It's been two days since I was admitted to the hospital, and I was already going crazy. I had a level 2 concussion, which means I have to be woken up every hour, on top of that I found out that I had 3 bruised ribs, which hurt like hell, and I was going to be stuck here for another few days. Danny, Hawkes and Lindsay tried to cheer me up earlier but I was not feeling the spirit. They could leave, and more importantly, work! Flack has been in every chance he can get to see how I'm doing, which is one of the highlights of my days here. Another is when my dad, who happens to be my boss, swings by with details about a case he worked on or stories about my mom. I vaguely hear a knock but I sit up anyway, which is so not an easy or painless task. I look at the door to see Lindsay with a cup of coffee. I rub my eyes and and groan.
"Want a sip?" She asks, holding it out, after looking out for nurses, and I take a long sip.
"Mmm, that was almost worth the pain in my ribs." I tell her grimacing through the pain. She frowns.
"How are you doing?" She asks coming to sit in the chair by my bed. I nod.
"I guess hate sitting around, you know? Not being out there solving cases sucks." I tell her.
"Yeah, I'm the same way. I'm not good at doing nothing." She tells me smiling.
"How are you and Mac? Are things different?" She asks. If it were anyone else, I would have lied.
"It's a little weird, ya know? But I think it's a good weird. I've never had a family before. Maria was never around, if she was she was high, so I never really had parents. I raised myself, looked out for me without needing anyone else. Now I have Mac and Stella, who are my parents now. I mean I'm 27 years old, Lindsay. My boss is my dad's girlfriend, who's also my friend, and her boss is my dad. Oh, god. My partner is one of my best friends, and my dad's friend and I'm also kinda dating him, which dad does NOT know. My other best friend is into my new friend, who happens to like him too, but they refuse to do something about it. I'm living a freaking soap opera!" I breathe deeply after my rant, which hurts a lot. Lindsay just smiles at me. My true accent, the New York in me, slipped out.
"Elena, relax. Talk to Mac and Stella, about everything. It'll all work out." She says, eyes widening.
"What about your best friend liking the new girl?" Lindsay asks, blushing. I smirk, raising a brow.
"Come on Lindsay! He teases you constantly. You both stare at each other when the other isn't looking. Plus, you both get this ridiculous grin when someone mentions either of your names." I tell her dryly.
"Really?" She asks grinning, playing with her coffee cup. I laugh and wince.
"Yeah. You should tell him. Did you hear how Flack and I got together?" I ask her, not sure about it.
"No. Tell me!" She says, clearly interested. I nod.
"We were at a crime scene, and I found a smudged print. I bet him I could get a name." I told her.
"Maybe I will do something, then." She said as she was walking out the door. She waved and I nodded.
The next day I checked myself out against the doctor's orders, before anyone came to see me. I changed into a pair of leggings, a crop top, so I could bandage my ribs, and a police academy zip up sweater of Don's, which I leave unzipped. I pull on my combat boots, which was a painful task with my ribs, and head out the door. I hail a cab and head to the precinct. I pay him and head inside. I hear cheers and people smiling at me, except one. He just looks seriously pissed off.
"What the hell are you doing here and not in the hospital?" He asks me, walking over from his desk.
"I thought you'd be happy to see me." I tell him, pulling him down to kiss me. He sighs, but kisses me back. When he notices me wince, he pulls back and shakes his head. He grabs his jacket.
"Oh, where are you going now?" I ask him, hoping he wasn't mad at me. He grabs his keys.
"Taking you back to the hospital, Elena." He tells me sternly and I cross my arms, well as best I can.
"No way. I hate hospitals, and I'm fine."
"Elena, you were tortured for 5 hours. That was 4 days ago, and you have bruised ribs and a concussion. You can't be out and back here that quickly, babe. You gotta take it easy." He tells me.
"I hate 'taking it easy'! I can't sit there and not do anything. Blame it on the Mac Taylor in me, but I can't not work. I've never even taken a day off, how am I supposed to be on sick leave?" I asked him.
"Don?" I hear someone say and we turn to see a really beautiful woman with black hair and blue eyes.
