Author's Notes: I haven't abandoned Wrong Place, Wrong Time. This story has suddenly taken full control and has made it difficult to work on my other one. However, I'll try to have a chapter up for it tonight. I hope you enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

Gassed
Chapter 10

"Louie died?" Lindsay stared at her uncle, surprised and devastated. He had returned from his errand and related the conversation he had had with Maria Messer. "Poor Danny. Why didn't he say anything?"

Freddy gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "According to his mother it was two weeks ago. Wasn't that about the same time that former CSI died?"

Lindsay nodded thinking back to Aiden's death. Everyone who had worked with Aiden had been devastated by the loss. She'd hated seeing her new friends going through so much pain but hadn't wanted to intrude on their loss since she hadn't even had the opportunity to meet the woman whose job she'd been hired to take. Danny had been the one to insist that she come along after the case was over and they headed out to have a drinks to honor their fallen friend.

The day after they had met to honor Aiden, Danny had called in sick to work. Lindsay had figured he was just having trouble dealing with the death of his friend. It had been obvious to her that while the others had lost a colleague that had been a friend, for Danny it was the opposite, a friend who had been a colleague. She knew from painful experience how had it could be to lose a friend so she hadn't thought twice about him missing work. Now she realized he'd called in sick because of Louie instead of Aiden.

"He missed that one day but then he was back to business like nothing happened. Yeah, he seemed a little off his usual game for a few days, a little more emotional, but we all just chalked it up to what happened with Aiden. I think we all figured if we just gave him a little space he'd snap back and he did. We're friends; he could have talked to me about this."

Freddy gave her a knowing look. "Like you've talked to him about the girls?" Her downcast expression told him he'd hit a nerve. He knew she hadn't discussed the shooting with any of her new friends in New York, wanting to make a clean break from her painful past. Giving her just a moment to wallow, he reached out and caressed her cheek tenderly. "I'm just saying that sometimes grief is a pretty personal thing. We all handle it in different ways. I don't have to remind you of all the different stages you went through. Maybe Danny figured the easiest way to deal with his was to pretend it didn't happen. He didn't tell any of you about Louie and I don't think he told his parents about his friend."

Lindsay looked around the small chamber. "I wish I wasn't stuck in here. I should talk to Danny or maybe call his mother and try to explain things to her. I should do something."

Freddy smiled. "You are doing something, Doodlebug. You are getting better. I know you want to fix this but this might be something that you just have to leave be. Danny and his parents will work through it eventually. You can't always fix everything no matter how much you want to."

Lindsay offered her uncle a shy smile. "But I can try…"

Freddy sighed. "Doodlebug, do you remember when the twins were fifteen and had that big fight over that girl?"

"Misty Stapleton. Brian and Brett both fell head over heels in love with her. The little bitch-wanna-be was stringing them both along which only made them madder and madder at each other. Their fights got so bad Daddy threatened to take them both out deep in the woods somewhere and let them out. Said they'd either learn to get along in order to find their way back or kill each other in the attempt. Either way, Dad said we'd get a little piece and quiet."

Freddy smiled at the memory. "You were afraid he'd actually do it and wanted to fix things before your Dad went to that extreme. So you invited her out to the ranch one afternoon and right in front of the twins asked her flat out to choose one."

Lindsay blushed. "She looked them both in the eye and said she wasn't interested in either one of them because they were just little boys, even though she was fifteen as well. Then she turned to me and asked if Connor was home because he was much more of a real man. But you have to admit, after that, Brett and Brian quit fighting each other."

Freddy laughed out loud. "Yeah and then ganged up on poor Connor who didn't have a clue as to why he was suddenly their target. Not to mention I don't think they talked to you for about a month after that. Perhaps you should settle for just being there as Danny's friend. You wouldn't want to risk that friendship, would you?"

Shaking her head, Lindsay acknowledged the truth in his words. "Never."

Freddy kissed the top of her head. "Good. Now, what's the latest with you?"

Lindsay shrugged. "My carboxyhemoglobin level is down to 41% so the doctor is pretty happy. Dr. Touger says that if I get another really good significant drop after the next hyperbaric treatment, they'll move me upstairs to a regular room and just bring me back here about once or twice a day for treatments. No word yet on when I'll be able to go back to work."

"Only you would be look at getting out of here in terms of going back to work instead of just going home. Why don't you just lie back on that bed and close those pretty brown eyes. The rest will do you good. I'll be right here…"

Lindsay interrupted him. "Uncle Freddy, if I agree to take a nap, will you do me another favor?"

"I'm not going back to visit the Messers again." Freddy protested though they both knew the answer would be yes no matter what she asked of him. Lindsay smiled.

