Disclaimer: I am not Anthony Zuiker, Ann Donahue or Carol Mendelsohn. All the characters of CSI: NY are not mine…I'm just borrowing them for a little bit. I promise that I will put them back, exactly the way I found them when I'm done….Oh, Cory Reid is mine and I will take credit for anything she does. :)

A/N: There's a little fluff in this one and the drama starts to pick up! Please R&R! I need the inspiration!

A/N #2: I reposted this on July 9, 2006 to correct some grammatical errors!

Chapter 24.

Threats

By the time that Danny, Mac, Cory and Travis had bagged all the evidence and gotten it to the lab, it was almost lunchtime. Travis had to go back to the headquarters to work on another case he was assigned to. Cory just had enough time to make copies of all the evidence for him to take with him. The only things that she did not copy were a couple of CD's that looked like they were music.

"I can't believe that he kept this," she said looking at a CD labeled Music for the Insane.

"Kept what?" Danny asked.

"It's a compilation CD that I made years ago. It has all different kinds of music on it. It start's out with techno and hits every single genre there is. Mike liked it so much that he begged me to make him a copy. So I did."

Danny just looked at her. "I'd like to hear it sometime. It sounds interesting."

Cory smiled while she felt a blush coming on. "Thanks. We can listen to it tonight."

"Tonight? We got plans that I don't know about, Feebie?"

Cory just smirked. "I thought that I would cook you a good home-cooked Texas meal."

Danny got a look of pure desire on his face. He remembered her lasagna and his mouth started watering at the thought. "Can't wait. You need me to bring anything?"

Cory laughed. "Just your appetite."

Cory and Danny got back to work. Mac had taken swabs of all the material, to see if there were any biologicals on the folders, and had gotten an elimination sample from Michael.

Cory started by the downloading all of the financial data onto her laptop. As she just glanced at the data, she realized that these were comprehensive financial reports for all of Mala Suerte's activities. "How did they get a hold of all this information? This is exactly what I need to bring them down."

Danny looked up and stared at Cory. "Gawd. She's so beautiful. I love it when she is completely into the evidence. That look that she gets….Damn, I'm getting aroused just thinking about it!" Danny shifted in his chair, trying to bring his hormones back under control. He just couldn't stop thinking about her.

Cory smiled inwardly when she saw Danny shifting uncomfortably in his chair. She had seen the way he was looking at her and had an idea of what was going through his mind. She decided to torture him a bit, feeling a little spunky.

Concentrating on the screen, Cory licked her lips and then caught her bottom lip between her teeth, gently biting it. She watched for Danny's reaction.

Danny almost groaned when he saw Cory bite her bottom lip. He desperately fought his hormones. Then he caught the twinkle in her eyes and realized that she was doing it on purpose. "Alright. You want to play that game? I'm up for it."

Cory was watching Danny out of the corner of her eye when she saw him lick the corner of his mouth. He was staring at the folders in front of him, trying to decide what he was going to look at first. He glanced at Cory, who quickly glanced away. She turned her neck, trying to relieve some of the stress that she felt.

Feeling her pain, Danny got up and walked behind her. "Bella. Qui, lascilo aiutarlo," he murmured, putting his hands on her shoulders. Slowly he began to massage her shoulders, relieving the tension.

Cory didn't know what to think when Danny stood up and walked behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and she started a bit. When he murmured something in Italian, she felt a wave of desire wash over her. She became almost boneless at the feeling of him giving her a shoulder massage. Her muscles relaxed and she let out a small sigh of satisfaction.

Danny leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I win."

It took Cory a moment to pull her mind out of the gutter and when his words registered, she looked up in surprise. "Won what?"

"The game you were trying to play. You were trying to get me all hot and bothered, Feebie. It worked, but I got you back." Danny just smirked in his triumph.

Cory just laughed. "Just you wait, Messer. I'll get you back for that!"

Danny laughed, sat back down and decided to start looking through the folder labeled photos. He started going through the photos one by one. A lot of them were pictures of the gang members. He turned one over and found a wealth of information on the back. It listed the full name of the person in the picture, nickname, identifying tattoos and other distinguishing characteristics.

