Author's Notes: I know the last chapter ended with the tease of a reunion of Danny and Lindsay and you'll get a little of that toward the end of the chapter. But the bulk of this chapter is going to be the reactions of the other members of the team. This obviously affects them all.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I always look forward to reading your thoughts about each chapter. I hope you continue to like where I take the story.

I just read that today is Eddie Cahill's birthday, so happy birthday Flack!

Disclaimer: CBS, Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, and Ann Donahue own all rights to the characters and premise of the show. I am making no money off this story and it is for entertainment purposes only. However, this particular story is my creation and should not be used without my express written permission.

Attack

Chapter 3

"Damn." Sheldon wanted to ball up the printout he was reading and lob it like a basketball into the trashcan. He didn't because it was an official part of the evidence but its potentially damning information only added to his frustration.

Stella looked up from Lindsay's blood splattered shirt that she'd been processing at her coworker's mild curse. Inwardly she was still seething about what had happened to her friend but she was trying hard to keep it in control. Mac had made it clear that he'd pull her off the investigation if she didn't and she felt she owed it to Lindsay to get to the truth. "What is it?"

"I've analyzed everything on Danny's plate from Eduardo's. I can probably tell you secret ingredients that Eddie never wanted revealed but there was no trace of any kind of drugs in any of it. If Danny was drugged, it didn't come from the food." He glanced at his watch. "I'm surprised we haven't gotten the tox report from the hospital. If we knew what he'd been drugged with, finding the how he'd been drugged might be easier."

Stella snapped a photograph of the outline of a boot print on the front of Lindsay's shirt. A boot print she knew without having to compare it would match the boot print she'd photographed on Lindsay's arm. "Mac asked the doctor to hold on to the report until he returned to the hospital. He didn't want to take any chances of Sinclair or IAB getting their hands on the information before we had a chance to analyze it. I know none of us wants to believe Danny could snap like he did all on his own but how likely is it that he was drugged? Someone would have to know their schedules really well to pull off such an attack and let's face it, none of us have schedules regular enough for someone to figure out a pattern. Nothing could have happened here in the lab before they left and if his food wasn't drugged that only leaves the walk from here to the diner. Not much time or opportunity to drug him without his or Lindsay's knowledge."

Hawkes shook his head. "Just because we haven't figured it out yet doesn't mean there's not an explanation. There has to be one because there is no way Danny would hurt Lindsay. I know we'll find it; I just hope it's in time. I don't think I've ever seen Sinclair so upset."

"The media has already ran with the story. They couldn't release names of course but there were enough witnesses at the diner to report that a NYPD officer viciously attacked another NYPD officer. That doesn't paint a good light on the department and we all know Sinclair doesn't like bad press. This affects more than just Danny and Lindsay; it affects us all. I don't know how Danny is going to avoid paying the consequences for what happened today."

Frowning, Hawkes set aside the paperwork. He had been shocked, as he assumed everyone had been, when Mac had called and told him about the attack at the diner. He'd seen the same look of disbelief on Flack's face when he'd arrived at the diner and the detective had filled in on the details Mac hadn't had time to give him in his phone call. Everyone, outside of Sinclair and IAB, wanted to find the truth, believing that there had to be more to the truth than what the evidence was currently suggesting. Everyone that is except Stella who seemed ready to convict Danny right then and there. He couldn't understand it. Danny was almost like a younger brother to Stella. He'd figured that Stella would be leading the charge to exonerate him. "Danny's not a bad guy here, Stella. We know he's not capable of this."

For a long moment, Stella didn't answer as she bagged the shirt. Then she stared down at the table, unable to meet Sheldon's eyes. "Sometimes the people we thought we know the best change. He wouldn't be the first person to make a complete Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde personality change."

Suddenly Hawkes understood. Stella wasn't looking at this as Danny attacking Lindsay; she was reliving what had happened to her a year ago with Frankie. She knew what it felt like to have someone you trusted completely suddenly turn violent. But still, Danny wasn't Frankie. But he also knew arguing with her about it wouldn't be productive to the situation. Instead, he switched to the other topic that had been bothering him. "I don't get Lindsay though. From what the witnesses said, she let him beat her without putting up a fight or letting anyone help her. What was she thinking?"

