Disclaimer: We don't own CSI:NY, if we did 5x25 (and parts of 6x01 :p) wouldn't have happened. It did, however, so we are playing with the cards we have been dealt.

A/N: Many thanks to everyone who read, and especially to all who reviewed, it's much appreciated! Thank you for alerts and favourites also. Please continue to let us know what you think of the story, feedback is wonderful!

Chapter 21 - All Fall Down

Day: 13

Opening Scene: UN Library

Time of Day: Shortly after midnight

Date: Late September

UN Activity: 1 day before the General Debate with Heads of Government

Danny, pacing up and down in the foyer outside the UN library, his exasperation building, could contain himself no longer. "We've been here hours!" he exploded, the words almost smashing into the far wall. "Who the hell takes hostages and doesn't demand one thing? And where the hell are Lindsay and Adam? They said they'd be here nearly an hour ago!"

"They'll be here. They'll be held up with something."

"What's holding them up for this length of time? Tell me that!"

He slammed his fist against the table, watched impassively by Hawkes. His inability to take action was becoming increasingly frustrating, as he pondered the fate of some of his closest friends and found himself becoming unsure if they were all going to come through this event unharmed. And now Lindsay and Adam's no-show was beginning to worry him. He stared around him to see if anyone had heard his outburst other than his fellow CSI, but most of the officers, including Scagnetti had disappeared, so for the moment it was just him and the mild-mannered Doctor. The others would be back though, no one disappeared for long in this kind of situation, the kind that created a constant stream of people in and out as they waited for news.

Hawkes stood with his arms folded, his usual placid demeanor unruffled, which Danny found at that moment even more infuriating. How could the man stay so relaxed?

"Calm down, Danny," he said, and ignored his groan. "We talked about this, Lindsay should be here any time with the kit Adam mentioned."

Just as he was about to start tearing at his hair, over their shoulder a police radio sputtered into life.

"Boom!" he yelled, hoping this was finally something for them to do after feeling like they were just sitting around waiting for action. The radios had been relatively silent in the foyer so the only plausible reason for it to activate was that there had been some sort of development. Spinning around, he made his ribs hurt grabbing for the radio.

"... Confirm search abandoned for missing detectives on orders from the Crime Lab." The voice of the dispatcher crackled over the airwaves. It almost dropped from his hand.

"Abandoned the search?" he spluttered in anger. "Who the hell called off the search? Lindsay wouldn't do it.... They can't! What the..."

He stood in front of Hawkes, his chest heaving as all the worst reasons for the search being abandoned surged through him. Even Hawkes looked shaken, but he held out his hand for the radio.

"Danny, you have to take it easy, those ribs won't take much more action before one of them breaks again. You have to go easy or I'm sending you home, like it or not," the Doc was firm, letting him know he was serious, but Danny was equally firm in his mind that he wasn't about to be sent home like a naughty schoolboy. He was here, and here he was going to stay.

"You ain't sending me anywhere, Doc!" he glared at him for a moment then rubbing his sore chest he slowly nodded at him and handed him the radio as the stern look did not leave Hawkes's face. "Alright, alright... I'll take it easy, but I ain't going nowhere, except to find out which moron called off the search for Mac and Stella!" he raised his voice.

"That would be me then," Lindsay's voice floated over his shoulder causing both of them to swing round and face her looking for an explanation as she came towards them across the foyer, Adam in tow.

Danny saw a certain relief, and even a small measure of triumph in her face as she put down her case in front of them whilst Adam moved to set up the equipment he had brought in, after throwing both he and Hawkes a wide grin. "Montana?" he asked in confusion.

"Take a look," she smiled, thumbing over her shoulder. He looked where she was indicating, as did Hawkes, and the police radio clattered to the floor. At the entrance, Mac and Stella were clearly visible, speaking to a relieved looking Scagnetti. Staring open-mouthed at them, Danny took in, even from the distance they were at, how wet, muddy and unkempt they were - Stella's hair, although pulled back in a pony tail, was matted, Mac, with a cut to his forehead also wore what looked like a handkerchief wrapped around his arm and they both had bruises starting to show on their faces. But they were alive and returned. In a state of shock, and delight, at their sudden reappearance both he and Hawkes took only a second to glance at each other before they started forward to greet them. Ignoring the phone on the desk as it started to ring behind them, they rushed over, half expecting them to vanish again.

