Chapter 9 – Love in an Elevator?
…Because I just had to call this chapter that! Sorry for not posting for a while – school (I'm on placement) has been manic but I'm now on Easter vacation, so hopefully I'll get this story finished. I've actually written the epilogue already, which I hope you guys will enjoy!
Thank you so much for all the reviews…can we go for an even hundred, huh?
BTW – have been watching my way through all the CSI: NY and saw S04.03 – You Only Live Once yesterday…did I like the opening…much? Whaddya reckon?? Plus Flack in a Tux???? Yummmmmm
Enjoy people!
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"Boom!" said Danny, "Adam – how do you fix the elevators so they don't work?"
Rebecca figured, after about fifteen minutes, that it was probably safe to come out of the locker room. After checking out the corridor, she noticed that it was virtually deserted. Moving quickly, she headed into the group's collective office to go over some results from another outstanding case she was working on. Stella was in there, sitting at her desk.
"You okay kid?" she asked.
Rebecca blushed a little.
"Yeah, thanks Stel," she replied, blushing slightly and tried to focus on her work. But Stella Bonasera was not a detective second grade for nothing.
"You gonna tell me what happened just now?" she asked.
Rebecca sighed, knowing that if she didn't say something, the lab gossips would, not that the whole sordid encounter wasn't probably all over NYPD by now.
"Um, Dr Brennan made some, uh, observations about Detective Flack and, well, a member of the team," she said, blushing even redder.
Stella smothered a smile. The whole department was well aware of the little dance Dr Rhodes and Detective Flack were doing around each other.
"I take it by member of the team you mean you, right?" she said.
"Uh-huh," said Rebecca.
"It can't have been that bad, right?" asked Stella.
"Well, no," said Rebecca, "Not unless you count the fact that Dr Brennan has a habit of being blunt to the point of rude and pretty much told the entire lab I wanted to do the down and dirty with Don Flack junior as not bad."
Rebecca buried her head in her hands on top of her desk and groaned. Stella couldn't help laughing.
"Stel," she groaned, "You have no idea. I mean the man lives two apartments down on the same freaking floor as me and keeps insisting on either inviting me over, joining me on my runs to work through the park or finding some excuse to come over! How the hell am I ever going to look him in the eye again?" Yeah, those sexy, devilish blue eyes.
Stella got up from her desk and walked over to Rebecca, crouching beside her and putting her arm around her shoulders.
"Kid, it'll be OK," she said, "Don has a great sense of humor – he won't hold it against you!"
"What if he thinks what she said is true though!?" Rebecca almost cried, like, yeah, you're kidding yourself if you think you can convince yourself you don't want more of his hot kisses, his toned physique, those blue eyes looking deep into yours…. Rebecca straightened up and tried to get her mind firmly off the sexy detective.
"If you tell Don it's not true, I know he'll believe you," said Stella, all the time thinking, yeah kid, like it's not totally obvious you have the hots for our favorite detective!
"OK," said Rebecca, in a very small voice and both detectives turned their attention back to their cases.
Meanwhile, over in the AV Lab…..
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"OK Danny," said Adam, "You remember when the Wilder gang broke in to the lab to steal their heroine back, right?"
Like either of them would ever forget that day. Adam shuddered a little, before pulling up some computer schematics for building systems.
"Yeah," said Danny. His memories of that day weren't so good either.
"Well Mac convinced the Chief and the Inspector to let him install a state-of-the-art security system for the building, that allows staff with the codes…"
"Like you an' me," interjected Danny.
"Like you and me," continued Adam, "To be able to access the building's security systems in the event of another breach. As you can see," he said, demonstrating the data and programs now running on screen, "From any terminal at NYPD, in this building, we can shut down any systems we want…"
"Including the elevators?" asked Danny.
"Especially including the elevators," agreed Adam, "All you need to do is highlight them like this," he indicated, using the mouse to click on the appropriate folder, detailed Building Systems, "Click on Elevators and a range of options will come up. You can secure the whole building, from doors, to the parking garage, to individual computer stations, all from one monitor. We've also now got much better back-up power and communications, so no-one should be able to knock out our internet or phone systems again."
"That's pretty neat," said Danny, "You design it?"
Adam shrugged a little. "I had a hand in it," he affirmed.
Danny pursed his lips and nodded his head, slapping Adam on the back.
"Nice work, geek!" he said.
Adam grinned. "But just why do you want to know how to shut down the elevators Detective Messer?"
And his face fell, as he realized this had to have something to do with the pool Danny was running on two certain detectives.
"Man you're not serious!" he exclaimed, "Just please don't tell them I had anything to do with this! Or the boss!"
"You scared of a girl, Ross?" Danny taunted slightly.
