Date : 15.09.2008

Title : Scream For Me

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 9 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

Parker tried to focus on the man in front of her but her eyes wouldn't co-operate with her brain and she frowned as his form seemed to dance before her.

"Your best friend is on her way", she heard him say, but his voice echoed around her mind and sounded very far away.

"Wha…what…?", she slurred, her vision blurry and she closed her eyes against the dizzying colours that swam all around her.

"Darcie is coming", Leo said, grinning evilly as he looked at knife in his hands before adding, "and when she gets here, Riley Williams will pay for not giving me back everything that is mine".

OoOoOo

Darcie looked at her cell phone, willing it to ring. She had been stood outside of the public library now for twenty minutes and had heard nothing further from Leo.

Further up the street, Mac and Flack sat in Flack's car also awaiting news.

"What the hell is this guy playing at?", Flack said, clearly agitated and Mac glanced at him before looking back toward Darcie.

He remembered how she had felt in his arms in the elevator. She had fit against him perfectly and he had wanted to keep her there, out of harms way.

He had also felt the stirrings of emotions within him that he hadn't felt since his wife, Claire, had been alive. Not even Peyton had roused such feelings of protectiveness and…desire.

Mac shook his head.

'Desire?', he thought, feeling foolish. This was no time to be examining these new unexpected feelings for his secretary.

"Parker rang me earlier and I told her that I didn't have time to talk to her", Flack said suddenly, jolting Mac's thoughts away from Darcie momentarily.

"Don't blame yourself for this Don", he said, "You had no idea that this was going to happen".

Flack sighed, feeling sick to his stomach.

Parker was the only woman he had truly loved. The only woman he had felt comfortable enough with to move in with and certainly the only woman that he wanted to be his wife.

"If she dies…", he trailed off and Mac shook his head and looked back to where Darcie was just raising her cell to her ear.

"She wont…neither of them will", he said confidently as they heard Darcie say,

"Hello?".

"Hello Darcie", Leo replied and the mere sound of his voice made her skin crawl.

"How's Parker?", Darcie asked and Leo laughed.

"She's getting a little partied out…get a cab to Irving Place…number 31. I'll leave the door unlocked for you", he said then clicked off.

Darcie pulled her cell from her ear and looked up and down 5th Avenue.

Raising her hand to hide her mouth again she said,

"I have to get a cab to 31 Irving Place. He says he'll leave the door unlocked for me".

In the car, Mac and Flack exchanged another glance and then heard Darcie say,

"He said Parker is still alive Don".

Flack released a rush of air that he hadn't realised he'd been holding and his fingers flexed on the steering wheel of his car.

"That's a little up the street from the alleyway where the other victims were found", he said.

"Hold on in there", Mac said then added, "and follow that cab", as they saw Darcie flag one down.

Flack nodded but before he moved off he radioed the address that Darcie had given him, through to his men so that they were also aware of Leo's location.

Just then, Mac's cell rang and it was Stella.

"Danny and I found the tabs. They'd fallen down the back of the drawers", she said and Mac replied,

"Okay, take them back to the lab then meet Flack and I at 31 Irving Place…that's where Leo is holding Parker".

"Got you", Stella said then hung up.

OoOoOo

Darcie didn't want to get out of the cab when they arrived in front of number 31 Irving Place.

The street looked run down and shabby and not at all a safe place to be.

Taking a shaky deep breath, she paid the driver and got out of the car and stood for a moment looking up at the abandoned house that had once been converted into offices.

She saw no movement from within and frowned as she glanced up and down the street as the cab pulled away from the curb, wondering where Mac was.

She wanted to say something to him even though she couldn't hear his response.

Just knowing that he was at the other end of the wire she wore made her feel a little better though and she decided not to say anything just in case Leo was watching her.

Steeling herself, she walked up the few concrete steps to the front door and reached for the handle.

The door opened without much resistance and she stepped forward, her eyes adjusting to the dim light inside of the building.

She left the door open as she moved cautiously forward, listening for any sounds but there were none save for the steady pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.

