Ch 11 I'll Fight For You
Disclaimer: As I've said ten times before, I don't own CSI: NY or its characters. I also don't own the song, 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)'. That is the property of Bryan Adams. I don't own him either. Clear? Good.
A/N: Thanks to SallyJetson and notesofwimsey for the beta and the gamma, respectively. Also thanks to those that continue to review and give me feedback, and thanks to those that just read. All of you are greatly appreciated!
You know it's true
Everything I do
I do it for you
-Bryan Adams "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)"
Once she lost the comfort and warmth of having Danny's arms around her, Lindsay felt her body begin to tremble as the terrifying memory of the phone call came rushing back.
"Mac, Stella. Thanks for coming so quickly," Danny greeted wearily, showing them into the small living room.
"Oh Lindsay," Stella said and wrapped Lindsay in a hug as she took a seat next to her.
"How is she?" Mac asked Danny, seeing that Lindsay wasn't in the mood for idle chitchat.
"She's pretty rattled."
The two men looked over at the couch where Stella and Lindsay sat.
Lindsay kept a stationary pose; hands balled in her lap, impassive gaze fixed on the mahogany table in front her, and unresponsive.
In contrast, the other woman, had one arm wrapped around Lindsay's shoulders, her other hand gently patting the silent woman's forearm, as her worried gaze searched Lindsay's deadpan features for some sign of responsiveness.
Danny effortlessly adjusted Lindsay's slight frame, allowing him enough room to sit between her and the armrest of the couch. Stella scooted down slightly, to give the young couple more room, and Mac sat in the overstuffed armchair to Danny's right.
Judging from Lindsay's distressed demeanor, Mac decided to ask Danny the first question, hoping she would finish the story for him, as she often did when working with him in the lab.
Setting his tape recorder on the coffee table, he pressed the record button to start the interview, after getting a nod from Danny.
"Danny, why don't you tell me what caused to you to leave work in such a rush this afternoon."
"Lindsay called me, and told me she needed me to come home."
"Why was that?"
"She was crying and could barely speak. She had received…"
"a threatening phone call," she abruptly inserted, her hands trembling like a pane of glass
following a loud crack of thunder.
Sensing that her shaking was the beginning of an emotional breakdown, Danny wrapped a comforting arm around Lindsay's shoulders, in silent encouragement.
"What did the caller say?" Mac asked, doing his best to maintain the professionalism in his voice, despite the internal twinge of concern, he felt at seeing his young CSI's composure, slowly begin to crumble.
"He…she…I can't tell which, said that they were coming to kill me. Kill me and Danny," her voice cracked as her emotional brain began to override the CSI part of her that said she had to get the story out as concisely and coherently as possible.
Shock registered on Mac and Stella's faces. Stella, being the first to recover her voice, cautiously asked the next question.
"Lindsay, did this person say why they wanted you dead?"
Lindsay nodded, but balked at speaking.
"Sweetie, you need to say it. It's okay." Danny encouraged.
"Um, they said that, we were sinful and we deserved to die. But I deserved to watch Danny die first, for what I've done."
Mac and Stella wordlessly stared at each other, the world seeming to disappear as the weight of Lindsay's words began to sink in.
A small, muffled sob brought them crashing back to reality and they turned to see Lindsay's face buried in Danny's shirt; his arms wrapped around her as she cried.
"Shh. I'm right here. I'm not going to die, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're safe now. Okay?" He crooned softly, in her ear.
"Stella," Mac nodded for her to accompany him into the kitchen for a sidebar.
He allowed her to proceed him into the small, tiled space before following her into the far corner, by the stove, out of earshot of Danny and Lindsay.
"So, what are you thinking, Stella?"
"She's clearly devastated and scared to death, Mac. We need to find out who's responsible for this; put and end to this hell she's in."
"And we will. We're not going to stand by and let someone hurt her again. Now that we know what's going on, we can protect her." Mac was resolute in his answer.
Just like a Marine.
"How? How can we protect her when we don't know who's doing this to her?" Stella's question was desperate.
"Follow the evidence. Starting with the most obvious clue."
With that, Mac pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Flack," came the clipped greeting.
"It's Mac. I need you to follow up on Kevin for me."
"Kevin? Why? Did something happen to Lindsay?"
"She got a phone call today. Someone threatened to kill her. We need to find out what the little weasel might know about that."
