When It Rains In New York

A C.S.I. New York fan-fic

Written by: Anti Darth Ani

Edited by: Anti Darth Ani

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Chapter Two: Restless

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Author's Note: I'm so glad that I'm going to have the opportunity to really explore the case of Sabrina Jackson in this fan-fic. In the original When It Rains In NY, it was really just a background factor in the whole Aiden and Danny situation. But, in my revision of the story, Sabrina sits in center stage, with the entire fan-fic revolving around her. And believe me, it's going to make things much more interesting.

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Aiden awoke with a start. Her chest ached, her lungs burned. She struggled to force air into her lungs as her pupils shrunk in fear. Her fingernails scraped against smooth, almost silky bindings as she struggled to free herself from whatever held her in its grip. She opened her mouth to scream, but only a smothered gasp escaped, and it alone was lost in the surrounding darkness. Her first thoughts were of death; if she'd reached it or if she was nearly there. But as the air returned to her lungs and the bindings pulled away, Aiden fell down, only to hit the ground with a residing thump.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, or the lack there of, she found herself in a wad of bed sheets on a hard wooden floor in an almost familiar room. Trying to get to get feet, Aiden suddenly remembered where she was as she clutched the side of the bed and pulled herself up. For when she was finally standing on her feet, she saw the outline of another body in the bed, next to the spot in which she'd been sleeping only moments before. Realization struck of her newer living situation for the time being.

She was tempted to stir him, to tell him about her nightmare and to admit that she was worried about what they'd gotten themselves into. But, seeing him sleep so peacefully, she knew she would regret it if she did manage to get him to wake from his slumber. Sighing, Aiden bent down and picked the sheets up off of the floor, tossing them onto the foot of the bed. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in over a week, not since they'd begun this ridiculous charade. And it wasn't as if they were getting any closer to an answer on their case. Everything just seemed to stop at dead ends, taunting them, telling them they'd never be able to find the answers they needed so desperately.

Aiden left the bedroom and slipped into the upstairs hallway, which was just as dark as the bedroom she'd woken up in. She reached out reflexively for the wall, her fingers stretching out across the smooth surface, groping for the light switch she knew was there somewhere. But when her finger went to flick the switch up, she paused. Could she really risk an upstairs light on in the middle of the night? It might cause some suspicion if they were being watched, which they had been warned ahead of time was a possibility. Pulling her hand away from the wall, Aiden made her way silently to the staircase, where she paused just for a moment to glance out the window at the building across the street. Nothing seemed to stir in the darkness, and she didn't spy anything hiding in the shadows of the street lights. An occasional car drove by, but it didn't slow in front of the apartment complex; simply flew on by without hesitation.

Carefully climbing down the stairs, Aiden risked a single, dim light when she reached the landing at the bottom. Sitting down on the third from the last step, she picked up the folder she'd grow accustomed to leaving at the bottom of the stairs each night before she went to bed. Opening up the folder, Aiden flipped passed the cover page with a single word, Confidential, stamped in dark red ink, almost the color of blood. She pushed back to the end of the file, to the collection of mug shots and driver's license pictures. The papers behind the pictures described the photographed persons and were what she really wanted to read. Skimming other the papers, Aiden reread the papers that she almost knew by heart, having looked over them relentlessly for the past week.

Aiden set down the file and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. She hadn't been able to sleep well in the past several nights. Every time she tried to sleep, she dreamt about what someone was doing to the missing girl. So she woke up each time, getting no more than four hours of sleep, and got the folder, reviewing everything they knew about the missing girl, her family, and the few suspects that they already had. It drove her crazy that they weren't any closer to the truth or the missing girl.

Sabrina... all they had was a single name and an address for the family. But the family was no help at all, refusing to cooperate with the crime lab or the detectives, and insisting that they could take matters into their own hands and save their daughter without any help. Not that it mattered that they didn't want to help; the police continued their own investigation away from the family. Still, Aiden knew that they would be able to do more and possibly find the girl with their help, faster than they could without the added support and knowledge Aiden knew the girl's parents were holding back.

