DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN...YOU KNOW THE REST

A/N: I AM STAYING AT MY SIS' FOR A BIT AND WHILE HER COMP IN THE SPARE ROOM ISN'T THE BEST, IT DOES THE TRICK! AND GUESS WHAT? SHE ACTUALLY SUPPORTS MY WRITING! SO THIS CHAP GOES OUT TO MY SIS, JENNIFER

GREAT BIG THANKS TO ALL THE MESSAGES OF SUPPORT REGARDING ISSUES WITH MY COMP AND MY FEARS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO POST. THANKS GUYS! MUCH LOVE, BEG 75

THANKS TO LAURZZ FOR HER INSIGHT AND ASSISTANCE WITH SOME PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER, AND APHINA FOR GIVING ME THE COURAGE TO GO AHEAD WITH TWO SUB-PLOTS IN THIS CHAPTER. AND FOR POINTING ME TO THE AWESOME SONG AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAP!

WARNING: MENTIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

SAVING THE WORST FOR LAST

"Please come now I think I'm falling
I'm holding to all I think is safe
It seems I found the road to nowhere
And I'm trying to escape
I yelled back when I heard thunder
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say

Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking
That maybe six feet
Ain't so far down

I'm looking down now that it's over
Reflecting on all of my mistakes
I thought I found the road to somewhere
Somewhere in His grace
I cried out heaven save me
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say

Sad eyes follow me
But I still believe there's something left for me
So please come stay with me
'Cause I still believe there's something left for you and me
For you and me
For you and me."
-One Last Breath, Creed

"If I've said it once, I'll say it again. You're a stubborn bastard."

Flack let out a pain groan as he used the side railing of his hospital bed to pull his battered, aching body up into a sitting position. Clad in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt his father had brought from home earlier, he slowly and carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed. His ribs had been securely tapped -four busted ones in all, the rest severely bruised- over a dozen stitches had been needed to close the gash that led from the top of his right eyebrow into his hair line and several more held together a cut near the left temple and a bandage covered the wound that had been left behind after the bullet had been removed from his upper left arm.

"If you think I'm going to just lie here feeling sorry for myself when my wife and kid are upstairs, you've got another thing coming," he said to his best friend, as Danny Messer, a frown on his face and shaking his head in disapproval, waited at the side of the bed with a wheelchair.

"Sam's still out like a light from all the drugs they've been pumping into her," Danny told him. "And I'm sure, after his ordeal, Kieran is fast asleep too. Carmen's spending the night in his room and has no plans on leaving until his parents are well enough to take him home."

"I want to talk to the pediatrician on call," Flack closed his eyes briefly as his head swam and he saw double. "I want to find out if my boy's okay," he said, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly as he opened his eyes.

"Flack, it's four in the morning," Danny argued. "Give it a few hours. Get some rest. You heard what the doc looking after you said. You're in here for a couple of days with your concussion and your busted up ribs and all your other odds and ends. Not to mention you just had a bullet pulled out of your arm a couple of hours ago."

Despite his protests, the CSI still found himself firmly grabbing a hold of his best friend's good arm and assisting him to his feet before helping him into the wheelchair.

"It was a flesh wound, Dan-o. I didn't even need to be taken to the OR and knocked out to get it removed. They just stuck a needle in there and froze it all up and that was that."

"Don't try and convince me that this is a good idea," Danny said. "You need to be taking it easy."

"And I am. That's why you're pushing me wherever I want to go," Flack told him.

"I'll be pushing you out a damn window or down a flight of stairs if you don't stop being...I don't know...you. I thought a beating like that would knock some sense into you. Where to first?"

"I wanna stop by and see Kieran. Just make sure he's okay."

"He's fine," Danny said. "Carmen is with him and..."

"Are you not the chauffeur?" Flack asked. "We'll go and see Kieran first and than I want to go and see my wife. I'll stay in her room until she wakes up and than we can go together to see our son and talk to his doctor. I'll even make her take care of me and push me around."

"Doesn't she already do that? Push you around? I mean, we all know she wears the pants in the family."

Flack snorted.

"And why you feel the need to go and harass her anyway? Let the poor thing sleep off all those damn meds. Linds and your mom are with her and..."

"Don't make me get out of this chair and beat the shit out of you, Messer," Flack warned. "'Cause even in my weakened state I could still take you."

"In your dreams," Danny said as he steered the wheelchair out of the room and down the quiet, barren hallway. "So tell me, Crimestopper. You feel some sort of closure knowing that Lessing is dead? After him blowing you up and all of that. Does it make it easier to accept and deal with things knowing he's no longer breathing the same air as you?"

"The bombing was never really on my mind," Flack responded. "I was more pissed off that the bastard took my kid and drove my wife mental than anything else. But yeah, I guess there's some sort of closure. He's permanently off the face of the earth and he can't cause me or my family any more grief. He caused enough hell, don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Danny said. "Personally, guy got his just desserts if you ask me. Bet you'll be glad, huh? To get the hell out of here and get that little guy home?"

