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.
AN: Project is over!! Now for the next instalment.
Thanks to hope4sall, Brown eyed Girl 75, Soccer-Bitch & Sarah for reviewing. The muse is still in charge I'm afraid, the fluffy plot bunnies are running riot in Coming Home!
13. Botched Operation
Mac pulled his department SUV into a gap between two SWAT vehicles and they all got out. It was obvious from the mix of SWAT and FBI people milling about that the raid had already taken place. A couple of agents were leading some handcuffed clinic staff to nearby prison vans. Mac lead the way to what appeared to be the centre of activity, somewhere between the vehicles and the clinic entrance. One agent put up a hand to stop him, he glared at him and held up his badge.
"Where's Special Agent Collins and Don and Laura Flack?"
"The boss is inside, don't know anything about anyone called Flack." He muttered.
"The two undercover detectives?"
"Oh, them, dunno. ... They're still bringing everyone out."
"Have you got a bus on standby?"
"What for? The raid was smooth, not a shot fired."
Mac shook his head and bit his lip. Yelling at this moron wouldn't get them anywhere.
"Make sure there is one." He demanded and headed towards the door, Hawkes and Danny in tow.
"What an asshole!" Raged Danny.
"Careful Danny." Mac cautioned as Special Agent Collins appeared in the doorway and walked towards them.
"It appears that the receptionist and Mrs Henderson left before the raid." Agent Collins announced.
"What about Don and Laura Flack?" Mac asked as he carefully watched the FBI agent before him who seemed a little uncomfortable.
"... They weren't here." He finally admitted.
"How could they not be here, you had men watching the place didn't you?"
"... Only the front. ... I know it's a breach of procedure and believe me the guys at the back will get a new one ripped when I see them. ... From what one of the staff said it appears Mrs Henderson was in a bit of a flap, which is most uncharacteristic apparently, she told one of the nurses that she should stick around because one of their visitors ... was in labour."
"That's why Flack hit the panic button. If Laura's gone into labour he'd want to get her out of there fast. Especially this early when they'd need NICU."
"May not be so bad Mac, the baby will be a good size, Laura's healthy so they should be ok for a while." Hawkes tried to reassure them, but still looking concerned.
"I know you're the doc and everything, but it's more complicated-" began Danny. Mac held up his hand.
"They've not told us everything, ... Danny and Stella were in their place a couple of days ago and realised ... they're expecting twins." Mac informed him reluctantly, not wishing to appear like he was telling tales. It was Don and Laura's business, they had their reasons for not saying anything and he hated having to tell people behind their back.
"I know ... Laura told me the night she collapsed at the station, after Flack and Angell had that run in with the Cab. ... They wanted it to be a surprise for everyone."
"Say that again. ... I can't believe Flack didn't tell me!" groaned Danny.
"That's not important right now, what we need to do is find them. ... Agent Collins what are your plans?"
"We've got a BOLO out for Mrs Henderson and Ms Blake, the receptionist. ... There's not a lot more we can do"
"And the Flacks?" He pressed when the agent didn't offer any options.
"Until we hear from them or find the missing staff, they're on their own."
"Are you crazy? ... You're gonna just wait around on your ass-" Danny began ranting.
"Danny! .. go call all the hospitals see if they've shown up and ring Stella ask her to contact Laura's doctor give her the head's up, she might be able to pull some strings in the medical fraternity. ... Hawkes if she is in labour, how long do you thing we've got to find them?"
"This early and twins, not long Mac, a couple of hours tops, because if she has complications it could kill them all without intervention." Hawkes responded seriously. Danny was talking animatedly on his phone a few feet away and Mac eyed the FBI agent, concern etched on his face.
"I'm calling their CO and telling them what went on here. I suggest you mobilise everyone you can and find our detectives before this hits the press. ... I don't think it will paint the FBI in a particularly good light when they find out two NYPD officers are missing in a botched operation." Mac turned and walked back to the car.
--
Lindsay entered Stella's office as she finished a call and replaced the receiver. "Stella? ... It's kinda spooky up here where is everyone?"
"It's busy Linds, crime scenes all over the city and Mac, Danny and Hawkes are out with Narco cleaning up after a raid earlier. ... Did you need something?"
"I just wrapped up my case, what do you want me to do?" Lindsay sighed, it all seemed to quiet if there was so much happening all over the city.
"... Maybe give Adam a hand, I think he's ... I don't know what he's working on but he could probably use some help. ... " Stella trailed off, her mind still on the conversation she had just had with Danny. She looked up and seemed surprised to see Lindsay standing at the door. "Hi, thought you were working the Amoretti case."
"... I was, I just wrapped it up, I told you." She was expecting Stella to assign her another case, so what she suggested was a surprise, but even more so was the fact that Stella didn't seem to remember what she had just said.
"Oh, yes, sorry, ... Where was I? .. yeah ... um go see Adam. Kendall's away."
"Stella is everything alright you seem very distracted."
For a second Stella felt, and probably looked, like a deer caught in the headlights. She made a decision. "Come in Lindsay and close the door."
Lindsay complied, realising it was serious and confidential otherwise Stella would have no qualms about talking with the door open.
"I'm going to go behind Mac's back and tell you, you're their friend too you should know. ... Laura and Flack aren't on vacation. ... They've been working under cover, the FBI have just raided the target with Laura and Flack supposedly inside ..." Stella stopped to control her emotions.
"Laura and Flack inside? ... Stella are they alright? Undercover? What were they doing?" The string of questions fell over themselves to make it from Lindsay's brain to her mouth. She was trying to process the information and the implications. Stella took a deep breath before she spoke again.
