With You In Your Dreams (NY, with a little Miami)

:eek: :eek: That's quite a twist. So Neil is the one that's dead and Tim was the one who's leaving his prints everywhere. (Shame, I wanted to meet Neil. :p)

Wow, that's a definitely surprise. I can't wait to see what happens next! And I have to agree with what was said above, you do a great job of blending both shows together in a believable way. Great job, you do it so seemingly effortlessly. :D
 
Sorry, but someone had to die in Miami :lol: But, there are still some things about Neil to be revealed. ;)

I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story! Here's the next chapter. :)

*~*~*~*

Chapter 6

As soon as Mac and Danny return from the warehouse, Mac enters his office as the phone rings. “Detective Taylor,” he answers quickly while I sit unnoticed in the corner of the room. Beyond venturing to the break room for a cup of coffee, I haven’t really left Mac’s office. And frankly, I’d rather stay here. “Okay, great. We’ll see you soon.” He hangs up and sighs softly. “That was Lieutenant Caine,” he says, turning to me. I furrow my brow.

“I didn’t think you…” I begin. He sighs again, walking towards me.

“It’s my job to notice things.” I nod.

“What did Horatio want?” I ask as I watch Mac sit down across from me.

“There wasn’t much evidence of who took him, but they think they have a location on where he was taken to,” he says. “Eric and Ryan are working there, while Calleigh is going over some things with Alexx. Horatio’s on his way up here.” I nod again before sighing and resting my head against the wall. “We’ll find him, Hailey.”

“I know. What’d you guys get at the warehouse?”

“I think I know who killed our victim. There was evidence of at least three people in the room, one of which was Tim. One was our victim, and the other was the victim’s accomplice. These two were holding Tim in the room, and evidence suggests our victim was starting to get sympathetic and wanted to go to the police. The accomplice couldn’t let that happen, though.”

“Because he didn’t want to go to prison for kidnapping.”

“Right.”

“So he killed the guy to avoid prison. I imagine Tim’s probably telling him to either give up and turn himself in or kill himself now, because either way he’s going to prison.” Mac chuckles softly.

“Yeah.”

“What I want to know is why? Why kidnap Tim? What do these people get out of this?”

“Our victim, Jake Laslow, was a small time criminal with big connections for drugs. He had been in prison with Neil before, probably where they met, and the two became friends.”

“So Neil hired him to kidnap Tim, and things went awry when Neil was killed?”

“I don’t know about that yet. We need to ID the other guys first, and see where that takes us.”

“I wonder how things would’ve been different if Neil hadn’t gone with Horatio into that jewelry store…”

*~*~*~*

(Tim’s POV)

I wake up, looking around at the new surroundings. A much more posh location than last time. Most likely because it’s somebody’s house. The fat guy (as I’ve come to know him) walks in, alone. Usually the string bean’s with him, but not today. I don’t even think String Bean’s here.

“Mornin’, Timmy,” he spouts in the worst Irish accent I’ve ever heard. This guy seriously needs to watch a movie or two, really get that down. I say nothing, because talking’s kind of hard with a gag on. Instead, I just stare angrily at him, the same way I’ve done every day for… a while, now. I’ve lost all sense of time.
“You’re goin’ to tell me everythin’ about your sister, Hailey, today. Her friends, her boyfriend, everythin’ you know. Otherwise, I’m goin’ to break every bone in your body, for starters.” He takes off the gag, and I cough.

“You don’t scare me,” I reply quietly. My voice is hoarse from disuse, and sounds foreign even to me.

“Really? Because I should. Either you tell me everythin’, or I’ll kill you.”

“Go ahead. Everyone already thinks I’m dead. Why not make it true?”

“Those friggen cops know you’re not.” He stomps on my foot, and I can feel the excess weight on his body working to break the bones in my foot. I groan, but maintain my control. “That’s only just the beginnin’, Timmy. Tell me about Hailey.”

“No,” I say. “You can try all you want, but I’m not going to talk.”

“Tell me, and I might just let her live,” he says. I shake my head, and he punches me hard across the face. “I already know she’s datin’ Danny Messer. I’m sure my connections can get me everythin’ I want to know. This was your last chance to save her. Looks like you chose to be stupid.” He kicks me in the stomach for good measure before leaving the room and leaving me to close my eyes. I rest my head against the wall as the physical pain washes over me mixed with worry. What the hell have we gotten into?

*~*~*~*

(Hailey’s POV)

Mac and I are still sitting on the floor in the corner when Stella comes in. “Mac?” she asks.

“Yeah?” he replies, turning to her. She walks over, slightly confused.