"Few days in here and the doctor says I should be well enough to go home. Can't happen soon enough. I'm going to take some sick leave to coincide with Sam's. Few weeks off will do us good. Spend some time together as a family. Heal as a family. Emotionally more than anything. Mind you, I think it's going to take a lot longer than that to heal from this. We may never be fully healed or the same again."

"Good thing baby K is so young," Danny said. "I mean, he probably won't have any long term mental affects. I doubt he'll remember anything that happened to him."

"Sam and I will," Flack said with a heavy sigh. "We won't just remember what happened to him, but we'll remember what happened to us. Is our marriage ever going to be the same again?"

"Things like this only make a strong marriage even stronger," Danny reasoned. "And you guys have a strong marriage, so there's no way there'll be any damage done to it."

"I had to forcibly sedate my own wife, Messer. And as if that wasn't enough, I had to bring her here and have her locked up in the psych ward. They restrained her and fed her sedatives through an IV. Do you know what that felt like? Having to just hand her over and walk away? No husband should have to do that. I mean, she might never forgive me for doing that?"

"First off, you didn't just hand her over," his best friend argued. "You brought her here to get the help she needed. It wasn't your fault that they felt the need to restrain her and knock her out and not let you even sit at her bedside while waiting word on your abducted son. If I was in your shoes and my wife was as hysterical and uncontrollable as Sam was, I would have brought her here for some help too. Don't ever doubt that you did the right thing. 'Cause what you did was out of love and concern for her."

"That's not the point," Flack said.

"So what is the point? You think she's going to hate you because you made the decision that was best for her. Plain and simple. Think about it Flack. How would it have felt if she had have done something to hurt herself. In the state that she was in? What if she had have killed her self? She would have been gone from your life permanently. And how would you have felt than? Isn't it better to have done what you did and have her here, than not have her at all?"

Flack nodded.

"When she knows that K is alive and is coming back home with you guys, when she sees that you're alive despite looking like death, none of that shit is going to be on her mind. And you know why? Because she loves you and her son and you two are the only things that matter to her. She's not going to hate you or hold shit against you. She only blamed you for what happened because she was in hysterics. You can't tell me you honestly think she holds you responsible for K going missing."

"I know she didn't mean anything she said," the detective sighed. "But she still said it. Just like I threatened her after that article came out that I'd take Kieran away from her if anything happened to him."

"And did you mean it?" Danny asked. "Is that what you're planning on doing once she's emotionally strong enough to handle something like that? You're going to take Kieran away from her?"

"I'd never do that to her. I love my wife. I'd never bust up my family."

"Exactly. People say shit when they're upset. And you guys had a lot to be upset about. What's important is that K is home safe and sound. The three of you, and those babies that Sam's carrying, can go back to being a normal family. You got a month off, put it to good use, Flack. Spend time with your wife, with your son. Do shit as a family. Even if it's just parking your ass on the couch and putting your arm around her and telling her you love her."

"Since when did you become such an expert on affairs of the heart?" Flack asked with a small chuckle.

"Guess I've had a good teacher," Danny replied, as they halted at the elevators and he reached out to press the up button. "Watching the way you are with Sam and Kieran has taught me a lot."

"What's that? How not to fuck things up and be the worst husband and father in the world?" Flack snorted.

"You went to Lessing tonight to offer yourself up for the safe return of your son. Lindsay told me what happened when things went south. She told me that you had the choice to save yourself by letting him take Sam and the babies. That you were willing to die instead."

"I wasn't using her or my unborn children as bargaining chips. I'd lay down and die for her and Kieran and those babies in a heartbeat. And you can't tell me that other men wouldn't do the same thing for their wives and kids."

"Unfortunately, Flack, there are men who'd save themselves first."

"Yeah? Well I'm not one of those men. And neither are you. You'd do the same damn thing."

"I would. I would gladly lay my life down for Montana."

"I know that. I was actually talking about Erica. And the baby she's pregnant with. Your baby."

Danny sighed. "My kid? Yeah. Her...I think it's best I don't say anything more. And what I was trying to say earlier is that watching you, as a husband and a father, it's shown me that there's hope for us all. You were the last person I ever expected to get married and have a family. In fact, I would have bet my life that you never would. But you proved me wrong. And seeing you, mature like you have and seeing the way you love your wife and your son? Makes me realize I can be a better man too."

"With Lindsay or Erica?" Flack asked curiously.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," Danny said in way of response, pushing the wheelchair onto the empty elevator after the doors opened up.

"About which woman?" Flack asked, leaning forward to press the button for the fifth floor.

"Both," Danny replied.

"And what's this think been about?"

"It's been about how the only good thing that ever came out of me and Erica was my unborn baby. That the relationship was a joke from the start. I was lonely and wanted to be with someone so badly that I convinced myself I loved her more than life. When in reality, there was only one person I wanted to be with but I was too damn scared to swallow my pride and make things right with her. Erica and I...we've been wrong right from the start and things are only getting worse. She's just using the baby to keep me there."

"Boy, I hate to say I told you so..."

