Title: Death, MD Chapter 6
Author: Dancing Star
Crossover: PSI Factor / Sue Thomas FBEye
Pairing: Connor / Lindsay,
Rating: 16
Category: AU, Crime, Mystery, Romance (Warning: This story is VERY different!)
What happens: Lindsay Donner loves her job at the hospital. But then she gets hit by a lightning and since then she can read the thoughts of the people around her. Lindsay notices that one of her patients is planning a murder. She tries to prevent the murder.
Notes: The idea for this story is mine, but the characters aren´t. If this story sounds familiar to you: Congratulations. You have found me. :-)
As you may have heard, I will have a little vacation. So my next story will be published at November 29th.
Death, MD Chapter 6
At the airport, hey met the chief of the local police and together with Theo Albany and an insert team they arrested Weaver, after he had said goodbye to the Delta Air Stewardess and left the plane. They put him in handcuffs, attached leg irons and brought him to the exit, where he was sat in Jack's car. On the way there, Lindsay was reading his mind. She saw that he almost built a wall in his mind.
"This won´t help," she said to him, "I will break through your wall." He looked at her as if he knew what this meant.
They drove back to the lab, Jack and the snapped Weaver in a CIA- vehicle, Connor and Lindsay in the black SUV. "Now that we got him ...", Lindsay began, "Are you satisfied?"
Connor mused while clutching the steering wheel of his SUV. "Yes... I think so. So, at least I'll be able to sleep a little quieter at night."
Lindsay thought thiswas a good word. She was also tired. But the adrenaline made her wake again when they reached the laboratory. Jack and Connor lead Weaver inside.
They were expected by Jenkins. "You don´t have Caleb with you," the nerd noted when Jack came into his office. He then pursued through a glass pane, as Connor led a bearded man in handcuffs and shackles in an interrogation room.
"Is that him?"
"Yes, this is Doctor Death" Jack answered, "He actually looks quite harmless. But his appearance is deceptive."
Connor wanted to start interviewing their target person immediately. In the interrogation room, he almost threw Jimmy Weaver on the chair then he circled him a few meters distance. "Finally we meet again," he said to the bearded man, "I'm coming straight to the point, because, as you can imagine, I am not a man of many words. You can´t afford in my job: You could practically shot down every second from ambush... Even in a small house in Canada..." He wanted Weaver to recall he hadn´t forgotten this.
"You´ll learn anything from me," Weaver's voice was calm.
While Connor was talking to him and Lindsay watched him through the one-way mirror, Jenkins examined Weaver´s precious camera. He first noticed the camera was really heavy. He suspected there was indeed a container at the camera, so he carefully turned to the lens and was surprised when this actually solved. Jenkins peered inside with a flashlight and discovered a kind of remote control with a red button. Suddenly sweat ran across his forehead, because he could guess what this remote was. He immediately ran to Jack and told him he had found a remote detonator for an explosive device. "Have you studied the rest of the luggage?", Jack asked in a whisper.
"Sally and I work on it, but so far we have no trace of the bomb." Jenkins believed the explosive device would have exploded long ago when Weaver wanted to harm the people at the airport.
Jack nodded and watched how Connor talked to Weaver, also known as Doctor Death. "Who is the mole which has procured you a job as a janitor at the CIA?", Connor asked.
Weaver began to laugh. "It took a long time until you noticed."
"Who helped you to infiltrate the CIA?"
"Listening to your telephone calls was useless," said Weaver, "The girl in the lab is usually talking about private garbage and the nerd is only interested in computers..." He regretted he hadn´t managed to get at Jack's office, which was always locked up when Jack went home.
"Who helped you?", Connor was impatient.
"Well, I'll tell you. But I want a return", Weaver knew he´d end up in prison for his actions. And he had no problem to send someone else to doom when he received a lesser penalty for it.
Connor leaned back in his chair and looked at him. "I'm still thinking..."
"My assistant is a CIA man named Tom Whitehall."