“Why are you guys on the floor?”

“Because it’s the only place in Mac’s office you can sit and no one outside can see you,” I answer. She looks sympathetically at me. “Everyone in the lab knows about Tim’s fingerprints being at the scene, and everyone’s just acting funny. And then seeing me hanging out in Mac’s office? Even more weird. I wanted to hide.”

“I’m sorry,” she says softly.

“What’s up?”

“The pill Danny found crushed up on the floor was diazepam.”

“Benzos,” Mac says.

“Yeah, and they’re not available without a prescription. Turns out they belonged to our victim, Jake Laslow.”

“But you can bet he wasn’t taking them,” I say.

“His tox is clean,” Stella confirms.

“So, they used the diazepam to subdue Tim.”

“Only, I think he somehow managed to avoid taking them. Danny found a couple crushed up pills there.”

“Maybe Jake stopped giving them to Tim. Kidnapper’s remorse?”

“Something tells me this whole situation has gotten out of hand,” Mac says, standing up. “Somewhere along the line, something went wrong.”

“Why else would you risk taking a hostage across state lines?” Stella says.

“But no one in Miami knew Tim was still alive,” I point out. “They all thought Neil was Tim and they knew they buried him. They didn’t know Tim was still out there.”

“Who in Miami knew Tim had a twin?”

“I don’t know. Horatio had to, because Neil’s in CODIS and AFIS. If he ever committed a crime down there, Tim’s DNA would come up just the same as Neil’s. I’m sure Tim explained it to him. As for the rest of the team, though, I don’t know that anyone else did until now.”

“What about Tim’s enemies in Miami?” Mac asks.

“I don’t know that he had any more than the rest of us do,” I reply. “He’s had some bad takedowns, but I don’t know that any of them got out or would hire people to kidnap him. I don’t know that Neil was in with any of them. Because in order for this to work, they had to know Neil.”

“Who in Miami knew Neil?”

“I don’t know, Mac. I don’t know anything about Neil’s life. You could ask my mom, but I don’t know anything.” He nods, thinking.

“Did Neil owe anyone anything?” Stella asks. “Something where they might take his brother to pay for it?”

“I don’t think so, but even if they did, the evidence doesn’t really suggest that,” I say. “I mean, they had Neil pretend to be Tim. If they were after Neil and using Tim to get to him, why would they have Neil pretend to be Tim?”

“So, Tim is our intended target,” Mac says as Danny walks in.

“Got a hit on another set of prints at the warehouse,” he says. “They came back to a David Jeffries, con man down south. He has some outstanding warrants for theft, burglaries, assault with a deadly weapon and, get this, kidnapping. He’s been on the run for years, last thought to be seen in Miami, Florida.”

“So, David is our guy holding onto Tim,” Stella says.

“But who is he working for?” Mac asks as Aiden walks in.

“I might have an answer for that,” she says as Flack joins us as well. “I was looking at known associates for Jeffries and Laslow, and came up with this guy.” She hands a file over to Mac, who looks at it. “Vincenzo Garafonti, leader of the Garafonti crime family here in NY. Another known associate for the family is…”

“Neil Speedle.” Crap. I knew he was in with the mob, but not that mob.

“Yeah. Neil was the one that started the whole Miami part of the family with David Jeffries after Neil got out of prison last month. They mostly front the drug trade and stay away from murder as much as possible.”

“Trying to stay below the radar,” I say.

“Right,” Aiden says before continuing. “Now, Garafonti let Neil pretty much lead the Miami group, which consists of Jeffries, Neil, Laslow, and another guy named Chris Hollister. Hollister, however, washed up in DC a few weeks ago, capped in the back of his head.”

“So, Chris was in on it, then didn’t want to run, so they killed him.”

“According to the organized crime unit, Garafonti knew Miami was his more renegade group, but didn’t sever ties with them until Hollister wound up dead. The only one left of Miami is Jeffries.”

“But still, what did they want with Tim?”

“Maybe it was Neil exacting his revenge?” Danny asks. I shrug.

“I don’t know,” I say.

“If that’s the case, why keep him in hiding now?” Mac asks.

“Because it proves that Neil’s dead. Tim can’t be Neil, but Neil could be Tim.”

“Plus, letting him go proves jail time,” Aiden says.

“But why keep him alive all this time?” Flack asks. “I mean, Neil’s dead. Why keep Tim around?”

“Jeffries needs Tim for something,” Mac says. “We need to know what that is and find them before things get worse.”
 
I'm glad you're enjoying the story. :) Here's the next chapter.