"So don't. Just know that you were right and I should have listened to you."

"I wasn't saying all of that to be right, Danny. I was saying all of that because I was worried about you. You're not happy with the way things are? Do something about it. That's all I was saying."

"And I am going to do something about it. I'm going to need a number for a damn good lawyer. You said you know some ruthless ones and that's the kind I'm going to need to fight her for the baby. Think you can hook me up?"

Flack nodded. "I'll make some calls in the afternoon and get your number out there."

"No major rush for the lawyer. Whenever you can get to it. You got a lot on your plate right now and..."

"I will make some calls this afternoon," Flack insisted. "It'll only take a few minutes."

"I appreciate it," Danny said.

Flack waved it off.

"I'm going to need a bigger favor though," Danny told him.

"Uh-oh..."

"Lindsay's staying at your place, right? Until she's ready to go back to Montana?"

Flack nodded. "She's planning on taking the pull out. She hasn't said when she's going back. Just that she's in no rush."

"Well I'm planning on heading over to my place as soon as I can and getting my shit together and telling Erica it's done. And I can't stand the thought of going and staying with my folks until I find my own place..."

"It's a standard pullout, Mess. It can sleep two people. Sam and I have done it tons of times."

"I just hate the thought of imposing on you guys while you're just getting over all of this stuff," Danny said.

"You won't be. Sam and I are going to Arizona."

"Get outta here. When?"

"As soon as the doctor says I'm okay to fly. Probably in a few days, week at the most. As long as her OB says it's okay for her to go."

"I don't know which torture is worse," Danny laughed, as the elevator reached the fifth floor and the doors slid open. "What Lessing did or the agony of spending that long with Sam's mother."

Flack laughed. "Hopefully the monster in law will behave. They wanted to come down here, but I said it was too insane and what we really needed, and wanted, was to go away. Sam and I talked about it, before I put her in here, that when K was found, we were going to take off for a bit. Her dad offered up the spare room and we agreed to go."

"You're a brave man, Don Flack. So what you're saying is..."

"What I'm saying is that if you manage to convince Lindsay to stick around, you only have a few days to put up with me and Sam hanging around and than you have the whole apartment to yourself. Three weeks to find yourselves a place. There's only two things I ask. Three, actually."

"Alright..."

"You stick to the pull out. No messing around in my bed. I expect you guys to keep the place clean and take care of the cat. I don't want to be coming home to an apartment that looks like a bomb went off in it. And groceries. Whatever you do, do not leave the cupboards and the fridge empty for us. Kapish?"

"Kapish," Danny responded.

"And one more thing..."

The CSI groaned. "You got a lot of bloody demands, Flack."

"Don't fuck things up a second time with Monroe. I come back and she's not in New York and has gone back to Montana, I am going to kick your ass all over God's creation. You've got a second chance, Danny. Don't blow it."

"I ain't planning on it," Danny assured him. "But what if she doesn't want to stay? What if she doesn't want to stay with me?"

"Trust me," Flack said. "That isn't something you need to worry about."

Carmen was fast asleep in the roll out cot alongside of the hospital grade crib. The crib itself was ancient. Heavy steel, the navy blue paint chipped or faded in numerous places, and had high railings that could be pulled down to the level of the mattress. It had obviously seen better days and had served a lot of babies in its time.

But the only baby that mattered was the one that now took up residence in it. The sides drawn up completely to prevent accidents of an escape attempt. He was in a deep and peaceful slumber in the moonlit room. Lying on his side in a pair of his own pyjamas and covered by his favorite Cars blanket.

Carmen had run back to the apartment and grabbed a huge duffel bag of clothing for Lindsay, Flack and the baby. Kieran sucked aggressively on the right thumb shoved securely in his mouth. He hadn't sucked his thumb since he was eight months old and had discovered that biting down on said thumb with your new front teeth was not the most pleasant thing in the world. Flack wondered, as he sat by the side of his son's bed, his hand stuck through the crib bars and his fingers gently stroking Kieran's hideous blond hair, if the newly re-discovered thumb sucking was a soothing technique or something the kid was doing because he was traumatized by his ordeal, or maybe even a bit of both.

An IV had been inserted into the toddler's left forearm and was secured in place with layers of gauze and tape to prevent Kieran from yanking it out. A quick peek of the hospital chart resting on the bedside table told Flack that his son was being treated for slight hypothermia and dehydration. That both cases were not life threatening and correctly treated, would clear up in a matter of days and pave the way for the toddler going home in less than a week. There was more on the chart. Even as he sat reading by the moonlight to spare waking Carmen or Kieran up by flicking on the lights, Flack could see that there was more wrong with his son than just not being kept warm or being fed properly. But four in the morning was not the time to be delving deeper into things or calling the doctor on call for a chat. Everyone involved needed to rest. Any medical problems or conditions would still be there in the daylight.

And so would Kieran.

