Disclaimer: CSI I do not own, so now I think I will go home. Lest you refuse to leave me alone, I say it again - CSI I do not own.

Note: To all my readers, you rock! Thanks a bunch for reading and commenting. I'm glad you're enjoying this. If the next chapters are slow to come, it's because I'm trying to work out just how I want this to end. (I know how it's going to end, I just need to make it more interesting.)

CSI NY

Part Two: Ch. 8

It was a pain in the butt driving with one arm, and Danny still had a ways to go. He finally gave up and at the next light took the time to remove the sling. He didn't really need it after all except to prevent himself from whacking his arm into something. He would put it back on when he arrived.

It had taken a lot of talking to convince Mac to allow Danny to retrieve his own car. But then it had taken a lot of talk to convince Mac to let him do this at all. It was a precarious situation, one that forced Danny to remain tight-lipped about most of it. All he could tell Mac about the man named Tennessee was that he was an old friend, one Danny still kept in touch with, and one that 'knew a thing or two.'

Mac, in turn, was wary and of course wanted to know more. But Danny, though loathing at having to do so, kept quiet. He hated this, having to keep secrets, having to hide so much, but there was too much at stake for him to do otherwise. He tried to explain this to Mac as best he could, all while staring vacantly at a plate of untouched pizza the medication would not allow him to eat, so his words had little affect.

What finally changed Mac's mind was the news that the cops were rounding up Bruno's cronies and closing in on Bruno himself. Having them in custody would not last for long, however, since the only thing they had on them was Danny's word, something that would not hold up in court without concrete evidence. They didn't have much time.

So, after calling in a little back up and having Danny's car checked over more than once, Mac reluctantly let Danny seek out this phantom friend of his.

Danny had to smile thinking back on Mac's choice of words. No other word could describe Tennessee more correctly. He was a straight-up southerner, originating from Texas but having lived in just about every southern state possible. In the years he had known Tennessee, Danny had never learned why it was the old man had come to New York. Like Danny, he leaned toward keeping the past buried only in his mind, and only hinted at things in a way that let people know he wasn't talking about it any further. Whenever Danny had asked, Tennessee would respond the same way "bad things happen, and I don't like stickin' around for it."

Back during Danny's "unsavory" days when running with the Tanglewood gang, Tennessee had been a mole. Not a mole planted by the police, but a mole from some rival conglomeration unknown even to this day. Tennessee could have been working for anyone, and was so skilled at what he did that there was no way of finding out for certain.

In truth, Danny always believed that Tennessee had worked for himself. His way involved buddying up to several members of a certain gang, gaining their trust, opening them up, and scrounging every last speck of info he could from them. He would take anything, from who the real ringleader was to which member was cheating on his girlfriend. He would then sell useful information for a price. One might think the occupation a hazardous one since snitches rarely survive long in a gang. The fact was, Tennessee was totally immune, and he knew it. Gangs practically kill for info about another gang, but Tennessee's method was cheaper and less messy. Besides, most of what Tennessee learned was harmless, stuff to be used to cause trouble for a rival. The big stuff he kept to himself, because he refused to be responsible for bloodshed. He liked watching people squirm, not writhe in agony as he once put it.

All this Danny knew of because Tennessee did have one weakness, and that was to brag. But Tennessee had trusted Danny because Danny, punk kid that he had been, had been respectful to Tennessee. He had liked the man's accent, and Tennessee had a way of looking out for the younger members of gangs and mobs. He liked to try to talk them out of what they were doing. He liked to try to convince them to leave. And though Danny's reasons for changing his life involved much more, Tennessee's little warnings had had their place. Tennessee, in turn, liked to check up on Danny, because Danny was the only one (as far as Tennessee was concerned) that had listened. If others had left, Tennessee didn't know about them, because they hadn't been worth knowing for very long to begin with.

The last letter old Tennessee had sent Danny contained a new address far from Brooklyn. He had a house now instead of a run down apartment that always smelled like cat-urine. The street he lived on that Danny was now turning onto was lined by small houses packed close together, with chain-link fence yards both in the front and back. But they were nice houses, and a few were well kept with uncluttered green yards and hyperactive dogs chained to poles.

Tennessee's home was ten houses down. It was painted sky-blue with a covered porch and a freshly mowed lawn. A whicker chair twitched slightly in a small breeze, and a wind-chime made of seashells tapped out a tuneless song.

