Sorry that I took a while to update...but as I promised, this chapter is long!
Chapter Five: Unwanted
The next day Danny awoke to his alarm, but instead of getting ready for work, he immediately turned on his computer, searching for any recent fires that could have accounted for the one at the New York Crime Lab. For an hour of searching he found nothing, and when he turned on the news at six, there were no reports of a fire either. But one of his questions did get answered: It was still 2008, and the date was Wednesday, June 25, two day after the fire. So now that he had found the answer to one of his questions, he was determined to find out what had happened to the rest of his friends. And as he hurried to shower, get dressed, and leave his apartment, he found another answer he had been looking for.
He stopped at a restaurant that was only a few doors down from his apartment—he didn't remember of a restaurant being there before—and was glad to see Lindsay there, smiling at him. He hurried to follow her as a waitress showed Lindsay to her table. She took one look at Danny and said, "I guess you'll need another menu?"
Lindsay nodded and the waitress hurried off to get another menu. "Danny," she said happily. "What a coincidence that we both came to the same restaurant."
"Yeah," he replied. "But I don't remember this restaurant being here before."
The waitress came back and handed Danny a menu—she seemed to throw it to him more than hand it to him—and walked off angrily, like the start of her day had been ruined because she had to get an extra menu. Danny looked down at his menu, trying to forget the waitress's angry attitude, and then looked back up at Lindsay, who was still smiling. "Wait a minute, no, this can't be." He held up the menu for Lindsay to see. "Hammerback Café? It could be another coincidence, but I don't know that many people with the last name Hammerback…"
"Yes, it's Sid Hammerback," said Lindsay. She pointed towards the kitchen, and Danny saw that Sid was running around, wearing a chef's hat, and ordering the other cooks in the kitchen on what to cook. "Sid had mentioned that he liked cooking once. He had actually been working as a chef before he came to work as a medical examiner."
Danny raised an eyebrow at that. "How do you go from cooking to performing autopsies?"
Lindsay shrugged. "That's just the way Sid is."
The angry waitress came back again and asked them if they were ready to order. They said no and she stalked off again, more angry than before. But when they finally did know what they were going to order, both Danny and Lindsay found it hard not to laugh as the waitress clicked her pen at least five times and then began to write down their orders. As she left, Lindsay burst into laughter, and Danny called to her again and said, "Um, you forgot to give us some water. Could you please?"
The waitress opened her mouth to protest, and then smiled the best she could and nodded. She hurried to the kitchen, grabbed glasses, filled them with water, and put them down at their table. "Is there anything else you want?" she asked impatiently.
"Our food," replied Danny. "Of course, we would like it when it's done."
As the waitress left once again, Danny and Lindsay laughed. They immediately stopped laughing when Sid passed by. He looked at them worriedly and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No, we're not laughing at you," Lindsay said with a smile. "We were laughing at a waitress…"
"Oh, you mean Maggie," said Sid. "Yeah, she's always like that." In a low whisper he added, "On her birthday, the other cooks and I had made her a cake—it's a thing we always do on our employees' birthdays—but instead of her being happy and surprised, she insisted it wasn't her birthday, and she stormed out of the restaurant and didn't show up for work the rest of the day."
Lindsay laughed. "I see she's not a very bright person."
Sid nodded his agreement. "Anyways," he said, putting out his hand, "I'm Sid Hammerback, though I'm pretty sure you've already heard of me because of this restaurant."
As they shook his hand, Danny thought, actually, Lindsay and I already met you before you ever worked at this restaurant. But he didn't mention this, and instead of asking him about the fire, Lindsay said, "So, how did you get into the cooking business? I mean, your food is wonderful and everything, and I was wondering how a great chef like you had gotten inspired."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you two like my food. See, I had this talent of creating foods, and I had loved cooking, and now here I am, working my own restaurant. I had thought of working other possible careers, like a medical examiner for example. Science was also one of my strong subjects…"
Lindsay nodded. "Well, I'm glad to hear that everything's working out for you. But it's probably a good idea that you get back to the kitchen before any of the customers start to complain because they haven't gotten their food."
Sid opened his mouth in the manner of a gasp, as if to say, oh yeah, I forgot about that, and he immediately stormed back to the kitchen. Lindsay smiled to Danny. "Sid's a cook, and he still likes to talk and sometimes shares a little too much information. But I guess that's what makes Sid who he is."
