Here's another chapter. Sorry it's taken me so long; I'm still having serious writers block for some reason. Thanks to all those that have reviewed and keep them coming. Enjoy!

I own nothing dealing with CSI NY or Walker, Texas Ranger

Chapter Sixteen

"There's only more room left to check Dan. I think we missed her." Don informed.

Running a hand through his hair he fought the urge to slam his fist in a wall for the second time that week. After they'd checked the first floor the young CSI had a hunch that they needed to keep going. So against his best friends better judgment he'd made his way up the stairs to the second floor. A couple of hours later they were now on the fourth floor with no sign of the young woman. And that scared the crap out of him. There was a small part of him that was breathing a little easier at the signals the ranger had left to let them know she'd been there. Clutching one of the silver badges in his hand he turned to the Italian detective; eyes filled with tears but refusing to let them brim over.

"Then we'll just have to keep looking." He answered. "If there was something wrong with her she wouldn't have been given a chance to leave the trail that she did. And I refuse to believe that she's dead." Voice cracking.

Taking the piece of tin that the other man had clutched in his hands moments ago Don wished there was something he could do. In the short time that the young woman had been in the city she'd captured everyone's hearts; not just his best friends. She was the kind of person you'd want in your corner when things got rough; would do anything and everything for the people she cared about. If something happened to her tonight; if she didn't make it out of this alive there would be a lot of people with broken hearts. So as much as he believed this might be a huge waste of time because if the young ranger wanted to be found she'd let it be known Don let out a sigh before turning to the group of uniformed officers awaiting orders.

"All right guys; finish this floor and we'll head on up to the next." He informed.

Reaching out he gave the taller mans arm a squeeze. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Don reminded. "I hate to be pessimistic but we have yet to find Arianna alive. Though I really hope we do."

"You and me both brother." Danny mumbled.

Lingering as the small team made their way to the very last room he looked up and down the hall; trying to rack his brain to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Just as he turned he thought he heard the door to the stairwell open. Facing it yet again he didn't see anything out of the ordinary; not the slightest notion that the door had been touched in anyway. Blaming it on fatigue and stress he shook his head as he started towards the last room. Placing one foot over the threshold he could've sworn he heard Arianna calling to him.

"Danny?"

"Now I'm startin' to hear her voice; beautiful." He grumbled.

"Daniel James Messer if you don't get over here right now and kiss me senseless I'm going to have to kick your ass." The voice came again.

"There's no way in hell I made that up." Danny turned.

And there before him; looking as beautiful as ever despite the bruise forming on her face was the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with. Thankfully in once piece. Ignoring the murmurs from the men behind him he tried to be calm as he walked towards her; noticing that she was trying to do the same thing. That lasted all of five seconds before they were both running; wanting to feel each other in their arms. No words were spoken as they embraced; holding on for dear life. Hoping and praying that this wasn't just a dream; that each one of them was alive and for the most part well.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity they broke apart; lips having met in a frenzy of passion moments earlier. Tears shined in both their eyes; some falling down Danny's cheek. For someone who was known as a tough guy he wasn't bothering to wipe them away. Nothing mattered to him except the woman who was now sobbing in his arms.

"I'm glad I don't have to kick your ass. I'm too tired to follow through with the threat." Arianna joked through her tears.

Running his hands over her face; down her shoulders and back up to her neck he could feel them shaking the entire time. "Is this real? It's you standing in front of me? I'm not going crazy?"

Laughing she held his face in her hands; kissing him firmly on the lips one more time. "Yes it's real; yes I'm standing in front of you and no your not going crazy."

Pulling her to him once again he felt her involuntarily winch at the pressure and instantly pulled away. "What happened? Did he do this to you?"

"No; his lackeys did. Just some bruised ribs; I've had a lot worse." Arianna grinned.

"Are you sure their just bruised? You have a tendency to down play injuries so that people won't worry about you." Danny chided.

Truth be told she was pretty damn sure a couple of them were broken and the bruises on her abdomen were nothing pretty. But as he'd stated she didn't like to tell people the extent of her battle wounds so that they wouldn't worry about her. One look from those blues eyes and she was gone. There was no way she couldn't be truthful with him.

