Date : 21.08.2008
Title : Scream For Me
Author : ElaineDex
Chapter : 4 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Detective Mac Taylor/Darcie Morgan
Detective Don Flack/Parker Scott
Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Strong Language.
Spoilers : Possible references to Season 3 - story is set somewhere mid Season 4.
Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.
Disclaimer : I do not own CSI : New York or any of its' characters. Darcie Morgan and Parker Scott are mine.
FOR MICHELLE - HOPE YOU ENJOY IT X
Summary : AU - A new serial killer is in town but can Detectives Don Flack and Mac Taylor stop him before two women they care about fall victim to him?
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The next morning, Mac stood over the dead body of another young woman and sighed.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?", Stella asked and he regarded her.
"That this isn't just another random death and that we could have a serial killer on our hands", he replied and Stella nodded.
"Got it in one", she agreed and they looked down at the woman who had been found in exactly the same position and location as the last victim.
"Let's see if Sid confirms our theory", Mac said as the M.E.'s van arrived.
Once the scene had been processed, they headed back to the labs to run their findings and then Mac headed down to see Sid.
"Hey Mac", Sid lifted his head in greeting as the Detective appeared in his line of vision and he straightened.
"What we got?", Mac asked and Sid sighed as he looked down at the young woman on the table in front of him.
"You were right, I think this could be the work of the same person. The C.O.D. is the same, an overdose of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide".
"Damn it", Mac said, folding his arms across his chest.
Another serial killer in town was just what they didn't need.
"That's not all", Sid said, moving around the table and picking up a folder from the bench behind Mac.
"I thought that the last vic looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place her. I've finally identified her as Marie Shaw and she was a typist for the NYPD. This new vic is Deborah Ashton and she too was in the Admin. Department somewhere".
Mac frowned.
"So our guy is targeting the P.D.'s main Administration section?", Mac asked and Sid shrugged.
"That's up to you to find out Detective", he said smiling and Mac nodded and took the file from Sid.
"Maybe he's a disgruntled ex who likes dating NYPD employees", the M.E. suggested as he snapped on a clean pair of rubber gloves and Mac immediately thought back to the night before, when he had left Flack and Parker's apartment block and found Darcie pressed up against the wall by her ex-fiancé.
Suddenly feeling the need to see her, he bid Sid goodbye and headed for the elevators.
OoOoOo
Darcie was feeling quite pleased with her half a morning's work. There had been no sign of Mac since she had arrived at 9.00 AM and so she had tackled his desk, not really knowing if she was doing right or wrong, but forging ahead with her plan nonetheless.
She had set up a filing system and organised his diary so that she had a copy and so did he.
As soon as he arrived she would go through everything with him and get him to tell her which case he wanted typing up first.
She was just trying to drag her desk a little closer to the glass wall of his office when he arrived.
"What are you doing?", he asked, the words not what he'd been intending to say and she stopped to look at him, her hands still on the edge of the desk.
"I'm moving a desk, what does it look like?", she asked, sounding more sarcastic than she'd intended.
They stared at one another until Mac said,
"Let's start again. Good morning Darcie, how are you?".
Darcie's lips twitched but she refused to smile at him as she replied,
"I'm fine thank you Detective Taylor, how are you?".
"I'm good, and please, call me Mac", he said and Darcie nodded.
"Okay…Mac".
"So…where do you want this desk?", he asked, throwing the file he held onto the top so that he could grasp the end closest to him.
"Um…a little closer to this wall", Darcie replied, indicating to the glass behind her and Mac nodded.
Together they moved her desk, not realising that Stella was watching them with some interest.
When they were done she moved closer.
"Hey Mac, want to introduce me?", she asked, smiling at Darcie who moved a little closer.
"Sure, this is Darcie Morgan, Darcie this is Detective Stella Bonasera", Mac said and the two women nodded at one another.
Just then the phone in Mac's office began to ring and he looked at the two women.
"Excuse me", he said before moving away.
Darcie and Stella stood awkwardly for a moment before Stella said,
"So, how are you liking it here so far?".
"He doesn't want me here", Darcie stated flatly, looking at Mac through the glass and Stella raised her eyebrows.
"Mac's said that to you?", she asked disbelievingly and Darcie shook her head.
"Not in so many words no, but spending the day making coffee yesterday kinda spelled it out for me".
"Ahh…", Stella replied, angling her head as she regarded Mac's new Secretary.
