A/n Sorry for the delay in posting, the site wouldn't let me upload a document, thank to notesofwimsey for the workaround.
"NYPD! Open up Patterson," Mac called out. They heard a scuffle from within the little room, and the sound of a window being opened.
"He's running," Mac said as Morgan kicked the door in.
Mac took off down the stairs while Gideon, Morgan, and two NYPD officers cleared the apartment. Morgan went out the window, and onto the rusty fire escape.
"Jesus, I hope this thing doesn't fall down around my ears," he muttered as the metal squealed, and trembled at his passage. He leapt the last ten feet to the pavement, let himself fall and roll. It wasn't great on his sprung knee, but at least he could still run.
He could see several hundred feet ahead of him, a short dark haired figure running along the alleyway.
"FBI Freeze!"
Patterson ignored him of course and kept running. Morgan nearly fell again when he slipped on something wet and slick. The alley was filthy, and he didn't want to know if he were stepping in whatever made the awful stench in his nostrils.
"Damn that Patterson, when I get my hands on him."
Patterson reached the end of the alley as Morgan closed in on him. He was tackled to the ground by Detective Taylor who came at him from the right . The man went down with a yelp, and began to squirm and kick under Mac. He was strong, and even Mac struggled to hold on to him.
Morgan skidded to a halt next to them breathing hard. He pulled out his cuffs, and slapped them on as Mac held Patterson still.
"Nice moves man, you play football?"
"Nope, ex-marine;" He jerked Patterson to his feet, and they bundled him into the back of Mac's SUV, ignoring his protests while Mac read him his rights.
Gideon and the officers entered the street from the apartment complex, and they headed back to the lab.
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JJ, Reid, and Lindsay watched through the two way glass, as Morgan, Mac, and Gideon interrogated Mickey Patterson. He was loudly complaining about his treatment, and he threatened to sue the department for false arrest.
Mac slapped his hands down on the table, "Mickey, shut the fuck up, and be straight with me. We got your DNA at your buddy Nickel's apartment; we know you were in there."
"I don't know nothin, I didn't see nothin, and you ain't got nothin on me." So far he hadn't asked for a lawyer, which made their job easier, but soon he was going to realize he needed one.
"Mr. Patterson, we know you didn't hurt the cop, we just want to know what you saw." Gideon said, ignoring the scowl that came over Mac's face.
"I didn't do nothin!"
"I know that, but you have to help us help you. The cops have your DNA, and if we can't find someone else you're going to be charged with the murder of three people."
Patterson's eyes went wide, and scared, like a small child caught finger painting the living room walls. "I tole ya, I didn't kill no one."
"We know that, but who else could it have been? Tell us what you saw that night, and maybe we can make a deal on the resisting arrest charge." Mac said.
"I can't tell ya, he said he'd kill me."
"We'll protect you, I promise."
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Morgan left the room, nodded at Reid, and pulled out his phone. He pushed the speed dial for a familiar number, and grinned widely when she answered. "Penelope Garcia, goddess of the information superhighway, speak and be heard."
"Hey my beautiful goddess, I need you to work some magic for me."
"Anything for you sugar," she smiled widely.
"I got a Mickey Patterson, native of New York; I need you to check out for me. Anything you can tell us about him would be great." He gave her the names of the victims. "Find me a connection between these men Penelope. These aren't random victims; we need to know why they were chosen by the un-sub.
"Sure sweet thing, anything you want."
"Oh baby, don't make promises like that, I might just take you up on it!"
"Sugar, when you decide to stop flirting and get down to business you know where to find me." She hung up on his laughter and sighed.
"Honey, I wish you meant it when you say things like that to me," she said to herself, while looking into Mickey's background
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He opened his eyes, and started in surprise at the scene in front of him. He couldn't be here; he was supposed to be working on the case. He had to help find Peyton. He looked around at the café. It wasn't a place he was familiar with, but then again he seemed to recognize it. There were a group of girls at a table, giggling, and eating ice cream sodas. They were school girls, about fifteen years old, fresh and pretty, without a care in the world.
He walked across the room, intent on asking the waitress where he was. His eyes swept across the group of girls again, and he stopped dead when he saw her. His heart stopped in his chest, and his hands went cold. She shouldn't be here. He could feel it in his heart; suddenly he knew without a doubt that something bad was coming. Something was going to happen to her.
"Hey, who's that girl over there," he said pointing to her, and speaking to the waitress. He knew who she was but he wanted someone to tell him it wasn't possible. The waitress ignored him completely, and walked by as though he wasn't there.
"Excuse me, but that girl over there, she can't be here now, she has to leave." The waitress continued to ignore him. No one moved, or even acknowledged his presence. He walked quickly over to the table, and stood right in the girl's line of sight, and like the others she ignored him.
"Hey, ya gotta get outta here!" He yelled waving his arms. She only laughed at something a friend, said and seeing that smile sent his panic into overdrive. Now he knew where he was and what was going to happen. He had to get her out of there; he had to get all of them out of there.
"Lindsay, it's me, its Danny. Honey ya gotta go, somethin's gonna happen, baby." She didn't see him, didn't hear him, even though he pleaded with her to leave, or hide.
