Mac and Flack knew they couldn't do much without everyone being ready to go and they still had to figure out what the heck Rayne was protecting. "Mac, if this is about the necklace, why doesn't she give it up?" Jo didn't understand it.
"Maybe because the necklace she has, they aren't looking for but it's a copy," Lindsay answered looking at it. "Maybe that's why she kept trying to hide it. Because she knew it was a fake so if they saw it she knew they'd come after her," she suggested.
"But what's so important about that necklace? What was inside it? It had to be worth enough that they would resort to killing children to get to Rayne. She made her face known when she was attacked, she worked herself to the bone trying to save Wyatt's death from being in vain," Mac continued.
"Inside that necklace? It's a drug. A test one that was discontinued when it killed off an entire family. Rayne was given the last sample as a permanent reminder. A reminder of her family's curse," a male voice responded. Mac turned to see a man with dark blue hair in a ponytail held by a ribbon and he clearly had a prosthetic arm made of metal. "The Drop family was a selfish family. Risked everything and died for nothing. Rayne never knew the truth about it though. She was just told to protect the necklace with her life."
"You are?" Stella and Jo knew now that they had someone who might know what was going on with Rayne and why she had been getting targeted. "If you know something speak. Rayne's been targeted by her orphanage owner, raped by a set of people she trusted, and still isn't in the clear. She's lost friends over this," Stella snapped.
"Rayne was born to a pharmaceutical family. They were normally very good at their job and made products that did no harm. But one day a conglomerate blackmailed them with a lump sum of money into making an advanced drug to speed healing. What they did was find a way to regenerate cells but it went too quickly. Effectively killing off anyone exposed to it. Rayne's mom gave her the powder version that was safe. It was hidden in her necklace and she never took it off. But she always knew something wasn't right. I was assigned to protect her by her mother before she died. So I've done a lousy job. Unlike her new family I see," he answered.
"You attempted to protect Rayne. I think her biological family would appreciate that much. I know I do as I'm her adoptive father. Now what's your name and do you know where that necklace might be?" The man sighed and actually looked at Mac revealing his mouth was covered by a bandana and he revealed it for two seconds to reveal drug damage.
"My name is Byrne. It's all I remember. The girl's necklace? She promised me one day she'd destroy it. If she hadn't given up the information about the necklace or shown the real deal off, something tells me she followed through. She destroyed the powdered drug. Which means the necklace is gone. So her life could be too if you don't find her."
"Which we will find her though," Mac promised before the man left. "We now have more reasons to find Rayne. Someone who protected her is hoping she's alive," he continued before they all got their vests. "Our top priority going in is to find Rayne. Then we take her to interrogation. Now that we now she's the center behind all of this."
"But she's a kid," Jo responded.
"Why didn't she talk about the necklace?"
"Perhaps because she was never inside," Flack responded as he revealed that the cameras were online. "They got away with Rayne too." Mac growled and slammed his fist into the car before looking at the building. "Mac she can't be too far away. New York has always been her home."
"Which means we search it," Peyton greeted walking over and Mac looked at her shocked. "I had come to see Rayne and see how she was. But I heard from Danny. I'll help out too. We have to find her. Even though I'm back in London, she still started with me and I'm not abandoning her."
"Thank you Peyton," Mac responded before they all returned to the lab to see a package on the floor. "Flack," he began and after a few minutes everyone was in their offices avoiding the package. Mac and Peyton knew they could try and figure out what Rayne didn't know. "This man approached. His name was Byrne and he said that he was assigned to protect her. Her family was a wealthy pharmaceutical company," he continued.
"There's only a few pharmaceuticals in the area," Peyton responded revealing the list and Mac then decided to narrow it down based on owners and finally found the ones he needed. "Dimethyl Pharmaceuticals. Owned by the Drop Family. Legacy continued by their son that miraculously survived," he continued before revealing an old picture.
"Look at that little girl. That must be her," Peyton began and Mac focused on her for a minute and saw the necklace. A monarch butterfly. "That's Rayne as a little girl before her parents were murdered. Now what about the people around her?"
"The two standing behind her are her parents. Ethel and Diego Drop. The three around her? Two of them are bodyguards. Byrne is really Ronald Wyoming. He got injured in a work related accident. The other? He just went by Bane. Similar to the Dark Knight character, which I only know about thanks to our foster daughter's love of comics. His face was blown almost to bits and he miraculously survived. The cover? A product of Dimethyl. Keeps his pain levels in check. They were in charge of protecting her. The boy in front of Rayne? That's her biological brother who is said to have survived but there was a body they couldn't identify. I think Rayne's brother died and whoever is taking his name? Is responsible for this all."
"We need to link all the convicts so far though," Stella greeted walking in. "Bomb squad says that the thing is safe. We can look at it now," she informed and that made Mac and Peyton walk out quickly and open the box with Flack right with him.
As they pulled out the shirt, Flack covered his mouth. "Flack?" Peyton and Mac didn't realize the significance. Mac knew though if Flack looked worried then it probably meant it had something to do with Rayne. He looked and then pulled out a leather jacket as well.
"That's Rayne's shirt from today. I picked her up for school and she had that and a leather jacket on," he informed. Mac closed his eyes before he saw a conference room monitor come online and it had Rayne on it, so they rushed over to watch it.
"Well, if it isn't the Crime Lab of New York. Now I guess we see if their little girl's devotion to them is valued. Say hello Ray," he greeted and everyone watched as Rayne's head lifted and she had bruises already forming and she smiled weakly.