Danny nodded, but he didn't say anything. They were silent for a while, and when they did begin to talk again, it was hard to keep the subject off the fire. Even when they did converse about how well both Mac and Stella performed at the jazz club, they found it hard to not think about the fire. It was a relief for both of them when their food came—they both ordered pancakes for breakfast. Their minds were both taken off the fire, and they were suddenly reminded of how hungry they had been. As they ate, they were able to laugh and joke about the waitress again, and the fire was completely forgotten. But it was when they were about to leave the restaurant when Lindsay brought the subject back up again.
"Did you find anything about the fire last night?" she asked Danny as they walked outside the restaurant.
Danny shook his head. "This morning I tried searching for any recent fires on Google and news sites, but both the internet and news proved nothing."
"You know, Google can't always help you in every situation. But right now, it looks like Google and the news will be the best sources we have…"
"What about you?" Danny asked. "Did you find anything?"
"I literally fell asleep when I walked through the door of my apartment last night. I was tired. But right now I'm going to go back to my apartment and search around on the internet and watch the news to see if I can get any hints on there being a fire. In the meantime," she said, opening the door to her car and throwing a newspaper at him, "you should look around for a job. Just because we're trapped in whatever you like to call this, doesn't mean you can't make a living."
"Shouldn't you be looking for a job, too?" asked Danny with a raised eyebrow.
"I will," said Lindsay. "But I know that it'll be harder for you to find a job that you'll actually stick to than it will be for me."
Danny looked at the newspaper as Lindsay drove off to her apartment. Maybe he didn't have to work a different job... He was sure Megan could help him get his job back as a CSI as long as Detective Mayor agreed to it. He drove off to the New York Crime Lab, and as he hurried inside, he bumped into the person who he had become familiar with only the day before: the medical examiner with blond hair.
"I assume your Danny Messer," she said, looking at him with something like annoyance in her eyes. "You seemed to have made a tradition in running into me. But I guess its better me than Audrey." She looked at him with suspicion. "Why are you here?"
"I-I was here to t-talk with Megan…"
"Oh, her," the medical examiner said. "You must be the new guy she was talking about. Of course, Detective Mayor clearly stated that you stay out of the crime lab, but you can go talk with her, just make sure you aren't seen by Audrey. By the way, the name's Riley Daley, just so you know incase you ever bump into me again."
Danny nodded, thankful that he wasn't sent out of the crime lab again. He hastily walked away from her, making his way around the crime lab without being seen by Detective Mayor. He was relieved when he found Megan sitting alone in the break room, enjoying a salad in the quietness of the room. She smiled when she saw him and said, "Back again?"
"Yeah," he answered and hurried to take a seat next to Megan at the table, afraid that if he didn't ask Megan his question quick enough, Audrey would see him and call security to take him away. "Um, I was wondering if you could persuade Detective Mayor to let me work as a CSI here. I mean, I have plenty of experience in this field…"
Megan stifled a laugh. "Okay, trying to persuade Detective Mayor to do anything she won't approve of is probably one of the hardest things that come with this job. And you have experience in this field?"
Danny nodded, though he didn't think Megan believed him. "I had worked as a CSI before," he added.
"I'll try," said Megan, finishing the last of her salad, "but I'm not promising that she'll say yes."
The break door opened as she finished her sentence and two CSI investigators came into room that he didn't recognize. Megan knew the two because she said to them, "Anything new on the case?"
The CSI with brown, unkempt hair shrugged. "A few small things came up, so I guess we're a step closer to finding the murderer."
Megan nodded. She was about to say something else to him when he suddenly asked, "Who's this?" He was obviously referring to Danny, and when he opened his mouth to introduce himself to the new CSI, Megan interrupted him. "He's a new guy," she said quickly. "Danny…"
"Danny Messer?" asked the other CSI. "Aren't you supposed to stay away from the crime lab?"
"And so I've been told," said Danny with a sigh. "Does anyone want to tell me why Detective Mayor wants me to stay away from here?"
"Well, first, let me introduce myself," said the CSI with brown hair. "I'm Jerry Evans." He pointed to the CSI with glasses. "And that's Eli Clark. We're both detective third grade CSI investigators."
Danny nodded to them. He would have told them that he, too, had been a CSI investigator, but decided that it would be best not to, for he didn't want them to get suspicious and ask why he wasn't a CSI anymore. The secret about the fire would stay between him and Lindsay, at least for now it would.
"Though to tell you the truth, I don't know why Audrey doesn't want you here," said Jerry. "But she's not exactly the nicest person in the world; she doesn't really get along with anyone here, so I wouldn't take her order too personally."
And exactly at the mention of her name, the door shot open to reveal Detective Audrey Mayor herself. Her cold blue eyes focused on Danny as she said, "Daniel Messer, what are you doing here?"