"Only girls who know Krav Maga," said Adam, "And detectives who have a rep[ for taking their guys down hard."
Danny smirked. "Don't worry Adam," he said, "I promise I'll protect you!"
Yeah right, thought Adam.
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Meanwhile, down in Autopsy, Sid and Bones were looking enthusiastically at Sid's collection of CT scans and his computerized body images. Booth was trying to look as though he understood what they were talking about.
"As you can see, Dr Brennan," said Sid, "The hyoid bone is fractured, which is consistent with the cases in D.C."
"I agree," said Bones, "And the injuries the victim suffered are also similar to those victims as well."
"I must admit," said Sid, "The whole case is really quite exciting, if you can call a serial killer case exciting."
Booth shuddered. The creepy man was excited by this serial case? He didn't want to think about what the man thought was really exciting.
"It's just the whole pose of the body, plus the almost unidentifiable trace we found around the neck," he continued, "Our lab hasn't been able to find anything particularly distinguishable about it."
"Neither did we," confessed Bones, "I must admit it's all been a little perplexing. There are no leads, no evidence that leads us to the killer. He really is quite excellent at covering his tracks."
Booth didn't like it when Bones started making those kind of statements. Especially not to NY MEs.
"Come on Bones," he said, "He has to make a mistake sooner or later, right?"
"I'm not a profiler Booth," she replied, "That's really more Sweets' or a profiler's department. However, we had three cases in Washington and absolutely no leads. Aside from the fact that the victims resembled each other in coloring, there was absolutely nothing to connect any of them to each other or a common factor. There was a single mother, a student and an office worker. So I really can't comment on whether or not he'll make a mistake. The evidence," she swept her hand over the information in front of them, "Would seem to indicate otherwise. He plans methodically. He selects his victims. He has a type, but they're not connected and he is not sticking to any particular area, either in committing the murders or for victims. There were no crimes like this before he started his little shopping trip…"
"Spree, Bones, spree," said Booth,
"Alright, spree," she said, with a focus on spree, "Aside from the fact that he has used ribbon, probably from the same roll, to strangle all of his victims, we have no leads at all. And the ribbon was a dead end, as it is sold in just about every draper store in the continental United States and the batch that was produced was large."
Booth sighed. Bones was right. They had nothing. There was nothing new in New York; they were going to have to return empty-handed to Washington.
"We're gonna have to go home, Bones," he said, "There's nothing new here – no offence Doc," he apologized to Sid.
Sid sighed heavily.
"I understand Agent Booth," he said, "I understand you both have busy case loads to handle back in Washington." He cast a wistful look at Bones. "I was so looking forward to discussing that lecture you gave at the University of Tennessee last year – on determining approximate time of death from moss and lichen growth on bones – with you."
Booth shuddered. He grabbed Bones by the arm.
"Thanks Doc," he said, dragging Bones out of Autopsy, "Bones and I have an engagement at Madison Square Gardens – our team the Capitals, is playing the Rangers tonight. Come on Bones."
Protesting slightly, Bones waved at Sid as Booth dragged her from the room. There was no way Booth was letting Bones get into a disgusting discussion about the Bone Farm with the doc. Yeah – he knew all about why Bones got invited to deliver lectures at the University of Tennessee….
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A few hours later, Rebecca stepped into the elevator on the 35th floor, to head down to the precinct. Detective Jess Angell had called her about a suspect they had in custody and Rebecca had got some results that proved his guilt. She was on her way down to question the perp with the lovely detective. The elevator was empty.
As the doors started to close, Rebecca got the shock of her life when an arm suddenly slammed through the narrowing gap, causing the sensors to open the doors. She caught her breath, as the man barging into her solitude, was one Detective Don Flack.
Well, she thought, I had to deal with this sooner rather than later.
As he hit the "down" button himself, he turned and smirked to see Rebecca standing on the other side of the elevator.
Good, he thought, now we can talk for a minute and I can ask her a question, as he fingered the smooth cards in his pocket – a favor called in from someone on the force who owed him one.
Neither of them was aware that their departure from the 35th floor was being closely watched by one lab technician and one detective.
"So," said Danny, "I click here," he said, moving the mouse to elevators, "Click all stop and we're stopped?"
"Yeah," said Adam nervously, craning his neck and looking down the corridor in case anyone was watching them.
"A'right," said Danny, "That's done. Now Adam, if I click here," he said, moving the mouse to system diagnostic, "It's gonna take a while to get everything up and running, right?"
"Uh, yeah," said Adam, "But why would you want to do that…?"
His voice tailed off as Danny clicked and they heard the sound of the elevators shutting down.
Danny turned to Adam and made a move to high-five him.