Behind the one-way mirror Jack grabbed his cell phone. He had to check if this agent really existed. Jack shuddered: Agent Whitehall worked in the personnel department of the Las Vegas' CIA- office. He didn´t recognize him when he opened his personal file on the smartphone. Jack wondered if he had seen him at a meeting or in the cafeteria, but Agent Whitehall was obviously working very withdrawn. He left to arrest Whitehall with some people from his team.
"I met the agent three years ago in Eastern Europe," Weaver told, "An unusual holiday destination if you ask me... But since then he has been a great help..."
He stopped talking and when Connor had enough after three hours of interrogation, he left to get Lindsay out of the auditorium next door. He hadn´t to say a single word, because he assumed she already read his thoughts at that moment. She stopped him before they entered the interrogation room again. "Jenkins has examined the camera and found a remote detonator for an explosive device," she informed him.
"A bomb?"
"The problem is we have no trace of the explosive device. We need to get some information."
Connor nodded, "Agreed."
Silently they entered the interrogation room. Doctor Death sat at the table and grinned at them.
"Do you still remember me?," Lindsay asked when she sat down opposite him, "Of course you do." She reminded him how he had met her for the first time: While she and an assistant had sewn his wound, he thought about to murder a woman.
"All right, Jimmy... ? Or should I call you Doctor Death?", Connor asked," We'll start with an easy question: Where is the bomb?"
"Who says there´s a bomb?"
" The remote detonator was hidden in the camera. "
Connor and Lindsay looked at each other. Then she focused on Weavers spirit. But something was wrong...
"It seems that our guest doesn´t understand the question..."
"It's hard to remember," Lindsay chimed in. "Maybe we should skip this topic and talk about it later." Connor thought she played the "good cop bad cop"- thing very well. "...There is one more important question: Why did we found the clothes of my son in the desert? Explain this to me."
Doctor Death wasn´t saying a word. He was careless and Lindsay took advantage of the gap in his concentration to read his thoughts, but she only found out that Caleb had something to do with the bomb.
It made Lindsay crazy and furious that he didn´t tell her where Caleb was. "I won´t tell you," Weaver hissed, "Death will come all over the city." He turned away from her and grinned at Connor, "And then I did what I always wanted."
Connor's death. His revenge. Because they had blown up a terrorist ring years ago.
"I ask only once: Where is my son?"
Weaver grinned at Lindsay and shook his head.
At this moment, Lindsay grabbed the weapon that hung on Connors belt and so she had quite startled him: Connor didn´t expect she´d grab his gun, rushed across the table and squeezed the gun directly under his chin.
"Do you remember?", she asked softly, but Weaver didn´t show any emotion, "Come on, you coward. I can see the fear in your eyes." Her fingers moved the trigger of the weapon. "I want you to suffer as much as my boss did when he died... And as my son..." She pressed the gun fixed under his chin. Weaver found it hard to breathe.
"Where is my son?", She repeated quietly. When he didn´t answer, she tried to read his mind, but something was wrong. She didn´t find out what he thought. Furious, she threw the weapon away, turned away from him and walked to the door. Connor followed her when she rushed out of the room. Previously, he remained standing in the doorway and turned to his colleagues behind the one-way mirror. "Bring him away. We don´t need him." Then he went out and followed Lindsay. "What's going on?"
"Something´s wrong… He is trained..."
"What?"
"Somehow he manages to lock me out of his head...", she shook her head, "I can´t figure it out," Lindsay apologized, "I can´t invade his thoughts and find out where the bomb is... or where Caleb is ... So I'm useless for you. I´m sorry." She regretted this at the most and she couldn´t do more than to see how Connor stormed out of the room.
When Jack returned from Whitehall's arrest he found an empty interrogation room. Jenkins brought him up to date.
Connor tried to get his mind clear, so he drove to the CIA safe house. He had to talk to his mother and there were some things he had to tell her.
This time when he entered the house, it was dark inside. Apparently, Elizabeth had kept to his preaching and didn´t leave the house this time. Cautiously, Elizabeth was peering around the corner and when she was sure that her visit had no evil intentions, she came out of hiding. She hugged Connor. "What's going on?", she asked, "Did you catch this horrible man?"
