Everybody excited about "Run Silent, Run Deep"? I can't wait to watch the episode, I've already watched the promo up on at least 4-5 times. LOL. Well, you all know that my fic is slightly AU, but I'm still gonna hafta find a way to incorporate the episode's events (mostly, at least) without changing too much stuff, namely the parts where Louie Messer comes in. SIGH.

Well, before that, please enjoy this new chapter, where I indulge in a little backstory of my own. -grin-

Disclaimer: CSI: NY belongs to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Ep. references/spoilers: None, except for a brief mention of Aiden and DJ Pratt (boy, I hope they catch him soon!). This Danny backstory is my own creation.

NOTE: Please refer back to Chaps. 9 and 11…for a little foreshadowing of what's going to come. Hehe.

25: One of New York's Finest

Night had fallen, and Morgan was on her way out of the lab when she saw Stella in the break room, sipping a cup of coffee. "I'm guessing a long night is ahead of you," she said as she approached the snack machine for a chocolate bar. Stella had been working on a new case, but at the same time, trying to track down D.J. Pratt for the past couple of weeks, after it was discovered that he had surfaced again, this time causing the death of the woman he was attempting to rape.

"Does Aiden know about this?" Morgan asked.

She regularly contacted Aiden via e-mail, and the last time they talked was a few weeks ago. Aiden had recently found a job, teaching art at a school in Brooklyn. It was a big change for Aiden to say the least. "I'm still putting my skills to good use," she had said, referring to her flair in drawing portraits and facial reconstruction. "Besides, some of these kids really have the potential, and it would do them good to learn a skill, rather than to be out in the streets where they could get into trouble."

Morgan had wanted to get in touch with Aiden and tell her the news, but she felt that Stella or Danny, even Mac, would be better suited to break the news to her.

"Yeah, I told her a few brief details about the case," Stella answered.

"How did she react?" Morgan was concerned about Aiden.

"She sounded agitated when I spoke to her on the phone, but I told her not to worry. We're doing all that we can to find the bastard and this time, we'll nail him for sure," Stella said, her voice full of determination.

Just then, Morgan remembered something. She had passed Mac's office on her way out and saw him with Danny. It seemed serious, for Mac had a stern expression on his face while Danny looked upset. "Did something happen?" she asked.

Stella then explained that Danny had been working on a case with her and Mac. Everything was going well; they had even tracked down a possible suspect, and were on their way to look the guy up earlier that day. However, the suspect pulled out a gun the moment they identified themselves as cops and tried to escape. A uniformed cop managed to stop him, but got shot in the leg. Luckily, he was in no immediate danger and was in good condition at the hospital.

"So…where does Danny fit into all this?" Morgan asked, not quite getting what Stella was trying to say.

Mac and Danny managed to subdue the suspect and was putting the cuffs on him when the man began to rant that the uniformed cop wouldn't have got shot if he had just stayed out of his way, showing no remorse over what he had just done.

"That was when Danny lost his temper and gave the guy a couple of punches," Stella said. "The guy deserved it, but it was wrong of Danny to do that."

"Is he going to file a complaint against Danny?" Morgan asked.

Stella went on to explain that all the incriminating evidence in the case pointed to their suspect, and with another charge of shooting that uniformed cop, Danny was the least of his troubles. He did, however, agreed to drop the complaint if Danny apologized to him, which had yet to happen.

"I don't think that is gonna happen," Morgan said skeptically.

"Not if Mac can help it," Stella answered.

Morgan knew what she meant. Danny didn't need a complaint like that in his record, not after what had happened last year with the Minhas shooting, which had cost him a place on the promotion grid.

"Why don't you go on home first?" Stella said. "It's gonna take a while for Danny to be done."

Morgan agreed with her. She wouldn't be able to help Danny, even if she stayed behind.

"I gotta go. Don't worry, everything will turn out fine." Stella finished her coffee, threw the paper cup into the trash bin and left to finish up her work. "I guess so. See you tomorrow," said Morgan as she too, turned to leave, and quickened her steps to enter the elevator before the doors closed.

Tomorrow? Stella thought. She glanced at her digital watch and took note of the date. She turned to see if Morgan was still around, but she had already left in the elevator. "I should've known," she muttered to herself. "Tomorrow's the day…"

XXX

The next morning, Morgan arrived at work to find that Danny had yet to show up. He was already out when she got up to get ready, and assumed that he had come in early to get some work done, or he got an early callout to a crime scene somewhere. Stella came through the elevator doors at that moment and Morgan asked casually if Danny got assigned a new case, despite what had happened the night before. "No, we still have some follow-up work to do on the case," Stella said. She also added that Danny had been assigned to desk duty, per Mac's orders, for that day.