"Mac's a great guy, give him a chance to get used to this new 'arrangement' and I'm sure everything will be fine".
"Maybe", Darcie said just as Mac swung the glass door to his office open and glared at her.
"Where the hell have all my files gone?", he asked, looking and sounding quite annoyed and Darcie glanced at Stella who sent her a 'stick with it' kind of look, before sneaking away.
"They're in the new filing system I created", Darcie said moving toward him and Mac stepped back to let her into his office.
"The what?", he asked, sounding exasperated and Darcie sighed.
"Filing system", she repeated. "Here, let me show you", she added, moving to a cabinet on the far wall.
"What is it your looking for?", she asked, reaching for a drawer in readiness as he came to stand beside her.
"I'm not looking for anything, I just wanted to know where they had all gone", he told her and Darcie looked at him.
"Right. Well, they're all in here".
"You should have waited for me to get here before you did this", Mac told her and Darcie wrapped her arms defensively around herself as she replied,
"I didn't know how long you were going to be, so what was I supposed to do, just sit here waiting for you, twiddling my thumbs?".
Mac regarded her silently for a moment before moving to his desk.
"Well, I have something that you can do now. That phone call was from the organisers of the Policeman's Christmas Ball and they want to know how many people from this department will be attending and what they want to eat. They'll be faxing over the paperwork shortly so can you sort that out?", he said and Darcie stared at him.
"Are you kidding me? Christmas is not for another three and a half months".
"I guess it takes a lot of organising", Mac replied, avoiding her gaze as he headed for the door.
"Have you any real work that you'd like me to do today?", she shot at him as he opened the door and he glanced back at her, choosing not to answer her before her left.
Darcie tried to take deep, calming breaths but it didn't work and she found herself heading for the door to follow him. She was not carrying on this way…it was ridiculous.
Lindsay, who was stood at Stella's desk with her, watched as Darcie strode by, following Mac and she said,
"Is that Mac's new secretary?".
"Yeah, she seems nice, if a little underrated by a certain Detective", Stella replied and Lindsay made an 'o' with her mouth in silent understanding.
"I think Mac will come the worst off to be honest", Stella added, smiling and Lindsay nodded.
They both watched as Darcie caught up to Mac just as he was getting into the elevator and she managed to get in through the doors before they closed.
"Listen out for the fireworks", Lindsay said as they got back to work.
ooo
"I need to talk to you", Darcie stated as the elevator began to move.
When Mac merely looked at her she added, "This trust thing of yours is really inconvenient. I am here to do a job…I'm an excellent worker and you cant just keep giving me crap. I'm here to help you out".
"I know that Darcie it's just that…", Mac went to reply but trailed off as suddenly a loud 'kaboomb' rocked the elevator.
Darcie shrieked in fright and grabbed at Mac.
"What the hell was that?", she asked, sounding terrified and Mac looked at the doors as alarms began to sound on the level that they had ground to a halt at.
"I don't know", he answered, reaching out and pressing the door button, but nothing happened. The controls were dead.
Then the lights went out and Darcie buried her head into his shoulder.
Mac put an arm around her waist as she said,
"Do you think it's a terrorist attack like 9/11?".
"I doubt it", he replied, frowning as he felt her trembling.
Just then the emergency lighting kicked in and Darcie heaved a sigh of relief and realising that she had a tight hold of Mac, released him from her grip and stepped back a little, blushing as she said,
"I'm sorry…I", but she was interrupted as Mac's cell phone began to ring.
He looked at her as he dug into his pocket and pulled out the phone. The display told him that it was Stella calling and he flipped it open to answer it.
"Mac? You guys alright?", Stella asked and he said,
"Yeah, what's going on?".
I'm not sure but whatever it was rocked the whole building. I'm going to go check it out with Lindsay", Stella replied and Mac sighed.
"Darcie and I are stuck in the elevator".
"I'll work on getting someone to get you out, sit tight", Stella said and Mac nodded.
"Alright, and you be careful", he said.
"Will do", Stella answered as she rang off.
Mac flipped his phone shut and turned to Darcie.
"Get comfortable, we could be here for a while".
OoOoOo
Across town, Parker had just left a meeting with her latest client, an eccentric fifty-something for whom this would be her sixth marriage.
The woman wanted a themed wedding this time around apparently, but Parker didn't mind. It made a nice change from just your typical hearts and flowers style wedding.
