Chapter Four
A/N: I'm back again, and improving my update time I think! Thanks for bearing with me…
Many thanks to the following AMAZING reviewers: ioanhoratio, RyderBPD, CSINYPacker012, afrozenheart412 and You cant rush science. I really appreciate your feedback, so keep up the good work and the rest of you- take note!
Here in Ireland, it's Seachtain na Gaeilge, which is a week when we try to respect and make full use of the Irish language. As such, I thought it fitting to include both the Irish and English version of the lyrics I'm using. They're from 'Heroes or Ghosts' ('Taibhsí nó Laoich' in Irish, and it's even more haunting that way) by the incredible The Coronas. Please look them up, they really are wonderful!
DISCLAIMER: If I owned CSI:NY, why would I be writing fanfiction? I only own Ella…
Kisses,
Ciara
So here we go - heroes or ghosts - one man's mood can break another man's soul
Or am I just too cynical for my own good, too scared to say, we'll get there if we should
And you know, yeah you know, it's harder than it looks, yeah it's harder than it looks
But I know, it's gonna take a lot of time and a little bit of luck
Seo muid réidh – taibhsí nó laoich – scriosfadh aoibh fíor anam an té
Nó an bhfuil mé ró ciniciúil ar mhaithe liom fhéin, buartha le rá, lig cinniúint an béim
'S ba léir, ba léir, 'sé deacair dúinn a rá, 'sé deacair dúinn a rá
Ach is léir, 's léir dom go nglacfaidh sé go leor am agus beagáinín ádh
It took all of five minutes to realize that things weren't going to run as smoothly as she had hoped in New York.
"I'm driving," Flack snapped, leaping to his feet as soon as their first callout came in over the precinct's radio system.
"Fine by me," Ella agreed amicably as she followed hastily in his wake, eager to experience her first New York crime scene.
"I wasn't asking permission."
Ella felt the grin slide from her face and her cheeks flushed red. She put on her jacket and hurried towards the swinging precinct door through which Flack had disappeared, feeling thoroughly disgruntled. Scagnetti caught her eye as she passed and she grimaced at him. He winked and mouthed 'chin up', and Ella smiled in spite of herself. Feeling slightly more content, she jumped into the waiting squad car and fastened her seatbelt.
"So… what are the CSIs like?" she asked tentatively.
"You'll see for yourself when you get to the crime scene."
"I suppose I will. Anything I should know before we get to the scene?"
"Didn't they teach you anything wherever you were last?" Flack asked impatiently. "I'm your ranking officer today. So do what I tell you and then stay the hell out of my way. Think you can manage that?"
"Yeah," Ella said softly. "I guess I can."
She curled towards the window, pressing her flaming cheek to the chilled pane. Her fingers curled tightly around the familiar form of the dog tags dangling from her neck. Flack didn't put on the radio or any music. The short drive to the crime scene passed in a tense, stony silence.
When they arrived outside the tiny bodega, there was a veritable sea of people clamoring for a prime view behind the yellow crime scene tape. Ella felt a surge of excitement, despite Flack's surly presence. Her first case in the Big Apple.
"So what do you…"
Flack flashed from the car in the blink of an eye.
"… want me to do first?" Ella finished lamely. A surge of irritation bubbled through her, but she was determined not to let Flack get to her. After all, it was like Scagnetti had said; he was still grieving, she shouldn't take it personally.
But that didn't make it any easier.
Heaving a sigh, she levered herself out of the car and followed Flack under the tape. He showed no sign of having seen her.
"I'm just going to start taking witness statements."
"Fine by me," Flack growled. Ella couldn't help herself.
"I wasn't asking permission."
She thought she saw the ghost of a smile cross his face, but when she looked again it had been replaced by the hardened scowl she was already used to. He stalked off to speak to a uniformed officer standing a little way away, leaving Ella to her own devices. Determined to be as professional as possible, she set about separating the genuine witnesses from those just hoping to get themselves on TV.
It was a pretty open-and-shut case, or so it seemed. The tiny bodega, owned by the small, round and hysterical Mrs. Lucchesi, had opened up early this morning as it usually did. Larissa Corbett had stopped by with her kids before school to pick up some lunch treats, while middle-aged Mr. Timothy Gautier had required a bag of cat food for 'Snowy, Linus and Colonel Fibmeister the Third'. As it was the early shift, there was only one employee on duty- the vic, Alex Hernandez. The reports from supposed witnesses varied greatly; some said the perp was tall and broad, others short and skinny. Some argued that he was wearing a balaclava, others said he was bare-faced. The one fact they all seemed to agree on was that the male perp had entered the bodega, walked directly up to the counter and calmly shot Alex Hernandez in the head. Which might have been helpful, if half of the 'witnesses' hadn't been lying through their teeth. Thankfully, Ella had a good instinct for truth, so she felt she was fairly capable of dividing the genuine from the posers. Or at least, she hoped she did.
