Thanks for the reviews and here it is everyone! As usual, I don't own the orginal characters, but I do own Amy and all the other characters I make up! Hope you enjoy this!
Elmhurst Hospital Center
Broadway
Queens
Thursday November 3rd, 2005
Amy lay asleep on a cot that a nurse had brought to her the night before. She was determined to stay even though Stabler and the rest of the squad were giving her weird looks. She stirred from her sleep when the nurse came into the room and opened the blinds.
"Uhh…what time is it?" asked Amy groggily.
"It's almost ten dear. You've been asleep since midnight," said the nurse.
"That late huh? Great, I can't wait to here it from my…" Amy stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Thought half-asleep, she knew something was wrong. No sounds from the heart moniters, no ivys, and no erractic breathing.
No John Munch.
Amy was now wide awake, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She looked from the nurse to the empty bed that was unmade.
"Nurse, where is he!" cried Amy.
"Where's who dear?" asked the nurse, not looking at her.
"The patient, John Munch! Where the hell is he!"
"I don't know dear."
"QUITE PLAYING YOUR FING GAMES WITH ME! WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"
The nurse stopped struggling with the blinds and bowed her head. She did not give Amy eye contact.
"Dear, I can't say much. Call your friends and tell them," she said.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T SAY MUCH! IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU'RE OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE…"
"I'm sorry, but what I'm saying is true. I don't know what happened to him. Call your friends then check your cell phone battery after a call that will come in fifteen minutes. Trust me."
And the nurse quickly left the room, leaving Amy stunned. She pulled out her phone and called Cragen.
"Cragen, it's me. Where have I been all this time? At the hospital. So I'm fing late, who gives a damn anyway. WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE AND LET ME TALK! Uncle John is missing! Yes, his body is missing! No, I'm not joking! Then drag your ass down here and see it for yourself!" and Amy slapped the top cover of her flip phone down. She looked around, grimacing. Something was definitely not right.
Fifteen minutes later…
Cragen and the rest of his squad stormed into the room. Amy was on her cell phone, talking. She held up her finger when she heard them come in. Then she hung up and checked her battery like the nurse told her.
"Well I'll be damned! They tapped my phone when I was sleeping!" she said.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DETECTIVE! WHAT IS THIS BULLST THAT JOHN WENT MISSING!" roared Cragen.
"I can explain on the way. The government has requested our presence at the Federal Plaza in Manhattan. They say it's urgent," said Amy.
Stabler face was now mixed with anger and confusion. "This wouldn't be related to them storming into our squad room and raiding John's desk, now would it?" he asked.
"Seems we'll have to exchange stories along the way," said Fin angrily and glancing at Benson who was glaring at Amy.
20 Federal Plaza
Conference Room
"Captain Cragen, what nice surprise," said Jack Hammond when the squad walked in.
Cragen looked at Hammond, as did the rest of the squad. Then in one movement, Cragen seized Hammond by the neck and pinned him to the table.
"You've got thirty seconds to tell me where my detective is or…"
"Captain! Take it easy man!" shouted Stabler and he and Fin pulled him off of Hammond.
Hammond got up, straightened his tie and looked at Cragen and the two detectives trying to restrain with him with all their might.
"Thank you, detectives. Perhaps your captain shouldn't hear this."
"You'd better have a good reason why my detective is missing," snarled Cragen as he tried to struggle free from Stabler and Fin's grip.
"John Munch is dead. I believe your Detective Amy here would have wanted us to tell you that instead of her bearing you guys with the bad news."
"What do you mean dead! He was fine last night!" shouted Amy.
"He simply passed away in his sleep detective. I thought the nurse told you that," said Hammond, but he show no remorse when he said it.
Stabler and Fin let go of Cragen, who stood rooted in his spot. Stabler and Fin had a shocked look in their eyes. Benson looked at Hammond, trying to hold back her tears. Amy grabbed a nearby table to steady herself.
"You lying son of a b!" cried Benson, "He's not dead! He's in witness protection! That's why you raided his desk back at the squad room! That's why…that's why…" She could finish her sentence.
"Detective Benson, I'm sorry, but Detective John Munch left this world at five o' clock this morning. As for raiding his desk, well I have no idea about that," replied Hammond.
Amy looked up at Hammond with a hatred look in her eyes. "He's alive," she finally said, "He's not dead. The nurse that was on duty promised me that she would wake me up if anything happened to him. She said she had my word on it."
"Well the nurse didn't keep it Detective Amy," said Hammond.
"A five year old could lie better than you, Hammond," snarled Amy, "I would have had first dibs to know that he died because I'm one his family members. Hospital regulations state that all family members are to be alerted when something happens to a close relative. I happen to be his niece! Do you need a genetic test to prove that fifty percent of my genes are exactly like his?"
Hammond looked at her. "You're kidding," was all he could say to her.
"Perhaps you need to check my family tree," she snarled as she advanced toward him, but Benson held on to the back of her arm. Amy didn't take notice of her.
"He's alive and since you screwed up with your plan, you owe us one hell of an explanation. So start talking or I might pull a stunt like my Captain here," said Fin menacingly.