Satisfied that his son was in good hands and safe and warm and comfortable, Flack decided that his next stop would also be his last. He had no plans on going back to that lonely hospital room he'd been assigned to. His family was back together and he wasn't wasting any time being separated from them. The first thing that he was going to do when he reached Sam's room, was kiss her and tell her he loved her, that their son was safe, whether she was awake or not. And than he was going to climb into the bed right beside her, sore ribs and aching back and all, and wrap his arms around her and have the best sleep he'd had since the whole damn ordeal began.

"You must be Kieran's daddy," a nurse greeted in a gentle voice as Flack and Danny quietly left Kieran's room. She was young. She looked barely old enough to have graduated nursing school and was tall and willowy and clad in a pastel yellow scrub set with pictures of Care Bears on it. Her long strawberry blond hair was pulled into a tight bun and her green eyes sparkled as she smiled.

Danny pointed down at his best friend. "He's guilty as charged," he joked.

"I'm Zoe," she said and offered her hand to Flack. "I'm your son's nurse. I've been taking care of him since he was admitted."

"I'm Don Flack, this is Danny Messer," Flack said, shaking her hand.

"Pleasure," Danny said, shaking her hand as well. "So what can you tell his about baby K?"

"I can tell you that he's doing very well," she said. "He has a slight case of hypothermia that we're treating with a heated mattress padding and he was a little dehydrated. The IV and the three bottles of soya formula he swallowed down when he first got here will help him on his way to a full recovery. He's got a healthy appetite, so that's a good sign."

"Nice to see he's still got his father in him," Danny laughed.

"What about any other problems?" Flack asked. "Any injuries or anything like that?"

"Those are things you can discuss later with the pediatrician," Zoe told him.

Flack frowned. "In my line of work, saying something like that only means there's something terribly wrong you don't want to talk about yourself."

"I can assure you that Kieran was not physically abused," she said. "He wasn't beaten. But there are a couple of smaller issues the doctor will be able to discuss fully with you."

"What smaller issues?" Flack asked. "What's wrong with my son?"

"Like I said, the doctor..."

"Will discuss it fully with him," Danny finished. "We got it. Thank you. Just make sure my godson gets all the food his little heart desires. Alright?"

"Alright," Zoe agreed with a small laugh. "He's been an excellent patient. He's just an adorable little thing. Especially with those big blue eyes."

"Well he's even cuter when he's got his black hair and those blue eyes," Danny told her. "We're going to hit the road. I'm going to take gimpy here to see his wife."

"There's one more thing," the nurse flipped open the chart in her hands. "I am so glad I ran into the two of you before all of this happened. There's going to be a slight change. In hospital lodgings for you and your family, Mr Flack..."

"And what are those?" Flack asked.

"A call was put into our hospital CEO, requesting that you and your wife and your son be placed in a private room that is used as a care by parent room. Do you know what that is?"

Flack nodded. "We were in one for two days when K was ready to be released from the NICU. It's so we test our skills as first time parents so to speak before going home."

"We're going to be setting the three off you up in one early this afternoon," Zoe told him. "Nurses will come to check on your son and yourself and to keep an eye on your wife's moods. You'll get hospital meals delivered and access to the parents' lounge and kitchen if you want to make your own meals. The three of you will stay there until you're all released, together."

"That seems a little generous," Danny commented.

"It's unorthodox," Zoe told him. "But not completely unheard of. The hospital allows it when certain favors are called in."

"And who called this favor in?" Flack asked.

The young nurse referred to the chart. "An Inspector Stanton Gerrard," she said.

Both Flack's and Danny's eyes widened.

"Get outta here," Danny laughed.

"That's what it says," Zoe said. "He called a few hours ago when Mr Flack was first brought in."

"Wonders never cease to exist," Flack chuckled, the slight vibration of his chest making pain shoot through his entire body. He winced and laid a hand on his heavily taped ribs.

"You need some pain meds," Danny declared. "Let's get you to your wife and see if her nurse can hook you up with some drugs. Thanks, Zoe. For letting us know about baby K and giving us the heads up with the change in the rooms and what not."

"It was no problem," she smiled. "And I'll let the doctor know you'd like to talk to him, Mr Flack. He'll get in touch with you."

"Sooner than later would be nice," Flack said. "Like as soon as the sun comes up would be good."

"I'll let him know that you want to speak to him," the nurse assured him. "For now, try and get some pain relief, and some rest. I'm sure you and your wife have a lot to discuss and be thankful for."

The detective nodded. "Just take care of my boy, okay? He's my....he's my everything."

"He's in good hands," Zoe promised. "Try and get some rest."

"That's where he's off to," Danny vowed and once again, took the helm of the wheelchair. "I'll get him doped up, tuck him into bed, read him a story, kiss him goodnight..."

"I'd either laugh or smack the shit out of you if my ribs didn't feel like they were about to rip open my chest," Flack said through gritted, trying his best to breathe through the pain.

"You're such a sweet talker, Flack," Danny teased him. "I still love you, though. No matter how mean and abusive you are to me."

"Spare me your pillow talk, Mess. I am not in the mood."

"Not much for foreplay tonight, huh? You just want to skip to the main course?"

Flack snorted. "If I wasn't so messed up..."