She sighed and waved away the last credible witness, an acne-coated paperboy. She flicked longingly through page after page of carefully transcribed notes, hoping something helpful would leap out at her.
"How's it going?"
Ella looked up, startled, to see a petite young woman with chin-length brown hair smiling amusedly at her. She was wearing latex gloves and clutched a silver forensics kit in one hand. The slight curve of a post-pregnancy bump rounded her stomach gently.
"Lindsay Messer, nice to meet you," she grinned warmly. "First day?"
"Is it that obvious?" laughed Ella. "I'm Ella Fitzgerald."
"Jess's replacement, right?"
"That's me."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be just fine. Everyone will get used to you soon enough."
"I doubt it," Ella murmured distractedly, her eyes locked on Flack's back. Lindsay followed her gaze and a knowing expression crossed her kind face.
"Hey Danny!" she called. "Get over here."
A handsome CSI with sandy hair and scruffy stubble dotting his impressive jaw line wheeled over in a wheelchair. He wore wire-rimmed glasses and a curious expression.
"What's up, Montana?" he asked. He had a strong Staten Island drawl.
"Danny Messer, meet Ella Fitzgerald. Don's new partner," Lindsay added as an afterthought. "Ella, this is my husband, Danny."
"Nice to meet you," beamed Ella, pumping Danny's hand energetically.
"You too. How ya getting' on in the Big Apple?"
"That's what we were just discussing," Lindsay interjected helpfully. She turned seriously to Ella. "The guys at the precinct are all really great, you'll fit in soon enough. It'll all be fine."
"I'll believe that when I see it," sighed Ella.
"Trust me, I know. I transferred in from Montana a couple of years back to replace Aiden Burn. She was a real favorite in the lab, a firecracker so I'm told, and some people-" she poked Danny playfully- "didn't take too kindly to me at first, did they, Danny?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," he grinned cheekily. "I was an ass at first but then your winning Montanan personality made me see the light and the girl behind the wheatfields."
"And it's ended with a ring on my finger and a little angel named Lucy, who's currently driving her sitter insane," Lindsay finished happily. "So you see Ella, Don'll come round. He's not usually a jerk. Well, not much of one anyway."
"Like I said," murmured Ella sadly. "I'll believe it when I see it."
"Ya want me to have a word with him?" Danny asked. "If he's bein' too hard on ya, that's not on."
"No, no, don't do that!" said Ella quickly. "I don't want him to think I go tattling like some bratty preschooler at the first sign of trouble. No, I'll just have to prove myself to him on merit alone."
"Sounds like a good plan," agreed Lindsay. "Come with us, we'll introduce you to Adam and Stella."
Ella nodded and followed Lindsay and Danny inside the bodega, where two more CSIs were busily photographing and processing the crime scene. The woman was beautiful, tall and olive-skinned with a mane of perfectly-coiffed curls. She stood up as they approached and Ella saw that she was wearing a sleek, form-fitting black trousers and a sweater in palest blue. Her companion was dusting the surrounding area for prints, his brow furrowed with concentration. A shock of auburn hair coated his head and matching stubble dotted his jaw line. He was wearing a blue-checked shirt, jeans and a pair of well-worn Converse.
"Hey Stel, anything new?" called Danny, wheeling over to her.
"Apart from the fact that your skills with that chair are getting progressively pathetic, you mean?" she asked in a voice dripping laughter.
"Don't get cute with me Bonasera," Danny growled. "I'm a whiz, me."
"Could you two please try to be less embarrassing?" teased Lindsay. "The new girl is going to think we're a bunch of weirdos."
"New girl?" the woman named Stella asked interestedly, craning her neck to see around Lindsay to where Ella was standing uncertainly. "Oh, I see. Stella Bonasera, pleased to meet you."
"Ella Fitzgerald, and the pleasure is all mine. Detective Crawford spoke very highly of you back in Charlotte."
"Oh, you know John!" exclaimed Stella delightedly. "Well, welcome to New York. Are you settling in alright?"
