D: I don't own CSI: New York.

AN: Mature themes, but I don't think it hits mature just yet. If it is, I'm really sorry.

Okay, I didn't know I was going to get a lot of reviews for last chapter. Wow. That was a lot of reviews for me.

For all those that don't want to be left hanging over the holidays (Because I won't be on the internet until the day after Christmas), here's another chapter.


DJ forced Reed in front of him, pushing him along with the barrel of a gun. "Listen to me," he ordered, "I'm going to find us a ride. Don't talk to the person and don't try to get the attention of any cop you see. In short, don't try anything." He pushed Reed up against the wall right next to the door, pointing the gun at his head. His other hand twisted the shirt until the collar was tightening around his neck. Reed had to grab the arm and keep himself up so he didn't choke. "Understand?" He dug the gun deeper.

Reed nodded, tears welling in his eyes from the sight of Mac and the thoughts going around of what he could and probably would do to him. DJ pushed the gun further to invoke a verbal response. "Yeah, I got it," he answered, throwing in a little sarcasm that got him slapped upside the head. He's got me, but I'm not going to be nice to him.

"Good," he falsely consoled, using his thumb to wipe his eyes in a surprising move. "Now, I'm going to find someone. My gun is in my belt; I will get it out in three seconds and shoot you in the head if I have to. Stay only a few steps ahead." He tucked the gun in and let go of Reed. He opened the door and pushed him ahead.

The sirens were loud, but there weren't any flashing lights on the street. DJ was searching the street for someone he could con into taking them into their home or apartment. He needed a place that he could hide for a couple of days before he could run. He saw a man trying to get a table into a truck and decided to help him. "Hey, you look like you could use a hand," DJ good-heartedly shouted. He grabbed the other side of the table and helped maneuver it into the bed.

"Thanks. Didn't think there were any good people left in the city. Name's Steve, Steve Hill," the man introduced.

"Derek Jackson, my stepbrother Ryan," DJ faked, pointing to Reed. "We need some help; our stepfather has gone on a rampage. Our mother could thankfully get out, but he still has custody of Ryan, so we need someplace to hide out. Do you know any place?"

"I do know of a neighbor that might help you boys out. Lives on the same floor just a few doors down. Got an extra bedroom for strays. Her name's Stacy Teague," he told them.

"That's great. Do you think she'll take us?"

"I'll give her a call. Unless she's got someone else there, she'll take you."

Steve showed them to the cab of the truck. DJ grabbed Reed's upper arm and squeezed until Reed was sure the blood stopped going through. "Remember," DJ warned, letting go and getting in first. Reed got in after him and rubbed the circulation back into his arm. I can't give up. I can't give up. Mac's still alive. Stella and the team are going to save him and come after me. He started to calm down after this and took deeper breaths.

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Flack and Angell were the first ones in. Flack directed half of the SWAT team to the back with Angell while he took the front with the other half and Stella, who had insisted on coming. "Let's move in," Flack yelled, kicking in the door, "NYPD. Drew Bedford, DJ Pratt, come out with your hands up!"

Stella went into one of the side rooms and found Mac on the floor. "Mac!" she yelled. "Someone get the medics in here." She lifted the blanket and saw where the most damage was. She could also tell he was taking in shallow breaths. "Okay, Mac. Stay with me," she said, slapping his face a couple of times. She applied pressure on the wounds.

Mac groaned. His eyes opened a slit. "Stella?"

"Yeah Mac, it's okay. We're going to get you to the hospital."

"No," he grunted. "DJ has Reed."

"Shit. All right, did you hear anything after he took Reed?"

"Got too far away. He went out one of the other doors. Ah," he moaned at the pressure.

Flack came into the room. "EMTs are almost here. Drew's dead, back of the head's blown," Flack updated.

"DJ," Stella stated.

"Damn it! We were close," Flack swore.

"No closer than I was stopping him," Mac lamented.

"Mac, don't you dare. You were protecting Reed as best you could," Stella scolded. She moved out of the way for the medics to take over.