Danny parked and took a moment to replace the sling, which was a lot more complicated than it had seemed. After several winces and silent curses, he finally had it on and stepped from the car, heading toward the fence. When he came up to the gate he was greeted by a large brown form scrambling down the steps of the porch, releasing a piercing wail of a bark and jumping onto the gate.

Danny stepped back nervously as the bloodhound bellowed and sniffed at the air where Danny had been standing a few seconds earlier. It was scrabbling so furiously at the gate that Danny feared it would climb over any second and either maul him or cover him in slobber. One could never tell with dogs.

Just then the door of the sky-blue house opened and a man well into his sixties stuck his silver-gray head out.

" Cody you loud-mouthed lunk-head, knock it off!"

Tennessee stepped all the way out the door, wearing slacks supported by suspenders and a somewhat off-white shirt. He had his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the gate, squinting at Danny curiously. He slowed has he approached, recognition gradually dawning. They may have kept in touch, but they hadn't seen eachother in years.

" Danny?" he said in a drawl he had always said was a mix of Texan, Mississippi, and who knew what else. " Danny Messer, boy, that can't be you." He continued to look Danny over as he grabbed Cody by the collar and hauled him back.

" Dang, man, what the hell happened to you? Someone use you as a punching bag?"

Danny smiled. " Something like that. How you been TJ?"

Tennessee's middle name was James, and rather than forcing people to say his name, he insisted on being called TJ.

Cody whined and struggled against the restraint. Tennessee held him while he opened the gate to let Danny in.

" Not bad, not bad at all. Dang, Messer, never thought I'd see you in the flesh again."

Cody reared up, pulling against Tennessee's hold. Danny held out his hand for the dog to sniff and lick. Satisfied, Cody stopped his struggling and Tennessee let him go. The hound continued to sniff about Danny's feet, wagging its tail as it circled about. When Tennessee led Danny up the walk, Cody followed by Danny's side.

" I call him a lunk-head," Tennessee was saying, " but he's brighter 'an most dogs. He knows when to quit, you see, and If I ain't scared then he ain't got his hackles up, know what I mean? He's a good dog, he really is."

Tennessee began climbing the steps to the porch, but slowed to look over his shoulder at Danny. " So, just what brings you here? Something tells me this isn't a simple social call."

Danny looked down uncomfortably at the ground, scratching Cody's head when the dog began nosing at his hand as though he held a treat.

" No, it isn't."

They continued onto the porch then into the house. Tennessee took Danny down a short hallway with a wall full of pictures, then left into the living room. It was cluttered with boxes, papers, books, old newspapers, and little odds and ends collected throughout Tennessee's life such as several Texas mugs, an ash tray made out of a cow's foot, and a set of deer antlers dusted in cobwebs. The couch was on the left, with a rocking chair adjacent to it, and a bookshelf modified to hold the TV, VCR, and movies on the right. Between both was a coffee table buried in boxes and papers. Through a door on the right of the bookshelf was the kitchen with its lime-green glass table and padded chairs covered in rips and frays.

" Sorry about the mess," Tennessee said. " Of course, had I known you were coming… it'd still be here," he laughed. Danny smiled. Tennessee's humor had been a major part of him winning himself into everyone's good graces.

Tennessee cleared some of the junk away, then pulled the rocking chair so that it was facing the couch.

" Need any help?" Tennessee asked, still standing.

Danny shook his head, leaning on the arm of the couch as he slowly lowered himself into sitting, wincing with the effort. Tennessee removed some more junk, clearing a space on the coffee table.

" How about something to drink then."

Danny nodded, and Tennessee went to get some drinks without even asking what Danny wanted.

Medication prevented pain from being unbearable, but it did not always stop it. Though still unable to straighten, Danny went momentarily rigid as discomfort throbbed through his back, his fingers digging into the arm of the chair. This happened every time he sat, and took a moment to pass. When it began to abate, his muscles slowly relaxed, and he took a slow, shallow breath.

The dog seemed aware of his discomfort and laid his wrinkled head on Danny's leg, looking up with forlorn eyes. Danny couldn't help a small quiet laugh though it made his ribs throb. He scratched behind Cody's floppy ears.

When Tennessee returned, he was carrying a glass of milk in one hand, and ice-tea in the other. He set the milk before Danny as he sat himself down in the rocking chair. Again, Danny allowed another small laugh despite the throbbing it caused.

Tennessee smiled. " I know, I know, you ain't a kid no more. But you've got broken bones, and for all I know you've been drinkin' that pointless skim-milk crap. Seems to be all the rage today, drinking things that don't do you no good."

