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: Okay, the trial starts! As always, please, please, please R&R! My muse loves the attention! And thank you to Screaming-Poetically for Tim, the ADA-obviously I don't own him:D

Chapter 43.

Opening arguments

Cory woke up early on Monday morning. She was content to continue lying in bed, in Danny's arms. She turned over and laid her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Her mind kept going over what Nicole had said on Saturday night. "Can I really do it? Can I move to New York? Can I leave my life, my family and my friends to pursue something that my heart is telling me is right? I don't know. I don't have to make any decision yet. I definitely can't leave until after this trial is over. I'll have to think this out."

She noticed that Danny's breathing had speed up a little and raised her head. "Mornin', darling."

Danny turned his head and looked into Cory's eyes. "Mornin'. What time is it?"

Cory turned her head and looked at the clock. "6:45. I'd better get up. I need to get ready to go to the courthouse." Reluctantly, she got up to go take a shower.

Thirty minutes later, she got out of the shower and walked into her dressing area. "Danny! The shower's free, if you want it!"

Danny walked into the dressing area and handed her a cup of coffee. "Here, I thought you might like the caffeine. I'll grab my shower now."

Cory nodded and took a sip of coffee. She plugged in her hair dryer and began the long process of blow drying her hair out. She was still drying her hair when Danny got out of the shower.

Danny looked at her as she passed, just shaking his head. When she turned off the dryer, he asked, "How long does it take for you to dry your hair?"

Cory smiled. "Just blow dry? About 45 minutes. I'm just getting it for the most part dry right now. That way, it's not still wet when I take it down tonight." She turned back to the mirror, picked up her comb and carefully parted her air down the middle.

Danny watched in fascination as she began French braiding her hair into two braids. Once she was done, she wound the braids around her head. "That's amazing. How do you do that?"

Cory looked at Danny in the mirror. "It's a girl thing." She smiled. She began to put her make-up on and Danny walked into the bedroom to begin getting ready. They were both ready to leave at eight. Cory was dressed in a grey suit, with a lilac blouse. She grabbed her briefcase and together they walked to her car.

Forty-five minutes later, Cory parked her car and they began to walk to the Tarrant County Courthouse. Danny looked at the building in awe. "Wow. This is an amazing building."

Cory looked at the courthouse and smiled. "It is. The architecture is very classic. I love it here."

Together, they made it through the security and walked into the courtroom. Cory went up to the front, to a tall, good-looking man wearing a coal black Armani suit. "Mr. O'Reilly."

The man turned around. He nodded to her. "Agent Reid."

Cory smiled. "I'd like you to meet Detective Danny Messer from the NYPD. Danny, this is Timothy O'Reilly, the ADA in charge of prosecuting Ortiz."

The men shook hands and then Mr. O'Reilly turned back to his table to continue his preparations. Cory and Danny sat down behind him, in the front row. Danny leaned over to Cory and whispered, "Are you sure he's the best man for the job? He looks really young."

Cory laughed. "Remember Tony Montebello, the hit man for the Cardinelli Crime Family?" Danny nodded yes. "Who do you think was responsible for putting him away? O'Reilly managed to get the jury to convict him of three counts of Murder One and now he's in Sing-Sing serving twenty-five to life with no parole."

Danny's opinion of the man raised a hundred fold. The Cardinelli Crime Family was one of the most brutal family's of the Italian Mafia. If O'Reilly had convicted Montebello then he was the best man for the job.

Danny didn't have a chance to say anything else as the trial got underway.

"All Rise! This is the Case number 45-674837; the United States verses Carlos Ortiz on three counts of Murder One. The Honorable Judge William Owens, presiding."

The entire court room stood as the judge walked in. After he had sat down, the rest of the courtroom sat down. "Be seated, thank you. I trust that both the prosecution and defense is ready to begin."

Both of the attorney's nodded their heads.

Once the courtroom had settled down, Judge Owens motioned for O'Reilly to begin is opening arguments.

