Chapter 10
You find your faith has been lost and shaken
You take back what's been taken
Get on your knees and dig down deep
You can do what you think is impossible
Keep on believing, don't give in
It'll come and make you whole again
It always will, it always does
Love is unstoppable
Unstoppable – Rascal Flatts
"Nice bruise."
Anna looked up from the coffee mug in front of her and over to Adam who had just walked into the break room. His eyes landed on the bruises she'd gained from her trip home before he gave her a small understanding smile.
Giving a small shrug Anna returned to stirring her coffee, allowing her hair to fall around her face, "Yeah I got hit with a door..." she laughed slightly looking up at him, amazed at how easily she was still able to tell that lie.
Adam nodded as he leaned against the counter, "Yeah I used to tell people that exact same thing I used to tell people too when my Dad hit me."
Anna felt her whole body tense, and her defences fly up at Adam's words. "Huh," was her only reply as she carried on looking down.
"I don't mean to assume it's just you didn't go away to Australia with them bruises and you always avoid the subject of home, it's easy for someone who's been there to recognise the signs" Adam said with a small shrug, he poured himself a coffee, glancing up to see Anna just staring at the drink in front of her. "You're really brave you know."
"That's not true." Anna muttered, taking a small breath as she finally looked up at Adam. "I'm so far from being brave..." Anna shook her head, "It took my whole life to finally walk away, a braver person would have said no a long time ago,"
"It doesn't matter how long it took for you to stand up Anna, the point is you did and you're a better person for doing so." Adam told her with conviction, reaching out to take Anna's hand in his, "I just wanted you to know you're not alone, there's a lot more of us out there than you think."
Anna clasped hold of Adam's hand with her own, "Your Dad?"
"Hurt me pretty bad, but for years I stayed quiet, didn't speak up because he was my Dad and I loved him you know..." Adam said, "Thing is Anna if I hadn't of gotten out when I did. Stood up when I did, there's no doubt in my mind I'd be dead now..."
Anna inhaled softly and nodded, tears brimming her eyes as she looked from their hands back up to Adam, "It just really hurts you know, I thought it was all behind me that maybe after leaving when I was a kid I'd moved on but now I just...I just feel like that little girl all over again, scared, lost, and just aching for them to love me you know. I just wish I knew why they couldn't..." she whispered, not bothering to wipe away the tear that fell over her cheek.
"There's no way we'll ever know...why they do what they do but you can't let it consume you. Anna you have a life here now, a fresh start, and I promise you it's going to get easier." Adam told her softly, his arms coming to wrap around her shoulders, pulling Anna into a soft, comforting embrace into which she sunk gratefully, for the first time not feeling quite so alone, thankful she now had someone in her life who could understand completely.
"Looks like he broke his hand, shooters gonna have some serious bruises."
Anna looked up from her camera as Mac spoke. He was currently crouched beside the body of Joel Ivey, the victim of a shotgun blast to the face. From what little info they'd managed to gather, a poker game between four men had gone south when three of them figured out the fourth man Kelly was cheating. After beating him they threw him out the apartment, and began preparing for their next game. Joel Ivey had gotten up to look through the peephole of the door to see who was knocking when the blast went off.
Looking back down at the pool table, she chewed on her bottom lip and listened as Flack spoke, "Our boys used Kelly as a punching bag." Taking another picture of the Cigar stub lying in the ashtray Anna picked it up to bag, "Our killer was smoking that cigar."
"This was definitely not a friendly home game." She commented, looking up at Flack as he came to a stop beside her,
"Well pokers no longer a hobby it's a profession, as far as these kids are concerned desk jobs are for suckers." He told her with a small shrug; Anna nodded and turned to look at the two men,
"Did you guys carry on playing when you kicked Kelly out?" she asked, pushing her glasses up into her hair. The guy in the green sweater was the one to answer,
"No, that was the last game we played." He replied, before turning back to the cop in front of them. Frowning slightly Anna turned back to the table, letting her hand come to rest on her hip,
"Lines are 500 and 250 and the hole cards just been dealt," she said, looking up in time to see Flack staring down at her, a surprised smile on his face,
"You play poker?" he asked doubtfully. Crossing her arms, Anna narrowed her eyes,
"Occasionally, why you got a problem with that?" she asked playfully, watching as Flacks smile widened,
"In the couple months I've known you; you have not once been able to keep a straight face. It's impossible," he chuckled, Anna smiled,
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, now Mac he's got a poker face who knows what he's thinking." Flack said, making Anna laugh slightly as Mac turned towards them.
"I'm thinking, where the gun came from. Stashed in the hallway maybe, unless he was expecting trouble who comes to a poker game with a shot gun?"
Both Anna and Mac headed out of the apartment, following a trail of blood drops through the hallway right up until they stopped at a trash chute. As Mac opened it and peered down Anna resisted the urge to slink off back to the safety of the apartment, instead she remained rooted to the spot and pouted slightly when Mac turned to her and smiled.