Danny looked at Tennessee's own glass. " And I suppose what you're drinking is just regular tea, right?"

Tennessee lifted the glass, grinning behind it, and winked. He took a small sip, smacked his lips, and set it down. " So then… shall we?"

He gestured at Danny, his eyes fixed on Danny's bruised face with the half-shut eye.

Danny looked at the glass of milk for a moment. Condensation was forming on it, dripping down the sides to gather about the base creating a near-perfect ring.

" I need… to ask you a favor…"

Tennessee sat back in the rocking chair. " Just so we're sure on a few things," Tennessee said, " when you told me what you planned on going into, you made me a little promise. You said you wouldn't get me involved in anything. I'm retired now, and I've yet to have any trouble. I don't want any trouble, Danny."

Danny looked up at Tennessee, fixing his gaze. " You also made me a promise, TJ. Once I got out, you told me something, remember?"

Tennessee leaned forward, taking another sip from his glass, then sat back and nodded. " Yep. Is that what happened to you then? Someone come after you? Who was it, one of the Tanglewoods?"

Danny shook his head. " Bruno."

Tennessee's face darkened. " What for?"

Danny then explained the situation to Tennessee, about the evidence being planted and Bruno seeking Danny out for a "confessional" beating. Tennessee snorted derisively, shaking his head in disbelief.

" And I bet the whole time they were laying you out," Tennessee remarked, " they were goin' on 'an on about not messin' with family or some bull like that."

Danny shrugged. " Something like that. I don't really remember that much."

Tennessee took another drink, then nodded at Danny's glass. " Best drink that. I don't like things going to waste."

Danny took the glass, eyeing Tennessee suspiciously. " You didn't do anything 'special' to it, did you?"

Tennessee laughed a dry, wheezing laugh. " Boy, I only gave you a drink from that bottle that one time to help with the pain when you had your arm broken in that fight. And believe me when I say I didn't want to, but it's not like you took to it or anything. Heck, the way your eyes tried to pop out of the sockets I thought I'd killed you. But you were just a kid, a scrawny little stick of a kid too. You were in so much dang pain I had to do something. No one else was going to."

Danny nodded, remembering. " I know," and took a drink.

Tennessee took another sip himself. He then sighed, jerking the glass to make the liquid whirlpool and the ice clink. " I did mean it Danny. That promise I made? I did mean it. You were getting out and I was happy about that. I didn't want any of these boys coming around, trying to pull you back in, ruining your life. The thing was, after a certain time, I kind of stopped believing it might happen, especially when you became part of forensics. I thought - no one'll mess with a guy who can figure out who did something just by looking at a speck of dust in a microscope. You always were smart Danny. You had a quick mind. Hell, you figured me out long before anyone else. And you were curious, like a regular kid should be. Was no surprise when you got into forensics, no surprise to me at all."

Tennessee extended his small finger away from his glass to point at Danny. " You also have a heart unlike some of these SOBs. It's part of why I liked you; the other part being you didn't hand my back-end on a silver platter over to your leader. Not that he would have cared. I gave him stuff just as much as with the rest of 'em."

Danny set his own glass down, then wiped the moisture from his hand onto his knee.

" I kind of forgot about the promise too," Danny said. " But then this happened, and I remembered. You have to understand TJ; I'm not really doing this for myself. We have to put Bruno away. We have to get him. He's going to bring more in, just so he can hide behind them… It's gotta stop."

Tennessee took a long, deep breath, then released it slowly through his mouth. " Well, Danny, there are some things I can tell you that would help. But I cannot, and I mean cannot, testify against them. If I do that, you know what will happen. The immunity will be gone. People will start gettin' scared, thinkin' I'll rat on them next. My life…" he laughed nervously, " my life will be over, literally. I was hopin' I'd die back in Texas, from old age, buried under sand. Not here, Danny… not here."

Danny nodded. " I know. I'm not asking you to step forward. Just give me something, no matter how small, I can use against them. Anything at all. Is there someone else who'll talk, something they mess up on we haven't caught?"

Tennessee rubbed his chin that was pale with white stubble. " See, now you're talkin' my style. Bruno, he had so many comin' and goin' from his team that it wasn't hard to warm up to one or two seeing as how they didn't know me right off the cuff. Do few favors, run a few errands, buy them plenty of drinks, and you wouldn't believe the garbage they spit. Bruno was a little smarter than that. He liked my services as it were, but he knew better than to flap lip around me. Not his boys, though. It's why I always try to drink moderately myself. Alcohol tends to make a man into a moron, not to mention a wind-up toy with an overactive voice box."

