Disclaimer: I, Peeka. Boo, challenge Anthony Zuiker to track me down with nothing but an email address. I doubt he is reading fan fiction, so for the mean time: They all belong to me. Even Danny in all his sexiness! Muh hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha… ha… heh.
A special shout out to all those people who read and reviewed. You guys are the reason that I continued this crazy plot. I lurve you all!
Let us put our hands together for my absolutely amazing editor, Kiki. What would I do without you, my Awesomepossum?
On with the show… fic… shut up.
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Danny awoke with a start, cold sweat dripping from his temples. He turned to find Aiden on the couch beside him, fast asleep. A nightmare, he thought, and nothing more. Shakily, he ran a hand through his now messy hair; the nightmare was a bad one. He had dreamt that Tanglewood had found Aiden… there was more, but he didn't want to think about it. Looking down at himself, he grimaced. He needed a new, un-wrinkled suit from home before work today. Catching a quick glimpse at Aiden, he slowly got up at walked to the door. "I'll be 5 minutes," he promised himself, "5 minutes, tops." After kissing the top of Aiden's head, he set off out the door.
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Sonny paced. He was angry. Very angry. "Why," he asked himself, "am I still in jail?" In a rush of fury, he reached a massive hand above his head and with the rage of a lion brought it smashing down onto the wall. As he looked with relish at his swelling hand he promised himself that he would do everything in his power to hurt Danny Messer. After all, if Danny had really tried to get him out, he would be out by now. Yes, it was decided. He would hurt the thing that Danny loved the most. With that, he got up to call his cronies.
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Aiden awoke to the sound of a siren in the distance. She sighed, rolled over, fell off the couch, and gasped. It took her minute to realize where she was, and after that, why. She figured that she would have found out where she was sooner, if it wasn't for her nasty cold. Looking at the clock on the wall, she figured that she had enough time to go home and change before Danny came back from the shower he was inevitably taking. Aiden smiled to herself. If she knew Danny like the back of her hand (and she did), he would of have promised himself 5 minutes in the shower, only to wind up falling asleep there.
Grinning at the mental picture of Danny in a shower, Aiden walked out of the break room. No one will notice that I'm gone if I'm back before their shift starts, she decided. How wrong she was.
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"Dammit! Damn it all to hell! God freaking dammit!" Danny shouted at the cabbie. "Can't you go any faster?"
"Listen, Bub, traffic is traffic," the cabbie replied.
Danny knew that. All the same, he wanted to hurry. His five minutes were rapidly turning into half an hour. Good thing there was still an hour before shift began. Gradually he leaned back and relaxed. Aiden would be fine.
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Aiden trudged up the steps to her apartment, fatigue weighing down her every footstep. As she struggled to find her keys, she was totally oblivious. Oblivious, that is, that she was being watched.
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Danny stepped into the running shower and let the hot water run down his muscular back. As the water sprayed in the small cubicle, Danny found himself becoming blinded by a thick cloud. Sighing, Danny whipped his glasses off, and stepped out of the shower to place them on the counter. Boy, was he ever tired. He picked up his bar of soap and rubbed it down his washboard abs, creating a ton of bubbles. He closed his eyes, looked up, and concentrated on the hot water flowing down his body.
Danny stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed. He grabbed his clothes, put them on, and threw a bagel into the toaster. As he leaned on the counter waiting for the bagel to become extra crispy, he decided that he would stop by Aiden's apartment to pick up some spare clothes for her. Until this Tanglewood thing blew over, it wouldn't be safe for Aiden to go home. Paranoid, maybe, but this was Aiden that he was talking about. He didn't want to take any chances. As his bagel popped out of the toaster and set off his fire alarm, Danny chuckled, thinking about picking up her clean lingerie.
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A pair of dark eyes watched Aiden as she stumbled into her apartment, too tired to close the door right away. Seizing this opportunity, her assailant rushed forward, pushed his way into the small house and pulled out a knife. Aiden turned around, hair whirling, and saw a black ski mask. Relying on instincts, she fought hard as her attacker wrapped an arm around her neck. She kicked and pushed, but nothing worked. The thug just would not let go.
