Well here is my next offering! This one is a bit different...I have been too brain dead to come up with a case for the team, so I am making this more of a Danny romance-centered fic.

As usual, I don't own any of the Without A Trace characters.

The main female character in this fic is another new creation of mine...Kassia James, whom Danny fondly calls "Jimmy". Danny and Kassia dated while he was in law school (I don't know which law school he went to, so I am pretending it was in NYC) and she was a struggling actress. She broke his heart when she left him for the bright lights of Hollywood. While he worked his way up the F.B.I. ladder, Kassia became a Hollywood sensation. I'm imagining a Julia Roberts or Nicole Kidman type...famous, A-lister who can really act! Kassia has just left L.A. and returned to her hometown of New York City as this story unfolds.

One more tidbit you need to know...I've given Danny a hidden talent. Photography!

Pictures of You

Chapter One - Vultures

"Kassia! Kassia! Just one question, Kassia!"

The vultures. Now they were camped outside of her apartment building. She had seen them as soon as her car turned the corner onto the downtown Manhattan street where she had just purchased every girl's dream New York apartment. It was bad enough that they were camped out outside the studio everyday and followed her to the market and out to dinner, but now they were invading her inner sanctuary. So much for the right to privacy.

"Run them over, Clyde." Kassia muttered to her driver as he grinned at her. Navigating the car so that he wouldn't hit anyone, Clyde managed to pull up to the curb outside her building without smashing a single camera. "Great," she teased him. "Of all the driver's in New York, I had to get the one with a conscience."

Clyde turned and grinned at her. "Sorry, Ms. James. But I like my job." He glanced out the window of the car, now blocked with paparazzi trying to get a picture of her through the tinted windows. "But never fear, here comes the calvary."

Kassia looked in the same direction as Clyde and saw her doorman, Manny, and a New York City police officer making their way through the masses. Manny opened the door and poked his head into the back seat. "Welcome home, kid."

"I'm sorry, Manny." Kassia said, apologetically. "How long have they been here?"

"A few have been here sniffing around for over an hour, but the majority didn't get here until about ten minutes before you did." Seeing the worried look on her face, Manny teased, "I thought you promised to be a low maintenance tenant?"

Thankful for his teasing tone, Kassia shot back, "Manny, you work as a door man at one of the hottest new apartment buildings in lower Manhattan. If you were looking for low maintenance tenants, you should have taken a job at a Holiday Inn in New Jersey."

"And miss out on the tips I make from all the multi-millionaire residents here? Not on your life." Manny said, grinning again. "Besides, this gives me a chance to summon up the skills I used to use as a bouncer in Brooklyn." He nodded at the cop standing beside him and said, "My cousin, Luis, is here to help us out. Ready?" Manny extended his hand. Kassia took a deep breath and braced herself for the mad dash to her building's front door.

Kassia took Manny's strong hand and thought she heard Clyde say good luck as she was pulled out into the masses gathered between her and her sanctuary. "Kassia! Over here, Kassia! Just one more picture, Ms. James! C'mon gorgeous, give us that 'Come here, baby' smile that you gave to your mystery photographer!"

She saw the white hot blast of the flashbulbs and heard the repeated clicking of the camera shutters as Manny and Luis maneuvered her through the throngs of scandal hungry paparazzi into the safety of the lobby. Once they were through the main doors, Manny ushered her into a waiting elevator and out of the vulture's sight.

"You've definitely earned your money today!" Kassia said to Manny, giving him a big hug.

"I'll be expecting your thanks in small bills...tens and twenties." Manny winked at her. "My landlord might be suspicious if I started paying him with hundred dollar bills."

"Not a problem, Manny." Looking to where Luis remained outside trying to calm down the masses, Kassia said, "Thank Luis for me, too." Manny nodded and pressed the button for her penthouse. As the elevator doors closed, Kassia leaned back against the dark wood paneling and closed her eyes.

Those damn pictures.