*~*~*~*
Chapter 7

“We need to know what that is and find them before things get worse.”

“Aiden, I want you and Danny on the phone to Miami getting Tim’s case files,” Mac says. “Stella, you and I are going to be on Jeffries. Flack, I want you to find out more about Garafonti’s business.” Aiden, Danny, Stella, and Flack all leave the office, with Mac and I remaining.

“What about me?” I ask. I’m getting sick of just sitting around the lab.

“I need you to go pick up Lieutenant Caine at the airport.” I shrug.

“Okay.” He reaches out his hand, and I take it, letting him help me up off the floor.

“I know it’s frustrating to hang back and do nothing,” he says softly. “But I can’t have you involved on this case.”

“I understand,” I reply. I may be the newest team member, but I’m not that stupid.

“Hang in there, okay?”

“I will.” I walk out of his office, heading to the parking garage. I grab a car and head off to La Guardia. As I make my way there, I get slammed in the driver’s side by another car. While I’m in a groggy state, the door opens, and I’m dragged out. The last thing I see is the ceiling of a car before everything goes black.

*~*~*~*

I wake up with my head against a man’s shoulder. I furrow my brow, while still keeping my eyes closed. Definitely not Danny. Where the hell am I?

“You awake yet, Princess?” a soft, sarcastic voice says from next to me. Belongs to the shoulder, I’d imagine. Yet, the voice sounds very familiar… I can’t quite place it, but I know it. I groan softly in response to the question, and feel the head of the person I’m leaning against turn. “You okay?” it asks, concerned.

No, not quite. I don’t know where I am or who I’m leaning against. I try to sit up, but end up falling back over a second later. The arm of the person I’m with wraps around me tightly.

“I wouldn’t try that again if I were you. You have a rather nasty head wound, from what I can see.” That would explain why my world still feels fuzzy as hell, and why I can’t place that voice. I know it, though. From somewhere. “You’re gonna be okay, though. I think. I’m not a doctor, I wouldn’t know.”

Yeah, I can see that.

“Can you open your eyes?” I oblige the voice’s wish after a moment, and the world looks as fuzzy as it feels. Holy…

“Oh, God,” I say softly.

“You gonna throw up?” he asks. I swallow, shaking my head.

“No.” I blink a few times before the visions before me come into focus and I realize that I’m leaning against Tim’s shoulder. “Tim?”

“Yeah, Hailey. It’s me.” I hug him softly, and he wraps his other arm around me.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I heard about that.”

“Thank God you’re not.”

“Yeah.” I look up at him as he looks to a spot on the floor on the opposite side of the room from us.

“What’d they do to you?” I ask. He shakes his head, turning his eyes back to me.

“Never mind that,” he replies. “They want something with you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. What’d you do to piss them off?”

“Me?” I repeat.

“Yes, you. Why else would they be after you if you didn’t do something to them?”

“We thought they were after you.”

“Why me?”

“Neil was the head of this group in Miami, tied to Garafonti here. Jeffries, Laslow, Hollister, and Neil were all operating drug trafficking in Miami, finding ways to ship them up to New York for them to be sold by Garafonti and his family. Only, Neil was killed in your place on duty, Hollister…”

“Was the one they wasted in DC?” Tim asks. I nod.

“Yeah,” I reply. “Laslow…”

“The warehouse.”

“And Jeffries is left.”

“Well, he wanted you.” I sigh softly, gently leaning my head back.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Hailey.” Tim sighs, and I look over at him.

“They don’t tie you up?” I ask. He smirks.

“Rope,” he replies. “Easy to slip out of. The handcuffs were a little trickier, but String Bean was the one that insisted they used them before. With him gone, Fat Guy just uses rope. Not hard for him to pummel me into the ground if he wants to. He already broke my foot, I’m pretty sure he knows I’m not going anywhere.”

“And me?”

“He doesn’t know you.” I chuckle.

“You’re just saying that to be nice.”

“Well, yeah.” I smack him in the stomach gently. “Ow. Hurt ribs here, hon.”

“Sorry, Timmy.” He sighs, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall. “We’ve gotta get out of here,” I say after a moment.

“I know,” Tim replies. “How do you suggest that, though?”

“Can you get up?”

“Can you?” I stand up slowly before bending over and grabbing the rope that had been used to tie us up. “You know something?” Tim says after watching me for a moment. “I think I have an idea…”

*~*~*~*

The door creaks open, and Tim nods, standing against the wall. Jeffries sees him, and gets angry, rushing into the room. He trips over the rope he didn’t see that we’d set up across the doorway, and falls to the floor. I grab the gun he brought into the room with him from his waist and held it to his head. “Move, and I blow your brains out,” I growl. He doesn’t respond, but listens. Tim tosses me the other rope, and I tie up Jeffries’ hands. Tim limps over, grabbing the other rope and tying up Jeffries’ feet. “Now,” I say. “Let’s leave him here.”