"Wow. Cory. Look at this. These are all photos of the gang members with all of their information written on the back."

Cory looked at the picture and then the back. "That's amazing." She walked to look over Danny's shoulder. He showed her the picture he was looking at. "I don't know this guy."

"Well, just look on the back and you'll come to know him really quickly. It has his given name, nickname and distinguishing characteristics on it. Basically all you need to know about this guy is here. The only thing missing is his list of crimes. I'm impressed. Armando and Michael were very thorough."

Cory nodded. "I bet it was Mike's idea. He's so like me that way. We are both obsessed with the details. I can't believe that he doesn't have a list of the crimes somewhere in here. I guess we just have to find it."

(Several hours later)

Cory had finally finished uploading all of the data on to her laptop. It was almost six o'clock. She stretched and felt several places in her back and next pop, releasing some tension. "I'm calling it a night. I just can't stare at the screen anymore. What time will you be over to my place for dinner?"

Danny took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. "Why don't I take you home? Then I get to see you cook."

Cory agreed and they made their way down to the parking garage. Danny let Cory exit the elevator first, enjoying watching her walk. He was still as little aroused from their earlier flirting and seeing no one else in the garage decided to take advantage of it. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a dark corner.

"Danny, what the…" Cory's question was cut off by Danny's lips on hers. This kiss was the polar opposite of the sweet kiss they had shared the night before. His mouth was demanding, his tongue insisting entry into her mouth. She sighed into the kiss, feeling her desire rising as the intensity increased.

Cory wrapped her arms around Danny's neck, trying to eliminate all the space between them. She felt the hard evidence of his desire press into her and whimpered a little in need. Finally she drew back, breathing hard and in need of oxygen. "Wow."

Danny was also trying to reclaim his breath. "I've wanted to do that all day. You ready to go back to your place?"

Cory stopped at his words, wanting her next sentence to come out the right way. "Danny we can go to my place, but I'm not ready for that kind of relationship. As much as I want to, God do I want to, I'm just not ready."

Danny nodded. "I know. I'm not either. You're different than anyone I've gone out with before. I want to wait until it's the right time." He took her hand and led her to his car, acting like a perfect gentleman.

When they got to Cory's apartment, Danny was still acting like the perfect gentleman. He opened her door for her and held out his hand to help her out of the car. "I'm impressed, Messer. Most guys up here never act like this."

"They were not taught how to treat a woman by my mother. She has very effective ways to make sure that her boys grew up into gentlemen."

Cory raised an eyebrow. "Did she whack you with a wooden spoon?"

Danny laughed. "Worse. She refused to cook. Since neither Dad, Louie nor I were any good in the kitchen at that time, it qualified as torture!"

Cory was still laughing as she walked down the hall towards her door. She stopped laughing as she noticed the manila envelope sitting on her doormat. She stopped where she was.

"Cory? What's wrong?" Danny waited for an answer and then looked where Cory was staring. He saw an envelope sitting on the doormat. "What's this?" Danny bent over to pick it up, but stopped when Cory put a hand on his arm to prevent him from picking it up. "What?"

"Danny. I think you should wear gloves when handling that. It's from Ortiz." Cory looked at Danny seriously.

Nodding his head, Danny went back down to his SUV and grabbed his kit. When he walked back up to Cory, he handed her a pair of gloves as well. Before Cory put the gloves on, she unlocked her apartment door, so that they could take the envelope inside.

Once inside, Danny looked at Cory with concern in his eyes. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Cory nodded. "I have to Danny. I can't let him control my life anymore." Cory slipped her gloved finger under the flap of the envelope and carefully opened it, trying to preserve any evidence on it.

Once open, she carefully removed the contents, careful to place them on the sheets of plastic wrap that Danny had put on the table. The first thing she pulled out was a picture of her and Danny walking home from their date. The next picture she pulled out was a picture of Danny walking out of her apartment building. Someone had drawn crosshairs on the picture in a red marker.

The next thing was a piece of paper. Cory looked at it and began to read aloud.