O'Reilly got up and stood in front of the jury. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you have hard task ahead of you. I will not lie to you and say that this trial will be easy on your mind. The defendant, Carlos Ortiz, is accused of the brutal murders of three men. Special Agent James Hogan, from the FBI, Michael Hogan and Armando De La Cruz. The murders were committed in a brutal and premeditated fashion. All three men were tortured, before being shot. Then the defendant watched and waited for the men to die, slowly bleeding to death."

O'Reilly began to pace in front of the jury, his tone forceful. "Multiple times, Mr. Ortiz had the ability to change the outcome of these deaths. We must ask why he committed these murders. For the murder of James Hogan, his reasoning was that Agent Hogan was going to marry the woman that Ortiz believed to be his. So the night before the wedding, he chose to end Agent Hogan's life.

"For the other two murders, his reasoning was that the men were betraying him. All they were doing was trying to collect evidence to prove his involvement into the murder of Agent Hogan."

Cory closed her eyes, gripping Danny's hand as the emotion washed over her. She was glad that he was there in order to support her. O'Reilly continued his monologue, keeping his tone that of a person that was in charge. She had to give him credit. He used all of the legal speak, but in a way that the jury would have no problems in understanding.

Finally, after close to an hour, he began to close his remarks. "Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you to consider all of the evidence that is presented. The state stands behind our stance that his man is guilty on all charges and we trust you to make the correct decision. Thank you." O'Reilly sat back down to allow the defense to make their opening remarks.

The defense attorney, Elizabeth Marquez, began her opening remarks. Cory felt nauseous as she started to paint Ortiz in a 'poor orphan' manner. Finally, the opening remarks were done and the judge decided to take a two hour recess for lunch.

Cory and Danny left the courtroom and tried to avoid the press covering the case. Cory saw O'Reilly completely ignore the cameras as he left the courthouse. She looked at Danny. "Are you hungry?"

Danny laughed. "I'm always hungry. What did you have in mind?"

Cory smirked. "There's a great little hamburger joint down here, Billy Miner's. They have the absolute best hamburgers."

Danny nodded. "Sounds good."

Cory nodded and walked outside. Danny was confused when Cory walked past the garage where the car was parked. She saw his confusion and laughed. "Come on. It's only about four blocks from here. It won't hurt us to walk."

Fifteen minutes later, they were both sitting at a table after ordering their burgers. Danny looked around. "This is so different from New York. I feel so out of place."

Cory smiled. "You look fine, but with our accent, you sound out of place."

Danny looked a little self-conscious. "I don't get the people here. I mean in New York, you don't look at anyone when you're walking by. Here, people smile, say hello. It's just weird. I do have a question. Why is the trial being held in Fort Worth and not Dallas?"

"James was killed in Tarrant County. The Hogan's are very well connected in the local government, so they pushed for the trial to be held here."

They were interrupted as their burgers were delivered. Cory showed Danny were the condiment bar was and they made their burgers to order. After they were done eating, they decided to walk around Sundance Square.

While they were walking around, Cory suddenly stopped and dragged Danny into a store. "I have to get a Jamba Juice while I'm down here! Do you want something?"

"What is it?"

"They are smoothies and stuff like that."

Danny just shook his head. "Nope. I'm good."

Cory got up to the counter. "I'd like a Mango-A-Go-Go with an energy boost, please."

Danny watched in fascination while her drink was made. Cory had a look of bliss on her face as she took the first sip. "Is that good, Feebie?"

"It's great. I've missed these since I've been gone!" They left the café and began to wander around downtown Fort Worth. Finally, Cory noticed the time and realized that it was time to go back.

Cory and Danny got back to the courthouse and resumed their seats in the front row. O'Reilly nodded at Cory when she sat down. She had the trial schedule memorized and realized that the testimony of the agents that found James was going to start. "This is going to be a long afternoon." Cory sighed at the thought of the pain she was about to relive.

(4pm)

Cory almost groaned when she stood after the judge had dismissed them for the day. She was in pain, both emotional and physical. She rolled her neck, trying to relieve the tension of sitting in one position so long. She held Danny's hand as the walked out of the courthouse and to her car.

