after he-" He stopped, looking at me.
"He tried to kill Elena, Don." Danny said, sadly. I suddenly felt sick and ran to the trash, barely making it before emptying my stomach. Flack came over and held my hair, and I was grateful for that.
After my stomach settled, I stood up and Flack pulled me into a hug. I broke down and cried in his arms. I'm not proud of it, but he was so comforting. I looked at Danny, Stella and Mac and saw that they felt guilty for what had happened to me.
"Stop looking at my like that. It wasn't your fault. Any of your faults." I said, releasing Flack and walking to Danny. He looked so torn, like he felt scared, and angry, and guilty.
"Especially you, Daniel James Messer. Gage kidnapping me wasn't your fault." I told him sternly.
"I was your partner, Lena. Your backup, and I should have walked you up. He almost-" He choked out. I sighed and hugged him, when I let go, I looked at the four people in the room. Stella looked at me.
"I think we should go over the case file-Just, not you Flack. There are pictures of Elena that might- You can't help if you end up killing him. And Elena, you'll need to be a victim this time, not a CSI, and definitely not a cop." Stella said sympathetically. I nodded and Flack looked confused.
"I need the all the information on the case, Stella. Not just a selective amount. If the defense attorney hears about this later on, the case could be thrown out." He protested.
"It's alright, Stel. He needs to see them, and I'm okay with it. Really." I said grabbing Flack's hands and intertwining my fingers with his. Stella smiled a sad smile and nodded. Mac left to find out why Gage wasn't in prison. Danny had brought the case file up on the monitor and frowned before clicking the folder. There was a video of my statement at the hospital, before they processed me. He played it,
The video started with a much younger me, sitting on a hospital bed with my head on my arms, and my knees tucked into my chest. Younger Danny stayed in the camera's view but far away from me.
"Hey, Ellie. I have to record you, okay?" Younger Danny asked, opening his kit. Young me looked up. Flack sucked in his breath and I squeezed his hand. The younger me was covered in bruises. I had a black eye, a cut on my forehead with a butterfly band aid, and bruises on my neck, from his hands.
"I know the drill, Danny. Can we just get this over with?" Young me asked, voice quivering.
"Yeah. What happened at your apartment three days ago?" Young Danny asked. I closed my eyes.
"He hit me on the head and I was unconscious. I remember waking up, and being in tied up. He asked me what job I had, and hit me when I didn't answer, I was scared he'd kill me if he knew I was a cop. He found out after he started burning me." Young me had tears rolling down her cheeks by now.
"Burning you with what?" Young Danny asked, sadly. Young me lifted her shirt to reveal 6 small, circular burns. Young Danny gasped, and I felt tears on my cheeks. I touched my stomach absently.
"A cigarette. He- only did it 6 times before I told him. I thought he'd kill me, but he-he smiled. Then he choked me until I was losing consciousness and I hit my head when I fell. I looked up at him and he started to undo his belt, and he cut my shirt off, and I was just in my bra and jeans, when I heard the door kicked open, and you and Mac came and saved me. He was going to- and you- Thank you, D."
Young me reaches for him and young Danny walks over and holds me while I cry into his chest.
After it stops, Danny looks at me to gauge my reaction, and I lean into Flack and he pulls me to him.