Stella's eyes flashed as she turned her head to glare at him. "Are you seriously going to stand there and blame Lindsay for being attacked? Blame the victim?"

"No!" Hawkes immediately defended himself. "I'm just saying that Lindsay's a strong person capable of defending herself. She's not the victim type. You yourself said she had no defensive wounds. If someone is beating you senseless, the natural instinct is to defend yourself. Lindsay didn't do that. That doesn't sound like Lindsay any more than it sounds like Danny for hitting her in the first place."

Stella frowned. He had a point, one that had been bothering her since she'd seen Lindsay's wounds, especially the old bruises. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm running her food for traces of drugs as well. Maybe she wasn't able to defend herself." Before he could continue, they both saw the blur of someone running past the lab toward the men's restroom. Sheldon frowned. He'd recognized the person but couldn't understand what was going on.

"Was that Adam?" Stella pointed toward the hallway.

Hawkes nodded. The young lab tech had been in the AV lab watching the video from Eduardo's to see if he could see anybody messing with Danny and Lindsay before the attack. Apparently Adam had seen more than he could handle. "I'll check on him."

He made his way to the men's restroom and let himself in quietly. He could hear Adam inside one of the stalls retching. He didn't say anything but went to the sink to wet some paper towels. He waited until Adam flushed the toilet and stepped out. The young man seemed shaky so Sheldon took his arm and led him to the wall where they both sank to the floor. He offered the wet towels to Adam who accepted them gratefully. The tech looked embarrassed as he covered his whole face with the damp paper.

"That bad?" Hawkes probed gently.

Adam just nodded. "I thought I could handle it. I told myself not to focus on the attack itself but everything else that was going on. I was going to watch the bystander's reactions to see if anyone seemed suspicious. Then Danny punched Lindsay for the first time and all my intentions went out the window. I heard what happened and I didn't believe it. Now I've seen it and I still don't believe it. Danny didn't even look human as he just hit and kicked Lindsay over and over again. He's supposed to care about her and he was using her like she was nothing more than a punching bag."

Sheldon had never seen this side of Adam before. Usually the quirky young lab tech was so carefree and affable that it was a little scary seeing him so shaken. He could understand it though in a way. How did you watch a friend being hurt the way Lindsay had and not be affected by it? He hoped to reassure the other man. "Adam, I talked to Mac earlier. Lindsay's injuries weren't as bad as the doctor first thought. She's going to make a full recovery."

Adam shook his head. "Sure, bones will mend and bruises will fade. Why is it that people think just because the visible injuries get better that everything is okay? It's so far from okay that it's ridiculous. I don't care what reason Danny had, whether he was drugged, hypnotized, drunk or just had a temporary disconnect with reality, it doesn't change the fact that he's proven that he's capable of hurting someone he cares about. If he did it once, who's to say he won't do it again. How does Lindsay continue to work with him or trust him?"

Sheldon didn't know much about Adam's personal life. The lab tech never really talked much about it but Hawkes couldn't help but wonder if Adam had a personal experience with abuse. It certainly sounded like he was speaking from his own knowledge. Adam might have questioned how Lindsay would trust Danny again but Sheldon had a feeling the lab tech was wondering how he himself would be able to trust Danny again. Stella had been right, this situation wasn't just about Danny and Lindsay; it really was affecting them all. "Adam, we don't know the full story yet. You might have seen what happened on that video but that's only part of the story. I don't know if even Danny and Lindsay know the full story. I'm not going to lie to you; this nightmare didn't end at the diner. It only began there and both Lindsay AND Danny are going to need our support."

