AN: Here you go 22. chapter the one you all have been waiting for. I finnaly finished it. Sorry it took so much time, but as I have said before Universety is a bitch. But it has ended for this summer so I can write again as much as I like. I hope to write 23. chapter and the last much faster and when this story ends, I will write the one-shot the price for the game, so mjels send me your idea soon. But for now read and enjoy


Flack stepped out on the porch. The air was crisp and the sun was shining. It was December but there was no snow. He missed snow: it would have been perfect for his mood. Snow had two effects on him. First was depressing: when the white carpet covered the ground, he knew that everything under it was dead and he couldn't do anything about it. Secondly, snow gave him hope, because he knew that when Spring comes, snow melts and everything that had been sheltered by snow will reborn.

Don lit the cigarette and took the first drag, when the back-door opened, "Could you give your old man one of those?"

"Dad, you know what will happen when mom finds out about this…" Don took a cigarette and gave it to his father.

"Who said she has to find out," Flack Sr raised his eyebrow.

"What were we talking about?" Don grinned, his father smiled back.

"But there is something I still can't understand: back when I started smoking as a teenager, you didn't stop me," Flack broke the silence.

"Because it was your life what you were ruining. But if you had let Camille smoke, you would have been in so much trouble."

"Let me guess, you would have ordered me to smoke all the cigarettes I had in my pack, in front of you?" when he had said it, he grimaced, that was a very disturbing idea, but he decided to remember that, when he wanted his child quitting smoking.

"No, I would have bought you a new pack and let you smoke all of that in front of me."

Before Don could answer anything they heard Mac's and Ralf's voices.

"By the way, how did mom get uncle Ralf here today?"

"Well, Delanna called him and said, she will use her younger sisters rights and take over "Lachesis" and turn it into an Italian restaurant if he didn't come today to play with his grandniece and -nephew. Your uncle was here in an hour and tried to claim that he had taken a day off before your mother called him."

"Did he really think you bought it? Even when he is dead he will go and hunt that place and drive his every employee crazy." Flacks cracked up, Don held his stomach; it hurt, he discovered few more muscles he didn't have any idea he had.

"I knew that you were talking about me," and Ralf stepped out to the porch, Mac followed him.

"To you really think we don't have anything else talk about than your Highness Raffaele Gallucci."

"You smart-ass, give your uncle a smoke."

Flack took another one from the pack, "Now I know why I smoke, my every single one of the goddamn male relatives smokes."

"Your Uncle Seamus didn't."

"And that's what killed him." Ralf took long drag.

"Uncle Ralf, he died in the Gulf War."

"If he had smoked, he wouldn't have gone to Kuwait."

"Again your strange logic, I don't know why you didn't like him."

"Because I liked your father better," Don had do chuckle at that, his uncle and his father had both courted his mother, but she had chosen his father. And that brought him back to why he and the team were at his parents. His company saw the change, they had tried to raise his spirit and for a while it had worked.

"Donny, you'll find her, you'll figure out the clue," Don Sr put his hand on his son shoulder.

"I don't understand why he's using Lauren in the revenge against you. She was such a sweet girl; she worked for me for a while. We talked a lot; she wanted to go study business and after that turn the house she had inherited from her great-aunt into a hotel."

And then it happened. Ralf's last sentence moved everything into a right place for Flack and Mac. They exchanged looks and Mac grabbed his phone, "What was Lauren's last name?"

"Masella."

"Adam search Lauren Masella, she inherit…" He looked at Ralf, who understood and mouthed 12 years to him, "…12 years ago a house, find where it is and who owns it now." He closed the phone shut and went inside to tell Danny and Sheldon the news.

"Uncle Ralf, you're a genius." Don hugged him.

"I know, it good to hear that someone else has figured that out as well."

"Flub your ego, Raffaele, and let's have a drink." Donald dragged his brother-in-law with him, leaving Don alone.

Flack took one last drag and smiled, the hope was back.


It had to be a bad dream. Lindsay was convinced. It had to be a dream. It really wasn't happening, she was sleeping in Don's bed, his hand was around her waste and all this was a bad dream. One of Flack's best friends hadn't kidnapped her, he hadn't killed Flack's former lovers and he didn't want to kill Don.

Opening door above her head told her that it wasn't a dream, Don wasn't there and Patrick really had done all those things.

"Are you sleeping?" Patrick stepped in front of her.

"No, thinking."

"About what?"

"Why would I want to tell you?"

"That would amuse us both."

"I have only one thing to tell you, Patrick, Go .To. Hell."

"You never surprise me anymore...you sound like a broken record"

"And so do you; this here is starting to get old as well."

"Which is why you should be excited that Flack will be here soon… and everything will be over..."