Her eyes widened in horror as he started to lift her off her feet, seemingly unaware of her futile attempts to free herself from his strong grasp. Aiden had started to scream when he roughly put his hand over her mouth to keep her silent.
"Shut up," he whispered harshly, "or I'll kill Danny,"
She fell silent for only a moment. Aiden knew that the chances of him tracking Danny down were low, and the chances of him killing Danny were lower. It was a proven fact that aggressors usually threaten to kill the ones that you love in attempt to keep you quiet, and very rarely act upon the threat. Knowing this, she ignored him, and continued trying to scream.
Danny walked up to Aiden's room, his spare key twirling lazily on his index finger. As he turned the corner that led to room 4Q, his vision was filled with the one thing that he did not want to see. Aiden's door was wide open, and a struggle could be heard from behind her maroon walls. Finding adrenalin starting to kick in faster than caffeine, Danny rushed to see what was happening in the familiar apartment of Aiden Burn.
Upon arrival at the front door, Danny gasped in panic. Aiden's house was a mess; a vase was overturned with flowers and water everywhere, her futon was slightly askew, and Aiden was in the middle of it, futilely fighting a big man in a black ski mask. Although the man was a quite a bit taller than him, Danny rushed forward, gun ready.
"Drop the knife and step away," Danny said, hoping to the higher deity that his voice wasn't as shaky as it heard to him. The man looked up in surprise; he had not heard anyone enter the living room. Aiden looked up as well, eyes bright, and shouted under the hand muffling her, a sound that Danny assumed to be his name. The man holding Aiden suddenly let go and let her fall to the ground, concentrating on getting to the door. Danny was faster. He put his gun away and tackled the man to the floor, but the masked marvel turned out to be stronger. He heaved Danny off, and madly swung his knife around. Danny moved so that his body was blocking Aiden from danger, and reached for his gun.
"NYPD! Freeze!" Danny shouted at the intruder, hoping that for once, the pathetic attempt to stop criminals would work. However, like every other time, it failed. It miserably failed. In fact, upon hearing that Danny was part of the NYPD, as opposed to Aiden's (incredibly sexy) boyfriend, the perp swung faster, harder. Caught off-guard, Danny helplessly watched as he sped away. Caught for a moment between chasing him, and returning to see Aiden, his indecision resolved his problem for him. The perp got away.
He turned to see Aiden picking herself off the floor. She sheepishly looked up at him and promptly averted her eyes. She hated that he probably thought she was vulnerable. Collecting her breath and courage, she looked him in the eye. Her plan was to thank him, and try to get the hell out of there. She opened her mouth to let out a gracious appreciation speech and found herself babbling, "So all that 'watch out, Tanglewood is dangerous' wasn't bull, huh?" So not how she wanted to thank him. She nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and chose to continue her horribly mangled thank-you. "Umm, thanks for…" Was rescuing too strong a word? "Helping me… not that I'd need it if I wasn't so under the weather…" It sounded ungrateful to Aiden, so she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. After pulling away, she noticed that he was blushing. She convinced herself that it was just the adrenalin coursing through his system. After all, he had just fought a man probably one hundred and fifty pounds heavier than he.
Seeing that Aiden was obviously shaken from the sudden intrusion of privacy, Danny smirked and told her, "Get your stuff. After that, I'm taking you to breakfast."
Overwhelmed by complete gratitude, Aiden leaned over to hug Danny. She intended it to only be a quick hug, but Danny wrapped his strong arms around her and held on tight, burying his face into the top of her head. Aiden let the hug overwhelm her, finally feeling safe.
Phew. Done! Not the entire fic, nincomturd! Just this chapter… Sorry it took so long. I really am! I hate the flu. And strep throat.
I want to add that the shower scene was added for my good buddies who reviewed. Without you guys, this fic would be a lot more boring. Review pour moi, s.v.p!