A/N: Howdy all you Danny fans! Stealth Dragon here with another exciting and disturbing CSI tale coming to you straight from the dark recesses of my brain – of which there are many. The story you are about to read has been a practical plague to me, pushing and shoving its way through into being written. I was going to wait before doing it since it deals with that aspect of Danny's life that we have yet to know much about... until later episodes that may make this story obsolete. But I couldn't wait anymore, I was having too much fun with this idea. So much angst!

Anywho, I suppose you could consider this story an A/U, but personally I don't. I put it together by gleaning and morphing facts that we know concerning Danny and his 'colorful' family background. Though many people are doing stories in which Danny's father is abusive, I get the impression from the show that he and his dad get along pretty well. But that's just my opinion, I could be highly wrong. So, for the sake of this story, I have gone with Danny and his dad having a good relationship.

I am assuming that Danny comes from a crime family of some sort, but I'm going to be vague on the details since I don't know much concerning crime families and what-not. I may be a tad cliché on some things, but it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, it's not really important in the long run, except to say that the Messers (excluding Danny, of course) are part of some crime syndicate and its ruining their lives at the moment.

I suppose you could consider this whole story some kind of spoiler, too -but like I know what's going to happen in the next couple of episodes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. And I must warn you that chapters may be slow coming. I'm taking my sweet time with this one.

So much angst!

Blood and Water

Author: Stealth Dragon

Rating: T (pg-13) for violence, especially towards Danny. Scene of child abuse in the prologue.

Disclaimer: I do not, by any means, own CSI New York or it's characters. Although Carmine Giovinozzo whose last name I probably just spelled wrong is an actor, therefore, one might say, he's up for grabs. In fact, I've been using him as a basis for several of my own character creations. The character he plays on CSI NY, I do not use or own.

Synopsis extended: Danny's life is in danger when his father becomes the possessor of a piece of evidence that could put away a dangerous crime family. Should his father hand the evidence over, Danny dies. If he doesn't, he goes to prison where rivals are seeking his life. For both men, blood is thicker than water, and they will do anything to keep the other safe; even forfeit their own lives.

Prologue

New York 1986

Calvin Messer hunched his shoulders against the sheet of rain pounding at his back and sending rivulets of water coursing down his face. He moved at a steady trot through the flooded sidewalk splashing water onto the cuffs of his pants. He was being careful about his pace, keeping it short and preventing his longer legs from entangling with the smaller legs of his son jogging in front of him. Calvin was partially hunched over his boy to spare him the best he could from being drenched. The kid hadn't brought a jacket to the game, but Calvin wasn't about to chew him out for it. The day hadn't started out like this. Heck, it hadn't even been cloudy up until the second inning.

But when the rain did finally come – directly at the end of the game – it had come as though someone had ripped open the clouds like popping a massive water balloon. It was already soaked through Calvin's own jacket and clothes, but had drenched Danny in a minute. On top of that, the temperature had dropped a notch, evening was coming fast, and Danny was visibly shivering.

Cars rolling past sprayed the already water-logged sidewalk in small tidal waves. Calvin, his hands on Danny's shoulders, steered himself and his boy closer to the walls of the apartment complex they were running alongside. Calvin studied the building at a glance. It wasn't much, most likely occupied by low income people. Calvin wasn't normally a judgmental guy, but the building – heck, the whole neighborhood – was making him nervous. No one else was out, the streetlights were dim, and the few stores that were open were of the kind he would never take his son into, not even to get out of the rain. Calvin was sorry to say that it was the type of neighborhood where people normally got mugged.

When they came to the next apartment complex, Calvin guided Danny onto the stoop and out of the rain. The rain was so thick that Calvin could barely see the streets, and the rushing whisper of cars passing by became lost in the hiss and patter of the water. He squinted, wiping water from his face, then ran his hand over his light-brown hair, feeling drops tickling down the back of his neck. He looked down at Danny. The kid had his wiry arms folded tightly against his skinny chest, and his shoulders hunched forward. He was shaking so bad that Calvin could hear the kid's teeth chattering even over the rain. Calvin shrugged out of his sopping jacket and placed it over the boy's thin shoulders. The jacket was big on the kid, and wasn't doing much good.

Danny wasn't a small kid, more average height that was neither too tall or too short. He was thin in the way that boy's his age tended to be; all muscle and bone without any fat. He was an athletic kid, and would remain slender all his life if he remained as active as he was.

He was smart, too. A fast learner who took a quick interest even when he feigned boredom. Calvin was proud of his kid's love of sports, but more proud that he had smarts enough as backup should baseball not pan out.