"Not the Messers in plural. Danny said that Hawkes was going to have to go back to work. Apparently things have gone a little crazy at the lab even though he said Hawkes wouldn't tell him exactly what was going on, just that he was needed. That means Danny is lying up in his own hospital room all alone. He doesn't do inactivity well…"

"Sounds like someone else I know." Freddy quipped, then laughed at the glare Lindsay gave him. "You want me to go up and check on your friend? Okay, but I'm not going to tell him I went to see his mother. If he doesn't want to discuss his brother, then I'm not going to bring it up. We'll find something else to talk about, maybe like some of those embarrassing stories I have from when you were growing up."

Lindsay gave him a questioning look. "You wouldn't it?"

Freddy kissed her forehead as he stood up. "The only promise I'll make is that I won't tell him about the shooting. Anything else, we'll just have to see. Sleep tight, Doodlebug. I'll be back to check on you in a little bit."

Lindsay didn't protest too much more. She knew him well enough to know she wouldn't be able to stop him and that the more she protested, the more embarrassing the stories he told would be. Besides, she trusted him enough that she was sure he wouldn't tell anything that she'd absolutely be mad about. She allowed herself to be pulled into a drowsy slumber as soon as he was gone.

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

"Adam!" Stella screamed as she scampered back to her feet from where Flack had thrown her on the floor to protect her. Flack was on his feet behind her in an instant trying to hold her back. They had no idea what had caused the explosion or what condition Adam might be in but he couldn't let her be the one to go in. It wasn't that he didn't think she was capable of protecting himself. As the detective on the scene, whether officially called on as back-up or not, it was his duty to secure the scene and protect the CSIs. He pointed to her silently cautioning her to stay back while he checked the scene. His hand was on his gun, ready to pull it at the first sign of trouble. As he eased into the kitchen he was mentally preparing himself for what he might find. However nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

The explosion had indeed been a minor one, enough to scorch the nearby cabinets but not enough to cause a fire severe enough to call out the fire department. The room was smoke filled but no more than Flack had seen in his own apartment after burning dinner on the stove a time or two. Opening a window would take care of it quicker than anything. The biggest surprise came from Adam himself. Instead of lying crumpled on the floor injured by the blast, he was kneeling in front of the refrigerator, it's door off its hinges lying on the floor beside him. The young lab tech was completely uninjured and was spraying the open entry of the refrigerator with hairspray to check for trip wires.

"Adam?"

Adam jumped at Flack's voice, spinning slightly to look at the detective. He reached up and pulled an ear plug out of his ears. "Sorry, even with these in, that blast messed with my hearing a little. Didn't hear you approach."

Stella had followed Flack in after hearing Flack call their friend's name. She was also surprised but grateful to see that Adam appeared unharmed. Whatever had caused the blast hadn't been bad enough to cause massive damage but would have injured or killed anyone in the direct path of it. How had Adam escaped unscathed? "Adam, are you okay?"

Adam grinned, looking for all the world like he was having the time of his life. "Except for a slight ringing in my ears, I'm fine. You know we should really reevaluate our choice of the ear plugs we keep in the kits cause they aren't very effective."

Stella shook her head, amazed at how calm and collected he was given what had just happened. She would have expected such excitement on his first time out in the field would have left him shaken but he appeared to be having the time of his life. "Those plugs are shooting plugs; I don't think they were designed with blasts in mind. Adam, what happened?"

The younger man shrugged. "I was doing what you told me to. Checking out the kitchen. I thought it might be worth a look to see what was in the fridge, see if it shed any light on whether someone was actually living here. My hand was on the handle when I remembered you saying not to take anything for granted. I've seen enough movies and read enough to be suspicious of opening that door. The door on a fridge is designed to have that seal to keep in the cold. You can't check for tripwires without breaking the seal and if you break the seal, you've probably tripped any trip wire. So I backed off. I tied a string to the handle and put in the ear plugs. Then I rolled the string out so that I could be safely behind the kitchen island. Then I pulled the string enough to crack open the door. To quote Danny, Boom! I'm thinking some sort of flash bomb or something similar."

Stella didn't know whether to slug him or hug him. She settled for hugging him as she looked at Flack. "Still got jokes about his conspiracy theory websites?"

Flack shook his head. "Not at all. But why booby trap a fridge? That's just sick. I've heard of some pretty weird methods to keep people from cheating on their diets but this one takes the cake. What's so special in there that someone went to the trouble of keeping people out?"

Adam frowned, his hearing finally coming back to normal. "That's the craziest thing. There's nothing in the fridge. Not even one of those baking soda boxes for keeping things fresh. There was more in my fridge the day I moved into my apartment than there is in this one."

Giving Stella a glance, Flack gave a wry chuckled. "For some reason, that scares me more than a bomb in this one. Promise me you won't look for an apartment in his building. Okay, well, do you two think you can avoid blowing anything else up while I go question the neighbors?"

"We'll try hard." Stella promised kneeling to look inside the empty fridge. There had to be some reason someone would go to so much trouble to place a bomb, even a flash bomb, in an empty refrigerator. She could feel Adam leaning down beside her. "Any sign of the incendiary?'