They both turned at their approach; Stella's face breaking into a smile and Mac giving them a welcoming nod. Scagnetti moved to one side to allow them room, and forgetting his ribs, Danny enveloped Stella in a reassuring hug, which Hawkes copied the moment he released her. He thought better of it for the boss, however, and offered Mac his hand instead, which he took, but not with his usual firm grip.

That was when Danny looked beyond the surface: neither looked in good shape; Stella had a trickle of blood running down the side of her face along with dried lines of it down her neck, and it was clear from the way Mac shook his hand that he was favouring his right arm and the makeshift bandage indicated he had at least a nasty cut underneath. Unfortunately the sight of them standing, well in Stella's case leaning against Mac, before him did little to quell the churning in his stomach. They might be alive, but they weren't exactly in good form, and he looked to Hawkes for the next move as out of the corner of his awareness, he saw Scagnetti step over to the two SWAT officers by the phone.

Hawkes's first move was to glance at Mac, but he rapidly turned his attention to Stella who was sagging heavily against her partner. The gash on her temple was unmissable and as he examined her with a professional eye, Danny noticed the concerned look which crossed his face before he turned to Mac himself.

"What happened? How did you get here? Where were you?" he blustered, feeling helpless and almost at a loss for words at the bizarreness of the situation. They were the last two people he had expected to see; even though they had not given up hope, they had been expecting it to be a case of Mac and Stella being found by the team, not the other way round.

Looking exhausted, Mac nonetheless answered him in a manner that told him he was in charge of the situation. "One thing at a time Danny, the thing is we're here now. Bring me up to date on what's happening here. Lindsay says Flack and Natalia Hunt are in there?" he indicated the large carved door across the foyer.

Danny nodded, relieved to be able to give Mac some solid information. "Yeah, happened about four or five hours ago, no one knows how they got in, so far no demands of any kind, Adam got a look at the hostages, they all seem okay," he rubbed his ribs as he replied, trying not to wince.

"That's something. How did Flack and Miss Hunt get involved?" Mac asked, briefly looking around at the gathered team before his attention was taken back to his partner.

"He was here following a lead, talking to her. Wrong place, wrong time?" Danny surmised

Mac nodded and threw another quick glance to the side as Hawkes drew Stella away a short distance to focus on inspecting her injuries. "Clearly. We have a few developments of our own. It appears this is only the appetiser, designed as a distraction whilst something else is going on here. We found a note which suggests that a..." he stopped, his eyes again observing his partner.

At that point, Scagnetti re-joined their group allowing Danny to note the creased look on his face as they all now observed Hawkes trying to tend to Stella's wound, while she continually protested that she was alright, albeit sounding drunk and far from alright. She was barely standing up straight, and Danny cast his gaze around for a chair, but there seemed to be none in sight.

"I'm fine, Hawkes! S'nothing... just a li- lit... s'nothing." She tried to side-step Hawkes but wobbled violently before bracing herself against the table. Danny glanced at Mac who stepped over quickly to his partner, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Stella? Did you hit your head?" Hawkes spoke patiently as he held out his arms to catch her if she fell.

She looked at him through heavy eyelids. "Probably..."

Danny didn't miss the angry glare Mac gave their colleague. "Not of her own free will, someone took a swing at her!" he practically spat, a dam full of barely pent-up anger in his voice. Then seeing the astonished look on the Doc's face he dropped his head for a second until Stella's hand moved to his wrist and clasped it, and he looked up again and spoke with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Hawkes, you're only trying to help."

Hawkes nodded, accepting the apology before he spoke gently to Stella. "If you've suffered a head injury, it's not something to mess about with. I just want to take a look. Have you got a headache? Are you feeling dizzy?"

"I'm fine!" she protested weakly. "Just a little tired..."

Mac gave Stella's shoulder a light squeeze, turning her wavering attention back to him. "Stella, let Hawkes look at you, that cut on your head is bleeding again where you knocked it. You need to get it seen to."

She stared at him for a moment, their eyes seeming to relay an unspoken message, before she gave a small nod. "Okay."

"Okay, good," Mac breathed out heavily, then turned back to Danny and Scagnetti, and encouraged them to move away from Hawkes and Stella, allowing her some space and a little privacy to be checked over. "I was just saying, we found a note which ties in with what Stella overheard whilst we were being held, in a warehouse on the West side," he rummaged in his pocket, brought out a soggy piece of paper and held it out to Danny who opened it in the palm of his hand, careful to support the fragile paper as Mac continued talking. "We need to organise a search of the entire plaza, as I said, this is just a diversion, something else is going on here."