"I'll tell you once I catch my breath," Ella laughed. "And… uh, who's your friend on the ground?"
Danny sniggered as the scruffy ginger investigator jumped, startled, and blushed a spectacular shade of red. Lindsay took a retaliatory swipe at her husband's head, but he swerved and stuck out his tongue cheekily.
"Are they always this childish?" Ella stage-whispered with a smirk. Stella swallowed a laugh and offered her co-worker a hand to help him to his feet.
"So Ella, this is our resident A-V genius, Adam Ross."
"Uh, n-nice to meet you," Adam stammered. He stuck out his hand and Ella shook it eagerly. She could feel the small round scar of a cigarette burn in his palm, but said nothing about it.
"You too," she said warmly. "So, got any leads for me?"
"Not much, I'm afraid… We know that the till was left untouched, so whoever killed Alex Hernandez wasn't after money.
"The plot thickens…" Ella grinned wryly. "I should have known my first case wouldn't be that easy. Have they got any CCTV footage we can use?"
"They've already sent it over to the lab, I'm going to get onto it as soon as I get back."
"Great! Well, as soon as you know anything, fill me in, OK?"
"No problem."
Ella grinned and nodded approvingly at Adam. It seemed that, despite Flack's disapproving presence, she might fit in alright here after all.
As though he had heard her thoughts, Flack appeared at Stella's shoulder.
"What've you got for me, Stel?" he asked in a low, guttural growl.
"As Adam was just telling Detective Fitzgerald here, the motive wasn't robbery. We've got a whole heap of prints to run, plus some potentially useful footage from the CCTV cameras in the bodega," supplied Stella. "The quality might not be great but…"
"It's all we've got," Flack sighed tiredly. "Got it."
"Our witness's statements have given us a rough description of the perp, if that helps," said Ella hopefully. Flack flicked his head as though dislodging an irksome fly at the sound of her voice.
"It doesn't," he said coldly. "We need more than what some over-excited busybodies think they saw. There's something called evidence. Didn't they teach you that wherever-the-hell you said you worked last?"
"Charlotte," Ella said in a soft voice.
"What?"
"I said, I worked in Charlotte," she continued in a stronger voice. "And for the record, I had a good rep. One of the best in the force. So yeah, they taught me. And they taught me that witness statements can be very useful indeed, But you know that already Detective. And you know I'm right. Would it kill you to admit that I'm actually not that bad?"
Flack opened his mouth, but shut it again without speaking. He looked like a goldfish. His piercing blue eyes flashed furiously for a brief moment, then he turned on his heel and stalked away, leaving Ella standing in the midst of the astounded CSIs.
"I-I shouldn't have snapped," she said faintly, running an anxious hand through her mane of copper curls. A dull flush crept its way across her cheeks and her breathing came in labored pants. "I just… I'm a good cop. I just wanted him to see that. Dammit, I've probably blown any chance of making him respect me now."
"Don't be so sure," Stella soothed. "Don admires tenacity, even if he won't admit it. And you seem to have that in bucketloads."
"Tenacity?" Ella groaned with a hollow laugh. "More like pig-ignorance… Jeez, I have to share a car with him back to the precinct!"
"Now that might be a problem," Lindsay agreed, coming over to stand beside Ella. "Tell you what, why don't you ride in with us? Danny can go with Don, can't you cowboy?"
"No problem," Danny nodded fervently. He dropped Ella a consoling wink. "I'll sort him out for ya."
"No, I-"
"Relax, I can be very subtle when I want to be."
"Yeah, subtle like a steel freight train," Lindsay murmured.
"What was that, Montana?"
"Nothing," she replied innocently, grinning maddeningly at him. "Now, get after Don. Come on, Ella."
And before anyone could utter another word, she had taken Ella by the elbow and was leading her towards a large silver jeep, Stella and Adam following in their wake.
As they drove along the bustling city streets, Ella couldn't help feeling awful.
"Thank you so much," she said for the umpteenth time as they pulled up outside the forensics lab. The others stared at her, nonplussed. "For putting up with me. It… it's just been a really crappy first day, you know?"
"Don't worry about it," smiled Lindsay. "You just didn't gel with your partner. My first day after moving here from Bozeman, I managed to make my boss think I was a goody-two-shoes brown-noser. I thought I'd never get him to like me, but things worked out alright."
"I somehow managed to trip up the stairs on my first day," Stella grimaced, shuddering at the memory. "Evidence bags everywhere."
"That's nothing," Adam chimed in. "I sent my lab station up in flames."
