Caged

I took yours, I'll take mine

A\N: Hey, guys! I hope you enjoy but please beware! There is a TRIGGER WARNING!: This chapter contains depictions of attempted suicide.

Dani looked up at the clock on the wall. It was already 7:00 a.m. and she hadn't even realized.

She walked into her room with the same thought in her head. I can't do this anymore. She went to the chair where she had set her coat. She rummaged inside the right pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills.

They were Malcolm's.

She had slipped them off of him when they were sitting in the middle of the hospital. She felt guilty because he was being so kind to her when she didn't deserve it. It was Benzodiazepines. She poured all of the pills onto her dresser. It was a full bottle. What was she doing? She couldn't do this. She would be betraying his trust. Gil's. Malcolm's. JT's. What would they think when they found her body?

Malcolm woke up yelling with tears and sweat covering his shirt. It was 6:30a.m. He decided he wasn't going to try to go back to sleep. So he got changed and went straight to work. Gil was already there. Or maybe he had been there all night. That was what it looked like. Malcolm walked over to his desk ready to do some paperwork. But he couldn't stop thinking about Dani. He knew she had said she wasn't going to be coming in for a long time but he was already worried. He reached his hand into pocket to get his meds. He had forgotten or maybe he just didn't bother to take them earlier. It wasn't there. What? I know I left them right here. He tried to back track to remember when he last saw them. Last night when I was at the hospital, when I took Dani home, when- "Sh**!" JT looked over his desk. "What?" "Do you think the lab will have flumazenil?" "I'm sorry what?" "I don't have time James! Just tell me. Do you think they will have flumazenil?" "Yes, but Bright why-" It was too late he was already out the door.

"Adrissa, hey!" "Oh, hi Bright! What a pleasant sur-" "Adrissa I need flumazenil. Now!" "Oh!" Seeing the urgent look on his face she pointed to a locked glass cupboard and threw him the key. He rushed over and struggling as result of the shaking of his hands opened it and grabbed the bottle knocking multiple other bottles to the floor as they broke open with a crash. "Sorry!"

Malcolm drove like a maniac. He broke the speed limit and crossed through red lights nearly missing other cars. But he didn't care. He had to find Dani.

When he pulled up he rattled the door knob and found it locked. "Dani! Dani!" He checked under the mat and thankfully found a key. He opened the door bursting into her house. "Dani!?" he yelled. He checked the bathroom still calling her name then he checked the kitchen and finally went to her room. There she was her head was on her knees which were held tight against her body. Her hand was laying next to her in a fist clenching something. "Ohhhh." Malcolm let out a huge sigh closing his eyes for a minute to let his heart rate slow down. He approached her carefully as if she would break at the sound of his footsteps. He sat down next to her. "Dani." He whispered quietly. He opened her palm and some of the pills fell onto the floor. She lifted her head. Sobbing she said "I couldn't. I couldn't do it Malcolm." She buried her face in his chest laying on him and sobbing into his clothes. "I-I couldn't do it. I couldn't do iiiit." "Shhh. Your okay I'm here now, Dani. Your okay." He brushed his hands through her hair trying to calm her down. He didn't know what else to do. He pushed the rest of the pills off her sweaty palm and onto the floor kicking them away as if they would kill her if they were even close enough. "Your okay." Malcolm sighed. He felt so relieved. After a couple of minutes Dani's breath had slowed down and she seemed to have cried herself to sleep so Malcolm just stayed there trying to keep himself awake while he held her tight. "I'm so sorry." He whispered rubbing her arm. "I should have known. I should have stayed. I should have kept them away from you." He felt so much guilt and regret. I'm so sorry.