"Mac come on this new girl stuff has got to stop." She sighed, laughing slightly as she turned on heal and made her way downstairs, to collect her overalls before going for yet another dumpster dive. Mac watching her go for a moment before laughing and following.
"Have you seen this man before?"
Anna stood beside Flack as she pushed a photo of their suspect across the glass counter of the cigar shop; she kept her eyes trained on the man in front of her as she spoke,
"Nah, not ringing any bells," he replied,
"He smokes your cigars." Anna told him, watching as he smirked,
"Well the man's got good taste." He replied, making Anna roll her eyes as she turned to look up at Flack.
"I like Cubans personally, you like Cubans Mr Dulcet?" Flack asked, and the store owner laughed,
"They seem like decent people." He answered; Anna shook her head and stepped towards one of the tables which held boxes of the cigars.
"I'm going to make this very simple for you. One phone call and ATF are gonna be all over this place confiscating any Cuban cigars you may be selling." Flack said, warning the man to co-operate. Anna looked up when a moment of complete silence fell to see the store owner obviously struggling to decide what to do. Eventually he sighed and pushed the photo back towards Flack,
Shaking her head she picked up one of the cigars and looked down at it, twirling it between her fingers looking up fully aware the owner's attention was on her as he still hadn't spoke. Without looking up Anna 'accidently' snapped the cigar in half. "Whoops." She said softly lowering the two halves down, catching sight of the smirk on Don's face and struggling not to return it.
The store owners eyes were wide, and he panicked as she reached for another one, "Fine guys names Kelly, her rents one of the humidors here number 11!" he sighed, walking around the counter to lead them towards the back of the shop
As they trailed behind Flack shouldered Anna playfully, he was obviously pleased with what she'd just done, "I like your style Harris."
It was quiet in the crime lab, and extremely late when Anna hopped into the break room. The coffee was certainly to blame for her state right now, usually she banned herself from drinking it but this case was making her tired, so Anna had steered away from tea and opted for something with a hell of a lot more kick.
As she bounced through the door her smile widened. There leaning against the counter, making his own coffee was Danny. So as quietly as she could Anna moved her way to behind him, sliding both her arms around to rest on his stomach.
Danny jumped having not expected the interruption but immediately smiled and relaxed when he realised who it was. "Well hello to you too." He said as he looked over his shoulder.
Anna laughed as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss on the back of his neck and let him go before grabbing her own cup, "Hey, you just get back in?" she asked, her hand reaching out for the coffee jar only to have it snatched away by Danny who shook his head.
"Yeah..." he replied in answer to her question before grabbing the tea, "You know you don't do well drinking coffee..." he reminded her with a smile, remembering how long it took her to come down from the last 4 cups of coffee she had on shift.
Anna scowled, "I'm fine." She told him, her hands coming to rest on her hips. When Danny gave her a pointed look Anna sighed and rolled her eyes, "Okay fine maybe I'm a little skittish." She admitted reluctantly leaning against the counter and letting her head fall back. "I just want my bed."
"Trust me I want your bed too but for now we're stuck here so, drink this, get back to work and I'll be expecting your sexy ass at my place after work." Danny pushed the mug in front of her and smirked at the look on her face. Without waiting for a reply he grabbed his own mug, leaned down to press a lingering kiss on her lips and turned on his heal, heading out the break room and back to work.
Anna watched him go and shook her head, but couldn't fight the smile slowly working its way onto her face. Now she was definitely looking forward to shift ending, and with that in mind she grabbed her drink and headed out.
Well guys sorry for the late update, I just ended up getting caught up in something else but the next chap will be up asap.
Thanks for everyone's great reviews, and for all those that took the time to read, your support means the world to me.
Donna, well I think the pair of us are neglecting our couples of CSI NY we need to get our act together lmao but thanks for your support and help not only with this story hun but the other.
xSamiliciousx – Oh they are doing so much more than dating lmao. Thanks for your review hun, appreciate you sticking with this story.
Kayla – Anna's grandfather always promised he'd take care of her, and even now when he's passed he's still doing it. I wouldn't worry about her parents, Anna's taken a stand she's free of them now. She knows now she doesn't deserve to be treated in such a way.
Ditto123 – The tough teddy bear, that is definitely Danny and in later chapters were going to see that side of him come out a lot more. So glad to hear your enjoying the chapter hun! Looking forward to hearing what you think on this chapter.
Sch – Heya hun don't worry about forgetting to review! I love a protective Danny, and that's one of the many reasons I didn't have him go with her to OZ, we know how emotional he can get, there's no way he would have held back seeing her Father hit her. Anna's always going to love her parents, and walking away was hard but she knew she had to do it; it's something she's had to do to move on from their hold on her. Now she's moving onto the next chapter of her life with Danny. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.