"What do we do now?" Flack asked.

"Hawkes and Danny are coming down to process and find anything. You get back to DJ. Find out anything from his past we can possibly find him with now. I'm going with Mac." Stella ran after the medics and jumped in as they loaded Mac in.

Flack pulled out his cell phone and called Adam in the lab. "What do you need?" he asked.

"I need any contact DJ Pratt had before ending up in jail."

"What type of contact?"

"Family, friends, girlfriends. Anybody, Adam."

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"All right boys, Stacy's place," Steve flourished, knocking twice to get the lady to come to the door.

"Steve, what do ya got for me?" she asked, looking at the two others behind him.

"Abusive father. This one's underage." Steve clapped on Reed's shoulder. "Older guy's his step-brother. Mind helping them out?"

"Of course not." She turned to Reed. "You look like you need your face cleaned. Bathroom's over there."

"Thank you," Reed said, surprised. A few minutes without DJ. He almost sighed until another thought came to his mind. Why does she want to get rid of me? He went to the bathroom and shut the door. He checked for a lock and didn't find one. "Damn."

Stacy turned back to Steve. "I better start dinner if I'm going to be feeding two hungry kids tonight. See you tomorrow, Steve." She waved him by and brought DJ in. Once the door was closed and locked, she set a full minute kiss on DJ. He responded by running his hand up her back and going over to the couch. "Damn DJ, didn't know Marie got remarried after death."

"Cover story. Escaped from prison." He kissed her neck. "Kidnapped Taylor, and his stepson with a guy named Drew." He trailed kisses along her stomach. "I just killed Drew and took the stepson, leaving Taylor to die."

"Quit it, you're making me want you now." She made his mouth return back up and devoured him back into a passionate kiss. "What do we do with Taylor's stepson?"

"Keep him here. Maybe I lay him off while you tell some story about DJ Pratt lying his way in and then taking you by force." His hands inched and itched around the belt of her jeans.

"Force? Oo, I like that." She giggled at the thought.

"That reminds me. Do you have the toys I left behind?"

"Which ones?"

"I need the handcuffs and the ankle restraints. For the kid."

"Want the gag too?"

"No, I need that for us. I'll just use duct tape." DJ regrettably got off Stacy and made his way over to the bathroom.

Reed had heard the whole exchange through the door. "Why do I never get help from others?" He went over to the window and opened it to look outside. He was about five stories up and there was barely a ledge to walk on. He considered yelling down to someone or dropping something until an arm snaked around his neck. DJ covered his mouth and pulled him back in.

"Now, you see, that wasn't a very good idea Reed. Someone could get hurt, mainly you," he told him, throwing him on the ground and closing the window. "Get up."

Stacy already had the second bed ready when he dragged Reed in. Black, studded ankle restraints were attached to the front of the bed. Handcuffs were at the other end. Stacy held the duct tape. DJ dropped Reed down and held the handcuffs. "Take off your shoes." Reed hesitated for a minute before undoing the laces and slipping them off. "Lay down, feet toward the head." He questioned it for a minute, but sat instead of laid down. DJ put the cuffs on his hands and did his ankles. "Stace, would you like the honor?" She nodded and stretched out a piece to put over his mouth. She wound the tape around a couple of times and was going for a fifth before DJ interrupted. "I think that's enough." He wrapped an arm around her waist and left, kissing her deeply before shutting the door.

Reed hated it. Mac was probably dead; DJ still had him and now there was someone else to help him. He couldn't call out for help; the bedroom boarded none of the other apartments except the floor and he couldn't reach that. He didn't want to feel completely hopeless. Think, what would Mac do? He felt a yawn coming on and knew what Mac would say. He pulled the comforter from under his body and pushed it back. He grabbed a pillow and covered himself entirely with the comforter. He made a small hole to let in air so he could breathe. He was surprised when he fell asleep quickly. I'll be up again in an hour anyway.