A couple of hours had passed and Dani finally started to wake up. She groaned as she sat up taking in her surroundings. She looked over at Malcolm who was just quietly sitting by and watching her carefully. "Your a good person." She blurted out. "Not really." She leaned back against the wall. She let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry. I should have never taken that bottle. I don't what I was thinking." "I do. I've thought it since I was little." She cringed. "Guess you've probably got a bottle for that too then." He laughed. "Probably." She started to stand and Malcolm quickly did the same. "Oh no. Your never gonna leave me alone now." She said exiting the room. "Why didn't you do it?" "Because of you." He stopped in his tracks for a minute. "And Gil and JT. Etc." "Right." "Do we have to-" She started to say but was interrupted by the sound of someone bursting in the front door. "Clear!" They heard someone yell. Malcolm jumped up on his feet from the chair he had sat in when someone opened the door and pointing a gun in the room yelled "They're in here! Dani Powell." He said as he approached Dani with hand cuffs. "Your under arrest for the murder of Micheal Hardler. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in the court of law." So this is what Gil had been doing up all night. "What the h**l!? Malcolm why are they doing this? Did you know?" Gil walked in the room and Malcolm resisted the urge to lunge at him. "Gil what the h*** is going on!?" "I'm really sorry Malcolm. I tried to find evidence, anything. But there is nothing. And you said you got there after she shot him. There is nothing I could do." Malcolm shook his head. "No, Gil you know she didn't purposely kill him. What about the cameras?" "Disabled 3 hours before." Malcolm sighed. Of course they were. No. This. Isn't. Good. They brought Dani to the car outside and Malcolm walked out the door just in time to see them putting her in. She looked scared and confused. He pursed his lips. Someone was framing her.

Back at the station Gil explained to Malcolm everything that had happened. "So of course Dani had no idea he was a cop. She was confused and didn't understand what was happening. But from the footage inside the gas station we saw that Michael was telling the man with the gun to put his hands up. Not you. Which will make it harder for the court to believe that she didn't set this all us so she could kill him. Then when they suddenly just left the gas station it was because he had been scared of Michael and when he ran Michael chased after him. So they weren't both running away together. So then I got a call saying it looked fishy and people were wanting to see the footage from behind the store where she shot him. But when we went to look there was none. Which is very convient that it had been disabled by somebody earlier and too big of a coincidence for NYPD. Now there is no evidence proving that she shot him in self defence. Which means, Malcolm, she's being framed. Someone meant for him to die and they set Dani up. If we don't find who did this she could go to jail." Malcolm had patiently sat there thinking it all through while he explained. "Okay. Where do we start?" "Interrogation." "What?" "She is a suspect, Malcolm." "But you know she didn't do it." "It doesn't matter what we think."

Malcolm tried to convince Gil to let him sit in the interrogation but he told him he could only listen behind the glass because this was too personal. Malcolm stood watching Dani as she sat in the chair all by herself. He waited for Gil to walk in. The door opened and Gil came in the room. "Oh, Gil thank God. What the heck is going on? Where's Malcolm?" Gil stayed quiet. Malcolm couldn't bear to see how he was treating her like every other criminal. She hadn't done anything wrong. But she was clever so she played along. "No. Your right. This is to personal for him. But he's never taken no for an answer." She said looking directly at Malcolm through the glass as if she could really see him. "Where were you on November 23rd around 7:30p.m.?" "I'm pretty sure you already know that." "Dani, I don't want to do this so please just cooperate so we can both get this over with." There voices faded as Malcolm closed his eyes and tried to picture himself back at the gas station that night. "Malcolm. Malcolm." "Huh?" It was Gil. He had apparently finished. You know I have to question you and get a statement." "Yeah. Yeah. I know. This whole thing is a mess Gil. We both know she didn't do it and 30 minutes ago she attempted suicide. She clearly feels an immense amount of guilt for what she did and it's not just that. This is Dani." "I know. But there is nothing I can do. The evidence pointing to her is so strong if I didn't know her I would be fully convinced she had planned this. And-. Wait. What did you just say?" "Oh. Um, maybe for another time?" He tried. "Spill."

A\N: Hope you enjoyed! :) Thanks for reading! Please vote and comment!