FLACK POV
Elena had left me with a mess to clean up at the station. All the guys wanted to know the details about me and the hot CSI. After talking to the guys fro about 20 minutes, I get a call from Danny.
"Hey Danny, what's up?" I ask, still standing with the guys.
"Flack.. I-I don't know what happened. It came out of nowhere." Danny said, sounding scared.
"Danny, what happened? Where's El? Is she okay?" I ask concerned. The guys look at me worriedly.
"We were in an accident. She's next to me. Man, she's not good. I don't know if I should move her."
"Check her neck. It would be evident in her neck if there was serious head trauma." I said, shakily.
"No sign of trauma. I'm moving her. Call an ambulance, Flack." Danny said before hanging up.
I rush over to grab my jacket and call an ambulance. "Officer down. I repeat officer down!" I yell.
I hurry to the wreck, seeing Mac, Stella, Lindsay, and Hawkes. Danny was over by the car, head in his hands. I run over and duck under the tape. Mac walks over, Stella right behind him.
"Is she..?" I ask, not able to finish the question. Mac looks at me before shaking his head.
"She's in surgery. We won't know more until then. Let's talk to Danny." Mac says and I nod, following him to Danny, who looks up at me and I notice the blood, and I let out a shaky breath.
"I didn't see the truck until the last second. I tried to swerve but-" He said to me. I nodded.
"Tell us exactly what happened, Danny." Mac said as Hawkes and Lindsay walked over.
"We were joking with each other. One minute she was laughing and the next-" He says, choking on a sob. Lindsay walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. He smiles at her before looking at us.
"I called Flack and then checked her for head trauma. I didn't find any so I opened her door and pulled her out. She was in bad shape, real bad." He said and nodded at Hawkes who was the first on scene.
"I was with the EMS because I volunteer on my days off. When we got here she was on the ground her head in Danny's lap. She was covered in smaller scratches and cuts. She had a medium sized gash on her head, Danny said her head hit the dash at impact, and it bled a lot, as head injuries do. She tried to speak, but all we got was 'him' before she went into shock." He said.
"'Him'. She knew it was Gage. Danny did you-" Mac realizes.
"I saw him, Mac. That sonofabitch rammed right into her side of the car. He tried to kill her." Danny said angrily. I was processing this information. Elena's in the hospital. I didn't know if she would live or die. An hour ago we had made plans for me to come over tonight. Now it was entirely possible she wouldn't make it to tonight. My eyes kept finding their way over to the small pool of blood by the passenger side door. Something about that blood pool caught my attention.
"Lindsay, what do you notice about that blood?" I ask walking over and bending next to it.
"Looks like some kind of indentation in the blood. Looks like a hand print, with some interruption on the right middle finger." She says, bending down and taking a picture. I nod.
"I know where I've seen it. Mac, I need the pictures of Elena's neck from the attack." Danny said suddenly. Mac hands him his phone and Danny zooms in on the picture, showing the same interruption in the hand print in the bruise.
"Oh my god." Lindsay said shakily. "He touched her. He was right there. She was telling the EMS it was him." Mac dials a number and puts it on speaker phone.
"Trinity hospital front desk, Pam speaking. How can I help?" The receptionist answers.
"This is detective Mac Taylor. My detective was in a car accident a half hour ago. She was taken to your hospital. I was told she's in surgery, I want to know her condition." Mac says authoritatively.
"Her name, detective?" She asks.
"Elena Matthews." He tells her and we hear her typing on the keyboard. "I'm very sorry." She says and my heart stops beating. Lindsay and Stella start crying and Danny shakes his head, tears falling onto his cheeks. Mac hangs up and kicks a trash bin. I just stand there. Elena's dead. She's gone.
"No. Wait, he wants us to think that she's dead so we don't look for her." Mac says after a minute.
"Mac.." Stella says, tear stained cheeks, reaching for him. He takes her hand, but looks at all of us.