Adam didn't respond. He counted the people he worked with as not only friends but family; he believed just about everyone felt the same way. No one at the lab knew how hard it had been for him to trust the people he worked with enough to let them get that close. He'd learned at an early age at the hand of his father the danger of letting anyone in close enough to hurt you. But despite that he'd overcome that natural reticence in order to trust his teammates with his life and happiness if not his secrets. It was killing him now to think that Lindsay was experiencing the same pain he'd thought he'd left behind. Would she now have the same issues with trust that he'd suffered with all of his life?

His mind kept rewinding that video and replaying it over and over again. Only the images kept changing. At first it was just as he'd seen it but then the participants kept changing in his mind so that the role of the attacker switched from being either Danny or Adam's father. Sometimes Lindsay remained the victim and other times it was Adam himself. Bile once more rose up into his throat and he pushed back off the wall rushing into the stall once more.

Sheldon sighed as he listened to his friend once more vomiting in the stall. He was beginning to wonder if anything would ever be the same.

- CSI: NY - CSI: NY - CSI: NY -

"Taylor, my phone hasn't stopped ringing. People hear about what happened at Eduardo's and they are outraged. They hear that such violence came at the hands of one of New York's finest and they want someone's head served to them on a silver platter." Sinclair stood opposite Mac's desk his arms folded over his chest. "They'll take mine if I don't provide them with Messer's. I'll give them yours before I let them have mine."

Mac sat on the edge of his desk. He should still be at the hospital getting Lindsay's version of what happened and getting the results of the tox screen from Dr. Terry. He never liked to rush to judgment or get ahead of the evidence but he knew that time was a luxury none of them hand in this situation. Instead of figuring out exactly what had transpired before during and after the attack at the diner, he was sitting here defending his friend and employee to his supervisor without knowing any of the truth. It was not a pleasant feeling for him.

"Brigham, you know I don't kow tow to public opinion on any investigation least of all when it involves my own people. I know how bad this looks but I also know that Danny Messer wouldn't willingly do what he's being accused of."

Sinclair shook his head. "Seems like the name Danny Messer keeps coming across my desk in one screw up after another. How many IAB investigations can one officer go through? He shoots wild in a subway and an officer ends up dead."

"He was cleared in that investigation; there was no way his shot was responsible for Minhas's death."

"His DNA was found at the scene of a fifteen year old murder victim." Sinclair continued as if Mac hadn't said anything.

"He was exonerated in that case as well. The cigarette was dropped by Danny's brother and other Tanglewood boys. I don't even know why you are bringing these cases up; they have no bearing in what happened today."

"Danny Messer is a screw up Taylor; he's a maverick that has escaped unscathed by the skin of his teeth and because others have put their necks on the line to help him out. I don't see how he's going to be so lucky this time. Perhaps Detective Monroe wouldn't have been injured today if the outcome of those earlier cases had been different. I suppose though that he has some sort of elaborate excuse as to why he shouldn't pay for his actions."

Mac wanted to defend Danny but knew the best way to do that would be to find out the truth. "Danny doesn't remember anything that happened at the diner. I was just beginning to get the story from Lindsay when you ordered me back here. She, however, believes that Danny wasn't in control at the moment of the attack. We're just waiting on the evidence that will confirm or deny that."

Sinclair began to pace back and forth in the office, clearly agitated by everything that was going on. "What was she thinking anyway? I read the report of the first officers on scene. They said she deliberately stepped in front of the taser shot; it's not like Messer pulled her in front of the shot to avoid capture. She did that on her own. I have half a mind to charge her with obstruction of justice."

Mac's eyes narrowed. He was concerned by Lindsay's behavior as well but surely Sinclair wasn't serious about charging her. Hadn't she suffered enough? "With all due respect, I think that's a little overkill."

"With all due respect, Taylor, I can't afford the public backlash of an officer who does not follow protocol and Detective Monroe didn't today. You get to the bottom of it and sanction her or I will charge her. Now, can you explain to me why Detective Messer's release from the hospital has been delayed? I was told he was uninjured other than the taser blasts. We both know that he should have been released right away."