Scagnetti and Lindsay, who had joined them moments ago, peered over his shoulder at the water stained piece of paper in Danny's hand. The ink had clearly run from submersion in water, or from getting soaked in Mac's jacket pocket and looking at Mac the latter was the more likely answer, Danny decided.

"'Big bang'?" queried Scagnetti, narrowing his eyes at the head of the Crime Lab.

The implications hit Danny like shrapnel, along with the unnerving memory of how he had used his favoured exclamation earlier. He could only hope it wasn't prescient. Looking at Mac in shock, he blurted out. "An explosion? Shit, we've got a bomb too?" he wheezed, feeling his chest constrict in horror. "Is that what you're telling us, we've got a bomb to find?" He gritted his teeth as a sharp pain shot across his chest from where he'd attempted to inhale a deep breath. Beside him he could sense Lindsay's alarm, and wished for a desperate moment that this was some kind of sick joke. "Shit!"

Scagnetti scrutinised the note again then rested his hands on his hips, solemn-faced. "If there is, it could be anywhere in the city."

"No," Mac answered firmly, flexing his hand on his injured arm. "Their targets have all been focused here on the UN, if there is a bomb it will be here somewhere in the complex. But if this is a diversion I doubt it's in this building. Have one team search the grounds and everyone else focus on the secretariat building. Lindsay, did you call the bomb squad and tell them what we know?" he demanded, turning abruptly to her.

She looked a little guilty as she answered. "But we don't know anything for sure Mac, all you have is that paper. What if it was planted?"

"It wasn't, I think it's good information," Mac replied grimly. "Whoever took us had no intention of us surviving."

A sobered silence fell.

"Alright, better safe than sorry I guess," Lindsay spoke up after a moment, a little subdued now, as she half-glanced at Danny from under her eyelashes before she turned and hurried away to where Adam was setting up the surveillance equipment on the table next to the phone.

Scagnetti looked between Danny and Mac. "I've got an update of my own, that phone call ... We just heard from the guys inside, first contact. No demands yet, they're testing the waters."

Danny raised his hand to rub his head, only to lower it, hissing in pain from stretching his ribs again. "It's gonna be a long night then," he muttered, wondering how Lucy was getting on with his Ma.

No one disagreed with him.

Flack was leaning with his back against the wall, his eyes half closed but he was still watching their captors across the room. Natalia was hunched over next to him. Her knees drawn up and her arms crossed on them giving herself a form of pillow for her head; as a result his left hand was resting on her right shoulder for comfort, but the cuffs still bit into his wrist, leaving a red line where they chafed his skin. He knew hers must look similar, if he stretched his fingers out he'd be able to touch her, commiserate with her maybe. Although her pose suggested she was sleeping, he didn't think that was likely, no one would sleep under the circumstances, but he was amazed at how relaxed she appeared. He began to wonder how she could take it all so easily, a couple of the other hostages had sobbed on and off since they were captured and they had all been been looking agitated and fearful, but she hadn't shed a tear, the only time she had come close was when he asked her about Michael Stratton. Thinking about it she kind of amazed him the way she stood up to their captors...

Just like Jess would have done.

Jess.

He missed her like crazy every day, but he was glad she wasn't here, he'd been reckless enough when it all started, and he hated to think how bad things could have got if he had been protecting her too. He rolled his head, stretching his neck muscles, getting another look at the woman he'd been cuffed to for the last 5 hours or so. She'd been pretty sore for a while after he'd lunged at their captors, so he needed to be careful about how they worked with whatever was coming, he didn't want her hurt again.

He rested his head back against the wall, this time his eyes firmly on their captors. Their hierarchy had become more evident as time went on, Dirk the fat guy, he was definitely in charge, Flack had watched him talking on the phone a short while ago. It was hard to work out what he was saying, but it was clear there had been no resolution when he hung up and touched fists with the apparent 2nd in command. The more he watched them, the more he decided those two were the biggest threat, and for all the leadership he appeared to have, he was actually going to be slightly less of a threat than his pal Ali who seemed more jittery than a caffeine high, and possibly, he worried, a little trigger-happy. Flack rubbed his hand over his face. They needed a plan, silence wouldn't reign for much longer, but for now he would let Natalia rest. Natalia, it was a pretty name, very Russian, he wondered how she ended up with it, it was quite a mouthful so he could see why the British Security Officer called her Tali, maybe after this was all over he'd ask her about it.