" Anyway, the thing about Bruno is – and why he's such a worm to catch – is that he's your basic coward. He was so busy trying to save his own hide that he couldn't rise into something that should be feared by other gangs. Cops and you CSI might not be laughing now, but he was somewhat of a joke in the crime world back when. From what I hear now and then, he's clawed his way to the top of the heap but not out of the junkyard. That beating he gave you, it was at night, right? In the darkest place possible so you couldn't see faces let alone forms?"

Danny nodded. Tennessee scratched his jaw with an audible scrape.

" Yeah, Bruno knows how to keep it under wraps." Tennessee then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, gesturing with one finger and grinning like a cat.

" Here's the thing though. You were a Tanglewood. Bruno hates those Tanglewood punks more than anything. Your old gang took risks, got a name quicker than Bruno could blink. For Bruno it took time. Bruno was jealous, and it was the only thing he ever talked about, gettin' back at them Tanglewood boys."

Danny shifted uncomfortably, once again remembering. Tennessee noticed this, and reached out his hand to pat Danny's good arm sympathetically.

" Not easy stuff to look back on, I know. I still get these rather unpleasant images stuck in my mind of those times when I had to carry you to the hospital." Tennessee shook his head. " I remember this one time – and I know I probably shouldn't bring it up and I'm sorry for it, but it won't go away – I found you outside, and you were so bloody and broken I thought you were dead. You almost were too; you were having so much trouble breathing. I never forgot that."

Danny furrowed his brow in consternation, his insides feeling as though they were writhing and twisting. " Bruno ordered it. Did you know that? I just found that out, just this week, while I was having my life picked apart for something I didn't do. "

Tennessee shook his head. " I had my suspicions, but I was weaselin' into your gang at the time, so never was sure. No good times there. We'd best get off this road then. Some things are best left forgotten. But I did need to bring some of it up. You see Danny, you're recent attack, it wasn't about what happened with the evidence. It was a chance to get back at an old enemy. I'm certain of this. Bruno couldn't care less than he already does what happens to family. He just used it as a reason. Now, listen close to this next part. Bruno may seem slippery as a wet snake but he does have one weakness. He likes to keep souvenirs."

Danny jerked his head in alarm. " You mean like body parts?"

Tennessee shook his head vehemently. " No, no, too much evidence to follow in body parts. He's discreet, remember? He'll take what won't be noticed even by forensics like yourself. Something like a- a movie ticket, or a library card, maybe a piece of clothing or a calling card. Was anything missing after you were attacked? Gloves, your glasses…?"

Danny thought back and shook his head. " No, nothing."

Tennessee sat back in the rocking chair, causing it to creak. Cody had removed his head from Danny's knee and was now stretched sleeping on the other side of the coffee table.

Tennessee looked up at the ceiling as he thought then lowered his gaze to look at Danny. He leaned in, studying Danny's face.

" They got you pretty good. Were the hits pretty hard?"

Danny grimaced slightly. " Felt like they were using a hammer."

Tennessee nodded. " Well, they usually use bats, metal bats, but for the body and not the face. If it was Bruno doing the face, chances were he was wearing something. He had gloves on, right?"

Danny nodded again.

" Of course. Keeps the blood off the hands. Bruno likes to make his hits count, you see, so he was probably wearing something else, like knuckle brass. I've seen what those can do, though, and it doesn't look like he used those on you. He did use something though, I can tell. I've seen the after math of a few of his personal fights. He liked to have me present to make a statement about me keeping my mouth shut, but if death threats couldn't stop me then neither was a beating. Anyway, the other little instrument he likes to use is like knuckle brass but flat and wider. Keeps damage to the hand minimal so that the bruising on the knuckles isn't as severe as on the face. But it does do plenty of damage. From all the cuts and stitches on your face I would say there was quite a lot of blood. Now, being the careful one, he wouldn't take anything off your person that could be traced back to you. And I've discovered if he can't take that, he'll take something else – like blood."

Danny widened his eyes in disbelief. " Blood?"

Tennessee nodded. " Yep, whatever happened to get on the glove he was wearing."

" But…" Danny's spine stiffened, causing him to sit up, but moved too fast, creating pain that burned through his chest and back so that he doubled over for a moment.

" You okay Danny?" Tennessee asked, about to stand.