"Guys. I'm okay. It's about the necklace I wear. It's a fake. The real one is gone. Don't worry about me," she promised and Flack looked worried sick as Adam was already trying to trace the signal. "I should have known it was about that. You were the only one ever so dark and morbid. Remembering everything about you? Hurts. You shot down my best friend when she ran to hug me. She died because you thought you were doing your job. Even though she was a kid."
"I was to protect you and that other brat. I failed with him so I took up his identity. Meanwhile you ran around with the good version of the drug. Now I'm not going to ask again. Where is it?"
"Then I guess I'm dying. Because I don't have it and you'll never get it back," she warned.
"I got her. She's at the old Dimethyl Pharmaceuticals lab," Adam reported and Mac didn't hesitate to get up with the others to go and get their cars and guns. Arriving, everyone made sure they had enough magazines and protection.
"Now let's go get her," Flack decided before they all walked in and saw clear signs she had been there very recently. "Bane! Rayne! Come out!"
"Flack?" They glanced around and then saw Rayne poke her head out and she saw Mac. "Dad," she breathed in relief before running to him and he pulled her tight to his chest and couldn't help but sigh in relief to see she was still alive. "He's a couple levels up. He still thinks the drug exists."
"When did you figure out what this all was about?"
"When Byrne confronted me at school this morning. He reminded me about everything. I remembered my parents worked in a drug lab and I had something that I promised to destroy. When I clicked into it all I remembered during my days as one of the conspirators, I destroyed it like I promised. Bane always had connections. So it didn't surprise me that Bane was involved. I just knew that once someone learned that the drug was already gone, it might end in death so I tried to drop clues."
"We have to get you out of here."
"I'll take you to Bane. He's in hiding. You won't get there without my help," she responded looking at Mac.
Mac nodded and then watched as she walked ahead and Danny had went back for the bulletproof vest but she kept walking. "Rayne we should wait."
"Longer we wait, more likely Bane is to get away and keep terrorizing the State." As they arrived at a room, Rayne pulled off the lock and opened the door revealing Bane at a computer. "It's over Bane. Come out quietly and let's end this nightmare."
"Fat chance," he answered going to take a shot before he grunted in pain as his gun was knocked away by a knife. Rayne glanced up and gasped in shock at the sight of Byrne in the shadows. "You-," he rasped annoyed.
"Me. We had a duty to protect the children. You were assigned to protect Rayne's brother Jeremiah. You failed. So you were dismissed. So to get revenge? You decided to chase down Rayne and have her killed. But every time she survived. She had a family to protect her," he warned. As Byrne managed to knock Bane down and Flack cuffed him, everyone watched Rayne walk over to him and she looked annoyed. "I'd stay back Rayne."
"I just wanted to see him one last time," she answered kneeling and looking at him. "You were assigned to him and failed. Instead of telling the truth that he died by my parents hands, you lied about him. Now I have to live with that forever."
"Maybe not as long as you think," he began head bashing her and she groaned as she fell backwards but before anyone could say something they heard and saw the flash of gunfire. Mac ran over to Rayne's body first and saw it was a straight shot into her forehead. "Now the Drop Legacy is no more," he mused.
Peyton and Mac struggled to keep the bleeding in control as they rushed to an EMS vehicle that was waiting and they took off immediately. "Rayne? Rayne, sweetheart? You're in the ambulance. You're going to be okay," Peyton promised as she held her one hand that the other EMTs were not working with.
Arriving at the hospital, Peyton and Mac were nervous wrecks and Christine even stayed with them hoping to hear that the most she suffered was a bit of brain damage. But as hours went on, even the whole team arrived and felt hope draining.
"Family of Rayne Taylor?" Mac and Peyton walked over and shook the doctor's hand. "I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but we did everything we could. Every measure we took just made it worse and eventually she just gave up. She's gone. I'm sorry," he answered breathlessly.
The room stood still as they all digested that information. The girl that had not had her chance to live, was laying in a bed dead. Walking to where they could see her body, Flack was allowed to go in first as he was basically the big brother. "Hey Rainbow," he greeted shakily as he kneeled beside her bed and took her hand. The doctors knew the family had that right. "Remember how I said to enjoy being a 9 year old? I wish I could have helped with that more. Taken you to the park. Done some hoops with you. But instead you decided to be like Mac. A hero. Bane will be convicted of murder. You were such a little sister that someone wanted in their lives."
Slowly as all the lab members that knew her said their goodbyes, it came time for Mac to say his before the funeral, and he sat beside her bed and held her two hands. "Rayne," he began weakly. "You met me merely by the fight of your life back at the Lab. I never let you out of my sight and yeah we spent a lot of time trying to catch the people that hurt you. But I know that the moments in between? They were what I wanted. To wake up and see you eating waffles. Watching TV. Being a normal kid. Whenever you could, you put your health on the line to help us. With Renaldo, you faced being sexually assaulted twice. I thought you were the bravest little girl I met at that time. But seeing you deal with being a hostage and regardless of the consequences still thinking of the people of New York? You proved to me that heroes don't need to watch TV. They can be made by knowing what's right," he continued before a tear rolled down his cheek. "Fly high and know I'll always miss you."
Peyton watched as Mac stepped out and then burst into tears at the thought of a kid dying for him. "I won't be heading back for a while."