I'm gonna be nice and not leave that cliffhanger for too long. So, here's your next chapter!

Disclaimer: See chapter 1


Chapter 9

His first stop was HQ. Valera stood in her DNA lab, her eyes puffy and red. Natalia looked the same. Ryan closed the door behind him, "I came as fast I could. What happened? How did it happen?"

Valera, her hand trembling so much Ryan doubted she would be able to analyze anything today, answered, her voice sounding like she was about to cry again, "She didn't came home last night. I woke up at 4 a.m. to Frankie's howling in front of the door. I got out, and she led me to…" She wiped a tear away. "I cannot believe it."

Ryan bit his lip, "What's her condition?"

"C-comatose." Natalia whispered. "I was at the hospital earlier… She was shot. The bullet hit her in the head. Alexx said it was a miracle she's still alive, but they don't think she'll wake up again." She was shaking, "Ryan, I wouldn't have recognized her. Somebody took his sweet time beating her up…"

Valera ran out of the room, almost knocking Ryan over. Ryan still tried hard to understand what they had just told him, "They don't know if Nicole's ever going to wake up again?" Natalia shook her head. "I… I only saw her yesterday evening… when she was following Mame. Have you… have you found anything?" He knew it sounded terrible. "Anything we could use. You said she was… Was there any transfer?"

Natalia nodded, "Yeah. She scratched who ever did this. I found plenty of skin cells under her nails. She didn't go down just like this."

"Is it a match?"

Again, Natalia nodded, "Yeah. It is. To the unknown female donor. From the last two cases." She looked at Ryan, "I know it sounds completely… but she was shot. Remember what happens at the end of the song?"

"The shooting of Dan McGrew. But come on, you don't believe… I know it's Halloween, but…" But he had to admit, Mame was the prime suspect this time, and there was no way of denying it. His hand reached into his pocket. He produced an evidence bag containing the handkerchief. "Run this against the unknown donor. It's Mame's blood." Natalia took it without any further questions. For the next minutes, they were silent. Ryan asked, "How is Travers holding up?"

"Surprisingly well. He is convinced she'll wake up again, and won't lose hope. I wish I could be the same." Her voice trembled.

Ryan walked around the table and pulled Natalia in a strong hug, "She'll be okay, Natalia. We won't lose her. Delko survived it, she will, too." He rubbed her shoulders tenderly. "Just believe. You have to believe."

"I will, Ryan…" She remained in his arms until her computer gave the much awaited beep.

Ryan froze. "It's a match."

"Mame did it."


Natalia and Ryan sat down opposite Mame a few hours later. She didn't even try to hide the scratches on her arm. Ryan pretended he didn't know where they came from. "Did you run into your ex boyfriend again yesterday?"

Mame nodded, "Yeah. And I thought I was safe, with Ferguson and her dog behind me. But he waited for me in front of my house. He grabbed me again and tried to drag me inside. Ferguson helped me. She tried to pull me out of his grip. And may I add she wasn't too careful?" Mame pointed at the scratches on her arms. "I ran away. I wanted to call 911, but he was already gone when I had reached the phone, so I dropped the idea." Then she said through clenched teeth, "I guess I have to say thank you to her. Where is she?"

Natalia gave her an ice cold look, "She's in hospital. Shot. Comatose. Do you own a gun?"

"What, you think I did this?" Mame returned the look, "I couldn't hurt a fly!"

"Oh, yes? And why did we find your DNA at three crime scenes?" Natalia literally smashed the pictures of the victims on the table. Ryan felt nauseous when he saw the picture Natalia had taken in the hospital this morning. She had been right; Nicole had been beaten up severely. Only the red hair convinced him that this was really her. "Look at this: The guy you turned down at the club. Nicole Ferguson, who you couldn't stand. What about this guy, what did he do wrong?"

Mama took a look at the pictures, then raised her head again, "Are you kidding me? Is that some sort of a sick joke?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, you think I never heard this awful song? It haunted me all my life. The Fire, the Blizzard, the earthquake, the shooting? And now you show me these pictures: a frozen body, a person buried under a pile of stones, and your friend? Come on, you gotta be kidding me."

Ryan interrupted, "This is not a joke, Mame. We found your DNA at the crime scenes. Now, with Nicole, I may believe you got those scratched when she pulled you out of your ex boyfriend's grip. But the others? How do you explain that?"

"I don't know these people, Ryan!"

"Okay. Lets say I believe you. Then tell me, did you actually see your ex-boyfriend leaving yesterday? Is it possible that he did this to Nicole?" Natalia asked.

Mame's gaze turned from furious to bitter, "My ex-boyfriend is the biggest chump there is. I should never have gotten involved with him. But then again, I was young, he handed me the world on a silver platter. I thought he was under a lot of stress when he first hit me. You know, all these excuses women make up to justify their man's behaviour. Until I had enough. I left him, I joined a group, I learned to defend myself. If you ask me if Chris is capable of doing THIS…" she pointed at Nicole's picture, "to a woman, then I gotta say, he did way worse things to me." She took a breath and added, "No offense."

Ryan could see the fight going on in Natalia. On the one hand, the anger and fear for her friend and the despise for the woman in front of her; on the other hand the understandable compassion for Mame, who had been in the same situation as Natalia herself. It was one of the things he liked about Natalia: the warmth she radiated onto everybody in her presence.

The tone in Natalia's voice had changed ever so slightly when she asked, "Why did you never report him?"

"I just wanted to get over with it."

"I see. Look, we're gonna need all the information you can give us about the guy. We're gonna check him out. Maybe we'll find him responsible for the attack on Detective Ferguson." And then she said, "But that doesn't mean you're cleared for anything. You're gonna stay here."

"Then I want my lawyer. But don't worry. I'm not gonna tell him that you got my DNA without my consent. That's my last gift to you, Ryan." Her look was ice cold.

Natalia got up. "We don't need no gifts. If you want to report us for getting your DNA like this, feel free to do so." She left without looking at Ryan.

Ryan got up too, "Do what you have to do. If you've done this, we'll nail you. It's as easy as that."

"You really think I did this?"

He shrugged, "I have learned that the evidence is the only thing that never lies to me."

"I'm not lying."

"We'll find out."


So yeah, there my OC goes off. I decided that with the friendship between Ryan and Walter, and especially also Ryan and Natalia that has been on for one and a half seasons now, I don't need an OC anymore to give Ryan some friendship. I'm gonna keep her alive nevertheless, because, you know... But as of now, the future stories won't feature Nicole anymore.