A/N: Okay, that was pretty fun! So, now it will switch back and forth between Lindsay and Isabella's points of views...possibly a little bit of Don's and Danny's points of view later on as well! I hope more reviews come through, they're so fun!
ioanhoratio: Thank you! Actually, Isabella is my main OC and probably my best! Hers and Lindsay's friendship always makes me smile, they just sort of took on their own little spin. I loved writing the family lives of the Flacks and Messers, and as for little Lucy, how could someone not adore her? Thank you for such a wonderful review!
"Grab the bull by the horns"
The old adage goes
Nobody tells you where to go from there
It seems like fate's pulling you
Decisions have to be made
The best path is the hardest earned
Atreyu — Becoming the Bull
Lindsay walked into the Trace Analysis lab, holding up the papers from Sid, the medical examiner.
"Prints confirm the ID on the victim. His name really is Ivan Popov, and he has ties to Mstiteli, the Russian Mafia," she announced. Isabella's jaw dropped, hanging as she looked at Lindsay. She snatched the paper from her hand scanned it, her eyes narrowing with each word. Ivan had been locked up multiple times for assault on an officer, committing hate crimes, vandalism, drug possession with intent to sell, drug trafficking, prostitution, with ties to Mstiteli. The victim had a rap-sheet as long as the Empire State Building was tall as Isabella flipped the pages as the charges continued. How was this man not put away for life?
"Your eyes tell me a different story," Lindsay commented. Isabella shook her head.
"Mstiteli means 'Avenger' in Russian, and the Russian Mob does not get along well with the Italian Mob, particularly SB," she explained, setting it onto the table. The sneer on Carter's face caused her anger to rise when she looked up. He knew she had ties to SB and he was subconsciously calling her out.
"Are you going to consult your confidential informants?" He exaggerated the words with a scoff, causing Isabella's patience to shorten that much more.
"I don't need to," she snapped. "I know how to do my job and I don't consult the family unless it's for something direly important, like life or death."
With that, she handed the papers to Lindsay and walked out of the TA lab and towards the break room. Right now, she needed something to soothe her nerves.
She smiled when she saw Adam busily pouring a cup of coffee. "Adam," she singsonged, hugging the tech. He whirled around, his azure eyes wide in surprise.
"Whoa, Izzy, sorry, you scared me," he said, fidgeting with the Styrofoam cup. Isabella let out a soft laugh and patted his shoulder. Seeing Adam always brightened her day, the skittish lab tech brought joy to her. She couldn't explain it, but she enjoyed Adam Ross.
"Sorry about that, I thought you could hear the thunder of my storm cloud," she said as she stretched onto her toes to find a box of tea. Her fingers groped an empty shelf as she was forced to strain even higher, stretching her torso that much more to find the box of peppermint tea.
"I need someone tall!" she grunted as she strained more. She was on the verge of being on her toe like a ballerina, her body stretched to her limit.
"What are you trying to reach?" she heard Carter ask. Her annoyance grew and branched out as the footsteps of his expensive shoes grew closer. She stood flatfoot and placed her hands onto her hips.
"The tea," she finally responded, her tone curt. Her hands slid into her back pockets as she watched Carter reach up and peer at the contents of a box.
"Wow, you really ran out of height this time, didn't you?" Danny Messer's Staten Island accent caused her head to turn and a smile to spread widely across her face.
"I have to train them to fear me somehow, Messer," Isabella replied, giving him a tight hug. She really did miss him. Working at the lab wasn't the same without him.
"I think it's something they'll learn on their own, shorty," he commented. When Carter came up empty, Danny set down bags and hopped onto the counter.
"Now, why didn't I think of that?" she muttered to herself.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, looking down at her with a smirk.
"Peppermint or green tea," she requested. He chuckled and came down, his Converses hitting the tile. Even in a power suit, he still wore those Converses.
"Checking out my ass?" he teased, elbowing her in the ribs playfully. Isabella's eyes rolled skywards as she shook her head.
"Keep dreaming, Messer. I have my husband's ass to stare at," she retorted as he tossed her the box of tea. Carter had already left, which Isabella was grateful for.
"How's my replacement?" he asked, taking a swig of a water bottle. Isabella rolled her eyes again as she opened the box of tea.
"He's an overbearing jackass with a superiority complex," she answered as she set the tea kettle on the stove.
"Man, Mac would have a field day with this guy if he saw him in the field," Danny mused. He was clearly thinking about the phone call from this morning. When Isabella looked at the elevator, she saw her husband walking off.
