Getting Too Close

Chapter 8

(A/N): It's a miracle!

Everything that happened afterward was a blur to Lindsay.

Bryan, in a moment of panic, fired three rounds into the her door and immediately made an attempt to flee through her fire escape afterward. Mac and Stella came barraging through the bullet-ridden entrance, guns poised in the air and shouting at Bryan to stop where he was.

Figures came out of no where through her fire escape.

Lindsay didn't even have time to react before she felt her body being shoved down into her carpet as someone threw themselves over her frame, shielding her. She immediately recognized Danny's watch on his arm - the very arm that was wrapped around her.

Shouts and gunshots were in a chaotic mess, surrounding her. She heard Stella let out a frustrated scream, and all she could do was watch in terror as her colleague and friend fell to the ground, clutching her abdomen and gasping in pain and shock.

But there was no blood.

"Stella!" Mac shouted.

'Bullet proof vest,' Lindsay chanted to herself, closing her eyes shut tightly. 'She's wearing a bullet proof vest. They all are.'

Bryan had managed to evade both Mac and Flack and clumsily ran into her bedroom, locking the door behind him in the process.

Mac shook the doorknob violently and slammed the palm of his hand against it aggravation.

"Flack, circle around and make sure he's not trying to escape through the window," he said in a rush.

Flack nodded, and waved at the two officers in the room. "You two are with me," he instructed.

Although her head was swimming with echoes of gunshots just a minute ago, she was still able to focus on the task at hand.

"N-No!" Lindsay's cry from her crouched position put a pause to Flack's steps. "The window's jammed shut. The clasp. I-It won't work. It won't open. He's not going anywhere."

"You're sure?"

She nodded. "It's been broken for weeks."

Stella sat against the door frame of Lindsay's apartment, straddling the threshold and attempting to carefully open her vest.

"You okay?" a voice whispered into her ear.

Lindsay nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise. In the midst of everything, she'd forgotten Danny had his arms wrapped around her protectively.

"Stella…" Lindsay uttered her name in an almost pleading manner and repeated Danny's question to her. "Are you okay?"

Stella shook her head and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, Lindsay," she answered with a shaky smile. "It just hurts like hell."

Mac pounded on the door again. "Bryan, unlock the door and come out with your hands in the air!"

"Mac," Flack held up his radio. "Neighbors phoned in on the gunshots. SWAT teams are going to flood this place pretty soon."

Their boss was practically seething.

He clobbered the bedroom door again. "Bryan, unlock the door! You don't want to get more people involved in this!"

"Lindsay." Stella was holding on to the doorframe, leaning over slightly as she was still grasping the lower part of her abdomen. "Do you have the key to your bedroom door?"

She nodded. "It's in my purse."

Danny finally released his hold on her and stood up. "This one?" he asked, pointing the bag she'd tossed on her sofa's side table.

He opened it and drew out a set of her apartment keys.

Lindsay stood up slowly on wobbly knees and grabbed her keys from Danny.

"Here," she said, singling out a key enclosed with a red band and handing it over to Mac.

"Wait, Mac." Flack grabbed their boss' shoulder. "We go in there, he's going to start shooting at us again.

Mac had a hard look of deliberation on his face. "We don't have much of a choice. SWAT units will be here in two minutes flat."

"I radioed in for armory shields and SWAT's obviously coming with them," Flack said. "The best we can do is wait, Mac."

"This is going to lead to a negotiation between us and Bryan," Mac rumbled. "And the head of the SWAT team won't want us interfering."

"I'm kind of getting the feeling that Mac's not a big fan of SWAT," Danny muttered to Stella, who was still crouched in the entrance way.

She scoffed. "SWAT he's fine with…the head honcho in charge of SWAT, he's not."

Lindsay tried pay attention to what was happening, but she couldn't even feel her heart - it was beating too fast. Her ears were ringing and her eyes saw swirls of her colleagues and apartment furniture. Not to mention, she had probably popped a few stitches from the knife wound in her side.

'Concentrate, Lindsay,' she berated herself, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. 'You've been in situations just as bad as this…'

"Let me talk to him."

Every head turned to Lindsay.

"Hell no."