"It's Danny," said Megan, standing up from her chair to defend him.
"I don't care what he wants to be called; I just want him out of my crime lab!"
"Your crime lab?" questioned Danny, also standing up from his seat. "The last time I checked this wasn't your crime lab."
"The last time I checked, you didn't work here!"
"Hey, hey, leave the guy alone," Jerry said, stepping between Audrey and Danny. "He's not causing any trouble here."
"Actually, he's disturbing my investigators from doing their work." Her cold blue eyes burned into Danny's. "Now leave before I ask security to escort you out of the building." As she turned to leave, she added, "And if you set foot into this crime lab one more time, Mr. Messer, I'm going to make you wish that you had never met me." The door slammed behind her.
"I already wish I hadn't met you," Danny mumbled under his breath. He turned to see Megan looking sympathetically at him. "Well, you heard her. I'd better leave before I cause you guys to get off task." He walked towards the glass doors when Megan stopped him.
"Don't listen to her," she said. "No one likes her anyway. If you want, I can still ask her to allow you to work here…"
"Forget the idea," said Danny. "She doesn't want me here, so it's better that I listen to her and leave her alone. But thank you anyway, Megan. And it was nice meeting you, Jerry and Eli." He walked out the doors, to leave the three CSI investigators stand alone, quiet and unable to say anything. They soon went back to work in the lab, but Megan found it hard to concentrate, for her thoughts were still on Danny and she wonderfed if he was all right.
As Detective Mayor stormed down the hallway, she almost slammed into Detective Robert Moore, a detective first grade CSI. He looked at her with concern, noticing the anger that was flashing in her eyes. "It seems like something is troubling you. What happened?"
Audrey took a deep breath and said, "This guy came to my office yesterday, insisting that he worked here and that I was sitting in the office of Detective Mac Taylor. That was one of the craziest things I've ever heard because Mac Taylor is a famous bass guitar player. He had obviously talked to Megan yesterday, and today, he comes back to talk to her and both Jerry and Eli had met him. I know he's only come here two times, but there's just something about him that I don't trust. And I don't want anyone else in this crime lab to trust him either."
"Well, I suppose if you don't trust him then what you're doing is probably best," said Robert. "But maybe you should give him a chance. Maybe he would make a good CSI investigator."
Audrey shrugged. "I don't know; I'm just uncertain about him right now."
On the busy streets of New York City, Danny was walking through many crowds of people who were either conversing with others, shopping, or walking just like him. Even with all the people he was surrounded by, he felt like he was alone. He wanted to know so badly what had happened to his old life, but he was afraid that he would never know. Maybe he should tell Lindsay to stop trying to find out the answer to what happened and just move on. But moving on wouldn't help anything, he needed to find out what had happened, even if it did take years to find out. He wasn't going to let an argument with Detective Mayor bother him into forgetting about the fire. If Detective Mayor didn't want him at the crime lab, he wouldn't go there again. He would look for a new job, like Lindsay had said.
He was hoping to see Lindsay appear around the corner that when he heard a voice call his name, it took him a second to realize that it wasn't her. Instead, he saw Stella, who was smiling at him. He walked over to her, matching her pace as they went.
"I have to thank you for last night," she was saying. "You know, for coming to see me sing."
Danny shrugged. "It was nothing, really. Your voice is amazing, and I just hope Mac realizes how much talent you have. By the way, did Mac say you were going to work with him?"
"Yeah, I'll be singing with Mac." She stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Why did you come to see my performance anyway? I mean, I had thought you would have something already planned for the night."
"I don't know, I just thought it would be—"
"You don't know me. And really, I don't know how you know me. But you didn't need to come, okay? The next time I sing I don't want to see you in the crowd; in fact, I don't want to see you ever again. And Mac, don't bother him either, okay?"
"Bother him? He was the one who agreed to help me!"
"Help you?" questioned Stella. "Help you how?" A smile suddenly appeared on her face and she laughed. "Oh yeah, that fire. He said he'd tell you if he found anything new about this so called fire you said claimed the New York Crime Lab. Don't you understand that the only reason why he agreed to help you was so that you didn't get the wrong idea of him? He doesn't care about you! He just wants to make a fan happy."
Danny shook his head in disbelief. "No, Mac's not like that."
"You're just another fan to Mac Taylor," Stella said, completely ignoring what he had just said. "And it doesn't matter anyway. He couldn't help you. Soon, both Mac and I will be traveling across the country, playing for all his fans. He'll be too busy with his music career." As she walked away from him, she added, "And I hope all goes well for you, Danny. It was a pleasure talking to you again."
