Chapter 45: Glad to be alive

Gus choked on her champagne, the glass falling from her hand and shattering on the marble tile. Terror swept over her body. This was the absolute worst case scenario and she didn't have a plan for how to handle it. She scanned the room for anything to use as a weapon as Navid grabbed her throat, his fingers biting into her flesh.

"I am sure you are wondering how I found out. I never would have but one of my special guests recognized you from a little mishap at the French Embassy a couple of years ago."

"Evie Pierpont," Gus choked out, trying to get in enough air, her head swimming. Navid pulled her along, her vision going blurry as her heels crunched over the broken glass.

Her heart swelled as she heard the commotion occurring below them, the SWAT team swarming the mansion, but her hope waned as her consciousness slipped away just as she realized the champagne had been drugged and Navid was currently chaining her to a wall.

She wasn't out long, Navid backhanding her back to reality. "You will stay awake, Savannah, or whatever your name really is."

Gus strained against the restraints encircling her wrists, attached by chains to a tiled wall. They appeared to be in some sort of shower room. Gus' struggles only served to amuse the man standing before her. Her kicks didn't meet their mark, as he danced out of the way, unbuttoning his tux shirt before landing a series of blows to her torso that would have left her in the fetal position if she hadn't been chained upright.

Gus could barely make out the sounds of the sweep going on around them, her reflexive cries drowning everything else out as they echoed off the tile before she mercifully passed out again.

Gus came to again. Her vision was blurry, but she was immediately aware of the relief in her arms, she had been unchained. She quickly realized Navid was holding her from behind, a knife blade against her throat as a string of Farsi escaped his lips.

Gus realized they were not alone, Jimmy Doyle standing in front of a team of heavily armed SWAT officers, guns trained on the pair in the middle of the room.

"Don't make this worse, Shirazi, no one has been seriously hurt, we can still make a deal," Doyle's voice was eerily calm, his eyes catching Gus', her silently pleading coming across clear.

"I don't make deals with filthy pigs!" Navid spit at them. "It is a shame, really, sweet belle, I could have given you everything," he whispered in Gus' ear, moving her hair back with the knife.

Doyle took this as his opening, lunging toward them with amazing speed, but not fast enough for the formidable Navid. He had the knife back up in a flash, slicing into Gus' flesh before she knew what was happening.

Doyle had already knocked him off-kilter though, so the blade missed its intended target of her carotid artery but was still deep enough to cut into her jugular veins, causing blood to pour from the gash.

Gus fell to the ground, grasping at her neck, fighting for air, Doyle going down with her, fighting her to put pressure on the wound. Bullets flew through the air, at Navid's escaping form, shattering the tiles behind them as Gus slipped once again into the sweet embrace of the darkness.

Flack walked home, feeling more confused than he thought he would after finally taking the plunge and kissing Jess. They had been flirting on and off for weeks and there was a definite spark between them. Not to mention she had been more than accommodating with his latest Samantha Flack fiasco.

But he couldn't help but think of Gus as he walked through the chilly night air. They had been engaged, for Christ's sake, he had been ready to spend the rest of his life with one woman, something his family thought would never happen. Then she had left him and New York, wounding him more than he would ever admit. He had loved her, maybe still loved her, but life with Gus was too complicated, something he had enough of with his job and his family.

Jessica Angell was straightforward, you always knew where you stood with her, there was no second guessing, over analyzing, head shrinking. How many times had the guys warned him about getting involved with someone who at their core was a psychologist, a traumatized psychologist?

He deserved to move on, he should move on, Gus seem to have. He almost missed the buzzing of his phone. Pulling it out, Flack sighed when he realized it was an NYPD number.

"Flack," he growled in greeting before hearing Jimmy Doyle's frantic voice on the other end of the line. Before he knew what he was doing, he was hailing a cab to get him to the precinct.

Flack caught Danny outside the 1-2. "Where the hell is Mac?" he asked, panic filling his voice in a way Danny hadn't heard before.

"I dunno, where have you been man? You look like hell."

"He isn't answering his phone and I gotta get, Doyle just called and Gus-" Don broke off.