Calvin squeezed his son's shoulder. " Hang on, kid, I'm lookin' for a taxi."

Danny could only nod, too tense to even move his mouth. Calvin had hoped to make it to the subway, but that was still three blocks off, and the air was getting a little too crisp.

From now on, Danny was carrying a jacket where ever he went. Maybe even a rain coat to boot.

Calvin craned his neck looking up the street, trying to catch a glimpse of yellow that signified a taxi. He ruffled his son's blond, spiky head.

" Danny, stay here and don't move. I'm gonna see what I can flag down."

Again, Danny could only nod.

Calvin trotted from the stoop and stood on the very edge of the sidewalk. He raised his hand, and shouted above the driving rain.

" Taxi! Hey, Taxi, yo!"

Something slowed, pulling up to the curb, but without the tell-tale yellow of a regular cab. The driver rolled down his window and leaned onto the passenger seat to speak with Calvin. He was a young guy, probably thirty, with black hair receding from his forehead and a black goatee. He was dressed in faded jeans, a ratty looking black T-shirt, and a dark blue jacket.

" Need a ride pal?" the guy asked. Then he smiled, flashing a gold tooth. " Cheaper than a regular hack."

" Gypsy cab?" Calvin asked. He'd heard of them, and most of what he had heard was that they were indeed a lot cheaper than the regular fare. Calvin shrugged. " Sure, why the hell not." He glanced over his shoulder. " Hey Danny, come on. I got us a ride."

Danny hurried down the steps and ran splashing to the cab. Calvin opened the passenger door and let his son climb in first, crawling to the other side. Calvin followed and practically melted into the seat of the warm, dry interior, letting out a moan of relief.

" Oh now that's the stuff. Hey, thanks, pal. Sorry if we get your seats wet."

The cab driver shrugged. " Hey, no problem. Where too?"

Calvin gave the man his address. The driver nodded once, then pulled away from the curb. Calvin tilted his head back against the seat, reveling in the absence of any water trying to beat him down. He opened one eye to check on his son. Danny still twitched with occasional shivers, but was relatively relaxed and thawing.

" You have fun, Danny?" Calvin asked. Danny looked up at him and nodded vigorously, all smiles.

" Yeah, that was awesome pop! Did you see that one guy hit it over the wall? And those guys that were fightin' over the ball...?"

Calvin chuckled. Didn't matter what activity they did together, there was no wearing Danny down. The kid was a living, breathing perpetual motion machine, forever going faster, never slowing down. Even now he was gesturing wildly as he spoke, talking about the pitcher's form and how he wished he had an arm like that.

" You keep gettin' into it with that Quinn kid," Calvin said by way of sudden recollection, " and you're arm may not get to that level of endurance." His wife had been hounding him to talk about the kid's recent violent streak with a boy named Jack Quinn. The Quinn's were associates of the family, though not on friendly terms. It was an acquaintanceship of business and nothing more.

Danny's fidgeting slowed, and the kid looked down at his fists. " He started it, dad." Danny's voice was oddly flat, neither angry, sad, or even bitter. Just dead-pan, as though he had emotionally shut down. Calvin placed his hand back on Danny's shoulder that felt rock-solid with tension. Danny looked up at him.

" I was just fightin' back."

Calvin pursed his lips. " I know kid. Quinn's bigger than you. But why're always given in to what he's dishin' out? Why're you lettin' him get under your skin?"

Calvin felt his son shudder, and knew it wasn't because of the cold.

" He – he won't lay off..." Danny began with a nervous quaver to his voice. Calvin narrowed his eyes. He hated that Quinn kid. Too much like his dad – all talk and smart about getting under the skin. Plus, whenever Danny and Quinn had at it, Danny always ended up getting the worst of it, including a broken arm that just yesterday had its cast removed.

Truthfully, Calvin shouldn't even be the one berating Danny, since he had been the one who taught the boy how to fight in the first place, and drilled it into his head how important fighting back was, even when the odds were against him.

The berating, however, was short-lived. Calvin felt the cab slow, so lifted his head to glance around. Time must have zipped by him again if they were already home. He looked out the window, and even through the wall of rain could tell that they were nowhere near their neighborhood. They probably weren't even in Brooklyn yet. Calvin straightened uneasily.

" Hey, pal," he began, turning to look at the cabby. He froze.

The cabby was already turned himself, with a gun pointed at Calvin Messer.