That was exactly what Lindsay was afraid of. She knew that they were entering to the last act of the play that was bound to be a tragedy and end with a death. The word from Princess Bride came to her mind, "Life isn't fair, but it's fairer than death." She hoped that tonight wasn't the night when she and Flack will know how fair death could be.


Flack stepped in the living room, when Mac closed his phone, "So?" Mac told him the address what Adam had found.

"It's in Greenpoint."

"I have better news; guess who owns that place right now."

"I have my suspects but enlighten me." Flack crossed his arms, as if trying to protect himself from the harm that the truth could bring.

"Patrick's law firm: McLeod, Saunders and Douglas."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go."

When guys ran out, Ralf drowned the glass of whiskey, "I hope they find her. She is good for Donny."

"Yes she is, from all of serious relationships he has had, she is one of the best, if not the best of them. Melody was too young do understand what a puzzle Donny actually is. Olivia, well…Neither me nor Delanna liked her… And Samantha, she was too ambitious. But Lindsay, she is gentle, smart and strong, just the girl Donny needs by his side." Donald refilled the whiskey classes. They just had finished those classes, when Delanna stepped in with Sean and April, she raised an eyebrow, "So tell me, what should I do with you two, I go for an hour to Sophia's and when I come back, I find my husband and brother drinking?"

"This is the time when Napoleon would have ran…." Ralf muttered to Donald.

"No, this is the time when Napoleon would have gone and begged to be sent to exile to St Helena." Both men swallowed hard when Mrs. Flack stepped closer.


"Back-up and extra forces are on their way," Mac put his phone away.

"So what will we do, when we get there?" Sheldon looked at Flack.

"I'll go in, alone." Don said casually, his eyes focused on the traffic.

"No way, Flack, you're not going in there alone." Danny frowned.

"If I don't go in there alone, he will kill Lindsay, you know that."

"Don, no!" Danny said angrily from the backseat.

"Danny, it's Lindsay we are talking about, remember that! It is not just any other operation. I will go in alone, and if we aren't out in twenty-five minutes you guys come in with the back-up. And make sure that they have ambulance with them."

There was silence; everyone tried to shut out their thoughts about how all this could end. Don was right: it was not just any other rescuing operation. Everyone felt as they had on their first mission; eager to do good, yet almost paralyzed by the fear of failure.

Flack had not noticed that Dar Williams' song Blue Light of the Flame was playing on the radio, but the words "Everything burns in our path" brought him around and pierced to his heart. He didn't need that song right now. He knew that it was almost certain that he will die today: he would die for Lindsay and Patrick knew that. So this is how it feels… or do miracles exist? Why is that only in situations like that we start to value things that stay on the background otherwise.

They parked the car across the street of the house. "Flack, are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be, Mac. I understand how you feel, but try to understand me as well. Lindsay is in this mess because of me and I'm going to get her out of it." Don saw that the three men didn't want to let it happen but they didn't have any better ideas.

"So, no more protests?" He looked them; he saw worry and fear in their eyes but also respect and admiration, "Good. Now, I have four Kevlar vests in the trunk."

"When did you get them?" Danny asked when he was putting the vest on.

"When you went and grabbed your kits," Flack strapped his vest and took his gun, "25 minutes starts when I step into the house." CSI's nodded and Flack took off.

When Don got closer to the house, he had a feeling, that he knew that place; he had been there before. He sneaked quietly to the backdoor and opened it. Flack stepped into the kitchen and he remembered. He had been in that house when he was six; here was where it all had begun. Behind the same kitchen table friendship had born. A friendship that was supposed to last through everything, it was not supposed to end like that. It had been a full circle – it ends where it began.

Flack sighed deeply; memories had distracted him, but there was no time to lose. As he remembered the house was huge and he could not possibly search it entirely as he had only left 22 minutes. He felt the fear again.

But then something caught his eyes, basement door, it wasn't covered with dust like everything else in the kitchen. Of course, he should have known, it would be very Patrick to go for something sinister yet cliché like that.

Don stepped closer to the door, it was completely quiet, but he knew Lindsay was there – he could feel it. He opened the door slowly and saw it. There was one lamp, which was situated at the centre sending shadows over the entire room. And then he saw her. Lindsay was bound to the chair and duct tape covered her mouth. Flack did not move it wasn't Lindsay he had hoped to see; he didn't see, hear or feel Patrick, which was strange and made him very cautious. He would not have left his hostage unguarded.

He could not stay there, he had to take the leap; Flack crept down from the stairs, he looked around but still didn't sense Patrick anywhere. He stepped closer to Lindsay and started to take the duct tape off, but saw a quick movement reflecting from the eyes of Lindsay and at the same moment he felt a gun against back of his head.