"You stupid bitch. Did you not think that I would find out about him? Why won't you listen to my warnings? You've been responsible for the death of two men and you are willing to risk another? I told you that you were mine. I told you what would happen if any other man touched you. Now both of you will pay the price." Cory stopped reading there. She just couldn't go on.

Danny picked up where she left off.

"When I find you both, I'm going to chain you to the wall in a remote place where no one will ever find you. Then, I'll take your lover-boy and slowly kill him in front of your eyes. Breaking every bone in his body. Then I'll shoot him in the gut so you can watch as he slowly dies in front of your eyes. Then you'll be mine, forever!"

Cory couldn't stand it anymore. She felt her gorge rising and ran to the bathroom. Danny quickly followed her. He knelt down beside her, holding her hair back as she lost even the memory of food in her stomach.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I just couldn't. Danny. I'm scared." Cory started to cry.

Danny wrapped her arms around her, wanting to ease some of her pain. He was furious at Ortiz for making her feel this way. "That bastard. I'm going to hunt his ass down and make him pay for what he's done to Cory. I think I might actually take pleasure in hurting another person. Slowly and with only my hands!"

Danny continued to soothe her, rubbing his hand up and down her back. He felt her sobs slow down and looked to see that she was half asleep. "Come on, bella. I'm putting you to bed." He lifted her into his arms and walked into her bedroom.

He had just laid her down on the bed. "I can't let her sleep in those clothes." Danny took off her shoes and put them on the floor. "Cory? Bella? Where are your pajamas?" Her only response was a soft snore. Looking at the bed, Danny realized that he was going to have to undress her. He quickly looked in her top dresser drawer and found what he was looking for and more.

Danny's eyes opened wide at the variety of lingerie in her drawer. "I'm going to have many a sleepless night, thinking about this moment!" Danny quickly got out the Cowboys jersey. He walked back to the bed, knowing that what he was about to do was close to torture.

He slowly took off her jacket, skirt and shirt, trying not to wake her. He groaned softly at the sight of her midnight black undergarments. "Gawd…she's wearing a garter belt!" As quickly as possible, he put the jersey over her head, trying to cover her body as much as possible. Next he unhooked the garters and rolled her stockings down her legs. Before he put her arms through the jersey, he slid his hands up her body to unhook her bra. Once that was done he put her arms through the jersey and pulled the covers up over her. He stepped back from the bed, breathing hard. "Damn. That was just torture!"

Once she was covered, Cory snuggled under the sheets, looking peaceful. Danny turned off the lights and walked out of the bedroom.

When he got back to the living room, the sight of the pictures brought him back to the present. He got his cell phone and called Mac.

"Mac. It's Danny. We have a situation."

"What do you mean?"

"When Cory and I got back to her apartment, there was a package waiting for her from Ortiz. It's bad, Mac. He threatened both of us. Cory just lost it. After she calmed down, I got her to bed and she's sleeping right now. I was hoping that you could come and get the evidence."

"I'd be happy, too. Do you need anything?"

"Could you have Flack go by my place and pack me a bag? I don't want to leave her alone."

"Sure. Danny? Be careful. I did some research into Cory's fiancé. He was an FBI agent, too. Ortiz has no hesitation in killing cops."

"Got it. I'll be careful, Mac." Danny hung up the phone; feeling very tired all the sudden.

A/N:

kasmith101- I'm glad you liked the plot twist...originally I was going to have Sid find the key in his stomach, but I liked this idea better! The twists are going to keep coming up until the Ortiz case is closed, so sit back and enjoy!

the little corinthian- let's just say that Ortiz really has it in for Danny and Cory and you're right, they will not go down without a fight! There probably won't be any descriptions of food for the next couple of chappies; I like to save that for fluff! I will have Cory cook him a home cooked Texas meal sometime in the future, though. :D

chili-peppers- yup. He's definitely way up there on the psycho scale. I fear for Cory's sanity throughout the next chapters! And the wait is over...by the way, I do have up to 27 complete, though since my beta is out of town, I'm having to proof it myself... :(