Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY – so you no sue or all you will get is my crappy car – understand – good! I do own Kelli Taylor and the other characters that you don't recognize – please ask before borrowing. Also anything in Italics means that my character or someone else is using American Sign Language.
Chapter 37 – Relieving Stress
Monday morning Mac headed for the breakroom for a cup of coffee where he found Adam and Kendall. The latter starting to enjoy a slice of brown bread. Adam was holding a bottle filled with yellow liquid.
"What's that? Some kind of specimen?" Mac asked curiously.
"No, it's cayenne pepper and lemon juice," Adam replied.
"Yeah, lose twenty pounds in twenty days," Kendall smirked. "Some girl in a club said that she found his baby fat cute."
Mac quirked an eyebrow before asking. "Adam, did you get anything from Stella's case – the Mandrake case?"
Adam began reporting his test results, and unknown to Mac, Kendall was tantalizing Adam with the brown bread that she was eating, causing Adam to stammer and stutter while reporting that DNA had shown that Shelby was not Mr. Mandrake's biological daughter. But that her mom was her biological mother.
Kelli was standing outside, looking in thru the glass doors, getting angrier by the minute.
"Thank you Adam," Mac said, looking at Adam and then towards Kendall, who innocently chewed on a mouthful of brown bread before suggesting. "Why don't you have a piece of brown bread?"
"I will later," Adam replied as Mac left the room, then looked at Kendall with an injured expression before following Mac out of the room.
Kelli stalked into the breakroom, her petite frame bristling with anger, shutting the door behind her; locking it.
"Hi Kelli," Kendall chirped, starting to bite into the remainder of her brown bread.
"Don't play the innocent card with me, Miss Thing," Kelli snapped, snatching the brown bread from her hand before it reached her smug little mouth; tossing it into the garbage.
"Hey! I wasn't finished eating that."
"You are now."
"What is your problem?"
"You may have thought it to be funny and cute to torment Adam while he was trying to report on some test results to Mac. But I considered it to be demoralizing and childish."
"It was just a joke," the skinny blonde technician protested.
"I'm sure that Adam didn't see it that way. And I know damn well Detective Taylor would have definitely not considered it to be funny."
"But, but..." Kendall sputtered.
"And furthermore, I expect you to apologize to Adam and you are to consider his and other people's feelings in the future or I will report you to Detectives Taylor and Bonasera and suggest that a letter of reprimand be placed in your file," Kelli said in a cold tone of voice. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Kendall muttered sulkily.
"What was that?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good," Kelli said before unlocking the door and sweeping out of the room, leaving a disgruntled lab tech in her wake.
Danny walked into the breakroom, looking curiously at the angry lab tech. "So who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?"
"Who does she think she is?" Kendall raged.
"Who?"
"Kelli Taylor that's who," Kendall snapped. "I was just kidding around with Adam this morning and she came down on me."
"You talking about the bosses' fiancée Kelli Taylor?"
"Yeah, that bitch."
"Hey! First of all, I don't want to hear you bad mouthing Kelli to anybody here in the lab. And second, if she ripped you a new one, then I'm sure that you deserve it," Danny retorted. "I've heard you teasing Adam before and sometimes it isn't even remotely funny."
"Oh sure, take her side," Kendall huffed.
"Hey, don't blame me. You brought it all on yourself," Danny replied, grabbing a slice of brown bread and a cup of coffee before heading back to his office to work on some reports.
Kelli made a slight detour to her office before hunting Adam down in the DNA lab. "Hey Adam, can I talk to you?"
"Sure Kelli," Adam smiled shyly.
"I just wanted to let you know that I brought in some of my Aunt CeeCee's brown bread. It's in the breakroom."
"Thank you, but I'm trying to lose some weight."
"You are? Can I ask why?" Kelli asked gently.
"A girl at a club that I was at the other night said that she found my baby fat cute," Adam explained, flushing slightly.
"Adam, I'm going to show you a picture of one of my friends from Vocational School and I want your honest opinion."
"Okay."
Kelli placed a photograph of a nineteen year old guy, dressed in jeans and snug fitting t-shirt, someone who was built like Adam with a slightly roundish face on the table. "Now tell me, do you consider Darren to be overweight?"
"Uh no," Adam replied, studying the photo carefully. "He looks like the type that all the girls would chase after."
"Darren didn't think that way. He considered himself to be overweight," Kelli explained.
"He did? Why?"