"You didn't heed my warning Flack, I told you to look behind you." Even when he didn't see his face, he could feel him grinning and see the savage satisfaction reflected from his eyes. At that Don growled.

"You're not a dog, Donny, my boy. Now throw your gun in the other end of the room and take off the vest."

He did not even think, it just felt so surreal, and just followed the orders. The gun flew to the other end of the room, Lindsay's eyes pierced at him, when he strapped open the vest, and throwing it on the floor next to her.

"Good boy, Donny. Now turn, so that your right said is towards Lindsay."

Flack did like he was said, "What to you want Douglas?"

"What do I want? I think I made myself clear, I want revenge, Flack, revenge."

"For what? What the fuck have I done to you so bad that you had to kill three women and kidnap another one?"

The laughter that came out from Patrick was cruel and maniacal. It froze blood in Flack's veins; what had happened to his best friend, he felt so confused. Patrick Douglas, a guy they all had known was lost. It could not have been him. What had happened…When he stepped in the basement he had thought that there was something to save, but now everything was gone.

"Tell me Patrick!"

"You ruined my life; everything I'm right now, is because of you."

"What are you talking about? I have always been your friend."

"Friend, friend…. friend my ass!" Patrick was piercing to Flack's eyes, "Everything you ever did was for your own good. Because of you I lost the love of my life."

"Patrick, the love of your life is Camille."

"Oh, you really think I love Camille?"

"Yes, you dated her and then married her."

"It was because you forced me."

"I did not force you to date my sister, you that know very well, if you hadn't been my friend I would have killed you."

"You should have, because you forced me into marrying her!" Patrick shouted and his grip on the gun got stronger.

"What are you talking about? You have gone mad, I didn't force you."

"You didn't really? Let me think what words you used: "You have a heart of stone, Patrick, if you won't marry my sister after you knocked her up. And if you don't I'll come and find you and beat you up so that your mother even won't recognize you." If that's not forcing, I don't know what it is. And because of that I lost Lauren."

Don felt Lindsay's eyes on himself, he couldn't look at her, he had done the right thing, but maybe not the right way. Then Patrick's last words hit him, "Lauren?"

"Yes we loved each other."

"She didn't love you, she loved Colin."

"She loved me, every word she said to me, every move she made, showed the love she felt for me."

"She loved you like a brother nothing more nothing else. She was engaged to Colin."

"Colin, the man, who didn't care for her. I was always there, beside and behind her, I looked after her."

"She was right." Flack was so shocked that he took a step back, "Lauren told me and Colin that you were stalking her, but we didn't believe her, we thought that she had become delusional in the final stage of cancer. But, goddammit, she was right."

"I didn't stalk her, I looked after her; I cared for her like nobody else."

"You're crazy!"

"I'm crazy, maybe. But you're a murderer."

"What!"

"Using your uncle's strange logic, you killed them when you started dating them. Do you know how easy it was to convince Melody that you wanted to get back together with her? She told me the time when she would get home from work – how easy it was to seduce Terry Swan and get copy of the key to that apartment and then follow Olivia and drag her here. Or make a fake e-mail account and coax Samantha to NY and making her to believe that you wanted to continue the relationship; I had so much fun cutting the words on her stomach. See, they all died because of you. And now the only woman out of them I respect will die and it's your fault." Patrick turned the gun at Lindsay, "Say goodbye, to the love of your life, Donny-boy." Before he could shoot Flack grabbed a gun under his shirt and shot, Patrick's gun went off, "Shit!" he dropped it. Lindsay's chair fell on its back

"Lindsay!" Flack ran to her.

"I'm okay, cuff Patrick," he could hear her mumbling through some bits of duct tape he had not been able to remove before. Lindsay grimaced from the pain.

Don took his handcuffs and locked Patrick to the bed he found in the corner. "If you knew me, Douglas, you should have known that I carry an extra gun."

"You shot me in the arm, Flack!"

"It was my pleasure."

Don went back to Lindsay. He opened the ropes and looked at her wound, "It's your shoulder; you can't use it for a time. How to you feel?"

Lindsay tried to laugh, but it hurt so much, "How do I feel, I just got shot. But to say it simple it is somewhere between ouch and slit my throat, if you please."

Don chuckled, "You are going to be alright."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're making jokes." Flack kissed Lindsay's forehead.

"You smoked?"

"Yes, I didn't have a lawnmower or a bottle with me."

"Smoky, I'm tired."

"Lindsay, no don't fall a sleep. And what the hell did you call me."

"Smoky, you call me Angel and I call you Smoky, the balance is created." With that she closed her eyes.

First thing what the team and the paramedic heard when they came to the basement was Flack crying, "Lindsay!"


AN: Here you go, wait with patience the last one will be up soon