Danny's immediate response spoke volumes.

Mac sighed. "Lindsay, that might not be such a good idea."

"Why wouldn't it be? After all, he asked for me specifically on the phone. And he came to my apartment looking for me."

"Yeah, looking to hurt you," Danny retorted. "Did you forget you had a gun pointed to your head just fifteen minutes ago?"

"Mac…" she ignored Danny and was practically pleading her boss. "He'll only talk to me. He only feels comfortable around me. You have to let me try, at least. You know you do."

"She has a point, Mac," Stella said.

A look of resignation passed across Mac's fallen face. "Alright," he agreed. "You'll need a vest…"

"Here," Stella slowly took hers off, still in slight pain from the impact of the bullet that hit her.

Flack's radio sputtered just then, and the voice of a muffled man broke through the apartment.

"SWAT is here," he informed them. "They're sending up a negotiator right now."

"No, not yet." Mac grabbed the radio from Flack's hand. "This is Detective Mac Taylor with the New York city crime lab, with whom am I speaking to?"

"Mac Taylor?" the voice on the other end sneered. "Why am I not surprised? Should have known it was your team up there."

"Look," Mac attempted to reason through gritted teeth. "You need to spare us a few minutes with this kid before you come barging in."

"What? No. I've got my units here with me and we are going up there and handling this professionally."

"This is my case." Mac was getting irritated fast. "This kid is scared, desperate, and one step away from believing his actions are vigilant. He will not talk to a negotiator. Trust me. I've got a CSI who'll be able to reach out to him better than you can. She's already done it once before. All I'm asking is that you give us a bit of time. If within fifteen minutes we can't get through, the situation is yours."

There was a long pause on the other end as the entire CSI team held their breaths in anticipation. And though it was probably less than thirty seconds, it felt like an eternity.

"Fifteen minutes," the voice on the other end yielded. "But I am watching the clock with a critical eye, Taylor."

Mac switched the radio off and tossed it back to Flack.

He nodded at Lindsay. "It's all on you now."

'Gee, no pressure there,' Lindsay thought scathingly.

"Lindsay, you don't need to do this," Danny said, voicing his clear objection.

She shook her head. "You know I do."

The team watched her wit heavy hearts as she made her way to her bedroom door.

"Bryan?" she knocked gently. "Bryan, this is Detective Lindsay Monroe."

Silence.

She knocked again. "Bryan, I'm coming in, okay? And I don't have anything with me. I promise, it'll be just you and me."

Again, no response.

Danny was at her side suddenly, gun poised and readily aimed at the door. He nodded to her, giving her the sign to enter. And should anything happen, he had her back.

Lindsay was growing anxious.

Fidgeting with her keys, she gauchely jammed the right one into the doorknob, unlocking her bedroom door.

Not a single thing was out of place in her room, except for the scared little boy crouched down by the corner of her dresser.

Lindsay's throat suddenly became dry. "Bryan," she croaked.

He didn't look up.

Danny was right behind her, gun still in his hand, trying to peak in.

Quickly shoving Danny back ("H-Hey!" he protested), Lindsay stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"I'm walking towards you…"

Still no answer.

Bryan sat with his arms wrapped around his knees, his silver gun dangling from his right hand.

Lindsay made her way over to him slowly, not taking her eyes off his stooped form. She gradually perched herself on the edge of her bed, facing him. If Bryan did notice her, he made no sign of it.

Hands suddenly clammy, Lindsay swiftly rubbed them against her slacks. She couldn't control her fast beating heart even if she tried.

Bryan had his head bent down, showing no indication that he was going to make any sudden movements.

"Bryan," she tried again. Her voice didn't shake, but there was an obvious strain in the nature.

She'd said his name so many times, it's lost all meaning.

He finally looked up, and Lindsay was unexpectedly drawn in. His eyes were the saddest she'd ever seen. Electric blue, tears rimming the edge, wild, and unbelievably vulnerable.

And nonetheless, though her heart ached when she saw the state he was in, Lindsay couldn't help but wonder, why did she come in here without a gun?

(A/N): It's almost over! Just maybe two more chapters J. Let me know what you think. And, again, I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors.