A/N - I promised I would be quicker, so here be another chapter! Let me know what you think.

Chapter Eight

Flack and Danny slowly plodded their way through the lab in search of Hawkes who they found working alone in one of the trace labs. He looked up as they entered; an expression of shock on his face as he surveyed Danny's swollen nose and Flack's black eye and swollen lips.

"Flack, Danny, what happened to you two?" he asked as he stood up and hurried over to them throwing his gloves in a bin as he passed.

"Got into a spot of bother," Danny muttered while Flack glanced around the lab looking entirely disinterested by the whole proceedings.

"Let me just put this away and I'll be with you shortly," Hawkes said as he gestured to his equipment and the plant trace.

"Sure," Danny nodded. "We'll be in the breakroom. Come on, Flack."

The two men disappeared from the lab and entered the empty breakroom. "I should find Linds if she's still here," Danny murmured.

"Yeah," Flack nodded, walking around rather impatiently.

Danny frowned as he watched the tall detective. He was acting most out of character. Flack never paced around, he was usually much more lethargic. It was Danny himself who always had all the pent up energy and was bouncing around.

"Hey guys, so who's first?" Hawkes asked as he entered the room with a small medical kit.

"Danny," Flack said gruffly, waving a hand casually at the CSI.

Hawkes eyed Flack cautiously but came forward and examined Danny's nose anyway. "It's broken," he stated. "How on Earth did you manage this?"

Flack looked up and stared at Danny as Hawkes spoke. Danny could see a look of guilt in his eyes.

"Oh, spot of bother," Danny repeated again, knowing full well Hawkes was far too intelligent to buy his lame excuse.

Hawkes' eyes narrowed in suspicion and then he turned towards Flack and eyed him cautiously.

"And what about you?" he asked walking over to pacing detective.

"I'm fine," Flack tried to say as Hawkes steered him into a seat.

"No, you're not," Hawkes stated. "You're missing a tooth. And this eye needs something cool on it or it will close up completely with the swelling."

Flack groaned and ignored the advice, pushing Hawkes away. "I said I'm fine."

Hawkes tutted and then went to the freezer and took out two small ice packs. "Here," he said, handing one to each of the men. "Now, will you tell me what exactly happened?" he asked staring between them.

Flack once again chose to ignore the question and Danny sighed and looked at the table in front of him.

"Like I said, we ran into a spot of bother," Danny mumbled.

"And you both have bloody knuckles because..." Hawkes said knowingly.

"Wall," Flack coughed from across the room.

"Right," Hawkes nodded. "A wall."

Flack's phone ringing fortunately saved both men from the interrogation the doctor was putting them under and they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Flack," Flack answered.

"Detective Don Flack? You know Mac Taylor?"

Flack was suddenly attentive as the soft, female voice spoke to him. He signalled to the others that the call might be important and Hawkes disappeared from the room to get Adam to trace it.

"Yeah, that's me. What do you know about Mac?" Flack asked.

"I know where he is. They have him now. He's not safe."

"Where is he? I need you to tell me," Flack replied.

"They have spies everywhere. They listen, they know. It's not safe."

"Is this Sue?" Flack asked. "Do you need me to meet you?"

"He was taken. I saw it. They know who I am."

"Just tell me where and I'll be there," Flack said as Hawkes returned to the room with Jo.

"Not over the phone. It's not safe. I'll text you details of where to meet me."

"But wait..."

The phone cut dead and Flack pulled it from his ear, staring at it. A moment later it vibrated and an address appeared on the screen.

"It was Sue," Flack said as he looked up at them. "I need to get going; she wants to meet within the hour."

"Don't be an idiot, Flack," Danny said loudly. "This is probably a trap. Last time one of us followed her lead they disappeared."

"But Mac didn't know that when he met her, I do..."

"Flack, you're not going anywhere alone in your condition," Hawkes interrupted. "You can barely see out of left eye and how long have you been working now? Twenty hours straight?"

Flack stared daggers at both Danny and Hawkes and then turned to Jo. "I'm going, you can't stop me," he stated severely.

"I wouldn't dare try," Jo replied, feeling guilty from her earlier words to Flack. "But you and I both know we need a better plan than this and we have time to make one. I don't want this girl disappearing on us again or anybody else for that matter."

At that moment Adam sidled into the breakroom followed shortly by Lindsay who went straight over to Danny.

"Danny, what happened?" she exclaimed.

"Oh, just a spot of bother," Danny muttered while at the same time Flack mumbled, "a wall."

Everyone else in the room stared suspiciously between the two friends.

"Ahem," Adam coughed, breaking the silence. "I...errr...couldn't get a trace on the call or message I'm afraid."