"It's a baby smuggling case, no one knows why they're involved exactly or why they agreed to do it, but for now Mac's concerned about Laura. ... It seems they triggered the raid because she went into labour. When the FBI and SWAT broke in neither of them were there. ... We don't know where they are Linds."
"Laura's in labour? But she's not due-"
"We know, ... there's more ... When Danny and I went to check their place the other day we made a discovery, something they hadn't told anyone. ..."
"Stella?"
"We don't know for sure until they tell us, ... but it looks like, .. it looks like they're expecting twins."
"Twins? .. and she's in labour? ... Do they have any idea where they are?"
"Danny's calling the hospitals, I'm waiting to hear from her doctor, we have nothing to go on."
"They're must be something. ... Flack wouldn't just go off like this, not with the risks... what can we do?"
"I wish I had the answers Lindsay ... I wish I did. Flack's been there for all of us, ... we need to find them now."
"Do either of them have anything like a cell phone or anything with them?"
Stella shook her head. "Nothing we can use."
Stella's phone rang and she picked it up. After hearing the caller for a moment she answered. "Hang on Mac, I'm putting you on speaker, Lindsay just finished her case and is with me. She's up to speed, we need all the help we can get.
"Bring Angell in too, we'll need anything she can do at her end until we get Fraser and Sinclair on board." Mac's controlled voice echoed around the room between the crackles of the static on the line.
"Is there any more news?"
"No, ... I'm sorry Stella, we'll go through the clinic see what else we can pick up."
"OK, we'll do what we can from here." Stella hung up and looked at Lindsay. "We'll find them kiddo, ... we have to." She said to reassure the younger woman, hoping that if she sounded confident enough it might convince her too.
--
Back at the Clinic Mac and Hawkes were walking through the rooms looking for anything which might give them a clue, while the FBI were still sifting through information left behind. Danny was still outside on the phone.
"Detectives, can you take a look in here ... we just found this." The agent held up a ladies handbag. Mac and Sheldon looked at each other before Mac walked over and took the bag and looked inside. Pulling out an ID card ... "Katie Stevens, ... proves they were here and probably left in a hurry."
Mac and Sheldon entered the examination room and Hawkes eyes alighted on the ultrasound machine and switched it on. After pressing a few buttons he was able to see the images which had been saved an hour before. "Mac these are scans of Laura, ... looking at this, I'd say the babies are a good size and in a good position right now. Things could change, but for now she could be looking at minimal intervention. The babies will still need NICU, but from this I'd guess they're around 4 pounds each. That's good for twins and this early. Labour could be pretty quick too."
"Anything else you can tell?"
"Not from this, but Mac she has got to be terrified." Another agent appeared in the doorway.
"Detective Taylor? ... Special Agent Collins would like to see you, they've found some film."
Mac nodded at Hawkes. "Find what you can from here I'll see you outside."
--
Outside Danny was pacing up and down his cell phone stuck to his ear. "Hey Stella, I got nothing, I rang just about every damned hospital in the city, no one's seen them. Can we get their pictures out with their undercover names, that may help." Danny paused for breath while Stella replied. He pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned against one of the vehicles. "Yeah, I'll tell Mac, they're still inside with the FBI, I hope they find something. ... Good, she should know. ... Yeah, talk to you later." He pressed the button to finish the call and looked up, reseating his glasses as Mac and Sheldon left the clinic.
--
Don studied the New York streets as they were driven across the city, while he tried to work out a plan for getting them to a hospital. It had been over an hour since they were bundled into the car. New York traffic was normal and they had been pretty much stop-start all the way from the Upper West Side to their current location somewhere in midtown heading towards the East River. He was beginning to think they were heading for the Queensborough bridge or something which would take them either to the FDR and north or across to Queens or Brooklyn. He still held Laura's hand as she leant against him, trying to rest and keep calm. He glanced at her. Her eyes were closed and a frown appeared across her face, then her fingers tightened around his again. Another contraction. This was the fourth or fifth one and was about 10 minutes from the last one. He figured he should be writing this down or something, but he had nothing to do it with. He heard Laura humming quietly, he rested his hand across her stomach. "It'll be OK babe, we'll get you some help real soon. ... Ms Blake, Katie really needs a hospital, ... please can you just take her somewhere safe."
"It won't be long now, the traffic's moving probably another 10 minutes."
"Just hurry, she needs-"
"AAH!" Don turned his attention to Laura again as she moaned suddenly and turned her head into his shoulder.
"A hospital now!" he snapped at Ms Blake. "It's gonna be OK Kat, we'll get you through this." He rubbed his hand over her stomach trying to soothe her and the babies. Laura released her grip on his hand as the contraction faded and looked up at him.
"... It's getting stronger." She whispered. "I'm scared."
"I know baby, I am too, I don't want to lose you. ... Ms Blake please do something, she needs help."
Laura looked around. "Danny I don't feel good." She mumbled. Ms Blake turned the corner into a dead end street and pulled up outside a large imposing building. She got out and opened the back door for Laura who half looked up at her. "I feel sick." She murmured before leaning out and throwing up all over Ms Blake. Don had to stop himself laughing at the sight of an enraged Ms Blake staring at her puke covered dress. He squeezed Laura's hand and she looked up at him with half a smile. "I don't feel so bad now."
"Well you can get out now, we're here." Snapped Ms Blake. Don got out of the car and leaned in to help Laura out, taking her hand. She took a good grip and slid across the seat to get out the side opposite Ms Blake.
Laura squeezed Don's hand again. "Oh God!" Don watched as her eyes glared at him momentarily and she seemed to relax a little, but he could feel her start to shiver. "My water just broke!"
Sorry I warned you the muse was still in charge! ... Last chance to vote for the sex of the twins ... see my profile page. The results will likely be revealed in the next chapter.