A/N: So this is my very first CSI:NY fic. For the longest time, I never knew this section was on here. I do now, and all that's been wracking my brain for the past week or so is starting this story. I do not own CSI:NY, nor do I own any of their characters, specifically Don Flack, Jr., Danny Messer or Lindsay Monroe. I do, however, own Jenessa Vaughn and the rest of the Vaughn family. I will be using some newer and older cases in this story. I may even make some up.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY or any of their characters. I do however own the Vaughn family and more specifically Jenessa Eve Vaughn.

Home is Where the Heart Is.

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Change will come
Change is here
Love fades out
Then love appears

Now my waters turned to wine
And these thoughts I have
I now claim as mine
I'm coming home

Reunion -- Collective Soul

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12 Months Earlier

Loud music could be heard anywhere and everywhere in the spacious ballroom of the Omni Parker Hotel in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. A blushing bride and her groom were casually making the rounds to greet friends and family. Bridesmaids dressed in different shades of pink and groomsmen in black and white with a pink flower pinned to the lapels were living it up on the dance floor.

"Is that Danny Messer?"

The thick Boston accent didn't surprise him, nor did the laugh in her voice. Since moving away from Staten Island sixteen years earlier, the accent was something that came with her new territory. However, when Danny turned around, just the sight of the petite blonde was enough to take the air from his lungs. "Jen, you look amazing."

Red tainted her cheeks as she slowly moved towards the New York CSI. "Thank you," she offered simply, a gentle smile gracing her lips and her bright blue eyes twinkling. "You clean up nicely, Danny." Gesturing to the young child in her arms, Jen's vibrant eyes left his to look at the six month old. "Wanna hold Adele?"

"Kat's daughter, right?" Jen nodded. Danny held his arms out for the little girl in a pale pink dress, adorned with a white sash and bowtie across the waist. The young blonde handed the baby girl to Danny, who cradled her right away, a smile playing across his features. "So," he started, and tore his gaze from the baby, "how you holdin' up, J?"

She shrugged. "I love it in Boston, you know that," he nodded. "But sometimes, I just want to get the hell out of here. It's just the same shit, different day." Danny nodded again before returning his attention to the moving child in his arms. "What about you? How's New York?"

"I still love being there. The cases," he started, letting a sigh escape his lips. "some of them are from so far in right field, but those usually end up being the best."

Jen nodded. "Here, it's like, a huge majority of the homicide cases I work on are all the same. Some drug deal that went wrong and someone ended up dead."

Taking a glass of champagne from the waiter walking by them, the blonde shrugged. Danny pointed to a set of empty seats at a close table. The two headed over there, Adele still in Danny's arms, playing with the chain around his neck. "Have you been thinking about getting out of there?"

Vibrant blue eyes glanced at the older man quickly, as pink lips pursed together. "Yes and no. My family's here," she started, before placing a hand on Danny's knee. "Well, most of my family. I don't want to think about how hard it'll be if I decide to move away. I'm an aunt to nine kids, all of whom have seen me at least once a week since they were born."

"Maybe it's time for a change. Somethin' for you, J."

Moving her hand from Danny's knee to her niece's back, she shrugged. "I need a change of scenery. I just don't know where to go," she said, her eyes leaving the twosome in front of her to watch the married couple.

"Our crime lab has an opening." Her head flipped back in his direction, her eyes showing the confusion she was experiencing. "Think of it, J. How awesome would it be for the two of us to work together?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, Danny. I wasn't really thinking New York City. I was hoping for somethin' a little more quiet."

"In our line of work, J, quiet is boring." Again, the blonde pursed her lips and placed her hands in her lap. "Mac isn't looking to fill the spot right away. Just promise me you'll take some time to really think about this."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Jen slowly nodded. "Yeah, I can do that for ya, D."

Eyeing the blonde in front of him, Danny pursed his lips, a trait that the two were identical in doing. "Jenessa, please. Just give us 'ole New Yorkers a chance. It's a way for you to get back to your roots."

"Danny, I moved here when I was ten. Sixteen years can change a lot of people. I barely remember our old neighborhood."

"I'll take ya back there, J. That is if I can get ya to come to NYC to meet the people I work with." She nodded and turned her attention back to Adele. The baby reached out for her aunt who quickly took her and cuddled Adele into her chest. "I know my folks miss you - all of you. Maybe we can get some family reunion goin' on in the next year."

A smile crossed the blonde's face. "That'd be awesome. Except now, it won't be just me and my two sisters and three brothers. They're all either married or engaged with kids. We'll have to see, Danny." The Staten Island native nodded and watched his cousin with her niece.

At twenty-six, Jenessa Vaughn lived for her job. A job in a city that never truly respected her. She was one of the first female Second Grade Detective Investigators in the Boston Crime Lab. However, the men she worked with barely acknowledged her for the first few years of working along side of them.

That was until she fought to find which one of them worked with a well-known drug dealer and caught the wrong side of her stiletto heeled boot -- with his face. Since then, the men she worked with knew not to piss the Staten Island born blonde off or else they could face the same fate as their friend.