" Don't move!" He snapped, then shifted the gun onto Danny. The boy flinched back, looking wide-eyed from the cabby to Calvin. " You move, your kid gets it!"

Calvin raised his hands and nodded numbly. " All right, all right pal. Just don't hurt my kid, please."

Suddenly, the cabby flipped the gun so that he was holding the barrel, then pistol-whipped Calvin across the face. Calvin whipped to the side, knocking his head into the window with an audible crack.

" Dad!" he heard Danny cry out, but darkness hovered on the edge of his vision so that he could hardly see.

" Can it, kid! Don't move!"

Calvin heard the front door open, then nearly fell from the cab when his own door opened. A hand grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, dragging him out into the rain and into the flooded street.

" Give me your money!" the cabby screamed. Dazed, Calvin was slow to react. He lifted his hand to reach into his jacket, but wasn't quick enough. The cabby kicked him in the chest, driving out the air so that Calvin was forced to gasp it back in raggedly. The cabby then lifted Calvin by his shirt-front and slam him against the car. He reached into Calvin's jacket and pulled out his wallet, then his money, tossing the wallet aside.

He slugged Calvin across the face with the butt of the gun.

" Son of a..." he muttered, and slugged him again. " That all you got, old man? Fifteen freakin' bucks?" He hit Calvin again. The darkness hovering at his vision was closing in fast, and he could feel something hot running from his mouth and nose down his face.

" Leave my dad alone!" Calvin heard Danny scream. Terror turned Calvin's blood to ice, and his heart lurched. His vision cleared, and what he saw nearly caused his heart to fail him.

Danny had leaped onto the cabby's back and tried clawing at his face while screaming in his ears. The cabby never released the gun when he reached back and grabbed Danny's arm. He flipped the boy around onto the concrete, and Danny cried out in pain. The cabby then proceeded to drag Danny from Calvin's reach.

" Stupid freakin' brat!" The cabby snarled. He began beating Danny, kicking and punching him. Danny screamed until his voice cracked, and sobbed in between.

Calvin's vision was free, but his mind was in a fog. Every time he tried to stand, the world would spin and his body would drop back down against the car.

" No," he pleaded feebly. " Leave him alone." He could see Danny huddled on the ground - suddenly too small and too frail - with his arms wrapped protectively over his head. The cabby was screaming at him, waving his gun around, and kicking him. Calvin gritted his teeth against the imagined pain he felt when he heard the crunch of foot striking body – striking bone.

" Leave him alone!" Calvin screamed. He started crawling toward Danny and the man that wouldn't stop beating him. With each blow and each cry of agony tearing from Danny's throat, Calvin's heart felt as though it were being ripped from his chest. Calvin pushed himself to his feet and stumbled toward the cabby.

" He's just a kid you Son of a..." He collided with the cabby, trying to pull him away from his boy. The man reacted with an elbow in Calvin's chest, then threw Calvin down onto the concrete and kicked him in the ribs. Calvin gasped, grimacing with the pain that went tearing through his side.

" Bastard," the cabby hissed, kicking Calvin in the face. Calvin rolled onto his back. Cold rain stung his face like pellets of ice. He heard the splash of the cabby's feet as he walked away, distant like something from a dream. The car rumbled to life, and tires squealed on the wet concrete. The cabby was gone.

Calvin took a breath and coughed when more pain seared through him like a heated knife. He closed his eyes, trying to steady his quavering breaths, and calm his hammering heart. The rain was loud around his ears, slapping the ground and his body. And yet, through the noise, he heard another sound. A soft whimper, mingled with sniffs and quiet sobs.

Danny.

Panic flooded Calvin's every cell, and he shoved the pain from his mind to roll onto his stomach. Lifting his head, he saw his boy curled in a tight ball in a puddle of water, shaking violently. Calvin's throat closed off so that he could hardly even swallow or take another breath.

" Danny?" he croaked with overwhelming sorrow. Danny didn't move. Calvin crawled to him, then pushed himself onto his knees, kneeling by his son's body. Slowly, he placed a hand on the wiry arm. When he did, Danny reacted by flinching and screaming in terror.

" Whoa, Danny, it's me! It's your pop! Come on kid, calm down..."

Though Danny tried to jerk away, Calvin pulled his son to him. He gathered the small, thin body to him, and held him as carefully as he could. Danny was shaking and crying so fitfully that it broke Calvin's heart over and over. Danny was clinging to his jacket, holding on for dear life, giving Calvin the impression that Danny thought he might be pulled away again. So Calvin held his son closer, afraid of the same thing.