"Boom!" he said, "Mission accomplished.
Adam looked nervous.
"You do realize they're going to be trapped in there for at least an hour, right?" he asked.
Danny just grinned.
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Somewhere between the 30th and 29th floors of the NYPD building, the elevator car jerked to a sudden stop. Rebecca jolted forwards.
Then the lights went out. Flack swore. He reached out to check where Rebecca was.
"You OK Bec?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Rebecca, her voice a little higher than usual. Rebecca did not like confined spaces.
Flack pulled out his cell and dialed Danny. He had thought the detective was up to something.
"Messer," said the slightly disembodied voice on the end of the phone, "Hey Flack, how's it hanging?"
"Funny," said Flack, "You wouldn't happen to know why the elevator car just stopped between the 30th and 29th floors would ya?"
"Me?" asked Danny, sounding the picture of innocence, "Naw man. Hang on, I'll ask Adam."
To Flack it sounded muffled, as though Danny had put his hand over the phone. Then he came back on the line.
"Uh, Flack," he said, "Adam says that there's a system test and diagnostic going on right now. He said there was a memo. Didn't cha get it?"
Test my ass, thought Flack.
"Apparently not Messer," he replied, "Any idea how long we're going to be in here?"
"We, Flack," asked Danny, "Who's in there with you?"
Like you don't know, thought Flack a little savagely. The red emergency lights came on, to reveal a very freaked-out looking Rebecca standing bolt upright against the wall of the car, holding her file to her chest in a vice-like grip.
"Detective Rhodes and I are in here. On our way to the precinct," said Flack. He swore Danny laughed.
"I'll get Adam on the case, but he thinks it'll be about an hour," said Danny.
Rebecca heard that. "What?????" she nearly screamed. Flack grimaced.
"Fine," he said shortly, "I'll look after the detective here – you two work on getting us outta here sooner rather than later."
"Sure, Flack. Later," said Danny, and rung off.
Flack shrugged off his suit jacket and sat down on the floor. He was damned if he was going to be uncomfortable while he waited. Plus the temperature was starting to rise, and not all of it had to do with the lack of air…
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Mac Taylor, after receiving a call from some irate employees down in the lobby and on various floors regarding the non-functioning elevators, decided to take a short walk down the corridor on the 35th floor. Passing AV, he noticed Adam and Danny engrossed with some computer program. He walked in the door. Neither of them noticed him.
"Gentlemen," he said.
"Hey boss," said Danny, looking up. Adam didn't make eye contact. He looks a little panicked, thought Mac.
"Anything wrong Adam?" he asked.
"Uh, no, well, not exactly boss," replied Adam.
"Well Adam," said Mac, vaguely amused, "What is it?"
"Well there's maybe a tiny little problem with the building's systems…" Adam's voice tailed off.
"That would explain the calls I've been getting regarding the elevators," deduced Mac, "So what's up exactly?" He made his way round to look at the monitor readouts.
"Well, uh, I might have been showing Danny our new building security systems…" he said.
"…And I might have accidently caused the system to stop and then run a diagnostic," finished Danny.
Mac smirked.
"I'm sure it was all a totally innocent mistake," said Mac.
"Course Boss!" said Danny, sounding just a little too sincere.
"I'm sure you have it all in hand," said Mac, picking up a report off the work bench and exiting the office.
I knew he'd do something, thought Mac, chuckling slightly.
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Rebecca had finally sat down and was sitting stiffly, with her eyes closed, breathing in pants. Flack was a little worried.
"Bec, you OK?" he asked.
"Yessssss," she hissed, going back to her short breaths.
"Don't be giving me that crap, Bec, you ain't OK," said Flack.
What Rebecca did next surprised the hell out of him. One second she was on the other side of the car from him, the next she was in his arms, virtually in his lap, her arms wrapped tightly around his middle, her eyes firmly closed. He closed his arms around her and soothingly rubbed her back.
"I'm guessing heap, big touch martial arts girl doesn't like confined spaces?" he teased.
Rebecca poked him in the ribs.
"Not funny," she said.
"It's kinda cute," teased Flack, smiling at her discomfort, although her breathing had settled and he could feel her relaxing into the embrace. He continued to rub her back in circles.
"Mmmmm," murmured Rebecca, a little breathily, "That feels nice."
Flack cleared his throat and tried not to think about what that last breathless comment was doing to his imagination.
"So," he said, trying to distract them both, "You don't like cramped close quarters, huh?"
"Nope," replied Rebecca, "Not since Harrison locked me in a wardrobe when I was five. My parents have a big house. No-one found me for three hours."
