Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of CSI:NY, they belong to CBS and Anthony E. Zuiker

Author's Note: Okay, I have some things I gotta apologize for. First off, I'm sorry I killed off Adam Ross!!! I have no idea what happened, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden, he was lying there! I hate myself for doing it. At least he went down in the line of duty, which is what his character would've wanted, I think. But I won't apologize for the cliffhanger. Mostly 'cause there's more to come :)!

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Messer and I are forced off Sassone's boat, and onto another little one. On the boat, we get pushed into one of the cabins. I can hear both the girls yellin' and screamin' at Sassone and his boys. My pop would kick my ass from here to Chicago for what I did tonight. I knew somethin' didn't feel right. Pop always told me never to ignore my gut. I screwed up tonight. I let revenge on Sassone cloud my judgment. It's not a feelin' I like.

Damn it, Pop, I'm sorry. Dobson enjoys tying my hands, tethering me to Messer.

"You wait, Dobson," I can hear Messer sayin' behind me. "You're done. You're done real soon-" I can hear knuckles hit skin, and I go flyin' onto my side as the force from Dobson's punch to Messer knocks us both sideways. Messer's head slams into the cabinet next to me. "Messer?" I ask, jostling my arm a little bit. I don't get a response. I look up at Sassone, who's standin' above us. "What's the plan, Sassone?"

His response is to hold up his cigar and blow the smoke down into my face again. I hold my breath and stare him down. "Unfortunate fire," he shrugs. "Accident."

"I'm sure. And the ladies?" I demand.

"Goin' for a ride down to Miami. I got a coupla friends down there who know how to have a good time with dames. And I imagine that Mala, Pratt and Dobson will keep 'em company on the way down."

"You sonofa-" I get cut off as Dobson's fist slams into my stomach. I double over as much as I can with Messer's dead weight behind me, scrambling for air.

Sassone starts laughing. "Still fightin', Flack?" he says. "Even the little rookie cop didn't put up this much of a fight. Took that bullet like a man."

Ross... "I'll put a bullet in you yet, Sassone," I swear.

"Yeah?" Sassone slams down the hatch. "We'll see," I hear him mutter through the closed hatch. I hear somethin' bein' dragged across the deck. It stops right above the hatch. "Messer." I shake my arm again. "Wake up, damn you."

Then I smell it. Gasoline. I can hear it hitting the deck above us. Hell. This isn't good. "Messer! Wake your ass up right now!" I throw my arm around as hard as the ropes'll let me. I need him up so we can figure a way out of here.

And then I smell burning wood. I ain't one to take the Lord's name in vain-much- but this is a special occasion, "Goddamn it, Messer, if you don't wake up right now so help me God if I get loose I'll leave you here!"

I hear him groan. "Flack?" he asks groggily from behind me. "What the hell happened?"

"Your head got into an argument with that cabinet over there. 'Fraid the cabinet won."

"Where's Lindsay?"

"She'll be halfway to Miami if we can't get outta here," I reply.

He blinks, a worried expression crossing his face. "What?"

"We really don' have time for this," I snip at him. "Unless you wanna end up extra crispy, we need to get out of here. Right now." I look around. It's startin' to get a little warm. "Don' suppose you carry a knife?"

"Sorry. Left it in my jacket."

I roll my eyes, knowing he can't see me. "Okay, then we go to plan B. We need something sharp."

"How about the porthole?" Messer suggests. "Here, come on. Stand." We struggle to our feet. Smoke is starting to seep in under the hatch. My vision's startin' to get foggy. Messer makes his way over to the window. "Can you lift your arm?" he asks me.

"Currently, it's our arm, and yeah," I say, proving it. "You gonna try to smash it?"

"That's the plan," Messer says. "On the count 'o three. One..."

"Two..." I join in, tensing.

"Three!" Messer slams his elbow into the porthole. It doesn't budge. "Aw hell, let's go again! One...two...Jesus!" He jumps back, pulling me with him.

A face has just appeared in the window. Mac Taylor is looking in at us. "Mac!" I yell, before I get overtaken by a coughing fit. Taylor disappears from the window. I can hear him make his way over to the hatch. I can hear some bangs and whatnot, and then he comes back over. "Flack!" I hear him yell through the glass. "Back up and get down!"

I shrink to the floor, pulling Messer down with me. We hug the wall as Taylor fires two shots into the glass, shattering it. "Here!" he yells, tossing in a fish knife. I snag it and saw away at the ropes around my wrists. One arm finally snaps free, and I cut our other hands loose. "Come on, Messer, we gotta get out of here!" I yell. I shove him towards the porthole. It's just big enough for a person to crawl through. Messer knocks the rest of the glass away. The smoke is thick now, and beads of sweat are forming on my forehead. Messer wiggles through the porthole with some help from Mac Taylor and jumps off the boat.

"Come on, Flack, let's go!" Taylor yells at me. I shove one arm through, and he grabs on to my hand. He starts pulling and I start squeezing my way through. I'm having a harder time of it than Messer.

"Flack, think you might wanna lose some weight," I hear Messer call.

"Shut up!" I yell back. "Mac, just pull like hell," I tell him. "Count of three."

"Screw three." Mac yanks on my arm, I weasel my way through, and finally collapse on the deck. "Fire's close to the fuel tanks, let's go," Taylor suggests. He helps me onto the dock, and Messer and I collapse onto the planks as the boat behind us goes up in flames. I put my arms up and cover my head.

I look up as pieces of the boat rain down around us. "Taylor, Sassone...he shot Adam," I say.

Taylor's eyes cloud over. "They haven't left port yet. Come on, let's go." He helps me to my feet, ducking as pieces of boat fall close to our heads. I help Messer up, and finally able to run, we take off for Sassone's boat. It's startin' to pull away from the dock. "Aw hell, time to go swimmin'!" I groan as I throw my jacket off.

"Gonna get wet!" Messer agrees as he jumps off the dock. I hold my breath and dive in after him.