"You'd beat the shit out of me. I know, I know," Danny concluded. "You know, you're awful sexy when you've had the stuffing knocked out of you. All those stitches and black eye and split lip. And that bullet wound in your arm. You've got his Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome vibe about you. Mel Gibson is just way better looking."

"Just shut up and push the fucking chair," Flack grumbled.

They rode in the elevator to the second floor in silence. The only sound was Flack's harsh breathing as he fought to ride out the wave of nausea and pain that had taken over his entire body. His days of 'sucking it up and being a man' were far behind him. The agony that he was experiencing was far more intense that anything he had ever experienced before. With the bombing, he had spend the majority of his time afterwards in a medically induced coma. And on heavy doses of meds when he was brought out of it. But the beating that Lessing had laid on him had not only caused new injuries, but aggravated old ones as well. And the man who once fought off urges for pain killers, was now so desperately craving some form of relief.

"You okay, Flack?" Danny asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Feels like my ribs are going to come right out of skin," he replied honestly. "And that my brain is going to explode. The pain in my head..."

"You've got a nasty concussion," Danny reminded him, as they stepped off the elevator and onto the second floor. "You should be in bed. Not taking trips around the hospital."

"Just get me to my wife, okay Messer? Get me to my wife and I'll lie down right beside her and everything will be okay. I just need to see her. I need to feel her against me and bury my face in her hair and breathe in her scent. I just need her. Alright?"

Danny simply nodded. "You feel better now? At least a bit?" he asked. "Seeing your boy fast asleep and doing well?"

"I guess," Flack sighed.

"You guess?" the CSI frowned.

"I know you know, Danny," he said.

"You know I know what?"

"What's wrong with Kieran. You didn't seem to surprised when the nurse said there was a couple of issues. You didn't even press her for answers. And that's not like you, Messer."

"I didn't press because it's late, Flack. It's late or early or whatever you want to call it and it wasn't the time to be getting into it. The nurse said the doctor..."

"Don't..." Flack snapped, than quickly lowered his voice. "Don't fuck me around, Danny. Don't treat me like little kid or an invalid, okay? I know that you know what happened to my son. Kieran is your godson and you owe it to him and me to tell me."

"Flack, I can't discuss any parts of the case with you..."

"What case? Lessing is dead. Plain and simple. And I am not asking you to discuss things with me as a cop. Okay? I am asking you what happened to my son. To talk to me about it like best friends would talk about it."

"Flack, I don't..."

Despite the pain shooting through him with each move, Flack twisted sideways in the wheelchair and grabbed Danny tightly by the forearm.

"Tell me what happened to my son," he demanded, his voice low and serious.

Danny sighed heavily and reluctantly. And instead of heading straight for Sam's room, took a detour to the quiet room at the end of the hall. Finding it empty and in darkness, he switched on the lights and pushed his friend into the room before setting a do not disturb sign on the handle and closing the door.

He sighed heavily and took a seat on the well worn tan fabric couch he'd parked his best friend beside. Taking a deep breath, Danny let it out slowly before leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. He looked his best friend square in the eye. So that Flack could see the compassion and understanding and sympathy Danny had for the situation.

"Jesus Christ, Mess," Flack said. "When you get that look..."

"You know that I love you like a brother, Flack. That as far as I'm concerned, K is my nephew. He's not just my godson. You know that I love him and you and Sammie like they're my own family. You know that right?"

Flack nodded.

"And it's killing me to have to tell you this, Don. But it's better you hear it from me, than a stranger. Okay?"

"Just fucking spit it out, Danny."

"When we went to Lessing's apartment and we processed it. We found used baby diapers. And one of this diapers had blood in it."

Flack's hand tightened on the arm rest of the wheelchair, his knuckles turning white. "Kieran's blood?" he asked, in a near whisper.

Danny nodded. "And that wasn't all we found in that diaper. We found trace. Biological. Belonging to Jack Doyle. We found..."

"Don't say it, Messer," Flack fought back tears of anger and sorrow. And immense disgust.

"Don, I am so sorry that I had to be the one to tell you that Doyle molested K," Danny struggled with his own emotion. "But you would tell me yourself if it was my kid and you knew. You wouldn't keep that from me."

"But it's not your kid," Flack argued, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "It's not your kid that was raped by some sick, twisted, fucking child molester. It was my son, Danny. It was Kieran. And he's all of thirteen months old."

"I'm sorry, Flack," the CSI said, shaking his head slowly. "I'm sorry you guys have to go through this.

But for what it's worth, because we were able to tie the DNA to Doyle and he's a repeat offender, he'll be going away for a long time. He won't be able to hurt any more little kids like K."

"And that's suppose to make make me feel better?" Flack asked, opening his eyes and clearing his throat noisily. "That's suppose to make what happened to my son seem better because the guy got caught? He still did it, Danny. He still did it to Kieran. Why did my son have to be the one to have to pay the price? Be the pawn in sending someone like that back to jail?"

"Why any little kid, Flack?" Danny asked gently.