“Lock him in?” Tim asks.

“Of course.”

“Set the house on fire?”

“Ooo, that’d be a nice touch.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jeffries says. We look at him.

“What makes you say that?” Tim asks.

“You’re scientists. You rely on the evidence. Burning the house destroys it.”

“You know, he has a point, Tim,” I say.

“Maybe we should just shoot him,” Tim replies.

“You wouldn’t,” Jeffries says again.

“See, you think that, but we would. With our injuries and the fact that you kidnapped both of us, it’s self-defense. No D.A. would think to prosecute.”

“Plus, it promises us protection from you, should you ever get out of prison,” I say.

“Oh, but that won’t happen,” Tim says.

“No, definitely not.”

“Killed a man here.”

“And we have the death penalty.”

“Oh, and that other guy in D.C.”

“There’s at least another life sentence.”

“Not to mention the Miami charge of kidnapping an officer,” Tim continues.

“And a matching charge of that in New York, coupled with leaving the scene of an accident,” I add.

“Although, I think that one might slide.”

“Yeah, he’s got enough other stuff on his plate.”

“Yes, he does.”

“Not to mention all the charges in all those other states that have warrants out for his arrest.”

“And there are a lot of those.”

“So, I doubt he’ll see the light of day again.”

“No matter what we do.” The two of us turn around, walking out the door of the room and locking it behind us. Tim sits down on the couch, stretching across it and elevating his ankle while I find a phone. “You think he’ll get out?” Tim asks. I shrug.

“I doubt it,” I reply. “At least, not before someone finds us.”

“Who you gonna call?”

“Ghostbusters.” Tim looks at me, smirking.

“Well played. But, seriously.”

“Mac.” I pick up the phone, dialing his cell number. “This would be so much easier if we had our cell phones.”

“He smashed mine a long time ago,” Tim says.

“Mine’s in the car,” I reply.

“Detective Taylor,” Mac says into the phone, confused.

“Mac, it’s Hailey. I’m calling you from a landline.”

“We’re on it. Are you okay?”

“More or less. I’m with Tim. Jeffries is tied up in the other room.”

“Okay. Listen to me, I need you to stay on the line a little while longer, and we’ll be out there with EMS shortly.”

“No problem. We’re not going anywhere. Did anyone ever get Horatio from the airport?” Mac chuckles softly.

“Yeah, he’s here.”

“Good. How’s everyone doing?”

“They’re worried about you,” he says as I hear him start the car. “We’re on our way.”

“Alright,” I say. “Do you need me to keep talking, or what?”

“We’ve almost got your location, so just hang on a minute.”

“No problem.” Tim groans in the background, and I turn to him. “You alright?” I ask.

“Yeah, fine,” he replies. “Just moving.”

“What happened?” Mac asks.

“Tim rolled over,” I reply. “He’s pretty beat up, Mac.”

“EMT’s are on their way, as are we. We’ll be there soon.”

“Great.”

“I wouldn’t be jumping for joy so soon,” Jeffries says as he walks out of the room. “Did you not think that maybe there was a key? That I had the key?”

“Oh, crap,” I say.

“Hailey?” Mac asks. “What’s going on?”

“Hang up the phone right now,” Jeffries says. I put the phone on the table after pressing the volume down button right next to the power button. Wielding his knife, Jeffries shakes his head. “For two detectives, you guys are actually pretty stupid.”

“Actually, she’s a detective,” Tim says. “I’m just a scientist.” Jeffries throws Tim off the couch and onto the floor.

“Doesn’t matter what either of you are. Right now, you’re both going to pay.”
 
WHO YOU GONNA CALL!

:lol:

Sorry, that was probably my favourite line out of the whole thing aside from Tim calling one of them fat and the other String Bean. :D So Speedle.

Aw she found him...or, rather, they brought her to him. Either way, a Speedle reunion! Poor Speed though, I hope he makes it through alright. This is getting really interesting, I can't wait to see how they get out of it and hopefully in one piece. This should be an episode, pronto. :p
 
^^ Haha, I think that was one of my favorite lines to write.

Here's the next chapter. :) It's got another POV change, just because it's fun. :)

*~*~*~*

Chapter 8

“Right now, you’re both going to pay.”

