I really sorry I haven't posted for so long. I regret to say that I don't really have any reason or excuse for the momentary hiatus. Life just got in the way. I'm sure most of you guys know (or remember) how chaotic it is near the end of the year in high school. I will also be updating my other fic, 'Nesasio Coracao' fairly soon as well. My third fic, 'They Don't Know' may remain a one shot, at least for the time being. Once I finish up with these two stories, I may continue with it.

This chapter was kind of difficult to write for me. I don't know why. I guess I'm just better at writing torture scenes.

I hope ya'll like it!

Chapter Twenty-eight

The next morning, Danny woke up in an unfamiliar place.

'This is definitely not my apartment', he told himself as he looked around the brightly decorated bedroom. Compared to his own bedroom, it was much nicer, but Danny was still worried about the fact that it wasn't his bed he was currently lying in.

"Shit." He said aloud. He was starting to get worried that Tom had found him again. He quickly scrambled off the bed, falling to the floor with a thud when he got tangled up in the covers.

"Danny?" Danny jumped at the sound of the voice.

'Oh thank God,' he thought, 'It's Lindsay. Wait… Why is Lindsay here?'

Lindsay peeked her head in through the door, "Danny, are you alright? It sounded like you fell."

"Yeah, Linds, I'm fine. Ah… what… what am I doin' here?" He honestly couldn't remember much of what had happened the night before.

"You don't remember what happened yesterday?" she asked.

Danny shook his head.

"What do you remember?"

Danny closed his eyes, trying to recall the last thing he remembered. "Uh… Me an' Mac were… talking. Then I left."

Lindsay sighed. This was going to be difficult. "Danny, yesterday, I found you trying to drown yourself in alcohol. I took you back to the lab. Mac and I got you to our office and we all… talked."

Danny gave Lindsay a suspicious look. "What did we talk about?" he asked. 'Please, God. Tell me I didn't tell them about…'

"You told us everything, Danny. You told us about Tommy and how he threatened me and… about the Thompson case."

Danny bowed his head. He didn't say anything for a few moments. The first thing that came to mind was, "How mad was Mac? Do I still even have a job?"

She was shocked by how desolate he sounded. "Danny, don't be ridiculous! Mac's only concern was you. The way you've been acting has been worrying him. And me… And everyone else too."

Danny scoffed, "Are you trying to tell me Mac wasn't mad? I mean, I destroyed evidence. That's a felony, Linds. I know Mac. There's no way he isn't pissed. I'm surprised he didn't try to shoot me. "

"Okay, he was mad," she admitted, "but… He's just frustrated. And you're not going to lose your job. None of this was your fault. Mac said that he would do his best to protect you." Lindsay walked toward the bed slowly and then sat down beside him.

"It ain't me I'm worried about, Montana." He mumbled.

Lindsay smiled, "Mac also said that I would be protected. But he won't be able to help either of us if you don't talk. You told us a lot last night, but it wasn't official. In order for to get this bastard, we'll need to set up an official interview. We'll need to tell at least a few other people. But other than that, we should be able to keep this whole ordeal under wraps."

Danny hesitated. He was restraining himself quite well, but he was actually freaking out. His mind was moving a mile a minute. He was absolutely terrified, but he felt that he should try to stay calm for Lindsay. "Like who?"

"Well," said Lindsay, thoughtfully, "we would need to inform a judge, one that you trust, at least one detective…"

"Flack." Danny said automatically.

Lindsay smiled. She knew how important their friendship was to both of them. "Okay. We'd need to tell a couple lab techs, and then… well, we'd need to tell Sinclair too."

"Damn it. Do we gotta tell him? It doesn't matter if Mac doesn't wanna fire me. Sinclair is gonna torch my ass. He already hates me for that thing with Minhas a few years back."

"Minhas?" she asked, curiously. Linsday had never been told about that incident. Danny sucked in a breath and looked away. "Danny, who's Minhas?"

Still not looking at her, Danny spoke, "Minhas was a cop…" he started.

*flashback*

Danny Messer was out of breath. He had just been knocked back into a wall by a suspect. Despite a slight head injury he was still chasing after the guy. Danny saw the man scramble down the steps and into the subway. He quickly followed suit.

'Damn,' he thought, 'this guy's fast'.

Almost as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Danny heard gunshots. Quickly pulling his firearm out of its holster, he dove for cover behind a cement pillar, yelling at the civilians to get down. Bracing his back against the pillar, Danny turned, looking for the suspect only to see him stalking towards him. He fired two shots at the perp. He heard several other shots go off as well. They guy went down.

Everything was a blur to Danny for several minutes. The adrenaline that had been rushing through his veins only moments ago was now causing his mind to fog over.

All of a sudden, he was standing next to the body- the man he'd just shot. Another uni was going through his pockets. He pulled out what looked like a wallet, but Danny felt his heart skip a beat when he realized what it really was.

It was a badge.

*end flashback*

Danny sighed loudly, still looking down, "There was this big investigation. I swear, Sinclair didn't care whether or not it had been my bullet or not. He just wanted to see me have my badge taken away."

"Was it your bullet?" asked Lindsay, hesitantly.

"No, turned out Minhas was into some shady dealings and one of his 'business associates' wasn't too happy with 'im." he lifted his head and looked Lindsay in the eye, "But even though I wasn't actually to blame for his death, I don't think Mac has really truly trusted me since then. I was cleared an' everythin', but… it all just really messed everythin' up." Despite his best efforts, Danny was unable to keep the sadness out of his voice. And Lindsay couldn't help but hear it.

"Danny, that's not true," she said, quietly, yet reassuring, "You and I both know that Mac wouldn't allow anyone on his team that he didn't trust implicitly. There may have been a rough patch there for a while, but Mac does trust you. I know that for a fact." She grabbed his hand, trying to provide some semblance of comfort. She could tell that Danny was terrified of what was going to happen next. Whether it was from Sinclair or Tom, Danny knew something was coming and Lindsay could sense his trepidation. "This is all going to work out, Danny. We're going to catch Tom and anyone else that was helping him. We're both going to come out of this okay and you're not going to get fired. Everything will be fine… You believe that, don't you?"

Danny couldn't bring himself to lie to her and say 'yes'.

"I honestly don't know Linds."

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I promise, there is more action (and torture) to come. This fic is far from over.

Please Review!