"The ER doctor is worried about Danny's blood pressure. It's been elevated since he was brought in. Plus, he's called in a psychiatrist about putting Danny on a 72 hour psych hold to determine if Danny is a danger to himself and others."

"Damnit, Taylor, this is your doing isn't it? Maybe I should charge you with obstruction of justice. Get to the bottom of this. I expect answers on my desk as soon as possible and I better like those answers."

Without another word, Sinclair turned and strode angrily out of the office. Mac took his departure to mean that he could once again return to the hospital to check on both Lindsay and Danny. He'd been gone longer than he would have liked anyway. It wasn't that he didn't trust Flack to handle things at the hospital in his absence but Lindsay seemed to be the only one who really knew what had happened in the diner. After his conversation with Sinclair, it was obvious they didn't have much time.

Stella stepped into his office, closing the door firmly behind her. "I take it that was as painful as I imagined it would be."

Mac nodded, his expression grim. "More. Has the evidence told us anything more?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The food was clean; we really need the tox reports from the hospital."

"I'm heading there as soon as I get a few things from Lindsay's locker. The doctor doesn't want her staying alone so I've offered her my spare room for a day or so."

"She could stay with me." Stella offered. "She might feel more comfortable staying with another female."

Mac rose from his desk and Stella followed him down the hallway toward the locker room. "I appreciate your concern but you don't exactly have a spare bedroom at your apartment. Besides, I'm not just letting Lindsay stay with me to satisfy the doctor's concerns. I'm hoping to get her to open up to me and tell me about those other bruises and why she didn't fight back. Sinclair isn't just gunning for Danny in all this and I need answers if I'm going to help either one of them. You can handle things here at the lab, right?"

Stella nodded. "Count on it."

- CSI: NY - CSI: NY - CSI: NY -

Danny stared at Lindsay, his expression twisting from horrified to guilty to disgusted and then back again. They had told him what he'd done and he'd seen his knuckles and knew they had told him the truth but nothing could have prepared him for coming face to face with the reality of his actions. He thought back to the case a few weeks ago when she'd risked her life pretending to be one of the diamond thieves in order to rescue the other thief being held hostage. Thought back to the way his stomach had twisted with fear when her cover had been blown and he'd realized the danger she'd been in. He'd been skating around his feelings for Lindsay since the day he'd met the Montanan replacement Mac had hired but couldn't deny that he'd fallen hard for one Lindsay Monroe. The smoke had been thick in the hotel room when he had burst in looking for her and it had been difficult to find her at first. When she'd called his name and he'd taken her shaky body into his comforting arms, it had felt so perfect that he'd known he had to risk his heart.

Then she had stood him up the first time he'd worked up the nerve to ask her out on a date. He hadn't really bought the whole "it's me not you" excuse she'd given him but he'd seen the pain in her eyes and he'd felt his heart break just a little. Not so much for himself but for the knowledge that something beyond his control was causing her pain and he was helpless to do anything about it. As much as he wanted to pursue a relationship with her, he cared too much about her to cause her more pain. He wanted her to be happy even if that meant they could only be friends.

Now what had he done? He had no memory of raising his fists against her but the bruises that were standing out so prominently didn't lie. He thought back to the night in a different hospital room when Lindsay had shown up as he sat by his brother's bedside, unsure as to whether or not his brother would live or die. He'd been wracked with guilt seeing his brother so beaten and helpless and that guilt had only increased when Lindsay had played for him the tape that Louie had made of Sonny Sassone exonerating him any guilt in a fifteen year old murder. His brother had risked his life to save his; that was a guilt that one didn't get over easy. Still, Lindsay had been there for him that night and in the days that followed. She'd done everything to assure that he wasn't to blame for his brother's condition and that as his older brother, Louie would have risked much more to protect him. That guilt he'd felt in the aftermath of Louie's injury was nothing compared to what he was currently feeling looking at the bruises that marred Lindsay's beautiful face.