Jeffries rushes over, grabbing my wrist roughly. “Starting with you, b****,” he says, jerking my arm quickly. I yelp slightly as he throws me onto the ground.

“Leave her alone,” Tim says. Jeffries scoffs.

“Typical. Save her, hurt you, right?” Tim doesn’t respond, but Jeffries doesn’t really need him to. Jeffries kicks Tim in the head, causing him to black out. “How does that work now?” Jeffries asks Tim.

“You sick b****rd,” I shout. He sinisterly turns toward me, grinning.

“You know, if I were you, I wouldn’t say stuff like that. You’re on your own right now, and I’m most definitely stronger than you.” I shrug, standing.

“Clearly, you’ve never really met me.”

“From what I’ve heard, you’re a weak, pathetic little b**** that needs to be taught a lesson. Both of you do. Neither you or him took care of Neil. He was family, and you kept kicking him around like the unwanted dog.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Is that what this is all about? Neil? Avenging his past? Is that what Neil wanted with you guys taking Tim?” He doesn’t answer, but I can tell by his expression that he knows I’m right, so I continue. “Neil wanted you guys to kidnap Tim and make him pay for ditching him. And while you guys were doing that, Neil would pretend he was Tim and go to work and everything. But, Tim was bad about gun cleaning, and the gun Neil carried jammed in that shootout, so Neil was killed. And then you guys were stuck with Tim.

“Hollister and Laslow wanted out, didn’t they?” I ask, continuing to speak. “Hollister thought taking Tim to New York and taking me too was a bad idea. After all, your boss lives and operates up here, and you guys had gone rogue. Garafonti would kill you if he found out. So Hollister wanted out, and you convinced Laslow to help you kill him, so that Hollister couldn’t turn both of you in.

“But by the time you got to New York, Laslow was having second thoughts. You saw your answer then the same way you had before. You knew you had this house to stay in, so you took your chance. You killed Laslow, knocked Tim out, and dragged him up here. Then you finagled the car accident and kidnapped me too. All for what? Avenging Neil? I didn’t even do a damn thing to him. Neil wasn’t mad at me. Neil didn’t give a crap what I did.”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Jeffries bellowed. “You have no idea what it did to him to have his own siblings gang up against him. Neither of you cared about him, and he hated you for that. We were his family, us, not you. I decided to help him make things right. And now, I’m going to finish what I started.”

*~*~*~*

(Horatio’s POV)

I sit back, letting Mac take the lead on this. After all, no one… knows these guys better than him. Not even me. These guys were operating when I was up here, but they… they were different back then. Much as I was.

Mac signals for us all to huddle up, and he begins to speak. “Okay, we have one guy, David Jeffries, multiple wants and warrants. He’s the prime suspect in the murders of Jake Laslow and Chris Hollister, and he is still holding Tim and Hailey hostage. He is most likely armed, and most definitely dangerous. Let’s go.”

We line up, guns drawn, ready to dispense some justice. No one… hurts one of my people… and gets away with it. We enter the house as Mac shouts, “NYPD!” Everything is silent, and we look around. Speed is the first one I see, laying on the floor in a pool of blood. While my mind flashes back to the jewelry store, I run over to Speed.

“Speed,” I say, pressing my fingers against his carotid. Thankfully this time, I feel a pulse. “Mac, call fire rescue right now!”

“They’re on their way,” he replies. The others with us mention that the place is clear, and I try to stop Tim’s bleeding.

“H,” Tim says weakly, after his eyes open slightly.

“Stay with me, Speed,” I say. “Help is on the way.”

“Hailey…” I look over at Mac, who’s kneeling on the ground and talking softly to someone behind the couch.

“She’ll be alright, Speed,” I tell him unconvincingly. He sees right through it.

“You’re…” he coughs roughly.

“Stop talking, Speed. Just… hang on.” He nods, and I look at Mac. He looks up, giving me a sad look as the EMTs arrive on scene to take care of Tim and Hailey. Both of us back away from the siblings, walking over to each other and outside the house.

“How is he?” Mac asks. I shrug.

“He… will be okay,” I say. “How’s Hailey?”

“She’ll make it.”

“Mac, we need to get this guy.”

“I know. Our first step is to…”

“Process this room.”

“He left us something…”

“And we… We… are going to find it.”
 
Hehe, I always enjoy reading your commentary, MacsGirlMel. :) Here's the next part. :)

*~*~*~*

Chapter 9

I wake up with Danny sitting in the chair next to my bed, dozing off. I smirk to myself before hearing him groan softly. “Don’t say it,” he says quietly. I continue to smirk, shaking my head.

