Howard raced through the building to the main entrance. He stood outside panting, trying to catch his breath when the cop at the door stopped him.
"Everything ok buddy?"
"Chemical Spill upstairs! Ammonia and Bleach, its causing a cloud of acid in the room I closed the door and covered it so no one would go in. You need to clear the building!"
"What about the body?"
"He's already dead!" Howard said as he pulled off his hazmet suit and dumped it into a bag by the door. "I'll be over at the ambulance getting some air." He coughed into his elbow as he hurried off.
The cop got on his radio and called for poison control, then contacted the rest of the CSI team to get them out of the building. The next five minutes were a blur of activity as everyone gathered in the parking lot outside the building. The Head of the CSI team gathered everyone together and ordered them all to be checked out by the ambulance when he noticed Howard was gone.
"Hey, anyone seen Howard?" No one had, and as they filed away he went over to the cop who was guarding the entrance. "Have you seen the CSI Photographer?"
"Yeah, he came out first, he raised the alarm."
"Where did he go?"
"Over to the ambulance. He was coughing."
"Okay good, just wanted to make sure no one else was inside."
The cop nodded. "No one else went in except your team and the two coppers."
"Which two coppers?" The Head of the CSI team who was walking away from the door, but turned back to face the cop.
"They were looking for the CSI Photographer too actually. They went upstairs…" the sudden realisation that they had never come back down hit the cop and he paled visibly. "Oh shit, they never came out." He tuned to rush into the building but the CSI Head stopped him.
"Wait, you can't go in there!" He pulled him out of the doorway "The acid fumes in there will kill you. And if you set off any sparks you could trigger an explosion."
"There are two cops in there! They could be dying!"
"There would be three dying in there if you go in."
The cop stopped struggling and stood back from the door way. He pulled his shoulder radio and called for backup.
"Backup is en route." Came the response. "Be advised we have a suspect in the area."
"Repeat?"
"10-29 in the area. Considered armed and dangerous."
"Details?" The cop walked away from the Head of the CSI for some privacy.
"Suspect is Howard Johnson. Do you have a visual?"
"No. 10-23"
He walked across the lot towards the ambulance where the 6 members of the CSI team were waiting. He checked the back of the ambulance but it was empty. Howard was nowhere to be seen.
"Report 10-65, no visual."
"10-4"
Sam was losing consciousness.
Andy held him tightly but the fumes were starting to make her dizzy. She lowered him to the floor gently and made sure he was comfortable before going back to the window to try to pry off the boards. She looked around the room for something to use as a lever. She found a metal bar about three feet long under one of the tables and hurried over to the window. She tried to pry off the boards but they were fixed too tightly. She tried to break them by swinging the pipe at them but all it did was cause sparks to fly all around her.
"God Dammit…" She swung the pipe again, this time more out of anger than the thought that it would do anything. As she lifted it up over her shoulder a voice came through her radio.
"McNally, do you copy?"
"Yeah, yeah this is McNally 10-2," she responded and hurried back to Sam's side as relief flooded her system at the sound of Oliver's voice.
"The chemical spill in that room, the chemicals were labelled and Ammonia and bleach."
"Okay?"
"The fumes are toxic. Cover your mouth and nose."
"Done."
"A hazmet team are on the way up the stairs. This spill is highly flammable. Try not to move around. If there is any of it on your close, strip ASAP, that acid will burn through the fabric and burn your skin."
"Copy that."
Andy looked down at her uniform. It was splattered on her trousers but her vest had taken most of the splash. She stood up and peeled off her pants and tossed them aside then looked Sam over. He was the same. She struggled to roll him over then undid his belt and pulled down his pants. She removed his shoes and tossed his pants aside.
"Not…not how it's…supposed to go…" he mumbled as she cradled his head in her lap.
"Shhhh Sam, don't talk…" she stroked the side of his face, brushed his hair back and smiled at him.
"McNally," it was Oliver again.
"Yes sir?"
"The team is outside the door."
"Thank you!"
She heard scuffling coming from outside the door and shortly afterwards it was pulled open and four men in hazmet suits walked in. They put oxygen masks on both of them, lifted Sam onto a stretcher and helped Andy walk out.
Sam was put into the back of a waiting ambulance which left almost immediately while Andy sat on the back step of another ambulance and was treated for respiratory problems from inhaling the fumes. Oliver came over after talking to the hazmet team.
"You doin ok?"
Andy nodded.
"Great job in there." He noticed she was wearing a full body hazmet suit as her clothing had to be left in the building.