"You know what?" Ella giggled. "Suddenly, I don't feel so bad." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"That's better," Lindsay grinned. "Hey, why don't you come to me and Danny for dinner tonight? We can fill you in all you need to know about the city that never sleeps!"
"Are you sure?" asked Ella doubtfully. "I wouldn't want to intrude…"
"Of course!" exclaimed Lindsay. "Come on, Danny makes the best lasagna going- but don't tell him I said that. He'll get a big head."
"Well, if you're sure…"
"Honey, Lindsay doesn't say anything unless she's absolutely positive," Stella told her.
"Well then," beamed Ella. "Dinner sounds great!"
A couple of hours later came the day's real surprise.
Ella had spent most of the day hiding out in the lab, avoiding Flack. Whatever the others had said, she didn't want to see him for the moment. She didn't want to see him until she was one hundred per cent certain she could keep her temper in check.
So she watched Adam run through the security footage, which for the most part was grainy and unreadable until he worked his magic. Eventually however, he got a usable visual and, when they combined that with the prints Stella had found on the counter at the bodega, they had a suspect to pick up: Shareef Asker.
Ella went with Danny to corner him, and after a fierce period of interrogation Shareef admitted he had been paid to take out Alex Hernandez, who had owed Shareef's client some money. The two men were in lock-up within an hour of Shareef confessing.
Ella had never experienced a rush quite like it. She flew down the corridor as though wings were attached to her feet, the earlier drama with Flack forgotten. In fact, she was so elated that she failed to notice the person coming around the corner until she had crashed into them.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she exclaimed. "I should have been-"
She trailed off with a gasp of recognition. The coffee-skinned man's face split into a grin and he placed a hand on her waist to steady her. Unconsciously, Ella's hand found the patch of dressing taped to her stomach.
"Well if it isn't Supergirl," the doctor said in a soft, delicious voice. "How's the war wound?"
"Not too bad, thanks to you," Ella replied, throwing him a glowing glance.
"And the dream job?"
Ella pulled a face.
"That good, huh?"
"Don't get me wrong," Ella sighed tiredly. "The work is amazing, and most of the people are great. I guess I just… hit a speed bump," she finished cryptically. The doctor, whose name escaped her, looked quizzically at her.
"Do I want to know?"
"I doubt it," she said with a shaky laugh. He nodded knowingly and, with a sudden jolt, removed his hand from her waist. The space where it had been tingled from the contact.
"I had no idea your dream job was being a cop," he grinned.
"An NYPD cop," corrected Ella."
"Well, I figured you were more of an arty type. Photographer maybe, or an artist."
Ella snorted. "I haven't got an arty bone in my body! Why, do I look like that sort of soft touch?" She planted her hands on her hips, feigning discontent, but the twitch of her lips gave her away.
"I guess not," he amended, smiling. "So, how're you liking New York?"
"Everyone keeps asking me that, but the truth is I haven't seen very much of it. Too busy getting stabbed and fighting crime to see the sights."
"Spoken like a true superhero," grinned the doctor. "But it is a pity you haven't seen the city yet, it's amazing. Tell you what, how about I take you on the night tour? New York is incredible by night."
"That sounds great," Ella said wistfully. "But I've actually got plans… I'm eating with Danny and Lindsay tonight."
"Oh," he said. Ella noted that he looked slightly crestfallen, and for some reason her spirits soared.
"How about tomorrow night?" she suggested hopefully.
"It's a date."
He made to continue down the hallway, then stopped in his tracks and faced her once more.
"I guess if we're going to be working together, we should be formally introduced. Again."
Ella grinned roguishly and strode up to him, sticking out her hand to grasp his. "Ella Fitzgerald, badass superhero and NYPD detective extraordinaire."
"Sheldon Hawkes," he responded, and she remembered his surname from the night before. "Crime scene investigator and rescuer of supposedly-badass detectives."
They shared a grin and a firm handshake before Sheldon broke away.
"I have to get down to autopsy to see if Sid's got anything for me," he said apologetically. Ella smirked.
"Sounds glamorous… Have fun!"
She turned on her heel and walked back down the corridor. She was about to turn the corner when she heard Sheldon's voice ring out once more.
"See you tomorrow, Supergirl!"
Ella hugged her arms to her chest and decided to head back to her apartment, thinking that she might just have experienced the best possible ending to a first day at work…
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And don't forget to tell me what you thought of the lyrics/ The Coronas if you look them up… Go on, make my Seachtain na Gaeilge!