Disclaimer: I obviously do not own CSI: NY. I just own my car, my laptop and my crazy muse who seems to want to write 4 different stories at a time. I also do own any characters that you do not recognize. You can borrow them if you ask permission first!

A/N: Here's the next chappie!! Thanks to all who reviewed. As always, please R&R. My muse loves the attention. :D I don't own Doc or Carlos, either. I just borrowed them from Third Watch...Hey, it was easier than creating my own! Many thanks to Aphina and Axellia for being fab betas! The song title is from Metallica. It's perfect for what's happening in this chapter.

Chapter 39.

The Struggle Within

With sirens wailing, the police car and ambulance screeched to a halt outside of the Central Park Zoo. Several officers poured out of the police cars and began to secure the area; meanwhile two paramedics climbed out of the ambulance.

The Hispanic man looked at the black man in confusion. "Wasn't there an FBI agent that was supposed to be here, Doc?" he asked.

Doc looked around, looking in the shadows. "I don't see anyone," he said walking towards to the prone body lying on the concrete, with a bloody shirt lying on his shoulder. He bent over the body and quickly checked for a pulse. "I've got a pulse here, Carlos," he said as he put the stethoscope in his ears.

Carlos bent over the body from the other side. "Single GSW to the left shoulder. Looks like he lost a lot of blood. Let's see if we can get him stable to transport." He continued working the man, while looking for some sort of ID.

They had just loaded him onto the stretcher when another car screeched to a halt besides the ambulance. Both men stared as Flack jumped out of the SUV. "Doc, Carlos. Whaddya got?"

Doc looked at him. "Hispanic male. Single GSW to the shoulder. Haven't found an ID yet. Strange thing is that it was called in by an FBI agent, but no one was on scene."

Flack furrowed his brow at that statement and peered to look at the unconscious man some more. Realization quickly dawned in his eyes as the recognized the man and began to curse under his breath.

Doc looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Flack looked at him. "This man is a UC for the FBI. I know his handler." Flack turned around as he began to scan the scene for signs of Cory just as Stella and Hawkes arrived.

Stella immediately noticed the worried expression on his face and drew him to the side. "What is it?"

Flack looked at her. "I think Cory was here. An FBI agent called this in, but no one but the body was here. He's her UC. He's been shot and is unconscious," Flack said tersely as his eyes scanned the scene. He quickly withdrew his cell phone and began to dial.

Stella and Hawkes looked around in confusion until they heard the sound of a cell phone ringing. It was playing Bad Boys, which they knew was Cory's ring tone for Flack. Both drew in sharp breaths as Stella walked towards the sound. She found the phone hidden in some bushes. "This is not good," she stated.

Hawkes turned around and spotted two guns lying on the ground. "Stell? I see two guns," he said as he took photographs of the scene. After he was done with the camera, he set it aside and picked up the weapons. "I have a Smith & Wesson .22 and a 9mm Glock." He carefully bagged the guns, for evidence.

Stella, meanwhile, was walking around the shadows where the phone was found. She paused when a beam of light flashed off of a syringe. "I've got a syringe here. Looks fresh. Everything else over here has water on it, but this." Stella shook her head in worry as she bagged the evidence.

Together, they continued to scour the scene for every scrap of evidence. Finally after bagging up the bloody shirt, they began to pack up their kits. Sighing, Stella looked at Hawkes. "Why don't you take this back to the lab. I'm going to stop by Danny and Cory's to see if by any chance she is there."

Hawkes nodded somberly as he accepted the evidence. "Good luck."

Stella nodded as she climbed into the SUV.

Danny was just checking the marinara when he heard a knock at the door. Adding a dash of oregano, he quickly put the lid back on the saucepot and walked to the door. When he opened it, he saw a somber Stella staring at him. "Everything okay, Stell?" he asked.

Stella chose her words carefully. "I'm not sure. Can I come in?"

Danny stood to the side and motioned for her to enter, a feeling a dread beginning to overwhelm him. "Stell? What's wrong?"

Stella bit her lip before turning to face him. "Is Cory here?"

Danny shook his head. "No. She had a meeting with her UC. I don't expect her back for another…" he trailed off as he saw the look on her face. "What the hell is going on, Stella?"

