AN: I don't own any of the CSI:NY Characters or any of the show's storylines that I may refer to from time to time, but the rest of the plot is mine.

7. How well I do my job

A couple of days after Mac's late night outburst to Stella and Hawkes, Laura was in the squad room waiting for Don and Angell to return with a suspect when there was suddenly a huge commotion outside the door.

"Stay here Laura, I'll give you a sit rep." Called Murphy as he followed several others outside.

Laura knew something serious was going down. There was too much activity for it not to be. She couldn't hear clearly what it was, but she caught odd snippets as people came and went from the hallway. Two uniforms Laura didn't recognise, entered the room talking aloud. "What's going on, the entire precinct is out there, uniforms aren't even getting close?" said one.

"Cabbie Killer just dumped his latest victim in the street right outside, word says it's a cop."

Laura heard the exchange and her mind went into overdrive, she pushed herself out of her seat as fast as she could and felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She focused on the two cops and called to them. "Hey! Anyone ID the victim yet?"

"No idea, CSI are on the way down." They continued over to the coffee machine in the corner. Laura scooped up her badge from her desk dropping the strap, which held it around her neck. She hated wearing it like that, but it was hard to clip it to her belt and not have it dig into her side, plus the fact her maternity tops tended to cover it up, which was frowned upon when they were on duty. She ran her hand over her bump took a deep breath and headed to the door. She figured that she could be more use out there, besides she wanted to see if Don and Angell were back yet. As she pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway Angell appeared in front of her. "Hey, you're back, is everything alright? I heard our killer dropped a body outside."

"... Not exactly, ..." She hesitated, her eyes darting over Laura and the immediate vicinity.

"What? Hard take down, you're all messed up? ... Jess? ... Is Don OK?" Another detective appeared heading for their squad room and saw Angell.

"Nice going Jess, that cab almost got Flack. ... He owes you one for that save."

Laura looked between them as she felt her chest constrict and her head spin at the same time as she got a big kick from her stomach, Angell saw the colour drain from her face as she rocked on her feet. "Shit! ... Laura! Somebody get Doctor Hawkes!"

It was the last thing Laura heard before everything went black.

--

Don was standing with Mac and Stella outside in the middle of the road. They were shooting questions at him. "Look I know I sound like an idiot, it was a yellow cab, that's all I got!" He shot back exasperated and mad at himself for not getting anything which would help them. Mac looked down at the body which was the subject of the investigation in the street. Don walked away to where Danny was processing some evidence in the street which could have come from the cab which had been used to dump said body.

"I get within 20 feet when he jumps the curb, cuts the corner and he's gone." He told Danny who smeared a little oil from the street onto his gloved fingers and smelt it, confirming it was motor oil and surmised the car may have damaged the oil pan. Almost oblivious to the comment Don was not focused. "I was this close, I could've seen his face."

"Don't worry about it, we have every cop in Manhattan looking for this cab." Reassured Danny. "You seen your wife yet?" Danny asked as Don's phone rang.

"Hey Jess, you got something? ... I'm on my way where are you?" Danny watched as Don's face contorted listening to what he was being told. Don felt like his stomach had dropped through his shoes as Angell talked to him. He didn't know what emotion to react to first. Finally he snapped down the phone. "Get Hawkes down from the lab ... yeah, right now." He pulled the phone away from his ear and turned and strode towards the entrance without a word to Danny who turned back to take samples of the oil on the street only to discover ants feeding on it.

--

When Don got into his lieutenant's office Laura was propped up on the couch with Hawkes checking her over, under protest. He smiled as his stomach began to settle, relieved to find her conscious after Angell's call.

"Shel I'm fine. I'm pregnant I fainted, not unusual. ... Where's Don?"

"I'm right here babe." He announced moving forward to sit with her. Angell looked at him as he passed her and whispered that she would head back outside to help. Hawkes looked up.

"Flack she should get checked out properly. Her BP is a little too low for my liking. ... I'll check on the bus give you a few minutes."