"He ran." She said but Oliver couldn't hear. She reached up and pulled down her oxygen mask. "He ran. Sam was talking to him. He cleared the table, spilled all the chemicals over us… over Sam, and he ran."
"It's ok, McNally," he said as he gently pulled her oxygen mask back into place. "We'll get him. We know who he is now, we'll get him. You need to get to the hospital."
"I'm ok sir, I want to go back to the division."
"No, I need you to go to the hospital and report back on Swarek."
Andy nodded and shuffled back into the ambulance where she was joined by an EMT. Oliver slammed the doors shut and patted the side to signal to the driver it was time to leave. He watched the ambulance drive off then walked back to the entrance of the building where Gerry and Chris were standing.
"What did she say?"
"It's him. Swarek was questioning him when he bolted."
"Do we have an address?"
"Yeah I have it here." He patted his breast pocket where his notebook was.
"I'll call SWAT and get a team out there. Meantime you take Diaz and do a recon."
Shaw nodded, patted Chris on the shoulder and they both hurried back to the car.
In the hospital Andy waited in ER to be seen. She was on oxygen and had an IV port put into the back of her hand but she felt fine other than a sore throat. They gave her painkillers and asked her to keep drinking water but all she wanted to do was find out how Sam was doing. He was in the ICU and they wouldn't let her in to see him.
She tried to get the attention of several nurses and doctors but no one seemed to have time to talk to her. After a couple of hours, a nurse came over and gave her back her belongings.
"My Partner, Sam Swarek. How is he?"
"He's doing better. His lungs are pretty bad at the moment but we have him on oxygen. His eyes are red and look worse than they are, they should clean up in the next 10 hours and he'll have his sight back."
"He's blind?"
"Not permanently."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it a common symptom of these type of chemical exposure."
"Can I see him?"
The nurse hesitated. She looked Andy up and down. Her eyes were red and itchy, her nose was runny, and there was a slight wheeze when she breathed but she was more worried than anything else.
"Okay, for a few minutes. Your clothing needs to be treated so I put some scrubs into the bag. Your uniform equipment is in there as well." She signed Andy's chart and replaced it at the end of her bed. "I'll be over at the nurse's station, come see me when you are ready and I'll take you up to him."
"Thanks." She dressed as quickly as she could. Checked all her equipment was there then grabbed her phone and called Oliver. He answered even immediately.
"McNally, what's the news?"
"Sam is still in the ICU but they said he'll be fine in about 10 hours." She decided not to mention the blindness as she knew they were organising a raid on Howard's house.
"That's great. How are you doing?"
"Much better sir."
"Okay great. I'll be in to see you soon."
"Okay, thanks." She hung up then put her phone back into her bag and noticed Sam's phone was there too. She picked it up. No missed calls, no texts and she wondered if she should call Emma. Realising that if her boyfriend was in hospital she would want to know ASAP she found his contacts list and called her phone. After it rang five or six times it went to her voicemail. But this wasn't a message that Andy wanted to leave on her voicemail so she hung up. She gathered the rest of her things, then walked out to the nurse's station.
The nurse brought her right up to the ICU. Sam was in a room with three other patients. He was lying face down with his head turned to the side and had an oxygen mask on his face. There was an IV hooked up to his left hand and a strange bandage along his back.
"What's wrong with his back?"
"The chemical that was on his clothing burned through and damaged some of the skin on his back."
"Oh my god…" Andy stepped up to the bed and wanted to reach out to touch him, but didn't know if she would hurt him or not so she gripped the edge of the bed. "Is he going to be ok?"
"It's minor 2nd degree chemical burns. The blisters can be treated with this cream being applied every 4 hours. There should be minimal scaring."
Andy looked closer. The burns were across the top of his shoulders and reached about half way down in the centre of his back.
"And his lungs?"
"He'll be wheezy for a week or so but then he should regain full lung capacity."
"And his eyes will be fine by tomorrow?"
The nurse smiled and nodded then patted her on the shoulder and left. Andy reached out and gingerly touched the top of Sam's head. Let her fingers run through his hair and leaned down do her face was closer to his.
"Hey, Sam…"
He was unconscious and made no move at the sound of her voice. She leaned in closer and kissed his forehead then stood up straight to look him over. The burns on his back looked pretty bad but she knew from the nurse's reaction that they would heal. Her main worry were his eyes. Without his sight, Sam wouldn't be able to be a copper and without the ability to be a copper…Andy shook her head to rid herself of that thought and gently stroked his hair back.