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Stella was waiting for a doctor or a nurse to come out and tell her how bad Mac was. She was biting her thumb nail and pacing back and forth. She waited for another fifteen minutes before a doctor came out. "The bullets had embedded in his ribs. Very lucky shot for him. He'll be under for a couple of more hours; we had to use general anesthesia," the doctor gave her.

"The bullets?"

"Being packaged for the lab. We didn't mark them up too badly."

"Thank you, doctor." Stella went outside and dialed Lindsay's number.

"Monroe."

"Lindsay, I'm sending over a bullet with Danny as soon as he gets here for Mac's clothes. See if you can trace it back to an original owner or to the Williams."

"Got it. Danny's stopping at Mac's first for clothes."

"He doesn't have a key."

"He's got the landlord to let him in. He'll be there in fifteen."

"All right, thanks Linds." Stella hung up and walked back in, going straight to Mac's room, which had two police on duty at his door.

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Flack was going to David Pratt's apartment. David was the younger brother and only living relative of DJ's that Adam could find. Adam was now going through security footage of all the cameras around the building. Flack knocked a couple of times. "David Pratt?" he shouted through the door.

A wiry man answered the door. "Who is it?"

"Detective Flack, NYPD. I need to know if your brother has tried to contact you."

"I haven't talked to him in ten years since our parents died."

"Died?"

"Killed in a car crash. They were planning on writing DJ out of the will; that day, they were on their way to change it. Always thought he was too happy after that."

"Honey, are you okay?" a voice asked in the living room. A red headed woman came walking into view, holding a redheaded girl.

"Fine, this detective was asking about DJ."

"The slimeball. He kept going after all my friends. Really latched onto Stace."

"Stace?" Flack asked.

"Stacy Teague. I haven't kept in contact with her since he went to jail for killing that girl." Flack's throat tightened at the thought of Aiden.

"Do you have an address for Stacy?"

"It's out of date. Tried to send a Christmas card and it got sent back."

"All right, thank you." Flack left and started calling Adam.

"Hey, Flack, I'm not through the footage yet."

"Never mind that. Find a current address for a Stacy Teague."

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DJ was bored. Before going to jail, playing games with Stace being his helpless victim was fun. Now, it was boring. He didn't feel the whole adrenaline that he got before. Probably because there's an actual victim in the other room. Either that or I'm in the middle of a bi situation. DJ shivered at the thought. He was bringing her to a climax and he couldn't even get himself to his climax.

Maybe it's the victim situation. He started thinking about the faces, terror running in their eyes as he took their life. He focused on the women, as they were the most expressive. That ain't working. He still wasn't coming and couldn't think of a single face that would push him over.

Images started forming. Reed scared. Reed lying in the bed. His mind started going over what he was planning to do if Mac hadn't interfered. He could feel himself coming and when she hit her climax, so did he. I guess it is a bi situation. He cursed himself and vowed for one thing while she was out the next day. I guess I'll have to go and try again on that kid.

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Flack's phone rang. He checked to see that it was Adam. "What do ya got?"

"576 Washington. Apartment 5G. It's a two bedroom," Adam reported.

"Thank you Adam. Let's start building the case." Flack ended the call and flipped on the siren to get to the area over. He was already calling Angell and a couple of other guys to back him up. He also got a bus to follow them there. "Please God; let me be there on time."

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She always kept it in the same place. DJ went to the medicine cabinet and found the lubricant that she kept on hand for the guys she allowed to go bare. She also had a box of women's condoms next to it. He took it and gave himself a minute to breathe before going into the bedroom.

He pulled off the comforter to reveal Reed lying on his side. "Honey, I'm home," he quipped, straddling him just like in the room. He took off the shirt and brought it over his head and placed it over his hands. He went to caressing the muscles while kissing down the spine. There it is. The adrenaline rush was coming back to him. He went back up to the neck and traced the barely noticeable scars on the back while his hands went down and undid the button and the zipper. He had to bring him up a little to slide down the pants but not his boxers.