Hawkes left closing the door behind him. Laura reached up and wrapped her arms around Don's neck for a moment before pulling back and running her hand down his chest, checking him over for injury. "Are you alright? I heard what happened."

"I'm OK. A few bruises maybe, but I'm more worried about you."

"Jess told me you were almost hit by a car, if she had been-"

"Sh! I'm here, I'm fine. What happened to you?"

"I just fainted with all the commotion. What happened?" He nodded, knowing she wouldn't let it drop until she found out the whole story and by fobbing her off it would only get her mad at him and that would cause stress and he didn't want that, he'd read about the risks to mother and baby if she got stressed.

"... We just got back with the suspect. We were getting him out of the car, Jess saw the cab veering over the road, she dragged both of us over the trunk, perp got stuck in the car. A body was dumped right next to us. I tried chasing the cab, but it got away. ... I couldn't even give a good description of it and I was right up close to it! ... Mac thinks I'm an idiot now."

"Mac would never do that, it sounds like it all happened very fast and you were probably shaken from the close encounter yourself." She consoled as she ran her fingers through his hair. Flack grinned at her, he noted she looked pale and tired.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired, its been a long few days."

"Maybe you should think about taking time off."

"Not yet it's too early. ... I'm still able to work, Mac's got me running every cross section of information against all the cases. Are you ready to go home?"

"The body appears to be another from the Cabbie Killer, and he's a Jersey cop. ... I got a few things to do first."

"Then I'll go help out. They'll be a lot of paperwork to do." She answered starting to get up, but Don put his hands on her shoulders encouraging her to stay put.

"Not so fast, Hawkes wants you checked out and I agree."

"Don I'm fine, it was stupid I-"

"You're going to hospital even if I have to drive you myself. I'm not prepared to take any chances with you. ... Please Kat?"

Hawkes came back in, two EMS technicians waited outside the door. "Bus is here, you ready Laura?"

"No, ... I'm fine, I wish you would stop fussing, all of you!" she snapped. Hawkes and Don exchanged glances.

"Laura, I'm worried your BP isn't stable, it could happen again, if it is a problem and left untreated it could affect the baby."

Don was pleased Hawkes had played the maternal card, it was the one thing which would make her take notice, especially from the Doc.

Laura looked between the two of them. "Fine." She conceded, but still obviously not happy.

"Flack, ... Mac would like a word before you leave. We'll meet you out front." Advised Hawkes. Don looked at Laura then squeezed her hand and wiped away a stray tear which ran down her cheek.

"You'll be ok with Hawkes. I'll see you outside."

She nodded tiredly. He kissed her forehead and left, leaving the door open to admit the paramedics.

"Hey guys, this is Laura." Hawkes introduced them.

--

Don descended the steps to meet Mac back in the street. Stella and Quinn Shelby were processing the body which was still in situ.

"Mac, ... you wanted to see me."

"Don, ... we heard about Laura, is she ok?"

"Hawkes is sending her to the hospital to make sure ... What do you need here?"

"Nothing from you." Angell announced from over his shoulder as she joined the two men. "I've got it covered. Go be with Laura."

"But you need-"

"Don, its more important you're with your wife right now. I'll fill you in later, it's gonna be a while before we've got anything more to go on."

"If you're sure."

"Laura needs you right now, she's more worried about you than herself. She heard what was going down before I could tell her, you know how cops talk."

Don nodded. "Thanks."

"Give her our regards" said Mac by way of dismissal and Don turned to walk over to the ambulance parked on the edge of the crime scene.

--

Next morning the sun was shining giving everyone a little extra spring in their step after the doom and gloom from the last few days. Don entered the Lab conference room as Mac and the team were gathering for a briefing.

"Hey Flack, didn't expect to see you today, how's Laura?" Greeted Stella, taking in his neutral expression.

"She's OK, they kept her in overnight to monitor her BP, turns out she was a bit dehydrated and hadn't eaten properly yesterday. She's hassling them to release her, she wants to get back here. But they're not letting her go anywhere until tonight."