Chris came back from scoping out the house and climbed into the car with Oliver.
"See anything?"
"House seems to be empty, no car in the garage, and no movement on the ground floor."
"SWAT is on the way, ETA 3 minutes."
"Did you hear anything about Swarek?"
"Was just talking to Andy. He is stabilised. Probably going to be a bit wheezy for a while but he's tough as nails."
Howard Johnson stood in his makeshift darkroom on the top floor of his house. He spotted the cruiser across the road almost from the moment it arrived and was ready and waiting. He had rigged the doors with small explosives that would be enough to slow anyone down without killing them. That wouldn't get him the results he wanted. He prepared the film for his camera, loving the feeling of the smooth plastic between his fingers.
SWAT arrived and fanned out along the street. Chris and Oliver joined in on the tail end of the team as they rushed in the building. They entered in the front and back at the same time and both of the doors triggered small explosions.
"Flash bang!" The first two SWAT members to enter each door went down but the rest continued to swarm. They cleared the bottom floor before approaching the stairs. In single file four of them charged upstairs and cleared all the rooms finding nothing.
"He's not here," Oliver said on the phone to Gerry who was on his way to the house. "But there are signs that he was here after Sam questioned him. His keys are here and his ID card."
"Okay, any idea where he might have gone?"
"No…nothing. We're checking now for something that might have another address on it. Any luck with the wife?"
"No. She got a phone call at work and left abruptly about an hour ago."
"You think she is in on it?"
"I dunno. I'll see you in about 15 minutes."
Oliver hung up the phone continued his search of the house. He walked upstairs and found Chris standing in a small room just off the main bedroom.
"What's this?" Oliver asked.
"It's a darkroom." He reached over and flicked the switches and the white light went out to be replaced by a red one. "For developing photos."
"Sheesh…who develops photos anymore." Oliver reached down and picked up a folder that was shoved under the bench. He opened it up and saw the photos all labelled and dated. They were dating back over the last 18 months and each of them were carefully placed in the centre of each page within the album, with the original one on one side and the recreated one on the other. "Christ…"
"What is it?"
"All the murders he was copying."
"There has got to be abut sixty two pictured here."
"But only about 40 of them have a newly recreated photo."
They flipped through the pages of the murder scenes that didn't have a pairing photo but none of them were clear locations or gave them any clues as to his whereabouts. Oliver slammed the book closed and carried it out of the room and into the hallway.
Chris followed him but stopped short in the hallway and grabbed Oliver's shoulder. Oliver stopped and turned a curse on his lips but held it back at the look on Chris's face and how he held his finger over his lips.
He pointed up at the ceiling where there was a loft hatch. Oliver drew his gun and gestured for Chris to do the same. Then he reached up for the latch and pulled the door down, moving aside for the sliding ladder to be lowered. He grabbed his radio and called for immediate back up by whispering then pulled the torch out of his pocket and started to climb.
The ladder was shaky and loud announcing his arrival with every step. Oliver called out into the darkness above.
"Howard Johnson, this is the police…put your hands up, we are armed." There was no response. He repeated it but still nothing. He breached the surface just enough to see into the loft but could see nothing. The torch lit up only small areas at a time so he quickly scanned 360 but saw nothing. He climbed a little bit more and soon was off the ladder and standing on the roof beams.
He moved his torch around the room. It was cluttered with boxes and luggage. And he could barely see two feet in front of him.
"Howard…are you in here?" Oliver heard someone approaching via the ladder and turned expecting to see Chris but instead it was one of the SWAT team members. He signalled for Oliver to crouch and move back. But as she stepped off the ladder there was a flash and whir from a camera. Oliver stumbled back, the flash blinding him. He lost his footing and fell through the hatch taking down the next two SWAT members.
"Freeze! I will shot!" the calls came from the attic and two more SWAT members raced up the ladder to their comrade.
Chris called for an ambulance on his radio and knelt beside Oliver who was moaning in pain. He heard the SWAT team upstairs scuffling through the maze in the attic then two shots were fired and met with silence.
Shortly afterwards two of the SWAT guys came back down. They pulled off their helmets and masks and stood beside Oliver who was sitting up against the bannister now. His leg bent at an awkward angle and his head bleeding profusely from a small wound on the back.
"Suspect has been taken down."
"Was he alone up there?" Chris asked.
"No one else up there." They walked away and hurried downstairs to the injured team members by the doors. Then the last one descended the ladder.
"Everything ok?" Chris met him at the bottom of the ladder.
