Chapter 2 – Eternal slumber
The two CSI's and the NYPD officer made they're way down to the basement apartment which the murder which they would be investigating had taken place.
Mac and Danny flinched as a rat bolted up the stairs evidently after having been interrupted by flacks accidental disturbance of a nearby bin bag which had been carelessly chucked down the steps they were now cautiously descending.
Danny had to quickly pull himself together, he was really not in the mood or state for surprises so the rat had almost given him a heart attack.
Mac noticed the significant affect the rats sudden movement had on Danny and internally he became even more concerned for his CSI's health. It was pretty hard to rattle Danny; ok he could get angry at the drop of a hat but scared? No Mac had never seen Danny scared. Danny was certainly out of sorts.
"Hey guys don't go all female on me it's only a rat!" Said a laughing Flack; clearly amused by the shocked response Mac and Danny had given.
"Look flack I know it might seem weird them being closely related to you n'all but rats aren't cute cuddly or fun so I reserve the right to be a little freaked out ok" Drawled Danny to a surprised audience of Mac and Flack
All three of the chuckled, the feeling of dread that had been building in Mac's chest became less. Maybe Danny was all right after all; well at least he hadn't lost his sense of humour.
Flack laughed a little louder than was necessary "Now there's the Danny Messer we all know and love, but I have to warn you if it had been anyone else they wouldn't have gotten away with that remark." Flack replied still shaking with laughter. 'Well Messer can't be that badly off if he's still ripping the piss out of my sorry ass' Flack concluded.
They reached the bottom of the flight of stairs and entered through an already open apartment door. Inside was damp and dark the only source of light coming from a failing strip light above them, and almost immediately underneath lay the victims body.
Danny didn't know whether it was because he was already nauseous but he found the sight of the body quite gruesome.
The thin young man lay splayed across the bare concrete floor in a pool of blood stemming from what Mac concluded to be the obvious cause of death.
"Looks like someone was trying to make a human head kebab" Said flack
"Well they certainly made a pretty good go of it" Mac said in agreement
The body had the top of a wooden stake protruding from the victims left eye, it seemed like it went in quite deep as well.
"What a way to go" Danny added quietly
Mac moved in closer to take a better look at the body
"Well he definitely fought, from what I can tell most of these scratches and bruises on his arm are defensive injuries"
Danny's attention drifted to the table on the other side of the room, he carefully made his way over to take a closer look
"Anything interesting over there Danny" Mac said, as he turned round to face the other CSI
"Well if you find a whole bunch of drugs paraphernalia interesting, then yes." Danny said as he shone his torch and intensely examined the entirety of the table and objects on it.
"Well the guy has track marks so it could have been his stuff, have we found out who was renting this place flack?"
"No the landlord is on vacation so we have been unable to access the leasing records."
Mac shone his torch over the victims clenched fist something in it caught the light, Mac carefully opened up the guys palm reveal a Pearlescent set of bloodstained rosary beads.
"Well that's interesting, why do you suppose he had these in his hand when he being attacked?"
"What's that Mac?" asked Danny
"The guy had rosary beads in his hand" Mac said obviously still searching his mind for a possible explanation of their presence.
"Weird" stated Danny simply "Hey I've got a bloody syringe and a cooking up spoon with a fingerprint on it over here, what u got"
"Well I got some hair on the victims shirt and the mystery rosary beads." Replied Mac as he bagged the evidence up
"Hey guys it looks like there sand on the bottom of the guys shoes," Said flack in a confused tone
"Indeed there is, ill take a sample find out where it came from." Mac retrieved a swab stick from his kit and took a small sample of the sand, which was on the bottom of the victim's shoes.
They scowered the scene for another hour but found nothing else of interest
"Right I think it's about time we grabbed that coffee." Stated Mac giving the signal to Danny and Flack that they were done.
Danny stood up from the crouched position he had been in whilst scanning the floor for any vital evidence, and all of a sudden he felt faint. He slammed his hand against the wall to avoid face planting on the floor, As he did so he unwittingly released a small yelp of pain as the pressure in his head became too much.
None of this had gone unnoticed by his co-workers who were both at his side in a matter of seconds.
"Danny can you hear me are you ok?" Mac said with a panicked edge to his voice
Danny was still bracing himself against the wall and breathing heavily trying to regain his composure
"Danny man what's going on?" Flack said in an even more worried voice
Danny finally got a hold of himself, oh god did he just do that how pathetic. He let go of the wall and turned to face the two concerned men behind him "I'm fine guys just feeling a bit sick and headachy and I got up too fast nothing serious."
"Danny I think u should go home" Mac said as he cowered inwardly this was so not going to go down well
"Mac I'm fine I just need some water and some painkillers alright."
"Danny I think Mac's right you're sure as hell not well enough to carry on working, for god sake man you're as white as a sheet." Flack added almost nervously
"Listen guys back off I appreciate the concern but I can still do my job, I can take care of myself."
Mac and Flack looked at each other, they both felt completely powerless Danny was not the kind of person who would listen to advice involving his own health and well-being.
"Fine Danny you stay but you know if you're not focussed in this job it's dangerous so pull yourself together" Mac didn't want to sound that harsh but he realised the only way to get through to Danny was to be tough.
"Well like I said I'll be fine so can we get back to the station please" Danny said anger almost visibly boiling underneath his skin.
"Ok guys lets get going then" Lamely attempting to dispel the growing tension between the two CSI's
"Yeah lets" Danny replied tightly
Mac watched Danny walk out after Flack one of these days Danny Messer was going to realise that just because you're tough doesn't mean you're superhuman. Mac just hoped that this learning curve wouldn't be too traumatic.