He sat for a few more minutes as the gang settled down again across the room; knowing there was no immediate threat was a little calming and he took the opportunity to cast his eyes across at the other hostages. The security officer was still tied to the chair, but at least they had now removed his gag. As he caught his eye, the man gave him a resigned shrug. Everyone looked exhausted, Flack was feeling it too, his back had gone into a spasm some time ago and now ached constantly from being sat on the floor, what he really needed to do was stand up and have a good stretch but there was little chance of that happening anytime soon he knew as he cast another lingering look over at their captors.

Flack closed his eyes while he tried to devise a plan to get everyone out. It seemed that as he did, a klaxon began sounding loudly, echoing around the room. His eyes sprang open in time to see Natalia's head shoot up and their captors grab their weapons. Murmurs from the other hostages created a hum in the previously quiet room and he noted Natalia's anxious glance around before she turned to look at him. He must have had some sort of puzzled expression on his face because she answered his question even before he could open his mouth.

"It's a bomb alert. Fire alarm is constant, bomb alert we get this. Is that what these guys have been waiting for?" she asked, still calm, but with the slightest flicker of apprehension in her question.

"I think we're about to find out," he replied, watching as their captors approached them. Judging by their sudden movement and the way Dirk and Ali were waving their guns around it was clear that they were also short of answers and were about to demand them.

"Looks like they're just as surprised as we are," Flack turned his attention to Natalia for a moment and for a split second he thought he caught a flash of fear run through her eyes.

"So it seems."

"What's the normal drill?" he asked.

"Check your area and evacuate when given instructions to move," she reeled off and gave him a small smile. "It's drilled into us from the day we get here..."

"You!" Ali's voice came over clearly as he yelled at Flack and Natalia, advancing on them menacingly while still waving his gun. Flack pulled Natalia back out of the direct line of fire. "This some shit of you cops? Trying to get us to give up?"

Before Flack could respond, Natalia glared at Ali. "We've sat here for hours while you lot hung out! It's clear you're waiting for something, maybe this is it, you thought about that? What the hell are you waiting for anyway?"

"That's none of your business! Just shut your mouth or I'll do it for you, I already took out one woman today, doing the same to you will be a pleasure," the sneer in his voice gave a whole new level to the threat of his words.

"You bastard!" he yelled at the gunman as images of Stella lying injured flashed through his mind.

Natalia rested her hand on his arm and her stern tone caught his attention before he was able to say anything else. "Don't," she told him firmly. "Just don't give him the satisfaction, Stella's going to be fine, you have to believe that," she consoled.

Before he could continue Ali opened his mouth again with a twisted smirk. "Yeah, listen to your girlfriend there, should have seen him when he found his friends' car down by the river, didn't know we were still around watching you did you? Haven't been able to find them either have you? Call yourself a detective... Oh, and just for your information, I'd say at this point, neither of them are fine."

Flack's blood was boiling now, the threat to an innocent civilian and the taunting reminders of Mac and Stella being missing and possibly dead had enraged him beyond rational thought.

He launched himself forwards ....

Hawkes, watching what was going on between Danny, Mac and Scagnetti out of the corner of his eye, had caught to his dismay the word 'explosion', but had forced himself to ignore the implications of that, and turned his attention back to Stella. His focus was firmly on her now, even as an alarm began a harsh, regular beeping and activity in the foyer increased. In a moment, he decided, he was going to call the paramedics over, regardless of her protests. And regardless of the protests he knew Mac would make, he was going to insist that he was checked over by them as well, and preferably sent away from the scene to rest and recover.

After Mac had spoken to Stella, she was allowing him to examine her head, and he had persuaded her to lean against the wall whilst he did so. Realising, however, that it would not take much for her to slide down it and collapse in a heap, he was keeping a firm grip on her arm. Finding the large lump just above her ear where she had been hit had not taken him long; the wound had a crust of dried blood around it, and he was now dabbing at it with medical wipes he had taken from the first aid kit at the reception desk of the foyer. It was a vicious injury and he was grieved and angry that someone had inflicted that on her, along with all the other damage that she and Mac had suffered. Mac, despite the fact he looked battered and exhausted, seemed to be steady on his feet and alert. But although for the moment she was just about hanging on to it, Hawkes was alarmed at how far Stella was drifting away from consciousness.