Adam used his gloved hands to point to the rubber lining that usually ensured the tight seal on the fridge. One area nearest the door was completely blown apart. "I'm thinking the bomb must have been in the lining. As soon as the pressure from the door was released it triggered the mechanism. We'd have to take out the rest of the lining to be sure. I don't see any signs of more trip wires."

Seeing the two investigators were wrapped up in the science of the scene and had apparently forgotten all about him, Flack slipped quietly out of the room to do his own job. Stella, aware that Flack had left but more focused on the crime scene, nodded to Adam. "Do it. I'll continue to check the rest of the kitchen."

Thrilled with the prospect of taking apart the fridge, Adam's face broke out into a wide grin as he reached for his equipment.

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

The video screen replayed the entire explosion of the refrigerator door and the subsequent arrival of the man and woman into the kitchen. Once the video caught up to real time, the stranger whirled in his seat to look at the man, the same man Mac had chased from the lab earlier in the day, standing beside him. "Robbin's death has certainly complicated things for us. These crime scene investigators are determined to find answers."

"We never should have brought Robbins into this. He was careless and that is why he died. However there is nothing about his death that can tie him to us." The man didn't sound the slightest bit concerned.

The woman in the chair glared at him. "Except for the fact that he left the front door open when he ran out of the townhouse. Had he simply been content to die in that bedroom we could have easily contained the situation. Instead he gave those officers easy access to the house. They've already discovered the canister and the flash bomb. Who knows what else they will discover."

The man smiled, giving the woman's tense shoulders a comforting massage. "Relax Jordan. So far we've been able to contain the threats of them finding any answers that would lead to us. We have the triggering mechanism from the canister and the chip that would have identified Robbins. The rest of the secrets the house has will remain just that - secrets."

Jordan Dillon frowned and pulling away from his touch. "How can you be so sure of that? Nothing seems to be deterring them." She pulled up a second video screen that showed Lindsay discovering the canister moments before passing out and then Danny running into the room to check on her. "According to reports, those two are still in the hospital but making remarkable improvements. You ran down their boss in the parking garage but he's going to be fine as well. And yet even with three of their team hospitalized, these two still show up to check out the rest of the house." She nodded toward the image of Adam who was happily dismantling the refrigerator. "Your little bomb didn't even phase him. What if he probes just a little deeper? How will you keep our secrets safe then?"

An evil smile spread across the man's features. "I guess we'll just have to dissuade them from looking any more. Give them something more to worry about than an empty fridge." He grabbed a file that contained dossiers on every member of Mac Taylor's team. "I've studied those from the moment our systems indicated an intruder in the bedroom. His team is the best there is. Yes they are determined but they are also a family. So far, we've only ticked them off by injuring their people. Injuries they seem to be recovering from; but what if they took a sudden turn for the worse? If one of their own was dead or dying, they would put their investigation on hold to be there. It would give us time to completely sanitize the townhouse."

Jordan considered the pictures before her and pulled out the photos of the three hospitalized detectives. "Intel reports that there is a guard on all three of them."

He smiled. "I managed to infiltrate the New York Crime lab twice; do you really think one measly uniformed officer would be a problem. Trust me, they wouldn't even know I was there."

She indicated the three pictures. "Which one would you choose?"

He considered the three detectives. He ran his finger over the picture of Lindsay Monroe; she was young, beautiful, innocent despite the hardships his investigation revealed she'd been through. Her injuries were the most serious; she would be the easiest to make her death look natural. But she was currently under the most observation; getting in unnoticed might prove more difficult. The next picture he looked at was of Danny Messer. It wouldn't be any trouble getting to him; he was completely alone. His death so soon on top of the death of his brother would be completely devastating. The last picture was of Mac Taylor. He was the head of the team. You cut off the head of the snake and the whole animal dies. His death would hit the team the hardest but he also had military training. He would put up the most fight; it would be harder to ensure the death looked natural. He shuffled the three photos in his hand, weighing the pros and cons of each potential victim. Finally he selected one picture and held it out for Jordan to see. "This one."

She nodded approvingly. "Do it." Then she turned back to watch as Adam continued examine the refrigerator. He was looking straight at the camera as if he realized it was there. She frowned, they were too good. She was just about to redirect the man to take care of this current threat but then Adam turned away from the camera without actually finding it. Perhaps they needed a quicker distraction. She picked up the phone, making sure the computer was set up to both distort her voice and keep the number from being traced.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"The alley behind the Klondike club. Please hurry. She's not moving; I think he killed her." She hung up the phone before the dispatcher could ask any questions. The Klondike Club was only a few blocks away. With the team shorthanded the way they were, the ones in the house would certainly be called to investigate the possible murder. Two minutes later, the third man returned to the kitchen and after a brief conversation the two investigators packed up their kits and left the townhouse, sealing it as they left. She looked back at the man who was smiling at her ingenuity. She frowned. "Hurry. That won't keep them distracted for long."