Title: Love Too Young

Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just the idea.
Spoilers: None
Summary: What if Danny and Lindsay knew each other in high school? What if Lindsay lived in New York and moved away? This is WAY OUT THERE so be nice.

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While processing the scene, Hawkes had found a 50 Caliber Desert Eagle trashed in a dumpster. He assumed that the suspect shot the two men, then finding everyone headed for the entrance, ran out the back, throwing the gun away in the process. Though that was only speculation, as the gun would have to be tested and ran against shell casings and the bullet lodged in suspect number 2.

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Mac sat across the table as Mr. and Mrs. Perkins looked back. Karen was crying into a Kleenex while Elliot was failing miserably in his attempts to console his wife.

"Can you tell us what Jake was doing at the Fat Cat pool hall on 7th and Bleecker?"

"I... don't... know" Mrs. Perkins wailed.

Mr. Perkins, looked at his wife then back to Detective Taylor.

"He just got his drivers license. He was out with friends celebrating."

"Do you know the names of who he was with?"

Mr. Perkins wrote the names on a note pad.

Mrs. Perkins, still sniffling, turned her attention from the sodden Kleenex she was holding to Detective Taylor

"Did he feel any pain?"

"No. I don't believe he did."

Jake's parents gave a weak smile. "That's good."

"Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, my next questions may be difficult. And will bring up past experiences that may be painful. But I assure you, they maybe necessary to find your son's killer."

"Past experiences?" Elliot Perkins questioned.

"Yes. We realized that neither of you are Jake's biological parent."

"We adopted him the day he was born." Mrs. Perkins explained.

"Have you had any communication with Jake's mother?"

"I am his mother!" Was Karen's adamant response.

"I'm sorry." Mac apologized. "With his biological mother?"

"No, it was a closed adoption. All we knew was that she was a teenager, incapable of raising a child. We on the other hand," Elliot took his wife's hand "…couldn't produce one. An adoption was the only way we were going to be able to have children."

Mac nodded. He paused a moment to make sure his next sentence was worded right.

"Do you know what alleles are?"

Both parent's shook their heads, neither sure where the line of questioning was going.

"Um, no."

"They're cells. They make up our genetics. When we're born, half our alleles are from our mother, the other half from our fathers. During our investigation, we found that Jake's alleles are a match to one of my Detectives."

Karen gasped and brought a hand to her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Are you telling me that one of your Detectives is Jake's biological parent?"

"Yes." Mac stated

Karen still in shock stuttered when she spoke.

"D..do..do they know?"

"Yes. But he has been taken off the investigation." Mac explained.

"Is he here? ...I mean, has he seen Jake?"

"Yes, he was the first on the scene."

Karen and Elliot sat in silence.

"If it's ok with you, I'd like you to talk to him. He didn't know he had a child, and has some questions."

"Oh." Karen sounded uncertain. But agreed.

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Just on the other side of the door, Mac stood with a nerved wracked Danny. Never in his life had he expected the events that had been occurring.

"Danny, are you sure about this?" Mac asked in concern. He knew Danny was probably not up for what he might find out, and if he found out, there would be know way to turn back.

Danny swallowed a lump that had formed since the first sight of the people who had raised his son for sixteen years.

"Yeah, I have to do this."

"Ok. Bring Mr. and Mrs. Perkins to my office when you're done." Mac smiled with a pat on Danny's shoulder.

Danny nodded and opened the door to be met with a gasp and a 'My God!'

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Apparently, Elliot and Karen Perkins were almost as clueless about the adoption as Danny.

All they could tell him was that the adoption was arranged three months before birth and the mother was an eighteen year old in Bozeman Montana.

Bozeman? Danny had initially wondered as to why Bozeman, but then remembered that Lindsay had family there, and she had longed to visit. She had loved the clear blue sky and the rocky mountain escarpment.

As the questioning rolled along, Danny began to feel more connected to his son. Evidently, though they may have been separated, they weren't that different. Jake not only was the spitting image of his father, but personality wise too. They both were very much into sports, Jake being the Captain of his high school's Baseball team, and Right Wing for the Football team. He was an average student, though one of the best in science and math, and gifted in the Arts.

He was also incredibly wise for his age. At 11, he had figured it out that he was adopted, and began questioning his parent's on the 'who', 'where', 'why' of it all. Though many of his questions couldn't be answered, he wasn't perturbed by it. He understood why people put children up for adoptions, and he held no resentment towards his birth parent's. He was just more of curious than angered.

After some time, Mrs. Perkins pulled a picture from her purse. It looked to be Jacob as a newborn. Danny couldn't help but see the resemblance of himself as a baby. The dark hair that lightens with age, the blue eyes that all Messer men have, the smile that his father gave him. It was like looking at himself. Danny was sure that if he took out a picture of himself at that age, one would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

After the questioning, Danny did as Mac asked and brought Mr. and Mrs. Perkins to his office. Although they insisted, Danny declined the offer to view the body alongside the parent's. This would be hard enough without him there.

Instead he opted to wait till the parent's were done for his turn. He had already seen the body of his unknown son a day prior, but didn't get much time to study him as he was processing the alleyway behind the Fat Cat.

Now he was looking Jake Perkins in the face. Identical facial features and build waited. They might as well have 'father and son' written cross their foreheads in permanent marker. The resemblance was uncanny.

Although he knew he should feel something, Danny shocked himself by feeling no negative emotion towards the body before him. He knew he should be sad, angry, hysterical, and remorseful, but he felt rather unaffected. Just satisfied to stare at the boy. Unanswered questions and random thoughts drifted through his mind, but other than that, he just sat and stared. He knew once it sank in that he was going to let it all out, but for some reason unknown to him, that wasn't now.

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Author's Note: I have no idea how adoptions work, so just go with it.