" It's all right, kid. It's over, it's over. You hear me? It's over Danny. You'll be all right. He's gone now, I swear it..." Calvin was breaking down. His voice cracked, and warm tears mixed with cold rain. " It's over kid, I swear."

CSICSI

" Mr. Messer?"

Calvin lightly messaged his side protected by a tightly wrapped bandage, ignoring the slight twinge of discomfort it caused him.

He didn't care. Twinges were nothing. Compared to Danny, Calvin had gotten off good, and he hated that. That's not how it's supposed to be.

He could feel the bandage through the white T-shirt his wife had brought. He had called her after immediately after arriving at the hospital, and it seemed only seconds later that she had arrived. She was now pacing the sterile linoleum floor before him with arms folded and face tear-said and pale. On occasion – actually, every minute precisely – she would run her hands through her shoulder-length blond hair.

A nurse was babbling over the intercom, calling for some doctor for the third time in three minutes, and it was getting on Calvin's nerves.

Why can't these doctors answer a freakin' call once and a while?

" Mr. Messer?" Detective Anderson said again, this time a little more forcefully. Calvin finally tore his gaze from his agitated wife to look at the cop. He was a tall, broad shouldered guy with short sandy hair and a thick mustache. He looked like a cop from some old police show from the seventies, the kind Calvin was always fond of.

Also the kind Danny liked too. The kid liked the mysteries.

" Yeah?" Calvin replied. His head felt light, part due to shock and part because of the pain killers.

" Did you get the license?" Anderson asked.

Calvin shook his head. " Um, no. It was raining too hard and I... wasn't really payin' that much attention."

The detective nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his tan jacket. " Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to your boy."

Calvin's wife looked up and over at the detective with a hard, frigid stare. Her motherly instincts had been kicked into overdrive on getting the call that her husband and son had been mugged. Worse when she learned that her little boy had gotten the worst of it. They were waiting for him to come out of X-ray now.

Calvin looked from his stiff ready-to-kill-for-her-cub wife, to the stoic detective Anderson. " You'll have to ask him yourself. But I'm tellin' you now. If he ain't up to it, then he ain't up to it."

Calvin didn't like cops, it was simple as that. The cops in shows weren't real, so fun to watch. Real cops tended to cause problems, and Calvin knew this situation, though not even his fault, would bring down harder attention on him and his family. They didn't need any more of that kind of crap.

A nurse in sky-blue scrubs approached the three, coming up from behind Detective Anderson. " Mr. and Mrs. Messer?" the nurse said rather cheerily. " They're bringing your son in now. Just thought you'd like to know."

Sure enough, another nurse was wheeling in Danny's gurney down the hall to his room. The kid's arm was in a sling, ready for a cast, but Calvin only noticed that small fact at a glance. His gaze was drawn directly to his boy's face. It was pale, and the bruises stood out dark and painful because of it. He looked even more small and frail on the gurney, wearing a hospital gown that was a little too big and hanging down below his collar-bones. There were dark bruises on his chest.

Danny's expression altered between being a blank mask to slight grimacing twists of pain whenever he so much as twitched or the gurney jolted slightly. But when he saw his parents, his jaw clenched and his skinny throat moved in a tight swallow.

The kid's trying not to react. He's trying to play it tough. But so went the ways of Danny Messer. It took a lot to make Danny cry, especially when an audience was present. Calvin had always told Danny that it was okay to cry sometimes. Whether Danny did or not, Calvin never knew. Danny wasn't much for public displays of emotion, and probably never would be.

Probably because Calvin was the exact same way. Shows of emotion sometimes spelled weakness; not good in his line of business.

Calvin and Anderson stepped aside to allow the doctor to roll the gurney into the room. Then all three stepped inside to watch as Danny was shifted from the gurney to the bed so carefully that he didn't even wince. The blankets were pulled up to his waist, and the head of the bed raised to he could sit up. Calvin's wife hurried over to her son where she began running her hands through his cropped hair.

" Hey, baby, you okay? How're you feeling?"

Danny took a deep breath, but stopped halfway, gasping and shuddering. Moisture filled his eyes and he coughed. " My chest hurts," he croaked. His mom took his hand and squeezed, then looked at the detective, turning on the ice.

Danny looked at his dad. Calvin smile. " Hey kid."

Danny visibly relaxed. Again, another Danny trait. More worried about the other guy than himself.

Anderson cleared his throat. Calvin looked at him glaringly though he knew it was nothing compared to what his wife could dish out. The woman could freeze the ocean at a glance if she wanted to. Calvin looked back at his son, who was glancing from Calvin to the detective, both curious and wary. Calvin approached the bed.