He hated himself more than he'd ever thought possible. Regardless of the cause of his sudden vicious attack against the woman he was sure he loved, it would never be reason enough to justify the results he was currently seeing. He closed his eyes against the damning proof staring back at him. He couldn't face her, couldn't face what he'd done to her. "Dammit. Shit. Fuck."

With great difficult and pain, Lindsay rose from the wheelchair waving off the immediate protests that rose from both Dr. Peterson and Flack. She slowly crossed the room suppressing each groan that threatened to escape her lips with each step. Once she was at Danny's side, she brushed her fingertips against his hairline. She didn't need to see the heart monitor going crazy to see what his emotions were doing to him. "Danny? Danny, it's okay. I'm okay. We'll figure this out."

She wasn't exactly sure what they'd figure out, whether she was talking about the true cause of the attack or how their friendship would survive but she'd hoped the sound of her voice and the touch of her fingertips would at least offer some sort of comfort. A hand touched her back but she ignored everything else in the room but the man who had wormed his way into a place in her heart that she'd believed was completely hardened by the events of her past. She needed him to be okay because if he wasn't, she didn't know if she would be okay either. Her heart broke as he suddenly began to sob. She knew that sound only too well having heard it from herself and the parents of the friends she'd lost so many years ago. It was the sound of someone admitting that their life was forever changed in an instant that cannot be reclaimed. Her own legs were shaking but she wasn't sure if it was from her injuries, the painkiller they had pumped her full of, or grief that her injuries had reduced a strong man to such tears.

"Monroe, you shouldn't be here. If you won't go back to your own bed, at least sit down before you fall down. Mac'll never forgive me if you hurt yourself worse on my watch." Flack's voice was gentle but insistent as his hand on her back tried to press her just as gently but firmly to the stool he'd pushed behind her. He couldn't figure out why she was there in the first place. What good would it do either of them to be in the same room right now? Even if she were convinced there was a good reason for what Danny had done, she shouldn't have to confront the man who had hurt her so severely just hours earlier. And how would it help calm Danny down to see first hand the damage his hands had wrought? He glanced back with a severe glare at the doctor standing in the doorway.

He'd been told that Dr. Peterson was supposed to be the best but he wasn't so sure. He been in the room earlier when the man had questioned Danny but his questions had only seemed to cause his best friend more pain without providing answers that would help. Now, he just seemed to be standing there behind the safety of the wheelchair watching the reunion between the man and woman with an almost morbid fascination. Flack wasn't really a violent man; sure, he'd been known to rough up a suspect slightly if the need arose and other times he'd had to fight that natural desire to feed his fists to some vile, miscreant of society. But never had he had to fight that desire as strongly as he did now. Did the doctor get off on seeing two people in pain?

"Flack?" He glanced down as Lindsay softly called his name. Her eyes never left Danny's face as she spoke. "You think maybe you could get both of us something to drink? I don't guess either of us really needs the caffeine from coffee but a couple of juices would be good."

His hand was still resting on her back and he gave it a little rub of reassurance. "Sure, I'll buzz the nurse-"

"Could you possibly go get it instead?" It was then he realized she was trying to get him to leave the room; leave the two of them alone together. He shook his head. There was no way he was going to do that, even if Danny was still restrained to the bed.

"No way, Monroe. You know how this works. There has to be an officer in the room as long as Danny is still in the ER." He was glad he had protocol to fall back on as she glanced up at him; her poor wounded expression pleading with him.

"Last time I checked, I'm an officer so you wouldn't be breaking procedure."

"It's okay, Detective." Dr. Peterson spoke up from the door of the cubicle. "I'll be right here and I'll take full responsibility."

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the doctor exactly what he could do with his responsibility, but Flack reluctantly acquiesced. He planted a chaste kiss on the uninjured side of Lindsay's face. "I'm glad you are okay. You know Mac's going to have my ass for this."

The small half-smile of gratitude she shot him was worth the grief he'd take from Mac when the head of the crime lab discovered what he had done and he left the cubicle. He stopped beside Dr. Peterson, his expression one usually reserved for the toughest of suspects. "What's the big idea bringing her in here? You like torturing people?"