Reed waited until he was above his left elbow before jamming it into his ribs. DJ yelled and fell on top of him. "Fine, if that's the way you want to play it." He grabbed the tape off the nightstand and wrapped it a few times around the chain in between the cuffs. He then trailed the tape down to the first bar he saw and wrapped it a couple of times also. He went and doubled up on the tape before going back.

I'm almost ready. He unzipped his pants, pushed them down to his knees and rubbed the lube on a couple of times to warm it up. He trailed kisses along the shoulders while pulling down the boxers. He lifted him again. One hand was positioned on him, ready to make him experience whether he wanted to or not. He moved to push himself in.

His moment of jubilation was stopped as someone pulled him off and he was forced up against the wall. He screamed as he was crushed and handcuffs were placed on him. "What the hell?" he yelled.

"What the hell is right," a voiced answered. DJ was spun around to see Detective Flack behind him. He was forced out of the bedroom and into the living room. "Officer Daniels, would you help Mr. Pratt with his pants while I read him his rights?"

Two medics were working with Danny to move Reed off the bed. He had his gloves on and was working on the ankle restraints. The medics were about to cut the shirt off of Reed to get to the cuffs. "Guys, I got that," Danny said, finishing with them and moving to the shirt. He pulled carefully and moved it up and over Reed's head. "Give me a minute," he stalled, looking at Reed, "Can you guys get the tape off?" One of the medics nodded and searched his kit.

Danny went out into the living room and went to Hawkes. He had bagged the items that Stacy had on her. "Did you get a set of keys off of her?"

"Yeah." Hawkes handed the bag over. Danny searched for a handcuff key. He didn't find one on the chain.

He went over to Stacy. "Where's the key?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The handcuffs! Where's the key?"

She smugly looked up at him. "I'm not telling you." She stretched her head up to force her face up. In the process, the key fell from a yarn necklace around her neck. Danny grabbed it and lifted it to her eyes. She made a face at him while he pulled the key off.

They were just taking off the last bit of tape from Reed's mouth. He undid the cuffs and bagged them. Reed pulled up his pants and curled a little bit on the bed. "Okay Reed, hey Reed." Danny tried to get his attention. Reed looked up at him without a normal comeback he would have for Danny. What the hell did Pratt do to him? "You're going to go with these two medics. You're going to hospital to get checked out."

"I just wanna see Mac," Reed whispered.

Damn, he sounds like a child. "You're going to see Mac at the hospital, but you have to get checked out first." Reed nodded and Danny almost blew a sigh of relief. He helped Reed up and walked him through the apartment. DJ was turned from him, but Reed still clenched Danny's arm. He didn't let up on the death grip until they were out of the apartment.

Danny was going to let Reed go and get back to the apartment to process. Reed held him back. "Hey, I gotta get back and collect evidence, Reed. You'll be fine; you can trust them." He shook his head and held on tighter. "You want someone familiar? Someone you know?" He nodded. Danny sighed and moved back to the apartment. "Hey, Hawkes, are you going to be overwhelmed by the apartment?"

"No Danny, I won't be, because Adam is going to come and cover you. Stella already figured Reed would want someone with him."

"Did she figure which one?"

"Uh, whatever one got to Reed first."

"Figures." Danny joined Reed back at the elevator. "All right, Reed. Let's go see Mac."

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Stella was waiting in the waiting room for Danny. Hawkes had called her and told her it would be about twenty minutes. She had left Mac sleeping in his room. He had insisted on wearing his clothes and walking around instead of being confined to the bed. She had insisted if he walked, he walked with someone by him to help him. The guards were going back to the station in a couple of minutes; DJ being arrested got them off of guard duty.

