1A/N - I'm back from vacation, I'm well-rested and I've got a few new chapters for my loyal readers. Thanks go (as always) to my beta dstined4gr8ness and to my loyal reviewers and readers. Please continue to review and I promise to update. The song for this chapter is "Whenever You Remember" By Carrie Underwood, and as usual I don't own anything. I DO NOT own CSI: NY (as much as I wish I did, I don't) and I don't own any of the music or lyrics I've been using. They're all great songs though. This is kind of a long chapter with back round on Don and Maggie's relationship, but bear with me there are more interesting things to come.
Chapter 5 - Whenever You Remember
Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held our heads so high
When all this world was there for us
And we believed that we could touch the sky
Whenever you remember, I'll be there
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember
Don stood on the roof of the crime-lab as a cold wind began to blow in from the river. He was freezing, but he didn't care. He just stood there, staring out at the horizon and the skyline. His mind wasn't really there, he was reminiscing all the fun he used to have with Maggie.
She was the baby or the family, and there was nearly ten years between Don and Maggie, and 22 between Colleen, the eldest Flack, and Maggie. But despite the age difference between them, Maggie and Don had always been really close, he had always been her protector. They'd always ben able to talk to each other whether about school, romance, or a bad case.
She always seemed to know what he was thinking, and when something was wrong, or when a case had gone bad. She'd show up at his apartment with hot fudge syrup and a tub of Hoof-Prints Ice Cream. They'd talk about their lives, no matter how different, and give each other advice on everything. Not many people knew that Maggie had helped Don crack many a case in his early years as a detective.
Their relationship had always been give and take until two years ago. Maggie had had a really bad day at school and she had shown up a Flack's apartment to talk it out with him. Her eyes were red from crying when she had knocked on the door. Don, himself, had had a horrible day, having just arrested his mentor and friend, Gavin Moran, and was not in the mood for visitors. He wouldn't have even opened the door if he hadn't been waiting for his pizza to arrive.
He opened the door ready to blow a gasket. "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled. She just looked up at him, surprised at his response. "I really don't want to deal with your whiny high school crap, Meg!" he had hollered at her. "I already lived through that! I grew up! You should too!" She stood there, stunned, as he slammed the door in her face.
Walking back into his apartment his slammed his fist into the wall. And as the pain shot through his hand he realized that he had just yelled at his baby sister. Sure, they had fought before but he had never yelled at her. He ran to the door to see if she was still there, but she'd gone. Leaving the ice cream to melt on the porch.
They hadn't talked much since then, and he hadn't seen her since her 'sweet sixteen' birthday party last year.
He shuddered at the memory and folded his arms across his chest as the wind continued to blow. The sun was only beginning to appear on the horizon as Stella made her way across the rooftop towards him.
"Hey" she said, standing beside him.
"Hey..." he whispered as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. When did he start crying?
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"Alright, considering."
"You're shivering" she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He was only wearing an old NYPD sweater. "I thought you might want your coat." She said holding his coat out to him "You left it in Mac's office."
"I know" he mumbled as he shrugged on the coat.
"I just came up to tell you that we went by your parents and Maggie's friend's houses and no-one's seen her. Chelsea, her friend, said she never showed up to work on their project."
Don closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Your mom said you two were close."
"Were"
She waited for him to elaborate. He whirled around to face her."I have no idea what's going on in her life, Stell!" He leaned against the ledge. "She kept calling me last week, trying to get together, saying we needed to talk." He sighed "I just blew her off...Maybe if I'd listened...Maybe..."
She cut him off. "This is not your fault, Don." her caring green eyes looked up at him. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. There's nothing you could've done."
"You don't know that." he said turning his back to her.
"We're gonna find who did this."
"You don't know that."
"We're gonna get your sister back."
His voice was barely a whimper this time "You don't know that!"
"If she's anything like you, and I have a feeling she is, she's strong. And she'll make it through this." Stella rubbed Don's arm. "Maggie will be fine. We're gonna get her back."
"I hope you're right, Stella." she said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I know I am." she whispered as her phone rang.
"Hey, Stell. How's he doing?" asked Lindsay from the other end of the line.
"Alright." she responded, turning away from Flack.
"Well we ran that white powder through..." Lindsay paused and some rustling could be heard. "Hey!" Danny yelled in the back round.
"Sorry." Lindsay said picking up the phone again. "The GCMS said the powder was cocaine. It had the same chemical make up as drugs seized from the Durango Gang from Queens."
"Alright. We're on our way down." She flipped her phone and turned back to Don, who was sitting against the ledge.
"Lindsay and Danny have something. We should probably go back down." Before she had even finished speaking he was on his feet and headed for the elevator.
They rode down in silence until the floor above the crime lab. "Thanks for coming up, Stell." Don said trying to smile, but failing miserably.
"You're welcome." She said as the elevator doors dinged open. "Just let me know if you need anything, okay?"
He nodded and the two walked to meet Danny and Lindsay in the Trace Lab.