Liz POV


I'd probably be asleep on my feet if it wasn't for adrenaline.

And caffeine.

I was filled with both in equal measures, because I was working on hour number thirty-six.

Not necessarily unheard of in my profession, but when combined with my recent high stress levels, it was enough to wear a girl down.

Last night, after my husband romanced me in our living room, regaling me with mostly fabricated tales of his misspent youth, we were summoned to Alex and Bobby's house by a frantic Logan.

And when I got there, I could understand why.

Bobby was a mess, and he deteriorated right before my eyes.

I had flashbacks to the night when Logan cracked his head a couple of times on the table in Steve-O's, the night John was shot, only that time, once Logan had come around, he was mostly lucid.

Whatever false reality he'd been in while his eyes were closed, once he opened them, he was alert and oriented.

Not so with Bobby.

By the time we got to the hospital, he'd forgotten that he's married to Alex, and I won't claim to know everything about the man, but I do know, without a doubt, that there isn't anything in this world more important to him than her.

"You can stand there and say, without a doubt, that he's going to come out of this exactly like he was before?" Alex had asked me.

And I wanted to reassure her, but I couldn't lie.

Not about something so important.

"No."

I hope she appreciated my honesty.

I think she did, but I'll have to talk to her about it later.

I left her in Logan's capable hands and headed off to do the thing I do best.

I autopsied the man Alex killed.

Lucas Montoya was his name, and based on CSU's report of the crime scene, and on the amount of GSR on the victim's hands, and the fact that he had a gunshot wound to the shoulder, indicating she'd tried to subdue him without using lethal force, I was easily able to offer my opinion that the shoot was good.

I passed on my findings to Danny.

"Where are you?" I asked when he came on the phone.

"Major Case. Marshal Dunn picked up a suspect who was casing the apartment."

"That's great."

"Not yet it isn't. He's already lawyered up and we don't have him on much of anything. What about you?"

"My findings back Alex's story. How fast can you get her cleared?"

"As far as I'm concerned, she already is. I just need to file the right documentation. I'll take care of that as soon as I get back to my office."

"You're going there now?"

"You thought I'd go home? Not without you."

And the change of his tone from business to pleasure didn't escape my notice.

"Maybe if you get some time, you can swing by and drink a cup of coffee with me," I suggested.

"You just want me to bring you some of the good stuff so you don't have to ingest that sludge in your break room."

"Guilty," I admitted. "So…"

"I'll be by in a little bit."

And he did drop by shortly thereafter, but unfortunately, by that point, I was out in Queens, picking up the body of Lisa Rorer.

When I returned to the morgue, I found two cups of coffee in my office, along with Danny, who was sound asleep at my desk.

I paused in the doorway for a moment, watching him sleep, and then I went and picked up one of the cups.

It was cold, but since it was roughly five a.m., I drank it anyway, and then got started on my second autopsy of the day.

Lisa Rorer was strangled to death roughly forty-eight hours ago.

Upon closer examination, I found evidence of repeated beatings, including several healed fractures.

"Do I want to know who you're working on now?"

I stepped back from the body and turned to find Danny coming out of my office.

"Sleeping beauty awakens," I teased.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said self-consciously. "Mary sent everyone else home to get a few hours of sleep, so I thought I'd spend the time with you, but…"

"You should've gone home. Especially when you saw that I was gone."

"I wanted to wait," he said stubbornly. He crossed the room and kissed me quickly and then said, "I'm going to run out and get some fresh coffee. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

"Don't go anywhere," he added with a grin.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

He got back ten minutes later, so I finished working up Lisa Rorer while he leaned against the counter and kept me company.

Oh, and while he was gone, I drank the other cup of cold coffee, and then when he got back, I worked my way through the steaming cup that he retrieved from the bodega down the block.

Thus my edginess by eight-thirty.

Well, the caffeine, the adrenaline, and the information from Mulder that he'd uncovered the birth certificate.

Cecilia Elizabeth Chambers was born on December 27, 1981.

How nice of my roommate to give the child my name, I thought cynically.

I guess she thought it was a show of gratitude or something, I don't know.

And it doesn't really matter…I mean, Elizabeth Anne Chambers was listed as the name of the mother, with my approval, but still…

Giving the baby my name as her middle name indicated a bond…one that doesn't exist since I didn't even know whether the child was a boy or a girl.

I didn't know the date of birth, either, since it happened over the winter break.

But I could only guess that when this girl…Cecilia…when she accessed the birth record and saw that connection…I don't know what she must have felt.

But I feel kind of bad for her.

Although, not too bad, I guess, since she's apparently trying to blackmail me now.

Too bad for her it won't work.

Danny left around seven-thirty to pick up Jeremy, and only a few minutes after he left, Mike and Carolyn dropped by.

"I don't think I have any of yours," I remarked good-naturedly, but then I took in the sight of Mike. I'd noticed that he looked a little rumpled at the hospital, but I guess the colors were all in full bloom now.

Black eye, bruised jaw, busted lip…

Honestly, the sight of him made me want to pull him into a hug.

"No, I've got a personal favor to ask," Mike replied as he cast a nervous glance in Carolyn's direction.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to do a DNA swab."

And then he told me about the man in Boston who he thinks may be his real father.