"Flack, calm down, what the hell is going on?" Danny put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Don tried to explain what little he did know to Danny. None of the team had heard from her, only getting terse updates from the Special Vics squad that she was undercover and it was a big case that did not involve homicide.

He hadn't really worried about her, knowing she could take care of herself in nearly every circumstance, her stubborn toughness being one of the wedges between them. Not to mention he had been carrying on with Jess.

Danny took in enough of what he was saying to check out a lab truck, running lights and sirens the whole way out to Long Island.

Doyle met them at the lobby of the E/R, pacing a hole into the linoleum.

"How could you let her get locked in a room with someone like him?" Flack demanded upon seeing him, his one fist reared back before he knew what he was doing, clutching Doyle's bloody shirt in his other hand.

"Don, don't do it man", Danny interjected pulling Don's arm back.

Jimmy shook his head sadly, "I don't know, things got out of hand, but Gus is a fighter."

Flack stood over the man, not caring that the security guard was now approaching the trio.

"I know that a hell of a lot better than you do, bud. If she isn't okay, so help me God-"

Danny flashed his badge, which got the man to back down slightly, though he still moved them outside.

"What do you know, Doyle, how bad is it?" Danny asked.

"She lost a lot of blood, I tried to stop it as best I could but he still hit something. They were talking about a transfusion, do either of you know her blood type, we couldn't get in touch with her uncle or HR."

"O negative, universal donor, Red Cross is always circling her like vampires to give," Flack said, a smirk quickly falling flat. "God dammit, Doyle! How could you?" Flack said, punching the brick side of the building.

"Don, chill out, let's just be glad Gus is alive," Danny protested, hoping his friend could keep it together.

"Lieutenant?" a nurse came out into the parking lot, "we're moving your detective upstairs, we need the bed, there was a pile up on the highway."

"How is she?" Flack and Jimmy asked at the same time.

The nurse studied then men carefully, before turning to address Doyle, the man still covered in her blood. "Transfusion did the trick, stats are fine, though she did have a lot of GHB in her system, so she will be out of it for a while, not to mention her extensive contusions and a couple of cracked ribs, but she will be fine. Let us know when her family arrives."

Jimmy sighed with relief, despite busting up a crime syndicate, he wasn't feeling very successful. He looked at Flack and Danny, relief also clear on their faces. "Nurse Baumer, her family is here."

The nurse looked again at the other two men, shaking her head, "whatever, I am not paid enough, I'll show you to her room. Only one of you though." Without hesitation, Flack followed quickly behind.

Gus watched Don his sleeping form slumped in the chair by her bed, she didn't know how long he had been there. Hell, she didn't know how long she had been there. She was about to call for a nurse when he awoke, seemingly startled.

"Hey, how long have you been awake?" he asked, leaning forward.

Gus gave a shrug, "Dunno, not too long."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I got beat up and cut by a very large and angry Persian pimp," Gus replied wryly, her voice hoarse.

"Gus, how could you do something so dangerous?"

"Like you don't take stupid risks all the time, Don! I knew the risks before I took the job, I knew I was going in there without a gun. And it all worked out."

"All worked out, you were his human punching bag, he sliced your throat, you had to have a blood transfusion," he argued, moving to stand by the edge of the bed.

"But we shut them down. We saved countless girls. How is Jimmy doing by the way?"

Flack looked at her in disbelief, "you are lying here in the hospital and you wanna know how Jimmy is doing?"

"I just didn't know if he got shot when Navid went down."

"He's fine, they treated him in your ambulance on the way here and he was headed to the debriefing once I got here."

"Good," Gus nodded, wincing at the pain.

Flack studied her, debating how much to confess."I almost punched him out, Messer pulled me away."

"Don!" Gus admonished.

Flack gave her a small grin, "What?"

She pursed her lips, "I told you, you can't keep up with this jealous protective thing."

"Yes, I can."

"You can? Just why do you think that?"

He leaned in, debating kissing her, despite the added complication it would bring. "Because I still lo-."

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a while," a nurse said interrupting them, "Miss Broussard needs her rest."

"I was just leaving," Flack said, straightening and giving Gus a small wave before he left the room.

"Your boyfriend is certainly a looker, Miss Broussard", the nurse commented as she came over to check her vitals.