"Heard you guys got a hit," he said, poking his head in. His grin lit up his face as he stepped into the room to slap Danny on the back. "Look, it's the Detective Sergeant gracing us with his presence."
"My replacement's an overbearing jackass and you're married to a jackass of his own breed," Danny said to Isabella out of the corner of his mouth. Isabella let out a peal of laughter.
"Wait, I didn't hear of the hit," she said, looking up at Don. He frowned.
"It must have just happened, because I just got off of the phone with Lindsay. She said she had a hit off some trace and...I dunno, she started talking about chemistry and the chemical names for stuff," he replied. She smiled up at him.
"You blocked it out, didn't you?" she accused him playfully. He laced his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head.
"No one can talk nerdy to me like you, baby," he growled in her ear.
"Alright, you two, get a room," Danny said, opening a bag.
"Technically, we are in a room," Isabella pointed out, looking over Don's shoulder to look for Lindsay. "I'll go talk to Lindsay about that trace. And ask why it wasn't run by me first. I swear, if Carter Sanders has something to do with it..."
She shook her head and walked out of the break room, hunting for Lindsay Messer. Her eyes scanned each lab before they rested on the petite form of the pretty brunette, busily checking trace.
"Your husband's in the break room with suspected food," Isabella informed her as she leaned against the doorway. Lindsay looked up, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"We need to check out Ivan Popov's home. This case just got very interesting," she announced.
The mystery trace from Ivan's shoes had taken them near to where he lived, in a patch of woods nearby. Isabella tried to keep her steps light as she walked along the warmly lit summer path in the woods.
"Mass Spec puts it in somewhere in this area," Lindsay called. The mineral had a certain kind of fertilizer in it that led them to the woods. Isabella stepped down the hill, keeping her heels in the loose dirt. Her foot hit a root, causing her to fly backwards and slide along on her rear end all the way down the hill.
"Dadgum hill!" she growled, standing up. When she finally stood up and dusted off the seat of her pants, she took a step and hit a grate. "Linds, there's something down here."
Isabella bent down and dusted the dirt and mulch off of the leather of her boots and she stomped on the concrete near the grate, trying to keep her eyes on it.
"Call Jo and Sanders," Lindsay instructed once she reached the bottom of the hill. She bent down next to it, sliding on a pair of gloves to try and lift the grate by herself. She strained against it, letting out a grunt.
"Hey, Jo, it's Izzy. Me and Lindsay found something and we need help checking it out," Isabella said into her cellphone, recording her message on Jo's voice-mail. "Bring Sanders, too."
Isabella looked up and saw Jo and Carter working their way around the path. She climbed the hill, holding onto branches and roots as she pulled herself up onto the path.
"It's down this way!" she called, cupping her hands over her mouth. The grate had been too heavy for both she and Lindsay to lift by themselves. She led them down the hill and onto the grate.
"Isabella literally landed on this place," Lindsay said, looking up at the trio. Her warm brown eyes were dancing with amusement. Isabella stuck her tongue out at her friend before helping the other three lift up the grate and move it over. A ladder led down into the hole, stretching into darkness.
"Think we should go down?" Isabella asked, bending onto her heels and peering down into the uncovered hole.
"One of us would have to stay up here and keep an eye out. Since this guy is connected, we don't want the Russian Mob to catch our scent," Carter suggested. Isabella nodded approvingly at the other man.
"I'll even stay up here," he offered. Isabella smiled and flipped open her kit, where she kept extra rounds of ammunition, just in case. She slid a holster into her boot, shifting her leg to accommodate the bulky magazine.
"Here, let's at least call Mac and let him know what we've found," she suggested, flipping out her phone.
"I'll do it," Jo offered. Isabella stuck her flashlight into her mouth and set her foot on the first rung of the ladder. She gave a saluting wave before lowering herself into the darkness. When she reached the bottom, she took the flashlight out of her mouth and pulled her Glock out of its holster on her hip, shining the light and pointing the gun lower.
It was dry underfoot, but it still gave Isabella the creeps. When she heard more footsteps behind her, she looked to see Lindsay's face illuminated by the flashlight.
"Split up?" she suggested. Isabella shook her head.
"Let's stay together," she said. She could feel Lindsay's breath and the shuffle of her feet on the concrete as they moved their way through the cave...or whatever it was called.
The light at the end of the tunnel let her shut off her flashlight and she felt a muzzle press against the small of her back.