"Sam! What are you..?" He asks, looking from me to 'Sam'. She turns to me and her eyes widen.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt this.. whatever it was, I just needed to- I'm sorry, you're probably wondering who I am. I'm Sam Flack, Don's sister." She says, smiling, and I turn and gape at him.
"This is so not how I wanted to meet your sister!" I whisper-yell at him and turn to Sam. I grimace.
"I'm Elena, Flack's partner. Excuse the 'casual Friday' look. I was just released from the hospital." I tell her waving a hand at my clothes. She nods in understanding, seeing the bandages.
"More like escaped from the hospital." Flack mumbles but I notice and 'accidentally' smack him.
"Wow, Don, you told me about 'El' but I didn't expect her to be.. well, hot for one. And secondly I didn't think, well now seeing her I get it, that you'd be sleeping with your partner." She says and I laugh and wince, grabbing my ribs. Flack immediately picks up his coat that he had put back on his chair.
"Flack, I'm fine." I choke out through gritted teeth. He scowls at me. Sam looks mildly concerned.
"Should you be out of the hospital, El?" She asks me and I smirk at her. She looks confused. I sigh.
"When Flack and I were partnered 4 years ago, I told him my name and he always called me El. Said that if I refused to call him Don, he refused to call me Elena." I said, smiling at the memory.
"Yeah, well, you're also the most stubborn, reckless, pain in the ass partner I've ever had." He says grumbling in defeat. I smirk and kiss him quickly. Sam giggles.
"But I thought that's what you liked about me? Or is it just because I'm hot?" I ask him, winking and he smiles a bit. I bite my lip to keep from laughing and turn to Sam.
"Walk me out?" I ask her and she nods grinning. She hugs Flack and walks with me to the door.
"I didn't think I'd meet you in this condition. Or these.. circumstances. Look, about Flack.." I start.
"I like you. You're blunt, and honest, beautiful, but also really down to earth and you really care about my brother. I see it. Truthfully, I'm glad that Don has you. He always seemed to like you, a lot."
"Yeah, I liked him too. I just, risky situations involving danger, sign me up, but dating your partner? I was never that person. Of course, I get paired with a cute guy with gorgeous blue eyes I could melt in, I couldn't keep fooling myself." I told her honestly.
"Yeah, he never showed me pictures of you. Probably cuz' I woulda told him to 'get with that without thinking twice' but meeting you, you both are by the book cops, well Don is, but you try." She smirks.
"He told you that I find trouble?" I ask, and she laughs.
"More like rants about it. 'She's gonna get us both killed Sam, I'm tellin' you, I don't know what the chief was thinkin' with this partnership. The girl's crazy. She jumped off a fire escape and right onto the perp! She nearly broke her wrist, and all she says is 'We got him didn't we Flack? Stop whining and cuff him, I think I broke my wrist.' Oh my god, but he also talked about you and your after case beers."
"Yeah, it was just a sprain anyway." I said smiling. She giggles, but sobers up.
"He told me about- what happened. That's why I'm here. I wanted to make sure you were okay." She tells me as we stand outside on the steps. I look at her and she nods to her car and we get in.
"The first time was 4 years ago, before Flack and I were partnered. Steven Gage, a serial rapist and murderer, targeted beautiful young women with forensic careers, and kidnapped, raped and tortured them for three days and then killed them. I was 23 and a new CSI. I'm kinda smart, like genius level. I graduated high school when I was 14 and was in the academy the day I turned 18. I worked undercover in Chicago for a few years before coming here for a job at the crime lab. I worked his case and he saw me at a crime scene and stalked me. I got weird calls, notes left on my door, and one day, a finger. It was from a missing girl, and we found her body days later. He knocked me out one night and tied me up and the attack was in my apartment. My best friend, Danny, also Flack's best friend, saved my life. Flack was assigned my partner as soon as I was allowed back to work, and we've been friends since."
"Wow. But you said first time." Sam said, stopping at a McDonald's to get some food. We get some cheeseburgers and cokes and sit in the car.