She heard the doors open and saw Danny walking by Reed. The two medics didn't come in. Stella walked over. "Hey, there's an exam room open. We'll get the hair and fingernails first. I leave so Danny can get your clothes. All right?" she offered. Reed nodded his head and followed her in. He sat on the bed while she scraped his fingernails and combed his hair while collecting things that fell out. She left and Danny had some bags ready for his clothes. He immediately replaced his clothes with the hospital ones on the chair. Danny was talking to him, trying to get a laugh out of him when a nurse came into the room and shooed him out. She began taking his temperature and doing everything for a normal checkup.

Reed was getting impatient. He wanted to see Mac and have one last good-bye before they started an autopsy on him. He didn't expect the door to open so quickly. He didn't look at the person that was coming in. He figured that the nurse had forgotten something. He didn't figure on a hand falling on his shoulder and he didn't expect the face that he saw when he looked up. "Mac?" he questioned, standing up. He broke down and clung to him. "I-I tho-thought…" he cried into Mac's shoulder, "That DJ ha-had killed you."

Mac couldn't say anything. He thought I was dead. What has he gone through? Flack snuck in and found a seat right next to the curtain, using it to cover himself. He held up his notebook to signal that he had to question Reed. Mac stopped him and signaled that he should do the questioning. Flack nodded back and sat down. Mac maneuvered over to the bed and sat down. Reed took the signal to sit down also, keeping a hold on Mac. He was still silently sniffling and curling himself into a ball. "What happened, Reed, after I was shot?" he whispered.

"DJ forced me out into the street. He was looking for someone that would take us somewhere to hide out."

"How did he find someone?"

This guy, Steve, needed help getting his table in his truck. DJ lied and told him a story about us being stepbrothers and the stepfather was abusive. He said that there was a woman named Stacy in his building that took people in."

"So Steve took you to Stacy's?"

"Stacy knew DJ. She helped him out. Had the handcuffs and the…" he cut off at the thought of the bondage restraints. He clung tighter and started shaking.

"Okay, Reed. It's okay; he's not there." Mac cursed himself for having to go on. Now I know how parents feel when I have to question their kids. "What did she have, Reed?"

"Th-these bondage ankle things. He knew about them, called them toys."

"All right, did DJ try to do anything at the apartment?"

"A couple of times, he came in and taunted me. Sometimes he hit me a couple of times." He curled himself tighter for the next part. "She was out today and he came into the room. He tried to…"

"This was the only time; he didn't try at any other time during the apartment?" He shook his head. "Reed, this is going to be hard, but you need to describe what he did to you."

"For Flack's infamous notebook, right?" Mac looked down at him and Flack snorted behind the curtain. "I could see him better than you. I just pretended I didn't see him."

"Yeah, for Flack's infamous notebook." Reed smiled for a bare second. He started when DJ entered the bedroom and went until Flack pulled him off. His shaking increased through the story, with Mac going from rubbing his back to mumbling a string of reassurances to keep him from crumbling.

Flack came forth after all of this. "Why is my notebook infamous?" he joked. Mac laughed and moaned at the movement of his ribs. Reed snorted. "Stella's got the doctor waiting for Mac. Another observation, then he'll release you." Flack went out to send them in.

Reed moved to the chair next to the bed. The doctor gave Mac a full check, re-taping his ribs and looking at the wounds. "You're good to go. Watch the ribs. You're probably still dehydrated and malnourished, so a good meal is in order. For both of you," he ordered, peering around Mac to look at Reed as well.

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Reed was helping Mac through the door to his apartment as they got home. "Do you think by good meals, he means pizza and soda?" Reed asked, looking over at Mac.

"I don't think so, but it's going to be a good meal for us. I think I got the number for a place that does deep dish." Reed agreed and took a pop that Mac offered. He ordered the pizza with a mixture of meat and vegetables.

Mac led Reed over to the couch and they both slumped down. Mac decided now would be the time to tell him. He brought Reed in and kept his arm around him. "What is it, Mac?" Reed asked.

"I've got something to tell you."

"What?"

"Something important about your mother, you and me."


Okay, so the next chapter will be the flashback of Claire and Mac with some clips of the present.

Review please. : ) : ) : ) I like reviews. They are cool.