A/N: I have recently become aware to a mistake I made in chapter one concerning a name. I just want to say this so that if anyone else notices they don't have to point it out. I'll fix it in my own due time.

And what the crap happened to Chad on the show? I liked him.

Ch. 8

Calvin was starting to forget what it was like to relax. He sat stiff-back in his easy chair facing a blank TV, all his focus directed at the cell phone gripped in his hands. He was expecting a call, but not from Danny. Danny had already told him about dumping his food, ordering in, and not getting sick because of it. He was dreading the possibility of another call from a stranger, telling him about some new ailment or problem plaguing Danny, but wasn't expecting that either.

He was waiting to hear from Stevenson. Cal thought for sure that the agent would have picked up his phone seeing that it was Messer on the other end. The fact that he was taking his sweet time meant that he was playing games, exacting control, making Calvin seem the desperate one. He was reminding Calvin that he was the one in charge, the one holding Calvin's entire life in his hands.

Had the agent been standing in front of Cal, Cal would have beaten him within an inch of his life. As it was, he was trying to shove down the overwhelming urge to curse the guy relentlessly the moment he finally called. It wasn't just Calvin's life the agent was screwing up, but Danny's as well.

The phone chirped out its annoying ring, and Cal answered before the second ring sounded. Not a good move since it only enforced Stevenson's attitude of having Cal under his thumb.

" Messer," Cal growled.

" Mr. Messer," Stevenson said, sounding insincerely surprised. " Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I've been a little busy. What can I do for you?"

Calvin gripped the phone tight, almost to the point of crushing it. " Stop screwin' with me, for starters. Just wanted to tell you I got a call the other day about my son. Didn't know the guy doin' the talking, but he kindly alerted me to the fact that my kid had been puking his guts out for the better part of the day."

" Crap, is he okay?"

" Actually, funny thing about that. He went to the doctor and the doc said he was perfectly fine. Now I don't know about you but personally it all sounds a little funny to me. Danny throwing up – every time he eats is what he told me – and nothin's wrong with him. He's fine now, of course, after I told him to throw all his food out."

" Ooo-kay?"

Calvin closed his eyes, sucking in what was supposed to be a calming breath. " Don't do this to me, Stevenson. Someone was messing with Danny to get to me and you know it."

" No, Calvin, I don't know. It sounds to me like Danny ate something that didn't agree with him. You're acting paranoid, Calvin. You're looking for problems that aren't there."

Calvin slammed his fist on the arm of the chair. " Damn it, Stevenson, don't do this to me! They were poisoning my kid! You have to do something!"

" What can I do, Calvin, huh? You both refused witness protection. You refuse to give me what I need to put these guy's away you claim are hurting your son. If this is anyone's fault, Mr. Messer, it's your own."

Calvin clenched his fist until it began to shake. To his increasing disgust, he knew that Stevenson was right, this was his fault. But he was surrounded by rocks and hard places. Turning in the tape could put the Quinns away, but that wouldn't keep them from killing Danny out of revenge.

" You need to think reasonably, Mr. Messer. Do you really think your resignation on going to jail will save your son grief? As long as your alive, these people will continue to hound Danny in order to make sure you never turn on them. This will not end with you being put away. It will keep going, and going, and going until it's the Quinns that are finally put away. Giving us what you have can stop this whole ordeal and save your son some more pain."

Calvin had to fight to keep from throwing the phone against the wall. " Why the hell did I even call you, Stevenson? Huh? You don't freakin' get it. They'll kill my son if I give into you, and sending him to some strange place with a strange name isn't going to prevent that. If you know the Quinns so well then you should know what they're capable of. It's why you've never been able to convict them. But you could help my son. Get him some protection, keep these guy's from using him against me, let the people he works for know what's going on. Danny's freakin' law enforcement and law enforcement could do something for him if you'd just fill them in. Maybe – maybe you could even catch the guy's doin' this crap to him in the act..." it was a long shot, but it was all Calvin could think of.

Stevenson was silent for a moment, then Calvin heard him sigh. " Sorry, Cal, but I can't. This case is under wraps. Closed to anyone outside the bureau. Like I said, my hands are tied. But if you testify, give us what you know..."

Calvin cut the connection. He didn't want to hear it, couldn't bare to hear it. He had hoped, by alerting Stevenson to what had happened with Danny, that he might have a change of heart and do something about it. But Calvin had been kidding himself. He had known better, but gave into desperation all the same. If poisoning Danny's food was how this whole mess was starting off, then that meant it was going to get worse from here on in. Danny was going to suffer.

Stevenson may have been a bust, but Calvin still had to try. It was doing something, even if it was pointless because Stevenson was too sadistic and short sighted to care about who got hurt in the end. The man was consumed by his own desperation, yet unlike Calvin he had nothing to lose. He could take his time because he wasn't going anywhere, and though he would rather get the Quinns sooner, he still had later to fall back on.

Calvin no longer had that luxury. Stevenson had taken it away from him.

Calvin sagged into his chair, letting the phone drop on the side table with a clatter.