Suddenly the door slammed shut behind her and she cried out in fright and whirled around, expecting to see Leo but still there was no-one in sight.

In the car, Mac had sat forward at the sound of Darcie's cry and Flack had reached for the car door handle but had stopped when Mac grasped his arm.

They waited, adrenalin pumping as Darcie moved toward the stairs.

"Parker?", she said as she took the stairs one at a time, hating it when the boards creaked beneath her feet.

As she got closer to the upper level she could hear a low whimpering and her stomach lurched when she recognised Parker's tone.

Forgetting that danger could be around any corner, she raced toward the sound, throwing open one of the ajar, what once were, bedroom doors and saw Parker tied to a chair.

She rushed toward her friend, cupping her face in her hands.

"Parker honey its me, Darcie", she said gently, seeing straight away that Parker was basically drugged up to the eyeballs and completely incoherent.

Her friend was shaking her head, her eyes rolling around and unable to focus properly.

She made a groaning noise and out in the car, Flack's fingers curled into fists as he waited for Mac to give the signal for them to move.

Back inside the house, Darcie was suddenly grabbed by the hair and pulled away from Parker and she let out a sharp cry as pain radiated around her scalp.

"Hello Darcie", Leo said, his mouth against her ear and Darcie grimaced and tried to keep her back arched and away from him so that he wouldn't feel the hidden gun.

"What have you done to Parker?", she asked, gasping as Leo spun her and began to frisk her, just as Mac had said he would.

Ignoring her question he felt under her arms, his hands intentionally skimming close to the sides of her breasts but Darcie refused to move, not wanting to let him know that she feared him.

He moved down to her hips, his hands lingering again before he crouched in front of her, his hands moving up under her skirt to feel around her thighs.

"So soft", he murmured and Darcie stepped backwards, out of his reach, glad that he hadn't found the gun or the wire…yet.

"What do you want Leo? What's this all about?", she asked and Leo stood and regarded her.

"I want revenge", he replied simply and Darcie stared at him incredulously.

"Revenge?", she scoffed. "Do you think you're in some kind of movie and that you're going to get away with this?", she asked, moving so that she was stood in front of Parker.

"I am going to get away with this…because no-one knows we're here right? You didn't do anything stupid did you, like talk to that boyfriend cop of hers?", Leo said, indicating to Parker and Darcie shook her head.

"Good…then everything will go just as I planned", Leo said, pulling a knife out of his pocket and Darcie took another step back, closer to Parker.

Leo advance upon her though and reached out to her, his hand closing around her arm.

"What are you doing?", she asked, struggling as he pulled her to one side.

"Your little friend here has served her purpose…I want it to be just you and me for a while Darcie, so she has to go…you understand I'm sure", he said.

ooo

Out in the car, Flack looked desperately to Mac who nodded, realising that they needed to start moving in.

They both got out of the car and were joined by Danny and Stella and together the four of them moved toward the house.

ooo

"You cant hurt her…please, just leave her alone, you and I could go somewhere else", Darcie said, watching as Leo bent to cut the ropes at Parker's ankles and she spied her chance and pushed at him, hoping to unbalance him but he was stronger than her and he stood and instead pushed at her hard, sending her sprawling onto the splintered wooden floor.

"Stay over there you stupid bitch!", Leo shouted and Darcie blanched at the ferocity of his tone, ignoring the way the rough wood had scraped her hands and legs.

She watched in horror as he moved to stand behind Parker, tilting her head back so that her throat was exposed to him.

Suddenly adrenalin kicked in and Darcie reached for the gun at her back.

She raised herself onto her knees and as she took aim she said,

"Move away from her…now".

Leo's face registered surprise before anger and he glared at her.

Darcie watched him carefully, her eyes on his hands, weighing up his next move and anticipating what it would be.

In the split second that it took for him to move the knife too close to Parker's delicate throat, Darcie fired off a shot and watched as Leo reeled backwards as the bullet embedded itself into his shoulder.

He seemed to recover quickly though and with a growl he went to run at her but another gun-shot sounded and he dropped to his knees in the middle of the room.