"Because of a group of jocks that made fun of him because he couldn't play sports on account of his poor coordination. And he also was scared that he would become overweight like his parents."
"What happened to him?"
"Darren died a month before graduation. This is what looked like a month before he died," Kelli placed another photo on the table.
Adam looked at the photo; recoiling slightly. "What happened to him?"
Kelli looked at the photo which was the same boy, but this time he looked like a concentration camp victim of WWII, a skeleton frame, drawn skin empathizing stick thin arms and legs, sunken cheeks and eyes. Despite his horrible appearance, Darren smiled broadly, looking proudly at the camera. "Darren thought that things would be better if he lost his baby fat, so he started binging and purging until he became bulimic. His parents found him in his apartment, passed out in the bathroom, his body's electrodes were so out of whack that he suffered a heart attack and died three months before his 20th birthday."
"Why are you telling me this?" Adam stuttered.
"Because Mac and I care about you, and we don't want you to put your health in jeopardy with some crack-pot liquid diet," Kelli explained gently. "Do you realize that you and Darren have the same body type? And you just said that you though he was the type that girls would chase after. Don't worry Adam, your soul mate will come along one day when you least expect it," Kelli smiled. "Take me for example, I'm in my 40's and have health issues, but I eventually found my soul mate."
"You really think so?"
"I know so," Kelli said firmly. "So I think that you don't need to lose weight, just eat properly and simple exercises like walking or taking the stairs and you will find that you will develop muscle tone and endurance. But between you and me, I happen to think that you're perfect the way that you are."
"Oh Adam," Stella began, stopping when she saw Kelli talking quietly to Adam. "Am I interrupting anything important?"
"No, not at all," Kelli smiled brightly at Adam, swiping the photos off the table and slipping them in her jacket pocket. "Are we good Adam?"
"Yeah we are, thank you Kelli," Adam smiled shyly, but with slightly more confidence.
"Good," Kelli started to leave the lab. "I'll see you at lunch Stella." Smiling more broadly at seeing Adam pitch his bottle of cayenne pepper and lemon juice in the garbage.
Stella looked curiously at Kelli's departing form before turning back to Adam. "What was that about?"
"Kelli was just showing me a couple pictures of one of her old friends," Adam replied.
"Okay," Stella said with a quizzical look. "What do you have for me on the Mandrake case?"
"Your victim's SART kit came back with fresh semen and DNA matches it to Mr. Mandrake."
"So that pervert was molesting his daughter," Stella said with disgust.
Back in Kelli's office, Kelli looked up when Max walked in with a tall, slender woman with short brunette hair; dressed in khaki colored slacks and a form fitting, grey top. "Kelli, this is Sgt. Roma Lane. Sgt., this is Kelli Taylor, who'll be your new assistant."
"I'm very pleased to meet you Sgt.," Kelli smiled, standing up to shake hands with her new boss.
"Likewise Miss Taylor," the attractive woman with short brown hair replied. "But please its Roma. I don't like standing on formality."
"Same here Roma, I prefer Kelli," Kelli grinned, sitting back down as Roma and Max sat down as well. "Max tells me that you worked out of the Staten Island precinct. How are you liking your first day here?"
"It's a lot to take in and I'm glad that you're willing to help me make the transition easier."
Max looked up as Mac walked past the office. "Detective Taylor! Do you have a moment, please?"
"Sure," Mac replied, entering Kelli's office.
"Mac, this is Sgt. Roma Lane. Sgt. Lane, this is Detective Mac Taylor, who is in charge of the crime lab here."
"Hello, pleased to meet you Detective Taylor."
"Likewise Sgt." Mac said, shaking hands.
"Taylor?" Roma asked, looking at Mac and Kelli. "Are you two related?"
"No," Kelli smiled, as Mac chuckled. "No relation, but we are engaged to be married next month."
"Well congratulations," Roma replied, a hint of sadness lurking behind her smile, Mac being the only one to notice.
"Thank you," Kelli said, as Mac's cell phone rang.
"Excuse me, I've got to take this call," Mac said before stepping out into the hallway. "Taylor."
Kelli continued talking with Max and Roma until Mac stepped back inside her office. "Excuse me Kelli. Detective Benson is on her way here and she would like to speak with the both of us when she arrives."
"Okay Mac," Kelli replied before turning her attention back to Max and Roma. "Sorry for the interruption. Now has Max explained about my deafness and the fact that I don't use the phone?"
"He explained that you wear hearing aids and that you need to lip-read," Roma answered.
"Is that going to be a problem for you?" Kelli asked.