But she was the youngest of six children for Gary and Sophia (Messer) Vaughn. And the only one that was not involved in a relationship at the moment. Her oldest brother, Brody, married his high school sweetheart, Caitlin, eight years ago and had four children; Deirdre, Collin, Brett, and Alexa. The oldest of the three girls in the family, Rochelle married a co-worker, Charles Frost, almost four years ago. The two had two daughters, Sydney and Daniela.

Seven and a half years ago, Jen's middle brother, Caleb married Melina, the mother of his two children, Marisol and Logan. Just six months ago, the middle Vaughn daughter, Katina, gave birth to Adele Kate, and had since started planning her July 2010 wedding to her boyfriend of seven years, Andrew Forrest.

And today, Jenessa acted as one of the four bridesmaids for the youngest Vaughn son, Mason and his bride, Lana.

Deep down, Danny Messer knew Jen wanted a big wedding - something she would joke about with her favorite cousin over the years they spent living two houses away from each other in Staten Island.

Throughout her life, Jenessa was always the tomboy. While Rochelle and Katina were glorified girly-girls, their younger sister never really caught on. She would always be found outside playing football or kickball with her brothers and cousins, Danny and Louie Messer. Even the job she did now wasn't one for people like her sisters, with all of the blood and gore she saw on a day-to-day basis.

But as much as Danny appreciated the light pink floor length gown she sported as part of the bridal party, he knew deep down she couldn't wait to rip the dress off and toss on a sweatshirt and jeans -- as well as her traditional heeled boot.

"Auntie Jen!" Knowing exactly whose tiny voice it was calling her, she offered the almost asleep child to Danny, who graciously accepted Adele. Jen turned towards the three year old running towards her, and held her arms out. "Auntie Jen!"

Marisol Grace bounded into her aunt's awaiting arms and clung close to her. "What's up pumpkin?"

"I'm tired."

Jen smiled and glanced towards her cousin, who was focused on getting the six month old in his arms to sleep. The blonde slid the little girl with bouncing brown curls onto her lap, leading the small head to rest against her chest. "Can you say hi to Auntie Jen and Daddy's cousin, Danny?" Danny looked up and saw Marisol quickly wave to him, to which he responded to with a wave of his own.

"When's bedtime?"

The young girl glanced through thick eyelashes to her aunt, who pursed her lips and shrugged. Flattening the bottom of the girl's dress, Jen held onto her to make sure she wouldn't slip off of her lap. "Not too much longer, Miss Marisol. Momma has to get you and Logan to bed soon, so don't worry."

"Really soon?" the young girl asked, causing a laugh to escape Jen's lips.

"Yeah, pumpkin. Soon. Momma and Daddy are probably saying goodbye to Uncle Aiden and Aunt Lana now."

Marisol accepted the answer and began to lazily run her small fingers up and down her aunt's arm. "You're awesome with kids, J."

Glancing up at Danny as her short bangs fell in front of her right eye, Jenessa gleamed. The blonde couldn't wait to have kids. But with her job and short fallings with relationships, she was content with being an aunt to nine children ranging from seven years to six months.

"Such a natural."

Jen couldn't help the smile on her face. If it could get any bigger, it definitely would have. Of all things Jen loved to hear, it was always how well she handled her nieces and nephews. Granted, she had quite a few years of training, seeing as though her oldest niece, Deirdre, would be turning seven in just two weeks. But Jen had only been nineteen at the time. "Thanks, D." He answered with a nod and a simple smile. "How 'bout after the kids head out to bed, you and I go to a local bar?"

"With you dressed like that?"

Letting out a laugh, Jen shook her head. "Hell no. I only wore pink to make Lana happy." Tucking her bangs back behind her ear, she shrugged, taking a moment to turn away from Danny. "And speaking of the happy couple," she stated loud enough for the newly married couple to reach the table. Danny and the youngest Vaughn son, Mason, shook hands since the CSI was still holding the baby.

Mason introduced Danny and Lana before taking seats at the table. "It's good to see you, Danny."

"Yeah, you too, Mase," he replied, using the nickname that was very common around the Vaughn house in Staten Island. "And congratulations."

"Thank you," Lana stated simply.

Turning her attention from the three year old taking up residence on her lap, Jen licked her lips. "Are you guys heading out soon?"

Her brother nodded. "Yeah. Going to go spend our first night together."

"You mean as a married couple," Jen said, winking in her brother's direction. "You can't be in this family and actually take Mom and Dad's word about no sex before marriage seriously, Mase."

The siblings laughed together, Mason nodding. "Well," Lana started, as red rose in her cheeks, "we're on our way out. We just wanted to stop over and say hi." The bride placed a soft hand to Jen's arm. "And thank you. For everything you did to help me with this wedding."

Jen opened her mouth to say something, as her brother shook his head. "We mean it, Jenna." With the blonde, it was strictly Jen or Jenna. Maybe even Jenessa if she felt kind enough to allow it. But Jenny was never accepted. "And this is to show our thanks."

