Disclaimer: NOTHING! I hope my boy Anthony tracks me down with nothing but an email… maybe he'll give me a job…

Plot: Danny's gang days come back to haunt him when they put Aiden in danger.

Pairings: wo0t wo0t go DnA! Maybe a little m/s too, in later chapters…

A/n: Post "Tanglewood," maybe a little AU. I know I'm late, but I just saw tanglewood YESTERDAY… tear I can't believe I missed Carmine for so long… Oh yeah, and LINDSEY NEVER HAPPENED! MUH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA! There. Now that that's out of my system…

Danny Messer walked briskly through the C.S.I building, his footsteps making a dull thud. His bright blue eyes darted around, searching desperately. He was concentrating hard. He was on a mission.

Aiden Burn was a hard person to find.

He turned a corner and rammed right into a lab coat clad figure, his glasses flying. After bending down to pick them up, he looked at the person who dared make contact with him while he was so busy. Half expecting to see the dark brown curls that belonged to Aiden, he squinted up.

Damn. It was Chad.

"Sorry," Chad smirked. Funny, it didn't seem that way.

"Yeah, I'm so sure. Hey, you see Aid anywhere?"

Chad merely pointed a thumb behind himself, as if the subject bored him. "That-a way."

Danny was off and running before Chad could dejectedly mutter, "You're welcome…"

Danny found Aiden in the break room cradling a cup of coffee as if it were a child of her own. She stared at the milky contents as if they would reveal her future. She looked so tired, so excluded from the world that Danny almost didn't want to interrupt her. Almost.

Walking into the room, he startled her by yelling, "Ay! Ai-den! We got a body to process. Flack's waiting for us." He rubbed his hands together expectantly then added, somewhat impatiently, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

In response, she glared at him.

"Whoa!" he answered, hands up in a surprised gesture. He looked closer. "You look like crap."

"I feel like crap," she moaned. Sighing, she pushed away her cup of cooling dark roast and stood up, dark eyes closed.

"You're driving," was all she said before she headed out the door, shoes clicking all the way.

Danny stared on in wonder. She must really feel like crap if she was willing to let him drive without putting up a fight of any kind. Without a word, he ducked his head and followed the fierce woman he had grown to admire.

As Danny pulled up to the area surrounded by bright yellow crime scene tape, he casually cast a glance in Aiden's direction. She was absent mindedly twirling her thumbs and staring blankly into the distance, something uncommon for her; she was usually a very alert person. Heaving a sigh, he pulled into the parking lot of the Chinese restaurant, the place where the victim had taken her last breath.

Reminding Aiden that chivalry was not, in fact, dead, Danny picked up both his and Aiden's kits out of the trunk of his car. Aiden half-smiled appreciatively and they walked together towards Flack, who waited for them, a grimace on his features.

"Whadda we got?" Aiden asked, as the two drew closer to the tall black haired detective.

"419's a female, no I.D, in her early twenties, beaten to death. She was found here an hour ago by the owner of the restaurant behind me." He pointed to an Asian man talking frantically to Mac in front of a shoddy-looking dump with Wok-e-Talkie in bright red letters above a crumbling doorframe. Flack continued. "He came here this afternoon to open up and saw her. He called the cops before you can say," he paused and stared hard at his notes, "Kamikaze?"

Aiden and Danny shared a look. "Ahh, we'll take it from here Flack. Thanks," Aiden said and clapped him on the shoulder as she walked by.

Splayed in what can only be described in as an uncomfortable looking position, the victim looked on, her eyes wide open in fear. She was pretty, but would stay destroyed by the cruel beating for the rest of time. She resembled Aiden so much, it made Danny shiver. Dark bruises were forming on her neck, wrists, and upon closer inspection, her inner thighs. Her loose dark curls that resembled Aiden's were matted with blood. Her skirt was ripped in areas, and her button down shirt had been haphazardly unbuttoned. Her shoes were nowhere in sight.

"Whadda ya think?" Aiden asked, "Someone raped her, then got rid of her?" Her lips were curled up in obvious disgust.

"Sure as hell looks that way," Danny quietly answered. He too was disgusted; this case would be hard on the both of them.

Danny narrowed his eyes, taking in every feature of the woman.

He spotted an unnatural bulge protruding from the victim's cheek and squinted at it.

"Wait a minute. Open her mouth, would ya?"

With only a raise of her thin eyebrows, Aiden reached over the corpse to comply.

Taking a pair of forceps, Danny carefully pulled out a piece of paper. Giving Aiden an "I'm not crazy" look, he de-crumpled the sheet cautiously, so as not to break it, and scanned the information. His eyes grew large, and he sharply inhaled.

"Well, what is it?" Aiden asked, trying to read over Danny's shoulder. He quickly got an evidence bag, placed the piece of paper inside it and stood up.

"Finish processing," he told her, his voice firm. "I gotta go talk to Mac." With that, he was gone to find his boss.

Brows furrowed with curiosity over what Danny wouldn't share with her, Aiden turned around and started to take pictures of the grotesque scene.

"Mac?" Mac looked up to see Danny rushing forward to him, anxiety in his voice. He was waving a piece of paper and trying very hard not to look conspicuous. He was failing.

"Calm down, Danny. Slow down," He said, clearly annoyed, but Danny would have none of it. He seemed to barely notice his own surroundings.

"Mac, ya gotta read this. Now," Danny said frantically, thrusting the sheet into Mac's face.

Mac glanced at Danny, not knowing whether to be worried or irritated, then started to read the letter.

Hey Danny Boy!

How ya doing? Long time no see! I hear you're one of the boys in blue. Then I bet that you heard that a Tanglewood, Sonny Sassone, is in jail. That's not good. He gets out this month, or your partner, Aiden? Say goodbye. This whore was just a warning. Nice talking to you,

- Tanglewood
Should I continue? Review and let me know s.v.p! Also, like in everything I do, I'd like to give props to Kiki, or Awesomepossum! She's the most fantastically amazing person I have ever had the ultimate fortune to be associated with! I wish I could possibly be as amazingly talented as she! If I could be a fraction as cool as she is, I would simply die with delirium! Without her, I'm not sure who I'd use as my role model, because nobody else in the entire world can come close to her amazing radiance!11!1!one!1!
Awesomepossum did not write this last part no matter what you think

A/N: Jeez… can you tell who my editor is? Lol!

Now push on that little purple button, and make me happy 

Much love, xoxo,

Peeka. Boo?

the diving chick