"No matter, we're going to get this girl once and for all," Flack stated as he started pacing again.

"It looks sore," Lindsay murmured quietly to her husband as she stroked his arm.

"It is. But I'll live," Danny grinned. "Who's looking after Luce?"

"Your Ma took her for the night," Lindsay replied.

"So about this plan then," Flack muttered as he paused and stared round at everyone.

"Right," Jo nodded as she stared at the address on Flack's phone. "Adam, can you get up this location?"

Adam nodded and quickly got up a map of the immediate area on his pad.

"Sue is the only lead we've got right now and I don't want her to escape into the wind again," Jo stated as she looked at it. "Danny, you and I will meet her this time together. Flack, you will be waiting in the car over here as back up. Lindsay, I'll have you in the opposite direction as another back-up."

"What?" Flack growled. "It was me she called; it's me she wants to speak to! No way am I waiting as back-up!"

"Flack, you can't see out of one of your eyes. I can't take that risk. You should be grateful I'm even letting you come at all," Jo stated.

Flack stared grimly at her before sitting down and looking away. He was still very much annoyed by what she had said to him last time he'd seen her. Jo blamed him and was now making him take the back seat in the investigation.

"Adam, I want you in a van close by monitoring any CCTV and mics," Jo added. "Hawkes, stay here and carry on with the plant trace. Grace can look into Kyle Black and Sid is working on the tranquiliser."

"How long have we got?" Danny asked as he stood up.

"Twenty minutes until we leave," Jo said. "So we better get a move on."

The team nodded and then slowly disappeared from the room, slight apprehension gnawing at all of them.

"Flack?" Jo called as she hurried after him as he stormed away to the elevators.

"What?" he asked gruffly as he turned sharply and Jo took a step back in surprise.

"I just..." she sighed and then walked closer, attempting a smile. "I wanted to apologise for what I said to you before. Of course this isn't your fault."

Flack stared coldly at Jo and then looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

"It's not anyone else's now, is it?" he finally sighed.

"It's the fault of whoever took Mac. Please don't blame yourself because of what I said," Jo said sorrowfully.

"I don't," Flack nodded. "I was already blaming myself before you even said anything."

He turned and stalked into the elevator before Jo could say another word. Jo frowned in concern as she stared at the blank doors of the elevator that blurrily showed her reflection. She hoped to God that this plan would work; they needed Sue to give them the lead they so desperately needed to bring Mac safely home.

Flack sat impatiently in his car in the dark side street, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and listening out for any sign of movement, for any sign that a figure might be approaching. He was annoyed that he'd been forced to take a secondary role in this plan. The girl, Sue, had rung him so surely he should be the one to be there. She might not even show herself if she saw it wasn't him who had come. He glanced up into the rear-view mirror and noted his reflection. His eye was almost swollen closed and his lips were red and scabby. He sighed and looked into both side mirrors before glancing out of the front. It was his own fault really, Danny had been right. He shouldn't have gone off gallivanting by himself and wasting precious time that Mac simply did not have.

Across the way Lindsay sat in another car, waiting patiently for Sue to appear. She knew they desperately needed to get Mac back. The team was falling apart without him there to lead them. Jo was cracking under the pressure, that much was obvious. Hawkes and Sid were working themselves silly; obsessed with discovering what sort of man could break the Hippocratic Oath so badly. Adam was running himself ragged attempting to please everyone, being asked to do everything and so quickly that he barely had time to breathe. Flack had gone completely off the rails. Danny had told her what had really happened; about their trip to the institution, the fight and argument. Danny himself was not only worrying himself sick about Mac but about Flack too. Everyone was feeling the pressure and Lindsay felt scared. She was scared for all of them.

Adam sat tensely in the small van watching the screens in front of him and listening to Danny and Jo murmuring quietly between themselves. The mics were working perfectly. He was scared about what was about to happen. If Jo and Danny disappeared as well then that would just be it. It would be completely his fault, he was the one watching them, listening to them, he was their look out and he couldn't let them down. Adam knew the longer the time went on the less chance they had of finding Mac alive and that petrified him. As much as Mac scared him, he couldn't think of anything worse than not finding him in time.

Danny bounced nervously on the balls of his feet as he waited in the abandoned yard for the girl to show herself. He was concerned about Lindsay being in on this, alone in her vehicle where he couldn't protect her. He was concerned about Flack who wasn't a hundred percent thanks to him and seriously needed to go home and sleep. They all did. And he was also concerned about Jo. He looked up and caught her eye for a moment. She looked worried, scared and strained. No longer her usual carefree and relaxed self. Everyone was acting out of character and it worried him. They needed to get Mac back.