Suddenly he was out of time; a man came into the café. He cocked the shotgun he was carrying, and shot the girl next to Lindsay. The girl fell to the floor in a spray of brilliant red blood. Lindsay screamed, and Danny moved to stand in front of her. The gun rang out again; the shot passed through him and hit Lindsay. She was dead before she hit the ground.
"MONTANA, NO!!!
He dropped to her side and gathered her into his arms. He wailed when she didn't move. He couldn't feel her breathe, and she didn't answer him when he screamed her name. His tears fell in torrents rivaling the pools of blood on the floor. He watched as the man killed everyone in the room, he was powerless to stop it. He knelt in her crimson blood, and screamed, rocking her in his arms.
"LINDSAY… PLEASE BABY… YOU CAN'T GO!!!"
Danny's eyes popped open when he rolled off the couch and on to the floor. He thought he'd been screaming out loud, but he realized he was whispering instead.
Jesus Christ… what a horrible dream, I have to find her and make sure she is okay.
He jumped to his feet, and ran out of Mac's office, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the detectives in the hallway, and ignoring the rational part of his brain that tried to tell him she was fine, and he was overreacting.
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"Come on Patterson, we've been over, and over this, tell us what you saw that night."
"He'll kill me he said so," Patterson repeated for the tenth time in the hour he'd been in there with them.
"Mickey, you've been charged with another felony, this is your third strike. Do you know what that means," Morgan asked.
"Yeah man I know, but I'd rather go to jail, at least there I'd be safe."
"Man you're crazy, you want to spend twenty five years in jail for a murder you didn't commit?"
"I told you, he'll kill me."
Mac sighed and said, "I'm done here, let's just let this asshole rot in jail."
"Mickey, we'll get you into Witness Protection if we have to, just tell us what you know," Gideon promised shooting a disapproving glance at Mac.
"You promise you'll protect me?"
"I promise Mickey ," Mac said, "Let's talk this out, and if we find the killer, we'll work something out with the prosecutor's office."
"Okay man, I'll tell you what I saw, but you ain't gonna like it, and you won't believe me neither."
"We'll believe you Mr. Patterson, now tell us what happened," Gideon said with a small smile.
"It was a cop."
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Danny ran down the hallway towards the locker room. She wasn't there either. He turned and ran straight into Adam.
"Hey Danny, where's the fire?"
"Where's Lindsay, have you seen her, I have to find her."
"Whoa Danny, take a breath before you pass out."
"Have you seen her," Danny demanded.
"No, not since earlier this morning, what…" But Danny was moving down the hall and didn't hear him.
"Jeez, I wonder what's goin on now. No one ever tells me anything," he watched Danny round the corner and disappear out of sight. "Shit, when am I going to be the first to know things, instead of the last?"
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Stella awoke with a start. She looked out the window, and noticed that the sun was going down. Her neck was so badly cramped, she could hardly turn her head. She looked around, and realized she was still in Don's hospital room. There he was, still sleeping, still attached to IV's and still looking pale and drawn. God, she'd hoped it was all a dream.
"Don, I'm still here, I'm still waiting for you to wake up."
She searched his face for any sign that he was surfacing from unconsciousness. "Come on Don, you gotta wake up, please."
She put her head on her hands, and began to cry again. She hadn't cried like this since Frankie had tried to kill her. She didn't want to cry, she was a woman of action.
"Damn it Don, stop being a lazy ass and open your eyes." She was pacing the room with her arms crossed, damned if she was going to let him stay checked out for the duration.
"You think this is funny don't you. You get to lay there and do nothing and leave the detective work to us. Well that won't fly Detective. Get up and do your job, Don. She didn't realize she was shouting until a dark haired nurse came into the room. She was as tall as Stella and her black eyes flashed.
"Excuse me, miss but if you can't keep it down, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Stella glared at her for a long moment and then she began to cry again. The nurse enveloped her in a hug. "Hey, he's going to be okay. His vitals are good, and he had one of the best surgeons in the city work on him. Come on and sit down." She led Stella over to the chair and pushed her down.
"Ma'am, I know you want him to wake up, but shouting won't make it happen any faster, ok. You gotta be quiet or I'll have to ask you to leave."
"You can't tell Stella Bonasera what to do," a weak voice said from behind them.
Stella and the nurse jumped in surprise. Stella didn't want to look, maybe it was a hallucination. It couldn't be. The nurse was now bending over Don, and asking him how he felt, if he wanted any water. All Stella could do was stare at him. He was awake, he was looking at her with those baby blue eyes that always made her knees go to jelly.
"I'll get the doctor in here right away," The nurse promised. She walked out of the room, leaving Stella to continue gaping at Don.
"Hey, you gonna stare at me, or do I get a kiss, " Don said weakly.
"Donald Flack, you scared the hell out of me, what makes you think I'm going to kiss you now, or anytime in the next century." She grabbed a container of water, and held the straw to his lips. He sucked greedily, and she had to smile.
"See… you can't resist me," Flack said after releasing the straw. The water tasted wonderful, like ambrosia.
"Oh, I can resist you, but you're sick so I might cut you a break if you tell me what the hell happened to you."
"Well, I get that I'm in the hospital again. Was it another bomb?"
"No baby, it wasn't a bomb."
He looked so confused that ice crept into Stella's heart. If he didn't remember who shot him, where would they go from here?