Maybe this was a one time thing, but he was probably kidding himself again. What was worse, Stevenson's words were starting to sink in. The agent was probably right. Even behind bars, the Quinns would continue their torment to ensure Calvin stayed quiet.

Unless Calvin ended up in prison with a few choice enemies. That would end things pretty quick.

Calvin felt like puking. He had three choices; watch Danny suffer, watch Danny die, or die himself. Death seemed to have all the odds in its favor, but since nothing was a certainty, and Calvin still had a few measly cards of his own he could play, he wasn't giving up on hope yet. There had to be something.

CSINY

Danny dumped the remainder of his breakfast into a wastebasket as he walked toward the building. The breakfast burrito had been too much for his sensitive digestion, even though it had been small, and he was surprised he had managed downing half of it. He longed for cold cereal, even on a cold day, not to mention a cup of coffee.

Danny hurried inside, then into the elevator before anyone could stop him to talk or ask any questions. He moved fast about dumping his stuff off in his locker, then heading to the lab with the Ziplock bag of meat and mustard. He scanned the lab until his sights found Chad apparently finishing up whatever he had been doing, jotting something in a file then closing it. Danny hurried up to him before the young lab tech even got up.

" Hey Chad," he called. Chad swiveled around on his stool and grinned, but didn't get a chance to even say hi when Danny tossed the bag to him. Chad caught it with both hands, looking at it quizzically.

" Got a favor," Danny said. " You got the time?"

Chad's casual grin return. " For you – well, actually, for just about anyone – sure. What'd you need?"

Danny pointed at the bag. " That food checked. See if it's been laced with anything."

" Anything in particular?"

" Whatever might cause a guy to puke a lot."

Chad jerked his head in a nod. " No problem. When do you need it?"

" Whenever. No rush. When you find somethin' tell me. Directly."

" Got it."

Danny headed from the lab and took notice that his heart was beating a little faster than normal. Using lab equipment, techs, and time shouldn't have seemed like a big deal, but CSIs had gotten into trouble for less, especially ones already in hot water for other reasons. But Danny's real worry stemmed on Mac's discovery of what Danny was doing, and the questions that would follow.

Danny wasn't going to lie if – or when – things came down to that.

Danny made his way to Mac's office, and was only a few feet away when Stella came out, looking at Danny in surprise.

" Hey you," she said, slowing, then stopping, folding her arms in front of her chest. " Feeling better?"

Danny reluctantly stopped as well. " Mac tell you?"

Stella smirked. " Rumor told me." Then her smile faded. " Really, you all right? Wasn't anything serious was it?"

What else would you call being poisoned? " Naw. Went to the doctor's, he didn't find a thing, so no, I wouldn't call it serious. Like I told Mac and everyone, it was something I ate. Bad food. I fixed the problem so I'm good now."

Stella nodded, pursing her lips. " Good, Great, actually."

They both stood, facing eachother in another bout of uncomfortable silence. Danny still felt like a jack A-- for brushing Stella aside by lying to her, but hoped she didn't ask – once again – if he was fine in that knowing way of hers.

" Well, glad to see you're okay, but I gotta run."

Danny nodded. " Yeah, sure."

Again, another moment of silence, then Stella finally headed off. Danny watched her go, feeling troubled. Each time they came across eachother, Stella's treatment of him was more and more like she was walking on eggshells. She had something to say, Danny knew, just never the right time to say it. Was she still worried? Obviously. It didn't take a genius to see that. But rather than feeling flattered or touched, Danny felt only guilt. Encountering Stella was becoming uncomfortable, and that wasn't right.

Danny was considering going to talk to her himself when he saw Mac's door open out of the corner of his eye. He snapped his head around to see Mac standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets.

" Better?"

" A lot better, actually. I was right, just bad food."

Mac stared long and hard at Danny, and Danny's heart rate increased as the seconds ticked by under his boss's deep scrutiny.

" Consider this as strike one, Danny. Strike two if something worse comes along. Do I make myself clear?"

Danny tensed, then nodded. " Yeah, loud and clear, Mac."

" Good." Then Mac's persona shifted, not in a visible way but more in a way that could be felt, as though an unseen cloud of tension had surrounded them, and had now dissipated. Danny relaxed in turn.

" So, what did I miss?" he asked when it felt safe to.

" Nothing much. Lindsay's been looking into seafood, and today she and Stella are heading out to the scene to see if there are any restaurants or grocery stores nearby."

Danny grinned. " I haven't even been to the place and I can tell you there are. Still no leads on the people front?"

Mac shook his head, then gestured for Danny to come into the office. Danny followed, and on entering was handed a rather thick file.

" What's this?" he asked, flipping it open with one side resting on his bound arm.

" Remember how we talked about this being possibly mob related? I decided to do a little digging into that area, just to see what popped up. It seems Gerrard's style of death is popular. The bullet through the forehead and moving the body to another location, I mean. And the list of possible suspects isn't encouraging either. Too many to even name."

Danny looked up at Mac. " What're you sayin'?"