Jo stared worriedly around her. Watching and waiting. Anxiety gnawing at her. This felt almost like a last chance at getting Mac back. She should have told him she loved him. She'd thought it was too soon, that he'd close himself off against her if she revealed her feelings so quickly after getting together. Now she may very well not get a chance to ever tell him. She caught Danny's eye for a moment and then looked away again. Danny looked concerned. He and Flack had obviously fought and they never fought, they were best friends and were rarely seen without each other when not at work. Like salt and pepper, gin and tonic, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, tea and cake. Jo frowned as she thought she heard something. Everyone was acting crazy. Sid had shut himself away in his lab to work on the tranquiliser, Hawkes was going nuts trying to find the plant species and Adam seemed even more scared of everything and everyone than usual. A shape suddenly moved from out of the shadows and Jo felt her chest clench tightly. This was it.

A figure in a dark baggy hoodie moved forward, looking around and Jo could barely see her face, just long brown hair that draped down over the front of her clothes. She heard Danny murmur into his microphone that Sue had appeared and they heard confirmation from Adam, Flack and Lindsay. Danny looked up and nodded at her and then they both walked forward, approaching the figure cautiously.

"Sue?" Jo called. "Are you Sue?"

The figure halted suddenly and both detectives could see the hesitation, as if she wanted to run.

"Please don't run, we're here to help you," Jo said calmly.

"You can't help me, no-one can," the girl replied. Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

"We can protect you," Danny said as he came forward. He could just make out the left side of Sue's face. It was deathly pale and haggard. So thin the shape of her bones carved her face into sharp angles.

"No-one can protect me now, it's too late," Sue murmured and then came closer, looking around the whole time. "Where is Detective Flack? I thought he was coming?" she whispered.

"He couldn't make it. But I'm Detective Jo Danville and this is Detective Danny Messer, we're friends of his and he sent us to speak with you instead."

Once again the girl looked like she wanted to run but something was telling her not to.

"They have Mac Taylor. I saw them take him. He's lost in the shadows now," she muttered, eyes darting about all over the place.

"Who took him?" Danny asked. "Where did they take him?"

"To the asylum, to hell..."

"The Thorn Everidge Institution?" Jo asked.

Sue laughed hysterically and wildly. The hood of her jumper fell down and Danny and Jo's eyes widened in shock. The girl only had half a face. The left side with its skin stretched tightly over it, not one ounce of fat or muscle, just hollows and indentations of her skull and bone. The right side was almost non-existent. There was no cheek bone and the skin was puckered and melted; congealed into a sticky mass where her cheek should have been. Both her eyes were large, almost bulging from her face due to there being so little of it left. The skin was pulled completely back from the right eye making it perfectly circular in shape. The long brown hair that draped over her hoodie only grew from the left side of her head, the right being bald and scabby. Danny felt quite sick at the sight of her, he had seen so many disturbing and revolting things in his life, but most of those things had involved dead people, not living ones. His eyes flitted to her hands and he noticed they too were covered in puckered and melted skin.

"No, that place is not what you think...it's just the start..."

"The start of what?" Jo asked sharply.

"They're everywhere, you don't understand. They always find you and they never let you go, not once they have you..."

"One of who? Who are 'they'?" Danny asked.

"The doctors..." Sue said sorrowfully, tears in her eyes. "They are everywhere, you can never escape."

"Doctors?" Jo frowned. "These doctors have Mac?"

Sue suddenly rushed forward and grabbed hold of Jo's jacket.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have come here, they know...they know..." she cried.

"They know what?" Jo asked as she tried to free herself and Danny ran forward to help.

"They know where I am, they found me, they've come..."

"They found you?" Danny repeated as he managed to drag Sue off Jo but didn't let her go.

"We can protect you," Jo said again straightening up and attempting her best to calm the panic-stricken girl.

"You don't understand," Sue whispered wildly. "You can't win against them..."

Danny stared across at Jo feeling confusion and panic rise in him. For one second all was still and then Sue bolted, tearing herself away from his grasp.

"No!" Jo shouted. "Come back!" she called as she and Danny started running after Sue across the yard.

The loud noise of a gunshot broke out of the silence of the dark night and then Sue went down. Jo and Danny flinched and pulled out their guns, looking round for the shooter in alarm.

"Adam where's the shooter?" Danny shouted into his mic.

"I can't see him, it came from the North-West corner," Adam replied, scanning the images on his screens for any movement or minute detail.

"Sue!" Jo yelled as Danny reached the girl and grabbed her in his arms, pulling her into the protection of some dumpsters.

"They've won..." Sue choked as blood dribbled from her lips. "They've won..."

Jo stared in horror at the bright red patch forming on the girl's chest from the bullet and knelt down to put pressure on it.