“I’m not saying anything,” I reply as he stands.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” he jokes. I shrug softly.

“But it makes life fun,” I banter back.

“No, it doesn’t. I love you too much to lose you, Hailey.”

“I love you too.”

“C’mere,” he says, sitting on the bed and wrapping his arms around me. I hug onto him tightly as he kisses me on the top of the head. He rests his chin on top of my head, content to just be sitting there with me.

After what happened, this is all we really want.

Mac walks in, smiling softly. I’m assuming that’s because I’m okay, but whatever. “Hey,” he says softly. “How’re you feeling?”

“Not bad, right now,” I tell him. “Good pain meds.”

“I bet,” Danny says softly. I smile softly at him, and Mac cleared his throat gently.

“What happened, Hailey?” he asked softly.

As I tell them the story, Danny hugs me closer, more out of protectiveness than anything else. As I finish up, I sigh. “Wait, where’s Tim?” I ask quickly, worried that he wasn’t okay.

“He’s in the next room over,” Mac tells me. I smile softly.

“Good, good. Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be fine. He’s been asking about you.”

“Okay, okay. Time to go visit, then.”

“Sit still,” Danny says.

“No, dammit,” I say. “I thought he was dead. I’ll be damned if I’m just gonna sit around here.” I start to get up before realizing the drugs are a little stronger than I think and I lose my balance. Danny catches me before I fall and I look over at him, smiling. “Good catch.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now, why don’t we sit down?”

“Why don’t we not and say we did? I want to go see my brother.”

“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

“Nope.” Danny looks over at Mac, who smirks slightly. “Come on.” Danny shakes his head, grabbing my arm gently and helping me walk next door to my brother’s room while Mac follows behind us. We walk in, finding Horatio standing in the corner of the room with his hands on his hips and his eyes trained out the window. Tim is laying in bed, eyes closed. I frown. “Is he asleep?” I ask. Horatio turns his head.

“No, he’s not,” Tim replies, opening his eyes. I smile, sitting on the bed.

“How’re you feeling?”

“I’m okay. You?”

“I’m good.” I rest my hand on his shoulder, and he smiles. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I tell him.

“Thanks, Mom,” he jokes. I stick my tongue out at him. “I’m glad you’re okay too, sis.”

“Yeah, no thanks to you, jerk.”

“Ha-ha. I tried my best. I’m sorry I had a broken foot and had been beaten and crap for weeks.”

“What’d they do to you, Tim?” I ask softly, moving my hand to hold onto his. He shakes his head.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he replies. I look at Horatio, who is looking out the window once again.

“But you will, right? At some point?” Tim doesn’t respond, and I watch him. “I’ll take that as a maybe if I’m drunk enough.” Tim snorts softly, and I know that means I’m right. I bite my lip quietly, thinking.

“You can’t make me,” he whispers softly. I look down at him.

“I wasn’t about to,” I reply, matching his tone. He nodded quietly, and I chuckle softly, smirking.

“What?”

“You sounded like a little kid.” He shakes his head.

“Maybe,” he mutters, looking out the window. I frown softly, rubbing his hand with mine before leaning closer to him.

“I’m sorry, Timmy,” I whisper. He looks at me.

“For what?”

“Everything. I’m sorry for what Neil did to you, and I’m sorry that this had to go down this way. I’m sorry no one ever made peace with Neil, even though he didn’t deserve it. And most of all, I’m sorry for what they did to you. What’s always been done to you.”

“None of that’s your fault, Hailey, and you know it.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make me feel better.”

“None of this was something you did to me. Something you did to Neil. No one made him become a criminal.” I sit up, turning away from Tim.

“Something made him snap,” I tell him softly.

“And whatever it was, was in the past,” Tim replies. I look around the room to realize that everyone’s left us alone to talk. “Neil had the chance to move on, Hailey, and he chose to move on in that way.”

“For Christ’s sake, Tim, you don’t know what it was!”

“Oh, and I suppose you do?”

“Maybe,” I say, conceding a little while turning back to look at him.

“What?” he said softly, his anger subsiding for the moment.

“I… It…” I look down at the bed, sighing. “I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Why not now? He was my twin brother, Hailey! I think I have the right to know what messed him up so bad that he became the person he did.” He sighs, and I continue to look at the bed, not saying anything. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I have the feeling this is something you saw and never told anyone,” he says softly.

“You’re not a CSI for nothing,” I reply with a casual shrug. He sighs.

“How’d it end up like this, Hailey? With all of us damaged this way?” He sighs again, turning his head out the window while I continue to stare at the bed.

Both of us know I don’t need to answer.
 