"Think about it. He has medical training. He could've gotten into the surgery, and waited for them to stitch her up, then give her something to make her appear dead. Then take her 'body' and give her the antidote later. Why kill her so quickly after he's probably been thinking about it for years? It was too quick, too easy." Mac says and it makes sense. El testified, put him away, and she was the only survivor.
"She's his only mistake. She was his failure. She survived. He's going to want to take his time, and he'll have plenty if we think she's dead." Danny says, hoarsely. "We have to find her, soon." He says grimly.
ELENA POV
I feel something stabbed in my chest and feel a warmth course through my body causing me to jerk awake and gasp for air. I look around wildly, expecting to be in a hospital or on the street, but instead I'm in my old apartment, chained to the ceiling, staring at Steven Gage. He smiles evilly at me.
"Hello, Elena. We were interrupted last time we were together. Now we have all the time in the world"
"Why's that?" I ask, my voice gravelly.
"Everyone thinks you're dead. I injected you with something called tetrodotoxin, which mimics death."
Oh, this isn't good. If they think I'm dead... They won't be coming for me this time. What are they thinking? Danny's probably blaming himself for the wreck. And Flack. Oh god, Don.. No. Don't think about him. You can't fall apart now, Elena. You have to get out of this. I feel my badge still on my hip, and my holster is empty. I feel my phone missing from my jeans pocket. I start looking around the room, trying to figure out how I was getting out of this one. Gage comes in and starts recording a video on my phone.
"I thought we'd change the game. Show your friends that you're alive, for now. It gives you the chance to say goodbye. First, let's start with Mac, the man who's the reason you're a cop and a CSI. Well, the reason you're here now."
"Mac? What are you..?" I ask him confused. He laughs.
"He's your father, Elena. Didn't you know? I've seen your file. Your mother was in New York 5 years after you were born. You're blood type is AB-, right? AB- requires both parents to have it. Your mother wasn't, and Mac is. I've seen his file as well. His wife, Claire, AB- too. I did a paternity test. Why do you think I let you live?" He said, laughing.
"Mac and Claire were my parents?" I asked, disbelievingly. Gage came over and nodded.
"You were kidnapped when you were 5, Elena. You were at the park with your mother, Claire, and your fake mother, Maria, took you, and brought you to Chicago. After Claire died in 9/11, Mac never stopped searching for you. Too bad he'll never know she's been right there this whole time!"
He stops that video and starts a new one "Oh! How about your best friend next. Danny, right? He was driving. What do you want to say to him?" He asks me, fully enjoying this.
"I- I wish I could've made dinner tonight. I was going to show you that I know my way around the kitchen. You said there was no way in hell I could cook. I wanted to prove to you that I could cook the best fish in the whole district. And I hope you take my advice about Montana. You'll thank me one day." I say into the camera and he stops that video. He starts the third video.
"This one's for your boyfriend, Flack, right?" At the mention of Flack, a tear rolls down my cheek.
"Aw, sore subject that one? What do you want to tell him? Any declarations of love? That would be interesting, don't you think?" He ask grinning, and I look at the camera.
"I'm sorry I didn't realize how I felt about you before. I wish we could've had more time, Don. I want you to know that I meant what I said, about you. Don't forget it. I know you have to move on, like I did 4 years ago. The pictures I showed you yesterday? Remember those, and you'll always have me."
"Okay, that's the last one. I'm going to send these and then I'll smash your phone." He says, smirking.
FLACK POV
Mac and Danny both look at their phones and I hear mine chime.
"I got a message from Elena." I tell them looking up. Danny nods and so does Mac.
"So the three of us got messages. Mac, yours came in first. I think that's the order." Danny says.
Mac connects it to the monitor and presses play. It shows Elena chained to a ceiling, bloody and beaten,
and Gage speaking off camera.
"I thought we'd change the game. Show your friends that you're alive, for now. It gives you the chance to say goodbye. First, let's start with Mac, the man who's the reason you're a cop and a CSI. Well, the reason you're here now." Elena looks up and frowns, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Mac? What are you..?" She asks, and he laughs.