" Hey, Danny. This is detective Anderson. He wants to ask you a few questions. That okay?"

Danny looked at the detective, then nodded without expression. " Yeah, sure."

" Mr. Messer?"

Calvin sighed. He was getting tired of hearing his name. He turned to see the doctor standing in the doorway. Apparently, he wasn't in the mind to talk within hearing range of Danny, so Calvin met him half-way He was a middle-aged guy with prematurely gray hair and a wiry build. He had a clipboard clutched in one hand, and the other hidden in the pocket of his white coat.

" What's up?" Calvin asked. He jerked his head in Danny's direction. " It bad or somethin'?"

" It could have been worse. Danny was lucky, even though his injuries are more numerous than yours. He has a fractured arm, three cracked ribs and one broken rib. One more hit, and that rib might have punctured a lung. But he should be fine. Nothing lasting."

Calvin couldn't hide his own relief. " Oh, thank goodness. The kid loves baseball, you know? Would've broken his heart if he couldn't play anymore."

The doctor smiled. " Well, you won't have to worry about that. And neither will he. We'll put the cast on when he's ready."

Calvin nodded, and the doctor left. He turned to watch Danny and the detective. The conversation was held in low tones, and Calvin couldn't hear the questions. So he just observed, especially Danny. The kid seemed very responsive, nodding and speaking after every one of the detective's inquiries. All the while Calvin's wife was holding Danny's hand and stroking it, but no longer wearing the cold glare and the stiff stance of annoyance.

Moments later, Detective Anderson thanked Danny and moved away toward Calvin. " You've got a smart kid there, Mr. Messer," he said, in a tone of genuine admiration. " He remembered some good details. Answered every question I had without a single 'I don't know'. You've got a tough boy there."

Calvin smiled, looking at his son who was searching the room with sleep-heavy eyes. " Yeah, that's my boy."

Anderson thanked Calvin for his time, making the standard promise of finding the guy that did this and putting him away. Calvin moved over to stand by Danny's bed. His wife smiled at him, every last inch of tension out of her body.

" I'm going to get some coffee," she said. " I feel ready to drop on my feet." She kissed the top of Danny's head and added a "love ya, baby," then rose and headed from the room. Calvin took a step closer to the bed.

" Hey, kid," he said. " I just talked with the doctor. You've got to get a cast, have some broken ribs, but he says you'll be fine."

Danny didn't look at Calvin. He was looking away, staring distantly at the wall across from them, his thin chest rising and falling in slow, steady rhythms. Calvin placed his hand lightly on Danny's shoulder.

" Hey, Danny. You all right pal?"

He could feel his son shudder. " Are you?"

Calvin blinked in surprise. " What?"

Danny rolled his head to look at his dad. " Are you all right. I-I never asked. I just saw you up and... kind of thought you were."

Calvin blinked again. " Yeah, Danny, I'm fine. Just a few cracked bones. Nothin' big. I'll heal."

Now it was Danny who blinked, trying to fight back an onrush of tears. He then shrugged in an act of indifference. " I'm sorry."

" For what?"

Danny swallowed. " Getting beat up like that. I was just tryin' to distract the guy. Get him off you. Guess that kind of backfired."

Calvin felt tears burning his own eyes. " Oh, Danny, no. Don't be sorry. You tried kid. I'm the one who screwed up. I'm the one who didn't fight back. I did wrong by you, kid. You didn't do wrong by me."

Danny nodded and looked away again. " So, you ain't mad?"

Calvin wanted to both laugh and cry. Instead, he gingerly placed his arm around his son's shoulders, then pulled him into a light embrace. Danny was silent, but Calvin could feel him shaking.

" Nah, kid. I'm not mad. You tried. You were just tryin' to help me. Fightin' back like I taught you."

Which is a hell of a lot more than I did, Calvin thought bitterly, hating himself. You should have fought back, you weak SOB. You should have saved Danny. You're his dad. It's your job to save him.

Danny clutched his father's sleeve with one hand, holding on tight, bringing back to mind the impression that he was holding on for dear life, afraid that he would be taken away. Calvin put his hand on the back of his son's head.

" Think they'll catch him?" Danny asked. Calvin knew it was a two-way question. He wanted to know if it was over, if he had reason to be afraid.

" Yeah kid, I think they will. But I swear I'll never let anything like this happen to you again. I swear it, Danny."

Danny could only nod.