A/N: I'm back! I know, you missed me.
Okay, I'll confess, I'm not too fond of this as a last chapter, but I think it works, so... read and review? which you have been doing very well, thank you :D
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Josh leaned against his car and watched as Mason was put into one of the squad cars. There was no use trying to avoid having him arrested, after Lindsay had admitted it was him who killed Paul. They – and even Mason himself – had agreed to conceal the fact that Stephanie had also shot him, since her bullet had not been the fatal shot.
As a result, Mason was going to jail, and finally being punished for everything he had gotten away with in the past, while his daughter was being sent to an orphanage. Josh had already decided that he would apply to adopt her as soon as possible, knowing that even though she was a good kid, it was unlikely that anyone would be interested in a girl with her background.
'Penny for your thoughts?' a voice asked beside him.
He looked down to see Stephanie watching him. 'They're worth a lot more than that,' he sighed, 'I'm sorry Steph. If I could have found a way round it...'
'It's okay,' she interrupted, 'I know you tried. So, I have to go to an orphanage?'
The detective nodded. 'At least for a while. Then you could come live with me – if you want to, of course.'
'If I want?' she repeated, her face lighting up. 'Of course I want! You'd really do that?'
'Sure I would,' he repeated, getting a little embarrassed by her enthusiasm. 'I've learnt to tolerate you, I can't practise my new skills if you're not around, can I?'
Stephanie grimaced as she playfully punched him on the arm. 'Thanks. Hey... can I do something before we go?'
'There's no rush. What if we say... meet back at the office in a couple of hours?'
'Deal.'
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Lindsay looked up as someone knocked on the door, and smiled as it opened slightly and Stephanie looked in.
'Steph, hey. Come on in,'
'How is it?' she asked, eyeing the bandage on the woman's ankle as she sat in the armchair opposite her, looking around the small but cosy apartment.
'It's just sprained, I'll be fine in a couple of days,' Lindsay assured her. 'I owe you a thank you.'
The girl shrugged. 'It's okay.'
'I was lucky, it could've been worse. So, what have I missed being stuck in here?'
'They arrested dad, and Josh is going to take me to the orphanage. He's going to try and adopt me later...' her voice trailed off as she frowned.
'But?' the detective pressed.
'He shouldn't,' she announced unexpectedly, 'I don't want him to have to look after me, and I don't want him to think he has to. If I have to go to an orphanage and I should be there...'
'Steph,' Lindsay interrupted gently, 'I'm sure he doesn't think of it as a burden. If he's ready to adopt you, it's because he cares about you and he wants to make sure you're okay. You don't really want to be in an orphanage for the next eight years, do you?'
'Course not, but-'
'I've seen the two of you together,' the woman continued, 'you really seem to understand each other, and I think you'd like living with him, wouldn't you?'
The girl smiled. 'I like him,' she admitted, 'he's nice. Not that dad wasn't good – I mean, he never really hurt me, and he always tried to protect me from the others – but Josh is... a different kind of good.' she chuckled. 'That didn't make much sense, did it?'
'No, I think I get it,' Lindsay smiled. 'You'll be fine. And I know you care about your dad, but with Josh your life might even get better. And your dad had to get caught at some point.'
'I know,' she admitted, 'but he's got away with it for so long, it's weird to think he's actually going to jail.' she glanced at her watch. 'I should go,' she remarked.
'Okay. Thanks for coming to check on me, even though you're hardly the first. Here,' she reached for a piece of paper and wrote something on it. 'My number,' she explained as she handed it to her, 'if you ever want to talk, just give me a call, okay?'
Stephanie nodded and smiled. 'Okay, I will,' she promised.
She got up, then suddenly leaned forward and hugged her tightly. 'I'm glad you're okay,' she murmured into her shoulder.
Lindsay patted her on the back. 'I'm fine.' she assured her, 'and so will you be.'
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Mr Jacobs smiled as his secretary held open the door to let Stella through.
'Ms Bonasera,' he greeted, 'how can I help you?'