"He's your father, Elena. Didn't you know? I've seen your file. Your mother was in New York 5 years after you were born. You're blood type is AB-, right? AB- requires both parents to have it. Your mother wasn't, and Mac is. I've seen his file as well. His wife, Claire, AB- too. I did a paternity test. Why do you think I let you live?" He said, laughing.
Mac and Claire were my parents?" She asks shocked. Gage moves closer.
"You were kidnapped when you were 5, Elena. You were at the park with your mother, Claire, and your fake mother, Maria, took you, and brought you to Chicago. After Claire died in 9/11, Mac never stopped searching for you. Too bad he'll never know she's been right there this whole time!"
Then the video cuts off. Mac stares at it, his eyes glassy and he blinks a few times.
"Mac, you never told us you had a daughter." Danny said. Mac shook his head.
"She disappeared 20 years ago, I thought she was dead." He says sadly.
Danny connects his phone to the monitor, and plays his video.
"Oh! How about your best friend next. Danny, right? He was driving. What do you want to say to him?" Gage asks her.
"I- I wish I could've made dinner tonight. I was going to show you that I know my way around the kitchen. You said there was no way in hell I could cook. I wanted to prove to you that I could cook the best fish in the whole district. And I hope you take my advice about Montana. You'll thank me one day." Elena says, looking into the camera.
Wait, she over enunciated kitchen, hell, best fish, and district. Hell's kitchen, best fish district." Danny says happily.
I play my video.
"This one's for your boyfriend, Flack, right?" A tear rolls down Elena's cheek.
"Aw, sore subject that one? What do you want to tell him? Any declarations of love? That would be interesting, don't you think?" Gage asks and Elena stares ahead.
"I'm sorry I didn't realize how I felt about you before. I wish we could've had more time, Don. I want you to know that I meant what I said, about you. Don't forget it. I know you have to move on, like I did 4 years ago. The pictures I showed you yesterday? Rememberthose, and you'll always have me."
The video cuts out. Danny claps.
"Boom. She left us a message. The pictures, move, 4 years ago, remember those, have me. He's keeping her in her old apartment in Hell's kitchen!" Danny exclaims and we all rush over to her old apartment and see Elena chained up with a surprised and angry Steven Gage standing behind her with a gun pointed at her liver.
"Come any closer and I'll kill her. It'll be slow and painful. EMS won't be here soon enough."
"Shoot him, Flack." Elena demands, her voice deep and gravelly.
"Ah, he won't because you're in the line of fire." Gage says smugly. Mac walk in and pulls out his gun.
"What are you going to do, Mac? Shoot your daughter?" Gage taunts him.
"Mac, we have to do something." Danny whispers. Mac looks at Stella and then at me, and we back up, giving Gage space. He laughs.
"Typical. Don't want poor Elena too bleed out in front of all her friends, do you?" He asks Mac.
"Mac, please shoot him! Do it!" Elena yells, and Gage jabs her with the gun and she winces.
"Oh, no. He doesn't want to take that risk." Elena looks at Mac, begging him to do it. He mouths no.
"Shoot him! He'll kill me either way. Dad, please!" Elena says and then widens her eyes.
"Dad? It seems Elena's accepted the truth, Mac. Too bad it's too late." Then there's a gunshot, and Elena crying. Mac lowers his gun and runs to her unchaining her hands. She throws her arms around him and cries.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks him, through her sobs.
"I didn't know. I thought you were dead. I didn't think that you'd be right in front of me." He says hugging her back. She looks up at me and smiles.
ELENA POV
"Hey Don. I think we might have to push dinner an hour." I tell him and he laughs, relieved.
Mac helps me up and we head to the hospital. I get checked in and learn that I have a level 2 concussion, so I have to spend the next few days in the hospital. Mac, I should start referring to him as my dad, and Flack were going to be living out of my hospital room the next few days. Linds and Stel, Hawkes and Danny promised to visit when they could. I was happy it was finally over. Gage was dead, and I found my father. I had my friends and I had the greatest guy I could ever want. Life was good. Well at least for now. Being a cop, things were always unpredictable, but I loved the mysteries.