Danny looked up, waving him back down. " No, I'm fine. No way would Bruno have something like that just lying around or even hidden. He's not that stupid."

Concern still apparent on his face, Tennessee shrugged. " He likes to have something to show off, to reminisce on I suppose you could say. But you were a Tanglewood boy once, and no ticket or library card is going to suit him. He would want something more, and nothing seems a better trophy than a glove covered in your blood."

Danny attempted to sit up, careful about not straightening. Until his ribs and sternum healed, his posture would remain a mother's worst nightmare. He looked at Tennessee skeptically.

" So, you're telling me he has my blood – evidence of me getting beat - lying around somewhere?"

Tennessee finished off the last of his drink, thumping the glass back onto the table. " No, not just lyin' around for all the world to see. He'd put it somewhere out of sight, just until the heat was off. When it's safe, he'll get it, show it off to his buddies, and brag about what he did to a Tanglewood, slash CSI. Two for the price of one type of situation, you see. CSI is just as good as a cop."

" So where would he have it? Buried in his back yard?"

Tennessee sighed. " There in lies the problem. No, he wouldn't bury it. Too easy to find with the disturbed dirt. Wouldn't hide it anywhere near his place, actually. Come on, now, Danny, you're the investigator. You tell me where'd he put something like that. It's the worst kind of evidence against him."

Danny turned the glass of milk as he thought. " Not really. Even if we found the gloves, it doesn't mean they were his. He likes to pin things on people if you didn't recall."

Tennessee held up a finger like a teacher making a point. " Yes, but I told you he was most likely wearing something when he was pounding you. His hands may have fewer bruises afterwards, but they are bruised, and maybe even cut. The metal has a bite to it, especially if Bruno still has those thick hands of his."

Danny's heartbeat picked up, but he still had yet to be hopeful. " Okay then, assuming he used something and cut his hand – it's all still assuming. And where would he put this souvenir? It would have to be where he could find it again. I suppose he could give it to someone to hide, but every one of Bruno's guys are under suspicion. If he wants my blood that bad he's not going to lose them as evidence. He'll want them where they can't possibly be found."

" Exactly," Tennessee said. " He sometimes hid his trophies in plain sight. But if he couldn't do that, he'd put it where no one would possibly look, 'cause there'd be no reason too."

Danny was already thinking over Bruno's many acquaintances, his hangouts, close friends, relatives. Then Danny had a thought.

" You know, there is one guy we won't be looking at, since he wasn't even there. Bruno's cousin Ricky was still in custody at the time. He'd be released now, and arrests are just starting. Bruno tends to be the last one arrested. He would have time to hide the evidence. And since he probably has to move quick, and because Ricky isn't under suspicion…"

Tennessee grinned. " It's like I said, you always were a smart one. But you said so yourself these were mere assumptions. Will it be enough? 'Cause I really don't know what more I can give say that."

Danny smiled gratefully. " No, it'll do fine. You gave me something to go on, it's all I needed, so I can deal with the rest."

He then extended his hand, and Tennessee took it in a firm shake.

" Thanks TJ. You kept you're promise, and I'll keep mine, just until the next gang decides to pound me into the pavement."

Tennessee laughed heartily, sitting back. " And I'll spill the beans, you can be sure of that. You should come visit more often, Danny. It's nice seeing you again. And it'd be nice seeing you without the nasty make-over."

Danny shook his head. " Might look bad with me being CSI. If you got people watching, waiting for you to talk, it might make them start wondering. We'd better just stick with the letter writing."

Tennessee's smile became wry. " I plan on moving back to Texas fairly quick here if you haven't noticed. I'm a little homesick for wide open spaces, and it should be safe to go home by now." He winked. " By the time they catch on all they'll see of me is a fading dust trail as I drive off into the sunset."

Danny grinned. " Maybe I will stop by then. Got any good memories to talk about?"

" A few here and there."

Danny became solemn, though he tried not to. " It'd be nice to look back on some of those for a change."

Tennessee nodded in knowing. " You should try to more often, else you're end up all pessimistic like me."

Danny picked up his glass and downed the rest of the milk in several swallows and a single breath. When he finished, he wiped his mouth and pushed the glass away.

" I never took you for a pessimist, TJ."

Tennessee chuckled. " Bruno ain't the only one who knows how to hide a few things. Just remember Danny, you can't hold it all in forever. Sometimes you have to look back and remember. After all, in your line of work, I would think it would come in pretty handy."