She briefly wondered if she should tackle Flack about setting a date for their wedding again, but he always seemed so busy with work. She knew some kind of important new case had just come up but he didn't like to talk about his job all that often because he said that most of it would probably just upset her.
Sighing she decided that this weekend she would cook them a nice meal and when he was all relaxed she would mention it and see where she got.
Just then her cell rang and she pulled the car over and flipped open her phone.
"Hello, Parker Scott", she said and waited.
And waited. But no-one responded. She pulled the cell away from her ear to check the connection and frowned when she saw that it was still there.
"Hello?", she said again, but still there was nothing but silence from the other end until suddenly the connection was broken and the line went dead.
"Weird", she said, shaking her head as she closed her phone and put it back onto the seat beside her before heading back into the busy traffic.
OoOoOo
"Why don't you sit down?", Mac asked of Darcie as he looked up at her from his position on the floor of the elevator, his back against the rear wall that faced the doors.
"It's getting warm in here don't you think?", Darcie replied as she sat next to him.
"Relax Darcie, they'll have us out of here in no time", Mac said, sounding calm and relaxed himself.
"You said that a half hour ago and we're still here", she said and he forced a smile.
"Give them a chance. They'll be working on it".
Darcie sighed and brought her knees up to her chest, tucking her skirt demurely up behind her knees.
They sat in silence for a moment before Mac said,
"I saw you that day in your wedding gown at the Trade Centre Memorial".
Darcie turned her head to look at him and he saw the pain in her eyes. Pain that was so familiar to him. He saw it every time he looked at himself in a mirror.
"What were you doing there?", she asked, swallowing as her mouth became dry.
"I lost my wife in the 9/11 attacks, she worked in one of the towers", Mac replied and Darcie nodded.
"I'm sorry".
Mac waited and eventually she added.
"I lost my brother that day. I sometimes go to the memorial because I feel like it's the only place in the city where he can still hear me".
"I know what you mean", Mac agreed, thinking that he had had the same thought many a time about Claire.
"I'm sorry for diving on you before…it's just with what happened to my brother, things like this make me overly anxious", Darcie said and Mac shook his head.
"No need to apologise".
Darcie smiled and a strangely comfortable silence settled between them. They could hear voices on the other side of the doors but they couldn't hear what was going on.
When Mac's cell rang again, Darcie started and he put a hand on her arm before answering it.
"What's going on Stella?", he asked and she replied.
"We're being evacuated. Apparently a new tech in the lab hadn't quite gotten hold of how some of the equipment worked and he basically blew something up. The fire crew knows where you are and they're getting to you".
"Great, thanks", Mac said, flipping his phone shut again.
He relayed the information to Darcie who felt strangely bereft when he removed his hand from her arm.
"So we have to just sit tight until they get us out", she confirmed and Mac nodded.
"That's right".
"Sooo…about the work…", she began and Mac held up a hand.
"Okay…when we get out of here I'll show you what I'm behind on", he said and Darcie beamed at him.
"I knew you'd see sense sooner or later, you seem like an intelligent man", she said and Mac's eyes widened.
"Thanks", he said.
"You're welcome".
"So, have you had any more thoughts as to what your ex wanted back last night?", Mac asked, completely changing the subject and Darcie blinked at him.
"Uh…", she replied as her mind scrambled for information.
Suddenly she remembered finding the tabs in the drawer in Riley's apartment and she frowned.
'Could they be what he thinks I took?', she wondered.
She was about to tell Mac when suddenly there was a loud banging on the elevator doors.
"Detective Taylor? You and Miss Morgan in there?", a member of the fire crew shouted and both Mac and Darcie stood.
"Yeah, we're here", Mac shouted back.
"That was quick", Darcie commented and Mac thought he heard a tinge of disappointment to her tone but surely he was mistaken.
Pushing the notion to the back of his mind, he pulled her toward the back wall as the fire crew began to prise the doors apart…
OoOoOoO
Riley Williams' hand shook as he took the phone call that was being put through to him by his secretary.
"Hello?", he said, his voice wobbling somewhat.
"Have you got them back yet?", the voice at the other end of the phone asked and Riley loosened his tie a little.
"I'm working on it…I just need a little more time".
"Make sure that the cops don't find out, if they do I'll kill you", the voice replied just before the line went dead.
Riley swallowed and hung up the phone, sweat beading on his forehead.
He had to get those damn tabs back…and quickly.
End of Chapter 4