"Don? He's not my...aw hell, I don't know what he is," Gus sighed, feeling like she had been down this road before.

Chapter 46: I Can Tell

Gus half threw her hands up from her bed. "So what haven't I missed and am I going to frigging get out of here before Christmas?"

"Glad to know you are remaining in good spirits, Gussie," Mac said, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, it's just been too damn long and now I have been in not one, not two, but THREE hospitals and-" she tried to sigh, but the pain was still too much.

"A pulmonary edema and sepsis are nothing to mess with but you should be out of here soon, Augusta. Recovery will be much quicker if you take it easy."

"I know, I talked with my Loo yesterday, modified desk duty. Never thought I would be so happy to be on modified desk duty."

Mac studied his niece carefully, she had missed a great deal between being undercover and in the hospital, the least of which was the personal dynamics happening in the lab.

"Which Lieutenant?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Daddino. I am done with the Special Vics squad, at least for now. Doyle can have fun with that without me. I will happily stick to dead vics for the time being. Now are you going to finish catching me up since no one seems to be able to come and visit me?"

"Augusta, be reasonable, you couldn't have visitors for most of the time you have been in the hospital."

"Which has made it all the more wonderful," Gus grumbled. She stopped after seeing Mac's steely expression.

She knew she was being childish, but between hearing about Sid's radiation poisoning, the lab budget cuts, this drama about the stolen flash drive and the Ella drama, which she found most distasteful, she felt even further away than when she ran away to New Orleans.

"Be careful, Uncle Mac, this Ella chick sounds way unbalanced. Coming from a former mental health professional and unbalanced chick!"

Mac cleared his throat, "Yes, well, speaking of which..." he trailed off, Gus raised her eyebrows, but remained silent, knowing Mac would get around to whatever he wanted to say in his own time.

"Have you thought about going to speak to Dr. Lyons again, seeing as what you have been through?"

"Is that a question or an eval order?" Gus replied, even though she had already been in contact with good old Lyons, baiting Mac was one of the only forms of entertainment she currently had. He seemed to struggle with a reply. "Stop worrying, Mac, I must be growing up, I already called Lyon and have had a couple of phone sessions and will be in his office as soon as I get out of here."

Mac's relief was palpable. "Good, I'm glad to hear that. Not as glad as I am that you are okay. Now if you and Reed could both stay safe."

Gus tried to give a short laugh, clutching at her ribs as pain moved through, she tried to play it off, even though she knew Mac could see right through her. "Us, how about you? At least we all got being held captive out of our systems!"

They both had to nervously laugh at this, stopping only when a knock came at the door and Lindsay poked her head in. "You certainly sound in better spirits!" she exclaimed, taking in Mac and Gus with a smile on her face.

"Linds!" Gus said, excitement clear in her tone.

"And Messer," Danny added, coming into view as Lindsay pushed the door open, a large bouquet of flowers in his hand.

A wide, genuine grin spread across her face. Mac gave a nod at the couple, knowing the news they had to share. "I'll leave you to friends your own age, Gussie, and hopefully I will be taking you home soon." He kissed her on her forehead and was gone in a flash.

Danny and Lindsay came into the room, Lindsay taking the flowers from Danny and placing them in the vase by Gus' bed.

Gus looked at them, the pair seeming to be an odd mixture of happy and nervous. "okay, what is up with you two? I'm fine, out of the woods, not going to break, going home soon supposedly and I have some awesome pain meds. And if Uncle Mac told you to be careful with me, dear Lord, I will have a talking with him-" Gus caught off as Danny and Lindsay shared a long look and both broke out in laughter.

"Same old Gus," Danny quipped.

Lindsay rolled her eyes, "I told you she would know something was up."

"Yes, I lost a lot of blood, not my remarkable powers of observation, so spill." Gus folded back the blankets, moving her legs over the side of the bed, pulling herself to a sitting position.

"Well, you see, it's like this..."Danny started, running his hand through what was left of his hair.

Gus noted he had cropped it very short and also wasn't wearing glasses. What else had she missed in the past few months?

"We're pregnant!" Lindsay exclaimed, not able to keep it in. She may have turned down Danny's proposal, but that didn't mean she didn't love the man or the baby growing inside her.