"I'm trying to get a feel for what's going on between the two. I read the report before talking to either of them. Would you agree that neither of them acted the way you would have expected them to at the diner?"

Flack nodded, not willing to speak words that might sound like a betrayal.

"She went in there with no hesitation, no hint of fear of being in the presence of the man who had hurt her. She's the one who asked for time alone. I've worked with abuse victims for years and usually even women who have completely given up hope of being free of an abusive relationship and have accepted what's happening as a way of life show at least a little fear in the presence of their attacker. Her reaction is totally different from what I'm accustomed to seeing."

Flack frowned. He glanced back into the room. Lindsay was still lightly caressing Danny's face and seemed to be speaking soft comforting words. "I thought you were supposed to be determining whether or not Danny should be placed on a psych hold."

The doctor nodded. "I am. I can get a better feel for his condition by observing them together. She's the one who's been beaten but she's the one comforting him. This isn't your typical case of assault. It's much more complicated than that."

"Yeah, well, they have a complicated relationship. You sure leaving them alone together is a wise move?"

The doctor nodded. "He's restrained. He can't hurt her again and she doesn't look like she has any intentions of revenge."

"I'm thinking more emotionally rather than physically. She should be in bed still and I doubt the emotional upheaval her presence caused him is what Dr. Terry wants in regards to Danny's blood pressure." Flack argued, in no hurry to get juice, coffee or anything else.

"Are you sure? Look at the heart monitor." Dr. Peterson offered calmly.

Flack glanced back and was surprised to see despite Danny's heart wrenching sobs that his blood pressure was steadily dropping instead of rising. It was already lower than it had been sense Danny's arrival at the ER. He wasn't sure how Lindsay was doing it, but there was no questioning the calming effect she was having on Danny.

"Go down to the cafeteria. Get yourself a cup of coffee, come back in twenty minutes or so with juice for the two of them. I'll be right here." Dr. Peterson insisted.

He shook his head. "I feel bad enough just leaving the room; I ain't going anywhere."

"What good are you going to do either of them if you don't take care of yourself?" The psychiatrist questioned. "It's easy to see you are friends with both of them. I can't imagine any of this has been any easier on you than it has them. If anything it's been harder because you've had to put your own feelings aside to be there for him. If you don't take the time to process your own thoughts and feelings, how can you help them?"

Flack had to admit the doctor had a point. He had yet to wrap his mind around the fact that his best friend had even been capable of such violence. It was such a foreign concept to him that he'd found himself struggling to be snappish with his friend at times. Being able to take a few minutes to just grab a cup of coffee and decompress would be nice but it still felt so wrong to do so at the expense of leaving Danny and Lindsay alone together.

Seeing that he wasn't convincing the young detective, Dr. Peterson offered another alternative. "We also have a break room just down the hall. The coffee is a little better than the sludge at the nurse's station. Go in there for a few minutes. No one will say anything to you. That way if something should happen, you'll still be close."

Deciding that he could live with that alternative, Flack nodded. Dr. Peterson stopped a young nurse and asked her to show Flack to the break room. He had barely sat down at the small round table with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand with a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Flack?" Jess Angell stood in the doorway, her expression concerned. She was still new to the force but had fit in quite easily among both the lab and the precinct. Though their relationship was still professional, they enjoyed flirting with each other. It was a different type of chemistry than what everyone at the lab had noticed between Danny and Lindsay from the very beginning. The banter between the two CSIs was playful and teasing reminding Flack more of a little boy pulling a girl's pigtails on the playground to show that he liked her. The flirting he'd shared with Jess so far had been a little more subtle and full of sexual innuendo. He was reasonably sure that one day soon, they would cross that line into becoming more than just co-workers. He found he was quite looking forward to it. Right now, he was just glad to see her.

"Hey, I'm surprised to see you here."

She shrugged and then entered the break room sitting down opposite him. She reached over and gave one of his arms a reassuring squeeze. "I was in court this morning so I didn't hear about what happened until I got back to the station. I figured you might could use a friendly face. How are you?"