"He took two shots to the chest. One in the heart, one in the sternum. Died on scene." He gave the report in short succinct sentences then knelt beside Oliver and checked him out. "EMT On the way?"
"Already called them."
"We have first aid in the van, I'll be back in a sec."
Oliver watched him leave then turned to Chris who was looking worried and starting to pace.
"Hey Diaz…calm down." Oliver said. "I'm the one who is injured remember?"
"Yes sir. I'm just confused…where is this guy's wife? Did she know about all of this? Was she in on it? How could she not know…"
"Forget it Diaz, these are questions for the D's."
"Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know?"
"Of course I do, but you can't let yourself get bogged down by unanswered questions. There are going to be a lot of them in this job."
"Yes sir." Chris said and the dejection in his voice was palpable but Oliver couldn't do anything about it as just then the EMTs came racing up the stairs with a stretcher and equipment to work on him.
Andy left the hospital after being kicked out of ICU. She went home to shower and change then made her way to Sam's place to get some spare clothes for him. But before going back to the hospital she called into the division first. In the bullpen she met Traci who grabbed her into a tight hug as soon as she looked up from her computer.
"Oh Andy! We were so worried!"
"I'm fine."
"And Sam? How is he?"
"He has some burns across his back," she reached over the top of her own shoulders to show her where. "Some cuts on his hands and across his face from the smashed glass. And his eyes…"
"What?"
"He has no vision in either of his eyes but the doc thinks this is temporary and should be fine as soon as tomorrow morning."
"Oh god!" Traci grabbed her arm and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm sure they know what they are doing. I'm sure he's going to be fine."
"I know Traci. What's going on with the case?"
"Oliver and Diaz cornered Howard Johnson in his house." She led Andy over to her desk where the report was open on the screen. "The SWAT Team raided, 4 of them were injured by flash bangs. They found him in the attic. Oliver went up with three SWAT members, but he sustained some injuries in a fall."
"Is he ok?"
"Yeah he's going to be fine. He broke a leg and he has a lump on his head."
"And Chris?"
"He's fine. He went with Oliver to Toronto General, they are there right now. I'm about to go out there now and see them."
"I'll come with."
They got into the car and drove quietly to the hospital. They met Chris in the waiting room He was pacing the small room with a cup of coffee in one hand. When he saw Andy he hurried over and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Great to see you are doing ok. How is Swarek?"
"He'll be fine." Andy was too tired to go into the details and could see that Chris already had a lot to deal with. "How is Oliver?"
"He just got out of surgery for his leg. They said it went well. I'm just waiting now for Zoe to get here."
"That's great news." Andy smiled and felt a wave of tension release from her tight grip. She waited with them for a little while longer then excused herself and made her way up to ICU. The nurses there were taking a short break in a small break room and one of them waved her in but tapped her watch to signal it would be a short visit.
Andy crept through the dark room and stood by his bedside. She left the bag of his clothes on the small shelf beneath his bed then reached over to his head and stoked his hair gently.
"Mmmmm" he moaned and her hand stilled. She looked down at his face and saw his eyes flutter open.
"Sam? Sam it's me… its Andy." She crouched lower and watched as he tried to reorient himself. He tried to sit up but he pushed him back down. "No Sam, lie still, don't get up…"
"Andy? Is that you?"
"Yeah, yeah it's me."
"Why is it so dark in here? I can't see you…I can't see anything."
"Sam…listen to me…" she grabbed his head with her hands and moved her face as close to his as she could. "Listen to my voice…the chemical fumes have damaged your eyes. The doctors put a solution into them but it will probably be tomorrow before it works fully."
"Probably?" He struggled against her and tried to move again this time dislodging some of the wires that were monitoring his status setting off alarms. Seconds later two of the nurses came rushing in and pushed Andy aside. They held Sam down and reattached the lines then one of them pushed a syringe of sedatives into his IV and he stilled again.
"You need to leave." The nurse guided her out into the hallway and closed the door behind them.
"Is he going to be ok?"
"Yeah, he's just agitated. He should be fine by morning. You should go home. Get some rest."
Andy scoffed at the thought of going home to sleep. She was wired and ready to burst out of her own skin. But she could tell she wasn't going to be let into see Sam so she made her way to the canteen to get some food, then found a few couch in the family waiting room and waited.
A/N: This chapter is a bit jumpy. It didn't come out the way I wanted. :( But one more chapter should put this fic to bed. If I don't get it up tomorrow then it ill be up on wednesday night.