Danny watched her as she walked away. Out of everyone he had met, Stella seemed to have changed the most. She absolutely hated him, but for what reason, he didn't know. Maybe she thought her music career would be ruined if he kept talking to her. But it didn't matter, Stella wasn't much help anyway. Though even with that thought in mind, he still couldn't help feeling offended by her words.
After his unpleasant meeting with Stella, he walked back to his car and decided to drive around the city. But he didn't just drive around the city; he was soon driving around the countryside, forgetting his problems and enjoying the peacefulness of the country. After what seemed like hours of driving, he heard a sudden noise coming from behind his car, a noise that he could not mistake for a police car. "Just what I need," he mumbled to himself, pulling over and stopping the car.
It took only a few seconds for the police officer to walk over to his car. After he had taken off his sunglasses and asked him to show him his identification, Danny realized who the police officer was. "Flack?"
"Officer Don Flack would be better," he said. "I must've pulled you over before—" He took a quick look at Danny's license. "Daniel Messer."
"Danny," he said, but he didn't think Flack heard him.
"So, you realize that you were going seventy down a sixty-five speed limit zone?"
"But that's only five miles per hour over!" Danny protested.
"Five miles per hour can make a big difference, Mr. Messer," said Flack. "I wouldn't be a police officer if I let people speed down the road, even if they were only one mile per hour over." He looked at Danny. "You don't seem like you've been drinking, so I'll let you off with a warning this time. If I have to pull you over again for speeding, it's a ticket."
Danny shook his head disbelievingly, but when he again started driving again, he made sure he was doing the speed limit. He was sure that he saw many other people speeding as he made his way back to the city, but it didn't matter. He wasn't a police officer, and it would be Flack's job to catch those people and give them a ticket. But why had he been the one to be pulled over? He guessed that it wasn't completely a bad thing, at least now he knew that Flack was indeed a police officer and that he would never get caught speeding by him again.
He drove up to his apartment, grabbing the newspaper that he had left in his car earlier, and opened the door, relieved to finally be home. He called Lindsay to see if she had found anything new, and she told him that she would meet him at his apartment. He decided to wait for her outside, thinking about how terrible the day had gone for him. He soon heard her car pull up to his apartment and she hurried to greet him with a hug. But as soon as she saw his face, she asked, "Danny, what happened?"
"Well, I've found out that Flack's a police officer," he said. "He pulled me over for speeding, though I had only been five miles per hour over the speed limit. And Stella, she doesn't want to see me at one of her performances ever again and she claims that Mac thinks I'm just another fan and that he won't help me with the whole fire thing—yeah, I asked him if he had heard of any fire destroying the New York Crime Lab, but I guess that was a bad idea. Detective Mayor doesn't want me to ever come to the crime lab again, so I guess getting my job back as a CSI won't happen…"
Lindsay looked at him sympathetically. "I know this must be hard Danny, but it won't be like this forever. Our lives will soon be back to normal…"
"Did you find anything new?" asked Danny suddenly.
Lindsay stared at him and then shook her head. "I'm sorry Danny, really..."
"I think we should just forget about this," he said, opening the door to his apartment. "We should just move on. This was obviously what was supposed to happen and life as we used to know it was just a lie. Goodnight, Lindsay."
The door slammed behind him. Lindsay sighed and whispered, "Goodnight, Danny," and she left his apartment, driving back to her own home.
It was when Lindsay had finally left and he was sitting in front of TV when the newspaper she had given him got his attention. Right on the front cover was the New York Crime Lab in flames, and the memory of him and Lindsay being trapped in the hallway of Mac's office by the fire came back to his mind. His eyes widened as he read the print.
New York Crime Lab Burns in Flames
On Monday, June 23, 2008, the thirty-fifth floor of the New York Crime Lab caught fire. There were no definite answers on how the fire started, but some CSI investigators assume it had been started by an experiment being conducting by a CSI in the lab. Many people were able to evacuate the crime lab and make it to safety, but some people were critically injured and had to be taken to Mount Sinai Hospital immediately. Of those critically injured, two have died. Daniel Messer and Lindsay Monroe had fought bravely to get away from the fire, but they were pronounced dead when they arrived at the hospital. We will always remember how these two CSI investigators helped put New York's greatest criminals in jail.
Dead? Danny thought. How could Lindsay and I be dead? It didn't make sense, it couldn't be true. He immediately grabbed the phone and dialed Lindsay's number. Before she could even say 'hello', Danny explained to her what he had just read in the newspaper she'd given him. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before Lindsay spoke again.
Dead? How could that be? I guess we'll have to wait and see what is to come...