I'm glad you enjoy it. :) Here's the next chapter.

*~*~*~*

Chapter 10

“Jeffries is still out there,” I say, looking at Danny a few days later in our apartment. He sighs.

“For now, he is,” he replies. Tim shrugs.

“We’ll find him,” he says.

“Just a matter of time.”

“Do we have any leads?” I ask, looking at the two men before me.

“Yeah,” Danny says. “It turns out that you need to rest.” I furrow my brow while Tim smirks slightly.

“Not nice.”

“C’mon, Hailey. Let’s get you back to bed.”

“How about we agree to disagree, and I’ll sit on the couch?”

“Fair enough,” Danny says, watching me sit on the couch with a sigh.

“You need to go to work,” I remind him.

“Not until Stella or Aiden get here.”

“We can take care of ourselves.”

“Mac doesn’t want you guys alone, in case Jeffries comes back to finish the job.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” I repeat.

“I know you can, but Mac doesn’t want to risk it, and neither does Horatio.”

“We’ll be fine, Danny,” I say with a sigh.

“I’m sure you will be, but we’re not willing to take that risk right now.”

“He could just as easily come after us with you all here, you know,” Tim says, looking at Danny.

“Tell that to Mac or Horatio,” Danny replies. Both Tim and I look at each other, thinking the same thing.

“Who’re you waiting for before you leave for work?” I ask.

“Stella or Aiden.”

“So, if Jeffries is stalking us…”

“He’s not,” Flack says, walking in. “We just picked him up.” Tim and I look at one another again before turning back to Flack.

“Seriously?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’m serious. He dropped by Trinity, saying he was Neil Speedle and he was looking for his siblings.”

“But Neil’s dead.”

“Yeah. The staff detained him, and Mac and Horatio picked him up. Not sure who’s going to prosecute him, though, as he’s murdered in DC and here.”

“Probably here,” Tim says. “He also kidnapped an officer up here.”

“And we have the death penalty,” I say.

“It’s all up to politics,” Flack says.

“So, it’s over.” I look over at Tim, who sighs.

“Yeah, it’s over,” he says softly. He looks down, and I look at Danny and Flack.

“Can you guys give us a minute?” I ask them.

“Sure,” Danny says, leading Flack into another room. I turn to Tim.

“I know, it’s not really over,” I say softly. Tim looks over at me.

“Oh?” he asks. “You know everything?”

“I didn’t say that. Being kidnapped is rough, especially when you know no one’s looking for you. I don’t know what they did to you, and I know you’re not talking, so that’s what tells me it’s not really over.”

“You know, you should be a detective.” He smirks, and I smile.

“Yeah, maybe I could’ve done that.” I move to sit next to him, and he sighs.

“I’m not going to talk because you want me to,” he says.

“I know,” I reply. “I know you’ll talk when you’re ready. And it may not be to me, it may be to Calleigh or Eric or Alexx or Horatio. But I know you’ll get there when you get there.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, nodding.

“I’m okay with that.” I mess up his hair, and he half-frowns and half-smirks.

“Ass.”

“Yeah, I know. I learned everything from my bestest big brother.”

“I didn’t know you and Neil were close.” He furrows his brow after making that statement, and then says, “Actually, I think you were closer to him than I was.”

“Not really,” I say. “I only really knew anything about Neil because I was there. When we were kids, you were out somewhere, and I was following Neil around.”

“Because you followed everyone around.”

“Shut up, I was at that age. Anyway, I followed Neil without him knowing to this place… I forget where we were, but anyway… Neil was hanging out with his friends, and one of them was going to buy drugs. They all thought this was a good idea, and when they tried, the dealer told them they didn’t have enough. They jumped the dealer, because there was more of them than him, and Neil… Neil didn’t want to do that. The gang that the dealer worked for came around the corner, and… well, that didn’t end well.” I look down, and Tim grabs my hand. “The gang beat up Neil and his friends, and I ran away.”

“I remember that,” Tim says. “Neil never talked about how or why he got beat up, and Mom made him go to the hospital. Did he know you were there?”

“Yeah,” I say. “We talked about it later on. He was mad at me at first, but then forgave me, because at least he had someone he could talk to.”

“If he had someone to talk to, how did he still end up the way he did?”

“I don’t know, Tim. I don’t know how he ended up this way. As much as he talked to me, I was still his little sister. I wasn’t enough of a confidante.”