"This isn't about any other kid!" Flack bellowed. "This is about my kid! This is about my son, Danny! Not yours, not anyone else's! Mine! So don't fucking sit there and tell me that it's okay because Kieran helped lock him up for longer! Don't you dare say that to me!"

Danny shook his head. "I would never, ever say such a thing and you know that. I love that little boy, you know that."

"What do I tell his mother? What do I tell Sam? How do I tell her something like that when him going missing drove her almost completely insane! What do I say to her, Danny?!"

"I don't know, Don," the CSI said quietly. "I wish I did. You tell her calmly and gently, I guess."

"Calmly and gently?" he snorted. "How do I do that when I'm about ready to fucking kill someone!"

"K is your son and Sam is your wife. You guys are family. And the only way any of you are going to come to terms with this and accept and deal with what's happened, is by doing that together."

Flack nodded and laid his hands over his eyes, preventing his best friend from seeing the tears that slipped down his face. They sat in silence for several minutes, Danny staring at his hands while his best friend had a semi-private breakdown. Eventually Flack cleared his throat and shifted in his wheelchair and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his t-shirt.

"He won't remember, will he?" Flack asked. "He won't remember will he, Danny?"

The CSI shook his head. "Only thing he's gonna remember is his daddy coming to save the day and bringing him back to his mommy."

"I need to..." Flack sniffled loudly. "I need to go and see my wife. I need to see her and hold her and just be with her."

"We can do that," Danny said, wiping his own misty eyes on the front of his shirt before standing up. He went to step around to the back of the wheelchair, only to be halted when his best friend once more grabbed a hold of his arm. He saw the anguish in Flack's eyes. The disgust and the horror of truth and the bitterness of acceptance. "It's okay, Don," he said. "K's safe now and it's going to be okay."

"No..." he said, shaking his head adamantly. "It's not going to be okay ever again."

And with that, Flack released his grip from Danny's wrist and wrapped his good arm around Danny's waist. And burying his face in his best friend's stomach, he sobbed. Openly and unabashedly. Bearing all his weaknesses and despair. Laying his heart and soul wide open.

The long and painful healing process had begun.

Lindsay glanced up from the tattered copy of the National Enquirer that she had been flipping through for what seemed like an eternity, as she heard the two familiar voices talking in the hall as they approached the room.

She had pulled the easy chair over by the bathroom door, flicked on the light inside the washroom, than left the door open slightly so she could read without having to use a big light that would disturb her peacefully sleeping patient. Flack's mom had left the hospital two hours ago. Upon receiving word, at a few minutes after midnight, that her grandson was alive and well, and that her own son was downstairs being treated in the emergency room, she'd gone running to check on the health of both of them and had spent an hour rocking and calming her grandson after he'd been checked out by a doctor and cleaned up. Once he had fallen asleep, Patricia had than sat at her oldest child's bedside and listened to his account of what had gone down while a physician put stitches in his head and froze his arm to remove a bullet from his bicep.

Once he'd been sent for x-rays on his ribs and a cat-scan to check on the degree of his concussion and he'd been sent upstairs and settled into his own room and she was sure both her grandson and daughter in law were safe and sound, Patricia had finally headed back to the apartment. To have a good old fashioned bawl-fest and about a bottle of wine. Her exact words.

Lindsay had been more than willing to sit at her friend's bedside. She couldn't sleep herself, and had spent the majority of the time staring at Sam and taking in every inch of the sleeping woman's appearance. Things that Lindsay had never noticed about the pretty little brunette before. The three piercings in each ear lobe and the two hoops through the cartilage at the top of the right ear. The faint scar that ran across Sam's chin. The small, red birthmark that graced the hallow her throat.

Little things that friends would notice. Lindsay kicked herself for not putting the pettiness and immaturity aside and being the bigger person and attempting to make amends with Sam. Had they both been more willing to give it a try, to forgive rather than fight, a fabulous friendship could have been born nearly two years ago. Instead of having to come together over the telephone and emails, and through such a trying, horrific event.

For hours she'd looked at the thick, secure bandage covering Sam's left wrist and wondered just what in the hell had gone down that had prompted Flack to have his wife committed. Sam was unable to answer any questions. According to her chart, her last and final dose of sedatives had been administered shortly before eleven. She was now in the process of sleeping the powerful medication off.

"Worried that you won't make it, Montana?" Danny teased. "Thinking you might pee your pants on the way there if you sit too far away?"

"Very funny," Lindsay whispered back. "Did you guys check on Kieran?"

"Fast asleep," Danny said, as he parked the wheelchair next to the bed. "Flack's got me playing chauffeur."

"I'll remember to give you a huge tip once I get the hell out of here," the detective said, than placing a hand on the bed railing, slowly and carefully rose to his feet. The simple action nearly taking his breath away and sending tears springing to his eyes at the agony spreading throughout his entire body.

"I'm going to go and see if a nurse can't get you some meds," Danny said, and left the room.

"How are you feeling?" Lindsay asked, as Flack gingerly extended his right arm and laid his hand on the top of his wife's head to stroke her hair and rub her forehead with his thumb.