"There shouldn't be a problem, I'm sure that we will be able to adapt to each other," Roma said.
"Max texts or emails me whenever he's out of the office whenever he needs to contact me here in the office," Kelli explained.
"I'll continue with the same practice."
"Oh, Kelli also knows ASL," said Max. "So she sometimes helps if we have any deaf clients."
"That's good to know," Roma said with a smile.
"I'm going to take Roma out to introduce her to more of our volunteers and uniform officers that we work with on a regular basis," Max said, standing up.
"Alright," Kelli replied, also standing up seeing Mac in his office signing to her. "Excuse me, Mac just told me that Detective Benson is on her way up to his office."
"What? How?" Roma asked, looking around curiously.
"Mac told her thru the glass walls," Max indicated the glass walls with a sly grin.
"But I didn't hear him talking," replied a puzzled Roma.
"Mac also knows ASL," Kelli chuckled.
Kelli reached Mac's office the same time as Detective Benson.
"Good afternoon, Detective Taylor, Ms Taylor," said Detective Benson.
"Hi, you're recovered okay from your attack alright?" Kelli asked after shaking hands with the SVU detective.
"I should be getting the stitches out tomorrow," smiled the attractive detective. "I just wanted to update the both of you on what's been happening with the Mandrake case."
"Sorry for being a bit late," Stella said, as she breezed into Mac's office, closing the door behind her before sitting down.
"I just wanted to bring you all up to speed on the Mandrake case," Detective Olivia Benson said. "You already know that Bonasera and I got Shelby's statement last night. Well, based on her statement, D.A. Jack McCoy issued a warrant for Errol Mandrake's arrest and Detectives Stabler and Fin arrested him at his home last night. Unfortunately, Mr. Mandrake is some kinda big shot on Wall Street, so his high powered attorneys already have him out on bail."
"I've got the results back from the victim's SART kit from Adam," Stella reported. "The semen is a match to Mr. Mandrake, but he is not the vic's biological father."
"He isn't Shelby's birth father?" Kelli asked, looking at the other detectives.
"Was Shelby adopted?" Mac asked.
"No, Mrs. Mandrake is her biological mother," Stella said. "I questioned the mom again when I got these results, and she admitted to having a one night stand just before they became engaged. She just kinda hoped for the best and assumed that Errol was the father, especially since the baby had blonde hair like him."
"Hmm," Mac murmured.
"But the sad part of it, is the fact is that this sixteen year old girl is pregnant," Olivia stated.
"What!" Kelli exclaimed, as Mac and Stella both asked. "How far along?"
"According to the doctor's calculations, she's four months along."
"Too late for a possible abortion," Mac mused.
"Yeah," Olivia agreed.
"But didn't she have any suspicions that she was pregnant?" Kelli asked.
"No, she told me that she's been on birth control pills for the past couple of years to help control a very erratic cycle. And Mrs. Mandrake remembers that Shelby was on antibiotics four months ago due to an ear infection, but thought nothing of it because she assumed that her daughter wasn't sexually active."
"And the antibiotics cancelled out the birth control pills," Stella said, as Kelli nodded with understanding.
"So what happens now?" Kelli asked.
"There will be a preliminary hearing where a judge will determine if there is enough evidence to go ahead with a trial; unless Mr. Mandrake happens to plead guilty. But he is already denying that he is the father of Shelby's baby," Olivia reported.
"So, he's probably demanding a paternity test of the unborn baby," Mac said.
"Right and his lawyers are also demand a quick trial date," Olivia said.
"But don't they have to wait until the baby is born to determine paternity?" Kelli asked.
"There is a way to determine the paternity while the baby is still in the womb, but it can be risky for the baby and the mom which could result in a miscarriage," Stella reported.
Kelli gasped and grew pale at the word miscarriage, causing Mac to look sharply at his fiancée and grasp her hand. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, just memories, you know?"
"Yeah I know," Mac smiled wistfully. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."
"No, I'll be fine," Kelli replied, fingering her birthstone necklace, drawing Mac's and Stella's eyes, while Olivia looked curious at the couple's silent exchange.
Kelli looked at Olivia, apologizing. "Sorry for being so rude to sign in front of you. Just some personal issues."
"No worries," Olivia replied. "But you should also know that Mr. Mandrake says that if the baby proves to be his, that he plans on suing for full custody. He says that he won't have his son or daughter being raised by a gay woman."
"Bastard," Stella muttered.
"The D.A.'s office is working for an injunction against any paternity testing until after the baby is born. And hopefully Mrs. Mandrake's lawyers will be able to help prevent them from losing custody of the baby," said Olivia.
"But how is poor Shelby handling all this?" Kelli asked. "She's only sixteen years old, finding out that her dad is not her dad and pregnant to boot. I mean its mind boggling for me to take all this in and I'm an adult. Shelby is just a kid."
"The doctors at the hospital referred Shelby to a therapist," Stella said. "Hopefully the therapist will be able to help her deal with everything."
Later, Mac looked up when Kelli knocked on his office door before stepping inside. "Hey, finished for the day?"
"Uh huh, are you ready for a workout at the gym?"
"Yes, I'm definitely ready to work off some stress," Kelli replied, plopping down on the small couch.
"I just need to finish up with a couple of reports and then we can leave."
They looked up when Stella tapped on his office door before coming in. "Hey you two. Getting ready to head out?"
"Just waiting for Mac to finish up before we head for the gym," Kelli smiled at her friend.
"I just got some bad news Mac," Stella said, placing a folder on his desk.
"What is it?" Mac asked, flipping the file folder open.
"Roberta Gallagher, the office manager for the lab technicians is putting in her six month notice for her retirement," Stella reported. "She says that she wants to retire while she is still young and healthy enough to enjoy it."
"That name doesn't sound familiar," Kelli said.
"We all call her Bobby for short," Mac explained.
"Bobby's in her late 50's and has a strong Scottish accent," Stella continued Mac's explanation.
"Oh now I know who you mean," Kelli breathed. "We often compare recipes. She's a really nice lady."
"And a terrific office manager," Mac said, reading Bobby's resignation letter.
"She'll be missed, I've heard her referred to as the Dragon Lady by some of the lab techs," Stella quipped.
"Gerrard is not going to be happy to hear about this," Mac deadpanned.
"Are you kidding? He'll be over the moon," Stella smirked.
"I don't understand?" Kelli asked, looking at the two senior CSIs.
"Gerrard and Bobby butt heads quite often, she hates whenever he tells her how to manage the lab technicians. Bobby tells him to go back under the rock that he crawled out from under," Mac said with twinkling eyes.
"Mac's just being polite," Stella smirked. "Bobby always calls Gerrard a 'bastard' and for him to go to hell."
"Does she really?" Kelli chuckled. "Maybe that's why we get along so well together. We both can't stand Gerrard."
"You should apply for Bobby's position," Stella suggested. "You would make a great manager and it would be an increase in pay."
"Don't even go there Stella," Kelli laughed, looking at Mac's face. "Besides, I don't have any background in lab work. I just took secretarial training at Vocational school."
"Neither does Bobby," Mac replied. "Bobby oversees the technician's shifts and their timesheets, along with any related personnel issues."
"No, that's crazy," Kelli scoffed. "And besides I'm perfectly happy where I work right now."
"Just keep it in mind," Stella said. "Well, I've got to check on a few things before I can call it a day. I'll see you two tomorrow."
At the police gym, after changing into their workout clothes, Mac and Kelli helped each other with stretching and warming up their muscles; to prevent any possible injuries.
"Are you ready Kelli?" Mac asked, assuming a defensive stance on the padded mats.
"Bring it on," Kelli replied, assuming a similar position to Mac's.
The two grappled before Kelli unexpectly flipped Mac to the mat, in response Mac made a countermove and pinned Kelli to the mat where she tapped the mat a couple of times.
Getting back on their feet, the two circled each other before Mac moved quickly, grabbing his opponent who retaliated by pinning him briefly against the mat.
"Whoa!" Danny exclaimed to Don, the two detectives entering the gym; hoping to shoot some hoops.
"Is that Kelli pinning Mac?" Don goggled at the couple on the mat. The two male detectives watched as the couple got back on their feet, grinning at each other.
"Getting weak there boss?" Danny razzed. "Letting a tiny little thing like Kelli pin you."
"Don't even go there Danny," Mac warned as he reached for a towel to wipe the perspiration from his face, while Kelli drank some apple juice.
"Is that a challenge Danny?" Kelli asked, her eyes twinkling.
"Uh huh, no way," Danny replied.
"How about you Don?" Kelli turned to the tall homicide detective.
"I don't think so," Don grinned. "Besides it wouldn't be a fair match. My height and weight against yours."
"She may just surprise you Don," Mac grinned. "Fifty says that Kelli can bring you to your knees."
"Mac?" Kelli looked at her fiancé askewed.
"Dang!" Danny exclaimed. "Can I get in on this bet?"
"Are you serious?" Don asked, looking at the former Marine and his fiancée.
"I sure am," Mac traded smirks with Kelli. "Go change and get warmed up."
Word quickly spread throughout the NYPD gym like wildfire, various officers and detectives placing bets with Don being the clear winner.
Mac stood to one side of the gym, quickly briefing Kelli in ASL on what possible moves that she could expect from the experienced detective and possible counterattacks.
Don finally faced Kelli in the centre of the mats. "Don, I'm warning you now, I don't want you pulling your punches just because I'm smaller that you. I won't be," the petite woman smiled.
"I just don't want to hurt you," Don replied uneasily.
"Don't worry about me. You just worry about yourself," Kelli retorted.
Don moved and Kelli counter moved, trying to sweep the tall man's legs out from under him. Don avoided Kelli easily, laughing and taunting. "You may as well give in now little lady."
"Shut up and fight," Kelli shot back, dancing on the balls of her feet.
Don made a couple of grabs, which Kelli eluded like quicksilver; Don grabbed her leg sending her off balance down onto the mat. Don reached down with one hand, saying. "Here let me help you up. I hope that I didn't hurt you…," he yelped as Kelli grabbed his hand, sticking her leg up, sending him tumbling over her; onto his stomach, scrambling up still holding his hand, twisting it behind his back, using pressure points.
"Now what were you saying about a little lady," Kelli laughed in his ear.
"Okay, okay, now leggo my arm," Don griped.
Kelli released her hold and stepped back to the hoots and cat-calls from their audience, breathing hard. Don, smiling ruefully and shaking his head; got to his feet.
Mac laughed at a shocked Danny, wiggling his fingers in a pay up gesture.
"You've got to be kidding me Mac," Danny grumbled. "Come on you can tell me the truth. You three set this up as a joke."
"Do you want go a round with me?" Kelli whispered in Danny's ear.
"What I want to know is how?" Don asked.
"You made a common mistake with dealing with a smaller opponent," Mac explained. "You underestimated Kelli's strength and knowledge."
"And plus Mac showed me a few dirty tricks that he learned in the Marines."
"Kelli also used Don's height and weight against him."
"Huh?" Don said.
"Kelli, are you willing to do a demonstration with Danny?" Mac asked.
"Sure," Kelli smiled eagerly.
"I don't know Mac," Danny demurred.
"Oh come on Danny," Kelli grinned. "I won't hurt you….much."
"Scared Danny?" Don heckled.
"Heck no," Danny retorted, his Bronx pride rising. "Alright, bring it on."
"Kelli, you stand in the middle of the mat. Danny, you're going to come up behind her like you're going to grab her around the neck or the waist."
Kelli moved the centre of the padded mat, facing away from the shorter, blonde haired detective, who waited several moments before rushing up behind Kelli, putting his arm around her throat. To his utter surprise, Kelli grasped his thumb with both hands, bending it backwards, twisting under his now outstretched arm, kicking his thigh muscle, causing his leg to go numb, twisting his arm thus forcing him onto his knees.
"Now if you were really attacking me, I would bring my elbow down on your arm and thus possibly breaking or at least making your arm go numb," Kelli explained as she demonstrated the follow up moves without actually connecting.
The audience of cops and detectives applauded and Kelli saw money changing hands out of the corner of her eye.
"Alright, alright," Danny groaned. "Now can I have my thumb back before you break it off?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kelli replied, quickly releasing her grip and stepping back.
a/n: As for Kelli for getting onto Kendall's case about teasing Adam about his baby fat and tormenting him with the food – most people may have found that funny when they watched in the episode Commuted Sentences. I didn't find it one bit funny, as there is too much attention focused on everyone being one of the beautiful people, big people are often considered to be lazy and uncaring about their weight and because of society's perceptions can have low self esteem and eating problems.
Now I know that a tiny person like Kelli taking a man down the size of Don Flack doesn't sound very feasible, but hey its creative license and also I studied Hapkido (which is a Korean form of marital arts) for almost a year until I was forced to quit due to my health issues. Our instructor showed us various ways of defending ourselves against a larger attacker, and the moves that I described in Kelli's demonstration with Danny, are actual moves that I learned and used in class. I actually surprised myself and several others one evening, when one of the students during our break, surprised me by grabbing me from behind and I was able to break free from his hold around my neck much to his surprise…the instructor laughed.