"Her UC was found shot and unconscious in front of Central Park Zoo. Her cell phone was found in the bushes and a bloody shirt with his body. There was no sign of her," she said truthfully.

Danny felt the blood drain out of his face and stars began to appear in front of his eyes. "What? No. No!" he finally exclaimed.

Stella immediately steered the swaying Danny to the couch. "Danny. Breathe. Come on, breathe."

Danny just sat on the couch. "I…I…" he trailed off, unable to verbalize the feelings that were overwhelming him. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Dispatch got a call a little after eight. She called in an officer down. Units and an ambulance were on scene within fifteen minutes, but she wasn't there. Did she call you?"

"No," he said shaking his head. Suddenly he stood up and walked into the kitchen. He turned off the stove then walked out. "I'm going in, Stell. I'm going to find her."

Stella stopped him with a soft touch on his arm. "Danny. You can't be involved in this. You're her fiancé. I'm sorry."

Danny shook off her hand. "Damn it, Stella! I love her and I am going to find her," he yelled as he grabbed his coat.

Stella quickly moved in front of him to block his exit. "Damn it, Danny!" she cried, throwing his words back at him. "You can not contaminate the evidence! If you do, whomever who took her might get away if we even catch them. Think with your head, not your heart for once!" She crossed her arms over her chest, challenging him with her eyes.

Danny sagged in defeat, knowing that she was right. "Fine. Doesn't mean that I have to be happy about it."

Stella nodded. "I do need your help, though. What was she wearing? Did she have her gun? Do you know what she expected to gain through this meeting?"

Danny sat back down. "She was wearing a pair of jeans; she had on a black and gray sweater, under her sheepskin jacket. She was wearing black Doc's." Danny paused for a moment before getting up to look in the closet. "Her Smith & Wesson and Glock aren't here, so I assume that she has them. I don't know what the meeting was about."

Stella smiled softly. "Thanks, Danny. Look. I'm going to the lab. Call me if you hear anything from her, okay?"

Danny nodded silently, the fear and depression welling up in him again and he prayed to anyone who would listen that she was alright.

When Stella got back to the lab, she found chaos, as a team from the FBI had arrived. Looking at Mac, she noticed that he was quickly getting irritated with the team of agents. Deciding that she was the more political of the two, she quickly stepped in between the arguing men.

Mac, meanwhile, had watched with relief when Stella had walked out of the elevator. He knew that she was much better at playing nice with the feds than he was. He was in the middle of arguing with Special Agent Barry Wells about who was taking the lead in the investigation when she stepped between them.

"Stop it! Stop arguing like children over the last piece of candy. Act like adults!" she told them sternly. At the sudden silence, she made a motion towards Mac's office. "Why don't we take this somewhere a little more private?"

Both men followed her docilely into the office. Stella smirked to herself as she turned to the middle age man, with graying blonde hair and gray eyes. "And you are?"

Agent Wells looked at her and grudgingly stuck out his hand. "Agent Barry Wells, FBI Special Bomb Task Force."

Stella raised an eyebrow at that tidbit of information. "And you are here, why?"

"I've got my reasons. The FBI will be handling this investigation," he added calmly, not willing to share the information that he had.

Stella sighed internally at the bullheadedness of most of the FBI. "Look, Agent Wells. While I know that the FBI is very capable, I honestly don't think that the Bureau has the either the drive or the benefits of having the best damn criminal investigation team to handle this. This team is dedicated to finding Agent Reid and getting her home safely to her fiancé, who happens to be a detective with this lab."

"She's an FBI agent. That makes this our case," he replied stubbornly.

Stella decided to try another tactic with him. "Okay. So your lab will be able to handle this evidence quickly? You know that our lab is ranked number one in the country, while the last time I checked the FBI lab was ranked fourth. I understand, you don't want the best people working on finding your agent. I'll be sure to let her family know this."

Mac tried not to laugh at the stunned look on the man's face. That's why I love you, Stella.