Aiden had been looking into the suspects in depth, part of the reason (mainly the reason) she was in her current situation. But none of the main suspects had led them anywhere yet. Mr. Waters, their best suspect, had stressed that he was completely innocent, and so far his alibi had held up. He claimed he'd been at a neighborhood party the night the girl was kidnaped. And although no one remembered spotting him around the exact time of her disappearance, they remembered seeing him before and after, during sometimes in the night while attending the party. His wife had stood beside him, or so she'd told Flack when he'd questioned her, the entire time at the party, expect for when he'd gone to refreshen their drinks and to relieve himself.

Running a hand through her hair, Aiden stared at the file laying down next to her. She looked at the picture of Mr. Waters, a New York license for driving. Try as she might, she couldn't see Mr. Waters as a kidnapper. He didn't have a record, not even a single speeding ticket. And yet, he was their only lead as of yet, the only one with a true motive at taking the girl. He worked under Sabrina's father as a stock broker on Wall Street, only to be demoted when Sabrina's mother's brother came into town and needed a job. Mr. Waters could want revenge on Sabrina's father, Mr. Allan Jackson, for his demotion and lower salary.

None of the solid information they'd collected pointed to this theory, though. And as night by endless night passed by, they lost another percent of the possibility that Sabrina Jackson was still alive. Aiden shuffled through the pictures in the file until her hand wrapped around the single picture they had of the girl. Only fourteen, she was already well on the way to becoming a stunning beauty, with her golden, wavy hair and soft hazel eyes. Talented with the piano and a wonderful skill in drawing, Sabrina seemed like the perfect daughter that any parents would be proud to call their own. Yet, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, despite their own claimed search for Sabrina, seemed not to miss the girl terribly. They threw their weekly cocktail parties and laughed along with everyone else who surrounded them.

"You really need to get some sleep, Aiden," a voice told her softly. She immediately dropped the photograph as she turned to face Danny, whom she hadn't heard come down the stairs. "The case can wait until the morning. You won't get anything else done tonight, so there's no point in wasting your time trying."

Aiden smiled a sad smile and tucked the picture of Sabrina away in the folder. "Yeah, I know," she admitted softly, closing the file before placing her hands in her lap and staring down at her fingers. Her eyes paused on the ring finger of her left hand, staring down at the large rock in her wedding ring. She still had a hard time accepting that she and Danny were really in this situation together, working to find Sabrina Jackson.

"Sometimes I just feel so useless when we get to these dead ends and don't know where to go," Aiden whispered, not looking up at him because she wasn't willing to admit defeat so early. "Every second we waste, we get closer and closer to never finding her. And I don't think I'll be able to deal with it if we don't catch this guy."

Danny nodded and wrapped an arm around Aiden's shoulders. "We'll catch him Aiden, don't worry about it. But when we get this deep into a case, things just take time. We're CSIs, Aiden, not detectives. And we are certainly not miracle workers." He rubbed little circles around her back with his fingers. "For now though, I need you to get some sleep, Aiden. Even if it's just for a few hours. You need to get some sleep."

Aiden finally looked up at Danny, and he saw how bloodshot her eyes were. He also noted that dark circles had appeared under her eyes recently. He'd begun to worry about her as he worked at his desk, surrounded by unfamiliar people he was supposed to warm up to. But he found fitting into this new, strange world even harder than Aiden did. He kept telling himself they simply needed just a little more time to get situated, but his gut told him that a week was well long enough for him to get used to everything around him.

"Come on," he spoke up, suddenly jerking them both out of their thoughts. Danny couldn't bare to dwell on the possibilities anymore. He needed to sleep as well. His vision was beginning to blur badly from the lack of glasses he was so accustomed to wearing. In the morning, he would worry again along with Aiden. But for the remainder of the night, the only thing he wanted to see was the insides of his eyelids and he didn't want to think about anything at all.

Danny helped Aiden to her feet. They silently claimed back up the stairs. When they reached the bedroom, they both slid into their sides of the bed and closed their eyes, willing the sleep to overcome them and their dreads to escape them until dawn broke.