"Like death," Flack admitted. Knowing it would kill him to attempt to place a kiss to his wife's lips, he instead took his hand away from her forehead momentarily, laid his fingertips over his lips, than softly placed them on Sam's. "How's she been?" he asked.

"Sleeping," Lindsay said, closing her magazine and standing up. "Those are some powerful drugs they've been giving her. Safe for the babies, I hope."

Flack nodded. "I wouldn't let them give her anything that wasn't."

Lindsay nodded and stood at the end of the bed, her hands over her sleeping friend's feet. "Flack...I know this isn't really of my business and you can just say that if you find the question too personal."

"You saved my life, Monroe. And my son's. Trust me, nothing is too personal."

"The reason that you brought Sam in and had her admitted and the reason she has that bandage on her wrist...it's all connected isn't it." It was more a statement than a question.

Flack sighed and nodded.

"You don't have to tell me. I was just..."

"When you left to go and meet up with Angell this afternoon, Sam went into hysterics when she heard what some of the reporters were saying. About her being a bad mother because she left Kieran alone and how she was unfit and a possible suspect because of her known mental issues," he made air quotes around the last three words.

Lindsay listened quietly and intently.

"She and I got into another fight over her telling me K going missing was all my fault and that I don't do enough to protect him and her. When I tried to grab her to calm her down, shake some sense into her, she slapped me and took off and locked herself in the bathroom. By the time I broke the door down after arguing with her for ten minutes to open the damn thing, I found her sitting in the middle of all this blood on the bathroom floor, using a pair of cuticle scissors to slice up her wrist. I don't think she was trying to kill herself. I just think cutting herself was a way to make some of her other pain go away, but I wasn't taking that chance. I couldn't take the risk of losing her and the triplets. So my dad and I brought her here kicking and screaming and putting up one hell of a fight. She's little, but she's damn tough."

Lindsay offered a small, sympathetic smile. "You know that she didn't mean a thing she said, Don. You know that, right?"

He nodded. "Still hurts like hell to hear it though."

"It's going to take a while," Lindsay told him. "To get over this. You will probably never get over it completely, but you guys need some time to at least let the healing begin. You guys going away, that will probably do wonders for your marriage and for all three of you as a family."

"I hope so," he said quietly, glancing over his shoulder as Danny, accompanied by a nurse, wandered into the room.

"She's gonna hook you up," Danny told his best friend. "Little Tylenol three to take the edge off."

"I can put in a request to the physician overseeing your case and ask for something stronger," the nurse said to Flack, as she held out a small paper cup and a plastic glass of water. "Maybe some Demerol or morphine in a drip if if these don't do the trick."

"Nothing stronger," Flack protested, as he took the pills and popped them into his mouth and swallowed them with the entire serving of water. "Thanks, though."

"I'll be around with them every four hours," she said. "In the meantime, our patient," she nodded at Samantha. "Needs to sleep."

"We should go," Danny told Lindsay, reaching out to rub the back of her neck softly. "Let Flack get some rest."

"I don't want to leave the hospital in case they need me," Lindsay said.

"If the two of you would like, you can sleep in the quiet room," the nurse offered. "I can bring some blankets and pillows down for you."

"You up to that?" Danny asked Lindsay.

She nodded. "I just want to be close," she said.

"You're okay with us down the hall?" Danny asked Flack. "You need anything you have someone come get one of us okay?"

The detective nodded.

"Get some rest," Danny ordered him, than clapped him on the back before escorting Lindsay from the room. The nurse following close behind, shutting the door behind her.

Flack sighed heavily and looked down at the sleeping figure before him. Wondering how long it would be before she'd be the peaceful and at ease on her own again.

If they would ever again be fully whole.

"I've got to admit," Lindsay said, as she stretched out on the couch in the quiet room, two pillows placed between her back and the arm of the couch. "This isn't my idea of a Saturday night sleepover."

"Well maybe I should run out and grab us a couple of pizzas and some pop and ice cream," Danny teased, as he stretched his legs out alongside of her body and leaned back against the other arm of the couch. "We can do each others hair, give each pedicures, indulge in some makeovers."

"I'm just dying to see you in some hot rollers," she chided, winking at him playfully, tickling his side with her toes.

"How in the hell are we ever suppose to sleep like this?" he asked, spreading a blanket out over top of their bodies.

"I don't think we're expected to sleep," Lindsay yawned. "Just get some rest, shut our brains off for a while. Just don't be kicking me in the face in the middle of the night, or morning, or whatever the hell is it."

"Don't you be hauling off kicking me somewhere else more sensitive and more important," Danny told her, reaching behind him to switch off the table lamp.

"I have to say, Danny," she sighed. "If anyone had have told me a couple of months ago that you and I would be getting cozy like this, I would have told them they were nuts."

"That makes two of us," he said, removing his glasses and leaned sideways to place them on the coffee table. "But I have to say, if I'm going to be sharing an uncomfortable couch with anyone, I am glad that that anyone is you."

She smiled. "I think that's one of the best compliments you've ever given me."

