Tanglewood Black Police Blue
Written by Alekat
Rating: T
Pairing: Danny/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters but I did take some creative liberty with them and I created a few new characters of my own.
Spoilers: TanglewoodSummary: It's a continuation of the ep.
Author's Note: This fan fic has been posted to the CSI NY Fan Fic yahoo group so I'm sorry if you receive it twice. A friend told me I should post my earlier stories here so I'm doing that to share with those of you who want to read. I have never been to NYC so my apologies if I got the names of anything wrong; it was not my intent. There are several things inside the story that I did extensive research on but if I happened to mix anything up please forgive me. I'm not a police officer but I did run this story by my friend who is a Chief of Police. He thought I did okay with the police stuff so take it easy on my first writing of CSI NY. Thank you to my friend and beta, Miss Nit Picky, for an exceptional job at cleaning up my mess that I like to call writing…
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Aiden Burn walked casually down the labyrinth of glass hallways that led through the Crime Lab in the downtown police headquarters building. She had time this morning for a leisurely walk to the labs. Usually she was strolling in at the last second but this morning she was in an unusually good mood and somewhat on time for work, for a change.
She guessed it had something to do with the birds chirping and the sun shining down on the city this beautiful spring morning. She sighed and continued her walk through the station house.
As she made her way toward the locker room she noticed the somber faces of her co-workers and wondered what the problem was. She had not heard any news this morning so she wondered by all the long faces she was seeing if an officer had been killed. She said a silent prayer that that was not the case.
Aiden saw Stella Bonasera walk out of Mac's office and called out to her.
Stella turned and looked at Aiden, "Aiden," Stella paused as if Aiden had disturbed her train of thought then said, distractedly, "Good morning."
Aiden noticed that Bonasera's usually cheery greeting was more like a flat monotone. "What's with all the long faces around here this morning?"
Before Stella could answer Aiden's question, Mac stormed out of his office and said, gruffly, "Let's go ladies. We're on the investigation."
Stella and Aiden did not question Mac but simply followed. The curiosity that allowed her to be a good crime scene investigator caused Aiden to want to know what was going on so she asked Stella, "What investigation?"
Stella shook her head as they followed Mac and said, "There's been a murder in Danny's apartment."
"Danny's apartment!" Aiden's voice rose just an octave too high for the calm façade she was exhibiting. "Is Danny okay? Who called it in?"
"He's okay, he made the call. Come on, I'll explain it in the car." Stella told her as they rushed to catch up with Mac who had already disappeared out of the building.
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The crime scene tape was lifted for the three investigators as they made their way through a crowd of on-lookers and reporters from several local newspapers as well as a couple of TV cameras from the local new stations.
"Detective Taylor," A reporter called out as they made their way through the crowd, "Just one question. Can you tell us if the reports are true that one of your CSIs has been arrested for murder?"
Mac held his head high and kept walking ignoring the reporters firing questions at his retreating back. Aiden, however, did not as one reporter asked, "Is Danny Messer really a member of the Tanglewood Boys? How could NYPD let a gang member become an officer? I say we should call for an investigation into all his cases."
Aiden stopped in her tracks, a spring breeze blowing her hair across her face making her all the angrier. She swiped her hair back behind her ears and took two steps to her right and leaned close to the reporter who had asked the offending question causing him to bristle and hold his ground. Her fists closed at her sides as she ground out through clenched teeth, "Danny Messer has one of the cleanest and clearest arrest records on the force. Why don't you go talk trash about the real criminals?"
Stella caught Aiden by the upper arm and pulled her toward the crime scene, giving the offending reporter a chilly look that said he should clear out or face the wrath of the entire NYPD, "Come on Aiden. We've got work to do if we're going to clear Danny's name."
The reporter held his hands up in defense of the look and mumbled something incoherent about New York City's finest as the pair headed inside the brownstone apartment building that was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. They found Mac standing stock still in the middle of the foyer next to Detective Don Flack. Flack was reading his notes to Mac who was intently studying the body of a woman laying across a once white sofa that was now forever stained red from the blood that had seeped into the fabric. The sofa was in the living room just off the foyer to the left as they walked in and both women stopped in their tracks when they saw the victim.
In weeks to come, the four would come to remember the sight of that woman laid at a slanted angle across the arm and back of the sofa as if she had fallen backward and Danny walking into view from behind the sofa with his hands cuffed behind him and what looked like a bloody handprint across the front of his white tank tee shirt. He was wearing his glasses but his spiked hair told his friends that he had just gotten out of bed a short time ago. Each would have their own thoughts of whether he did it or not but those thoughts would be kept to themselves never to be given a breath of air.
Danny watched the looks of shocked disbelief and disappointment spread over his friends' faces. The four looking at him were those whose opinions meant the most. He didn't know how he would ever make it through this if they didn't believe in him. If they thought he really did this. As the officer led him past them, he stopped next to Mac and said quietly in a pleading tone, "Mac, You have to believe me when I say I didn't do it. I woke up and found her. I called it in Mac. I didn't touch anything. I haven't even checked her pulse."
Mac looked at the victim then back down at his subordinate, bare footed looking like he had just spent a night in the drunk tank since his five o'clock shadow was more like a couple of days shadow. "Danny, the evidence will tell the tale." Danny visibly shivered at the cool tone in Mac's voice.
"Mac, I swear I didn't do it." Danny told him once again then looked at Stella and Aiden, "I didn't do it. Stella, Aiden, you have to believe me." Both women wanted to believe him with all that they were but it was hard to look at him and see the blood and the victim and not think that maybe just maybe they did not know as much about their co-worker as they thought they did.
The officer pulled Danny to follow him but Mac spoke stopping them, "Officer, before you take him away, we need to process the scene and Officer Messer is wearing part of the scene."
Officer Mike Hannigan did not want to have to arrest a fellow officer but had a job to do, "Sir, he needs to be taken to Central Booking."
Flack stepped close to the officer and said, "I'll take it from here Officer Hannigan. I'll be responsible for the prisoner. Has he been read his rights?"
"Yes sir," Officer Hannigan told Flack and relinquished his hold on Danny's bare upper arm.
"Officer Hannigan," Flack pulled the officer to the side and said, "You just made a rookie mistake."
"Mistake, sir?" Hannigan questioned, a ripple of fear coursed through his entire body as Detective Flack leveled a cold blue steel gaze on him.
"It's a courtesy to cuff a senior officer or an official in the front so that they may cover the cuffs with a jacket. Since Officer Messer called the crime in, it can be assumed that he did not pose a threat and was willing to go peacefully." Flack was leaning close to the other officer speaking in a near whisper so the reprimand could be kept between the two of them. Flack had been a rookie once still wet behind the ears when he got his first DOA call. He remembered how it felt to be first on the scene.
Danny was subdued and quiet as the officer and detective discussed his situation. He kept his head down and wished that he could start this day over again.
Flack turned to Mac and said, "Okay, he's all yours."
