Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of CSI:NY, they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.

CHAPTER THREE

Phoenix

"Adam! Adam, sweetie, come over here!"

Five year old Adam came running as fast as his little legs would take him. "Mommy, I saw a rainbow!" he told her as he collapsed into her arms, nearly sending her to the picnic blanket.

"Where did you see it?" his mother asked excitedly.

He turned and pointed a short, stubby finger at the sky. "There!"

"Tell Daddy about the rainbow, Adam," his mother suggested.

But Michael Ross wasn't interested. In fact, he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but where he was, on a picnic blanket with his wife and son on this 4th of July weekend.

Little Adam, though, was completely oblivious as he launched into a description of the rainbow- "I sawed a red, an' a blue, an' a 'lello and owange and..."

As Adam reflected on the memory now, he was surprised at how oblivious he'd been back then. When he was five, his father did make halfhearted attempts, he realized now, things like tee ball, even if it wasn't really Adam's forte back then. He was in the midst of trying to remember where it had all gone so wrong when he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down into the green eyes of Ryan Lewis. "I hafta go," the boy whispered.

Adam gently removed the headphones from Ryan's ears. "After that, are you hungry?" he asked him. "We could go find a snack."

"Okay," the boy said quietly.

"You might want to have Sheldon look him over quick," Mac suggested from his office chair.

Adam and Ryan both jerked at the new voice. It was enough to send Ryan scuttling into Adam's vest again. Adam shot Mac a Look. "Sorry," Mac apologized. "Anyway, have Hawkes check him out. We probably should have taken him straight to the hospital, but with the way he was stuck to you, we would have had to surgically remove him," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem," Adam said, leading Ryan out into the hall, the little boy's hand clasped firmly in his own.

"What's our COD, Sid?" Danny Messer asked Sid Hammerback down in the morgue.

"Blunt force trauma to the head," Sid noted, taking apart his glasses. "This woman took a heck of a beating. She has several fractures and plenty of bruising." He looked at Danny. "I heard about the boy and Adam. How is he doing?"

"He was asleep, last time I saw him. Poor kid was stuck in the closet. His mother's body was jamming the doors. He was stuck in there," Danny explained. "Lucky whoever did this didn't bother to look in the closet."

"I'm glad the boy is all right, Danny," Sid said, "but I was actually querying about Adam."

Danny blinked. Then he nodded. "I think it's still tough," he said. "Adam took a hell of his own beating that day. He still jumps every time we're at an outdoor crime scene and someone interrupts him while he's processing." He looked at Sid. "Not that I can blame him." He flexed his fingers. "These still hurt to move. And sometimes...sometimes I have nightmares about that day."

"Lucky for Adam, you were there," Sid said.

Danny smiled shortly. "Lucky for me, he was there. I'll talk to you later, Sid."

Hawkes and Kendall met Adam and Ryan outside the break room. Adam felt bad because he hadn't yet had the chance to talk to Kendall today. Lately he'd made it a point to tell her hello, talk to her, before he went to a crime scene. Today he'd gotten into the building and had been whisked immediately away with Danny. "Hi," Kendall said. She smiled down at Ryan. She knelt down to get on his level. Ryan clung to Adam's pant leg. "My name is Kendall. And I bet I can guess your name," she said. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Your name is...Fred."

Adam played along. "Is that your name, buddy? Is your name Fred?" he asked Ryan.

Ryan shook his head fiercely. "Guess not," he told Kendall. He rubbed Ryan's hair with his hands. "You know, she used to be pretty good at this. Should we give her one more try?"

They waited for the reaction. Then Ryan peeked out at the blonde woman and nodded slowly. Kendall smiled. "Okay. One more time. I bet I get it right this time." She closed her eyes and touched Ryan's shoes. Then she touched her nose. "Your name is...Ryan!"

The little boy's curiosity came out. "How did you know?" he asked her.

Kendall opened her eyes and smiled as Hawkes and Adam exchanged a grin. "I'm a good guesser," she said. "My name is Kendall. It's nice to meet you." She offered a hand to the boy. After a moment, he took it and shook her hand one time.

Ryan looked up at Hawkes. "Who are you?" he asked the doctor.

"My name is Doctor Hawkes," Hawkes explained. "Would it be okay if I checked you out, and make sure you don't have any dinosaurs in you?"

Adam glanced sideways at Kendall. That's a new one, he mouthed.

Kendall shrugged. She'd never seen this approach before.

Ryan was looking at the doctor skeptically. "Dinosaurs?" he asked in disbelief. "Dinosaurs are too big to be in me!"

"He's got a point there," Adam couldn't resist.

"Really?" Hawkes said. His hand reached toward Ryan and came next to the boy's ear. "Then how did this get in there?" he asked, flicking his fingers and producing a small plastic dinosaur.

Adam's eyes went wide. "How did you do that?" he demanded.

"I'll show you if you let me listen to your heartbeat," Hawkes said. Adam picked up Ryan and set him down on the break room table. Hawkes produced his stethoscope and carefully listened to the boy breathe while Adam turned over the yellow stegosaurus in his hand. Finally, Hawkes stood up and smiled. "Everything sounds just fine," he pronounced. "He's good to go." He handed Ryan another dinosaur. "For being a good patient," he told the boy. He smiled at Adam and Kendall. "I'll see the two of you later," he said. "Bye, Ryan."

"Bye!" Ryan said, his concentration on his new toys. Then he looked at Adam. "Where is my snack?" he asked him.

Kendall burst out laughing as Adam turned red. He wasn't used to babysitting! "Yeah, Adam, you gonna let the kid starve?" she asked. "What would you like, kiddo?" she asked the boy.

He shrugged. "I dunno." He bit his lower lip. "Can I have chocolate?"

"Chocolate?" Kendall grinned at Adam. "Sounds like my kind of man!"

Adam looked at her. She grinned. "Sorry, you know I've got a thing for younger men."

He rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, yeah, that's, ah, that's cute."