"The second time was 4 days ago. He caused a car accident and kidnapped me from the hospital. He told me the truth about my parents and he tortured me again, and Flack and my dad, who's actually Mac, came and saved me, again." I said eating some fries. She stares at me.
"So Mac's cool with you and my brother hooking up, or what?" She asks and I choke on my fries.
"Uh, no. Mac doesn't know that I'm with Flack." I tell her playing with the hem of my sweatshirt.
"Why do you call him Flack and not Don?" Sam asks me curiously, as she takes a drink. I shrug.
"He's been my partner for 4 years. I've always called him Flack. If I call him Don when we're alone and I let it slip around people, or god forbid, my father? It would be bad.." I tell her glancing at her.
"If this thing with my brother is serious, and I'm pretty sure it is seeing how you two act, I think you should tell your dad." She tells me with a smile, as we drive towards the hospital. I scowl.
"Sam..." I start to say. She shakes her head.
"Look, you're in pain, Elena. The hospital has tons of pain meds. Plus, Don's worried about you, and I don't like him distracted while he's working. He'd concentrate better if you were in the hospital."
Why didn't I think about that? I was putting him at risk! How could I be so selfish? "Okay, Sam."
"What? Really? Don said you were stubborn, I was expecting a fight." She says surprised.
"I didn't think about Flack, and how it was distracting him. I'm doing this for him. It's just that this thing between us is new, and we haven't had much alone time, because of Gage. I mean we only got together like 6 days ago, Sam. I'm not used to thinking about someone else, and making compromises."
Sam pulls into the parking lot and helps me walk inside. The nurse was very happy to see I changed my mind. She helped me up to an empty room and Sam helped me get settled. She called Flack and let him know I was back in the hospital. Then she stayed and we talked until visiting hours were almost over.
"Oh! Here." I tell her handing her my keys. "Can you give these to Danny Messer?" I ask her.
"Yeah, sure thing." I smile and thank her. She heads out and I text Lindsay telling her she can move in.
Flack comes in at around 7:30, and he looks drained.
"You look worse than I do and I'm in the hospital Flack." I tell him and he laughs.
"Uh-huh. I had a tough day. I'm glad you're back here. Sam said you didn't fight her on it."
"Well, she pushed the right button." I told him and we talked for a bit before visiting hours were over.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He says, kissing me before leaving. I smile and quickly fall asleep.
Three days after that I was released from the hospital and I was told I had a week off of work. It's my first day back on the job and I have been going stir crazy in my and Lindsay's apartment.
"Ready to go, Elena?" Lindsay calls from the hallway. I exit the closet dressed in my favorite jeans, a black t-shirt and my boots. I grab my leather jacket off the hook and my phone and keys from the dresser and open my bedroom door. Lindsay is dressed in a blue blouse, gray dress pants and black boots. Her hair is in a twisted bun, while my long dark brown hair is down and straightened. Like me, Lindsay has little makeup on, just eyeliner mascara. I smile and we make our way to the lab.
As soon as we step off the elevator we were greeted by everyone at the lab waiting for us. They all started cheering when they saw me. I laughed and Danny came over and hugged me.
"Glad you're okay, Ellie." He tells me and choke on a laugh.
"You haven't called me that in years. I miss it." I tell him kissing his cheek and walking over to my dad.
"Hey dad. Got anything exciting for my first day back?" I ask him after hugging him and Stella.
"Yep, You and Danny are partners again." He tells me and I frown.
"I'm partnered with Flack, and I thought you said 'never again'." Reminding him of 2 years ago.
"Well, Flack's been tasked with showing a rookie the ropes and Stella's partnered with Lindsay so all that's left his Danny." Mac says, clearly nervous about partnering us again.
"Dad, I swear that was a one time thing. I was young and stupid. I promise to be on my best behavior."
"Okay, Danny's got the case file. Get going." He tells me and I grin and hug him again before leaving.
We pulled up to a really nice hotel, and walked into the lobby. We got into the elevator and rode it up to the 25th floor. The crime scene was at the end of the hall, and as soon as we walked in, we knew this would be a difficult case. There were at least 12 people in the hotel room being interviewed and the victims were in the hot tub, which probably destroyed evidence on their bodies. We saw Flack and his new partner, an attractive brunette, and walked over.