"Are they ready for her stubborn streak?" Asked Danny.

"She doesn't have a choice. I threatened to handcuff her to the bed if she even thought about disobeying!"

"You probably would too." Commented Sheldon as the group chuckled. Quinn and Adam joined them and the team took up positions around the table to ensure they could follow what was displayed on the plasma screens.

--

Within the hour Stella, Don, along with numerous officers and technicians were raiding the "Five Brothers Cab Company". Where they were meeting some belligerent cabbies. While they had some sympathy with their predicament, it was the police and CSIs job to ensure that the killer was caught. Now to cap it all, they were thinking that the murder of Jersey cop James Comitis was a copycat and not the real Cabbie Killer!

Stella and Don were talking to Jeff and Artie, two cabbies who seemed to be key characters in the garage. Neither were being particularly co-operative to the questioning. Stella asked them about the oil their cars used but still met resistance.

"..Care to explain that?" Don pressed hoping for something they could use.

"You're the detective ... that your job?" replied Jeff not committing to anything.

Don grinned, they guy had just played right into his hands and he wanted to make a point. "Yes, .. it is ... and I plan on staying here while every cab is processed and every log book checked and if I find out that either of you two are lying to me .. you're gonna find out just how well I do my job." Stella couldn't look at him as he delivered his monologue, if she had she would have been cracking up, so she remained staring between the cabbies in front of her, a stern look on her face.

As they left the garage a few hours later Don paused to take a call before getting back into the car with Stella. She sat and watched him for a minute as he stared out the window. Clearly troubled.

"Don? Is everything still OK?"

"Stell, mind if we detour past the hospital? She's pissed that they won't let her out yet and now her BP's high. They want me to go talk to her."

"It'll take a while to process all this stuff, I'll grab a ride back with the techs, gives you a bit longer with Laura. Tell her I'll swing by first chance I get, we'll call you if we get anything."

"Thanks." Stella gave him a comforting squeeze on his arm and climbed out calling to one of the other vehicles to wait for her.

--

Don pulled his car up next to Danny's SUV, which had also just arrived. They greeted each other and headed under the crime tape to join Angell who arrived a few minutes earlier.

"Hey Don, how's Laura?"

"She's doing ok, Ma gone to keep her company this afternoon. Hopefully it'll stop her signing herself out."

"They figure out what happened last night?"

"Nothing serious, what have we got Jess?" Don replied not wanting to discuss things anymore. He was torn. He wanted to be at the hospital, but he wanted this guy caught too.

Angell gave them the scoop on the yellow cab which was the central feature of the scene and they began to check it over. Don confirmed the cracked oil pan then Angell checked the interior.

"Guys, this case just got a lot stranger, our Jersey cop was moonlighting as a cab driver."

"So Jimmy Comitis was dumped out of his own cab?" Don questioned, now thoroughly confused by the whole situation. "Danny you'd better get it sorted and get this cab back to the lab. ... I'll tell Mac what we got so far."

"Does this mean another trip to the Five Brothers garage?" Asked Angell.

"As much as I want to go and wring those guys necks, we don't have enough. Hopefully the cab will give us more."

--

Stella entered the conference room and grabbed her phone after talking to Lindsay in the corridor and identifying the source of some trace on Comitis jacket.

"Hey Flack, ... we got a lead, bring back up we're going back to the garage, they're gonna find out how well we did our jobs!"

"Using my own words on me now Stell?"

"I couldn't resist, I almost cracked up when you said that earlier. ... But seriously, our friend Artie is looking pretty guilty right about now. I'll fill you in along the way."

AN: Another update ... Not sure if spelling of the Jersey Cops name is correct, if anyone has the correct spelling let me know and I'll update this.

AN2: Voting is going well for the baby ... see my profile page ... we have a clear leader now ...but I may close voting before the baby is actually born so this could be your last chance to vote, as a plot twist will involve divulging information.