He handed her a simple black box. Once opened, Jen gasped at the simple silver chain adorned with two circles, one in diamonds and a smaller one in the middle in black diamonds. "Guys, you definitely didn't have to do this."

"We wanted to, Jen," Lana replied, a smile settling on her face. "I.. We couldn't have done this without you. And to help us out as much as you did with how stressful and busy your job is, this is just a small bit of the appreciation we have."

Being careful of Marisol on her lap, Jen gave her new sister-in-law a hug. "Thank you. It's gorgeous. Although that speech you had about me last night would have been good enough. It's been a while since I've laughed that hard."

The previous night, Mason and Lana gave a speech at their rehearsal dinner to thank their friends and family, most importantly their bridal party. However, they made sure of tossing in a few jokes at the expense of their brothers and sisters, knowing too well what would have happened at the wedding reception once the oldest Vaughn, Brody and Lana's younger sister, Eliza got on the microphone.

"Well, we're heading upstairs. We'll see you next week, Jenna." The blonde nodded in response to her brother before giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Once the married couple was out of earshot, Danny shot his cousin a confused glance. "Mason made it a priority of reminding everyone about how well I drink. Especially the night I graduated from the academy."

"I remember that night too fondly," Danny added with a laugh. "You were so trashed, J." This caused Jen to laugh as well. "Mason, Caleb and I had a bet on whether or not you'd get arrested for a D&D."

"I probably would have if it wasn't for the fact that my father is one of the top ranked police officers in Boston."

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After reminiscing for another half an hour or so, Jen found herself in her hotel room fresh out of the shower and getting dressed to go out and get a few drinks with Danny. When she met him in the lobby ten minutes later with miniscule make-up, her damp hair in a ponytail tucked beneath a dark grey Ed Hardy cap, she was dressed in a black zip up hooded sweatshirt with B.P.D. written across the back, a pair of form-fitting dark blue jeans slipped into a pair of black suede knee high boots with a three inch stiletto heel.

"Ready, Danny?"

"To go out drinking? Always."

Once the two were situated at a bar in downtown Boston, watching the Boston Bruins game, drinking beer and eating peanuts, things seemed to mellow out. Though it had been four years since the two had really gotten a chance to hang out -- at yet another Vaughn child's wedding -- things were the same as they had always been.

For some reason when they were growing up, Danny and Jen had been the closest cousins. Danny would always get picked on for being best friends with a girl, but those kids who would make fun of him would change their minds after a swift ass kicking from Jenessa herself.

The blonde rid herself of her hat by placing it in her purple and black Dooney and Bourke linear edition Large Nikki bag. She shook her hair out of the elastic, only to throw it back up in a messy bun higher up on her head.

Excusing herself from a conversation -- though it had slowed down while watching the game on the flat screen in front of them -- to talk to a colleague who had just showed up, Danny turned to watch Jen for a moment. The way she held herself so professionally around the 6'2" blonde man -- whom she introduced at Doug Hanover -- while still letting go of some of her bounds that she held in at the precinct was astonishing to Danny.

The girl he grew up with, and spent many a weekend hanging out with even after her move to Lexington, Massachusetts, was known for spewing sexual innuendos and her quick tongue. But seeing her with a guy she worked with, she held herself together. There was a bit of the old Jenessa that Danny knew better than anybody else and the newer Jen that came from working in the Boston Crime Lab.

What really caught his eye was the ink on the back of her neck. When Doug walked away with a 'see you tomorrow, kiddo', Jen turned back to Danny and rolled her eyes. "I had to be nice. I can barely stand the guy, but I pushed my pride aside."

Danny smiled and found the Jen he knew and loved in front of him again. Granted, she had grown up quite a bit since both of their careers took over their lives and cut down Danny/Jen time. But to see the girl he grew up with flowing from her was so welcoming. "I see you have some new ink."

Jen smiled and nodded. "My twenty-third birthday present."

"How many do you have now?"

Taking a moment to think, Jen bit down on her lower lip a bit. "Four. That one, the sparrow on my foot from my high school graduation and eighteenth birthday." Turning away from Danny, she raised the back of her sweatshirt to show off the black script of 'del male non fare e paura non avere'. "That was the one I got after I graduated from the academy."

"Italian?" he asked, leading to a nod from the blonde. "What's the meaning of that?"

Jen smirked and pulled her sweatshirt back down. "Do not harm and have no fear." Facing Danny again, she rolled up the left wrist of her sweatshirt. Avere Fiducia. "Have faith."

Danny pursed his lips before asking, "Did you get that after the shooting?" Jen slowly nodded before grabbing her bottle of Guinness and placing it to her lips. As she felt the liquid slide down her throat, she fought off images of May 23rd, 2007. A single .22 gunshot to her right clavicle left her inactive from duty for six months, three of which she spent pushing papers at her desk. "How are you doing after that?"

"Let's not ruin the mood to talk about that," she offered, a simple smile on her lips. She then called over the bartender to order another round for the twosome before turning back to the Bruin's game.

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