Thank you all so much for reviewing. Seriously, I cannot thank you enough. As a potential writer, your feedback means so much to me. I am glad that you all are so interested in this story, and as we draw closer to the end, I want to thank you all for sticking with it through all these chapters. Disclaimer: I do not own the title of this chapter, for that belongs to the group Barlowgirl. It's a beautiful song, truly. I also do not own these previous chapter titles: Such Great Heights, Dare You to Move, Irony, When Did You Fall, Spare an Angel, Hammers and Hearts, Lost in the Darkness, Dangerous Game, and Into the Fire. Yes, I enjoy taking song titles as my chapters. LOL. Read and review!
Chapter Twenty-Three: Porcelain Heart
"Oh, the irony," Eva said with a little smug smile on her face as she sat back in her chair, arms crossed.
"What do you mean?" Leala asked, looking at her sister with interest.
"Well, look at who was in the SUV. Isn't it ironic that Mom's current boyfriend and eventual husband would be in the same car?"
Baron and Leala looked at me and Greg, who were just smiling. "Oh, the irony," I repeated, smiling at Eva. Eva looked pleased at her discovery.
"So Dad, what happened after that?" Baron asked, turning to face his father. Greg bit his lip in concentration.
"I think that I managed to strike up a conversation as Sara drove towards the burnt down warehouse…"
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"So…"
That was all I could think of on the way to the warehouse. I, of course, knew the real reason for Grissom sending us off: he didn't want us hanging around the lab. It was the kind of thing that your parents did just to get you out of the room. And right now, it looked like Mac, Grissom, Catherine, and Horatio were our parents.
"So…" Danny replied back, directing his attention away from the window and onto me. "…what's up?" he asked in his most nonchalant voice.
"Oh, uh, nothing…just…thinking," I replied. Truth be told, I had no idea how to set up a conversation with these New York guys.
"Yeah, yeah, me too, me too," Danny said with a nod. (A/N: Yes, he used the same lines from "City of the Dolls" when he asked Lindsay out to lunch. You'll get over it. Haha.)
"So, you know her well?" I asked Danny. It seemed like Flack was trying to avoid entering a conversation.
"Anna?" he asked. I nodded. Danny smiled sadly. "Yeah, Anna is…she's wonderful. She's like my little annoying sister, ya know? The kinda girl that ya love when she's around, but sometimes she can get on your nerves to no end, and ya still love her."
I smiled and nodded along. "She seems like a great person."
Danny swallowed hard and returned his gaze out the windows, replying softly: "Yeah, yeah she is."
I didn't know what else to say, but was reminded of when Nick was buried alive. I looked over at Sara, who was driving, and her attention remained solidly fixed on the road ahead of her. I knew what she was thinking, yet, I didn't expect her to speak up.
"If anyone can find her, we'll be able to. Grissom and Catherine are amazing," she said, voice strong and confident. Danny and Flack looked up.
"I'm sure they are," Flack said softly. Sara shook her head and continued.
"You don't understand. Nick, one of our CSIs was kidnapped a while ago and buried alive."
Danny's eyes widened and he shared a glance with Flack. Sara pressed on. "There was a camera in his – coffin – and even though we could see him, and knew he was there, it was terrifying." I put a hand on Sara's shoulder and she smiled sadly, recalling what she felt that day. "I didn't know if I was ever going to see him alive again or not, but Grissom is intelligent; he's a genius. And we found him and were able to get him out alive."
Danny looked at Flack and put a hand on his shoulder as Flack continued to stare out the window.
"I wish I could have told her…" was all that Flack said. Danny lightly shook Flack's shoulder, and I turned around in my seat to face the two of them.
"She knew man, she knew," Danny assured him. I looked at Danny and Flack with curiosity. Danny noticed my interest and was about to offer explanation before Flack cut in:
"Anna is my girlfriend."
"Oh," I said slowly. Sara and I shared a knowing glance. This must have been tough for him.