" That we're hitting a lot of dead ends. Who ever killed Gerrard knew how to cover their tracks, not just by moving the body but breaking into the guy's home and taking anything of evidence interest, like his computer. Our case may end up in that file you're holding."

Danny looked back at the file, flipping through pages, and almost dropped those pages when an all too familiar named jumped out at him.

Al Quinn. However, the case his name was mentioned on had been before Danny was even born, back when Al was in his early twenties. He flipped passed the page, reigning in his surprise before Mac could notice. Of course the Quinn name would be mentioned a few time. Executions of any kind always had them on the list of people to look into.

When Danny finished, he closed the file and handed it back to Mac. " So, anything you need me to do?"

" I'm planning on going over phone records and bank statements again."

" Again?"

" Not much to find the first time, but I'm willing to go back. For a guy who conducted a lot of business with a lot of people, he either did it in person or there are gaps in his records. Bank statements are the same. He was always making large deposits, but in cash only."

" What are you hoping to find?"

" At this point, anything."

CSINY

Mac had given Danny the phone records to look at while he went over the bank records. They had the info spread out on a table to see them in full and look them over in every possible perspective. Mac had said that there was little to find, and he was right. If calls had been made to the man's home phone, they had been made over pay phones. The man had a cell phone since he had cell phone bills, but like his computer, it couldn't be found.

Gerrard's murderers were smart.

Danny's own phone rang, and he snatched it from his pocket without taking his eyes from the sheets spread on the table.

" Messer."

" Danny, it's Chad. I've got the results for your food."

Danny glanced up at Mac who was looking at him without expression.

" I need to take this," Danny said quickly, then headed out of the room before Mac had a chance to read whatever expression decided to pop up on Danny's own features.

" Okay, Chad, give me the news, bad or good, I don't care."

" Well, that depends on what you were looking for. The food was laced with something, a chemical something. Ipecac

Danny's spine stiffened. " That stuff that makes you vomit?"

" Yep. Normally utilized for expunging unwanted ingestions. But, apparently, in the case of your tainted food, to make someone's life miserable. The food itself – except for the Ipecac – is clean. No bacteria or other chemicals to be found."

Danny swallowed against his tightening throat. " Ipecac, okay, thanks Chad, I owe you."

" This is my job, why would you owe me?"

Danny shook his head. " Never mind. Thanks, man." He lowered the phone, clenching it tight. So he was being poisoned, but it seemed more like a prank than a threat. A way to annoy him rather than scare him. But he was scared.

They'd broken into my place, laced my food. That's what scared him. Danny's apartment complex wasn't exactly a social center. The people there generally minded their own business, including himself, which was why he didn't know a single person in the place. The Quinns knew how to break and enter without seeming like they were breaking and entering. Danny knew since he had caught Jack doing it on more than one occasion.

Cold crept like spiders up Danny's backbone and through his nerves. That was the real message being sent; not only what they were capable of doing to Danny, but also that they could do it at any time and anywhere.

Danny felt rooted to the floor, unable to move. His mind was racing through a list of what he needed to do when he got home. Check for prints, for lock tampering, shoe impressions on the carpeting if there were any. He should have already done these actions that were routine for a CSI, but he hadn't even thought about them except for bringing the food to the lab. He hadn't thought about anything except that he was being poisoned, and he wanted to strangle himself for that.

He was slipping up. Giving into panic.

" Danny?"

Danny snapped his head around to see Mac's own head sticking out of the door.

" You okay?" Mac asked.

Danny shoved his phone back into his pocket. " Yeah. Just personal stuff. Nothing big."

Again came the piercing scrutiny that actually had Danny nervously believing Mac could read minds.

" You sure?"

" Yeah. I got it taken care of." He then moved back into the room with Mac stepping aside to let him through. Danny resumed his own scrutiny of the info, but found that only seventy percent of his concentration was focused on it. Not a good sign. It also didn't help that he could feel Mac's gaze on him, watching him as though observing from behind a two-way mirror.

" I'd love to take another crack at those clothes," Danny said, changing the subject despite there being no subject to change to begin with. " Lindsay said she had found some fish oil and crap on 'em." He flicked his eyes up toward Mac, who was still observing. " I – I mean me and Hawkes - we worked that case where the guy was stabbed by a sword fish. I... I think maybe the type of fish this guy was rolling in could be, you know, discovered... I think there were some fish scales on the clothes."

Mac inclined his head. " Maybe." Then gestured toward Danny's sling. " After Lindsay gets back so that she can help."

Danny smiled, more out of relief than thanks, hoping Mac couldn't tell the difference. " Thanks Mac."

Mac turned his eyes back to the bank statements, adding to Danny's relief.

Now I'm nervous around my own boss. Of course, he had yet to feel totally relaxed around Mac, especially after the subway shooting fiasco. But what he was feeling now was far worse, almost verging on fear.

Mac knew something was up. That's why he kept watching.

You're losing it Messer. He shuddered, and looked up, hoping Mac hadn't noticed. Mac was still looking down.

Losing it.

CSINY

A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, and lack of anything unforetold happening to Danny. Things are about to get exciting, though, so hang on!