"I know for a fact that their broken. Plus my head hurts pretty bad and it feels like someone hit me in the eye with a baseball bat. But other then that I'm ok." Arianna tried to muster a smile and failed miserably.

Holding back a frustrated sigh he just pulled her to him again. There was no reason in trying to reprimand her or tell her to take an easy because it would be like telling the pope not to be catholic; a waste of breath. So while they had the time he'd hold on and never let go. Unfortunately there was a little voice in the back of his head that told him she wouldn't have risked coming here unless it was important.

"Why did you risk coming to find me? What's going on?" Danny questioned.

"You have to get out of the building now. Get as far away from here as possible. To some place that no one would think to look for you. Don't tell anyone your leaving; just do it." Arianna explained.

"What happened?" Danny pried.

"One of Mandala's men told me in no uncertain terms that he was coming after you. That he was going to target you to get to me. I should've known something like this was going to happen." Arianna muttered under her breath.

"Like you said before all this happened; Mandala is not a stable man. That he hasn't been playing this the way you'd expected him to. There's no way you could've known." Danny reassured.

"Well now that I do I want you out if this hotel and as far away from New York and anyone you care about as possible." Arianna ordered. "Have Don and a couple of uniformed officers go with you to your parents house to get your things. Tell them little to nothing if possible. The less they know the better."

"No." Danny argued. " I refuse to run scared while you stay here to get your ass kicked."

"Have you been listening to anything I've told you about this man? About the men that work for him? He doesn't care who you are; if your associated with me in anyway your royally fucked. Once he finds you you're a dead man." Arianna reminded.

"I face death every day of my life. This is nothing different." Danny countered.

"It's completely different." Arianna argued still. "He's essentially trapped us in this hotel with no way out. No amount of people will stop him. In the end it comes down to me and him. I plan on ending this tonight and I can't do that when I'm worrying about whether or not he's going to hang your life in the balance like some sort of prize."

Arms crossed over her chest; stance wide and mouth set in a grim line that told Danny there was going to be no arguing with her. That she had her mind made up and the only way he was going to get what he wanted was to knock her out and go alone. And there was about as much chance of that happening as there was him being able to rewind time. To go back to before all of this started and take care of Mandala the old fashioned way. The way his brother would've done when he was a part of Tanglewood. Unfortunately that was a dream for another time. Right now he had to figure out if he was going to continue to argue with her or give up and do as she asked.

Adapting the same stance as she had he tried to stare her down. Which lasted all of about five minutes until her eyes softened and he swore he saw tears starting to form. After that he was done. Every time he saw her cry or start to cry he was a goner. The woman standing before him could reduce him to a puddle of mush in about two seconds flat with just a look. Stepping forward he wrapped her in his arms; holding on for dear life.

"Please don't do this baby." He whispered. "If you want me to leave then I will but please don't cry. I've seen enough of that to last me a lifetime."

Pulling herself together as much as she could under the circumstances Arianna couldn't believe she was being so stupid. Here they were with a mad man on the loose in the hotel; their fate essentially in his hands and she was blubbering like an idiot. If he was willing to leave at her request then you better believe that was what she going to do. The less people she had to worry about the better.

"Yes I do." She answered. "This is nothing against you Danny it's just that I'd feel a lot better about the whole situation. I made it to the fifth floor already and there was nothing. Which means he has something completely different planned and I'm totally in the dark."

"And you don't like that do you?" Danny concluded.

"Not one damn bit." Arianna agreed. "Which is why I want not only you but Don and his entire team off this floor and out of here in the next half an hour. Gather the rest of them and tell them the same thing. They started evacuating people when I left so there shouldn't be too many more to go."

Confirming that with a nod of his head he waved his best friend over. Conferring briefly they all decided that in this situation the young ranger knew what was best; even if none of them liked it very much.

"What are you going to do now?" Danny wondered.

Everyone else had cleared out; he was the only one left. Too stubborn to go for fear this would be the last time he'd see her.

"Mandala has to have a base of operations some where here in the hotel; a place where he could watch us and control everything that happens." Arianna told him.

"The security room maybe?" Danny supplied. "From there he'd be able to see everything we do from the cameras and if he has anyone good enough with computers he could hack into anyone of the hotels systems; power, water, the registration desk. You name it."