"Yes," he nodded depressed, "But can we talk a moment?"
Elizabeth stepped back. "Of course," she said and led him to the couch. Together they sat down.
"There is a new development in the case," he said, "A few days after James was found dead, the son of a colleague was kidnapped. It turned out that... It turned out the boy is my son." He now had to explain to his mother he had made a mistake in college, namely that he had simply run away and then left the girl alone with the baby. Elizabeth asked him why he hadn´t come to her or to his stepfather and asked for help and Connor replied he was afraid of the consequences at that time.
"What´s his name?"
"His name is Caleb Donner, he is six years old and he visits a school here in Las Vegas. He's a pretty smart boy and he has a lot of his mother. Lindsay is a doctor", he looked at his mother," Don´t worry, she's a real doctor."
"You have to find the boy," Elizabeth told him, "Not only for his mother, but also for you." She hoped so much that he could come to rest one day.
"This is my fault," he said, "Because of me the boy is in danger now. My opponent is up to every trick: He's even flown specially to New York to kill you", he told her.
They were silent for a moment.
"I really shouldn´t tell you this, but this terrorist has hidden a bomb somewhere in the city. He said there would be a disaster, no-one would have expected at this place..."
Elizabeth seemed to think, suddenly she wrinkled her nose. "I must say, it disappoints me that you and your CIA friends haven´t found out so far."
"What do you mean?"
"The Hoover Dam: Imagine the dam breaks. Lake Mead is indeed drying up slowly, but I think there´s currently enough water to flood the city."
Connor thought about her words. Then he realized she was right. He got up, thanked her and said that he knew it was right to come here. Connor rushed to the front door and his mother cried after him he should find Caleb.
Connor raced formally back to the CIA lab. He felt trapped like a slow-motion.
At last he reached Jack's office. "I know what Weaver's up," he said, "He wants to blow up the Hoover Dam. The bomb is placed there." He told them how he had gotten it. The fact that his mother actually had the brilliant idea, he didn´t tell, because he would hold him a sermon he wasn´t allowed to discuss CIA affairs with civilians.
Jack thought they had to check his idea at least and so they drove to the Hoover Dam. "Jenkins, we are back in an hour", Jack informed him, "If Connors assumption is right, it could take longer. It depends on whether we find the bomb or not."
"You know where the bomb is?", Lindsay asked, "I'm coming with you!" This was her chance to find Caleb and she would do everything for it.
On the way to the Hoover Dam, they informed Steve, the warden of the facility. Inside the Hoover Dam a few turbines produced electricity for the city. Their guess was obvious that the bomb was placed here somewhere. As always in August, many tourists were at the Hoover Dam and Steve should evacuate them until their arrival. He sparked a fire drill and from the tickets he and his team examined whether the same number of people had left the plant.
Without welcoming the manager, Jack, Connor and Lindsay entered the facility with a large, deserted elevator. During the two-minute ride Jack read the plan and the blueprint.
They arrived at a kind of viewing platform. The tourists were allowed to watch this part of the dam normally, but Jack climbed down a narrow ladder. Connor and Lindsay followed him. A narrow tunnel then led straight out onto a two-meter wide edge at the foot of the dam. Lindsay looked up and noticed that the wall was pretty steep.
"Where are we?", she asked.
"Right at the foot of the dam. When a bomb would blow up in here, the water breaks the dam in pieces, "Jack put his sunglasses on," It´s quite possible that the bomb is hidden in here somewhere."
They turned around and Lindsay shielded her eyes as the bright concrete wall of the dam reflected the sunlight. In the middle of the wall at the foot of the dam sat a figure who was wrapped in a light cloth. "Caleb!"
"Caleb!," Lindsay cried, as she knelt directly in front of her son and shook him vigorously. He was apparently unconscious. His skin on his face was very red and sweat was on his forehead. While she shook him, the cloth with which he was wrapped, slid to the side.
Lindsay and Connor drew back a step: Caleb was tied up and he was sitting on a bomb with electronic countdown clock. There were two hours until the bomb would explode.