Darcie blinked, certain that she had not fired a second time and then it registered with her that she and Parker were no longer alone in the room with a mad man and that Mac had been the one to stop Leo going any further.

The few seconds of silence before chaos erupted around her seemed surreal to Darcie and she couldn't manage to drag her eyes away from Mac's.

It was only when Flack entered the room and raced toward Parker and then Stella, Danny and some uniformed officer's began to take an injured Leo away, that reality began to set back in again.

She went to stand but stopped as Mac knelt on one knee before her.

"Let me take that", he said to her, indicating to the gun that she still gripped tightly.

She let him take the weapon from her, his fingers brushing hers as he did so and she sucked in some air as the action made the grazes on her skin sting.

"Are you alright?", he asked, concern tingeing his tone and she nodded.

"What about Parker…I need to see her", she said, still unable to look away from him and Mac nodded and helped her to stand, his hand at her elbow.

Darcie then saw Flack on his knees, Parker cradled in his arms and her eyes filled with unexpected tears and just as she went to move forward, the paramedics, who had been called by Danny, arrived.

Mac moved from Darcie's side and handed his spare gun to Stella who bagged it for evidence and then he headed toward Flack and he had to persuade the younger Detective to release Parker so that the medics could check her over and get her down to the waiting ambulance.

Darcie followed them as closely as she was allowed to and she watched as Flack got into the back of the ambulance, his hand holding on tightly to her best-friends.

"I'll come by the hospital as soon as I can get there", she said and Flack nodded, his face grey with worry as the ambulance doors closed.

Darcie bit back more tears and turned away, her intention to find Stella and ask what she should do now, but instead she collided with Mac.

"I'm…I'm sorry", she said, feeling suddenly shaky and before she could stop them, the tears that had been threatening, began to fall and she made a hiccupping noise as she tried in vain to stop them.

Mac threaded a hand into her long hair and cupped the base of her skull gently, pulling her closer and she went toward him without any resistance. Her head rested against his shoulder as she cried out her stress and her worry for Parker, her small hands clinging onto his back making him feel the overwhelming surge of protectiveness for her again.

He saw Stella come toward them and she said,

"You want me to run Darcie back to the labs?", but Mac shook his head.

"No, I'll take her in Flack's car".

Stella nodded, her eyes lingering on the way Darcie was clinging onto Mac and she realised for the first time how natural they looked together, despite their surroundings.

Biting back a small smile, she headed back inside to the room and began to help Danny process the scene.

OoOoOo

Flack hated hospitals, always had, always would.

He wasn't renowned for his patience and what little he did have had deserted him five minutes after Parker had been admitted.

He kept trying to catch the attention of the passing nurses, but no-one would tell him anything and his sharp tongue and sarcasm got the better of him and he blocked one nurses' way and said,

"Hey, Florence…help me out here and tell me what the hell is going on with my fiancée".

The nurse glared at him and pointedly ignored him and Flack growled in frustration before barking,

"Jeez, will someone just tell me what is going on?".

Just then Mac and Darcie appeared and Flack felt a momentary rush of relief at the sight of some friendly faces.

"How's Parker?", Darcie asked and Flack flung his arms in the air and stated loudly,

"If someone would have the courtesy to answer my damn questions I might have an answer for you".

Darcie glanced at Mac before moving toward Flack. She touched his arm briefly as she passed him and said,

"I'll go see what I can find out".

Once she had gone, Mac said,

"How're you doing?".

"I've been better", Flack replied, pinching at the bridge of his nose as he added, "What are you doing here, shouldn't you be back at the PD questioning the bastard who did this?".

"Stella and Danny are warming him up for me and Darcie insisted that she wanted to come and see Parker so I offered to drive her", Mac replied and Flack nodded.

"Those two are almost inseparable you know", he said, his voice breaking and Mac moved forward and guided Flack to some nearby chairs.

As they sat down, Flack rested his head in his hands and prayed that Parker would be okay.

She had to be…

End of Chapter 9