Loving him even more for the simple fact that he'd had the withal to think of something like that the young woman hugged him as hard a she could. "That's perfect. The only problem is I have no idea where the hell it is."

"Try the bottom floor near the kitchen first. If not there then the top floor." Danny offered.

Nodding her head she checked all of her supplies before turning back to the one man who could get her to change her mind about all of this. Though she knew he should've left with the rest of the group she was glad he stayed; glad that she had these last moments alone with him. Knowing in the back of her mind that this might be the last time she ever saw him. Not because he wouldn't be alive but because there was a possibility that she wouldn't be.

"So this is were we part ways; again." Arianna wasn't sure what else to say.

"I'm not sure I can do this a second time." Danny confessed.

"Me neither but it has to be done. It's time to end this once and for all." Arianna reminded.

"In that case there's nothing more left to do except this." Danny agreed.

Before she could ask what he took her chin in his hands and captured her lips with his. Wrapping her arms around him she clung for dear life; not ready or willing to let go yet. But as quickly as it started it had ended; a coldness flooding her body that his warmth had chased away. Pulling what little sanity that she had left together Arianna squared her shoulders and gave him a wan smile.

"Here goes nothing." She murmured.

Brushing back a silent tear that had fallen from her eye he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you; you know that right?"

"Yes; and I love you too." Arianna's voice broke.

"And the sooner you get this over with the sooner we can start planning our future." Danny reminded. "I have a list started in my head already."

"That's my guy." Arianna smiled despite herself.

"Now go kick some ass... And be safe." Danny added.

With that and a smile he was gone; headed down the fire escape and she prayed; to safety. Though she wasn't that far up and to most people it would've been smarter to check the lower level first she needed the time to center herself; to figure out a game plan of some sort. A way to approach this that would take care of her two major problems. Making sure she made it out alive and that Mandala never took another breath again.

He'd only taken four steps past the door when he had to stop; too overwhelmed with pain and worry to move on. Leaning against the wall he put his hands on his knees; trying to slow his breathing for fear that he was about to hyperventilate. Not one prone to freaking out and having panic attacks this had to be the third time in the last week he'd come close.

It was times like this that he felt hopeless; and frankly he hated it. As a CSI and a cop it was his job to serve and protect those that couldn't help themselves. Granted Arianna was not a woman that needed protecting but he still felt like he should be doing something except running away. Though it had been at the young rangers request he still felt like a cowered.

Standing here feeling sorry for his self wasn't going to help his fiancée or anyone else right now. Straightening he had his hand on the railing to head down stairs when he heard something scrap across the floor. Reaching for his gun he had it out and the safety off as someone flew out of the shadows at him.

Putting his hands up in defense there was nothing he could do as his faceless attacker slammed him up against the wall. Grunting in pain he fought it off as he brought his knee up to slam it into the guys gut. That didn't stop him though as his attacker used his rib cage like a rack of meat. Finally he was able to push the man far enough away to slam his elbow into his face; apparently more effective then a fist according to Arianna. Another thing that was not completely kosher about the whole situation was the fact that whoever was attacking him was the size of a freaking grizzly bear.

Having recovered from the blow to his nose faster then Danny had expected there wasn't much time to recover. Again for the second time he knew that his only options was to run like his ass was on fire. Backed into the corner at the moment the young CSI wasn't sure what to do; if there was even any place for him to run. With not much time left there was only one option. Running at the man he faked like he was going left then headed straight for him. At the last possible second he let his legs buckle underneath him in a baseball slide. Grabbing the rail at the last second he pulled his self up and hit the stairs running. Reaching for his gun he realized he'd lost in the scuffle and knew then that if he didn't get back to Don and his team he was royally screwed.

Hands on the push bar for the door he was almost to freedom; had the door open a fraction; when an arm the size of a tree trunk wrapped around his neck. A hand came up; cloth covered in what he knew was chloroform. Clawing at the limb wasn't going to do any good; even his now foggy brain knew that but there was no way he was going down without a fight.

Even as his knees started to buckle and his vision blurred his last thoughts weren't of the fact that he was going to die. But the sad realization that Arianna would trade herself for him; ultimately ending her life.