The detective shook her head as she took the proffered seat, 'I just came to say how sorry I am... I promised you-'
'Please,' he held up his hand to stop her, 'I'm sure you did everything you could to keep your promise. And, as terrible a thing it is for a parent to say, maybe this is a blessing in disguise. He can't hurt anyone else now.' his tone changed and he continued wistfully, 'I can stop worrying about what he's doing and remember him as the son I used to know; the good boy, the college graduate, my successor... When I remember how friendly he was with Marcy... to do something so senseless...' he shook his head, his gaze falling to the desktop in shame.
'You couldn't have stopped him,' Stella told him, 'you can't blame yourself. For whatever reason, he let himself get caught up in their bad ways. He knew how to get out of it if he wanted to. And don't think of Marcy's death as pointless – she's helped them get caught, so that neither of them can hurt anyone else. Maybe both their deaths are hidden blessings,' she smiled.
He looked up and she saw the twinkle in his eye.
'Very optimistic, detective.' he nodded. 'Thank you.'
Stella stood. 'I have to go. But if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to call,' she requested, putting her car on the table.
'I will.'
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She got back to the office in time to catch Mac preparing to respond to a scene.
'Where's it at, partner?' she drawled, leaning in the doorway and folding her arms.
Mac looked up. 'Downtown. Hit and run. I can go with Danny if -'
'Hey, we're partners,' she argued, 'that case is closed, on to the next. And besides, Danny is Lindsay's problem.' she frowned, 'or is Lindsay his problem? I'm not so sure anymore, after this stunt.'
'You're proud of her really,' Mac accused, following her out and closing the door behind them.
'Admit it.'
'It took guts,' Stella confessed, 'it would have been better if one out of the two had worked.'
'Ironic, isn't it? She had her plan, which she let Flack and Danny get involved in, we had our own plan behind her back, and it's Stephanie and her father that end up helping her, by finding out about it by accident.'
'Yeah, and now she's the one getting punished.' Stella added bitterly.
'You know Josh'll adopt her. So, if this guy lives in a fraternity, can I send you to question the roommate?' he teased.
'Funny, Taylor. I see your sense of humour's back,' And not a minute too soon, either.
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Josh looked up as Stephanie walked in.
'You done?'
She nodded.
'I called, and they're expecting us,' he told her, 'but there's no rush, we've got time.'
She came round the desk and perched herself on the arm of his chair, a sad smile on her face as she idly glanced at the papers spread out in front of him. He leaned back and put an arm round her shoulders, squeezing her gently.
'You alright?'
She nodded again, not trusting herself to speak.
'Everything's going to work out,' he promised.
'Hey, Josh?' she said at last.
'Yeah?'
'Thanks. For everything.'
He smiled. 'Anytime, kid.'
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Danny checked his cell phone for the hundredth time, knowing perfectly well she had neither called nor sent a text message since the last time he checked two minutes ago. He sighed as he picked it up and finally dialled, deciding to just get it over with. Apologising was not one of Danny Messer's strong points, but doing it over the phone was a lot more appealing than trying to do it face to face.
He knew she was deciding whether or not to answer as it rang... and rang... and rang. He was about to give up when he finally heard her clipped voice on the other end.
'Danny?'
'Hey Linds,' he greeted cautiously, 'Don't hang up... just hear me out. Please?'
No answer.
'Okay,' he took a deep breath and launched into a clumsy apology, 'I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean what I said. You and Flack were right, I was overreacting. But Linds – it's not an excuse, but I only did it because I was worried about you. I mean, you disappeared and you were alone with him, we didn't know what was going on, and then when we found you I was still so mad at Josh that I just... said some things I didn't mean and probably wouldn't have said if I hadn't been so worked up. I'm sorry.'
There was silence on the other end. Was she thinking about it or too angry and upset to accept his apology?
'Okay.' she said at last. 'So, are you guys still coming over later?'
'You bet you. See you then, Montana,' he grinned.
'Bye.'
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'Plenty of witnesses, and plenty of stories,' Flack greeted Mac and Stella when they arrived. 'Some say they saw the guy run out in front of the car, others say the car headed straight for him, and I even heard a couple claim they saw him get thrown out of another car right before he was hit. Take your pick.'