"You and Danny?" Gus squeaked, looking between the two of them, as Danny moved in to Lindsay, wrapping his arms around her.

"You, you I can see, I've always known you would have like a million babies, but Messer, a little Messer in this world, isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?" she shook her head, with a smile, dropping gently out of bed and giving them both the biggest hugs she could manage.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Broussard, you sound like Flack," Danny remarked.

Gus caught Lindsay elbowing Danny slightly at the mention of Don's name. "What, what is it, is Don okay?" He had sent flowers and called a few times, but she hadn't had much interaction with him since her first night in the hospital in Long Island.

"Yeah, Donnie boy is just fine," Danny replied, staring daggers at Lindsay.

"Oh, good, because I would just like everyone to stay safe and not do anything stupid for at least the next little bit. In fact, I think that is all I want for Christmas and my birthday, that and to be the hell out of here."

Lindsay squeezed her friend's arm. "Good luck with all of that, Gus."

A nurse appeared in the doorway. "Sorry, folks, stats check time."

"Take care of yourself, BB, we miss you down at the 1-2," Danny said, using her old nickname and giving her a hug and a trademark Messer sly smile.

Lindsay did the same. "If you need anything, let me know."

"Right back at you, sweets, take care y'all and congratulations. I can't wait to spoil your little bundle of terror!"

Chapter 47: Tell the boy you're sorry

"So I was right about Ella, she was cuckoo for coco puffs huh?" Gus asked Mac, settled into the passenger side of his Avalanche as he drove her home after finally being discharged from the hospital

Mac's mouth went into a straight line, "is that your professional diagnosis?"

"Yep," Gus said with a smirk, "I'm just saying I called it, I'm not saying I like that she fixated on you or tried to commit suicide, I'm just saying I knew she had issues. Big, fat issues."

"Yes, thank you for that warning," Mac pulled up in front of Gus' building, putting the police business placard on the dashboard. "Wait a second and I'll-" Mac's point was moot, as Gus was already being helped out of the truck by an overeager Adam as Sheldon grabbed her bags from the backseat.

"Are you okay? How awful was the food? You look tired. I mean you look great, but like you have been in a hospital, which I mean I guess is the case, it's just I've missed you, everyone has missed you-"

"Adam, Adam!" Gus had to nearly shout to get his attention. "Can we move this inside, it is freezing out here? I've missed y'all too."

Adam nodded, half dragging Gus into the building, Sheldon holding the door open and shaking his head. "Welcome home, Gus," he said with a smile.

"Thanks, Shelly," Gus patted his face, happy to be home.

Gus was even happier when they swung open the door to her apartment.

Her living room was filled with the lab team, a couple of the homicide detectives, Jimmy Doyle, Lieutenant Fields and her baby.

A banner stretched across the length of the room and the entire apartment was filled with the smells of home cooking and the sounds of laughter and love.

She was overwhelmed by this outpouring, trying unsuccessfully to hide her tears as Reed came in from behind her giving her a large hug. Gus half yelped, turning to see who it was. "Cuz!" she said, wiping at her eyes.

"You know we could have just gone with matching tattoos instead of scars," Reed teased, though his hands went unconsciously to the angry red scar encircling his throat.

"I'll remember that next time, sugar," Gus said, kissing his cheek, her much smaller scar still covered with gauze.

Her head swiveled at the sound of champagne being opened, finding Danny grinning ear to ear and Lindsay admonishing him for dripping all over the hardwood floors.

"It'll clean, darling!" Gus said, happily accepting the glass that was offered to her, willing herself to not think of the last time she drank bubbles.

She moved about the apartment, catching up with everyone, trying to ignore the tension between Stella and Mac, certain she would get two very different stories from each of them as well as pretending she didn't see Jess and Don looking very comfortable sharing her chair and a half.

She supposed it explained his distance while she was in the hospital, but that didn't stop her heart from shattering a little. Parker and Doyle followed her, looking overly concerned and both trying to mark their territory on her.