"You'll be okay, we'll get you to a hospital," she cried worriedly as she pressed over the wound. "Just tell us where they've taken Mac Taylor?!" she asked Sue.

"They've won..." Sue choked again, chest juddering, trying to gasp air in. "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, you haven't done anything wrong," Danny muttered as he folded his jacket under Sue's head.

"No," Sue rasped. "No, you still don't understand...they found me..."

"Yes, we know," Jo said worriedly. "But..."

"They found me...they made me come..." Sue continued on incoherently. "It wasn't me they were after..."

"What?" Danny said sharply, a growing feeling of apprehension inside him.

"They didn't come for me..." Sue spluttered. "It's not me they're here for..."

Danny slowly stood up and stared at Jo, his look of horror reflected in her face.

"Adam, you there?" Danny asked.

"I'm still searching Danny, no sign of the shooter," Adam replied.

"Lindsay?" Danny asked in panic, fear seated deep in his stomach.

"I'm on my way, Danny, I heard the shot," he heard her gasp in reply, she was obviously running.

"Flack?" Danny muttered as Sue finally lost consciousness on the floor beside Jo.

Nothing.

"Flack?" Danny stated clearly again into the mic, voice trembling slightly.

"Go!" yelled Jo suddenly. "I'll stay with her."

Danny was already halfway across the yard and running in the direction of Flack's car. He felt the cold night air whistle about his face, numbing it. He stumbled twice because he was going so fast and almost tripped over a lose brick on the ground. He ran faster than he ever had before in his life, feeling like he'd lost control of his body, that he was flying rather than running as his legs moved him on, powering away, a will of their own.

"Flack!" Danny yelled again into his mic and pulled out his gun as he came sprinting round the corner in time to see another car parked beside Flack's. A huge monster of a man was stood behind it, Flack's limp body in his arms, shoving the detective into the trunk. Danny immediately started firing at him but the man was quick. He flung Flack roughly into the trunk and slammed it closed, hiding behind the car's side for protection as he made his way to the driver's door.

"NYPD FREEZE!" Danny shouted and then dived for cover as a storm of bullets came him way.

He heard the car door slam and looked up in time to see the engine start up.

"NO!" he screamed as he fired at the tyres.

He missed and the car started speeding away into the night.

"God...fuck..." Danny gasped as he sprinted straight to Flack's open car and got in, starting up the engine and following after the car.

"Jo, they got Flack!" he shouted into his mic as he drove quickly through the dark streets.

"What?" he heard Jo's voice come back, crackled and distorted. "Don't lose him, Danny. Sue's dead."

"I'm trying," Danny replied as he caught sight of the car and sped after it.

The driver was obviously aware of him because the car suddenly pulled out to the left and sped off at full speed. Danny drove after it, never slowing. They were driving towards the busier part of the city and pedestrians and other vehicles were growing in number. The cars sped through a red light, other cars screeching to a halt around them.

"He's still in my sight," Danny cried, fear gripping at his heart. He couldn't lose Flack. Not Flack.

"Don't lose them, Danny," he heard Jo cry. "It's our only lead, you mustn't lose them!"

Danny drove quickly, sheer adrenaline pumping through his veins, eyes never leaving the car in front. Never leaving Flack.

"I won't lose you too," Danny murmured as he drove on, crossing through another red light.

The driver was obviously a pro. He was excellent, steering sharply through the other cars and obstacles. And he also knew the city well. They were heading north and Danny knew that it would be easier to follow once out of the city, but also that he'd then be alone, back up far away.

"What's going on?" Lindsay yelled to Jo as she ran out into the yard.

"They took, Flack," Jo replied as she turned to the younger woman. "Stay with the body, I need to get to Adam."

Lindsay nodded while Jo took off at a sprint towards Adam's van.

"I'm trying to catch them on cams, Jo," Adam squeaked as she pulled open the side door and got in. "I haven't found them yet though."

"Danny, where are you?" Jo said into the mic.

"Travelling north," Danny gasped as he ran another red light and heard the screeching of tyres and yelling of angry people. "I'm on the..."

The huge truck slammed hard into the side of the car and flipped it twice before it came crashing back down on its roof, frame squashed and glass everywhere. Windscreen and windows completely shattered, the passenger side crushed and the car a total wreck. Blood ran out across the road, running from the driver's side.

Up ahead the other car paused momentarily, the driver glancing into the rear-view mirror and grinning before disappearing into the depths of the black night.

"Danny?" Jo screamed into her mic, horror marring her features, knuckles tight as she grabbed hold of the desk in front of her in panic. "Danny?!" she screamed again.

A hand closed around her own and pulled it off the desk. She looked up to see Adam staring in fear at her and then he squeezed her hand tightly and she returned the squeeze. The two looked helplessly at each other.