Alison sat in the small room. She was counting in her head. That was the only thing that she could do to keep from going mad. There were 112 cinderblocks in the wall to her left. She had counted them over and over. Focusing her mind on the number as she went. Every time she counted, she was that much closer to it being over. She looked down at the blood. He kept her alive no matter how hard she tried. The beeping on the monitor ensured that if anything went wrong, he would be here. To fix her in the way he liked it. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the number in her head. The door opened, and fear shot through her.

"Alison." She shot up in bed, throwing her arms out in front of her as she pressed up against the headboard. The nightlight by her bed allowed her to see Greg standing at the foot of the bed. He was holding his hands up. She tried to slow her breathing as tears rushed to her eyes. She was safe.

"What?" It was all that she could say as the fear was still too fresh in her mind.

"I'm sorry, Ally, but Mac's been shot." She stared at him, sure that her mind was playing tricks on her. Greg moved closer, keeping his hands up where she can see them. "Stella called. I have to go to the scene, and you're needed at the lab. I called Erin. She's going to come by and pick Ethan up and take him over to Dad's house. Mrs. Dorfman from downstairs is going to stay here until Erin gets here." Greg held out his hand to her, and she took it with trembling fingers. "Take a deep breath." His voice was low and even. Alison did as he said, slowly getting out of bed.

"Do…" Her voice cracked. "Do you know if Mac's alright?" Greg frowned.

"Stella was on her way to the hospital when she called me." Alison nodded. Greg, who had been walking towards the door, stopped looking at her. She gave a slight nod, and he pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry I scared you." Alison closed her eyes.

"It wasn't you." was all that she could say.

"I'm still sorry."

Greg walked into the pharmacy. Messer ran up to him.

"Hey, man, have you heard anything?" Greg pulled on a pair of gloves as he looked over the scene.

"Stella said that he was in surgery, and she would give a call with an update in about 30 minutes." Messer nodded, pulling his camera out.

"Is Al at the Hospital with her." Greg looked over at him. The shock on his face at the question. "Ah man, I'm sorry I didn't think." Greg waved him off as he placed a marker down by one of the pools of blood.

"It's fine. I even forget sometimes. She's at the lab helping Sid with the stuff the hospital sends over. I would have had her come here before sending her to the hospital. Frank is over there now sitting with. Christine. I Stella said that Reed is on his way back from his work trip. I think Adam said he would go pick him up at the Airport. That way, he wouldn't have to ride in a cab." Messer nodded his head. Greg set another marker down. He, however, noticed that Messer was staring at him.

"What!" he snapped out. Messer took another picture.

"Well, I hate to be the one to say it, but you seem a bit uptight." Greg clenched his jaw.

"Mac's in the hospital. What do you expect." Messer continued to take pictures.

"No, that's what everyone else might say, but you have been like this all week. This only pushed you over the edge. So spill it." Greg made an not on the direction the shoe printed went. They would have to eliminate the paramedic that transported Mac.

"It's the Aniversiery." Messer paused the camera halfway to his face.

"How many years?"

"12 the first time in 4 months. It will be 3 for the second." Messer whistled.

"How is she handling it." Greg knew he was asking because he cared, but Greg just wanted the conversation to be over right now.

"Did you pull the tapes," Greg asked, pointing at the camera over the counter.

"Not yet. There's only one camera, so hopefully, it gives us what we need. It's pointed away from the counter." Greg looked over at him.

"That makes no sense." Messer shrugged his shoulder.

"That's what I said, and you didn't answer my question." Greg glared at him.

"That was intentional." Messer took another picture.

"I only ask because I care."

"Yeah, well, tonight was the first night in the past 3 weeks where she didn't spend the night in the bathroom with the locks thrown. And when I woke her tonight, she nearly knocked me out. So I'm sorry if I don't want to talk about it. I have enough on my mind with Mac. I don't need you to bring things like this up." Greg suddenly becoming aware of how loud he had gotten turned back to making notes.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry."

Alison pulled up the security image on the main screen.

"Alright, Flack, it looks like your looking for a woman in her mid 20 with long dark hair and a white hoodie. I'll send the image to your phone." She typed in the information.