"I am full of surprises tonight," Danny told her. "Just not all of them are good."

"You want to talk about it?" she asked, stroking his side softly with her toes. For her that was a bold move, and she saw the surprised look that crossed his face at her action, and she was tempted to pull her foot away until he caught it and placed it in his lap and gently rubbed the top her foot with his fingertips.

"I had to give Flack some really bad news tonight," Danny responded. "And it killed me to do it."

"You had to do it as a friend?"

Danny nodded. "We found evidence that the guy who scooped K, Jack Doyle..."

"The next door neighbour?"

He nodded again. "He was a registered sex offender. And we found evidence, in Lessing's apartment, that this Doyle character, molested Kieran before leaving him in that car."

Lindsay's eyes widened at the revelation. She felt nauseous, tears welled in her eyes. "How did he...."

"He must have put the same diaper back on him after he did what he did," Danny said, struggling with his emotions. "Because we found blood belonging to Kieran, and Doyle's DNA inside of it."

Lindsay shook her head and put her hand to her mouth. "That poor baby...what he must have been going through..."

"All I can think about is how much pain he was experiencing," Danny's voice was a choked whisper. "I keep thinking about how he was probably screaming and crying for his mommy and daddy and that bastard still get doing it to him. And that's was gets me, Montana. The thought of him crying for his mommy and daddy to come and save him."

"Danny..."

"I love that kid like he's my own," he continued. "He's my godson and when I think about what that bastard did to him..."

In the moonlight, Lindsay saw the tears that trickled down Danny's pained, tortured face. She pushed the blankets off of them and got up onto her knees and proceeded to lie down on top his stomach. She curled her arms around his torso and rested her head on his chest as he wrapped both arms around her tiny body, one hand coming up to stroke her hair.

"No parent deserves that," Danny said. "Sam and Flack...they don't deserve what happened."

"Is Kieran okay? Has anyone examined him?"

"Last I heard, Stella was going to come over and do it. I don't know if she's been around yet. I guess there was a lot of damage done and what not. And he needs to be processed just like any victim. But thinking of him like that. As a victim. I just can't take the Lindsay."

"How was Flack?" she asked. "When you told him?"

"Distraught. Pissed off. Disgusted. He's worried about having to tell Sam when she's in the right mind to hear something like that. They're going to need counselling. Tons of it. That's a hard thing to deal with."

Lindsay raised her head, her chin resting on his chest as she looked at him. "And how are you?" she asked.

"Doesn't matter how I am."

"It matters to me, Danny. I know how much you love Sam and Flack. They're your family. And I know how much you adore Kieran. That's hard for you to hear too."

He nodded. "I'm angry," he admitted. "I wish I could go to that jail right now and beat the man to death with my bare hands. I feel sick to my stomach when I think of what he did to that little boy. And it kills me inside when I think about what Sam and flack are going to go through just trying to cope with all of this. That's their boy, Linds. Their heart. Thank God they have each other and he's home safe and they can deal with it all as family."

"And what about you Danny?" she asked, clearing tears off of his face with her fingertips. "Who do you have?"

He shrugged.

"Where is Erica in all of this?"

"You know my issues, Montana. We've talked about all of this."

"She should have been here. If not for you, than for Sam and Flack. Kieran is her cousin for crying out loud. And where is she? At home? At work? Do you even know?"

"I don't," he admitted. "I don't have anyone, Linds. I got Sam and Flack but they can't be supporting me when they have to take care of each other. I have no one."

"You have me, Danny," Lindsay said. "I'm here now. And I'll be here as long as you need me."

"Yeah?" he asked, sniffling. He pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "And what if I said I never want you to leave?"

She smiled. "I'd ask you if you were sure about that."

He returned the smile and covered her lips in a long, delicate kiss that promised so much more to come.

"Does that tell me how sure I am?" he asked, as the kiss ended yet their lips remained just mere inches apart.

"Why don't you do that one more time?" she responded. "One more time might just do that trick."

He kissed her once more. Longer, deeper. More passionate.

"How about that?" he asked after it ended. "What do you think about that?"

"I'm thinking I'm glad I only bought a one way ticket," she said.

Well, there you have it. The muse is demanding Lindsay stay. I am going to bow to the muse and let her have her way. When this story is over, than and only than am I going to go back and change previous chaps that mention Lindsay coming back later on. Chloe will be her and Danny's daughter and they will still have Danny Jr. Sorry for the confusion, folks. Although me thinks this decision will make some of you very, very happy. Are you reading this laurzz? *wink wink*

Thanks to everyone that is reading and reviewing! I appreciate each and every one of you and all of the support you've given me through both stories. Although MOB is on hiatus, I will be returning to it. That's a promise! I just needed to concentrate on other things at the moment. So thanks for everything guys! I love you all!

Special thanks to:

laurzz

muchmadness

brttmclv

hope4sall

ImaSupernaturalCSI

TruLuv

laplandgurl

Forest Angel

Soccer-bitch

bluehaven4220

hardylover7477

PadfootCc

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