“You weren’t me,” Tim said sadly. “You weren’t his twin. You weren’t expected to clean up his messes. He’s dead, and I’m still cleaning up after him. I’m still suffering for his mistakes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s Neil’s. He couldn’t get through his skull to get things together for himself. He felt like he always had to rely on me to get him out of everything. And when I refused to do it, he hired someone to kidnap and torture me. I did nothing wrong. I moved to Florida to get away from him, and he followed me. He got his buddies to kidnap me and torture me and then try to kill me! And you too, and you didn’t do anything to him either. I got beaten night after night by his friends, just to avenge him, and I did nothing wrong. Nothing.”

I sigh, moving closer to him and wrapping my arms around him. He wraps his arms around me, and I rest my head against his shoulder. “We’ll get you through this,” I tell him.

“I’m fine,” Tim replies. I glare at him briefly, and he shrugs. “Relatively fine.”

“No, you’re not, and I can see that, but it doesn’t matter. We’re here for you, and we’ll get you through this.”

“Yeah.” He closes his eyes, resting his head against mine. “Thanks, sis.”

“No problem, Timmy.” I squeeze him gently, and the two of us start watching TV just to pass the time.
 
He'll be okay. :) Here's the final chapter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story. :)

*~*~*~*

Epilogue

We walk into Mac’s office, looking at both him and Horatio. “You wanted to see us?” I ask, sitting on the couch. Tim follows my lead, and our bosses look at both of us.

“First of all, we wanted to see… how you guys are doing,” Horatio says, taking the lead. I look at Tim.

“I’m doing fine.”

“I’m alright,” Tim says unconvincingly. Not that he’d ever admit otherwise anyway. I sigh softly, looking back at Mac and Horatio.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Guards walked into the holding cell last night to find Jeffries dead,” Mac says, looking at us.

“Suicide?”

“Looks like it.”

“So, that’s it, then,” Tim says quietly.

“That’s it,” Horatio says. “It’s over, Speed.” Tim nods, and I eye him carefully. He doesn’t believe what Horatio’s saying, and I know that, but I also know that again, Tim’ll never admit it.

“So, now what?” I ask after a moment. Mac and Horatio look at one another.

“Speed, we want you to know you have some options here, okay?”

“What kind of options?” Tim asks, looking between our two bosses.

“Both of us could use another experienced CSI,” Horatio explains as Mac nods.

“I understand New York could be difficult, given all that’s happened,” Mac says. “But, I want you to know the choice is yours.”

“You don’t have to decide right away.”

“And you can talk it over with us or Hailey.”

“Okay,” Tim says with a nod. He looks at me, nodding, and we excuse ourselves from Mac’s office to go sit in mine. This should be an interesting conversation…

*~*~*~*

With Horatio already back in Miami, I sit on the couch in my apartment a few days later. Tim walks into the room, and I look over at him. “Are you ready now?” I ask him.

“Hold your horses,” he replies. I roll my eyes.

“And you say girls take more time to get ready.”

“You’ve never tried going out with Calleigh.”

“Come on, already. We’re going to be late.”

“If you’d shut up, I’d be ready already.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” I mumble.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

“Alright, alright.” We leave the apartment, climbing in the car. The drive is silent, neither of us really wanting to talk as we make our way there. I climb out of the car with him once we reach our destination, and we walk inside.

He signs in, and I turn to him, sighing softly. “So, this is it,” I say.

“It’s not it,” he replies, furrowing his brow. “It wasn’t it before.”

“Yes, it was.”

Tim knits his brows together. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“We miss out on so much of each other’s lives this way.”

“We have phones. That’s always worked well for us before.”

“Just… do me a favor then, okay?” I say. “Actually talk to me, let me know what’s going on. I know I’m your little sister, but there’s nothing to protect me from anymore.” I watch him smile slightly.

“There’s always something to protect you from,” he replies. I roll my eyes.

“Not when it comes to you and your life. Just be honest with me.”

“As long as you do the same.”

“Deal.” I wrap my arms around him tightly, squeezing him. “Take care of yourself, okay?” I say. “And say hi to Eric and Calleigh and Alexx for me.”

“I will,” he promises, squeezing me back gently and kissing me on the forehead. “Take care of yourself too, and tell Danny that if he gets outta line, I won’t hesitate to come up here and shoot him.”

“Funny, Don tells him the same thing every day.” I laugh, and Tim smiles.

“I bet. Take care, Hailey. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay. Bye, Tim.” I let go of him as he turns and makes his way to and through airport security, heading to his plane. We had talked, and Tim decided that the place for him, the best place for him to heal, would be in Miami. I agreed with him, and still do, which is why I smile and wave as he turns and waves to me before heading toward his gate. I leave the airport, heading off to my car and a long day of work.

The End
 
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