"If you're looking for Detective Messer, he called earlier to take the morning off," came a voice behind them. Morgan and Stella had been standing within earshot of the receptionist at the front desk, Amy.

"Really? Did he say why?" Morgan asked, but Amy shook her head and said Danny never gave a reason whatsoever.

"I don't think he would try to get off desk duty by coming in late, do you?" Morgan was mildly puzzled at her brother's secretive behavior, but then again, it was something that she was fairly used to. However, that day was different. Somehow, Morgan could feel that something wasn't quite right.

Stella grabbed Morgan's arm and steered her over to the locker room, where it was easier for them to talk privately.

"Is something wrong?" Morgan asked, confused.

Stella was unsure if she should be the one telling Morgan about this, but knew that if Danny had meant to let his sister know, she would've known a long time ago. What's more, five years is a long time not to talk to anyone about it. Danny shouldn't have had kept it to himself. Stella also hoped that by letting Morgan know; maybe she could help talk Danny into letting things go.

"Danny probably wouldn't want you to know this…"

Morgan wondered if the suspect from the day before was going to charge him with assault, or something to that effect. She certainly wasn't expecting what Stella was about to say.

"Five years ago, on this day, an officer of the NYPD – a patrol cop, died of multiple gunshot wounds. He was someone that Danny knew."

Morgan's mind was in a whirl. Danny had never told her anything about this, as far as she could recall, she didn't realize that there was any sign that Danny was dealing with the death of a friend. "Five years ago…" Morgan muttered, trying to think back, to see if she could remember anything. "Wasn't that the year he transferred here, to CSI?" she asked.

Stella nodded. "I personally processed the crime scene," she said. "With Danny."

Morgan was shocked. She could imagine how hard it was for Danny then, and wanted to kick herself for not realizing that her brother was going through such pain back then. What she couldn't understand was why Danny felt like he needed to keep this a secret. A lot of thoughts were going through Morgan's mind at that moment, and suddenly a dreadful thought ran through her. Could that officer's death have had something to do with Danny's past with the Tanglewood gang? That could explain why he didn't want Morgan to know about this. However, she couldn't be sure, not without asking him. She knew that even if she asked, chances are she wouldn't get any answers out of him.

Before Morgan could ask any more questions, Stella got a call from Dispatch about her case and left hurriedly.

With no one else to turn to for answers – Danny had obviously gone to visit his friend's grave, it wasn't a good day for Morgan to ask him about this – she decided to do a search on the Internet for articles pertaining to the case. Morgan sat down at the computer in the A/V Lab and did a search on shootings that occurred five years ago, on that exact date. Being New York City, there was more than one search result, and Morgan realized that she had forgotten to ask what the late officer's name was, which would have helped greatly. "Guess I'll have to look at every one of these reports," Morgan said with a sigh. Luckily, it was still early in the day, and there were no cases at hand that she needed to work on.

She had gotten started on the fifth or sixth report – she couldn't remember – when she thought she saw a familiar name.

"Cole Bryant…this name sounds familiar…" Morgan went on to scan through the news report. The headline read, "One of New York's finest killed in the line of duty, no suspects found."

As usual, the report only contained brief details that were released by the police to the media. Morgan wished she could find out more by reading the police reports on the case, but she knew she wouldn't be able to gain access to them unless someone higher up the ranks helped her out. All the report said was that Sergeant Cole Bryant had been found in a back alley, in his patrol area, with gunshot wounds to his chest and torso. He was shot with his own gun, probably a result of a scuffle with the perp, and no suspects had been identified at press time.

A picture of Cole Bryant had been published together with the report, and that was when it hit her – he was the police officer that came to her home when she was about 8 or 9 years old, informing her that Danny had been hospitalized! Morgan had had brief contact with him during Danny's hospital stay, as he had visited him a few times. Even though that had happened about 14 years ago, it left a deep impression on Morgan although it was only when she saw his picture that she recognized him.

"Hey, Morgan, I need your help with this…" said Lindsay, as she walked into the A/V Lab holding a videotape and Morgan quickly closed the browser window upon hearing her voice.

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