Hammond looked at all of them. He had been caught in his own trap. Clearing his throat, he sat down in there chair.
"Detective John Munch was working on a case related to counterfeiting and a sexually-based homicide. However, we have heard of this counterfeit group he was investigating. We ran into some of their money in Jersey a few months back. Since it was smuggled over state-lines, it became a federal case. We've been trying to track them down for months, but it seems as quickly as we found them, they disappeared from our radar. When we heard about his case over the news, we began an investigation of our own. We were about to arrest Sanders if the Queensboro Bridge had not had an accident. We would've caught him for you and not risked the mess of your detective being shot."
"You knew about this! You didn't even bother to come and tell us this?" said Fin.
"You guys haven't changed since you put Alex in witness protection," said Stabler.
"Detectives and Captain Cragen, John Munch is dead. If you proceed to continue his investigation, as I know some of you will, then we will investigate and prosecute you. Do you understand?" said Hammond, "And I will personally see to it that you will be removed from the force with an honorable discharge. You may go now."
And Hammond showed them the door. But as they were leaving, all the squad gave him their most hatred look.
"Oh and by the way," Hammond added before shutting the door, "I want your witness, Mario Ramos to be produced in my office by no later than tomorrow."
Outside, the squad burst into a rage all at once.
"THAT'S A BUNCH OF BULL THERE, CAPTAIN!" shouted Stabler.
"WE'VE HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW WHERE HE IS!" cried Benson.
"HE'S NOT ONLY OUR PARTNER, BUT OUR FRIEND AND A FAMILLY MEMBER, FOR GOD'S SAKE!" shouted Fin.
"THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO WHAT THEY DID! NOW THEY'RE GONNA TAKE MARIO…" roared Amy.
"PEOPLE!" cried Cragen over the ruckus, "It's out of my hands. If the government says we can't do something, then we can't."
"But Captain, what about Mario? What about knowing if John is still ali…" began Amy.
Cragen grabbed Amy's shoulder gently and squatted down to her height.
"Amy, I'm sorry. It's out of my hands."
"So you're just going to take it? Just like that, huh?"
"Hey, you're not the only one here who feels that some major injustice has been done!" shouted Benson.
"What do you mean?" asked Amy.
"How about for one thing that you didn't tell us that Munch was related to you! Why did you keep that a secret? Elliot told us this morning after the government came in and ransacked the squad room! What more secrets are you hiding from us!"
"None and for your information Detective Benson, it would have raised questions."
"So you were just afraid of some gentle teasing!"
"No I was…"
"GIRLS THAT'S ENOUGH FROM BOTH OF YOU!" shouted Cragen.
Benson and Amy looked at Cragen.
"Detective Amy Munch, as of right now, you are suspended from active duty. Hand over your badge and gun," he said.
Amy scowled, but handed over her badge and gun reluctantly.
"Detective Benson, your paycheck is suspended for two weeks," Cragen said to Benson and she grimaced.
"And as for the rest of you," Cragen added, "I know you've felt that what the government did was wrong. I do too, but we're going have to move on. Whether if John's alive or not, we're going to have to move on. I wish we could do more."
"We're not just simply going to forget about him," said Stabler as he walked to his car.
Benson followed him and Fin followed them too to their car. He did not look at Amy when he climbed in. Only Cragen and Amy remained as they drove off back to the precinct.
"Since Mario has to be dropped off by the feds' place no later than tomorrow, can I help him pack and drop him off?" she asked as she looked at their car.
"I guess," he said and walked to his own car. Amy walked to hers too and went back to the precinct.
John Munch's Apt.
It was late in the afternoon when Amy came home. She dropped Mario off at the Federal Plaza then went over to the diner where Leena and she used to hang out. By the time she had finished explaining what happened to her, it was late and she wanted to go home.
The old landlord of the building was out mopping the floor when he saw Amy and waved. She returned the wave half-heartedly and began to climb up the stairs when she remembered she had not got the mail. So she climbed back down to the mail boxes.
She took out her key and opened it. A big yellow envelope fell to the floor followed by other envelopes. She bended down and picked it up. It was very heavy. She flipped over to the front side. No address. She turned to the landlord.
"Hey Tom, do you know who delivered this?" she asked.
"Just the UPS guy," Tom replied.
"Well that narrows it down."
She opened the flap and looked inside. She gasped and dropped the envelope.
An unloaded gun with its cartridge, badge, keys, a folder, and a child's hand print on a piece of paper fell out. Amy sank to the floor and picked up the badge. It had the numbers 2573 printed on it. She traced her fingers around the numbers. Then she dropped the badge and looked at the child's handprint. It had an "M" in the middle of it.
"He's alive. This has to be Mario's handprint. There's no doubt that Mario is with him," Amy muttered, "But who would do…?"
"Something wrong?" asked Tom.
"No," said Amy, "Nothing's wrong."
And she gathered the items and went upstairs to the apartment that belonged to her uncle.
What do you believe? Is John really alive or is Amy going senile? I've got one last chapter to post so be patient. And yes it is a Cragen POV one.