"I don't think Kevin's going to be able to help any. Even if he wanted to."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I was just informed by the hospital that Kevin apparently killed himself this morning."
"What do you mean he killed himself? How in the hell did that happen? I thought he was on 24-hour watch!"
Flack winced at the sharpness of the tone on the other end of the line.
"I'm not sure Mac, but it looks like his mom smuggled Cyanide in when she came to visit him today. He was able to take the capsules, she left, and he coded soon after."
"Alright, thanks for the info Flack."
"No problem, Mac. You get her statement, and we'll work on subpoenaing phone records from this end."
"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Bye."
Wearily, Mac scrubbed his hands over his face, before looking at Stella's expectant face.
"Kevin's dead."
"What?" Stella hissed, so as not to arouse suspicion from the occupants of the other room.
"Apparently, his mother helped him commit suicide this morning."
"The ultimate cowardly flight to avoid prosecution" she surmised, "so, what do we tell them?" she finished, gesturing towards the living room.
"The truth."
"What's going on?" Lindsay asked, sitting up, as she took in the sullen looks on her friends' faces.
"Lindsay, we talked to Flack" Stella began, "and we told him about the phone call; as well as our suspicion that Kevin might be involved somehow."
"And he's going to go beat the truth out of the worthless little shit, and then this whole ordeal will be over." Danny stated, unquestionably.
"Not exactly," Mac began.
"What do you mean, not exactly?" Lindsay questioned softly.
"Kevin's dead, kiddo" Stella decided to just lay it out.
"Dead?" they questioned in unison.
"Yes, apparent suicide." Mac answered the silent question hanging over them.
"What happens now?"
"Well, Flack is going to subpoena your phone records, Lindsay; and as of right now, I'm allowing you to come back to work on lab duty only. I don't want you alone. Until we catch whoever is doing this to you, I'm going to have a patrol do hourly drive bys. Okay?" Mac outlined his hastily put together plan of action.
As numbness took over her body, Lindsay nodded in agreement, not really hearing what Mac was saying.
Someone was trying to kill her, and it wasn't Kevin. The sheer knowledge that there was someone out there, that had enough anger towards her to not only want her dead, but to make her suffer and watch Danny lose his life first, was enough to send a visible shiver down her body, and allow a few tears to run a race down her ghastly white cheeks.
Danny gathered Lindsay up into his comforting embrace stroking her hair and whispering in her ear, all over again.
Mac and Stella looked on at the display of pure love and adoration taking place in front of them, with smiles on their faces, before Stella spoke to excuse themselves.
"We better head back to the lab and see if Flack has been able to come up with anything yet. Danny, you take care of her, and we'll see both of you tomorrow afternoon; unless we need you earlier, okay?"
"Don't worry, Stell. I'll make sure Miss Monroe gets the finest treatment Che' Messer has to offer."
Danny reassured Stella, while flashing Lindsay the famous Messer grin, receiving a shy smile and roses blooming over her cheeks in return.
Mac and Stella smiled, before saying goodbye once more, and heading towards the door. Before closing the door behind him, Mac turned around and spoke.
"Oh, and, Danny?"
"Yeah, Mac?"
"I told you, it could happen to you."
Danny smirked at the closing door, before looking at Lindsay then looking back at the wooden panel and replying,
"That you did Mac. That you did."
"What did Mac say could happen to you?"
Danny pulled Lindsay into the crook of his arm, placing a kiss on the top of her head before speaking. He figured now was the perfect time to tell her his little secret.
"About two years ago, Mac and I were working on this case where a bride was poisoned on her wedding day. Anyway, we were talking over the body about weddings and love and all that, and Mac said, 'it could happen to you, you know?' to which I replied, 'what, marriage?', and he said, 'No, love'. Anyway, I told him not to joke about it, that it wasn't funny. Turns out he was right."
Danny finished, looking to Lindsay for her reaction.
Her eyes narrowed on him, half-suspicious, half-hopeful.
"Danny, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying, Lindsay Monroe, I love you."
Tears of happy surprise sprang to her eyes as she responded.
"Danny Messer, I love you too."
Their lips met in a kiss full of hope and promise. Hope for a long, happy future together. A promise to always do right by each other. But most of all, the kiss contained complete devotion and unconditional love one for the other.