The boy's eyes flashed and he finally looked at her. "Mom," he whined.
Immediately Lindsay embraced her son, but Connor and Jack tried to hold her back, "You have to be careful," they admonished her, "Even a slight variation in weight could be enough to blow up the bomb."
"What do we do now?", Tears welled up in Lindsay's eyes.
"We need to get help."
Jack phoned the police a few feet away from them. He asked for a bomb disposal squad. Then he called Jenkins at the lab and brought him up to date. Jenkins immediately asked him to remove a few yards from the bomb with his cell phone.
From the corner of his eye Connor watched, how Jack walked calling on the wall.
"How long have you been here?", Lindsay asked Caleb.
"Don´t know," he answered wearily. The red skin on his face was sunburned. His hands and feet were also bright red. The rest of his body was protected from the sun through the cream-colored cloth but his arms, legs and the upper body also showed red spots.
"The person that brought him to this place had hidden Caleb very good," Connor noted. He noted that Caleb was hard to be recognized in the cream-colored cloth here below the dam. Therefore, no tourist or Steve had noticed something. Andy maybe Steve didn´t come to this place so often. Connor looked around and noticed this wall was reachable, even for Weaver, despite security fence. It was certainly difficult, but not impossible.
"Connor, he has a strong sunburn. And I suspect he also has a sunstroke, "Lindsay told him.
"I know," he reached into his jacket pocket, "Hey, boy. I still have a bit of water in my bottle. It's not much, but you can have it." Connor opened the little water bottle. He hadn´t understated, because the little bit of water were maybe three sips of liquid. Then he held the bottle to Caleb's mouth and he drank.
Lindsay noticed that remains of adhesive tape hung around his mouth. Apparently Weaver had taped his mouth so he didn´t call for help. She didn´t know what had caused him to stop: Was it the sunburn in Caleb's face, or the fact that the boy was already becoming weaker?
"This was all I had," Connor said to Caleb after he had emptied the bottle, "I can get you some more water, okay?"
"Okay."
"Caleb, how could you ever leave the hospital?", his mother asked now.
"I... I don´t know anymore," Caleb replied wearily, "I only know how I wanted to follow you to the emergency room and suddenly everything became dark... Someone has put a towel on my face and it smelled terrible. Then woke up here again…" His eyes flashed again.
"Caleb, you need to stay awake, you hear?", Lindsay asked, "Were you here alone all the time?"
"No," her son muttered, "A bearded man brought me something to eat and drink every morning and evening... Mommy, It´s so hot…"
"I know." She read his thoughts. Caleb also had other problems, because as he was sitting on this explosive since his disappearance, Weaver had thus forced him to waste away in his own excrement.
Jack came back to them now. "I have just spoken to the police," he informed them, "They will send someone who can defuse the bomb. Until then, we shouldn´t move Caleb."
The time until help arrived seemed to last almost forever. Connor and Lindsay had stayed with Caleb the whole time. They sent Jack to get a new drink for dehydrated boy. Finally, a man in a thick padded suit and helmet came from the narrow tunnel. He raised his hand to salute, told them his name and then wanted to know, how heavy Caleb was.
Then he shuffled back once again to the tunnel and asked for an appropriate comparison weight. Placing the heavy block, was hard work, Lindsay noticed: She had to watch as the man from the bomb disposal squad lifted the block on the bomb, while Connor had both hands under Caleb's shoulders, just waiting to pick him up in the right moment. When he finally carried Caleb on his arm, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Go now," the man in protective suit asked, "I'll stay here and defuse the bomb."
"But...", Lindsay started to argue because she was not sure if it was wise to defuse the explosive device here: If it went wrong, the explosion tore a hole in the Hoover Dam.
"Come on!", Connor was carrying Caleb on his right arm with his left hand he reached for Lindsay. They hurried to get through the narrow tunnel. Inside the dam, it was cool and Caleb seemed relieved to finally be able to escape the sun.
"We need to get Caleb to the hospital," Lindsay said and Connor agreed. When they entered the elevator, they were still holding each other's hands.