"She looks to be about five feet six inches and 125 pounds." He said when he got the image.

"That's consistent with where the bullet hit Mac."

"I can't see her face. I thought you were going to clean this image up. Don't you know this is the person that shot Mac!" Flack's raised voice caused Alison to jerk back, bumping into the table behind her.

"I..I..I." Her mind was seizing up. Adam walked into the lab he hurried over to the phone.

"Alison and I will do our best, Flack." He hung the phone up. Alison looked down at her feet.

"I…" She bit her quivering lip. Adam walked over to one of the other computers.

"Don't worry about it. I get it." Alison took a deep breath nodding.

"I thought you were taking Reed to the Hospital?" Adam didn't bother to look over at her.

"I did, but there were a lot of people there, so I thought I would be more help here." Alison nodded, easing up to her computer.

"Do you think we can get the shooter?" She asked as she combed through the footage.

"It might just be a partial, but it's something."

Greg and Messer pulled up to the location of the shooter with a whole tactical team.

"You and Lindsay head inside. I'll watch the perimeter." Greg said. Messer entering the apartment building with the team. Greg pulled out his gun, slowly making his way around the back.

"Preparing to enter," Messer said over the radio. There was a metal crash that sounded like a trashcan being knocked over. Greg round the corner just as the suspect bolted out of the ally. Greg quickly holstered his gun-running after her.

"Sanders, we just missed her," Messer said.

"I know I'm in pursuit," Greg called out, telling the streets they were passing. He was about 20 feet behind the girl. She crashed into a set of water jugs, knocking them over. Get was forced to leap over one. His knee almost giving out on the landing. "Still in pursuit heading east." He reported. Rounding the corner, he spotted her duck into a bus yard. Greg couldn't fit through the opening like her. the team arrived, and he called for something to cut the chain.

"There's no way out," Lindsay reported.

"There's two. Dead or in handcuffs." Messer corrected her. An Eddie ran up, cutting the chain off for them. Greg pulled the gate opened and headed in with Messer and Lindsay close behind him. The helicopter overhead was providing them some light, but it was still dark. They entered one of the rows of busses, and Messer pointed at a form at the end of the row. Greg didn't wait. He ran after her.

"Cut her off." He called out the team. "We need to tighten this circle." Greg round the corner, and she was gone again. There was gunfire to his left.

"Tina," Lindsay called out the suspect. "She got away."

"You alright," Messer asked.

"Yeah." Greg continued down the row quickly, being careful to keep track of where his team was. Another set of shots went out.

"She's on top of the busses." Messer updated. Greg's eyes instantly lifted to the tops.

"Freeze! Drop the Weapon." The officer on the helicopter called out.

"I need an update," Greg said into his radio.

"Suspect off the roofs and headed toward the entrance gate." Greg spotted her run by. He dropped to the ground. Rolling under the bus, he grabbed her foot, tripping her. He moved to his feet, pointing his gun at her.

"You're under arrest."

Alison stepped into the master bedroom, helping Greg over to the bed.

"I can not believe you ran after that person." He thudded on the bed, and she handed him an ice pack.

"She would have gotten away if I hadn't," He said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, and having to come and pick you up at the hospital was just how I wanted to end my day." She leaned forward, kissing him. "I'm glad you're alright." She walked into the bathroom tossing her hair tie on the counter. Her eyes landed on the two large locks on the door. "Dad said that Mac is going to be

"Alison." Greg's voice came from the doorway. He had hobbled his way over and was leaning against the door where the locks connected.

"I was thinking that we could take Ethan to the park tomorrow. Since we both have it off. We car park close to the lake so you don't have to walk far, and he can see the ducks."

"Alison." He repeated. She looked over at him, her eyes on the locks.

"What." Her voice was weak.

"Will you be alright tonight." She looked down at her feet.

"I don't know." Greg nodded.

"I can get you the blanket and pillow if you want. She shook her head.

"No, I'll try to start in the bed."

"You don't have to. I understand."

"I know. I just want to pretend to be normal just for a few hours."

"Then we can do that."