'A body's worth a thousand words,' Mac quipped, leading the way over to the victim, Stella following close behind.
'And would you look at this,' Flack grinned, pulling out the young man's ID. 'Fraternity kid. Have fun, Bonasera.'
'I thought questioning the students was the detective's job,' the woman retorted, 'I'm a CSI.'
'Maybe, but you're not called CSI Bonasera. You're called Detective Bonasera. Besides, it's a hit and run, I'm sure Mac can handle it.'
'Mac can't handle it, but she can go when we've finished processing,' Mac informed them. 'Stella, care to help?' he suggested sarcastically as she stayed standing where she was, ready to begin a battle of the scowls with Flack.
'Yeah. Go away Flackie.'
The detective frowned. Who called me - 'Oh yeah, what's happening with her now her dad's been arrested?'
'Orphanage,' Stella told him with a grimace, 'I think she's still with Josh though.'
'Hey Mac-'
'Go.' he interrupted before he could finish the request. 'We don't need you here anyway.'
'It's good to feel wanted.' Flack murmured as he turned away.
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He got to Josh's office in time to catch them getting ready to leave for the orphanage.
'Hey Flackie,' Stephanie said, when she spotted him.
Josh looked up. 'Hi. We've still got a couple of minutes,' he announced, 'I'll wait outside,' he offered, smiling at his colleague as he left the room.
'Nice work yesterday,' Flack was the first to speak after the door closed behind him, 'maybe we should make you an honorary detective for all your help. You practically solved this case for us.'
The girl chuckled. 'Josh said that. I don't mind helping, I like it. And anyway, I owe him after everything he's done for me.'
'You like it? Do we have another cop on our hands here?' he teased.
Stephanie shrugged. 'I'm thinking about it.'
'You'd be an inspiration. Especially to kids like Max.'
'All those people that say I'm just a kid,' she scoffed. 'They don't know nothing.'
Flack smiled. 'They sure don't,' he agreed sincerely.
'Steph, we should get going,' Josh announced, looking in at the door. 'Flack, you want to come with us?'
'No, it's better if you go alone,' the detective responded. 'And you, don't forget about us, okay?'
The girl nodded. 'How could I forget about Flackie the Gentle Giant?'
'You should be pleased with yourself,' Josh told her, 'you're the only one who's allowed to call him that.'
'I know,' she grinned. 'Flackie. It's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?'
'No.' Flack pouted theatrically. 'Good luck, kid.'
'Thanks,' she followed Josh out of the office and down the hall.
She looked back and waved, and then she was gone.
You deserve it.
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'Alyssa called me,' Josh told his young friend as they walked out, making the unspoken agreement to take the long way through the city, 'she wanted me to give her some advice about Max.'
'What did you tell her?' Stephanie asked curiously.
'Marcy entrusted him to her,' he explained, 'she has to make the plans, I can only really help. He doesn't have a sub and, as much as she wants to, Alyssa's not sure she can look after him along with her schoolwork. She's going to call Marcy's parents, and when they come we're going to tell them what happened, and show them her letter. They'll probably agree to look after him.'
'Look after the son of their dead daughter,' The girl summarised, 'that sounds kinda... sad.'
'It is. But even if they can't have her back, they can still fulfill her last wish for him to have somewhere safe to grow up and to be given the same quality of life she had. It was very mature – and motherly – of her to want that for her child and think far enough ahead to ask her friend to arrange it.'
'The best.'
'Yeah. Which is all we want for you,' he added. 'And I'm ready to do whatever I have to to let you have that.'
Stephanie smiled. He really cares about me. Maybe things were finally going to start getting a little better.
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A/N: And they all live happily ever after... lol
Okay, that one was particularly Stephanie-centric... check out the title guys, I had to :p
So, an epilogue and this will be finished. I could drag it out, but I need to work on some endings too, right? And it's got to stop somewhere – hey, if you're really nice, I might write a sequel set a few years later where Max and Stephanie are CSIs or something :D
I got nothing else to say today... too hyper to type fast enough to keep up with my 100mph brain... how about a cookie for anyone who can name all... three (I think) references to the earlier chapters? I'm feeling generous.
josie hardy