"So, Flack, what do we got?" Danny asked him as I walked over to the pool, pulling on my gloves. A young woman with black hair, looked about mid 20's and a man with blonde hair, same age were dead, floating in the deep end and they looked like they were in their at least a couple days. Not a pretty sight.
"Two victims, John and Jane doe. Carol Richards and Kevin Lansing found the bodies, this is where " Flack reads us from his notepad. The brunette looked at the victims and looked like she was going to be sick.
"Look, if you're gonna be sick, try to make it to the hallway, or you'll make out jobs harder."
"Ellie, chill. Don't worry about her. She's always that abrasive. I'm Danny Messer with the crime lab. This is my partner, Elena Matthews." Danny says as he takes pictures of the crime scene to the brunette who smiles shyly.
"I'm Jessica Angell. I'm new to the force. Nice to meet you both. I heard a lot about you at the academy, Elena." She says to us and looks at me. I raise my eyebrow and bend down and examine the bodies.
"No visible trauma, but there is something at the bottom of the pool. Danny, you wanna get that?"
"No way, Lena. It's your first day back, this one's all yours." He tells me smirking as he takes a picture of the pool before I pull on the jumpsuit and walk to the stairs. I slowly wade into the pool and grab what I saw at the bottom.
"A phone. Maybe Adam can get something off this. Oh, and Danny? Screw you." I tell him shoving the phone into an evidence bag. He chuckles and keeps taking pictures.
"So, the stuff you heard, good or bad?" I asked Jessica as I took off the jumpsuit and saw that I was soaking wet. Damn. She looked up at me and smiled a bit.
"Some was good, but most of it was examples of what was risky and we shouldn't do. My instructor, Sargent Edwards told us that you were his best student because you weren't afraid of anything. Don told me about some of your collars from when you guys were partnered up. It's really impressive, and I hope I can learn a lot from you." She says and I gotta admit the kid's sweet. Naive and sweet.
"You don't want to learn from me, Angell. Flack will show you how to be a by the book cop. NYPD has one Elena Matthews for a reason. New York probably wouldn't survive two of em." Danny says from his spot by the door, where he's dusting for prints. I scowl at him and he chuckles again.
"That's it, Messer! Next time we get a call and evidence is in a dumpster you're diving in to get it!" I tell him and he glares at me and frowns, when he realizes I'm serious. I laugh and Flack chuckles too.
"Okay, okay you two. I honestly don't know why Mac thought it was a good idea to partner you too up again." Flack says to me as he and Angell follow me over to where I'm taking samples of the bottles of champagne and beer. I scoff.
"He didn't. Dad didn't have a choice though, seeing as there was nobody left for us to partner with."
"About that, sorry about stealing your partner, Elena." Angell says to me and I wave her off.
"No worries, kid. Me and Messer go way back. He and I were partners before I was paired up with Flack. It's like old times." I tell her, and then I go back to collecting the bottles.
"El, just be careful, alright? You got out of the hospital last week." Flack tells me with a frown.
"Flack, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, seriously. Just train your rookie and stay safe. Movie night at my house with Lindsay and Danny. You're bringing the pizza, pepperoni please?" I tell him and start collecting fingerprints. He and Angell leave soon after that. Danny and I finish up at the crime scene and head back to the lab.
"So, what's the deal with you and Lindsay?" I ask as we're waiting in the elevator. He scoffs.
"There is no 'me and Lindsay'. I don't know what you're talking about, Lena." He says and I snort.
"Okay. Like there was no me and Flack a week ago? Come on, Messer. Best friends are supposed to share these things, granted I didn't tell you about me being into Flack, but only because I thought I was just 'one of the guys' and that it wasn't possible. You guys are into each other ad I can help."
"You can help by budding out, Ellie." He tells me, but I see the slight smile and I know I did help.
"Uh-huh, sure. Staying out if it. Just do something soon or she'll find another hot New Yorker."