Flack found himself getting angry at the thought of a pretty little girl, as Rebecca must have been, trapped for hours in a dark wardrobe, unable to get anyone to let her out. She must have sobbed her heart out, he thought.
"Want me to kill your brother for you?" he asked. He could feel Rebecca smile against his chest.
"No," she said, "I already made him suffer."
Flack didn't doubt that for a second.
"Actually," she said, "This is kinda nice."
"Yeah," agreed Flack. He cleared his throat. Rebecca suddenly turned her face up to him, a worried look appearing.
"I'm sorry about before," she said, "You know, what Bones said."
Flack smoothed a stray lock of hair off of her face.
"S'OK," he said, "I get she opens her mouth and weird stuff comes out."
Rebecca giggled.
"Oh Don," she said, "You have no idea!" She settled back against him, one hand on his chest, the other still wrapped around his side. A wicked grin appeared on her face.
"So what are we going to do for the next hour detective?" she asked.
Flack's eyes hardened with intent as he looked into her laughing brown ones, he glanced down at her sweet little mouth, a smile dancing on her lips.
"Wait it out detective," he replied. Rebecca pouted.
"Spoilsport," she said.
Flack knew he'd probably regret asking what was on her mind, but…
"Why, what did you have in mind?" he asked.
"Well," she said, rubbing her hand across his chest in a manner that was definitely not innocent, "Have you ever made out in an elevator?"
Rebecca knew she was playing with fire. Flack swallowed hard. Then he put his own, big hand over hers and stopped the movement. For a split second, Rebecca thought she had read him all wrong. He put a hand under her chin and tipped her head up so he could look into her eyes.
"Honey," he said, "My momma taught me you don't make out with girls you aren't dating in elevators."
He grinned.
"You make out with them after a date in the back of your car or on your coach after luring them into your apartment."
"Hmmm," said Rebecca thoughtfully, "You've done a lot of luring, Detective, but not a great deal of the making out."
"That's because we're not dating, Bec," he said. He felt her stiffen.
Rebecca sat up and pushed herself so she was sitting next to him, rather than in his arms, where she belonged.
"Bec," he said, teasingly, "Are you mad at me?"
"Well I just don't know where I stand, Don," she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Flack smiled.
"I would have thought that was obvious, Bec, seeing as I kissed you."
Rebecca flushed a little and smiled. Her hands were playing with the hem of her shirt. Flack reached out and took one of her hands in his.
"Plus, I was going to find you later and check what you were doing this evening," he said.
Rebecca sneaked a shy look at him from under her eyebrows.
"Why?" she asked, "You wanna make out on your couch?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, comic style.
Flack swallowed. Now he was thinking things he really shouldn't.
"No, I just managed to get tickets for the first Rangers game of the season and I wanted to take you. Maybe get some dinner too. On a date."
Rebecca grinned. This was her idea of a perfect date. But she decided to wind him up a little and pouted again.
"A public place? But we can't make out at Madison Square Gardens, Don!" she giggled.
He fixed her with a hot, but stern look.
"Young lady," he said roughly, "NY's finest do not make out in public places."
Rebecca giggled again. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him, kissing her on the top of her head.
No, he thought, we'll be making out on my couch, after our date, once I lure you into my apartment for an Irish coffee.
Just then the lights flickered on and the elevator car gave a sudden lurch, moving back into motion towards the ground floor. Flack stood and gave his hand to Rebecca, pulling her to her feet. Of course, accidently pulling her off balance so she crashed into his chest. She snaked her arms around his waist again, before turning her face up to his, a beautiful smile on her face. He kissed her lightly on the lips.
They pulled apart before they reached their destination, Flack grabbing his wrinkled jacket and Rebecca her case file from the floor. The doors dinged open on the ground floor, revealing a surprisingly large crowd around the doors waiting for them. Apparently they were the only ones who had been trapped.
Yeah, he thought, that'd be about right.
"Haven't you all got cases to solve?" he barked a little harshly at the uniforms and detectives, who quickly scattered, "And I will pick you up at a quarter of six," he whispered in Rebecca's ear.
Rebecca clutched the file to her chest and faced him. Flack noticed the wicked look in her eye.
"Did I say yea, detective?" she asked, turning on her heel and sashaying away in the direction of the interrogation room Angell must have told her to come to.
Flack scratched his head then turned and headed to his own desk.
She was kidding, right?
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Sorry – long chapter and I meant to do the date as well, but it's 3am precisely and I need sleep! Been catching up on the NHL too and chatting to friends, so got sidetracked.
Hot date to follow, with a twist.
And to tease you some more, I know how the story is now going to play out…came to me in a moment of sheer genius (but it's gonna get a little dark!)
Leave a message after the tone…I love to know your opinions guys!