Stella saw the affect that her words had on Agent Wells. She softened her tone, "Look, Agent Wells. I understand that you want to find your agent, although why someone from the bomb task force is this interested is intriguing." She paused for a second. "Look, we are used to working with the FBI. Hell, we helped Cory capture Carlos Ortiz. Why don't you tell us what is actually going on?"

Agent Wells sighed. "I don't have all the information," he started before a knock on the door interrupted him. All three people turned to see Lydia walking in.

"Agent Wells," Lydia began in an icy tone. "I told you that we would be working this investigation jointly with the NYPD. Can you please tell me the reason that you are harassing them instead of letting them do their jobs?"

Agent Wells flinched at her words, but glared at her in return. "Fine. I'll just leave."

Lydia closed the door quickly. "No. Like it or not, we all need to work together on this." She turned to include Mac and Stella. "Look. I got a voicemail from Cory. She said Cruz's cover was blown. Montoya just had a shipment of C4 delivered to the city. There's a bomb on the subway and then it just went dead. She was still talking and the line just went dead," Lydia finished in a whisper. "That's why Agent Wells is here. We need all the intel that we can get."

Mac and Stella stared at her in shock. Mac reacted first. "Alright. We need to jump on this. Stella, right now, the best we can do is to try to look for Cory, but we need to find this bomb. I'll alert Flack and see who much of the force we can muster up. This is now the top priority."

Both Agent Wells and Lydia nodded somberly, while Stella looked shocked. "But, Mac! What about Cory?"

Mac swallowed hard. "She's not top priority. I'm sorry Stella, but the lives of millions of people compared the life of one, it's a hard choice, but it's one that has to be made." He looked at her with regret in his eyes. "This is what she would want. How would she react if a lot of people died because we were using our resources to find her instead of the bomb?"

Stella shook her head, feeling like she was being torn in different directions. "I understand that Mac, but if anything happens to her because we weren't looking hard enough, you'd better starting looking for a new CSI. Danny will not survive that," she spat out before walking out of the room.

AN: Okay...Even though I've only gotten 6 review...I've very impressed with y'all and can't seem to leave you in suspense! I'll make another deal...When I get 6 more reviews, I'll update the next chapter (can you tell I'm way ahead on my writing??). :D

Soccer-Bitch - Since I responded back, the weather has decided to warm back up again! Highs expected in the 70's for the rest of the week! Then it's supposed to cool back down over the weekend. I'm glad you liked the chapter!

Kris - You can say that I was evil for the cliffie! I would not take offense to that! You could do that with reviews! I aim for an average of 5 per chapter (since I get well over 100 hits for a chapter, I think that if fair). Thank you. I try really hard to make sure that the story flows well. Much time is spent IMing with my betas trying to figure out the plot!

CSI junkie - Hope this makes your day (or night since it's almost 10pm where I'm at!) It was a very evil cliffie. In the 2nd version (honestly I rewrote in twice) it wasn't as bad as a cliffie, but my muse didn't like it, so I went back to this version. You should know a bit of where it's going. It's all laid out in the 1st chapter! (kinda...like I said, the future is mutable and subject to change!)

Mauradingknight - Thanks! Are you referring to the premonitions? She has acknowledged it, but it not something that happens a lot. I'm taking a page from the writer Mercedes Lackey in this. Since the future is subject to change, the premonitions are not very reliable. But there are some answers to the why and wherefors coming up in one of the next chapters. :D

Annabell - Greeting to Germany!!! I managed to delurk you! YEAH! I love new reviewers! Danka! (Okay. That's the extent of my German. lol) I do try very hard to make sure that the characters are realistic (although, I can't take credit for Taylor since she belongs to Axellia). I actually stress over Cory quite a bit, since I don't want her to turn into a Mary Sue. A lot of times, when I send a chapter to my betas, I tell them to look for that, and they usually set me straight! I'm glad that I manage to get the show character in character. It's very hard to do, but I do try to keep them as in character as I can! Thank you so much!!

Aphina - Yeah for no more deadlines! I'm sick, too, so don't feel bad. (:D) It is quite a shock to the audience. Heck, I shocked myself when I wrote it, but it feels like I've been working towards this point for a year (which is how long I've been writing this!). It may be a bit before I get you a new chapter. My muse is in the wind for this story right now.