"I wanted to tell her that I was sorry," he continued, voice tight, trying to restrain from becoming too emotional, "because we had a stupid little fight, but I never got the chance to tell her…"
"Flack, man, you can't keep beating yourself up about this," Danny said, trying to comfort his friend. Flack looked up at Danny.
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. Your girlfriend isn't being held hostage by some psychopaths," he spat. Danny shook his head and exhaled.
"No, but mine is in New York right now, the city of crime. God knows, I worry about Lindsay too. I worry if somethin' is gonna happen to her. I want to protect her, like you wanna protect Anna," Danny replied seriously. "But we can't beat ourselves up about this, alright? We just gotta let it go."
Flack looked his friend in the eye, nodded, and then smiled slightly. "When did you get to become so wise Messer?"
Danny shrugged his shoulders, a smile playing on his lips. "Eh, I think Montana has somethin' to do with it."
"Montana?" I asked curiously. "You mean, like the state?"
Danny and Flack shared a laugh. "Naw, Montana is his girlfriend's nickname," Flack explained, grinning. "When Lindsay moved here from Montana, Danny boy over here," he said, pushing Danny's shoulders "decided it would be fun to give the new girl a nickname. He's such a kindergarten flirt."
Danny crossed his arms over his chest and I could see Sara suppressing a laugh from the driver's seat. "I am not a kindergarten flirt!" he insisted. Flack rolled his eyes and turned his attention towards finishing the conversation with me.
"Danny would constantly tease Lindsay, he'd make jokes to get her to laugh, and he'd just light up whenever she was around. It's like a kid pulling a girl's pigtails to get her to notice him."
I laughed and looked at Danny for response. He merely rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Worked, didn't it?" he asked Flack. Flack smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, but I still think you're a kindergarten flirt."
Danny mumbled something under his breath and we all laughed.
"Hey, we're here," Sara said, pulling the SUV to a halt outside of a charred warehouse. We got out of the car, Sara and me pulling our kits from the back. Danny snapped on a pair of latex gloves from my kit and pulled out a flashlight, walking towards the warehouse.
Broken
heart
one more time
pick yourself up
why even cry?
Broken
pieces in your hands
wonder how you'll make it whole.
I wanted to scream at you: "Look at me! Look into my eyes!" but you, like all of the others, just turned your gaze away. It is because I am dressed differently. Mahala has me, once again, in traditional Muslim dress. But if you looked into my eyes, you would see that they are green, that my skin is pale, and you might wonder: "That is different." But no, you turn your face away from me in shame, thinking I am some terrorist. And I want to scream at you. I want to cry.
You know, you pray
This can't be the way
You cry, you say
Something's gotta change.
And mend this porcelain heart, of mine.
I feel tears well up from behind my eyes, as Mahala looks over at me with a sharp glare. She elbows me in the ribs, hard, and I wince. I never was someone who prayed much, but right there, in the middle of the crowded streets of Las Vegas, I began to pray to God. "God, if you are listening to me, please rescue me," I shouted in my head. "I need someone to rescue me!"
Someone said, a broken heart
Would sting at first then make you stronger
You wonder why this pain remains
Were hearts made whole just to break?
You know, you pray
This can't be the way
You cry, you say
Something's gotta change
And mend this porcelain heart of mine.
"I need you to mend my broken heart somehow. Please don't let me die here. Please, oh God, if you are even listening to me right now, just don't let me die here. And let him know that I love him, because I never got to tell him. And, God, help them to find me. Show them the way to me." The pain inside my heart was tearing me to pieces. Broken hearts…broken pieces…broken life. I didn't know if my prayers were doing anything at all, but all I could do was pray. Someone looked into my eyes, and for a split second, they followed my gaze. But then I was pushed into the crowd, lost, and I lost their eyes.
I apologize for the angst, but it has to be done. Haha. How else would you react to being kidnapped? Anyway, keep the reviews coming. You know how much I love them!