"Thank you for finding Caleb" , Lindsay muttered.
"It wasn´t me. My mother had the idea it could be the Hoover Dam. But I couldn´t tell Jack. He´ll have a heart attack when he finds out I'm talking to my mother about our cases."
"What did you want at her house?", Lindsay asked, still holding his hand. She looked at Caleb, who was still sitting exhausted on Connor's arm.
"I had to talk to her about Caleb," he said, "I needed a little help with processing, he is my son."
Caleb raised his head and looked at his mother. "Is that true?", he asked her. Lindsay nodded slowly. "Yes, it's true." She was curious to see how he would react. Through her ability to read minds, she knew that Caleb often wanted a father. She hoped he would accept Connor...
Then Caleb wrapped his arms tighter around Connor's neck and began to cry. "I'm so glad you're my dad."
At that moment the doors of the elevator opened and they were received by an emergency physician and Jack. The doctor took them to an ambulance and together they drove to the Desert Springs Hospital. The emergency department of the Diamond City Hospital was still closed.
When they arrived in the hospital, Lindsay didn´t let her son out of sight. She sat next to his bet until Caleb had fallen asleep in her arms and then she slowly got up from the bedside.
Connor, who had been sitting motionless on a chair next to Caleb's bed until now, grabbed the boy's hand. "Don´t worry, I'll stay with him," he promised her.
Lindsay thanked him and walked out of the room. She grabbed her cell phone to call Sue, her best friend Peter, her dad and her twin sister Laura. She would tell them they had found Caleb and that he was recovering in the hospital. And she would tell them Caleb now had a Dad...
The bomb at the Hoover Dam could be defused in time. If people in Las Vegas only guessed in what danger they were...!
The funeral of Professor Sawyer was held on Friday, where the team from the emergency room had planned a trip to Los Angeles but out of respect for their deceased boss they had postponed the trip this year for an indefinite period. After the funeral, most of the present people said goodbye to Sawyer's ex-wife and his adult children. Lindsay joined the queue with Caleb (who still had a terrible sunburn), Sue and the other medical assistants in the emergency room. When they had said goodbye to Mrs. Sawyer, Lindsay saw a shadow under a tree. She took Caleb's hand and said to Sue she could leave if she wanted. Lindsay and Caleb went to Connor, who was waiting under the tree with his mother. The cemetery of Vegas was one of the places in town where you could waste water as much as you wanted: While residents were allowed to water their lawns on certain days, the sprinkler system of the cemetery was on almost daily and thus the cemetery was a green plant in the desert city.
"Hi," Lindsay greeted Connor.
"Hey," then he saw Caleb, "How are you today?"
"Good," he replied. Connor was amazed how brave Caleb was: His burns still caused pain and he had just learned that he was his dad. Nevertheless, he didn´t mind.
"Doctor Robins dismissed you from the hospital this morning, right?", Lindsay asked him.
"That's very nice," Caleb added, "But the doctor says I must still rest a while."
"Why didn´t you come closer at the funeral?", Lindsay wanted to know. She read his thoughts for just a second and found out he hadn´t dared to meet his father's ex-wife.
"Connor, don´t you want to introduce me?", his mother then asked and he rolled his eyes.
"Mom, this is Lindsay and Caleb."
A smile appeared in Elizabeth's face when she shook Lindsay´s and then Caleb's hand. "Connor already told a lot about you," now she leaned over to Caleb, "It really makes me very happy to get to know my grandchildren." She smiled and then went alone to the sedan, with which she had come. Elizabeth waved Connor goodbye and said to Lindsay it was really nice to get to know her.
"Why have you brought Caleb to Sawyer's funeral?", Connor asked now.
The boy answered for his mother: "Because in Mom´s opinion my grandfather would have wanted it."
"So you have talked about it," said Connor firmly. "We did," Lindsay wondered if he hadn´t changed his opinion that children didn´t show up in his life plan, "Have you been thinking about that, too?"
He didn´t answer.