"Would y'all please stop clucking after me like mother hen's?" Gus whirled to stare at them in the doorway of the small kitchen, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"Doyle, I am going back to homicide, though I know I will be spending plenty of time doing trial prep for you, I got that, I can do both. Daddino wants me back on cold cases, and even though I never thought I would say it, I am looking forward to spending time down in the box room. Parker, I am fine, I swear, I am not going to break, so stop watching me like a hawk! Now get out of my kitchen, both of you." Gus stared them down until they both backed away, relishing the brief bit of silence in her escape, until she heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. She looked up, not sure what to make of his presence.

"You look tired."

Gus gave a wry smile, "you sure know how to make a girl feel special, Flack."

He shook his head slightly, "that isn't what I meant. I just know how overwhelming it can be having everyone all over you, acting like you are going to die any second. Thanks for never doing that by the way, if you hadn't-" Flack broke off, the pair staring at each other, lost in the memories after the bombing when Gus rescued him from the clutches of his mother and sister, who were nursemaiding him to the brink of madness. "I'm glad you're home."

"Me too," Gus paused for a moment, her heart and head doing battle. "Look, Don, I just want to let you know how sorry I am. I never meant to-" She cut off as Jessica Angell came up behind his form, her look more lustful than professional.

"I was about to head out, Don, didn't know if you wanted a ride. Glad you are back, Broussard." She looked at Gus, her dark eyes searching for some reaction in the other woman, a territorial gleam coming through loud and clear.

"Yeah, so am I," Gus finally choked out, studying the two of them intently, as her heart shattered.

"See you back in the pit, sunshine," Flack said, either not catching or ignoring what was happening between the female contingency in the kitchen. He gave Gus a kiss on the cheek, and a light squeeze before following after Angell.

Gus wanted to fall to pieces on the tile floor, but her upbringing forced her to be the good hostess. Her apartment was filled with well wishers, and she couldn't hide out in her kitchen forever.

She took as deep of a breath as possible, squaring her shoulders and plastering a smile on her face as she returned to the living area. Luckily, no one seemed to notice her absence and they seemed to attribute the pain in her eyes to her injuries, not to her breaking heart. Everyone except Sheldon, that was.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked as people started taking their leave. His dark eyes were filled with empathy.

"Talk about what, Shelly?" Gus volleyed back, a smile still plastered on her face until he shook his head and left.

"Thanks for coming," she said, walking Parker, Doyle, Fields and her baby to the door after Sheldon's departure.

Stella left with Adam, still glowering at Mac, who was deep in conversation with Reed. Lecturing the younger man by the pleading look on his face.

"Uncle Mac, there is a no cornering family rule in my apartment!" she said, slipping an arm around her cousin's waist. Reed whispered his thanks.

"I am getting too old to keep worrying about you two all the time," Mac said, half teasing.

They rolled their eyes in unison, causing the trio to break into light laughter. "Now don't you have somewhere more exciting to be than my boring soiree?" Gus asked, trying to give Reed an out, which he happily took.

"Yeah, I've got a band to cover, for a freelance gig," Reed said, reaching for his coat.

"Doesn't that sound fun, and safe?" Gus shot Mac a warning look.

Mac pursed his lips. "Point taken, Gussie. Have a good time, Reed." He waved the younger man off before turning back to his niece. "I am serious when I say I worry about you."

"I think you have recently proven that I have every right to worry about you too, Uncle Mac!" Gus protested, happy for the interruption of Lindsay and Danny, who were getting a ride with Mac.

Mac gave her a small hug. "Stop by the lab on Monday, when you get settled back in."

"Let me know if you need anything this weekend," Lindsay said as Danny helped her into her coat.

Gus gave her friend a sincere smile. "Thanks for everything, Linds, this place looks more homey than it has in months."

It was true, Lindsay had not only cleaned her place from top to bottom, she had reorganized Gus' belongings including getting things out of the storage locker, covering up the holes left from the removal of Don's things.

"Isn't it too early to be nesting though?" she said with a grin, genuinely happy for her two friends.

"Not for you, sweetie!" Lindsay replied, drawing her friend into an emotional hug.

"Come on, let's go before the waterworks start," Danny said, only half teasing.

"Call me if you need anything," Lindsay called over her shoulder as Mac and Danny moved to call on the elevator.

Gus maintained her composure until shutting the door to the apartment. Upon turning the deadbolt, she sank to the floor in a heap, letting her hot, lonely tears fall.