Wisely, Danny kept silent, letting her process her emotions. "Danny? Thank you for being here. I don't know if I would have been able to handle this if you hadn't been."

"Bella, ti amo. It was my place to be here. That's why I took the time off. I knew that you needed me."

Cory smiled tiredly. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Danny licked the corner of his mouth. "You got shot at. If it hadn't been for that, we never would have met. Come on, let's go back to your house and try to unwind."

(Cory's house)

When they got back to Cory's house, Danny looked at how drained she was. "Listen. How 'bout I cook you dinner. Then we can go swimming and try to relax."

"That sounds good. Let me get changed. Just don't blow up my kitchen, kay." Cory was walking to the bedroom when her cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID she realized it was Lindsay. "Reid."

"Hey, Cory! How are you and Danny doing?"

"It's good. The first day of the trial was today and I am completely wiped out. Danny said he would cook me dinner and then we are going to go swimming. Oh! That reminds me. Y'all are coming in on Saturday, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can you tell everyone to bring their swimsuits? I have a heated pool and I thought it would be nice if everyone came over."

"You have a heated pool? Sure, I'll tell everyone. I was just calling to make sure you were okay. Obviously, Danny is taking good care of you. Hold on." Cory waited while Lindsay put her on hold. "Cory? I have to go. My DNA results are back. Just to let you know, our flight lands at 10 am on Saturday."

"Okay, Linds. I'll see y'all then." She hung up the phone and finished getting ready.

When she walked back into the kitchen, the room was filled with the scent of Italian spices. Cory smiled and walked up to Danny to see if there was anything that she could do to help.

A/N:

the little corinthian- I love the visual of Danny on a horse! I completely understood where you are coming from, I've been having that debate with myself ever since I started to think about the end. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to stick with my plan for the story, so that will make it easier to write.

aphina- I'm sorry I brought you down! But it was put in there as a reminder to everyone that hard choices are coming up for the pair. I loved the title when Axellia mentioned it to me! I couldn't get the visual out of my head for days!

chili-peppers- I'm glad the mental image of Danny on a horse was so entertaining for everyone! You can write like this...It just takes practice! (And since I'm a huge bibliophile, it doesn't hurt to read A LOT of books!)

screaming-poetically- To lazy to log in? Loved that. We get ice in the winter occasionally, but when it does...the city shuts down. We are just not equipped to handle it! I'm with you on getting used to the weather. Right now, I'm like 99 degrees! What did we get a cool front? (To give you an idea, it was 105 yesterday and 98 at 9pm last night). Of course Danny will be Flack's best man! Who else? I promise that the wedding will be very special. Nope to the DL angst at the wedding (Danny will still be in love with Cory at that point).

pnkrckprncss- She's from Texas, so she loves to ride (in every sense of the word!). The trial will be over by chapter 48 (I have some good fluff in there) and the story (unless something major happens) will be a total of 51 chapters. I do have some other things I'll be working on (including the sequel to this) so I promise you'll get updates on something from me! As per whether or not she moves...you'll just have to find out! That is planned to be revealed in 49.

stargazr- I completely and totally agree! I just need to see that image for real! Granted, my mind can perfectly picture it, but seeing it for real--priceless!

axellia- Glad you were able to wipe the tears away. I loved that part of the letter, too. Yes, Nicole is based a little on princessg...Glad you liked the chapter title! Why did everyone forget about the mounted officers? They have been in the show! Flack will propose to you (wink)...Just let your mind wander! I'm glad they did get married at the courthouse either, they deserve more! Danny accepts your hug (and then directs you to Flack to get the return hug, otherwise Cory will kill him!). It's definately a Southern saying! Now that you are back in the gutter, there is a great 3 bedroom house available for sale on my block. Would you like me to put a good word in for you? As for the brakes...It was meant to make everyone laugh...It's just a great mental image. I love thunderstorms, so that was easy for me to right (my sister is terrified of thunderstorms, so I had to be the brave one). Glad I could bring back memories. I hope I gave you plenty to think about while making boxes!