"I can only say I don´t want child support from you. But Caleb and I would be very happy if you stay in touch with us. Somehow you're family", Lindsay took Caleb's hand again and looked at her son. "Do you want to go to the football game of the radiologists from the hospital?"
Caleb was thrilled.
"I thought, you think it´s impious to visit a football game after a funeral," Connor reminded her when she and Caleb went to the golden Trans Am. Lindsay hadn´t had time to look for a new car, after she had driven her old Toyota against the tree.
"I've also been thinking," she turned to him, "I know your father was a good person, but I think he would have wanted it that way. He always said: Finish each day with a smile, because you never know how bad the next one is."
The football game was already in full swing when they reached the sports field. Caleb got out of the car immediately and ran to Sue, who was standing with some other colleagues on the sidelines. "Stay in my sight, you hear?", Lindsay called after her son, when she put her black blazer on the backseat of the Trans Am. Although the sun wasn´t shining and now gray, heavy clouds were in the sky, it was stifling hot and stuffy.
She was also on the way to Sue, who was watching the players from the Diamond City Hospital. Then she went to the coach, he asked her if she had heard of Connor and whether he came to the game today. But actually, she had wanted to ask him if Connor would show up. This meant he wouldn´t come.
A little sad she looked for a place in the shade. As Connor previously in the cemetery, she found a cool spot under a tree. She leaned back until she touched the dry bark and took a deep breath.
"It's hard for me to admit it, but yes, I've been thinking," a voice suddenly said. Lindsay was shocked: She hadn´t heard Connor and didn´t feel his presence.
"Jenkins is also there," Connor noticed, who had discovered his colleagues on the sidelines in a good mood.
"Yes, I've invited him."
"I hope you don´t mind that I brought Jack." They noticed how Jack was talking to Sue, who currently bought a drink. Then Jack took a step back. "That was the moment in which he realized Sue is a friend of mine and he therefore doesn´t want to talk to her." But she was wrong, because Jack lined up with Sue in the queue in front of the snack bar. They talked, at times even Jack laughed.
Between Connor and Lindsay was silence.
Lindsay finally broke her awkward silence: "You've been thinking," she reminded him, "How did you decide?"
"Caleb is a wonderful boy and I am lucky he is my son. And you, Lindsay Donner, you have a good heart. You deserve someone who loves you..."
"I would say I have already found this someone." When Caleb was gone, he had helped her, so she got her son back. She was willing to forgive him this one mistake he had made in the past.
"I can´t imagine that another person could replace you," she confessed.
"Being together with an CIA agent is pretty difficult..."
"That means you quit working in the hospital", Lindsay stated and Connor nodded. "You think you can get out of my way. You are looking for an excuse...", she said.
"No, that's not true. To be honest, I would love to be with you. And with Caleb. Although I must confess it´s still strange, when he calls me Dad… Lindsay, I think I love you."
"You think?", she asked.
Connor leaned toward her and kissed her. Lindsay was surprised and their thoughts became a bright light, shining in heat.
The sky above them was darkened and a downpour scared the cheering crowd on the sidelines. Caleb had been with Sue up to now and his clothes became wet immediately in the rain. That wasn´t good for his burns. "Mom! Dad!", he cried," We have to get out of the rain!" He ran to find some shelter at the snack bar.
Above them it flashed and the Diamond City Hospital led with 10 points, when the game was interrupted. "Come on, we should also hunker down somewhere," Connor suggested when he took Lindsay's hand.
A lightning again struck directly over their heads in the tree under which they stood.
"My head!", Lindsay groaned when she woke up two hours later in the emergency room of the hospital and looked in a harsh light. Immediately Connor, Caleb, Jack and Sue stood next to her bed and looked at her anxiously. "What happened?", she asked as she sat up, "Was I hit by lightning again?" Lindsay´s head ached.
Connor nodded. His clothes were soaked. "Are you okay?"
Lindsay tried to focus on his thoughts and wanted to find out what exactly had happened. But she heard nothing. She couldn´t read his mind. Satisfied, she smiled. There was only...
Silence.
Fin