Caged

A life taken, a life destroyed

Dani walked into a gas station with Bright getting ready to pay for the gas they had just gotten. They had been coming back from a crime scene they had just investigated and were on the way back to the NYPD when she saw that the gas was low. She didn't know that stopping had been the worst decision of her entire life. She went up to the counter to pay as the man in front of her finished. All of a sudden she heard the gas station door burst open and a man with a gun yelled "Everybody get down!" She quickly turned around and the next thing she knew there was another man with a gun and he was yelling "Put your hands up!" The first man ran out the door the second one following as if they had been spooked. Dani's instincts kicked in and she started running after them too. "Dani, no!" Malcolm yelled. But she was already gone.

Dani ran as fast as she could trying to catch up with the two men. The rain was hitting her face hard. She finally started to come to a hault panting as she saw the first man with a gun walking torwards her his gun was raised and before she could think twice she raised her gun and sent two bullets flying into his chest. She heard Malcolm coming around the corner panting and he stood behind her looking at the scene in front of them. "Dani." He said quietly. She dropped the gun and ran to the body slowly starting to realize she had just shot someone. Yelling "Bright, call the cops! Now!" She kneeled down onto her knees and put her hand up to his neck feeling for a pulse. There was one but it was weak. Then she saw something that threw her back onto her arms. "No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No." "Dani, what!?" "Malcolm, no. Oh. No. Malcolm. Oh Gosh no." Tears were streaming down her face. She could hear Malcolm's voice in the background. She could feel him coming up behind her to see what was wrong. He looked at her hands folded in her lap. There was an NYPD badge sitting in her hands covered in blood. She felt his arms wrap around her shoulders as he called her name trying to get her to come back to reality. But nothing mattered. Nothing at all. There were lights and sirens. She walking. A blanket around her shoulders. Rain dripping wet from her hair. A light in her eyes. "She's in shock." Yelling and more yelling. The sound of the paramedics rushing the cop to hospital.

"She's still in shock." Gil was saying to someone on the phone. "She hasn't spoken in hours. I'd be surprised if she even knew where she was right now." Dani could feel someone's arm around her. She raised her head observing her surroundings. "Dr. Ox to the front please. Dr. Ox to the front." The stereo clicked off. She was in a hospital. "Dani?" A quiet voice in her ear asked. It was Bright. She felt his hand intertwine with hers. Then she fully clicked back to reality her whole body darted up out of the chair surprising Malcolm. She grabbed his shoulders and started yelling "Where is he? Where is he? Please tell me I didn't kill him! Please! She was desperately holding the collar of his coat now. "I've got to go." She heard Gil say to whoever he was talking too. When Malcolm just sat there looking shocked she let go of him and ran to the desk and started pounding on it. "Where is he? Please! I need to know! She started aggressively going through the papers as if she would find something. "Ok ma'am I need you too calm down. Who are you looking for?" "I don't know! I don't know!" She yelled. She grabbed the computer and yanked it around searching through the files of people who just came in. "Is this him!? Is this him!? I need to know!" She yelled now shaking the nurse. "Ok. Ma'am that is it. Get your hands off of me! Ma'am- security! Security!" Security officers started rushing over and grabbing Dani but she fought back. "No! I need too know!" That's when Gil and Malcolm came into the scene rushing after her. "Please! Please!" "Dani! Dani!" It was Malcolm. "Let her go!" Gil ordered and the security guards loosened there grip. "Dani," She tried pulling his arms off of her. "Hey. Look at me!" He said. Pulling her head to look up at him. "You need to calm down. You need to calm down." Her breathing started to slow down and she felt her knees give out as she sunk to the floor. "Hey. Hey. Come here." Malcolm said following her to the floor and gathering her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest and just sat there crying on him. Gil looked at Malcolm and gave him a nod. He nodded back still holding her.

They sat there for what must have been an hour when Malcolm stood her up and took her home. It was 12:00a.m. There was silence on the car ride there. "He heard his phone ping and he started to reach for it but Dani got to it first. "He's still in surgery." She read. Malcolm nodded. "I'm sorry." "You didn't do anything wrong." "I shot a cop!" She didn't plan to cry but a tear escaped down her cheek. She had never felt anything like this before. The guilt was too much. Malcolm went quiet at this. Then, "You didn't know. There is nothing you could have done. You were scared." She just turned and faced the window and started tracing the drops on it. Her clothes were still damp from the rain. I'm sorry.  I'm sorry. I'm sorry. She could feel herself going insane. They finally pulled up to her drive way and Malcolm walked with her as she fumbled for the keys. She felt like Malcolm. She finally found the right key and put it up to unlock the door but she couldn't get it into the hole because of how hard her hands were shaking. He gently took it from her and let them in. When they walked in she immediately went to her room and and grabbed some fresh clothes and a clean towel to shower. She turned on the hot water and walked back out to the living room where Malcolm was standing.

He was looking at his phone with a sad look. "He's gone Dani."  Her brows furrowed and her eyes lightly squinted. 

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked.

"No. Thank you. For everything."

  "I'll tell Gil you of course won't be coming in to work for awhile."

"No. Not for a long while." She said.

The look in her eyes was distant. Malcolm felt so sorry for her. He headed over to the door. All he wanted to do was make her feel ok.

"Goodnight, Dani."

"You know it won't be."

And with that he left.

She headed into her bedroom. She grabbed the coat that was covered in blood that she had immediately taken off the second she got there. She laid it carefully over the chair in the corner of her room and headed into the bathroom. She threw her body into the hot water not bothering to take off her clothes. The water soon turned to blood. She rubbed her face with her hands and started crying again. She sat down in the corner of the shower while the water ran down her body.

When she was finished she didn't bother to eat anything. She just went straight to bed.

She laid there for hours trying to fall asleep. But every time she closed her eyes she saw the face of the cop who she had killed.

I killed a cop. I killed a cop.

After what must have been hours she finally fell asleep.

Bang! Bang! His body fell over and Dani was there by his side holding him again. And then she saw the badge. "No. No. No. No. No." "No!"

She sat up panting.

This was the third time this had happened. She didn't even want to try to sleep anymore. She got up and started pacing her living room. The image came back into her head. "No! No. I can't do this anymore."

A\N: I really hope you guys enjoyed! If you did then please go comment and vote! Constructive criticism is always appreciated along with any other story ideas! I also have some one shots out right now! Thanks for reading! :)