"It's important for you to know," I stated, thinking about Cecilia.

Was she just so desperate to find her birth mother that she was willing to pull out all of the stops? Is that why there was a threat of blackmail? Just to try to get me to admit to it?

I was going to have to place a call to my old roommate. I probably should've done it already, but I hadn't planned on giving up her name.

Maybe I should, though.

I mean, with her permission.

Because seriously...it's been thirty years. What could she possibly be afraid of now?

"It is," Mike agreed quietly.

"How long before you'll have the results?"

"I'll fast-track it," I promised. "Twenty-four hours at the most."

And then, because I still had the overwhelming urge to hug him, I took off my gloves and wrapped my arms around Mike.

"It was a long night, huh?" I mused. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks," he insisted, returning my embrace. "And Bobby's out already."

"Alex texted me. He sounded good?"

"He sounded like Bobby," Carolyn replied with a smile as I moved from Mike to her, giving her a quick hug.

I couldn't help it. I was feeling especially emotional.

Must be all of that caffeine and adrenaline.

Or at least, that's my story.

"He'll be back to poking around down here soon enough," Mike added, grinning and then wincing as his lip started to bleed again.

"No smiling," I told him as I handed him a piece of gauze.

"Shouldn't be a problem. We're headed back out to the island to round up some wise guys. I can't imagine there'll be anything funny about that."

"Watch yourselves," I warned. "We don't need any more trips to the hospital."

"Not this week anyway, right?" Mike joked. Then he looked at me curiously and asked, "So you're doing okay? The other night at dinner you seemed a little…distant."

"I'm good," I said. "Really good, in fact."

And then my phone started buzzing, and I saw that it was Danny, so I said goodbye to the Logans and answered the phone.

"I'm heading into a meeting with the commissioner as soon as I drop Jeremy off. Apparently he's a little upset that he doesn't know what's going on with this joint investigation. Hell, I barely know what's going on with it. What am I supposed to tell him?"

I tucked the phone between my ear and my shoulder and went back to work while I listened to Danny vent about the commissioner.

It was nice to feel a sense of normalcy, and it was really nice that Danny was making such an effort to stay connected with me.

If he keeps it up, he's going to lose that biggest asshole in the Ross household title.

I'll be taking it over.

"Okay, so I'm getting ready to go in. I'll call you when I finish," he told me. "And if you need me sooner…"

"I know where to find you."

"Good. And Jeremy said to tell you hi."

"I'll text him later. He's really turning into a worry wart."

"He loves you. So do I."

I smiled and returned the sentiment, and then hung up and glanced at the clock.

Yep, I was at the thirty-six hour mark and my head was buzzing from lack of sleep, but the day was just beginning.

I started processing Mike's DNA sample, and that was when Lauren and Eames walked into the autopsy suite.

"This place is really Grand Central Station," I remarked.

"You've had a lot of visitors?"

"Both living and dead," I answered. "Give me a second to get the ball rolling on this and then you can tell me what you know."

The two of them waited patiently while I finished the process and then I motioned them into my office.

"We spoke with Mulder this morning," Lauren began. "He said that he talked to you."

"Yes. He gave me the name. Cecilia Chambers."

"Right, and then he went back in to figure out who had hacked the Social Security system because someone would've needed to find the social associated with Elizabeth Chambers and then run it to find out who was using that number now in order to find you as Elizabeth Rodgers," Eames explained.

"I wondered about that. I guess he found something."

"Mulder? The kid's a genius. I wish I had a tenth of his skill on a computer," Lauren answered. "But as it is, I'm just glad he's on our side. Yes, he found evidence of the hack, and it occurred last Saturday, two days before the first contact was made with you. He's still working on tracking down the origin, but in the meantime, we're working on tracking Cecilia."

"Well, she might not have kept her name. I mean, she probably didn't. If she was adopted out…"

"She kept her name," Eames stated. "She was never adopted."

"What? Never? She was an infant."

"I know," Lauren agreed. "We're still looking into what happened. We're just getting started with this information, but what we need to know is how you want to handle this. Do you want to approach her? Are you interested in pressing charges? Can we divulge the name of her actual mother, or…"

"Wow. Um…I'm not sure. I guess I need to call her. The mother, I mean. Or I need to find her first, and then make contact and see what she thinks."

"And if she says no?" Lauren asked me.

And I know what she's thinking.

How fair is it of me to withhold that information?

If I hadn't volunteered my ID, then she would've found her real birth mother. Instead, I'm cheating her out of the opportunity.

And whether or not the mother wants to be found doesn't change the fact that she would've been found if not for my willingness to defraud the system.

"Let me think on it," I said at last. "See what you can find about the girl, and keep me posted on what Mulder uncovers with the hacker. I don't think charges are in order at this point. It might just have been scare tactics to get me to admit the truth."

"And if it's not?"

"Then what? You think she's going to come after me?" I asked skeptically.

"She's almost thirty, Liz. She's not a kid. And she might've had a hard life. Maybe she holds you somehow responsible."

"Find everything you can without making actual contact."

"Do you want us to help you find the roommate? Or do you know where she is?"

"I don't, no. But I'll try first, and if I strike out, I'll let you know."

TBC...