At the first sight of both of them earlier, he had been horrified at their appearance, and even now, as he glanced quickly at Mac, he could see his face looked grey and drawn and his arm was clearly paining him. When Danny and he had raced over to them, he had had to stop for a moment and compose himself, breathe in a gust of air, the memory of finding their badges by the river too raw in his mind. He shook his head then, and concentrated on Stella, on the fact that she was in front of him, and that even if not in the best health, she was nevertheless alive.

"You okay?" she murmured, blinking at him, and he gave her arm a quick squeeze.

"It's me who's supposed to ask you that!" he smiled.

She smiled back, even though her eyes looked increasingly glassy. She also seemed to be having difficulty keeping them open and that was worrying him. Again his hand hovered over the radio he had caught up, wondering if he should just call EMS now and have both of them removed, forcibly if necessary, to hospital. Both she and Mac were visibly suffering with cold and wet, and in Stella's case, a violent shuddering had gripped her. If he was wearing his jacket or a coat, he would have put it round her, but as it was, he was wearing kevlar and there was nothing else available for the moment.

Mac was watching them, his attention lost from whatever Danny and Scagnetti were saying, and as he caught Hawkes's eye, he suddenly strode over to them. Stella raised her head at his approach, and it was suddenly clear that she was looking worse - all colour had gone from her face and underneath the streaks of dirt she was looking quite green. Feeling his concern rising rapidly, Hawkes stepped back and took hold of his radio as Mac reached them, just in time to catch his partner as her eyes hazed over and her legs buckled beneath her.

As she grasped his arm, she mumbled. "Just need... sit down a minute..."

"Stella!" Mac's voice was laden with deep concern, even fear. "Don't go passing out on me." Hawkes recognised the tone, it had the same urgency he had heard from his colleagues calling out after the bar shooting. It brought a chill of memory to him as he relayed his brief demand for EMS and then shoved the radio back into his pocket.

"Mac, medics are on their way..."

He had wrapped an arm around Stella and appeared to be having difficulty supporting her, but Hawkes heard his voice softly reassuring her. "Stella, I got you, it's okay..."

Moving swiftly, he took most of Stella's weight from Mac's injured arm, helped him lower her to the floor and then Mac knelt beside her, propping her up as she slumped against him, shivering violently now.

With a press to her freezing hand, Hawkes hunkered down in front of her and spoke firmly and clearly to her. "Stella, can you still hear me?"

"Yeah..." she murmured. "Still here..."

He exchanged a glance with Mac, whose face was lined with worry, and moved his fingers to her wrist. Her pulse was too rapid and thin for his liking, but he kept his voice reassuring and calm. "Okay good, now listen, the paramedics are on their way, just try and keep your eyes open a bit longer, think you can do that?"

She mumbled something incoherent, her head drooping against Mac's chest who, sitting on his knees now, had his hand gently round her face, his thumb brushing her cheek.

He bent closer to her, his lips almost brushing her hair. "Stay awake, Stella, please," he urged, and Hawkes felt suddenly awkward and intrusive at the tenderness in his voice and gesture.

Shifting back on his heels, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Soon as you've got to the hospital, you can sleep there, okay? I know you're exhausted."

Between her tremors, she gave the smallest inclination of her head which he took as indicating her agreement, so with another glance at Mac, who had remained in the same position of support, not removing his eyes from her, he began to get to his feet to check if EMS were on their way.

At the same moment, Stella gasped suddenly, clutching Mac's other hand.

"Mac... tell them... all gonna fall down... everything..."

Then her eyelids fluttered closed and her head dropped forwards as her hand lost its grip on her partner's.

"Stella!" alarm crossed Mac's face as he patted her cheek and received no answer. "Come on, don't close your eyes yet... Stella, come on, wake up!"

Huddled limply against him, she gave no response, and Mac, his face now tight with worry, threw a look at Hawkes.

"They're on their way, Mac..." he started.

But his focus was back on Stella, as shifting her carefully so she was lying cradled in his good arm, he tried again. "Stella!" And then as Hawkes began scanning the foyer for any sign of the paramedics, he heard the anxiety in Mac's voice increase. "Stella!"

So, peril finally caught up with Lily and she is injured (poetic justice?) meaning she was allowed a small cliffhanger this chapter also. Many thanks for reading and reviews would be very welcome by both of us, particularly the one who is damaged :D Thanks, Lily and Forest x