He answered with a similar shrug. He wasn't really sure how he was but he knew she wouldn't press him for an explanation. He took a drink of the coffee, scalding his mouth in the process. "How bad is the talk at the station?"

Jess frowned, pushing a long strand of black hair behind her ears. "I'm sure you can imagine. It's all anyone can talk about and everybody has their own opinion. And like armpits, some of them stink. Rumor has it you have to arrest Danny as soon as he is released."

Flack nodded. "I guess I should be glad that I'm the one to do it. I know I'm not going to bust his chops about it, at least not until we know more. But still, I feel like I'm being asked to arrest a member of my own family."

"Then let me do it." Jess offered. He looked at her sharply but she held her hand up to ward off any argument. "I don't want to do it any more than you do. I've worked more than a few cases with Danny and I know he's a stand up guy. But this isn't going to be easy for either of you. Let me play the heavy. You know I'm not going to bust his chops any more than you are."

In that moment, he fell just a little more in love with the beautiful detective. "Thanks. I appreciate it more than you can know. But it may not be necessary. Mac is arranging things so that they put a psych hold on Danny. Hopefully but the time he's actually released, we'll know why he did what he did and we won't have to arrest him at all."

Jess regarded him carefully. "Something else is bothering you. What is it?"

"Dr. Peterson was comparing Lindsay to other victims of abuse. I want to give him a hard time about it. Protest that Lindsay Monroe is not a domestic violence victim but it's hard to argue with the evidence."

Her dark eyes narrowed as she listened to him. "We don't even know the whole story yet. It's a little too soon to cast her in a role of victim based on this one event." Then she eyed him carefully. "You know something more. What is it?"

Flack filled her in on the old bruises that Stella had found. Jess shook her head. "That still doesn't mean anything. You're looking at one through the lens of the other. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for the old bruises that has nothing to do with abuse of any kind."

"One of the bruises is the outline of a handprint. Someone grabbed her arm hard enough to leave a bruise." Flack countered. "Danny swears he isn't responsible for the old bruises but he also doesn't remember what happened today. But at the same time, I just can't figure out who else she would be trying to protect."

"Maybe herself." Jess suggested and then continued. "People don't understand how difficult it can be sometimes to a female in a male dominated world. Right or wrong, we're held to a different standard. It's like people are just waiting for us to fail."

Seeing that Flack was about to protest she continued. "My first week out of the academy I had a little fender bender while driving a patrol car. The road was icy and the car ahead of me lost control. I avoided the major wreck and clipped the guard rail. You wouldn't believe the ribbing I took for that incident. Never mind that one of the other rookies - a guy - had four wrecks of his own on his record. I'm the one they said shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car. If something happened to Lindsay, maybe she didn't say anything because she didn't want people to judge her."

Finishing off the last of his coffee, he then crumpled up the Styrofoam cup and threw it in the garbage can. "Nobody would judge…" He trailed off as he realized that was exactly what everyone, including himself had been doing since the call at the diner had come in. "Damn."

- CSI: NY - CSI: NY - CSI: NY -

"Here is the report you asked for, Doctor." The nurse handed Dr. Terry the printout before walking away.

Knowing the printout contained the tox reports for both Detective Messer and Monroe, he scanned the results quickly. Frowning, he reread the information more closely, paying special attention to Detective Messer's results. He knew Detective Taylor was counting on the fact that there was a reasonable explanation for the aggressive behavior Detective Messer had displayed against Detective Monroe. The test results he was currently looking at showed a definite reason for it but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be the results Detective Taylor was hoping for. He shook his head.

His cell phone chirped at his side. He opened his phone and gave a terse "hello."

The ER desk clerk informed him that Detective Taylor had returned and was looking for him. Dr. Terry thanked the woman and promised to be there in a few minutes. He looked at the results once more, hoping the news had changed while he'd been on the phone. It hadn't.

"Damn."